#I don’t even think I’ve ever had a huge problem or anything here

[sketchraptor]

Oat milk— the gen z choice. It’s new, it’s nice, but does have a bit of an oatmeal-y flavor to it when you add it.

Almond milk— the correct choice. Typically older women, but shockingly doesn’t have nearly as much of an overtly nutty flavor as you’d expect.

Soy milk— the almond mom. Adds sweetness to the drink and has a bit of an odd flavor to it.

Coconut milk— sucks. The coconut comes through so strong, and it’s very rare this gets requested. We don’t even have it on hand.

Fat free— not common but not rare. Can’t pin down a demographic, could be a health nut who also gets sugar free syrups, or just someone who doesn’t like whole. Also see “skinny latte”.

Whole— our default milk. People are fine with it. But the few who request it are usually older as well, and always give me a dirty look when I hand them their coffee for some reason.

Half n Half/ Breve— get your bougie ass out of here. Yes it’s still an up charge, believe it or not. No I can’t just ‘give it to you’ because ‘it’s basically the same as whole’. Take your drink and fuck off.

Black/on the rocks— no cream. These people either are old old men who don’t have taste buds anymore, nurses, or simply hate themselves (sometimes these cross over).

[whumpsday]

Next of Kin

@medwhumpmay Day 10

Medwhump May Masterlist

content: pet whump, caretaker new master, neglect, rescue, avian hybrid whumpee

-

Inheriting an exotic bird from an uncle they barely knew would already be a huge pain if that bird wasn’t also six feet tall with a wingspan twice that.

Caretaker pulled up at their uncle’s house. They knew, most likely, they’d been chosen because they were close enough physically to make the drive comfortable for the bird, but not close enough emotionally to have already said no. They had been given no instructions other than what they could find on the internet, and everyone seemed to have wildly varying opinions on the best way to take care of these things.

At the very least, hybrids were capable of speech. Not mimicking like a regular parrot, but actual understanding. So the bird could probably just tell them what it needed.

They unlocked the door with the key their mom had given them. “Hello?”

“Hello?” a voice called back, a timid mirror of their own.

Caretaker walked toward the sound–it wasn’t hard to spot him.

The man before her couldn’t be described any way but beautiful, but not the way you’d call a human beautiful. He was covered in colorful feathers from head to toe, only his face and hands revealing that he also had skin. Reds, yellows, greens, and blues blended together wondrously, and it looked so incredibly out-of-place in a cage in their uncle’s old house.

He shied back, massive wings folded around him almost like a blanket. “Hello?” he repeated. The cage was large, definitely the largest of any kind Caretaker had seen, even big enough for Whumpee to stand up or lay down. Though they doubted Whumpee could unfurl his wings in there. It was decorated with various toys and enrichment, which he was wholly ignoring at the moment.

“Hi. I’m Caretaker. I’m going to be taking care of you from now on, I guess?” They spoke softly, trying not to spook Whumpee further.

“He’s not coming back?” the bird asked.

“No. He died. I’m sorry,” Caretaker said, awkward and stiff. How were they supposed to break the news of an owner’s death to his pet, who knew him a lot better than they ever did? “He was my uncle.”

Whumpee nodded slowly. He didn’t seem overly sad, at least. They weren’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “I can leave the cage?”

“Yeah. You’re coming to my place. Listen–I’ve never met a hybrid before, let alone taken care of one. So you’re gonna have to help me out here. Can you point out anything we need to take with us?” Caretaker asked.

Whumpee pointed to the opposite wall with an uncomfortably human-looking finger. Hanging there was a key rack, only one key remaining on it.

“Oh. Sure,” they said.

What was the worst that could happen? The bird flies away or something? Honestly, Caretaker half-hoped it would happen. Not their problem and not entirely their fault.

They unlocked the cage, and Whumpee waited for them to step away before cautiously exiting. He shook himself out in the center of the living room, stretching his wings to their full length, managing to touch each wall with the tips of his wings. His arms reached up, reveling in the increase in space.

“Comfy?” Caretaker asked, and Whumpee startled, head whipping around like he’d forgotten they were there.

“Yes.” His wings drooped, brushing the floor, and he hunched over a little, so he almost appeared shorter than Caretaker. “I can take whatever I want?”

“Only your things,” they clarified. “Whatever my uncle got for you specifically. I’ll let you know if it’s something you can’t take.”

“Do I have to take everything?” he asked, head tilted.

Ah.

The cage. It was clear he hated it, and frankly, keeping a depressed man in a cage in their home sounded like the least appealing thing in the world. Not only that, but it definitely wouldn’t fit in their car.

“We can leave the cage,” Caretaker said. “Take everything else, though. Even if you don’t think you’ll need it, better to have it just in case.”

Whumpee didn’t smile, but his eyes widened and gleamed in excitement. “No more cage? Or you have a different one? Is it bigger or smaller?”

“No cage. Just don’t mess with my things and we’ll be fine?” they suggested. Maybe viewing this as a sort of roommate situation would be better. A roommate who doesn’t pay rent and just sits around looking pretty. Something like that.

“I’ll be good,” Whumpee promised. “I don’t pick at things. I don’t take things that don’t belong to me. I’m a good bird.” The way he said it was slightly unnatural, like he was reciting something from memory.

Caretaker gave him two thumbs up. “Awesome. I’ll open the trunk and start throwing in anything that looks obviously yours.”

Together they gathered up bags of food, the toys and water bottle from inside the cage, a large dog bed. “Good bird, good bird,” Whumpee murmured to himself. Whenever he gathered something, he simply left it by the front door while Caretaker carried it to the car.

Guess I don’t have to worry about him running away.

“That’s all of my things.” Whumpee carried the key to the cage, though Caretaker had left it back on the key rack. They didn’t bother to take it from him.

“Alright. Ready to go?” Caretaker asked.

Whumpee tilted his head, gazing out the door. “I’m not allowed outside.”

Caretaker sighed. “I’m allowing you outside.”

Just then, a car drove past. Not even a particularly fast car. Whumpee bristled, scurrying back into the house, eyes wide.

Oh, he was scared.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Caretaker approached him like a frightened animal, which they supposed he was. “It’s safe. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you. Just gonna walk to the car, and you can have the whole backseat to yourself, and it’s like twenty minutes to my place. When we get there, you can explore your new home. I’ve got a balcony where you can stretch out as much as you want. I even bought some treats you can have.” Though it sounded a little too patronizing now that they’d met him. They reached out a hand. “How’s that sound?”

He didn’t take it. “What is a balcony?”

“It’s like, a little outside platform connected to an apartment. It’s not super big, but there’s no walls, just a railing, so you don’t have to worry about bumping into anything. And you don’t have to worry about anything outside either, ‘cause it’s a floor up and enclosed,” Caretaker explained patiently. “Wanna come see it?”

Whumpee listened to their explanation like a child learning about Santa Claus for the first time. This time, he did take their hand, small, soft feathers fading down the back of his own. “Yes. I would like that.”

-

EDIT: @what-if-i-just-did is adopting and continuing this story! read about fern and quill's new beginning here!

-

Oneshots taglist:

@icyheart-and-friends

@kira-the-whump-enthusiast

@whuarri

@reborrowing

@paperprinxe

@what-if-i-just-did

Everything taglist:

@lilac-and-lemon-whumps

@t0rture-me

@whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump

@whumpshaped

@pigeonwhumps

@the-scrapegoat

@whumpycries

@lonesome--hunter

@whumpy-wyrms

@all-hail-pigeons

@wolfeyedwitch

@starfields08000

@jumpywhumpywriter

@scoundrelwithboba

[lonelypep]

every smash bros character ranked by how good of a cook i think they’d be.

82: piranha plant

eating this dish will kill you instantly. turns out he spit some poison in there while no one was looking. and yeah, that sucks, but if you even accepted a meal from this guy i think you have bigger problems

81: ridley.

let’s be real, if you let this guy into the kitchen, you made a huge mistake. it’s like john mulaney’s horse in a hospital sketch: you never know what he’s gonna do next. you’re too focused on getting him out.

80: king k rool.

king k rool is many things. a king, a pirate, a scientist. but he is not a cook. he’ll try, but he has literally no clue what he’s even doing in the kitchen.

79: yoshi

yoshi will give you a dish and you’ll be like “what the fuck is this” and he’ll talk about how it was made from the finest newborns of his home planet. i’m deciding to ignore it but it’s really nagging at me.

78: sonic

sonic shouldn’t be on this list. because he wouldn’t make you any food. he’ll go to the local sonic and get a burger in about 3 minutes. it sucks. disqualified.

77: pac man

what can i say. it tastes like literal plastic. i don’t even wanna know how he made it. i’ll give it back to him but the nice thing about pac man is he wouldn’t give a shit.

76: bowser jr.

fuck this guy. he rage quit at making a grilled cheese. now there’s a literal canonball in the stove. now no one else can use it!! this is what happens when you spoil kids.

75: pikachu/pichu

these two are in the same category since they’d make the same thing. they’d get store bought french fries and fry them with lighting outside. it’s consistent, it works, just not really filling. and they don’t know how to make anything else.

74. wario

don’t get me wrong: he knows what he’s doing. he’s the burger king of smash. he’s this low because the burger is the most unhealthy shit you’ll ever have. eating it gave you chronic diarrhea, gastrointestinal issues, and permanently damaged your taste buds. but god fucking damn was it a good burger.

73. hero

he gave you a single piece of bread with butter on it. it’s not bad but…really dude?

72: olimar

he didn’t make you a bad meal, in fact it was one of the best here. but that’s because he didn’t make you something. it was the pikmin and he’s trying to pass it off as his own and the pikmin don’t know because they don’t speak english. 0/10: not fucking cool dude.

71: kazuya

honestly? i don’t trust this guy. i was too intimidated to even ask his name. from what i can gather no one even invited him to the party he just showed up and made a mediocre meal. what’s weird: someone came into the kitchen and claimed this guy killed their whole family. we never saw that guy again. needless to say, kazuya wasn’t invited to the afterparty.

70: link (botw)

don’t get me wrong here, link is a five star chef. he’s just really unsanitary. apparently he cut the meat and vegetables with the same sword he killed calamity ganon with. i don’t wanna taste that guy!! have you seen him?? not to mention he pulled the meal out of his pants. i don’t even know how it fit in there.

69: inkling

she made a pancake and i thought it was good! but i absolutely can’t condone this. inkling left so much fucking weird slime and shit all over my house. and got really competitive when she heard i was getting meals from everyone else. i hope they’re all ok.

68: ROB

it was so processed. the most processed food i’ve ever had in my entire life. it’s not his fault, rob is a great guy. but this tasted like literally nothing.

67: ice climbers

when they told me they were making dessert, i trusted them. but i let someone else taste test first. my best friend was sent to the hospital because of tongue frostbite. didn’t even know that was a thing. i made the ice climbers pay for it (they’re fucking loaded)

66: villager

he made isabelle do it. and she made something great! but i’m not giving this cretin credit for having the money to afford a five star chef. you don’t deserve it because you sold a shit ton of tarantulas villager!!

65: lucario.

dude got really mad and destroyed my kitchen. he’s REALLY lucky he got the burger PERFECTLY cooked.

64: male byleth.

like this dude knows how to cook. he can barely make chicken nuggets. he has to eat in the school cafeteria simply because he never learned how to cook a simple meal. but he’s a really nice guy. total himbo. love him.

63: ryu

i asked this guy what he likes to eat. big mistake. he then went on to say that his training regiment doesn’t condone copious indulgence (his words) and he lives off of nothing but protein shakes. you do you i guess.

62-61: fox/falco

these two went into the kitchen and came out with weird alien food. i didn’t eat it but everyone else seemed to enjoy it

60: greninja

when he first came out i was so excited. he came out with the most finely sliced food i had ever seen in my entire life. but it was soooo watered down. everything tasted like celery. how do you make crab taste like celery?? how??!

59-58: simon/richter

these guys both made the same exact fish recipe, came out at the same time, and proceeded to fight each other. i didn’t get to try any 😭

57-49: every fire emblem character.

genuinely, i can’t tell these guys apart. or their food choices. honestly, my bad. i’m sure they’re good. but where do i even start.

48: sheik

she doesn’t know how to cook. she kidnapped someone else. normally i wouldn’t put someone like that this high but a. i have gender envy b. it’s for the greater good (or so she said)

47: cloud

dude made a great sandwich but he kept screaming random noises while he did. personally, i’m just glad he managed not to destroy the kitchen. that’s a first here.

46: captain falcon

he promised he’d pick up some pizza but got into a car crash on the way there. eventually he got there after the car crash was all sorted out, but got into ANOTHER on the way back. i’m honestly kind of impressed

45: steve

steve could cook an absolutely fucking KILLER meal. he’ll even offer to do it for free. but you shouldn’t let him under any circumstances. he took 13 hours gathering materials and while the wait was, arguably, worth it, i never want to experience it again. (side note: we asked captain falcon to get some pizza while waiting which led to the aforementioned entry)

44: sora

sora doesn’t know how to cook but he’s by far the biggest name at this party. everyone fucking loves him. he’s friends with GOOFY. this dude hangs out with GOOFY. this guys has hung out with GOOFY AND jack sparrow. bad food but i could listen to this guy talk for hours about his story. i’m sure i’ll understand it all.

43-40: pokémon trainer

this guys organization is fucking atrocious. if he can actually get his shit together he’ll cook up some nice vegetarian meals, but that’s a big if.

HONORABLE MENTION: sans mii gunner

sans undertale is a world renowned, famous chef. his recipes are simple, but cooked with such love, care, and finess it turns a simple cheeseburger into a masterpiece. sans undertale would easily top this list. sans mii gunner is not sans undertale. he bought the real sans’ cookbook and thinks he’s some kind of cooking genius. and sure he’s got the recipes but none of the skill to actually make it.

39-38: samus/zero suit samus

hooray! we’re out of bad cook options now. samus is a great cook, but she’s so used to her alien delicacies she doesn’t know how to cook on earth anymore. shame, but i trust her to produce something edible.

37: shulk

he is really good at the grill. unfortunately, he refused to put a shirt on and made everyone a little uncomfy. that being said, he showed me the beach boys and i had never listened to them before. so he gets points.

36-35: pit/dark pit

these guys don’t know how to cook but the flew into the sky and killed some mythical bird for everyone to eat. i couldn’t have any, i’m pescatarian, but everyone else loved it.

34: bayonnetta

she opened a portal to a waffle house and a bunch of demons came flying out. she didn’t make anything, but honestly, absolutely legendary experience that was.

33: duck hunt

you’d think a dog wouldn’t bring anything meaningful. this would be false. that is the freshest duck i’ve ever seen in my entire life. (didn’t eat it: pescatarian)

32: king dedede

he made his legendary homemade mashed potatoes. everyone loved them. so creamy… weirdly perfect. too bad i hate the monarchy. sorry bud.

31: meta knight

meta knight is a great cook and should be higher. but i don’t want him to be. because he’s so fucking pretentious. he sliced all the food in front of everyone and wouldn’t shut up about radiohead. hate this guy.

30-29: daisy/peach

these two put all their private chefs together to make something for everyone. great catering, great food, but they didn’t technically make it. love them.

28: mewtwo

as if mewtwo wouldn’t just read someone’s mind and cook something. but it’s not mewtwo’s food…so…. sorry dude you cheated.

27: dark samus

she really surprised me here. she cooked up the most exquisite alien delicacies i’ve ever tasted in my entire life. should be higher. but unfortunately, i had to get a space parasite removed from my system by regular samus. honestly though… it was worth it.

26: ganon

he was rude to everyone about his cooking skills and wouldn’t stop bragging. asshole am i right? but surprised everyone by grilling his god damn heart out. he’s a bad try hard but like go off i guess.

25: isabelle

she’s trying her absolute fucking best and she deserves the world here. amazing cook, we need to save her from the island.

24: little mac

dude went so hard. brought new york pizza ALL THE WAY FROM NEW YORK. ok, not literally, but he made a damn good pizza

23: snake

full disclosure: snake doesn’t know how to cook. also no one knows he’s an agent. but he has to cook to blend in so you BEST BELIEVE this man is going to COOK like his life depends on it.

