#and go ahead if you want that in fic or show like FULL SPEED AHEAD. great dynamic. not for me and not now

[varyathevillain]

one thing I definitely don't want out of the rest of S2 episodes, and afraid that will come to happen nonetheless due to the "love triangle" interview, or due to stereotypic expectations of "softer love saving from past abuse and toxicity", and also, like, LOTS OF SPOILERY STILLS for the episodes premiering tomorrow... is for Izzy Hands to come out of his fucked up dependent toxic love for Ed into another romantic relationship, especially if it includes Edward.

I want Izzy Hands to be developed as a character, to finally untangle his love towards Ed/Blackbeard, not through falling in love again... but through the love towards the crew, and of them towards him. I want for the trauma pack of attempted Ed Teach murderers to bond, not so hard it's impossible to untangle them from one another, but enough to see "yeah, all these people are together, and they're gonna stay shoulder to shoulder to protect one another".

I want a friend group that did bond through a traumatic experience, but came out trusting one another because of care, not trauma. I want that to be the crux of Israel Hands' development, to be someone who can finally see himself apart from Edward Teach, and apart from "this love he has", like a disease... I want him to embrace what he has yet refused to admit. that he wants to care for his people, his crew, and to be cared for back equally, without any dynamics of power in the way.

[nephalem-da]

I hope this is the ask box, I’m not exactly sure which one was correct but I saw your latest y/n x bill story and I wanted to suggest one?

Do it whenever you want but I was thinking monster falls AU where hunter!Bill catches y/n (not sure what creature, but something mythical would be cool) and he’s very proud of his catch, showing the angry y/n off to the henchmen- who are other various hunters now.

Also if you aren’t taking requests just ignore this lol

The Hunt

(Human!Bill Cipher x GN!Reader)

Time for a Human Bill fic (╯✧▽✧)╯

Genre: Monster Falls AU, Slow-burn Romance, Humor.

Warnings: Mild violence, Panic/Anxiety on the Reader's part, Mutual pining/awkward tension, Fluff with hints of playful tension.

Summary: Bill Cipher is a skilled hunter who captures you, a rare mythical Selkie, after an intense chase through the forest. Proud of his prize, he shows you off to the Henchmaniacs.

The forest was alive with sounds of pursuit. Every snap of a branch, every whisper of wind through the leaves, sent your heart racing faster than your legs could carry you. Your feet hit the damp ground in frantic steps, each stride uneven as you darted through the towering pines. Your lungs burned, muscles protesting with every rapid movement. But you couldn’t stop. Not now.

They were close.

Bill Cipher, the infamous hunter who prowled these woods, had been tracking you for days—maybe weeks. Time had blurred into a stretch of panic ever since you realized you were being hunted. And now, the moment you feared had arrived. You were the prey in a game you hadn’t asked to join.

The transformation had already begun—whether from fear or necessity, you weren’t sure. The smooth, dark skin of your seal-like form shimmered, glinting under the dappled moonlight that barely broke through the dense canopy. The dampness from the nearby river clung to your limbs, and the scent of wet earth filled the air. You could feel the shift deep within you—the urge to dive into the water, your true element, was overwhelming. But there was no time.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle cut through the night, startling you. The sound echoed in your mind, a reminder that you weren’t alone. Bill was close.

Your seal-skin was only half-formed, and you were stuck between two worlds—too slow to slip into the full speed of your natural form, too vulnerable in this half-shifted state. Panic surged through you. You had heard the stories about Bill and his relentless pursuit of mythical creatures. There were whispers among your kind about his cruel efficiency and unbreakable persistence. He never failed.

“Where do you think you're going, fishy?” Bill's voice cut through the silence like a blade, mocking and far too close for comfort. “You’re just making this harder on yourself!”

A shiver ran down your spine at his words, but you didn’t slow. You couldn’t. With your lungs burning and your legs aching, you pushed harder, veering off the path and toward the river. Water—if you could reach it, maybe you could escape. Your Selkie form could glide through it effortlessly, leaving the hunter far behind.

But Bill had been planning this for too long, and he was one step ahead of you.

Just as the sound of rushing water reached your ears, you felt a sharp pull, the ground falling out from under you as a net sprang up, tangling you in its enchanted threads. You hit the earth hard, pain shooting through your side as you struggled against the bindings. The more you fought, the tighter the net seemed to hold, cutting into your skin and sealing your fate.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Bill’s triumphant voice rang out as he sauntered into view, his human form tall and menacing against the shadowy backdrop of the trees. His hunter’s outfit was weathered but well-kept, a wide-brimmed hat casting a shadow over his eyepatch that was oddly shaped like a triangle, and a single, golden eye.

“There you are! That took longer than I thought.” He crouched beside you, tilting his head in mock sympathy. “You almost had me, you know? But no one escapes me.”

You glared up at him, your chest heaving with the effort of trying to free yourself from the net. But it was useless. The enchanted rope sapped your strength and neutralized your magic, leaving you half-shifted and vulnerable.

Bill’s grin widened. "You’re quite the catch. I was expecting something more boring, but a Selkie?” He whistled low. “That’s rare. Guess it’s my lucky day."

You growled, shifting your weight in the net, but Bill only smirked. He grabbed a fistful of the netting and yanked you upright, pulling you onto your feet. “Easy there, slippery,” he chuckled. “Wouldn’t want to hurt my prized catch before showing you off.”

As if on cue, Bill’s henchmen—the Henchmaniacs—emerged from the shadows, laughing and cheering at their leader’s success. They were rough, grizzled hunters who worked under Bill’s command, each more eager than the last to prove their loyalty.

"Nice work, boss!" one of them shouted, nudging the others. "Look at that catch!"

The others chimed in, offering their congratulations as Bill proudly dragged you toward them, your bound form stumbling in his grip. You could feel their eyes on you—hungry, calculating, and cruel.

“Hey, think it’s dangerous?” one of them asked, eyeing your Selkie skin with curiosity.

Bill scoffed. “Not anymore. I’ve got this one under control. Besides—” he leaned in close, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper—“they’re too smart for their own good, but not smart enough to escape me.”

You narrowed your eyes, but your glare only made Bill chuckle. He tugged the net tighter, making you wince.

Behind him, the Henchmaniacs began to busy themselves with camp preparations, their voices blending into the background as they moved through the clearing. A fire crackled nearby, its light casting flickering shadows across the monstrous landscape.

And just beyond the edge of the camp, you could see them—the creatures of Gravity Falls. They lingered at the edge of the woods, watching with wide, glowing eyes. They watched the hunters from afar.

You could feel their gaze on you, watching as Bill presented his latest catch. They knew the game, but none of them would step in. The unspoken rule was simple: if you were caught by the hunters, you were on your own.

Bill dragged you to the center of the camp, his grin never faltering. “Everyone, meet the new addition to our little collection,” he announced, loud and proud. “A rare, hard-to-catch Selkie. Not bad, huh?”

The Henchmaniacs cheered, but the monsters at the edge of the woods remained silent, their eyes glowing with something you couldn’t quite place—pity, perhaps? Or maybe frustration? They wouldn’t step in, but it didn’t mean they weren’t waiting for something to change.

As the night wore on, you sat by the fire, still trapped in the net and unable to shift fully into your true form. Bill hovered nearby, his smug expression softening just a bit as he poked at the fire with a stick.

“You know,” he said after a long pause, “I don’t usually keep my catches alive. But you... there’s something interesting about you. Might just keep you around.”

You glared at him but didn’t respond. Every muscle in your body was tense, your mind racing with thoughts of escape.

Bill’s eye flicked to you, studying your silence for a moment before he shrugged. “Fine. Be that way. I’ve got all the time in the world.”

But there was something in the way he looked at you that gave you pause. For all his bravado and arrogance, there was something else there—a flicker of curiosity, of something deeper. He wasn’t just proud of his catch; he was fascinated by you. And that, more than anything, made your pulse quicken.

Part 2 || Alt. Part 2

[monseulamourrr]

→ “a long road ahead.” || ahn yujin x reader fic.

— you set off on an approximate six-or-more-hour drive with your girlfriend and you come across your greatest enemy: boredom…

word count: 1.4k

tags: fluff, literally just yujin and yn being cute while on the road like stopppp, me when.

requested? : nope.

a/n: is anybody surprised that i'm already on my third yujin fic? no? yeah, me either... anyway this one's going to be kinda short since it's a pretty simple idea to begin with :] hope ya'll like it 🥺💕

yujin knew that as soon as you dropped your nintendo switch on your lap, you were bored as hell.

she was only able to take a few short glances in your direction from time to time since it was her turn on the wheel, but she could see it all in the little habits that you showed whenever you were weary. your eyes wandered, you couldn’t sit still, you weren’t sitting up straight like you usually did, and the most notable habit, you started talking with impatience evident in your voice.

your constant sighs along with your tiny mumbles and occasional grumbles were nothing short of adorable for yujin. especially with the way you got frustrated from playing animal crossing of all things. but having been your lover for years now, yujin knew all the things that would ease you and hopefully even cure your boredom.

she reaches for her phone and opens it, earning a ‘tsk’ from you.

“eyes on the road, miss.” you said, nudging your girlfriend’s arm.

“i got it, love. one sec.” yujin seamlessly switches to your favourite playlist and triumphantly smiles as she did so. you shook your head, not at all a fan of her recklessness. although you were happy that she thought of playing your favourite songs instead of the usual playlists for a trip like this.

a smile graces yujin’s face when she saw how you’ve relaxed on your seat, softly humming to the songs you love as you stared at the long road ahead.

“you don’t want to take a nap? it’ll be a while before we make a stop.” yujin said, eyes briefly switching from the gps and back onto the road. there were still three and a half hours of driving before the two of you reach your destination. even yujin thinks it might’ve been better if neither of you drove but instead, just flown to that other city.

“and who’s gonna keep you in check? surely not azzo.” you looked at yujin’s beloved puppy sitting on the backseat of the car. azzo was diligently decimating her chew toy. good girl!

“i promise i’ll only stay ten over the speed limit.” yujin says with a cheeky smile, earning a soft punch in the shoulder from you. you don’t fall asleep; it was impossible! yujin found every way to keep you up and alert either by randomly touching your face, taking your hand and kissing it, or simply just letting it rest on your lap. she probably knew, but you were so giddy. you couldn’t hide your smile, even when you turned your face away.

damn yujin. she will always make your heart jump.

if she wasn’t constantly touching you, yujin was singing. and when she was singing, she was a mess. head-banging, slamming her hands on the steering wheel, even honking out of nowhere. yujin didn’t care that she looked stupidly insane, she cared that it made you smile and laugh. although you did scold her when she swerved a bit after singing too passionately.

when you noticed that yujin had a pout on her face a few moments later, you knew only one thing could cheer her up. well, two things. food and kisses, mostly the food part. after giving azzo some treats, you proceeded on feeding yujin and yourself. she had insisted on bring some donuts for the ride, saying that she needed the sugar to keep herself awake. but you knew the silly thing just wanted some donuts.

“you picked all my favourites?” yujin asks. you hum in reply since your mouth was full. you don’t notice the loving look yujin gives you before she turns her head back towards the road. a small action from you, but one she appreciated beyond understanding.

“one could never go wrong with the excellence that is the strawberry flavour.” yujin says, licking her lips. you shook your head and wiped her mouth as best as you could before continuing one eating. yujin was much, much happier after getting fed and a much happier yujin was a much happier you of course!

eventually, and thankfully, you had to stop at a near-empty gas station for a bit of a break and to refill the tank. while yujin busied herself taking azzo out of the car to run around, you decided to stick with the car and fill it up. there were still a few hours of driving left, thinking about it made you groan out loud and roll your eyes. at least it was going to be your turn to drive though, it wouldn’t be too boring.

“babe, we should have lunch.” yujin says after you finished what you needed to do.

“wouldn’t that just keep us on the road for longer?” you asked, scratching your head.

“well, you need to relax! and we both know those donuts didn’t do too much for our stomach. come on, the restaurant’s open.” yujin nods her head to the eatery right next to the gas station—it was empty.

well, you couldn’t exactly say no to food, much less your girlfriend, so you ended up parking the car nearby and entering the eatery with yujin and azzo following close behind. you and yujin (and azzo) chose to sit in the booth on the farthest corner of the eatery, and you stared out of the window and into the empty road.

even if you miraculously teach your destination quicker than expected, there were still things needed to be done that would chip the day away fast. checking in at the hotel, dropping off all your things in your room, organizing the plans for your getaway, dinner, shopping, outfits—

“why’s mama so grumpy today, mommy?” yujin spoke with a ridiculous high-pitched voice. you turned your head and scoffed at the sight of her ‘talking’ with azzo.

“because mama’s got a lot on her mind! see that look in her eyes?” you were glaring at the snickering yujin. “she could summon a storm!” a hearty laugh leaves yujin’s mouth when you rolled your eyes. of course, you would never be upset at yujin and you knew that she was doing these seemingly annoying antics to cheer you up. you loved her a lot for that.

yujin lets azzo sit on her side of the booth before sitting beside you. she wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you close. automatically, you lay your head on her shoulder, sighing blissfully at the feeling of her warmth next to you. “let’s look in the bright side, okay? we finally have all the time in the world just for the two of us, and azzo. as soon as we reach the hotel, we can just have fun and do everything we’ve been wanting to do but couldn’t because of work. think about that, and suddenly, a few more hours of driving doesn’t sound so horrible, huh?”

as always, you could rely on yujin’s positivity to kickstart your own. you nodded, putting your hand on her thigh and squeezing it gently. “you’re right, yujin-ah,” you raised your head slightly, frowning. “sorry i’ve been real stingy this entire time.”

