#and this is not some “ohhh then go there if you like it some much” thing

[papayadays]

🧸 + denial. realization. obsession. + lando (maybe a little friends to lovers 🤭)

a/n: ohhh maddie i love your brain!! (oops i kinda went overboard for this)

you and lando had known each other for what felt like ages. the two of you had gone to the same country club when you were younger, both of you often following your parents. you instantly hit it off, becoming buddies as you wandered around the country club together.

since then, you and lando had become fast friends normally, staying close despite lando making it into formula 1. you still kept in touch as much as you could with countless facetimes, online games, and texts about each other’s day. you often couldn’t go to races, having been busy with work; however, when max and the rest of lando’s friends in quadrant decided they were going to go watch lando race, an invitation was extended to you.

you were hesitant at first, knowing the expensive lounges they were going to choose, but max said that he’d pay for it. (which meant that lando would pay for it, most likely) so now, you were getting out of the car, heading towards the track. you and ria were laughing about something when some teenage girls tapped you on the shoulder. “excuse me, are you lando’s girlfriend?”

your eyes widened with surprise, shaking your head. “no, i’m a close friend of his,” you answered. glancing up, you expected ria to be just as surprised as you were, but she gave you an amused smile.

“that was odd,” you commented to her, walking towards the mclaren garage.

“right, odd,” ria murmured, but it was almost a half-hearted agreement.

you were about to respond when you heard a voice behind you call your name. spinning around, you saw lando, who had a look of surprise on his face. “you’re here!” he grinned, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you in a tight hug. lando nuzzled his face in your hair as he spoke. “i didn’t know you were coming, but i’m so glad you’re here.”

“glad to be here, lan,” you beamed. you both pulled back, maybe a bit reluctantly, and turned back to the rest of the group, who gave you the same amused glance ria had. but to add to that, the mechanics in the garage also shared a similar expression that you couldn’t decipher.

“this your girlfriend, norris?” one of the mechanics asked, chuckling. lando’s eyes changed into something veiled, something you couldn’t place. “you two make a good couple.”

“thanks, she’s one of my best friends,” lando responded, throwing an arm around your shoulder. you nodded, smiling at him, though something in your gut twisted at his words. best friends, that’s what you and lando were, so why weren’t you happy with that?

but. wait.

lando had said thanks to the compliment about being a good couple. and he hadn’t necessarily said you weren’t a couple. your mind was reeling with the implications, heart fluttering at the thought that maybe you liked him. what made it more suspenseful was that he quite possibly felt the same.

“hello? you good?” lando laughed, waving a hand in front of your face as you blinked. “spaced out, huh?”

you chuckled, though somewhat nervous, and tugged at his hand. the surprise and faint hope in his eyes wasn’t lost on you. “wanna go for a quick walk?” you suggested. “my brain’s a little busy.”

lando quickly nodded, hand on your waist as he guided you out into a quiet area in the paddock. with your newfound epiphany, you were paying attention to every single detail. had lando always put his hand on your back? when did he start? did his touch always make your heart flutter?

“are you okay?” lando asked softly, eyes seeming green in the sunlight.

“i’m fine,” you replied. “it’s just…” you trailed off, not brave enough to voice your hopes about something that could change your friendship.

“just what?” lando questioned, scrunching up his nose in confusion.

“everyone’s been asking me if i’m your girlfriend lately,” you started.

“is it bothering you? i could-”

“lando, no, it’s not that,” you said, cutting him off. “but i was thinking. if you’d ever thought it about. us dating, i mean.”

lando glanced at you, surprise in his expression as he took a step towards you. “i do think it about it,” he nodded. “every time i look at you.”

your jaw dropped at the revelation, and you mentally kicked yourself for being so stupid. he had had feelings for a while now? and you had still maintained that you were friends? “what if,” you started, “we could tell people that it was true?”

lando’s mouth curled up into a grin, arms wrapping around your waist. “is that what you want?”

instead of answering him verbally, you pulled him down, smiling as you kissed him.

[paymechildsupport]

hiii, how would you feel about a gojo x mreader sports au but they both play on the same team. Like hc’s about reader and gojo who are both on the same basketball team. I always see fics where just he’s on the team but I thought it would be interesting to see one where they both are. thanks!

Now hold on a second….

Gojo x M!Reader on the same basketball team // Hc’s

-!! SFW + NSFW hc’s,— you’re both in college

———☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★

✮ Teammate!Satoru, whom you’ve always had the most insane chemistry with. Regardless of on the court or off, everybody knows you two have SOMETHING going on —

Some of the plays you pull off shouldn’t even be possible. You’re like a two man army. The two mvp’s of every team, an unstoppable force.

Varsity ever since freshman year of high school, and now you’re both in college and doing the sport you love most of all

You’re each other’s rocks, always there for one another. When he scores the winning basket you’re the first person he hugs,— full on SPRINTS across the court to get that one high-five from his best mate

You’re pretty much a package deal at this point. Back in high school it was clear to any team recruiter that you both came together- if they wanted one of you, they’d have to take both (which, who wouldn’t want to, honestly?)

✮ Teammate!Satoru, who absolutely adored all the attention. The man was born to be in the spotlight, and reveled in the publicity you both dug up.

You’d be in the middle of practice on a water break, and you best believe Satoru has the latest viral clip of you two playing on his phone, giggling to himself. He’s saved every single edit of your plays, has an entire folder dedicated to them. He’s always super ecstatic to show you them too,

“Ohhh!! Look how cool I was in that one— oh, and there you are- OH DID YOU SEE THAT PLAY?!”

It’s not just edits of your plays though…. He has another folder, which he has dedicated to ship edits of you two. His guilty pleasure would be staying up and mindlessly scrolling through the countless ship videos fans have made of you two. Artwork, from theories, to slowmo clips of you two staring almost lovingly into eachothers’ eyes…. All for shits and giggles though! You two are just super tight homies, that’s all! Right…?

He’d play it off too, make a bunch of jokes like,

“Ha ha, fans really think we’re dating… how crazy is that? I mean, it’s not like we like each other or anything, right? Like, it’d be really funny if we kissed on the court after we win the next game, rather than just hug. It could just be like a little peck on the cheek..— as a publicity stunt, of course! It’d totally go viral— as a publicity stunt.”

(The answer was a big fat no from the media manager, much to Satoru’s disappointment)

And yes, he’s VERY aware of the surplus of fan fiction about you two, he’s probably written half of it

“hey, ever heard of omegaverse-?”

Shit, at this point he might as well have his own ship account of you two

✮ Teammate!Satoru, who is the mortal enemy of your team’s media team, who beg him , above all else, to just watch the shit he posts online. They just don’t want a huge controversy, and the team’s two star players dating eachother?! That’s just a scandal waiting to happen. The news and magazines would go absolutely feral

But, of course, true to classic Satoru style, he just doesn’t listen

His entire Instagram account is just photos of you. Has a heart around your handle in his bio (labeled, ‘my pookie <3’ ,— mf even got down on his knees and begged you to match pfp’s with him

One of his many viral photos is of you in his pinnie, reading in bed (why you were in the same bed, nobody knows)

Another has you two on a vacation in Hawaii, sunbathing with nothing but your boxers, and beach chairs a little too close

Satoru posts all of them with jokes about ‘it ain’t gay with the homies ❤️’ and ‘catching yourself being a lil’ too fruity with bro 😂’ — but it’s gotten so excessive to the point where literally nobody knows if it’s a joke anymore or not (sure as hell don’t look like it…)

He crossed a bit of a line when he posted a picture of him getting a tattoo, of your jersey number. Yeah, the manager chewed him up good for that one.

———☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★

✮ Teammate!Satoru, who’ll wait a good extra forty-five minutes for everyone else on the team to pack up and leave, just so he can fuck you in the shower room

He’s just so goddamn desperate, he’s turning all the showers on, and it still isn’t enough to mask the lewd noises you two make. Breathy moans, skin slapping,— it’s so hot in there, and Satoru knows it’s not from the steaming water coming from above.

After everybody from the team left, Satoru all but ripped his uniform off. Resorting to using the fucking 3-in-1 shampoo all the other guys use as lube, he’s quick to push himself inside of you.

He tore up the court last game, and for his reward he now gets to tear up you.

“Atta’ boy… hah.. fuck- .. fuck— ah.. did you see my winning shot today..? Ah.. hah.. it was so good, wasn’t it..-?”

He loves it when you wear his jersey while he does it too. He loves it even more if you let him wear yours.

—————————-—☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★——————————

[starlightsuffered]

Needy Boy Tries No Nut November (part 1)

Info - needy boy, no sex challenge, argument, teasing, attempted cock warming

“You,” I scoffed.

“Yes me,” he said stoically.

“The boy who came in me fives times on October thirty first is going to attempt No Nut November,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Me and my friends made a deal, I plan to stick with it,” he nodded.

“Do your friends know you?”

“I would hope my friends don’t know how often I enjoy cumming inside you,” he snapped. I could tell he was already regretting his decision.

“You didn’t happen to think to ask me if I was okay with going a month without sex?” I asked.

“You can still get off,” he shrugged.

“You won’t last,” I chuckled. “No way no how.”

“Yes I will!”

“No you won’t Timothée, you’ll be doing the walk of shame to your boys within the week, if not sooner,” I smirked.

“You’re so mean,” he pouted.

“Yeah, am I mean pretty boy?” I asked, running a hand down my body and lifting my skirt slightly to show off my lacy panties. He whimpered. I swung my leg over him and straddled his lap. I began to kiss him heatedly. He responded eagerly.

He was moaning into my mouth and I let him remove my shirt. He massaged my breasts overtop of my bra. I felt him grow hard underneath me and smirked, I knew it was time to pull back.

“Why, why, why d’you stop,” his words were slurred with lust.

“No Nut November Timothée,” I reminded him.

“Fuuuuuuuck!” He snapped.

Throughout the day I did little things I knew drove him crazy. I would put my boobs or ass in his face while getting something. I giggled a lot. I bit my lip. I was touchy with him. I even had a two fake phone conversations, one to talk about how I had to masturbate now because of Timothée’s decision, because he hated me masturbating. The second was about how much I loved his cock and cum and how big he was. Neither was too terribly odd me for, I was an open person so both phone calls were plausible.

Finally, night came and we slipped into bed. I snuggled back against Timothée and as I expected, he was incredibly hard. I reached back, pretending to need a blanket but I grabbed his full balls instead.

“Ohhh,” he moaned.

“Sorry, I mean to get the blanket,” I said and got it to add a layer of warmth. I nestled down, pretending I was trying to get comfortable, but really it was just so I could rub my ass on him. I heard a whine and smirked.

“Sorry baby and I bothering you?” I asked.

“C-could you face me?” He asked. I did as he asked and fluttered my eyelashes.

“Fuck, this is even worse,” he muttered to himself.

“Something the matter?” I asked innocently.

“Can I put my cock in you?” He asked.

“No Nut-“

“I won’t be cumming, just some comfort, quiting cold Turkey is hard,” he pouted.

“Sure Timmy, just don’t cum,” I reminded him. I hadn’t worn underwear out of habit. He nestled his cock inside me.

“Mmmmm, feels good, tight,” he said. I closed my eyes, and sighed happily. But then, thrust.

“Timothée,” I wanted.

“Just one thrust won’t hurt,” he said, but I caught him tugging on his heavy balls, trying to get some relief.

“Okay,” I said. Then he did it again.

“Timmy,” I giggled.

“Just, just, three more,” he begged, and thrusted three more times, his cock absolutely quivering inside me with need.

“Ohhhh, ho, ho, my baaaaaalls,” he wailed.

“Don’t worry baby, only twenty nine more days,” I said with mock comfort.

“Twenty nine,” he squeaked and then he was over me and fucking me harder than he ever had.

“Baby, your promise,” I reminded.

“M’not gonna cum, just need to feel good,” he whined. He was so fast and needy.

“So good, fucking love this cunt!” He gasped as he fucked into me wildly.

“Oh Timmy, you’re so hard, your big heavy balls are slapping me baby,” I heaved.

“Yeah they are, you love it when I fuck you don’t you?” He asked.

“I do, I love it!” I cried. “And I love your cum, wish you could fill me up.”

“Oh I wanna, need to empty my balls. Damn baby, did you do something different, you feel like heaven,” he whimpered.

“No Timmy just me,” I said, blushing at his compliment.

“Fucking love just you,” he said.

“Baby, you’re going crazy,” I said, watching his hips drilling into me wildly.

“Je pense que je pourrais mourir si je ne peux pas remplir cette chatte de sperme ! Putain de merde, putain j'en ai besoin, j'ai besoin de verser mon sperme en toi !"

I recognized some words that he normally said.

“You said you weren’t gonna cum baby,” I reminded him.

“Not gonna, just saying what I wish,” he choked out.

“I’m gonna stop,” he said and slowed down, but as he did he started going deeper, moving to an angle that felt particularly good.

“Timothée!” I cried sharply as his slow thrust hit me in a sweet spot. I came, arching and seeing stars as I whimpered his name.

“I’m not gonna, not gonna, oh fuck I’m going to! No, I’m-“ he cut himself off by unleashing a fountain of cum inside me.

“I didn’t mean it,” he whined as he filled me. Ten ropes of cum shot inside me as he panted. I moaned as I enjoyed the full feeling.

“You failed within twenty four hours,” I gloated.

“Oh shut up, I have my reasons,” he snapped.

“And they are?” I asked.

“One, I didn’t want to do it anyone, two, my friends don’t have access to your pussy, because they’d fail too, and three this is dumb,” he ended on a whine.

“Well to be fair I thought it was dumb too,” I said, gathering him in my arms.

“Good,” he said kissing my forehead. “Let’s go again, gotta make up for the day.”

@pmak2002 @softhecreator @plutoispurplw @sp1deyyf4ngz @seungcheol17daddy @jesschalamet t @vvsdreaming @lovelyrocker

[blueishspace]

Hero, Villain, God.

(Next)

Your name is Grian...

... Well, It's quite a bit more complex then that.

Your name was ____ when you first emerged from the void from which all came from. Brother to creation and destruction and order. A god of nothing... yet.

Your name was Xelqua when the other gods were created and needed a name for you... That was your name when Aeor created the stars and when Lady Life created the first miniscule cells and it still was when Lady Death was created to collect them.

Your name was T⍑∷ᒷᒷ when you annhilated the creatures of the Cambrian, when you erupted the Earth and destroyed those of the Permian and when you shot an asteroid at the massive reptiles of the Cretaceous.

After that your names have been many. You have been called Set and Eris and Loki and Balor and Leviathan and so much more. Pandeminium is a favorite of yours, after all that was what you caused when you introduced superpowers to the world 100 years ago.

But now, now your name is Grian. You had to pick a new name if you wanted to truly pretend to be a mortal and Grian just had such a nice sound to it.

Who Grian is going to be... You haven't decided yet, there is just so many things you could do that you hardly needed to plan. Could you Imagine it? Chaos itself making a plan? Now, that would be something...

Where Grian is... something you can answer much more easily, you are somewhere in Hermitopia. If you were to guess somewhere near the hero tower.

Lastly, as for why Grian is? Why you decided to do this at all? Well, you just wanted to have some fun! Mess with heroes and villains alike a bit! After all, things have been far to peaceful as of recently and you were getting bored.

