#Pep is allowed to kill a little

[vaguely-concerned]

My two cents on how much of Mind!Varric is Rook’s mind trying to fill the blank space and how much is Solas actively talking through a convenient blood magic paper doll of the mind: I think it's a mix of both, a truly collaborative psychosocial horrorshow if you would, but waaaay more towards the second. It feels too directed and tactical at times to be anything else. Rook's mind is willing to go along with the denial phase as far as it can fucking carry them to not have to face the grief and regret and does its part in papering over details that don’t make any sense, the way brains will strive to create coherent meaning even out of deeply confusing input, but to my understanding it's a collaborateur in how that plays out, not the instigator or control center. Solas is using it as a path to agency and to gather insight into Rook as a person unguarded as he can't count on in his own guise. (That stoic option that leads to him being like 'oh I see you're cautiously denying me access to your inner life. well. at least you still have Varric to talk to. y'know as an outlet :)'. You absolute BITCH Solas! That alone convinced me that he HAS to have an active hand in it on some level.)

My guess is that it takes considerable effort on Solas’ part to make Mind!Varric do anything more involved or complicated than seeming to sit up in bed and give casual commentary, and that’s why he keeps having eerie five minute shallow pep talks with you before he announces he conveniently needs a nap aaanyway good luck kid you got this haha. When he’s just spouting NPC lines from his bedrest, I’m ready to believe that could be Rook’s mind being allowed to improv lines for him more freely because it’s less about Solas trying to get something out of them or working an angle and more ‘Still here! Still totally alive and fine and the mentor figure you know and love and trust :) don’t even worry about it! Thankfully there is no war in Ba Sing Sei, as we all know’ upkeep work lol. Rook’s mind is allowed to set the tone of Varric, the outlines, but not always the content. 

AND, on a (beautifully fucked up) character psychology level, I feel like Solas is indulging in actually getting to be the good supportive mentor figure to Rook with one hand to assuage the guilt he feels about what he's done -- and what he's going to do -- to them with the other. Same internal logic as he uses in Trespasser about the Qun. ‘Almost everyone is going to die from the course of action I’m doggedly pursuing eventually. But at least I can make their last years happier and freer and kinder than they would have been otherwise. and that kind of makes up for it right. a little bit. doesn't it. doesn't that make it better at least. I need that to make it better)'. Did I really take your beloved mentor and friend from you if you don’t know yet that I did? Some philosophers would argue not really! So it’s probably almost ok actually. Isn’t it even a little noble that I’m taking all this grief and guilt on myself and shielding you for now. With undertones that I’m not sure he would realize himself (and might be mortified by if he did) that he is so incredibly lonely, and even a dishonest and indirect emotional connection is more than nothing when you’re that desperate. In this setup he gets idk. Both the control he craves so incredibly badly in relationships and over himself, and the scraps, the fading afterimages, of intimacy and warmth and companionship, even second hand. The one thing Solas and Rook agree on deep deep down is that they really wish Varric weren't gone. They're handshake memeing this in the saddest and most creepy way possible.

I think an important element too is that Solas needs Rook and their team to *succeed* —  up to a certain point. He needs someone to hold the two other elven mean girls off until he can get out of here. Ideally, in a perfect world, even do all the hard work of killing them so he can swoop in at the end and do his thing when both sides are exhausted and out of resources to stop him, and then Bob’s your uncle! Same logic as he was using with Corypheus, and after that worked out so well, too! King of choosing to never learn from a single solitary mistake he’s ever made even though i fully believe he could have the capacity to Fen’Harel <3 The underlying idea isn’t flawed, you see, it was just unforeseen circumstances getting in the way. This time for sure it’ll all work out the way I cleverly imagined it in my head beforehand. Cue By Talos this can’t be happening etc. in the form of a statue almost crushing him like a bug. 

So he's providing guidance and forging Rook into a leader from two angles: one Rook might not trust, and one they probably will. Shaping them into what he needs slowly and carefully. He’s helping you hone your team into their most effective state, as he might have done with his own agents back in the day, setting up his chess pieces even if he has to squint through two glimpsed realities to do it haha. Pincer maneuver of an insidious stealth mentor you never asked for. Also… at one point mind Varric gives you a whole little monologue about how Solas' problem is that he’s always seen his interpersonal connections as flaws and see where it’s landed him, all alone and the worst part? it hasn’t even worked. it’s all been for nothing he’s back where he began with nothing to show for it but his mistakes. Like...that has such strong 'uh okay happy to play your therapist from two rooms away here what the fuck kind of traumadump is this' energy to me, I’m not sure Rook like. Thinks that much about Solas as a private person. So much of Solas' self-loathing and futile insights into his own flaws seem to shine through in Mind!Varric's dialogue all the time — I just can't believe that there's no guiding hand behind it as it were. 

Most of all. I feel like people underestimate the degree to which Solas is incredibly funny. As in, he has a very consistent and recognizable sense of humour. It’s one of my very favourite things about him. We must remember — it is crucial that we always keep in mind — Orlesian accent and wig Solas from May The Dread Wolf Take You (my beloved, the explanation for why I love this dude even with the. All of the everything else. No one does it quite like him). He is not at all above doing things or adding little flourishes for his own obscure amusement, in fact that seems to me to be one of his most consistent traits. The Randy Dowager Quarterly comment Varric has? The ‘Maybe this is the Dread Wolf’s revenge. Forcing us to house sit for him’ thing? To Me this is 100% Solas amusing himself in his boring Fade jail surrounded by the screaming hellscape of all his regrets. Source: it came to me as divine revelation through pure vibes trust me bro 

If nothing else I find it much more narratively interesting personally if the connection between Rook and Solas really is that defenselessly intimate and entwined (and so unbalanced!), and the sense of violation and invasion and betrayal afterwards consequently all the more nauseatingly intense. Even if you kept him at arm’s length in the open, he’s been under your skin the whole time, looking around, gathering what he needs to destroy you, wearing the face of a friend. Regretfully, probably, but choosing to do it every step of the way anyway. (Sound familiar, Inquisitor? Solas doesn’t have that many tricks when you actually look at it, he keeps returning to old tried and true ones like a dog with a bone haha.) Maybe he even genuinely meant some of it as mercy, which only makes it so much worse. It makes his sin against his own core principles of autonomy and the freedom of all beings in mind, spirit and body so much more juicily grave if it’s something he pursues actively and consistently, rather than it half-falling into his lap as a happy accident mainly orchestrated by Rook’s own subconscious. Solas, too, is at his very lowest point, the closest to giving in and becoming his own antithesis fully that he’s ever been, and it makes the choice of whether you still reach out your hand to him one last time or not all the more impactful and difficult.

[rpsurfer8]

Hazbin Boys When Their Partners Crying

Alastor: 📻

Would be very gentlemanly about it

He’d whip your tears away with his thumbs as he caresses your face

“What ever happened, Sweetheart?”

He’d listen quietly as you explain to him why you’re feeling so down.

He’s soothingly rub his thumbs on your face, continuing to whip off any tears that fall

If someone made you cry he’d eat them for dinner.

No one makes you cry and gets away with it

If you’re crying over something else, something he can’t kill, then he lets you vent before giving you some advice.

“I’m here to lighten your load, my dear. Allow me to do that by explaining how exactly o can help!”

He ls very proactive in dealing with it, and he wants it delt with quickly.

Lucifer: 🍎

Would feel your pain with you

He feels an ache in his chest everytime you cry. It almost makes him want to cry everytime he hears you cry

He embraces you in a tight hug, letting you cry on his shoulder as he hushes you, rocking you both back and forth.

“Shh, it’s alright honey. It’s okay.”

Would very gently ask what happened

If you don’t want to talk about it he just nods his head and keeps shushing you

If you tell him someone made you cry he feels immediate rage but calms himself down

You’re more important than that right now

If you tell him something else then he just holds you tighter.

“We’ll get through this together. I promise.”

Husk: ♦️♣️

Husk would be very freaked out by your tear

At first he’s frozen, staring with wide eyes as he figures out what to do

He’d let you cry and vent, sitting next to you the whole time.

Slowly he puts his arm around you, letting you lean on him as he quietly listens.

If you tell him someone made you cry he’d growl quietly, holding you closer

“Fuck’em. You don’t need that in your life.”

If you say it’s something else, like being overwhelmed by school or other things, he’s nod and let you rest your head on his shoulder.

“What do you need me to do?”

He’s ready to help in anyway he can

Angeldust: 🕸️

“Oh, Baby.”

He’d run right up to you and wrap all his arms around you, letting you cry into his fluffy chest.

He’d hold you and just squeeze his eyes shut, trying to ignore the pain in his own chest at you crying

You’ve been there for him in his worst nights, so he’s ready to be strong for you in yours.

“What’s wrong? Baby, whats happened?”

Frantic to find out why your crying

If someone made you cry he’d be ranting and raving about how much they suck

“How dare they say that to you?! Are you kiddin’ me?!”

If it’s something else he’d try his best to calm you down, giving small pep talks.

He just wants to support you best he can, even if he’s not the best at it.

Vox: 📺

“Who the hell made you cry?”

Immediately he’s ready to electrocute something, his arms tinging with electricity.

He feels about ready to kill someone

If you tell him someone did make you cry he’d teleport away to them and immediately ruin them.

He’d leave them alive but then ruin their reputation

They’d never find a job again and people on the street would hate them

If it’s something else he’d try calms down and sits next to you, pulling you in for a side hug as he listens to what you say

“Let me help. I can fix it.”

If your overwelmed with work or school he’d contact the officials and make it easier on you

He’s use his money and power to help you stay happy

Valentino: 🦋

“Amorcito…Baby what happened?”

He’d rush over to you and pick you up, cradling you like a child as he shushes you.

He’s very physical with his comfort, holding you close as all his arms rub you soothingly

Talks a lot, giving you a lot of comforting words as he coos at you

“They said what.”

If someone made you cry you better beleive he’d be paying them a little visit

He’d beat the absolute shit out of them, no matter who it was

If it was something different then he’d coo and soothingly rub at your arms, back and head, giving you little pecks to help calm you down

He doesn’t know what to do but he does know he hates seeing you cry

It stirs up unpleasant feelings in his chest

[a018233]

ೀ Identity v men with a s/o that sleeps naked.

Characters: , Eli Clark, Norton Campbell, Naib Subedar. Edgar Valden

content warnings: gn!reader, mostly sfw. Not really yandere, but can be read as one. Established relationships. Cockwarming in Norton's but it's not really sexual.

A/N: almost at 100 followers so I kinda wanna do a special. Someone should commission me and I'll write you whatever you want, give me sanrio photographer or buffy and my life is yours‼️‼️

Eli was surprised after finding out, he's a little traditional and modest when it came to clothes, but oddly enough, he wasn't against it. Eli can't help but think it's a little cute and endearing, though. Mainly because he thinks he's at the point of your relationship where you're comfortable doing 'weird' things with him. His biggest concern is you catching a cold. Eli prefers to keep his sleepwear on, so he won't join you in sleeping naked. Though, maybe on a hot summer night, he'd strip down to his boxers just so he can spoon you comfortably without overheating the both of you. Eli likes having you relying on him whether you realize it or not, so he prefers to stay up until you've fallen asleep so he can cover you with a blanket, it's more an act of love and reassurance that you won't accidentally catch a cold.

After you started doing it, It didn't take Norton too long to follow. He likes the close intimacy he gets from cuddling nude with you. Norton is aware he's high maintenance as a lover, to him, it's total reassurance that he's the only one for you. Reassurance that you love and trust him no matter what. The type of intimacy only he and he alone can have with you. It gives him a little pep in his step the next day. It's something looks forward to each night. He looks forward to your shared nightly routine just as much as waking up with you. I'd think at some point you two decide to kick it up a notch with cockwarming, something to keep you two locked in place together. He finds nothing as relaxing than burying himself nice and deep inside you while his arms keep you in a tight embrace.

Naib already likes sleeping in his boxers, so he doesn't really have a reaction. At least, that's what you think when you go under the covers on your shared bed. He's internally questioning himself. Is it okay to hold you? Where does he even put his hands without it being weird? Is he even allowed to look? For the first couple nights, he doesn't hold you like he usually does. But after a while, he gets used to it. Although, he won't join you in going full comando unless he just got out of the shower and dried himself fully, but he's keeping his boxers on when it comes to sleep. Naib isn't one for opening up or heart to heart conversations but having your head against his chest, and your limbs entangled with his provides comfort for him. He's a mercenary, someone who has killed for his own benefit. So it's complete solace when you ramble in a sleepy voice about your day knowing you trust him wholeheartedly.

Edgar can't help but scoff when you join him nude under the covers, he's seen your nude form before. You're his lover and muse, of course he'd seen every inch of you. As much as you're breathtaking, he's annoyed. He bought you a whole collection of all sorts of sleepwear made from the most richest material money can buy. Only the best for his lover, he can't have his muse wearing cheap clothing. Linen, silk, cotton, satin, and chiffon. With all sorts of designs he commissioned personally. Tailored to your exact size, some with your favorite colour's, colour's that match you. He even made sure the fabrics were light and breathable, and yet you choose to sleep naked? When the initial annoyance settles, he begins to feel a little flustered, yes he's seen you naked before, he has done full body portraits of you. But somehow this feels different. He can't explain why, but it feels more intimate than any canvas he's painted of you. Now, to him, it cements your love for him. That in the dead of the night, that you aren't his muse right now. But his lover. The one you love the most.

[violent-little-thing]

The (Other) Gauntlet

Summary:  Dain tries to win over Sloane’s loved ones before asking for her hand in marriage. Title is a throwback to “Watching with the Angels,” where Liam references the gauntlet of their friends in his letter.

Warning: slapping of an adult child by his father

Word Count: 2486

This is my contribution to Day 7 of Slain Week. Thank you @empyreanevents for all of the work you put into organizing this. It's been such a fun challenge to participate in each day. And a special shoutout to my other half @violencelittlething. I love the worlds we've created and all of our messages.

____

Dain had done well for himself on the Gauntlet his first year. He studied it, practiced diligently, and placed in the top two times in his squad, coming in only below Imogen. He was proud of himself, accepting congratulations and claps on the shoulder from squadmates and other first year cadets, including a mildly impressed look from Imogen herself. He was on a high when he went to Presentation and left the meadow feeling sure that a red swordtail who had approached him would choose him two days later at Threshing. As he made his way back to the barracks, though, a hand gripped his shoulder painfully, pulling him off his path.

Colonel Aetos stood glowering in a dark corner, clearly having been waiting for his son. “Losing to a marked one,” he sneered. “Are you trying to embarrass this family, this war college, Navarre itself or did you just not try hard enough?” Dain looked down at his boots, avoiding his father’s stern gaze.

“Look at me godsdamnit!” Dain obeyed his father’s command, just as he always did.

“I’m sorry, Father. Cardulo is fast, faster than anyone in our squad, and —” Dain was cut off by his father’s hand slapping his face.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses, boy. You better bond one hell of a dragon. I will not be embarrassed like this again. You’re dismissed.” Col. Aetos walked away, leaving his son ashamed and hurting.

__

It had been years since Dain had occasion to think about the Gauntlet. Today, though, he couldn’t help but think it might pale in comparison to the challenge he was about to put himself up against. Dain was a man who wanted and tried to do things the proper way. He was regimented about making his bed, folded clothes with precision, and even kept his beard neatly trimmed at all times. So it was only natural that he would want to seek the blessing of the father of the girl he intended to marry. But Isaac Mairi wasn’t able to consent to Sloane’s marriage, to welcome Dain into his family while warning him not to hurt his little girl. Nor was Liam there to take up the mantle for his father. Some men might have been relieved by those circumstances, but not Dain. Instead, Dain would seek the approval of the people who considered Sloane their sister: Imogen, Bodhi, Garrick, and Xaden. 

Dain was most worried about the last person on that list. Xaden Riorson was not his biggest fan. He was cordial enough to Dain, graciously allowed Dain to live in his home, and hadn’t killed him yet, but Dain knew that this was different. Dain was asking Xaden not only to bless him officially joining their family, but asking him to trust him with Sloane, asking him to one day love and nurture nieces and nephews who shared half their DNA with the son of the man who got his brother killed. Dain also knew that while Sloane would appreciate that he thought to include Imogen, Bodhi, and Garrick, it was Xaden’s approval that meant the most to her. Still, Dain decided to save the brooding King for last.

After a quick pep talk, Dain left his and Sloane’s wing of Riorson House and headed outside, where he hoped to meet Imogen on her way back from her morning run. Sloane was spending the day in town with Violet and Rhiannon, so he knew she wouldn’t happen upon any of his conversations. He waited nervously, perched on the stone steps. Cath, can you ask Glane how far out Imogen is? Cath was not amused by this request. I’ve told you, Brave One, I am not a carrier pigeon. And I do not enjoy speaking to Glane. I barely tolerate speaking to Thoirt, though I suppose I’ll have to get over that if your mission goes as planned. Dain sighed, running his hands through his hair. Finally, a glimpse of pink hair came into his field of vision and he stood to greet her.

“You my welcome party, Aetos?” Imogen asked as she began her cooldown stretches. 

“Something like that. Good run? Make good time?”

“Why, yes, Wingleader, it was a good run.”

“I haven’t been your wingleader in years, Cardulo.”

“Correct, but you also haven’t been this interested in my exercise regimen since you were my wingleader. What’s going on? Don’t tell me you fucked up again and I’m about to find your girlfriend crying somewhere.”

Dain would have rolled his eyes if he weren’t so anxious. 

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Imogen sighed. “Lay it on me.” She took a swill from her waterskin. 

“I want to ask Sloane to marry me,” Dain said softly.

Imogen’s lips curved into a knowing smile. “Fucking finally!“

“You’re…happy about this?” Dain wasn’t sure if it would really be this easy or if he was in the middle of some trap. 

Imogen nodded. Apart from Sloane, she was the marked one who trusted Dain the most. Years of being his squadmate had taught her that he was a good man and she had been one of the only people to stand up for him and the first to forgive him for telling his father about Athebyne. 

“Sloane is going to be thrilled and you’re already part of the family anyways so you may as well make it official. Besides if you get her pregnant before you’re married — and unfortunately I know the two of you fuck like rabbits — Bodhi will get all flustered and will try to convince Xaden to execute you. Although on second thought, that would be entertaining to watch.”

“Imogen!”

“Okay, okay. This is good, Dain. Why are you being so squirrelly?” 

“Because I’m not just telling you this to make conversation. I-I want your blessing.”

“My what now?” Imogen was genuinely confused.

