#anyways. bonus points if one of the characters is a minor i see that more than i should

[dreamsy990]

something about the erasure of platonic love in fandom bothers me. maybe its just that im aroace, maybe i just dont 'get' the differences between loving and being in love. but it bothers me.

[sleepingdeath-hellaverse]

dominant male s/o smut headcanons ; 18+

requested by : anonymous [14/03/24]

original request : ‘There is clearly a lack of x male reader in the Hazbin Hotel fandom, so maybe I could request Lucifer and Adam with a soft dom male reader. (Im not sure If I can request more that one character tho)’

pairing : submissive leaning switch!lucifer morningstar x dominant!male!reader insert

content : dom/sub dynamic between characters, lucifer having a praise kink, brief mentions of bondage (lucifer being tied up), implied body worship if you squint at one bullet point (lucifer receiving), cock-warming (reader receiving), overstimulation (lucifer receiving), some mentions of brat!lucifer at the end of the post

warnings : sexually explicit content

note : you can absolutely request multiple characters and the second part of this request (featuring the other listed character) will be out at some point next week ^^

masterlists : sfw nsfw

minors and ageless blogs will be blocked

although lucifer himself is a switch and is more than comfortable with taking on a dominant role in the bedroom, there is definitely a very strong part of him that enjoys being able to hand over control to someone else for a change — so, needless to say, having a boyfriend that was willing and eager to take on a dominant role in his stead would be something lucifer would be extremely open to

a good 90% of the time lucifer does his best to be ‘good’ for you (following your instructions to the letter, answering your questions immediately, only allowing himself to climax when you give him permission to, and so on), because he absolutely lives for your praise and undivided attention in the bedroom after being on his own for so long

call him ‘good boy’, ‘pretty’, ‘well trained’ and the like and you’ll get to see his pale cheeks turn a gorgeous shade of red as he shuffles in place and lets himself bask in those attentions — bonus points if you gently coaxe him into meeting your gaze when you’re saying this because he gets far too flustered to speak

tie his hands behind his back or above his head (or, if you’re feeling a bit mean, simply instruct him to hold them there without binding them in anyway and test how strong his resolve really is) and spend hours at a time smothering him in affection and praise: kiss down from the column of his throat to his chest and to the apex of his thighs, gently massage his legs and sides, pepper kisses and gentle bites along his throat and jawline, whisper compliments against his skin, gently brush your fingers through the feathers of his wings when they spring up out of his back — listen to every whimper and sigh and sob that comes out of his pretty lips as he tries his best to stay still and wait for you to finally, finally, put your hands or mouth on his straining dick as a reward for being so very good and patient for you

have him cockwarm you whilst he’s sorting through documents for lulu land or the hotel, lazily stroking circles into his hips with the pads of your thumbs as you encourage him to keep on going and promise to reward him for being such a good boy for you all day

and when he’s earned it, fuck him until there are tears streaming down his cheeks and all he can do is babble something vaguely like your name as he desperately tries to pull you closer with shaking hands — he’s strong enough to take anything you give him, really he is, so feel free to keep on pushing him through orgasm after orgasm until the only thing he can remember is how good your cock feels inside of him and the shape of your name on his lips

(or until you’re too exhausted to go on… whichever comes first)

he’s also just as happy to top you if you’re more comfortable being on the receiving end — he’s nothing if not a gentleman after all — so long as you’re still praising him and telling him what to do, he’s content with making love to you in any way that you prefer

then, of course, there’s the remaining 10% where all of his patience gets thrown out of the window and you get to see just how much of a brat the prince of pride can be

he gets demanding, impatient, and desperate until he’s swiftly put in his place and reminded that you’re the one in charge and he won’t get anything from you until he starts behaving again

(in all honesty he’s a pretty easy brat to tame if you leverage his praise kink and his desperation by having him cockwarm you whilst you edge him with your hand, asking him if he’s going to start behaving and reminding him that brats don’t get rewards — he’ll break before long and get all teary eyed as he apologises and begs you to let him cum)

[atamascolily]

Given how tightly plotted previously installments have been, I have to admit I was caught off guard by the seeming introduction of new characters in the Walpurgis no Kaiten trailer. However, on reflection (heh), it makes sense if one of the themes of the movie is indeed opposites/doubling/mirroring. After all, if Homura has a double for a narrative foil, why shouldn't the rest of the main cast have one, too? Prior to the second trailer, I had assumed this role would be filled by the "new girl" in the first trailer, who appears to be a Homura/Mami/Madoka hybrid, but it seems that's just the tip of the iceberg.

That said, it's also clear to me from the second trailer that this mirroring, if that's what's really going on here, isn't going to always literal as it is with Homura. The girl paired with Nagisa in the ball pit in the second trailer doesn't look exactly the same as Nagisa, but it's clear from the framing that the two of them are being deliberately juxtaposed, and will likely serve as narrative foils to each other. My guess is that this girl is the humanized form of Nagisa's witch Charlotte, just like I think that the most likely candidate for Homura's double is her witch Homulilly, (because the metaphorical almost always becomes literal in this series, even though the movie may or may not name them directly as such), but my point stands regardless of their exact relationship to each other.

If that's the case, then who in the Holy Quintet is the counterpart for the other new character--the green-haired girl in the trailer?

The obvious answer is "Mami"--partly because of the tea party and general vibes, and partly because of the color scheme (green and yellow go well together and the girl has golden eyes like Mami's). This is especially true if fan theories are right and this girl is the humanized form of Gertrud the Rose Witch, whom Mami faces off against in episode 1-2 of the original series, and who serves as a deliberate counterpoint to Mami there.

Having a more human Gertrud as foil to Mami would make sense because unlike Homura and Nagisa, Mami never becomes a witch in the original series; while she does have a witch form in the PSP game and other spinoff media, I think we are unlikely to see it in this installment and thus her most likely counterpoint would then be Gertrud. Gertrud's familiars are also visible in Homura's new world at the end of Rebellion, suggesting she might turn up in some fashion in Walpurgis no Kaiten.

(This also raises the interesting question of whether Mami's VA would voice this character or not. Considering that Kaori Mizuhashi also voiced Walpurgisnacht and Tatsuya in the original series, it's not impossible than she and/or other voice actors might play one or more roles in this new installment. As a bonus, this would also mean that SHAFT could get away with not announcing the minor roles before the release, as they would probably have to if they were adding completely new voice actors to the cast. Until we get more news, I'm assuming that Chiwa Saito is voicing both Homuras, though everything else is more speculative.)

However, it occurred to me that based on her ponytail and her position in this shot, she could also be Kyouko's foil (red and green being opposing colors); this is less likely, but I figured I'd mention it as a possibility anyway, since the second trailer appears to be leaning heavily into Rebellion parallels. TBD. Like Mami, Kyouko doesn't have a witch form in the original series, so her most likely parallel is another established witch character, although nobody from the original series immediately leaps to mind.

(By the way, this would mean there are more new characters--or new versions of established characters--we haven't seen yet, so, uh, hold that thought.)

After that, it gets a little more complex and murky. Sayaka's most likely foil should be her witch Oktavia, but it's unclear to me from what we've seen so far how much that particular conflict manifests internally or externally. I think Sayaka is going to be extremely conflicted in Walpurgis no Kaiten, and it will be interesting to see how her arc develops. Based on the original series, however, I would say that the other logical witch counterpart for her is Elsa Maria the Shadow Witch, whose labyrinth mirrors Sayaka's black and white thinking during a particularly dark period for her, though I suppose H.N. Elly the Box Witch who attacks Madoka in Episode 4 is also a possibility.

Madoka also has a witch form, Kriemhild Gretchen, who is absorbed into the Law of Cycles, though I think her foil is most likely the Law of Cycles itself. We'll have to see.

You may have noticed that I am limiting myself solely to witches from the original series rather than spinoff media. The first reason is that I'm skeptical that SHAFT would bring in a witch that general audiences who have only followed the main series have never seen before (except for maybe a brief cameo). The second reason is that the Law of Cycles' motif in Rebellion explicitly shows only those witches from the original series, and we see only a select group of these witches and/or their familiars during the battle against Homulilly's familiars.

All these witches are potentially fair game to appear in WnK, making nine in all, though I doubt more than a handful would have more than a few lines, let alone a major role. Also this diagram does not appear to incorporate Walpurgisnacht unless she turns out to be the Law of Cycles after all.

Somehow, I can't imagine SHAFT pivoting in mid-stream to bring up something completely new or even a more obscure witch from another spinoff, especially when so much of the main series focused on reliving and re-experiencing the same events over and over again. Sorry, fans of the Madoka PSP and slot machine games, I think you're destined to be disappointed in your wish to see any of those game-only witches on the big screen, but I suppose we'll see.

This is all just speculation for now, but I'm excited and intrigued to see where this goes!

[ryuichirou]

I love how you draw the tweels and Azul. They look so imposing in your art style! I know you love drawing Ignihyde, Octavinelle and Scarabia boys a lot, but I'm curious if you have drawings of the rest of the twst cast as well. I'd love to see everyone in your art style!

Anon! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad you like how I draw the Octa-boys. I’m not even sure which dorm I draw most often, but it has to be either them or Ignihyde haha. But in all honesty, I really love drawing all the characters; even if we don’t care much about them, they are usually still quite pleasant to draw at least once.

Which is why I can actually compile my drawings of pretty much every character in this reply! It’s honestly surprising lol but also not really. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we started drawing and posting twst…

Alright, here we go!

Heartslabyul – wow, I can’t believe I don’t have any coloured Aces that are relatively new… We like Ace a lot, I should probably draw him. And Cater too, to be honest, this is my only coloured sketch with him. I never expected to enjoy drawing these boys as much as I do, to be honest.

Savanaclaw – Leona is the only character I don’t have a proper sketch that is not a commission with lol I’m sorry. But I actually quite like the comms of Leona that I got to draw, so here is one of them! I also really enjoyed drawing Ruggie, I should do it again… And Jack too…

Octavinelle – aw yis yakuza fishies babyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Come on, you know I love these guys lol Whenever I look at them I feel at home. It’s a shame I don’t draw them wearing fedoras (for some reason I’m still intimidated by fedoras), because I love everything about their dorm uniforms.

Scarabia – I also don’t feel like I draw these two often enough, but their uniform is probably the most difficult one to draw, simply because of all the details and prints and gold and accessories. But it’s so worth it!... I also think that Jamil is the prettiest snake in the world.

Pomefiore – it’s stupid how long it took me to find a Rook that doesn’t look creepy in my drawings lol I really love this side of him. I also really enjoy drawing Vil, but whenever I do, I feel intimidated. I just can’t mess him up..! But if the Vil that I drew ends up looking good, I get so emotional that I cry (not a 100% lie)

Ignihyde – picking an Idia and an Ortho out of hundreds of sketches of Idia and Ortho was more challenging that I thought it would be, so I picked these because I still really like their faces and think they’re cute! I also can’t get enough of them… to this day… Their hair, their teeth, everything.

Diasomnia – I feel like whenever I draw these guys we have an urge to make it into an art, this is why we have a lot of finished rendered artworks with them. Their aesthetic is just… super fitting for all kinds of dark and gothic stuff. I also adore drawing their eyes!!! All of them have such pretty eyes.

The teachers – if you feel the urge to laugh at Crowley for only getting a black and white sketch, I encourage you to also laugh at Vargas for not being here at all… I think he is the only character that I’m missing, huh.

Others – bonus round! I actually also have a sketch of Fellow Honest and Gidel but by the time I remembered them I got tired of making this thing lol, and we haven’t watched the event yet anyway, so they’ll get their chance to shine some other time (you can find it on my ko-fi though). Meleanor is also here, and I honestly I would be happy to draw every twst mom at some point… And other minor characters too…

But not the dwarves; screw them (just kidding I might draw them too at some point).

[eleni-cherie]

a thief's origin✨ || bts • kth - prologue

"you're afraid I won't wait." "I'm afraid you will."

a criminal and a doctor should be as different as the sun and the moon - but unexpected things happened every day. like him finding his safe haven in her.

© 2024 | eleni_cherie

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masterlist: here

— genre: thief au, gangster comedy, adventure, romcom, humour, angst, fluff, sexual tensiON, slowburn, mutual pining, strangers to friends to lovers s2f2l

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. CHARACTERS NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE REAL PERSONS. ALSO VERY UNREALISTIC PLOT LOL - JUST PRETEND READING A MANGA/COMIC OR WATCHING A FILM, REALLY.

SUGGESTIVE THEMES. MENTIONS OF VIOLENCE & BLOOD (BUT NOTHING TOO GRAPHIC, IT'S STILL A COMEDY

»»»

age 22 // medical intern

25th March

Munich, Germany

»»»

It was way past midnight when Cassandra finally managed catching a break. Her one obligatory night shift had only started a little over three hours ago, but attending physicians from the previous shifts had passed their patients to the night shift, half of the senior doctors were at a national conference and her supervisor was running around and taking care of everything - which meant Cassandra, as one of her interns, was also running around and taking care of everything she could.

After documenting and assisting at a catheterization and an intubation done by one of the attending seniors, she finally found her first free five minutes. 

Stepping out into the fresh night air, she leaned her arms on the railing of the ER entrance. Tying her coppery curls into a ponytail before fiddling out a protein bar from the pocket of her blue scrubs. Having to suppress a moan when taking a bite from it. Not even minding that she once again hit her elbow on the railing, nothing new for her anyway.

The night at the hospital was rather tranquil, at least compared to the workload during daytime, and she had time to go back to her paper work.

So much paper work..

It was her own fault, though, volunteering to assist her supervisor in a presentation about pulmonalis purpura but she needed these bonus points. Extra tasks like these always earned them bonus points, credits and also looked great on a CV after graduation.

With a sigh, she unwrapped the last piece of the protein bar when muffled voices disrupted the peaceful silence, coming from the direction of the parking lot.

Her eyes tried to find the source when spotting two young men with a third one between them, his arms draped around their shoulders as they carried him towards the entrance. And her eyes shot open when realising the one in the middle was beinf practically dragged, seemingly unconscious.

Stuffing the rest of the bar into her mouth and shoving the wrapper into her pocket, her instinct kicked in, despite being still in training, and she rushed towards them. Immediatelly spotting the dark liquid on the side of the guy's face from up-close.

"What happened?" she asked after swallowing the rest of her midnight snack.

The other young men struggled to answer and she decided to press one more time.

"There was a.. minor explosion. Something hit his head," one of them finally answered and she nodded. A possible concussion, she concluded. "Ok, we'll take care. I'll call the attending phy-"

"No!" the other, rounder-faced guy exclaimed with evident panic in his voice, taking her aback. The second guy quickly taking over with an uneasy smile. 

"Look, Doc, we'd prefer if that stayed between us. You see.." He chuckled lightly, his lips curving into a smile that could convince anyone to anything. And Cassandra's guard went down for a second. "..people are looking for us. Not that nice people." His eyes giving her a look of appeal. "So we'd appreciate it if you took care of our friend in.. let's say, secret."

She folded her arms then in an attempt to look confident, when really all she felt was nervous. If she understood the signs correctly, these guys knew the hospital stuff had to inform police about a potential explosion-injury and they clearly didn't want that. Meaning something was off about them.

They might be looking quite young, around her age or a bit older with way too friendly looking faces to be mobsters, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

She was afraid of them trying to intimidate her in some way. The pure possibility making her heart anxiously beating faster.

Much to her surprise, however, their expressions softened instead and genuine concern was written all over their flustered faces.

"Please, don't inform the cops about our friend."

He wasn't demanding it, he was asking or rather pleading for it. And frankly, Cassandra hadn't expected that.

Clenching her jaw, she swallowed.

It wasn't a warning her gut sent her. No, it wasn't trying warning her of potential danger. And yet, she could tell they still were trouble. That she was sure of.

However, their request went beyond her responsibility. She was a mere intern. She knew she should persist onto calling one of the attending doctors. Or even an assistant one. Or at least a nurse. Literally anyone with an actual medical license. 

Her eyes fell onto the unconscious one of the three then. And the fresh blood gracing his temple and cheek under the fringe that was covering his closed eyes. He definitely couldn't wait any longer for medical attention. Who knew how long he d been unconscious. The longer they waited, the severer the potential damage.

"If I don't accept you'll try at another hospital, right?"

"Most likely," his friend replied with a bashful, almost apologetic smile.

Exhaling deeply, she released her arms and let them fall onto her sides. "Alright, but if it's something I can't handle you will let me call for additional medical stuff."

"We-"

"That's non-negotiable. Otherwise good luck trying finding another idiot like me who's willing to help you. And while driving around town to look for one, your friend might bleed out or worse."

She was exaggarrating of course, even with no license yet, she could tell it was probably just a mere concussion and laceration with no actual threat of bleeding out. Although the unconsciousness was worrisome. So she bluffed in hopes they'd agree.

And seeing them exchanging an uncertain look, it looked like it worked.

The one with the charming smile glanced at their friend who they were propping up, feeling his weight growing heavier by the minute.

"Tough negotiation but okay."

Content and a little proud of herself, she nodded and started walking towards the emergency room entrance. Waving them over her shoulder. "Let me check if the coast's clear."

With an uneasy feeling, she went inside. Seeing no one but a man with an icepack on his shoulder in the waiting area. He was facing the wall, back turned towards the entrance. Meanwhile, the nurse on duty was currently nowhere in sight, missing from her position behind the glass of the counter. Having probably gone to the restroom or to get something.

Cassandra huffed internally. Not understanding why there weren't two people on duty in case someone with a serious emergency came in and wouldn't find anyone. But right now it was practical in her case, so she didn't complain about the buget cutbacks.

Giving the waiting guys a sign, they quickly followed her in. Passing by the man who didn't really pay attention anyway, preoccupied by his own injury, and hushed past the counter and through the double door. 