Chapter 1

Poultryman was going to be the one to be "born" first. What better then a vigilante persona made as an excuse to trow at eggs at villains and heroes alike in the name of justice? It was just to fun of an idea not to do it. Creating him wasn't even that hard, you gave your human form some chicken-like wings and a chicken mask and it was done... Now to actually begin your act.

It's your first night out as a vigilante and you have already ran into a mugging, you are almost impressed.

"Look who we have here" The thief looks back at you, you can see he's holding a knife... It's pretty small, kinda embarassing on his part.

He seems a bit surprised by you being here, he has to have like no spacial awareness whatsoever because you haven't done anything to hide yourself while you were approaching.

"Who are you!?"

Is it really not obvious? One would think the outfit or the mask would speak for itself... Perhaps you have overesrimated mortal minds, you'll have to introduce yourself it seems.

"Well!? I have a knife"

Ohhh, a feisty one. Also, very impatient, you were getting to it. Guess It's time to introduce yourself officially.

"I am... Poultryman"

...

"Poultryman? Really?"

Excuse him? Poultryman is a great name, he must clearly be blind to the divine genius you possess. For that alone now he's definitely getting egged. You decide not to give him time to continue, you don't really care for what he might say. You throw an egg in his face causing him to fall to the ground and letting the woman that was being mugged have the opportunity to get herself free from the hands of the mugger.

"An...egg? What the fuck-"

You egg him again for daring to question the holy egg, this one actually spawns a chick.

"Stop it!"

You think about it...for about two seconds. "No" You egg him again... He doesn't seem very happy about it, he actually must be pretty mad because he tries to stab you... It doesn't work, of course, you can't exactly stab a concept, but still...very rude.

You teleport behind him and knock him out, this thing was taking too long at this point. You then turn to the grateful woman.

"Well then, that was easy, if you could call someone now to pick up this guy that would be great"

And then you're gone. Wonder how long it will take for the news to hear about you.

The answer is apparently: not that long.

[mychlapci]

I've heard of robot that gets off to using high amounts of processor power, like by just looking up the hardest math problems ever and going hog wild. but what I want to propose is robot that has a fetish for jiggly tits and ass and belly bc calculating the physics gets those same motors running. Jiggle physics fetish IRL. there should be an entire porn category that's just "shaking as much as possible". Cybertronians hear about twerking and they're like OHHH some things are universal constants. Anyways. I think prowl should ride a fucking machine in front of a mirror and cum super hard from the overstimulation of calculating his milkers trajectories. Also kinda want tf prime starscream going from having nothing to shake (bc seekers don't DO that), to being sparked up and unable to get Megatron's paws off his ALMOST medium sized boobs that will totally stop growing if you keep squeezing them like stress balls, primus damn it. He just doesn't realize that as soon as the sparkling is out of him, his tummy and fattened up aft will get the attention. He bitches and moans, but when he ACTUALLY starts losing the carrying weight, he starts eating double rations and does his best to get a second sparkling going. Honestly would be funny if he was trying to grow his boobs, but everything went to his thighs, aft, and stomach instead. Megatron definitely isn't complaining about it, though. Smedium breasted evil advisorwife

ahsjsbhshsh Meduium breasted advisor wife… is Starscream, by any chance, looking for a job? i offer dental.

hrhhhhh okay, oh yeah, I am always down to fatten up tfp Starscream. and we will come back to jiggle physics fetish, but for now I gotta say that i need Megatron to put a big ass baby in that twink. get him heavy and fat and growing large tits. Well, as large as Starscream’s itty bitty milkers can get. Get him fat!

[sincerely-sofie]

Sofie Plays Cult of the Lamb but She Writes out a Play-by-Play instead of Recording Anything: Part 1

Obby was hanging out with me for this one!

Still dying laughing over the fact that the only follower I can bully is the follower my beloved boyfriend made.

Unlocked Knucklebones. Won against Ratau at 60-35 points. Immediately started getting really excited about destroying Narinder in this game once I indoctrinate him and Obby gently broke the news that Ratau is bad at the game.

New headcanon unlocked: Ratau goes easy on the Lamb whenever playing together.

Clicked manually to collect each individual piece of divine inspiration and Obby almost exploded.

Me: Aw man, I forgot I have to sacrifice someone :< Obby: *Grabbing the sides of his webcam* ME ME ME KILL ME

Legitimately started discussing with Obby how to sacrifice his birdman avatar in the most cost-effective manner.

Questing to get an outhouse and still haven't unlocked it. Tragic.

OBBY LEFT TO GRAB DINNER AND PUT ON A SUBWAY SURFERS GAMEPLAY VIDEO WHILE HE WAS GONE "SO (I) WOULDN'T GET BORED"

Jooryn seems to becoming friends with Amdusias. This feels thematically relevant.

ENTERED DARKWOOD TO FINALLY GO ON A CRUSADE AFTER BLESSING ALL MY FOLLOWERS AND GOT HECKIN LESHY'D. I HATE THIS FOREST

I'm a pro gamer. Trust me.

Obby slowly added onto the Subway Surfers gameplay video overlay a Family Guy clip compilation overlay, an overlay of PMD: EoS gameplay, and an overlay of a video explaining the functions of ADHD. Meanwhile, I was spinning heart emojis around his face in my head.

The enemies Leshy keeps summoning know how to dodge roll. Meanwhile I can't even remember how to summon curses for longer than two seconds. Good thing spamming Attack will definitely always work for me!

Obby: I knew you'd like that guy! Me: "Like" is a strong word.

Entered Leshy's boss fight and watched the opening cutscene while having this exchange:

Me: Ohhh he has fuzzy legs!!! (Leshy transforms into his boss form) Obby: He no longer has fuzzy legs :(

Just got our first elderly follower! I immediately ascended him. Sorry Artre, you looked too much like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Heket woke up and chose violence! Girl same!

@billycorn OH NO

I survived the miniboss fight :) I did great :)

Follower Obby just lives for the bit, huh

First follower romance! Nomre, the first follower to join the cult, was proposed to by Gusion. Cute!

SICK JOOTY!!!!

Unlocked the Silk Cradle and Anchordeep because Nomre wasn't happy with the flowers Gusion proposed with, and now I need beets and cauliflower in the next three days to help move things along.

@onlyhereforghosttrick I'm so sorry. This seems to be what happens when you're only here for Ghost Trick in Cult of the Lamb.

WHY DO THE BISHOPS ALL HAVE IT OUT FOR BILLYCORN

Spent an unholy amount of time delving through the Silk Cradle and Anchordeep looking for beets and cauliflower. I almost ended up unlocking Shamura's boss fight in the hunt. Kallamar got his cowardly reputation when he saw me raging through his domain in search of cauliflower and only growing more powerful and furious the longer I went without finding it.

Anyhoo. Got beet seeds and some cauliflower eventually :3

[0mysticmidnight0]

POOKIE PLEASEEEEEEEE! I know you’ve never seen nor heard of me before most likely but I must ask of a teensy tiny request.

Could you possibly do (if you do drabbles with the turtles) yandere turtles and your birthday in captivity? Especially if time is really wonky due to not having a way to tell how long they’ve been in there?

Thank you very much for reading my request, have a great evening/day/afternoon and take some food along with you on your journeys 🍏🍐🍊🍋🍋‍🟩🍌🍉🍇🍓🫐🍒🍑🥭🍍🥥🥝🍅🥑🥦🫛🥬🥒🌶️🫑���🥕🫒🧄🧅🥔🍠🫚🥐🥯🍞🥖🥨🧀🥚🍳🧈🥞🧇🥓🥩🍗🍖🌭🍔🍟🍭🍬🍫🍰🧁🥧🍦🍨🍧🍡🎂🍮🍿🍩🍪🌰🥜🍯

Ohhh! Fun!! And thank you, IM STARVING.

