#but thats beside the point. this is simply an observation

[panszy]

i do think it's interesting how paid-for custom content for the sims is a very grey area at best in terms of copyright law but EA allows it because they know they would not have nearly as many sales without people essentially doing their job for them. symbiotic relationship where everyone involved are parasites. absolutely fascinating stuff

[faerociousbeast]

who's your homestuck kin!!! everyone has to have one

nuh uh

[unsuredreamer]

Getaway car

Red Hearts ❤️ x fem! reader

These two pics 🙌🏻

Like yeah ma'am I'm on my knees. Respectfully

Here's a Red fic for you my lovesss

"Oh c'mon Red! Don't be staring at her with your lover eyes, go and introduce yourelf" Chloe wiggled her eyebrows knowingly at her friend, who was painfully staring holes at the back of a head of a certain someone.

"Fuck you dumb or something?! Not a chance thats happening" The red haired girl glared at the other princess, stabbing her food with her fork, eating peas was not something she particularly enjoyed. Back in Wonderland she would be having something extravagant, different, weird she would even say. But here, just peas and potatoes everyday, not that she would complain, just, she'd love to change up some flavors from time to time.

"Wellll, I'll do it then! I'm sure she's heard about you coming to Auradon. She was the one who requested for villain kids to be studying here, after all!" Before Red could complain further more, her fast friend quickly took off from their table, coming straight at yours. Her blue locks blowing from her speed, she was eager to do what the other had failed so miserably many times.

But could you blame her? She was not shy, certainly not. She did not lack of anything. Talking skills, charisma and her attitude still on board as it has been since she left her home kingdom to come and study at Auradon. But, there was something intimidating in you at the same time drawing her further in the spiraling maze of thoughts and mysteries you could be hiding from her.

She never spoke to you, obviously, you were too popular for her to even approach you, she swore she'd never get involved with people like that. Always with someone, always on the run to be somewhere, to be doing literally anything besides resting. That's also what fascinated her about you, she wanted to know what a princess like you could be doing every second of the day. Making haste to do her duties? Running off to be somewhere calm? To be finally left alone? She wanted to know your every thought and opinion.

It scared her. She had never felt that way about anyone and it was weird to discover feeling like that, although she found it rather amusing to be thinking so much of you. You were not special.

She just liked watching you play your favorite sport on your tournament's. Oh how your eyes lit up when you got a set point, running straight at your teammates cackling them on the ground. And when you took off your shirt after winning every game, yelling profanities of happiness, the way the sweat rolled down your body and how your hair curled from wetness being held in a ponytail with a singular small braid. She was in awe, although she had never let it show.

She liked to observe you when you strutted down the school halls with your best friend, your books tightly grasped in your hands, close to your chest. You were usually clothed in a light blue checkered skirt that made your ass very hard to not look at, also complimenting your big thighs, not that she would look at of course (such a bullshit, she was staring hard) a white loose button-up shirt so simply hanging off your shoulders making your collarbone pop out so finely that even the mightiest of gods would not be ashamed to check you out, and of course some gold accessories to top it all. The most prominent being your bulk gold ring and a heart necklace, gifted to you by Evie Grimhilde.

Her daydreams were cut short by her very blue friend shaking her shoulders.

"Red, are you with us? Oh great!" Chloe grinned as she got her boo to finally listen. "As I've been saying, this is Y/n!"

"Hi, I heard from Charming here that you've been staring at me quite often" You giggled, she was looking rather cute, just sittings there with her clouded stare as she hummed in agreement. Probably not realizing what she did there. "Id love to meet you actually, get to know you a bit maybe a lot. Whatever you're most comfortable with, hearts" you smiled at her as she blushed at the nickname. She liked it when you smiled, it made her smile internally too. "You up for a ride to the enchanted lake later?"

You never really put your mind to get to know her, even though you wanted to meet the new kid, you always thought she might want to acclimatize first. That doesn't necessarily mean you never looked at her, she was really hard to miss, a storm of red locks everywhere you turned. Smudging somethings in her sketchbook or spraying the walls with her black paint. You should probably be informing someone of the vandalism she has committed herself to. But she looked so happy doing so, and you were so immersed in exploring the smallest details of every single one as soon as she left, that you could not. You wanted to appreciate her art.

You wanted to appreciate her.

As you were in the middle of the staring contest with a girl you dreamt of so many times (strange dreams including someone scarily close in beauty to hers that left you amazed after every night) the son of Aurora came and slipped his arms around your waist.

"Hey baby" you kind of grimaced as he kissed you on your cheek "Are you up to a quick run later?"

"Well I kind of got some plans already Aron" you wiggled out of his grasp. "I'm meeting princess Red later" you grinned at the red haired girl

"Her? but why?" he looked at her with a bit of disgust. As we know his family haven't really got a great history with villains. "My grandma says-

"Well, I don't really care what your grammy has to say. I'd like to make a new friend and I've heard Red would like to know me too" You remarked stopping him from saying some cruel shit about Red's family, stepping away from him too.

"Ooh" Was all Red could let out of herself. Were you really with that douchebag? He was nothing like his sister who actually became really close to a certain pirate after a sad encounter. Matter of fact, he despised vk's for simply breathing the same air as him. It was weird for her that someone like you would be with someone like him.

Later in the day you fastened your pace to Red and Chloe's dorm room, you anticipated your meeting with the girl the whole day. It was dragging, especially on your 'history of magic' lessons where the princess of Wonderland, sat 3 tables away from you, looking as pretty as the garden's of babylon, like she was touched by Midas, turning gold with every second, but keeping her rose colored cheeks as tinted as always. Merely breathing as she fell sound asleep, you could not help yourself to snicker under your breath as you took a few photos of her.

You found yourself smiling at the memory, she was cute, she could deny it as much as she want but her bitch face only makes a bad first impression. If you look at her for more than half a minute you would notice how her features soften within time as she melts into her own world, gets lost in her own thoughts. The way her brows furrow when she doesn't understand something. How her once red hair slowly loose their color becoming more and more pink, so she dyes them unevenly leaving some pink strands along the way, making her look so incredibly beautiful. How her long nails tap the same rythym on the table over and over, as she scribbles sharp lines in her sketchbook. Sitting criss-cross under this big tree on the edge of the forest.

You'd love to know her from the inside, as much as you know her from the outside.

In a millisecond of your knock you already see the door opening loudly and a cheerful Chloe standing in the frame.

"Oh my you look so good, you beast!" That made you cringe a little, Chloe had a weird way of placing words together, but nonetheless you loved the little bluey charming. She was like a little sister to you, even though you were just a little bit older than her.

"Hi my lovely! Is Red ready?" Doesn't that seem a bit like you were asking if she was ready for a date? "I-I, was just checking, I came to take her out, I mean, to the lake" Oh craps, you're stuttering, is it bad? It's bad. Fuck now you're panicking, great!

"Chill Y/n, I can almost hear your thoughts" princess charming giggled as you blushed deep shade of red, Red. "She's ready" She moved closer to you putting her hand to her mouth "Been ready since 5" She laughed as the Wonderlandian appeared at the door, yanking her by her collar.

"Thank you Chloe, we're gonna go now" She shut the door at the other girls face, hearing a loud 'Have fun lovebirds!' from behind them "I'm sorry for her. She can be annoying sometimes"

"No worries Red, I know, I've been friends with her since babies" You giggled as the princesses face lit up from the embarrassment, she totally forgot she's the new one in the kingdom.

"So you have a boyfriend?"

"Wow, straight forward i see" You smiled once again as you put your helmet on, doing the exact same with the Wonderlandian. She avoided your gaze looking like a pro. "You know you can look at me, hearts" you flicked her nose and she scrunched it in annoyance.

"So you don't?" She pushed you away, you grinned as you sat on your motorcycle

"Get on princess, I'm gonna take you places you've never been before" She was stunned, frozen in place looking at your extremely hot body leaning over, waiting for her to sit behind you. The phrase coming out of your mouth not helping the growing burning hot feeling inside her. She wanted to touch you.

Wanted it so badly. Was it mad? Probably.

As she sat on the motorcycle you guided her hands to grasp your waist.

"Try not to fall off, babe" Fuck. She was done for.

On the other side, you could not help the tingling feeling her touch left on you, it made your blood boiling, and every vein in your body want to pop out. Your strong grip on the vehicle only tightened when hers tightened on you. You took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as your heart beat rapidly on your chest.

What is she doing with you? You're going mad for her.

Mad.

The ride was slightly more calm, Red explored every single detail of the forest you were so fastly going through, and your eyes remained on the road only cursing yourself as you felt her head gently laying on your back.

"So tell me more about yourself Red" You insisted, as you took a stroll through the bridge leading to the enchanted spot. She swung her hands trying to balance herself.

"Well, I'm from Wonderland, my mom is the famous Queen of hearts. Our kingdom is stric-"

"About yourself silly" You stopped her grabbing ber shoulders from behind. "I want to hear about you, Red" Her name coming out of your mouth sounded different. It was not the harsh tone her mother used to yell her name out with. But it was also not the overly sweet almost apologetic-like tone everyone around her used, when she first come from Wonderland.

It was genuine, soft, like you'd truly want to say her name till the rest of your days.

This sentence took you on a roll of quietly listening to her stories from her childhood, her favorite things, foods, hobbies, and many diffrent informations you would love to know about her. You loved when someone began rambling to you let alone when it was someone you took a particular interest in. She looked so dazzling, stuffing her mouth with ice cream and mini cakes in between telling you how the cheshire cat scared her once so bad she began crying. And he just appeared before her while she was painting roses.

"Do you want to take a swim?" You blurted out, the sun was slowly setting painting the sky the beautiful shade of orange, pink and lavender.

"I kind of don't know how to swim Y/n" she blushed looking away, like it would be the worst of crime.

"It's okay Red, I'm not pressuring you to, but I'll happily give you lessons right here right now" You stripped down to your underwear getting in the water.

Red's eyes wandered all over your body until desire took over her, she wanted you to touch her even if she had to drown for it to happen. But you wouldn't let her would you? She hoped so as she swiftly got up and stripped down her own clothes.

Your mouth agape when you gazed at her.

"Dang, you're hot" You smirked moving your hands in the water, swimming deeper in. She began to get in, but slowly backed out "It's okay love, come, I'll take your hand" you reached out for her. And she tightly grasped it but it didn't take long for her to panic when she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet.

"No, no, no, no" You swiftly pulled her close to your body, swimming quickly somewhere less deeper then you already were.

"Red, Red. Calm down, wrap yourself around me" you whispered to her ear gently, what made her shiver even more than the water hitting her skin. She did as you requested, tangling her legs around your waist and her arms around your neck. Your warm breath fanning over her collarbone made her heart thump in her chest once again.

She couldn't help but look down in your eyes discovering that you were already looking up at her with yours. She pulled your head closer to her body leaning down. You glanced quickly at her lips not letting yourself loose the beautiful sight of her eyes.

Not stopping yourself you closed the distance between you two, letting your lips touch hers, grabbing her waist in the process, feeling her jump at your sudden bold move.

Her lips tasted like cherries but mixed with blood, you could not quite decipher how. You liked it. Liked it a lot. They were soft, and she kissed you so slowly and carefully feeling like she would scare you away if she was to move any further. Grasping your wet hair in her hands she deepened the kiss after a second. Feeling more comfortable in it now as she felt your hands roam her body.

Kissing her was like a sentence to death, there was something thrilling toit. It was not sweet, sickening and bubble gum to anyone's dismay. She kissed hard and strong, sticking her tongue in your mouth and biting your lips when she felt bold enough.

Your hands creeped down her body resting on her ass as she hummed in content, agreeing on every antic you were about to commit to.

It was exciting, and you loved that feeling.

You finally felt free with her.

Swimming, although you could drown in her.

After you pulled away, with protest. Deep heavy breathing was all that could be heard, immersed in each other's touch. Occasional splashes of water in the background.

Were you moving too fast? Was it the right thing to do? You did not care.

She tasted so good. It was so wrong, but it felt so good to have her all to yourself.

The few breaths you managed to take were cut short when she crushed your lips together once again, as if on cue, knowing exactly what you want.

You would not imagine yourself making out with the princess of Wonderland while swimming in the enchanted lake. But that's what you needed. That was what your heart begged for at the moment,

Your moment of peace.

She was your peace

It felt right. It felt as if you were bound by an invisible string. Meant to be by each other at the exact moment of your lives.

She was your escape

Your getaway car

[syxilla]

Ken sato x !nurse reader (part 1)

cw: ken sato x femreader, suggestive!, nursereader, reader is a simp and perv, slight manipulation!

-"are you uncomfortable?"

in which ken sato touches you in ways that simply dont scream platonic, while asking you with the sweetest dough like eyes if hes making you nervous.

authors note: sorry for not uploading sooner! got a lil bored with writing- also i didnt proof read it completely so like, yuh

working with Ken sato was relatively easy. you just applied ointment onto his bruises, did daily checkups to make sure his injuries were never too severe to the point he couldn't play. and each time you finished one of your checkups, ruffling his hair and giving him a lollipop (because hes quite litteralyy a man child) hed always grab you by the waist spin you around and grin a thank you, a grin thatd make you fold almost instantly. you, being flustered by this sudden act of affection, tend to stammer a 'you're welcome'.

when you did, hed set you down on a seat, bending down and place his hand on your knees. he'd lean on one, and look up at you with the sweetest eyes ever. and he'd whisper, "am i making you uncomfortable?" and you, being oh so desperate, youd stutter out "no no! its okay! im not uncomfortable, im just a little shy!" kenji would laugh seeing you frantically waving your hands around.

it wasnt like this was uncommon. not the situation (that was also common), but the phrase.

when theyd sit beside each other on the bus, traveling to another arena, hed place a hand on your thigh, rubbing it gently, and slowly, as the ride comes to its conclusion, hed slowly shift it higher, and higher and higher. and just when hed give you the pleasure you oh so wanted? the bus would stop. youd feel your cheeks get warmer as the bus feels hotter than it was the start of the ride. "sorry about that, are you uncomfortable?" kenji would ask sweetly, eyes filled with remorse and slight regret. which would lead you to stammer out once again; "no, im just fine! its just, hot in here?" you'd say, more trying to convince yourself more than him. hed laugh, and pat your thigh and get up to leave the bus.

that phrase. that cursed phrase he'd repeat as a mantra with those apologetic eyes, paired along with gestures that simply felt too intimate for their kind of relationship, was a deadly mix.

when his hand lingered on your waist for too long when yyoure sitting beside each other, when youd hug, when youd walk side by side. hed always look and ask. "are you uncomfortable?"

Kenji, stroking your calf with his foot underneath the table when hed offer to take you out for lunch. that cursed word appeared again. "sorry, im being a bit handsy, did i make you uncomfortable?"

when kenji would hug your waist and bury himself into your tummy while you checked his head for any injuries. his arms wrapped around you tightly, slightly massaging your love handles.

when his lips would be mere inches away from you, when hed hug you from behind and bury his face into the crook of your neck as you restock on medical supplies.

when he cages you inbetween his arms to help you cook a meal for his other teammates.

when youd catch him staring at your breasts for too long when you were fixing your uniform. when he'd zone out while sucking on his lollipop in your direction conviently. looking at you in the eyes as he licks it, not breaking contact for a minute. and when you'd call him out, you'd hear that damned phrase again.

gosh, you didn't know how much more you could handle! so much attention from a famous baseball player would surely have anyones heart fluttering like the wings of a butterfly! and it wasnt like he was unnatractive either...

kenji was pretty muscular, you could feel each time he hugged you, and you could see them aswell. but thats just an observation! same with noticing how defined his jawline is, and how you wanted to run your finger over it, tracing all of its edges and curves and feeling his smooth skin on our fingertips. just another observation! and how thick his thighs were, just another regular observation! its not like you were trying to see how his lips shimmered under any ounce of light, making them look soft and delectable. observation.

you felt like a pervert, which, to be fair you most likely were. which is why you always hesitated each time hes intimate. were you being a pervert again? or was he flirting with you? what makes it harder is his little pout, that stupid pout he does when he doesnt feel reassured by your answer, backing away from you in concern.

which all leads to why you were doubtful when kenji asked you to visit him at his meet and greet (or something of the sort except instead of fans its reporters) by yourself, you were apprehensive. what if your perveted thoughts messed things up again and made him feel bad? and yet, there you were. standing in the back rooms where he asked you to eet him, hand clutching onto your puse for dear life.

"there you are!" he beamed, jogging towards you. "you were amazing out there kenji!" you smiled, opening your arms as though youre preparing to embrace him. and hed hug you back. hed do his regular spin, face in the crook of your neck, breath sending chills down your spine. hed pull back, hands still on your waist. "did you truly think i was amazing?" he smiled like a kid. you ruffle his hair, as usual. "of course i do! you're always amazing!" you hummed, turning your attention towards your purse to grab a lollipop that you brought for him. a reward, if you will. during this time, you didnt notice how he pulled you in closer, grip on your waist more firm (as if you could escape when he's barely trying regardless).

"here you g-" you halt, his face mere inches away from yours, but thats just the norm! hes always so... oh so close to you! one of his hands leave your waist to grab your hand (the one with the lollipop) and placed on the back of his neck while the other slide lower, closer to the back pocket on your jeans.

"kenji?" you asked hesitantly. this was a case of you being a pervert again, right? it cant be, right? he leaned down to your ear, and barely grazed it before whispering. "are you uncomfortable?" that phrase. that stupid phrase that was practically apart of his daily routine, being muttered again. except instead of an apology, it sounded more like a tease. and you, being you, the predictable respond that hes gotten so used to hearing.

"no."

---

a/n: idk how i feel about the way i wrote the ending but whatever, enjoy!