“nah, don’t worry about it,” yujin ruffles your hair and kisses your head, making you giggle and snuggle even closer to her. “i love you even if you’re feisty. and you know i love it when you are.” yujin winks at you, making you grimace and pinch her cheek.

“i love you too, idiot.”

you had a good time at that restaurant. you and yujin took turns feeding each other, discussed the details of your plans only to end up adding even more plans just to maximize your time and fun for as long as you can, and she even teased you about a gift she prepared beforehand which of course got you so curious that you asked her endless questions about it. surprisingly enough, yujin could control herself and managed to not spill a single clue about her gift. she said you simply had to wait and be patient like you always are.

(it was a promise ring. one she would give to you five days from now during a romantic candlelit dinner in a beachside restaurant.)

after eating, you, yujin, and azzo set off in your homey car once again. this time, however, you had a smile on your face! brought only by the cutest girlfriend that made the long drive a lot less boring and more fun, loud, and exciting.

[steddieas-shegoes]

The top of your blog says you're still taking requests,no pressure though of course: Eddie lives through the events of s4 and heals in the hospital, his name is cleared, Eddie spends his time with his uncle and his friends, plays games. He notices that Steve sort of remains on the back burner, shows up to little gatherings but keeps himself at a distance, busies himself with small tasks. Keeps the focus on Eddie, and is content to sort of stare at everyone, and not join in. Eddie gets worried and asks Robin whats up with Steve, why does he keep just standing in the corner or the kitchen smiling instead of joining in, I think he's bumming the kids out, Robin. And she has to calmly, and frightfully, remind him that Steve died over spring break. What are you talking about he's right there! I'd love a Ghost Steve who doesn't want to move on, wants to stay with his family. Doesn't want to be alone. Eddie is the only one who can see him at first(?)

OKAY SO THIS WAS SAD AS SHIT AND I LOVE THIS PREMISE. I especially love it because I have read A LOT of ghost Eddie fics, some where he was actually dead and some where it was a weird Upside Down thing and he was alive. I'm a big believer in happy endings so I went full speed ahead with the latter option for Steve. But since you requested ghost Steve not wanting to move on, I had to switch it up a bit to where Eddie couldn't just let it go. Still plenty of sad, but I had to make it hopeful and happy at the end because I am me. - Mickala ❤️

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

While Eddie was in the hospital, it felt like he was in a bubble. His uncle was the only one allowed to visit for the first week, and then the kids were able to come by when his name was cleared.

They weren’t themselves, a cloud of sadness around them, but that was to be expected with everything that had happened.

Dustin, especially, clung to him more than he expected.

He figured it would be rough, he did almost die, after all, but this was on another level.

Dustin was with him every day for hours, sometimes had to be dragged out by his mom who understood, but only in the way a person who doesn’t know about the Upside Down could.

Robin came by sometimes, a haunted look on her face, none of her usual energy anywhere to be seen.

He managed to get her to crack a small smile twice.

When he left the hospital, things somehow felt worse.

The government had provided him and Wayne a new trailer, nowhere near the trailer park, even managed to get Wayne a new truck since Eddie’s van had been destroyed and Wayne’s truck was on its last leg for the last year.

His name was cleared, but that didn’t mean people changed their mind about him.

He mostly stayed at home, didn’t even attempt to go to the store with Wayne or anywhere but Dustin’s house or the Byers’.

The kids started begging for normalcy in whatever ways they could: meeting up for movie night, bringing Hellfire back, dinner at the Byers’ house.

Eddie was on board with it, wanted to put everything in the past just as much as they did.

He went to movie night, at Robin’s house while her parents were out of town instead of at Steve’s.

Steve, who hadn’t visited him once while he was in the hospital, hadn’t made it to any hangouts with the kids, apparently was coping with everything by ignoring everyone.

Eddie would have to do something about it soon because the kids were clearly missing him.

Movie night was okay, but he decided to have the next one at his house.

He told Dustin to let everyone know, didn’t think he had to be specific about everyone.

Steve didn’t show up on time, which was unusual since he was usually Dustin and Lucas’ ride. They rode with Nancy and Mike.

Everyone settled in, Eddie started the movie and passed out popcorn, waved goodbye to Wayne on his way out the door to his night shift.

Everything felt okay, but without Steve, it didn’t feel right.

Eddie could admit to himself he had a crush on him. He had one on him in high school, but that was easy to ignore when he was an asshole.

Now, he knew Steve was a good guy, protected these kids and Robin and Nancy with his life and didn’t hesitate even when he should.

It wasn’t just a crush anymore, he realized that while he was in the hospital. It was full blown feelings. Love.

Eddie sat in Wayne’s recliner in the corner, keeping an eye on everyone through the movie. He glanced over to the kitchen and saw movement, but didn’t think anything of it.

They paused the movie halfway through for bathroom breaks and refills on snacks and drinks, and Eddie followed all the kids into the kitchen to get his own beer.

He was startled when he turned the corner and saw Steve smiling at him from the corner.

He didn’t want to say anything, figured the kids had already said hello and he was just letting them get their stuff first.

But it was kind of weird that he’d come in the backdoor of a trailer he’d never visited when he easily could have come in the front door. Eddie watched as Steve leaned against the wall of the kitchen, watching everyone move around without saying anything.

It was weird, especially because the smile seemed to transform from a genuine one to a sad one quickly.

He didn’t want to draw attention to it, didn’t know how much Steve let the kids see usually, so he turned to grab his own snack from the counter.

Robin was standing there, staring at him, eyebrows pinched together.

“What were you looking at?”

“Uh,” Eddie glanced back over and saw Steve frowning now. “Steve? Looking like a kicked puppy in the corner?”

Robin’s face went from confused to worried in a millisecond.

“What? What do you mean?”

“Steve.” Eddie gestured towards where Steve was still standing, but now he looked panicked, like he wanted to interrupt. “Please feel free to make me not look insane, Steve.”

Robin glanced over to the corner, then back at Eddie, tears in her eyes.

“Eddie,” she said, voice sad, like she was about to break the worst news in the world to him. Then, she did. “Steve died. Remember? We had to leave him.”

That can’t be right. He could’ve sworn Steve was there when he was being pushed through the gate, when he gained just enough consciousness to look around and take inventory of the people around him. Steve was there.

“When did he die? He was at the…with the bats…he was at the trailer…right?”

Eddie looked back in the corner and saw Steve looking down at the floor.

And then Robin was pulling him into a hug.

“Nobody told you. They were supposed to tell you. And we-” she let out a sob. “We just haven’t talked about it. It’s hard to. Last time we tried, Dustin had to be given anxiety meds. I’m sorry, Eddie. He’s gone.”

She was crying through the explanation, almost too much for him to understand what she was saying.

But he watched as Steve wiped at his eyes in the corner.

Like he was crying. Like he was there.

He knew Robin wasn’t lying, she would never lie about something like this, and it would explain a lot of the behavior of everyone and Steve’s absence up until this point.

“Robbie, I-” Eddie didn’t know if it would help or hurt her to know he could see Steve right now. He made a decision based on the way Steve was watching them now, his eyes wide and sad, like he would be crying if he could. “I can see him right now.”

Robin pulled away, looked at him, then over at the corner.

“Right now? He’s there right now?”

Eddie nodded.

“Can you hear him say anything?”

“No, he hasn’t said anything. I don’t think he can.”

Steve was still just staring at them, and Eddie knew he was stuck.

If he was truly dead, he wasn’t moving on the way people do. If he wasn’t dead, then something super weird was happening and he would have to get help from everyone.

But he didn’t want to involve the kids, not for this. Because if Steve was dead, like they thought, and they went through the trouble of trying to find him, they’d be hurting all over again.

But if he wasn’t.

“Robin, were you sure he was dead? No pulse or breathing, no movement?”

Robin’s eyes widened.

“I mean, I guess as sure as we could be with how rushed and emotional we were? Nancy couldn’t find a heartbeat and he wasn’t moving, and we waited as long as we could, but he didn’t wake up. Do you think he isn’t dead?”

Steve was watching them, his fingers tapping against his arms that were crossed over his chest.

“How long can someone survive down there?”

“Eddie, look. I already talked to Hopper about it. He said even if somehow Steve managed to survive his injuries, they were bad enough that he would have probably been found by something and attacked. And even if he survived that, he’s been down there without food and water and clean oxygen for a month. The fact that Will survived a week was a miracle.”

He didn’t push. He could hear it in Robin’s voice that she’d already thought of every possible outcome, probably even tried to plan a rescue mission at some point.

She couldn’t take the disappointment either.

Eddie dropped it for now, but he watched as Steve watched him.

He just had a feeling that this was more complicated than Steve being dead.

—-----------------------

He let himself mourn that night.

While he didn’t feel like Steve was dead, he knew that no matter what, Steve had been missing from all their lives for a month.

He cried for hours, he cried for Steve, for Dustin, for Robin, for Max, for everyone who Steve loved so much that he died for them.

Himself included.

Because that’s what it came down to: Steve died protecting them.

They all took a risk, but Steve paid the price.

It wasn’t fair. The guy who put everyone first was the first one gone.

Eddie finally fell asleep, but it was restless. He kept getting flashes of Steve in his dreams, his face bloody, his body bloody, his screams loud.

Which was weird for a lot of reasons, one of them being that he didn’t know what injuries Steve even had when he died. The ghost he saw in his kitchen earlier had just been Steve, not bloodied or broken or scared.

When he managed to get up, he went through the motions of his day: brush his teeth, shower, eat breakfast, do his stretches, play guitar, eat lunch, clean up, talk to Wayne.

But by dinner, he felt like he had to do something. He had to figure out why he felt this buzzing energy around him.

He waited until Wayne left to get their dinner at the diner and bring it home, then he called Robin.

“Robin, is there a gate open somewhere?”

“Seriously, Eddie.”

“I just need to know! Maybe you’re right, in fact, you probably are. But what if you aren’t? What if he’s stuck down there? What if he’s too hurt to find a way back here?”

Robin was silent, but Eddie didn’t let that deter him.

“I know you guys were pretty sure. And I know you wouldn’t have left if you didn’t believe he was dead. But you said yourself you were emotional and overwhelmed and feeling rushed because of everything happening. It’s not that far of a stretch to believe that he could be alive.”

“Eddie.”

Her voice was broken.

She didn’t want to believe him.

“Okay,” he sighed. “Okay.”

“I know it’s hard. It’ll get easier, I hope. His parents just sold the house, and his car, so. He’s gone. We have to accept that.”

“Okay.”

But it wasn’t okay.

He hung up with Robin, promised he would try to get some sleep, take care of himself. It was a lie.

He ate dinner with Wayne, pretended he was doing alright, pretended he didn’t still hear the echoes of Steve’s screams in his head.

Wayne left early for work, claimed he was picking up some overtime due to them being short staffed still after the quake. He said he wouldn’t be home until nine the next morning.

Eddie nodded and pretended to head to his room for the night.

He did a lot of pretending until he was alone.

Then, he got on the phone with El.

El had gotten attached to him while Max was in a coma, stopping by to talk to him after she’d spent an hour or so with Max. She saw him as a cool older brother, especially when she realized Hopper wasn’t his biggest fan.

“I need to know if there’s a gate open.”

“Eddie, I do not know if I can help with that,” El responded slowly, carefully.

“What if I say it’s for a really good reason?”

“I am sure it is, but I promised Dad I would not open one.”

“But what if there’s one already open?”

“There is not. I would feel it.”

Eddie sighed. He didn’t want to make El break a promise, but this was worth it.

He knew Hopper would forgive her and him if he was right.

“Has Will mentioned feeling anything weird?”

Sometimes Will felt things that even El couldn’t, usually things happening only in the Upside Down. Everyone’s running theory was that it was because of the time he spent down there.

“No, he just feels the usual.”

“What’s the usual?”

“It is just there. Sometimes it is more there than other times.”

“And right now? It isn’t more than other times?”

“I think it is just always more than other times since Vecna.”

Hm. That could be something.

“Why does it feel like more sometimes?”

“It is hard to say. Sometimes it is nothing, sometimes it is because something is moving and trying to get out.”

“Is it always a creature?”

“It always was before.”

“El, I think Steve’s alive.”

There, he said it. He said it to someone who could probably actually help him, who would would help him if she believed him.

“Why do you think that? They said he was not breathing.”

“I know, but, look. Robin even said that they were being rushed and were crying and could have missed something.”

“But it has been a month.”

“I saw him. In the kitchen.” He hated saying this to one of the kids. They all loved Steve so much and if he was wrong, he really didn’t want this to hurt her. “At movie night. He was there, but only I could see him. Robin said maybe it was a ghost, but it seemed too real.”

“It was Steve?”

“Even if he’s de-,” Eddie stopped. “Gone. If his body is where it was left, it should be put to rest here. And if it isn’t, and he’s alive, then we can save him.”

“But we will get caught.”

“Not if we do it tonight. Hopper works nights this week, right?”

“Yes.”

“So he won’t be home to know you’re gone. Will is over at Dustin’s. Jonathan is so high, he won’t notice you’re gone. Joyce will be asleep by ten. You can sneak out.”

