#anway give me suggestions

[yandere-wishes]

I want to write something so feral and gory. Like both yandere and reader are out hear committing atrocities that make you question if they're human or some wild were-creature that crawled out of an eldritch sealed crypt

[batobbsession]

i promise i do like Tim guys :(

This is probably my most unpopular opinion as a Tim stan who spends a lot of time in the parts of the fandom that constantly talk about Tim, but this fandom has a habit of making Tim "better" than he actually is and it hurts his character in the end. Anways, i'm going to make a list.

There are so many characters that we never get to see because of him. We only get to see Jack and Janet Drake as abusive because the fandom decided that they were bad parents. We only get to see Ra's al Ghul when he's obsessed with Tim. Damian rarely gets proper fanfics about his early days as Robin or Dick's time as Batman because all those fanfics are about Tim.

The way a lot of this fandom treats him gives of special snowflake vibes and I admit I do read those fics but I feel like a lot of people write him that way because that's the only characterization of Tim they know. It's honestly unrealistic that he managed to stalk highly trained bats as a young child and take photos. I joke about it too, but he canonically has the strongest morals out of all the batboys and canon makes a big deal about the fact that he didn't kill anyone while blowing up buildings. I like these tropes, I read them and all that but they kind of take me out when they're in serious fanfics.

Probably the most unpopular one but I think fanon is doing Tim a disservice by not holding him accountable for anything and villainizing other characters for him. Like people refusing to acknowledge that Tim was very rude to Damian when they first met. The whole mess with him become Red Robin was a good example of that. Canon was a mess too but basically went like this: Tim insists Bruce is alive for no real reason, Damian becomes Robin for a multitude of reasons I won't talk about now, Dick suggests Tim gets a therapist, Tim gets mad and leaves despite efforts otherwise, Dick later finds actual evidence and the all make up. If Tim had stayed in Gotham nothing would have changed because honestly it probably would have been easier for him to find most of the evidence. This is probably the one trope I won't read because it seems insane to act like Dick was crazy for not believing him and he was ostracized from the family despite the fact that he pretty much choose this way. If Tim wanted to stay with the family so much maybe he should have done that while Dick was asking him too and offering him help?

Anyways you guys can ignore this if you want to and if you have a counter point your welcoming to say it

[zoi3e]

BEST INTREST

"if it's you and other, it's no need to worry, cause I can sleep between you."

dazai osamu x reader

warnings: agnst, hurt no comfort, song fic, unrequited love, dazai feeling guilty, implied female reader but no pronouns, reader is engaged someone un-named, suggestive implications, suicide implied (only at the end), reader is only with un-named person due to a forced marrige, death.

everything was great. it was only june in yokohama, yet it was so hot. especially more in this alley. well it'd probably be less hot with dazai's hands and mouth being all over you. he was always so clingy. but today he seemed more...well, off. he still was all over you whenever he could find a opening to pull you into some dingy alleyway. yet he seemed to drift off into his mind more often. he was so close yet so distant.

"darling, darling, darling, there's no need to worry! it's just a couple things in my brain, you know?"

originally, when one of your colleagues confessed to you, you had no answer. you were engaged at supposed to get married that summer to some rich business man who was from tokyo. not messing around with your senior colleague at a random job you got as a intern at a agency. in fact, he knew you were engaged with the ring on your finger. yet somehow you accepted. no one knew. but you were fine with that. he could sleep in between you and him. you didn't mind.

"if it's you and other, it's no need to worry, cause I can sleep between you."

"you know it won't work out. your just going to make things worse, they'll stay waiting for something that will never be between you unless you end it." is what ranpo told him. it itched at him all day. anytime he'd pull your hand into that alleyway and try to make himself feel better and distract himself by planting small kisses all over your neck and face. it just didn't work.

"i'm a third wheeler. i'm a side better. i'm a homewrecker. give it up."

he loved you. truly he did. but he was just a leech on your side. your smart, and yet somehow to him he's manipulated you self-consciously to make you feel as if this can stay. this can be. he wanted this so damn bad. but he knew some random detective who barely makes enough to get by himself would never be good enough for you.

"i can play the side (-) role easy, but not for too long. i'm the side (-) i gotta sneak around and hide with you. i wanna see you, give me five minutes. paparazzi probably like five pictures."

"but i just want you!" "i know, but we can't keep doing this. i can't just ruin your whole future you've built darli-" "just get out osamu!"

"don't want to fuck what you've got up. i would never blow your spot up. i know my place, i'm the landlord. i'll carry the weight till my hands sore. i can't keep doing this."

it was the day before the wedding. you couldn't take it anymore. you couldn't have dazai, but you just wanted to have freedom. even if you had to die to obtain it. you stared at the contact name on your phone screen. "osmau♡" you tapped the call button.

"dazai-kun. i think i want to take you up on that offer." .... "yes. 10? at the main docks?"

beep. beep. the sound of hospital machines beeped in dazai's ears. he opened his eyes, only to find yosano.

"...(name)..." he gasped out. his throat burns from how much salt water he took in when they jumped in hand in hand. she shook her head no. my heart hurts.

"i'll keep your best interest."

i kinda just used yōzō's story with him dying and his lover surviving for this lol.

the song is BEST INTEREST by Tyler, the Creator. I really like his music. anyways if you couldn't tell reader and dazai died together. yippee!

anways. have a good day, drink some water and don't do anything written in this fic. xoxo

[greychaosdump]

Forever with You | Gilbert von Obsidian — Sweet Ending

This one took me a while to finish. I usually would have paid for diamonds to buy Love Points instead of doing the saloon, but I no longer have a job, so I couldn't do that. Anways, let's go!!!!

The reason Gilbert "vanished" for a day was because he was feeling sick, and when he's sick, he hid away. I think his process of thinking was that if he is sick, someone would attempt to assassinate him as it would be easier to kill a sick man than a healthy one.

Emma says that this is one instance in which she feels that Gilbert doesn't trust her, and thus, feels that they can't marry yet.

Here's Gilbert agreeing because Emma was right, as always.

I forgot what happened here to lead to this inner monologue of Emma's, but she reckons that Gilbert's trauma is something that prohibits him from trusting her 100%. It's very valid, trauma does give people trust issues.

Gilbert's lowkey sad that the dress he designed wasn't going to be put into good use, so he suggested that they should do an engagement ceremony instead. I, too, am sad that the beautiful black dress wasn't going to be used, thank goodness for his wit.

Emma wants to surprise Gilbert!

The ring! I wish they included photos of the ring, would be nice to see them.

Emma got him a necktie with a black rose on it, I think they were a rose. Anyways, not only does the necktie symbolise being bound to someone forever, the rose or flower in Obsidian shares the sentiment, so it's really more than just a simple necktie to them. Also, I think Emma embroidered the rose.

[papakhan]

do you think benny would’ve just left the courier unburied if he didn’t have the khans with him? that post, especially the ending, really made me think about how much mindless killing you do and kind of can’t get away from along with how dehumanized (i think is what i’m looking for) a lot of the people are. like their only purpose is to be something to shoot at and get stuff from without a second thought about them at all. hopefully this makes sense and doesn’t sound like a big ol mess.

personally I think that Benny would have still wanted the Courier to be buried, but if it was any other gang of mercs it may not have happened. See I think Benny and the Khans may have clashed a lot in their principles but they overlap in a desire to give the Courier a proper burial.

While Benny probably thinks he's being purely respectful, I'm not sure if it's entirely genuine. See, in All Roads he didn't want Chance to be buried and got mad at the Khans for insisting on it. I think part of Benny's reasoning is to do with hiding the evidence. As suggested in this post, most people aren't gonna go digging up a graveyard to look for some missing courier. Then again, we know that Benny looks down on Chance for being an addict so maybe he thinks he's undeserving of a proper burial while the Courier is just a "wrong place wrong time" situation, idk.

It's worth pointing out that this clash in principles is something Benny jabs at the Khans about. His "Maybe Khans kill people without looking them in the face" is him directly saying "look how much I respect the people I kill, unlike you guys who probably shoot them in the back". I think he's projecting, or at least trying to convince himself and everyone else present that this is the correct way to do things (when it's still fucked up)

Anway, your second point:

I agree totally. Obviously a lot of it is because Fallout New Vegas is a video game where you kill people but I think it clashes a lot with the message of the game itself, but it's just part and parcel with the games going from isometric strat games to an FPS. As you said, a lot of characters and factions get dehumanised and reduced to just guys to shoot. But I do think that more people in Fallout should be like normal people who object to idk... straight-up murdering "Freeside thugs" yknow?

Having two characters who Do morally object to killing people does give me a lot to think about, especially with the way that Sun and Luke both have opposing reasonings behind their dislike of killing. Luke being a Follower who genuinely believes everyone is worthy of life while Sun is a Khan who thinks that the finality of death is not his to deliver. I wish more people explored it because it is genuinely interesting and fun and also more interesting to consider in this wide wide game of "guys who want you dead" they would be okay with putting in the ground

[duhragonball]

Chainsaw Man ch. 48-52

Gosh, I wish that was me.

Last time, Chainsaw Man got suckered in by a cute girl named Reze, who turned out to be some sort of assassin with explosion powers. Now they're fighting it out, but Denji's usual strategy of "hit them with chainsaws" is kind of ineffective against someone who can repeatedly self-destruct and regenerate.

Parts of Reze's transformed body look like a mass of cables, maybe primacord. One of her fingers gets cut off and it's still stuck on Denji's chainsaw after their next exchange, and she uses it like a bomb. I'm not clear on how her powers work exactly, but she seems to be able to remove any part of her body and use it like a bomb, or just blow it up while it's still attached. Also, she seemed to have a duplicate body she used as a decoy, so good luck explaining that one.

The point here is that the explosions are just the beginning. Reze knows how to use her abilities in a very tactical way. One might assume that she tried to seduce Denji because she was too weak to challenge him directly, but we see here that this was never the case. She just wanted to try a subtle approach, but that was never the only option.

But fighting Denji in the open means you also have to deal with his comrades in Public Safety. Aki lops off one of her hands just when it seems like she's beaten Denji, and then she has to fight him for a while. Recall that Aki has a new power courtesy of Future Devil, which gives him a slight insight into the future. This allows him to anticipate his opponent's actions, although he doesn't mean he'll necessarily be quick enough to do anything about it. Still, it's enough to keep him alive while he duels with Reze, at least until...

Violence Fiend shows up to pull him out of harm's way. Violence Fiend tried to fight Reze earlier, but he got overwhelmed and ran away. I'm seeing this a lot with the Public Safety guys. They'll sometimes just turn tail and run, then come back when you least expect it and actually do something useful. Is that cowardly? I guess it depends on how you look at it, but if Violence had stood his ground earlier, he proabably would have gotten killed, and Aki would have died later on with no one to rescue him. These guys pick their spots. They're hunters, not warriors, so it's kind of ridiculous to expect them to stand and fight their prey when they're at a disadvantage.

Anyway, the key thing here is that Aki says this is the first time he ever wanted to be friends with a devil. So at long last, he's beginning to come around to the things Himeno wanted him to understand. Aki's grief, his craving for vengeance, and his absolute disdain for devils was working against his ability to fight and survive in this line of work. Now, as the story picks up steam and the battles become more desperate, he's learning to be more flexible about his attitudes.

Violence might have been enough to turn the tide here, except Reze has her own backup in the form of Typhoon Devil, who was also after Denji but they seemed to be working independently of each other. They crossed paths back in Chapter 43, and it was all awkward becuase they got in each other's way, and Reze told Typhoon to obey her for a while to make it up to her. So now she's calling him in.