(part 2 is more detail about the bus scene 2 make up for it)

[moseslikellamas]

Lynx Chapter Two

The Red Lounge

Summary: Sad goes to the Red Lounge to discover the new owner is none other than Tayln Mage, CEO and founder of CHEMX.

Warnings: none.

Work count: 1.2k

Though I hated to admit it, the lounge did look different. Instead of a thick wall of smoke, dingy seating and suspicious looking clientele it was modern. The lighting was still low but I could see enough to navigate the room easily. The Red Lounge had a reputation for being a glorified criminal meet up spot, and despite the visible changes it still held an undercurrent of peril, waiting for the right moment to strike. 

   It was only after I seated myself in a booth, as close to the exit as possible, that I realized I had lost the holographic girl. While mentally congratulating myself, the real version appeared before me. She was just as bubbly and twice as annoying which seemed an impossible feat. But she managed just fine somehow.

“I told you it was different! It’s me! Xiana.” 

I was still mildly shocked she was real. It lit up the investigative part of my brain. 

“So you are. Who’s running this place now? Neat trick you’ve got there, must be cutting edge. I’ve certainly never seen anything like it.”

Unaffected by my obvious probing, or very good at pretending, she continued still upbeat. 

“Honestly, do you live under a rock? How do you not know who owns this place now?” 

There are more important things! I mentally screamed, desperately tired of the real Xiana already. 

“I told you I’m not their customer base, why would I care who runs it?”

She rolled her eyes, pushing me over so she could sit beside me in the booth. 

“It’s been posted everywhere in the city! You can’t walk down the street without their name hitting you in the face. It’s just ridiculous to think you’ve missed them all.” 

Annoyed by her slight against my observation skills, I still missed the point. Until she quite literally pointed up above us to the second floor. 

“You can’t miss it now. He’s right up there.” 

I felt my heart rate accelerating as I momentarily locked eyes with the man himself, Talyn Mage, Head of ChemX. I thought I might throw up when he tipped his drink in our direction. The feeling of peril amped up by a thousand, almost as if I had stepped on a live wire. That explained the ad technology, no one had better access to new tech than ChemX. 

 “Oh.”I simply replied, too busy formulating my excuse and subsequent escape. I needed to call Beau again. That slimy dog of a best friend had some explaining to do. She continued to excitedly prattle on about how wonderful the lounge was now and how I would just have to come back. 

“Look thats great and all but I really do have to get going.”

I began pushing her out of the booth so as to free myself from this nightmare. I knew I should’ve stayed home, nothing good ever comes of leaving.

Xiana though, was having none of it. “No! You just got here. The live entertainment hasn’t even started, come on!” 

    I cursed the universe and vowed to see the end of Talyn Mage in that instant. I very reluctantly agreed to wait a while. Which caused Xiana to beam at me and disappear, pledging to get me a drink. While held captive by the promise of live entertainment, I decided to study the new lounge. In addition to the new seating, there was a stage and a long hallway. I suspected private rooms were down it. The lounge might have changed hands and the clients might look a bit fancier but it was still the red lounge. Right in the middle of the entertainment sector where everyone came to escape the misery of real life. That’s exactly why I found myself in this predicament. 

  Xiana did briefly return and as promised, with a drink. Though I think it was more to ensure I hadn’t bolted at the first chance. She assured me again the wait was worth it before she bounded away again. Surely to go annoy some other poor and desperate looking person.  I brooded over the drink not bothering to drink it, just holding it as a prop. Sweat began to bead on my forehead and I pulled at my collar, looking around at the other patrons. What did Mage want with this place? Did he think he was above gossip now? His reputation was always shaky at best, it seemed a weird move to buy a known crime spot. But Beau would have more information on the situation than what I could glean from sitting here.

     Before I could resolve myself to leaving, the stage curtains opened.  A slow synth ballad began to ring through the building. The overhead lights got even dimmer and the air suddenly felt thicker. The current of the evening churned inside me growing worse by the second. It took everything inside me to remain seated. Holographic images floated around everyone, I couldn’t make out any of them except the ones floating around me. 

Twinkling green spiders. The rest of the patrons were silent, none of them were cheering. Instead they were all too busy looking at their own holographic images. My vision began to swim and a pulsing vibration was moving through my body. It was separate from the zinging lighting that was begging me to leave. Dulled and hypnotic.

   I was out the door before I could process the action. Running faster than I ever had in my life, I was out of the entertainment sector in seconds. Pausing I considered going back, whatever was about to happen was going to be national news. But the feeling of lightning radiating through me made that impossible. I decided to make a detour through the historic district, hoping no one from my work would notice me. I moved too quickly for a normal person but I knew how to avoid the streets cameras, slinking from blind spot to blind spot.  If I took the back way home I could spot the Red Lounge from the sun wire bridge. If I couldn’t be on the scene I could at least see it from afar. Winding through the back allies, I headed towards the bridge.

I stumbled around a few times, my head swimming and the image of tiny dancing spiders were floating around me. The dizziness grew to a peak the closer I drew to the bridge. Stopping for a moment, I crouched trying to regain my sense of balance. Whatever Mage was up to, it couldn’t be good. As I contemplated the possibilities, other questions popped up. The feeling of electricity must be a warning but of what? And why had Xiana invited me to a setup? Was she in on it or just an innocent worker? I felt weird the moment I stepped inside the lounge and it had only intensified after spotting Mage. I thought back to the feeling of the air thickening. Was he drugging patrons? And how could I test a sample of it if he was? As she approached began walking the bridge it was immediately clear something was wrong. People were stopped in their tracks staring in the direction of the lounge. She gasped when she saw the incomprehensible image before her. She stood rooted to the spot, gazing in horror like the rest of them.

[wolferals]

airdrops and dog celebration

Henry Cavill x reader

Warnings: none, pure fluff!

*HC would like to share a photo*

You stared at the screen that had just lit up.

A photo. Of a dog. With the caption „thats Kal.“

You had no idea where that had come from. Like in a cheap horror movie, you ran inside your apartment after sitting on the balcony for a fair amount of time and looked around your living room to possibly spot an intruder. What an idiot you truly were though.

Then you looked out the window, still not touching your screen, the cute Akita seemingly smiling at you. You looked straight at the building in front of you, trying to see if anyone was either outside or maybe had airdropped you that photo accidentally.

But you couldn’t see anyone, so you simply accepted the photo and wrote a little message on a piece of paper. „Was that meant for me?:“

You photographed the note and airdropped it back to „HC“.

Only a few seconds later, you received a photo back. Another photo of the cute yet huge dog.

„Yes.“

You didn’t really know how to comprehend so you went back outside and looked around. On the third floor you had a good view over the area and the people at the park across the street.

*Ding* another air drop request.

„Look down.“

You panicked internally but eventually leaned over the railing of your balcony and immediately laughed when met by big brown dog eyes.

„Hi baby“ you spoke in a high pitched voice.

„Kal“ barked happily and stared at you. „Did you send me an air drop? Are you Kal?“

He barked again, you only laughing and finding yourself in a really interesting yet adorable situation.

Then the dog ran back inside and you observed the balcony for a bit longer before sitting back down and grinning to yourself.

Suddenly, another air drop sent.

This time, not of Kal. The man on the picture looked older than you, but far more attractive than you‘d known how to comprehend.

You couldn’t help but stare at the muscular man on your screen, looking directly into the camera. Curly hair, a hint of dark chest hair, gorgeous eyes.

God he was hot. You recognized how much older than you he must’ve been but you couldn’t help it.

But instead of replying, you yet again leaned over the railing and yelled:“It’s not nice to catfish people you know.“

Then a chuckle. A deep, genuine laugh coming from inside.

„Come on dude.“ you laughed back and waited for someone to come out. You were 80% sure that he had just sent you a random photo of a hot guy off of google, but you never knew. You hadn‘t seen him in the building before and you‘d lived there for over a year now.

Suddenly you heard a door open and you were yet again met by the adorable Akita. He smiled up at you and barked again. „Hey Kal, you have a great name by the way. Who gave it to you?“

And then you saw him for the first time.

Tall, broad, facial hair. Now a mustache and slightly curly brown hair.

„Hi.“ his deep voice spoke once again.

You felt like a loser looking down at the god in front of you in only a black tank top and some old zip up hoodie over top. He was far too hot for you to handle.

„Hi.“ you choked up and forced yourself to smile.

„I‘m Henry. And you already met Kal.“

He pointed at the huge dog beside him who looked between you two excitedly.

„Y/n.“ you smiled and leaned your elbow against the cold metal.

„I‘m sorry for being creepy like that but I heard you on your balcony and tried to shoot my shot by sending this photo to three different phones, hoping you‘d reply.“

You were speechless. He actively tried to reach out.

„Well he‘s cute, you shouldn‘t only send the photo to three people.“

You wanted to slap yourself for that.

But Henry only laughed and eventually pointed to his living room.

„I‘m making pasta right now, it’s actually Kal‘s birthday. I know how strange that sounds, yes I celebrate my dog’s birthday, but uh would you like to join us?“

You smiled to yourself. „I‘d love to. Let me just get changed, i‘ll be down in a sec.“

[widow-maximov]

Hello, I would like to request a wandanat x reader where reader is on a mission with Pietro (he is alive in this story) and something goes wrong, causing reader to get stuck under rumble or something like that. Wandanat are informed and they rush to the scene, all angsty 'you can't die blah blah and the manage to free reader but whether they live or die is up to you. Thank you, and if you cant write this thats fine

Honestly yes, this whole idea is just good... hehe

Last breath

Pairing: Natasha x Wanda x Reader

Warning: Language, fluff, angst :3

Summary: Missions with your best friend always end in success but what if one fails, how will your girlfriends react?

Word count: 3k

My requests are always open so feel more than welcome to pop in a suggestion for the next story :3

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To those who experienced death always say life is precious which they aren't wrong, you always lived by the moment until that one mission..

But let's side track a little bit..

You always were a thrill seeker, doing things like sky diving, bungee jumping and even cage diving with sharks so joining Shield wasn't surprising at all, you went out on all missions.

Which was something the Avengers noticed along with your dedication to be the best, they took you in and you fit in like a glove. Even though you were quite adventurous, your personality was the opposite.

You were shy whenever you were new but as soon as you got used to your surroundings, you was able to express yourself more to which is why Natasha and Wanda took interest in you.

You were loved by most of the team, the rest were natural towards you but there was one person on the team who adored you; Pietro Maximoff, the racer, the other twin is what everyone referred to him but he was your best friend.

You would consider him as brother but the fact that you were interested in his sister would be slightly weird. He always encouraged you to talk to Wanda but it wasn't just Wanda that you liked, when he found out the constant bullying started.

You wouldn't mind until the two redheads are around and he makes a joke that you can understand but somehow you'll be convinced that they understand and it will be awkward.

But this time you were going to ask them out even if you had no idea if they felt the same, you took a deep breath as anxiety slowly creepy up, you never was nervous so this says something.

As soon as the pair walked in, you looked over at Pietro to which he instantly put his hands up in defeat with a innocent smile across his lips.

You mouthed "I'm watching you" to him which caused him to laugh slightly, he nodded and continued to make his sandwich as he observed you.

You walked up to them with a nervous smile, Wanda returned the smile whilst Natasha observed you as if she was reading through you "Wanda Natasha heyy"

Natasha couldn't hold back a smile "Hello Y/n, is everything okay?"

"Is my brother annoying you?" Wanda questioned right after Natasha.

You nervously laughed "Oh no, he is being bearable today and yes everything is okay"

You rubbed the back of your neck "I came over here because I wanted to ask something"

They both looked at each other and simply shrugged as if to say that they don't know what you are talking about, they nodded and you continued "I wanted to ask the two of you out on a date- But it's okay if that's something you're not okay with!"

You were quick to reassure which made Natasha smirk at your nervous, they both had the same thing on their mind; To agree.

They both took your hand which made you look up "We would love to go out with you on a date"

Natasha nodded to agree with Wanda and that's when your smile grew wide "Really?"

Wanda nodded "Yes, we were waiting for you to do that for a long time дорогой (Darling)"

Pietro from the other side of the room dropped his sandwich at the sight "Get it girl!"

You looked over at him and gave him a confident smile to which he smirked and put his proud face "I did this" He looked over at Tony as he pointed towards yous, Tony rolled his eyes but had a small smile across his lips.

That's basically how that went, they were always fascinated by you but never made their move because they were slightly afraid you would end up rejecting them but turns out they were wrong...

That one mission that you thought was nothing but easy, despite being told to take more people with you, you were stubborn and didn't agree because you were confident that you and Pietro will take on anything, and even if you were right; You miscalculated one move..

Everything was going smooth, you and Pietro managed to convince everyone including your girlfriends that you would be fine, despite the gut feeling telling Wanda to go with you, she trusted you.

"Promise us you'll come back" Natasha whispered as she was hugged into you.

"Of course I will be back Nat, I promised you two a romantic evening today so yous will get that" You tried to convince them with the best confident tone you could master up.

Natasha pulled away with her glossy eyes boring into yours, as Wanda pulled you into her, she was crying because she hated goodbyes "You better be back Y/n/n or I will kick your butt"

You giggled a little "There will be no need for that I will be back"

She pulled away slightly as she placed a gentle kiss on your lips, something she has always done whenever you were going to missions. She took a step back and Natasha was quick to kiss you as well, she missed you already even if you weren't even gone yet.

You hated goodbyes so convincing yourself you will come back kept you going with the mission. You pulled away as Natasha took a step back to where she stood, she hugged into Wanda as they both watched you walk to where Pietro was.

He waved and they both waved back, he had a small sad smile across his lips, he pulled you into his side as he reassured you were going to be fine, just before the jet closed it's door..

Wanda shouted "Be safe! Both of you!"

You and Pietro turned last time and nodded in sync as the door closed, making yous both disappear and fly off to the mission. Wanda and Natasha went back to their room to do anything else but worry.

The mission went just like it was suppose to go but last minute there was something that pulled your attention, you pressed your com as you spoke "P there is something wrong in another part of this building, can you manage whilst I check it out?"

"Of course, I will be done in a second and I will join you"

You nodded to his words and ran off to the other building, with a gun in your hand you carefully scouted the place and checked for anything that's different.

That's when you heard quiet sobs, you slowly approached and that's when you saw a little boy sitting by a woman, probably his mother, she was stuck and you were quick to act.

You pulled off the pieces that were holding her down and pulled her out, she was able to stand on her feet so when Pietro arrived he took them to a safe place, what the woman failed to mention was that the building was falling apart so when you were shot by one of the enemies you stumbled back into the buildings infrastructure.

You held your shot wound as you looked down at your hand to see blood, before you could react a huge piece along with another small metal bars fell right on top of you.

Now you were trapped, good thing you still were able to take your gun that wasn't far from you and shoot the guy dead before he could finish you.

You groaned as you felt one of the piece of the building dig right into you, pushing you further into the ground "Pietro we might have a problem.."

You barely breathed out a sentence and before you knew it he was right besides you, he looked with panic at where you were. His attempt at trying to remove these parts only worsen the situation, he place his hands on it and started to pull which made a small hole on your stomach.

"No don't move it" You manged to whisper out to which he immediately moved away.

"Get.. Help" You were trying to save your energy as your breathing got worse, he nodded as his eyes filled with tears, he zoomed off to the jet where the radio was.

He alerted Tony and without hesitation wanted to return to you but there were still a lot of threats that he needed to care of, he prayed you would be fine.

You looked at how you were being crushed, what you or Pietro failed to see was the sharp metal pole dangling from the ceiling close to falling.

You breathed in and out calmly as you felt tears slide down your face, a voice came through into your ear that wasn't Pietro "Y/n we will be there soon, just breath in calmly and don't move"

Natasha and Wanda were informed instantly since they were apart of the team and Wanda was crucial to this whole rescue mission and knowing Natasha she wouldn't stay put especially when it comes to you.

"Please I don't want to die" You breathed out which was heard by the two redheads, their hearts broke at your pleads.

"I might be a risk taker but not today, please help" You sobbed out to the com and there was dead silence from their end.

"Hey дорогой (Darling) we will be right there, just hold on" Wanda's voice came through after couple long minutes.

You let out a shaky breath and just nodded because words weren't coming out, you laid on the cold floor as you waited for anyone to arrive and help you, just when you heard footsteps, you hid your gun in case they spot it and that's when it happened.

The metal pole tipped and fell, from the vibrations of the footsteps, it perfectly fit into that small hole that Pietro accidently made, stabbing you right inside your stomach, you gasp because yelling wasn't an option now.

Wanda and Natasha were seconds late but perfectly on time to witness the perfect fall, your eyes fell on the two redheads as blood slowly dripped down from your mouth.

Natasha dropped on her knees beside you as she held your hand tight letting tears fall freely from her "We are here котенок (Kitten)"

You smiled at her as you slightly nodded, you wanted to close your eyes but dying without seeing their face wasn't an option "I'm sorry.."

Natasha shook her head "There is noting to be sorry for, you're going to be fine."

You shook your head as you coughed up more blood "I'm sorry that I'm not coming back"

That's when Wanda's attention was turned towards you, she started to slowly take off the rubble of you but at those words, she rushed over as she dropped on her knees and held your other hand "No, remember I will kick your butt so you're coming back"

You smiled but it didn't met your eyes "I love yous.. so much"

"Y/n you're not going to die because you can't die" Natasha spoke up preventing her sobs as she watched as your eyes become heavy.

Wanda nodded quickly to agree "We need you Y/n/n please stay for us"

You was trying with everything you had, the more you breathed the more the pole moved and sleepiness was getting to you, you nodded with the last big of energy "Please... say"

"Say what Y/n?" Natasha questioned as your grip on their hands got weaker.

"It back" You manged to finish that sentence.

"I love you" They both said in perfect sync as you smiled again.

As soon as Tony along with Thor arrived and their attention was pulled towards them, that's when you closed your eyes completely, letting the darkness take you as whole.

