#but there is definitely a bad au where he doesn't notice the gap in his day and becomes the tyrant Prince's happy little sleeper agent

[vegalocity]

Ok but like the oblivion au-

They do get into heaven. Via Nezha. Like, LBD still happens, and the sumadi fire. Mk is kinda like, “Ok, so imma put brain washing everyone on hold.” And he meets Nezha when the time comes.

Months later, when shit goes down, he brings in Nezha via Wukong, and gets him under. Using a special track for celestials. And boom. Celestial realm is his.

.....

Ayo wtf are you spying on @unseelie-robynx and I's discord Dms or smth?

Ok but actually Nezha being involved is absolutely part of the whole thing as it goes. Admittedly- this whole thing DOES happen after LBD, the Oblivion series in its canon is post-LBD but pre-Bull Family officially calling it quits for now on the world domination thing (I mean ive always been of the mind that the quick turn around on the villains is to the show's detriment but granted how short a runtime it has they have to work with very little and i respect that)

But in the Bad end/Tyrant Prince timeline, Nezha does in fact get involved. Because- well... the Celestials aren't SO detached that they don't notice a city suddenly being ENTIRELY run by Sun Wukong's successor who's now running around calling himself a prince.

And since he has a history with Qi Xiaotian, Nezha is sent to investigate. By this point there aren't speakers lining the outside of the city streets just yet, fully pumping the air with a low level oblivion high to keep everyone placid and happy, but in most shops and public/government buildings it's being very softly played, so Nezha as he does his investigating isn't... really finding anything too odd. People seem to be going around just as normal.

And it's so... oddly tranquil... the kind of sensation that makes you just... want to not cause trouble for other people, just go about your day and be kind. (and the fact that that thought is so eloquent and dictated doesn't occur at this point) And Nezha is of course lured into such a state of 'well this is fine actually' that he doesn't see any real danger in approaching Xiaotian himself to check in.

Nezha leaves Xiaotian's new home, some old abandoned estate that he was in the middle of restoring with the help of Red Son and Long Xiaojiao, positive that this new direction the city was being taken in was for the best. In fact he was ready to immediately return to the celestial realm and leave a glowing report on the matter. Because Qi Xiaotian is truly a VERY well meaning person and he's so very aware of the issues that mortals face from his own humble beginnings so he can be trusted to look out for the people of the city.

He doesn't realize the thoughts in his head don't sound like his own internal voice until he's just beyond city limits, and the sun has set, when it was high in the sky when he had entered.

In the Tyrant Prince canon- he only notices this because it was a slip up in Xiaotian's messier Prince Days, he had forgotten to tell him to fully disregard and reason away anything like gaps in time and other such oddities. So when Nezha realizes he's missing SEVERAL hours that don't relate to the information he had- and trying to think about the particulars of the conversation he'd JUST been part of... the details become fuzzy like he's remembering something from thousands of years ago.

And it scares him.

He doesn't return to the celestial realm, he's afraid that in that missing time something was put in his head that would make him a danger-

So he just...doesn't go back. That thing you mentioned in the ask? That's like his biggest fear during all of this 'tyrant prince' stuff, that he might be used as a sleeper agent, a cataclysm that would give the child unprecedented control over the celestial realm.

He makes it to safety in canon- and in fact it's his testimony that shuts down the entire celestial realm into quarantine, nobody allowed in or out of the human realm.

and it also catches the ear of someone that might be able to do more than just watch with nervous eyes as to what may happen next. Someone with a personal stake in this as a dear friend is caught in this web.

Someone that may grow fed up with this sooner rather than later.

[darlingpwease]

Omega SHI MEI AS A YANDERE imagine alpha reader reject him but is in love with omega Chu wanning

okay now listen here wifey imagine omega yandere Shi Mei caught alpha reader and Chu Wanning making out

I first thought that 'wifey' is about shi mei and the first thought was 'cheating on spouse yandere omega shi mei? the simplest idea, it's always a bad ending and a one-way ticket either to the cemetery or to full mind control/basement in modern au', but then I realized that, apparently,,,, is this for me?,,,,, 👉👈 /hj /affectionate

winners are not judged

♡ unhealthy behaviour, animalistic behaviour, secret relationship if you squint, forced relationship implied, age gap implied, mention of heat drugs [consensual, shi mei], sexism & dehumanisation if you squint (butterfly-boned beauty feast omegas)

♡ dubious consent / non consent elements (?) [at the very end; there is no indication of sex, but there are words about being forced to mark and heat], heavy petting if you squint, sex during mating season ('heat) if you squint

In fact, all of these four — Shi Mei, Mo Ran, Xue Meng, Chu Wanning — do not cope very well with jealousy and possessive outbursts, even if their causes are different.

And SHI MEI, although he has one of the most emotionally flexible and hardy reactions out of the whole four, is no better — perhaps his past, his intense obsessiveness and almost dependence on you, mixed with his desire to be your omega and seeing you as his ideal, is under very strong pressure when it turns out that you are nothing of this, you do not feel for him, not even considering him as an 'omega with whom you could have puppies'.

He doesn't have to see you kissing; after all, Chu Wanning rarely ever allows himself to be intimate with you outside of closed places where you are definitely alone — but when you come back one day and smell too strong, with slightly swollen and brighter lips due to long kisses, and SHI MEI notices how you hurriedly bring put yourself in order and try not to look like Mo Ran looks like after brothels — for some reason this comparison seems to him the most correct, especially with burning jealousy and disgust at the fact that you preferred not him, — then he understands everything anyway.

And SHI MEI is quite proud and even somewhat overbearing, using his charm as an omega and as a butterfly-boned beauty feast to attract and hold you — but he is not too proud to use his body and unique body structure, especially for alphas who are intoxicated by his smell, but very easily loses control when he sees that his control over you lost and you slip out of his hands like a fish in the water.

Even if he is not a cat, nothing prevents him from immediately grabbing you with his claws.

... He doesn't do that, of course.

He has two goals — and since one of them is already kick the bucket, then why doesn't he kill two birds with one stone? Undoubtedly, the option of 'leaving a flower in you' (which he did not do earlier, otherwise you would have been attached to him — and he cannot help but reproach himself for this, although he previously hoped that your relationship would be mutual and amicable) is no longer available — he longs for you, but he is not an idiot, he knows that Chu Wanning will realize that something is wrong when you abruptly start to get colder and lose interest in him, which is clearly very intense between you judging by the strength of his scent on you, but that doesn't mean that you are the only option.

There is also Mo Ran. A strong, domineering alpha; maybe a little too problematic, but still capable of a lot. SHI MEI does not deny that he manipulates and uses — as if he has a choice — when, with the help of cunning and meanness, he leaves a flower in him, just as he should have done with you, but you are too infatuated with Chu Wanning to notice that something is wrong, clearly experiencing the flowering of your feelings for more the older omega (why?), but SHI MEI just smiles sweetly and nods, making it clear that he is happy for you, slyly flashing his eyes, and you are almost ashamed of how obvious it all probably looks — although you are sure that 'obvious' It's just for him, — but you can't help but bring him small things from time to time, even if Mo Ran looks belligerent.

(Shi Mei carefully keeps these things in his nest and looks at them for hours, thinking that he will do the same when you become his alpha.)

And counting on someone to disturb you is even more pointless.

There's not much you can do when his plan goes very smoothly, even if no one really knows who's pulling the strings.

SHI MEI has no regrets — if you don't want to look at him voluntarily, he will make you not look away from him, no matter what you have to sacrifice.

You chose it yourself.

And when a strong, very sweet and alluring smell that can cover the mind of anyone spreads through a small house, SHI MEI also knows what he is doing, squinting with pleasure, gently sliding along your legs to your hips, looking down at your figure.