22-20: young link, ness, and lucas

all these guys are incredibly mature for their age. surprised everyone at this party. i had deep and philosophical conversations with all of them about appreciating life. i fucking cried. oh and they made everyone sandwiches, and even took my pescatarianism into account.

19: rosalina

she brought weird space ice cream and i felt my mind expanding as i ate it. love her.

18: mr game and watch

he feels like everyone’s dad! and he’s one of those cooks who cooks in front of everyone. dude flung his meals onto everyone’s plates expertly. love him.

17: joker

originally much lower on this list, joker showed up at my house and attempted to make a grilled cheese and made the worst thing i’ve ever taste. then he said something about gru from despicable me and stood in the corner for an hour. originally i had him towards the bottom but then he doordashed five gigantic burgers, ate all of them in one sitting, and then made me an expensive curry that tasted fantastic. dude went hard.

it was at this point i realized i made a mistake with the numbers. like hell if i’m going to fix the whole thing.

22: zelda

she made some weird food but damn was it pretty to look at! crystals, magic power, i mean good vibes all around here.

21-20: pyra and mythra

i feel like i should put them here since they’re confirmed to be good cooks in the game. but between you and me, i didn’t invite them. i’d consider some entries before this to be better cooks but at this point i’ve been working on this list for 8 hours i do not wanna go back and fix things please i mean this whole list is a joke no one should take this seriously

19: banjo and kazooie

these guys can fucking cook. they’ve been living on their own for a while so it makes sense but it still surprises me. they made a really big stew and even brought free puzzle games.

18: wolf

GRILL MASTER. dude knows what he’s doing on that thing. i’ve never seen better spatula work. holy shit.

17: kirby

kirby came in with some weird blonde hair and made some FANTASTIC ribs (that i didn’t have bc i’m pescatarian). weirdly, gordon ramsey went missing the same day…. i’m sure it means nothing.

16: mario

dude made some absolutely spectacular spaghetti. but he kept talking about how great he is and it really off put some people. kinda weird dude.

15: dr mario. dude brought 50 apples to the potluck. guess he doesn’t wanna see anyone in the office. and he didn’t because we ate them all. take that.

14: min min

she brought some soup dumplings which a lot of people hadn’t had! love her. literally fantastic. she had a whole arm for cooking. that’s what we call efficient.

13: ken

he’s kenough. he is amazing at barbecue. he can cook things with his hands, juggle, also he’s just a fun presence. (i made him make fake meat burgers for me)

12: jigglypuff

she showed up with so many pastries. like so many. not only that, but they were decorative!! she put so much work into that. love her.

11: luigi

he tried to make spaghetti like his brother but a literal fucking meteor slammed into his pot and cracked it. tough luck. then he offered to pay and i refused, but went out and got me some really expensive spaghetti anyways! he’s such a nice guy!! shouldn’t be this high… but i love this guy so much. he’s trying his hardest and i respect that.

10: toon link

toon link didn’t actually make anything. but his mom came and made everyone a salad. and honestly! his mom is some great company. she had so many interesting stories about his childhood. honestly she added so much to the function

9: terry

he is the BARBECUE MASTER!!!! literally what the hell how is he so good! everyone at the party kinda stereotyped him but he’s really really progressive with his views which you wouldn’t think for a big barbecue muscle guy in a baseball cap but everyone loved this guy.

8: mega man

the MASTER CHEF!! literally. he was on master chef. he uses thin round blades to slice vegetables, heats things perfectly, has an instance knowledge of spices, just damn. this guy knows what he’s doing.

7-6: bowser and donkey kong

common misconception: everyone thinks these two would have no idea how to cook. but these are FAMILY GUYS HERE!! they’re providing for absolutely gigantic families, these fuckers know how to make a sandwich and they did. initially they started off making separate sandwiches but they have a really similar recipe and decided to work together. and i really respect that. also turns out peach is just bowser’s kids’ babysitter.

5: palutena.

everyone expected her to show up with some absolutely mystical food. naturally, she showed up with the literal ambrosia of the gods. holy shit. unfortunately, she didn’t put as much effort into it as she could’ve.

4: sephiroth.

ok this guy didn’t really cook anything amazing. but his sheer fucking commitment to the vibe is literally legendary. this man has a long as sword he cut 10 veggies at a time with. he heat them with magic world ending fire. when he was done in the kitchen he surrounded himself with fire and gazed menacingly at me. his sheer commitment to the edge lord aesthetic is truly exemplary.

3: incineroar.

THE GRILLING GOAT!! this man is a grill master. he was prepared to grill ANYTHING. and i mean anything. fish, veggies, meat, fucking grilled cheese. love this guy.

2: wii fit trainer

she made the most well balanced and healthy salad i’ve ever had. and she made it taste extraordinary. she can be a little intense about fitness but i’ve never had a healthier meal in my life. it immediately lowered my extremely high cholesterol.

1. diddy kong

he’s about ten. he made you a pb&j. he had homework to do, but he made you a pb&j. he didn’t have to. he wasn’t asked to. he just wanted to make you a pb&j. he could’ve done anything else but he made you a pb&j. what heartless monster wouldn’t accept it.

[dreamwatch]

Turn The Page

Written for @corrodedcoffinfest

Day #30 - Prompt: Fame and Fortune | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: implied alcoholism | POV: Steve | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: mild angst with a happy ending, future fic, they’re in love your honour, Eddie’s over it

Again, another iPad entry so hopefully no typos but… who knows!

The moment Eddie gets off the stage Steve knows something is wrong.

The twenty-first had been hard, a day of press, of meet and greets, of things Steve asked Eddie to cancel. ‘It’s easier to just do it’; it’s not though. It never fucking is. The press and the fans get a Diet Eddie, and Steve ends up with an angry drunk in his bedroom. But they power through it. They always do.

 Steve goes to special shows now, wouldn’t have come to this one but it’s the twenty-seventh, and what’s more special than knowing your boyfriend is still alive?

Eddie practically throws his guitar at his tech as he rushes off stage, rushing past everyone, Steve included.

“Eddie?” he calls out.

The rest of the band get off the stage. “Eddie!” Jeff shouts from behind him. “The encore!”

But he’s gone, down the labyrinth of hallways, the crowd still cheering for more.

He doesn’t shower, doesn’t grab his shit from the dressing room, just walks out of the back of the venue to their car,  Steve running behind him. The car isn’t ready, they’re not expecting him for another thirty minutes at least, and it’s a confused mess of security and crew, frantic radio messages.

“Eddie, what the fuck is going on?” Steve asks, taking him by the elbow. He gets a tight head shake as a reply.

The car ride is silent, the smell of cooling sweat blending with the air con blowing full blast at them, and when they get to their hotel room, Eddie heads straight to the phone.

“Hi, can I get room service to the Junior Suite?”

Steve just gawps, he feels like he’s losing his fucking mind.

 “Uh… can I get… do you have pineapple? I’d really like some pineapple actually. And a bottle of champagne… whatever you think is best, oh and hold on,” he says covering the mouthpiece with his hand. “Do you want anything?” 

He sounds manic, so off, so not his usual self. Wild in a crazed way, and it’s scaring Steve. He stands in the entranceway, mouth hanging open.

“Yeah, I want to know what the fuck is going on?”

Eddie blinks.

“And a cheese burger and fries.”

He hangs up and finally peels his t-shirt off, letting it drop to the floor as he walks to the bathroom to shower. The phone keeps ringing, Jeff asking what the hell is going on, their manager, Phil, screaming at him. Eddie wanders in, towel around his waist, another wrapped around his hair. He doesn’t even stop to ask who Steve’s talking to, just gently takes the handset from his hands, places it back on the phone.

The room service arrives and Eddie leads Steve to the dining table, tells him to sit and eat, and then he takes a huge piece of pineapple with him to the bed.

The phone rings again, and this time Eddie rips the cord from the wall.

“Ed, you have got to talk to me.”

“I will. Just let me eat this first. Eat your burger.” 

As if he could.

Eddie sits on the edge of the bed half naked, eating pineapple. Steve’s watched them trash rooms before, true idiot behaviour, but this is probably the weirdest fucking thing he’s ever seen.

There’s banging on the door, Steve can hear Gareth’s voice, then Phil’s again, it’s after midnight now. Eventually they go away.

“You know,” Eddie says breaking the silence. “I don’t think I’ve enjoyed anything in the last few years as much as I enjoyed that fucking pineapple.” He frowns at the half eaten fruit platter, like he’s trying to solve a math problem. 

Steve crouches in down in front of him, his hands gripping Eddie’s knees.

“Bambi, please, what the fuck is going on? I mean, do I need to call a doctor here…? You’re scaring me.”

Eddie looks at him like he’s water on a hot day. 

“What if I said let’s run away? I’ll quit the band, we’ll buy a ranch or a farm. Get out of LA.” His eyes meet Steve’s properly for the first time since he got off stage. “What would you say?”

“I’d say give me ten minutes to pack.”

“Really?”

“Really. Where’s this coming from?”

“I died twenty years ago. And I got a second chance and I took it, you know. We’ve done amazing things. But it’s not fun anymore. It hasn’t been fun for a long time. And life’s too short for that, it’s too short for me to waste it being miserable. And I am. I’m a thing, I’m a commodity. I go where I’m told, I turn up, do my thing. I don’t remember the names of the towns I’m in, I always thought that was a joke you know? It’s not. It’s real.” He laughs, but it’s shallow, his eyes flat. “Who fucking knew?”

Steve gets off the floor and sits beside Eddie on the bed. “Are you serious?”

Eddie doesn’t answer straight away, but when he eventually looks at Steve he nods, and for the first time that day, Steve realises, he smiles. “Yeah. Yeah I’m serious.”

“I hate that you felt this way and didn’t tell me.”

Eddie takes his hand, threads his fingers through, locking them together.

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

This stupid, beautiful man. His everything. His life.

“And the band?”

Eddie shrugs. “They’ll be fine. They’ll get another guitarist no problem. People would kill to join them.”

Steve reaches for Eddie, lays his palm against his cheek, trails his thumb along the silvery thread that runs all the way to his throat, a memory woven on his face. It scares him how close they were to not having this, hits him sometimes out of nowhere. He leans in, his lips meeting Eddie’s, tastes pineapple, tastes home. He wouldn’t deny this man a single thing.

“Alright then,” says Steve says, breaking the kiss with a smile. “I guess we’re going shopping for a ranch.”

[imaginefan]

This Changes Things

Jeremy Gilbert X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1013

Requested: Anon

Request: When you have a chance could you write a one shot where reader moves into the Gilbert house and she's always had a huge crush on Jeremy? The 2 would get along but then when reader moves in she distances herself from him the best she can and Jeremy is upset about it; the 2 argue about it. -(Not sure where else to go with this), reader knows about supernatural, no one's knows of her crush but Stefan picks up on it. [,thank you!!!

Moving in with the Gilberts was the only decision that seemed logical. You met them when you were younger, you were the same age as Jeremy and became fast friends. You hung out together and he even made sure to keep his more destructive tendencies away from you. You had to move in with them after your parents decided that they wanted to move closer to family which meant leaving Mystic Falls, something you didn’t want to do.

It didn’t take much convincing, your parents had known the two Gilberts for a long while and had no reason not to trust them, not to mention Alaric would be there the whole time… Or so they thought. The true reason that you didn’t want to leave but would not protest your parents decision for themselves was the supernatural world that you found yourself involved in. You loved all of your friends and had no intention of leaving them to deal with this problem by themselves so you were so happy when they said that you could stay with the Gilberts, however there was one thing that you had failed to think about.

For the first few weeks it was fine, like having the best sleepover of your life, movie nights every night, falling asleep on the sofa with Jeremy, to wake up and watch him playing whatever game he had decided to play that morning before making breakfast or going out to get something. The more you did that though, the more it felt like you were dating more than you were friends.

This was where the distancing started, you spent a lot more time in your room or just out of the house. Jeremy noticed quickly and honestly quickly annoyed him, it annoyed him enough that you found him in your room when you came home one night “Hey… What are you doing in here?” You asked.

“Waiting for you.” He answered.

“Me?” You asked.

“Yeah, it’s still early, you want to watch a movie?” He asked.

“Actually I’m really tired. I was going to have an early night.” You answered scratching the back of your head as you tried to focus on anything else.

“Are you ever going to stop lying to me?” He asked.

“What are you talking about?” You asked.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” Jeremy stood from where he was standing moving himself into your line of sight.

“I’m not avoiding you, I’ve been busy.” You answered.

“Mm.” Jeremy hummed. “So you're not done.” 

“Done?” You asked, your eyes finally finding him, he was angry. “You’re not done lying.” He didn’t even give you a chance to answer him, he left the room, you didn’t even know what to say to him, what you were hiding will ruin what you had but it seemed hiding it had done the same.

Jeremy walked into the kitchen where he started looking through the fridge, he needed something to distract himself and eating seemed to be the choice “are you really going to leave it like that?” Stefan’s voice made him jump his grip on the door, tightening in surprise before relaxing on recognition.

“What are you talking about?” Jeremy asked.

“You like her right, that’s why this bothers you so much.” Stefan said leaning against the door of the kitchen.

“Doesn’t matter, she clearly doesn’t feel the same way.” Jeremy waved him off.

“I don’t think that’s true.” Jeremy rolled his eyes tired of people talking to him like he knew nothing.

“How would you know that?” He turned to look at Stefan who had what looked like a knowing smile on his face.

“Well you were both very close.” Stefan said “almost inseparable, there were some people who thought that you were dating.” 

“So?” Jeremy asked.

“So what if she started to like the way that felt but worried that you didn’t feel the same, you hadn’t shown her that you did anyway, so to preserve a friendship she distanced herself.” Stefan explained.

“It didn’t preserve anything.” Jeremy argued.

“But there’s still time to change it, if you tell her how you feel or show her.” Stefan suggested “and even if I’m wrong, is it worth losing a friend like her over something like this?”

It only took Jeremy maybe 10 minutes to decide that Stefan might have been right and that he needed to talk to you about everything, he walked up the stairs and that was when he heard it, you were crying, he managed to get to the door in seconds not bothering to knock before opening to door “(Y/N) what’s wrong?” He asked crouching in front of you.

“Jeremy?” You asked.

“Yeah, I’m here, what happened? Why are you crying?” He asked.

“I’m sorry, I never meant to make you hate me, I thought this would be easier but it just made everything worse.” You explained and he took your face in his hands and made him look at you.

“I don’t hate you.” He said pulling you into a hug tightly wrapping his arms around you as if he could protect you from anything that could cause you harm.

“Y-you don’t?” You asked.

“I was confused and hurt because I thought that we could be more than just friends but you seemed to want something different.” He felt you gasp.

“Something more?” Soft if you weren’t the only ones in the room he probably wouldn’t have heard you.

“If you don’t want that, it doesn’t matter but I need you to understand that I could never hate you.” He promised and you seemed to relax into him.

“Something more would be nice.” You said and his grip tightened on you.

“Then we can try that.” He promised, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. “So what do you think about that movie?”

“I’d like to watch a movie.” You answered.

“Let’s go choose one.” He easily lifted you carrying you towards the stairs leading to the living room, he’d have to thank Stefan later but for now he had you to worry about.

Requests and general question!