“What if you get hurt? I cannot go down there.”

That was a valid concern.

They defeated Vecna, and the Mindflayer hadn’t been a problem since, but that didn’t mean the other creatures weren’t still prowling around down there.

Out of all of them, he had the least experience with them, and she had every right to be worried.

“I can handle it. I’ll bring Steve’s bat.”

—------------------------

He met El in the woods behind the cabin they were staying in. Hopper had redone it, adding two bedrooms and a bathroom so they could all fit more comfortably.

They silently hugged and kept walking further, away from any chance of being seen or heard.

El warned him that opening the gate was risky in other ways too. She had a lot of control over her powers, but sometimes using this much strength would leave her too tired to close it again, and they couldn’t leave a gate open for longer than it took for Eddie to get in, check for Steve, and get out.

They also ran the risk of her using a little too much power and making a gate that was too big for her to close at all.

But these were risks Eddie deemed worth it, and with some convincing, El did too.

They found a small clearing, big enough to make a gate that Eddie could fit through.

He didn’t let himself stop to think about the last time he was being pushed through a gate, how he was bleeding out and barely breathing. He only thought about how Steve was down there, dead or alive, and didn’t deserve to be.

“Are you ready?” El asked him, her hands digging into the earth below her.

“Ready.”

“Two hours. If you are not back in two hours, I call Hopper.”

That was the deal. That was the only way she agreed to do this.

He knew if it came down to him being gone for more than two hours, he’d probably be grateful to see Hopper.

“Got it.”

El nodded and closed her eyes.

The ground started shaking, Eddie held back the panic, and suddenly El was staring up at him, blood dripping from her nose, smiling.

The ground had opened between them, just big enough for Eddie to slip through, small enough for El to cover with sticks and leaves if someone came looking before their time was up.

“You will come back in two hours.”

“Sure thing, supergirl. With Steve, hopefully.”

“With Steve,” she added with a small smile.

Eddie didn’t think anymore.

He dropped himself down, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach when everything turned upside down on him.

He didn’t let himself hesitate, even though he wanted to.

He had a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, and if Steve was alive, he could be anywhere.

But he walked towards where Robin and Nancy had left him. It would at least confirm if he was dead, his body hopefully would still be there if so.

It was only two miles, but Eddie was never a very fast runner. The first mile went surprisingly well, much faster than he expected to be able to do it. But during mile two, he felt his legs shaking.

He was still technically healing, the physical therapy stretches he did every morning further proof that he still had a long way to go before he was completely recovered.

But he pushed through it, knowing that the way back would be worse and he couldn’t waste time now.

But when he got to the area between the Creel house and the trailer park, he saw no sign of Steve, or anything for that matter.

There weren’t even vines or dead creatures around.

He tried to remain calm.

Steve had been alive when they left him here.

He may not be now, but he had been.

That felt worse.

He pushed that aside and decided to run to the trailer park.

Steve wouldn’t have gone in the direction of the Creel house, and he wouldn’t have wandered aimlessly no matter how much blood he’d lost.

He would have gone to the place he knew they would be in hopes the gate was still open.

The trailer park had always been kind of eerie, even in broad daylight, so the Upside Down version was downright horrific.

Eddie ran directly to his old trailer, hoped that somehow Steve found shelter here.

It looked worse than what he remembered, blood on the floor from when they were half dragging, half carrying him after being a meal for the bats.

The door had been kicked in at some point, and he wasn’t sure how or when that could have happened after they left.

He almost didn’t want to know unless-

He could hear movement in the back bedroom. His bedroom.

It could be anything. Wind blowing through a broken window, a creature he wasn’t entirely prepared to kill, Steve.

God, he hoped it was Steve.

He slowly walked towards the bedroom, his hands shaking where they were holding on tight to the bat.

The door was open a few inches, and he could hear the movement more clearly.

It sounded like someone was in bed, shifting in the sheets.

Holy shit.

He pushed the door open.

Holy shit.

“Steve!”

Eddie dropped the bat and ran to the bed, only stopping himself from jumping onto it when he saw the blood.

There was a lot, though most of it looked old, like maybe Steve had crawled here and then couldn’t quite find his way back out.

Steve was pale. It was dark, and hard to make out a lot of details, but he could see that he was deathly pale.

“Steve?”

“Eddie?”

“Holy shit, Jesus Christ, Steve. Where are you bleeding from?”

“Um, I think my leg? And my stomach.”

His voice was raspy, sort of nasally like he was coming down with a cold. Could you catch a cold from being down here? Probably.

Eddie’s hands hovered over the sheets, ready to move them so he could try to help, when Steve suddenly turned on his side and threw up.

“Shit. Hold on, let me help you sit up.”

“Sorry. Sorry.”

Steve was crying, and Eddie didn’t know what to do.

He took a deep breath.

“You don’t have to apologize, Stevie. I’m sorry you’ve been stuck here. Can I check your heartbeat?”

Eddie needed to see if it was ridiculously fast or slow, needed to determine how quickly he had to move them out of here, if he could take a few extra minutes to try to patch him up or if he just had to put him on his back and run.

Steve held his wrist towards him and Eddie quickly found his pulse.

He counted like a kind nurse showed him while he was in the hospital, filed away for future emergencies so he could be useful.

“It’s a little fast, but I think that’s normal for the situation. Let’s get you up and we can go.”

“Go how?”

“You can hop on my back.”

“I-”

“Steve, it’s not up for debate. You’re coming back with me and I don’t care if it means I break my back.”

Steve nodded once, his eyes closing as if he was just too exhausted to fight.

Eddie was sure he was.

Even if he managed to sleep here, it couldn’t have been well. It’s hard to rest when you know scary monsters are just outside the door.

“Tired,” Steve said, almost like he could read Eddie’s mind.

Hell, maybe he could after spending so much time down here.

Something to test later.

He checked his clock. Still had almost an hour and a half to get back to the gate.

“Have you had anything to eat or drink lately?”

“Found some water four days ago I think? Maybe five. Managed to stretch it until yesterday. Food’s been gone for days.”

How was he not passed out?

“How much of this blood is yours?”

“All of it.”

Awesome.

Eddie felt his forehead. He had a fever.

Even more awesome.

He probably had infections, which can be treated if you get them taken care of quickly, but he could have had them for weeks by now.

Cool.

“Alright, on three, wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist. I’m gonna lift, and I just need you to try to keep leaning forward while I get you on my back.”

“Mkay.”

“And you cannot close your eyes. You hear me, Steve?”

Steve didn’t answer.

“Sweetheart, I need you to talk to me.”

“Mhm. Eyes stay open.”

“And mouth keeps moving. Alright,” Eddie helped him out a bit by placing his arms around his neck. “One…two…three.”

He lifted, and huffed out a sharp breath when his ribs started aching almost immediately.

“Okay?” Steve whispered against his neck.

“I’m okay. You?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Eddie let himself take one calming breath, just enough to get himself back on track. “Talk to me.”

“Hurts.”

“I know, love, but I need to know you haven’t passed out,” Eddie said sympathetically.

“Wanna hold your hand.”

God, okay. He could handle that.

He could.

“Okay, one hand for a minute. I need them both to hold you up though.”

He moved one hand up to his chest, where Steve’s hands were sort of dangling. He let his thumb run along the side of Steve’s hands, then Steve grabbed it and squeezed, surprising strength behind it.

“Is Dustin okay?”

Jesus Christ, this guy was half dead and still asking if others were okay.

“Yeah, he’s doing okay. Misses you, though.”

“Miss him.”

“Max is gonna be mad you came back from the dead in a more impressive way than her.”

“She can win.”

Eddie let out a laugh and tugged his hand back to adjust Steve on his back.

They had barely made it out of the trailer park and Eddie’s legs were shaking. He could do it though, he had no choice.

“How long?” Steve asked.

“A month.”

“Robin?”

“She’s hurting. She thought I was crazy. Didn’t wanna come because she didn’t wanna see you like she left you.”

“Not dead though.”

“Nope, not unless dead people can talk down here.”

Steve’s breath was hot against his neck, tickling him and sending chills down his back.

“You?”

“What about me?”

“Hurt?”

Steve’s voice was getting more strained, like he was doing his best to still talk but it was causing a lot of pain for him to do so.

“I was really hurt, yeah.”

“Still?”

“Not as much. Just a little.”

“Love me?”

Eddie knew he was losing it. The pain, the dehydration and hunger, the deliriousness. Steve didn’t have a clue what he was saying.

“What?”

“You love me?”

“Um.”

Steve squeezed his legs around Eddie’s hips.

“Came back. Love me.”

When it was put like that, yeah, Eddie guessed it seemed kind of obvious.

“Just a little.”

He could sense the eyeroll Steve wanted to give, but didn’t quite have the energy.

“I saw you. In my kitchen. Were you there?”

“Dunno.”

“Did you dream about it?”

“Just you. Kids. Robin. Missed you.”

“We all missed you.”

Eddie was making more progress, his determination to get Steve medical attention far outweighing any weakness or pain he was feeling.

“Ow.”

“What hurts, sweetheart?”

“Stomach.”

“Bites?”

“Mhm.”

Eddie could feel where the blood was soaking through his shirt, but he knew it wasn’t so much that he couldn’t at least make it through the gate before bandaging it up. He’d made it this long with them out, another 30 minutes wouldn’t kill him.

Hopefully.

Steve was quiet again, but he was breathing against Eddie’s neck steadily, so he didn’t push.

“Man, you won’t believe the place they gave me and Wayne. It’s got two bedrooms. And we have a whole kitchen instead of just a small counter area with a stove and fridge. Maybe you can cook us dinner when you’re better, you know, as a thanks for rescuing you.”

“Not a good cook.”

“I don’t believe that. Robin said you made her chicken parmesan from scratch for her birthday.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, so chicken parmesan, my kitchen, soon.”

“Soon.”

They were close, creeping into the edge of the woods, and Eddie was trying not to panic at Steve’s silence.

“Stevie, just a few more minutes. Tell me about the first thing you wanna do when you’re back.”

“Mmm.” Steve’s head rolled back and forth like he was trying to focus. “Kiss you.”

“That can be arranged. What else?”

“Hug Dustin. Love him.”

“Yeah, he could use that.”

“Hug Robin. Love her.”

“She could use that, too.”

“Hug you, love you.”

He wouldn’t hold Steve to this, he wouldn’t. But it would hurt so much when Steve forgot about this whole conversation.

He bit his lip and nodded.

“Yeah, I could use that.”

Steve’s lips were pressed against his neck, most likely accidental, but Eddie let himself pretend for a moment it was a kiss.

When he reached the gate, he whistled to get El’s attention.

“Oh! Eddie, is that…”

“He’s alive. Really hurt and needs water and food. I need to get him through.”

El was prepared with everything and it only took a couple of minutes for them to get through the gate, Steve whimpering slightly as they moved him around.

“You were right.”

El seemed surprised, like she had only done this to give Eddie closure. She hadn’t expected Steve to be alive.

“He loves me,” Steve said.

El looked at Eddie, then at Steve, then back to Eddie.

“You love him?”

“I do. And I’ll love him a lot more if he stays alive. We have to get him to the hospital.”

“I can call Hopper?”

“Tell him to meet us at the cabin with an ambulance.”

“Jus’ need sleep.”

Eddie looked at Steve, mouth open in disbelief.

“You’re going to the hospital.”

“Sleep.”

“I’m not arguing with you. You can barely form a sentence. You’re going to the hospital.”

“You come?”

“I won’t leave your side.”

Eddie put him on his back again so he could walk towards the cabin, hopeful that Hopper wouldn’t ask a lot of questions until they got Steve taken care of.

“He is on his way!” El yelled from the porch, Joyce coming up behind her, hair a mess from being asleep.

When she saw Steve, her eyes widened and she nearly tripped running down the stairs.

“Oh God, Steve! Honey, are you okay? Of course not, you can’t even walk. You’re bleeding!”

“Mrs. Byers, can you get him some water maybe please?”

“Yes! Oh my God!”

She was running back up the stairs, mumbling to herself the whole way.

El giggled as she watched.

Eddie loved her.

He could hear sirens in the distance, and he hoped he would be able to ride with Steve.

He shouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

Steve’s eyes were closed, but Eddie kept his fingers on his pulse, making sure he didn’t have any changes while the sirens got closer.

Hopper’s patrol car arrived first, barely in park before Hopper was jumping out and running to where Eddie was cradling Steve.

Joyce came out with the water and handed it to Eddie.

“Dammit, why would you go down there alone? You know the rules.”

Eddie ignored him, just focused on getting some water past Steve’s lips.

“C’mon, sweetheart. Just a few sips.”

Steve’s lips moved, then he swallowed some of the water.

“There ya go. Good job.”

Hopper was watching in silence now, Joyce with her arm around him.

Eddie knew they were wondering how the hell they would ever get over leaving Steve behind.

The ambulance pulled up next, EMTs rushing out and asking Eddie question after question.

He had to keep it simple: found him in the woods, must’ve been out there since the quake with the injuries and level of dehydration. They took him at his word.

When they loaded Steve up, they let Eddie in only because Hopper insisted.

“I’ll be right behind you.”

And he was.

Eddie kept his eyes on Steve the whole time, but he could see the lights of Hopper’s police car in the window next to him.

Steve’s eyes fluttered open a few times as they hooked him up to oxygen and an IV, kept checking his vitals.

