#Fated: S1: Chapter 6

[annwrites]

punish

⸻ part i: august underground ⸻

| chapter one. |

· pairing: serialkiller!billyhargrove x fem!reader · type: part of a series · summary: tina, a classmate of yours from hawkins high, is dead. a young woman being found brutally murdered in the woods puts your small town on high alert, even if everyone is trying to convince themselves that it had to have only been an outsider passing through, because things like this don't happen here. you attend the funeral with a grieving nancy, who's distraught over the loss of her friend, and under such grisly circumstances, at that. and while you're reluctant to feed yourself possible faux comfort of it being a one-time horrid occurrence like so many others, you fail to fathom in your imagination who the killer just might be—and that his reign of terror over the town is far from over as the bodies begin to pile up...and that he's soon to set his sickening sights upon you. but it's not your blood he thirsts for. what he has planned...will end with a new face upon milk cartons across the country. one you never would've imagined would grace the 6 o' clock news with the headline reading...'missing', and the question inevitably becomes: will you be found? · tw: dead dove, murder, mutilation of a female body (only discussed, not recounted), stalking, obsession, misogyny, disturbing sexual themes · tags: sapphic themes & interactions (nancy wheeler & reader) · word count: 7.8k · ꒰a/n꒱: the title of this fic comes from ethel cain's song of the same name. likewise, the first part of this series is inspired by ethel cain's song of the same name as well. the work as a whole is inspired by the sharp objects tv series, true detective s1, as well as ethel cain's album perverts.

“Did…did you hear what he did to her body?”

You drape curls over either of your shoulders and ensure your black satin ribbon is positioned exactly-so at the back of your head. 

It’s not that you want to be ‘dolling yourself up’ for such an occasion, but you do think it’s important that you look respectable…out of honor for the deceased. 

You stand and pad over to Nancy, then seat yourself beside her upon her quilted comforter. 

Your eyes meet hers and you shake your head. 

“Is it…” You sigh. 

Of course it’s bad.

Nancy smooths the skirt of her dress nervously. 

“He…shoved a tree branch inside…” She trails off for a moment, then swallows thickly. “Inside her. It…came out of her stomach.”

Your own turns at the vision that’s now been painted within your mind, and your eyes well with tears. “It sounds sick, but I wonder if just being raped would’ve been a kinder fate. If she was alive when he…did that, I mean. I hope she wasn’t.”

You sniffle. “I really hope she wasn’t.”

The car is silent as Nancy’s dad drives everyone to the wake. You merely stare out the window while holding Nancy’s hand.

The two of you are frightened. Things like this…they don’t happen here in Hawkins. Such violence is entirely unheard of. 

You didn’t know Tina well, but Nancy had been friends with her.

She’s, in truth, been rather quiet about it all. Which you understand. There’s something about the discussion of horrific things that makes it feel like if you dare speak too much about it, that you’ll be next. That tragedy is contagious. 

But Nancy’s silence stems, instead, from grief. You think that it’s because it isn’t real for her yet: that Tina is dead. 

You’d questioned her about whether she truly wanted to come today; had assured her that if she wanted to wait—only wanted to visit Tina’s grave once she was laid to rest—that that would be completely understandable. But she’d insisted. Had stated that she needs to see her, so as to believe that it’s true: that she’s dead, gone…lost, and, by extension, confirmed your suspicions.

So, you’re coming along with her to say goodbye while you truly hope within your heart that Tina has found peace. And that whoever did such an evil, vile thing to her is soon caught, and is made to feel even a fraction of the fear and pain that she did in those terrifying final moments. 

They say they look like they’re sleeping.

She doesn’t look like that to you. 

No one sleeps so perfectly. 

Some people may sleep on their backs, but not with their hands clasped so-exactly over their…stomach. And not while dressed in their Sunday best. But you suppose such attire is required, so as to hide the violation beneath. 

Their hair isn’t smooth and parted so evenly over their shoulders. 

Women don’t go to bed with faces full of makeup. 

And people don’t sleep inside coffins in parlors that reek of lilies and gardenias, surrounded by countless people wearing suits and dresses as they cry over the loss of the one who’s been put on display for everyone else’s sake. For their comfort.

What a strange arrangement funerals are. 

One dies, and then is made into a spectacle for everyone else’s viewing pleasure. For everyone else to speak of and study while all one can do is lie there…unspeaking, unmoving, unseeing.

Funerals really do seem far more about the audience, and far less about the reason such an audience has been convened to begin with. 

You think you want to be cremated when your time comes. You should probably tell someone that, or write it down somewhere where your final wishes will be easy to find. 

And you should probably do so soon. 

Which isn’t to say that this isn’t going to turn out to be a one-off…occurrence, even if that sounds, somehow, crass to think. But if it isn’t…if there’s someone in town that now has a thirst for hunting young women, then it doesn’t hurt to think ahead. 

You begin to slowly look around then, wondering if he’s here. 

Some seem to think that maybe it was just an outsider passing through town. But you wonder if that’s not just a pleasant lie they’re feeding themselves to give themselves a false sense of security. So that they can play pretend that everything is okay. That they’re safe. That whoever it was got what they needed to out of their system, and all will soon return to normal.

They might as well just say it: they already want to forget. Want to turn a blind eye, and pretend like Tina wasn’t murdered in cold blood, then defiled during a fit of black rage afterward.

Nancy turns to you with tears slipping down her cheeks and your heart shatters at the sight. She opens her mouth to speak, then promptly shuts it before whimpering in pain. 

“Do…do you want something to drink, maybe?” you offer, unsure of what else to say.

She nods silently and you give her a small, forced smile before stepping away and heading toward the back of the room to a table that’s laden with various refreshments.

“She was a slut, yet we’re expected to sit here and listen while the preacher and her parents drone on and on for the next hour about how sweet and fuckin’ innocent she was?”

You blanch, and nearly drop the cup of ice water you’ve just filled for Nancy.

“Dude, that’s… I mean, the two of you went out, right? This is her funeral, Billy, so—” the young man speaking in reply seems at a loss for words at the cruel remarks which just spewed forth from Billy Hargrove’s lips so easily.

How can he talk about her like that? Of course it’s true that death doesn’t erase the terrible deeds one has committed, but in no way do you think that going out with boys and maybe messing around with them in the backs of their cars is that. As if he’s some pious little saint himself. He himself certainly garnered a reputation around Hawkins High, and not long after first gracing its halls, which, without quarrel, serves as indefensible proof otherwise.

What a fucking hypocrite.

You should say something.

But you don’t want to cause a scene.

Because, what if instead of getting him to shut up, it only serves to rile him up further, and he then loudly proclaims similar sentiments for all to hear? And then that is how today will be remembered.

You lightly shake your head while doing your utmost to tamper down your pounding heart that’s ready to fly into fight mode, and pour yourself a plastic cup of lemonade before returning to Nancy with drinks in-hand.

Billy watches as you step away, wholly oblivious to his dark gaze that’s now settled upon you. It has been for some time now, in truth. But one as innocent and naïve as yourself would never have a clue as to his infatuation. It’s one of many things he likes about you: your purity.

Sometimes he thinks it might be love...what he feels. 

Billy leans back against the edge of the archway which separates the foyer from the parlor and takes a sip of his spiked Coke before licking his lips and tipping the lip of his cup toward you as you take a seat beside Nancy Wheeler. “That’s the girl you get down on one knee and make a life for. Who you bust your ass to make happy and feel safe.”

He glances to Tina’s casket and sneers. “Not every set of lips is worth so much goddamn effort.” 

You remain still and silent throughout Tina's funeral service while Nancy cries quietly beside you.

You honestly feel like you might be sick, because none of this seems real.

Tina had been in the library where you work no more than a couple of weeks ago, checking out a new romance novel. And now...now here her lifeless corpse lies before you.

You keep expecting her to open her eyes, sit up, smile, and exclaim that the joke is over; you all played along beautifully, and everything is okay once again—you may all returned to your regularly scheduled programming now.

You don't want this to be real. Don't want this to be the new reality that Hawkins will be forced to live under the mourning veil of until a resolution comes to fruition, one way or another.

You don't know which theory you prefer, in truth: it being a mere passerby, meaning the threat has come to a finish just as quickly as it began, or that it's someone here, perhaps in this very room. At least that way, the perpetrator can be caught and brought to justice. Rather, so that Tina's family, as well as her memory can obtain as much.

Prison would be too kind a fate for him, whomever he may be.

They should bring back public hangings, you muse to yourself as you twine your fingers between Nancy's to give her a sense of grounding and steadiness as the pastor's speech draws to a close.

Billy leans back against his Camaro as he retrieves a lighter from his pocket, then sets the cigarette, which is perched between his lips, ablaze.

He watches as you tread quietly behind Nancy from across the parking lot, and as he focuses upon your angelic face—it resembles that of a pretty little porcelain doll; so fragile and easy to break—he takes note that you've been crying. Not at quite the same volume as your friend, clearly, but you have.

It makes you seem impossibly more beautiful, though. Hauntingly so.

He then ponders what your tears might taste like.

He groans and quickly palms himself over his pants at the thought of drinking them down—licking them clean from your supple, untouched skin—as you slide along his length while whimpering beneath him. From fear, overstimulation, or just the overwhelming feeling of being absolutely loved and devoured by him, he's not sure. In truth, any would do. Preferably all—simultaneously.

You have no idea how good he could be to you. For you.

You can't fathom the things he'd do just to make you happy. To keep you safe.

All he wants is a chance to show you.

He knows that in time, when things are just right, he will.

The languid summer air is sweltering today.

You shift uncomfortably atop the metal folding chair you're seated upon, then lift one of your legs so as to drape it over your opposite one, but know you won't be any more comfortable that way—your thighs will merely stick together; slippery with sweat they are—so you instead settle for once again crossing your legs at the ankles and folding your hands politely in your lap as you try desperately to focus on the pastor before you as he reads a passage from the Bible. The book of Psalms, you think, but aren't sure. The humidity settles over you like a heavy, suffocating blanket, causing your lids to droop and your senses to numb.

A sweat-soaked tendril of hair sticks to the back of your neck while a drop of perspiration slides downward, between your shoulder blades.

This isn't the right weather to be dressed all in black in, you think.

And then you lightly shake your head and force yourself to snap out of it.

Who thinks like that at a burial of all places? About choice of wardrobe?

Selfish, you think, mentally chastising yourself.

Eventually, the pastor, similarly to at the funeral home, steps aside, leaving an open opportunity for anyone who might like to give a few kind parting words to the gathered crowd, in honor of the deceased, a chance to do so.

Nancy shifts infinitesimally beside you, and you glance to her, only to find her already looking at you.

Her eyes flit between yours, almost like she's asking for some sort of silent permission or blessing—no, it's encouragement which she's wanting—so as to stand and say whatever it is which is within her heart.

You settle a hand atop her knee and give it a gentle squeeze while forcing a small, pained smile to your lips.

She swallows thickly, blinks, then nods just once before standing and making her way to the head of Tina's casket on uncertain limbs.

She reaches into her pocket and retrieves—with trembling hands—a crumpled piece of paper, which she proceeds to slowly unfold.

"We knew each other since we were six. And you were taken from us at eighteen. Twelve years we had to grow together and learn as friends. But a life shouldn't be quashed down to simple arithmetic—to mere numbers and decimals. To—"

Her lip quivers, but she quickly swallows it down, continuing on. "To dates carved into stone; from a specified start, to an unimaginable end. No, such dates don't show us the in-between. Words can try: daughter, sister, friend. But still it isn't enough. Plenty of us know it can never be. So, you live on through us instead. That's the phrase, isn't it? 'Survived by'. And you are: survived by everyone here. In our mind's eyes, our memories, our hearts, and our souls. We carry you with us, even as we lay your body down here to rest."

She lets out a quiet sob while rolling up the worn paper between her hands before clutching it tightly between them. "We love you, Tina. I'm so sorry this happened to you."

She makes her way back over to you, and nearly falls into her chair as her legs give out beneath her.

Her mom takes her into her arms as she begins to cry all the harder—as black tears streak down her cheeks, painting her face in a gesture of remembrance for the dead.

You silently mill about as Nancy and her mom, Karen, give heartfelt, tearful condolences to Tina’s family.

A cool breeze washes over your heated skin and you ease your neck back, watching as Spanish moss flits gently in the wind above you. The corner of your mouth tugs downwards into a frown at the sight of the ashen branch it hangs upon—all life now leached from it. It’s strange to consider: that a tall, sturdy, and strong oak tree is oh-so-slowly being drained of life by something so willowy and inconsequential.

There’s a term for Spanish moss, kudzu, and the like. Invasive species. An unwelcome outsider—or, in the case of kudzu, welcome, until it wasn’t; until it became too unruly to handle, and was thus left to swallow up every area it crawls its way across, completely uncared for—but too much of a parasite for any one person to know how to properly, or, rather, permanently, eradicate.

You suppose it serves as a reminder of how inconsequential you all truly are: people; humans. The house always wins. Nature, that is. It will one day reclaim all.

Maybe it’s supposed to be that way.

Time is a flat circle which envelopes and encapsulates everything. There is nothing here which hasn’t always been and won’t always be.

Perhaps one should take comfort at such a thought.

You glance around, wondering where your headstone will one day rest while attempting to envision your own burial and who might be amongst the crowd come to watch you become part of the earthen soil.

"You made a very beautiful speech, sweetheart," Nancy's mom states quietly from the front of the car.

"Thanks," she replies, barely above a whisper.

Her mom glances to the rearview mirror and catches your eye. "How're you doing, Y/N? You thirsty?"

She rummages in her oversized purse for a moment before retrieving a lukewarm water bottle for you from within, which she proceeds to hand back to you over her shoulder.

You take it from her and hold it tightly between your hands. "Thank you. And I'm...okay." You pause. "I guess. I don't know. I think...we're just—"

"Scared," Nancy interjects.

You nod.

The two of you grow silent again for a moment and you listen as the AC struggles to crank out cool air to combat the extreme summer heat which means to fight its way into the limited space of the car’s cabin.

“I know I’m not your old man,” Nancy’s dad starts, and you smile slightly, already sure you know where this is going to lead. “But I still consider you one of my own since our house has always stood as a sort of second home for you. I just want you and Nancy both to be safe. To mind the town curfew and always be looking over your shoulders. Alright?”

You glance to Nancy and she shakes her head with a grin. “Yes, dad.”

His eyes shift toward the rearview mirror and you give him a smile. “Yes, Mr. Wheeler.”

Nancy slides your hand into her lap. “You’re still…staying over tonight, right?”

You nod while giving her a small, playful nudge. “No, I just brought a bag over this morning because I’m slowly moving in.”

She snorts. “I’ll trade your parents Mike to get you all to myself.”

Her mom shakes her head. “Nancy…”

She glances to the back of her head with a sheepish look upon her face. “Just kidding.”

Nancy flops back onto her bed, then rolls her head to the side, watching as you peel yourself out of the black dress that clings to your sweaty skin, eager to be rid of it.

You try not to picture embalming fluid seeping out of Tina’s pores then, only for it to soak into the satin pillow which rests beneath her head from inside her locked coffin, staining it…what color is embalming fluid, anyway? For some reason, you imagine it as being blue. You wonder if that’s accurate.

You gently shake your head, sending the thought fleeing.

“What’s wrong?”

You glance to Nancy, letting your dress pool around your feet before stepping to the side. You then pick it up from the floor to toss in her hamper before going to shower. “Nothing. Just…today, I guess. I think I feel strange about being there.”

She sits up and her brows bow in confusion. “Why?”

You shift on uncertain feet and shrug. “I wasn’t close with her like you were. We were acquaintances, but barely, at that.  I guess I just feel like it wasn’t my place to attend today, maybe.”

She stands and pads over to you, then slips her hands into both of yours. “You were there as a sign of respect.”

Her eyes flit downward and you watch as her cheeks turn a soft shade of pink. Or perhaps it’s just the blush she’s wearing, causing the illusion of her pale skin warming. Her gaze meets yours once again. “I would’ve fallen apart without you today.”

She wraps her arms around your neck. “I’m glad you’re here,” she whispers, nuzzling against you.

You hug her back. “Me too.”

You take a step back and grip each of her forearms. “I’m here whenever you need me.”

She nods while stepping toward you once more, and she presses a firm kiss to your cheek. “I know.”

You’re currently leaned back against the foot of Nancy’s bed, amusing yourself with a hundred piece puzzle on the floor while she flits through glossy magazines atop her bed—her legs swaying back and forth behind her while Flashdance plays quietly on her box TV across the room that’s set atop her dresser.

