#because well we were also already way too long

[nuka-rockit]

There were hints of this problem in DAI already tbh when Hawke showed up and the Inquisitor had to take a back seat to THE CHAMPION OF KIRKWALL and all that. But at least hawke was a former player character, who was well established as politically important to what was going on, and someone who had a long history with the main threat.

in DAV its just. Why is rook even here? Because they're Varric's prodigy? The Inquisitor was that also in a way, plus Varric has tons of friends all over. And the Inquisitor has a network of year long contacts across the borders of Thedas, as well as probably the strongest motivation to hunt Solas down.

The other Protagonists all had pretty valid reasons why they ended up as the one in charge:

The warden was forced to lead because they were one of 2 wardens left in Ferelden and the other one refused flat out, and only a warden can kill an Archdemon so they have no option but to do it if they dont want darkspawn to kill everyone.

Hawke becomes leader only AFTER they actually accomplish something exceptional that puts them in the spotlight. Before they find the treasure they're treated like a dreg, just another impoverished Fereldan refugee. After they get cash they're in by far the most influential position of any of the team - the others are all pariahs in some way or other, an escaped slave elf, a dalish elf apostate, a human apostate, a pirate, a dwarven gangster, and the guard captain who is not free to act as she wishes - so they become the de facto face of the party in situations that deal with authority.

And the inquisitor is literally physically fused to the only Thing in The Entire World that can be used to prevent the veil from just breaking, meaning that they HAVE to be involved. And after Haven, whether they wanted to or not, they have become a political symbol in the face of systems too busy arguing amongst themselves to actually deal with the immediate threat.

But what does Rook do? Why are they here? Why is everyone listening to them? We get told via codex entries and some quips at the start of all the cool things Rook supposedly did, but not only is this rarely if ever even mentioned, this has no atcual reactivity in the game either. its just flavor to justify why Rook isnt at home at the game start.

Literally everyone in the Veilguard team is more competent, accomplished and knowledgable in their field than Rook, and there really isn't any counterbalance that justify why Rook is the leader anyway. There is nothing special about Rook that makes them unique.

What’s really jumping out at me on my second playthrough is that the writers of the first three games understood that your character was the main character. The Veilguard writers clearly thought that the main characters were their characters, the companions.

Every scene is about setting the companions up as cool or competent or sympathetic. Often, this is done at Rook’s expense. The companions get all the witty one-liners; Rook’s attempts at humor not only frequently fall flat, but are frequently called out for falling flat (even when they’re completely automatic and the player has no say in them).

The companions have all the knowledge and skills; Rook just brought them all together and gives them all pep talks so they can focus. I’m trying to edit out all of the comments where Rook is like “Um… what????” from my videos, and let me tell you, it takes WORK. There are A LOT of them. I can count on one hand the number of times when the Inquisitor or Hawke comes across as dumb, but it seems to be a built-in, unavoidable part of Rook’s character. I have not selected a single “purple” option in all of Act 1, and Rook is still coming across as the kid who tries to be the class clown to cover for the fact that he’s always confused. Rook’s role in most scenes is to say “Uhhh… what?” so that the companions look smart.

Rook is always the one offering sympathy and never the one getting it. No one actually comes to comfort you after Varric’s death. No one asks you how you’re feeling about having to lead the team now that Varric is gone. No one tries to reassure you or give you advice for dealing with the trickster god haunting your dreams. We’re told that Neve could keep Solas out of your head, but she never actually offers to do this for you. No one comforts a Shadow Dragon Rook when Minrathous is destroyed or a Grey Warden Rook when Weisshaupt is destroyed. Rook’s problems don’t matter. Only the problems of main characters matter.

Rook is a secondary character in their own story.

[floraisunwell]

Cramps | s.r

who? spencer reid x fem!reader

category: fluffy fluff

summary: you stained spencer's bed sheets and clothes and think he's going to be mad but you couldn't be more chill about it

based on: MY PERIOD CRAMPS WERE KILLING ME BAHAHAHAHA

word count: 685

a/n: i stained my bedsheets during my afternoon nap the other day and i wished i had a spencer to take care of me because my cramps are BRUTAL (and i'm just a sucker for period fics overall lol) @angellic4l my beautiful proofreader, our baby is here.

t.w: mention of blood and very briefly a knife wound

The sound of the shower running awoke you and even in your sleepy state, you smiled because that was a sign that Spencer was already home.

You sat up and that’s when you saw the bags of groceries that were plopped beside the bedroom door, one was from your favorite take-out place, and the other from the corner store down the street, you knew for sure that it contained all the treats you love and your smile widened when you realized that Spencer knew everything you needed just from reading the text you sent a few hours ago

-these cramps are killing me. going for a nap, don’t wake me up when you get home-

You were already opening the package of Sour Patch Kids when you noticed the brownish-red stain in the spot where you had woken up. You instinctively looked down at your sweatpants, Spencer’s sweatpants, and surely, a stain in the same shade of red could also be found there.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…” you grunted

“Is everything okay angel?” your boyfriend inquires getting out of the bathroom with wide eyes

“No, oh my god your bed sheets, oh god”

“My, my bed sheets? What’s wrong with them?” he asks but his eyes have already landed on the stain and a relived ‘oh’ escapes his lips

“Baby I thought something had happened; you scared me for a moment,” he said with a slight smile.

“No, something did happen, did you not see your sheets? And also, your sweats,” you say pointing down “Oh god they look disgusting” you spit out.

“Oh no, don’t say that angel,” he says reaching for your hand but you take a step away and start talking again

“I destroyed them, Spence. It looks horrible. They looked expensive too,” you say, pointing at both the bed and the pants. That stain is so huge, too. It probably reached your mattress,” you say, your face contorting into an emotion Spencer can’t describe.

“What no, you didn’t destroy them, they will be perfectly fine after a wash or two”

“Spence that blood literally came from inside me,” you say with an overly serious tone

“Well, it would be concerning if it had come from anywhere else angel” he says, a smirk tugging at his lips

“Haha, what a perfect time to curate your humour doctor,” you say trying to hide a chuckle because this is one of the occasions where Spencer was funny.

“But seriously it’s not a problem angel I don’t care about the sheets, or the pants, at all. I can literally think of more than 30 ways to clean off those stains.” He says pulling you into a hug.

“Are you sure you’re not completely and utterly disgusted by my bodily fluids?” you ask smiling.

“Not at all, I see too much blood daily to be disgusted by that” he replies looking down at you

“But I mean, that’s period blood, it’s different from blood from like a knife wound or something like that,” you say still looking up at him

“And? Seeing period blood is actually better angel” he says while resting his chin atop your head.

“Are you sure?” you ask with a slightly unbelieving tone

“I am completely sure,” He said leaving a kiss on your forehead “So, how are your cramps? I got you ibuprofen”

“Oh, I left some last time I was here and I have some in my bag too, but thank you, Spence”

“No problem angel,” he stated as he got away from the hug “Now go take the bath I prepared for you, while I take care of these stains, you’re so worried about”

“And then we can cuddle?” you ask with the same wide grin you had when you woke up.

“And then we can cuddle however long you want.” He replies with a smile as wide as yours mirrored in his face.

And as you took your shower and smiled stupidly at the wall you couldn’t stop questioning yourself about how this man kept making you fall in love with him over and over again

[miryum]

☆ 18+ minors dni ☆

Cowboy!Jason Todd who commandeered an impressive ranch out in the country. He came into town every once in a while to get supplies, but also to flirt with the leathersmith’s daughter (you). You always adored seeing him swagger into your daddy’s shop, all confident and smirking. He was just a year or two older than you and the whole town knew that you were practically taken. It was only a matter of time before he asked your father for your hand and you moved out onto his ranch

Cowboy!Jason Todd who, when he finally married you, took you to his ranch house and made you his pretty little wife

Cowboy!Jason Todd took his work very seriously. He loved horses and tending to cattle. The only thing he didn’t like was when he had to go on long cattle drives for weeks on end and had to be away from you. He didn’t like the extra strain it put on you and he knew you didn’t sleep as well when he was away.