I... feel like I should have more to say about Typhoon Devil being a pile of viscera with baby legs and a baby head with an exposed brain sticking out of its broken cranium, but... I kind of don't care? I don't know if I'm just desensitized at this point, or maybe the design really isn't that big a deal, but I feel like it should be.

Anway, Denji recovers once Beam and Angel feed him more blood. Notably, Angel Devil uses blood from a fatally wounded civilian, and he mercy-kills the lady before taking her corpse to Denji. That's important because Aki asked him to do something similar earlier in this arc, and Angel refused, more out of apathy than defiance.

Angel suggests that Chainsaw needs to step up his game, and asks Beam to tell them everything he knows about Chainsaw, since he seems to know him better than he lets on. Beam mentions that he used to use his chains to get around. I'm not sure what this is referring to, because it's like he's talking about the Chainsaw Devil before Denji got this power, and... well, that's just Pochita, right?

I think the implication here is that Pochita used to be a much more fearsome creature before he met Denji, and Beam might be the only one who remembers this. Anyway, I think it's pretty clear that he was talking about Denji swinging around and using his chains like Spider-Man webbing, but Denji's an idiot so he puts the chain in Beam's mouth and rides him through the air like a horse.

But it does look pretty awesome, so maybe he's got the right idea, I dunno. Denji doesn't tell me how to do my job, so I shouldn't tell him how to do his.

During all of this, Typhoon Devil produces a storm, and Angel Devil is nearly carried away by the high winds. Aki catches him, but can barely hold on, and Angel's like "Just let me go, I sort of want to die anyway, it's cool."

But Aki refuses to give up, so he grabs Angel by the hand, which is a really bad idea, because Angel's touch will automatically drain a human's life span. That brief contact alone took two months off the time Aki has left, but it was the only way to save Angel. Angel asks him why, and Aki tells him that he's seen too many people die already, and if Angel really does have a death wish, then he should make sure to die while Aki's not around to stop it.

Okay! Right there, Aki finally started to turn this around. He's actually having a character moment with Angel, and growing as a person. He's matured, but more importantly, he's rubbed off on Angel a little. Angel's actually cooperating without Aki around to force him to, and Angel actually seems to care about other people around him. That's because of Aki.

And this is a good thing. I'm still not very high on Aki right now, but at least he's finally reached a threshold where he feels like more than just a bystander. His personality is still "I don't want people to die" and "I want revenge on the bad guy", which is pretty flat, but at least he's having an impact on the plot now.

Back to Chainsaw Man, the reason this storm kicked up is because Typhoon's trying to defend himself (and Reze) from Denji. Earlier, Denji managed to cut off one of Reze's legs, and Typhoon spit some of his blood at her to help her recover, but now Typhoon's on his own while he waits for her to heal. The thing is, Typhoon's so big, and Beam is so agile in the air that Denji can hit him with ease.

So Typhoon goes down, and then Reze divekicks Beam to take him out of the fight, so we're back to Reze vs. Denji. Only this time, Denji's figured something out. When she blows up one of his arms...

... he shoots out chains from his stumps, and attacks her that way.

He tangles her up and wraps them both together, then falls off whatever they're standing on and they fall into the ocean. Apparently Reze can't detonate underwater, although I'm not sure how Denji would know that.

And then, Reze wakes up on the beach. Since Beam is there too, I guess he pulled them both up to the surface. Reze is surprised that Denji didn't kill her, but he explains that he would have regretted it, so he spared her.

He thinks there's still something between them, even though she keeps insisting that she was faking it the whole time. But if she was so determined to kill him, why didn't she finish him off at the school when she had the chance?

Denji still can't quite believe there was nothing between them, so she briefly feigns affection again, then breaks his neck to incapacitate him. Denji can recover from this, but he can't move until he does. Anyway, he tells Reze he'll see her at the cafe today at noon.

Except she doesn't show up. I'm not sure why he thought she would. I guess it's just wishful thinking? Someone does arrive, though...

And it's Power, returning to duty after her blood-draining procedure. She's back, and she tracked Denji down by his scent. When she sees the flowers, she tries to take them for herself. It's not clear that she plans to eat the flowers, but that's what Denji does, so I just assumed she had the same idea.

So what did happen to Reze? Well, she tries to flee to... somewhere? Maybe she's headed back to that cafe to try to take one more crack at Denji? All that matters is that a bunch of rats follow her into an alley and they form a big rat pile which becomes...

Makima? So she has rat power? Whatever.

I should explain this thing she says about the country mouse. You know the Aesop's Fable about the town and country mice, and each of them envies the other's lifestyle until they try to live there and find out it's not so great. In this arc, Reze brings it up to Denji, and Angel talks about it in a separate scene. It... kind of went over my head, but the characters seem to agree that being a Town Mouse is like being in the Public Safety scene, and being a Country Mouse is like living a more tranquil, normal life as a civilian. Denji is team Town because he likes the excitement, while Angel is Team Country because he hates working for Public Safety. Reze said she was Team Country, but I think that was just to convince Denji to run away with her so she could murder him.

Anyway, Makima apparently heard their conversation, as indicated by her line that she agrees with Reze about Country Mice. But Makima likes it because she has a friend on a farm, and every fall she goes down to help him exterminate all the mice in the field before winter sets in. This involves digging holes to get them out of their burrows so the dogs can chase them down. Makima finds this "calming".

The point I think she's making is that the country life isn't all that different from the work she does in Public Safety, sending her "dogs" to find and kill "mice" like Reze.

Reze tries to fight Makima, but she didn't count on Angel Devil throwing spears down at her from the roof. I guess Reze might be kept alive after this, but this whole scene reads like an execution. Reze took her shot and missed, and now Makima is eliminating her before she can try again. That's a shame, because I really enjoyed Reze's whole run here, and I'd be down for more of the same.

Anway, Makima originally ordered Angel and Aki to be here together, but Angel came alone, and Makima realizes that Angel didn't want Aki to be involved with killing a girl like this. Makima praises Angel's kindness, and yeah, some genuine character development here thanks to Aki. Nice stuff.

That last shot of the mouse kind of bugs me, because I think the town mouse/country mouse was meant to be deeper than I'm able to understand. The thing is, the fable was never about which side you'd prefer. The point of the story is that you tend to take your own circumstances for granted, and assume that some other guy with a different way of life has it better. And then you step into that way of life and realize it's not all it's cracked up to be. You're going to have problems no matter where you go, because in the end you're still a mouse.

Although, the mice and rats in this story have it pretty good when you think about it. The devils in this story are only after humans and human blood. Sure, Power ate a bear, and she's probably not the only one to go after animals, but who'd waste time picking on mice? How much blood can they have? No, the mice will go on no matter how this plays out. Makima can exterminate them in her friend's farm, but they come back every year, and the mice in Tokyo aren't going away anytime soon. They'll be around long after the devils and hunters are all dead.

[twistedapple]

On bergamot and aged brandy

EDIT 3/11/2023: Part three of the Perfume Rant is up, it's about my OC Nuria this time!

Hiiii~

With the successful reception of my Perfume Rant about Raphael's amazing fragrance, I've decided to tackle Astarion's!

For all of the technicalities, please refer to the first post.

Now, about our favourite vampire's scent.

In the previous post, I presented the great families of scents, as well as some concepts such as daytime/nightime perfumes, and how seasons are linked to them as well since temperatures affect the way scent molecules develop themselves. Based on the ingredients for Raphael's perfume and their potential order of notes, I had guessed an oriental perfume for him with intense projection, I may even suggest it to be more of a nighttime type of perfume as well, very enticing and enveloping.

Based on what we know of the ingredients listed for Astarion's perfume, he may very well be the exact opposite of Raphael's.

The notes Astarion gives for his perfume are bergamot, rosemary and a touch of aged brandy. Based on these scents and their olfactive families, I wager that we can yet again take these notes in the order they're given by Astarion, because it makes sense.

Top note: Bergamot is a fairly common top note. It is extracted from a bitter and inedible citrus of the same name, and creates a refreshing citrus scent with a spicy undertone. It is commonly associated with Chypre and Floral scents to give an energetic twist, although it can also be found in more classic perfumes.

Heart note: Rosemary is an aromatic herb, commonly used as a spice for cooking or for haircare to promote growth, strength and shine. It has a fresh, herbal scent fitting the Chypre family (woody scents), and provide for a clean and almost bittersweet scent.

Base note: Aged brandy isn't a scent in itself, however a clever mix of scents can give the impression of aged brandy. To obtain that type of scent, a blend of aromatics and musk may be possible - and we already have one aromatic in the heart note for that very purpose. I'd wager that adding scents such as oakmoss, musk and a hint of tobacco may very well do the trick. It adds an attractive depth to the fresh and clean impressions, without dirtying them. On the contrary, I think this complexity helps elevate the top and heart notes by being fairly complementary, since it retains some of the fresh tones as well through more aromatics, but it makes them feel warmer.

I think Astarion's perfume is about as enticing and pleasant as Raphael's, to be honest. However, it gives a very different impression. We start with a fresh citrus, then go for a clean woody tone, before finishing with a warm note. Overall, it is an elegant perfume that reflects both Astarion's youthful spirit now that he has gained his freedom, and his more distinguished side - visible in the way he dresses and behaves. I imagine it to have less projection than Raphael's perfume, however it'd be more inviting for intimacy - which is both sad and pleasant because we can associate it with Astarion's 200 years long prostitution job for Cazador, but also his way of getting us players in his good graces... Until he realises that he is having The Feelings as well. Interestingly, I see his perfume more fit as a daytime type, however it can be cleverly used as a nighttime perfume, as I just explained, thanks to its solid base note.

To conclude, I think his perfume would make for a wonderful unisex blend, it certainly feels very charming! In my opinion, this is the type of tasteful scent that makes you want to bury your face in the neck or the shirt of its wearer... Which definitely suits Astarion and how we feel about him.

Anway... I made that post while purposefully going blind on the already existing Astarion themed perfumes and candles, so please don't come after me if I miss the mark. I'd rather chat about it all because I really love perfume.

What's the next step? My own BG3 OC, Nuria. However, I'll release one more sample before tackling that one. I have a very precise image in mind for her, but I'd like to keep introducing her a bit more before that. Feel free to poke me if you're curious about her, though!

[cluelessteam]

Charmed: Chris' Identity is Discovered {~Chapter 10~}

Summary: The Phoenix Clan is after Chris, and the sisters are trying to help. But there are many questions that they need answering. How long can Chris keep his identity a secret? [Before Chris-Crossed]

Characters: Charmed Ones, Bianca, Chris, Leo

Pairing: No Pairing

Warnings: Angst, Heartbreak

Word Count: 647

A/N: Sorry I haven't been updating you guys, I have been very busy with school lately.

Masterlist

“Mom?!” Piper shrieks.

“Silence.” An Elder protests. Wanting to know more, she continues to watch. This time the hologram-like screen has moved onto a different memory of Chris.

Chris looks around 16-17 years old. He looks tired, too tired for a boy so young. His face speckled with a few teen spots and pimples. Suddenly, someone orbs enters the room, but with the amount of magic the boys see on a daily basis, this is no big deal to Chris. Having to look interested he turns sound and there stands Leo. Not him, again.

“What do you want?” Chris snaps at Leo.

“Chris, don’t speak to me like that.”

“You’ve come into my home, with no invitation. I will speak to you however I damn like.” Chris retorts.