Eddie smiled at him each time, made sure he knew he was there and he loved him.

—---------------------------

It was two days before Steve woke up again.

The wounds weren’t bad, but they were infected, which was why they kept randomly bleeding despite not being very deep.

The infection was actually the worst of it, but it had potential to be life threatening if they couldn’t get it under control.

They pumped him full of pain relievers and antibiotics, fluids and nutrients.

Eddie sat by his bed the whole time.

None of the kids were allowed in yet, doctor’s and Hopper’s orders, but he heard Dustin in the hall multiple times a day giving it his best shot.

Robin hadn’t come by yet. Eddie knew she felt guilty, immensely so. She left her best friend down there, suffering, and didn’t even think to double check when it was safe to do so.

Eddie didn’t blame her, and he knew Steve wouldn’t either, but Robin would.

But when Steve’s eyes finally opened, bloodshot and glassy from his IV concoction, he smiled at Eddie.

“Love me?”

“Just a little.”

He fell back asleep a few minutes later, holding Eddie’s hand like a lifeline.

—------------------------

It took another four days before the doctors said he could be around others. His infection symptoms had gotten better and they believed the worst was over.

Eddie called Robin and told her to bring Dustin, no arguing. Steve was asking for them.

It wasn’t a lie, but he may have exaggerated it slightly just to get them here.

And when they did show up, everyone cried.

Robin collapsed next to the bed while Dustin folded himself against Steve the moment he was given permission to.

Eddie just watched from his chair, took in the way Steve comforted them despite the fact he was still in the hospital after spending a month alone in the Upside Down.

That was just who Steve was.

It probably wasn’t healthy, but it’s why Eddie loved him. Just a little.

[herrmannhalsteadproduction]

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass it on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love!

Hi, @bangpop91! Thanks for this! I'm pretty sure I did one of these a couple of months ago, but I can't find it so I'll do a new one!

Just Trying to Keep Up - BuckTommy | T | 4.8K In which Tommy slowly realizes that 'letting Evan set the pace' means committing to a life of full speed ahead. (And he's more than happy to chase after him.) My latest 9-1-1 fic - inspired by the deleted scene with Tommy and Henren. I think it's pretty darn cute. 😊 Colin Firth Thinks You're Hot | BuckTommy | G | 2.7K

Buck is late for a special date night with Tommy, but he still stops to help a stranger stuck on the side of the road. Luckily, that stranger is about to help HIM.

Still one of the most ridiculous things I've ever written. Also still makes me laugh.

you carried me with you | BuckTommy | T | 7.2K

There's always been one person Tommy can talk to.

My very first 9-1-1 fic. It came about because I really wanted some backstory for Tommy and I gave him a twin sister because I really wanted him to have someone in his corner. There's a sequel to this one now that's a work-in-progress and I have plans for a third part. Which is hilarious when you see the notes on this fic and I'm like, 'this is going to be my only 9-1-1 fic! I'm not going down this rabbit hole!' SUCH A LIAR!!! 😂

Live and Let Spy | BuckTommy | T | WIP

Over twenty years on the job and he was at the top of his game.

Agent Kinard was the one they called in when there was no one else to trust. When the stakes were high and you needed a job done.

Agent Kinard didn’t make mistakes, but Tommy…

Tommy fell in love.

Putting this one on here even though it's a WIP. It was inspired by the whole Spy!Tommy thing that was floating around a couple of months ago and it's another ridiculous little adventure that makes me laugh.

A Herrmann/Halstead Production

I know this is cheating, but I'm putting my OneChicago series on here because I'm really proud of it. If you've read my 9-1-1 fics and you enjoy procedurals in general, consider checking this one out! There's over 300K worth of fic for you to fall into. It's an AU so there's a few divergences from canon and an OC character that ties the three shows together. It has a lot of humour and angst and romance (Rhodestead!) and lots of friendship and family feels. I'm working away on the latest installment and have many more planned!

Thanks again for the ask!

[veryace-ficrecs]

Marineford fix-it fics

This list will include all ratings and tags, so read at your own discretion! :)

You Still Have Me by Rijus_Hope - Rated G

Ace is kneeling on the execution platform, ready to accept his fate. He wishes his father and crewmates hadn't come for him, but is glad that, at least, his older brother hasn't come to die for him as well. Or so he thought. Or: the Navy tries to execute Ace. Newly dubbed Emperor of the Sea Monkey D. Luffy shows the world why that was a mistake.

Retired doesn't mean weak by Dezace - Rated T

Gol D. Roger survived the illness that should have killed him, once again triumphing where he had no odds of winning. After Roger achieved his goal, he returned to the love of his life to live out his life with only calm days ahead. His son was born and doted on the boy, soon enough gaining two more sons in the coming years. He approved of their dreams and would not get in the way of them.

But he drew the line at executions.

The Marines better be prepared, because the Pirate King is coming, and he won't rest until his son was safe.

take these fists of mine (raise them one last time) by SkyGem - Rated G

Monkey D Garp is 76, and he's tired of giving up pieces of himself for the World Government. Monkey D Garp is 76, and his grandson is about to be executed. Monkey D Garp is 76, and his family is the one thing he will never give up without a fight.

The Sharp Knife Of A Short Life by Memories_of_the_Shadows - Rated G

Garp isn't the greatest parent in this world or any other by far, but he does try his best and he does love his boys.

Executing Family Reunions by RubyBlue2005 - Rated G

Executions are just less boring family meetups to the Monkey family.

You say there’s a monster in my past (but I don’t believe you) by Glaux_Bryonia - Rated G

The scheduled execution of the pirate Portgas D Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, did not go entirely according to plan… Or: what if Garp never told Ace he was Roger’s son?

All For One by missmungoe - Rated G

Some things never change. Except this time, one very important thing does.

the One Time Ace Turned Away by FMPtrumpets - Rated G

We all know Ace is well-known for never turning his back on a fight, but… what if Luffy managed to get him to walk away from Akainu at Marineford?

Emotional damage by Lerya - Rated M

Opening his eyes, Luffy found an oxygen mask over his mouth. What had happened that he needed that. He never needed something like that, Chopper was well aware that he would bounce back soon enough. Looking around now that his eyes were opened, he could see that he wasn’t lying in their infirmary. The lay out was different from theirs; from the way Chopper had decorated it.

The will to live is harder to keep than a will to die by Dezace - Rated T

Ace was chained down in Impel Down, waiting for his execution and death, knowing that nothing can change that. When Ace hears the news that Luffy was here and there for him, Ace couldn't sit still. Not anymore. Or: Ace decided that being the damsel in distress sucks and that if you wanted something done right, do it yourself.

there is thunder in our hearts by taizi - Rated T

He’s not close enough. He’s not going to make it. Even if he managed to shake off the soldiers in front of him and just threw his whole body at full-speed between Luffy and Akainu to take the blow, he wouldn’t get there fast enough. He doesn’t have enough time. He’s going to lose another brother, only this time it’s going to happen right in front of his eyes, from seven—five—three feet away. He’s ten years old again and learning what grief is. He’s ten years old and all that’s left of Sabo is the letter in his hand and a shared dream and the promise that Ace will look after their silly baby brother while he’s gone.  “DON’T TOUCH HIM!” Ace screams. It’s pure desperation. It’s the last human thing he’ll ever say if Luffy dies here. 

Whitebeard Pirates Guide to Gaslighting the World that Ace is Whitebeard's Biological Son by Thatoneanimequeen - Rated G

Ace being the brilliant genius that he is somehow convinces the Whitebeard pirates and others to get everyone to believe that he is Whitebeard's biological son.

walk the wire by Anonymous - Rated G

So they’re talking about the possibility that Whitebeard loses and Ace dies and Sabo can’t. There are locusts beneath his skin and a headache throbbing against his skull and a tick-tick-tick down his spine, a countdown, a warning, and he needs to go. “I can carry a black bag operation in Marineford,” he blurts, off topic, and the room blows up with noise. ///Sabo needs his memories, Ace needs saving, and Garp needs to rethink his life choices.

[vodika-vibes]

and in this case I would humbly request a spicy continuation of the Ordo fic 👀😄

💕

I Want To Have All Of You

Summary: Now that you've finally managed to get your first kiss from Ordo...your relationship continues going full speed ahead.

Pairing: Ordo Skirata x Reader

Word Count: 1748

Warnings: Y'all, this is straight up smut. Nothing but smut.

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni

A/N: Guys. Guys. I put off lunch for two hours to get this out for you. I'm starving and my hands are shaking, but have some well crafted smut! I'm not going to go make lunch and hope that the pest control guy doesn't show up while I'm making food.

Divider by Saradika

“Come on this side of the couch,” You murmur to Ordo. Ordo who has his forehead pressed against yours. Ordo who’s staring at you like a starving man would look at a steak. Ordo, whose hands are tightly gripping the couch cushion with a white knuckled grip.

“I…” He closes his eyes, and exhales slowly, deeply, and when his eyes open again you can see that he has a tight grip over himself again, “I need to finish securing your shelf, and then I should probably leave.”

Your fingers curl around his shirt, “You don’t have to, Ordo. You can take a break.” You lightly pull him down so his lips are hovering just over yours, and you tilt your head slightly to try and kiss him. 

He moves his head out of reach and you whine low in your throat, “Ordo-”

“Cyare,” the familiar pet name falls from his lips in a sigh, “I only have so much self-control, baby.”

“That’s okay,” You whisper, your hands sliding under his shirt to trail over his stomach, “Can I take this off? Please?”

He sighs again, “Cyare…you’re going to drive me insane.” Ordo’s voice is a low murmur.

“Is that a no?” You ask.

He huffs out a laugh, “It’s not a no, cyar’ika.” You keep your hands on his stomach, not moving your hands at all, though it’s obvious that you want to. Ordo watches you for a moment, and then he laughs and grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls it off in one smooth motion, tossing it to the side. “There. Happy?”

“Thrilled,” You reply as your hands start sliding up his stomach and over his chest, tracing muscles and scars and the many, many tattoos that cover his torso. “You’re so handsome.” you murmur.

“You talking to me, pretty girl, or my tattoos?” Ordo teases gently. 

You look up at him, and beam at him, “You, of course.” You slide your hand up over his shoulders and wrap your arms around his neck, “You’re perfect…I can’t believe you’re mine.”

“Didn’t know you were so possessive, cyar’ika.” Ordo rumbles.

You flush, “Does it bother you?”

“No,” his arms slide around your waist, and he kisses you quickly, almost innocently, and then his lips trail from your lips to your neck, “It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard you say.” He trails his lips to your shoulder, and he absently moves your shirt to the side, before he bites down on the skin there.

You gasp and it very quickly turns into a moan of pleasure. “Ordo-”

He trails his tongue over the red mark rapidly appearing on your skin, “Was that okay?”

You nod mutely, and he clicks his tongue, “You have such a clever little tongue, cyar’ika. Let me hear your words.”

You whine quietly, and he nuzzles your throat with his nose, “Liked it,” You whisper.

He pauses, and then a wicked grin crosses his face, “Oh? What else does my pretty girl like?”

You try to press your face against his neck, and he allows it, for a moment. And then he’s pulling you back and his lips are moving to the opposite side of your neck to leave an identical mark on the opposite side of your neck. 

As he bites down on your neck, you try to pull him closer, but the couch is still in the way, and Ordo is completely immovable. “Come on, cyar’ika.” He coos, “What else do you like?”

“Um…” You try to make your brain focus for long enough to answer his question, “Like being tied up,” You manage to get out through the haze of lust.

“Good girl,” Ordo purrs in your ear and is rewarded with a faint moan from his praise, and then he pauses as the words register, “My good girl likes being praised too.”

You pout at him slightly, and he chuckles.

“No judgment, cyar’ika. Just need to know how to make you feel amazing.” Ordo promises with a light kiss to your wrist, “Do you have any toys, cyare?”

You nod mutely.

He nips your shoulder lightly, “Use. Your. Words.” Ordo warns, “Or this stops.”

“Sorry,” You manage to get out.

“It’s okay, cyar’ika.” He kisses your shoulder, “But that’s the only warning you get.” Ordo presses a series of kisses up your neck, “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” You reply immediately.

“Good girl.” He kisses you quickly, and then pulls back, “Take your shirt off, sweet girl.”

You immediately grab the hem of your shirt, and lift it over your head, before you toss it to the side to join his shirt somewhere on the floor.

“Much better.” Ordo murmurs, his lips moving back to your shoulder to continue leaving marks on the newly exposed skin. “Now, my question, cyar’ika.” He reminds you gently.

“I have toys,” You confirm breathlessly, as you squirm under his onslaught. 

Ordo hums and moves his lips to your throat, “Take this off,” he murmurs as he snaps your bra strap, pulling a yelp from your lips. He waits until you're moving to remove the thin material hiding you from his view, before he asks his next question, “You use them often?”

You drop your bra to the floor, and gasp when his lips immediately move to the freshly revealed skin. A moan falls from you as he closes his lips around one of your nipples, “Yes.” You manage to gasp out.

“Since we’ve started dating?” He scrapes his teeth around your nipple and smirks when he hears a soft curse fall from your pretty lips.

“Yes!” You manage to get out.

He moves to your other nipple, “What do you think of, cyare. When you’re playing with yourself at night?” Ordo presses a light kiss against your nipple.

“You,” the word falls from your lips in a moan, “Always you, even before we started dating.” You clarify.