“Your blessing to ask Sloane to marry me. Her dad and Liam aren’t here to give theirs, but you, Bodhi, Garrick, and Xaden are her family, her siblings. So I thought I’d ask each of you.”

Imogen had never in her life felt compelled to hug Dain Aetos, but at that moment she wanted to throw her arms around him. This sweet man loved Sloane, their collective baby sister, so much that he was willingly putting himself through four surely awkward conversations with people who trusted and tolerated him to varying degrees in order to fulfill tradition and make her happy.

“You have it.”

“That simple? You’re not going to make me go through some sort of trial or anything?”

“As far as I’m concerned, you’ve already gone through a trial. You’ve been loyal to Sloane and you’ve treated her well.” Imogen stared into Dain’s eyes. “And that will continue or I will make the rest of your short life a living hell, so much so that you’ll be begging for Malek. Am I clear?”

Dain, still shocked, nodded enthusiastically. “Cyrstal clear. I, uh, didn’t expect this to be so easy.”

Imogen chuckled. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m the easiest yes you’ll get. The boys…well, they might need a little more convincing.” Dain groaned.

“Come on, I’ll help you find Bodhi or Garrick. But I’m not sticking around to help! You’ll do that on your own.”

Dain and Imogen walked into the fortress where they saw Garrick leaving the kitchen. “Good luck, Aetos.” Imogen said, giving Garrick a peck on the cheek before heading to shower.

Dain could feel Garrick sizing him up. It wasn’t often that the two of them found themselves alone with one another. “Need something?” Garrick asked.

“Yeah, actually. I want to talk about Sloane.”

At the mention of Sloane, Garrick stiffened, eyes narrowing on Dain as if he were prey. “What about Sloane?” 

Dain knew he couldn’t waver, but gods damn was Garrick an imposing figure. Dain swallowed, finding his words. “I’d like your blessing to ask her to marry me.”

“Sit down.” Garrick gestured to the kitchen where they sat at the table. “You’re a brave man, Aetos. I assume if you’re coming to me, you’ll also be paying a visit to Xaden.”

“Yes. Bodhi as well.”

“Like I said, you’re a brave man.” Garrick sipped his coffee, looking at Dain expectantly. “Go on.”

Dain was silent, not knowing what else to say.

“Come on,” Garrick said. “You’ve got to give me more than just saying you want to marry her.”

“I love her, Garrick. She’s my entire world. She’s my reason for existing. Hell, I joined this family because of her. I live in this house – Xaden’s house – because I love her that much and she needs to be with all the people she loves. I know you don’t fully trust me and I don’t think you particularly like me, but Sloane does. And she loves you, Garrick. She calls you her biggest big brother. She just wants a big family, all of us together and I want to give her that.”

“And why should you be the one to give her that?” 

Dain considered his question. “She loves me. You don’t have to like it, but she does. She chose me, just as Xaden chose Violet and you chose Imogen.” Garrick stroked his chin and nodded his head. “I’d die for her, but more than that I’ll live for her.”

They rose from the table, Garrick clapping Dain on the shoulder. “You’re good to go from where I stand, man. But know that if you ever hurt her, you’ll answer to me. And you’d do well to remember how good I am with a sword and how many weapons patches I earned in our Basgiath days. Good luck with the Riorson cousins!” Garrick called as he left the kitchen.

Two down, two to go.

Dain found Bodhi in the garden. He and Violet resurrected the garden that his mother once tended to, filling it with flowers and shrubs. They’d made it a truly beautiful, peaceful spot. Bodhi rose from the flower beds as he saw Dain approach. Bodhi and Dain got along well, for the most part. They’d had to coexist as wingleader and section leader in their third year, especially once the riot fled to Aretia, which became the basis for a tentative friendship. Bodhi was warm and welcoming, unlike his cousin, and he adored Sloane. He was the first to outwardly refer to Sloane as his baby sister, the first to test whether she’d accept that title coming from anyone other than Liam. To his delight – to everyone’s delight – she did. He was protective and known to flash that Riorson temper when it came to Sloane’s happiness, so Dain braced himself for a battle.

“Aetos, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Bodhi said, brushing dirt off his hands.

“I want to ask Sloane to marry me and I’d like your blessing.”

“No.” Bodhi’s answer came quicker than Dain expected.

“Excuse me?”

“Dain, there’s a process here. You don’t just get a ‘yes.’ You have to earn it. So, let’s go.” Bodhi led Dain to the sparring gym, claiming it’s traditional, dating back to the idea of winning a woman’s honor. Dain isn’t sure if that’s true, but he agrees to the match nonetheless. He lets Bodhi get in some good hits, but doesn’t hesitate to land some of his own. Dain technically wins, though it was a very even match throughout. 

“Now you have my blessing. You’re a lucky man, Aetos. Don’t ever forget that. She’s our princess and we love her. You got a ring?”

“I do. It’s a ruby, her favorite.” Bodhi nodded approvingly.

“Bring it to me and I’ll put some runes in it for you. Or I can show you how to, but I’d really like to do it for her,” Bodhi said sincerely. Dain’s heart warmed, as it always did when anyone demonstrated their love and care for his girl.

“I’ll do that, assuming I’m still alive after seeing Xaden.” Dain was only half-joking.

Finally, Dain made his way to Xaden’s office. The office had once belonged to Fen Riorson and there was something symbolic about meeting the patriarch of their family, the literal King of Tyrrendor, in that space. Dain knocked tentatively, though the shadows that crept under the door had likely already informed their master that he had company. Xaden tells Dain to come in and have a seat. 

“Are you here to see your King or your girlfriend’s brother?” Xaden asks.

“Sloane’s brother.” Xaden tenses. Though he’s not reading Dain’s mind or intentions, he’s not dumb. He knows what’s coming.

“I’m here to ask for your blessing to ask Sloane to marry me.” Dain starts the way he has with the others. “You’re the closest thing she has to Liam and while I know she considers Imogen, Garrick, and Bodhi to be her siblings, you’re the person whose approval means the most to her.” Xaden gives a small smile. “So, please, I’m asking for your blessing.”

Xaden sits back in his chair. “Liam loved that girl more than anything on this earth. And you’re right, I am the closest thing to him that she has left. So I’m going to approach this from that perspective, as Liam’s brother and his representative, who he entrusted his sister to before he took his last breath. Liam didn’t hate you. It annoyed me, to be honest. He would want Sloane to be cherished and appreciated. He would want her to be loved hard. He would want her to be with someone who would protect her at all costs and who would give anything to give her the life she wants and deserves.” Xaden sighed. “That’s you.” Dain’s eyes widened. “You’ve proven your devotion to her, your loyalty. You got through to her and got her to train her signet when none of us could. You know her, you see her. Liam would approve. And so do I. Welcome to the family, officially, Aetos.” Xaden stood to shake Dain’s hand.

“Now, I do have a sword and a shovel and a ruthless blue dragon who will roast you in seconds if you hurt her. But that won’t happen. I trust you with her.” 

“Thank you, Xaden.” 

Xaden reached into his desk and pulled out a decanter of Tyrrish whiskey and two glasses.”If you’re going to marry into this family, you’re probably going to need this from time to time,” he said as he poured them each a glass and pushed one over to Dain. He raised his glass “To Sloane.” 

“To Sloane.”

Dain stayed to finish his drink, telling Xaden about his conversations with the others. When he left, Dain thought to himself about the gauntlet he’d gone through that day. He thought he’d feel beaten down after, but he felt good. He felt like he was truly a part of this crazy family and he couldn’t wait to get down on one knee.

[s0urw00lf]

Twisted luck

Dead in the water

Sam Winchester x Fem!reader

Warnings: mentions of drowning, grief,

An: hope you enjoy. My inbox is open for requests for Sam, dean cas and other fandoms

Masterlist - spn masterlist - Sam Winchester masterlist

Last chapter - next chapter

You tapped your foot impatiently, waiting for a text from an old friend you met through Jason, she was worried about you and how you disappeared after his death.

You’ve been mostly ignoring her texts and calls but you finally gave in after the guilt started to gnaw at your seams.

The diner was relatively quiet, and so was Dean as he looked through the local newspaper for a hunt. The gaze on your phone had been broken when a waiter walked over to your table. “Can I get you anything else?” She asked, seductively not sparing a glance at you, focus more on dean who was smiling at her with the pen you let him borrow in his mouth. “Dude” you scoffed snatching the pen from him, just as Sam returned to the table “just the check please” Sam said. The girl walked away with a flirty smile, glancing back at the boys.

Dean's smile dropped , before looking at you and Sam. “Yknow, we are allowed to have fun once in a while” he said before pointing to the retreating waiter “that’s fun”

all he earned in return was a glare from the both of you. It’s barely been a month and hes already trying to get you to move on. He got the message pretty quickly, sighing before pushing the paper over to you. “Here take a look at this, I think I got one.”

You moved the paper over so Sam could see a little better. Dean had circled a picture of a girl “lake manitoc Wisconsin, Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn’t walk out. Authorities drag the water, nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third lake manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. Had a funeral three days ago” he said.

Sam made a face “A funeral?” He asked. “Yeah it’s a word they buried an empty coffin, for closure or whatever” dean dismissed

Sam scoffed “closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean people just stop looking for them”. you knew he was talking about your parents but using someone else’s loss to get your point across wasn’t something that sat well with you. Dean cocks his head “Something you want to say to me?” He asks

You internally groaned knowing an argument was about to take -lave and you were right in the middle of it. Literally. “The trail for Dad and Thena. It's getting colder every day.” Sam said

Dean raised his brows in confusion “Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?” He asked. Sam shook his head “I don't know. Something. Anything.” Dean scowled “You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I wanna find them as much as you do?” He squinted his eyes at his younger brother.

“Yeah, I know you do, it's just-“

“I’m the one who’s been with them everyday for the past two years while you were off to college going to pep rally’s. We’ll find ‘em but until then we’re gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?” Dean said. Sam gave him a challenge in look which Dean returned with that older sibling authority kind of look, making Sam break.

You rolled your eyes “okay, lake manitoc” you said breaking the silence, you looked over to Dean, seeing his attention occupied on the waitress who walked by, you rolled your eyes “hey” you said snapping in his face. “Huh,” he replied, snapping out of his daze. “How far?” Sam asked.

You reached lake manitoc pretty quickly, arriving before noon. Your first top was the Carlton's residence where the latest victim's family lived.

You knocked on the door and the owner was quick to answer. “Will Carlton?” You asked. “Yeah, that’s right” he said, looking between the three of you. You gestured to yourself “i'm Agent Nicks” then dean “this is Agent Ford.” Then Sam “and Agent Hamill, and were with the US wildlife service” you said, pulling out one of your many fake ids. “And we’d like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind”.

Will averted his eyes to the ground before nodding, widening the door to let you in. Will led the three of you to the lake in the back of their home where Sophie drowned. Bill Carlton, her father, was sitting at the edge of the deck staring out into the water. You felt immense grief for the man, “she was about a hundred yards out, that’s where she got dragged down”. Will said, pointing to the middle of the lake. ‘Dragged down? That's new’ you noted.

“And you’re sure she didn’t just drown?” Dean asked, Will nodded fully confident with his answer “yeah. When was a varsity swimmer, she practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as she was in her own bathtub” he explained. Another piece of new information.

“So no splashing? No signs of distress?” Sam questioned softly. Will shook his head “no thats what im telling you” he stated firmly. You tilted your head looking out at the lake “did you happen to see any shadows in the water? Like a dark shape or anything?” You asked moving your eyes back to him.

“No. Again she was really far out there” he said. You sighed, biting the inside of your cheek. “you ever seen any strange tracks along the shoreline?” Dean asked. Wills eyes widened “no, never. Why, what do you thinks out there?” He asked voice sounding slightly panicked. You put your hand out to calm him “were not sure, its just protical to ask these questions but as soon as we know you’ll be the first to know/“ you said, giving him a slight nod.

Dean began walking away “what about your father? Can we talk to him?” Sam asks looking to the older man sitting on the bench. Will looks back, before returning his eyes back to the two of you “look, i mean if you dont mind, i mean- he didn’t see anything and hes kind of been through a lot” he said.

You and Sam nodded in understanding “we understand” Sam said, turning to walk away and you started to as well before you paused looking back at will. “I’m sorry for your loss.” You said, before walking to the car.

it was an unusual act on your part, but something about this case had you feeling more for the victims than usual.

Your next stop was the police station. “Now, I'm sorry, but why does the wildlife service care about an accidental drowning?” He questioned smugly, rounding the front desk, leaning the three of you to what you guess is his office.

“Are you sure it was accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister.” Sam asked, following the man. “Like what?” He asked, motioning to the two chairs “sit please, there are no indigenous carnivores in that lake” sheriff Jake insisted. Dean sits down and Sam offers you the other seat, opting to stand behind you instead. 

“There’s nothing even big enough to pull down a Person, unless it was the lochness monster.” He comments sarcastically. “Yeah, right” dean huffs a laugh sending a look your way that you briefly returned. 

Devins leaned forward placing his hands on his desk. “Will Carlton was traumatized, and even sometimes the mind plays tricks on you, still-“ he paused sitting down “we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just o be sure, and nothing was there”

you leaned forward “it's a little weird no? I mean it’s the third body this year”. Devins leaned and shook his head, “I know, these are people from my own town. People that I care about.” He emphasized his words. You nodded “i know” , your voice sympathetic. 

“Anyway” he sighed leaning back in his chair “all this… won't be a problem much longer.” He said. “What do you mean?” Dean asked, causing the man to tilt his head “well, the dam, of course” 

 Dean made a face of recognition briefly turning to you and Sam who raised your eyebrows in amusement “of course the dam. It uh- it sprung a leak” he said, a poor attempt to save himself and you resisted the urge to laugh. 

“It's falling apart, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they’ve opened the spillway. In another six months there won't be much of a lake. Won’t be much of a town either. But as federal wildlife you knew that already” he said.  Dean gave an unsure nod “exactly” 

a knock at the door followed by “sorry am i interrupting?” Caught your attention, you turned around seeing Sam scoot out of the way and a woman had walked into the room, followed by a little boy no older than seven. 

You and dean stood up, “i can come back later” she said. 

You looked to the sheriff, who stood as well “lady, gentlemen this is my daughter” he introduced her. 

Dean ever the flirt plastered a smile on his face, and holds out his hand for a shake “pleasure to meet you. I’m dean” he says. Andrea politely shakes his hand returning his smile “Andrea Barr, hi.”. You give Sam a look, wanting to choke yourself out at deans attempt and continuing fail at flirting with the woman. 

You stepped forward “were with the wildlife service, here about the lake” you said shaking her hand next. Her demeanor clearly shifted catching you and Sam’s attention, out from behind her steps the little boy. “Oh hey there, whats your name?” Dean asks, the little boy shrinks into himself and turns to walk away. 

Andrea turns to follow the boy, you don't take your eyes off of them curious about the boy. “His name’s lucas” the sheriff says. You tilt your head watching Andrea give Lucas a box of crayons and paper. “Is he okay?” Sam asks the million dollar question. 

“My grandson’s been through a lot, we all have” is all he says, before moving to the door. “Well if there’s anything else i can do for you, please let me know” he said. You all nodded giving him quiet ‘thanks’  before leaving out of the office, dean however stopped turning to Andrea “y’know now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?” He asked. 

You rolled your eyes pushing past dean and out of the station, choosing to wait for the boys outside and spare you some of the headache you got from dean and his constant flirting.

You internally groaned, giving Sam a look when dean walked out with Andrea behind him.  They take the lead walking right past the impala. You stood for a second “did he really ask her to literally walk us two blocks?” You asked incredulously. Sam’s lips thin “yeah, its kinda pitiful” he said. “That's putting it lightly” you said before following them.  

“So, cute kid” dean says breaking the incredibly awkward silence. “Thanks” Andrea said, she said keeping up her fast paced walking. You cross the street, “kids are the best huh?”. You felt like you were experiencing the second hand embarrassment at Andrea’s complete lack of interest. 

She said nothing to his comment and continued on walking. Before stopping on the sidewalk in front of the motel. “There it is. Like i said, two blocks” she turned to look at the three of you. You give her a smile “thanks” you say.

andrea then looks specifically at dean “must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line” she said before walking off. 

Your eyebrows shot up in shock and amusement, and if you were sipping on a drink you would’ve choked. “Oh i like her” you said, turning to look at her retreating form “enjoy your stay!” She shouts over her shoulder. 

“Kids are the best’? You don’t even like kids” Sam teased his brother. Dean stands defensively “i love kids” he says. 

you give him a ‘really’ face “name three kids you even know” Sam says. “No scratch that ill make it easy. Name one kid” you said squinting your eyes mockingly. 

Dean holds up a finger, but cant even out a name to match it. Sam waves Dean off, and you laugh, following after. 

“I’m thinking!” Dean says

you and the boys settled in the motel room pretty quickly, and Sam got to work immediately. While dean went through his clothes and you sharpen your knife and cleaned your guns, because you hadn’t since you returned back to hunting. “So there’s three drownings this year” Sam says. “Any before that?” Dean asks.

“Uh yeah, six more spread over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recorded either. If there’s something out there its picking up its pace.” Sam said. “Maybe it knows it doesn't have a lot of time, maybe the dam falling apart lit fire under his ass” you said, swiping the knife against a stone made for sharpening knives you borrowed from dean. 

“So what, we got a monster on a binge?” Dean asks tossing a shit onto his bed. Sam sighs “this whole monster theory, it just bugs me.” He says. 

“Why?” You question stopping your movements and looking up to see dean move to read over Sam’s shoulder. “Loch Ness, uh, lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing.” He explains 

“Whatever's out there, no one’s living to talk about it.”

you now really intrigued, placed down your knife and moved to look over Sam’s other shoulder. “Wait Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?” Dean asked. “Barr? Like Andrea and Lucas Barr?” You questioned. 

“Christopher Barr, a victim in may.” Sam reads, then clicking on an article, a picture popped up above the rest of the article, a picture popped up of a frightened looking Lucas, standing with one of the officers, immediately you caught on. He was Lucas’s father, and he must’ve been present when his dad drowned. 

Sam confirmed your thoughts when he read out that he was in fact Luca’s father and that Lucas had been present. He was found floating on a platform.

Sam clicks the picture to make it bigger. “Maybe we have an eyewitness after all,” he said. 

“No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn’t something you just get over," Dean said. 

You looked worriedly between the boys, “are we really gonna make him re-visit his most traumatic memory?” You asked. The boys silently looked at eachother then to you with guilty looks telling you that it was your only option.

You stayed back at the motel while Sam and Dean went to find Andrea and Lucas at the park. Hoping to do a little more research, the thought crossed your mind that maybe you were missing something, hiding in plain sight. 