Few alpha can resist omega in heat — and no alpha can resist butterfly-boned beauty feast omega in heat.

“Have you already left a mark on Chu Wanning?”

SHI MEI is willing to bet that no — in the end, shizun, even if we depend on you, does not look like the type who will openly submit and allow himself to be vulnerable and defenseless until he completely subdues himself, just to protect himself emotionally.

But SHI MEI is not like that — his heart belonged to you from the very beginning, and if you had played well, you would not have ended up here.

“Do you like my nest?... I've been building it for you for a long time. Mo Ran did a good job of getting you here, but I thought I should also do my part, like a good omega...”

His skin is soft and cool, with beautiful shoulders and a flexible neck, completely uncovered and clean, without even a hint of someone else's mark.

“Or do you prefer sloppy cold omegas? I can be like that.”

Your thighs are hot, much warmer than his skin, and sitting on them is very comfortable and exciting, making him relax and feel even more heated.

“What did you like about him? His cold? His unsociability? Do you like omegas that are tough on the outside but soft on the inside? Do you like touchy-feely? Or the way he was constantly scenting you and was addicted to you?”

Shi Mei is not in heat soon, but he knows that these pills cause forced estrus — they are often used on his omega relatives, but SHI MEI could not even imagine before that he would use them for this.

(he could)

“Just one bite... you'll take responsibility, won't you?”

[seita]

— better than (m.)

pairing : iwaizumi/reader

wordcount : 3.087

genre : fluff, smut, pwp

cw : college!au, athletic trainer!iwaizumi

tags : implied age gap (hes 27 reader is in college- age nkt specified. he's older tho), size kink, dom!iwa, pussy job (a lil bit), multiple orgasms, sensitivity kink (if u squint), squirting, fingering, creampie, aftercare.

note : this was just an excuse to write about how iwaizumi is better than any other boy <3 thank u to @toshisins for beta'ing this for me <3

+ summary : you're so tired of dumb college boys who hump and dump, with no stroke game, and can never even try to get you off. that is, until you meet 27 year old iwaizumi hajime.

When you first met Iwaizumi Hajime at the bar near your college campus, you noticed how good looking he was. Well, that was an understatement - he was tall, fit with tanned skin and a confident aura that made you weak in the knees.

You hadn't actually had the courage to approach him, however. Instead, you let some college boy buy you a cheap drink and take you home for some mediocre sex before kicking you out after not even 15 minutes of his reckless humping.

The second time you met him was at the same place. He was sitting at the bar, nursing a glass of whiskey that was almost empty. His back was to you and it gave you a wonderful view of his broad shoulders.

The mediocre lay from the last time you had been there attempted to chat you up again with false confidence, as if he had been the best fuck of your life. Naturally, you weren't having any of his bullshit - he tried to rub your clit like a scratch and sniff, forcing you to pry his hand away from it, there was no chance in hell you were giving him another second of your time. He definitely wasn't the type of guy who took rejection well, if not evident by the way he exploded and went off calling you a wide, colorful variety of names paired with numerous hurtful insults that had tears of humiliation filling your eyes.

“Hey now,” a smooth, deep voice had interrupted his very public spiel, “Don’t punish the girl for your own short comings, if she doesn't wanna fuck you again, don't you think that says more about your abilities as a man?”

The other man sputtered, muttering even more curses before storming out - probably not wanting to tussle with a guy who looked like he benched every second of his day.

There was something about Iwaizumi that just immediately had your heart skipping a beat over him. He was kind, a gentleman, and never seemed desperate or overbearing. He was confident and comfortable with himself and where he was in life.

You quickly learned that Iwaizumi was 27, almost 28 and worked as an athletic trainer so he traveled a lot.

For a while, your relationship seemed one sided with him. You'd text him and he’d reply but he rarely ever actually reached out to you. You tried flirting with him, asking him out for drinks, but it never seemed to pull him in.

It was frustrating. In basically no time at all, you had developed a stupid puppy dog crush on him. You felt like a middle school girl with a crush on a high school senior - like he was never going to give you the time of day. You were simply too young for him.

You eventually stopped trying with him, choosing to delete your message thread with him and continued on with your life.

You went through more college-boy hookups - all of them ending in disaster. Quite frankly, you were fed up with mediocre cock and being treated like shit when they were done with you. It wasn't a nice feeling, being kicked out after they didn't even bother trying to make you cum.

You couldn’t help but wonder what Iwaizumi would be like in bed. He was just so attractive, you knew he had gotten his dick wet more times than he could count. He definitely seemed the type who preferred relationships over hookups.

That's when it occurred to you.

You pulled out your phone and scoured your contacts. It had been a couple weeks since you spoke but you couldn't resist bugging him just one last time. You opened a new message thread with him and quickly typed the question that was now plaguing your mind.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

It was the question that had changed the course of your relationship with him.

When you asked, it was like everything fell into place. Perhaps it finally relayed to him the interest you had. All that really mattered was the fact he suddenly began talking to you, starting conversations and even venturing into phone calls with you.

You lost all interest in those college boys you once hung out with and went home with to get laid. None of them made you feel the way Iwaizumi could with a simple text message. He was everything a girl could ask for and you were shocked he was single.

Which was why you were quick to ask him on a date, not caring if it made you look desperate -- you practically were. You would be damned if he went off the market while you were busy beating around the bush.

Going on a date with Iwaizumi was like a dream. You were so used to dates at sleazy bars for a couple of drinks just so they could hurry up and take you home for a quick fuck.

Iwaizumi took the time to take you on several dates -- dinner, movies, walks around town to obscure shops he thought you might like, before it finally led to the bedroom.

You had never been nervous with sex but with Iwaizumi it was different. The routine was dumb college boys who usually fawned over your tits for a few minutes before their hard ons became the center of their brain function.

You found yourself completely bare on his bed as he stood at the foot, fully clothed. The way his eyes raked across your body like a lion eyeing its next, delicious meal had you curling in on yourself shyly.

His lips quirked up as your arms came across your breasts, shielding them from his predatory gaze, “Oh now, you know better than that, don’t you? What kind of good girl hides herself, hm? Acted so eager for my cock all this time, now you wanna be shy?”

You gasp, cheeks flushing hot as you register his words -- he’d known you wanted him that badly all this time?

He clicks his tongue, “You didn’t think you were subtle did you? Bet you would have done anything to get your paws on my dick when I got off work early the other day, hm? Showed up at your apartment...you were starin’ real hard at me, I’m right aren’t I?”

You think that to that day, lashes fluttering against your cheeks at the memory. He was wearing loose gray sweats and a muscle tank top that showed his biceps flexing with every movement he made. Your eyes had immediately been drawn, however more down to his crotch instead. Where you could clearly see the outline of his cock through the material.

You had stuffed your little fingers in your cunt for hours that night, thinking about how big he looked -- even soft, couldn’t imagine if he was hard.

“Ah, there you go again,” he muses, snapping you out of your haze, “Maybe if you ask real pretty for me, I’ll give you just what you want.”

“Please,” you immediately gasp, “Want you so much Hajime, i-it hurts. Can’t stop thinkin’ about you…”

“It hurts?” he huffs, finally reaching up to pull his shirt off, leaving you to ogle his pecs and defined abs, which flex as he works on removing his jeans, “Needy little cunt hurts ‘cause you don’t have a nice, fat cock stuffing it full? Such a dramatic little baby. I just know your phone is full of some little college boys’ numbers...why don’t you give them a call?”

You shake your head, “Don’t want them! I just know they’re not as good as you, Hajime, please...please make me cum, I'll do anything?”