The sisters look on in shock. Why would Chris speak to Leo like this?

“Did I adopt Chris or something?” Piper asks. Phoebe and Paige shrug.

“Keep watching.”

Leo frowned at his son.

“What do you want anway?” Chris asked.

“I wanted to talk to you and Wyatt.” “No. Get out.” Chris replied, with annoyance.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, get out. When we come and see you, you’re too busy. We are not seeing you, on your terms. It isn’t fair. And me and Wyatt have had it. Get out.”

“Chris-”

“Do you want me to spell it out for you?! Get out!” Chris shouted. Seeing Chris’ rage increase by the second, Leo decided it would be wise to leave Chris. Let him cool off. Leo orbed out, and to the heavens. Chris picked a toy car, near the piano and threw it at a table. Knocking over a vase. As it shattered on the floor, he heard orbs. Chris has had enough.

“God Leo! I told you to get out-” He said while turning into the direction of his father. But it wasn’t Leo. It was Wyatt. He looked around 18 years old. His blonde hair is in major need of a haircut.

“Leo? He was here?” Wyatt asked. 

“Yeah.”

“And you got rid of him?”“Yeah.”

“Good. I am in no mood to deal with him right now.”

“Why? What happened?” Chris asked, concerned for his older brother.

“Nothing Chris, I am fine. I’m just tired. Is grandpa home yet?”

“Not yet. He went to the store. He should be home pretty soon though.” Chris explained.

“Alright. We should probably clear this up before he comes home. You’d have to explain and say that Leo was here. And you know how Leo always sets him off in one of his moods.” Wyatt suggested.

“I’ll get the broom.”

“Don’t bother. Just use the vanishing spell. There isn’t time anyway.” Wyatt quickly peered outside the window and saw his grandfather’s car. “Grandpa’s here.” Quickly, Chris recited the vanishing spell, which he often has to use. Even though he is constantly told not to by his grandfather, the elders and even Leo. What gives him the right?!

The hologram-like screen moved onto a different memory.

“Happy 17th birthday Chris!” Wyatt said, a little too loudly. Chris opened his eyes, groaned and turned away in his bed. Wyatt laughed. “Come on Chris! Get up! Me and grandpa have a birthday surprise for you. I will see you downstairs in 5 minutes, or I will just orb you down.” Not wanting to be Wyatt’s little puppet Chris got up and quickly got changed into decent clothing, then went down the stairs.

“Surprise!” Wyatt and his grandfather called. One the table was a fully cooked breakfast, just the way his mother used to cook breakfast on special occasions. 8-9 presents on one end of the table.

“Wow. This is amazing you guys!” Chris said, excitement evident in his voice. He hugged his grandfather, then embraced Wyatt.

“I hope you like it.” Wyatt said.

“I already do.” Chris replied. Wyatt smiled.

“Happy birthday, little brother.”

[noco7]

Hi hope your well! I was just wondering — your fics have a lot of dialogue and as a writer myself that’s something I struggle on… how do you know what to make them talk about/introduce certain conversations? does it just come to you?

I am well! A lot of things have happened (not in a bad way), and I am single no longer. (Yippee!) (And our relationship is nothing like the one in NCi7 lmao... not that it hasn’t had it’s share of miscommunication tensions.) Anway... as for dialogue that’s a tricky question. One part of NCi7 having so much dialogue is that Noah and Cody are quite talkative characters themselves, and that helps. Especially Cody. Especially Cody when he likes someone. He wants to ask questions, he wants to flirt, he wants to show off. Everything. Chatty lil’ man. Noah is a bit more reserved, but he will never miss a chance to snark. It’s why they have such good banter. Additionally, NCi7 is a fic based on “communication.” The whole point is for them to become better communicators, so the story just HAS to have a lot of dialogue. So I can show their bad communication and how it slowly becomes good communication. But how do I know what to make them talk about? Well... that’s an odd question to me, because what they talk about is just the story. So for me, coming up for things for my characters to talk about equals coming up with the chapter outline. In NCi7′s case, I wanted the characters to change how they thought about physical affection, sex, sexuality, guilt, relationship roles, gender, career, family, etc. Just the whole shebang. So ... I had a lot of things for them to talk about. That’s probably my best tip. If you want your characters to talk more, give them something to talk about! If you don’t have much plot (which is fine), then maybe think about ... Dialogue as a characterization tool. What kind of words are the characters using? What kind of tone? What do they think is appropriate conversation?  What questions do they ask? The more in-character you make it, the more fun it is. And dialogue is so, so useful with backstories. It’s one thing for a character to ruminate on what happened in their life. It’s another to see them say it out loud. And what kind of snap-judgements will the other person make? I wish I could give more specific advice, but I don’t know what story you’re writing (feel free to DM or discord me about it, I’d love to hear) but without specific details, I don’t have specific advice. Lastly, how do I introduce conversations? Honestly, I don’t remember. I do remember sometimes writing a chapter, not knowing how to transition to a topic, and putting in [INSERT TRANSITION HERE] so I could fill it in later. I would say try to use the environment to your advantage. If you need your characters to argue over PDA, bring in a public place. If you want a character to relfect on their parenting, have them see/do something that reminds them of it. Have a character notice something’s off with the other and ask.  Give them a reason to speak.  Anyway, thanks for asking this question! If you want to send me your work so I could read it, I’d love to. It doesn’t even have to be an advice thing, I love seeing how other writers write, and there’s a huge chance I could learn something from your writing as well. But it can be a suggestions/advice thing if you want it to be.

[worm-in-a-trenchcoat]

So I didn’t get completely art blocked after drawing Twyla like I thought I would, and I did end up drawing Howleen!

I might tweak her a little bit cause it’s not really giving me full Howleen vibes?? I think it’s the hair. But I’m still pretty happy with her!

Here’s the picrew I used for reference (ignore her eyes, I forgot to choose a color for them lol)

-

I personally see Howleen as like a full on baby gay (in Gen1 anyway). I’m talking like a mega drama/theatre nerd, she starts a GSA at school, she’s using any pronouns while trying to figure herself out, will potentially cut you if you misgender anyone in her presence and don’t correct yourself.

She definitely gave me that vibe anway lol.

-

I also see her with ADHD and maybe autism? I’m currently writing a MH fic and I’m kinda redoing the character’s personalities and such to make them feel more realistic and rounded. But anyway, I see her as someone who wasn’t diagnosed until high school age (in my fic monsters getting diagnosed with stuff like that is like how it is with POC getting diagnosed with stuff like that, and ADHD is something that’s “harder to detect” in werewolves/werewolf girls)

Which meant growing up she was always coined as a “trouble maker” and hyperactive kid and wasn’t the best in school and such, but after getting an evaluation (suggested by a teacher to her parents) and eventually a diagnosis, everything started to make sense and now she’s trying to come to terms with her diagnosis and understand herself better.

-

This turned in a ramble post but yeah, I drew Howleen! Lol

[srslyspiderman]

I'm so upset I just had the sweetest dream ever about Miguel O'Hara, but ykw. I'm gonna write about it to make myself feel better, with that out of the way..

☆ He's... a total sweetheart..? ☆

A Miguel O'Hara fic based off a dream I had, he was really sweet and comforting! This is from my perspective since it was my dream after-all and I'm a minor so this is NOT a romance-fic in anway 👍🏼

I had never been the type to ask for help unless I really needed it, it embarrassed me so badly and honestly I felt like it meant I couldn't do anything on my own. I guess I have my mother to blame for that one, huh? I had been wandering the halls of a school for what felt like hours unable to find my classroom. A friend of mine suggested I asked "principal" Miguel to just give me a new schedule sheet.

"I can't do that.. he'd be pissed at me! Or- Or give me detention for the whole school year and I don't think I could handle him yelling at me over forgetting a class.." I told them, they looked at me and laughed, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the main office.

"Just ask, it's better now then never." They spoke out, their tone was so optimistic and full of energy it was crazy. How could they not be scared of Miguel? He's so tall and big and I've seen him yell at students, his expressions are just scary and his eyes are even scarier when he's mad. He has nice hair though, I'll give him that much, I like the way it looked. "Ask him for a new one or I'll--" just then the bell rung and everyone started to shuffle around, my friend had left for their next class and shook their head at me for not asking when I had the chance.

I sighed quietly and slid down the wall, hugging my knees. "Why can't I just remember my classes..?" I whispered to myself, it's not like I could get up and wander the halls anymore because then someone would see my leaving the office and assume I was up to no good. But then I got the feeling someone was staring at me.. it made me shiver so I turned my head a little and looked out the corner of my eye, only to see Miguel. He was towering over me and looking down at me with a bit of a concerned and worried expression.

"Are you alright..? Qué pasa?" He spoke to me with a comforting tone but I was absolutely terrified of what was next to come. He could expell me right there on the spot because he thought I was skipping class. He could give me detention for the rest of the school year. He could-

"Could you come into my office, please?" He walked into his office and I heard his chair creak a bit, signaling he had sat down. I slowly got up and walked into his office, standing infront of his desk awkwardly unaware if I should take a seat or not. "You may sit down if you want. Or stand, whichever you prefer!" He gave me a small smile and I sat myself down.

A moment of silence went by, well.. somewhat of a moment silence. I could still hear the clock, his fan, some other teachers moving around and whispering to each other. We're they whispering about me..? I turned my head to look out his door but it was shut so I slumped down a bit and sighed. I assume he caught onto my discomfort because he started to speak again.

"May I ask you why you were sitting on the floor next to my office?" His eyes went from his computer to me "Oh, and your name? Por favor y gracias." I adjusted myself in my chair and looked at him.

"My name is...-" my brain paused aswell as my words. Do I tell him my birth name or.. my preferred name? Shit.. I hated this. "It's uhm.." I began to pull on my fingers nervously, I was too scared to take my eyes off of my hands incase he had an upset or impatient expression. What did get my attention was the fact he tapped one of his fingers on his desk in my line of eyesight attempting to get me to 'snap out of it' It worked and I looked at him, to my surprise he didn't seem upset in any way.

"If you have a preference of a name or you like to be called by a nickname, it'll be in the system. Would you like to give me that?" He spoke to me, releasing all of my worry that I'd have to tell him my birth name. I calmed myself down as quick as I could and spoke again.

"My name is Michael.." I figured he'd obviously need my last name, "Michael ****.." He nodded at me and was typing something on his computer, was this the end of my school career as I knew it? Would I be the kick who got kicked out of school on freshman year?!

"It says here you're supposed to be in Mr.Will's class, why are you not there now?" He looked at me raising his eyebrow a bit "y no trates de mentirme." he said that last bit sternly, I didn't understand what he said at all.

"I- I don't understand?" I told him with a confused expression that for whatever reason made him chuckled a bit. "Does that mean I'm gonna get detention..?" the moment I finished that sentence he laughed at me.

"I told you not to lie, my apologizes I should have asked if you understood spanish before-hand." He softly chuckled and looked at me reminding me I had to answer him.

"Oh I-.. I got lost." my voice seemed to lower on its own, I didn't like whatever I was feeling, it made my face feel hot and my eyes started to tear up. "I lost my schedule and I forgot where I had to go.. I didn't mean too I swear!" I wiped my eyes trying to prevent myself from crying but it only upset me more, the fact I started to cry infront of him made me feel.. small. My chest felt like it was tightening up and my nose started to burn, I began to cry right then and there no matter how badly I wanted to stop I just couldn't.