She led them to one of the currently empty exam rooms, watching them carrying the unconscious man to the examination table. And she pulled out her small flashlight, opening his eyelids to check the pupil's reaction. 

Normal, thankfully.

No indication for increased cranial pressure. So far medical stuff wasn't needed. Or well, they would be but not necessary yet, since these guys wanted to go undocumented.

She untangled her stethoscope then, making sure his cardiac cycle was normal as well. 

The patient was stable, but still unconscious. 

She couldn't, however, perform a CT scan, MRI or any other medical test - neither had she learned how nor was she qualified yet. So she decided to proceed with trying to make him gain consciousness. And if he didn't react, then she'd persist in calling an actual physician.

Remembering her training so far, next in line was inducing different stimuli like tactile. So she began applying light pressure to his face like the eyebrow bone or the jaw joint to cause adequate discomfort. Observing his features turning into a grimace of annoyance, indicating he felt the pressure. Good. She firmly pressed his knuckles up and down the sternum then, his fingers contracting.

"What's his name?" Her sudden question pulling the other two out of their absentmindness while watching her perform.

"Huh?"

"His name. Start speaking to him for verbal stimulus to help him gain conscience."

Seemingly hesistant first, the silent one with the rounder face and smaller eyes spoke up then. "Taehyung. It's Taehyung."

"Taehyung," she repeated firmly, tapping Taehyung's cheek just the right amount of harsh to ensure he felt it for a noxious stimulus, "Can you hear me?"

His head moved away from her touch, the expression on his face shifting to a frown when a whine of pain left his lips. "Hey, come on, wake up. Your friends here are worried!" 

She was about to give his cheek another light slap, when she got stopped mid-air by his hand gripping her wrist firmly.

His eyes shot open then. And a pair of mesmerizing dark irises suddenly stared back at hers, causing Cassandra to freeze.

She knew it was medically impossible to knock someone's breath out of their lungs. And yet, in this moment she wondered if it was possible to develop at least a sudden dyspnea - a shortness of breath - without any prior cause or trauma at all, just by locking gazes with someone.

Their eyes were of similar colour, it was the first thing he noted. The very first thought that crossed his mind. The same deep brown shade as his own, and yet so very different. He didn't think ever seeing more beautiful warm brown eyes than hers before. As though he was looking at her through the sight of a sniper rifle, zoomed in all the way, the world pausing for that tiny span of time between the pressing and release of the trigger.

They held each other's gaze for a second longer, until the sense of his throbbing head caught him out and he had to screw his eyes back shut from the pain. Letting go of her wrist.

At this, Cassandra blinked and took a step back, her blank mind slowly getting flooded with thoughts again. 

His friend approached then, giving Taehyung a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. "Hey man, you hear us?"

With a scrunching face, a light groan escaped his lips. "Yoongi?"

"And Jimin!" the other one chirped in, shoving Yoongi away in excitement, "You're awake!"

Another groan followed.

The young men started talking energetically, relieved and happy seeing their friend having gained his consciousness again, not noticing Cassandra standing there. For some reason unable averting her eyes from Taehyung.

She had been so focused on making him gain consciousness again without screwing up, she hadn't paid attention to anything else. But ever since seeing his wide almond eyes, something had shifted. And she felt herself breathing irregularly.

Blinking her eyes repeatedly, she forced herself to eventually look away and re-focus on his treatment. 

Patient was conscious again, that was good. This meant she could pay attention to the source of the blood now. 

"Would you step back and let me check his wound?" she quietly asked then. Jimin and Yoongi immediately obeying and giving her space. Taehyung blinked an eye open through the throbbing when hearing her voice.

"How do you feel? Are you fully awake now?" she carefully asked him then, avoiding his eyes the best she could while inspecting the cut at his hairline.

"Yeah.. but I wished I wasn't. My head is.. aching pretty badly."

"That's normal." She couldn't legally give him anything but Ibuprofen 400, perhaps there was some in one of the cabinets. She'd check later. Right now some other things were more important. "Do you remember anything? I mean, do you know your name, age and what happened?"

"You're asking if I got amnesia? I don't," he said with a hollow laugh. Eyes closing shut again.

She hummed, grabbing a pair of disposible gloves from the counter. "Where am I though?"

"The hospital," Jimin explained with a sigh of disapproval. "You didn't leave us much of a choice, man. You were unconscious and had blood on your face. Like.. damn. For a second I was actually scared."

Taehyung snickered tiredly at his friend's whining, attempting to prop himself up when Yoongi pushed him back down. "Just lay down for a moment, you were out of it for quite some time."

Pushing his hand away when his face contorted due to another wave of pain. "I'm fine, don't worry."

"You don't look like that though."

"Listen to your friend." Cassandra's stern voice making him perk up. "And besides, you probably need some stitches first."

"And you are..?"

"Cassandra," she said unfazed while holding up a sterilized needle. Motioning to the other two who had huddled over him in the short moment she prepared her stitching utensils, "Now, if you could move, please."

"No offence but.. how old are you?" Yoongi asked then with sharp eyes narrowing at her. He had noticed her young-looking face before as well, but he hadn't cared much back then considering Taehyung's condition. Now, however, she was holding a needle in her hands, about to patch up his younger friend.

The crease between her brows deepened. "Turning twenty-three soon, why?"

"Are you even a doctor?"

She straightened herself as she took a few steps closer to the actual patient among the three, the one on the bed with the laceration.

"Oh, now you suddenly care?" Her lips tucked into a sarcastic smirk aimed at him, seeing him fold his lips. "I am an intern - if you must know."

"So technically n-"

"God, Yoongi, who cares?" the injured one scowled, followed by a groan, "I'm dying here! Just let her do her thing already!"

"Aw, don't be so dramatic, you won't die," Jimin rolled his eyes. Launching for a pat on the shoulder before remembering Taehyung was in pain. 

His attention turned to Cassandra then. It wasn't the first time she had to encounter overly noisy and worried relatives. With her signature smile that was more a habit of politeness, but which she genuinely felt like doing when seeing Jimin's friendly face, she nodded. Trying to reassure them that yes, he wouldn't die.

"I'll take care of it," she said then. The two standing guys exchanged a glance, looking down at their friend who was screwing shut his eyes.

"You sure you can handle that?" Yoongi asked, this time his voice holding genuine concern as he peeked down at Taehyung.

"Yeah, don't worry. My orange was the best stitched one, so I'm pretty confident," she waved them off.

Her proud announcement only earning her puzzled looks from them though. "Orange?"

She nodded with a wide grin. "Yeah, one of the senior surgeons showed us how to do stitches and we practiced on oranges. And mine was the best."

Yoongi couldn't help but look at her in disbelief. "Are you for rea-" 

Not letting him complete his sentence, Jimin began pushing him aside. "We're gonna let you do your job now, don't worry." Cassandra didn't miss Yoongi suppressing a wince on his face, but she brushed it off in that moment. Letting out a breath.

"Don't mind them, they're noisy but mean no harm."

She turned around, facing her actual patient who was flashing her a weak smile before his face turned into a grimace once again. And she gave him an apologetic smile.

"Grit your teeth, okay? It'll sting."

He only inhaled deeply and nodded. Allowing her to clean the wound and apply an antisepticum, making him flinch as expected, before she got to work on the actual stitches. As she had done the first one, she cleared her throat. Peeking at him nervously. After all, this was the closest she'd ever been to him. And she also pitied him. Doing this without a local anaestheticum was most likely very uncomfortable.

"So.." she began and felt his smile on her.

"It's Taehyung-" He paused, she assumed because of the wound. Not noticing him nervously folding his lips.

"Yeah, I know," she smiled absentmindedly, focusing on stitching which was a whole lot more nerve-wrecking when two other pair of eyes were staring at her from above. Definitely didn't have that issue when it was only an orange. She huffed a laugh then, peeking at the two who quickly retreated to the far back. "Shouldn't you guys actually use pseudonyms in front of a stranger like me?"

"Oh, should we?" Taehyung weakly grinned.

She shrugged with a shippish smirk. "You clearly are on the run, considering your friends wouldn't let me inform anyone about you. Who knows, I might still get the cops.."

"Nah. You won't." He said it so matter-of-factly that it astonished her quite a lot, the faith he had in a stranger like her.

"Why not?"

Jimin appeared next to her all of a sudden and stooped down to tilt his head at her with his award-winning smile. "'Cause we trust you, so you wouldn't do it. Right?"

"Trusting a stranger, huh," she giggled more to herself than anything, focusing back on the stitches. "Isn't that quite naive?"

Unexpectedly, he laughed out at this, bemused instead of feeling offended.

"You must know," Yoongi spoke up then with a crooked grin, motioning his chin to Jimin, "He's pretty good in analysing and looking through people. So if he deems you trustworthy, you most likely are."

"He's right," Taehyung mumbled. Unable to add much more due to the additional stinging he felt from the needle, as if his headache wasn't enough.

In all honesty, if he had it his way, he'd have preferred lying to her.

Not that he wouldn't feel bad. She seemed nice after all, but she had a point. It was risky revealing real names. Not only for them but also for her.

And it was already bad enough Jimin and Yoongi had to bring him to the ER because he'd got injured like an amateur. Risking them getting caught because of his own mistake.

And her, an innocent bystander, knowing would probably cause more trouble. However, he also understood why they had to let her in to some degree. Right now, they depended on her help after all.

Cassandra only gave him a brief glance and hummed before quietly continuing the stitches.

She tried being trustworthy, but did she also look so trustworthy for strangers to include her in their secrets? Did she perhaps seem too trustworthy?

"You're an intern. So.. a student, huh?" he began then in an attempt to distract her mind in case it was still lingering over the cause of his injury.

"Yup, doing one of my internships right now," she explained, not minding the little exchange.

Frankly, she hadn't chosen that path for the prestige or money. She was one of the few ones in her year who genuinely did it for helping people. And therefore, she didn't mind interacting and talking with patients. Especially not cute ones with big brown eyes and an endearing smile. Those were pretty rare, at least in her two months there. And someone with a potentially questionable lifestyle - considering he got involved in explosions and had 'not nice people' being after him on top of it? No, that definitely didn't happen every day.

The stitches were done and she cut the thread before applying an adhesive plaster on the wound. She got up then, about to remove the gloves when she caught a better view of the other two. Only now taking an actual closer look on them with her not being on alert anymore because of Taehyung. In the hospital lights and without any distractions, she saw they didn't look too good either. Clothes torn on the edges, abrasions and splashes of blood gracing their skin.

"Are you guys injured as well?"

They shook their heads.

"Nah, just some scratches," Jimin ensured her, while Yoongi remained quiet in his seat on the chair at the corner of the room. She eyed him suspiciously as she noticed he had been absentmindedly rubbing his right shoulder until he caught her narrowed eyes on him. Making him squint his eyes in irritation.

"Is something on my face?" he tried joking, his laugh quickly dropping when she stepped in front of him. Her face softened then and she shook her head.

"No, no.. just, would you be so nice and get me that box of gauze from the shelf up there? I'm too short to reach these shelves."

He followed the direction her finger pointed at and nodded, not questioning why she wouldn't ask Jimin who was already standing. Getting up instead to walk to said shelf. As his right arm stretched for the gauze, however, he abruptly stopped. Jaw clenching. He lowered the arm again slowly, only to face her with a forced smile.

"That one, yeah?"

She nodded. Her lips tucked into an innocent smile as she anticipated his next move. And he reached out again, but with his other arm this time instead.

Caught you.

"Here ya go- ouchh!" The box almost slipped from his grip as his muscles jerked away from her finger pressing onto his shoulder. Turning around, he came across her knowing look.

"You're also injured, aren't you?"

"Wh-"

Taehyung and Jimin's eyes grew wide when observing the scene. Understanding now how her request was on purpose. And yet, they remained confused on how she had actually noticed in such a short time.

"What? You're also injured?" Jimin questioned then with worried eyes, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Am no- Ouch! Can you stop doing that?" Yoongi whined and stared bewildered at Cassandra as she had pressed it again.

"Just let her take a look already."

He only let out a quiet grump at Taehyung's suggestion. A look of defeat crossing his features then as he saw Cassandra's victorious smile. "Fine."

Unbuttoning his shirt, he pushed off the fabric to reveal the shoulder. The shirt was black so no one had noticed the dried blood from the lengthy cut. 

"The fck."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

He gritted his teeth, looking away in shame. "It's nothing."

"That's not nothing," Cassandra huffed at his light description of an already inflamed puncture, shaking her head in disapproval as she prepared a new thread. Pushing him into taking a seat again. "I doubt that one was also caused by an explosion," she said as she began cleaning the wound and Yoongi avoided their concerned eyes.

"No, that one isn't from tonight. It's.. whatever. I was distracted for a second. That's all." 

Truth was he'd got distracted over a backfire two days ago. He hadn't fully paid attention to his surroundings, something that never happened, and one of those jerks from a local gang had taken advantage of it. Mainly Yoongi's ego and pride felt bruised, if anything.

Finishing those stitches up as well, she pressed a tube of antibiotic gel into his chest, which he hesitantly accepted with a raised brow. And she finally removed the gloves.

"Next time you get stabbed you'll get immediate treatment, got it?" Her tone was stern and lecturing, remininiscent of a mother's and Yoongi had to stifle a chuckle. Biting back any sarcasm threatening to leave his lips and smiled at the shorter woman. "Sure, 'Doc'."

She nodded contently. Whether he genuinely meant it or not, she didn't care. Facing the other two then who had watched in amusement as their older friend got scolded.

After rummaging through the drawers, she managed finding a pack of nonprescriptive painkillers, which she handed to Taehyung as well. Receiving a bashful 'thank you' from them all.

"And no more explosions, alright?" Her voice softer now as she smirked. "Heard they're dangerous."

The three men exchanged a look then. And they grinned. "Explosion? Did we say that?"

Cassandra frowned, irritated by their grins. "Uh, yeah, you.."

"Are you sure we did?"

A look of appeal in their eyes as they tried emphasising Taehyung's question.

And her brows rose, beginning to understand. She pursed her lips, huffing out a laugh eventually.

Her pager went off then, her supervisor probably wondering where she had wandered off. Sighing, she slipped it back in.

"Whatever. You can stay here for a couple of hours to ensure your friend is completely fine, if you want. But just so you know, if any stuff members catch you here, you don't know me. Alright?"

"Never seen your pretty face before, got it," Jimin winked and she felt her cheeks heating at his unexpected compliment. She coughed then, straightening herself. "G-good."

Taehyung only groaned annoyed, before chunking down two pills from the pack. "Stop flirting with every woman and let her go already."

"Alright, alright, releasing you from your duty now," he chuckled, flashing her a smile, "Thank you again."

She reciprocated Jimin's smile and with that, she left the room after ensuring the corridors were empty and no one saw her.

As she made her way to the ground floor, she already laid out a perfect explanation in case someone did catch these guys and found out she, an intern, helped them without notifying any medical stuff or official documentation.

She'd simply say they threatened her. Yes, the perfect explanation why she had done it. There wasn't any other option left for her after all without facing severe consequences for her studies and future.

It wasn't too far from reality anyway. Sure, they hadn't actually threatened her. But they could've, in case they were petty-criminals or worse.

Shaking her head, she laughed at her paranoid self. Realising it wasn't like she'd done something ethically or morally bad by treating them. Sure, she hadn't graduated yet but as an aspiring doctor she also honoured the principles of medical confidentiality and non-maleficence. 

With a deep breath, she calmed her rising anxiety before entering the staff room where her supervisor had called her to. Reminding herself that even if everything came crushing down, she was just an intern with no legal responsibilities.

Thankfully the reason her supervisor had called was to assign Cassandra to another task. To keep an eye on an operated patient who needed to be checked every few hours and notify her if needed.

So the young medical student made her way back to the elevator across the entrance area to head to the patient's floor, looking forward to the rest of her night being uneventful. Her eyes catching three men standing at the reception then.

Their attire sparkling her interest more than anything as it was the opposite of how the three lads downstairs at the ER looked like. Long coats over what seemed to be suits, neatly combed back hair and their tone serious as they spoke in a hushed voice to the receptionist.

Not paying any more attention, she headed to the vending machine, deciding to get a chocolate bar first for some extra energy when the men left through the double doors behind the reception. Her eyes narrowed while following their hasty steps. Perhaps she was just high off the adrenaline of doing something basically illigal, but without hesitation and a lot of curiosity she walked up to the receptionist.

"Who were they? They look important."

The receptionist, a woman in her early thirties, glanced around as if to make sure no one would eavesdrop before she bent over with a bored expression.

"Cops or something. I didn't quite understand, to be honest."

Cassandra's heartbeat dropped at this. "C-cops?"

"I don't know, yes and no? They said something about interpol."

Fck. She tried her best not to let the woman notice her panic. "What would they want here?"

The woman leaned back into her chair. "They're looking for some criminal, I guess. Were asking if any young korean men with brown hair and eyes got possibly committed here tonight."

"I see.. And what did you tell them?"

"There wasn't anyone in the system committed tonight who fits the age or description," she sheepishly laughed out. "And I didn't recognise the name or photo they showed me, either. So they said they'd check themselves."

Check themselves? Did they plan to go to every station and look into every room?

"That's.. interesting." Cassandra faked a laugh and then pretended going back to the vending machine only to hurriedly enter through the door beside it to the staircase.

That wasn't good, not good at all. Interpol? She thought some goons or maybe the cops would be after them tops. But interpol? That was international. That was way bigger than local police.

She sprinted down the stairs to the lower level where ER was located as fast as she'd ever sprinted in her life, reaching the bottom completely panting but still pushing through and making her way through the station. Tripping over her own fit and even bumping her shoulder at a corner out of hurry. She sneaked her way past the nurse station then, the nurse having returned by now but luckily preoccupied with organising some files.

