#Welcome home altered timeline

[workofheart]

promise

levi never thought he could have a peaceful night’s rest until he found himself in your arms

requested by: @thecaptainsbride​ 

pairing: levi ackerman x reader

wc: 2.5k

genre: fluff, canonverse, establishing domesticity

a/n: we had levi comforting reader, and now we have reader comforting levi :’) in terms of the request, i altered the timeline a bit but i think it still captures what you were going for! enjoy u guys <3

Levi isn’t used to letting people into his space.

In this line of work, he’s learned to be careful of the people he trusts to see his life from the inside. Not only to retain the secrecy and plans of the Scouts, but to protect his well being when he is so surrounded by death and destruction. A heart can only break so many times before it fails to beat at all.

That’s why, when the night comes when he finally decides to let you stay over, he’s tense. He observes your every step, unsure if he’s nervous or embarrassed or scared. It’s not skepticism, he knows, because he does trust you. You’re the only person he could possibly imagine him letting get so close to him with all that he’s experienced. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let you enter in the first place; so for once, he’s going to have faith his own judgment.

You slowly pace around his room, peeking at the knick knacks Levi has accumulated over the span of his life so far. He has quite the array of stationary arranged neatly on his desk, and a curated assortment of pens and ink to choose from. Worn, loved books line the shelves of the wooden case, small pieces of paper poking out from the top. A nimble finger traces over the cracked spine of one with a faded green cover.

“Can I?” you ask, turning over your shoulder to see him. Levi is sitting on the edge of his bed, palms pressed tightly to his thighs. He takes a deep breath and nods gently in response, dark strands of hair falling in front of his eyes.

You carefully tilt the spine towards you and pluck it from its spot. Flipping through the pages, you can see how Levi has diligently underlined, highlighted, and starred the passages. Small notes in his delicate handwriting decorate the margins with definitions and insightful observations. This book has been well read, and you’re sure the others are just the same.

His room is fairly bare for how long it’s been his home, but how much of a home is it really if he’s always on the move with the scouts? Constantly between hotels, barracks, abandoned homes, or whatever else the world throws at them next, he hasn’t had time to make the space livable. They’re never in one place too long - this is more like a headquarters to come back to after the day is done. And for Levi, the day is rarely done, even when the sun has set and the sky turns dark.

It’s strange, but he almost likes having you here. To him, it’s always been just a room. A simple, stupid box in a line of other simple, stupid boxes to house people just like him. Now that you’re occupying the space, though, it’s much different. It’s no longer just a room, but a sort of home. 

Your presence here gives it much more meaning than any trinket he might have placed on the shelf. Things in this room he’s never given a second thought suddenly burst to life with your interest in them, pulling memories from the depths of his brain as he recalls where he got them, when he got them, just because you asked. 

It’s much too easy for him, too, the way he imagines coming home from a long day to greet you at the front door. He pictures you perfectly, hair twisted into a loose braid, a soft nightgown hanging off your shoulders, feet sporting cozy slippers that make muted thuds as you walk over to give him a warm welcome back. He imagines quiet mornings sitting at the table for two, sipping tea and working through crosswords together. He sees himself reading aloud to you at the bay window, dozing off against his shoulder under the light. 

The thought of such uncomplicated, reliable domesticity with you is a thought he lets himself dream about. It seems natural, a routine he wouldn’t mind slipping into in the slightest, and you haven’t even stayed the night yet. 

He wouldn’t mind living here forever as long as you did too

When your curiosity has been, for the most part, sated, you return back and join him on the bed. You plop down, expecting to sink right in - why exactly, you’re not sure, because it’s incredibly characteristic for Levi’s bed to be as hard as a rock.

Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the firmness is still shocking beneath your fingertips.

“Have you ever even slept in this bed?” You ask with wide eyes, hands pressing down into the austere cushion, trying to fluff it like it was a pillow. The incredulous smile adorning your face makes his stomach flip. He crosses his arms across his front as if to mask his heart beating out of his rib cage. He's never been in such close, private quarters with you before. 

Levi shrugs. “I don’t really sleep anywhere.” Internally, he shakes off his nerves, not wanting to embarrass himself by leaning into them. The thought of showing how bashful he feels alone is mortifying, but he doesn’t know yet that you’d only love him more for it. 

You can’t help but to tease, muttering, “I mean, I know of a way to break it in.” Your face is utterly serious, but your eyes, swimming with a mirth Levi is far too fond of, give it away. 

Levi diverts his eyes with a small roll to the side, the hint of a smile crawling up his face. He’s the last person you’d think to be flustered by such a thing, but it’s only because it’s you. “Go to bed, brat.”

You pout. “Only if you lay down with me.”

“I told you, I don’t sleep.”

“Doesn’t mean you can’t lay down.”

You know your way around Levi too well, he thinks, or maybe he just loves you. The way you can get his resolve to crumble with a mere pleading expression must be some sort of crime. You read him like a book and know him like the back of your hand to a point where it would be dangerous if it were anyone else. Usually the thought of such a person would intimidate him, but he doesn’t mind being seen by you - not that he has a choice. Against your will, he doesn’t stand a chance; not now and not ever.

He sighs a long sigh and gestures for you to get in with a small wave of his hand. While he stands to close to blinds and light the lamp by his bedside, you scramble under the covers. The initial feeling of warmth covers your skin and makes you shiver as you adjust, crawling hastily under and pulling the blankets up close to your chest. They’re soft and clean and smell just like Levi.

He lets out a yawn that oddly reminds you of a lion pup, but you don’t mention it, instead locking it away for you to think of later on. If you said anything, he’d probably never do it again. Gently, he pulls up the covers on his side and slides under to join you, the bed sinking with his added weight.

“Goodnight, Levi.”

“Goodnight, dear.”

After laying for a while, staring up at the ceiling, Levi feels himself become drowsy. He lets his muscles relax, lets his jaw unclench, lets his eyes fall shut. Though he’s a bit puzzled as to why, sleeping now seems so inviting, and who is he to deny it?

From his side, you watch his breathing slow. It settles into a steady rise and fall of his chest, and his lips part slightly.

The progression is slow. At first, you work up the courage to slip your arm over his middle. You spend minute after minute contemplating, picturing him pushing you away, but you’re getting tired and enough is enough. You slip your arm over his middle and stay completely still; then, nothing happens.

Until moments later, when he rolls onto his side to face your direction. His eyes are still closed, rhythmically relaxed breaths leaving his nose. Then, you move onto your back and scoot up a bit further onto the pillows. He unconsciously curls into your warmth, shifting further into your body, and it makes you melt immediately, swelling with a giddy feeling. You’re almost worried the joyous thumping you feel inside your chest will wake him up.

Eventually, Levi’s head rests perfectly atop your shoulder, small puffs of air falling lightly on your skin. Your hands rub calm circles into the skin on his back where his t-shirt has ridden up, careful not to rouse him from his slumber.

It’s like that for a long time. You keep yourself awake, content with just holding him for now. You take the time to think, watching the flickering glow of the lamp, listening to his quiet breaths, feeling the muted beat of his heart on your hip.

It’s hours later when Levi sucks in a big breath, blinking awake in alarm. His head picks up off your chest and he looks around, finally settling on you who blinks right back. His lids squeeze shut and he mentally grounds himself as he realizes he’s safe.

“You okay?” you ask quietly, voice low as to not interrupt the calm of the night. Your hold around him tightens to let him know you’re there.

He shakes his head slightly and sighs. “Bad dream.” 

“‘S all right,” you say, hand moving from his back to his nape, “you can go back to sleep.”

He rubs his eyes, yawning. In an instant, he freezes, realizing the position he’s in. He’s practically clinging to you like a child would a toy, and he feels a familiar heat flush his skin as his head hangs. “Sorry.” He swallows. “I should probably start work.” 

He starts to push himself off of you to get up, but your hold on his shoulders is firm, pulling him right back down.

“You’re tired,” you say. “Stay. I’ll be right here.”

He sighs, looking around, before resigning and dipping his head back down to lay on top of you. He doesn’t feel like arguing something he knows he wants deep down anyway. He nuzzles his face into your front, shaking his head slightly as if to clear his mind of what was plaguing it in his rest.

“Promise you won’t leave,” he mumbles softly into your shirt, barely audible. He’s too tired to put up a mask for show, and he’s relieved to see that you don’t need one from him come rain or shine.

Your fingers card through his silky locks and brush them back from his face as his body finally sinks into yours, his weight a warming comfort. It’s slight, but you feel his head tilt just a bit further into your palm.

You place a chaste kiss to his crown. “Promise.”

☆☆☆

When the morning sun finally wakes and rises above the horizon line, Levi finds himself turning away from the beams filtering through the curtains. He feels the golden light on his lids, and he flips onto his opposite side, clinging to the cozy feel of his bed. The only thing that pulls him from his slumber is when his hand stretches out to find emptiness all around, your presence absent from his space where he so desperately wants you.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” you say, watching him shift slowly and gain his surroundings. You’re standing at the small counter across the room, boiling a pot of water on the stove - Levi can tell from the faint rumbling of bursting bubbles inside the steel kettle. He slowly peels his eyes open to get a glimpse of you, features seeming to glow with the light pouring in from the windows. He feels his heart skip a beat that he’s not ready for.

 Levi is surprised that he has slept in so late, let alone slept through the entire night at all. It’s rare that this happens - he almost wants to say it’s the first time it has occurred for him, waking up in secure comfort rather than burning fear. The only thing that could make it better were if you were right beside him.

Of course, Levi can’t bring himself to say something so forward this early in the morning. Instead, he mumbles a small, “Come back,” a hint of a whine to his voice that only you could identify.

There’s a muted clinking sound as you stir a spoon around in the porcelain cups you’ve prepared, knocking against each other as you try your best to pick them up. It feels like a juggling act, trying to bring them over safely. You don’t know how Levi makes it look so easy every time he brings you a cup when they are so awfully hot to the touch. He must have gotten used to it, or bears the sting for the sake of his collected appearance.

“I was planning on it,” you reassure him, “just had to stretch a bit.” 

Your feet pad lightly across the wood floors until you reach him, offering the tea which he graciously accepts. You set your own on the nightstand to cool while Levi takes his first sip immediately. It tastes just like how he makes it for himself. Considering he’s never explicitly shown you exactly what he does, he’s both surprised and deeply touched.

His eyes follow you as you clamor in next to him. He asks the question that’s been playing on his mind since he stirred awake hours ago. 

“Were you awake all night?”

He sees your expression falter slightly and knows right from then. Regardless, you brush it off without hesitation, nestling up to his side.

“No, no,” you lie casually, “I woke up a little before you did and went to sleep after.”

With a gentle hand, you straighten out the part in his hair, laying down the slight frizz from where his head was pressed into the pillow.

Levi looks at you for a long time, observing your tender gestures. He sees right through your words, and also sees the slight droop of your eyes, a hint of darkness beneath them. He thinks of you awake all night, petting his hair as he rests while you don’t, and brings a twinge of guilt to his heart. At the same time, his soul is utterly warmed and thankful. He’s not sure what to make of someone who’d do that for him.

He disregards your previous statement and instead addresses the obvious truth. “Don’t do that for me. You need sleep too.”

It draws a laugh from you. The way your eyes crease has his heart faltering. “I sleep more than enough, trust me.”

He peeks at you over the top of his tea cup, wishing he could freeze this moment in time, capturing how you look perfectly down to the miniscule curve of your lips so that he’ll never forget it. Maybe, he won’t have to.

He doesn’t need to ask because the answer is clear, but he does anyway.

“...Would you mind staying again tonight?”

[stonebricks-mcytstuff]

Iron Lady AU

*Written in August, before False has even named her empire

Tentative Title: Isekai’d into the wrong kingdom server

False’s 1st Empires episode made the gears in my head turn lmao 

False fell asleep next to King Ren in the kingdom of Hermitcraftia. When she awoke, she was alone, in a world incredibly alien to her where familiar strangers welcome her with open arms. 

The only thing False has are the clothes on her back and one mission: get home. 

On the other end, King Ren wakes up to find his co-ruler missing, the other side of their shared bed gone cold in the middle of the night. The Queen of Hearts, Heads, and Body Parts is missing, and the Red King is not pleased. 

An AU based on the Isekai plot that False Symmetry is going through on Empires SMP. Will obviously be very out of timeline and be very embellished compared to the current info that we have in terms of lore on both servers.

Edit: The Hermits are in Empires. I am in shambles. This AU is now considered a Universe Alteration.

[bxckybarness]

You Have Me

part of “in love, out of time: TVA drabbles

summary: you’re feeling homesick and turn to loki for comfort

word count: 1330+

a/n: i’m well aware this is way too long to be considered a drabble, but it fits the theme so it’s a drabble as far as i’m concerned lol. also, if you have any ideas for more loki/reader tva drabbles, send them my way!

You had showed up at the TVA not much longer before Loki had. You had thought it was a joke at first, because you hadn’t meddled in time travel and had never heard of this supposed time agency. You had literally just decided to walk a different route to work and that, apparently, had been the cause of you strolling right into the arms of some TVA agents. They spoke about you altering the timeline by changing routes and how you were never supposed to be on that road before marching you through a portal and into a very intimidating courtroom. Not what you had expected on a Monday morning, that’s for sure.

You had stood trial before an ominous judge, pleading for your life – all because you chose to walk on a different street. You, like many, many others, had been sentenced to be “reset.” But right as they held the stick to your chest, Mobius had stood up, objected and offered, instead, a place on his team. That’s how you had been introduced to the Loki variant case and eventually, Loki himself.

You were thankful that Mobius had saved you. You hadn’t understood what it meant to be reset during your trial, but knowing what you did now, you were incredibly thankful you hadn’t been subjected to that pain. You did enjoy your new job. It was fun to learn about and visit different periods of time. It was exciting to track down rogue variants and feel the adrenaline when you found them. Honestly, you felt powerful, you know, despite the unimportance of superpowers within the TVA. It was fun and exciting, but wow were you tired.

You were tired of waking up to the same bland walls, working off the same desk, eating the same average food. You missed your family and your friends. You desperately wanted to bask in the fresh air again and go for a walk outside, preferably in your own timeline and maybe right where you left off. You could really go for some of your mom’s homemade lasagna, too. But none of that was available to you now, and it never would be again. The closest you could get to that was watching the TVA’s official tapes documenting your life – but even that didn’t feel real to you.

On this particular night, you were really feeling homesick. It had happened by complete accident, too. You, Loki and Mobius had been sitting together at dinner, eating the average cafeteria food, when Mobius brought up the topic of New York, wanting to know more about it. The conversation was exciting and allowed you to reminisce about your favorite places in the city, but had left you drained and desperate for home. After the conversation slowed down, you had quickly excused yourself to your TVA assigned room, where you had been since.

You sighed as you stood from your spot on your bed, sick of being sad and alone, and desperately wanting some company. It was well past dinnertime by now and you assumed everyone would be checking in for the night. Your assumption was proven true when you opened your door and found the hallway empty and almost completely silent. The silence, while sometimes welcoming, was slightly unnerving tonight.

