#I know she's absolutely terrified of storms and I just!!! he's gotta

[samandcolbyownme]

Summary: You’re an actress and you get nominated for a big award show so you take Tara and your boyfriend, Zach.

Warnings: SMUT18+, sexual innuendos, strong language, mentions of alcohol, reader drinks, flirting, banter/joking with Zach, Zach being Zach, after party, unprotected sex, quickie, hair pulling, pet names (cute), funny and fluff with a little bit of filth

Reader has a laid back, jokester personality, kinda like Jennifer Lawrence, or even Emma stone maybe?

Word count: 4.6k | not edited

I wasn’t going to add smut into this but then I did, so enjoy!

╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗

Zach has been your boyfriend for almost a year now. Everyone knows you’re together, hell. It was hard to hide it even the first few months.

You are a huge success is the acting industry, you’ve been in every genre of movie and tv show, and everyone absolutely loved you.

“Tara is running a little late.” Zach yells out, his voice growing closer, “Where-“ he groans, “are you?” The bathroom door pushes open and he tilts his head, “I’m going to need to put a bell on you or something.

You’re nervous. In shock. Absolutely terrified out of your mind - The Oscars was a huge deal for you.

You laugh lightly at his joke as you pick up the brush to brush your hair again, Cindie - you’re makeup artists, loves when you have your hair tangle free for her.

“Whoa, pump the breaks.” He walks in, closing the door behind him. He turns you to face him, fingers gently tilting your head up, “You’re nervous.”

You purse your lips and bite down on the inside of your cheek, as you can feel tears welling.

All you do is nod and that was enough for Zach. He wraps his arms around you, sighing out, “How many time so I gotta tell you, baby. You’re dating Zach justice and we never lose.”

You look up at him, laughing as you shake your head, “I’m so glad I have you.”

And you really were. Zach was your calm in the storm of the bad days with being so popular. All the flying, the not really having time to eat. Hell, you can barely get a minute alone to yourself most days.

Zach understands that, so he tries to give you your space when you’re home, but you never wanted to be alone when he was around.

“I get that a lot, but thank you. It’s an honor to called yours, m’lady.” He pretends to lift an invisible hat toward you and you smirk.

Zach knew just how to make you laugh. He loved hearing your laugh, he also loved to see how bad he could embarrass you. Once you guys got comfortable and cozy around each other - which was super fast.

You and Zach clicked instantly, like, you both knew you and him were endgame.

You both loved to roast each other, that’s mainly how you flirt, but, Zach does have his sweet and sensitive side when it comes to you. He knows when it’s okay to push and when it’s not.

One time when you were out shopping, there were people around and you weren’t really paying attention.

You were more or less focusing on whether or not this top was in your size. You feel a hand on your back and Zach leans in, “I’m going to go look at the shoes.”

You look up at him with a smile, “Okay. I’m almost done over here so I’ll find you.” He nods once, “Gimme a kiss.”

You stand on your tip toes and press your lips to his. In quick second, Zach steps back, his voice loud enough to draw attention of the people close by, “don’t kiss me, you’re my sister.”

Your smile drops and you freeze, quickly coming to terms with what just happened as you look over to a small group of people staring, “Zach!”

You run after him, clinging to his arm as you laugh, “You’re such a fucking asshole.” He laughs, “You love me.”

“I do.”

You hear the front door open and Zach closes his eyes, “Who gave her a key?”

“The Glam Wagon isn’t here yet?” Tara yells as she walks up the steps, “Hello?” There’s a knock on the door, “Y/n?”

“Go away we’re having the thing you do when you know, you take your pants off and smash genitals together.” Zach explain and you laugh, “Oh my g- Tara you can come in.”

The door opens and Zach is standing infront of it so Tara hits him again, “Move you jerk.” She comes in and looks at you, “What’s wrong?”

Zach looks at you and you sigh, “I’m nervous.”

Tara nods, “I would be, too. I mean, I’m nervous just going as your guest.” She lays a hand on her chest then motions to you as she shakes her head, “I honestly cannot imagine what you’re feeling.”

You nod and laugh slightly, “Oh fuck, this is actually happening.” You rest your forehead on Zach’s chest and he pats your back, “What did I tell you?” He pokes you, “Hey.”

You stand up, looking up at him as you monotone-ly repeat his catchphrase back to him while you fight a smirk, “I’m saying Zach justice, and we don’t lose.”

You mainly said it to get Tara’s reaction. She stares at Zach for a few seconds before letting oit a laugh, “no, there’s no way you say that to her.”

“Um, yeah?” Zach scoffs, “Why wouldn’t I tell her that?”

“Glam Wagon is here!” Cindie yells out from downstairs and you look at Tara, “Time to get pretty.”

You all file out of the bathroom and go downstairs, greeting Cindie and her crew, “Hey, Cindie. How are you?”

She smiles and nods, “I’m great, now..” she stops, pursing her lips as her eyes move to Zach, “Zach, sweetie..”

Zach looks up at her, “What’s up, Cin?” She laughs slightly, “Please tell me that you’re not wearing that.”

“Hey.” Zach holds his hand up, “Don’t hate me because you ain’t me, alright.” He tries not to laugh and you bite down on your lip so you don’t laugh, “Um.” You clear your throat, “I have a stylist coming for him, Cindie. Don’t worry.”

She nods and smiles as she looks away, “Alright, what are we doing for you ladies this afternoon.”

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

You see Zach’s eyes brighten at the sight of the final look on your face and hair. He swallows and nods, “You.. look like.. I need to.. excuse myself to the bathroom for a quick second.”

You roll your eyes, smiling at his hidden compliment, “Thank you, baby.” He winks at you and you spin over to look at Tara, “That lip color is your shade.”

She looks over at you and raises her brows, “Really?” Her voice goes higher as she bounces her legs on the metal bar of the hair chair, “Eeeee. I’m so excited to see it.”

“It looks incredible.” You turn to Zach, “can you grab that dress bag please?”

He stands up, “This one?” He points and you nod. He grabs it off the rack and goes do lay it over his arm but everyone in the room freaks out in unison, “Don’t lay it on your arm?”

Zach rips it up straight and jumps, “Oh my god that was scary!”

You all laugh and Zach makes sure to dramatically hold the dress out from him as he follows you to your bedroom to change.

“You can hang it up on here and then unzip it.” You point to a hook and start to undress. You didn’t need a bra for this so you slipped off the one you had on.

Zach turns around he’s like a teenager finding out what books are, gawking at them like this is the first time he’s ever seen yours, his eyes flick up to yours and he smirks.

“Don’t look at me like that.” You warn as you walk over to pull your dress out, “We don’t have time for you to look at me like that.” You laugh as you gently lay the dress down and step into it.

You pull the fabric up over your thighs and Zach is just in awe of this whole situation, “I, um. I was just admiring how good you happen to look without clothes on.”

He loved your body in every single way and there was nothing that could change his mind. He was proud to be yours, but he was even prouder that you were his.

“Can you zip me up, please?” You look at him over your shoulder and give him a small smile. He nods, “I can do a lot more than that if you want.”

He chuckles as you roll your eyes laughing, reaching forward and grabbing the small oval shaped zipper.

He places a hand on your hip as he drags it upward. You walk over to the mirror once you have it on and give yourself a look over, “This dress is-“ you scoff, “I’m in love.”

“Whoa, whoa, settle down now, let’s remember who’s actually able to love you in ways that you really like.”

Zach smirks at you and you nod, pointing to him, “You’re right.”

He walks over to you, arms sliding around your waist, “You look beautiful.” His eyes lock on to yours in the mirror, “Everyone loves you. I love you.”

He presses a gentle kiss to your neck, “You’re coming home with an award.” He presses another kiss, “We’re going to celebrate with everybody.” He kisses your neck once more, then looks up at you, “Then I’m going to bring you back here and I’m going to do whatever you want me to do.”

An excited shiver goes down your spine, Zach really can sweep you off of your feet.

Tara pushes the door open, “Zach get out. I need to change.”

Zach laughs slightly, “No, y/n. That’s why I wont lay on the sunroof of your car and allow you to act like a hamster.”

Your eyes go wide and you laugh, snapping your head to Tara. She’s giving you both a funny look, “Excuse the fuck out of me, but what are you trying to fucking do?”

Zach laughs and walks out, closing the door behind him. You sit down on the bed, “He was just fucking with me. Trying to embarrass me.”

Tara laughs as ahe changes into her dress with feathers at the top hem, “I figured. You guys are always roasting each other.”

She turns and backs up so you can zip up her dress, “And I think that’s so funny because, like now.” She turns around to face you and she laughs, “You know things we don’t, and it’s just, so funny.”

You laugh and nod, “Right, before you came in, he was giving me this speech about how he’s proud of me, how he loves me and everyone loves me.” You smile, “He’s such a sweetheart.”

Tara walks over to grab your guys heels, “When Zach told me that you messages him. I’m not gonna lie.” She sits down on the bed next to you and hands you your heels, “I was kind of shocked.”

You laugh and lean down to put your shoes on, “Really?”

She nods, “I mean, it wasn’t until after I seen your movies that I understood why Zach was so crazy about you. You guys literally have that click. And it’s so nice to see someone treat Zach the way he deserves.”

You purse your lips, “Girl, I’m gonna cry. You can’t give me this speech now. I’m already a nervous wreck.”

Tara pouts and laughs, “Noooo. Don’t cry.” She moves over to hug you, “I’m sorry, I meant it as a good thing.”

You laugh, “I know, but it doesn’t matter.”

She laughs and stands up, “Come on. We are going to go take a shot or two before we go. I’m sure Zach is already ready, his stylist was here when I came up.”

“Alright.” You take a deep breath, grabbing your bag before you nod, “Let’s go win an award.” You look at Tara and she nods, “That’s the spirit.”

You walk down the steps and you hear a sharp ‘Eeeooww’. You look directly at Zach and he smirks, “Lookin’ good, ladies. Lookin’ good.”

You smirk and look around at the Glam Wagon - you have them that nickname after hiring Cindie. She absolutely loved the nickname, so it stuck.

“Oh. My girls.” Cindie presses her hands together and sighs, “You both look absolutely stunning!” You walk down and you both spin for her, “Y/n. That taupe color looks so good with Zach’s suit.”

You look at Zach who moves to stand next to you, his arm falling around your waist. Tara nods, “You guys look so good. I’m so glad you picked me to third wheel.”

You laugh and shrug, “Couldn’t have picked anyone better.” You hear a beep and you point, “Car is here. Let’s go.”

“Oh wait!” Tara says pulling you into the kitchen. She quickly grabs two shot glasses and puts a shot of tequila in both, “We don’t have time for vodka. Here do you bitch.”

You both laugh as you grab the shot glasses and tap them off the counter before taking them. You both cringe, groaning as you set them down.

In a harsh whisper while pointing to the door, “Let’s go.” You run to the car, giggling as you hold on to Tara’s hand.

“Oh what did you make her do, Tara?” Zach asks as he watches you get in, smiling wide. Tara gets in next to you and you laugh, “We may or may not have-“

“Took a shot of tequila?” Zach cuts you off with a laugh and you nod, “Oh god, is if that bad?”

“I think I did, too by the way the smell violated my sinuses.” Zach laughs and points to your bag, “I put a pack of gum in there for you.”

Tara leans forward and Zach looks at her, “Don’t even.”

Tara sits back, laughing as she takes a piece of gum from you. You hand one of Zach and he takes it, “Why thank you, I’d love a piece.”

“You’re ridiculous.” You laugh as you bite down on the small stick of gum, “But I love you.” You look over at him and he smirks, “I know you do. I love you.”

He pecks your lips and Tara yells, “Selfie!”

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

The ride to the venue was full of all of you yapping, talking about your speech, laughter. Your nerves were definitely calmed.

That was until the car stops and you see someone walking towards Tara’s door, “Oh fuck.” Zach squeezes your hand, “You got this baby, Tara and I are right here with you.”

You take a deep breath, “Okay.” Tara opens the door and starts to get out while Zach gets out his did and walks around to meet you. He holds his hand out, allowing you to take it as you get out of the car.

He makes sure you don’t flash anyone with your low hanging neck line and the high splitting v in your dress, “You ready?” He whispers and you look up at him with a smile, “I’m ready.”

You take his hand into yours and you start to walk down the carpet, stopping for pictures of just you, lots with Zach of course, you and Tara, and then finally some got shots with all three of you.

You looked up at Zach, smiling wide as his hand nestled securely on the small of your back.

“Stay right there, y/n.” “Don’t move!” “That’s absolutely perfect, yes!”

You laugh slightly as you hold your stare on Zach, “Kiss me.” You mouth and he licks his lips before he leans in, dipping you down as he closes the space.

Tara is cheering loudly which makes you smile within the kiss and Zach stands you up, “They are eating this up like thanksgiving dinner.” He kisses your head, “What did I tell you?”

You laugh slightly as you walk with him into the venue, “They love me.”

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

The next hour went by so slow, but you were still having a good time. Talking to other celebrities, introducing them to Zach and Tara.

You and Zach subtle taking jabs at each other, “I mean, I guess I had nothing to do.” Zach rolls his eyes with a laugh.

“Don’t mind him, he doesn’t have fun in his vocabulary.” You laugh and Emma laughs, “That’s okay. Neither does my husband. It was so good to see you again.” Emma leans in and hugs you, “Good luck tonight.”

“Hey, you too!” You smile and sit back down. Tara wraps her hand around your wrist, “That.. was Emma Stone.”

You nod, “I’m nominated in the same category as her,” you tilt your head, “Along with Jessica Chastain, Sandra Bullock, Shailene Woodley, and Natalie Portman.”

Her eyes widen and the lights go down, “Oh, oh. Here we go.” Your hand slides down find Zach’s. The nerves were setting in again.

He gives your hand a tight squeeze, nodding at you when you look over at him. You smile and lean back into your seat, hand still in his as you listen to the host start the show.

About an hour later - it’s your category.

The crowd applauses as Julia Roberts walks out onto stage. You take your hands from Zach and Tara and brush them over your thighs, trying to keep your heart from racing any faster.

“You’re okay.” Tara says quietly, “We got this, okay.”

You nod and look up, getting ready to smile because you know the cameras will be on you when she says your name.

“Y/n y/l/n for her role in The Strangers: Chapter One.”

You smile waving shyly to the camera and the two other nominees are announced. You return your hands to Zach and Tara’s and you’d think they were just as nervous as you were.

“The Oscar for the Actress In A Leading Role goes to..” the envelope opens, “Y/n Y/l/n.”

Everyone erupts in cheering and clapping. Zach pulls you to your feet and you look at him, “You won, baby. You frickin’ won!”

“Go, go, go!” Tara pushes you forward and you make your way to the stage, still in absolute shock. You get up and hug Julia, “Oh my gosh, hi. Thank you.”

You turn, taking the award from the gentleman on the stage, “Oh my g- thank you.” You walk over do the mic and let out a sigh, “Oh my gosh, wow. Thank you, all so much. Especially to the ones who voted for me, you’re why I do it. I love you so so so much.”

You laugh slightly, “I also wanted to give a quick little shoutout to the dress.” You pause and the audience erupts with yells and clapping, “Shout out Marchesa, and also, shout out to my boyfriend, Zach Justice who’s gonna be taking it off of me later. Thank you.”

You laugh as you wave, leave the stage with Julia. She wraps her arm around you, congratulating you once more before you make your way backstage to where a shit ton of people were waiting, ready to snap as many pictures as they can while you hold your eight and a half pound trophy.

You felt like you were on top of the world, after all. You are one of be youngest actresses to win an Oscar, you’re just good at what you do.

After a while of answering all the questions in the world, you’re ushered to where the crew brought Zach and Tara.

