#I was gonna yap but I lost my train of thought

[yourdreamsweetheart]

I dislike when people get mad over people calling rdr character cowboys . . like yes they aren't technically but it's not super deep . . and the term cowboy is misinterpreted already anyway . Also Arthur and John had literally been called cowboys in the game . So even if it isn't down-to-the-definition-correct , what people mean by cowboy isn't that off either . If that makes sense

[slytherinshua]

SHUT YOUR PRETTY MOUTH

genre. fluff. warnings. eric's yapping abt furry stuff 😟 reader hates on furries. slight make out. not proofread pairing. eric x fem!reader. wc. 951. request. no. a/n. @hursheys i hope this fulfills your eric delusions ☝️ i kinda hate the ending but whatever we're gonna roll with it. net. @deoboyznet

“So then he was like ‘well that’s totally furry behaviour’, and, obviously, I took offense to that. Cause, like, hello that’s absurd! I’m not a furry. I just bark occasionally—”

You were all too familiar with Eric’s chronic insomnia. Much like a toddler, if he didn’t do enough during the day to exhaust his endless energy, he could easily stay up all night with no sense of time or how tired other people (you) were. You closed your eyes, still half-listening to your boyfriend’s rambling, although you had lost the context of it a long time ago. If you were lucky, you might even be able to fall asleep to his yapping…

As if.

“So I was like, ‘dude, I have a girlfriend, why would you even suggest that’!? They went without me— good riddance— and I blocked them too, so there’s no need to worry. Maybe this is what Kevin meant when he warned me to stop hanging out with random people I meet on the streets. But, I met you on the streets too, so I can’t trust anything Kevin says anymore. Imagine if I hadn’t stopped to get your number at the crosswalk? My life would be so boring now!” Eric continued animatedly, drumming his fingers against the pillow that rested in his lap, picking out the rhythm to one of The Boyz’s songs.

“And I might actually be able to get some sleep…” You interjected with a tired whisper, rolling on your side to face your boyfriend. You opened your eyes with a pointed glare, and Eric’s let out a small “oh”.

“Right. Sorry, baby. You should sleep.” He said quickly, plopping down next to you and planting a quick kiss to your forehead. He was quiet for around 3 minutes, before you heard a small whisper close to your face.

“You don’t ever regret taking my number, do you?” You opened one eye to find Eric staring at you, his eyes wide like a puppy’s. 

“No, I don’t regret it.” You said truthfully, a yawn coming in at the end of your response. Eric smiled slightly, his brain telling him that he should let you finally sleep, but it seemed his mouth had other ideas.

“What if I was a furry? Would you still date me?” You had to hold back a laugh at the question, assuming that it was a reference to his earlier rambling. Although you couldn’t recall how the full conversation had gone, you were pretty sure that even if you did, it wouldn’t help you understand Eric’s brain.

“Who said you weren’t already?” You asked sarcastically, earning a pout from the boy that was almost impossible to resist kissing. 

“What if instead of talking to you I just barked in response?” 

You raised an eyebrow at him, silently judging his train of thought that was getting increasingly more unhinged with every minute that went by. You being extremely tired didn’t help with your patience for his incessant questions. You loved your boyfriend, you really did. But sometimes you just wanted him to shut up and let you sleep.

“What if instead of walking—”

Eric thankfully was not able to finish his sentence, which you could only assume had something to do with crawling on all fours or galloping around like a pony, because you had finally given in to your thoughts and shut up his rambling with your lips. He was shocked at first, frozen in place from your sudden movement. But kissing you was as natural as breathing to him, so he quickly found his rhythm, pulling you closer by your waist and kissing you deeply. 

“Was that a yes?” Came Eric’s first words when you broke off for air. 

“If you mean breaking up if you became a furry, then definitely yes. Now shut your pretty mouth.” You stated clearly before crashing your lips onto his again, giving him no opportunity to protest.

It was surprising how easy it was to get lost in the kiss even when you were exhausted. With Eric eagerly leading, it was simple enough to just let him do most of the work. You tangled your fingers in his blonde hair as he squeezed your waist, letting his tongue slip past your lips gently. 

It seemed your kissing idea worked wonders to exhaust your boyfriend’s energy, as when he broke it off and fell back onto the pillow, he wrapped you up in his arms and let his eyes fall close. You could feel his heart racing, your ear resting over his chest. His cheeks were flushed a pretty pink colour and his lips slightly swollen from the prolonged kiss. As his heartbeat slowed to a regular speed, you naturally matched your breathing with it, and the repetition lulled you to sleep quickly.

Eric held you tightly in his arms, listening to your steady breathing. He was tired, but his mind still raced with thoughts. Rather than meaningless questions he loved to throw at you, they all shifted to thoughts of you. He didn’t deserve your patience at the best of times, and was forever thankful that you truly loved him for himself. 

He knew he could be overbearing and exhausting at times, but he tried his best to balance it with the soft romantic moments that you and him both loved. You were quite similar to each other, the more Eric thought about. Although you were definitely more subdued, which balanced his exuberant energy quite well.

He sniffed, not having realized until now that his eyes had welled up with tears from his thoughts. He sheepishly blinked them away and held you a little closer in his arms, falling into his dreamland with you.

↳ the boyz taglist (bolded could not be tagged): @eternalgyu,, @blossominghunnie,, @cosmicwintr,, @weird-bookworm,, @haecien,,

@lecheugo,, @seunghancore,, @heavenfilm,, @recordsfilm,, @bananabubble,,

@talking-saxy,, @cupidslovearrows,, @hursheys,, @gong-fourz

[tiredfox64]

Hello! Can you write a Smoke x reader scenario where Smoke is in love with the reader but he doesn't realize it because he's never been in love before (not even have a crush) but he knows he strongly feels something and asks for advice on his feelings and for that person to be like "dude you're in love." And tries to help Smoke confess his feelings to the reader?

Sorry if this is very long lol 😅

Spit it out!

Prior notes: Hi hi! Not long at all. Let’s see what we could do with this sweet man of ours.

Pairing: Tomas x Gn reader

Warnings ‼️: None you silly goose

There is a feeling that Tomas gets whenever he looks at you. It feels like a whirlwind is starting up in his stomach. His heart rate skyrockets to the heavens above. His mind gets clouded with thoughts about you. What is this feeling?

Tomas doesn’t know. But he yaps about it like crazy. He talks about it like a patient would to a doctor. Filled with curiosity and even some concern as if he hopes it’s nothing too bad.

“I mean, I don’t get it. There’s no reason that my heart should be beating that fast and tingling. I don’t feel like it’s a heart attack. Do you think they have some sort of power or ability to do that to people?” Tomas asked Kuai Liang.

He didn’t even realize that Kuai Liang stopped drinking his tea. He had this blank expression yet his eyes show that he was lost in thought.

By the gods, he doesn’t know does he?

“But why would they try to do that to me? Or even cause me to get distracted during training? It’s so weird. And when I get images of them in my head I feel-“

“Tomas.”

“Huh?”

Kuai Liang took a deep breath before calmly trying to explain to Tomas what he was feeling.

“You’re in love. It is simply that.”

“…oh. But what does that have to do with that feeling in my heart?” He’s like a clueless puppy.

Kuai Liang couldn’t blame his brother for not understanding his feelings. His father nor his mother had the time to teach him how to deal with his feelings. It was all just training to become a Lin Kuei assassin. Looks like he has to be a good brother and help him out.

“That’s how love works. It makes you feel things. That feeling won’t go away unless you confess your feelings.” He calmly told Tomas.

Immediately Tomas was against the idea. He didn’t even know he was in love before. Now he’s being told to confess his feelings for you? That sounds hard, impossible even!

“I will help, Tomas. There is no reason to be afraid of confessing your love. I confessed mine and now Harumi is my wife. The worst they could say is no.”

Tomas contemplated for a bit. This is all too much. But if Kuai Liang is right, maybe it is for the best to just spit it out. You never made him doubt that he couldn’t trust you or that you would ever hurt his feelings. At least if you’re gonna say no, you will do it gently. You better do it gently.

══💤══╡°˖✧🦊✧˖°╞══💤══

You were a little nervous when your grandmaster said he wanted to see you in his office. You didn’t do anything wrong, trust me.

You knocked on the door of his office where you heard him call you in. You opened the door and were surprised to see Tomas there as well. He looked a bit paler for some reason. It looked like he was hiding something behind his back. Yet Kuai Liang looked as if nothing was strange.

“Ah good, you’re here. I must apologize however as I need to step out for just a minute. I will get back to you soon. I’m sure Tomas can keep you entertained.” And just like that Kuai Liang was out of the room as if he just set it on fire. It was only you and Tomas now.

“Tomas, are you okay? You looked like you just saw a ghost.” You asked with concern as you went up to him.

He was already a nervous mess, confused on what he was supposed to do. It didn’t help that your hand went up to feel his forehead as if you were checking for a fever.

Just give them the flower. That’s what Kuai Liang said, right? Oh god they’re touching me. Why do I feel so hot? Damn they look fantastic today.

“I-I, Kuai Liang said-uh, I’m s-supposed to…” Not a great start.

In a moment of panic Tomas dug into one of his pockets and threw down a smoke bomb. Just like that he was gone and you were left coughing from the smoke. Well that was strange.

Once your coughing died down you could hear what sounded to be arguing from the other side of the door. You couldn’t make out the words but you figured out it was Kuai Liang and Tomas having a scuffle.

And you would be right. The moment Kuai Liang saw Tomas teleport out of the room with his smoke magic he told him to get right back in the room. Tomas just felt worse now and he was begging his brother for another way to do this. But there is no other way. How else will you find out that he loves you if he doesn’t say it.

“I can’t, Kuai Liang. It’s so hard. They looked too perfect today and I froze up which isn’t really new. I told you they distract me. Their hands felt so nice, is it normal to want to hold their hand? Does love make you want to do those things?” He would have said more until he heard you speak.

“What?!”

Kuai Liang and Tomas didn’t realize you opened the door when he was going on his little tangent. You finally saw the flower in Tomas’ hand which you assumed was for you. That’s just an assumption after what you heard. Kuai Liang quickly turned his brother around to face you so he can properly confess. And also to apologize for almost causing you to have an asthma attack.

“I-I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any issues. I didn’t even realize I was in love with you until Kuai Liang told me. That sounds dumb I know. How was I supposed to know thinking about you a lot and feeling warm inside meant I liked you?” He said that with a bit of embarrassment.

You didn’t find it dumb however. You actually found it cute. You took his hand into yours with a warm smile on your face.

“Love isn’t the easiest thing, ya know. It takes time. We all learn to love eventually. And I do have the time to teach you how to love in many ways.” There was a look in your eyes that was screaming at Tomas that you liked him back. He didn’t catch that though.

“Teach me? But I just want to be able to love you.” Whoosh

You heard Kuai Liang slap his forehead. This poor man.

“Brother, please, I love you but you’re killing me. That’s what they mean. Say yes already.” Kuai Liang sounded exhausted.

“Sorry, still very new to this. So does this mean now that we are…?” Spell it out for him, please.

“It means we are a couple. We will take it slow don’t worry. Just know that I accept your love.” You said warmly.

Tomas felt like his heart just exploded. He hasn’t been this happy in so long. He feels all warm and tingly inside. Everything he thought was weird and strange before now feels right since you are his partner now. This feels great to him!

He was over the moon. He picked you up in his strong arms and hugged you tight. All with a cute smile on his face. He never wants to let you go now. And neither do you. Cause why wouldn’t you love such a strong, brave, skilled, expressive, and sometimes sassy hunk of a man like him.

What a successful and productive day for Tomas. What an extremely long day for Kuai Liang. You have to thank him though for pushing Tomas to confess to you. Cause you sure as hell couldn’t do it. You probably would have messed it up more than he did. Though you knew that you loved him, you also knew that you weren’t the smoothest person in the universe. You still got your happy ending.

After notes: Those cookies in the corner of my room are calling for me and I told myself I can have a bite if I finished this. Hopefully I have succeeded in my duties in pleasing you. If i haven’t you can force me to drink cranberry juice by itself. I love this man to death he is literally my main. Gotta give me a kiss goodnight later. Adiós!

[nicolloyd]

just finished the season WOW that was intense!!! 😭 i collected my thoughts as i was watching it too heres all of it: (spoilers ahead ofc!!! btw this is really long you were warned)

episode 1 (the blood moon):

• lloyd saying uncle is sooo crazy

• WU IS DEAD I SWEAR ON MY LIFE ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY NO MORE 😭

• can these ninja get pyjamas. please.... they had those in ns1 now they just sleep in armour 😭

• bro cinder sounds like.. macaque??? is that weird.

• lloyd gets to have funny quips 🔥🔥

• HAHAHAH I LOVE THE SMOKE EFFECT AND IT JUST CUTS TO THEM LYING FLAT ON THE GROUND 😭😭

• THE BLOOD MOON IS COMING 🗣🗣🗣

episode 2 (shattered dreams):

• YOOOO its the uh i forgot what place its called but yes 🔥🔥

• drs2 spouting out words like panic attack and nental health gee wowzers

• also this is the second time lloyd has been forced to eat strange food first it was dareths pocket gyoza

• deffff arin and sora getting in a fight

• LLOYD U ARE SUCH A SHOWOFF STOP FLIPPING AROUND

• rule number 1 never trust a snake hehahehaha

• really encouraging the lloyd nya sibling dynamic i love it

• callback to torunament of elements im not ok.

• ommggg i actually hate the way ras' beard thing jiggles around its unsettling

episode 3 (beyond the phantasm cave):

• so the dragon released was the lightning

• life symbol???? thats mad lloyd is fr life and not energy

• i feel sooo bad for arin bro if i had like 10 friends with powers and i didnt i wld be pissed too

• this is literally that swamp episode from avatar

• HELPPP is this the memory loss thing pr is it actually like. real

• it would be the funniest troll tho

• oh nya you beautiful genius

• jay the loml 😭😭 toooo cute omgee

• def foreshadowing

• my other family thats sooo funny

• is this the magic man.

• yoo arent those the water villagers

• OMG IT IS THE MAGIC MAN I ACTUALKY HATR HIM BRO

• HAHAHA PROFESSIONAL ACTOR

• yesss cole was never the performer

episode 4 (force from the east):

• geooo omg their actually in love shut up

• i thimk this is ice dragon??

• NINJA BASKETBALL 🔥🔥

• SECRET THIRD WAY!!!!!!!!!

• YO ITS COLE

• also bonzle is important somehow

• aww theyre at the monastery

episode 5 (the spell at the waterfall):

• MASTER WU 😭

• garmadon :**(((( IT MAKES ME SO SAD SPINJITZU BROTHERS UUURGGHH

• hehe i love these siblings

• how are they literally husbands bro what the flip this is so noooottt censorship

• old days :,,)))) soooooi sad bro onfdhsbs

• SACRIFICE???

episode 6 (to mysterium)

• lowkey wtf is egalt yapping about

• omg this is literally beyblade.

