#but i have a death grip on the moving in together theory

[plutoloulou]

Seeing all the "where's Tommy??" posts, like come on guys... He's clearly at home sorting through his drawers, seeing what he can get rid of so Buck can have space for his things when he inevitably asks him to move in with him!

He's putting up a whole shelving unit so Buck can turn it into his own personal spice rack for when he's cooking them a nice meal!

Let the man DIY!

[lilylovestowrite]

Could I request Dr Ratio with a lover who makes plushies? Reader makes plushies to sell and secretly made plushie versions of him to cuddle. Poor Ratio gets a little jealous because he loves cuddling them.

WHY NOT ME? ୨♡୧

PAIRING ୨♡୧ Veritas Ratio x Gn! Reader

WARNINGS ୨♡୧None

SYNOPSIS ୨♡୧ Veritas loves your hobby of making plushies, but you need to stop cuddling them when he’s literally right there. 

WORD COUNT ୨♡୧ 1.9k

A/N ୨♡୧ Thank you for the request! I actually make a few plushies myself! I’m a huge crochet girlie. Might post more on the crochet later <3

I thought it would be a rather funny part two to this fanfic! 

Divider by @/cafekitsune

Ah, yes. Just Dr. Veritas Ratio, his loving partner, and their six foot tall elongated cat plushie.

The dead, beady eyes stare back at him as you slumber in complete peace. The rise and fall of your body from your deep breaths irritates him: how can you be so cuddly and vulnerable with that thing rather than your boyfriend. He could try and pry it from your hands, but the death grip on the cat and your stubbornness are of equal strength. A terrifying feat, if he does say so himself. 

Veritas tries to be rational: you’ve been living alone for a while. Of course you have your habits that don’t really unstick. After your house was broken into, as your colleague, it was only natural that you move in with him since you can commute from the same place. It’s not like anything was going on. Well perhaps the tension between you two has always been more than tense, and there were a few makeout sessions in the faculty room. But your dating life truly began when moving in. 

You’ve been dating for three months now. He’s never really sought the domestic lifestyle of making breakfast together, getting ready, coming back and spending time together. Veritas has always been chasing knowledge, and love has been placed on the back burner. But seeing your drive to teach students and revive the dead Sigonian language, he can’t picture a future without the two of you debating on meaningless quantum physics theories, or historical interpretations of ancient text. It’s not logical: if the two of you drive each other to improve,  test each other’s knowledge, and most importantly love each other, doesn’t it make sense for you to be together? 

Ergo, doesn’t it make even more sense for you to be cuddling him? 

Veritas likes to think he runs purely on logic, but tonight, his pettiness gets to him. He rises from his place in your large four-poster bed and points at the cat plushie. “You bastard.” He hisses, and dives face-first into the silk pillows for some sleep. 

A little childish, sure. But wouldn’t you be if your rival in love is a six foot tall elongated CAT? 

Such a creature doesn’t exist. How ridiculous. He has to address this tomorrow.

“You’re getting upstaged by a cat, Doc?” 

Perhaps Veritas should not have called Aventurine for advice on this manner. The way you and him think are extremely similar: disorganised, chaotic, yet strangely fascinating. So naturally, he’ll get advice from someone similar to you, right?

Well now he thinks he’s messed up. He frowns and runs his hand through his hair whilst hearing Aventurine let out the most ugly laugh he’s ever heard in his life. “You know what they say, two’s a company, three’s a crowd!” He squeals with laughter.

“I don’t know why I took advice from you. You don’t even have a love life.” He snaps, and Aventurine wheezes even louder, descending into silent laughter. Veritas hangs up and buries his face in his hands. He wants to tell you to stop cuddling that cat, but you’re its creator. Is it a motherly instinct to protect your craft? He does understand it to an extent, his own hobbies such as making sculptures, and he will wipe them down wherever he sees the chance. Perhaps, to get the message across, he should cuddle a statue? He shakes his head.

‘Ridiculous idea, Veritas. Zero points.’ The man scolds himself before returning to the blackboard to lecture his class. 

You may or may not have a secret. Every night, you sleep with what seems like a six foot cat plushie, but right beside it, is a little plushie of your boyfriend: Veritas Ratio. It’s got his hair felted on, the lovely golden hairpiece he wears daily, and a lovely white wedding suit. Making plushies has become more of a hobby rather than a stress relief from your life as a Stellaron Academy Senior Professor, in fact, you’ve managed to make an online store and have sold some plushies to your colleagues. It’s a great hobby to have, the practicality and the feeling of satisfaction from completing a new project. But this one is… Slightly embarrassing. First of all, you’re not sure how he’ll feel about you making a doll of him. Will he think it’s like a voodoo doll, or think it’s creepy? Second of all, even though you’ve shoved your tongues down each other’s throats and lapped at each other like wild cats, for some stupid reason, you’re too shy to ask him to cuddle with you. Is Veritas Ratio a man who likes cuddles? Is he big spoon, little spoon, or too above showing affection? Will he stop sharing a bed with you right after? What if you snore in his face - then what? You’re not sure. You could ask, but even the idea of asking him makes you feel so weird, like, who asks if they want to cuddle? Are you a needy child? No. So you settle for a mini Veritas in hopes of not changing the dynamic between you two. Tonight, you settle in your bed, Claire de Lune playing faintly from Veritas’ phone as he reads to sleep. However, when you kiss his cheek goodnight, he glares at the cat plushie in your arms. It sends you into a mild panic: did he see mini Veritas hidden behind the cat? Worse, is he judging you for cuddling something to sleep? These thoughts plague your mind until you fall asleep, giving into your stress-induced fatigue. 

“Gambler, they kissed my cheek and dove straight under the covers. Like they were allergic to me. You are all about public relations, so riddle me this.” Ratio sighs over the phone, toned bicep leaning on his mahogany desk at work. “And be serious this time, or I will religiously remind you of your single status.” 

“Ouch, Doctor.” Aventurine’s buttery voice crackles from the phone. “Well, in order to know what people want, you sort them into what type of person they are. Sadly, you don’t work for the IPC, so you don’t get a file on your pretty little lover. But you’re not on a mission, just ask them what they want. No need to beat around the bush.” 

“What if they think I’m too clingy? Or that I disrespect their work.” 

“First of all, you’d be too clingy if they said ‘no’ and you still pestered them. Second of all, just tell them you love their plushies. You have them displayed all over your classroom, for Aeon’s sake. I think they know you love their handiwork.” 

Veritas nods: “For once, Gambler, you have given me sufficient advice. Thank you.” 

Now, he devises a plan. 

“Love.” Veritas’ voice pulls you out of your crocheting trance. You’re making a bunny plushie with black yarn, sitting next to Veritas in the lounge, who marks his student’s papers. The evening sunlight pools in the hollows of his exposed collarbones, white fluffy robe lined with golden embroidery flowers (your addition) adorns his body. 

“Yes, Veri?” You reply, looking up at him. You’re dressed in the same robe, and Veritas adores how much better white looks on you. Perhaps in the future, he would like to see you in a similar colour. 

‘Stupid, get to the point.’ He hisses at himself silently.  “About our sleeping arrangements…” 

You look up at him, going completely pale. Has he found your Veritas plushie? Oh shit, shit shit- 

“I was wondering if you would rather, well…” Veritas Ratio is a man of perhaps too many words, but for once, he seems to be tripping on his words. “...Cuddle me instead?”

You practically bounce out of your chair and corner him against the couch, “Really?” 

That visceral reaction earns a rather strangled “Yes” from him, and you sigh in relief. His amber eyes scan your face meticulously, trying to read what you’re thinking. 

“You know, I slept with a plushie of you instead, I was so nervous of asking-” You clap your hands over your mouth. You blabbed, like an idiot. And now he’s staring at you as if you were a fool. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“A plushie of me?” He asks, pointing a finger to himself, his baritone voice suddenly rising in pitch. “I thought you slept with that cat?” 

“I-It was behind the cat,” you feel heat rise up to your cheeks, “sorry, it’s really creepy. I can get rid of it-” 

“No, don’t.” He gently rests his hand on yours, unable to resist the grin. “You wanted to sleep with a copy of me? Why not ask me directly?” 

“I didn’t know if you were into cuddling, so I just assumed…” Your voice trails off, and you suddenly realise just how ridiculous you sound. “I was shy, I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologise, love. Now, show me this plushie, and let’s cuddle.” He chimes. Suddenly, a gust of wind lifts a student’s test paper from his desk and it lands on his face. “Perhaps after I finish marking this blasted test.” 

“Would you like me to mark the multiple choice papers?” His eyes glimmer, handing you a pen. 

“The answer key is in the first drawer, help yourself.”

“Damn, not even the slightest bit of hesitation.” You grin. “Must be really desperate for those to be marked, huh?” 

“Oh, hush.” He scolds you gently, tapping the tip of your nose with his red pen. 

Claire de Lune permeates throughout the room, Veritas leading you in with his hand in yours. The night lamps on either side of your bedside tables emit a warm, golden glow that illuminates the lines of his jaw and accentuates the length of his lashes. He cannot contain the wide smile from spreading onto his face when he cradles the little Veritas doll in his hands: “Am I in wedding attire, love?” 

Too shy to answer the question, you throw a pillow at him and he giggles. “He’s so cute. You should make a matching one of yourself, like a couple’s item.” He suggests, snaking his arms around your waist and pulling you closer. You entertain the idea, wrapping your own arms around him and resting both of your hands on his back, the blades of his shoulders emitting warmth. It’s not too bad at all, Veritas thinks, the smile unable to be wiped from his face when he sees how easily you melt into his arms. Even like this, intimacy seems more natural than your little routine of hugging plushie Veritas. The toy doesn’t breathe like him, isn’t warm, and doesn’t vibrate every time he speaks when you rest your face on his chest. Both of your heartbeats seem to slow to a normal rate as you speak about your day in more depth. Eventually, however, the scent of pinewood and light cologne mix to form a homely aroma, lulling the both of you to sleep halfway through a conversation about ancient history. 

A few mornings later, you find your Veritas plushie on his working desk at home. Right next to it is a small statue of the same height, but it’s of you in wedding attire too. “Veri? Did you make this?” You call out to him, and he emerges from the kitchen. Although a blush paints his cheeks, he raises a glass of coffee to the two plushies.  

“I just wanted to have a reference for when it happens in reality. It’s only logical, right?” 

[eqt-95]

💖 rough kiss / hot and heavy / making out

please👉👈

oh anon, i am definitely the wrong person for this one, but here goes nothing:

- - - - - -

Lena has a secret. 

No, it isn't that she’s doubling as a superhero in her free time. That’s Kara.

And no, it isn't that she has an unquenchable crush on her best friend. They'd solved that eons ago.

And definitely no, it isn’t that her toy collection is extensive and well-stocked. Everyone at game night already knows about that.

The secret went like this: 

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” Lena replied with the innocence of a Luthor.

“So it just so happens that the bartender who has been making eyes at you all night is now being sized-up by my sister?”

“Correlation without causation. I thought you were a scientist,” Lena shrugged and tried her best to conceal a knowing smile.

“Uh-huh,” Alex replied with an arched eyebrow that said much more. “And that fact he grabbed your ass on the way to the bathroom?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Well I for one am not about to do a bunch of paperwork over an NDA because Kara can’t keep it together over this ass-hat groping you, so if you will excuse me-”

- - - -

And this: 

“Hey babe?”

“Hm?”

“What’s this?”

Lena looked up from her work and squinted at the letter gripped in Kara’s hand. 

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just some administrative stuff,” Lena hummed and returned to her work.

“Doesn’t look like ‘nothing’. It looks like you were served.”

The scowl that followed was one that could be seen from space which meant it was impossible to ignore from across their apartment. Lena rolled her eyes. 

“It’s just Morgan Edge playing bully again, darling.”

“Yea but,” Kara continued, eyes skimming the multi-page document that now had a few extra crinkles in it. “He’s suing for patent rights? Who does he think he is-”

“It’s nothing, really. I’ll handle it tomorrow.”

“You shouldn’t have to handle it in the first place.”

“It’s fine. Let’s just-”

But Kara was already gone through the terrace door and halfway across the city.

- - - -

And most of all, this:

“Ms. Luthor, The Sun has accused you of covering up nearly a dozen fatalities since-”

“Lena Luthor, it has been alleged that Obsidian North’s stolen technology was found in L-Corp’s latest-”

“Ms. Luthor, how do you explain the recent deaths associated with-”

“How do you sleep at night when your maniac brother is still on the loose-”

“No comment,” Lena repeated for the eighteenth time. She pushed ahead, trying to find a path between L-Corp’s front door and the waiting car that would take her home. Unfortunately, the best path was also the longest. Worse, when she looked ahead, her car was nowhere to be found. What she did find was wall-to-wall traffic and no chance of freedom.

Great.

More questions were hurled, a flash sent blotches across her vision. Another came an inch away and sent her staggering. It felt like a garbage compactor except worse because garbage compactors weren’t sentient creatures known for shouting lies while doing its job.

She clambered through the crowd and found a gap. She glanced around for her security guard who was lost amidst a second offshoot of angry journalists and misinformed citizens. Now wasn’t the time for manners as three journalists and an oversized camera pivoted toward her, so instead of waiting, she booked it down the sidewalk.

They followed with vigor and ignorance and a stubbornness that would have made Lillian proud, shouting rather uncreative conspiracy theories and growing closer by the second. Lena turned a corner then, in a move she might have patted herself on the back for, slipped into an alley. She breathed a sigh of relief until-

“Ms. Luthor-”

“Lena Luthor-”

“-you can’t hide from the truth.” 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Lena heaved, staggering backwards in the kind of stereotypical way she mocked television shows for.

The cameraman was fastest, breaking into her personal space and jamming the lens into her face.