You walk through the door and as soon as Tara locks eyes with you, her mouth drops. You walk over and sit down between them on the couch, looking at them innocently, “What?”

“You did not just say that.” Tara leans in laughing, “y/n.” Zach looks over at you, “Oh, yeah. She did. On worldwide television.”

You lean in towards Zach, “Remember how I told you I was going to get you back for calling me your sister in front of all those people and then twitter blew up about it?”

Zach sighs before letting a laugh slip out, “You really one upped me this time.”

You laugh, “Do you still like me?”

Zach gives you a funny look, “Once my embarrassment subsides, this will be the funniest thing ever.”

“It already is the funniest thing ever. Zach.” Tara laughs, taking the trophy from your hand, “You have definitely met your match with this one.”

You laugh and he leans in to press a kiss to your lips, “I gotta start studying more. I can’t have a girlfriend who’s funnier than me.”

“Zach, this girl just won an Oscar. I don’t think you get to decide who the funnier one is.” Tara leans forward, laughing at Zach and he rolls his eyes, smiling at you, “You did win, and I am so proud of you for that, babe.”

He gives your thigh a squeeze and you were sure if it was the alcohol you drank with Tara, Zach just looking hot as fuck in his designed suit, or the post winning adrenaline - but you did know, you weren’t going to be able to handle not having your hands on him for much longer.

The door opens and a guy with a headset on comes in, “Y/n. If you’d like, since there isn’t a whole lot of time yet for the show, would you want to just head straight over to the Official After Party?”

You look between Zach and Tara, “We will need to stop back at the house so we can change, if that’s okay.”

The guy nods, “That’s more than okay. I’ll send a car for you.”

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

Once back the house, you’ve barely made it into the beddoor before Zach has your zipper going down your back.

You let out a laugh, “Can we at least get into the room first?” You hear a huff as you walk in, and Zach pulls you back into him as he kicks the door shut, “I just wanna show my girl how proud I am of her, okay?”

He spins you around, arms on your biceps, “Now, please, get that cockblock of a dress off your body.”

Your eyebrows raise and you nod, slipping the straps from your shoulders letting them fall down your arms, your dress pooling at your feet.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” His hands move to your waist as he backs you up to the bed. You move up to lay towards the top, watching him undress.

Zach looks at you and he smirks as he unbuttons his shirt. You bite your lip and nod, “Oh yeah, nice and slow, baby.”

Zach lets out a laugh as he shrugs his shirt off, but he secretly loves when you talk dirty to him.

Your eyes follow his hands, undoing his belt, then his pants. He quickly gets them off and is crawling up the bed towards you.

He plants little kisses along your body as he travels up, making his way to your neck. You tilt your head back, hands running up his bare chest, “Zach, baby please.”

You let out a whimper as he sucks a small mark into your skin, kissing up your neck and down your jaw to your lips.

You slide a hand down to the waistband of his boxers, slipping your fingers in to run them over the head of his leaky cock, “Need you.” You whimper out quietly, “Please.”

Zach sits up on his knees, pushing his boxers down as his eyes trail down your body. He watches you take your panties off, tossing them aside before you spread your legs.

His body moves to hover over yours and you feel the head of his cock pressing against your clit. You whimper, rolling your hips as you slide a hand up his arm.

Zach’s hand slides down to your hip as he pushes to slide in, a gasp leaving his lips as your chest squishes against his as you breathe out a quiet, “Fuuuck.”

Your legs immediately move to wrap tightly around his hips, arms doing the same to his neck as his thrusts grow to a quicker pace.

As much as you wanted to have him do whatever you wanted, there wasn’t much time. So, that’s being saved for a little later.

“Fuck, baby.” Zach groans into your neck, “Feels so good.”

You turn your head, lips meeting his in a sloppy embrace. He brings a hand up to cup your cheek as he pauses his thrusts, “Look at me.”

You look up at him and he rests his forehead against yours, “I am so beyond proud of you.”

You bite down on your lip, “Yeah, telling the world that you were ta-“ Zach cuts you off with a scoff, “Not that, that not.” He laughs slightly, “I’m being serious here, sweetheart.”

You smirk, “sorry.”

He pecks your lips as he starts to slowly thrust into you again, his voice in a low tone, “I’m so proud of you.” He presses a kiss to your forehead, “No one else deserved that award like you do.”

You bite down on your lip, muffling your moans as his words edge you closer.

You didn’t care about the time at this point.

“I love you and I am so proud to call you mine.”

You crash your lips onto hips, squeezing his cock as you whimper out, “M’so close, Zach.” You let out a moan, breathing out, “I love you.”

Your hand moves to his hair, tugging slightly as you arch your back off the bed, “Fuckfuckfuck.” Your nails dig into his skin, moaning louder as you cum around him.

“There ya go.” Zach whispers gently, “Fuck.” He groans into your neck and you feel his thrusts turn rather sloppy, rather quickly.

He pulls out, spilling his cum onto your pelvis with a groan. You cup his cheeks and pulls him into you, kissing him as you swallow his moans with ease.

He leans back, looking down at you with a smirk, “That award winning pussy will do it for me every time.” He winks at you and you feel the heat in your cheeks rising as you let out a laugh, “Get me a towel, please.”

You laugh again as Zach grabs you a towel, “Here ya be. Which dress are you wearing? I’ll get it out.”

You smile at Zach, admiring just how much you loved him, “It is the pink one right there.” You point and he pulled out the dress, holding it up for you to see.

You nod, standing up to go take it from him, “You know we’re leaving early tonight, right?”

Zach nods, watching as you pull the dress up over your ass, “Oh, yeah.” He looks at you when you turn towards him, “Please leave me taking this dress off out of everything, tonight.”

You smirk, walking up to him, “What? You don’t want me to out Zach-“ You raise your brows, “The Zach again?”

He cocks his jaw do the side and sighs, “When you put it that way..” he chuckles as he leans in to kiss you.

Tara bangs on the door while yelling from the other side, “Are you two ready yet? If not wrap it up because we have to go!”

“To be continued?” Zach smirks giving your ass a squeeze, and you nod, looking up at with a smirk, “Of course.”

.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.

Sorry it took an extra day or two, but here it is. I feel like it sucks, but let me know what you think. As always, I love yas! Thank you for being here. 🖤

Likes and reblogs are majorly appreciated!

[peace-for-levi]

{when you need me...}

who would i be if i didn't project my mental health onto 2D characters/reader and not write about it? i see so many fics of reader being worried for nanami while he's out in shibuya and… we all know what happens there.

content warning: detailed descriptions of anxiety, reader refers to themselves as 'wife' (reader thinks they are a bad wife) and the use of 'she'. it's otherwise in the 2nd person perspective. negative self-talk/beliefs. use of pet names. nanami being the bestest husband. i miiiiight have made him OOC and overindulged on how soft i made him BUT ITS OK YOU GOTTA BE A DELULU IN THIS ECONOMY.

+18 discord server

No, you were not going to call him. Absolutely not! Or text him either, for that matter.

The anxiety had been bubbling away all day inside your head like billowing storm clouds. You were grateful work kept you occupied, but once you arrived home, you trudged to your bedroom. You didn't even change out of your work attire.

You knew the source of all this, too.

Nanami came home injured while you were out dealing with another curse of your own. Thankfully, he had dealt with the bleeding himself and got checked out by Shoko. But to see him come so depleted of energy – dark shadows hanging under his eyes like bats, shoulders heavy – left you extremely unsettled. You were already an anxious mess, and now there are talks of a special-grade 'patchwork' curse. Not to mention the two unregistered cursed spirits that Gojo encountered.

What was going on in the world?

Now, he had been called out to the school again. After being badly injured, no less!

What if he was asked to fight the patch-work curse again? Was that curse able to perform Domain Expansions? Your husband never reached that height of jujutsu…

Would he… make it home okay?

You worked a "normal" job, not being employed at as a teacher at the highschool. As a grade one sorcerer, though, you were sometimes called in on particularly difficult and awkward missions. Your figured your problems with anxiety in the past would slowly fizzle away if you quit working at that highschool; after all, they couldn't make you exorcise and hunt down curses as often if you didn't work there. In your naivety, you assumed that'd be the end to your worries. But they only persisted and got worse the longer your husband of four years continued to work there as a teacher.

You couldn't resent him for it, and you knew he found greater fulfillment in being a teacher than adhereing to the laborious life of a salaryman.

But, maybe… your selfish thoughts got the better of you when you wished he could work a more "normal" job like you… If he worked a job where his safety was guaranteed…

How could you say such a thing? What kind of wife says that?!

Your hand collides against your forehead, releasing a (poorly contained) groan. Your teeth continued to chatter.

Now, I'm a bad wife on top of everything else…

Gruesome images flood your mind's eye. It's obsessive, relentless. After all, you have to prepare for the worst to come, right…? That's what you always do.

If you were by his side, would that make you feel any more relieved? Just by seeing him? But like a jolt, any solution you try come up with is met with more disturbing imagery. It was so vivid, it is as if you were there.

All that gore and worry conjured up in your cursed, anxious little head. The redness – so much red – of your imagery. It seeps and spreads along the ground at a terrifying rate, the image of someone – Kento – bleeding out. No one is there to help him.

You are.

You aren't gifted like Shoko, though.

There is no amount of horror – be it from forms of media or the wicked imagination – that can prepare a person for seeing the life ebb from another; the hopelessness, the tearing at the soul that is the departing of the other. As your loved one leaves this earth.

You're anxious, you're spiralling… You just wanted him to be okay. You wanted him to confirm with you he was okay. But you disturb him enough already with your texts and calls during missions.

Of course, in reality, if you hailed for Kento, he'd drop everything to be with you. He always has.

You didn't realize your thumb was hovering above the 'send' button. Through bleary eyes, you can see a hastily constructed text. Loaded with typos and errors. You're hardly able to read it though. Thumbs fidgting, you toss the phone.

You knew, logically, that he would want to help. He always has helped. But god, maybe you wanted to be big girl for once and try deal with it without him? Maybe be a good wife who doesn't send him a barage of texts when she's anxious?

Anxiety is the leak in your boat. You have to find a way to patch that hole or you'll drown.

But how can you when your worries revolve around your husband's safety?

You try cling to the logic that he has never refused you, made you feel stupid or invalidated you. Ever. But why would you cling to logic when the voice of your anxiety echoes through megaphone at you.

Of course, you're a distraction. Of course, you're a nuisance.

You hadn't even done a single chore to help around the house today. Some wife you were…

Kento would tell you that these thoughts you have are ridiculous. But you couldn't help it. You felt like you were holding him back from everything he deserved – you were so blessed to have a husband like him. You counted your lucky stars to be with him, but you ultimately felt like you didn't deserve him.

But Kento wasn't here now. So all you had was your mind to bully you.

The thoughts come as an electrical storm in your brain that, quite honestly, are painful. It's different from a headache and it feels the same as intense sorrow. It's uneven breaths as you claw at your chest, and it feels like you're suffocating; all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room. It's sobbing to the point of staining your shirt. The intense images come at you with cursed intent. Like being hooked up to a cattle fence - not enough voltage to kill but sufficient to keep things uncomfortable, paralysed with fear and unmoving. And you couldn't, for the life of you, talk yourself out of the spiral.

It wasn't as if you didn't want Kento to be there. You were just denying yourself of his presence. You thought you were being brave, you thought—

Ping!

You lower your hands from your eyes. You gaze at the phone, blinking owlishy, before picking it up.

You let out a groan. In anxiously twiddling your thumbs by your screen, you had sent the (questionable-looking) text.

You don't even have time to berate yourself, for your ringtone begins to chime.

"[F/n], honey. I don't quite understand your text," he greets. He goes back to doing what he was doing – it sounded like he was tidying something away. "Principal Yaga has us staying behind at the school to–"

He stops.

He immediately stops upon hearing you whimper over the phone.

"Sweetheart?"

You mumble, "I-I– Um, N-Nanami, I–"

What if he loses his patience today? Will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back?

You can hear him shuffling over the phone. "Talk to me, what is it? Are you hurt?"

You don't want him to leave work on your account. Damn, your thumbs! If only it stayed as an unsent draft.

You panicked. "I-I'm fine! I think I just–"

You hear him sigh. "You're a terrible liar… You're not fine." A pause. "I'm coming home."

"No, Kento, please–!"

The call ends there. Your fingers seize up and your phone falls to the bed. Your wrists bash off your head, hitting yourself. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

Ping!

Be safe. I'll be there in fifteen.

Your heart sinks, especially knowing that he'd probably break several road safety laws to get back to you as soon as possible.

Another notification arrives swiftly after that.

I love you. You'll be fine.

The fifteen minutes drag by so slowly. You're still rooted at the side of your bed. Not having changed, started laundry, started making dinner. You shake your head. It's frightful how automatically you chastise yourself for anything and everything. Once you hear the click of the door, you shudder and cower, waiting for him to come into your shared bedroom to berate you.

Your eyes are clamped shut still, even when you feel his calloused thumb rub at your knee.

"Oh, sweetheart…" he says, and when he speaks it's so soft. Soft like he'd holding fine china.

He's careful to not press your boundaries too much, not wanting to hold you tighter. But he doesn't sense any resistance right now. You let him hold you.

He holds you like you are the most precious and loveliest thing in his world.

(You are.)

As if you weren't crying enough already, his touch makes you crumble more.

"What has you so anxious, [F/n]?" he asks, rubbing your arms up and down. He pulls away briefly to ask, "May I sit?"

You nod and he sets himself down. You overwhelmed by his love. You always have been. He always spoils you with his soft, passionate touch and his gentle words. You sniffle and it takes every ounce of self control to not explode into a heaving, babbling mess (more than what you currently were.) You continue to sob into his arms.

"Shhh, shhh. You're alright, you're going to be just fine, sweetheart. But in order to be okay, you're going to have to stop holding your breath like that."

You hadn't even realized. You always had been an open book to him.

Breathe, breathe, breathe…

Your thoughts were so out of control, you were in a terrible cycle of either hyperventilating, or holding your breath. You shake your head, trying to break free. He doesn't let go entirely, but he loosens his grip. His hands hold yours, breathing deeply, as if trying to do it for you. You continue to resist, fighting his hold more as you take agonizing breaths.

"Let me hold you. Let me make things better. Let me stay."

You sob harder, knowing that once again he'll be picking up the pieces. Your pieces.

"What has you so worked up?" he asks, in between practiced, deep breaths.

Before you even have a chance to say anything, he whispers softly against your temple, "I love you. So, please, let me in."

And you let everything out.

He holds you close again once each and every worry comes out. He rocks you slowly back and forth, he plants the odd kiss to your dewy temple. He listens to you intently, taking in everything you say and more. He has heard these worries countless times before, and he listens to them as if these are being revealed to him for the first time. He gently 'shhhh's against your brow when you start to hiccup and unravel more.

As your husband, he wants to be able to promise you his safert; he wants to promise he'll come home in one piece.

But he can't do that. Because he doesn't know how any of this will play out.

So he hugs you, impossibly tighter.

"What can I do to help? Tell me what I can do to make it all okay…"

You want to be a good wife; you don't share the selfish thoughts you have, of wanting him to work at a normal job again. Even when he hated it, even when it left him feeling so drained.

So you say nothing and you let your little lie spread its wings.

You calm down in his arms, holding you until your limbs feel heavy. He continues to soothe you as best as possible. His voice was so achingly gentle, rubbing circles into your hips. It has your heart shattering into pieces.

Mindlessly, you mumble under your breath. "I just want you to be okay…" you admit.

He averts his gaze helplessly, because knows he can't promise you that. He relaxes and lays down on the bed, taking you with him. You undo the top button of his shirt.

