#but when it's the other way it's - make sure you're really sure cause you're permanently ruining your body forever

[ransomdemands]

yknow sometimes the way trans women talk about testosterone and being on estrogen is indistinguishable from the way terfs try to convince afab people not to start hrt

this is not a criticism mind you, their experiences are their own and completely legitimate, it's just a matter of competing needs - they need a safe space to talk about their dysphoria and how testosterone makes them feel and i need to not hear about how i am destroying my body with hrt

ordinarily these things are pretty insular to transfem circles but since instagram has been feeding me transfem content i'm seeing it more and more and yet again the algorithm is fucking me

[alllgator-blood]

FINISHED THAT ONE COMIC I POSTED ABOUT ALMOST 30 FULL DAYS AGO?? I FINALLY REMEMBERED IT EXISTED AND FINISHED IT. I HAVE SO MUCH I WANT TO SAY ABOUT MY LAMB NOW THAT THEY'RE FINALLY THE MAIN CHARACTER IN A LONG COMIC, BUT it went on forever so I put it below the cut.

While we're above the cut, I have a bunch of REALLy good asks I'll be trying to draw for soon. But keep an eye out for a poll coming up soon...cause now that this is out of the way, I want another big project to have in the background and I have Big Ideas for Big Angst Comics........

OH YOU CLICKED THE THING, NICE. OKAY. SO:

Have I ever talked about how my lamb works?? I need to do more with them but I'm a bishop enjoyer to an obsessive degree. The lamb operates on the same kind of level as kallamar did during the breakdown comic, but on a more permanent, more stable level. After being told to hide for their whole life, to never show their face and not even being given a name......being beheaded by four gods and recruited by a fifth forgotten one who claims they're the Chosen One just made the lamb think "OH! None of this is real. My brain wanted me to feel important before I died, and this is my dying vision. Okay, I'll play along >:)" and now they're the equivalent of when you beat a game and replay it while picking the funniest/worst options to see what'd happen.

USUALLY their decisions are clouded by the assumption that nothing they do actually matters, but they're still......a person who held things dear and had standards while they were alive. So they love hijinx, but aren't like leshy who launches people out of catapults for fun, or kallamar who sees mortals more as lab rats than people living their own lives. They'll do some things for the lolz but their humanity definitely shows through when dealing with someone like shamura.

I think they went into the bishop slaying quest wanting to hate shamura, assuming they were an irredeemable antagonist that deserved to be vanquished. They were told by narinder that shamura was the big bad, so they figured there was nothing to it beyond that. But then they actually MET shamura, who wasn't at all what they were expected to be. Every other bishop is just like "RAHH I'LL KILL YOU" when you meet them, and then shamura is the only person who actually tells you about what happened, speaks to you like a person and not an obstacle, and doesn't seem bothered about the fact they're going to die. So that got them thinking....hmm...perhaps these people are slightly more realistic than I anticipated. Still gonna kill them tho

I'm not sure the lamb hates the bishops, especially after the realization that they're a fucked up family acting out in desperation rather than logic. When you're born into circumstances you know will eventually doom you (like being a sacrificial lamb destined for slaughter) you kinda...lose the ability to care after a while. They don't really *forgive* the bishops for the slaughter of their people, and definitely enjoy bullying them and kicking them around now that they're powerless mortals- but the initial horror of being born to die has subsided. Now that they're presumably in some kind of afterlife, and have better, more fun things to move onto now that they're the ruler of everything- it's not worth it to hate those five forever.

I think *because* the lamb has only been a god very briefly and still remembers mortality well, that's why they're the one god who does things "because they're funny" but also is respectful of people like shamura. It's like when you're playing GTA V and you accidentally drive over a dog while trying to pull over and look at it closer. Is it a real dog?? No but you're still gonna feel bad!! So like I said, in the lamb's mind they have NO reason to care about any of these people or show them mercy, but the fact that they're not as detached from mortality as the bishops were makes them a benevolent god. I'll be doing a comic about this very subject in the future and it WILL be depressing >:)

Also. Unrelated. But if you read this far, I feel the need to justify why heket and leshy suddenly have boobs in this comic. I'm sure it's obvious that I headcanon the gods don't have sex characteristics cause like...why would they need those. I don't want to draw that. But as MORTALS they would probably need to have all their organs intact to function properly, so pour one out for shamura + leshy who probably completely forgot they were transgender until they woke up in mortal bodies. NOT SURE HOW KALLAMAR WOULD REACT, I think they're more just horrified they lost all their tentacles

I debated doing another silly comic about the concept but I don't want this blog to get too raunchy, so instead have this epic ms paint art (I CAN MAKE THESE JOKES, I'M AFAB TRANS I DESERVE THIS ONE THING)

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

It's a Match! || poly!141 x Reader

[Chapter 25] || [Chapter Pre-27] || [Chapter 27]

Pairing: 141 x gn!Reader Words: 1.2k~ cw: smut, penetration, oral sex (m!receiving), gay sex (anal) Summary: While overcoming recent heartbreak, you decide to join Tinder in search of a rebound. Your friends advise to just Swipe Right indiscriminately... What happens when 4 soldiers from the same squad match with you? a/n: we're almost THERE

Chapter 26: Smart mouth

If you thought last time you guys did this was too much, you weren’t ready for this afternoon.

Had you had all your braincells intact, you would’ve pondered HOW John would end up adding to this, if it was even possible to add an extra person…

But they weren’t intact. You were utterly fucked out, stars prickling at the corner of your eyes…

You were lying on your tummy, legs spread apart to either side of the bed, Kyle steadily snapping his hips against your ass, the sound of his cock plunging into you wet and slick echoing in the room, not even concealed by your muffled moans.

Your head was craned back, your neck straining a bit in that position to allow for Johnny’s cock to plunge deep into your mouth, muffling any of the cries of pleasuring coming from you.

It didn’t help that Johnny was not controlling himself, his cock hammering into your mouth with wild abandon.

But that must have had something to do with the fact Simon was fucking him from behind, a hand gripping Johnny around the hip, the other holding your hair to make sure he stayed buried in your mouth.

The corners of your mouth hurt, Johnny’s shaft so impossibly thick, just like the rest of him, that you couldn’t help but whine and whimper at the stretch it forced your mouth to perform.

And Kyle with his damn moans and sighs behind you, his lengthy cock plunging so deep inside you, his thighs nearly permanently glued to your ass more often than not.

“Tha’s it… Wanted to ‘ave a fucking smart mouth, did ya?” Simon taunts who you know is Johnny, but frankly he feels like he could be speaking to any of you really.

“I-I… I’m sorry L.T.!” Johnny whines, his eyes rolling back, his back pressed firmly against Simon’s chest, head lolling against the taller man’s shoulder.

“Don’t apologise to me. Apologise to the pretty thing that’s got you all the way down their throat.” Simon replies, his tone bossy and authoritative.

“I-I’m sorry, bonnie… A-Ah…” Johnny got interrupted halfway as Simon’s hand bobbed your head back and forth, causing some audible sounds of you choking.

“Fuck… Looks so good…” Kyle huffed behind you, bent halfway over your body, panting right against your shoulder blade.

All he could see from that angle was your nose burrowed to Johnny’s pelvis, Simon’s hand in your hair, tears in your eyes…

Simon’s hand left your hair for a moment, allowing you to swallow the build up of saliva in your mouth and to breathe better through your nose, instead caressing Kyle’s cheek, his thumb grazing his bottom lip.