“Ms. Luthor-”

“-is it true Supergirl won’t speak to you?”

“-how does it feel having National City’s Darling reject you?”

What happened next might have been comical if Lena weren’t breathless, irritated, and fuming that her anniversary dinner was being interrupted by a wave of wannabe reporters hanging onto the coattails of the marketing dollars that funded their tabloids. 

Be that as it was, she was not in her usual smirky-mood when the burst of air sent all of them turning on heel to find an equally irritated and equally fuming Supergirl towering over them with the kind of anger usually reserved for the extra-bad baddies.

“S-supergirl,” they all seemed to whimper in unison. 

The camera was fumbled then dropped. The lens splintered with a deserved crack. A few short seconds later, it was the only evidence anyone with a press badge had been there.

“Where’d you take them?” Lena asked when Kara whooshed down moments later. She pushed off the brick wall and closed the distance, raising her hands to fix Kara’s ruffled cape.

“I considered the middle of the Pacific-” Kara shrugged.

“Oh is that right?” Lena smirked, letting her hands climb to brush an errant strand of hair into place.

“But then I remembered the whole ‘hope, help, and compassion’ thing,” she continued, her own hands finding a home on Lena’s waist. “So I dropped them off just outside the city limits instead.”

And there it was: the secret. Somewhere between Kara, all beet-faced and rage hovering over the cowering reporters and then dragging said group of gaggling reporters to the edges of town, Lena felt it - that tiny pang of warmth and safety and appreciation that always came with her overprotective Kryptonian. It also usually sent a tiny pang of something else through her.

“Well that was very big of you,” Lena replied, the gap between lips narrowing. “But just so you know,” she continued, her breath ghosting across Kara’s lips, “I had it handled-”

Kara skipped her lines and closed the gap, pressing lips, hands, and body against Lena until her back found the brick wall again and nothing but the taste, touch, and smell of Kara consumed her. Lips dragged to Lena’s jawline then neck then exposed shoulder. Hands grabbed against the restrictions of fabric. Lena cursed (again) the constraints of a supersuit.

“I really need to design you a new suit,” Lena huffed.

“Probably for the best.” Kara replied, fingers venturing dangerously close to public indecency. “Alex says we need to leave before someone sees us anyway.”

“Tell Alex to stop committing voyeurism. There are websites for that.”

“Oh, she did not like that,” Kara snickered, lips pressing a final kiss to the crook of Lena’s neck. 

“Turn that thing off and take me home, Supergirl.”

“What about our reservations?”

“I have other dinner plans tonight.”

- - - - -

ask game

[myreia]

Sketches of Times Lost

Day 01: Steer

ryne x gaia. minor shadowbringers patch & eden raid spoilers. written for ffxivwrites 2024. 943 words. ao3 link.

“Not like that—”

“Then like what? I did it the way you said!”

“You didn’t! You must put your paddle on the other side—”

“What other side? I put it where you told me—”

“The left side!”

“I put it on the left side!”

Voices ring out across the Source, breaking the sleepy Lakeland day. A sturdy little fisher boat bobs haphazardly in its waters. It streams away from the shore, pushed to and fro by the wind despite the best efforts of its occupants.

“You’re not listening to me.”

“I am listening to you, Ryne!”

“If I am steering from the right side, you must paddle on the left—”

“Ugh…” Wood clatters against wood. “…every time… why must you be like this—”

“Gaia, we’re going in circles!”

“I know—ah!”

Splash. With a sad, despairing sound, the paddle hits the water. Ryne jolts upright in her seat and leans over the side, the boat wobbling precariously with her movement. Gaia yelps, her hands flying out to seize the gunwales, frozen in fear as Ryne slides her paddle over the edge. She presses her lips together, brow furrowed with concentration, and attempts to fish the other out.

A few prods later and she has only achieved the opposite.

“Ah!” The boat rocks as Ryne pulls back, red-cheeked and spluttering. “I can’t get to it.”

Gaia sighs, her hands still holding the gunwales in a death-grip, and carefully peers over the side. “Goodbye, you useless old thing,” she drawls, deadpan. “I knew I should never have brought you.”

The paddle floats away, uncaring, and vanishes into the lake.

The girls fall silent. Small waves lap against the boat, calmly, quietly, the only sound for malms save for the wind and the occasional bird call above. The sun beats down, its rays sparkling across the surface of the water. There was a time in her life when she never knew water could be like this—bright and clear, shimmering like the crystals of the Crystal Tower and brimming with life. She can still taste the putrid scents of her childhood, the stink of stagnant water and rotting fish. The green, stinking waters around Eulmore were where one went to drown. If they were lucky.

Ryne sighs and crosses one leg over the other. “All right,” she says, glancing over the side of the boat. The wind is pushing them in circles and they are moving further and further from Sullen by the minute. At this rate, they might as well be pushed clear into the Isle of Ken. Perhaps they could ask Bismarck for another favour. “I admit… perhaps we… made a mistake.”

Gaia snorts. “A mistake? I thought you said you knew how to handle a thing like this.”

“I do! Or… in theory, I do. I haven’t… actually. Done this before.”

Gaia glances over her shoulder, her dark brows drawn together. She would look angrily ferocious if not for the way her lips were moving as if she is about to laugh. “Surprising. You don’t say.”

A small laugh bursts out of her and Ryne slaps a hand to her mouth. Flashing her a grin, Gaia twists around in her seat and stretches out, fluffing out her hair behind her as she settles in to bask. She closes her eyes and throws one leg over her knee, her foot bouncing back and forth. The polished stiletto heel she insisted on wearing glints in the sun.

Ryne smiles, soft and quiet, and looks away. “Regardless,” she says, dipping a hand into the lake, letting the cool waters flow through her fingers. “This is nice, isn’t it? The sun is out, there’s a nice breeze, we have food and water…”

“Spinning in the middle of the lake doesn’t sound very nice to me,” Gaia says. Despite her irritable tone, she is already deeply relaxed. “I’d have rather stayed indoors.”

Ryne raises her eyes, staring across the lake to Sullen’s docks. Villagers mill to and fro, some fishing, others swimming, and moreso out to the enjoy the nice day. Their bright clothing makes them visible even from this distance. Would any notice if she stood up and waved her arms?

A pang squeezes her heart. “Did you know Urianger tried to walk on water once?” she blurts out.

Gaia yawns. “Where?”

“There. Stepped right off the dock.”

Gaia’s eyes open. Slowly, she pushes herself up and twists around, following Ryne’s gaze to the distant shore. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” she declares.

Ryne makes a face. “You don’t believe me—?”

The boat rocks. A warm hand slips into hers. A familiar weight presses into her as Gaia rests her head on her shoulder.

“You miss them a lot today,” she says quietly. No judgement, just simple acknowledgement.

“I miss them everyday.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know when Aureia will be back. I don’t know if Thancred has gone and done something stupid. I don’t know what books Urianger is reading, what theories Y’shtola is pursuing, if Alphinaud and Alisaie are…” She lets out a soft breath. “I’m sorry. I wanted today to be nice.”

“You’re here. How could it not be?”

Sullen fades into the distance.  

“Gaia?” Ryne asks, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Do you think this will ever end? Feeling like this? Feeling like I’m grieving the worst before I know it’s happened? I’m so worried about them, some days I can barely breath.”

“I don’t know the answer to that.” Her hand squeezes hers. “I don’t think anyone knows. But I do know what it is like to feel alone and…”

“And?”

“You’re not, Ryne. You are never alone.”

[persevereforahappyending]

Maybe in Another Life |10|

Pairing: Clarisse La Rue x Hunter of Artemis!Reader

Summary: You are a Hunter of Artemis, but you start to question what you truly want when you meet Clarisse and get to know her.

Warnings: Fighting, Bleeding, Injuries

Word Count: 4.3k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

ch. 1 | ch. 2 | ch. 3 | ch. 4 | ch. 5 | ch. 6 | ch. 7 | ch. 8 | ch. 9 | ch. 10 | ch. 11 | ch. 12 | ch. 13 | ch. 14 | ch. 15 | ch. 16 | ch. 17

“What now?” Clarisse asked.

You looked down the dark corridor, then back to the wall that originally held a door. “We go forward,” you said.

Clarisse sighed, nodding along as the two of you began your trek down the dimly lit hall. The flames from the torches flickered as you passed them. Your mind was on high alert, your eyes were darting everywhere when so much as a shadow moved.

“What do you know about the labyrinth?” Clarisse asked as the two of you continued your walk.

You had been walking for a few minutes and hadn’t passed by a door or another hall of any kind. The corridor seemed never ending, the stones around you never changed but ahead all you saw was darkness. Torches would come to life when the two of you got close enough, illuminating a few more feet in front of you. You never knew what lied ahead until the torches flicked on, for all you knew every step you took was leading the two of you to a giant monster or the path would just end, sending the two of you to your demise.

“Not much,” you admitted. You weren’t going to pretend to know anything about the labyrinth. “Just that most who enter don’t make it out.” You glanced out of the side of your eye to see Clarisse’s reaction. She didn’t seem surprised by the information, just nodding along. “What about you? You were searching for it, any relevant information you learned?”

“No,” Clarisse sighed. “Annabeth rambled on about it, but it was all just theories, it’s always changing and growing, rarely does anyone survive, it tries to trick you.” Clarisse’s eyes fell to the ground, she gripped her spear a bit tighter. “I wasn’t supposed to enter the labyrinth,” she whispered. “I was just supposed to find the door.”

“Hey,” you came to a stop, gently touching her on the shoulder to make her turn to face you. You stared at her for a second, she held her head high, looking as strong and confident as ever, but you saw the hesitation in her eyes, she wasn’t sure the two of you would make it out of this. “We will get out of here,” you said, your voice unwavering. “We just have to stick together, watch each other’s backs, we can’t allow this place to separate us.”

Clarisse nodded. “You really think we can find a way out?”

The truth was you weren’t sure and if you did find a way out you weren’t sure when it would be. You heard stories of heroes entering the labyrinth, disappearing for years and then all of a sudden popping back up. They were never sane when that happened, so you never knew what exactly happened to them down there. It was proof one could survive for years down there but at what cost, if they all lost their mind in the maze you had to wonder if death would be a kinder outcome.

“We have a better chance together,” you said. You couldn’t lie to her. You needed her to believe you would both survive this, you both needed to have hope, if you didn’t, you surely wouldn’t last long. You didn’t want to lie to her though, you couldn’t pretend everything would all work out, you just had to hope it would.

You glanced up, having to do a double take, when you saw a glowing light behind Clarisse at the end of the corridor. “What the hell,” you whispered.

Clarisse turned around, following your gaze. You grabbed an arrow, making sure to have it ready if needed. Clarisse held her spear out, ready to attack whatever lay ahead. The two of you slowed your pace, inching closer to the glowing light. The light wasn’t from a torch, it almost looked like a room at the end of a hall.

As you got closer, you saw what looked to be a standard-looking room. There wasn’t anything in it, but the walls were white, and the floor looked to be a shiny white tile. “Maybe we should turn back,” you said, slowly coming to a stop. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

You turned to go back the way you had come, furrowing your brow when you saw an empty dark void, no torches lit, you couldn’t even see the stone wall anymore. “What the-”

You were cut off by a loud rumble, then the ground began to crack. Your eyes widened as between the cracks was an orange glow before the ground quickly started giving away towards you and Clarisse.

“Run!” you turned, pushing Clarisse to run towards the room you had been wanting to avoid.

You kept glancing back, seeing more and more of the ground give away. Your eyes widened when the cracks got close enough and you could see molten lava beneath. “Go!”

The two of you were running side by side. The room was within reach. The floor gave out from under you.

Clarisse jumped, making it into the room.

You didn’t make the jump.

You stabbed your arrow into the side of the wall as you fell towards the lava.

Your eyes were glued to the glowing orange and red lava below. You saw a few bubbles pop, making splashes of lava come up near your feet. Despite being a few feet from the lava you were already sweating from the heat.

You kicked your feet, trying to get some traction on the side of the wall. Lucky for you the wall wasn’t smooth, it was a rocky surface, but there wasn’t anything to grab onto. There wasn’t a way for you to maneuver and climb your way back to the top.

You felt a small vibration travel through your hand. Your eyes instantly snapped up, seeing your arrow beginning to crack.

“Shit,” you gritted out.

You kicked your feet against the wall, trying to run up it as much as you could, swinging your arm with your bow, hoping it would catch on to something. As you flung your body up, you let go of the arrow, allowing it to fall into the lava below. You gave a small smile as your bow caught on a small rock that was poking out.

Your smile quickly left your face when the rock crumbled. You opened your mouth to let out a yell as you prepared to fall into the lava, but death never came. You looked up, letting out a relieved sigh when you saw Clarisse partially hanging off the ledge as she gripped your bow with both hands.

“I got you,” Clarisse said through gritted teeth.

She used her strength to push down on the bow, trying to keep it stable so you could pull yourself up. You kicked your feet, using all the strength you had to pull yourself up. When you got close enough Clarisse moved one of her hands to grip your arm. She helped you push your bow onto the ledge then used her now free hand to grip the back of your shirt, helping pull you up the rest of the way.

You collapsed onto the ground next to each other, both of you breathing heavy. “Thank you,” you said between breaths.

“Anytime,” Clarisse breathed out.

Clarisse was the first one to pull herself to her feet. She held out a hand for you, you looked at it, releasing a few more breaths before grabbing it, allowing her to pull you to your feet. When you were both standing you looked around to see you had made it into the mysterious room, the doorway you had gone through was gone, which you should have expected, and the rest of the room was all blank white walls.

You scrunched your eyebrows when you heard a high pitch whistling sound before your eyes went wide. “Get down!” you grabbed Clarisse, pulling her back down to the floor.