It didn’t take you long to walk the small distance to Loki’s room and place a timid knock on his door. You had never visited his room before. In fact, you’re not sure you’ve ever done anything together outside of work hours. You considered him a good friend of yours, maybe even felt something more, so you just hoped that he wouldn’t scoff at your presence for showing up randomly and this late. Suddenly you’re nervous. God, you shouldn’t have come here – he isn’t known for being the best at emotional situations-

The door swings open.

“Well, isn’t this is a surprise,” he says, smoothly, but upon noticing the solemn look on your face, he frowns.

“I- I needed someone,” you reply softly.

He studies you for a minute, as if trying to determine the validity of your words, before gesturing for you to follow him into his space. You walk in and immediately fall onto the small couch in the center of the room, while Loki moves to sit opposite you. You sit in silence for a few moments and you can feel his gaze on you. You hope he can’t sense the flurry of thoughts in your mind.

“You look upset,” Loki says, eyes still glued to the side of your head.

You can’t help but laugh at his statement. You never were good at hiding your emotions.

“Uh, yeah. I’m just,” you sigh, not wanting to overwhelm him. “I just miss home.”

So much for not overwhelming him, because tears are suddenly running down your face and you can’t make them stop. In the past few weeks, you had been taken from your home, thrown into this new life, and told you would never go back ever again. It was all very…intense.

Loki doesn’t exactly know what to do once he notices the tears on your face. He was all for talking and he loved conversation, but he wasn’t exactly good with emotion. But he cared for you more than he would like to admit and he found himself upset that something was intruding on your joy. He preferred to see a smile on your face, not this pained expression.

He sighs and shuffles closer to you, a timid arm wrapping around your shoulders. You find immediate comfort in his touch and lay your head on his shoulder.

“That’s nothing to be ashamed about,” Loki starts softly, subconsciously rubbing his thumb over your shoulder, “I feel it too, sometimes.”

“It’s just so different here,” you sniffle. “I feel like an outsider, alone..”

Loki’s heart breaks at your words – partially because he’s been feeling that way too and partially because he hates to see you this way.

“Well, darling, you’re not alone. Like it or not, you have me,” he says.

Something about the way the sentence leaves his lips makes you look up at him and you’re shocked to find concern laced deep into his gaze. His eyes meet yours and he smiles softly. He moves his hand from your shoulder and uses it wipe the tears from your cheeks, but continues to hold your face even after the tears are gone.

“I’m not the best at this, so bear with me,” he mumbles, taking a second to form his words, “I know I can’t take you back to New York, but by the Norns, I will do my best to make sure you feel at home here. It’s the least I can do.”

You blush softly at his words and bring your hand up to cover his, “The least you can do? Why?”

He opens his mouth to continue speaking, but stops, almost as if he’s second guessing his words. He sighs and smiles, deciding to say them anyway, “I care for you more than I’ve cared for anyone before. Knowing you’re happy, will make me so, as well.”

“Well, I suppose the feeling’s mutual,” you say before moving your head to lie on his shoulder again, “You’re different than I expected, Loki Laufeyson.”

“Is that a good thing?” he retorts, the concern in his voice now replaced with his usual joking tone.

“The best thing.”

He laughs and turns to place a soft kiss on your head, his arm returning to its place around your shoulders. You fit together comfortably, like it was meant to be and suddenly you find yourself forgetting the misery and loneliness you had felt only minutes earlier. You might not be in New York and you might never get to experience real life again, but that didn’t mean life at the TVA couldn’t be just as good. Even with its bland walls, boring desks and average food, you would be okay – thanks to the man who would be at your side.

[swbumblebee]

“Stop it.”

Mace Windu was a Jedi Master, and as such had years of training resulting in near limitless patience.

A limit, however, that his closest companion and partner in time-travel was testing with his constant pacing. And huffing.

Plo Koon ignored his request. Mace sighed.

“Would you just sit down? You’re not going to bring them home any quicker and you’re wearing down my rug” he warned.  

Plo looked at him, looked down at the rug, and continued pacing.

“I don’t know what you’re worried about” Mace continued, happily ignoring the sulky silence. “We know their mission goes well, we’ve done this before!” he exclaimed. “It’s a resounding success and half a planet ends up with a crush on Obi-Wan.” He said matter-of-fact.

He felt a reluctant pulse of amusement from Plo in the Force, as much as the man tried to keep it off his face. Mace could always tell.

He stood up, joining him in front of the sofa.

“Nobody gets blown up, nobody gets injured.” He reminded gently. “The Tume agreement is signed, as it is every year, and they both live to worry us another day” he said kindly.

Plo shook his head.

“I know how it went last time. I remember the debate” he corrected. “But things could be different my friend, we have changed the timeline. The smallest difference could be vital, and we have made a very large difference.” Plo explained, in his usual measured voice. “We have altered young Anakin’s temperament; Force only knows that he’ll do. And Obi-Wan has much less to prove.”

Mace frowned. His friend was making some irritatingly good points, but he remembered the two boys standing in the council room not one week ago; a familiar determined glint in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s eye that, in the coming years, would move planets, and Skywalker looking up at all the Masters as if they hung the stars.

“They will not disappoint us” Mace said surely.

Plo stopped.

“I know” he sighed. “I just…worry. It is most unbecoming of a Jedi” the Kel Door admitted.

Mace smiled.

“We are no longer typical Jedi my friend, and you are not the only one.”

It was true. Despite his words of reassurance, waving the two off in the hanger had brought a distinct clench in his stomach, and the training droids in the dojo had had a very long week.

Both froze, two very familiar force presences making themselves known, and not a moment later Mace’s commlink chirped shrilly.

They grinned at each other.

“Windu”

“Master, Knight Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker have just requested permission to land” the unidentified voice on the other end of the call informed them professionally.

“Thank you, Windu out.” He closed the link without a second thought, already grabbing his cloak and joining Plo, standing impatiently, by the door.

“Wait – we can’t both go!” Mace exclaimed, the thought suddenly occurring to him as Plo reached for the door control.  

The other Jedi looked at him, clearly irritated.

“Why not?”

Mace rolled his eyes. One of them had to be sensible.

“Plo, how’s that going to look? Two senior council members waiting for a new Knight and a Junior Padawan? People already think we’re too close” he exclaimed, frustrated with his friend.

Whilst they both had a wildly different attitude towards the A Word (developed over the course of the war and in their new situation) appearances were something they had to be mindful of.

Whilst his expression did not change, the Force around Plo expressed just how much of a toss he gave about appearances.

His friend folded his arms.

“Alright, we can re-convene at the flat later. I will meet them in the hanger.” He said calmly, as if it was some kind of compromise.  

Mace raised one eyebrow.

“Any why do you get to welcome them home?” he asked archly.

“You waved them off” Plo said simply. “It is my turn.”

“Ah that’s not how-Plo!” he cried out, outraged as Plo quickly opened the door and strode out into the corridor, pushing Mace gently back with the Force whilst he made his escape.

Leaving the Master of the Order spluttering at the injustice of it all, in his wake.

---

Plo was working hard to keep his happiness behind his shields as he strode into the hanger just in time to see the temple shuttle land. He ran a critical eye over it, having a sudden vision of Skywalker’s battered old ship in that first timeline. As liable to explode as it was to put the wipers on.

Thank goodness that was a bridge to be crossed in the future. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for Anakin adopting ships.

Obi-Wan ruffled young Anakin’s hair, laughing as the boy tried to squirm away, as they descended the ramp. The playful scowl on Anakin’s face transformed into excitement as he sensed Plo and turned to him, held back from running over for his usual hug by his Master’s lightning quick reflexes, grabbing a wrist and holding him back.

Plo sent a wave of welcome over to them both in the Force as they came closer, a genuine smile on Obi-Wan’s face and Anakin practically buzzing with excitement.

Obi-Wan bowed deeply in respect, clearly nudging Anakin through their training bond to do the same, and the boy hastily followed suit.

Plo held a hand up and nodded at them both as they rose smiling. Both looked absolutely fine, perhaps Obi-Wan a little tired, but Plo had a feeling that was more to do with the energetic ten-year -old he’d just spent a week with, than the challenge of the mission.

“Welcome back” Plo once again pushed his pleasure at them in the Force. Predictably, Obi-Wan’s eyes slid away from looking him in the face, but he smiled gratefully all the same as Plo plucked the bulky pack out of his hands and shouldered it. Anakin nearly skipped as they all headed towards the exit and made for the Kenobi/Skywalker residence.

“Thank you Master, it’s good to see you-“

“Master Plo, it was so wizard we went in a hyperlane and the pilot let me sit up front and Chose was awesome Master it was hailing when we got there, like really hard rain! And they had massive beds and loads of puddings and me and Master Obi-Wan went to a play with singing-“

As the child rambled excitedly on, Plo shared a bemused look with a resigned Obi-Wan, sending him a wave of amused sympathy at him in the Force. Received with a dry raise of the young man’s eyebrows.

It must have been a long week for the twenty-three-year-old.

Content to let the child’s happiness wash over him, and Obi-Wan appearing to enjoy the lack of expected contribution for once, the journey to the flat was mostly uneventful, only a few Jedi casting them amused looks at Anakin’s wild gesticulating.

“Anakin, Obi-Wan!”

They were stopped from keying in the door code by Mace’s cry of greeting as he rounded the corner towards the little group. Ignoring Plo he went straight up to the boys, Anakin beaming at him and Obi-Wan bowing once again.

“Master”

“Hi Master Mace! Guess what? We saw hail on Chose and-

“Anakin” Obi-Wan blissfully interrupted before the whole recount could begin again. “Why don’t we get inside and get the tea on and then you can tell Master Mace and Master Plo all about our mission” he suggested firmly, in a way that was definitely not a suggestion.

“Yes Master”

Obi-Wan keyed in their code and stepped inside, Anakin following happily kicking off his boots by the door.

Mace, still giving Plo the cold shoulder, stepped inside first. And made a distinct noise of surprise. Plo followed curiously looking over his shoulder.

“Obi-Wan – what happened?” he asked, aghast.

Plo held back an unseemly laugh.

The flat was a tip.

There were robes on the floor, he spotted two pairs of boots sticking out from under the sofa and a discarded pack under the table. What looked like the entire Temple’s supply of mugs were scattered on almost every surface, alongside precariously stacked datapads and flimsy piles on the tables and on the floor, some of which had fallen over.

As he picked his way across the room, avoiding random bits of droid and one or two power tools, Plo could spy a half-eaten bowl of cereal on the kitchen counter when he peered inside, and about three days worth of washing up. A laundry basket was sitting next to the washing machine, overflowing with brown and beige.

The two young Jedi stood awkwardly in the middle of the flat.

Obi-Wan flushed a little.

“Ah, we left on quite short notice” he offered.

“I don’t think it’s that bad really” Anakin offered with an awkward shrug, slyly kicking something further under the sofa.

“This is….” Mace was lost for words. Whilst Plo hadn’t spent much time in Master Kenobi’s home the first time around, he had always thought the man to be fastidiously clean, and what he had seen had been very tidy.

Anakin however, was no surprise.

Plo could sense Mace doing the same thing he was, adding “domestic help” to the Obi-Wan Support List. They’d been so focussed on studies and their boy’s personal development they completely forgot that the Knight had never lived by himself before, never mind taken care of a youngling!

Obi-Wan apologetically shoved some pads and an old robe off the sofa to make space and disappeared into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

The two Masters sat down gingerly. Anakin on the floor opposite.

“Your mission was a success?” Plo asked conversationally as Obi-Wan reappeared with the mugs of tea. Plo caught Mace peering at the rim for signs of prior use, and gave him a look.  

“Yeah” Anakin answered before Obi-Wan could get a word in “the Chosians didn’t like me at first but they really liked Master Obi-Wan and they spent ages talking. And people kept giving him stuff.” The boy explained with a disgusted expression. “Flowers and cakes and-“

“Yes thank you Padawan” Obi-Wan interrupted loudly, his ears turning a rather bright shade of pink. Mace smirked at him and Plo sent his partner a mental swat.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat.

“The mission was a success and the Tume Agreement has been updated and signed.” The Knight took a sip of his tea. “We will not need to go back for a while, it should be valid for another ten years” he finished casually as if accomplishing something no Jedi had managed before, on his first mission, was an afterthought.

Mace and Plo shared a look.

Just like last time.

It was a huge relief that their presence had had no adverse effects on the Negotiator’s skills. As Plo sat and listened to Mace congratulate the blushing young man he had a thought.

What could these two, The Team; the best Jedi of his generation and the most powerful force user ever, accomplish with the support of Mace and Plo this time around?

The Sith had better pack their bags. He thought smugly.

---

To get a feel for the whole set up of Obi-Wan Anakin’s first mission when they were assigned it “the first time around” read this Snippet Of Nothing, which is the mission being discussed, and is from the councils point of view. 

[luthientinu]

Dancing With Your Ghost- Scarlet Strange-One Shot 13- Stephen Strange x Wanda Maximoff

Written for day 5 of the ScarletStrange shipping week!

Prompt: SCARLETSTRANGE RAIN KISS BUT MAKE IT ANGSTY!

A/N- Inspired by Dancing with you Ghost by Sasha Sloan (Listen on Spotify, Listen on YouTube). Recommend listening to it while reading. I may have altered the timeline to fit the story. Takes place in Earth-838...oh and welcome to my first angst.

Yelling at the sky

Screaming at the world

Baby, why'd you go away?

I'm still your girl

  Wanda spent the first night away from home (no she would not call it home as he had been her home) as a widow in the meadow that was their special spot. A wonderful place, abundant with wild flowers, seemed to be mocking her with its peaceful atmosphere. She had let out a heart wrenching scream, her magic exploding out of her in one massive red surge. She had sat and cried her heart out for hours, the blue cloak wiping her tears and trying to comfort her the best it could.  Now she was feeling numb. She curled into the Cloak of Levitation, in return Levi wrapped around her more snugly in an act of comfort.

  "It hurts Cloakie…"

She was trying to forget the happy memories she associated with this meadow but at this particular moment she was continuously bombarded with them.

  " Marry me?"

  Wanda looked gobsmacked and she gaped at Stephen wondering whether she was dreaming. She pinched herself...she was definitely NOT dreaming. 

  "Wanda? Are you…."

  Before he could finish she launched herself into his arms. They both tumbled into the grass, Wanda was half sobbing and half laughing .

  "Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!"

Stephen laughed and kissed her while managing to slip the ring on to her finger. It fit perfectly.

 "I think something happened to my back love." They both chortled.

They married a year later. All they got was another year full of love and happiness until the Mad Titan began his rampage.

Holding on too tight

Head up in the clouds

Heaven only knows

Where you are now

Wanda wished whole heartedly she could have pried a bit more. Of course she trusted Stephen with every fiber of her being but she really could have pried a bit more. 

“Do you trust me darling?” Stephen had asked Wanda one night as he held her in his arms. 

  “With my life.” she had whispered adoringly.