All of a sudden, your view is blocked by the page of a magazine being hovered in front of your face.

“She’s really pretty,” Nancy states while hanging her head off the edge of the bed.

“Uh huh.”

She sighs irritably. “You’re not even looking.”

“I’m trying to figure out where this piece goes.”

She shoves the magazine further into your face until it blurs.

You groan before snatching it out of her grip.

“Hey!”

You lean your head back and blink at her. “I thought you wanted me to look at it.”

She merely raises a brow in response.

You glance to the page and take a moment to study a picture of Molly Ringwald. “She was good in Sixteen Candles,” you remark before tossing the object behind you.

Nancy then playfully rests her chin atop your head and you bite back a smirk. “You don’t think she’s pretty?”

You press the puzzle piece into place. “She is.”

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

You laugh quietly. “Someone’s in a better mood.”

She rolls onto her back. “Do you think that’s bad? To feel happy for even a second while Tina is…” She trails off.

You turn around while resting one of your arms atop the mattress. “No. Of course not. She’s…gone, Nancy. And forcing yourself to be miserable in some twisted attempt to ‘honor her memory’ won’t change that. Don’t punish yourself.”

“I know.”

There’s a knock at Nancy’s door then and both your heads turn in that direction.

“Yeah?” Nancy calls, expecting it to be her mom checking on the two of you.

You’re both surprised when the door swings open, however.

“Am I interrupting girls’ night?” Steve asks while hanging in the doorway.

Nancy sits up then and perches herself on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

He shuts the door behind him before coming to seat himself next to her. “Thought I’d stop by and tell you in-person.”

You turn around and gaze up at the two of them, and Steve gives you a gentle smile, which you return.

“Tell us what?” Nancy insists, now on-edge.

“There’s going to be this…memorial-type-thing in the woods tonight. For Tina.”

“The woods—” you start, before Nancy interrupts, speaking your very thoughts aloud.

“The ones where Tina was murdered ? Not those woods,” she says incredulously.

Steve turns more toward her while sliding one of his knees atop her bed and resting his hand against the small of her back. “I think it’s just people trying to change how they remember that place. Throwing it back in his face—what he did there.”

Nancy looks to you with tears shimmering in her eyes, so you stand and seat yourself next to her.

“No one who shows up there tonight will be going to honor Tina. They’re going to throw a bonfire—a party—in the woods so they can get drunk. Right on top of where she was…” She sniffles.

Steve’s eyes flit to yours and then back away so quickly you almost doubt it happened.

“I’m sure that’s why some will be there tonight. But I just thought that, for you, maybe it could serve as some small form of…closure.”

“We’re all under curfew,” you remind him.

He shrugs. “It’s not like anybody our age is going to be adhering to it. Not tonight, anyway.”

Nancy speaks up then. “My parents would never let me out of the house, even if I wanted to go. You know that. So I don’t understand why you’re even bothering with—”

He looks at her bedroom window on the other side of the room, which is shrouded in billowy white curtains. “Could just do like I used to in high school when I wanted to come see you.”

He looks at her once more. “But if you’d rather stay here, I understand.”

Nancy wipes a tear from her cheek and you feel mildly irritated with Steve at the sight of her renewed emotional distress. Before he showed up, the two of you had been having a pleasant evening—she’d finally been in higher spirits for the first time in days. And now… Now she’s mournful again.

“Do you want me to go?” Steve asks her quietly.

Nancy turns fully toward you. “What do you think we should do? Should we go? I don’t know if I can take seeing that: people tossing beer bottles and trash all over where she—she was… And just laughing and pretending like everything is fine, and—”

She begins to sob then and throws herself against you.

Steve shifts awkwardly atop the bed, then clears his throat. “Maybe I should go…”

“No,” Nancy whimpers. “Can you both just hold me, please?”

Steve sidles closer and envelopes her back with his chest.

Nancy lies her head upon your shoulder and you each hold her as she cries, just like she asked.

“Ow!”

“Shh, just go slow and we’ll be fine,” you insist while silently closing Nancy’s window until it’s open only a crack.

You turn back around and watch with a pounding heart—terrified that the two of you are about to be caught any moment now, that her parent’s bedroom light will flicker to life and you’ll be busted and banned from their house, even if the two of you are technically adults now—as Nancy climbs down the trellis on the side of the house.

Once she’s reached the ground, she and Steve both stare up at you as they beckon you down to them.

“This is so stupid,” you mumble silently to yourself before following along behind your friend, praying that you won’t come to regret this when the two of you wind up in handcuffs for disobeying town curfew.

Your head lulls to the side and you watch as street lights and storefronts flit quickly by the car window.

You hope there’s not a deputy cruiser just waiting around a bend in the road up ahead somewhere.

The three of you may not be underage anymore, but you’re sure that won’t much matter since you and Nancy are barely even nineteen. You glance to Steve then and immediately grow cold all over.

No one knows who it is yet.

Steve hadn’t been lying about this supposed gathering in the woods, right?

No.

He isn’t like that. He’d never hurt Nancy. Would never hurt a fly, you’re sure. But that’s what makes it all the more plausible, isn’t it: that no one would ever suspect someone like him. Someone so kind and straight-laced and…well, he’s just your regular golden boy, isn’t he?

Is this how things will be from now on? You suspecting every single man you pass on the street and in store aisles? Doubting any sense of safety or trust you once felt toward any given person because of the terrible unknown that now lies over everyone’s heads in this town?

You stare at the back of Nancy’s headrest, wondering if she’s now thinking the same thing. If it’s come to her yet: the terrible possibility that the two of you could be next—tonight.

You feel sick.

“How did you find out about this…gathering?” you ask worriedly.

Steve clears his throat. “Tommy told me about it this afternoon.”

You nod. “Who do you think it is?”

You stare at the rearview mirror, expecting him to look at you. Rather, you wait for there to be a tell. Some jerk of a muscle or sudden movement which will confirm your suspicions. You pray he does no such thing. Pray that you’re entirely wrong.

Steve shrugs. “I wish I knew. That anyone did so this can all be over. I mean, I have no idea who the hell would’ve wanted to hurt Tina to begin with. Especially like that.”

He flips his right blinker on. “Just makes me sick.”

You and Nancy stay close to Steve as you all draw nearer to the bonfire.

Nancy’d been right about that much.

You’d, luckily, been wrong. About Steve, that is. You hope so, at least.

Nancy loops one of her arms around yours and you rest a reassuring hand against it.

“Either of you guys want anything to drink?” Steve asks while tucking a curl behind Nancy’s ear.

“Water,” you reply.

“And a Coke,” Nancy adds.

He nods and makes his way over to a cooler while you lead Nancy over to a fallen log for the two of you to seat yourselves upon.

“This feels…” Nancy trails off and shakes her head. “I just keep thinking—wondering, rather—if he’s here. I’d give anything right now to be able to read minds—find him out.”

Her eyes meet yours. “Maybe I’d shove a broken beer bottle shard in his neck.”

She’s never been the angry, violent type, but you figure she’s entitled to being as much now.

“He deserves that and worse,” you say.

Steve returns with your drinks then.

An older girl with a teased strawberry-blonde ponytail takes a standing position before the fire—flames licking at the sky above her frizzy head of hair—and she raises the amber bottle in her hand high above her to gather everyone’s attention.

You watch as beer sloshes from the open neck before she lowers the drink to her side again. “So, we all came here tonight for Tina. To give a big middle finger to the sick fuck who did this to her.”

She clears her throat, and pauses, like she’s trying to remember—or figure out—what she’s meant to next say. “So, uh, I’ll just open the floor to anyone who might want to say a few parting words to her, or tell stories to keep her memory alive.”

The young woman steps away, swaying lightly on her feet, leaving an opening for someone to then take her place.

Nancy shakes her head gently beside you. “A drunk to kick us off. Great.”

You turn slightly toward her. “Do you want to start everyone off? You don’t have to, since you spoke at her burial. I mean, you don’t have to anyway…”

She gently shakes her head. “No, I’ll do it. It should be someone who knew her. And who isn’t already under the influence.”

You and Steve stay seated as Nancy takes the vacated spot of the drunk girl.

Nancy clears her throat, then glances nervously to you and Steve before starting.

Sick fuck she’d called him.

She has no idea.

And the drunken cunt better watch it, or she’ll be next.

He shrugs slightly to only himself, knowing she wouldn’t be. Tina might’ve only been the beginning and the end, in truth. He’s just…not sure yet. There’d been something about it—the intimacy of being the only one present in her final moments; all that she could see, or hear, or feel—it’d been unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Something which had transcended this plane—empty and superficial it usually seems.

Or so he’d thought.

But to discover something more—something not typically seen by the naked eye—had taken ungovernable rage to achieve. Though, it had been calculated. Planned. At least in theory. But once they were there—just the two of them—in these very woods…it’d been a far heavier experience than he’d thought to prepare himself for.

The feeling he discovered… It was intoxicating. An absolute release and escape from the torment he’s been forced to endure and tolerate because he has no other recourse but to. Having absolute dominion over another and their bodily autonomy—over a woman—he’d be remiss to pretend at it having no sort of hold over him now.

But he’s sure that there must be another way to fill that void—to go about reaching that pinnacle again. One which doesn’t require that sort of repeated, bloody sacrifice.

It’s not that he sees human life as being sacred. He doesn’t. Not anymore. Not that he’s sure he ever did. But rather that he’s new at this and still yet unsure of himself. He can’t get cocky. Can’t allow it to swallow him whole. He needs to be cautious going forward. More cautious, that is.

He must take things in stride.

His vision flits to Nancy’s waifish form as he barely listens to the meaningless, mournful words leaving her lips.

He’s supposed to feel guilt. That’s what a normal person would be experiencing by now.

But he doesn’t. Not in the least. After all, she was the first to shed blood. To drive the knife of betrayal straight through him, leaving it forever lodged within his black, tarred soul. He was merely repaying the fact.

You feel tired. The warmth from the fire is gradually causing your body to relax and your mind to go hazy.

It’s been a long day.

You’d hoped to be in bed by now, but you know that you can always just sleep in tomorrow instead, if need-be.

You glance around, waiting for Nancy and Steve to return. He’d taken her somewhere nearby to relieve herself after finishing off her bottle of Coke once people’s condolences were through being paid. You don’t like being alone here, even if you’re surrounded by people.

You look so pretty tonight. What, with your skin all awash in a fiery glow and your heavy lids drooping sleepily over innocent eyes. You’re damn-near irresistable. Hell, you always are.

He likes how you don’t know it. That you wouldn’t have the first idea of how to use your body to your benefit against lesser men—lesser than him, that is.

He hasn’t always been so versed in salacious feminine wiles, but he’s learned. It’d taken quite some time to, but he inevitably did. And now—now he knows what he needs, as opposed to what he’d once thought he wanted.

He’s not pleased that you’re here tonight, however. You should know better. This isn’t you: a rule-breaker. Mischievous. But he knows who to blame for it: your presence in a place you ought not to be at to begin with.

Billy can tell that even now—even after earning himself a diploma and attending a nearby college—that little Pretty Boy Harrington still hasn’t wised up. He thinks…what? That if some psycho comes out of the woods, armed with God-knows-what, he’ll be able to protect you and Nancy both? He has no idea what he’s up against. None of them fucking do.

Billy smirks at the knowledge, and then he stands.

“This seat taken?” questions a baritone timbre to your right.

Slowly, you lift your head to gaze up at none other than Billy Hargrove. Your eyes trail downward from his smooth, tanned face, which is framed by golden-brown curls, to a sculpted chest advertised by a partially unbuttoned shirt, and then to blue jeans which cling to his muscled legs. You then proceed to follow his index finger—the rest of his hand is wrapped tightly around a bottle of beer—to the bit of empty wood next to you.

You glance across the way to where Nancy and Steve now stand chatting amongst themselves, then back to him, and you shake your head. “No.”

In truth, you have half-a-mind to tell him to piss off after the things you heard him saying at Tina’s funeral earlier in the morning.

You refrain, however.

It’s just like you to always keep your mouth shut when you have something to say.

You tell yourself you’re merely picking and choosing your battles. As if you’ve ever fought any to begin with…

He gives you a gentle smile, then seats himself next to you. Close enough that his thigh is now pressed up against your own. And fuck, if that isn’t enough to set his blood on fire.

He takes a drink, then tips the neck of the bottle toward you with a quizzical brow.

Unbeknownest to you, it’s a test. One which you promptly pass.

“No, thank you,” you reply while shaking your head, then lifting a water bottle for him to see.

He finds himself pleased with your response. “I didn’t know that you and Tina were close.”

You glance to Nancy across the way again before staring at the fire ahead once more. “She and Nancy were.”

He clicks his tongue. “I see. So you’re here for moral support, then?”

You nod.

He nudges you gently, forcing you to look at him.

“That’s sweet of you. The two of you’ve always been good friends, haven’t you?”

You nod yet again. “Since we were in kindergarten.” You look at him. “So all our lives.”

He studies you for a moment. “You looked really pretty—at the funeral.” He slides a feather-light hand down your back, not wanting to frighten you away like the skittish little fawn you are.

He knows it will take a patient, dexterous hand to reel you in and groom you properly—particularly for his own selfish wants and needs. That it will have to be a gradual process, even if he wants you all to himself now. Not later.

You shift beneath his gaze and he promptly removes his hand.

The two of you remain quiet for a moment, while Billy considers.

“You want to take a walk?”

Your head jerks back in Billy’s direction, sure that he can’t be serious. “No. I’m okay. Thanks, though…”

His eyes narrow slightly and he cocks his head softly to the side. “Why not?”

Your brows furrow. “Because it’s dark. And I mean…look where we are. The stretch of woods we’re in.”

He stands then and extends a hand toward you. “C’mon. You’ll be with me. I can keep you safe. Promise.”

He grins and gives you a wink that’s meant to make him seem charming. But the sight of his canines glinting against the firelight instills a different sort of sensation within you.

“I’m okay, Billy, really.”

His features shift. It’s so small a difference that you’re not sure you even trust your eyes—what you just saw. Perhaps it’s just the flickering fire playing tricks on you. Perhaps you’re just tired. Perhaps…

“There’s just something I want to show you. I think you’ll really like it.”

He’s always known you to be more amiable and submissive. He fights against his own bubbling displeasure at your disagreement.

His temper, at time goes on, is seemingly becoming harder and harder to keep a lid on.

You look to Nancy and fill with relief when you see she and Steve coming your way.

And then is when you stand, and he smiles, thinking he finally has you.

Until he’s promptly disappointed.

You keep your eyes trained on him, watching as his smile disappears at the company of your friends coming to join you. Encroaching on what should be his.

He’s so fucking sick of everyone and everything getting in his way.

Tina is only the beginning.

“Hey,” Nancy calls softly, coming to stand by your side. “You ready to head out?”

Billy steps closer to you. “I can take her home.”

All eyes come to focus upon him.

“If she wants to stay awhile longer, I mean,” he tacks on while shifting on his booted feet.

Nancy pulls you closer to her. “She’s staying at my house tonight. The next few, actually. So we’re headed to the same place. That’s nice of you to offer, though.”

Billy’s jaw flexes, but briefly. And then he relents. “You all enjoy your night, then. And be safe.”

He turns and circles the fire, gazing across the way into the deep, dark woods, feeling a familiar itch which he needs to tend to. Tonight. One of…self-gratification.

There’s few ways left for him to self-soothe now. Masturbation being chief among them. He’ll have visions of you to keep him company as he sees to his carnal needs this evening, at least.

He so anticipates when you will be the one physically helping him along, knowing exactly what he needs and how to give it to him by him only needing to give you a specific look, or a mere gesture.

He’ll train you so well. His perfect, innocent girl. He can hardly wait.

“What did Billy want?” Nancy asks with a sour tone while pushing bubbles around the bathtub.

You’d taken yet another shower yourself once the two of you snuck back into the house for the night—albeit a brisk one—wishing to wash the smell of woodsy smoke and mosquito bites from your body so you’d be clean when the two of you finally laid down to sleep. You’d both gone in through the front door, however, since the house was all dark when you got back, meaning everyone else had already gone to bed for the evening. No reason to risk breaking your necks climbing back up the side of the house and through a window again.

You rest your forearm along the side of the tub and shrug slightly. “He kept…asking me to go into the woods with him. He said he wanted to show me something.”

She sits up straighter then. “He what?” she asks, now thoroughly alarmed.

Your eyes flit to hers and she lies each of her warm, wet palms atop your forearm while proceeding to grip it securely. “Show you what?” she questions.