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

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

- it's been so long since you've been here. Down in the sewers. Away from any human contact (aside from April..) . Being smothered to death by "love" from the turtles. You forgot what day it was.. what month is was.. what YEAR it was.

- That all changed when one day.. you woke up to a birthday cake and birthday pancakes shaped like hearts.. one look at the candles.. one.. and and a 6.. that's right.. 2 years. Stuck in this place. You were about to cry right then and there.

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

Mikey happily exclaimed and hugged you.

"So, we all cleared our schedule to spend the day with you on your special day!"

"What Mikey said." Leo chuckled as he gave you a kiss on the cheek.

"Consider yourself lucky. I had a lot to finish." Donnie says as he leaned on the counter.

One two three.. you're missing one. You heard loud shuffling in the corner and you were ushered away.

The whole day you spent it at the arcade.. couch.. and then at night.. they finally took you out.. but before you could celebrate your freedom and chance for escape. Donnie snapped a bracelet on your wrist that zaps you when you go too far from one of them.

You looked up to the sky.. fire works.. and pizza.. this feels too familiar. Oh. Now you remember. It was exactly like this.. when you got kidnapped.

When Raph finally came up, he smiled showing you your big birthday present. You opened it to see.. a big plushie. Turtle to be exact. You sigh and look into the distance. Is this how it'll be the next few years..? No.. please no.. You need to ESCAPE. But for now.. you have to play the game. Happy birthday to you.

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

YAY. :3

Yours truly,

MysticMidnight

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s5 episode 2 thoughts

i wrote the following episode writeup two days ago, and still, there is so much to process. but let past me take over as we begin our adventure into some DELICIOUS angst with a happy ending content:

i wasn’t going to watch this episode tonight because i am feeling tired and sick, but then i scrolled down a little bit and read some of the next episode’s descriptions, and boy. i want answers. which i will not receive if i do not watch the episodes prior to them. so. here we are.

i’ve also heard that this episode is really good, so i’m excited to dive in, even if i have a headache while watching it. usually i try to preserve my watching experiences for when i don’t feel ill, but sometimes you just have to push through it.

(it WAS really really REAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY GOOD. my sickness was not fixed but some other part of me was)

okay. the description... mulder is looking for a cure and the FBI snitch. and he receives help from an unlikely source…. is it krycek??? let us see

(it was not krycek)

we begin with the recap, and again, the combination of skinner’s gruff “call a doctor” while holding scully's limp body and mulder’s defeated face at hearing the vial just has water in it is crazy 

mulder is at the hospital at 5 am!!! he’s looking for scully :( no one is helping him!! he is getting maaaaad omg

“i’ll calm down when i have a REASON TO CALM DOWN!!”<- OHHHH he is always going to cause a scene in a hospital. someone please pair up this scene with one breath to make a nice matching gifset thank you <3

the doctor wants to know who tf he is when skinner comes out of the room!!! OH FUCK, I FORGOT SKINNER THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD LMAOOOO “you move pretty good for a dead man” <- well yes he does! 

“i’m only half dead” now what do you mean by that… is he saying that without scully he is only half alive.......

oh skinner is PISSED! he is following him into scully’s room… please save the fighting for when she is not trying to get rest, thank you very much

oh my GOD, mulder sees her in the room and he literally has to put his hands on his knees and breath, and he cannot do it… holy fuck… he asks skinner what happened, and when he doesn’t answer right away he asks “DUE TO WHAT?” again, and skinner has to say she’s dying

(i immediately hit replay to watch him collapsing in on himself and gasping for air again. pain. pain and angst. feels good. like pressing into a bruise)

SKINNER AND MULDER START FIGHTING???? throwing hands. “don’t make me put you under arrest. DON’T” <- this is escalating. very quickly. we haven’t even had the intro yet. holy fuck.

(my skinner and mulder angst heart is deeply satisfied)

oh my god… how he’s watching her through the window……………..

the intro was cut short, but i expected this 

ohhhh no, mulder is here before section chief blevins… he’s in troooOOooOouble!!!

“the fact of you being here alive, it gives the effect of shaping this investigation into something altogether different” <- well yeah. that is very much the case. let's all state the obvious together.

blevins and the squad seem to be surprisingly patient with him as they explain they need to know who the real dead guy found in his apartment was. they say, well, you know, this is going to be a murder charge. so please say something to help yourself out here. and he says idgaf bye <- LEGENDARY!!!

ohhh skinner is following him out… skinner says he has been withholding evidence. he knows mulder shot the guy, killed him, then shot him again to hide his identity!!!! woahhhh!!! this is huge!!!!

skinner tells him to admit why scully lied on his behalf, and he says that her disease was given to her by someone at the FBI. he takes a moment to process that, then asks who, and there is a whole lotta guilt in mulder’s reply: “i failed to find that out, sir” <- NOOOOOOO i’m sad :(

oh mulder, and your intrinsic, ancient guilt.......

“you don’t want to forget who your friends are, agent mulder- to remember who you can trust” <- oh my god oh my gooooood. you KNOW i am a SUCKER for the whole mulder/scully and skinner dynamic, and he knows that skinner made the deal with the devil for him but scully doesn’t know that and she doesn’t trust skinner and oh my goooosh

mulder nods, while skinner watches him leave. i hope he has taken this talk to heart.

section chief blevins is at the racetrack again with CSM?? and he’s watching senator kennedy speak about human cloning. which seems random. how is he even watching that while at the racetrack? they didn't have ipads

CSM points out he said mulder’s not to be underestimated <- haha yeah THAT’S my boy!! 

ohhhh, but blevins knows CSM let him escape…. and CSM isn’t alarmed by this! he’s all smirky, even as blevins says their FBI man has been exposed.

“mulder’s in trouble. he needs help. we can give it to him” “in exchange for?” “his new loyalty. to us” <- WOAHHHH

some dude was behind blevins the whole time and he says “you can proceed now” so is he off to go get mulder???!?!?!

scully is waking up!! OHHHH look at his smile when he sees her…. oh somebody kill me. he loves her SO much

(author's note: tearing up just thinking about this as i make these notes readable. goddddddddd)

she’s so worried that someone is going to see him, but OH MY GOD he grabs her hand, sits on the bed, tells her it’s okay, and kisses her cheek “i’m officially among the undead” <- WAAAAAAAAAH I LOVE HIM

(and while in the moment this only inspired the deepest of affection, i now find myself thinking of a vampire au, and who would be the vampire... but let's get back on track)

she asks what happened, and he says he didn’t come there to talk about that <- YEAH THAT IS WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR!!! you tell her not to worry sweet girl

but she won’t take it, says he doesn’t need to protect her!!! and that is just like her, to die arguing. so he fesses up that he will have to testify everything that he knows 

he does NOT want her to worry oh my god “it doesn’t matter” “yes it does” (gently) “hey scully, how about those yankees?”<- OHHHH MY GOD i cannot stop saying oh my god, but what even is there else to say?

i just. he loves her so much. he wants her to relax and be calm and be okay even when she would never let that happen in a million years. and the fact that she is worried about HIM while she is literally dying… bro. i’m emo.

scully is trying to warn him that skinner is the mole, and he’s touching her face, saying no, it’s not him, and oh, i’m melting. my heart is melting. 

WOAH WHAT??? she is saying to tell the committe he has to testify before that SHE KILLED THAT GUY??? to keep him safe???

he smiles and shakes his head, saying he can’t do that, but she responds with “mulder, if i can save you, let me” oh my god???