So far no sight of the interpol agents. She genuinely hoped the guys had already left the room and were long gone. But when she opened the door was greeted by three familiar and startled pairs of eyes.

With a swift moved she shut the door behind her, pressing her body against it with heavy breaths.

"Some interpol agents were asking about recently hospitalised young korean men with brown hair and eyes. You don't think that sounds familiar, do you?"

Taehyung's thick brows rose and he swallowed hard. An apologetical grin playing on his lips then. "Well, you see.. funny story.." His hand went to scratch the back of his neck nervously. Unable to come up with a decent explanation to why an interpol agent was in search for someone looking like him. The only logical sounding thing his mind could come up with was that it was a simple coincidence, but something told him she was way too smart to fall for such an obvious lie.

Much to his relief Jimin took over instead. "Was one of them tall with broad shoulders and a trenchcoat?"

"Well, y-yeah. I guess? Don't they all look like this?"

"Hm, was he also handsome?"

She blinked, taken aback by their seemingly apathy of the situation. Shouldn't they be worried? Appalled even? "I don't know, I didn't see any faces. You know him?"

"Well," Jimin mused, "If he's tall, handsome with broad shoulder and a coat, it's pops."

"'Pops'?!" Confusion was quickly replaced with bewilderment on her face.

Taehyung rolled his eyes, sighing. "Agent Kim Seokjin, one of the interpol agents assigned to us. We.." His voice trailed off, as he was fidgeting around his words. "We.."

They all grew quiet, uncertain glances being exchanged between them and Cassandra slowly became fed up with their secrecy. Her head spinning by now.

With quick steps she stood in front of Taehyung who was avoiding her inquiring glare. She propped her hands on either side of him on the bed as she leaned in with a look so eery and penetrating that evoked a gulp from him.

"We're thieves," Yoongi deadpanned then from behind her, so casually as if he had just announced they were common vendors. "We work internationally, that's why interpol is after us."

Jimin only sighed in defeat and nodded, followed by a light chuckle. "Cat's out of the bag now I guess."

Her brows arched at this.

Thieves. Actual thieves?  

They didn't look like it. They might be lying, but then again, how would she know what thieves looked like. 

Without letting her guard down, she instead narrowed her eyes at Taehyung in front of her who was giving her an insecure grin.

"If you don't want me to go up there and tell the interpol guys about you, you better tell me the whole story."

Yoongi clicked his tongue. "Why does it matter?" he wondered out loud, folding his arms.

"So I can determine what kind of thieves you are."

They were stunned by her confident attitude and he eventually nodded with a sense of respect towards her. "Alright, just tell her then," he said, motioning to Taehyung who was still quite perplexed by her fierce eyes staring daggers at his. "She'll read it tomorrow in the papers anyway."

"And don't even think about lying," Cassandra whispered, her face mere centimetres away from Taehyung's. "I got a sixth sense for that."

She didn't and Taehyung could tell her bluff, but he still decided to be honest with her. He didn't know why, but when she glared at him with those big angry eyes, trying to look intimidating but failing miserably and instead looking adorable as hell, he melted just a little bit and wanted to tell her anything she wanted.

"Ok, fine," he groaned in pretend-annoyance, looking away, "We're thieves, you know this much. We broke into the archive of an auction house to get an illegally-obtained figurine. But a gang that was also after it, showed up and one of these idiots triggered the alarm system. We escaped, but - again, those guys were brainless - they shot at us, we shot back. And one of their bullets hit the building's gas line then."

She inhaled sharply. "That caused the explosion.."

He gave her a nod, sighing. "And something hit my head.. and that's how we ended up here. Satisfied?"

She ponded over his words. Glancing at him contemplating. "This figurine was.. illegally-obtained? By the auctioneers?"

"Yeah. They bought it off from someone who stole it from its actual owner. And we're helping her to get it back as it also has a high emotional value to her, besides the obvious monetary one."

She hummed. Again, this guy could be lying his head off for all she knew and yet, something inside her told her he was sincere by the way his eyes were looking straight at hers instead of avoiding them.

A figurine from an auction house. That.. wasn't too bad. Was it? It could be worse. They could've been stealing old people's money.

She was probably a naive idiot, but she believed him. At least she wanted to. And yet, she didn't want to get fooled that easily in case it was a lie after all, which most likely was the case.

"You might lie," she pressed as to ensure her gut feeling. But his expression remained persistent. Holding her glance with certainty. 

"I might. But I'm not."

"He told you the truth," Jimin smiled then, gently placing his hand on her shoulder and making her back away from his friend. "If you don't believe us, fair enough. Me and Yoongi can still escape with ease. But Taehyungie here wouldn't be able to due to his dizziness and headache. So I'll still beg you not to inform pops."

She was an idiot, most clearly because to her they sounded sincere and it even warmed her heart a little how much they cared for their friend. Indeed, they could easily escape. They didn't even have to bring Taehyung there in the first place, it was a potential risk and yet they'd done it.

That told her enough about them for now.

She might regret it later on. Maybe the next day. Maybe in a week. A year. Who knew what consequences her complicity tonight might have.

But then again.. she was just a medical student doing one of her many internships there. She didn't have any responsibilities.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the bed and looked at the anticipating guys.

"Alright, follow me," she plainly said then, observing their postures relaxing.

"You won't snitch on us?" Yoongi asked, brow arching in doubt. Caution evident in his voice.

She rolled her eyes with a little giggle. "I'll probably regret it, but no. I'll try my best to keep your little secret between us. But perhaps you wanna change these clothes.." She wagged her index finger at their partially torn, burnt and bloody attire. "If anyone else sees you, I can't promise they won't."

"And what would you suggest, Doc?" Taehyung asked then with a curious smirk, to which Cassandra could only shrug cheekily.

"I may have a plan."

»»»

next chapter: 0.1 here

Don't forget to like, reblog & leave feedback!♡ It motivates me to keep writing :)

taglist: @lilanyxta @memna234 @tetehion

[slowandsteddie]

Hi!

Since you’re asking for fic ideas, how about Claudia Henderson taking Steve in when he’s younger? She knows Wayne Munson got custody of his nephew the year before, so she asks him for advice helping Steve adjust.

Maybe Steve and Eddie getting to be close friends? Bonus points for little brother Dustin!

Thank you so much for the request! I love it and have been thinking about it nonstop.

CW: mentions of divorce, previous child neglect/abuse, C-PTSD, mention of minor character death (murder), swearing

I’m not sure what happened here exactly. I just know that I like it.

1953 words.

Claudia Henderson had always wanted two boys, a fact that almost everyone in Hawkins knew about. So, it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her that Jim Hopper was standing on her doorstep. He was holding his hat in front of him and the look on his face proved that he knew he was probably going to ask too much. Again.

“How can I help you, Chief?” She asked as though she couldn’t see Steve Harrington sitting in Hop’s car and looking straight ahead.

He cleared his throat. “I need to watch over the kid for a few days. Maybe a week while we try to get ahold of some relatives.”

Jim never was one to beat around the bush, but neither was Claudia. “Why?”

“His father is… going away for a while.” He seemed uncomfortable.

“Why?” She repeated, subconsciously crossing her arms when she had to press for more answers. He came to her for a favor, she had every reason to demand answers.

“He killed his wife and the kid has nowhere else to go in the meantime. I don’t want to have to hold him in a cell just because we don’t have a child services division in this small town.”

“Sorry we aren’t New York, Chief.” She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. That poor kid. Did he see what happened? Was she going to have to take him into the station to answer questions in the morning? “Does he have anything with him?”

“Just some clothes. He didn’t really want anything out of that house.”

She sighed again at that. “Bring him, then.”

Tomorrow, she was going to see if he wanted to go to the store and get anything. Probably best to keep him busy if he was willing. Besides, she needed to take Dustin to go pick out a new coloring book anyway.

Claudia looked out through the darkness and gave herself a moment to mourn, though not to cry. Steve’s mother had been her friend, even if they had drifted apart after Claudia’s divorce had gone through. Tonight couldn’t be about her. Not when her best friend’s son needed someone to take care of him.

“Thank you, Ms Henderson,” Hop said as he passed the backpack over to her and Steve stood on her doorstep.

He was so skinny. And was that bruising or shadows on his tiny face? That was a question she’d leave for the morning. Right now, he looked like he was about to collapse.

“I’m not doing it for you,” she replied before kneeling down to Steve’s level.

Hop took the opportunity to leave. The young male looked to him the same way a terrified boy would look for his father and Claudia made a note to reprimand the police chief later.

“Hi, Steve. I know this isn’t your home, but I want you to be comfortable here. Do you want to stay in the spare room tonight, or my room?”

He looked at her, wide eyed, as if she had a second head. “I get to choose?” He asked so softly and it broke her heart.

“You always have a choice here, Steve. As long as you stay safe and don’t hurt anyone.”

He chewed his lip and winced. It made Claudia lean more towards bruises than shadows, but it was hard to tell in the lighting and she wasn’t going to push. He had been through a lot.

“Spare room please,” Steve eventually decided.

Claudia made sure to show him where the kitchen and the bathroom were in case he needed anything. She also pointed out her own room being right across the hall before opening the door to the spare room for him. She did her best to make sure that he was as settled and comfortable as he was going to be under the circumstances. She stood in the door frame for a few seconds, holding on to it gently. She didn’t want to leave him, but he had requested to be alone.

“Anything you need, Steve. Just let me know. And Dustin might pester you in the morning if he wakes up before I do.”

“Okay,” he said simply.

Claudia went back to bed, leaving her door open. She really was going to have to call Wayne in the morning.

If Steve snuck into her room and laid on the floor beside her bed, she pretended not to notice.

—

“Wayne?” She was speaking a little lower than normal, but she did have two sleeping boys in her house and she was doing her best to keep it that way. “How did you help Eddie cope when he had to move in with you?”

“Why are you asking Claudia?” His voice was rough, but she knew him well enough to know that it was because he was tired.

“Have you heard about what happened at the Harrington’s yet?”

“You mean the murder?”

“I have Steve. Hop brought him to me last night,” she said in a rush before looking down the hall to make sure neither boy was going to sneak in on this conversation.

“Just make sure he feels safe and knows that things are going to happen at his speed, as much as possible. Have your limits and stick to them. Don’t let him push you over just because you know the hell he’s been through. And most important? Don’t try and be his Mama unless he asks you to.”

“Don’t have to worry about that last one. Hop said it should hopefully only be a week until they find some family willing to take him.” There was a tiny sniffle behind her. “Shit, Wayne. I gotta go. I’ll call you back tonight.”

When Claudia turned around, Steve was already disappearing back into the spare bedroom. The door closed with a soft click.

Shit.

“Mom, what’s for breakfast?” Dustin demanded as he walked out of his room and straight to the kitchen.

She’d check in on Steve soon. He probably needed a minute anyway.

“Pancakes sound good to you, Dusty?”

His toothless grin made her heart hurt.

How could anyone look at their child and feel anything but love?

—

It had been a few months and it seemed like Steve was staying. No one wanted to step up and take Steve. Honestly? Claudia wasn’t heartbroken about it. The longer he stayed, the more she loved him. She wasn’t fully convinced that she would let anyone take him away from her at this point. She wasn’t sure when she started looking at Steve as a son exactly, just that it happened quickly. Even Dustin, spoiled as he was, was excited to have an older kid in the house to hang out with. He said it made him seem cool to his friends that he suddenly found himself spending a lot more time with a Harrington. Whatever that meant.

She was just happy they were getting along. Happy that Steve was getting more comfortable with them. He was back up to a healthy weight, all the bruises were gone, and his injuries had turned to faded scars. Steve was safe. Most importantly, he was happy and loved. Claudia tried to not let it get to her that those were new feelings for the boy who previously only knew neglect or abuse at the hands of his biological parents.

—

Claudia woke up in the middle of the night, her heart pounding. What was that? A second thud had her throwing her covers back and running to the kitchen. The sight that greeted her would have made her laugh if Steve didn’t look so terrified.

Both boys were covered in flour. Honestly, the fact that most of the kitchen also had at least a thin dusting of the stuff was kind of impressive.

“What’s happening in here?” She asked with a smile.

Steve flinched and she tried to not let it get to her. He had to know by now that she would never hurt him, but the past doesn’t just go away like that.

“We were trying to make you a cake, but you put the flour too high and Steve wasn’t going to crawl on the counter. So I had to do it.” Dustin supplied after looking at the older kid and realizing that he wasn’t going to talk.

It happened a lot, Steve suddenly not talking. He also tended to leave the room a lot and hide in what had become his room. At least he felt safe enough to walk away now. He wasn’t walking away this time.

“It’s your birthday,” Steve said so softly. “It’s your birthday and you deserve a cake. I never got a cake.” His words got quieter as he kept talking, the last part of what he said barely audible.

“Oh, Steve,” Claudia’s heart was breaking. Shattering, really. “That’s really thoughtful of you, sweetheart. How about this? We clean up this mess and try again together? Yeah? Then I’ll move some stuff around so you can reach all the food in this kitchen.”

His eyes were shiny with unshed tears as the fear on his face gave way to a shy smile. “Okay,” he said simply.

And that was that.

—

Claudia was flustered.

She had been talking to Wayne a lot lately because he could relate to what she was going through. Taking in a kid who had nowhere else to go.

Somehow, that translated into them going out for dinner or lunch a few times to talk in person. To complain about the hardships and brag about the worthy things respectively.

That turned into her actually asking him on a date. Even more surprisingly, he agreed! Even though she knew he wouldn’t care, she was dressed in her absolute best and even took the time to tame her wild hair.

When there was a knock on the door, she was quick to answer it before Steve or Dustin had a chance. What she saw took her breath away. Wayne had put an effort in as well, and he was even holding a bouquet of flowers. Her cheeks heated and she smiled widely.

“They’re beautiful,” she breathed.

“You’re beautiful,” Wayne replied.

“Come in, come in,” she insisted as she stepped out of the way. When she saw Eddie, she smiled at him as well. “Thank you for agreeing to babysit my kiddos for me.”

Eddie grinned. “Uncle Wayne said he’d get me an Iron Maiden cassette.” Then he was running off to Dustin’s room, following the sound of laughter.

Claudia laughed softly before returning her attention to Wayne.

He shrugged. “Flattery and bribery get you everywhere with that boy,” he joked before going to grab a vase to put the flowers in.

Obviously he had been around the house a few times and paid attention to where she put things. Briefly, Claudia pictured Wayne and Eddie moving in - in the future.

It wasn’t a bad thought.

—

When they got back, Claudia was greeted by an adorable sight. Dustin was asleep, spread across the couch. Eddie and Steve were cuddled up in the recliner. Of course Dustin would claim the couch for himself and make two people share the smaller seat.

“Let’s not wake them just yet,” she said softly after a moment. “I’ve never seen Steve look so relaxed.”

Wayne had no objections. “Let’s put a note on the coffee table and then head to the backyard?”

Claudia had no objections, either. She scrawled out something on a piece of paper that was on the table already before leading the way outside. They sat on the outside loveseat, their knees touching.

Everyone was going to be spending a lot more time together. She just knew it.

[ronearoundblindly]

🧙‍♀️- which witch is which: send someone kinks/tropes and some babes and let them synch them up

Tropes and kinks- Mob AU, A disaster that turns out good, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Masturbation, Finding your crush naked in bed, Cock worshipping.

Babes of choice-

Add more characters if you want!

Full disclosure: I would never pick Mob AU...but Lloyd would be the only character I could see it for.

Now, to the real options!!!

If you couldn't tell from the ask, this will not be a safe post for minors. Warnings for some smutty talk/innuendo.

Finding Steve Rogers naked in bed...

Hazard of wearing a skin-tight suit, Stevie much prefers to be naked at home (or just not working)--well, naked in a bedroom, minimally dressed everywhere else in a house/apartment/hotel room. He doesn't even mean it to be sexy; he just can't stand all the restriction all the time. Steve is most-often found laying face-down on the bed anyway, and no, not with the intention of showing off his ass. It's because he's "resting his eyes" like an old fart. (This, however, does not rule out some fooling around if you're into it. His eyes can rest while he blindly, yet deftly, gropes at your body.)

Joke about his tiny-Ts all you want, but that fabric is nothing compared to padding, leather, and kevlar.

Steve is also a secret whore for air conditioning. He is the reason that thermostat can go so low. He wants to be frozen to the point of needing all the fluffy, soft covers and you tucked up against him. People think the cold in general would be triggering for him, but that's mostly the combo of isolation, cold, and wet. Luckily, he doesn't need to give his muscles ice baths with the help of the serum.

Friend Andy Barber grows into more...

IDK, man, this guy is such a workaholic (hello, pot, meet kettle) that I see him finding a bond with a coworker or someone at least as dedicated to their work as he is. He's the type that tells himself he has no time for romance yet inadvertently spends long nights and some weekends 'working'--which he does, he does do all that work. Andy just, ya know, grows feelings as his understanding of the case grows...

Apropos of nothing, y'all know how lawyers love a good argument...and therefore a good speech...and therefore I present to you my theory that Andy fucking loves you to take over in bed and talk dirty. It's just a thought. Yeah. I think he'd be really into that.

Disaster Ari Levinson turns out good...

Best laid plans of big, dumb jocks and all, Ari doesn't necessarily think things through, so his shenanigans often escalate way too far, too fast. No one really knows how he's survived this long. He's an adrenaline junkie, and you bet your ass he wants to impress when he's interested in someone.

What he actually planned undoubtedly goes horribly wrong, but somehow you still end up safely pinned between his body and the danger he created, panting out your 'thank you' and 'what the fuck' in breaths Ari steals. He's a messy, passionate kisser who lives a messy, passionate life.