  Stephen gave her a bruising kiss, eyes shining with tears she did not notice.

  She was the first person Stephen had come to after using the Darkhold as they were running out of options to defeat Thanos. He broke down in tears and she held him. Stephen told her of the incursion that he had inadvertently triggered, destroying two universes. Wanda saw the black tinged fingertips. She said nothing and just held him as he had held her countless times. She felt the clock ticking.

“I have to tell them. Billions were killed Wanda.”

  Stephen did inform them after Thanos was defeated using the Book of Vishanti. As expected, they were horrified. 

How do I love

How do I love again?

How do I trust

How do I trust again?

The trial was set and he was found guilty. He was to be executed the day after tomorrow. Reed and Peggy had tried their best to lessen the sentence but the others would not hear of it as Stephen was labelled as one of the most dangerous people in their universe. She tried very hard to stay in control of her magic oh how hard she tried, out of respect for Stephen as he had trained her to be the person she is today.

Stephen was allowed to go back with Wanda, the day before the execution. The weather matched her emotions. Rain poured, thunder boomed and lightning flashed. She stepped out into the rain, not caring the rain was chilling her to the bone. She wrapped her arms around herself and the tears fell. 

  "You shouldn't be out here darling" she heard Stephen’s baritone voice behind him.

She turned to look at him, he looked tired and worn out. The falling rain had soaked him and he didn't seem to care about it. He began approaching his grieving wife. The tears fell harder when she saw him. Letting out a strangled sob she ran straight into his arms.

The kiss was bittersweet and they poured their love into the kiss, tears gushing down their cheeks. They held onto each other tightly unwilling to let go. Tomorrow was looming, the clock was ticking. Stephen pressed his lips on her temple, whispering sweet nothings trying to comfort her. Sobs wracked her body despite his best efforts to try to comfort her.  The rain continued to pour. They shared one more kiss and Stephen lifted her into his arms, never wanting to let her go and they made love for the very last time.

Never got the chance

To say a last goodbye

I gotta move on

But it hurts to try

She was not given the chance to say her last goodbye. Stephen didn’t want her to witness it. She respected his wish but at the same time she was hurt so damn much.

   Stephen had not slept that night. Wanda had been adamant on staying awake but she had drifted off a few hours ago. He spent the night holding her close and  recommitting her to his memory. He was so damn proud of her and felt extremely honoured to call himself her husband but unfortunately fate had different plans. He had placed a spell, making sure she slept through the ordeal. He looked adoringly at the sleeping woman and kissed her for the very last time. He got dressed, placed a letter he had written to her after his verdict was announced on his side of the bed, took one last look at her and opened a portal.

  Stephen looked at Reed, Peggy, who looked incredibly crestfallen. “Look out for her. Please.”

  They both nodded.

  As Stephen disintegrated into nothingness, his only thoughts were of Wanda.

  Wanda woke up far too late. Realisation dawned and she hurriedly got dressed and portalled her way into the headquarters. She was far too late as she spotted the sombre teammates and the Cloak of Levitation hanging limply in Reed’s hands, mourning the loss of his Master.

  “W-W-Where is he?”

  Their silence was too telling. Wanda collapsed then and there in tears, noticing the Cloak of Levitation flying to her and settling on her shoulders and Christine running to her and enveloping her in her arms. Her mentor, her best friend, her confidante and her husband gone just like that.

Wanda felt numb when she found out she was pregnant with twins. Yes, she was nauseated a couple of times during the mornings and felt tired but with Stephen’s death she had dismissed it. Christine had pointed it out. Apprehensively, Wanda let her run some tests. When it all pointed to pregnancy, she cried for a good hour on Christine’s shoulder. Wanda would raise the twins well, making sure that they will never forget their father. She vowed she will make Stephen proud.

I stay up all night

Tell myself I'm alright

Baby, you're just harder to see than most

I put the record on

Wait 'til I hear our song

Every night I'm dancing with your ghost

Previous- One Shot 12

Next- One Shot 14

ScarletStrange Masterlist

Main Masterlist

A/N- Hope this is okay and not all over the place. Would really love to know what you all think. This posted on Ao3 and on Fanfiction.net too.

[cixteenyne]

My Rose (Part 1/?)

I decided to break this request into parts, so it easier to keep track and write that way. 

REQUESTED BY: OYASUMIMOSURA

Kirishima Ejiro x Otsutsuki!Fem!Reader (Fluff)

Warnings: None!

WELCOME TO CELESTIA. WE WELCOME YOU.

You did not know where you were, you knew your name, and why you were there, but this new world would take some getting used to.

After a bit of exploring, you realized this was earth, but simply an alternating timeline, and universe. That didn't bother you though, you do this all the time, though the things that are altered are a bit jarring at first.

Your name was (Name) Otsutsuki, Yet you didn't look much like your predecessors, might it be your skin, hair texture, or whatever. But you were still -miraculously, pure blood.

When you first landed you thought your appearance would startle the earthling- humans, they are called humans. You were glad that was one thing that never changed through timelines and universes, the name of the squishy beings. Humans. You actually liked humans, you’ve never had conflict with most of them, some of them try to take advantage of you though, you may be caring, but you’re not plain stupid!

You had something to do on earth, you were here for a reason, it isn't an important or major one, but still a reason, you needed to find roses. Roses never grew where you lived, you heard of them growing on the tranquility of earth, well, as tranquil as earth can get, you saw what happens here.

You needed the roses, but it wasn't your main priority, at all. So you wandered around, thinking about how to blend in, only to find, you didn't need to- you already did. Horse heads, elongated limbs, altered skin, it was amazing really. 

When had this new development take place? You didn't question it much further, after living for so long, you develop a sense of aloofness to what most would find alarming.

And power too. Over the years you have gotten more powerful, however strong you may be now, there is always room to improve and get stronger. That never changed either, its fun to look back on your less experienced self.

You began to get tired of walking, or more annoyed with it, your long robes kept catching you off guard, it was made for flying and teleporting, you've never walked so much before. So you began to teleport. Far.

You kept teleporting until someone interested you. If it didn't, you simply turned around- and teleported.

You got tired of that too, you got dizzy.

So you stopped in a tree clad land and just kind of stood there. 

‘This place isn't the worst’ you thought. It really was pretty, and calming, so you'd stay for now. 

You stayed for** 3 days**.

 You really liked this place, and the fish was good! You were glad you knew the art of cooking, it was very fun to do! And tasty, you had fish back where you lived, but the genetic code of them were vastly different, but the dish you made with earth fish still reminded you of home-

There was then shuffling. Then it stopped

You may be a powerful being, but you aren’t immune to fear. So you stayed frozen and waited.

And waited. And wait- is it waiting for you to move?

To test your theory you waved at it, only for it to still.

Then  suddenly pop out and chuckle at you!

“Waving at a potential enemy? So polite! How manly!”

M-..manly?

‘Such a sudden appearance! How did I not sense him?’ but then you remembered that humans and other worldly beings don't have the same aura, at all. It's quite drastic really, humans fascinated you, the stark differences made you want to know more, and you'd become attached easily, trying to learn more.

You also seemed to notice that he was alone, nobody else seemed to be around and- c'mon, it's a forest, aren't humans prone to getting mauled? 

‘Maybe he had a genetic alteration to help him’. You hoped you were correct, you may not know him, but you still care about the squishy human.

“-r name?”

You looked up confused. Was he talking the entire time? He seemed to be a chatterbox.

he picked up on your confusion and repeated his question to you. After all, you seemed like such a nice person! If not a little strange. You just assumed he was too trusting, how ever hypocritical that is. You had no room to talk about being overly-trusting.

“What's your name?”

“Otsutsuki (name)” your response came out quicker than you planned, you also wondered if you should be telling strangers that pop out of bushes your name, but what was the point of asking? Isn't he suspicious of you? Some random robed stranger in the middle of a forest? He's strange, but a nice change of pace. Refreshing. Even if you just met him not even an hour ago, you're already attached, you now don’t want him to leave. You really didn't have any room to talk.

“Hm, you don't seem like a threat, maybe little lost”

Yes you were indeed lost. You warped to some random universe just for some roses. You didn't know where roses grew on earth, you just knew that they were there. You came completely unprepared. You were glad he didn't deem you a threat, you knew customs were different on earth, but you wanted to be friends with him. How much more attached than before can you get! You don't even know his nam-

“Ejiro kirishima! Let's be friends!”

Hm, his hair was red, like a rose. Did he perhaps know where they grew?

You’d have to ask him as soon as possible. 

He took your hand and helped you up from your crisscross position, a blinding smile on his face. You couldn't help but smile too, it was contagious, infectious and so reassuring.

That smile is what makes you so sure.

From that day forward he became a caretaker of sorts, becoming close- tied to the hip rather quickly.

He brought you food when you run out of fish, take you to his house to raid his human fridge, train with him, more for his benefit than anything- and you repaid him in promising to be his friend, you didn't know why he was so adamant of keeping you around as time went on, but you just assumed that the weeks of training with you have paid off, and he wanted you around for that. You didn't mind that though, the thought of helping such a blooming 'person like him made your own smile grow wide.

You never got around to asking him about those roses, you did say they weren't important, but just missing from your collection of precious things. Whenever you read about something you liked in a book, you would travel across the universe, and swap worlds to find it, and cherish it.

Even if he didn't happen to know. You didn't mind.

‘Well it's okay if he doesn't’ 

you thought with a soft smile that spoke a thousand words a minute, these 3 weeks have really meant a lot to you. 

It meant a lot to him too, he would make any excuse to have you in his home longer, train longer, anything. You are glad to indulge.

‘He can be my rose for now’

----------------------------------------------------------!

Thanks for requesting!

[dear-mrs-otome]

As someone who can’t read Japanese, could you please spoil Faust’s route? I’m really curious!

I can, sorry this took me awhile to get all down!

I’ll give you a summary of Faust’s route below the cut, so for those zooming past BE WARNED. SPOILERS FOLLOW.

SPOILERS AHOY!

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO HAVE THE WHOLE ROUTE SPOILED IN DETAIL???

I MEAN IT - A GIANT WALL OF TEXT EXISTS BEHIND THIS CUT, ALL SPOILERS…

Faust’s route begins as all of the ‘Act 2’ routes do - just as MC is attempting to return home after her month vacation in the past, the door to the Louvre appears to malfunction and she’s forced to remain in the 19th century until Comte can figure out what is going on.

Life carries on much as usual for her, as she tries to keep her spirits up, when one day in town she stumbles across a church on the edges, presided over by a kindly priest (Faust) who seems impressed by her generosity towards a poor woman he’s given medicine to whose son is suffering from a mysterious epidemic that’s begun circulating the city. One night she attends a party with Comte when a critter of some sort steals her hair ornament. Chasing after it, she winds up in a graveyard, where to her horror she sees a figure digging up a fresh grave. She tries to run, is caught by said figure (Faust), and bitten until she faints. (First CG)

She wakes up in the church from earlier and the kind priest who claims he was merely a Good Samaritan seems willing to help her get home. Soon though it comes to light that she is the woman staying with Comte, and Faust drops his ‘nice’ mask and reveals himself as a vampire - biting her once more to observe the effects and proclaiming he will abduct her to be his new guinea pig, curious about her as a person both from the future and who has been living with vampires.

Waking up in Vlad’s castle now, she meets the Terrible Trio and struggles to deal with her situation now - Faust feeds on her for the purposes of observation again, and she goes on a hunger strike briefly, defiant and unwilling to accept being captive. Only when Faust threatens the other residents of the mansion does she reluctantly settle down, and they butt heads over their wildly different philosophies on life - Faust’s mission to grant humans eternal life, her proclaiming God gives us only that which we can handle, and Faust’s disagreement.

To prove his point he begins bringing her to the church with him disguised as a nun, where she witnesses firsthand the cruelties of fate in ways her 21st century self had never encountered before - children orphaned senselessly, people coming for confession bearing the crushing weight of guilt over their own poverty and misfortune. She begins to realize how she may have been wrong, but she and Faust continue to disagree over their different viewpoints. MC still believes that hope is real and necessary, whereas Faust is a committed cynic.

She slowly comes to lose her fear of the other residents of the castle as well, as they are nothing but kind and welcoming to her, though she still is unsure of what to make of everything and remains defiant.

The arguments between her and Faust come to a head when the son of the woman MC met that very first day outside the church comes around, seeking Faust’s blessing to send him on to the next life and refusing the medicine and help offered him. Faust reacts harshly to the man’s willingness to quietly acquiesce to his fate, to MC’s horror, and when she asks him if he has nothing of hope left Faust assures her it’s long gone. When she spots Napoleon and Sebastian later, she dithers for a bit but eventually tries to call out to them, only to have Faust intercept. Still unsettled from their argument earlier, he reiterates to her that she belongs to him and bites her on the church altar, as if to prove that bad things happen to good people no matter what.

Things are strained between them after that, not helped by MC’s increasing suspicions that the strange rumors of ‘resurrections’ going on around the city in the wake of the disease are somehow Faust’s work - an accusation that clearly wounds Faust upon hearing. She meets a young university student, Alex, who desperately wants to be Faust’s assistant and is studying the epidemic. Days pass as they continue working at the church and the orphanage, until one day the disease strikes even there - and finding Faust’s medication is running out, over his protests and concerns MC volunteers to help him make more, the two of them working day and night together to develop and manufacture enough to save the children.

They’re successful, save for one girl Lina who is still very sick that they bring back to the castle to finish nursing to health. They succeed, but afterwards MC falls ill with the same sickness and collapses...only marginally coherent of a desperate Faust doing all he can to save her life. (2nd CG)

She has time and evidence to rethink some of her assumptions about Faust, realizing that despite his best efforts to crush whatever heart and kindness he has it remains. There’s more to him than just icy logic. And when she asks him about his past he finally tells her some of it - that he was abandoned as a baby, raised in an orphanage by a kindly nun, and that when she fell ill he sold himself into slavery to provide her with money for medicine. It made no difference in the long run though, the woman still died...and Faust remains the cynic when they discuss hope and happiness and how MC still clings to these things.

Rumors abound about Faust’s miraculous work stopping the epidemic at the orphanage, as things return mostly to ‘normal’ for them both, working at the church and such. They’re each grappling with changing feelings for each other, Faust suffering his first bout of bloodlust, when one morning Faust collapses in agony bleeding from his mouth horrifically, falling unconscious for days.

Everyone at the castle is fretting, Faust growing weaker and weaker, as Vlad explains his theory that Faust has altered the timeline too much by stopping the plague at the orphanage and the universe is attempting to set things to right again by erasing him from existence. He claims the same thing has happened to him before when he tries to change world events too drastically - the difference being that as a pureblood he can’t die. Faust, however, can. 

He proposes traveling back in time and attempting to nudge humans here and there, make tiny alterations to the timeline to achieve the same goal of saving the children without the backlash falling on Faust, and MC insists on going along - realizing now that she’s faced with his death, she can’t bear the thought of losing him.