Ordo’s forehead falls to your shoulder, and a string of curses in several different languages fills the room, “You are making it very hard-” You interrupt him with your sudden giggles, and then you yelp when he pinches your side, “Difficult to focus, cyare.”

You flash him the most angelic smile you can, “I’m not doing anything.”

He leans in and kisses you so very lovingly, that you can’t help but to lean into him, “Finish getting undressed, cyare.” Ordo instructs with a small grin.

“Yes sir,” You pause when Ordo’s head falls back and he groans low in the back of his voice, “Oh…you liked that.”

He chuckles softly, “Get undressed, cyare, and I’ll show you just how much I liked it.”

Your breath catches in your throat and you scramble off the couch to slide your shorts down your legs, and toss them in the pile with the rest of your clothing. 

As you do this, Ordo circles around the couch and finally sits, though he still hasn’t removed his pants.

As soon as you’re totally bare, Ordo motions for you to come over to him, which you do eagerly. But he stops you from climbing onto his lap, which puts a pout on your lips. “Ordo-” You whine, as you wiggle your hips to try and tempt him into pulling you onto his lap.

He smirks at you knowingly, “My pretty girl is so needy,” Ordo teases.

“Yes, I am.” You agree with a pout.

“And what do you need, cyar’ika?”

“You. Just you. Always you.” You reply immediately. 

Ordo reaches out and lightly caresses your cheek, and then pulls you onto his lap. He catches your lips with his own, his teeth and tongue working in unison to leave you arching against him and breathless.

His name falls from your lips in a breathy moan as his hands trail down your sides. Ordo considers you for a moment, and then he takes one of your hands, in his and he presses a light kiss to each of your fingers, “Show me how you like to be touched.” He orders you softly.

The angle is a little awkward, which he apparently agrees with, as he lifts you off his lap and lays you down on the couch, your head nestled against the arm of the couch, while one of your legs is draped across his lap and the other is bent. 

“Show me, cyare.” He murmurs softly.

Your fingers drift down your body, and dip between your thighs. You gather some of your arousal on your fingers and then swirl your finger around your clit. You’re already wound so tightly from Ordo’s actions, that you know it won’t take long before you to fall over the edge.

And then you feel Ordo’s lips against your ankle, and your breath hitches. “Ordo-”

“Mm, I’m here, cyare.” His breath is warm against your leg as his lips trail from your ankle and up your calf, “You gonna cum over your fingers?” he asks, “Gonna make a mess of yourself. I bet you’re gorgeous when you’re falling apart. Show me, baby. Let me see it.”

Your finger moves a little bit faster, and you squirm slightly on the couch, and his name falls from you like a prayer for salvation. 

“That’s right, cyar’ika. Fall apart for me,” Ordo coos as he moves so he’s able to press his lips to your hips, “Fall apart for me and I’ll give you exactly what you want. Stars, you look so good like this. I bet you’re going to feel amazing around me, so warm and wet-” He nips your hip, and a stuttering moan falls from you. 

“Just like that,” Ordo breathes out, “So good. Such a good girl for me,” He praises, “doing exactly what I say.”

The combination of the praise coming from him, the feel of his teeth and lips on your overheated skin, and the sensation of your finger rapidly circling your clit is too much, and with a stuttering cry of his name, you fall over the edge. 

It takes you a minute to come down from your high, and you smile at Ordo when you see him lazily trailing his finger over your hip, “Ordo,” You murmur his name. “Did I do good?” You ask.

“You did great, cyar’ika.” He gathers you into his arms, and kisses you slowly, deeply. “Do you think you can keep going?”

“Yes,” Your answer is immediate.

And he chuckles and stands with you securely in his arms, “Not to worry, cyare, I’ll take care of you.”

[justanamesstuff]

The intimacy of being understood

Chapter 7

Matty Healy x f!reader

A/N: I know we have the episode but THIS IS THE END!! Thanks for always being here, for support my fics since the start...I'm so so grateful, my heart is so full ♥♥ Happy reading guyssss!

Warnings: flashbacks in dreams, mention of death, but theeeen fluff and PURE LOVE, typos.

Word count: 1.8 K

Blog Masterlist Series Masterlist

“Open it, Y/n.” she heard Jason said, feeling the cold metal of the car handle against her hand. “Go.” he instead. 

Her head didn’t turn around, her eyes staring down --fixated on her hand-- deciding what to do or not do. Was she going to continue there, trapped by memories? Or instead, she would free herself? 

Y/n pushed the car door open, exiting the small cubicle. 

Standing on the side of the road, she witnessed the car picked speed and in a blink of an eye it crashed against a big truck. The woman gasped, not a single sound reaching her ears. 

Her heart pounding loud in her ears when she reached the car. Y/n didn’t look, she knew it was him.

He was gone. Everything turned black.

Y/n opened her eyes suddenly, staring at the ceiling of her room. She tried to breathe deeply, feeling her beating heart. She was alive and Jason was gone. 

****************

For the past year and a half since Jason passed away, Y/n had been having dreams –sometimes nightmares– about him, about the car crash. Nothing as vividly as the one the night before. Contrary to past times, she didn’t feel her blood turned cold every time she recalled everything she remembered. Y/n felt like a weight was off her shoulders. 

As she said to Matty, Jason would always be part of her and have a portion of her heart. Even though, it was time to finally accept the reality and not fight it. 

Her phone vibrate on her hand, taking Y/n out of her head. She rolled her eyes to a pop-up notification --some celebrity gossip google wanted her to check. Y/n blamed only herself from the disappointment she felt, acknowledging that the chat with Matty would show the same last message Y/n had impregnated on her head if she checked. 

The absence of Matty and his lack of communication was driving her up the walls. She felt hurt, she felt anxious and a big variety of more feelings. ‘Did he forget about me?’, Y/n wondered about. 

Her mind jumped from one topic to the other, meanwhile she observed Kate helping her with the showcase. December was close, Y/n felt the need to get ahead of the game getting all ready for Christmas. 

“No, move it closer.” Y/n complained when her eyes focused on her friend. “No, Kate…left!” she shouted a bit too loud. 

Kate tried, saying, “Okay, sorry!”

“No-” Y/n stopped her. “You’re doing it wrong.”

Kate couldn’t bear with it any more, “Fine, here.” she said, turning around and giving Y/n the decorations she was trying to set. “Do it yourself.” clearly annoyed. 

Y/n watched her friend walk towards the front desk, frowning visibly and not making any type of eye contact with her. Practically ignoring her.

“I’m sorry.” Y/n approached her best friend, shyly. 

“Don’t worry.” Kate said, dry. 

Y/n tried interfering with her line of vision, kneeling down in front of the desk, “Katie…” 

“Y/n/n.” Kate said, faking not being angry and failing.

“I’m sorry.”

“You already said that.”

“I’m- It’s…I don’t know.”

The bookshop owner pushed up, letting her arms rest on the wooden surface, making a bed for her head. Y/n was tired, annoyed. 

“Sure, totally. I agree.” Y/n snorted with Kate’s antics. “Spill the beans.”

“Weren’t you mad at me?” 

“Yeah, come on. Talk.”

Y/n pondered telling her all what had been going through her mind the past few weeks. 

“He didn’t come.” she said, cryptic. 

Kate knew exactly who her friend was talking about, although she chose to tease her, “Who?”

“Kate!” Y/n pushed herself all the way up, looking at her friend. 

“Oh, Matty?” the urge to whipped her smug smirk was strong. 

Y/n breathed out, “This is useless….” work was waiting. 

Kate followed her close behind. 

“Amazing how we went from ‘oh, no…Matty is my friend’,” she mimicked Y/n. “To ‘he didn’t come to visit and flirt’.” Kate finished.

“We don’t flirt.”

“Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England!”

“Pretty boy you’re married to.”

“Handsome with his sausage fingers”

Both bursted into a fit of laugher thinking what they just said. 

“Anyway, why does it bother you?” Kate asked. 

“I- I’m not sure.”

“I believe you know.”

“No, I- it’s not like that between us.” Y/n resumed the previous conversation about Matty and her. 

Kate got distracted with a little snowman, and without thinking too much she said, “Do you want to be like that between you?”

“I- Yes. No. Maybe?” Y/n looked visibly unsure. 

“Oh lord, give me strength!” Kate whined dramatically. 

Y/n moved some books and toys around, putting everything like she pictured it. She didn’t turn around to look at her friend when she pronounced the next question.

“Did he performed these days?”

“Are you asking me to stalk him?” Kate was amused by Y/n's request.

“No! You’re a fan of his…”

“Band.” Kate completed the sentence for her.

“Yeah, The 1965.”

“75’”

“Kate, please.” Y/n hated how desperate she sounded. 

Her best friend checked her phone without complaining, “He’s over the other side of the pond.” 

“America?”

“Yep.”

“That explains part of it.” Y/n mumbled to herself.

Kate wasn’t following her, “Okay?”

“He hasn’t texted either.” she thought out loud, forgetting Kate didn’t know a little fact.

“Wait a minute!” the woman snapped out of her entrance, swiping through the 1975’s Instagram account. ‘Shit’, the word crossed Y/n’s mind. “You have Matty Healy’s phone number, and you didn’t tell me?!” Kate screamed. Y/n felt grateful they were alone that evening. 

“Sorry?”

“You bitch!”

“I’m sorry, okay? Sorry!”

“Since when?” Kate folded her arms like a mother scolding her children.

“Weeks ago.”

“Oh, you deserve coal this Christmas. Dirty girl!” 

Y/n explained, “It happened!”

“What else?”

“What?”

“What else you didn’t tell me?”

“Don’t be a toxic friend!”  

“I’m your sister! Tell me!”

“We walked and chat around the park.”

“Did you take him to our park?” Kate gasped, loud. 

Y/n felt little, “Mhm.”

“You bitch!!”

Y/n protested, “Hey! Stop with that!”

“I’m not sorry!”

“And I told him about Jason…”

Kate’s face fell, and her body sank down into the closest chair they had been using like a ladder. 

“You what?” Y/n’s friend asked.

“I know.”

“This is huge.”

“I know.”

“And then the book.”

“And then the book.”

Kate stared at Y/n, “What happened after that?”

“I texted him. He told me to keep the book.”

“This keeps getting better and better.” Y/n’s best friend cheered up a little. 

“I told him it wasn’t fair. ‘I’m going to gift you one’ I said, and he refused.”

“And…?”

Y/n took her phone out, searching with muscle memory the chat with Matty. 

“He sent this.” she showed her the text.

“Ajá.”

“No more texts, no more coming in. What if he got bored?” 

“That’s a Matty thing.” Kate couldn’t help to say. 

“Kate!” 

“Sorry, I- Doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe it does?” Y/n’s face scrunched. 

“No.”

Both of them went inside their heads, lost in thoughts. 

“I hate this.” Y/n broke the silence, walking, giving Kate her back. “I was fine.” she took a pile of books she had to tidy, absently pushing them towards the shelves. “I- My life was simple, you and the shop…a simple life after Jason passed.” she continued without hearing the door’s bell. “But hell no, Universe, God or whatever can’t see me happy. He, or she, whatever...sent a rock star to mess up with my calculated routine.”

“Y/n-” Kate tried to interrupt her.

“Shut up, Kate. I’m talking here.” Y/n didn’t spare her a glance, continuing tidying angrily. “Okay, so…he or Universe, whoever is in charge…thought it’s funny to mess with this woman,” Y/n pointed a finger to herself. “Let's put a perfect Adonis to spice things up.” she made a weird voice. “Rock star can come and go, talk with her…make her feel things again!! And then dis-”

Matty interrupted her ranting, “Hi, Y/n.”  

Y/n didn’t dare to move a muscle. She stood there, lifting a book midway towards its place. He was there, Matty was there.

“Oh, yes, he’s there.” Kate clarified. 

The woman slowly placed left the book, before turning around slowly. Her eyes meet his. Y/n felt her face on fire and her heart pulsing in her throat.  

“What-” she tried to formulate something coherent to say.

Matty smirked, “Adonis, hm?” 

Y/n shook her head, embarrassed, “I- I’m sorry. You weren’t sup-” 

“Oh, but I did.” Matty stopped her once more, approaching her.

“How much?” Y/n looked up again. 

Matty was close enough to tower over her. He was slightly taller than her, but enough to make her feel tiny. Her hands lifted between them, trying to push Matty without really trying.

“Everything.”

“I’m so sor-”

“I missed you too, Y/n.”

“You did?”

“Yes, Aphrodite.” he poked her. 

Y/n pulled a face, remembering all the crap she said minutes before. The singer touched her cheek, caressing it slowly. 

“Mmm, that myth doesn’t end well.” she told him. 

Matty couldn’t stop the smile that refused to leave his face, “Lucky us, we’re not truly Gods…” 

“What are you doin’ here?”

“We haven’t talked in weeks. I was missing you.” the singer admitted. 

“Matty.”

“Wasn’t expecting that monologue about me making you feel things.” Y/n groaned, letting her face move forward, resting on his chest, hiding from him. “Do you really hate me showing up in your life?” she heard him ask. 

Y/n shook her head. “No, absolutely no.” 

“I’m happy I heard you say all that.” Matty forced her softly, placing both of his hands at both sides of her face, to look at him. 

“Why?”

“Thought you got tired of me.”

“Shut up!”

“You didn’t reply! Or text after.”

“You brushed me off!”

“No, I didn’t!” Matty scoffed. 