“You’re all doin’ so good f’r me…” Simon tells you, Kyle’s eyes closing at the praise, his lips parting to suck Simon’s thumb. “Good…”

Your eyes watch the entire scene, or… they would, if you weren’t already 2 orgasms in, too fucked out to think of anything at all beyond the fact this all feels too good.

-

You find yourself stirring awake by a sudden lack of warmth and groggily look around to notice Kyle leaving the warm pile of bodies on your bed, revealing your back to the cold air of the bedroom.

Grunting softly, you're shushed by a kiss on the crown of your head and an arm wrapping around you tighter, rubbing your bare back.

You’re hugging onto Simon, who has an arm around you. Kyle had been behind you this whole time, spooning you, and Johnny had been behind him.

“He's going to let John in,” Simon tells you as he keeps rubbing your back, gentle kisses pressed to the top of your head.

Johnny is sleeping soundly, just like you had been, his breathing steady, not quite a snore, but loud enough.

“John?” You murmur, rubbing your eyes.

“Yeah, he texted me about an hour ago, asking if we wanted dinner.” Simon tells you.

“Dinner?” Johnny murmurs in a half-awake state.

“Bloody ‘ell, did’ya wake up at the mention of food?’ Simon quips with a soft rumble of a laugh against your ear. It sounds like he's purring…

Johnny scoots closer, taking up the space that Kyle had been in until now, his lips beginning to press kisses to your bare shoulder.

“I'm so sore…” You murmur, lamenting how sluggish you feel, not to mention your cotton mouth.

After your session, you had all taken turns showering and Simon had made sure to get you all to drink water, but that did little to help your sorry state.

“At least ye don't have a bum knee.” Johnny quips behind you.

“And don't pull a muscle while sitting down,” Simon remarks.

“Or fuck up your back while having a one night stand.” John announces when he shows up at the bedroom door, Kyle right behind him.

Besides Simon, John’s the only one that's dressed, a pair of dark blue jeans, a white undershirt and a brown sweater on top, his hair slightly disheveled from having taken off the beanie he usually wears as a civvy.

“Hi…!” You greet him lazily.

“Hi, darling.” John replies as he approaches the bed.

He drops a kiss to Simon’s head, a peck on the lips for you, and runs a hand over Johnny’s messy mohawk.

“I see you lot had some fun, hm?” John teases before crouching by the bedside.

“‘f course we did, sir.” Johnny jokes with what you know is a sly little smirk on his lips.

“How about you lot get dressed and get some food, hm?” He quipped and ran a hand through your hair as you remained warm sandwiched between Johnny and Simon. “I brought Indian.”

“Ooh, butter chicken?!” Johnny remarks and immediately bounces up, trampling over you and Simon to get off the bed, causing you both to groan.

“I just said I'm SORE!” You scold Johnny as he starts gathering his clothes, which Kyle is also doing for himself.

“Clearly not sore enough! Guess I didn't fuck yer throat hard enough if your mouth is still yapping.” Johnny retorts, causing you to gasp.

“Johnny-” Simon replies as he slowly shifts and stands up as if already threatening him with another fucking to get the attitude out of him again.

“Tough talk for someone that had a cock up the ass 3 hours ago.” Kyle quips from beside him.

“HAUD YER YEESHT! You’re just bitter Simon didn’t fuck ye!” Johnny retorts as he nudges Kyle, the two of them picking up on their usual bickering.

“I wouldn't count that as fucking, more like putting you in your place.” Simon replies swiftly, joining Kyle in tag teaming Johnny.

“My PLACE?!” Johnny gasps.

John takes a seat in the spot Simon had been occupying, letting you curl up to him instead as the lads descend into the madness that is their usual bickering.

John’s arms pull you up onto his lap, wrapping you in a warm hug, his chin resting on your shoulder as you both gaze at the loud men in your bedroom.

“I'm sorry you have to deal with them.” He tells you playfully.

“And I'm sorry that you've been dealing with them for so long.” You retort.

You both share a glance and a chuckle.

"You know if you ever want a break from them... I've got my own place..." John suggests with narrowed eyes and a smile, puffy cheeks lightly pink.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

taglist (CLOSED! not adding anyone else, sorry!):

@daisychainsinknots , @bunnysdaydreams , @iite-cool , @lahniu , @pagesfalling , @tapioca-milktea1978 , @live-love-be-unique , @thelaisydazy , @littleghosthunter , @bossva , @emotion-no-hot-yes-hotel-trivago , @chamomiletealeaf , @ghosts-hoe , @kariiiel , @ltbarnes , @irregulardongyoung , @spacelia , @hayleybarnesx , @cod-z , @frescoisnotinthemilitary , @leeeenistop , @lucienbarkbark , @xxshadowbabexx

@severenswife , @enarien, @agoodmoviekiss , @l0lziez , @whos-fran , @greatstormcat , @openup-yourmind , @neoarchipelago , @sodavrr , @cutiecusp , @lilliumrorum , @c-nstantine , @kneelforloki , @comeonatmebruh , @codsunshine , @waiting-so-long , @captainquake42 , @gazspookiebear , @mynameismisty , @reap3erslov3 , @reaper-chan666 , @poohkie90 , @kitwithnokat , @stick-the-dumbass , @mothsdrabbles , @justanerd1 , @thesinsoflust , @thriving-n-jiving , @blckbrrybasket

[holdyourhandinmine]

𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕤 | shauna shipman

♫ 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘: cherry waves • deftones

⍟ from the beginning of your relationship you've always known shauna never really loved you ⍟

toxic!shauna, gaslighting, shaunas in love with jackie but with you, you love shauna anyways, i love toxic bf shauna

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀

it starts off small at first- hardly noticeable unless you're actively looking for it. and had it not been for tai- you probably wouldn't have figured it out until it was too late.

shauna never really was committed to you fully- she'd blow you off for jackie at any moment.

sure, you understand it, they've known each other for as long as they could speak- and jackie, jackie is impossible to be mad at- she's the living embodiment of a ray of sunshine.

and shauna looks at jackie like she hangs the stars, moon, sun- hell, she looks at her like she's created the goddam universe.

she looks at you like that sometimes too- but there's something in her eyes, something in the way she moves that have an underlying sense of hesitation. her hands don't linger on your skin like they do with jackie- she recoils from you like you burn her, her tones clipped sometimes when you two talk, it's as if she can't wait to get the conversation over.

yet you still really love her.

and deep down, deep in your bones- you know she only loves jackie.

you dont think jackie means it- means to intrude on your relationship. she's just too wrapped up in this little perfect bubble she's created to notice her actions cause any harm.

jackie seems to be entwined in your relationship- even when she's not there, it's like a ghost of her lingers- thick, suffocating.

you ask shauna about her day, she says what jackie and her did, you ask how she's feeling- she mentions jackie was sad; and like some sort of fucked up co-dependent, symbiotic relationship, shauna is now sad too.

it's always jackie, jackie, jackie.

you remember the first valentines day that rolls around after you first got together- she gifts you poppies; jackie's favourite. you hate poppies.

you accepted them with a tight-lipped smile and gift her a new book, one she's been talking about for weeks, she kisses you hard- hands grabbing your cheeks to pull you in.

you get butterflies in your stomach.

it's the first time she's really touched you like she meant it.