Cowboy!Jason Todd who would often lie under the stars, wondering if you were doing the same

Cowboy!Jason Todd who knew it was pointless to send you letters when he was away. The mail was just too finicky and by the time they got back to you, he’d be home already. But he did it anyway. He grinned whenever you would run out into the fields where he was working, clutching a letter he had written a month ago, but you had just received

Cowboy!Jason Todd loved when he would return home from one of his cattle drives and you would run from the house, a wide smile on your face. He would jump off his horse and meet you halfway, picking you up and spinning you around – just how it happened in those books you read

Cowboy!Jason Todd who felt bad for all the work you had to do around the house when he was out with the animals. You cleaned the house, prepared the food, tended to the chickens, and did the laundry. You even brought out lunches for Jason and the workers everyday, paired with some lemonade or crisp water. Of course, he rewarded you with little gifts from all his trips and fulfilling every one of your wishes in bed (which we’ll get to later)

Cowboy!Jason Todd employed only one ranch hand – a young boy named Damian who you soon came to view as your own. He stayed on the farm with you, as ranch hands did. You made sure the boy got enough to eat and patched up all his clothes he tore. Jason couldn’t help but watch fondly as you would sit at the table after dinner as he did the dishes, muttering to yourself that “the poor boy grows too much. What are we gonna do with him?!” Jason would let his mind stray to how you would react when kids of your own skinned their knees or dirtied their clothes

Cowboy!Jason Todd didn’t mind if you wanted kids or not. He would give you whatever you wanted and would defend your wishes to everyone in town

Cowboy!Jason Todd who didn’t even go into town anymore. He didn’t have a reason to. He got his food from nearby farmers and knew how to take care of his tools. You didn’t really notice at first until you realised his leather saddle was a bit scuffed. You commented how your father could easily fix it, but Jason simply gave you a kiss on the cheek and told you he could do it. You didn’t believe him until you saw him with your own two eyes in the barn. You confronted him as to why he then even went to your father’s store if he could do it all by himself and he replied with a grin. “How else would I have met my future wife? Who, now I may add, is all mine.”

Cowboy!Jason Todd was a very fit man and his years as a cowboy did everything to help that. You loved watching him work – practically anything he did turned you on. There was when he was riding a horse and you watched the way his hips rocked on the saddle. There was when he was pitching hay for the horses and you watched how his biceps flexed and pulled deliciously. There was when he was sharpening the kitchen knives because you asked so sweetly and you watched the beads of sweat disappear under his collar. And there was when he was practicing his lassoing and unclipped his overalls, exposing his abs

Cowboy!Jason Todd always noticed when you ogled at him and god, did he love it. It made him feel like he was still worthy to be your husband

Cowboy!Jason Todd who almost never said no to when you would crawl up onto his lap and begin kissing him sweetly. His calloused hands would grip your hips and tug you closer. He loved to sit in his recliner because it had just the right amount of space for you to straddle him

Cowboy!Jason Todd was a torturous lover

Cowboy!Jason Todd who would either give it to you rough and quick or pull his hips back slowly before rolling into you. Every single damn time he would ask for consent about every single damn thing. And holy shit if it wasn’t hot as hell. After the first night when Damian couldn’t look Jason in the eye, he had suggested the boy move to the bedroom on the other side of the house. Damian readily agreed, not before throwing in a snarky remark

Cowboy!Jason Todd whose nails were always dirty, but you never minded

Cowboy!Jason Todd who loved to take your hand in his and kiss the simple diamond ring he had put on your finger the day he wedded you as a way of thanks

Cowboy!Jason Todd who also loved to mutter in your ear the vows he had spoken on your wedding day while thrusting into you

[thewertsearch]

@elkian asked: PS - I think Sally can watch [S] Duodecim Rex Angelus at this point(?), but obvs I don't want to interrupt if she's on a roll lol @marinerofthestars asked: Since you’ve now finished Act 5, I think you can now watch (and react to when you have some time?) Rex Duodecim Angelus without risk of spoilers. It’s a 7-minute long fanmade Flash depicting the trolls’ battle against the Black King at the end of their session, hope you enjoy: https://youtu.be/-19Up0dLzNw @captorations asked: you've probably got a bunch of messages about this but. there's a fanfic out there that is the full text of strider-ified detective pony, and it is, unironically, one of the greatest fanworks ever created. i do not grant that title lightly, and i cannot recommend it enough. also! maybe i've forgotten and you did cover it, but. at this point i believe you're very much able to watch rex duodecim angelus, the fanmade flash of the trolls fighting their black king, without spoilers of any kind. some parts of act 6 can be a bit slow, so. if you need a break for action, it's there @joyfulldreams asked: By the way, since you've finished Act 5, you can absolutely watch Rex Duodecim Angelus now! (If you haven't already.) @transguyhawkeye asked: Not sure if anyones mentioned it yet but now that you've read the ancestor section you should be able to watch [s] Rex Duodecim Angelus spoiler-free! Anonymous asked: It looks like maybe no one's pointed out that you can now watch Rex Duodecim Angelus (which you were recommended in 2022 and 2023 but it was too early to watch then). You should definitely do that. Hussie declared it canonical, and Cat even suggested liveblogging it. Anonymous asked: OKAY YAY. There's a fan animation that I hear Hussie canonized called [S] Rex Duodecim Angelus and most people recommend that the earliest possible spot in a reading to view it is right after the completion of act 5. You don't have to liveblog it but I would LOVE it if you did. Anonymous asked: Augh I forgot to add that Rex Duodecim Angelus is of the troll session's fight against the black king. That would be worth mentioning. Especially so that you could dig up some of the references to the battle made in the comic ;>_> @morganwick asked: [...] this is a reminder that you used to go through the newsposts/blog posts/Formspring answers preserved in the Homestuck Collection, but you haven't done that in a while (cancelling it at the end of Act 4 in your haste to get to Act 5); were you thinking of catching up at the end of Act 5? I think you're close to the point where the Formspring stopped already. @likelyvampirical asked: [S] Rex Duodecim Angelus is now spoiler-free. On a related note, we've not had an episode of Tunes with Sally since November 2022. Maybe we could do some album reviews before coming back with Act 6?

Yup, it's finally time. After hearing about this legendary video for over a year and a half, today I'm going to check out one of Homestuck's most iconic fanworks, [S] Rex Duodecim Angelus!

I've heard from several people now that Hussie declared it canon, but no one's been able to track down a source for that just yet. Either way, it's clearly intended to be canon-compliant, so I'm interested in seeing how they handle the more ambiguous aspects of this fight, such as Gamzee's Rage attack.

On another note, I've deliberately placed Tunes with Sally on hiatus until later in the comic - mostly because the albums often contain songs from flashes we haven't seen yet, and I want to experience Homestuck's OST from within the comic first.

Finally, I promise I'll get to the Formspring eventually, as well as Hussie's news and blog posts. They're just not a giant priority, at the moment - but if anyone's got any specific Hussie quotes they'd like me to check out, feel free to send 'em in.

Anyways, I'll be watching Rex Duodecim Angelus after I've had dinner. Talk to y'all then!

[suugarbabe]

Lovely lovely Sab, I have another thought for you 🫡

Imagine kind, loving, sweet Enzo getting super pissed and lashing out at Snape in class after he's said something really mean to reader. And Snape's actual low key scared because we all know sweet Enzo is the actual psycho of the group and his quite, direct anger is terrifying coming from someone so sunshine-esque ✌️

Enjoy the day dream love, and happy belated new year 😘

hi keke my love my darling i love you. I struggled a liiiiittle with how to make enzo seem psycho but also not too far from how i normally write him so i did kind of go for like a threatening menacing psycho versus physical violence towards a professor. i hope this is good enough if not please tell me i suck <3

Lip held between teeth your do your best to continue concentrating on the order you're supposed to add your ingredients. Potions was your worst class. Not for lack of knowledge; or even lack of ability. Outside of the classroom you would almost be labeled of proficient, rivaling even that of Blaise Zabini.

But in the potions classroom you might as well be a squib. What was the difference you ask? That would be one Professor Severus Snape. He glides in front of your and Enzo's table just as you're adding the infusion of wormwood. You knew this particular potion called for four shakes exactly. Any more and there would be an explosion of smoke.

Snape's piercing black eyes watching you had your hands shaking. Enzo's placed his hand on the small of your back in a soothing gesture, trying silently to help you stay focused, to breathe. But Snape continued to watch. Each agonizingly slow shake you made his eyebrow rose higher, a low humming noise in the back of his throat.

And it's that noise that has you losing count of how many shakes you've already added, leading to you adding just one too many. You can see the potion start to turn the wrong color, and the top begin to bubble in the wrong way. Enzo has a grip on the back of your robes like he's about to pull you down under the table for protection.

But Snape is quick to correct your mistake more as a means to not have to clean his classroom, or his robes, because of your error than really any care for you. "You're lucky I knew you'd fail. If I weren't prepared your mistake would've destroyed part of my classroom," Snape looked down his long crooked nose with a look of disdain. "I should deduct house points for your incompetency. A sure disgrace to the pureblood you're supposed to be."