He smiles sadly. It's the one thing he can't promise.

And though he'll never let you know, he feels like he fails in this duties as a husband.

But sometimes, he knows he's at least doing something right when he helps calm you down from such a state that you end up dozing off in his arms. He holds you til his arms limp and heavy.

In this blood-stained, fleeting life, he'll walk with you to the ends of this earth.

Even if he must depart early.

taglist: @levi-my-beloved @licuadora-nasir @nelapanela94 @whattheheckmidoriya @poisonpeche @unadulteratedtreecrusade @notgoodforlife @sckerman @theferricfox @happybird16 @jayteacups and idk who else

[nevertheless-moving]

Stormlight AU 14, where kaladin manages to hold it together oathwise in words of radiance for a few more chapters, just long enough to out himself as radiant right after prison, because of course hes gotta fly and save everyone from bridge sabotage. Immediate cascade effect of radiant reveals.

Angsting over next week after prison. Shardplate and Blade possibly put on hold "too big a decision for him to just accept right away" "I just got out of jail and need some time to think."

People think he's insane but they thought that anyway

moash would be obvious choice - best friend/fighter but he still can't decide about elhokar assassination so the shards are just in very very valuable limbo...can he make it just general bridgemen Shards? No, too much training...

Joins shattered plains expedition as per canon

when the bridge collapses again what's he gonna do? Not save everyone?

Please.

Terrified officers start gently floating back up

Tries to lash shallan but she's already full of stormlight and it doesn't work on her. Moment of shocked, glowing eye contact.

there's a whole bunch of parshendi attacking so no time for kaladin to react to shallan falling or kholins to yell at kaladin

yes no time to deal with Dalinar. Kaladin has to do Very important flying thing. Uh...oh thank the almighty there's another army for him to fly at.

You KNOW bridge four had been storming Training a whole dramatic 'Captains Luck' thing. Bunch of gem pouches thrown in the air. Parshendi shouting as kaladin repeats the arrow drawing trick (sigzil is quietly pleased that after their practice, this time he throws the shield, as opposed to taking all those hits himself)

Adolin finally tore his attention away from the sky long enough to speak, dry mouthed.

"I take it by the..." he mimed the tossing of sphere pouches.

Storms, Skar had felt stupid practicing that, but Teft had insisted. And it was absolutely worth the weeks and weeks of extra weight, watching the Captain flying now. Jezrian's breath, when had he figured out flying? Lopen had said he had just started wall walking before prison. Had he figured out flying in prison? Oh, Brightlord Adolin was still talking.

"You all knew didn't you," Adolin looked amazed. "All of Bridge Four. I mean I knew there was something but - how in the Almighty's tenth name did you all keep this a secret? For this long!"

Skar and Drehy exchanged a glance.

"May we be blunt, Brightlord," Drehy finally said, watching as Kaladin swooped down low over the Parshendi, sending a few of them tumbling over to the next plateau, unharmed. Stormfather, he really was too good for this world.

"Please," Adolin said, gesturing emphatically.

Drehy hesitated, and they exchanged another look. Skar nodded at him, agreeing to take the lead, then took a deep breath.

"How in damnation did you not know??" His voice came out louder then he intended.

But storms, he had been waiting to say that for ages!

Drehy nodded eagerly, gesturing with the hand that wasn't holding his spear. "He storming glows!"

"I mean I know you were distracted during the tower assault- "

"Distracted?" Adolin sputtered.

"For a while I genuinely thought you knew but were keeping it secret for some stupid reason," Moash added, walking up. A small crowd was gathered around, attention pulled away slightly from the glowing man above and the retreating army.

"I mean," Moash snorted. "He formed a giant storming pillar of light while we were charging. You could see us charging. He was glowing like a herald for half the tower fight. No one from your entire army noticed?"

Dalinar coughed, sheepish look at odds with the golden gloryspren that kept flickering around his head.

"I... may have noticed a faint glow," he said slowly. "When he rescued me from the Parshendi Shardbarer."

The Blackthorn shrugged helplessly, looking at Kaladin, still high above. "I thought I was hallucinating..."

Why was he still up there anyway - Oh. Right. When he came down he'd have to deal with the lighteyes. Yeah, he'd stay up there too.

Adolin let out a short laugh, the hysterical noise seeming to escape uncontrolled. "You." He pointed at his father. "You saw a radiant in real life and your first thought was this is a hallucination."

Dalinar sighed. "I had hit my head. Quite a few times. It seemed more reasonable."

Adolin stared at his father, then laughed again. "You-" he couldn't get the words out over the chuckles. "Hallucinating-"

Adolin wiped his eyes, looking around. "Shallan would have something more witty, hold on."

He frowned, looking at the men who had been pulled from the chasm. They still glowed softly. Most looked shellshocked, and were holding something heavy. One of them was grinning, looking amazed as he waved his arms, bouncing off the ground, tethered by a bemused comrade.

"Where's Shallan?" He looked around more frantically, then ran to the Chasm's edge.

Skar let out a groan, and he and Drehy went after him.

"I don't think I saw her come up," Drehy whispered grimly.

Skar nodded back. Oh, there was going to be fallout for that. The Captain was always inconsolable when he failed to save someone, nevermind how many miracles he performed first - a bunch of lighteyes yelling at him was not going to help.

The Captain finally came back down, touching down at the chasm's edge just before Adolin arrived. Behind, he could hear Teft gruffly setting up a perimeter to keep onlookers back. The Highprince and the Queen's Mother pushed through of course, Renarin trailing behind. Storm's he hadn't even realized Renarin was there. Had he been running with the bridgecrew?

Skar's skin prickled as it usually did when he realized how outclassed he was was by the lighteyes around him. Almighty, the Captain most of all. He suppressed a small sigh of relief as Kaladin's eyes faded from a glowing whiteblue back to brown. He looked impassive at the Kholins.

Dalinar stepped up, opening his mouth to speak. A golden sphere spun to existence around him once more.

Kaladin turned to face him, hair streaming behind, looking for all the world like a Herald of Old, even without the glow.

Adolin interrupted. "Shallan," he said quietly, desperately. "She was on the bridge - please, I can't find her."

The Captain frowned and Skar's heart sank.

"I tried to grab her," Kaladin said slowly. "Lash her upwards. Everyone was falling too fast for me to do more....more than touch a hand to them."

"I'm sure you did everything you could," Dalinar said gravely, putting a hand on Adolin's shoulder. "I'm sorry son."

Adolin stumbled back, looking nauseous.

Kaladin shook his head. "No, you don't understand. It didn't work. She...I had to reach for another man who was about to hit a wall, but I think she was glowing. That she had already taken in Stormlight."

Adolin's head snapped up, eyes full of hope.

Kaladin shrugged. "If she's like me then...she's fine. It took me ages to figure out wallrunning, so I should still go get her."

He paused, looking off at air like he sometimes did. "Actually... I don't think most of the, uh, other orders could do the wallrunning and flying. So she's probably alright, I just need to go down and rescue her."

"What are you waiting for then?" Adolin asked eagerly.

"Son," Dalinar reprimanded. "More respectfully, please."

Adolin and Kaladin rolled their eyes in unison.

"He's still the same person," Adolin muttered. "I knew there was something strange about him."

Kaladin scoffed. "Yeah. You were right on my trail. Knew all about 'my thing with the stuff.'"

The prince brightened visibly. "And I was right! That's why you didn't want the Shardplate and Blade! You've already got your own? Or...do you have to earn it a certain way?"

Renarin sucked in a breath behind him. Skar glanced over, and saw the strange Brightlord's eyes wide with...realization, maybe? He was pretty hard to read.

The Captain, amazingly, smiled. "Something like that, princeling."

Adolin beamed, than smacked his hand to his face. "Thing... with the stuff! You need stormlight, don't you?"

He fumbled under his armor, before pulling out a small fortune in reserve Sapphire's in a pouch, tossing them.

Kaladin caught the bag, looking inside with a snort. "Well, this takes me back to how we met."

"What?"

"Nevermind. Doesn't matter."

The Captain still stood there, not breathing in, hesitating.

"Soldier?" Dalinar said. "Is there...some reason you don't want to rescue Brightlady Devar? The...other radiant?"

Kaladin let out a deep breath. "I...realize I've also been hiding my powers, so I don't have much ground for accusation. But I've suspected for sometime that she...might not be who she says she is. That she's dangerous."

Prince Adolin frowned, expression darkening as he crossed his arms. "We can figure that out once she's safe from the chasm. Now breathe in that bag and rescue my fiancee," he ordered. He hesitated, then blushed. "Please."

Kaladin sighed, then took in a deep breath, silvery white mist leaving the gems and filling the Captain with holy light. Awespren sprung up around them, and Skar knew that a few of them were his own. There were some things that you just didn't get used to.

With a salute, Kaladin stepped off the ledge, falling in a glowing streak of light. More awespren burst to life, but Skar just rolled his eyes. There were some things that you could get used to, and your commanding officer being a dramatic bastard was one of them.

continued here. also: other stormlight aus

[aromanticautiesworld]

If you write poly, can you do poly finntress? Also I'm curious will moth experience bi panic via finntress?

oh yes absolutely i write poly please send me poly requests! not 2 ramble about mushrooms but this first part (there will be multiple parts) kinda takes place middle of season 5-ish (sorry flame princess was with finn earlier in the timeline so mushrooms isn’t right after their breakup) there wont be any bi panic from moth abt fintress BUT! definitely in later parts (i love huntress wizard so much). ANYWAYS request time !

////

poly fintress with a gender neutral reader

word count: 1098

You squirm your way through the underbrush of the forest, following the path of the boy with the bear hat.

You were more introverted and withdrawn around other people than Finn, so he would sometimes take you with him (often very much like this) to meet new cool people he knew. Not that you object to any of this, most of the people Finn knows are cool with you too—as long as they’re not some sort of shapeshifting monster or illusion trick. That’s also happened before, unfortunately. While terrifying in the moment, you two look back and laugh about it. But still, never again.

So here you are now, legs halfway dipped into a creek, its weak current tugging at your clothes (which you regret wearing. Why couldn’t you have worn your waterproof pants today. Or at LEAST shorts).

“This is the spot where we usually meets. Me and yous just gotta wait,”

“And you’re a hundred percent sure she’s not a demon? Or a cursed witch?”

“Yeah I am dude. Hero’s honor,”

You consider. “Arrite,” You punch him in the shoulder, “I’m trusting you on this one,”

You both hear a rustle of branches and leaves coming from the opposite side of the river, and who you think is some sort of cat-person at first, based on the eyes that appear out of the darkness, effortlessly pushes her way out of the woods.

“What’s up, dudes,” She puts her bow back in its sheath, a bow that seems to have been drawn ready to fire a few seconds ago. You’re a little concerned about that, but if anything it makes you want to get to know this stranger more (also the name ‘Huntress Wizard’ could’ve spelled it out for you, but you didn’t think she’d be hunting right then).

“Meh, nuthin’ much. You said you wanted someone who can sing for this spell, right?” He gestures over to you, “They can sing,”

“Hey,” You pipe up awkwardly from where you stand, both still sort-of behind Finn and halfway in the water. Small fish swim past your legs.

“Hey,” She makes her way over to you, now also halfway in the river and half soaked, seemingly inspecting you, “Yeah. Yeah, you’re what we’ve been looking for,”

Ah. Pretty. Girl. Close to you. You are, at this moment, very normal and very functional. Both of those things.

“Thanks? Um. I mean I’m..I’m down to help with anything you guys need,” Glob, you feel like a student trying to talk to the ‘cool kids’ in one of those old teen movies right now. What is happening…

“Thanks dude! Love it when my friends are friends,” Finn grins, missing teeth only adding to his charm.

You now found yourself singing for a spell to bring forth some ancient magical plant. You wouldn’t say you didn’t care about that, it was a very cool thing, but your mind was occupied by…other topics.

The two taller people in front of you play their flutes, somehow in tune with your voice. Magic spreads in the air, emanating from both their playing and you, along with a feeling similar to when the air pressure drops before a storm begins (but with a more comforting feeling than that of impending doom).

…

Wait, no. That was actually the air pressure dropping.

The sky flashes with lightning, breaking open and letting loose a torrent of rain.

“Shelter! Quick!” Huntress yells out.

You start to follow her, when you’re quickly brought off of your feet and out of the now-muddy ground, scooped up by Finn. The water that’s suddenly pouring down on the three of you in the clearing and the flashes accompanied by thunderclaps do nothing to snap you out of your shocked and flustered state, and your face burns.

You’re eventually put down, now in the safety of a nearby cave, and are still recovering.

“Sorry about that, haha…” Finn chuckles nervously, “I might have panicked a little,”

You say nothing for a second, still stunned, before zoning back in.

“No, I would’ve done the same thing…at least, I would if I was as strong as you are,”

Finn ruffles through his backpack, while Huntress casts a spell under her breath to light a pile of twigs you guys’d found ablaze.

Finn then dumps out the contents of his backpack (a copy of Ble, an old sandwich, an uncursed dagger, the head of a mini cyclops, an energy bar, miscellaneous pens, and many other items now strewn across the floor.

“Guys. I don’t have my emergency sleeping bags,”

You both look up, Huntress now finished starting the fire.

“Looks like we have to huddle. We can use my cape as a sleeping bag for now,”

“Well…wait. Who’s gonna be where?”

“What’chya mean?” Finn asks from where he gathers the contents of his bag back to where they came from.

“I mean who’s gonna be on the edge, who’s being in the middle…”

“Hmmm…It’s just for one night, so…What do you think, Huntress?”

“I think you should be in the middle,” She turns towards you as she talks.

Your brain is flooded with both giddy excitement, and slight embarrassment.

“Yeah, I’m good with that. What do you think?”

“Yes. Yes. Good. Cool. Very good,” You nod quickly, shooting them a thumbs up. Words aren’t working too great for you right now, it seems.

Huntress takes off her cape, her hair (leaves?) are very pretty, spreads it out—this thing is big—onto the floor of the cave, and rolls herself up into one side of it. Finn then drops down his bag (he’s managed to put everything back) And rolls into the cape on the other side. Your turn.

You snuggle in between the two, heart practically beating out of your chest, and unbeknownst to the two surrounding you, a large grin on your face.

You were the first to fall asleep, of course, and both Finn and Huntress reflected on today.

You’re cool. A cool person to add to their weird little relationship-hangout thing they have going on. Based on what Huntress has seen today (that you’d tried to hide, to no avail. You were way more obvious about your crush on her than Finn was), and on what Finn knows about you, you wouldn’t object if they asked. If you did they would back off of course, but he knows that’s not the case.

Drip, Drip, Drip…

Honestly, it was very peaceful in this cave. The sound of rain outside, your steady breathing, the warmth you all shared.

You guys should do this every night.

[enter-the-performapals]

@arcvmonth Day 5: Action Magic- Overpass

Alright, so I know the Dragon Boys Roleswap Shuffle is a pretty basic AU but I feel like I have an interesting take on it!

For the art today I wanted to draw Fusion!Yuya (hes gotta have some absolutely messed up anglicised name... Eia? Taking suggestions lol) being intimidating during the Xyz war, but it turned into POV: You're getting turned into a card. And stormy ambiance because Winter storms have been pretty crazy over here...

AU thoughts under the cut!

(Quick content warning for mental absue!)

Ive seen a couple of people theorise that Yuya, if roleswapped with Joeri, would still be happy-go-lucky but in a murderous psychopath kinda way. Personaly, I think the opposite.

In my idea of a roleswap, Yuya would be grow up as an orphan, desperately doing whatever he could to eventually get into Academia, which he does around ~10 years old.

