#But watch me doubt my ability to write her very soon

[thyandrawrites]

Finally finished the first (very rough) draft of the second chapter of my todosibs wip. Phew, that was easily the hardest thing I've ever written. Remind me to never do a character study piece with 4 equally dissected characters ever again

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 14- water inhalation

I don’t like this one. Like, I like some parts of it but overall how it was written I don’t like. Oh well. It’s not meant to be perfect lol. It is obvious that I’m getting burnt out with all this writing?

Anyways, warning for water inhalation, nearly drowning, a frickin water monster, and yeah.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The water was dark and cold as Sky swam through it, clenching his teeth around the water dragon’s scale for dear life. The lake he, Warriors, and Twilight were near needed to be investigated in order to find a kidnapped zora, and Twilight was the only one with zora armor. Sky had his dragon scale, but Warriors didn’t trust how it ran out of air until he broke the surface or ran into a bubble. Since they had to go into deeper waters, where bubbles were not promised, Sky supposed it made some sense. But he hated having Twilight go on his own. It wasn’t that he doubted Twilight’s ability, his zora armor seemed very dependable in water, but the way Twilight eyed the water nervously made Sky nervous for him.

“I’ll be back with the missing zora in no time,” Twilight reassured, mostly to himself. “It shouldn’t take that long.”

“Are you sure you’re good to go on your own?” Sky asked. “I know that it’s not armor but my scale has worked before…”

“Sky you were in shallower water, this is deep water. Anything could happen,” Warriors said, and Sky frowned.

“Shallow water isn’t that safe compared to deep water,” he mumbled.

“Well I’ll be fine,” Twilight said. “It’s not the first time I’ve been in deep water. I’ll be back soon, hopefully.”

Sky sighed and watched as he put up his mask and disappeared into the water. Sky and Warriors waited, and waited, and waited until Sky couldn’t wait any longer. It had been hours since Twilight dove into the water, and fear for his friend overwhelmed him. If Twilight was in danger, how would they know? If he drowned, how would they know? Being in water was dangerous, and despite Warrior’s protests, Sky took off his clothes and jumped into the water, with his trusty dragon scale hanging in his mouth.

Sky didn’t know how long he had been swimming. There weren’t a lot of obstacles, and it was overall an easy swim, but it was dark enough and deep enough to make Sky uncomfortable. Thankfully, there were plenty of air bubbles for Sky to use to fill up the air in his scale, so he didn’t worry about running out like he thought he would. So he hoped that finding Twi would be a simple task for him.

Sky stopped by a big rock and gave his arms a moment to rest. He’s been swimming for a while, the pressure of being so deep was hurting his ears, and he could feel his hands begin to get all pruny. But there was no sign of Twilight, so he knew he needed to keep going. Sky eventually found himself in a strange underwater cave, or at least, he thought it was a cave. Nothing about it looked natural, in fact, it looked like a castle that was underwater, rotting away from years of neglect. Sky knew that this was where the zora was being held, and that this was where Twilight was.

When he entered the weird cave-palace, he was relieved at the different glowing algae lighting up the place. He didn’t know how any of it worked, but it helped him see where he was going, so he decided not to think about it. When he entered a more slim hallway however, he noticed that it wasn’t as lit up as the rest of the palace, and it seemed to have been a lot cleaner. That was odd…

“Excuse me.”

Sky flinched and swam away until his back hit a wall. He groaned in pain and looked around. Did he imagine that voice? Is he losing his mind?

“I’m sorry to scare you, turn around.”

Sky spun around and saw— what he assumed was — a zora. He looked at her in surprise, he was expecting the zora to look more like the parella, but seeing this one, they were nothing alike. The zora was in a cage of some sorts, only able to peak out of a small opening on the top.

“Are you a friend of that Hylian?” She asked, and Sky nodded, assuming that she was talking about Twilight. “I thought so. He was here, trying to help me. But when he found a key to open this cage, a monster with tentacles grabbed him! I don’t know where he is, I’m so worried about him.”

Sky felt his heart drop. So Twilight was in danger, and was attacked by some monster that Sky knew nothing about. Just great. Sky had fought Tentalus before, so a tentacled monster didn’t frighten him, but he fought the monster above water, not in water. The idea of fighting something as big as Tentalus in the water scared him.

“I think I may know where the creature took him,” the zora started, “I think the key he had before he was grabbed is around here somewhere. If you get me out, I can help you save him.”

Sky nodded and immediately looked at the ground below him. Lo and behold, he found a big key in the corner. He grabbed it and unlocked the cage, allowing the zora to leave her prison.

“Follow me!” She said before swimming out of the hallway. Sky struggled to follow her, she was definitely built for water, and many times she had to stop and wait for Sky to catch up. His arms and legs were burning, and his throat was painfully dry. Sky just had to make sure that he didn’t cough, or else he’d inhale a bunch of water. He already did that before, and the pneumonia he got from it was not fun. Finally, he and the zora reached an open area, and Sky couldn’t hold back the gasp when he saw a big creature with tentacles jutting out all over its body. Sky narrowed his burning eyes and saw that one of the tentacles was wrapped around something.

Twilight.

Sky felt fear burst through his chest, not knowing if Twilight was conscious, unconscious, or worse. He turned to the zora and gestured for her to stay.

“You want me to stay?” She asked.

Sky nodded.

“Alright, be very careful.”

Sky nodded again and swam as fast as he could to Twilight, but also as quietly as he could. The monster wasn’t moving, so he assumed that it was asleep, and he did not want to wake it up. Sky carefully went up the tentacle that held Twilight, and he felt relief when he saw the mask on his face, meaning (he hoped) that he was still getting air. But his relief quickly melted away when he noticed that Twilight was unconscious. He went up to his and cupped his face in his hands.

Twilight, please open your eyes, he thought to himself, wishing he could say it. Twilight made a strained face, and his eyes began to open. Sky’s fear quickly disappeared when he saw Twilight’s pale blue eyes looking back at him in shock. Sky smiled, then began to observe the situation. Twilight was unable to move in the tentacle he was trapped in. His legs were free, but his arms were trapped, pinning them to his sides. Sky watched Twi try to struggle, but the monster’s tentacles were too strong. Sky dove down deeper, observing the tentacles. He didn’t want to wake up the monster, but he had to get the tentacles to let him go. Sky gently stroked the tentacle, and it squirmed a bit. Sky panicked, but he saw that Twilight was able to get an arm free, and the monster stayed dormant. Sky and Twi made eye contact and they both nodded. Sky continued to pet the tentacles, feeling nauseous at how slimy they were. They squirmed, and Twi was able to get his other free. Sky smiled at Twilight, until an ear piercing screech rang out, shaking the whole building. Sky looked behind him and saw the zora he rescued swimming out in the middle, smiling maliciously at Sky. The zora suddenly melted into strange goop, the stuff floating in the water, and realization hit Sky. Was this a trap set by the puppeteer? Anger boiled in Sky’s chest, but the situation returned to him when there was quick movement besides him. The monster holding Twi stirred, and Sky watched the rancher struggle as the tentacles tightened around his waist. Twilight yelped as he was then dragged through the water, along with the rest of the monster that began to circle around Sky.

Panic surged through Sky when he saw the round mouth full of pointy teeth snarl at him. This thing was not Tentalus. Sky didn’t even know where to begin on fighting it. A tentacle almost hit Sky in the head, and he dove down to get lower, feeling the air beginning to thin out. He looked around for different air bubbles, then at Twilight, who was struggling against the tentacle that continued to squeeze.

Fighting was out of the question. He needed to get this thing to let go of Twilight, then they could escape. Saving a zora was out of the question since the zora was a fake, so all he had to focus on was Twi. An air bubble appeared in front of Sky, and he quickly grabbed it, filling the scale with air again. He eyed the tentacle holding Twi, and tore through the water, dashing as hard as he could into the tentacle. The creature shrieked, tentacles whipping around sporadically. Sky dodged them and rammed into the tentacle again, and again, and again. Sky looked up and saw that Twi was slipping free. Determination flew through Sky and he rammed into the tentacle again, ignoring how the air was beginning to run out. Twi miraculously slipped free from the tentacles, and Sky felt relieved. Now they could finally get out of here. But before Sky could try to swim away, a tentacle slammed into him, and he crashed into the wall. The dragon scale popped out of his mouth, and he involuntarily swallowed water. Sky felt his heart spike as he realized that he had no air, and no way to get air unless he broke the surface. Twilight dove for Sky, grabbing and dragging him through the water. The tentacles made a hole in the wall, and Twilight kicked his legs as hard as he could, dragging Sky through the hole. The monster roared as the two heroes fled, debris from the sunken castle threatening to crush them, but Twi dodged it all, swimming surprisingly fast for dragging Sky.

The hero of skies tried to avoid unnecessary movement, knowing that if he stayed still, then he would be able to preserve oxygen. But he couldn’t help but try to ease the strain that Twi was going through. Sky looked up at the surface, desperation for air clawing at his burning lungs, and he kicked his legs a little more frantically. Twi looked down at him in worry, trying to go faster, but darkness was already entering Sky’s vision. Bubbles escaped his mouth as it became unbearable, but all Sky could do was to kick helplessly. Finally, unconsciousness overcame him, and for a moment, all Sky could feel was peace.

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

When Sky opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness.

Where am I? He thought to himself, trying to move his hand to his aching head, but he felt impossibly heavy. It felt as if all energy was sapped right out of him, and he almost wanted to go back to sleep, but something kept him from doing so.

Am I dead? Was his first thought. He didn’t know why it came to mind, but he tried to remember all that happened before. He had to save Twi, there was a monster, they were in water… did he drown? Sky groaned as he tried to sit up, but he had no strength, and a sudden cough assaulted him.

“Sky!”

Sky opened his eyes and was surprised to see Warriors sitting over him. Panic surged through Sky. Did he dream the whole thing? No, no that’s ridiculous he couldn’t have.

“Sky? Are you ok?”

“Wh—where’s Twi?” He croaked, his voice sounding like it hadn’t been used in weeks.

Warriors looked to his side, and Sky noticed Twi curled up and asleep. Relief swept through Sky and he laid back down. So it definitely wasn’t a dream.

“I was worried when Twi came up with you unconscious. Luckily you turned out fine.”

Sky gave a small smile.

“Twi was worried too. He would’ve stayed up with me but… well he’s hurt pretty badly, he needed the rest.”

Sky’s smile melted into a frown.

“How badly?” He asked.

“I think he may have a cracked rib, and his arms are badly bruised,” Warriors explained.

From the tentacles I presume, Sky thought to himself. “Is he ok?”

“Much better than you. How are you feeling?”

“Bleh,” was all Sky was able to say, and Warriors chuckled. “The stupid puppeteer faked the zora kidnapping story.”

“So I’ve heard. He’s done nothing but cause trouble for us, he almost killed you and Twi. But you’re awake now, so we should be fine.

The hero of skies stared ahead. He was awake now, but he learned from experience that almost drowning can do a lot to you. When he had to find the tadpoles for Faron’s challenge to prove that he was the hero, he ended up drowning. If not for Groose who launched himself to the flooded woods, he would’ve probably been dead. And if not for his knowledge of pneumonia, he would’ve died a lot later. Sky groaned. Having to lay in bed while dealing with pneumonia was awful, he didn’t want to experience that again. But unfortunately, the feeling in his lungs and body said otherwise.

“Wait, Warriors,” Sky called out, almost coughing right then and there. Warriors looked at him earnestly. “Do you… do you know anything about pneumonia?”

Warriors frowned, but realization hit his face. “Oh, yes I do, are you ok?”

“I don’t know but, I might have that….”

Warriors rested his hand on Sky’s shoulder. “It’s ok, you boys did the hard work, now let me take care of you.”

Sky smiled and put his hand on top of Warriors with a nod.

“Thanks commander,” he said, before drifting off again.

[cringetownusa]

I have a Yax writing request. How about after Yakko flirting with Max so much, Max flirts back and turns Yakko into a flustered, stuttering mess? (Maybe have his sibs tease him on the side?)

Still taking drabble requests! They're making for good warmups when I'm stuck with normal writing! thanks for sending this in!

--

Flirting was something Yakko did often, and in his opinion, well. He might not have been successful in the past, well- ever, but he had no doubt in his abilities. He was still going to do it.

Plus the amused, but slightly embarrassed look on Max's face when Yakko took him particularly off guard with a well timed pick-up line or compliment? That was something he didn't intend to give up anytime soon.

And that was the norm. Max would do something funny, charming, or stunning, and Yakko would cover up the the way his breath stopped in his chest and the heat on his muzzle by putting up his familiar barrier of flirting and wit. It was a good way to get out his real feelings under the guise of a joke, and to make his friend smile at the same time.

Today however, was not the norm.

The Warners three were lying on the top of the water tower watching the clouds go by. The sound of metal creaking and soft grunts signaled the arrival of their favorite Disney, but none of them bothered to move from their spot as Max made his way up the ladder.

His face pops up over the side of the roof minutes later, and with a grunt, he leapt and grabbed the lip to swing himself over onto the ledge beside Yakko.

Yakko sat up and clapped. "Very impressive!" All three of them hold up signs to give him points. Yakko's holding a black 10, but his siblings' at 9. "Well there's no accounting for taste I suppose, you'll have to show me your "Parkour Skillz" sometime, I'm afraid with just jumping directly on the tower, I'm a little rusty."

Max, now placed between him and his sister, laughs and returns the joke. "If I could teach any old man how to pull it off, it'd be you. I'll show you sometime."

Yakko's heart swelled at the compliment. He deflected it off with a joke. "Then it's a date."

What Max said next, what Max did next was something new. He turned one way to dot and cocked a hand out toward her, then spoke much like one would expect for a gossiping hairdresser. "Oh my GOSH, darling can you believe it? After all this time, And here I thought he didn't like me!"

Dot, ever the one to pick up a bit quickly, sat and faked painting Max's nails, replying in that same tone. "Oh lucky you! You'll have to bring the boy 'round here sometime, let him meet all the girls!"

"Goodness will I ever, you know I introduce you to all my new boyfriends Margaret."

Whatever Dot said next, was lost on Yakko. The continued mentions of date and boyfriend, were a bit much for his heart to take. He felt much like a teapot. Emotions bubbling and ready to scream.

"Well your nails look lovely now if I do say so, you'll be all ready for your date with that Yakko boy."

Yakko was thoroughly flustered now, only able to watch in shock as the bit continued.

Max blew at the tips of his gloves and pretended to admire them. "Thank you so much Margie, they're as beautiful as ever." 

Dot and Wakko both decide now was a good time to make their departure. Traitors, leaving him alone to deal with the racing of his heart. As they jumped down, his little sister made two more comments. "You must tell me how your date went when you're here next." Then again, in her normal voice, laced with sincerity. "You must, Max."