-

you aren't apart of the team- but you've always orbited the same space as them. even before you liked shauna.

it's how you met her really- growing up near nat and van meant you would always sit and watch them kick a ball around. they tried to rope you in, but you've always been more graceful with your brain than your feet.

then they join the yellowjackets in high school- they meet lottie and tai, and now you've become a permanent fifth wheel.

lottie throws you an invite to a team bonding night, and you hesitantly show up.

you see her for the first time then. you remember it vividly- jackie wasn't there, she'd been out of town for the whole week and shauna looked liked a kicked puppy.

you've always loved animals.

you manage to crack a smile on shauna's face that night- and when van and you, are making your way home, she mentions shauna hasn't really been happy since jackie left.

your chest swells with pride.

-

it all comes to a head one night- you're up in her bedroom. her hands are tangled in your hair and you're sat in her lap, feverish in your make-out. it's quiet, so quiet you almost think you've misheard, but the way she stops for a second to gauge your reaction is unmistakeable. a quiet, little moan.

"oh jackie."

you pull away, reeling back in hurt.

shauna looks at you annoyed- like you were the one to fuck everything up.

"what?"

she says- annoyance seeping through, she taps her fingers on the bed, willing you to reply.

you want to cry- want to rip your hair out and slap her across the face.

"what?! what do you mean what?! you just called me jackie!"

"no- i didn't- you're being dramatic."

her voice is low, you reply to her, voice shaking.

"no- i heard you."

"i don't think so- come on, we've talked about this. you need to stop being jealous of jackie- she's just my best friend."

"i am not jealous."

"well why do you sound it then? if we're not going to make out you can just leave you know-"

she gets up from the bed- walking over to you, she grabs you by the hips softly.

"but i really don't want you to- i love you."

her big, stupid, brown eyes melt your dignity away and you stay.

-

you're at a party, leant against some car with shauna- she's brooding next to you, her dark eyes staring down jackie whose dancing with jeff.

you try to talk to her, but it seems nothing is sinking in- only when jackie turns in his arms and dances against him, does she down the rest of her drink and grabs your arm- pulling you towards her car in a hurry.

you can barely keep up, tripping over your feet trying to match her pace.

shauna shipman is relentless.

she shoves you into the backseat- climbing in after you.

she kisses you- hot, heavy, needy.

"tell me you love me."

"i love you shauna."

-

youre okay with being in love with shauna, even if she's in love with jackie.

you're happy to play along, happy to swim after her when she drowns in her infatuation with jackie.

cause she's good a pretending sometimes- good at pretending to truely love you, and it makes your heart fuzzy, and your knees weak. pathetic really.

[akutasoda]

Heyeyey can I request boothill, Sunday and aventurine with a fem s/o who’s always on her phone? Like even when it’s charging or even when they’re cuddling she just has to be on her phone?

screentime overload

synopsis - how are they with a s/o who cannot put their phone down?

includes - aventurine, sunday, boothill

warnings - fem!reader (no pronouns used), fluff, crack, wc - 721

aventurine ★↷

↪he can be a bit of a fifty fifty when it comes to his phone. normally the only time he uses it is for IPC relevant things, messaging you or ratio and if he's really bored, mindless scrolling. his work can keep him rather busy and so he doesn't exactly have the time to sit around all day.

↪so he found it quite amusing to a degree when he noticed how absorbed you were in your phone. it really didn't take long for him to notice how you practically treated it as a lifeline because no matter where you were your phone was near aswell - more accurately near to your line of sight.

↪it did bring him some comfort in knowing that you would always see his messages because he could always take an accurate guess that you were on your phone and able to respond as quick as possible.

↪however he did find it quite ridiculous that sometimes he'd find you curled up by your charger, phone still in hand. surely you had other things to be doing? maybe you're phone needed a break from you eventually?

↪it didn't bother him per say, but he would prefer it if, when he saw you after a while, that you actually make the effort to pry your gaze from your phone and to him.

↪sometimes he can be quite the menace, especially when, in the morning, you wake up and search for your phone but don't get very far as aventurine would have you in a near death grip hug.

sunday ★↷

↪definitely isn't a phone kind of person. sure he has one but it's mainly for work or managing the dreamscape and most likely only had a couple of actual contacts - yours and robins. he probably could go very happily without his phone.

↪and so he truly doesn't understand why you're so attached to yours. at first he thought that you probably had something going on that needed managing, but when he saw you day in and day out staring down at your screen, he got slightly worried and confused.

↪it baffled him that you could actually spend so much time staring down at that screen but eventually he started getting more concerned that you were causing permanent damage to your eyes. he's the type of person who would tell you about the damage phones can do to you when he sees you laser focused on your phone.

↪in a similar way, he does find a slight comfort in knowing that if he needs to reach you he can. the one day you don't actually get his messages and respond very quickly is the day he panics.

↪sunday isn't exactly the keenest when it comes to physical affection, but when he does come around and finally gets time off to spend with you, he does not want you on your phone for that. if you get unlucky he might start contemplating hiding your phone.

boothill ★↷

↪another fifty fifty. he isn't exactly literate and so any messages are sent via voice recordings and such, this also probably means that he doesn't spend that much time on his phone in general - especially as a galaxy ranger who has bounties to hunt instead.

↪that being said, his phone gets put through the wringer alot. it isn't exactly his top priority in keeping safe when on a mission, so he either loses it or it gets very badly damaged to the point that sometimes you can't even tell it was meant to be a phone.

↪so he did struggle a bit to to comprehend how and why you spent so much time on your phone. he only started getting annoyed when he realised that your phone was robbing him from your affection and time. boothill did once threaten to eat your phone.

↪he still finds it very ridiculous that you spend so much time in your phone, especially when he has caught you multiple times using your phone while it's charging or when you really shouldn't be.

↪but he doesn't mind too much as long as you actually still give him some affection and don't spend that time with your phone in hand again - especially when he gets time to return to you after hunting a bounty or two.

taglist - @little-miss-chaoss, @frankiesteinn

[yan-randomfandom]

Hiii baby! Can I request Jinx, Cait and if you do Maddie (all separately) w/ a gf who is dose very crafty/homemade makeovers?

Hear me out- why spend money on a cut & color, new piercing, nails ect when your hg can do it for you herself?? (I just grew up poor and had to learn😭😭)

Jinx, Caitlyn, & Maddie with a crafty girlfriend headcanons!!

a/n: omg its so nice that you rose up & learned em😭 such a fun request! this one is written before act 3

I didn't proofread or edit so please feel free to point out anything that's bothering you 😭

also this might be ooc.... im so sorry if it is😔

Let's go and start with ...

🌀

Jinx

Jinx has an established style with her neon painted nails, twin braids, inventions, and everything in her possession. An endearing fashion sense, even if some think it looks ridiculous lmaooo

With Jinx being an artisan and artist herself, you both find being creative a common ground in your relationship!

Makeovers anytime, anywhere. No need to find professionals when you have your girlfriend right here! It's a give and take relationship for sure. I imagine it'd be so fun and full of laughs 😩

Also I think you guys will inspire each other back and forth lolol

Having an art block and you don't like it? Ask the other for help!

