#but his siblings?? she knows all their hobbies/interests but Sam?? fuck no

[peachdues]

not related to fic shit at all but my god do I want to fist fight Sam’s family

[volturicangetit]

A.V/J.V- Loved at last

Summary: After getting rejected by your imprints, Emmett and Rosalie, you needed a fresh start. So you go to Italy where you meet two interesting vampires. Maybe they can show you what’s it’s like to be loved.

Reqeust: YES/no @rexburn12​  : Where Male Reader Was Banished From La Push For Imprinting On Emmett, and Rosalie They Reject Him Which Almost Kills Him, and Makes Reader Extremely Sad and Reader Moves To Volterra, Italy To Work As A Mechanic. Alec and Jane Smell A Amazing Scent They Follow It To See Their Mate Reader At Home Who Looks Sad Which Makes Them Growl in Anger and It Catches Reader's Attention He Looks At Them, and Imprints On Them Making Him Shocked. Since Imprinting Is A One Time Thing For Shifters.

Warnings: swearing, self hate

Wordcount: 3226

A/N: I’m turning 17 tomorrow ( may 19 )! I can’t really celebrate my birthday but at least I can celebrate it with my parents and siblings. Also I’m born on the same day as Jojo Siwa so that....nice?

PART TWO

MASTERLIST

Saying that you ' hate yourself ' can't even express the amount of disgust you feel towards yourself. You know that it's something you can't control, something that isn't a choice. But still feel like it's your fault that you imprinted on not one, but two vampires. You didn't even know that it was possible to imprint on something that died decades ago. The fact that they both rejected you didn't help. You knew that they wouldn't love you but you were hoping to at least be friends.

" You fucking what? " Rosalie screams at the top of her dead lungs. You flinch as she takes a step towards you, lowering your head. " They can't control it, " Carlisle tries to reason, but Rosalie and Emmett ignore him. You feel Emmet wrap his hands around you and lift you off the ground. Within a second you're outside of the house where he roughly pushes you onto the ground, right into the mud. You sit there on your hands and knees trying to regain yourself which is very fucking difficult when your covered in mud and getting soaked slowly by the rain pouring down on you. It was like the universe wanted you to suffer even more.

" Did you seriously think that we would accept you? You're a fucking dog. " Rosalie says as she and Emmet are standing on their porch. It's only now that you see the contrast between you all. They're standing dry in their expensive house while you're laying in the mud, which comforts you for some odd reason. You stand up quickly, pushes some of the rain of off your face.

" Please, you know I wouldn't have come here if I could just go without you. ". Your voice cracks at every word. You came here vulnerable and onto the land of your enemies. If Sam knows that you're here, he will rip your head off. Emmett shakes his head but doesn't say anything. He can't bring himself to do so. Sure, he wants to scream at you. To yell some words at you he knows he's going to regret but it's like his mind has shut off. Rosalie, on the other hand, can't stop the words from flowing out. " Go away, you disgusting thing. "

You let yourself slide down the side onto the floor of your shower. The water streaming down onto your already burning skin is way too hot, yet you don't care. You don't deserve nice warm showers. No, you deserve scolding hot showers that makes your skin feel like it's going to fall off. A sob breaks out of your body, causing your shoulder to rumble along with it. You tried so hard to stop yourself from crying. But now you let it all out. Every emotion, every pent up bit of anger, every sad thought. It all comes it whether you want it to or not. Whines and groans come out of your mouth along with the sobs. You know the other pack members can hear you, not just crying, but also through your mental bond. Their voices and questions of concern are being blocked out by you. The only thing you can hear if your own sobbing and a dull ringing in your ears.

You don't know how long you've sat in the shower, but you do know that you're going to have a ridiculously high water bill this month. When you get out of the shower and have gotten dressed in a simple pair of sweat pants and a sweater you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. You stop in your track and stare at your own reflection. Your face seems foreign to you. Your normally gleeful eyes are now puffy and look so sickly that you might as well be dead. Your lips are broken from all the screaming and biting at them you've done. It looks weird to see yourself look so broken, but then again, it is said that rejection by your imprint is sometimes not even survived. " What's going on? ". You jump a little as you quickly turn around to see Paul standing behind you. He's leaning against the doorframe, glancing between you and the mirror. " Nothing, you lie. ".

" Oh, come one. We can hear your thoughts, remember? " he says as he taps his temple with his pointer finger. You nod, still looking down at the ground. When you remain quiet, Paul sighs and pulls you into a hug. You freeze at first. He never hugged you, or anyone for that matter. " Those bloodsuckers rejected you? ". You nod as you bury your face into his chest. You needed this. A hug, to help ground you and get you back to reality. " They don't deserve you, you know? ".

" I think I...I think I need to go away for a while, " you keep your voice soft while you speak to try and keep it from cracking. Paul nods before he lets his chin rest on top of your head. " How about Italy? The weather is a lot better there. I know some people there, " Paul suggests. You pull him closer to you. Italy. Nice, warm Italy. Away from Emmett and Rosalie, away from the pack. It will hurt like shit, but it's the best for you. A fresh start. A normal life. No vampires living right next door, no pack fights, no drama between Jacob, Bella and Edward. Just you and Italy. " Yeah, it sounds nice, "

---

Two months. Two months without cloudly Forks. It has done you good. Extremely good. You didn't realize how depressed that place made you until you left. The moment you felt the comforting Italian sun hit your skin was the moment you knew you made the right choice. You didn't talk to Paul's friends a lot. You got a place of your own after a couple of weeks, due to how small the town was everyone who was trying to sell their house was practically begging you to buy their house. You picked up your hobby of tinkering again, now using to be a mechanic though. The town needed one so you were happy to oblige. It was refreshing to have new faces around and a new environment. The sadness that once had its grip on your has disappeared, now only present in dark memories.

You pick up an apple that is laying on your kitchen table before making your way out of your house and towards your work. Not many costumers would come in, if at all. A festival is being celebrated in a nearby town. Naturally, almost everyone in the village has gone there to have a party. You didn't want to do that though, be around people and all. Plus this new free time would give you time to catch up with work and make some preparations for the next day. The walk to your work is short, yet you still enjoy it every day. Back in Forks, you hated the sound of the birds singing but here you enjoy it so much. The birds sing a different song here. One of joy instead of sadness.

" Buongiorno, " you say to your coworker as you walk into the store. Your Italian is far from perfect but it's getting better every day. " Come va? " your coworker, Piero, asks. " Bene. And you? ". He just nods at you with a smile before he resumes to fix what looks like a clock. You really couldn't tell though, most things that come to the store for fixing are broken beyond recognition. You sit down at your workspace and take in the mess that is laying before you. You need to clean that, definitely. You have enough time today to do so anyways

Going for a stroll through the city isn't something the twins would normally do but today was an exception. A sudden rainstorm has been hovering over the area, blocking out the sun and allowing them to go outside without fear. That and the fact that most inhabitants of San Cipriano were now in Volterra for the festival. They dressed down, replacing their usual robes with a dress in Jane's case and jeans and a sweater for Alec. They talked about normal things like the new store that just opened up down the block and books they've read. It feels nice to them to feel so normal. Anyone who saw them would think that they are just a brother and sister enjoying the cool afternoon weather and not two vampires who work for the three kings.

" They have this machine that can induce dreams, " Alec says as he tries to explain the plot of ' Inception ' to Jane. She nods as she only half listens to his story, more focussed on watching a group of children play hide and seek on the other side of the road. The two siblings are sitting on a bench right next to the cemetery, ironically enough. " Sounds fascinating, " Janes says.

Alec nods before resuming his explanation. Jane enjoys seeing her brother so happy. They were both way too serious for their age, not having enjoyed their childhood years as they should have. Seeing him so passionate and happy about something surely put a smile on her face. Alec stops his words however when a sudden gust of winds blows a particularly sweet smell towards them. Both siblings look at each other as they inhale the scent. " Apple, " Jane says

" And rust. Delicious, " Alec adds. Jane slowly points towards the direction of your store. Alec nods and stands up from the bench, getting what his sister means. Both twins slowly stroll to your shop, they want to see who this scent is coming from but at the same time are to content to feel any sort of rush.

The sound of a bell ringing notifies you that someone entered the shop. " Un momento! " you call out from the back of the shop. You quickly wipe the oil that has been building up of your hands with a cloth before making your way to the front of the store to help the new costumers out. The moment you lay your eyes on the twins is when the world stops. You'd be lying to say that they aren't beautiful. Every birthmark on their skins seems so perfect that it has had to be placed there by the angels themselves. A sudden rush of adrenaline fills your body. Every detail about them become highlighted. You know this feeling, you know what this means. You didn't think you could imprint again but here you are, imprinting on the twins. Apparently, your wolf seems to have a preference for imprinting on duos. " I...I...Can I.... ". Your mind can't seem to form words at the moment. It's too busy with taking the twins in, to memorise every single thing about them.

The moment your mind starts to get clearer, you can start to smell them. The dry, campfire-like smell that comes of them suddenly starts to make sense. Vampire. Of course, you had to imprint on vampires again. Jane and Alec also caught the hint of dog and forest in your scent, both realizing that they're in deep shit now. They know you're their mate, they didn't need to notify the other on it. The way they both feel this need to protect you and the way your scent has intoxicated them both said enough. " You're our mate, " Jane says softly. Her usually cold and stern voice now sounds honey sweet.

The realisation of the whole situation only seems to be catching up to you now. The whole two months you spent here, trying to rebuild your life and your mental health seems to be for nothing now. They will reject you. Those words seem to float around your head. You shake your head softly, feeling tears pricking up into your eyes. You take a couple of steps back and away from them. " I-I'm sorry. I can't. Not now, " you say before disappearing into the back of the shop and leaving the confused twins behind in the shop.

You can feel your wolf aching under your skin, begging to be let out. You rush out of the store through the backdoor. You chose your place of work strategically, right next to the forest, which you are very thankful for right now. You let your walls down and let the wolf in you come forth. The ache under your skin stops as your shift begins. Within seconds you're in your wolf form. Tall and frightening for most you stand there for a second, looking back at the store before making a run for it and into the forest. You sit there in your own mind, drowning in your own thoughts as the wolf takes control of your body. Normally, you would try to at least have a sliver of self-control, not now, however. Now you want nothing more than to get lost into the woods.

It doesn't feel like your in your own body, it feels like your floating above it. Memories is all your seeing. Rosalie and Emmett screaming at you. The disgusted looks in their eyes and the harsh words them threw at you without a second thought. They'll do the same. You're sure of it. How could a vampire ever love you? How could someone ever love you?

---

Wet grass brushes against your cheek. The prominent smell of dirt and daisies fills your nose. Slowly, you open your eyes. You're laying on your back, which you only realize now. You stare up at the dark sky above you. The sun is long gone. Now it's replaced by the moon and a thousand stars. It must be later than three a.m. Maybe even later. You should probably move and get inside before you catch a cold but you can't bring yourself to do so. You're to mentally and physically drained from your shift earlier this evening. After regaining yourself, you finally find the strength to get up from the grass. Every bone in your body aches as you stand up for the first time in hours. You stretch a little, getting used to your human form again. Slowly but surely you walk to your front door. The warmth that meets you the moment you open your door falls over you like a blanket. Sudden tiredness washes over you. You let out a jawn as you walk over to your living room, reading to crash on your couch.

Instead of an empty couch, you find two vampires sitting on it, the same there were in the shop earlier. " What are you doing on my house? " you ask. Your body fills with adrenaline again. A warm fuzz fills your brain now that you're around your imprints. " I'm Jane, ". You nod at her statement.

" Cool, and I'm very fucking confused about why you're in my house. ". Both twins laugh a little at your joke. " You got humour in you, alright. " Alec says. You nod, slowly walking a little more towards them. You hate that you're so drawn to them. They like us. You stop in your steps. Why could you hear Jane's thoughts? Is this another part of this weird vampire-imprint thing?

" I'm sure that you have some question, " Alec begins. You cut him off before he can finish his sentence thought. " Yeah like why two members of the Volturi are in my house. ". Both look at you with big eyes, confused as to how you know them. You throw your arms up in the air. " Oh come one, I lived in the same town as the Cullens! You guys came over like every other weekend for Bella and Edward! ".

You sit down on your couch. Letting your elbows rest on your knees so your hands can hold your head up. You let out a deep sigh. Why did this kind of shit always happen to you? " Look, I know you won't want me and that's fine. Just break the news to me, we don't have to tiptoe around it, " you say, just trying to get them to get to the point. Alec's hand is suddenly underneath your chin. He angles your head in a way so that you're looking up at him. " You think we don't want you? ". You nod.

" No, don't ever think that, " Jane says as she sits down beside you. " It's maybe a bit...unusual to have a wolf as a mate but we definitely want you. If you want us. ". You can't help the small smile from spreading onto your face. They want you. They didn't reject you or call you a dog. " Of course I want you, have you seen yourself? You're both hot. ". The twins send each other a smile. Jane gets up from the couch and stands in front of you next to Alec. She holds her hand out for you to grab. " Come home with us. ". You nod at her before grabbing her hand. Finally, you can go to a home where you're loved.

---

The ringing of the phone seems to go on so long that you're afraid you're calling won't be picked up. You wanted to call home, to tell them how well you're doing. You just hope that someone will pick up. Finally, the call gets picked up. " Hello? " Seth says on the other side of the line. " Seth! " you call out happily. The annoyance in his voice is gone in an instant and replaced by happiness. " Y/n! You called! How are you? ".

" Better than ever, " you say happily, glancing over at Jane and Alec who is standing on the other side of the room talking to Demitri and Felix. You know that they are probably listing along to your call but you don't care. " I'm really good. I um...I imprinted again. ". You wait anxiously for Seth's response. " Really? That's great! Who is it? ".

You and Seth continue to talk for another thirty minutes. Back home things are going great for him and the pack as well. Apparently, Emmett and Rosalie are really sorry but you couldn't care less about them. Not now that you have Jane and Alec. " It was nice to talk to you again. Give my greetings to the rest, yeah? Bye-bye. ". You hang up the call. Within a second, Jane and Alec are standing next to you, both giving you a questioning look.