“We didn’t get that far. I told him no, and then you and Steve came over and we left. It’s just the way he was acting…the look on his face.” You lean back and shake your head. “I don’t know. Maybe I was seeing things that weren’t there because of the heat of the day, or exhaustion. Or maybe he’d just had too much to drink.”

She pulls the stopper from the drain and the tub begins to gurgle. “He’s never been one to keep it in his pants. Even today he was just looking to make another notch in his belt, I’m sure. I never understood what Tina saw in him.”

You fleetingly consider making her privvy to what you overheard Billy say about the girl in question at her own funeral, but decide against it. Nancy’s been through enough today.

You stand and hand Nancy a towel as she emerges from the tub, which she promptly wraps around her naked form.

“But you’d never be into someone like him,” she states while taking a smell step toward you.

You snort quietly. “He’s nice to look at, but, no, I very much doubt that.”

Nancy smiles. “Good.”

She’s most-certainly frightened.

Not that you blame her.

You know because, before turning in for the night, she set out an old star projector you haven’t seen since the two of you were ten or eleven years old.

You watch idly as various planets and solar systems make their way across the ceiling, stretching, then folding back in on themselves before circling around again and again.

Everything always comes full-circle.

You feel Nancy shift onto her side, and her hand comes to rest atop the crown of your shoulder. “I think I might take some flowers over to her grave tomorrow.”

You turn onto your side then as well to face her. “I’m sure Tina would like that.”

Nancy’s eyes flit between your own. “I always feel better when you’re here.”

You smile sleepily. “I’m glad.”

She glances away for a moment, and her expression changes to one that makes it seem as if she’s lost in thought. And then she returns her eyes to yours. “You never did answer me earlier.”

Your brows furrow. “Hm?”

“About if you think I’m pretty.”

You roll your eyes playfully. “I doubt that you need me to tell you that you are, Nance.”

“But do you think I am?” she asks softly while moving closer.

“Y-yes, of course I do. Why?”

She worries her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, and then she does something entirely unexpected.

Nancy pulls herself flush against your body and proceeds to press her lips against your own.

The moment lasts for only that—a moment—before you pull away in shock. “Nancy, what’re y—”

“I’m sorry,” she immediately supplies while her eyes well with tears. “I just thought… That maybe you felt…”

She sniffles. “Please don’t be mad.”

You remain silent—your mind entirely blank.

You silently curse yourself for the sudden loss of words on your part. Because she’s staring at you expectantly, waiting for you to say something. Anything.

“It’s just…you’re with Steve. That’d be like—no, it would be—cheating.”

She nods slowly. “I know. I’m not…doing it to be unfaithful to him. I just… I’ve wanted to. For a long time. Especially today. Have you never wanted to…?”

“I’m…not sure. I don’t know.”

You suddenly feel doubtful toward yourself. Have you ever wanted to? Do you want to?

It doesn’t matter what the answer is. You won’t be inserting yourself into their relationship like this. You’re not that kind of person: a homewrecker, for lack of a better term.

She gingerly tucks a lock of hair behind your ear. “He doesn’t have to know, Y/N.”

You stare back at her in disbelief. This isn’t the Nancy that you know. She’d never cheat. Steve has done nothing to deserve this.

“Nancy—”

“Just for tonight, please. Couldn’t we try?”

Try?, you want to say. Try what?

“Nancy, we’re both exhausted. You’ve been through a lot today. The past week, really. Let’s just go to sleep, okay? I’m not mad. I promise. Maybe I do feel…something. But you’re spoken for, like I said. And I don’t…” You shake your head. “Even if you weren’t, I wouldn’t want to risk ruining our friendship over something that could never last anyway.”

She winces.

And you fill with guilt.

“I think you know what I mean. No one would ever accept something like that. Not here. Not in a small town like Hawkins.”

Her chin wobbles. “I know. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry.”

You take one of her hands in yours. “It’s okay. I’m flattered, I think, if nothing else.”

She flushes. “Guess you know about my crush now…”

You begin to see recent moments spent with her in an entirely different light then. Like when you’d undressed after the funeral and she’d blushed at the nearly-naked sight of you. Or all the times she held your hand today. Or how she’d seemed even the least bit jealous about Billy having spoken to you this evening.

“Guess so,” you reply in a mere whisper.

The two of you grow quiet again momentarily.

“Could…you hold me?” she asks, while also preparing for rejection.

You give her a soft, reassuring smile. “Course.”

She wraps herself around you then while resting her head between your breasts. “Thanks.”

You close your eyes, ignoring your hammering heart, worried that she can hear it. “Welcome.”

It’s late.

And he shouldn’t be here.

Usually, when he wants to check up on you, he does so outside your house.

But you’re with her tonight.

So, here he sits across the street, staring up at Nancy Wheeler’s bedroom window instead.

He finds sleep difficult to find unless he’s looked in on you for the night. He’s made quite the habit of it for weeks on-end now. He’s just doing it to ensure that his darling girl is safe, that’s all.

Even if the only thing anyone in this town has to be afraid of now—most of all—is him. Especially a sweet young thing like yourself.

“Goodnight, Y/N,” he whispers against the humid night air before turning his Camaro over and driving himself back home, ready to begin planning his next step.

· tagging list: @emilynissangtr @highsummon

[hugmekenobi]

S3: The Bad Batch (6)

Chapter Six: Infiltration

Gif by @timetodiverge

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: A reunion with Rex unveils some more intel

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, light spice (making out, dirty talk, teasing touches, praise, nickname 'sweetheart'), I make up Fireball lore, brief call back to Order 66, general threatening atmosphere, I also dance around the M-count stuff (please be nice and just accept it lol), suggestions of misuse of the Force for interrogation purposes, brief mention of food and referenced character deaths

Word Count: 4.3K

Author's notes: Don't get excited about CX-2 because I still haven't thought about a way around his fate in S3 finale and my current plan is probably going to be very boring lol. Also Ch7 is out too!

The meeting between Senator Chuchi and Senator Singh had started promising until a rather crude assassination attempt disrupted matters.

Unfortunately, Greer had fallen victim to the black armoured assassin– the grim silver lining being that he was the only casualty and they’d managed to capture the shadow clone sent after the senators.

--

As the ship flew through hyperspace, Rex and Howzer stared at the unconscious assassin- both of them wondering how such a change was possible. There was a distinct different to the clones that had remained loyal to the Empire and these shadow clones.

“Think he’ll cooperate?” Howzer asked apprehensively.

“I wouldn’t count on it, but we have to try.” Rex replied.

“We recovered this from his gear.” Howzer pulled out the puck. “It’s a data puck. Highly encrypted.”

“Have Fireball find out what’s on it when we get back to base camp.”

--

Teth

Rex stepped into the interrogation room to join the two other clones already in there and he saw that the clone assassin still unconscious. “Did you extract the device?”

Howzer handed it to him, “The electro capsule was implanted in one of his teeth. Just like you said. His identifying number’s been wiped too.” Howzer stared on the clone, “What exactly did the Empire do to him?”

No sooner had Howzer finished his sentence, did the clone open his eyes.

Rex knelt in front of him, “What’s your name, trooper?” He was met with stony silence, so he tried a different approach. “Listen, no matter what they did to you, no matter what you’ve done, you’re still a clone. Still one of us. I can help you, but we need answers.” Again, he was met with no reply, and he got the sinking feeling that whatever the Empire had done to him couldn’t be easily undone.

--

Tantiss

Scorch entered the communications office to stand in front of the holographic image of CX-2.

“Why have I been activated?” Came the modulated voice that had an air of contempt to it.

“One of the other operatives has gone dark. His internal homing device remains intact. So, we know he’s alive.”

“My orders?”

“He’s been compromised. Track him down and neutralize him.”

--

“We know there are others like you. Where are you based? Coruscant? Daro?” Rex asked. They’d been at this for hours now and all they’d gotten out of the clone was a series of hateful glares. “Tantiss?” That finally got a different reaction, the clone’s eye’s widening gave him away. “Oh, yeah, we know about Tantiss. And the clones imprisoned there. Were you one of them? Tell us where it is.” He said, more force behind his words now but again, the clone stayed quiet.

Rex shared a glance with Howzer who jutted his head and the two of them came together closer by the door.

“You need to push him harder.” Howzer stated in a hushed voice.

It had been what he’d been hoping to avoid but it was looking like all other alternatives were ineffective. Rex sighed but before he could do anything else, the door whirred open, and Fireball called his name.

“Rex.”

Rex and Howzer left the clone in the room with Nemec and met up with Fireball.

“The data puck was a target register.” Fireball revealed.

“Who was he after?” Howzer asked.

“Senator Singh. But that wasn’t the only person on his list.” He activated the device and showed the first image.

Rex saw the slight unease in Fireballs face as he changed to the next image and noticed a distinct sinking feeling in his stomach as he recognised the two targets. “Contact Echo and Hunter. We need to let them know.”

Fireball nodded and went of to do just that.

“We should bring them here.” Howzer insisted.

“No. No. I- I don’t want to involve them in this.”

“It’s too late for that.” Howzer said simply. “Crosshair is with them. This is our chance to question him.”

“Echo’s already done that.”

“But we haven’t. He knows more than he’s saying. If you want to locate Tantiss, then we need him to talk.” He moved away from him.

Rex thought through Howzer’s words and whilst he didn’t want to drag you all into this, he had to admit that Howzer was right.

Howzer paused after a couple of paces and turned around. “Rex.”

Rex angled himself to face him.

“You’ve talked about the kid before, but the woman, who is she?”

--

Strong hands gripped your hips as they backed you into the wall of the Marauder and an agreeable groan left your throat at the enthusiastic insistence of the man currently kissing you with such fervour and hunger, it made your head spin. You attempted to weave your fingers in his dark locks, but you didn’t get very far.

Not breaking away from you, Hunter gathered your wrists in one of his own hands and raised your arms above your head. His hold was strong as pressed them into the metal wall, not to hurt but to send the message that that’s precisely where you were going to keep them for this time alone that the two of you had managed to coordinate for yourselves.

You were utterly powerless to resist- not that you wanted to. You had to pull away for air eventually, but Hunter never faltered, he just turned his attentions to the rest of you and your body arched into him to rid yourselves of any offensive gaps between you.

Hunter pressed doting kisses to the skin of your neck, teeth scraping along your pulse point. “What do you want, sweetheart?” He murmured seductively.

Breathless whimpers were the only noises that came from your mouth. You were overwhelmed by him, by the feeling of his body pushing against yours, by the sensation of his touch, by his lips. Words were hopeless a hopeless venture with him against you like this.

Hunter grinned against your skin before he kissed the hollow of your throat. He pushed his thigh between your legs and relished in the soft moan that left your lips. He trailed his lips across your jaw as he rasped, “Tell me what you want.” He kissed the sensitive spot behind your ear.

Your entire body was pliant against him, and you couldn’t fathom one single word of basic due to his ministrations.

Hunter continued what he was doing, and he moved to the underside of your jaw, “Do you want my fingers?” He hovered his lips a mere few inches from yours before whispering in a low voice, “Do you want my mouth?”

And when he felt your pulse quicken at that last one, he brought his lips back to yours and kissed you deeply, teasingly. “You want my mouth, sweetheart?” He uttered softly against your lips whilst simultaneously applying more pressure between your legs with this. He swallowed your moan with another kiss before he started to lower himself to his knees.

Your hands scrambled for purchase against the wall, and you just about managed a nod as he mouthed his way down your still clothed body. You inhaled shakily as you felt his gloved hands dip under your layers stroke against the bare skin of your stomach before they suggestively toyed with the waistband of your leggings. “Yes, that’s what I want.” You panted, the dark lust you saw behind his brown eyes had you weak at the knees.

Hunter smirked up at you. “Good girl.” With that he properly took a hold of the waistband and got ready to pull them down.

And then the most objectionable and devastating of sounds materialised around you and the delicious anticipation of what was about to happen instantly evaporated as reality came crashing down around you.

Hunter paused what he was about to do and exhaled a deeply dissatisfied sigh as he readjusted your clothing.

“And I want that to be a software glitch and not our comms going off.” You grumbled; the words punctuated by you lightly banging the back of your head against the wall in annoyance.

“Hunter, (Y/N), do either of you copy?”

Hunter hung his head in his own disappointment before he stood up tall. He kissed your cheek before pressing his comm, “Yeah, we copy, Echo.” He confirmed.

“What’s going on?” You asked as both you and Hunter slipped back into your squad roles.

“Rex got in touch. We need go. Now.”

You two grabbed your gear and hurried out the Marauder to head for Echo’s ship.

--

“So, where exactly are we headed?” Hunter asked Echo as the ship travelled through hyperspace.

“It’s a base of sorts.”

“I thought your rendezvous with Gregor was top priority.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll pick him up after dropping you lot off.”

“Any idea why Rex wants us there so urgently?” You asked as you rubbed Batcher’s belly. The hound’s demands of attention were the distraction you needed from the growing nerves surrounding going to a base made entirely up of clones and although you knew they had no loyalty to the Empire, you weren’t sure how far that sentiment would extend with regards to you.

“He didn’t say. But it must be important.”

Hunter pondered over this for a moment before he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced around his chair and thoughtfully observed Crosshair and Omega- who had a toothpick of her own- and she was mirroring the way Crosshair was using it. The behaviour was typically exhibited by her when she felt particularly close to someone or looked up to them in some way. Clearly their experience in Tantiss had it had brought them close in ways he hadn’t considered or in ways they- particularly Crosshair- were yet to fully realise.

You and Wrecker had been paying Batcher some attention, but you stopped as you noticed the way Hunter had looked between Crosshair and Omega. You saw what he saw but as you reached into the Force around him to get a gauge of his feelings, it wasn’t jealousy or hurt behind his eyes, it was more contemplative. She’ll have to learn to be a moody teenager from someone. You smiled over at him as he half-turned to face you.

You felt a wet nose nudge your palm and you went back to petting Batcher.

--

Teth

Rex and Howzer watched as the ship landed. Once the doors opened, they went to meet up with the oncoming group.

“They don’t look happy to see us.” Wrecker said. “Just like old times, huh?” He remarked cheerfully with a nudge to Crosshair’s back.

“Are you alright?” Echo asked as he saw you had yet to follow the others out.

“Yup.” You answered distantly as your hand subconsciously came to unclip and reclip your lightsaber to your belt.

Echo picked up on your tense fidgeting. “Rex assured me that it wouldn’t be an issue.”

“I know, I know.” You inhaled a calming breath and jogged to catch up with the group.

--

“Thanks for coming.” Rex said as Hunter’s squad came to a halt in front of him. He then nodded at you and Omega.

You had heard the hushed whispers and murmurs from the surrounding clones as you’d approached the rest of the group and you saw the brief moment of shock that flashed across the features of the clone next to Rex. “They already knew before I walked out here.” You guessed, their reactions and shared looks told you that it wasn’t just because they only just noticed the lightsaber on your belt.

“I, uh, filled a few of them in before your arrival. Word travels fast but some of them still didn’t believe it and, well, some of us knew already. I’ve been to quite a few Outer Rim planets… you haven’t exactly been laying low in recent months.” Rex replied, glancing curiously as you.

You sighed, “Fair point. It’s certainly been an… interesting time.”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Rex reassured you. “We all have that past to contend with.”

“Well, that’s comforting I suppose.” You said lightly before you fell into place beside Hunter.

“It’s good to see you, Rex.” Hunter said sincerely.

“Wish I felt the same.”

You all glanced to the hostile voice of the clone beside Rex who was glaring at Crosshair.

“I have unfinished business with this one.” Howzer stated as he kept his sights firmly on Crosshair. “Remember me?”

Crosshair just stared at him blankly.

“Surprised I’m alive? Most of my squad from Ryloth is dead because of you.” Howzer spat.

“Easy Howzer.” Rex cautioned. “I know you two have history. But we’re all on the same side now.”

Howzer only released a doubtful scoff, but he eased off.

“Why’d you call us here, Captain?” Hunter asked.

“We have something to show you. Follow me.” He led the way to the base.

You got ready to follow behind, but Echo’s voice made you and Wrecker pause.

“Omega!”

Omega turned and ran back to the ship.

“I was planning on giving you this after I made a few more modifications. But, uh, now’s as good a time as any.”

Omega released an excited gasp as she examined the weapon. “An energy crossbow. Where did you get it?” She eagerly took it from him.

Echo laughed, “Well, I’ve made a few interesting contacts across the galaxy.”

She activated it and the green glow of energy hummed strongly before she turned it off. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Echo.”

“Well, I won’t be gone long. You better head inside and, uh, keep them in line.”

They shared in a salute before Omega dashed off the ship to rejoin you and Wrecker and the three of you made your own way to the building.