Enzo's hand on your back quickly fisted the material. A surefire sign he was angry. "Careful how you talk to them, professor. They're technically ranked higher than you in society, isn't that what you believe?" Enzo's tone wasn't loud. Purposely not drawing attention to anyone else in the class who were still working diligently as to not be Snape's next victims.

Snape straightened at Enzo's statement, hands still behind his back as though he were not truly bothered by the teenager in front of him but there was no missing the flair in his nostrils, "I have no knowledge of what you mean, Berkshire. But if I were you, I'd watch how you talk to a professor."

Enzo's head tilted slightly, a smirk of a grin forming on his lips that you only ever see when he's going to go for a kill. "Well you're a half blood, aren't you professor?" Enzo's biting his lip as his grin is growing; Snape is glowering. "Wouldn't that make you...below them?"

Snape slams his hands down on the table in front of you, causing you to jump back slightly and a few others to look your way. "Eye's on your own cauldrons," Snape spat, everyone's heads quickly turned back to their own work.

He leaned in closer towards Enzo, a raging whisper spitting from his lips as he spoke, "How dare you speak to me that way, boy. Do you forget who I am?"

You've not seen it personally too many times, but you've heard about it from Mattheo and Theo. The switch that sometimes flips within Enzo when he's getting angry. Around you he's usually good at controlling it. But for some reason Snape must have struck a nerve.

The switch was palpable in the air, in his energy that shifted. Enzo placed his hands on the table opposite his professor, leaning forward to shorten the distance. Even though it was a whisper, his voice was still coated in the thickness of what seemed like a threat, "Do you forget who I am? I've seen you at those meetings professor."

A snarl overtook Snape's features, "You don't know what you are talking about, boy." Enzo let out a low laugh, eyes casting down to the table as his tongue ran over his teeth with a smile, "Oh I know exactly what I'm talking about, Professor. I know more than you think; am being taught more than you think. You created a spell when you were a student, didn't you?"

Snape stayed silent, eyes darting back and forth with Enzo's who's seemed to get darker by the moment. "Curious to find out what spells I've come up with? Wonder if they're just as...dangerous."

"Enz!" you whisper shouted through your teeth, "did you just threaten a professor?" You were getting nervous, but Enzo never appeared more confident than in this moment. He picked up some extra ingredients in his hands, "Don't worry love, nothings going to happen. Snape here is actually going to excuse us early from class."

"And why...would I do that," Snape was doing a poor job at keeping his composure, arms now crossed as he responded through gritted teeth. Enzo dropped the billywig wings into the cauldron, "Because in about twenty seconds that little...mistake of mine is going to coat anyone within a five foot radius in sticky black smoke. So we're going to have to leave early to change for our next course."

By time he finished speaking the potion began bubbling once more, Snape hurrying to back away as Enzo held you still in place. With a loud pop and a few laughs from peers you and Enzo now found yourselves coated in a thin black sludge.

"Eugh, gross," you shook your hands towards the floor, plops of essence of your potion hitting the dungeon floor with a splatting noise. Enzo simply wore a devilish grin, keeping a challenging eye contact with the professor.

Snape pointed a long and boney finger towards the door, "Out! The both of you. Go clean yourselves up and get out of my sight at once!" You nodded your head quickly, still intimidated to speak. Enzo just gave a curt nod, still smiling, "Of course, Professor."

[lesbianalanwake]

Severance S2E2:

--holy shit. I see why the season is 10 episodes instead of 9. two episodes to resolve the S1 finale and wind up to the pitch. there was so much legwork in this episode, and so much tension that I could barely sit still.

--I hope they paid Milchick a big overtime bonus in addition to his new salary!!! man did all that in 48 hours!!!

--Mark and Devon.... Mark being in denial about the possibility that Mark S could have been talking about Gemma, when we later see that it's been weighing on him heavily and he needed to talk to Cobel to confront it. it's such a small, small hope.... if he believes in the possibility that Gemma is alive, and it turns out that she is not, it would destroy him completely, and he's already come so close to destroying himself while grieving the first time. but Devon! Devon is so sharp! she knows her brother, and she glimpsed a younger, lighter version of her brother that she hasn't seen in a long time, and she clocked his tone and body language and everything about the situation correctly! and she can't live with the unanswered question of whether Gemma could be alive, because she misses her sister-in-law and misses who her brother used to be! she can't stop thinking about it while Mark is doing everything in his power to not think about it! aaaaah!

--Cobel bookending this episode by being as unhinged and mysterious as ever. we don't even know if she accepted the advisory council position! what is she up to! the final scene is so fucking good because I was like "I bet she's thinking about hitting Mark with her car," and then she screams like a bat out of hell and almost does just that LMAO. and she's still telling him to quit, even though Lumon is doing something significant with Gemma and "Cold Harbor," enough that they need Mark back to finish it, and Cobel knows what it is and wants something from it, and now Mark knows for sure that Gemma is alive because he needed to look Cobel in the eye and ask. I love their weird fucking dynamic. she's so fucking mad at Lumon, but maybe cares about Mark in her own unhinged way?? and his feelings were HURT that she lied to him because he went straight for the only thing that could maybe hurt her feelings a little bit in turn ("I ate your shitty fucking cookies").

--makes me hope that Cobel gets a "villain turned weird ally" arc, and that Milchick is right behind her, because he's already getting a taste of how thankless the severed floor manager position is, getting no guidance beyond "let Kier guide your heart" and having to defend the feat he managed to pull together in 48 hours.

--which brings me to: HELENA. HELENAAA. class traitor arc INCOMING. the "behind the scenes" bit reinforced this too: she is living in a gilded cage (the shot of her on the top floor with the windows acting as bars!) and seeing that her innie of all people gets affection and respect in a way that she never has, and she is enthralled. you can do it baby! I hope you kill your dad!

- I'm glad they clarified that the correct term for complex innie/outie romantic dynamics is "throuple" because Mark/Helly is finally compelling. by itself = eh. as part of Helena's development and possibly some kind of villainous fixation that can't possibly end well no matter how you slice it because Mark/Mark S is also going through a throuple thing with his dead wife who is actually alive, and don't think I've forgotten whatever thing that Helena and Milchick had going on in S1 (which is the only thing I was missing from this ep and hope they revisit) = now we're cooking with gas. not to mention Burt spying on Irving! throuples for days.

--tentatively believing that it really is Helena down there, and they sent her to play the part of Helly R to keep Mark complacent so that Cold Harbor gets finished, because Helly is too much of an unpredictable wild card but Helena is controllable (for now!). which would add another juicy flavor to Mark/Helly. they really did it, they really made the ship pop.

--it is so, so compelling how innies/outies are opposites. Helly is bold and rebellious, Helena is calm and subservient. Mark S is sweet and mild-mannered, Mark is cold and sarcastic. Dylan G is confident and driven, Dylan George is nervous and hesitant. Irving B is obedient and proper, Irving Bailiff is defiant and unconventional. and yet! bits of the other shine through, and we see it more and more, and they're slowly but surely on a collision course.

--the Good Doors interviewer says "you remind me of myself" and looks like Dylan, and I love this show because I can't tell if it's to continue the visual motif of doubling/reflections and show a "what could have been" path for Dylan, or if it's because there is truly something FUCKED going on across this whole town. or both.

--Lumon is in such a precarious position. they're a major global corporation, and they have politicians in their pocket, but there is also a lot of hostility and mistrust from the general public, enough to make a severed employee unhireable. (which further entraps their employees and keeps them dependent on Lumon.... Dylan. 😭) Lumon has to walk a fine line to continue, uh, whatever it is they're doing, without turning the public against them in a way that they couldn't recover from, hence the placating attempts at damage control. but all it would take would be a sufficiently strong spark to light that powder keg.

--because like, man.... I hope Helena and Cobel and Milchick all get their "fuck you Lumon" arcs. god. so many threads poised to unravel out of control and snap with the right push because the line that Lumon is walking is THIN. they do the most to try to control their severed employees, but they seem to take their non-severed employees for granted, and I'm wondering if that will be their undoing.

[lesbianherald]

random not super consequential thought (apologies if you’ve addressed this already): was your mental image of viktor in coming home commune era long hair or academy era short hair? or some variation thereof? what about the fantasy au?

since i wrote coming home before season 2 came out, season 1 for sure! i kind of imagined them mirroring their act 1 looks, but older, jayce maybe with some stubble.