“let me give at least some meaning to what’s happened to me” <- OH MY GOD??????? no no no no no no no. 

(the implications here... trying to find meaning... nobility in sacrifice... the religious imagery it inspires....... we need to unpack this at length someday)

OH enter maggie and bill scully, watching as mulder sits on her bed holding her hand, smiling like the dutiful son-in-law he appears to be, which is especially crazy, when you consider the whole “and where has this mulder guy been” thing bill had going on when we last saw him. but mulder says he was just on his way out. 

AND he kisses her hands as he leaves… the tenderness which i feel towards this man is so sensitive and indescribable

and oh my god, mulder introduces himself to bill. he says he’s sorry about his sister… but bill has something else to say- WHAT IS IT??

“mr. mulder… i know something about you, about what dana’s been through with you, so… let’s leave the work away from here, okay? let her die with dignity” <- OH MY GOD????? WHAT THE FUCK???????

bill you literally SUCK what the HELL?? you don’t know ANYTHING about what they have been through!!! 

he looks like he was just slapped :( and bill goes in and holds her hand while mulder is there just standing opened mouthed, unable to believe what he just heard :(

what the fuck.

bill count ur days.

so now the guy from the racetrack that was with blevins seems to be on the loose with a sniper gun!!

ohhhh, mulder is leaving the hospital when he sees CSM!!!! “please tell me you’re here with severe chest pains” <- JHDJSJDJ okay yes i laughed.

OHHHH he says that the water he got in the facility is essential to scully’s survival???? and that he’s here tonight as a friend?? so they go outside to talk about it… but the sniper, isn’t he loose????

cutscene to the lone gunmen’s headquarters, where mulder is emptying the water vial into a little dish, saying CSM promised him something would be in there. and there is some… thing?? a microchip??

OH! he says that maybe it has to do with when the chip was removed from her neck!! because she got very sick shortly after it was removed!!! woah... that is wild to think about. so maybe if it had stayed in there this wouldn't have happened??? but she would have kept getting abducted because they would have known her location? but earlier someone said it was the procedure that takes their eggs that makes them sick. but how does that involve the alien? who knows. probably not chris carter.

kritschgau is here now; he’s been summoned before the committee

he confesses to giving classified information because he knows what the government is hiding from the people!!!! developing a moral compass late in life

but he denies knowing who killed the guy found dead in mulder's apartment, whose name is scott…

“i’m aware of one connected death, though” <- is he going to say scully???

NO!!! his son, who died that morning!!!!! oh no :( i feel bad now 

he says that part of his work comes from a congressional lobbying firm?? called “roush”. blevins and some other guy exchange looks but skinner asks what it means. and kritschgau says idk. well. me neither 

back in scully’s room, mulder is being yelled at by bill as he tries to explain the microchip from the tube might make her better. maggie seems to want bill to settle down, while scully is staring hard at it.

she says that everyone has their heart in the right place, but it needs to be her call… oh, so diplomatic… and she decides to try it

bill looks like he wants to kill mulder, and mulder tries to dodge his eye contact. it was very emotionally charged.... but also a little bit funny 

so now the sniper guy is back. he’s setting up the rifle, but where???? and to shoot which of our characters???

bill comes out of the hospital room and mulder is working overtime to try and avoid his gaze until he realizes it is impossible.

“see, she’s your big defender, but i think the truth is, she just doesn’t want to disappoint you” <- bro WHAT?? how fucking infantilizing can you be??? just because she’s your little sister doesn’t mean she can’t make her own informed decisions about living and dying??

bill, we are GOING to throw hands at some point 

OHHHHHHHH bill blames MULDER for all of this AND for missy’s death……… again…. not very fair…. scully made her own decisions… but if i were bill, i might feel the same if it were my family….

ohhh my god this whole exchange needs to be on my blog:

“has it been worth it? to you, i mean, have you found what you’ve been looking for?”

(mulder pauses, before answering in a whisper) “no”

“you know how that makes me feel?”

“in a way, i think i do. i lost someone very close to me- i lost a sister, i lost my father- all because of this thing i’m looking for”

“this what? little green aliens?”

(mulder looks down, before smiling) “yeah. little green aliens”

“you’re one sorry son of a bitch. not a whole lot more to say”

holy FUCK

1. i love a man who loves so unabashedly and so unapologetically. i love a man with his heart on his sleeve, and i love mulder for this reason, even if he is terribly stubborn and often infuriating. look at him. look how dedicated to the truth he is. look at how much he loves her.

and 2. for their own sake, i hope they elope when they get married, but for the sake of pissing bill off, i hope they get married in a traditional fashion, and he has to sit there and watch and regret everything he said when this inevitably saves her life and they get to grow very old and happy together because of his quest for aliens. and then they say their vows and kiss and bill writhes in the knowledge that he is a mean person. that is all. for now. because i will probably have more to say later.

fuck you bill. all my friends hate bill. 

mulder's phone rings… he answers it, saying “one sorry son of a bitch speaking” and it’s CSM??? asking how’s our patient? well. i guess he can take some credit here for the potential recovery, but “our” feels strong.

he says he’s arranged a meeting he will want to attend??? hmm. hmmmmm. hmmmmm. much to ponder here. mulder do NOT make any deals, CSM is a NASTY FUGLY SLUT!!

so mulder’s sitting in a diner, sipping coffee, when someone pulls into the parking lot??? it’s CSM himself. 

WITH THE CLONE SAMANTHA FROM BEFORE???

“you know 'em or something?” “i think that’s my sister”, he says to the waitress <- WHAT??

obviously though, he realizes it’s the fake samantha, right? like this trick won’t work on him twice... right?

she looks at CSM and says “my father” <- HUH??

nah, i do not believe it’s her at all. she says she was frightened, and she tried to forget everything from that night. she was told she was going to see her father. and CSM said basically that she was an affair baby and he's the bio dad. and he took her in and was so kind.

nah. i’m not buying it at all….

but mulder is crying……….. he’s had a rough go of it though these past few days, okay?!?!?! so don't be mean to him for believing what HAS to be an obvious lie

he tries to explain that CSM is probably lying to her about many, many things, because he has obviously known mulder’s whereabouts for a very long time, and has never told her

he says that she should come see their mom… but she says she can’t do it, she needs time, she has children of their own, and she won’t tell him where to find her. I DON’T BUY IT i’m glad she left before her mom could see her, because she doesn’t deserve that heartbreak AGAIN.

he assures her they will reunite on her time and he lets her go. even though he very much does not want to. which is a lot for his character. how he lets go of the iron grip he had on her arm...

i wonder if he doesn't believe it, deep down.

she says she’ll think about it, and she leaves, getting into the car with CSM. mulder is utterly gagged. 

hmm. HMMM. CSM is trying HARD to get him to pledge to the dark side. but will the same tricks work again???

meanwhile, scully is being injected with something. but she looks so sad as her doctor doesn’t seem hopeful. 

she asks if he’s ever seen a miracle, and he says he’s seen recovery from the brink, but he won’t dare call them that

sniper guy?????? has his rife aimed at CSM??? or mulder??? or both???? because they are standing next to each other

they’re meeting up. “you give me these things- the only things i’ve ever wanted- and i can’t think of any reason for you to do so” <- HE’S LYING ABOUT THE SAMANTHA STUFF, HE HAS TO BE. WE SAW A WHOLE CLONE ARMY OF PEOPLE WITH THAT FACE. IT CANNOT REALLY BE YOUR SAMANTHA, MULDER.

but he says he will offer him the truth, about the project. mulder says he knows the truth. CSM fires back that kritschgau was the one lying!!! 

“in exchange for what?” “quit the FBI, come work for me” <- WOAH he was shockingly forward there. i can kind of admire that. now please say no, mr. mulder. 

