#So what if I shed legitimate tears at this part

[cartoonhostage]

This has been rotating in my brain for the past three hours, don’t mind me while I just-

April stirred, the loose rocks under the thin fabric separating her body from the cave floor poking uncomfortably. She managed to pry one eye open. She was lying in a row of survivors on the floor, in what was clearly some sort of makeshift medbay, if the bandages visible on every sleeping figure were any indication. She was dimly aware of bandages of her own, wrapped around her legs and one shoulder. The lights hanging from the cavern ceiling weren’t bright, but she felt as if they should be blinding, even though they didn’t even hurt her eyes.

She sat up. It was clear that no one was awake. Only the sounds of soft breathing and the low hum of the lights filled the silent room. She took slightly laboured breaths of her own, as she scanned the room. So many familiar faces, all nearly fatally injured, if they weren’t already dying or dead. She didn’t want to think about how many corpses were in this room. One thing was for certain, though, her brothers and nephew weren’t in here with her.

April brushed her warm blanket aside to stand on shaky legs. Nothing was broken, hopefully just scraped up or bruised. She was still wearing her combat boots, so she took care to maneuver through the unconscious crowd on light feet, until she made it past what appeared to be the threshold for the medbay, although it wasn’t like there were any doors, it was just a cave.

For a moment she just walked through a short corridor-like section of cavern that connected the medbay to whatever room was further ahead. They hadn’t had to come down here in years, and she probably had a head injury of some kind, she could be forgiven for not remembering-

The central power. That was what this next room held. Or what it was supposed to hold.

The air abandoned April’s lungs as the corridor opened into a massive chamber, with a hole in one side of the ceiling letting the stars shine through onto the massive statue in the middle of the room. The familiar body with enormous cables protruding from its chest and running into the ceiling, snaking across the floor. Three much smaller figures were propped up against his leg.

Raph’s leg.

April sprinted to the body’s side, no longer caring about the echoes her boots made against the stone floor.

“No, no, no…” she whispered. She ran her gloved hands up and down one part of Raph’s leg, unable to look away from the single closed eye on his frowning face, or the casing in his plastron that had been peeled away to make way for all of those hideous wires that looked like tendrils reaching inside to rip out his heart.

His- heart, his power generator, it couldn’t- April looked down at Leo’s slumbering body, Mikey and Casey nestled in his arms. All three of them had dark tear tracks staining their faces. She looked up at the lights hanging from the ceiling, that were now clearly connected to one of the cables. Some of the cables, the ones that spilled onto the cold stone floor, were connected to glowing violet consoles on one side of the chamber.

The pieces clicked together one by one, horrible thought after horrible thought. Some of them probably weren’t even close to what actually happened, but it wasn’t like she could rule them out either. Tears bit at the corners of her eyes. The metal of Raph’s body was freezing cold.

Was he still in there? Was he just sleeping while the generator kept the security system and defenses alive? Or was he… really gone? For good this time? No more coming back? She didn’t want to accept that as a possibility, but she couldn’t accept anything as hard fact until someone woke up to tell her what had actually happened, so all she had was possibilities.

April kicked the side of Raph’s leg, hard. A loud clang echoed through the chamber, and needles of pain shot through her shins. She didn’t care.

“We just got you back, you… you big, dumb idiot,” she seethed through clenched teeth. There was no anger in her mind, though, only confusion, fear, and sorrow.

“If you’re still in there, Raph, please…” she choked. “Let me say goodbye this time.”

And if he wasn’t, if he was already gone…

Had she seriously missed it again? She and Casey had made it to Donnie’s side literal seconds too late, how long had she been unconscious in that medbay? She looked down at Casey’s face, his expression anguished even in sleep. If Raph was really gone, she hoped that at least he had gotten to be there this time.

April clenched her fists at her side. She’d said her fair share of goodbyes to people letting out their final shaky breaths on a medical bed, or choking out their last words on the battlefield, but these deaths were different. Donnie was her brother, dammit! She couldn’t let herself believe she’d missed Raph leaving too, not without confirmation.

She hadn’t even noticed that she’d started to sob quietly, hiccuping every twenty seconds or so. It wasn’t fair, she couldn’t just keep finding her brothers’ lifeless bodies without having been there for their last moments, it wasn’t fair. Mikey and Leo and Casey wouldn’t let her go through that again, they knew how bad it had fucked her up, especially Casey.

April kicked off her boots, ignoring the loud clangs they made as they hit Raph’s remaining hand, outstretched on the floor. She crouched down and nestled herself right next to her turtle brothers, a tear rolling from her cheek onto Leo’s cold metal arm. She closed her eyes, but could still practically see the silvery strands of Mikey’s hair that were tickling at her nose.

Answers would come in the morning, whether she wanted them or not. She trusted her brothers. She trusted Raph.

Even still, one horrible thought rang out louder than all of the rest, one she hated, but one that kept repeating itself, over, and over, and over.

“And then there were two.”

Yes I’m normal about this comic why do you ask @somerandomdudelmao

Part 6!

Everything is falling apart.

First of all, I'm sorry. Second - we're only one part away from the beginning of comfort and I'm slowly going crazy here haha

Part 1

[danikamariewrites]

hello!

it’s your feysand anon again, i read better than books this morning & once again you have done a phenomenal job. i can’t express enough how much i love your writing and how well you bring every single one of your requests to life. you’re writing is magic, truly!

i’ve never requested a headcannon before, so i hope i’m doing this write lmao. could you do what and how feysand would be in a relationship?

thank you d, ily 💜

Feysand x reader headcanon

A/n: Feysand anon you are so fucking sweet. This legitimately made me shed a few tears, no one has said that before and you’ve just made my year and you’re my new bestie. Sending you all the love and I hope you have a fantastic day💜

Warnings: none

Most caring, loving, attentive partners ever omg you would be showered in love by them

You saw how in love with each other they are and you were jealous. You want that kind of love. When Rhys and Feyre asked you to be part of the relationship your heart said yes but your mind was racing

You didn’t want to come between them or anything

In the end you say yes because you love them and they’re showing you that they want you

The IC are very accepting of you since you have been around for awhile and are happy that the three of you are happy

Rhys’s love language is gift giving and Feyre’s is quality time as well as gift giving

They’d shower you in gifts. There doesn’t need to be a reason they just want to

You’ve had to stop Rhys multiple times from giving you something that was far too expensive (Feyre too) but you feel bad when he gets that little sad face bc he can’t give you something

Rhys loves giving you and Feyre matching gifts

Sometimes matching lingerie

You love spending your days with Feyre in her art studio, teaching classes and just talking with her

When you’re not with Feyre you help Rhys with work and have tea time when he takes breaks

You sleep with them but you do have your own room if you need your space

A few months into the relationship you started joining Feyre for training

She told Cassian to go easy on you but once she turned her back and went to spar with Az you gave Cass a shit eating grin, “don’t go easy. I want to be able to flip you.” Cassian howled after you said that and agreed

Hewn city visits are very interesting

Picking on Kier with Rhys and Feyre is very entertaining

Your first visit was a little nerve wracking. Kier thought it would be a good idea to insult you and your “purpose” but Feyre and Rhys weren’t having any of that

When you first entered the throne room you stood between their thrones. Once Rhys called the dinner to start he motions for you to sit on his lap

Their attention is on you as you hold Feyre’s hand and Rhys leaves kisses on your neck

You caught Kier approaching and froze. You heard Rhys and Feyre in your mind, “it’s alright darling just stay calm.” “He’s useless, don’t let anything he says get to you. Bite back and keep your face bored.”