• cole in a hood is cray cray

• also zane will not give up thag detective outfit.

episode 7 (fugitive from madness):

• blood moon more like sozins comet aha aha aha aha i miss atla

• bro the music is so good do they get an orchestra for these or what

• lircherally wjats going on

• ADMIMISTRATION!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSS

• ZANE IS SO PROUD OF THE 9% 😭😭😭 I LOVE HIM.

• crazy how theyre training again tho. good ol days

• nya and kai :'((( not having to worry about saving the world oh my poor sweet kai

• FLASHBACK. NO FRWAKING WAY

• STOPPPP THIA IS GONNA MAKE ME CRY OMG TJA WAS SO SWEET 😭 KAI AND NYA U HAVE MY HEART

• as mean as it sounds im so glad it was kai first and not lloyd it makes sense

• THE BLOOD MOON IS NO LONGER COMING ❌️❌️❌️ ITS HERE

• ohh thats why they turn to stone??

• ZANE IS A PERSON 🤬🤬🤬🤬 stopp hes always so willing to sacrifice himself

• SHUT UP THATS LITERALLY JAY OHHH MYYYY GOLLY GEE.

• i need a good 1 minute break to process everytime jay appears like actually

• ohh myyyyy goooodddd its jay pls stop stop stop stop STOP

episode 8 (secrets of the wyldness):

• forbidden five is lwk scary

• hehe i love their stupid quips and someone else saying "really???"

• oh jay oh jay oh jay oh jay oh jay oh jay he actually lost his memory im soooooo oooooohhhhhh nooooooo

• hes sooooo jay.

• so he knows he can lightning????

• zane. buddy. you cant keep doing this like actually would it kill you to stop dying

• now we're safe 😃 x4 (they were not safe)

• werent tbey in this situation before???? the tipping ship or am i just tripping

• ohhh my god the bounty died again

episode 9 (the forest of the spirits):

• THEY SACRIFICED EUPHRASIA??????

• NO DONT DO IT NO DONT WEAR THE MASK 😭😭

• resting my leg actually healed it is maadddnnnessss

• OHHH MY GOD ZANE IS MINIFIG SIZED HAGAHAHAHAHHAA THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER

• IM ALWAYS ADORABLE 😭😭😭 COLE U ARE

episode 10 (rising ninja):

• NOOOOO I SAID DONT DO ITT NOOOOOOO BUT YES BECAUSE EVIL KAI AGAIN SOUNDS AMAZING 😭

• yo. this fight is cool asl

• NO DONT KAI PLEASE MY MOUTH IS AGAPE

• omg they are both dragons rising rn

• what is going awn rn

• jordana is going freaky!!!

• ras master giving bird box icl

• AWW LLOYD COLE HUG 😭

• im assuming kai got out!

• HELLO ARE WE NOT GONNA GRIEVE KAI FOR A MINUTE???? im sure theyre all numb to death by now

• wowww 10 episodes gone just like that

• kai did not get out ❌️

[manygeese]

ok I know it’s been a while but we’re back at it again with the Sally and Esperanza au (inspired by @poppitron360)

basically if you missed the first one, Leo and Esperanza move to New York, Esperanza meets Sally and they fall in love 🥰 when Leo and Percy are eight and nine respectively, Gaea swallows them up, they go to CHB, Leo gets claimed instantly, Percy has to wait until 3 years later when he gets the TLT quest and saves his moms from the underworld

ANYWAYS! What would HoO look like in this AU?

The first thing I’d change would be who gets the Hera Swap Treatment™️. And ALSO! Who would be in the Seven in general. I think, instead of Percy (to enforce the familial tragedy lol make him suffer), Reyna would be in the Seven. So in this AU, Leo and Reyna get swapped.

So the Lost Hero trio would be Reyna, who wakes up on this unfamiliar bus with no clue where she is but a gut feeling something is wrong. Annabeth, who is searching undercover for her boyfriend’s brother (AKA her partner in crime). And Piper, who also has no clue what’s going on but is really bummed that the people she thought were her best friends don’t seem to know her anymore.

Really interesting opportunity to discuss Reyna’s connection to Rome, since Bellona doesn’t have a Greek equivalent. Who would she be claimed by? How would she fit in? When they hold campfires, does she feel a distinct sense of camaraderie that she’s longed for for so long?

Also, concept: Reyna, Annabeth, and Piper stop by the Jackson-Valdez household before making their way to California. Percy’s just like “sure, you can crash for tonight. Gods know you’ll need the rest (and my mom’s special blue cookies for good luck)”. But Piper’s just like “what HAPPENED? Why is this apartment so SAD?” Like the happiness has just been sucked out. Esperanza isn’t even there, she’s at the garage, pretending like her son is at home. Sally is looking through baby photos and stress writing and doing a million different things because maybe by the time she actually thinks about her son he’ll be in her arms again.

The Son of Neptune (or Son of Vulcan, in this case) trio would be Leo, Jason, and Hazel I think because I have a distinct image of Hazel and Jason having awkward cousin vibes. Like, “their older siblings play Mario kart together on Christmas so they’re friends only because of proximity” cousins. And Leo’s over here doing horribly crooked cartwheels to lighten the mood.

I have Thoughts about Son of Vulcan in this AU omg. So many Thoughts. Jason and Hazel finally getting each other when they kill Alcyoneus together, while Leo is fighting for his life to free Thanatos and kill all these freaky-deaky monsters. Jason and Hazel freaking the fuck out when Leo chugs gorgon blood like it’s whiskey. Jason and Leo finding Hazel standing on a rock surrounded by cereal babies. Hazel side eying Leo wondering if he’s her old crush from grade school back in the forties. Just. Son of Vulcan trio.

Another thing, I think these two books should happen at the same time because I think it’d be interesting to let both of the swapped heroes integrate more. Like, give me fearless leader Reyna whipping her (tween) troops into shape, but Camp Half-Blood just being like “dam this lady’s super cool but she needs to chill the FUCK out. stop training my eight year old brother in sword fighting he’s gonna kill me the next time I have to wake him up early”. Give me an unconfident Leo learning to be a leader after being in his brother’s shadow.

also I yapped to @puzzled-pegasus about this so here you go

[kholnt]

I just wanted to say how much I looooooovvveeee your Lost Link fic! I love the idea of what would happen if Wild remembered his past. I wanted to know how you think his knight training went? I definitely think that it was a terrible experience that gave him a whole wagon full of horrible coping mechanisms and bad habits(and from where the fic is going, I'm guessing you think similarly), but I wanted to know how you thought his training went. Anyway, just wanted to say how much I appreciate and love your work, Thank You!

WAAAH THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS!!! (but give all of the writing credit to @/eponatheestallion <33 cannot emphasize that enough) BUT! you basically got it in one! his knight training was NOT kind to him in the slightest. i mean, even with the canon material we HAVE it still doesn't particularly spell a good time. (staring at mipha, zelda and purah's diaries respectively. and creating a champion. and possibly aoc but thats a different timeline + i barely know anything abt it so its there In Spirit) i will warn you that this ones gonna be long bc botw diaries TEND TO BE YAP SESSIONS! AND im a yapper so i'll just give you the tldr:

lost's knight training was abhorrent for his mental health and plays into a LOT of his mannerisms and why he is the way he is

ANYWAY! i'll just talk abt things that have been established either in the au or in botw canon :) any blanks you can fill on your own

as for canon things heres some things that stood out to me (formatted to be paragraphs for my sanity):

"A youth named Link was brought to me a hundred years ago, covered in wounds and on death's doorstep. Link… So young, yet so courageous. He was the youngest knight to have ever been appointed to the Imperial Guard at Hyrule Castle. He was also a gifted swordsman who was selected as captain of Princess Zelda's personal guard. I thought his skills would be enough to defeat Ganon in glorious fashion…

It was the best we could do…" -Purah's Diary

~~~~~

"When I finally got around to asking why he's so quiet all the time, I could tell it was difficult for him to say. But he did. With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden.

A feeling I know all too well… For him, it has caused him to stop outwardly expressing his thoughts and feelings. I always believed him to be simply a gifted person who had never faced a day of hardship. How wrong I was… Everyone has struggles that go unseen by the world… I was so absorbed with my own problems, I failed to see his." -Zelda's Diary ~~~~~

"At the request of Hyrule's king, a group of outsiders came to greet us at the domain. One of them was a Hylian child of only about four years of age. His name was Link. He made quite a first impression. He was curious and full of energy, with a ready smile. Are all Hylian children that way?

One thing that surely sets him apart is his swordsmanship, which I hear is exceptional. He has even bested adults. He must be somewhat reckless, however, as he was covered in bruises. Wishing to be helpful, I healed his wounds for him." ~~~~~

"Link came to visit the domain. It feels like forever since he was here last. He no longer resembles the child I first met. He is now an accomplished knight and keeper of the sword that seals the darkness. I am so proud. However… He hardly speaks anymore, and smiles even more rarely. He is still the kind soul I knew, but something has changed.

I asked him if something had happened, if something was wrong. He merely shook his head. Perhaps it is his newly acquired height, but I feel he is ever looking past me, into the distance beyond…" -Mipha's Diary

