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chimielie · 1 year

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i had the time of my life / fighting dragons with you

summary: Iwaizumi Hajime x f!Reader. No one in history has even come close to touching a night fury. Iwaizumi should be lauding himself as the greatest warrior of all time; well past Oikawa as the greatest of your generation, even. And instead he’s trying to turn it into a cat.

word count: 1.7k

cw: incredibly minor blood, unserious death threats, one minor mention of parental death. overuse of italics and “brat” as a nickname.

a/n: how to train your dragon au, iwaizumi is not really similar to hiccup but he LOVES big lizard!!! anyway i’ve been on a bus since 6:45 am with intermittent sightseeing stops and my phone was also dead for five hours so i have no idea how or when i wrote this <3 love you

“i think,” iwaizumi starts, “i’ve made a discovery.”

“what?” you look up from the whetstone you’re sharpening your sword against, passing the blade through your hands again and again with the practiced ease of years of study. “don’t tell me you’ve pissed over the ale or something stupid.”

his fine nose wrinkles.

“i don’t do things like that,” he says your name, irritated. the mocking lift to your lips drops and your eyebrows soften. he nearly never uses your given name. instead, it’s been lady or bug or brat since you were youths.

lady, most often, used always around your family and anyone who wasn’t a friend. it was your default title, said with iwaizumi’s plain sincerity and never the mocking twist that some of the other village boys used.

bug, generally when he wanted to goad you into breaking the rules. it had begun when you were still children and he had been the largest of you all: oikawa, matsukawa, hanamaki. things hadn’t stayed that way, but the nickname remained and never failed to incense you until you were slinging your weapon over your back and striding ahead of them all.

brat, used without any pattern identifiable to you. it was often accompanied by an exasperated but affectionate puff of breath and an accommodation to a demand, but not always. sometimes he would lean to the side as you entered the dining hall and mutter something like “you have a tear in the back of your skirt,” and before you ever found your tongue in the red rage that descended upon you that he hadn’t said anything sooner, follow with “lucky for you, brat, no one’ll notice when they’re blind with your beauty.”

the last one almost always nonplussed you so much you had no answer but to kick him in the back of the knee, and it never pissed him off as much as it should.

so you know whatever he wants to talk about is serious.

“i know,” you say, lifting your sword and inspecting it. “what have you done, then?”

“i have to show you,” he says, and your brows nearly shoot into your hairline. it’s not something he’s made, then; something bulky, sturdy iwaizumi can’t carry home to you.

his face is carefully neutral, but his eyes betray him. something lively and hopeful is dancing in the depths of his green eyes, something you rarely see in his chronically serious face.

you pick up your two-hander, sliding it into its just-oiled scabbard.

“take me to it, sir,” you say, and his face splits into a beaming smile you’re not sure you can recall seeing in years.

“this isn��t a discovery,” you say blandly as he pushes aside branches so you can duck under them without tangling leaves in your hair. “this is what we called the secret garden as children, hajime. don’t tell me you’re so old you’re losing your memories already?”

“you’re not funny,” iwaizumi says with a chuckle, and pride glows in your chest. “it’s not the glade, brat, it’s—”

“a fucking night fury?” you shriek, scrambling back as soon as you pass through the branches, hitting iwaizumi’s firm chest as an obstacle. “whatever you wanted to show me has been eaten and burned by now, i hope you know! or the other way around!”

you reach for your sword, but he pulls it out of its sheath before you can.

“have you lost your damn mind?” you shout, watching him put himself between you and the most fearsome creature you can imagine and holding the sword towards you. like you’re going to hurt it.

“hey, hey,” he says, tossing your weapon to the side, and the thing snuggles into him, growling. no, not growling—purring. “don’t worry, she’s not gonna hurt you.”

you dive for your sword and come up kneeling, watching your oldest friend, one of the greatest warriors of your generation, scratching the head of a fucking night fury; the same dragon, or its kin, that killed his father five years ago.

“no worries that it’ll, i don’t know, maim and kill me,” you say. “or yourself, for that matter. for the love of life, hajime, what are you trying to do, tame it?

“i’m not trying to tame him,” iwaizumi says, looking up at you with stupid, glimmering, hopeful eyes. “he’s—i injured him, a few months ago.”

no one in history has even come close to touching a night fury. iwaizumi should be lauding himself as the greatest warrior of all time; well past oikawa as the greatest of your generation, even. and instead he’s trying to turn it into a cat.

“why didn’t you finish the job?” you say warily, lowering your guard ever so slightly. it’s a beautiful creature, you have to admit, with black scales that seem to absorb the light and green eyes remarkably like the shade of—

“we—i don’t know,” iwaizumi’s tone turns reverent, affectionate. “we came to an understanding.”

“an understanding,” you echo, cocking your head and sizing up the fury. its build is lithe, more suited to its nighttime bursts of violence than some of the dragons you’ve slain in your day. you circle the two of them, giving a wide berth as the dragon swivels its head to look at you, and there it is.

mattsun’s handiwork if you’ve ever seen it, a beautiful leather-and-metal fin fitted to the dragon’s tail, replacing where iwaizumi’s blade had torn it. you wonder if he’d known. if you were the last of your cohort to know.

“it’s a beautiful piece,” you murmur, reaching out to touch it almost inexorably. it stiffens, hissing at you, and you flinch back.

“go on,” hajime says softly. the dragon looks at you with those alarmingly familiar eyes, sizing you up just as you had it. against all your better judgment, you drop your sword, kicking it to the side. it steps toward you, gaze flicking back and forth between you, the weapon, and iwaizumi. you don’t move, barely breathing as it bumps its head into your side just as it had iwaizumi.

you’re not braced for it, buckling a little under the force of the headbutt, but after a few more moments of caution, you dare to lift a hand and pat it on the head, once.

“hello, scourge of the skies,” you say softly to it. “please don’t burn, eat, or kill me.”

“i won’t let him hurt you,” iwaizumi’s voice is low and raspy, blending with the rush of wind through the grass. “‘sides, he’s well fed, huh?” he gives the dragon an affectionate pat on the rump.

“i don’t even want to know what you’ve been stealing to feed a night fury.”

“not stealing,” iwaizumi says, but he doesn’t elaborate, to your relief. “do you want to see something else?”

“if it’s another dragon…” you warn fruitlessly.

“not another dragon,” he says reassuringly, and instead produces a mass of leather tangled in itself so you can’t determine what exactly it is. the dragon seems to recognize it, though, and bows its—his—head to help iwaizumi through the process of getting it on.

“oh, hajime,” you say with dawning horror. “you’re not going to try and ride it, are you? if you die in such a stupid way, i’m going to be incredibly pissed off.”

“i’m not going to die, bug,” iwaizumi promises, tightening a final strap on the saddle. “and neither are you.”

“what the fuck does that mean?” you say, and he’s already lifting you up, one arm supporting your back and the other your knees like it’s not already humiliating enough, he has to put you in some kind of princess carry to finish you off entirely. “hajime. hajime! you can’t do this—”

your words are cut off by a scream and a second attempt of the day to crawl back into the strong cage of iwaizumi’s arms. the dragon’s wings beat beneath you, a steady rhythm not unlike the gallop of a horse, but you still dig your legs in tightly and squeeze your eyes shut.

eventually, you must reach some kind of acceptable elevation as the dragon’s flight evens out, transitioning from actively beating against the wind to riding it. you open one eye tentatively, your breath stolen from you as the sea of your people stretches out into the horizon.

“are you alright?” iwaizumi inquires in your ear, and you settle a little more comfortably against him.

“i’m going to kill you if i survive this,” you say. he chuckles low in your ear and tugs the reins sharply, steering the dragon in a wide arc.

“you sound practically relaxed.” the ocean’s waves are visible even from this height, and the white line of the crash against the cliffs almost reminds you of bridal lace. “relaxed enough to stop digging your claws into my arms?”

you hadn’t even been aware that you were gripping onto him so tightly. when you withdraw, little pink half-moons are left, some bubbling with red droplets.

“i’d be sorry,” you say, “but you kidnapped me with a dragon, so i think we’re only even now.”

abruptly, iwaizumi’s knee moves, nudging the belly of the dragon, and all three of you plummet, dropping in a neat line toward the blue, blue sea. your stomach drops beautifully as a strong pull of the reins brings you back up, just barely skimming the water’s surface, and there’s spray on your face and sun in your eyes and iwaizumi’s laugh, wild and carefree, carrying you away on the wind.

“thanks for sharing this with me,” he says when you both have your breath again. his night fury coasts on the breeze, the sun low on the horizon, turning the light golden and the sea shining like precious metal in every direction. “even if you were a brat about it.”

you think, maybe, everything makes sense now; a realization as sharp and sudden as freefall feels. you lean back into his chest and raise your hands in the air. a language without words; a name that means beloved.

the sun drops below your eye’s limits, and the beat of the night fury’s wings is steady beneath the two of you.

#haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu x reader #hq x reader #hq!! x reader #iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi hajime x reader #iwaizumi fluff #haikyuu!! fluff #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu!! x reader angst #haikyuu x reader fluff #hq x reader fluff #i’m rlly into this reader character tbh

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official-nrc-prophet · 2 months

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Ranking my favorite to least favorite hashira

I just finished the Swordsmith village arc, Hulu please I want the next one TwT

1 . Muichiro Tokito! This guy is just so fun, and his flashbacks made me cry. I love how there's just a random 14 year old in the group, who happens to insult demons until they die. After he remembered things, Gyokko had zero shot.

2 . Mitsuri Kanroji! I will personally fight anyone who doesn't like her just because the creators decided to sexualize her character. She is powerful, strong, beautiful, and amazing. Probably would be my favorite if Muichiro wasn't so funny to me. She's just the best (You can do better than Iguro girl anyone who says otherwise can die by your blade)

3. Sanemi Shinazugawa! This guy is such a terrible person and I love it. Please blink more. Please accept your little brother. Please keep making fun of Giyu and being a complete ass. He needs to throw hands more, I'd like to see him and Inosuke fist fight.

4. Giyu Tomioka! This guy is great. I like how he seems so cool in front of Tanjiro but in reality he's just a sad wet cat. I hope we get to see him more, probably in the new Hashira training arc. No spoilers please. He just seems so interesting, I wanna know why everyone else in the hashira seem to dislike him so much.

5. Kyojuro Rengoku! This guy was fun. I'm sad he died so quickly, we didn't get to experience a lot of him. I'm very curious, because Akaza was open and "friendly" with him, but in the swordsmith village arc Akaza was guarded and being violent and snappy. It makes Rengoku feel way more special in my eyes.

6. Tengen Uzui! This man is so stupid and I hate him. He's an interesting character, and I like him in theory, just not in practice. The only reason he's higher is because he actually has something I find interesting. I'm very confused on the three wives thing. I think it's extremely funny when people write or draw him simping for Rengoku because I do get bisexual disaster from him.

7. Obanai Iguro! "But I'm a creep... I'm a weirdo..." this guy is creepy and I don't like him. Get him away from Mitsuri. I know his backstory is tragic, but I don't care! Especially since in the demon slayer academy he's portrayed as "allergic to women". He just gives me creepy guy who lives in his moms basement. Discord mod vibes. Weirdo.

8. Shinobu Kocho! Shinobu is another one where there's definitely more to her, but until we figure that out, she just seems rather blank to me. It's definitely on purpose, because she's supposed to have her big reveal when fighting a demon, and we know a little from Kanao she used to have an older sister. I'm just frustrated because it seems like she has nothing else. The most interesting thing about her is the rest of the girls at the Butterfly Mansion.

9. Gyomei Himejima! He's another one where there's more to him, I just haven't seen it. But I don't really like what I do see? Like, he pitied Tanjiro and Nezuko, but was willing to kill them. If he's trying to be portrayed as a sympathetic man, it's not working. Also he just looks like a geodude from Pokémon to me, except with a worse color pallet.

#atlas speaks #mod speaks #demon slayer #please talk to me about them #gyomei himejima #muichiro tokito #sanemi shinazugawa #shinobu kocho #giyuu tomioka #rengoku kyojuro #obanai iguro #mitsuri kanroji #tengen uzui

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kanansdume · 1 year

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So, again, with the caveat that I am in no way saying Hayden Christensen doesn't deserve his time in the sun right now after all the shit he was put through, but I find it a tad frustrating that we got an ENTIRE EPISODE with Ahsoka meeting Anakin again in a Force vision/flashbacks in order to explore her feelings about him and the impact her relationship with him had on them both, but we've had one singular throw-away line mention of Kanan.

And I GET that it's the Ahsoka show, it's named after Ahsoka, not Sabine or Hera. But it's clearly also THEIR show, Sabine is the one going through the most obvious character journey on this show, to be perfectly honest, and we're getting almost as much of Hera as we are Ahsoka or Sabine.

Ahsoka spent 1.5-2 years with Anakin, AT MOST, before she left him and then spent like 15 years believing he was dead, 1 year trying to convince herself he was dead before he tried to kill her, and then another 7-8 years on her own before he ACTUALLY dies, and like 8ish years since then. Ahsoka spends SO MUCH of her life without Anakin around at all and building relationships with so many people OTHER than Anakin that her time with him feels so minuscule in comparison and yet it's all anybody ever looks at or wants to talk about.

Hera meets Kanan when she's a teenager, just off of Ryloth, and probably spends a good decade or more with him as partners in business and in life before he dies and she becomes the single mother of his child. Kanan is arguably the singular most important relationship in Hera's life for the majority the time that we've spent with her character and there is a very visible continued reminder of his impact on her life that will probably stay with her for even longer. And yet she hasn't even mentioned him ONCE. There's been no discussion of him with her son, no stories shared, no memories brought up. Even when Jacen is using the Force, neither of them brings up Kanan at all.

Sabine meets Kanan some time before Rebels starts, probably about a year or two prior, and so would've known him for about 5-6 years total before he dies. In that time, he becomes something of a father figure and mentor to her and helps train her every so often. It's KANAN who teaches her about mercy and patience, and it's KANAN who trains her in how to wield a blade, specifically a lightsaber. And yet, when we see Sabine training with a saber again on the Ahsoka show, Ahsoka attributes Sabine's skill to the fact that she's a Mandalorian rather than to her training with Kanan. Sabine is completely fucked up about the off-screen loss of her family and the desire to find Ezra, but never once is the loss of Kanan ever even mentioned. His impact on her life is nowhere to be found on this show. If you hadn't seen Rebels, you'd be forgiven for thinking Sabine had never even met Kanan in her life.

Ahsoka brings up Anakin several times before episode 5 and her ENTIRE ARC is about his impact on her life, but he's honestly such a small part of it. And in contrast, we've heard one person so far mention Kanan at all and it's Huyang, a character who never shared a scene with Kanan once, and Kanan's impact upon Hera, Sabine, and even Jacen is missing entirely. They never talk about missing him or how his loss continues to affect them and their relationships with other people. There's no mention of Sabine having trouble working with Ahsoka because she keeps comparing Ahsoka's methods to Kanan's or something like that. There's no flashbacks for Sabine or Hera about Kanan where we get to see Kanan in live action, too. Kanan is just left behind as completely unimportant to this plot or its characters, even though he was one of the MAIN CHARACTERS of Rebels.

And now that Ezra's back, Kanan's literal Padawan, hopefully we'll hear Kanan get mentioned at least once more, but I'm not holding my breath or counting on it at this point.