They kept their hands on you as Kier spoke, their faces the epitome of boredom and irritation with him interrupting their time with you

AFTER Rhys dismissed him, Kier got mouthy, “One whore wasn’t enough so now you share one?”

Rhys and Feyre were seeing red at that point. You all stood and Feyre pulled you to her. You made sure to keep your face unbothered but you were a little hurt by his comment

Your eyes wandered around the room and you could see Mor was fuming, Cass and Az looked like they were ready to attack

Rhys stepped off the dias coming toe to toe with Kier, towering over him

It was clear that Rhys was in Kiers mind terrifying him. The male was sickly pale by the end of it, “You’re dismissed for the rest of the evening.”

[cubbyyyy]

A post about my favorite aftg relationships/friendships because why not?

1. Andreil. Of course. I think I actually don’t need to explain more but yea, they were my favorite part in aftg. they quickly became one of my favorite shippings and in my humble opinion love isn’t even enough of a term for them. No one will ever understand another the way they understand each other. They showed me what perfect compatibility looks like because in tiktok term - no one matches each others freak the way they match each others freak. I can’t imagine a neil without an andrew. they are different enough to make the other improve and similar enough to make the other feel validated. they aren’t afraid to show their dark sides bc the other matches the dark sides.

2. Andrew and Aaron. Twinyards. After Andreil their relationship intrigued me the most. The way they seem so indifferent towards each other but caring so much anyways is just so bittersweet. I live for their improvements. The way they legitimately killed for each other is just everything. Neil making Aaron understand that Andrew did everything for him and that he did the same is just so dear to me. Yea they misunderstand each other, but the brotherly love they have for one another could burn cities.

3. Neil and Matt. I love how matt just adopted neil. Neil may be a little crazy but Matt just goes along with it. So when Neil punches a guy, Matt hypes it up. Matt caring for Neil from the start was precious to me since I still wasn’t sure about the “monsters” in the foxhole court. like they seemed honestly pretty much demanding as fuck and I just wanted Neil to have a save, rest space while figuring them out and that’s what Matt gave him. (I especially like the trio of Matt/Dan/Neil). Matt is just the definition of a best friend and I’m glad Neil has his bestie outside of the monsters.

4. Nicky and Neil. Okay hear me out - when I think about Nicky and Neil I just pretend the eden incident didn’t exist bc I can excuse a lot, especially in fiction, but sexual assault is never on the list. So I made the choice to pretend it didn’t happen (i mean the books also pretend it didn’t happen lmao). And when you see them outside of the incident, they were pretty nice. I think Nickys cheerful personality helped to loosen the tension in the team (and monsters group). I loved when Nicky flooded Neils notifications so Neil wouldn’t flinch about them anymore. I also feel like Nicky played a big role in Neils growth. Like telling him to think about more stuff besides exy. Making Neil realize he has friends now. All that stuff.

5. Andrew and Renee. I just love how they’re sparring partners and understand each other so well, that they were the jogging team where they talk about possible zombie outbreaks.

6. Kevin and Jean. They didn’t have much screen time in the aftg series and I haven’t read the tsc yet, but their relationship intrigued me. This one I could possibly even ship romantically since they are so bittersweet that I just wish to save their ending. they formed a bond so deep but yet so scarred that it’s unexplainable.

7. Allison and Renee. I love them. I love how after Seth died, Renee took care of Allison. They just seem so fitting and I’m still shook they weren’t an official thing in the books.

8. Aaron, Nicky and Andrew. The fact that Nicky took care of the twins when he was barely an adult himself is just very precious.

9. Wymack and Neil. Honestly I could put him higher, I just forgot till now to mention wymack so he’s here. The scene at the end of the kings men where Neil asks for wymacks help is just stuck with me for life.

10. Kevin and Wymack. The fact that Wymack is Kevins father surprised me at first but then it made sense? When Kevin said that his father watches all his games I was ready to shed a tear.

[aurora-313]

Another thing that amazes me about Bleach; about Shounen in general, but Bleach specifically: Despite being a teenager, Ichigo somehow found it in his heart to forgive his guardians and caretakers for lying to him his entire life.

Think about this for a minute;

Imagine you're Ichigo. You grew up believing you were human - albeit an extraordinarily gifted one. Then when you're 15-16, in the face of the worst enemy you've fought to date, you discover the hard way that you're not completely human. You're a human-shinigami hybrid with a dash of hollow spliced in. A fact proven when your Shinigami father - apparently a former Captain - swoops into the fray to save you from... talking?

You don't have time to process this event because there's more pressing concerns to handle, but the revelation has thrown you off your game. A tiny part of you has sunken into an existential spiral of doubt, wondering what else in your life you've been lied to about.

Then, in the face of that same enemy, your recently-revealed Shinigami father forces you to learn a technique that sacrifices all of your powers and a portion of your soul - the very things that give your life meaning. You do it because you've been convinced there's no other option and you're too emotionally distraught (and emotionally blackmailed) to even entertain the idea of saying no.

Then a couple years later, you discover, no, you're not human at all and never were. You're a Shinigami-Hollow-Quincy hybrid. A fact you only discover through the enemy's head honcho, who reveals himself to be your great times X grand sire.

Only after you've been thoroughly humiliated in trials organised by the High Lords of the Shinigami, trials they knew you'd fail, after you fought so valiantly to defend them against their new enemy, your father decides to come clean, all the while goading you with your own ignorance.

That intense conversation reveals the true species and fate of your mother, validating that tiny legitimate fear you've had since learning your father's true nature; your entire life is built on a lie.

In addition to that, the horrible tragedy that haunted your days since you were nine years old wasn't your fault in the slightest. Your father knew that with absolute certainty but did nothing to alleviate your guilt, which could've led to you healing that scar sooner. Instead he chose to allow you to continue believing your self-destructive lie, knowing full well what it was doing to you psychologically.

The entire conversation serves as proof the adults in your life, whom were entrusted with raising, caring and protecting you, knew the truth about what you were even before your conception, but did absolutely nothing to prepare you for what such a life would entail.

Even back when you were first thrust into your powers, those same "guardians" did the absolute bare minimum to prepare you before tossing you into the jaws of death over and over again as a convenient superpowered cudgel to solve messes they created.

And what's the cherry on top of this bullshit sundae? The being you're supposed to trust above all else, your own zanpakutou partner... isn't your zanpakutou. Its a parasite that's manipulated you against the one person - the only person - who has never lied to you, for its own selfish ends. And somehow it expects to be allowed to remain in your soul, thanks to shedding some crocodile tears.

That is Ichigo's life.

He has been lied to. He's been manipulated. His entire perception of self and reality has been shattered over and over again. And he's been fundamentally betrayed by everyone whose supposed to care and protect him. In the face of all that, a teenager like Ichigo would not be accepting. He should be angry. He should be furious. He should want nothing to do with these people anymore.

In the face of all this; I would've preferred if Ichigo went through the TYBW arc with the angry attitude of "this is the last thing I do for any of you. Once this war's over, I'm disappearing off the face of the planet because I refuse to associate with any of you again." because any teenager who had their trust so thoroughly betrayed on so many levels would.

[bucknastysbabe]

Hi 😁

I was wondering can you write dacryphilia Aegon and aemond and oversensitive niece who críes every time that she gets called strong/bastard

Please i begging you 💖

Yes yes sorry for the wait!!! Tears YEP I love the teasing and lowkey obsession on all parts

Kink Bingo - Dacryphilia

Rating: Mature

Tags: Rhaenyra’s bastard!reader, double team of fucked up: Aegon n Aemond, teasing, Dacryphilia, TW: dub-con, she just wants to be remembered even if it’s two crazy blonde princes w issues

Aegon had a new hobby. His hobby was the only one that coincided with his brothers. They reveled in it, making it a competition to who can rile up Rhaenyra’s pretty little bastard the most.