" He's happy for me. Really happy, " you say with a bright smile on your face. Alec grabs your hand and gives you a kiss on top of your knuckles. " See, I know he would be. ". You nod at his comment. You stand there for a moment before pulling both the twins in for a hug. They wrap their arms around you. Sure, it's a little awkward to hug with three people, but it's comforting at the same time. You take in their scent. At first, you hated the smell of vampire but now it smells like home. You feel happy, truly and utterly happy. Maybe someone could love you after all.

TWILIGHT TAGLIST:

@scuzmunkie​ @thanossexual​ @prettyinblack231​

[ms-rampage]

Eden's Gate: Left Behind Chapter 3 - First Encounter

Warnings: Does sorta cutesy stuff count?

Word count: 2k

Once again John is out of character 😂😂, a certain Pepper girl is introduced, Kate has a few minor Sam Winchester moments and talks with a K9. Like I said in the other chapters, I added the University, and the Diner/Cafe for this series because #HeacanonShit.

Alissa (FC: Rhea Ripley)

Morgan (FC: Kathryn Newton)

****************************

For the past few days John watched over Kate, and got very little to no information about her.

She must be a very private person. 

"Where is she from?".

"What's her first name? Middle name?" 

"What's her birthday?" 

"What are her hobbies?" 

"Does she like planes?".

He was basically driving himself insane trying to get anything on her. 

He knows Joseph is right, but what if he isn’t?. What if she doesn’t like him?.

What if she doesn’t like men? Is she a sinner? A nonbeliever?. 

He didn’t even have the damn courage to approach her, and when he did, he kept getting interrupted by his men. They always called for him at a bad time, that's all they’re good for, bad timing. 

Tapping the keys on his keyboard, he finds more information about her.

"There you are" he says, sighing in relief. Clicking on the link with a photo of her.

Katella Evyanna Winchester 

Born in Phoenix, Arizona 

Lived in Jackson, Wyoming 

DOB: August 5 1998 age 19 

Father: Deceased

Mother: Unknown

Sibling: Jackson, Wyoming.

School: Hope County University, former Jackson University

Works: University Cafè & Diner.

"Interesting bio Katella" he says with a smile on his face. 

He has her full name, where she works, goes to school, her home address and a little bit of information about her family.

He wants to meet her face to face, and hopefully no one interrupts him.

He doesn't understand why, but he wants to be with her. 

She has potential to be, if it ever came to that point his wife, and maybe the mother to his future children. When they march to Eden's Gate.

He wants to know more about her "What does she like?". 

She has a dog, so he knows she likes dogs, and she has a classic car so she probably likes older cars than newer cars. 

"She works at the diner at the University. Maybe I can go see her?" he says to himself, unsure. 

He gets up, goes to his car and drives to the cafè diner.

******************************************  

Kate’s working, it's her first day on the job. 

She has an hour and 10 minutes until she’s off. 

The rush is not bad, it's pretty steady especially for a Thursday. 

It's her, her friends Morgan, and Alissa, and their supervisor Holly working. 

Morgan and Kate are clearing off the tables, collecting their tips, Alissa is taking a customer's order, Holly is working the counter, cleaning, and making coffee even though it's after 3:30pm. Kate was suppose to start at 4pm until 10pm but she was able to start her training early, and get off early, 11am until 5pm.

About 10 minutes later, John pulls into the parking lot outside the diner. He sees the black Monte Carlo. 

"Alright so she's working today" he says to himself. 

He parks his car, gets out and walks towards the building. 

He takes a glance into the window, and sees Kate cleaning up tables, his stomach starts to feel weird, and he might feel a little too excited to see her. 

As he's about to open the door, he sees Holly at the counter, "Shit" he mutters to himself. The feeling in his stomach goes away the second he sees Holly. 

The last person he never wants to see is her, they had a few nights together in the past, and that was several months ago. 

"Maybe she won't recognize me" he whispers to himself. Walking inside.

Oh boy was he wrong. John felt like the stupidest person in the county. Holly looks up, and immediately recognizes him. He tries to play off cool, and he ends up awkwardly walking to a table towards the back of the diner.

"I'll be right with you sir" Kate says to him, as she takes a bin of dishes into the kitchen. 

A smile forms on his face just by hearing the sound of her voice. It's very soft, and calming, almost like lavender. The feeling in his stomach comes back.

She comes back out from the kitchen a minute later, and walks towards John's table with a notepad and pencil in hand. 

But she unfortunately gets cut off by Holly, pushing her back a little. 

"It's okay sweetheart I got this" she says to Kate in a bitchy tone. Kate gives Holly, her classic (Sam Winchester) bitch face, and walks back to the counter towards Morgan. 

"So get this, Holly took my customer" Kate whispers to her. She snickers "Typical Holly" Morgan whispers back. 

"Thought I never see you again John'' Holly says to him in a sarcastic tone.

He shrugs, trying to play it cool, and says "Well I just stopped by to see someone". 

She gives him a hopeful but flirty look, and asks "Anyone in particular?". 

He smirks, crossing his arms and says. 

"Someone new, and slightly younger". 

Her expression changes from hopeful to annoyed. 

"What can I get you?" she asks. 

"A large coffee with 2 shots of scotch" he says jokingly.

"And maybe the cute brunette waitress in the flannel" he adds, looking over at her.  

Kate almost drops a plate with a customer's food onto their lap. She can feel her face turning red after he says this. She looks back at him, and he winks at her. 

Holly rolls her eyes in annoyance, and gives him a dirty look.

Morgan and Alissa overhear him, and they both let out a soft laugh. Holly looks back at them, while they walk towards the kitchen trying to hold back their laughter. John stares at Kate as she walks behind the counter. 

"Same ol' John Seed" she says, her hands on her hips.

Nodding his head "Yep, same ol' me" with a smirk. 

"Just a coffee" he adds. 

"Alright then" she says, walking to the counter. 

Kate comes out from behind the counter, and gives a customer their check. 

John looks up, and down at her, "she's got a cute ass" he thinks to himself. 

He can feel himself starting to get hard. He wishes he didn’t feel this way, but he’ll take her over Holly anyday. If only she moved to Hope County a lot sooner, so he wouldn’t have to deal with Holly.

She comes back with his order, and sees him eyeballing Kate. 

She scoffs "Someone new and younger huh? You haven't changed a bit have you?". 

He just shrugs while opening a pack of coffee cream. 

"Not really" he answers, with a cocky smug smile. 

Annoyed, Holly walks into the kitchen. 

He pours the cream, and sugar into his coffee, not realizing Kate is looking at him. 

His heart particularly skips a beat when she speaks to him.

"I like your tattoos" she says motioning to the tattoos on his hands, and arms. 

He looks up at her and smiles "Thanks". 

She sees the small lawyer scale tattoo he has on his hand, and asks. 

"Are you a lawyer?". 

"Yeah I am" he answers, looking down at it. 

"Never seen a lawyer with a lot of tattoos before” she jokes. That puts a smile on his face. 

“Where did you go to school?" she adds. 

His mind goes blank for a moment, and says. 

"I went to Emory Law in Atlanta". 

Kate stares at him for a few seconds, but to him it felt like hours, and he loves it. 

He loves to have her attention. He could’ve really used it growing up.

"You look very familiar. Normally, I'm terrible at remembering faces but yours just looks really familiar" she tells him. 

He half smirks, and says "I saw you the other day. You walked past the church". 

They say "walked past the church"  at the same time. 

They both smile at each other. 

Holly clears her throat in annoyance. 

Putting an end to their conversation, she tells her. 

"Kate, can you go get some more ground coffee from the walk in". 

"Yeah sure" she says, already detecting the jealousy in her voice. 

Walking into the kitchen. 

Holly approaches him, placing her hand flat on the table. 

"I know what you're doing" she tells him, in a slightly threatening tone. 

"Do you though?" he asks, tilting his head. 

"Yeah I do. You're flirting with the younger waitress to make me jealous". 

He scoffs with a hint of laughter, and says "Oh Holly, you haven't changed, have you?". 

She gives him an angry look, and says with attitude. 

"Don't waste your time on her. She's a bookworm. Only cares about her school work, grades and all that shit. She probably doesn't have anything interesting to do in her life". 

And Holly is very far from being right, like several thousand miles from being right. Kate’s life is a lot more interesting then she thought it would be.

He looks at her, lets out a short laugh, and says. 

"She sounds like she's my type. I mean have you seen her car?."

He leans forward, and whispers “She’s wife material”.  

Kate comes back out with the coffee, and fills up the machine. 

Alissa comes out from the kitchen, and walks over to her, asks. 

"What time are you off?" 

She looks at the clock on her phone, and says. 

"In 25 minutes". John overhears this, he finishes off his coffee. Pays the check, and says sarcastically.

"Great seeing you again Hol". 

He winks at Kate one last time before he leaves, causing her to smile again. 

Alissa whispers to Kate. "I think he likes yooouu". 

Morgan comes out from the kitchen, and whispers in her other ear. "I'm sure he wants to fuck yooouu" while hitting her ass.  

The 3 of them laugh about it, and Kate finishes the last 25 minutes of her shift. 

When the next waitress clocks in. 

She clocks out, gathers all her stuff, and leaves to her car. 

As she’s putting her stuff in the passenger side.

She hears a familiar voice say, 

"That's a nice car you got there". She turns around, and sees John. 

"Thanks" she says smiling. 

"Is it yours?" he asks. 

"Sorta. It was my grandfathers, then he gave it to my uncle, and he gave it to me" she answers. 

He nods his head. "I have my car, and my plane" he says, trying not to brag but he’s actually bragging. 

Kate, who is actually impressed, asks "You fly?". 

"Yeah, I love my plane. Do you like planes?". 

Not knowing what to say, she was honest.

"I’ve never been on a plane before. But I’m pretty sure I would enjoy it" she says. 

"I can take you out for a fly someday" he offers, hoping she says “Yes”.

She smiles, seeing his little game, and asks “Is this your way of asking me out?". 

He smiles, asks “Is it working?”. His eyebrows cocked.

She looks away, smiling and looks back at him, saying “It is actually”.

“Well I guess, we have a date then. How’s Saturday?” a charming smile. Those baby blue eyes piercing through her. Making her insides shake, bursting with butterflies. She’s surprised a handsome man like him is showing signs of affection towards her. She’s not letting this opportunity slip pass her. 

“That sounds great, I’m off at 5 on Saturday” she replies, with a smile. “Well I gotta get going, it was nice meeting you. John, right?”

He nods his head, says with a hint of lust in his voice. 

"It was a pleasure meeting you too Kate". 

She detects the lust in his voice, but ignores it, she’s way too excited that someone showed that kind of attention towards her. 

They go their vehicles, and drive their separate ways.

********************************************************

That night Kate is working on her Psychology homework, trying her best to stay focused. 

Even though it's still the first week of that semester, she can’t fall behind.

John keeps coming to mind, throwing her off her work. Distracting her.

She sighs loudly, leaning back in her seat, yawning out loud and stretching her arms out.

“Oh boy” she says, sighing.

Haley looks up at her owner with a head tilt. 

“I got asked out today Hale. Ain’t that a bitch” she says to her dog, as if she were human.

She lets out a bark, “Yeah, I know it's crazy huh?. The dude is a lawyer!!”.

She continues “So get this, he wants to take me for a ride in his plane”.

A pitchy whine comes from her along with another head tilt. She lets out a yelp, and sits on the floor next to her. 

She scratches behind her ear. 

“Yeah, I know. I told him that I’ve never been on a plane before, I panicked. I wasn’t gonna tell him that my sister and I exorcised a demon from one of the pilots. But I’m sure it’ll be fine, Paige won’t she’d have a heart attack and probably shit herself” she laughs at the last part.

[mikenewtonhateblog]

My oc’s aka too long of a gd post

The “BL” Crew (does not stand for boys love I’m just a moron who made that abbreviation before knowing what it stands for). My main crew and main series, a lot is a big WIP right now as I’m slowly redoing the first book and all the lore. Why? I love torture. Book is fantasy type but I won’t specify what.

Lacie, the protagonist. God tier idiot, bisexual bipolar depressed MESS, insomniac, former theater kid, doesn’t know what she wants out of life but currently it is not This(plot of book). Hot headed, impulsive, crude, rude, Mommy IssuesTM, would rather be taking a nap right now, rules are made to be broken, absolutely fucking FERAL, more bags under her eyes than the airport lost and found. 5’5, 130lbs, Aries, age 18, white as shit like literally the whitest human you have ever seen, strawberry blonde hair in a 2011 Hayley Willaims haircut with long bangs, the darkest brown eyes you’ve ever seen that stare directly into your soul. Lanky, no curves, body of a 12 year old boy but works out so she can and will kick your ass and thats a threat. Not human?

Josh. Soft boy, smart, Lacie’s cousin and only friend for like the first 18 years of her life, autistic anxious mess who’s special interest is anchient egyptian history, is in honors classes, despises math, passes out when his girlfriend looks too cute, just needs a hug. Can eat a whole carton of easy mac if left alone, whole wardobe is the same outfit just different colors/hoodies, sensory issues, seriously can someone give this guy a hug. 5’9, 150lbs, Pisces, age 18, mixed (half whatever flavor of white Lacie’s family is [they don’t even know its just some scandanavian shit and irish], and half mexican on his mom’s side), medium olive skin with freckles and moles, dark chocolate brown hair that’s a bit of a 2009 Beiber cut, warm brown eyes, not beefy, a lil thicc and self concious about it but squishy boys are GOOD. Gets bit by a werewolf so now he is one his mood on it is “thats a lot to unpack but let’s just throw the whole suitcase away”.