“Aw, those idiot little boys don’t know how to make a pretty girl like you cum, is that it?” he asks, climbing onto the bed, making the mattress dip beneath you as he slots himself between your thighs.

“No,” you pout, letting him spread your legs, hands under your knees to open you up to his greedy gaze.

“So compliant with me, you just need a real man to get you off, huh?” he smiles when you nod, “Don’t worry, I’ll take real good care of you.”

Oh, you knew. Just from the way he moved his hips against yours, parting your folds so the head of his cock glided from your clenching little hole, dragging your slick up to your clit -- you just knew that he knew what he was doing.

As you looked between your legs, you felt yourself gush at the sight. His cock was so big, long and fat, drooling precum over your slick little slit, making a mess. He wrapped his fist around his length, making you whimper as his fingers couldn’t even wrap around the girth of him. He slapped his cock against your cunt, groaning at the strings of your slick that clung to him.

“Such a messy cunt,” he sighs, making sure to spank your clit with the head of his cock, laughing breathlessly when your thighs jumped in response to the sudden stimulation, “So fucking eager for me, aren’t you?”

“Uhuh,” you sigh, arching your hips, “Want you to fuck, please, Hajime, need it so bad.”

Much to your dismay, he shakes his head, “Can’t just put it in, pretty baby,” the pet name makes you whimper, “It’ll hurt too much, want you to feel good, yeah?”

“I can handle it,” you breathlessly reassure, canting his hips upward once more to drag your clit against that ridge on the crown of his cock, “Jus’ put it in…”

He doesn’t respond this time but still makes no move to put his cock inside. You’re distracted, however, by the way he now focuses on playing with your clit. Using his cock, he drags the underside across the hard little bud, slaps it once with the tip and before you know it your body is seizing up and you cum.

You let out a string of curses, falling limp against the bed as he works you through the quick high.

“See, that was so easy,” he chuckles, “Those stupid little boys you’ve been letting screw you have no idea what they’re doing, do they? Little cunts so sensitive, I barely even had to do anything to make you cum.”

You’re still trembling when you come down, licking your lips as you give him a dopey little smile and a nod at his cooing. He can’t resist leaning down, and pressing his lips against yours almost desperately. You wrap your arms around his neck, holding him in a deep kiss while his hand finds its way between your legs, two fingers sliding easily into your slick little cunt.

You moan into his mouth, “Hajime ah! ...please, make me cum again.”

“Fuck, you’re so desperate for me,” he hisses through his teeth, “Clenching around my fingers so tight. If I crook my fingers...right here...I bet you’ll just…”

As if on cue, his fingertips hook on your g-spot and you squeal, legs kicking out as you gush around his fingers. He bites his lip and continues to fuck his fingers against that spot, watching your eyes roll back, mouth falling open in a silent cry as you cum for the second time in mere minutes.

“Y-You’re so good, Hajime…” you praise softly, “Fuck, please, give me your cock now!”

He laughs and sits up properly again, pulling his fingers from your cunt. He examines them for a second, slick with your cum and streaks of cream covering the digits before he pops them into his mouth with a moan, savoring the taste of you.

“Alright, baby,” he sighs after pulling out his fingers with a pop!. He grips you beneath the knees again and scoots closer until his tip prods at your entrance. You shudder at the feeling, “Relax for me, pretty girl, let me in…”

Iwaizumi begins pushing in, letting out a soft groan as the head finally buries itself in your cunt. You squeal at the feeling, pulling your knees closer to your chest. The sound of you moaning and whimpering just from his head has him throbbing almost painfully against your tender cunt.

“Almost there…” he huffs, grinning at the sight of your eyes rolling back, “Ah, does that feel good?”

“Yes!” you cry out, “Biggest cock I’ve ever had…’s full…”

“Yeah, baby? It feels so good to finally get your cunt filled with a nice, big cock huh?” he laughs when you nod eagerly, “It’s alright, baby. You won’t have to deal with any mediocre college boys anymore, yeah? This cock’s all yours now…you hear that? All yours.”

Your hand flies down between your legs, finding your clit. He watches with lidded eyes as you circle the little bud and squeal, keeping his hips still to let you cum around his cock nice and hard like you need.

“That’s it, pretty girl,” he hums, “Get yourself off, you know what you need...atta girl…”

You sigh happily at his praise, licking your lips and relax against the bed once more. He takes that as his hint that you were ready, pulling his hips back before roughly slamming back inside your sensitive cunt. It knocks the air from your lungs and you cry out, unable to hold back your noises as he fucks you senseless.

He uses his strength to keep you pinned, forcing your knees against your chest, leaving your cunt open and vulnerable to his pistoning cock. Iwaizumi is so big that the stretch burns every time he sinks back into you, the tip touching your cervix with every calculated thrust, making your entire body ache with the deep pain of it.

But it all feels so good, you’d never been fucked like that before. He knew exactly where to aim his cock, keeping his eyes fixed on your face to watch your reactions, gaze flicking down to where his cock stuffs your cunt full to watch you coat him in your cream whenever he grazes that sweet little spot deep inside you -- a spot no other man had ever tried to find before.

“Feel good?” he questions, though he knew the answer even before you cry it out.

“Ah, yes! Yes, yes, yes!” you sob, “I-It feels so good, Hajime! Fuck, you’re so good at fucking me! You make me feel like a virgin all over again!”

He grins, “Yeah, I know I am, baby.”

His cocky, confident response would have been a turn off with any other man, but with him -- it only made you moan. He had every right to be cocky, he knew just how to use his cock and it was exhilarating.

“You gotta cum again for me, pretty,” he pants, “Cum again, one more time, let go.”

Your throat burns from how much you scream for him, the messy noises coming from him fucking your sloppy cunt should be embarrassing -- you’ve never made such a mess before. You’ve never been so wet, creaming and gushing all the way down his balls.

He didn’t seem to mind, instead he seemed to only be turned on by it.

“I want you to squirt, can you do that for me? Make a pretty mess for me.”

You shake your head, “D-Don’t know how...Can’t.”

“Yes you can, baby,” he purrs, “I can make you, you know that I will.”

You didn’t but, you couldn’t help but nod -- immediately believing him and trusting him. He shifts his knees just slightly, changing his center of balance before his palm curls over your pubic bone, thumb effortlessly finding itself pressed against your clit.

The change in angle lets him hit your g-spot even more brutal than before. You’re immediately arching and crying out for him, eyes rolling back into your head as you feel your orgasm slam into you faster than you’d ever experienced.

Instead of slowing you down, he works you through it, keeping the same, animalistic pace and keeps his thumb pressed against your clit, the rough pad of his thumb has you ogling. If anything, the calloused hands of Iwaizumi proves to you how much of a real man he is, those college boys have nothing on him.

“Give it to me, c’mon,” he urges, clenching his teeth together from the effort it takes to keep going to this hard and fast pace.

“H-Haji…” you cut yourself off as you feel yourself get thrown over the edge again. This time, something feels different and you can’t help but sob, “Please! I-I’m gonna-!”

“That’s it, fuck!” he moans, pace stuttering when you squirt -- your cum splashing against his abs as you shudder and squeal, “Good fuckin’ girl, my good girl. Shit, where do you want me to cum?”

“I-Inside! Fuck, please! I need your cum!” you immediately sob, nails biting in his biceps where you reach out to grip him -- trembling and crying from overstimulation as he works towards his own high.

“You sure? Shit,” you nod, breathless pleas falling from your lips as he finally stills, spilling his load deep inside with a long, drawn-out groan.

Everything is still for a moment and then he’s pulling out with a hiss. You whine at the feeling of your cunt gaping, yearning for his cock again, as his cum leaks out.