#star wars #kanan jarrus #sabine wren #hera syndulla #kanera #star wars ahsoka #ahsoka show #ahsoka series #sw ahsoka #ahsoka 2023

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drunknillawafer · 4 days

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right down the line: zuko x firebender!reader | part 6

You grew up close to the Royal Family due to your father's position as a General, but you ran away from home after the agni kai against your best friend, Zuko. Now, you've joined the Gaang and plan on doing your part in ending the 100-year war.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 7

hellooo part 6 oo we're in book 2 territory now... also i am changing stuff to fit my character into this world so just be open to those changes plzzz i do not own these characters and they are not mine! i hope you guys are liking the story so far! I'm so excited I'm already thinking about what I'm going to do when book 3 comes around... rmr to like reblog or comment, i truly want to know ur thoughts because this is my first fic so i hope I'm doing a good job. thank you to everyone who has supported it so far!! even if its 17 ppl idc like that's 17 individuals who bother to read what i write so... thank you!! enjoy >.< about 2000 words

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

It was a day like the others, the year before Ozai’s unfair punishment. I’d go to the Royal Palace after school to play or practice, whichever we felt like.

When Zuko and I opened the door that led to the duck pond, his little sister, Azula, was already there with her friends, Ty Lee and Mai.

Azula’s already proven to be ruthless for a 10-year-old. She’s constantly reminding Zuko of his ‘failure’ to live up to the responsibility of Fire Lord just because he’s not as vicious as her. In this home, they favored brutality over honor, and if you know Zuko, he’s all honor. Even at twelve years old, you can tell he won’t grow to be like his father before him and it’s a problem.

She’s only gotten worse since their mother disappeared 2 years ago. No one knows the specifics, but Azula says their grandfather ordered the Fire Lord to kill Zuko and she never lets him forget it.

As we walk toward our usual spot, the little girl comes up to us.

“Zuzu, come play with us!” she says with a hint of mischief in her voice.

“No! I’m busy.” Zuko replies, brushing her off. We continue walking to reach the other side of the pasture, far away from his sister and her friends.

“Fine.” With Azula, fine isn’t just fine. It’s code for I’ll get you somehow.

But I try to keep my thoughts about her to myself. She is younger than us and I’m not scared of her. It’s Zuko she doesn’t see as a threat. As for me, she’s known not to push it. Since we all have the same fire-bending master, she’s well aware I’m better than the both of them.

When we reach our spot, we sit to take our swords from their sheaths. Today it’s blades, yesterday it was bending. We almost forget Azula’s in our vicinity when Mai comes crashing down onto Zuko, making her blush.

Mai is a year younger than us, and she’s always had this crush on him. Everyone knows. I know.

But unlike Azula, I don’t humiliate her with the fact. Even if the thought of Zuko returning the feelings makes me uncomfortable.

Mai quickly gets up and apologizes for stumbling on top of him and Zuko, in all his emotional glory, yells at his sister. “Stop it! It’s not funny.”

She grins with her arms folded. “Oh, but it is, dumb-dumb. I told you to play with me!”

“That’s not how you get people to play with you!” I stand up for him, knowing it’s a losing battle if he’s all alone in his defense.

“Whatever.” She replies and focuses her attention on Ty Lee’s handstand. Probably thinking of a way to ruin that too.

It’s clear we won’t be left alone to spar in peace.

“Want to go to my room?” He asks. Familiar amber eyes gazing into mine.

Butterflies appear in my stomach. I’ve been to his room thousands of times, millions if it was possible. It wasn’t abnormal. But lately, I can’t stop these stupid butterflies.

My feelings for my best friend are changing, I hope his are too.

“Sure.”

A few weeks have passed since the failed ambush of the Northern Water Tribe by the Fire Nation. Admiral Zhao is presumed dead, and the empire retreated. They were long gone, and this loss was too shameful to ever attempt something like it again.

Though, the adrenaline from the win would be nothing compared to the loss felt by the masses. We lost some people, rebuilding was commencing, and the tribe had lost their princess. The Chief had lost his daughter.

While it pained Sokka and I to inform him of the news, what he said in return brought peace to all of us. He said he had a vision of a beautiful young woman sacrificing her life for her people and it wasn’t until that fateful day that he knew it was his daughter. Warmth embraced us all after he spoke. What better way to show your love for your people than to become the moon itself? It was bittersweet. To know she couldn’t walk with us but be with us wherever we go on planet Earth.

If only encountering Zuko for the first time in three years could be as acceptable.

I honestly didn’t know what to think, act, or be. It all happened so fast.

Having to save Aang in the middle of our encounter distracted me long enough. Letting down the Chief and Yue becoming the moon spirit distracted me long enough. Hell, seeing Iroh for the first time in a while distracted me long enough. But eventually, the dust settles and there’s nothing but his face in my thoughts.

His hair is different, and he looks… sharper around the edges. He’s stronger and his bending is different than before, more determined and intentional. He seems tired.

I replay our interaction in my head multiple times a day, sometimes in my dreams. Each time, I think about what I could have said instead. Other times he doesn’t strike me in the ribs. But then I wake up or come back to reality and the scar of his burn on my side reminds me: he’s no longer my Zuko.

I mourn the gentle boy I once knew.

All our good moments flash through my mind like an orchestrated play. Growing up together. Elementary memories of playing and later, practicing our sparring and bending together. Silent moments where we both sat and stared as the sun painted orange across the sky, once we were done for the day. Being the first person we looked for at a royal party and feeling relief when our eyes locked together, assuring that we won’t spend the night bored out of our minds. Silly things I didn’t think I’d miss so much.

But it was hard to feel bad for him when he was someone else entirely.

I shouldn’t have, but I took it easy on him. I thought there was some sort of silent agreement that we would never hurt each other, like when we were sparring. But at some point in time, practice became fighting, and nobody told me.

I spent three years thinking about this exact moment and I never once thought we’d be on two different sides of this war.

It was different for him, I suppose. He stopped practicing the moment Ozai told him to get up and fight.

The swirl of feelings dizzied me, going from I hate him to I missed him. From where is he? to I think I could find him if I tried.

But I don’t know how that would land on Aang, Katara, and Sokka.

Zuko’s been terrorizing them since Aang came out of the ice, before they crossed paths with Jet and me. I’m not even sure how they feel about my past with their first enemy. I’ll make a note to ask later.

I’ve been in my head the entire time we went through the cave of two lovers. I think some badger moles got us out and the nomads went their own way once we made it through.

Apparently, we’re heading to Omashu so Aang can learn earth-bending from his old friend, King Bumi.

Sokka’s catching me up to speed, but his voice sounds like it could be a thousand miles away from my mind. “It’s pretty cool, I didn’t really like being trapped and thinking I was going to die but that’s not the point- Hey, are you okay?” He grabs my elbow and stops us in our tracks. His eyes look into mine, looking for me.

He shares a glance with Katara that prompts her to say, “Let's take a break from walking, guys. Aang, c'mon I think I see some water. I want to see what you know before you become an earth-bender.”

“Okay!” The young Avatar replies, eager for alone time with his favorite person. They smile at me before leaving, and I feel left out of a certain loop.

Once they’re far away enough, I reply to Sokka’s question. “I’m okay, why?”

“You’ve just been off… since the invasion.” He scratches the back of his neck as he confesses his concerns.

“It was a lot, I mean. Yue—”

“I know, but you’ve pulled away from all of us.” Almost shyly, he continues, “From me.”

“Oh.”

“But we all want to know if you’re okay.” He hurries to add.

“I’ve been thinking about some stuff is all.” I let out a sigh, a poor attempt at trying to let go of what’s bothering me. “I just hadn’t seen him in a long time. And when I do, he’s fighting me.” I look down at my boots, begging for the dry dirt to become quicksand. My cheeks are getting hot and the familiar knot in my throat is forming. This is why I didn’t want to talk about it.

“Yeah, he does that.” Sokka scoffs. “He’s a jerk. He can be mean to us, I get it! The Avatar and everything. But being mean to you was unnecessary.”

The knot in my throat quickly forms into a tone that’s harsher than I mean it. “Was it?” Sokka’s taken aback and instantly, I’m regretful for it. “Sorry… I don’t know what I feel.”

I investigate his icy stare and for the first time, I feel the distance I’ve put between us. Unfortunately, I think it’s there to stay.

He raises his hands in defense, “I get it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you like him?” I finally understand what he’s been saying. Why he wanted to talk. He wanted to talk about us and how Zuko fits into that equation.

“No—I… uh...” the words leave me.

“I see.”

"That's not a confession."

"Then say no."

“Does it matter?” I ask, becoming irritated with his attitude.

“Does it?” Sokka’s stern voice rarely makes an appearance, but when it does, it surprises me. Leave it to Zuko to cause an argument when he’s not even here.

Before I can answer, Katara and Aang return, looking chippier than we do.

“Break’s over?” she asks us, furrowing her brows as she takes in our body language.

“Yeah, it’s over.” Sokka huffs and walks away, leading us to our destination.

☆

With Sokka guiding us, he proudly gestures towards the Earth Kingdom land. “Ladies and gentlemen, the city of Omashu!” When I finally intake what they’ve all been talking about, I know what we see isn’t what they were describing.

“Oh no.” Aang says for all of us.

The fire emblems are too loud to ignore. Omashu’s been occupied.

☆

As the four of us stand in our fight mode, ready to negotiate Bumi for the Mayor’s baby boy, I see three girls in the distance. I see her first.

My heart drops down to my core, the way it did when I first saw Zuko after all these years. Just when I thought the reunions were over, the universe shows me exactly what it is I ran away from. Finally, after all this time, I have to face what I did.

“No.” I mumble.

“What?” Aang asks. They all turn to me. Now that they know who I am, they know I must know whoever is coming to negotiate on the empire’s behalf.

I should have known it would be Mai, but her little brother was not born when I last saw her. When we all went to the Royal Fire Academy for Girls.

I don’t have enough time to warn them, you never do when she’s involved.

“It’s Azula.”

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tag list <3: @camilleverreault @staygoldsquatchling02

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theinquisitxor · 8 months

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January 2024 Reading Wrap

First wrap up of the new year! I read 8 books this month, and I'd say it was a strong reading month overall. I read some new releases, caught up or finished series, and read some good stuff! I read 6 fantasy books, 1 nonfiction, and 1 regular fiction. 6 books I read physical copies, and 2 audiobooks.

1.A Winter's Promise (Mirror Visitor Quartet 1) by Christelle Dabos. 3/5 stars. This is a book I've been wanting to read since before it was translated into English. This book didn't quite live up to the expectations I had of it, but I still overall enjoyed it. I plan to continue the series, possibly quarterly. Young adult fantasy.

2. A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. 4.5/5 stars. Another great Allison Saft book, and this one is possibly my favorite so far. This is exactly my type of fantasy romance and I was very invested in reading this. It's about a young magical seamstress who is commissioned to make the royal wedding clothes for the kingdom's prince. Young adult fantasy.

3.Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard. 3/5 stars. This was a fun read, but not the most exciting or great as it had the potential to be. The story has a fun cast of characters, and enjoyable world, but not a whole lot happened in this book. I can def see Aveyard's LOTR inspirations in this. I plan on continuing this series soon.

4.The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake. 2/5 stars. This was a disappointing end to a series and was very lackluster and fell apart at the end. Disappointing because of how much I loved book 2. There were some redeeming moments, but much of this book felt unnecessary or frustrating. Adult fantasy.

5.Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 5/5 stars. This is a collection of essays by the author about the world around us, life, nature, and the way we interact with the world. Absolutely my new favorite thing and much of Kimmerer's teachings in the book resonate with me very deeply. Read on audio- which I highly recommend. Nature/essays.

6.Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde 2) by Heather Fawcett. 5/5 stars. This was just as good as book 1, and I loved the new adventure and learning more about fairies. Emily and Wendall are my favorite, and I can't wait to see how this series concludes.

7.Beartown (Beartown 1) by Fredrik Backman 4.5/5 stars. I read this book in less than 24 hours and it emotionally abused me throughout. I'm late to the game in regards to this book (no pun intended) but I'm glad I finally read it. Backman never disappoints, and I plan to continue the series soon. Fiction.

8. Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Wayward Children 9) by Seanan McGuire. 4/5 stars. This felt like the continuation of Antsy's story from book 8, but with some of our main cast of characters on a new quest. Very enjoyable and another solid installment in the series. Is the last time we see the "main cast?". Read on audio. Fantasy.

That's it for January! I am currently reading my TBR Pick of the Month, The Throne of the Five Winds, but I am only still in the first half of the book, so I will have to finish it up for Feb. I also started a new nonfiction audiobook, but am still in the first half of that as well.

February TBR:

finish The Throne of the Five Winds by SC Emmett

Crescent City 3

Nonfiction Audiobook (finish)

Blade Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

What Feasts at Night by T Kingfisher

TBR Pick of the month

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman (?)

#reading wrap up #january 2024 #fantasy books #A Winter's Promise #The mirror visitor #A fragile enchantment #allison saft #realm breaker #the atlas complex #Braiding Sweetgrass #Robin Wall Kimmerer #Emily Wilde #emily wilde's map of the otherlands #beartown #fredrick backman #wayward children #mislaid in parts half known #seanan mcguire

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tallymonster · 10 months

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Memories of Us Chapter 6

Chapters: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |

Summary: It's party time bitches. Octavia and Gale get a little close, tell each other some things about themselves. Gross wine is involved.

Inspired by @cheesy-cryptid 's fan art that took root in my mind and continues to do so.

As always I want to give credits to my best friend @micropoe10 for reading this and helping me come up with stuff. You're the best babe 😘

Tag list: (as always thanks to those who asked to be tagged! If you'd like to join, let me know!)

@justporo @satanicspinosaurus @sleepy-timaeus @tragedybunny @davenswitcher @wayward-hel

Chapter 6

maybe you and me

Inside the museum, the crowd is evergrowing. Hundreds of people are flooding the main atrium. Not even in Octavia's childhood celebrating her hero ancestor had she seen this many people in one place. She and Gale keep walking linked arm in arm, as they step through the convention she sees the statue of Tav, her great grandmother. She feels like now is the perfect time to tell Gale.

"Uh...Gale?" She tugs a little at his sleeve, he turns to look at her quizzically. "Everything okay?" He asks, she nods reassuringly " I have something to tell you and I don't want you to freak out or anything..." She looks over at the statue and begins telling him about her childhood.

The stories her grandmother would tell her about the hero matriarch of their family, the adventures that were had with his ancestor Gale of Waterdeep, the grand wizard who also saved this town. The trials they had through with the Gith, the Sharran turned Selunite, the Tiefling with the heart of iron, and the Blade of Frontiers.

The whole story fascinated Gale and he couldn't believe that she knew what he had grown up with, to be one of the line of people they came from was no easy task. "Incredible! You somehow always have a trick up your sleeve don't you? Oh I cannot wait to tell Astarion!" His eyes are alight with renewal behind them. He shakes his head and holds on to both of Octavia's hands. "You are the key. You are the one who could help, this is why he gave you the damn book! How? How the hells did he even know?!"

Octavia's brows shot up and a cold worry quickly filled her. "He doesn't know. I don't know if you realize by how little I mention it, or by how quietly I just told you in a gigantic party, but I'm not exactly one to advertise my family lineage. People tend to get weird about it.." She slowly drops her hands out of Gale's. "I would appreciate it if we didn't tell him...not yet." She swallows nervously, "Maybe after this whole painting business is done?"