And if you're both having art blocks? Well, Jinx will take you out on vastly different spots until you find what you're looking for. It's a great way to bond, and sightseeing is nice (⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠)

When you're exploring new styles, and you aren't doing it on Jinx, she would love to simply watch you work. It has some sort of calming effect on her, especially if you're rambling while doing it.

If she sees something of your art that she likes, she might just copy you in her style! Kind of like how Jinx did that makeup when she was in Vi's apartment or something

Although don't be surprised if you wake up and see your face horrendously painted in the morning 😔

You can't even revenge because she sleeps with one eye open, I fear

☄️

Caitlyn

MAN. I feel like you'd have to beg Caitlyn for even the simplest makeovers. She looks so plain rn (in the style way) or am I just blind 😭

You suppose it makes sense. She looks so perfect and you keep giving compliments. Like, why is she so pretty?? There's just so many possibilities you can do with her appearance!!

But, sadly, she doesn't let you give her makeovers much. Not that she doesn't like your work, she respects it and adores it, but arts isn't exactly her thing.

I think make-up of any kind would probably feel uncomfortable for her. Plus it would be a hassle to remove it, she would say.

What you can do is give her hair a trim. A perfect line, as much as possible. She comes to you when her hair feels longer, or more damaged, than usual. Granted, it can be boring, but you're just glad you're doing something for her.

Another thing is that you can choose outfits for her. You can doll her up anytime as long as you don't take too long picking combinations!

If she has time, she'll probably let you paint her nails. Make sure she doesn't regret it, or else she might never let you again.

She'd buy anything you want, by the way. Money isn't a problem for her. So you technically have unlimited supplies, thank goodness, 'cause sometimes they can be so expensive.

You jokingly tell her that even if you break up, if she ever changes her mind about getting something, she'll come to you. Absolute dibs on Caitlyn!!

🍯

Maddie

I feel like Maddie has never really delved into bodily artworks, since she spent most of her time studying about laws and stuff.

Like,, do we agree on the motion that she cut her hair so she doesn't have to deal with it 😭 Less weight during missions too

So when her amazing girlfriend happens to be passionate about creatives? Oh, boy, she's going to be filled with curiosity.

She'll allow you to do anything you want to her, as long as it isn't permanent. In fact, she's super enthusiastic about it, always trusting the process and seeing the result.

You're so creative that it's impressive!! Even if it isn't your best work, she always finds a way to praise you 😭

She'd love to watch you work as well, but she's not exactly the quiet type 🥲

Expect a whole bunch of questions. "What's that for?" "Why are you putting that?" "Ooh, that technique looks complicated. How—"

One of your quality time is definitely you trying to teach her new things. Let her paint your nails, do your hair, and anything that can make you both happy.

If you make clips or whatnot, you definitely try to overload her fluffy hair with decoration. You try different hairstyles possible with that length of hers.

Sometimes, you catch her playing around with your make-up alone. It almost always ends with you fixing it up for her 😭

you, showing your new haircut (it looks horrible): yoooo isn't this so rizzing

jinx: hell yeah

caitlyn: you are not going out like that. go get your unnecessary amount of hair extensions and choose from there

maddie: hell yeah

[pokespe-rainbow]

Any Tmnt Iteration x Spiderman!Reader Part 5: End of the Intro

Masterlist | Previous | Next

"Where do your webs come from?" - asked the purple turtle as he used a pair of scissors to cut through the web that covered your bleeding leg

"Not from my butt, that's for sure" - You answered while sitting on their lair's medbay - "I could actually produce organic webs from some special glands on the tip of my fingers, but to produce the equivalent of a spider of my size I would have to have a strick diet of giant insects and I'm definitely not having that."

"I've noticed you make an specific hand gesture everytime you're gonna shoot a web but that seems to come from your wrist" - Donnie took the web away and started to cut a patch of clothing to gain access to the wound

That probably would have felt somewhat intim if you're not supposed to bleed out. The moment the purple-clad turtle took a look at your injuries, he practically forced you to sit down. Mikey was on the other stretcher in the medbay. His brother already gave him the antidote before the venom could actually bring some permanent harm.

"There's a device under my suit that shoots sintetic webs. It's really funny 'cause you can easily find all the chemicals in any ironmongery. "

Yep. Your aunt is gonna kill you after you decide to ruin another of her pants collection.

"Seems your circulatory system is different to a regular human. Other way your artery would be intact" - Donnie bring some cotton with alcohol to desinfect the would - "And seems that you're already started to heal"

"Yeah" - you answered as you felt the sting of the alcohol to clean to blood away - "I can have some broken ribs fixed in a couple of hours."

"I would recommend you not to engage in any kind of physical effort that could remove your stitches"

You grunted but didn't do anything to stop him from seizing your leg. Good, because you we're usually bad when patching yourself.

"Thanks for not letting me bleed in the middle of the street" - you said in a humorous tone

"Thanks for protecting my brothers when I wasn't available" - replied Donatello

That was weird. Someone actually thanking you. You can blame your boss for that.

It was nice. Even if you didn't practically do anything. You didn't even give a proper beat up to the guy.

"Donnie, you're done?" - asked the older brother, the famous Leo Mikey complained so much about. You wanted to laugh at the rhyme he indirectly said, but now his eyes were on you - "Master Splinter wanted a word with our guest."

"Thanks, doc" - you stand up - "I guess this is my discharge?"

Donnie gave a disapproval look at his brother before turning at you - "Don't make me redo your stitches" - he said with a stern tone - "Leo, that goes for you too."

"Nothing is going to happen on my watch" - Leonardo crossed his arms - "Nothing. "

"You better, Leo" - Donatello crossed his arms like a disappointed mother. He didn't want his older brother to be the one to scare a fellow intellectua away.

Leonardo ignored his second youngest and made a signal to you to follow him. You pressed your footing on the floor just to check. There was no pain before following the blue claded turtle.

Leonardo was clearly distrustful of you. He'd seen you on TV several times. Actually, he cringed when you turned Doctor Connors to the authorities. Yes, he knew the Lizard plan was to turn New York's population into mutants, which wasn't ideal and goed against his morals, but on the other hand, his heart clutched at the memory of the Lizard lying unconscious on a web to everyone disposal like a sick circus freak exposition.

That could've been him and his brothers on that web to everyone's entertainment and disposal.

The image of you half a way to bleed to death kind of changed something. Mikey was kind of still of unconscious and high on meds. Raphael was pretty unharmed thanks to you and seemed actually pretty toned about taking you to the lair to get you patched up. Donnie was clearly having a camping day, and Leo should stop his brother before he could suggest studying you.

You were pretty much like a funny mirror version of Mikey. In spandex.

Leo knew he shouldn't judge by the first impression, especially since his family owed their safety to you. He should wait to Master Splinter final judgment before he could get a proper conversation with you.

Soooooo…. This was the unfamous Leonardo. Looked like a nearly identical carbon copy of the other brothers, except, like the rest, he had some distinctive features, like blue eyes from a darker tone than Mikey's, sharper eyes and a forming chasm on his forehead. Leonardo had particularly big hands compared to his brothers, little things you wouldn't notice before the bite. That and he seemed to be the pretty one.

You were left in front of a circular door with red curtains, the smell of incense came to stitch your nose, luckily nothing that could actually bother you, but you were pretty much hyper sensitive.