Going through the door in the castle with Vlad, she ends up first back at the mansion shortly after her own disappearance (where she assures Comte she’s doing well, thereby explaining why the mansion wasn’t losing their minds this entire time) and recruiting Comte’s help fiddling with the timeline. Upon the next passage she’s ripped from Vlad and dumped far in the past - where she witnesses firsthand little Johann’s heart and faith breaking upon the death of his beloved mother-figure nun, and then the natural disaster that crushed a town he frequented as a young man. This was the moment that solidified for Faust his determination to fight against God and Fate with all he had, and kicked off his obsession with discovering eternal life. (3rd CG)

After one more timey-wimey meeting with the Past!Faust at the point when they were nursing little Lina, where she offers him some much-needed words of encouragement, MC finally finds herself in the recent-enough past to travel around Paris with Vlad and encourage people to be more aware of the spreading plague. She even urges Alex to be more wary, prompting him to start developing his own medication from notes he’d taken from Faust.

Back in the ‘proper’ time, their efforts seem to perhaps have paid off...they return to find Faust gone, and after searching frantically around the city they find the orphanage has been set aflame on the strength of rumors that the plague spread from there. (As if the universe has manufactured some new tragedy instead for it, she realizes) Faust had gone into the blaze to save the last child, but comes out horrifically burnt and near death.

They take him to the church, where things appear dire...but Faust admits to finally seeing hope and accepting this outcome, just glad that something good has come of it all. MC refuses to accept his death though, and after Faust nearly dies again she cuts herself and he eventually revives. After he recovers, Faust corners her into confessing her feelings for him and admitting his own in return, before they finally consummate their love.

MC returns to the mansion as she had promised Past!Comte she would, happy to see all her friends again. A few days pass before Faust and Charles come to collect her, setting off an amusing set of interactions between the Mansion Boys and the Dastardly Duo, but it culminates in a scene where Faust thanks Comte humbly for his assistance with the timelines and for his consideration of MC. The couple then has a late-night conversation at the church where they’re both working again about the future of their relationship.

In Faust’s dramatic end, he asks MC to accompany him as he returns back to the place of that town that was destroyed, Faust making peace with his feelings surrounding the situation and reiterating his love for MC and how she’s helped him to see hope - before he asks her to help him with a different sort of ‘eternal life’, AKA having babies with him.

In Faust’s romantic end, he explains a bit about what motivates him to take on the role of a priest, and then he takes MC back to the castle where he intends to make love to her - saying that he can’t ever lose her but can’t stomach the thought of anyone other than himself ever biting her so he will have to work all that much harder to achieve his dream of eternal life so that they can continue to thumb their noses at God and Fate for all time together.

------

Even long as this is I’m clearly glossing over things - it’s a very busy route! And it’s complicated by the time travel stuff, which thankfully doesn’t get TOO complicated. If anyone’s interested in hearing my thoughts on Faust himself I’m happy to share, just let me know...I think he’s a fascinating complex character that definitely won’t be for everyone, but I am happy he exists in the IkeVamp cast and glad for this route.

[twisted-timeline-au]

Name:  Danny Fenton/Danny Phantom Species:  Halfa ( Human / Ghost Hybrid ), Human (formerly) Alignment:  Lawful Good

Backstory:

Danny Fenton was just a teenage boy, who snuck into his parents lab with his best friends, Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. Sam convincing Danny to go into the strange machine to view a world unseen, after putting on a hazmat suit for safety, then accidently turned on the machine from the inside, causing his molecules to get rearranged.

Danny Fenton fights other ghosts that come through the portal that are hostile, while helping other ghosts that aren't causing any harm. Things go smoothly until Vlad Masters causes his friends Sam and Tucker to get sick with a more fetal strain of ecto-acne. Danny in his misguided attempts to help save his friends, he has the idea to stop his friends from ever getting sick by preventing Vlad Masters from ever getting his powers in that initial incident with the ghost portal.

Clockwork begrudgingly accepting as Danny was always one to do things the hard way. Danny goes back in time to alter the timeline to avoid having to deal with Vlad Plasmius in the future only for him to create an entirely new timeline in the process.

As Danny learns about the new things in this timeline because of his one alteration, he does everything within his power to fix the present that he ended up ruining. Eventually, Danny repairs the fractured relationship between this timelines Maddie and Jack before returning to his own timeline, however... creating a whole new timeline doesn't come with out it's own consequenses.

As Clockwork had reset the timeline before Danny had initially meddled and made his alteration, the timeline that he created had not simply disappeared, instead the ghost zone had created a not so exact duplicate of Danny.

This is the Danny that Clockwork tells that he can never return home as his tampering with the timeline was irreparable and that he was never allowed to alter the timeline again, unless Clockwork himself saw it fit.

Danny was devastated to know his friends were doomed, however Clockwork spun it as a positive showing him that since Vlad Plasimus was never given ghost powers when he initially had, he had never created the fatal strain of Ecto Acne and that Sam and Tucker are just fine, and that he's welcome to fix the problems in the present going forward.

Danny then heads toward Maddie's portal, only to get tackled by a new version of Vlad Plasmius however weird his new form looks, Danny had the upper hand being a halfa for longer than Vlad had been in this timeline. But now that he was in the ghost zone, it would be better to bring him back to Earth and explain things to his alternate version of his parents... since that was better than leaving him in the ghost zone to make new ghost friends to teach him about these new powers.

Danny came through the portal explaining the situation to his mother, claiming that Clockwork had told him that the things he'd caused to this timeline were unable to be fixed. Maddie had noticed the change to her alternate son, but being the smart woman she was was able to see that the original Danny who had called her mom had made it back to his own timeline while a duplicate was made to compensate for the drastic change.

Danny now has to come to terms with his new timeline unaware that his original friend's would be safe, but now he had new supportive parents with a half ghost dad and his ghost hunting mom. He helped take apart Maddie's secret lab apart while leaving a note for the new froot loop he'll have to deal with now, as well as the other new changes in his life. He'll keep his ghost powers a secret for his own benefit rather than it being a necessity.

[endlessymphony]

in another lifetime, i will love you again.

harry potter x reader

summary - (based on a request that i altered) reader unfortunately is injured and passes away in the wizarding war— but before they do, harry reminisces on all the memories he has with them

warnings - tw for death, injuries, war, blood, existential questioning, loss of a loved one, heart wrenching pain.

a/n - i am going to bawl my eyes out. (update; i bawled when it was finished.)

the air was thick, heavy. the smell of sulfur and smoke seemed to linger whilst the nearly black storm clouds swirled up above. the sky, or at least what was visible of it, was grey and sunless. the dark mark no longer hangs heavily amongst the clouds, as the death-eaters had long retreated, but not without leaving a mess first.

you had always been apprehensive about hogwarts, ever since your first day of first year. a bad gut feeling, some would call it, but you ignored it the best you could and learned to call the castle a home away from home, perhaps even a sanctuary. but all you felt now was the stone ground beneath you, the cool breeze nipping at your exposed skin.

your breaths were shaky, unstable. hot tears pricked at your eyes as you stared up all the bleak sky, the voices around you muffled by the high-pitched ringing that tormented your ears, head feeling heavy- full, like you were weighed down with rocks. wreckage filled the courtyard in the form of stray bricks, broken glass, and bodies- your’s soon to join them.

blood steadily dripped down the side of your face, pooling underneath you, starting to dry in your hair- but that wouldn’t matter soon enough. you had been crushed by falling debris, pinned down by what used to be the west wall of the courtyard. from that moment on, any person would understand, and accept, that it was likely their time to go.

you wonder if anyone knew you would all be saying goodbye for the last time? you didn't wake up this morning thinking that you would be laying in a pool of your own blood, but you suppose that life works in mysterious ways. death would be sweet relief, a kiss that would take away all the pain and take you by the hand far, far away from here.

“humans, if nothing else, have the good sense to die.”

we live for destruction, devouring any chance to be in power like a pack of starved dogs. children build sand castles just to knock them down, and men start wars to quench their thirst for blood. they think they’re running at each other, but they run directly into the face of death. what does death look like? not a skeleton, or a tall figure with a scythe and a void for a face, instead- death looks like all of us, as we are all capable of it.

the ground rumbled underneath you, footsteps, was the best guess that you could come up with. “y/n! oh, fuck. fuck!” that was harry’s voice, full of panic. well, guess the situation was a lot worse than you originally thought. he dropped to his knees beside you, trying to dig you out from the wreckage, bruising his hands in the process. “harry.” your voice was hoarse, he turned to with fear in his face, eyes already filling with tears.

you gave him a sympathetic look, “my love.” your throat was dry, you tried to swallow, wincing in pain- your saliva tasting metallic. you coughed, whole chest rattling as harry scooted over to rest your head on his legs, brushing hair out of your face. “y/n…”

“that’s my name, don’t wear it out.” a weak smile made its way onto your face, “i don’t think i’ll make it, harry.” a tear slips down the side of your face, finding a new home in your hairline near your ear. “you.” he started, struggling to find the words. “you can’t say that, no, you can’t say that.” he looks around, frantic, trying to see if he can wave someone down to help.

“harry. look at me.” you tried to laugh, but just ended up sputtering and coughing into your arm, blood dotting your sleeve. “i can’t feel my legs, merlin, i can’t feel nothin’.” you reached up to grab his face, hands shaking as you smoothed your cool fingertips against his hot face. a teardrop ran down his cheek, the first of many that would follow.

“but you need to survive.” harry began to sob, “what… what am i supposed to do without you?” his words were slurred. sentences seeming reduced to just one long, unintelligible word. “live.” you reply simply, attempting to bring your arms back down but harry holds your hands in his, keeping them against his cheeks. “you live, harry, for me.” “but what is life without you? all my best memories include you.”

“tell me…” you cough again, blood staining your lips a deep crimson. “can you talk about those memories? help me relive ‘em?” he nodded, chewing at his bottom lip.

“the first time i saw you, y/n, i was dumbfounded. you had me absolutely speechless, i knew i loved you then and there.” he smoothed over your cheek with his thumb, brushing away some of the dirt. you stifle a chuckle, “don’t give me an ego.” “i’m not kidding!” harry protests, “truly, you were the most beautiful person i’ve ever seen.”

“let’s see what else… the yule ball. merlin, you looked incredible. we had such an amazing time dancing, i bet we looked absolutely ridiculous- but that was the best time that i ever had.” he chuckles, looking down at you. you had shut your eyes, listening to his voice- it was like liquid morphine, coursing through your veins and removing the pain. “can you tell me about our first date?”

“yeah, yeah.” he stumbled over his words, putting your arms back down to cross over your chest, so that you weren’t wasting energy holding them up. “i think that was the nicest weather that hogwarts has ever had, don’t you agree? or maybe it was just you who made the sun shine brighter, and the breeze a little sweeter.” harry leaned over to press a kiss to your temple, “it was the perfect day to lounge by the lake, getting sick off of sweets and laughing until our stomachs ached so badly, we could barely stand.” you struggled to keep your eyes open, every moment a fight against the darkness, and you were finally beginning to lose.

“harry, do you think that we’ll meet again in another life?” you were curious- childlike innocence dripping from your lips like venom, making it all the harder for harry to understand that he would no longer have you, or hold you. “i think we will, y/n.” he sniffled, finding himself awfully choked up as he attempted to hold back the tears again. “maybe.. maybe we’ll be married, have kids, be a family. what do you think?”

“you know i love you, y/n, right?”

“i love you too, harry.”

and that was it. the world fading to black. there was no longer a fight, only the sweetness of relief. death had embraced you into its arms, holding you, you found home- the one that had been waiting for your return since the moment you were born, counting down the years. months. days. hours. minutes. seconds. and it welcomed you home with open arms. there was no blinding light, no guardian angel sweeping you off of your feet and carrying you away, just nothingness. a comfortable nothingness.

why are people so afraid of death? is it just mostly a fear of the unknown? humans are curious by nature, and most can’t help but wondering ‘what comes next?’, sometimes the answer is not entirely clear. it’s murky, and distorted, almost like looking at your reflection in a puddle. if you are always afraid of death, you will never learn to live.

your body went limp, eyes stuck half-lidded as you made your ascent to the afterlife. harry sobbed violently, whole body shaking as he screamed to the sky, begging the universe for you back- another chance, another lifetime, an alternate timeline where the two of you could still be one. his throat felt raw, air tasting metallic- just as you had tasted earlier.

the universe did not listen.

it did not bring you back, no matter how hard he begged, nothing could.

he cradled your head to his chest, your voice ringing through his head.

‘i love you too.’

“in another lifetime, i promise we’ll make more memories, y/n. and, i promise that this time i’ll actually protect you.“ harry’s chest shook with each sob, shoulders hunched over and tense, your blood staining his shirt, and the ground below you.

“in another lifetime, i will love you again.”

tags 🏷- @seekinglumos @wizardwheezes @terrific-tozier

join my taglist ˗ˏˋ here ! ˎˊ˗

[snowy-bones]

Uhh.. Ello ^^; i was just wondering what is this “hub” and is there a way to access it?.. I’ve seen a few rps happenin around here and I was asking if there was a way to join this.. - Demon Anon

Welcome to The Hub! My name is Snow, or Admin Snow to not confuse anyone with Snowy of the system! The Hub is a timeline where AUs over the multiverse have come to live in peace. Away from the repeated patterns of their old timelines/lives and can start a new life. The Hub was actually called The Realm many years ago and is watched over by the main protector Nocte! The Hub can actually be reached by just about every one! The Hub does appear to have it's own consciousness and will often send you whispers to help guide you around if you are not by one of the navigation ports/stars. I will inform you the the beings here are from all over the multiverse! There are many creatures and beings that dwell here! Fae folk, Demons, Etc. Also keep in mind that these beings are also alters of The Snow Flurry System and call The Hub their home. So please do be mindful of this knowledge. The "rp"s here are more so considered interactions as these alters do in fact interact through the blog. They just have the host (me) draw out their expressions/interactions. I hope this helps nonni!

[meili-sheep]

Yeah sorry about not fleshing it out more, it got too long so i decided I'll explain more about Fate!Diluc next ask

Fate!Diluc is... Tired.

His terms with Phanes was that he can return home once humanity gets their proper footing, not needing the help of the divine anymore.

But when Phanes was, well... defeated and Celestia was taken over, Fate!Diluc was bound there by terms bow because they changed Phane's side of the contract to bound him there.

In retaliation, Diluc changed his side of the contract as well. That if they ever try to look at what he is weaving, they will be blinded and forget what they've seen.

and you remember this drawing i made

The attempt and numbers part has significance

It's a random amount of numbers but i mentioned Fate!Diluc's ability in time because he has changed the timeline so so many times it cannot be counted.

Fate isn't truly absolute. especially 8 consecutive major fate events. plus he has to account for the outlanders who does not follow the fate he has made.

hes had to manually change the world. He doesn't have powers over the entirety of the world but he can influence the people in them as a mysterious figure.