She smiles wryly and takes a pair of drinks from a tray carrying waiter passing by. "Let's just take a note from his book tonight? What does he say? 'Live a little, daaahling'." She ends with a bad impersonation of Astarion, hands Gale the glass and they clink glasses; he shakes his head with a smile and drinks.

—-------------------

It had been roughly two hours since she and Gale were separated by the guests who had a million questions about the new exhibit. She was on her third different way of wording the same answer to a halfling who kept making it very clear that their family was one of the many donors to this museum. She laughs and nods, appeasing them and excusing herself. She finds an open door to the outer balcony and swiftly walks towards it.

Thankfully there was another drink table next to it, she grabs a flight of what looks like sparkling water and quickly drinks it. To her distaste, it was more of that gross tasting champagne. As she comes out onto the balcony, she wriggles as the bubbles shoot down her throat, the sensation causing her to make an audible groan.

"Isn't it just awful? I pay for the best but get this vinegar in a champagne bottle. How utterly disappointing." Of course, as if on cue, Astarion makes his appearance. He strolls up from behind Octavia and dumps the champagne into a topiary planter. He's dressed in the most immaculate outfit she has ever seen him wear.

Black from top to bottom, his shirt was opened and his chest exposed to the moonlight, very fitted pants, and a hint of red in the lining of his jacket. His eyes are covered by his glasses, Octavia was hoping he wouldn't wear them tonight but she doesn't bring it up.

Astarion takes a red handkerchief from his coat pocket and wipes his lips in one fluid motion. "Good evening to you too, Astarion. I take it you're having a good night? Well aside from the drinks." Octavia giggles and leans back on the edge of the enclosure, her hands resting on the wall.

"I would if these people would stop making me repeat myself. Don't know how many times I was approached by the same Drow woman asking me idiotic questions about the other exhibits. Thank the Gods she got pulled away by an hors d'oeuvres tray passing by. I made my dashing escape afterwards. What about you, darling? Are you finally enjoying yourself?" He stands next to her, facing out towards the city.

"Yes, somewhat. I mean I'm right there with you about the cycle of questioning. Other than that it's been..." she pauses, looking down "it's been fine. Like I said before, I'm more of a 'work silently in the background' type. So for me to be here, under all this attention...it's intimidating. I'm just not used to it." Her lips upturn slightly, she plays with the hem of the sleeve hanging off her shoulder. "I'm sorry if that's not the answer you were looking for."

She huffs and turns her body to look out. "Growing up here, you learn a lot of things, fantastical adventures, death defying actions to save the world, magic and gods, demons, mind flayers....honestly I'm glad I didn't have to do all of that. Seems hard." She bends a little and places her elbows on the edge of the wall, there she tucks her hands under her chin.

Astarion looks down at her, his brows somewhat knitted together, a small frown on his face. "Darling, it's one thing to read about it, doing it is a completely different story." He turns to his right, looking into the patrons inside the atrium. "Those people in there would never get it. They're the elites who came up after all the shit everyone else cleaned up. They weren't the ones knee deep in it for who knows how long. Sleeping in dirt, chasing monsters, killing whomever or whatever tried to kill you first. It's exhausting."

He spoke like someone who had first hand experience with this, the way he seethed through the whole speech. Octavia sensed there was something else behind that anger, but this was not the time to pry more. She turns to him, standing close under the evening stars, she places her hand on his. Somehow this seemed like what he needed right now.

Astarion tenses a little, but Octavia can feel him relax soon after. From the corner of her eye she could swear a small smile cracked in the corner of his mouth and his ears wiggled a little. There was a small huff behind it, followed by Astarion clearing his throat. They stand there in the silence, staring out at the lights glittering in the veil of the night.

"OCTAVIA!!! FINALLY I FOUND YOU!!!" Gale comes stumbling through the door, his jacket is undone and the drink in his hand is swirling wildly with his movements. "I have been..looking EVERYWHERE for you!!!" She and Astarion break their contact, startled, and she walks towards Gale catching him in her arms. Astarion instantly disappears into the shadows. "I thought I saw 'starion here with you..?"

Gale slurs a bit, his breath smelling like the champagne that Astarion had criticized earlier. "Oh no, I was here alone. Maybe it was one of the waiters they've got wandering around?" She holds up her glass, giving him a slight smile. She links her arm with his and sits down on the bench in front of them. "Why? Were you looking for him for any particular reason?"

Gale enthusiastically nods, his whole body shaking in return. "Yes! I wanted to talk to him!! I haven't seen him all night! He's always moving around in the shadows like some sort of-" "Is there something you wish to talk about, my dear Gale? I just walked past and heard you mention me?" Astarion comes out and interrupts Gale, he walks towards the pair, and he crosses his arms and legs on the wall in front of them. "YES! I..was thinking about that book!"

Octavia quietly gasps, her whole body turning cold in an instant. Whether it was from the lack of covering on her shoulders and arms, or the fear of Gale's drunk inhibitions outing her in front of Astarion "Octavia here..." He continues, "She told me that she knows stuff! Like...real good stuff..." He leans back some, his body fully consumed by the alcohol pulling her down a little. "She was telling me..uh that she's-" before he could finish, Octavia jerks him back, his whole body turning into rubber, pulling them down onto the floor.

She lands on top of him, her arms on his chest, his wrapped around her. "Hi. I forgot what I was talking about." His face full of a drunken blush now turns into a whole body flush. Octavia seizes the opportunity to shut him up, go home, and end this whole night all at the same time.

She pulls Gale up to her and kisses him, the taste of the bitter alcohol filling her mouth. She feels his arms squeeze her down a little and he leans into it some. She pulls away instantly and Astarion lets out a scandalous laugh "Oh I see how it is...good for you Gale"

Octavia gets off, rolling onto her legs and turns up at Astarion. She puts on a somewhat convincing drunk voice, "Sorry, he pulled me down and I...I guess I just couldn't help myself?" Astarion laughs more, extending his hand to help her up, "Oh no dearest, don't worry, I'm not jealous of the walking encyclopedia. I'm happy for you, really. You should probably take him home, seems like he's had a little too much fun for one night, hmm?"

Astarion laughs and helps Octavia pull Gale up, he sways softly as he catches himself. "But..." He pouts, Astarion pats his back and straightens him up more. "Gale, whatever it is you can always tell me later. There are more pressing matters that I feel you should attend to..." He motions his head towards Octavia, she could feel the salacious glare behind the lenses he wore and it made her face go warm. "Yeah, let's go Gale."

#next chapter features gardens lockpicks and someone gets mad #bg3 #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #astarion ancunin #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 astarion #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #astarion bg3 #headcanon fic #fanfic #bg3 fanfic #fic: memories of us

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acidmatze · 3 months

Text

I’ll be there for you (Yes, like the Friends theme) Chapter 6

Summary: After being in a coma for two years Vash wakes up, not being able to remember Anything that has happened since he was “a teenager”. How is he gonna adapt to living in a world so strange and unfamilliar? (vaguely TriStamp timeline post ep 12) By watching a weird action movie and doing nordic walking. Warnings: None Word count: 4.1k Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5

Meeting the psychologist was relatively unspectacular.

Her office is in the hallway of group 3 as well and has a small space for couches and a bookshelf, kinda like a waiting room at the doctor's office.

Her name is Mrs. Fischer and for now she just wanted to get to know Vash better. Which was interesting since Vash barely knows himself.

„Sounds like a great goal for your rehab then! Getting to know yourself more. Im gonna write this down right now.“

Lunch was a bit awkward at first cuz Chelsea immediately yelled, before Vash could even sit down at the table: „Wait! How is he supposed to cut his meat? Should I cut it for you? I can do that!“

And then Vash had to awkwardly wiggle himself out of this but Nancy thankfully intervened.

„I'm just gonna call Villa Peony and ask if they got some cutlery left we can borrow and then later order our own. Oh man I can't believe I forgot to do that the whole time...“ In the hospital the nurses already cut his food before he got it which truthfully made him feel like he's already thousand years old and grey.

But he felt equally awkward when Nancy eventually returned and handed him a fork that was also a knife.

All while Chelsea was basically frothing at the mouth and vibrating on her chair from wanting to cut his food so badly.

Vash figured he would eventually get used to this and it was a hundred times better than having someone else cut his food. He wasn't a toddler anymore. And not an old man yet either.

Once Chelsea had calmed down lunch resumed like normal.

Steven asking Vash polite questions about himself and sharing a bit of additional information about everything that was going on today.

Melvin then told everything there was to tell about Deinocheirus.

This wasn't really something anyone else on the table was interested in but everyone nodded along anyway.

Physical therapy was quite okay.

Mr. Cruz („Oh no, please just call me Diego!“) had to admit that he didn't really had much experience with amputees but he would try his best to find some exercises that Vash can do.

He did however note that Vash's amputation must've been some time ago.

Since Vash's memories cut off at 15 and at that point he still had both arms it must've been after that but before he was done growing.

For today Diego showed Vash some balance exercises since Vash said he felt unsteady sometimes.

He wasn't really used to almost a whole arm missing and even though he obviously had mastered Walking In A Straight Line by now he couldn't balance on one foot.

Or stand with his eyes closed. Or put more weight onto one foot than the other without almost falling over to the side.

Diego also wanted Vash to build up strength on his left arm again so he tied one end of a rubber band around it and the other end around a balancing pole on the wall and told him to pull it back.

Vash felt a bit stupid doing that.

„I can't use my left arm much anyway. Why do I have to train it?“

„Because it's still your arm even if there's less of it. Also it's not just the arm there's also the entire shoulder and shoulder blade and your back. And it would look weird if one arm is muscular and one arm is skinny. But mostly it's because you will find uses for your left arm and it needs to be up for the task. I can tell that before your coma you were really fit and strong. That includes your left arm. Let's see if we can go back to that level.“

Whatever Vash had looked like before he now was rather skinny without either much fat nor muscle mass to him. Which is something that Diego expected.

How was he supposed to put on weight if he couldn't eat or muscles if he wasn't able to move?

Vash only remembered himself as being on the more skinny side so he had no idea what his adult body Used to look like.

He can't imagine himself looking any different than this.

And now he's back in his room splashing water in his face and hoping that he manages to cool down a bit before nordic walking.

Melvin, who has the room to the left, is listening loudly to music. Techno, or something.

Vash still needs to listen to more music to get a solid grasp on all the different kinds there are.

To the right of him is Steven's room who either isn't around right now or just super quiet.

He seems like someone who is just very quiet though.

He is also the oldest in group, having turned 35 just last week.

Then counter clockwise there is Anna's room who managed to not say a single word so far and then Chelsea's room.

When Vash came back from physical therapy he heard her talking to someone on the phone but now there also was silence.

The music stops. Melvin is walking around in his room.

And then gunshots but in very low audio quality.

Seems like he's playing a game now.

At least Vash Hopes that the noises come from a game.

Vash looks out of his window.

From here he really cannot see any desert, just buildings and trees everywhere.

It's as if he's in an entirely different world now.

The window is slightly open and a warm breeze is coming in but its not hot by any means. Vash cannot smell any sand in the air either.

His dorm is standing right next to the fence so he can see into the backyard of a house that doesn't belong to the organisation grounds.

He can see the building of the fire brigade. Further back there's a rather high apartment building, towering over the sea of small family homes and row houses.

Vash can also see the church way back.

Earlier he also heard its bells.

He has never been to church, as far as he knows and doesn't really believe in anything

and yet the bells had felt strangely familiar.

If he leans a lot to the right he can catch a glimpse of the electricity poles above the train tracks in the distance.

Trains are another thing he has never seen before.

According to Steven they are really new though. They showed up first when he himself was still a kid and then gained growing popularity in the past 5 years as a more reliable and faster alternative to the aging sand steamers.

Each sand steamer needs to be powered by a plant so only a very limited number can be produced and they can't operate as frequent as trains either in order to not to stress the plants too much while trains have none of these limitations.

Yeah they can carry fewer people each but unlike sand steamers they can go nonstop and several trains can be put on the same route so in the long run their capacity is dozens of times larger.

A sand steamer needs up to 4 days to cross the sand ocean while a train does it in one and a half so the remaining sand steamers are slowly being phased out in favour of trains.

Even busses seem like a more viable alternative despite taking just as long.

At least they dont use up all the plants.

„There will always be some sand steamers, I guess,“ Steven had said „Just for nostalgia's sake and also because they have become such an iconic image. But they will probably be used as tourist attractions and run on historic lines instead.“

So what should Vash do with his time now?

He has a tablet and a phone but it seems that many others here have a TV and consoles or a laptop and such things.

Or they collect other things to occupy themselves with when there's nothing to do.

Melvin told Vash after lunch about a few stores that are within walking distance and he mentioned an electronics store so maybe once Vash has gotten a bit of money he should pay it a visit. Someone knocks on Vash's door.

„Yo Vash it's me, Chelsea! We got nordic walking now! Come downstairs!“

Vash jolts.

Wow he really got into deep thought here for a bit. How did an hour pass this fast?

He quickly changes T shirts and then hurries downstairs.

Funnily, the nordic walking group is led by Mrs. Fischer.

Chelsea spots Vash and then drags him further outside into the frontyard.

Several others are already here and looking for the right walking sticks.

„Mrs. Fischer! Mrs. Fischer! How is Vash gonna do this?“ Mrs. Fischer looks up from helping someone else picking out the right equipment and putting it on.

Vash really doesn't like being in the spotlight like this.

Luckily most others don't care about The New Guy.

„Ah well we can just put the sling around your arm and make sure its nice and tight. And we just use the longest stick for your left arm then and a shorter one for your right. And then we'll see if that works out for you and if not then we will find another solution.“ Mrs. Fischer explains while doing exactly that.

„So how does that feel for you?“ „Odd.“ Vash answers „But I have no idea what its supposed to feel like so I guess thats normal.“

„Let's find out then!“

Mrs. Fischer then explains Vash what he has to do while helping him with his right-hand stick.

How walking can be so complicated is beyond him but who knows, maybe this ends up being fun for him? At least its outside and he has been itching to move around more which wasn't a possibility in the hospital.

„Okay now guys! Is everyone here? Where's Joe?“

Mrs. Fischer does a quick roll call.

Turns out, everyone is here except for Joe which no one has seen since lunch.

Mrs. Fischer lets out a sigh.

„We can't wait until His Highness graces us with his presence or we'll be standing here all day. Let's go! We take the route around the biodome today.“

To his great dismay, Vash has to quickly realise that whatever stamina he might have had before, there is not much left of it now.

It takes about two minutes until he's already sweating and it's not the heat of the two suns for once.

Two more minutes and he's lightly panting and to make matters even worse the road goes slightly uphill now.

He's almost at the end of the group, only a handful others are slower than him.

Chelsea joins yet again.

„Huh? You're so skinny I thought you would be way ahead of us.“

„I was in a coma for two years..“ Vash wheezes.

„Ah that explains a lot. I'm just really out of shape cuz I hate sports. 'But Chelsea' they say 'It will be so amazing for your mental health if you're outside more often.' they say. Blaaaaaargh.“

She badly mimicks Mrs. Fischer.

Can't be That out of shape if she can manage to talk so much without even breaking into sweat, Vash thinks.