He hums, “Sorry about that, let me get you cleaned up.”

You sigh, and close your eyes, trying to relax and let your body settle its trembling. He comes back and quietly works on cleaning the mess between your thighs.

“Alright, up you go,” he sighs, taking your arm and helping you to your feet. You whine and wobble for a second, making him laugh, “You good?”

“Y-Yeah…” you stumble a bit and lean against his dresser, looking for your discarded clothes.

He has his back to you as he strips his sheets. Suddenly, you feel shut out -- like you shouldn’t be there anymore.

He brushes past you to his closet, pulling out some fresh sheets. You feel silly, standing there naked while he gets ready for bed. You bend down and grab your panties, clumsily putting them on before moving to pick up your dress, where it’s crumpled on the floor.

“What’re you doing?” he laughs, “That won’t be comfortable to sleep in.”

“Huh?” you tilt your head to the side and he pauses fluffing his pillows.

“What...you didn’t think I was kicking you out, did you?” he asks and scoffs at the face you make.

“Well I...usually I…” you shift on your feet nervously and he frowns, walking up to you.

He cups your cheeks and makes you look at him, “Jesus, who have you been fucking?” he laughs and gently nudges you towards the bed, “Lay down before you fall over.”

Fighting back a smile, you do as you’re told and sit on the bed, watching as he puts on a fresh pair of sweats, waiting for him to join you. When he does, he immediately pulls you into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“Take a nap, and then we’ll take a shower.”

“It’s 11 at night, it wouldn’t be a nap,” you counter with a giggle.

“Well,” he sighs, “Take a shower in the morning then, and then we can go get breakfast, yeah?”

You smile and relax against him, “Sounds good.”

seita © 2020 | all content and its rights belong to me. do not modify or repost

[nickyroethemarinebiologist]

Aight here we are lets go

So this is just an idea that was partly inspired by someone else on tumblr a couple days ago, and basically it's an AU where, instead of just disappearing into the walls, Bruno somehow ends up dying and (✨tadaa✨) he becomes a ghost

Everything is more or less the same, but instead of Mirabel finding Bruno, she finds Bruno's ghost

Gonna have a bit of an info dump HERE WE GO

So everything is the same up until just after the vision. Bruno basically panics and packs up any stuff he can carry before running off into the walls before anyone even notices he's gone

As to how he actually dies, I was thinking it might've had something to do with that hole inside the walls. After his vision he leaves just like in the film, but in his haste doesn't notice the MASSIVE GAP until it's too late to stop- it's not a long drop, but through some horribly bad luck he ends up breaking something, obviously ending up with a fatal injury

Dolores would probably hear him scream or something before he hit the floor, and that would probably be very concerning for her, but with the whole worrying-about-the-failed-ceremony bit going on there isn't time to tell anyone, so she keeps it to herself. No one even realises he's missing until someone (probably Pepa or Julieta) sees that the light from his door has dimmed/gone out completely

This would obviously cause some panic and confusion and Dolores FINALLY pipes up about what she had heard, which leads to the family (correctly) assuming the worst

The immediate aftermath of this assumption would probably just be a blur of chaos, with Abuela probably trying to calm everything down

And as for Bruno, he would wake up shortly after the fall, a little dazed and confused. He doesn't realise that he had even died, and instead believes that the fall only knocked him out and he was otherwise fine.

This whole situation would have taken place right after Mirabel's gift ceremony so everyone was be in pretty low spirits already, so they probably took this a little worse than they would have

I think some of the family wouldn't fully believe he was even dead at first, and/or be in a state of denial for a while. Like Pepa, for example, she would probably try to convince herself that Bruno had just wandered off and was completely fine, but after a while even she would have to admit that wasn't possible

Mirabel (and Camilo) would have been pretty young when this happened, so neither really remembers anything about it or about Bruno himself, they only know what everyone else told them - that he had just wandered off somewhere and was fine (they would definitely end up finding out the truth eventually, it's hard to keep secrets from these kids)

Bruno, on the other hand, wouldn't even realise he was dead until a while later, through some unfortunate event. He is, understandably, very freaked out by this and eventually makes the connection between the fatal fall and some kind of bad luck

This leads to those little superstitious things he does in the film (knocking on things, throwing salt over his shoulder, etc etc), to protect both himself and his family from any future "bad luck" - only now he is reduced to miming everything since he can't actually touch anything

He no longer has his "gift", per say, but occasionally visions will come in small flashes, without any need for a ritual, and they are both disturbing and very inconvenient

Since Bruno died inside the walls, though some kind of "ghost law" I have in my head he is now physically incapable of leaving the walls - not that he would really want to. Sort of like the ghosts from that BBC show, if anyone's watched that. This would probably be because someones soul (ghost) is "tied to" the place they died

Bruno can be seen but only by his family (yet another ghost law of mine, ghosts can be seen by those closest to them at their time of death - family, friends, etc)

Maybe his rats are ghost-rats too. Idk, I just think that would be a fun idea lmao

And now for some plot changes:

Mirabel still does the whole finding Bruno's vision thing, and still follows the rats into the passageway, but instead of the normal Bruno she sees a weird ghostly-looking version of him which obviously freaks her out

She chases Bruno through the passageway, and falls just as she would in the film, but instead of Bruno catching her his hand just phases right through hers, which obviously shocks Mirabel and causes her to fall

Bruno panics for a moment, thinking he killed his niece because that is exactly how he died, but because Mirabel has ✨plot armour✨ she's completely fine

She climbs out of the hole herself, but before she can even begin to question Bruno as to what's going on he does the "bye" and walks right through her. Again, Mirabel gets very freaked out but it soon dawns on her that Bruno is a ghost

Since there is no longer a need for the whole ritual, when Mirabel asks Bruno to give her a vision he, albeit reluctantly, does so

When casita collapses, the "restraints" that kept Bruno's ghost in the walls are no longer there, since, well, there are no walls to be kept in. He can now roam freely around the town and possibly even further, but tends to stay in and around the casita even after it is rebuilt, probably because wandering too far away from his place of death causes discomfort and possibly even pain. And besides, it's not like he would want to leave his family again. If anything, he's grateful that he can now interact with everyone...even if the whole ghost thing is a little awkward at first

Thats all I have for now - if anyone has any questions or ideas lemme know! Might write/draw something for this if anyone likes the sound of that :D

~ Ket 🐁

[izusun]

*hands you an AU dump to hoard like a little goblin handing a small coin to a dragon*

OKAY so basically: after the doctor's visit where Izuku learns he's quirkless (I hc that they went when he was about five n' a half), Inko does a little bit of research on quirks and more specifically on her son's notebooks, learns that he's even more brilliant at quirk analysis than she originally suspected, and (after looking at some not great quirkless statistics) she instead informs Izuku that no, he's had a quirk all along! It's an analysis quirk!

So she updates the quirk registry, and Izuku goes through his life believing he has an analysis quirk, albeit teased for being a late bloomer, but he still can't shake the insecurity being quirkless for that one and a half year gave him.

He does research on all sorts of things, hacking, knife throwing, first aid, and building his own support gear and takes to all of it like a duck to water. He also does research on UA's policy for support gear in the entrance exam (cause surely they've gotta have a policy for non-offensive quirks like Koda and Hagakure) and finds that he can take one with him if he builds it himself. He goes fuckin bonkers.

Anyways: he trains with Katsuki, cause they're relationship is pretty good since Izuku has a 'quirk.' They both demolish the entrance exam. (Also Izuku kinda swears a lot because Katsuki rubs off on him)

Aizawa doesn't notice a goddamn thing is amiss until the battle trials on the second day (he decides to shadow All Might that day), where when he was using his quirk to silence his students while Izuku was rambling, he just didn't stop, as if he didn't notice anything was wrong. It happens again during the USJ.