Bonus: Mutual Masturbation with this guy ⬇️

I would be ashamed of anyone needing me to explain why.

[Main Masterlist; 'Who Would' Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[kaleldobrev]

Spitting Image

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Fem!Reader

Summary: You think Dean looks like one of your favorite characters. Dean on the other hand...doesn’t see the resemblance.

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: Cursing (5x), Insanely minor spoilers for S3 The Boys

Authors Note: I’m sure there’s someone that has done this already, but I wanted to write this because I believe Dean would probably be one of the biggest The Boys fans there ever was | I also just really love Soldier Boy and just need S4 | This is my first time using gifs throughout the fic so let me know if that’s something you like. I mainly did it so if you haven’t seen the show you know what scenes I’m referring to. But you don’t have to watch the show in order to read this | If you liked this, don’t forget to like & reblog. I really appreciate it! Feedback is always welcome ♡

When you and Dean first met three years ago, the two of you instantly clicked. It was a strange feeling for Dean at first, because the last time he had felt this kind of instant connection to someone, they turned out to be a siren; and he wasn’t about to fall for that again. Thankfully, because you too were a hunter, you had let him subject you to all the usual tests to prove that you weren’t some kind of monster. Silver, holy water, bearing your non-vampire teeth, and even showing off your anti-possession tattoo; the whole nine yards. Dean subjected himself to the same kind of tests as well, to prove to you that he was not a monster either. You had told him that he didn’t have to, that you believed him when he said that he wasn’t some kind of monster, but he did so anyway, without complaint.

Not only did the two of you share a passion for classic rock, Clint Eastwood movies, bacon cheeseburgers, and classic cars, you also shared a love of a tv show that barely anyone he knew, or you watched: The Boys. One of you, neither of you could really remember which of you had first mentioned it, but as soon as one of you did, it was like a light bulb went off. “Holy shit! You watch it too?” You had said. Not soon after that conversation, the two of you had started dating, which caused you to jokingly ask Dean, “Was me liking The Boys the final test if you were going to date me or not Winchester?” He remembered laughing at your comment. “No, I wanted to date you the moment I laid my eyes on you but, you liking the show did give you bonus points.”

Week One. Today was the day; the first three episodes of The Boys was going to be available to watch today, and you honestly couldn’t be more excited. “This is what I hate about tv shows now. One season is like five episodes, and then when it’s over, you have to wait another two or three years for the next season.” Dean started to complain, but you couldn’t help but agree with him. “Back in my day, you only had to wait like four or six months for the new season. Or, if it was a cartoon, the next week.” Dean continued. His, ‘back in my day’ comments only made you chuckle as you were only a few years younger than he was.

“Well, at least we can enjoy three episodes tonight, and then one each week for the next couple of weeks.” You said, trying to add some kind of positivity to the situation. Once you walked into the bedroom you shut the door behind you and started relying the list of quote-on-quote supplies that you needed for premiere night. “Okay, I got the popcorn, you got the beers. We’re both in our comfy lounging clothes. Is there anything else I’m missing?” You asked, making your way to yours and Dean’s shared bed. Dean was already sitting in bed with the remote in his hand, where he had already placed a beer on each nightstand – one for you and one for him.

As you stood at the side of the bed, Dean turned to look over at you with a small smirk on his lips. “Just for you to bring that ass over here with the popcorn.” Dean winked.

“You don’t have to ask me twice.” You replied, giving him a wink back before sitting next to him in bed; both of you sitting with your legs crossed. You placed the popcorn bowl in the middle so the two of you would be able to have easy access. Grabbing the remote that Dean had placed in front of you, you hovered your finger on the play button. “Ready?”

“I’m ready when you are Beautiful.” Dean said – you had never pressed the play button quicker your entire life.

As the two of you were watching the show, there was one scene in particular where you couldn’t help but raise a brow. Without any kind of warning to Dean, you pressed the pause button on a scene that showed a black and white photo of Soldier Boy and a group color photo of Payback. You did a double take just then, looking at the screen and looking at Dean. You couldn’t help but think that Dean looked like a spitting image of the actor that was playing Soldier Boy. After looking at Dean for a second time, he couldn’t help but look at you with a slightly confused, yet annoyed expression on his face. “Y/N, why’d you pause it?” He asked.

“You’re not…you’re not seeing this?” You asked, sounding slightly baffled.

“See what Sweetheart?” He voice sounding a bit more confused now.

You pointed at the screen, as if it should be obvious what he should be looking at. “You look exactly like Soldier Boy.”

Dean turned from looking at you to looking at the screen, eyeing the black and white picture of the man before him. He squinted his eyes, and unsquinted them just as quickly before looking back at you again. “What?”

With an annoyed huff, you got up from your spot on the bed and walked over to the screen so you can point at the picture. “You don’t see it?!” You questioned, amazed that Dean could not see the clear resemblance between him and the actor.

With a sigh, Dean got up from his spot; doing his best to humor you in the moment even though he knew for a fact that there was no way he remotely looked like the character. Getting up close to the screen he stared for a moment, doing his best to focus on the picture. “Nope. I don’t see it. I mean, the dude has a mask on.”

“Dean, that smile, clearly yours. And plus, I think I’ve seen you with a mask on plenty of times to know what you look like with a mask on.” You said. “Two words: Zorro roleplays.”

“I…” As soon as you said that, he looked back at the screen again. “No. I still don’t see it.”

“I honestly don’t know how you’re not seeing it! It’s like looking into a mirror!” Your frustration was starting to show in your voice. You walked back over to the bed and sat back down, Dean following your lead.

“I’m sorry Sweetheart. I’m just not seeing it.” Dean said. “Can we finish watching? We got two more episodes to watch tonight. And we’ve waited like a year and a half for this season.”

“Fine, fine…Soldier Boy.” You whispered the last two words, hoping that Dean didn’t hear you.

Dean’s head snapped to look in your direction. “What?”

“What?” You asked, almost too innocently for his liking.

“Did you…did you just call me Soldier Boy?” The way he asked, you knew for a fact that he had heard you.

You hesitated to answer for a moment. “No…”

Watching episode three was a struggle for you. It was so hard not to picture Dean now in the Soldier Boy scenes because of how much he looked and sounded so much like the actor playing him. “Fuck, you would look so good in that suit.” You whispered, barely audible as you watched a flashback scene taking place about what happened with Soldier Boy and his team when they were in Nicaragua with Grace Mallory.

“Say something Sweetheart?” Dean asked. You could see in your peripheral that Dean had his face looking toward you instead of having his eyes on the screen like you.

“Nope.” You turned to face him. “Why?”

“I thought…” Dean thought for a moment whether or not he was going to comment on what he thought he heard you say. Fuck, you would look so good in that suit. But decided that it would be best to play dumb for now; he didn’t want to bring up the weird argument you guys had during episode one. “Nevermind.”

Week Two. The next week rolled around, and it was time for episode four. “I can’t believe that the season is already halfway over.” You commented.

“Don’t know why they can’t do thirteen episodes like a normal show. None of this eight episodes crap.” Dean complained, doing his best to try and set the show up like you had showed him to do so many times before.

“Alright. As usual, I brought the popcorn, you got the beers, and we’re both in our comfy clothes. Anything else I’m missing?” You walked over to the bed, holding the giant bowl of extra buttered popcorn that Dean had requested.

“You sitting next to me.” Dean winked. “Come bring those soon to be insanely buttered fingers over here.” His comment made you laugh. “What’s so funny Gorgeous?”

You sat on the bed, taking your place next to your boyfriend, and looked at him with absolute awe. “You.” Was all you said before kissing him.

“Oh come on!” You said, pressing the pause button. “He even sounds like you when you sing!”

“What? That sounds nothing like me!” Dean exclaimed.

“Yes, it does. That’s exactly what you sound like when you sing.” You argued back.

“I-I’m not that bad. That guy –” Dean pointed the screen, “that guy sucks!”

“I’ve heard you sing Rapture by Blondie countless times. You sound exactly like that.” Although you had only known Dean for a short amount of time – three years to be exact – you have heard this man sing all the time. More often than you would have thought for someone like him. Between the long car rides, hearing him randomly sing when he’s in the shower or working on Baby; even at karaoke night down at the local bar when he’s had a few too many, you were far too familiar with his singing voice. Your boyfriend couldn’t really sing, but he enjoyed it. He wasn’t horrible, but he wasn’t necessarily the best either.

“I don’t sound like that! That guy right there? Clearly tone deaf.” Dean couldn’t believe what he was hearing right now. He knew for a fact that he wasn’t the best singer; he didn’t sing because he was good, he sang because he enjoyed it. “Are you calling me tone deaf?”

“What? No. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just saying, I honestly cannot understand how you don’t see or hear that you sound exactly like this guy.” In that moment, you felt an idea hit you. Pointing your finger at Dean you said, “You know what? I’m getting Sam. He’ll agree with me!” Getting out of bed you started making your way toward the door; Dean following close behind you. “Sammy!” You called out once opening the door.

“Y/N! No! We’re not getting Sam involved.” Dean said, a hint of frustration and slight annoyance in his voice.

You stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, turning around to face Dean who you almost collided with. “Cause you know I’m right!”

“What? No! I didn’t say that!” He pinched the bridge of his nose; there was a small part of him that didn’t believe that he was having this kind of quote-on- quote argument with you.

“Sammy!” You called again, practically marching your way down the hallway.

Sam came out of his room, which was pitch black; the only hint of light was coming from the flashing lights of the tv in his room. “Y/N? Everything okay?” Sam asked, partially stepping out of his bedroom.

“Okay. Me and Dean need a debate settled.” You began. “There’s this character on The Boys called Solider Boy and I honestly think he a spitting image of Dean. Even sounds like him. But Dean, can’t see it or hear it.”

“I think she’s wrong. Clearly.” Dean chimed in.

Sam looked at the two of you, almost in disbelief. He didn’t know what he was really expecting to be honest, you and Dean had gotten into all sorts of debates since you two have known each other; some of them more ridiculous than the previous one. In some ways, it almost reminded him of some of the debates him and Dean would get into. They were slightly childish, but also weirdly passionate when it came to their side of the argument. “Alright.” Sam rubbed his face. “Show me what you’re talking about.”

Back in yours and Dean’s room you had episodes three and four pulled up: the flashback scene that had quite a bit of Soldier Boy lines, and episode four where he sang Rapture. After the three of you watched both parts – Dean rolling his eyes 90% of the time; you turned to Sam waiting to hear him hopefully agreeing with you. “I mean…” Sam looked at the scene that you were paused on and looked at Dean and then back at the screen. “Kinda. Like, if you squint.” Sam finally said.

“Ha! I win!” You slapped the sides of your legs as Dean said that. His reaction about what you were expecting.

“No! No! He said if you squint! That’s different than a flat-out no.” You argued.

Week Six. It had been a couple of weeks since you and Dean had your weird argument – more like debate – about whether or not he did in fact look like the actor who played Soldier Boy. You were a firm believer that he in fact did, which you thought was a compliment because you had thought that the guy playing him was probably just as attractive as Dean was. But Dean on the other hand, was of the opinion that he did not look or sound remotely like the guy and could not believe that you could even compare the two. “It’s like comparing apples to rifles.” Dean had told you. “Dean, that doesn’t even make any sense.” You replied. “Exactly my point.” He said.

After the first couple of episodes, you had decided that it was best to not bring up the debate again, knowing that the two of you would never agree. It wasn’t the end of the world of course, but there was a part of you that still could not believe that Dean couldn’t see it. Even Sam; who you really thought was going to agree with you, really didn’t. You had thought that if anyone would agree with you, it would be him.

You were currently in the Bunker kitchen with your back leaning against the counter waiting for the popcorn to be done. You were doing your usual weekly routine where you were the one that made the popcorn and Dean was the one that gathered the beers for the two of you. As you were watching the seconds count down on the microwave you heard heavy boot steps coming into the kitchen; full well knowing that it was Dean. You had been living with the man long enough to know exactly what his footsteps had sounded like, and you were also aware that you and Dean had the Bunker all to yourselves tonight. What made it slightly strange though, is that his boots didn’t sound like the ones that he normally wore. “I was thinking, after we finish the finale tonight, we could go for a nice long walk.” You said as the microwave beeped. Taking the popcorn out of the microwave you turned to see Dean; your jaw dropping. “Son of a bitch. Where did you…How did you…” In front of you, Dean was in full Soldier Boy costume – minus the mask; you were impressed that he even had the shield.

“Uh, Charlie.” He almost seemed embarrassed. “I uh, I called her up a few weeks ago.” He walked into the kitchen more so he was now on the other side of the counter that you were currently behind.

“You…you asked Charlie to get you a…Soldier Boy costume…?” For one of the first times in your life you were utterly speechless. You and Dean had roleplayed before and have seen each other in some…interesting costumes, but for you, this took the cake, especially since you knew Dean thought he looked nothing like the man. You wondered what had changed his mind, or even if he did change his mind, and was just doing this to appease you.

Dean let out a small, slightly embarrassed chuckle. “Yeah.” He put the shield down on the counter. “I asked her to get it for me. Mainly…Mainly for you.” He mumbled the last couple of words, but they were still loud enough for you to hear. Your face lit up a bit at his comment. Even though he really disagreed with you that he looked nothing like the man, that didn’t mean he couldn’t indulge you in your fantasy; considering you have done that plenty of times for him, and well…he did have to agree with you on one thing: he did look pretty good in the costume.

“Well, I uh…” You walked around the counter and stood in front of Dean, placing your hand on his chest. “I’m definitely gonna have to send her a fruit basket cause…fuck.” You wrapped your arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around your waist. “You wouldn’t…You wouldn’t want to roleplay would you?”

Dean smirked, clicking his tongue. “Would I have to wear the costume the whole time?”

“Only for a bit.” You smiled.

[jo-harrington]

Gratia. (An As Above, So Below Story)

Gratia. Charitas. Solamen. Grace. Charity. Peace. The oath of the Knights of the Holy Order.

Summary: You and Eddie-- separated by time and endless suffering--don't realize how many strings keep you connected on the web of fate. What players are there trying to cut those strings? And when will you both find out that they are unbreakable?

Word Count: 2.1k

Pairing: Eddie Munson/Fem!OC (The Knight - Written in 2nd Person POV - You/Your - No Use of Names of Physical Descriptors)

Warnings/Themes: Soulmates, Kas!Eddie, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Grief, Minor Character Deaths, Manipulation, Transformation, Corruption, Supernatural Encounters, Religious Elements, Criticism of Religion, Biblical and Other Literary and Pop Culture References

Note: So...originally this was going to be one long thing. A tale about the Knight and Eddie and their unbreakable bond. And I wavered about how relevant it would be to the larger story. How relevant are any of these blurbs to the larger story? But if there's anything I've learned writing AASB, it's that I'm really writing the whole thing for myself. And after finding myself in an odd state of grief that kind of just keeps getting worse over the weekend, I know that this little fic...and the two that follow...really are only going to just be for me to help me get through it, so I need to be true to myself and write them anyway. **So if you do read this, please know it can be read in tandem with As Above, So Below. And you should have at least read the Prequels, with maybe some bonus points for Genesis. Iif you've read the Hymns, this is set before Nachzehrer.**

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

“God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh.” ― Voltaire

November 10, 1986

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you."

"She's not suffering anymore. Tranquilla."

"Thank you, I know. She's been sick for a long time. She's at rest now."

"Mom brought mostaccioli. And chicken cutlets. She's setting it up in the other room then she'll be over. You should get some, you need to eat."

"I'll be alright, thank you for coming."

Today was the final day that you would spend with your Nonna.

Well, a more accurate description was that they let you have it.

Let you.

Let you have one day to sit on that stiff funeral home sofa. To stare at her, unrecognizably still in her casket, as friends and neighbors swarmed to offer their condolences. To mourn with you.

But somehow also separately from you.

And tomorrow, after she was behind a cold slab of marble, you'd be off again. Creeping closer to your own death until one day you might be placed in a plot adjacent to her.

Together.

But not really.

If there was anything left of you.

It wouldn't do to think of that today though.

Today, you would sit here. Enjoy your break and bask in the remnants of her soul that still lingered in and around her body.

It brought you some comfort to feel it move the way she did.

It danced like she danced around the kitchen, the boundaries of it crinkling like the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth. A phantasmic remnant of her lovingly worried gaze was on you every now and again, creating the urge to say "I'm ok Nonnie." To lie to her, like you always did. And whenever one of her friends knelt their own aging bodies to pray at her side, you could practically see the softness of her cushion their jagged edges, comforting them.

You didn’t dare go up yourself though.

Not yet.

Not unless you wanted the Funeral Director to haul you out of the casket because somewhere deep down you just wanted to crawl into it with her and scream,

“Take me with you. Don’t leave me like I left you.”

Because you were not ok.

You closed your eyes as a phantom hand touched your shoulder, as it attempted to soothe the pain deep inside you but only managed to stir up another kind of pain. Another kind of mourning.

If only he was really there, you could ask him to take you with him too. Take you away from here to wherever he and Nonna would wait for you.

An impossible request.

The weight of the sofa shifted beside you and you opened your eyes. You expected to find Fortunata or Antoinette—two of Nonna’s closest friends who could claim a spot beside you if they truly wanted—but instead you found Gabriel’s stiff inhuman posture and expressionless face staring ahead of him at the casket.

“You could have helped her,” you said instead of a greeting. What good would a greeting do? “Healed her.”

You briefly wondered if you'd imagined the corner of his mouth quirking before he spoke.

“And if I told you I had? If I spared her a worse fate? Lessened her pain? Lessened yours?”

“I wouldn’t believe you.”

“Then I won’t tell you.”

You turned back to watch the casket with an unsatisfied hum.