"Master Splinter is waiting on the other side" - Leonardo stood next to you, eyes on the front, tough he steal a quick glance at you and turned around completely when you found him gazing

"Thanks, Pretty Eyes" - you said without actually thinking, hearing the sound of choking before entering the room

Wow. Your aunt was into yoga and all with the candles and the incense, but this was a complete new level. That was a cherry blossom tree growing underground?? And there was a giant rat in the middle of the room waiting for you.

Cool, cool cool cool cool cool cool cool

Just a…. Actually, a giant rat wasn't even exciting at this point. No offense, Mr Rat Man. But you have faced enough weird shit to just don't care anymore.

"Good evening" - said the giant rat - "You must be [S/n]. My son Michelangelo likes to talk about you. "

"He does?" - you asked.

"Yes. Michelangelo seems pretty fond of you and your friendship. I wish we could've met in better circumstances. Still, I must thank you for helping and protecting my sons in this moment of weakness." - and then the rat bowed

"Woah woah" - you put your hand in the air yo stop him - "There's no need to do that. I'm just glad to help. And I consider Mikey a friend, so… It's something anyone should've done" - you put your hand behind your head. This Man(Woman, Something else) makes you feel like a little kid sneaking to steal the cookie jar.

The rat smiled(?) or whatever kind of gesture managed to make with a snout - "You're too humble. I respect that" - the rat take support from his cane - "My name is Splinter, and you can refer to me as such. "

"Okay… Thanks… Mr Splinter." - you awkward said. What time was it? Did your aunt could be awake and discover you weren't in bed? What about Mikey? You needed to see him awake, to say sorry to him, because if you decided to change the place of your encounter… Maybe Mikey could've been safe and sound….

"Somethings troubling you" - Splinter's voice cut out your thoughts - "Have a seat" - he patted the space next to him

You wanted to say no because you felt inadequate to the action. A quick look to your patched leg, and you sighed behind your mask before taking a seat next to the giant rat. Your leg still hurts with stitches and everything, so you took your knees to your chest and steal glances behind your mask.

"…… You blame yourself for my son's injury. " - speak Splinter without opening his eyes

You jumped up a little but unconsciously just nodded. And he was right. It was your fault. You should've done a better job. You were New York's protector for crying out loud! What if Mikey's brother wasn't there and you didn't find him on time? What if you found him and couldn't find a way to give him medical assistance? Would you fail again?

"There's no point to ask yourself what you could have done in the heat of the moment. You only left to improve"

This conversation was exhausting you - "…..How…..?" How did you know what to do?

Splinter opened one eye - "I had a conversation with Raphael before you. You share similar doubts about the incident. But in the end, thanks to you both Michelangelo is safe. My son is safe and at home, and that's all that matters. "

You keep looking at nowhere, curled over yourself as Splinter's words repeated all over again in your head.

There's nothing you could've done

You only left to improve

You only left to improve

This guy didn't even have powers and beat you like nothing despite you having the upper hand.

You needed to improve

You only left to improve

"Master Splinter!" - came Leo's voice, and he passed through the curtains. You fix yourself to look less like a mess the moment he entered - "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Mikey's awake!"

You looked from the side of the door at the whole family having a moment, Leonardo was between checking Mikey and scolding him. Donatello tried to check his vitals once again befote sighing in relief, and gave a gentle squeeze on his arm. Raphael was basically a balloon fish that pretended to be big and spiky when, in reality, looked as small as his little brother. Splinter was on a distance watching everything, and you questioned if you should go to avoid ruining this atmosphere.

You were about to sneak out from the medbay before you ended up capting the gaze of a particular red turtle.

"Hey Mikey, there's someone that really wants to see you" - Raphael pointed at your direction and shot, now Mikey had seen you

"[S/N]!" - Mikey screamed your superhero name, his face lighting ip like a Christmas tree

"Hey Buddy" - you say, now all eyes were on you and for the first time in a long… Time, the attention actually gets to bother you - "How are you feeling?"

"Like a herd of rhinos passed over me" - mumbled Mikey

"A guy dressed like a male escort kick our ass" - you answered instead, taking the courage to come out behind of the curtain - "He was a two capes of clothing of starting twerking" - you said and you cpuld hear the gasp that leave the blue turtle, along with a snort from the red one.

Donatello simply hid his face behind his hand, and Mikey let out a weak cackling, obviously him, and only him would understand your sense of humor.

"Yeah, he looked like he picked up his outfit from Victoria's secret" - Mikey joked weakly, his voice still recovering

"Do you even know what Victoria secret is, you brick for brains?" - asked Raphael

"Sure, it's an undewear store" - Mikey said confidently

"A female oriented underwear chain of stores" - corrected Donatello

"Okay, my bad. I was wrong. But he was dressed to dance in a pole!"

"Okay, thanks, Michelangelo, for that.. Observation" - interrupted Splinter to hia younger son keep using such vulgar language

"….. So that means [S/n] can come and stay every time they want?" - asked Mikey - "Like… You guys already know each other! Now we can hang out on the lair without going outside!"

The three older brothers looked between each other, mumbling and fussing before their looks landed on you , who just blinked behind your maks, like you had all the answers to the mysteries of the universe. Leonardo gestured with the head to you to speak, glancing between you and his youngest brother.

"Ummm" - you started, unsure - "I won't say all the time, because, well, this is you house and coming here without invitation sounds incredibly rough and I have patrol most of the time, and kind of have to graduate if ever plan to have my own place" - you divagued - "But sounds cool! If your family didn't have any issues with me passing" - you throw them behind the bus

Leo gave you a weird look, and you gestured with your head and squinted the lenses behind your mask before the littlest brother looked at the oldest with kicked puppy eyes. Leo just knew Mikey would hate him for not letting him pass time with their superhero friend.

"Ah, let's not get to that conclusion that soon" - Donatello interrupted with an awkward smile - "I still need to get their stitches out. Didn't you mention you had an accelerated healing factor?"

That was the code to "Let's get out of here before this turn too uncomfortable and take me with you."

"Yeah" - you played along, although it wa dyue truth - "They've started to bother me. Do you think you can get them now?"

"Sure, no problem" - he stood up and sped up his footing to get away the soon as posible, before standing in the door and looking to the group - "Also, I believe having a brilliant mind in the lair besides mine is going to be an advantage we couldn't let slide, just to let you knoe that I'm on your side Mikey" - he finished and sprinted out of the room

"This is the medbay, Donnie!" - called Leonardo - "Donnie?!"

In the end, you could stay

Kind of, Leonardo didn't seem convinced

You stared at the phone with the shape of a shell that Donatello just handed to you.

"In that way, you and Mikey can maintain communication without worrying about hacking or tracking." - said Donatello

"Really?" - you asked, remembering Raphael picked Mikey's location through a function of his T-Phone - "Because this mask is for something, I choose to not show my gorgeous face to more than intimidate people with my beauty."

"Not tracking, I promise" - Donatello put a hand over his heart - "Cross my heart and hope to die"

"Please don't say that. You'll jinx it" - you squinted the eye's mask, actually concerned about him

"I'll try not to" - Donatello smiled - "Well, I guess this is a goodbye,"

"Yeah" - you mumbled, but then you had an idea - "It doesn't have to be. Give me your number. "

"Huh?" - Pink rise on Donatello's cheeks - "What?"