~~~~~ "The details of how Link obtained the sword a hundred years ago have been lost to the mists of time, but since he was in possession of it for a number of years prior to becoming a Champion, he was likely around twelve or thirteen years old when it happened."

~~~~~

"After the Champions for the Divine Beasts were chosen, there was an incident at Hyrule Castle. A Guardian went berserk during a test run. Link deftly defeated it, earning himself a great deal of recognition. Impressed, King Rhoam made him Princess Zelda's appointed knight. With no regard for his own personal safety, he loyally fulfilled his duty to guard Princess Zelda with his life." -Creating a Champion

(there will be another thing later but its separated for a Reason.) ANYWAY! these are like. BIG things in canonical material that I feel like are important, especially if they're highlighted. i'm not really going to elaborate much since its kind of spelled out already but i'll say a few things nonetheless (also for consistencies sake i'm going to say lost but do know this ALSO applies to wild) he was the youngest knight appointed in history. like even that alone is FUCKED??? i don't remember if it was something in canon, fanon or something kay n i made up (but it doesnt rlly matter since its canon to the lost hero au ANYWAY!) but he became a knight at TWELVE soon after pulling the sword. then proceeded to become a royal guard at 17. this is a kid surrounded by adults in a generally Unsafe Environment, that alone is enough for some level of fucked. ill explain the "hes been training since he was four" later since i have Thoughts about that, but on a unrelated note do notice that mipha makes the assumption that lost is reckless and not through actually seeing him being clumsy. hyrulean guard when i get you now, to me the vow of silence was something that stemmed from before the calamity and started up in his training. because thats a twelve year old being forced to be a hero when he never got the choice to. OBVIOUSLY hes going to shut down. again, this will be expanded upon later also. lost is canonically self sacrificial. VERY self sacrificial. no further comments, just saying OKAY. NOW ITS LATER BC ITS TIME TO YAP ABT THE "inspired by canon but like. its canon plus." canon is bent in specific ways bc the way link is characterized (in cac specifically) makes him very uh,,,, inhuman i suppose. i love looking at scenarios where decisions have consequences, and it's that specific reason why i enjoy "what if" aus so much.

yes, lost was still trained when he was four. no it was not formally. to me, lost had an interest in swordsmanship because his dads a knight! hes going to be exposed to at least a little bit at an early age. he was insistent on wanting to learn, so with the power of sticks, pot lids, and a lot of positive reinforcement, he learned how to do the movements of swordfighting. he'd never been given a proper sword until the guard brought him to zora's domain. lost's dad never wanted to force the position of hero onto him, so he never gave him a sword. everyone knows that he's the hero except him, and lost's dad would rather keep it that way until he's old enough to climb mount lanayru (it happens much earlier than that) now abt the fucking "According to tales told by the long-lived Zora, Link visited Zora's Domain when he was younger and formed a bond with them, defeating a Lynel and teaching various skills to Zora children. This story sheds light on both his physical abilities and his strength of character." from creating a champion just like. isn't canon in this. the only other recorded time lost fought a lynel in zoras domain was when he was already zelda's guard and he was not younger. so by proxy it must've been when he was four WHICH ISN'T HAPPENING SORRY GUYS!!!! i'm not having a four year old fight a lynel hero or not!!!! it's referenced in lost hero canon (the soldiers accompanied made jokes and tried to egg lost on but it got shut down real quick since a. his dad was there and b. literally anyone who have thinking caps would go "yeah um... no actually!") and now its fanon time :))) when lost was in the army, he was usually trained separately from the other knights, mostly because of skill difference. as a CHILD he was able to clear soldiers, he needed different training period. as for the actual formal training, it was extremely strict. terrible conditions stemmed from an awful reward "system" (that usually led to lost being extremely fatigued and starting an endless loop of punishment. there is a reason why lost can push through awful conditions: hes used to it) all blanketed with the justification of "he's the hero of hyrule." they trained him to be a weapon, not a person. he doesn't have a sense of self nor an identity outside of "hero" "champion" or "weapon." things like "brother" got stripped from him when he joined the academy. they didn't bother with setting up a future for him. he eventually figures his shit out but thats YEARS down the line, and even then he's still suffering from this,,,, self objectification? idk how else to describe it when he wasn't getting grilled for "not swinging his sword hard enough" or having his foot a centimeter off even though he hasnt had the privilege of Basic Necessities To Survive in (insert timeframe) he was usually doing something in the coliseum. as it turns out, having the hero show off in front of an audience by fighting a lynel (or multiple) is a GREAT money maker! shame he wasnt usually told beforehand!

being forced into heroism is a big reason as to why hes the silent knight. he never wanted this. being separated from his family (whom of which i have Many thoughts about. same for his childhood honestly) and surrounded by strangers who have no care for who he is but rather what he stands for was absolutely awful, and only made worse by his age. being silent and just dealing with it is how he coped, and its eventually going to boil over (just give it a few years) his knight training was one of THE worst things to happen to him, right under failing to save his kingdom and inadvertently being the cause of hyrule's demise. it's the reason why he acts the way he does. he wasn't allowed to forget, so instead it influences almost everything he does, says and thinks. SO YEAH IT WASNT A GOOD TIME

[antrea]

this is a ramble but i just wanna write down my thoughts

i'm a new hockey fan as of february so this was my second flyers game ever and first flyers game at home (now i'm like as being 'born and raised' in nj/philly area god i've missed out on so much)

ivan played so fcking amazing for literally just being thrown out there after what like 1.5 weeks stateside? like what on earth

i still wholeheartedly believe in sammy and i cannot take this slander bc if he is so bad then the whole team is worse and cannot provide offensive support (see habs, hawks games)

tipp is soooooooooo fast. i think there were 2 separate isles breakaway chances where thankfully he was actually the only one to catch up with the dude and the pressure he created was enough to totally erase the chance. there were so many times that i thought he was gonna score bc of his sheer speed :(

morgan had some brilliant moments but i think around 2nd period i was sure he was on torts' doghouse bc he just gave away (flag) a lot of pucks lol and he started to move more slowly and then i think that's also when torts moved tippy up and shuffled some lines and i was sad - but honestly he was still injecting so much speed and creativity and he was actively winning back pucks he lost so yeah!!!

i will never forget that final 10 seconds goal for the rest of my life. the farg ERUPTED and i was just like non stop screaming and JUMPING UP AND DOWN for like 5 whole minutes. i didn't even know who fcking scored, it was so chaotic. when they said frost i nearly expired on the spot

i think frost giving away the puck during OT was like the saddest thing ever but i think that line should've started OT anyway........

about refs: since i'm so new to hockey i wasn't sure what was a missed call or just philly fans yapping lol. it's definitely much harder to tell from 200's level what is a foul and what is not

i don't know if i was just like clued in to looking out for cam atkinson mistakes but oh he lost the puck a lot :/ and when he had it he never really did that much with it

whew PK was actually back today i think and i totally attribute it to seels. i think there was one PK where he and garny blocked consecutive shots and you could HEAR it ooft

on the flip side i hate our PP so much and i quote the woman behind me but "it doesn't even look like we're on a power play"

wells fargo center is nice. for some reason before 2024 i went to 0 hockey/ice arenas and now i've been to 4 (blue jackets, caps, habs, flyers) and flyers is by far the nicest

gritty is INSANE energy man we are so lucky to have gritty

due to driving in (ugh next time i'm taking the train) i only had time to speedrun one of the shops on the concourse and there were 0 frost jerseys broooooo. they had like every other player. i was trying to figure out which of the like 4 jerseys we have this season to get anyway and i still don't know...

i was just reflecting all the way home that like i've started seriously following sports since 2010 with german football/bvb and since then i've hardcore picked up ravens nfl, orioles baseball, and figure skating, and i've just never felt this kind of high in-stadium until flyers hockey. and maybe it's just bc i've never been to like orioles playoffs or bvb in germany (i've only been to bvb friendlies in the states) but like i feel like hockey should be more popular lol

[a-tale-of-legends]

Vex finally got the name change!

Some thoughts on my gameplay atm: Slateport City is going to be the first time Jin has an encounter with Archie. I'll need to see Archie's lines, but I do want him to feel intimidating. Jin, being Jin, is hot headed and tries not to look afraid - but I think they very much are. Again, need to see Archie's quotes.

Something else I want to touch up on: How long all of this is taking. I think almost every pokemon journey takes about a year, for my sanity. I think that Em/ORAS takes place....not exactly after FRLG, but rather, it takes place after those events already started, and probably ends after FRLG already ended.

Getting into the nitty gritty: The trip to Rustboro probably took a day at the least, not counting the possibility of getting lost in a forest. Jin is on a mission, and no forest is going to slow them down. Though by the time Jin gets to the city, they are probably wiped cause, again, they went from Littleroot to Petalburg to Rustboro in day at the least- they would be tired. I think Rustboro would also take a day or so? Maybe one day to register and train ( maybe some training with Amber?) and then the next day is the tournament + gym battle + the team aqua grunt stuff. Mmmm yeah that seems reasonable.

I think the trip to Dewford would be....short? Having gone on boat before these things would probably take a few hours max. As much as I want to inflict my sea sickness to Jin and have them crash the minute the reach land, I think Jin, at this point, just wants to hurry up, deliver the letter, take on the gym and move out. Granite Cave humbles them, so they take a minute to rest + train. Still, they do what they gotta do for the day, and then they go to rest at the poke center for the night. They take the boat to Slateport and. Honestly a lot is gonna happen in Slateport I think. Meeting Lisia, exploring, the whole thing with Team Aqua....so I'm gonna have to plan that out. Maybe have the fluffy stuff before the plot stuff, hm? Plus, I want Jin to get introduced to pokemon contests!

Okay that's enough yapping from me. I'm probably gonna rest for today so! Yeah!

[parapluiriel]

Goddd I want him. Whys he so cute he doesn't have a permit to be that cute. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.like. he.irghyyhhhhhhhh. like a bunny

Cute like how a rabbit is yk. I saw about five bunnies in the span of today and yesterday what's going on is it bunny season

I wish I could see him aaaaaà I'm so cringe frying crying dying rn wahhhhhdjdj but did you know. Bunny cute. Ahahhahahhsjjndk Weh Weh wjeh qooiifht where's the cursive script I need the cursive script

Ohoho

That's so funny genuinely

Freaky...

But dude how do you tell your bro that he is all you can think of without being weird. Pining hours are back I'm afraid. I want to marry him ew ewew did I just say that yikes. Delete delete this is triggering for so many people.... Sighhhh this is pathetic. I cannot speak without a train hitting me

My friend likes to go to the clearing to get hit by cars real no clickbait no borax no slime

I am suffering from too many thoughts syndrome and I've decided to make it everyone's problem (so sorry for my moots genuinely I'm not rlly asking for help I'm just yapping) but does liking someone for longer like. Ferment the feelings? Idfk but I think it gets stronger over time. Does that make sense? God I love him. Ew yikes feelings. I've lost hope in myself and my life anddd I've maken carbonara noodles today. They were really good, almost restaurant quality.i would be an awesome husband if I could function properly and do stuff :// but alas I cannot so I must put my dream of a domestic life behind me and return to the harsh harsh reality where I probably don't die cause I'm a coward but instead live depressed and I honestly think that's worse���� nobodys gonna take me as their bride... /Ref

Is it even romantic love if I just want to be around him 24/7 like a floorboard or a pet idk. I want him to think of me and feel semi-positive emotions at the least. We get along so well and he is so cool and cute and augh. I love his mindset I love the way he texts I love his voice I love his face I love his horrible posture I love his cute way of walking I love how he's genuinely nice and doesn't find me off-putting I love how he validates me when I tell him about stuff that happened to me I love when he gets excited talking about his interests and I hope he'll do it more

I don't understand how he can be like this. Giving care and attention without asking for anything in return? Ok yeah is it obvious I was loved with conditions

I'm dropping crazy lore ngl

I had a stomachache for days after I talked to him that's how bad it was. I don't know. I want to be loved back for once

But asking it of other people is selfish and I don't know how to be loved otherwise. The hell do I do? Forcing it on him is a definite no. Waiting for him to like me back? Extremely unlikely. So now what. What do I do in this situation

I wanna say (character core) but idk what character this is so yeah. But this situation is incredibly Hirano to kagiura. Yeah. Hit send

[brutal-nemesis]

Train Day 2021: Train Danger. Trainger

Happy Train Day! I hope everyone’s year has gotten off to a good start (❁´◡`❁) And If not let’s make it better with some whump!! This time I have yeeted Castys into old west and therefore this is not canon. But it’s still that classic blend of goofy while also Horribly Mean, so buckle up. Or don’t because trains don’t have seatbelts. I think.

Castys drabbles masterlist

Ingredients: manhandling, hand whump, broken bones, gore/brutality (if you’re not about that just stop reading after they knock him out)

A list of dumb things to do:

Hide from an angry rich man on top of a speeding train

A list of smart things to do:

Not that

Guess who made the dumb decision today? Not that Castys had thought it was a good idea, he was thinking more along the lines of aaaa run away from angry men who want to hurt me oh look a ladder let’s climb it. So here he was, carefully making his way along the roof of the train, cool desert air blasting into his face. He really hoped they hadn’t seen him go up that ladder since his gun had run out of bullets, making it basically a useless fancy piece of metal instead of a shooty death contraption. His best bet, now that he was defenseless, was making it to the front of the train where he could chill with the coal shoveling dudes. Mr. Fancypants Thurmond and his lackeys wouldn’t DARE soil their nice clothes with coal dust, so Castys would be safe up there until the train stopped and he could dash off to lands unknown.

Alas, things were never quite that simple. Just as Castys was readying to jump to the next car, the hatch on it opened and one of Thurmond’s goons poked his head out. Castys considered just jumping over him and continuing to run, but decided against it when the man pointed his definitely loaded gun at him. Not that he was afraid of dying, but getting shot was entirely unpleasant and Castys would rather not fall off this train that he’d actually paid money to board (for once). Hearing the sound of another hatch opening and footsteps behind him, Castys slowly turned around, hands raised in surrender in the hopes that he wouldn’t get thrown off. 

“Evening Mr. Thurmond, how kind of you to join me up here. The sky is quite lovely at this time of night, I must say.” Castys addressed the imposing man stalking towards him as calmly as he could, hoping to keep things under control.

“Quit your yapping. The only thing I want to hear out of you is the location of the gold you stole from me.” Thurmond didn’t falter one bit in his approach, and Castys hesitantly took a step back before realizing that continuing to back up would send him tumbling down between the cars. Great, he was trapped.

“I’m not entirely sure that gold is yours, considering the fact that you stole it in the first place. Stealing it from you basically makes me the police. But, like all law enforcement, I can be bribed, so I’m sure we can work something out. Let’s all just calm down and-“ Thurmond didn’t let Castys finish, grabbing the front of his shirt and dragging him to the edge of the train. Castys felt empty air beneath his heels and, stupidly, he looked down. The train was inconveniently going through a canyon, so if Thurmond let go of him he would fall a ridiculous distance to the canyon floor. Which would suck. “H-hey, come on now, I didn’t think you were this stupid. If you drop me here, you can consider the gold lost, amigo. My corpse is gonna be a whole lot less talkative than I am.”