Aegon’s reasoning was simple; he liked to see her tears, especially when his head was between her soft thighs. Angering his nephews and sister was a plus. Aemond’s reasons were unknown but the elder prince had it a feeling it was to piss Lucerys off. He never knew if what Aemond did was to get off or be cruel. It didn’t matter, both brothers lived to make the sweet Princess shed salty lickable tears.

Like a charm, there she was nestled under a tree in the desolate Godswood. Aegon frowned at the sight of lanky Aemond looming over her, arm braced on the bark. He was murmuring something low but by her face it wasn’t kindly.

Aegon puffed his chest up and sauntered over to the pair. His eyes curiously flicked down to survey her face— wet and blotchy. Aemond was quick to the point. The elder mused, “Are you harassing our niece Aemond? Not very kind of you.”

Aemond grinned and smoothly replied, “No brother, I was just telling her how beautiful those brown curls of hers are. Ser Harwin had the same head of hair, didn’t he?” Aegon knelt down to brush a beautiful tear from her pale cheek. She girl blubbered, “S-stop it! I’m p-p-pure of blood!”

Aegon tilted his head, lips split in a devious smile. He nodded slowly and cooed, “Obviously you have some Targaryen in you, you’ve got your dragon sweet thing. You should be proud of that.” Her spirits lightened a bit, doe eyes searching Aegon’s for reassurance.

“See, I am blood of the dragon and of the sea.”

Aemond snorted, eyes gleaming in excitement, “Dear niece, that’s a strong claim. Lord Laenor wasn’t interested in copulating with our Sister. Ser Harwin was steadfast and true for your mother.”

She sobbed again, brown eyes downcast. Aegon played good knight, wrapping an arm around her slim waist. For being Harwin Strong’s heritage they definitely got the leanness from Rhaenyra. Aegon nuzzled her cheek, humming, “If anything you should be proud you had such a strong warrior for a father. Maybe you’ll get legitimized. Or death.”

She burst into choppy sobs again, whining, “No more, it’s mean, please!” Her wide eyes begged for release, flickering between the two brothers caging her lithe body in. Aemond sank down this time, face deep in calculation. He idly thumbed a tear away before dryly laughing, “Why would we stop when our bastard princess cries so pretty, hm?”

They swaddled her frame, Aegon petting her hair, Aemond murmuring spiteful insults. She wouldn’t admit it but any attention was better than the day-to-day apathy from most. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she cried, “Kiss me, one of you, please I can’t take it!” Aegon’s cock throbbed insistently, rutting against her trembling thighs. He latched plump lips to her soft neck. Aemond took the brunette girl’s lips roughly, cooing, “Such a good strong brat hm?”

It would be a long day in the Godswood.

[theworldvsyoshiko]

I realized how I'd wanna handle it while laying in bed last night, and the poll still seems to be going in this direction too, so...

The problem with the really straightforward 'become a vampire' option is that there's no drama to it. Becoming an immortal feels like the kind of thing that should take some effort, but that quest is essentially: trick a vampire into crashing on your front lawn, beat him to the ground, and then force him to convert somebody while his legs are still broken. The sheer fucking chutzpah of it is very funny to me, but it's something you can do in one afternoon.

And with the vampire catgirl route... I realized I don't have to do developer mode. There's a way to make it happen in-game, naturally. There's a way to make Yoshiko work for it. She's gonna have to shed some blood and tears if she wants to achieve her weird uber nerd ideal.

Alpha Genes introduces several new items that mess with genes, but the two we're interested in here are the endogenifier and xenogenifier. The first moves a randomly-chosen gene from somebody's xenotype to their endogenes/germline. The second does the opposite. When I first found them I was confused why you'd ever want this, but now they're exactly what I need, because they mean that I can:

[optional] create a new xenotype that only has the cat ears and tail, and apply that to Yoshiko. If I skip this step, the rest is possible, but just requires some tedious saving/reloading. This is probably faster than step 2 anyway.

get two endogenifiers, and use them to make those into endogenes. Now being a catgirl isn't part of Yoshiko's xenotype, it's an innate part of who she is, and inheritable.

become a vampire. Now that those are endogenes, they won't get overwritten, and she can be a legitimate vampire catgirl.

[optional] acquire two xenogenifiers and use them to transfer the cat ears/tail back to Yoshiko's xenotype. Now she can bite people and make them into vampire cats too.

[very optional] do all of this with the Female gene too, so if they'd be catboys instead, no they wouldn't. Get trans'd, idiot.

Even if I use the very simplest version of this (get two endogenifiers, save/reload until they transfer the catgirl genes) it could be a days-long project, because those things are rare and only really come from exploring genetics labs. The full version here could potentially take like a week before she's ready to go vampire. So yeah, Yoshiko's gotta work for it.

This also means that I'm going to have to shoot down the vampire and then keep them prisoner for all that time. She will be feeding the vampire with her own blood.

Once she's a vampire: no blood from the kids unless it's an emergency situation, no killing anybody with blood-drinking. Executing prisoners occasionally is unavoidable with the ripscanner, but completely unnecessary if you just need blood. It's about ethics in game vampirism.

[golbrocklovely]

for now, i think this will be the final update i'll give on my mom, just bc i need to focus on anything else but her health problems and what has happened within the last week or so.

my mom ended up going to the hospital yesterday. i had stayed up most of the night bc of anxiety and bc i slept most of the day, so by 5 in the morning, my mom was awake. she seemed okay, but her anxiety was back. she wanted me or my brother to give her a melatonin or an advil pm, just something so she could sleep. she didn't remember sleeping prior, which we had to tell her was the case.

she end up possibly dosing off for an hour or so, but then woke back up wired and going crazy. this issue this time was me and my brother were asleep. she apparently called me multiple times on my phone, but i never woke up. she also had called an old doctor's office that she hasn't gone to in a couple months bc they discharged her bc they were the ones that originally prescribed the xanax she had been on and she just wanted some form of anxiety medication.

at this point, it was apparent that my mom needed to go to the hospital bc she was losing her mind and was under a lot of stress. my brother woke me up, telling me we were gonna take her. and then, from what we can tell, she had a seizure. which her actual primary doctor has told her that if she cold turkey-ed her anxiety medication would happen.

we called 911, and things got worse from there. i thought she stopped breathing for a moment, did some chest compressions but then my brother came up and felt her heart beating out of her chest. then she started flailing her body around, and when her eyes finally popped open, she started screaming. then she started screaming over and over again "please somebody help me, please, oh god" and things along those lines. i was doing my best to calm her down while my brother was on the phone with 911. and she was like this the whole time the emts were here. but she calmed down somewhat and they got her into the ambulance. they took her to a hospital and we informed my aunt and uncle (her sister) that she was in the hospital. they drove us there, and we found her in the er.

she was slightly calmer, but still very agitated and stressed. we got her to calm down for the most part. they ran some tests, and everything seemed fine with her. like all of her tests came out relatively in the green, which was surprising as hell to hear. they gave her a dose of her anxiety medication, which i think helped a lot. they also gave her fluids. and she ate and kept it down.

they ended up discharging her, giving her the prescription for her anxiety medication that we would have to take to a pharmacy once we got home.

