#and they're burying his mother and he screams at them saying it has to mean something

[a-twistedheartslonging]

Nonhuman AU Trey

Ironically this baker is a type of cinnamon bear, but you wouldn't be able to tell since like his siblings he inherited his dad's green fur, though he is a lighter shade. It's more obvious if you take a look at his mother.

Said siblings climb around on everything, including Trey himself. He likes swinging them around when they hang onto his strong arms and... would be willing to do the same for you if asked.

He’s taller and has more muscle than his human counterpart, but also a bit more squish. Has some very thick dark claws, and human hands with some dark padding on the palm and fingertips. He has a little tail that isn't that noticeable given its size. Sharp teeth and noticeable canines.

Very interested in your little dull human teeth and small mouth.

Fur is fluffy and he has a lot of it. Arms, legs chest, underarms, floof happy trail, above his tail and the same shade of green as his hair. Now bear fur texture is shaggy and thick, but unlike regular bears whose fur is rough, dirty looking, and stiff due to dirt, leaves, tree sap, and old food, Trey takes very good care of his fur so it's great for burying your face in. Similar to other beasts he can and will use it to lure you in for cuddles and to give him scritches.

Like dogs, bears lose some of their soft, dense insulating underfur as well as some of their coarse outer guard hairs when temperatures climb. By late summer, they can look quite scruffy. However, as the weather cools and they layer on fat for hibernation, their underfur and guard hairs grow back. He is very not pleased when his fur gets scruffy in those hot months and how much he ends up shedding. Don’t worry, it won’t get in the goodies he bakes, in a world full of magic where the majority of the population are types of fur-having beasts, they know how to make sure everything stays sanitary. 

He very much appreciates you helping with brushing him out and unlike certain other guys, isn't a tsundere about asking, of course, he offers something yummy in return and will insist even if you say you're just fine with helping him out. It's totally because he just wants to pay you back and not because he wants to show off how good his baking skills are and how he can keep you fed.

Tbh even before you start dating you might end up gaining a pound or two because of him.

He’s too domesticated to hibernate but isn't opposed to taking naps when he can and can sleep pretty hard...unfortunately certain members of his dorm like to cause trouble and he ends up getting disturbed often.

Poor tired bear waking up all of a sudden and fur a mess because AceDeuce broke something and now Riddle is screaming.

The guy likes puns and dad jokes so if you think he isn't going to make any bear ones you're wrong.

Bear hugs. Human Trey already gives those warm comforting hugs, but bear beastman Trey? You will never feel more warm and secure in a hug. He smells like baked goods and has a comforting underlying musk. Loves how big and protective holding you makes him feel, you can't see it with your face smooched into his chest, but he has a very self-satisfied look on his face if you say anything about feeling safe with him.

Please scratch his back for him, his fur is thick, and it's hard to reach. You might even catch him doing this when he thinks no one is looking. He makes funny noises when you find a good spot. Is perfectly fine lying down with you sitting on his back and going to town on him with those nibble little monkey hands.

Speaking of noises, bears make a lot of them, and I don't just mean the growls they're known for.

Grunts are often used by mother bears to communicate with their cubs and can signal to cubs to climb trees for safety or to follow her. Now unlike regular male bears, bear beastmen are involved with their kids and do the same thing. Though admittedly Trey has a habit of doing this with you and his siblings when something goes down, though he doesn't expect you to climb up a tree, just get behind him. Though he can easily get you up there himself if need be.

Huffing is a warning to get away, teeth clicking is a warning but also a fear/stress response, and similar to humans, bears whimper when they are in distress or fear. It’s a sound that indicates submission or vulnerability. Hmm getting him to whimper because of submission though...

Adorably they snort when surprised or experiencing mild alarm but also when investigating a new scent or object. It makes me want to try sneaking up on him so he does it but I'm sure those adorable ears would hear me before I have the chance.

But also...Trey unintentionally does it the first time he gives the cute new human some sniff sniffs.

Bear mating strategies vary by species/breeds, with some relying on scent-marking and vocalizations to attract mates, while others engage in physical displays of strength and dominance. Male bears may engage in fierce battles with rivals for the opportunity to mate with a female.

Trey isn't the type to act outright aggressively but he's not against using his stature to intimidate and to be a sneak to get between you and the other guys. He's good at always finding an excuse. Needs you for taste testing, being his little helper for baking, or helping with the mountain of tasks he has on his plate as Riddles right pawed man.

Female bears are pretty selective with mates, size, and strength are two big parts of attraction for them, so he's going to keep finding ways to show off his strength and draw attention to how much bigger he is than you. Catch this guy carrying around huge sacks of flour like it's nothing and playfully teasing you when you try and fail to lift a bag.

...Trey really likes teasing you. Oh, the feelings it gives him when you look up at him all flustered or even all huffy from his comments. He can't help but want to see how far he can take it, but he needs to keep a level head. Can get pretty horny grip about it though.

Regular bears follow females to assess their receptiveness, regularly sniffing areas where the female has sat and the female herself when possible. Couples often play and rest together during courtship. They also engage in various pre-mating rituals, such as nuzzling, and pawing at each other. 

...no, he isn't going to sniff your seat like some weirdo. I mean, yeah, giving some sniff sniffs is acceptable in this society but not to that extent. He gonna sniff the hoodie you borrowed tho. You're totally going to get sniffed during hugs or when he's looming. He gets growly when his trailing after you/interactions gets interrupted, especially when the territorial part of his brain kicks in and certain other guys are nearby.

Oh, he has so much fun playfully chasing you around. Especially when he catches you, wrapping his arms around you before lifting you into the air...maybe giving your shoulder a little nibble if he's feeling extra playful. Don't worry, he knows how to be gentle with his teeth.

Don't expect to outrun him though, a bear can run 35mp and catch a horse.

The guy is great for napping and resting on and will encourage you to do so. He's going to want to turn your room in Ramshackle into a proper den for you two to rest and be away from the others.

Bear mating and junk info below. ⬇️

Mating season begins in May and lasts until early July. Mating mainly occurs during June.

Brown bears, American black bears, Asiatic black bears, sloth bears, giant pandas, polar bears, and spectacled bears all generally breed between spring and early summer.

A male bear recognizes an estrous female by her scent. He then walks behind her, shadowing her movements like he has a laser sight affixed to her rump. It’s certainly not uncommon to see a male following a female for hours and hours, he is biding his time until she's willing. Now I'm not saying he's going to stalk you but he's sure as hell going to want to stick close, especially if you have a mating scent...and pay a lot of attention to your butt. God, forbid you sit on his lap or bend over in front of him. As much as he enjoys the view, he's going to make sure to block it from others, just another reason for wanting to stick close to your back.

Male testosterone levels peak, not coincidentally, in June as well so he's definitely going to start getting some of that strong musk during that time.

Outside of the mating season, male bears pose real threats to smaller females (sometimes, albeit very rarely, killing them) so the close, persistent proximity of a large male is usually alarming at first. Eventually, hormones and habituation to the male overcome her initial trepidation.

With the bear beastmen females/the one the male is interested in don't need to worry as much about that, but Trey is def going to do a lot to show you that he's safe for you to be around and that you can be comfortable around him, he's very good at it too.

Alright so...bears have a penis bone, along with certain primates, rodents, shrews, hedgehogs, dogs, walruses, seals, sea lions, and raccoons.

It allows him to stay hard for longer, though with regular bears the actual mating process is typically brief, lasting only a few minutes, but can occur multiple times over a few hours or several days.

After mating some males have been shown to make intense tongue-clicking vocalizations and prevent the female from leaving, perhaps to give his sperm time to fertilize her eggs before she met another male. I'm picturing Trey getting pretty clingy after sex and using his great aftercare and cuddle skills to keep you from leaving and making that noise when you try to get up to use the bathroom.

[luveline]

an eddie/roan/reader request <3

roan loses a tooth and reader is freaking out asking if it hurt, if she’s okay, and roan is just excited bc that means the tooth fairy is gonna pat her a visit!!!

ty for your request ♡ eddie and roan. step mom!reader. 1.1k

Eddie's trying to prove to you that he can play Master of Puppets on the guitar, but it's been a long time since he was twenty. "Ah, fuck," he says, stumbling over another chord. "What the fuck. I thought muscle memory was supposed to remember things for me." 

"I think you need to prompt your muscles into remembering," you say, cross-legged on the armchair with a pint of vanilla ice cream in your lap. "Can you play my favourite again?" 

"Depends. What's in it for me?" 

"So much. I'll scratch your back all the way through Princess Polly tonight." 

He immediately sets his fingers against the first chord of your favourite song and begins to play. Your back scratching literally haunts him. He can be on a rolling board under a truck that stinks of dirt and old oil and he'll be dreaming of your fingernails and their gentle up and down, his face on your shoulder, in your neck, buried in your thigh, whichever way he lays down. A song for an hour of your touch is easy work. 

He suspects you like doing it as much as he likes getting it. You love taking care of him. You're good beyond words. 

Eddie watches you nod along to his playing happily, a spoon between your lips, a dot of melted cream on your chin, and he knows what he has to do. "I'd ask you to marry me if I hadn't already done it," he says. 

You cut into your ice cream with a delighted jaunt. "I'd say yes for sure. You can ask me again, if you like. After the song." 

"I'll ask you as many times as you want. I'll even throw in a free song—" 

The air rips apart with a signature Roan Munson scream, which is to say, it's impossible to tell if Roan is in immense pain or having the most fun of her life.

Eddie almost chokes putting down his guitar as you ditch your ice cream on the arm, half a second behind him as he races upstairs.

"What's wrong?" Eddie shouts as he goes. "What? What?" 

"Daddy!" she shouts as Eddie throws open her bedroom door, sitting on the heart-shaped rug beside her dollhouse. "Lookit!" 

You move his elbow aside to squeeze through the doorway. "Is that a tooth?" 

"It's my tooth!" 

"Oh my gosh, princess!" you yelp, kneeling down in the plush rug in front of her, your thumb on her pale chin. "You're bleeding! Aw, sweetheart, let me see."

Eddie blinks dazedly, bending down to take the tooth Roan offers. It's tiny and white with a hole at the bottom that's darker on the inside. He rolls it around in his palm. Is she really that age? he asks himself, looking unsurely between his hand and Roan where she beams on the floor. 

"There's blood on your dress, too," you say, fingers held delicately against her cheek. 

Eddie doesn't have ugly hands, but it's different to see you touch her. You're a sweet, careful woman when it comes to mothering, a soft touch through and through. "Can I see?" 

Roan tips her head back and opens her mouth. Clear as day is the gap in her pearly white teeth, a bottom tooth now gone. 

"What did you do?" Eddie asks knowingly. 

"Nothing! It felt wobbly so I just bit on my Prince Dylan until it felled out." 

"Baby," you murmur, wiping the bloody spit off of her lips, "you hurt yourself?" 

"It didn't hurt that much." 

"Maybe let's not force them, Ro. Teeth come out when they're ready. If you start pulling them out before they're ready you might have wonky ones. And you shouldn't hurt yourself," Eddie says, kneeling down next to you for the united front effect. 

Roan looks at least somewhat chastised. "Okay. I won't pull them out until they're ready. But now the fairy comes, right? The tooth fairy?" 

Eddie grins, endeared by his devious little monster. You curl your sleeve down to press the clean edge to her gum, a frown creasing your face. Roan winces and you flinch, tucking her hair behind her ears in apology. 

"Sorry, lovely girl." 

"It's fine!" she says, flashing her first gap-toothed smile. "Don't worry, mom, it's just a small ow." 

You soften at the name and drop your hand to hers. "Okay. I won't worry… you know your first tooth fairy and your last are the special ones, right?" 

You and Eddie take to whispering as the bath runs that night, a debate of the ages. You think losing your first tooth deserves a new bike, or at the very least a new custom princess dress from the boutique in Indianapolis. Eddie thinks it deserves a kiss and a crisp twenty dollar bill. 

Roan splashes suds at your socks and tells you to stop whispering so much. 

That night, after Eddie forfeits half of his back scratching time to let you cuddle Roan, he sneaks into Roan's room with twenty dollars and a note. 

"Can we take another picture?" you whisper from behind hjm. 

"I think the flash might wake her up," he whispers back, the two of you standing still at the foot of her bed. She's clutching Teddy to her chest, curls splayed over her pink pillow, one of her feet sticking out of the sheets. "The first picture was really cute, we'll be fine." 

Roan smiled to show off her gap with her small tooth held up to lense. Eddie's gonna get it printed and maybe framed. She looks like a kid in the clothes catalogues. 

Together, you and Eddie tiptoe to her pillow to retrieve the lost tooth and replace it with her boon. Inspired by her statue-like stillness, Eddie leans down to press a kiss into her hairline, trying hard not to wake her up. 

Roan affords him no such luxury in the morning. "Dad!" she shouts, straight into his ear canal. He chokes awake. "The tooth fairy said you'd buy me a scooter! Is that true?" 

"Only if you stop yelling," he whines, burying his head under the pillow. 

Roan climbs onto the bed and over his back. He groans as his back clicks, settles when you put a hand on his shoulders sympathetically. 

"Your fault," he says. You're the one who campaigned for a new scooter. 

"Sorry, handsome," you say. 

Eddie will feel much more forgiving in a couple of hours. 

[sehtoast]

The Sun Will Come Up

grief, hurt/comfort, ben (spidersona oc) consoling ryan, ben and homelander coparenting | Fic Directory

“I don't know!”

The boy's cry comes out in a squeak, the sob suppressed tight in his throat as if letting it go would destroy the rest of the world. 