--

“Your numbers are growing.” Hunter commented as he saw the clones in the room.

“Well, we need all the help we can get. Once we find the exact coordinates of the Tantiss Base, we have to hit it hard if we’re gonna pull our brothers out of there.” Rex said, coming to a stop by the centre console. “I have questions about the facility but that’s not the only reason why I sent for you.” He picked up the puck and chucked it to Hunter. “We recovered a target list from an Imperial operative. And both of them are on it.”

“Not a surprise. You’ve got a Jedi and someone who escaped Imperial custody.” Crosshair replied, sounding bored as he put a toothpick between his lips.

“So did you. But you’re not on the list.” Howzer retorted.

“Guess I’m not as valuable to them.”

“Or you’re feeding them information.” Howzer accused.

Hunter frowned at that and came to his brother’s defence. “You’re gonna have to back down, Captain.” He warned sternly.

“You expect us to believe he was held on Tantiss for months, but he doesn’t know how to get back there?” Howzer said angrily.

Crosshair removed his toothpick and faced up against Howzer. “Whether you believe me or not, it’s the truth.” He waited for his words to sink in before speaking again, “But I’m not loyal to the Empire any longer.”

That wasn’t enough for Howzer. “Your squad may trust you. But I don’t.”

Any further argument was cut short as the doors whirred open again and they all looked to see you, Wrecker and Omega come in.

You almost ran into the clone that was exiting at the same time and your eyes widened as you saw his face. “Fireball?!” You gasped as you recognised the clone that had been your trusty second in command of the battalion you had been assigned during the war.

“General?” Fireball replied, completely stunned as he instinctively straightened his posture. When he’d seen your holo-image, part of him still couldn’t believe it. Even with Rex’s confirmation, he still had his doubts but that all vanished that very second as he heard your voice. As he saw your face. As you were standing in front of him. It really was you.

You couldn’t help it; you gave him a quick hug. “It’s been years! I’d heard Master Tobar Ka-Teen took over from me…” You trailed off and cursed yourself as you realised the added effect of your words and you immediately became apologetic. “Fireball-”

“About that day… I did- and Order 66- I couldn’t- And I know if it had been you, I know I wouldn’t have been able to resist-” He stuttered.

You placed a hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault, Fireball. I’m not holding anything against you.”

Fireball released a sigh of relief before he said, “There’s something else you need to know, General.” He jutted his head over to the others before he headed out the room.

You then saw the way Rex, Hunter, Crosshair and Howzer were all glancing between you and Omega. You felt the tension in the Force around them as you approached. “What’s going on?”

“The Empire’s targeting you-” Crosshair started to say.

Wrecker let out a dry chuckle. “No surprise there.”

“Yeah, we already knew that.” You replied with an unconcerned shrug.

“And Omega… again.” Crosshair added.

That got your attention and achieved a sufficient amount of worry. You came to stand just beside Wrecker and behind the young girl. Your voice was serious as you asked, “Do we know why?”

“Not yet.” Rex answered before he addressed Omega, “Why were they after you before?”

“To force Nala Se to cooperate and conduct certain experiments.”

“Which were what?”

“She was working on something involving M-Count? I don’t know what that means, but they were taking blood samples from everyone, even me.”

“They were looking at your M-count?” You repeated. You thought through the possibilities but dismissed the main one that ran through your head because surely you would’ve sensed if she had that particular potential. You racked your brain for other theories but came up empty.

“Uh huh.” Omega glanced up at you curiously.

Her inquisitive look matched the expression the rest of them were giving you. “I know how it can be significant, but I have no idea as to how it would relate to her or any clone that matter.” You admitted ruefully.

Rex took a knee in front of Omega. “What else can you tell us?”

“When we escaped, there wasn’t enough time to free the other clones. We have to find a way to get them out.” She said resolutely.

Rex rested a hand on her shoulder. “We will.”

The door opened again, and Fireball re-entered holding a bowl of food. “Chow time!” He announced. “Gregor’s recipe, with a few spicy modifications.”

“Oh, now you’re talking.” Wrecker said eagerly, leading the way as he, Batcher and Omega went to the table.

You watched them go with a small smile before Crosshair’s voice brought you back to the discussion at hand.

“Wait. There’s more you should know.” He paused for a second as he readied himself for what he was about to say. “Not all of the clones on Tantiss are prisoners. Some are loyal to the Empire. There is a division of clones trained as specialised operatives and initiated into a secret deep cover program run by Hemlock.” His voice grew quieter as he recalled the time spent in that room. “Their identities are erased. They undergo conditioning. The few that make it through come out different.”

“If the program’s so secretive, how do you know about it?” Howzer questioned suspiciously.

“Because they tried to make me into one of them.”

“Tried?”

“It didn’t work. Being defective is in my nature.” He finished his explanation.

“You’ve encountered one before. The assassin on Coruscant.” Hunter said.

“We’ve known they existed but never knew exactly what they were.” Rex said cagily.

It wasn’t just their visual mannerisms that gave them away, you felt the evasiveness around them. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Rex hesitated a moment before he said, “We captured one. I’ve tried questioning him, but he hasn’t been very cooperative.”

“This is where you come in.” Howzer said to you.

You noticed the grimace on Rex’s face and regarded the clone captain warily. “What do you expect me to do about it?”

“Well, you’re a Jedi, aren’t you?”

You gave a single slow nod of your head as you awaited further information.

“You’ve got certain… skillsets.” He took half a step closer to you. “Ones of persuasion that we don’t have.”

You realised what he was getting at. You shook your head. “That only works on the weak-minded and from what Crosshair just described, he’s anything but. No clone is.”

“You could make it work though if you really had to. You could get him to say what we needed him to.”

“Captain-” You objected as you sensed his growing desperation- it was rolling off him in waves.

“But could you do it?” He took another step towards you.

“Doing so verges on torture, Captain.” You attempted to explain. You felt Hunter gravitate closer to you in response to Howzer’s movement.

“But could you do it?” He asked again.

You remembered the last time three Jedi tried that- against Cad Bane of all people- and the impact had nearly been disastrous. You held his stare with a strong one of your own and spoke steadily and with plenty of conviction behind your words. “One, I don’t have that kind of power.”

“But-”

“Two, even if I wanted to, it could destroy his mind and you get nothing.”

“The time for debate is long gone. We need the information.” Howzer insisted. “It’s a risk-”

Further debate was silenced as Crosshair interrupted, traces of panic in his voice. “You have one here? Alive?”

Rex nodded.

“Impossible. The Empire would be on top of us already. They have ways of tracking their operatives.”

“We scanned him. He’s clear.” Howzer said.

“It’s not the kind of tracker your scans would pick up.” Crosshair asserted. “Hemlock’s smarter than that.”

“Where’s the operative? Show us.” Hunter requested.

--

Sneaking into the base had been all to easy and as he scanned the room ahead with the scope of his sniper rifle, he saw the other two targets in the room, but they weren’t his first priority. He’d bide his time with them. He retreated back outside.

First, he had to give Scorch the news about the targets and his location for the Recovery Strike Team.

Then there was the other operative to take care of.

Then he could get his hands on the next set of targets that were so easily within his grasp.

--

The five of you stood in the interrogation room and studied the cuffed clone in front of you.

You weren’t sure if it was solely because of the look of pure disgust he gave you as you walked in, but there was disturbance in the Force that you couldn’t just dismiss. Your guard was up.

Crosshair inhaled a sharp breath as the clone then looked directly at him, “We need to leave. Now.”

You glanced at Crosshair and saw a level of fear you’d never witnessed from the clone before. It sent a chill down your spine.

“If you want answers so badly, why aren’t you asking him?” The clone sneered as he looked at the familiar clone ahead of him. “Right, brother?”

“He’s lying.” Crosshair shifted uncomfortably as all of your eyes fixed on him.

The dark, menacing voice of the operative spoke up again. “You’re right about one thing. They are coming for all of you.”

An explosion suddenly rang outside.

“Comms are down.” Rex said as he attempted to check in with those patrolling the perimeter. Another dark chuckle from the assassin clone told him their time was up. “We move out. Now!”

Howzer opened the door but just as he went to press the button, you sensed what was about to come.

“Rex!” You shoved him down just as the shots fired and dove to cover but you couldn’t stop them as they hit the operative in the centre of his chest. You tugged your coverings up just as the others put on their helmets.

“We’ve got a shooter out here!” Wrecker yelled as he put his helmet on and provided a round of cover fire for you all to get out of that room and to better cover.

“Shots coming from the back of the room!” Omega yelled from her position.

“Nemec, we need to get comms online” Rex said.

Nemec went to the centre console at a crouch, but a shot made contact with the exposed wire and all he saw was the light of an explosion as his body was flung backwards into a crate. He struggled to get back up as he fought for consciousness.

“Backup plan. Into the command post!” Rex ordered before looking at Wrecker and Omega. “I’ll cover you!” He timed it out. “Go!” He stood up and fired on the assailant as he helped Nemec to his feet.

You began running with the others but paused as you realised Fireball had split off from the rest of you. You saw him grab a flamethrower and run directly towards the attacker. “Fireball!” You yelled in warning, but Hunter pulled your arm to get you to follow the rest of them back to the room.

Rex could only watch in dismay as Fireball took a shot to the shoulder and crashed into a crate of grenades, but the flamethrower was still activated.

The resulting series of violent explosions had the roof of the base collapsing and Rex was left with no choice but to sprint back to the room. He dived through the entrance just as it was completely blocked by rubble, and it was then he felt a stray piece of rock collide against his helmet and black spots clouded his vision.

--

The Recovery Strike Team entered the planet’s atmosphere.

“Commander, we’ve lost contact with the operative.”

“Prepare to land and set blasters to stun. Our orders are to retrieve the targets alive.”

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @dominoeffectsworld, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @nightmonkeysstuff

[hexpea]

In a world full of bureaucracy, you once found yourself married to Satoru Gojo in an arranged marriage. The task: carry on the Gojo bloodline for the sake of the precious Six Eyes and Limitless technique. Luckily for you, you were able to get out of that situation before producing an heir. With Satoru being the last remaining Gojo after some time, you successfully divorced -- or so you thought.

Now with a life of your own, and a new romantic partner, you were ready to settle down. But things are flipped upside down when you find out that your divorce was never fully processed. You must face that irksome ex-husband of yours one last time. *follows JJK timeline, no spoilers past S1* *smut warning in some chapter cases* *tw: graphic violence/possession* *y/n is fem* *pregnancy*

Ch. 1 - Divorcee

Ch. 2 - Expected

Ch. 3 - Parents

Ch. 4 - Conditions

Ch. 5 - Date

Ch. 6 - Dinner

Ch. 7 - Tryst

Ch. 8 - Morning

Ch. 9 - Ignorant

Ch. 10 - Problematic

Ch. 11 - Cursed

Ch. 12 - Wedding

Ch. 13 - Promise

Ch. 14 - Bridal

Ch. 15 - Missing

Ch. 16 - Temptation

Ch. 17 - Test

Ch. 18 - Search

Ch. 19 - Execution

Ch. 20 - Decisions

Ch. 21 - Seiko

Ch. 22 - Revelation

Ch. 23 - Reckoning

Ch. 24 - Fate

Ch. 25 - Cancellation

Ch. 26 - Sukuna

Ch. 27 - Aftermath

[icedfenrisian]

Jayvik - Circular Logic, ch.3/6 - Third Time's The Charm?

What to do when stuck in a time loop? Get your love confession fatally wrong every time, of course!

Ch. 3 - Third time's the charm? Can but hope. (The storm's still raging, the shack's still warm, time to play drunken cards to wile away the night.)

Circular Logic (28245 words) by fenrisian Chapters: 3/6 Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jayce/Viktor (League of Legends) Characters: Jayce (League of Legends), Viktor (League of Legends) Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Time Loop, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drunken Confessions, Set pre-timeskip in S1, In the heady days where searching for funding is still a thing Summary: Trapped in the undercity by the storm of the century, Jayce and Viktor retreat to drink the night away in Viktor's secret hideaway. Unfortunately for them getting back to Piltover the next day proves to be doomed from the start, unless of course someone can help them find a way back home, and back to each other.

Or, Viktor and Jayce are trapped in a time loop, but luckily someone out there is rooting for them to break free of both their fate, and their tragic and largely unsuccessful attempts to romance one another.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

You know, at the beginning of the story, Connie says that she has probably a total bad score to the exams "like always". If she had very bad (or the worse) results since a while, then his shippement days was decided for a while, since she has been shipped two weeks after her birthday. And Isabella knews who will be the next shippement three or four months before it happens. She knew that Connie was the next. She knew, when Connie reached 6, that she had only 2 weeks to live. And then, she took the time to make a plushie for Connie's birthday. And Little Bunny isn't a little plushie, it is kinda big. Isabella created a big toy for a kid who was going to enjoy it for only 15 days.

She wanted to make her happy, to give her joy for the little time that she still had. She wanted Connie to live those days in happiness. And i'm sure that she did that for any kids who was going to be shipped. (a lot of kids receive a gift for their 6 years old, the goods as the bads but maybe it's for cover why the bad scores kids has spoiled this famous day)

It's the biggest proof that she loves all her kids (even Ray, even if she has more mixed feelings toward him). She can't do anything to save them or she would be the next dinner and with no garantee that the woman who will replace her will be as loving then her. She is as much captive than the kids (even more, because she knows and she has the cheap in her heart.)

She had to see them die every time. Clearly she is still here after Connie's death so she has witnessed everything. She has seen so much of her kids diying while being unable to protect them because nothing could have been do, except make their too short lifes as much happy than possible.

(I'm sure that she was suffering with the idea to shipp the Full Score Trio soon (very soon for Ray, some months for Norman and in a little more of half a year for Emma), even Ray, and she was probably in denial about her son)

I think that Norman and Emma were too betrayed and angry to really understand that her affection was geniune and real. It's only thank to the distance, during 2 years, that they were able to think about it. For Ray, i think that a part of him knew that she really loved them but still sees her as the ones who sacrified his siblings. A part of him must have been in denial for a while about it too (like mother, like son).

The distance was good for everyone. The kids were able to understand that Isabella loved them for real, Ray was able to be willing to forgive her and eventually start over (realizing that he loved her too), Isabella realized that she loved her son.

And then came that asshole demon

Obnoxious pedantry but Conny's birthday is the third of September (@just-like-playing-tag put together an invaluable birthday chart here. September is one of the busier months with five birthdays in it.) So she had a bit more time with Little Bunny, but it's negligible in the grand scheme of things. There were two years' worth of low scores sealing her fate.

Based on that, this answer in the mystic code book, and all the toys we see in her hidden office in chapter 17/S1 episode 6, it's a safe bet she either made or had gifts delivered from headquarters for each of the children. The demons wouldn't question it as an easily justifiable and paltry expense to further cultivate a positive environment for the children's development, and with them not caring what became of the presents afterward even if a child packed it with them in their suitcase when they were shipped out, Isabella could keep them as mementos of all the children she raised.

It's the biggest proof that she loves all her kids

This I think depends on an individual's definition of love though, and whether Isabella could truly, fully love her children in such an oppressive framework.

(S1 Episode 8 | S1 Episode 10)

I will always come back to and obsess over the sequences of Isabella silently smiling as Ray struggles against her before locking him in Krone's old room and Ray looking completely disillusioned and despondent as Isabella walks off and smirks that they added into the anime. No one else is around who would be cognizant enough to notice. She doesn't have to put up an act to maintain a sense of calm and normalcy for anyone.

Yet here she is, quietly relishing in having seemingly defeated the children's plan to upset the status quo and her lifestyle. It's entirely for herself.

During this era of the story, she loves the children in her charge, but only to the point that they don’t inconvenience her; only to the point where they don’t impede her goal of survival ("longer than anyone"). It's impossible to live under such an oppressive, violent, monotonous, stagnating system and not have it fundamentally alter your perception of the world around you and how you interact with it to some degree. She even makes the distinction herself in one of her most memorable quotes.

(Chapter 37)

To love them normally, as opposed to the love that would always be tainted as long as it was within the confines of the farm system where she justified walking at least sixty children to their deaths over the course of her tenure to maintain her sense of cognitive dissonance.

To quote @nullaby, who phrases it very poignantly in this post:

 for  as  much  as  isabella   did   love  her  kids,      as  nice  as  it  would’ve  been  to  just  raise  them  all  like  a  normal  mother  should,       the  backbone  of  her  character  journey     &.    ultimate  redemption  was  laid  out  plain  and  clear  right  to  ray’s  face  that  everything,     including  his  birth,      was  all  just  collateral  damage  of  isabella’s  desire  to  survive  in  this  world  as  according  to  the  demon’s  rules,        longer  than  most  ever  could,        and  find  some  sort  of   meaning   to  all  this  sacrifice  in  the  only  option  that’d  ever  been  available  to  cattle  like  them.      the  tragedy  is  that  the  prioritizing  of  her  own  position  trumps  that  love  of  a  mother  more  times  that  it  ever  didn’t,        and   that’s   the  mom  that  ray  was  left  with.  