Natasha looked back at you "No, no no no"

This made Wanda look, before she could say anything Tony called her to help to which she had to, she was up and using her powers to get you out without causing more damage.

As soon as they lifted most of the rubble off you, Natasha along with Thor pulled you out, Steve, Bucky and Sam were off helping Pietro and Bruce was patiently waiting for you to be brought in.

As soon as you were brought back to the compound, you were stuck in the surgery for many hours and through all of them, Natasha and Wanda sat there waiting for any update to be made.

They were hoping everything was going to be okay, that they will see your smile again as it was their favourite highlight of the day. The little risky things you would do for them just so you could see them laugh was your favourite thing.

You were absolutely whipped for them and they were whipped for you. You were still holding on because before joining you didn't have anyone to live for, but since you met them they were worth living for.

There wasn't enough hours in the day to be spent with the two redheads so holding on to see them was something you'll do even if it meant it was the last thing you do.

Wanda was asleep on Natasha's shoulder but the Russian couldn't close her eyes because all she saw was the blood pouring out of your mouth and the slowly fading life from your eyes.

The couple doctors that looked like they went through war itself, left the room which startled both redheads, causing them to jump up within seconds, looking more tired than before.

"Is she okay?!" Wanda was first to question the defeated looking doctors.

It was hard to read their emotions as they were in there for hours without breaks that even some of them collapsed into empty chairs taking couple breathes.

One of the doctors that nodded and continued to where they were suppose to go, Natasha sighed with so much relief and Wanda jumped right into her arms with joyful tear sliding down her face.

You were in a coma for some time until you woke up and your room was flooded with every person, Pietro was the first one to visit, besides Wanda and Natasha they practically never left you.

The hope was given that you would be okay but the reality was far from it, relaying on just hope is mostly disappointing, you were having difficulties which you never raised to Wanda or Natasha throughout months of finally being able to get out of that hospital room.

You hid them perfectly until one day, you were walking along side the two women you loved when suddenly the pain in your stomach hit you out of no where. It was a lot more stronger than normal, which caused you to stop.

They both looked at you confused and that's when they noticed a pool of blood form on your shirt, you looked down and back at them with shock in your eyes.

They panicked because this was something that they didn't expect especially since you had been hiding your suffering from them, you didn't want to stress them out because they already acted like you were fragile when in fact you didn't want to be.

Natasha rushed over to you as she took your arm and placed it over her shoulders to carry you to the medical wing "Has this happened before?"

You shook your head "N-no"

Wanda followed the Russian's lead as they both dragged you to the medic, she manage to look inside your head "Why didn't you tell us you were having issues?"

You looked at her realising what she has done "I didn't want to worry yous"

"So this has happened before?" Natasha asked again as they both placed you down on the bed.

You held your stomach "Not to this extent, it was slightly pain"

You inhaled sharply as the pain increased, turns out the doctors missed a very important piece to which it now caused a tear in your insides causing an opening and the sudden bleeding.

You knew this was going to be the end, you held on for as long as you could, the darkness coming back was a sign for you to let go for once and for all.

You reached out with both of your blooded hands towards the two women to which they were quick to react to, you smiled slightly at them "I am so happy we met"

They smiled not really understand why you are saying this, so continued "This isn't the end because we will meet again"

Wanda nodded "Of course we will meet, I will go get the doctor"

Your grip tighten indicating for her to not go "I wish it was all different and I could've spent more time with yous, I love yous so much"

The bleeding started to get worse to the point of dripping all over where you laid, Natasha looked down as panic filled her once again, this time she understood what was happening and there was no saving this time.

She had tears in her eyes as she placed a soft kiss on your hand as you finally took your last breath, Wanda refused to believe it as she rushed out to get someone but Natasha broke down besides you watching as they tried to get your heartbeat back.

Nothing worked, with a defeated look and sad eyes, the doctors delivered the sad news to the Sokovian, she fell onto the ground as tears streamed down her face. Both of the redheads world just fell apart as you took your last breath....

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[hyakki59]

Eustass Kidd x Reader - when you both shout

• There are times that you and Kidd shout at each other. It doesn't mean that you can't stand being together or something. Exactly the opposite. Shouting brings you closer.

•You both shout for no important reasons. For example you may search for a specific object around the house and can't found it. Generally, you place almost all the things in a specific spot.

"Kidd!! Where's my earphones?!!! They are not on the desk, I have searched all the house!!"

You shout from the bedroom

"I don't know!!"

Kidd answers back from the living room

"What do you mean 'I don't know', you took them last time!!!"

"I said I don't know where they are!!!"

"WHY YOU NEVER PLACE THINGS IN THEIR PLACE!!! AND YOU ARE ALWAYS LOSING THEM!!!"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE Y/N, JUST TAKE MY EARPHONES"

"THE POINT IS TO FIND MINE'S"

"THEN GOOD LUCK FINDING THEM"

"FUCK YOU KIDD"

"NO, FUCK YOU"

•No one is taking a step back, always both of you wanting to say the last word. You enter the living room with a fury, having a little messy hair because of all the searching you did. You are also holding a pillow, looking at Kidd with a serious face. Kidd looks at you with a serious-dump face, him sitting on the couch. Your next move is throwing the pillow on Kidd. Kidd put his arms in defense pose.

"HEYYY"

He exclaims wildly grabbing the pillow and starts chasing you, you also running inside the bedroom.

•Another example is this. Kidd enters your home, holding grocery bags.

"I'm baack"

Kidd says, closing the door behind him

"Heyy lovee"

You greet him while you are at the kitchen, pouring a glass of water. But the sweet moments won't last for long. Kidd enters the kitchen and places the bags on the table.

"Did you remember to buy sugar?"

You asked him

"Yes"

He simply answers, starting to take the groceries off the bags

"Eggs?"

"Yes"

"Milk?"

Kidd frozes looking across the wall like he was thinking.

"No"

He just says, awaiting for your outburst. You, who were drinking water, put down the glass on the counter, making a loud noice.

"Come on Kidd!! And I told you not to forget the milk!!!"

You shout at Kidd turning towards him

"Ahhh!! I know, I know!!"

He says loudly moving up and down his head

"Why you always forget something?!! Can't you once remember all the things we need?!!!"

You are moving your hands as you are talking loudly at him at the same time.

"Tss!! Y/N!! If you are to complain all the time, just go to the grocery shop by yourself!!"

"DON'T TELL ME TO GO BY MYSELF, JUST DO SOMETHING RIGHT"

That was your limit and you start to shout again, tighten your fists and standing at your tip toes

"DON'T SHOUT AT ME AND STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT EVERYTHING"

Kidd shouts back

"IM NOT COMPLAINING KIDD"

You shout and turn your back, looking at the counter and you add

"I JUST CAN'T STAND THE FACT THAT YOU ALWAYS FORGE-"

You just pause because Kidd slaps hard your butt to shut you up.

"Just shut up already. I will go out again to buy milk if that makes you happy."

He says standing behind you, placing his hands at your hips, observing also your curves and butt.

"Hmf.. the point is not to "make me happy" but to-"

You started to say turning your head towards Kidd but he interruptes you

"Ohh!! Just shut it!"

He says shaking your body as his hands are at your hips. His lips are approaching your bare shoulder, touching it as you wear a strappy top.

"Stop being always the one adding the last word.."

He says in a low voice, his lips moving on your skin. His lips are now traveling towards your neck and he starts giving kisses on it.

You are enjoying it but you are not forgetting to add something more to say.

"Look who is talking.."

You murmur with closed eyes, focusing on his lips. Kidd pinches your thigh because you talked again.

"Ah!!"

You exclaim, moving your head backwards. Kidd starts to suck now your neck. You like this so much that your body feels weaker. You let out a small moan and Kidd starts to turn on. He shoves his hand between your thighs from your behind, moving it forward and backward, rubbing also your womanhood through your clothes. You open your mouth and let out another moan.

"Fuck Kidd"

That's how you easily making it up again.

•Even though those kind of your shoutings are no something serious, specifically you want to make clear to Kidd that you love him and that the fact you shout at him is just something stupid.

•For example, you and Kidd are sitting on the couch and you are curled up at Kidd's side.

"Kiiiidd.."

You start saying placing your index finger on his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

Kidd just do, looking though the TV in front of him

"You know.."

You continue, now doing circles with your finger on his shoulder. Kidd now turns his head towards you, his eyes observing your finger's motion.

"...the fact that I shout to you sometimes.. doesn't mean that I don't love you.."

You tell Kidd, him looking at you waiting what else are you going to say.

"I love you even if I shout at you"

You say with a playful manner.

"I know that"

Kidd says and leans down at you to give you a quick kiss at your lips.

"I love shouting at ya"

You say jokingly, smiling at Kidd.

"Really? And I love doing other things to you.."

He tells you as his one arm starts to travel from your knee till your upper part of your thigh. His body leans to yours at the same, approaching your lips, you going backwards till your back reach down the couch.

•There are though also times that you have and serious arguments. Both of you feel bad after your arguments, so you find ways to make the other feel better.

•For example if Kidd wants to make you feel better, he buys a big piece of your favourite dessert. He gives it to you in a somehow small box.

•Specifically, as he enters the house, he approaches the couch where you sit. You have a laptop on your lap, your eyes sank on the screen.

•Kidd sits beside you giving you a bag with the box inside. You take the bag in silence looking Kidd in the eyes. You take the box off the bag, giving a glance again at Kidd without saying something. You open the box and see your favourite dessert. Your heart melts, feeling happy that Kidd is thinking of you, also him not forgetting what you like.

•Kidd gives a kiss at your cheek

"I'm sorry about earlier Y/N.. "

He says to you and puts his one hand behind your head, starts caressing your hair.

•There are also times when you first approach Kidd after an argument. You too buy something for Kidd that you know he likes. What you buy is a beer.

•Kidd is sitting on the balcony, wanting to have a fresh air. He tries to calm himself from the previous argument that you had. You had gone out but soon you are back home.

•You head towards the balcony where Kidd is. He is sitting on a chair beside a small table, looking far away.

•You stand at balcony's door looking at Kidd. "heyy.." you say not loud enough.

•Kidd turns his head towards you and he doesn't answers immediately, observing you at first, shaking also his one leg.

"Welcome back.."

He says not that lively and he turns his head looking away. You step out on the balcony, approaching Kidd, the beer is now visible on your hand. Kidd's eye catches the beer, understanding immediately the situation.

"That's for you"

You say to him and place the bottle on the table. Kidd looks first at the beer and then at you. He doesn't say anything and he is looking at you like he waits to see what you are going to do next. You are standing in front of him and what you want to do is to sit on his lap. But you don't know in what mood is Kidd right now, so you hesitate at first. You both exchange some glances and you finally speak up

"Can I sit on your legs?"

You ask him having a cute yet serious face. Kidd keeps looking at you without answering quickly.

"Yes"

He finally says. You don't let this opportunity to go and you sit on his lap. You place one hand around his shoulders and one on his chest, caressing it a little. At first you look down but now you are looking him in his eyes. With puppy eyes. Like a puppy that had done something that it shouldn't have.

"I'm sorry.. I didn't mean what I said before "

And you know that he isn't mad anymore with you as he places his one hand on your thighs, caressing them

•And thats how you both you have your ways for making up.

[jaskierek]

Wildflowers

Part 1 Part 2

Summary: Geralt and Jaskier had been friends for over two decades before Geralt forced them apart. Afterwards, he’d looked everywhere. The bard was nowhere to be found. Not even magic could find him. What had happened to his friend? ao3

--

Eight years into their partnership, Geralt was commissioned to rid a village of a nasty foglet that had taken up residency in a swamp at the centre of the neighbouring forest. The blacksmith, Filip, lived closest to the forest edge and had three young daughters who he feared for. He had collected money from the villagers in order to afford the Witcher’s services and had insisted on showing Geralt the way. He’d said the forest had many low-lying bogs and marshes, especially during this time of year.

Jaskier had been eager to join the Witcher, despite knowing that his outfit would return ruined, yet he’d been relegated to the role of babysitter.

“Come on, Geralt!” He whined, watching the Witcher swing his swords onto his back and collect the moondust he needed.

“No.” Came the simple response. Jaskier huffed.

“Honestly, why can’t Filip hire someone from the village for a night or leave the kids on their own? It’s not like they’re infants, and there’s three of them for goodness’ sake.”

“All of them have yet to reach the age of ten,” Geralt said in that rumbling voice of his as he walked up to the bard, gear on and a vaguely scolding look on his face, “and why hire someone to babysit when we’ve got a lovely and willing nanny here for free?”

Jaskier’s jaw dropped dramatically and he sputtered, trying to get past the offence and form a coherent sentence in response to Geralt’s shit-eating grin.

“You - I - listen here, Witcher - while I am lovely, there is no - how -“

The Witcher simply patted Jaskier on the head a bit harder than necessary, and stepped out of the room Filip had given them to get prepared.

“Ready?” The blacksmith asked. He stood in the doorway dressed in a thick, wool coat, hood over his head and straw-blonde hair peeking out from under his coif. He held a glass lantern in one hand and a sturdy, steel sword in another.

“You won’t need that.” Geralt grumbled, walking towards the man. Filip took what Jaskier knew to be an involuntary step back. The bard still winced. There was still a ways to go in Geralt’s image rehabilitation he was learning.

“I could help.” Filip countered weakly. Jaskier admired the man’s bravery, most tended to let the Witcher do what needed to be done with no care for his return or survival. Jaskier also didn’t doubt that Filip could have been of help. The man stood tall, with rounded shoulders from years of smithing, the thick coat only making him look bigger. He could definitely have been of help if-

“Silver swords kill beasts, your steel won’t do much harm.” Geralt said, walking past and heading to the door. “Better to just stay out of the way.”

Filip paused for a moment.

“Yes, well, I think I’d like to take it. For my own peace of mind.”

Geralt studied the man over his shoulder before seemingly accepting that there was not much else to say on the subject and the two left. Jaskier tapped his foot uncertainly before running to the door and swinging it open.

“Oi! Witcher! I am very much not willing and this is very much not for free! I am expecting compensation!” He yelled out to the shrinking figures.

“Fuck off, Jaskier.” Jaskier could just make out Geralt’s gruff but amused reply through the whipping of the wind. He smiled and returned inside, only to be faced with three pairs of large brown eyes. Startled a little, he smiled tentatively. Unlike their father, all three girls had reddish-brown hair and gentle features.

“You must be Filip’s daughters.” He said in way of greeting. He received an eerily unison blink. “Right uh…you should be in bed.”

“Where’s daddy gone?” The tallest one to the left asked.

“He…he went to go show his friend something.” Jaskier responded, trying not to worry the children.

“That man is a Witcher.”

Jaskier paused, not really knowing what to say and eventually settling on a slow “yes, he is.”

“Daddy’s not friends with Witchers.”

“Well, he is now.”

“But Witchers can’t have friends.”

“Now that’s just not true. Who told you that?” Jaskier asked, a bit peeved. They just blinked again and didn’t respond. “Ok, well, that’s not true because I’m friends with a Witcher.” He huffed, whether or not the friendship was mutual was still a bit in question for him.

The girls stared at him silently and Jaskier was honestly at a loss. He hadn’t had much experience with children, apart from singing the occasional fairy tale or nursery rhyme.

“Would you like me to play you a song?” He asked, fingers twitching to hold his lute.

“No.” They all said monotonously. Alright, really, were all children this difficult? And this…synchronised?

“You really should be going to bed then.”

“Can you paint?” The smallest one asked suddenly. Jaskier frowned at the question, a bit confused.

Thats how Geralt and Filip found him three hours later. Paints and unfinished artworks scattered around the floor and at the centre of it all, a very colourful bard. He sat on the floor, legs spread out as three auburn-haired little girls stood around him, paintbrushes in hand.

Filip laughed loudly. “I just bought them all paints and parchment two days ago.” He commented, taking his coat off.

“You don’t say.” Jaskier responded sarcastically as one of the girls poked at his temple with a green brush. He had rolled up his sleeves and trousers to give them some more space to work and also to avoid as much paint on his clothes as he could. It hadn’t worked very well as evidenced by the many drips and smears on his purple doublet. His face, arms and legs were covered in mostly yellow smudges, with a couple of green and pink accents here and there.

The girls hadn’t reacted much to their father’s return, nor to the intimidating presence of the Witcher. Speaking of, Geralt was currently leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking very entertained. Jaskier tried to communicate with his eyes that he was in dire need of aid, yet the cruel man did nothing but observe the multicoloured bard and the three little girls dancing around him.

“Ok, girls,” Filip said, coming over and kneeling beside them, gently removing a paintbrush from the youngest’s hand, “time to say goodbye and go to bed, hm?”

“Do you like our painting, daddy?” She asked, blinking those big brown eyes at him. They all looked very pleased with their work. Filip’s eyes looked over to Jaskier, giving him a once-over and smiling apologetically.

“Yes, love, it’s gorgeous as always. Now bed?” He tried again, reaching out to the others. Jaskier didn’t know how happy he was at being called an “it” but decided to hold his tongue for now. The brushes were all handed over. They themselves were smeared with paint as well, nowhere near as much as the bard though. He was more canvas than a bard at this point.

Filip told Geralt and Jaskier that he’d wash the girls - and their sheets - tomorrow and that they could have the bath for tonight, both men in desperate need of a wash.

Geralt, in a rare show of mercy, allowed Jaskier to go first. He sat by the wall, listening to the bard complain about how difficult the paint was to scrub off. He couldn’t help but let out an amused huff occasionally, earning a sour look from the bard.

“Oh, how you revel in my misery.” He muttered. Geralt rolled his eyes.

“Now we know that you’re not cut out to be a nanny after all.” Geralt teased.

“All things considered, I think I did an alright job.”

“Jaskier, you’re yellow.”