They are out of the residential area mostly. Only a few houses here and there. The majority is pastures for Thomases and „fields“ where people try to grow grass until the soil is fertile enough to grow other things.

Then they arrive at the biodome which is an absolute massive structure that sticks out like a sore thumb between all the other more organic buildings and fields.

Vash can't see inside from here but he notices that the air around it seems so much cleaner than before. There's also a faint sweet smell, like flowers.

Well, there probably Are flowers inside so that explains it.

They pass the biodome after a minute and the air that was clear and cool now turns warm and a bit stuffy again.

Like a room that needs to be aired out badly.

But by far not as bad as the middle of the desert.

Vash remembers that sometimes when he was outside for too long he would blow his nose and find sand in the tissue.

Sand in his clothes. His hair. His room. His bed.

„I really wanna work at the biodome!“

Vash looks back at Chelsea.

„I always wanted to work at one. Maybe I can do an internship there. I keep forgetting to ask about it though. This one even has animals like cows and sheep!“

The good thing about Chelsea is that Vash doesn't need to verbally answer, just nod, so he can focus on breathing and not keeling over from the exertion.

„I worked at a Thomas ranch once but that wasn't quite the same and it was outside of the city and taking the bus there took so long I had to get up at 5am and was home around 6. Ugh... The Thomases were really cute though but one bit me once.“

Yeah, they tend to do that sometimes.

At least now its going downhill for a bit.

Mrs. Fischer has noticed that Vash is having trouble keeping up with the majority of the flock so she falls back a bit to meet up with him.

„Is everything alright with you?“

„Yeah..“ Vash says, clearly still out of breath, „I'm just really out of shape.“

Something is coming up in the back of his mind.

The sensation of sand going up to his ankles and walking for hours until the suns go down. Boots slowly filling up with sand. Casually talking to someone next to him as if this isn't one of the most exhausting things someone can do.

If he was able to do this before the coma he clearly couldn't do it now anymore.

At least for the time being.

„Just focus on breathing. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Keep a steady rhythm when walking. Maybe sing your favourite song in your head. We are taking the shorter route as well today and will be back soon.“

Once they are back Vash definitely needs to take a shower first.

And then find something to eat.

It takes another ten minutes to get back to the dorm and when they do Vash is ready to collapse there and then.

„Did you have fun?“ Mrs. Fischer asks.

„I don't know yet.“ Vash wheezes.

Two hours later and he has showered and eaten something and feels somewhat alive again.

Now Vash is lying on his bed and contemplating on what to do. How to spend the rest of his day.

Some people from his dorm, including Melvin and Anna, have gone to the local burger place in the neighbourhood but Vash doesn't have any money yet so he couldn't go.

The suns are already low above the horizon and douse the room in a warm orange colour.

Now that its getting cooler outside Vash could open his window fully and a nice breeze is coming in.

Some people from another dorm can be heard playing football outside.

Leaves are rustling in the breeze, which is a noise Vash still isn't used to.

Another noise he is even less used to is birdsong.

There's a bird sitting on the windowsill of the neighbour's house and singing it's little heart out.

Another bird from a bit further away answers.

Vash can also hear the faint rumbling of cars and someone is really revving their engine.

Someone is starting to mow their lawn.

There are so many noises going on at once.

And they are completely different from the hospital.

All those noises sounded hectic and unnatural.

And on the ship were barely any noises at all.

The machines were quiet the computers were quiet the Plants were quiet and even the people mostly talked in hushed voices. Luida and Brad were the two only ones who were openly loud and made attempts to make the place feel alive.

This changed when they got the first geodome going and also managed to get more people out of their cryosleep and some of these people were kids who looked like they were as old as Vash.

Or rather, he looked as if he was as old as them.

Things got a lot more lively on the ship then. The kids didn't even care that Vash was growing faster than them. They called him Brother.

They would play hide and seek together and tag and pick flowers and draw things and Luida would read stories for them under the trees even when Vash already could read himself.

Vash blinks.

He wonders what happened then. What happened and why did he leave the ship and how did he get here?

Someone is driving by on a motorcycle and somehow that piques his interest for some reason.

Does he have a connection to bikes?

„Jesus Christ, Spikey! You never got car sick so why does my bike suddenly make you throw up?“

„Maybe if you wouldn't drive like you drank all the whiskey on the planet I wouldn't be sick.“

„Well, do it yourself then. Let's see how that turns out.“

Huh. Where did that come from?

It certainly snapped Vash out of getting homesick, that's for sure.

Playing with the kids in the biodome feels like it was basically yesterday but also eons in the past.

After all, it was indeed almost 150 years ago.

There's so much stuff to catch up on.

For example, who was that guy in this sudden flash of memory? Is he still alive? It seemed like he was close enough to Vash that they could just bicker like that. They probably had spend a significant amount of time together.

What was his name...? Something.. with an animal. There was an animal in his name...

Someone suddenly knocks on the door.

„Hey Vash it's me, Melvin! Wanna watch a movie? You shouldn't be all alone in your room when you're new. Too many thoughts and all.“

Well, he is not wrong.

So Vash gets up again and decides that watching a movie doesn't sound so bad.

The living room is a slightly musty-smelling room with big windows a large table in the back a few cupboards with books and games in them and of course a large L-shaped couch a coffee table and a TV.

Boxes with fries and burgers are scattered across the coffee table. So are a few big cola bottles and red plastic cups.

Everyone from Vash's group is there plus a few from the other two groups.

One of them is lazily sprawled out in front of the TV and eating fries.

He has blue hair and for a second an exclamation mark goes off in Vash's head but vanishes immediately again.

„Just get cozy anywhere. We thought we bring burgers and stuff for everyone and have a nice movie night.“ Melvin explains.

Vash sits down next to Steven and feels a bit.. misplaced.

He never watched a movie. Well, as far as he can remember, which doesn't say much.

When was the last time Vash had a burger?

He and Nai had them for their first birthday and Luida also made them a few times but not very often.

Vash grabs a box and takes the burger out and takes a bite.

Huh that tastes totally different than the ones Luida made.

It tastes.. a lot better.

Not that Luida's were bad but this has much more flavour.

„I got my hands on the new Revengeancers movie. Has anyone seen that already?“ Melvin asks.

Everyone shakes their heads.

Steven groans.

„I was hoping you had a Good movie or something. I heard that one is pretty dumb.“

„Oh I'm so sorry, I will get one about quantum physics just for you.“

A few people giggle and Steven groans again.

„Just... just put it on. I will survive.“

Ten minutes into the movie as Vash unwraps and chomps down on his third burger (double cheese double beef) the blue-haired guy turns around and stares suspiciously at him.

„Hmm..?“

Did he eat too much? Vash is surprised himself. He already ate dinner two hours ago and now he basically inhaled three burgers in barely ten minutes.

But that's not the reason the guy is staring.

„You look familiar. You look like Vash the Stampede.“

Now Everyone has turned around and stares at Vash.

„He sure does!!“ Chelsea yells and takes out her phone and then basically smooshes Vash's face with it.

„Look! Look!“

There's a wanted poster on the display. It already looks a bit yellowed and faded but it unmistakenly says „Vash the Stampede Dead or Alive 60,000,000,000$$“ Vash counts the zeroes.

„60 Billion???“ he exclains in shock.

„Yup. Levelled the entire city of July. It's a miracle anyone survived.“ Chelsea confirms.

„My uncle lives in one of the towns surrounding July and he said that night it looked like a spiral of bright light was going up to the sky and then a ball of the same light fell down and it was like ten thousand suns. And once the light was gone the city was gone with it.“

Vash can just blink in horror.

That was supposed to be him? Why would he destroy an entire city? He's not a villain!

The blue haired guy chimes in again.

„But it makes no sense. Why would he have done that?“ Yeah, exactly!

The guy digs in his pockets and also digs out a phone and shows everyone a photo. It looks even older than the one Chelsea has.

„My grandpa met Vash! About 40 or so years ago. He helped digging a well in his village so they wouldn't have to rely on other towns for water.“

On the photo was unmistakenly Vash standing next to a tall lanky guy with a ponytail in front of a well. Vash was flashing a peace sign and grinning.

„Huh? 40 years ago? Wouldn't Vash be like... 60 or whatever now?“ Melvin asks.

Everyone looks back at Vash who's just sitting there.

„You don't like 60. You look like... 22 or something.“

Vash rubs the back of his head nervously. Oh man, this is awkward.

„Well... ahah... ha... I suppose that could be me though. I don't think Vash is a super common name. But it can't remember anything past being 15.“ Chelsea scoots closer, so close that she's almost sitting on his lap now and stares at him.

„There is No Way that you are 60.“

Vash lifts his hand so she can't get even closer.

„I.. I have no explanation for this that doesn't sound insane. But I am a Plant.“

It's not like he could've hidden that forever. Better to say it right away. Then either everyone knows or nobody will believe him, think he's completely out there and beyond help and he has made his life here utter hell.

Silence.

„Yeah sure. And I got a secret identity as a pop star. The name Chelsea is fake and I'm actually Tara Olson from November City and the leader of the girl group Twinkle Star.“

Steven who had been silent the entire time now gently pushes Chelsea away and also gets closer to Vash.

„It's not like we can't see for ourselves if he's lying or not. My father is a Plant Specialist and says there's a foolproof way to find out.“

And sure enough, he's shining his way too bright phone LED directly into Vash's eyes.

Everyone gasps.

Vash can only assume what they are seeing. He actually has never seen the markings in his eyes himself. For all he knows they could be spelling „Fuck you“.

„Holy shit what?? He's really a Plant!“ Melvin screams.

„Whooooooaaaaaaaaah....“

Chelsea wants to creep closer again but Steven holds her back.

„He's not some zoo animal you can just gawk at. Have some manners.“

Steven puts his phone back.

„So. This proves that he's saying the truth. Can we now focus on the movie?“

„Huuuuuuuh? But I have so many questions!“

„And I want to watch that movie now, so quiet please.“

Vash will be eternally grateful to Steven for keeping everyone from bombarding him with questions he probably wouldn't have an answer to.

#my writing #trigun stampede #trigun fanfiction #vash the stampede #wow only took me a year (thats a lie the 7th chapter took a year)#but i didnt wanted to publish chapter 6 without getting chapter 7 done #haha.. 'publish' haha..

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howlingday · 6 months

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My idea for a potential DEATH BATTLE! #8

2023 Dec 12, 26, 27, 30, 31

2024, Jan 1, 2, 19, Feb 8, Mar 14, 24

MASTER POST

Thumbnail art

P3 Hero vs Neku Sakuraba (Persona vs TWEWY)

The Reaper will claim someone's soul permanently today!

FIGHTER 1: The P3 Hero, the Wildcard Messiah that ended the Dark Hour.

FIGHTER 2: Keku Sakuraba, the Shibuya Saviour in the Reaper's Game.

Wiz: Memento mori; remember that you will die. Time never waits and it delivers all equally to the same end, be it by aging or a bullet.

*insert clips of playing chess with Death from The Seventh Seal, Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Maddie, Death from Castlevania*

Boomstick: So, take off your headphones and remember to make bonds and connections as they make life worth living. The world ends with you, so it's up to you to expand it. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.

Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.

PREFACE (What to know): So, Season 10 just ended and its final episode gave a teaser for Season 11 showing the Fool, Death, and The World tarot cards. Many suspect that this hints towards a Persona MU, which could be this one as the P3 Hero is represented by the Fool, Death, Judgement, and Universe Arcanas (The Universe is the Thoth Tarot equivalent of The World), and even though I started another suggestion as of me writing this, I wanted to this suggest this one as soon as I could. I get that it is not yet confirmed or denied. However, I want to get it out on the slight chance that it is the planned episode.

As of Pi Day 2024, Persona 3 Reload has been released, DLC has been announced, and Persona 6 is rumored to be released in 2025.

Also, I am not giving the P3 Hero a specific name. The SMT Wiki, Persona 3 Movies and P3 Dancing call him Makoto Yuki, but I don't like that name because it means that there'll be two Makotos if we involve P5 and three if we involve P2. I get that their names are spelled with different kanji to denote different meanings, but other sources from ATLUS call him by different names: the PQ2 Artbook calls him P3 Hero and the P3 Manga calls him Minato Arisato. For brevity and ease, I'll be referring to the character of today as P3H.

ANALYSIS OF ARSENAL (What I will be giving them):

Consider this to be part of the preface as this will cover something that you should know. To have them at their absolute best, I will take P3H at his endgame and Neku with his powers and experiences from NEO.

For the sake of the argument and animation, both will fight on their own, so no navigators, All-Out Attacks, Light Puck, Cross Combos, Fusion attacks, Mashups, or Killer Remixes. Any thread that Neku wears will have the effects of Final Remix or NEO. I will also use the affinity system from P3 Reload instead of the one from P5R, which although expansive, P3's battle affinities make more sense to use since we're talking about the P3 protagonist.

Both have vast arsenals that the player can choose from. P3H can have a bunch of items that can restore his health and SP, the Ultimate Personas and skills or Fusion Spells/Theurgies like Primal Force, Armageddon, Infinity, High Counter, Arms Master, Spell Master, Regenerate 3, Invigorate 3, the ultimate weapons and items like Lucifer's Blade and the Omnipotent Orb, or he can have none of that. PQ and PQ2 are canon, so do I include the status circle moves, Link attacks, or the game-breaking Heroic Gemini? Neku can have game-breaking threads, Psychs, and Pin Sets like Dope Line+SOS Boosting threads + Wild Boar Resonance which can one-shot a lot of bosses, the Eden Set which grants total invulnerability, the Darklit Planets Set, the Yearlong Ensemble, and the Black Cat set, all of which are supremely powerful, or he can Week 1 pins and clothes. How the heck will I go over their arsenal and skills?

The best way to go about this is to max out their stats and analyze this fight twice. The first battle will be analyzed using a traditional playthrough setup, and the second will be using the absolute best equipment and tools they can reasonably access (no PQ stuff).

WHY:

Connections (What do they have in common):

1. They are known for being or at least appearing antisocial or asocial but learn to make genuine connections and friendships. Said friendships give them power. Examples for P3H include: 1. Social links unlocking the Ultimate Personas of an arcana, 2. Social Links boost the EXP gained when fusing Personas of their arcana. Examples for Neku include: 1. Shopkeeps and cashiers can give you details of some clothing threads and/or give you access to more powerful clothing, 2. Fusion attacks can be performed, 3. A Player who fails to make a Pact will be erased if they don't have a partner within a certain given amount of time, and a player who has made a Pact is erased seven minutes after their Partner is erased. Said friendships helped them overcome the final bosses of their game which only served to reinforce the themes of friendships and connections. This is further emphasized by the fact that the mobs of their games, Shadows and Noise, are manifested from and/or attracted to negative thoughts. Said enemies also include a "Reaper": P3 has a boss Shadow known as The Reaper, and TWEWY's Noise creatures are created by other Players of the Game called Reapers.

2. Both have an intimate history with death. During the majority of P3, P3H had Death sealed within him. At the end of his journey, he sacrifices himself to become the Great Seal. He is also orphaned due to the death of his parents, and in the P3 Movies, Makoto witnessed their deaths. Neku is traumatized by the death of his best friend (even though this is from the events of the Another Day timeline). He has also died at least twice; he was shot dead by Joshua, came back to life, and was shot again by Coco.