As soon as the two of you hit the floor arrows shot through the air, whistling as they passed over your heads. You kept your head pressed to the ground as you watched the arrows fly over you. You didn’t realize you had been holding your breath until the arrows had finally stopped.

As soon as you and Clarisse got to your feet again you were being pulled to the side, pressing yourselves against the wall as a large axe swung down the middle of the room. Then another axe swung out, swinging across the middle of the room the other way, forcing the two of you into a corner. Both axes swung up and across the middle of the room, perfectly in sync so they didn’t hit each other.

You gripped Clarisse’s arm while she braced herself against the wall when the entire room started to rumble. Your eyes darted around the room as the walls started to close in, pushing the two of you closer to the axes that continued to swing. Right before you would have been sliced in half the axes stopped swinging, though the walls continued to close in.

“What’s that?” Clarisse asked, you looked up to see she was pointing at the ceiling.

You tilted your head when you noticed that not only were the walls closing in on you but that the ceiling was moving. The ceiling wasn’t coming down to crush you, but the tiles of the ceiling were shifting around, revealing black panels underneath. Under one of the panels was a small red button, but the tiles shifted to quickly to try and jump up and hit it with your hand.

You grabbed an arrow from your quiver, lifting up your bow to aim at the red button. Clarisse was crouched down, pressing herself as close to the wall as she could get without being in your way. You had to adjust your arms, getting into an uncomfortable position as you focused on the red button and not the walls about to crush you. When you let the arrow fly, you watched it sail through the air, the panels continuing to shift as the arrow hit the red button just as the panel moved out of the way.

Once your arrow hit the button all the walls stopped and the panels on the ceiling stopped as well. You and Clarisse were pressed against each other, barely able to move, having been just seconds away from being crushed. The both of you just had time to let out a shaky breath when the floor came out from under you, sending the two of you falling into darkness.

You let out a long groan, rolling over, at least you weren’t dead, if that could even be seen as a plus. “I hate this place,” you groaned out. When you became more aware of your surroundings, you felt a smooth cool surface under your hand. It was clearly a stone or rock of some kind, it almost felt damp.

Another groan came from right next to you. “How are we still alive?” Clarisse asked.

You used your forearms to prop yourself up as you got a look at your surroundings. The first thing you did was look up from where you had to have fallen from. Once again, the door you fell through was gone and there was nothing but a rocky surface through the darkness. You looked around the rest of the area, you definitely seemed to be on a rock, the only way you could describe it was a cave of some sort.

There was a loud screech making your blood run cold. “What was that?” Clarisse whispered. You only raised a finger to your mouth, silently hushing her. A second later there was another loud screech.

You looked around the cave, there was a dim light coming from above, replicating what would be moonlight. It lit your surroundings just enough so you could see island formations of rock surrounding the area. There was a larger island in the middle of everything. A couple rope bridges connected smaller islands to the larger one. There were several waterfalls pouring down from the islands into an endless black abyss, the largest waterfall flowing down and through the large middle island.

A large black form moved high above you, blocking wherever the light was coming from for a second. You pulled yourself to your feet as quietly as you could, holding out your hand to help Clarisse do the same. The both of you stood back-to-back as the black form flew over the two of you again. It shot down from high above and into the darkness below and then began circling the two of you. You and Clarisse had your backs pressed against each other, her spear pointed at the ready and your bow already drawn.

There was another loud screech, much closer than the first two, followed by loud flapping. The entire island rumbled when the large black form landed in front of you. You backed up, forgetting for a second that Clarisse was right there. Clarisse opened her mouth as she turned to face you but whatever she was about to say died in her throat as her eyes widened at the creature before you.

The two of you stood there, both of you holding your breath as the creature slowly opened its wings, then leaned forward letting out a loud screech right in your face. You could feel your heart in your throat. The wings were as dark as the night sky, the rest of the body a dark grey, it had little tuffs of fur around its neck and ears. Its eyes were a pale white, telling you it was in fact blind, its large, pointed ears flicked repeatedly, probably from little sounds you could never even dream of hearing.

It used its arms, which were connected to its wings, to walk around, circling you and Clarisse. You tried to stay as still as possible, but a simple shift of your foot made the scraping of your shoe against the rock echo throughout the cavern. You pushed Clarisse to the ground as the creature screeched, pushing off the island and flew just inches above the two of you, you were pretty sure you felt its claws graze against your jacket.

 It flew high, turning to circle back around to get you. You and Clarisse jumped to your feet at the same time and took off as fast as you could, jumping from one island to the next, hoping that if you could make it to the main one, you’d actually have a chance. The closer you got to the island with the bridge the greater the distance you were having to jump. You made the last jump, having to duck and roll to stick the landing. Clarisse jumped, her foot catching the edge, but before she could tumble into the darkness, she used her spear, stabbing it into the rock and pulled herself to safety.

Just as you were about to let out a sigh of relief you were hit by a strong force, then suddenly you were being lifted in the air.

“Y/N!” You vaguely heard Clarisse yell, but you were a little distracted by the monsters’ claws digging into your shoulder.

You looked up, seeing the large bat-like monster carrying you away. You began thrashing around, hoping something would cause it to lose your grip on you. You had lost your arrow after being caught off guard when it grabbed you, but you still had a tight grip on your bow. You swung the bow up and around blindly, hoping to get lucky and hit the bat somewhere painful. Your bow came in contact with something, the bat let out a loud screech, and then suddenly you were falling.

You weren’t sure if plummeting into the dark abyss to your certain death was better than being carried away by a giant bat creature, mostly likely to be eaten and ripped apart. As you were falling your hand hit something, making you reach out on reflex, gripping whatever it was. When you opened your eyes, you were staring down into the dark abyss, but you were still alive.

“Y/N!” Clarisse called again.

You looked over to see her running towards you. When you looked up you saw your hand was gripped around the rope of the bridge, your other hand still gripped your bow. You let out a shaky breath as Clarisse got to you, the rickety bridge wobbling with each step. You weren’t sure how many people crossed the bridge but based on the rotting wood and moldy rope you would assume it’d been a long while.

Clarisse quickly grabbed onto your arm, helping pull you to safety. You reached up, setting your bow on the bridge and helped Clarisse get you up the rest of the way. “Are you okay?” Clarisse asked, resting her hand on your back as you were breathing heavily.

You nodded, unable to verbally answer. You straightened your back, the movement making you hiss as it pulled skin the bat’s claws had dug into. You moved your shirt, seeing blood through the tears from the monsters’ claws, if you survived this you would have to get the wounds cleaned out as soon as possible.

You grabbed your bow and pulled out an arrow again. You followed the movement of the bat flying around as it circled you and then you released your arrow. The arrow sailed through the air and tore through the bat’s wings as soon as it flew into the arrow’s path. The creature screeched but as soon as it turned to face you, you released another arrow, sending it straight through the other wing.

“Go!” you yelled, turning to run across the bridge when you saw the bat flying straight for you, despite clearly being thrown off with its torn wings.

The bat slammed into you, sending you to your knees. “Keep going!” you yelled, knowing Clarisse would turn back for you.

You used your bow to hold back the bite as it tried to snap at you. You felt around for the arrow you had dropped, wrapping your fingers around it when you felt it. You brought the arrow up, stabbing it into the creature’s eye. You didn’t hesitate to rip it out, ignoring the blood that surely splattered all over you before stabbing it into the other eye.

“Hold on!” you shouted, sparing a glance behind you to see Clarisse had both hands on the ropes at her side.

You leaned up as the monster thrashed around above you. Raising your bow you let another arrow fly, aiming for the right post where the rope was tying off the bridge. As soon as the arrow left your hand you grabbed another one, aiming for the left post, quickly releasing it as well.

You flipped yourself over, grabbing the wood planks of the bridge as tightly as you could. There was a second where everything was silent, then you were weightless, you held on tight as your body came up, swinging through the air as the ropes tying the bridge off tore, sending the bridge smacking into the side of main island.

You let out a shaky breath, looking up to see Clarisse had a tight hold on the bridge as well and was beginning her climb to the top. You glanced down, letting out a tired sigh when you saw the bat was still attached to the bridge, shaking its head as it continued to try and recover from its eyes being stabbed, despite already being blind. As carefully as you could you slipped your bow around your head, keeping yourself pressed against the bridge.

Once your bow was secure you began your climb. As soon as you reached for the next plank it ripped out from under you, sending you further down, smacking the other planks as you tried to find one to grab onto. Finally, you got your hand wrapped around the rope, stopping your descent, and allowing you to grab onto another board. You pulled on the board a few times, making sure it would hold your weight before beginning your climb again.

You had barely made progress before you felt a searing pain in your calf, letting out a yell as the monster ripped its claws down, trying to bring you down with it. You gripped the planks tighter, using all your strength to pull yourself up and out of the creature’s grip. You felt something breeze past your head then suddenly claws impaled in your leg were gone. You looked down to see the bat falling into the dark abyss, a crackling red spear in its mouth.

You used your remaining strength to climb up the bridge, going slower than you should have, your injured leg shaking each time you needed to use it to push off the next plank. When you got close to the top you once again felt Clarisse’s arms reach out for you. She took one of your hands in her own and then helped brace you by putting her other hand on your back, helping pull you up the rest of the way.

Your breathing was ragged as you laid on the cold stone surface, the sound of the rushing waterfall filling your ears. You turned your head, glancing down at your leg to see your pants ripped and already covered in blood.

“Come on,” Clarisse said. She reached down, throwing one of your arms around her shoulder, and swinging her other arm around your waist before you had the chance to respond.

You limped, trying to help as much as you could as Clarisse led you across the large island. You went the opposite direction the water was flowing until you got to the bottom of the waterfall. Despite the slipperiness of the rocks Clarisse managed to get the two of you to the little cave behind the waterfall. It was a little damp but if there were any more bat creatures in the cavern it was the safest place the two of you could be, the waterfall was loud enough to cover any noise the two of you would make.

“Easy,” Clarisse said as she gently laid you on the floor, propping your back up against the wall. “Let me get a look at your leg.” She didn’t wait for a response before she ripped the rest of your pants leg, gently turning your leg as she got a look at the wound.

“My-my bag,” you rasped out, tiredly reaching for your bag that you somehow managed to hold onto.

Clarisse reached over you, taking the bag from your hands. You let your head flop back against the stone wall, the sweat was already making your hair stick to your forehead. You had been running on pure adrenaline and survival and now you were really beginning to feel each and every one of your injuries.

“Ambrosia?” Clarisse asked. You opened your eyes to see she had opened your bag; you gave her a small nod and smile.

She cut one of the squares of ambrosia in half and handed it to you. You quickly put it in your mouth, savoring the sweet taste. When you lifted your head again you saw Clarisse ripping off a piece of her shirt and beginning to wrap your leg.

“Don’t want you bleeding out before the ambrosia kicks in,” she mumbled. You let out a tired chuckle, that certainly wouldn’t be good. Ambrosia helped with the healing, and you would be good to go in the morning, or whatever time it was, but it wasn’t a guaranteed safety net, you could easily die even after eating some ambrosia.

“Let me see your shoulder,” Clarisse demanded, already putting her hands on you to help lean you forward.

“That’s not as bad,” you mumbled. You were quickly shut up by Clarisse throwing a glare at you.

Clarisse ripped off one of her sleeves and took it to the waterfall, sticking it under the water. When she came back, she leaned you forward, moving your shirt out of the way just enough to see the wounds. She began wiping away the dried blood and the wounds themselves. When she was all done, she helped you lean back against the wall, wincing as your shoulder touched the stone before quickly going back to a dull ache.

 “I thought I was going to lose you,” Clarisse whispered. Her eyes were glued to the ground as she refused to look you in the eye.

You were to tired to lift your hand so you slid it across the smooth surface until your fingers brushed against hers, making her look up at you. She reached up, resting a hand on the side of your face, making you instantly lean into her touch.

“You sacrificed your spear for me,” you mumbled. You knew it wasn’t the original weapon given to her by her father, but it was still her pride and joy, and she lost it because she decided to save your life.

“You or the spear,” she whispered. “It wasn’t even a choice.”

You noticed her eyes flick down to your lips. “I’m sorry.” Your gaze fell as well, you wished for nothing more than to give her everything she deserved. “Maybe in another life things could be different.”

She leaned forward, resting her forehead against yours. “I’ll wait for you in the next life,” she whispered. You could feel her breath against her lips, but she never leaned in, still respecting your status as a Hunter.

“It could be a long time.”

She shook her head. “Doesn’t matter.” After another second, she pulled away, caressing your cheek one more time. “Get some rest, I’ll take first watch.” Her tone was kind, but it was clear there would be no arguing with her.

You shifted your body, getting as comfortable as you could against the hard rocky surface. Clarisse stood up, pulling out a dagger that was strapped to her ankle. The last thing you saw before you closed your eyes was Clarisse standing tall in front of the waterfall.

Taglist: @cxcilla @touchmyfracturedomens @luclue @manu-007s-world @death-in-love @nenas19 @mynameiskaci @danonered

[lulusoblue]

Welp. Played Double Exposure. Finished it.

ALMOST spoiler-free thoughts, any spoilers are literally superficial and make no impact on the plot as a whole: this game is not worth the price of admission at present.

Just to get it out of the way; the way they unceremoniously wrote Chloe out of Max's life, be they romantically together or platonic, is garbage. She doesn't even have a character model. The only image of her post-Arcadia is the one we've all seen before. It was all VERY out of character for both Max and Chloe and all of Chloe's social media posts feel like DeckNine rubbing in that they just see her as a party girl lesbian who sleeps around and would rather completely ignore any trauma that she or her BEST FRIEND WHOM SHE WOULD TAKE BACK IN A HEARTBEAT would have because she wants to "move forward". Incredibly insulting, especially when Chloe keeps getting called "the blue-haired girl" and not by name when Max is literally TALKING ABOUT HER IN A HEARTFELT CONVERSATION.