So at some point during the sports festival, Nedzu (who is now intrigued because of Aizawa's complaining) invites Izuku into his office during a free period and lets him go ham on analysis, all while Aizawa is secretly there erasing Izuku's 'quirk.' Nedzu invites Izuku to be his personal student (making Aizawa go grey), he says yes, and then Nedzu drops the absolute BOMBSHELL that Izuku is actually quirkless. Cue an existential crisis.

(Also Izuku gets captured at the training camp alongside Katsuki because of his "analysis quirk," wonder how well that goes for him~)

- Goblin anon (sorry this one was kinda long)

GOBLIN?? DUDE???? HOLY SHIT I KNEW YOUR AUS ARE ALWAYS PHENOMENAL BUT THIS RIGHT HERE??? D U D E

i misunderstood the prompt a bit but i genuinely don’t know how to backtrack, so here you go goblin. sorry again o(TヘTo)

ok first of, inko taking on a stronger stance to support her son? love that of her. like, she doesn’t say sorry when izuku turned to look at her and cried that he can’t be like all might. instead, she took him in her arms and assures him that he will be a great hero. at first, of course half of it is lip service because she doesn’t know how to help her quirkless boy be a hero, since, you know, heroes need quirks.. (or do they)

and then she comes across a quirkless self help group which rang many many warning bells in her head. what kind of life do quirkless people live when a google research of them resulted in subsequent pages of results like how to stay safe when quirkless, or how to find jobs when quirkless, or quirkless mortality rates?

she fears for izuku, until she notices that her son’s smart. too smart for his age, but inko thought she’s just being biased. but izuku’s wit is something many people notice, for an instance, when izuku goes to the park to play and his friends’ (the few ones who stayed) parents tell her that her son’s smart for a quirkless person, she realizes that izuku’s wit is far more vast than normal.

then a thought worms into her head but wouldn’t it be bad to lie…but also, no one would be any the wiser.

further pushed by all the statistics she keeps seeing, or the lack thereof, about quirkless people, she makes the decision and pours it to izuku.

izuku who’s far smarter than his age and understood what his mom is asking from him. izuku who already saw the disparities between quirked and quirkless people at the tender age of five. izuku who knows what it means to lie about something as personal as a quirk, but realizes that it’s necessary for him to do so if he wants to live a “normal” life.

so he agrees; he tells inko that he’ll work even harder to sharpen his mind, and to keep expanding his knowledge.

when izuku’s quirk file is officially updated, he watches how his peers and teachers revert back into treating him as izuku. he regains his old friends, but he chose to drop them because he doesn’t want to surround himself with people who thought he was less for being quirkless.

katsuki stayed, surprisingly. katsuki stayed and everyday he kept bothering izuku to “get your quirk already!” katsuki stayed because he can’t fathom that the smartest boy in their class (of course not as smart as him, psshh) is quirkless. deku couldn’t be quirkless. (but if he found out that izuku, indeed, is, i wonder what would happen…)

katsuki was one of the loudest to celebrate when izuku announced that his quirk arrived.

“finally!” he screams and bothers izuku about the semantics of his quirk. he really wasn’t surprised to find out that izuku has an analysis quirk because he thought that nothing else would better be suited for izuku.

he doesn’t know that izuku pours so much of his time into learning and studying, often bypassing basics and intros to take more of the developed courses that are usually recommended for older ages. he doesn’t know that izuku is just a naturally smart kid with the ability to fill the gaps of his young mind with knowledge upon knowledge, storing and stacking them until he feels that he’s laid a sturdy foundation for his fake quirk.

then izuku began threading into different areas. he learns how to get into cyberspaces; hacking into accounts and delving more into how to access private information. he doesn’t thread too close lest he gets caught, but he learns the logistics of maneuvering around the web and burrowing in empty spaces to branch out his own. he creates and designs web algorithms for himself, just so he doesn’t trigger anyone who is looking into the web movements. he hones this and uses it to access more information.

then when he deems it enough, he turns his attention to something more tangible and something more physical. he learns other ways to be a hero; how to fight without a physical quirk, how to win against bigger opponents, how to use analysis quirk in fights.

izuku becomes more than a fake analysis quirk user; he creates it.

mental quirks are hard to describe, more so to compress, thus he creates new definitions of an analysis quirk. what used to be a silly lie is now a tangible fact that izuku believes in. because what makes a quirk? because what makes analysis a quirk? he learns these semantics (often political) and uses it to his advantage.

then he finally threads to hero analysis. at first it were classmates he analyzed; eyes running quickly at their forms and watching with great interest before calculating everything he’s seen and transversing it with the things he learned, and bridges these two facts together to create an analysis. it was a struggle at first: he didn’t know which to put emphasis on until he realizes, he doesn’t need to. he weaves them together and lets his analysis run long and watches how his hobby comes into fruition.

following his classmates are current heroes. these were more tough and more fun, and any of the information is less shared. he doesn’t tell his classmates or teachers about his analyses, only katsuki. and katsuki’s breath hitch every damn time at izuku’s talent quirk.

it is in their second year of middle school that midoriya begins to incorporate the facts with himself to create physical performances. the issues and things he learned through observing are now practiced by himself. he calculates the best way to fight with a body as petite as his, often taking examples from pro-hero hawks and other women heroes. their agilities and physicality suit izuku’s young body; he doesn’t see the merit in punching his way through things when he physically cannot.

so he learns ways to ease his muscles. he learns ballet and gymnastics; lets his muscles contort and mend themselves anew. he finds his balance and roots himself firmly, and learns to calculate his actions so he doesn’t waste his energy. katsuki doesn’t say anything, but he sees izuku’s dance and falls in love.

then in the spring of their third year of middle school, izuku learns how to build and handle weapons.

this is the easiest. izuku learns that weapons aren’t tools, but extensions of his arms and hands. they are not to be revered and not to be depended on because they can fail. instead, he learns to wield weapons as though they are parts of his bodies. he learns how to use swords and often narrowing to wooden sticks that can be picked up anywhere; he learns how to fire guns and how to hide daggers in his uniform. he learns that his body is the best weapon to use and that tools are just arsenal to help him win.

then he learns how to build them.

by summer, izuku begins reaching into UA’s servers. they are hard codes to crack, but not impossible. it takes him five days to access old entrance exam videos. the next day, the videos are snuffed and he is left to try digging deeper into UA.

he fails.

nezu must have caught onto his codes and proceeded to build walls against it.

so he slithers out. but a five minute video of last year’s entrance exam is enough for izuku because he learns two things: one, heroes must defeat villains and two, heroes must save others.

izuku prepares for this. unknowingly, katsuki is taught these same principles. katsuki would grumble and tell him that he knows what heroes must do, but izuku continues to hammer it down to him.

by the time of the UA entrance exam, izuku falls into the ease of having a fake quirk. he passes the written exam with flying colours and although it took three teachers to approve his support gears (present mic had to pull in powerloader, midnight, and hound dog to ensure that the well designed support gears are made by the hero student examinee and not by a support student examinee. majima saw the works and begged nezu to allow izuku to be his student.), izuku still succeeds and dominates the entrance exam.

when the zero pointer was released, he had flung himself towards the girl crushed by debris and yanks her out. he doesn’t waste a modified grenade to explode the zero pointer because through his calculations, doing so would not only create more collateral damage, but would also endanger the examinee in his arms because she still would be caught in the crossfire.

nezu hums in appreciation from the screening room, after all, smart minds always do think alike.

izuku gets a whopping 92 in the physical aspects of the entrance exam.

katsuki gets 85.

aizawa gleefully takes them in.

izuku thinks that no one will ever know of his and inko’s secret, but one look at nezu’s beady eyes and he knew that the stoat knew. it became a game to them, then. a game to see who else would realize.

and while izuku is smart, he doesn’t realize that nezu has basically taken him as his personal student the moment he and izuku had created a bet.

it takes two months for aizawa to figure things out. surprisingly, he is the only one to do so and he only realizes due to the many untimely attacks of LoV.