Being glared at by a wet bard sitting in yellow water was not the most intimidated the Witcher had ever been.

Not long after, Jaskier stepped out of the wooden bath and Geralt stepped in.

The Witcher melted into the tub as Jaskier’s nimble fingers threaded through his hair. Albeit, a bit rougher than usual. He had started using his own soaps and oils on Geralt, leaving his hair soft and shiny. He could tell Geralt liked it, despite his complaints that it left him smelling like rose water and cloves. It was a pleasant scent though.

“Why’d they paint you yellow?” Geralt asked placidly, eyes closed. Jaskier laughed softly.

“I told them what my name meant. I was meant to look like a field of buttercups, I presume.” He replied fondly. Geralt hummed. They bathed in silence for a while until Jaskier said softly; “the second eldest one is called Julia. She told me the name means strength.”

Geralt said nothing, sensing the bard’s mood had changed.

“I had a sister once.” Jaskier continued.  Though surprised, Geralt made no comment. “Her name was Julia.” Silence fell again as Jaskier gently pushed Geralt’s shoulder. The Witcher moved at the pressure, allowing the bard to tilt his head back and rinse his hair off.

“Julka przed samotnością nie odczuwa lęku, bo to dziewczyna pełna wdzięku.” Jaskier said, more to himself than to the Witcher.

“What does it mean?”

“In the face of loneliness, Julka is not afraid,” Jaskier whispered, recalling the old saying, “because she is a girl full of grace.”

Geralt clenched his eyes tighter, not knowing what to say in the face of Jaskier’s gentle grief.

Geralt had stared down that same face of loneliness. Could he say that he’d confronted it fearlessly?

Jaskier ran his fingers through the Witcher’s hair one last time and gave it a hard tug.

“That’s for calling me a nanny again.” He remarked weakly. Geralt opened his eyes, watching Jaskier walk away and change into his night clothes.

The face of loneliness seemed to blur.

Filip allowed them to stay the night and they left early the next day. Geralt was prepping Roach when Filip’s three young girls ran up to him, the one in the middle holding a bag of coin. The blacksmith was crouched in the doorway, watching them with a small smile.

“This is for you.” The one in the centre said very seriously, handing over the payment with an air of importance. Not an ounce of fear showed on any of their faces. Geralt felt vague concern over their survival instincts.

“Er…thank you.” Geralt said awkwardly, taking the money. He was about to stuff it into Roach’s saddle before he thought better of it and placed it gently into his breast pocket, patting it to reassure the girl that he’d keep it safe. She smiled brightly at him and the three of them blinked at the same time. Geralt could only blink in return, not knowing where to go from there.

“Goodbye, Jaskier’s friend!” They announced and scurried off. Jaskier was just coming out of the house as they ran past, giggling. He jumped out of the way with a  yelp, eyes following them bemusedly. Looking back to Geralt, he raised a brow. The Witcher simply shrugged. Jaskier laughed.

No, loneliness did not feel as present anymore.

—

Eleven years into their familiarity, Jaskier asked a question.

“I wonder what it feels like to die.”

Geralt had sensed his miserable mood all day. He’d been quiet and he hadn’t touched his lute or hummed a melody and strangest of all, he’d done what Geralt had told him. He’d stayed at the camp when Geralt had taken a contract to get rid of a wild boar and he’d collected firewood with no complaints when told.

Geralt sensed Jaskier’s unhappiness, he knew something was wrong, yet he didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to help. The very fact that he wanted to help, instead of revelling in the silence, came as a surprise. Jaskier’s statement was even more of a surprise. The casual way he said it jarred with the reality that this was the first thing Jaskier had said in hours.

They stared at each other from across the fire between them. Jaskier’s cornflower eyes lustreless and not expectant of an answer.

“I know what it feels like.” Geralt responded, own voice gruff from disuse. He could tell that he’d startled the bard. Jaskier’s blue eyes suddenly cleared and glinted with concern.

“How…how do you know what it feels like to die?” Jaskier asked and Geralt was surprised by the emotion behind his words.

“There are many ways to die, bard.”

Jaskier frowned.

“How do you know what it feels like to die, Geralt?” Jaskier pressed.

“I do not know what death feels like, but I am familiar with the journey.”

Geralt didn’t know whether he was skirting around the question on purpose. The initial response to Jaskier’s statement of a question had come unbidden and honest. Now he could feel heat under his skin and an urge to sneer and turn tail. He couldn’t do that though, not now, not with Jaskier as he’s been all day.

“Geralt, you-“

“Jaskier,” He cut him off, then stopped himself. He took a breath, “I can’t imagine a Witcher who isn’t familiar with the experience.” Jaskier shut his mouth and remained silent, an unspoken offer to continue. Geralt accepted the moment of quiet, taking the opportunity to arrange his thoughts and suppress the grief that had suddenly swelled in him.

“When boys were recruited to become Witchers, they underwent mutations that most did not survive.” Jaskier nodded, this Geralt had told him before, “They put elixirs, poisons and mutagens into our tea for days beforehand and when we were immobilised, they injected them directly into our veins. Most who did not die immediately, died by the third day. Those who did not die by the third day, went mad from the pain -“

Geralt stopped, hesitating, eyes drifting to the writhing flames between them.

He remembered their glassy eyes, unseeing. Nothing existed but their agony. They’d scream themselves hoarse, shredding vocal chords and vomiting out blood. He knew that he must’ve been the same but he could not remember anything he did while undergoing the mutations. Nothing existed, nothing mattered, but the torment.

Geralt looked back at Jaskier, who’s gaze remained strong and level, though sad.

“After we went mad with pain, they injected us again. We were all restrained, of course, otherwise we would have torn our skin off to find some relief. This round of mutagens induced seizures, hallucinations, and in our weakened state, our body had to fight the viruses. On the seventh day, three out of ten boys woke with cat eyes, the rest were dead.”

Geralt closed his eyes for a moment.

“I did not…I woke up with human eyes. The mutagens hadn’t worked on me to the extent they had worked on the others. I was uniquely resistant.” The words sounded bitter. “They gave me a couple of extra rounds and that’s why you won’t ever find another white wolf, bard.”

Jaskier remained silent. Geralt saw tears had slipped down his face, the reflection of the fire turning them gold. Geralt couldn’t stand the thought of tears being spilled for him but he stayed quiet, he found he had no more words to give.

“That’s not dying.” Jaskier finally said, voice unwavering through the tears. “That’s not dying. That’s torture. That’s something that no one should go through, let alone a child. You don’t know what it’s like to die, Geralt, and you won’t know for a long time to come.”

Geralt didn’t know who he was trying to convince.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“Jaskier,” The Witcher tried to make his tone gentle, “Witchers don’t retire. I know what it’s like to bleed out. That is likely my fate.” Jaskier flinched and looked down at his hands, clenched around each other, knuckles white. Golden tears slipped between his fingers.

“What does it feel like to bleed out?” He whispered so quietly that Geralt wouldn’t have heard him had he not been what he was. He frowned, but complied.

“You’re thirsty and your tongue feels swollen. Your vision becomes distorted and blurry. You feel a numbness as your head pounds with pressure. You can’t stand for long, so you’re left bleeding out on the ground, trembling and sweating, feeling like you’re going to vomit.” Jaskier’s shoulders were trembling. Geralt couldn’t stop. “You feel like you just want to rest your head forever.”

Finally, Jaskier broke, a sob breaking out past his lips, only for more to follow. It felt like the whole day had been building to this breaking point and Geralt itched to hold him. Let Jaskier release all that had been welling inside him. Geralt stayed, staring at him through the fire, sure that his own grief was showing.

“Geralt?” Came Jaskier’s small voice, head finally rising to look at Geralt. His eyes were red and tears fell freely.

“Yes?”

“Has this happened since we’ve met?”

A pause.

“Once.”

“You didn’t tell me.” His tone wasn’t accusatory, yet it sounded hurt.

Geralt suddenly felt guilty. He hadn’t thought it information that Jaskier needed, or wanted, to know. He’d clearly been healed and the next time they had run into each other had been months after the incident. Geralt himself hadn’t thought much of it. Yet now he felt guilty, it felt as if he had withheld something from the bard. He didn’t know why the thought of him keeping secrets from the man sparked a pain in his chest. He couldn’t stand to look at the hurt in those blue eyes so he looked away.

“I understand why you didn’t, Geralt, I don’t blame you…just - just please -“ the bard’s voice broke. He took a moment to breath in, pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Please tell me, whether I’m around to help or not. I can’t - I can’t be a part of your life and not know. I -“

“Okay, I will.” Amber eyes locked with blue, reflecting the same flame. They gazed at each other for a time. Then, the bard rose on unsteady feet, rounding the fire and sitting beside the Witcher.

“I meant what I said. You won’t know death for a long time, dear friend. You will live for a good while yet.” He stated with no room for argument. Geralt couldn’t help but smile.

“Does destiny will it?”

“No,” said his friend, “I do.”

And so they sat for the rest of the evening. Golden eyes and golden tears.

—

Fourteen years into their friendship, there was a meadow.

It was spring and the meadow was blanketed by buttercups and dandelions and daisies and wild lupine. It was a messy quilt of colours that beckoned the bard forwards. The Witcher had taken notice of Jaskier’s love for spring, he’d taken note of a lot of things. He watched Jaskier run into the field, voice bubbling with laughter.

“Geralt look at this! It’s exquisite! We have to break here.” He was grinning at Geralt in his faded blue doublet. Geralt ached at that smile. He reluctantly agreed. How could he not?

That’s how they’d spent an all too rare afternoon lying on a sunny patch of grass. Geralt listening to the bard talk and hum, feeling the gentle heat from the sun-warmed ground seep in through his clothes, and when he opened his eyes he watched. He watched birds flit between trees and leaves shuffle in the breeze. He watched the bard blow a dandelion, blue eyes following the fluff as it glided through the air. Then those blue eyes turned to him and Jaskier smiled.

“You know what I’ve always wanted to learn, dear friend?” Suspecting another long Jaskier ramble, Geralt closed his eyes and hummed noncommittally. “I’ve always wanted to learn how to braid a flower garland.”

“Hmm, you don’t already know?” What with Jaskier’s love for spring, Geralt would have assumed that something as simple as making a flower crown would have easily found its way into the bard’s skill set.

“I suppose I’ve never had the opportunity.”

“Hm.” Geralt responded, mulling it over. They lapsed into a calm silence, well as much of a silence as one can get with a humming bard collecting flowers.

It was noon and the sun was overhead, its brightness filtering through his eyelids.

The humming stopped and he heard an excited “Geralt?”

“What, Jaskier?” He sighed.

“Teach me how to make a wreath.”

“No.”

“Oh, come on, you grumpy Witcher.”

“No.”

“But just look at these beautiful blossoms, it’d be such a shame not to put them to use.”

“Flowers have no use to anyone other than bees. Unless you’ve found some verbena or white myrtle.”

“How cynical of you, I can hardly believe it.” Geralt snorted at that. “Flowers have many uses, some of which I will detail to you now.”

“Please don’t-”

“Flowers are used for beautiful arrangements, placed at the centre of dinner tables or on mantelpieces, for magnificent perfumes that attract even the most stoic, and they create the most darling garlands, of which I am dying to learn the craft and am imploring my dear friend to teach me.”

Geralt groaned and opened his eyes to glare at the bard who was grinning cheekily at him.

“You are a pain in my ass, bard.” He acquiesced, knowing that Jaskier would take it as the acceptance that it is.

Sitting upright, he saw that Jaskier had already collected a bundle of wildflowers. Cornflowers and daisies and a myriad of others lay between them as they sat crosslegged, facing each other. Geralt’s hand immediately drifted to the cornflower nearest to him.

“It’s easier when you have a circle of string to wrap the stems around,” Geralt began, glancing back up at the sun-lit blue eyes looking right back at him, “but we’ve no string to spare. So once you’ve picked your starting flower, you pick another and wrap the stem a way’s down the stem of your first. Then you pick a third and wrap it around the stems of the first two.”

“A bit like braiding.”

“More like weaving,” Geralt explained, already a couple of flowers down his chain, “and then you keep adding more.”

Quiet settled between them once more. Geralt looked up every so often to check the bard’s progress, watching his nimble fingers weave his crown of flowers, rarely faulting. His eyes would wander up to Jaskier’s face, the bard’s brows frowning in concentration. The Witcher allowed himself a small smile. Jaskier had once told Geralt to alert him whenever he’d do this, hating the thought of wrinkles between his brows. Geralt of course never did. After all, it wasn’t his job to look out for the bard’s skin when it wasn’t being threatened by beasts or cuckolded spouses.

Geralt finished his garland first, realising that it consisted mostly of blue cornflowers and yellow dandelions and buttercups, broken up occasionally by reds.

“Complementary colours.”

“Hm?” Geralt asked, looking up at the bard.

“Yellow and blue. They complement each other. Honestly, Geralt, it’s simple colour theory.”

Geralt levelled him an unamused look, sending him back to work. Not long after, he watched the finishings of Jaskier’s own crown. An eager gaze slid up to Geralt’s face, eyebrows raised suggestively.

“No.” Came Geralt’s instant response.

“Please Geralt.” Jaskier whined. “No one’s here, your reputation is safe.” Geralt grunted, scowling at the bard whose big, blue eyes were pleading with him. With a sigh he reluctantly agreed. How could he not?

Jaskier’s own wreath was more varied than Geralt’s, with white daisies and purple aster and multicoloured poppies. Geralt let Jaskier shuffle closer, raising himself up on his knees so he could crown his Witcher in blossoms. Geralt watched his delighted face as he arranged the flowers just right, fingers grazing and pushing back the Witcher’s white hair. Geralt resisted the urge to lean into the touch. The gentle hands fell to his shoulders, warm gaze falling to look into yellow eyes.

“I’d write a song about this, a Witcher in a flower crown, if I didn’t think it’d be very unpopular.”

Geralt growled, glaring up at him.

“Ah, yes, and also because you’d gut me on the spot.” Jaskier added on. “I must say though, you look very dashing.”

Geralt didn’t say anything to that. He continued to stare up at the bard, glad that the man was happy, and content to be in his presence in a rare moment of peace.

“Now, my dear, I must wear yours.” Jaskier said. Geralt blinked then looked down at the wreath in his hands. Jaskier sat back, awaiting his floral coronation. Geralt smiled softly as he placed the crown on Jaskier’s head. It was a bit big for the bard’s head and pushed his fringe further into his eyes as it slipped down his head slightly. Snorting, Geralt pushed the brown hair from Jaskier’s face, fingers brushing his cheek as he pulled back. He found himself longing to touch him again but pulled away at the look of wonder in the bard’s eyes.

Jaskier went on to make another garland for Roach, making a show of crowning her “Lady of the Meadowland”. It was all very ridiculous so Geralt closed his eyes again and lay back onto the sun-warmed grass. He heard Jaskier amble over, felt his presence as he lay beside him with a deep sigh.

Geralt cracked an eye open to look at him. His eyes were closed. The sun turned his brown hair bronze, blue and yellow petals resting there crookedly. Geralt couldn’t help but think that Jaskier belonged here.

He belonged among the sun and the wildflowers.

—

Sixteen years into whatever the fuck they were and Geralt had been hired to kill a Griffin.

Fucking griffins and their fucking talons.

Geralt felt the ground pull at him magnetically.

He’d lost a lot of blood.

He stumbled to the ground.

He would have been content to press his feverish face into the cool, damp grass and simply lay there, if it hadn’t been for a single thought in his head.

Jaskier.

“Please tell me, whether I’m around to help or not.”

Fuck.

He pushed himself up shakily, a stab of pain pierced through the pressure in his head. He tried blinking past the faded edges of his vision and the spots floating between the trees like black will o’ the wisps.

He stumbled forward, hands pressed to his stomach. They didn’t do much to stop the heavy flow of blood gushing out of him. His fingers were numb but the rest of him was warm, so warm. He had to make it back, he couldn’t die without seeing Jaskier one more time. He couldn’t die here alone.

The face of loneliness came into focus amidst the blurry forest.

Somehow he made it back to the camp. Jaskier’s back was to him. He was stroking Roach’s snout, singing to her softly. It was a lullaby Jaskier sang whenever either of them couldn’t sleep. Geralt smiled in relief, the pressure in is head lifting slightly at the familiar sound.

“Jaskier.” The bards name fell out of him like a breath. Finally, he let the ground pull him down.

He woke up again in rather large bed, head cushioned on a feather pillow. Looking around he saw a glass of water on the desk in the corner, a painting of a long-bearded, angry-looking man on the wall across from him and a silk sheet covering him up to his bare chest. He frowned. This was not the typical establishment he was accustomed to.

Shifting slightly, he felt a weight on his arm. Confused, he looked to the right to find a mess of brown hair resting on his bicep. Geralt blinked, eyes widening. Jaskier was clearly asleep, curled around his side, head on his arm and hand resting in Geralt’s loose fingers. The Witcher suddenly felt warm and couldn’t help but tighten his hand around the bard’s.

While closing his hand, he involuntarily closed his other one, feeling something hard and cool under his fingers. Lifting it to his face, he saw that it was actually a stone, vaguely triangular in shape, with a wonky hole in the middle. What was strangest however, were the smudgy yellow flowers that had been painted around the hole. He assumed they were flowers as he could just make out some petals and wobbly, green stems.

Putting the mystery aside for a moment, he placed the stone down on the bed beside him. Removing his covers gently so as not to wake Jaskier, Geralt felt along his bandaged belly. The pain wasn’t too bad, more of an ache than anything and that could’ve simply been from the blood loss.

He wondered where they were. Their camp hadn’t been too far from a town, but that meant that Jaskier had somehow lifted him onto Roach and galloped through the forest and into town in search of a healer. Geralt knew that the bard was strong, muscle lined his arms and legs, tightened his stomach when he stepped into cold water. Almost two decades of joining Geralt on the path had given him a rather large build. Nevertheless, a limp Witcher was no easy feat to lift, especially onto a horse.