Graphics. I can run Baldur's Gate 3 at a damn good and steady framerate even as it is constantly loading shit into the level as you travel this giant-ass world map. For some reason, LiS:DE just chugged along. What's worse, the lowest and most unstable framerates and graphic quality I had was INDOORS. I didn't even have these settings on Cinematic because then it ran like shit. Even after I found advice on discussions. This game is beautiful but only if you're standing still and not moving the camera around so much.

Cat Content is waaaaay to minimal. Cat didn't appear until the very end of Chapter 2, and after that the cat will only appear when you can explore Max's house. Which is the ending of Chapter 3 and the beginning of Chapter 4. You don't even get to keep the cat. This content is not worth being locked behind the Ultimate Edition.

The writing of the main plot starts strong, but leads to a very underwhelming conclusion. All of the other entries in LiS have felt like their endings were ambiguous in that there wasn't so much a right choice as there was a choice of which ending you felt fit the narrative. Chapter 5, and thus the whole ending of the game, felt like... nothing. Even down to the final "big" choice and the last scene. There was no real delving into Max's trauma stemming from the ending of the original game, because in "respecting both endings", DeckNine respects neither by making their differences superficial. There was no story following through a setup of how one can move on from death in one's life. The ending just relies on supernatural fuckery and then sets up for future games in a meaningless way. It all felt so rushed and hollow, for lack of a better, spoiler-free way to describe it. Aside from saying that there were SO many theories people came up with that were much more gripping than what actually happened.

The characters are underutilised for how much the marketing put the spotlight on them. Not to say I don't like the new cast of characters, but aside from their charm in some scenes, I literally only really cared about Moses by the end of the game. If the threat of Max Caulfield's return doesn't fall through, then I hope at least Moses will be along for the ride too. Aside from him, I just... didn't really grow attached to anyone besides Gwen and the cat. For as little as the cat appeared, I still cared about that damn ball of pixels more than almost all of the main cast of characters.

The side characters have so much dialogue. Too much dialogue. You will be listening in on NPC conversations for 5 minutes and maybe, MAYBE you'll be able to put that therapist card down on the table for them in Chapter 2. There was waaaaaay too much thought and time and dialogue put into background characters and conversations that aren't all that interesting and just get their audio cut off if you step a couple of millimetres away from their assigned seats.

The game is small. Even with exploring, you only have 4-5 environments to venture forth in at Caledon, and when most of them are indoors and something keeps causing my framerate to tank (which honestly how can your indoor lighting tank my framerate with outdoor scenes should have more shit to load in) it feels so claustrophobic. Scenes are short if you're good at puzzle-solving and revisiting locations makes events even shorter when you don't need to re-examine details for Max's inner monologue. It feels like you have less room to move than in True Colours, which when combined by how disappointing the main plot is?

Main plot is only a murder mystery for the first two chapters. Then it kinda derails. The mystery disappears and you just have plot twists that don't fit the Life is Strange vibes.

All in all? This is the first entry in the series that I regret buying at all. Great acting performances, pretty graphics and a stellar soundtrack can't carry a game or save it from writing that isn't just bad, but ultimately insincere. I knew what stories previous games in the series were trying to tell. I don't know what Double Exposure wanted to tell or try to say beyond "stay tuned".

[not-goldy]

He broke up with Jennie cause he realized Jimin is the one he wants to be more then Friends with. DUH!

Lets see.

(1) Siren

(2) Red String

(3) Friendship that becomes Eternal

(4) Apple/Forbidden Fruit

So basically.

(1) Jimin? Everyone calls Jimin a siren, Tae even said Jimin reminded him of a mermaid & Tae himself has said many times Jimin is desirable and alluring and also Desire is written with a red string.

(2) Vmin wore matching red string bracelets.

(3) Vmin Soulmates/Them singing in Friends Part 1 about it being for eternity.

(4) Tae saying Jimin's eyes were Temptation (Forbidden fruit) during Blood Sweat and Tears video or when Tae was asked what he'd do in his non idol life and he said he'd be an apple seller and told Jimin to come and do it with him. Take your pick.

Anyways its all jokes & wild funny theories so don't take any of it too seriously. Seems Vmin shippers are winning over Taennie shippers right now. Come on Taennie's step it up. I also love how bored everyone is and spouting out off the wall shit. And how one group of shippers can't connect shit to their ship no matter how hard they try. Whomp Whomp sorry Tkk, better luck next time. You have to sit this one out AGAIN like every other time. I know they seething cause they never been able to connect a Tae song to JK. lol

Anyways, As a Jikooker I'm good, cause Jikook together right now. I'm just enjoying the conspiracy party.

Here's where I splash water on his and your face to get a grip

JIMIN IS MARRRRRRRIIIIIIIIEEEDDDDDTTTTTT

Baby boy move on.

Don't support Jennie for you but at least that's moving on. Power to you😩

Yall shouldn't stress me and Jungkook out like this🥲

If he were here he'd explain to yall how Vmin are friends Frensh ppl frensh 🤧

Ooooooohhh thank God I thought you were serious there for a sec🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Interesting analysis A for effort I like it

Vminers it's our time to shine 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭

Go crazy with the theories 🤭

Personally want him to put out a song to tie everything in neatly regarding his friendship with Jimin with all the enmeshment and roller-coaster emotions involved. Would be nice to bring it all to a climax no? Just a nice letting go kinda song.

Who knows, perhaps it started out as friendship then he'd entertained the possibility of it being more, then he'd moved on as he matured and came to love and understand himself better. Now he's healed found love somewhere else and would always have a special place in his heart reserved for his best friend.

That's a song I'll definitely cry to🤭

But honey it's 2024 we not doing that same old unrequited love story no more free me Tae😭😭😭😭

Also I'm here for the chaos🤣

Jimin explaining to death how Tae is crazy and Jungkook cussing him out all the way from camp🤣

Aaah I miss this drama

I feel alive again

Thanks Anon🤭

NB: like Anon said no one shud take any of this seriously. We are just delulus doing our delulu things

Off to read some vmin fics🙂

[werewolf-cl4ws]

Sonsally Week 2024: Day 7 - Transformation

I couldn't come up with a full scenario for this one, but I really, really, really, really wanted to write this scene in general because my absolute favourite thing about Sonic in general is that he's a silly little guy, a goober, a clown. Until he isn't because the universe thinks he's the right person to give god-like powers to.

Plus I wanted to play with one of my favorite SatAM theories.

This is just a spillage of thoughts but it was fun to just write, y'know?

Sally had never heard of the Chaos Emeralds until a few days ago, when a strange red echidna named Knuckles had somehow entered New Knothole and demanded they hand over the one they had in their possession.

None of the Freedom Fighters knew what he was talking about, and a tiny war had almost broken out when Sonic tried to force Knuckles out of the village when he refused to leave until they met his demands. It was only when Knuckles marched over to the Power Ring pool and pointed to it, explaining he could feel its energy coming from under the lake’s surface, that everything started to make sense. If barely.

The Power Rock, a mysterious stone discovered by Sonic’s uncle years ago that could produce Power Rings only Sonic could use, turned out to be a Chaos Emerald that sat contentedly with them for said amount of years. And there were six others like it in Knuckles’ possession, as he had been hunting practically all of Mobius for them for the last year, and theirs was the last one he needed.

Why he needed them was still a little unclear to Sally, only because what she was seeing was not matching up to Knuckles’ explanation. He said he knew of a rumour that stated when all seven of the Chaos Emeralds were together a miracle would happen. What kind of miracle he didn’t know exactly, but he needed something to happen as his island was under attack by robots that looked eerily similar to a dictator long since dead.

They had all followed Knuckles to his island to help him, but also because they weren’t willing to give up their one defence until they were sure he was telling the truth. Sonic had been adamant of doing this as legendary item or not, he had been trusted with the Emerald by his uncle, and he obviously had a deep connection to it that they couldn’t just give away.

It turned out that Sonic not only had a connection with the yellow Emerald, the supposed Power Rock they had kept for most of their lives, but with the other six, according to what Sally was seeing now.

Sonic floated in the air, his quills now a bright, golden yellow that pointed upwards and wavered gently with a power that practically radiated off him. As he stared down the giant robot that now had a death grip on the Master Emerald – another Emerald that apparently controlled the smaller ones and allowed Knuckles’ island to float - his features were sharpened, a seriousness possessing him that Sally had never seen in her life.

Beside her she just barely heard Knuckles mumble something about Sonic having the power of a god now, something that would have injected cold fear into anyone’s bloodstream. The cold stare on Sonic’s face nearly made her fear it, too.

But she knew Sonic better. She knew whatever power was flowing through him wasn’t going to change him.

She hoped.

The robot suddenly jettisoned away in a blast of fire and burning fuel, moving much faster than its build should have allowed. Sonic watched it, his stare still cold and calculating, before he took off after it, practically disappearing in front of Sally’s eyes. The streak of glowing gold left behind him was her only clue of where he was, but his speed – already beyond any other mobian – had multiplied to a point that it was like he was teleporting to his destination now as barely a second later he was intercepting the robot like it had never moved.

Even with Sonic’s high speed intervention the robot still dodged him, and Sally watched as the robot’s chest compartment split open, revealing a chamber big enough for the Master Emerald to fit into. The robot placed it inside itself, and the second the chamber snapped shut, it too seemed to power up with a similar energy that possessed Sonic.

With another roar of its engines it blasted off into the sky, heading for the stratosphere. And, to Sally’s horror, Sonic followed it without hesitation, his Chaos Energy fuelled body taking on the feat like he was heading out for a jog.

Then… nothing.

Sally stared up at the sky where the two figures had disappeared into, her heart hammering in her chest against a cage of anxiety. After a while she fell back onto her rump, barely feeling the grass under her, barely acknowledging Knuckles or her friends sitting next to her, also waiting and watching.

Waiting for what she wasn’t sure about. Deep down she knew Sonic could handle… whatever it was that was happening. But it didn’t make her chest feel any looser.

It could have been hours, or even seconds later, but as they all stared up at the sky a small dot appeared. A dot that slowly became larger, and closer, until it was no longer a dot but a somewhat familiar glowing golden hedgehog. And in his hands was the Master Emerald, being guided to the surface of the island.

Sally scrambled to her feet as Sonic guided the Master Emerald down a few feet away from them, watching it land safe and sound – much to Knuckles’ relief – then looked it over for any damage. He hovered above the ground as he did this, and it made everything feel all the more stranger.

His features were still sharp, almost wild, and being this close to him Sally realised his usually amber eyes were now a radiant red that were piercing in their own right. She felt her breath catch in her chest at the sight, and Sonic’s ears perked as his gaze snapped over to them. With how sharp his hearing was Sally could believe it, and she didn’t doubt that the Chaos Emeralds had enhanced all his abilities.

But she had caught Sonic’s attention, and for a moment he stared them down, his gaze almost cutting.

Then all at once his features softened, and he grinned, flashing all of his teeth, a rare full smile that was only seen when he was particularly proud of something he had done and didn’t give two damns who knew it.

Even with the glowing yellow quills that floated around him and the eerie blood red eyes, Sally now recognised him completely, and her chest finally loosened as she gave a relieved laugh.

Whatever those Emeralds did to him, it didn’t change him on the inside, where it mattered most. God-like powers or otherwise, it was still Sonic.

It probably wasn’t the smartest idea she ever had, but Sally ran to Sonic, relief washing through her. Sonic dashed forward, still hovering above the ground, and the second they were close enough Sally leapt at him. Without hesitation Sonic scooped her up mid-air and pulled her into a bear hug, giving a little spin in the air as Sally clung to him. When he stopped he looked down at her, grinning broadly.

“Please don’t ever do that again,” Sally scowled, or at least tried to. The giddiness of her relief and the warmth of Sonic’s chaos-charged body was making it hard for her to even pretend to be mad, and Sonic could see it in her eyes.

“First I gotta figure out wha’ I actually did, Sal,” Sonic laughed, and to Sally’s surprise his voice was deeper, almost ethereal as it had a reverb to it. It almost derailed her thoughts, and she had to shake her head to get her focus back.

“Of course you do,” Sally sighed, rolling her eyes, then gave him another squeezing hug.

It was still Sonic. Somehow doing the impossible, but that’s what made him Sonic.

[writer66]

Chapter 1: S7 "The Bad Batch"

Hunter (The Bad Batch) x Femalejedi!reader

Series Summary: You've always liked clones... At least the ones that you fought with your old Master Obi Wan Kenobi, and your older brother Anakin Skywalker, after your training you became a Jedi Knight General. However, you weren't given a platoon but a small squad... Clone Force 99.

Chapter Summary: You meet the batch and find them really odd. You have to go on a mission with them with Rex and a few other clones. This reveals an old friend.

Masterlist

Genre: Strangers to Friends (sort of) to Lovers

Warnings: cannon typical violence, talk of death, mild injuries, the Force, slight cannon deviation (mostly in later chapters)

Word Count: 2570

Author Notes: As stated in the Masterlist these stories will get spicy so 18+ unless you are old enough to handle the content. This will be more of getting to know the characters and establishing bonds/relationships. I will not be using Y/N, the OC is Aria Skywalker, Anakin's younger sister.

The battle for Anaxes! One of the Republic's largest shipyards is under attack, from Admiral Trench's Separatist Forces. Jedi Generals Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker, and Aria Skywalker, lead a two-pronged assault on the ground and in the air. But after weeks of heated battle and mounting losses, the Republic's grip on Anaxes begins to slip away.

"The droids have overrun our main production facility. It won't be long before the Separatists take Anaxes. Compromising our entire fleet." Mace Windu says to Anakin and Aria.