You searched for missing persons cases in the town, and you scrolled for a while clicking and discarding multiple articles that had nothing to do with the lake, before your phone chimed. You pulled it out thinking it was dean, but it wasn’t. It was Helen, the friend you’d forgotten you texted back until now. 

The message read: Y/n its so good to hear from you, we were starting to get worried. Katherine says she hadn’t been able to get ahold of you either, so make sure you reach out to her. How about a call sometime? I'd love to hear your voice. 

You sighed, feeling bad for tossing the people you’d grown to love into the back of your mind. But that’s how it had to be in the hunting life, no outside friends, no collateral damage. You had to learn the hard way with Jason and you didn’t want it to happen again, But… one phone call won't hurt. 

You replied to her message saying of course you’d reach out to Katherine and that you’d call her when you got the chance, before putting the phone back in your pocket and returned your focus to the laptop screen. 

sam and dean returned not long after and gave you a fill in on what happened with Lucas, showing you the picture he’d drawn and given to dean. “Isn’t this the Carlton house?” You asked, looking at the brothers. They nod, what is Lucas trying to say? You asked yourself.

The next morning you were putting on your boots when Sam entered the room. “So I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie.” Sam said, sitting next to Dean. What do you mean?” Dean asks. “I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead.” He said. 

“He drowned?” You asked, sitting up straighter. Sam nodded “yep in the sink.” He sighed. 

“What the hell? So you’re right, this isn’t a creature. We’re dealing with something else.” Dean said. You nodded “ i mean obviously, but what? I mean what causes someone to drown in a skink” You asked, looking between the brothers. 

“I dont know, water wreath maybe? Maybe some kind of demon? I mean something that controls water” he trailed off “water that comes from the same source”

Sam perched up in “the lake” sam said. “Yeah” dean confirmed

”So I was right, the lake is draining and it's trying to get his body count up before its time is up” you said

”and if it can get into pipes, it can get to anyone. Almost anywhere.” Dean says standing up moving towards a chair “this is gonna happen again soon.” He says as he sits down.

sam tilted his head “but we do know one thing for sure.” Sam says, intriguing you

”what?” You asked, he looked at you “that this has something to do with bill carlton” he said, and suddenly you felt a little stupid for not connecting those dots. “Yeah it took both his kids” dean said. 

“Well a little info i did find, Lucas’s dad, was bill carltons god son” you said. “I say we go pay Mr. Carlton a visit.”

when you reached the Carlton residence bill was in the Sam spot he was the last time you and the brothers came. “Mr.carlton?” Sam called the man as the three of you stopped behind him. He turned towards you, Sam and Dean, “we'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind?” Sam asked. 

Dean nodded “were from the department-“ dean was cut off by the broken voice of bill “i don't care who you're with. I’ve answered enough questions today” he said, putting his gaze back on the lake.

”your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? Did you ever see anything out there?” Sam asks. The man said nothing “Mr. Carlton, Sophie’s drowning and wills death- we think there might be a connection to your family-“ you lightly elbowed Sam trying to tell him to give it a rest. 

“My children are gone. It’s- its worse than dying. Please go away” he said with a shaky voice. Your heart hurt for the man as you caught a glimpse of his teary eyes. 

You look at the brothers motioning to the car, and they nod, moving back towards the car. 

“So what do you guys think?” Sam asks, “well I think the guys been through hell. I also think he's hiding something.” Dean answered. “I hate to say it but I agree” you said with a sigh, glancing at the grieving man.

”So what now?” Sam asks, looking between you and dean. Dean paused, as if something had dawned on him. “What’s wrong?” you asked, furrowing your brows. Dean pulls out the drawing from Lucas “maybe bills not the only one who knows something”. He says holding it up to the house. You look at it over deans shoulder, then glance back to Sam. 

“I’m sorry, but i dont think it's a good idea,” Andrea said, as she stood in the foyer with her hands on her hips. “I just need to talk to him, just for a few minutes,” Dean said. “He won't say anything, what good is it gonna do?” Andrea shrugged.

”Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something’s happening out there” Sam says, you nodded “we wouldn’t be asking if we had any other choice”. 

“My husband, the others, they just drowned. That's all” she said, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself. Dean grabbed her attention “if that’s what you believe, then we'll go. But if you think there’s even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son” he asked again. 

Andrea gave in, leading you and the brothers to Lucas’s room, he was on the floor, with crayons, paper, and little toy soldiers surrounding him while he colored. 

Dean steps in, while you, Andrea and Sam stand at the doorway. “Hey, Lucas. You remember me?” He says, Lucas seemingly gives no response continuing to color. Dean stops in front of him, and squats down to his level and shifts one of lucas’s drawings of a red bicycle showing the exact same thing on the paper under it. “You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again.” 

Dean's softness with Lucas reminded you of your childhood, nights when you’d curl up into Dean's side after a rough hunt or a hard training day. He always made sure you knew he had you no matter what. 

Lucas continues drawing, and dean pulls out the folded drawing of the Carlton house Lucas had previously given him

“How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?” Dean asks, Lucas gives no reaction, continuing to color. You finally took note of what Lucas was drawing, a drowning person. Whom it was you had no clue. 

“You're scared.” Dean says as the realization hits him. “It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too.” Your eyebrows raised in surprise. You’d never heard dean talk about the night Mary died, you looked over to Sam, and given by his reaction he hadn’t either. 

“I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom-I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too.”

Lucas drope his crayon and looks up at Dean. He hands Dean a drawing of a yellow house behind a white church, and a boy with a red bicycle in front of the house. “Thanks, Lucas.” Dean thanked the boy.

“Hey, didn’t Andrea say that Lucas never drew like that until his dad died?” You asked from the back seat of the impala. “Yeah she did, there are cases stating going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies.” Sam explains, speaking slightly loud due to deans music. 

“Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow” dean says “nah” sam declines, “i think its possible” you say 

“I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please.” Dean says to Sam. “All right, we got another house to find.” Sam says under his breath

“The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone.” Dean clicks his teeth. 

Sam looks at the picture. “See this church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here.”

“Oh, college boy thinks he's so smart.” Dean teases, and you and Sam let out a laugh. 

It goes quiet for a second, and Sam looks like he’s contemplating saying something, and you already know it has something to do with what dean said about Mary. “You know, um” he starts “What you said about Mom…” he trailed off. 

“You never told me that before.” He finished, looking at Dean who doesn’t take his eyes off the road “It's no big deal.” He replied.

Sam looked like he wanted to keep the conversation going causing you to groan purposefully loud. “As much as I love your brotherly bonding, please don't make me sit through your angsty conversation, I deal with it enough as it is.” you joked. Dean laughs and Sam rolls his eyes, trying to hide his smile. 

The tall white church was hard to miss, and the yellow house behind it looked exactly the same as the picture. The lady that lives there let the three of you in without much of a fuss. 

”Sorry to bother you ma’am but does a little boy live here by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle” 

the lady looked rather sad at deans question before she shook her head “no sir. Not for a very long time. Peter’s been gone for thirty five years now.” She said. ‘Gone?’ You thought to yourself. She looks over at a picture on a shelf, the very Same boy stood smiling proudly in the picture. 

Sam taps your shoulder, making you look at him. He points to a table, on top of it were a bunch of toy soldiers. Were those his?” You questioned now pointing to the toys. 

She nods “yes, i- I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them. Losing him, you know its… its worse than dying” she said, that was the exact same thing bill had said. You, Sam and Dean glanced amongst each other. Maybe this is more connected than you thought. 

“did he disappear from here? This house I mean.” You asked, clarifying as best you could.

she shook her head “he was supposed to ride his bike home after school. He never showed up.” She answered.

dean picked up a picture from the mirror, observing it before flipping it over to read the back. “Peter Sweeney and billy Carlton, nineteen seventy.” He read aloud. Your eyes widened, this was definitely more connected than you thought. 

For the third time this hunt you Sam and dean were on the way back to the carton house. “Okay, this little boy peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to bill carlton somehow” Sam says. “Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?”

“And wherever it is all of the people he loves seem to be paying the price for it” you add, twirling the string of your hoodie between your fingers absentmindedly. “So what if Bill did something to Peter?” Dean asks looking at you through the rear view mirror

“What if Bill killed him?” Sam rephrases . “Peter would be angry, I mean rightfully so. He’d want revenge.” You say.

you looked around the Carlton house in search for bill, he wasn’t in his usual spot and wasn’t coming to the door, the sound of an engine starting caught your attention. You turned to the lake seeing him heading further into the lake on a boat. “Guys i found him” you said, making Sam and dean follow your eyeline. 

Their eyes widened before the three of you ran towards the edge of the dock, shouting for him to come back. All of the shouting was useless as the man kept going until his boat shot into the air and then back into the water with him right under it, the boat sank faster than you thought possible. The sound of splashing water was the only proof that he’d even been there in the first place.  

“Oh come on” you sighed, turning to the brothers who were just as upset as you. 

You Sam and dean had just managed to run into the sheriff who led you to the station for questioning. “Sam, Dean, y/n”  Andrea stood up, setting a bag of presumably food down in her seat “I didn't expect to see you here.”

The sheriff glances back at you and the boys before looking back at his daughter “So now you're on a first-name basis. What are you doing here?” He asked 

“I brought you dinner.” Andrea answered motioning to the food in the chair.

“I'm sorry, sweetheart, I don't really have the time.” He apologizes, Andrea looks at you, Sam and dean, before going back to her father. 

You glance around Andrea to Lucas who seems to be in distress, he’s rocking back and forth, playing with his fingers, and has a scared facial expression. Your eyebrows cinched in concern as you subtly tap Sam. He looks at you and you gesture to Lucas, Sam frowns at the state of the boy, and you cant help but wonder what has him so afraid.

you had accidentally tuned out a portion of the conversation, only breaking out of your thoughts when Lucas shot up and ran over to dean and grabs his arm. 

”Lucas, hey, what is it?” Dean asks, as Lucas pulls his arm. Dean try’s to calm him but it doesn’t work. Andrea pulls Lucas away from dean and out of the station, but the whole way out Lucas doesn’t take his eyes off dean. 

The sheriff throws down his jacket in irritation before going into his office, you and Sam follow while Dean stands rooted in his spot staring worriedly at the door Andra and Lucas just exited.

He eventually joins, looking a little less worried but still. The sheriff sat down at his desk “Okay, just so I'm clear, you see...something attacked Bill's boat, sending Bill-who is a very good swimmer, by the way-into the drink, and you never see him again?” He asks, though something in your gut told you he was on to you three

Dean glances at Sam. “Yeah, that about sums it up.” He said bluntly “And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?” 

Your eyes widened, glancing at Sam and dean quickly. 

The sheriff nods his head looking at all three of you individually “That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you two.”

“See, now, we can explain that.” Dean stutters but the sherrif cut him off with a wave on his hand “Enough. Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did.” He paused, “So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again.”

You purse your lips “i think we'll take the last option” you say. He nods “that’s the on id pick”

it was nightfall by the time you reached the exit to the town, you glanced up at the traccia light that you’d been at for longer than any usual red light, it was green. You opened your mouth to say something but Sam beat you to it. “Green” he said, Dean looked at Sam confused “what?” He asked. “The lights green” Sam said.

Dean didn’t even reply; he turned right, heading back into town. Sam sent you a quick glance of confusion which you returned before looking back at dean “dude the interstates that way” Sam said pointing his thumb over his shoulder. 

Dean gives a bland “i know”, you look between the brothers before speaking. “Dean, I think this job is over,” you said. “I’m not so sure” he said. 

Sam interjected “if bill murdered peter Sweeney and peters spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest.” He said. 

Dean was not convinced and you couldn’t help but wonder what was keeping him so stuck on this place “all right so what if we take off and this thing isn’t done? What if we missed something, what if more people get hurt?” Dean asks, looking at you through the rear view mirror. 

You shook your head “But why would you think that?” You ask, squinting your eyes. Dean tilts his head averting his eyes back to the road “because Lucas was really scared” he answered. 

Your eyebrows raised in shock “that’s what this is about?” You asked, sending Sam an amazed look. “I just dont wanna leave this town until i know the kids okay” dean says. Sam gives dean an amused look “who are you and what have you done with my brother.” He teased, dean glanced at Sam, unamused at his joke “shut up”

It was late when you arrived at the Barr house, but dean was adamant on checking on Lucas before the night was over. “Are you sure about this its pretty late man” Sam asks, before you could knock on the door, you looked at dean who just moved to ring the doorbell. You waited for an answer, hoping not to seem weird showing up so late at night. 

The door opened revealing a very panicked Lucas, gasping for air, “Lucas?” Dean says bending down but lucas runs into the house and the three of you follow close behind. He runs up the stairs that had water flowing down, which couldn’t be any good. 

Lucas stops at the door that had the water coming from under it and starts banging on the door. Dean pulls Lucas away from the door and Sam kicks it open. You rush in, seeing the overflowing bathtub, and Andrea inside under the water.

You reach into the dark water to pull Andrea out, using all of your strength but it was as if she was being held by some unwavering power. “Sam, a little help” you shouted, and he rushed to help. With his added strength you were able to slowly wrestle her out of the water. 

She landed on top of you and Sam quickly rushed to get her a towel. 

Some time later after changing into some clothes Andrea offered, seeing as yours was completely soaked. The sun had started to rise and you and dean were going through shelves of her family’s old belongings, while Sam talked to Andrea. 

You could hear their faint voices talking, and the shuffling of dean on the other side of the room. You pulled out an photo album labels ‘Jake - 12 years old’ you briefly flip through the pictures until you come across a picture of what seemed to be a group of boy scouts. 

What stood out was Peter Sweeney right in the middle of the boys. 

“Hey dean” you call, dean looks at you with raised brows, and you hold up the album, “found something” you say. He walks over to you, looking over the picture before looking at you. You raise your eyebrows. 

Dean takes the album from your hands, walking over to Sam and Andrea who were in the next room. You followed quietly, dean placed the album down in front of Andrea, pointing at the photo “you recognize the kids in these pictures?” Dean asks. 

She looks down at the photo before shaking her head “no, i mean except my dad” she said pointing to the boy next to peter in the photo. “He must’ve been twelve in these pictures” 

you and the boys share a look. “Chris Barr’s drowning. The connection wasn’t to bill carlton, it must’ve been tp the sheriff” dean says. 

You shook your head “maybe its both” you say, Sam nods in agreement “bill and the sheriff both were involved with peter” 

Andrea looks at the three of you, confused “what about Chris? My dad, what are you talking about”

You notice Lucas walk up to the door, looking towards the woods, you nudge dean, gesturing towards lucas. “Lucas?” Dean calls, “Lucas what is it?”. Lucas says nothing, but opened the door walking outside. 

Everyone follows, confused. He led you a little past the treenline of woods, he looked at his feet before looking back up to dean. 

“You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there okay?” Dean says to Andrea. She nods, pulling Lucas back towards the house. 

You handed the shovels you got from the trunk and handed them to the brothers. You never dug up anything unless john or your mom was around, because you just refused. So you watched, it didn’t take but a few seconds for them to reach the bike, it wasn’t dug very deep, you guessed from how young they were, they didn’t think to dig very far. 

“Peter’s bike” you said, watching them pull the bike from the dirt. The sound of an all to familiar click from behind you made tour heart skip a beat. “Who are you?”

you turned around, seeing a gun pointed at your head. You squinted your eyes at him “put the gun down Jake” Sam warns cautiously. 

He doesn’t put the gun down “how did you know that was there?” He asks. you glare at him, “you killed him didnt you? You and bill. Drown him in the lake, and bury the evidence right in your own front yard. Let me tell you something Jake, the truth never stays buried.” You say. 

Sam grabs your arm, slowly pulling you away from in front of the gun, and you didn’t break your glare on the older man. “I dont know what your talking about” Jake says, trying and failing to hide the guilt on his face. 

“You and bill killed peter Sweeney thirty five years ago that’s what the hell were talking about.” Dean says. Andrea runs up “dad” she shouts looking at him as if he was crazy. 

“And now you got one seriously pissed off spirit” dean finished. Sam pulled you a little behind him as he started to speak “It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the Same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does.” Sam says. 

jake wears a smug look on his face “yeah? And how do you know that?” He asks. 

Rolling your eyes you stepped from behind Sam a little “Because it’s what he did to bill carlton” you answer genuinely wondering how he couldn’t see that. 

Jake scoffs “listen to yourselves, all. Three of you. Your insane!” He shouts. Dean shits him down “ I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us.” He shakes his head, shrugging his shoulders. “But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake.”

Andrea looks at Jake wit tears in her eyes “dad is any of this true?” She asked. Jake didn’t take his eyes off of the three of you, still pointing th gun. “No, dont listen to them. They’re liars and they’re dangerous” he says. 

Andrea wasn’t convinced “something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad look at me!” She demanded. He did “tell me you didn’t kill anyone” she pleaded. He looked away from her, not being able to let the word ‘yes’ slip through his lips. 

“Oh my god” she covers her mouth in disbelief. Jake puts down the gun “Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to.But we held him under too long and he drowned. ” He looked at you and the boys “We let the body go, and it sank.” He admitted. 

you pulled your bottom lip between your teeth in irritation, placing your hands on your hips. 

Jake looks guiltily at his daughter “Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational.”

Dean disregards what he says “All right, listen to me, all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now”. You nod in agreement. 

You turn your attention to Andrea when you hear her gasp, looking towards the lake, you see Lucas reaching into the water 

“God no” you mutter to yourself before taking off running towards him, Sam and dean were close behind. Before you could reach him he was pulled into the water and you wasted no time diving into the water after him.

you held your breath looking at the bottom of the lake, not being able to say barely anything, and your heart was pumping so fast you could feel the blood in your veins pumping, you swam back to the surface, taking a deep breath, dean called your name and you shook your head. There was no sign Lucas had even been in the water. 

After taking another deep breath you go back underwater. Swimming down a little further hoping to find the little boy. Out of the corner of your eye you see Jake being dragged down and out of sight. 

You ignored the ache in your lungs pleading fo air and you swam towards him hoping to catch him but you were too late. So with the last remaining energy you started swimming back up, and it seemed like the more frantic you swam the further away the surface got.

you couldn’t bring yourself to move anymore, feeling your heartbeat against your ribcage as your lungs pleaded for water, your head felt like it was about to explode. And the only thing you could think of was the fear of this being your last moment alive. 

Your vision started dotting and an image of Sam popped into your head and you finally gave into the instinct and inhaled just as your vision went black and you slowly sunk further and further down. 