Having pretty poor social skills, but still having a positive attitude, he'd make some acquaintances in the first month or so until he catches the attention of Leo Akaba.

Leo, terrified of what Yuya would become, decides to isolate him. While his peers are jealous that he gets special treatment, Yuya is over the moon and starts to see Leo as a father figure and idolises him, following his every move.

Around the same time, Fusion!Yuzu would be taken in Leo as well. Over time, Yuya would see how much better Yuzu would be treated than him, the way Leo doesnt let him too close to his replacement daugter, the hate that would occasionally flash in Leo's eyes when talking to him, and he would start to resent them.

Yuzu's no saint in this AU either, being coddled by Leo so much that she'd view herself above everyone else. She'd figure out how to manipulate Leo into getting whatever she'd want, and rub it in people's faces. She'd act perfect around Leo, but as soon as as shes away from him, she'd demean and undermine the people around her. And Yuya would be her favorite verbal punching bag- as hed also been selected specially by Leo-and save the worst insults for him. She'd probably be known as The Princess of Academia.

With hs confidence beingbeaten down by this version of Yuzu, shunned by his peers who are jealous that he was hand selected by Leo, and just knowing that Leo hates him for a reason he has no idea of, he'd just... mentally shut down. Spiralling into a deep depression.

He would never smile. Barely speak a word outside of duels, which he'd be ruthless in. His eyes would be cold and dead, other than occasionally showing flashes of an intimidating gold.

Of course, even though he knows Leo hates him, hed still do anything for the Professor, in a futile attempt to be loved and accepted by him. Hed be a major player in the war, and hed still kidnap Xyz!Rin and Synchro!Ruri

He'd still be the personality with the most amount of Zarc in him and at the end of the AU, standard!Yuuri would probably show him that he deserves to smile and that no matter what hes faced in the past, there will be people there to support him and be his friends.

After a charater arc duel where he breaks down after defeat and vows to become a better person, Leo would have an angry rant about him being useless tool to the reigime and a worthless demon child that he never should have taken in and expunge him, where then hed fuse with Yuuri.

My thoughts for his deck would be something similar to Sergey's deck, but instead of humanoids theyre animals (like the performapals) in a very old, black and white, rubber-hose style constricted with vines, chains and locks to symbolise a trapped but not lost sense of innocence.

If youve read this far, thank you so much! Let me know-either by dropping me an ask or putting it in the tags- if youd like to see more of this AU, because Boy Howdy have I thought about it In Depth. Thank you for reading!

[nightdoves]

WASTELAND SURVIVAL GUIDE: a delivery boy's tips and tricks

a wip by nightdoves

genre: science-fiction (space fantasy, comedy, action-adventure)

audience: adult

for fans of: unreliable narrators, found family, comedy and graphic depictions of violence going hand in hand, feral women, lesbians, queer characters in general, heist vibes & satire!

BLURB

Some people believe you gotta be an ace pilot or on the front lines of the billionth civil war in order to really be a hero in this galaxy.

Me? I don't buy that for a second.

As a very talented and dedicated liaison of packages across the galaxy, I am of the firm and unyielding belief that we are the unsung heroes of the galaxy. Come asteroid clusters or violent alien attacks, we make sure your packages get shipped right to your door (or your money back, guaranteed!) and that, my friend, is the mark of a true hero...

Is my boss still listening? No? Good.

Listen to me, this job is hell. It's all guts and absolutely no glory to be spoken of. If you want to be kicked around, spit on and degraded in ways so specific and so hurtful, then run, don't walk, to become a delivery boy! Things will try to eat you, kill you, and scam you out of your life savings. The Newton Galaxy is where dreams go to die.

For a guy like me, I never expected anything to ever change. Then, I met Orion.

CHARACTERS

rhys starr—24, delivery boy. special skill: slacking off, and still getting paid. rhys is a man who contains multitudes of less than savory traits and made up medical issues that keep him from doing his job.

orion storm—25, pirate, con-woman, underground fighter, etc. fun fact: she doesn't actually know how to fly a ship but she's too embarrassed to tell anybody. orion is a woman who is initially scary, but those who really know her would call her terrifying.

kia—19, pirate. kia is orion's big little sister. she's a mean, like really mean, trigger happy machine with a love for fast cars and adventure.

boone—36, pirate. boone enjoys tactical planning and wearing a mask because he think it makes him look cool. his motivations for most things are driven by the desire to look cool.

maverick—50, pirate. maverick is like a parent to orion. they're a liar and a cheat who would sell his soul in a second if given the chance.

no taglist yet, but if you want to be on it, just let me know!

[engagemythrusters]

I’m fucking terrified. Here we go.

The Summit.

Ah Pabu. Calm before the storm.

Imperial summit. Wow wonder where the ep title comes from?

Ah tarkin. Echo’s favourite guy.

HUNTER WHAT THE FUCK

Thank you techh.

“We do not leave our own behind” except for when you do. multiple times.

Omega you are the only one I trust with crosshair at this point. She’s the only one who doesn’t give up on him ever

Aww Phee and omega

get his ass Phee

Oh wait uh phee he’s autistic tho he’s missing thaaaat point

JUST KISS ALREADY

Ugh whatever it’s fine (it is not fine)

I’m tired of you, bitch. Go die in a hole Hemlock.

Better yet get poisoned by your namesake.

I still don’t understand how Tarkin aged 20 years in 2

Tho that follows Obi-Wan’s 30-in-9-years (except he lived on tatooine and never wore sunscreen so that one’s his own bitch fault)

Rex is gonna be forging clearances codes for a looooooooooong time. I mean he takes a break for a bit but then he gets back on it.

Oooooo air rail cars!

Tarkin doesn’t deserve an air rail.

Wrecker imparting his fear of heights onto omega

“Recycle the feed” that officer does not give one flying fuck

WRECKER WHY DID YOU LOOK DOWN 😭😂

awww my 🏴‍☠️ stalled. Gotta wait a bit to continue ig…

I suppose no crosshair in this ep tho bc it’s only about the summit. That’s okay AS LONG AS THEY SAVE HIM NEXT EP AND HE DOESNT FUCKING DIE.

Okay I am back to watch

Honestly ballsy of them to bring Omega to tbis. I would not. She’s to Liddol!! Baby girl :( too small

LEAVE MY POOR CLONES ALONE

I WILL KILL YOU HEMLOCK

Fuck you Tarkin. I fucking hate you.

Star Dust… yeah we all know that’s the fuckin Death Star

Mouse droid! Oh it made lil noises :D

She’s so tiny I love her so so much if anything happens to h—

Oh my god it’s a trap

It’s a trap isn’t it

NO ITS A TRAP AND I KNOW IT IS

omega sweetie it’s a trap go back to wrecker GO BACK TO WRECKER

well hooray tracking beacon but GO BACK ITS ABSOLUTELY A TEAP

wrecker u killed the lil mousie 😭

TECH ITS A TRAP

it’s a trap it’s a trap it’s a trap

Admiral ackbar—

Saw?

It’s

IT IS

I knew that voice

I still think it’s a trap. I don’t know what’s happening here. But I am still certain it’s a trap.

Bye saw

Pew pew pew

Pew pew

Sorry.

DID THEY JUST—WRECKER OH MY GOD 😂 just fucking bowlingpinned them with one of their own oh my god I love that man

She shot his butt hehe

… why is the controller for that ship… down there… o-o

Well there goes that tracker

Okay I’ll admit being wrong. It wasn’t a trap.

Hehe wrecker is gonna drop isn’t he. That’s gonna fucjin terrify him. Poor guy.

Oh? Cliffhanger?

Yknow what this is long already I’ll start another one for the next ep in a reblog

I’m gonna get food first

[mcnypieces]

      ❝ Oi oi, I thought this was the meet-up point! Why are we the first ones here? ❞ hands come to rest on his hips, clattering against one another. The friction makes a rather unpleasant sound but it’s one he’s grown used to over the years. ❝ Don’t tell me Luffy’s out causing trouble ── ❞

     Words cut themselves short. A single drop of water falls onto his sunglasses and the distant roar of thunder sounds as though it’s grown impatient. Head snapping up to the sky, the cyborg seems thoroughly unfazed by the weather’s sudden desire to shift. It was such a fickle thing in the New World. One moment the sun graced the sky and the next lightning would strike a building and set it aflame. No matter how often the phenomenon occurred, he never could quite get a firm grasp on understanding it. It made him grateful knowing Nami had somehow learned to combat it when they were out to sea . 

     The makings of rainfall leave a peculiar scent of humidity in the air. Dense, heavy. The smell of damp soil from nearby potted plants would begin to take over the moment it got any heavier. But as a mist begins to turn into a fine drizzle, his attention snaps away from the sky. Recollection comes in the form of soft purple eyes. Scared, flighty, like a child ready to dart into the horizon. Unfazed becomes serious and quickly he moves .

      ❝ Wait, Camilla. ❞ Stern, but calm. It’s unfitting for the usual cheerful and eccentric behavior many expected from him. Cold metal fingers latch onto her shoulders just enough to hold her in place. It wasn’t his intention to keep her out in the rain for this. That broad figure looms over her as the rain begins to fall onto his back instead of onto her. Free hand to his face, pressing a finger to his nose. In place of the shaven head blooms a giant umbrella of blue hair dense enough to cast shade onto her body and protect it from the oncoming downpour. ❝ C’mon. Let’s get inside. The others are just gonna have to wait !! ❞ //: @xviridiis starter call!! { ★ }

[yjwhatif]

YJ EPISODE 26 SPOILER NOTES… part ONE

IT’S THE LAST EPISODE!! 😩

→ Remember who you are Conner... You're Not a killer!

→ New krypton... very inventive

→ "Superboy execute Kal-El Now!" Noooo!

→ I see, so he's not dead

→ Awww, the pain in Dicks voice at thinking everyone was dead 🙁 - yeah… its not fun thinking everyone's dead, is it Dick!?

→ HEY, I was right about Saturn Girl getting her message a cross and faking everyone's deaths... there's not many of my thoughts that have come to pass this season - so I’m taking that as an absolute win!

→ M'gann and Dick's bond is like Violet and vic's to me in the way that I always forget its as strong as it is, until they share the screen together and then I'm like - oh yeah, they do have a sweet friendship.

→ STORYTIME!

→ I love when the invincible characters rush forward to protect the others without a seconds thought… just gonna add this to the list of reasons I love Orion!

→ "Faking your deaths - our best trick... one we've gotten way too good at” You can say that again!

→ Lesson #1 of becoming a hero... learn to play possum

→ Danny mention!

→ "And Rocket?” “She didn't make it "… Like heck she didn't!

→ “…But We'll have to mourn Raquel later." I feel like Dick’s or someone else has previously said this phase before about something else?

→ Oh hey, I never realised she includes Danny in the list of people they need to help

→ "I can set the prince up with medical supplies to tend to the wounded... but Foragers down for the count. " Two things - ① Bart looks so sad as he says this! And ② Why does he specifically say the prince... I don't know why my brains so focused on questioning this - there's absolutely no need for it to be - but here we are... Does J’emm know anything about Medical practice? Or is it because he's not a superhero so he doesn't get to fight the evil kryptonians... M’gann’s like, You are definitely not coming because I am not dealing with the liability of you getting killed on earth... we’ve already had two close calls - I'm not risking a third! Can you imagine the shit storm that would be caused by J’emm - the Martian Prince - getting killed on EARTH under the watchful eye of Miss Martian and the other Earthian heroes! That would be a very awkward conversation… though on a brighter note we found Conner alive... please don’t attack us!… I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS ANYMORE?!

And back to my actual notes...

→ Bioship spitting out the treadmill like - Get that shit out of my mouth right now... and you young Man (Bart) are BANNED from travelling on me again... or at least until you make it up to me for all the trouble I’ve had to put up with!

→ BABY TO THE RESCUE!

→ I love the perky music they use for Baby!

↳ Aww Conner & superman flashbacks! These are so cute! UNCLE CONNER IS SO ADORABLE - We need to see more of him and Jonny actually interacting - as that is something we have still yet to see beyond pictures!

→ "I can't kill him again... he's family" yes! that is the CORRECT answer Conner!

→ Shut up Lor!

→ Shut up Ursa!

→"YOINK!"

→ GO KID GO! Of course he’s the first to arrive!

→ Lor you leave him alone, you little Shit!

→"JECTED!"

→ GO TEAM GO!

→ Hit him with that bus!

→... Do you think Kaldur knows how to drive? (These are the important questions!)

→ We’re on a deadline M’gann! Stop being Sentimental!

→ "You're a ball of Sunshine hiding a terrifying Demigoddess!" Hey - that's the thing that Emily says on the WHELMED Podcast! That is so Cool! And it just emphasises how Grandon do genuinely listen and value the fans/fandom!

→ Gotta love an exploding arrow... Y'know, unless its Bart who's holding it

→"DOUBLE YOINK!"

→ I love the comparison of Bart saving Artemis vs Wally saving her - Wally and Artemis were in sync - Bart and Artemis definitely aren’t - but the same intent is there… I really wanna see more Bart and Artemis dynamic!

→ Burn M’comm burn!

→ "TRIPLE YOINK!"

→ Bart will you stop touching random shit! Also that was a very prolonged electrocution... I wonder if it might cause some lasting effect that will come back to haunt him later?

→"KID!'" - Artemis cares! I really want to see their bond explored!!

→ No Conner - we don't kill our friends!

→ Let me translate Mother Box here... "Eww! I'm in the sewers!!"

→ YAY! DANNY RETURNS!! I hoped he would!

→ Piss off M'comm!

→ Dick + Artemis team up - Gotta love Team No Powers

→ Go wake him up M’gann!

→ (Mufasa Voice) Remember… Who you are!

→ I feel like we get a Supermartian montage every Season…

→ “Hi” “Hi” — aww, they're doing the Heartstopper thing - CUTE 🥰

→ Supermartian are finally reunited!

→ I love how they're breaking up the the high energy action with these softer/quieter moments

→ "Kaldur you keep Zod occupied!" Yes, that's what I doing, DICK!

→ It's not Young Justice without someone getting knock out by their own teammate (it's my favourite recurring image of the show!)

→ ZODs VS ELs — Give 'em hell boys!

→ No M’gann!

→ Yay M’gann!

→ One more fake out death for the road

→ "You wanna be a god... you'll have to go through me!" Proceeds to brain fry Ursa... Give her hell M’gann! Embrace your power!

→ M'comm leave the boy ALONE! He's been through enough!

→ Go Legion Go!

→ Though there is something incredibly impressive about the fact that M’comm was able to spit himself between torturing/Controlling Danny in the Psychic realm and full on fighting Chameleon Boy in the physical realm without breaking a sweat! He really is incredibly powerful!

→ Loving the team work of all the legioneers

→ Give him hell Danny!

→ I love this kid with his little Southern accent! 🥰

→ You tell him Conner! You fight for your home and loved ones!

→ "They're good but not in sync…" “Let's go for the combo" → This gives me s1 Robin & Superboy Vs Batman & Superman energy!

→"STOP TRYING TO KILL MY MAN!" you show him M’gann! Absolutely love this moment!

→ WEST MANOEUVRE! works every time!

→ YAY ROCKET!

→ "I WILL NOT BE CHEATED OF MY REWARD!" I always find it fascinating when we hear these cold and calculated villains convey genuine emotion.

→ I really like the pacing of M’comm’s defeat... everythings kinda wrapping up pretty quickly as everyone gets dropped into the boom tube, then it builds with M’comm’s outburst as if he's gonna make some last ditch attempt at victory. Though this gets cut short by Danny - which I love - stick it to the hypocrite - it continues with the quickness, until M’gann slows things down - and I really love this bit… where M’comm has to live in this moment of defeat with no way of returning from it - all he has is the sight of his sister finally and justifiably cutting ties with him. He may get what he wants in the end but he has lost everything in order to get it.