Time passed and you sat silently together as you fought to keep your emotions in check with Gabriel's presence. You weren't nervous, per se; more annoyed. Angry, even. Questioning why he was here on this day out of all days.

All your life, you explained away his presence as a guardian. Unseen and unknown to everyone but you. He used to protect you or so you could recall, but as you got older that seemed to stop.

And he was more of a harbinger of doom than a deterrent of it.

Well, not doom.

Fate.

Or God's will or some shit like that. You didn't know anymore. Didn't care. You only cared about getting to the finish line. Freeing your soul of this curse. Getting your prize.

Heaven. Home. Peace with the ones you loved.

With Nonna.

With Eddie.

So if Gabriel was here, it meant something was about to happen. Something unsavory. Something...

You blinked and he disappeared from your peripheral vision suddenly, and just beyond the space he had previously occupied, stood a man in a black cassock.

Jinette approached you but you didn't give him the satisfaction of your attention until he said your name and offered his condolences.

"May I sit?" he gestured beside you.

"Seat's taken," you responded coldly.

"Ah, your mother, yes," he nodded in realization, and you watched him pull a chair up from one of the rows behind you.

You wouldn't be the one to tell him that your mother hadn't shown her face since you arrived back in Chicago late last night. She had done her duty, arranged the funeral and called you home. Beyond that her obligation was almost over; she could be free.

There had been a brief moment between the two of you when you let yourself into Nonna's flat and found her at the table surrounded by paperwork and old pictures, and you thought for the briefest second that this might be a turning point. That she might exhume whatever love she used to have for you, buried so deep in her heart, so you wouldn't have to mourn alone.

Instead she said she was sorry, then kissed your cheek and left.

And really you only had yourself to blame at the disappointment that punctuated the interaction. How could you have expected anything more than that when the bar was already set so low?

"California is a long way to come just for funeral rites," you said once Jinette was settled.

"I'm afraid that's not what I'm here for."

"Then to attend a funeral of a very devout woman," you amended.

"I'm not here for that either." You would give it to him, the remorse plastered on his features almost looked sincere. "Unfortunately, there is a very dire situation and the Order is in need of your experti--"

"No," you cut him off swiftly. "Tomorrow. You can ask me to go tomorrow. Not today."

The usual coldness of his gaze returned and he addressed you stiffly.

"You cannot refuse. Must not. This is your duty."

You turned to him, hand shooting from your lap of its own volition to grab his robe and pull him close enough that your noses practically touched.

The funeral goers around you began to murmur--your Nonna's friends whispering in fear and shame, saying a prayer to spare them of whatever wrath would befall you for defying and possibly harming his eminence--but you ignored them.

You knew you might pay for it later, but for now your rage was warranted.

"Don't lecture me about duty," you hissed at Jinette. "My entire life has been about duty. Her life too. If you want me to go? You'll beg me. Not guilt me. But I promise that the answer will still be no."

Something wicked flickered inside of you, and you wondered if you could smite Jinette. Just a little bit. If you could channel the deep-rooted grudge against your plight and let him feel the consequences that waited to befall someone who had nurtured it.

Then you felt a slight disturbance in the room.

The calm of Nonna's soul was shaken from its bliss, and you could practically hear the sharp, punishing clicks of her tongue as you fisted Jinette's robe tighter and tighter. The flame of the candles beside her casket flickered, the leaves on the flower arrangements that filled the room began to wilt, and the whispers around you got louder until they roared in your ears.

Your eyes burned with unshed tears as the feeling of Nonna's disappointment surrounded you--filled you--and you fought it for as long as you could.

But if anyone here was going to reprimand you in this room, in this world, it would be her.

You let Jinette go and fell back into the couch with your arms crossed tightly over your chest. He heaved several heavy breaths and patted his chest pathetically.

"Tomorrow," you told him as Nonna's soul and the murmurs of the people around you settled back down into a serene silence.

The tears finally fell after he left, and you closed your eyes as Eddie's ghostly touch softly wiped them away.

"Tomorrow..."

November 6, 1983

Twang.

He enjoyed it.

Twang.

Enjoyed plucking the guitar strings and letting the reverberation travel along his fingertips and into the very core of him.

Twang.

Deep down in that dark pit where you seemed to hide, every note was like a starburst of brightness and good feelings. Things so foreign and forgotten to him now, yet still so integral to Eddie Munson.

He wasn't Eddie anymore though.

So he resented the fact that he enjoyed it so much.

"Play something," you would whisper in those hidden depths, like a devil on his shoulder, and he constantly fought the temptation to follow that urge. "Play me a song, I know you know how."

He never gave in though.

Could never give in.

It was bad enough that he hid you from Henry, that he even listened to you at all. But feeling something--doing something--was better than feeling nothing in the boring, timeless eternal void of the Upside Down. So he would allow himself these brief visits to the trailer, he would tolerate your soft words and the ever-present softness of the ghost that seemed to haunt him here, so he could pluck a few twangs of the guitar strings and bask in the sparks of euphoria they would bring.

And it was enough. It had to be enough.

Then, when he got bored or hungry or irritated by you, away he would go again.

"I would argue that me being annoying is the reason you still keep me around."

He hissed at you and pulled his hands away from the guitar spitefully.

Twang.

He watched as one of the strings seemed to pluck itself and debated whether he could reach out and take a swipe at you, but there was a sudden pain beneath his sternum. Odd, seeing as he barely felt pain in this body now. He clicked his claws together contemplatively, then hesitantly rubbed at it to soothe the ache, and as he did, he felt the echoes of your soft sigh somewhere deep inside him.

He faltered for a moment, unsure if he should feel some sort of satisfaction that he had comforted you, or resentment that he had fallen for it.

He hated you. Hated your presence there. Hated that you were somehow here when you left him to this fate. Hated that you made him weak again when Henry had remade him to be strong. Infallible.

You might very well be his downfall one day.

And still he couldn't fathom being without you again.

He growled deeply and, unexpectedly, the trailer shook around him, walls clattering, remnants of knick knacks falling.

For a moment, he watched it in awe. Believed that he was the cause of it. That the power Henry had helped him unlock had been activated with his spite.

Until everything started to shake.

The Upside Down became unsettled, the very ground beneath him shifting with some seismic agitation. Roiling and churning, changing.

There was a cacophony of restlessness through the collective consciousness as all of the creatures of the Upside Down felt the disturbance. As Henry felt the disturbance and questioned its origin, because it had not been of his design.

Almost immediately, he was singled out amongst the masses, ordered to his Master's side.

Who else could find the cause of this turmoil than Henry's right hand? His loyal servant? The Beast he created to strike on his behalf, to herald in the end?

Eddie didn't hesitate.

He left the trailer and took flight swiftly and dutifully, beating his wings powerfully to get to Henry as quickly as he could.

To get away from you as quickly as he could.

You and your comfortable constant presence in the respite of the trailer.

“Do not be afraid. Our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift.” ― Dante Alighieri, Inferno

[bookbitchx]

Hello hello here's a lil rant about SJMs writing of Rhys and it driving me crazy :) (CC3 spoilers, ACOTAR spoilers, minor TOG spoilers)

I agree with your post that questions whether or not SJM was being purposeful when she created the dynamics of the IC and their allies. I personally think in order to determine if SJM is doing this purposefully its important to take all her books into account (especially with the crossover in CC3 😭 And because SJM's only finished series currently is TOG, most of my comparisons will involve that series)

I suspect that the IC's emotional journeys are still very far from over. Especially Rhys and Feyre since they have been arguing off page (which is understandable given it wasnt their POVs) and SJM purposefully included Ember Quinlan defending Nesta in the bonus chapter. Now each of these characters have VERY strong personalities, but Ember in particular comparing rhys to someone who abused her is EXTREMELY important for us as readers to note for future books. And i really hope that its because SJM is finally gonna let him be held accountable for being an ass towards his mate's sister and for meddling so much in their relationship.

Rhysand in particular out of all of the IC has probably the most potential for a good redemption arc. Hes traumatized by his families deaths and UTM in canon and it would be safe to assume his childhood in Windhaven wasn't exactly pleasant. So giving us the Archeron POVs to unpack these centuries old characters is bound to get messy due to their own lack of experience, (but it makes for good fan interaction, i see you sjm).

Rhys definitely has better intentions than the Highlords before him did, but he still has some iffy behavior that stems from needing to have control over his surroundings likely due to traumatic events where he felt powerless to save those he cares for. But that doesn't excuse the fact that he has (accidentally) hurt more people while trying to keep control. He withheld life saving info from his mate bc he didnt want her to worry, he threatened and chased Nesta from the city because she shared the info he was hiding, he stole the book from Tarquin despite the fact that he likely would have helped rhys anyway, he locked his IC in Velaris to protect them (when Amren could've solo'd anyone in UTM 🤫). All of which to me sounds like could be control issues.

Now for who I think is the closest character we have to really compare to Rhys, the MC of TOG also struggled with control issues throughout the series. And her own trauma also mirrors Rhys' to an extent, especially her family life and the fact she was also stuck without fresh air while she was in Endovier. She made bad choices throughout her story, ones that affected the people she loved directly. But when her arc concluded, she was able to make healthier decisions for herself and loved ones despite that.

If SJM truly loves rhys as much as she claims, I don't think she wouldn't give him an opportunity to heal like the one she gave to Aelin. Especially after she hinted in CC3 that things are NOT always all fine and dandy in Feysand's relationship, Feyre herself said she was furious with the IC in acosf, and the two of them have yet to discuss how Rhys' actions utm affected her.

Realistically, I don't the highest hopes for Rhys' character arc unfortunately, but a girl can dream of a better ACOTAR 😂 I wanna believe that it'll be a great series when it concludes but im hesitant in putting my faith into SJM tbh 😔 Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful rest of ur day/ night and im so excited to hear your thoughts!

Heyy

I hope you're having a good day/night too!

You definitely make some good points.

I can kind of see similarities between Rhysand and Aelin, but at the same time, I don't.

Aelin, for all her faults and mistakes, had at least tried to do the right thing, no matter how misguided it was. She was selfish and reckless and ended up hurting people close to her, but she owned up to it. She was also young. She was, what like 19-20? Not an excuse, but a factor.

Rhysand, on the other hand... God, where do I even start?

It's weird because ACOTAR is so different from TOG in terms of writing, and I'm just talking about first person/third person POVs.

I honestly believe that SJM tried to make the series black and white. Tamlin Bad, Rhysand good. Eris bad, Mor good. Nesta bad, Feyre good... and accidentally ended up with a controversial mess.

I mean good for her. Publicity is publicity no matter if it's positive or negative (here we are talking about it), but yeah.

Rhysand was supposed to be this morally grey character, but she ended up making him a self praising, self-proclaimed king of feminism, most powerful High Lord with nothing to back it up.

○ He gives Feyre 'choices' only when the outcome is in his favor.

○ He claims he's all for women's freedom to choose whatever they want... yet he lets those Illyrian camps keep women as glorified slaves and praises the leaders for giving them 2 hours of training.

○ He's 'the most powerful High Lord' yet he can't control the HC, and the camp leaders barely respond to him.

○ He, Feyre, and the IC feel entitled to information that affects the whole of Prythian... for what I don't know.

○ I'm not even going to get into the acts he commits against his 'family' bc I would be here for a while.

○ He encouraged his mate to take her petty revenge on Tamlin, destroying his entire court in the process, innocent lives and homes, not to mention making Prythian more vulnerable to Hybern.

○ He got mad at Nesta for giving the mask to Bryce... isn't that what he did with the book? Except he stole it and destroyed Summer Court property while Nesta controls the mask.

You're right about his control issues, though, as was seen with Nesta every time she didn't listen to him. I can see how that would relate to the lack of control he felt UTM, but...

Did 50 years UTM getting SA affect him? Obviously. I don't disregard the trauma he went through, but I also don't turn a blind eye to the things he did UTM.

He assaulted his mate with no excuse. He could've easily left her in that cell instead of making her wear a napkin and get drunk against her will. Amarantha didn't even care when he paraded her around and only got mad when she saw them kissing.

The children of the Winter Court that were killed, I don't know why it was brushed off with no consequences because who else would have done it? Daematis are extremely rare, and somehow, there was another one powerful trapped under the mountain, but he doesn't know who? Another Daemati who was working for Amarantha and didn't call out Rhysand on the Claire Beddor lie?

God, this turned into a rant, I know, and I'm sorry, lol.

I personally don't see a redemption arc satisfying enough happening or at all really. I read somewhere that Rhysand was created after SJM's husband Josh... yk where I'm going with this.

Anyway, if you sat through this, thanks!

[fairynisse]

Sinophobia affects all AAPI. Anyone who a racist thinks is Chinese is going to catch some of that. Or racists don't give a fuck what your ethnicity is and think we're all the same and will attack you anyways. This applies to all of Asia because not everyone fits a look that you think belongs to different parts of Asia & the Pacific. Even if someone is Chinese, they don't deserve it.

Y'alls sinophobia is showing by:

Bringing up the Chinese government every time someone is discussing anything related to China that has nothing to do with their government. Ex: Chinese language, culture, history, celebrities

Calling Asian people "Bing chilling" or commenting it under a video about China or with any Asian people in it just because John Cena said it. It's like calling Asian people "Squid Game" when that Korean show was popular.

"Ching chong" You know exactly what this is. Don't fucking play dumb.

Thinking "Made in China" is inferior despite the American companies being the one who made that decision and told the Chinese manufacturers to make it exactly to their specs. Prior to this, Americans thought Japanese products were inferior, but now y'all lap up Japanese products. Y'all are mad at the wrong people.

Rebranding Chinese beauty trends as Japanese or Korean.

Stealing beauty content from Chinese creators and labeling it as Japanese or Korean while leaving in whole ass Chinese characters. We can literally still see the Douyin or XiaoHongShu logo in the video you fucking stole. Bonus points if they're also speaking Chinese in the video.

Saying "You're so pretty, I thought you were Korean/Japanese." to a Chinese person.

Attacking literally any Asian person because you thought they were Chinese.

Attacking a Chinese person just because they're Chinese.

Bonus points if you attack an Asian person who is from a country you fetishize. *cough cough hardcore kpop/kdrama fans, koreaboos, weeboos*

Double the bonus points if you're a weeboo hating on China. Japan refuses to acknowledge their crimes against humanity to this day. If you want to look up what Japan did, I am warning you(HUGE TRIGGER WARNING), it will psychologically mess you up.

Triple the racist bonus points if you attack an Asian ethnic minority that was oppressed in the past or is currently being oppressed by the Chinese government.

This literally goes for any culture but hating on Chinese culture is not cute. There are beautiful parts of it. We can appreciate the beautiful parts of it.

Y'alls treatment of Chinese or any Asian restaurant/business. I have like a whole other post of this. We all know Asian food is fire. Don't complain about the food and then demand it to be free + request another serving. If you hate us and our food so much, why are you here asking for more?

Categorizing us into the "good" Asians and the "bad" Asians, like y'all could fucking tell the difference between us. This shows y'all are cool with discrimination too, which is just telling on yourselves.

Doing nothing as Congress mistreated the CEO of Tiktok, calling him "China man", saying China comes to Congress, despite him being from Singapore.

Getting mad at Asian people speaking out on sinophobia and all the anti-China propaganda. It's mostly just thinly veiled racism behind "I hate the Chinese government." You can hate the Chinese government, but you can also be racist at the same time. They can co-exist in you.

Nobody is stopping y'all from boycotting anything made in China, but I don't see anyone tossing out their iPhones.

[anim-ttrpgs]

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy Rulebook June 6th 2024 Update and Changelog

It’s the first Thursday of the first month of us doing a regular patreon rulebook update on the first Thursday of every month, and that means a major update!

It has been so nice to be able to finally work on the rulebook again instead of doing nothing but Kickstarter prep and promotion, and man have I been hard at work. Last week, if you count my A.N.I.M. job and my “normal” job, the shortest workday I had was 9 hours and several of them were 14 hours. At least I enjoy both jobs!

We have started getting more art into the rulebook, and getting those stretch goals taken care of. One stretch goal (the forgery rules) has already been added in full, with another stretch goal about 75% done, plus a complete overhaul of how Chase Scenes work and a whole new mechanic for determining how the police react to the actions of the PCs. Now, as the PCs are investigating crimes, if they’re not careful, the police could be investigating their crimes in the background too!

In addition to all the changes from the changelog below, we now have new and improved character sheets, and the Eureka adventure module “FORIVA: The Angel Game” is now fully finished, not counting the artwork, but that is going to get its own post.

Here is the full changelog! Remember, you can get a copy of this beta version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy, along with three adventure modules, two short stories, and a novella, all for just $5 on our patreon page. And there’s no better time to do so, because of the Gorgon Initiative! Long story short, the playable gorgon monster type is a Kickstarter stretch goal we didn’t hit, but if we can reach 50 total patreon subscribers before the end of June, we’re going to be adding it to the book anyway! At the time of writing this, we’re at 41/50! You could make the difference, and get all this new Eureka content to boot!

CHAPTER 1

Have started working on replacing the examples of play with updated ones that actually fit the current and slightly more stable version of the rules. These will be found in various chapters. You can see them in the table of contents.

Added a Foreword, a section on other media to offer you inspiration when playing eureka, and a section on some of the subtler themes of eureka

Copy-edited Foreword

A few minor clarifications in the Making Rolls section

Added a chart explaining the percentage chances of failures, partial successes, and full successes for modifiers from -7 to +7. 

Added Heat optional rule. A whole new set of mechanics for tracking how much police attention the investigators may be drawing, as well as how law enforcement will respond. Currently a work-in-progress, but mostly functional already.

CHAPTER 2

Added the Forgery skill to write-in skills

Many new snoops have been added. 