"Hey it's okay! You don't need to cry.." He said in a soft tone, he stood up and slowly walked over to me. I was so embarrassed and pretty much blinded by my tears I hadn't even noticed until I felt him lift me up to embrace me in a comforting hug. "I hope you like hugs.. otherwise this'll be awkward."

Despite me not liking physical contact all that much the hug felt really nice, the kind of feeling you get when you're around friends or just cuddling with a blanket or stuffed toy I slowly wrapped my arms around him and took a deep breath, I calmed down in no time, he kneeled down and lifted a hand to wipe the tears off my face. I knew for certain he had no bad intentions and I felt safe and comfortable. "I'm sorry for crying.. I just got really overwhelmed." I said to him, he nodded and returned to his chair.

"Don't apologize, I understand. I can print you a new schedule, but first.. would you like to sit in here for the next two periods? I could teach you some spanish and you can calm down and tell me more about yourself!" He said in the same soft and comforting tone as before, I nodded and he started typing on his computer again.

THEN I WOKE UP ☹️

[1d1195]

okay part two lol THE SUNFLOWER EXTRA WAS SO ADORABLE I LOVED IT!! I thought it was so cute that it was set up in a way where we were getting Harry’s pov and how he was reminiscing their first date! It was a really cute way of incorporating their current dynamic while still giving us how their first date went! It was so cute😭 loved the fluffiness of it all!! Harry is just so cute in this! Like him being super early to pick her up and just watching her was soooo 😭 I feel like fluff can be overlooked sometimes so this was just absolutely such a sweet little read! ANWAYS bestie loved it as always!

Now I saw your post about the next couple of extras and I have some thoughts/questions that’s may help! NOW DONT FEEL OBLIGATED TO EVEN REMOTELY LIKE THEM AND TAHTS OKAY IF YOU DONT!!! You’re their creator and in the end you know best!

Okay so I am a neighbors STAN so I would accept anything for them lol though I do understand wanting to take a break from the concept of dadrry so I understand wanting to space them out! Traditional Harry is sooo always so INSANE in a good way so that would be nice to read too!

If you’re foaming at the mouth to write a Most check in… BESTIE I SUPPORT WRITTING THEM BC IF YOURE GOING CRAZY I WILL DIE!! Obviously only if you feel inspired lol and same goes with Dolcezza!

Okay now with Yours, you said you imagined them getting back together so how would that exactly go? Harry is famous in this so would the transition be easy or immediate? Do they do a co-parenting thing for awhile(bc technically that’s being in both their lives) and solely focus on the baby? Or do they have a little miscommunication with how their dynamic will be, are they going to work it out romantically?

In the ask you mentioned a ring so a cute engagement proposal would be cute if you feel up for it! MFT could be angsty with how both are in their final year(I think they if not I will simply have to reread 😊) and maybe they think about what the next “level” of their relationship looks like? DING omg idk what I would suggest tbh lol only bc I can see the Cupcake still not being able to open up like emotionally yet and maybe it’s like a rough patch in their relationship and that comes up? Idk why all I can think for them is angst lol

ANYWAYS!!! These are just ideas you obviously don’t have to do any of them and I’m sure you’ll create something far more magical!!-💜

I felt like I had been writing a lot of first date moments recently and I was like I need another angle. So I figured it would be nice to be like "no they're like really a couple and very cutesy" and still make them have the fluffy first date jitters kind of thing. Glad you loved it! 💕

Don't get me wrong, I would love to do a Neighbors update but yeah, I'm going to hold off because we're mid-dadrry and not getting rid of them till October either. I'm thinking something like DECEMBER for them 😭 (I have two outlined/planned extras for Neighbors!) and I ALWAYS have a Traditional extra ready to go (there are four outlined/planned extras left in my drafts!)

I'm kinda hoping I can do Most tbh but also hoping I can wait until October? That would be ideal. I'm trying to stockpile ideas and drafts and pieces because like I mentioned it's going to be busy in October 😭 Dolcezza would be fun too I think I relate most to her so it's pretty easy to whip up some emotional stuff and whatnot for them (although as I mentioned I have a smutty idea for them--or maybe at least part-smut 🤭)

Your questions for all of the next ones are SO helpful!

I like the idea of Yours NOT being an easy transition. Miscommunication? Here for it. (Spoiler/not spoiler, they're going to work out romantically 😉) Next level of MFT relationship would be LOVELY especially in their last year! Ding angst is also my favorite kind of angst I def relate to her a lot as well and it's easy for me to feel angsty hahahaha

Thank you for all your ideas! I sincerely appreciate it! I was hoping for a little more feedback on it but I guess since it wasn't a clear cut poll I didn't really do anyone any favors 🤷‍♀️ but that's okay. I appreciate the feedback I got 💕 Thank you as always!

xoxo

[waitimcomingtoo]

Tongue Tied ~ P.P

chapter three

series masterlist

The next morning, Peter knocked on your door before breakfast.

“Hey. You ready to go down there?” He asked as he bounced on his heels.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” You sighed.

“I was thinking. Just to really sell our relationship and everything, maybe you should wear my hoodie?” Peter nervously suggested. “Only if you want, though. It might help our case.”

“Sure.” You shrugged and pulled his hoodie on over your head.

“Hold on. You messed up your hair.” Peter smiled and smoothed your hair down with his hands.

“Thanks.” You smiled shyly. “Um, should we hold hands?”

“I thought you didn’t want to do that.”

“I know. Now I do.” You said quietly. Peter blushed and took your hand before walking with you to the kitchen.

“Woah. Weird energy in here.” You mumbled when you walked into kitchen and found everyone staring at you. Peter tightened his grip on your hand and walked up to the table. Steve cleared his throat before eyeing your chair. Peter caught on and pulled your chair out for you, earning a thumbs up from Steve.

“Oh. Thanks.” You smiled as sat down. Everyone continued to stare at you and Peter, making you shrink down in your seat in embarrassment. Peter noticed your expression and grabbed your hand before giving it a comforting squeeze. Everyone got what they were looking for and left you and Peter alone for the rest of the meal.

You went back to Peter’s room after breakfast and had only been alone for a few minutes when you heard knocking at the door.

“It’s Tony and Pepper. Is everybody decent?” Pepper asked through the door.

“Yes.” You grumbled and gave Peter an embarrassed look. Tony and Pepper came in, both of them covering their eyes with their hands.

“You don’t have to cover your eyes.” Peter’s face burned in embarrassment. “We weren’t doing anything.”

“What did you guys need?” You asked with a fake smile.

“We come bearing gifts.” Tony explained. “Think of this like the Nativity. Only, there’s no baby. That’s the point of the gifts.”

“What?” You asked flatly.

“For you guys.” Pepper grinned as she took things out from behind her back. She handed you a pack of birth control and Peter a box of condoms.

“Oh my God. Why?” You dropped the pack on Peter’s bed and covered your face with your hands.

“Because you guys need to be safe if you’re having sex.” Pepper said. “Do you know about sexually transmittable diseases or should we sit down and talk?”

“Please.” Peter begged. “No talk. We know.”

“I told you they knew, Pep.” Tony said. “They teach kids about clamydia in kindergarten nowadays. Anway, what’s the lube sitch up in here? Using? Not using? In need of? We can do a CVS run right now if you need. I hear they have strawberry banana flavored.”

“We’re fine. We have enough.” Peter lied and held up his hand to make Tony stop.

“Okay. We’ll let you guys get back to it.” Tony nodded. “Just try not to be too loud, okay? I’m about to meditate.”

“Watching Dance Moms is not meditating.” Pepper said as they walked towards the door.

“It is for me.” Tony snapped. Once they left, you collapsed on the bed and let out a groan.

“We have to break up.”

“What?” Peter frowned. “Why?”

“Relax, Pete. We’re not actually dating, remember?” You chuckled as you sat back up.

“Yeah. No, I know.” He said as he kept his eyes down.

“I just can’t keep having these awkward conversations. I feel like I’m gonna explode. I hate feelings so uncomfortable in my own home. Maybe we should just tell them the truth.”

“If we get away with this, we’d be saving ourselves from a world of trouble. They never have to know. Let’s just pretend to be dating for a little longer.”

“Fine.” You sighed and flopped back onto Peter’s bed. He gave you a longing look before looking away.

As the weeks went on, the excitement around you and Peter’s fake relationship died down. You managed to get in and out of the lab without being caught as you worked on repairs all day and late into the night. By the weeks end, most machines were repaired by Peter while you replaced all the smashed beakers and broken lights.

“That looks pretty good.” You complimented as you looked over Peter’s shoulder.

“Thanks. We might actually get away with this.” Peter smiled over his shoulder at you. You returned the smile before walking over to sit on top of a lab table.

The very lab table Peter laid you down on and took your breath away a week prior.

He noticed this immediately and turned his back to you so you wouldn’t see him blushing.

“So once we’re done repairing the lab, should we stage a breakup or just let everyone forget about us?” You asked as you swung your legs.

“If we do stage a breakup, you have to be the one that breaks up with me. Thor will murder me otherwise. Literally murder me.”

“I can do that.” You nodded. “Don’t worry, Petey. I won’t let anyone hurt you. It’s like I told you. We’re gonna be getting each other in and out of stupid shit for the rest of our lives.”

This callback to the conversation you had right before the kiss made Peter think you were finally trying to talk about it. He’s tried to hint at it a few times throughout the week but you always changed the subject. Peter stopped fixing a robot and sucked in a nervous breath.

“Hey can I ask you something?”

“Go for it.”

“Why don’t we ever talk about the kiss?” Peter asked without looking at you.

“What?” You laughed awkwardly, making Peter turn around and looked at you.

“We kissed that day we destroyed the lab. And it was not just a quick peck either. We kissed each other like it was the last time we’d ever see each other. Why don’t we ever talk about that?”

“I mean, we’ve been a little busy.” You smiled awkwardly and gestured to the lab.

“But we spend all day everyday together and never bring it up. We’ve been friends for years, Y/n. And we never did anything like that before. Something happened that day in the lab. Something changed. Did it change for you too?”

“Peter.” You sighed. “I told you I didn’t want this to push us together. I thought you understood that.”

“But we made out before we told Tony we had sex.” Peter reminded you.

“So?”

“So this conversation is completely separate. Can we please just talk about the kiss?”

“No. I don’t want to.”

“You- you don’t? Why not?” He asked sadly.

“Because it’s awkward, Peter.” You whined. “If we talk about it it’s just gonna be another awkward and uncomfortable conversation that neither of us want to be apart of. I’ve been having those conversations all week. Being in the lab is the only time I can escape from all of that. I don’t want to be constantly thinking about our relationship. It’s overwhelming. Just drop it. Please.”

“I can’t drop it.” Peter raised his voice. “It’s all I’ve been able to think about. Did it seriously not effect you?”

“Can we just go back to fixing the lab? Please? We’re almost done. We can finish and put this whole thing behind us.” You sighed in exasperation. Peter stared at you for a while as he felt tears well up in his eyes.

“Do you regret it?” He asked quietly.

“What?”

“Do you regret it?” He repeated. “Do you regret kissing me?”

“No.” Your eyes softened. “No, Pete. Of course I don’t. I just regret what it did. I feel like I can’t even look at you anymore. I’ve never been this close to someone before. I don’t know what line we just crossed. And I don’t know how or if we can go back. But I can’t even focus on it right now because in case you forget, we broke millions of dollars worth of equipment.”

“So that’s it? We’re just gonna pretend it never happened?” Peter asked angrily.