AND HE DOES SAY NO!!!!

“what have you given me? a claim of a cure for scully? is she cured?” (oh the way he said that was SO sassy, it felt like a read)

“you show me my sister, only to take her right back” <- again. DID he do that, though?

“you murdered my father. you killed scully’s sister, and if scully dies, i will kill you” TELL HIM BABY!!

“i don’t care whose father you are, i will put you down” OUGHHH GET HIM 

sniper guy puts his gun away when mulder leaves!!! so must be it’s mulder he’s after!!!

cut to scully cam… it’s her mom!! she called to see her and gives her a big hug.

“i fight, and i fight and i fight… but i’ve been so stupid” hey what do you mean. hey sweetheart what do you MEAN by that.

OH she is having a crisis of faith…. she feels guilty for being closed off to father mccue. ohhhh....... is the blaming herself for being too scared to turn to god??

she tells maggie she has no improvement, and they hug and they cry; “i know you’re afraid', maggie says, "i know you’re afraid to tell me, but you have to tell someone”

blevins is watching more press about human cloning. is that why they do these experiments with the women? for cloning purposes? is that what i am supposed to believe from this?

blevins calls someone, and sees skinner in the background of the hearings on cloning… now what is he doing there. blevins says their colleague was supposed to fix the FBI problem, and then he will fix it for good… is he talking about the sniper?????

back to scully’s room, where she is sleeping, and mulder is entering. he’s watching her sleep, then laying his head next to her and SOBBING. WHYYYYY???? OHHHHH....... he couldn't bear to wake her up. someone please hit me with a hammer.

then he is here at a meeting with blevins, who says something urgent has arrived. it’s the analysis that shows he fired the shot into the dead guy!!! from an undisclosed source!!! and unless he offers someone else up, all evidence points to him being the killer!!

is he bluffing??? did skinner sell him out?? no, that cannot be it...

blevins claims that scully was going to name skinner as the mole, and that they have found substantial evidence against him, which mulder refuses to believe. well… he is A mole, but not THE or THIS mole!!!

he’s basically saying name skinner and you walk free????? mulder doesn’t answer, just says he’ll see blevins at the hearing. verrrrry shady

he goes back to scully, who asks why he’s here, he has a hearing!! this has never stopped him in the past. and he confesses to having stopped by last night, but not having the heart to wake her up :( she’s asking why…

he says he was going to take the deal with CSM, but changed his mind after blevins tried to get him to implicate skinner!!!

(skinner being his grounding force to returning to his sense of morality... no no no it's fine i'm definitely super cool about that)

scully offers again to take the blame, but he refuses, saying he couldn’t do that to her family or live that lie (the truth motif)

“we all have our faith… and mine is in the truth” <- YESSSSS the comparison to religion in his dedication… everyone has been saying and observing it for the past 4 seasons, but now HE has!!! 

“then why’d you come here if you’d already made up your mind?” (laughing) “because i knew you’d talk me out of it if i was making a mistake” <- OHHHH to be known is to be loved…. <3

and father mccue walks in right then!! she says “you’ll be in my prayers” and he kisses her cheek, saying “have the father say a few hail mulders for me, okay?” <- LMAOOO AWWWWW BABY

she’s crying as father mccue walks in and mulder walks out…

and her honesty in telling him that she will pray for him, after running from her own belief for so long; it was as if she thought praying would be a declaration of weakness, and maybe it is, to submit yourself to something higher, to ask for a mercy you cannot earn... but she is going to, and not only for herself on the brink of death, but for her best friend who is going through his own turmoil..... oh scully........

now for the hearing. he's late! fashionably so!

they’re setting the stage- we know that man was killed with your weapon- and mulder says he wants to set the record straight.

skinner asks for a break??? but mulder says he’s ready to proceed….. oooo what are they each getting at…. skinner looks stressed af

he says he was assigned to work with scully, who he thinks was to spy on him…

“that agent scully did not follow these orders is a testament to her integrity as an investigator, a scientist, and a human being” <- YESSS 🔥that is my girl who is motivated by the eternal burden of doing the Morally Correct Thing :,)

he’s explaining that she lied about his death because he asked her to, because she was a victim of the grand conspiracy that is killing her (this is cut with footage of the sniper looking at CSM through the scope of his rifle, and scully praying with father mccue)

he’s saying he will name the people responsible for this tonight!!! but they just want to know if he shot scott!!!! it's getting more and more tense and loud, before we boil over to a yell:

“i can’t do that sir, because the section chief is the man i’m about to name!” (murmuring) <- OHHHHHHHHHH HE DROPPED A BOMBSHELL ON THE VILLA

(we enter slo mo) (sniper fires at CSM) (blevins is shot by some other guy, who puts the pistol in his dead hand) (CSM lays on the floor, bloody, holding the picture of baby mulder and samantha)

DID CSM JUST DIE????? i refuse to believe it. that bitch can’t be killed……. nope nope no way. unless i see his corpse (NOT his headstone or his funeral, his actual CORPSE) i shan’t buy it.

so much just happened????

the next morning, skinner is with mulder at the hospital. who, as if just hearing me, tells mulder that CSM is dead, shot holding the photo of him and samantha

NO BODY WAS FOUND??? but it was too much blood loss for anyone to have survived. so someone took the body?? OR someone brought extra blood to dump on the ground and fake a death!!! makes you think!!

mulder claims he just guessed it was blevins behind it all- do i believe it? or do you think it was his years of solving crimes that allowed him to pick up on it subconsciously? i'm going with that interpretation

and blevins had been on roush’s payroll for four years!!! a biotechnology company!!! for cloning??? for aliens?? and of course all connections are now being erased.

BUT NOT EVERYTHING…. SCULLY’S IN REMISSION!!! skinner is shocked and mulder says it’s the best news he’s ever heard 😭🥺 my BABY

when skinner asks what turned it around, he says he doesn’t know, and they’ll never know…

oh my god, i love that their beliefs combined to cure her… his obsession with the Truth and her literal coming to God, and which of them was actually responsible is entirely impossible to tell. oh i actually LOVE THAT SO FUCKING MUCH. RAHHHHHH THAT IS SO POETIC. their guiding forces in life, and we have no way of knowing which is responsible for her life being saved. but it happened.

and skinner wants to see her!!!! leaving mulder to hold the bloody photograph of his baby self… and he’s crying… it’s been a very long few days for him 

oh my god… i need some time to think on this all….

so, 2 days have passed since i watched this episode, and i still have SO many emotions. in no particular order, some things i am dwelling on: bill's cruelty to mulder; mulder smiling as he held scully's hand, trying to distract her; him unable to hold himself up as he sees her in the hospital room; skinner telling mulder to know who his friends are; skinner trying to pause the meeting before it even began so he could offer some sort of advice to mulder; scully crying into her mom's arms, surrendering to god; scully, who knows that mulder is not a believer, and has ridiculed her for being so in the past, telling him that she will pray for him; scully worrying about him when she is the one who is dying; scully reclaiming her agency when she decides that she wants to use the microchip; mulder saying that her remission is the best news he could ever have possibly heard; and skinner going in to see her while she was still surrounded by her family

WAAHHHHHHHHHH

so. a lot on my mind. a very, very, very good episode. i thought the blevins reveal kinda came out of nowhere since he has mostly been a set piece rather than a real character, but honestly, that wasn't the heart of the matter here, so we can disregard it.

i'm not sure how i feel about the potential samantha reintroduction. actually, i do know how i feel: i just didn't much care for it. frankly, i just don't buy it at all, and it felt like a lot to cram into one episode, especially since they've used the whole "is it really her?" plot point before. so it felt like a bit much on top of the already incredibly high emotional stakes.

but other than these thoughts, the episode was fantastic. finally, we get something happy! the potential end of scully's illness! mulder and skinner basking in her presence as she recovers!! her surrender to the omnipotent! his surrender to the truth, but not at the extent of his morals!!! everyone is so happy and the wedding is tomorrow!! i will see you there!!!