“I don't– I'm–”

Ben sits beside him atop their choice of skyscraper. The outing was supposed to help Ryan, and he supposes it has, in a way. He's finally letting it out. All the anger and rage smothered by the weight of his grief. 

The loss of his mother. The responsibility he feels for both her death and the disfigurement of Stormfront. The former was so easily understandable, but Ben supposes only the heart of a child could hold sympathy for the latter. 

Not to mention the pain of it all thrown back in his face by Butcher. 

Ben's so incredibly thankful John found him. 

All of his pain and fury comes out in screams and balled fists that leave cracks in the concrete of the roof with each and every slam. 

Ben reaches out to pat and rub circles against Ryan's upper back, silently consoling the boy as he weeps. The sound of tears sizzling in the heat of his crimson eyes reminds Benjamin so very much of the boy's father. 

“It's m-my f-fault! Dad says it's not, b-but!” Ryan pushes through heaving breaths. “But I killed my mom! I hurt her!” 

The bug doesn't quite know how to help. No amount of telling him that it was okay, or that he somehow wasn't really responsible, would do anything more than fan the flame and make the boy eventually bury it all under layers of deniability like so many other supes. 

“I hate my powers! I never asked for ‘em!”

I didn't know it would happen! 

I couldn't control my powers! 

I couldn't stop it! 

Lines heard again and again. 

Flashes of John in the labs course through Ben's mind. Grainy images of blood splattered walls and a boy too young to understand why. 

Why? 

Ryan lurches forward with every full-body sob, eventually throwing himself at Ben to be held safe from the cruelty of the world, his grip round the web-head's abdomen damn near punishing. 

“I–” he heaves, gasping for air. Diaphragm must be spasming “W-what do I do!?” 

A marvelous question, and not one easily answered. What does he do? 

“Well…” Ben murmurs, keeping up with those comforting circular motions against the boy's back. He can feel each quiet sob, suppressed or not. The quiver of his breaths. The gaps between them when Ryan holds tight to stale oxygen. “You gotta do the hard part first, bud.”

Which was never what anyone wanted to hear. 

“You have to forgive yourself.” 

“I can't, I–” 

“I know. But listen to me.” Ben leans back, resting a hand on the boy's head to ruffle his hair. “You did it. You did. And you gotta take responsibility for it no matter what, okay?” He hates the way the boy's eyes well up at his words, but this needs to be said. “We make it up to the people we hurt by doing better for the rest.” 

Ryan stares quietly, but the tears continue rolling. 

“We gotta do better. We learn to control our powers to protect people.” Ben continues. He'll be damned if this boy learns the all too common lesson Vought teaches all of their supes. Non-super humans aren't expendable; they're not a means to an end nor toys for supes to break. “Your mom loved you, buddy. Loves you, I mean. Her love doesn't stop just ‘cuz she's not around anymore. You keep it in here,” he taps over his own heart. “You were her sunshine, and now…” Ben swallows against the lump in his throat. “Now you gotta decide if you're gonna be the sun in a different way, y'know?”

Ryan nods. “I think so…” 

“You're not a bad person. You're little, and the world is very big and, honestly, pretty terrible.” A fact the boy has already learned the hard way. “But there's good things, too. Like how your dad and I love you. We've got your back every step of the way. Promise.” 

The sudden shuffle of footsteps approaching spooks both of them, but the voice that follows is unmistakable. 

“He's right.” Utters the new arrival, swishing his cape to the side before descending to sit on Ryan's other side. Homelander's eyes are rimmed red, but the untrained eye might simply think they're wind bitten from his flight to join them.

Ben knows better. 

“You've always got us in your corner.” 

Homelander shoots the bug a worried look when all that comes is more tears, but Benjamin only nods to him.  Neither one is particularly cut from the cloth of parental instinct, but something tells him Ryan just needs to be allowed to feel it.  No words, no excuses.

The pair sit with him until the sun sets below the horizon. Until he cries himself out and falls asleep between them with his father's cape draped over his shoulders. 

The sun will set countless times in his life, but it will be up to him to choose the dawn. All they can do is hope it'll be as bright as he deserves. 

[leonenjoyer69]

Invades your inbox

Hihihihi!!! I wanna ask, what are some songs that remind you of J+H :33??? ((/nf))

HELLO!! :33 THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK! THERE ARE SO MANY KVKSKVKSLC

OKAY, SO! First of all, *casually drops my J&H inspired playlist* all the songs I mention are on here, (WHICH ARE ALL SONGS THAT REMIND ME OF JEKYLL AND HYDE (all songs I've been recently obsessed with, someday ill go back in my liked songs lmao) AND SOME REASONS FOR SONGS ARE SUPER SPECIFIC, PLZ DON'T BULLY ME PEOPLE 🙏) so if you mayhaps wanna listen to any of the mentioned songs, they're there :3

BUT, ONTO THE SONGS AND REASONS!

Of course there's all the Will Wood songs from this list I did forever ago, but there are some other Will Wood songs I didn't put on there, like -Ish (which reminds me of Jekyll) and Cicada Days (which is literally University Lanyon and Jekyll)

Onto the various artists!

Pray To God For Your Mother by Dance Gavin Dance- BIG Jekyll song to me. "Dependent on the medicine to keep my colors vivid", " part of me wants to believe that I will not come apart at the seams, that I will learn from the cut when I bleed", "blame it all on the lamest dude, blame it all on the payments due", " didn't think id have to answer for the lies I told myself, at least not so soon" I MEAN CMON

Lights Out by Mindless Self Indulgence- for Hyde, the little adrenaline junkie.

Mr. Doctor Man by Palaye Royale- Jekyll energy, ofc. "Mr doctor man questions his hands, lost his mind, clinically fine, but he found a way to cope, needle in his throat"

Necromancin Dancin by Bear Ghost- Hyde, but instead of it being, ya know, the dead, it's him unleashing the nightmares on Jekyll. "Now we've found it, I'm astounded, every town will be surrounded by a throng of marchin' death, delicious the riches that glisten ahead!" Plus all the dancing references work bc he unleashed them at that party :3

Ghost Town -Revisited- by Trickle- Jekyll, once more. "So sick of this city's disguise, it glowing on the surface but it's drowning in lies", "Is there a reason that I'm wanting to hide when I look into the mirror just to see empty eyes?", "ghost that tried living a tired life, I'm haunted by the memories I buried inside"

Evelyn Evelyn by Evelyn Evelyn- Jekyll and Hyde, another one where basically all the lyrics are spot on lmao, but I will say I see the feminine voice as Jekyll and the Masculine one as Hyde :3

Turn The Lights Off by Tally Hall- Jekyll and Hyde

There's also a lot of Chonny Jash ones! Obviously The Ballad of Dr Jekyll and The Mr Hyde Jive, but also:

A Devil's Tricks- this one is literally just Jekyll and Hyde, idek what else to say lmao. Like, this dude sitting in lowkey self loathing while his mind tells him bad things? Not to mention the accuracy of the lyrics in general. Id list them, but then id just be pasting the whole song 💀

End the Dance- Lanyon and Rachel being the ones caring, and then switches to Jekyll. Once again don't really know what lyrics to throw in lmao

Banana Man- Jekyll and Hyde, with the whole banana thing being Jekyll becoming Hyde. "Forget all your morals and go with the flow, forget about the bad the good is all you know, and forget about the voice that's lying deep inside, the one that's screaming and screeching proclaiming wrong from right" "tomorrow morning on the plane, no banana makes you go insane. Floating back to busy town, no banana makes you want to frown"

Don't Take It Personally- EOUGHKEKOGKD another angsty Jekyll and Lanyon song.. "You can surrender your heart, but it won't be enough, don't take it personally I'm afraid of love" "if the drugs aren't in my system, then what the hell has blurred my vision?" "My wrist and my heart where you kissed pulled apart" "so just keep playing your part, and ill keep calling your bluff, don't take it personally when push comes to shove"

Push- Jekyll, ofc pushing all his friends away. "I see you trying to slowly turn your back on them, the shadow of who you were when back when you felt condemned"

I also have a bunch of other CCCC songs but idk how to explain why my mind thinks they fit, so I'm just gonna list them and idk, some might get brief explanations

Ruler of Everything- Jekyll trying to stop Hyde from going out, then Hyde literally ruining his life.

Dream (Outro to Calamity)- kinda specific to my little "Whole Jekyll" AU (as most of these are to some slight degree)

The Mind Electric- Hyde

Be Born- also Hyde

Light- Jekyll and Hyde

Good Day- Jekyll

Just Apathy- Jekyll, with Hyde as mind

Two Wuv- Jekyll

Greener- once again, Jekyll

Mucka Blucka- Jekyll and Hyde, (and my "Whole" Jekyll)

We're gonna Win- Jekyll and Hyde (except eventually getting along)

There's some on my playlist ik I didn't mention, but I think this should be good for now, LMAO, AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK GJSKKVKD ILY GUYS 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[pastelsapphy]

A thought crossed my mind: between MC and Saeyoung, who proposes first? (I know SE 2.07 talks about Saeyoung proposing, but bear with me). I think if asked, they might say that, technically, it was Vanderwood.

Saeyoung probably isn't quite as confident as he seems. So MC bites the bullet the next time they get to rest. Curled up against each other in the dark of night, with no one and nothing but each other.

"So... they called me Saeran's sister-in-law, hm?"

And they feel Saeyoung tense up beside them. If any one trait describes Saeyoung, it's fear. He has always been afraid--of his mother, his father, the agency boss, of all the people he's pissed off coming for his head. He was afraid of anything bad happening to Saeran (seeing your worst fears come to life right before your eyes does wonders for anxiety, doesn't it?), of anything he's done coming back to hurt those he cares about.

He had been afraid of his friends seeing beyond the 707 mask, of them ever seeing the real him, because surely they would hate him. The real him was not someone to be loved. The real him was not someone to keep around. 707 could have friends (for a while), even Luciel could have friends (temporary as they were). But he had tried to bury Saeyoung, the scared little boy who was unloved by everyone except his other half.

But MC came along and held out a hand. With their help, Saeyoung dared to pull himself from his grave. They pushed through the masks that were 707 and Luciel to unearth Saeyoung, still lost and scared and desperate to protect everyone.

The thing is, those fears don't go away overnight--if they ever do. He knows MC says they love him, that they're in this for the long haul, but he's still half convinced he's going to wake up and find himself still at his desk, an imprint of his keyboard stamped into his face and nothing beside him but empty bags of chips.

So he falls back on his default defense mechanism: laugh it off. But the chuckle he forces out is strained, even to his ears. "Ah, yeah. Ha ha... sorry if that, uh, made you uncomfortable or anything."

MC just hums. Saeyoung feels the vibrations where their face is tucked against his neck. "What about you?"

Their breath is hot on his neck and god, he already can't think when he's around them. Yes, his brain screams. I love it. I want you to be his sister-in-law. I want you to be my spouse, my partner. I want to be your husband. I want it, I want it, I want it.

But, as he has always been, Saeyoung is afraid. What if this is what scares them off (and not, you know, his drugged and brainwashed brother or the agency that tried to kill them all)? What if they don't want to be tied to him that way? He still thinks MC deserves better than him, even if he's been selfish enough to accept them.

He must take too long to respond, because MC shifts back just enough to look up at him. Their eyes seem to sparkle in the darkness. "Saeyoung."

He looks away and they gently press a hand to his cheek. They're warm, so warm, melting him inside and out. Like a hot drink after coming in from the cold. "You're thinking too loud," they say.

"Haha, am I?" Is his voice shaking? He hopes not.

"Don't overthink this. How did you feel?"

He's afraid. He's so, so afraid. He knows how to push past fear; he knows how to turn it into a weapon for himself, but this isn't a battle. There's nothing to fight.

"It... umm..." he starts. Getting the words out of his mouth feels like wading through mud. "I... well... it uh..."

And then MC's lips are on his. Gentle, almost chaste. A means to redirect his attention more than anything.

"Do you want to know how it made me feel?" They whisper against him.

With all higher brain function having ceased, the only thing Saeyoung can do is nod.

He feels MC's lips curl into a smile. "A little dissapointed, because I'm not his in-law yet."

Saeyoung's head spins as he tries to process their words. "Oh... uh... you mean... you want...?"

MC chuckles and kisses him again. "I would love to be Saeran's in-law. Which means..."

Saeyoung swallows and finally meets MC's eyes. There's love in their gaze, but also a twinkle of mischief. Tease.

"You want to be my... wife?" He almost can't believe what he's saying might be true.

MC chuckles again. "Yes, Saeyoung. I want to be Saeran's sister-in-law; I want to be your wife; and I want you to be my husband."

And his head is spinning and MC kisses him again and he's falling. It's more than he's ever dreamed of and he's so scared to lose it but more than anything--he's excited. Saeyoung hasn't been excited in a long time. He's never looked forward to the future. It was never worth looking forward to.

When their lips part and he can think again, he says, "Does this count as a proposal? Because I can do better than that."

MC chuckles again. "You can give me a ring later, when this is all over."

He pauses, feeling unsure again. "Are you sure that's what you want?" He asks, barely above a whisper.

He yelps when MC gently nips his collarbone. "You're stuck with me, Saeyoung Choi. You're not getting rid of me so easily."

And he laughs, real this time. "Okay, okay! I won't let you go so easily, either. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Saeyoung."

("Technically, I proposed," Saeyoung will say.

"You certainly got down on one knee with a ring," MC will say. "But me and Vandy still beat you to the punch."