we took an uber home (bc my aunt and uncle had to leave to take care of their dog) and when we got home, my mom was somewhat calmer, but direly needed her medication. both me and my brother were running on thin ice, but somewhat lucky for us bc we had a paper prescription and live not that far from a cvs, so we were able to get it.

it was also discounted too, which was great.

i got my mom up to her room, gave her some food, and once my brother came home with her medicine, she went to sleep after being home for an hour or so.

me and my brother woke her up at 11 to give her her heart medication and her anxiety medication again (bc she takes two doses of it and we now have a 30 day supply of it) and she went back to sleep.

today…. is a lot better. i legitimately thought i was gonna lose my mother yesterday so to see her now as just a bit foggy, but the most coherent and calm since last week is amazing. i shed a lot of tears last night when i woke up from my nap, and i took off all this week from work so i can be home with her. i might go in later in the week if she feels fine or is completely back to normal. but we shall see.

and in case you are wondering, we plan to sue the fake primary doctor (or the replacement one, idk what i called him in the previous posts. but not her actual one since she is not the cause for all of this).

again, i want to thank you all so much for sending well wishes to me and my family. it truly means a lot, especially since i don't really have anyone outside of them to talk to about all of this. i believe things will get better, i just gotta keep reminding myself to take it day by day.

this week is just about getting my mom back to normal, which we are already heading in the right direction. everything else will come with time.

[vee-is-a-clown]

Merry belated Christmas y'all!

There's Klangst a fic under there \/

-----

When traveling through space, there's no sun to orbit that tells you how to measure your time. That's become an odd issue for the paladins. Luckily, the Altean's already have a database of quite a lot of planets' time measures. Apparently they needed it a lot for alliances. They didn't have Earth's time in there but Pidge was able to add it really easily.

That database is how Lance knows that Christmas is fast approaching for his loved ones back home. The team's trying to have fun with it and use this as an opportunity to teach Allura and Coran about Earth traditions but Lance doesn't really want to participate. It's not that he actually doesn't want to teach them but he'd rather be teaching them about Earthling traditions on Earth and doing it out in the cold vacuum of space is just a teensy bit depressing.

Ok, that's a lie. Everything about this is depressing. He's stuck in space while his family is celebrating and he's being reminded of it every time he leaves his room. They've put up faux holly-looking plants all around the castle. They're even doing a gift exchange. He's, of course, participating because Lance can't resist a gift exchange for the life of him but other than that, he's not actively part of the celebration.

His family probably think he's dead right now. While he's laying in this alien bed, feeling pathetic and homesick, they're either mourning their not-dead son or worried sick about where he could possibly be. They're probably using his terrible 9th grade school photo for a memorial.

All of this is bothering Lance much more than he'd like to admit. He's not the kinda guy who tells people how he's really feeling. Sure, he'll complain about things and he'll be open with his reactions but he keeps the depressing stuff inside. He doesn't want to bring down the mood.

If he did talk about his issues, nobody would take him seriously. Once he tried to tell Pidge and Hunk about his problems back in the Garrison and they tried to seem supportive but he could tell that they didn't really believe him. He's the upbeat energetic one. He isn't capable of being depressed like everyone else is. He knows that everyone around him has good intentions but he still doesn't feel comfortable.

He's stuck in the box that he's been put in which makes it so he can't be anything but the dumb goofball who thinks he's just as good as Keith. Every time he isn't excited about something, every time he's pessimistic, every time he's not overly expressive. It's like he's built up this mask and without it, he doesn't know who he is.

He *should* be excited about Christmas. That's why it burns so much. He can feel the weight of the expectations his teammates have for him. There's got to be something wrong with him. He's not acting "normal".

Lance would cry at this point but he hasn't cried in a while. He's found that aside from physical pain, it's hard for him to bring himself to shed a tear. As much as he wants to let it out, there's a part of him that won't let him. He's stuck.

That's when it happened.

Two really hard knocks in quick succession.

Keith.

Lance had learned that Keith knocked on his door the same way every single time. It's predictable, a pattern. It's how he knows that Keith's on the other side of that door, expecting to be let in. Lance doesn't want to let him in though. He's not going to let Keith try to unravel his facade. He's not going to let Keith give him one of his really bad talks that shouldn't work but work anyway. Nope. Not going to happen. He's just going to pretend he's asleep.

It's a shame his body doesn't agree. By the time he realizes what he's doing, he's already up and opening the door to let Keith in.

The door whooshes open to reveal Keith's stupid, handsome face and his stupid mullet.

"Hey Lance."

"Hi."

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, Keith. You can go."

"Wait, what?"

"You won't gain anything from this."

"Huh?"

"Go. Shoo. Adiós."

"Lance, I legitimately don't know what you're talking about."

"That's a lie."

"Lance, could you stop being an asshole and at least explain why you want me to go?"

"It's pretty obvious, Keith. I've barely left my room since we heard it's Christmas season back on Earth and I'm not all peppy n' excited so you guys think I'm depressed or something."

"Lance-"

"What? Were you the last to say 'not it' and now you have to come talk some sense into me?"

Lance doesn't know why he's being emotional. He just wants to be alone and Keith's here, refusing to leave. Not exactly refusing, actually but he's not leaving. It's like the tiny little last straw to break the camel's back, the tiny little last crack before the glass bottle holding his emotions back shatters into a million pieces and spills all over the floor for everyone to see.

Keith didn't even have to try.

Just his presence is enough to make Lance fall apart.

What is wrong with him? Actually, it may be too late to ask that. Maybe that should've been asked during the contemplating life on his bed. But that's off topic. He probably just made Keith just about a thousand times more concerned than before.

"Wait, Lance! That isn't what this is about."

"Then what is it about?"

The acidity in his voice is apparent. He doesn't want to sound like that. He doesn't want to be mean. Keith has done nothing wrong. He's probably here to ask Lance if he wants to train with him or something and Lance fucked it up. Well done, idiot. Well done.

Keith seems to've forgotten how to do his famous "I don't have emotions because I'm cool and Keith" pokerface. His face is visibly negative. It's hard to describe but probably some mix of a lot of concern, a dash of disappointment, and a twinge of sadness. It's one of the many things Keith will never admit he's gotten from his brother. Shiro makes the same face when he can tell something's wrong but knows he can't fix it.

"Lance, you don't seem ok."

"Oh?! You think?"

Why can't he just be nice? Lance can't stop the sarcasm from leaving his mouth. Just stop it. He doesn't want to take his negative emotions out on Keith. That's the last thing he wants to do right now. If only Keith would leave. He doesn't really want Keith to leave though.

"Right, right. So what should I do about that?"

Keith leans against the doorway, his head tilting in progress. He crosses his arms like he's decided that he's not going to leave until Lance does something. He should know. Keith's done this before. He always seems to know just about when Lance's ready to burst, when he's bottled up his emotions for too long and can't take it anymore. Maybe it's from experience.

"Keith, this isn't going to work. You can't help me."

That was a horrible, terrible lie and Lance is really hoping Keith can tell. He wants Keith to help. Or does he? His brain is currently on the fence about that. He wants to have someone to tell everything to but he also doesn't want a another word to escape his lips. What a conundrum!

Keith's giving a doubting look like he's not buying it and will keep giving him that look until he lets Keith help him. Is that good? Lance really needs to decide soon.

"The only way you can get me out of this doorway is by inviting me in."

"I could close the door on you."

Keith smiles one of those smiles where it's funny but not enough to laugh and Lance's brain pauses. Keith smiled. Oh great. Now that's going to bounce around his brain with all his other thoughts. It can join the catalog of Keith's blush worthy facial expressions.