[dollyshiftz]

what each stray kids member is like in my dr !

note ! : it’s only my dr and they can act a bit different in your dr, which is totally okay because our drs are different. you can also use this post to script some of their traits in your dr.

finally finished maknae line! i’ve already done hyung line and you can check it too.

han : he’s very funny, even goofy sometimes, but that’s what i love about him the most. when we just met he was reserved and shy. i noticed that it’s difficult for him to open up to new people. during predebut days while other members were talking almost nonstop, jisung was usually quiet and would say something only if someone asked him a question. the conflict that happened between him and hyunjin also resulted from a lack of communication. i felt so bad for him because i had a similar experience in my cr with being too shy and misunderstood lots of times, so i understood him very well. i talked to him when we ended up being alone at dorms or practice rooms. he’s such a sunshine and it’s easier for him to be with one person rather than with a few. but as time passed han finally opened up fully to us. he always inspires me and i like writing songs with him a lot.

felix : i won’t gatekeep that felix is my boyfriend, and i want to talk a lot here, including story times. we just understand each other on a whole different level. sometimes i don’t even have to say anything and he already understands what i want to say. but during predebut and early debut days we had a huge conflict, which was much worse than hyunjin and han’s conflict. so, to the conflict. we were practising hellevator’s choreo and i accidentally slipped. i would have fallen down if felix, who was luckily nearby me, hadn’t grabbed me. we both ended up standing in a funny and awkward pose. of course the choreographer stopped the music and no one was dancing anymore, all eyes were on us. and then hyunjin(i can’t explain how i hate him for that!!! bro should have kept being silent) laughed loudly and said that we looked like we were about to make out. felix immediately got annoyed and let me go so quickly that i almost lost my balance. after this i snapped at felix and he snapped back at me. and for around 9-10 months (the conflict was in early august of 2017 and we made up only in may of 2018) we had misunderstandings, rows, he was always snapping at me and of course i snapped back at him too. not only chan was worried, but other members too. fortunately, we managed to make up. felix got heavily drunk, brought me a bouquet of flowers and started apologising like crazy(he would get on his knees if i didn’t stop him lol). i don’t know what got into him, but i’m glad that he got drunk that day. after he got sober we just laughed at the whole situation and finally started getting on. felix is very sweet, romantic, caring and tender. he can get jealous quickly, but it’s never been a big problem for us. he loves physical touch a lot and when we’re alone he almost never lets me go. all in all, he’s the sweetest boyfriend ever and i never regretted saying yes to him.

seungmin : he’s so sassy and funny. he can be very dramatic and i think that his jokes aren’t for everyone’s taste, but i like them a lot. he also loves playing pranks on us and they’re always so funny and even innocent in some way. for example, one time when i got back to the dorms it was dark. i wanted to turn on the lights in the hallway, but before i could do that i felt something wrap around my leg. of course i got scared and gasped loudly but then i heard someone chuckling. when i turned on the lights i found seungmin sitting next to my leg and holding it. we laughed a lot about this situation later. although seungmin seems nonchalant, he’s actually pretty sensitive inside and sometimes even insignificant things can hurt him. whenever he feels sad he always tries to distance himself from everyone. i only got to comfort him one time because he hardly allows anyone to see him “weak and soft” as he says. i really wish he would let the members and me comfort him more.

i.n : he’s such a cutie pie! i would say that he used to be very shy too at first, but not as shy as han was. he got flustered and nervous whenever i talked to him and honestly it was making me feel a little flustered as well. but as we got closer he stopped being shy and nervous. jeongin is the most sensitive member and he often keeps all his emotions to himself, which doesn’t do him good. when he opens up about what he feels, all his emotions just burst out and it not only overwhelms him, but others too. in my opinion, i.n has a low self-esteem and he’s being way too hard on himself. i always try to support him and say good things to him so that he feels better about himself. recently he has got much better and i’m so proud of him.

dividers credits : sweetparty, si-eunnis

[caffedrine]

Rio Ortiz - Custom Made Love Story - Event Fan Translation

If you trust me to know what I'm doing, then we have both made a huge mistake. I cannot guarantee accuracy for this fan translation, or even grammatical correctness.

A big thank you to @candied-boys for providing this story.

Please support Cybird and pick up this event when it makes it to the English Server

It happened one morning, under a clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight—

Rio: "Alright, all done! I tied it in a single ponytail today so it wouldn’t get in the way."

Emma: "Thank you, Rio."

Rio: "You're welcome."

As I stood up from the mirror where I'd been sitting, my freshly tied hair swayed behind me.

Rio: "Emma, you really look good in anything!"

Rio: "That apron—it's hard to believe it’s just a loaner for the fair. It suits you perfectly."

Emma: "Fufu, thank you."

(It's true—it's so stylish you wouldn't think it's a uniform. I really like it.)

I had returned to my hometown with Rio to help out at a book fair held in Rhodolite.

This apron, which is skirt-style with a small book embroidery on the hem, had been provided by the event organizers.

Rio: "It’s like it was made just for you, Emma."

Under the spell of his dreamy gaze, I felt my cheeks grow warm.

Emma: "Oh, Rio. You’re exaggerating again."

Rio: "I'm not exaggerating. I doubt you'd find anyone else in the world who wears it better."

Emma: "Yeah, yeah."

(Even though I'm used to his compliments, it’s still a little embarrassing.)

Rio: "I’d love to admire you a bit longer, but…"

Rio: "We’d be in trouble if we were late. Let’s get going."

I took his outstretched hand, and we left the house together.

Rio: "Wow, it’s so lively!"

Emma: "Yeah. Looks like more people showed up than I expected."

When we arrived at the plaza, there was already a big crowd gathered.

I could see others wearing the same apron as me scattered here and there—fellow staff.

??? "Emma."

Emma: "Owner!"

Akatsuki: "You look well."

Emma: "Yes, thanks to you."

Rio: "Long time no see, Mr. Akatsuki!"

Akatsuki: "So you came as well. Isn’t it a problem for a prince to leave his country unattended?"

Rio: "That part is all taken care of."

Rio: "And right now, I’m not a prince. I’m Emma’s butler and bodyguard."

Rio: "Of course I’d be by my lady’s side!"

Akatsuki: "You haven’t changed a bit. I was planning to accompany her just in case, but it seems unnecessary."

Akatsuki: "I’ve cleared my schedule for the whole day. If anything happens, don’t hesitate to come by the shop."

Emma: "Thank you very much."

(He’s as kind as ever.)

Man: "Lady Emma."

Just as the owner passed by, a familiar-looking man called out to me.

(If I remember right, he’s the butler of the young lady who organized the fair.)

Man: "Unfortunately, the young lady had an urgent matter come up and will no longer be able to attend the fair."

Man: "In her place, she asked me to deliver this letter to you."

The butler took a letter from his pocket and handed it to me with a bow, then left.

(How thoughtful of her to send a letter personally.)

Rio: "Too bad she couldn’t participate."

Emma: "Yeah... Let me read it a bit."

To Lady Emma— I’m terribly sorry I couldn’t greet you in person.

Due to an urgent matter that unexpectedly came up, I’m unable to attend the fair.

It’s truly unfortunate that I can’t be there with you, but please enjoy the fair, Lady Emma. And…

Please do your utmost to share the charm of books with as many children as possible, until the very end.

(It’s disappointing that we can’t meet, but if something came up, there’s nothing that can be done.) (Still… just like when we spoke directly, it’s clear how much she truly loves books.)

Previously, I had attended a party held in Benitoite with Rio, and that’s when the young lady organizing this fair first approached me.

Young Lady: "Actually, I’ve been thinking about holding a book fair in our neighboring country, Rhodolite."

Young Lady: "I was hoping you, Lady Emma, might be willing to lend your support."

Emma: "...! That’s such a lovely invitation."

(I had already heard rumors about the fair and was really curious about it.)

Young Lady: "I understand that you're from Rhodolite and that you love books."

Young Lady: "I love books too, and I wanted to share their charm with more children. That’s why I planned this fair."

(So that’s the reason...)

Emma: "I think it’s a truly wonderful idea. Children’s books often don’t get much recognition, but—"

Emma: "There are so many titles that even adults can enjoy. So I really hope this becomes a chance for them to be more widely known."

Young Lady: "I knew it! You understand the appeal of children’s books too, Lady Emma!"

Young Lady: "I was just in the middle of selecting books to feature in the fair. Would you mind if I asked your opinion?"

Emma: "Of course not—I’d love to!"

(That conversation was so much fun.)

As I recalled our talk, my chest warmed all over again.

Rio: "How was the letter?"

Emma: "Just like her butler said, she had an urgent matter, so it looks like I won’t be seeing her during the fair."

Emma: "I want to work hard and make sure the fair is a big success, even in her absence."

Rio: "...Yeah, you're right."

Emma: "Oh, but of course—I’m going to enjoy myself too!"

Rio: "As long as I’m with you, I can be happy no matter the situation. That’s easy as pie for me."

Just as I closed the letter, brimming with determination, an announcement rang out, signaling the start of the fair’s main event.

Rio: "Looks like the Book Hunt Game is starting. It's finally our time to shine!"

Emma: "Yeah. Participants get clues and have to find hidden books placed around the town."

Emma: "You and I are in charge of checking each hiding spot to make sure nothing's wrong."

Rio: "Got it!"

I unfolded the map we’d been given ahead of time.

Emma: "The spots farther from town won’t have many people around, so we should be especially careful there."

Emma: "There are a lot of hiding places, so it’ll be a bit of a hassle, but will you come with me?"

Rio: "Leave it to me! I’ll support you perfectly as your butler."

Rio: "And I promise—I won’t let anything happen to you, not even a scratch."

~Later~

When we headed to the closest hiding spot, there were already a few people searching the area.

(I’m so glad they’re enjoying themselves.)

Given the nature of the fair, most of the participants were parents with their children.

Seeing a child squeal with joy after finding a book brought an uncontrollable smile to my face.

Rio: "Emma, you look really happy."

Emma: "Yeah. Seeing the participants enjoy themselves in person really lifts my spirits."

(At first, I felt bad asking Rio to come all the way to Rhodolite with me...) (And for other reasons too, I even considered not participating at all.)

When I was invited to the fair by the young lady, I didn’t give her an answer on the spot—I brought the idea home to think it over.

(I really did want to help with the fair, but...)

I’m Rio’s fiancée.

Even if it’s my hometown, I can’t just decide to travel to another country on my own.

~Flashback~

Emma: "Hey, Rio. Do you think it’s okay if I participate in the fair in Rhodolite?"

Rio: "Of course! No question about it."

Rio: "I’ll come too, so let’s do our best together."

Emma: "Huh, you’re coming with me?"

Rio: "Yeah. I’ve been wanting to go home with you for a while now."

Rio: "And even though Rhodolite is a peaceful country that loves the arts, there’s no guarantee trouble won’t happen."

Rio: "Plus, you mentioned that there’s been some concern about the fair, right?"

It was true—some nobles had expressed concern that the fair’s main event, the Book Hunt Game, was disrespectful to books, considering them high-class items and not something to be treated like playthings.

Rio: "So, if a member of royalty like me participates, I figure it might help ease some of those concerns."

(He thought it through that much...)

My chest warmed with appreciation for Rio’s kindness.

Emma: "I’ll join the fair!"

Rio: "And I’ll join with you! It’s a homecoming for me too, so I’m even more excited now."

~End Flashback~

(It’s thanks to Rio encouraging me back then that I made my decision.)

Emma: "Thank you, Rio, for saying you wanted to come to the fair with me."

Rio: "Emma..."

As I smiled, full of gratitude, his long fingers gently brushed my cheek, and Rio leaned in close.

Rio: "When you say things like that with that face... I..."

Rio: "...Nope, I can’t. I’m supposed to be your butler right now. I’ve got to hold back."

(Ah...)

Just before our lips touched, he quickly pulled his hand away from my cheek.

A bittersweet twinge of disappointment spread through the warm thrum in my chest.

(He’s my fiancé before he’s my butler. He doesn’t have to hold back...) (Wait, this is not the time to be thinking about that!)

Emma: "We should get moving to the next location!"

Trying to hide my blushing face, I changed the subject, and Rio leaned in to peer at me.

Rio: "Wait—are you blushing a little? Aww, so cute!"

Rio: "I’m a butler, but holding hands should still be fine, right?"

He took my hand as he spoke, interlacing our fingers and giving a firm squeeze.

Emma: "Yeah, of course. I mean... I wouldn’t mind even more than that, you know?"

Rio: "..."

Rio: "Oh no... that’s dangerous. I almost lost control just now."

Rio: "Seriously, you need to realize that every word you say has the power to blow away all of my self-control in an instant."

Emma: "Hehe, sorry. I was just getting a little revenge for that ‘you’ll have to wait’ moment earlier."

Rio: "Ah, there it is again."

Emma: "Mmph..."

With a light smooch, he kissed my lips.

Rio: "That moment was just your fiancé slipping out."

(Geez... my heart won’t stop racing.)

As Rio winked playfully with one eye, my heart gave a sudden, strong thump.

Rio: "Alright, let’s head to one of the spots a bit farther away next."

(I'm really glad I came with Rio after all.)

I squeezed his hand in return, and we began walking.

After visiting several hidden book locations, we started heading to the one farthest from the town.

Rio: "Looks like no participants have arrived here yet."

Emma: "Yeah. And I don’t see any patrol guards either."

(Did we maybe come to the wrong place?)

Emma: "Hey, Rio. This location on the map... we’re in the right area, aren’t we?"

Rio: "Yeah, we are. The hidden spot should be just a bit further ahead."

Emma: "Thanks."

(Still, there’s no one around... Maybe because it’s a little far from the town?)

Just as I took a step forward, still wondering—

Rio: "Emma, wait."

(Huh?)

Before I could turn around, Rio grabbed my hand and stepped in front of me, shielding me.

At that moment, a group of rough-looking men emerged from deep within the forest.

Man: "What’s this? A patrol, this late in the game? You’re way behind schedule."

The man laughed crudely as he held up a children’s book he had with him.

(That’s one of the books prepared for the fair.) (These guys… they’re thieves targeting the fair?) (Unforgivable. We have to get those books back somehow.)

I glanced at Rio, and he gave me a slight nod in return.

Rio: "Would you mind giving that book back? It wasn’t meant for people like you."

Man: "Heh. Then try and take it back by force!"

As soon as he said that, the thieves charged toward us.

Rio: "Emma, stay just behind me for a moment."

He gently moved me back and then began dodging the attackers with ease.

Like a dancer, he gracefully took each man down, one after the other, and swiftly retrieved the stolen book.

Emma: "Rio, are you hurt?"

Rio: "Thanks for worrying. I’m totally fine—not a scratch on me! When you’re by my side, I’m invincible."

His usual reassuring smile made me finally breathe out in relief.

Then Rio turned a sharp gaze on the men lying on the ground.

Rio: "—Now then, I think it’s time we had a little chat."

The atmosphere around Rio shifted dramatically as he looked back at the thieves.

Rio: "You were after the fair’s books, right?"

Man: "..."

Rio: "You may not want to answer, but you saw how you didn’t stand a chance just now."

Despite his cold voice, Rio smiled faintly, and I could see the man inhale sharply.

Man: "...Yeah. We were after the books."

Rio: "And your group—this isn’t all of you, is it?"

Man: "...No. We split into two groups. But we don’t even know where the others are right now."

Rio: "I see. So you’re just going from one hiding spot to another, collecting books..."

(There were more of them... Rio is so sharp, as always.)

Rio: "Thanks for the info. Now, just stay put until the guards get here, alright?"

Rio grabbed some nearby fair decorations and used them to tie the men to a tree, then came back to stand next to me.

Rio: "Based on what we just heard, it’s possible others might have already been attacked too."

Emma: "Yeah. They could’ve slipped past security and made contact with participants. We need to hurry and find the rest of the group..."

(Huh?)

Suddenly, I noticed a map lying on the ground—it felt out of place.

(This is the map the thieves had… Why are there two copies?)

As I moved closer for a better look, Rio’s hand quickly reached out and snatched it up.

Rio: "I’ll hold onto the map."

Rio: "Let’s hurry and find the rest of the thieves."

Emma: "Yeah, you’re right."

(The map still bothers me a little, but finding the others is more important right now.)

Rio: "I noticed some markings on the map the thieves had."

Rio: "I think the rest of their group is probably at one of the hiding spots that doesn’t have a mark."

He spread out one of the maps the thieves had dropped in front of us.

Emma: "This area here is pretty far from town. It’d be easy to avoid the guards’ patrol routes."

Rio: "Yeah, looks like a perfect target. Let’s head there right away."

When we arrived near the next hiding spot, just as we suspected, there were no signs of people—no participants or guards.

(This must be the place. We’ll have to be careful.)