Zander. There is not one braincell in this man, himbo KING, pansexual dumbass with undiagnosed ADHD, no impulse control, head empty and full at the same time, PTSD, his fashion sense should be an actual crime, gets in fights to feel something, basic requirements for him to be attracted to you: kick his ass. Drinks his respect women juice, sees a folding table and must immediately launch himself on it, chaotic, cannot drive a car and will not, food aggression and eats enough for 3 people but never gains weight which is ILLEGAL, him and Lacie may be a couple.....but in this house we stan slow burn, he talks in caps and every sentence either ends with a question mark or exclaimation point, likes romcoms. 6’2, 190lbs, Sagittarius, age 19, austrailian roots and has the accent but is from [REDACTED FOR STORY REASONS], white, dorito shaped with long legs, blueish black hair that’s long and messy, dark navy eyes that match his hair, bigass neck scar from [REDACTED]. Not human

Peter. Gay dad friend who is TIRED of having to be in charge of a bunch of teenagers, only one with full functioning braincells, lowkey a genius who loves engineering, mixes magical technology with human technology because he likes to play god, is he ever sober? No one knows, will kill for a bottle of single malt, his fashion sense? Tastefully expensive suits perfectly tailored. Likes building his own weapons that no one else knows how to even use, generally non-threatening but can get scary if needed. 6’4, 140lbs string bean man, Scorpio, age 179 but looks early 30s, I know I said Lacie is the whitest human but he’s even paler like a literal sheet of paper with scandanavian roots/ancestors were vikings or some shit, blonde hair styled like 2013 Brendon Urie lmfao, light crystal blue eyes. He’s a vampire and was born one.

Danielle. Tiny, sweet, queen of girls supporting girls, comments on all her friends instagram posts with 20 emojis, LOVES fashion and has a wardrobe that would make anyone jealous, oozes feminine energy, only child and parents are in love still, gets exactly 8 hours of sleep each night and wakes up looking like a disney princess. Just because she is small and cute doesn’t mean you should underestimate her she WILL fuck your shit up. Quiet when angey which is terrifying. Josh is her bf and she loves him so much but also loves teashing the shit out of him. Legally cannot cuss, polite, used her high heels as a weapon once, speaks like 5 languages because studying them is her hobby, gardens, hugs everyone. 5’0, 110, Taurus, age 18, mixed (half french-american, half Korean-american), glowy skin always, PETITE frame aka the friend everyone can pick up when they hug, long past her waist curly brown hair, bright green eyes. She’s not fully human as she has fae blood in her and this gives her the ability to talk to and control plants. Flower crowns for everyone

Becca. Theater kid who would die to sing in Wicked and has the vocal range to do so, cannot wait to graduate and go to her dream college which she got into and a scholarship, closeted lesbian bc her whole giant family is extremely catholic and she feels like not dealing with it, “no boys allowed in bedroom” rule is her favorite joke, chill, middle child of 5 siblings and just wants some peace and quiet for ONCE. Her fashion sense is “I’m dropping subtle hints I’m gay but only to other gays”, has a black belt and took self defense classes. 5’6, 145lbs, Virgo, age 18, Latina (cuban and mexican mix), darker brown skin with light freckles over her nose, athletic build, eyebrows on POINT, bright caramel eyes, short light brown hair cut in a bob, has a tiny nose stud, always wears a blue friendship bracelet her gf made her. Human

Anika. Calling her a bitch/slut is a compliment, bisexual, a bit of a mean girl but she grows out of it give her time!!! Is always Too Much, the horny friend, favorite color is red so thats almost all of her outfits, loves to show off her body as much as she can because she’s hot and knows it and thrives in her own confidence. Her mom is literally like Regina George’s mom from Mean Girls but married a rich man 20 years older than her, Anika doesn’t know her bio dad but thats fine neither does her mom and her step dad is nice and does his best to be a dad. Becca’s gf, always hanging out at her home so Becca can get some quiet because Anika’s an only child and has a pool. 5’9, 135lbs, Gemini, age 18, white, long layered dark reddish brown hair, teal-blue eyes, swimmers body type (I normally do not mention bust size but she would want the internet to know she was blessed with big bahoogles so there you go), can sprint in heels. Half mermaid (boy was that a surprise considering her mom doesn’t know who her father is LOL)

Rex. Nb uses they/them he/him pronouns but honestly will respond to any, goth lite, only attracted to men and ace, can read minds so knows all your secrets, mischevious little shit, great friends with Zander and enjoys his dumbass thoughts and that he’s basically a human version of Jackass, wears too many rings, goth boots for kicking and fashion babey, always has the freshest memes and will not hesitate to roast in the group chat, hangs with the girls most of the time. Chaos god who loves making art, be gay do crime, skateboard and spraypaint. 5’8”, 165lbs, Leo, age 18, Native American, masculine frame, dark brown skin, blue eyes, firetruck red shoulder length hair that’s usually in a ponytail, knock-off gucci sunglasses just for judging their friends. Has magic in their blood so not entirely human and can cast spells and shit (don’t roast me its a wip and I’m doing my research)

Sam. Boho goddess, aromantic, makeup and nails are always instagram worthy, quiet and stoic type but losens up around close friends, Rex is her best friend, has some trauma and doesn’t want to talk about it, emotionally numbed out a bit and wants to purely vibe. Has seen some of the worst parts of humanity and wishes she hadn’t, finds no point in being bitter or resentful though because that won’t change anything, loves cats and once she moves out shes adopting one or three. Has wine aunt energy. 5’4, 200lbs PLUS SIZE QUEEN, Scorpio, age 18, Filipino (her parents are immigrants fun fact!), really olive skin sometimes has a grey/green tinge to it, dark brown almost black shoulder length hair, gold-hazel eyes. Sam’s the victim of a family curse that requires her to consume human hearts to survive, she can transform into a pretty scary looking being and uses this curse to hunt down pedoph*les, r*pists, murderers, and abusers. The less often she feeds the less human she looks, hence the constant grey/green tinge to her skin. 

Andy. Baby of the group, must be protected at all costs, 100% didn’t sign up to be in a friendgroup of 90% monsters but highkey loves it, trans, bi, anxiety MAXED, just wants to draw comics and cosplay spiderman, has to babysit his two younger sisters a lot because his parents are....not great, and as a result now knows all the lines to Tangled and The Little Mermaid. Big nerd energy, has to draw on everything including homework, gets inspiration for comics from his friends, awkward and socially anxious, drinks way too much tea and will accidentally steal your pens. Fears include: crowds, thunder, tall angry men, tiny spaces. Just trying his best. 5’2, 100lbs BEANPOLE BOY, Leo, age 16, white (irish and scottish roots), freckles absolutely EVERYWHERE, orangey red hair thats in desperate need of a haircut, chocolate brown eyes, braces, chronic nail biter. Human and kinda wishes he wasn’t.

That’s it for now if you read all this bless u thank u here is my whole heart. Please no discourse, literally these are fictional people I’ll never publish the books they go to.

[marril96]

The Distance Between Us

Chapter 11: Primadonna Girl

Pairing: Rowena x reader

Summary: Crowley gives you some surprisingly mature input on Rowena.

Editor: @cherrypierowena

The punch they served at the cafeteria tasted like shit, but you still gulped down the entirety of your plastic cup in one go before squeezing it into a ball and throwing it in the trash can — and missing by a good few inches.

Fuck it, you thought. There was trash all around anyway, cups and empty snack bags littering the hall.

Nobody cared. Not the teachers, and certainly not the students, plenty of whom were getting drunker by the minute. Cleaning ladies would lose their shit tomorrow morning.

Their problem.

Not yours.

You weren't even thirsty, especially not for the piss this school dared call punch. It just happened to be the first drink you'd laid your eyes on.

Maybe you should have taken Crowley up on his offer.

All you wanted was to get out of Lucifer's sight. To get away from him. To not be near him for even ten feet was way too close for your liking.

Hell, ten miles would have been way too close.

Lucifer Shurley was one of the few people you could proudly say you hated. He was a smug piece of shit who did nothing but cause trouble and get away with it because of daddy dearest's influence. Watching him from afar was one thing. To stand so close…

It made you remember things. Like his hand on your ass. Your fist in his face. His subsequent suspension, and your warning to report any future indiscretions rather than dealing with them on your own.

You hated him.

God, you hated him!

And Rowena dated him.

How she could get past everything he'd done (everything he was, no doubt, still doing), you couldn't comprehend. She seemed like someone who took shit from no one. She'd certainly showcased it. And yet she dated Lucifer without a qualm, without a single issue. Not only that, but she's fought to date him. Hard. Dirty. Walked over still bleeding corpses on her way over to him.

Your attitude towards her may have mellowed out, but you couldn't get past that. You never would, no matter how nice she was to you, how well she taught you.

Some things were unforgivable.

The girl made no sense to you. She was so strange, so… contradictory. There were so many things you didn't know about her. So many layers she'd wrapped herself in, so many secrets she'd buried deep inside.

Who was Rowena MacLeod?

Was she a heartless mean girl who willingly sought the company of bullies? Or was there more to her than met the eye, hidden depths you'd only begun to uncover?

"Crowley?" you asked, the music still blaring, so loud you could barely hear your own thoughts.

He turned to you, sneaking a sip of his whiskey. "What is it?"

"Could I ask you something?" You leaned against the wall beside him, glad you could hear him a bit better, and cleared your throat. "About Rowena."

He groaned. Took another quick sip of the liquor. "That whore and her pimp already ruined my night."

Well.

He wasn't wrong.

Chuckling, you said, "Has she always been a bitch?" He stared as if you'd just slapped him. You shrugged. "Just curious."

Another sip. "Believe it or not, she used to be tolerable."

You could tell it pained him to admit it. To admit there was a time when his sister wasn't cold and heartless. Did they use to be closer? Was there a time when they were as tight as Sam and Dean, when their bickering was loving rather than hateful and they smiled — happily — in each other's presence?

You raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes," Crowley said with a nod. "She used to do ballet. She ever tell you that? She'd often dance around the house. Be a nuisance, but not… mean."

"I saw the shoes once," you said. "That when she was a kid?"

"Up until we moved."

The end of eighth grade.

Before high school.

Before America.

"Mother wanted to sign her up for lessons here, but all of a sudden ballet was 'boring' and 'for children.'" He rolled his eyes. "She's been a bitch ever since."

So it was a lie.

Not a big surprise — if anything, you expected it — but you were still baffled. Why lie about something like that? It was just ballet. A hobby. An art.

Why would someone try so hard to hide something good all the while proudly putting the bad out in the open?

"Was she close with your dad?" you asked as delicately as you could. Other than to complain about Rowena, Crowley rarely talked about his family. He never mentioned his father.

"No," he said. "The bastard's always been absent. Him scramming was more of a question of when than why."

"Could've still affected her."

He snorted. Gave a small laugh as he drank some more of his whiskey. "That would've required some sort of relationship with him. Trust me, love, our father leaving left no scars on her delicate heart. If she still has one."

You weren't so sure. Parents, even absent ones, leaving could affect people in all sorts of ways. Seeing someone once in a while was one thing. Them leaving, never to appear in your life again, was something completely different.

Rowena's meanness could be a coping mechanism.

Which wasn't an excuse, but it did help you understand her — or try to, at least. There were still so many mysteries about the puzzle that was Rowena MacLeod. Some you were certain you'd never uncover.

Didn't mean you couldn't try.

You wanted to understand her. Wanted to see what made her tick. Wanted to know why she was so nice to you when she didn't give a damn about anyone at school.

She was an enigma, and you would solve it. No matter the cost.

You had always loved a project.

"Did she always hang out with assholes?" you asked, testing a different angle. Maybe Crowley was right — maybe their dad leaving left no trace, and instead the reason for her shift in personality, for the monster she'd become, lied elsewhere.

"She barely hung out with anyone."

Interesting.

"Was she bullied?"

"Possibly. She'd get ridiculed from time to time, but I don't know if it ever got to her 'friends'' level."

His words dripped with sarcasm, but his tone was firm, almost protective. Made it clear that, even though he hated his sister, if he'd found out she'd been bullied, that she'd been harassed and laughed at like Lucifer and Olivette's victims, there would have been blood. And possibly heads being thrown around, ripped straight from the offenders' shoulders.

The MacLeod siblings were weird like that.

"Moving to America fulfilled her dreams of being an absolute bitch," Crowley said. "Probably got inspired by those bloody awful movies. Surprised she hadn't tried out to be a cheerleader."

You chuckled. Rowena totally fit the stereotype. Mean, smug, surrounded by bullies — the only thing missing was a short skirt and pompoms.

Maybe she didn't want to be a one hundred percent stereotype. Changed things up a bit. Instead of cheering, she aced tests and tutored loser girls.

"Anyway," Crowley said as he finished his flask and put it back into his pocket, hand instantly clasping over a new one, "she made her choices. I'm not losing sleep over it. And neither should you."

You stared at him. Blinked.

"Don't overthink it," he told you. "She gave her last remnants of humanity up for popularity. Whatever it is you think you see, it's not there."

"I don't—"

His raised eyebrow cut you off.

Guilty as charged.

For all his dramatics, Crowley wasn't as oblivious as you thought.

You sighed. "She fascinates me."

That made him laugh. "She's a fascinating creature. But a nasty one. Like I told you, she pretends to be nice, cozies up, then digs the claws in. If she's being nice, it's because she's using you."

Made sense.

Except…

"Why would she use me? I have nothing she'd want. I'm not popular. I suck at school. I have like three friends in total."

Neither were you rich. Nor had influence or connections of any kind.

What could she possibly be using you for?

"There's always something."

Maybe so.

But what?

And why?

"I have to go to the bathroom," you said suddenly.

You needed to be alone for a bit. Needed to process everything he'd said, everything you'd learned about the mean girl who lately didn't seem so mean anymore. Were you wrong? Had she tricked you?

Was she really using you?

"Need a chaperone?" Crowley asked with a wry smirk.

"I think I'll be fine," you said in your most deadpan tone. "Wait here."

His hands shot up in a defensive manner. "You know I'm all yours, kitten."

"I'm flattered."

In all honesty, you were grateful. With all your other friends scattered around, you were glad you had Crowley with you. You weren't a people person, especially the loud-music-and-crowds kind. You would've left ages ago if left completely alone.

It took some pushing and shoving, but you finally found your way to the bathroom hall. Thankfully, not many people roamed around here; the main hall was the heart of the party, a magnet pulling everyone in and away from the rest of the school.

The air was stale, but you were able to breathe easier. No bodies pressing against you. No elbows shoving into you and knees whacking into your own. Just you and empty space. Lots and lots of empty space.

Heaven, you'd call it.

A rush of heels clicked towards you, and you looked up. A smile instinctively spread over your mouth at the sight of Rowena.

Then you took in the state she was in and it vanished in a heartbeat.

Her hair was a mess. Her face, pale, beautiful, was red, eyes swollen with tears that spilled from them like a never-ending downpour.

Your heart clenched with worry.