Just out of your sight you failed to see dean, swim to the surface with Lucas in his arms. Sam looked around frantically in search of you, knowing that you’d been underwater for far too long. 

He dove back under the water, and his heart stopped at the sight of you, sinking, unmoving. He moved quickly, swimming down towards you. The fact that you were still sinking didn’t help him get to you any quicker, but he’d be damned if he lost one of the single most important people he had left. 

So he ignored every cry from his lungs for air, every laundry beat of his heart, and focused on getting to you. He finally was able to reach your hand, and he pulled your limp body against him before using all of the energy he had left to swim the two of you to the surface which hadn’t been an easy task. 

When he breathed the surface, he took a deep inhale, before shouting for dean, his body didn’t have any energy left and the Adrenalin was wearing off.

Lucas was awake and being cradled by Andrea who was leading him to the house, and dean moved to pull you out of Sam’s arms, then Sam pulled himself out quickly moving over you and starting cpr. He worked like his life depended on it, pressing your chest repeatedly before blowing into your mouth. Dean sat on his knees on the other side praying for you to wake up. 

The boys never thought they’d have to see you like this. So close to the brink of death that your lips were blue and all color had drained from your face. Sam again blew into your mouth and you woke up, coughing water, and trying to get the air back into your lungs. Sam cradled your head as he pulled you up into a seated position. “Oh thank god” Sam said. 

Dean closed his eyes letting out a released breath. Once you became aware of your surroundings you pulled Sam into a hug, still struggling to breathe. “Thank you” your hoarse voice whispered into his ear. 

Sam leaned into your hug, not wanting to let go. But you pulled away and looked to dean “you okay kid?” You nodded. “Is Lucas okay?” You asked, Dean nodded. “Yeah hes just inside.” Dean said, Sam could’ve scoffed of course you’d be worried more about the boy than yourself in a near death situation. 

Sam and dean were already packed and ready to go by time you finished packing, you met them at the car tossing your bag in the back right next to theirs.

“sam, dean, y/n” a voice calls catching your attention

”hey” dean says, You turn to see Andrea and Lucas approaching, the little boy holding a plate of food. 

You walked over meeting them half way “We’re glad we caught you. We just- we made you lunch for the road” she said, a light blush painting her face avoiding eye contact with dean. You sent an amused look to Sam who’d noticed it too, “Lucas insisted in making the sandwiches himself.” She said looking to the boy. 

“Can i give it to them now?” Lucas asked, a smile graced your face, you were surprised to hear the boy speak, but you couldn’t help but feel happy that he did. Andrea smiled “of course”.  

Dean leads Lucas to the car, talking about loading it up or something. “How you holding up?” You ask her. Her lips thinned “its gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?” You nod, understanding. Sam sighs “Andrea im sorry” he apologizes. 

Andrea shakes her head “you saved my son, i cant ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did i just have o hold onto that.” She said, before looking at you “plus I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something had happened to you, trying to save my family.” She said. You licked your lips, grimacing at the memory.

You Sam and Andrea walk over to the car, hearing Lucas shout “zeppelin rules!” And you snort, leave it to dean to be alone with a kid for five minutes and already talking about music. Dean gives him a proud high five which Lucas estactically returns. “You take care of your mom okay?” Dean says seriously. Lucas nods “all right”

much to your surprise, Andrea kisses dean, out of nowhere. You whistle, making Sam nudge you. “Thank you” Andrea says as she steps away with a smile on her face. 

You were surprised Dean had nothing to say in return. He scratches th back of his head, moving to the other side of the car “Sam, y/n, move your asses, were gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road.” He says, before getting in the car, you and Sam as well. 

You send Andrea and Lucas a smile and a small wave as dean starts the engine. the music comes to life and the wave back. 

And just like that, your on the road again.

——

Taglist: @jaybbygrl

[komohine]

My sleep schedule is so fucked and i am so behind on work. whatever. heres a hopefully shorter drabble-dump

Lance knows keith doesnt like him back, never has and never will, but stupidly it doesn’t stop him from trying. Even as James’ frostly glares begin to turn downright hateful, even as seeing Keith alone without James got much rarer very quickly (James was onto him. Keith, uncharacteristically, wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Magbe he didn’t want living in their dorm to be unbearably awkward, maybe he almost felt bad because GOD this was really pathetic.)

While this is happening, a new point of tension arises between Keith and James. Keith frequently slept in James’ dorm because his dorm was much closer to the academic buildings (Keith had the misfortune of being poor, and the poor kids dorm was situated at the furthest end from campus. It was a nearly 20 minute walk to get to class, while James lived right next to the academic buildings. Yes, this meant James would walk 20 minutes every morning to Keith’s dorm and then 20 minutes to class) and Keith couldn’t afford to waste 40 minutes walking when he could be sleeping. Not that James or Ryan minded. Point is, Keith spent a LOT of time in James’ dorm. Meanwhile, James had never stepped foot inside Keith’s room.

James knew it was silly to ne upset over such a thing, but he was curious, and then he was hurt that Keith didn’t trust him enough to show him his room. He always made up some excuse that it was too far or that it eas too messy inside. Meanwhile Keith didn’t know how James would react to him being an independent journalist investigating his father’s mysterious death. But Keith thought that James would probably just see him as some crazy conspiracy theorist, and his reaction to that could not be good.

But it was a big damn secret, and Keith could see the way James deflated slightly every time he wasn’t allowed in. He’d never dated before, but he knew that this couldn’t be healthy for the relationship. So one day after a not so reassuring pep talk from Pidge (“Yea he’ll probably think you’re crazy but he also doesn’t seem like he would care”) he eventually, finally, lets James into his dorm. With his corkboard covered in newsclippings and red string, scattered papers all over his desk, and also Pidge’s insane computer setup in her own little corner. James didn’t mention or question the corkboard, and Keith was glad. He wasn’t sure he wanted to explain everything right now.

The rooms were small enough as is, but it was made so much more claustrophobic with the sheer amount of stuff in it. James was surprised Keith could find anything in this mess. Hell, even his bed was half taken up by papers and unfolded clothes. At least Keith wasn’t lying when he said that his room was too messy to go in. James would be lying if he said it didn’t bother him at least a little. His abd Ryan’s room was impeccable compared to this, and also quite a bit larger. Keith and Pidge were forced to share a bunk, whilst he and Ryan got two separate beds and a pretty decent amount of floorspace.

James gave Keith a wide eyed glance. Keith caught it. “You want to clean this, don’t you. Yea, okay, go ahead. Just don’t touch any of Pidge’s stuff or she’ll freak. I’ll be in the living room.���

And then James proceeded to completely reorganize Keith’s half of the bedroom for the next four hours. He put all the clothes away, sorted the sheets, and meticulously sorted papers into a few neat piles. This included the numerous news clippings Keith had saved. Half were all about the incident that killed his father: he had rushed into a burning factory, claiming he was hearing cries for help despite the factory being supposedly empty, and he had died in the blaze. The factory collapsed shortly after. The other half was a mix of clippings about the company that owned the factory. It was a large engineering company that made specialized replacement parts for the machines used on oil rigs. It was his father’s company. It was about to be James’ company. Oh god.

James walked out holding the news clipping with his father’s company’s name printed in bold. He looked up to Keith, who’d turned around and was clearly about to say some sarcastic remark about James finally finishing cleaning, but he’d stopped himself, reading James’ worried expression.

“I think we need to talk.”

okay i need to go work now 💔 bye 💔 not super happy with this but i need some sort of mystery plot to keep my stories going or else it will stagnate

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

i am confused

Making this its own separate post + expanding on it so it doesn’t get lost in the quagmire that is the book 7 part 8 update 💀

Feel free to let me know your own thoughts or theories too, I’m just rambling here.

***Spoilers below the cut!!***

So like… Is anyone else confused as to how Silver can use his UM Meet in a Dream so many times with NO ONE making a comment about how he's building up a considerable amount of blot???????

Vargas Camp seems to suggest that using one's UM typically uses up a considerable amount of magic compared to a non-UM spell. (The boys felt it would be dangerous to cast UM without at least a sizable magestone.) This is not true of all UMs though; Kalim's Oasis Maker, for example, allows him to offer up a small amount of magic to produce a great amount of water. So let's say for argument's sake that Silver's UM is similar to Kalim's and does not require a ton of magic per use. (Edit: this detail is confirmed true in the recent update.)

But??? That still doesn't make a ton of sense???? Silver was in constant battles against Silver Owls while in Lilia's dream, meaning he is physically being chipped away at. No matter how physically fit, capable, or well-trained he is, Silver is only human and his stamina and perseverance has its limits. He also suffered immense emotional distress in Lilia's dream after realizing that he is the son of the man who killed Malleus's mother ON TOP of having doubts that he is worthy of Lilia's love AND fixating on how no matter how hard he tries, he can never truly "pay back" his father. I guess it can be argued that the pixies healed them on their trek (+ there was that one scene where Lilia and co. rest in a Silver Owls camp) and that Silver "got over" his feelings after Sebek shouted at him about how much Silver is loved... Even then, that's not really a good explanation??? Silver climbed up those daunting mountains surrounding Castle Blackscale--mountains which have oppressive magic that harms humans. This is POST-pixie encounter, so he'd still be walking in with damage from that, not to mention the blow of lightning magic he took from Maleanor???? I'd also think that while Sebek's pep talk (well, pep shout) helped clear Silver's head, it wouldn't invoke a sudden character change on the spot; Silver would no doubt still have lingering feelings and would need time to properly sort them out and reconcile with them. They haven't been addressed in full yet, at least not until Silver can like get some closure on his own terms, maybe by sitting down and talking with Lilia about everything they learned. (That's definitely a topic for post book 7 though.) Now think about how many times Silver is expected to use his UM. At minimum, he has already used it 4 times (to show up in Yuu's dream, then to hop into Sebek's dream, then Lilia's, then Idia's). In the most recent update, Silver has used it no less than an additional 4 times (to jump from Idia's dream to Epel's, then to Rook's, then to Vil's, then to presumably a Scarabia boy's which is where the next update will likely pick up). THAT'S ALREADY 8 TIMES????? And he has like 11 or 12 more dreams to visit, including having to jump back to Idia’s dream and then prep for fighting Malleus???? It's like 20 times Silver is expected to use his UM, with very little down time in between because... oh yeah, TWISTED WONDERLAND IS ABOUT TO HAVE ETERNAL NAP TIME IF THEY DON'T HURRY TF UP 🤡 That's not even mentioning the increased loads each time Silver casts his UM (since they're collecting students like Pokemon to gang up on Malleus). If previous UMs imply anything, more people should make it more difficult to pull off a spell. Ruggie had to use a magic-enhancing potion to control a whole statium, Cater is strained the more clones he creates at any given time. Jamil's hypnosis magic cast upon a group causes him to accumulate blot so much faster. Shouldn't this be a major concern for Silver??????? Should I be concerned for Silver????????

Don't get me wrong, I love that we're able to dream hop and see what each of the main cast characters are dreaming of, but ���� I don't know if I should be worried or not about Silver's health???????? Because I could see why the devs would just hand wave it off in this instance (cuz how else are they going to travel to each dream and save the world? They're kind of on a time crunch here...), but at the same time I can see it going the other way and sort of breaking immersion?? Unless this is all intentional and they're going to jumpscare us with a Silver OB or him struggling against it later in book 7 💀 (I mean... the guy hasn't gotten his limited SSR for book 7 yet, so maybe it'll be related to this???)

Or is it just possible for him to break the limits of his magic since this is a dream...? We’ve seen other characters OB at will and be able to seemingly stay rational while in that form... but if that's the case, then why does Silver still feel tired and physically worn down in Lilia's dream after fighting so much? Why do they worry about taking too many hits and actually dying within the dreams? Can't he theoretically stay at "perfect" health after using his magic so much???

Does it not count as using “real” magic since they’re in a dream and therefore have much more flexibility in how they spellcast?? Or is it that it’s their dream!selves casting so it’s not real magic since it’s not their physical forms spellcasting…? Is blot accumulation slowed since Silver is technically sleeping and rest helps with healing from blot?? But then how does that impact their real bodies if at all?

I DON'T KNOW, I'M CONFUSED OTL

[robby-bobby-tommy]

I am very sad we didn't get to see more of Autobot Knock Out. So much I even have a fan episode idea. It's pretty garbage, but anyway.

Mb I'll write a fic about it *cough cough*forget about operation:redemption I literally can't finish stuff.

It's basically about how KO would get accepted into the team.

At first red finished bot will be distrusted, naturally. And he'll try to win them over. But millions of years working with Decepticons do change a bot. So what seems normal to KO is absolutely unacceptable to Autobots. For example, if someone loses their arm, a bot obsessed with his paint job will just find some vehicon and take their arm instead. Or actively take prisoners and interrogate them (like he did with Smokescreen). And when Optimus (in this timeline he hasn't died yet because I said so) gives him a pep talk, KO genuinely doesn't understand what is he doing wrong? Because, when you're a Decepticon, you don't bother much with ethics. It's either you complete your mission successfully, or you might be on the receiving end of Megatron's anger. So seeing Optimus disapproving of his "success" And yet forgive others failed missions made KO resent team prime a little bit.

Then, he was demoted to "nurse" despite being qualified enough to do operations without supervision. And it's even if Knock Out is lucky enough to be allowed to operate at all. Ofc, their reactions are more than understandable, but it still hurts. Ratchet watches his every move, because they spend all their time in the base.

That's the third thing that pisses KO off. He has to stay in base because of his "misconduct". And red finished bot hates having to stay inside. He loves going to drive in theaters or race with others, but now he isn't allowed even a step out.

The tipping point of the situation is when whole team prime (-Ratchet) go on a mission to fight decepticons. This mission is very important, but despite KO's desire to help, Optimus eventually asks Knock out to stay. He says it's because they "are in no need of another scout, but a second medic will be necessary if we wish to end this mission with no losses". When the team left, KO stayed for a bit, before quietly sneaking out. He is very infuriated and tired of playing Ratchet's little helper, and if team prime doesn't accept him, then he's free to do whatever he wants.

Once the gang gets back, mostly in one piece, Optimus notices KO's absence. Autobots have no way of getting through to ex decepticon, because they didn't have his comm nor have his location. Despite some bots being fine with his disappearance (Bulk and Smokey are still very distrustful), leader decided to meet up with him and talk things through.

Turns out KO went to the nearest drive in theater. OP comes up to his new subordinate, and watches the movie for a while, before asking if KO would like to talk. When smooth talking and flirty jokes didn't get "sweet rims" To go away, red bot finally decides to tell the truth. Optimus understands KO's frustrations and gently points out that stay at the base and absence from any too risky battles weren't meant to make KO feel unaccepted, but to keep him safe. Now that he has betrayed Decepticons, he is pretty high on "to kill" List. Yet his cruel actions still aren't accepted, because Autobots aren't like Decepticons, and team prime isn't like Megatron's gang. They do not use violence unless it is necessary.

This talk eases a lot of KO's concerns and after they get back to the base, he'll try to behave better.

Sorry if this post is very messy. I really wanted to get this idea out of my head and make it sound interesting.

[starhvney]

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔: 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄

𝐂𝐖: blackmailing? kinda, no yeah blackmailing, gene smokes, allusions to reader being paranoid

𝐀/𝐍: so sorry for the long wait on this next chapter, writers block will kill you. i edited but am posting this at 1 am so if there's any typos pls let me know so i can cry about it thanks

𝐖𝐂: 4,900 +

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

a week passed, then another, then another. it was now officially well into autumn and you had yet to be confronted by ivy again, or bothered by any other student for that matter. 

“an off-season soccer tournament? during school?”

“yeah,” laurance grins, dressed in his soccer uniform and some beat-up sneakers as he walks alongside you and aphmau. “don’t be too sad without me in our classes.”

a playful scoff leaves your lips as you roll your eyes at him, placing a hand over your chest.

“i’m heartbroken, devastated even. however will i survive without you, laurance?”

amused snickers leave his mouth, face scrunching as he covers his face before comically recomposing himself, imitating your dramatic pose. 

“i know, please forgive me. i’ll come back for you, my darling!”

“wait, what other schools are coming?” aphmau questions, brushing past both of your bantering. “enough for you to be out the whole school day?”

he nods, fluffing his hair with his fingers and sighing.

“yeah, nahakra high and… o’khasis prep is coming.” he groans under his breath, shoulders dropping as he shakes his head in disappointment. “that game is gonna be a total shi—“

he clears his throat.

“—i mean, it’ll be… a humbling experience. they’re hard to beat anyways, but our team right now is not doing so well.”

aphmau hums thoughtfully. “well, good luck? i wish i could come watch and cheer everyone on.”

laurance suddenly perks up, taking long steps forward and turning around. there’s a pep in his step as he walks backward, grinning at the two of you. 

“during free period and athletics i think you’re allowed to come watch if your teacher lets you. you should ask.”

“oh? guess we’ll finally get to see how you became the captain your sophomore year.”

he shrugs, lips curling up smugly as he tilts his head back.

“you’ll be sooo impressed.” he gloats, tone humorous.

“uh-huh…”

his eyes focus back on you, eyes glinting in mischief. 

“if you come to watch me, i’m gonna call you out on the field to play on the team.”

“huh?” you raise an eyebrow. “no way, then your team would for sure lose.”

“nah, i bet you’re secretly a pro.”

“i’m not, but aphmau is pretty good.”

the girl looks up, shaking her head. “what? i’m okay at it, but…”

“garroth told me you totally clocked zane in the face when your families went to the park a couple weeks ago.” laurance snickers. “wish i could’ve seen that.”

“rude!” aphmau scolds lightheartedly. “i felt really bad about that!”

“oh, whatever. that little cyclops deserves it.” he rolls his eyes.

“laurance!”

☆

now that you didn’t have ivy breathing down your neck, you felt… really happy going to school. you grew closer with the volleyball team at practice every day, as well as lucinda and a few of the other girls you’d run into in your classes. you ended up seeing that meif’wa girl again too, and the little freshman was sickeningly adorable.

you also met jeffory, and while you felt for poor travis and his one-sided crush on the volleyball captain, you couldn’t blame katelyn for her choice of boyfriend. he had sat with katelyn a few times at lunch, and you’d see him coming in to help with the girls’ after-school practice as you were leaving for the day. you’d yet to find a flaw in him, unless being much too kind-hearted could be a flaw.

speaking of travis, you’d finally met his friend dante that he and aphmau had mentioned a few times. he wasn’t as elusive and mysterious as he had been when he was just a name floating in your brain, and was instead… quite the dork who was trying way too hard to be a ladies man. he was pretty funny, though, so you couldn’t even be mad at his shitty pick up lines and awful attempts at winking. 

although, despite all these new friends and feeling like a normal high school kid again, you still felt on edge. like you were only in the calm eye of the storm before getting your feet swept out from under you by the hurricane.

that hurricane really was imminent, and it came to you in the form of the tall senior you crashed into as you rushed to your next class, praying you wouldn’t be any later than you already were. the boy is much taller than you, and his lean muscles and firm frame didn’t provide a very comfortable cushion for you to run into. stumbling back with a surprised noise, you immediately go to apologize before even looking up. 