He swallowed, and waved her off. "Um, yeah, if he'll let me."

If he does the what-the who now? Let him? Yakko? Let Max? Take him on a date? Let? As if that wasn't the deepest secret clutched behind the bars of his sole since they'd met?

"D-do you, do you maybe- um. I mean if it's ok..." Yakko trailed off. He was hopeful, but he really didn't want to be made an idiot if he'd misread everything that just happened.

"Make it a real date? I'd love to."

[lilac-hecox]

So, I offered to write mini flash fics for anyone that could prove they have donated to a Palestine fund and the first of the mini fics is for @sheisaquarius-blog! Who asked for Angela/Arasha and some playful banter and flirting!

Angela/Arasha - Arangela - 1, 2, Switch

--

“Oh, you’re going down, bitches!” Angela says, breaking into eager giggles as she bounces next to Chanse on the games set.

The couch has been pushed out of the way to make room for the four of them – Angela, Chanse, Arasha, and Courtney- to be able to stand while they play their round of 1, 2, Switch. Based on fan ideas and interest, the company is having a competitive bracket of duo versus duo to see which one comes out on top. While Angela doubts that she and Chanse will fare any better if they match up against Ian and Anthony again, she feels mildly confident in the ability to be able to defeat Arash and Courtney.

“Yeah, right,” Courtney says, rolling her eyes while Arasha crosses her arms defiantly behind the blonde, “You two are going down.”

“How can I fight my best friend?” Chanse asks, reaching out longingly towards Courtney.

The girl grins and reaches back for him melodramatically.

“We’re star-crossed.”

“Hey!” Angela says, hitting Chanse on the arm, “I’m your best friend and your teammate here!”

“And the soon to be losers!” Arasha adds.

Angela laughs, “I don’t think so because you can’t cheat and lie your way out of this one, Arasha!”

Arasha gasps in feigned anger before she turns soft eyes on Chanse.

“Sorry you’re stuck with the dumbest member of Smosh,” Arasha says to him sympathetically.

Chanse cackles and Angela swats at his arm again.

“Chanse! Defend my honor!”

“Right! Right, look, we got this because Angela doesn’t need to spell in these games!” Chanse says.

Angela groans.

“You’re not helping.”

Spencer and Alex step on to the set and Spencer is clapping his hands.

“Save that energy for the video!” Spencer says.

Chanse and Angela and Courtney and Arasha are regulated to their respective sides of the room as Alex begins to turn on and synch up the joycons they’ll be using for the game.

Angela glances over at Arasha and Courtney. They are psyching each other up, Arasha giggling, her eyes bright and her lips curled in a happy smile. Angela sighs, momentarily lost in watching the other woman.

Chanse nudges Angela in the side with his elbow.

“You’re staring.”

“I am not!” Angela says even as she looks away from Arasha to meet Chanse’s gaze.

He levels her with a look that says he doesn’t believe a single word she says, and she rolls her eyes, buries her face in her hands.

“Don’t look at me.”

“Oh, Angela, it’s a harmless crush.”

She whips her head up and then grabs at him and pushes him back towards the wall.

“Don’t talk about that here! She’s right there!” Angela whispers.

Chanse grabs her elbows and holds on to her as if he’s trying to calm her down.

She’s not upset, just jumpy. The very last thing Angela needs is Arasha or anyone else finding out about her crush on the other woman.

Chanse takes pity on her, rolling his eyes as he leads her back to the main part of the set.

“We’re going to start in three minutes,” Spencer says from off-camera.

The four of them get into position and Spencer begins his countdown. When they hit zero, Courtney launches into the opening intro of the video, Arasha, Angela, and Chanse nodding along behind her.

“So, Arasha and I will be going head-to-head against Chanse and Angela,” Courtney says, turning to show the camera the other three participants.

At Courtney’s words, Arasha crosses the side of the room and pretends to put Angela in a headlock, but really, it just leaves Angela tucked into the crook of Arasha’s arm, Arasha’s soft hair brushing Angela’s cheek and she can smell the sweetness of Arasha’s perfume.

Angela wills herself not to turn red as she breaks into giggles. Chanse, her best friend in the world, saves her.

“Hands off my teammate, heathen!” Chanse tsks, and tugs Angela away.

Arasha grins at them, pointing two fingers at her own eyes before directing them to Angela as if to say she was going to keep an eye out on her as she retreats. Angela works very hard to try and not be weird or act like an idiot on camera. Their fans are eagle-eyed and if she shows the slightest hint of a crush on Arasha, someone is bound to figure it out, and she’ll never be able to live it down.

The episode begins and they launch into the cooking timer mini game. Angela and Chanse win, but barely, and Angela flexes in front of the camera.

They roll the squatting mini game and as luck would have it, or because Chanse sucks, Angela ends up facing Arasha as they prepare to squat. Arasha holds Angela’s gaze, her dark eyes alight with amusement. Angela feels tongue-tied as she attempts to listen for the game to begin and not find herself grinning like an idiot at Arasha across from her.

The game starts and try as Angela might to listen, she’s half-distracted by the laughter from her castmates as well as the way Arasha’s jeans cling to her hips and thighs as she squats, how at times they’ll make eye-contact, and for one second, Arasha gives her a look like she knows exactly what Angela is thinking.

Angela swallows and tries her best to focus.

Really, she was doomed from the start.

“Yes!” Courtney cheers, “We won, ‘Rasha!”

Arasha grins and scoops Courtney up in a lift, twirling her, as Angela wishes like hell that it were her in Arasha arms, laughing and giggling and spinning.

Arasha sets Courtney down.

“We’re tied,” Arasha says, “We just need two more to win,”

“Well, you ain’t getting it,” Chanse says, clicking his tongue at Arasha.

The next game that rolls around is the hip bump. Of course, Angela ends up against Arasha. The game doesn’t necessarily require touching, but Chanse and Courtney go first, and they bump their asses together with all the grunts and moans that one would expect from the two of them.

So, when it’s Angela’s turn against Arasha, she has to at least meet Chanse’s energy and she bumps her butt against Arasha’s. On Arasha’s turn, she swivels her hip and bumps Angela and Angela nearly falls, with Arasha reaching out at the last moment and grabbing at Angela’s waist to keep her steady. Angela could faint. Her brain was not even thinking of a funny comeback now, just looking into Arasha’s big brown eyes with fondness.

In the end, Arasha and Courtney take the round. They need one more to win.

Courtney cheers and slaps at her own ass.

“Our asses are too powerful!” Courtney says.

“Yeah, Arasha’s ass almost knocked Angela out,” Chanse says.

“Hey!” Arasha says through laughter.

“It’s okay, it’s how she wants to die,” Chanse adds.

“Chanse!” Angela squeals and shoves at him.

Spencer has to wrangle them back in for the next game and it’s a quiz game that Chanse and Angela thankfully win. So, again, they are tied two-to-two.

The last game of the episode is musical chairs. They skip around in a circle and Angela is following Chanse with Arasha behind her. Every time they freeze Angela is too aware of how close Arasha is. She’s a normal distance but Angela swears she can feel the residual warmth from Arasha freezing next to her.

The first few rounds of the game no one is out, but by the third round Angela loses her focus and then ducks down to the floor slower than the rest of the group. She’s out and it’s down to Chanse, Arasha, and Courtney.

Courtney gets out next and it’s down to Arasha and Chanse. Angela doesn’t care really whether she and Chanse win or lose, more so just worried about if the video was funny and entertaining. The music stops more abruptly than before and Chanse wobbles on his feet before he falls.

Arasha and Courtney cheer and Arasha picks Courtney up in celebration. Angela is grinning watching them as she and Chanse take their loss.

“Ian and Anthony are going to beat your asses!” Chanse snipes.

“Maybe, but at least we made it to round two,” Arasha says.

They wrap the video and it’s almost time for lunch. As Angela stands at Amanda’s desk, where Angela has made a makeshift station of her own, drinking water, Arasha approaches her.

“Good job out there,” Arasha says, a smile on her face.

Angela tries not to blush, but she shrugs, “I kind of suck at all that.”

“You don’t, you’re great,” Arasha says, her tone softer than before.

Angela caps her water and looks at the other girl.

Arasha is smiling, something soft and warm that has Angela feeling like she’ll melt on the spot.

“Next time we should be on a team,” Arasha says.

“Really? I don’t think a lot of people are vying to be paired up with me.”

Arasha shrugs and reaches out to squeeze Angela’s shoulder.

“Something tells me we’d do really well, Ang.”

[youregonnagofaar]

happy ending myth: a steve harrington story 

ch.4 our savior, kate bush

chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 

pairing: best friend!eddie munson, close friend!max mayfield, slowburn!steve harrington

summary: max writes letters for everyone incase she doesn’t make it. steve is determined to keep the kids safe. you witness your first vecna attack up close. you and steve have a heart to heart after a panic attack. 

a/n: so sorry this is as late as it is, work got really busy. also my photoshop is being weird so this graphic isn’t very good. i will try to update it once photoshop is up and running for me. 

warnings/tags:  mild violence, curse words, anxiety, pls let me know if i missed anything

taglist; @evansflowers

Steve Harrington walked down the steps to the Wheeler’s basement, his hand running through his hair as he tried his best to make sense of everything. The way your eyes looked into his clouded his mind. He should’ve been used to the unsure feeling that life with the Upside Down gave him, but time and time again he was still left a little confused. Maybe it was good that Dustin interrupted that moment before because he wasn’t even sure if it was even right to feel this way about you. There was no doubt that when he saw you he felt electricity in his chest, but there was the fear of not being good enough lurking in the back of his mind. He used to be confident of his smooth talking and ability to charm people…now he was constantly second-guessing his every move. He so desperately didn’t want to mess up whatever this feeling was that he felt for you. When you moved into his eyesight, he just wanted to hold you in his arms. You flashed him a smile that made him feel all warm and fuzzy. God, why did Robin have to be with Nance when he needed her at this moment? 

The once king of Hawkins had no idea what you were thinking. That you too, were having some type of panic attack cause the person you talked to about these types of things, also wasn’t around. Eddie Munson knew all about the crushes you had and he would do his best to raise your confidence to consider talking to the person. However, it never actually worked, sure he made you feel that you could do this, but you chickened out every time. It wasn’t that you hated the idea of dating someone, it was more you were afraid of giving anyone that much trust. Both Eddie and Ms. Kelley would often tell you that just because your parents were bad at loving people, doesn’t mean that you are. This was of course true, but what if you were as bad at loving people as your parents? What if you ended up hurting someone you loved because the people who were meant to teach you how to love, ended up not even knowing how to love you? 

You moved to the recliner to get a better view of Max, she hadn’t moved from that desk for hours. Every time you started to feel just a hint of feelings toward Steve, you would remind yourself that Max was in danger. That she needed you to be focused just in case this Vecna was to show his face again. Steve sat down where you once had been and Dustin soon took a seat next to him. All four of you were staring at Max as she was folding pieces of paper and placing them in envelopes. 

“I know you guys are staring at me.” Max was now turning to face the group. Her words caused all of you to shift in your seats. Steve, Lucas, Dustin, and you began to look at the ceiling, pretending that you were not in fact staring. “How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Venca, I don’t know.” You watched as she began to get up from the desk with what appeared to be a set of letters. As she walked forward she looked at each one of you with furrowed brows. 

“You can look at me now.” All of you replied with apologies before sitting up straight and giving her all the attention. “For you.” Her voice was shaky as she began to hand each one of you a letter. “Oh and give these to Mike, El, and Will. If you ever get a hold of them again.” Max was now only holding one letter and you could see the letter B on the front. As you held your letter your brain began to feel fuzzy and you didn’t come back to reality until you heard Max yell at Dustin. Looking back up you sighed as Dustin asked the question on everyone's minds, “What are these for?” 

“It’s umm…it’s a fail-safe. For after. If things don’t work out.” Max met Dustin's eyes with sadness.

“Wait, whoa Max, things are going to work out.” Lucas finally spoke up, he was looking at her with wide eyes. He wasn’t going to let Max just be taken away by some monster.

“No! No, I don’t need you to reassure me and tell me it’s all gonna work out. People have been telling me that my entire life and it’s almost never true. It’s never true.” Max paused and scoffed at the whole idea of her life and fate. “I mean, of course, this asshole curses me. Should’ve seen that one coming.” Each one of you was now holding a letter and feeling sorrow fill your chests. Max wasted no time and was already on the move, picking up the only walkie-talkie left she questioned Dustin. “If we go to East Hawkins will this reach Pennhurst?” 

Dustin nodded and Steve began to look at her with raised eyebrows. “Wait, why are we talking about East Hawkins?” Max just looked at him and soon all of you had eyes on Steve. After seeing the name on the last letter left, you knew where Max wanted to go next. As he began to repeat “No” over and over again, you began to get up and follow Max out of the Wheeler basement. 

“Max, Max, seriously. Seriously, I’m not joking. I’m not driving you anywhere.” Steve followed behind the both of you and Max refused to back down. This wasn’t the first time both Steve and Max had some type of standoff. He was doing his best to not let her win this one, he just wanted to keep her safe.

“Steve, if you think I’m going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler’s basement, then you’re out of your mind. Either take me where I need to go or tie me down, which is technically kidnapping a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to god I will prosecute.” Max kept walking as she spoke and you could see the annoyance on Steve’s face. He kept trying to look to you for advice but you agreed with the girl. It wasn’t fair to keep her locked up if Vecna could get her at any time. Once she reached the car she began to jiggle the handle, trying to open the locked door before looking Steve dead in the eyes. “Open it.” 

“Uhh, no…” Steve responded he was determined to not let Max go anywhere. It was such an awful time for you to notice how adorable he was when trying to be the boss with Max. Shaking your head you tried your best to keep your mind on track.

“I know a good lawyer.” But Max was determined, and you waited as Steve began to realize that her determination was much bigger than his. Dustin, Lucas, and you all stood there watching this showdown take place, knowing it was Steve who was going to fold. 

It only took a few minutes for Steve to finally scoff. “Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst.”  Each of you smirked to yourselves as you got into the car. As the car started up you could see Steve shaking his head and muttering to himself. He began to think of how these kids were going to be the reason he has a heart attack at a young age. Something you couldn’t hear too well since he was muffled by the sound of the engine. 

The drive to East Hawkins was one filled with weird tension. “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen was quietly playing as Steve kept his eyes on the road. You found yourself glancing at Steve’s hands on the steering wheel, watching how they would grip the wheel now and then. As you watched his knuckles change from white back to his skin tone, you placed your hand on his thigh. He looked over at you, worry lines tracing his face. Both of you were nervous for Max. At one time in her life, both of you were able to protect her. This time it was different and it made you both feel so helpless. Just as you were about to ask him if he was okay, Steve pulled right in front of Max’s trailer. Your hand found its way back to your thigh as you watched the young girl get out of the car. 