And Saeyoung will pout, but there's no sadness behind it. And MC will kiss him, because he's adorable when he pouts. And they will concede that, yes, Saeyoung is the one who offically proposed.

"But we still did it first," they will say, and Saeyoung will concede.)

[littlesparklight]

A Burial of Love and Flowers

Apollo sits on the stairs leading out to the garden, quietly contemplating the flowers at his feet. They nod their heads in the sweet breeze, turned towards the sun, and while they're still yet alive loving the light and loved by it in turn, their lives are so remarkably short. Some flowers are perennial to the delight of all who lay eyes on them. Apollo tips his head sideways until he can rest his cheek on top of Hyacinthus' curly head. Delight and fortune, particularly so when one hadn't expected the dying flower to come back again.

So many more flowers are yearling things, grown and bloomed during a spring and summer, seeding new plants and flowers with their death.

He shifts a foot over, lifting it up to overshadow a blooming little plant. Hesitates there, breathing in the sweet-scented air. Somewhere below, to the south, a feast is being had. Being rudely interrupted.

Apollo crushes the flower beneath his foot, rubbing it down into the grass and tearing both leaves and petals as a scream - silent, unvoiced to the air and the uncaring murderer, but he can hear her - rings through the aether, reverberates through his head. Lightly, he bends further so he can kiss Hyacinthus' cheek.

"What is it?" So relaxed before, Hyacinthus is frowning now. Twists around despite Apollo's weight on him reaching up to touch his cheek, with a glancing look between the crushed flower sticking out beyond the end of Apollo's sandal and up at his face. Pushes his fingertips in, against the hidden stiffness of the seemingly relaxed little smile just barely tugging at the corner of Apollo's mouth.

He gives up. Lets the smile bloom, edged.

"She'll pay for that," he promises, and his darling Hyacinthus is of course confused. "Klytaimestra and Aegisthus have killed Agamemnon, but as foolish as Aegisthus is being, that was the price to pay for what Klytaimestra believes happened with Iphigenia, and for the complete razing of Troy."

Apollo ghosts a touch down the outer halo of Hyacinthus' curls. Knows he's frowning now.

"Kassandra, though--- No. She'll pay for that."

He repeats the promise, can already see the solution as Elektra hurries through the corridors with Orestes' nurse in tow until they find the ten year old boy. They have to pull him away from his friends and the game they're playing, and he doesn't understand, but quietens when Elektra urges him to. Nurse and child are sent to hide until they can creep out of Mycenae later tonight. The maddened mother roams the corridors, finding not what she's seeking.

"I'll be back later," he adds, but lets Hyacinthus pull him into a longer kiss, sweet enough his mouth softens a little before he leaves.

Finds Hermes goofing off with Pan in a field in Arkadia. It's a pleasant scene that would normally bring a smile to his face, one which has tempted him into joining with a lyre quite a few times. Today, his heart grows black and cold, though Pan is immortal and divine; he has lost sons too recently to be charmed, and now Kassandra, too.

"Hermes." Apollo knows his voice is too sharp, but he doesn't feel like apologising.

Hermes looks up, a greeting, and invitation, surely on the tip of his tongue, his head already tipping to indicate the spot beside him, but Apollo isn't going to be soothed yet, for all that his greatest fury and hurt has some short time to abate. Hermes sighs, shaking his head.

"Later, kid." Flashing his son a grin and playfully snagging the wispy trails of beard growing down Pan's chin, Hermes tugs on it and then stands up, coming over. "You know I can't do more than get her to the shore. She's going to have to wait."

Apollo scoffs, shaking his head. Yes, no one in Mycenae is going to bury Agamemnon's personal war prize, one so favoured as she'd been, no matter if he'd intended to keep her to himself or hand her over to his wife. That does mean she can't enter the Underworld as properly, until much later. That is simply not acceptable.

"She's not," he says, a hand light on Hermes' shoulder. "Walk with me."

Brows high above his twilight-blue eyes, Hermes peers up at him for a moment or two, but doesn't ask. Merely shrugs, and they do walk. Across fields and valleys, past vineyards and up mountain foothills, over several mountains. By the time they reach the ravine outside Mycenae where Kassandra's body has been dumped, sunset has long fled and the sky is turning from bruised purples into smooth, uncaring dark blue, pulling night along behind it. The stars are beautiful as they decorate the heavens above, the moon a silver tear. No one will cry or wail for Kassandra, loved as she'd been. They're all dead, the ones who could have, but she has also done enough wailing and crying through the last couple years to mourn her own death as much as her family's and the whole of Troy's.

She lies across the scattered stone like a discarded doll. All the finery she might have been worn, imposed by a man who thought he could cover up the blood he'd spilled with gold, have been stripped off her, but she is still dressed. Someone has also closed her eyes and mouth.

Apollo kneels down beside her, his broken doll, this torn and crushed flower which will certainly not bloom again. Brushes a hand along her throat, down her chest. The lethal wounds close up, the gore still streaking her fair skin flakes away. It might still stain her dress, but it's mostly obvious where the golden trim has been fouled; the purple absorbs the blood, dark on dark. Lightly, he touches her cheek, so similar and yet different to how Hyacinthus touched his cheek earlier.

"Kassandra. Little sparrow, my whispering snake. Come out now. It's all right." Apollo doesn't raise his voice, barely speaks above a murmur.

Hermes could fetch her, of course. But there's no need for that. The silence of the gathering night sinks thick about them while Apollo rearranges Kassandra's arms so they're laying down her torso instead of awkwardly splayed about her. She almost looks as if she might be asleep, like this. Alas, it's not Hypnos that has visited her, but his brother.

"That's a little optimistic, don't you think? Even if she doesn't hate you. Maybe I should go fe---"

"Just wait," Apollo says, not bothering to look up until he can feel the shift in the air. He looks up without standing up then, looks up at Kassandra as she comes down the ravine, half navigating the stones as if she might need the care and half straight floating through them.

Her eyes are huge and dark, her hair appears silver in the moonlight, spilling about her in thick, lazy ringlet curls, framing her in. She stares at him, grimaces, hands flexing into fists. Then she shudders as he holds a hand out, and though she doesn't come fleeing like a little girl into her mother's spread arms, woken scared from a nightmare and the room dark and still around her until the door is opened and with the familiar shape comes both light and love, Kassandra still comes. Clutches onto his hand with both of hers, and though they're as small compared to his as always, now he can see the outline of his fingers, the creases on his palm, through her grip.

"Why did I have to see all that?" It's half an accusation, half a plea, Kassandra now clutching his hand to her chest. "Was that the true punishment, oh Apaliunas? Not being disbelived, but having to see, to know---"

"Kassandra." Apollo might have sharpened his voice a little, but he'd always thought Kassandra knew what the gift of prophecy meant. Truly understood, and that's why she'd asked for it even if she hadn't, in the end, been able to give what she'd promised for it. Little sparrow, flying too high, too far, before she knew what her limits were. She too eager, and he not thinking to only give her the gift afterwards. He'd still have been angry to be refused, but some limits could only be discovered in the doing. If he hadn't given it before Kassandra had given her own gift, there would have been no divine gift bestowed, no gift given that he also could then not take back. "You wanted knowledge. You wanted forewarning. That was why you asked for such a gift, wasn't it?"

She presses her lips thin, closes her eyes. Nods, after a long moment.

"I only gave you what you wished for." He breathes, unnecessarily, but all he can smell is the night, is drying grass and the dead body next to them. Kassandra doesn't smell of her soft flesh, of sweat and seasalt breeze or the perfumed unguents she once used. The dead do not smell of life. Softening, he reaches out without, again, standing up, remaining on his knees beside and before Kassandra. Cradles her cheek as only a god can still do to and for a shade, and the smile comes out of him slow and tired. "Hoped, perhaps, it would soften the eventual blow. That is why you were seeing anything at all without looking for it."

The gift once given could not be taken back, and while he could have made her work for it, Kassandra's reasons to want the gift, Kassandra's nature, would have had her gone looking, and then she would have seen, no matter what he might have liked. She'd wanted the gift, and human nature had kept Kassandra not just seeing, but trying to speak of it. Trying to warn when no warning could be given, the words that spoke of truth never to be believed.

"I believe you," Kassandra whispers, turning her head to kiss his palm. He can't feel it as more than a chill breath, like a localized, brief burst of nightly breeze. "But if the only punishment was to not be believed - why do I have to look at my own dead body? Why am I here? I'd rather stay up in the palace, make her regret---"

Kassandra heaves, then flutters in place as noting more than a tiny, winged figure. Hermes quickly slides in behind her, his wings growing, fencing her in. It keeps her in place until she has calmed, has taken as solid a shape as she can, once again.

"Apaliunas, if you still harbour love, let me go where I can, when I can't go where I should."

"No, little sparrow." Apollo smiles faintly, taking his hand back and picking up Kassandra's corpse, cold in a different way to her shade, soft and stiff at the same time. "Hermes will take you down and stay with you until you can cross the river. I'll put you where you belong. A daughter of Troy should not be left to rot in Mycenae."

She is staring again, trembling and wide-eyed as she understands what he is planning to do. Hermes, too, is staring, though more baffled than shocked. Apollo heeds neither of them, turning away. Pauses there, glancing over his shoulder.

"Your mother rests in Awarna, though I doubt it will be long before she follows the rest of you." The smile tightens until it hurts, and Apollo nearly lurching away from the ghostly touch of Kassandra's hand to his elbow. The city, his sons, the royal family almost entirely. He's had to give up much. "I could at least give her a comfortable last span of time, not left to die ignobly."

Apollo strides off, as if he could walk away from the knowledge that he hasn't been able to offer the same to Kassandra, and neither to Troilus, or Troy. Priam dead at the altar, so many killed cruelly when the Achaeans had torn through the drunken and sleeping city.

Looking down at the pale body in his arms as he crosses the Aegean sea in a flying leap, landing lightly next to Hektor's tumulus, at least this is one more thing he can do. Give Kassandra a burial, as she deserves. She'll have no jewellery, but while Troy might have been burned and Xanthos' plain trampled, there still grew flowers close enough.

Brief as they are, they can decorate Kassandra as the dark earth takes her, decorate her on her walk down to Charon's dock and her entry into Elysium.

[companionwolf]

Wolf's selfship September prompts fills #5

6. confession of love

verse: canon-compliant/general

Central's faith in the Commander has never really wavered, but today, he knows that the fact that they are still here, that they are alive, is less his CO's work and more a matter of luck.

He sits alone in the bar, and allows his hands tremor just slightly as he pours himself a drink. In hindsight, it could have been a whole lot worse. They could have crashed the Avenger harder, could have been unable to get the emergency power on, could have had the squad wiped out--

Central swallows hard.

He's done his best to keep himself calm, despite the fire behind his eyes and the screams ghosting in his ears. The crew would not do well to see him panic. He can't and he didn't and it's fine now. They're safe and alive and it is okay.

As he takes a drink, it hurts as it goes down, and his shoulders tremble just a little. He takes a long breath in. It isn't then, he thinks. It isn't.

But goddamn, it feels like it is. Even still, even after.

Central exhales shakily, closes his eyes. They live to fight another day. That's what matters.

The sound of footsteps--

He opens his eyes again.

The Commander stands there, their eyes weary and body tense. They slide in next to him at the bar counter, don't even get a glass, just take the bottle and drink from that. Central blinks; they don't usually drink, not that he's ever seen.

He clears his throat. "How are you holding up?"

The Commander does not answer, just chugs.

Central frowns, takes the bottle from them, sets it out of both their reach. They let go of it willingly, burying their face into their arms against the counter. They mumble something.

Central's frown deepens. "Didn't catch that."

The Commander adjusts so that he can hear them repeat, "They didn't want the ship, Central. I'm not stupid."

He looks away.

"I needed to say something," he says. "I wasn't going to say that, not when everything was..."

Central trails off. He doesn't need to explain, he thinks. They have to know. They were there. They were captured. His stomach burns hot-- shame? Regret? He takes a swig of his drink.

The Commander lifts their head to glower at the glass he has. Before he can do anything, they've swiped it, drained it, pushed the glass away from then both in the opposite direction. They're frowning at him. That hurts more than it should.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

The Commander shrugs. "Doesn't really mean much if I'm not," they answer. "I'll save it for after."

After the war, he thinks numbly.

"We should be dead," the Commander says, mostly to themselves. "Why aren't we dead?"

"Because you did - you do a good job," he says.

Their frown deepens, and they don't answer.

Central wants--

He wants to comfort them, somehow. Hold their hand, maybe. He guesses it'd be okay, now that the red tape of being paramilitary isn't all quite there. Still, it might not be the best thing to do.

Then again, Central's not a stranger to doing things that are less then what's best. He sighs.

"Thanks," says the Commander quietly.

They sit together in silence for a while, and then Central begins to hum, some old song his mother used to sing him when he couldn't sleep as a kid. The Commander's tight shoulders loosen a little. He hears them exhale deeply.

"We're okay," they say. He isn't sure if it's meant for him and them, or XCOM entirely, but it feels ... it helps, to hear them say it, when he doesn't quite believe it himself right now.

"We're okay," he repeats back.

A jolt of fear runs through him then, despite it. They could have died. They probably should have. Central's mouth goes dry. He hasn't...

He hasn't told them.

He needs to tell them.

Anxiety tightens in his chest. Is now a good time? Will it distract them? Would it screw up what they have now? Central looks at them.

The Commander has their head down on the counter atop their folded arms again, their eyes shut as he continues to hum. They seem a little less wound up, a little more content, and that makes the knot under his own ribcage untangle a little itself.