"You wouldn't do that to me."

"I will because I don't need your help. There's nothing wrong."

Does that make sense? He just said, "You can't help me". Is that an admission of there being something wrong? Is he contradicting himself?

"You literally just said, 'I'm having an existential crisis'."

"No, I didn't."

"Well that's what I heard. Tell me about it."

Does Keith ever give up? Lance has seen it a few times from a distance but those times it's been inevitable. When Keith can't beat the training simulation or needs to sleep. Keith only gives up when he runs into physical boundaries (even though he's really bad at it). Never has Lance seen Keith willingly back down when he runs into an emotional boundary. He's the one that pushes the paladins to open up.

Lance, however, has not opened up to Keith about his problems in a hot minute and it seems like it's his turn.

"Fine, but make it snappy."

Keith smiles that stupid "I won" smile that he gives when he -ya' know- wins. It's kinda like a sly smile but not really a smirk. Does that make sense? It probably doesn't.

Lance reluctantly steps aside. He doesn't plan to tell Keith everything but knowing himself, he probably will and he's got a long night ahead of him.

-----

@snoopkat14 Hey Kat, I'm so sorry. Happy holidays?

[gachagon]

Yeah... Marrow is the least controversial of the Ace Ops on account of being the only one to turn against Ironwood when it had become clear that he was more concerned with "winning" than saving Atlas.

But a lot of people (myself included) feel that the Ace Ops' sudden last-second redemption in the final episodes of the Volume (Harriet's especially) came out of nowhere. Like, Harriet especially felt to be in poor taste to me, given the whole "cops can get away with murder as long as they have the right friends" thing in the real world, thus making Harriet being able to get away with trying to nuke a city by accepting friendship with the other Ace Ops more INSULTING than inspiring.

(Seriously, they should've either had her sacrifice herself to fly the Nuke away from Mantle or just had Watts remotely hijack the nuke instead of having Harriet attempt genocide out of spite, and most of the issues with her arc would be resolved. Like this wouldn't have resolved any of the issues with the Ace Ops bodyshaming and dehumanizing Penny and then never having to confront their biases because they turned Penny human and then immediately killed her off, but at least Harriet wouldn't be getting off scott free for a literal war crime because she shed some crocodile tears.)

I really feel like the Ace-Op's are my only real criticism of the story so far just because they've done too much that's just irredeemable and the show never spent enough time really talking about how fucked up it was that they were willing to just kill a bunch of innocent civilians for seemingly no reason, because at that point there really WAS no reason to murk Mantle. Salem had already arrived, she was already at their doorstep, and the people of Mantle were evacuating without his help. If Ironwood really didn't care to save mantle, why waste a bomb trying to get rid of it? Really just to spite them. He wasn't thinking clearly at all and seemed to think for some stupid reason that killing everyone in Mantle would make RWBY work with him, when I can just see that making them even more upset with him.

And I don't really like what they did with Clover just because he's such a new character not just to us, but to Qrow as well. I think it'd have been better if Clover was different from the other Ace-ops like maybe he was from Beacon like Qrow and that could give them some kind of connection, and make us think Clover would've been different from the rest of them. As it stands though, their whole confrontation just seems to be too stupid and silly. Because Clover dies so early, we don't really see him do anything that makes us think he's a good person.

In fact, after he dies his teammates prove to just be even worse then what we imagined. Every time they were like "Noooo Clover was better then all of us :(" I kept thinking Was he? Lol he tried to arrest Qrow for no real reason, and got himself killed by a serial killer. Sure Qrow blames himself for working alongside Tyrian in that moment, but knowing what we know now about the Ace-ops and how they were willing to legitimately genocide all of Mantle to fuel Ironwoods ego and fear........maybe getting rid of Clover was good luck on Qrow's part, but he is too lovey dovey and sad to understand that right now.

[kn1felady]

If you want to read QUITE POSSIBLY THE BEST WRITING I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!!! then I highly suggest reading Dermabrasion by Pennydaniels.

It’s an incredibly popular fanfic so I’m not surprised if most have read this already but the final chapter just posted today and I legitimately cried my eyes out.

The link is at the bottom (sorry about the shitty formatting)

Here is the comment I left on the chapter:

Words cannot explain how much I loved this fanfiction. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I bawled my eyes out by the end of this chapter. No writing before this (even in published works of fiction) has ever made me feel such a wide range of emotions - the most prevalent being content. I love how it didn’t end with the “happily ever after”, but with so many threads that still can be pulled. The best way to describe this ending was bittersweet. It was just…perfect, honestly.

I loved Natsuo’s whole storyline and how he used this trip as a way to escape from heartbreak. I also found it refreshing for a relationship to just…end. Things like that happen. I wasn’t expecting dabi and Hawks to split (how could they??) and thought Haru and Fuyumi was unlikely, so I thought this choice was a great idea.

Fuyumi is one of my favourite characters in this fic because even if she doesn’t always significantly affect the “over-arching” story in the manga/anime, in this she does and it’s given justice. She’s truly the heart of the todosibs. I liked how she was given her time to shine in this chapter, dealing with all the realistic adult issues she would.

Dabi is always fantastic. His one liners always make me exhale through my nose (even chuckle at times!!!) but what I love most is his ability to get vulnerable and, inexplicably, profound. His relationship with hawks was one of my favourite parts of this story and knowing that they’re happy together, even considering marriage, just clenches my heart a tad. A truly understated part was “ Dabi muttered before he turned to Hawks and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.” I’m pretty sure (if my memory serves correctly) that this is the first instant of “romantic” physical intimacy. Seeing how Dabi went from being unable to stand casual touch and the idea of sex with another person, the fact that they’re so comfortable with eachother shows their growth. And I also love the time dedicated to Hawks’ own traumas. One of the first times I genuinely shed a tear for this chapter was when I read: “ And if he walked the Todosibs to the lift and stayed watching the numbers go down and long after for far longer than necessary or appropriate that was his own secret to keep.” Again, I’m not really sure how to explain it aside from how my heart ached for him. Like, I’m happy that this fictional character now has someone to hold and, in extension, a family of his own, but there’s also a part of me that pities him. Does that make sense? Maybe not. It feels like he’s in disbelief with how lucky he is…when he should’ve had it all in the first place.

And that moves me onto Shouto.

Shouto took a bit of a backseat (haha) in this chapter which I…actually don’t mind. This fic started with him alone but now it ended with him accompanied by the people he loves most. He has always been my favourite character for reasons I don’t really know why. The way you write him makes him so much more loveable in so many different aspects. Whilst he may not talk a lot in this chapter, I love how he’s always in the background doing something. I like knowing that he doesn’t have to force himself into discomfort and he can just be. The part that broke my heart a little was: “Sometimes this happened, he was randomly hit by happiness. It could be a little frightening in its intensity sometimes and the fact that (like all intense emotions) it never stayed.” It reminded me of one of the earlier chapters when he left Mina’s party and wanted to shout out that he could be happy. Like Hawks, it makes my heart ache but in a way that I don’t mind. I’m glad he’s happy, with my whole being.

The ending was just the cherry on top. To be perfectly honest, I was expecting a conversation between Shouto and Dabi as the final send off but…I’m not too bothered anymore. They’ve been the central focus within this story and so it doesn’t feel out of place for us to be left with the knowledge that they are just that: Dabi and Shouto. Shouto and Touya. The (I’m assuming) Naruto reference was perfect and added the bittersweet ending I think we all were expecting. It had been a while since the last Naruto reference so it really was a blast from the past!! And the cameo from class 1A was always going to be comedically perfect too!! (as well as the League…who could forget them?? I didn’t even know that I wanted them to find out who Dani’s secret boyfriend was!)