Removed the “Seating” stat for vehicles, you know how many people can safely fit in a car

Removed the placeholder boat entries from the item list because we did not hit that kickstarter stretch goal

Added Skateboard to item list. 

Added four-wheeler to item list. 

Added Acceleration values to all vehicles in the vehicle list. Acceleration is a new stat used with the new way that Speed is calculated for Chases.

Adjusted the Driving bonus of motorcycles and dirtbikes.

Changed Large Mansion cost to 25 Wealth Points in character creation.

Started copy-editing this chapter.

CHAPTER 3

Added vehicle crashes to irregular forms of damage section

Tiny tweak to Drowning/Suffocation rules.

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

Completely revamped the way that Speed is calculated. 

Added a mechanic to determine how many nodes ahead a fleeing character starts.

Added an optional rule for bringing an end to chases 

Added vehicle attack rules for use during car chases

Added more guidelines for how to make your own obstacles

Added recommended numbers of nodes for chases and recommended distance between obstacles 

Added the work-in-progress random obstacle tables

On-Foot Urban Chase Obstacles table is finished but not edited

Vehicle Urban Chase Obstacles table is finished but not edited

On-Foot Wilderness Chase Obstacles table is finished but not edited. 

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

Increased capacity of an unfurled thing from beyond’s ‘stomach’ from three to fourteen.

Thing from beyond can now more easily attempt to engulf more victims after already containing one or more. This now prompts an escape attempt by victims inside rather than automatic escape.

Thing from beyond can now get a bonus to mimicry attempts by consuming a sample of the intended mimicry target’s DNA. 

Thing from beyond can now attempt to mimic a person they have never seen or heard by consuming a sample of their DNA, but narrator makes a hidden roll about it, so accuracy of mimicry will be unknown.

Gave acceleration value to witch’s brooms and other flying transportation

Gave Acceleration of +6 to Superhuman Speed trait

Gave vampire small bat manifestation +2 Acceleration

Gave vampire wolf manifestation +4 Acceleration 

Gave vampire massive bat beast manifestation +4 Acceleration

Gave wolfman wolf form +4 Acceleration

Gave lycanthrope wolf form +4 Acceleration

Added ability to resist curses to fairy and witch

Added ability for fairy to transfer curses to different names as a means of protecting themselves from curses. This gives them more of an incentive to collect names. 

Added a tiny bit about the fairy world

Added Monsters Eating Monsters section to provide rulings for some edge cases where monsters might eat other monsters and what would happen if they did

Stay tuned for a post about "FORIVA: The Angel Game", a terrifying Eureka adventure module, soon!

Elegantly designed and thoroughly playtested, Eureka represents the culmination of three years of near-daily work from our team, as well as a lot of our own money. If you’re just now reading this and learning about Eureka for the first time, you missed the crowdfunding window unfortunately, but our Kickstarter page is still the best place to learn more about what Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy actually is, as that is where we have all the fancy art assets, the animated trailer, links to video reviews by podcasts and youtubers, and where we post regular updates on the status of our progress finishing the game and getting it ready for final release.

Beta Copies through the Patreon

If you want more than just status updates, going forward you can download regularly updated playable beta versions of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy and it’s adventure modules by subscribing to our Patreon at the $5 tier or higher. Subscribing to our patreon also grants you access to our patreon discord server where you can talk to us directly and offer valuable feedback on our progress and projects.

The A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club

If you would like to meet the A.N.I.M. team and even have a chance to play Eureka with us, you can join the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server. It’s also just a great place to talk and discuss TTRPGs, so there is no schedule obligation, but the main purpose of it is to nominate, vote on, then read, discuss, and play different indie TTRPGs. We put playgroups together based on scheduling compatibility, so it’s all extremely flexible. This is a free discord server, separate from our patreon exclusive one. https://discord.gg/7jdP8FBPes

Other Stuff

We also have a ko-fi and merchandise if you just wanna give us more money for any reason.

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[piningpercussionist]

"I need some air. The stupidity in here is making me feel faint."

Kim Pine RP and general Scott Pilgrim fandom blog; Asks always open (unless they get flooded, I suppose)

["Current" Event: GAME OVER! RESTART...?]

(Currently answering asks outside of the event and at a staggered rate; apologies for delays.)

Blog should be running on central time, I think, but I sleep at weird hours anyway.

Generally asking that you just be decent people, or make your asks exaggerated/obviously part of the bit you're building if you're going a certain direction. If I catch even a whiff of genuine bigotry, though, you're out pal.

NSFW asks tentatively allowed (until someone is a freak about it) [I need to clarify now that I mean this within the rp context: I will field nonRP NSFW asks without complaint. Stop. Bothering. The. Minors.]

Generally fine running separate continuities for Kim, you just need to specify, otherwise I'm working with my current amalgam of canon Kim stuff + blog canon (like anon shenanigans and stuff) (Bonus points if you can name our tag for me)

Theoretical fine with ship interactions, especially gay ones, but DO NOT ENGAGE ME IN THIS MANNER IF YOU ARE A MINOR! Thank you!

Characters I'm not interested in fielding ship content for: Lucas Lee, Hollie Hawkes*, Jason Kim*, basically any evil ex (aside from Roxie,,, maybe Patel,,,) Julie (...?)

Probably more but I don't expect it to be an issue, really- I don't think I've seen blogs for many of these or other characters

*nothing beyond acknowledging canon for Jason, theoretical cool with Hollie actually, it'd just need to be in a specific font, like some of the ones I am fine with but haven't specified- notably, with an understanding that as I write Kim, she could have feelings for Hollie, but after Jason has no interest in pursuing that (so for SPTO or pre-Jason stuff, specify and I'll consider!)

Reserved Anons/Sign-Offs:

✨️ Sparkles Anon

🐢 Turtle Anon

🐇 Bunny Anon

Crush Guy

⭐️ Anon

Doc

Minion King

🧸 Anon

🧠🪱 Anon

💠 Anon

🥚 Anon

🛼 Ramona ["super cool girl anon"] (Flowerspowers)

💥🎶🥁 Noel Welsh (drummer-boywelsh)

In Character tag(s):

Pine.txt

OOC

Hi, welcome to the blog! When addressing me, just call me Pine; if you want to call me Pine in a RP ask, just note that somehow so I understand. I am 24, so please keep this in mind when interacting! My ooc tags are ooc, txt, and art (which I post my art under, obviously, so it may feature RP stuff.) OOC is sort of the catch-all?

I have an AO3 where you can see what fics I'm working on/have written.

Here's various versions of the media and how Hinged I am about them (answer: not very)

Movie: Least favorite Scott/iteration in general; fuck does it have some good lines though. Damnit. (I really do like a lot of aspects of it, but it IS my least favorite.)

Comics: 2 rereads down, favorite version; currently collecting panels for those with requests or questions relative to them (Starting 6 soon)

Show: Watched twice in full, halfway through a third run! (And set to collect Kim screencaps from episode 3!) Contender for favorite version, but has a lot of flaws, I will admit. (Also, begging for a "They Dated" extended cut from someone, please- I'd draw something for you maybe--)

Game: Very fun actually! Didn't know I could be good at this type of game; I have notes on most of the item stats for anyone that needs them- gonna start labeling every instance of the named NPCs eventually

[glitter-stained]

Han Yoojin kidnappings, rated by how much I liked them:

-Saving Myungwoo: 6/10 Is it a kidnapping if you can go in but can't go out? Docked 1 points for ambiguity. Anyways it was pretty smart and cool generally speaking and the rythm was fine. Would have enjoyed more bloodshed but the conclusion with the slave contracts was good karma so I only docked one point for that. Less tension and prep than other kidnappings but it's a minor arc so that's to be expected.

-MKC treason: 7/10. Pretty solid on all acounts (laughing at the kidnapper, good strategy, tragic moments, dramatic irony, berserker mode, cool new powers). Would have been a solid 9, docked two points out of pettiness because I wanted to see the S classes rush in all worried only to find Han Yoojin sitting idly over the corpse of his victims... Wouldn't habe made sense but I would have liked it.

‌-Dragon kidnapping: 3/10. Meh... Honestly the fact that sexual assault against a man was treated as a joke makes me wildly uncomfortable. However, I understand that Han Yoojin's "I am independent, I can handle myself , I have the survival instinct of a lemming I've been through way worst and I am the CG so screw you" personnality would make him reluctant to consider himself a victim when there has been an attempt rather than the crime itself, and that Sung Hynjae and Riette's "I am a complete psychopath" personnalities would make them laugh about it, so at least it's in character... At least Song Taewon was there to be reasonable. Honestly what saved this kidnapping from being a big fat 1 was the presence of dragons... I added one point per dragon because I like dragons.

-‌ into the filial addict's mind: 9/10: again, does it count as kidnapping? Docked one point for ambiguity. Other than that, bloodshed, laughing at your kidnapper, angst, pain, OP battle as a good and unexpected pay off from multiple set-ups, shiny stone eating instincts, cool new powers unlocked, side quest unlocked, plot? This has it all, would have been a certain 10/10.

-‌live auction kidnapping: 10/10, this is brilliant, the dramatic irony, chara dev, charisma, battle, strategy, roleplay, new items, the fire lizard, everything was perfect... I would even add a bonus point because the Christmas light effect is so damned visually pleasing but I'm forcing myself to hold a 10 points ceiling. Marvelous.

[darling-in-wonderland]

Kill Your Darlings (Redux)

(in collaboration with @twistedchatterbox ‘s event, Spooky Chattering 2023)

AN: If you were one of the five people that read the original Kill Your Darlings, then strap in because this is a reimagining that is way more cracked than it’s archived original counterpart. And if you weren't, well, you're not missing much. This version is leagues above the og and way more fun. Reader is my yuusona, Darling (she/her), who is very in love with Idia (but feel free to live vicariously through her like I do). Other characters in this little (*cough* 7k word) fic include Azul, Ortho, and Grim (with a little bonus scene at the end with Crowley) Vil is mentioned quite a lot, but makes no appearance.

CW: more of a dark comedy than anything, but there are still points of tension, anxiety mention (in response to the tension), feelings of being stalked/hunted, minor injuries/blood, and one (1) fbomb, meaning that it could safely be rated pg-13.

AN2: Also i am super new/unaware of fanfic etiquette so if there's anything i've missed/should label differently/etc, please let me know! now, without further adieu…

It was a day like any other, really. Foggy, but hey, I like overcast weather so I’m not complaining.

“I guess I never realized that the fog here is different from the fog back home,” I muse to Grim while we walk to class.

“Myah? Whaddya mean by that?”

“The fog back home didn’t stick around this much, I don’t think.”

“The fog here isn’t really that sticky, Darling.”

“Whatever you say, Grim.” I give him some pets as we walk. “Also, before I forget, I have Board Game Club after classes today. Remember the plan?”

“How could I forget?” he grins. “You offered me five whole cans of tuna to help you with this scheme!”

After the events of that phantom bride- oh how I hate her still!- I can’t afford myself the luxury of pretending that Idia doesn’t know that I like him anymore. With the lengths (and songs) I went to without hesitation, there’s no way he doesn’t know; but it’s polite to tell him point blank in no uncertain terms. I mean, that’s what you do when you like someone, right?

The plan is that Grim is going to distract Azul somehow to make him late to the club meeting. Hopefully this will mean that Idia and I will be alone, allowing me to tell him how I feel in person without anyone else there to watch.

Before I left the dorm, I made sure to spritz a bit of perfume on me, just something that makes me smell a bit like candy. I’m only thinking of this because I left the bottle on the stairs since I was running late to class, but I’m always running late to these early morning classes. Anyways, I need to remember to put it back in the bathroom when I get home. 

After classes with Grim, we diverge on our separate paths; Grim to distract Azul with some random fetch quest and I to the Board Game Club to confess my love to Idia, though hopefully not in song while holding a heavy flamer this time.

I show up early to the club meeting, jittery and anxious. When I was out there white knighting and wedding crashing, I was so hopped up on anger, adrenaline, and the anxiety that my Sister of Battle armor would run out of battery too soon that I didn’t even notice that I kept singing the lyrics to “A Grave Mistake” wrong. When you meet the girl whose love you stole… Cringe, but I feel more on edge now than then. Why does this of all things make me anxious?

Time refuses to march on to my best nightmare, so I stay frozen in place as I pace the floor.

And then I hear the door creak open, forcefully shaking me from my thoughts and making my heart pound harder. I see the blue flames of his hair before I see him. I sit down and start nervously shuffling a deck of cards to keep from spontaneously combusting.

He eventually notices me and takes off his headphones. He too avoids eye contact. We haven’t spoken much since that phantom bride left. 

“Magic?” I ask him, holding up the cards.

“Uh... sure,” he responds flatly, pulling out a deck of his own.

My brain is on fire, screaming at me to say something. Now is my chance! But I go to speak and find that my lips are welded shut as I draw my hand, only just now realizing that the deck I’m playing is my Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres deck. I feel bad, until I see that he brought his Juri deck and decide that it’s time to destroy him with toxic and proliferate keywords.

He notices my commander and smirks. “Feeling competitive today?”

“I have some things I want to win.”

Our eyes meet briefly and I feel my heart stop. I bury my face in my opening hand, but out of the corner of my eye I see his hair swiftly turning pink.

“Your hair looks purple today,” he stammers out.

“It’s purple everyday.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.”

The game continues on as normal.

I manage to ask him, “So, what’s your Halloween costume going to be?”

“Haven’t thought much about it yet.”

“Halloween is in four days, Idia,” I remind him. When I say his name, the tips of his hair turn pink. He’s so cute. I still can’t believe he’s single.

“What about you, Darling?”

Hearing him say my name makes my brain short circuit.

“Oh!” I snap out of my daze. “I was thinking Springtrap or Ennard or something like that since the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ movie comes out today.”

“That’s today?” his eyes light up with excitement. Now’s my chance now’s my chance now’s my-

“Yeah,” I smile. “I’ve already made plans to go see it. After this club meeting its gonna be one hour at Pomefiore to cover my arms with nose and scar wax.”

“With Vil?”

“Who else? He’s gonna help with the scars I have to put on the back of my neck.”

“Oh,” he retreats back to his normal energy levels. “That makes sense.”

And there goes my chance.

We finish the game without talking (aside from reading the cards to explain the cards). He won, obviously.

“Get rekt,” he grins. I can feel my cheeks get hot.

“I took a bad opening hand,” I justify my loss to him. I really want him to think I’m good at this game (even though I am painfully mid).

“Yeah, I saw that mana drought.”

“I had Oko, Thief of Crowns, in fairness.”

“Ohhhh,” he remarks sarcastically, “that makes it totally worth it.”

“If it had paid off I would’ve destroyed you,” I threaten him toothlessly.

“Sure you would’ve.” As he fidgets with his life counter, he says, “I, uh... you mentioned that you wish you had more hands to hold things as you cut out patterns the other day.”

“Especially with Halloween coming up,” I lament, realizing too late that he’s probably dropping hints for something. 

He sets the counter down. “Wait here then.”

He glides out of the room as quietly as he entered. I crumple up in my chair. What a wasted opportunity.

When I was younger, I used to spend my free time outside catching butterflies. There was a slight degree of skill that went into it. If you ran up too quickly, the butterfly would get scared and fly away, but if you went too slow, you would lose your surprise and it would fly away then too.

It’s five minutes past. Where is he? My heart is beating out of my chest. What if something happened to him? I should go find him. My anxiety is fueling my paranoia, springboarding me to the worst possible conclusions. Maybe he died, or worse, I already scared him away for good.

It’s been too long. I’ll go find him. I set down my cards and start making my way down to Ignihyde. The halls of the main building are eerily empty. There must be a logical explanation for all of this. I’m bad at time and I haven’t checked my phone in a while, not that it would matter now because I don’t know how long our game of Magic lasted. He’s probably fine. He’s probably fine.

Despite all my logic, I still can’t seem to shake this paranoia. I hear screams of terror wafting down the halls. Film Club must be watching a horror movie for the spooky season. I hope so, at least. Against all good judgment, I push on. I wish literally anyone was here, some big guy who could do the fighting for me if things got tough, like Jade or Floyd. 

Amidst my thoughts, someone grabs my hand and yanks me around a corner.

I shriek and cover my mouth before I realize that it’s just Ortho.

I almost let my body relax, but then I see the fear in his mechanical eyes.

“Ortho?” Panic rises in my voice like bile. “What's wrong?”

“It’s Idia. He’s sick.”

“Oh, is that all it is?” The tension in my shoulders releases, but only a little. “From the sounds of the screams, I thought that gladiatorial games were back in fashion. Where is he? I can help take care of him.”

“Sick isn’t the right word,” his voice is hard and serious as he flits through words in his databank. What has this kid seen?

“What movie is Film Club watching today?” I ask him as some more screams bounce off the walls of main hall.

Ortho looks me dead in the eyes. “Film Club didn’t meet today.”

I hear Idia cackle off in the distance, this time sending chills up my spine rather than releasing butterflies in my stomach.

“Ortho?” I ask, that old fear bubbling up once more.

“Yes, Darling?”

“Do you know what Idia was going to show me?”

“He never told me,” Ortho remarks. “But I did find a word that I think fits better than sick.”

Everything feels prickly and bad. The blood vacates my face as I hear another one of Idia’s cackles in the distance. Of all my worst case scenarios, none were like anything of what Ortho said next.

“Well, what word is it?” I ask him, panic leaching into my voice.

“Possessed. I don’t know what could’ve caused it, but...” His voice trails off, as if he’s having trouble coming up with a proper hypothesis. At least, that’s what I was hoping.

His eyes grow wide, his mechanical whirring hushing. The hand around my wrist clamps harder. The tips of my fingers are starting to turn a bluish purple.

“Ortho?” I whisper. “My wrist-”

I hear the soft tap tap tap of some boots prowling down the adjacent hallway. I can feel the temperature rise with each tap.