They might not get lucky again, Central thinks. He might not have another chance. He takes a breath.

The Commander opens a eye. "Why'd you stop?"

"Commander," he starts, falters.

They raise their head, tip it a little like a dog might. "Central?" they reply.

"I..."

Why is this so hard? He's not a school boy. Central swallows, and God, where is the false confidence of drunkenness when he needs it?

"Central?" It's a question now.

"I love you," he manages, all in one breath.

The Commander blinks. "What?"

It's easier the second time. "I love you," he says again, more intensely. "I didn't realize it until -- until after what happened back when we were at HQ, but I--"

The Commander is sitting straight up, looking at him. Central's words catch in his throat. He knows that gaze. They wear it when they're thinking, can practically see the gears in their head going going going. Then they smile a little.

And then they laugh.

It isn't a cruel laugh, though. It's a laugh of relief.

"Holy shit," they say through their mirth. "Oh, god, Central, I thought it was just me. I've wanted to give you the moon since I've met you and -- and I thought I'd never get to say it but here we are."

Their grin is infectious; he finds himself smiling back. The Commander gets up off the barstool, grabs at his hand and pulls him along, and together they spin the both of them around the bar, some poor imitation of dancing.

"We're alive," they whisper. "This is real."

"Yeah," he says, "yeah, it is. We are."

"I love you too," the Commander says breathlessly. "Can I kiss you? Is that -- am I too--"

Central closes the distance.

They stand there together in the dim light of the bar, closer then he's ever dared dream and yet in the back of his head he itches to be even closer.

"Yes," he says. "Yes, yes."

It's gentle, small, quick-- almost unsure. Then Central gently caresses their face with a hand, guides them back and for a moment the pair are lost in each other.

When the break apart again, the Commander's eyes shine with tears. Central blinks back his own. He brings them into a hug.

"I love you, I love you," they mumble into his shoulder.

"I love you too," he breathes back into their hair.

If anything happens now, he thinks, I'm ready.

But he's doesn't want anything to. There's a house that he's building and a war to win still.

They'll do what is needed, just like they always do, just like they always have.

[aliciavance4228]

Watching Begotten (1989) so you don't have to

I decided to watch it on "Effed Up Movies", since they're not afraid to show the original, uncut versions of lots of disturbing movies. The entire film has 1 hour and 12 minutes, but because it's supposed to be disturbing I quess they would feel like three hours.

The site provides us with a short summary, but I decided not to read it because Spoilers. However, here it says that the actors are playing God, Mother Earth and Son of Earth respectively, which already sounds quite interesting.

TW: Gore, Rape, Sexual Violence, Self-Harm, Necrophilia & Torture.

-1:11:31: Like a flame burning away the darkness/Life is flesh on bone convulsing above the ground.

The movie has a very eerie, melancholic atmosphere, which can be both peaceful and uncomfortable depending on how you view it. The film seems to be made in the late 1890s to early 1900, judging by the b/w pallete and the poor camera quality, where you barely distinguish any sort of details. None of the characters is talking, there's barely any background music and the nature sounds are the main soundtrack.

We see a small, seemingly abandoned house, where a man tied to a chair whose face is covered by a cloth mask is suffering. There is blood everywhere. Blood flowing from his mouth, blood splashing on the walls and floor, blood on his clothes. The man then proceeds to stab himself repetitively and takes out his own organs. He doesn't seem to be in pain as much as any other person in his place would be. However, the entire moment isn't presented in the same grotesque, horrifying manner many people would think of. It's rather disgusting and repulsing, and a short view of his feet defiled by his fecels as he's excreting only adds to this impression.

A woman wearing a masquerade mask that covers only her eyes suddenly appears. She walks around the room until she notices him, then takes his penis and starts to rub it until it ejaculates. She lifts her skirt and fills herself with his sperm, impregnating herself. She's already pregnant when she's burying him, since we get some quick shots of her enormous womb as she's looking at his coffin. Months later, she gives birth to a deformed child, whom she abandoned.

We see him as an already grown man, covered in mud and laying on the ground. He has violent spasms, moving his limbs and chest erratically. He finally opens his mouth and lets out a deep growl, probably taking his very first breath. Despite being already physically developed, he looks like a Frankenstein-like type of figure, meaning that he thinks and acts like a child since the world is still new to him.

A group of mysterious people wearing robes with hoods pass by him, carrying lanterns and rods. They look like some sort of monks, of perhaps the members of an obscure cult. They're surrounding him, all of them starring at his throbbing body. They bind him and carry him away, as he's still shaking violently. They proceed to torment him, covering his mouth so that he would no longer scream, beating him, torturing him, cannibalizing him. He's then covered with some sort of a robe as the mysterious group of men drag him towards a fire. We get an explicit scene of him laying on his back and spasming as the top of his head is slowly melting. Meanwhile the mysterious men are stabbing him, causing him to vomit.

The group of men then returns him back to the forest and leave him alone for a while. His mother turns back to him and puts a rope around his neck as if he would put a dog on a leash, forcing him to crawl behind her.

The mysterious group of men observe her and watch them for a while. They then seize the mother and hit her son in the head, making him bleed. One of them cuts his genitalia for no particular reason, then hits his mother with a rod too. The woman falls unconscious, and they begin to undress, grope, mutilate her privates and force themselves on her. They repeteadly stab her to death. We get a short yet visible shot of them ejaculating on her corpse as well.

In the next scene we see her son kneeling next to her body and mourning her, before the men take her away. Now, we don't see clearly what are they doing to her, but honestly I would prefer not to graphically describe this moment, especially because it possibly involves necrophilia and grotesque fetishes. Finally, they throw her remainings into a cauldron and carry it away.

Meanwhile, her son is crawling on earth, until some men from the group find him, put him in a sack and beat him until he dies. We see two men carrying the cauldron until they reach a spring. On the other side, the rest of the group pulls out the son's organs, put them in pouches and squeeze them with the rods.

In the final scene we see his corpse laying on the ground, probably in his birthplace.

This movie can be interpreted in a lot of way and it clearly covers a lot of religious and philosophical subjects. To put it shortly the main themes are the death of religion, the abuse of nature by humankind and overall a nihilistic outlook on what life ultimately is. Feel free to form whatever opinions you want to about it.

[thunderousone]

Chapter 18

Summary: Eirene's vision shakes Vír and Lyire. Lyire answers some of her burning questions regarding bonded elements and mates.

TW: depression, profanity, graphic depictions of sex, pain kink, childhood trauma, parental trauma, chronic pain

Rating: 18+, MDNI

Status: Finished work! Chapter 18/23.5

Comments, likes, and reblogs are appreciated 🤍

masterlist | read it first on ao3

“Explain what you saw again,” Lyire's agitated pacing had transformed the once serene living room into a whirl wind of restless energy. His lithe fingers were buried in his white hair and his voice deep again. A few weeks of normalcy- that’s all they had.   

“I saw Hino. Or at least who I think was Hino," Eirene recounted the vision again. Her voice trembled, struggling to come to terms with what she saw. "He was a prisoner, with chains binding his arms to the floor and wrapped around his chest. He looked like he was screaming, trying to break free. He looked terrifying,” Eirene was still shaking from what she saw. Hino was so cocky and arrogant yet the last time she'd seen him he looked gentle and sad... And in her vision he looked utterly feral. Like he’d kill himself to get free. 

Without hesitation, Vír immediately left to go speak to elder members of the Gathering to report what she’d seen in the fire.  

“Do you know how you saw that? Have you ever seen anything like it before?” He stopped pacing and sat down with her, wrapping her up in his arms to calm her down. With voice while still low and deep, was still soft and caring. 

“Never,” Eirene tried to control her fear. Not for fear of Lyranth. They learned that feeling all your emotions was good for them- but for herself.  

Lyire was dead asleep when he heard her scream echo down the halls. Vír’s lips were still wet with her pleasure when he found them in the study. “When Vír is back hopefully we’ll have some answers. Until then do you want to lie down?” 

“I don’t think I can. I don’t… do well when he’s gone,” she admitted almost embarrassed. 

“I understand. Bonded elements make people feel crazy. Come on, you can at least try,” he stood up and offered her his hand. They walked up to her room and sat together by candlelight.  

"You said 'bonded elements' earlier- what does that mean?" Eirene watched the flame of the candle burning next to her, scared of what she might see in it.  

Lyire used his wind idly to crack open a window and let fresh air in. "We say 'elements' but we really mean anything that makes up the mortal world. Bonded elements are just that, two elements that pair perfectly together. Smoke and fire, pain and pleasure, the moon and stars, sun and the sky, thunder and lightning. Some are just meant to perfectly fit with the other." 

Eirene didn't turn to face him, instead she remained entranced by the candle that remained a steady flame in the wind. "And that's different from finding your mate?" A question she has wanted to ask for a while now but it felt timid to ask Vír.  

"Yes and no," He put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it softly as her eyes began to feel heavy with sleep. "Often times bonded elements lead to a mating bond. Caelum and Kumi for instance. He is The Ethereal One and she is the Moon Light. They're perfectly matched for each other, have been for centuries. And their wielders before that were mates. Some are just lucky like that." 

"Vír said that his father knew his mother was his mate long before she did, that she was resistant to it at first. How can that be? I mean, we find it almost impossible to be away from each other... How could she not know? How could she resist?"  

"I think there's more to that story than even we know. Some people live side by side with the elements, some people are controlled by them, and demand control over their elements. It all depends..." Lyire leaned his head back on the head board, still mindlessly rubbing her shoulder. "It's important to know that you are not your lightning, I am not my wind, he is not his thunder. We're just conduits for them. We just keep them in balance. It's important you don't lose that. You get a say in what you feel, what you do. While the lightning is a wild element, you're still you." 

Eirene pulled her gaze from the candle and she could fee that Vír was near again. She hadn't felt truly like herself in awhile now, but how could she? This had all happened so fast, she hasn't even been able to visit her home yet. She turned over to look at Lyire as he gazed down at her softly. "Do you think the lightning and I are compatible? Do you think it would ever choose me as it's wielder? I think that when it does my bond with Vír will fall into place, or so he seems to think. I just feel like it hasn't fully accepted me." 

Lyire's back straightened up as he heard footsteps downstairs. "I think that the lightning cares for Vír, and it will do whatever it can to make him happy. If that means finally accepting you then I think that’s a real possibility. But I know you aren't mated fully right now because if you were Vír would already be in here with his hands snapping my neck for being in the same bed as you... Protective crazy ass mated partners" He laughed quietly and pushed himself up out of bed. Dropping a sweet kiss into her hair he headed out into the hallway, leaving the door cracked. 

She could hear the two men talking quietly out in the hall and soon Vír entered the room silently. Eirene reached for him in the darkness, pulling him closer to her. 

“Shhh, I’m home. Sleep. We’ll talk in the morning,” he stroked her curls lovingly.  

__ 

That night she dreamt of Hino. He was alone in a stone room, with metal chains wound tightly around his neck, wrists, and chest. They were searing white hot from his flames and the flames in the fireplace and were embedded somewhere deep in the ground. The chains sizzled with the sound of skin on heat as pulled and yanked at them, desperate to be free. His body bore telltale marks of days of struggle, where his skin was red and raw where the chains were. The red didn't look like welts from heat but from pulling and twisting to be free.  

In the warm red light of the fire he screamed into the nothingness around him, an animal caged and going out of his mind. He faced away from her still but she knew nothing would be behind his eyes but his blazing anger. He slumped to his knees, chains clanging to the stone. The room was silent for a moment with the absence of his screaming. Hino‘s head was slumped down and Eirene yearned to reach out and comfort him. He sold them out... But no one deserves this.  She longed to reach out and comfort the man who had betrayed them, a kindness that transcended the lines of loyalty. Her hand extended towards his broad, muscular shoulder. Hino's neck gradually arched to the side, as if he were instinctively leaning into the caress. His skin was hot, too hot. But it didn't hurt her. Through her dream she rested her hand there and hushed his screaming through the dream. His breath caught in his throat, which was ravaged from what might have been days of endless screaming.  

This is a dream, Eirene thought to herself. But how could she dream this? He responded to her touch, to her voice. 

“Hino?” Eirene asked quietly. 

His flame red hair dropped again and she saw his shoulders shake. He was chuckling to himself. His silver hoop earrings dangled from his ears with the motion. 

“Hino… can you hear me?” Such a stupid question. She was dreaming, lucid dreaming Paarth used to call it. When you can tell you’re dreaming while it’s happening.  

"I don't know what it is you think you're doing but you cannot break me- I won't yield, Ravi." His voice was gruff and raw but his accent still had a lingering cockiness in it as his neck rolled away from Eirene's ghostly touch.  

"It's Eirene- Hino, can you really hear me?" She pulled lightly on his shoulder, her fingers touching the white hot metal did nothing to her. She had to be dreaming.  

He turned with the tug of her hand on his shoulder, slowly standing again. Eirene saw his eyes filled with anger one moment, ready to rip into Ravi. And the next with wild desperation, fear, and something else. "You're dreaming," he squeezed his eyes shut tight. For a moment Eirene thought he was her subconscious confirming what she believed, but he shook his head as his red hair tossed to the side and he chuckled. "I've gone fucking mad oh my god," laughing again. A beautiful yet unhinged sound, the words curling on his tongue. 

"Where are you? You're hurt? How can I help? Hino I don't think we're dreaming please. It's me the Lightningcaller-" Her words spilling out or something she said must have snapped him out of it. His neck snapped up to actually see her for the first time and his eyes burned red hot as he lunged for her like an animal. His hands were still bound to the ground so she stepped back out of his reach as he screamed loudly. He yanked at the shackles around his hands as the one around his chest restrained him further. 