“I know what you are, immortal,” Thurmond growled. “And as much as I would like to, I know that throwing you off here would be the same as letting you go. Which is something that I don’t intend to do.” After letting Castys dangle a moment more, he yanked him back from the edge and tossed him to one of his waiting underlings. “Get him down to my compartment. And don’t make a scene.” Castys tried to retort, but the man holding him clamped a hand over his mouth, which he considered licking but ultimately decided against since it would probably taste terrible. He let the man drag him to the hatch and toss him down to the other dudes waiting at the bottom of the ladder because they had functioning guns and he did not. Actually, scratch that, he didn’t have a gun at all, now that he checked. Thurmond must have taken it while he was being all ooh I’m almost going to throw you off this train won’t that hurt and also suck.

So there he was, weaponless in a very fancy train compartment and surrounded by a stupid amount of Thurmond’s henchmen. Lovely. Thurmond strolled in casually, as if there was absolutely nothing suspicious going on, and glared at Castys before looking around at his goons expectantly. “Well, don’t just stand there, tie him up,” he ordered. “Can’t have him running off before I get him to talk.”

“What makes you think I’m going to talk? The fact that I never shut up?” Castys did his best to remain calm as the men grabbed him. “You might have me defenseless and outnumbered and you’ve probably eaten more recently than me, but I pride myself on my ability to only talk about what I want to talk about. Which right now is-”

“Uh, Mr. Thurmond,” one of the goons interrupted, “we left all the rope in the car with the horses. I mean, we can go get it, but...”

“Why would you-fine, fine,” Thurmond sighed. Castys smiled at his frustration. If there was one thing he loved, besides setting things on fire, it was seeing super composed dudes become not composed. Hilarious every time. “I suppose I’ll just have to...get creative.” Thurmond grabbed a dagger from one of his men and walked towards Castys. How exactly was the man going to restrain him with a knife, it’s not like-oh. They were pinning him against the wall. Then that meant...

“Woah, don’t tell me you’re willing to ruin this lovely wallpaper. I mean look at those...flowers. And are you gonna pay damages for poking a hole in the wall? I thought this whole thing was about you wanting more money.”

“We’ll pay for it with your portion of the gold.” Thurmond smiled before swiftly plunging the dagger into Castys’s hand, securing it to the wood beneath it. Castys grit his teeth, breathing in sharply in an effort not to cry out. It hurt about as much as he expected it to, which was a whole dang lot. But hell if he was going to let that stop him from being annoying.

“So...so that means...you were gonna...let me keep some of the gold?” Castys asked between breaths, grinning. Thurmond’s only reply was to pull out another knife, and the man holding Castys’s other wrist promptly pinned it against the wall. “Double or nothing, huh? You know, if I promise not to pull the knife-” and there was the sweaty hand over his mouth. Fine, whatever, just take away his ability to be a pain in the ass, the one thing that made life bearable. He didn’t bother to hold back his screams as Thurmond stabbed the knife through his other palm. Once it was firmly secured, Thurmond straightened and rubbed his temples.

“Will you please-just shut him up. With something a little more efficient than your hand. I don’t think I’m going to interrogate him here.” The man silencing him nodded, glancing around before ripping Castys’s bandanna from his neck and shoved it in his mouth. You know what, that was fine. Like, yes, it did taste like sweat, but it was Castys’s sweat, which was preferable over someone else’s. And when you’re impaled to the wall of a train by an asshole you stole money from, it’s the little things. Speaking of, train walls were objectively the worst kind of wall to be impaled to. Because trains move. They shake. And when there is a knife in your hand, you do not want it to shake because by god that makes it hurt so much worse.

Could he have yoinked his hands from the wall? Probably, but it would hurt like a bitch and he would still be in a train car surrounded by men who were very much willing to upgrade his current pain package. Unappealing. Better to wait for some other opportunity. So Castys busied himself by thinking of better surfaces to be impaled to. Ice would be cold but it would melt, and glass could probably be broken pretty easily if you could even be impaled to it, or maybe a post in the middle of town since someone might...no, that would more likely mean he would get things thrown at him, oh, but how about…

He had a pretty good comprehensive list of things to be impaled to by the time the train finally slowed to a stop. Not that he would ever need such a list for anything, but thinking about it was a heck of a lot better than dwelling on how much pain his hands were in or his upcoming interrogation (which would likely be Terrible) or how much his feet hurt from standing for so long or the fact that something vaguely smelled good and boy he was hungry or-okay in conclusion a lot of things sucked. But he hadn’t been thinking about it until just now, which was good. And he wouldn’t have to think about it for much longer because Thurmond had just told one of his men to knock him out. Which begs the question, why couldn’t they have-

When Castys woke up, it was hot. Dusty. Sharp rocks dug into his back. He opened his eyes to a cloudless blue sky. He groaned, trying to sit up or at least roll over, but he found he could hardly move. Rough rope tied his wrists to something above his head, and he could feel the same sort of pressure around his ankles. Fantastic. There was also some sort of hard rod under his thighs, like he was laying on-oh. Oh that is. Those are train tracks. Those are train tracks that he is laying on top of. Those are train tracks that he is tied to. Train tracks. 

Yikes.

“Good morning, Castys. So kind of you to join us. The sky is a lovely shade of blue today, isn’t it?” Thurmond was standing over him, but tragically was not blocking the sun’s glare, forcing Castys to squint up at him.

“Wow, repeating what I said to you last night, how cool and poetic. You know,” Castys wiggled in his bonds, “I would say that this whole ‘being tied to the tracks’ feels a little cliché, but it’s just, like, my legs. What’s up with that?”

“Do you know what the most painful bone to break is?”

“Oh that’s easy, it’s the funny bone! If I break that one I will probably get extremely depressed.” Castys smiled at the men standing around him, but no one reacted. “I don’t know a lot about bones,” he said quietly.

“Clearly. The correct answer is the femur, the strongest bone in the body. But I’m sure it’s not strong enough to withstand an impact from something like, say, a train. So,” Thurmond crouched, finally blocking out the sun, “you are going to tell me where you hid my gold, or you are going to find out just how painful breaking your femur can be.”

“First of all: rude. Secondly: how do I know you’re not bluffing? There are abandoned train tracks, like, all over the place. I think. But even so how do you know a train’s even gonna-” a faint whistle sounded in the distance. “That is a train whistle.” Castys looked down the tracks, where he could see a faint black spot that was growing larger with alarming speed. “That is a train.” He nodded and looked back at Thurmond. “You’re an ass”

“I simply want you to return what’s mine, and your continued refusal to do so has forced my hand.” The train whistle sounded again, louder this time. Castys could feel the tracks rumbling under him.

“There are at least...five other things you could have done that were not as horribly fucked up as this. I might just refuse to talk out of spite for you being such a big dickhead.” But as the train grew closer and closer, he could feel fear starting to wear down his resolve.

“I don’t mind waiting.” Thurmond straightened and stepped back. “Especially since I think we’re just going to have to let this train pass.” Castys didn’t even need to look to see how close the train was getting, he could feel it, he could hear it, there wasn’t any time-

“Alright, fine, fine, I’ll tell you, it’s in Red River Gorge, now will you please untie me?!” Castys shouted over the roar of the fast-approaching train. Thurmond simply leaned down, holding a hand to his ear, a massive asshole gesture.

“What was that, now?! I can’t hear you!” Castys could hardly hear him over the sound of the train’s whistle, but he could feel the ground rumbling beneath him, the metal of the tracks vibrating intensely under his thighs. There was no escape, no matter how much he struggled, this was inevitable, he was going to get run over by a fucking train. Terror unlike any he’d felt jacked his heartrate up so much that he felt like he was going to burst out of his chest, but even its rapid pulses were drowned out by the all-consuming tremor of the huge, metal beast that was bearing down on him, moments away from ripping him to shreds-

Collision. 

Destruction. 

Agony. 

If anything could have been heard over the roar of the train, it would have been two sickening cracks followed by a scream so desperate, so pained, it almost sounded inhuman. Castys couldn’t tell he was screaming, he couldn’t tell if he even existed. The only thing he knew in the world was that it hurt. It felt like every part of him had been replaced with the pure concept of anguish. All other sensations, thoughts, and feelings were drowned in the relentless torrent of misery. And when death came for him, he welcomed its sweet release.

“Well, well, look at that, back as good as new,” Thurmond’s voice purred above him. Castys groaned as he regained consciousness. He still felt phantom stings of that horrible, horrible pain, and he wasn’t about to let himself experience it again. And since his ankles were still magically secured to the tracks, there was only one way out.

“Well that was fun. Not as fun as riding down to Red River Gorge and digging around under the butte that looks like a cat, but still fun,” he huffed, opening his eyes. “Wanna try that next?”

“I’ll take you up on that offer.” Thurmond smiled and motioned to his men. “Let’s go.”

“Hey, aren’t you, uh, forgetting something?” Castys wiggled, thankfully no longer in pain from either his legs or his hands, but boy was he sticky. He was never a fan of being covered in blood, especially not his own. “I held up my end of the deal, so how about we stop littering all over the railway, huh?” He tried as best as he could to gesture with his head to the tracks, now strewn with shards of bone and twisted chunks of flesh. 

“I think the buzzards will take care of the cleanup, and I’m not sure how much I trust the word of someone like you.” Thurmond mounted his horse and the rest of the men did the same. “We’ll go check the location out, and if we find you were telling the truth, then we’ll untie you.” Thurmond smiled and tipped his hat. “Until then, don’t be a strainger.”

“What-you can’t be fucking serious, you can’t just leave me here, asshat! And that pun didn’t even make any sense!” Castys was certain the men could hear him, but none of them even so much as turned back to look at him as they galloped away. “What if you come back and I’m gone?! I’ll get all the gold then! And I’m gonna lick all of it so even if you-okay they’re just straight-up not coming back. Lovely,”  Castys huffed. Maybe he’d get lucky and no more trains would come by and he could just lay here and get sunburned. Might as well try to nap since he didn’t really get to sleep last night. It was kind of peaceful out here, despite the fact that it was so hot...

In the distance, a train whistle blew.

Castys Cult: @as-a-matter-of-whump​ @blackrosesandwhump​ @fanmanga1357-blog​ @poppys-whumping​ @thehopelessopus​ @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi​

[drethanramslay]

Hi!! Can you please do No. 14 and 49 from the prompt list for Ethan X MC? Thank you so much I love all of your fics ❤️❤️

Thanks for the ask anon and @squishywizardhq

You can find the prompt list here.

#14- "Are you okay?" (I wrote Bryce x mc on this prompt which you can find here)

#49- "Are you bleeding?"

#97- "Stop being so stubborn!"

I decided to merge both the prompts because it's seemed most logical and fit into the scenario perfectly hehehe

Word count: 2K words (yep that's pretty long compared to the usual requests so buckle up)

Warning: none

Author's note: I was gonna post this later but people were getting antsy so I decided to post this first so enjoy

forgive me for any mistakes

And trust me <3

Stay for Me

Leah stepped out of the subway on to the platform and started walking towards the familiar apartment complex where she had spent most of her time in Ethan's absence.

During the entire walk, her brain was racing and her heart beat had spiked up due to the anticipation and anxiety.

It's the most logical option Leah. It's okay, don't be scared. Feelings are fleeting. You will get over him eventually. Her conscience tried to comfort her, but it was of no help whatsoever.

She entered the lift and pressed the button which would take her to his apartment. Though the ride was short, her palms felt sweaty and her throat was parched.

She stepped out and knocked on the door and waited for him to open it as she wiped her palms on her tights.

He opened the door, and Leah looked up to meet his eyes.

"Leah?"

"I'm an absolute idiot. I'm so sorry." She rambled.

"What? First of all come in." Concern was etched in his beautiful eyes as he opened the door wider so that she could enter.

"I have made my decision."

He winced, bracing himself. "You are gonna stay with him, right?"

"What? No!" She grasped his hands in her and looked up at him.

"it's you Bryce... It's always been you."

There was pin drop silence. Leah's heart thundered as the silence continued to stretch between them.

"Bryce, what aren't you saying anything?" Leah's voice cracked which seemed to shake him out of his reverie.

"Leah... No matter how much that makes me happy... No."

"No?! What no?"

He sat on the sofa while Leah continued standing, her eyes following every step. "Come sit down. We are due for a chat."

She sat down on the seat next to him and turned towards him, completely bewildered. "No? But.. but I don't understand this?"

She started counting the pros on her fingers. "We are literally perfect for each other. You are the number one surgeon of your batch. I'm the number one diagnostician of my batch. We both like the same things and music. I like you... You like me.. so why not?"

Bryce chuckled and shook his head as he played with his fingers. "Leah we only look good on paper."

"Bu-"

"Leah what you described is external factors which can fluctuate with time. We literally are carbon copies of each other."

"So what's wrong with that? Isn't it better that way?"

"Leah, over time all these factors will cancel out each other and we would just be a boring couple who is a shadow of one another. This 'feelings' we have now will change into bitterness, sadness and distance. And I don't want that."

His eyes landed on hers and he gave a small smile. "The perfect relationship is when you complement one another. Like fire and water. Like Ying and Yang. And I have see that between you and Ethan."

Leah looked down, her throat choking up with emotions.

"But... I decided to go with my logic and this is the right option. No hurt, no pain-"

"-No love, No happiness. Leah, love is not a application of logic. It's what you feel. It want the heart wants." Bryce finished the statement and sighed.

"You may have never spoken about it but anyone can see how head over heels the both of you are for each other. I have noticed the way his eyes brighten when you entre the room. Or the way your smile illuminates a thousand times more when he calls your name."

"Wait... Everyone noticed it?"

Rolling his eyes, he subtly punched her shoulder lightly. "Everyone knew except the two of you. You both have your head so far up your asses that you didn't even notice a bet was going on around."

"A BET?!"" Leah exclaimed.

"Yap. Hell, 90% of the people put a bet that you would end up with Ramsey. But you chose me. Many people lost a lot of money."

Leah groaned as she face palmed. "I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be. That's why they say love is blind."

Dragging her hands down her face she turned towards him. "But if you knew I had feelings for Ethan... Why did you still choose to date me?"

A small smile etched on his face. "Like I said love is blind. I chose to stay in denial and swooped in when you were hurting. I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have played you."

"Shut up. You didn't play me. In fact you were one of the best girlfriends I have had. I knew the risks and I still pursued you."

Leah let out a deep sigh as she leaned on her knees.

"So what now?"

"Well. I suggest we call quits because neither of us would be happy."

"But what about you?"

"What about me? It's been a privilege to have my heart broken by you."

Leah narrowed her eyes at the statement and Bryce guffawed. "You know I love to quote TFIOS and I saw the opportunity and I had to."

"Bryce."

"Yeah yeah... I will be fine... Not now, but eventually. You are my best friend first and seeing you happy is all I want. Not gonna lie, I hope that I can find the kind of love you share with Ethan."

"I know that the guy upstairs has a plan for an amazing guy like you."

"Fingers crossed."

They both got up, and Bryce walked her to the door. Leah was still in deep thought but it was relief and lightness in her step.

Turning towards him, she placed a hand on the door frame. "Are you sure you are gonna be okay? I'm so sorry-

"Leah Marianne Garcia. Get the fuck our if here and get your man."

Leah gave h a huge grin and wrapped her arms around him in gratitude. "I only wish the best for you, Queen B."

"Right back at ya, Lee Lee."

------------------------------------------------------

Running.