I think what I like most about this fanfiction is how contained it is. It didn’t have to be that massive fiery showdown between Dabi and Endeavor, or a melodrama between Hawks and Dabi. Instead, it’s the complicated mess of relationships and how trauma can be healed. I love the title too; “dermabrasion”. I have to be honest, I had no idea what that meant about a year and a half ago when I first started to read this. But now, especially after finishing it, I’m in awe of how aptly named this is. Dermabrasion doesn’t have to be harsh and quick, it’s the slow healing of skin.

In the thoughts of Natsuo: There in the glow of the little bonfire they made Natsuo felt like… well he felt good. And that was it. Simple.

I’m just so happy they’re all okay now.

I am one of four siblings myself - I’m in Natsuo’s position as the second youngest - and so I feel like the reason I was so emotional reading this final chapter is because I can resonate so well with the Todosibs. It’s currently the winter holidays so for the first time in around 7 months it’s been all my siblings back together again. My two older sisters were both away at university and my younger brother and I were slowly getting on each others nerves. Being together all of us again made me happy. Simple. And it’s weird because we’re finally at an age where we can just be friends now. There’s fewer petty squabbling and I can talk to them as if they /are/ just my friends. One of my sisters is going back to uni tomorrow and I’m sharing my room with the other, and I genuinely feel like I’ll miss them all the more.

Anyway, I commend you if you read all this way (yes, I know it’s really ramble-y) but I just couldn’t think of a way to otherwise express how much I loved going through this journey. I feel eternally grateful for you creating something as truly heartfelt, painstakingly perfect, and beautiful as this. If you ever decide to write something as amazing as this, I’ll be sure to follow every step of the way.

[baelonthebrave]

in the sequel to tqc, i think it’d be interesting to discuss the fact that daemon likely would have killed the strong/velaryon boys to put aegon iii on the throne. i feel like a lot of people tend to skate over the fact that all of his actions were to ensure that his children would rule, so there’s no way he would have let them stand in his way, plus it could add extra tension to his and sena’s relationship since it proves he’s a hypocrite (regarding his “anger” over luke’s death)

YES I don’t think he shed a single genuine tear over those boys and I think the fact that in my timeline Joffrey survived might be an interesting opportunity to explore that? Bc really it worked out very well for Daemon - aegon has become king even though his older brother still lives and viserys is alive and well. I definitely want to explore a breakdown in his and rhaenyra’s marriage too and I think that could work in nicely with his feelings towards Joffrey (and Luke and Jace, rip 😢) also as you say the hypocrisy of using luke’s death as an excuse to have jaehaerys murdered when in reality daemon really couldn’t care less about Luke and part of him is definitely glad he’s out of the way.

I’m all of a sudden very interested to see what would have happened if for whatever reason rhaenyra had came to the throne unopposed, I really do wonder what daemon’s endgame would have been if the dance hadn’t happened?? you can arrange ONE accidental death, but three? I don’t see him quietly sitting by whilst rhaenyra’s illegitimate boys inherit over his visibly legitimate sons.

Thank you for the ask!!! This is a very interesting idea and I look forward to exploring it ❤️

[isomewhatlikethesethought-z]

here's a little memory of something I remembered recently

the last time I felt proud or accomplished was back in 5th grade (context, I'm in my first year of college)

what happened was that I had just switched schools, and my new school had much more advanced English and was also an IB school

when I came into 5th grade, my English was piss poor but it was still the best compared to people in my old school, so I had this massive fucking ego about it

this was absolutely shattered when we got our first English assignment

it was this assignment where we had to take our names, and using each letter, we had to find a quality for ourselves (so someone called Alex could do A - awesome, L - legitimate, etc)

we had a week to finish it, and we had to submit a first draft on the 3rd day.

it took me 2 weeks to finish my first draft.

in the end the teacher told me to give up and just let it go and work on the next assignments

fast forward to the end of the year, we got our second to last English assignment (if you've done IB in 5th grade you'd know the last assignment is the Exhibition). we had to choose an object, trace it's origins in history, and write a report. we were allowed roughly 2 months (there was work for other subjects too, plus they were gonna teach us nkte taking and stuff)

I choose airplanes. so, I got down to work, spent every class scrolling through Google, reading articles, books and timelines. i learned how to make a fucking jet engine for this report (had to exclude it, unfortunately). I pulled out all the stops, dotted my i's and crossed my t's and everything.

finally, i show my final draft to the teacher. she read through what was about 6-8 pages of carefully crafted, picture added, bibliograpied work. finally she breaks her silence and takes off her glasses.

"wow <my name>, wow. you've written this really well"

immediately my ears go red and my eyes tear up. she proceeds to tell me what parts she liked and what I could change and add, but I can't hear a fucking thing.

then she's says "it's astounding how much you've improved you're writing! at the start of the year you couldn't even finish a page's worth of writing, but look at you now"

and then the tears fall. im trembling and trying to wipe my tears away so she doesn't notice (I think she did and just didn't say anything). I say thank you and move back to my seat in the class.

nothing in my life has ever come close to this feeling. nothing. I've topped exams, won debates, got into relationships, played sports. nothing ever came close.

luckily I've decided to shed my pessimism and move on with life. I've got so many years ahead of me, and I'm gonna do my very best. im gonna get what I want.

[blackwidow-bby]

Alcina request! Female reader getting really sick, bedridden and in pain and Alcina having to deal with that and explaining to her daughters that reader might not get better.

I legitimately cried while writing this, I hope you can forgive me lol

Warnings: super sad, illness, main character death

It had been weeks now since Alcina’s partner fell ill. She had been spending all of her night while you slept, in her library searching, reading for what could take you out of your slumber and bring you back to her in full health. All of her experimenting fell fruitless. She had administered potion after potion, multiple concoctions of salves and soups and medicines in hopes that you would finally wake.

Your breathing was heavy and wheezy with every exhale. As if you were struggling to push every intake out. Then there was the incessant fevers. Alcina would spend long sleepless nights in an attempt to keep the fevers at bay, and stop the sickness from taking you away from her for good. Her work began to falter, she simply couldn’t do both, work and take care of her love. So she settled for the latter.

After the first month hurtle, Alcina’s faith began to waver. Her trust in finding a cure waned, into a smoldering fire. Her attempts at finding a proper medicine became fewer and far between. Her determination grew lesser. Alcina now sat at her desk in her office with hands carding haphazardly through her hair. She had long ago given up on appearances. Now she only thought of whether she should give up the fight now or keep going with little to no positive outcomes. Her middle child, Cassandra cautiously entered the space, standing by the cracked door.

“Do you think she’ll ever get better, Mother?”

“My dear, I think you should tell your sisters to come here.”

As if they had been listening in the whole time, Bela and Daniela’s flies formed their solid states into the room. All three of the daughters kept their heads down awaiting what their mother would have to say. Alcina herself couldn’t even pick her head up to look at them as she continued to speak.

“My love has still not awaken and my attempts at freeing her from her illness have remained unsuccessful. In my trying to find a cure, it seems as I have failed to be a mother to you girls and for that I am truly sorry. You girls mean the world to me and so does my partner, but things only continue to get worse. Her fevers come back closer and closer between every lifting and it is getting harder to make her body’s burning go away. I think it is time.”