He also tried to make a timeline where Kheanriah was saved but it couldn't give him the end result that was needed so... yeahh it still happened.

through all these attempts he has grown so tired, he wishes no longer to weave the fate of the world. His terms were mean to end long ago... But the new ones keep him in place.

His own part of the contract he changed plus his reset and save abilities has allowed him to keep his plan away from Celestia's prying eyes.

He knows the outlanders(Alice, Aether and Lumine) don't follow his script, however unlike Alice, Aether and Lumine are more easy to hook into the world's story.

So many many attempts in pushing the world to the needed outcome so that it all goes according to the script he has written.

He doesn't like messing with the lives of humans much, hence why he reset and saved, besides, going all the way back to the start and making the threaded fate he has made absolute goes against his own beliefs.

As said before, Diluc's original terms and contract with Phanes said that he will only help direct humanity to progress through fate, and when humanity can stand on their own then Diluc can go home admist the stars he belongs.

But because of Phanes getting kills and the contract being unfairly altered, Diluc then has had to find a way to finally pass the torch to humanity, and what better way at doing it than setting up the conditions for a rebellion against Celestia?

and at the end of it all he will be freed, he can go home. the contract is no more. He won't have to decide the fates of humanity's future any longer.

I don't know if it fleshes him out enough so criticism is welcome! I've been tired lately so my au game is faltering but... Here's the very FIRST Diluc au I've ever thought of

Abyss Diluc and Barbara Au

since this got too long I'll just show you an old art thing i made of them

This is the really old concept when, well, i first thought of it several months ago

Barbara explanation: Basically, Barbara falls into the abyss, gets find by Abyss Diluc, gets raised by him and gets taught abyss stuff for 3 abyss years and comes back onto to find out she's been gone for about a 1month and nearly 1 week.

because if 1 Abyss Month = 1 Tevyat day then

12 Abyss Months = 12 Tevyat days

12x3 = 36, which would be 3 Abyss years and 1 and nearly a week Tevyat Month

Abyss Diluc is just Diluc but split into two

The one in Tevyat is 'Diluc' and the one in the Abyss is 'Mulu'. if you reverse 'Mulu' to 'Ulum' and put it together with Diluc then it's 'Diluculum'

me several months ago was genius /j

I will say moreee laterrr

I am so tired, work is too much

anyway, Mulu art w/ two variations

original:

one with the constellation upright:

you know as they say!! The meaning of things upside down becomes the opposite! :)

-Leyline!Anon, this one was more simple, took less time

So is Fate!Diluc a former human? How did the contract get changed?

I definitely won't tell your AU game is faltering. An AU like this tends to feel like a can of worm when you just write it down in notes like this. Because character motivation and well character can get lost in the mechanics of the situation. One of the biggest pitfalls I see in people who write original work, particularly those who write in fantasy is they get lost in their own mechanics and both tell too much and too little. So I feel if you want to continue with this AU which I personally feel you should, to best give me a grip on it you'll just need to write the story out.

I do really find this abyssal Diluc design interesting. I love the like jellyfish hat, but honestly, a character design weakness of mine is big hats and veils. Also jellyfish aesthetic is just excellent. I would like to know more about the abyssal AU whenever you are ready.

[crankynewt]

Chapter One - Losing Game

Another Love Series Masterlist

Pairing: Regulus Black x Fem!Reader, Young!Remus Lupin x Fem!Reader

Song: Arcade - Duncan Laurence

Warnings: Tons of Angst, Major Character Deaths, Pregnancy(?), and I definitely altered the timeline!

Word Count: 1.76k

Masterlist

Author’s Note: This is pretty angsty and was based on this song (which has always given me massive Reggie vibes), and I HIGHLY recommend listening to it when reading this!

Perhaps your love was doomed from the start. Maybe you were just another Shakesperian tale of forbidden romance destined to conclude in nothing but suffering. He was your light despite the darkness that had encompassed him his entire life and although the war was over, the pain still remained. 

You had begged Regulus not to leave that night, tears blurring your vision as he explained that he had to be the one to destroy the horcrux. “There is no other way,” he had said, his voice shaky with the knowledge that this would likely be his end. You were young, too young, to be fighting this war. A battle that neither of you had any business being involved in the first place. Yet there you were, children who had grown up too quickly.

When he hadn’t returned the next morning, it hadn’t come as any surprise. You mourned the loss of your husband the minute he’d walked out that door. You weren’t vapid and neither was he, you were both well aware of what would happen in that cave. Whether or not Regulus succeeded, however, still remained to be seen. 

The isolation following the death of Regulus Black was something you brought upon yourself. You couldn’t stand seeing muggles continuing to lead their lives as if nothing had happened. Your world crumbled out from beneath you as the universe became a much darker place, so why haven’t they stopped? A person - your person - had died, how could people continue to lead their normal lives?  We were still at war, how could they not sense that something was horribly wrong?

The loneliness made you ill after a month, so sick that you were constantly emptying the contents of your stomach into your toilet as you lay on the cool tile. What prompted you to eventually seek out another were the two little lines on the plastic test. Before long you had apparated to Godric’s hollow, the crisp snow of December crunching under your feet as you made your way up the steps of a quaint looking house. It felt much more homey than the Grimmauld flat you’d been residing in, a slight comfort that what laid behind the door you knocked on may be just as welcoming.

The face that answered the door was kind, warm eyes and a welcoming smile framed by ginger locks. You never spoke to her during your years at Hogwarts due to the two years she had on you, but you knew the girl to be Lily Evans. Judging by the slight furrowing of her brows she had recognized you as well, probably unsure as to why Regulus Black’s wife had shown up on her doorstep seemingly out of nowhere.

“Uhm, is Sirius Black here by any chance?” You asked quietly, your gloved hands rubbing your arms as you fought off the evening’s chill. She need not answer as a pair of brown orbs peered at you from behind her.

“What are you doing here, (Y/N)?” Sirius questioned, bitterness lacing his words as he took in your frail appearance. The elder Black did not think highly of his little brother - the Death Eater, or so he thought. Yet Regulus had relayed numerous stories from their childhood that revealed that in earlier years of their lives, the duo had been inseparable. You were just hoping that some of that affection still remained.

“Can we please talk? It’s about your brother.” You said, voice wavering as you shivered in the cold. Lily seemingly took notice of this and ushered you into the warmth of their home, closing the door behind you and leaving the in-laws to speak in the front entryway.

“If Regulus has something to say to me than the little shit can come tell me himself-”

“Sirius, what are you talking about?” You asked incredulously. “Regulus died two months ago.”

Sirius had not been speechless many times in his life, yet there he stood with his head reeling, heart broken, and tears slowly welling in his eyes. At the end of the day, Regulus would always be his baby brother. And in that silence he sat and listened, taking in all of what had happened the past year. From Regulus deciding to turn on Voldemort to the fateful night destroying his horcrux, Sirius felt both pride and guilt building underneath the grief. Regulus had been a good person who gave his life doing the right thing, all in belief of the same values that had gotten himself disowned.

When you mentioned the pregnancy, Sirius once again found himself dumbstruck. But that shock was quickly replaced with a sense of duty, it was as if he had the opportunity to make up for his brother’s broken relationship. He would help you raise this baby, and he would make damn sure that they did not have the same broken childhood he had suffered.

Within the week, Sirius had moved back into 12 Grimmauld Place with you. The baby he was dedicating himself to had quickly become babies after finding out that not one, but two baby Blacks were on the way. He was at your side through every step of the pregnancy, and slowly but surely his friends made their way into your life as well. James was always there to put a smile on your face and Lily gave great advice as to dealing with the pregnancy as she had delivered Harry only weeks before you showed up. Remus was always there to offer chocolate and a good book while Peter always had a hot cup of tea ready for you.

Before long, Arcturus and Cassiopeia Black were welcomed into the world and the light in your life had been restored. They were both the spitting image of their father, seeming to have barely inherited any (Y/L/N) genes and only reminded you of their father with every coming day. Little Harry was thrilled to have playmates, and you had finally found your family. Although far from perfect, it was everything to you. But all good things must come to an end, and this state of grace was no different.

Halloween came and went. James, Lily, and Peter were gone, no, murdered. Sirius could not have done it, not to his family! The man you read about in the papers was not the same gentle soul who would sing the twins to sleep almost every evening. But regardless of what you thought of the man he was guilty in the eyes of the Ministry, and thus he was sent to Azkaban to suffer a fate worse than death. This loss rocked you once more, but this time you had the twins to look after, and you weren’t alone.

Remus had stepped right up to fill the shoes that Sirius had been filling for Regulus without hesitation. He was grieving the same losses as you and found solace in caring for little Archie and Cassie. You mourned together and healed together, and before long Remus became your other half. 

That friendship didn’t last long, however, as it eventually blossomed into something bigger, a love that you fought tooth and nail. Guilt consumed you as you felt yourself falling for the werewolf, not being able to shake the feeling that you were betraying Regulus as you fell deeper and deeper in love. 

Right around the second anniversary of his death was when you heard the first words pass through either of the twins’ lips. Archie squealed a high-pitched “dada” to Remus who had been helping you prepare breakfast, and your eyes met his equally glassy. While the man stuttered out a mix of apologies in fear of overstepping, you just embraced him and allowed him to hold you in the way nobody had for a long time. The toddlers had accepted him as their father, and you had denied the desire to love him for too long.

Six months later the two of you had married in a small ceremony of only Order members gathering to celebrate your love. You did, however, keep the last name ‘Black’ as an homage both to Regulus and Sirius’ roles in both of your lives. At that same celebration you also announced that a baby Lupin would be making their way into the world six months later. And alas, Theodore Lupin was born shortly after, and your little family was complete.

When it was finally time for Archie and Cassie to begin their future at Hogwarts, you couldn’t help but weep as they waved out the window of the Hogwarts Express, the siblings excited to start the next stage in their lives. Your husband wrapped an arm around you as he fought tears himself, meanwhile Teddy tugged onto your hand and questioned when he would get the chance to attend the school as well, already missing his big brother and sister. 

Remus and you had debated what house the twins would be sorted into, him adamant that they showed Gryffindor courage while you were certain that they would follow in your footsteps and be sorted into (Y/H). Your questions were answered the next morning as you received letters from two very excited Slytherins, taking after their father just as they had done in appearance and personality. You and Remus were proud nonetheless, but your husband was always saddened that they had never grown close to Harry. The divide between houses had seemingly grown even stronger since you two had attended and a friendship between the former friends hadn’t formed.

Two years later, the twins were approaching their third year as Teddy prepared to begin his magical schooling, and you began to ponder what your life would look like following their departure. You and your husband didn’t have the finances to travel and feared a life without the light of your children, and your questions were answered following a letter from Dumbledore himself. He offered the two of you teaching positions at Hogwarts, Defence Against the Dark Arts for Remus and Astronomy for yourself.

The two of you were ecstatic to spend the year with your children teaching, and walking side by side with the castle in view made you feel like a young girl again. A broken heart was all that was left, but Remus had been there to pick up your broken pieces and carry you home. But the wreckage of your life would not stay in ruins forever, as old friends and old loves remained closer than you had ever known and were about to rejoin your losing game.

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[the-lonelybarricade]

A Court of Faded Dreams: Chapter 23

Chapter Title: Turn At Last to Home Afar

Fic summary: In her grief after Rhys sacrifices himself to restore the Cauldron, Feyre accidentally sends herself back in time. Back in her human body, in her early days in the Spring Court, Feyre must be careful how she alters the timeline as she tries to save Rhys and Prythian from Under the Mountain.

Read on AO3 ⟡ Masterlist

Rhysand winnowed them straight to the town house.

He watched Feyre carefully as she took in the familiar entryway, the red-carpet, the wood-panelled walls. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Home. It smelled like home—like Rhys, but with some of their Inner Circle’s scents mixed in.

“Welcome home, mate. Tell me what you need. Anything, and it's yours.”

Feyre looked down at her torn, reeking leathers. “How about a bath and a change of clothes? Then you can invite inside all those busybodies that will be breaking down your door any second and maybe we can all have a meal. I’m sure Azriel’s already caught wind of the fae leaving the Mountain en masse.”

Rhys laughed. “You’re probably right. Consider it done, Feyre.”

“But don’t let them in until I’m done, please,” she pouted. “I want to see their reactions. I promise I’ll be quick.”

Rhys smiled endearingly. “Take your time, Feyre—”

Anything else he was going to say was cut off by a furious banging on the door. The silhouettes of two tall, powerful bodies appeared on the other side of the front door’s fogged glass.

“Rhysand, what’s the deal!?” Cassian called through the door. His voice was tight. “You finally escaped that damned Mountain and the first thing you do isn’t come see your brothers?”

Feyre felt flooded with guilt for making them wait. A bath could wait. Rhysand had waited long enough to see his family—

Go, he ushered. You’ve just saved Prythian, I think you’re owed a bath. Those bastards I call brothers can wait.

She chewed her lip as she opened her mental shield enough to ask, join me? We’ll keep it chaste, I promise.

Rhys smiled. “Give me half an hour, you impatient bastards,” he called through the door, sending Feyre a wink. “Your High Lady is in need of a bath and I’m rather inclined to join her.”

They didn’t stick around to hear the males’ reply as Rhys whisked them up the stairs and into his bedroom—their bedroom.

By the time they’d bathed and dressed—delayed only by decadent bouts of kissing—it had taken them a little under an hour. Feyre had thrown on one of Rhys’s sweaters and a pair of trousers he’d summoned from that strange pocket dimension.

The entire Inner Circle had gathered in the dining room, most likely let in by Mor, who was a vision in her red gown from where she sat on the far end of the table, next to Cassian. Amren was there too, sat by Azriel on the nearest side of the table. There was a collective intake of breath when they entered, and they were all staring at Rhys and Feyre, who stood hands interlocked.

Mor was the first one up, stifling a sob as she hurled herself into her cousin. Feyre let go of Rhysand’s hand so that he could greet his family, standing back even though it pained her to be a stranger to them. Feyre knew how much they’d missed him; they deserved this moment to themselves.

Rhysand clasped each of his brothers lovingly, the three of them sniffling back tears—held together by only their male pride—while they murmured about it being good to have Rhys back. Even Amren came forward with a trace of affection on her face and clutched Rhysand’s forearm, nodding her respect to him.

The teary smile on her mate’s face made every ounce of pain and discomfort over the last few months entirely worth it. Feyre knew she’d sacrifice anything for him to always be able to smile like that.

“Guys,” Rhys announced, his voice thick with emotion after they’d all come to greet him, gesturing for Feyre to come forward again. “This is Feyre Cursebreaker—my mate and High Lady of the Night Court… to be,” he added as an afterthought, and Feyre appreciated that he already viewed her as such. “She’s got one Hell of a story to tell.”

“I’ll say,” Cassian said with a snort, then inclined his head to Feyre respectfully. He offered her a small bow. “My lady.”

“We’ve heard some of it from Az already,” Mor piped up, her eyes misty as she regarded Feyre. “Thank you for saving Rhys.” Then, looking as if she squashed the urge to embrace Feyre, Mor bowed as well.