"Run! Leave. Don't try to come back here- don't try to find me. Leave me alone, Lightningcaller. GO!" And the back of her eyelids went red. 

 __ 

She awoke with Vír asleep behind her. The candle in front of her still burned brightly, it should have burned out hours ago. She blew out the candle and let the darkness over take her and tried to shake her nightmare. 

__ 

She awoke the next morning with Vír already awake next to her. She curled up tighter to him. “Don’t leave. Ever again,” she whispered into his chest.  

“I know. I’m sorry love,” he kissed her messy hair and squeezed her tightly.  

“Any news? What’s happening?” She kept the details of her nightmare to herself. She couldn't believe it herself, how would he? 

“Sit up,” he freed her and slid himself upright. She did the same and he grabbed her hands, massaging her electricity into him.  

“It’s… not ideal,” he continued, winching in pain at the tiny releases is sparks. “My father has captured Hino, taken his kingdom. He’s been trying to pull the fire from him,” Eirenes eyes met his and she saw the sadness in his. But she knew it was not sadness for Hino. 

“Lyranth.” 

“The last forest burned last night,” He closed his hands around hers. 

Bile was rushing through her, and fast. She ran to the bathroom and released the acrid vomit from her body not once but twice. He rubbed her back as his magic hummed through her and she looked at him with tear filled eyes.  

“What can we do?” She asked for both Lyranth and Hino. She knows he sold her out, but there was more to it than that and she knew it.  

“Luckily while that was happening I had a lovely view of your-“ she elbowed him at the lazy smile he had for a second. “Well, luckily we were content and my rain was falling at the same time. I didn’t even have to think about it, it was just happening... Trying to heal. They lost most of the forest to the smoke and fire, but some still remains. They’re working on rebuilding the forest as we speak, and it didn’t reach the village.” 

“What about Hino? It will happen again, right?” She asked. She shouldn’t care what happened to him but if it hurt her home she would end him herself.  

“If he knows what’s good for him he died under my father's torture. My father probably wields fire against us now. We can deal with fire easily.” He assisted her as she stood up from the cold marble floor.  

“I don't think he has it yet," She didn't dare explain further. "But can’t just let him die down there, continuing to burn Lyranth.” she protested. “We can’t just sit here waiting for the day he marches with an army into our home,” she saw the storm clouds roll in his eyes at those words. Our home.  

“I’ve said I can’t deny you anything... What do you want to do?” 

[fkevin073]

That AU were Alys is Alicent and Viserys' daugther, is forced to marry Jace and slowly falls in love with him while on Dragonstone....it has so, so many GREAT layers. Like, Jace and Alys slowly falling in love in a way that for outsiders might mirror the relationship between the Old King and the Good Queen but that is, in fact, unique to them. It feels so right that their love would develop in an almost Ghibli/how to train your dragon way, even though they are in Westeros. Alys trying to let herself be openly loved and struggling with it ♥️♥️ And one can only imagine Rhaenyra and Alicent looking at them falling in love and wondering what might hace been between the two of them if it weren't for Otto and Viserys' interference. On top of that, Alys and Jace just trying to figure out what kind of King and Queen they want to be, because, as you said, the two of them have complex relationships with their parents (mothers). And Aemond and Daemon on top of that!

You are so good at characterization, that your response to that ask by an anon was almost like peeking into that world!

oh thank you!!

lmao maybe I'll write a solely Jace/oc fic based on this now! probably not, but it's fun to think about. but yes, the parallels between Jace and jaehaerys. I mean I think jaehaerys caused a lot more problems than he's given credit for, but he was overall good for Westeros, and I think Jace would try his best to live up to that example. and with his own alysanne!

but it's also a lot more tense, and Jace...

I always thought that he kind of resented himself/his appearance because it was a reminder of what he wasn't. and alysanne has that (in this verse), and she doesn't seem to value that security. so that's also an added dimension to their relationship!

but yeah, it's a softer, gentler kind of love, but still passionate! I think IKYLAO Alysanne needs Aemond's darkness/selfish qualities because she has those buried deep down within herself. alysanne would have never showed the side of herself with Jace that she did with aemond during her time at king's landing (like screaming at him, trying to hit him, etc). not that anyone should want to do those things, and of course they're still toxic things to do, but there's a comfort in it because aemond is just as fucked up as she is. Jace doesn't have that darkness in him. I mean he could have in IKYLAO, but he never got there. alysanne had it since drift mark.

but yes, alysanne loves Jace's affection and cuddliness in this AU universe. the openness in which he loves people. she's never had that. her family is very dysfunctional, even though they do love each other deeply.

in this universe, let's say Otto, Larys, Viserys and Daemon die in a fire, so they all get to live happily! they all heal together. I think it would grate aemond because he can see that Jace offers her something he never could, because he doesn't know how to give it, but he needs it too, that love/care/acknowledgement, even though he doesn't want to admit it.

I'm rambling again, but I really love this universe sm!!

[silverwhittlingknife]

Dick at Janet Drake's funeral

Dick (internally): The cruel fates, the Greeks called them. The three sisters weaving the loom of life, spinning its golden threads into the years - cutting it whenever the whim took them. Stupid! But I guess we all need something to help us make sense of it all. We need to find meaning in the pain…patterns in the chaos. Tim needs it now, as I once did. As Bruce did before me. So why do we make our faces into masks? Why do we hide the pain we all feel? Tim: Thanks for coming, Dick. I know how busy - (They shake hands.) Dick: It was the least I could do, Tim. Believe me - I know what you're going through. If you need any help, any time - Tim (looking down): I appreciate that. But... I'll cope. (In the background, we see Tim shaking somebody else's hand.) Dick to Bruce: He's a brave kid. He's in control. Bruce: Yes. Dick: You know what comes next, don't you? - Batman 455 (Christmas Eve, the day before Tim officially becomes Robin)

[eremiie]

broken promises

❥ angst | 3.9k words | eren x armin

❥ content: none. just pure heart break.

❥ the moment you’re born your soulmates words are etched into your skin, and the moment you meet them they disappear just as fast. so when eren meets armin why don’t his words go? and why does armin have to carry the weight of a wretched life on his shoulders? surely his fate is his fault.

this fic is a rendition of chapter 139! read at your own risk

this fic is for @mikaberries 4k collab event! my word was ‘broken promises’ and my ship was eremin! enjoy<3

ty to @arlerted for beta reading this fic!

"hey, why don't you put up a fight?"

those were the first words muttered to him.

"you're wrong! i'm not losing because i don't run."

those were the first words that made the black mark sprawled on eren's wrist begin to fade away, seeping from the tan skin and sprawling like dust onto the concrete he stood on.

the first words that made the blue of armin's eyes dazzle with interest, peering over his shoulder almost tumbling over to get a fresh look at what was holding eren's interest so well.

he knew what was holding eren's interest, he's seen it before with so many people close to him, he's heard stories from his grandparents. it couldn't be happening to him though? happening so soon? i mean he was just a kid, he—

"you're my soulmate..."

so if eren was his soulmate, why didn't the words disappear?

so if eren was his soulmate, why didn't the words disappear?

so if eren was his soulmate, why didn't the words disappear?

why were his first words to him not the ones scribbled on his skin?

nevertheless, armin wanted to grasp any hope presented to him. if eren was his soulmate he'd try his best to believe him. surely it was just a glitch in the system, maybe a phenomenon never discovered. but even then it didn't matter, because how eren's eyes gleamed at his bare wrist, eyes flicking from armin to his arm, to armin, it was all the confirmation armin needed.

still, on sleepless nights, when only the moonlight would beam through the window of the barracks leaving enough light for armin to peer down at the bare skin of eren's wrist and the words i promise on his own, he couldn't help but wonder if eren was really his.

his pale hand engulfs with eren's as eren drapes his arm over armin's waist. it was so welcoming. that same hand wraps him in blankets, it cups the soft skin of armin's cheek, it adjusts armin's ODM gear, it was the hand that armin, just by the way it moves so lovingly, would've suspected belongs to his soulmate.

it couldn't have been a mistake, mistakes with things like this just didn’t happen.

"i'm yours." eren's voice would grumble against the nape of armin's neck, breath fanning over the new goosebumps formed, and hand squeezing armin's a little tighter.

armin's breath hitches, swallowing his spit before adjusting himself until he was facing eren.

his eyes were so beautiful in the dim light. armin could admire every speck of blue that would dance across the green canvas, every slight glimmer of gold that reminds armin of eren's mother. it reminds him of the same glimmer that dropped onto the cold concrete when eren was deemed his.

eren blinks, once or twice, armin can't remember because his mind drifts farther than he wants, and untangles their hands, bringing one up to armin's cheek.

it's wet, a fresh tear falling from the corner of armin's eye that eren brushes away with the pad of his thumb.

when armin leans back to give eren a one over, he doesn't remember when eren’s hair got longer, when his eyes became so dull, or when his smile became a permanent pout.

his soulmate isn't supposed to be his and he lets the thought pull him away from reality more often than not. no matter how many times eren could repeat how they were meant to be it would never feel right.

there was a barrier in between them that kept armin farther away from eren than he wanted to be. a barrier that armin pounded against, aching to break and release him from the solemn thoughts that clouded his brain.

when eren wipes another tear that shines against armin's cheek, he pushes forward on the bed, pressing his forehead against armin's and closing his eyes so armin can't see them anymore.

the simple touch, the simple gesture brings armin back to reality and he can feel that familiar longing in the pit of his stomach, the furrow in eren's brow, and the newfound wetness of his cheek.

he doesn't mean to press his forehead so hard against eren's, but the closer he is to him, the more he can feel the warmth of eren's skin. he can silence the storm inside of him. maybe if he tries hard enough and sticks close to eren that barrier would break, at least crack.

eren's palm brings armin as close as possible by the back of his head until he can feel armin breathing on his chin. armin could tell eren that he wasn't meant for him over and over again, but there was no mark on his wrist anymore, no sign that screamed armin wasn't his in his eyes. as long as his skin was a clean slate, as long as he could spend restless nights with his lover, days laying in each other's arm's under the tree as they stared at the wall longing for freedom, armin belonged to him.

"will you still be mine when you leave for marley?" he cuddles closer to eren, hands sat against his lover’s chest as he takes pleasure in his presence.

eren reluctantly nods his head and presses armin closer, a soft press of his lips to armin's nose.

"i'll still be yours."

"and you'll—"

"i'll still be yours. until we see the rest of the world together; the flaming water, frozen plains, and snowfields of sand."

armin stifles noise and sinks down from where he was against eren’s forehead until his head is in the fabric of eren's shirt, hands grabbing at the cotton so tight that eren's afraid he might tear it.

eren's shirt is getting wet but he doesn't mind. he wants to cry too.

instead, he lets his thumb smooth over the same strands of blonde hair he plaits while sitting in a field of campanulas, and lets his hand lightly ruffle the tresses he watches armin toy with, contemplating if he should cut them or not.

the next time he sees armin they're cut.

the next time armin sees eren, his eyes are duller than that night they were tangled in each other's arms.

armin barely says a word to eren on the airship, there was nothing to be said. nothing to be said when sasha died, her blood staining the wood of the ship. nothing to be said after the conversation at the table, armin's blood being wiped away by the damp cloth in mikasa's hand.

he never had a voice like eren, but when he screams at him on the floor where he sits around shards of broken glass and spilled wine as mikasa tries to get him to stand, he uses eren's own voice against him— words so passionate and spat like venom at eren that he has no choice but to turn around for a mere second.

someone who could kill so plainly and drag his loved ones along, not shedding a single tear as he goes, didn't seem like the soulmate set for armin.

but the way eren turns around, a snarl on his face that juxtaposes the gloss of a limpid tear in his eye— for a second, just for a second armin thinks otherwise.

and when he looks down at his wrist, "i promise." still haunting him, he wishes the world was kind.

ᝰ

armin slams the door behind himself, leaving mikasa alone in the gloomy storage room.

it was his fault a darkened cloud was hanging over the room, his outburst at mikasa wasn't her fault— but how could she even think about eren with all the peril happening?

his breathing is heavy and the sounds of titans are right next to his ears, pounding and stomping their way across the ocean, across the world. it was so noisy, the screams outside, people running from falling debris. he wishes the noise would cease for only a moment so he could gather his thoughts.

armin wipes at his eyes in hopes that it would stop the way his vision begins to blur. he stumbles backward using his free hand to steady himself once he hits the brick wall behind him.

truth being, no matter how little the thought was he was thinking about eren too.

he pulls at his sleeve to further hide his wrist, teeth-gritting as he fails to hold back tears that slip from his eyes and onto the floor he stood on. they decorate the stone floors in lovely splotches, darkening the grey and creating spots that'd disappear with time. but, as long as armin kept crying the least likely the evidence would simply "disappear".

"i'm tired." his voice cracks and like a broken dam tears begin to flow free, sliding down his cheeks as his skin begins to flush. he knows he can't stop them now. he can't stop the thoughts in his head or the tears staining his cheeks. he wishes to relax and be at the ocean again, staring across the waves where he finally got a taste of what freedom was before it was snatched away again. "i hate this."

no matter how hard he wipes at them, they're never-ending. why does he have to be the boy whocries? who can't defend himself, the boy with the burden placed on him, the boy with no soulmate. "i hate this, i hate this."

his knees buckle and he allows himself to slide down the wall, ODM gear clinking as it hits the floor, the wall rough as it scrapes against the material of his shirt. it's easier to block out the cries of terror outside and instead bury himself in his hands to cry for someone to release him from this stress.

he's tired of the wrenching in his heart, thoughts being solely on the one he thought was destined for him. no matter how hard he tries to think of what was most important his mind can't help but wander back to calm nights with eren. what could've been and what he wished became.

how did he fall in love with someone so wretched? and how did they make him so wretched?

his sniffles are the only thing he can hear and his tears decorate the sleeves of his shirt— just like he decorated eren's the last night his arms cradled him close.