“i’m so—“ you start, stumbling on your words as your eyes land on sharp deep blue. “—um… so sorry.”

unruly black hair hangs over gene’s dark lashes as he looks down at you, eyes narrowing and canines peeking out in a cat-like grin. he looks like he had just caught your little mouse tail underneath his sharp claws, and you know that the hurricane’s winds have now swept you back up in the storm.

his tie is loose, top buttons of his uniform shirt undone, sleeves messily rolled up to his elbows. how has he not gotten dress coded for this? scratch that. maybe he did, and he just doesn’t care. 

suddenly he shifts his face from amusement to a rather sarcastic-looking pout, his performance not very convincing with the smug look still shining in his eyes. you’re sure that those upturned, almond-shaped eyes and the dark circles underneath them couldn’t appear innocent even if they tried.

“you know it’s rude to run into people like that, i could’ve gotten hurt.”

you can’t help the unimpressed pinch of your eyebrows at his words, especially as you crane your neck to look up at the boy who nearly knocked you over despite your momentum.

“i didn’t mean to.” your words are more clipped than you mean for them to be, your alarm overpowering the control over your voice.

“running in the halls is against the rules, you know.” he clicks his tongue, shaking his head as you begin to try and walk around him. “but you’d never break the rules, right?”

you pause at the strange inflection in his voice with his last sentence, his words loaded with a different motive. turning around, you see a flash of satisfaction across his face, and you feel like a rabbit just caught in a hunter’s snare. his hand reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone.

“…what?”

long legs stride forward, his torso hunching over as he leans towards you, facing his screen around for you to see. the picture very clearly shows you on top of ivy, hair wild as you pin her down, fist pummeling into her face.

you remember now, seeing him at the end of the hall as you stood up, curiously staring at you. you didn’t remember seeing a phone in his hand, but that must’ve been why he was there.

“i gotta say, you did an impressive number on her. i swear i thought she fucked up your face a little too, but you came back the next day all badass like nothing happened.”

“what do you want?”

“woah,” he grins, holding his hands up in defense. “no need to get aggressive. i just thought you might need some persuasion. to hang out with me and my friends today.”

“…you’re blackmailing me… to be your friend.”

he snickers, sliding his finger across his phone screen to show more pictures. others clearly show ivy being in the fault. one showing her fingers yanking back on aphmau’s ponytail as you two try to walk away, another of you pulling aphmau behind you defensively, and another of her ripping her nails into your hair and face.

“i don’t know if i’d like to call it blackmailing. after all, i could bend this situation any way i want. really, it just depends on if you’d give me a chance. i promise, i’m really not as bad as i seem.”

at first you say nothing, eyebrows furrowed as you try to catch one of the many thoughts that frantically race around in your brain for a solution.

“i’m sure laurance said otherwise,” gene continues. “but we’re really not awful people. i mean, we’re not great either, but we’re cool. besides, i think you want someone like me on your team in case the mrs.ro’meave-wannabe in this picture here decides to yap about what happened.”

you stare at the screen, heart racing. not only were you at risk, but so was aphmau. had he caught her in the halls today, too?

“just give it a try, this is your choice here. why don’t you have lunch with us outside by the bleachers today so we can get to know each other? i know a secret of yours, so if we become friends i can share a secret of mine with you.”

“are you secretly normal?”

laughter bursts from his mouth, and for a moment he looks so genuinely entertained with your words that the youthfulness in his young age actually shines through his rugged appearance. you’re not sure if you maybe secretly pissed him off or if he strangely liked the attitude you were giving him, so you find yourself standing there awkwardly as he gathers himself.

“no, not really.” he begins to walk away from you while shaking his head, more chuckles leaving his throat as he slides his phone back into his pocket and makes his way down the hall. “see you at lunch.”

“…shit.”

☆

you ended up zoning out for the rest of your morning classes, your head empty despite its screams to try and find a solution to this. garroth and katelyn sent wary glances your way pretty much the whole day, but left it alone when you didn’t tell them for the third time when they asked. as the lunch bell rang, you made the excuse that you weren’t feeling the best, and was gonna see if the nurse would give you some medicine. they shrugged, giving you one last worried look before making their way to your friend group in the cafeteria.

you were pretty sure eating outside was against the school’s rules, so your heart was racing when you made your way to the doors that led to all of the athletic fields. after your stressful searching you soon find the three of them behind the bleachers near the soccer field.

gene and the angry-looking boy lounge on the ground, and the silver haired girl is perched on one of the thick beams holding the bleachers up. their attention is immediately set on you as they hear the ground crunch under your feet, all three eyes turned to where you awkwardly stand.

“there she is.” gene gets up and strides towards you, throwing an arm around your shoulder and guiding you closer to his group.

he smells like cigarettes covered by cologne and… paint? your eyes meet a can of spray paint in the other boy’s hand before trailing up to see an sk symbol freshly graffitied onto one of the thicker pillars.

on school property? guess laurance wasn’t exaggerating about them.

“since laurance so rudely interrupted our introduction to you last time, let’s reintroduce ourselves, yeah? i’m gene hyun,” he gestures to himself, deep voice almost lifting in a teasing way  before pointing at his friends. “that’s sasha morozov, and that’s zenix brandt. say hi, everyone.”

“you’re already breaking the rules, i like this new look on you.” sasha speaks up first, lips curling up in a smile that didn’t meet her eyes. “it would be nice to not be the only girl in this group.”

“can’t take the pressure, sasha?” zenix teases with a grin.

“or maybe i just can’t stand your face, zenix.”

“shut up, you love me.”

“i’m not that desperate.”

zenix scoffs. “me neither.”

“will you two quiet down? you’ll scare away our new friend here. hey, we introduced ourselves to you, so now it’s only polite for you to do the same.” gene nudges your shoulder once before letting you go.

you shortly give your name, chest brewing with an uncomfortable fog as you debate just running back inside. either way you risked your reputation, so your feet end up sticking to the ground as you swallow at the dry feeling in your throat. 

“you didn’t get anything to eat?” sasha questions, sleepy eyes pointedly looking down at your empty hands.

you look down at them as well, as if you hadn’t very purposefully walked past the cafeteria so no one knew you were off doing something you weren’t supposed to. you turn to glance back towards the school, before looking back to shrug at the girl.

“um… no, i forgot.”

dark silvery eyebrows turn up unimpressed before she plucks an apple off of her tray and tosses it to you. it catches you off guard and you clumsily catch it, fumbling and nearly dropping it down into the gravel.

“…thanks.”

she shrugs, humming a small “mhm” in return.

“…hm. you know, thinking about it, i dunno about that name.” gene suddenly says.

“right? i think we should give her a nickname instead.”

…what? your name wasn’t hard to pronounce in the slightest. before you can protest they’re already discussing the matter, tossing around name ideas they should give you like you were their new pet.

“what about dolly? since she’ll be running our errands for us like a little doll.”

“no, that’s too much. hm… she really did give a good beating on ivy despite being smaller than her, she’s got claws. how about kitty?”

“hm, a cute pet’s name, i like it.” sasha says, leg swinging off the side of where she sat.

“sasha and kitty for sk. i like it.” zenix adds, smile taunting as he looks at you.

your eyebrows pinch together, voice tight in irritation. “my name isn’t hard. i don’t need a nickname.”

gene’s eyebrow raises, challenging as he tilts his head.

“oh? sounds like the voice of someone who’s bold enough to let a picture of her fighting skills spread around.”

you scoff.

“listen. i hate to say it, kitty, but we have the upper hand here. we know it’s a bit devious, but we just want you to join us. you wouldn’t reject people wanting to be your friend, would you? especially ones that are also bad and break the rules.”

“i’m not going to—”

“no? well if that picture starts floating around who do you think will be your friend? us, or those goody two shoes friends you hang out with?”

“it’s none of their business what happened.” you snap, your brain scrambling for responses and too exhausted from the conversation to come up with any.

“then why don’t you say that to one of them?” gene hums in taunting amusement, head tilting as he looks at you through his lashes. “look behind you.”

your heart thuds and drops in your chest as you turn to see laurance, walking up to you in his soccer uniform, eyes narrowing at gene.

“is he bothering you?” he looks to you, brows furrowed.

your mouth drops open, trying to find something to say. his eyes seem to catch onto the draining of the blood from your face, his hand reaching out to grab your arm and pull you closer to his side.

“come on, you don’t need to be hanging out with—”

“no need to get so defensive, laurance. she wants to hang out with us.” gene cuts him off.

laurance freezes, eyes narrowing as he looks between you and the trio. “huh?”

gene stares at you, a toothy grin on his sharp features. 

“yeah,” you barely keep your voice steady as everyone focuses on you. “they’re not so bad once you get to know them.”

“…what?” laurance questions again, as if he thought he was hallucinating your words.

“yeah, she’s a real sweet girl. i really think i’m starting to see the error of my ways because of her.” gene takes a few steps closer. 

“really?” laurance asks, tone disbelieving.

“yeah! in fact she was just telling us to stop hanging back here and tagging up the place. i’ve never felt more moved.”

sasha and zenix nod along to his words, taking his lead as he looks to them. gene then waltzes right up to you, handing you a crumpled and folded slip of paper.

“here’s my number. text me later, i may need some help on my homework later. why don’t you go with laurance and we’ll catch you later.” he chuckles. “i can really picture our friendship blossoming.”

you give a half-hearted breath of a laugh in return, backing up with laurance. 

“okay, later.”

you feel sick. 

“are you okay?” laurance asks you once you’re out of earshot, leading you to the benches where the soccer team sits, the area pretty empty at the moment other than a few players practicing on the field.

“huh? oh yeah, i’m good.”

he stares at you, fingers tapping against the other. 

“…you sure? you know, those three are really good at acting and putting up a front. i really don’t think—”

“i know! trust me, it’s fine.”

his eyebrows furrow like he wants to say something but changes his mind, glancing back at the empty bleachers you were just behind. 

“you know eating outside during lunch is against the rules though, don’t you?”

you hold back a sigh. 

“…no, i didn’t know.”

laurance sighs looking at the apple still clutched in your hands. “…is that all you have for lunch?”

“oh, yeah. i forgot to… get some.”

he looks back up at you, before reaching into the soccer team’s snack box and handing you chips and a cheese stick.

“you don’t need to—”

“eat.” he raises a challenging eyebrow when you hesitate, lips curling up in appeasement when you start peeling open the cheese wrapper.

a call of your name falls from his lips, prompting you to look up into concerned eyes. 

“be careful.”

☆

as you change in the locker room out of your sweaty athletics uniform, your phone buzzes on the bench.

gene: meet me near the back of the school

you suppress a sigh, keeping your face neutral in front of your group of girl friends beside you.

you: ok

aphmau was able to catch you alone in the hallways at one point, round eyes wide with worry. apparently she had also been confronted by gene, but that guy from her werewolf class had supposedly interrupted their talk, cutting the confrontation short.

you weren’t as lucky, you groaned internally, as you swung open the back doors to the school, finding your way down the stairs and spotting gene by the fence line. he’s changed into casual clothes rather than his school uniform, you note, the dark and grungy clothes a polar difference from the neat school uniform he was forced to wear. 

“…what is it?”

“walk with me to my house.”

any anxiety you feel is overridden as you shoot a sharp glare up at him, nose wrinkling in disgust. “no. why would i do that? are you some kind of pervert?”

gene barks out a laugh, head throwing back as he holds up his arms defensively. “woah, put the claws away, kitty! it’s nothing like that. i won’t claim i’m a good guy, but i’m not a total piece of shit either. i need you to meet my mom.”

“…what.”

“i’ll explain on the walk there.” he nods at you to walk along with him, beginning to make his way down the street.

you hesitate, teeth gritting. before you realize it your feet have carried you after him, catching up to the long-legged boy.

“if you try anything i’ll beat the shit out of you. i don’t care if you’re bigger and taller, i’ll find a way.” you threaten, even if you weren’t confident in your own words. 

gene seems amused by your threat, something you’ve begun to notice as a trend. “unless you were forced to take taekwondo as a kid i’m afraid you have no chance. i can appreciate your attitude, though. having a backbone looks good on you.”

you release a quiet sigh, glancing over warily at his tall frame, noticing the bit of lean muscle that cling to him. despite being on the thinner side, you knew he was most definitely right.

“what is it you want me to do?”

he hums. “ah, right. so, my mom’s been on my ass lately about hanging out with sasha and zenix too much… saying they’re bad influences.”

he scoffs, hands tucked into the pockets of his black jacket.

“i just need you to pretend like you’re a new friend of mine, helping me out with school and otherwise being a good influence. should be easy enough for you, you don’t need to even act.”

you huff. “why choose me?”

“why not? besides you doing this for me… and the whole picture thing… you seem pretty cool. maybe i just want to be friends.”

you don’t say anything to that, instead sending him a wary glance as he barks out an amused laugh in return.

on the way the two of you make it to a gas station, where gene turns to walk towards its doors rather than continue down the sidewalk, much to your chagrin.

when your footsteps stop from behind him he turns, looking back at you with a sigh.

“listen, i don’t live in a shady part of town necessarily, but at least come inside with me.” he says, his usual teasing cadence gone as he waves you to him. 

though he wasn’t implying anything you feel a shiver run up your spine, fingers drifting to zianna’s locket as your eyes drift around at the cars passing by. you spot one, all black, parked near the side of the building.

black rims, black paint, blacked out lights, blacked out windows.

no, it’s nothing.

plenty of people have all black cars.

but…

quickly, you shuffle after gene, listening to the doorbell chime as you rush into the door after him.

he gives you a questioning look. the one time he wasn’t really trying to tease or scare you and you looked the most scared. he doesn’t question it though, instead telling you to look around while he buys what he needs.

you sigh, walking down the store aisles, eyes drifting to the different candies. turning to go to the next aisle you nearly bump into a taller man. he looked average. tanned skin and brown hair… but when you look into his eyes…

there’s a certain emptiness to the shade of brown you look into. something cruel and unforgiving—something you didn’t even see in gene’s. despite their warm color, they lacked any sense of care. it sends a cold chill starting from your cheeks and down your back, like someone had dumped ice water over your head.

“excuse me.” you mutter, shuffling past him and quickly putting yourself right next to where gene stood.

he glances at you from the corner of his eye, turning to see the man in the aisle. it’s a few seconds where he doesn’t say anything, face cold and unexpressive as he stares down the man until he leaves the store empty-handed.

the cashier, a rather unimpressed looking woman in her mid twenties glances over to you, raising a thinly plucked eyebrow.

“this your new girlfriend or something?” she glances down at your uniform, lip curling as she stares judgmentally back at gene. “...she looks a little young.”

“what? no, don’t be ridiculous,” gene scoffs. “just my little brothers friend. she’s coming home to study with him, so i’m walking her.”

the cashier deadpans at him. “yeah, okay. if you’re buying these for that lil’ girl i can’t sell em to you.”

“does it look like i’m buying these for her?” he gestures to you with one of his hands, giving an exasperated look to the cashier. “i mean she looks like she makes all a’s and never gets in trouble. c’mon.”

your eyebrows furrow. sell what to him?

the cashier looks you up and down for a moment before sighing, reaching down to the cabinets below her and pulling out a red cigarette case. your eyes widen and you look to gene, who only scoldingly stares you down from the corner of his eye.

“don’t say a thing and act natural.” is what you read from the dark blue irises challenging you to say something before he slides the money over the counter.

the cashier checks him out, narrowing her hooded green eyes at you once more with a concerned glint to them before humming. “you’re good to go. see you later.”

“thanks, donna.” gene casually replies, shoving the cigs in his pocket and ushering you out of the store.

you two walk in silence for a moment, making it a ways down the street before he reaches into the back of his jean pockets, pulling out one of the cigarettes and an old lighter. he lights one, huffing out the smoke and glancing down at you. 

“want one?”

you shake your head. he shrugs, stepping around you to walk on your other side when he sees you blink rapidly from the smoke blowing in your eyes.

“more for me.” he smirks, taking another deep inhale and looking away, slowly letting out his next breath.

“…how did you even buy those?” you ask, frowning as he flicks ash onto the concrete. 

he reaches into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and sliding out not his normal id, but instead another version that was flipped horizontally, the “under 21” warning nowhere to be seen.

“fake id.” he shrugs. “been using it since last year.”

it’s about ten more minutes before the roll of nicotine meets the end of its life. gene stops, crouching down for a second to snuff it out, before carelessly flicking it out onto the street.

“littering?” you narrow your eyes.

“what? it’ll decompose.”

“no, it won’t. not for a long time.”

“whatever.”

“littering is really lame.”

gene scoffs, rolling his eyes. “c’mon, kitty. loosen up. the world will keep spinning to see another day.”

you huff, running back to scoop up the discarded cigarette, still warm from both its flame and staying snugly between gene’s fingers. he stops to look at you, eyebrows raised and pinched, the corner of his mouth turned down in confused amusement. you walk back to him, flipping up the top of the box that still hung out of his jeans and shoving the cigarette down into the empty spot.

he raises a brow before his head tilts back in silent laughter, eyes closed.

“okay, fine, miss goody two shoes.” he laughs, before turning onto the pathway up to a dull blue house. “remember, just act like you’re a new friend of mine helping me out with my grades.”

he pulls out a key chain, unlocking the door and waving you inside. “hey mom, i have someone i want you to meet.”

the inside of the house… is not the environment that you’d expect for a guy like gene to live in. it was perfectly clean, the furniture neat and the fresh scent of lemons and lavender clinging to the air.

an older woman with a taller stature than you and lighter gray-blue hair appears from the hallway, face stern as she looks at her son.

“a new friend? if they’re anything like—” she stops her train of thought when her eyes land on you, face changing to a friendlier expression. “oh, hello sweetie. you’re… gene’s friend?”

gene huffs. “don’t sound too surprised.”

you control your breathing, already feeling guilty pulling in your chest as you prepare yourself to lie to this woman. you raise your hand to shake hers with a small smile, nodding along.

“yes ma’am. it’s nice to meet you.”

“it’s nice to meet you too! i’m maria.” her face is brightened as she grabs onto your hand, shaking it back. “oh, gene, honey. i’m surprised such a proper-looking and lovely girl wants to talk to you! she’s adorable.”