I went this way (in my head) because I imagined this world (for all of its flaws) as a kinder one where neither would age as quickly. this is a choice i kind of regret now? again at the time i was like dont think just write this stupid lil thing and your brain will stop feeling like a prison DKFSJHD.

you were probably expecting two sentences but since we are on the topic, descriptors are kind of high key my biggest regret with coming home. at the time they didn't have many looks. but also I was so so so used to/deep into writing screenplays that i forgot my prose background/just hadn't worked that muscle in a long time. this is also why I personally HATE the first two chapters - because in my own re-reads I can really tell I'm trying to re-work the prose muscle back to life let me tell you it is not like riding a bike.

when you write a screenplay, you usually leave out a lot of what other departments would cover unless its super relevant - costumes, props, hair, etc - and it was only when i was like wayy too late in the game that I was like fuck bro. I screenplayed them DSKLFJHSD. again - it started as a project for me - i had no ideaaaaa you know. now i definetly wish i put more care into describing them.

but that also has created for a really fun side effect of different interpretations of them in the art.

this is something i'm really excited to NOT do in my upcoming fic. in fact, i'm working with an incredibly kind artist in the fandom on really bringing their looks to life. which is so fun. and i'm so excited for ppl to see it.

Viktor is in his long hair baylage era but he's.... not purple LOL. He's using his crutch. Has a sick cloak. Won't give too much else away.

Jayce has his beard/longer hair. Starts out out of his brace but gets an injury where he subsequently wears it. Very similar to episode 8/9 jayce. He will have one feature that is very unique to this fic that he inherits at the end of chapter 1 that is very... well you guys will see its ... i have a flair for drama and romance what can i say.

[blackcoldcrackedheart]

Part one in where Tommy fosters/adopts Daniel (Buck's bio kid)

“You said ‘yes’?” Lucy’s eyes were wide, and her jaw had dropped at the news that Tommy had actually agreed to take Daniel, the two-year-old boy that Tommy had saved.

“Yeah.” Tommy sighed when he answered, avoiding her gaze as he led Lucy, Melton, and Ashara out of the hospital. He was surprised when all three came by after their shift ended- which was 7 am. Tommy had called Melton to pick him up, but apparently Lucy and Ashara had wanted to come to see what had happened afterwards. “Look, I know it’s unorthodox and-”

“Out of character?” Lucy added with a guffaw, her expression matching the others, Melton and Ashara seemed worried. “Tommy, I know you’re attached to the kid, but have you thought about this? Thoroughly?”

Melton nodded, “He’s a toddler, I understand you have a house, but you found Hondo difficult to juggle with work- and he was a puppy.” He pointed out.

“Do this have anything to do with you breaking up with-”

“No!” Tommy realized too quickly that he came out too strong and loud at that, and judging by the other’s reaction- they didn’t quite believe him either. “No, this has nothing to do with my break-up.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and dropped his arms in frustration, “This-I don’t know why, I just said yes and I know it’s a commitment and one that could break my heart if Daniel’s family decides to take him in or, I don’t know, social services might not think I’m a good fit to even adopt him- but I want to do this, more than anything, I’m not scared? Not really.” He laughed more to himself, rubbing his face tiredly as the realization hit him- he wasn’t scared of the unknown here.

He had doubted for the longest time about being a father, mainly because he didn’t want to become like his dad. He had thought that he would always just be “uncle Tommy” to Sarah’s kids.

But…

A part of him wanted this.

“Look,” He started off firmly, “I know I’m crazy for doing this and, yeah, I haven’t had long to think about it, but I know this could end in a million ways, but I want to do this. And I don’t need your permission or blessing for this.” He told them, knowing full well that he sounded stoic and closed off. “So either get off my back or don’t say anything at all. I don’t need-”

Melton was the first to raise his hands in defeat, “Hey, woah.” He looked at the two women at his side, Lucy looked mildly annoyed and Ashara’s brown eyes were all watery now. “When did you hear us say we weren’t gonna support you?” Melton asked, “We just want to make sure you know what you’re doing, whether or not you know this, pendejo, we actually care about you.”

Tommy snorted at that, his gaze shiftting down to the floor.

“He’s right, you asshat, you honestly think you’re gonna be alone in all this?” Lucy asked, punching Tommy’s shoulder hard, “Please, you know that kid is gonna need his aunt Lucy so he can watch movies that aren't romantic comedies.”

Melton pointed to the hospital, “You already know that kid has me as his tío, ondulado there is gonna have to call me when he gets sick of eating the only six variations of pastas you know how to cook.” Melton joked.

Despite the anger still ebbing, Tommy found himself laughing along with the two. He eyed Ashara, knowing the younger girl was the newest but also the voice of reason and most excited about being a part of a team. “I’m guessing you also want to be an aunt?” he asked her, watching as she excitedly jumped and clapped her hands.

“Yes! Are you kidding me? I always wanted to be an ammah!” she went in for a hug, causing Tommy to let out a little “Oomph.” once Lucy went in for a hug as well, Melton laughed as he went in for the group hug as well.

Tommy felt himself relax in their hold. It felt overwhelming but amazing to have this. He was expecting-at most- his sister to just be a support from afar. He hadn’t expected his team to step up like this and be there for him.

“Thanks guys.” He sniffed once they broke apart from the group hug. “I appreciate this, you have no idea how much.”

“We have some idea.” Lucy teased, poking Tommy’s arm, “Because you’re gonna be buying us coffee as we get Danny everything he needs. When is he supposed to go home with you?”

‘Home’ had Tommy smiling, he was about to take his kid home.

His kid.

(Yeah, he was getting ahead of himself here, but he couldn’t help it.)

Tommy looked at his watch, it was only 8 am now. Claudia had told him that he could pick-up Daniel by one.

“One pm today.”

“Today?!” the three repeated incredulously.

Melton let out a swear before pulling out his phone, “Yeah man, that does not give us a lot of time, but we can definitely pick up the major things- like a bed and a dresser. So we need to run to the store now.”

Lucy was massaging her temples, “Safe to assume Danny doesn’t have any clothing besides the ones we he was brought into?”

Tommy shook his head ‘no’, “But I can go to the store or maybe order-”

Lucy scoffed, waving him off as she pulled out her phone and started typing, “Please, save your money. Kid is probably gonna shoot up like a weed in the next week alone. I have two brothers that have six boys, each. Trust me, they probably have clothes that still have their tags.” She bit her lower lip, “I can have my brother drop off the clothes, and ordering groceries is a breeze.” She pointed at Ashara who immediately started to smile.

“Let me baby proof the house! I can find anything and everything to make sure Danniel doesn’t get into anything.” Ashara promised, “I can also help decorate his room.” She paused, giving Tommy a coy smile. “Are we thinking firefighter theme for the room?”

“Oooh.” Melton looked at his phone excitedly, “I’m sure we can find a firefighter theme bed.”

Tommy was hesitant to answer, now it was starting to feel overwhelming. “I think he likes Bluey, maybe you guys can-”

Melton patted his back, “Easiest theme to find for a 2-year-old.”

Ashara agreed, “Let’s meet at Tommy’s by noon?”

The others agreed, which is how Tommy found himself sitting next to Melton in his SUV and on the way to a furniture store.

-

He was crazy.

Tommy knew this.

He knew he was out of his mind for doing this.

But regardless of what felt like a spur of the moment decision, he was still in his guest room which he used for storage and was currently finishing up building a toddler bed. He and Melton had gone to a furniture store and bought whatever they could- including a blue transitional bed (Yeah, he and Melton fell hard for the sale “It’s a bed that grows with your child”), a matching dresser, and nightstand. Ashara had kept her word and bought every little thing that was needed to make sure every crevice of the house was covered and shielded from children; she had also bought way too many Bluey themed decorations (“What? How was I supposed to pass up a Bluey rug?! It’s so cute!”). And true to her word, Lucy’s brother had happily dropped off clothing for Daniel, much of it still had their price tags. Hell, the three pairs of shoes the guy brought over were still in their original boxes. Lucy had also ordered groceries, leaving Tommy’s fridge and cupboards filled with toddler friendly food and snacks (“Really? Who wants to eat Hulk themed gummies?”). Melton had even taken it upon himself to find out what Tommy needed in order to go on parental leave (“Listen, you have 3 weeks for parental leave, plenty of time for you to find a nanny or get Danniel enrolled into a daycare.” Lucy was already on the phone, informing Tommy that her brothers and sisters could get him on the top of a waiting list at the drop of a hat).

 By the time 12:30 pm rolled around, the others had insisted that Tommy go to pick up Daniel while they got things wrapped up at home.

Tommy felt jittery as he eyed the newly fitted car seat next to him, this was real.

He was taking in Daniel.

It might be a forever thing, but it was a right now thing.

He couldn’t shake away the nerves as he stepped off the elevator to the pediatric floor. He could feel his heartbeat loudly as he made his way to Daniel’s room.

“Uh, hi.” He greeted Claudia who was leafing through papers in a folder.

“Tummy!” Daniel’s giggles had taken away all of Tommy’s fears and nerves, Tommy found himself already floating towards the toddler who had his arms outstretched to Tommy.