"Rowena?" you said gently. "What happened?"

She forced on a smile. "Nothing."

You raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"Yes, nothing!" she exclaimed.

You flinched.

She sighed, apologetic. "Leave me alone, okay? I'm not in the mood."

She was distressed. Hurt. How could you ignore that?

So you asked the old stupid question, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she said with a touch of sarcasm. "I am."

"You don't look okay."

She glared daggers at you. Threatened painful and bloody murder. "Mind your bloody business, Y/N!"

Her words were like a whip; sharp, painful, furious. She rushed past you before you could utter a response. Before you could compose yourself and offer up a reaction to her outburst.

No apology.

No regret.

Not even a wounded puppy stare.

She was just gone.

Tears rushed into your eyes, prickled at them with demands of falling free. Your heart ached. Your teeth clenched, fists following suit.

Maybe Crowley was right.

Maybe she was using you.

And whatever she was doing it for, it wasn't enough for her to even pretend to be your friend.

*****

Tags: @werewolfbarbie @oswinthestrange @songofthecagedmoose @apurdyfulmind @getthesalt-sam @metallihca @salembitchtrials @jay-eris @hellsmother @elizabeth-effie @victoriasagittariablack @rowenaswife @wonderifshelikesroses @xfireandsin @liddell-alien @hotdiggitydammit @lae-lae @darkhumorsblog @gaysnakess @angel7376 @cherrypierowena @ruthieconnells @evil-regal-vampiress @collectorofsecretsandsouls @angel-e-v-a @tasyahilker @a-queen-and-her-throne

[henrizzlewestgate]

Henry Westgate Biography

G E O M E T R I C S

↬ Full name ↫

Henry Westgate

↬ Nickname ↫

Henrizzle

↬ Birthday ↫

January 10th

↬ Birthplace ↫

Isle of the Lost

↬ Zodiac ↫

Capricorn

↬ Height ↫

6′3″ 😏

↬ Orientation ↫

Heterosexual

↬ Social Class ↫

Lower

↬ Wealth ↫

He has enough money to get by and to support Sam if he needed him to.

A P P E A R A N C E

↬ Tattoos ↫

No tattoos but he does have a scar on his eyebrow from a fencing incident with his father.

↬ Piercing ↫

No piercings.

↬ Outfits ↫

Henry typically wears dark wash jeans and t-shirts sometimes with a button down thrown over but his sense of style is pretty basic. Growing up on the Isle he didn’t experiment much and in Auradon he hasn’t ventured out much either.

↬ Accessories ↫

He has a watch that belonged to his father.

P E R S O N A L I T Y

↬ Normal mood ↫

Grumpy, he is always grumpy.

↬ Temper ↫

Henry isn’t quick to rile up, and even when he’s riled up he doesn’t get much of a temper but he will punch someone to defend another person.

↬ Discipline ↫

He plays by the rules as much as he’s able.

↬ Strengths ↫

Henry is physically strong and mentally strong. He can fight and he’s stubborn af.

↬ Weaknesses ↫

Protecting Jack and Sam are his top priorities in life so if anything ever happened to them he’d lose it.

↬ Drive/dreams ↫

Henry just wants to have a good life and help his brother have a good life since growing up they basically had nothing but each other.

↬ Fears ↫

Not being able to protect Sam

↬ Likes ↫

coffee, writing, flying with pixie dust (but don’t tell Jack)

↬ Dislikes ↫

most of his frat brothers, arrogant assholes, rich people

↬ Soft spot ↫

Jack cause she’s in lesbian with him. Sam cause that’s his wittle brudder.

↬ Depression ↫

Henry’s never been depressed but he has turned very apathetic and stoic.

↬ Inspiration ↫

Wanting to be truly happy

↬ Role model ↫

Henry never really had anyone to look up to growing up. Even on the isle there isn’t anyone he idolizes. He admires Ben, but knows Ben was handed his life.

↬ Mental disorder ↫

N/A

↬ Habits ↫

When he’s bored he tears at the corners of his papers.

R A T I N G S

(5 Stars means very high strength, 1 star means very low strength aka weak)

↬ Psychological strength ↫

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ - Henry’s got a strong mind. He’s not easily affected or taken advantage of.

↬ Physical strength ↫

⭑⭑⭑⭑ - He’s not the strongest person on the block but he’ll take out whoever he needs to in order to protect someone he cares about.

↬ Leadership ↫

⭑⭑ - He doesn’t want to be a leader. If he wanted to take charge, he could but he has no desire to.

↬ Wisdom ↫

⭑⭑⭑⭑ - Henry has seen some shit and been through some shit. He’s wise even if it’s not in ways people care about.

↬ Intelligence ↫

⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ - The kid is a fucking genius.

↬ Confidence ↫

⭑⭑⭑⭑ - He’s confident but when he’s being a smug asshole it’s a facade.

↬ Endurance ↫

⭑⭑⭑ - He is a capricorn, he drags his feet.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

↬ Father ↫

Prince Hans of the Southern Isles 

↬ Mother ↫

N/A

↬ Siblings ↫

Samuel Westgate

↬ Other relatives ↫

N/A

↬ Enemies ↫

Grant LeGrand

↬ Rivals ↫

Unkowingly, Jacob Pan

↬ Friends ↫

Jack, Sam, Mei, Carson, Ben, and Nolan.

↬ Best friend ↫

Jack Pan

↬ Love interest ↫

Also Jack Pan.

↬ Marital status ↫

He’s in L O V E with Jack.

↬ Children ↫

Eventually will have two with Jack -- Celeste and Sawyer.

↬ Pets ↫

None at the moment

P A S S - T I M E

↬ Hobbies ↫

He reads and writes

↬ Talents ↫

Henry can recite anything from Shakespeare at any given time.

↬ Sports ↫

He goes to tourney games to support his brother.

↬ Classes ↫

He’s an english major through and through.

↬ Occupation ↫

Henry sells essays.

H O M E   L I F E

↬ Location ↫

On the isle but he lives at the frat out

↬ House size ↫

Small

↬ House type ↫

It’s a ruined house with sheets for walls.

↬ Level of luxury ↫

Nothing about it is luxurious.

↬ Outdoor description ↫

It looks like a wrecking ball hit it.

↬ Indoor description ↫

If a quilt made out of garbage was a house, it would be the house Henry grew up in.

↬ Bedroom description ↫

It’s small and has a mattress so at least he had that.

L I F E    S T O R Y

↬ Age 0-12 ↫

Henry can’t remember much from his earlier years, like before Sam was born. But he does remember being outside and fencing with his dad, thinking he was playing as Hans planted seeds of Henry marrying into royalty someday. Sometimes Hans could get a little rough with the boys, but he would always step in when it came to Sam.

↬ Age 13-18 ↫

During his teen years, he watched more and more VK’s get off the Isle and make it onto Auradon. He was offered a couple of times, but refused to go until Sam could get an invitation too. Once they were both able to go, Henry made a silent vow to never let his brother go back to live there. At Auradon Prep, he learned that he was actually quite smart and excelled in all classes even though English was his passion which his father didn’t approve of. In order to make money, Henry began to write essays for hero kids who could cough up the cash.

↬ Age 19-30 (or 25) ↫

Henry got into Auradon U on a full ride, but made sure he had enough money stashed away in case Sam needed it for school. He got a scholarship to join the fraternity that let him live in the house for free. Mostly, he kept to himself but would talk to his brothers when he had to. Once he started dating Jack he came out of his shell a little, letting her show him new experiences and even though she annoyed the hell out of him sometimes, he had more fun that he was ever willing to let on. Now they’re in love which is huge for Henry because he’s never told someone he’s loved them other than Sam and even that only happened once in a blue moon. But he’s happy and making friends.

↬ Darkest secret ↫

He took the Auradonian version of the SATs for a hero kid who wouldn’t have gotten into college without him.

[pumpkins-s]

Stormbreaker / Coffinmaker

Read On AO3 Here

When Pidge is offered the spot as communications officer for the Kerberos Mission, to accompany her father, and her friend and former classmate Shiro, she’s expecting eight months of quiet, beautiful cosmos, ice samples, and—if she’s lucky—some broadcast signals to support her alien life theories.

She is not expecting to end up the prisoner of a fascistic race of alien cat-lizards hellbent on apparently reenacting the ugliest parts of the Roman empire, down to the massive enslavement and expansion effort and the gladiators as entertainment shtick.

But, if she’s going down, she figures she might as well go down swinging.

(Or, in which Pidge is the third Kerberos member, is decidedly not a damsel in distress who needs protection—thank you very much Shiro—is very much done with this crap, and fully intends to make it home to her little brother, no matter what it takes.)

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Relationships: platonic Pidge & Shiro, Pidge & Matt, Pidge & Sam Holt

Characters: Pidge, Shiro, Sam Holt, Matt Holt, Thace, Ulaz

Rating + Warnings: Rated Teen; trigger warnings include graphic violence, blood, combat, murder, and systematic transphobia on the part of the Galra. I recommend checking AO3, or in my author’s notes under the cut, for a more extensive list.

Stormbreaker was written for the @pidgebigbang, and is accompanied by art from @anime7otaku7artist7. 

Chapter 1: Willow

((Author’s Note: 

Hello, hello! Welcome to Stormbreaker / Coffinmaker, my fic for the Pidge Big Bang. Developing the concept and storyline for this fic was the work of months (even if I wrote 90% of it in the last two weeks before it was due shhhh), and I'm so pleased to finally be able to share it. I love Pidge and the friendship she holds with Shiro, and I really wanted a chance to explore that in a setting where they were closer to being peers, as well as what her relationship to Matt would be like if she were the older sibling, and hence that (+ my desire to just see Pidge kicking ass as a gladiator) is how Stormbreaker was born.

As always, music played a big part in my writing, and I'd like to take a moment to credit that: I wrote and outlined this fic largely to the work of Barns Courtney and Florence + The Machine, particularly his  The Attractions of Youth album and her How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful album, respectively, and the influence of both is definitely there in how the story turned out. The title of this fic was chosen as a nod to two songs that pushed the concept and development of Stormbreaker by leaps and bounds. Of Monster And Men's Winter Sound, and Florence + The Machine's My Boy Builds Coffins. And of course, I can't not mention the song that played the original inspiration for this fic: No Doubt's Just A Girl.

For your listening enjoyment while you read, there's also an actual playlist for this fic (with more than just those previously mentioned couple of artists in it, promise). You can find the tumblr post for it here, with art by the wonderful corpus--corvus, or jump straight to the Spotify or Youtube link.

Before you read, a final warning for the content -- this is a gladiator fic, boys & girls & nonbinary pals. That means violence, blood, injury (Shiro's probably an obvious indication but people do lose limbs), fight to the death scenarios, and murder. People die in this story, and not all of them necessarily deserve it, though rest assured Pidge and Shiro themselves stay (relatively) intact. There's also the presence of underage drinking in a flashback scene, some mentions of the sexual abuse and forced prostitution of slaves within the Empire, and swearing. So much fucking swearing. Additionally, while all relationships are written to be strictly platonic, Shiro and Pidge's longer friendship and view of each other as closer to peers does mean their friendship has an emotional intimacy that wouldn't necessarily be seen in their canon counterparts. They lean on each other for support, quite literally, so if any of that would be a personal squick to you for whatever reason, please look away now.

That's about it! Enormous thanks to the Pidge Big Bang mods for putting this all together, and to my artist, anime7otaku7artist7, for their phenomenal work. Their art is embedded in the story, and you can also find a link to it here.

Stormbreaker is split into eight sections, with the entirety already written out pre posting. Chapters range from about 4-10 thousand words, with the first one being the shortest. It will update every day until its completion (so long as everything with editing and posting goes smoothly on my end, at least. Here's hoping). Enjoy!))

(( Author’s Note [Cont.]:

Willow: Forsaken

The gorgeous title art opening this chapter, while not provided by my official artist for the Pidge Big Bang, is provided by the wonderful corpus--corvus, who put up with months of my ranting about Stormbreaker!Pidge, and generously provided me with both this title art, and coverart for this fic's playlist. Thank you Logan you're a peach.))

Oh I'm just a girl, living in captivity

Your rule of thumb

Make me worry some

Oh I'm just a girl, what's my destiny?

- "Just a Girl", No Doubt

“Careful,” is the first thing Pidge’s father says to her, and she sighs, blowing errant bangs out of her eyes—she knew she should have pinned them back when they were suiting up—as she steadies her arms and inches the ice sample out of the extraction drill.

“Yeah, Pidge, careful,��� Shiro says with a grin she can only classify as shit-eating, leaning over the back of the drill with his forearms resting on top.

“I am careful,” she snaps, fully removing the sample and hefting it between her arms. The weight is less than that of Earthen ice of the same mass—which is expected, given the gravity on Kerberos is much lesser than that on Earth. It’s a lucky thing their suits are specially designed and weighted to model Earth’s gravity on their interior, Pidge wouldn’t want to be hopping and stumbling around like the astronauts of her grandparents’ generation.

She hands the sample over to her father carefully, his eyes bright as he studies it. “Extraordinary.”

Pidge glances over at Shiro, who is doing his best to look anything more than politely interested, and smirks. “What? Not impressed?”

Shiro looks down at her, and shrugs ungainly against the bulk of his suit. “You guys get…a little more excited about ice samples than I do. I understand their value, but it’s not exactly my area.”

“Yeah, yeah, motorboy.” Pidge rolls her eyes. “I get it, you’re only interested in things with an engine and that go really fast.”

“That’s—“ Shiro makes a face. “Ok, that’s only partially true. I also like…uh…” He trails off, brows furrowed, and Pidge grins. “…What do I like?” he finally asks, looking to Pidge in askance.

“Uh. Reading? Fixing Keith’s bike?” Pidge counts off on her fingers, squinting down at them. “That’s…you’re really bad at having non-work-related hobbies, dude.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Oh! Me!” Pidge holds up a third finger triumphantly. “You like me!”

Shiro groans. “You’re my best friend, that’s a given—“

“You know what I like?” Pidge says, and then continues on before Shiro has the chance to respond. “I’ll tell you what I like. Motherfucking aliens, that’s what I like, Shiro.”

“And here we go again—“

“And that—“ Pidge points at the ice sample, “could be the key to finally proving their existence, right Dad?”