As I steeled myself for what might come next—

Rio: "Watch out!"

He pulled me back, and I lost my balance, falling into his chest.

Right after that, I heard the sound of something slicing through the air, and an arrow struck the tree right next to where I had been standing.

(If Rio hadn’t been there, I would’ve been seriously hurt—or worse…)

Rio: "Emma, this way."

He pulled me along again and ducked behind the shadow of a nearby tree.

Holding me protectively, Rio leaned in close to my ear.

Rio: "These guys seem a bit more skilled than the last ones."

Rio: "You stay here. I’ll be right back."

Emma: "Okay. Be careful."

Rio: "Don’t worry—I won’t miss a chance to look cool in front of you."

With his usual confident smile, Rio dashed out from behind the tree.

(Rio’s strong—I know he’ll be fine, but still...)

I couldn’t help myself—I peeked out just a little from behind the tree...

Man: "Urgh!"

Just in time to see Rio take one thief down and move on to the next.

He weaved between the trees, nimbly avoiding arrows, taking out one hidden enemy after another.

(He’s so fast…)

Man: "Tch… Fine, at least I can get the girl—"

Rio: "Not a chance."

Rio stepped in front of the man as he charged toward me.

Rio: "As long as I’m by her side, I won’t let you touch her—or even get close."

Man: "Ugh!"

Rio: "See?"

He closed the distance in a flash, grabbed the man’s arm, twisted it behind his back, and used a nearby fair decoration to restrain him.

Rio: "Emma! Are you okay? You’re not hurt?"

Emma: "I’m fine—because you protected me."

Emma: "And… you looked really cool while fighting!"

Rio: "Ugh, a surprise love confession… I’m weak. I literally stopped breathing for a second."

Rio: "You’re seriously too good at making me all flustered no matter what’s going on."

(And Rio, you’re a total pro at making my heart race—no matter the situation.)

After tying up the thieves, Rio came running back to me with the recovered books in hand.

Emma: "Thank you! Thanks to you, we got back all the important books!"

Rio: "No need to thank me."

Rio: "It's only natural that I protect you and the things you care about—as your fiancé."

Emma: "Hehe, so not as my butler this time?"

Rio: "Ah, right. Then how about this—when I beat the first group of thieves, that was ‘as your butler,’ and now it’s ‘as your fiancé’?"

Emma: "That's greedy."

Rio: "Guilty as charged. But I want you to love me both as your butler and your fiancé."

(Ugh… If I fall for him any harder, my heart won’t survive this every day.) (But... I really do love this greedy side of Rio.)

A warm feeling bloomed in my chest, and I couldn’t help smiling.

Rio: "Well, since the danger’s passed, let’s bring these precious books back to the fair headquarters."

~Later~

Sariel: "Thank you for your efforts."

Emma: "Eh—Mr. Sariel…?!"

We stopped by the headquarters to return the books, only to be met by an unexpected face. I widened my eyes in surprise.

Sariel: "It’s been a while."

Emma: "Yes, it’s wonderful to see you again."

Emma: "But, what brings you here?"

Sariel: "I received a report from the guards and came to check on the situation."

Sariel: "Thanks to you both, it seems none of the participants have been harmed so far. I truly appreciate it."

Sariel: "However, since there was an incident, for safety’s sake, the fair from tomorrow onward—"

Rio: "Lord Sariel, regarding that—we’ve already captured all of the involved thieves."

Rio: "And because there were concerns raised even before the fair began, we’ve already made arrangements to increase security with knights from Benitoite as reinforcement."

(Wait—really?)

Stunned by how prepared Rio was—as if he had anticipated all this—I looked at him in awe.

Rio: "If anything else happens, I’ll take full responsibility."

Rio: "So please, would you allow us to continue the fair as planned?"

(Rio…)

Emma: "I’d like to ask the same. Please."

Sariel: "..."

After a few moments of silence, Sariel looked at each of us in turn and let a small smile form at the corner of his lips.

Sariel: "Very well."

Sariel: "If you two feel that strongly, I see no reason to stop the fair."

(…!)

Sariel: "Rhodolite’s side will also bolster security. I’ll be counting on you to keep up the patrols tomorrow."

Emma: "Yes—thank you very much!"

As he turned to leave, Sariel also said to Rio, "I’m counting on you," before walking away.

(Rio saved me again...)

Emma: "Rio, thank you so much. For everything."

Rio: "Serving my lady is what makes me happiest. No need to thank me."

Rio: "But actually, I��d like a different kind of thanks. Something else?"

Emma: "Umm... I love you?"

Rio: "Ack, that little head-tilt with your ‘I love you’… That was too powerful—I’m dizzy."

Rio: "Alright! I’ll give it my all tomorrow too—so I can keep showing you my cool side!"

With a determined look, Rio clenched both fists in front of him. I couldn’t help but laugh.

All the worry I’d been feeling just moments ago had completely disappeared without a trace.

(I’ll do my part too—to make sure this fair is a success, right to the very end!)

The fair concluded without further incident and was a huge success.

We returned to Benitoite with yet another precious memory in our hearts.

~Later~

Rio: "—You already know why I came here, don’t you?"

Without waiting for the young lady before him to answer, Rio pulled out two maps.

Young Lady: "Th-those are…"

Rio: "As the organizer, there's no way you wouldn’t know about this, right?"

Rio: "One is the official map given to fair staff and the guards. The thieves had a copy of that one."

Rio: "And the other—you gave that one to Emma. Yet the thieves had that version too."

Young Lady: "..."

Rio: "If you look closely, you’ll see that some of the book hiding spots are different between the two maps."

Rio: "The thieves only showed up at the locations that existed only on the unofficial map."

Rio: "So, why did you have the same map as the one the thieves used—and why did you give it to Emma?"

Rio: "You’re going to explain that, right?"

With a calm but clearly anger-tinged gaze directed at her, the young lady averted her eyes from the maps and slowly opened her mouth.

Young Lady: "I... I didn’t mean to hurt anyone."

Young Lady: "I just… wanted to keep Lady Emma in Rhodolite a little longer."

Young Lady: "I thought that way, I might end up meeting Lord Valerio alone."

Young Lady: "But I never imagined you’d go with her..."

Rio: "...Years ago, your father arranged a marriage proposal. I turned it down properly, remember?"

Young Lady: "I know... but I just couldn’t let go."

Young Lady: "In the end, I dragged even you into this. I know it was selfish and reckless."

Young Lady: "I used books—things that are precious to me—and deceived Lady Emma, who kindly offered her help… I wasn’t thinking clearly."

Young Lady: "I am truly, deeply sorry."

Rio: "Apologies won’t erase what you’ve done."

Rio: "...But you did go to the trouble of creating a separate map that avoided involving other participants."

Rio: "And from what I saw when you spoke with Emma, I know you really do love books."

Rio: "Most of all, Emma enjoyed the fair—so I’ll let it go this time."

Rio: "But—there won’t be a next time."

As he passed her, Rio whispered the last part into her ear, making the young lady go pale.

Without so much as a glance back, he left her estate behind.

That night—

Emma: "I hope you’ll accept this... It’s a small token of my gratitude."

I handed Rio the sweets I had made and wrapped earlier that day.

Rio widened his eyes as he looked at the package.

Rio: "…Today’s not my birthday, or any kind of anniversary, right?"

Emma: "This is my way of thanking you for everything you did during the book fair."

(In the end, Rio never told me anything…) (But I knew. He was supporting me from behind the scenes the whole time.)

Arranging for extra knights to bolster security, making sure the fair wouldn’t be canceled even if something went wrong—

He had likely taken care of it all in advance, preparing everything quietly.

(The fact that he offered to come as both my butler and bodyguard...) (He must’ve known there was a risk—and that’s exactly why he came.)

Emma: "I can't put it into words how grateful I am. Really—thank you."

If Rio hadn’t come to the fair with me, I don’t think I’d be smiling like this now.

(He didn’t just protect me physically—he protected my heart, too.)

Emma: "Rio, you really are the perfect fiancé… and the perfect butler."

Rio: "...!"

Rio: "Ahh… how am I supposed to handle my fiancée being this precious and adorable? I’m getting dizzy…"

He gently set the wrapped package down on the side table, then pulled me into a warm, heartfelt embrace.

Rio: "I should be the one thanking you. That was the greatest compliment I’ve ever received in my life."

Emma: "You’re being dramatic again."

Rio: "And that smile of yours is irresistibly cute. Can I kiss you?"

With a soft sound, he kissed my forehead.

Feeling a little flustered, I looked up at him—and met a gaze filled with warmth and a touch of something deeper.

Rio: "Emma… I think I’m ready to ask for something more now."

He whispered sweetly, brushing his fingertips against my lips.

Rio: "I held back while we were in Rhodolite because I was still acting as your butler… but now I’m just your fiancé. So, is it okay?"

(With that look in his eyes, how could I possibly say no?)

His voice, filled with gentle longing, sent a shiver through me.

Emma: "Yes."

Emma: "You’ve protected me this whole time… so now I want to give you whatever your heart desires."

Rio: "Then I won’t hold back. I want all of you, Emma."

Before I could reply, he leaned in and kissed me—tenderly at first, then with more emotion, more feeling, as if to convey all the love he’d been holding in.

One moment melted into the next, and before I knew it, I found myself in his arms, being carried gently toward the bed. I reached for the buttons on my blouse, but—

Rio: "Wait, let me do that."

Emma: "But tonight is supposed to be a thank-you for you..."

Rio: "It’s fine. But I want to be the one to take care of you."

(He can be so confident one moment, and then adorably earnest the next… It’s not fair.)

When he looked up at me like that, I had no choice but to nod.

He pressed a soft kiss to my shoulder and slowly helped me out of my clothes, with a smile that held both tenderness and affection.

Rio: "You’re a little too easy to sway sometimes, aren’t you?"

Emma: "That’s because it’s you. When the person I love asks for something, I just want to give it."

Rio: "You say things like that and then expect me to stay composed?"

Rio: "You just got back, so I didn’t want to push you too hard, but…"

He touched my breasts lightly over her undergarments, and her body shook with frustration.

Rio: "I love looking after you as your butler, but…"

Rio: "Right now, I’m your fiancé—and I’ve been waiting to shower you with love like this."

Emma: "I feel the same way..."

I gasped sweetly as he gently caressed me.  He smiled at me—deeply, sincerely, like nothing could make him happier.

Rio: "You’re adorable… Let me show you just how much I love you."

Emma: "Ah . . . Rio…"

(Even though I meant for tonight to be a thank-you for him, somehow… he’s the one giving so much to me.)

And yet, when he looked at me with such warmth and whispered how much he loved me—I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else.

Rio: "Show me more of that expression of yours, the one that shows how much you love me until you cant stand it.”

When I didn’t answer with words but gave a small, silent nod, Rio smiled again—and continued to gently, precisely touch the places he knew would bring me joy.

(Ah… I really am weak to Rio’s tenderness.)

(He spoils me so much… But seeing how happy he looks, I guess it’s okay to indulge in it a little.)

He poured so much love into me—more than I could ever repay in a lifetime—and I surrendered, lost in the warmth and happiness of it all.

A few days later, a package arrived from the young lady who had hosted the fair, along with a letter of thanks.

Inside were books—a thoughtful selection ranging from newly released bestsellers to obscure older titles. It was immediately clear, just from the contents, how deeply she loved books.

Emma: "I hope someday we can hold a book fair like that in Benitoite too."

(And this time, I hope we’ll be able to host it with her.)

Rio: "If that day comes, I’ll once again be your butler and bodyguard."

Rio: "If it’s something you want, I’ll go anywhere with you. I’ll cheer you on and support you with everything I have."

Emma: "Thank you. I’m counting on you."

(Rio always does this—he’s always thinking of me, always trying to support me...)

Emma: "In return… if there ever comes a time when you have something you really want to do,"

Emma: "Then I’ll become your butler and bodyguard."

Rio: "Emma, my butler and bodyguard… Just picturing you sweeping in to rescue me made my heart skip a beat."

Emma: "Did you imagine me reaching out a hand and saying, ‘Are you hurt, Lord Rio?’"

Rio: "I did! But now that you’ve said it out loud right in front of me, I’m swooning a hundred times harder."

Rio: "But protecting you is my job—so if you were the one guarding me, I guess I’d have to protect you too."

Emma: "Then what’s the point of me being your bodyguard?"

Rio: "Oh… good point."

We couldn’t help but laugh together at the silliness of it all.

And in that moment, an indescribable joy filled my chest—pure, warm, and overflowing.

(I don’t want to only be protected. I want to protect Rio’s heart too.) (So from now on, I’ll keep trying—so that he can feel the same happiness I do.)

That quiet, determined promise took root deep in my heart.

[wolfertinger]

I have been really thinking a lot about everything as all of this Wis stuff is going down. And I’m just perplexed by her inclination at every move to demonize Sawyer when Sawyer has always been simply REACTING to Wis’s outbursts and the situations in front of them. However Mari would always project her insecurities onto Wis, Sawyer calling her out on this as seen in a screenshot posted here. Even with this Wis insists on protecting her, a literal rapist.

I am coming as a former friend of Mari, we had became friends in 2023 if I remember correctly Via Sawyer. Me and Sawyer have been friends for YEARS(2017) I know them very well, we lost contact for a bit but gladly able to find eachother again.

Something about Mari that simply Wis chooses to ignore is the fact she’s a HUGE Salem / Puppychan orbiter and has been for years. And she constantly tried to get Sawyer and Salem to be friends acting as if she were a peacemaker. By doing this it constantly undermined Sawyer’s comfortability and problems with Salem for keeping contact with Torin and LYING.

Mari by forcing a friendship between the three of them in itself shows you her character. To be quite frank, I don’t care if my gf’s ex is someone I had idolized, just the fact they’re broken up and have good reason to not talk to their ex anymore is ENOUGH for me. But Mari doesn’t hold much consideration for anyone but herself.

As Mari continuously did this making Sawyer uncomfortable, she held no regard to anyone but herself. She wanted to befriend Salem, She didn’t want to loose Salem, even if it made her partner upset. Even calling Salem cutting contact with her “almost like a breakup”. This was said during a call we had that night as she messaged me but was very rude to me for some reason because I was saying things she did not like??? Keep in mind I was at work closing a drive thru by myself, she was aware of this too.

I’m not sure why Wis has this narrative that Sawyer bad Sawyer evil Sawyer stalker when I’ve only ever seen her tweak on the internet about them. Mari was the one concerned about Salem, even making an alt to comment on a vent he made on cohost because she wanted to be friends with him still.

Mari has always been the one concerned with Salem and always was watching even going to him and Wis after the breakup crying wolf. Why is that your first thought, to plead sympathy from an ex of ur current ex and their current partner. Who you said you thought was so ugly bla bla bla, projecting your internalized transphobia on how a trans person should look onto her.

That is more in line with stalker behavior than anything Sawyer has ever done. And to be really honest as I write this it’s almost funny how Wis has like this self importance in the narrative. Mari never wanted to really be friends with Wis, only Salem. Cat had no concrete opinion on Wis, the issue lied between Sawyer and Salem. Wis really has nothing to do with any of this, yea protect your partner but you have insane self importance if you think you’re the one anyone is worried about let alone stalking ??

Yet Wis has her own narrative of events, kinda admire her ability to lie so much and pretend she hasn’t admitted and posted herself scrolling on Sawyer’s page. It’s really weird how much she deflects simply because she just really wants Sawyer to be a bad guy in this situation.

It’s just really bizarre, and reading everything on this page made me really see an extreme version of Mari on Wis. They both love to deflect things they have done onto their enemy of the week. They claim to take accountability but when nobody gives them easy forgiveness it’s “FUCK YOU, YOU ARE EVIL YOU HURT ME”. They parallel each other extremely. I don’t understand how you can live life like this not wanting to change for yourself or the better, instead

I can go on about how Mari was not a good friend to have, as there were many situations she had expected me to be emotionally available for her despite me going through a really hard time in my life as me and current gf were having one of the worst years of our lives and had split for a very long time. Mari knew this too, this was no secret.