——

how angst would it be if katsuki realizes that izuku’s always been quirkless during their captivity in the LoV’s hideout.

[intersexalastor]

i kind of want a nova-esque au where touya is affected by some memory loss quirk. maybe some kid who's not yet mindful enough to keep from using their quirk on him without realizing and no one notices. maybe he's dropped his phone and this kid, trying to be polite and grownup, tries to pick it up and bumps into dabi's hand. maybe it puts dabi into a daze and he just...leaves while this kid is brushing off the dust and bits of gravel. this kid looks up and dabi's gone and he's holding his phone.

maybe it's a quirk that specifically blots out bad or unpleasant memories and those closely associated with them. but for touya that's like... his entire childhood. gone. and now all he can remember is jin and the others.

so his memory suddenly has more holes than swiss cheese so his brain tries to fill in the gaps. it just blocks off most of his life. he simply doesn't try to think about his past. and since all he can remember is staying the night with jin and spending time with the others... he must live there, right?

neither jin nor anyone else are any the wiser at first. touya just... never goes home. which is fine with jin (he's always telling dabi he should just move in after all) but he definitely gets suspicious when dabi never indicates he'll be going home soon.

also... dabi just seems...better? really, he doesn't have to dread going home and sharing the same space as endeavor, of all people. and there's no juggling natsuo and fuyumi's feelings. there's a lot less stress just living with jin.

ough. maybe he even makes a couple of moves on jin bc MAYBE his brain is using his feelings for jin as explanation for why he's actually living there with him. maybe he thinks they're actually together. and jin is so, so confused but he's receptive to the way dabi is suddenly more physical.

it probably comes to a head when he crosses a line. jin can handle (welcomes, even) dabi leaning on him, even lying halfway on him when they're lazing around on the couch. things like that. but it's when there's a near-kiss or something to that effect that jin gets confused and back off which confuses dabi.

that's when things start to unravel. they all start to realize that dabi's lost some (most) of his memories. dabi's resistant to opening up about it (because his brain is trying very hard not to think about it, trying to stay in denial to avoid throwing dabi into a crisis) so they back off. they're not really sure what to do. jin especially, since dabi thinks they're a couple (and, i mean, jin is wondering what that actually means. but he can't ask dabi as he is. and he can't go along with it bc he doesn't want to take advantage of his friend. but at the same time, touya seems to be getting more annoyed/angry and confused when jin keeps him at arm's distance)

then the todorokis are positively freaking the fuck out because touya's never come home. they call and call, and at some point there's an answer. but it's the police

thankfully the kid's mother got the story about how they got the phone and realized what might've happened. the police now know who they're looking for. but the todorokis... when they hear about this kid's quirk? well. the fact that there's a good chance touya just doesn't remember them. ANY of them. not even the house they grew up in. and it's a quirk that works on bad memories? now they're forced to grapple with what that means about touya and their family as a whole

[mychemicalficrecs]

Hi! Can you show recs of good (long!) podfics? so many links i try to find are broken but I love listening to them!

Hmmmmm, I definitely remember getting an ask like this before and answering it with a link to a podfic site that I later found out had a lot of broken links (sorry). I can't even find that post anymore (thanks tumblr).

So I did a little digging on ao3, and while I don't listen to podfic myself, these all look very promising! I only tested the first few download links because I didn't actually want to download all these, but I think the links should still work. Some of the streams might be broken now, but the downloads seem fine.

I didn't always include all parts of a series because some of the works seemed to focus on other band characters, so if you like a work, it might make sense to check out the original fic series and see if there's more you'd be interested in.

Happy listening!

Long Podfics

Nesty Verse, written by Bexless, cimorene:

Absence Sort of Does Make the Heart, by Cimorene by daniomalley, Bob/Ray, 3:15 hours, Explicit. Set in 2003 and 2004. Bob goes up to Jersey in the gap between tours to check out the scene. And also to check out this guy he met...

Worth It, by cimorene by daniomalley, Bob/Ray, 1:15 hours, NC17. "When I moved from my first apartment into the last one, I still had unpacked boxes lying around for a year afterwards. And I didn't have anybody staying around to help me unpack." (When your choice of free labor at short notice consists of high school kids, scene guys who may or may not have sucked you off at a recent party, or Gerard Way, that's understandable, thinks Bob.)

Conclusions by Bexless by rosekolodny, Frank/Gerard, 4:14 hours, Explicit. Set in 2006. "Smokes," Mikey reads aloud. "Likes dogs in case ever get one. Likes rock music. Likes loud rock music. Is interesting. Does not hog bathroom." He looks at Frank over the top of his glasses. "Dude, it's like you're meant to be."

---

[Podfic] Some Girls are Built for Speed by akamine_chan, dapatty, Frank/Gerard, 2:46 hours, Explicit. Roller derby AU. When Frank joins his best friend's roller derby team, he has no idea what he's in for. A story of crossdressing, lies, roller derby and love.

Podfic of Public Enemy by Tabula_x_rasa by Rhea314 (Rhea), Frank/Gerard, 2:18 hours, Explicit. In 1932, Gerard Way has been making a name for himself robbing banks up and down New Jersey. Frank Iero, analyst for J. Edgar Hoover's Division of Investigation, is determined to catch him.

[Podfic] Sideshow by dapatty, 2:01 hours, Teens And Up. It's Warped 2005. One of them is learning to be a front-man. One of them is learning to stay sober. Maybe they'll be friends. Stranger things have happened.

[Podfic] momentum keeps us going, gravity makes us strong by argentumlupine, Frank/Gerard, 2:31 hours, Explicit. The problem was that Gerard was a frankenstein. The Way family had five generations of frankensteins to their name and Gerard was the best and brightest of them. Frankensteins had that spark of genius which made them scientists and artists, and musicians and inventors. Frankensteins were also severely lacking in common sense, and Gerard was no exception to that particular characteristic.

Won't Know 'til You Begin by knight_tracer, Sena, Frank/Mikey, 2:45 hours, Explicit. In which Frank is an accidental pervert, Mikey sleeps with Fabio, Gerard is much too sincere when talking about pain sluts, Ray is terrible with women and great with guitars, and Otter's got really bad taste in music. Alternately, the one where Frank realizes he has a thing for Mikey, Mikey realizes he has a thing for guys, and they're both adorably stupid failboats.

[Podfic] Five times Gerard pays for it (and one time he doesn't) by takola, Frank/Gerard, 2-2.5 hours, Explicit. This story is a cliché rentboy fic wherein Gerard (the customer) falls for Frank (the service-provider) and can’t figure out how to go from paying-for-sex to ‘dating’ or if that’s even possible. Added to the mix are Gerard’s perpetually low self-esteem, Frank’s neuroses, and both boys’ epic communication-fails. Will these two ever manage to get out of their own way long enough to see that they’re meant for each other? With a little bit of help from a meddling younger brother, they just might.

[Podfic of] To Solve a Paradox [2018] by stoplightglow by sparklehag, Frank/Gerard, 3.5-4 hours, Mature. Ray shifts so he's no longer just a head hovering in the doorway. "Lily Dale? Brian, isn't that the place you were telling me about with all the psychics?" Frank's head snaps to stare at Brian incredulously. "With all the what?"