“Well,” her father says, looking quietly amused as he shifts the sample in his hands. “We certainly can’t rule anything out, all the way out here. And I’d hardly complain if one of these ice samples wanted to come along and solve my life’s—“ There’s a rumble all around them, rock vibrating slightly beneath their feet, and he pauses. “…What was that?”

“Earthquake?” Pidge asks as another rumble starts up, stronger than the last.

“Kerberos-quake?” Shiro mutters behind her, and she turns to tell him just how terrible that was, before the strongest shake yet occurs, throwing her off balance, and she yelps, falling forward.

“Pidge!” She catches herself on Shiro’s outstretched arm. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” She shakes her head, trying to dispel the hair blocking her vision and the vague sense of dizziness she feels. “We should get back to the—“ She stops, caught up in the feeling of something suddenly here, large and looming and right behind her, and slowly turns around as a ship comes into view.

For once, all her knowledge—all her calculations, her observations, her vast vocabulary, abandon her, and she is left with one thought, and one thought only.

That isn’t one of their ships.

“It can’t be…” She hears her father say, but it’s distant, muffled, as if he was underwater, and then all she can focus on is Shiro grabbing desperately at her arm, yanking her along.

“Run. Run!”

She runs.

It’s a rush of sudden sound, sudden movement that seems at odds with the serene stillness expected of space. All she can hear is the roaring noise of whatever is behind them, Shiro’s shouts, her own heavy breathing as she stumbles along in her suit, the previously steadying weight suddenly cumbersome.

There’s a sudden pull behind them, around them, everything lit up purple, and Pidge screams as her feet suddenly leave the ground, flying up into the void of black above them. She hears both of the others yell her name, and she reaches out blindly for something, anything—her father’s blurry form, the outstretched hand she knows is Shiro’s, only to find nothing.

Tractor beam, a detached, scientific part of her mind supplies for her. I’m the smallest, so it’s natural I’d be the first picked up.

Sure enough, one of them—she thinks her father—flies up a moment after, Shiro caught up off the ground last.

They’re both shouting in panic, and Pidge thinks she should be screaming, too. Might already be screaming, or perhaps she’s forgotten to altogether, it’s impossible to tell, right now. She is not in control of the motion of her own body, of her senses.

Debris off the ground, caught up in the beam with them, catches on the side of Shiro’s helmet, scraping along, and she can only pray it hasn’t knocked it loose, hasn’t stolen his oxygen, before another rock slams into her own head.

The last thing she hears as it all goes black is the sound of her own voice tapering off, dying in her throat like a person hanged, condemned and left to die.

…Oh, so she had been screaming.

The night Shiro gets offered the position of pilot for the Kerberos mission, Pidge drags him out drinking.

“Shots!” she announces loudly, placing them down on the bar, and Shiro winces. He’s the one person she knows who gets a headache just from being in a bar. Normally, Pidge would have sympathy, as prone to migraines brought on from stress and lack of sleep as she is, but over time she’s come to accept this is an inevitability of taking Shiro out anywhere fun that isn’t space or flight themed. Luckily, the more alcohol Shiro gets in him, the more he seems to forget about his headache, or his apathy towards bars in general—enough to be willing to repeat the same cycle of misery, ecstasy, and then mild hangovers, occasionally, every few weeks, at least.

“What are those?” He picks one up cautiously, sniffing at it. “Whiskey?”

“Mhmm,” Pidge hums happily, sliding into the stool next to his. “Good brand, too.”

“I think I’ll just order one of those fruity cocktails,” Shiro says with an air of quiet distaste, sliding the shot glass back across to Pidge.

“Weak.” She downs them both, hers first and then Shiro’s, slamming the second empty glass down to the background of his horrified face.

“I don’t know how you do that,” he says, and she sticks her tongue out at him.

Drinking is just one of the many things they do together, but in very different ways. Shiro—perhaps still trying to live down the keg-stand days of his barely-twenties that Pidge remembers sneaking into at seventeen or so all too fondly—doesn’t like anything strong, anything that leaves too much of a burn behind. He finds his preferences in what is sweet, where the alcohol is masked by some more agreeable mix-in.

Pidge, meanwhile, relishes the burn. Chases the chemistry reacting in her own body, the poison her brain somehow just barely sustains, with fascination. Drinking is stupid, objectively. So naturally that only leads to the urge to categorize it, sample every flavor until she understands every urge and every predilection.

She watches Shiro order his cocktail in amusement, and waves her hand when the bartender looks to her. They both know how to take care of themselves—and each other, if they find it necessary. Shiro will sip his fruity drinks, and Pidge will knock back a couple shots before giving it a break and then nursing a beer or some watered down vodka-and-schnapps concoction for the rest of the night.

She’s an experimenter, not an idiot. If she takes it too far, makes herself too sick or poisons herself too permanently, she won’t be able to carry out the next test. She’s the extent of her own sample size, which means she has to make herself last.

“Remember when we were young,” she says languidly, swinging around on her stool and leaning on the bar, head tilting up to watch the ceiling, then Shiro. “And we’d party like the sun wouldn’t come up?”

“I remember going through a bottle of Advil every two months, yeah,” Shiro says dryly. “Besides you’re—I love the way you say that, when we were young. You’re not even legal to drink yet.”

“Shhh.” Pidge waves a hand. “Keep your voice down or you’ll get us kicked out. I worked hard on that I.D., Matt helped me pick the picture.”

“And what a great picture it is,” Shiro offers sarcastically, and Pidge levels a threatening eye at his drink. He pointedly moves it out of her reach, and after a moment, continues. “I still don’t get why you like bars so much. You’re you—I can barely get you out of your room to go to the dining hall.”

“Are you kidding me?” She waves a hand. “Bars are the one place where I can get social stimulus without having to actually talk to or acknowledge anyone beyond the wonderful person providing my drink. It’s an observational heaven. At the Garrison I actually have to make conversation.” She shudders, and Shiro snorts.

“…It still feels weird being out here, with your parents knowing where we go.”

“Joys of being second-gen American,” Pidge says proudly. “Just enough Italian left over where a twenty-one plus drinking age seems like the dumbest thing in the world.”

“I guess.” Shiro wrinkles his nose. “Still just feels weird when my commanding officer knows I go out drinking with his daughter.”

“Shiro, you practically live in our house. You’re in Matt’s elementary school graduation picture, for crying out loud. Bit late for worrying about that sort of thing.” Shiro winces, and Pidge laughs, patting him on the shoulder. “Man. Kerberos. I can’t believe you’ll be locked up with only my dad and some poor communications officer for eight months.” She pauses, and at Shiro’s faintly proud, but still somber look, she grins. “Maybe I should suggest to Dad he bring his zero-gravity specialized Scrabble board along.”

“Oh god,” Shiro groans, dropping his face into his elbow against the bar. “Please, don’t.”

“Doing it,” Pidge says happily. After a long moment, she looks over to Shiro, curling her arms into a pillow on the bar for her to drop her head onto, sighing. “…It’ll be weird, without you here. It was going to be strange enough not having Dad around that long, but at least I’m used to him disappearing off for missions.” Shiro grunts morosely, and she hums. “Always got Matt, I suppose. And Mom. I’ll just spend more time around the house or something. Lucky we live so close.”

Shiro says nothing, stealing the discarded beer bottle of some other long-departed patron, and peeling habitually at the label in one of his little-seen nervous gestures. “It will be weird.” There’s silence again, and Pidge is just starting to wonder if she’s expected to say something, before he continues, quiet and unsure. “You know they haven’t decided on a communications officer yet. You could always…throw your hat in the ring. They’re already worried about team compatibility—with a mission this long, and this important—and everyone knows we work well together.”

“Me?” Pidge snorts. “Please. Even if I wanted to—and I’m not saying I do—they’d never take me. I’m still a cadet.”

“Only while you finish up the last of your engineering credits.” Shiro points out sullenly, still not meeting her eyes. “You’ve been an officially marked communications officer for the better part of a year at this point. And there’s no one better at the job.”

Pidge blinks, surprised at the blunt honesty in his tone. “…You…really want me to apply, don’t you?”

Shiro shrugs, glaring down at the decimated bottle label. “It’d just be—it’d feel weird without you, alright? Like something was missing.”

Almost unconsciously, Pidge reaches across, snatching up the balled-up wrapper, freeing it from Shiro’s wrath and contemplating it, as if it might suddenly give her an answer to this new puzzle.

Of course, looking for solutions in beer bottle wrappers is neither scientific nor logical, so Pidge isn’t very surprised when it offers her none.

“…I guess we do do most everything together, don’t we?” she offers softly. Shiro just shrugs again, avoiding both the answer and her eyes as he sits up and sips awkwardly at his drink. He doesn’t want to pressure her, to suggest her into something she doesn’t want to do. He also doesn’t want to go without her.

He’s always been stupidly good at expressly not talking about his worries, especially when he thinks he’s burdening someone else with them. Luckily for him, while Pidge is no feelings expert, she is a Shiro expert at this point, and very good at determining the logical end point to a problem.

“Yeah, okay,” she says unthinkingly. “Why not?” Shiro turns to look at her, still all kinds of conflicted mixed in with his hope, and she steals his drink easily, downing back the last of it, and when she slams it onto the bar next to the empty shot glasses, it sounds like a promise.

Kerberos. What could go wrong?

It’ll give her an amusing story to tell Matt when she gets rejected, at least.

…We come from a peaceful planet…

Pidge comes to with a quiet gasp and a rush of aching pain along her left temple. She startles just ever so slightly—everything blurry and her suit feeling far, far too heavy for either Kerberos or the conditions of their ship—before the weight of strong hands holding her arms behind her back, and Shiro’s muffled voice pleading somewhere off to her left, come to her attention, and she tenses, stills.

It doesn’t all come back so much in a rush as in a trickle of images, feeding into her brain like a lagging video on a bad connection as her quick, panicked breaths fog up the inside of her visor. The ship, the tractor beam, being dragged up and up and away from Shiro and her father, the sudden crunch of the rock against her skull, all sliding through her mind and clicking into place.

For the first time in a long, long time, Pidge feels true panic grip her, staring down into the abyss of the unknown. She’d come close, in their attempt to flee the inevitable on Kerberos, but had been too caught up in the immediacy of the situation. That was instinctive panic, raw and something close to animal.

This is a panic of exercised consideration. Of weighing up her circumstances and what little information she has available to her and ultimately coming up short—short of a plan, short of an idea, short of even a clue. She has no idea where she is—beyond somewhere she never was supposed to be—who has her, or what is going to happen.

Based on her position and her mode of capture, Pidge can only assume herself and the others are being held captives by a hostile extraterrestrial power. Which is not, she thinks a little hysterically, even remotely fucking close to something the Garrison had prepared them for.

For Pidge, sorting all this out amongst the overwhelmed screeching in her head and the dull throb of pain above her eyes that signals either an impending migraine or a concussion feels like the work of hours. But it must only be moments, because one second Shiro is talking, stammering out a few desperate phrases on their behalf, before there’s a shuffle of movement, and Shiro’s cut-off yelp of pain as something strikes him.

At that she does stir, almost involuntarily jerking against the hold on her to turn and observe, check on Shiro’s condition—he was speaking, which means at least he hadn’t sustained any major head injuries, surely. In response there’s a tightening of the grip on her arms, an increase on the weight pressing down on her back, a boot maybe, and she buckles instinctively, head bowing to the ground and her whole body going taut but unmoving.

Eventually, after some further exchanges of words she can’t muddle out in the confused space of her brain beyond the disbelieving fact that it’s definitely English, the grip holding Pidge shifts, moving as something like handcuffs with a rigid bar between them is shackled onto her wrists. Something takes hold of the bar, and begins to drag her backwards, assumedly out of the room. Rough sliding noises on her left and right are the only indication she has that the same is being done to her father and Shiro, she doesn’t dare look to confirm.

It’s not until they’re moving along some hallway, and the other dragging noises move past and ahead of her, that Pidge dares to tilt her head just slightly up, trying to catch sight of something beyond her own feet scraping along a metal floor.

She can only get glimpses, between long stretches of endless chrome and the shine of purple lighting coming from some undeterminable source. Flashes in windows of huge containment systems, layers upon layers of prisoners crammed into cages and moved about as if building blocks directed by a child. She sees whispers of floors upon floors of moving figures, all discernable only in the same shades of grey and purple, with splashes of red, outsizing any operation she’s ever seen at the Garrison.

She sees torture. She sees order. She sees cruelty. She sees control.

There’s the bark of voices above her head, and she yelps as she is dragged around a corner roughly, the quick turn putting a strain on her arms. But she doesn’t dare fight back, not at the risk of suffering the same fate as Shiro.

Observation is her greatest—her only strength, right now. She must do what she does best, as she does at officer meetings, in Garrison dining halls and classrooms, even in shitty, dim-lit desert town bars.

Pidge watches. She grasps at every piece of data, commits to memory every variable she can spot, and above it all she is left with only one question, buzzing in the back of her dizzied, overwhelmed mind.

Where the hell are we?

[sherrybaby14]

She’s Not There Part 2

THIS IS A SMALL UPDATE!  PLEASE READ MY NOTE.

Part One (I’m on mobile so here is the ugly link: https://sherrybaby14.tumblr.com/post/163765465257/shes-not-there. )

Summary:  After returning to the States you struggle to understand Arthur’s book as much as he struggles to let you go.

A/N: I got more requests for small updates than a large one.  Goal is to have this done by Friday! Also, this was for a challenge I signed up for and then the host left tumblr because of hate.  I miss her, and please be nice to each other. This is based on The Zombie’s She’s Not There

Warnings:  Swearing? Bad thoughts?  (No smut!) I did make some fan fiction jokes, but they’re meant to be poking fun.

Characters:  Reader and Ketch

Words: 2800

Tags: (I’m tagging all who requested a part 2, please ignore if you’re not interested) @kellyn1604 @kellyn1604 @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @negan-is-god @celestiial-angel @sea040561 @knightxdetective @aquivercactus @granger49677 @justafangirlinaspnworld-blog @rubberducky999 @mick-deserved-better (forever tags) @thecynicalnerd @marauderice

@mac5323 @idonthavehusbandsihavelovers @i-am-negan-trash @roschelesworld @taintedgenre @screeching-pterodactyl-fangirl

To say the book was weird would be an understatement.  You never read Chuck Shurley before, but you thought his work had more…plot.  The thing read like a user manual or a report.  That didn’t mean it was bad though, in fact once you were done with the first read you started again.  