"That way we'll keep in contact, and you don't have to depend on Mikey if you ever need anything. And also we can talk to each other if we ever need advice for science stuff"

"Oh" - Donatello blinked like an owl - "Sure, sure, no problem."

Donatello quickly pressed some numbers on the T-Phone before giving it back.

You looked at Donatello and Mikey's contact. You should ask for Raphael and Leonardo's, but you felt the blue brother wasn't exactly very fond of you. Then you get to see what time it was.

"Fuck"

"What is it? There's some bug? I tapped the wrong button?"

"No, just…. If I don't answer your number, my aunt must've murdered me."

You were doomed

[that-smallinjured-bowylamb]

Under Your Spell.

Is it irregular if I suddenly post two songs in one day? Maybe. But motivation is keeping it there because either decided to. If you're asking if I'm listening to it while writing, like the other post that I've sent a few mintues/hours ago, yes. Gotta keep up with my ideas 💯💯‼️‼️‼️

Genre: Once again, Romance. No one asked me in here so I pick 💕

Warnings?: Mentions of scars, Idk I'm going to write it off as wholesome, cussy, mentions of my OC but I call him NPC bc why not, uhmmm OOC(?), oh and the lyrics might be misspelled bc it's kinda vague yk?, let me know if you find any !!!

Gender Neutral reader

Involvement: Main cast

Side notes?: uh, not so much. I just really love these types of music, the women in these songs are so 💕💕- anyway, enjoy it or nah.

Maybe, you were just getting bored.

Seeing the station built up in one of your empty guest rooms, one of the dorm members from Heartslabyul, an artist in music, had come to you one day, complimenting your song that one time, and gave you a literal set-up for a music studio.

What if... you just sing some songs you've known in your world?

I mean, they're good, sure. But, not everyone has the same music taste.

Wanting to make a music audio, you've tracked down the student that gave you the studio. They agreed, and wanted to help out as well.

Firstly, a person from another world causes a disturbance to the peace in the ceremony, secondly, the same magicless person gets involved in every trouble they find in lurking corners, thirdly, they've gotten involved in OVERBLOTS, fourthly, they can attract even the most of prominent figures in this world, now they're performing???? What the heck-

So now here you were, in the music studio, preparing a few instruments to play out the same exact [but not really] music.

Maybe some playful beats here and there, add some bass, then we're good!

Now for the lyrics... how'd the woman sound again? Ethereal, almost seductive? Reverent gleaming whispers?

Alright, you breathed in, you can adjust the voice in the editing just in case.

☆~~———~~☆

You'd think, if you were confident enough, you could post this in TWSTs equivalent of YouTube or Spotify. Maybe. The Heartslabyul student was ready to start the music you were meaning to sing,

Maybe yu had a reason singing these songs specifically, to remind yourself where you once belonged.

But, not like anyone will figure that out! Except for a few of your friends, of course. While it is nerve-wracking singing in public, you can at least hide yourself in videos. No one will find you out that way.

You keep me under your spell,

You keep me under your spell,

[iPhone dropped]

You keep me under your spell, it's like I waited-

You keep me under your spell, it's like I waited too-

The beats change, it's quick.

Ace and Deuce were on the other side of the door, listening in (and is on a phone call with Heartslabyul's gc).

You keep me under your spell,

It's like I waited too long,

For all the scars you can see,

They're permanent, I am not.

I want an innocent life,

The rest to die.

For all the scars you can see,

When I take my clothes off,

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh (They're permanent, I am not)

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh (They're permanent, I am not)

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh (They're permanent, I am not)

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh (They're permanent, I am not)

The beat sounds hypnotic in a way, a fragile-like lyric, repeating in angelic voices, honeyed words on its magical notes.

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh

Ace and Deuce find themselves lost in the Melody, completely forgetting they were on call.

You keep me under your spell,

You keep me under your spell,

You (oh) keep (ah-ah) me (uh-ah) under (ah-ah) your (oh) spell,

The music switches with a different Melody the verses repeating, one voice alone has got them mesmerized, on their darling lips.

Cater is streaming.

It's like I waited- (oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh)

You keep me under your spell,

It's like I waited too- (oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh)

The switches distorts and now they're back to the notes.

(Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh)

You keep me under your spell,

It's like I waited too long,

For all the scars you can see,

They're permanent, I am not.

(Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh)

Why are you always mentioning scars? Did something bad happen?

I want an innocent life,

The rest to die.

For all the scars you can see,

When I take my clothes off.

The notes switches up, a hypnotic yet unfamiliar range playing in their ears, the stream in Cater's phone is blowing up from another music video from you.

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh (They're permanent, I am not)

Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh (They're permanent, I am not)

(Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh)

You keep me under your spell,

It's like I waited too long,

For all the scars you can see,

They're permanent, I am not.

(Oh, ah-ah, uh-ah, ah-ah, oh)

I want an innocent life,

The rest to die.

For all the scars you can see,

When I take my clothes off.

Wow. Uhm, so- are you going to send this in public?

Their thoughts go blank when they listen in with the music.

They're permanent, I am not.

The beats go slower, the atmosphere turning down, into more of a quiet trance.

You keep me under your spell,

It's like I waited too long,

For all the scars you can see,

They're permanent, I am not.

I want an innocent life,

The rest to die.

For all the scars you can see,

When I take my clothes off.

The music fades, and Heartslabyul student congratulates you, simply impressed.

He said he'll post it, and it will surely go viral.

☆~~———~~☆

And it really did.

First was Ace and Deuce, who just ran off back to Heartslabyul.

Riddle was just astonished, but quite appaled with the lyrics, specifically "when I take my clothes off" part.

Trey was just repeating the song over and over again, I'm not sure if he's trying to memorize it as well.

Cater got so many followers and likes, that it almost reached to Vil's platform (it did, now Vil saw it),

Everyone in Heartslabyul talked about the latest, trendy music.

Next was in Savannaclaw, not much later when it spread, one of Cater's fans that were watching the stream shared it with the rest of the dorms.

Leona was, quite impressed. He didn't know herbivore had that in them. Say, would you sing for him to sleep?

Ruggie was listening to it right now, ever since the latest post, he can always recognize its the prefect without even checking, the voice sounds like them! Duh!

Jack was surprised seeing his friend singing and posting it online, but he wasn't mad about it at all. He found it nice that you were getting out of your shell every once in a while.

Meanwhile in Octavinelle, a few students reported what they've heard today. About the prefect.

Azul was first to hear it, of course. So now, he's trying to find a way to get into a contract with you, well, if you'd like to, of course. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Jade was definitely listening into HeartShackle's convo, no doubt !!! And is fr planning to get you to work with him. Don't worry, he'll teach you the ropes. Just stay by his side is all he'll ever ask of you. [ADEUCEYUU MENTIONED??]

Floyd probably repeated the song over and over again until he got bored. But for sure will listen to it when he remembers!!! He thinks [Name]'s voice is so pretty... you should be his. Right now.

In Scarabia, NPC b was just listening to your audio over and over again. Look, it's addicting. You can't tell me otherwise, the beat, the track, the repeated voice in the melodic voice... yeah. He needs to tell everybody.

Kalim is really surprised you even had a music studio recently, he had been wondering if you'll ever make music similar to the one you did the other day, it had gotten him HOOKED. He won't stop blabbering it to Jamil ever since !!!