She was running hard and fast down the empty streets of Boston. Her darned luck made her miss the last train to Ethan's place so she decided to take off running.

Her converse clad feet stomped on the wet slippery ground, never once slowing down.

Which tuned out to be bad idea because when she turned the corner to Ethan's street, she slipped and tripped, which resulted in her scraping her knees and her elbows on the rough pavement.

"Son of a bitch!!" Leah groaned as she painfully rose on her feet and tried to assess the damage.

Her tights were ripped at the knees, blood gushing down. There were tiny scratches on her palms and abrasions on her elbows.

I hope no one saw my epic fai-

"Sunshine?"

Great. Nice timing you got there god.

She turned around and saw Ethan standing there, with Jenner at his feet. Jenner immediately reached out to Leah, with an excited bark but was restrained by her leash.

He bent down and unclipped the leash from her collar. "Easy there girl. Now go."

Jenner excitedly rushed to her and stood on her hind paws and pressed her paws on Leah's waist, as if it were trying to give her a hug.

"Hello girl. how I have missed youuu. Who has been a good girl?" She asked to which Jenner barked. "That's right. You have been a good girl." She scratched the back of her ears and Jenner got back down on all fours, circling around her, sniffing.

"You came?" His voice wafted over to her.

Leah looked up, a soft smile on her face. "Yeah. I had to. We need to talk."

"Lets go up." he said, as he walked towards her.

She proceeded to walk, only to remember about her injured, bleeding knees. She stumbled and Ethan reached out to grasp her elbow, which was a bad idea because she yelped out in pain.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he surveyed her entire body, his eyes widening at the injuries on her knees and the elbows.

"Holy shit sunshine! You are bleeding. Why are you bleeding?"

"I was running and I slipped. Don't worry its just a scratch. It's not like I broke a leg or something." She said as she walked carefully.

Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist providing extra support, which Leah didn't have the heart to say no to. Together, with Jenner running circles around them, as if she was excited about the reunion, they walked to the lobby of the penthouse. They rode the elevator in silence, Ethan not once letting go of her which made her cheeks hot.

They reached the designated floor and walked towards the door. One entering, Ethan immediately rushed to the kitchen where he kept the first aid kit.  She sunk into the plush sofa and let out a sigh of relief.

As he poured antiseptic solution on the cotton, he gave instructions. "Take out your pants. I will just clean up these wounds and bandage them properly and then you can borrow something of mine because no matter how cool ripped jeans out this isn't going to wor-"

"Ethan you are overreacting. This is a small scratch-"

"God, sunshine! Will you stop being so stubborn?"

"Says Mr. I- will-walk- around- as-if- nothing's- happened- but- I- actually have a- ruptured- appendix." Leah scoffed which Ethan did not find funny. With an unamused expression he pressed the antiseptic on to the scratches on her elbow, which immediately burnt.

"Pinchewy!" She cried out.

"Yeah, right back at you. Didn't no one teach you as a child to not run on wet surfaces?"

Leah grumbled and looked the other way as he continued to work on her elbows.

After a moment of silence, Leah decided to speak about her reason to come here. "Bryce and I broke up."

She felt his piercing blue eyes land on her. "Sunshine I'm so sorry. It's all my fau-"

Interrupting him, she continued. "He decided to let me go because he knew that my stubborn ass won't date you without an incentive."

Sighing, she turned towards him, halting him in his work. "Ethan... You are a sarcastic son of a bitch, who is stubborn to a fault. Your head is so far up your ass that you don't even notice the subtle hints I send your way. You are arrogant but you also have the getaway pass because you are hot as fuck and are so damn intelligent."

"Thanks for the compliment?'

Leah chuckled as she placed her hand on his hand. "But... you are kind and you are passionate about saving lives. You may come across a harsh, but on the inside you are huge softie who cares about my success. You are a grump but, only I have been privileged to see your smile. There is so much good in you and you are such a great man. I could go on and on about the good in you but it would end up being a thesis report.

So in short, I just want to say that those are the many things I love about you."

Ethan's eyes widened, and hope and adoration poured into his eyes. He squeezed her hand as she continued. "Ethan, do you know why we work so well together? Its because we complement each other. Sure, those can lead to fights but, we always come out from those fights stronger. We are so strong and beautiful together."

She cupped his face and spoke. "So... Are you willing to give us another chance?"

Ethan's heart was bursting will joy and happiness. She wants me... She really wants me...

He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb against her cheekbone. "Sunshine, I can be a hard-ass sometimes and let’s not get started on how emotionally challenged I am. I'm a dumbass for ignoring the lines of fate. Trying to resist the inevitable just caused us more pain and sadness.” 

“Sunshine, I can't promise that this relationship will be perfect. Hell, this is uncharted territory for me. We may have fights and times when I want to bang my head against the wall but there is one thing I promise you. I will fight for you always and I will love you unconditionally."

"So will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" He asked with a giddy smile.

"Hell yeah. You can't get rid of me that easily." They both reached forward and when their lips touched, sparks of happiness and love radiated between them. Ethan ran his hand against her soft cheeks while Leah ran her hand through his luscious brown hair. This wasn't any kiss.

This was a lover's kiss. A promise. A seal of fate.

But the moment didn't last that longed. Ethan's knees knocked against hers and she cried out in pain. "Ouch!"

The both of them laughed. "Lets get you fixed up before we move on to strenuous activities, okay?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Yes doc.”

And finally, the two imperfect lovers were reunited.

bet y'all expressions would be like this

And then like this

and then hopefully like this? 

LOL im pushing my luck

Anyways I hope y'all liked it heheheh

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[tarithenurse]

Nightingale - 25

Fandom: Naruto Pairing: Hatake Kakashi &/x Fem!OC Contents: Various tempers but mostly TEH FLUFF!! OMG the fluuuuuff!. A/N: Weekend! Yay! As usual, ASK or REBLOG for tag!

Ch. 25

It was supposed to be an escort-mission. A simple D-level with no obstacles and plenty of time for training along the way which in turn would be good for the kids. Instead, it had turned into a hassle with several violent confrontations better suited for a team of jōnins.

Zabuza. At least no one has to worry about the Demon from Kirigakure. And to top it off: they boys are still fiercely competitive (well, one of them is), but their communication has visibly improved and they are slowly but surely figuring out ways to support – rather than hinder – each other.

"I expect to see you all fully rested tomorrow morning," the jōnin dismisses them.

"Haï! Ready to kick -"

"Naruto!" Already, Sakura is ready to lecture the straw-haired kid.

Following a different route, the sensei makes sure to report a job well done before ambling past the Academy on his way home.

School's in session, and he can see the students bend over their desks or staring, slightly absentmindedly now and then, ahead of them. There. He spots Iruka through the windows. The teacher is pacing back and forth, sometimes pointing to the white scribbles on the blackboard before adding something as he interacts with the kids.

Unplanned, Kakashi's gaze roves the seats, but the person he's looking for is nowhere to be found. Maybe she's self-studying? It would not be surprising. According to the Iruka, Uguisu is familiar with most of the theory pertaining shinobi skill sets, and so she is often granted time to focus on training or on the common subjects like history or mathematics.

It doesn't sit right with him, admittedly, not to know where Uguisu is even if someone else is bound to be watching her. If Kakashi would be honest with himself, he'd have to admit he prefers the idea of the watcher being none other than him...but he pushes the nagging feeling aside before getting that far.

...

Well past suppertime, the jōnin is running out of things to do to distract the busy mind of his. He is also running out of places where he could "accidentally" bump into a certain blue-haired woman. Leaving the roof of the water tower, he considers the option of summoning Pakkun to help. Maybe that's overkill? It probably is.

So he simply wanders aimlessly, his thoughts lost between the past and the future without paying attention to the shift in the surroundings where the buildings of Konoha retreat in the favour of trees.

The road continues one direction but Kakashi's body guides him down a narrower path that winds between the undergrowth and sometimes fights with gnarly roots until the tall oaks and maples give up, revealing a clearing with soft grass and moss with starry flowers.

And a lone figure.

The last warmth from the sun changes the blue hues and lends a shimmer like that of the distant ocean as Kakashi walks over. Her shoulders tense for a second but she must have come to the conclusion that it's no one dangerous because she stays seated with the chin on the knees.

"Should've guessed you'd come here," the jōnin breaks the silence, memories of stolen midnight rendezvous surfacing.

"Hmm."

Something's wrong. "Came here to be alone?"

"Hrmph!" She doesn't even look up at him.

Although Uguisu has been welcomed to Konoha by the Hokage and is doing her best to become a ninja of The Leaf, most shinobi are still reluctant to accept her. Rather than shun the outsider, they keep an eye on her and whisper about her every move. She's never really alone. Turning to the forest, Kakashi announces for whoever is spying on them that he'll take over. A soft rustling in the leaves is the only answer he gets.

"If you want -" shoving his hands deep into the pockets, Kakashi prepares to get any hopes bashed -"I'll leave you alone...but it's generally better to talk about the problems."

Finally, she looks at him. "You're my problem." The man isn’t sure how to respond but is saved the worry as she continues angrily, “I’m stuck here while you run off on who knows what sort of silly quest. Back in a week? Ha! D-rank my ass! And no one tells me anything! Not that you barely travelled two days before you were attacked! Or that the entire mission involved a gang of criminal and missing-nins! NoooOOo!”

“Wait! If no one told you,” Kakashi interrupts the tirade, “how do you know? Did you break int-”

“Don’t! I’m pissed because...because...what’d I be supposed to do if you got yourself killed? Huh?”

Oh. “You’re worried about me.”

Her gaze is trained on anything else but him as a blush spreads. “Don’t change the s-”

Uguisu doesn’t get any further because the jōnin shuts her up with a kiss. Slow and soft, it sends hearts galloping, and he restraints himself and lets her lead the pace even as the woman’s mouth grows more demanding. Hungry.

They’re both breathing hard when he finally breaks the contact with a few millimetres. “I missed you too.”

“This isn’t gonna make me miss you less,” she whispers back.

He smiles through another (shorter) kiss before admitting that it’s the plan. “But I’ll make sure you’re informed if something really does go wrong, okay? I can even ask Pakkun or one of the others to go to you.”

”Pakkun?”

Perhaps it’s irrational. It is. If the worst should happen, then they’d be too far apart for her to be of any assistance and the Hokage would find out eventually, ensuring the right actions be taken and a handful of people be informed. The old leader would know Uguisu is among them now. But she doesn’t trust that yet and how could she?

That’s why Kakashi spills a bit of his blood to summon the entire pack of ninken.

“Uguisu, meet Pakkun, Buru, Urushi, Shiba, Bisuke, Akino, Ūhei, and Guruko. Pack, meet Uguisu.” Noses wriggle to take in the cottony scent of the woman and a few tails even wag though that might be pure instinct. “If I die, go straight to her.”

“Hi,” she waves while ignoring a muted howl supposed to tease the man but her attention is fixed on Shiba.

Yapping curiously, the hounds get the basic information they want from the humans and accept the request. Thank you, guys. Meant to comfort the woman, Kakashi can’t deny the peace it grants him too to know she won’t be forgotten. Maybe, one day they will allow her to summon them.

“Excuse me,” Uguisu is addressing Shiba, bending down to whisper something into his ear that the jōnin can’t hear over the hounds’ panting and scuffling.

The answer is clear, though. “I’m not some pet.”

“My apologies!”

“But I’ll allow it this once...” the mohawked hound concedes and sits down before the woman.

Attempting to still be respectful, she runs her fingers through the coarse hairs gently at first before really digging in, and soon the creature is barely sitting, his tongue lolling out and the tail wagging happily. He doesn’t even attempt to shut the rest of the pack up as they laugh at him and soon their mocking is replaced with ill-disguised pleas for similar treatments. Uguisu happily obliges.

Hrmph. Oh, Kakashi’s thrilled that they’re all getting along, it’s just...

“Okay okay! That’s enough, you can finish the grooming session some other time!” he grumbles, earning little less than jeering howls of laughter from the hounds who seem to have made up their minds.

Soon, though, it’s just the man and woman left.

“Say, ‘Kashi...” she smiles crookedly, “are you...jealous?”

Yes...I might be. “Don’t be silly. They’re -”

His defence crumbles the moment her fingertips dig into the wiry hair and connect with his scalp. It’s like he’s turned to kin-gyoku! Spinelessly, he’s toppled onto his back, barely even able to show any surprise at his head coming to rest on her belly, because it feels amazing when Uguisu is carting her fingers through the white strands, aimlessly attempting to subdue it into anything but unruly spikes.

[passivenovember]

The Skull on the Shelf that Bares My Name

This is my first time posting a fic on tumblr, so. Here goes nothing

__

Billy was like an oil painting that had been around for a thousand years. Pretty in the right lighting, hideous in the swell of nightfall. All rough edges and smeared color, full of broken things inside that cut through the air and rattled around like shattered glass whenever anyone got too close, bristling and blowing with the 75mph wind that tumbled through his soul.

Billy thought it was breathtaking.

Thought he was breathtaking with split knuckles and broken ribs. Matted hair tangled with dried blood. Busted lips painted red, color spilling down his chin when he smiled too wide at his reflection.

He liked it messy and hideous.

Did everything he could to destroy the precious image, the golden boy.

He had always been pretty. Like a girl; sparkly eyes and curly hair. Neil had always old him someone would come along and color outside the lines, scribble over the image his mother had left behind and Billy had always been so breakable in the face of adversity.

Flinching against hurt and agony until it became commonplace. Until he grew tired of gluing himself back together every night under the light of the moon.

His face was beautiful like a sculpture carved from stone, or a window into the face of his mother and her mother, but.

Billy himself was like a cardboard box full of glass.

The Billy on the inside was sharp.

And crude.

And violent, when the mood struck him. Ask anyone and they'd tell you; guy's like a train barreling through an apartment building.

And he was.

A glorious, terrible, beautiful, ravenous storm brewing in the open sea.

Billy hadn't known girls could be hazardous.

He knew they were soft. Pretty, delicate and sometimes tough when they had to be. His mother had been like that--brazen. Flighty and aggressive in a different way, like when the sun emerges from the clouds and shines too brightly.

She was warm and loving.

Perfect in her femininity. Billy looked nothing like his mother because she dressed like a wood nymph, all sheer fabric and dresses that defied gravity. Her hair was blonde and curly, always pinned back with clips and beautiful scarves and Billy wanted desperately to look like her.

Film star beauty.

Painted lips, soft hands. When she threw herself off the bridge he brushed his fingertips over the fabric in her closet and tried to imagine what it would feel like to have the world at your feet.

She was so beautiful it felt like swallowing tar.

Hot and boiling on a summer's day.

Billy pulled something from the rack, ran his fingers around the liquid soft fabric of his mother's favorite dress; the white one with the pearl neckline that felt like water settling around his shoulders. They said she was going to be buried in this one and Billy hated it.

Hated that something so beautiful, so delicate would rot away in the cool, damp earth.

He sat in front of her vanity and watched the light twinkle against the jewels that littered the countertop; rubies, emeralds, opal stone cut into neat shapes. When he was a child Billy's mother would let him play with her rings because they made good skipping stones in the pond out back.

We'll always find more, his mother would say, and it was true. Neil spared no expense in making her shine like a million stars as if she didn't already steal the air from every room.

Pocket it in her velvet handbags for safekeeping.

Billy put a ring on each finger and studied his reflection in the pristine vintage mirror.

He looked like a rat.

A rat in a pretty dress, playing pretend for a day.

The front door slammed open and Billy put the dress back on the hanger.