→ "You were glad Conner was dead"- The intensity of M’gann in this moment is really cool!

→ "NEVER MESS WITH THE EL'S!" followed by a triple wipe out straight back into the Phantom Zone... Bye General! 👋

→ Well, I guess someone had to get away... and of course it had to be the worst of the lot!

→ Oh, Now the Calvary shows up - literally a second after Lor escapes in the timesphere... you guys couldn’t set off literally 10 seconds earlier!

→ Another recurring shot of the show - the arrival of all the other team heroes taking in the aftermath of a mission... its an interesting selection - both Flashes, KF, Wondergirl, Red Tornado, Blue Beethe, Shazam and Black Canary (aka Team Primary Colours)

→ I just noticed 2 things - ① there's a mistake with Bart’s animation - in the long shot he has his bandages, but in the close up he doesn't. ② I don't know if this is actually the case - but it look like Jay is looking at Bart instead of what everyone else is looking at... To me that's the look of someone thinking - You have a lot of explaining to do young man! all while Bart remains blissfully unaware of the trouble he is absolutely going to be in once he gets home.

→ "Superboy are you alright?” "Fine, feeling the aster" - I'm sure Canary's thinking - Yeah, I'm sure you are. I'll book you in for therapy on Monday

→ "So is it over?" "A little bit" - I think that is the perfect sum up of this show - nothing is ever over - and I love that!

→ The legion = the voices of dooms — just take the win for what its worth guys!

↳ 🎶Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise!🎶 (insert that meme of ‘if I had a nickel for every les mis reference in this season I would have two nickels... Which isn't that much but its still weird it’s happened twice’) Also I don't know if this is supposed to be a reference to that line of les mis but that's what I think when I see this shot and I really like it!

End of Part ONE…

LB

[no-droids]

The Secret

Pairing: Anakin Skywalker/Reader

Word Count: 4.2K

Rating: Explicit

Summary: On a dark and dreary night, Anakin tries to see if he can influence your dreams.

A/N: idk what in the hell this even is tbh I just started writing it two days ago idk what happened this is some inception shit but not the crazy ass mind bending plot twist part at the very end of inception but like just the cool middle part where you kinda get what’s sorta going on but not really okay anyways I gotta go

Warnings: There are DUBCON/NONCON ELEMENTS to this, smut/oral sex, a splash of m/m (sorta?), dark Anakin uses the force to mess with your dreams without your knowledge or consent so please read at your own discretion

***

Anakin knows it’s wrong.

It’s the middle of the night on a moon he never bothered learning the name of and Anakin knows it’s wrong when his eyes shift over to you for the fifth time in the past minute.  Curled up with your back to him and the crackling firelight illuminating this tiny little cave, breathing soft and quiet through your nose as you sleep, the wind roaring monstrously outside.  Anakin acknowledges it—the moral impropriety of even sitting here thinking about things he shouldn’t be with you so close by.  It’s wrong, no getting around it.

But there’s also something inside him that… wants the wrongness.

He likes it.  Anakin likes having secrets, he likes breaking rules even when nobody is consciously here to witness it.  It makes him feel alive in a way that battlefields just can’t anymore, not after two years of constant conflict where the only enemies to feel his wrath have been comprised of nuts and bolts, their robotic cries never leaving him with any satisfaction anymore.  At the start of the Clone Wars, sure, it was a thrill to slice through voice boxes and body parts, even if they were mechanical.  But the droids aren’t afraid of death, they’re just programmed to stay alive.  It’s like killing large, dumb swarms of bugs—it needs to be done for the common good but there’s never any true fulfillment in it anymore, it just feels like a task to be completed instead of an earnest, hard-earned goal.

He’s also been given direct permission to do it.  He’s even been ordered to carry out enormous droid massacres on behalf of the Republic, but that’s the thing.  Anakin isn’t looking for permission, see, it takes away half the thrill.

No, he wants to feel wrong.  He wants to wonder if he shouldn’t have.  He wants the quiet guilt, the sparkle of holding a secret he’ll never breathe a word about, the addictive power trip from having real influence over something, something equally as real.

Technically, Anakin is supposed to be on lookout right now.  He’s meant to stay awake and patrol the perimeter of the cave for enemy combatants, but he doesn’t even bother pretending to be diligent when it’s just you two here.  It’s not necessary.  He’d be able to sense another lifeform miles away in this secluded, barren wasteland; there’s no threat to be found right now.  He can keep warm by the crackling firelight in this cave, sheltered from the dust storm that spontaneously broke out a few hours ago.  He can stay awake without moving a muscle and listen to your slow breathing all night long, letting it fill him with shameful desires he spends the daylight hours fighting and suppressing.

He silently flicks his gaze over to you once more, blinking as he studies you.  He can sense your mind becoming creative in its slumber, beginning to swirl into dreamlike possibilities around yourself, about to choose a path for your consciousness to follow tonight.  Yes, this is what he’s waiting for.  He can’t force you to dream—that’s beyond his expertise as a Jedi.  But if he finds himself in the right place at the right time, he can certainly try his best to… give you a suggestion.

The wind whistles outside and the fire pops quietly and you continue to breathe.  In, and out.  In, and out.

Anakin closes his eyes, and begins.

He first maps your body with the Force, trying to understand it on a deeper level.  Gauge it—its proportions, its ambience, the thrumming lifeforce flowing through your veins even as you sleep.  He has to be careful—as a fellow Knight, there’s no guarantee you won’t immediately be able to spot him exploring your energy in this way, there’s nothing to stop you from suddenly rolling over and asking just what exactly he thinks he’s doing.

But Anakin is patient.  It’s one of the only times he can remember truly exercising that untapped potential inside him, perfectly content to allow you to drift while he works to find his bearings with you.  Minds are complex, especially when they’re unconscious.  They’re finicky and never stay in the same spot for long—it’s not like they evade, necessarily, but instead, they just… float around.  Pulsing.  In and out of existence, hiding behind and under immovable things, no rhyme or reason for it, vanishing into uncertainty and nothingness as soon as he thinks he’s found it.  Like trying to find a microscopic air pocket in the depths of a pitch black ocean.  He’s not losing any oxygen by existing right at the edges of your sleep, but it takes hard concentration to stay here, hidden, not allowing himself to slip.  He’s looking, he’s looking… but he soon realizes he just needs to wait longer.  He needs to wait until you float your way back around to him, until you present the opening yourself.

So Anakin waits.

And waits…

And then suddenly—

—There.  He locks onto a flicker in the Force and holds, finally isolating and breaching the surface of your inner subconscious.  Anakin smiles softly, a bead of sweat slowly dripping down his temple at the effort it took to locate you without alerting you of his presence.  There you are.  Maker, it sure is pretty in here, isn't it?  He has you, he’s cradling the buried, hidden, most fragile part of your soul as you slumber, not knowing any better.

His heart thumps with excitement even though he’s barely done anything yet.  To someone without sensitivity to the Force, they might just think the both of you are asleep right now.  Just the two of you sitting still in this relatively small space, eyes closed, neither of you are touching, nobody has said anything or made any substantial movements in hours, nothing has changed in this world.  All of it is existing in another plane, a place most people wouldn’t be able to recognize unless someone informed them of its existence, and even then, it would be beyond understanding.

But he has you now.  He’s there, and he’s not going anywhere.  He can allow his focus to dip just slightly, knowing your mind will pull him along through the comatose current.  He senses you already working through the beginning whispers of dreams, but they’re not the kind people can ever remember.  These aren’t formed, there’s no substance to them—it’s just pure, abstract dreamspace for your mind to drift through while you slumber.

Finding your true consciousness through all the murky, shapeless slumber was the test in skill.  Now comes the luck.

Very carefully, without arousing any suspicion or drawing undue attention to himself, Anakin begins to drag the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth.  He doesn’t open his mouth, he doesn’t move a single muscle outwardly—he just lets his tongue begin to flitter around slowly in its enclosed cavern as he breathes, making the movements as soft and hypnotic as he can, matching the aimless way you’re carrying your mind and his shadow through the darkness.

He’s tried this before.  Once or twice, with a pretty Ambassador he was tasked with protecting for a few months at the start of the Clone Wars, but the results were always less than ideal.  He could never seamlessly transfer his desires through her consciousness before she awoke, perhaps because she wasn’t Force sensitive.  The dream would either never happen, or he would push too hard and it’d turn into a rabid nightmare that fractured her thoughts and made her terrified to close her eyes for weeks.  Not this time, though, Anakin isn’t going to allow it.  Not with you, not after all the unprecedented effort it took to even just get himself here.

He finds a bit more passion to put into his movements, his jaw beginning to work with more purpose.  Stars, he wants this to work, and while it’s probable that there’s an easier way to accomplish it, this isn’t something the Academy trains for.  There’s only so much he can do except just be patient and giving with his soft, muted thoughts, urging you to make use of them without ever saying them aloud.

And suddenly, like the dark waves of your sleep decide to illuminate for him all on their own, your subconscious mind responds to the gentle stimulus.  It carefully reaches out and studies the suggestion he’s silently offering, having spent what feels like an eternity trying to entice your rawest, most fundamental being into going somewhere it normally wouldn’t go, all without letting you know he’s even there.

His tongue is still moving.  With purpose, with a specific intent in mind, Anakin allows his head to slowly fall back as he lifts his chin up towards it, wanting it more and more the longer you take to consider it, as if your mind is actively trying to tease him by playing hard to get.  He can feel you right there, feel you thinking about it, and the whole thing is almost like some elaborate courting ritual while he waits with bated breath for you to decide whether or not to humor him.

But then, just when Anakin fears you may be too strong to be swayed, too powerful in the Force to be tempted by an outside source, you abruptly snatch the idea from him and start to run with it.

Suddenly parts of your spirit begin illuminating that should be dormant right now, and Anakin follows you, wherever you’re leading him.  He knows none of this is necessarily intentional on your behalf—nobody can consciously pick and choose their dreams, not even Jedi.  But this endeavor proves that it’s absolutely possible to subtly inspire them in each other, regardless of the morality behind it.

The wind continues to howl outside the cave and remind him that an entire universe still exists beyond your beautifully soporose mind, but the dreamscape gradually begins unfolding around him without any further prompting, requiring nothing more than what he’s already provided.  Anakin’s tongue continues to simulate and suggest regardless, only now he feels the ghost of it beginning to materialize somewhere else besides the roof of his mouth, the sensations appearing before the images can be conjured to fill in the gaps.  His hands suddenly tighten on his thighs at the soft, enticing feeling beginning to take root in you.

And oh.  It’s… good.  It feels different when his own body isn’t really the target of the stimulation, when he’s doing nothing more than simply experiencing it vicariously.  Anakin supposes he could’ve bypassed all this effort, just aimed the pleasure more directly from the very beginning instead of working to inspire and coax it out of your own consciousness, but that was never his intention and it misses the point entirely.  Where’s the challenge in it?  The finesse is lost, it doesn’t appeal to him.  It’s brash and brutish and not his style.  No, this is what he wanted.  He wanted to get just close enough to plant the most basic, fundamental idea in your head and then witness the rest of it all play out as a phantom passenger.  Step back, strap in, and see how you kindle and manipulate the desire yourself, exactly the way you want it.

Anakin starts to breathe a little heavier through his nose, shoulders tense as he works to ride the slow swelling of your own prolonged pleasure with you, not knowing if or when it’s going to peak.  He’s never made it this far before, he has no idea what to expect.  Your consciousness does all the heavy lifting for him, your floor muscles move and contract without him needing to do anything to encourage it, the dream he seeded now completely taking over and whisking you both away.

But then… then suddenly Anakin doesn’t understand.  Because yes, your mind works exactly the way he hoped it would—everything goes the incredibly precise direction he intended, and yet the destination is somehow… here?  Back at the very beginning?

You dream of a cave.  It’s exactly the same as the one you’re both silently holed up in for the night, and no new faces have appeared.  If Anakin fluttered his eyes open at this specific moment, absolutely nothing around him would change.  Except, perhaps, the subtle glow around everything—the watery way the air seems to be moving, as if it can’t decide whether it wants to exist or not so it strangely succeeds in doing both at the same time.  He’s not really here—at least, he doesn’t think he is, he’s just seated on the dirt floor, appearing as nothing more than an invisible witness to it.

No.  No, actually, he takes that back, he… is here.  It takes him a moment to see the full picture as you’re still putting the puzzle pieces together, but… that’s him.  A projection of himself at least, looking only slightly different but recognizable enough.  Dark robes, robotic right arm, steady gaze.

But where are you?  Anakin looks around the empty cave, still trying to understand how you’re painting this, his conscious mind moving much more rapidly than your own abstract one and yet also somehow taking so much longer to catch up to you.  You’re not here.  Why aren’t you here?  He’s getting stuck on the details, he knows he’s lagging behind.

It takes a moment longer.  Just one, before Anakin suddenly realizes that… he’s not just an invisible witness, is he?

He looks back down to see his own head now buried between his thighs.

But they’re not his thighs, not really.  They’re yours.  He’s just seeing everything from your point of view, feeling everything you’re feeling from the small little space he’s occupying in your mind.

At this point, Anakin needs to anchor.  He feels himself—his real self, the one currently stuck in a cave in the midst of an unexpected dust storm—curl inwards and clamp his legs together.  This will work.  If he focuses enough to pinpoint the way his knees feel pressed tight together, he can have a tether to separate himself from your dream, the way yours are currently… wide open.  This is all too similar to your true surroundings—he didn’t expect this, he doesn’t want to get lost.

And yet… Maker, it feels good.  His long curls feel so soft in your hands, his tongue drags slow magic between your legs.  When Anakin first suggested the idea to you, he didn’t think you’d assign the role back to him.  He assumed you had someone else in mind, somewhere else you wished to be besides this dull, dreary setting.  He gave you just an inkling of a prompt, and this is what the most creative part of your mind created.  Something he could be doing at this exact moment, if only he’d known you’d be interested.

Then again, Anakin thinks, you may have just recognized him subconsciously.  You may have attached him to the idea already, if only because he was the truest originator of it.  But it doesn’t matter now, he can’t process such complex thoughts while maintaining the suspended mental state he’s in—he feels like he’ll either completely fall into it or out of it if he tries.

But as your muscles continue to work and your pleasure continues to build, it becomes harder and harder to separate where he is in relation to you.  Anakin clenches his legs tighter together as you open yours wider apart, the dream gaining more strength as it develops.  Stars, it’s—it’s—

Anakin starts to lose it and he needs to tug on that tether to his surroundings again, but it’s way more difficult than it should be to recognize himself.  His calloused fingers on his left hand tremble as he reaches up and uses them to cover his face, biting his tongue to stop the low rumbles of ecstasy that want to claw their way out of his throat.  Maker, this feels so… different from the build he knows.  He thought—if he was successful—that he’d be able to handle it as silently and stoically as he’s able to handle his own pleasure, but this is something else entirely.  Why does it feel so… so spectacular?  Maker, he never realized the sensation was all that different on the inside, much less that he was actually missing out by having a dick between his legs.

But then suddenly there’s a pause, a break in the way you’ve been rhythmically squeezing and flexing your body for him.

The dream adapts to it.  Anakin looks down between your open thighs just in time to see himself pulling away from your warmth, putting two fingers in his mouth, before slowly easing his hand back down between them.

No, he thinks, a bright flare of panic sparking inside him as he immediately snatches and yanks the tether to reality, popping his eyes open and pulling away from your mind entirely, oh no—wait, that’s not what I—

But see.  That’s the thing about being so meticulous about conjuring something that doesn’t actually exist.  Once his brilliant creation decides to backfire on him—a fool-proof way to escape it doesn’t actually exist either.