"Pardon the interruption, General, but Rex here has a good theory on why we keep, uh... losing." Commander Cody says to the Generals. "Please, Captain" Windu responds, "The droid army uses analytic to predict our strategy. The first time we use a tactic, it's very effective. The next, less so. In fact, the more we use a certain tactic, the less effective it becomes. They learn our tendencies and use that data against us. To counter them, we're constantly working out ways to vary our attack." Rex says, "But the losses we are experiencing on Anaxes are not commonplace." "Exactly. The counterattacks are so specific, it's my strategy the droids know, my playbook." Cody jumps in, "my concern is that Rex is one of our best. If the droids can learn to defeat him, we may all be vulnerable." "What do you purpose?" Windu Asks, "Let Rex and me take a small squad behind enemy lines. There is a Separatist Cyber Center which relays all battlefield intel to their command ship. If we're going to find anything, it will be there." "If you think that it will help turn this fight around, get going. But take General Skywalker with you" Both Anakin and Aria looked at one another, confused Windu saw the sibling's confusion and said "little Skywalker." Aria smiled at Rex and Cody. "Thank you General" "Rex, is there anything else?" Anakin questioned, knowing something was off with his captain. "No, General."

Aria, Cody, and Rex all go to gear up. "Come on, Rex, time to move out." Cody says going into his barracks, "Fives, Echo, and before that Heavy. There's so many troopers gone." "Yeah, regular folk don't understand. Sometimes in war, it's hard to be the one that survives." "That's what I'm worried about." "Well, what do you mean?" "I didn't tell the Generals. They might think I'm crazy. In fact, you might think I'm crazy." "What is it?" "I think Echo's alive." "That's not possible. He died at the Citadel." "The way the droids are countering us here, the strategies I'm using, they're all old battle plans Echo and I drew up together." "Look, Rex, I hear what you're saying. But it's just not possible." "I hope you're right. But the fact is, Echo's fingerprints are all over the Separatist strategies." "Rex. You have to admit what you're saying is a long shot at best, and most likely, misplaced hope. I need you to be focused on this." "I-I know, I know. Don't worry." Cody heads for the door, "so, what squad are we taking in?" "Clone Force 99."

As Rex and Cody come out, Aria is standing with Jesse and Kix, two more of her favourite clones, other than Rex and Cody. "Look at that, the bromance is done, can we go now?" Aria asks, "hey, you should be used to the bromance, you're constantly surrounded by guys." Jesse says, "watch it, Jesse, we might just leave you here." "Oh snap" Kix says laughing, "Repeat, coming in hot on platform TT-3-9-7." A clone says over the intercom. "Hey come on you three, time to go meet this Clone Force 99." Rex says.

"So why haven't I heard of this squad?" "Yeah, what's up with that, Cody?" Aria said supporting Rex. "Experimental unit Clone Force 99, they're defective clones with, uh... desirable mutations." "99, hey? Nice touch." "They call themselves "The Bad Batch" "hm, creative" Aria says curiously.

The ship's door in front of the 4 clones and Jedi opens showing 4 very different clones, one yells "the cavalry has arrived!" Kix and Jesse stare at each other scared out of the minds, Aria can tell she can't help but laugh a little. They all take off their helmets, still looking very different, one with a small tattoo covering his eye shaped like a target. The next has glasses, then the tallest clone Aria had ever seen. Finally, the fourth was very different, smaller than the others but still a lot taller than her, but it wasn't his height that intrigued her it was half of his face that was also covered in a tattoo, it looked like a skull, matching the one on his red bandana. "These guys are clones? They don't look like clones to me." Kix says

"Sergeant, good to see you again." Cody greets the one with the skull tattoo. "You too, sir." "This is Hunter" Cody says to the rest of us. "Sorry, we're late, Commander. We ere putting down an insurrection on Yalbec Prime when your comm came in. Had a few unforeseen... complications." The big clone chuckles, "ever fought a male Yalbec?" "Um, no. Can't say I have." Jesse says, "ha, you're lucky. Only way to kill 'em is with one of these." He says as he pulls out some kind of blade. "That's right. Wrecker here cut off the Queen's stinger while she was still alive. That's why all those Yalbec males tried to eat us." Hunter says, "uh, technically, they were trying to mate with us. And, for your information, the stinger of a Yalbec Queen is a delicacy on some planets." "They call him Tech." Cody says, "yeah, he can fill your head with useless info for hours." Hunter says, giving him a friendly punch to Tech's arm. "Crosshair, on the other hand, he's not much of a conversationalist, but when you have to hit a precise target from ten clicks, Crosshair's your man." "Impressive" Aria says, "This is General Jedi Knight Aria Skywal-" "As in little sister of General Anakin Skywalker?" Tech says. "Yeah…" Aria responds, "oh my, I've heard so many things about you guys!" "Cool" "hey, Tech, stop fangirling." Crosshair says teasing. "So, Commander, what kind of "suicide mission" do you have for us this time?" Hunter says interrupting. "Let's get going. We'll brief you on the way."

They all got on transport ships and went on their way. "What are you looking at?" Jesse says disturbing the silence. The question was aimed at Crosshair, who responded with, "we don't usually work with "regs."" ""regs?"" "He's talking about regular clones. But don't take it personally." Hunter says, stepping in to avoid any conflict. "We're all on the same team, guys" Cody says. "So cut the attitude and listen up" Aria adds. "Here's the mission. Our target is this Cyber Center. It's the "brains" of the entire Separatist campaign here on Anaxes." Cody debriefs, "I could demolish that with one hand! Yeah!" "This isn't a demo job, Wrecker. It's strictly a retrieval operation." "Dang" "hey, next time Wrecker" Aria says to lift his spirits."

"INCOMING FIRE!" the pilot says, they all try to hold their balance as they get shot at. "We're going down!" Wrecker yells as he laughs. They all crash-land. Wreck and Aria help get everyone out, "We always get shot down when we travel with regs." "Cody! Help!" Kix yells, "He's trapped! We have to do something." "I'll get him" Rex says. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy Captain. Wrecker, get him out." "Get back!" "This is ridiculous. He's gonna need help to get Cody out of there." Crosshair chuckles, "He's gonna get the gunship out of there. Not Cody." Wrecker picks up the ship and throws it, so he can get Cody, then it blows up. "Boom!" they all crowed around Cody. Kix scans for injuries. "He has internal damage. I can cut the pain. But he needs up fast." "We all need help." Crosshair says as he sees droids on their way, "that blast gave away our position." "I thought getting shot down gave away our position." "Everyone find cover" Rex says, "We'll hold those position and let them come to us." "I don't think so, Captain. That's not our style. We prefer going to them. Bad Batch! Plan 82, "Shockwave!"" The Bad Batch bust into action, they defeat all the droids, while the other 5 stand and do nothing.

"That was some show you put on just now" Rex says. "Just doing our job, Captain." Hunter responds, he hears Wrecker laughing. "Hey, look, Crosshair, this little clanker likes you." Crosshair scoffs, "grow up, Wrecker." "We should move out before reinforcements arrive. Our positions has been compromised." Aria says to the Captain and Sergeant.

They're able to get into a small part of the forest and set up a small camp. They all keep to themselves, Kix and Jesse sit together on a rock while Rex is with Cody, and Batchers all together except Hunter who was further off in the distance. Aria was just standing, not knowing what to do. "So, I get what makes the other Batchers unique, but what's so special about Hunter?" Jesse says to Kix "He can put up with the other three." "He was engineered with heightened senses. A place like the Cyber Center, Hunter can feel the electromagnetic frequencies from anywhere on the planet." Tech says. "And here I thought we were smart just using a holomap." Jesse says, "well, maps can be wrong. Hunter never is."

Cody groans, "Cody!" Aria sits next to Rex. "Hey hang in there Cody." Rex says getting up, "listen up. We have to move out." "Commander Cody's in no position to move." "Already called in Evac. Kix will stay with Cody until it arrives. Aria's in charge and as her second in command I have a plan to get into that Cyber Center." "If your plans are so good, why did Commander Cody have to call us in?" Crosshair challenges. "You can't talk to Captain Rex like that!" Jesse says, "says who?" Wrecker says, as he picks up Jesse by his neck. "Put him down!" Kix says. A little fight breaks out. "Wrecker, drop him. Now." "Guys stop, come on." Aria and Hunter say at the same time. The fight stops, "we're all fighting for the same thing, right?" Aria asks, knowing the answer. "Let's cut the chatter and finish what we started. We'll do it your way, Captain. For Commander Cody." Hunter finishes. "Okay, let's gear up and move out."

The 5 troopers and Jedi move out, heading toward the Center. "Not our primary target. It's an outpost. Should we take it?" Hunter asks the Captain, "probably easier than going around." "All right, what are your orders? We pick them off from the tree line one-by-one?" "Actually, I was thinking we'd take a page from your book. Rush them head on." "I like your style."

The battle starts, "ah, clones, get them!" One droid says, Aria cuts off his head and flips over two more, cutting them in half. The 6 quickly take them all out and get inside. They take the platform up, "hey, you're not authorized..." another droid says. Again the droids fall, wrecker had to come up last. "Aw, is it over already? Aw, man!" "Not bad. For a reg." Hunter says to Rex, All right. There it is. The Cyber Center." Tech says, "It looks like the Cyber Center itself has minimal guards, about 30 droids. Oh, wait, wait. I got a massive signal coming in. A whole platoon of droids is headed this way." "Someone's noticed our handiwork back at the crash site" Hunter says, "Yeah, make sure you keep am eye on those incoming Separatist forces. I want to know when they reach this outpost." "You got it, Cap" Tech responds. "We've gotta move swiftly." "We'll grab some speeder bikes and flank them from the back." "Thats smart, Rex, Jesse and I will take the front, and then it will force them to the front to help" Aria says to Hunter. Hunter couldn't speak for a moment, when he first say her, he obviously notice her beauty but now having her ocean blue eyes stare at him, it was almost as if he could move. "You got General" Tech says for Hunter.

They set up for their attack at the Cyber Center. "Is everyone in position?" Rex asks into the comm. "Affirmative." Hunter and Crosshair respond, "Cap, you wanted to know when those Separatist forces breached the outpost. Well, they're getting there just about now."

The battle begins, Aria, Jesse, and Rex take out droids while Crosshair snips some from up top. Tech tries to delicately open the back doors, but wrecker just kicks the door open. "You take too long!" The three clones are in and kill the droids. "Tech, get to work on these computers. We'll go get the regs and the General."

Once they got outside, they killed the remaining droids. "What took you so long, Wrecker?" Aria teased, "hey, this is a "delicate operation." "Better get in there, Cap." Rex heads into the center, as more reinforcements come. Rex finds out that it is not a program but a live signal from another planet; Skako Minor. Crosshair is ordered to find a lift to get them out of there. Hunter, Wrecker, Jesse, and Aria keep fighting. As Aria cuts through some droids, she notices that there is one sneaking up behind Hunter, "Hunter, watch out!" she says as she flips over the droid and cut him in half. "Hey thanks." "Don't mention it." Tech and Rex find an audio proving that the live signal is human, and Rex cannot believe it. "We gotta go! Now!" Aria and the others run inside the Center, "what is taking them so long?" "I don't know, but I'll go check" Aria runs to where Rex is just as Tech asks who it is "CT-1409, Ct-1409" "Rex! Tech!" "I... I don't believe it." "Rex, we gotta go!" Aria yells. They make it back outside and get to Crosshair with the ship he stole.

On the ship, Tech was the first one to break the silence, "that number, Cap, what did it mean?" "CT-1409... that was my friend's Echo's number. He's alive."

The drive back was quiet, Aria was sat beside Hunter and neither were the type to talk. But he wanted to know more about this Jedi. "So… I can’t help but notice that you’re General, but you don’t do much of the ordering." "Well, I haven’t really done ordering before" he looked at her confused. "I don’t control a platoon or a squad, I help other platoon such as the 501st with my brother or the 212th with my old master. So if I go on a mission with Rex or Cody, I let them lead. Plus I don’t like having to boss around clones" "why?" "Well… I believe that clones are people too, some other Jedi don’t see it that way." "Oh… I had no idea" "is that cause you don’t hang out with Jedi?" "Yep, most likely. But you know my last mission there was a fun brunette Jedi who was amazing" "wow, I wonder who that was" they both laughed, and Rex saw that for once in a long time Aria was having fun and laughing again, after… the whole Ahsoka incident.

Next Chapter>

[artzychic27]

Death Note AU

Nathaniel begins his mission to take down Reverser and sings "The Game Begins"

Leon: As for your notice in all of this, I can easily see through it. But what you are doing is evil. Be sure of this, I will send you to execution!

*Meanwhile, Marc is watching the life feed in his room with Juleka*

Marc: *Gripping his phone togther* I’m evil?! I’m Justice itself, you idiot! Those who stand in my way, including this guy, are evil!

Leon: All the world’s police forces are coming together for this investigation!

Marc: *Grabs the Death Note and begins writing ‘Leon N. Moreau’*

Juleka: Ain’t that something?

Marc: What an idiot. If he’d had just a little bit more of a brain, this could have been interesting.

Leon: The whole world is coming together, and we are certain to find you!

Marc: I’ll show what happens to those who go against Reverser to the whole world!

Juleka: Best counterattack ever!

Leon: We will see an end to your genocidal spree! We will restore society to… *He starts choking before eventually, he passes out right in the studio, dead*

Nadja: H-how?!

Audience Member 1: He was killed by Reverser!

Audience Member 2: How on earth?!

*Meanwhile in his room, Marc smirks as he continues to watch the live feed*

Marc: Now the world understands Reverser’s power, don’t they!