“Hey kiddo.” He gently picked up the little boy, “Ready to ditch this popsicle stand?” he knew the kid didn’t know what he meant but that didn’t stop Daniel from hugging Tommy, clearly Daniel felt Tommy’s absence in a span of five hours. “Aww, kid. I missed you too.” He murmured, gently rubbing the little boy’s back as he felt Daniel’s tears hit his neck. “I got you.” He promised Daniel, feeling his voice hitch and eyes sting with tears.

“You ready?” Claudia asked knowingly, her small smile made Tommy even more confident in his decision.

Whether or not he got to adopt Daniel officially, Daniel was always going to be his son.

[urgardenandmine]

cute little match 𓃦 - l. dunbar

summary: liam dunbar has met his match on the lacrosse field genre: fluff (what is like the opposite of fluff because this is like not that cute but y'know what i mean?) pairing: m!reader x liam dunbar word count: 1.8K

“alright grunts, today we are playing a quick scrimmage game with the varsity team of devenford prep because last night was a monstrosity. a total and utter, amazingly, piece of crap.” coach had announced, seeing all the students on the field clutching the shaft of their lacrosse stick. the famous fiery dunbar teen had groaned, rubbing his temple with his gloved hand. he glanced over to the leading group of teens who adorned green jerseys and white shorts. liam grumbled, seeing the new team of devenford students. he was still scared of the rumor and the reputation he left at his old school yet he couldn’t do much now. he was also a changed man, instead of keying cars, he could use his claws. 

one boy had caught the eye of liam. he was behind the new captain of the lacrosse team. he didn’t seem to be that much taller, almost the same height as liam himself or shorter. his hair was not that long nor too short, which was a common thing with the freshman at devenford, except those who didn’t give a fuck like how brett was. his [e/c] were almost another shade due to the sunlight hitting them just perfectly. he had a certain aura about him, something that pulled liam in yet he couldn’t tell what. it was almost as if he- 

“dunbar! earth to dunbar! i swear it’s like you just never listen to me…” coach finstock shouted, causing liam to snap out of his daydream as he turned his attention to the older man. coach had raised his arms above his head, staring at the gawking boy as he was tired of waiting for him to get into position. 

“s-sorry, coach,” liam had stuttered out, “right. where do you want me?” he asked, trying to smoothe over his already rocky start to the re-do of last nights mistakes. he couldn’t afford to make another one or else he and his team would have to run a couple laps. for him, it was no biggie, but to run in front of his old school and making his teammates run would be a shit start for the new lacrosse season.

“you’re on mid and facing us off. get a move on, dunbar. mccall said you were good so go prove him not wrong.” coach said, as he made his way off the field to stand next to the other coach of the other school. liam nodded, putting on his helmet as he trudged over to the center of the field. he had held his mouth guard in one hand, wanting to exchange at least a couple friendly introductions to the other player before he, hopingly, crushed them.

making his way towards the center, liam had stuck out his hand and smiled from under the plastic grate at the other player. it was the boy from before, who was now in his gear. he looked at liam’s hand, before meeting his gaze towards the brunette. liam chuckled softly, before gesturing towards the other, still trying to be polite.

“let’s have some fun, man.” liam chirped. the other boy had his lacrosse stick in his hand, while leaning his chin on the end of the shaft. he chuckled softly, sighing as he got closer and grabbed liam’s hand. when their hands met, liam was met with a small shock, causing him to jump back and retract his hand as quick as possible. the other boy smirked, winking at the young wolf before getting into position.

“lets.” he said, staring up at liam before putting in his mouth guard. liam looked down at him, seeing the boy teasingly wink at him another time. liam tittered, soon getting into position as well after following suit and placing his mouth guard in. he had grabbed his stick tightly, staring at the boy who had his eyes focused on the ball. liam smiled, thinking to himself…

“he’s not even looking at me. this is gonna be easy…”

w h e e !

the sound of the whistle had caused liam to snap out of his thoughts, and then in the following second…

he was on his back. 

“get up, dunbar!” a teammate had shouted. liam groaned, turning his head back further to see above him. looking upside down, the smaller boy was now halfway across the field with the ball in the net. liam grunted, rushing himself up as he was then darting halfway across the field. seeing the boy soon reach one of the defenders who were twice his size, liam cheered in his head as he had no way to get passed them. as he saw the boy reach the defenders, the boy then slipped passed them as if he was water rushing through two rocks. liam groaned, running faster and faster till…

“goal! one for devenford.” the coach of the other team had announced, as the ball had smacked into the net before anyone could even blink. the boy smirked, walking back to the center off the field as he brushed passed liam. as he got closer to the other boy, he winked again, this time his eyes flashing a small orange hue. liam had now stared at him, seeing the small flash. he shook his head, thinking he was only making things up. 

making his way back to the mid-field, liam looked down at the boy before getting into position. the boy’s eyes met with liam’s, winking another time as liam twisted his hands on the shaft of his stick. waiting for the whistle, liam began to devise a plan to throw the other off his guard. as he stared at the other boy, liam got somewhat lost in the other’s features. he took in the other boy’s eye color, his facial shape and the way his eyebrows furrowed when he was thinking. the brunette shook his head, shaking the thoughts out of his head.

“focus, liam! now is not the time to think about those things! maybe like…after?” 

w h e e ! 

as the chirp of the whistle filled his ear, liam found himself again on the ground, this time on his side. looking towards the distance of his team’s goal, he saw the other boy now rushing passed again. liam groaned, getting up and chasing after the boy. 

liam, right behind the boy’s tail, soon nudged himself into the other. the boy had faltered, tripping over his feet and leaning towards his right side. almost dropping the ball and feeling himself about to tumble, the boy had immediately done a quick flip to land at an angle, landing with his legs wide apart and his weight shifted onto his left foot. liam furrowed his brows, looking in awe. in the next second, the boy was off again, heading to the goal. 

seeing him dash off, liam was about to push him again when he saw the ball fly right passed the goalie. liam sighed, breathing heavily and trying to catch his breath as he scratched his arm in slight frustration. he looked at the boy, seeing his other teammates now crowd him and pat him on the back and give him small words of congratulations. 

“maybe he was just lucky this time and we won’t have to do laps.” liam whispered to himself.

he was wrong. 

flopping onto the cooling grass, liam heaved slightly as he had finished up his tenth lap. this was usually a cake walk for him but it wasn’t easy considering he just got his ass beat by some random cute guy. closing his eyes to shield himself from the blinding sun, liam moaned as he wanted his water yet he wanted to just rot on top of the grass. seeing a shadow now appear in his vision, liam opened one eye and saw the one person he didn’t want to see above him holding a water bottle.

it was the boy who whooped his ass and made him run ten laps.

liam sat up, looking at the water bottle extended towards him. switching glances between the bottle and the boy, liam slouched over as he took the water bottle and began gulping it down. the boy giggled, sitting down beside him, tucking in his knees to his chest as liam ran a hand through his long brown hair. finishing up his last sip, the young wolf looked over to the boy and chuckled softly. liam examined the boy’s face. he was barely sweating, nor did he seem tired at all. in the moment they were taking in one another’s presence, the other boy had wiped a small water droplet from liam’s lips, smirking. 

“so, who knew wolves were so slow?” the other asked, causing liam’s ears to turn a red shade as he coughed. he covered his mouth and tried to not to cough on the other, looking away. trying to stifle his fit of dryness, he looked back at the [h/c] boy and shrugged it off, feigning a small laugh.

“wolf? what wolf? i don’t-”

“you’re liam dunbar, right?” he asked, waiting for a response from the other who took a small sip of water to soother his throat. the beta nodded, looking at the other boy who scooted closer.

“your reputation proceeds, man.” he said, nudging him softly. the blue eyed beta looked the other up and down, confused as he didn’t sense any other type of “wolf-ness” from the other.

“what are you?” liam asked, now feeling a bit more on edge as this wasn’t the first time someone supernatural had picked on him. the other boy huffed, his [l/c] lips shifting into a wide grin. he whispered close to the other’s ear.

“took a look with your eyes.” he teased, lightly biting dunbar’s earlobe, causing him to blush. making sure no one else was around, liam’s eyes had changed from their usual blue to their now bright gold. jumping back in awe, liam took in the sight before him.

the smaller boy was now shrouded in an outlined aura of a fox-like humanoid. the color of his aura was similar to his older packmate, kira, a bright orange. the aura though was not as fiery as the previous, possibly being that this guy hasn’t been in any crazy battles like he has. blinking hard and shaking his head, liam looked again and saw the same boy from before. 