“This better be quick, Mayfield.” He stated as he placed the car in park. 

“Twenty seconds.” Her reply was short as she shut the door behind her, before jogging up to her front door. 

Dustin and Lucas were giving each other looks in the back. You knew that they had known each other for a long time so, of course, it was easy to communicate without any words. Once Max made her way into her home you turned to face Steve. He watched as you began to fiddle with the corners of your letter. Something you had been doing since Max gave it to you. 

“Hey, Y/N, look we are going to do our best to make sure we never have to read those letters.” His voice did sound assuring but you knew deep down that you felt just like Max did. You knew he had no control over Max’s future nor did any of you know how to stop Vecna. 

You looked up at Steve before your eyes went wide. “Bennett! I have to go feed him. I will be right back, oh my god!” Before anyone could say a word you were stumbling out of the car and into your trailer. Bennett didn’t even greet you at the door, mad that you hadn’t come home last night to feed him. “Buddy! I am so sorry!” You gave him a look and sighed. He replied with a loud meow. “Yes, yes I know!” Bennett began to meow until you finally opened the can of wet food. Just in case, you placed some extra kibble in his bowl and filled his favorite cup of water. Giving him a nice ear scratch, you gave him a quick kiss on the head, before leaving your trailer to get back to the car.

The more time Steve spent around you, he began to understand how Max was able to find such solace in you. He noticed the way you listened to everyone in the group. How you would look them in the eye as they spoke, showing you were actively listening. Even though you had so many other worries, you always did your best to focus on the other person. The way you could tell he was anxious while driving baffled him. Robin and Dustin were the only people who ever noticed his anxieties. You were able to notice things that most didn’t and it both scared and excited him. Before he was able to get too lost in his thoughts, you appeared in the corner of his eye. You had stopped in your tracks as you were walking towards the car. “Y/N?!” He shouted but you didn't respond, you just ran to the back of Max’s home. 

You saw Max, who was now on the ground, and made your way to help her up. Her face was a mix of sadness and dread, making you realize what had happened. It was Venca, he had made her see something, and even worse it must’ve linked to her mother. “I don’t know what he just did to you, but listen to me, we will get you to where you need to be.” Max nodded as you helped her back up to her feet. “I got you.” You whispered as you brought her back to where the boys were. All of them look at Max with confusion and worry, before looking back at you for some type of explanation. “She’s fine, we just need to go now.” The tone of your voice scared Steve a little, he nodded in response before getting back into the car and starting it back up. You helped Max into the backseat with Lucas and Dustin before getting back in the front. 

Dustin was still looking at Max with worry “Did something happen?” The tone of his voice made your heart sink because you could tell that Max was so loved by everyone in this car. 

“Can we please just go?” Max responded as tears welled in her eyes. She refused to look at anyone in the car not wanting to feel their pity, so she just looked out the window letting her tears fall. 

Steve gave you a look and you knew at some point both of you would need to speak on what happened but right now Max needed you to get her somewhere. So you simply just mouthed that you were okay, which was something that you both knew wasn’t true. Only you and Max knew where she was attempting to go. When you both saw the turn for the cemetery you both spoke at the same time “Turn here.” Dustin and Lucas were looking at Max and Steve was looking at you. Max didn’t even look them in the eye to notice the distress on their faces, but you saw it all. The way Lucas looked at Max with heartbreak, made you emotional but this wasn’t the time. So you faced the road trying your best to be as helpful as possible. 

The first time Max took you to Billy’s tombstone, she made you play the same song repeatedly until she was able to talk. Max had told you that he died in the mall fire and nothing else. It was only a few days ago, that you knew that he was murdered by some out-of-this-world being. All of it happening right in front of Max, not only that but he had been possessed before his death. Now you could honestly say that Billy Hargrove was an absolute asshole. When he arrived at Hawkins High, he was filled with so much anger. When you would see him in the halls you tried your best to steer clear. You would never tell Max your actual feelings towards her step-brother. It never seemed like your opinion really mattered since most felt how you did. So you let her mourn and you taught her different ways you coped with being alone. You tried your best to help Max get her life back and some days, it felt like it was working, but there were far more bad days. Now it all made sense as to why, because there is no way to grieve when some creepy being won’t let you do so. This Vecna had become your worst enemy, and you felt your fist tighten as you thought of all the people it harmed, people that you loved. 

It wasn’t until the door shut, with a loud and quick thud, that you realized that Steve had reached Max’s destination. Lucas was following behind Max and you could hear Max doing her best to get him to just go back to the car. Since he had shown up, she had been actively avoiding any type of conversation with Lucas. Deep down, she knew that a conversation with him would be the hardest. He knew her better than anyone ever did, knew her better than you ever would, because of the trauma they shared. You got out of the car and placed your arms on the hood. Resting your chin on your forearms, you began to watch Max and Lucas. A smile appeared on your face when you could see the way Max’s stance softened the more Lucas used his arms to speak. Steve had noticed this and made his way to stand right next to you. Copying the way you were looking at the two, he then turned his head to face you. 

“Hey,” He said as he bumped his hip into yours. His touch instantly made you look at him with the same smile you had for the kids plastered on your face. “So how scary is Max when you bring up Lucas?” He had heard Lucas complaining that he hadn’t seen Max as much since the Russian Mall ploy. Steve knew that Max was most likely avoiding Lucas, but he wasn’t exactly sure why.

You smirked before admitting “Anytime I talk to her about love or Lucas, she turns this shade of red. When you put that with the type of glare she loves to give, it’s terrifying.” A small laugh escaped your lips and it almost felt wrong to make such a noise. How could anyone be laughing when everything was so awful? You sighed and Steve noticed the sudden discomfort. This was something he could help with and it made him feel proud. 

“You can feel happy, I know it feels weird too but you can still feel the good feelings when they come.” As he spoke you felt a wave of calm wash over your body. As if some weight had been lifted off your shoulders. Changing your stance to lean against the car with your hip you looked at him. The look you had flashed him caused his knees to feel weak. As you began to speak he moved to face you, his arms crossing over his chest. 

“Steve, earlier I asked Dustin and Max if you had changed. If you truly weren't the facade that you always put up. I guess I should’ve just waited to talk to you for the answer. I always knew there was something more under that wall you put up back in school.” You spoke with a tone of warmth that made Steve smile. His King of Hawkins days was filled with horrible moments where he felt like an awful person. Yet, here was someone telling him that they knew that he couldn’t have been all that bad. All of it caused his head to spin and he felt a small pain in his left temple. Sure, the pain of it scared him but the way he felt when you spoke to him was something he wanted to keep forever. “Anyways, what I’m trying to say is…. thank you. You take care of these kids. Which is a really important job and you helped take care of me.” You placed your hand on his cheek and tilted your head to look at him. Steve swallowed hard before you quickly removed your hand and began to face Max again. He watched the way you were looking at Max as she sat on the grass above. 

“You’re welcome.” He stated with a cocky grin, before frowning once he looked down at his watch. “It’s been long enough, we should make sure she is okay.” 

Lucas let out a scoff. “Steve, just give her some time.” 

“I’ve given her enough time, alright Sinclair.” Steve’s voice was more assertive... “I’m calling it. She wants to get a lawyer, she can.” You followed as he made his way up the hill, Dustin and Lucas stayed behind. 

“Hey, Max!” You shouted as the two of you jogged towards Billy’s grave. Max was sitting on the ground facing the words William Hargrove etched in stone. Her whole body seemed stiff and it set alarm bells off in your head.  

“Time to giddy up, yeah?” Steve spoke as he got closer to the redhead. She wasn’t moving just simply staring at the tombstone. “Max?” He questioned and the panic in his voice caused you to quickly get on the ground in front of her. Steve’s hand was on her shoulder as he began to gently shake her. Both of you were now saying her name repeatedly trying your best to get her back. Her eyes were white as if they were rolled back, the sight filled you with fear. 

As your and Steve’s voice began to shout louder it alerted Lucas and Dustin, who were still standing near the car. “Guys!” Steve shouted, making them run up the hill with urgency. All of you were kneeling on the grass trying to get Max out of this trance. Tears filled your eyes but you refused to cry, nothing about you mattered right now, you could only focus on Max. 

“Max, you gotta get outta there!” Lucas was shouting while holding onto Max’s shoulder. Steve looked at the pure terror on your and Lucas’s faces and grabbed Dustin by the collar.

“Call Nancy and Robin! Go get ‘em! Call Nancy and Robin! Go!” Steve was shouting and every word you heard sounded garbled. That fuzzy feeling earlier consumed your brain causing everything to feel, look, and sound like a blur. Dustin was now stumbling down the hill trying his best to get to the walkie-talkie as fast as possible. Once he reached the device he began to yell for whoever could hear him on the other side. 

Time seemed to stand still as all of you were yelling or shaking Max to get her to just come back. Your whole body was now tense as you did your best to wake her up. Each muscle in your body flexed tightly as you were screaming her name. What was that thing doing to Max? How in the hell do we reach her wherever her mind is? Your thoughts were racing; it felt as if you were going to pass out from the adrenaline coursing through your veins. A figure caught the corner of your eye. You were only now noticing Dustin throwing all of Max’s tapes on the ground. 

“What’s her favorite song?!” Dustin kept asking over and over again. Ignoring anything anyone else was saying. 

As you began to shift through each tape you found the one you knew would bring her back. “Kate Bush! Running up that hill!” You shouted abruptly, before handing the marbled special edition tape you had bought for Max, over to Lucas for him to place it in the player. Dustin then put the headphones on her head and you pressed play. 

All of you watched with terror, but so much hope because all of you cared too damn much for Max to lose her now. Suddenly, she lifted off the ground and you all began to use every vocal chord you had left to shout her name. You all began to scream and jump praying that Max would just hear you. 

“MAX!” You all yelled in unison. “MAX, PLEASE COME BACK!” Tears welled in everyone's eyes as you watched her levitate in the air. Her whole body was limp and her head fell back, eyes were up to the sky. Each shout from everyone grew louder and hoarse. All of you are on the verge of losing your voices. Out of nowhere, you saw her body twitch and right after that, she began to fall back to the ground. You and Lucas dove to the ground making sure that she didn’t break any bones. Once she became aware of Lucas, he pulled her into his arms and held onto her as she began to hyperventilate.  

“It’s okay! We got you!” You sat right in front of Max watching as she grabbed onto Lucas’s arm tightly. 

“We thought we lost you.” Lucas’s voice was cracking. It was only now that any of you were able to cry. Max lay in his arms, she was breathing fast as tears began to flow down her face. Every single one of you was now crying with happiness and fear after everything that had just happened. 

After you noticed Max begin to breathe at a steadier pace, you let your body fall softly back onto the grass. Every muscle felt weak as if you had been holding something heavy up for hours. All of your tears had dried up on your face making your skin feel dry and tight. Closing your eyes, you tried your best to steady your breathing while listening to Lucas comfort Max. It wasn’t until you felt someone hovering over you that your heavy eyelids fluttered open. Steve was looking at you, his eyes glassy from all the emotions that flooded him earlier. He was sitting on the grass, his head above yours as he let out a sigh. Neither of you can speak, so instead, you both give each other a tired smile. As you sat back up, you sat close to Steve, taking your thumb to his cheek, you wiped the few tears that still lingered. He wasn’t sure if it was the high from Max coming back or if it was lack of sleep, but he swore he could melt into your touch. Every time your skin touched his, he felt the safest he has ever been. Placing a hand on yours, he looked into your eyes and wanted so desperately to kiss you right there, but he knew this wasn’t the time. Max was still very much in danger and they needed to get back to Nance and Robin. Each one of you was in some chaotic daze, where you felt so strong yet so weak. Deep down he wondered if there was ever going to be the right moment for you and him. Or if all this was a mess of missed opportunities. Shaking his head, he gave you one last smile before getting off the ground. After brushing the stray grass off his jeans he held a hand out, which you gladly took, gripping his hand a bit tighter than before. It was evident to Steve that his only moments of calm were when he was close to you. 

This high lasted about 2 hours, which happened to be the same amount of time it took all of you to get back in the car and drive back to the Wheeler household. Nancy and Robin were waiting in the driveway after having an adventure of their own. The older kids helped each young one get into the basement and waited until they fell asleep. Once Nancy knew the kids were all asleep, she turned to you and Steve, she held so much concern and worry on her face. It was very clear from the way Nancy and Steve looked at each other, that there was deep care still there. 

“What happened back there? Where did you take her?” Nancy’s voice was hushed and held a tiny tone of anger. 

“Nance, Max wrote these letters and then asked to go to East Hawkins. Something happened when she gave her mother a letter.” Steve’s fingers were running through his hair, something you noticed he did when he was very anxious. “Vecna, he got her when she was at Billy’s grave. We were only able to save her because of what you two told Dustin.” His eyes darted between Robin and Nancy. 

“Kate Bush, our savior saved Max. Her favorite song got her out of whatever Vecna had her in.” Your voice was raspy and there was a burning sensation that happened each time you talked. “Nothing got her out of it, not us yelling or shaking her, it was just that song.” You cleared your throat and sighed. Steve placed a knowing hand on your shoulder as if to tell you that you didn’t need to explain anymore. 

“Steve and Y/N, go rest, Robin and I will be on Max watch. We will wake you up when we need to switch. We can ask Max more about what happened when she wakes up.” It felt nice to be in the presence of someone so sure of themselves. Nancy always seemed in control even when everything around her made no sense.

You nodded and began to walk over toward the floor, almost ready to finally relax and sit down, Steve swooped in and tutted. “Yeah, no you are sleeping on this recliner, you had floor duty last night.” You wanted to fight him so badly but it was no use, he had caught you at the perfect time. Falling back into the chair you let out a hiss of pain. Your body was tender and sore. The noise caused Steve’s eye to fix on you, he watched as you closed your eyes. Once you settled he allowed himself to lie down and relax and the two of you drifted off to sleep quickly. 

Several hours later, you woke up in a cold sweat. Gasping as you sat up, it only took a few moments to realize that you were still in the Wheeler’s basement. Wiping the sweat from your brow, you began to put the recliner back in the chair. You tip-toed to the bathroom, making sure not to wake anyone as you shut the door behind you. Looking in the mirror you sighed, your hair was a wreck and your eyes had new dark circles under them. The best you could do to wash up was splash some water on your face and place your hair in a bun. Every part of your body craved a hot shower, knowing it would soothe all of your aching muscles. As you sat down on the closed toilet seat you placed your head in your hands. 