"i hate you. i hate that we have to kill you— you're," a sob breaks his sentence, but he's thankful for it because he didn't want to finish it anyway. the next words to come out wouldn't have been true. they would've just been a fit of anger and sadness that clawed at his heart, twisting it between its grasp and trying its best to break the little hope armin had left.

"we have to kill you." is what he says instead.

what was he doing? there was no time to sob, no time to cry over someone like eren. he would heed the words he told mikasa— there was no time to think about eren, he was a lost cause.

armin unsteadily picks himself off the ground, adjusting the gear around his waist and using the back of his hand to wipe stray tears. he's lucky no one came through or went out the doors— it would've just been another open performance of his weakness and it'd be proof that erwin was the one who should've been chosen that day.

he would let eren go and he would do what he had to do to save the people around him, it was the least he could do after erwin's death.

ᝰ

when his titan is standing in front of eren's colossal titan those words mean nothing.

it's the adrenaline that tames the pull on his heart. he's so close yet so far— his soulmate, no eren, is right there but here he was doing all he could to stop him.

there's no time to relish in the past, although it flashes in the back of his head. loose memories of what eren was and the monster he’s become.

he wants to remember eren's rough palms against his cheeks again, his natural warmth he radiates while he pulls armin close as possible. but he pushes the memories to the back of his head— they were nothing but an echo now.

he has to give it his all because he's sure eren isn't thinking the same way as him.

the mosaic of him holds pieces of eren in it and it was evident by the flicker of eren's passion in his eyes when he stares him down, fists raised and only a murmur of "why did it turn out this way?" leaving trembling lips.

when he throws a heavy arm at eren it's like it all happens in slow motion; first, a pounding in his skull, causing him to close his eyes at the twinge, then a burst of light flashing over his eyes, and albeit how they stayed close a blanket of white drops over his vision.

he loses his balance and wonders if eren has knocked him out yet, until he lands on a hard surface. the pale sand is grainy under his hands and for some reason, his mind is blank. the soft whirring of what sounded like wind whips past his ears. he's calm.

armin flutters doe eyes open, adjusting to the brightness of the light in front of him. it was oddly familiar. purples, blues, and greens surrounded the striking light— and the longer he stares forth, the more it reminds armin of a tree whose branches reach for the sky. he's mesmerized. this must be what space is— stars adorning the black mural, as rays of colorful light burst over the top of armin like pops of fire being sent into the sky.

it's beautiful, and armin's reminded of earth, of the comfort of life— even in the walls. maybe this was what he believed was on the other side of the walls when he was younger, and if he sat in front of his younger self and explained the sight in front of him, telling him this is what was out there, he was sure he would've believed it.

"armin."

the blonde whips his head around, meeting a face his memories know so well.

eren's skin is illuminated by the light of paths, a gleam in such familiar green eyes that he only ever thought he'd see in his dreams. his hands are pocketed and his hair is free, laying gently against the side of his face. bags pull at the skin below his eyes and a tired smile graces his face as he puts a hand out for armin to grab.

armin wants to grab it but he recoils, scrambling to stand up on his own and dusting the sand from his hands. his eyebrows are furrowed and he's scowling at eren as he crosses his arms.

he doesn't know what to say— he doesn't know where he is. he's still mad at eren, he can't just take him to a dream-like place and think everything is okay. he's killed so many people, he's dragged his friends into what could only be described as hell, and eren didn't know the toll he put on armin's life. he couldn't just waltz into it, destroy everything, and expect armin to just talk to him again.

armin seems to always be too caught up in his thoughts because when eren's palm– that's still as warm as he remembers– presses him to eren's chest it takes him a moment too long to realize. the ends of eren's hair that graze armin's nose is something he'd never thought he'd feel again.

eren shouldn't be hugging him, but he can't push him off— it hurts.

it hurts when eren's stray tears hit the top of his head and it hurts when eren clings to armin like he'll disappear if he lets go. the cries of "i'm sorry," are all armin can hear as eren sinks to the floor in front of him, weeping tears of agony and years of pain that he was never able to share.

eren knows he caused everyone pain, and he knows what he's done is unforgivable, and although he's caused everyone so many tears, eren needs to be the boy who cries this time.

armin shudders, impending sobs trying to wrack his body. his hand cups his mouth as he drops to his feet as well. when eren glances up at him with woeful eyes, he can paint a picture with those blue flecks and glimmers of gold that he finally gets to see again. he sighs shakily and turns his head away from eren in fear of the tears he was trying to blink back from falling.

armin lets eren explain himself.

he lets eren reduce him to a complete sobbing mess. all these months of asking himself why was all summed up to him, the only question being left unanswered being why he still had words slapped across his wrist. he doesn't dare to ask about it— he's sure he already knows the answer.

"so... you're going to die?" armin asks hesitantly, scrunching particles of sand in between his hands.

"i have to. i have to atone somehow."

it's the words armin knows would slip from eren's mouth but not the words armin wants to hear. leaning forward he places his hands on eren's shoulders, a pleading look across the ocean that was his eyes. at least that's how eren would describe it.

"but maybe there's a way we can fix this!"

eren gives armin a small smile, placing his hands over armin's so gently. "armin... you think i'll be free like you once all this is over?"

armin's pleading expression fades and is replaced by a dejected one, his lips falling and his eyebrows turning upwards. "eren..."

eren pulls armin close to him, hand in his hair once more, tangling through the blonde strands and burying his nose into them. they smell just how he remembered, even with how short his hair was now— like fresh linen and the smell of the ocean that lingers even after only one visit.

"eren," his eyes screw as he bawls into eren's shoulder while wrapping his arms around him. "but you promised."

armin pulls away just as fast when the thought hits him. he grabs eren's wrist and pulls it from his hair. "you promised! you said we'd see the flaming water... the... the frozen plains and the snowfields of sand! you promised!"

eren shakes his head profusely, more tears being shed as his hands come up to cup armin's own wet face.

armin's vision is obscured by his own tears and he rests his head in the palm of eren's head, indulging in the feeling because he won't get to feel it again.

he'll remember the intimacy he shared with eren from hearing his heartbeat in his ears as he laid against his chest to tracing the skin of eren's arm to lull himself to sleep. it wasn't fair that it had to be like this. that it had to be a mere reflection of what was, but it was his fault for being so gullible.

from the day he was still left with such a taunting mark he should've known that if his mark was still etched on his wrist, eren being his soulmate wasn't tangible. he should've left well enough alone and accepted his fate, met his soulmate years from that day and lived the life he was meant to live.

maybe then he wouldn't be stuck in what was a cruel form of torture, a life that lead to show him his karma of being so greedy— of trying to hold onto whatever was sent his way. he wasn't even supposed to be here right now.

yet, here he was, eren pressing his lips to armin's forehead, both of his cheeks, his nose and then a last tender one to his lips. although armin struggles to reciprocate them, eren can understand that they were received.

"you go, and you see all of those things without me because even when i'm not here the freedom you're granted is proof of me."

shaky hands reach to place themselves over eren's. "you promised."

"i'm sorry."

"eren, you—"

"i'm sorry."

to armin, it was confirmation that him and eren weren't meant to be. soulmates just weren't like this. he wouldn't have his mark, there wouldn't be so much hurt, and the promise eren shared with him would've been fulfilled.

armin refused to believe that his soulmate is eren.

he couldn't wonder who would come after eren when someone like eren existed. he couldn't fathom who else would put their life on the line like eren did not only for him but for everyone around him. who else would fight like eren did, all for selfless reasons.

whoever was eren’s true soulmate has to be the saddest yet happiest person on earth, to have a destined one like eren yet never be able to acknowledge him.

he'd come to terms with eren's fate, and he'd move on— after all what he thought was his fate was never meant to be.

eren pulls armin to a standing position and using the sleeve of his coat he wipes both him and armin's faces.

"i love you."

armin takes in eren's features, noting them down so he'd be able to remember them forever— even after he's gone.

"i love you too."

stepping forward, eren takes armin's hand in his own. "i'll be with you every step you take away from those walls and i'll be with you everywhere you visit."

it's hard to hear, but armin still manages to nod his head.

"i promise."

eren and everything around him begins to fade. he's trying to piece him together in his mind— create a solid memory to cherish forever.

the world around him fades and he's back on a sad dirt ground, palms stabling him as he begins to get up, mikasa walking towards him with the remnants of eren in her hands.

when he reaches for eren's head, it's only then he notices the words that his eyes used to linger back to every few hours are gone.

armin didn't realize when the words on his arm began to faintly glow and bleed because at the same time he was picking pieces of eren up and placing them together to create a firm picture that he wouldn't forget.

pale skin was the only thing left in its path— and when his eyes flit back to eren he sees his soulmate. for the first time he's sure of it.

“paths...” armin mutters to himself as his hand smooths over the cooling skin of eren’s face.

this eren existed in paths where time is nonlinear— speaking armin words for what could have been the first as long as he continued to reside in them. “he said it in paths…” he says shakily, and he winces at his own voice.

time wasn’t linear in such a void, and eren had spoken the short sentence on his wrist into existence long before armin knew.

eren was his soulmate.

his soulmate who he was supposed to see the world with; flaming water, frozen plains, and snowfields of sand.

his soulmate who set him free yet he'd rather be chained to for the rest of his life if it meant he could wake up with him everyday.

his soulmate who he doubted so heavily, transfixed on two words that plagued his whole being.

his soulmate who didn't even know broke his heart, broke their promise.

"you promised."

[sauerkrauted]

Anyone want a 600+ word outline of a Joker!Deku AU origins i wrote in my notes? If someone wants to uses this for a fic, PLEASE DO!!! all i ask is you tell me so i can read it too!! Im not a writer but i like making up concepts :)

*CW for bullying, abuse, gore, violence, death, suicide and probably more - it's dark y'all

The "Deku!Joker" AU

- Izuku is bullied more ruthlessly than canon.

- Hisashi, his father, is a cop. When izuku is labeled quirkless, his father becomes extremely abusive to him and inko for years before he decides he's bored and transfers to another city and leaves them when izuku is 12.

- inko tried to be a good mom, told him to keep smiling like all might no matter what.

- but inko took most of the abuse for izuku and starts to become depressed, dissociative and neglectful, leaving izuku to basically raises himself.

- to cope he creates a mask of the cheerful kid that smiles when he is being bullied because All Might smiles no matter what!

- he still loves all might, hero's are the only thing keeping him going.

- Bullying becomes increasingly physical in middle school (middle schoolers are evil) and he gets constant beatings, threats, suicide baiting; teachers letting it happen in front of them, joining in, and blooming him for fights, lower his test grades and "lose" his homework.

- by his last year in middle school, izuku is starting to break, he's extremely depressed, contemplating suicide, and starting to have violent thoughts of revenge (which for now he staunchly suppresses and berates himself for, repeatedly telling himself to keep smiling)

- a week before the sludge incident inko commits suicide, leaving izuku a note that ends with "keep smiling"

- izuku is too scared to go into foster care so he takes her body and buries her and pretends like nothing happened.

- he's strangely empty about his mothers death and goes through the next week in a daze

- his classmates go extra hard on him this week because he's not responding and they try to get a rise out of him, it doesn't work, bakugo says his bit throws the journal

- sludge villain happens, izuku is not really caring weather he lives or dies but hope sparks in his chest when All Might appears.

- all might doesn't end up revealing his secret because he has a bit more time than canon, but he's getting desperate to get away from this kid and ends up being a bit more harsh to him, and says, with a smile (grimace) still on his face "no, a quirkless person could not be a hero in todays age, they're is nothing they could do" (meaning nothing they could do to become a hero, but vague wording makes it sound like he's saying a quirkless person can't do anything) and he leaves before izuku and respond

- when all might leaves, izuku snaps, he starts hurting himself and goes into a mental breakdown crying and screaming on the rooftop

- he makes a makeshift weapon from a piece of metal found on the roof and manically starts carving a smile into his face mumbling "keep smiling, keep smiling, keep smiling" before someone calls the cops on him for the noise.

- seeing the manic state he's in, holding a weapon and covered in blood, they think he is a villain and arrest him.

- by this time izuku has come down from the breakdown and is dissociated in the interrogation room.

- the cops figure out who he is, and try to contact his mother, getting no response they begin to investigate.

- they come to the conclusion that inko is dead and it must have been izuku who killed her

- he's thrown into a max security psych ward and treated like a criminal

- izuku quickly spirals and with his only coping mechanism turned a traitor in his own mind he begins to entertain the violent thoughts he's been having about his classmates, teachers, father, and now hero's

- he gets sicker and sicker in the psych ward until he comes to the conclusion that he wants revenge and breaks himself out.

- he begins by planning revenge on his classmates...

- tbc

*this is not edited just thought of on the spot, so if there's glaring plot holes, ignore them.

[writteninkat]

vii - stargazing idiots

word count - 2,854

warnings - reader goes through what is caused by past trauma, mentions of death, mentions of murder

"Angels like you can't fly down hell with me. I'm everything they said I would be."

index

Right after All Might showed up, your body gave up on you and Tsuyu and Izuku had to help keep you up. Your eyelids felt heavier than ever and your head felt like it was going to burst. Your breathing is ragged and the last thing you see is Aizawa's bloodied body before darkness swallows you hole.