He felt Jaskier stir beside him. His head was still towards him but he could tell he’d opened his eyes because he promptly covered the Witcher back up with the silk cover he’d peeled off earlier. Geralt shifted and suddenly big, blue eyes were looking up at him. From this angle, he could see that the bard’s feet had been hanging off the edge of the bed from his position on Geralt’s arm.

“Geralt!” He exclaimed, smiling brightly. “You’re awake.” Geralt gave a soft grunt in response. “How are you feeling?” Jaskier asked, sitting up. He realised he was still holding onto Jaskier’s hand, so he let it go reluctantly, allowing the bard to pull it out of his grip.

“Like I lost most of my blood.”

“Ha ha.” Jaskier said humourlessly. Geralt sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“Are you upset with me?” He asked finally. He knew Jaskier was upset but he didn’t know what kind of upset it was. Angry? Sad? Annoyed?

“I was,” Jaskier began. Geralt’s jaw tightened and Jaskier grasped his hand comfortingly. “But then I realised that I had no reason to be upset with you, I think my feelings of fear and concern got a bit muddled. Geralt, I was fucking terrified.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault, it was just…a lot.” Geralt winced and looked back to the bard. He was looking at their joined hands, blue eyes hazy and far away. Geralt didn’t know what he was seeing. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He gave Jaskier’s hand a tight squeeze, bringing him back. Jaskier smiled at him sheepishly.

“Were you surprised to wake up?” The bard asked. Geralt thought for a moment.

“No.”

“No?”

Geralt raised a brow, not entirely knowing what Jaskier wanted him to say. No, he wasn’t surprised. His only thought had been Jaskier. That he wanted to see him again. He wasn’t thinking much of being healed or waking later. Yet now that he thought about it, there wasn’t much doubt in him that Jaskier would help him in whatever way he could.

A thought came into Geralt’s mind.

“What’s this?” He asked, raising the painted stone. A blush tinged Jaskier’s cheeks pink.

“Ah…it’s a - it’s a hagstone.”

Geralt rolled his eyes.

“Yes, I see that, why was it in my hand and why is it covered in flowers?”

“Well, if you don’t like it, I’ll take it back.” Jaskier said pettishly, reaching for it. Geralt pulled it out of his reach.

“No, I want it.” Geralt said, grinning. Jaskier dropped his hand and huffed, looking away.

“Remember when you left me to babysit those three girls a couple of years ago?”

Geralt blinked, vaguely recalling three sets off big brown eyes.

“They painted you yellow.”

“They painted buttercups, just…on me.”

“They painted you yellow.”

“Yes, okay, thank you.” Jaskier sighed, rolling his eyes. “The hagstone dropped out of my pocket and they…painted that too.” He smiled sheepishly.

That was nearly a decade ago. Geralt couldn’t believe he’d held onto it for that long. He pulled it closer so he could examine it genuinely. He could make out the smudgy, yellow petals attached to green stems. They were dotted around the stone, growing in a cluster. The yellow paint had remained fairly unfaded. Geralt rubbed his thumb over the stone.

“You can keep it if you want.” Jaskier said. Geralt turned to find him already looking at him, eyebrow raised and smiling. The look of sincerity on the bard’s face had Geralt looking away.

“Why did you put it in my hand?”

“They’re for protection and healing. Surely you know that.”

Geralt knew what they were for, theoretically. The protective powers of witch stones were a myth though, just humans placing undue importance on an unusual rock. In reality, it was just that. A rock. One that had been eroded by water or animals. Geralt didn’t say anything though.

He didn’t know if he could say anything. Jaskier had carried this stone with him for a decade, maybe more, hoping for protection and now he was giving it to him. A Witcher who, by all appearances, didn’t want nor need luck. The bottom line was that the bard wanted him safe and Geralt had absolutely no way of dealing with that.

“They’re also used to keep witches away,” Jaskier continued, “useful incase we ever cross paths with Yennefer again.”

Geralt snorted.

“She’s a sorceress.” He countered

“And I’m a musician. It doesn’t mean I’m not also a bard.” Jaskier sniffed disdainfully. He pushed himself up the bed so he was leaning against the headboard and sitting next to Geralt. He continued to talk, allowing the Witcher to simply listen and think about how close their hands were between them.

—

Twenty two years since they met.

The wind bit at him, seeking to push him off his feet as he looked down at the snarling Witcher.

“Why is it whenever I find myself in a pile of shit these days, it’s you shovelling it?”

“That’s not fair.” He couldn’t help protesting weakly.

“If life could give me one blessing, it would be to take you off my hands.” Geralt gritted out between clenched teeth, amber eyes burning with emotion, he was practically shaking with it.  

Jaskier stood and watched as the Witcher turned and stormed further away from him. Tension and aggression written into the way Geralt’s shoulders tensed, fists tight, arms loose, ready to attack. Jaskier had seen Geralt like this before, more times than he could count, but it had never been directed at him. No matter how many times he irritated the Witcher or inadvertently gotten them into trouble, Geralt never had more for him than a hard glare and some frustrated shouts.

This was different. This felt final. This felt like the end. The inevitable conclusion to his tragic love story because fuck him, he’d fallen in love with a man sworn to someone else.

“Right, uh,” Jaskier managed to get out, suddenly finding it difficult to breath, “right, then,” he tried again, looking away, eyes blinking rapidly, “I’ll - I’ll go get the rest of the story from the others.” He turned and walked away, his attempt at casualness flimsy and transparent.

While Geralt berated destiny, fought against it and ignored it wholeheartedly, Jaskier accepted his fate because he had always known it was coming.

But, damn, did it hurt.

He didn’t get the rest of the story.

He stuffed all of his belongings into a bag, slung his lute over his shoulder, gave Roach one last, teary-eyed hug and ran. Geralt had walked away from him, both physically and metaphorically, and now Jaskier needed as much space between them as possible. He ran down the mountain, tripping on uneven paths and scratching his hands bloody. The burn in his lungs and chest felt poetic.

In the last two decades of his life, he and Geralt had always found their way back to each other after weeks or months apart. Sure, he’d keep an ear out for news of a Witcher but most of the time, Melitele save him, it had been a gods-honest accident. The romantic that he is believed it to be fate, and perhaps it was, but he knew now that it wasn’t the kind sort.

Fate was cruel and maleficent, making him believe that their hearts were intertwined when in reality it had been a ploy to torture them both in the end. Destiny left Jaskier heartbroken and Geralt with a life he didn’t want.

—

Some part of his mind registered Jaskier walking away.

Most of it was focused on containing the pain.

He had felt it slowly bloom in his chest at Yennefer’s weak “that’s why we can’t escape each other?” Anguish and bitterness in her voice. From there it had unfurled and spread throughout his body, the emotion burning him from the inside.

His being was now solely fixated on not letting it spread further.

Again, some part of him registered that it already had, it had spread to the bard, it had lashed out at him.

He felt like a flaming whip pulled taught. He felt in in his shoulders, his fists, his jaw.

He breathed in deeply.

His eyes were wet. He tried focusing them on the green valley below.

He breathed out and sunk to his knees.

He waited for the rushing noise in his head to stop.

His cheeks were wet.

He turned around. Yennefer was gone. Jaskier too.

So were their things when he returned to camp.

He breathed in and wailed.

—

The world was dull to him. The trees were not as green. The shades of blue across cornflower petals didn’t look the same anymore.

The world was quiet to him. Too quiet. Something was missing.

Never did he think the world would be dull and quiet. It had always been the opposite, too much, too loud.

He missed Jaskier desperately.

He hadn’t found him again since the mountain.

He could tell Roach missed him too.

Snippets of songs and melodies that had Jaskier’s mark drifted here and there. They were never him. How strange it was to hear others recount his own tales when he had grown so used to Jaskier being the only one.

For the first six months, he’d kept an ear out for any gossip of the famous bard but he had always seemed to arrive just a few days behind. Two months later and the chatter had dried up. No one had seen the bard, no one sang any new songs of his. He had searched the continent, gone to the coast, gone to Jaskier’s own town and found no sign of him.

It was like he had ceased to exist and so, Geralt’s world was dull and quiet.

The face of loneliness had never been clearer.

After those first eight months, he’d also started sleeping poorly.

Before, he’d been a light sleeper, ready to jump out of his bedroll fully aware and ready to defend. It came with being a Witcher. Although, admittedly, the nights spent in inns, on a relatively soft mattress, with a sleep-warm bard next to him had left him sleeping a bit deeper, waking a bit dazed.

Yet after those eight months, he’d slept restlessly. He’d dream of a weeping willow, drooping sadly. He’d dream of an open field and oddly wake up feeling caged.

When he himself found no sign of the bard, he’d gone to one of the few people he trusted, Triss Merigold. He had given her an old undershirt that Jaskier had forgotten to take with him. He made her try for three days before she had finally said “I really am sorry, Geralt, but truly, I can find no sign of your friend.” Geralt took the soft material back. “I fear he’s -“

“Don’t.” Whatever look he’d had on his face made her snap her mouth shut. Dark eyes looked at him with pity as he had turned, dropped some coin and left.

He’d go to Yennefer next.

“Geralt,” she greeted tensely, “didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.”

Geralt had found Yennefer a few months after the dragon contract. They’d agreed that though they cared for each other deeply, it was best for them to have space, to move on. Geralt hoped desperately that one day they would become friends. Yennefer, though difficult and battle-hardened, remained fair and kind, one of the only people with whom Geralt shared easy conversation.

There was a longing between them, one that both knew was not falsified by the djinn. Neither knew what sort of longing they felt. One of friendship, companionship, understanding? Time and space would let them learn.

“I know,” He muttered apologetically, “I need your help.”

“You look awful.” She simply responded. Geralt winced. “You haven’t been sleeping.”

The Witcher opted for silence. He knew that she had heard him and knew that she was studying him, pondering his request.

“What do you need?” She asked finally, tone not one of acceptance but of curiosity.

“Jaskier.” The word came out sounding more distressed than he had intended. It was harder to maintain a mask through sleep deprivation. Yennefer’s expression briefly shifted to one of concern.

“What happened?”

Geralt’s throat suddenly felt compressed. Those two words somehow confirming that something had happened. Something had to have happened if he and Triss couldn’t find him.

Fear was a terrifying emotion because he truly didn’t know what he would do to end it.

“I…I don’t know. I can’t find him and neither can Triss.” Geralt pulled out the same shirt he had given to the other sorceress, gripping the folded fabric tightly in his hands. He looked up at Yennefer to find her looking right back with a sort of unease. “Please,” he said, offering the garment to her, “track him if you can.”

She stared at the shirt apprehensively, gaze snapping up to Geralt’s, looking for something. Finally, she sighed and turned to walk over to a large bookshelf, pulling out a thick, yellow-paged tome that had clearly not been removed for a good while.

“You’re lucky night is falling,” she said, stepping outside, not waiting for Geralt to follow. He did. “If regular tracking didn’t work, we’ll have to do it the hard way.” She walked to the middle of her large garden, sitting cross-legged in the grass, wine-coloured dress pooling around her. Geralt approached, ready to be told off and to step back, yet Yennefer said nothing as he sat down across from her.

The sorceress flipped the tome open to the centre, each side resting on a knee. Each side also being a couple inches thick. Tucked into the middle, between the two pages was a thin, silver geometrical compass. Yennefer lifted it with an elegant hand and placed it over one of the many configurations on the page. Geralt’s limited knowledge allowed him to surmise that they were astronomical. He looked up to the sky and the stars that he only knew to use for navigation.

“The shirt.” Yennefer said sharply, snapping his gaze back down to her and her outstretched hand. Shirt in one hand, compass in the other and tome on her lap, she began to speak. It was some variation of Elder. Geralt, only knowing the basics of the root language, was left clueless as the space above the book began to glow.

The light transformed the yellowed pages gold, illuminating Yennefer’s perfect features and making her look all the part of the powerful mage he knew she was. She dropped the shirt on the grass between them. Violet eyes looked up to the stars, compass travelling across the golden pages of the book. She flipped back and forth between the pages, her eyes shooting between stars. The compass twisted in complicated circular motions across configurations.

The light began to die slowly, Yennefer’s words slowing to a stop as she closed her eyes, clearly disappointed. Geralt’s stomach dropped and he felt like he might throw up the paltry dinner he’d had a few hours earlier.

“Yennefer, please -“

“I’m not done yet, Geralt.” She responded sharply before taking a breath, “I need something personal to him, something with an emotional connection. I may not be able to find his physical body,” because he may be dead was left unsaid “but I can perhaps find his spirit.”

Geralt tried to keep the devastation off his face at the implication.

An emotional connection. He knew immediately what to give her. A small pocket in the side of his leather armour held a painted witch stone. He gently pulled it out, rubbing his thumb over the messy petals of the buttercups. Yennefer didn’t comment on the item, though she looked at him with pinched brows. He placed the stone in the sorceress’ outstretched palm.

The golden light returned and Geralt watched as the sorceress studied the stars, measuring out constellations and distances in her book. Geralt had never been one for religion but he prayed, prayed for something.

Again, the light faded and Yennefer looked to him with a frown.

—

He’d been looking for tracks in the large forested area Yennefer had pointed him to. He’d been looking for two days and nothing had been found.

Honestly, he didn’t know what he was looking for. Yennefer had been unable to find his body but had found his spirit? Were they no longer attached? Geralt’s mind had been filtering through the different options of what that could mean, but even Yennefer didn’t know what to say. The thought that he might be dead was an unwelcome one in his mind.

It had recently rained and the ground squelched and shifted under Geralt’s boots. Most of the tracks had been washed away by the rain. Geralt lead Roach through the trees, eyes catching on imprints in the ground and broken shrub twigs. All signs indicating animal presence rather than human.

The forest was familiar to the Witcher, he’d been here before. He didn’t think much of it, he’d been to most places on the continent, the Path taking him wherever he needed to be. Yet when he tried to recall the memory tied to this place, it was not one of necessity or danger.  He couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

Giving up on the meagre prints, he let the memory lead him. His feet found a forgotten path. Boots had flattened the earth so compactly, it was likely to last a long time. But it was littered with leaves and branches, clearly not trod on for a long while. He remembered the path, it had not looked so different the first time he had found it. It had soothed him that though this forest may once have been peopled, it was unlikely that they’d run into trouble.

They. He hadn’t been alone in the memory.

Vague and distant chatter tugged him forward, the line between reality and recollection blurring. He let go of Roach’s reins, trusting her to follow. He surged through the trees, pushing aside branches. Sunlight and grass filtered through the trees.

Spring.

Buttercups, dandelions, daisies, cornflowers.

A laugh ringing in his ears.

“Geralt look at this! It’s exquisite! We have to break here.”

The Witcher burst through the line of trees and froze. A field of green grass. It was familiar, but not just from the memory. A shiver down the back of his neck. Dread tightened his chest. His eyes landed on a weeping willow, its leaves pale. He didn’t remember it being here the last time.

Uneasily, he made his way towards it. It sagged so low that Geralt could not quite make out its bark. The pale leaves almost sparkled in the sun from the wetness of the leaves.

The Witcher crouched lower as he got closer, seeing a body through the drooping leaves. His hand hovered over his sword. He stopped before the wall of pallid green. The person behind had not moved, clearly unaware of his presence. He reached a hand out and pulled the leaves away, one hand still on the pommel of his sword.

His eyes landed on the man sitting on the damp grass, leaning back against the tree.

Geralt felt like the air had been punched out of him, body becoming immediately slack.

Wide shoulders. Soft, brown hair. Blue, inquisitive eyes.

“Fuck-“ the word came out sounding more like a sob than anything else, “Jaskier”.

Geralt took two steps forward and collapsed on his knees.  

“Jaskier.” He reached out to touch him, to feel him warm and safe.

He felt nothing. His fingers slipped through.

A shimmer and a blur and the bark of a willow tree.

[kin-cosmic]

i just finished kid cosmic season 1 and..

[spoilers obviously]

man..ONLY 10 episodes? I mean I guess it’s getting a continuation so that’s good. anyways heres my thoughts of the overall season and show

so from the animation alone? fucking beautiful.

people said before that it reminded them of gorillaz and I didn’t see it, but NOW I do. it’s so fluid, and it can be chunky at times, but like, spider-verse type you know? anyways it’s just perfect, it’s fluid, it REALLY fits the hero-comic style of the show. and the BACKGROUND ART. GOD. I WOULD JUST PAUSE AT TIMES AND JUST OBSERVE. OF HOW TRULY BEAUTIFUL IT WAS FOR ME. ITS SO COOL.

ok now for the characters themselves? first off, the kid, he’s just perfect, he’s so pure. everything from his tragic backstory to the connection of his scar? yeah. deep. but THATS what makes him so flawed, and ngl i feel like I relate to him there. the show is OBVIOUSLY revolved around him, cause. kid cosmic. but obviously for not TOO long, cause the OTHER characters, that are ALSO great.

like JO! ok, as a teen, i feel like they kind of captured the characteristics of what a teen would “act” in situations on these, so when jo would just stammer and go insane, i RELATED to that sm! anyways she’s a good character! definitely the mom friend of the group, I see her as kid’s older sister, and she’s badass >:)

MOVING on to rosa! I ALSO related to her too, bonus start off because she was hispanic! as a mexican person, I was REALLY HAPPY to see someone cartoon, on screen, that RESEMBLED me you know? anyways besides that, she’s adorable, she can be a perfect kind of that “toddler-annoying”, and ironically SHES the muscle of the group, but yeah, she’s adorable, she’s such a cool chaotic baby! <3

NOW WITH PAPA G. MAN. he’s like, my PERSONAL favorite character in the show, though I WISHED he had more screen-time but the time I HAD with him, I just, loved him, so much. first off I thought it was already amazing how STRIKINGLY similar he is to WANDER. like. they’re the same person i stg, i wouldn’t be surprised if his design was at first a humanized version of wander DRAWN by craig, if you don’t believe me? watch woy, or just SIMPLY OBSERVE the hat. he EVEN says quotes that wander would say and EVEN said when he was in space that “he thought it was a flashback” THATS EPIC. anyways from his character, he’s ALSO the heart of the group, he is so caring and sweet, and especially to kid, and the fact that he is old, idk why that makes his character even MORE great, because he is ALSO so chaotic and ecstatic for a old ass guy . he also gives kid GOOD advice since, he lives with him, like the “freaking out, breathe it out” quote? swag af. anyways as you can tell, he’s my favorite character lol. i love papa g sm. OH YEAH, HIS NAME REVEALED TO BE GEORGE TOO SO . BUT YEAH, LOVE THIS OLD DOG.