(Chapter 7 | Chapter 16)

Even if she found herself slipping into the illusion that had been crafted throughout the rest of the day, on days where there were no shipments and everything was fine, maybe even great, every night she would be reminded of reality. That she was ultimately a pawn. A caged, useful dog, if you want to have what she says to Ray in chapter 24/S1 episode 8 be her projecting her self-loathing of what she's stooped to onto him (and then going further, making his affirmation of his humanity in choosing his death an incensed retort back at her as much as the demons).

Ray is the living, breathing reminder of one of the worst acts of violence the farm system inflected on her. For a six years, she may have been able to push aside any memories and thoughts of the child she bore, but on his sixth birthday (his false birthday; if she doesn't think of it in the moment, then surely afterward when they're celebrating it at the house), he "robbed Isabella of that easy, blissful delusion," to again quote nullaby. Such potent, aggrieved anger mixed with relishing her dominance over him bleeding into her tone and body language and tinging the framework of this scene; I really love how Cloverworks adapted it with their budgetary constraints.

I think that Norman and Emma were too betrayed and angry to really understand that her affection was genuine and real. It's only thank to the distance, during 2 years, that they were able to think about it. For Ray, i think that a part of him knew that she really loved them but still sees her as the ones who sacrificed his siblings. A part of him must have been in denial for a while about it too (like mother, like son). The distance was good for everyone. The kids were able to understand that Isabella loved them for real, Ray was able to be willing to forgive her and eventually start over (realizing that he loved her too), Isabella realized that she loved her son.

I do agree that being free of the suffocating environment of Grace Field would give everyone different perspectives on their relationship with their mother, with Emma being the most understanding of Isabella's circumstances and accepting her in her totality; the kindness and love she was always capable of just as much as the violence and cruelties she inflicted to maintain the status quo.

For Norman, the utter chaos his nervous system was in as he was walking to the gate, fully believing he was about to die only to be handed off to another cage and subjected to experiments as his mother sent him off with one last gentle hug, would heighten his senses and emotions and in turn make this a visceral core memory for him.

(S2 Episode 8)

He undoubtedly dwelled on it during his fifteen months at Lambda, grappling with coming to logically understanding her circumstances more over time with that distance, his stark morality, and, no matter how much he might try to squash down his feelings to avoid confronting his own vulnerability during such a precarious period, how deeply her betrayal hurt him. I don't know if he'd ever be able to fully let that go, even if his immediate reaction to her death was one of sadness due to how sudden it was and being robbed of the chance to see what kind of relationship with her would be possible.

Similar to Norman, Ray can logically understand her circumstances, and I do believe deep down there was a part of him that desperately desired a normal, loving relationship with her, as much as he also tried to squash it down. It's part of why he's so confident she wouldn't throw him away, why he looks so devastated when she cuts him off,

(S1 Episode 5 | S1 Episode 8)

I was doing a good job. To you, I’m…

(Even after all this time…you still can't find it in your heart to love me as the child you gave birth to. | Chapter 181.1)

and why even after all of that pain and loss, he still hums the lullaby she sang to him in the womb as a way of consoling himself before his attempted suicide (because it's the only way he believes he can atone for what he's done).

Ray's vast library of knowledge comes from his research. His memory is one of his most powerful assets; his blessing and his burden. Isabella had proven time and time again to him that she was willing to sacrifice children for her own survival.

And yet there was still some selfish part of him that hoped maybe, just maybe, she would have carved out a little niche in her heart for him after spending all that time together, after sharing the burden of the secret of the house with him, after finding out about their shared blood. That all of that had to mean something to her.

But tragically all they shared engendered a unique ire toward him instead, born from a deep self-loathing that, once she replaced her own mother as Grandma, she allowed herself to reflect upon more thoroughly and came to deeply regret.

(TPN Light Novel 2: Moms’ Song of Remembrance - “The Starry Sky and Leslie’s List” Chapter 9; Isabella being an unreliable narrator and forcing a mental wedge between her and Ray as both a child in her charge in general and specifically as her biological son. She "held no particular maternal feelings for Ray" being as much a denial of any love for him as being a moment where she tries to place herself above the petty anger and resentment she has for him | Chapter 181.3; the framing of the bottom right panel confirming she did view all the birthday gifts she gave her children as treasures)

The damage was done though, between that and losing Norman, one of the two most precious people in his life he spent six years bearing the pain of loneliness and sorrow for. Even with Norman proving to be alive, like him I think it would be hard for Ray to untangle logically, pragmatically understanding Isabella's circumstances from the abuse he endured.

(Chapter 169; the conflicting feelings he held for her even two years after escaping Grace Field)

People aren't their trauma, but it would be disingenuous to say it didn't shape him. A learned response and association with her etched into his mind that I don't believe would be shed so easily. He wasn't by Isabella's side as she made her two-year journey of redemption as Grandma. He only saw the final result weighed against years of memories of her calculating iron woman persona, of every happy one his siblings had tinged with the knowledge that she would eventually set them up for slaughter.

(Chapter 174)

To quote nullaby for a third time:

there’s  a  whole  big  thing  about  late  story  isabella,     how  she  interprets  ray’s  address  as  forgiveness,      but    .    .    .         it’s  maybe  just  more  speaking  to  how  their  worst  qualities  are  the  ones  that  they  share.     not  as  much  a      “  you’re  my  mom  and  i  forgive  you   ”         as  it  is  a         “   i  get  it,     i’m   there  too,     it  doesn’t  matter  anymore  anyway,    stop  feeling  sorry  for  yourself    ”        and  it  just.     tapers  off  into  something  impersonal,      something  more  like just  a  person  speaking  to  a  person  than  a  son  to  his  mother.

He can acknowledge the love she held for her children, acknowledge that she changed and wanted to do better by them, but that doesn't equate to reconciliation and letting go of all those painful memories at the drop of a hat.

(Chapter 177 | Sunny's post)

The mental scars she left on him would be with him for years—potentially forever—and had she lived I don’t think he’d ever have a relationship with her in the way Emma might, but in that moment, he desperately wished for just the opportunity to try, even if it ended in failure or an impasse. And yet again fate left him without any say or control in the situation to determine his own path of healing.

[4seasonsofart]

❀ Masterlist ❀

-> Here you will find the oddities and ends of which my mind has come up with~

♡ Updated On: November 14th, 2023

♡ Current Hyperfixation: Vinland Saga

♡ Daily posts are little bits that I post. Most are comedic and most have some headcanons in them.

♡ ✔️ - Mean the poll is completed

♡ No nsfw content

Vinland Saga

Hunter or the Hunted? (Hybrid AU)

-> Hybrid Askeladd Profile

-> Hybrid Thorfinn Profile

-> Vinland Saga Hybrid AU [#1]

-> Vinland Saga Hybrid AU [#2]

-> Hybrid Thorfinn (Part 1) Season 1: 6 year old Thorfinn meeting you.

-> Hybrid Thorfinn (Part 2) Season 1: Thorfinn sees you after eleven years.

-> Hybrid Thorfinn (Part 3) Season 1: November 2023

To Know A Man

Lokis mischief has ended up with Thorfinn's fate being manipulated and him falling incredibly ill; Arnheid Village is on the edge of destruction. Einar is sent on a mission by the Norns to keep Thorfinn's fate in check. Will he be able to save his best friend, or will he fall prey to Thorfinn's nightmarish past? Inspired by: @wutheringmights

Part I: Old Friends, New Enemies

-> Chapter I: What has been, is, and will come.

-> Chapter II: Unknown 2023 Date

Daily Posts

-> (Thorfinn) Vinland Saga Self-Aware AU [#1]

-> (Canute) Vinland Saga Self-Aware AU [#2]

-> (Thorkell) Vinland Saga Self-Aware AU [#3]

-> (Askeladd) Vinland Saga Self-Aware AU [#4]

-> (Snake) Vinland Saga Self-Aware AU [#5]

-> Why people hate VS Season 2: A Theory

-> Our little princess (Feminine Canute)

-> Thorfinn doesn't know how to flirt

-> Thorfinn doesn't understand pregnancy

-> Thorfinn doesn't understand periods

-> If Garm was in S1 of Vinland Saga [#1]

-> If Garm was in S1 of Vinland Saga [#2]

-> Vinland Saga Characters when reader texts them "I want a baby."

-> Vinland Saga Characters "murderer, insane, or baby...?"

-> Askeladd introducing his family (Modern AU)

-> Canute and cat noises

-> Thorfinn x Canute (Drabble)

-> Sin For Me (Thorfinn x Canute One-shot)

-> Pride Before The Fall (Thorfinn x Canute One-shot)

-> Fuck The Angsty Teenage Lifestyle (Thorfinn x Canute One-shot)

-> t4t Thorfinn and Canute

-> Thorfinn and Canute Ship Dynamics

-> Thorfinn/English Royal Reader/Canute

-> Poly Yandere Thorfinn/Reader/Canute

-> A True Warrior (Thors x Reader | Part 1)

-> Vinland Saga Match-up Event

-> Vinland Saga Match-up #1

Vinland Saga Breaking News (Newspaper)

-> Local Men Adopt Three Children - Prince of Denmark secretly a princess? - Thorkell is how big!? [#1]

Vinland Saga Hunger Games (AU)

-> Vinland Saga Hunger Games (Round 1 Results + Life Update)

-> Vinland Saga Hunger Game Matchups (Round 1) ✔️

-> Arnheid -vs- Fox (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Asgeir -vs- Thorfinn (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Bug-Eyes -vs- Willibald (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Canute -vs- Olmar (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Einar -vs- Sigurd (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Garm -vs- Gardar (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Hild -vs- Ketil (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Thorgil -vs- Wulf (Round 1 | Poll) ✔️

-> Vinland Saga Hunger Games AU [#1]

-> Vinland Saga Hunger Games AU [#2]

Vinland Saga Percy Jackson AU

-> Vinland Saga Percy Jackson AU Gods/Cabins

Miscellaneous

-> Queer Alice In Wonderland

-> Queer Alice In Wonderland Headcanons

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

A Great Big Phech-niverse Chapter 6

What if the Force permitted Ezra Bridger to save Tech? Post S1 Ahsoka.

(Eman Esfandi, if you see this, this is for you, dude)

AO3

Wrecker’s scream and Omega’s cry for him cut like a knife as Tech fell. He hadn’t been able to see them clearly when he shot the hinge, but perhaps that was for the better. Enacting Plan 99 was not something he’d ever wanted to do, but it would give his siblings time they needed to regroup before going after Crosshair again. Hopefully they would find him and reunite as the family Omega wanted them to be.

His time on this plane of existence was running out, which proved itself a saddening realization. Tech had learned over the past few months how much more he’d wanted out of his existence. His experiences with Omega had laid groundwork for that desire, but it was Serrano that truly awakened the clone to the living experiences beyond the militant lifestyle he’d been conditioned in. His conversations with Phee had nurtured his want to live the rest of his days without constantly fighting to survive. Pabu opened his eyes to a different way to live, a new dream.

Dreams did so rarely become reality…

Wind whipped past his helmet as he detached himself from the cable tying him to the cart. The act would have minimal effect on improving the exceedingly unlikely odds of survival. However, with so little choice over his fate, there were some actions he could take. Despite his sacrifice being that as a soldier, he wanted to cut himself free of that. To live his last moments no longer attached to that life. 

He had always held a disdain for the proposed trolley problem…how ironic.

As the treetops came into view, something seemed to shift around him. Tech’s bracing for his final moments became thrown off when an opening came into view. It was a dark circle, like a stain or a hole in the plane of existence. It seemed to be directly in his fall path and Tech found himself trying to angle his body to make sure he was entering it. As he drew closer, Tech took a deep breath and tried not to close his eyes.

His body passed through the portal and a tingly sensation traveled up his body. Light foggy skies became darkened and star-studded. A pair of arms caught him, but the residual velocity sent him flying out with whoever had caught him. Tech and the other person tumbled over each other down a strange, semi-translucent path. He finally came skidding to a stop, his arm and half his head dangling over the edge of…whatever he was on. 

Tech gazed over the side of the somewhat glowing walkway at the endless void of darkness, stars, and other pathways below. Not eager to fall again, he quickly righted himself, taking in the new surroundings. More walkways criss-crossed above him with circular openings. When he turned around, Tech saw the gray skies of Eriadu through the portal he had fallen through, only there was a ring of symbols surrounding it on this side.

”Holy kriff,” a man was pushing himself up in front of the portal. “You’re…you were on that car. Why did it show me you?”

Tech tilted his head, taking in the man as he continued to try and form words. He was about Tech’s age, maybe a little older. The way he held himself and his manner of dress marked him as a fighter. A lightsaber at his hip gave Tech reason to believe he had crossed paths with a Jedi or was a surviving one himself. Yet he bore no resemblance to any of the generals nor padawans that Tech could recall.

“For once, I am confused,” he stated, trying to figure out his bearings.

The man chuckled. “Uh, I can explain everything.”

“I would very much like to hear it.”

“Well, I’m Ezra- wait!” Something dawned on the man and he held out his hand. “Your goggles! Oh! Ohhh!”

”My goggles?” Tech frowned.

“We gotta leave them behind! That’s all they found!”

Tech felt his confusion growing by the minute, and he was not a fan. “I’m sorry?”

”We gotta close the loop,” the man- Ezra- explained, approaching him with his hand still outstretched. “Look, we can make you new ones, but these have to stay.”

His tone indicated there was little time to waste. Tech pulled off his helmet, then his goggles. Ezra took the eyewear from him and threw them into the portal. Tech watched as they disappeared out of sight. 

”I have several questions,” he stated as the man looked back at him. “Starting with where is this place? Because clearly there has been a distortion in spacetime from where I was falling on Eriadu to…here.”

Ezra blinked, his hands clasped together in front of him before he pointed one at Tech. “So you’re right about the spacetime thing. Right now, we’re in the World Between Worlds, which is exactly what it sounds like.”

”A space between time and space itself? An outward plane that overlooks time and space and yet is interwoven with those concepts instead?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ezra nodded. “That’s going to be the easy thing to wrap your head around.”

Tech fixed him with a look. “I happen to have an exceptional mind that has been enhanced to think faster than some battle droids. I doubt I shall struggle much with whatever you have to share.”

-0-

Ezra quickly proved him wrong in the next five minutes.

Tech learned that he had been pulled nearly thirty years into the future. The Empire had fallen a few years ago, having been brought down by another war and years of rebellion. Ezra didn’t have many details about the war itself, as he had been exiled himself and a Grand Admiral when retaking Lothal. But the human told Tech enough to make his stomach twist into knots.

“How am I here though?” Tech asked as he followed Ezra towards another portal.

“I recently returned to this galaxy along with Thrawn and his army,” Ezra explained. “He’s got things planned, and we need all the help we can get to stop him. The Force told me to find my way back to the World Between Worlds for that kind of help. Hera put me in touch with a specialist her friend knew to help locate a path in. When I got in, it showed me you falling. The Force called for me to catch you, so I did.”

Ezra’s mention of the Force confirmed to Tech that he was a Jedi or somewhat adjacent to them. “You mentioned my goggles were all that were found…how did you know this?”

A smile graced Ezra’s face. “Maybe you should talk to the person who brought me here.”

Tech sighed at the cryptic phrasing, but followed Ezra through the portal. He was quickly greeted with orange skies and mountainous terrain. There were at least a dozen planets that they could potentially be on. He would hazard a guess that it was likely Dathomir. The planet had been notorious for its connection to mysticism and how its residents connected to the Force in ways vastly different from the Jedi.

“You find anything in there, kiddo?” a voice with a familiar cadence called. “You’ve been gone in there for…”

Tech looked in the direction of the voice to see the owner rising from her seat on a large rock. He was breathless staring at her. The coat and the sword were the same as they’d been the last time he saw the woman a day ago. But three decades had passed for her, evident in the longer, graying locs and lines on her face. An age-faded scar sliced through her eyebrow that had not been there when he last saw her on Pabu. She was so much different than the last time he saw her.

Then she smiled, and Tech found familiarity in it. Her last words on Pabu rang in his ears. 

“Tech?”

“Phee,” Tech greeted, setting his helmet down on the soil. “You’re here.”