But before they could continue bickering, Kate shouted from the other side of the shop, “Please, shut up and kiss!” which made them laugh. “This is getting boring.” she commented as if the scene was part of a film.

Matty’s face turned serious when he told Y/n, “I can wait all the time you need…” his hands were still touching her face, and Y/n rounded his wrists with her own. “I- Fuck, I like you so much.” the singer confessed. 

“I’m ready, Matty.”

“Are you sure? Because, as I said, I can wai-”

It was Y/n’s time to interrupt Matty, bringing him down to kiss him. She felt how his and her body relaxed, pushing even closer against each other. Y/n closer her eyes, feeling how safe she felt inside his embrace, letting him show her how much he had missed her. 

“Hell yeah! Free tickets now!” Kate celebrated. 

“Okay, yeah, she’s annoying.” Matty pushed his face a few centimetres away from Y/n.

“Rude!” Y/n’s friend booed him. 

Y/n watched them fight like kids, resting her cheek on his chest. Matty let his arms hugged her, keeping Y/n close and leaving a few kisses on her head.

Meanwhile they continued, Y/n thought how ready she was to open her heart again, and couldn’t wait to do it all with Matty. 

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

Taglist (let me know if you want to be included): @indierockgirrl @x-a-black-winged-dove-x @iregretbeingherewheniwas10 @hswannaknow @thefrontofmymind

[peachyloveswriting]

Ok, so I saw a post about how Plants can connect via touch, thus opening an emotional and mental bridge, however I decided to up the anti and spread upon the idea in an upcoming fic. So I'm going to explain it here for you real quick. To preface this I'm going to say that someone also gave me an Idea for how plants used to court other plants and I'm running full speed ahead with this idea.

(the courting process is basically when a plant decides to form a bond with another plant or species, therefore creating an emotionally charged connection. Emotions can be passed freely amongst them, sharing thoughts, etc...)

My idea is that there're two types of healing plants, the first one is like Vash: can heal other plants without second thoughts and has no issues doing so, they're the least likely to court. Type 1 forms the most bonds and that makes them least likely to bond deeply with any specific partner, as per usual they just heal others and that's about it.

Type 1 is the strongest between the two, the healing powers are limitless. Oftentimes these can be referred to as necromancers as some Type 1's have brought others back from the dead. They're notorious for this and are sometimes even sought after for nefarious purposes.

Type 2 is more like Knives, (In the show we never see if he can heal other plants so I got an idea) it's harder for type 2 to form a bond with another simply because they have to deeply want that connection, if the want isn't there then the bond cant be made. This is why Type 2 doesn't just go about healing every single plant they run across.

For type 2 the courting process is much different, if there's not a deep rooted need to form that bond then it's not happening. In most cases courting processes from Type 2 happen during dire situations or seeing another that they love deeply upset. Type 2 has two special abilities, the first one being able to calm the nerves of anyone they choose to connect with, albeit human or not. The sensation of calmness is damn near instantaneous, but it's stronger when physically touching. The second ability is a significant raise in vitality for the one they bond with, it boosts healing time and even removes scars.

There's so much more I have in mind with this idea so if you have any questions feel free to ask! I'd also love to hear what you guys think so hit me back with an ask or something.

[i-mybrunettelady]

20 questions for 20 writers

i was tagged by @accidentallyadorable, ty for the tag friend <3

tagging: @archesa, @thevikingwoman, @scionshtola, @antariies, @anneapocalypse, @ghostwise and whoever sees this and wants to participate <3

q1. how many works do you have on ao3?

i don't post all my work on ao3, but on ao3 alone, 28!

q2. what fandoms do you write for?

guild wars 2, wayfarer, ffxiv, blood moon, infamous, the exile <3

q3. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

tales of the red wayfarer - a cassander character study

overflowing - intellis pining

somewhere after midnight - cassmel post-sex cuddling and pillow talk

ties that sever, ties that bind - an inteus family study, currently being finished

songweaver - more intellis pining (all wayfarer works lmao)

q4. do you respond to comments?

always! they're few and far between so i make sure i do <3

q5. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

hard to say... i write angst, but i write hurt/comfort, so like. by that alone it's ties that sever because cass cries by the end of each one and is very much alone so like. ties that sever??? bonus points go for scenes of an arson site also.

extra bonus points go to on theokleia, my mother which is a part of the ties that sever series, but a piece that haunts me to this day.

q6. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

hm.. ones that gives me budging hopes are a flickering light, or a tale of two survivors (ffxiv) and my future will listen to me! i'm really fond of the endings of these two even if they're not typically... happy. i have happier endings but these two seem a different kind of happy to me. a wistful, hopeful happy as opposed to a typical happy.

q7. do you get hate on fics?

so far no and i hope it stays that way. i only recently hot my first hate ask lmaoooo

q8. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

yes! i write for.. pairings, moreso than one type. so far i mostly have mlm smut, and that's because they're cassander pairings and he is a bisexual/achillean dude, but i do want to write wlw smut if the inspo strikes, and i do wanna write some het scenes i have in my head (namely a crossover that's nyra/estinien atm tbh. i also wanna write nyra/mirka for that wlw stuff.)

i also have a nyra solo i'm very proud of :>

q9. do you write crossovers?

i wrote a wayfarer/ffxiv crossover (a flickering light), and i wanna write a gw2/ffxiv crossover (nyra and estinien!) i also wrote a wayfarer/gw2 crossover with mordrem!cassander (a story of how (not) to be a big head)

other than that i rarely write crossovers tbh

q10. have you ever had a fic stolen?

girl no god forbid :xxxx

q11. have you ever co-written a fic before?

a long time ago, yes, with @guildwarsgirl! it was a braham shippy one, and i wrote for braham <3

q12. what's your all-time favorite ship?

honest to god? i got a few ships i cherish and keep near and dear to my heart: cassmel (cassander and melchior, wayfarer), trammander (nyra and trahearne, gw2), elion (el and liv, gw2) and angelina and farro from blood moon! i may not write about all of them equally but i do cherish them deeply

q13. what's one WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

i do have certain series i wanna finish, such as my nikartoirel apology trilogy, called trials and tribulations - parts 1 and two are out - and ties that sever <3 when ffxiv brainrot comes back, i'll probably finish the nikartoirel apology series.

one other thing i wanna finish but it's not high on my to-do list is nikartoirel bridgerton au <3 gotta love regency husbands

q14. what are your writing strengths?

character voice! on god i love character voice so much and it shows.

q15. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i technically am since english is my second language! so yeah, full speed ahead

q16.first fandom you wrote for?

gw2 baybee <3 back in 2021. my first fic was actually trammander <3

q17. favorite fic you've written?

please don't ask me that ;; but between us... my future will listen to me, ties that sever, ties that bind, say hi to yourself, scenes of an arson site, a gravitational pull !

q18. what are your writing weaknesses?

fighting scenes hands down

q19. have you ever had a fic translated?

not yet but if anyone wants to.. i owe you my LIFE,, i could also tecnically do it but translating your own work is hard as fuck

[rc-writes]

I saw that you wrote for Erica from mbv and that’s so exciting!! Can u do a fem!reader x Erica (bi icon!) and they go on a cute date?

𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫

𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 | 𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢

pairings: erica jones x fem!reader

warnings: brief mention of the word murder, fast fair rides, reader getting dizzy, i believe that's it

a/n: alright this time it seems like erica decided to be the one to have me finishing a request at 1am lol. anyways, i’ve never written for erica before so i was a little worried how this would turn out but i have to say i really like this. like i actually think i’ve succeeded at writing something more cute than funny for once lol. i should write for more female characters more often lol. also wanted to add that the examples of rides in this are inspired by different rides my town’s fair has had in the past. though i will admit that the first one in this i didn’t actually go on. i am more than willing to admit that i don’t do many rides and that one was a bit too out of my comfort zone lol. also i'm realizing i'm terrible at naming fics lol. anyways, i hope you like this as much as i do!

“You know when you said ‘let’s go on a fun date,’ I expected a bit more screaming and blood.”

“Why must everything involve murder with you? And there is plenty of screaming from that ride over there.”

The other day you suggested picking a surprise date idea for you and Erica to go on. There was a fair in town this weekend and you knew she wouldn’t go if she knew beforehand. Something about unattended kids running around crazy, overpriced bad food, and lame kiddy rides. You knew there was potential that she’d like it if she gave it a chance, so this was why you proposed it to be a surprise. And a surprise it was.

Erica’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at you. She tried her best to turn you down but the hopeful look on your face made it hard to. “Fine.” She huffed in defeat.

You practically squealed in delight and held onto her arm harder. “Okay let’s do the circle upside down one!”

You practically squealed in delight and held onto her arm harder. “Okay let’s do the circle upside down one!”

This particular ride was where most of the screaming was coming from. It was at least three stories tall and shaped like a giant circle. Each person was strapped to their seat by a metal bar that went over their shoulders and across their chests. The reason for such being that the train-like chart you were in would sway you from one side of the circle to the other side back and forth a few times before quickly sending you completely around the circle. With each sway the ride would get faster and faster which is how it gained enough momentum to send you around the full circle. This process happened four times throughout one ride. Which is exactly why you though it was the perfect ride to bring Erica on. “Pathetic little humans they are.” Erica chuckled as she watched the group ahead of you scream while on the ride. “I can’t believe people even find this scary.”

You shook your head with a slight smile at your girlfriend’s antics. “I think what is considered ‘scary’ depends entirely on the person. For example I am the only one who doesn’t think you’re scary.”

Erica turned to you sharply, clearly offended. “I am very scary.” She let her fangs show a little, just enough for only you to see.

You only smiled back at her, “Quite cute actually.”

Once more her eyes narrowed in annoyance at you and once more she admitted defeat with a sigh. “Fine, I’ll take cute.” You happily laughed at this.

Soon enough it was you two’s turn on the ride and you were both seated next to each other. From the moment your turn was up until it was time for the ride to start up Erica continued to insist that this ride was for the weak and she would probably find it incredibly annoying. This continued when the ride started to slowly rock back and forth, but that mindset quickly changed once the ride picked up speed.

For someone who acted all scary and tough, Erica Jones seemed to be no match for a fair ride that sends you in giant circles multiple times. On the first circle Erica’s hand immediately reached for yours and remained tightly held onto until after the ride was over. Her eyes were also tightly shut as she yelled curse word after curse word.

You on the other hand were laughing the entire time. From laughing at how wrong Erica was and because you were genuinely enjoying the ride.

“I can’t believe you were laughing the whole time, you psychopath!” Erica exclaimed once you two walked off the ride. You could only laugh more at this as you dragged Erica yet another ride. The deal of only going on one ride was out the window at this point. You needed to know how the big bad scary vampire did on other rides.

And so you and Erica rode ride after ride, none of which came to the same level as the first. After the initial shock of the first ride wore off Erica felt better going on more “intense” rides but insisted to never go on the first again. You even tried to bribe her with ice cream from one of the food trucks to try it at least once but to no avail.

The second to last ride of the night was one that spun you around for a few minutes while you could also spin your seat around as fast as you wanted. One person sat across from another and there was a circle in between the two. The circle in the middle could be twisted to make your specific “booth” spin to whatever speed you wanted.

Over the course of the night Erica has gained a bit more confidence in rides and decided to spin you guy’s “booth” as fast as she could. She even used a bit of her vampire strength to have full control over the speed and make it go as fast as she wanted specifically. You gripped onto the handle as hard as you could while also laughing as hard as you could. Erica was already finding the ride to be incredibly fun, evident by the huge smile on her face, but seeing you laughing with your whole heart and soul made things even better.

Once the ride was over Erica quickly jumped out of her seat ready for the next ride. You on the other hand felt a bit dizzy and nearly face planted trying to get off the ride.

Erica noticed your dizziness and quickly moved to catch you before you fell. “Woah there darling, no more of those spinning rides for you.”

“Just one more please?” Even though you almost just fell and the ground seemed to be tilting you didn’t want to go home quite just yet. For the third time today you let your saddened eyes try and convince your girlfriend to change her mind.

“Nope, no more spinning rides for you.” Erica shut you down quickly. She had to admit the sad but cute eyes had an effect on her, but the thought of keeping you safe override those feelings. “But I might have to make an exception for the ferris wheel.” She wasn’t a total monster.

And so you and Erica made your way over to the lighted up ferris wheel and took a seat in a cart side by side. You sat with your head on her shoulder and with her head on yours, hands held tightly together. The both of you sat silently as the ferris wheel started as you both stared up at the stars. With all the screaming and laughing throughout the day you were both admittedly very tired and wanted to just have a moment of quiet peace. Even if that by quiet that meant still having to hear other people yelling from other rides.

Once your cart made its way to the very top of the ferris wheel it suddenly stopped. Confused murmurs could be heard from the other riders signaling that this wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Did it stop working?” You questioned turning to look at Erica. The smirk on Erica’s face gave away the answer to your question. “What did you do?”

“I may have scared the operrater to stop the ride up here for a few minutes.” Erica’s smirk turned into a genuine smile when you started to laugh.

“Of course you did.” You giggled, playfully nudging Erica’s shoulder.

Erica nudged your shoulder back. “It proves that I am scary.”

“I never said you weren't scary to other people, just not to me.” You stated proudly.

Erica tried to look annoyed back but she couldn't hold back the genuine joy she felt in this moment. “You’re lucky I like you.” She held onto your hand, laying her head on your shoulder.