3. Both wear headphones and even use a similar MP3 player. P3H uses one from Sony's NW-S20x series and Neku's seems to be based on Sony's NW-S200. Their music players are used to symbolize their lack of social skills or meaningful connections at the beginning of their journeys.

4. As minor as it is, both are a sort of "Chosen One" or hold unique positions in their power systems. P3H is a Wildcard, so he can wield multiple Personas, which only those who have formed a contract can do. Neku is the Proxy of the most powerful being in Shibuya and his high Imagination allowed him to use a lot of psychs during the initial Reaper's Game.

Personal reasons (Why I want this battle/like this MU):

I consider this MU superior to Joker vs. Neku. Aesthetically, P5's style meshed better with TWEWY's graffiti and urban aesthetic, and there is also the Shibuya connection with similar themes of reaching out, forming connections, and defying the game you're in, but then P3 Reload was released. There are also the connections mentioned above. I also think this MU is more appropriate thematically due to the themes of death and broadening one's world.

THE FIGHT:

Art and animation:

It'll be in 3D unless someone can get their hands on P3H sprites. The models do exist for both characters: P3H has models from all his games and Neku has models from KH DDD and NEO. However, the following pieces of art by u/Crossover and u/Ok_Administration_45 respectively show that the sprites do exist.

To get the most out of P3H's Wildcard ability, I will give him some of his roster from the P5R Full Moon Challenge Battle and some extras.

1. Orpheus

2. Thanatos

3. Messiah.

4. Orpheus Telos to represent his max strength

5. Helel for Armageddon.

6. Satan for Armageddon.

7. Vishnu for Infinity.

8. Ananta for Infinity.

9. Sigfried for Scarlet Havoc

10. Mithras for Scarlet Havoc

Neku will use a mix of psychs that are iconic like Shockwave, Massive Hit, Force Rounds, Pyrokinesis, and Cure Drink as well as pins related to him specifically (in NEO, Topo the Talented, Black Hole Bunny, and Hotaru can only be obtained if Neku is the one who maxes out their pre-evolved forms)

Possible setup:

We open by looking at the sky. black as pitch, and the full moon's pale light beautifully shines down. However, this does not mean peace, especially not for the leader of SEES or the Composer's former proxy. We cut to the top of the 104, our teenage heroes have already engaged in a fight, and not just with each other. P3H is fighting animals with tattoos for limbs and Neku is fighting masked humanoids with shadowy skin. After cutting down the black armies, they face each other.

"Ready?" P3H gets into his battle position again.

"Yeah." Neku prepares himself with new pins.

FIGHT! :

1. Shockwave vs Sword. The two teenagers engage. Neku uses Shockwave, creating a blade, and clashes blades with P3H. P3H gets a good slash and stab in, knocking Neku back, but Neku charges in, landing in a horizontal slash, a vertical slash, and then uses Stellar Flurry, finishing his combo off with a Lance Lunge, knocking P3H back instead.

2. Neku then uses Pyrokinesis, engulfing P3H in flames. Yet, P3H is barely affected, taking slight damage. He grabs his Evoker and quickly points it to the side of his head. "Persona!" After pulling the trigger, Orpheus is summoned and he casts Blazing Hell, surrounding a large area in front of him in fire and heat.

3. Neku takes massive damage, and P3H rushes in to use Orpheus' physical power, but Neku quickly backs away and uses his Force Rounds. P3H dodges the energy bullets as he closes in on his foe and switches his Persona. "Thanatos!" The Death God comes out and slashes with lethality and precision, capping the combo off with a Brave Blade, slashing hard and wide, but Neku narrowly escapes yet again. Neku senses something odd about this guy... "Focus... Open up your senses..." His Soul is varied, and there are a lot of powers within, but they all have different affinities and weaknesses that he can exploit. He needs to be careful, and maybe he'll win. He switches to Hotaru and meets Thanatos' slashes with his own, hitting the Persona with its weakness to Light, dizzying P3H a bit. Neku charges up a Massive Hit psych. "Goin' up!", and P3H is sent flying this time.

4. P3H quickly picks himself up and feels the power of Theurgy. He grabs his evoker and summons the power of Sigfried and Mithras, the Scarlet Havoc. The scarlet razors and slashes are so fast that they blindside and overwhelm Neku. P3H sees his opponent is down. "Come forth, Messiah!" and he uses Debilitate on Neku, Heat Riser on himself. "Siegfried!" Using Concentrate, he then uses Vorpal Blade.

5. Neku uses a Healing psych but barely hangs on after the brutal slash attack, but he switches his pins again to a Doomed Life, Doomed Attack, Doomed Defense, and Doomed Mobility combo. P3H notices that his buffs are effectively nullified, and he even starts to feel weakened. Neku then uses an Entanglement psych, but P3H very-handedly dodges, until Debilitate and Heat Riser wear off. Neku then easily catches P3H, using his Black Hole Bunny, dealing strong damage.

6. Neku then charges Topo the Talented and fires the missiles, but P3H breaks free of his confines and switches personas again to "Orpheus Telos!", tanking the damage soundly.

7. Neku senses extreme power from the Soul, so switches his pins to Over the Top and a combination of Apport and Psychokinesis. All his pins in Reboot are quickly filling up again. He combines Psychokinesis with Apport to summon meteors and even f*cking subway trains and throws them all at P3H who sees the incoming attack, but he's low on health. He pulls his Evoker, summoning the power of Ananta and Vishnu, and casts Infinity, protecting himself from the powerful strike. By this point, he's almost out of SP, but he's far from dead. Neku sees this, so he uses a Healing Aura and Inspiring Aura psych combo to heal and buff himself up and switches Psychs once again, this time to a combo of Nexus Ray and Laser Inferno psychs.

8. With a Concentrate, P3H charges up his magic energy while Neku raises his arm, and charges the energy at the end of his hand. Messiah unleashes a charged Megidolaon and Neku fires his Ray/Laser amalgamation. We get a wide shot of Shibuya and the 104, and we see a giant flash of light. Both teens are still standing, but very close to dying, panting. Thank goodness for Endure.

9. P3H wins by sheer overwhelming force. Neku has exhausted most of his pins, and they're not rebooting fast enough, even with Over the Top. He switches pins again, but P3H summons Messiah again and casts Salvation. Neku tries to attack, but with a summon to "Orpheus Telos!" and he holds off Neku for enough time for the Theurgy gauge to charge. He uses an SP recovering item and uses debilitate again, and Neku is crippled yet again. P3H summons Helel and Satan, thinks of his dear friends, and casts Armageddon. Neku is unable to use any healing psychs in time. His last thoughts? Shiki, Beat, Josh, Rindo…

10. Ending 2: Neku wins by wearing down his opponent. Neku uses Grave Marker quickly to knock his opponent off balance, and he's able to launch attack after attack, keeping his adversary on the backfoot. P3H can't even switch his Persona, His Theurgy is ready, but as he tries to grab his Evoker, Neku binds him with Entanglement. Over the Top really came in handy. Neku, thinking of his friends, charges up a final attack like in the TWEWY fight against Draco Cantus. P3H sees oblivion, but he only thinks of his friends. He didn't tell Junpei, Yukari, Mitsuru, or even Aigis goodbye...

11. The winner takes the loser's headphones and music player (call them "World Expander's Music Set '' or "SEES Music Set"). If Neku wins, then he also picks up a pin that looks like the Gekkougan High emblem named "Full Moon", and all of these are top-tier gear. The winner does not get to simmer in his thoughts because he hears the sounds of swarming creatures behind him. He turns his sight to the amassing Noise and Shadows around him. "I'll live on for the both of us." They lunge at the black armies.

12. KO!

RESULT:

Strengths and weaknesses:

P3H:

+ Is more powerful as he fought Nyx, who could affect the population on a worldwide scale as opposed to Anguis Cantus, Draco Cantus, Dissonance Tapir, or even Phoenix Cantus, all of whom would at most affect just Shibuya. Even if he fought Nyx with a team, P3H is still more powerful. At most, it can be highballed to say that P3H is a planet buster since Nyx, once fully completed, could destroy the Earth, and P3H stopped this fully powered Nyx.

+ His magic is arguably stronger than Neku's psychs. This is especially true for skills like Ragnarok, Pralaya, Infinity, and Armageddon.

+ Sword allows for greater range in close combat.

+ Has resistances and immunities with Null, Void, and even recovery with Drain or can redirect attacks with Repel. Items like Omnipotent Orb or Tome of the Void can Null damage or status effects.

+ Has instant death/kill options such as Maeigaon, Door of Hades, and Mudoon.

+ Megidolaon and other Almighty skills bypass resistances. If treated like in mainline SMT, then all Pierce skills will also bypass resistances except for repelling.

+ If given access to all his passive abilities, then he can likely passively recover and outlast his opponent with skills like Invigorate and Regenerate, return damage with High Counter, reduce damage a lot with Firm Stance, increase hit rate with Apt Pupil, reduce the cost of his skills with Arms Master and Spell Master, double evasion rate against all magical attacks except Light, Dark, and Almighty with Angelic Grace, flat out nullify, repel or drain most of Neku’s psychs, amp his own attacks and odds of inflicting status conditions, survive certain death with Endure and Enduring Soul (these stack), and increase damage with his own weapon with Weapons Master.

+ Heat Riser and other Enhance skills increase his own Attack, Defense, and Agility/ Hit/Evasion rate or reduce the opponent's.

+ Dekunda removes inflicted debuffs, Dekaja removes the opponent's buffs.

+ Rebellion and Revolution increase Crit Rate.

+ Tetrakarn and Makarakarn put up barriers.

+ Charge and Concentrate can boost the damage of their next offensive skill.

+ Life Drain can recover a small amount of HP from a foe.

= Comparable speed as both have dodged light-based attacks,

- Theurgies take a long time to charge up.

- Abilities like Regenerate and Invigorate don't recover a lot of HP and SP.

- Buffs/debuffs, Tetrakarn, Makarakarn, Charge, and Concentrate are not permanent and wear off after a certain amount of time or upon using their next offensive skill.

- The high-class attacks and Recovery skills require large amounts of HP and SP respectively.

- Instant kill options have a low success rate.

Neku:

+ If given access to all his pins from the first game like Mega Man is given access to all his weapons, then Neku has the edge in versatility (sheer number of psychs and affinities) and invulnerability (Eden set), so he can overwhelm P3 and exploit his weaknesses.

+ Greater mobility and can even teleport (more so if he is given access to Flowmotion).

+ Edge in range due to ranged attacks.

+ Most pins work by cooldown and don't drain HP, so even if they're exhausted, they'll immediately begin to recharge. This includes the healing psychs of Aqua Barrier and Dark Barrier, and even NEO's Healing Aura as well as the buffing psych Inspiring Aura. This all pairs well with the Over the Top psych which reduces reboot time by 40%.

+ Turbo psych increases the amount of uses per pin, adding extra longevity to the pins.

+ Can cripple his opponent by inflicting negative status effects like Immobility or Airborne to immobilize, HP Drain to continuously reduce the target's HP by a percentage. The Doomed psyches also reduce the opponent’s Attack, Defense, and/or Mobility. These don’t count as mental ailments so Unshaken Will does not nullify them.

+ Debuffs on opponents last longer with the Blight psychs.

+ Psychs like Nexus Ray and affinities like Time and Gravity could count as Almighty skills and thus bypass resistances and passive skills. Other psyches like Stellar Flurry can count as Pierce skills (I already mentioned the significance of Pierce skills).

+ Is more experienced.

+ Threads increase his stats, nullify or reduce knockback. There are also threads that increase his stats more when in low health (Second Wind, Steely Resolve, etc.), increase the capacities of psychs with abilities like Reinforced Chains, Stranglehold, or Synergy, provide skills like Resistances to poison, shocks, or burns, Regen and Auto-Charge (allows the release of psychs that require charge up time).

≥ This is a big stretch, but Neku could find the weakness of the Personas. Neku can read minds with the Player Pin and is even able to scan Soul by the time the events of NEO happen, and Personas are seen as the manifestation of the soul.

= Similar speeds as they both have dodged light-based attacks.

- Most healing pins have a limited number of uses (Already mentioned which ones don't). Those that don’t have a limited number of uses cannot be used until fully recharged.

- Cannot bypass Infinity.

- Does not have abilities or equipment that can completely nullify, absorb, or redirect damage.

Ending puns:

"P3H shouldn't take it personally, but he faced his Mass Destruction."

"Neku may have been psyched up, but he was left Twisted."

MUSIC:

Name: The Reaper Hour

The name refers to the Dark Hour and the Reaper's Game. It is also a nod to the Reaper Shadow and the Reapers.

Art: Look at Yate's "My Dread Burns with You" and simply add their MP3 player to the art and you get the gist of the art. If you want an original answer: take the Reaper symbol, have it wear Neku's headphones, and have it use an Evoker. Around where the "neck" would be the Sony MP3 player. In the background is a giant Midnight Hour clock being broken like in P3.

Sound: TWEWY's rock + P3's hip hop. The opening sounds like Twister, but when the combatants engage, the music shifts to a mix of Mass Destruction and Hybrid (The sound of Hybrid + the instrumentation and lyrics like that of MD). When the battle reaches its climax, the music sounds like Burn My Dread like it's the P3 Final Boss, but it has elements and lyrics like those of Calling. Death is calling the protagonists, but only one will heed the calling.

FINAL THOUGHTS AND WORDS

Imagining the fight was pleasant, but the preface was a nightmare. Worse still, my increased workload meant I couldn't finish this when I wanted to, and I could rarely find the energy to work on this. Getting this out before the announcement of Season 11 did not make this any easier, not that I could actually do so. I apologize for the long time between posts and for any inconsistencies. Still, I had fun, and I wanted to pay respect to characters that I look up to. They taught me that even if making connections is hard, it is never impossible, and that not reaching out only makes life worse. Friends help us, and whether or not bonds are the answer to the question of life, they should help us grow. Some will harm us, some will leave, but is that a reason to cut yourself off from the others?

THANK YOU AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS!

Psych affinities -> Persona affinities:

No affinity and makes bodily contact = Physical

No affinity and is ranged = Gun (P5) or Physical (P3)

Burst = Nuclear/Nuke (P5) or Fire (P3)

Darkness = Curse (Eiha, P5) or Darkness (P3)

Electric = Electric

Fire = Fire

Gravity = Almighty

Kinesis = Psychokinesis/Psy (P5) or Physical (P3).

Ice = Ice

Light = Bless (Kouha, P5) or Light (P3)

Poison & physical = Physical

Poison & ranged = Gun

Sound = Wind

Wind = Wind

Time = Almighty

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

Sadly, I can only barely account for one of these contenders since I did play The World Ends With You, though my time with it was very... forgettable. Not a lot for me to grab onto, to be honest. BUT that doesn't detract from this great idea of yours! Hopefully, we'll get another Death Battle in the near future.