The girl on the T.V. wasn't like his mother at all.

Not soft or feminine, but smoldering. Alight with power and freedom as she strutted around the stage. She looked like her eyes were swimming in water; thick black makeup smudged around green orbs, hair messy and tangled, legs littered bruises that peaked through the holes in her stockings as the lights threw her into disarray.

Slut kiss girls won't you promise her smack

is she ugly on the inside

is she ugly from the back...

The woman was a disaster packaged in something almost pretty but not quite. Like a beauty queen moments after winning the crown fair and square, tear stained makeup and fleeting promises of eternal beauty. She flung herself around the stage, dress ripped to shreds as the hands of the audience tried to tear away pieces of her flesh.

Her fingers were bruised and bloody as she wailed away on the guitar. Nails cracked and worn with the weight of her vengeance. With each press of her lips against the microphone the color oozed outside the lines of her mouth until she looked like a living dead girl and Billy.

He had never seen someone so beautiful.

The first time he put on a dress for real it had been an homage to his silver screen queen.

Black shift dress. Baby doll sleeves. Torn stockings and barrettes in his hair.

Kinderwhore they called it.

Billy stood awkwardly in front of the mirror in the bathroom and tried to make sense of the princess seam that came to an unsteady rest just above the line of his ribs. The clinging fabric felt nothing like the one his mother had been buried in it felt.

Dirty.

Sinful. Instantly cloaked in assumptions; he does heroin. He's a a bum and a loser in search of something the music can't give him so he searches for it in the sting of a needle. Billy bit down on his lips until they bled.

The color ran thick like maple syrup over the skin of his face, bringing out the blue in his eyes as it ran down his chin. As it caught in the stubble-rough landing of his jawline.

Billy looked like a mess.

Instantly, he was addicted. The first time Billy saw her he knew; that was his own image reflected back at him from the fifteen inch screen.

He began looking for inspiration wherever he could find it.

Debbie Harry, Freddie Mercury, Joan Jett, David Bowie. Women and men. Gods. His heroes. Feminine and masculine and dirty.

Courtney Love was always his favorite.

Filthy. Absolutely gut wrenching. Every time he saw her perform it was like his spleen was being ripped out and Billy couldn't escape the way he saw so much of himself reflected in her. All his rage and discomfort, his fury amplified by a million.

So he tried to emulate it.

Billy shopped around local thrift stores to find leopard print jackets and peasant tops. Dresses that hung wide or snuggled against the swell of his hips, kitten heels that brought much needed length to his hamburger legs and when he brought them home, always through the backdoor and stuffed carefully into a trash bag, Neil would raise an eyebrow.

Playing dress up?

Billy would grimace. Max is lookin' to be a Debbie Harry for Halloween. 'M helpin' her find the prefect dress.

And Neil drank like the answers sawm in a bottle of gin, so.

He would raise a fist at that. Never fully convinced but satiated, content with Billy playing the perfect older brother. His nose would bleed on the nights when Neil couldn't shake the impression that his son was a faggot but that was as far as it went.

Max never asked questions and Billy never told her the truth; that he felt more like himself when Courtney Love stared back at him in the mirror.

She sat with him sometimes.

Watched him apply his mother's lipstick, carefully at first and then all at once when the music carried him down.

Black lung coat and your little crown That's the crown that you get for falling down Hey baby, let me look in your eyes I see you standing in a weird red light...

"Why do you listen to this shit?" Max wrinkled her nose. Like a freckled bunny rabbit, it was kind of ridiculous. "She screams so fuckin' loud, you can't even understand what she's--"

"Mascara."

"Why? I know girls who would kill for your eyelashes."

Billy snapped his fingers. Max handed over the little black tube with a trademark eye roll, resting her chin in her hands as Billy repeated the process of careful application and then careless destruction of his hard work.

"Look prettier when you keep it nice," She snapped.

And Billy just chuckled. "I don't wanna look nice."

Max stared at him, popping a jaw breaker into her mouth. "Why not? Isn't that the whole point of makeup, to look pretty?"

Billy scrubbed at his eyes, warmth flooding his stomach again at the way the blue stood out against the black ring around his eyes. Like carefully crafted bruises, nothing like the ones Neil gave him. He shrugged his shoulders.

"That's so fuckin' predictable." He sat on the bed, pushing the hem of his skirt to roll the nylon against his legs.

"Using makeup and clothes to look worse, fuckin' idiotic." Max grumbled, but she watched with glowing eyes as Billy began scraping his nails down the length, creating runs in the delicate fabric.

"You gonna sit there yapping or are you gonna help?" He bitched.

Max slid to her knees in front of him, getting to work tearing holes into the stockings the way she knew Billy liked.

It was therapeutic, almost, having the help.

"I like when you do Blondie." She said after a while. "Fuck ton less work and Courtney makes you aggressive. She's got the energy of a horny dude, it's fucked up."

Billy smirked.

It was always more fun to play pretend with Max and her bitchy voice tethering him to the ground. He feared that, without it, he'd get lost in the feeling of freedom. Fly too close to the sun or something, catch on fire when he inevitably missed the tell-tale creek of the floorboards that meant Neil was listening in.

Max annoyed the hell out of him, but.

She kept him safe. Why, he didn't know.

Maybe she really was interested in the whole thing, electing to believe that every boy wanted to be a girl because the alternative meant her brother was sick in a way that couldn't be cured.

Billy stood, slipping on the kitten heels while Max held his hand.

He admired his handiwork.

"Gotta hand it you," Max whistled, low like a wolf. "Gets shittier every time we do it."

"Shut up, brat." But Billy was grinning.

For Max, that was a compliment.

Don't blush when I rip you open Hey baby, let me look in your eyes As you go off into your weird red light...

He ran his hands down the soft fabric, relishing the way the hem tickled the sensitive skin of his thighs.

He was pretty.

Not like his mother, not like Courtney Love, but.

Uniquely himself.

Max cocked her head to the side. "Don't you get tired of getting all dressed up with nowhere to go?"

Billy bristled. "Oh yeah? And where could I go in San Fran that wouldn't skin me on the spot for dressing like a bitch?"

"Castro." The gay area.

Billy felt his cheeks darken. He thought about it for a second; the lights, the thralls of people just letting the light in. Being themselves.

He shook his head, turning back to the mirror with a glare. "Yeah, okay. I'll get right on that."

"Cool, I'll just fetch my coat." Max turned to leave, chucking when Billy trapped her with an iron grip. "Relax, spaz. Neil would kill us both if he saw you looking like that."

And.

She was right. Billy had thought about it countless times before, what would happen if he threw a jacket over his baby doll dress and slipped out the back door one night. How the cool air would feel on the bare skin of his thighs, but. That's all it ever was. Just speculation.

Only dreams.

Knowing his luck he'd catch Neil in the hallway after his midnight piss and that'd be it. They'd never get the blood out of the wallpaper.

"Looks like we're stuck playing pretend." Billy patted absently at his spring of messy curls, refusing to let the sadness seep through but Max noticed immediately. Perceptive little shit.

She held up a finger, disappearing through the crack in the door. A second later she was back with her polaroid camera.

"Smile."

"No fuckin' way," Billy snarled. He could already imagine it; Neil digging through his sock drawer to find the pot he was always accusing Billy of smoking, only to stumble across something else.

Something worse.

Billy's ribs began to ache with the phantom memory of those fists planting like flower bulbs in fresh soil. He bruised easily, like an overripe peach.

Not everyone knew that about him, but. He did.

Max frowned. "Come on, we could send them to Courtney's P.O. box, I'm sure she'd be flattered."

Billy shook his head, tears swamping his vision as Max lifted the camera. The flash was blinding. Billy lunged for it, swearing as Max slipped past his grip. She took another picture.

And another.

And then another, until polaroid's littered the floor like fallen leaves on the dirty ground. Billy had tears rolling down his cheeks, ruining his makeup by the time she finally stopped. He held out his hand. "Max, just. Give that fuckin' thing to me. Now, we gotta burn this shit, alright? We gotta--"

But she wasn't listening, she was staring at the first image she had taken, when Billy was caught off guard. Max was absorbed in it, eyes glittering with something Billy had never seen before.

He snatched the picture from her hands and lifted it up to his face, brow wrinkled in disgust until--

This wasn't anything like staring in the mirror.

It felt more immediate, more real as Billy examined the image of a flawless stranger. Of a woman.

Of Courtney Love.

"Pretty," Max said.

And.

Yeah. He was.

They started taking pictures every time Billy got dressed up.

Max would help him get ready and then they'd do little photoshoots in his bedroom. He was a reluctant subject at first, awkward in his own skin until she suggested they smoke a joint before each session.

"To loosen you up a little, dick wad."

"What kinda brother would I be if I let my kid sister smoke pot?" Billy shook his head. "Absolutely not, Max."

She shrugged. "Then you do it."

So, he did.

And it helped. They switched up the music, finding it easiest to shoot to The Smashing Pumpkins, played with lighting and mood until she was satisfied with the "vibe," made immortal on film.

The images Max captured were like moments in time, archived in the shoebox under his bed. Billy looked like a rock star in every one--Debbie Harry on some days, Courtney on others; hair messy, cigarette trapped between his fingers, stockings ripped to shreds.

Max admitted that Courtney was her favorite, after a while, so that's the one that stuck.

And Billy loved every picture she took. Loved her artistic eye, obvious in the way she moved his lamp around the room to capture his features just so. Every session was serious like she was the photographer at Rolling Stone and he was her subject for the week.

It was addictive.

They had been taking pictures every night for a month when Neil caught them in the act.

The first punch felt like a bomb had gone off in his head, and Billy hit the floor without so much as a fight.

He remembers blood on the carpet.

Blood in his hair. On the walls. A splitting pain in his ribs and between his legs.

Keep digging your own grave, William.

Max patched him up after Neil's car tore out of the driveway.

"I'm sorry Billy." He hadn't realised she was crying. He ran his fingers over her cheek. "It's all my fault, I didn't mean--"

"I felt pretty." He said.

They stopped taking pictures after that.

Moving to Hawkins, Indiana was like stepping off the Earth and floating through space.

Billy felt weightless.

Every mistake, every hidden secret cloaked in baby doll dresses and leopard print coats had been left in San Francisco where they belonged. Stuffed in the back of his closet with the polaroid's they were able to tape back together.

He tried to forget the way it made him feel.

"You're the prettiest boy I've ever seen."

It wasn't meant to be a compliment. Billy could tell that from the way Steve's lips curled into a snarl.

He pushed his way into Billy's space, clearly drunk and high off something that made his pupils swallow the milky brown of his eyes.

Steve looked like he was swimming.

There were track marks in his arm. "You're like a vision," He reached out to touch, to feel, flinching back when Billy slapped his hand away.

"I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing, Harrington--"

"I think I'm in love with you."

And Billy had thought the same thing, the first time they ran into each other at the gay bar in Indianapolis, but. People talked.

Hawkins talked, like the city itself was an entity with a pulse and conscience that had been shot to shit in the eighties. Billy did his best to glare. "You don't love me, pretty boy."

"No, I." Steve grinned. He was high as a fucking kite. "I do. You're my guardian angel." He laughed hysterically, in a way that made Billy's skin crawl.

"What, your dealer tell you that?" He huffed.

And it was mean.

So fucking mean. If Steve was a junkie his skin wouldn't be so clear, so smooth. Like black cherries in milk, goddammit. Billy wanted to lap at the skin on his neck, taste the salt of his skin.

He wondered distantly if he'd be able to get high from it.

Probably. Steve smiled anyway. "Let me take you home."

"Such a fuckin' line," Billy said.

But he was already tugging pretty boy through the crowd.

Billy kept his dresses in the back of his closet where he kept his mother's suicide letters.

She had written more than one, consumed by her sadness in a way Billy had never understood until he had taken the fairy light inside him and smothered it.

Every once in a while, when Neil was out of the house and Max was at school or something, He'd take one out just to feel the weightlessness of the fabric settle against his skin.

Like little paper angels.

Like the whisper of something like hope but not quite, just out of reach.

He never did the full look anymore. Never put his heart and soul into it the way he had before, when Max was there to keep him from floating away, but.

Gradually he felt himself catch fire.

They had been together for three months when Steve peeled back the layers.

Neil was away on business, so Steve was sleeping over. Needed a shirt or sweats or to sleep in, catching sight of something bright red and shiny as he shifted the leather jackets at Greatful Dead t-shirts to the side to expose a stash of beautiful gowns that shone like an open sore against the soft light in Billy's bedroom.

Billy came through the open door, words dying on his lips as the bong in his hand shattered on the floor.

Steve held the dress up against the light, tongue poking out of his mouth in consideration.

"Max wants to be Debbie Harry for Halloween," Billy fished for his old excuse, eyes welling up with tears when Steve's jaw set in a firm line. "I'm helping her find the perfect dress, I--"

"Bill's--"

"That's not mine, Steve, I swear." Billy dropped to the floor.

Got on his fucking knees, hands level with his face in a silent prayer as he tripped over himself to rebuild the walls that had kept him safe. He was talking, spewing bullshit as Steve stood motionless against the closet door. Billy flung his arms around Steve's legs. Buried his face in his thighs, because.

He couldn't go through it again.

Wouldn't survive it.

"I never even seen that before, Stevie, please."

"Get up." Pretty boy commanded.

And.

Billy blinked teary, soulful eyes at him. "Huh?"

Steve shook his head. "I said stand up, baby. Get off the fucking floor."

Billy did. Steve watched him for a moment, expression unreadable. Billy prepared himself for the gut punch, the harsh word, the look of disgust in those eyes that had never shown anything but reverence for Billy, but it never came. In a single, syrupy slow motion Steve held the dress to Billy's throat, scanning him up and down in a way that left Bill naked and squirming.

He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think, as Steve smiled softly.

"Wanna see you." He said.

And. "What?"

"Can you put it on for me?" Steve asked. "Bet you look gorgeous. Like an angel, or a model or something--"

Billy let out a thick, wet sound. "I look like a beast, I'm--"

"No." Billy jumped when Steve nuzzled against his neck, the dress trapped like a gossamer curtain between them. "Bet you look like a deity. A goddess of rock n' roll. Like Courtney Love, right?"

And Billy had done a lot of things in his life. He was a builder of fortresses, a hider, an adventurer when the mood struck him. Billy protected himself and Max and his mother for as long as he could remember, carrying things that were too heavy for those with weaker shoulders, but.

He had never shown himself to someone he loved. No sugar, no cream, just.

Completely himself.

Billy took the dress and opened the safe in the corner. Pulled out his mother's makeup and painted himself into a masterpiece as Steve watched, motionless on the bed.

When he was done Billy was afraid to look in the mirror.

Terrified of what he'd see but Steve took him in his arms, peppering gentle kisses all along his face until Billy had built up enough courage.

"Ready? Steve whispered.

Billy let himself be turned around. Situated under the heavy sling of Steve's arm, until--

"Pretty."

Steve nodded. "Beautiful."

[thecrimsonvalley]

RDR Secret Cupid - “For my next trick...”

This one goes out to you @smithandrogers!  I’m your backup cupid for the @rdrsecretcupid2020 and I really hope you’ll enjoy the text, it was super fun to get to write these two dorks <3  ~~~ There were many people he would consider when the phrase “skulking off” came up around the camp. In fact, Arthur was well aware that he himself was one of these individuals, though his position as golden boy, adoptive son and all those other lovely phrases gave him quite the leeway to come and go as he pleased. One of the few individuals for who he would not use this word was Josiah. It was not so much the action of him taking his leave or moving from camp to get a breather. No it was the word “skulking off” that did not suit this well dressed gentleman. A person of his composure did not “skulk”: they “took their leave”, “withdrew”, “removed themselves” or whatever other fancy word they could possibly come up with. No matter which one, he had seen the other man move away from the camp site and, after a short debate, he himself had followed.