(what did you think?? did you like this one as much as i did?? did any moments make you tear up?? anything you noticed that i missed? please tell me!!! i'm really excited and want to chat on the subject :D)

[qoldenskies]

Just read your canary continuity and holy shit was I not prepared. I actually had to step away and calm myself down from the brink of having a panic attack MULTIPLE times while reading it (that's not necessarily a bad thing, btw, it's just that hyperempathy towards a character that I admire got hands).

It's just....the slow escalation. The way you legitimately can't tell that something's wrong at first because yeah, sometimes brothers are kind of dickish to each other, it happens, no biggie, and then it starts getting into "wait, why are they being a bunch of ableist fucks all of a sudden", and then it gets into true psychological horror territory. The way the curse takes any frustration that they might have had about Donnie's behavior- maybe not even directed at him, but maybe frustration about "god, I wish I could make things easier for my autistic brother, it sucks that he has to go through this"- and twisting it entirely on its head to make them mad at HIM for showing those traits. The way it takes their existing personality traits and twists them into something more dark and sinister- like yes, this is making me realize Leo could genuinely be a terrifying villain if he had less of a strict moral code, because he gets people. He knows what makes them tick, and he knows how to potentially wear people down until they finally snap if he ever wanted to, and seeing the curse take that part of him and use it.....it was chilling, to say the least.

Not to mention that a part of them is never really going to be fully recovered from this. The trust that Donnie has had broken is probably going to take years to build back up, and they're probably going to feel like they have to walk on eggshells around him for a long ass time. Especially Leo, god. To know that you did that to your twin, the person who's supposed to be like another extension of you, to know that you broke their trust in you and their love so thoroughly that you might never get that bond back.....no wonder he's so desperate to try and fix things, and behaving irrationally because of it.

This is super long, but I just want to say that this is an amazing fic that you've written, and....if it's not too much to ask, can you give reassurance that things will at least go back to some semblance of normalcy at the end of all this? Like, they won't be permanently broken and their relationships will heal as much as they possibly can? I can tolerate as much hurt as you please as long as it has a happy ending [pleading emoji] (Also I have a theory that Donnie is suffering from nosebleeds either because of the massive amount of head trauma that he probably got in that last fight OR because severing his ninpo or w/e is doing fucky wucky things to his immune system and I am AFRAID)

!!!! I LOVEEEEE LONG ASKS HELLOOOOOOOOOO yeasss

i can guarantee a happy ending, yes!!! i do plan on writing an epilogue oneshot that takes place ten months after CW ends (and CW will end on a happier, hopeful note!), which will show the kind of normalcy they settled into after everything settles down!! they'll get there, its just going to be a . MESS first lmfao

and ohhh yeah writing leo has also helped me discovered how terrible he has the potential to be,,, even recovering and guilty he weaponizes these skills against them (when he lashes out at raph in ch5 and calls back to the family meeting is a very good example), its a side of leo i really like exploring!! he's so tactical in his manipulation and in canon that's usually used in harmless, funny ways, but it takes a NASTY twist here as the curse takes advantage of it. and its especially painful using it on donnie, who is the least perceptive and the most likely to fall for it :( he kind of slayed in caged lungs though he was so delightfully awful

anywhizzles EATING THIS ASK IN MY MOUTH IT IS ALL HIGH PRAISE!!! hope youre doing well!! <3333

[goldenboywrites]

Quin walked with Cesare at his side, his mind racing from everything that had happened. He was downright terrified for his uncle to find out about the engagement. There was no doubt in his mind that his uncle hadn’t figured out Cesare stole Quintus back from him. There was now just as much of a target on Cesare’s as on Quin’s. In truth, he didn’t know what his uncle’s next move would be, but he had a feeling lingering in the pit of his stomach that it would be war. Since he could not retrieve Max and Quin, he’d take Adros by force to get them back. 

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t realize Cesare was moving forward until Quintus was already wrapped up in his arms. He leaned his weight onto the prince, tucking his head beneath Cesare’s chin, his arms looping around his waist. “I need…” Quin started, then paused. He knew what he needed. He needed to know what happened on the border, specifically between Cesare and Beau. While he firmly believed that Cesare would never sleep with someone else, Beau was an actor. He was precise in his ability to impersonate Quintus. And he knew he could have asked Cesare outright for the story and get mostly a truthful answer in return. “I want to clean myself up, change out of these clothes, and then I need to see Max.” He pulled back, looking up at Cesare. “While I do that, you should go down to the kitchens and get us food, bring it up to your quarters, and I’ll meet you there when I’m done.” Quin leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Cesare’s chin. He could feel the prince’s protest in his bones. It was torture for Quintus to ask for time apart, even if it was for a couple of hours after reuniting. “I need this,” He said, squeezing Cesare’s waist. “Okay?” 

Quintus pressed himself against Cesare’s body again before pulling away, his hand sliding down to grip Cesare’s. “Go collect us a feast,” He said, walking backward until their connected hands were stretched out, still connecting them. Then he let out and turned around to head back to his quarters. 

Entering his rooms, Quintus sighed to see Beau sprawled out on his bed, flipping through one of his journals. “Riveting diary,” He said, closing the book with a snap. “I don’t appreciate being left out of club meetings when I’ve done so much to get you here.” 

Quin laughed, the sound echoing through the room. He stopped at the end of his bed to grab his journal from Beau’s hands. “You’ll be present when I want you to be present.”

“Then what am I doing here?” Beau sat up, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I want to know what happened at the border,” Quin said, sitting on the chest at the bottom of his bed. “Specifically, what happened between you and Cesare.” 

“Ohhh,” Beau purred, crawling towards Quin. “I see.” He sat next to the prince, his back pressed up against the bedpost. “Someone is riddled with jealousy. Did my beloved prince sleep with another man?” Beau pressed a hand to his chest, pretending to be faint. “I have to say, Quintus, you’re fortunate. He is such a giving lover. And, honestly, feeling the weight of his body press you down into the bed…” Beau closed his eyes, inhaling slowly. “I’ve never experienced such a feeling of security and protection.” 

“He wouldn’t have been fooled. He would know it wasn’t me at some point and would have stopped.” Quin felt like he was going to be sick. Everything Beau said was the same thoughts Quintus had after sleeping with Cesare. “He knows me.”

Beau lazily opened his eyes, raising a brow at the prince. “Of course, he realized after a while. We may look the same and may have been trained to fuck by the same man, but I am far more experienced in this act than you are. Cesare is too good of a man to point out your inexperience, but we both know you lack skills in bed. Richard always mentioned how frigid you were in the sheets. Cesare noticed the same thing. Unfortunately, that is not something I can do in bed. Or maybe he just fucked me, so I would help him get you out; who knows.” 

“I don’t believe you.” But he did. Quin felt like he had been doused in cold water, his inner insecurities exposed to the room. He was open and bleeding from every word Beau had thrown at him. Every nerve in his body felt raw and exposed. “He is an honor-”

“He’s a man, a future King,” Beau said, snorting at Quin’s words. “He’s had lovers before; you know that just as I do. Fucking you was probably like fucking a virgin. You can’t blame him for seeking out someone who has experience. What did he tell you about that night?” Beau looked at Quin before his mouth curled into a villainous smirk. “Ah, I see. You haven’t. Interesting. Does that mean you’re staying in here tonight? Because you should know, I’m a cuddler…” 

________________________________

The prince was either out of his mind or had completely lost it. The verdict was still up in the air. 