SO ALSO WITH TUNA SANDWICH. not much to say here, id say he got the LEAST screentime , makes sense, cause he’s just the cat, but like at episode 8, he starts TALKING, and it’s just 😳 I was SUPRISED, this kinda overhauled his character, anyways besides that and his kinda useless power imo? he’s an adorable old cat, i almost cried when I saw him as a kitten and ALSO saw BABY KID. like that’s so cute how he’s attached to the kid, and THATS how he uses his power in advance, huh, guess it’s not that useless after all? anyways cute cat, funny too, he fucking cursed too so..

now to the side characters? i wasn’t expecting chuck to TURN good? like ok? 😳 i thought he would just be that stereotypical villain throughout the series in which i can love sometimes, but that wasn’t the case? first off his voice change? I feel like that was good! his stitch voice is cute btw lol. and him having MORE screentime too? following along with tuna? ALSO good! also tom kenny did a good job with his performance of him! now the other side characters like jo’s mom, thought she was ok, I wish the others like rosas parents were in it more you know? also the ACTUAL villain? the biker guy, kind of weak, but he was ok too.

now to the plot, I was EXPECTING for this show to be STORY-DRIVEN, and not like a reset cartoon episode like craig’s LAST cartoon was, and wasn’t let down a bit! the pacing goes by fast, but it says EVERYTHING it needed to be said, and it’s TO THE POINT. like the little details too? such as the foreshadowing when jo saw a glimpse of the newspaper about the car accident in the first episode? oof. then it being EXTENDED where to the point the kid gets flashbacks and cries? that hurt, but that was IMPORTANT to the story kinda, it��s also WHY papa g did that fake robot thing, kind of dick move george, but HEY! he did it for his grandson! besides, it never hurts to he- ok I’ll stop LMAOO, anyways i thought the story was good, so was the pacing

i got SO ARTISTICALLY inspired by the art style and the background art, like GOD, where’s the background artist @ ? I GOTTA KNOW, i STILL LOVE IT SM. FROM THE SIMPLISTIC AND SORTA GRAINY LINEART OF THE DESIGNS TO THAT COMIC FEEL? IT FELT NOSTALGIC SOMEHOW NGL. AND I THINK THEY CAPTURED THE FEEL OF THE SETTING TOO.NEW MEXICO MAN. NOT OFTEN YOU GET CARTOONS THAT TAKE PLACE THERE

MAKES ME HAPPY TBH! anyways

the art style was cute imo, great shit here my dude,I already can’t wait for the continuation, it actually ended in a cliffhanger so that’s kinda poopy. but yeah! craig and his crew went ALL out on this show you can tell! his wife and son even worked on this, EVEN ANDY BEAN! a person that WORKED with craig in woy! It’s great! i almost recognized ALL of the voice actors too, except jack fisher, I had NO idea who he was, but to KNOW an ACTUAL kid CAN give good performances? really says something, HES A PERFECTLY good example for a kid voice actor, he was great! as for the others, and the STARS TOO? such as KEITH FERGUSON, AND FRED TASTIACORE, AMANDA C MILLER, GREY GRIFFIN, KEVIN MICHAEL RICHARDSON, PHIL LAMAAR AND EVEN RICH FULCHER!! they were no joke, and obviously GREAT! im surprised keith can do such a good old man voice, wait never mind, he’s done the “orlando-bloo” voice before and that’s kind of a old voice? idk. but here we are.

overall. this show? i rate it 10/10

cant wait to see more of it!

it’s already such a comfort show for me!

i love it sm!

tysm craig for giving me ANOTHER of your cartoons to simply OBSESS over for, you’re the best man! you’re my idol!

k well I guess that’s all. sorry if it was a lot. i just. wanted to say something long about this show.

k well BYE BYE 🧡💜‼️

[remmushound]

Could you write a crossover oneshot, about the 2018 crew (April included) showing off their crazy OP skillz? (Mikey yeeting boats around, Donnie's tech, Leo's portals, etc.)

@assanmaharielsreblogs @itscryptifssil

Rise April = April

2012 April = O’Neil

“Hey guys!”

Leo hated being so exposed, just standing in the open for all to see. Leonardo had reassured him that it was chill here, that they’d never been spotted and weird stuff happened so often that no one would question it if they were. Still, standing there on the docks, open as he was, Leo couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder every few minutes to check for any signs of life disturbing the darkness.

“Watch this!”

Michelangelo resembled the Mikey that Leo knew in so many ways, and it seemed they even shared the same mad skills that all Mikey’s seemed to have in common. The turtle had been loud in his cry, drawing the attention of all below as he leapt from the rooftops and swung out hiskusari-fundo. Like the most beautiful fire work show, the blade and chain ignited in a feiry blaze that caught all of the other box turtles below by surprise, though Michelangelo’s brothers hardly acknowledged the act past a short applause or curious, watching eye.

“Holy—“ Leo sputtered.

“It’s so beautiful!” Mikey’s eyes Reflected the flames like something out of a movie, observing their beauty and hardly breathing.

“HOLY CHALUPAS!” Ejected Donnie, “How did he...?”

“Thats... concerning.” Raph said softly, trying to hide his astonishment behind a chilled facade.

The kusari-fundo shot out over the water, the chain stretching far longer than Leo could remember it actually being. Like an ever growing snake, flying and flying over the orange-reflectinh bay until the blade and a good deal of the chain latched impossibly around the hull of a boat down in the water. Before Michelangelo could come crashing down onto the hard docks, the chain tightened and pulled him into the water at incredible speeds, like a water skier without skis.

“COWABUNGA!”

When he was just about to hit the bough of the ship, the chain gave a sudden, upward jerk and pulled him onto the safety of the deck just in the nick of time. The fire went out, and for a heart wrenching moment none of the turtles could even see the youngest among them, until the teen’s silhouette appeared over the railing and waved to them.

“Uh... how did he—“ Leo began before his taller counterpart cut him off.

“Relax; I’ll go get him.”

Before Leo could even begin to ask how Leonardo would achieve such a feat, Leonardo had drawn his katana and traced a large, arching shape in the air. It was like the blade was slicing through the very fabric of reality, leaving a baby blue glow wherever the tip of the metal touched. When the sword reunited with where it had started, the entire middle erupted into that same mystic glow.

“Woaaaah.” Was all the box turtles could say— even Donnie finding himself speechless at the pure display of power.

Leonardo tucked his katana back in its sheath as he stretched and stepped into the portal, backward so he could click his tongue and give finger guns as he disappeared through the rippling blue. Across the bay came that same ghostly blue glow aboard the ship, and they could see Leonardo step out and wrap his arm around Michelangelo before waving back to the turtles on land.

“Did you build that?” Donnie gasped out, addressing Donatello.

Donatello scoffed. “That? That’s nothing. Raph, show em.” He waved and gave the show off to Raphael, who seemed confused for a second before catching on with a belching bellow.

“Alright, guys!” Raphael slammed his fists together and gave an excited jig, swaying his body back and forth as a determined grin found itself on his face. Eyes narrowed, teeth pulled into a smirk, body moving with untapped potential. “I call this boss mode!”

“Boss mode?” Raph said slowly, trying to hide his growing anticipation and fear. “Looks like a dance to me.”

“Just gotta get warmed up!” He sucked in and huffed out deep breaths, grabbing his Tonfa as he shook out his wrists and started to dig his feet deeper into the ground with each increasingly-violent stomp. His tail lashed. Red sparks started to twist their way around his weapons and wrists, slowly spreading up until the electric aura surrounded him completely. The sparks turned into a fire once the all of him was in their power. His eyes flushed white. The red aura around him grew— and grew, and grew until he was almost as tall as the buildings surrounding him. Despite the awe-inspiring scene, the smaller Raphael within the heart of the beast seemed to be straining under the expended power. The bigger he was, the harder Boss Raph was to control. His teeth were clenched, muscles and veins bulging as life flooded back into tear-filled eyes.

“CONTROLLING JU POWER JITSU... LIKE A BOSS!”

Once the final three words escaped his mouth, he seemed in full control of the situation. When his leg moved, Boss moved in sync. Raphael forced his larger form to wade into the water, his red glow disappearing under the surface as he walked effortlessly over to his brothers on the ship. He held out a hand to them, and both seemed more than happy to hop onboard. Raphael spun around, the movement of his superior self slow and lumbering like most large creatures.

He held the two safely to his chest and carried them to shore, carefully letting them down beside Donatello. Raphael made sure his brothers were on sound footing before finally letting his form pixelate away into nothing and lower him to the ground in a gentle grasp. Leonardo and Donatello were there to support their older brother as he collapsed into them, his legs feeling little more than flexible foam under his great weight. Just from the maybe-minute long quest, Raphael was soaked in sweat and his plastron heaved with begging, thankful gasps of cool air.

“Sorry.” Raphael gasped to the other team, laughing and forcing his heavy arm up to wave. “Kinda tiring, yknow.”

“INCREDIBLE!” Donnie gasped, hurrying over to investigate Raphael though all traces of mystic power was gone from his body. “How often can you do that?!”

“Uh. Never done it more than once in a day.” Raphael rubbed the back of his neck, “it’s pretty draining.”

“I bet!” Donnie squealed, “maybe it’s like that because your metabolism speeds up dramatically— or, or your body adjusts for how long it SHOULD have taken you to do that normally, or—“

“It’s his chakra.” Donatello answered simply.

“Chakra?” Donnie deflated as he asked.

“Seven power points through the body, centers of magic? Ring a bell?”

Leo hummed. “Master Splinter taught me a technique called Reiki thats supposed to heal chakras...”

“So like, what’s your super magic power thing?” Mikey was practically pressing his nose to Donatello’s as he spoke

Donatello’s nose scrunched up at the invasion of personal space, but he quickly brushed it off when Leo grabbed his brother and pulled him away.

“I, little man, have the greatest ‘magic’ of all! SCIENCE!”

“Here we go,” Raph rolled his eyes.

“BEHOLD!” Donatello pulled his bō staff free of its holster and held it to the sky in a pose not unlike the Statue of Liberty. “MY TITANIUM REINFORCED TECH BO!”

Raph gave a slow clap. “Wow. Wonderful. So cool.”

Leo shoved Raph pointedly. “Thats... wonderful, Donnie.”

“Oh. OH HO HO!” Donatello laughed, motioning to his precious staff, “you think this is everything? Au contraire, my fellow shelled companions! This is the top of the line, most up to date technology in my arsenal. Complete with a glider...”

Two wings shot out from either end of the staff, much to the surprise of the turtles gathered.

“Chainsaw! Laser gun! Tranquilizer! Buzz saw! Dual sided rocket propellers! And of course a selfie stick!”

As Donatello listed off his tech-bo’s enhancement, the once simple-looking staff shifted between each feature, ending with a selfie stick that extended far beyond the reach of a normal one and took a snap after the few seconds it took Donatello to pose with two fingers extended and his tongue sticking out.

Leo blinked to try and bring himself out of the blindness induced by the sudden flash. Donnie recovered from it quickly, though his eyes were just as bright the light of the camera had been. He ran over to Donatello practically fit to burst as the softshell gave a smug smirk.

“THAT WAS SO COOL! HOW’D YOU EVER GET THE MONEY TO MAKE ALL OF THAT?!”

Donatello booped his older counterparts snout. “By no legal means.”

April decided to insert herself into the conversation before it could get much farther. “Wanna see what my power can do?”

Eight sets of eyes turned on her.

“You have a power too?” Mikey beaned.

April laughed and gave the mutant a pet on the head. “Sure do! Watch this!”

She lifted her baseball bat from her back, tapping it a few times on the ground as a green glow Overcame the wood. Donatello reached into his shell armor and produced a baseball, tossing it high into the air and out of sight.

“APRILLLLLLLL~”

She dug her feet into the earth as her eyes ignited in the same lime as her bat. She swung the bat a few times, super sight locking onto the small ball as it came hurdling downward.

“O’NEIL!”

With impossibly perfect timing, she spun around once more and brought her bat slamming down on the falling target, sending the ball flying once more in a blaze of neon green glory over the city’s horizon.

“HOME RUN!!”

[wyslyyzr]

HOW DID I MISS THE FIRST LISS MEME ROFLMAO do it. I dare you. I double dog dare you.

◈ for a first kiss between our muses.  |  @sebastianshaw

through the motions of life, erik has always tried to be decisive. it is a change from the quivering and persecuted child he was, but even then, max had ground nails into knives, and on more than one occasion, decided he would die to kill his oppressors, thwarted only by misstep. he prides himself on his strengths, but there is one distinct category he's had a tumultuous time with: interpersonal relationships. they were often elusive at worst, and complicated at best; his methods were disavowed but he was loved, or he was not loved and was feared, or he was precisely asocial to the point of withdrawal. it was always a struggle, and erik's loneliness was silent, tucked away beneath his breast bone with the rest of his pain he had no desire to aerate.

he doesn't particularly like sebastian shaw, but he tolerates him as demanded or requested by those around him that he respects more, which allows for a subsistence of social dynamic he wished he could simply scorch to nothingness. shaw is oppressively annoying, but erik suspects even if he could train himself to offer minimal reactions, shaw might not retract--his interest ran a bit deeper than mere needling, though erik could not quite deduce what it was that interested shaw. his strength or convictions? maybe, but it was difficult to imagine sebastian approved of how he used them--he'd almost made that clear already. erik simply pretends that isn't there, that he can exist in relative peace, though he feels sebastian's eyes on him rather consistently.

this is a quiet moment, one erik relishes, even if it's beside someone like sebastian shaw. he offers ambivalent reactions, responses, a neutrality meant not to reveal his hand or thoughts, but it would be a lie to claim he didn't enjoy this, at least; the sprawling scenic view of high risen paths and low valleys of clear water, the refracting light from the falling sun, the subtle breeze that tickled his throat and forearms and hands, that lazily tangled in his hair.

when shaw gestures, albeit vaguely, to the ink stretched across his bare forearm, erik's brow sets in clear annoyance, a sharpness narrowing his eyes. sebastian lifts a finger to tut, oh, please, erik, i am not mocking you. he watches shaw fold a leg over the knee, expecting a verbal display of stupidity, or at least, something that would evoke a tremor of rage, but to his surprise, it doesn't come.

shaw mumbles in a way that seems deliberate, like he was sharing exactly what he meant to, a storybook that eliminated any opportunity for vulnerability--like if he said what he meant in an exact tone, it couldn't possibly sound like something that was about him, something that made him less than impervious and grandiose. when he speaks, its of his father, of an impoverished childhood, though the details are deliberately obscured. perhaps a brusque and narrow comparison to what erik endured, but perhaps not done maliciously.

this once, at least.

the bars of tendon in erik's wrist flex as his fingers spider about the rim of his offered glass of champagne, and the taste is fragrantly sweet. he'd observed the bottle had been appropriately stamped with a kosher seal, and wondered if that had been intentional, too, or if shaw had deferred to his misconstrued idea of what exactly kosher meant. that was fine by erik, either way; he hadn't had a good glass of wine or champagne since passover. see, i am not quite the privileged lout you seem to think i am, erik.

erik rolls his eyes, though a bud of amusement burrows into the side of his cheek, pressing a soft line beside his lip. ' oh, believe you me, shaw, i still think that of you. ' he stands from his seat, the sunlight touching his white clothes in such a way that it made erik look otherworldly, illuminating his pale hair, his draped shawl, the tight fit of his long legs. ' i'm unsure what your motivation is for sharing such knowledge with me, ' erik begins, opening his hand in offering to take shaw's emptied cup, ' as it would be out of character to think of you doing anything without an ulterior motive, ' he raises his brows at shaw, though the gesture is almost playful, ' but.. regardless, i appreciate that it was shared. ' shaw rolls his hand on the ball joint of his wrist, flicking his fingers in a dismissive manner. i have servants for that. so erik drops his hand, and shaw rises from his seat in tandem, electing to take erik's emptied glass himself. erik watches him set the pair aside on a small, cherry-oak polished end table that bore nothing else but what looked to be a cigar box. take it as a display of good faith.

' you do nothing in good faith. '

quite untrue, and such an unyielding accusation. you think so low of me. ' is that so? give me an example of your good faith. ' when shaw staggers to an idle, searching for something that would appease magneto, erik almost laughs in his face. ' i did not think so. ' shaw reaches for his arm before he can retreat from the balcony, his hold unkind enough to make erik jerk in response, but he relaxes when it becomes evident to him sebastian merely wants to gain precedence over this debate, and keep him here to speak. well, i make regular donations to a homeless children's education fund in pittsburgh.