#submission #death battle #persona 3 #makoto yuki #minato arisato #neku sakuraba #twewy neku #twewy #neo twewy #the world ends with you #neo the world ends with you #smt persona #my submissions #my thoughts

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occasionally-victor · 3 months

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fuck it, some post-canon spiderbit hcs (when i say post-canon, i mean "after an ending i had in my brain for months that now i can say objectively cooler than the one we got and everyone who could escaped yippee ^^")

!Roier eventually opened a taquieria like he always wanted. He's kinda became both an owner and a cook (not because he's the only one working there, juts because he wants to). !Cellbit have been working some odd jobs for a first while, until one day he was invited to work as a private investigator with !Bagi

after the whole "getting kidnapped and being turned into a rat" thing, !Roier developed a fear of the darkness. It's not that bad - just being in the dark just makes him mildly uncomfortable (he can see in the dark because of the spider pair of eyes, but he very much still can acknowledge it as a darkness). However, going to sleep became a problem - falling asleep in the dark became almost impossible, and if it somehow happens - it will usually get interrupted by a nightmare. For some time, !Roier would sneak out of the bed to sleep in another room with lights (he does it so !Cellbit wouldn't worry, but that's very much doesn't work at all). It took !Cell only like a week of finding his husband curled up on a couch in a living room to just. Buy him a nightstand. It gives off just enough light for !Ro to fall asleep properly.

Talking about sleeping: !Cellbit basically can fall asleep anywhere. It's something he got used to since the Hunder Games times. The other thing is, is that he is a very light sleeper (same source lmao) - it's usual that he wakes up several times a night because of whatever noise or other thing, however he also can quickly fall asleep again. After Purgatory his sleep routine got fucked up even more than before and and he only got the opportunity to more or less fix it after escaping the island. (He's still needs to be dragged to bed 6/10 times, but he doesn't put much of resistance at this point)

After reuniting, they decided to do a vow renewal as soon as possible (after escaping the island, and ideally on a date of anniversary). They were already free by the time of first anniversary, but they were still busy settling down, so it was celebrated with a nice dinner. It was decided to do a vow renewal on a second anniversary. I might do a separate post about it honestly, but for now all i have in mind is an outfit idea. To celebrate a basically what it felt to be a second wedding (that doesn't happen on a really dangerous island and most likely wont have a venue blown up), they decided to kinda invert the original outfits? Basically, instead of suits its dresses, and it's switched who's wearing black and who's wearing white.

Every 16th they always go on a date, place and activity varies. It was !Roier's idea - because what do you mean !Cellbit never have been (or doesn't remember being) to an amusement park (or like. any other place in that direction). And since after like almost half a year of not being able to see each other even another month together was worth celebrating now.

I already did some art about it, but yeah, both of them end up growing out their hair to be pretty long. !Cellbit got it first - only like a year into being off the island, and it happened kinda unintentionally? Like, skipped on cutting hair once and then just kept delaying it level of unintentional. He was still thinking of cutting it even when it was already like slightly below the shoulder blades, but just couldn't - not when !Ro happened to be like, the biggest fan of his husbands hair (and for a reason - because the hair was very voluminous and fluffy, that made !Cell look like kinda softer and definitely just straight up cuter). !Roier decided to grow out hair mostly just to experiment with looks, and then ultimately left it long. Still hates when it gets too much in face (just like me fr).

Talking about hair stuff, the whitening of !Cell's and !Bagi's hair is because of genetic stuff (i did read about one condition when the person hair can get white spots that would fit the most, but idk, i just set on "whatever it is"). !Bagi's hair started getting white when she was like 5 and at the moment of her brother disappearance it was 3/5 white; by her 18th birthday her hair was at the current state of being mostly white with like, one actually colored streak left. !Celbit's hair only started getting white after being kidnapped by feds that one time (both coincidence and not), and after getting like 2/5 white in addition to already existing gray hairs, it kinda stopped for a good while; it only resumed when he hit like 45 years or so, when it suddenly in span of couple of months just. Turned completely white (with some gray hairs still staying). !Bagi's last not-white hair streak survived for much longer, like comically persistent.

In this post canon scenario all eggs that are uhh were alive at the moment of their great disappearance, are also escaped with everyone. However, in a scenario where no eggs had escaped, in my head spiderbit end up adopting a kid (like, several years after getting off the island). I didn't think that much about it for now tho.

#occasionally victor talks #mcyt #qsmp #cellbit #roier #qsmp cellbit #qsmp roier #spiderbit #guapoduo #those are just the ones i could pull out ofy brain for now #never writing ever again (a lie) worst experience of my life #no eggs mentioned because i realised i need a separate post about them lmaolike “i need to properly explain their living situation #i had not backread any of that btw im just gonna hope its readable

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ashesandhackles · 1 year

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Beyond the Veil (masterpost)

Co-written with @thedreamermusing

Sirius Black/Severus Snape. 97k.

A canon-divergent rewrite of Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows that follows the relationship between Sirius Black and Severus Snape. Think of it as mine and Dreamer's character study with romance.

Our list of chapters (and tiny previews where you can see we have experimented with multiple POVs) under the cut! Also a Snape and Lily prequel written by @thedreamermusing here: January 30th, 1975 (Happy Birthday Lily)

Chapter 1 - Prologue

Time was a standstill in these long hallways and empty rooms, full of memories that ticked under his skin like a pulse under a livid bruise.

Chapter 2 - changing perceptions

He was tempted to laugh, laugh like a maniac, at the absurdity, the injustice, out of grief--let out all his curled up emotions in a big hearty laugh. But then again, that hadn't worked out so well for him 15 years ago.

Chapter 3 - 12 Grimmauld Place meets Spinner's End

What Pettigrew lacked in skill; he made up for in malice. This seemingly pusillanimous creature hid within him a rusty sword whose efficiency lay not in the sharpness of the blade, but in the unnoticed poison of the rust.

Chapter 4- Enemy of my Enemy

"I brought him here because I finally see the advantages of being brawny rather than brainy," Snape smirked.

Chapter 5 - The Prince and Padfoot

"You disgust me.” rang over and over in his head like a church bell, a judgement in a confessional, a whisper that haunted his ears when he dreamed and lay awake, sometimes unable to tell the difference.

Chapter 6 - Monsters and Old School Friends

His wildness hung over him like an aura of a predator. Long-limbed, lax, but there was danger bubbling within him, an inexplicable ferocity that filled the air around him. How could anyone else not see that monster?

Chapter 7 - Circular Path

When Severus saw it for the first time, he was amazed. It was an answer to a question he had all his life, a representation of what could be built if he just reached out for the future and grabbed it with greedy hands. Now, as Narcissa opened the door with a stone face belied by the terror in her eyes, he was able to see the Manor for what it really was--a mouldering dump of pureblood affectations that concealed its decay as well as Grimmauld Place accentuated it.

Chapter 8 - Tale of Two Black Stars

Severus had known all along how to see who held the room. It was ingrained in him since he was a child. In Spinner's End, it was his father. A looming presence of overbearing violence that his mother, his magical mother, cowered against. He noticed it again in the playground - where Lily flew in air, in a burst of extraordinarily controlled magic.

Chapter 9 - The Wounds of Men

He did not know where their sudden leap of faith for the ferret came from ( “C’mon mate, I know Malfoy is a git but Death Eater is serious business!” ), but it made him feel stupid and ridiculous--it was almost as if he was back at Aunt Petunia’s, listening to her sweet talk the neighbours about Harry’s delinquency. ( “He told you he sleeps under a cupboard? A nasty, nasty lie! But the poor dear has got no one else; his parents didn’t leave us any money as well. It’s been such a strain on our finances…”

Chapter 10 - By The Light of The Full Moon

The first week at Azkaban was truly horrendous. Peter valued his mind - it was his best weapon and it helped him fade into the background. Losing the ability to think clearly, unable to tell dreams and memories apart; it was a sensation that terrified him. It felt like getting sucked into the quicksand of his resentment and anger and guilt that he kept at bay. He didn’t want to feel it. What use were those emotions, if they failed to help him survive?

Chapter 11 - Face Death in Hope

Death, Pain - all unavoidable things. Things he had to play with - in hope that one day, he would be able to expiate what he was carrying. He would not live to see it, he was sure. But he could hope. The only relief he had is that he would not die by his - Gellert’s- hand. “I am the only one who should be allowed to kill you,” he had said, a declaration, a threat - he wasn’t sure. “It is me that keeps you alive.”

Chapter 12 - Who Are You?

He was a son of the House of Malfoy, a noble house, one of the sacred 28, whose line went back generations. Their legacy was set in stone, the purity of their blood unquestioned. It infuriated him that nobody recognised that--that Potter, with his filthy mixed blood and mudblood mother--didn’t recognise that. And now, it had become so much worse. His father was a laughingstock. His mother looked pale and frightened all the time. It was up to him to bring things back to normal.

Chapter 13 - The Last Enemy (Part 1)

There were so many things that he thought were forgotten, so many memories whose life and colour had been drained away by grief and Azkaban. But standing here in the square, it was clear that they had always been there. He had felt something similar after walking into the doors of Grimmauld Place for the first time, but the only memories rising to surface there were of misery long-replaced. Here, every bit of youthful joy and love rose and flickered through his mind like stained-glass colours through snow, and every unremarkable step they had ever made on the square seemed precious in a fragile kind of way.

Chapter 14 - Shedding the Maker's Skin

“Lyall Lupin,” Fenrir said, smiling at the infinitesimal jerk Remus’ body gave. “I knew you came from money, boy. You’re his son, aren’t you?”

Remus went cold.

“Soulless, evil and deserving of nothing but death,” Fenrir quoted. “That is what he believes.”

A rage Remus had never felt before was travelling up his spine, fossilising hatred into the marrow of his bones.

Chapter 15 - Ozymandias

Once upon a time, Voldemort had looked at Snape and seen a mirror, a broken mirror of course, because Severus did not have even a shadow of his charisma, charm, looks, or skill. But even so, when Severus had come to him, an angry, profoundly gifted young half-blood brewing with hatred over his Muggle heritage, he had been so hopeful at his promise. They had both seemed to view the world in the same way; they both understood that magic was where power lay. Magic had made Voldemort immortal and then mortal again. They both respected it in a way nobody else did, and Voldemort had thought he found someone who could equal Bellatrix’s esteem.

But Severus’s weakness had been disgustingly banal. To think that it was lust of all things to claim him, and lust for a plain Mudblood at that. And now, it was the same, only for Lucius’s dullard of a wife.

Chapter 16 - In Noctem (Carry My Soul)

The idea of it makes me feel ill. He is no longer whole; his soul is distorted. He is no better than those vile creatures that guard Azkaban. He intended to murder Kreacher, who has been serving our family for generations. Our family, whose blood is pure and unbroken, has been used to destroy the soul of a magical being. It has become clear to me now. This monster will ruin us all more than any mudblood ever will.

Chapter 17 - Wings to the Kingdom

Until the time Death claims me, let the moth sing to your bones: I loved you since I saw you. I loved you when I hated you. I loved you when you betrayed us. I loved you when you destroyed me.

Yours, Gellert.

Chapter 18 - The Last Enemy (Part 2)

The window brought in a draft of salt as Remus cut up chicken for the Order lunch. Tonks was just beside him, mashing the potatoes with zeal, her arm brushing up against his own on occasion. He felt embarrassed, it was ridiculous the degree to which any proximity to her affected him. It was the isolation of the cottage, he thought, that seemed to keep them away from the dark cloud hovering above them. It was the rhythm of the sea, a comforting lullaby of a different world, a different life.

Chapter 19 - A Lament in the Ashes

Where is my golden palace? Where is my ivory bed? Where is the joy of my morning hour? Where the Sons of Eternity are singing, Draco thumbed through the book from the shelves in the bedroom. Years ago, he would have scoffed at the idea of perusing a book of poetry written by a Muggle.

Chapter 20 - Epilogue

“It must be nice,” he said. “To start again every time you die. You can make as many mistakes as you want and be reborn from them.”

Fawkes trilled. The corner of Serverus’s mouth lifted.

#beyond the veil #sirius black/severus snape #sirius black x severus snape #severus snape #sirius black #hp snack #snirius #final promo post on this fic i swear!#we are just really proud of finishing it #starprince #hp fanfic #harry potter fanfic

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hbyrde36 · 1 year

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Chapter 9!

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

Clandestine meetings at the Waffle House

ao3 link

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Steve merged onto the highway at the first possible opportunity. It served the dual purpose of getting them as far the fuck away from that cemetery as possible, while also getting them to their meeting on time.

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to stay back and try to kill as many of those things as we could. You’re usually more worried about leaving innocent bystanders in the line of fire and all that.”

“Well for one thing, Brenner is controlling them somehow, so I don't think they’ll go too far without orders. Alsooo…” Steve trailed off as he dialed a number on his cell, allowing the call to connect to the car since he was the one driving.

“Preternatural investigations hotline, how can I help you?” An overly perky voice answered when the call connected.

“Hi, I'd like to report a pack of rabid ghouls at Thatcher’s cemetery.”

“Oh my, that is serious. Can you give me your name and a few details, sir?”

“Sorry, I might lose you, I'm about to go through a tunnel and..”

Click.

Nancy snorted. “You think the PD will be able to handle all that?”

Steve offered her a half shrug. “Hopper knows what he’s doing. Maybe if we’d have had a flamethrower or something we could have made a dent in their numbers, but otherwise they would have overwhelmed us in no time.”

Within 15 minutes they were pulling up to park in front of the Waffle House. Steve hadn’t really thought about it at the time, but the wide panoramic windows of this place left the diners inside kind of exposed, especially at night. He supposed he’d have to trust that if the wererat king was comfortable enough to suggest this location to meet, he must have thought it was safe.

The bell above the door dinged as they entered the restaurant, and Steve quickly scanned the occupied tables for a familiar face, realizing a little too late that he had no idea what Gareth looked like in human form.

He gently coaxed a little bit of his power to the surface of his mind. He didn’t really know what he was doing when he tried stuff like this. He was comfortable enough with raising the dead, obviously, and he knew he had a little immunity from vampire shit even before Eddie got his hooks in, but he also knew deep down that he had other abilities too, one’s he mostly ignored, and he could probably sense the wereanimal’s energy if he tried.

Steve just…didn’t love that part of himself. It all felt a little too woo-woo to him, unreliable, intangible. He preferred to work in the physical world. You see a vampire, you kill it. Shotgun, silver blades, stake and hammer, you can feel what you're doing with your bare hands, and see if with your own eyes. He might have to start getting used to more of the mystical stuff though, because the way things were going in his life, he would need all the leg-up he could get.

The magic flared to life, or that’s how he imagined it in his mind's eye, like a flame. He immediately sensed the presence of two supernatural beings in the corner of the room. Unfortunately, he sensed them a little too strongly, likely due to the boost he got from his link to Eddie, and it threw him quite literally off balance. Nancy steadied him with a strong grip to his upper arm, and he smiled at her inbashful apology.

Every eye in the place was on them then, and Steve cursed himself for not practicing more. If he lived through this he’d have to find a teacher or something. Maybe Wayne would be able to help, of course that would mean being willing to explain about the whole human servant business. A problem for another day.

The two boys in the corner were looking right at him. Both had short to medium length brown hair, and slightly mischievous eyes, and yea they were definitely adults in the technical sense, but they reminded Steve too much of the kids he used to babysit for him to call them men in his own head.

Steve tilted a nod in their direction and moved towards the table, knowing Nancy would follow.

On their approach, the taller of the two boys stood, extending a hand to each of them in turn. “I’ll spare us all the embarrassment of you trying to guess, and just tell you that I’m Gareth. I’m aware that you’ve only met me in rat form. This is my partner, Will.”

The other boy, Will, offered them each a small shy smile and a wave, while he kept himself tucked tightly into his king’s side.