Despite sitting completely still, the world felt as if it was moving. With the fast nature of everything that has happened and the way your anxiety played with your mind, it was very easy to fall into a spiral. A rush of warmth covered your body as tears began to form in your eyes. Silently, you cried as all of it felt like it was far too much to bear. Steve Harrington had woken up in a similar manner, sweaty and breathing too hard. When he looked up at the recliner and saw you were gone, panic started to consume him. Frantically, he began to look around trying to find any sign of where you had been and that’s when he saw it. A light shone through the bottom of the bathroom door, quietly he made his way to the door and gave it three knocks. The sudden sound caused you to gasp before wiping your eyes and breathing deeply, you opened the door. You swore you could’ve melted into the floor with the look that Steve was giving you at this moment. His eyes held a sincerity that you were sure no one other person had shown you before causing you to cry once more. 

As he watched you sob in the Wheeler’s bathroom he let out a sad sigh. As you sat back down on the toilet seat, he got down on his knees to get you to look at him. He kneeled between your thighs and let you rest your heavy head on his shoulder. After a few moments, you lifted your head up to look at him. It drove you crazy to see such a beautiful boy care for you the way he did while the world seemed to be taken over by some dark force. “It feels really unfair doesn’t it?” You spoke with a raspy voice that still hadn’t healed properly from all the yelling yesterday. “How have you been doing this so long? After it happens, Hawkins acts like nothing strange went on and you all just have to act normal? It just doesn’t seem right.” 

Steve listened to you, a look of dismay on his face because he did agree that all of this was unfair. “I was able to get through it 'cause they were. Well, I mean, I still have nightmares and horrible pains in my face, but I guess it helps to have friends around. Friends who know exactly what happened even if the rest of the world doesn’t.” He so badly wanted to soothe all your worries. Let you know that, yes, it was hard but at least you had each other. “I used to hate all of this, but then I got two best friends out of it….” He paused cause he wasn’t sure if he should even confess his feelings for you, but the way you looked so scared and he hated it. “I also only met you because of all this. I mean, Y/N, you remember me in school, I wasn’t a good person and I would’ve never gotten to talk to you or see your book collection.” 

Your eyes widened at everything he was saying because it set a rush through your body. However, this one wasn’t awful…it was very pleasant. A smile formed on your face and when he saw that he began to smile too. “Steve…” You sighed and he just looked at you, his eyes inviting and it made every part of your body feel like it was on fire. It shocked you to your core that this boy was comforting you and telling you that he was happy to have faced awful monsters just to have met. He took your hands in his and waited for you to speak but you weren’t even sure what to say. Yes, you liked Steve and, of course, you wanted to kiss him, but what if you kissed him and it ruined everything? Steve Harrington was an experienced person and you were very much the opposite. You were far too overwhelmed, so instead, you bit your lip and smiled softly at him. “Thank you, I'm not sure why you even are helping me the way you are, but thank you.” 

He knew exactly why he wanted to help you in every possible way because deep down he knew you were it. You were the person he felt that he could tell everything to and you wouldn’t judge him for any of it. There were things he wanted to tell you that he hadn’t told Robin yet. It never felt like this before, like everything he needed was sitting here in front of him panicking. He knew he had loved Nancy, and one time he had even loved Robin in a non-platonic way, but with you it was different. He wanted to know what your lips felt like against his, but he knew you weren’t ready for that. This wasn’t the look on your face that he had pictured before kissing you. So instead he squeezed your hands gently and smiled bigger than before. “Anything for you.” He meant every word of it and the sincerity caused your cheeks to turn a rosy pink. It was a color he swore was now his favorite. “Come on, let's get out of this bathroom and get some fresh air.” 

You nodded and followed him knowing that from here on out you would follow him anywhere. Steve Harrington used to be a mystery to you, but now you were able to see him. You saw that he had a heart made of gold but no one had taught him how to use it. So instead he had to fight some monsters to help its kickstart. You felt so doomed but in a way that was very different from the damnation of the upside down. No, this doom you’d gladly welcome into your life if it meant he was by your side.

“Way down here upon the ground When we're lying in the dirt There's no looking up for heaven Looking up for heaven” - glory by bastille 

[hannah-heartstrings]

Find the Word Tag

Thanks for tagging me @druidx!

I found advice in older works so you get a snippet from Tale of Argon circa 2015:

           Mirrun descended stairs into a cellar that spanned the length of the village it was under. It was here that she’d called a secret meeting with the Order of Corla, for it was here where they all started.

           “Where’s the king?” one looked skeptical at her.

           She stepped into the middle of them, hands held behind her back as she stood tall. “Father has left on a reconnaissance mission. He said for you to answer to me while he is gone.”

           “That’s convenient, that he is not here to tell us himself.”

           She looked at him directly, a polite but cold smile on her face. “Do you have any doubt that my father trusts me?”

           He stood silent for a moment. “No.”

           “Has he ever turned away my advice?”

           “No,” he wasn’t happy to admit.

           “Then it doesn’t really matter if he actually said that or not, does it?”

From Moorainia Chronicles (2019), attitude:

           Walking up to the console Annalise reached for a button.

           “Don’t press that!” she pushed her hand away.

           “What does it do?”

           “Nothing.”

           “Then why can’t I press it?”

           “’Cause I don’t want you pressing stuff!” her voice cracked.

           Realizing she was freaking out Pyron walked up behind her seat. “We’ll help you figure it out.”

           “Really?” she asked, eyes and voice full of attitude. “Because you couldn’t figure out how a microwave worked until I showed you; and then you just gawked at it.”

           “It cooks food by spinning it!” said Ann.

           “OK you still don’t know how a microwave works.”

Conveniently, ability was used in the Oblivion fic I worked on over the weekend:

           She took a breath and smiled to hide her nervousness before walking up. “Hey Garrus.”

           “Lecrinn,” he lit up, “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, not that I’m complaining of course,” he looked a bit nervous himself now, “you’re always welcome here.”

           Her smile brightened as she reached him. She started to open her mouth, pausing as she realized she never came up with an excuse to be here. “So what was that?” She pointed to where the other men left.

           He looked troubled. “A thief broke into the castle.”

           Her heart sunk.

           “They stole from the throne room while I was guarding it,” he looked away, “right from under my very nose!”

           She looked off, lips pulling to the side. “They couldn’t have taken much though right? It shouldn’t be too big of a deal.”

           He looked down ashamed. “It’s not about that… They were stolen on my watch, and with me being the new guard captain it’s made the count doubt my ability to do this job.”

           Her eyes widened, she hadn’t even thought of that.

           He looked up and over the city determined. “Which is why I can’t rest till the thief is caught.”

           Gaping, she felt a pang in her chest.

           “I should really get back to my search.” As he turned back to her she quickly snapped her mouth shut. “Was there something you needed?” He looked concerned.

           “I was just saying hi,” she tried to smile.

           “Enjoy your stay,” he gave her a quick smile before leaving.

           “Go get your thief!” she swung an arm. Watching him go the pang of guilt grew, if there was one thing she knew about Garrus it was that he already didn’t rest enough. And that he was kind, thoughtful, honest- She shook her head, not the point. Point was, she couldn’t believe she’d done this to him, and when he was the only guard she trusted she couldn’t let him lose his job.

           She ran to the castle.

Sorry, I couldn’t find article.

This coincidentally became my writing through the years and the first one might be the best one. Why?

Tagging: @raiswanson @emeraldhazeart @nerevar-quote-and-star @lady-redshield-writes and anyone else who wants to jump in.

Your words are moon, home, hearth, and tears.

[ragingclaw]

The Door to Harmony (Harvey x OC)

Summary: How a single sound can annoy Harvey. | Based on Harvey's dialogue: "As summer draws to a close, and the colder season begins, my workload tends to increase. Sorry in advance if I'm a little moody..."

Word Count: 1506

AN: I tried to write angst but I just can't so I'll just call this a fic with a little bit of ✨ sazon ✨

Four times.

Four times the door had swung open. Four times the door had creaked amidst the silence of their farmhouse. It was only 5 PM after all, and Harvey knew that Hiraya was very busy considering they were in the middle of Fall; he had seen earlier the state of their farm and knew that all of the crops were ready to be harvested. Yet the sound of the door creaking repeatedly drove Harvey insane.

Harvey tried not to bring the stress of his work to their home, considering it was the only place where he ever felt safe and at ease. And with them being a family of three, Harvey knew that it would be a bad idea as babies can easily pick up on their parent’s emotions.

Still, all of those things weren’t enough to stop him from getting annoyed at a sound that he was used to hearing. He didn’t know why it irritated him so much. He’d opened a new model plane to distract his mind from the door and it still wasn’t enough. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed the bridge of his nose to try and calm himself when suddenly…

Creak

In a matter of seconds, Harvey had found himself walking as fast as he could towards Hiraya, who he found rummaging through one of the kitchen cabinets. “Honey. Aya. How many times are you going to open that door?”

A confused expression was written on her face as she turned to look at him. “What?”

“The door! You’ve been coming in and out of the house five times now! The door is so damn loud!” Harvey exclaimed, unable to stop himself from raising his voice.

Hiraya scratched her head, smiling as she stood up to face him. “I’m sorry. I, uh- I keep forgetting stuff-”

“Well do something about it then! Write it on a paper or something!” he yelled, instantly regretting it when he saw Hiraya jump from the sudden change in his tone. His hand reached out to her, pulling away seconds when he saw her shoulders slump subtly. “Aya,” he started but was soon interrupted when they both heard their son cry in the kid’s room.

“I’m sorry.” Hiraya forced a smile, “I’ll go and tend to Danny.” Left alone standing in the kitchen, Harvey’s mind began to doubt his ability to become a husband and a father. Fear immediately consumed his thoughts; the fear of losing his family, the fear of failing to keep the promise that he made on their wedding day, and the fear of losing Hiraya. Those things had plagued his mind to the point that he did not notice Hiraya walking towards him.

“Harvey?”

Turning in her direction, Harvey opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by her. “We’ll be spending the night in Ridgeside. We fixed up an old farm in the northern part and the two gumballs decided to let me have it. I won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Aya, please. Let me-”

“Harvey,” he sensed a sadness in her voice, “you have work tomorrow. You should go and catch up on some sleep. I’ll stop by and pick up Danny before you leave, he likes to watch me run around the farm anyway and it’d be good to get him out once in a while.”

Hiraya placed a peck on his cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Harvey.”

As soon as the door shut behind Hiraya, Harvey felt his chest tighten as he made his way to their bedroom, changing his clothes lazily before dragging himself to bed. Not a second had passed and the tears that he had been holding back now fell freely on his temples, grabbing the pillow his wife used and hugged it tightly to his chest.

-

A bright light shining on his eyes caused Harvey to stir awake, rubbing his face only to realize he had fallen asleep the night before wearing his glasses and watch. While he recalled yesterday’s event, he caught a glimpse of the time. 10:49 AM

The fact that he had woken up late sent him running around the house, changing his clothes as quickly as he could. His usual 10-minute walk from the farmhouse to town was cut down to a 3-minute sprint.

He thought he had broken the door to his clinic when he slammed it open, while a confused but frowning Maru and a startled Marnie and Jas welcomed him. “I’m sorry I’m super late! Give me a few minutes to prepare.”

Maru’s frown turned into concern when she realized that her boss’ eyes were puffy. Raising her eyebrow, Maru waited for Harvey to notice, only for him to shake his head and head straight into his office. Marnie seemed to notice it as well as she shifted her eyes to Maru, who shrugged in response.

A couple of checkups and a pile of paperwork later, Harvey decided that he would close the clinic early. He had sent Maru home early, making up an excuse that they both know would not even fool a child. He was thankful that Maru did not probe after asking why was he late, though she gave him a sharp look before leaving the clinic.

With his mind now clear from work, Harvey took his time walking back to their home, dreading what Hiraya would say to him the moment she sees his face. The thoughts that he had from the night before invaded his mind once again, though this time a lone thought was louder than the others. What if she realizes she doesn’t love me?

Stopping in his tracks, he felt sick to his stomach at the thought that the love of his life leaving him. The person who brought hope and joy to his life, walking away from the life that they built after finally realizing that she deserves better. 

“You okay there?” a voice asked. Looking at where the voice came from, he saw Gregory holding a basket full of vegetables.

“Y-yeah.”

“Nice! We just got back from Ridgeside, there are still things left to do but we’ll save it for next week. Here, have a bok choy for good luck. I also found this perfect rock, you can have it as well.” the younger Fitzgerald took his arm and placed a bok choy in his hand, and then shoved the rock inside his bag.

“Uh, thanks. Did Aya come home with you?”

Gregory nodded. Both of them stood in silence, unsure whether to continue their conversation. For Harvey, the bok choy suddenly looked interesting when Gregory stared at him with amusement. The latter then decided to break the silence. “Fights happen, you know that don’t you? Marriage isn’t rainbows and sunshine.”

“I know.”

“Believe me when I say that the only thing that can push her to the edge is when you dull the blade of one of her knives,” Gregory laughed, “Seriously. Go home and be with your family, they’re waiting for you.”

Gregory placed his hands on his shoulders and pushed him lightly. Upon opening the door, he noticed that the creaking sound was gone, though his attention turned to Hiraya descending the stairs carrying a laundry basket.

“Honey. You’re home early,” Hiraya greeted, “Let me load these clothes in the washer and then I’ll set the table.”

Hiraya hadn’t even made it halfway through the kitchen when she felt Harvey grab her arm. “Listen, I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to yell at you, I really didn’t. I know I should’ve told you that it bothered me, but instead, I opened my mouth like a fool and took my irritation out on you. I hope you can forgive me.”

Harvey hadn’t realized he was crying until he felt Hiraya pull him into a hug, prompting him to wrap his arms around her tightly in return. Her hand gently caressed his hair, reassuring him repeatedly as he sobbed in her arms. They stayed in each other’s embrace for a while, Hiraya planting kisses all over his face as she continued to console him.

“Harvey, you apologized. That’s enough for me.” Hiraya murmured, wiping the tears away from his face, “I should’ve been more considerate of you, not everyone handles stress the way I do. I promise to do better next time honey, okay?”

He shook his head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. You couldn’t have known I was having a bad day, I should’ve communicated-”

“Honey, stop. We both did something, and we’re going to talk through it after you’ve had dinner. Alright?” Harvey nodded, “I’ll just finish this and reheat the food, you don’t need to do anything other than freshen up and relax.”

Pulling away after a kiss, Harvey watched Hiraya make her way down the basement, only for her to stop and turn to him, her expression that of someone trying to hold in their laughter.

“Honey, why were you holding that bok choy the entire time?”

For Yoba’s sake, Gregory.

[breakyourrxles]

Ϟ-  honestly the first time I’ve felt this way when reading your work was when I first read paradise lost ch. 7 when mc realized seonghwa sent that video to hongjoong:

“You slowly look back up and towards Seonghwa, still silently perched in the kitchen — watching you, but with nothing to say. Slowly, he brings his hand from the side of his arm to take a sip of the beverage…

But not before ever so gently tipping it towards you.