Getting into Prince Cesare’s quarters was easy. Quintus had lived in the castle prior and had snuck into the prince’s quarters because they let him walk right in even though Cesare was not back yet. 

So he had some time to kill. He made himself comfortable in the room, lounging on the prince’s bed, limbs sprawled as if he owned the space. He had always been good with that, walking around with confidence and being able to claim space for himself. Growing up like he had, they would eat you alive if you didn’t. It also helped that he was a quick study, much like his counterpart. The more time he spent around him, the more he learned they were alike. Even if it pained him to admit it, there was no denying that. 

It was another twenty minutes until the door opened, and Cesare walked in, his face lighting up until his gaze spied the clothes he was wearing. A brief look of suspicion crossed his face. “Prince Cesare,” He purred, drawing out the prince’s name. “I’ve been waiting for you. I thought we could discuss the deal we made back at the border. My feelings are hurt, but if you make it better, maybe I’d be willing to finish what we started back in my quarters.” He ran a hand down his chest, fingers toying with the fabric. “Hmm?”

The king just smiled and waved the boys to sit back. "I'm going to make sure he hears of it." He countered Quin's last bit to Cesare and found himself relaxing back into his own chair. "My page is going to deliver the news to every neighboring kingdom of the engagement and your brother and I will discuss a dowry and things of that nature." Cesare tried not to blush at that but still couldn't pull his gaze away from Quin. It was all he could have asked for, the two of them. "You two can decide when but I want everyone to know." He looked warmly at his son and found himself sighing just so softly. "You deserve that. The both of you do." His gaze drifted to Quin and he offered him a small smile.

He gave it all of ten more seconds before he turned to Max and insisted the two of them discuss matters more. He, afterall, was King of their greatest alley. Or would be soon. Cesare peered over at Max and nodded towards the door, his shoulders lifting slightly. And though he looked rather put out, he nodded and gave them the room to leave. His father looked as if he were itching to discuss everything regarding the safety of their countries and now all of them. "I owe you." He spoke softly and then smiled at his father. "You owe me too." He chimed in and shooed the two of them off for the final time.

Cesare wasted no time in whisking Quin out of that room. He needed to just be alone with him. There had been so much to tell him and ask. There had been too much time and too much stuff that had happened. Mostly, Cesare just wanted to make sure that he was okay. As okay as he could be given the circumstances. Gods he hadn't even had a chance to ask him about that. Actually, he probably wouldn't. He was near absolutely positive that he would not tell him what happened. Not everything if anything at all. But he'd have to worry about that on his own. He just really wanted to finally have some time with the man he so desperately clung to at that moment.

They'd only walked just down the hall but already it felt miles off. He sighed and fell into step with Quin then, their hands between the pair of them and Cesare squeezing his hand tightly. "I thought we'd never get out of there." He teased, a little laugh escaping as he said so. But it didn't feel right to be laughing. Given everything he thought it best to not make an ass of himself. "I'm really glad you're safe." He told him in earnest. Because at the end of all of this, that is what had mattered the most. His fingers gave a squeeze and he moved to pull Quin to a stop and wrap his arms around him. Cesare needed to feel the weight of his body against his for just a moment. He knew it was probably pushing it but he just couldn't help himself.

After a moment or two he'd pressed his nose into the other's hair and took a deep inhale. He didn't smell like he normally did but there would be time to right that. His breath was warm on Quin's cheek as he pulled back and looked at him finally. "Are you hungry? Would you like to lie down maybe?" There were a million things to get done for him and to him. Mostly he just wanted to ensure his safety and comfort above all else. "Tell me what to do for you Quintus and it'll be done." He gazed into his eyes, finding it so hard to keep the smile from his face. He was home.

[allgremlinart]

the post-canon jetko dynamic I'm crafting is like. ok so these two men who both feel things WAY too much can function well when separated [either through distraction/hierarchy of priority/conscious refusal to acknowledge certain feelings about certain people (at least on Jet's end, Zuko isn't emotionally savvy enough to CONSCIOUSLY repress his emotions)] but when you put them in a room together its like splitting the atom. like you have a certain amount of time before they cant ignore each other any longer.

THAT or they just slot back together like nothing has happened or no time has elapsed at all. maybe they make a creepily professional and efficient duo. maybe the smooth working-together (a la "we made a good team" Ferry dynamic) is like. the Prelude to the eruption. What I'm saying is they both have the POTENTIAL to be incredibly possessive people but would also never admit to it so instead they'd just have to have crazy reunion sex all the time.

[autumnoakes]

this isn't a criticism but i think totk would have made an incredible horror game (or at least would have been really good if nintendo had leaned more into the horror elements already there)

like. you have link with gloom in his body for the entire game. there's that right there that could make for a terrifying situation for him with ganondorf's abilities. there's the fact that both ganondorf AND the yiga clan can now impersonate zelda (and other various NPCs). you don't know who you can trust anymore because they may be a familiar face, but are they really who they say they are, or are they just trying to get close to link so they can kill him? the gorons are angrier than they've ever been because of that marbled rock roast. rito village is in the middle of a destructive snowstorm that never seems to end (snowscapes work well for horror :)). zora's domain is being covered in muck that the zoras can't breathe in. gerudo town is pretty much destroyed and even in game it's horrifying to see the town overrun with gibdos. i think they're really close to it in sections (goron city, gerudo town, hyrule castle, the depths).

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

the fucking things this discord exchange does to me

[dustteller]

I think modern au Zhu SHOULD be the lesbian best friend trope to Ouyang except that its because this man is her pet project and gODDDAMIT she's gonna FIX him she's gonna MAKE him be BETTER she's going to SOLVE EVERYTHING and he will RESPECT HER (she is actively making him worse). She has a whole complex about it and everything. She has based a part of her identity on dragging this man up from his toxic funk and is fully convinced that if she tries hard enough he will eventually come to his senses and be an equal participant in this relationship. They have a terrible wonderful toxic loving codependent relationship that's neither a romance nor a friendship nor a rivalry but a secret fourth thing.

Predictably, this does not go well. The character arcs would be Zhu learning she can't fix a sinking ship and letting Ouyang fail by himself, and Ouyang learning to not be a shit person, actually, and coming out of his bubble of self-centeredness and working on himself instead of unloading his emotional labor onto the people around him. And they should both get to develop a healthier relationship with each other than what they had in canon bc queer solidarity is great and its even better when it's in the shape of some weird bullshit some gay people built out of the corpse parts of heteronormative romance (affectionate and completely unironic)

[luck-of-the-drawings]

THIS IS HUMANITIES 11TH HOUR I THINK KIAN WAS RIGHT. THERE WAS SO MUCH HE COULD HAVE DONE BETTER BUT HE DID IT FOR GREAT REASON. THEIR RELATIONSHIP MAKES ME SO EMOTIONAL. EVEN THE ECHO OF SOMEONE IS IN LOVE WITH YOU, AND THE ECHO OF YOU LOVES THEM TOO. they COPIED A HUMAN DOWN TO THEIR BASIC CIRCUTRY AS A SURVIVAL INSTINCT AND THE VERY WIRES STILL LOVE YOU. ITS THE ATMOSPHERE. ITS THE DISCORDANT AND SAD YET YEARNING CORDS IN THE AIR AS THE SKY REDDENS. ITS A WISH FOR SOMETHING MORE, PRESSING AGAINST INEVITABLE GLASS, CLEARLY NO HOPE OF CONTINUING OR BLOSSOMING. A PAINTING OF A MEMORY THEY WANT TO BE MAKING WITH NO CONCLUSION.

[bidokja]

TO THE ONE OTHER PERSON LIKING ALL MY UNCANNY CHARM POSTS I SEE YOU AND I AM SHAKING YOUR HAND