“Oh my God. Do you have to freak out about this right now?” You stressfully tugged at your hair. “We don’t have a lot of time to fix the lab. Mr. Stark is going to start getting suspicious. He could come in here any day now. We can talk about this kiss when this is done and we can finally stop pretending to be in a relationship.”

“Sorry. I didn’t realize how awful it was for you to have people think you’re my girlfriend.” Peter grumbled as he folded his arms.

“That’s not what I meant. I can’t believe we’re even fighting about this. We could get kicked off the team if Tony finds out about this. So I’m sorry if I’m not thinking about a stupid kiss right now.”

“You’re a bad friend.” Peter said quietly as his eyes fell to the floor. Your jaw dropped a little as his words stung you. Since he hurt your feelings, you got defensive.

“Oh yeah?” You shouted. “Well who cares what you think? You’re a Zara Larson stan.”

“You swore you wouldn’t tell anyone.” Peter shouted back. Before you could respond, the doors swung open and Tony walked in.

“Mr. Stark.” Peter gasped and looked at you in fear. You scrambled to cover up any remaining damage and Peter did the same.

“Relax.” Tony waved his hand. “I got the alert the first time you guys went in here. And like every room in my multimillion dollar building, there are cameras everywhere. I knew what you were doing the whole time.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” You asked in disbelief.

“Well you said you were gonna fix it.” Tony shrugged. “And Pepper says I need to yell less. It’s bad for my blood pressure. It’s probably for the best that you ate all my ice cream too.”

“So you just let us lie to your face about having sex?” Peter asked. “Why would you do that?”

“Woah woah wait. You guys aren’t having sex?” Tony asked with wide eyes.

“What?” You and Peter asked in unison.

“Wow. Could’ve fooled me.” Tony snickered and looked between you two. “Well, I’m sure this conversation made things even more awkward between the two of you. I look forward to watching you struggle to interact after this. And nice job on the robots, underoos. Close the door when you guys leave, okay?”

Tony pushed the doors open and walked out, leaving you and Peter standing there with dropped jaws. You made eye contact with each other and quickly looked away.

“Look, Pete.” You sighed to break the silence. “I’m sorry. You can stan whoever you want to. I’m sure Zara Larson has some good music. I didn’t mean to make fun of you.”

“I like Bebe Rexha too.” Peter said under his breath. You folded your lips in and nodded as you fought the urge to bully him.

“That’s okay too.” You said after a beat of silence. You made eye contact with Peter again and this time, you held it. You walked over to him and wrapped your arms around him as you rested your head on his shoulder.

“I don’t regret kissing you.” You said softly. “I never regretted it. And I’ve been thinking about it every day too. I just don’t know what to say. I’ve been so overwhelmed. Everyone kept asking us about our relationship and I got overwhelmed. I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“I’m sorry I called you a bad friend.” Peter said as he hugged you back. “You’re not a bad friend. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

You pulled out of the hug and rested your forehead against Peter’s. You looked into each other’s eyes, feeling slightly awkward but never looking away.

“Do you think Tony is watching the cameras in here right now?” You asked him.

“No. Why?”

You smiled a little before putting your hands on Peter’s face and pulling him into a kiss. Peter’s grip on your waist tightened as he kissed you back. You wrapped your arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. When you pulled away, you rested your forehead against his and laughed softly.

“That’s why.”

[cherryplasmids]

───happy birthday, billy;

pairing: billy loomis x reader

summary: you surprise billy with a little party, hoping he tells you why he’s been avoiding you. 

word count: 3.4k+

warnings: cursing (obviously), talks about billy’s mom abandoning him as a child, andddd kissing which means billy cheats on sidney with you

notes: ─── a few pop culture references like music and movies from or before 1996. and yes, i was influenced by sixteen candles from 1984 ───  i used the the actor’s real birthday for billy and technically, it landed on a saturday in that year. but for this, it’s on a school day─── check out my other works; horror movie masterlist & other masterlists

“You’re late.”

Your big smile immediately drops and you walk into the house, knocking Billy’s shoulder on the way. 

“Gee, sweetheart. You walked all the way here, in the dark, when there’s an insane serial killer on the loose? For me? Wow, you truly are God's gift to earth.” You roll your eyes at the boy while he stares, amused by your theatrics. Gesturing towards the living room where you can see Stu lounging on the couch, shoving a fistful of popcorn in his mouth, crumbs falling over his blue baseball tee. 

“Shit head over there was supposed to pick me.”

He waves his other hand, shouts a muffled ‘sorry’, eyes still glued to the tv screen.

You put your bookbag on the foyer center table to shrug your jacket off, throwing it at Billy who catches it. “What are you watching?” You ask, slipping your shoes off.

“The Thing.”

Disbelieved, you turn towards the living room again to shout. “Stu! You started without me again? You know I’ve never seen it!”

The boy laughs, ignoring your grumbles. Billy’s watching you the entire time, face stoic, but eyes wandering up and down your attire, completely unabashed at his actions. It’s a different outfit from the short-sleeved oversized UCLA t-shirt and green shorts you wore to school earlier. Now you’re dolled up in a white semi-tight t-shirt dress with a red bandana keeping your hair up and out of your face. It’s still casual, but a little too nice for a night in with the boys.

Billy shuts the door behind you. “You going somewhere?”

“Nah. I got dressed up for you.” You play it off as a joke, but it’s the truth. The dress looks like a nicer version of the white tees he wears everyday.

By the hardened look in his eyes, he thinks you're being sarcastic. Moving on, he glances at your bookbag. “What’s in the bag?”

“Oh! I brought wine!” You pull out a bottle of Moscato and smile at him.

“Why?”

Huffing, you poke his chest. “Geez, Billy, what’s with the third degree?”

He’s suspicious of you, of course, he’s suspicious of you. Billy never lets anything slide, always thinking the worst is to come, prepared for you to tell him you fucked Randy or shot his nonexistent dog. 

You push past him, knocking into his shoulder again to join Stu in the living room. The taller boy in the friendship geets you by pulling you down onto his lap, giving you a bear hug that causes you to giggle and struggle, attempting to break out of his tight hold. Billy leans against the threshold. 

“Come on, Billy! It’s 6 pm and I gotta get home before curfew.”

Hopefully this will get him to loosen up a bit.

Stu’s knocked out, drool slowly pouring out of his lips while you and Billy watch the movie come to a close. He’s spread out on the floor while you’re pressed to Billy’s side, hand on his chest and his cheek on your head. 

“Disgusting.” You giggle when Billy sucks his teeth, causing him to peer down at you. His hands move up and down your side “This new?” He asks, pulling at the fabric. You nod. “You going to tell me why you got dressed up for me?” You shake your head. “Why not?”

Again, you shake your head. “Can’t tell you,” you whisper, pushing at his chest to sit upright, and you stretch your arms above your head. Standing up, you hold a hand out to him. “But I can show you.” 

‘Was that suggestive?’ You hope not.

Billy hesitates, but grabs your hand anway, using his free hand to grab the half empty bottle of wine. He follows you up the staircase. You reach his door and pause, releasing his hand to put your palm on the doorknob. You look at him.

“Don’t be mad at me, okay? This was Stu’s idea too.” 

A complete lie on your part. Stu had nothing to do with this idea and only provided funds for this little project. You only tacked his name on because the blame needs to be shared in case Billy flies off the handle like he’s known to do. Even when Billy’s calm, you’re always sure there’s some wrath bubbling inside of him. 

Taking the bottle from him, you gently tug him towards the door to replace your spot. He looks at you questioningly, tilting his head a little. Then he opens the door, taking two steps inside before abruptly halting at the vast amount of bright colors assaulting his eyes. A gigantic happy birthday banner hangs from one corner to the other, completely covering the movie posters behind it. Balloons in different sizes either were taped to the walls, scattered on the floor, or attached to string and congested the ceiling. Lastly, there was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Poster taped next to his closet. There was a printed sai glued near Raphael’s groin. 

You curse at Stu underneath your breath. “Uh, that was Stu. He insisted it should be TMNT themed and bought lots of decorations for it. I promised him we’ll do it next year. But uh, he wants it for his birthday. Just a heads up…” You trail off, perturbed by Billy’s silence. 

Grasping tightly around the wine’s neck, the lukewarm body doing nothing to ease you, you continue to speak. “We could wake him up. Get this party started.” 

Not much of a party when the birthday boy goes voluntarily mute. 

Billy remains silent, slowly walking into the room, observing the rainbow bomb that went off in his room. It’s decorated more for a child’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese; not an 18 year old future college student. You gulped down some wine, cringing at the warmness and wishing nothing more than to slap your drooling friend. Billy’s not a fan of bright colors. You know that. 

You wanted a simple, subtle party with sporadic decorations. But Stu willingly spared money for the cause. As a result, he believed he was entitled to choose the theme. While you baked the cake and wrapped Billy’s gifts, Stu managed to buy the most gaudy and shameless decorations. You did have to beg him to cancel the clown he ordered, though. Billy would have blown a fuse for sure. 

Billy notices the red velvet cake on his study desk, noticing the swirling red lettering in your hand writing. There’s five white candles on top. The only compromise you made with Stu. 

“I baked that for you. You like red velvet right? I remember you ate my cupcake version when we went to Knott’s Berry Farm a few months ago.” 

He turns away from it and leans against the corner of the desk. Like usual, you can’t exactly pinpoint his emotional state. He has to be at least calm…right?

You fidget. “Surprise?” Voice smaller than the original scream you had planned for this moment. 

“Why?”

“Why not?” He’s unimpressed, crossing his arms over his chest. You scramble to make amends before he can kick you out, quickly walking inside the room and closing the door behind you. As soon as it's shut, you spin around with wide eyes, and begin to word vomit—explaining whatever you can as fast as possible. 

“Okay! So you’ve been dodging me lately, acting like a complete asshole the entire time. I had no idea why because I am literally an angel to you. Then after I cockblocked Stu for the third time, he told me that your birthday was coming up and you don’t like celebrating it—which I totally understand because your dad’s kind of a dick. I couldn’t believe that I never knew your birthday. So I thought I could give you a really good birthday which is why I did your English essay and Stu took you to your favorite diner.

“While you went to lunch, I decorated here. Stu was supposed to be up too, but I forgot that wine makes him sleepy.”

Another lie...technically. You did forget that Stu was a wine lightweight for two minutes before coming here. After you realized, you didn’t care. Stu had Billy for weeks whereas you barely got a glance from Billy on a good day. He can sit this one out. 

He licks his lips but remains expressionless. 

You sigh, frustrated. “What’s your damage, Loomis? I literally just explained everything to you.” 

The analog clock above his headboard ticks as the seconds go by. You take a glance at your wristwatch—it’s 8:37 pm. With luck, you could run home with a few minutes to spare. 

“Anyway, I have to go. Your gifts are in that corner if you didn’t notice.” You point to its location before putting the wine bottle on his bookshelf. The neatly piled gifts are either nicely wrapped in baby blue cupcake paper or haphazardly thrown together in green christmas paper. 

Billy walks over to the pile, grabbing the gifts clearly wrapped by you, and brings them to his bed. “Don’t you want to see me open them? Would be a shame for you to miss your favorite part of birthdays.”

The sly grin he gives you pisses you off because he’s right. You love giving gifts—love watching the delight on the receiver’s face. This time isn’t different. 

Leg bouncing, eyes darting from the clock on the wall to the gifts on the bed, you think for a second. You really want to see him happy. 

“Okay, I’ll bite.”