It's cold. So very cold.

You open your eyes only to be greeted by a never ending darkness. You feel like you're floating in water.

"Y/n." You hear his all too familiar voice. It's deep, if you could feel it it would feel like rubbing against sandpaper, it's also very cold and a sound that's void of any emotion.

"You did this to me." All of a sudden, Aizawa is standing in front of you, face bloodied and brusied, arms broken and turned to numerous directions. "Why are you so weak?!" He yells as tears begin streaming down your face.

You curl your body, placing your hand on your ears to try and block out your teacher's voice, but it's as if they're everywhere. They're around and inside you.

"I died because of you!" Aizawa yells, gis voice echoing inside your head. "The nomu didn't kill me, you did! You are a murderer! It's because you're so weak that I died!"

You scream, your body feeling immense pressure as hot tears stream down your face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" You yell.

"You killed me. You can never be a hero. You are a murderer, you hear me! I murderer!" You open your eyes, your body shaking as you watch his hand about to grab you.

"I'm not a murderer!" You yell, your eyes opening to the sight of a white ceiling. "Y/n! Calm down! It's just a nightmare!" You hear his gruff voice beside you, it always managed to calm you down. As you turn your head to face him, Katsuki can't help but feel his heart break at the sight of your cheeks wet with tears and eyes red and puffy.

"Suki..." You sob, your body immediately being pulled into a warm hug as Katsuki whispers shushes into your ear. His hand strokes your hair as his arms tigten around you. "It's okay, just let it all out. Cry to me. I'm right here."

Your loud sobs and yelling fill the rooms, even alerting some of the nurses but Katsuki motions for them to leave you two alone.

Your heart feels like it's being crushed and it feel difficult to breathe. Despite this, you don't want Katsuki to let you go. You don't want his familiar warmth to leave your side, not now when you're feeling especially vulnerable.

When your sobs quiet down, Katsuki slowly pulls away, looking into your eyes. "Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm here." He shushes, wiping away your tears as his eyes analyze yours.

"You're okay. What made you cry out like that?" He asks, thumb caressing your cheek softly. You place a hand on his wrist, melting into his touch as you closed your eyes, letting your tears fall.

"Aizawa sensei... He... I killed-"

"We heard Y/n was yelling. What's wrong?!" Midnight barges in, making you immediately turn to her. Behind her she has Present Mic and someone else who's wrapped up in bandages.

Your eyes widen, "Aizawa... sensei..." You mutter, the bandaged-up person tilting his head to the side. "Yes? Are you okay, Y/n?"

Tears fill your eyes again, but this time, there's no longer weight on your shoulders or heart and it feels much easier to breathe. You start sobbing once again, Katsuki looking lost and confused as to what he's supposed to do.

"You're not dead!" You sob, "I thought I killed you- hic- because I was too weak!" You cry out, using your knuckles to wipe away your tears only for them to be replaced by new ones.

"I thought I became a murderer-hic-because I was too weak to protect you, and you died because of me!" You don't even notice Aizawa walking up to you. Despite his bandaged state and the casts he has on both arms, he pulls you into a slightly awkward hug. You wrap your arms around his torso, careful not to hurt him with it.

"Why are you carrying such a burden? Why do you have such thoughts, little girl?" Aizawa asks, his tone hurt. "I have these injuries because I chose to protect you, my students. If I ever get hurt, never, and I mean never blame yourself for it."

You bury your face onto his chest, tears rolling at his words. "Heroes go through stuff like these every time. We sacrifice ourselves to protect the weak and also to keep the peace. In your journey to becoming a hero, you will encounter many situations like these, some are even more worse. But just remember my words-" he pushes you softly, looking down at your swollen eyes. "-have courage, have faith on yourself and the people around you. Trust in them to prevail through just like how you will. Remember that we are all strong because we are heroes but that doesn't mean we have to carry all the burden by ourselves. Be good to yourself and let go if you need to. You're only sixteen, it's okay to act like a child sometimes."

You never thought you'd hear those words from your homeroom teacher who always seemed so indifferent, but at the end of the day, he truly does care about his students from the bottom of his heart.

"Good evening, visiting hours ended five minutes ago. Only miss L/n's guardian if allowed to stay with her." A nurse knocks on your open door, catching everyone's attention.

"I'll be her guardian-" Katsuki cuts off Midnight's words, "Not so fast. I'm her guardian."

"None of you are my guardians." You sigh, "It's been a tiring day and I just want you all to rest. Especially you guys, Aizawa sensei and Katsuki." You move to lay on your bed, but Katsuki raises you a questioning brow.

"What do you mean long day? You've been out for two days." Your eyes widen at his words. You turn to look at the teachers and they all giving knowing nods. "Wait- so does that mean-" You point at Katsuki who rolls his eyes, "Yes, dumbass. I've been watching over you this whole time." At the realization of his words, Katsuki turns away to hide his blush and yet again, fails to notice the red tips of his ears.

"Anyway, the doctors say that you'll be discharged tomorrow morning so you can-" You cut of Aizawa, "Finally go back to school!" You sigh, stretching your arms out and then letting out a sigh.

"I was going to say stay home and rest but if that's what you want then I won't stop you. Bakugou." Katsuki turns around, his face and ears no longer flushed and is back to it's natural scowling state. "I'm not sure how or why your parents allowed you to stay here at the hospital but I'm glad at least someone is taking care of her. There are many qualified pros scouting this area especially at night so you two can rest easy."

With one last nod, the teachers all walk away, bidding the two of you good night. The door closes and you reach over to take your phone from the bedside table, unlocking it. Your eyes widen at the sight of forty-seven missed calls from your mom and just as many number of unread text messages.

"Your mom was called by the school about your situation and assured her that you were alright, but I guess that didn't stop her from blowing up your phone." Katsuki says, eyes on the apple he's peeling.

"Sorry about that, I bet you didn't get enough sleep with all the calling." Your eyebrows knit together in cringe as you force out a smile to which Katsuki shakes his head at. "Your mom is probably the one who didn't get any sleep at all. You should call her and ensure to her that you're alright." He points the knife at your phone before returning back to peeling the apple.

You call your mother in facetime and it rings twice before she answers. "Y/n oh my god! Are you alright, baby?! No, don't answer that. I'm on my way there right now-"

"Mom, what do you mean on your way- here in Japan?" Your eyes scan her background, heart falling to your stkmach as you recognize the airport.

"Hold on! Stop, stop! Mom! You have work back there in the states, you can't come to Japan."

"But you're hurt-"

"Mom," You sigh, "Look, I'm sorry for worrying you. But I swear, I'm fine. Just a few bruises and scrapes but what's a hero without scars, am I right?"

Your mom looks like she stopped walking as she sends you a wordied expression to which you smile reassuringly at her. "I'm fine, mom. Don't worry about me. I'll be able to take care of myself."

"But who's taking care of you in the hospital? I'm going there right now and-"

"Mom, even if you did come here now, I'll be discharged by the time you get here. Plus-" you look at Katsuki who's busy slicing the apples into little slices, designing them to look like bunnies. "-Someone's already taking care of me here. I'll be fine."

Your mother sighs, defeated as you watch her turn around. "Just- stay safe okay? I don't have anyone else."

"I know, mom. I love you so much."

"I love you more, my baby girl."

The two of you pucker your lips for a kiss before ending the call. You lean your back onto your now inclined bed, looking down at the bunny slice Katsuki is offering you. He still has that glare in his eyes, but if you look into them even more, they're much more softer. You take the slice from his fingers, letting out a soft thank you before taking a bite.

"When you blamed yourself a while ago." He starts, making you flinch at the topic. "Don't do that again."

"Suki-"

He slams the knife onto the table, "Please. It's not your fault. Even the strongest people have weaknesses. Don't put all the weight on yourself, please."

Your eyes widen at how vulnerable his voice sounds right now. You reach over, placing a hand on his soft hair. You smile softly, "Alright. I'm sorry I did that. I promise to rely on you more."

Katsuki looks up at you, eyes glassy and face flushing. "I never said you needed to rely on m-"

"I wanna look at the stars." You cut him off quickly, hopping off your bed to saunter towards the window. You push the glass window open, leaning in and taking a deep breath of the cold night air, smiling. You look up at the stars, wishing you had access to the rooftop since the view would be better up there.

"You know, we are at the twenty fifth floor of the hospital." Katsuki says, folding the fluffy blanket that you didn't even realize you were using. You don't think it's yours given that you've never seen it before. Was it Katsuki's?

"What are you saying?" You ask, letting him put on a sweater on you. Again, this piece of warm clothing wasn't yours as well. But by the sweet caramel scent it gave off, you come to a conclusion that this belonged to the angry blond gremlin who is currently standing on the window why the hell is he standing on the window?!

"Bakugou! Are you crazy?! Get off the window now!" You yell, pulling at his pants. "Oh stop being a square." He pushes the warm blanket on you, pulling you with him off the window and out of the hospital room. Before you let out a scream, he uses his quirk to push you two upwards, his hand gripping your sides tightly as your feet land on the cemented rooftop of the hospital.

At the notice of you no longer in the doorstep of death, you resort to hitting Katsuki's arm, letting your mouth run as you lecture him about how dangerous that act was. He responds to your reprimanding with a loud, milky, genuine laugh. Your hand comes to a hault as well as your mouth and you just stand there, awestruck at how handsome Katsuki actually looks when he's smiling.

You place a closed hand on your chest, feeling as your heart thumps against it vigorously. Ah, there it was again. The butterflies in your stomach that made your body feel lighter than it usually felt and your drying throat as well as your sweating palms.

"Come on, I find stargazing relaxing." He says, the usual angry tone of his voice gone, catching you off guard. He wraps his hand around your wrist softly, pulling you towards the center of the rooftop. He places the soft blanket on the ground, folding it once so it isn't too thin before laying down, patting the empty space for you. You mirror his actions, laying down beside him as you gazed up at the stars.

"You ever wonder what the alternative universe us are like?" You ask, eyes staring up at the twinkling stars as Katsuki raises a brow, turning his head towards you. "You believe in that bullshit?" He chuckles, making you gasp. "Don't call it bullshit! What else are the stars for??"

Katsuki presses his lips together to stop his laughter, "I don't know~ What are they for?" He asks you, tone sarcastic and pushing you off the edge. "To tell us about the future, and to show us how many other worlds are there other than ours!"

Katsuki can no longer hold in his laughter, clutching his stomach as he laughs his heart out. You narrow your eyes at him, pouting and crossing your arms against your chest. "Let me guess, let me guess." Katsuki wipes a tear away, "You also believe in the red string of fate?"

"How could you not believe it when-" You stop yourself from continuing your words. How could you not believe it when it caused the two of us to meet?

"When what? Come on, tell me! I promise not to laugh." You turn away, sitting up. Katsuki is still laughing as he follows you, taking your hand in his. "What else do I not know about you?" He asks, curling his four fingers with yours as he stands his thumb up, preparing for a thumb wrestle. You follow his actions and the two of you start the game. "I can't swim." You start.

"I had a pet goldfish but it died after a week." Katsuki chuckles.

"I only ever had two friends growing up- they were my mother's bodyguards. Eliot and Andrew."

"I like to cook."

"I still have my stuffed toys from when I was young."

"I tried to learn how to drive but after almost running over a cat, I swore never to drive again."

"I was pretty popular in middle school."

You chuckle, "I was bullied in middle school."

Katsuki stops moving his thumb, allowing you to pin his down. Your face brightens up as you smile, "I win!" You look up at him, smile almost immediately falling at the sight of his grin expression.

His head drops, covering up his eyes. "Hey, what happened? Did I say something wrong? Come on Suki, talk to me."

"I'm- Do you hate bullies?" He asks, his head still hanging.

"Well, hate is a strong word..." You look up at the stars, as if they were going to give you the right word you were looking for. "But I dislike them. What's the point of putting down someone especially when they've done nothing wrong to you? I don't use the word hate because I don't want to use it incorrectly, but to me bullies are sometimes just misunderstood or something. They have that superiority complex and I like to think that they have it because of their past that we don't know about or the thoughts they have in their heads."

You feel him padding his thumb over your hand. "Hey, you okay?" You ask, cupping his jaw to make him look uo at you. The look in his eyes, takes you aback- he looks so sad and regretful which only stirrs up more questions in your head.

"You're so good. You're such a good person, Y/n." His words cause you to furrow your brows in confusion. What was going on inside his head?

He drops his head to your shoulder, "You're an angel, Y/n. People are so lucky to have you in their lives."

You don't even think twice before the words leave uour mouth. "Even you?"

It takes him a few moments to respond and you begin to think that you made a mistake asking him that, but you feel him nod on your shoulder. "Especially me."

[amane-by-together]

Blue Hour || Amane Yugi pt. 1/5

(Amane Yugi x Fem!Reader)

genre: romance, drama, and a bit of fantasy

summary: amane was assigned to send letters to [name] from another school for a quarterly pen pal project in their class.

"You and I found in the sky in 5:53"

Amane grabbed a white pen from his black cylindrical pencil case and wrote some finishing touches for his letter on a black sheet of paper. He doodled some stars and constellations around the paper before folding it carefully then placing it inside a navy blue envelope.

He added some photographs of stars and moon stickers inside the galaxy themed parcel that he designed a day ago. Amane smiled proudly to himself after tying the twine around the parcel, he also slides in some post cards inside the twine.