“so you’re a-”

“yeah. and you’re the famous cutie liam dunbar.” the other replied. liam nodded, looking at his feet before turning quickly back to the other.

“cutie?” he inquired, blushing as the now revealed fox boy laughed.

“how about we make a deal, cutie. if we beat you tomorrow night, you have to take me out on a date. and if you guys win, then i’ll take you on a date.” he teased, biting his lower lip. liam chuckled, nodding as he stood up and helped up the other, pulling him closely by his waist. the other boy tilted his head, waiting for an answer.

“you’re on.” 

⋆｡°✩

been waiting to write this one for a while but i couldn't figure out who :p

most kitsunes in history are depicted as women but historically, some stories have been about old men but like...i don't wanna write that pairing TT

hope y'all enjoyed it! sorry for the like lack luster quality because it's like 2AM where i am

[biowaredisasterbisexual]

And a continuation with Fluff 4, because these are fun and I cannot help myself. Also just for fun! And also likely to follow the earlier prompt and one day evolve into something for the multichapter mess that haunts me.

Fluff 4. Character A and Character B go dancing.

Rook was trying very hard not to keep looking over at Neve as nonchalantly made his way through the main hall of the Imperator’s house. He didn’t have a specific destination in mind, just a goal: to figure out what the cultists were up to.

So he and Neve had split up - which felt, honestly, kind of unfair after having already spent an entire week apart, but he guessed he could only complain so much - and were mingling. Something he suspected she hated far more than he did.

And something that would be even easier if he could possibly stop trying to, however unconsciously, find her with his eyes.

It wasn’t his fault. Neve in a formal robe was something he’d committed to memory the moment she’d changed clothes. He was only human.

He’d made idle conversation with several bureaucrats, clearly all hoping to get on the Imperator’s good side based on how they fawned over the man, and now was overdue for a drink. Both for camouflage and because something had to liven this party up, and so long as they were split up it tragically wouldn’t be Neve.

“I told you not to cause trouble in my city,” a low and angry voice said, just behind his ear over by the bar. Rook accepted his drink and smiled amiably at the Legate.

“Who’s causing trouble? I’m just here to have a good time and partake in libations way fancier than I normally get to.”

Well, okay, it wasn’t entirely true. He was friends with Lucanis, after all. But the Legate didn’t need to know that.

The older man glared at him, and Rook grinned. “I’ve got my eye on you.”

“With all this scenery to take in?” Rook gestured at the ‘distinguished guests’ around the room. “Seems like a waste.”

He smiled sweetly and took a sip of the expensive whiskey he held.

The Legate stomped away, and Rook silently gave himself another point towards victory.

“It can’t be!” Faster than Rook would have guessed, he was being tugged around by a thin woman with a pinched face, dressed in a silken garment that even he knew wasn’t cheap.

“Iulia,” he recognized. “I don’t think I’ve seen you since your wedding to my cousin. How are you?”

“All the better now that you’re here!”

He looked at her in confusion. He couldn’t figure out how him being there would in anyway improve her night in the least. His eldest cousin, Octavian, had never been Rook’s biggest fan - and he couldn’t imagine that had changed after all these years - it wasn’t like he and Octavian’s wife had ever been close.

“Thanks, it’s…good to see you too.” He took another sip of his drink. “I hope you have a-“

She grabbed his free hand with surprising strength for a woman so small, and began dragging him towards the center of the room.

“Oh, but we can’t part ways without at least one dance!”

This was weird. Very weird. And after watching Harding become a conduit of titan magic, an elven god’s face speak to them from the clouds, and smug, sad cat of a powerful mage bound to the veil separating the normal world from the Fade, Rook knew weird.

He hadn’t even danced with Iulia at her wedding, when he and his family had been on good terms. He couldn’t imagine why it would ever be necessary now.

But causing a scene - well, right now anyway, later might be different - wasn’t going to help him or Neve collect information. So Rook set his drink down as they reached the floor and let himself be pulled on to it for what would probably be the second or third most awkward dance of his life.

“Oh, you can hold me closer than that!” Her feigned laugher was grating, and Rook steered his hands back to the proper position even as she tried to tug them down. “We’re family.”

“I doubt your husband would appreciate that, cousin,” he replied, his brain finally piecing together what was happening here.

She wanted to either piss Octavian off or make him jealous. And, not that Rook had incredibly fond feelings for her older cousin, he didn’t really want to participate.

Years of formal education let him put his footwork to the back of his mind, muscle memory taking over, and allowing him to focus on how to get out of this as quickly as possible and keeping his hands in the standard position. Despite Iulia’s best efforts.

Neve’s distinctive gait behind him was a welcome relief, and he grinned as he felt her tap his shoulder. “I’m afraid I have to cut in.”

He immediately let go of Iulia, and thanked a Maker he hardly believed in for the fact it now wasn’t a slight. “Neve,” Rook said, hoping his smile conveyed the mountain-sized amount of gratitude he felt. “Of course.”

He turned to his cousin’s wife and offered an apologetic shrug. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. You’ve been very interesting company.”

He could almost feel Neve hiding a smirk. Iulia glared at them both and all but stomped away.

“So,” Rook held out his arms. “Shall we?”

Neve’s expression faltered, just for a moment, as she stepped closer and Rook placed a far less careful hand on her waist and took her hand. “I haven’t done this since the Circle, Trouble.”

“I’ve got you,” he promised, and he felt like he’d won a prize as she smiled. Whether due to a year of fighting together, months of extracurricular activities together, or just natural chemistry, they moved together easily as Neve followed his lead.

Rook couldn’t say he’d ever thought much about formal dancing with Neve Gallus. But after tonight, it might be all he could think about for awhile.

Writing Challenge Wednesday:

Yay Wednesday! Let's write! (Btw if you sent a Rook Storytime Ask I'm still working my way through them thank you for being patient, they're actually really helping me flesh out my next story and they're a ton of fun. ) As always on these there is no time limit, tag or link or dm or reblog or comment under this post! No word count either just have fun with it that's what it's here for. I don't have standards for submission take or leave what you want, link your Ao3's, and it's all tagged writing challenge on my page! As long as it gets you writing I don't care and I will share. Let me show you off!!!

Okay I did a really fun self-imposed challenge where I turned fluffy head canons into angst cause I can turn anything into angst if you give me long enough ;) I thought it'd be fun to play with that today so I'm going to give you some fluffy head canons and some angsty head canons and I want you to flip the script and take the mood from fluff to angst or angst to fluff. (Please do platonic relationships as well as romantic if you're so inclined I'm into that)

Fluff:

Character A gives Character B a present.

Character A helps character B with their hair/makeup/outfit.

Character A and Character B want to teach Character C a skill.

Character A and Character B go dancing.

Characters A, B, and C are druuuuuuuuunk.

Angst:

Characters A and B have to go to a funeral together.

Character C has tragically gone missing and A and B have to cope.

Character A has lost someone close to them and can't stop crying. Character B and if you want Character C notices as well.

Character A has lost an important item to them or it was destroyed.

Character A and Character B are fighting for real. Real emotional or physical or both. Perhaps Character C intervenes or they work it out themselves.

Have at it and I will post mine later!!!!!

[enjoythesilentworld]

💜💜

X Me    (“Simon, my back really hurts after rowing practice. You think you can give me a massage?”)

hello anon <3 so, at this point we've learned that i'm incapable of drabbles. i hope this little 1.5k ficlet lives up to your expectations with that beautiful quote you've provided xx

also, i wondered how i was going to do this prompt without making it very horny. and, well, it's definitely horny, but also has some fluff sprinkled in! (very fade-to-black M-rating)

A not-so-short, but straight to the finally-falling-into-each-other, friends to lovers AU.

~

“Simon, my back really hurts after rowing practice. You think you can give me a massage?”

Simon lifted his gaze from where he’d been hunched over his laptop and found Wille standing in the entryway to their apartment. He was slightly sweaty and frowning, uncomfortably rolling his shoulders, but Simon could see the slight smirk hidden in his features, the challenge.

Things had begun to shift between them lately. Simon first met Wille in the freshman dorms on the first day he’d arrived at university. Nearly four years later, after many late night study sessions and trips to coffee shops and video game competitions, they were best friends and still lived together. The thing that had shifted was the fact that, since one month ago, both of them were finally single at the same time.

Either one or both of them had been in some kind of relationship for the past few years, and about a week after Wille ended his last fling, things began to change. He and Wille had always been more touchy than a typical friendship, but it was never weird for them. There was a certain blurry, invisible line they never crossed, but Simon never saw it as anything other than platonic. That was, until they were both single and suddenly the way Wille brushed past him in the kitchen with a hand to the small of Simon’s back or the way Simon sometimes curled up into Wille’s side on the couch had a very different undertone. Then, there was the time two weeks ago when they’d both gotten a little drunk at a party and danced together, a little too close to be casual. Or that other time one week ago when they’d gone out to dinner with friends and sat pressed up against each other in a booth and Wille put a hand on Simon’s thigh, a little too high to be friendly.