' okay. ' thats an example, as you demanded. ' i suppose so. '

when shaw contemplates him, erik thinks he looks rather dull. he watches his brow press into a line. when you learned the scarlet witch and quicksilver were your children, what did you do, magnus?

erik raises a pale brow, something hot and brittle waning in his chest. the sudden switch in topic is jarring, and suspicious to erik. he blinks, averting his eyes from sebastian in thought. ' i held my granddaughter in my arms. i thought about all the time i had missed, and i felt sorry for myself, and sad for them. and i got over it, and began trying to fill in the gaps. why? what does-- '

shaw, perhaps realizing he had yet a hold on erik's arm, lets him go. nothing. it was--a ghost from my past has come to haunt me. you, so filled with them, might have known what to do. i was.. perhaps, asking for .. help.

' help? you? ' ridiculous, isn't it? it feels disgustingly wrong.

' well, thats your problem. ' erik presses his finger into sebastian's chest, albeit the pressure is slight; it's meant to get his attention, nothing else. ' you only accept help when it means theres less work for you to do. what do you do when it makes you vulnerable? i struggled with that for years, and it is still wanting. '

there is a long suffering moment of silence between them, the sun continuing its descent on the horizon, bloated colors of orange and pink crawling over glass. finally, one of shaw's near-comically large hands raises to crest the side of erik's face, his thumb curling to the hinge of erik's jaw, beneath his ear. he tilts erik's head like he's appraising his face, and erik scrunches his nose. ' what are you doing? '

kissing him is certainly the last thing erik could have expected. in fact, it's so left-field to him, so abrupt and strange, that for a moment, erik doesn't know exactly what to do. shaw pulls erik's head down just slightly to compensate for the inch of difference in height, an act erik would suspect meant to be domineering. when his senses come back into focus, he can taste alcohol, a hint of smoke, something beneath that likely to be meat. his heart rushes into his ears, and the swirl of panic pushes erik to respond, his suspended belief finally giving like an overcrowded dam. he balls a fist against shaw's clavicle and shoves with force, successfully prying him free, and nearly knocking him into the railing.

' gott! du khazer, what in--why did you do that? ' erik roars, wiping his face in his sleeve.

i thought we were having a "moment".

' no! '

[am-the-renegade]

Bangus

Tim Drake x Arnoren Valliere (OC)

The wind seemed nice.

I admit, the scenery and the ambience hits different in a Southeast Asian countryside compared to Gotham’s skyscrapers and noise coming from the cars.

It was also noisy here though, if you consider big trucks and those so called— tricycles.

It’s like this motorcycle and has this passenger looking type of cart at the side. Dude, you could fit more than four people in that thing.

As I tried to figure out the physics of this vehicle of sorts, I hear footsteps from behind me approaching before feeling a warm hand pat against my shoulder.

“Dinner is almost up. My cousin has cooked us bangus dredged in crispy fry.”

Crispy fry.

It took me a whole year to understand that it was like some flour mixed with seasonings to act as coating for fried foods.

“Bangus?” I question my love one. Her hair in a bun and wearing what seemed to be a sleeveless tank top. Who was I not to agree? It was really hot this afternoon.

But I cant help the fact that she also looked very invit-

“Tim?”

My thought bubble popped the moment I heard my name calling me out from her lips.

“You were saying Ren?”

I really have to stop thinking about those thoughts.

“I’m saying we’re going back to Gotham tomorrow. I can’t wait to go back to them-“

She meant Dick, Jason and her little brother, Damian. It still buggles me to this day as to how she and Damian could get along.

I know I am the fiancee but I have the right to know about this- anomaly.

But thats why I love her, she can tame that Demonspawn. In her own way.

“At the same time, I am going to miss my relatives. But I know I will be seeing them again during my lola’s birthday.”

Lola. (Loh-lah)

She explained it to me when we started dating. Lola was a counterpart of Grandma or Grandmother in English.

“Maybe next time we can bring Dick, Jason and Damian. Bruce wouldnt mind…possibly.” I scratched my head as I contemplated about my answer. Bruce can handle Gotham. He has Barbara and Stephanie and Duke.

“I should really ask Bruce about that. Considering yer job.” I heard Ren emphasized.

Yeah my job.

Our job as Gotham’s Urban Legends.

“You do have a point. Hopefully, Bruce agrees.” I pull her close and ruffle her hair a bit. As I did so, I could see her bun coming undone slowly. Her expression seemingly disliking it but I know my girl loves it when I do that.

Ayiee.

Okay. The filipino mannerisms are getting to me especially when it comes to fluff. They say that when one feels elated resulting from an action done in a relationship or moments with a crush.

“Stop it.” I hear her whine but I simply chuckle continuing to do so.

“Nah. Besides you look better with your hair being free.”

“Its messy.” She complained but I still chuckle.

“Ren, mangaon na.”

I hear her cousin call out. I turn to her confused as to what she said.

“She said its time to eat.” She giggled.

“Oh.” I said in awe and surprise. I’m still pretty amazed that she can understand two languages.

We head inside the house to see that the kids, nieces and nephews, were already seated around the table. One of her nieces was already eating the viand by hand.

This another thing I learned from Ren. I had to learn how to eat using my hands. Left and the right, acted as a spoon and a fork.

Thats how they explained it to me anyway.

I sat beside Ren whom was busy placing rice on my plate while I observed her relatives- taking their own share of the fish.

“Here ya go. Thats one for you.” She said, happily and sitting down next to me.

“Thanks.” I say before noticing the smaller one look up to me.

“Mouli na pud si kuya Tim?”

Kuya.

Every time I hear that word, it just- I feel like I am on cloud nine.

Kuya (Kuuyah)

Means older brother in English, and I am nowhere near being their brother- its how they would address someone older than them.

I look to Ren again for translation. who seemed to have that expression of being heart stricken.

“She asks if you are leaving as well.”

I also admit, that little gal- that small niece of hers, has my heart as well.

“Yes.” I tell the small one. She nodded and then walked away.

Confused, I then look up to the parents that tried their hardest to speak English. It’s not that they couldn’t speak English- they weren’t not just fluent as Ren.

“She’s probably shy.” I hear her mother say to which I nod.

I then take up my share of the fish with my hands before looking at Ren who was nitpicking the flesh off the fish. I knew that she was very picky with fish because she hates the bones.

Her eyes were so focused on it that I began to be amused and let out a chuckle.

“Stop.” Ren scoffed. I laughed a bit now.

“Is she-“

I hear her cousin speak up. Ren and I turn to face her.

“Is she like this back at Gotham?” She asked me. And it caused Ren’s brow to raise.

“Not really. She always tells me that she has problems eating fish.” I explain. Ren was listening as she was picking the flesh still.

“We eat salmon.” I added, Ren becoming smug after that.

“OA ba nimo oie.”

“What?” I hear Ren whine. She looked to me and explained that she was overeacting- that her cousin was telling her that she was overeacting.

“Sometimes.” I add, just for the fun. I hear her cousin and husband laugh while Ren was not pleased.

I do hope she won’t kill me tonight but possibly she might call on Dick because of what I said. Ren sees Dick as her older brother. Its adorable.

Ren continued eating then, taking the flesh and dipping it in what seemed to be a day old dipping sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar and chilies.

I swear, these people really love their dipping sauces.

“Try it.” She said, taking the bowl and placing it before me.

She didn’t have to tell me twice. I already dipped it in the sauce-their sauces are pretty good and in sync with most of the viands.

“Guess my culture is rubbing off on you.” She giggled and with a smirk.

“You’re not wrong about that.” I reply, placing the fish on top of the piping, hot rice and using my hand to take it and eat.

“Yer also getting good in eating with yer bare hands, right te?” I hear Ren compliment me.

“Bitaw. Imong g.tudloan?”

“Kaayo. Nalingaw raman intawn.”

Ren laughed while I saw her cousin quite amuse about what I assume was my skill in eating with my hands.

“She asked if I taught you. And I said yes and that you pretty much enjoyed it.”

Oh.

She wasn’t lying though. I enjoyed it- though it was difficult and to do it with hot rice- but overall it was a good experience.

I laugh dryly because I was embarrassed while I continued eating.

“This is called Bang-gus?” I feel like I wasn’t saying it right.

“Its called Bangus. Bang- screw it. Its called Milkfish. Its the national fish in the Philippines and why its called Milkfish because these are the only ones that drink milk.” Ren explained, and all eyes were on me.

“Oh wow thats really- youre pretty much joking on the part about drinking milk arent you?”

“Pretty much. As expected by Tim!” She laughed a lot now.

As expected- duh. Ren. Dear. You’re pretty much dating one of the World’s Greatest Detective.

“But I aint joking about the national fish.” She added, with a grin.

After awhile, my share of the fish had been finished, leaving only the head and bones while I watched as Ren finished— the banana.

“Why didnt you finish the fish?” I ask.

Ren looked at her relatives before looking at me.

“Because—“

“Because she doesnt like fish.” Her cousin ended the sentence for her.

“Hoy!”

Her relatives laughed at her while she became bashful. I just held her hand secretly to comfort her and then pulled away.

“You used both hands?!” I raised my left hand.

“I mean I always use the right hand to eat, Tim! But when it comes to some certain dishes, its good to use two hands!”

“And yet I am only using my one hand”. I countered to which Ren laughed.

“Sometimes, yer research can be false.”

Not gonna lie.

She had a point.

[nightswithkookmin]

WHEN JIKOOK ARE SHADING EACHOTHER:2020 Japan Comback Interview Analysis

WARNING: Full on angst ahead.

If you believe Jikook are holding hands chanting Kumbaya all the time while they walk into a purple sunset this is not for you. Jikook is real. At least to me and as a real relationship they have their fair share of ups and downs.

DISCLAIMER: Everything expressed in here is my thoughts, observations and opinion. It is not meant to offend any of the members involved or anyone else.

A Little Background:

Its my and a few other Jikookers observation that Jikook fight. A lot. They separate or breakup from time to time too. You may or may not have caught these moments as they happen but doesn't mean they don't happen all.

For me, 2018 and 2020 have been the pinnacle of such moments. Jikook are having issues- have been having issues. They are still going through a rough patch unfortunately. But not to be alarmed, they are working through it.

Now I can't say with certainty when such said issues began. I can only speculate. I started noticing some sort of tension between them right before their vacation somewhere between March/August 2019 to date.

I'm talking about their Bon Voyage 4 moments, the tattoo girl scandal, Jimins Paris scandal, Jingle, MMA, Jin's Birthday Vlive moments and all those moments that had us raising our brows.

And when I say started noticing I mean from across the various means they've been communicating with us- across their Weverse posts, Twitter, Vlives, interviews etc

I like to look at all these moments combined to see the bigger picture and not just dwell on individual moments as and when they are presented to us because BigHit do not feed us their moments in real time.

I know what you're thinking and no, Jimin flying all over to South Korea to celebrate Jks birthday wasn't him making a grand gesture for the sake of it. It is my opinion that that was just him extending an olive branch to fix things between them because... More on that later.

To understand the shade I'm referring to you'd have to understand why they are shading eachother to begin with:

Jeon Jungkook. To put it simply, Jeon Jungkook hates not being with Jimin 24/7. HE HATES IT. He hates when Jimin is not with him. When Jimin is not around him. When Jimin is with anybody that is not him. Bless him. He has proven this time and time again with all the times he's cheated to be in the same group as Jimin during Runs. His 'Jimin hyung and I will sleep here' his 'thats the friendship' statements he throws at people when Jimin has a moment with any of the members that remotely resembles anything other than friendship, SateliteJeon, and my personal favorite TeleporterJeon etc

Now I suspect this is just due to his personality as an INTP. He has the tendency to latch on to things that feels falimiliar to him and would fall back to it so he feels safe and anchored. He has latched on to Jimin and uses him as his emotional anchor and safe zone and we thank him for that. Thanks to him we've had all those amazing moments as well as the Jeonlous and now TeleporterJeon moments that only proves to us crazy Jikookers that we aren't that crazy and that Jikook is real. Bless him.

Now Jimin is like that too, don't get it twisted. This man is so deep into Jk he won't even hear anything we say. Call him by his JK. Bless him. Jimin is also very possessive of JK if not more possessive. Its just his slytherin ass does a better Job at hiding it.

The problem is, this differences in their personalities may have likely created a lot of tension and problems in their relationship with each other as well as in the relationship they have with their friends and bandmates.

The difference here being while JK latches onto Jimin because he is an introvert and have anxiety issues and isn't exactly the social type; JM is the very opposite of that.

Jimin is a highly extroverted person and loves to maintain other relationships besides his romantic one and there is nothing wrong with that.

See that face on Tae here? Now that's the face of an angry man right there. Tae literally held his breath when JK came to stand next to him because he was afraid JK was gonna ask him to move so he could stand with Jimin instead like he does with the other members like Hobi and Suga most times. To me, this was him feeling like his little bromance moment with his soulmate was being threatened and intruded on.

EXHIBIT A:

Jimin of course noticed what JK was up to. JK was being territorial. Jimin glanced at Tae through the corner of his eyes and moved to stand behind Tae. Later he tried to cheer Tae up by dancing with him.

We've seen moments time and again where JK has moved to physically block Tae from interacting with Jimin on stage and during fansigning events etc and mind you Tae is Jimin's best friend and soulmate.

This face right here! Thanks for attending my Tedtalk. Have a nice day!

Tae said it not me. It seems JK has the tendency to isolate JM and keep Jimin from his friends most times both on and off camera.

In this video, Tae's expression after he said JK was keeping JM from coming to do the live with him said it all.

Why would Jimin do that? Because I believe Tae had complained to him several times how he feels about JK keeping him all to himself and interfering with their moments most times. Frankly, I'd do same if my friends' partners kept interfering with our girls night.

And also because Jimin likes to reassure people of his love and loyalty when they feel their bond with him is being threatened by someone else. We've seen him do this with JK too a couple of times like when JK saw RM wrap his hand around Jimin during that live and he ducked and later did a heart for him. You know which VLive I'm talking about. Moving on.

Do I need to say anything here? Hobi is JMs roommate and even he complained in this VLive how he was missing JM. So the question is, where the bloody hell had JM been?! Why is everyone he is supposed to be close to missing him? His Bestfriend/soulmate and now his roommate? Fo you see the pattern?

This is not much of a stretch if you think about it because Tae has literally said this to Jimin before when he told him on the live he was missing him and JM had to apologize for that.

Truth is, Jeon Jungkook can be a bit of a bully sometimes when it comes to his position next to Jimin. That's his spot and he won't hesitate to claim it no matter who is in the way.

And for JK, we all know he doesn't interact much with the members off camera. Tae has said once that JK ignores him when they aren't filming which is why when JK was given a secret mission to Ignore Tae, Tae didn't even notice.

Now we all know KBS Gayo is Vmin land and so having JK try to stamp his Jikook stamp on it must have been tough for Tae.

RM has also said how JK doesn't even call him and Jin has said JK barely answers his calls and texts. This is not to say JK is a bad person or hates his other bandmates. He loves them all. He is just an introvert.

Now this is getting longer than intended so I'm going to break this post into two parts.

EXHIBIT B:

But to sum up everything I have been saying and to get to the point of this post, JKs possessiveness over JM for sometime has been taking a toll on JM and the group in general as it has been putting a lot of stress on JMs relationship with others.

To the point, some of the members have even been seen to side eye JK sometimes when he comes around JM and some do try to separate them or put JK in his place, acting like they don't approve of their relationship etc.

Now, I won't name names or point out such moments because it can be a bit controversial and I don't want anyone twisting my words around and calling me names. That would hurt my feelings because I love them all and my intentions are not to be malicious in any way. I'm just pointing out an observation and of course I could be wrong about everything.

I don't know for sure, but it's my belief that Jikook have been advised to spend sometime apart because perhaps people had noticed their codependent tendencies have been reaching exponential heights. It could have been their therapist or their friends or loved ones but since March/August 2019 through late 2019 to date is when I noticed they have been trying to spend time apart.

By this I mean, their vacation apart last year, JM staying with Tae for sometime this year, JM visiting his family in Busan this year, spending time with his friends and JK on the other hand taking much time to himself, picking up new hobbies such as reading, posting on Weverse about how he misses JM which I analyzed in my previous post, JM responding with how he was drinking alone watching the rain;

JK not knowing JM had taken up pop dancing, not knowing JM had taken up boxing- PS: Jikook live together, ride together, do everything together, JM calls Jks Mum Mum etc. They are super close and have proven they know every intimate detail about each other like the food they like, the briefs they wear, how long they shower, when they go to bed, what time they wake up, what song they have on their alarm etc. So when suddenly they don't know certain less intimate detail about eachother it is usually a sign that that information/detail came to exist at a time they were separated and weren't filling eachother in on what they've been up to when they are temporarily apart. Like during the recent Jikook Vlive when Jimin was surprised JK had eaten Gimbap. He seemed really shocked by that information and I wonder why. *smirk

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Signed,

GOLDY

[generic-hufflepuff1]

The Fun Part (Tma Analysis)

Heyo! Here's the part two to This, using the data from Here.  

Now in part one I give some of my rationalisation as to why certain Entities show up in statements less often than others.  

In this one I’ll just be pointing out some interesting things in what the numbers say and/or some rationalization for weird numbers or sometimes just making up a in universe reason for some of Jonny’s writing quirks (Like how if you look at the numbers Jonny just finds ideas for Hunt episodes harder to think of) 

Im gonna be breaking this down into seasons 

Season 1

In Season 1 the most frequent entities are The Corruption and The Stranger (8 episodes each).  

Both of these make sense.  The main antagonist of Season 1 is Jane Prentis and having looked at all the Stranger episodes* it is quite clear that it is Jonny setting up for future arcs and plotlines.  But that's the boring reason. The fun reason is that The Corruption is ready to perform its ritual and The Stranger is busy setting up for their own ritual and as a result there are plenty of statements within easy reach of Jonathan Sims for these two entities in particular, with two to four times the number of statements of the other entities.  

Other notable entities are The Spiral and The Flesh.  