Arthur found no particular shame in confessing he enjoyed Josiah's company. There had been many, both men and women, whose presence he had found a great deal of enjoyment in yet he could never help himself from placing an individual scale onto it. While some were soft and gentle, requiring a great deal of attention others blew through his life like a hurricane and every encounter left him with the feeling he had just been ran over by several trains. For the time being he had not managed to figure just where this man was supposed to be categorised. 

Stepping into a clearing between the trees, his eyes set onto the back of the other man. With a smile he acknowledged that this place was certainly a neat little spot for some brief alone time. The trees gave enough shade, cutting off any view from the main camp yet their roots had not shot up enough through the ground to render it completely unusable. Thought the thought felt quite out of place, Arthur could not help but to consider that this would be an almost idealistic place for a little outing, if one was so inclined.     Almost as if Josiah had sensed his presence, the man spun around, the gesture almost unnaturally smooth. The only one he had seen coming even close had been the manners in which Hosea had held himself in younger years when retelling his endeavours during his short acting career. It was either a scene thing or a conman thing, neither of which he himself possessed. A smile played over the other man's lips as he gave a light bowing motion.      “If it isn't Arthur out for a stroll” Josiah said, his voice as melodic as ever “what a pleasured encounter!” “Just thought I ought to make sure ya don't get eaten by a bear or what not.”  He heard Josiah give a laughter combined with the low line of “perish the thought” as he once more turned. By now Arthur could see that he had been carrying along one of his bags, full of what he had never really figured out. It was a private matter, outlaws or not it was not in his nature to rummage through the belongings of anybody in camp. “Now that you're here” came Josiah's cheerful voice “you might as well be my test audience.” “Ya sure you wouldn't rather have me fetch Jack? Or Sean?” Arthur muttered, adding on a grumble “then again, we'd all have to listen to that idiot yap his mouth off about faes and what not!” “Let's not spoil the act before you've seen it.” There was a bit of an accusing tone in Josiah's way of speaking and, despite his own pride taking a little bit of a turn, Arthur did sit down in the grass. Sure, he had enjoyed some of those tricks, even though he couldn't for his life figure out of what use they were. Perhaps he had lost some touch with his sense of wonder and whimsy; a sentiment he felt most strongly to be the truth. “Pick a card.” Choking back a laughter, Arthur bit down onto the line of how it was the oldest trick in the book and instead did as he was told. Hovering his hand above the outstretched deck, he took a small bit of amusement out of almost pinching one of the cards before shaking his head and once more “contemplating” which one he should settle on. Throwing a glance at Josiah, he was rather surprised that the other man did not appear to be bothered at all by his jest, just patiently holding onto the cards with that charming smile on his lips. Saving his own mind before it went wandering, Arthur finally tugged one out. “Don't show me” Josiah continued, turning his face rather dramatically “memorise the number and colour!” With a shrug of the shoulder, Arthur did as told before sliding the card back into the deck. It was quite hard to pretend like he did not know how this would end but he patiently waited through the other man shuffling the deck about. With a snarky sentence resting onto his tongue, he felt a light pinch of surprise as he watched Josiah give the deck a sharp slap, the cards seemingly vanishing from out of his hands. “Well good look finding it now” Arthur muttered, though he was quickly silenced with a “shhh, it's not done yet” from the other man. “Pray tell, Mr Morgan, is this your card?” Josiah's hand movement was as flowing as water as he reached over towards the side of his face, brushing against his cheek, sending shivers down his entire body. With all his might, Arthur tried to pretend like it had not bothered him, all the while attempting to get a read on the other man. Was the smirk an invite? A mere gesture of amusement because he had been caught off guard? As the card was flashed before his eyes he gave a grunt, pushing the other man's hand away. “Yeah, yeah, that's the right one, you've done it a thousand times.” “You offend me Mr Morgan” Josiah responded, dramatically pushing his hand towards his chest “it seems I have to really floor you with the next one!” “Really? Ya gotta work on that originality ya know? What ya gonna do, pull a crow out of yer sleeve? Never ending handkerchiefs?” It did feel like a tiny victory as he watched Josiah give a little frown, his fingers sliding up to twirl through his dark curls and stroke down his moustache. It was a gesture that Arthur found as fascinating as it was charming. Then again there was a lot of things he found absolutely infatuating about this man that came and went as he pleased. He would be damned if he could not confess, at least to himself, that he found him alluring in all the right ways. “Well Arthur, you've forced my hand” Josiah said, straightening his back “I shall have to perform the act of a lifetime!” “Finally something original then.” “So it shall be.” Half by half expecting the other man to turn about, Arthur felt a tad dumbfounded as he watched Josiah instead step up in front of him, straightening his sleeves in that manner that only a skilled con artist could. It was a terrible gesture: not for its performance itself but rather for how it made his heart make a leap in his chest. He was not a man used to being wooed, it was him who did that to others but Josiah, this terribly wonderful man, he certainly had at least a hint of power to do so. “I shall now ask a person in my audience to close their eyes.” “Well now, how's that gonna impress anyone?” Arthur chuckled. “Patience, Mr Morgan, patience.” Shrugging his shoulders, he did as told, though the mere fact of sitting there, hands rested over his own knees and heart still beating like a drum gave him an awful strange sensation. He could hear the other man move about, the ruffling of shirt sleeves and the steps in the soft grass heightened by his lack of sight. Over it all was the low beat of his own pulse, his inner voice screeching while outwards showing nothing. The gentle brush of Josiah's fingers came against his cheek and Arthur thanked his lucky star that he had perfected the art of remaining stationary. While still trying to figure the trick out, a vain attempt from his side to remain one step ahead of his companion, he felt the sudden warm sensation of a pair of lips upon his own. Almost choking on his own breath, Arthur quickly opened his eyes, looking right into the soft yet oh so amused gaze of the other man. “You shall now fall hopelessly in love with me.” No matter how much he wished to say something, be it protest or agreement, Arthur felt his throat choking up, rendering him speechless. He did observe how the other man seemed to tense for a few seconds, perhaps awaiting some sort of outburst or reaction yet when none came, Josiah instead gave an amused “oh my, is it already taking effect?”. This simple sentence, dripping with a teasing tone, finally shook him back into gear. With a mix of wishing to defend his own selfish pride and not be made a fool of, Arthur reached his hands out, grasping onto the coat of the other man and with a swift movement he managed to tug him down, trying his best to soften the fall. Despite how much his thoughts told him to “pay back in kind” he was none too keen on accidentally hurting the now laughing man in the process. To wrestle Josiah down onto the ground, pinning his hands onto the grass, was barely a sport at all. Brutal strength was his own talent and one he knew that few in camp could match him with. Despite how much he had wished for it to be a move to show power or confidence, Arthur could not help but to let his lips crack up into a smile upon hearing the amused chuckle from the man before him. “Yes, indeed, I would say it is working just as it should.”  

[mischiefandspirits]

Doppelgänger (4/?)

Previously on Doppelgänger ~ Masterlist ~ Next time on Doppelgänger

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were just 14 when they took a look inside the portal Danny’s parents had built. From there, everything changed. They woke up with white hair, green skin, and powers they could learn to control. They were hybrids, halfas.

They were the hero Doppelgänger.

{Shades of Gray}

“Thanks, but I'll pass,” Valerie scoffed.

The trio’s ghost senses went off and Sam turned away from the popular girl. I got it. “Same.”

Danny opened his Space Fold while Tucker distracted Valerie, dropping the thermos into Sam’s waiting hand before she climbed onto her scooter to ride off.

“Are you sure you don’t want an-”

“I’m sure,” she scoffed, shoving Tucker away. “Get lost.”

Suddenly the ground began to shake and the ghost dog burst from the ground.

Danny gasped and ducked to the side as Valerie’s dresser was knocked over. His eyes flickered red as he used a bit of ghost strength to catch it before it could fall into the street.

“Wow, nice catch, loser.”

Danny quickly pushed the dresser upright and let go of his ghost power before Valerie came into view. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Thanks, I think.”

“No, thank you.” She looked over the dresser, sighing with relief. She turned to him with a critical eye. “You’re stronger than you look.”

Danny didn’t get a chance to answer before he was plowed over by a ghost puppy.

“Danny!”

As Danny groaned and rubbed his head, the puppy yapped and licked his cheek. He looked up to see it prancing on his chest with its little flame tail wagging. He turned to Tucker and Valerie, who were staring. “Uh, help?”

“Got it,” Sam said, appearing at his side to scoop up the dog by its collar.

The dog immediately started growling and Sam dropped it as it grew into its giant form. Danny scrambled away, but it kept its eyes on the ghost girl.

She flew back as it snapped at her, holding her hands up. “Easy there!”

It crouched down, hackles raised and Sam prepared her ecto blasts.

Without thinking, Danny opened his Space Fold and the dog disappeared inside.

Sam hesitated, glanced at Danny, then shook her fist. “And stay gone!”

“You!” Valerie growled. “Whatever you are, get out of here! You and you're stupid dog have done enough!”

Sam scowled back. “The dog’s not ours. We’re a cat person.”

Danny frowned. I object.

Overruled, Tucker and Sam both said.

“We?” Valerie asked.

Sam gestured to herself. “We.”

“You’re referring to yourself as we? What a weirdo.”

“And here we were about to apologize for what happened to the lab,” Sam snorted and turned invisible. “Nevermind. Have a nice life.”

“You little freak!”

Danny and Tucker shared a look as Danny got up. “Well, I gotta go. Uh, my parents. They’ll want to know about the, uh, ghost sighting.”

“Ghosts?” Valerie asked as he went to his scooter. “Oh my gosh! Those were ghosts?”

“Yeah, hence the whole flying and invisibility and stuff,” Danny said before riding off.

“Why does he need to tell his parents?”

“Oh, Danny’s parents are professional ghost hunters. Kind of,” Tucker said awkwardly. “Didn’t you know?”

“No.” She watched the paler boy turn the corner then turned to Tucker with a flirtatious smile. “Is that offer of help still good?”

“Y-yeah, absolutely!”

“Where’s Tucker?” Sam asked as she met Danny in human form.

He shrugged. Tuck?

I’ll catch up!

The two rolled their eyes.

“How long do you think he’s going to be hanging around her until he realizes she’s not interested?”

“Too long,” Sam said and the two sent off. “Now, why’d you send the dog to the fold? I could have taken it.”

Danny shrugged. “You were going to blast it. You can’t blast a dog.”

“It’s not a dog, it’s a ghost.” She looked over at him with narrowed eyes. “We can’t keep him, Danny.”

“I don’t want to keep him. He’s a menace. I just don’t want to see him blasted.”

“Is that why you didn’t send him to the ghost zone?”

“I did,” Danny huffed. “He just got back out.”

“And now he’s trashing the fold.”

Danny tilted his head. “I don’t think he is. It’s quiet inside.”

“Whatever. You better not have anything of mine in there.”

Danny bit his lip. Did he return that spider plushy he’d borrowed from Sam to use as a pillow last week? “Maybe I should check on him.”

He ignored her glare as he slipped into an alley. After being sure no one could see him, he poked his head into the fold. Thankfully it hadn’t found the plushie, though it was chewing on the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick in its puppy form.

The dog looked up at him and started wagging its tail, so he quickly pulled his head out. “He’s good.”

Sam shook her head. “You’re lucky Audrey II’s not in there anymore.”

“Oh yeah, how’re the Fenton Shears working?”

“Perfect. Strangely enough, she actually likes to be pruned.”

“Yap!”

The two turned to see the ghost dog’s head sticking out of empty air. It gave a dog-smile before its head was replaced by paws making digging motions. Slowly a hole in the air formed, revealing the Space Fold. The dog jumped through the hole and into Danny’s arms.

“Woah!”

“I guess we know how it’s getting out of the Ghost Zone now,” Sam said, looking between the hole and the dog.

“Bad Cujo, no digging,” Danny said, shifting the dog into one arm and waving a finger in its face.

“Don’t name it!” Sam snapped. Then flinched back when the dog started to growl at her.

“No, no, it’s okay. Sam’s a friend.” Danny scratched the dog under its chin and it relaxed.

“You’re getting attached.”

“Am not.” Danny grabbed the edge of the hole and pulled it closed. “I’m just trying to keep it from hulking out.”

Sam made a disbelieving sound and knelt so she could see the dog better without getting closer. “It’s got the Axion Labs logo on its collar.”

“What? Oh yeah, I saw that earlier. It must have slipped my mind after the rampage.”

She transformed and lifted off the ground. “That’s the first place he hit. Maybe there’s something there that could help us get rid of him. He could be an old guard dog. We’ll check it out. Keep him calm.”

“Why me?”

Sam stuck her hand towards him and the dog started growling.

“Alright, fair. But what do I do with him?”

“Train him? Play with him? Take him for a walk? Ghost dog or not, he's still a dog… We think. Good luck!”

Danny glared as she flew off, then looked down at the dog. “Guess it’s just you and me… Wanna take a walk through the ghost zone?”

Cujo gave a yap and wiggled in his arms excitedly.

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

“I think I’m actually going to miss him. The look on Skulker’s face when he stole his leg was priceless.”

“What did I say about getting attached?”

Tucker rolled his eyes as he walked invisibly across the outside of a warehouse. “We still can’t believe this was all over a squeaky toy.”

“Just be glad I took care of it before something really bad happened,” Sam said.

An explosion just missed Tucker, who darted away with a yelp.

“TUCKER?”

He turned to see a woman in full-body red hazmat standing on a hoverboard holding a grenade launcher. He took off, but she followed. “We might need some help. There’s a girl here with a really big gun and she’s not setting off our ghost sense.”

“I’m not far. I’ll be there in a second,” Danny said and hung up.

“A human hunter? And it’s not Danny’s mom?” Sam asked.

“Nope. And she can see us while we’re invisible.”

A blast flew past him.

“Her aim isn’t good though. Can’t be our mom then, her aim is scary,” Danny and Tucker said as Danny came near.

Tucker turned a corner and Danny was there, raising a shield as the hunter threw a handful of throwing stars. Only a few made it to them, and even then they bounced off the shield.

“What? There’s two of you?” the hunter said, pulling to a stop.

“Duplication,” they said, shrugging.

“Wait? Is that Valerie?” Sam asked.

“Valerie?” they said, surprised.

The hunter flinched back. “How did y- It doesn’t matter. I’m ending you.”

The two shared a look, then Tucker held out his hand toward the hoverboard.

Nothing happened.

“Ugh, technokinesis proof,” they groaned.

She fired the grenade launcher at them and the shield shattered.

The two groaned as they pulled themselves out of their shared crater. “We can’t fight her, we’ll hurt her. She doesn’t seem to care about hurting us. Don’t we have a crush on her? Not anymore. We hate technokinesis proof tech. Well, at least some good came out of this. Now go.”

Tucker glared, but dove into the ground while Danny flew past the girl.

She took the bait and chased after the faster of the halfas, letting Tucker slip away.

As soon as his partner was safe, Danny waved at Valerie then began flying through buildings until the hunter, unable to go intangible, lost him.

{Fanning the Flames}

“I think we’re the only ones in the whole school who aren’t obsessed with Ember,” Tucker said as they passed yet another of their classmates wearing the rocker’s swag.

“I don’t get it!” Danny said with a frown. “She comes outta nowhere and suddenly she’s the biggest thing since iPhones! It’s so -”

“Infuriating how mindless pre-packaged corporate bubble gum is preventing true musical artists from being heard?” Sam interrupted.

“I was gonna say weird, but, uh, okay.”

“I’m with Sam. She’s okay, but there are way better groups out there who don’t get anywhere near enough spotlight.”

“We’re not listening to your Swedish pop-techno music,” Sam said. “I’d rather listen to -”

The trio stopped as they came to a school hallway that had been vandalized with posters, stickers, and banners for Ember McLain.

“Ember.”

Paulina came up to them wearing an Ember shirt with matching pants. She looked at Sam and scoffed. “Nice earrings. Sale at the 89 cent store?”