It had to have been a companion, for the super fans.  But you didn’t think those novels were popular enough, or had super fans.  There was no way the suave Brit was running around in his free time going to fan conventions, he was way too uptight for that sort of thing.  

When you landed your car was at the airport, all your possessions still in your trunk.  You drove straight to a cheap motel and got a room for the week. The way back meant flying against the time change and it was actually earlier in the day than it had been when you left, but sun-up or not you were exhausted.

Once you were in your room you plopped down on the bed.  You reached into the bag on the floor and pulled out Arthur’s book. Right now you were regretting not getting a way to contact the man.  You wanted to tease him about his super fan status and a smile came to your face imagining his response.

“A man needs a hobby darling.” You tried your best British accent. “Or: I said I worked with monsters.”

The smile fell off your face and you opened the book again.  No.  He couldn’t have been literal, besides, monsters didn’t exist.  You rolled your eyes, certain now that you were much to tired to think clearly.  You wondered what the British man was doing at the moment, your heart hurting at the thought of ditching him the way you had.

Of course it was for the best. He was getting too attached, and who knows? Maybe you would have caved and made a mistake by staying in England with a complete stranger?  America was where you belonged and you were far to level headed to change your entire life for a man.  

The memory of his tongue on yours, his hands running up your sides brought the smile back to your face as you drifted off to a sleep, clutching the only memento of the man who gave you one of the best week’s of your life.

~~~  

It was almost ten o’clock on a Sunday, long quitting time, but Ketch had no plans on leaving as he continued to flip through the photos of every single American hunter.  There had to be some connection to his Amy. Some would call him an obsessive man, but he saw it more as drive.  

“What are you doing here?” Mick walked into the library with a book in hand.

“Research.” Ketch did not look up from the computer.

“I’ve said it before, but don’t bother trying to find her.” Mick put away his book and went to the table Ketch was at. “The girl is a ghost.” “Except for she isn’t.”  Another female who looked nothing like Amy was on the screen. He was long passed the point of searching for her.  Now he was looking for parents, or a siblings, or even a cousin.  Anyone that shared a feature was being added to a list.  

“It’s been three months.” Mick looked concerned. “We’ve tried every angle.  She’s not there.”

Arthur glared at Mick. Right now he wanted to hate his colleague, but the man had  assisted in the search.   “With out a town or a state it’s impossible.”  Mick shook his head. “There’s no mention of her on any research involving hunters. Until Dr. Hess wants to invade America our hands are tied.”  

“She has let them run rampant over there.  It will happen soon.” Ketch knew Mick agreed.

“The country has over thirty million people. Even when that happens how likely are you to find your Amy?” Mick raised his eyes brows. “There are plenty of birds over here.  We could go that pub you like near your place, maybe one will wander in.”

Ketch clenched his fist. Of course Mick had no clue that was how he met his Amy, but the suggestion was rubbing salt in his wounds.  Maybe Mick was on to something though.  Three months was the longest Ketch had been celibate since losing his virginity.  It might be nice to find some release.  

Of course his mind wet to Amy and who she may have fucked over the past three months.  A rage ignited inside him at the idea of anyone touching her.  He would rip them to shreds with bare hands and make her pay for letting another person near what belonged to him.  Amy was his possession, she may have stole herself away but that did not relinquish his ownership.  Of course any punishment she received would only happen if Ketch could control his anger upon seeing her again.  Sometimes he fantasized about squeezing her beautiful neck until the life vanished from her eyes.  She deserved it for what she was putting him through.

“Are you alright mate?” Mick broke his concentration.

“Let’s get that drink.” Ketch flipped off the computer and stood up to his colleague’s surprise. “Not that pub though. I want to head to the tourist area. One of those clubs has to be open.”  

Mick nodded and turned to leave the room.  Ketch followed behind him.  He would never give up.  She had taken something more important than the book, something Ketch hadn’t meant to hand out to her.  His heart.  The first woman to ever do so, and what did she do with such a precious gift? Destroyed it.  Oh she would pay, one way or another, she would get what was coming to her.  Ketch would never let her get away with such disrespect.

~~~

The economy sucked and that meant ending up in a crappy job that had nothing to do with your major.  The plus side of not having a family and living out of motel rooms meant it was easy to pack up and leave.  And so you did, cruising across America until you found another crappy job you got sick of.

You arrived in Denver and took as an assistant manager doing retail.  It was stupid, your first day you knew it would be like every other job you worked the past six months.  You gave it six weeks tops before you left the store.  There was an urge inside you to do something that mattered, but you couldn’t figure out what that was yet  

In your free time you read every Supernatural book you could get your hands on.  There was no Amazon prime available for those bad boys though.  You were right, they were not that popular which meant checking out used book shops, eBay, and the occasional comic book shop.  Of course your newest occupation was right next to one of those and, lucky for you, they were open late.

The bell to the store rang when you pushed open the door.  You made a bee line to the clerk behind the desk.  

“Hi.” You gave him your biggest smile. “Do you carry any Supernatural books?  And not just books about the Supernatural, but a specific series called Supernatural by…”

“Chuck Shurley!”  The man said the name at the same time as you.  

“You’ve heard of them before?”  Your heart about jumped out of your chest. In six months this was your first conversation with another fan.  

“Heard of them?  I go to the convention every year! I cosplay Sam.”  He was your height, much to short for the younger Winchester. On top of that his hair was too long, and he lacked the muscular build of Sam.

You shook your head, that didn’t matter.  

“Convention?” You didn’t know one existed.

“We like to keep it small.” The man tucked his shoulder length hair behind his ear. “We don’t want it to turn into a Walker-Stalker con.  Only true fans allowed.  It’s by invitation only, happens every fall.  If you’re interested I could get you on the list. You would make a killer Tamara, or maybe a Jo.  What about one of the Rubys?  Yeah! Ruby! She’s a demon and can look like anyone.  Or you could dress as a little girl and be Lilith!”

“Right.”  You smiled and gave a nod, pretty sure that not many women attended this thing. “Maybe next year.”

“Don’t have any in stock.”  The man shook his head. “And if I did, I would probably keep them.”

“So you’re an expert?” You were almost giddy.

“Is Bella the worst thing to come out of Great Britain?”  The man puffed his chest out.

Again, you didn’t know how to answer, since that character had yet to appear in the few copies you’d obtained.

“I’m a newbie to these books, but it seems like there are an awful lot of characters. Do you know if a guide exists? Like a companion book?”  You batted your eyelashes.  

“There is a crappy wiki, but it’s run by this guy Lane.  He thinks that he is the perfect Sam.”  The man raised his fist. “But he has short black hair!  How can Sam have short hair?  Fucking Lane.  The site is a piece of shit too.  He thinks that Lucifer is a blond. I keep saying that’s not what he looks like, it’s just a vessel, but every time I make the edit Lane changes it back. I shouldn’t bother with it.  Maybe I should make my own….”

Realizing that the guy was going to drone on and on forever you reached into your bag.  Looking around the store like you had some piece of treasure you pulled out Arthur’s book.  

“So you’ve never seen this before?”  You were hesitant to hand it over, but wanted answers and this was as good as you were going to get without scanning the thing and putting it online.  

“No.” The man examined the fancy binding before opening it up.  “Someone put a lot of time into this.”  

You tapped your fingers on the counter,  not enjoying how long the man held your book for.  In fact you found yourself starring at his hands, unsure how long it had been since he washed them.  That was Arthur’s book.  Nobody else should be touching it.  You went to grab it back, but stopped yourself.  You were sounding like a crazy person.

“Someone took a lot of time to make this.” He looked up and turned the book around towards you. “But these pictures of Sam and Dean are ridiculous.  Sam isn’t that tall.  And they’re hunters, not models.  I’ll still throw you a bone, how about two hundred for it?”

“Excuse me?”  You wouldn’t part with the book for a million.  

“Fine, you called my bluff.  Five hundred.” The man went blank faced.  

“It’s not for sale.”  You shook your head. “I just wanted to know if you had seen a copy before.”

“This isn’t a copy.”  The man leaned forward and flipped to the front. “There’s no source information.”

You had noticed that before.  He flipped to a random page and ran his fingers down.

“This ink is high quality.  Not what would be used on a Supernatural paperback.”  He went to the end. “This stuff about a bunker?  It’s not in the books.  To me, this is high quality fan fiction.”  

He ran his fingertips down the page.  

“And from a quick scan it contains no smut.”  He shut the book and set it on the counter. “A very rare find.  Did you make this?  Because if you want to mass produce this, we can go 50/50. I’ll make copies and distribute through my channels.  We could sell them for a thousand a pop.”

You picked up the book, wanting it out of the man’s grasp.  He tensed and went for it.  

“Like I said, it’s not for sale.”  You put the book back in your bag and clutched it to your side, happy you trusted your initial instinct not to scan the pages and put them online.

The last thing on your mind was the money as you started out the store.

“Wait!” The man jumped the counter.  

You didn’t pause as you went outside.  

“I’ll pay you a thousand just to read it.”  He followed you into the parking lot.  

“Sorry no.”  You sped walked to your car, holding your back in front of you.  

“I will give you a copy of every book in the series just to read it.”  He was right behind you.  

You did not turn around.  Arthur’s voice running over and over in your head. I work with monsters.  The bookshelf in his apartment, filled with these bound books that looked the same.  It didn’t make any sense.  

“Please Miss.” He stopped following you. “I am sorry I tried to low ball you.  That thing is priceless. Just let me read the part about the bunker.”

You didn’t respond as you kept walking to your car.  His footsteps picked up again and you took off sprinting.  There was enough distance between the two of you for you to dive into your front seat and hit the lock button before he made it to the window.  

“Ten thousand dollars.  I will mortgage my house.”  The man was on the other side of the glass.

You didn’t look at him as you turned over the engine and sped out of the parking lot.  In the rear view window you saw the look of pure frustration on his face.  It shook you to your core.  If he was that frantic about it, that meant one thing.  He was asking himself the same question you were.  Was it real?

The idea had been eating away at you for some time.  To the point you were debating on buying a plane ticket back to England, ready to sit in that damn pub every night until Arthur showed up.  If a credit card company would have approved you you would have by now. Arthur.  Even thinking his name made your heart ache.  

It had been six months since you left England, and not a day went by you weren’t thinking about the man.  Were you too harsh?  Did you not realize what was in front of you, too distracted by logic to open your heart to the possibility that what you had was real?  

The memory of him filling you up, your wrists in his hand as he rocked inside of you.  So many nights you had tried to find him online.  Even making a Facebook page with a whopping 23 friends.  All you had to go on was Arthur in London.  How could you not think to ask his last name?  Imagining the primal look in his eyes made you moan out loud in your car.  If you didn’t have the resources to get back to him you had to do the next best thing.  

Denver was another bust.  You were going to head back to the motel to grab your stuff, but you wouldn’t be staying the night there.  You were fighting the inevitable.  If you couldn’t get to Arthur to answer your questions you were going to the next best place. Lebanon Kansas.  Maybe the bunker would be there or maybe you would find nothing and get some closure as to whether Arthur’s world was real or not.  

If Sam and Dean Winchester existed maybe they knew how to get in contact with Arthur.  But was that what you wanted?  Arthur back?  His smiling face at the pub your final night in London flashed in front of your eyes.  He was a man of many sides, maybe you had given up on him too soon.    

[mynameisananagram]

Ryder character questions

This post was made by @jedimasteramell but because no one asks me owt, I’m gonna answer all of them.

Also thanks @alicesaurus for reblogging this onto my dash!

Just some fun character development/get-to-know-them questions! Warning, there are some basic spoilers.

The basics! Whats their full name, gender, and sexuality? Describe their general appearance and/or include a picture. Is there anything you canon beyond what the game allows?

This is Greta Ryder. She’s a pansexual woman with a tattoo on the left side of her face and neck, and scars on her right cheek. Her make up is amazing.

Can’t always wear Initiative whites and blues, Whats their dress style like? Do they prefer casual wear, or being in armor? Is it the same as it was in the Milky Way? How, if applicable, has it changed since arriving in Helius?

She prefers the armour options in Andromeda; integrating angaran or Remnant tech is extremely helpful; generally though, she prefers to chill out in her badass jacket. All her outfits are functional and stylish, in her favourite colours.

Do they have piercings, tattoos, or notable scars? Do they dye their hair, or is it a gene mod?

The scars on her cheek are a remnant from a previous misunderstanding with a group of vorcha at a Prothean dig site. The misunderstanding was resolved amicably, but there were scars on both sides.

As for hair, it’s a gene mod, done more for convenience than anything else; having to dye one’s hair in between missions was incredibly tiresome.

What’s their personality like? How do they feel about being Pathfinder? How do they change, if at all, over the course of the story?

At first, she was incredibly unsure of herself. Spending most of her pre-Heleus career on fairly tame dig sites, the only trouble she’d face was from pirates and scavengers. Outside of her comfort zone she’s constantly second guessing herself. Thanks to SAM and the rest of her team, not to mention her successes, she’s becoming more and more the Pathfinder her father knew she’d be.

What’s their preferred profile, or class? Were they naturally inclined towards combat or technical skills? Were they a developed biotic, or did they first experience it with SAM?

Greta was always into technology, always the first to adapt to new tech in both combat and her scientific role. As such, she tends to prefer tech skills in Helus, with the combo of Overload and Incinerate being very useful. That said, the biotic Annihilation Field is awesome for close range combos.

Canon says they served in the Alliance before joining the Initiative, do you keep this canon, or have you made some changes? Explain their backstory either way.  

I’m a fan of the canon, truth be told. Greta has always been a sarcastic, highly capable nerd. She joined the Alliance, following in her father’s footsteps, but despite showing an aptitude as a combat technician, she found the idea of uncovering the mysteries of Prothean civilisation far too big a draw, and joined the scientific corps as a researcher and peacekeeper.

Everyone’s got one… List their (or your) favorite powers, weapons, and armor sets. Any special reason for these choices?