*Suddenlt, the screen behind Nadja comes to life with static before a cursive ‘N’ appears*

Voice: Splendid. Reverser. Without laying a hand on someone directly, you’re still able to kill them. But, the man you have just killed… Leon N. Moreau… Was in fact a criminal scheduled for execution. This man’s arrest and his verdict were withheld from the media. Even someone like Kira could not have known of him, in other words.

Juleka: Hey! He got you good, huh?

Voice: But… N does exist.

Marc: … N…

N: Now, show us. Try and kill me if you can… Why do you hesitate?

*The audience members try to dissuade N from taunting Reverser*

Audience Membere: Is he sane?!/Hes going the die!/What is he thinking?!

N: Come…. Don’t be shy. Kill me. I know you’re there. You can’t do it, can you? Reverser. In other words, there are those who Reverser cannot kill. This is quite the valuable clue.

Juleka: Yeah, it’s a valuable clue.

N: I’ll tell you this in thanks for the clue. This broadcast just now was said to be worldwide, but… Actually, it was only broadcast in our lovely city of Paris. At staggered times, I intended to air it in other areas, but… There’s no need for that now, is there? Reverser, you’re in Paris

Juleka: Got a hell of a head on his shoulders, this guy, huh?!

N: The day when I send you to your own execution… It might not be so far off.

Marc: … Sending me to my execution.

N: Let’s meet again. Reverser.

*The screen behind Nadja turns to black, and the live feed ends there. Marc lies back on his bed with a scoff*

Juleka: Well, someone sounds confident. You’re not even the least bit worried. Not even a little bit?

Marc: … No. Whoever this N guy is, by the time he finds me, hell will freeze over. He’s not going to stop me. Not him, not the police, and certainly not Ladybug and Chat Noir. *He scrolls through his photos until he comes across one of Nathaniel* Besides, everything I’m doing, I do it for him.

*Little did he know, Marc words were being mirrored just a few streets over in the bedroom of a certain redhead*

Nathaniel: *Looking at a photo of Marc on his phone* Everything I’m doing, I do it for him…

Empty your mind of any theories

'Til all the facts are in

Start at the end of all your queries

To learn where things begin

You analyze by working backwards

Effects reveal their cause

For even perfect crimes have perfect flaws

He sees himself as the solution

Just needs a face and name

Thinks he’s creating a revolution

I know to him, this is all a game

If he insists I’ll play along

Poke and prod until he breaks

And use the first of Reverser’s future mistakes

Let’s play a game, it’s your move

Send another to their demise

I’ll connect the dots and wonder

How you choose who lives and dies…

The game begins

You wave a flag of your ideals

A bold move, I dare to say

Yet, you hide when toying with lives (Ha!)

Can’t even show your face, but

Some little thing, some minor detail

Will draw you in, and then

Another one will draw you out again

Let’s play a game, it’s my move

I’ll find each mistake you’ve made

Will you panic and slip up?

Or resume so undismayed

The game begins the same way

The chase is on, the die is cast

We sift for each one’s weak points

Until the chase ends at last...

The game begins!…

*Nathaniel sits at his desk and pulls his hood up over his head*

Nathaniel: … A lycée student…

[heavensbeehall]

"Mockingjay", Chapter 8

Part 1: The Ashes

Chapter 8: Boggs carries Katniss back to the hovercraft. She vomits on him. Katniss wakes up in her mother's hospital area. Mrs. Everdeen was not told that Katniss was going anywhere. They want to roll her hospital bed directly into Command but she wants to walk (our girl never wants to look weak) and they compromise on a wheelchair. She learns the names of her "insect" cameramen, Castor and Pollux. Pollux is an Avox. She worries the Mockingjay Agreement will be voided--and that Peeta might be hurt--because she didn't follow Boggs' orders, but no one has ratted her out to Coin. Coin "reruns" the first propo which has been aired in all the Districts already. Everyone is pleased, except Fulvia and Haymitch. But Cressida expertly placates Fulvia. So Gale wheels Katniss back to the hospital and she wakes up with an irritated Haymitch at her bedside. He resents (and probably was frightened by) her removing her earpiece. He threatens her with a "head shackle" or implanting a chip in her ear, also he ate her lunch. In the hospital, Finnick and Katniss watch a second propo air together. They are surprised to see another interview with Peeta aired after. Finnick helps Katniss by coming up with a lie that they did not see the interview. No one tells Katniss aboutg it.

I want to take off my vest, since I got a fair amount of vomit on it as well, but it's too cold to think about it. I lie on the floor with my head in Gale's lap. The last thing Iremember is Boggs spreading a couple of burlap sacks over me.

I'm going to point out all the Dad-ly things Boggs does as evidence of my theory that he helps Katniss with her trauma about her own dad's death (and also not having anyone look after her, just her looking after Prim and her mom at a young age). The fact that she vomits on him and he "sighs" is my favorite dad thing. Like she's an infant who just spit up.

They more than do their work, they take pride in it. Like Cinna.

I have a strange thought that if we were in the arena together, Iwould pick them as allies...

There's a theme of art and artists being the heart of the resistance in these books. Obviously Cinna and many of the Stylists were rebels, as was Tigris. Here we see that Cressida and her team also has that same Cinna-vibe. So filmmaking can be an artform, but the Hunger Games is not. Anyway, keep this in mind for the "76th" Hunger Games.

Coin and Gale are in the midst of some exchange that seems positively chummy. When Gale slides into the seat next to my wheelchair, I say, "Making new friends?" His eyes flicker to the president and back. "Well, one of us has to be accessible." He touches my temple gently. "How do you feel?"

His trust of Coin is going to get him into trouble. I want to yell at him to stop talking to her!

At least Finnick doesn't applaud or act all happy when it's done. He just says, "People should know that happened. And now they do."

I am glad Katniss has Finnick here. He gets it and a way others don't.

Peeta's physical transformation shocks me. The healthy, clear-eyed boy I saw a few days ago has lost at least fifteen pounds and developed a nervous tremor in his hands. They've still got him groomed. But underneath the paint that cannot cover the bags under his eyes, and the fine clothes that cannot conceal the pain he feels when he moves, is a person badly damaged.

Katniss realizes the first interview was taped earlier, and that Peeta has been tortured. How long, approximately, was he being tortured for, do we know?

In a minute, people will be here to do damagecontrol on Peeta's condition and the words that came out of his mouth. I will need to repudiate them. But the truth is, I don't trust the rebels or Plutarch or Coin. I'm not confident that they tell me the truth. I won't be able to conceal this. Footsteps are approaching. Finnick grips me hard by the arms. "We didn't see it."

Again, Peeta manages to make decent points in his interview even though he is obviously being forced to say certain things. Finnick, who is now--in my opinion--almost functioning in the role Peeta would usually occupy, again understands implicitly and comes up with a convincing lie for her.

[v1ctimplagued]

　BILLY DOESN'T WANT TO BE THERE. But who else was going to help drive the horde of children around and ensure they didn't get themselves into any messes? Although Billy had different shit in mind when it came to cleaning up after the kids and Steve. He had suspected he might need to help them trespass on private property type shit... definitely not fucking handling actual supernatural shit. In retrospect why the fuck were they dabbling in this as if it was going to produce any positive outcomes?

Most of his time was spent smoking, mentally planning his schedule, and listening over the radio to see what was happening. Most of it was nerd talk about the equipment and shit Billy didn't know anything about. Other times it was the kids debating whether shit was orbs or dust. Billy would put some money on it just being dust 'cause all of these places tended to be old as fuck and abandoned, coated in a thick layer of dust.

The last thing he expects it there to be any real trouble since he doesn't really believe in ghosts or the supernatural. He also was perfectly happy not trying to test that theory either. But when the radio erupts into madness and there is Max calling for Billy he knows something's up. He pieces together their madness asking ❝ What the fuck is going on? ❞ knowing Robin would have to edit his profanity with a beep in the videos these fucking nerds made. But it's no use 'cause the kids are too loud but he's able to figure out some of it. Upstairs, Steve, help.

He's hoisting himself out of the comfort of his car, mind reeling 'cause this better not be some dumb ass prank they're pulling or he was going to kick all of their asses and sprints up to the door of the shitty decrepit building. His fingers tear the knob on the door open and he can hear Steve now struggling with god fucking knows what upstairs in the attic 'cause the dust and creaky wood is screeching under the weight of the other male.

Billy almost loses his shit when he goes upstairs and finds Steve being dragged across the floor by the spooky-ass ghost-inflicted wire. A low and harsh, ❝ Fuck. ❞ escapes his mouth before he's moving forward, breath heavy and trying to yank the fucking write from Steve's neck. It has a death grip on Steve and Billy by no means is very religious anymore but he has enough sense to be muttering a Jesus Christ and all that. It's so tight and stubborn as Billy tries to free him. And just as tight as it had been it loosens and falls limp to the ground whatever had been influencing it is gone. Billy leans back, ass on the dirty ass ground, fingers digging into the wood and breath heavy as his blonde hair sticks messily to his sweat-slick forehead.

❝ Get up, dumb ass. ❞ Of course, Steve is probably winded. But Billy doesn't wait for him to catch his breath as he grabs Steve roughly and hoists him up, feet carrying them out the door of the attic. The door slams behind them and nearly catches them in it, enough sign for Billy to pick up pace. ❝ If I die in here with you like this I am hauntin' all of their asses. No fuckin' way it was a good idea to come to this spooky ass shithole and poke around waitin' to see what fuckin' happens—  ❞

Day Four: an attic full of musty clothes and antiques belonging to someone long-dead

ㅤㅤㅤㅤsummoned especially for @v1ctimplagued

ㅤ"Whoa, this room is a lot colder than the rest, aren't attics supposed to be hot this time of year?" Steve asked of the empty room, the camera he carried and the open mic they had going between the investigators moving around the building and their base camp just outside of the building. He absolutely was not the brains of this operation, so he wasn't surprised when he was instantly given instructions to get temperature readings and start testing different areas of the room with various little devices that Dustin had been correcting him on the names for in private so he didn't look stupid on camera. Fortunately, Robin did most of the episode editing, so she cut out the worst of it where she could, but he was still working on it.

ㅤFortunately, thermometer was easy, and the EMF reader was one of the first he'd learned, so he pulled those out to start testing around the room to some pretty excited responses out of Dustin and Mike back in their base camp. He wasn't so sure he believed in ghosts and demons, but they were definitely into it, so the hype was a little contagious. He wondered if Billy was listening to them over the radio and rolling his eyes, or if maybe he believed it a little more when he was settled in the car all alone with nobody to look cool for. Their team was spread throughout the old building - an estate house that had been used as a small care facility in the early 1900s, but Steve had taken the attic because it was creepy and they didn't really want any of the kids wandering around in it.

ㅤFrankly, he wasn't into the kids wandering around the house at all, but it was their idea and the older siblings (plus Steve, who was basically Dustin's adopted older brother) had been invited on. It made it harder to bench them, but there were rules and those included kids not getting into a creepy old attic that was... apparently filled with old clothes and weird ancient junk. "I'm seeing a lot of old trash up here, but nothing really interesting other than the natural a/c," he reported back finally, because the thermometer and EMF were getting readings, but nothing else he tried did anything. That stupid static box that was loud and annoying just put him on edge, and none of the other EVP things had done anything. If there was anything on the actual voice recorder, they'd figure it out when he got back and they went through all of the footage, but he stuffed the thing in a pocket to start back downstairs.

ㅤHe missed the flash of a white figure in the background of his video that had stood completely still and then suddenly moved with a swish of fabric, but he heard the sound and twisted to look for the rustle. Nothing was there, but the chatter in his ear was impossible to decipher with Dustin and Mike yelling over each other and Max telling them both to shut up because nobody could hear. Steve frowned, brows knit, because he thought he heard someone breathing, labored and loud, but couldn't pinpoint it. He took a step towards the way back down, jumping when something brushed his hair, but it was just a wire from old lighting hanging from the ceiling. With a completely ineffective slap to knock it aside out of annoyance at himself for getting spooked, he kept going with a thumbs up given to the camera pointed at his face. "Heading back down, attic's clear."

ㅤSteve made it a step and a half after that declaration before he felt the brush of that wire from the ceiling again, or maybe it was a different one? He ignored it, but it was lower than the first one - against his cheek, and then a little touch to his shoulder, like it was falling. He didn't know that Dustin and Mike were both leaning in to see what the hell was on his camera feed before the thing shot around his throat in a move as fast as a snake, like invisible hands had yanked it and pulled it tight. He made a harsh sound as he was literally choked by the thin wire, hands snapping up to grab at it as he was pulled off of his feet and backwards across the floor.

ㅤDownstairs, the radios exploded.

[robozombii]

lets say. metaphorically. i am gripping your shoulders with upmost strength (if thats cool lmao) sorry in advanced because im gonna get really annoying rq BUT ive started talking about duet and i WILL. NOT. STOP. also i dooo plan on sharing the slides to some but its been a wip for like a whole year😅so i doubt ill finish it soon. anyhow [inhale]

WARNING FOR mentions of the backrooms, death, but its not the main focus

about duet being an inciting incident, i could only GUESS as to what the gangs situation was like prior to duets encounter. but arthur in the comic dismisses lewis as soon as he mentions him. and THIS??