“Well, I’ll be,” she gave a wet laugh, her gaze turning over to Ezra. “Kiddo, tell me we’re both seeing the same ghost right now?”

Ezra shook his head. “He’s real. He’s the brother Omega thought died, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, this is Tech,” Phee said absently, her eyes still on Tech.

The clone approached her now. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. Tech blinked, feeling his emotions beginning to enact a physical response from him. 

Phee seemed even shorter than him now as she raised his hand towards his cheek. “It’s you?”

“It’s me,” he confirmed, leaning his face into her hand. “I remember you told me not to go running off with pirates, and I did not. But I…I had to make a sacrifice for the survival of my family.”

“Wrecker told me about Plan 99,” she assured him, laughing again. “Guess the Force had other plans. But you sure took your sweet time getting back, didn’t you? Waited until I was all old and gray.”

“That might be factual,” Tech placed his hand on top of the one on her cheek. “But I still find you to be quite exquisite.”

He was truthful in his words. Maturity had not lessened her aesthetic beauty in any capacity and her eyes somehow still held a youthful sparkle. She was still Phee, no matter how different.

“You flatterer,” she sniffled, and the tears finally fell down her cheeks.

Tech squeezed her hand gently. “I apologize for the sadness I may have inflicted on you then and now.”

“Then? Yes,” Phee nodded. “Now? These are happy tears, Brown Eyes.”

“I do believe you once said it was better to be late than dead,” Tech choked out.

She nodded. “I’m so happy the Force decided that you should be late, even if it has been three decades. You missed a lot, Tech.”

“So I have heard,” Tech mused. “Would you help fill me in on it?”

“I think I can do that,” Phee lowered her hand. “But we better head back to my ship for that. There’s a lot you missed, and a lot that’s coming.”

[mothmage]

20 Qs for fic writers

Tagged by @monstersinthecosmos , thank you!!!

1. How many works do you have on A03? 31 (and a few anon, i think 2 or 3. idk, when i post a fic on anon i forget about it forever)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 446,135

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently/primarily vc, iwtv (amc), star wars, and merlin (bbc)!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? A Lovely Little Normal Life (which, honestly, kind of annoys me lol. i know it's just bc it's a huge fandom, but really? the stupid little 12k harry potter fic i wrote in two days is my most kudos? please...); Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (forever pushing my lesbian genderswap agenda); The Face of God (les mis slightly canon divergent javert character study); The Odyssey of Recollection (amc iwtv s1 pov armand); Away From Stranger Tides (potc philip/syrena fic i started ages ago and never finished, lol)

5. Do you respond to comments? yes i love talking to people in comments!!!! i've made a lot of friends through comments!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? omg. umm. merthur fans don't know this yet bc i havent finished posting but it's arthur pendragon long may she reign (BUT it's part of a series, so it's literally fine). idk, i dont tend to write long fics that end angsty. but my angstiest fic in general is probably Hollow-Boned Boy (armand contemplating his human life in the early CoD era) or Vision of the Damned (daniel's turning from armand's pov)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i love a happy ending!! my series Odysseus in White Silk is probably the happiest ending, and in such an undeserved way hahaha it's so very AU because i was sad after s1 of the show and just wanted them all (and armandaniel) to live happily ever after

8. Do you get hate on fics? i dont think i ever have, but i tend to read comments in good faith too, so maybe someone out there is annoyed that i interpreted their vague dislike comment as a genuine comment or something, idk. in general though, i'll say no

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes but i dont post that often, idk if there's a particular kind, but generally it tends to be a little rougher than is probably appropriate without discussion in real-life situations, but also very...idk my friend described it as very tender, like theyre very clearly in love. which is so funny considering that that kind of tenderness irl gives me fucking hives lmfao

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? oh wow, not in a long time. i do have a wip sitting around rn that's a crossover between london spy and cloud atlas, which is really crazy until you remember that ben whishaw is in both london spy and the cloud atlas movie lol. and cloud atlas is already about weird reincarnations and parallel worlds and stuff, so it isnt too out-there.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? i dont think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes!! The Face of God was translated into Korean by ao3 user Crescent919 !! i've had a few comments on other fics asking to translate for personal use (always yes, of course), but no one else has asked to share a translation publicly

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no!! i've been thinking about it lately though

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? all-time? probably merlin/arthur from merlin (bbc). it's the whole fate-destiny-choice thing, it just compels me like nothing else

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? hmmm, i would like to finish Roswell -- well, kinda (agent carter farm girl / alien crash landing au) because i still have all the original notes and outlines and stuff. i also made a shitty conlang when i was first writing it, which is crazy lol. but it would need some pretty serious revisions, and i would definitely rewrite the first few chapters that i posted years ago. i just kind of lost the agent carter bug, but i might return to that fic if i ever get in the mood for it again.

16. What are your writing strengths? ooh, i'm not really sure! i get a lot of comments mentioning characters' voices and/or personalities, so i would say maybe that!!! i also feel that i'm fairly good at mimicking an author's writing style when i want to (notably, i do not mimic anne rice when writing vc fic, lol)

17. What are your writing weaknesses? editing for sure. i have at least a hundred fics sitting on my hard drive fully or almost-fully written that i just need to edit. but i would simply rather die than do all of that. it's also why my whole merlin fic got put on pause while i went down the vc rabbithole, because i just can't bring myself to go edit the next chapters lol

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? hmm, i think it's usually unnecessary and comes off as a bit silly. that said, i did do it once (maybe excessively) in Daniel Molloy, Time Bandit (1984 daniel ends up in 1794 theatre des vampires, it's more of a character study than a time travel fic) BUT, let me defend myself -- i did it because daniel doesnt understand french, it's his pov, and he's incredibly confused and distraught for most of the fic. i felt like the dialogue being in french conveyed this sort of "daniel does not belong in this time/place" vibes. but, also, my french is...a little rough. so i'm sure it's an annoying fic for french readers lmao

19. First fandom you wrote for? warriors cats, a million years ago hahahah

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? ok, i have three different answers for this. the fic i think is the best, objectively, in terms of writing and content: The Story of Dani [...] (r63 devil's minion from armand's pov, starting with lestat's house). the fic i am the proudest of, mostly because it was my first "big" fic (it's funny now, bc it's only 41k) and i feel like i grew a lot as a writer while working on it, and i'm still happy with it: The Face of God (les mis pov javert, character study from childhood). the fic i have the most fun with and think about almost 24/7: Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (r63 merthur, canon divergence, this is like a 4-part series that's currently over 300k lmao)

no-pressure tagging: @aunteat @leslutdepointedulac @butchybats @graygiantess and anyone else who wants to!!

[lunaryarn]

Fanfic Archive Masterpost

Included in this list: Afterlife/ALSMP, Empires SMP S1 and S2, 3rd Life SMP (under Flower Husbands Week), and Origins SMP (still just one, sorry). Updated as I complete more works!

Latest updates:

25th of November 2024: Added Chapter Four of A Garden's Path!

Note: Stories with only one chapter will be linked by their title.

Afterlife SMP

Soul Liminality series: (a.k.a. Scott and Sausage fight each other)

Bloodfall

Witherrise

Fatemirrored

Heavensent

HellBent [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ]

(Artwork by Khyann: The Fall of Myth ) (A commission of Myth done by E!)

Soul Liminality 2: I Would Die For You series: (a.k.a. Scott and Sausage are in love with each other)

Echoing Through to You (With Artwork by Khyann!)

When the Skies Cry [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ]

Until the Blood Moon Descends [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] (With Artwork by Khyann!)

Then We’ll Rewrite the Stars [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ] (With Artwork by Khyann!) 

Wherever These Flowers May Grow [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ] [ Chapter Four ] (With Artwork by Khyann!)

Along the Roads to Sanctuary [ Chapter One ][ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ] [ Chapter Four ]

The Reality Entanglement crossovers:

Mirror Mirror, Break Our Fall (SL meets SL2) [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ]

Who’s The Unfairest of Us All (SL meets SL2 again)

Mirror Tenfold, Beyond the Wall (SL meets x10 plus bonus!) [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ]

Which Fate’s Fairest To Us All (SL meets New Life meets Empires S2!) [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ] [ Chapter Four ] [ Chapter Five ] [ Chapter Six + Epilogue ]

Thou, O Kings, Fair Be You All (throw together ALL the AUs!) [ Part One ] [ Part Two ] (Artwork by Khyann: Chibi Sausage chaos!])

A standalone fic:

In Light and In Darkness [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ] [ Chapter Four ]

---

Empires SMP

The Past Unmasked/The Future Foretold Saga:

The Past Unmasked (Artwork by Khyann that inspired this fic) (Bonus related artwork by Khyann)

Phantom Solitude [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ]

Glimpses of Fate [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ]

The Future Foretold [ Chapter One ][ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ] (With Artwork by Khyann!)

Champion of Exor AU: A Garden’s Path with side stories:

A Garden’s Path [ Prologue ] [ Chapter One ] [ Chapter Two ] [ Chapter Three ] [ Chapter Four ] NEW!

A Small Introduction to The Children of Mythland

See How Our Garden Grows (mini fic that goes with [ this concept artwork ] by Khyann)

Chibis! Introducing: Liana by Khyann

Also set in this AU: [ Artwork by Khyann with fic blurb ]

Azahar and his violin by Khyann

Once Around the Empires [ Part One ] [ Part Two - currently WIP ]

Night of the Winter Stars (Collab Artwork by Khyann!)

---

Other

Flower Husbands Week 2022: [ Day 1 ] [ Day 2 ] [ Day 3 ] [ Day 5 ] [ Day 6 ] [ Day 7 ]

Origins SMP: Star Sign

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Thursday, May 11th and Friday, May 12th

GREEN DEMON: You better go, Spike. Things could get ugly. SCALY DEMON: Got ugly the second he walked in. (disgusted) Him and his human. CLEM: Her skin's so tight, I don't even know how you can look at her. Ew. Spike stands up angrily and confronts Clem. The green demon gets up too.

~~Life Serial~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Spike's Princess by apachefirecat (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Buffy: Arrival at Sunnydale High by witchguy1993 (Buffy, multi xover, Not Rated)

A Lifetime Ago by SpiderQuinn (Faith, Wrong Turn xover, M)

Spiders in Steeples by birdie7272 (Buffy/Spike, E)

[Podfic of] Slayersitting by vexbatch (Buffy, Eliot Spencer, Leverage xover, G)

It Only Takes a Taste by FoolForSpuffy (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion - Ch. 387 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure xover, T)

An Unsatisfactory Conversation - Ch. 2 by daviderl (Willow/Kennedy, T) COMPLETE!

Willow's Revelation - Ch. 3 by AJ Fields (myfanfiction) (Ensemble, T) COMPLETE!

Damsel - Ch. 8 by Skateland (Buffy, Joyce, Scoobies, T) COMPLETE!

Since You’ve Been Gone - Ch. 10 by HuonParticlesAreHarmless, myrobotheart (Buffy/Giles, multi xover, M) COMPLETE!

It wasn't over, it still isn't over - Ch. 1-5 by loveisntbrains_ (Buffy/Spike, R) COMPLETE!

Mostly Harmless - Ch. 28-30 by Lady Emma (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) COMPLETE!

h o n e y / t a s t e - Ch. 1-2 by LittleTayy (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

This Old Coffee Shop - Ch. 2 by FoolForSpuffy (Buffy/Spike, G)

A Place in the Sun - Ch. 5 by honeygirl51885 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Make or Break - Ch. 2 by Axell (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Encased - Ch. 7 by Sunshine by acb6293 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Fidelity - Ch. 3 by Sigyn (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

So One of Us is Living - Ch. 28 by violettathepiratequeen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

In Another Life, I Still Fall for You - Ch. 6 by DeamonQueen (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Unconditional - Ch. 6 by Blade Redwind (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Witch’s Gift - Ch. 13 by RavenLove12 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

From Hell with Love - Ch. 8 by temporarytitle (Buffy/Spike, R)

Under The Rubble - Ch. 23 by Geliot99 (Buffy/Spike, R)

In Which the Potentials Time Travel and Are Greatly Befuddled - Ch. 2 by FlightsofFancy (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Fate Plans and We Laugh - Ch. 7 by Hermionetobe (Buffy, Dawn, Faith, Batman xover, FR15)

Wood it Work - Ch. 24 by dogbertcarroll (Willow, Xander, multi xover, FR13)

The Home Invasions - Ch. 29-30 by VeroNyxK84 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) COMPLETE!

Where Do We Go? - Ch. 1-7 by womanaction (Buffy/Spike, R) COMPLETE!

Origins - Ch. 41 by Niamh (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

In Which the Potentials Time Travel and are Greatly Befuddled - Ch. 2 by FlightsofFancy (Buffy/Spike, R)

One Step Away - Ch. 5-6 by flootzavut (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Encased in Sunshine - Ch. 7 by Acb6293 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Bring Him Home - Ch. 16 by Acb6293 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Manip: The Archive - Ch. 2 by Dirtyaim (Spike, NSFW)

Craft: I made wood carvings of Giles's drawings from First Date by diehardnick (worksafe)

Lego: Lego Buffy - Xander vs. Harmony! by tmcarlee (Xander, Harmony, worksafe)

Artwork: Buffy x Faith request ♥️ Kofi by somewillwin (Buffy, Faith, worksafe)

Gifset: ALYSON HANNIGAN as WILLOW ROSENBERG [S1] by whatisyourchildhoodtrauma (Willow, worksafe)

Gifset: Faith Lehane in 3.17 Enemies by slayer-pride-parade (Faith, worksafe)

Gifset: Buffy the Vampire Slayer S1.E2 The Harvest (1998) by 51kas81 (Giles, Xander, Willow, worksafe)

[Recs & In Search Of]

Fanged Four (Darla, Angelus, Drusilla, and Spike) supercut video rec'd by jospangel

ISO: FeelingCool2513 seeks (queer) Fans in Europe [esp Germany]

[Fandom Discussions]

🔥Scooby Gang [unpopular opinion ask game] by coraniaid

SoS: Favourite petty moments [Willow] by nightshade and others

Game: Incorrect Quotes by various

Just got copy of Buffy Unmatched! Boardgame by soundresearch

POLL: Choose the season that the Scoobie's (and co.) had the best chemistry by Opening_Knowledge868

Dru should have warned him about turning his mother IMO by sushibananawater

Loving Dru by sugarintheboots

How would Kate have worked instead of Justine? [ATS] by SemperMuffins

POLL: Best Angel Duo/Relationship?? by raebaybay_

POLL: Is Wishverse Buffy more similar to Kendra or Faith? by hthbellhop76

Characters you felt sorry for even if they were evil by IsabellaOliverfields

Observations when watching "The Wish" by aeryn1227

Im watching "the body" right now by Mitogi

Worst episode of Buffy by SinistralLeanings

I would like to atone for my previous dislike of season 3. It’s the best season. by MusntForgetThisName

POLL: Which of these "Love Interests" was your favorite thematically? by hhjmk9

A study in humanity... [soul lore thoughts on Angel, Spike, and Harmony] by reference404

Why didn't they just drug Angel to get Angelus out in S4 E10? [ATS] by Foreveralonewithrage

The "Shanshu" prophecy by henzINNIT

What's a rogue Demon? by Exiled-Devotion

If you could change 1 thing in the show, what would it be? by henzINNIT

POLL: Who did you enjoy watching Buffy slay after initially struggling? by Opening_Knowledge868

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

EVENT: Buffy Bash: A Night to Slay Demons and Celebrate the Chosen One [June 10th in CA, USA] via Reddit

Submit Questions: "Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the #Buffy finale, 'Chosen', we're going to be speaking to... James Marsters! Reply with your questions... by RadioTimes via dontkillspike

Video Interview: Talking "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and LOTS More with James Marsters by 90s To Now

Publication: Ted Lasso's Rupert and Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Giles Are the Same Person [head canon] by Brianna Wellen via PRIMETIMER

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

[silvermeww]

‘I know life and fate are scary, but I want to be legendary’

If you like reading completed fics after waiting for months (it’s only 3 chapters but the last chapter is somehow 10k), random characters that steal word counts because they are just talkative like that, watching a young boy gain confidence to face uncontrollable situations before moving to a region full of uncontrollable situations (but at least he’ll become OP there), and a picture that will never be explained, then this may be the fic for you!

-> Kalosian Woods fic: technically precanon but I see this happening around early S1 of XY

-> For a fic in the XY universe there is only Hoenn. Because this is a fic about Sawyer getting to Kalos (and how he got his Starter, a Slakoth, and that autograph from Steven before he entered Gen 6 territory)

-> Yes, I am sorry about the third chapter. I cannot promise that the chapters in the future will be consistent or shorter in the long run either.