This time you were the one to lean your head onto hers and with a soft smile you replied, “I sure am.”

[swaps55]

Warning, super long ask incoming! I suppose this is just a letter of fangirling in all honesty, and apologies if I accidentally already sent a half finished draft of this lol

I just wanted to let you know that I value your writing so much. I feel that I’ve fallen in love with Sam and Kaidan’s love, and that your writing is one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading, both within fanfiction and published works. Your writing is so compelling; the romance, the world building, the characterisation, everything! Every one of your characters feel like real people with patterns and behaviours that suit them and their motivations, they’re so believable and I love following them on their journeys. I think what I love most about your writing is that you’ve mastered show, don’t tell. When I’m reading any other fiction, I feel like I’m constantly searching for what you’ve portrayed in your work. You can really tell that you’ve put such love into Opus (and your other works, I’ve reread so many of the multiverse fics too), from the research of engineering and battle strategies, to bug behaviour even!

Essentially, I just needed you to know that someone out there is thinking of your writing daily. How incredible is it that this world that lives and breathes inside of your head, has now made a home in mine.

I also wanted to ask if you would ever consider publishing any original works in the future? I would read literally anything you wrote, your art holds a very special place in my heart now, I’ve even started learning the constellations and how to cross stitch because of you!

Thank you for your patience and I hope you have a lovely week ahead ☆♡

MAN, y'all are out to kill me with kindness.

You have no idea how much it means to hear this, especially right now. Back in March I hit a burnout wall running at full speed, and have been feeling some tremendous guilt over not making much progress on Mezzo the last few months. It's hard not to constantly fret that people will immediately assume I've abandoned the story and abandon it, too, and hearing this is a reminder that's not true.

I love this world and these characters, and it's the best thing ever that not only do others love them to, but they specifically love my versions of them. That's WILD. And amazing. You're so right about how incredible it is, so thank you so much.

As for original fic, years ago, I thought that's what I wanted to do, and I worked on some original projects. But here's the problem: I love sci-fi, I only want to write sci-fi...and I'm a terrible world builder. Give me a sandbox and I will happily build a castle, but I just don't have the right skillset to construct the sandbox.

That's why I've been so happy as a fanfic writer - I get a pre-built sandbox that I can go to town in and make whatever castle I want out of it. I have thought about trying to file the serial numbers off Cantata, but the world is such an integral part of that story that I wouldn't know how to do it and still have a story that means as much as Cantata does.

HOWEVER, never say never. I am not a world builder, but I married one. Real Life Romance Option is a phenomenal world builder, and a lot of his ideas can be found in Opus (you can thank him for the Can, for instance). He is happily building his own very cool sandbox, and it's entirely possible that one day I'll tell stories in it.

But Opus comes first! I still have Mezzo to finish, and two more stories to write to get Sam the happy ending he deserves, and I'm gonna do it, no matter how long it takes.

(Also, thank you in particular for calling out the bugs, because yes, I read a lot about bugs for Mezzo, haha!)

[anglophiletraveler]

The Monster Mash

Just a fun little fic with Anders and Mitchell celebrating their first Halloween as a married couple.

Ever since Anders and Mitchell married and moved into their new home, Mitchell has been bouncing at the chance to decorate for holidays.  Anders just rolls his eyes at the former vampire and lets him ramble on and on about what he was planning for their first holiday in their new home.  All of the remodelling on the house had been done so now there was nothing standing in Mitchell’s way.

It began in August.  Every couple of weeks a couple of boxes were delivered to their door.  Whenever Anders would ask his husband what they were, he was just given the “You’ll see,” answer.  Mitchell would open the boxes, see what’s inside and close them back up again and use either a red marker or an orange marker to mark an ‘X’ on the box.  Then he would smile and giggle like a child at Christmas time.

By September Anders had to go through a tunnel of boxes in his home office in order to get to his desk.  “Jooohnnn Mitchell-Johnson!”

Mitchell knew he was in trouble if Anders was using his full name.  He followed the bellowing to the office, “You rang? Anders? Where are you?”

“I’m right here,” a wall of boxes came down revealing Anders behind them.  “John, what the fuck is going on with all of these boxes?  You’re getting out of control here!  Are these Christmas gifts or what?”

Mitchell leaned against the door frame, “Nooo.  You said you didn’t care about decorating and whenever I tried to explain to you what I was going to do, you just blew me off, soooooo “

“So these are decorations?”

“Yep.  Halloween and Christmas decorations.  I have two more deliveries and then I can start putting up the Halloween decorations.”

“You have got to be kidding me Vlad!  I thought when you talked about decorations, you meant some pumpkins, some flowers and a few scented candles.  What the fuck did you buy?”

John got another grin on his face, “Would you like me to show you?”  He moved some boxes out of his way so he could  walk over to the desk and opened the laptop.  After some scrolling he showed Anders a picture of Halloween decorations.

“What the hell?  Are you really? John this is ….” Anders finally smiled, “fucking awesome!  And it’s going to take forever to get all of this set up!”

“That’s why I’ve been ordering it all ahead of time!  And with the two of us and maybe Axl and Zeb’s help, we can get it all set up in time!”

More and more, Anders' face was getting a shit-eating grin on it while looking at John’s plan. “But wait a minute.  John, I thought you didn’t like Halloween?”

Mitchell sighed, “Wellll that was before!  Before when I was a vampire.  Before we bought this super cool house.  I want to go all out this year!  But I also don’t want it to be so scary that it scares kids away, so that’s why I went with those,” Mitchell pointed to the Halloween pictures.

“Oh and this…” Mitchell said, “is for Christmas!  Whaddya think, love?”

“Wow.  I have to say I’m impressed, babe.  It looks like a Christmas wonderland!  I love it!  But THAT is going to take a lot of work.  Especially after having to take all of the Halloween shit down first,” Anders was getting pumped just thinking about it all.

“I know, but we can handle it,” Mitchell leaned down and gave Anders a big kiss.

*********************

After weeks of decorating, the big day finally arrived. Anders left  work early so he could get home and help Mitchell with any final touches, and start passing out candy to all of the little trick or treaters.   

Anders was trying not to speed to get home, but he was in a hurry and wanted to see the house all lit up and spooky. He never really got into Halloween as an adult because it was something which he was never able to do when he was a kid.  He always made sure that Ty and Axl had  costumes so that at least they could enjoy the holiday.  He was lucky if Ty decided to share his candy with him.  Anders and Mitchell had actually carved out their own pumpkins this year. He thought it was a dumb idea, but John insisted on it, so he went along with it.  It was actually really nice doing something like that as a first time for the couple.  New memories to replace old ones. 

He was getting a  kick out of looking at all of the houses decorated for Halloween on his way home.  He was amazed at the lengths some of them went to, well, including themselves. Mitchell had taken the day of Halloween off work to put the finishing touches on the house.  Zeb and Axl were supposed to help which worried him if they would even show up.  

He turned on his road and slowed down when he saw an orange and purple glow coming from where his home should be.

There were orange lights in every window of their house with witches, skeletons, ghosts and monsters in the windows.  All of the bushes and trees were wrapped in orange and purple lights which glowed under cob webs with fog coming up from behind the bushes.  “What in the world have you done John Mitchell?” Anders mumbled to himself. He didn’t know about the fog machine and all of the lights.  His favourite part was on one side of the house there was one skeleton on the roof helping pull up two more skeletons onto the roof!! 

He saw the giant spider in one part of the yard that had green lights for eyes on it that he and John set up the week before.  And there were ghosts hanging in the trees that they had hung up as well.   Another spot in the lawn was more skeletons with cowboy hats on, posed sitting in lawn chairs in front of a campfire made from sticks and orange and yellow lights.  The skeletons were holding sticks with marshmallows on the end like they were roasting marshmallows!  He pulled in the garage so that his car wasn’t blocking anything in the driveway.  He came out of the garage while the door was shutting and stopped dead in his tracks at something he had missed.

“What the hell John!  You made an archway to the porch!  I hope that doesn’t scare away the little monsters,” Anders kept looking amazed at what John had done.

“Do you like it?  I found it on Pinterest.  It’s made out of pool noodles!!!”

Anders gave John a big hug and kiss, “I can’t believe I heard the word Pinterest come out of your mouth.  But, this looks amazing!”

“Hey, what about us? We spent all damn day helping Mitchell put all of this stuff up.  It’s pretty cool isn’t it?” Axl said.

“Oh whatever Axl, it’s not like you had anything else to do.  I think the pumpkins we carved are my favourite things,” Anders smiled at Mitchell.

John smiled at his husband, “Mine too. I put them next to our chairs on the porch for when we pass out candy.”

They heard a siren go off to signal that trick or treating can start.  The kids had 90 minutes to enjoy going from house to house dressed as ghosts, goblins, witches and vampires.  

John looked around for Zeb and Axl, “Guys!  Go start the music!  The kids will be around soon. C’mon Anders let’s go sit up on the porch and wait for the onslaught!”

Axl had turned on the scary music that could be heard a couple of houses down.  Zeb had started popping popcorn in the huge popcorn machine that they had rented.  John had plugged something else in that turned out to be a bubble machine.  The bubbles looked really cool along with the fog rolling around the yard.

Anders was looking at the bowls of candy that John had bought, “John, you bought full size candy bars!  You know once word gets out we’re going to kids from miles around!” 

“That’s the hope!” Mitchell said.  “Look.  I made sure to buy candy bars that don’t have nuts in them for those with nut allergies, and I also bought bags of candy that was safe for little toddlers.”

Anders was shaking his head at his husband, “How much did all of this candy cost?”

Mitchell just mumbled something and turned his head hoping to avoid the question.  “Okay, let’s sit down. I think I heard some kids coming!”  Mitchell’s whiskey eyes sparkled with anticipation like a child on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa Claus, and Anders couldn’t deny him this excitement!

The first couple of kids stopped at the beginning of the sidewalk with their parents.  You could tell that they were looking at all of the decorations around the house.  They slowly made their way up the sidewalk with wide eyes and their little mouths open. There was a timid “trick or treat” from the two boys. The parents of course were smiling, taking everything in, “Wow, you guys did great decorating the house!”

Mitchell was busy with the kids picking out what candy they wanted.

Anders answered, “Thanks.  My husband did most of the work.  He couldn’t wait to decorate for the holidays after we moved in.”

“Well, welcome to the neighbourhood.  I’m Scott, this is my wife Becky, and these two superheroes are Cooper and Tate.”

Mitchell and Anders stood up to shake hands and introduce themselves to their new neighbours, “Very nice to meet you!” Anders offered.  

“Are those real skeletons climbing up your house?” one of the little boys asked.

Mitchell smiled, “Nah those are just plastic decorations.  They won’t hurt you.” 

The mother spoke up, “Boys what do you say to the nice gentlemen?”

The boys were still looking at their full size candy bars when one of the boys said, “Wow, these are the big candy bars!  Thank you!”

Anders and John both laughed, “You are very welcome!  Have fun!” John had the big smile on his face that Anders loved.  After the boys had headed back down the sidewalk, Anders gave John the look of wanting to drag him to bed.  John knew exactly what the look meant, “Oh no, you’re going to have to wait until later tonight for that, babe!”

*****************

It didn’t take long before more and more trick-or-treaters were coming in droves.  Apparently the word about the full size candy bars had gotten out, and John couldn’t be more happy about it.  They were both enjoying watching all of the kids walk up the sidewalk in various costumes.  Whenever there was a vampire dressed up in front of the couple, Anders got a chuckle at watching John interact with the ‘vampires’.  There were the other typical costumes like ghosts and witches and princesses.  They even had a couple of Thors visit them!  Axl and Zeb decided to have a little fun of their own and had pulled up a couple of chairs next to the skeletons at the ‘campfire’ to scare the kids whenever they wandered over to check them out!

Towards the end of the evening, two beautiful women and two young princesses came strolling up the sidewalk towards Anders and Mitchell.  Anders was impressed with the dresses the princesses wore.  It was obvious they weren’t the usual costumes bought at a store, and were hand made.  “Wow don’t you two look gorgeous in those dresses!  Who are you supposed to be?”

Mitchell looked at Anders like he was out of his mind, “You seriously don’t know who they are supposed to be?”

“No! I don’t.  Do you?”

The girls were giggling at Anders.

“Of course I do.  Duhhh!  This lovely lady here in yellow is Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and this lovely lady is Rapunzel from Tangled.”

“Yeah duhhh,” the little Belle laughed at Anders.  Now the moms were giggling at Anders as well.

The brunette mother spoke up, “You two are new to the neighbourhood aren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged!” John said, “I’m John and this is my husband Anders.  It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you.  I’m Stephanie, and this is my wife Camilla.  We live a couple blocks down on the other side of the road.”  Stephanie was obviously scoping out Anders, which Mitchell wasn’t too crazy about.

“You’ve definitely won the best house decorations of the neighbourhood.  Very impressive boys,” Camilla, a striking redhead, was making her intentions known as well.  

Anders caught Mitchell looking at him out of the corner of his eye.  He cleared his throat to try to clear the air a little, “And who are these royal princesses?”

“Oh, these are our daughters, Juliet is Belle, and Isla is Rapunzle,” Camilla offered.  

“Isla, huh?  That’s a beautiful Irish name,” Mitchell offered.

“You talk funny,” Isla noticed.

“Oh lassie that’s because I’m Irish,” Mitchell winked at the little girl, which made Isla giggle even more.