Sam’s hand came up to the Fenton Phones she was wearing. Danny’s parents had invented them to filter out spectral noise, but they also worked as wireless headphones and long-range communicators. The trio had taken to using them during lone patrols and ghost fights that separated them enough that their link couldn’t reach. While the boys only really wore them then, Sam wore them often since she thought they made great techno-goth earrings.

She dropped her hand and gave the popular girl an annoyed look as she stepped closer to Danny. “For your information, Paulina. They’re a gift. Danny gave them to me.”

“Really? He gave you earrings?” Paulina pointed between the two with a smirk. “I always knew you two losers would end up together.”

“We’re not losers!” Sam shouted and Danny added, “We’re not together.”

“Well now I feel left out,” Tucker joked as Paulina swaggered off.

“Shut up, Tucker,” the two snapped.

“Hey, check it out! The lovebirds are ganging up on Foley!” Dash snickered to Kwan.

“They can deny it all they want, but I saw Fenton kissing her when they snuck out at lunch yesterday,” Kwan snickered back.

Danny blushed and Sam jumped for the jocks while Tucker tried to hold her back. “It’s called QPR, you neanderthals! Welcome to the twenty-first century! A guy can kiss a girl on the cheek without it being romantic or se-”

“And we’re done here!” Danny squeaked and grabbed Sam to unsuccessfully help Tucker drag her away.

“Calm down, Sam. It’s not like any of us go around talking about our relationship,” Tucker said. “Of course everyone’s going to think you’re dating if they see you two kissing.”

“People shouldn’t assume things like that just because Danny likes to kiss us or the three of us hug!”

“It’s high school. Assumptions and gossip are the lifeblood of this place,” Danny said. “No need to kill Dash over it. Now stow the soapbox and let’s get to class before we’re late.”

Sam gave the two jocks one last death glare, but let her partners lead her off.

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

“This is insane,” Danny said as he, Sam, and Tucker stood in the school’s front doors, staring out at the crowd that had gathered around the truck Ember McClain had arrived on for an impromptu performance. “It looks like the entire school’s out here.”

He walked out and his breath misted in front of him. He glanced over to see his partners’ ghost senses going off as well. “Uh-oh.”

The trio looked around, but their eyes quickly locked onto Mr. Lancer, who was standing atop a fire hydrant with a megaphone to yell at the rocker.

“Attention, freakishly dressed teen idol! I order you to cease and desist!”

“Desist this, grandpa!” Ember yelled, fiddling with her guitar. She strummed it and a purple energy wave washed over the crowd.

The crowd turned to Lancer, eyes glowing red.

“Pride and Prejudice!”

“Ember’s the ghost? Oh my gosh!” Danny gasped.

“Another blow against mainstream media,” Sam said and the three transformed.

They took off, Danny saving Lancer from the horde and Sam and Tucker shooting towards the rocker.

It was rather easy to get her and her band into a thermos, especially when one of them could shut down her guitar and speakers with a wave of his hand and the other could wrap her in plants when she tried to teleport away.

{Teacher of the Year}

“Why were we up so late last night? We were playing Doomed. We were trying to beat… WE’RE CHAOS! HOW COULD WE HIDE THAT FROM US?”

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

Tucker’s eyes widened as he realized the noob he’d been helping play Doomed was Technus. “Oh, man, I could have been using my powers to cheat! Why didn’t I think of that?” He grabbed his phone and called Sam. “Sam! Did you realize I could be the ultimate cheat code?”

“Obviously. I’m surprised it took you this long to figure it out. What happened? Did you get pwned again? Wasn’t me this time.”

“No, Technus showed up in Doomed.”

“What? Where are you? I’ll meet you there!”

“Level three. Should we call Danny?”

“No, just let him study. Between my grab bag of secret power-ups and your ultimate cheat code, we’ll be fine. He needs to make up that test if we don’t want his parents to come sniffing around.”

“I still don’t get it,” Tucker said as he waited for Sam to reach his character. “Danny’s had straight A’s for years. Why would his parents be mad about one F? It’ll only take him down to a C at worst. My parents are just glad that I’m not failing.”

“The curse of being a family of geniuses I guess. All I know is that if I have to hear him complain about his grades almost falling to a B one more time, I'm decking him.”

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 1

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

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

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

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

A/N: I feel like this is a short-ish chapter but I really hope you guys like it, let me know if you think it’s too short? 

Chapter 5: 

A blaring car alarm can be heard all throughout the outskirts of Atlanta as Glenn makes his way back to the quarry camp. He excitedly drives his new red car back as a truck is following shortly behind him. The others left at the camp all gather to see what the alarm is and Glenn gets out of the car. He’s greeted by an annoyed Shane who shouts above the alarm to turn it off. 

“I don’t know how!” Glenn responds, also in a shout. 

Without another word, a member of their camp, Jim, pops open the hood of the car and cuts a wire of the car, silencing the alarm. Shane marches up to Glenn, shaking his head.

“Are you crazy, driving this thing back up here? This alarm could have attracted walkers from miles and you brought them straight back to us!” Shane lectures. 

Glenn cowers, “Sorry... but we really had no choice, we were surrounded and needed a distraction out of the city.” 

“If you were surrounded, how’d you get out?” Jim asks, curious.

“New guy.” Glenn simply answers.

As if on cue, the truck pulls up behind Glenn’s car and they file out of the truck. Andrea happily reuniting with Amy, and Morales with his own family. Jacqui watches with a smile on her face as she walks back to the camp, while T-Dog stands by the truck, not sure how to face Glenn. Rick gets out of the truck and towards the others.

“Dad... Dad!” Carl shouts as he recognizes his father and runs up to him, jumping into his arms. 

The others watch on as Lori and Carl are reunited with their long lost husband and father. Shane has a look of bewildered and hurt on his face compared to everyone else. Glenn looks around for Gloria and frowns when he doesn’t see her. He makes his way to the back of the truck.

“Gloria?” he calls out to her, expecting her to for some reason still be in the truck, he walks back to the camp when he doesn’t find her, “hey, has anyone seen my sister?”

Rick, Morales, Jacqui, and Andrea’s faces all change at his question, T-Dog had already told them what had happened back in the truck. 

“She’s back on the roof... with Merle.” T-Dog says, looking down in shame and regret. 

Glenn spins to look at him, “What? Y-you can’t be serious... come on, stop playing T’.” 

“I’m not... she insisted on stayin’... I’m sorry man.” T-Dog admits, still unable to look up at his friend.

Glenn stumbles backwards, his face drained of blood at the news,  “Y-you... left her? You left her?! How could you do that?! What the hell?! We are going back there, right now, and we’re getting her back.” 

He opens the door to his red car and is about to get in when Rick holds him back, “we can’t let you do that, Glenn.” 

Glenn angrily shoves him off, “Why the hell not?! That’s my sister we left back there! You got your family back, I gotta go back and get mine!” 

“Glenn, calm down.” Shane holds his hands out in front of him. 

“Do not tell me to calm down.” Glenn seethes in anger. 

Rick sighs, “look, I’m not saying we don’t go back to get her, but right now is not the time. With all the commotion we caused back there, with all that noise, it’s a suicide mission if we go back now.” 

“Rick’s right, if what you said about being surrounded is true, we’ll have to wait it out for a few hours at least before any of us go back out there to the city.” Shane says, backing up Rick.

T-Dog looks at Glenn finally and goes up to him, “I’m sorry, brother... I didn’t want to leave her back there, but she told me to get you back there with Daryl, bring back something to cut the cuffs because I’m an idiot and dropped the damn keys... I’m sorry.”

Glenn sighs in frustration and worry, tears of fear for Gloria’s life forming in his eyes, "We can’t go now, we can’t leave at night, what the hell do you want me to do?! Wait until morning to go get her?! That’s my baby sister!” Glenn yells, his hands holding his head. 

Shane goes up to Glenn and carefully puts his hand on his back, “Glenn, I know you’re worried about Gloria, but you know more than any of us how strong a woman she is, T-Dog said she’ll be there waiting for you and she will.” 

“I also locked the door from the inside with a padlock, the walkers can’t get to her.” T-Dog adds, hoping that it would prove to be some kind of comfort to Glenn.

Glenn lets out a deep breath as he tries to calm himself down, “Where’s Daryl?”

“He went out hunting, I heard that he might not come back until tomorrow morning.” Amy informs.

He groans in frustration at the news, “Are you serious?! Are we really going to wait for Daryl to come back to go get her?!”

“It’s what your sister wanted man...” T-Dog insists, “guess she didn’t want him to go alone to get Merle, that might be why she stayed.”

Glenn ponders, “Yeah... sounds exactly like her... We’re going to get them first thing in the morning when Daryl gets back.”

---

It’s already been a day that Gloria had been stuck on the roof with Merle. She has her back pressed on the ledge of the building, her hands covering her ears as Merle yaps away about his life story. Her eyes closed, trying to think of anything to distract her from the man who never seems to shut up. Gloria silently regrets having set up a makeshift shelter for Merle from pipes and a blanket she keeps in her bag, hoping to keep him protected from the heat of the harsh sun; she can’t have him delirious or suffering from heatstroke in case anything happens. Fortunately, Merle quiets down for a while as he had run out of his train of thought. Gloria sighs at this silence, she moves her hands from covering her ears. 

“Hey, you.” Merle calls out to her.

Rolling her eyes, she looks over at Merle, “What?” 

“Why’d ya stay?” he asks, seeming almost thankful she did. 

“Daryl is gonna come for your annoying ass but it’s dangerous for him to come alone. So I took it upon myself to force Glenn into coming back for us, it’s better they come together rather than Daryl coming alone.” Gloria explains, she does feel bad for making Glenn come back for her, but she also knows that Glenn has come to the city countless times whereas Daryl hasn’t stepped into the city once ever since the world ended, having Glenn guide him was his best shot of finding them quickly. 

Merle chuckles at her answer, “Sacrificing your brother for me, tha’s sweet.” 

“Trust me, I am not sacrificing anything for you. Daryl has a better chance of getting here safely with Glenn anyway, he has all the quickest routes plotted out, I just happened to make it so that he has to come help.” Gloria shrugs. 

Another short-lived moment of silence goes by between the two, groans of walkers can he heard echoing in the streets below. Gloria leans back, her head hitting the ledge gently as she rests there with her eyes closed.

“Ya wanna hear a story from when I was servin’ in juvie?” Merle drawls out. 

Not opening her eyes, Gloria responds, “You must really love the sound of your own voice... you never shut up for more than five mintues.” 

Merle scoffs at her remark but continues on with telling his story. He goes on and on for at least five minutes, getting louder as the story gets more elaborate and exaggerated. His storytime is interrupted by a loud banging on the door. Gloria opens her eyes at the sound and they both look at the entrance of the stairway, both of them hoping that it’s Glenn and Daryl coming to their rescue. Their hope is shattered when the door bursts open, only held by the chains and padlock Gloria and T-Dog had set up, and walkers try to claw their way onto the roof. 

“Shit!” Gloria gets up and sees that the chains don’t look like they’re going to hold up very long. 

Merle is frantically shouting and cursing loudly, trying to yank at the handcuffs, thinking that would actually do something. Gloria looks around and sees a toolbox with a hacksaw, she runs to it and grabs the hacksaw then tosses it over to Merle.

“Shut up and start cutting the chains!’ Gloria shouts at him.

She then dashes towards the door and tackles it, attempting to close the door. Gloria uses all her weight to push against the door but with the amount of walkers on the other side, she is easily overpowered. She spots a broken pipe on the ground and reaches for it, her body still leaning on the door trying to close it. Once she grabs the pipe, Gloria starts to kill off the walkers, stabbing and bashing at all of them peering through the door until she is able to push the door closed. Panting, she continues to lean on the door when Merle makes his way over to her. 

Gloria looks over to him and her eyes widen in horror at the blood all over his clothing and a stump where his right hand is supposed to be, “Merle... what the hell did you do...”

“Ya gave me the hacksaw... what’d ya expect me to do wit’ it?” Merle says, his breath panting and face pale. 

“I told you to cut the chains, not your damn hand!” Gloria sighs in frustration, “we gotta get you outta here, find something to stop the bleeding otherwise you’re gonna bleed out.” 

With the metal pipe in hand, Gloria goes to where she was sitting previously and grabs her backpack then goes to retrieve the blanket she’d made the makeshift shelter with and hands it to Merle as a temporary bandage. He winces as he wraps his stump with the blanket and looks to Gloria who’s waiting for him to be ready. He nods and then Gloria opens the door, ready for any walker that approaches. Gloria helps Merle as he stumbles down the stairs and they start rummaging the entire store for any bandages or gauze to stop his bleeding. They arrive at a kitchen and Gloria continues to rummage through cupboards and drawers.

“What the fuck, do they have no first aid or medical kits in this damn place?!” Gloria exclaims, annoyed that they haven’t found anything to help stop Merle’s bleeding. 

“No medical or first aid kits... but they got somethin’ that’ll do the trick.” Merle says from behind her.

Gloria turns around and sees Merle looking at a stove burner. She looks at him, shocked at what he’s insinuating and walks up to him. 

“I... I can try to help you cauterize your wound... but are you sure? It’s gonna hurt like hell.” Gloria grimaces just at the thought of it.

Pursing his lips together, he nods, “I’m all for pain!” 

Gloria lets out a breath and turns on the stove, then places an iron steak weight onto the flames. She glances at Merle who is just staring at the heating metal, fear evident in his eyes no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Gloria looks around and grabs a towel, folding it into four and holding it up to Merle’s mouth.

“Bite this, it’ll keep you from screaming out loud and calling walkers in here to kill us.” Gloria says, letting him play it off that he’s doing it for her and not that he’s afraid of the pain.

Merle bites onto the towel and the two wait a little longer for the metal to be hot enough. Once Gloria deems it ready, she holds out her hand and waits for Merle to give her his arm. Gently holding on his forearm, she guides it to the piping hot iron steak weight and gives him a look to make sure he’s ready for the pain. Merle nods, giving Gloria the cue to hold his stump to the metal. He wreathes and seethes in pain, biting down hard into the towel. Gloria’s hold on Merle’s arm is gentle but firm, she holds his arm in place for a few more moments, counting down the seconds she had learned back in school about how long it took to properly cauterize a wound. She slowly moves his arm away from the metal and lets go of him completely. 

“Are you alright?” Gloria looks at him, concerned at how pale he is.

Merle scoffs and waves his only hand at her, “never been better.”

Seeing that he’s still able to joke around, she concludes that he’s not dying any time soon. She goes around the kitchen to find more towels to wrap up Merle’s now cauterized stump to prevent it from getting an infection before they get back to their camp. Merle wanders around the kitchen and ponders to himself as he stares out a window. He looks back to Gloria who had just opened a storage cabinet that was completely empty. 

“Ya find anythin’ yet?” Merle says, slowly walking closer to her.

Gloria shakes her head, her back facing Merle, “No, there is literally nothing in here, everything’s empty.” 

“'s that so...” Merle reaches Gloria and then shoves her into the cabinet.

“What the fuck?!” Gloria yelps.

Merle quickly closes the cabinet doors and locks her inside. Gloria bangs on the inside of the cabinet for him to let her out.

“No can do, sweetheart. With ya followin’ me out there, ya gon’ get me killed. I’m better off alone, no hard feelin’s though, ya helped a lot.” Merle says as he chains up the outside of the cabinet, so that nothing can get in nor out of it.

“Merle, you son of a bitch, let me out of here right now!” Gloria angrily continues to bang on the cabinet doors.

“Hey hey hey! Relax! Ya said yaself, my brother and yers are gonna come back to get ya, ya'll be fine!” Merle says as he makes his way to the window he had been looking out of. 

“Merle! Open this door or I am going to-” the sound of glass shattering interrupts Gloria’s angry rant, “Merle? Merle!” 

---

Next Chapter

Yep so Merle ditched Gloria... she’s safe though! And sorry there was no Daryl in this chapter, he’s in the next one though, I promise!! 

I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!