Cheers, indeed. And 'fuck you, too.’”

when I first read that my jaw was on the floor, I wanted to skin him alive and I had to exit out the pic for a bit before I could continue reading. I mean ik yeah “boo mc we hate your pussy” but revenge porn?? Brutal

✹- I’ve been meaning to ask for a while what is it that got you into writing and how did you improve your writing skills to what they are now?

⊞- not a prediction, but something youve mentioned before the jjk/wooyoung crossover fit (if you ever decide to do it, you know I am rsvp’d, 1st in line, 🪑, all of the above)

♫- cots! (bc I never got to read it 🥲)

oh and this one! ✦

💗💗

sorry i sent a lot i love ask games 🫶🏾

PLEASE, i love that you're willing to play along with my insanity 💗

ϟ tell me what moment/scene in [fic] made you sicko in the window.jpg to read and i’ll tell you which scene made me feel that way to write

FJGDJFJG THAT PART!!! yeah, you're so valid for that. truth be told, i wasn't sure i even wanted to do it but i really felt like it drove the point of everything home too well not to 😶 as for what scene i've written that made me feel that way? hmmmm...there's a lot of them coming up in atarashii tbh fdkgdffg so i'm excited for when more of that gets posted. probably the most i've ever felt that was the ending of ruined king though, because most everyone felt very sure it was going to go one way and i was basking in Knowing.

✹ wildcard - I’ve been meaning to ask for a while what is it that got you into writing and how did you improve your writing skills to what they are now?

oooh, good question!

so, really, i've been dabbling in writing fic for a long time. on and off, really short bursts. back in 2019 i wrote a little bit for exo and nct on ao3 but i guess i got bored, just fell off from it again. then the pandemic hit and my bestie and i got into stray kids so we started reading a whole metric fuckton of fic on here together as a bonding activity cuz we didn't really have much else to do. eventually there came a point where i was just sort of like..."i feel like i can do this," so i made a blog and wrote some short, horny lil ficlets mostly for her/us and posted them, not really expecting anyone to even read them, much less start following me for more. but that's exactly what happened LMAO. but i was bored and crazy inspired so i was just cranking out a crazy amount of fic.

which i guess naturally segues into the improvement side of things and i think the biggest factor in that is just writing. writing a shit ton. i was reading a lot of fic then as well and no doubt that helped but i really think it was the writing that really pushed me along. i realized pretty soon after starting that i wanted to do longer, more plot-focused fics and my desire to grow and improve and challenge myself has always been imbedded in doing this. it was always sort of a question with each new project of "can i pull this off if i do X."

one of the first examples of this was harbinger, which was my first sort of horror/fantasy fic, and i think doing that really leveled up my ability just by itself. i was writing paradise lost while doing that, and then afterwards i did project d, which is one of my favorite fics and i think even to this day is some of my best work! after that is when i took on the massive challenge of doing city of the sky, which, those of you who were with me on the old blog while i was doing it know that was full of horrors and trials and tribulations but it was a massive challenge to take on and while i hated doing that fic and wasn't really happy with it while it was happening, i look back at it really fondly (and am now pissed i lost so much of it in the move like an idiot 😒).

all of this to say: challenge is growth. all of my challenges have been pretty self-sustained, i've always wanted to push the boundaries of what i'm able to do and i've been willing to fall flat on my face if i fail, but i think that's how one improves sometimes? like, i think there is validity in writing just because you feel like it and it doesn't have to be some massive undertaking of becoming the best and greatest or whatever but a lot of the joy for me is the challenge, so as long as i am finding new ways to push myself, and maybe even fail and suck at something, then i'll probably still be writing, learning, hopefully getting better, and most importantly, having fun.

⊞ send a prediction for a fic i’ll write in the future - not a prediction, but something youve mentioned before the jjk/wooyoung crossover fit (if you ever decide to do it, you know I am rsvp’d, 1st in line, 🪑, all of the above)

this is so funny because i have a wip doc of a jjk fic (though it has nothing to do with kpop) that i started and then just. have not touched since. i realized i struggle to have the same inventive drive writing stuff that isn't rpf because i really enjoy the freedom of not having a "canon" to adhere to. i can write these men as anything and no one can tell me shit about it being "out of character" because they're effectively just face claims and none of us know what they're really like anyway, where as writing gojo is like...okay, we all know who and how gojo is 😭😭😭 but who knows! i can never say i'll never write something, the wip is still sitting there and season 2 is coming out so...who knows!

♫ send a fic and i’ll make a 3-5 song playlist for you - city of the sky

OH THIS IS HARD BUT FUN. (sorry you never got to read it 😭😭)

I'm a Pop - Chanmina

Blooming - Band-Maid

RIOT - Raise A Suilen

２１世紀型行進曲 - miyavi

✦ what was your easiest fic to write & your hardest?

hmmm, city of the sky definitely the hardest by far LMAO there were so many struggles and i realized less than halfway through that i hated writing action scenes...in a fic all about fighting and action. oops. easiest...maybe atarashii? it's pretty straight forward with the debauchery so i didn't have to think all that hard about it jkdfdghjdf.

THANKS FOR PLAYING WITH ME ��🥰🥰🥰

[tv-sinner]

4, 18, 26, 31 and 43!

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Hmmm.. I guess it would have to be some of my more brand new ocs (aka ones that aren’t even developed enough to have a tag on here yet!). A lot the ocs I had on my previous oc aesthetic blog are either in oc purgatory or in the process of getting revamped entirely. Some are so new that i have yet to draw them, much less talk about them. But for now, I’ll focus on one who I haven’t drawn yet from VITW verse: Adira, a butch dandelion rogue who has a love-hate/lovers AND enemies relationship with the strawberry monster huntress, St. Wickam.

Adira was disgraced knight who now wanders the wilderness as a thief and mercenary. She often finds herself crossing paths with the high-strung strawberry and she’s made it her personal mission to play with her and to steal her heart (literally or metaphorically? Whatever happens first). Wickam was initially charmed by her but she soon realized that Adira stole her money and they’ve been getting into homoerotic fights about it (and many other instances of them messing with each other) ever since. Their relationship is.. complicated. And neither are ready to admit to themselves or each other that they have romantic feelings for each other. And that’s all I have for now. 🫡

18. Any OC crackships?

Two words: Archdemon Polycule… Or more accurately, separate polycules that have overlap with some members but not all of them are involved with each other. Here’s a visual aid I drew for this weird ass poly ship:

All Roads Lead to Asmodeus. Would this polycule be an absolute disaster of a relationship? Yes. Do I think it would actually work out? No, I doubt it would last for very long, especially when infernal politics come into the mix… Not to mention that they tend to bicker with each other a lot. Would it at least be entertaining to watch this particular polycule crash and burn? Yes. This will never happen in canon but it would be funny if it did.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

Not exactly? The only thing that kinda made me change things about my ocs against my Will was probably the existence of H*zbin H*tel/H*lluva B*ss. For a while, I stepped away from my Hell/Heaven story partly because of its popularity/fandom and me wanting to distance myself from it, which included my own story about Hell. I would elaborate further, but there’s a time and place for being a hater and it isn’t here lol. The other, more major reason was that I had a crisis of faith in my artistic and writing ability was also having at the same time I was vocally beefing with these series on tumblr.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

I can think of a few ocs who would actually have a tumblr blog.. I think the most interesting of which would be Archdemon Belphegor’s tumblr blog(s). I’d imagine she’d have several blogs: her main (memes, occasionally posts about her inventive work, plushies, science posts), a blog dedicated to programming and maybe game dev, an aesthetic blog based on 90s computers and video games, and a separate NSFW blog not connected to her main. I’d imagine she’d take the time to make her own custom layout and across the board, they’d all have old computer desktop/old video game vibes. She posts pretty frequently and she sometimes slacks off on her work to check her socials, including tumblr.

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

Oh definitely. For one, I typically give my ocs curly/wavy hair, usually dark hair (brown or black). I rarely give them blonde or ginger hair. And even my ocs who have gray hair now were brunettes in their youth. I tend to give my ocs non-straight hair because I find drawing hair with a lot of volume/defined shapes to be more fun than just straight hair.

Aside from that, I tend to make my ocs fat, mostly because I’m fat myself! And a vast majority of my ocs end up with long lashes since I tend to just. Give them obvious lashes, regardless of gender. What can I say? Lashes look great.

[lambilegs]

u have zero idea how much i loveeee does it happen in a season JESUSSSS like legit read it in one sitting in the middle of the night sleepy af but idc its SO GOOODDD😭 im sad its ending i got so invested its crazy 🙏 its literally how lee would act and speak i feel like im watching longlegs part 2 or something how well u portrayed her <3 genuinely hoping and praying u have more of this type of fics in the drafts

DUDE I WAS LITERALLY SOOOO EXCITED FOR YOU TO READ THIS CHAP HEHE SO I GOT SO HAPPY WHEN I SAW THIS ASK

first of all, it literally means so much to me that you read this in one sitting when you were so tired bc I know this part is extremely long so omg the fact that you still wanted to read it in one go despite all of the above is so sweet. AND AHHH THANK YOU HEHE I was a bit worried about this part being so long so the fact that you enjoyed it makes me so happy. and omg, same, today, I was on a walk, and listening to a song I'm planning to write into the next part, and it's a very nostalgic sounding song, so I started getting SO sad with the realization that this fic is coming to an end soon :// I've truly gotten so attached to it, and the progression and buildup of the love story, so to think of finishing it, and having nothing more to work on with this story and their relationship, actually makes me feel lowkey devastated JKDJKSJ (I'm getting really sad rn just thinking of it 😭).

AND DUDE THAT IS, LIKE, THE HIGHEST PRAISE OMG. I am constantly doubting my ability to write her and anticipate her reactions to certain things. so, the fact that the feel it's accurate to how she is in the movie means SO much to me!! like I'm literally gonna be feeling hyped about this for weekssss omg

and hehe I'm definitely planning for more stuff like this!! regarding the actual college!au, I feel like I'm too attached to them to never write them again after the last part is posted, so I could definitely see myself writing spinoffs or oneshots that are in that same universe with them, which maybe showcase moments that happened during time skips and whatnot hehe. regarding stories with the same kind of vibe, I'm definitely planning for more slowburn multichaps like this hehe. I keep lingering on an idea of lee as a rookie, dealing with her first job in law enforcement, and being in this cold, small, dreary town where she meets reader and they find a sort of haven in each other within this place that neither of them feel fully at home in. and I've also been really into the idea of cowboy!lee, and a really slowburn romance stemming from that in the mountains. and lee being really reserved, but showing her attention in all these chivalrous ways and AHHHH but yes def have more multichap ideas like this hehehe

[bad-thinking]

The man in a case (1898) - Anton Chekhov

As usual, I will write what impression the story made on me, it is not any kind of a summary, description of a plot, or any attempt to objectively evaluate the quality of the creation.

I grabbed the book at the time when I was doubting myself and my choices, not knowing which direction I should undertake, how to calculate which one yields possibly better outcomes. Stack in this state, state of freeze. And here is the story, that strangely corresponded with my experience.

The story, like probably all Czekhov stories, is sad. Chekhov does not show how to solve the problem, what would be the remedy for the formation of this character structure - locked in the walls of 'shoulds', rules, safety and what is known and predictable.

The main character, Belikov, is the teacher and lover of Greek. He terrorises people with his obsession regarding rules and regulations, demands others to follow them same way as he does. He clings to what is framed within meticulously drawn lines, as this is something that saves him from having to know his own wants and needs. His own desires. Those lines are safe, he cannot do anything wrong, unclean there. He cannot be 'bad'. I don't know if the underlying motivation for him was the need to be morally good or rather to avoid the messiness of feelings, relationships and attachments. Probably to some extent both. Everybody around him feels rather uncomfortable, stifled by his watching eye. He is not married, but one day the city visits a beautiful, cheerful woman, who is even interested in him, Varenka. He does not know how to act around her. Everyone gossips in this annoying, intrusive way, hoping he will get married. I think he was overwhelmed, was so used to the fact that he did not have responsibilities towards anybody, therefore he also could not fail anyone, he could not do anything wrong. Everything was perfectly predictable and under control. Now, this lady appears, and she dares to enjoy such frivulous activity like riding a bike! Oh, my - such a sinful thing to do! Absolutely unacceptable! He goes and complains to her brother, he does not care, kicks him out the door, he falls down the stairs, where Varenka sees him and laughs at the scene. That, and seeing his caricature drawn by some local person, caricature of him with galoshes, finally broke him. He got sick and soon after passed away.

People at the funeral felt a sense of relief that this prosecutor is no longer with them, I think hoping for a better life since now on. Obviously, life does not change after his death much.

I find this story very sad. Main character is shown almost as a caricature, whom everyone finds uncomfortable to be around, they use him as a source of cheap sensation when Varenka arrives, plotting their marriage and talking about him. He, like most Chekhov's characters, is a prisoner of his own mind. He is not able to take the step that would lead to a possibly better life, marriage, family, to the new chapter, where all the chaos and messiness would emerge, the challenges along with their beauty. All the responsibilities and commitments he sees as burden? I do not think it was just a burden, I think he seriously doubted his own ability, anxiety was eating him alive. Fear of breaking down in the face of unpredictability, need to learn and grow, to grow another organ, currently almost not existent. In order to do that, he had to take a leap of faith, that he will go through the discomfort, through failures, through the risk of losing some part of himself. Definitely that would happen, a part of him would need to be sacrificed. But is that really that bad? Sacrifice?

We try to save our lives losing them at the end. I do not want to make some evaluations of his behaviour. Obviously, if that was that easy, he would just propose and get married, apparently it was not simple at all, and the insects of fear were carving tiny holes in his body, leaving their eggs inside and breeding new larvas.

I like how Chekhov shown the public, the people making a gossip out of this. People are larvas too. Adding to his anxiety, cornering him, creating vision for his future life. They knew sooner before him, what future could be good for him. I understand the conflict between Belikov and them, the fundamental perception of how to go about life was different. It is easy to see Belikov as that strange man, wearing winter coat in the summer obsessing over regulations and rules, whose death brought just relief to others. But I can't see it this way.

That was a poor man, completely alone. And he did not even realise how much. Out of obligation he would join others, sit quietly making everyone uncomfortable and then leave, believing he fulfilled his social duty. What life did he have? What genuine connection he had that would be filled with juice and honey? His heart was with Greek, but Greek was not juice. When the juice and honey appeared at the horizon, he, being inprisoned in his way of being, acted out of fear of crossing rules and giving wrong example, ashamed, revealed, laughed at, he has a difficulty finding a soft place within himself, that would laugh and play too. He lost his spark, or I should rather say, the spark was locked, somewhere deep, and from time to time would make a sound, jiggle around attempting to remind him of its existence. Which tools he should use now? How to accept, take care of the spark?

It is a tragedy of a man whose spark got locked and whose existence started to become a trouble, instead of a life force.