Sawyer has always been a very blunt and honest person. I never understood why Wis is on this tirade of how they are dishonest. As no matter what Sawyer has kept it real with me, never hiding anything from me. They don’t expect me to formulate an opinion that aligns with them, they give me the facts and I bounce off what I see. We have a very open and honest friendship, there is nothing I wouldn’t say to them I don’t fear anything.

Apologies for the literal novel, I just feel like I needed to say my piece as I have a perceptive that hasn’t been brought up. I don’t engage in stuff like this often, I have nothing to gain from this at all as my online presence is kinda dead as I work and go to school full time.

i have some screens I attached validating the aggressiveness from Mari and harping over Salem cutting her off not worried about her partner being upset and hurt by this only what she felt about it. Most of what she told me was during calls.

.

[spencerreidsbookfairy]

SET UP.

famous!readers back you guys and its angstier than ever.

Okay so I skipped dinner.

I physically couldn’t handle the expected awkwardness 

I lied and told him my manager needed to to talk me and it was urgent

He's a profiler you dumb bitch

Part of me feels bad, but it’s not like I don’t want to make amends with him and his team; it’s just that ever since I was a little girl, I’ve struggled with confrontation, and it’s followed me into adulthood. I know avoiding the issue won’t make it go away, and I’m fully aware that he probably sees right through my excuse. Still, the thought of facing him and his team, of having to explain myself and potentially deal with their disappointment, feels like too much to handle right now. It’s frustrating to be so paralyzed by something as simple as a conversation, but I’m hoping that with time and a bit of courage, I can find a way to address it.

Adding to my anxiety about confronting them is the lingering sting of how they treated me behind my back. I’d overheard them making fun of my singing and mocking my songs, which felt like a punch to the gut. It wasn’t just the hurtful comments but the sense of betrayal from a group I had hoped would be supportive. The thought of facing them now feels like stepping into a hostile environment, where every word and gesture might be laced with judgment or ridicule. This makes my reluctance to confront the situation even more overwhelming, as the fear of being dismissed or belittled looms large.

On top of everything, I already feel incredibly insecure about being around Spencer’s team. Here I am, a singer trying to make a name for myself, while they’re FBI profilers, experts in their field, and it’s hard not to feel like my career is a joke in comparison. The stark contrast between our worlds—my creative, emotionally driven profession versus their analytical, high-stakes work—makes me question if I even belong in their presence. Every interaction feels like an unspoken judgment of my career choice, amplifying my insecurities and making me doubt whether my passion for music is taken seriously or just seen as a frivolous hobby in their eyes.

I then decide to go out to a party to self soothe God knows i need it, seeing all my friends 

Bella, gigi and ariana all my friends making it their duty to make me feel better about my current situationship

I then see a blonde, gorgeous woman walk into the club 

Its lila archer

No.

No.

Lila always secretly resented me, for what reason i'm not sure, but one thing i do know is that i'm not the problem lilas notorious for being a huge bitch to almost everyone she comes in contact with. Her fame getting to head 24/7 I truly want someone to shoot me if i ever turn out to be like her, so rude so dismissive so-

Wait whys she walking over here? Was i talking out loud???? 

“y/nnnnnnn???’’ she dreadfully drags out. ‘’ what are you doing here, everyone else told me youve been at home moping over a guy” voice FILLED with mockery terribly trying to be hidden with concern 

I finally get the courage to say something.

“ wow words get around fast i guess”

“ im here for you you know, if you ever need advice, like beauty advice, or just friend advice”

Oh. 

I already feel immensely insecure around her. her gorgeous eyes, body face, dating history

Before i can say anything back she chirps up and says

‘’ what is his name anyways? Wont spill the beans, promise.”

“Spencer.”

‘’ wow so I don't get a last name” she says and laughs, " that poisonous laugh will kill me one day.

‘“Reid.’’

I can see the knowing smirk forming on her face and i'm confused on whats humorous about his name

‘’ oh my god, you mean FBI spencer reid, that dirty dog just can’t get enough of the public eye girls can he, he sure does have a mouth on him though.’’

Fuck. my. Life. 

He said i was his  first girlfriend,

Im hyperventilating internally 

‘’ maybe you're thinking of someone else lila, spencer said i'm his first girlfriend”

‘’ Oh you probably are, we still had fun though, he saved my life. Of course I'd reward him for it.”

I swear the music in the club stopped when she said that

‘’ excuse me.’’

I say as i quickly power walk out the nightclub and into my car to go home

You might be asking why i'm freaking out so bad

Spencer told me we were each others first time.

I gave him my virginity thinking it was his first time too.

He lied.

He lied.

He lied.

[anzulvr]

hii could i please request a little hurt/comfort drabble where reader feels sad during christmas season but forces herself to at least pretend to be happy because karma’s birthday is on christmas day :( but karma notices how her smile doesn’t meet her eyes and stuff and asks reader about it!

Summary: You’re sad on Christmas, Karma x reader (except it’s his birthday.) hurt/comfort GN!reader HUGE SPOILER WARNING FOR ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM

(this is so cute I LOVE THIS REQUEST thank u! Had this in my drafts for a while but waited for Christmas to post)

It had been two years since everything ended. Two years since Korosensei died and all of End class were labeled as victims with some weird-Stockholm attachment to the monster who blew up the moon.

It was strange, seeing everyone care about you when you didn’t need it and remembering how low they thought of you when you were only the reject class of kunugigaoka.

A lot happened in two years, not a long time but considering how quickly everything was moving you hadn’t had time to catch up. Like any special day Christmas wasn’t a good time anymore- something your classmates agreed on. With the impact Korosensei had on your lives it was impossible to celebrate anything without wondering what would have been if you managed to save him. That was only wishful thinking, you couldn’t change the past.

Regardless, today you tried to keep a smile on your face. It was the most important time of the year, Karmas birthday- and Christmas too.

You stared at your poor attempt to decorate the cake you baked with Karma, the frosting written birthday note was almost illegible.

“What’s with the look, you’re writing isn’t that bad.”

You looked up after hearing Karmas voice as if you were pulled out of a trance.

“What look? I know it’s not that bad I was admiring our hard work.”

“More like my hard work, you kept dropping everything! Seriously though, what’s wrong? The whole day I’ve been catching you teary eyed.”

You turned your back to the counter to face him as you set the frosting bag down “I’m fine, today’s your day I’m not going to bother you with my problems. You should enjoy everything to its fullest.”

“I’m not going to enjoy anything if you’re not happy, ‘m not budging tell me why you’re upset.”

Karma was stubborn, you knew him well enough to realized this wasn’t negotiable.

“I don’t know… I was just thinking about how Korosensei can’t spend Christmas with us, and he can’t be here for your birthday. Ever since we killed him, Ive felt so helpless? Like we never did enough.”

He nodded slowly breaking eye contact for a second, “my parents haven’t answered my call today, they’re in Italy right now, all I got was a text saying they were busy and that they’d talk later. I know they haven’t forgotten, it’s kind of impossible when it’s Christmas but still- I hoped they would have time for me today, I know they have more important things to do but It made me think about how Korosensei would’ve been here.”

you nodded in response, “They could still call the days not over… and if they don’t they’ll try to make it up to you…” You could bet they wouldn’t call until the next day but you wanted to reassure him, there wasn’t a lot you could say in this situation that would make him feel better.

“It’s fine, you’re here- and you’re the best company, I had fun today. I just meant Korosensei has done a lot for us he’s proud we pulled that off, he wouldn’t want you to beat yourself up over it.”

“I know you’re right, still I wish I could’ve done more, we should’ve tried harder to save him.”

“We did what we had to. I miss him too, there’s a lot of things I could never repay Korosensei for—”

“Like getting you through senioritis? Or always bringing money in his wallet even though he knew you’d steal it?”

“I meant setting us up together, but sure those were good too.” Karma smiles breaking tenseness of the conversation for moment, “at the time I thought he was being a hassle but without him im not sure id have you right now.”

Suddenly you felt shy laughing it off and covering your face for a moment while you composed yourself, “Yeah he did push for us a lot but I was obsessed with you far before we even ended up in 3-E so you would’ve had me regardless.”

“Yeah? Tell me more.”

“No way in hell, I don’t trust you to not make fun of me. Anyways I didn’t mean to bring up something depressing, we should be smearing cake all over your face right now.”

“Try all you want but it isn’t possible to mess up my face.”

“Wanna bet?” You shake the smile off your face.

“See that’s more I like it, we can enjoy our ugly cake now. And more importantly you can open your gift.”

“What do you mean my gift? It’s your birthday you’re not supposed to buy me stuff!”

“It’s also Christmas … I couldn’t help myself I really wanted to get you something.”

“But now I’m worried my gift won’t live up to yours!”

“[Name] you could give me rocks for all I care and I’d keep them in a safe with multiple locks.”

You gently shoved his shoulder suppressing your laughter, you leaned in to kiss him.

It was impossible to not feel better with him around. This morning you had woken up wishing time could stop for a moment and you ended the day hoping for the same thing but for a completely different reason.

[tmntxthings]

Can i please hsc or oneshot angst for raph (2018)

∑一Change・゜・。

author’s notes: O.o angst you say? I saw this tiktok and the sound made me so sad!! SO INSPIRATION!

warnings: hurt / no comfort, angst, short, drabble, unedited

—————————————————————————

Raph thought, that as long as he tried his best, things would work out.

It seemed simple enough. And in most cases, his best got things done. When it came to his family, he was able to keep his brothers out of trouble for the most part. He was able to provide for them. To distract them from the many problems that surrounded their home as well as stepping up when Dad couldn’t.

It got easier with time. And Dad healed, he became a parent again. Raph didn’t have the same responsibilities that he felt only he could shoulder. But still, it was hard to change those habits. Always feeling the need to carry the burdens. To be the one to fix things.

Communication is always key. Raph learned the hard way that bottling up his emotions only led to having a huge blow up later on. So he did his best when it came to his relationship with you. He didn’t want to be the reason things fell apart between the two of you.

So he did his best.

But as he watched you turn to leave, without even trying to talk to him about what was wrong. He didn’t know what to think. It had to be him. Something had to be wrong with him.

“Y/n!”

He called out to you. But you only shook your head and continued walking further away.

So he went after you. “Can’t we talk about this?” He called after you. His snaggletooth digging into his lower lip nervously as you continued to ignore him.

Slipping past your form before you could reach the ladder that led to the manhole cover. His body a blockade though it wasn’t his intentions to force you to stay. He just wanted to talk to you!

“Please,” he pleaded. “Just tell me what I have to do.” His hand went out, reaching for your own. He couldn’t help himself but try to find any sense of comfort in this moment. He liked your touch. You were warm. You had always been a safe place for him. For his feelings. Even if you were angry with him. “Tell me what I need to change, and Raph will change.”

It would be just that easy for him. He would do anything you wanted. He could be different. Whatever you didn’t like he’d change it. Whatever it was that he did to upset you, he’d make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

“…Raph” you said in a solemn tone, tugging your hand away from his hold.

His heart broke. He didn’t reach for you again. But he went down on his knees before you. Making himself smaller. He needed to be smaller.

“No no, Y/n! You make me happy, we make each other happy!” Raph said with absolute certainty. But as your face met his, it was the epitome of hopelessness. “Don’t we?” He cried out in despair. Not understanding. Needing you to spell it out for him. He wasn’t smart enough to figure it out on his own. He wasn’t like Donnie. He wasn’t like Leo.

“I thought-“ your voice broke, the back of your hand going up to cover it as you held back a sudden sob. It was all Raph could do to stay still. To not instantly scoop you into his arms and hold you close. To calm you down and tell you that everything would be okay. He’d fix it. But he stayed in his place as you recovered yourself.

“I thought this could work. When we were young and stupid, but Raph… I’m human and you’re..” the hand covering your mouth went down as it gestured towards Raph’s form. Mutant. Was the word that went unsaid. He was other. He wasn’t human. But he hadn’t thought… you hadn’t seemed to mind…

In those quiet moments where it was just you and him. When you would lean closer than friends would get. How you would constantly text him.

“I just don’t think it’ll work Raph. It was nice to pretend. It was nice to dream. But I’ve got to be realistic. I can’t spend my life down here.”

In the sewers. In the shadows. Raph didn’t want that for you either. Maybe he had been too selfish. For ever thinking that the happiness the two of you shared was something that couldn’t be broken. He had thought his bond with you was so strong.

Slowly, Raph got up from his knees. He shuffled away from the ladder. “Oh,” was all he could say in response. He felt… how did he feel? It was hard to describe. But you didn’t hesitate to linger. You started to climb.

It seemed like this wasn’t something he could fix. He looked down at his hands. Big rough maws. Green. Not to mention the claws. Nothing like a humans. Nothing like yours. His hand closed into a fist as the manhole cover closed overhead.

He was disappointed. That was what he felt. Crazily enough, it was because he couldn’t change for you. Even though he desperately wanted to.

[casanovawrites]

random sentence prompts  ━ from various tv shows, part 9

don’t look back. remember? this is all we need.

if we kiss, you’ll be healed.

it’s not real. you just need someone to save.

could you at least wait until i’m gone?

everyone’s scared of something.

words just kind of fall out of my mouth sometimes.

it’s hot, sexy, heroic.

i took the blame to protect you.

this whole time, i’ve been trying to prove myself. prove that i belong. that i’m tough enough, strong enough. 

i care about you so much, but it just doesn’t feel the same as it used to.

by the way, now would be an excellent time to have a reliable therapist.

if even one person sees you, you don’t count as invisible anymore.

i give, like, a huge fuck. i give the biggest fuck.

i know we’re family.

i’m actually dealing with life or death things right now.

do you think i wanna be like this?

i suffer from anxiety and dread.

you have no idea what i’ve given up to protect you.

i will never find a new you.

i’d give you anything, because i love you.

if you’re in that much of a hurry to fucking die, you should just go and do it.

the second we stop looking for answers, that’s when we lose. 

we could’ve died. there’s no way we could’ve survived that.

i don’t wanna find out who i am without you.

we could be anywhere, i mean we could be here, we could be there, we could be anywhere in the world, but it would not matter, because you are my home. and i would really like to be yours.

you’re pretty when you smile.

maybe nothing’s ever gone.

i have to remind myself to breathe sometimes.

who doesn’t want easy? who doesn’t want to just fucking be okay?

i’ve never been more scared before. i’ve also never felt more alive.

being ready and being nervous aren’t mutually exclusive.

i respect you. you don’t take shit from anyone, including me. which is very cool.

i didn’t think you’d be the type to be into sharing your feelings.

when we had sex, it didn’t mean anything. it was a mistake.

a final girl must have a high threshold for pain.

i lost my mind for a couple of days. it just felt good to have a distraction. 

whenever i see some filth, i think of you.

the universe decided to drop a reminder of my greatest failure on my doorstep.

always focusing on someone else’s problem makes it easier to ignore your own.

i always knew that there was a part of you that i could never touch.

the best that i could do was love you and hope that that was enough to keep you here.

i’ve only ever done my best to save lives.

do not talk to me about pain.

it’s broken. i’m broken. and i can’t fix it.

you said we were a family. you lied. 

i’d play the hero ten times over if it meant being here with all of you.

so, as it turns out, my life is wherever you are.

try to concentrate on everything you have waiting for you when you get out of here.

you have someone waiting for you. i do not.

yeah i fucked up, but i did it my way.

it’s real, and i’m fucking terrified.

i’m doing way worse than sending nudes.

i can just radically accept that my mom is a cunt.

i’m like obsessed with being cool and popular. it’s fucking pathetic.

i think shitty things keep happening because i’ve been a self-centered asshole.

she’s mean to me. am i into that?

you’re just jealous because someone actually loves me.

i’ve never been this close to someone i’m not hooking up with. i just have a fucked up sense of intimacy.

you always make loving me seem like the easiest thing in the world.

it’s exhausting to lose a loved one.

she’s really great. she’s so great it scares the shit out of me.

am i being shitty? i don’t wanna be shitty.

being back in that house just reminds me i’ve always felt really, really lonely here.

talking about you ain’t making it about you.

everyone stares at me. i’m famous.

we don’t really have a great relationship just ‘cause of the whole ‘dead’ thing.

i don’t wanna be here anymore. i wanna be where you are.

so you’re mad at me for pushing you to be better?

i wanted to be here with you, ‘cause you’re in my head.

your superpower is that you’re shameless.

it’s not the end of the world. it’s just the beginning.

i know you. you’re already making decisions out of fear.

you said you needed me.

i wanted to do it with you.

so you’re willing to lose me, too?

i uprooted my entire life for you. i put you first because i care about you. i can’t believe you won’t do that for me. you’ll never do that for me.

bullshit, you’re lonely all the fucking time. you’re gonna die that way, too.

i guess all the time i feel kind of trapped because i can’t describe how i’m feeling.