Rhysand laughed, perhaps knowing how strange it felt for Feyre to be among friends who considered her a stranger. “What happened Under the Mountain is just a small piece of a much larger story.”

He somehow managed to coralle them back to the table, after Az and Amren offered Feyre a similar greeting, and summoned a feast of champions. Feyre launched into her tale as they all dug in. She gave a brief explanation of her travel through time, then relayed the entirety of the previous timeline; starting from the first time she’d been taken from her home in the mortal realm up to when Rhys sacrificed himself to restore the Cauldron.

There were of course plenty of interruptions, mostly comments from Cassian and occasionally from Mor. Az and Amren offered insightful observations as they drew connections from the previous future to the goings-on in their current one.

“Classic Rhys with that self-sacrificial bullshit,” Cassian said after Feyre had explained how she’d reforged the Cauldron.

Feyre smiled tightly in agreement, knowing that Rhys sacrificing himself to stay Under the Mountain was still a fresh wound. And they hadn’t even really gotten to the current timeline yet.

Feyre briefly explained how she woke up back in the Spring Court with the timeline reset, how she sought out the Suriel to confirm it. Then she let Rhys launch into a tale of his own, one that warmed her heart to listen to—the story of how they found each other again.

He explained to his family about the dreams he’d started having a few years back, flashes of a mortal woman’s life, and how he’d used them to track Feyre to Calanmai. Rhys explained with amusement how the last thing he’d expected was to be cornered by that mortal woman telling him she came from the future and was his mate. But her memories were proof enough, so together they concocted a plan to take down Amarantha.

Rhys recounted his visit to the Spring Court and the bargain they made with Lucien and Tamlin, including the kiss that was demanded as payment.

“Bastard,” Cassian grumbled and Azriel muttered his agreement. Every fae knew what an affront it was to kiss another in front of their mate. The fact that it had been an enemy High Lord… it was a miracle Tamlin was still breathing, and a testament to Rhysand’s self control.

From there, Feyre and Rhys weaved their tale together. How’d she walked into the Mountain demanding the High Lord she loved be set free, implying that High Lord to be Tamlin but wording the bargain carefully so that it was Rhys she truly referred to.

Rhys gave only the barest details of the way he’d clawed himself into a position of trust by Amarantha’s side, and how he’d used that position to assist Feyre by any means. With no ounce of glorification, he told the tale of how she slayed the Middenguard Wrym. Cassian looked delighted, Az suitably impressed. Mor, bless her, looked horrified on Feyre’s behalf. And Amren was leaning back in her chair, listening thoughtfully.

“Brilliant work, Feyre,” Cassian praised when Rhys finished the story, “You get extra badass points for setting your own shoulder afterwards. Very Illyrian of you.”

Amren snorted, “I wouldn’t take that as a compliment, girl.”

Feyre beamed all the same. “Rhys said something similar when he came to heal me in my cell afterwards—and offer me our ‘bargain’. I reminded him that I was actually trained by three Illyrian warriors, after all.”

“The three best Illyrian warriors,” Cassian corrected, crossing his arms.

Feyre shot Rhys a furious grin. “With the largest wingspans as well, I’ve heard.”

Mor choked on her drink and Feyre could see the twinkle in her eye at the wing-measuring contest that would surely ensue, especially as Rhys bristled.

Before they could get into an argument about which male sported the title for largest wingspan, Feyre quickly told the story of their “bargain”, gesturing to the tattoo on her arm, explaining the nightly parties where she’d played Rhysand’s harlot, and the second trial.

Rhys elaborated where he felt necessary, adding in details from his perspective. He noted the way the crowd changed after her second trial—the spark of hope that had ignited from watching Feyre stare down the Faerie Queen.

“About halfway between her second and third trial, the mating bond snapped,” Rhys said, not mentioning how it had snapped. Feyre tried to hide her blush at the lewd memory, which seemed to be enough of an indication for Cassian to tilt his head back with a bark of laughter. Azriel had a knowing smile as he too guessed what had been the cause. “Which wasn’t funny,” Rhys said with an edge to his voice as he glowered at his brothers, “because it meant that Amarantha could scent it on Feyre.”

“Did she?” Mor asked, leaning forward in her seat as though it were a particularly gripping story.

“She did, but only after Rhys’s instincts kicked in so intensely he gave himself away first. I’d refused to do the third task and attacked her. She’d been about to kill me and Rhys came forward snarling, talons out and all. She took one look at him and then sniffed out the bond on me.”

Rhys growled. “I wasn’t going to stand there and watch her torture you to death.”

Feyre reached for him under the table, her fingers brushing his consolingly. The tension in his posture visibly relaxed at the touch. “She told me that if I stabbed Rhys through the heart with an ash dagger, she would count my third trial as successful. And when I refused, she ordered Rhys to kill me instead. He couldn’t resist her control over him, though it was obvious he tried.”

Rhys swallowed thickly. “I thought it was going to kill me, trying to resist that order. Like it was going to tear my body apart from the inside out. But I still threw everything I had at it, it just wasn’t enough. The feeling of plunging that dagger through Feyre’s heart is something that I will never be able to forget. Killing my own mate.”

They all went quiet at the anguish in his voice. Feyre squeezed his hand, sending warm, comforting thoughts down the bond.

“I was able to say the answer to the riddle before the dagger killed me. And when I did, Rhys was instantly given back all of his power, freed from her spell over him. I watched through his eyes as he misted her on the spot. Then, one by one, every High Lord came to help resurrect me. And I woke up High Fae once more.”

“What of your powers?” Amren asked, and they all looked curious at that.

Feyre hadn’t had a chance to try to use her magic, yet, but she could feel it dancing under her skin. A familiar, comforting presence.

With a small smile she cupped her hands out in front of her and summoned a droplet of water, which froze and fell into her palm as a glass crystal, then melted and evaporated as a flame flared brightly. The flame guttered out when a gust of wind flew in, kissing each of her friends with its gentle breeze. Everyone was watching her, mouths agape.

Feyre tried not to laugh as she focused her attention to the muscles at her back and summoned a pair of Illyrian wings. Rhys’s grin turned wicked as a shiver of desire ran through the bond. She threw him a wink as she summoned his darkness, letting the tendrils trail up along her arms before they vanished.

It was Az who let out the long, low whistle.

“I’m also a daemati,” Ferye said matter-of-factly.

The others looked bemused by her nonchalance, but Rhysand’s eyes had taken on a mischievous glint. She couldn’t place what, exactly, had spiked his interest, since she’d already explained to him the power she’d possessed in the previous world. Perhaps seeing it in person—the wings in particular—had a different impact than seeing it through memories.

“What of the Dawn and Day court?” Amren pressed, eyes glittering as she strategically fleshed out Feyre’s potential as an ally.

“From the Dawn court, I can heal injuries with my blood. I haven’t tested it yet in this timeline, but I’ve no reason to suspect anything’s changed. And from the Day court, I can cleave spells like Helion, and also… glow.”

Feyre’s face flushed. Aside from the burst of light she’d released in Hybern, Feyre had mostly glowed from moments of intense ecstasy with Rhys. Her mate tapped at her mental shields curiously, as perceptive as ever, and Feyre sent him flashes of the memories she’d been recalling. She watched as a self-satisfied smile bloomed on his face, causing her flush to deepen and her heart to skitter.

It would be my honor to help you test out that power, Feyre darling. For purely strategic reasons, of course.

“Having a spell cleaver on our side will certainly be useful,” Amren noted, oblivious to the mental flirtations—or simply choosing to ignore Feyre’s rising blush and Rhysand’s smug grin.

Feyre realized she and Rhys had been staring at each other, not saying anything, only after Cassian cleared his throat. Feyre snapped her attention away, looking towards the winged male, who had a shit-eating grin on his face.

Azriel was flicking his gaze between the two of them, but said nothing, even as Mor giggled.

Their attention was enough to draw Rhys away from his depraved thoughts, too, because he promptly turned to Azriel and asked for a status report on Hybern’s movements in the last 50 years.

With a knowing twinkle in his eyes, Az enabled the change in subject, beginning a debrief that Feyre desperately tried to pay attention to. It seemed Rhys was struggling too, because almost instantly his talons were scraping sensually against her mental shield.

I can’t stop thinking about how good you tasted before the mating bond snapped. It’s been driving me crazy ever since. I’m trying to sit here and enjoy this meal with my family, but all I can think about is how badly I want to spread you out on this table.

The deep, hungry rumble to his voice would have been enough to set Feyre’s blood pumping, but paired with the mental image he laid out for her—Feyre tried not to drop her fork as a deep, primal need speared through her. Suddenly it was all she could do not to leap over the table and drag Rhys to their bedroom.

I was hoping to have a more traditional mating ceremony this time around, Feyre whispered weakly back through the bond.

Then we’re doing it tomorrow, he said, because if I have to wait one moment more than that to have you, I might very well explode. And take half of Velaris with me.

My, what happened to that famous self-control?

I hadn’t tasted you yet. It hasn’t left my tongue. And I thought waking up with your scent in my nostrils every day was driving me wild. That was nothing compared to this.

Now it was Feyre’s turn to sprout that self-satisfied smile at him. Rhys growled. Actually growled. Feyre didn’t even know what they were talking about anymore, but the conversation halted as they all turned to stare at their High Lord.

Feyre stifled a giggle, especially as Cassian’s bemusement turned to feral glee and he opened his mouth, no doubt to taunt his brother.

“Feyre and I are going to have our mating ceremony tomorrow,” Rhys announced to cut him off. “We would be honored if you all could attend.”

Cassian cackled. “If you’re this riled up now, brother, I’d hate to see what you’ll be like after you’ve mated. Perhaps you’ll be wound up enough to finally have a chance at besting me in a fight.”

“I don’t want to see any of you bastards for at least a week after the ceremony,” Rhys said sternly.

Cassian’s eyes lit up, and Feyre wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up during that week just to see if Rhys truly could beat him in an instinct-fueled rage.

“Cassian,” Feyre stepped in. “If you show up just to wind up Rhys, I’ll be the one kicking your ass. Then I’ll let him deal with what’s left of you.”

“Which means I’d have very little fun,” Rhys said solemnly. “It’s not very entertaining to brawl with a pile of ash.”

The twinkle did not leave Cassian’s eyes, nor did the shit-eating grin, but he had the good sense to nod at Feyre and say, “If I’m stupid enough to take you on, then I’d deserve to be reduced to a pile of ash.”

Feyre’s heart soared at the respect and approval implied in those words, accompanied by the wink Cassian added and the small smile on Az’s face. Feyre understood that some of that approval was perhaps earned solely because they were all grateful to see Rhys freed and happy, but the rest would come with time.

“What meal are you going to offer him, Feyre?” Mor asked, probably in an attempt to guide the conversation away from male bickering. But her eyes were bright and keen.

“I don’t know how to cook,” Feyre admitted. “So whatever it is will have to be simple. But I think I can at least do better than canned soup.”

I’d eat mud if that’s what you offered me, Feyre, Rhys told her earnestly. Don’t fret too much about making me something.

“I’ll help you!” Mor insisted and Feyre beamed at the offer, before Cassian snorted and even Az let out a small chuckle.

“Careful, Feyre, it won’t be much of a mating if Rhys is retching from food poisoning the whole time.”

Mor gasped in outrage, shooting Cassian a filthy look before she chucked a dinner roll at his head. It hit its mark with deadly precision, thunking against his forehead. Cassian caught it in the air before it could fall back onto the table and tore a massive bite out of it around his fits of laughter.

“As if you’ve any right to mock my cooking after that witchberry pie you fed us at Solstice! We were prone on the dining room floor for the rest of the evening and I was sick for a week!”

Feyre broke into laughter. She’d thought Rhys had made up the story about Cassian’s pie.

Mor turned an accusing finger to Azriel, whose smile instantly disappeared into a stoic mask. But his eyes still glinted with amusement.

“And you. The betrayal!” she cried dramatically. “You said you loved my birthday cake!”

Azriel cringed, but Feyre couldn’t tell if it was from the accusation or the memory of the cake. “The decorations were very lovely, Mor. It was so… colorful.” At the fury in Mor’s eyes he hastily added. “And it was very thoughtful of you to bake me a cake.”

“Oh for Cauldron’s sake, Mor, it was inedible,” Amren cut in, to Feyre’s surprise. She, too, pointed a finger at Azriel, and the male looked very uncomfortable to be under the collective gazes of Rhys’s second and third. His shadows loomed close, as if preparing for a threat. “And this foolish male choked down half of it out of a misguided sense of duty before I took mercy on him and chucked it away.”

“It took him three days to recover,” Cassian recalled grimly.

Amren turned her focus back to Feyre and Azriel visibly relaxed, shadows lightening as he flitted his eyes back to Mor apologetically.

“Have Nuala and Cerridewen help you, girl,” Amren instructed.

Rhys looked guilty. “I’ve actually given the twins time off, since they’d been Under the Mountain with me.”

Amren looked at Mor, who seemed ecstatic at the news, then back to Rhys and shook her head. “Mother save you, High Lord.”

Cassian clapped Rhys on the back. “It was nice having you back while it lasted, brother. Mind leaving me the House of Wind in your will?”

Rhys shook his head, but as his eyes met Feyre’s he did look a little nervous.

Maybe a can of soup isn’t so bad after all, she thought down the bond sympathetically. I’ll try not to poison you.

‘Try’ does not exactly fill me with confidence, Feyre darling. He teased, already grinning again.

Feyre marveled at it, that ease that had returned to him so quickly—not even a day after they’d fled the Mountain. She knew there were still wounds there, and she’d give him whatever he needed to heal, but… there was happiness, too. Real, genuine happiness. Feyre almosted sobbed in relief, right there at the table, to see it.

And when their friends left and she and Rhys went to bed, he held her like he couldn’t quite believe it, either.

He tucked himself tightly against her, pressed his head into her chest so he could listen to her heartbeat. Rhys held his breath as if he believed that at any moment it would suddenly stop. Feyre stroked her fingers through his silky raven locks soothingly, feeling her mate relax against her.

I’m safe, Rhys, she murmured through the bond. I’m here. We made it through.

It doesn’t feel real, he said as he shut his eyes. It feels blasphemous to have been this lucky. I keep waiting for the cold water to be dumped on my head. Like maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and this will all have been a cruel dream.

If this is a dream, Feyre mused—she stared down at her mate, slowly relaxing between the combined efforts of her steady heartbeat, her slow strokes through his hair, and her gentle voice—then you might as well let it be as blissful as possible, hmm? Give yourself something wonderful to remember when you wake up.

Is that your way of telling me to embrace it and stop second guessing everything? Came his quiet reply. His words were slurred with the tender drowse of sleep.

Essentially, Feyre responded with a soft giggle. But I swear to you I’ll be here when you wake, Rhys. I’ll be here for you, always.

As Feyre watched night itself be lulled to sleep, she too closed her eyes and let that weightless relief settle against her. She held her mate close, listening to the metronome of his breaths. She almost swore the stars listened, too, as she fell into darkness and her dreams embraced her.