“This is Nancy, she’s working with me on this particular..project.”

Gareth waved them to the chairs on the other side of the table as he took his own seat. Will, in an overly formal gesture considering they were in a hygienically questionable 24-hour diner, waited for everyone else to be seated before taking his own chair. It reminded Steve that Gareth was not just the leader of the wererats, he was their king, and maybe that distinction meant something more than he knew.

Before they could get down to business, a server came by to ask if they were ready to order. Steve wasn’t sure if this would be that kind of a meeting, but when Gareth and Will each ordered a coffee and a meal, he and Nancy followed suit, neither having eaten all day. That was the moment Steve realized he didn’t feel the ravenous hunger that had been plaguing him recently. Was Eddie not pulling energy from him anymore? Had something happened to him? No, that didn’t feel right. Steve got the sense that he would know, somehow, if Eddie was dead. Maybe the vampire finally felt guilty about the whole thing. It didn’t matter, Steve reminded himself, Eddie was still a bad guy even if he felt bad for what he’d done.

When the waitress finally walked away, Gareth asked, “So, what is it you think I can do for you, Harrington?”

“I was hoping to convince you to lead us into whatever secret passageway you used to enter that basement room where you found me under the corroded coffin.”

“Not to be too blunt, but why would I do that? What's in it for us?” Gareth said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table.

“You hate that Billy has power over you, right?

The rat king nodded.

“Show us the way in, and we’ll take care of that little problem for you.” Steve didn’t know Gareth that well, but he knew what it felt like for someone to have power over you, and he was willing to bet that the wererats would do anything to get rid of the master of the city.

Gareth tilted his head side to side, making a little show out of considering his offer. “You already know where he is. Just get in yourselves.”

“We can’t just waltz in the front door. Even in broad daylight, especially in the daylight, Billy will have guards there. We’d be killed on sight.”

“Hmm, true enough. How do I know I can trust you? If you fail, and he finds out we helped, me and my people will be in an even worse position than we are now.”

The waitress appeared, balancing a tray of coffee mugs and forcing them to put their conversation on hold. Steve smiled at the woman gratefully and sipped at his cup. He’d been tired enough on his own after waking from his too short nap, and his fatigue had only gotten worse with the fading adrenaline from the fight with Brenner’s ghouls.

Nancy took the opportunity to speak up when their table was left alone again. “I know you don’t know me, and you barely know Steve, but this is what we do, and we’re damn good at it. When I say I can promise you we will end the master of the city, I mean it.”

Gareth subtly sniffed at the air as he looked her over, considering.

“I can only get you in there, we can’t help any more than that. I can keep the small rats and my people from coming to Billy’s aid for a while, but we wouldn’t be able to fight him beside you. His pull on our kind is too strong.”

“That's no problem.” Steve was quick to comment. “Just sneak us in and we’ll do the rest.”

“Okay. I'll do it.” Gareth agreed.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, Steve. There's a part of me that truly thinks I'll be sending you to your deaths. If you survive this, I'll be shocked.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence there, Gare.”

The rat king blinked at Steve for a moment, and then burst out laughing. “When do you want to go in?” He asked.

“Tomorrow, after sunrise” He didn’t want to waste any more time.

Gareth raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting them to want to get to it so quickly. “I like you, Harrington, I hope you don’t die.”

Their food arrived shortly after they finished making arrangements to meet in the city at dawn. As it so often does, the act of sharing a meal let the small group relax around each other a bit more than they might have otherwise. The only exception was Nancy, who remained quiet throughout. It didn’t surprise Steve in the least, she was one of the most private people he knew, and for good reason, though he was sure she was listening intently to every word the others shared.

Gareth told the story of how he and the younger boy met. He had just won a fight against a challenger to his crown, and Joyce, Will’s mom, was the nurse who patched him up. Luckily, Will had taken his older brother’s place in assisting her that day. The two boys took one look at each other and the rest was history.

Steve didn’t have much he was willing to share by way of a personal life, but he happily told a few stories about his years babysitting back in his hometown, finally letting slip that Gareth and Will reminded him of his young charges, a fact that made even the shy boy laugh.

“Not to give too many of our secrets away, but we’re older than we look.” Gareth said.

Steve couldn't help but to tease them. “Oh I'm sorry. Here I was thinking you were a young spry 20 year old. What is it then, a decrepit 24, 25?”

“I’m only 35” Will said with a little smirk. “But,my king is…” Before the boy could finish, Gareth slapped a hand over his mouth.

“You know it’s rude to share a man’s age!” He gasped with exaggerated offense.

Steve gaped at them. “You can’t be serious.”

Jesus, he was younger than both of them. He tried to wrap his head around that fact as Gareth chuckled. “A little tip for you, Harrington, wereanimals age slower than humans. Don’t underestimate one of us just because we look young.”

“Duly noted.”

When all was said and done, Steve and Nancy decided to go back to her hotel in the city to get some rest before the morning, agreeing that it was the safer option than Steve's house with Brenner still on the loose.

Her room housed only a single king bed, which would have been awkward with any of Steve’s other exes. The fact that it wasn’t was a testament to how nonexistent romantic feelings were between the two of them. Steve enjoyed his first dreamless sleep in far too long, and woke rested and refreshed. If he also rose with a vague sense of disappointment, he chose to just push that feeling way, way down.

The meeting place wound up being, more specifically, behind a dumpster in an alley next to a restaurant, which was fitting, and sort of hilarious, Steve thought, considering they were about to be led underground by giant rats.

Gareth and Will were there, which surprised Steve. He had assumed the king would put some lackey’s on the job. He was further surprised when the middle aged woman who joined them turned out to be Joyce. Steve took an instant liking to her, she was very friendly and simply exuded kindness.

She toted along a backpack with her that, when he saw the first aid symbol on the outside, Steve realized must hold medical supplies. The wererats were clearly planning on him and Nancy getting hurt today, at the very least. He decided to view the gesture in a glass-half-full kinda way. If they were planning on administering medical attention, that must mean they think he had a chance, right? No point in bandaging a dead man, after all.

There was one more addition to their group, an older boy named Jonathan who quickly identified himself as Will’s older brother. It seemed this was a family affair.

All present and accounted for, and heavily armed in the case of Steve and Nancy, Gareth led the way down through the cellar doors and into the basement of the building. From there, they entered the city’s sewer system through a grate near the floor. Steve grimaced as they sloshed through the foul liquid in the dark and tried very hard not to think about how gross it all was.

Now that they were in the tunnels, Gareth, Will, and Jonathan all transformed into their rat forms, only Joyce remaining human. Their senses were stronger this way, that much Steve knew, and it would be helpful for getting the group where they needed to go.

It didn’t take as long as Steve expected to reach their destination, only about an hour or so. The trip could have been made quicker if they’d been willing to run, but there seemed to be an unspoken agreement amongst the group to try and splash as little as possible, for obvious reasons.

Gareth approached an opening, not unlike the one they had used to gain access from the other building, and waved Steve and Nancy closer.

“The Corroded Coffin’s basement is through there. We’ll wait down here in the tunnels until dark. If you’re not out by then, I'll assume you failed. If you do manage to kill Billy, I'll know, and we’ll come out to help you if we can.”

Steve nodded at him and yanked on the grate, it was loosened just like the other one. The bars were meant to be welded in place, but someone had come along and cut it free. It could be propped up to give the illusion, but pulled away easily.

He went through first, not knowing if the room would be occupied, though Nancy tried to pull rank as the better shot. The opening was small and close to the floor, and they had to all but crawl to get through.

On the other side, Steve stood up and started across the room, coming to an abrupt stop as he stared at a point on the wall.

“What is it?” Nancy asked, hackles up.

“This is where Chrissy died, chained to the wall like an animal.” Steve’s voice broke.

Nancy clenched her jaw. “I’m sorry, Steve, really I am, but we can’t afford for you to be distracted right now.”

It would’ve been easy to get mad at her, in fact he wanted to. Anything to stave off the tidal wave of sadness and guilt that was building up inside of him for failing to save the girl.

But Nancy was right, and there was no reason to take it out on her. He did his best to push it all deep, deep down, to be dealt with at a later date. He felt like he’d been doing a lot of that lately, and he wasn’t looking forward to the day when he finally had to unpack it all.

“Sorry. I’m good now. Let’s go.”

Steve took the lead again, quietly tiptoeing up the stairs and out to the hall. Luckily, the door wasn’t locked. They would have had to shoot the handle off otherwise, he realized, and that would have entirely defeated the purpose of the sneaky entrance.

He peeked around the corner, shocked to find the immediate area deserted. The vampires would be asleep for the day, but still, he had expected someone to be lurking. Heather at the very least should have been around here somewhere. She was Billy's servant after all, and as a technical human she wasn’t a slave to the sun like he was.

The pair took their time traversing the halls and checking doors until they finally found the coffin room. Each box sat on a little stone dais to keep it up off the floor. They were all different, some larger, some smaller. A few were made of natural wood, stained and adorned with cheap brass fittings. Others were painted and polished to a high shine, more like the modern one’s Steve was accustomed to seeing.

They went for the closest box first. Nancy covered him with her shotgun as Steve opened the lid. He didn’t know this vampire’s name, but recognized him as Chrissy’s overly enthusiastic dance partner from that first night at the club, the one who had looked so perturbed when Steve evaded his mind tricks. He was also present for the debacle in the small graveyard the night of the freak party, and was definitely on Billy’s side of things.

Steve drew a long silver knife from its sheath and readied himself to plunge it into the thing’s chest. That, and a few twists of the blade would shred his heart. A shotgun would be easier, but it would also be messy and loud. He’d have to cut the head off at some point anyway, so the knife would be getting used tonight one way or another.

Nancy stopped him with a hand on his elbow, before he could strike. “I might have an easier way. Have you ever used silver nitrate?”

Steve hesitated, lips pursed.“Like, from the movie Blade? Does that work?”

Nancy rolled her eyes, pulling a small vial of silver liquid and a syringe out of an inner pants pocket to show him. “Yea it works. Any idea how old this one is?”

“No more than a hundred.”

“Better go for a full dose then.” She filled the syringe, leaning over the body as Steve covered her with his own handgun full of silver bullets.

Nancy unceremoniously jammed the needle into the vampire’s neck and depressed the plunger. The body began to twitch, startling Steve, but it fell limp again after only a minute or two of spasms. He stared at it, waiting for some sign that the creature was really dead. When it didn’t seem like anything else was going to occur, he finally took his eyes off of the body to look at Nancy.

“Is that it?” He asked, sounding more than a little disappointed.

“Pretty much, yeah. Why, what did you think was going to happen?”

“I don’t know, just, something more than that I guess?”

Nancy crossed her arms over her chest. “You were expecting him to blow up, weren’t you.”

“I absolutely was expecting that. Yes.” Steve grinned.

She shook her head but smiled back at him. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”

“Maybe, but I'm still cutting his head off before we leave here. I’m not taking any chances.”

“Suit yourself.” She shrugged.

The next coffin they checked was empty. It probably belonged to one of the murdered vamps, Tommy maybe, or at least that’s what Steve told himself. Surely it was too early in the day for any of them to be awake

The next was similarly unoccupied, and then they found Neil.

Again Nancy had pointed her gun at the casket while Steve raised the top. He curled his lip in a snarl when he laid eyes on the monster’s face. Not only had this piece of shit bespelled and threatened one of Steve's friends, but he bore half of the responsibility for Chrissy’s death. He almost regretted doing it like this, when the vampire was all but helpless. A real, god's honest fight would be much more satisfying to his craving for revenge, but it would also be needlessly risky.

This time, it was Steve who loaded up the syringe. Nancy had advised that at Neil’s age they should do two full doses of the liquid silver just to be safe. Steve stuck the needle deep in his neck, quickly administering the first shot, anxious to refill it. Before he could so much as pull the needle back out, however, Neil sat up, eyes still closed as if he were half asleep. The move would have sent Steve sprawling to the ground, but as the vampire surged upwards, he gripped Steve by the throat, lifting him clear off the ground.

His ears started to ring as he fought to think through the panic of having his airway cut off. He grabbed on to the vampire's wrist with both hands, pulling to take as much of the pressure off his neck as he could. He kicked his feet, trying desperately to dislodge himself, but Neil’s grip was like a vice, and it became clear that Steve wouldn’t be able to get free unless he chose to let go, or died. Fuck.

Nancy appeared suddenly on Steve’s other side, the only vantage point in the room that would give her a clear shot without risking him. She aimed, and fired nearly point-blank into the side of Neil’s head. Red fluid splattered across Steve's face, and immediately the hand that had been holding him up let go. He crumpled to the ground, sucking in greedy gulps of air as he wiped the blood from his eyes.

So distracted by his own situation, Steve didn’t realize for a moment that Neil hadn’t entirely gone down. His head was a red mess of meat and bone, but his body hadn’t quite gotten the memo yet, and it was grappling hard with Nancy as she tried to gain enough distance from the thing to get another shot off.

Though he was still a little lightheaded, with spots dancing across the edges of his vision, Steve waded into the fray, carefully slicing through the air with his blade to capture the thing’s attention. He got a few good cuts in and it was distraction enough to give Nancy time to line up her shot.

“Steve, move!” She howled.

He didn't need to be told twice. Steve threw himself down and to the side. He even put his hands over his head for good measure. Nancy’s second shot rang out, deafeningly loud in the enclosed space. He hadn’t even registered the sound of it the first time. Steve shuddered, realizing how close he must have been to passing out to have not noticed.

Her bullet hit home, going straight through Neil's chest and out the other side, leaving an impressive exit wound. Finally, mercifully, the body fell limp to the ground. He was dead, permanently this time.

Nancy pulled Steve to his feet, scanning him top to bottom.

“How are you holding up?” She asked.

“I’m fine.” He said, voice rough from the damage to his throat.

She stared at him silently, unblinking.

He sighed. “It looks worse than it is. Come on, let's get this done.”

Steve limped to the front of the room, where the final three coffins were placed. The one in the center, a glossy black lacquer number with gilded handles, had to belong to Billy. Not only because it was the fanciest of the bunch, but because the two that flanked it were wrapped in heavy chains with small crosses dangling from their links like some sort of twisted charm bracelet.

He could tell Nancy was considering blasting a hole through the side of the box with her shotgun, anything to avoid another jack-in-the-box style surprise, but even if she did it would never be a killing blow.

Steve approached the coffin, holding his breath as he lifted the lid. He wished he could say he was surprised when he looked down to find nothing but white satin, but he wasn’t.

“Looking for me?” Billy drawled from the back of the room.

He and Nancy turned towards the voice at the same time, both lifting their weapons to eye level on instinct.

“You didn’t really think at my age that I needed to sleep off the entire day still, did you?”

Steve gulped audibly. Up until he saw Neil’s form move in the daylight hours just a few moments ago, he had thought that.

“Aw, it seems you still have so much to learn, Harrington. Why don’t you put those silly little guns down and we can work this out.”

“There’s nothing to work out, Billy.” Steve said through gritted teeth.

“Sure there is! Look, I know I killed your girl. I would say I was sorry about that, but I don't like to make a habit out of lying. As far as I see it, now that you’ve killed my father, we’re even! Trust me, I don't even mind that you took him out. Saved me the trouble of doing it myself some day.”

“Don’t move.” A female voice said suddenly to Steve's right.