Throughout my Mass Effect history I’ve always loved the tech stuff. Overload and Incinerate are fantastic together, and good for basically every kind of enemy. As for weapons, the Disciple from ME3 is ace in Andromeda; I crafted I my own with armour-busting seeking projectiles and named it Deathlord. Couple that with cryo ammo and a crafted krogan hammer called Smash Bastard and the results are explosive.

As for armour, the health benefits of the Remnant armour is super handy, though the Maverick armour is a lot more stylish.

Its all in the family. Explain their relationship with Alec, Ellen, and their sibling. If you changed anyone’s names or added a different sibling in your canon, explain why.

As a rule, I don’t change canon. Greta’s relationship with her father is strained; there’s a lot of respect there but it’s not a traditional daughter’s love for her family. She is, however, extremely close to her twin, Scott. She wishes she could have spent more time with her mother.

What’s their favorite memory they have of their sibling? Of their parents?

The two weren’t close as children; the fact that they were twins was more of an embarrassment than anything else. Both wanted to be their own person and be as individual as possible. They only really became close in their late teens as they enlisted in the Alliance and realising just how similar they were to each other 

How have they dealt with the aftermath of Habitat 7? How deeply does this affect them?

It’s hard to put into words. While never close to her father, Alec was still Greta’s dad, and he was a huge figure in his life. Losing him in such a heroic manner was hard to come to terms with, and the only person she could talk to about it was in a coma. Breaking the news to Scott while he was comatose was especially hard. Couple that with all the pressure put on her by the Nexus leadership, not to mention the insulting interactions with Foster Addison, has left a psychological toll.

Thankfully, her family on the Tempest has helped her adapt to this. Liam is always good for downtime, Jaal is always happy to talk about feelings, and Vetra is good for forgetting about problems and shooting the breeze. Lexi’s medical and psychiatric advice has been invaluable.

As they unlock the memories, how does this change, if at all, their view of their parents?

There was definitely a lot more to her parents than meets the eye; as mindblowing as these revelations are, especially these Reaper things and the apparent destruction of the entire Milky Way, part of Greta can’t help but feel hurt that Alec never trusted either of his children enough to impart this knowledge while he was alive.

Explain the way they feel about their squadmates, both initially and over the course of the story.

Initially, Greta finds Cora standoffish and cold. Over the course of the story, she finds her creepy love for the asari to be kinda disconcerting, and would rather keep her distance.

Liam’s a laugh. Initially he’s a bit annoying and cocky, but there’s real depth to him, and he’s a real friend, if a little immature.

Vetra is a solid friend, and helping her and Sid become closer really solidified the friendship Greta shares with her.

Jaal is a sweetie. He’s always been a sweetie, and most likely will always be a sweetie.

Drack is the best space grandpa ever. If Greta ever realised that she needed a parental figure, she’d probably realise that Drack fits the bill perfectly.

Peebee is definitely affected by her abusive relationship with Kulinda, but regardless, she’s an insufferable, immature, edgelord of an arsehole, and Greta is happy to have as little to do with her as possible.

Explain the way they feel about the rest of the Tempest crew?

Gil is a cocky, arrogant twat who needs to take a good hard look at himself.

Kallo is the loveliest being in the entire universe, and if anyone hurts him in Greta’s presence, they’d better be good at running away fast.

Suvi is the most beautiful woman in the world to Greta. They don’t agree on matters of religion, but their shared love of the beauty of the cosmos and science in general (not to mention that accent) keeps the fire burning.

How about Nexus leadership and the people on the Nexus in general?

Kesh is awesome. Kandros is a solid guy. Tann is a snivelling bureaucrat. Addison and her goddamn poetry can fuck right off.

What were their reactions to the Angara and the Exiles? How did learning there was a whole new species in Helius affect them? How did news of the rebellion affect them?

“Huh, a brand new galaxy and yet life has evolved beings with the same limbs and facial arrangements as the Milky Way, that’s extremely unlikely but OK whatever” (I have something of a bugbear about the fact that aliens all looking the same but with different heads is just ridiculously implausible, and don’t even get me started on the female angara looking ridiculously oversexualised... also, while we’re on the subject, why are humans the only species in the known universe to evolve hair? The fuck’s that about?

Ahem. Anyway. The existence of a pre-existing species in Andromeda does change perspectives; the Nexus species came here for a home, but the Habitats chosen were already habitats to other species. To just set up outposts willy nilly would be dangerously close to the colonisation of the Americas by the Europeans, which began with genocide and devolved from there. Every decision the Nexus makes in Heleus has to be at the discretion of the angara.

To paraphrase Greta at the beginning of the game, what would we do if the angara turned up on Earth expecting to live there?

What about their interactions with the Kett?

Knowing their true origin is hard; it’s not like there’s a lot of choice in the matter but the idea of eradicating an entire species, however hostile, is a chilling prospect.

Did Ryder fall in love? If so, with whom? What drew them to that person? Would their sibling approve?

She is deeply in love with Suvi (though she won’t deny an attraction to Jaal, Keri T’Vessa or Reyes Vidal), for reasons explained above. Scott would approve, probably; he’d also most likely have been drawn to Mr. Vidal.

What does Ryder do in their spare time? What are their hobbies and interests? Do they share these with their friends, or are they more private?

Greta’s big into reading. She likes to read mind-numbingly complex scientific journals, but her favourite are asari pulp romance novels which she enjoys reading for comedy value.

How do they feel being in command of the Tempest? Whats their favorite part of the ship? Least favorite?

Greta still finds it uncomfortable being in charge, but she’s getting there. She loves hanging out in her quarters (being bigger than a lot of Nexus apartments after all, but her favourite place is the bridge, next to her beau and the stars.

How about driving the Nomad? Are they a good or terrible driver?

No comment. Don’t ask Jaal.

How do they feel about their connection with SAM? What’s their views on AI in general? Knowing Milky Way history and the attack on Eden Prime and the Citadel a recent memory, did the Geth influence this view? Does their view on SAM change?

Greta is pro-AI, and while understanding the quarians’ actions during their war with the geth, she finds it upsetting that most quarians are still anti-AI. The geth attacks on Eden Prime and the Citadel were terrifying, but Greta knows that AI are objective and rational in their behaviours, and attacking colonies and the Citadel is not standard geth behaviour; she would have liked to have been assigned to the task force investigating the geth attacks had she not had her Alliance career sidelined by her father’s own research.

As for SAM, she is a huge fan. No matter what happens, she’ll never be alone, not to mention the fact that she’s basically a superhero now, able to adapt her body and mind at will.

Favorite world they landed on? How do they feel getting to be the first human to step in many of these places?

Clear out all the predators from Havarl and Greta could live there forever; it’s so beautiful and twilight and there’s no shortage of Remnant to study. If she didn’t have such a wanderlust she could definitely imagine another life as a scientist seconded to Pelaav Station.

How do they feel about the Remnant? Are they worried? Curious? Simply accepting of what they can do with it?

Being a former Prothean researcher, Greta is right at home in a world filled with ancient, mysterious alien relics from a long lost civilisation. And being a tech head, the ability to couple Remnant technology with their own is a big draw.

Do they ever wish they could just return to the Milky Way? Do they miss anything in particular about their old home? Did they bring anything special with them?

It would be odd not to want to go home; for one thing, you just can’t get a decent steak on the Nexus, given the rationing and limitations. Sometimes it’s nice to fantasise about her former life, where if she ran out of something, she could just go to a shop.

Thankfully, her excitement and interest in the exploration and discovery far outweigh the minor inconveniences.

How do they feel about what they’ve accomplished in Helius? Are they proud? Worried? Do they feel positive about the chances for a cluster-wide unity? If they could change anything that had happened since everyone arrived in the cluster, what would it be and why?

The journey to Meridian and beyond showed the power of a united galaxy, even with the limited resources of both the Nexus species and the angaran resistance. Reuniting the 4 main pathfinders, with word of the quarians still out there too, not to mention the krogan colony, was a huge effort but this union drove out a terrible threat and learned more about a cluster than ever before. The overarching feeling of the whole experience is one of hope. There’s much more work to be done, but with everyone working together, there’s nothing that can stop us.

[haledamage]

So my free time has evaporated, but I still want to finish the MEA Countdown thing, so here’s all the ones left that I haven’t done, including the ones that haven’t come up yet, so I can make sure I get them done :)

19 Days: Where would Ryder fall in the classic Paragon/Renegade morality system? What would their D&D alignment be? If you know their personality type in any personality typing systems (such as MBTI and Enneagram - you can find various type descriptions and tests using Google), feel free to add and discuss them here.

Lottie is very strongly paragon, unless you fuck with her brother or her friends, in which case she is not above kicking you out a window. She’d probably be neutral/chaotic good; she’s a good person through and through, but she’s not above sowing a little chaos if the mood strikes, and she can be positively ruthless to enemies.

18 Days: What qualities does Ryder like and dislike in other people? Are there any things they particularly appreciate or can’t stand?

She likes empathy and curiosity. She likes people who care, basically, whether that be about knowledge or experiences or other people, she likes when people care about something. The worst thing a person can be, in her opinion, is apathetic.

17 Days: List some of Ryder’s favorite things - colors, food, music, etc. Is there anything of this nature that they hate? Do they have any hobbies or skills outside of combat?

Lottie loves music, and usually has something playing on her private channel on her com. She also tends to hum to herself, which I imagine would annoy SAM to no end if he’s capable of annoyance. Her favorite color is sea green, and she has a terrible sweet tooth; her favorite foods are mostly desserts, her most favorite being ice cream.

Outside of combat, she’s a tinker. She likes to build little things, or work on cars. She also makes some really nice jewelry, when the mood strikes.

16 Days: How would Ryder define their sexuality?

Pansexual. She cares more about forming connections with people, and it doesn’t really matter to her their gender or species.

15 Days: Delve into the Ryder family background - how is/was their relationship with their father, sibling and mother? Do they get along, hero worship, close twin connection, sibling rivalry, was it strained, was it distant, etc.

Scotty and Lottie have always been very close. Scott is her best friend. Mom and Dad both worked a lot, but tried their best, which Lottie understands, though she sometimes wishes they’d been closer.

14 Days: Describe some important or formative events in Ryder’s history. How did these impact and shape them?

When her biotics developed was pretty important, obviously. The fact that she's a biotic while her twin brother isn't was interesting to a lot of scientists, so she spent a lot of time in labs and hospitals “under observation.” It awakened a curiosity in her about how the world works, though, and she went to college for anthropology. It also awoke her wanderlust, as she learned she really didn't like sitting around all day.

13 Days: Why did Ryder join the Alliance military? Later on, what were Ryder’s reasons for signing up to the Andromeda Initiative? Were they seeking adventure (or glory, or a challenge), wanting a new start, running from something, following their family, trying to secure a future for humanity, did they simply feel railroaded into it, etc.

She joined the Alliance to see the galaxy, and because they'd pay for college. The Andromeda Initiative was a no-brainer. Lottie and Scott were both excited about it as soon as Dad told them about it; wanderlust is a family trait, and the Ryders were all very much on board to boldly go.

12 Days: How will Ryder feel upon waking up from cryo? Relieved, excited, scared, impatient to get going, lost, etc.

All of those, yes. Lottie first felt relieved that she actually woke up, then overwhelmed as the full weight of what they were undertaking settled over her. The excitement of exploring the unknown won her over fairly quickly, though.

11 Days: Once in Andromeda, what are Ryder’s goals? What drives them?

Pursuit of knowledge. Finding a safe place for her people to live. Finding her place in Andromeda.

10 Days: Will Ryder ever miss the Milky Way? What things and places will they miss most?

She does sometimes. She misses her old Alliance friends, and her apartment in the Citadel wards. She misses takeout food and microbrew beer and other little things that she never thought about until they were 600 years behind her.

9 Days: Did Ryder have any notable friends or connections in the Milky Way? How about past relationships? Which friendship or relationship was the most significant to them?

She doesn't have any really close friends she left behind. She was a rambler, and never stayed in one place long enough to form close friendships. She's friendly and open, though, so she made friends easily enough. Her closest friend has always been her brother.

8 Days: How does Ryder feel about aliens? Are they uncomfortable, wary, intrigued, curious, intimidated, not bothered, etc? In the Milky Way, where did they stand on humanity’s place in galactic society - Earth first, Terra Firma, human superiority, peaceful cooperation, pro-galactic integration & unity, etc? How will they feel upon discovering that there are sentient alien races in Andromeda?

Lottie is curious of aliens and other cultures. She loves to learn about other people's perspectives and try and understand their way of life. She is very pro-galactic integration, and wants to take that same approach to any alien races she meets in Andromeda. She believes that we're stronger together than apart.

7 Days: Ryder’s father gave the twins informal N7 training in the past. How did Ryder feel about this (pressured, resentful, grateful, motivated, overworked, excited, etc)? What are their feelings on “N7” as a symbol? How do they relate to it, if at all?

She recognized it as what it was: her dad trying to connect with his kids. It wasn't something she was really interested in, but she wanted to know her dad better and that was a way to do it. N7 never really meant much to her, and it was never something she aspired to, but she recognizes that it means a lot to her father, and that's enough for her.

6 Days: Does your Ryder know your Shepard? What do they think of Shepard? Would they get along? What would Shepard think of Ryder?

Lottie knows of Alexi Shepard, of course. Everyone knows of Shepard, but they've never met. She appreciates what the Commander does for humanity's relationship with the other Council races. I think they'd get along, though. Both are people who put others before themselves, and I think they'd find a lot of common ground there.

5 Days: Out of the squadmates, Tempest crewmembers and other characters shown so far, who do you think Ryder will get along well with? Who do you think they will get along best with? Why?

Lottie and Peebee will bond over the joy of exploration, and she and Suvi over a love of science. I don't think there's anyone she won't get along with. She and Liam will get along best, though. Both are idealists and proud space cowboys, and that along with the bonding power of fighting side by side will make them nearly inseparable.

4 Days: Out of the squadmates, Tempest crewmembers and other characters shown so far, is there anyone you think Ryder won’t gel so greatly with, dislike or otherwise come into conflict with? Why?