Mostly just because they each get a couple more entities than is the usual as ten of the fifteen entities have between two to four episodes.  The Spiral gets a bit of a boost from Micheal popping up every now and then and that works for me.  The Flesh is a bit weirder I can't really think of a writing reason for it all I can say is that they tend to be quite striking and it's quite clear Jonny had a lot of fun with them and honestly that's fair.  But again, boring.  One reason could be that as mentioned in the other post there is a bit of a requirement for a statement giver notably they need to be desperate enough and you know still alive to go to the Archives, and these statements** are quite obvious as The Flesh has no patience for subtlety, but still enjoys the act of delaying the suffering.  

And the final segment “What's the Eye Doing?”

The reason i'm including this is because Ive noticed that the Eye is strange in that it is the most popular entity over all of the show but is not the most frequent in most of the seasons.  So Im just gonna keep an eye on it.  

The Eye shows up in three episodes: 12 First Aid, 23 Schwartzwald and 40 Human Remains,  and of these only really the Mag 23 is the only real statement about it I just find this interesting no real notes about it though.  

*1 Angler Fish, 2 Do Not Open, 3 Across The Street, 24 Strange Music, 28 Skin Tight, 34 Anatomy Class, 39 Infestation, 40 Human Remains

** 5 Thrown away, 14 Piecemeal,  17 The Boneturner's Tale, 18 The Man Upstairs, 20 Desecrated host, 30 Killing Floor

Season 2

Now sure this season has three entities (The Stranger, The Buried and The Spiral) that have more episodes than the others and I will talk about them but what stands out more than anything else is just how spread out it is. I mean with the exception of those three and the Extinction the rest have between two to four with half of them having four and Hell even The Extincion gets one.  This is by far the most fair the spread ever gets.  Here’s the spread:

6: Stranger, Buried, Spiral

4: Desolation, Dark, End, Web, Eye

3: Vast, Flesh, Corruption

2: Hunt, Slaughter, Lonely

1: Extinction

So Why the Stranger, Buried and Spiral

Again the Stranger is being set up for season three and are working on their ritual, not to mention the presence of NotSasha gives a sizable boost.  The Spiral is a bit stranger but at this point Micheal is still running around and this gives it the needed boost.  The Buried is the only one that is not immediately obvious, after looking through the episodes* it still baffles me, as far as I can tell it's due to the focus on the Tunnels.  It could be that Jonathan in an attempt to understand the Tunnels tried to find similar statements and as a result the trend developed.  

The Extinction?

So season 2 has the first mention of number 15, well maybe it does.  See the thing with most of the Extinction’s manifestations is that it could maybe be something else entirely.  The Extinction episode of the season is 65 Binary and might be the Spiral instead but the focus on a new type of life and technology means that it is very difficult to say really.  

What's the Eye Doing?

The Eye falls right into the average place in the hierarchy for the season with four episodes.  Those being: 53 Crusader, 60 Observer Effect, 62 First Edition and 79 Hide and Seek.  These seem to work to expand what exactly the Eye is.  As I said, season 1 kind of lacks this and here Mag 53, 62 and 79 bring up the weirdness of the archivist, whereas Mag 60 explores how the Eye can manifest.  But the Eye isn't special every single entity gets fleshed out in season 2.

*41 Too Deep, 50 Foundations, 51 High Definition, 61 Hard Shoulder, 66 Held in Customs, 71 Underground

Season 3

This is the run away season.  This one is similar to the previous one but it does skew quite wildly at its end to favour the Stranger, for entirely understandable reasons.  But ultimately is still quite fair with only The Eye and The Extinction fall outside the three to five range.  

So the Stranger 

The Stranger has ten episodes this season and why is quite obvious as the climax of the season revolves around the Stranger.  Not much to say here.  

Again the Extinction

Now my notes had 114 Cracked Foundation as one of the Extinction episodes but for some reason I can no longer find any mention of it on the Wiki so I have no Idea what happened here.  My guess is that in the wake of Mag 196 and 197 this particular entry got a lot of attention and the link with the Extinction removed. 

What's the Eye doing?

This is the first season in which the Eye starts to take up the main spotlight with seven episodes. However looking through the statements* and it does not really appear in the statements but rather in the pre and post statement drama, as Jonathan and Elias use their abilities.  So as a result the Eye ends up feeling very different compared to the other entities and we don't see the ‘Horror’ of it for a lot of the podcast.  

* 82 The Eyewitnesses,  92 Nothing Beside Remains,  105 Total War,  106 A Matter Of Perspective,  117 Testament,  118 The Masquerade, 119 Stranger and Stranger

Season 4

So season four is very, very weird in that the Extinction is the most frequent entity (tied with the Eye).  It does make sense as Jonny needs to catch the audience up on what exactly it is as it does not have the breath of work that the other entities have, so as a result Lucas spends his Time telling Martin about it. 

Other notable Entities

The Lonely is also quite popular this season with five episodes but that also makes sense due to not only the presence of Lucas but also Martin’s fall into the Lonely.  Other than that The Hunt only has one statement* that has to do with it’s ritual.  The combination of this and the Extinction’s frequency in this season and the hunts underperformance in other seasons (4 in season 1, 2 from season 2, 3 from season 3 and 1 in this season) means that it has just slightly one more episode than the Extinction.   I do cover my rationalisation for this in the other post (Here)

What’s the Eye Doing?

Leading the pack that's what.  This season also has what other seasons lack statements that the Eye features in.  Now this is probably Jonny finally having the chance to explore the concept properly as it is a bit harder to really understand, but in world it could be due to a combination of Elias trying to keep Jonathan blind and Jonathan trying to explore his new identity as a ful blown avatar and going about it like a baby gay, consuming all media surrounding the topic.  

*133 Dead Horse

Season 5

I debated not including this section but hell I'll just add on any updates if it's necessary.  

So in this one to (to no one's surprise) the Eye is the golden child in this season after a brief jaunt into a domain for each fear the focus becomes almost entirely Eye focused, and if you want to be technical you can just add the Eye to every single episode but I did not.  

The runner up

The Web is definitely making up good numbers especially with how the finally is turning out. 

Other notables

The Lonely, Buried and Spiral all get a little above average.  Why? Well Martin has to deal with some baggage from Season 4 and Gaslight Girlboss is still running around but the Buried is a bit weird.  Again I think jonny just finds it easy to write claustrophobic horror, but again thats boring.  So lets have a look* and when I did I noticed that all three of these (and the Eye and Web) all are in 167 Curiosity so that adds a bit to the count.  But other than that its clear that it’s easy to add the Buried on top of another entity so its clear that the Eye simply likes how the Buried spices up the other flavours of fear.  And then finally the Extinction and Slaughter only get one each (163 In The Trenches and 175 Epoch) and they are the compulsory exploration episodes and unless the finale really is a complete curveball this probably won't change.  

What’s the Eye Doing? 

Having the time of its god damn life.  

*166 The Worms, 167 Curiosity, 184 Like Ants, 185 Locked In, 195 Adrift

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Return Her pt. 1

The Company (and friends) x Reader

Not being from Middle Earth has brought you some amazing moments, but this should’ve been expected.

You knew going into Mirkwood after Gandalf’s warnings was a horrible idea, but for some reason you didn’t think to stay behind. 

First everyone went nuts, yourself included (you could barely remember your own name at some points, it was ridiculous). Then there were the spiders, thankfully you got to avoid being webbed up by those disgusting arachnids but you got lost on your way to help.

By some luck you found everyone while they were attempting to leave their confines of the webbing, but then the spiders came back so your luck didn’t feel so good anymore. 

You guys kill a bunch, Kili gets separated… oh, and there is also the elves who are speaking in their own tongue.

The blond elf who appeared to be the leader of this merry group of losers was talking about one of the swords you all acquired after everyone was searched (the only thing they found on you was a small weapon and your backpack from home, also a smack to the hand that was frisking you) when he noticed you. 

The male elf mouthing off to Thorin stops his little liar thief speech abruptly though when his eyes fall on you and your strange clothes and weird colorful backpack held by the elf who searched you.

“You. Come here.“ 

Uh oh.

Simply staring at him dumbly for a few moments, you turn your head from side to side and then point at yourself. “M-Me?”

He nods his head once, annoyance and a trace of amusement showing on his face. You twiddle your thumbs together and shrug your shoulders, taking a step forward only for a large hand to pull you back, “What do you want with her, pointy eared freak!” Hisses Dwalin next to you

The elf says nothing and continues to stare you down. 

Everyone is looking between the two of you at this point, and you begin to feel that all to familiar mixture of anxiousness and awkwardness creeping up on you. “Um… I’d rather not…”

He still stares, as if he’s looking into your very soul. “I will not repeat myself.” Now he just looks annoyed. 

You huff indignantly and shake Dwalin’s hand off your shoulder, “Fine! Whatever.”

You shuffle over awkwardly, ignoring the protesting of some of the others as you go to stand next to Thorin and in front of him.

His intense blue eyes drill holes into you as he sizes you up, “An odd human girl with 13 dwarves. Clothes I’ve never seen before and a bag that is otherworldly. Interesting.” You do your best to hold his gaze, keeping your face as blank as possible.

“That isn’t any of your concern.” Thorin states next to you, but the elf still doesn’t turn his leer from you.

So what do you do?

What you do best. 

“Is that a dagger in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” Your expression doesn’t change as you say this, face remaining neutral as he falters.

Ding ding, Y/N 1, this guy 0.

“Excuse me?” He looks to be shocked by what you say, but you only shrug your shoulders as some of the others behind you laugh. 

But your witty victory is short lived because now everyone is being hauled off to some elf kingdom where you’re sure Santa must live.

When you go to rejoin the others though, the blond elf puts a hand on your shoulder and states in a demanding tone, “You stay with me.”

Thorin turns quickly upon hearing that, “Leave her be, elf! She is one of us, and she will remain by our sides.” Some of the others shout their agreement. 

The elf doesn’t listen. 

And thats how you end up trailing behind the tall elf right in front of you while some of the others (Thorin, Fili, Dwalin, some others) look back to make sure you’re still there from time to time.

It warms your little ole heart! If only you weren’t all being led to imprisonment that is.

When the elf palace (you aren’t quite sure what else to call it) comes into view, it takes your breath away. Yeah, these guys are kinda assholes, but the architecture is astounding! 

You couldn’t keep the awe from showing on your face, and when the elf glances back at you he chuckles. “Never seen an elvish structure before?”

You saw Rivendell which was also lovely, but they’re both beautiful in their own ways you suppose.

Yeah this guy is the enemy, but you just can’t keep yourself from mumbling how stunning it all is. He laughs again, seemingly a bit more friendly towards you than your dwarven companions, and continued on his way. 

Upon entering the structure, you find that the outside is not nearly as awe-inspiring as the inside though.

The twisting trees and twinkling lights inside mesmerize you. It’s so grand, you almost forget that these elves are basically abducting you from your company by keeping you separated so far from them.

Your eyes fall upon the red-headed elf who helped out Kili, and your mouth runs before you can stop it. “Woah, shes freaking gorgeous." 

At your sudden speech the blond male elf guy looks down at you with confusion, his eyebrows knitted together. "What?" 

"Er, your friend over there is really pretty.” You restate, looking away as a flush darkens your face. 

He doesn’t get a chance to say anything else before said she-eld falls into step with you and the blond.

She says something in that Elvish language of theirs and looks down at you, and once again you speak before thinking. 

“Excuse me, do you have a map? Because I’m afraid I’ve gotten lost in your eyes.” It’s cheesy where you’re from, but here you’re a damn poetic genius. 

Her face tints red at your words and she looks up at the blond guy briefly before looking at you again, “I-I’m sorry?" 

"Oh, forgive me that was so forward. I just can’t help myself around someone so lovely.” Yeah, you’re laying it on thick, and it seems to be working in your favor pretty well cause she’s blushing and- oh, is that flattery you see?

“I don’t think I’ve ever been addressed in such a way…” She states breathlessly, looking at Mr. Blond again. 

“How is that possible? My dear you have got to be the most beautiful-" 

"Y/N!” Thorin states sharply, looking at you completely baffled (and he’s not the only one).

A pout comes to your face at the one word scolding, but you get the hint. “Man… Freaking Thorin…" 

You look straight ahead and ignore the glares and confusion from your friends, crossing your arms over your chest as you continue to walk along silently. 

"What a cute little thing.” She comments after a moment of observing your sulky form, reaching down to ruffle your hair. And, embarrassingly enough, you find yourself leaning into her touch slightly.

Hell yeah, this bitch is in. Maybe too much…

Yeah she actually is drop dead gorgeous, but you’ve gotta get these fools trust so you can crush them later. It’s essential to your 45 step escape plan. 

“Me?” You ask, actually feeling a bit nervous to be getting as good as you gave. “C-Cute?" 

There’s no time to answer verbally, because suddenly they split the group into Thorin, and everyone else, but you can see from their faces that it was meant to be taken seriously. You remain standing with the elves, a bit shy and confused as to why you haven’t been led to the others yet. 

Some of them give you looks of concern, but you only flash bright smiles each time you make eye contact with someone. You can tell a few of them are annoyed with your lack of fear for the situation, but you hold onto the hope that Thorin will use his brain.

You break away from the elves and begin to follow after where the majority of the group is headed, but a firm hand landing on your shoulder stops you in place.

Glancing up at the blond elf, he only shakes his head, "You will go with him”, he nods his head over to Thorin.

The confusion shows clearly on your face, but you listen regardless and change your course as you join the leader of the group. 

When you step up beside him, he looks at you with deep set confusion, “Why are you not with the others?" 

All you do is shrug in response. 

And then the two of you are being brought before the king.

At least that’s what the blond elf said because all you see is a woman on a chair- 

Oh, wait. No, no, that is the King. 

Turns out, you’re quite the jokester because you make yourself laugh with this line of thinking which earns you a sharp look from Thorin and two pairs of confused elf eyes on you.

You clamp your mouth shut and shrug your shoulders again, and then you and Thorin are being left with the elf king.

When he gets up from his chair you’re shocked by how tall he is. Even the other elf who was bossing you around doesn’t reach the height that he does. 

When he begins to talk to Thorin about things you care little for, your gaze wanders away to view the lovely scene before you. The structure of this place is simply amazing. There is nothing like this from your home, all you had were huge neighborhoods, strip malls, and google images that provided you with things not even half as pretty as this. 

While you gaze around someone clears their throat which effectively breaks you out of your little trance.

You turn your attention back towards Thorin and the large (and very pretty) elf quee-king.

Much to your dismay they’re both staring at you expectantly.

You blink your eyes a few times and stare dumbly as you rack your brain for any clue as to what just occurred, but you only draw a blank. "Um… ‘sup?” Thats all you could come up with? Really? 

You mentally berate yourself for not paying attention, but it only seems to amuse the blond guy. “Interesting. You are not from here, are you?” He asks curiously. Thorin’s expression is sharp, and your eyes lock on him for a moment because you don’t know how much to reveal.

He shakes his head. 

“Well obviously not. I’m a human. Have you not seen my ears? Or my height? Or anything?” Your sarcasm earns a snort of amusement from Thorin, but it seems that the king only found your sarcasm funny as well.

“You know what I mean. And the look you two shared only answers my question for me.”

You release a long and over dramatic sigh, crossing your arms over your chest. “Well.. It’s not your business where I’m from. So stop being lame and let us leave." 

He stopped listening though and turned back to Thorin, "Where did you find such a person? Because I can most definitely tell that she is not from Middle Earth.”

Thorin only turns his head away and responds to something else probably stated while you were busy. He starts ranting about abandonment and how he wasn’t helped. He yells something in one of their languages, and then Thranduil is all up in his face.

“Do not talk to me of dragon fire! I know… its wrath and ruin.” The king makes a weird face and you find yourself become uncomfortable as his face warps and reveals horribly scarred skin.

“I have faced… the great serpents of the North.” He then steps back and stops leaning over as his skin quickly returns to normal. “I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon. But he would not listen. You are just like him.”

Two guards seize him suddenly and you protest loudly, “Hey! Leave him alone!” You only get ignored.

“Stay here if you will… and rot.” They start dragging him down the stairs and you move to follow after, but the booming voice of King Thranduil stops you. “Not you. You stay where you are." 

Thorin yells at him in his tongue, then yells out in an outrage, "She comes with me!” He only gets hauled further away as you look between him and the blond elf who is standing at the steps to his throne.

You take a few steps forward towards where Thorin is being dragged off to, but your arm is grabbed and yanked back towards him harshly. 

The king under the mountain continues to rage on until he disappears out of your sight, the hand on your arm not releasing you even after he is gone. 

You turn a glare up at the king and snatch your arm away, “What do you want? I have nothing to say to you!”

He only smooths his robes back down and steps away. "You and I have much to discuss…“ 

Thorin regains his composure long before he reaches the dungeon down below, not wanting to alert his company of his obvious distress. Though he does brood more than usual and the constant scowl on his features immediately worries those looking upon him. 

"Where’s Y/N?” Is the first thing he hears after he’s shoved into his own cell. He looks over towards the area the question came from and sees Kili standing there with his hands on the bars. 

“That pointy eared pixie wouldn’t let her come here with me.”

Someone exclaims their anger loudly in a cell not far from his, but he only continues. “That elvish garbage refused to let her come with me, and when she tried to follow he grabbed her arm as if he had any right-!” He cuts himself off and sits down, hands clenched into fists as he thinks about it.

The others yell out their own anger at that, and then Ori speaks up softly, “What does he want with ‘er? She’s only a human…" 

Balin speaks up next, "Does he want to know about where she’s from…? Perhaps that be the reason right there! She speaks oddly and her clothes are suspicious”

Nobody wanted to even think about that. If you refused to give them the answers they wanted, what would they do? 

Everyone is undoubtedly sharing the same dark and worrying thoughts. 

“Mahal…" 

They all understand the feeling.