“what?” he sighs, looking much less intimidating than usual as he watches his tongue in front of his mother. “…anyways, mom, she’s been helping me with school. she makes amazing grades and never gets in trouble… right…?”

you nod.

“wow, i can’t believe you made friends outside of that little club of yours—”

“—it’s a gang—”

“—i’m so proud. do you need a ride home, sweetie? gene and i were just going to leave for dance lessons.”

“oh, that’s okay. i can walk.”

maria shakes her head. “oh, but a girl like you shouldn’t walk alone on the streets, especially with the traffic right now. we’re not necessarily in a dangerous part of town, but still.”

you freeze, before nodding. “if you don’t mind, that would be nice.”

“of course not! gene lets go.” she nods, pulling her keys out of the purse on her shoulder and walking out the front door.

you two stand there for a moment before you turn to gene with a raised eyebrow, a smirk fighting to break out on your face.

“…dance lessons?”

his nose crinkles before he bends his torso, the scent of cigarettes still fresh on his breath as he slits his eyes at you.

“don’t you dare utter a word of that to anyone, or everyone in the school will know about that picture.” he whispers, before straightening himself and pacing forward towards the door. “c’mon, sweetie, time to go home.”

©starhvney, 2024. please do not steal or repost my works as your own.

[toastedjeans]

Siren Tower Maurice, Doise and Peddito!

The main cast is over here!

I just realized Doise's gloves should be more white but I'm too lazy to change that, just imagine they're white okay?

Some info about them down here

Maurice

Peppino's older brother and a piece of shit, who constantly belittles him and calls him a disappointment. His apartment has water damage or something similar, or maybe it got destroyed, so now he temporarily lives with Peppino until his flat is repaired. (Alternative: he didn't pay rent and got kicked out, continues not to pay rent to Peppino because "we're family, you can't charge your own brother.") He's either divorced or his girlfriend left him, is only allowed to see his son once a month. It's probably for the better.

Peppino is incredibly fed up with him but he tries to endure it, until he one day snaps and probably slaps him, they end up both kicking the shit out of each other (but Peppino is stronger because i said so).

Maurice invites himself to poker night and other activities Pep and the others do after work times, then complains that he's bored or something (M: "This sucks, why did you invite me?" P: "I didn't??"). He gets along a little with Mr. Stick, but only because they're both gamblers, he's somehow even more unlucky than Stick and keeps losing almost all his money. Doesn't get along with Hazel cause he doesn't take her seriously, thinks she's childish and stupid.

Doise

Goblin shark. He's basically Noise but blue. Noise hates him because he thinks Doise is imitating him, but they're just the same species of siren. He's a little more mellow and doesn't go feral as much or as easily as Noise. He throws rocks cause he doesn't know he's immune to sea urchin and puffer fish poison / venom. He can also go on land but needs water nearby.

He has heterochromia (one eye is blue, the other is purple-ish brown), and has the same "whiskers" as Noise, just turned down.

Absolutely terrified of Peddito, as he seems to always want to kill him, and has tried doing so a few times. Sometimes plays dead hoping that Peddito leaves him alone, it doesn't really work though.

Peddito

A failed clone of Peppino, made before Fakey. Pizzahead didn't like him as much because he didn't get the eyes right so he threw him out (basically the Other Eye problem, but he ended up leaving his eye sockets empty out of frustration). He can't see because of this, but he can still navigate through the water effortlessly. There's way less sea creature DNA in him, so he looks almost completely human just with a fin on his back and webbed hands. It's unclear where his vibrant coloring comes from.

He's strangely obsessed with Doise for some reason and doesn't interact with anyone cause he's just not interested in anyone else. He actually wants to be friends with Doise, but since Pizzahead designed him to be a killing machine, he doesn't know his own strength and ends up almost killing Doise several times. His "killer side" comes out every time he's near Doise, and he can sense his presence because of this.

When not near Doise, Peddito seems almost dead, he moves very little, and is unresponsive. He can't talk, neither human nor siren language, but he understands both. He doesn't swim, just floats through the water like a dead fish, despite this he's incredibly agile and fast. Would follow Doise on land, and could survive with pretty much no problems. He just slides across the floor when on land, as if he was on rails. The bottoms of his feet are always slippy, making it easier for him to move. Might leave a trail wherever he goes.

And here's your reward for reading, some doodles of various age and messiness

Also some shippy stuff hehe

[technically-a-kiwi]

I humbly request some core information I must know before I start drawing the cosmic chars for the next 2-9 days

just so I don’t mischaracterize any of them cuz then I would cry and I cry glitter mixed with acid

hum… core info you say ? 🤔

it’s a little hard, there’s no wrong or right way to go with them

in general the cast is a mix of chaos, silliness, otherworldly and MESSED UP. If you keep that in mind you’re already off to a good start

for each character tho hum…

well for starters, C Pep is just regular Peppino really x), stressed out and very impulsive in his emotions and actions. The major difference is that he has a much bigger knowledge about pretty much everything, basically you can bet that if you’re looking for something, he knows what you’re talking about and can give you precise details about it. Oh and of course, he’s basically like a sun here, any strong emotion will make him shift and go up in flames, everything in him is flames, he's just a big ball of flames.

For C Noise, again, it's just The Noise, chaotic, over the top, witty, and INSANE, but with the host attribute very exaggerated, passive agressif with every sentence and not taking his guests too seriously, often destabilizing them for a good laugh. He barely has a moral compass, willing to do anything for a good scoop, for a good program, create a kaiju fight in the middle of a city ? Let's go ! Change the color of the sky just to record people's reaction? Roll the cameras. All there is to know is he's basically a chaos god who records his mischief, always a smile on his face, he loves to mess with people, even with his fellow cosmic entities (to Peppino's displeasure) .

C Noisette is still Noisette, kind, bubbly, head in the clouds. She loves to talk, basically being a chatterbox, a little annoying if you're not into long conversations. She'll talk to anybody but C Noise, why ? Nobody knows, she'll always make the " >:( " face when she sees him, and promptly leaves, even if she's in the middle of a conversation.

C Pepperman is kind of the same as Pepperman, the self absorbed artist, marginal and very peculiar. He just DESPISE Peppino for holding the power of creation, either gaslighting or acting passive agressif toward him. Other than that he just acts like THE scholar of art, always bragging about his work, how his powers allow him to do what is impossible for mortals or talking about random art stuff (like composition, the meaning of colors...) and if you dare think he's annoying, you can bet he'll give you a lecture... Or turn you into a pepper... It depends...

C Vigilante is kind of different, he's just a very chill cheeseslime living in the country side of a cheese village, being the tired old man on the swinging chair, telling stories to younger cheeseslimes about the cosmic realm, legendary creatures, he takes care of his little farm, just living life you know. Although he's VERY paranoid about the cast coming over one day, he's convinced that they want to destroy him or his world, he's chill... But with a hint of stress...

The Ticket booth is very... Strange... It's actions are very aleatory, but it's fairly tamed. What he wants the most is for people to have a ticket, if you don't have a ticket, it won't bother to talk to you, if you want a ticket maybe he'll address you. If it considers you as some kind of threat (scammer, stealer, someone trying to kill a possible clients) that's when he unravels the horrors

C Pizzahead is kind of like Pizzahead, he's wiser than his classic counterpart, keeping the silliness for the stage only, but that doesn't stop him from cracking a joke or two here, a little prank there, he found the right amount of balance to be loved and unravel pure silliness. He's REALLY chaotic on stage (dangerous too...), but kind of a funny clown outside of the stage.

C Mr Stick is not much like og Mr Stick, he's stern, concentrated on his book, not caring much about stuff around him, he's not as interested in money as his counterpart, but he does love collecting more riches "hey, you're gonna use that 5 dollars ?" You see ? He's almost constantly the nose down his book, keeping track of everything and anything, you can ask him about the state of a random graph and he'll tell you ! When he's not counting or keeping track of stuff, he's building some random object, like an automatic spoon or paint thinner brush...

This took some time to write down oh my... I fear it's a little too much for being just the core, but I hope this will help you

[sludgekludge]

What's your thoughts on Octavia?

she sure does exist

ok real talk, she's inoffensive, but not really a character archetype i care for, the moody goth teenager. i don't hate her though and her situation strikes a chord. brandon (i believe? correct me if im wrong) calling her a cockblocking bitch or whatever was like. kind of insane and offputting. she's in a really sad situation with a shitty dad but the narrative is so determined to defend stolas over everything and now she's in the wrong for being upset over it? gonna use this to jump off and ramble about stolas abandoning his daughter at every turn because i don't really have much to say about via on her own and i've wanted to complain about this like, forever

like 'stolas is a good dad!' when he:

actively has an open affair in front of her that seems to have kickstarted constant fighting between her parents. stolas does not seem to comfort or communicate with octavia over this whatsoever until she literally runs off crying over it in loo-loo land. even then, he's still fixated on specifically blitz protecting him. go look after your fucking daughter instead of whining about the bodyguard you don't need, dude.

tangentially, invites his affair partner (a stranger that is playing a part in actively disrupting octavia's life and relationship with her father) to what is meant to be a daddy-daughter day (ignores the fact she's not having a good time and then acts surprised when she tells him such) and flirts with him sexually in front of his (underage) daughter. seems to ignore octavia's worsening mood in favour of blitz until the aforementioned tears. has little to say for himself when confronted but assures her he won't abandon her. lol. lmao, even.

promptly forgets about something important to her and abandons her to once again in a foreign place to have sexual banter with his affair partner. is an all-powerful demon who could've pulled blitz away from funny sitcom shenanigans at any point to go look for octavia, but has to be reminded by blitz (sexily, for some reason) that they should go look for their daughters after the sitcom shit is cut short by accident. maybe via can't exactly be killed or hurt but literally anything else could've happened to her while she, a presumably quite sheltered teenager, was running around the human world for the first time by herself. she has to get a pep talk from a stranger (the daughter of her fathers affair partner, by the way) about how her dad might be a fuckup but totally loves her, despite having just spent the last afternoon fawning over blitz instead of worrying about octavia. this stranger is also the only adult bothering to look for her in any capacity. octavia would have spent the entire afternoon lost and alone if it weren't for loona being the only one to give a shit.

'what about my daughter', noticeably just kind of goes home with blitz after everything in mastermind and makes no effort to even call or text her. 'erm he was probably traumatised and exhausted-' literally everyone was just under the impression blitz was going to die. i'm sure they're all traumatised and exhausted. stolas lost his powers and his stupid ass house for a little bit, not even forever, over an affair he actively exploited a power dynamic to consciously have, not caring about how it effected his daughter, or the potential future consequences thereof. hitting the impeccable 'i wont abandon you my daughter who i definitely care about' then instantly forgetting she exists 2 seconds later because he of a hole he dug for himself. the point is he once again prioritises blitz over via. was it that easy to forget about her?

tangentially, if you want to believe that stella is an abusive mother (we haven't seen it in the show but i wouldn't be surprised if they wanted you to perceive it that way) then stolas is doing all of this while allowing stella to have octavia. alone, might i add.

via is objectively right to worry stolas is going to abandon her for blitz because he Does. she doesn't appeal to me as a character persay but her situation is miserable enough that i can't bring myself to really dislike her

[loverslantern]

The Hunter and The Witch: Dean Winchester x fem! reader

Description: Sam, Dean, and Y/N investigate a series of mysterious drownings. They discover the town inhabitants a dark secret buried long ago.

Warnings: cannon violence, mentions of drownings, gun usage (sort of), maybe cursing, bad flirting, death, mentions of death

tag list: @athenalive, @jesllianaquilesrolonsworld

Word count: 7,066

Dead In the Water

(Masterlist, Previous Chapter, Next Chapter)

We sit at the diner part of the Inn that we’re staying at.

Dean sits in front of me circling obituaries in a newspaper to find our next hunt, Sam having left for the bathroom. My laptop is out as I type away on the new article I had to write for my work deadline, our plates of food are mostly empty, now pushed to the side as we continue our tasks

A pretty waitress, whose name tag reads ‘Wendy’ approaches our table. “Can I get you anything else?” she asks with a charming smile.

And despite how attractive she is, my eyes aren’t on her but the man in front of me. Deans looking up at her grinning around the pen he’s chewing on and god I don’t know if i’ve ever been this distracted.

My mouth falls a little bit agape as I look at him, perfect smile, messy hair, a sort of 5 o'clock shadow going on, and a pen pulling at his bottom lip. My cheeks burn and I know I must look like an idiot.

“Just the check, please.” Sam answers sitting back down in the seat next to me. This pulls me out of my love sick stare, I take a sip of what’s left of my water trying to cool myself down.

“Okay.” Wendy says, walking away.

Dean drops his head, then looks at Sam “You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while.”

He points to Wendy, who’s back is to us, “That’s fun.”

He looks at Sam and then at me, like he’s expecting some kind of reaction from me. But I remain quiet.

“Here, take a look at this, I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water; nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago.” Dean gives up, handing Sam the newspaper who tilts it so that I could also see it.

“A funeral?” Sam asks

“Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever” Dean acknowledges.

“Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them.” Sam replies, clearly angry.

“Something you want to say to me?” Dean challenges.

“The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day.” Sam answers.

“Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?” Dean pushes back.

“I don't know. Something. Anything.” Sam answers.

“You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I wanna find Dad as much as you do?” Dean snaps and suddenly I feel like I'm a little kid watching their parents argue while I'm stuck in the middle just sitting there.

“Yeah, I know you do, it's just—“ Dean cuts him off, “I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?” Sam rolls his eyes at this.

Wendy walks by again, catching Dean's attention, full on distracting him.

I clear my throat wanting to change the subject, “Lake Manitoc. Hey! Well doesn't that just sound so interesting.”

This gets Dean’s attention back, away from Wendy.

“Huh?” he asks.

“How far?” Sam asks, catching on to my idea.

If there was an award for how quickly someone could make others uncomfortable I’d have to give it to these boys. From arguing over hunting and their Dad in front of their friend to getting distracted by a hot waitress. But if they did get an award they’d probably argue over that too.

The Impala pulls up in front of the Carlton house.

Dean knocks on the door, a young guy with short brown hair answers it.

“Will Carlton?” Dean asks.

“Yeah, that's right.” Will confirms.

“I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamil, and that’s Agent Hayden.” Dean informs, referring to himself, then Sam, and then me.

“We’re with the US Wildlife Service” He goes on, holding up an ID to match his lie.

Will takes us around the house to the dock, where his father sits.

“She was about a hundred yards out. That's where she got dragged down.” Will explains.

“And you’re sure she didn’t just drown?” I ask, even though it felt inconsiderate.

“Yeah. She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as in her own bathtub.”

Ok yeah, definitely didn’t just drown then.

“So no splashing? No signs of distress?” Sam questions further.

“No, that's what I'm telling you.” Will responds, clearly getting annoyed.

“Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?” Sam asks.

“No. Again, she was really far out there.” He said, frustrated.

“You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?” Dean asks further, trying to cross some things off the long list of creatures who could be responsible.

“No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?” Will asked, pushing for answers.

“We'll let you know.” I respond simply, feeling bad for attacking him with questions when his sister just died.

Dean gives me a nod to start heading back to the car.

But Sam doesn't move with us, instead he pushes on with the questions, “What about your father? Can we talk to him?”

We stop walking, turning back to hear the response.

Will looks towards his father, Bill, and looks back at Sam. “Look, if you don't mind, I mean...he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot.”

“We understand.”

And we do, we’ve seen these sorts of things break people apart, families even. We’ve seen these things break apart our own families, and we struggle each day to not allow it to break us. Even if we never bring it up, not even to each other.

“Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?” Sheriff Jake Devins asks us, having decided talking to him would be the next best course of action.

“You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister.” Sam informs

“Like what?” Devins asks, leading us into his office motioning for us to sit. “Here, sit, please. There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake.”

Sam and Dean sit, the sheriff pulling up a third chair so I could sit too as he keeps talking. “There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster.”

“Yeah. Right” Dean laughs.

“Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still…we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there.” Devins explains, taking a seat.

“You do have to admit it’s weird, I mean that's three missing people all in relation to the lake” I press.

“I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about.” Devins answers, eyebrows scrunched together with worry.

“Anyway...All this...it won't be a problem much longer.” Devins sighs.

“What do you mean?” Dean asks, leaning forward slightly.

“Well, the dam, of course.” Devon clarifies.

“Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it sprung a leak.” Dean guesses.

“It's falling apart, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that.” Devon explains.

There’s a light tap on the door followed by a brunette woman peeking her head in, “Sorry, am I interrupting?”

We all stand up at the same time, weird, since we were done with our questions anyways.

“I can come back later.” The woman adds.

“No no it’s okay, we were just leaving” I reply with a friendly smile.

“Gentlemen, ma’am, this is my daughter” The sheriff explains, motioning his hand towards the woman.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Dean.” He shakes her hand.

Maybe he makes it painfully obvious or maybe I've just known him for so long that I can now easily tell when he wants to hook up with a woman. I know Sam has this ability too as we give each other a knowing look from behind Dean's back, standing on either side of him.

“Andrea Barr. Hi.” She introduces

“Hi.” Dean answers.

“They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake.” Devon informs her.

“Oh.”

That’s when a small boy with long brownish-red hair walked around Andrea.

“Oh, hi!” I greet the kid, having spotted him first, giving him a little wave.

But he gives no answer or greeting of any kind, walking away without saying a word. Andrea followed closely behind him.

“His name is Lucas” Devon states.

“Is he okay?” Sam asks.

“My grandson's been through a lot. We all have.” Sheriff Devon stands going to his office door, “Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know.”

We all leave the office, including the Sheriff himself. Dean asked one final question, “Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?”

“Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south.” Andrea answers

“Two—would you mind showing us?” Dean asks

She laughs, “You want me to walk you two blocks?”

“Not if it's any trouble.”

“I'm headed that way anyway.”

I look at Sam again and without words we have a conversation on how ridiculous and slightly annoying this is.

Andrea turns to her father, “I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three.” Then to Lucus, “We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?” She kisses his head and then turns our way to lead us.

“Thanks again.”

Andrea leads us along the street, Dean making conversation. “So, cute kid” He says.

“Thanks” she responds simply.

“Kids are the best, huh?” He tries again as we cross the street, but she ignores him. We keep walking, shortly coming to a stop in front of the Lakefront Motel.

“There it is. Like I said, two blocks” She states with an awkward smile.

“Thanks so much” I say sincerely, feeling bad for Dean having dragged her here just for a chance with her.

“Thanks.” Sam says too.

She nods her head at us before addressing Dean, “Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line.”