He glanced over to find the human servant, Heather, standing behind Nancy, holding an old fashioned pistol to the back of her head. Her arms were already in the air, and Heather snatched the shotgun from her with her free hand, tossing it to the floor.

“You better drop your weapon too, Steve-O, wouldn’t want Heather to get nervous and shoot your pretty friend there by accident.”

Steve glared at him, but dropped the gun and the knife he was holding to the ground. He had other knives on him, they could have those.

Brenner appeared in the doorway behind Billy. He didn’t look particularly happy to be there.

“Oh good, you’re finally here.” Billy snarked, not turning around but still clearly addressing the man. ”Be a good boy and help Heather check these two over for more weapons.”

Brenner scowled at the back of Billy’s head, but quickly crossed the room to do as he was told.

Heather started to frisk Nancy, while Brenner approached Steve.

“Does he know what you’ve done?” Steve whispered to the older man.

“Shut up.” Brenner hissed as he kicked Steve’s legs apart, doing a much more thorough job at searching him than Steve had been expecting.

He couldn’t be sure if Heather had found all of Nancy’s goodies, but unfortunately, Brenner had found all of his. Even the small knife that he liked to keep tucked in his boot was now living in the other man’s pocket.

“Would you like to see what we’ve been up to while you two were busy sneaking around and killing my father?” Billy asked.

Steve didn’t respond, it wasn’t like he had an actual choice in the matter, so why entertain the vampire with an answer?

“You really know how to take all the fun out of things, you know that pretty boy?” Billy huffed. “Escort them to the basement.” He commanded the two lackeys.

Steve and Nancy found themselves being roughly pushed out into the hall, and he didn’t need three guesses to know where they were going. Back to the same fucking torture chamber of a basement room he was becoming all too familiar with. He wondered if they ever called it a dungeon, it was a fitting name for the awful space.

The small group paraded down the stairs and stood in an awkward half circle.

“Come on out, sweetheart.” Billy called towards one of the dark corners.

There was a soft shuffling sound as something moved in the darkness. Slowly, a small figure with a petite frame and strawberry-blonde hair was revealed under the single dim light that hung in the middle of the room.

Steve sucked in a sharp breath. He should have seen this coming, in hindsight, but this was cruelty beyond his imagining, even for someone like Billy.

“Chrissy?” His voice broke as he whispered her name, before rounding on Billy and shouting nearly right in his face. “Why?! Why would you do this?!”

The motherfucker smiled like a Cheshire cat. “To torture you mostly, why, is it working?”

Steve raged inside. He wanted to lay Billy out, to spit in his smug face, but he had no wish to set the guy off. Had it only been his own life on the line, he might have risked it, but with Nancy here he had to hold it in. He forced himself to take several steps back.

Billy laughed, so obviously amused with Steve’s struggle to control himself. “Actually, to be honest, I had Martin raise her before you arrived. As an animator I'm sure you’re aware that murdered zombies have a tendency to pursue their murderers, and since Neil landed the final killing blow… let’s just say, I thought I'd give Chrissy here a fair shot to get back at him while he was asleep for the day. Your showing up to witness her impromptu resurrection was just a happy accident.”

Steve gaped, somehow still surprised at the vampire's level of depravity. “He would have destroyed her all over again. That’s…sick”

Billy shrugged. “When you’ve been alive as long as I have, you have to find new and interesting ways to entertain yourself.”

The vampire’s mouth twisted into a predatory grin as his eyes began to glow with blue fire. Steve averted his gaze.

“Speaking of which.” Billy continued. ”Drop to your knees and crawl to me, human.”

Steve stared at the floor and braced himself for the pull of Billy’s power, though knew they had cleaned the bite thoroughly. He felt nothing.

The vampire growled, and Steve chanced a look at his face. He looked pissed.

“What have you done?”

“Just a little routine cleaning with holy water.

”I suppose next time I'll just have to keep you with me to stop that from happening. Or, if you prefer, I could make you into one of us. You could take Tommy's place. It’s really the least you can do since your lack of finding the vampire murderer led directly to his death.”

Steve shot a sideways glance at Brenner’s nervous face before he spoke. “I’d die first”

“One way or another that’s where we’re headed, baby boy.”

Chrissy, who’d been hovering near the edge of the group, mostly looking around in confusion, seemed to finally realize where she was. Steve heard her gasp as she ran her hands lightly over a spot on the wall. He watched in agony as she clawed at her throat, clearly remembering the moment it had been ripped apart, and screamed. She collapsed to the floor sobbing.

Steve tried to lunge for her, desperate to offer what little comfort he could to this echo of his fallen friend, but Heather grasped him by the back of his shirt, shoving her little pistol roughly into his ribs.

“Do you really think i’ll just stand here and watch you torture that poor girl even in death?” Steve snapped, whirling on Heather with a vicious snarl. “You want to shoot me for it? Fucking shoot me then!”

Billy stepped between them, suddenly the picture of cool, calm, and collected. “Let’s just everyone calm down. Why don’t we play a little game.”

“Why?” Steve spat. He didn’t understand why they didn’t just kill him already. Billy knew he was never going to join him willingly. Was he really this enamored with playing with his food?

“Maybe i just want to see how good you really are, besides, if you win i’ll let you comfort poor Chrissy there.”

What other choice did he have?

“Fine.”

Steve was given back one of his knives and told he was to fight Heather, who had apparently trained in many forms of combat over her years with Billy. The rules were simple. If she killed him, she won. If Steve drew her blood, he won. It almost sounded like a fair fight.

Heather looked like a small, unassuming young girl, but Steve knew now more than ever just how much looks could be deceiving, so he didn't let his guard down one bit as they circled each other.

He was pretty good with a blade, Wayne had insisted on training him heavily with them even more so than firearms, because ‘knives can’t run out of bullets, son’.

Still, Heather was better, and she managed several shallow cuts on both of his arms before he could get anywhere near her. She was fast, and she was toying with him. He needed to find a way to gain the upper hand here, and quickly.

“I know who the murderer is.” Steve said casually, never once taking his eyes off his opponent. For a moment, all movement in the basement ceased except for him, and Heather.

“What did you say?” Billy hissed.

“I know who killed your vampires.” Steve reiterated.

Martin spoke over him. “Don’t listen to him, surely he’ll say anything now to save his own skin.”

“Quiet, Martin. Tell me who it is, Harrington, or I'll kill your partner.”

Steve risked a glance at Nancy then, only to find that Billy had stepped up behind her, her hair fisted tightly in his hand.

He opened his mouth to answer, but Brenner interrupted shouting, “NO!” As he pulled Steve’s own handgun out of his suit pocket and aimed.

The room fell into chaos. Billy dropped his grip on Nancy and appeared in front of Brenner like magic. The man had no time to react before the vampire reached up with both hands and snapped his neck.

Heather had finally looked away to watch her master work, and Steve used the opportunity to step into her, and plunged his blade deep in her chest. She wasn’t a vampire, but she was tied to one, and Steve was betting she could be killed like one too.

She stared at him wide-eyed, as she stumbled and fell to the ground. Steve plucked the weapon she’d been using out of her hand and slid it in Nancy’s direction. She caught it, and they both turned in tandem to face Billy.

The vampire had dropped to his knees, weakened as his human servant lay dying. It was everything Steve had hoped for. He’d been told that a human servant would live as long as their vampire master. Which, if you thought about it, translated to, if their master died - so did they. Steve had thought if that was the case, then maybe the reverse could also be true.

Billy tried to gather his power, Steve could feel it in the air, but he was too weak for tricks. Nancy made a go for him first, lunging and slashing but unable to make contact before Billy grabbed her arm, spinning her hard into the nearest wall. Steve came at him from behind as he threw her, aiming as best he could for the man’s heart. The knife penetrated his body, but he must have missed the mark.

Billy heaved himself off of Steve's blade with a grunt, only to be met with Nancy once again in front of him, having recovered quickly from ricocheting off the wall. She jammed her blade down into his chest and he tipped sideways to the floor. Nancy remained above him, holding the knife in place while Steve scrambled for his gun where it had fallen out of Brenner’s hands.

He leveled the weapon at Billy’s head.

“Nance!”

It’s all he had to say. She pushed with her feet, scooting back on her butt to get some distance from the half-dead vampire.

Steve screamed as he shot round after round into Billy’s head until the gun clicked empty, and Nancy had to force it out of his hand. He’d lost time somewhere, he hadn’t seen her get up, let alone approach him.

He blinked at her, and watched as she knelt by Heather's unmoving body to check for a pulse.

“She’s dead.” Nancy said simply.

The vampire’s body was similarly still. His head was utterly destroyed and Nancy’s knife was still sticking up out of his chest. Steve would want to burn the body to make sure, just as a precaution, but it seemed Billy’s reign of terror was finally over.

Steve made his way slowly over to where Chrissy still cowered in the corner, not wanting to spook her when she was already terrified. He sat down next to her and took one of her small hands in both of his.

She looked at him with sad eyes, though she was no longer crying. “I’m really dead, aren’t I?”

Steve whimpered. “I'm so sorry.”

She fell against him, and Steve wound his arms around her, rocking them back and forth for a long time. There was so much he wanted to say to her, and none of it was good enough, so he just held her until she was ready to let him go.

Eventually she pulled back and looked Steve in the eyes. “Can you put me back? I know I'm not supposed to be here, I want to go back.”

“Yea, I can do that.”

When Steve returned from laying Chrissy to rest, the wererats had come. Joyce wanted to treat him, but there were still a few things to be dealt with before his work here was done.

Brenner lay in the spot where he dropped, neck bent at a very wrong angle, but still alive. Steve didn’t know much about the magic that had been keeping this man alive, but he did recall an old rule of thumb he learned from a colleague. A spell can usually be reversed by the opposite of whatever is used to feed it. He’d always liked the idea, it had a certain amount of poetic symmetry. The power in Brenner's necklace was fueled by vampire blood, and what’s the opposite of vampire blood? Steve hoped he knew the right answer.

He knelt by Brenners head and held a shaking hand out towards the man’s throat. The necklace had fallen out of his shirt in the fall, and Steve dragged one of his bleeding cuts along the chain, making sure to leave a fat droplet of the red liquid on the cluster of stones that made up the pendant.

Steve watched the light fade from Brenner’s glassy eyes and felt no satisfaction. He just felt empty.

Joyce again tried to coax Steve to sit down and let her look him over, but he still refused and told her to check on Nancy instead.

He felt eyes on his back as he climbed the stairs, but ignored them, he had one more thing to take care of before he could rest.

Back in the coffin room, Steve searched until he found a key hanging from a hook on the wall. He unlocked the chains from each of the boxes and dragged them off. He knew who was in the two coffins, he could have left right then knowing that when the sun came down Dustin and Eddie would finally be free to leave their confinement, but he couldn’t walk away. Not yet.

He opened the lid of the first coffin and sucked in a breath when Eddie’s face was revealed to the lamp light. His eyes were closed, and if he wasn’t so still Steve could have believed he was sleeping peacefully, but that sort of stillness wasn’t natural. This wasn’t sleep, this was death, temporary as it might be.

He stared down at the vampire's beautiful face and wondered what the right thing to do was. He thought he could save himself a lot of trouble in the long run if he took care of Eddie now. It would be easy to kill him while he was sleeping, while Steve wouldn’t have to look into those big brown eyes. While he wouldn’t have to listen as those pink lips that he’d become so familiar with in his dreams begged for his life.

In the end it came down to Chrissy, and respecting her wishes. She wouldn't want this. She had trusted Eddie. He may have let her down as much as Steve had, but maybe he could be there for others, for Dustin. So, he replaced the lid and turned to the other coffin, hoping his decision wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

Dustin, Steve finds, when he opens the other coffin, looks a little more worse for wear than Eddie had. Of course, the younger vampire hadn’t had someone to feed off of while he was locked up.

He knew he should go, but he couldn't stop staring at the boy’s face. Steve had been to a lot of funerals over the years, where the body of his loved one was put on display, but this was one of his kids. He knew Dustin wasn’t really dead, and that in just a few hours he would rise, and he would feed, and he’d be fine, but it still made Steve's chest tight to see him like this.

He heard the soft footfalls behind him as someone entered the room, but didn’t bother to turn around. He already knew it would be Nancy.

When she reached his side and peered over the edge of the box, Steve tensed.

“I hate that he’s done this to himself.” She said softly.

He watched her carefully through his peripheral vision. “Me too.”

Nancy frowned at him. “You can relax Steve, I'm not about to suggest we kill him or anything. I knew him too.”

He believed her, to an extent, but he also knew how much she hated vampires, and it worried him. She might let Dustin live for now, only to come back for him later.

“I’ve spent a little time with him over the past few days, Nance. He’s still Dustin. Almost infuriatingly exactly as you’d remember him, just, with fangs.” Steve explained, trying to keep the pleading tone out of his voice.

“I know it might seem that way sometimes, Steve, but…”

“No, I'm serious. It’s him, and…you know I didn't talk to him, haven't talked to him since he transitioned. I thought I was doing the right thing, but all I did was rob us both of our friendship. Promise me you won’t go after him.”

“I won’t. I swear. I don’t think Mike would ever forgive me if I did.”

Steve wanted to say, I wouldn’t either, but he didn’t think he needed to.

“What about that one?” Nancy asked, pointing at Eddie's coffin.

“That is, something I think I'll call - ‘better the devil you know’ - and all that jazz.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing there.” She said.

“Me too.”

Steve finally let Joyce treat him after that. The wererats promised to clean up the mess and take care of any remaining Billy supporters. Steve thanked them profusely, and soon he and Nancy were walking out the front door of the theater. He was forced to call Robin to pick them up, no uber or taxi would have stopped for them in their current state.

She picked them up, no questions asked, and she even let him get away with silence until they had dropped Nancy off at her hotel. They parted ways with a hug and Steve thanking her endlessly for her help. She assured him it was her pleasure, and that since the master of the city was in fact killed, she would still be getting paid by her client. If anything she should be thanking him, she assured him.

Once they were alone in the car, Steve filled Robin in on everything she’d missed. They didn’t even pick up his car, he was too tired to drive anyway. They could always get it the next day.

He was still going over the play by play of their fight with Billy when they arrived at his house. Robin helped him inside and coaxed him right into the bath, sitting on the edge to keep him company and he finished his story.

“What are you going to do about Eddie?” Robin asked, as she trailed her fingers through the bath water.

“I don’t know. Ignore him until I can find a way out of this mess?”

“Babe, is that, like, healthy?”

“I don’t know, I'm too tired to figure it out right now.”

All Steve could think about was getting out of the tub and falling into bed. He wouldn’t have minded some platonic best friend cuddles either, but he didn’t want to put Robin out even more than he had already. It turned out, he didn’t even need to ask.

“Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”

God he loved her.

“Please’

Chapter 10

Author's Note: This fic has two pretty definitive halves, since the au inspiration comes from two separate books. This chapter marks the end of part 1, and puts us at the halfway point of the original plans I had for this story. Now, I'm considering making this into a series to be continued past the end of the main fic. There will be a conclusion of sorts by the end of this, but there will still be so much that could be explored past that. Please, as we continue, let me know if you would like to see more when this main story is over. As always, thanks so much for reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I can’t wait to dive into the back half of this fic!

#steve harrington: vampire hunter #steddie fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #vampire eddie munson #vampire hunter steve harrington #wererat king gareth

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