He… he can’t wake up.  No matter how much his body struggles backwards on the dirt floor of the cave, how wide he can feel his eyes are right now, how excruciatingly aware he is that none of this is real, none of this is actually happening to him, he’s caught in the dream he planted and you’re hauling him along for the ride.  The closest he can describe it is like having footage play in one eye while the other can see perfectly fine.  He knows where the line that separates reality is, but he can’t escape your consciousness’s crushing gravitational pull; it’s too massive and overwhelming now, he can’t gain enough velocity to get home.  Real life exists but only through a window, and being stuck on the other side like this—knowing he’s dreaming but not being able to jolt awake when he’s very ready to leave—is suddenly more terrifying than any nightmare Anakin has ever experienced.

It also has unintended consequences.  Clinging so desperately to his own body has made him completely aware of it in the purgatory he’s now trapped himself in, but the pleasure is still there so the source of the stimulation is still there.  They’re not your thighs anymore, they’re his thighs again.  But that’s also still him between his legs, continuing to ease his fingers forwards.

He keeps retreating back and away from them no matter what, but there’s nothing more he can do.

Anakin helplessly watches on as his own fingers slowly disappear up inside himself, and his eyes instantly lose focus and his jaw goes slack as he feels it the way you would.  They’re not real, so there’s no pain, no true pressure or stretch, just… hard, unadulterated stimulation starting to burn up inside him.

He doesn’t realize his body kept moving until he suddenly feels the wall of the cave slam into his back and he has to brace himself against it, frantically shoving himself back into it as far as he can with his legs and digging his nails into dirt at the base, scrabbling for breath and stability.  Anakin tightens up wickedly as you both bear down on the phantom intrusion, sweat beading at his hairline as he works to process the foreign sensation and you whimper quietly in your sleep.  His cock is rock hard between his legs and he shudders to think that his mind will compensate for the difference and his alter ego will actually take it into his mouth—but no, the projection doesn’t change because it’s still coming from you, still being led by your own desires.  Dream-Anakin’s mouth drops and his tongue comes out to keep licking your slit but to the real Anakin, it just looks like his mouth disappears somewhere near his balls, and then a magnificent swell of bliss suddenly kicks in before he can fight as savagely against it as he wants.  He’d normally be repulsed, and maybe he currently is to some extent, but because your pleasure spikes so dangerously with it, his hips stutter into the sensation just as desperately.

He’s making noise, he knows he is—he can feel his throat working too hard for just air to be moving through.  No, he’s whimpering, or moaning, or doing something but he can’t hear himself at all.  His instinct is to yell as loudly as he can, to try and wake you up manually, but it doesn’t seem to work, you’re way too far gone now.  He listens for the dust storm that should be screaming outside, the popping of the fire somewhere in this cave, but they’re suddenly nowhere to be found.  He’s being dragged under by your enormous current that’s somehow still continuing to build in strength, losing oxygen by the second.  He’s not ready for it, he doesn’t want it, he’s terrified, he needs to wake up—

Anakin slams his head back against the wall hard enough to make himself bleed and gasps raggedly as he loses his grip on everything, shutting his eyes tight with his fist shoved up against his teeth.  Nothing exists at all anymore but the swirling typhoon that continues raging forth.  Beyond purgatory, and then beyond heaven.

When you finally do manage to find the absolute peak of your climb, he’s sure he all but blacks out with it.

It’s pure, blinding rapture on all levels—physical, metaphysical, whatever else exists after that.  It surges up with razor-sharp claws of merciless ecstasy and he’s just not equipped to experience anything anywhere close to it.  The connection between your minds thrums and sparks violently; Anakin feels the way your body practically soars over top of the pleasure while his is just being ruthlessly pummeled into the ground by it.  He’s not meant to handle this, he literally wasn’t made to survive the devastating anomaly—it’s as wicked and excruciating as it is dazzling, and he wonders if he’ll ever truly be able to come back from it.

Eventually, Anakin manages to find his way back to himself.  Eventually.

His cock is throbbing, that’s the first thing he‘s able to notice.  The dirt floor beneath him that somehow feels slightly different than before, the fetal position he’s assuming on top of it, the once sturdy wall now crumbling to dust against his back.

The next thing he notices is the utter, complete mess he made.  Blood slowly drips in a line down his neck and more cum than he’s ever felt himself produce before drenches the front of his pants.  Anakin slowly blinks his eyes open, trying to fight the vertigo and wondering if he might have a concussion right now.  There are cracks and fractures in the ground that branch out from the small crater at his back, and the fire is completely extinguished now, charred logs splintered and strewn about like somebody detonated a bomb in here.

At some point, his gaze drags over towards you, and remarkably, you haven’t moved.  Still curled up on your side with your back to him, still breathing slow and steady and undisturbed.

Anakin pants in exhaustion and waits for you to turn over to address him and what he did.  There’s no way you’re still asleep, not after what just happened.  Anakin couldn’t get through it without sending a giant shockwave through the entire cave and quite literally rupturing the ground beneath him, he’s surprised you even managed to stay in one spot the entire time.  He doesn’t know if you feel violated right now and are refusing to acknowledge him, or if it’s just taking as long as he is for your brain to catch up and start functioning again.

That is, until he hears a small snore come from your unmoving body once more.

Anakin blinks.

No.  You have to be awake, he figures, moving to prop himself upright and wipe the blood from his neck with the dark sleeve of his robe.  There’s no possible way that the orgasm you both shared is actually… normal, no, the sheer power of it had to be influenced by his presence somehow.  He must have… increased it, or something.  Anakin doesn’t know how, but he knows he must be directly responsible, this had to have been the strongest you’ve ever cum in your life and you just don’t know how to confront him about it right now, so you’re pretending to sleep.  Yes, that’s what it is, that’s what it has to be.

He’s not going to check, though.  He’s not going to find any lingering energy left within himself to summon and look for the thick darkness of sleep still enveloping you, he’s not going anywhere near your signature right now.  No, Anakin is fine just like this, exactly where he is.  Instead of verifying or confirming his own understanding, he’ll just be extra confident in it, that’s always worked well for him.

So he just sits back and takes a deep, shuddering breath, feeling like his whole body is weak and trembling with fatigue.  Maybe you are asleep, he shrugs.  Maybe he’s wrong, and selfish, and an idiot.  Or maybe.

Maybe you just like keeping secrets, too.

[lil-oreo-cookie]

Something About Svtfoe That Has Bugged Me

So this is primarily my AU blog, but of course there’s going to be other Star vs related things I’ll post. There are a lot of small nitpicks I have about the show that I haven’t seen anyone else talking about. Here is one of them:

Star and Moon’s interaction at the end of Starcrushed (S2E22), specifically, when Moon says this:

How does Moon know that Star knows who Toffee is? Moon obviously kept a lot of things in her past secret from Star, specifically anything surrounding her mother. Moon would’ve never had any reason to bring up the man who killed her mother, that would lead to too many questions. Why would Moon just assume that Star knows who he is? There is zero context for her knowing that Star would know this information.

Star never told her mom she ever dealt with Toffee beforehand. To this day, Moon has no idea about their confrontation during Storm the Castle. Star never told her about it, Marco shushed her before Star could tell her mom. Moon is absolutely clueless.

Granted, Moon could’ve assumed Star saw her tapestry, but even then that wouldn’t make sense with Moon’s character. Star is called “The Underestimated” for a reason. Moon doesn’t know Star went into her wand and according to Star in the episode Into the Wand she hadn’t been inside the Grandma Room since she was a baby. Also, TOFFEE WAS CALLED THE IMMORTAL MONSTER, NOT BY HIS NAME.

And thus leads to my next point

Why… why is Star scared about this…? Immediately, once Moon utters that Toffee’s back, Star is taken aback and seemingly terrified and worried about the threat of Toffee.

You see, it makes sense for viewers to react this way about him being back. We just saw him completely decimate the entire Magic High Commission with no effort. Which, at this point in the story, was who we were supposed to be rooting for. Star has no knowledge of this, Moon came into her room and demanded she leave with no explanation other than, “Toffee, who I’ve never mentioned to you and have no idea about your previous interactions with him, is back so we gotta go.”

^^This is the last time Star actually saw him. Star interacted with Toffee once, in this scene, and the only really threatening thing he did was use Marco as a bargaining chip. She knows he’s a bad guy, but overall she was never really intimidated by him enough to stir this reaction that convinces her to leave all her friends behind. He never truly scared her, he was calm and rational when speaking to her, and he kept his word about freeing Marco (another topic for another day).

THANKFULLY the next episode somewhat fixes this, bringing back Star’s cocky “I can totally beat his ass” attitude. But it still doesn’t excuse her out of nowhere and out of character fear in Starcrushed.

If Star had never met Toffee It’d be like:

Moon, dramatically: Toffee has returned

Star, confused: Who?

Imagine if instead, Moon disclosed to Star about how an enemy has returned, possibly informing her that this enemy has defeated the Magic High Commission and is coming for them next. Star would’ve been reluctant but her guard would’ve been put down enough to go with her mom.

The next episode could’ve been about Star trying to uncover who this enemy is rather than whatever else happened that episode. Could’ve finally had Moon find out about their interactions during Storm the Castle, heightening her fears which were already high.

Star: Who is this.. enemy? And why is he so important that I had to leave ALL my friends behind!!

Moon: I- he-

Star: JUST TELL ME MOM

Moon: His name is.. Toffee…

Star: Toffee… you mean that old musty lizard guy you blasted off in your tapestry? Yeah I met him a while back, wasn’t that bad, a little intimidating but he doesn’t scare me

Moon: WHAT!? You MET Toffee!?

Star: He was the one who had me destroy my wand. Look mom, it was either the wand or Marco… and… *tears up* I wasn’t going to let him get killed over a stupid wand.

Moon: Star— I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you had a dealing with Toffee!! This just makes things worse… oh no…

Anyway, thank you for coming to my StarTalk, I have a lot more of these tiny nitpicks that I’ll totally talk about later ;)

But seriously did I like, miss a scene—

[aguecheek]

Can you tell us about that gender bent midsummer night's dream production you did lights for?

Oh boy oh baby oh boy ive been waiting for this one

So in 2019, I ran lights for a Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Midsummer that took the characters of Lysander and Helena and genderswapped them. Lysander became Lysandra, and Helena became Helenus. And dude???????? It changed...SO MUCH??? It literally lives in my head rent free, i still think about this production every goddamn day. More under the cut.

When Hermia’s father insists that she marry Demitrius or face death, it becomes much less a matter of a man exerting control over his daughter as if he owns her, although it still definitely is that, but now takes on a new dimension. Egeus has delivered an ultimatum: be straight or be killed. Absolutely fucking terrifying, and for modern audiences especially, the stakes suddenly become much more personal and much more real. (We also kept a running tally of every family who left in the middle of the show when they realized it was gay LMFAO our highest record number was 18 families in one night. Gotta love PA!) So in the scene immediately following that, you get this really gorgeous tenderness in the “how now my love, why is your cheek so pale” scene, you know the one. The agreement to elope, the overwhelming joy that comes from the notion of leaving your homophobic father and going to live with your girlfriend’s accepting aunt...it’s good, it gave me the warm and fuzzies.

The Helenus comes on, and oh boy oh boy oh fucking boy. Because in the first scene, you have this line from Lysandra about Demitrius promising himself to Helenus, and Egeus looking absolutely horrified at it, and Demitrius denying it fervently. And Helenus is lost, confused, and desperate, and he’s seeking comfort in two other openly gay people, his childhood best friend and her girlfriend—and the’re both leaving athens. Together. When he gives that fucking goddamn how happy some o’er other some can be speech (which ive had memorized since i was eight because its so unbelievably fuckign good) it’s absolutely HEARTRENDING. Demitrius was his, and they were in love, and then demitrius got cold feet and backed out, and now hermia and lysandra are leaving too, and helenus is going to be alone in athens.

Then you get helenus and demitrius’s first scene together, the “you draw me you hardhearted adamant” scene, the “spurn me like a dog” scene. And this scene was hard for me to watch every single night. Because, now forgive me for getting a little personal, I struggled with a lot of internalized homophobia for a pretty significant portion of my life. And there was this awful heartwrenching moment the actors did where demitrius grabbed helenus by his shirt and their mouths were inches apart and demetrius like tore himself away and stumbled away shouting and it just...i’ll say, okay, i named my sword demitrius(That’s not a euphamism, I have a sword hanging on the wall of my apartment named demitrius, I intend to name all my swords after shakespeare cahracters)because of this character. I don’t like demitrius within the text, i think he’s an asshole LMAO. But this version of demitrius really just grabbed my heart ripped it out of my chest and stomped on it, because he wasn’t a misogynist freak, he was a real dude struggling with some serious significant internalized homophobia. It gave him a reason to reject helenus, it gave him a reason to pursue hermia, and it gave him an actual in-depth character reason to be a dick other than just...hey, this is demitrius, he’s a dick to women.

One of the worst and best scenes every night was the fight scene. Now the fight scene fucking gets me, no matter what, but with the sexuality dynamics, god, it’s just so fucked up. Because when demitrius first starts acting all lovely-dovey towards helenus, there’s this awful heartbreaking look of longing on helenus’s face, and then when “oh, spite, oh, hell” comes bursting out, ur heart breaks ight the fuck along with him. Not to mention now here’s hermia, who ran away from her father to be with her girlfriend, to escape the confines of heterosexuality, so they could be together, and now lysandra is turning away from her and trying to get all cozy with helenus. Helenus’s heart is breaking because he thinks that he’s being betrayed by his own community, being mocked for something that they above all else should support him for. Hermia’s heart is breaking because she’s losing the one person she sacrificed everything to be with. Lysandra and demitrius are fine lmao they’re asleep, they don’t know whats going on.

But like okay. Okay. god. Okay. listen to me. When theyre all running exhaustedly through the woods and they eventually collapse on the ground, sound asleep, and puck comes out with the cure for the spell...he cures them both. HE CURES BOTH LYSANDRA AND DEMITRIUS. Because unlike in the original text, demitrius doesn’t need to be under a spell to love helenus. He loved him all along, he never stopped loving him, he just...wouldn’t let himself. So wheras in the heterosexual midsummer, puck usually cures lysander but not demetrius, in this version, you have them both being cured, both being brought back to themselves. 

And when they wake up, and the lights went all purple and blue and soft and the music started playing (it was fucking moon river. The music was fucking moon river please im going to cry) and they’re all just standing there, holding the person they love, swaying softly, whispering in amazement at their fantastic dream…”are you sure that we are awake?” oh my fucking god. Oh my fucking god. Oh my god.

Then everybody comes storming on, theseus and hippolyta and egeus and such, and demitrius has that line...that fucking line… “The object and the pleasure of mine eye Is only Helenus. To him, my lord, Was I betrothed ere I saw Hermia. But like in sickness did I loathe this food, But as in health come to my natural taste, Now I do wish it, love it, long for it, And will for evermore be true to it.” DUDE ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME THAT’S SO GOOD. Because unlike with the magic flower route, he actually is returning to his natural tastes. This is the story, this is his story, this is him giving up on his attempts to hide that part of himself. This is him accepting who he is and wishing for Helenus, loving him, longing for him, will forevermore be true to him….god. It got me every single fucking night. Every goddamn single night that line made me tear up.