It was like they were playing a game, amping up the tension that had been building between them for— Honestly, for the last four years. If, on that first night in their shared dorm room, Wille hadn’t disappeared to go to some party with a cousin of his and hadn’t come back in the morning covered in hickies, things probably would’ve started between them much earlier.

Simon already felt like he was going to burst at the seams, and so it was really very cruel of Wille to return from rowing practice looking like that, asking Simon to do that, and doing a real terrible job of hiding the fact that he knew exactly what he was doing.

“What?” Simon asked, feigning cluelessness.

Wille took a few steps forward and dropped his bag on the floor. With a dry mouth, Simon watched him interlace his fingers behind his back, the damp, almost see-through material of his T-shirt stretching as he did.

“I think I might’ve pulled something,” Wille said, voice strained as he lifted his clasped hands, traps and upper biceps flexing with the movement. He pouted at Simon. “Please?”

Simon swallowed and kept his eyes locked on Wille’s, even as the man reached down and picked up the hem of his shirt, using it to wipe his sweaty brow. In his peripheral, Simon could still see the revealed expanse of skin.

He managed to keep his tone relatively casual, eyes flitting back down to his laptop, as he said, “Yeah, sure. But only if you take a shower first. I can smell you from here.”

“You’re the best,” Wille grinned and saluted Simon before heading to the bathroom.

The moment he heard the shower turn on, Simon stopped pretending to click away on his laptop and dropped his head into his hands, exhaling a long, suffering sigh.

It would be fine. Simon would pull himself together and give his roommate, who he was maybe-not-just-friends with, a massage and it would all be fine. He would not lose this game they’d started.

Because he needed to do something with his hands, and because he’d abandoned all hope of focusing on his essay any longer, Simon went to the kitchen and quickly made a smoothie for Wille. He knew that, after a rough practice, Wille was always too tired to make real food and would just end up having chips, which was not a very good post-workout meal.

The shower shut off just as Simon was cleaning out the blender. He whirled around when he heard the bathroom door swing open.

“Where do you want me?” Wille asked from the doorway, still damp, hair dripping, and nothing but a towel around his waist. His smirk softened to an adoring smile when he saw Simon approaching him, holding out the smoothie. “Oh— You made that for me?”  

“Yes. You need real nutrients, Wille. That’s probably why you hurt yourself.”

Wille snorted and took the smoothie, giving Simon a quick peck on the cheek. His smell, fresh and soapy but still so Wille, overwhelmed Simon’s senses.

“God,” Wille moaned, licking his lips. “This is delicious. Maybe I should start neglecting my health more often. I swear your smoothies are better than mine.”

He would not lose this game.

Simon rolled his eyes and knocked his shoulder into Wille’s as he brushed past. It left a damp mark on his shirt.

“Come on. It’ll be easiest if you lie down,” Simon said, letting himself into Wille’s room. “Do you have—”

“I’ve got this?”

Wille had followed after him and was holding out a half-empty bottle of massage oil.

“Right. Perfect,” Simon murmured, taking the bottle from him.

Wille took another big sip of his smoothie, then deposited the cup on the nightstand and lay down across the bed. His feet dangled off the edge. He sighed happily and shifted a bit, back muscles flexing, and half buried his face in the pillows.

Tentatively, Simon knelt on the edge of the bed. “Where?”

“Between my shoulder blades,” Wille said, voice muffled. Simon’s eyes tracked the bulging of his triceps, the rippling of his obliques, as he bent an arm at an awkward angle to gesture at the area.

He nodded then, realizing Wille had shut his eyes and couldn’t see him, stuttered, “O— Okay.”

With slow, careful hands, he pumped out a bit of the oil onto his hands and lathered it together between them to warm it up, then leaned forward and spread it gently across the expanse of Wille’s broad back.

He would not lose this game.

To keep his head, Simon focused on the feeling of the knots under his fingertips. There were a few along the bottom edges of his shoulder blades, and he also noticed that one side of the muscles along his spine were slightly more raised than the other. He ran a firm thumb over a spot of tightness and Wille punched out an exhalation.

Simon froze. “Did that hurt?”

“Yes,” Wille chuckled tightly. “But it’s nice.”

When Simon didn’t move, Wille added, “It’s okay, Simon. You can press harder. It feels really good. Honestly, a bit of pain makes it better.”

So he wouldn’t have to think about the double meaning of those words, about a very different context in which Wille could be saying them, Simon started again.

He would not lose this game.

He worked the heel of his hand over the tighter spots, pausing occasionally to add more oil. Starting near the base of his spine, then smoothing it up, up, up to right below his neck, then out across the top of his shoulder.

“Thank you for doing this.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I am,” Wille said softly, “really grateful for you. I’m really glad you’re in my life.”

Simon smiled down at the side of Wille’s head, the way his face smushed into the pillows, the way his eyebrows drew together and he bit his lip as Simon worked over a particularly tight spot.

Voice tight, he mumbled, “I just love you, Simon.”

“I love you, Wille.” His hands slipped slightly, and he felt his cheeks flame with the words. It felt different than all the other times they’d said it. To hide how much his heart had soared at the exchange, he sassed, “Except you owe me after this,” then dug his thumb deep into a knot.

“Whatever you—fuck.” Wille’s fond words broke off into a heated moan and he arched slightly into Simon’s touch. “Fuck that feels so good, Simon.”

The tender moment was definitely lost, and the sounds shot straight to Simon’s groin. His resolve was crumbling.

“There?” Simon asked quietly, rubbing his thumb over the same spot.

“Th—yes. Right there. Shit.”

Wille stopped biting his lip, stopped muffling his groans, as Simon worked over the taut muscles. Right where Wille had indicated, then slowly moving down his back, over smooth, oiled, beautiful skin.

His fingers hesitated at the edge of the bath towel that still covered Wille’s lower half.

“Simon,” Wille breathed, tone almost pleading.

“Can I take this off?” he asked quietly, thumbing across the fluffy fabric.

“Please.”

Simon was plenty happy to lose this game.

[quietwingsinthesky]

i understand that the modern day segments are the thing that binds the assassin’s creed games together and that they’re essential to the story. but consider. they suck dick and balls.

[fragmentedblade]

Fu Xuan calls March "young girl", which is understandable. But she also calls Chengjie "young man from the Artisanship Commission" and like... ma'am how old are you

[snekdood]

i just struggle to believe theres any ethical way to harvest meat. farm animal dying of old age? yeah. ok. sure. but farm animals aren't going to be perpetually dying of old age enough to fulfill the demand for their meats. you can make better and more convincing arguments to me for ethically harvesting eggs, wool and milk rather than meat.

[vole-mon-amour]

I reached 30 tags so screw it:

if they made it like Silco and Vander had a fallout way before the Mom's death, it could've kinda worked 'cause Vi could've recognized Vander but not Silco, so Jinx still jumps into a stranger's embrace and Silco ends up raising her.

but then again, Vander tried to murder Silco WAY before that scene in the bar in s2. Vander looks way older, even though Silco looks completely different to what we see in flashback in s1.

it's like they didn't put any effort at ALL. it doesn't match. it doesn't make sense. was s1 good on a accident? should have they tried to at least get rid of inconsistencies? or don't go with the theory in s2? because so far it truly looks like "this is the story we wanted to tell" vs "this is the story we actually told" and now it's two completely different stories.

ugh.

I think ignoring s2 and treating s1 as a standalone might be the best choice here, cause s2 is definitely not going to work with the story they told in s1. what a shame.

The Vander/Silco Shitshow - generic, juvenile, and gimmicky slop

So, I think that Vander/Silco flashback was terrible. Tropey, careless, juvenile, clichéd bullshit that stripped away everything that made their season 1 story nuanced and poignant, while simultaneously ripping open a fat plot hole because the team got careless and did not catch the discrepancy between the story they'd written in their heads and the visuals that ended up on screen in season 1. This is just going to be a long rant post detailing the reasons I absolutely despised this flashback. Obligatory disclaimer that this is just my (strongly held) opinion.

1) The timeline plot hole

No, I'm not misusing the term. So a plot hole is an inconsistency in a fictional narrative that cannot be explained away by any plausible in-universe justifications. There are many moments of weak writing in Arcane that may be contrived, rushed, weird, convenient, etc. but aren't plot holes.