[ilidaeandquill]

Take It Off - Chapter 1 - IlidaeAndQuill - Cult of the Lamb (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

THE BIRTHDAY FIC IS HERE AAAAAHHH 🎉🎉

Take It Off is a short CotL fanfiction I wrote to celebrate my 21st birthday (today - yippee!!) but also to write all aspects of a potential CotL Modern AU I want to write.

Similar to CotL's Pilgrim comic, the story follows Jalala and Rinor as they journey the city's thriving nightlife. Of course, nothing is that easy. Four business-owning siblings cause nothing but mayhem, rumors of organized crime crawl through the streets, and a greedy politician threatens to rip the beloved city apart. The world around is changing too fast, and Jalala doesn't know how to handle it... but an amiable lamb and brazen goat might just help her find her place.

Until Leshy blows stuff up but we're not going to talk about that.

I’m going to break down every self-indulgent part I put in the fic, because most of it are just parts of “me” I want to share. The other bit of indulgence is the shipping but I don't need to break that down lol.

If you read the fic, I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you thought! I want Take It Off to be a fun experience from start to finish, so any additional comments or critiques are more than welcome.

Seriously. Anything for this fic, whether it’s a kudos or a like, or a reblog or a comment, will mean so much more than you know. A little “Hey, I loved your fic!” work wonders for an author’s morale, especially since we often spend a fuck ton of time prepping, drafting, writing, editing, and doing way more than what’s necessary to create these stories.

Without further ado, here’s a breakdown of all the parts of “me” I slipped into the fic.

“Give it!” Rinor leaned over her. “I’m banning you! You’ve listened to Liquid Smooth so much these past few days, I think Mitski’s filing a restraining order.”

I like Mitski and thought this was funny lol. Tbh I haven’t listened to her in a minute.

Beside them, Yarlen chortled. “Cause one time, the old winery she used to work at hosted a drag brunch, and she witnessed a drag queen get on her knees for her pregnant manager.”

This did actually happen lolol it was so funny. But yeah I did lose the video :(

Considering the sun had just started to set, skimming the beaches and cityside horizon, Jalala was not yet twenty-one. Rarely did she stroll the city at night, and never on weekends. There were more cars than there were people to drive them, and more people than buildings to hold. Bars and restaurants each packed their party, and then some. She would blink; the click of a camera, and open her eyes to a completely new scene. Again, and again, endless as the oceans that crashed on the shore. Jalala would have suggested going there instead, but if the city wasn’t jam-packed, the beach definitely was.

SAN FRAN OH SAN FRAN

I went to San Francisco in January and oh my god. I don’t think I’ve ever fallen in love with a city faster. I’m usually not a huge city fan, but wow, San Fran just got me. It’s what inspired the setting of this fic :)

Like that yellow cat leaned against a streetlight, fixing a chain-link belt across her black miniskirt. Under the light, every part of her glowed: her jewelry, her makeup – even her green eyes seemed to shine.

Fena, oh my sweet Fena. I never should have subjected you to All Is Fair. You weren’t meant to be in an early 1900s cult; you’re meant to be a y2k party girl. I’m so sorry for stripping you of your true purpose.

That said, I based Fena and Leshy off a real couple I know. They’re youngest siblings. They’re also college alcoholics (I don't think they do drugs but I know they get hammered a lot). They’re super cute though!

“I don’t think my brother’s going to catch it.”

“No?” chirped Kallamar. “Give him to me for a night; he’ll catch it, no problem.”

Yeah, so that… uh…

… yeah.

-

And here we are, in the heavier parts of the story. I wanted the thematic question of this fic to reflect reality: "Is life worth living/fighting for when all seems dire?" (Peep the state of the world, lovely existential crisis.). The answer is yes, obviously, and in that, we have to remember the people of our past who are worth living for.

One cluster of photographs showed a dog. She had black fur with white accents. Her clothes were dull, but her eyes were vibrant – brown and wide and filled with life. This world was hers, and she knew it.

I got into CotL because my dog, who I follower-ified (is that a word?) here, passed away shortly after I started playing the game. It felt right to put her here. It felt right to remember and state loudly, proudly, that she is one of my reasons to keep living.

She changed. I'll change too, one day. For now, I'll live with all the joyful memories we had and take her spirit wherever I go.

Another assortment showed a brown cat standing behind a laptop and a microphone. Headphones rested on his shoulders. He took them off to give the camera a goofy grin.

This is a tribute to the audio director, Narayana Johnson/River Boy. I saw from a comment on the CotL TikTok that his favorite follower form was the general cat form from Darkwood. If this is incorrect, please let me know so I can properly portray River Boy.

He loved Cult of the Lamb, and he loved music. It felt right to put him at the hub of it all, where his memory can be properly cherished, in both fiction and reality.

These are the lives worth living for. Your life is worth living, too. So, even if things seem hectic, we have to keep living. We will change when our time comes. For now, I want to honor and live for them in every way I can.

-

Alright, alright, that's enough depression. Oh what was it I said...

Cheers erupted. Jalala, with Rinor’s hand in her own, shouted her own. She never knew she could shout so loud. Across the stage, Sinful Silk grinned. “Then let’s get back to turning it the fuck up!”

(This one's a little bit of a spoiler lol I'm not scheduled to post this bit until the next chap.)

THAT THAT THAT OHH MY GOD

MEGAN THEE MOTHERFUCKING STALLION INSPIRED THAT

I WENT TO HER CONCERT IN MEMPHIS LAST YEAR DURING HER HOT GIRL SUMMER TOUR AND AAAAAHHHH SHE INSPIRED THAT QUOTE BC I LOVE HER SO MUCCHHH

Holy shit. Holy shit. They might be the coolest fucking person alive. Holy shit holy shit holy shit-

Yeah that's 100% just me talking lolol.

Bro look at them bro they’rE SO FUCKING COOL

“You love the goat.” YEESSS YES I DO. I love them. I love their dumb little eyes and fluffy cashmere and violet/purple/silver color palette and massive horns and "never retreat never surrender" attitude. And I love angry characters. I love characters who are perpetually pissed, filled with so much grit and spite and rage that watching them can’t help but get me amped up too.

I have been obsessed with this goat for over six months. That obsession is not fading. So if Pollux gets special treatment that is because they are my child and I love them.

Special treatment in the form of “I have thought of and will write a ShamGoat short story in this AU, but they are 100% getting stabbed and/or shot. Maybe a couple times. Because I love them.”

"Narinder? Hey? I can't – I can't hear you. Did you mute yourself? … Narinder? Narinder!" Castor kept shouting to him, saying his name. Yarlen lumped his head on Jalala’s shoulder. “You should – when you – you – you should have the... the juniper drink? Right? They’re not IPAs. IPAs are the bad beer, but that one honestly ... no it’s not even bad, La, not even bad.” “Yarlen, pretty sure the juniper drink isn’t beer.” Rinor took his wrist and dragged him back up, taking the weight from Jalala’s end. “Wasn’t it gin? “Tasted like tea, bro, not even bad.” Jalala rolled her eyes. “He’s gone.” "Oh, he's been gone."

I’ve mentioned my boyfriend, right? Yeah. Yeah. God I love him. I love him sober; I love him drunk. But he’s really funny when he’s drunk lol. This is all derived from his drunk rambles.

-

I think that’s everything! This Modern AU was such a fun idea to dabble in, I had an incredible time writing it. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

My focus is still on my primary fic, All Is Fair in Death and War, but I can see myself coming back here and write some short stories and one-shots for it. I’ll probably backlog those then post them as Massive Monster releases more details about the sequel/something else brings the fandom out of its hibernation.

Come on. They’re making a sequel. We all know it.

In the meantime, I will definitely be posting drabbles/one-shots for this AU on Tumblr. If you have any suggestions/prompts for the modern AU, send them to my inbox! I need to lore dump. I need to write. I need excuses to write. Oh my god this au was so fun aaahhh.

That is all! Thank you so so soooo much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and have a wonderful rest of your day! 🎉

[sombersummerskies]

A Sage's Regret: Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Water Temple

Word Count: 4894

CW: Violence, injury

Want all the chapters? -> Masterlist

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Traveling through the water temple gives you an odd sense of nostalgia. The grand architecture, the ancient technology, and the intricate puzzles. It was impossible not to be reminded of your time in the Divine Beasts, solving the mysteries and secrets of the machines. Of course, it wasn’t entirely the same. This time you had soldier constructs to fend off and Zonai devices that would react to your arm. Rather than gloom you had poisonous much that needed to be avoided.

And this time you had a companion fighting alongside you.

Sidon’s assistance was immediately a huge aid to you, even if you might not have wanted to say it aloud. With all the internal battles of emotion you were having, you almost thought it would have been easy to trudge through the temple alone. But you knew better than that, and you knew that it would be foolish to turn him away now- after how far you’d already come. Besides, with the strange voice that had called out to him and referred to him as ‘kin’ you knew that he was integral to solving the problem here at the wellspring.

Together you discover that to activate the other four water vessels that you must activate a series of cogs- rather, they resemble water wheels more than anything. 

The first of these is hidden behind a wall of raging flames, but with the shield of water that the prince is able to grant you you’re able to run through without injury. On the other side you find a switch that deactivates the fire, allowing Sidon to join you. Using your right arm you manipulate several hoverstones: Zonai devices that can suspend themselves in the air using the energy from your battery cells. Using these stones you find an orb that solves the puzzle, granting you access to the first water wheel.

When you both return to the main area you see that two of the five water jugs are now pouring over with fresh water.

“Well, it’s progress,” you hum, pulling an apple out of your travel pack. You were beginning to feel famished, but the last thing you wanted to do was pause to cook a meal.

“Indeed,” the prince replies, momentarily glancing your way as you take a bite of the fruit. If he too was hungry he didn’t make note of it. Instead, he turns to look out across the land, peering down at the surface below. “I wonder… what is it like down there right now? Across all of Hyrule. You’ve informed me about the new threats of monsters, of course, but what of the people? What of the other towns? How are they faring under these new circumstances we find ourselves in?”

You pause, thinking before you answer. The truth was that you weren’t sure, it felt as though you’d been traveling at a breakneck pace ever since arriving on the surface. Far too focused on aiding others and locating the princess. 

“I… I don’t know,” you mutter after a moment’s quiet, “well. Lookout Landing is fine. If anything, they’re more fortified now than ever. But Purah informed me that Zora’s Domain, along with the three other major settlements, are all facing unnatural phenomena that have put the people at risk. And I don’t even know what might be happening in Kakariko or Hateno or even Lurelin… everything’s happening so fast… I’m just trying to get everywhere. To help everyone… you know?”

Sidon nods, “I understand completely. I’ve rarely afforded myself a moment's rest ever since the Upheaval. Far too many Zora depend on me… far too many lives hang in the balance…”

His voice wavers, and you know exactly who he’s thinking of. His father. You can picture King Dorephan in your mind so clearly, still unsettled by seeing him so sickly and pale on that throne within the sanctum.

You try to change the subject. After momentarily digging through your pack you pull out another apple- though this has a crisp, golden skin. A unique apple that you harvested from one of the sky archipelagos. You then jut your arm out toward the prince, offering the fruit to him.

“You have to be hungry by now,” you say matter-of-factly, “it’s not a three-course meal, but it’s something.”

Sidon laughs softly, taking the apple and holding it up to admire the way it reflects the sunlight. “Thank you, dearest,” he replies, “it’s rather pretty, it almost feels like a shame to have to eat it.” But eat it he does, sinking his sharp teeth into it as he takes a bite.

The two of you snack in silence, and you take the chance to view the map of the temple on the Purah Pad. In your head you formulate a plan, examining the terrain that surrounds the three remaining terminals for the wellspring. They were on separate floating islands rather than being connected to the main area as the first had been. But, you had a feeling that with the low-gravity you’d be able to find a way across.

When you return your attention back to the prince he’s just about finished with his apple, left holding only the core in his hands (and you try to ignore how your eyes are drawn to the small dribble of juice down his chin). “Well,” you clear your throat, hooking the tablet back onto your belt, “shall we explore the rest?”

Together, you work your way through the Great Wellspring. To unlock the second of the water wheels you need to figure out how to transport a large orb between two separate islands. As you find a solution the prince fends off a captain construct, and you nearly let yourself get distracted as you admire his spearmanship. Despite how exhausted you both were he could effortlessly hold his own in battle, gracefully lunging forward with the Lightscale Trident as he pierced his foe. Luckily, after the construct was slain you were able to keep its horn for crafting a new weapon in the future.

It doesn’t take you much longer to solve this puzzle, and you’re happy to activate the next water wheel. Simultaneously the third water vessel opens with a stream of water beginning to pour out. “Two down, two to go,” you sigh as you return to Sidon’s side, hands on your hips, “the others are on the other side of the temple.

“Then allow me to escort you,” he replies with a chuckle, making a show of bowing his head as he extends his arm toward you.

You roll your eyes as you playfully shove him in response, “no need, prince. C’mon.”

After traveling across the main island and dodging a handful of Chuchus you ascend another waterfall. At the top, however, you come face to face with a Like-Like. Unlike the one you’d fought at Mipha Court, this one didn’t have an armor of sludge, instead its body was coated in flames- making it easily susceptible to your splash fruits. It’s quickly disposed of as you move to the next marked point of the map.

This puzzle involves you having to use your Ultrahand ability. You haphazardly construct a spinning cog that uses the force of a small water fountain to generate electricity. As soon as you see the current running across the floor you jump in front of Sidon, pressing a hand to his chest as you force him to step backward. With how vulnerable the Zora were to anything electric, the last thing you needed right now was for him to get injured. When he gently places his hand atop your own, though, you quickly find yourself retracting it. You struggle to get rid of the heat on your face as you complete the current, unlocking the next water wheel and activating the fourth vessel.

‘Just one more, and the sludge will be gone, and this whole problem will be over,’ you tell yourself as you trek to the final area, ‘then I can keep looking for Zelda.’

After a short climb, you find yourself at a large pond, the center of which holds the activation terminal for the final water jug. The issue is that the pond was surrounded on all sides by constructs, soldiers and captains alike. It seemed as though the further you progressed through the temple, the more of them would be summoned. You do your best to handle them from a distance, as a well-timed arrow to the eye will knock them back into the water- and constructs can’t swim. To no avail, however, as it seems with everyone you take down a new one spawns to take its place.

“Alright then,” you grumble, casting a sideways glance to the prince, “new course of action. I run to that spinning tower because I bet that will unlock the next water wheel. You watch my back- make sure nothing, y’know, shoves a spear in me or anything like that.”

Though you laugh at yourself, Sidon looks less than enthused. Perhaps it was a poorly timed joke, considering the amount of times you both had been injured in battle- specifically by spears. And those were all occasions that you’d prefer not to reminisce about. Certainly not when you’d been stabbed by a Lizalfos, certainly not when Sidon had been attacked by the Yiga-

You force yourself to focus on the task at hand.

You sneak along the side of the water, kicking aside some of the small Chuchus that tried to crawl near you. You both move quietly, trying to avoid drawing the attention of the bow-wielding soldier constructs. The tower at the center of the pond has a fast-spinning component on top, far too fast for you to be able to sneak inside of it in any way. But as you stare at it you can see small blips of something within it- something covered in sludge. You had to get rid of the muck somehow.

Unfortunately, you were too busy trying to think of a plan that you didn’t see the arrow being aimed at you.