Chekhovs stories do this thing, that they surprisingly do not make me want to analyze the situation in order to find a possible solution. I do not try to save a character. I do not judge Belikov, I do not see him as a coward or a cold, detached person, incapable of love or selfish. He, like all of us, equipped himself with what made it possible for him to survive. We do not know his past disappointments, his struggles and reasons that led to creation of the prison made of fine lines of rules and 'shoulds'. Superego at its finest.

Neurotic? Paranoic? Schizoidal? He was neurotic and away from his core.

It is as if life gave him that last chance, 'Here, take the test, let's see how you will do. Maybe if you will do well enough, I will let you live and you even will get a prize'.

Everyones decisions and behaviours are partly predetermined and conditioned by circumstances, environment and all that crap that is independent on us. There is however a piece where this is us contributing to the outcome. Regardless of all that led us to the current state. Therefore, when trying to understand this character, having loads of compassion towards him, I must remember that he was not deprived of choice.

It hurts me imaging him seeing the caricature. How to read it? Someone got out of fine lines, just went all over it, crossing every possible clean line showing him as what he does not want to be. Funny, almost ridiculous anxieties, that were completely unjustifiable. Winter coat in the summer? Pair of galoshes? He protects himself, has this 'just in case'. Just because it is for sure not warm and safe enough without a coat. And he dies when he would need to leave them. Drop the external clothes and armour. Laugh at his naked body and imperfections. Get cold. Take a risk and live.

Oh, I love the story to pieces.

On YouTube you can listen the whole in 30 min:

I want to keep digging, as I feel I still do not offer this story its due admiration.

The inprisonment, the gossip, the larvas carving holes in Belikov, the last chance given by life, the inability to pass the test, the crossing of his fine lines and the tearing apart his clothes and destroying his tight gorset. Life was maybe too much with this test. But I can imagine it got impatient, and apparently other smaller tests were just unattended, or failed. The Life, as merciful and patient as it can be, at some point throws at you the towel, challenges you stronger. And then, it is exactly life or death.

Sad and beautiful, as always.

[jkrasinski]

There’s definitely an art to avoidance. Really. It was the worst when we had a two year old and she was pregnant, they followed her a lot. Often had to hand off baby to me because they were considerably less interested in pictures of me, which was definitely saving grace and meant Hazel wasn't too hassled in contrast. Oh, I don’t mean to make you worried, not one bit, believe me when I say we had a lot more moments of pregnant life without them around than with. Not to mention, you’ve got your security and of course you’ve got your fiancé. It’s pretty impressive, but I wish they’d use the technology for good rather than evil. Sorry to hear that Lake Como is off the list for you, we think it’s pretty great and (thanks to you) will be getting back there hopefully soon. Thank you, any kid of ours is always going to be loved, girl or boy, although I’m such a girl dad that having a boy would be surreal and test my abilities without a doubt – I guess we’ll see. Phew. I appreciate you leaving at least one of my sport teams be.

You make a good point, a romantic as letter writing can be it’s just not practical if you’re on the road, right? For sure. I just meant that I think you guys are leading a good example for budding couples, even if it should be a pretty basic standard to support your loved one as much as you can – provided they don’t do anything too sinister, like you said. We’re pumped, Em’s picked out some spots and I’ve got her booked into the spa and it’s hopefully going to be the relaxing time we need… definitely just a couples retreat although if we like it we might bring the girls back to a more family-friendly resort. Retrievers are definitely a handful, loving and loyal as they might be. I don’t even know if bodysuit is the right word, in hindsight, it might have been more of a dress, but watch until about halfway through here and ...yeah, rewatching it, definitely a dress, but let me tell you it felt otherwise, constrictive. She’s very much looking forward to being part of your day, I can tell you that much, there’s no chance of her changing her mind… I get the impression she’s pretty fond of you and the friendship you two have developing. Are you getting more excited now that reality's setting in? I'm excited for you!

It is what it is - we've gotten good at avoiding them when we know that they're around. Wait, really? Ugh. Why are people so rude around people who are pregnant. It's disgusting how they're treated sometimes. And that's something that makes me nervous about when it's going to be happening for me. Yeah, the cameras have gotten crazy good over the years. Luckily we were just sitting on the sofa and talking. It was a place we were considering for our wedding but knowing that they can see into it that easily... that place got knocked off the options real quick. Whatever happens for you and Em - I know that the kid is going to be very loved. Not just by you two but by their sisters, too. Bet if you have a boy - you're not going to know what to do with him. I have no interest in baseball so your team is safe there.

I don't even want to imagine life without those things because as nice as letters sound - snail mail is not it. With the life we all live - by time the letter got to where it was needed, we'd probably be gone from there for like a month already. If you don't support your partner then what's the point of being in a relationship? Unless they're doing something horrible, it's the least that you can do. Oh. Hawaii. That sounds amazing. I bet you're going to have the best time. Is it going to be a family vacation or a couples retreat? Retrievers are adorable but I just don't think we'd have the time to give them all the things they'd need to be happy. Are you going to make me look up this body suit? Cause I'm not afraid to do a little google. I'm excited for her to be part of my wedding party. I'll be asking her a lot of questions so hopefully she doesn't pull out because I'm annoying. It's a gift to both of you.

[midnxght-sweet-time]

☯︎ Hɪsᴛᴏʀʏ sʜᴀʟʟ ʀᴇᴘᴇᴀᴛ ☯︎

❥︎ Paring: ☢︎︎Scaramouche x ⚤︎ Kitsune!Reader

⚠︎ TW: None

᯽ A/N: Inspired by @fatuifucker 's Scara x Kitsune reader fic. This is kinda a shameless oc insert but I wanted to make this an x reader also to let scara simps enjoy it as well.

I spent a good 1 hr writing this with no plot idea in mind during physics class cuz I finished my work-

We're on the topic of electricity btw and I thought yea sure electro-

Reader is ofc based off my oc so there will be some parts where it wont make sense so sorry for that lmao

I like to think Ei put a small part of her conciousness in Scara when creating him. And scara knows no matter how much he change himself, it doesnt change the fact he is a part of her.

"If nothing else. Please spare these memories…"

The gentle breeze pushed past the purple locks of hair that covered an ominous face. The giant ornaments that hang by his giant hat sway in a rhythm, dancing with the grass. Indigo eyes, calm yet calculative, stalking his prey from atop of the hill. His sights set on a figure with sharp points of ears and a big pillow-like tail with a sniper like gaze. Eyebrows furrowed at the peaceful scene of sakura's raining softly to your face, like pink snow that hails from above, the giant tree as your winter cloud. 

Their backs were facing him, their posture as stationary as the statue that sat quietly in Tenshukaku, the Omnipresent God. It was still and calming, a boring task he put himself through as he kept his pupils glued to that very being. Why was he so focused on them again? 

"Scara." A whiff of lightning was shot in a panic towards the voice that came behind. In a quick flash whoever approached him dodged swiftly as the burst of energy struck down a tree. "Sheesh, I didn't think you were that paranoid." A mischievous whisper with a glaze of sweet gentleness rings in his ears like a morning bell of a wind chime. He looks up at the fox with a shock expression, their tail wags along with their hair that flows with the wind as a smile lifts their cheeks in delight. 

The puppet looks back below the hill he was guarding and realizes what he'd been watching this whole time was a fox statue painted in gold by the light of the sun. With the sun now lowered, the light diminished and revealed the rusty gray of stone. 

"Wow, I never knew you like fox statues."

He felt his eye twitch unconsciously. He swore to whatever unholy in the abyss to kill his creator– that he had just been spying on them. How did he lose sight of them? Did the rogue sakura petal that came very close to smacking him in the face distracted him for a brief moment, giving you time to escape? But how fast were you that you could easily leave without him noticing your figure running away? He doubts you have any abilities including teleportation, you don't have a vision–

"You look like you've seen a ghost Scara. Are you okay?" 

His thoughts were cut off. A large inhale was heard as their reply. Scaramouche was clearly not okay, and you catch on quickly. As his eyes close shut with a clear irritated face, before any words can erupt from his mouth, you display a small black lunch box in front of him. His expression turned from upset to confused looking at what you have brought.

"Where did you keep that?" Scaramouche's brow raised looking at the box, wondering where it came from so suddenly. You have no bag for you to carry it around and last he checked, you weren't holding it. "A little trick, a handsome prince taught me ." A high pitched laughter came soon after that raised more of the puppet's annoyance. Every time he blinks, this sly fox seems to always surprise him. 

The box was then laid down on the ground next to him, the lid popped open with a satisfying click. The smell of sweets blasted his porcelain nostrils. His eyes widened at the selection of different dangos, not just the tricolor ones you can get in the streets of Inazuma city. 

"I made a variety today. Tomorrow I will make daifuku." Their ears twitched along to their cheerful tone. The many dangos dressed in different syrups and painted in different colors amazed the boy in front of them. It isn't everyday he gets these kinds of dangos unless it's seasonal. His delicate fingers grasped onto the stick that held a dango with tiny crumbled pieces of nuts latching onto the sticky ball. 

"What flavor is this?" His tone is soft, almost like a whisper in the wind as his eyes focus on the sweet treat in awe. "Kinako dango. It's a kind of roasted soybean. Try it." You popped a goma dango into your mouth, the sweet sesame taste with the chewy treat makes you hum in delight. Scaramouche cautiously looks at the skewered treat, its soybean barrier falling off in bits and pieces the longer he stands it up in his hands. With a small hesitation, he chomps down onto a piece of dango while closing his eyes in anticipation. 

It's delicious.

A sense of nostalgia washes through him. Time stood still for a moment, never minding the wind that rudely blew his hair in his face. Eyes widened slightly with a sweet comforting warmth filled his hollow chest that was once numbingly cold. 

What is this feeling?

A blurry vision flashed in his mind as the once young fox that sat before him formed a figure of white as snow with eyes that sparkled like gold. A kitsune that's older by appearance that he has never seen before. A shrine maiden outfit that she wore reminds him of the dreadful pink one that tried to end him once. However, the background turned from the wilderness he was in, into a garden that he surely recognized— Tenshukaku.

Dejavu, is what he could describe this moment. It felt so similar yet he had no recollection of such memory. Why was he reminiscing over a scene he knows very well he never experienced for centuries he roamed this earth. 

That's when he realized the feminine outfit he wore, colored with nothing but different shades of purple and gold, thighs long and thick as it folds on the floor with delicate soft hands that wrapped around a dango, one ball was missing. His maker's appearance. These are her memories. 

You waved your hand in front of Scaramouche. He was stiff as a brick. One moment he showed a clear sentient movement of eating a treat and then he went motionless like a shutdown ruin guard that lost its core. You sat there for a few moments, internally panicking and trying to recall what you might have accidentally added into that Kinako dango. 

'Did I accidentally add father's paralyzing drugs?'

You wondered silently, remembering all the times you would grab the wrong ingredient that led to disasters since your father, who is a scientist, tends to leave unsuspecting medicines in the kitchen for convenience pick. You still never understood why he never placed all drugs in one drawer instead of scattered in different cabinets. 'Just in case' he always says.

You slowly slide a piece of Kinako dango from Scaramouche's stick he seems to hold onto so tightly yet with a hint of fondness over before examining it to see if your theory was correct. Before you can even come to any conclusions, the feeling of purple electric shocks makes your hair stand on end, causing  you to drop the dango and quickly grab the lunchbox to hide behind a tree for cover. 

The loud sizzling sound of electricity flew in the air, a burst of chaotic energy lit the sky and painted the clouds purple. A roar of thunder came crashing down on the little picnic area you once sat with Scaramouche, the sound of a dangerous blast that chips away at the sturdy ground. You closed your eyes as your ears dropped at the deafening sound of lightning as you swore you heard your friend screamed. It wasn't out of pain from the possible 9 thousand volts, but a familiar sound of anger you can identify all too well. The lightning strike was way more ferocious than the ones you've encountered in Yashiori Island. 

It was absolutely terrifying.

A few moments later, he stopped. The sky turned back to its evening sky of warm colors as if nothing ever happened. Still shaken up from whatever dangerous outburst Scaramouche had, your body stayed behind cover, too afraid to move. Your hands shaking as you struggled to hold the box of dangos that are now disorganized and the different flavors mixing with one another. 

'What– in the name of the Hydro Archon, happened?' You wondered as your pupils stay constricted in absolute terror. 

Your ears perked at the sand of quick crunching dirt before silence engulfed the area. You peaked out of your hiding spot and was almost taken aback how destroyed the place has been. A giant scorch mark claimed its territory as all the grass in its radius was burned away to ashes. Any flora that was in sight was charred with specks of purple electro lingering like fire sparks.

Scaramouche was nowhere to be seen. 

You sighed in disappointment, another unsuccessful attempt at befriending this grumpy cat. You're no idiot. You know he is a fatui and messing with him is a suicide at best, yet you went with it anyways. Slowly his friendly facade has come to crack but even then it wasn't enough. You can read him like an open book but never understand the language inside. You can't understand him and you wonder if you ever will.

You stood silent, looking up ahead as a small sakura petal waves to you hello before landing by your feet to the burned ground. A chuckle escaped your throat. The light of the sun no longer presents as the moon now greets you with its cold gaze. Looking up you see the stars twinkling away, appearing slowly in the early night sky. 

Are any of those stars your ancestors? 

Your tail wagged at the thought. Ears perked up attentively that you could pinpoint the wind's destination. 

As your legs carried you home down the hill, words rolled down your tongue in a whisper as you remembered a quote that always lift your spirits;

"Do not be blinded, do not waver. Keep walking that path you believed in."

[homosexuality-at-its-finest]

You guessed, it's me again

How would the lords react to a very knowledgeable S/O who loves to learn whatever they can put their hands on no matter if it is a language or to wielding or dancing, THEY'RE READY. Oh and also they're really honest and have a booming laughter (Headcanons of course)

A/n: Welcome back my child, we're all back on our bullshit tbh. Thank you for the request, I fuggin love writing anything Resident evil

@rabid-d0g

Plot: Requested

Warnings: Chaotic Y/n, cussing, violence, that’s about it tbh

LADY DIMITRESCU

· She loves how knowledgeable you are, even if she can get envious that your knowledge surpasses her own

· She will buy you any book you could ever imagine, feeding into your curiosity and need to learn

· Alcina is often amazed by how quickly you learn languages, she watched you learn French in 3 days because there was a book you wanted to read

· When it comes to wielding weapons, Mother Miranda save her she’s terrified

· You’re so small and fragile and she doesn’t want you to end up hurting yourself

· That fear was ended in a rather ridiculous predicament of a Morticia attacking you, which caused you to scream while repeatedly whacking it with a sword

· You had tried to play it off smoothly, grinning up at your lover, but she’d seen everything and was cackling

· She’s the one that teaches you to dance, pleased by how quickly you picked up on it.