ITS JUST A LINE. BUT IT SHOWS that the gang avoided anything to do with lewis. and thus, without duet slapping arthur in the face with cryptic literature, they wouldve probably been stuck in a depressing state of avoidism. which DOESNT MOVE A PLOT. BUT DUET DID!!! DUET THE FUCKING MADMAN

duet literally couldve had SO MUCH CONTROL over the gang. in the beginning at least- from encountering arthur at his most vulnerable state (which would be easier to influence), to giving the magic book, to telling arthur to get some gas for the van. that seems like a minor detail but imagine if they didnt and went to a gas station instead of the mansion. duet couldve literally had their ENTIRE ROAD TRIP planned out.

and another note- this???

theres a lot of things to note about the comic panel by itself -how a book connected to duet has vines? connection to shiromori or rose thorns that point to lewis- AND THE COLOR IN ARTHURS EYES which does sort of resemble the possession and control reverb had over him. could this be a way of duet controlling arthurs will? but theyre both purple which caught my attention because COLOR IS IMPORTANT!!! it might be a stretch but it really is in msa. and i dont think duet and lewis would team up necessarily- i doubt theyd have the same motives. but duet isnt just 'the weird boss of tome tomb' theyre so much more CAPABLE. they could possibly forsee the future and shit?? IDK??

and going back to chloe- while i feel she has a bit of a motive to mess with the gang -its immature but a motive. go look at her wiki for an idea- duet could have the actual CAPABILITIES to put a plan into motion. a theory i saw stated that chloe was the 'SOLO' in reverbs intro, and thus a contrast to her friend duet, but could it also be that SOLO is an alternate name for duet themself? its just something to speculate, if one or the other could be malicious, or both.

OK RANT PART TWO: NOBODY FUCKING WRITES DUET and neither do i.. yet. but i rarely see them mentioned either!! WHICH SUCKS BECAUSE THE CANON HAS LITERALLY SHOWN THEM TO BE A SIGNIFICANT TOOL IN DRIVING MSAs PLOT. BEING THE INCITING INCIDENT.

this isnt so prominent in my fics, theyre mentioned in both of my published ones though- in full bloom, they say an odd phrase to vivi, just as they did to arthur in canon. it doesnt really do anything BUT i plan to utilize it in a possible sequel

in my BACKROOMS FIC THOUGH? theyre.. not mentioned that much either oops. but it goes to show just how odd an interpretation of duet could get. i stated earlier that duet possibly had control over the gangs future, part magic part manipulation, and thats fine in canon. they probably have good motives by pushing the gang together and FORCING them to make up- but in the backrooms fic, the gang literally ends up in a fucked up world and one of them ends up DEAD. like. if duet was aware of such a thing, and led the gang with full intentions to such a thing..

like- do you see what im saying? there could be tons of aus where just a touch of their influence fucks everyone up and turns them into a darker character than what they are right now. AND I LOVE MAKING FUCKED UP BLORBOS. PLEASE WRITE DUET AND CHLOE MORE OR AT LEAST IMPLEMENT THEM INTO PLOTS THEYRE THERE TO DO SHIT LET EM DO SHIT!!!!

if you wanna im not forcing you😭i hope i get an opportunity to REALLY really write em but a lot of my fic ideas are centered around arthur and vivi woops. anyways- thats just a FRACTION of what youd see on my msa presentation lmaoooo. i dont even have this rant added on there- so i probably should. feel free to add your own thoughts and stuff i love the fanart and fics this fandom has to offer but can we also offer SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS OF RANTING. please

[emberwritesinsight]

I’m not gonna make this a full-on theory because 1) I genuinely don’t think this is what the creators were going for and 2) I know everyone HATES “dead all along” theories, but like.

I think you could get some really neat content out of an AU where Ohtori is, on some level, part of the afterlife. But like, a shitty walled-off section of the afterlife for a specific, vulnerable kind of soul.

Utena Tenjou is one such soul, whose dreams of princehood drove her till the very end, and even past it. When she was very young, she was ready to surrender herself to death, and as such someone was able to show her something eternal that convinced her to live.

Not to adulthood, but that was never the point. She lived long enough.

It doesn’t really matter how she died, but even afterwards she continued to search for her prince. And eventually, through terrain she doesn’t care to remember, she came to Ohtori.

A place where a dead witch raises roses.

Anthy Himemiya has been dead far longer than she’s been alive. For her, Ohtori is hell- a place where she is used and scapegoated and every so often she’s subjected to a recreation of the mob incident that killed her. But outside Ohtori is worse- she may hate Ohtori deep down, but the Unknown is one of the few things she genuinely fears.

There are other souls here too. Miki and Kozue, who have forgotten how to play together. Juri and Shiori, who hate each other almost as much as they love each other. Touga, who aspires to be more than he is and Saionji, who follows him. Nanami, who has shades of all of them, with her own oddity mixed in.

There’s something out of their reach. Something they lost, or something they aspire to. And someone called End Of The World has told a few of them that by following certain rules, they have a chance to get it.

They never will, obviously. Akio doesn’t have a damn clue what he’s doing and doesn’t much care to learn. He’s perfectly content to repeat this cycle with same steps, different souls for all of eternity, not that he’d ever admit that.

The only way to escape Ohtori is to let go of what you were clinging to. To move on from the memories of the past and go into the Unknown of the future. To release your grip on rose-tinted memories of your life and finally, fully, die.

[dancingqueen0019]

Saving Grace Ch. 6

Aaron Hotchner x Female Reader

Themes: Budding Relationship, Fluff, Awkward Love, Slow-Burn ish, Age Gap (roughly 15 years; Aaron 40ish and Reader 25)

Warnings: Mention of murders, natural death of parent (reader’s parent), slight cursing (?), school drama (slight bullying, additional school assistance)

Author’s Note: Chapter 6! Hope you enjoy. According to Google Docs its 6 Pages. This hasn’t been edited so I apologize for grammar/spelling errors

I’m not sure how long we slept but it felt like eternity. The fog of what happened last night and the truth came to the forefront of my mind. Being in bed with a man 15 years older than me should in theory creep me out, but it doesn’t. Maybe there was something wrong with me, or maybe biologically we just clicked, but I was here for it. 

I begged my body to sleep, partially because I wanted another hour to catch up, and partially because I didn’t want to move away from Aaron. In my mind I wanted all of this with my whole heart; Aaron, Jack, a relationship, stability. There was just now the question of whether or not Aaron thought the same.

In the time we slept, we had moved around the bed frequently. Our bodies and subconscious acted on both of our growing feelings and molded our limbs together. When I started waking up I felt a thick arm around my waist and the steady rise and fall of a chest pressed to the back of mine. I willed myself to go back to sleep but I couldn’t, my body was charged up. 

I looked down at the arm holding onto me to see that the large hand was splayed out. Fingers laid firmly on top of my lower stomach. The butterflies in my stomach woke up and fluttered around as I twisted myself to face Aaron. In doing so he groaned in his sleep and lifted his arm so I could move easier. He was laying higher on the pillows than I was so my head was tucked under his. His arm gave me a firm squeeze to keep me close and let out a deep sigh. I couldn’t see his eyes to tell if he was awake or not, but the kiss on my head told me he was. 

“Morning.” He mumbled sleepily. 

I reached out and placed a hand on his chest, “Good morning. How’d you sleep?” 

He released his grip slightly on me, “Really good. To be honest I haven’t slept much lately so this helped.” We laid in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth of each other. “Would you like some coffee?” Aaron asked in a soothing tone. 

“Coffee would be great. I need to get up and shower too.” I responded, not wanting to think about what I might have looked or smelled like. I was supposed to shower last night but I didn’t, I pushed it off too much and figured I would do it today. Little did I know at that time that my house would have overnight company. 

“You go shower, I’ll put some coffee on.” He pulled away from me and got up. I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. I cursed under my breath when I realized it was 10am, I totally forgot about Murphy I was so tired. Slipping into my fuzzy slippers I went to run down the stairs to let him out. Poor dog needed to relieve himself outside for the past couple of hours now. However before I could make it halfway down the stairs I heard Aaron talking to someone, “Come on Murphy, let’s go outside. Good boy, go potty.” 

I bit my bottom lip out of embarrassment that my house guest was taking care of my dog. I finished coming down the stairs and Aaron looked back to me, “Thought you were going to shower.” He said and then turned back to the coffee machine.

“Yeah but I forgot about Murphy. Thank you for taking him out though. I’ll shower after I get his food ready.” I moved a bit faster to grab his bowl and prepare his breakfast. Aaron watched me closely as I cut up the fruit and veggies. Eyes tracking all of my movements until the coffee was done brewing. He poured himself a cup and drank it straight while I put Murphy’s bowl down and brought him back inside. Excusing myself, I went upstairs to shower. I pulled the sheets up on the bed before closing the bathroom door behind me. I turned the fan and my speaker on so I could listen to some music to perk me up. 

I took my time showering and even took the extra effort to shave my legs and armpits. I stood naked in front of the mirror, brushed my teeth and combed my hair. Wrapped in a towel I exited the bathroom and snatched the lotion off of the bedside table. The towel came undone slightly as I reached down to lotion my legs.

“Shit! Sorry, I should have knocked.” A stammering Aaron stood in the cracked doorway and I laughed at how he kept stammering apologies. 

“You say you are sorry but you keep staring, Aaron.” I said as I stood back up and adjusted the towel to cover myself better. “What did you come up here for?” I asked him and he blinked a couple of times and focused back on my face and not the towel. 

“Oh-uh, I was just going to grab my phone. Jack’s aunt, Jess, has him for today. Just wanted to let her know that I was home already.” He kept his head down as he walked to the other side of the bed to grab his phone and he walked back out so I could get dressed. I pulled on a pair of black leggings and a cream colored tank top to start off with. I planned on adding an actual top later on. Aaron was standing next to the couch when I walked out. 

“I went ahead and ordered breakfast to be delivered here. Just a ‘thank you’, for last night.” He mentioned as he finished sending a text to Jess. I quickly refolded the blanket on the couch, “Ya know, if you didn’t say it was just a ‘thank you’ breakfast I would have assumed it was a breakfast date.” He chuckled at that and nodded his head, “Breakfast date it is then. A makeup for the lost dinner date. Kind of a strange date to start off with though,” I looked at him puzzled, “with me crashing here early this morning. The free therapy session. Probably was the strangest first date you’ve had.” 

I shook my head slightly and held back a laugh, “Trust me, I have had wayy worse first dates. This was honestly one of the better ones.” Now it was his turn to look puzzled, “You must have had some bad first dates then.” 

I placed my arm on his and leaned in slightly, “I’ll tell you at breakfast.” I winked at him and headed down the stairs. Murphy was waiting for me to take him back out outside. He chased the bunnies from the yard and found some new sticks to chew on under the tree. Heading back in I found Aaron at the door paying the delivery man and he turned around with two bags of food. While I poured myself my cup of coffee and added in my creamer he laid out the food at the dining room table. 

Sitting down I made a noise of excitement as I recognized the cafe he ordered from. “I love their baking. You can’t find too many good mom and pop places but this one is probably my favorite.” I grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and a couple sausage links and Aaron picked up the croissant sandwich. We split the serving of hash browns and settled into breakfast talk. 

“How is–” We both said at the same time and awkwardly paused and smiled at each other. Aaron told me to go first, I swallowed the piece of muffin before speaking. “I was going to ask how Jack was. I noticed in class that he was more sad than usual.”  

“I was just about to ask the same thing actually. In answer to you though, he is doing okay. I’ve been in this job since before he’s been born so in some ways he’s used to me being gone. It was easier when his mom was alive though. Now it seems to bother him more each time I’m gone.” He spoke solemnly when he mentioned his wife. I placed my hand on top of his, causing him to look up at me. In the morning light I notice how his brown eyes hold so much depth. Not just the trauma from his job and personal life, but also the swirls of colors. Whiskey, carmel, and mixes of light and dark brown made for pools of endless stories. 

A squeeze on my hand followed by an “Y/N?” snapped me from my thinking. I shyly smiled and pulled my gaze from him. I cleared my throat and said, “Sorry, I was just going to say that I understand how difficult it would be for Jack to miss you so much. I do notice that he does tend to get upset about you being gone, but he hasn’t had a massive reaction to it in school. One time he was on the verge of tears, I do admit that I should have contacted you about it, but he recovered from it and moved on. Unfortunately I can’t spend my entire day focusing on Jack since I have twenty other students, but I can assure you that he and I have been working together to regulate his emotions. Academically, he’s way above everyone else. His testing scores are immaculate and he continues to refine his skills. Emotionally wise, he could use a little bit of assistance, from my observation.”

Aaron sat back for a moment to process this information, “Okay. What do you suggest that I do to help him then? Me being gone isn’t going to change exactly so I need to make sure he’s functioning properly.” I nodded and took a drink of coffee. 

I further explained to Aaron that we can request tha Jack be put on a 504 plan to receive assistance with anxiety and regulate his emotions. It would give him the extra assistance that I may not be able to give him at the moment, and it would carry on through his record for the rest of his schooling so he can continue any assistance he may need. “He isn’t a bad kid by any means. You know that and I know that. I just wanted to make that clear because parents hear the terms 504 and IEP and they immediately think their kid is not the greatest. We can schedule a formal meeting with myself, Dr. Smithfield, and Mrs. Tobey who is in charge of these assistance programs. All of us will sit down and talk to you privately, and then bring Jack in, to discuss if this is something he would benefit from. I told you before the school year started that I would help Jack in any way that I can.” 

Aaron smiled big at that last part, and I could see the gears turning in his head. “Y/N I don’t know what to say. Thank you, firstly for looking after him. I would be more than happy to schedule a meeting. You–” he paused and licked his bottom lip, “you’ve been a second chance, a saving grace for not only him but me as well. I find that Jack comes home and doesn’t stop talking about your classroom and everything he did. He looks forward to being with you and quite frankly I look forward to being around you too. Jack is still very much recovering from his mom’s passing, but you’ve helped him see that there still is good in the world.” My eyes started watering at that and I quickly wiped them away, but Aaron knew what I was doing. He grabbed my hand again and smoothed his thumb over the top of it. “As for me, you’ve made the days a lot more bearable and I am starting to look forward to completing my day.” I looked at him with big dewy eyes and I smiled at him. 