“You sure are taking this pen pal project seriously, Yugi.” Yamabuki looked over to his dark haired friend with his phone on hand. “I barely even put effort on mine.”

“Look at Yashiro's though,” Amane pointed at the cream haired girl with teal tips sitting in front of him. She was putting a lot of designs for her pen pal letter so that her assigned sender would think that she's a creative person that matches their own aesthetic. “Hey, Yashiro-san, who do you think will be your pen pal?”

“I hope my pen pal is a boy,” Yashiro sighed dreamily as Amane deadpanned at her being a simp for hot and tall guys. He used to like her back then until he realized that he wasn't good enough for her. “And while we're sending letters, we'll fall in love—”

“Okay that's enough delusions, Yashiro.” Amane raised his hand up to prevent her from speaking more of her fantasies. “I've heard enough of them.”

“What did you put in your letter?” Yashiro asked.

“Pretty much about myself, I added some stickers and post cards, just incase my future pen pal would like them.” Amane explained while counting his fingers. “Hopefully they would because I made a lot of effort in it.” he said while scratching his cheek.

“I heard that our letters will be sent to another school and students from our grade will be our pen pals.” Akane explained as he went towards Yamabuki. “If Ao-chan gets a pen pal that is a guy, then I guess I have to eliminate the offender—”

“Whoah chill, Aoi.” Yamabuki glanced up to the red head whose expression quickly changed with a scary one. “What's with the bat though—?”

“Sometimes your obsession scares me.” Amane raised a perfect brow at Akane while resting his cheek to the heel of his palm.

“You're the one to talk.” Akane slightly glared at the smaller male. “At least I have a love life.”

“Fair enough.” Amane grumbled under his breath, looking away from the distasteful Akane. “Wait, you two are dating—?”

Amane was interrupted by their homeroom teacher entering the class. “Good morning class, did you have your letters ready?” Sensei asked as he scratched his chin. “To those who didn't know yet, your letters will be delievered to another school. Expect a letter from your new pen pal on the next day or two.”

The dark haired boy feels his eyes slowly drooping, it's always like this, getting sleepy in the middle of class. The cause? Stargazing.

Amane, ever since he was a little boy, he loved the moon and stars. He would open his window at night and look into his telescope to admire the star studded sky. Looks like he stayed up a little too long before dawn, you can't really blame him, who wouldn't like stargazing.

His eyes can't take it anymore, he needed to snooze off, just for a moment to rest. Amane folded his arms on top of his desk and puts his head down to take a nap.

“The other world at 5:53 is beautiful.”

In a dusk turning into dark, there stood a glowing carousel, spinning in a clockwise motion that seemed like it was twisting forever. Amane wandered around the place, wondering why he standing in front of a lonely ride.

He felt his ears ring and the ground slightly shaking. Amane closed his eyes as he felt the wind blowing against him, then everything stopped.

Amane fluttered his eyes open and saw a girl wearing a different school uniform than theirs. She was around Yashiro's height, he estimated, but nonetheless he never seen this girl before.

In a blink of an eye, she disappeared.

Amane raised his head up immediately from the sleep and panted heavily. Beads of sweat came rolling down from his forehead, his chest rises and then it lowers for a second, and he couldn't breathe properly after that. ‘What was that?’ he thought, drawing his hand near his chest to calm his breathing. ‘Who was that?’

He was sure as hell that he was confused, having a dream about a glowing carousel and a girl wearing a school uniform, whom he had never seen before, whatever that dream was about, he felt goosebumps on his skin. Amane fixed himself, he probably looked like he ran in a marathon and never got to drink water after that. 

“Amane-kun, why do you keep sleeping in class?” Yashiro asked with a stern tone like she was a mother scolding her son for doing something wrong. “You shouldn’t sleep in classes anymore, okay?” she added while handing him her notebook which contains the notes that she took during the lesson.

Yashiro, as one of Amane's friends, was concerned for the boy. She was worried about him, but that doesn't mean the cream haired girl has feelings for the choppy haired guy. Like she said, she isn’t his type. “I’ll try not to sleep in class...” Amane receives the notebook from his female friend. 

“If you sleep again, I won’t lend you my notes anymore.” 

“Okay okay, I won’t sleep next time.” Amane assures her in a sweat dropped expression. “But I make no promises though---”

Yashiro snorted. “By the way---” Amane was interrupted by the school bell beckoning them to go eat their lunch. He sighed, he always gets cut off whenever he says something interesting. The teenage boy slumped his shoulders before going to the rooftop to eat his food.

All alone by himself like he usually does.

Amane was puzzled by the dream he had while he was napping during class. A carousel and a girl he had never seen before, perhaps that it was a lost memory of his or he had actually seen this girl but he doesn't remember her.

He'll figure that out on his own.

The next day felt like any other day. Amane groaned loudly, waking up from his slumber (surprisingly he actually slept) and not wanting to get up from the comfortable bed that he was laying down. He buried his face on one of the pillows. ‘I don't want to wake up, I swear to god.’

“Amane, Amane—”

“What?!” Amane shot his head up and shouted fiercely at his younger twin, Tsukasa who was standing on the door with a towel wrapped around his hips.

“Wake up, we have classes!” Tsukasa reminded him. Amane sighed and slammed his face against the pillow, he felt himself close his eyes to sleep again, until Tsukasa grabbed his face and forcefully removed his brother's face from the pillow. “WAKE UP!”

“I'm up, I'm up!” Amane removed Tsukasa's hands from his face and glared at him. “Jeez, you don't have to scream on my face.” he added while getting off the bed towards the bathroom.

Amane looked into the mirror with half lidded eyes while brushing his teeth, his dark choppy hair was disheveled with few strands of hair slightly sticking out, and his long sleeved shirt that two buttons were unbuttoned where a bit of his chest is showing.

After taking a bath, Amane wrapped a towel around his torso while drying his hair with another towel. He grabbed his uniform that was hanging on the wall and wore it in a speed.

Amane notices that Tsukasa left early which is unusual since he usually leaves early leaving his brother behind. He smiled to himself before heading on to school.

When he arrived, he saw that his classmates are crowded over to his very own desk. Amane pushed his way towards them. “What's going on?” he asked.

“Letters from the other school got recently delivered.” Yashiro answered. “Your pen pal letter is here, and I must say they're very creative.”

Amane felt intrigued all of a sudden, he went to his desk to see the pen pal letter for himself and when he did, his jaw dropped.

A navy blue parcel with constellations around the paper. It was tied by a twine and dried flowers. A smile ghosted upon Amane's lips, the pen pal knew his aesthetics and his love for stars.

He gently grabbed the parcel from his desk and examined it. To Amane's surprise, he saw a tag clipped from the twine, he reads.

[name] [surname].

The name of his new pen pal.

Amane unwrapped the parcel, there's an envelope that was sealed with wax. 'Fancy' he thought to himself as he slightly sticks out his bottom lip. Other than that, there are polaroids and moon stickers, but there is one thing that caught his eye.

A thin book.

Amane picked up the book, it was an astronomy journal that [name] made for him. 'This person must have made a lot of effort, I admire that.'

Amane opened the envelope first, inside was a neatly folded letter, he carefully unfolded it using his fingers.

Hi Amane Yugi-san,

I'm [name] [surname], your pen pal for this quarter! Well I made an astronomy journal since I saw your letter talking about yourself, hope you like it though ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ 

After reading the letter, a smile broke down from Amane’s visuals. His pen pal is revealed to be a girl who is a first year highschool student, like him, studying from Sanaol Academy, which is far from Kamome.

Time flew by like a shooting star in a dark blue sky, Amane went home feeling giddy to write his response to [name]. When he got to his room he immediately grabbed a lot of art materials to work on the letter.

Hello [name]-san,

Thanks for the journal, I love the contents inside of it. Anyways, I hope we'll meet someday and talk about the stars together! I have a playlist where you can listen while stargazing hehe~

Amane smiled to himself, resting his cheek to the heel of his palm while writing his letter to [name]. Maybe this pen pal project isn't going to be bad after all.

Meanwhile in [name]'s side, she was sitting on her swivel chair with a cheeky smile on her face while reading Amane's letter. The strands of her hair are falling to her hair, admiring his words.

“[name], dinner's ready!”

“Coming!” [name] grinned before going downstairs to eat dinner with her family.

“The door of my dreams unreal, you from my memories become real”

@closetweebsmh @closetwaffle

[langdxn]

Can we get a continuation of the Grunge!Michael and y/n losing their virginity, now that they're assumingly fucking like rabbits, what happens when Ms Meed walks in? Cause we know its bound to happen.

Please forgive me, anon, I couldn’t resist making a massive reference to another movie here because it really fits Ms Mead’s character… it’s a very unusual crossover!

The creak of Michael’s bedroom door gave her away. She tried knocking, but clearly hadn’t been heard over the steamy sounds of your laboured breaths, ecstasy-induced curses turning the air blue and the strained groans of Michael’s bed beneath you.

Is there any decent way to be caught mid-fuck by your boyfriend’s adoptive mother?

Your rocking hips froze to the spot as your blood boiled with embarrassment, a flush of desperate heat pricking at your cheeks as your facial muscles tensed uncontrollably. Michael’s eyes darted to the door behind you, both hands unceremoniously flying away from the craters they dug into your hips, raising in the space between you in a surrendering motion.

“Ms Mead… I—uh… I can explain,” he stammered, panic icing up every nerve in his body as he suddenly realised you were completely naked in front of Ms Mead. A quick scan of the room around you deduced Michael had thrown your clothes way out of reach for you to cover yourself. He shot up to lean against you, pressing his chest flush to yours to cover your modesty, hands resting over your bare ass. His frantic effort, however futile, was admirable considering his hands wouldn’t stop shaking as they grazed your exposed skin.

Static in utter consuming fear, you forced yourself to face Ms Mead out of sheer common decency. Your mom taught you to always make eye contact with your elders… but she never gave instructions on how to behave when an elder catches you riding your boyfriend.

Stretching your lips into a nervous smile as you turned, your gaze fell upon the short lady stood in the doorway, smiling. Smiling? Why was she smiling? She was practically beaming.

“Do you guys need anything?” Her chipper question tumbled from her tongue in a saccharine tone you’d never heard from her before, your brows instinctively knitting together as you processed her wide-eyed response to catching you in the act. “Some snacks? A condom?”

You spun back to Michael, eyes darting between his as he too computed her deadpan delivery of something so bizarre.

“Uh… no thanks mom,” he hesitated through a pained chuckle, swallowing harshly as his mouth ran dry. For the first time, he turned to you and noticed the shame washing over your face, the terror that made your blood run hot to cold, the uneasiness with which you refused to move a muscle with his length still buried inside you. He drew his lip between clenched teeth and his full lips turned a ghostly white.

“Okay, let me know!” There goes that enthusiastic cheer again, sending a fresh wave of stone cold humiliation coursing through your veins in parallel with the searing burn focused on your cheeks. Almost bobbing on her heels as she turned to leave, Ms Mead muttered to herself as she clicked the bedroom door closed behind her. “Oh, Satan love you.”

You and Michael stared at each other for what felt like hours. Not blinking, not laughing, not hyperventilating, not arguing. Just staring.

“Did Ms Mead just—“

“Y—yeah,” Michael stuttered, disbelief radiating from him.

“She knows Mean Girls?” Your forehead creased up with confusion. The mental image of Ms Mead settling down with hot chocolate and a chick flick on a Friday night wasn’t something you could process.  

“She’s made me watch it six times,” he sighed, wearily wiping his face with both hands and falling back down onto the sheets. “She says ‘it’s an example of classic modern day cinema giving a snapshot of social hierarchy in the ruthless high school setting.’ Plus she has a crush on the dude who plays Aaron Samuels.”

Mirroring him, you rinsed your face in your hands and peered through the gap in your fingers, soft despairing gasps leaving your lips when you couldn’t hold them in anymore.

“I can’t even,” you whimpered meekly, shuffling uncomfortably on your knees making Michael’s hips keen upwards, his jaw falling open and his breath catching in his throat.

His gaze suddenly snapped and met yours, face dropping from blind terror into feral desire in a heartbeat.

“Fuck this,” he yelped, clawing his hands into your hips and flipping you over until you rested against the sheets as he towered over you. Anchoring himself by one hand planted on the pillows beside your head, his hips slammed into yours and poured his length through your folds, bottoming out in a single thrust.

“Michael—oh fuck!” His fevered pace plowing his tip against your walls stole all semblance of composure from you, tipping your head back into the pillows and clamping your thighs around him with every languid, back-arching motion.

“The danger… the adrenaline,” he stuttered between frantic moans, his cock twitching desperately as he slipped through the fresh arousal seeping from your entrance. “I just really needed to fuck you.”

Unable to reply through racing moans as an overwhelming wave of tension bolting through your abdomen, coiling in the pit of your stomach and burning relentlessly, you strained to hold back a scream by biting down on his shoulder.

“No you fucking don’t,” Michael hissed, curling his hand around your throat and applying a determined pressure to pull his shoulder away. “Let her hear you.”

With another expertly curled swoop of his hips crashing against yours, your scream broke free, unfettered and blissful, just at the moment Michael’s motions stuttered into you and a similar moan echoed from his throat.

Riding out your high together lasted longer than ever before, gazing into each other’s eyes as you trembled beneath him, his hips rocking delicately, softly, romantically, as your arousals pooled together and gently dripped through your folds. You inhaled sharply, breaking the heavy silence to ask what had been on your mind since the door closed behind his mom.

“Do you think we should’ve taken Ms Mead up on the condom?”