A laugh slips past my lips before I could stop it (for Deans sake). “Ohhh I like you” I can't happen but say through laughs. I get a sharp glare from Dean but a contrasting soft smile from Andrea.

She leaves, calling back over her shoulder, “Enjoy your stay!”

“'Kids are the best'? You don't even like kids.” Sam points out, turning towards Dean with a questioning look on his face.

“I love kids.” He responds

“Mhm” I hum sarcastically

“Name three children that you even know.” Sam challenges. But as predicted Dean can’t even come up with one. Sam gives him a pointed look before walking towards the hotel and I follow after.

“I'm thinking!” Dean yells after us.

We walk into the motel's office, Sam’s talking to the clerk and I can’t help but unfocus my eyes staring at the unpleasantly patterned wallpaper. I’ve been traveling with Dean for hardly a month and he’s managed to flirt with practically every woman he’s seen, and yes I know this is an exaggeration.

Each woman, each time he flirts or even winks at another girl a pain rings true in my heart, one I hate to say I'm becoming familiar with.

It was that moment, that one small moment of waiting for keys to our motel rooms that I decided it.

From now on I won’t feel jealous or even that stupid pain in my heart when he’s with another woman, even though I know that isn’t how it works.

I’ll try to forget that I love him, I'll pretend those feelings aren’t there just so it doesn’t become painful to be around him. Even though I know it’s impossible to forget you're in love with Dean Winchester.

I dropped my bag off in my room, now entering Sam and Dean’s.

Sam’s working on his laptop while Dean’s going through his clothing for I have no idea what.

I take the seat across from Sam as he reads what he finds.

“So there’s the three drowning victims this year.”

“Is there anything before that?” I ask

“Yeah. Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace.”

“So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?” Dean asks.

“Unlikely, considering there hasn’t been any spotting or legends around the town. Like for the Loch Ness there’s been more than a hundred eye witnesses, but for this, none.” I pipe up.

“I was thinking the same thing. Whatever is out there, no one’s living to talk about it.” Sam adds, getting Dean to stalk over and look at the laptop.

“Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?” Dean points to the screen.

“Isn’t that Andreas last name?” I ask.

“Christopher Barr, the victim in May… Yeah Y/N’s right. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued…Maybe we have an eyewitness after all.” Sam informs.

“Jesus Christ” I sigh.

“Yeah, no wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over.” Dean adds.

There’s a sound of kids laughing and playing as we approach the park, reminding me of similar times. We approach Andrea who’s sitting on a bench, “Can we join you?” Sam asks her gently.

She looks up at us, “I’m here with my son.”

Dean looks over at Lucas who’s sitting down with toy soldiers and some drawing materials.

“Oh. Mind if I say hi?” Dean asks her, she nods her head and he heads over.

“Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me.” She tells us, Sam sits next to her as he answers, “I don't think that's what this is about.”

I opt to stand, leaning on the arm of the bench. I take in the soft chill breeze and the kids running around. A feeling of peace creeps into my bones and warmth within my heart as I watch Dean interact with Lucas, a mix of admiration and longing in my veins.

Barley five minutes go by before he’s walking back to us, the warmth within me still hasn’t flickered out.

“Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident.” Andrea speaks up.

“Yeah, we heard. Sorry.” Dean answers, she nods.

“What are the doctors saying?” Sam asks and I can’t help but think if maybe this is too invasive.

But whether it is or not doesn't seem to matter as she answers, “That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress.”

“That can't be easy. For either of you.” Sam comforts.

“We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…” She breaks off.

“Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with.” Dean offers, I know he’s speaking from experience.

“You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish—“

Lucas walking up to us cuts her off.

“Hey sweetie.”

Lucas doesn't acknowledge her, he just hands Dean a picture. One he drew himself, telling from the use of crayon.

“Thanks. Thanks, Lucas.”

We’re back at the motel. Deans sitting on his bed flipping through channels while I'm sitting next to him reading a book, a sort of habit we picked up when we were younger.

Sam enters the room, “So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie.”

“What do you mean?” Dean asks, putting the remote down, I place my book down.

Sam sits on the bed next to the one we’re on, facing us, “I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead.”

“He drowned?” Dean asks.

“Yep. In the sink.” Sam confirms.

“Pardon?” I question, I mean how do you drown in a sink, of all places.

“What the hell? So you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else.” Dean spoke.

“Yeah, but what?” Sam voiced.

“I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water...water that comes from the same source.” Dean listed

“The lake.” Sam suggested.

“Yeah.”

“Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time.” Sam responded.

“And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere. This is gonna happen again soon.” Dean says, moving to sit on the edge of the bed towards Sam.

“And whatever it is, it for sure has to do with Bill Carlton.” I add on.

“Yeah, it took both his kids.” Dean confirms.

“And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris, he’s Bill Carlton's godson.” Sam reveals.

“Then let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit.”

Bill Carlton’s sitting on a bench on the lake's dock.

From here you wouldn’t expect anything sinister from the relaxed big lake.

“Mr. Carlton?” Sam voices as we approach his sitting figure.

“We'd like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind.” He continues, gaining Mr.Carlton’s attention.

“We're from the Department—“ Dean attempts to say, getting cut off by Bill. “I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today.” A weak mix of tiredness and sadness etched on his voice.

“Your son said he saw something in that lake. What about you? You ever see anything out there? Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death—we think there might be a connection to you or your family.” Sam explains, despite Carlton’s previous response.

“My children are gone. It's...it's worse than dying. Go away. Please.” Mr. Carlton pleads, looking down at his lap.

We all give each other a look, scrunched eyebrows and sympathetic faces. It’s within that look that we decide to head back to the Impala knowing we won’t get anything more from Bill Carlton.

“What do you guys think?” Sam questions as we approach the car.

“The poor man has been through so much…” I trail off, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“He’s also not telling us something” Dean adds, and I can’t help but agree despite how bad I feel for the guy.

“So now what?” Sam asks, leaning on the car.

Dean goes still, stiffening.

“What is it?” I ask tilting my head

“Huh…Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something.” Dean suggests. He pulls out a piece of paper looking at the Carlton house, he tilts it for us to see revealing the drawing Lucas made.

“I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea.” Andrea speaks, closing the door behind us as we enter her house.

“I just need to talk to him. Just for a few minutes.” Dean reasons.

“He won't say anything. What good's it gonna do?” She responds.

“Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there.” Sam explains, and I can’t imagine how ridiculous that sounds to her.

“My husband, the others, they just drowned. That's all.” Andrea states clearly, voice laced with grief and anger.

“If that's what you really believe, then we'll go. But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son.” Dean pleads.

Andrea nods in defeat.

She leads us to Lucas’s room, he’s coloring while toy soldiers stand guard around him. Dean enters crouching down by Lucas while we wait in the doorway, “Hey, Lucas. You remember me? You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again.”

Lucas continues to color, refusing to acknowledge Dean who pulls out the original drawing, “How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me.”

But again Lucas keeps coloring. Dean tries again, “You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave too.”

I remember the day he told me that story, it was the same day my mom had died and he was trying to comfort me having understood the feeling of losing a mother. I was thirteen, him being two years older, and his mom had already been gone for eleven years. But the grief that was apparent when he told me all those years ago, like it had happened the day before…I sometimes still see it now.

That got Lucas’s attention, he drops his crayon and looks up at Dean handing him a picture.

“Thanks, Lucas.”

We’re back in the Impala, Sam’s holding the drawing Lucas made of a yellow house near a church with red bikes outside.

“Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died.” Dean says.

“Well it’s said that going through a traumatic experience could make someone more sensitive to psychic tendencies.” I offer, recalling some information I read somewhere.

“Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please.” Dean questions, it’s clear he cares about the kid that he’s even worried about Lucas.

“All right, we got another house to find.” Sam responds, referring to the drawing of the yellow house.

“The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone.” Dean grumbled, complaining.

“See this church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here.” Sam states, looking at the drawing.

“Oh, College Boy thinks he's so smart.” Dean mocks, even though we both know it was pretty helpful information.

“You know, um...What you said about Mom...You never told me that before.” Sam admits, the mood changing quickly.

“It's no big deal” He responds before continuing, “Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?”

“Aww, you know you’d love a hug” I tease, patting his shoulder from the back seat.

He rolls his eyes, starting the car.

After driving around for a while we finally approach a white church that looks similar to the one Lucas had drawn. Dean holds up the drawing, comparing the two. There’s the yellow house next to the church and a wooden fence near the house. We look between each other knowing that this must be it.

We cross the street, Dean knocking on the door to the yellow house.

“We're sorry to bother you, ma'am—but does a little boy live here, by chance? He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle.” He asks the small old woman that answers the door.

She lets us in as she answers, “No sir. Not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now.

“The police never—I never had any idea what happened. He just disappeared.” She sighs continuing, “Losing him—you know, it's...it's worse than dying.”

I nudge both boys motioning towards the many toy soldiers lying on a table.

“Did he disappear from here? I mean, from this house?” Dean questions.

“He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up.” The woman explains.

Dean picks up a picture from the mirror of two boys, one who I assume is Peter with a bike.

He reads the back, “Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, nineteen seventy.”

We’re back in the car, Dean driving.

“Okay, this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow.” Sam remarked.

“Yeah, Bill sure as hell seems to be hiding something, huh?” Dean questions.

“And Bill, the people he loves, they're all getting punished.” Sam adds.

“D-Do you think Bill did something to Peter?” I stammer.

“What if he killed Peter?” Sam asks.

“Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible.” Dean remarked, making a sharp turn presumably towards Carlton’s house.

The Impala pulls up in front of the house, we get out and Sam knocks on the door. “Mr. Carlton?” he calls out, the loud roar of an engine cutting off a second knock.

We go around the house seeing Bill out on the lake in his boat. We ran to the end of the dock, yelling.

“Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!”

“Mr. Carlton!”

“Sir! You need to turn back”

Whether he’s choosing to ignore us or really doesn't hear us will remain a mystery as the water rises, flipping him and his boat over. Vanishing.

“Sam. Dean. Y/N” Andrea calls out as we walk into the main room of the police station with Sheriff Devins.

The Sheriff goes up to his daughter, having some sort of conversation that we can’t hear from where we stand.

Lucas looked up from where he was sitting, looking terrified. He jumps from his seat and barrels into Dean grabbing his arm.

“Lucas, hey, what is it? Lucas.” Dean speaks, looking down at the kid.

Lucas whines, looking up at Dean. Sam and I look at each other and then back to the scene unfolding in front of us.

“Lucas.” Andrea orders from where she stands.

“Lucas, it's okay. It's okay. Hey, Lucas, it's okay. It's okay.” Dean tries to sooth him before Andrea pulls him away and leads him outside, but Lucas’s eyes remain on Dean.

Sheriff Devins struts over throwing his jacket down as he leads us into his office.

“Okay, just so I'm clear, you see...something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill—who is a very good swimmer, by the way—into the drink, and you never see him again?” Devins begins.

Dean glances at Sam and then me, “Yeah, that about sums it up.” He nods.

“And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?” Devins lists out, the last one making my eyes widen.

He continued, “That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you two.”

“See, now, we can explain that.” Dean says, trying to cover up our initial lie.

“Enough. Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again.” Devins suggested.

“Door number two sounds good.” Sam answers simply, but I'm not so sure if I agree.

“That's the one I'd pick.”

We left swiftly, only stopping at the motel for our belongings before we were back in the car heading for the interstate.

“Green.” Sam announces, breaking the silence in the car.

“What?”

“Light's green.” Sam answers, clarifying.

Dean turns right. “Uh, the interstate's the other way.” Sam states, getting a simple, “I know.”

“But Dean, this job, I think it's over.” Sam replies.

“I'm not so sure.” Dean responded simply, really not letting anything up.

“If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed. The spirit should be at rest.” Sam reasons.

“All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done? You know, what if we've missed something? What if more people get hurt?” Dean challenges.

“But why would you think that?” Sam asks him

“Because Lucas was really scared.” He answers.

“Dean’s right, somethings not right with this ending” I chime in

“I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay.” Dean clarifies.

“I expect this from Y/N. But you? Dean. Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?” Sam questions, looking from me to Dean.

Dean glances at him, “Shut up.”

————————————————

We pulled up in front of Andreas' house. Sam chiming in one more comment, “Are you sure about this? It's pretty late, man.”

“Better to be wrong, then to not have checked” I answered, hugging my jacket closer to me.

Dean rings the doorbell. At that moment, Lucass opens the door, breathing heavy and clearly terrified.

“Lucas? Lucas!” Dean yells as Lucas turns around and takes off, without a second thought we follow after him.

Water pours down the stairs as he leads us up them and to the door with more water coming from it.

Lucas pounds on the door before Dean pushes him over to me, kicking in the door. As Deans about to enter Lucas grabs hold of him, so instead me and Sam enter.

Sam half kneels aimlessly sticking his hands into the water. When she surfaces for just a moment, I manage to grab underneath her arm closest to me trying to pull her out. She goes under again but we keep pulling until finally she’s let free and we’re able to pull her out.

She coughs up water as Sam leaves her to me going to grab something behind us. I hold her to me in an attempt to block her from the boys behind me along with the cold. Sam taps on my shoulder handing me a large fluffy towel while his head is facing away. I grab it, quickly covering Andrea with it.

She sits up fully, breathing harshly wrapping the towel tighter around herself. I sit next to her rubbing her arm soothingly, the bright moonlight shining on her back.

It was a while before Andrea felt comfortable to stand, Lucas immediately running up to her in a hug. After their reunion she went to get dressed asking if i’d stay in the room with her, I knew unless her bedroom had a water source she’d be okay but I wasn’t going to argue with a woman who’s already been terrified so I obliged.

I stood in the room facing the door as she got dressed, she was slow but I didn’t care.

And when she broke down crying I held her until she calmed down a bit.

Dawn was breaking when I’d finally got her to sit down stairs in the living room. Sam sat across from her while Dean was looking through the bookshelves that lined the wall.

“Can you tell me?” Sam asked.

“No. It doesn't make any sense. I'm going crazy.” She started crying again, putting her face in her hands.

“Your not crazy” I tell her.

“Tell us what happened. Everything.” Sam adds.

“I heard...I thought I heard...there was this voice.” Andrea recalled.

“What did it say?”

“It said...it said 'come play with me'. What's happening?” She sobs into her hands.

Dean approaches us with a book of some sort in his hand, he puts it down in front of Andrea opening to a picture of a bunch of boys in a uniform that looks like boy scouts. “Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?” He asks.

“What? Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my dad right there. He must have been about twelve in these pictures.” She moves her finger over to another picture, kid Jake standing next to Peter.

Dean looks up at us, “Chris Barr's drowning. The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton. It must have been to the sheriff.”

“Bill and the sheriff—they were both involved with Peter.” Sam adds.

“What about Chris? My dad—what are you talking about?” Andrea asks, looking between the three of us.

Dean looks to the side, “Lucas? Lucas, what is it?”

He asks the boy staring out the window. Lucas opens the door and walks outside and we follow.

“Lucas, honey?” Andrea calls out.

Lucas then stops and looks at the ground then at Dean.

“You and Lucas get back to the house and stay there, okay?” Dean commands.

Andrea pulls Lucas back into the house, Dean heads to the Impala and back, returning with shovels. We start digging, and it doesn't take long before Sam’s shovel clanked against something.

Almost in sync we drop to our knees, digging with our hands, pulling out a red bicycle.

“Peter's bike.” I murmur.

“Who are you?” A commanding voice rings from behind us. We turn around only to be met with the Sheriff pointing a gun at us.

“Put the gun down, Jake.” Sam reasons as we drop the shovels.

“How did you know that was there?” Jake questions, gun still raised.

But he does not get the answer he’s looking for, Dean instead questioning him, “What happened? You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried.”

“I don't know what the hell you're talking about.” Jake replies with venom.

“You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about.” Dean continues.

Andrea suddenly runs off yelling, “Dad!”

“And now you got one seriously pissed-off spirit.” Dean finishes.

“It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you, and it's not gonna stop until it does.” Sam adds.

“Yeah, and how do you know that?” Jake challenges.

“Because that’s exactly what happened to Bill Carlton” I huff.

“Listen to yourselves, all of you. You're insane.” Jake seethes, tightening his grip on the gun.

“I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake.” Dean spits a reply.

“Dad, is any of this true?” Andrea asks weakly.

“No. Don't listen to them. They're liars and they're dangerous.” He accuses.

“Something tried to drown me. Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me.” Andrea commands and he does, “Tell me you—you didn't kill anyone.”

He doesn't reply, instead looking away. “Oh my God.” She gasps.

“Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank.

Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational.” Jake explains, lowering his gun.

“All right, listen to me, all of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now.” Dean orders.

Andrea turns her head, but instead of moving she gasps. We all look in her direction seeing Lucas going down to the lake.

“Lucas” Jake yells out to his grandson.

We run the dock, Lucas leaning over the side reaching into the water.

“Lucas!”

“Lucas! Baby, stay where you are!” Andrea yells, but Lucas had a head start on us and was still too far for us to reach before a hand pulled him into the water.

We keep running to the end of the dock, the boys dive in and despite my fear of deep waters I dive in right after them.

The water is cold and murky, it’s hard to truly see in front of me but I keep going further. In the corner of my eye I see two figures that I know to be the boys breach the surface, but I force myself to keep going despite the lack of air I had left. But, my chest burns and I have to swim back up. I break the surface, greedily sucking in needed oxygen, my chest burning for the opposite reason now.

I suck one last breath in before diving down again. I light one of my hands up to use as a flashlight, the bright purple light guiding me in the murky water. And with the light, I can see Luca's small body get further and further away. Frick.

I'm forced to break the surface again. He's too far to reach. But there's also no choice. So, I push my wet hair off my face and dive back in. I reach my hand out, bringing out that light again. This time I extend the light as if it was a rope or a lasso. It stretches far in front of me. It barely brushes his wrist when all of a sudden the ghost boy lets go.

I don't leave time to contemplate it or for the spirit to change its mind. I push forward the rope of light, my lungs and eyes burning. It wraps around his wrist and I pull him towards me as I try to meet him. His eyes are closed. I don't know how long he's been unconscious.

I let go of my light as he gets close enough to hold with my hands. As quick as I can I push myself up. The sunlight is the guide to the surface. It's hard to swim with the added weight of clothes and shoes and a whole other person. But, it doesn't matter. It can't.

Finally, I break the surface with a harsh breath, the rush of oxygen to my lungs only making my chest hurt more. I pant as I hold him up, taking in sharp breaths as I hand the unconscious boy to Sam, who is closest to me. I watch as Sam brings him to the edge of the lake, his mother helping drag him out before immediately starting CPR.