All three girls looked up to their mother at that moment. All sets of eyes watery with tears about to be shed. They knew their mother loved them without having to be shown, they knew she had only been trying to revive their mother’s partner and only wished to assist in finding the cure she desperately craved for her heart, but hearing her finally break in turn made them break as well.

“We should take these final moments to be with her before she parts. I want her to know that she wasn’t alone even if she is unconscious for the rest of it.”

The three girls rushed to their mother, taking her into all of their embraces. Alcina finally broke, the tears came down at full force. Parting with someone she loves is never easy but at least she’ll be left with the feeling of knowing she was loved fully by her partner. The forever growing fondness of seeing her smile and laugh, the way Alcina was held with compassion and spoken to with care and respect. Every lover is different, but her late love with always be remembered for her unwavering devotion to love Alcina through good and bad.

Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela didn’t budge from their mother until Alcina herself lifted up from the desk. Drops of tears left papers in books smudged and wrinkled but she didn’t care about that right now, all she needed was to be by her lover’s side in her final moments of life.

The four Dimitrescu’s heavily made their way to Alcina’s room. The walked seemed so long to get to. A heaviness pushing them away, if they never reached those quarters maybe you would stay alive in some sick Shrodinger’s cat type of way. If they never see the body die, would you even be dead? Despite the weight they all felt, they still continued.

Your body still laidback amongst the covers, surrounded by silks and cloudy pillows, bathed in riches. You almost looked like royalty if not for your still laying body. When Alcina got close she could see the shallow breathing of your chest struggling to rise and fall. Your skin was sickly pale but not a blemish to be seen in sight. Your hair even though greasy, still splayed around your head like a crown. Alcina gently grabbed your hand and pulled it to her soft cold lips. She stayed close by the bedside with her daughters coming to surround her with love and care for their mother’s parting lover.

Alcina’s tears continued to fall as she spoke.

“I will always love you forever in my heart, I’ll remember you everyday of my life. I will do everything I can to keep the memory of our love and happiness alive. I’m so sorry there wasn’t more I could do to save you. I will miss you in every upcoming lifetime. It is time for you to rest your bones, my love. This isn’t goodbye, but I will see once again. I promise.”

You released your final breath of air from your lungs, surrounded by Alcina and her daughters. The matriarch was the first to break, releasing a heartbroken wail for a parted mate, grasping desperately at the sheets with a silent prayer that you'd awake once more and hold her like you used to. But that God no longer existed to Alcina. She knew better than the rest, you would not be returning, not today, nor tomorrow. She would have to go to you. One of these days, she'll follow you.

[itsclydebitches]

If the writers had successfully developed Ironwood into a villain, the storyline still would have faltered because, with the heroes 100% secure in their choices and the enemy vulnerable about theirs, they, no matter how bad, will always feel easier to connect and empathise with because they feel more human compared to the heroes. Ironwood assures not!Penny she's doing the right thing. Ironwood pleads with Winter. Ironwood tears up. The heroes just tell themselves that they made the right choice.

Yeah, RWBY has a lot going on, including a lot of problems, so fixing one aspect, even a big one, isn't going to fix everything else too... but it would certainly help lol.

For me, the most frustrating thing about these later volumes is that the writing gets so close to letting the cast be flawed, complex, relatable heroes, but then continually pulls back at the last moment. Ren calls the group out on their failures, but Yang and Jaune instantly dismiss them. Ruby has a breakdown about how her plan didn't work, but Yang instantly reassures her that they tried, so it's fine. May insists that they make a hard choice for once, but instead they remain in the mansion and the next time we see her, May has completely changed her tune, claiming that there's nothing more the heroes could have done. (With the problem always being that yes, there was a lot more the heroes could have done). And then we've got all the moments where the story doesn't overtly establish a problem, but hints at it strongly, so strongly that in any other show you'd be mocked for thinking it wouldn't be resolved. However, RWBY drops conflicts like hot potatoes. How will Weiss resolve her disagreement with Winter? She doesn't. How will Qrow grapple with his decisions that got Clover killed? He doesn't. How will Yang work through this nonexistent fight with Blake? She doesn't.

Yeah, it's easy to differentiate the good from the bad on the surface because Ruby sheds tears, gives passionate speeches, and Ironwood is, canonically, trying to bomb a city. It's only when you ask what Ruby is crying over, what the speeches lead to, and whether this sudden turn into villainy makes sense (it doesn't) that you might go, 'Hold on, I'm honestly feeling more sympathy for the bad guy legitimately grappling with his decisions, than the heroic girl confidently leading a kingdom to their doom.' RWBY doesn't let the heroes make mistakes anymore, which means that we don't get to read their emotions as anything other than righteous fury. No matter what the heroes say or do, the audience is supposed to respond with, "Yeah! You tell 'em!" which would get pretty old pretty fast even if I did legitimately have that response within the context of the events. But when it's stuff like, "Yeah, you attack that ally instead of sending Weiss to Atlas" or "Yeah, you lie to Ironwood, and Mantle, and the entirety of Remnant, just like Ozpin lied to you" or "Yeah, you strip Penny of her identity without her consent and then frame that as a marked improvement; the chance for her to finally be 'real'" it, uh... gets pretty hard to drum up the emotional response I know the story wants to invoke. Ironwood is a mess by the end of the series and no, I don't feel for the man who wants to kill a whole city for no apparent reason. I do, however, feel for the man who was driven to extremes due to outside forces, part of which came from people he thought he could trust, and from a meta perspective, the authors who gave up on his development halfway through, resulting in a 'genocidal general' that didn't make sense within the story.

[the-final-sif]

Loving the Convict Childcare AU! Such a cool idea im jus braintotting about i5 at this point.

I can just imagine Dream getting sick, and it's not something that can just get cured away with a health pot. I mean the man's immune system is deffo shot. He's bound to get legitimately sick at some point.

How would Sam react to having to deal with Michael while also having to keep Dream alive/nurse him back to functioning state? He can't just leave them.

And how would Michael cope with Dream being out of commission??

- Book 📚

Now, this gets into an interesting point about health/regen potions in my take. You're right that they can't instantly cure any sickness, but what they can do is help bolster a person enough that they can keep going. The trade off is if you use health potions/regen to deal with illness, first you can build up a level of resistance to them, and second, most symptoms of sickness are actually your body trying to kill off the infection. Health potions mitigate the symptoms at the cost of your body not fighting off the infection properly.

So, c!Dream absolutely gets sick during his stay at the secondary cell. His immune system is shot to hell and back. But c!Sam's solution is to just keep feeding him health/regen potions so he's still capable of taking care of Michael. And also, like, alive.

To some extent, as annoying as bringing Dream health potions is, Sam actually prefers things this way. It forces Dream be even more reliant on Sam, and health potions are something he can safely withhold as a means of punishment. Dream just adjusts to constantly being in a state of near sickness. The only thing he can do is shifting into his dragon form every so often and heating up his body temperature as hot as he can go. This helps a bit in killing off some of infection, but he can't do it for long enough for it stick.

When Dream manages to break out, he's able to steal some health potions in order to keep himself going. That buys him enough time to get Michael to safety. After that though, he basically has to go through several weeks of hell with no healing or regen in order to let his body work though the infections. That's a big part of why he's in such a terrible state when the syndicate find him.

This also means that when Dream is totally out of commission at the syndicate, Michael's never experienced that before. He's used to Dream being weak or hurt, but not totally out of it. There's a lot of tears shed and a very clingy child that the syndicate has to deal with.