Speaking of that boy, he heard from a student about the new music video that had been recently been released, it was the prefect's. So, he, the good friend he is, checks it out. It's not so bad, the lyrics just repeated its words, but overall not terrible at all. It's good. (Especially when the music has you in it)

In Pomefiore, a few students that had been friends with a Heartslabyul student, who was yapping about a certain music made by the Prefect, also had in turn spread it to the other dorms.

It's only a matter of time when it Reached Vil's ears, he had already seen the viral stream Cater made and when I tell you, he had been listening to it long enough to the point he considered it his aesthetic (<-the music in his ears sounded quite nice), he means it.

Rook was just mesmerized with this new revolution, the fact that you, shy you, had decided to post a song under anonymous? Oh, he had to spread the good news!!

Epel maybe had fell asleep when he heard the voice, it almost sounded like a lullaby, but it was nice to listen to it, especially if his (crush-) friend was the one who sang it.

Ignihyde, the entirety of it, was listening to your music, it was awesome, some made edits with it, others were just enjoying it.

Idia made sure you'd stay anonymous since he knows how scary it would be if you were ever revealed in public.

Ortho made sure no one could hack your account. If they attempt to do so in order to reveal yourself without your consent, be prepared, Ortho boutta blast that ass.

Diasomnia, is just respectful, they'llisten to every music you release in case you have time for it.

Malleus loves listening to this music on repeat, he could just imagine it, you and him. You're quite enchanting, [Name]. Must you tease him when he's not yours, yet?

Lilia loves listening to it, somehow, he would like a collab with you again, even when they did one already before! What? It's just so fun, singing on stage with you will feel like a dream...

Silver uses this to probably fall asleep, either that or the bass of it can send waves to his ears, waking him up for that. Haha.

Sebek claims he wouldn't listen to it, he won't EVER listen to it! Not when it's not something he doesn't do, but when he's alone? Oh, you're going to hear it on blast. Max volume.

Imagine to your surprise, it had reached other schools as well?

The End!

If you see me post twice, it means motivation got to me, okay? :> enjoy! (Again)

[allastoredeer]

Hiii,

I was just wondering what you think the power hierarchy for overlords is, I’ve seen some people say Zestiel’s the strongest overlord and others say it’s Alastor. Tbh a pet peeve of mine is when people write Alastor as way stronger than Vox/ The Vees, personally I see Vox and Alastor as being on the same level, maybe with Alastor being slightly stronger. That’s why they haven’t fought it out, there’s to much for both of them to loose, like when in Stayed Gone Valentino said Alastor ‘Almost’ beat him.

Just wondering what you think xx

I think all the Overlord's are on a similar level to each other, if not in terms of raw power, than in politics. I believe Viv confirmed that Rosie isn't as powerful as the other Overlords, or at least she's the least powerful of them, but I think it's through politics that keeps anyone from messing with her. She's literally running an entire district full of cannibals. If you mess with her, you're going to find out what it's like to have the population in your district gobbled up.

Sure, none of them will permanently die, but if they were in your employ, it's gonna cause a fuckton or problems (and financial losses) when none of your employees make it to work.

With the Vee's, I can see them sharing all the souls they own, or keeping it split evenly between them. Even so, having to keep things fair can put a damper on their individual power since they can't just gather souls en masse without consulting the other two.

If they're sharing souls, however, (and each Overlord in the Council has roughly the same amount of souls - if there's a certain number of souls you have to own to be considered an Overlord) the Vee's being able to tap into power that is 3x stronger than a single Overlord has it's advantages XD I'm sure there are still drawbacks to it, everything has their pros and cons.

I think Zestial is definitely one of the most powerful out of them, considering he's the oldest and thus has had that much longer to collect souls. But we also know that he's currently retired, so I don't think he's really in the game of upping his collection. I think he's content where he is and won't get involved unless absolutely necessary.

Carmilla on the other hand, I can see getting up there with Zestial, not in the amount of souls she owns, but because of her trade. She literally makes weapons using angelic steel (a material that can not only kill sinners - like the other Overlords - but demon royalty like the goetia). As far as we know, Carmilla has a monopoly on the creation and distribution of angelic weapons, which makes a serious threat to a majority of the hierarchy in Hell. I imagine that she is constantly being watched by the other Overlords cuz there's always the possibility she'll turn her weapons on them. Which is also why I think she's so careful about not inviting violence into her home.

Creating weapons with angelic steel gives her a big advantage over everyone else, but it also puts a massive target on her back. I can see the other Overlords creating an alliance to take her out if she ever gave the impression of turning her weapons on them, because in that case, she'd be a threat to all of them. If she were to align herself with certain Overlords, I can also see the rest of the council seeing that as a threat. Which is why I think she stays so neutral. She's friends with Zestial, but Zestial's also retired, so I don't think they consider that much of a threat.

I don't know what Zeezi or fire-guys deal is. We don't know much about them.

But Alastor? I think Alastor is a very special case. He was taking out Overlord's very early after his death, which i imagine is incredibly hard to do. I mean, they're Overlords for a reason, and they were heavy-hitters (according to Mimzy).

Even then, it's not like he killed them and then immediately broadcasted their screams. Mimzy said Overlords started going missing, and then later Alastor broadcasted their screams. So, he didn't only take them out, but he was keeping them somewhere. It could have something to do with the deal he made, but no one else knows about that. To all of them, Alastor was working on his own.

All they know about him is that he took out a LOT of the previous Overlord Council, and then broadcasted their screams. Considering the Overlords were never heard from again afterward, one could assume that he'd killed them.

Did he use angelic weapons to do this? Hell if they know.

How did he manage to grab so many and come out without a scratch? It's a mystery.

Where and how did he broadcast their screams? The question remains unanswered to this day.

Alastor literally came into Hell like an Overlord's worst nightmare. Can you imagine the Council's reactions as, one by one, their members started going missing? They didn't know how, they didn't know who was doing it, and they didn't know if they would be next. Alastor came in like the apex predator to Overlords and did something no one thought was possible almost overnight.

Do you think he showed up to the Overlord Council meetings on his own? Or was he invited? Can you imagine how the other Overlord's must've felt sitting next to Alastor, the person who had killed (as far as they're concerned) other Overlords like them?

In the show, it doesn't look like Alastor has any territory like the others, nor does he really have a trade like everyone else, Carmilla's weapons, Rosie's emporium, the Vee's products and entertainment, (except his radio show, but we don't actually know if he makes money off of that). He's not necessarily active in the city's economy (except providing quality entertainment!), so in all respects, he's kind of just...vibing. He's just there to have a good time.

I also think the reason none of the other Overlord's mess with him is because they don't want him to go back to killing Overlord's. He's unpredictable at best, so there's no telling if he'd decide to up and do it again one day, but he seems content where he is and they'd rather he stayed that way. They're not all buddy-buddy with him (except Rosie, and maybe Zestial), but they won't antagonize him either (except for you, Vox).

Considering in the present they don't treat Alastor like they're afraid of him or nervous about his presence, I think enough time has passed that they've stopped worrying he'd going into another Overlord murder-spree, but the thought lingers from time to time, especially if you were there during his murder-spree. I can't imagine Valentino or Velvette (Velvette especially) giving a lot of credit to Alastor's skill or backstory since they weren't there to experience his broadcasts first hand. Wonder if they're tune would change if they WERE there for it.