Taglist: @cretaceous-therapod @feybaenc @uniquelyboringmusings @imsecretlyaherondale-blog @rhysandswingspan @inejsarrow

[star-going-supernova]

So. Madison Russell. Godzilla vs Kong. Welcome to my ted talk.

From a writing perspective, they totally wasted her character. She, Josh, and Bernie were almost exclusively used just as a method of showing the audience what was happening "behind the scenes" at Apex. Pouring the whiskey on the computer was about the only thing of note they did, and even that didn't do much. Mechagodzilla was only slightly hindered by it, and if they'd just written Kong and Godzilla differently in the fight scene, they could have skipped the whiskey part entirely. They could have done so much with having people "on the inside" but Monarch as a greater organization barely had any presence at all, which negated the need to have people on the inside. 

Maddie's steadfast insistence that Godzilla wasn't a bad guy at the beginning had so much potential, but it became the conspiracy thing instead. It felt less like she wanted to prove Godzilla wasn't turning against humans, and more like she and her new conspiracy friend wanted to crack open a shady organization, which was frustrating. If they wanted to depict her as someone who was forced to become competent at a young age, which was part of the serious, intense vibe I got from her, instead of the inexplicable personality shift, they should have showed her doing something to help. Getting in contact with her dad/Monarch, giving them evidence to begin a city wide evacuation outside the Apex Hong Kong HQ, messing something up or making it harder for the Apex people to get Mechagodzilla up and running—just, anything. 

The fact is, we had Maddie being very proactive in KotM. Stealing the ORCA was the game changer. Instead of taking that to the next level in GvK and giving her an opportunity to continue that aspect of her character—that is, being someone who refuses to sit by when she can do something to help, even if it’s dangerous—they rendered her obsolete. 

The movie wouldn't have significantly changed if you took her character out. If Bernie went by himself and ended up in Hong Kong, nothing would have changed, because Maddie didn't do anything of personal importance. She went from being an active character in KotM to being a passive one here, which are a pet peeve of mine. If you saw my post about what I liked and didn’t like about Godzilla (2014), that might sound very familiar.

It would also have made so much more sense if she developed a love for studying Titans instead of focusing on conspiracy theories. Plot-wise, it would have given her claim to her dad that Godzilla was being provoked more credence, and could’ve opened an interesting dialogue between them to reinforce that she knows what she’s talking about. Monarch was obviously still a big part of their lives, given that Mark had rejoined, so it would’ve been the perfect opportunity for Maddie to pursue a Titan-related future. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. I loved Jia, and wouldn’t want to take her out of the movie or even diminish her presence in it. In fact, I think they should have focused on Jia, and only on Jia. 

Hear me out: Godzilla vs Kong should’ve been split in two. A Part 1 and Part 2 situation. 

For Part 1, we keep a lot of the GvK canon, especially the Kong-centric stuff. Include even more scenes showing us that he’s protective of Jia, don’t just have Dr. Andrews say that he is. Have him defend her from something dangerous, maybe even from some humans. Include their backstory, how he saved her during the storm. And start it even earlier, before Godzilla attacks Apex the first time. Keep the whole Hollow Earth plot, keep the fight scene in the ocean, keep the discovery of the temple and the axe.

And on the Godzilla side of things, start earlier on that as well. Keep the other Titans in, have humanity tentatively believing that a time of great peace is upon them. Their mere presence is restoring the planet. There was an emphasis of nature, particularly in relation to the Titans, in KotM that I really think they should have included more of in GvK to better tie the two movies together, if only they hadn’t swept all the other Titans under the rug. They wanted a movie about a fight, not about the Titans. So, undo that. Show us a little of what Mark does, do a sweep of the other KotM cast (cameos at the very least) to show how they and Monarch are working to uphold that peace post-Boston. I’d also have loved to see Boston itself, too, five years later. 

Instead of giving us a Generic High School scene, show Maddie learning about the Titans alongside the experts. Bring back the wonder and amazement she had when she saw Mothra for the first time, when she reached out and touched her. She’s second generation Monarch, make that mean something. When Maddie took the ORCA to Boston, she had a conviction. She couldn’t not have. She was there in part to lure Ghidorah in, but I can’t even pretend to believe her plan ended with that. She knew Godzilla would come. 

That sort of belief is hard to kill, and if death via Ghidorah wasn’t enough to scare her off, no way anything else in those five years afterwards did. Her belief that Godzilla is good survived to GvK, and should’ve been a main focal point of her character. Godzilla attacks Apex—she and every other Monarch person who has spent years studying the Titans knows something is up. 

Keep Mark’s character development regarding his opinions on Godzilla. He believes Maddie when she says something has to be wrong, not just because he trusts his daughter, but because he looked into Godzilla’s eyes and saw more than just an animal. 

They’re in Part 1 only minimally, just to establish their presence and how they feel about Godzilla destroying Apex. The focus is clearly on Jia and Kong’s side of events. 

Sorry, but I’m leaving Josh out and seriously dialing back Bernie’s role. Instead, the character we follow inside Apex is Ren Serizawa. We see his motivations, his ambitions, and he becomes a character with more than just a few lines. Does he resent Godzilla? Or does he resent his father, too? Serizawa’s sacrifice was willing, after all. He was no accidental casualty. 

Part 1 ends in the Hollow Earth, with Ghidorah taking control of Mechagodzilla on the surface. Alter the timeline just enough so that Godzilla has only just arrived to Hong Kong, and Kong’s still in the Hollow Earth. The final scene is Mechagodzilla emerging into the city as the sun rises. The post-credits scene is our KotM cast in the Argo, location unknown, watching a screen with Mechagodzilla on it. 

Part 2 begins with a reveal: Ren Serizawa isn’t dead. 

Backtrack. This part focuses more on the Godzilla side, and Monarch. It’ll have flashback scenes from the five years between KotM and now, showing exactly why Monarch as a whole firmly believes Godzilla is reacting to something instead of being anti-human all of a sudden. The Titans are not inherently malicious; destruction is a side effect of their size, no more, no less. He earned his title of King in KotM—make it mean more than just trying to make Kong “bow.” Make him a protector, a guardian. He’s nature’s balance. By definition, he must protect humans as well. 

What Monarch needs to figure out is this: what is he trying to protect them from? 

They investigate Apex in search of the answer, but knowing from past experience the sort of things Godzilla gets proactive about—the MUTOs, Ghidorah—Monarch mobilizes. They prepare for another fight, at Mark’s instructions. He witnessed both San Francisco and Boston firsthand, even if the former was from a civilian standpoint. 

Godzilla has more hunt scenes. He targets a second Apex lab after his ocean fight with Kong, telling Monarch that they’re on the right track. 

Maddie, being a minor and not dragged into the thick of things (yet), has to stay home. Remembering the podcast she sometimes listened to, when the topic was focused on the Titans, she tracks Bernie down, and he tells her about what he saw: the eye. 

The two of them go to the ruined Apex building and discover the eye is gone before getting caught. With Monarch currently breathing down their necks, they recognize Maddie to be Mark’s daughter and take her to Hong Kong. Sorry, Bernie, but that’s mostly as far as you’re involved. Timeline-wise, this is roughly when Kong puts the axe in the temple floor and Godzilla blasts a hole to the center of the earth. Monarch is following Godzilla, but they’re behind a bit thanks to the tunnel shortcuts. They’re still unaware that Maddie has been kidnapped and is en route to Hong Kong.

This is also when Mechagodzilla gains a life of its own. Walter Simmons is killed and Ren Serizawa becomes trapped in the link to Mechagodzilla, serving as the bridge between the robot and Ghidorah’s mind. Ghidorah is essentially controlling MG by controlling Ren, who is controlling MG. Make sense? He’s the puppeteer’s puppeteer. 

We reverse some things. Godzilla fights MG first, gets beat around but not as much as in GvK because he isn’t fresh out of a different fight. Kong returns to the surface through the tunnel Godzilla created, having carried the one remaining HEAV out himself, because Nathan Lind has never flown one before and doesn’t know how they work. Kong wants to protect Jia, and Ilene Andrews and Nathan Lind are very lucky that Jia likes them. 

Mechagodzilla sees Kong and takes off, and Kong decides now would be a great time to fight Godzilla, who’s having a pretty bad day. Monarch arrives, and half of them split off to follow MG while the rest stay to try and deescalate the situation. Other than Godzilla faring slightly less well, the fight goes mostly the same as in the movie, except for one big difference: one of the Monarch crafts pick up Jia and Co, and she’s able to get Kong’s attention from the back of an Osprey well enough to tell him to stop fighting. There’s a bigger threat out there, and Godzilla definitely needs to be okay enough to fight it. Either they work together, or they reschedule. 

She’s very stern about it, and though no one’s really sure what the two Titans decide on, they stop fighting. They leave together to go after Mechagodzilla, who is currently being slowed down by Mothra, because she deserves to be in this movie. The other Titans basically hinder Mechagodzilla as much as possible as it rampages, telling Godzilla where it is. Monarch finally figures out that it’s heading for the nearest entrance to the Hollow Earth, right around when they also figure out that Ghidorah is involved. With Dr. Andrews and Nathan Lind’s input, they theorize it intends to take more of the power source down there to further strengthen it. 

They do their best to clear the cities in its path, evacuating as many people as possible. It’s all they can do. As in the past, they must trust Godzilla to do the heavy lifting. Around the same time, an assistant tells Mark that some guy named Bernie called and is asking for him. This is how he finds out Maddie was taken to Apex’s Hong Kong location.

Meanwhile, the Apex guards and Maddie finally arrive to find the facility abandoned and damaged, MG gone, and Simmons dead. The guards more or less split, leaving her there alone. Maddie, being Maddie, goes deeper until she finally discovers Ghidorah’s skull and Ren Serizawa inside, trapped in his own head with Ghidorah. It’s killing him. 

He’s aware enough to have a conversation with her. They argue about the Titans. He wants Godzilla destroyed out of anger over his father’s preference for Titans, rather than his own son. 

(“You’re not the only one with ghosts!” she yells at him. “You’re not the only one who resents a parent for putting Titans ahead of you when you needed them!” He chokes out, “I do not resent my father—” “Coulda fooled me. Why else would you be spitting on his sacrifice like this? Who are you trying to help, huh? All the other kids out there who are losing their moms and dads because you let Ghidorah out? Sorry, mister, but the last time someone did that, your dad paid the price.”) 

Ren is getting worse. He’s going to die if he stays in the link much longer, but he can’t disconnect. Maddie, looking around, gets to work on something. The camera slowly pans around to show that there’s a second pilot seat, back-to-back with Ren’s. It would allow for seamless switching between pilots without MG ever not having someone at the controls. 

Even with the other Titans’ help, Godzilla and Kong are unable to stop MG from going through the tunnel and into the Hollow Earth. Monarch is unable to follow, because of the gravity issue. They’re both tired from the journey and their fight, especially Godzilla. This is their last chance. If Mechagodzilla reaches the power source, it’s all over. 

The fight doesn’t go in their favor. They’re both bad at working together, so their attacks are uncoordinated at best, actively hindering each other at worst. Kong gets flung off a mountain and MG pins Godzilla. Even thought he caught himself, Kong isn’t going to make it up in time to help him. 

Maddie puts on an identical pilot setup, and with Ren’s instructions, switches the link over to herself, freeing Ren. He collapses forward, immediately falling unconscious from the release of the strain. Fighting past the pain and overwhelming presence suddenly in her head, Maddie does what she does best: she causes Ghidorah problems. 

She screams, and it echoes like a roar through his skull. 

In the Hollow Earth, Mechagodzilla stumbles. 

It’s the beginning of the end. She can’t control it or even really stop Ghidorah, but she gets in his way as much as possible, giving Godzilla and Kong the edge they need to finally get their act together and use some teamwork to take Mechagodzilla down. They destroy it and return to the surface before parting on amicable terms. 

After too long, Mark arrives at Apex with a whole team of people. Ren Serizawa is found comatose but alive, and he’s quickly removed for medical attention. Though Maddie’s also alive, there’s something else clearly wrong. She’s still wired into the piloting gear, stiff and unseeing, as if she’s frozen. Her eyes are open but distant, pupils virtually gone from how constricted they are, and her jaw hangs open slightly. Despite how tense her body is, she’s limp. Nothing they do wakes her up, even after getting her out of the skull. 

They wheel her out on a gurney to where a handful of Ospreys landed, but as they leave the building and step out onto the roof, they find Godzilla has returned. He watches them, and he’s exactly as aware as Mark remembers. 

(“She tried to help you,” Mark calls out to him. No one knows exactly what happened in the Hollow Earth, during the fight, but the scene in Ghidorah’s skull was telling. “No, she—she did help you!” For the second time in her life, Maddie put herself in Ghidorah’s path and, ultimately, won. Only this time, her victory came with a price.) 

Godzilla snorts before leaning over the roof’s railing, moving toward the gurney. The humans all back away, even Mark, though he doesn’t go far. Spines humming, eyes flaring blue, Godzilla rumbles deeply. 

On the gurney, Maddie stirs. 

Later, much later, after Maddie and Jia have met—heaven help everyone else, honestly—they sit together on the edge of a pier over the ocean, Jia leaning comfortably against Maddie. It’s quiet. They’re alone, watching the sunset. A heavy footfall behind them, the feel of the vibration trembling through the wood, makes them turn around. Half concealed in the brush at the edge of the island’s foliage, Kong stands, facing them. 

They both wave before standing. They sign goodbye to each other, then part ways. As Maddie walks away to a waiting Osprey, we see behind her as Kong crouches to allow Jia to climb into his palm before vanishing into the forest. 

The Osprey takes off over the calm ocean. It has a different design than most, with a large door set in the side instead of at the back, more like an ordinary helicopter. It’s open as they go, Maddie secure inside as she stares out. A smile spreads across her face as jagged spines slowly breach the ocean’s surface, easily keeping pace with the Osprey, which lowers to be closer to the water.

For just a moment, in the fading light, Maddie’s eyes almost shine blue. The screen goes black to the sound of Godzilla’s roar.