This Vander/Silco situation however. Oh boy. If you all remember, Season 1 opened with the bridge massacre, also known as the Day of Ash. Vander is shown cracking enforcers' skulls. He looks like this.

The sisters, seemingly recognizing him, ask him where their parents are. He gestures to their corpses, the sisters cry, Vander has his "violence is not the answer" epiphany, drops the gauntlets very dramatically to underscore this massive turning point of character development for him, then picks the girls up and leaves the bridge.

In episode 3, we are shown a flashback. Vander is trying to kill Silco in the river. He looks like this.

Let's compare this to how he looked like on the Day of Ash.

Yeah. According to the visuals shown in Season 1, the falling out of Vander and Silco seems to have occured in the past before the Day of Ash, evidenced by how much younger Vander looks. Unless Silco is a time traveller who jumped forward to the future to throw a molotov at the riot because he just loves violent extremism that much, or Vander took the time to shave his beard and apply heavy duty anti-aging lotion on his face before hunting Silco down, there are no plausible in-universe explanations for this inconsistency. Not to mention, if Silco and Vander were really as close as brothers and the sisters knew Vander, then it's impossible they wouldn't have known who Silco was.

Yet, in Season 1, that's exactly what we see - not a single sliver of recognition between Silco and the girls, nothing to imply they knew of his existence before episode 3. Not a single conversation between Jinx and Silco implied that he knew, let alone was close to, her mother. Nothing from Vi throughout the entire first season indicated that she knew of his past friendships with her mother and Vander. They acted like total strangers to each other.

Many fans already caught this inconsistency during the three-year gap after writers' comments online implied Silco was involved in the Day of Ash. We had hoped the writers would catch on to this discrepancy too and either iron out the timeline if they want to do serious flashbacks, or just avoid calling attention to it completely by not doing flashbacks of their falling out. Alas.

2) Leonardo Dicaprio pointing meme

Death to the everybody-knows-everyone trope and lines that only exist to invoke the "Leonardo Dicaprio pointing" meme. Throw them into a fucking fire. Boring, mind-numbing, clichéd, overdone garbage. Not every character needs to have some kind of half-baked relation with each other. Not every major incident needs to be tied back to the main characters. Not every single detail needs to be overexplained and justified and again, somehow tied to a main character. They are unnecessary, and make the world feel so much more claustrophobic and smaller than it should be.

"The enforcers actually commited the Day of Ash massacre because SILCO threw a molotov. Vander actually tried to kill Silco because of VI AND JINX'S mother. She knew both Silco and Vander personally and TOLD THEM to help her raise her kids. VANDER named Vi."

Bullshit like this really fucks with immersion, because it becomes clear very quickly that the world is only occupied by a small handful of real characters while the thousands of other people in it are nothing more than inconsequential set dressing and wallpaper. The story and world no longer feel real, vast, and immersive. And these forced "connections" between main characters are so obviously manufactured to generate "OUGHHH" and Dicaprio pointing reactions. Idk about anyone else, but it takes me completely out of the story when I can obviously tell the writing is trying too hard to blow my mind.

The girls' mom waltzing up to Vander and Silco and just. Fucking telling them to help her with her kids lmfaoooooooo. (OUGHH and they both really ended up raising her kids WOAGH😱🤯). Jinx's mom saying choosing a name is stressful because her child will feel stuck with it (GASP and Powder ended up changing her name WOOOOWW😱). Vander coming up with Vi's fucking name. (OUGHHHH HE REALLY WAS MEANT TO BE FATHER ALL ALONG WOADGHHGHDHDH🤯🤯🤯).

Fucking kill me. Arcane Season 1 was surprisingly good precisely because they DIDN'T, for the most part, resort to tropey bullshit like this. It had, for the most part, originality. Uniqueness. In fact all the strongest aspects of Season 1, aspects I loved, were deliberate subversions of overdone clichés. For Season 2 to resort to this kind of writing reminiscent of Disney slop is insanely disappointing.

I'm waiting for a character to unironically say, "What are we, some kind of League of Legends?" in Act 3 now.

3) "Ohhhhh so THAT'S why he did that!!!!!!!!!"

Also death to overexplanations and giving justifications for things that never needed justifications. You know what I was never confused by while watching Season 1 of Arcane? Why Vander adopted the girls. Why Silco adopted Jinx. Why both came to care for their girls so much, they were willing to sacrifice so much for them. I thought the reasons for those things were very clear and poignant in the first season. I never needed an extra on-the-nose justification for the adoptions in the form of, "they wuved yo mama". It's not only redundant, it's also one of the most tired ass tropes in fiction. To me, Vander taking in the girls and Silco taking in Jinx are so much more powerful if they really were just random guys with no real connection to the girls' parents.

But I've already seen some positive reactions to this flashback with "Ohhhhh so THAT's why Silco/Vander cared for the girls so much, now I understand😯🤯😓" mf what exactly did you not understand before??

4) Character motivations

The motivations of both Vander and Silco are made downright bizarre by this flashback. So Silco was hellbent on murdering Vi last season, despite being close friends with her mom whose death he may feel guilty for? Literally despised her and wanted to kill her the entire time with no hesitation lol. So Vander had that aforementioned dramatic moment of character development, dropped the gauntlets, realized violence wasn't the answer, and carried the kids to safety... then doubled back to violently hunt down and murder Silco? But not before shaving his beard and applying youthful lotion of course. Can't kill your bro while looking crusty. Then he failed to kill Silco so he just... went back to the kids and pretended like nothing happened? Lol.

Silco being close to, let alone loving, the girls' parents makes no fucking sense for his character. Vander knowing them at least makes sense, but casual friends would have sufficed. "I was lowkey crushing (?????) on your mom and also named you" just cheapened the entire Vander/Vi and Silco/Jinx surrogate father dynamic. Vander's motivation for killing Silco being yet another fridged woman is also weak as fuck. First Viktor with Sky, and now Vander/Silco. They really should have left this one up to our imaginations if this was the boring tripe they came up with.

[foone]

Bad idea: Age gap discourse but in a fantasy land where there's multiple races who have vastly different lifespans and life styles.

Is it wrong for a 27 year old human to date a 140 year old stone elf, considering most stone elves don't get out of diapers till their 30s?

Is it wrong for a 80 year old dwarf to date a two year old fire wisp, when fire wisps only live up to 5 years (between the eruptions) and have memories of their past lives, so in a way they're "born" at age 400,000+? That octogenarian dwarf is way younger than the fire wisp that's only physically younger than some of the socks the dwarf has!

Is it wrong for a chronomancer who was never born to date, well, anyone? They are zero years old and infinity years old and negative one hundred and seventeen years old all at once. They look like an old human, sure, with the long white beard and the wrinkly skin, but as far as anyone can tell, they've always looked like that. We've seen the cave paintings.

Is it wrong for a 30 year old lizardman (that's old in lizardman years) to date a human who is 60 years old in biological years (because of aging spells), 26 years old in lived-experience years, but only 13 years old in calendar years? (ie, they were born 13 years ago, but spent some of that time in sideways timelines, so they've lived more years than have passed in their home timeline?)

Is it wrong for a 12,000 year old dragon date a pile of 400 kobolds when kobolds only live like 10 years on average, but reach full maturity in one year? And if you disagree, can you do anything about it? You do know what happened to the last policeman who tried to arrest a dragon, right? Their city is still smoldering, 50 years later.

Is it wrong for anyone to date the time worm? It's the same age, every year. So the age gap can only intensify. If you start dating the time worm when you're both the same age, when do you break it off because you've become too much older than them?

And most confusing of all... What about the fairies? They could be anything between a thousand and a day old, they would lie about their age either way, and they can look like whatever they want. There's fairies we know for a fact have been around since the founding of The City of Towers, who met the silent mother herself, and also look like they're at most ten years old. Is it wrong to date them, or just really uncomfortable for everyone who sees it? And on the other side there's fairies who are "born" (hatched? They come from plants, I'm not sure what the verb even would be. Seeded? Sprouted, maybe) this week who are already appearing like middle-aged men and dancing with widows in what looks like a scheme to run off with her fortune but they never take the money, because what would a fairy want with worthless metal discs? Maybe fairies have a hive mind or genetic memory or reincarnation with full memories, they'd never tell you or give you a straight (or consistent) answer anyway.

Stonefolk are really the only inter-race dating situation anyone can agree on. They're unthinking & unmoving solid rock during the day, so those hours don't count. Thus their "real age" is a nice even half of their true age. So if you meet a stonefolk who was dug out 30 years ago, watch out: that's a 15 year old, and if you're a 25 year human, that's too young for you, even though their dig-date is five years before your birth-date.

EDIT: 2024/01/12: Changed the name of the Stonefolk