[Podfic] Crash by akamine_chan, dapatty, Frank/Mikey, 2:38 hours, Explicit. In a future version of Seattle, Frank Iero's a lot of things: bike messenger, cage fighter, sometimes thief, Ray Toro's roommate. Mikey Way's also a lot of things: record label owner, co-heir to his grandmother's fortune, younger brother. Neither are normal. But they don't know just how far each other's abnormalities go until Frank's past and a secret of Mikey's unexpectedly shove together. (Dark Angel AU.)

[Podfic of] Turn It Up by brooklinegirl by mistresscurvy, Frank/Jamia, 2:37 hours, Explicit. Asshole!Frank meets his match when he gets into a relationship with Asshole!Jamia. Frank's not one hundred percent sure why the relationship thing isn't freaking him out as much as it should - all he knows is that lately, the only girl he wants to put his dick in is Jamia. What's it going to take for these two to make it work? Apparently, a lot of dirty, dirty sex, and Jamia pushing every boundary Frank has. Oh, and a little help from his friends, of course. 

A story that proves that even assholes can fall in love - and how.

[Podfic of] Forever, Now by klb, Frank/Gerard, 9:18 hours, Teen And Up. Gerard and Mikey have lost their parents, but they've found Brian.

[coruscantguard]

when you start anew

Here's my gift for @wanderingjedihistorian for the Star Wars Fun in the Sun Exchange!!! Thank you so much to @lilhawkeye3 for hosting this, I had an absolute BLAST @starwarsfandomfests

Commander Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Quinlan Vos

Warnings for mentions of alcohol, trauma, nightmares, slave labor (re. the clones), and shitty contracts being used to justify said labor. Don't worry, this is a no-Order 66 AU, so it's all about the recovery and healing here.

(Ao3 Link)

Cody is not going to call Rex.

Really. He isn't. It's obscenely late where he is, obscenely early for Rex, and he's not going to wake Rex up. He isn't. He really, really isn't. While it would be nice to talk to Rex, he doesn’t need to, so he’s not going to.

The night sky is clear, and it’s warm enough out that Cody isn’t cold, not really. He’s just… alone on the balcony, and it’s a bit brisk out, and--

Yeah, he’s not even convincing himself. It's warm out. It's more than warm out. He shouldn't be cold. He's out of the hotel room that has the AC blasting, and if he was cold, he should've noticed that while inside, should've grabbed a jacket when it made sense to need one, when he finally was able to make himself move from the blankets he’d gotten himself twisted up in while asleep. He should not be cold now. He knows it's warm out. He should-- make his brain work, maybe, and recognize that it's hot out, or even better yet, just go back in and go to sleep. Because he can do that. He can. The sliding glass door behind him is unlocked. Through the small gap in the curtains, he can faintly see Obi-Wan and Gen-- Quinlan on the bed, both asleep. It’s a rare sight, seeing Obi-Wan like that, and it’s one that would make his lips twitch up if he hadn’t mastered a sabacc face years ago.

But he can go inside. He can go in and lie back down, can try and close his eyes and fall back asleep.

He doesn’t.

The dream wasn’t… new, exactly. It’s one he’s been having variants of for years, and he’s honestly lost count of how many times he’s woken up to it. Usually, it happens when he’s overheating, but he’s almost certain that wasn’t the case tonight. Cody’s learned, through years of working together as well as this little trip they’re on, that Obi-Wan prefers it cooler, will ruthlessly abuse the AC the moment it gets anything vaguely close to being hot out. It’s a preference that Quinlan seems to either know or share, considering how he’d been the one to set the temperature the moment they got into their hotel room for the night.

So he almost definitely wasn’t overheating. Which… kriffing sucks, if he’s being honest about it, because that means it was just a osik dream done by his osik brain for no good reason. And that thought has a bitter aftertaste to it, because he thought he was getting better, and life doesn't work that way, but--

Cody shakes his head, ignores the way he shivers. He knows how this works. He knows how his brain works. He knows it will never be a linear progression of things being better, knows that one bad night isn’t a horrible setback, and that’s a weight off of his shoulders even if his brain doesn’t want to accept it.

Once, it would've weighed him down regardless. Once, that bitter taste in the back of his throat would've lingered, lingered and built until it was a beast of its own.

But Cody-- Cody's not tired now, per say, but he's older. Wearier. Used to picking his battles, making concessions where he must. Doing the horrible math of human sacrifice. He's-- he's not numb to it now, but he's better at applying a numbing agent, at pushing off the pain until he can afford to let it hit.

Of course, he doesn't have to do that now, though. A bygone skill for a bygone time unless he's about to go looking for another army to join, and although at times he aches with missing the close companionship his vode and him would build in the trench, he doesn't want to go back. Usually. When it's not three in the morning, when he's not out on the balcony of a formerally-Separatist planet while Obi-Wan and Quinlan sleep away the night inside.

He-- he doesn't really want to go back though. He doesn't. He's just overtired and missing his brothers, unmoored without his life's purpose driving him--

Kriff it.

Cody gives in and calls Rex.

+++

"Rise and shine, sunshines," Vos-- Quinlan says next morning, bedhead ridiculous as he grins at both Obi-Wan and Cody, and Obi-Wan hits him in the face with a pillow before Cody can even consider asking him to.

(Truly, they make a good team, even now, even off the field in territory they aren’t familiar with, on a mission with no set endpoint.)

Fact-- Jedi General Quinlan Vos wasn't actually supposed to be on this road trip at all-- not until a few days ago, at least, when a call from General Secura had interrupted their dinner, and they'd found themselves on a surprise rescue mission.

Cody would've been more irritated about it, except for the fact that Quinlan Vos is both uniquely talented at getting on Obi-Wan's nerves without truly angering him, and Cody...

Well, while Cody might not have worked with Quinlan closely during the war, but they did work together. And they did so often enough that Quinlan grew on him. Similar to a somewhat rude, partially-telepathic flirty fungus, which is a description he hates the moment he thinks of it. Great job, self.

Regardless of that, Quinlan is here now, and sputtering at Cody's general in mock-offense as Cody contemplates actually getting up to check his comm.

And last night, he'd finally gone to bed and actually gotten a few more hours of sleep after he gave in and talked to Rex, after setting up the call so that they could talk until they fell asleep without hanging up. It’s a luxury Cody normally wouldn't allow himself, but they're currently travelling on the Republic's bill, and he's feeling a bit spiteful. A bit thrilled that he can just spend money and not have it feeding back into that kriffing contract that's been hovering over his head for years now, that kriffing contract that he never thought he'd escape until--

Until, well. He did. They all did. It's been months, and it still doesn't feel quite real. It still feels like everything he does is going to feed into a bill he could never hope to pay, going to loop him in further--

But it won't. And calling Rex last night had been a good decision. Had been a good, no shit decision, a fact he can recognize now that he's actually gotten some sleep, now that he isn't tied up in his own 1am melodrama.

"Nice shot," Cody says dryly as he finally forces himself to sit up and look for his holocomm. Knowing Rex, the situation is probably that Rex woke up already and ended the call upon doing so, but knowing Cody's luck, the situation might be that Fox somehow got ahold of Rex's comm and is recording blackmail material this very moment. Cody looks around, and grabs his comm, and--

Knowing Rex wins out this time, thank the Force. Cody lets out a sigh of relief as he sees that while there's a message waiting for him from Rex's number, the call is over, and his phone is off.

"Thank you, Cody," Obi-Wan replies, perfectly polite in a way that Cody knows-- mostly from observing his General's interactions with General Skywalker-- is intended to aggravate the listener, and Cody presses his lips together tight as Quinlan starts sputtering once again. "I try."