Anyways, happy not-new-years yet and woo to actually getting a fic out in this tumblr (thanks for those who voted in that poll heh <33)

[storytimewithnova]

Shona's Liberation from Terushima

Chapter 1: The Sacrifice

Sho was torn between her heart and her family's business. She had built a beautiful relationship with her boyfriend, Kunimi Akira, but the weight of responsibility forced her into a loveless marriage with Terushima Yuji. For the past two years, Sho had endured Terushima's infidelity, mainly with Daishou, a member of their family's rival company. Sho's daughter, Emma, witnessed the turmoil in their household.

Chapter 2: The Fallout

On a stormy day, Sho couldn't contain her anger any longer. She stormed into the living room where Terushima and Daishou were having a secret meeting via the family group chat. Tori, a trusted family friend, noticed Sho's absence and questioned it.

Tori: "Where is Sho?"

Kunimi: "I can't believe I had to give her up."

Osamu: "We're all sorry, Akira. She had to marry to save the family business."

Tori: "What's happening? Why is everything falling apart?"

As the countdown to the beginning of a live stream started, Sho burst into the room, her face contorted with fury.

Chapter 3: Unleashing Anguish

Sho: "Ahh!!!"

Terushima: "Sunshine!?"

Sho: "Don't you fucking sunshine me!"

In a fit of rage, Sho grabbed a nearby plant pot and hurled it towards Terushima.

Terushima: "What did I do?"

Sho: "I can't believe you fucked a snake! Do you want to fuck this one too?!"

She snatched Kuguiri, Terushima's associate, by the collar, dragging him into the chaos.

Kuguiri: "Please leave me out of this, Sho."

Terushima: "No, Sunshine, of course not."

Sho: "You are a goddamn embarrassment. I'm not spending another moment looking at your pathetic snake-sucking face!"

She continued to vent her anger, throwing more objects around the room, expressing her disappointment and hurt.

Chapter 4: The Aftermath

As the live stream ended abruptly, Kunimi and the rest of the family were left in shock, trying to process what had just happened. Sho, now divorced from Terushima, contacted Kunimi, seeking solace and refuge.

Chapter 5: Rekindling Love

Sho appeared online, surprising Kunimi.

Sho: "Hello, Akira."

Kunimi: "Hey, love. I missed you."

Sho: "Can Emma and I come and stay with you?"

Kunimi: "Yes, you may. It's good to have you back."

With their newfound chance at happiness, Kunimi and Sho reunited immediately after her divorce from Terushima. Emma now lived with Kunimi, and they were officially a family once more, leaving behind the chaos and heartache.

Chapter 6: A Twist of Fate

Kunimi and Sho had finally found solace in each other's arms, ready to rebuild their relationship. Little did they know, fate had another surprise in store for them. Emma's long-lost sister, Sakura, suddenly arrived, shattering the tranquility they had just begun to enjoy.

Chapter 7: The Lost Connection

Sakura, a vibrant and mysterious young woman, claimed to be Emma's half-sister from Terushima's previous relationship. She had just discovered her true parentage and was determined to reconnect with her family. Sakura's arrival stirred up mixed emotions within the household.

Emma was initially wary, unsure of how to react to the sudden appearance of her unknown sister. Sho, still healing from the pain Terushima inflicted upon her, had her doubts about Sakura's intentions. Kunimi, always the level-headed one, decided to give Sakura a chance, hoping to mend the broken ties between the sisters.

Chapter 8: Embracing the Unknown

As days turned into weeks, Sakura gradually settled into the family dynamic. Her vibrant personality, coupled with her genuine care for Emma, began to melt the walls of skepticism.

Emma, hesitant at first, started to realize the bond she shared with Sakura. They discovered similar interests and shared secrets, forging a sisterly connection neither of them thought possible. Sho, witnessing the blossoming relationship, couldn't help but be touched by the newfound love between her daughters.

Chapter 9: Navigating the New Normal

The evolving dynamics within the household brought challenges and joy alike. Sho and Kunimi had once again found happiness, rekindling their love while embracing the extended family they never expected to have.

Navigating through the triumphs and hardships, they created a safe and loving home for Emma, Sakura, and themselves. Together, they learned to heal old wounds, forgave past mistakes, and embraced the future with open hearts.

Chapter 10: Forever Sunshine

Over time, the complicated past seemed like a distant memory. Sho, Kunimi, Emma, and Sakura had become an unbreakable family unit, filled with love, laughter, and support. They celebrated milestones, overcame obstacles, and cherished every moment they spent together.

Sho's nickname, "Sunshine," took on a new meaning as the family flourished under the warm rays of her love. The trials they faced had only made them stronger, and they embodied the true essence of resilience and togetherness.

With their blended family, Sho and Kunimi discovered that happiness can be found even in the most unexpected places. Their love story, intertwined with the arrival of Emma and Sakura, proved that sometimes, life's twists and turns lead to the most beautiful destinations.

As the curtains closed on their turbulent past, Sho, Kunimi, Emma, and Sakura looked forward to a future where love conquered all. Forever basking in their sunshine, they reveled in the joy that could only come from having each other by their sides.

Chapter 11: Shona's Baby Blues

Just when Sho and Kunimi thought their lives had finally settled into a harmonious rhythm, fate threw another curveball their way. Sho found herself experiencing bouts of exhaustion and unexplainable mood swings. Fearing the worst, she decided to take a pregnancy test.

Chapter 12: The Unexpected Miracle

Sho anxiously awaited the results of the pregnancy test, her heart filled with both excitement and trepidation. When those two little lines appeared, confirming her suspicions, a whirlwind of emotions consumed her. She couldn't believe she was going to become a mother again.

Kunimi, overjoyed at the news, celebrated with Sho, holding her gently and whispering words of love and support. They shared dreams of their growing family, imagining a beautiful future intertwined with the love and laughter of their children.

Chapter 13: Navigating Hormones and Emotions

As Sho's pregnancy progressed, her body changed, along with her emotions. Hormones wreaked havoc, causing her to experience mood swings and moments of self-doubt. Kunimi, understanding the challenges she faced, was her rock, offering constant reassurance and unwavering support.

Emma and Sakura, thrilled at the idea of a new sibling, showered Sho with affection and love. Together, they navigated the sometimes turbulent waters of pregnancy, creating a space filled with understanding and patience.

Chapter 14: The Arrival of a New Miracle

The day finally arrived, filled with anticipation and excitement. Sho, Kunimi, Emma, and Sakura stood together, ready to welcome their newest family member into the world.

As Sho held her baby in her arms for the first time, a rush of overwhelming love flooded her heart. Her baby boy, with eyes as deep as the ocean, reminded her of the resilience and strength they all possessed as a family.

Chapter 15: The Continuation of Love

With their family now complete, Sho, Kunimi, Emma, Sakura, and the newest addition thrived in the loving embrace of their home. The baby's arrival brought newfound joy and unity, deepening the connection between each family member.

Sho's baby blues soon faded away, replaced by the radiant light that emanated from all the love surrounding her. Watching her children grow and thrive, she realized that every hurdle they had overcome had led them to this beautiful moment.

Together, they created a future filled with warmth, laughter, and unbreakable bonds. Sho and Kunimi, once again, had found the true meaning of happiness, knowing that their love story would forever be intertwined with those of their beloved children.

As the final pages of their intertwined stories closed, Sho, Kunimi, and their children embarked on a journey filled with endless love and unwavering support. Forever grateful for the twists, turns, and surprises that brought them together, they etched their extraordinary love story into the tapestry of their lives. And they knew, with every beat of their hearts, that their family would forever be their greatest adventure.

Epilogue: A Lifetime of Happiness

Years passed, and the love between Sho and Kunimi only grew stronger. Their children had grown into remarkable individuals, each carrying a piece of their parents' unwavering love and resilience.

Sho continued to pursue her dreams, combining her passion for art with her desire to create meaningful change in the world. Her artwork inspired countless others, and she used her platform to spread messages of love and acceptance.

Kunimi, as a successful businessman, took pride in his ability to provide for his family while also making a positive impact within their community. His dedication to his work inspired his children, who aspired to follow in his footsteps.

Emma, now a young woman, pursued her own dreams and flourished in her chosen path, knowing that her parents' love and support were always by her side. Sakura, too, grew into a compassionate and driven individual, her love for her family radiating in all that she did.

The Akira family remained a source of strength for one another, always supporting and lifting each other up through life's challenges and triumphs. Together, they created a home filled with warmth, laughter, and a deep sense of belonging.

And so, as the years rolled on, Sho and Kunimi savored every moment, knowing that their love had stood the test of time. They had overcome hurdles, weathered storms, and emerged stronger than ever, their bond unbreakable.

Their love story became not just a tale of overcoming obstacles and finding happiness but an example of the power of love, resilience, and unwavering commitment. Their legacy would live on through their children and their children's children, a testament to the enduring power of love.

And as they walked hand in hand into the sunset of their lives, knowing they had experienced a lifetime of joy and fulfillment, Sho and Kunimi found solace in the knowledge that their love story would continue to inspire and uplift generations to come.

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 1

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff)

A/N: Here’s a new chapter! Hope you all enjoy~!

Chapter 6:

It feels as if hours had passed since Merle had left Gloria trapped in the cabinet. She’s been banging on the door constantly, hoping Glenn or Daryl are somewhere in the building and hear it. Gloria slumps down, now sitting with her knees pulled against her chest in the small space, she sighs. 

“Merle you asshole... I’m gonna break your arm the next time I see you... selfish prick...” Gloria curses under her breath. 

She attempts to push open the cabinet door but to her expectations, all she hears are the chains on the outside rattling. Gloria groans, frustrated and not knowing what to do. Suddenly, she hears voices from outside. She listens intently to hear the voices better, making sure they aren’t voices of strangers before calling out for help.

“Merle! Ya in here?! Merle!” 

Daryl.

“Gloria!”

Glenn!

Gloria starts to hit and bang on the cabinet door furiously, “In here! Hey! Daryl! Glenn! I’m in here!” 

She continues to rattle the chains, hitting the door until she hears the chains being taken off of the door. The doors of the cabinet open and Gloria shields her eyes from the brightness coming in from the windows. Once her vision adjusts to the light, she looks up and sees Glenn and Daryl looking down at her. 

“Glenn!” Gloria gets up with the help of her brother and she hugs him tightly.

“Oh thank god, you’re okay,” Glenn lets out a huge sigh of relief as he tightly hugs her back, his hand cradling her head. 

“Hey, where’s Merle?” Daryl asks Gloria as she lets go of Glenn. 

Gloria sighs, “I don’t know.”

“The hell ya mean ya don’ know?! The hell is he?!” Daryl pulls out something from his pocket, waving it around angrily as he speaks, “I find his damn hand out on the roof and now ya tellin’ me tha’ ya don’ know where he is?!” 

“Hey, will you just listen to me before going off?!” Gloria shouts back at Daryl.

“Alright, everyone just calm down.” Rick says, Gloria looks in his direction and finally realizes that he and T-Dog were in the room as well, “Gloria, why don’t you tell us what happened.”

“Well, we were waiting for you guys back on the roof, but the chains broke with all the weight of the walkers on the door, I had to try and to block them off so I threw a hacksaw to Merle-” she gets cut off by Daryl.

“Ya told him to cut off his own hand?!” Daryl shouts, angry.

“I told him to cut the damn chains! How the hell was I supposed to know that he wouldn’t listen and be stupid enough to cut off his own hand?!” Gloria shouts back in her own defense and takes a few breaths to calm down before telling the rest of the story, “when I saw what he did, I knew we couldn’t stay up there anymore, we didn’t know when you guys would come get us, and if you took too long, he would have bled out. So we tried to find anything to stop his bleeding, and eventually... did that.” 

Gloria gestures over to the stove with the iron steak weight that now had Merle’s brunt skin crusted on it. The four men look at the bloody scene in shock and turn back to Gloria. 

“You did that?” Rick questioned, his face shocked, “you cauterized his wound with a steak weight?”

Gloria shrugs, “I know it wasn’t the most sanitary, but it was the only thing we could find. So after I did that, I tried to look for more towels to wrap his wound. And then he pushed me and locked me up in this damn cabinet. I heard glass shattering right before he left so I’m guessing he went out the windows.”

Daryl goes over to the windows and nods, “Yeah... it’s shattered and you can still see some blood... fuck..”

Gloria looks at Daryl with sympathetic eyes and goes up to him, “I’m sorry, Daryl. Truly, I am. The least I can tell you is that your brother is still alive out there somewhere, missing a hand yeah, but still alive.”

Daryl scoffs at her last words and looks at her, “O’ course he is, nobody can kill Merle but Merle.”

“What do you say we keep looking for him out on the streets?” Gloria suggests. 

“Yeah, he should still be out there, I bet I can still track him.” Daryl says, readying his crossbow and heading to the door.

“Woah woah wait, look I feel for you man, I do, he’s blood, family, I get it. But you can’t expect me, all of us to go out there without any protection, at least let us go get those guns first, then we can start lookin’ for your brother.” T-Dog quickly suggests.

“Guns?” Gloria questions, looking to Glenn.

“When Rick was attacked by the herd, he had a bag full of guns with him, he left them there when I got him out of that mess and they should still be there.” Glenn explains.

“Fine, we’ll get yer damn guns, find Merle an’ get the hell outta here.” Daryl harshly agrees. 

The group devises a plan of how they quickly can retrieve the guns; Glenn, being the fastest, goes out with Daryl as his back up and grabs the bag while the other three cover another alleyway where Daryl and Glenn will meet them once they have the bag. Understanding the plan, the group heads out. Gloria, Rick, and T-Dog make it to their alleyway and wait for Glenn and Daryl while looking out for any walkers. 

“Help! Help!”

The three of them look at one another once they hear the cry for help and they rush over to the direction of the voice. They reach the alleyway Daryl and Glenn were supposed to be and find Daryl about to pounce on a teenager. Rick and T-Dog quickly pull him away from the scared boy. Gloria looks around, seeing the bag of guns on the ground but frowns when she doesn’t see any sign of Glenn.

“Where’s Glenn?” Gloria turns to Daryl.

“The kids friends jumped me and took him.” Daryl tells her, frustrated and angry.

Gloria looks at the teenager and seethes with anger, she readies herself to pounce on him when Rick holds her back, “Easy, we can’t make any more noise, there’s walkers all over the place, we have to keep quiet.”

Still glaring at the teenager, she shrugs Rick off of her and stays as composed as she can. Rick grabs the bag of guns as well as a sheriffs hat from off the ground and instructs Daryl and T-Dog to take the teenager with them. He proceeds to climb up the ladder of the building beside them to the roof and the others proceed to follow. They find an office room of some sort and Rick and Daryl start to interrogate the teenager who’s name turns out to be Miguel. 

“I ain’t telling you anything.” he tries to put up a strong front. 

This angers Daryl as he huffs and is about to beat him up but Gloria quickly intervenes, holding Daryl’s arm back from throwing a punch.

“Daryl, stop. Let me try.” Gloria lets go of his arm and pulls a chair up to sit right in front of Miguel, “Listen, I don’t know who you are and I honestly don’t care. What I do care about is my brother, and your people took him from me, and I just want to get him back. He’s the only family I have left, so can you help me get him back?” 

Miguel looks at her and then looks down, a look of guilt on his face as he nods, “alright, I’ll help you. I’ll take you to G.” 

“G?” Rick questions.

“Guillermo, he runs the place.” Miguel explains.

Gloria smiles softly at him and gets up from her seat, and looks at Daryl, “see? Sometimes violence isn’t the only way.” 

Daryl rolls his eyes, strapping his crossbow in place, “ya act like ya weren’ ready to pounce his ass in the alley.” 

Gloria chuckles and puts on her backpack, ready to head out to get Glenn when Rick stops her, “Gloria, I need you to stay here.”

“What?” Gloria furrows her brows, “Why? Aren’t we going to get Glenn?”

“We are, but it’s too dangerous to take the bag full of guns with us, and we can’t leave them here unattended. You’re our best choice, now can you do that for me?” Rick explains, looking at her with sincere eyes.

Gloria sighs and nods, “Fine... I’ll stay here. You better bring my brother back.” 

Rick nods to her as a silent promise then he heads out with Daryl and T-Dog holding onto Miguel. Gloria closes and locks the door to the office and sits down on the desk with the bag of guns. She waits patiently for the others to come back and soon she hears a knock on the door, then Rick’s voice telling her to open up. Quickly, Gloria goes to open the door expectantly but to her dismay and disappointment, she doesn’t see Glenn.