She'll probably get along with everyone, as least to be polite to, but she and Cora may butt heads a little. Cora knew Alec better than Lottie every did, and she'll always be a little jealous of that; Lottie ended up in a job that should have been Cora's, though, and that'll she'll always be a little jealous of that. They'll be friends, but I think that wedge will always be between them. She and Drack may have trouble seeing eye to eye, as well, as she prefers diplomacy as the answer and he much prefers to punch his way out of an argument; she'd wholeheartedly trust him at her back, though.

3 Days: Do you plan on romancing anyone with Ryder? If so, who? Why? What qualities would Ryder find attractive in a partner (if applicable)?

Lottie will either romance Liam, Peebee, or Vetra. I love all of them a lot and I don't know who I'll choose until it happens. She'd be very attacted to Vetra's intensity, Peebee's curiosity, and Liam's optimism (and to their faces, because they're all beautiful). I think Liam may end up edging out the ladies and winning Lottie's heart, just because they go through a lot of shit together before they ever meet Vetra and Peebee, and his support and compassion when she needed it most is something she would never forget.

2 Days: Provide a “famous quote” from Ryder that sums them up as a character (like the ones for the squadmates in their official character profiles).

“We're like the Enterprise, Scotty! Boldly going where no one has gone before!” (maybe I'll eventually finish and post the thing I wrote in which she says this lol)

1 Day: Which song/songs would be “theme songs” for Ryder? Are there any symbols you associate with Ryder? If you’ve created a moodboard for them, share it here. If not, what sorts of things would be on their moodboard? Describe their aesthetic. What Hogwarts house would they be sorted into? If you’ve written fanfic involving Ryder already, share it here. [you don’t need to do all of these, they’re merely intended as creative exercises]

“Born for This” - Paramore, “Wherever I Roam” - Metallica. Her aesthetic is cups of coffee and half-built machines, long walks under the stars and notebooks full to bursting and piles of photographs, blue and pink and black. She's probably a Griffindor, maybe a Ravenclaw?

1 Day too long: In Citadel space, AIs are illegal. How does Ryder feel about Artificial Intelligence? Are they wary or afraid, are they pro-AI, do they consider AIs to have personhood, etc? How does Ryder feel about SAM and their constant connection to it? Are they glad for the upgrade, do they find it invasive, have mixed feelings, etc?

She doesn't have a problem with AI. I don't know if she considers them all like people, because there are different levels of AI, but she thinks they have the capacity to become person-like. She loves SAM, she loves its bad attempts at humor and the way it always reminds her to eat and makes sure she doesn't overwork herself.

2 Days too long: How does Ryder feel about being thrust into the role of humanity’s Pathfinder (burdened, honored, rewarded, excited, etc)? Are they confident or unsure about this? How will they cope?

She is terrified, but wouldn't admit it even under torture. Pathfinder isn't a role that was meant for her, not really, and the fact that she's now burdened with the literal survival of the human race, maybe even the whole Initiative, is terrifying. She's her father's daughter, though, and knows that nothing was ever accomplished by giving up, so she does the best she can and trusts in her team and her friends. She's not alone, and that's what really keeps her going.

[marril96]

The Distance Between Us

Chapter 1: Fs and Enemies and Principals, All My!

Pairing: Rowena x reader

Summary: Just when you thought high school couldn't possibly get any worse, classmate and archenemy, Rowena MacLeod, is selected to be your math tutor. As the two of you spend more time together, boundaries break and secrets get revealed. Maybe there's more to the school's mean girl than meets the eye. High School AU.

A/N: Credits to @werewolfbarbie for all the information about the American school system.

Editor: @rowenaisfabulous

You hated Rowena MacLeod.

Maybe hated was too strong a word.

Disliked.

Disfavored.

Disesteemed.

Whatever the most appropriate terminology was, the fact remained that she was your least favorite person in this school.

Okay, maybe second least favorite. Or third. There certainly were a lot of assholes at your high school.

But, god, Rowena was a special kind.

She'd never done anything to you personally. There was animosity in your interactions, but it didn't go beyond that.

She was, however, nasty to your friend. Who was her brother and was equally nasty to her in return, but still. The friend code and all.

She used your other friend. Strung him along and took advantage of him. Took his kindness for granted.

She was popular, and had gotten so in a rather… interesting way. Her way to the top consisted of sucking up to other popular kids until some felt sorry enough for her that they'd let her become one of them (or they'd given in to get her to shut up) and dating the school's biggest douchebag.

And she got an A today, one hundred percent, perfect score, and looked so damn smug you barely held back an eye-roll.

You'd gotten an F. One percent. You supposed it could have been worse — Dean Winchester, sitting a few rows down, got a zero. Yay, you!

First math test of your senior year, and you'd failed it.

Great fucking start!

Fuck it, you thought. It wasn't like this was going to matter. Those numbers, formulas no one in their right mind would remember in a few weeks' time, this stupid test — they didn't matter. Ten years from now, and no one would think of them. Life would go on as normal. All of today would be nothing but yet another blur in the foggy sea of memories. Maybe not even that.

Thinking like that didn't make you feel any better. Your stomach was still tight with pressure. Hands still balled into fists on your thighs. Teeth clenched. Heart racing.

This was only the first test, you tried telling yourself.

That, exactly, was the problem, your other, more rational (or rather pessimistic) side argued. You'd started the school year with a big, fat F. In Math, of all things. Your least favorite subject. Your worst one. The subject you'd almost failed last year, and the one before that.

If this was your big start, you were screwed.

Ms. Hanscum was a great teacher. She was kind to the students and acted more like a friend than a teacher. She helped everyone who struggled out, explained everything multiple times if necessary.

Yet you still sucked.

Math just happened to be your public enemy number one.

Ms. Hanscum could go over her lessons a thousand times. She could sit you on her lap like a toddler and hold your hand as you wrote down her instructions. She could have superpowers that made everyone she spoke to understand math. You still wouldn't get it.

You weren't generally stupid.

You were just stupid for math.

Rowena's eyes met yours for a short moment. Her mouth was wide with a smile; it would have been cute if it wasn't condescending. There was a softness to her expression, a casualness almost innocent. It didn't fool you. You knew the only reason she was looking around was to watch those less fortunate, to rub her success in.

That was what people like her did. They reveled in the others' misfortune, basked in it, breathed it in in large gulps like air. Lived off it.

You flashed her a smile of your own. Sugary sweet, the kind so obviously fake it was purposeful.

She looked away.

Good.

Let her find another target to look down at.

You were not in the mood. At all.

*****

Lunch made you feel a bit better. It wasn't so much the food (the measly pastry you were nibbling on) as it was your friends' support. As always, your tiny gang listened to every word you said and were quick to offer jokes and kind words to make it better.

It worked like magic.

Mostly.

"It's not so bad," Dean said. "I got a zero!" At that he grinned with pride only a jock like him could have in such a grade. "I never got a zero before!"

"Freshman year, English," you reminded him.

"Oh, yeah! That was wild!"

Sure was.

So was the summer school he had to go to to be allowed to pass on to his Sophomore year. Fun times!

He bragged to everyone about his brother helping him out. His younger brother, who was an eighth-grader at the time. If he wasn't a jock, that would've earned him mockery.

"Ms. Hanscum will let you make it up, right?" Sam, the aforementioned brother, asked.

He was a huge nerd. Best kid in his class like Rowena was in yours, but unlike her, he was a good person. Sweet. Kind. He always had his head buried in a book and spent an unhealthy amount of time in the library.

Thanks to his brother's popularity, other popular kids left him alone. Nobody wanted the wrath of Dean Winchester, and, by extension, the entire football team, at their back.

"I guess," you said.

Most likely. Ms. Hanscum was big on helping kids out as best as she could.

"I can help you out, if you want," Sam offered.

Your heart swelled up with gratitude. "Thanks, Sam. I'll let you know."

He was a year younger, but he was smart. Crazy smart. Too bad you and math were on horrible terms.

"Make up exams are for losers," Crowley announced, taking a drag of his cigarette.

You sighed. Expect him to offer useless commentary.

"Dude, you almost failed Sophomore year," you told him. Had it not been for Sam, he would've been held back this summer.

Crowley shrugged. "Happens to the best of us."

You quirked up an eyebrow. "So you're a loser, too?"

"I hang out with you lot, do I not?"

You flipped him the bird, while Sam and Dean rolled their eyes.

Crowley was special. He was your friend and you loved him dearly, maybe even more than the Winchester brothers. He was snarky and sarcastic, liked to push people's buttons, and considered being an annoyance a hobby. Generally, though, he was harmless. All bark and no bite. An acquired taste you'd, for reasons unknown, taken a liking to.

He was a good friend. A great friend.

He was also Rowena's brother.

The MacLeod siblings had a strange relationship. They always snarked at each other. Called each other names and acted hostile. Sometimes even got into screaming matches right in the middle of the hallway and had to be separated by teachers.

But they were also protective of each other. One time, Arthur Ketch had called Rowena a whore. Crowley, who often called her that himself, punched him in the face and got himself a week's detention. Another time, Rowena overheard Naomi Godsend telling her friends about her plan to ask Crowley out on a date as a joke and slapped the living daylights out of her once they'd stepped off school grounds.

It was weird. You didn't ask questions. Even if you did, you doubted Crowley would have any answers.

"Ass," you said.

"Bitch," Crowley retorted.

You laughed. He laughed along.

"Your sister got a hundred percent. Again," you said.

He rolled his eyes. "Figures. Bloody miss perfect."

"She kept looking at people, like, 'I'm so much better than you peasants.'" You imitated her accent in an overly exaggerated way, earning you a laugh from Dean and Crowley.

"Are you sure that's what she was doing?" Sam asked.

Way to ruin the moment.

"Why else would she be doing it?" you asked.

"Maybe she just wanted to see how others did."

"Yeah, and then point and laugh at them."

"Did she do that?" he said.

"Internally, most likely," you said.

"So she didn't."

You sighed. There was no winning this. "She's a bitch, Sam. The entire school knows that."

"The entire school doesn't know her," Sam defended.

"I live with her, Moose," Crowley cut in. "And I can say with utmost certainty she's a massive bitch."

"You think that about everyone," Sam pointed out. "Even us."

"No, I don't," Crowley said defensively. "I think she's a bigger bitch than all of you."

"Thanks so much, Crowley," you deadpanned.

"You're welcome, Y/N," he said smugly.

Sam rolled his eyes, then turned back to you. "She's not so bad."

Sure, she wasn't. "She's badder than bad," you argued. "Why are you friends with her?"

He shrugged. "She's nice."

You snorted. Crowley laughed. Dean scowled as if Sam had just admitted to stealing his porn.

"She is," Sam said defensively. "Once you get to know her."

The only reason she was hanging out with him was his connection to Dean. That was the reason she hung out with all her other "friends." Why she chased after Lucifer Shurley until he agreed to date her. Popularity. Power. It was her drug.

Rowena didn't have friends — she had accessories to use to her advantage.

But no matter how many times you and Crowley told Sam about it, your words fell on deaf ears. The younger Winchester believed in the good in her to the point where he was blind to the bad.

It was his funeral.

You'd already prepared an "I told you so" speech for when she kicked him out of her life like a useless old doll. It was bound to happen eventually.

"Whatever you say, Sam," you said, then changed the subject back to math.

It was much more interesting than Rowena MacLeod.

Much less complicated.

*****

The final ring of the bell for the day was music to your ears. You packed your bag in a hurry and ran out, trying to navigate your way out through the sea of students crowding the hallway, your thoughts already on the diner where your friends, having finished their classes an hour earlier, were waiting for you. You could already smell the food, the delicious aroma of coffee and fruity smoothies, your empty stomach grumbling with yearning.

Then the principal's voice sounded through the speakers, and all your hopes were shattered.

"Rowena MacLeod and Y/N Y/L/N, please come to the principal's office. Rowena MacLeod and Y/N Y/L/N, to the principal's office."

Shit!

What did you do know? What did he think you did? Had Rowena told him something? Had she gotten you in trouble?

The last time you were in the principal's office was a year ago, when Lucifer Shurley thought the ideal way to flirt with you was to get in your face and grab your ass.

You introduced your fist to his face.

Lucky for you, the principal, despite being the asshole's father, was understanding. Lucifer bragging about what he'd done and insisting it wasn't that big a deal probably had something to do with it. Either way, he was suspended for two weeks. You'd gotten off with a warning to just report him next time.

As if.

When had telling the teachers helped anyone other than the offender?

Sighing, you made your way to the principal's office. Snickers and whispers followed your every step. People who knew you teased. Others just watched. Most, however, were on their way out, rushing to leave the hell that was school, happy to be done with their day.

Oh, how you wished you were them.

You gave the door a soft, timid knock. Upon being called in, you opened it and stepped inside the small but tidy office. Paintings adorned the walls, along with diplomas from prestigious schools. The spacious, polished desk was riddled with pictures of the Shurley family, both joint and separate.

The principal sure liked to show off.

Principal Shurley was seated at the desk, clad in jeans and a white T-shirt. Looking more like a student than a principal. His sons must have been proud to be seen with him.

There were two chairs in front of his desk. Rowena occupied one, her bag in her lap, fingers playing with a loose piece of thread that hung from it. Her eyes threatened to raise hell, while her mouth promised heaven, scowl and smile both prominent, seemingly at war with each other. Trying to keep up appearances, but failing to.

You couldn't fault her. The last thing you wanted was to waste precious time in the principal's office while your friends waited for you.

"Take a seat," principal Shurley told you in an overly friendly manner, as if he were your friend rather than an authority figure.

You did as asked, sliding your school bag to the floor by your feet.

"Am I in trouble?" you inquired.

Rowena's eyes narrowed in suspicion as she watched you. You responded with a roll of your eyes.

"Oh, no, no," the principal said "Not at all. Neither of you are in trouble."

Something good, at least.

"Why are we here, then?" Rowena asked, trying her hardest (and failing, in your opinion) to keep her displeasure behind a wall of fake courtesy.

If principal Shurley noticed it, he didn't comment on it. Instead, he said, "I just need to talk to you guys a bit. Nothing bad, I promise."

As soon as he said that, you knew it was a lie.

Principals didn't call students to their office to chat about the weather, or the new episode of their favorite show.

They especially didn't call in students who happened to dislike each other.

You were in trouble. You weren't sure what kind, and what Rowena had to do with it, but you were sure it was nothing good.

As if this day wasn't bad enough as it was.

*****

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