A moment of silence. Then-- "Bullies," Quinlan declares. "Bullies, the both of you, the 212th is led by bullies, and I hate you both."

"You're the one who decided to stay with us, s-" Cody stops midword, winces faintly. Yeah, there's no good way to play that one off, Force. “Well, you chose this.”

Sith hells. He's gotten better at actually calling Obi-Wan by name, at leaving off the honorifics, but… he's been on the road with Obi-Wan for weeks, and he's been with Quinlan for days.

Which means that little slip is… understandable, even if it's irritating to kark it up. Even if the mistakes are human and all. After all, he’s been expected to be better than that for years, so messing up burns, even though doing so isn't really a matter of life and death anymore.

Maturely, Quinlan grins and sends him a rude gesture in response. Cody doesn't snort, but it's close. The nerve of him, really.

(And he only winces a little with how close that snort was to actually getting out-- with the realization of just how little control over his own reactions he has these days-- which is progress. Hell, it’s good progress, and he has to remind himself of that, because his brain still automatically flips to panic when he thinks of how much his actions would terrify his younger self. When he thinks of the consequences these same actions could’ve had years ago. Would’ve had years ago.)

+++

Fact-- Quinlan likes Arthuria. Really likes it.

It's not hard to understand why. A society where there's almost always a layer of fabric preventing psychic echoes from being formed on objects must be a breath of fresh air to him, doubly so because of the societal custom of wearing gloves. Quinlan stands out here, sure, but not for the usual reasons. Not because he had to choose personal safety over blending in.

Back when they were cadets, Rex had enjoyed fitting in as well-- it was a novelty for him, with a physical mutation while on Kamino. While the rest of them had been desperate to stand out, Rex had never had the option of doing anything different.

And Coruscant is a more forgiving place than Kamino, the Jedi kinder than their trainers ever had been, but being a Jedi is enough to make one stand out when out of the Temple, and Quinlan-- if what Faie has told him is correct, at least-- is an oddity among the Jedi.

So it's understandable, even though it's not personally relatable for Cody. And Quinlan's comfort is infectious, enough so that it has both Obi-Wan and Cody himself relaxing.

Which is good, especially because it’s only after a few more minutes that Cody makes another observation.

Fact-- Obi-Wan doesn't like it here.

Or-- not that exactly, not quite dislike, but-- there’s something here that’s making him tense, something that has the line of his shoulders straight and his High Coruscanti accent more pronounced than usual. And it’s not like Cody isn’t a bit more aware of his manners right now, as they walk through crowds in a city built off of them, but for once, he’s more comfortable than Obi-Wan. And that’s rare-- off the top of his mind, the Citadel is the only time he can think of Obi-Wan being more rattled than he was, and the Citadel was a known Jedi killer, one of their monsters underneath the bed.

He bumps shoulders lightly with Obi-Wan as they take a turn, questioning but not quite prodding, inquisitive but not demanding, a damn sight softer than he’d ever been during the war. Requesting information the civilian way was something he was... getting better at, thankfully. He’s been dealing with Gree’s obscure rants for years now, of course, but even when compared to Gree civvies talk a kriffing ton, about half a dozen things that don’t matter said for every question answered.

And taking that into account, it’s certainly a good thing he’s stuck so close to his General in the aftermath of the war, as Obi-Wan is the only non-vode he’s met who can get horribly off-topic without annoying the osik out of Cody, which is almost certainly a large part of why he’s gotten rather good at softening his questions so quickly.

(Threepwood has not. Threepwood really, really has not. Wooley’s been forwarding him updates, and each one is somehow worse than the last. He probably should not find that quite as amusing as he does, but-- both Obi-Wan and Quinlan had laughed when last night’s message popped in, so… he’s giving himself a pass.)

“I’m fine,” Obi-Wan starts, apparently deciding to answer his silent inquiry, and while Cody restrains himself from rolling his eyes at the obvious lie, Quinlan is not quite as courteous. ‘Really, I am. I just came here as a Padawan once. I was… remembering, I suppose.”

Cody and Quinlan exchange a glance, and Cody inclines his head briefly, letting him take the lead. This is a subject Quinlan knows more about than Cody does, and he’s fully aware that hes probably way out of his depth here.

“Well, your remembering looked quite a lot like moping to me,” Quinlan says, bringing his arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulders just to ruin the moment by leaning all of his weight onto Obi-Wan, causing them both to lurch to the side.

“Vos!”

“-- and moping is not allowed in my presence.”

“Vos you bastard you are causing a scene--”

“Oh, you want me to cause a scene? Because I can show you a scene, baby.”

“Vos!”

Cody steps neatly out of the way of the two, glances at them, then glances away. It’s good to see his General like this, even if a small part of him is currently cringing away as the secondhand embarrassment threatens to creep in. He pushes it away with pure force of will, because for kriff’s sake, he fought in a war, he’s faced worse than a little breaking of societal norms.

(Determinedly, Cody thinks about that, and not about the fact he just realized that Quinlan might be joining Obi-Wan on the list of natborns I actually enjoy hearing talk about dumb things, because the implicatons of that revelation are implications Cody feel are better processed when drunk and with Ponds there to act as the voice of reason. Or at least the voice of sobriety. Reason might be too much to ask of Ponds.)

+++

The ship they've been travelling in is a small thing-- not unbearably so, in that Cody has dealt with worse, but bad enough that he’s certainly not complaining about the breathing room the hotels they’ve stayed in grant him. The hotel rooms grant him distance, privacy, and that’s something Cody values more than most clones, but--

There’s something about the cramped quarters of the ship that has been growing on him. Not as a permanent residence, but-- maybe another trip, another time. He doesn't hate the thought of it. He’s more… neutral to it. Neutral, leaning towards positive.

He told Rex last night that there was a chance he might call again, if Rex didn’t mind, and Rex had called him a dumbass, which… okay, fair. If Rex was unsure about if it was okay to call Cody in the middle of the night for reassurance, Cody would be saying that he’s a dumbass too. Lovingly, of course. But an absolute dumbass.

So while he’s considering texting Rex and telling him that he’s fine, that they don’t need to call tonight, it’s not for the same reasons he was hesitant last night, See, he doesn’t really need to and the lack of privacy here means there's no way he could hide the call from the Jedi, but--

Well, he doesn’t need to hide it either. Obi-Wan and Quinlan know he’s been in contact with multiple members of the 212th, with his batchmates and his former squadmates and his fellow Command Class.

Point is, he doesn’t have to mask his care anymore, doesn’t have to maintain the level of distance he did in the war. It might even be a net positive if he called, as Obi-Wan would probably enjoy talking to Rex, honestly, the two of them have always gotten on well. And Quinlan-- well, he’s got no idea if Quinlan knows Rex or not, but there's a traitorous part of his brain that wants Quinlan to know Rex. That wants Rex to like Quinlan, wants Rex to look at him and approve of--

Force kriffing hells, he’s so pathetic, it’s almost laughable. The war ends, a few possibilities open up, and suddenly his brain is taking everything to the kriffing max.

But-- it’s a tempting idea, now that he’s had it. A persistent one too, and he finds himself thinking of it as he sits at the small breakfast bar in the kitchen, as Quinlan cooks and Obi-Wan banters with him and Cody tries to deal with the fact that Obi-Wan’s arm is pressed up against his own, tries to deal with the fact that their hands are just inches apart--

Oh, Rex is going to give him so much osik for this. So much osik.

For some reason, he doesn’t hate that thought as much as he probably should. The opposite, really, and kriff it, kriff it, he wants to do it and he knows if he waits he’ll just talk himself out of it--

“So, I was thinking about calling Rex…”