And then they all got married and it was lovely and beautiful blah blah its a comedy everybody gets married you know the drill <3 but yeah, i still think about that production every single fucking day of my life. I dont think ill ever stop thinking about it.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E6; Chapter Six, The Monster - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘠/𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘺𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Joyce and Hopper sat opposite one another at the kitchen table of the Byers' home. The house was cold and hardly lit, copies of newspaper clippings scattered all around the house. One of the only light sources was a dusty chandelier that hung from the kitchen ceiling above the table and their heads, illuminating the several papers.

"Look, we gotta go through this again." Joyce insisted.

"I told you everything that I saw."

"Oh, gosh," she sighs into her hands. "Tell me again."

"Upstairs or downstairs?" Hopper asked.

"Upstairs."

"There was a laboratory. It was where they must do experiments or something, and then there was... well you see, like I said, I got turned around."

Hopper was currently sharing all he had encountered on his rogue mission at Hawkins National Laboratory. Joyce, all the while was hanging on his every word.

"I told you, it was like, I don't know, it wasn't supposed to exist. That whole area, it was abandoned and... forgotten, like it was all some big mistake. Once I found my way back, I saw that... kid's room. That other kid's room, I mean. Like it was actually used, but it didn't even look like a kid's room, neither of them did. It looked like a prison."

Hopper sighed and rubbed the bottom of his palms into his eyes tiredly, is fingers held the lit cigarette inches away from his face as he did so. "If that even makes sense,"

"Well," Joyce began, trying to get to the bottom of this never ending mystery. "So why would you think it was a kid's room, then?"

"Because, I told you, the size of the bed, there was a drawing, there was a stuffed animal--"

Joyce interrupted the man quickly. "Y-You didn't say there was a drawing."

"Yeah, there was a drawing of a... an adult and a child. It said 'Eleven' on it."

"Was it good?" Joyce pressed.

"It was a kid's drawing, Joyce. It was stick figures."

Joyce had a knowing look on her face as she stood up with a sigh, retrieving a piece of crinkled line paper and slammed it down on the table for Hopper to see.

She pointed to the detailed drawing as she sat back down.

"Wasn't Will." She stated confidently, shakily bringing the cigarette back up to her lips.

Hopper examined the drawing and everything seemed to click. He returned his gaze to the anxious mother. Hopper quickly put out his cigarette in the ashtray and made a beeline for the coffee table.

"Earl..." he muttered, as he made his way into the living room. Joyce, who had abandoned her cigarette, was right on his heels.

"The night that Benny died, Earl said he saw some kid with a shaved head with Benny," Hopper and Joyce took a seat beside one another on the living room couch, Hopper's eyes fixed on the several news clippings splayed along the wooden coffee table. "Now, I pressed him, he said it might be Will, but maybe..."

The man began shifting through the papers, and Joyce spoke up.

"Wait... Maybe, it wasn't?"

Hopper pulled the article he had been looking for and pointed to the fuzzy photograph of the woman in the article.

"Look... this woman, Terry Ives, she claims to have lost her daughter, Jane. She sued Brenner, she sued the government... Now, the claims came to nothing, but what if... I mean, what if this whole time I've been... I've been looking for Will... I've been chasing after some other kid?"

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Everything is a mess.

Will is still missing, the party is falling apart, Mike and Lucas are still angsty messes that won't speak to one another, and now, El left us. She probably thinks I hate her.

'But I don't! I was just scared'

(Ok but like,,,, who else ships El and reader cause damn I've been giving myself feels lately, dang)

'We need to fix this'

I sigh and sit up from my bed and make my my way to Dustin's room.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"I just... I can't believe she didn't come back." Mike sighed.

Dustin and I agreed we needed to talk some sense into the rest of the party. So we got our bikes and made our way to Mike's. Dustin was standing opposite Mike while I currently occupied one of the D&D chairs I had pulled up. Mike was worriedly pacing the floor in front of us.

"She's gotta be close." Dustin offered.

"She said it wasn't safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us. She didn't betray us."

"Mike, calm down."

Mike only ignored Dustin and kept talking, more to himself than anybody it seemed.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her. I never should've done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault." Dustin said.

"Yeah, it's Lucas'."

"It wasn't his fault, either." Dustin countered softly.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Mike stopped in his tracks. He looked at my brother dumbfounded and took a few steps in his direction. "It wasn't his fault?"

"No."

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line?"

"Totally, but so were you!"

"What?"

"And so was Eleven."

"That's ridiculous! Y/n, tell him he's being ridiculous!"

Very calmly, I stood up with my arms crossed and stood next to my brother, and sighed, eyes fixed on Mike. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dustin is absolutely right."

Mike seemed even more furious. "Oh, give me a break!"

Dustin snapped at these words and stormed up to Mike. "No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! Y/n and I were the only reasonable ones! But the bottom line is... you pushed first. And you know the rules. You draw first blood..."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand."

"You're shaking his hand." I press, stepping forward.

He was sure to make eye contact with me over Dustin's shoulder as he spoke. "No, I'm not."

So I strode toward him and gave him a slight glare.

"This isn't a discussion. This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?" I asked firmly.

Mike crossed his arms and pouted before speaking up meekly. "No."

"Good!" I chirp, my face beaming as if we hadn't just been fighting which seem to only terrify him more.

I all but skipped over to the chair grabbing my coat, Dustin following my actions.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked with a hint of frustration.

"Where do you think?" Dustin asked as he put his arms through the sleeves of his coat.

"We're going to get Lucas." I finished, straightening my jacket then looked back to Mike.

My face softened and I tilted my head slightly. "And then we're gonna find Eleven."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The three of us stood on Lucas's porch and I rang the doorbell. We stood waiting until the door swung open and Lucas stood there glaring at all three of us, but mostly Mike.

"What do you want?" He spit, resting his hands in his pockets.

There was brief silence which was then interrupted by a muffled smack of Dustin hitting Mike in the arm.

Mike sighed softly and looked to Lucas, clearly hating every second of this.

"I drew first blood, so..." he extended his hand for Lucas to shake but Lucas didn't move.

Great. Of course nobody was going to make anything easy. Why would they?

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Somehow I had convinced Lucas to let us all in and now, we all stood in the middle of his living room as he paced silently across the floor considering Mike's offer. He finally stopped and stared at the three of us.

"Okay, I'll shake."

Mike sighed what I barely made out to be a "finally" as he extended his arm out once more. Dustin and I perked up, that was until Lucas continued.

"On one condition. We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate." He finished, arms crossed defiant.

"Then the deal's off." Mike barked.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"No, no, not fine! Guys seriously?" Dustin yelled, as I threw my head back frustrated.

Dustin forced Mike to face him as he spoke. "Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

Lucas and Mike shared a confused glance.

Dustin seemed shocked and offended that they had no recollection and continued.

"We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we all split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!"

"Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room."

"El is one of us now."

"Um, no, she's not. Not even close! Never will be. She's a liar, a traitor--"

"She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident!"

"An accident?"

"All right, accident or not... admit it, it was a little awesome." Dustin said.

"Awesome?"

"Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!"

"Would everybody just shut up for one second, please!" I snap.

Everybody looks to me, a shocked expression on their faces.

I step forward and begin my long awaited  rant.

"I am sick of your attitude." I point at Lucas. "I am sick of your whining." I point to Mike. "I am sick of all three of you bickering," I gesture to all of them. "I love you guys and I can't thank you enough for taking me in and including me, know that, but GOD I am tired of being stuck listening to you boys argue about every little thing!"

I myself began pacing, my voice continuously rising. "I'm sick of putting up with all your petty arguing when we should be looking for Will only to come home at the end of the day, having found NOTHING and crying my eyes out because the only person who never gave a shit about who started what is missing and probably dead!"

I stopped pacing and looked to the boys who were all silent. I sighed and lowered my voice. "Lucas, you're right. You could have been killed. Which is exactly why we need her. She is more powerful than all of us combined."

"Y/n's right. Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?" Mike said, anger still in his voice. "That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead."

Lucas looked torn for a moment, but then he shook his head and pointed at the three of us. There was disappointment in his voice. "If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way!"

I sighed, putting my face in my hands. Lucas continued.

"I'm going to the gate. I'm going to find Will."

Lucas shoved the boys aside and stormed off, leaving the three of us alone in more ways than one.

[goosedawn]

Please do spill more on the mer aus im already in love

:D!!!!! ALRIGHT so i have 2 aus in mind! the dynamics are pretty different between the two, and ive still gotta fully work out a design for sally in both aus ejhjhdguidj

1. orca wilbur and marine biologist sally

they met when they were kids, wilbur had beached himself in order to try catch seals and sally just basically went "D: OH NO WHALE" and ran up to him and tried to pull him into the water

wilbur tries to tell her incorrect whale facts. she is not having this. she can Tell hes lying but she cant REALLY refute it because... what if all belugas do hate each other. he also intersperses these "facts" with ACTUAL facts about him and the ocean rhdjcbdj

(this is part of why she goes on to become a marine biologist, she wants to know what he got right- as well as it allows her to spend more time with wilbur ehdjfbdk)

(also yes shhh orcas arent as big as i drew wilbur let me have the big orca man)

im very tempted to call him whalebur in this au but orcas are NOT actually whales!!! aabdndkdjdmdbfkfb

2. tiny mermaid sally!

i have. thought about this one so much,, in this au wilbur is actually a selkie! he works as a fisherman in a shoreside town and accidentally catches sally in his net!

wilbur stays with the local lighthouse keeper and his son who found him after he came ashore during a storm many years ago (i... i dont know whether i want them to know hes a selkie or not yet fbdkchdjfbdj) wilbur already knows about the existence of merfolk! i imagine hes met a few in his time, but they arent too common, especially around more populated areas

he only realises he caught a mermaid when hes sorting through his catch, she got tangled in the net trying to escape and hurt herself. wilburs just like. OH NO SHES REALLY CUTE 😳🥺 and then OH NO SHES HURT OH SHIT

HRNEMFKDNSKFBKFBFKE BASICALLY YEAH he ends up taking her home to try treat her wounds and i imagine sally just being absolutely pissed off at wilbur while also being terrified out of her mind because 1. shes been CAUGHT 2. why does wilbur remind her of a seal he is a shoredweller SO WHY?? (... did you know a large part of many seals diet is made up of salmon :]? ofc she would be scared of her natural predator!)

and im so glad u agree he deserves to be bitten HHJHHDHBKFBHF please have some selkie wilburs i doodled the other day, look at this bitable man /lh ... it was just an excuse to draw seals hjfbhshjd

there are other mer in the this au as well as some other selkies! :D

[abovethesmokestacks]

Kiss Me

Title: Kiss Me

Pairing: Captain Syverson x reader

Rating: T

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: Very intense kissing? Some grinding?

I am back on my Henry bullshit, this time with the lovely Captain Syverson. As with my last Henry fic, this came about from a discussion with Brooke, which led to a personalized fic, and she graciously okayed me posting it as a reader insert for the rest of you to enjoy. Partly inspired by the video of strangers kissing for the first time. And if this guy were the one I’d get to kiss? Hold on while I go full koala on him.

The early afternoon sun had seemed blistering when she left her apartment, and the sundress had been the obvious option; light, breezy material, a pretty pattern that combined comfort and style. The sun had nothing on the man sitting down opposite her now, radiating a kind of warmth and confidence that had heat creeping up her chest and neck, her fingers fiddling in her lap.

It had been a spur of the moment decision, an audition call shared by a recent acquaintance on Instagram. Film majors at the nearby college needed volunteers for a course project, weekend appointments, no experience needed, come as you are. Sounded fun, her weekends were mostly open anyway. What could possibly go wrong. She had messaged the contact person, gotten an address and a time to show up.

The first shock, admittedly, had come as she was signed in, given a form to fill out, detailing the project. She. Was going to kiss. A stranger. In front of cameras. For a film project. 

“Miss? Are you alright?” The bubbly brunette who had signed her in, Abigail, according to the name tag tacked to her t-shirt, had looked at her, and she realized she must have made a sound.

“No! No, I'm fine, I- I just didn’t realize I’d- That this was-”

“Oh! Oh, you’ll be fine, there will be people in the room, you'll be safe as houses, darling, we won't say your names, that'll be up to you to share if you want.” The twang of her accent had was oddly comforting, but her heart was still racing, and suddenly, the handful of people lined up sitting in the corridor seemed all the more dangerous. She was going to kiss one of them. Fuck. Hastily, she'd filled out the rest of the form, handing it back and taking the number given, finding the nearest chair and trying to rifle through her purse as discreetly as she could for a chewing gum or a breath mint. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

She had nearly launched out of her seat when her number was called, probably doing a credible impression of a deer caught in headlights. Abigail had smiled at her, motioning for her to follow.

“I promise, you will be fine. Our project manager wanted to explore the intimacy of the first kiss, what happens in those seconds before.”

“Why strangers?”

“It’s more… honest,” Abigail had said. “Couples know each other, know what to expect. They are comfortable. And it’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing sweeter. I still remember my grandpa kissing my grandma goodnight when my brother and I would stay over when we were kids, the absolute comfort and love between them. But strangers, they don’t know what to expect. There’s a level of trust between them, courage to take the leap.”

That’s… She couldn’t decide if that eased her mind or set it racing even more. She’d simply nodded, letting Abigail lead her to a door a little way ahead, unlocking it for her.

“You can leave your purse on the table on the right when you enter. Then go sit in one of the chairs. I’ll bring the guy in shortly. The camera will start rolling as soon as he sits down, you can introduce yourself if you want, just your name, doesn't even have to be your real one if you don't want to, and you can share whatever else you feel comfortable sharing and then…”

“Then we kiss.”

It had seemed so simple, so straightforward in all its terrifying simplicity.

At first, there is only the outline of him, stark against the light outside the room and showing a muscular frame with tensed shoulders and a wary gait. Folding her hands in her lap, she picks at the fabric of her dress, folding the skirt into tight pleats between her fingers, following the man as he inches closer. Dark jeans that reveal long legs and thick thighs, a worn t-shirt tucked into them that stretches over a chest that is… impressive. His face, though… His face is what sets her heart fluttering all anew. A strong jaw, hidden under a neatly trimmed beard, a slightly pouty lower lip and a perfect cupid’s bow. His nose looks like it may have been broken once, but it’s been set pretty well, lends character to his face, enhanced by the clear blue of his eyes that focus in on her. His hair is short, curling a little at the ends, but kept as neat as his beard, almost like a military man, but she can spot no chain around his neck that would hold his dog tags.

And then, he’d walked in. 

She barely hears the murmur to her left when the cameras start rolling.

He doesn’t speak until he’s sitting down, gaze on her, softening a little as he holds out a hand.

“Ca- Shit, sorry. No names, right?” He looks at her, almost a little scared that he’s messed up, and it is far too endearing for such a rugged man.

Without hesitation, she gives her first name, her real first name, a little surprised at herself for offering it along with her hand. His hand is calloused, warm and big, her own palm almost drowning in his clasp when he takes it. “Nice to meet you.”

The man laughs, releasing her hand and relaxing in his seat. “Sy. Nice to meet you, too. Pardon me if I'm being rude, but you don't sound like you're from around here.”

“Here for work for the next couple of months. Gotta say, you've got a pretty good ear.”

His eyes sparkle, a smile tugging at his lips, and god, the heat rises in her again, different from the apprehension that had her worked up just moments ago. He is the kind of man that draws you in, that can make you melt with a look, and she is fading fast. She is going to kiss him. He is going to kiss her.

“I won't hold it against you," Sy quips, hands resting on his thighs, and god, she wants to feel them on her.

"Me not being from around here? Or are we talking about something else?"

"Well, I was thinking the first..."

His words trail off, the suggestion hanging heavy in the silence. It feels like it stretches an eternity between them, but it's probably no more than five seconds. She's about to ask if they should start, if she should move, but Sy is looking at her, gaze wandering, assessing. The way he takes her in,i's not objectifying or greedy, not judgmental. It's… curiosity. Assessing her, planning his move, appreciating her, and she can feel it, feel his gaze move up and down her face, when it dips down for a fraction to her chest.