· You two now dance together almost nightly, the girls think it’s disgustingly sweet

· The first time she encountered your naive honesty was when you had anciently broken one of her favorite vases.

· She was used to the girls and maids alike lying to stay clear of her fury, but you looked up at her with red puffy eyes and a trembling bottom lip and admitted to breaking it

· She’s tried and failed in getting you to lie, you’re just so honest, and at times it can be infuriating when it’s a situation when the truth is best kept a secret

· Alcina adores your laugh

· She could be in the foulest mood, but as soon as she hears the booming, boisterous laughter the mood seemingly disappears.

· She will do anything to see you smile and hear your laughter, it makes her feel alive and full of love.

· Alcina overall loves you unconditionally, flaws and all.

SALVATORE MOREAU

· Salvatore loves how intelligent you are, the two of you constantly bouncing ideas off each other

· He may not be the same man he was before the Cadou, but he’s still a doctor and therefor is super smart

· He has a plethora of books for you to read, and if your eyes or head hurt from reading, he’ll read to you

· The fact that you can learn languages so fast baffles him, he’s asked you about it before, but only got a sly smirk and ‘a magician never reveals their secret’ in return

· He never doubted your ability to wield a weapon, the way you two had met was him finding you on his land violently bashing in a Lycan’s skull

· Though the idea of you having a gun did make him a bit wary, you wielded it like you were born with a gun in your hand, so he had no reason for concern

· So, the thing about dancing is Salvatore has two left feet, mans is awful at dancing

· You’ve seen him eat shit while he was walking on flat ground, let alone dancing

· When you taught yourself how to dance it was a solo thing, but he adores getting to watch

· He’s fascinated by your beauty, the way your body moves. Everything about you is entrancing to our favorite fish man

· When it comes to your honesty, it’s never bothered him

· He’s also naively honest, so if anyone wants to know info they immediately go to the reservoir

· Karl has asked jokingly what Salvatore’s nether regions looked like and you told him point blank much to his horror (he no longer asks joking questions)

· Salvatore at first was startled by your laughter

· It was so loud and sudden that it had taken him off guard

· Now it’s his favorite sound, your laugh is infectious and makes him laugh

· His favorite kind of laugh is when its booming laughter mixed with snorts, because those are reserved for his jokes alone, it makes his chest feel warm and full

· He’s a shyer lover to have, but once you’ve gotten through his shell you two are a match made in heaven

DONNA BENEVIENTO

· So, Donna knew you were smart from the start, so your intelligence has never caught her off guard.

· She’s the one that will never doubt your abilities and is almost never caught by surprise by the things you can do.

· You’ve recited an entire book from memory to her before and she didn’t even bat an eyelash, she knows her partner is smart

· When it comes to languages, she’s more curious than anything, asking how you can remember so many or how you can learn them so fast

· You explain to her that they just come easily to you and they just make sense, she takes it

· Her favorite language you’ve learned is ASL, you two use it when she doesn’t have energy to talk or use Angie to talk

· She will buy you as many books as you want, and will listen to you read them (Even if they make no sense to her) while she sews or works on her dolls

· She loves your voice and could listen to it for hours, it’s soothing for her to listen to you, especially if she’s having a bad day

· Donna supports you wanting to learn how to wield a bo staff

· She loves watching you train, even if it means getting up early to see you work out before you begin your training

· You protect the house itself now, no one has gotten into the house and survived after you taught yourself how to fight

· Donna loves dancing, but is shy when it comes to dancing when it’s in front of others, gently encourage her and she’ll teach you

· She’s a wonderful teacher, and you two could dance for hours, moving perfectly in sync. It’s hypnotizing to watch honestly.

· She likes that you’re honest, it’s nice to have someone in her life who doesn’t lie or who isn’t cryptic

· It’s like a breath of fresh air for her

· Your laughter? My god she blushes every time she hears it

· She loves your laughter, and can’t help but laugh along any time she hears it

· You’re the only person alive who’s heard her laugh, or can make her laugh

· Usually, she’s wary of loud sounds but you bring her out of her shell

· Donna is the most supportive lord, she’s never once doubted you

KARL HEISENBERG

· You two are a chaotic fucking duo who will bring the end

· Both of you are intelligent, bordering genius

· Karl lets you read all his books, which means you know just as much about metal, war and more

· He recruits you in his fight against Miranda

· You two speak in different languages all the time, mostly so other people can’t understand the confidential conversations you’re having, you can never be too safe.

· With your combined intelligence things at the factory go a lot smoother, and things aren’t as horrendous as they are in the games

· You guys still do some fucked up stuff, but all is fair in war, I guess?

· Karl is 1000% behind you in learning how defend yourself

· He even teaches you how to, and is offended and pouting when in your second session you knock him on his ass

· Even the Lycans are scared of you after seeing you beat one to death with your bare hands for destroying your blueprints.

· None of the other lords fuck with you, you and Karl give off a terrifying energy when you’re together

· You two don’t have much down time, but when you mentioned wanting to learn how to dance, Karl had taught you.

· He’d been quite the dancer in his day, and found that it was nice to have a dancing partner again

· It’s a rare thing, but when you two dance it’s very intimate, full of love and unspoken promises

· I think Karl would like your laughter the most

· Because you two live in a very scary and bland world where a war is building, so happiness is far and in between

· So when he hears your laughter it’s like a gift from the universe

· Any time he hears your laughter he tries his best to engrave it in his brain, eyes full of love and chest full of warmth

· I think overall you and Karl have the hardest relationship to maintain, but by pure love and respect for each other, it all works out

[shivada-jade]

soulmates!

soulmate!au because im weak. you're weak too.

characters: bennett, zhongli, diluc ➡ mentions: barbara, lisa, guizhong, hu tao, kaeya, crepus warning(s): bennett luck (he gets hurt a lot), wrote this at 2:48am so my writing may or may not make sense

bennett: feels the same emotions from the other, but the emotions have to be strong and genuine

he never understood your sudden bursts of sadness. it would come at the most inconvenient at times.

for as long as he could remember, the emotions that weren't his are mostly sad. he asked his dads about it and gently told him his soulmate system is feeling emotions from the other.

after crying from an unknown pain, he made it his soul purpose to constantly be happy all the time, no matter how unlucky he could be so you can be happy too.

his dads worry when he falls down and scrapes his knee, but he would always reply with, "i'm not hurt! my soulmate is hurt!"

he would then clutch the fabric on his chest tightly, like he's been stabbed with a sword and say, "my soulmate hurts right here."

he heaves a breath, "it doesn't compare to whatever luck i get."

"this pain is bearable," he convinces himself when he comes out a hilichurl camp in cuts and bruises.

"your soulmate needs you to be happy for them," he chastises himself for shedding a tear when another adventurer wronged him.

he visits barbara to heal his wounds and asks how she always looks so... happy, so smiley.

"all it takes is one smile to make yourself happy. it can be a slow process but it works!" she singsongs, "miss lisa showed me a study about it."

ever since barbara explained, he smiles the brightest of smiles in mondstadt. he refuses to let other adventurers let him down, worried he might hurt you more than it is.

soon, he finds out that he feels no sadness coming from you. he feels no weight on his shoulders. he feels happy after Good hunter ran out of food for him.

these are not my emotions, he thinks, a wide grin creeping it's way to his face.

he lets out the loudest laugh, giggles, and various joyous noises. he's never felt so happy in his life. for once, he feels lucky, because for once, you're finally happy in the other end of his invisible red string of fate.

his luck skyrockets when he sees a person around his age, with a gorgeous smile adorning their features. he knows its you, sitting by the fountain making wishes. he knows it's you when he sees your eyes that hold so much emotion.

it was as if his heart was tugging him to where you sat.

he's never felt so lucky to have you as his soulmate.

"thank you giving the best smiles"

zhongli: every time he passes his soulmate, he hears the sounds of bells ringing

now, zhongli never thought he would have a soulmate because of his past title of 'archon.' soulmate systems are a tricky thing. he knows there are so many ways to know your soulmate system.

the common system was their first words tattooed on themselves. many others had the ability to know when they meet them, in other words, a count down.

but zhongli never had those two, nor did he have faith in the soulmate system until the lantern rite festival.

walking by the busy streets, he muses to himself how pretty liyue is under the blanket of the moon and stars. he hears the merchants call to customers, attracting and waving at them to buy their products. he hears the clink of the mora in their bag is loud; the laughter from the children young and old marry a soft smile to his face.

he freezes, hearing something that should not belong in the lantern rite. the sound of bells ringing. it isn't any cow bell, or school bell. it's the sound of echoing, melodious wedding bells ringing his ear.

he vaguely remembers his friend guizhong mentioning about this rare particular soulmate system when she still roamed teyvat.

a soulmate!

zhongli stands straighter, eyes grazing on the sea of people, trying to see if anyone stopped to hear the bells he heard. he mutters a few apologies when people bump into him with lanterns in their hands, but that doesn't matter to him.

fate brought someone for him to love. it's just that... he doesn't know where.

he walks forward, he walks backwards to where he came from. he walks to the docks then to the top of liyue harbour, but he can't hear the sound of the bells again.

he doesn't panic. he doesn't rush, because he knows fate will bring you back together. he just doesn't know how long until he'll hear the bells again.

it came to him a surprise when he hears the bells everyday after that.

everyday when he sits at third-round knockout he hears the sound of bells behind him, but when he turns, he knows you've left already.

he sighs, blowing on his tea before taking light sips. it seems he won't be meeting you today.

one day, the ringing just stops. there's no sign of you, or your presence. zhongli assumes you're just taking a sick day, or you've decided to rest, but after a week of not hearing the bells, he worries.

archons, how he wanted to look for you, but he doesn't even know who you are. hu tao encourages zhongli to take the day off and look for you, so he did.

walking aimlessly in liyue, doubt crosses his mind. what if you were here for a business trip and left? it wasnt until he passes by a stunning figure he hears the bells again. he stiffens and turns to you when you stopped next to him.

"thank goodness," he says, slightly covering his smile with a gloved hand.

your eyes sparkle as you look at him, "thank goodness indeed."

diluc: lost possesions will come to your soulmate

for as long diluc knows, strange things always end up in his possessions: hairclips, pens, coins, and archons forbid- his soulmate's overdue bills.

his father laughs when younger diluc comes home dragging a wagon and the biggest teddy bear in history, because how on teyvat does someone lose a teddy bear taller than a door. crepus watches his son struggling to drag the big toy home and sees his other son pushing the wagon from behind, also struggling.

"what do you have there?"

all the response he gets are grunts. the side of his eyes crinkle with mirth, seeing his two sons having trouble bringing it home.

"father!" diluc calls out with a grin missing two of his front teeth, "i don't know where it came from. it's like it appeared from the sky."

"it actually did fall out of the sky!" kaeya says, "we were at the vineyard and i saw diluc get crushed!"

"i did not get crushed."

"did too," kaeya retaliates, sticking his tongue out.

that was the first time diluc heard of this certain soulmate system. lost things from his soulmate go to his possession; lost things from diluc go to his soulmate's possession.

crepus glances at his boys and gets an idea. he calls for them to follow him, and they do, obediently. he leads them to his room, pulling out a treasure chest full of frilly clothes, dresses, outfits that range from a farmer's outfit to a noblewoman.

"this chest is where your mother kept her favourite things," crepus pulls out a necklace from the bottom of the case. "this necklace was particularly her favourite."

diluc can see why. he's mesmerized by the ruby sparkle it hangs. the gold chain complimenting the red jewel and making it complete.

crepus clutches the necklace, looking at it longingly before placing it back in the chest. he places out all the old clothes from the container and lays it on his bed.

"you can keep your soulmate's things here like i once did. your pops is getting too old anyway, i-"

kaeya interrupts crepus jumps on the clothes that are on the bed, creating a havoc in the room. he jumps on the bed with so much energy even after diluc tells him about the story of the 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.

though, crepus is having none of that. he picks up diluc by his small arms and flings him to kaeya, looking like a bowling ball knocking down a pin. the two boys gasp for air, shooting dirty looks at their father before they chase him out of the house.

the corner of diluc's mouth twitch up ever so slightly, remembering when he first knew of his soulmate. it would take a very observant person to notice his smile. he polishes the glass behind angel's share's counter. under the filtered sunlight, the glass glints. satisfied with the cleanliness.

the chest his father game him was fill of trinkets his soulmate had lost over the years, and good grief. his soulmate must be the most disorganized person ever. he remembers walking to dawn winery and a sack of mora drop on his feet. it wasn't a pleasant feeling, but the thing that has diluc worried is how his soulmate tends to lose the biggest things like a 7-foot-tall teddy bear.

diluc is about to place the wine glass on a cupboard until SMACK.

a thick paper hits his face from seemingly nowhere and so he knows that is his soulmate losing the tenth thing for the day. he has a room dedicated for the things his soulmate has lost, and he thinks he might need a second room.

he pulls the paper off his face and his eyes widen in shock. this two-inch thick paper are legal documents. loan agreements. overdue loan agreements.

[Name] [Last Name]

he notes the name in his head. [Name] owes the fatui 35 thousand mora as interest. what kind of reckless person- then it hits his mind. that sack of mora that fell from the sky was that 35 thousand to pay off the loans.

he knows where to go. he leaves the wineglass on the counter for charles to pick up and hastily grabs his coat and leaves the door.

"liyue, liyue, liyue, and the fatui." he chants in his head. loans. he greets his maid before ascending to his room. he snatches the mora that dropped on his feet and sprints out the door to retrieve his stallion.

a few hours at most to make it to where his fated partner was at, and so he sets off.

arriving at liyue is strange, seeing diluc's attire did not match the city, and seeing his hands are holding the reins of his horse tightly. a strange traveler from a foreign land... with a majestic stallion. he looks like a prince straight out of a fairytale.

he lightly pats his horse, urging to go a bit faster from the trotting they were doing until he meets the gaze of a distressed person in front of the fatui.

"i swear! i had the money and the papers just today!"

diluc scoffs, knowing who they were now, and they did not have the money today. they lost it a week ago.

"listen," the masked fatui grumbles. "im just here to do my job. if i don't have the money in my hands right now i'll-"

diluc jumps off the saddle and unloads the sack of mora from the side, dropping it on the fatui's hand with a seething glare, yet still polite.

"i believe they owe you 35 thousand? sounds about right, no?" he says, letting his diplomatic side show a bit. "for the sake of it, why not amuse me and take this, david. hmm?"

the fatui goes rigid, hearing his name. he slowly lifts his eyes up, "master diluc." he curtly nods and skittishly walks away. one time david spilled drinks at a mondstadt political gathering. he spilled it on diluc.

the ragnvindr waits for the fatui to walk away before turning to his, supposedly love of his life.

"you're the one who lost a 7-foot-tall teddy bear when i was six," he points out, waiting for your response.

his soulmate sheepishly smiles, "well- i would have a good defense but hey, did you at least enjoy having a 7-feet-tall teddy bear fall on you?"