“Darling…” I hear Idia’s voice rasp, a mechanical grinding amidst his organic vocals, “I know you’re hiding here…”

My eyes are watering. I can’t turn around. I can’t even blink. My breath catches in my throat. Has he turned the corner? I can’t tell.

By the shadow on Ortho’s face, he must be looming right above me.

Ortho’s tugging on my ever-numbing wrist, a silent plea for me to run, but my body refuses to move from its position. This is my worst nightmare, and I can’t even wake up.

“Seems I’ve found you,” I feel hot breathing on the back of my neck. “And with Ortho, no less.”

I feel his hand land on my shoulder. I can’t even find the voice to scream as Idia’s grip gets tighter on my shoulder.

Ortho yells something I don’t make out and finally yanks me from my spot, flinging me onto his metal back. I cry out in pain as I’m ripped from Idia’s grasp. I feel something cold and metallic and sharp scratch up against my cheek. I hear him howl in frustration as we make our getaway. 

Ortho and I end up hiding out in the empty classroom on the first floor where the Board Game Club meets.

“That’s a lot of blood, Darling,” Ortho remarks.

I reach up and touch my cheek and find that my face is slick with blood. My fingers are covered in the viscous red liquid.

“It’s just a scratch,” I inform him. “It’s not that bad.”

“Are you sure?” Ortho asks me, searching around for something to clean up the blood.

I laugh nervously. “I have more blood than this sitting on my bathroom counter.”

“Isn’t that blood fake, Darling?”

“And peppermint flavored, but that’s besides the point,” I awkwardly wave the question away. “You’re programmed with medical stuffs, right? Do you have a bandaid?” 

“My lab body is back in Ignihyde,” he informs me, “so I don’t have any of my medical supplies.”

“Okay. That’s okay.” I see the Magic cards left abandoned on the table. The panic starts creeping back into my brian. We won’t stay hidden forever. Idia was originally coming back here. “I should’ve told Idia how I felt while I still had the chance.” “What was that, Darling?”

“Nothing, Ortho,” I try to smile. “Nothing.” 

I close my eyes to try and think of a better place to hide, but I keep thinking of what I could’ve said to Idia before he got possessed by... whatever it was that possessed him.

“That’s quite a bit of trouble you’ve got yourself into,” a familiar voice cuts through my thoughts as its owner gently places a bandaid in my hand. “I can help, for a price.”

I open my eyes and see Azul staring back at me. I beam, my eyes starting to well up as he hands me a tissue. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s time for Board Game Club,” he answers, an edge lacing his voice. “Or are you asking about why I was late. I think you know why.”

From the satchel I didn’t notice before now, he holds up a very angry Grim.

“I kept him stalled for as long as I could, myah!” Grim responds, not thrilled about being held by the scruff of his neck.

“Uh, guys?” Ortho asks, but none of us hear him.

“For the band aid stuck to your face and the tissue now covered in your blood,” Azul continues, “all you have to do is tell me why Grim showed up to the Monstro Lounge and started pulling the table cloths off the tables and swinging from the chandeliers once my employees caught on to what was happening.”

“Grim!” I take the mischievous cat weasel thing from Azul to scold him. “I told you to distract him, not trash the Lounge!”

“Guys?” Ortho pipes up, but Azul pays no mind.

The school’s resident mob boss continues, “So, why did you send Grim to trash the Lounge?”

“My plan was to get Idia alone to tell him that I have a crush on him,” I confess to Azul.

“A crush on him?” Azul teases me. “Greaaaat taste there, Darling.”

And then Grim asks me, “Did the plan work?”

I laugh nervously. “Not exactly...”

“Guys!” Ortho yells at us from the open window. “Idia will be here any second! At least according to my tracking.”

“What?” Azul asks, almost offended at the fact that we didn’t tell him something sooner. 

“Idia’s possessed,” I summarize for Ortho.

Grim hops back in Azul’s satchel and asks from there, “Possessed by what? One of the ghosts?”

“We don’t know,” I respond, the panic creeping back into my voice as I remember the problem at hand. 

Ortho pipes up, “Yet!”

I nod hastily, “Yet, yet is good.”

“Guys…” Panic creeps into Azul’s voice like mold. “I don’t think we’re alone anymore.”

That’s when my ear zeros in on the sound of boots on linoleum and something metal scraping against the walls. I didn’t get a good look at whatever he was wearing when I last saw him. Maybe with his new personality he got a new wardrobe, too. I don’t know.

Looks like we’re about to find out as he starts throwing his body against the door Ortho barricaded from the sound of it. The first thud makes me jump, with each subsequent hit causing my adrenaline levels to rise.

“Good time to jump out of the window,” Azul remarks between thuds, “unless we all wanna end up sleeping with the fishes.”

I can’t bring myself to move. The barricades loosen and once again I am frozen. I have to see what he’s wearing. I have to see if anything about his design changed. I have to know what possessed him.

“Henchman!” I hear Grim yell above Ortho and Azul’s pleas, “I command you to follow us.”

The door breaks open.

I catch just enough of a glimpse of Idia, only a mere silhouette surrounded by fiery red with a bloody crimson light from the center of his head piercing through my being; a horrible, horrible glimpse, but enough of a glimpse to will my legs to work again and jump out of the window.

“We should run while we still have something resembling a lead,” I anxiously quip as Azul groans.

“Azul,” Ortho rolls his eyes. “Your only other option is dying.”

Grim pokes his head out. “Can I ride with Ortho?”

“Fine.” Azul hands Ortho the satchel. “It’ll make running easier.”

“Don’t worry,” I clasp a hand on his shoulder, “I know a shortcut.”

We share a smile, but the moment is shattered by a mechanized roar from Idia. “Oh you sussy baka!” Robotic tendrils shoot out from the window, just barely missing us. “Where did you vent off to?!”

I don’t acknowledge what he says, rather grabbing Azul’s hand on instinct as a signal to get him and Ortho to start following me. 

I’m not the best at running, but at least my theatre kid energy makes me better at it than Idia.

“So where are we running to?” Azul wheezes after a few minutes of nothing but woods.

“By the looks of it, Ramshackle,” Grim responds, chilling oh so smugly in his little satchel.

“Narrishackke,” I correct Grim.

“Is now really the time to try and make Narrishackke happen, henchman?”

“It’s not gonna happen,” Azul manages to get out before collapsing against a tree. 

I stop running and ask Ortho, “How far away is Idia?”

He calculates for a second before responding, “Idia will catch up to us in roughly ten minutes.”

“Okay,” I squat down to conserve energy, “so we have some time. We can formulate a proper plan.”

Grim hops out of the satchel and starts pacing. “We have to figure out what’s turned him into such a bloodthirsty monster!”

“Ghosts?” Azul muses.

I shake my head. “Unlikely. He still talks like himself.”

“There were those mechanical tentacles,” Ortho recalls. “And he was wearing some sort of hat.”

Grim rolls his eyes. “So he wanted to be dapper? Big deal!”

I dig deep in my memory for a detail that’s nagging at me. “Ortho, was the hat glowing?”

“There was some sort of red camera lens attached to it,” he replies.

“Like a headlamp?” Azul asks.

“No,” I continue trying to think, “More like-”

I’m cut off by the sound of falling trees and cracking wood.

“I thought you said we had ten minutes!” Azul hisses at Ortho.

Grim climbs back into the satchel and hides.

Ortho looks concerned as he rechecks his math. “I didn’t think he could move that fast.”

“A side effect of this possession?” Azul thinks out loud.

Another roar from Idia shakes the birds from the trees.

“Guys, we’re so dead if we don’t get out of here soon,” I snap them out of their conversation and start running again. Ortho nods and follows close behind me. 

Azul takes too long to get up off the forest floor. At the speed of light one of those tentacles we saw earlier wraps its metallic phalanges around Azul’s wrist. 

“Guys! It’s got me!” he cries, fear lacing his voice like bleach.

I turn to Ortho and tell him, “Take Grim back to Ramshackle. He knows the shortcut.”

“Be careful, Darling!” Ortho chirps before zipping away.

I rush over to Azul who’s still wrestling with the mechanical hand around his arm. 

“You should’ve gotten away while you still had the chance!” he weeps, voice catching in his throat.

“And leave one of my best friends behind?” I remark as I start my attempt to break the tentacle’s grasp. “Fat chance!”

“Do you even have a plan?!”

I continue to stomp on the tentacle, using my foot to create the tension necessary to try and get this thing to snap. “Not at all!”

I survey the scene as it stands. The noises from the forest are getting louder. If I don’t get Azul out of here fast, I can almost guarantee that more tentacles will come for us.

I start trying to pry the fingers of the metal claw off of Azul’s wrist.

“If it breaks, it breaks,” I mutter under my breath.

“I’d rather you didn’t break my wrist,” Azul gripes through the pain. He then takes the cue and helps me pry with his free hand. 

A red glow is coming from the foliage. 

“We’re running out of time!” he cries out. 

“Oh for the love of- Just yank your wrist out!” I scream, my panic getting the better of me.

Azul clenches his teeth and does so. He shrieks in pain as the claws scrape his wrist so hard that royal blue blood starts dotting the ground below. I pull him away from the tentacle and run before it can grab anything else. I lead Azul off the trail, hoping that Idia won’t be able to find us amidst all the trees.

Once the sounds of his jaunt through the woods fade to near inaudibility, I stop running to examine Azul’s injury. His face is pale as tears continue to pour down his cheeks. 

“Good news,” I tell him as I wrap the sleeve of my blazer around the wound, “it looks to only be surface level. Keep some pressure on it and then I can get it bandaged up once we get to Narrishackke.”

“Ramshackle,” he corrects me with a touch of laughter in his tone.

I smile. “I said what I said.”

We move carefully through the woods, only by the Seven’s protection or some unrelated miracle that we make it to Narrishackke before Idia. Ortho and Grim look overjoyed to see us.

“Glad to see my henchman is still in one piece, myah!”

I tell Ortho to take Grim upstairs to keep watch and to bandage up Azul’s wrist.

“But Darling,” Ortho gently takes my cold hand in his, “what will you be doing?”

“Keeping watch downstairs,” I respond solemnly. “We still don’t know exactly what’s caused this.”

“Be careful with him, then,” Ortho cautions me.

I nod and start my vigil. “Nothing would hurt me more than making him suffer.”

Ortho takes Grim and Azul upstairs and I double check all of the downstairs locks. The ghosts seem to be keeping their distance today. I guess whatever this is is too much for even them. I could use their comfort now though.

Why is it that the one day I want something to go right everything goes catastrophically wrong? I can’t even cry properly right now, lest I drain what little moral is upstairs with the sounds of my sobs.

What if we can’t fix him? What if all of this is permanent? What if I can’t put him back together? After all the phantom bride stuff, things were starting to look up. I should’ve just left when he did to start getting ready to go to the movie. I have two tickets. I could’ve invited Vil.

Through my sobs, I start to sing quietly in a futile attempt to ground myself or summon the ghosts to my side, or even just to right this upside down world.

“Is it a crime to kill,” the melody of the song passing through my halfhearted sobs in a heart wrenching staccato. “if we’re only sinking deeper and love can’t stop the fever?”

A knock on the door startles me from my thoughts. I frantically look for something sharp and pointy.

“You open that door and I’ll kill you!” I threaten the person on the other end. I don’t care if it’s Crowley himself, I'll stab if he opens the door.

All I find is a pencil. I’m doomed.

“I finally leave my room,” my best nightmare’s voice scrapes against my ears, “and this is how you react? RUDE.”

He slams the door open, confirming my worst fears.

“Darling!” I hear Ortho call from upstairs. “What’s wrong?”

I can’t even open my mouth to scream as I stand in the shadow of the Prefect of the Underworld standing in my doorway, his halo of fiery red hair devilishly backlighting his face, making him look like a fallen angel. I just start crying again as I shakily hold my pencil out in front of me.

I don’t want to hurt him. He’s not himself. But he’ll hurt me if I don’t do something. But I don’t want to hurt him.

He slowly walks towards me, his boots making a heavy thud with each footfall. I slowly back up towards the stairs. My hands tremble, still holding the pencil pathetically between him and I.

“It’s game over for you, Darling,” he bares his fangs in a twisted grin.

In this moment I understand why moths fly towards candles and burn up in their fiery light, for I too am now a moth staring down a candle, every part of my mothy being crying out to be enveloped by the warm, inviting light. Oh how I’d love to grant my cells their wish and let them collapse in the melted candle wax; but, unlike a moth, I have a job to do. I can’t give up now!

The lens attached to his bowler hat glows brighter, as if a light could be filled with rage. If I try to run now, he’ll just grab me and rip my throat out with his teeth.

“I thought you felt differently about me, Darling,” he continues, “but my eyes have been opened. There’s only one thing that could love me as much as you claim to.”

He continues to advance on me, pushing me up the stairs with his presence.

“Are you going to hurt me?” I ask out of the blue, as if I’ve seen this scene before.

I see a pink plastic cylinder on one of the steps through my tears. A candy scented body spray, within arms reach.

“Oh, I’m not going to hurt you, Darling,” the robotic sheen on his voice makes him sound like a vocaloid. 

I never moved that bottle of perfume back up to the bathroom, and I’d say my life is at least worth the seventeen thaurmarks the bottle cost.

Idia continues, “I’m just going to bash YOUR FUCKING BRAINS IN!”

He lunges at me, but that Shining reference telegraphed his moves so much even I was able to dodge him and  spray what feels like half the bottle of body spray in his face, causing him to recoil and retch. I pump a few more sprays for good measure and bolt upstairs to Ortho, Grim, and Azul.

“I’ve got more info!” I inform them as I lock the door and wedge a chair under the knob.

I was in the middle of redecorating my guest room, which means furniture is rather scarce. Aside from the chair I just wedged under the door knob, the only place to sit is the floor. Thankfully, there’s still places to hide. 

“Well, spit it out!” Grim commands.

“It’s gotta be the hat! Think about it,” I postulate, “first, he tells me he’s got something for me. Ortho, when you found me in the hallway, was Idia wearing a bowler hat?”

Ortho thinks for a second before his eyes widen and his apertures dilate. “Yes, he was!”

“And then something scratched my face as we fled,” I continue. “After that, we started seeing the tentacles.”

“The same ones that scratched up my arm!” Azul exclaims.

“But how is this proof that the hat possessed him and not something else?” Grim asks.

I take time to remember Idia’s exact wording, but Idia beats me to the punch, yelling from down the hall, “Fine! I never needed you, Darling! I’ll just keep this gift for myself!”

“Yeah, that works as evidence,” I remark as he cackles.

“So we have to rip that hat off,” Ortho states. “At least to prove or disprove our hypothesis.”

“I have a plan to get that hat off his head,” Azul announces. “Darling, you’re going to hide and get the jump on him. Us three will distract him so that you can knock his hat off.”

“Any idea what I can knock it off with without braining him?”

Just then, there’s a loud thud against the door.

“No time,” Azul responds. “You’re smart. You’ll think of something.”

I nod and move the chair back to where I decide to hide just as Idia kicks the door off its hinges.

He starts to growl, “There you are, Azul! And Ortho, too. How wonderful.”

“H-hi, Idia,” Azul stutters, eyes wide.

“You don’t appear to be at the club meeting today,” Idia rasps menacingly. “That’s not very poggers of you.”

“I had some,” he shoots a glare at Grim, “things to deal with at the Lounge.” 

“A shame, really,” he sighs maliciously, “because based on that look you gave Darling earlier, I would’ve assumed that you would’ve wanted to hang out with her.”

“What are you going on about?” Azul asks, genuinely confused.

“Don’t play dumb!” Idia shrieks, moving closer to him, and therefore me. “I saw the way she looked at you through Doris. I know what I saw!”

Grim pokes his head out from behind Azul. “Myah? Who’s Doris?”

He grins and gestures to the bowler hat enveloping his face. “She’s Doris. I found her in some storage room around campus. She promised she would help me and she opened my eyes.”

Just walk a little bit closer. Just walk a little bit closer and I can knock that evil thing off of your head.

And then Ortho asks him, “But what does this have to do with Darling?”

Idia whips his head around and focuses on Ortho with laser-like intensity. 

“Darling,” Idia runs over each syllable in his mouth like a flavorless wad of gum, “is a tease. She may act like she likes me, but Doris and I know better. There’s any number of guys she likes more than me. Like Vil,” he turns his attention back towards Azul, “or you.”

Azul sighs, “I’ll have to pay her back for this, but I have photographic evidence that Darling likes you.”

Idia scoffs, “Like I would believe you over Doris! Get pwned!”

I tighten my grip on the chair I’m hiding behind to keep from screaming. You’ll have to pay me back in a lot more than Monstro Lounge drinks if you leak those DM���s, Azul!

At this point, Idia is looming above the still seated Azul. Once Idia’s distracted again, I’ll strike. Now is not the time to miss my chance overthinking everything. 

Azul grins mischievously. I’m almost more terrified of whatever he’ll say next than this “Doris.”

“Okay, so what if Darling likes me then?” Azul asks. “Are you just that terrified of me liking her back? Of the possibility of me treating her better than a loser like you ever could? I mean, if Vil couldn’t keep her happy, then what chance do you have?”

He’s a good liar, I’ll give Azul that. I know he’s lying and I’m still a little pissed. 

Of course, Idia doesn’t take any of this well, letting out a mechanized screech as he lunges towards Azul. 

“Well, Azul!” A new rage alight in the red lens on the hat, “looks like it’s time for you to show the audience your flashback sequence!”

Now! Now’s my chance!

Time feels like a thick jelly as I spring up from behind the chair to knock that hat off of Idia’s head. The sound grabs his attention as he turns to me.

“Found you,” he growls, a devilish smile painted across his face.