Settling on the other side of the gifts, you watch Billy pick up the birthday card on top. You pluck it out of his hand. “You can read this when I leave. This one first.” You pass him the smallest and flattest gift. 

He’s quick to tear the paper off and reveals a movie rental gift card, valued at $20. He breathes out a laugh, shaking his head. It barely covers the cost of movies he rents for you, but it’s the thought that counts. He pockets it in one of his back pockets.  

Billy’s not one for repeating himself, which means he’ll wait until the end to give his thanks; he does this every time you and Stu give him something.

There’s silence as he moves on to the next gift, wider and slightly heavier than the gift card. 

His sly grin returns because these are obviously CD’s. Despite knowing what it is, Billy’s eyes slightly widened—something you would have missed if you weren’t closely watching him. A much bigger smile stretches across his lips. In his hand sits two Nine Inch Nails albums.

You remember him discovering them from a sketchy, obviously bootleg, compilation that he found at the local thrift store. He forced you to come over and kept you there for over an hour, laying beside him as he played the song on repeat. Despite the quality being shitty, Billy managed to memorize the chorus and tried teaching you the words. You never got a grasp on it, but still hummed the tune randomly. 

It was your favorite memory of Billy. Maybe he’ll invite you over to listen to these too.  

Weeks of searching for these albums paid off in the end because Billy jumps up from his bed, pops out whatever disc was in the CD player, and replaces it with the first album. 

“That’s their debut album. The other is their most recent. Came out in ‘94.” 

A few seconds pass, the player taking time to recognize the new disc. The first song on the album is the one he obsessed over. He smiles again, but lowers the volume enough for the industrial sounds to fill the empty silence. You could still speak to him at a comfortable volume. 

“Last but not least…” You pass him the last gift and cross your right leg over your left, leaning back onto your palms. 

He tears it with newfound vigor, making you giddy. “It looks exactly like the one in The Crow.” 

“I know right! Just a lot shorter and a lot nicer. I don’t see you wearing a trench coat, more of Stu’s style anyway. Don’t you love it?”

In one smooth motion, he peels off his blue flannel and puts the jacket on. Walking over to his full-length mirror, you watch him shift and fix the material around his shoulders to fit him just the way he likes. You get up to stand by his forearm, peeking over to watch him admire himself. 

God damn. 

Right now he looks downright sexy. Dark, broody, mysterious—your very own Eric Draven.

Curling your hand into a fist, you lightly press it against his chest where his heart should be, acting like you just stabbed him. “Victims aren’t we all.”

Billy lays a hand on your fist, slowly trailing his fingers down your forearm. He grips it tight and pulls you in front of him, his other hand sliding over your waist. Cheap aftershave mixed with expensive cologne wafts into your senses.

It’s your favorite smell and you feel warmer now—warmed by his intense stare and body heat. 

Billy’s an enigma, a mystery you’re dying to figure out, but clueless where to start. Ever since you started high school, Billy’s become hot and cold. On some days, you’re the center of his world and others, you become an afterthought. You know you’re not supposed to vie for his attention. After all, he’s dating a Woodsboro darling—going strong for two years. 

There’s no way he’d see you more than his best friend. Even when he does treat you like a girlfriend, you think it’s out of convenience. You’ve known him longer, know his quirks and tics, all his favorite things and how to elicit a laugh from him. 

At this moment, though, you doubt Billy’s ever looked at her like this. You relish in his intensity. 

“Can’t be a victim here. Not when I’m in the safest place in the world.” His voice drops into a whisper. Of course he returns your reference, ever astute when it comes to films. You’re ashamed to admit you watched his lips say those words, slipping deeper into the emotional hold he has on you. 

A car alarm blares through a nearby street and you clear your throat, dusting off his jacket—though there’s no lint on it—and move away from his warmth before pointing to the bed. 

“Kick off your shoes. We’re eating cake on the bed.”

Billy follows your instructions, ignoring your whispered rant about how he’s nasty for walking inside the house with shoes on, and gets comfortable by the headboard. You take two thick textbooks off of his desk, set them beside each other to make a makeshift table on the bed, placing the slightly melted cake on top. You pass him a yellow plastic fork and shovel a green one in your mouth to chew on it. When Billy sees you walk to the lightswitch, he pulls out a lighter from his nightstand, lighting the candles. 

You shut off the lights and slide onto the bed without causing a fire. 

Moonlight filters in through his open windows. A cool breeze slips in. 

You feel at peace. 

You could tell Billy does too. He’s got a small smile playing on his lips. 

The dancing flames illuminate his face and you give a shy smile.

“I haven’t had a birthday since my mom left.” Your eyes widen, lips dropping into an “O” expression. “She got me brand new Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots since Stu broke my first one. Promised she’d get me a better gift next time. She left a few days later,” he pauses, watching the flickering light for a moment. “Never heard from her again. Never had a birthday since. Never had a reason to celebrate anything, really.”

“Billy if I had known I wouldn’t—”

“Just to be clear,” he cuts you off, sitting up straight to address you. “Never was mad at you. I just didn’t want you to worry.” 

“About?” 

“I got hurt,” He pulls his white t-shirt from the neckline, revealing a deep, jagged cut that starts at his collarbone and goes into his shirt. They’re healing, the scabbing making it apparent, but you still gasp as if it’s fresh and bleeding.

“What the fuck, Loomis? When did this happen?”

He laughs, “relax princess. I was drunk, fucking around at the ravine when the fuck rag downstaies dared me to jump over a tall fence. Didn’t know they’d be barbed wire at the top.” He releases his shirt before you can inspect his wound further. “Not my finest moment.”

You scoff, “no shit Sherlock. You’re a fuck rag for listening to another fuck rag.” Like the time Stu dared him to climb through your window, knowing full well that the tree outside your window is unstable. Billy broke his arm that day. “So how does your stupidity relate to me?”

“Like I said, I didn’t want you to worry. I know how you get when we even cough more than once—”

“I don’t like being sick—”

“So I wanted to avoid your nagging.” He rolls his eyes but it’s affectionate. Billy would be a lost cause without your attention. If it wasn’t for you, he would have died in ninth grade from pneumonia after his shithead of a father bought him a single packet of children’s pain killers.

“You couldn’t have lied?”

He shrugs, “you hug a lot and my shoulder was pretty tender until yesterday. You would have known and we’re back to square one.”

You lean over and punch his shoulder, directly hitting his injury. He lets out an exaggerated hiss, even going as far as to clutch it like a stab wound. 

“You’re dumb as fuck thinking that dodging me was the better option. For fuck’s sake, I thought you were breaking up with me.” You freeze, eyes widening and spit catching in your throat. You backtrack, sputtering an explanation before he can even think about responding “I mean like it would have been weird because then we’d have to fight for Stu, and for future reference, I bite.”

Billy’s nice enough to not acknowledge your mistake and opts to laugh instead. “Just talk to me next time. Okay?” 

Eyes back on the cake, his expression becomes pensive. “Sorry for fucking up. Seems to be a habit now.”

You soften at his words, surprised at his vulnerability. It’s been a while since Billy’s been open. He lets little insecurities seep through once in a while, but senior changed him. 

Sometimes you miss the old Billy—the one that didn’t mind venting or showing pure excitement over the smallest things or telling you about his wild dreams full of space cowboys and deja vu moments. 

But you’re good with this Billy, too. Still love him with all your heart. 

“Well you managed not to fuck this up for me which means the habit is broken.” He opens his mouth to argue but you pull out the fork in your mouth and press it against your lips. He quiets. “Did you have a good birthday?”

“I did.”

You lean forward, clapping your hands, eyes closing briefly in glee. “That’s great! I was nervous you’d hate it and hate me.”

He shakes his head, shuffling forward. “Nah, could never hate you.” He’s closer now, the cake separating you two. He grabs your hand when it’s on your lap. “Thank you for all of this.”

By this point, you’re both hunched over the cake, inches apart. “Happy birthday,” you briefly look down at the cake, gesturing to it with a nod. “Make a wish.”

“It already came true.” 

You stare at each other for a moment, gauging his reaction. For a second, there’s hesitation. He links his fingers with yours and squeezes your hand. You’re reassured. Once it’s gone, you two lean in and press a chaste kiss over the lit candles. 

Every worry you had up until this moment fades to the background; billy’s relationship, missing curfew, APUSH homework, the murders, your collegiate future—become insignificant. It’s going to bite you in the ass come morning. The guilt of this moment eating at you until you burst, but the dark room, flickering candles, slow chords playing from the CD player, and Billy’s bated breath anchors you to the present. 

Consequences be damned. You’ve waited years for this moment.

So you tip your head, lips pressing deeper into Billy’s chapped lips and he reciprocates with ease. It lasts for a little longer than the first kiss.

You break away and whisper a final, “happy birthday, billy.”

Moving away from him, you watch Billy tilt his head downward and blow out the candles.

taglist: @empress-writes​

[sketchygainedyoursoul]

Oh no episode two whatever shall we do

guess what time it is @paranoidpug

i'm still sane. can't wait for that to become a thing of the past

anway

Part 1 + 3/4/5

ayo a superhero? already starting off odd

Sam appears to be slightly sane. impressive

Kiyu please, ignore three immature children who murdered multiple people's cries for disney land and just... lock up sam and put taurtis in therapy.

Kiyu can't remember shit I'm a real Kiyu kinnie

Taurtis: I like that hotel over there. Can we live in the hotel? Is that where we're going to live? Kiyu: *long pause* Kiyu: No

Sam oh my god stop being embarrased for Kiyu and just shut the fuck up

Kiyu: Pretend nothing happened Echoes!Grian: ah, my specialty (I'm not sorry)

Kiyu: *Worried for her job* Please don't tell Okami about this Taurtis: Yeah we'll keep it on the down low Sam: oooh nice umbrella

OH MY GOD NOT THE OLD MAN AGAIN

Sam: "I think he likes us" THAT'S GENERALLY NOT A GOOD THING SAMUEL

good bye i have ascended

give me your fucking house it's lovely

Taurtis i wouldn't eat that sushi if I were you

Okami didn't give Sam her number? good call honestly

oh my god they are going to get lost

I hope they meet Grian at the school, one, because I miss my boy, and two, because Grian should not share a house with Sam

okay, so, Kiyu is a student

Sam, about the kind woman helping him: She seems suspicious Sam, about the guy who probably tried to rape dom: seems fine idk

Dom is totally going to carry this season i can already see the strain the first episode took on him

Sam: DUDE WE HAVE A LIBRARY FOR KNOWLEDGE Me: *sobbing*

Dom has taken up his residence in the dumpster out back. *Salutes* respect to you, my king.

Taurtis suggesting Sam sleep in the basement which lacks a bed is the ultimate "you're sleeping on the couch tonight" move

Sam: I'll just cuddle up with your dead babies (In reference to the pufferfish sushi from last episode) Taurtis: well when you put it that way it sounds creepy Sam: No it doesn't

GIVE UP TRYING best poster ever

why is there a tokyo ghoul poster i'm scared

dude they get free computers what the hell

oh ym god the old guy is still there

damn sam fell asleep so fast teach me your ways

his snores concern me

how the fuck did sam change into his uniform in his sleep what

Heimlich maneuver? no. Heimlich dance? YEA BOY

okay so it's perpetually night here. fantastic

DOM BELOVED

oh he's shirtless okay why didn't he get a shirt?

dom's nipples are offensive to taurtis because they are "so off center"

WHY IS THERE A VENDING MACHINE IN THE BACK ALLEYS

I like Damakun's hair

dom don't bully the guy with nice hair ;w;

DON'T BEAT HIM UP SAM WHAY FUCK

Sam: Give me a high five Dom: *punches him* Sam: *dies* i'm not even kidding that happened lmao (11:37 episode two if anyone's interested)

wh... why is that building on fire?

i wish sam got hit by a car god damn

DOM DON'T BREAK INTO PEOPLE'S HOUSES

i like billy :)

that's a lot of vending machines

*gasp* did Taurtis just... jaywalk?????