[ghostsray]

all this talk of secret fenton siblings reminded me of this idea i once had of "what if vlad and maddie had a child in masters of all time?" i never wrote anything based on that because i was too embarrassed to make a sibling-to-canon oc, but now that flynn exists and everyone is making their own versions of him, fuck it. here's my proposal for yet another version of flynn:

flynn masters. he's danny's brother from his mom's side, but his father is vlad. he existed in the altered timeline in masters of all time where danny saved vlad from his accident and he married maddie.

for the first 10 years of flynn's life, vlad and maddie were an okay couple. maybe not as close as jack and maddie in the main timeline, but close enough. vlad was even chill with maddie continuing to pursue her ghost obsession after college.

until one day, the unfinished portal she was building in their basement opened. flynn wandered in. he never wandered out.

this is where vlad and maddie had their fight. maddie wanted to complete the portal so that they can go in and find their son. vlad thought that was too risky, and they should instead close it down so no one else gets lost inside. their disagreement caused vlad to reveal his true colors, and he forced maddie to quit all her ghost related interests; hence their unhappy relationship when danny finally meets them.

meanwhile, flynn was busy surviving in the ghost zone. maybe he was found and adopted by misery vex. all the while, he kept holding on to the hope that maddie was completing the portal so that he can return home. he spent his time scouting the ghost zone for any portal that might appear.

years later, he finally found it. ecstatic, he went through, expecting to find himself home. instead, he found himself in an entirely different timeline.

by that time, danny had his talk with clockwork, and the vladxmaddie timeline was erased. however, flynn was unaffected because he was staying in a pocket of the ghost zone that is untouched by time. when danny saw this stranger in house house, angry and confused, he realized where he had come from. he tried explaining things to him, and why his home timeline no longer existed. flynn was enraged and fled from the fenton household to find his other parent, vlad.

when vlad met him, he was overjoyed. he finally had a son, let alone one with maddie! but flynn wasnt as happy. this vlad wasnt the same as the vlad he remembered. he was too cold, too cruel. he didnt stay long before he left him too.

meanwhile, danny was feeling very guilty. it was his fault flynn was in this predicament--if he hadnt messed with the timeline, he wouldnt have even existed for this to happen. when he saw him again, he tried to apologize, and even offered to reveal his secret to jack and maddie so that he can explain flynn to them and get them to take him in.

however, flynn declined. he said he didnt belong in this world. it was too different from the world he remembered. on the other hand, he had spent years in the ghost zone, and that still stayed the same. he knew it better; it was more familiar to him. thus, he decided to go back to living there with misery vex.

maybe someday, he changes his mind. danny will have revealed his identity to his parents on his own pace, so he can explain flynn to them, and they'd be ready to welcome him with open arms. maybe flynn is still unsure about living with an alternate version of his mother and her college friend, so he instead chooses to move in with aunt aulicia and become danny's cousin.

until then, he keeps his status as the only human residing in the ghost zone, occasionally offering assistance to danny from time to time.

[the-silentium]

5²

Masterlist

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reader

Words: 2770 words

Warnings: Swearing.

Requested by: @justalittleb1tcrazy​ & Anon

Hi! I love your work, and I have an idea/request if it’s not too much to ask :) i’ve been thinking about a continuation of the 11 Five fic (because I adored it) where the Hargreeves go back to 2019 like s2 and the reader is a part of Sparrow Academy and she’s slightly more edgy personality wise, or something like that lol

Hi! Just finished reading 11 and I sobbed so hard ngl,, would it be alright to ask for a part two?? Maybe it could be about how five goes on after wards, honestly I just need closure :(( it was so good,,,

A/N: Here’s 11 Part 2! Hope you guys like it! @justalittleb1tcrazy​, I already had the part 2 planned in my head, but you weren’t wrong with the Sparrow Academy! (almost) Also, the Sparrow Academy is totally OC, I didn’t go with the comics.

The days following your death were the most exhausting days Five ever lived. Between running around to gather his siblings and trying desperately to find a way back to 2019, losing precious time to sleep wasn’t even an option. He was running on the last bits of adrenaline his body could give him, the determination to find you back in 2019 and apologize profusely while holding onto you for dear life was enough to keep his body functioning for so long. 

When Klaus broke the circle to go fetch the cowboy hat, Five genuinely wondered if the homicidal rage was finally getting to him because the thought of murdering his brother with his bare hands seemed pretty enjoyable at the moment. His patience was running thinner by the seconds and the lack of caffeine in his bloodstream was doing nothing to appease his pulsion. 

As soon as the circle was complete again, the time-traveler visualised the right equations in his mind, warmth radiated through his hands and soon he jumped to the old mansion along with his siblings. 

For a second, Five let himself live the joy of the moment. He finally did it. His dream for the past 45 years was now fulfilled, by his actions the people he loved the most could live in a world where the apocalypse never occurred and will never happen, where they had a real future and where he could live the life he wanted back when he was just a kid in the skin of his now-adult body. 

He dodged Klaus’ open arms and closed his fists to jump to his bedroom, where he knew you were waiting for him to come back from the Icarus Theatre, but the familiar laugh bouncing around in the living room stopped his movement. His heart fluttered in his chest, his desire finally so near. He didn’t lose a second and jumped to the living room, his eyes searching for you excitedly. 

You were seated on the second floor, your legs between the railings slowly swang in the air, your eyes fixated on a book opened in your hands, its words bringing a beautiful smile to your lips. 

He didn’t recon jumping behind you, but next thing he knew, your back was facing him and you perked up at the soft old floor’s whine. 

“Five, you’re back!” The joy in your voice got him to his knees, the relief of finally being able to hold you alive and well in his arms was too much for him to handle. 

On an impulse, Five’s hands reached for your cheeks as you were turning your head to welcome him home, his desperation of the last couple of days showing through the not so delicate kiss he pressed on your lips. 

Stars flashed behind his closed eyelids, not because of the power of the moment like he expected but because of the powerful right hook you managed to land on his temple. Five fell on his ass, stunned, hurt and utterly confused. 

He opened his eyes to see you hurriedly get up from your spot and back away from him. He almost didn’t register the fear in your eyes before you tripped on a nearby bench and fell over. Always quick, Five jumped to your side and caught you before you touched the hard floor. 

“What’s wrong? It’s me, Five!” He asked, his voice laced with worry while his eyes searched your face for any clue of why you attacked him after clearly being happy that he was back. 

“You’re not Five.” You spat with anger. “Let go of me, asshole!” You jiggled in his grip, successfully freeing yourself without much of a fight, your words paralyzing him. It couldn’t be. 

His sibling’s footsteps along with their worried voices echoed around Five but none of their words reached him, his thoughts were way too loud for any sound to break through his mind. 

The answer was obvious. His siblings always managed to fuck up his plans, creating the biggest catastrophes everywhere they went and destroyed everything they touched. They had fucked with the timeline. They had fucked his dream. They had fucked his future. 

Just as Five thought he couldn’t be angrier, a new bunch of people joined your side, one particular brown-haired man wrapping you in his arms from behind and holding you tightly to his chest. The sight of another man holding you made his blood boil in his vein, the feeling reminded him of the deadly phase seven; homicidal rage. If you hadn’t gripped tightly the man’s forearm, Five would have definitely jumped into a fight he was sure to lose but needed beyond reason. 

“Who the hell are these guys?” Klaus’ voice broke the heavy silence of the room. 

The biggest one of the new group turned his head toward his brother and Five already knew what he was going to say. 

“We are the Sparrow Academy. I am Number One.“ 

Five’s eyes were still locked with yours, wishing for this nightmare to end or for you to break out of your act and confess that this was a very elaborate prank like you used to pull on him in your younger years. His salvation never came. 

"Shit.”

Five was surprised his family caught up with the events instead of being clueless as usual. 

Turns out their dad was disappointed enough of them during their meeting in the 60s that he adopted a completely different set of children instead. Five was sure that it wouldn’t hurt that much, knowing his dad replaced him, but it did hurt. A lot. After all he did to save the world, he was replaced like an insignificant object. Oh and to top it all? You fell in love with the current Number Five who can manipulate time as he willed. Out of spite, Five decided to call him Square from now on. 

The lack of sleep mixed with his jealousy was making him very snappy and on edge. When he was trying to stop the apocalypse the first time, you were the only one able to calm him down from his cumulated frustration and anger. You’d take his hand, lay your head on his shoulder and talk to him about anything and everything. 

Maybe it was delusional of him to think that even in another timeline you would remember him if he shared enough time with you. He couldn’t stop thinking that he was the original, the very first Number Five and that you belonged with him and not a pale copy, so he jumped to the kitchen where he knew you were making yourself a drink.

“Hot chocolate.” The sweet scent reached his nostrils and the memory of you showing him how to make it just like you liked played in his mind, stretching his lips into a fond smile. “You never changed.”

“I don’t like what’s bitter.” You shot him a wary look, clearly remembering that he jumped on you earlier. “I thought my Five made it clear, you altered the timeline. Even if another me was with you, I am not yours.” You mixed the hot water with the cocoa mix and turned to get what else you needed to make it perfect. 

You stopped in your tracks when Five showed you the vanilla essence and chocolate chips in his hands.

“Thank you.” You whispered as you took the items from his hands. 

“Happy to know some things never change.” Five stated, following you near the mugs. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw you shoot him a glance when he reached on the shelves for a cup. 

“Do you remember your past and future lives yet?” He questioned as he prepared himself a pot of strong black coffee. 

“H-how do you know?” He was proud that finally your attention was completely on him. “My Five doesn’t even know.” Five tried to ignore the pinch of his heart when you stated that he wasn’t yours. 

“I know a lot about you.” He watched the black liquid fall from the coffee maker into the pot, hoping it would work faster. “Do you remember the 60s?" 

"I remember the French Renaissance, the US colonization and a bunch of other lives but no, I never lived in the 60s.” You frowned, your eyes moving away, surely trying to remember if you really lived in that period. 

“You did, you simply don’t remember it yet. If my theory is right, you won’t remember the 2019 life we had because everything changed in the 60s and erased it. This means that you’ll most likely remember the 60s some time soon and only then you’ll remember our 2019 because it happened back then.” His heartbeat accelerated at the perspective that you’d remember your affection for him and everything would go back to normal. Almost. 

“So you think because I’ll remember my past life I’ll leave my Five for you?” You scoffed. “You’re so frickin’ arrogant.” You grabbed your cup and turned around, preparing yourself to walk away from him. 

“I’m not arrogant!” His frustration exploded. 

“Oh yes you are!" 

"I’m scared!” His voice broke, but he didn’t care. Your furrowed brows relaxed and the insults on your tongue died along with your anger. 

“Why?" 

"I’m scared that I’ve lost forever the person who’s the most important to me. I survived 45 years in the apocalypse for you. I stopped an apocalypse for you. And you don’t even remember me.” At some point tears fell from his eyes, splashing into the cup tightly encased in his hands. “I’m scared I’ll never get to tell you that I love you.” His voice was merely a harsh whisper but you heard it nonetheless. He knew. 

Your footsteps walking away made him close his eyes in agony. Just like the day he found your tortured body lying in a pool of your blood. 

“Stop being an asswad.” You muttered before leaving the room. Five’s cup exploded between his hands, causing shards to cut into his flesh and blood to pool onto the counter. A small smile adorned his lips, a new flame of hope burning into his heart. 

You avoided him like the plague for the next following days, exiting every room he entered and eating outside the manor whenever you could. He found it quite irritating but he knew you needed the time to think. You were starting to remember, he was sure of it by the small glances he received from you everytime you fled to another room. 

He finally got some sleep, his dreams full of the comforting warmth of your arms, sweet words were whispered in his ears while one of your hands lightly combed his hair with your fingers. He desperately wanted to stay asleep, to never leave you again, but life was cruel and he always woke up, the reality hitting him like a brick. You would avoid him, again. He would die inside, again. 

After changing into his newly bought day clothes, Five jumped into the kitchen, his too great need of coffee controlling his actions. He found you seated on the counter next to the freshly brewed coffee pot, a book in hand, a hot chocolate cup in the other. 

“Good morning asswad.” You said without lifting your gaze from your line. 

Five noticed your grip tighten around your book as he made his way toward you. He stopped centimeters away from your knees, his gaze transfixed onto your evading eyes. He patiently waited for you to meet his gaze before bidding you good morning. 

Your breath caught in your throat when he leaned forward, his arm outstretched to grab a cup on the shelve behind you. Maybe today wouldn’t be as bad as the others. 

He poured himself a cup full to the brim and carefully took a first gulp of his liquid addiction. He sighed at the taste, strong and bitter, just as he liked. 

“So I do remember it right.” You closed your book and put it at your side on the counter. Your eyes lifted to meet his, causing Five to almost drop his cup at your tired expression. “What am I supposed to do now?” You sighed and rubbed your face with your free hand. 

Five’s stress level skyrocketed. He knew what you were referring to. You were torn apart between living your present or allowing your past feelings to guide who you are now. He had wished the choice would have been obvious, that you would choose him without an ounce of doubt, but you were struggling. 

“My feelings for you were so strong that I feel them now a-and they confuse me so much. I never felt that for-” You stopped yourself but Five knew what you meant. You never loved Square that hard and he was glad. “But what we had was in the past and what I have with him is real.” Tears gattered in your eyes just as panic flowed through Five’s mind. 

“What we had was real! It’s still real now! You feel it and I sure as hell still feel it!” He put down his cup and softly placed his hands on your knees, desperation to prove his point showing in his eyes. 

“I’m just being overwhelmed by my past.” You shook your head as tears fell down your cheeks. 

“No you’re not. You’re panicking because you remembered me and fell in love with me through your memories. I’m the same man and you are the same woman and you know it!" 

A sob passed your lips and Five reached for your waist to pull you into a comforting hug. Before his fingers even touched your form, you disappeared. Stunned, he turned around to find you into Square’s arms, his angry eyes shooting daggers at Five. 

"Stay away from her.” He growled before disappearing with you. 

Five kicked the nearest chair, pissed off by the time manipulator. He could not fight with someone capable of slowing, quickening or even stopping time. He had to put his last hope in you.

Square stayed at your sides for the next two days. Five saw how his constant presence was getting on your nerves, you needed time alone and he was denying you that out of jealousy. 

Five was scribbling into his notebook when you walked up to him, definitely pissed off. Your hands were closed into tight fists and you huffed as you let yourself fall onto the couch next to him. You lifted your feet onto the cushion and hugged your knees. 

He wanted to reach out for you so much, although it was clear that you needed your space. He waited for you to start the conversation, apprehension eating at him. 

“They say ‘You can’t just give up on someone because the situation is not ideal. Great relationships aren’t great because they have no problems. They’re great because both people care enough about the other person to find a way to make it work.’” You took a deep breath before turning your head to meet his eyes. “I want to make us work. Like we always did." 

Five’s heart stopped. Not in agony this time, but in relief. Happiness overwhelmed his senses and quickly, he reached for you to pull you against his chest and keep you close while tears fell from his eyes as the stress lifted from his shoulder. Your arms snaked their way around his waist and for a moment, he let himself melt under your touch that he needed for so long now. 

"I love you.” He whispered the words he so desperately wanted to tell you in the 60s. 

“I love you too.” You snuggled deeper into his neck, your hot breath on his skin giving him goosebumps. “Thank you." 

"For what?” He frowned, genuinely wondering why you were thanking him. 

“You stopped the apocalypse, Five. You gave so much to save the world.” You pulled away, smiling at him brightly. “Thank you." 

Five realised that he was never thanked before for anything he had done for anyone. His composure melted and more tears ran down his face, the very first acknowledgement of his actions and sacrifices hitting him right in the feels. 

"I’d do it all again for you.” He replied with a broken voice, his throat constricted and tears drowning him. 

You pulled him into your chest after letting your feet fall on the floor, where he cried out of relief that you were still with him and out of exhaustion of everything he went through so that he could ensure that you and his family were safe.