I stay treading in the water breathing heavily, my chest rising up and down exceptionally fast. Pieces of my wet hair stick to my face, and my clothes stick to my skin in the worst way possible.

Dean lifts himself out of the lake landing on his knees, facing the body of water. Dean offers his hand to me, I swim to the edge of the lake where he sits, gladly taking his hand. He lifts me out of the water with ease, turning himself in the process so that I was next to him and not on top.

I look over at Lucas, who’s okay and hugging his mother before I let my head drop down my wet hair creating a curtain around me as I hold my hands to the firm ground, trying to not only catch my breath but also calm my anxiety.

Gentle, familiar, hands hold the sides of my face. Dean. He brings my head up to look at him. He moves the hair that sticks to my face away, his big hands pushing and smoothing back my hair, tucking it behind my ears. Then, his hands immediately go back to cupping my face. His touch and his eyes are so gentle that it should be unfair. “You okay, sweetheart?” He asks me, breathing a little heavy too, his voice gravelly and low.

I nod my head in response, feeling as if I couldn’t form the words to answer verbally. He shakes his head. “No. I need to hear you say it, baby," he breathes.

“I’m okay,” I answer, my voice coming out crackly.

He seems to accept that answer as he looks over me slowly, eventually making his way back to my eyes. His eyes dip down again before shooting away from me to look into the distance where sirens sound.

————————————————————————

We walk out of the motel, Sam throwing his duffel bag into the car. “Look, we're not gonna save everybody," he tells Dean. They caught me up on what happened on the drive back to the motel, Jake sacrificing himself. Which had made sense as to why Peter had suddenly let Lucas go.

“I know.” Dean responds simply.

“Sam, Dean, Y/N” Andrea calls out walking up to us with Lucas.

“Hey.” Dean greets.

“We're glad we caught you. We just, um, we made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself." Andrea explains, motioning down to Lucas who looks very pleased with the platter of sandwiches he holds. He looked up to his mom, “Can I give it to them now?”

“Of course,” Andrea told him, smiling wildly, giving him a kiss on the head.

“Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car.” Dean takes the plate from him.

“Lucas, this is so sweet of you, thank you,” I tell him sincerely while Dean places the plate on the passenger seat of the car.

“All right, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it,” Dean instructs the kid as he sits in the passenger seat facing outward, with the door open.

“Zeppelin rules!” Lucas yells out.

“That's right. Up high.” Dean holds his hand up for a high-five. Lucas obliges, grinning. I laugh almost uncontrollably, the moment just a little too sweet.

“You take care of your mom, okay?” He tells him.

“Alright,” Lucas answers, determination on his face.

Andrea and Sam come up to the car. She leans over the open door giving Dean a quick kiss on the lips before pulling away with a “Thank you”

My eyebrows raise and I take a half-step back, not really expecting her to do that.

Dean stiffens and you can see the cogs turning in his head, he scratches his head and turns his head towards me, looking at me. I don’t say anything. I mean what would I say? I’m not even sure why he’s looking at me. He goes around the car passing me, eyes still on me as he calls out to Sam. “Sam, move your ass. We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road.”

We all get in the car, smiling and waving goodbye to Andrea and Lucas as we drive away.

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Hey, I saw your persona map and found it very intriguing <3 I get the gist of it, but can you elaborate on it please 👀

Sure! I'm going to repost the map again as a reference:

The first level, the PHYSICAL WORLD, is the most basic of all. It's where all the normal, human stuff happens. Fun fact, SEES (except Minato/Minako) never ventured beyond this point until The Answer. It all took place in man-made Tartatus. Supernatural beings are blocked from ever reaching this level unless they find a door. The Dark Hour made the walls between the levels thinner, temporarily allowing shadows to cross, but being sucked back once it was over. Slurp.

Next, we have the VELVET ROOM. I should have made it overlap a bit with the Expanse, but what's done is done. Any sleeping person can gain glimpses of this place, but only those who have been invited can interact with it. Furthermore, it seems only guests can fully remember what happens there. Otherwise, you forget as soon as you leave it, just like a dream. Permanent residents of this level include Igor, Nameless, Belladonna, Theodore, Margaret, and Lavenza. Come-and-go residents include the Demon Painter, Elizabeth, and Marie. Casual visitors include Eriko Kirishima, the Velvet Room's guests, and the Velvet Room's creator: Philemon.

The real second level is the EXPANSE. This is where all the shadows, demons, gods, and supernatural beings reside. Anything that happens here has some degree of impact on the physical world, as long as the event was strong enough. It might not seem like it, but the Expanse is not entirely ruled by anarchy. Well, it is a little. But if one knows where to look, they will find that it is divided in five worlds (though the better word would be "regions"), each one dedicated to a Deadly Sin: Pride, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, and Envy/Wrath. These worlds cover all the levels in the Expanse. Maybe Trish is in the world of Greed? As its name implies, the Expanse is huge, so we need to break it down into sub-levels.

In the Sub-Level One, we have UPPER MEMENTOS. Common shadows are found here. You know, your average joe. Not only are shadows found here, but also most Shadows. Notice the difference? The shadows with the lowercase "s" are the ones like Jack Frosts and Pixies. The ones with the capital "S" are the other selves of the sentient beings on Earth. The golden-eyed ones. The Shadows here mostly wander around, with no armies and posing little risk. They were created by small problems that could unmake and make them again in the blink of an eye. Even if you have a Shadow in this level, it is still possible for you to gain a Persona. You're just human. A little scuffle with Persona Users will temporarily dissolve all the negative feelings attached to your Shadow, giving you time to sort your issues. As for the other shadows, well, these will be found in every sub-level. The only known permanent resident is Jose. The Reaper can be found all over the Expanse, created after P2 (in my headcanon for Tatsuya-related reasons).

The next Sub-Level doesn't have a formal name, but the Investigation Team was kind enough to name it the TV WORLD. Shadows here have one main problem that has begun to define their human counterparts. Not everything can be solved with a quick fight and a pep-talk. No, the darker aspects of these Shadows attracted smaller shadows to them to help them create their Dungeons. These Shadows are going for the kill, but unlike the ones in the lower sub-level, their only real target is their other self. Anyone else is collateral damage. But even so, their end-goal isn't even to kill, but to be accepted. Since this isn't as deep as other parts of the Expanse, a little more action needs to be taken to properly eliminate a Shadow, having to drag down their human self down to accept it... or wait for them to solve everything on their own. There's still time. The only being to be known to have resided here is Teddie (whom I believe to have actually been part of another Shadow's Dungeon as a minor shadow before wandering off, thus explaining the thematic appearance).

A little bit deeper in the TV World you will find the Palaces. This is what happens when you let a specific Sin rule your way of life. The "Rulers" are Shadows with a bit more personal conscience and way more power than the ones living in Dungeons. No longer acting on primitive instincts, these Shadows want to live, and will eliminate anyone who gets in their way (possibly skipping over their human self, since this would spell their destruction). Rulers can even create cognitive versions of real people. Their twisted desire powers them. This deep in the Expanse is enough for smaller things to influence events in the physical level, so a chat post-battle with a Shadow can rework entire personalities.

Sub-Level Three has the DEPHTS OF MEMENTOS. Most of the World of Sloth is located here. This is also where the general Palace for all of humanity can be found. Anything done here has an effect on the entire population of Earth with varying degrees. Those with a Persona or with a bond to a Persona User are less susceptible to the machinations that take place in this sub-level. Since a Persona means you have a tight grip on your sense of self and aren't just following the crowd, I guess it makes sense. However if you're a being with enough power influencing this sub-level, even you can overpower the willpower of Persona Users. Power. Looking at you, Azathoth. Yaldy wishes he was you. Hey, at least Yaldy managed to chain the Velvet Room to this sub-level during his takeover.

The final Sub-Level, and the most dangerous one for the average human, is the one where XIBALBA / THE AMENO TORIFUNE ship is located. Like the TV World, it also doesn't have a proper name. Why is it dangerous? This sub-level is so close to the Sea of Souls, that just thinking about something makes it real in the moment it takes you to blink. Nyarly thinned the walls between this sub-level and Sumaru City to create the rumor system/curse. Xibalba is a nightmare for anyone with ADHD.

Overlaping with Xibalba and the Sea, is the KADATH MANDALA. In older times, it used to be referred to as the Dreamlands by Persona Users. Why? This is where sleeping would-be Wildcards meet Philemon! You could say this is his personal meeting room, except worse because everyone has to stand up. Only those with the potential for a Persona can recall their name in the Kadath Mandala. An easier way to reach it is by playing the Persona Game and getting knocked out by supernatural forces. Then its up to you to prove yourself to Philemon by recalling who you are this deep in the Expanse. If you can, then boom! You get a Persona for life with Wildcard abilities no contract required. Congrats. It's implied all Wildcards (yeah, even those post-P2) have visited Kadath Mandala in their dreams once before, since they still need to get the whole "remember my name" thing right to be offered a contract. However, even for the Wildcards in the old games its impossible to remember what happened in your dream unless Philemon specifically wants you to for reasons. Aside from Phil, only Igor and Nyarly have been known to be able to enter this place umprompted and summon humans there. Each star-point of Kadath Mandala points to a distant tower.

And so, we can finally advance to a deeper level: the SEA OF SOULS, babeyy. Every single living being (human, animal, plant, demon, god, etc) came from the Sea, and to the Sea they will one day return. Mix and match and a new soul is created to form new life. Chronos, one of the oldest beings in the Persona Universe, is in charge of overseeing that everything is running as it should in the Sea. He accompanies souls back and forth (and according to me, created the Reaper). Philemon and Nyarlathotep live here... somewhere. The only known entrances in the Physical World to the Sea is through an Alaya Shrine, which will lead to the metaphysical Alaya Cavern (possibly in the Expanse), and directly to the Sea. There might or not be a whale which might or not have white feathers, and you might or not be able to fuse with it, which might or not be a bad thing.

In the deepest part of the Sea one can find the GREAT SEAL, created from Minato/Minako to prevent Erebus from ever reaching Nyx' psyche / Nyx Avatar, like an eternal guardian of sorts. This is the deepest level a Velvet Room attendant can reach on their own. Nyx' psyche is still able to influence up to the physical world with "You crave death" vibes, but as long as you don't actually crave death, the Great Seal will remain strong.

That's all we know for now. Thanks for the ask!

[humaudrey]

Descendants Scene Rewrite: Mal (& Uma) vs Audrey (& Melody)

"Hey, you two must be the daughters of Maleficent and Ursula, aren't you?"

Melody finally managed to take her attention off of the sea witch pirate captain she just moments ago learned was Uma, and her handsome lackeys, and turned toward Audrey. Everyone had, actually, just as Audrey intended. Despite the enthusiastic and friendly sounding tone, anyone who knew Audrey, knew this was anything but.

The interference of Mal and Uma's playfully snarky conversation with Ben caused him to step back. Audrey relinked her arm with Ben's while Melody slowly approached the couple.

"Yeah, you know what, I think I speak for Melody and Arietta when I say we totally don't blame you guys for your mothers trying to kill our parents and stuff," Audrey said, attempting to sound casual with a chuckle. Melody was agape, much like most of her peers.

"Audrey–" Melody warned.

Audrey continued anyway. "Oh, we're not sisters. Melody and Arietta's mom is Queen Ariel of Seaside, 'The Little Mermaid'. My mother is Queen Aurora, better known as 'Sleeping–"

"Beauty!" Mal absorbed Audrey's pep, as Audrey's smile slowly dropped. "Yeah, I've heard the name. And you know, I totally, do not, blame you for your grandparents inviting everyone in the whole world, but my mother, to their stupid christening."

Uma took a few steps forward, matching the forced smile Audrey had worn earlier and faced Melody. "Nor do I blame you for your grandfather, who wrongfully banished my mother from that pathetic, underwater sandcastle of a kingdom."

The diss hurt, but what really pissed Melody off were the snickers from Harry and Gil. Whatever smiles the two princesses tried to force on her their faces, they never developed.

Melody bit her tongue, and forced a chuckle. "Water under the bridge?" Melody asked Audrey.

"Totes!" Audrey replied, her fake smile returning.

"Definitely!" Mal reciprocated.

Audrey and Mal shared a rather insincere laugh simultaneously, before they both simultaneously trailed off with a sigh. Uma's smirk only grew bigger as Melody's lips stretched in a thin line.

"Well, while we're apologizing," Gil began, stepping forward to the rest of the group. "I guess I'm sorry for my dad trying to kill your dad even though your dad kidnapped your mom and took her hostage and held her against her wi–"

"No need," Ben said. "None of you have anything to be sorry for. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. You're not your parents, and you shouldn't have to answer for the crimes they committed."

The seven villain kids all shared looks between one another. Uma snorted, and opened her mouth as if she were about to say something. Instead, she kept to herself and crossed her arms.

Ben paced back and forth, intentionally looking each of the new transfer students in the eyes. "You all deserve a chance to live here in Auradon. I wish things were different on the Isle for you, but I'll do everything in my power to ensure that everyone lives the lives they deserve. And today, I'll start by welcoming you to Auradon Prep."

A genuine smile had returned to Melody upon listening to her best friend. She nodded at Uma, who she caught staring at her rather quizzically.

"And on that beautiful note, I'll steal control of the tour and show you guys around!" Zephyr chimed in. "Right this way, please!"

Ben, Audrey, Melody, Zephyr, and Seth gestured toward the front of the school, allowing the seven villain kids to take the lead.

Mal and Uma decided to compete in a speed walking contest for a battle of dominance. Jay and Harry had rolled their eyes at the sight, then entered a staring contest of their own. Carlos caused Jay to lose as he passed both of them and dragged Jay along by his shirt collar. Evie and Gil, meanwhile, were once again distracted by their surroundings until Harry turned around and pushed Gil forward as Gil waved hello at everyone.

Evie curtsied as an apology, before strutting off and holding the rear and the group of five followed behind her.

Seth specifically broke out in a jog to catch up to Evie as everyone gathered around the copper statue of King Adam.

"So, we're good, right?" Seth asked.

Evie giggled, and rolled her eyes playfully as she went to stand beside Mal. Was that a yes?

[thelibrarian1895]

Bats and Time Travel

First, a disclaimer, I have only some minimal level of Booster Gold knowledge.

That being said, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that detective work isn't his strong suit, or the strong suit of most time travelers. Why would it be when they can just peak into the past and see what happened? So when something comes up and it's less straightforward than obvious bad guy needs a beating, Booster is at least smart enough to get expert help. On occasion that expert help has to go through time with him. He has to be very careful with this because no one wants another Flashpoint and he doesn't want to clean up any time shenanigans. The same goes for any other time related incident.

Bats are, of course, the go to for anyone who needs expert detective assistance. You can generally just grab any Bat and they can fill in as a detective though some are happier about it than others. Some are also more suited to time travel than others.

Batman works out well enough. He can be more or less trusted not to go off and mess with the timestream and cause some sort of catastrophe that takes forever to fix. Things get a little dicey if any case brings the Bat around Gotham or near one of his kids in the past. It becomes an exercise of restraint for both involved because B very much wants to go to his child and protect them/lecture them/hug them depending on the timeframe or at bare minimum loom over them. Booster has to sometimes physically get in the way to stop this. It doesn't always work. B is at least polite enough to fix the mess. Batman has trouble with alternate universe or alternate timeline adventures since he has to so often beat other versions of himself up and comes back extra broody. His family appreciate when he gets to the self reflection and determination to improve part after he's done brooding.

Nightwing is good to work with during time related incidents. Very professional, very cheerful, but still kept out of Gotham and very reluctantly kept from his past self because Nightwing really wants to give his past self a pep talk more often than not. Nightwing has, however, written letters for his past self that has resulted in a few branching new timelines or a mess that he was polite enough to help fix. Nightwing is allowed on alternate universe adventures which lets him give those pep talks to himself that he knew he desperately needed/wanted at those various ages.

Red Hood is not allowed on time travel cases because Jason has poor impulse control and has on more than one occasion killed someone who would commit a terrible crime in the future and ended up causing decades worth of a mess that needed to be cleaned up. He is responsible enough to fix his own messes and is only allowed now in alternate universe adventures. He's good at alternate universe adventures and they've helped him remember to rely less on hearsay and more on solid evidence.

Red Robin is Booster's favorite to work with because the kid can be snarky if caught in the right mood and the worst he has to worry about Red Robin when it comes to damaging the timeline is Red Robin taking pictures of various incidents. Red Robin is also polite enough to direct all attention Booster's way which appeases Booster's attention seeking nature. This is how Tim has the best collection of Batman tripping on his cape pictures and other similarly embarrassing incidents of his friends and family. Tim is allowed on alternate universe adventures and again returns with more pictures that his friends and family can't prove aren't them. He is developing an alternate tim support group to try to prevent additional gun batmen timelines. And, as he tells his brothers on occasion, so he can have intelligent conversation with family when Cassandra is away.

Black Bat would be Booster's favorite to work with except he's extremely intimidated by her, even more so than he can be by Batman. She has deliberately allowed herself to be seen in the past on occasion and those sightings in certain conspiracy forums as a cryptid. She's very proud of it. She is also a cryptid in other alternate timelines but is no longer allowed to go to alternate timelines after she has had to be restrained from adopting/kidnapping alternate versions of her younger self or her siblings.

Spoiler is also not allowed on time travel cases for the same reason as Jason, poor impulse control. She may have set off glitter bombs that resulted in a timeline mess almost as impossible to clean up after as the glitter. Her ability to help with alternate universe adventures is under review because, again, glitter bombs.

Robin aka Damian has worked in a timestream case once and came back with a dodo bird. Booster is glad that the kid allowed himself to be persuaded that there wasn't enough room to bring back the mastodon. He is not allowed to work on timestream cases until he can be trusted not to come back with extinct species. He is also not allowed to go on alternate universe adventures after he came back with another dragon bat he has named Desdemona.

Signal takes advantage of timestream adventures to fact check the crazy nonsense his siblings have told him. Booster likes the kid well enough and the invisibility does make things easier at times. The only reason he's not Booster's preferred Bat is because Signal is more naturally charismatic and people pay more attention to him than to Booster and also Signal needs to work on his confidence in his detective skills. He gets migraines dealing with alternate universe adventures and so tries to avoid them when possible.

Alfred has gone on ONE timestream adventure. Booster does not speak of the adventure. Alfred will just smile slightly if asked. Alfred is not allowed on alternate universe adventures because the Bats in his home universe get sullen and withdrawn without him and at least one kitchen fire will occur. His alternate selves are also possessive of their respective kitchens and do not appreciate intruders, even if the intruders are themselves.