"i did, along with a glass mug falling on me as well."

"i just cant believe how you never lose your stuff!" they retort, "the only thing i got was a missing tooth from you."

the tip of diluc's ears turn the same colour as his hair, but still wears a stoic expression. "i'm diluc ragnvindr," he greets, slightly bowing his head.

"and i'm yours"

part 2: with ganyu, kaeya and thoma

[callmeshakespurr]

Hey, if you're requests are open could you do a Rick Flag × Male Villian Reader (fluff) idk something cute where Rick Flag ends up falling in love with Male Reader, and the feeling is mutual. Idk you can fo what you want with it. ❤

Rick Flag x Male Reader

Requested: yes

Category: fluff, just a little bit of angst

Warnings: slight torture (?), i mention a knife like,, once

Note: I haven’t watched Suicide Squad in some time, so this could’ve turned out just the tiniest bit yandere, I hope you don’t mind! Also- I kinda struggled with this cause its my first time writing an actual one shot, but I hope you enjoyed it anyways (:

Tysm for requesting, hope you enjoy it <3

“Where is he?”, Amanda Waller called out as she walked down the hallway, towards the high security room you were currently kept in — Colonal Richard ‘Rick’ Flag not far behind her.

Her call grabbed the attention of the two guards, who stood in front of your cell.

“Is he in there?”, Amanda asked again, approaching the door with fast steps. One of the guards nodded and opened the thick metal door to let the director and the colonel in.

Amanda Waller had tried to get her hands on you for almost five years now, after you first made an apperiance in a club, killing two people. After that, several assassinations followed. Nobody knew who you exactly were, what you looked like, who you worked for; you were like a shadow — what people then came to call you, Shadow.

The major reason of why nobody could get a hold of you even in the slightest bit, was because you always vanished before anybody could even spot you.

After two years of not being able to catch you, the police gave up on further investigation in your cases. Amanda didn’t break so easily though. She wanted you in one of those cells she kept so many freaks in already, and she wasn’t going to give up until she had you sitting behind one of those metal doors, unable to escape her.

After all these years of going after you, she did manage to find out two major things about you. Why you always managed to escape without anyone catching a glimpse of you, and what your weakness was.

All these things led to the present situation.

You sat in a dark room, the only light source being a small lamp, dangling from the ceiling. Your ankles were tightly cuffed to the chair you were sitting on, on your wrists and neck you felt something cold and heavy, which seemed to send small electric shocks through your body every few seconds.

You weren’t sure where you exactly were, since you passed out before they got you. Hell, you didn’t even know who ‘they’ were.

You closed your eyes, trying to concentrate on your thoughts, which was not as easy as you hoped it would be. To say that you were in pain was an understatement. The electricity flowing through your body kept you from thinking straight, and send a wave of pure pain through your limbs with every shock you got.

A female voice ripped you from your trance, and you slowly opened your eyes again, head still hanging low. You knew that voice and you knew that you didn’t stand a chance anymore.

“Your powers won’t work anymore, unless i allow you to use them, so don’t even try.”, that voice belonged to none other than Amanda Waller, probably the only person on this planet you actually feared. You were never scared of what her minions could do to you, no. You were scared of what she could do to you if she ever managed to get you — which almost happened on several occasions.

You clenched your fists, trying to ignore the pain that came over you again, as you frantically tried to somehow sort your thoughts and find a way out of this, but nothing seemed to work. There was no way out of this. There was no escaping this. The feeling of helplessness washed over you, a feeling you didn’t like at all.

“You’re Y/N L/N, you’re a teleporter, thats how you managed to always vanish before the police got to the crime scene”, Amanda spoke, watching you as you sat there on the chair, staring at the ground, unable to move a single muscle. “It took me some time, but i managed to figure out how to block your powers”, she continued, taking slow steps towards you “Teleporters are extremely sensitive to electricity, some mightve even already died due to the constant pain if they were in your place.” She stopped right in front of you, looking down at your slumped figure, the only thing restraining you from falling over being the thick metallic handcuffs that kept your hands tied behind the chair.

Amanda grabbed your chin, forcing you to look up at her. Your sight was blurry and it cost you a lot of strength to even keep your eyes open, but you did manage to make out the silhouette of a rather tall person standing at the entrance of the cell, watching the whole scene, before your focus was back on the woman in front of you. “You’re actually a very pretty boy, Y/N, and very smart too, it’s a shame that you decided to end up like this.”, she said, before letting your face go. “Rick, take him to get the injection, then get his things and introduce him to the team. After that, you can take him to his provided cell.”

The man standing at the door — Rick, you assumed — made his way towards you, as Waller left the room, leaving you to the colonel.

Rick helped you out of the cuffs, that kept you strapped to the chair. Looking at you, he almost felt bad, you looked so drained and helpless. He had never exactly agreed with anything Amanda Waller did, but seeing what just a few hours under her control did with you was another level of not agreeing with something she did.

“Can you stand?”, the colonel asked and you nodded, slowly rising from the chair. Your legs wobbled beneath your weight and you instinctively grabbed onto whats next to you, which just so happened to be Ricks Arm.

After making sure you had gathered enough strength, he began to walk with you towards the door.

time skip

It’s been a little over a week now since they’ve brought you here — you think. Every day was the same. Sitting on the cold floor of your cell, staring at the camera in the corner of your ceiling, some guard bringing you food, you not eating it, some guard taking it away again and reporting everything to someone, more staring at the camera, someone bringing you food again, you not eating it again, the guard taking it away again and reporting everything, all over again, everyday.

The only slightest bit good and entertaining thing was the colonel — Rick Flag, as you learned was his name — checking up on you every now and then when he didn’t have anything better to do. You didn’t quite understand why Rick was making efforts to look after you, just for you to not answer his questions anyways, but you appreciated it. It made everything a little more bearable.

Of course, you were one of the bad guys, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t have a life outside of assassinations.

When you weren’t working for other bad guys, you loved to just sit in your apartment and read, you loved to go onto high buildings and watch over the city. You dreamed of leaving everything behind and exploring the world someday. You worked at your favourite coffee shop, hell you even had a cat. The thought of your only friend being probably already dead or suffering made you sad, but what could you do about it?

Sometimes, you wish you hadn’t picked the path you were on, but looking back at the time you chose to work for the bad guys, you didn’t really have a choice.

Your train of thoughts was interrupted, when you heard the door to your cell open. Hoping it would be Rick, you looked up, your eyes only half open from the lack of strength you had. What you did not expect was to see Amanda Waller standing in front of you, Rick Flag behind her.

“Stand up”, the woman demanded. You listened, as it was of no use to resist her orders. You slowly got up on your feet, which didn’t last long, since you almost immediately fell over, landing painfully hard on your knees. To your suprise, Rick immediately rushed to your side, helping you stand up again.

“I don’t need him on missions like this”, Waller spoke as she watched you lean onto Rick for support. “Take him to the base, the council and I will be waiting there in the meeting room for him.” With that, Waller left again.

The way to the car wasn’t long, but with you almost not being able to stand on you own, let alone walk on your own, it took a little longer, which only fueled your anxiety. The ride to the base was even worse though, since nobody talked and you had five guards sitting around you.

Finally arriving at the door of the meeting room, which was located in the base, the two guards standing in front of it immediately opened the door as soon as they saw the colonel.

The room was quiet at an instance, when you stepped a food inside, Rick following very close behind you — just in case something should happen.

Amanda Waller stood in front of a group of suit wearing men who all sat at one big round table, most likely discussing something. She gestured you to come next to her, to which you complied.

“And who is this now, Director Waller? A new addition to your group of- freaks?”, asked one of the men as he looked you up and down, probably doubting that someone like you could be much of an good asset.

“This, Gentlemen,”, she grabbed your arm and moved you a little forward, making you almost tumble “is Y/N L/N or ‘Shadow’, he was an assassin for almost five years now, working for several other bad guys. Nobody got a hold of him till now due to his teleporting ability. He has over a hundred confirmed kills and not once did anyone ever get near him. I’m using these electric cuffs”, she grabbed your arm again and lifted it up to present the metal cuff, which was secured around your arm “to block his powers, which means he cannot teleport, as long as the electric shocks are on full power. As soon as I turn down the power a little, he can use his power, it is more draining and limited to a certain radius, but it works. I have him under full control and I want him on the team.” Murmurs broke out between the people in the room, as soon as she finished.

“I’m sorry, director, but do you really think it’s a good idea to put another- another misfit on that team? They’re bad guys and will always stay bad guys, and their freaky abilities make them even more dangerous.”, one of the men in suits spoke.

“As I said, I have him under full control, gentlemen. Let me demonstrate.”, Amanda spoke, turning to you, as the people sitting at the table sat back.

Waller took out some kind of remote and tapped on something. First your body tensed due to all the stress and pain you were under at the moment, but as soon as Amanda tapped on the remote, the electric shocks suddenly weren’t as intense as they were before, and your whole body relaxed, your eyes almost watering due to the wave of relief washing over you.

Rick was more than tense while watched the whole situation, only realizing in how much pain you actually were when Waller turned down the intensity of the electric shocks emmitting from the metallic cuffs you were wearing.

Waller looked you in the eyes with a serious expression on her face. “You disobey, you die, got that?” And suddenly you remembered the injection they gave you, when they first brought you here.

Seeing you had no other choice than obeying her, you simply gave her a small nod and looked around the room, taking in every detail. You looked at the small table in front of you, spotting a sharp knife, which you figured was put there by Amanda specifically for you in this exact situation.

With fast movements, you grabbed the knife and teleported to the other side of the room, holding the knife to one of the mens throat. Everyone in the room stiffened even more, and you heard at least three guns clicking.

Looking up, your eyes met Rick’s, before you looked over to Waller, who was already fixated on you. You slowly pressed the knife more against the man’s throat, wanting to see what Waller was going to do. The next electric shock came and you almost yelled out in pain, letting the knife fall, teleporting back to Waller and falling to your knees, clutching the metal around your neck.

Rick wanted to rush to help you, but was quickly held back by Amanda, gesturing him to wait.

“As you can see, I can control his powers however i want to, and should he disobey in any way, or should his powers bolt”, she tilted your head with her finger, than pressed onto the spot on your neck where they injected you, “he dies.”

Still staring at the ground, you swallowed harshly. You’ve never wanted to go back in time and undo all the bad things that happened so badly like in this specific moment. Maybe if you’re parents hadn’t ever found about your ability, you would still be at home, with your family, not here, being tortured by some government lady who wanted to use you as a weapon.

“There’s one more thing. I don’t need him on any mission in this shape. He needs to recover, quickly, and while doing so, I want him under Rick Flags complete supervision. It might cost a little more effort, but think about of how much use he will be for us”, Amanda said, a mischievous expression crossing her face for a few seconds, that going unnoticed by you and pretty much everyone else in the room.

time skip

Three whole months had passed. You’ve been staying with Rick ever since Amanda Waller announced that he had to fully supervise you.

The time you spent with Rick made you feel as if everything wasn’t so bad after all. Occasional talking here and there, Rick cooking something for the both of you every now and then, you almost felt normal again — weren’t there the electric cuffs reminding you of what was real every few minutes.

Over the past three months, your sleep only got worse. You got used to the constant pain by now, but the electricity didn’t only affect you physically, it also messed up your thoughts like hell. Sometimes you didn’t know where up and down was anymore, everything was all over the place inside your mind.

That was also the reason, you were up right now, in the middle of the night, sitting at the big window in your bedroom, looking over the city. You hugged your knees tightly to your chest, and rested you chin on them, letting a few tears slip. You hadn’t cried in a long time, but you were just so exhausted. You were never this close to giving up than right now. Nothing seemed to ever be okay again, you couldn’t do anything but accept your fate.

Being to entangled in your own thoughts, you didn’t hear your bedroom door open.

It didn’t take Rick a long time to spot you in your place at the window. He just came home from a mission that Amanda Waller had wanted you on, but Rick insisted on giving you a little more time to deal with everything.

The tall man closed the door as quietly as he could behind him, which seemed to not be quiet enough, since you jumped slightly at the noise, quickly standing up and turning around. Rick gave you an apologetic look, before slowly walking towards you, “I’m sorry, I should’ve knocked, I just wanted to check up on you and see if you’re alright-“ “It’s fine, I’m fine”, you interrupted him, wiping your tears quickly, taking a deep breath.

Rick frowned, he had never seen you cry before. He cared too much for you and he knew it, he just couldn’t help himself. Stopping in front of you, he looked down at you, only for his eyes to meet yours. For a moment, you both got lost in each others eyes, before you ripped your gaze away, looking to the side.

“Do you want anything else from me?”, you asked shakily, getting a little nervous with his burning stare on you.

“I actually do, yes-“, he hesitated for a moment. You looked up at him with a questioning expression. “Close your eyes”, you complied, closing your eyes slightly, one hand moving to hold onto Rick’s shirt so you didn’t lose your balance. You felt him lean down slightly, till you could fell his warm breath on your cheek. You surpressed a shiver, as he carefully tilted your head.

Now, you didn’t really know what to expect; you and Rick had gotten closer but you weren’t sure, if there were actual romantic feelings, or if he just pitied you, so a kiss wasn’t exactly what you expected. But you definitely would’ve expected it more than what happened next.

A small ‘click’ echoed through the dark room, the next thing you knew was, that all the pain suddenly disappeared. Your eyes watered when you felt Rick’s fingers carefully removing the heavy metallic cuffs around your wrists and neco, pure relief washing over you. Your leaned your body onto Rick’s, unable to support your own weight for a few moments.

When you had finally gained control over your own body again, you moved back a few centimetres and looked up to Rick, who met your confused eyes. “I couldn’t bear to see you in so much pain any longer, so I triedmy best to convince her and I’d say I’m lucky that she trusts me with you.”, the colonel smiled a little, raising a hand to softly carress your cheek. Your eyes widened. He quickly removed his hand again and apologized, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

Rick took a step back, still being careful so you didn’t lose balance again, “I should go, and you should sleep, you need to be well rested and-“

You were fast to interrupt him by taking a quick step towards him, getting a little on your tiptoes, before pressing a small kiss to Rick’s lips. You carefully looked him in the eyes again, “I don’t know either, but it just felt like the right thing to do.”

It took the man a few seconds to process what just happened, but when he did, he was quick to kiss you again, his soft lips over yours, moving slowly, as you kissed back. He put his hands on your waist, while you locked yours behind his neck. You kissed for a few moments, before the both of you had to breathe again. “Thank you”, you whispered against Rick’s lips, before receiving another small peck. “Sleep with me tonight?”, he asked quietly, getting lost in your eyes again. You gave him a small nod, allowing him to pick you up and carry you to his room, both of you smiling as you fell onto the mattress.