“My grandma is Irish too!” Isla reported excitedly.

John’s eyes grew wide, “Really! Well, maybe we’re related somehow.  You never know!” John couldn’t but fall into Isla’s blue eyes.

Camilla made sure the girls said trick-or-treat and thank you after Anders gave them their candy.  The foursome headed back down the sidewalk when Mitchell and Anders noticed they had stopped and the two moms were whispering to each other.   Camilla turned around and came back to the porch. 

Anders thought maybe they forgot something, “Hey did you forget something?”

“Well uh, Stephanie and I were wondering if the two of you ever play around?”

Mitchell choked on his beer that he just took a swig of!  Anders turned and looked at Mitchell and patted him on the back, “You alright there babe?”

Mitchell just shook his head.

Anders looked up at Camilla, “I’m afraid not.  You’re both beautiful women and I’m sure you’re a lot of fun to hang out with.  But, we’ve fought really hard to be together, so we’re pretty happy with the way things are, and we’re not looking for anything else.  But it’s flattering that you asked.  Maybe sometime the four of you can come over for a bar-b-que or something.”  John looked lovingly at his husband with what he said.

Camilla was watching the two of them and could see the love in their eyes, “Well, that’s a shame, we could have had a lot of fun together.  But I totally get it.  And we’d love to bring the girls over for dinner sometime.  Enjoy your evening boys.”  She winked and turned around and walked away.  

Anders and Mitchell watched the family walk away, and then looked each other in the eyes.  Mitchell grabbed Anders’s hand and kissed it gently.  “Thank you for saying that.  It really meant a lot to me.”

“John, let there be no question about how I feel about you and how I feel about our marriage.  There is no room in this marriage for anyone else besides the two of us.  Well, unless we get a dog.”  

Mitchell smirked at Anders for that remark, “Or two dogs.”

“Don’t push it!” Anders leaned up to give his husband a kiss.  Just then the siren went off to signal the end of trick-or-treat for the evening.  “Ohhh finally. I’m getting stiff sitting out here.   What do you say we take this inside?”

“Sounds good to me,” Mitchell looked over at Axl and Zeb asleep in the lawn chairs next to the skeletons, “but what do we do about those two.”

“Oh, just leave ‘em there.  They’ll eventually wake up.”

John furrowed his brow, “Are you sure?”

Anders opened the door for his husband, “Yeah, what’s the worst that can happen to them? Get attacked by a werewolf? Now get inside so I can take you to bed, Vlad.”

Mitchell took one more look at Axl and Zeb snoozing away before taking Anders’s hand and pulled him inside with him.  Anders turned off the porch light to signal that trick-or-treating was over.  “Now then Mr. Mitchell-Johnson,” Anders reached up to give a seductive kiss to Mitchell, “shall we go upstairs?”

***********************

Axl woke up choking on a fly, “What the fuck!  Zeb, what the hell time is it?”  He shook Zeb’s shoulder, “Zeb, wake up egg!”

“Hmmm, wha? What’s happening?”

Axl finally found his phone and looked at the time, “Shit!  It’s 1:30 in the morning!  They let us fall asleep out here and didn’t wake us up!”

“Bullocks!  But I was sleeping rather well though.”

“Zeeebbb!”

***********************

[sroloc--elbisivni]

(Another one from Whispering Forest :D This entire scene was breathtaking)

The woman in a grand kusode made of living scarlet maple leaves seated on a mountain as though it was the dais of her audience hall and looking out over the valley was an unfamiliar feature of the terrain. Her hair was swept around her like a wild wave and her face was smooth as a porcelain mask. Her name came to him like this was a dream.

“Aki-Onna-sama.”

“Miyamoto Usagi,” she said, still watching the valley. “You freed me once, when your life was at risk and you could have fled.”

Usagi searched his memory. “I’m sorry. I don’t recall this.”

“Mortals rarely do, and you were still a child then. But I owe you a debt. Witness.”

Send me up to 500 words from a fic and I will give you my director's commentary on it!

ahhhhhhhh aki-onna!!! okay i GOTTA get photos for this hang on--

these are the two actual looks we get at Aki-onna in the one Usagi Yojimbo story she appears in. (note baby usagi in the lower left of the right picture.) that's "Autumn." it was one of the first stories I read, because it's the fourth one in Volume One of the Usagi Yojimbo saga. I think this is about the point at which the switch in my brain got firmly flipped and i went 'oh i'm IN THIS in this.' it's still one of my favorites, and it's the first UY story i read that really went full speed ahead on 'this is a world of monsters and magic.' (there's an argument to be made that the whole thing is a hallucination usagi had but i think that's a boring explanation.) I knew from the beginning that this story was going to be leaning into autumn vibes, and i put together pretty quickly that if I was making it a theme she was the perfect character to incorporate. especially since this whole fic is my psyop to get people to read the comics.

originally I thought she'd be like....an information source, someone who provided a key detail to crack the whole thing open. she was supposed to show up between mikey getting attacked in the woods and the forest getting set on fire. at some point i realized she worked much better as part of the climax.

true story, before i wrote her into this and double checked my information, I genuinely thought Aki-Onna was an existing mythological personage Sakai had adapted into the comic. and then I tried to research her and every single english source i found just went straight back to the comics (it's possible that i'm talking out of my ass here and there's a mythology of an autumn lady that hasn't been translated to english that sakai picked up somewhere else.) there's the yuki-onna, a type of yokai like beautiful women who lead people to die in snowstorms, but autumn personified as a woman who can be imprisoned to stop the changing seasons...she's an original. i love her. she hasn't recurred since, and I don't think she ever will--I don't actually think canon Aki-Onna owes Usagi a debt. she's above and beyond him. it made for a convenient way to get her in the story, though, and an extra convenient way to see all the action of the climax. it was important to me that even though it's technically a deus ex machina, she herself is doing very little--she's holding back the rain until the moment where it will have the most impact, and she's letting Usagi see what he's brought about. every other character who has come up in this story has fought to get things to where they are. she's just stopping by.

i loved describing her, too, trying to convey this sense of OTHERWORLDLINESS that her image gives after you've gotten used to anthropomorphism. she gets compared to a force of nature and something inhuman, and is placed in an impossible setting. I picked that paragraph apart and put it back together several times to try and make sure the narration flowed because i wanted it to be all impact, nothing where the reader had to think about words. (fun research sidebar: this section is where i realized that 'kimono,' while a term in existence at the time, would not have been used to refer to most common formal garments--we get kusode instead. went back after this and edited leo being mean and hot scene accordingly.) in the same spirit of "she's just stopping by" and "everything about her needs to make an impact", she only has four lines in the entire story. which is! SOMETHING! when two of them are also the only exposition non-comics readers are going to get on her presence!!!!

i loved this scene for the imagery, and getting to draw into another part of the comics that meant a lot to me, and also for the way I got to make it the buy-in for the cutting between scene. it led into the scene that changed everything about the way I had been telling this story so far, and brought together everything--I had to do it in a way that made people want to come along with me. it's wonderful to hear you liked it!!!

[altschmerzes]

Ok so I love your work (started watching 911 so I could read more of your fics lol), and I completely agree and empathize with every one of your posts about how the show has handles Jamie’s arc. This may be a bit messy but! Here we go,,

My dad is also shitty, like Jamie’s, and my mom has done so so much to protect me from that, again, like Jamie’s. I don’t talk to my dad anymore and probably never will and I certainly haven’t forgiven him and probably never will. The past couple episode really did a wee number on me (read: had a lil break down, we’re totally good tho ahahaha 😬👍) and led my mom and i to have some difficult conversations about forgiveness and the role it does or doesn’t play in our healing and growth and what not. And to put it short, the space you cultivate here on tumblr was really really helpful for me, both in processing and identifying why the episodes hurt and also in being able to verbalize and communicate it with my loved ones. Being so vulnerable is hard and sucky and I know you’ve gotten shitty asks, and I’m really sorry for all that. So,, I just wanted to thank you for being so open and genuine on this lil website, and let u know it means a lot

(on a lighter note i am so excited for like ever ted fic u are working on—the kid fic, the same story, this new fix-it—just ahhhhhhhh can’t wait!)

ahhhhhh man i am so flattered you like my work so much (i'm excited for those fics too!! been making a lot of progress with all of them and the 3x11 fic just hit 12k so full speed ahead on THAT) and i appreciate so much you taking the time and willingness to write this out and send it to me

those last couple episodes were rough for that, and i didn't have an easy time with them either. i'm so sorry you had to see that messaging for what i'm sure is the millionth time in your life - it's a horrible thing to be told over and over. but i'm also so glad you were able to communicate with the people in your life about it and that i could play even a little part in helping that happen and giving you space where those feelings are validated and you aren't alone in them is just.... man <3 i'm really glad that my choice to be open about my feelings on that stuff and why has meant something to somebody. you're right, it's a scary and difficult thing to talk openly about some of the rougher stuff i've experienced, and i've had people say some shocking things to me because of it, but it's all completely worth it for this. thank YOU, seriously.

we're coming up very shortly on what's going to be the seventh anniversary of when i went no-contact with my father, which is something i needed to do for my own safety and peace of mind and heart, after an attempt at reconciliation that went badly for me. without personal and societal pressure from people i knew, broader culture, and a lot of media narratives, i never would've let him back into my life in the first place, because it sure wasn't what i wanted. and even now, the rest of my family - who have all decided to welcome him back into the fold despite some reprehensible shit that ruined my life - is on me regularly, trying to push me into reversing my decision and speaking to him again. i've been lectured about forgiveness a lot, and stuff like the stuff we just saw just. never helps. there is only ever one story about people like us, and it's always our abusers' happy ending. never a moment considering maybe ours might be different.

anyways. seriously. thank you for this. it means a lot to hear, more than i can say. i'm really proud of you for everything you've done to protect your peace and keep yourself safe and have a good, safe, happy life away from him. that shit is so, so hard, even without the world around us constantly trying to make it harder. so in case you don't hear it enough, because none of us ever do, i'm really, really proud of you.

[cellophaine]

Can I request a fic about Matt Murdock and cats? Lol I can’t decide if he’d like cats or hate them, I’d love to read your take!

I'm so so sorry for taking so long to answer this!! This is more of a imagine drabble freestyle tossed salad spell jar type, and not a full fic. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

Matt & Cat Co.

Author's Note: As you can tell, I'm running out of fic title ideas.

To me, Matt is a casual animal lover (this is a headcanon I've always had for him. This shall be on my headstone.)

He had many encounters with stray and house cats whenever he went on patrol. Matt would give them pats on their little heads if they approached him. Other than that, he usually respected their boundaries and minded his business.

Matt started dating you, and he found himself in close quarters with your beloved cat, which you lovingly named Moon. When Matt asked why that name, you told him it was because her eyes were wide and round like a full moon. Her dilated pupils often reflected the light cast on her, and you could see every little dot in her eyes.

The few first times that Matt came around to your place, Moon would keep her distance. She would always stay close to you but tended to avoid Matt. She would go so far as dodging Matt's outstretched hands when he attempted to pet her.

You made a show before Moon by rubbing yourself all over Matt to show that he was not a threat but a "friend." All for her to decide that you tried too hard and walked away, much to your disappointment and Matt's amusement at how hard you tried to make Moon like him.

Whenever Matt joined Moon on the couch, she would sit on the opposite end and stare at him with wide eyes as if she was assessing him, sizing him up with her cool, nonchalant gaze.

Something shifted the night Matt came to you with his injuries. The wounds were nothing Matt couldn't handle (his words), but they were quite serious. You were worried sick, fussing over his casualness and his bloodied cuts.

While you were patching him up on your bed, Moon jumped onto the bed and made herself comfortable within Matt's reach, staring and expecting head rubs from him. She couldn't understand why Matt wouldn't look at or pet her immediately upon her "invitation." She even swiped a paw over her head a few times and chirped as if to ask Matt to pet her.

You told Matt what she was doing and explained that Moon wanted head scratches. Matt put a tentative hand on her head, hesitant to fully go for it. Moon nudged her small, furry head into his palm, encouraging him to go ahead. After a few rubs, she purred happily as you quietly cleaned up Matt's wounds and tried not to get distracted by the cuteness of these two.

When you were done with his injuries, Matt rested peacefully on your bed in clean clothes, nestling under your warm blanket with your cat staying close as if to keep watch over him.

After that night, Moon became friendlier with Matt, albeit slowly. Matt would buy Moon her favourite treats, speeding the process along. He was determined to make your cat love him, and his enthusiasm surprised you as Matt didn't come across as a dedicated cat person to you. Eventually, Moon would rub herself against his legs whenever he came to your apartment, letting him scratch her head when he bent down to greet her. She would often chirp in hellos and form a loaf near where Matt chose to sit.

Your cat would ask Matt to pick her up by standing on her hind legs and pawing at Matt's leg. And Matt would always be happy to oblige her. Sometimes, when you came home after running errands, you would see Matt busying himself with something with Moon in one hand.

Moon loved to sit on Matt's lap when the two of you cuddled. She gradually preferred to plop down on Matt's side since his body heat was higher than yours. The fact amused you since it made you feel like you were third-wheeling them sometimes.

Matt would find fur on his clothes, and even though you profusely apologized, Matt didn't mind it at all. He said the stray hair was Moon's love following him around, like the little taps of her feet on the floor keeping him company wherever he went.

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