“What was the last thing I said when you guys left? Where the hell is Glenn?!” Gloria exclaims, annoyed and frustrated; how many times does she need to get separated from her brother.

“Assholes had him up on a roof, threatening to throw him down and kill him. They wan’ to exchange him with the kid and the bag o’ guns.” Daryl tells her.

“Is that even a question?” Gloria says, looking to Rick, “that’s my brother.”

Rick doesn’t respond verbally, instead he starts to load up his shotgun. T-Dog, Daryl, Miguel and Gloria all watch as he does so, wondering what his plan is.

“Guillermo gave us two options,” Rick starts, “come back with the guns and Miguel, or come back locked and loaded. I’m choosing the second. I’m not expecting to come out of this unscathed, hell I’m not even expecting to make it out alive, so if you want to leave, head back to the camp, be my guest the choice is yours, but I owe Glenn my life, I ain’t walking away from him.”

Hearing this, Gloria doesn’t hesitate and unzips the bag of guns on the table and takes out a shotgun herself, “count me in.” she cocks the gun.

“Do ya even know how to shoot that thing?” Daryl asks, staring at her doubtedly. 

“Nope,” she turns to look at him, “but how hard can it be? Aim and shoot, done.” 

Rick chuckles at her, “that’s not exactly how it works.”

T-Dog and Daryl start to load up their weapons and soon they make their way back to Guillermo’s headquarters, a warehouse. Once there, Rick cuts the ties off of Miguel and frees him.

“Here’s your boy, now give us ours.” Rick orders.

Guillermo turns his attention to one of his henchmen, “Chop up the boy and feed him to our dogs.”

Enraged at his words, Gloria is about to hold her gun up straight to Guillermo’s head when Daryl lowers his own and holds her back, “hey, calm down, let Rick handle this.” he whispers harshly into her ear.

Rick glances back at the two, making sure Daryl has Gloria’s situation handled, he turns attention back towards Guillermo, “you said come locked and loaded, we’re here.”

Everyone inside the warehouse raises their guns at Rick’s words. There is an intense staredown between Rick and Guillermo, only to be dissolved when an elderly woman calls out to someone named Felipe. She comes out to the middle of the crowd and notices Rick in his sheriff’s outfit.

“Oh no, please don’t take Felipe away, he’s a good boy.” the elderly woman pleads.

“I won’t take him away, I’m just here to take back one of ours.” Rick says softly to the woman.

The elderly woman’s brows furrow, “The Asian boy?” 

Rick nods and the elderly woman reaches out for his hand and leads him into the back. Gloria, Daryl and T-Dog look at one another, trying to figure out the situation but their guns still held up just in case. After a short while, Rick reappears from the back with Glenn and seemingly half the bag of guns they’d originally had. 

“Those weren’t bad people, they’d taken in people from an old folks home and were only trying to protect their own.” Rick explains as he leads the group out of the warehouse. 

“Did ya really need to give them half our guns?” Daryl asks, annoyed.

“They needed them just as much as we do.” Rick says simply.

Gloria hits Glenn on the arm as she walks along his side, “you alright, you dumbass?”

Glenn laughs at his sister’s words of ‘endearment’, “Yeah, I don’t think they were ever actually going to hurt me.”

The group make it back to the spot where the van was supposed to be, only to see that it had already been taken. 

“Merle, ‘t has to be him.” Daryl mutters and sighs.

“Well, now what do we do?” T-Dog exclaims, annoyed at how things were going so badly for them today.

“We better start heading back to camp, by the time we get back it’s gonna be dark.” Glenn points out. 

The group collectively lets out a sigh, knowing it’s going to be a long way back on foot. Without saying another word, the five of them start walking back to the quarry camp.

---

Next Chapter

Yep so Merle left her but now she’s back with her brother and Daryl! What did you guys think of this chapter?? What you think will happen next? Please let me know!!

I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

[icedfenrisian]

Circular Logic Ch 1-2/6

So here's the thing: I've been out of fandom for actual years. Then I watched S2 of Arcane over Christmas and that was that. Jayce Talis and Viktor live in my head rent free now.

It's been a very long while since any show has grabbed me like this, not since forever really. And the best way to get through the obsession is to let it burn, so here's the start of the first fic I'm working on.

(And who wouldn't love a canon that already acknowledges its own AUs and split timelines? Wonderful <3 )

Jayvik: Timeloops, angst with an eventual happy ending, and two people trying and failing to romance each other.

Circular Logic (17413 words) by fenrisian Chapters: 2/6 Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jayce/Viktor (League of Legends) Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Time Loop, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drunken Confessions, Set pre-timeskip in S1, In the heady days where searching for funding is still a thing Summary: Trapped in the undercity by the storm of the century, Jayce and Viktor retreat to drink the night away in Viktor's secret hideaway in the ravines of Zaun. Unfortunately for them getting back to Piltover the next day proves to be doomed from the start, unless of course someone can help them find a way back home, and back to each other.

Or, Viktor and Jayce are trapped in a time loop, but luckily someone out there is rooting for them to break free of both their fate, and their tragic and largely unsuccessful attempts to romance one another.

[sashimi-time]

Completed BL Manga/Manhwa/Manhua Recommendations (2)

Hey! Now, I made part 2! I couldn't add images in the other post, so here I am!

Do you have any completed BL that you'd like to suggest? Please let me know!

Love Shuttle (90 chapters; Lezhin)

Plot (MAL): There’s a late bloomer, and then there’s a late bloomer. Do-Yun may be half Omega, but he certainly doesn’t look it: he’s tall, chiseled... But the worst of it all is that he’s a full-grown adult male who has yet to go into heat. He doesn’t see the problem, and everyone assumes he’s an Alpha, anyway. But when his body finally decides it’s “time,” it just happens to be at the most inopportune moment. He has no-one to turn to but his work rival, Tae-Han – but thankfully, Tae-Han is more than man enough to help him out.

Note: This is another cute omegaverse story! Take note, it's NSFW. I don't think I've read a non-NSFW omegaverse story, to be honest... Anyway! This one is pretty wholesome. I believe that Tae-Han and Do-Yun's relationship is very healthy. <3 The two of them are hella cute. Give it a try if you haven't!

Also, kindly note that I did not read what Side Story 2 is about. I've seen some snippets, and it made me not wanna read it. Lols.

Blood Link (135 chapters; Lezhin)

Plot (AP): A human, lycan, or a vampire - what am I?! Completely unaware of the existence of these predators, Hwa Gok goes about his everyday life… That is, until Lee Bin turns his life upside down by biting him on the neck, setting off a whirlwind of events neither of them could foresee.

Note: I absolutely loved this one! I think the story is sweet, and the art is amazing! Both Season 1 and Season 2 were such a blast to read! Please note that there are 2 couples, one for S1 and one for S2, and both seasons are very NSFW. ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)✨ Besides, who wouldn't want to read about vampires, lycans, and humans?! I believe you would most definitely enjoy reading about them. Do give it a read if you haven't yet! The endings are *chefs kiss*

Insecret (72 Chapters + 30 Side Story; Lezhin)

Plot (AP): The life of a K-pop star is a hard one, especially if you’re Choi Yuwon. Not only does he have to keep up with the grueling lifestyle of an idol, but he also needs to keep a vigilant eye on the troublemaker of INSECRET, Park Dojin. Dojin acts how he pleases, and Yuwon is the only person in the group who can keep him out of trouble. This arrangement seems to work just fine for the both of them, until one day, Dojin makes a fateful mistake…

Note: Okay, so, to be 100% honest, as much as I loved the story between Dojin and Yuwon, I am mostly recommending this for the second couple (the focus of the side stories). I mean, Dojin and Yuwon's story is cute, and they're adorbs (especially by the ending part!), but some parts of the beginning of their relationship were kinda problematic for me, you know? ANYWAY. I loved reading this one! Other than the interesting story (HALLO, it's a romance between two members of a boy band?!?! With a weird, sort of master/dog thing going on?!), the art is amazing! It's very NSFW though. //・ω・//). ┻┳|

I won't comment much on the side story because I might be spoiling you unintentionally, but please, take my word for it when I say reading their story is very interesting! I love the dynamic between the second couple. The progress in their relationship, in my opinion, is great. It seems very realistic to me, I guess. To be honest, I didn't even expect that they were the second couple lol. But maybe that's just me. HAHA.

Woof Wolf (55 Chapters + 6 Side Story; Lezhin)

Plot (AP): Min-woo and Jae-min have been eyeing one another across the classroom for ages, but so far they’ve only gotten hot and steamy together in their imaginations. Just as the sexual tension reaches a boiling point, Jae-min makes a shocking discovery: Min-woo is a werewolf! And this only excites him more! Will Min-woo be a good pup and make Jae-min howl in bed? The fangs and claws will surely come out this semester!

Note: This one is a really cute read! It's short, and the couple was sweet. The art is great, too! Plus! Green flags are waving for both Min-woo and Jae-min! I loved that there were no super huge misunderstandings between the two of them. I think their relationship was very mature.

And hello! WEREWOLVES! Who doesn't like them, amirite? It's NSFW, so please be warned. Ehe.

Living with Him (10.5 Chapters)

Plot (BM): Natsukawa Ryouta, a boy with a domestic disposition, is striving to make his college debut. At last, his dream of living alone has come true…!! …or so he'd thought, until it turns out he has to room with his childhood friend, Tanaka Kazuhito, a guy with a sparkling aura?! Their mutually self-conscious, mutual pining love between roommates begins!

Notes: This one is a really short, fluffy, cute read! I loved the relationship between Ryouta and Kazuhito. It's pretty straighforward, and there are no misunderstandings between the two of them. I remember loving how sweet and respectfully Kazuhito is. A total green flag top right there! Ryouta is very cute, too! Most definitely read this if you want something light-hearted and chill.

[ghostbustermelanieking]

tma fic masterpost

love letters (of a sort)

(jonmartin, seasons 1-5, fluff, angst, wc: 13k)

Want to grab dinner later? I know you're going to be working absurdly late anyway, and there's a new Italian place I've been wanting to try. — M

Yes, that sounds nice. I'll try to be finished by 7:00. — J

Oh, yes. God forbid you don't work absurdly late. ;) — M

-

Or: The notes and letters Jon and Martin have written each other, through the years.

cracks

(post mag 200, tim & sasha, jonmartin, wc: 1k)

Sasha finds a tape on her kitchen table. A new one. The last one. She doesn't even need to listen to it to know it's the last one. And she has a voice-mail on her phone from Annabelle Cane.

She calls Tim first, right then, at one a.m., and he picks up. She knew he would. She knows he felt the change, too. "We have to go," she says. "Right now. We've got to go back. Something's happened."

microfics: tender, trembling hands, drastic

in the moonlight

(wtgfs, pre-canon, fluff, wc: 2k)

6. things you said under the stars and in the grass

Or: Georgie and Melanie on a late-night ghost hunt (in an "unromantic" field).

after words

(jonmartin, mag 102 au, hurt/comfort, wc: 3k)

things you said prompts: "13. things you said at the kitchen table."

Or: After Jon's escape from the Circus, Martin offers for Jon to stay with him.

warm

(jonmartin, scottish safehouse period, wc: 2k)

things you said prompts: "1. things you said at 1 am"

Or: Huddling for warmth after the Lonely.

reunions

(post mag 196, canon divergent, jonmartin, wc: 2k)

Martin and Jon find each other again at the remnants of Hill Top Road.

cursed grounds

(bly manor au pt 1, jonmartin, ensemble, slow burn, wip, wc: 14k)

When there's a lull, Martin speaks up, because he has to, he knows he does, he won't get a better opportunity. He says, "I've got a story," and when they look at him with interest, he adds, "A… a statement, really. It might be hard to hear, but… I think we all need to hear it again."

He shifts in his seat, sits up straighter, clears his throat and looks out at the lot of them and begins. "Statement of Martin Blackwood," he says, "regarding the Magnus Institute, and everything that happened there." He takes a breath, hears the familiar words in their familiar cadence rattle through his mind: the Archivist is taking a statement. He says, "Statement begins."

--

Or: In 1985, after the disappearance of Gertrude Robinson from the reclusive grounds of the Magnus Institute, Jonathan Sims is brought in as a replacement. As he adjusts to the new job, and begins to bond with his new coworkers, the strange happenings on the grounds that the Magnus Institute sits on become harder to ignore.

Years later, Martin Blackwood makes a statement.

variations on a death scene

(ensemble, jonmartin, wtgfs, aus, revenge stories, wc: 6k)

Or: Eight times Jonah Magnus was killed, and everything was fixed.

tapes winding forward

(jonmartin, time travel, season 1/season 5 au, word count: 48k)

Chapters: 6/6

Martin gets a closer look at the calendar, and his breath catches in his throat. He's gotten a look at the year, and it's wrong, it's all wrong. 2018. October, 2018. Right there, in Martin's own handwriting, on a Saturday, he's written things on little dates that Martin can't read, because he can't take his eyes off the year. 2018. 2018. They look differently. They have scars they don't recognize. Their hair is longer. 2018.

Martin seizes the calendar off the fridge and goes back into the living room. Jon's still at the coffee table, poking through the tapes piled there, but he looks up when Martin comes back in and says, "Martin, where…" with a familiar bite in his voice.

Martin ignores him, stops him mid-sentence to say, "Jon, what have you heard about time travel?"

---

Martin and Jon wake up two years in the future. It goes about as well as can be expected.

cat's cradle

(georgie & jon, wtgfs, the admiral, s5 au, cat angst & fluff, mag 189/190, word count: 5k)

Jon and Martin go out one day, on a trip to the eldritch horror-trap grocery store, and show back up in the tunnels after a few long hours, longer than any of the trips to the store that Georgie has been on. Martin has a bag of horrible spooky food, and Jon has a bag shut at the top that is wriggling suspiciously in his arms. "Oh, great," says Melanie, when Georgie fills her in. "What monstrous thing has he brought home now?" Georgie would giggle if the situation wasn't at least a little potentially dangerous, Jon could have anything in there, really.

---

Or: an exploration of the fate of the Admiral, after the end of the world.

rising static

(archivist!martin, jonmartin, s5 au/canon divergence/spec, word count: 14k)

Martin forces his eyes open to look at Jon, bruise blossoming at the top of his forehead, eyes red and wet. "Wh-what's gone?" he asks softly, almost afraid of the answer.

"It. All of it, or at least some of it, I don't know… I can't feel it anymore. The statements, the Beholding, it's—it's…" Jon breaks off mid-sentence, shaking his head. He leans forward so their foreheads are together, and Martin can feel him trembling all over. He says, voice low and thick with fear, "I'm… not sure I'm the Archivist anymore."

---

The initial confrontation with Jonah Magnus goes badly, and Martin wakes up outside the Panopticon to find Jon missing. In the wake of this initial loss, something about Martin starts to change.

northern-bound trains

(safehouse fic, jonmartin, post mag 159, pining, word count: 6k)

Martin rides with Jon to the train station. He insisted. Said he shouldn’t have to go there alone. “Nothing worse than leaving on a trip with no one to send you off,” he’d said. Jon had nodded, gratefully, and swallowed back the burning lump of what he wanted to say—Come with me, come to Scotland, I don’t want to leave you alone again. He kept hearing Martin’s words in his head: I really loved you. And he couldn’t ask Martin to do that, to leave his whole life and everything behind to become a fugitive, cower in Scotland and throw his whole life away. It’s too much. And Martin has already sacrificed so much for him.

He’ll be content with Martin seeing him off. That can be enough. That will be enough.

knowing

(s1 archives crew, timsasha, season 4 au, word count: 3k)

Jon falters, looks at the ground, one hand over his mouth. "You… you were both in the same place. In a… domain. D-Daisy was in one, too, a different one. I got her out. And I… I thought, afterwards, that maybe I could get the two of you back, too."

---

Or: After the Unknowing, after the Buried, Jon finds Sasha and Tim again.

journeys at the end of the world

(wtgfs, melanie king, season 5 au/spec, word count: 8k)

Melanie doesn't remember what happened after the world ends.

(Or: Melanie searches for Georgie in the wake of the apocalypse.)

a hidden statement

(season 1 au, s1 archives crew, jonmartin, timsasha, wc: 100k)

Chapters: 5/15 (wip)

Martin finds the tape in the wall. Specifically, in a small hole in the drywall, tucked behind boxes and stuffed with so much crumpled paper and tissue that it's almost impossible to see anything else in there. It's a cassette tape, the sort Jon uses to record statements, labeled on the front with a brown strip of tape. It's addressed to the Head Archivist in a spidery handwriting.

--

Or: Gertrude Robinson made a tape as a warning to the next Head Archivist. What if he had gotten it?