Using nothing but momentum and lucky timing, I manage to tackle the unsuspecting gamer and rip the hat off of his head. Before we hit the ground, I fling it into the wall. I can hear it spark and sputter in the background. 

I gently brush his now blue hair out of his face. The tension in his face melts away when he’s asleep. Based on what Ortho’s told me before, this is a rare site to see. His face is so damp. It looks like he’s been crying for an hour or so. Poor guy... 

Ortho taps my shoulder. “Darling?”

“Yeah?” I respond, continuing to brush Idia’s pretty blue fire hair out of his face, gently cupping his face in my hand, running my thumb over his cheek. He’s so... beautiful.

“I need you to get off of him so that I can perform a medical examination,” Ortho continues. “Just to make sure that the hat was indeed the culprit.”

“Oh, right,” I snap back to reality and get up to sit by Grim and Azul.

I don’t talk much. Azul walks me through the recent changes he made to his Urza deck, but it all goes over my head. I hold Grim in my lap and give him pets. I can’t seem to find where I threw that bowler hat.

Idia eventually comes to, given a clean enough bill of health by Ortho. Azul immediately rushes to Idia’s side to apologize for baiting him by calling him a loser earlier, while also telling Idia that he will not be giving him any emotional compensation for it.

I see the way Idia looks at Azul, and I can only wonder if a quiet guy like him could ever want to be with a high octane girl like me. He smiles, and laughs, and takes Azul’s hand. I must just scare Idia. He’s never that calm with me.

It all comes back to butterflies. My heart feels like a butterfly crushed underneath a hunter’s boot.

“You alright, henchman?” Grim asks me.

“I will be,” I respond, dejected.

I get up to go get Idia a glass of water. Seven knows he needs it.

I grab a glass from the cupboard and fill it up with tap water from one of the good sinks in the dorm. I should get him a snack, too. So, I set the glass of water down on the counter and rummage around for a bag of chips or something.

I feel a low rumble, like a car driving by, only shorter. Not to mention cars don’t drive out this way. My heartbeat picks up the pace. I drop what I’m holding and look at the glass of water on the counter. There are faint ripples on what should be a still surface. There’s no way... 

As the rumbles become more pronounced, the ripples do too. I start to pray that I’m wrong and that this sound of thunder is only attached to a storm, but there’s no way. There’s no way!

I race back upstairs to the others and blurt out, “There’s a t-rex coming.”

“What are you talking about, Darling?” Azul pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Do you not feel the rumbling?”

“It’s probably just a storm,” he continues.

Ortho pipes up, “According to the local weather report, it’s clear skies for the rest of the day.”

“Well,” Azul tries to save face, “there’s got to be a logical explanation for this that isn’t t-rex.”

And then a mechanized roar like something out of Transformers rocks the dorm. I look out the window.

And I see it. I see the terrible lizard king himself. I see the beast trampling through my forest. And I see it heading straight for us.

“Dammit, Doris,” I hear Idia mumble. “I just needed you to hold sewing patterns in place, not this!”

“Doris?” Grim asks, “What does that cursed hat have to do with this t-rex?”

“She told me that she had a plan if things went wrong,” he continues. “And I guess getting slammed up against a wall counts. I have no idea how she could’ve gotten a t-rex but it doesn’t surprise me that she did. I should’ve known that hat was sus.”

“You didn’t build it?” I ask him.

“I found her in one of the storage rooms. She was broken, and soaking wet, so I fixed her up.”

The t-rex has gotten closer and at this point I can now see the tiny little bowler hat on its massive reptilian head.

It roars again; an earth shattering, mechanical scream as it starts to bull rush the dorm.

I sprint across the hall, too panicked to tell the others to do the same. Thankfully, they all had the same idea I did.

From across the hall, we watch the t-rex smash a hole in the side of my guest room. Note to self: twist Crowley’s arm to make sure he repairs that.

The boys ready themselves to fight this fierce beast. As always, it’s my job to keep them on track.

Grim looks up at me, crackling with excitement. “What’s the plan, henchman?”

“Try not to kill it,” I say, “but if you must, make it instant!”

They ready their pens and start slinging as many spells necessary to take the beast down. 

I was doing my part by singing “Walk the Dinosaur,” since it’s the only dinosaur song I can think of, not to mention a bop.

It was a ferocious battle, with Idia’s defense being the only thing between them and a fate similar to that of the lawyer from Jurassic Park. Azul manages to sharpshoot the bowler hat dead in its lens with a jet of water so pressurized you could powerwash the grime off of Narrishackke with it. The thing eventually roars its last as it is soon felled by my team; falling to the earth with a thunderous crash. We go out to investigate, but the hat is nowhere to be found. 

I examine what I thought was a corpse of a t-rex, only to find that it’s somehow only been knocked unconscious.

Azul sees the gleam and my eyes and asks me, “Do you want me to shrink the t-rex down for you so that you can keep it as a pet?”

I nod rapidly. “I’m gonna name him Nathaniel.”

“Of course you are,” Azul sighs. “This won’t be cheap, you know.”

“I figured,” I say as I text him an IOU. “Next time I have my wallet, come talk to me.”

He nods and starts getting to work. Grim and Ortho wander off to continue looking for the hat, but I have something more important to do.

“So... Idia,” I slide up next to him, wringing my hands anxiously, “ I know you said earlier that-”

“When I had the hat on?” he cuts me off, voice pinched. “Darling, whatever I said about you when I was possessed by Doris, just, pretend I never did.”

Now’s my chance now’s my chance now’s my-

“Then, would you like to come see the ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ movie with me?” I ask him. “I originally bought two tickets, and you’re the only person I know that cares about this series as much as me.”

His hair turns bright pink tip to root. I can practically see the 404 error screen plastered on the walls of his mind right now. 

“I wouldn’t want to intrude!” he finally exclaims. “You probably bought that ticket for someone else!”

“I did,” I confess. “For Grim. Because I was going to drag him along if you said no.”

“But you said you were going to get all dressed up for this.”

“Plans can change, and if we leave now we’ll arrive just in time.” I smile, extending my hand for him to take. “And I’d rather have you there than some nose and scar wax.”

He grins; nervously, excitedly, dreamily. He smells like candy. He gently takes my hand, as if I’m a Warhammer model he’s afraid of breaking or an unsleeved Black Lotus card. His hand is so soft, and warm, and wonderful. I’m holding his hand! I could cry if I wasn’t already so giddy.

I see a moth flying away in the distance towards some unknown light. I smile. The dust from the t-rex is still settling, making everything look hazy and dreamlike. And yet, I’m so lucky. Eat your heart out, Eliza! Eat your heart out, Doris! Eat your paradoxical heart out, Eckles!

The next day, Azul and I meet up to talk to Crowley about what is to be done about Narrishackke.

“Oh! So that’s what happened yesterday afternoon,” Crowley laments. “Has the press caught wind of this?”

“Not yet,” I respond, still worn out after the events of yesterday.

“We’ll leak it if you don’t answer some questions first,” Azul applies some pressure.

“Ortho did record everything,” I state.

“Fine, fine,” Crowley reclines in his office seat. “What is it you would like to ask?”

“First, where the hell were you?” I ask, doing my best to censor my language.

“Oh, well I was in my office. I initiated lockdown mode when it notified me that there was a prehistoric creature roaming the woods.” He smiles. I can feel my blood pressure spiking.

“How nice for you,” I respond, pissed.

“Next question,” Azul takes the floor. “What was that hat Idia found?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know,” he sighs. “I would check the library or ask one of the ghosts if you really care.”

“Okay, final question,” I ready my statement, “what are you going to do about the damage Nathaniel caused to House Narrishackke?”

“Narrishackke?”

“She means the ramshackle dorm building she and Grim are living in,” Azul pipes up. 

“And I named the t-rex Nathaniel,” I state proudly. 

“I’ll just give you a blank check,” he says quickly, exasperated. “Aren’t I just so generous?”

I take the blank check from him, “Yeah, generous works.”

After we leave the office, Azul asks me, “So what else are you gonna charge Crowley’s card with?”

“Whatever it takes to deck out a room for Nathanial,” I beam. “And an Emrakul, the Promised End.”

“Why?” he asks me, baffled. 

I smirk. “I still have to beat Idia in a game of Magic.”

[princess-of-the-corner]

So, I've got a friend who shan't be named, who I've accidentally, through osmosis, infected with a hyperfixation on MLB.

But he also knows How shit the writing in Canon is, so he sent me to ask you which episodes to watch that ARE important to know to have a baseline idea on the characters since he does want to pay some respect to the og show and not accidentally Salt the characters.

[TL;DR. Friend wants to watch MLB but is afraid of the shit writing, which episodes would you reccomend? Also, he watched the movie If that helps.]

OH BOY

Hm. I think the main problem with this is that some of the best writing and worst writing is at the same time lmao. Doubly so when it comes to later seasons and Plot.

Okay let's take a moment to go through the episodes. Might break this into seasons.

Since you said they've absorbed by osmosis, I'm not going to make my reasonings spoiler-free.

Season 1:

You know what? I'm actually going to say 'watch all of Season 1'. It has its flaws for sure, but Season 1 is still legitimately good to me. All the episodes are kind of important because they set up the various characters.

Season 2:

The Collector - Establishes Gabriel = Hawkmoth. Interactions with Fu and getting more Lore.

Despair Bear - Sets up the beginnings of Chloé's redemption and why she's Like That™

Riposte - Kagami's introduction!

Dark Owl - This is 87% for the scene of them in the box. The absolute TENSION of of that scene is fucking BEAUTIFUL I love it so much you have no idea. Also brings in Damocles as 'The Owl'.

Glaciator - I'd put this one as a 'maybe' because mostly it's just for the introduction of the Ice Cream Man so you know what's happening later when he shows up.

Sapotis - First dual-Akuma, and also the first debut of Rena Rouge!

Gorizilla - Gabriel suspecting Adrien of being Chat plot! Also more lore tidbits regarding Emilie, as we see her in the movie 'Solitude'.

Captain Hardrock - Introduces Luka and Anarka! Also I just love this Akuma.

Zombizou - partly because zombie apocalypse can be fun and it hits all the tropes. But this establishes stuff for Chloé's redemption arc. Both in a 'why she's Like That™', showing the idea that someone can change, and also her actually being helpful to Ladybug and apologizing for the trouble she caused afterward.

Anansi - I love Nora, and this is the debut for Carapace!

Sandboy - Some good nightmare fuel, and lore on the Kwami

Reverser - Intro for Marc! Technically not important in the long run but I love them.

The Queen's Battle Trilogy(Style Queen, Queen Wasp, Malediktator) - CHLOE MY GIRL. Okay! Introduction of Audrey. Seeing Emilie in the basement for the first time. Gabriel temporarily giving up on being Hawkmoth because he actually gives a shit about Adrien. Chloé finding the Bee. 'The only thing exceptional about you, is your mother'. (unfortunately the 'encouraged to make up with your abuser' part). Chloé getting the Bee for real! YES.

Heroes' Day(Catalyst and Mayura) - Season finale! Scarlet Moth! The Team of Five! Mayura's first appearance and the reveal of Sentimonsters existing!

Season 3:

Backwarder - though it does have some heavy cringe with Marinette mixing up the deliveries, I love Marianne. So more lore with Fu, the introduction of Marianne who canonically was down to throw hands with Nazis.

Chameleon - Lila returns! Mari looks insane trying to prove she's a liar. Lila makes her threat and is willingly Akumatized. Adrien thinks things are just minor and gives unfortunate but understandable advice.

Silencer - Though the band was kinda mentioned in Captain Hardrock, this is where Kitty Section is really 'A Thing'. Bonus for really establishing Bob as a dick. Also the Akuma's power is cool and there's the sort-of-confession

Oblivio - neat Akuma. beautiful shenanigans with Marinette and Adrien not knowing who they are, but falling in love anyway and trying to figure out how to function. Bonus points for all the 'Super Penguino' metaphors.

Oni-Chan - Lila being a manipulator on many levels and Adrien quickly getting to 'you're on thin fucking ice' with her. Establishes Lila making her deal with Gabriel.

Miraculer - More of Chloé's redemption and Queen Bee! The first time the Heroes see Mayura out in the field I think? Queen Bee v Mayura! Ladybug officially tells Chloé she has to be benched because her identity is known, using this event as a basis of example.

Desperada - The chaos of Adrien trying to be Aspik, plus the debut of Viperion.

Startrain - crumbs for 'why Sabrina is Like That', Kaalki is great. Chloé doing great as a Hero even without her Miraculous and taking control in a crisis to save people! Debut of Pegasus. Also the comedy of not only the class being launched into space but Gabriel being so ???? about that happening, and so dramatic of 'oh no Adrien's on that train in space I must rely on my enemies succeeding for him to be safe!'

Kwamibuster - Little bit of lore, but mostly just the badass moments of Mari using all of the fucking Miraculous and how this was supposed to be something special lmao

Feast - SO MUCH FUCKING LORE. Like a bunch of Lore on the past users, the Guardians, what happened when Fu was a kid, etc. Plus the Guardian Temple coming back!

Ikari Gozen - Marinette and Kagami actually become friends. Debut of Ryuko!

Time Tagger - Bunnyx and all the nonsense she brings!

Party Crasher - this one is a maybe. It's chaotic as fuck, and has the debut of Roi Singe.

Chat Blanc - YEAH THIS. THIS IS A THING. LASER PISS ON THE MOON.

Felix - oh hey the boy! Mostly just establishing that he exists. The first time Gabriel and Emilie's wedding rings are established as important.

Ladybug - Lila's whole 'get Mari expelled' plan. Sentibug. Adrien making his own deal with Lila for Mari's safety.

Battle of the Miraculous (Heart Hunter and Miracle Queen) - YEAH THIS IS UNFORTUNATELY RELEVANT

Season 4:

Truth - Jagged is Luka's dad, comedy of "Truth: "what is Mari's secret?"/everyone: "She loves Adrien"." Lukanette breakup.

Lies - Mostly just for fairness, but you can gather 'adrigami break up for the same reasons lukanette did' if you only watched Lies.

Gang of Secrets - Mari is struggling. The Girlsquad wants to help. Mari gives in and tells Alya that she's Ladybug

Mr. Pigeon 72 - lore-wise this is the intro of the Charms. But tbh I just think everyone needs to see how fucking fantastic Alya was this episode

Furious Fu - Introduction of Su-Han. Tbh he so rarely shows up you can kinda skip this but if you /want/ to see him show up....

Sole Crusher - Zoé's first episode!

Guilttrip - Rose having some vague illness, fluff as everyone tries to love her so much. 'Girl that's a bootyhole' Sentimonster. Debut of Pigella!

Optigami - One of Gabriel's most fantastic plans, and it's something Nathalie thought of lmao. Genuinely good plan though. Tension is high. Unnerved by Sentinino

Sentibubbler - Gabriel going direct approach! Alya wrecking house while being held hostage!

Wishmaker - the chaos of everyone's wishes, and Viperion learning LB and CN's identities.

Hack-San -Scarabella my beloved!!!

Dearest Family - Kind of a 'maybe', but first glimpse of God Mode Tikki.

Gabriel Agreste - this was a trip, but mostly here for Felix finding out Gabriel is Shadowmoth(which.... he. He really didn't need to /confirm/ that. He should know. But I digress).

Shadowmoth's Final Attack(Risk and Strikeback) - Season finale! Felix being a FUCK and handing over all the Miraculous to Gabriel!

Season 5:

Honestly I could say to watch all of Season 5 for the exact opposite reason I said to watch all of Season 1 lmao. But if I have to condense the shitshow:

Evolution - Genuinely so fucking good! Alix darling!

Multiplication - not the best, but does really first establish both the tech to transfer the Miraculous Powers, and that Tomoe is working with Gabriel

Destruction - mostly not important, but kinda cool for LB's complicated af plan. But established Monarch getting hit with Cataclysm.

Jubilation - Into to Socqueline. The Alliance Rings are debuted to the public! Shows that the programs on said rings are designed to help Gabriel track down Ladybug, so if Mari ever wears one there's a risk. (downside is you gotta look at the cabbage patch babies and Chat attempting murder)

Passion - the Lovesquare has reversed and we are SUFFERING. Gabriel is a moron who Akumatized Nathalie knowing she wants to kill his ass. Nathalie as Safari is GREAT though

Illusion - establishes Nino's 'Resistance' idea of Civilians fighting back.

The Kwami's Choice(Transmission and Deflagration) - Tikki and Plagg try to let Mari and Adrien be happy with each other. Scarabella and Kitty Noire are on the scene! The Alliance tracker comes into play as Gabriel finds their identities! Near-victory as he takes them out, but luckily Plagg can think fast. Mari and Adrien return to their jobs as LB and CN.

Migration - Luka knowing the identites finally comes into play!

Derision - HEAR ME OUT. This episode fucking sucks, but in terms of fandom things you might want to see what this nonsense was. And how to divert it.

Adoration - Zoé confesses to Marinette, and Mari FINALLY confesses to Adrien. But Gabriel is a big old bag of DICK.

Emotion - Adrienette! The dance! Felix is finally here as Argos! Red Moon! Really establishing the Sentimonster stuff!

Confrontation - PISS WINDOW. Anger aside, Lila is finally caught!

Collusion - GOD fuck this but it's important to the plot for LB and CN to team up with the Akuma and run the mayor out of office.

Representation - Partly for the closest thing to Adrichat fighting Gabriel we'll get, mostly for Felix's play though.

The Final Day (Conformation and Recreation) - Our Season finale! Adrichat is left out of the fight entirely. Gabriel wins but also dies but still wins because he's remembered as a Hero. But hey at least we got cool fight scenes and Eldritch Kwami out of it!

Bonus:

Watch both the NY and Shanghai specials! They're fun and bring in various characters!