Everything fades with his first move. There are no cameras, no people, no one but them. Sy moves slowly, deliberately, scooting to sit on the edge of the chair, knee knocking against hers. It's electric, making her flinch and gasp, and that seems to please him. His hand comes up to rest on her knee, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb, locking eyes with her, willing her to relax.

"There we go…" Sy croons when she lets out a small sigh, his voice low and velvety. "Just relax. 'S just you an' me here. Don’t need to think about the rest of ‘em.. I'll be good, darlin', you can trust me. Isn't that right?"

She can only nod, inching towards the edge of her own chair, drawn into his warmth, the gentle timbre of his voice, the smolder behind the blue of his eyes.

"Yeah, that’s right, sugar. C’mon, come closer.”

His voice is hypnotic, not quite a purr, not quite a rumble, but it begs to be obeyed. She leans in closer, the two of them mirroring each other, and the tension is no longer in his shoulder, but sparking between them. His measured breaths fan lightly against her skin, and though everything in her should, by all logic, tell her to run, she finds herself relaxing. Sy’s thumb keeps working tight little circles, and he moves slowly, giving her plenty of time to see his intentions, and God, she welcomes it, tilts her head to welcome him.

It’s no explosion of stars or fireworks. His lips are a little chapped, but he knows how to kiss, working against her in soft pressure and the tease of his tongue along the seam of her lips. It’s not forcing the kiss, just giving her the option, showing that he is offering. When his other hand comes up to cup her cheek, she can’t help the needy whine that escapes her, and Sy smiles into the kiss, deepens it a little, swipes his tongue along her lips again.

She opens, happily surrendering, feeling him push back, soothing his thumb along her cheekbone. He kisses like she is the one thing he has been longing for, his happily ever after at the end of a long adventure. She kisses like he is the single point of stability in a storm, the one safe harbour in the entire world. Their spaces intertwine, slowly phasing and his one hand on her cheek is nowhere near enough. She pushes, Sy gives, and in one fluid moment and a happy sigh, she has straddled his lap, slinging her arms around his neck. She’s not letting go, not leaving this moment, and it’s almost like triumph when he embraces her, palms splaying on her back and she can feel the warmth through the thin material of her dress.

It’s a kiss for the ages, and they’re both hungry, both taking what the other gives freely. Sy’s hands wander, his fingertips teasing at the neckline to brush against heated skin, and she digs short, manicured nails into the skin of his neck, revelling in the groan he lets out. He pulls her closer, and oh. Her stomach does a somersault, a surprised giggle punctuating their kiss. Under her, Sy is hard, and the brief contact makes her all too aware of just how damp her panties have gotten.

There’s a less than discreet cough, and it pops their bubble, their gazes both snapping to the sound. 

Right.

The film crew are standing behind their gear, some squirming, clearly a little uncomfortable. Sy gives a laugh, and it’s hard not to follow. She still feels winded from the kiss, head swimming, and she touches her forehead to his, biting her lower lip.

“I think we… might have overdone it,” she whispers, lips brushing against his cheek.

“I’m inclined to agree,” Sy agrees, his shoulders shuddering with poorly disguised mirth. He looks up at the film crew, “So, are we good?”

“Yup, great! We’re really- we’re good, you guys can, uh… Yeah. Good. Thanks. Um. Yeah. Great.”

They both laugh again at the awkward crew member, and she slowly eases off Sy’s lap. It’s too much of a temptation not to glance down, to raise an eyebrow at the visible bulge pressing against his jeans. He gives her a mock-chiding look before getting up himself, taking care to not face the crew as he falls into step next to her.

“Look,” he says as soon as they are out of the building, wringing his hands as he walks, “I know we just met, and that… that back there was for a project. But, god, sugar, you got my head spinning all kinds of ways, and I… it would be rude to ask to continue right away where we left off, much as I… god, I would really, really like to kiss you again, and… other things… But maybe you would be okay with a date? Anywhere you want. You can get to know me better. I’ll answer any questions you have, I’ll bring character references, I’ll pay for dinner and dessert, whatever you want.”

Halting, she tilts her head and looks up at him. The steely look that had assessed her when he’d entered the room is gone, as is most of the smoldering passion when their kiss had broken. It still lingers in his eyes, simmering behind the hope that made them glitter.

“You’ll answer any question?” she asks, smiling at the way he eagerly nods. “Is your name really Sy?”

“Yes. Well, technically. Syverson’s my last name, so Sy’s just a nickname.”

“And your first name? You started saying something else when you came in.”

“No, that was… I was in the army for a couple of years,” he explained, pulling up one of the sleeves of his shirt to show an army insignia tattooed on his bulging bicep. She bites her tongue, wondering if he had any other tattoos on his body, almost missing when Sy continues speaking, “-made it to captain before I got my honourable discharge. Just became a force of habit to introduce myself as Captain Syverson.”

“So, you’d bring one of your army buddies as your character reference?” She slows down to a stop, clasping her hands in front of herself. “I suppose now that you’re out of the army they wouldn’t feel as compelled to make you look good.”

Sy mirrors her, feet shoulder-width apart and hands clasped in front of him, and yeah, now she can see it, the posture. Definitely army guy. “No, no, god no! The guys in my unit would sooner throw me under the bus if I asked them to vouch for me in front of a pretty lady.”

“Oh, then who’d get the honour?” she asks, blushing at his compliment.

“When you signed in, there was a girl, right? Brown hair?”

“Abigail.”

“Abby,” Sy says, glancing back towards the building. “She’s my sister. Talked me into coming today, said they needed more people.”

“She must have something major hanging over you if she got you to agree to this.” Her voice is light, joking a she inches closer to him.

“Well…” Sy drawls, taking a step forward and gently grasping her hand, “I was promised a really good kiss.”

“A really good kiss, huh?”

Just like before, he makes the first move, hooking his finger under her chin and holding her still while he closes the space, capturing her lips in another kiss. It’s searing, slowly setting her afire, and she wants it, wants him, wants everything he’s giving and everything he’s offering. He keeps it short, and she can feel herself get up on her tippy toes to get more, and damn him. Damn him, damn him, damn him. She bites her lower lip.

“So how about that date, huh, darlin’?” Sy husks out, and fuck, she can hear the smile in his voice.

“I can pick the place?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“And I can pick the time?”

“Any time you want.”

She reaches out, puts a hand on his neck, drags her fingers along warm skin and pulls him down to whisper in his ear.

“Your place. Right now. And dinner… is on me.”

[ratcandy]

CoGR Abridged/Summarized

Hello hello! My name is Clam, otherwise known as Squeakyclam on Ao3, and this is a heavily summarized/shortened version of my HK fic Camouflage of Great Renown. For anyone somehow finding this that doesn't know what it's about, CoGR focuses on Zote and his story through the game and what preceded it. He recounts his entire life up until the end of what's known in canon, and this includes a whole lot of angst, growth, realizations, and Trauma Revelations.

Oh, and he's a nosk. Zote is a nosk. Yep.

I've had a few requests for a summary, as the work is super long and reading through 130k+ words of Zote dialogue may not be for everyone, hehehe so I've compiled all the important plot points and wrote them out here in order of his story, rather than the plotline CoGR goes through specifically (in which big events in his history are revealed later on).

If I had to recommend reading the fic for anything, it'd be the... impact, I suppose? 'Cause reading the summarized events here will NOT be anything like reading it in CoGR. Seeing as the fic is all in Zote's pov and he actually has to force himself to admit all of this aloud. But I digress!!

Here's a summary of Zote's life according to CoGR.

THIS IS A VERY, VERY LONG POST DESPITE BEING A SUMMARY. I'm sorry, CoGR just has a lot happening! T/W for mentions of death.

A lot more heavy stuff happens in CoGR, but in this summary I do my best to step around those subjects. If you think more T/Ws should be added, let me know, and I'll put them here

Nosks were a species that inhabited Deepnest, specifically living in a den towards the nest's depths. It split off into lots of tunnels and caverns that each nosk lived in. "Society" there was very hostile and unwelcoming, as nosks valued brute strength over just about anything else. Caring for another nosk - be it kin or otherwise - was considered weak. "Burdens" to the den, such as nosks that were badly wounded, would/could not hunt, or were simply getting too old would be killed off. Death in and of itself was very common and hardly anyone would bat an eye at it.

Think the Mantis Tribe but largely feral and without a shred of decency of morals.

Runt donning mask of citizen was born into the nosk den alongside his brother, who would become hunter donning hide of tiktik.

(Before anyone asks, these are just the naming conventions that nosks have. No one but the nosk superiors - the leaders of the den - are granted actual names.)

A third egg was among them, but the brother broke it open and ate the younger sibling not long after hatching.

The two were born under a superior (their mother) and her chosen mate (their father). They were expected to grow up strong and eventually overtake their mother and become superiors. Or, one of them would, maybe.

The runt (Zote) was immediately scorned by the mother, as he was extremely frail and useless, and she just about killed him off right after he hatched - but his father stepped in, and the runt was left alive.

Zote grew up to be a weak nosk who could barely defend himself in a den full of beasts that would gladly kill him if doing so wouldn't be a direct offense to a superior. His brother was cruel to him, his father berated him constantly, and his mother was hardly in the picture at all. Only ever watching him distastefully from afar.

His father did, however, train him, if only sparingly. The least he could do to keep Zote alive. (Doing so would be a death wish were any other nosks to find out about it...)

However, an elder in the den - hunter donning mask of weaver - gained Zote's attention as she told him fantastical stories from outside the den. This elder had spent a good portion of her life among the Weavers, initially being sent to learn about them (to make them easier to hunt) but growing interested in their culture and choosing to stay. Until she did something to get her chased out.

At any rate, she told the stories from the Weavers to Zote, alongside news of what was happening outside of Deepnest. This caused the runt to become obsessed with the idea of being a knight, as the stories just sounded!! So amazing and heroic and awesome and!!! :D Yea!! He wanted to be just like that!

To the point where he even carved a sword out of the shellwood... with the den elder's help. He named it Life-Ender eventually.

At some point, however, his father found out about all this. His father figured that the only way to eliminate this problem - as wishing to be something heroic that saved lives or whatever was SO unnosk-like (and would get him killed) - was to kill the den elder.

Before she died, the elder told Zote to run away from the den, and not to return no matter what. The idiot did not run, and because of this, he witnessed the Den Elder's death at the hands of his father and some other nosks.

Man! this does, however, cause Zote to be more... "open" about his ideas. By this I mean he begins carrying Life-Ender around instead of hiding it in his nest. what do you mean it's a comfort item what! no he's just rebelliously showing off how much he wants to be a knight. totally. 100% /s

well, anyway, not long after this, the idiot's father dies at the claws of his mother. Zote unfortunately witnesses this as well. When he tries to run, his mother catches him, nearly killing him as well. Luckily(?), this attempt is thwarted by Zote's brother, who was very distraught over their father's death. The brother swears to kill the mother before storming off. Zote runs into hiding (still in the nosk den), and begins devising his plan so to get the hell out of there.

Of the few times that Zote leaves his nest after his father's death, 90% of them ended with him getting pummeled by his brother. The latter was livid, blaming the father's death on Zote and frequently bursting into fits of emotional rage. Rage is great for nosks, other emotions not so much.

On one occasion in particular, the brother goes too far, nearly killing Zote. In the scuffle, Life-Ender is shattered, and that sends Zote into a blind anger (mixed with survival instinct as he's About to Die). Zote then kills his brother.

A crowd had gathered around them during the fight. In that crowd was Zote's mother, who looked to him approvingly after he'd killed off his brother. This terrified Zote, so he gathered the pieces of Life-Ender and fled the den forever.

Stopping at the hot spring in Deepnest, he made a disguise for himself based on the vessels that nosks would often capture. He made a new name for himself, took on an entirely new identity, and decided to abandon the idea that he was ever a nosk. He would just go to the City, be knighted by the King (who he'd heard of from the stories the Den Elder would tell him), and live out his life as a knight. Just like he always wanted. Not as a nosk. because he's not that.

The events that follow now are just very short summaries of things that happen throughout cogr.

- He breaks a statue in the Queen's station on accident after a bug finds him there. as a nosk. oops

- He obliterates the entire uoma population /j and burns himself in the process

- He repairs Life-Ender originally using mushrooms in the Fungal Wastes. Fungal adhesion is real I checked I swear

- He makes it to the City of Tears! and while there, he

Gets caught by Hegemol who mistakes him as a vessel

Drowns in the City's gutters

Purchases a cloth to wrap around Life-Ender

Hears the Pale King talk one (1) time and immediately decides he hates him

- While leaving the City, he finds a grub. That grub never really gets named, but as he frequented calling the little thing "Fiend," and the grub eventually began responding to that title, he just considers it a name for them now.

- Zote travels with the grub throughout the Crossroads until he drops them off with the Grubfather, being rewarded for reuniting them but overall feelings pretty :( about it.

- He then goes to the. So you know the houses that are underneath the Gruzz Mother's lil arena? Yea that place. he goes there and "guards" it, becoming that place's self-proclaimed knight.

- then he starts being paranoid about the grub and returns to the grubfather only to see all the grubs have been stolen. he presumes Fiend is dead from this point on (and dodges around ever using the word).

- Then he goes back to the lil town place only to see everyone's infected :(

- We then spend TEN CHAPTERS!! in Greenpath. In which he

eats a plant and dies

Stands in No Eyes's tomb.

Visits the Lake of Unn (and nothing bad happens)

Sees a nosk at the entrance to Fog Canyon and proceeds to have a panic attack

Kills everything

Gets caught by the Vengefly king

Gets saved!

has a breakdown

Yells at Ghost and then Leaves

- Canon starts!

- He stops in Dirtmouth, listens to Elderbug talk, gets told the Myth of the Great old Nosks who are now all Extinct. The news that nosks are now extinct freaks Zote out a little, but he absolutely refuses to return to Deepnest. He doesn't need to make sure. It's fine.

- In an effort to convince himself not to go to Deepnest, he goes to the City again, thinking it can't possibly be all that ba-- oh no everyone's dead!

- he inadvertently steals a map marker from Ghost and decides to use that as a pin for his cloak

- Zote returns to Deepnest. He's very upset with himself for this, but he just has to know if all the nosks are actually extinct now.

The answer is yes

but before that he gets caught by dirtcarvers and put in a web and has to be saved. this makes him angry

Upon seeing all the dead nosks once he gets to the den, and noticing that the last nosk was mimicking Ghost (evidenced by the mask left behind) before it died, he decides that he's gotta Kill Everything again

- more specifically we're going to the Colosseum now.

- Zote's fear of water evaporates as he goes through the secret passage in the King's Station to get to Kingdom's Edge. He only found it because he saw Ghost go that way

- While at the Kingdom's Edge, he gets caught by the Fools, who he stupidly challenges and then immediately gets caught by.

- sits in dumb baby jail for a while. mean to tiso

- Then the colosseum battle happens! He does not win he then gets dropped down into kingdom's edge with little regard toward whether he's dead or alive

- He grabs a Fool's helmet before leaving, going back to Dirtmouth, and intending to bury that thing

- this goes wrong as he bumps into Bretta. He then sits and talks with her for God Only Knows how Long, spacing out while doing so, and not even noticing when she eventually gets up and leaves him.

- He buries the helmet, shuts himself away in his house, and gets stuck repeating his precepts to himself. At the end of CoGR it is revealed that he hasn't been talking to anyone, and is instead talking to himself endlessly as no one is left to listen to him

and that's it! that's cogr. yeah