Sam. The creepy and possibly perverted old guy following you around is not your friend unless i'm proven otherwise but probably not

HE'S IN THE GIRL PANTIES SHOP HOW IS HE NOT CREEPY

Taurtis: aww, I miss our old highschool. I bet this one's not even haunted! Sam: It might be haunted Sam: ...We can make it haunted Taurtis: Noo sam noo haha Me: oh fuck oh shit oh lordie lord

KIYUUU

Senor Loro? *uses combined knowledge of spanish and italian* SIR THEY

Dom: SenorLoro? sounds French

Why does he have a christmas sweater and a luchador mask on whay

OH THAT MUSTACHE

WHY IS SENORLORO HAVING THEM WRESTLE WHAT

HOLY SHIT HE'S BUFF

Dom is best fighter

WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING

why did sam pronounce gusto goosto what

Sam: I need to see my schedule taurtis! Taurtis: then give me the phone Negotiation 100

Kiya refused to wrestle the principal lmao

istg the principal had something to tell them and they just WALKED OFF

Greentama: Stop right there, criminals! Sam: We're not criminals, are we criminals? Me: *flashbacks to yhs* no, why would you ever think that?

and there it is. end of episode two.

god damn it pug what have you made me do

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

tangle up the true and the fable

A/N: empires!scott and empires!jimmy have hella enemies to lovers vibes. so take enemies to hey-wait-were-we-lovers-in-a-past-life to friends. also joel and lizzie make a cameo appearance. title is from Rose by The Oh Hellos! (also reblogs > likes)

Warnings: arguing, death mention, flirting, cave-ins, cave spiders, injury, vague description of cave spider venom effects, nonchalant talk of the minecraft respawn mechanic, near death experiences, explosions, talk of past/alternate lives, angst with a happy ending, hopeful ending

Summary: Jimmy doesn't understand why the ruler of Rivendell doesn't seem to like him. He supposes that going on a mining trip in Scott's mountains without asking permission doesn't exactly help matters much though. But when the two of them end up trapped in the caves, will they be able to set aside their differences to survive?

-

Jimmy should really start thinking before he did things. Like stealing- ahem. Borrowing some cake ingredients from Sausage, which in turn caused him to steal Jimmy's prized music disc. Or whatever was the deal with the Rivendell ruler, Scott. Jimmy wasn't sure what exactly he did to get on the elf's bad side, but Scott didn't seem to like him very much. Well... at least sometimes he seemed to hate Jimmy. Sometimes it seemed like... something else. Jimmy couldn't quite place it- maybe he did want to be best friends after all? But whatever the case, things were always a little tense between the rulers of the Cod Empire and Rivendell. And it seemed today was no exception.

He was in dire need of more materials, and the swamp wasn't very rich in caves. And Jimmy had already explored most of the caves in his empire. So while he couldn't entirely rationalize why, he decided to go on a trip to the mountains to gather materials. It was a stupid idea, going near the empire of someone who possibly hated him, but part of him hoped that he would see Scott. Maybe he could work out some sort of alliance instead of their squabbling and occasional attempts to kill each other. Besides, he wasn't going to the actual mountain Scott lived on, just the ones near his mountain. Surely that’d be far enough to not anger him, but close enough to suggest an amicable atmosphere? Right?

Wrong. Very, very wrong. Jimmy had barely gotten deep in a cave in the mountains when Scott appeared, like he had some sort of “Jimmy-being-an-idiot” sixth sense. The elf admittedly was an imposing sight- enchanted diamond armor, an enchanted diamond axe strapped to his back, arms crossed over his chest, a golden circlet with antlers branching up from it, and blue eyes glinting with irritation. Those eyes seemed to see right through Jimmy, scrutinizing and seeing him for who he truly was. Not the Codfather, a strong leader- but a swamp boy whose sweet intentions got him into trouble more often than not.

“What are you doing here?” Scott asked, voice cold and unimpressed. Jimmy frowned at the elf’s tone.

“Mining,” Jimmy said simply, crossing his arms right back at Scott. He rolled his eyes in response.

“Obviously, but why are you doing so in my empire?” Scott asked pointedly.

“I’m not mining in your mountain though!” Jimmy protested, a little confused at Scott’s irritation. Scott let out a sound that was halfway between a sigh and a groan, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache coming on.

“Jimmy. All the mountains around here are mine,” Scott said bluntly, dropping his hand to glare at Jimmy. Well now he felt a little sheepish. But still, he didn’t understand why Scott had to get all irritated about it, maybe they could work something out. Jimmy took on an easygoing smile, causing Scott to knit his brows in confusion.

“I know I shouldn’t have been here, and I didn’t realize this mountain was part of your empire. If you want the materials I gathered, I’m more than willing to-”

“Oh, sorry about that, buddy! Tell you what, I’ll give you-”

“I’m not your buddy,” Scott said, cutting Jimmy off and causing his easy smile to melt away near instantly. Jimmy sighed.

“I don’t want anything from you, I just want you to leave,” Scott said, interrupting Jimmy again, and honestly it was getting pretty hard for Jimmy to continue being amicable if Scott was going to be like this for the whole conversation.

“Fine! I was only trying to come to a peaceful resolution here, no need to be a jerk like always,” Jimmy huffed, slinging his pickaxe over his shoulder and starting to head out of the cave. Scott made an irritated sound, quickly following after him.

“Oh, I’m sorry for being mean when you’re the one who showed up in my empire unannounced and unwanted!” Scott fumed, hands gesturing wildly as he kept up with Jimmy’s brisk pace.

“Like I said, didn’t realize this was part of your empire. And I’m leaving now, so you can stop following me,” Jimmy huffed. Scott stopped to stare at him incredulously, and Jimmy paused as well to raise an eyebrow at him.

“This cave only has one exit, you idiot. We both have to go this way,” Scott pointed out with a scoff. Jimmy made a frustrated sound, and was about to make a retort- but heard a hiss and saw a green shape ambling towards them from an unlit portion of the cave. Jimmy didn’t have time to draw his sword, and Scott was too busy glaring at Jimmy to notice the creeper heading towards them. So in a split-second decision, Jimmy tackled Scott to the ground right before the creeper exploded and caused a chunk of the cave to crumble down right where the two of them had been standing. Debris showered over the two of them, and Jimmy instinctively shielded Scott from it, even though he had been shouting at the elf mere moments prior. The dust settled, and it was then he realized how close he and Scott were, their noses practically touching.

“You alright?” Jimmy asked, surprising himself with how soft and concerned his voice came out. Scott looked at him with wide eyes and an almost flustered expression, until he schooled it down into smooth indifference.

“You’re supposed to take me to dinner before you pin me like that,” Scott teased with a smirk. Jimmy rolled his eyes, getting up off of Scott before offering a hand to help him up.

“I think you’re supposed to thank me for saving your life,” Jimmy shot back. Scott scowled at him, ignoring the offered hand and getting to his feet on his own, brushing the dirt off of his clothes.

“Thank you for what? Tackling me and giving me a near concussion? Or the fact that we’re now both stuck here?” Scott asked, gesturing at the cave-in. Following the direction of Scott’s hand, Jimmy looked to the cave opening. Or rather, the lack of a cave opening. The creeper explosion must have hit some loose gravel in the ceiling, because the weak rock had given way to a whole mess of stone to fall and block off their only exit.

“Maybe we could dig through it?” Jimmy wondered. Scott rolled his eyes.

“With your luck, that would only make it worse. Besides I didn’t bring a pickaxe, and I don’t think you could dig that out by yourself. We’re just gonna have to turn around and hope there’s another way out,” Scott said, turning and heading deeper in the cave. Jimmy scrambled after him in protest.

“Or we could stay here and call for help! I’m sure one of my allies would be willing to help me, or maybe you’ve got a closer ally who’d be willing to dig us out-”

“No. We’re better off trying to find our own way out. Besides, I don’t have allies- having alliances means having enemies too, and I’d much rather stay above the conflict if you don’t mind,” Scott said, stubbornly continuing forward. Jimmy groaned, reluctantly following after Scott.

“Fine, have it your way. But you let me know when you change your mind,” Jimmy said, not having the energy to argue with Scott’s weird animosity towards alliances. So instead, he followed his not-really-enemy but not-really-friend either deeper into the darkness, torchlight their only savior.

-

Going deeper into the cave was not providing them with a way out. They did, however, come across a mineshaft- which was a small but still not great shimmering light of hope. It was possible the mineshaft could be connected to another cave that could lead them out, so braving the mineshaft it was. Besides, there could be good loot to be had- even if Scott claimed most of it since it was, technically, part of his empire. And that was fine with Jimmy, he was trying to offer what he had found to Scott earlier anway. However, there was one problem with mineshafts, and that was the tendency of cave spiders making their nests in them. And it figures with Jimmy’s rotten luck that they would come across one of those nests. And even worse, Jimmy managed to get a hand caught in one of the webs at the edge of it.

“Stop struggling, you’re just gonna alert them that we’re here!” Scott hissed, trying to cut away at the cobwebs ensnaring Jimmy’s hand.

“If you cut at it any slower, they’re just gonna see us anyway!” Jimmy whisper-shouted back, but kept his hand still as Scott asked anyhow. But of course, as if things couldn’t get any worse, one of the cave spiders had noticed them. It jumped at Jimmy, but Scott moved in front of him just in time to intercept it instead, and struggled only for a moment before he managed to kill it. Scott was hunched over for a moment, trying to catch his breath- and despite his warnings not to, Jimmy yanked his hand free from the cobwebs to rush to his side, seeing the glittering red eyes in the distance. He opened his mouth to ask if Scott was alright, but he abruptly stood upright and pushed Jimmy towards a corridor of the mineshaft that was not infested with cave spiders.

“Go, we gotta get out of here!” he cried, running and pulling Jimmy along with him. Jimmy didn’t argue, keeping pace with Scott and cutting down a few cave spiders that got too close. They ran and turned down corridor after corridor, until they were sure that the spiders had lost interest. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath, and Jimmy eyed Scott with concern. He was holding his shoulder and looked rather pale- well, paler than usual.

“Scott?” Jimmy asked, voice gentle. Scott squeezed his eyes shut, like Jimmy had spoken too loudly, and took a beat longer to respond than Jimmy would have liked.

“I’m fine,” Scott said, not very convincingly at all. Jimmy frowned, stepping forward and reaching for the hand Scott had clasped tightly over his own shoulder. Jimmy instantly knew something was wrong when Scott didn’t push him away and let him remove his hand. Scott’s hand came away slick with blood, and Jimmy hissed in sympathy at the sickly green state of the wound. Cave spider bite, right in the gap of Scott’s armor. And it seemed the venom was working pretty fast through his system. Suddenly, as if taking his hand off of his shoulder had sapped all his energy, Scott’s knees gave out and he collapsed into Jimmy. With a startled gasp, Jimmy managed to catch Scott, wrapping his free arm around his waist and trying to keep him somewhat upright. His hand still clutched Scott’s, and his hand had shifted to clutch Jimmy’s back just as tightly. His head drooped down to rest on Jimmy’s shoulder, the antlers of his circlet poking him slightly, and a cold spike of fear shot through Jimmy at how feverish Scott’s forehead felt against his neck. Scott had only just been bitten. If he was in such bad shape already… Jimmy didn’t want to think about it.