Before you can react, Sidon is calling out your name. You feel a strong arm wrap around your torso and tug you down onto the ground. You watch with wide eyes as a flaming arrow goes flying above your heads. You find the source, a captain construct that’s docking another arrow. Your arms move faster than you can think, grabbing your own bow and aiming for the eye stalk. You’re able to shoot first, knocking the construct back into the water.

Once the foe disappears you can still feel yourself buzzing with adrenaline. You let out a huff of air, looking down as your brain finally catches up with your physical movements. You were leaning back against the prince who was now kneeling on the stone floor. His arms were still wrapped tightly around you, pulling you against him as you still kept a tight grip on your bow. 

Nervously you cough, looking up at Sidon as you say a small, “thanks.”

He slowly nods, the irises of his eyes formed into thin slits as he gazes around to assess any further danger. Once he seems to deduce that everything is safe he looks down, meeting your gaze. “Of course, dearest,” he murmurs, gently loosening his hold on you, “I had to… I couldn’t-”

You place your hand on his bicep and look away. You understood why he had to grab you in such a way, you understood his impulse. If he was in imminent danger you would have acted in a similar fashion. Even still, you detested the way it made your heart pound in excitement when you knew he shouldn’t have been putting his hands on you in such a way. The hesitation is obvious as you pull away from one another, slowly rising to your feet once more.

‘Pull yourself together and focus,’ you internally chastise yourself, grimacing as you focus on the tower once more.

Once you get close enough you’re able to utilize a few hover stones to give yourself some leverage. Using your ascension ability you’re able to hop up directly through the stones, something which the prince watches with a curious fascination. Now, you find yourself balancing atop the floating rock, staring at the spinning tower as you draw your bow once more. 

“If I can just time this right…” you whisper to yourself, taking in a deep breath as you raise your arms to aim. With Fuse you attach a splash fruit to the tip of the arrow, narrowing your eyes as your eyes focus on the target. You watch it closely. One spine, a second, a third, a fourth. You time the revolutions in your head.

You breathe out. You shoot. 

When the splash fruit makes contact and washes away the sludge you sigh with relief. Now you’re able to see a glowing orange switch inside of the spinning component.

“Brilliant shot, little one!” Sidon cheers from down below. You smile in response, giving him a thumbs up.

You perform the same trick, carefully aiming and shooting another arrow. The light switches to green, signifying your success. The water drains from the pond and a hatch opens, giving you access to the final terminal and final water wheel. You peer over the edge down at Sidon and grin, shouting out, “finally!”

The low-gravity lets you hop down gracefully and as a pair you run over to the final cog. Once more you’re enveloped in the water shield that the prince grants you, using the water to spin the water wheel. In response, the last of the five vessels begins to overflow.

“You did it!” Sidon beams with excitement.

“We did it,” you correct him, nudging his side with a grin.

The prince smiles bashfully before nodding his head toward the central island of the wellspring. “Okay, they’re all filled up! Now we just need to use the central device.”

It was about midday now as you returned to the first pedestal, the one that allowed you to tip over the water jugs and drown out the muck. As you stare up at it you reach into your travel pack in search of another energizing elixir. You grumble, however, when you realize that you’d already drank the last one you’d brought with you. You really needed to get some proper sleep soon.

Beside you, Sidon sighs dreamily. “Being up here makes me long for my days of exploring once more.”

The days when he had been traveling with you to train the pilots for the Divine Beasts. Years ago. Days that you preferred not to think about.

You clear your throat before replying, “it is pretty nice on these sky islands. There’s so many of them, though, to be frank they intimidated me when I first saw them.”

A small grin reaches his lips as he gazes up, eyes curiously searching for the plethora of floating islands in the distance. “They’re immensely fascinating, aren't they? I’m sure every being walking the surface has had their attention captured by the new presence. Have you been able to survey any of them, little one?”

“A few, though I can’t take credit for any of the mapping. That’s all thanks to the Purah Pad,” you respond, casually tapping the tablet on your hip, “but the handful I’ve been able to explore have been interesting. It’s an odd feeling, though, standing in a place that was once probably full of life but is now abandoned. All the old buildings and constructs are just sitting around, waiting to be used. Like, it’s so clear that there’s so much untapped history. It’s the same in the depths.”

“The depths?” Sidon repeats, curious.

Oh. It hadn’t occurred to you that you hadn’t told him about the depths yet, nor the fact that he’d been so busy with matters in the domain that he was wholly unaware of an entire third layer of land beneath the surface. ‘Well, he’s in for a bit of a surprise.’ You grab the Purah Pad and open the application, scrolling downwards to reveal the depths map. The few Lightroots you were able to document flash on the screen, but they’re dwarfed by how much land you had yet to chart. 

“It’s a whole new region beneath the surface,” you explain to him, watching an expression of shock flicker across his face, “during the Upheaval there were chasms that opened up across Hyrule, which is how we can access it now. Lookout Landing has put together a crew to explore the new land. I went down there myself, it’s a strange place. All sorts of new plants and animals and-”

“Is it safe?” he interrupts you, obvious concern in his eyes.

You hesitate. It isn’t, of course, and you’re not going to lie to him about that. But nothing that you did was safe- it came with the territory of being the princess’ sworn knight. So the sudden question was off-putting.

You were tired.

“I- well… no. No it’s not,” you retort with a frown, “I mean, it’s a long fall, there’s gloom that saps your strength, camps of monsters- but I deal with the same dangers if I’m anywhere in the wilds of Hyrule. Why does it matter?”

Sidon falters, sensing that he may have struck a nerve. “I simply worry for you-”

You narrow your eyes, turning to step backward and away from him. Though it isn’t wise your first instinct is to say, “my safety is none of your concern-”

“I would argue otherwise-”

“Well worry about yourself!” you practically erupt. All of your stress, all of your pain, you knew he wasn’t the true cause of it all but you were exhausted of the rollercoaster of emotions that it put you through. And as the words left your mouth you regretted it, but you could hardly stop yourself. You were so exhausted, and every encounter with him only left you more confused than the last.

“And worry about your wife,” you add on, spitting out the title as if it were venom.

He practically jolts backward with a look of disgust from your tone. Now he reflects your anger, retorting with, “it matters not if I’m simply engaged still. Lady Yona is a dear friend of mine and you will not speak of her in such a way. Where is your respect?”

You scoff, ignoring the stinging pain in your throat as you bury your emotions, “respect? Don’t talk to me about respect. Do you know what I’ve endured in the past two weeks? My best friend is gone- again! And I couldn’t save her- again! My sword, my destiny, has been destroyed. My arm has been replaced with strange ancient technology that I don’t even understand-”

You were so tired.

The prince tries to get another word in but you swiftly cut him off as your rant continues, “I- I can’t handle this damn back and forth that you put me through. I have so much I need to worry about- the last thing I need is to be constantly reminded of the scraps of a relationship that could never be! We can’t be together, Sidon! At this point, I think it would hurt my heart less if you simply treated me like a stranger, that way I wouldn’t have to be constantly reminded of your affection for me-”

In your exhaustion and anger, you’d thrown your arms up, and you were swiftly cut off guard by the sound of the pedestal activating. Your right arm had touched the Zonai device without you meaning to do so. There’s a rumbling of water as the mechanisms of the wellspring activate.

Your chest heaves as you turn and look up, tears threatening to spill as you watch the water vessels tip over. You knew you’d messed up, you knew you’d have to apologize. But at the very least all of this muck would finally be gone. At the very least the Zora would be safe. Sidon would be safe.

The streams of fresh water come rushing down, ridding the fountain of all of the filth that had been clogging it. What you don’t see is the ball of muck that goes flying above your heads, landing in the plaza behind you. “The sludge dissolved,” Sidon gasps behind you. But his voice is quiet. Unhappy. You can hear it immediately. “The domain is surely safe now…”

A shrill shrieking pulls both of your attentions. You each spin on your heels and look to find the source. That’s when you spot it, the single piece of sludge that survived. It bubbled and festered in the middle of the island, and suddenly something- someone, shot up out of it.

“Shit,” you quietly curse, arming yourself with a sword.

“Not good,” the prince hisses at the same time, immediately grabbing for his spear and getting into a defensive position, “this strange creature must be responsible. Get ready!”

Something small and fish-like lands in front of you both, with a squid-like face and flailing arms. It doesn’t seem to be much of a threat at first, and that almost causes you to lower your guard. But then it uses the sludge to its advantage, creating a shark-like form for itself. The muck shark roars, creating a wave of filth around it.

“Water,” you say, throat still tight from your rant. But now you needed to focus, the little spat would have to be put behind you for now. “We need to get rid of all that sludge with water. I have splash fruits, you have your abilities.”

Sidon nods, a fierce expression on his face as he stares down the land shark, “yes, absolutely. Should we try and split up to-”

You’re quick to shake your head, “no, if any of that sludge gets into your gills you’ll get stuck out there. We have to stick together. And we need to move… now!”

The shark- squid- sludge monster- thing lunged forward, gliding across the stone and leaving a trail of muck in its wake. Your previous fatigue is overridden by the adrenaline that now courses through your veins. You grab Sidon’s arm and run in the opposite direction, attempting to put distance between him and the monster. 

“My water manipulation,” he urges you, “use it as a shield and attack it with a wave of water!”

He envelops you in the sphere of water and you focus your gaze on the sludge creature. After sucking in a breath of air you run toward it, avoiding the trail of muck it left in its wake. Using both hands to grip the sword, you yell as you fling it forward, the protective bubble dissipating as it shoots forward in tandem. 

The shark is struck and is momentarily stilled. You take advantage of its vulnerability to pull a splash fruit from your bag and launch it directly at the monster. With this attack, the sludge body disappears, leaving only the small fish-like body of the real creature. The little squid thing panics, its arms flailing about as it runs away from you. Now Sidon takes the opportunity to attack, dashing forward with his trident and attacking.

Your legs feel as if they’re on fire, your body’s exhaustion catching up with you mid-battle. You wince as you push through the pain, running to join the fray. As you begin to slash with your sword, however, the small monster jumps away and back into the sludge. Now, it spits more balls of filth into the air.

“Sidon-” you gasp, watching one fall right toward him, “Sidon, move!”

You run in front of him and shove him aside, hissing in pain as the sludge hits you instead. Though most of it landed on your armor, some of it stains your face and neck. It strings terribly, and you grit your teeth as you try to wipe it away.

The prince calls out your name but you shake your head, squinting as you attempt to refocus on the monster. It’s regained its shark form now, quickly swimming across the floor of the island and circling back toward you. You feel a strong hand wrap around your right arm, and this time it’s you who has to be guided away from the creature’s attacks.

As you run you fumble with your free hand, grabbing another splash fruit and puncturing it with your thumb. You let the water flow down onto your face, offering yourself some temporary relief from the poison of the muck. “Damn,” you mutter, “it got me good. But we just have to do that again, that sludge is its shield. It’s defenseless without it.”

The prince comes to a halt, turning and kneeling before you. He puts his hands on your shoulders and looks at you with sad eyes. “And what if you get hit by it again?” he asks with concern.

“Then I will deal with it-” you retort, but his grip on you tightens and grounds you.

“Stop that,” he says sternly, pleading with you, “please, beloved, I care about you far too much for you to be risking your life like this-”

You’re both interrupted by the shark roaring once more. This time it spits out a beam of the sludge, and your eyes widen as you start to run. You each are able to dodge the attack but it unfortunately puts you in different directions, now separated. The shark begins to move once more, this time toward the prince, and you know you have to act.

With another splash fruit fused to an arrow, you take aim. Your legs wobble and your knees threaten to buckle, fire coursing through your veins as you straighten your arms. You had to make this shot. Your heart pounds in your chest, brow furrowing as you watch the monster approach the prince.

You shoot. You could almost cry from the relief you felt when the shark cried out, halting in its tracks. Sidon then takes the lead, using his own water-based attack to pull the creature out of its shark disguise. Once again left tiny and defenseless, it attempts to run around to avoid the prince’s attacks.

It hops from one pool of sludge to another, before making the unfortunate decision of landing within your reach. You give it a nasty glare before stepping forward and sticking your sword right into its side. The monster, which up close you can see slightly resembles an Octorok, pitifully cries out. As pathetic as its body is, so is its death, it wriggles and writhes on the floor as its body starts to deflate.

Then, in a puff of air, it’s gone.

Your shoulders sag as you stumble backward, taking in a haggard breath as you look around. Slowly, but thankfully, all of the sludge begins to fade away. Every puddle, pile, and stain fades into the air. Even the muck that had landed on you in the battle disappears, and the stinging pain goes along with it.

With the adrenaline gone you practically collapse into a heap on the floor, crumpling to your knees. You lean on your hand, blinking rapidly as the fatigue washes over you once again. As the exhaustion returns so do all of the emotions 

You hear the padding of footsteps as the prince walks over to you. Your vision fills with red as he kneels before you once more. You feel a gentle hand atop the back of your head. He whispers your name.

“... I didn’t mean it.” you mumble, throat tight as you speak.

Sidon is silent for a moment and you fear his rejection. But instead, he moves to hold your chin, slowly lifting your head so that you look up at him instead. His eyes, gold and bright with the light of the sun, reflect your own sadness.

“I didn’t mean any of it,” you continue, tears finally sliding down your cheeks, “I don’t want to be a stranger to you. I want to be reminded of you, always, I think about you all the time. I want to be with you. I… I lo…”

He inhales sharply.

“I love you,” you choke out, voice cracking as you do so, “I love you so much it hurts-”

He pulls you into a tight hug, his arms wrapped securely around you as he pulls you against him. Your face is wet with tears that stain his scales but he seems not to care. You can hear his heartbeat and you can feel the way he shudders as he holds you. He breathes shakily as he presses a kiss to your temple.

“I love you too,” he whispers, rubbing soothing circles into your back, “and I am so sorry. For everything.”

You sob. For the first time since the engagement announcement, you let yourself fully relax into him. You don’t pull back, you don’t hesitate, you don’t flinch. You let him hold you. It was all you wanted.

And you were no fool, you knew you couldn’t have this forever. You still had to return to the domain, return him to his father and the council and his fiance. But, you had him for right now.