[americxn]

“all my love”

tate langdon x gn!reader angst

“Every bone in my body aches for more time, more memories, for more you. But I can’t be here. I can’t take my future away from myself, even at the expense of our love; maybe happy endings just aren’t meant for us.”

wordcount: 1.5k warnings: does poorly written angst count as a warning?

taglist: @kitwalker02 @forevercountess @kitwalkerangel @milly-louise @thecountessesglove @undeadcortez @kitwalker64 @samsassinparvismagna @xmaximoffic @divineruler @tatesweaterweather @evanmybeloved @vi0lentvi0lets @ikkleroniekins @ananad1 @shlutnutt @sanni333 @mossybank @tatesimper @sallyscigarettes @copy-of-a-cheeto @whiiiiplaaaaash @colinsbagel @nerdydoesthings @fictional-men-that-i-stan @spidergirlmcu​ @depressedvamp​ @slightlyvicked​ @kaiscumsl4t​ @peterssilverjacket​ @usuck​ @quickiesgirl​ (dm to be added or removed <3)

dividers by @anlian-aishang​

You couldn’t bring yourself to take a final glance around your room. Standing in the doorway with your back to the bed, your over packed bag an unbearable weight on your shoulder, you took a deep breath, expelling the image of you and Tate lounging in one another's arms on that bed or sat cross legged on the floor playing board games or your body tucked away into his chest as you sat entwined on the large windowsill. Your throat ached but you forced yourself to take a step forwards, reaching blindly for the handle of the door to pull it closed behind you.

The open hallway beyond was empty, the uncharacteristic silence settling over you, it’s weight curving your shoulders inwards. Tate hadn’t shown himself yet. For all you knew, he could be lingering in the corridor behind you or waiting by the front door to question where you were going and why you had spent last night and the early hours of this morning secretly packing. You couldn’t bear to see him, couldn’t bear to face his questions. 

Taking the stairs quickly, you kept your gaze trained on the ground as you walked, hot tears forming along your lower lash line and blurring your vision. Clearing your throat to rid the dim ache beginning to spread there, you reached for the front door, tugging it open and hurriedly exiting the house, your face crumpling as you forced yourself to leave without a second glance, taking the steps two at a time down to the red brick path that connected the front gates to the house’s entry way. The wrought iron gate was cold beneath your palm as you pulled it open, stepping past the threshold with a choked sob. 

The sound of the door slamming closed at your back made you pause and even without turning you knew whose footsteps thundered down the small set of steps leading up to the house, a wave of despair flooding through you. “Y/n?” He shouted, his eyes trained on your back as you slowly turned to face him, a set of fresh tears tracking down your cheeks. “Tate.” You said hopelessly, the word cracking as you searched your mind for anything you could say to him.

You had to turn your face when you beheld him running towards you, his face set in harsh lines of confusion and his tousled curls waving in the soft breeze.

“What are you doing?” He demanded, breathless as he beheld you stood beyond the gate. His lithe fingers closed around the bars as you watched his dark eyes flick to the bag slung over your shoulder. “What… where are you going?” Your tear filled eyes clenched shut at his helpless tone, his toes pushing against the invisible barrier that bound him to the grounds of the house. 

You moaned his name, a wrenching breath racking through you as you made a futile attempt to piece together a coherent explanation. “I’m sorry.” Was all you could manage. “I have to go.” your eyes flicked over his form, drinking in the sight of him one final time, storing the memory away and hating how the last time you would see your lover was with tears filling his reddening eyes and his forehead creased with a deep frown of confusion. “What?” He breathed, shaking the gate in frustration. “No. Y/n, you can’t leave me here.”

“I have to.” You groaned, wiping at your face with the back of your hand, only for fresh tears to roll down the planes of your face. “I can’t be here. I’m so sorry Tate.” Your breathing hitched, distorting your words as you met his gaze for the last time, hating the way his dark irises gleamed in the bright morning light. “I’m sorry.” You repeated, Tate’s mouth opening and closing wordlessly as he searched desperately for something to say that could convince you to stay with him. But he came up short and was forced to watch in growing horror as you turned your back to him, your shoulders shaking with the force of your poorly concealed tears as you stepped into the road, ignoring Tate’s cries of your name. 

Wrenching open the driver’s side door to your car, you slung your bag onto the passenger seat, finding the hot air filling the car difficult to swallow as you watched Tate shaking the gate furiously from your peripheral vision, willing it to open under growing desperation as his anguished shouts filled the empty street. His weeping followed you down the road as you wrenched the key in the ignition, blindly pulling away from the sidewalk, your face burning under the warmth of your tears. 

Tate watched as your car rounded the corner at the bottom of the street, disappearing from sight, the weight of his confused grief forcing him to his knees and his fingers loosening their grip on the gate as he knees met the concrete; he doubled over, trying to maintain at least a scrap of composure as you drove out a sight, leaving him alone in a house populated by the fragmented souls of those who once were, your memory now joining them.

He rose, unsure of how long he had been kneeling before the gate and walked blindly back into the house. He retraced your steps, his eyes trained on the ground before him as he walked, a pit of unfeeling oblivion yawning open within him. Pushing open the door to your bedroom, he lowered himself onto the bed, gathering your pillow beneath his head and stuffing his face into it, the lingering scent of you flooding over him. His throat ached but he found that there were no more tears to be shed as a conflicting sense of anger surged through him, his back teeth grinding together as the image of you turning away from him replayed over and over again, stark in the forefront of his mind. The smell of you on the sheets turned hateful, festering with your decision to leave him alone here, abandoning him after several months of uninterrupted love to make a new life for yourself. Away from him.

He jerked upright, his lips pressing into a tight line as he scanned the room, his stomach turning as he looked around, his gaze chased by memories quickly disintegrating into cold visions devoid of meaning. Standing from the bed, his eyes fell onto the vanity, it’s surface left cluttered with several of your belongings, pumping false life into the silence of the room. There was a piece of creaseless paper that had been purposefully laid out on the centre of the vanity’s surface and his heart stuttered as he approached it, his name scrawled in a familiar hand on the front.

He reached for it, taking the note you had left him between his fingers, his breath catching as he unfolded it, beholding the lines of ink that formed rushed words. His lip curled. You hadn’t even bothered to take your time with the letter, but he took it to the bed regardless, sitting down and smoothing it out on his lap, beginning to read.

The main substance of your letter consisted of halfhearted excuses and apologies; he lost count of the amount of “I’m so sorry”s you had embedded within the handwritten note, a cold sense of resentment growing with each repetition. You hadn’t even bothered to give him a legitimate reason for your departure, telling him in ink that “this house drains me Tate, I can't stay here anymore. There’s nothing left for me within these walls; my only regret is that I can’t take you with me.” His previous anguish curdled within his gut at these words, at your dismissal of your supposedly undying love for him. 

It was only when he reached the final written line that that wrenching sense of anguish returned with nauseating force and a single tear fell as he read over it again and again, his throat closing and the ink distorting, blurring into the paper.

Every bone in my body aches for more time, more memories, for more you. But I can’t be here. I can’t take my future away from myself, even at the expense of our love; maybe happy endings just aren’t meant for us.

All my love, Y/n. 

His lip quivered as his eyes scanned over the ink time and time again, your voice speaking the words to him echoing throughout his mind, the house beyond the silence roaring in his head utterly still. The words tore through him, registering with that fragmented, hidden part of him that could still comprehend pain that exceeded the physical. He took the paper between his fingers, tearing your final words from the rest of the letter that instilled such deep resentment within him and discarded it on the floor, smoothing his fingers over the small slice of paper remaining and memorising the hurriedly scrawled words there, the crests and falls of the letters, and tucking your voice away into a back corner of his brain.

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