“You’re hot,” Jimmy blurted, a little horrified. Scott let out a borderline delirious chuckle.

“Took you long enough to notice,” Scott teased, voice weak with pain. Jimmy let out a startled laugh.

“Scott, quit flirting for one minute, you’re dying,” Jimmy reprimanded, a little shocked at how wobbly his own voice sounded.

“I’ll just respawn, it’s not the end of the world. Nice to know you care though,” Scott said tiredly, although Jimmy could hear the slight smile in his voice. Jimmy froze a bit at his words. Yeah… that was right, Scott would just respawn. He’d lose his stuff and his enchantment levels, but he’d wake up in bed, right as rain. So why was Jimmy so worried for a moment? Why did Scott dying in his arms suddenly feel like the end of the world? And most baffling of all, why did the thought of losing someone who was at most an acquaintance rattle him so much? Yet here he was, clinging to Scott like he would disappear forever.

“I… of course I care! You’re the one who’s pushing me away, not the other way around,” Jimmy said, deciding not to address the fact that he had somehow forgotten about respawning being a thing. Scott laughed humorlessly, and him not having any sort of witty response was extremely telling of how worse off Scott was doing. He had been leaning into Jimmy more and more throughout the weak banter, and Jimmy finally knelt down and shifted Scott to be comfortably resting in his lap, his head still leaning on his shoulder, but turned so that Jimmy could see him.

“Your face makes for a pretty last thing to see before I die,” Scott said softly, and Jimmy blinked in surprise, unsure of how to take that.

“Didn’t realize a side effect of cave spider venom was delirium,” Jimmy settled on, causing Scott to let out a pained wheeze of a laugh.

“Think the side effect is actually brutal honesty,” Scott said, sounding a little wistful. Okay, well Jimmy really didn’t know how to respond to that. Scott, dying in his arms and looking at him all soft and adoring like Jimmy was a- a lover or something. So maybe it was that gentle look in Scott’s eyes even as he was dying, or Jimmy not wanting to deal with the blood of a fellow ruler on his hands, or just not wanting to watch someone die in general that caused him to shift and reach for something in his bag he had found in their journey through the mineshaft. He held out a golden apple to Scott, who looked at it with confusion.

“Nabbed it from a chest when you weren’t looking. I know you’ll just respawn, but cave spider venom is a pretty terrible way to go,” Jimmy said, smiling softly. Scott just blinked, not moving to take the apple.

“Jimmy-”

“Shut up and take the apple, Scott,” Jimmy insisted, for once cutting Scott off instead of the other way around. Scott sighed, and with a shaking hand, he grabbed the apple and took a bite. Almost immediately, color came back to Scott’s face and the green started to recede from the shoulder wound. A few more bites, and the bleeding stopped, the wound started closing up, and Scott was no longer leaning on Jimmy so heavily. He did, however, seem perfectly content to stay in Jimmy’s arms. Jimmy couldn’t really find it in himself to detach himself from Scott either.

“Thanks,” Scott said softly, like he was afraid to say it, after he had finished the apple. Jimmy chuckled.

“I should be thanking you, you’re the one who threw yourself between me and that cave spider,” Jimmy said, immensely glad that he remembered finding the golden apple before it was too late. Otherwise Scott, who usually didn’t seem to like him, would have died because of Jimmy.

“You saved me from the creeper earlier, I was just repaying the favor. Of course now I owe you again, because you healed me,” Scott said with a mock irritated tone, grinning all the while. Jimmy unceremoniously dumped him on the cave floor for that, ignoring his startled shout of protest to instead stand up.

“Well, maybe you could repay me by finally letting me contact one of my allies to help us,” Jimmy replied with a grin of his own. Scott pouted a little, still grumpy about being forcibly moved off of Jimmy’s lap.

“That was rude, I’m still recovering! Jerk,” Scott huffed, but there was no true anger in his tone. Jimmy shook his head fondly, offering a hand to Scott. He took it, and only stumbled a little bit as he got back to his feet. Fortunately Jimmy was there to steady him, ignoring the “I-told-you-so” look Scott gave him.

“You’ll live, thanks to me. Now can I message for help so that we can get out of here?” Jimmy asked. Scott let out a dramatic sigh.

“I guess so. Give them the coordinates for the cave entrance, we can head back in that direction and meet them halfway,” Scott said. Jimmy nodded, getting out his communicator to send a message to Joel.

“Yeah, I don’t wanna stay in this mineshaft any longer than we have to,” Jimmy said as he typed. Scott hovered over his shoulder, correcting Jimmy on the coordinate numbers before he sent the message off to Joel. Luckily, Joel wasn’t busy and responded fairly quickly, saying that he was on his way.

“Ready to get out of here?” Scott asked, once Jimmy had read Joel’s message to him.

“Absolutely,” Jimmy said, pocketing his communicator and walking side by side with Scott.

-

They reached the cave-in before Joel had arrived, but they didn’t have to wait too long before they heard Joel calling out for them. It seemed Lizzie had come along as well, as Jimmy could hear her voice along with Joel’s. He was a little surprised to hear her, as Jimmy wasn’t officially allied with Lizzie, but he supposed it made sense. Lizzie was married to Joel, and Lizzie’s empire was connected to Jimmy’s by water.

“We’re here!” Jimmy called back.

“Oh good, you didn’t kill each other,” Joel called back, a smile in his voice. Jimmy rolled his eyes, even if Joel couldn’t see him.

“I’ll have you know I saved Scott twice in these caves,” Jimmy shot back with a grin. Scott groaned in annoyance.

“You’re gonna hold this over my head, aren’t you,” Scott grumbled.

“Only a little bit,” Jimmy replied, relieved when Scott wasn’t actually all that annoyed, due to the chuckle he got in response.

“Stand back boys, I’ve got TNT!” Lizzie exclaimed, breaking the moment of banter. Scott and Jimmy exchanged wide-eyed glances, scrambling away from the rubble.

“Uh… you do know that explosions are what got us into this mess in the first place, right?” Scott asked nervously.

“It’ll be faster than trying to dig you out,” Joel replied, before the click of a flint and steel was heard.

“Does it alarm you at all that they have TNT already?” Scott whispered.

“They’re my allies. Or at least Joel is. Not sure why Lizzie came along, actually,” Jimmy replied with a shrug. Before Scott could reply, the TNT went off, destroying the rubble and revealing Joel and Lizzie on the other side.

“When I heard Joel was off to rescue the sweet swamp boy, I had to come along!” Lizzie said with a grin, poking her head through the hole in the rubble. Jimmy’s face flushed in embarrassment at the nickname, while Scott was poorly hiding his laugh behind a cough.

“She was with me when I got your message, I figured the extra help couldn’t hurt,” Joel explained.

“Well thank you, both of you. We really appreciate it,” Jimmy said, climbing out of the hole in the rubble with Lizzie’s help.

“You’re welcome! Although it sounds like you had the rescuing Scott part handled,” she teased with a wink.

“Hey! The only reason he saved me the second time was because I got bit by a cave spider that was coming for him. So I did some saving too,” Scott protested as he followed Jimmy out. Joel looked to Scott with concern.

“Do you need any health potions? I brought some just in case,” Joel offered, starting to dig through his pack.

“Nah, Jimmy gave me a golden apple that he stole from me,” Scott said, nudging Jimmy playfully. Jimmy laughed, pushing at him back.

“I didn’t steal it, I just took it from a minecart chest before you noticed it,” Jimmy retorted.

“A minecart chest that was in my empire,” Scott shot back with a grin. Jimmy was going to snap back, but Lizzie came to stand in between them.

“How about we leave before any more near death situations happen,” she suggested. Both Jimmy and Scott smiled sheepishly, before following Lizzie and Joel out of the cave.

-

The four of them had made it back to Scott’s home, with plenty of daylight to spare for the long journey Jimmy, Lizzie, and Joel had ahead of them to their own empires. Jimmy had told Joel and Lizzie to go on, saying that he would catch up with them in a bit. He wanted to talk to Scott first. About what, he wasn’t entirely certain, but he felt like he couldn’t just up and leave right away without saying something, not after everything that had happened. But for the moment, the two of them were stood in the entryway of Scott’s house a little awkwardly. Scott’s home was bigger than the last time Jimmy had seen it, but part of him was touched to see that he still had the pufferfish- rather the pufferish- mounted above his door. Jimmy wasn’t exactly sure why he had given Scott a misspelled token of peace, but it had just felt… right.

“So… have you changed your mind on alliances at all?” Jimmy asked, settling on teasing Scott a bit instead of tackling any sort of emotional conversation right away. Scott let out a mildly bitter laugh.

“I… will admit that there are advantages to having alliances. And you, Lizzie, and Joel seem alright. I just… well, if I’m being totally honest, I’m not really opposed to alliances… it’s just- it’s like there’s this part of me, maybe something from a past life, that knows that getting tangled up in alliances can lead to war and loss,” Scott said, heartbreak lacing his words. Jimmy frowned in sympathy. He didn’t know what Scott had been through before starting an empire, but it sounded like it was nothing fun. He put a comforting hand on Scott’s shoulder- and was instantly greeted with a flurry of images both familiar and unfamiliar. A flower forest. Homes carved into hills. Decaying skin and burnt banners. Flowers nestled in teal hair. Being helpless to watch as a loved one- a husband?- was shot down. Darkness, then light again. Then a feeling of home, and a joyful reunion.

Jimmy jerked back from Scott like had been burned. The real world filtered back into view with Scott wide-eyed and surprised as Jimmy was. What- what was that? They felt like memories, or maybe a dream. And the person with teal hair, the husband?! That was undeniably Scott, just far less regal and with rounded ears, not pointed ones. Jimmy wasn’t sure what that was, but suddenly the fear of losing Scott in the mineshaft made a startling amount of sense.

“Did you… see that?” Jimmy asked. Maybe he was hallucinating, did he get bit by a cave spider too? Maybe this was all some weird fever dream.

“I- yeah. I was kind of kidding about the past life thing… but was that even us? Or just… I dunno, a version of us from an alternate reality?” Scott pondered, looking like his brain was going a mile a minute. Jimmy found himself looking at the pufferish of peace. Was that something significant in that… other life? Or was that truly something of his own volition?

“Must be some sort of alternate reality, I think we were married,” Jimmy said with a laugh. Scott laughed as well, shaking his head.

“Yeah, can you imagine? Why would I marry some swamp boy?” Scott teased.

“And why would I marry a stuffy elf ruler?” Jimmy teased right back. The two of them laughed, but there was regret and maybe a smidge of longing tinged in both of their voices.

“I think I could at least stand being allied with some swamp boy,” Scott said softly, after a moment of silence. Jimmy smiled.

“Allies it is then,” Jimmy said, holding out his hand. Scott gingerly took it, and when there weren't any flashes of alternate or past lives, he shook it firmly.

“Allies,” Scott said, squeezing Jimmy’s hand before letting go. Jimmy bid him goodbye, exiting his home to meet up with Lizzie and Joel. And maybe, just maybe, Jimmy allowed himself to treasure the little flutter his heart made when Scott had squeezed his hand. He was sure his past- or alternate, who knows- self would appreciate it.

-

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