You would let yourself be held by him while you still could.

~~~ <> ~~~

hi y'all !!

i wrote a uhhh saucy lil sidon/reader/bazz smut oneshot over on my AO3 :) it's called invitation and i had a lot of fun writing it (it has nothing to do with this story, totally separate timeline)

Link to that fic

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[mulletpermsicantlookaway]

The Last Cupbearer, Part 7: James Talks with the Coach

For Part 6, click here: https://www.tumblr.com/mulletpermsicantlookaway/779342447470886912/the-last-cupbearer-part-6-the-chess-team-needs

Part 7: James Talks with the Coach

Bros, James wrote down what he remembered from his meeting with Coach Sanders the way he said he would. He gave it to me later, and I’m gonna put it here in my story so you all know what happened. It’s kind of twisted, if you ask me, but James never lies, so I don’t think he just made it all up.

“It’s amazing what you and Chase and Dev have done with the chess team,” Coach Sanders said. “You’ve taught them to work together like an athletic team without being jocks, and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.”

“Thanks, Coach,” James said, “they’ve really come together. The only problem is their team captain, Robert. The team came to the three of us, and…”

“And what?”

“Well, they asked us if we could turn Robert into a jock.”

“Interesting,” said the coach. “What’d you tell them?”

“That it was a huge thing to ask and that we’d talk to the coaches about it. I’m keeping my promise, but I’ve got to say, Coach, that I’m really uncomfortable with the idea of turning nerds into jocks against their will."

“James, son,” Coach Sanders sighed, “I understand why you’d feel the way you do, but what you just said shows a complete misunderstanding of the process. I’m going to speak frankly. You’re a smart young man; you know a lot, but there’s a lot that you don’t know, either. Whatever it might have looked like, we never, ever just came up with a random list of nerds and geeks that we wanted to force into being jocks. For a young man to get on that list, he had to have both the potential and the desire to be on it. Now, I’m not saying that the desire was always conscious. Part of what happens in the process is that it frees you up to be who you really want to be, even if you haven’t admitted it to yourself. It should be obvious to you by now that I know a lot about psychology. Your opinion is colored by your personal experience, but you were a unique case. You had a very hard adjustment. I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional, and I’m going to explain how it happened.”

“Coach, I don’t follow. Are you trying to tell me that I subconsciously wanted to become a jock?”

“You? No. As I said, you were a unique case. To get to what happened to you, we have to talk about your friend Tyler,” the coach continued. “Tyler wanted more than anything in the world to date a cheerleader. That desire consumed him so much it was palpable. That’s how he came to our attention. But Tyler had a big problem: in order for a young man like him to date a girl like Brittney, he was going to have to become the kind of young man that could date a girl like Brittney. That was what he really wanted to be, and that’s what we helped him to become.”

“And Tyler was perfectly happy. The only problem, son,” the coach continued, “was you. You wouldn’t leave him alone. You provoked him; he got angry, and then he went off plan and put a Cup on you. You were not on the list, as Tyler told you, but Tyler didn’t understand what that meant. We weren’t ready for you. We knew what Tyler wanted; we had no idea what you wanted. As Derek told you, Tyler had messed up, and someone had to be punished. Maybe you thought Derek meant Tyler, but the person who was being punished, unintentionally, was you. Once the process started in you, there was no way to stop it. I know you wanted the Cup off early. You have to trust me when I tell you that doing so would have made things worse. You had to complete the process. But to make you fulfilled, like Tyler, we had to figure out who you were and what was driving you. So, what did you want? You wanted to find out what had happened to Tyler. You wanted to keep up with him, too, because despite your friendship you had always been rivals, whether you had realized that or not. And having been picked on – mostly by jocks – often in your life, you wanted to be big, strong, and intimidating, so that no one could pick on you ever again. Those were the desires, conscious and unconscious, that dictated the path of your development. You had the potential, both mentally and physically, to be an amazing football player – with our help. But it was a rough road for you. You are an unusually intelligent young man. You were very aware of – and very resistant to – what was happening to you. But now you know what drove you to become the young man you are now, the young man you were destined to be. You’ve developed into a remarkable person; I want you to know that. I know the transition wasn’t easy, but nothing worthwhile in life is ever easy.”

“Coach,” James said, ‘I’m not usually at a loss for words, but – what you’ve told me is a huge load to take in. Talk about ironic: I’m trying to save Tyler, and then he…well, never mind, Coach. It doesn’t matter. I’m happy with the life I have now, but I can’t just deny the suffering I went through. Hell, Coach, I even tried to kill myself at one point.”

“I know, son. Sometimes getting what you really want can be terrifying. Even Tyler found the process overwhelming when the changes he needed to make started to take hold. I don’t know if he ever told you anything. But the Cup doesn’t allow you to harm yourself.”

“As I found out. I’m glad I didn’t succeed, Coach, but yeah, that was hard. Very hard. If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about – that – anymore. But since you’re being so frank with me, Coach, I wondered if I could get a few more answers. First, back to Tyler: am I just imagining it, or has he been getting dumber?”

“Not getting, son, got. I’ll explain. As part of the mental conditioning, the intelligence gets – fuzzed – somewhat. It’s temporary, or it’s supposed to be, but it eases the adjustment. Whether it becomes more permanent is up to the individual. In someone as smart as you are, it barely made a dent, and you quickly recovered. In Tyler’s case, well, Tyler wasn’t as smart as you to begin with, and his girlfriend Brittney – she’s a very nice girl, but there’s not a lot of there there, if you know what I mean. Dating a girl like her doesn’t give Tyler a lot of incentive to exercise his brain the way he exercises his muscles. The mind adapts to the body. He’s become happy with being, to use ugly stereotypes, a meathead jock dating an airhead cheerleader. That’s what he wanted, and he’s happy. He doesn’t feel he’s missing anything by being a little dense. Derek, on the other hand, did feel something missing in his life and sought it out. He’s gotten a lot sharper since he started dating your friend Becky. Derek’s problem was a little different. When a young man resists coming to us when it’s time for the Cup to be removed, as Derek did, the drop in intelligence can be more severe. That happened with Ben, too. That’s why we were trying to pressure him through his friends. I have good hopes at this point that Derek will recover everything he lost. Ben should, too, if he wants to, especially dating someone as smart as Devin. But it depends on the individual. Some young men come to find that their intelligence was a burden they prefer to live without, and having tried dumb on, so to speak, they prefer to stay that way.”

“I get it. It’d be easier in some ways. Believe me, I know. But I just can’t imagine Derek not being a jock, Coach. I assumed he’d always been one.”

“He was quite different before, a lot like you, in fact, but no one remembers that now, least of all Derek. He originally came to us desperate for help in becoming the football player he wanted to be. And we helped him. He was the first, you know. That’s why the coaches have always kept a special eye on him.”

“Well, Derek’s a good bro, and as for Tyler, well, it’s his life. He’s happy. Who am I to say he’s missing something?  Even I can barely remember what he was like before. Everyone assumes now that he’s always been a jock, like Derek. Or like me, for that matter. But what about Jeremy and Chase, and Steve? What can you tell me about them?”

“Let’s start with Steve. He’s achieved amazing results. What Steve wanted most was his father’s approval – and yours. It was no accident that you were the one asked to put the Cup on him. That worked out well for him and you. Whatever else was going to happen, your relationship with Tyler had to change. I assume you realize you had a crush on Tyler? With him being straight, you two wouldn’t have been able to go on the way things had been. Even if you’d both stayed nerds, your friendship was in danger.”

“What, so you set me up with Steve and made us fall in love?”

The coach laughed: “Oh no, James. No one can make anyone fall in love. You’ve been listening to me, son, but you haven’t quite heard everything I’ve been trying to tell you: no one can make you do anything completely against your will. We can bring out your potential, but we can’t force you to be anything you don’t really want to be. Steve liked you, sure. We just put him in your way and let nature take its course, like Jeremy and Chase. Of course, those two were already in love with each other. They just hadn’t realized it yet. Jeremy now, he’s turned out extremely well, but it was tricky. We’d never had a case like his before. But once we figured out how to help Jeremy, it was easier to figure out the pattern for Chase and eventually for Devin. I’ve got to say, son, that even though it did make a lot of work for me and Coach Halvorson, I’m glad you brought Jeremy to us. He’s a fine young man, and one of my favorites. He has real potential as a basketball player, too, maybe even professionally. He’s not the sharpest tool in the box, of course.  Chase, on the other hand, is nearly as bright as you, but he likes to play the dumb jock because – unlike you – the last thing he wanted to be was intimidating. Chase just wanted to like people and be liked. As for little Devin, who’s not so little now, Devin wanted to be what he thought of as cool. He also needed his father’s approval, and he wanted to be free of his mother’s over-protectiveness. He was terrified of the jocks, particularly of you, but he secretly admired you and wanted to be like you. Devin’s a very happy guy now. But even I was surprised by how – liberated – his personality became once we freed him up. Even for a jock, he’s got a foul mouth.”

“Dev is a character, all right, but we all love him. And Jeremy’s – conversion – was a complete accident, Coach; Steve and I had no idea that could happen.”

“I know.” Coach Sanders sighed again. “James, son, I know being a smart jock can be kind of a curse, but I think you’re wise enough to handle it. Not everyone can. I know it’s been tough. I should have talked to you earlier. I just held off for fear of making things worse. Our old football coach held me back, too. A brilliant man, but he had his flaws. For such a visionary, he was unfortunately completely old school about one issue: he really couldn’t handle gay jocks. I was dealing with that when I should have been paying more attention to your adjustment. Coach Halvorson and I finally had to ask him to leave, and then we had to find a new football coach. So now Halvorson and I are the only ones in the athletic department who know about the old coach’s program. But I’m getting off track: none of that was your concern. You were our student, and we were the teachers: you should have been our priority regardless. I just wanted to let you know that Coach Halvorson and I both felt that we hadn’t quite done right by you, and we’re sorry for that. He assures me you’ve turned into a very fine wrestler.”

“Thanks, Coach. Really, I don’t think either of you need to apologize for anything. Yeah, things could have been smoother, but I’m who I need to be now. And I’m not blind to the fact that you’re taking a huge risk confiding in me.”

“I know enough of your character now, son, to know that I can trust you. But maybe I’m not taking as much of a risk as you think. There was one other thing I wanted to tell you. You are very close to the phase of your development that we call total integration. Your friend Tyler is already there. You remember that I said the mind adapts to the body. Your memories are part of that, too. Has Tyler, by any chance, talked about things you two used to do when you were younger?”

“I think I know what you’re driving at, Coach. Yeah, he was going on about the two of us playing football when we were kids. It shocked me at first, but I didn’t try to correct him, because I could tell he believed it. What bothered me more, Coach, is that I started remembering the same things he did, you know, as soon as he started talking about it, even though I know it didn’t really happen that way. And that’s when I realized that Tyler didn’t remember that we used to be different.”

“And when you believe it, like Tyler, you'll find everyone else will, too. You’re very close now, son. Very close. You and Steve, and then Jeremy and Chase. And Dev and Ben will get there later, of course.”

“And then none of us will remember being anything but jocks, just like Ty-boy. I suspected as much, Coach. Honestly, I suppose I should be scared, or angry, or something, but I’m not. I’m too far along now to feel anything but relief. I’ll finally be whole again. That’s how I feel. Coach, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t handle being a nerd again now. I’ve been a jock too long. I love playing football. And wrestling. I like working out, hanging out with my bros, and watching sports. And I really love being a big guy.”

“That’s good to hear, son. There’s nothing that means more to a coach and a teacher than helping a student reach his potential.”

“It’s kind of like the Borg, you know, Coach, on Star Trek? Once they’ve been assimilated, after a while you can’t remove their implants or they die. And I think I’d die if I had to be a nerd again.”

The coach chuckled, “And yet you just nerded out, son. At least, I think that’s what I think your peers call it.”

“No shit, Coach! Sorry about the language, but you’re right! I totally nerded out. That’s funny. I didn’t know I still could.”

“James, son, look at it this way: you’ve been a jock so long now that you no longer feel threatened by things that you might think of as nerdy. No one’s really one hundred percent one thing or the other, you know. That’s not the way people work. The fact that you could let yourself nerd out a bit is just another sign that you’re very close to completing your development.”

“All the same, Coach, I’ll try to keep that to a minimum, at least in front of my bros. Holy shit. What would Tyler say? Sorry, Coach. Anyway, I almost forgot what I wanted to talk to you about in the first place: what should we do about Robert?”

“The whole team really wants him to be a jock?”

“Yes.”

“Then I think it will work. He can’t be happy with himself, or he wouldn’t be acting the way he is. That’s why we helped Ben, you know. It wasn’t some juvenile act of revenge because he’d been mean to Jeremy, whatever it may have looked like. Ben was unhappy. His being mean to Jeremy is what brought his needs to our attention. But if we put a Cup on Robert, well, it’s the last Cup that we have, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to acquire any more. And while I may have found another solution, it’s too early to tell yet how well it will work. I realize there’s the alternate method that gave us Jeremy, Chase, and Devin. That’s worked amazingly well so far, but it won’t work forever. As you young men finish growing, you’ll stop being contagious to non-jocks. But that’s a longer-term problem. For right now, if we’re going to use a Cup on Robert, we need to think about who should put it on him. It should be one of the people on his team. You and Steve and Chase and Dev can think it over and tell me who it should be. Meanwhile, if you want to take the Cup now, I’ll trust you to take care of it.”

“Why does it matter who puts it on, Coach?”

“It’s not required; it’ll still work, but it works more effectively if there’s a personal connection between the giver and the receiver.  Also, the person wearing the Cup can only talk about it to the person who put it on him.”

“And then he just handed the thing to me,” James said to me. “I never thought I’d see a Cup again, and here I was, holding the last one in my hand. I’ve got to tell you, part of me was really tempted to smash it, if that’s even possible, but I reminded myself that we were doing it for Robert and the whole team. So I took it, and I brought it with me so that we all could decide what to do.”

To be continued

https://www.tumblr.com/mulletpermsicantlookaway/779614260763525120/the-last-cupbearer-part-8-robert-and-eric

[the-bi-space-ace]

Is There An Echo In Here?

No. There isn’t.

Alright. Here’s the thing. Echo is my favorite character so I’m going to want to see him all the time but I can still understand his absence even when I miss him. His absence in season 2 hurt me but it made total sense. He needed to go. I love him for doing what he needs to and not giving up what he values. It’s part of why I love him.

What I can’t understand is what happened in episodes 6&7 of season 3.

I’ve been fairly positive in my outward opinions for the most part. I rarely loudly complain. I rarely throw in the towel but I do still have opinions that aren’t positive and that’s okay.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of episodes 1-4. Not in the way that I didn’t like them bc I did. They had moments that I really really liked and I genuinely had a good time watching them. But they didn’t wow me. Tbh they don’t have to for me to enjoy them. They just have to be fun in my book. There’s no problem in having fun and not being wowed by every episode. I think that’s just how it goes. You can’t please everyone and I never expect to be happy about everything. It’s part of why I’ve kept my love of this show for so long.

I don’t have high expectations going in so I am rarely ever totally dissatisfied.

This is the exception.

I was absolutely thrilled with episode 5. Finally Echo is back. The Crosshair content was top tier. There’s jokes. There’s heart. It’s fun. It’s exciting. Loved it. It’s everything I want out of the show. They’re together. They have really heart wrenching moments right up against heart warming ones. It’s perfect. I was feeling pretty positive about moving forward.

Then 6&7 happened and I think I lost a huge chunk of hope for this show where Echo is concerned.

I still liked the episodes! I think the episodes were really really good. I love Rex. Crosshair really shined again so my heart rejoiced. There’s intrigue there’s excitement there’s plot. I skew more towards character growth and plot focus than anything else so a lot of my boxes are getting checked here.

Except for one very large thing that made me unhappy.

I’m not counting Echo’s two appearances in these episodes as him being there. Seeing his face and him saying one line really…. Doesn’t count. Not in my book. So far out of 7 episodes he’s really only been in one. I’m almost convinced the writers have forgotten he’s a main character with the way they’re treating him.

The first four episodes were very focused on the different characters and what they’re doing and how things are going. I love these types of episodes. I do this in fics when I want development to have a lot of focus! Split them up! Follow them around! Put them in different pairs and watch them grow! I love that! So… why didn’t we get an episode like that with Echo? Since we’re showing them all split up where was Echo’s episode to focus on what him and Rex were doing? The show followed Crosshair and Omega three times. It followed Hunter and Wrecker. Why would there not be an episode following Echo? Or at least having him meet up with Hunter and Wrecker and following those three for an episode.

When we finally got Echo back my heart literally rejoiced. Episode 5 was the first episode that got me excited about where this season was going.

And then, yes! We’re going to see Rex. We’re going to see what’s up with the clone network and Echo *checks notes* has carpool duty???? Are you serious? These two episodes were possibly the best ones to have him around and he’s just… not? Why? So he can pick them up at the end of it?

It doesn’t make sense to me.

At this point it truly seems like this show is just sidelining him because they don’t feel like writing him. Is this how the rest of the season goes? Is he not with the batch for the majority of it? Are we going to have two maybe three episodes that he appears in at all?

It hurts. It hurts because it’s starting to feel purposeful and not even in a good ol’ he’s got something good coming in the plot kind of way.

If we get some good Echo focus in the later episodes then fantastic! Maybe this post will be meaningless and I’ll be proven wrong. I’d honestly really love that tbh. I’d love to look back and go: huh. I was so worried for absolutely no reason.

Otherwise if the season continues with how it’s been then I don’t have much hope for my little Echo loving heart.

As always I’ll still write Echo-centric fics and yell about him all day. Hell maybe I’ll write a long post for Echo like I’ve done for Crosshair. Give him some extra love and attention in these trying times.

As a last note: I love this show. And my criticisms or opinions are never a declaration of hatred for this thing that we all love. I’m simply screaming into the void and hoping people who love Echo as much as I do hear me.