I took another sip of coffee to calm my nerves, “Oh Aaron, you don’t have a clue how much it means to hear that. My actions and behavior towards Jack is organic and as for you…” I stopped myself from saying what I really wanted to say. To tell him that I liked him more than just my student’s father, that I wanted to see where this went. Aaron caught onto that last bit that I was avoiding telling him. He raised his eyebrows and motioned me to continue talking. I blushed and put my head down. 

“Were you about to admit that you’ve developed feelings for me?” He asked slowly and I looked up in answer to him. His breath hitched for a moment, “Y/N, I, I’m not sure what you expect from this relationship,” I felt my blood run cold and my body prepared itself for rejection, “but what I can tell you is that I’m starting to value you more than just being Jack’s teacher. There’s so much more that we need to learn about one another so I don’t want to rush into things. On my part too I hesitate to start anything with you because of two main things. Firstly being our ages. You are so much younger than I am and we are at different points in our lives. I’ve settled into my life and you are just starting yours. The second thing that I hesitate on is that I’m not sure how soon is appropriate for a widower to start dating again.” 

I swallowed the massive lump in my throat and took a long breath in to soothe the anxiety I was feeling. He’s right in what he says, I just don’t want to hear all of it. “I understand and respect what you are saying, Aaron. Right now I know that I have to sort through what feelings I have for you and what I want out of whatever this is. I share the same sentiment that I value you more than just a student’s father. If you can’t start a relationship right now because of mourning or out of respect for our late wife, I understand 100%. What I can tell you on my part is that I want to see where this is going, I want to play out the feelings and get to know one another. Who knows, we might just be horrible for each other and nothing comes of it. Just because we are having breakfast and you spent the night doesn’t mean we are getting married next week.” He let out a short laugh through his nose, “As far as the ages, I’ve done my own reflecting. Yeah, people may not understand such a big age gap, but it’s not their relationship. There are plenty of people out there that have larger or similar age gaps. It was a little weird at first, but I honestly don’t mind you being older than me. The beauty of my life just starting out is that nothing is set in stone, I can shift my wants and needs depending on where life takes me.” 

I didn’t notice that I was speed talking until I stopped and had to take a deep breath. I think I was too scared that if I talked slow enough, Aaron wouldn’t have stuck around to listen or he would have decided what he was going to do about us. He finally spoke up, “What do you want out of life? What are your wants and needs right now?” 

I picked at the table cloth as I meekly spoke up, almost afraid that my answer wouldn’t be right for him, “I love my job, so I want to be a teacher for as long as possible. However, I wouldn’t mind being a housewife or stay-at-home mom if I have to be or if my future husband’s job can support us. With that being said, I want a husband, someone that compliments my likes and dislikes, but also shows me a whole new world. Someone that will stick around instead of running when things get hard. I want a big family, that’s for damn sure. I don’t care if I have them, adopt them, or they are step children, I just love kids and I’ve always wanted them. Personally, I want to move further from here so I can have a big house with a yard big enough for those kids and any dogs, but I can stay in this area too.” 

Aaron’s smile just kept getting bigger and bigger as I spoke, to the point that dimples appeared and his smile lines became pronounced. I smiled back at him until he started laughing. What the hell is he laughing at? I just answered the man’s question. He placed one hand on his gut while he laughed and when he opened his eyes he realized the horrified look on my face. He waved his other hand out in front of him and quickly said, “Oh no! I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at what you said.”

I glared at him before he continued, “I laugh because it’s the same exact answer that I would have given if you asked me. You are just making this so much harder because I am liking you even more now.” I sighed at that and slowly got rid of the glare on my face. He reached forward and placed a hand on my cheek, “I promise you, I’m not laughing at you. I thought I was going to be able to take things slow with you and pace myself from growing attached, but I think that is going to be harder than I thought.” 

I leaned into his touch a little bit, “Why you gotta scare me like that? I was getting ready to kick your ass out of my home.” He replied that he wouldn’t doubt my ability to kick his ass out. “So, we agree to just see where this goes? Keep it lowkey for the time being? I doubt my school will like to hear that I am…What are we?” I asked, hoping for a good answer from him. 

“Dating?” He asked slowly to gauge my reaction. I smiled warmly at that and he reciprocated it, “Yes, dating. I doubt my school will appreciate me dating a student’s father while they are in my class.”  Aaron nodded in agreement and said that we should keep things quiet until after the end of the school year. I enjoyed hearing that he was already thinking that far out.

Together we cleaned up breakfast and had some normal small talk about what our weekend plans were. He said that Jessica and Jack were camping this weekend and wouldn’t be back till after dinner on Sunday. I had day time plans with my mother tomorrow. She was coming over for lunch and then we were heading out to Home Depot to pick out tile and paint swaps for the downstairs bathroom. I figured it would be easier to just get started on my house projects now rather than push it off and still be working on it when Lucas gets home. 

Aaron was a bit surprised to hear that my mom and I would be doing all of the demo and renovation ourselves so he offered his assistance when he would be home. As far as today, there was nothing on our schedules unless an emergency case came up for Aaron. I was currently leaning my back against the kitchen counter and Aaron stood closely in front of me with his hands on my hips. He still smelled like my body wash and his face was beautifully relaxed, “I know I need to return back to my apartment and get an actual change of clothes. When I’m done with that though, would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I can swing by the grocery store and pick up whatever you are in the mood for and cook for you. Actually cook this time instead of ordering it.” 

I placed my hand on his white clothed chest and lightly scratched the surface with my nails. He closed his eyes for a brief second and I happily said, “Yes! I would love that. Do you want or need me to go shopping with you or can I do some quick cleaning while you’re out?” He nodded and told me that he was good to go by himself. His black bag was quickly packed while I finished filling up the dishwasher and wiped down the table. Before he left he gave me a quick hug and kissed my head once more. There was a light blush on my cheeks as he pulled away and walked back out the front door. 

I don’t think I can take this, going slow, thing seriously.

[countrymusiclover]

17 - Near Dying Love

(Gif from @may0osh )

Part 18

His Golden Princess

@fanficismydrug @misskitty1912-blog @alanaangie24

The pirate ship lands in the water of Storybrooke and Rumple and I are sat in the back of my father's truck. Gripping the tailgate I sighed feeling a little better meaning that magic is helping but it's still there. The posion that will lead to my death according to a future vision. Wrapping my arms around myself I sit down on the cot in the back room of the pawnshop beside Rumple. My sister enters with an empty glass container."Emma, did you find it?" He asked her.

"Yeah. There’s nothing in it." Until she shakes the container, creating a clinking sound. "What the hell?" She sticks her hand inside the container and takes out something that seems to be invisible.

Rumple rests a hand on his cane with his other hand he pointed to the chalk. "Invisible chalk. Use it in the front doorway. Draw a line. The rest of you, you might want to prepare for battle."

Laying my body back everyone left except for my mother when he asked for her help. She goes to the cabinet and opens the door. She slowly takes out whatever it was and holds it in front of Rumple and I. "Why do you have this?"

"For a rainy day." My boyfriend simply replied up to her. All the while my whole body shivers living the nightmare from inside my mind. The nightmare where I most likely will be dead at the end.

"You’re not getting any better, are you?" She asked seeing my chest heaving up and down quickly with my eyes closed tightly.

Rumple bends his head down against the golden handle of his cane. "The candle can save me. There’s nothing else."

My mother holding a candle with a light and dark end. "I wouldn't use this to save my own mother. What makes you think I would it for you?" My mother spoke.

"Because you're all grown up now. And for once our interests are allinged." Rumple said clutching his cane pointing at me. "I have a theory...if I die...so will Astrid...your daughter...I know you can do this. I know you want to do this."

My mother knits her brows together still confused. "I don't understand, how are you connected to this sweetheart?"

Shrugging my shoulders I sat up taking Rumple's freehand placing it over my heart whispering under my breath to him. "Show her, my heart..." Rumple shoved his hand inside my chest pulling it out as easily as possible to not cause me pain. He holds my heart in his hand where the three of us could see a liquid in the center of it. Slowly spreading out to the rest of it.

"Ugh I have a guess - that it's the posion Hook stabbed into his chest. Somehow - someway - Rumple and I are connected." Raising my index finger I pointed to my bright red heart in his hands. "So he's right mommy...I don't want to die please!" Rumple gently pushes my heart back inside my chest where I grab his shoulder releasing a slight gasp.

Mom flickered her gaze to the candle in her hands. "Even if I were to do this… The candle only works if you whisper the victim’s name over them."

"The heart will do." Rumple said when I gripped his shoulder.

Mom made the realization "Cora’s heart – it’s not in her body." 

"Use the candle, curse the heart. And then… Here comes the tricky part." He explained moving his freehand in front of his body.

"That’s not the tricky part?" Mom cut his sentence short.

He finished his sentence gripping his cane while I closed my eyes feeling more tired than before on the pirate ship. "You have to put the heart back inside Cora’s body. She will die, and I will live...Astrid will live alongside me."

"There’s another way. I get Cora’s heart, I control her and make her do the right thing, and I let you die. Takes care of two evils at once." She spoke still trying to remain the good hero of the story making me whimper in fear.

Rumple leans his head down against his cane as I felt tears slipping out. "I’m just imagining poor Henry’s face when he finds out that you kill his grandpa." He reaches down intertwining my freehand with his making me look up at my mother weakly. "And who knows how devastating it would be for your husband and other daughter to know you let Astrid die all to get rid of me..."

"I drew the invisible line. I…think. What now? You cast a protection spell?" My sister enters the back room wanting to know the next step. Before our mother left the room.

Emma doesn't see what he wants her to do. "I can’t cast a spell. I can spell ‘spell’."

"You can. It’s in you...like your sister." He told her in a shacky breath.

My sister throws her hands at her sides eyeing me as I layed my head against the wall. Rumple laying his head against the pillows. "How? Here? Like, from my brain...why can't Astrid do it?"

"Just try, Em...please I'm too tired..." I begged her barley able to keep my eyes open for long. Emma closes her eyes and concentrates, but nothing happens.

"Stop thinking! Conjuring magic is not intellectual endeavor. It’s emotion. You must ask yourself, ‘why am I doing this? Who am I protecting?’ Feel it." Rumple raised his voice making me shoot awake seeing him get frustrated with my sister. He goes to tell her the first lesson in magic he taught me.

My closes her eyes and this time I could feel the magic surrounding the whole shop. Closing my eyes with a sigh I leaned back laying my head in Rumple's lap trying to rest. "I think I did."

"Good girl. Very good." Rumple layed his head back down on the pillows closing his eyes holding my hand in his free one barely holding on.

Hours later I can hear the protection spell on the curtain getting weaker so I push myself to hold my body up on my elbows. Rumple lifted his head now with my body laying fully across his with me in his lap. "Rumple, I have to tell you something - if we're going to die like this - then you need to know I love you. I was afraid earlier when you said you thought you found your true love because I've never felt this way about anyone. I - after Emma left with Neal I felt that nobody would love me again. Until I met you - darkness and all I love you. I love you, Rumplestiltskin."

"Oh Astrid my darling princess, yes oh yes...I love you too." He pulls my lips down onto his where I wrapped my arms around his neck deepening it until he broke away resting our forehead against one another. "Ever since I met you even under the curse I felt your light. The light that makes me want to go back to the best version of myself. Nobody has done that before  - except for Bae. I know I'm not exactly a prince Charming like you're father. But, I love you with all my heart. You're  - my golden princess." I started to crash my lips onto his but Emma and Neal enter the room armed and prepared to fight.

"You two – out of the way. Cora magically teleports Neal and Emma out of the room. Cora stared down at us as I cling onto Rumple's suit. He wrapped his arms around me prepared to spend his last moment with the woman he loved. "I love you, Astrid Swan."

"I love you, Rumple..." Cora raises the dagger above Rumple and I. I bury my face into his chest waiting for the dagger to get plunged into my back and kill us both right here.

Yet I opened one eye seeing the opposite effect. Before she has a chance to stab us, Regina appears and shoves Cora’s heart back into her chest. The dagger falls to the wooden floor with a clanking sound. Immediately I sit up feeling the sharpen pain in my chest disappearing. Rumple pulled down his shirt finding the mark gone and on Cora’s chest instead meaning Snow had done as he told her. Regina catches her as she collapses to the ground and she holds Cora in her arms.

Sitting up Rumple slowly rises to his feet sliding his dagger up from the floor offering me his hand helping me to stand beside him. Wrapping my arms around myself I can't help but get a sick feeling in my gut that my mother killed someone to save me. "Mother? Mother? What’s wrong?" Regina held onto her mother laying on the floor.

Cora couldn't keep her eyes open anymore passing away. "This… Would’ve been enough. You… You would’ve been enough."

"Mother? What’s going on? Mother? Don’t leave me, please… What am I going to do?" Regina started sobbing heavily seeing we are standing on our feet now.

Rumple draped an arm over my shoulder holding the dagger in his other hand "Your mother did you no favours."

"Shut up! You stole her life! You cast some spell." She shouted through her sobs until my parents rushed into the room.

Regina death glared my mother teleporting her and her mother somewhere in a cloud of purple smoke. "You did this."

My father smiled seeing I am alright before chasing after my mother who ran out of the room. Once they're gone Rumple turns to me holding the dagger out to me in his opened palm with a huge smile. "If you'll accept it, love. I'd like to give this to you. After all you are the one who holds my heart."

Covering my mouth with my hands I released some happy tears running my fingers over his name that was now fully returned onto the weapon itself. "Rumple, I - I don't deserve. I can't take this...it's what gives you your freedom. So hold onto it."

"Alright, maybe someday princess. Just know that I do love you." He smiled sitting it on the cot cupping my face in his hand leaning forward and kissing me.

Wrapping my arms around his neck I deepened the kiss leaning into his embrace releaved to not be dead like the vision had shown me. "I love you too, Rumple."

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