I also wonder how many new Overlords popped up after Alastor took out a majority of the others. Who in the Overlord council do we know were there. Zestial, for sure. But Rosie? Zeezie? Fire-guy? Carmilla?

Until we know when they died, we can't be sure, but I do love thinking about it. The aftermath of Alastor's murder-spree had to be something.

[kremlin]

@wikwalker hi sure yes anything to give me an excuse to procrastinate the post i should be writing right now. here are all teh drugs and how to manage them. you can trust me, a drug addict

first of all: https://www.erowid.org/ , erowid always

don't be afraid of drugs, if they're the right drugs, you should do them since they will be a blast regardless and overcoming fear is also good (but outside the scope here)

OK to do as much as you want: alcohol - social benefit greatly outweighs health effects, no reason to avoid if predisposed to abuse since that'll happen sooner or later. what can i say? don't be a fucking dork. when you start drinking, really overdo it as much as possible without dying and get a few real nasty hangovers under your belt so you know how much is the right amount to drink.

weed - innocuous enough to be fine but will make you stupid in the long term. make sure to only buy from a real drug dealer and never some legal institution. cut it out when you're a "real adult". don't smoke weed and watch TV routinely, go out and do things so you naturally grow to hate it. good to go through this as early as possible to minimize the time you spend as a cringe weed enthusiast

i guess those are the only two.

ok to do infrequently (annually): "lsd" - or whatever it is, probably not lsd, blah blah blah, if it works and is sold on blotter its fine and won't make you go nuts or whatever. opt for a better psychadelic imo. see psych rule at bottom of section

mushrooms - better than acid since you know what they are. rule of thumb is to always do more than you think you want. minimum 1/8oz. see psych rule at bottom of post

dmt - if you somehow have a dmt hookup you don't need to be reading any of this. lasts 10 minutes which leads to tendency to way overdo it, don't do this, my favorite webcomic artist is permanently crazy from exactly that. using a crack pipe is also not the uhhhh most dignifying-feeling thing to do either. it's harder than you think.

mdma - for use at electronic music event or rave. overuse causes brain lesions or something.

coke - wait until you're in your 20s, have maxed out your roth IRA for a couple of years in a row, and havent missed a car payment in a similar timeframe. better still if you've worked a very shitty low paying job and know the value of a dollar. if you still find yourself buying candy you're not ready. too expensive to be worth it to get hooked on. know that you are VERY ANNOYING to anyone who also isn't high. don't fuck around with the guy selling it to you. avoid discussing or thinking about business ideas. you can't afford to make it a habit + kinda turns you into a piece of shit after a while, but at least a very interesting one

ketamine - another sick drug that rules, but save it for a special occasion. don't try and go into the k-hole your first time

rule for psychedelics - you get one good strong trip a year and that's it, make it count, always opt for doing a bit more than a bit less. but don't make it a habit, otherwise you turn into a very stupid very annoying "hippy" style cliché and believe in ghosts, aliens, crap like that.

ok to try once prescription opiates/benzodiazepine (xanax), valium, this kind of shit - worth trying so you can go "holy shit, this stuff is way way way too good to ever use responsibly" and then never do again. especially if you're white. for some reason we just can't handle this shit. if a doctor prescribes it to you, idk, that's your call to make.

ayhuasca - this is just dmt in a different form. do some other psychadelics a number of times before you do this. once you realize the whole "substantial visual hallucinations" thing is made up, its time. do exactly this: -buy root online (legal). receive box of dirt -boil dirt into "tea" (read erowid for exact recipe) -take over-the-counter anti nausea medicine or anything that will give you a stronger stomach -drink tea (its nasty as fuck, get it down quick) -have someone bigger than you keep an eye on you for the next five hours. -have the experience, which is absurdly intense, has no bearing to the real world, etc etc. don't be a bitch and throw up, if you do it'll only last an hour or so. again there is no way to provide a consistent description of the experience except that you will meet god. you only ever need to do this once and never again. trust me

peyote/salvia/etc - try em if you want, you'll never ever want to again afterwords. these are drugs for idiot teenagers too lame to get real drugs. imagine being very very sick from poison and utterly terrified at the same time. No good

whippets/nitrous oxide - just find a dentist that uses it and don't bother creating hundreds of pounds of trash on your floor for this crap that lasts ten seconds. you have to understand the extremely short timeframe coupled with the cost makes zero sense. go to a phish concert parking lot and do some people watching -- you do not want to be these people. only use is as a motivator to get routine dental exam. also if you somehow manage to make it a heavy habit your fucking legs stop working, no shit, but they start working again once you quit.

don't ever do heroin/meth/pcp - is is truly a mystery why you should never do these 🙄

synthetic weed/k2/shit from the gas station - it is so funny that they sell this as "weed that won't pop you on a drug test". its not weed. it is some dubious chemical sprayed on yard waste. smoke it to have a terrible time and go nuts. only buy drugs from legitimate drug dealers!

kratom - anyone's guess as to why this is legal but it's heroin for pussies. its still heroin

dxm/cough syrup - do you ever wonder why it is exclusively teenagers robotripping? it's because it sucks ass. is like a cheesegrater on your brain in terms of health effects with repeated usage. you're better than this king

inhalants - these are at the bottom of the list for a reason. do not huff gas. don't huff paint. do not consume computer duster. not fun + fastest way to make yourself a complete, uh, (word i can't say anymore) and then dead

not listed quaaludes- unavailable due to no longer being manufactured. these ruled apparantly

sincis2c - unavailable due to not existing, i just made this up

amphetamines - cannot provide objective take here. they're my albatross, lifelong (posted 4:55am natch)

[pebblesandpotatos]

Per my last post, this is how I think the LU boys approach/handle drinking.

Time: He mostly only drinks at social events or in celebration. Him and Malon will get totally hammered though on a rare occasion and Oohhh boy they are a riot to be around when that happens.

I do personally think Time had a drinking problem at some point. And while I'm not exactly sure when or for how long, let's just say it's why Lon Lon Ranch doesn't offer alcoholic milk...for the moment.

Wars: He is the most normal when it comes to drinking. He's a soldier. Of course he drinks and gets totally slammed now and again. I actually DON'T think he had a problem though. When everything was going down during the war I think he actually avoided it like the plague in case someone tried to poison him, or just because he couldn't didn't want to let his guard down that much.

It's a fun bonding thing for him so whenever the chain gets to a village he always offers to buy the older boys at least a round of drinks. It actually takes quite a bit to get him drunk but if you can it's kinda hard to tell. He's one to just get a little over dramatic about things when drunk which...isn't that far off from his normal.

Twilight: He is such a lightweight. He definitely didn't start drinking till after his adventure and the first time he got drunk was a doozy. The guy is a total mess, can't walk, and his country accent gets really heavy when drunk. Is definitely starting an arm wrestling contest and probably winning. That being said it's gotten better and he can have a few drinks now but he's not as good as Wars about knowing his limit.

Sky: Sky rarely drinks. It's not a big thing on Skylof and it's practically non existent on the surface currently. I also get the vibes that Sun would be someone very anti-drinking and therefore Sky doesn't do it and is very okay with that. When he goes out for drinks with Wars and Twilight though he somehow is not the first one to get drunk (*cough Twilight cough*) but is a total messy, love sick sap when he does.

Wild: Does. Not. Drink. At all. No amount of teasing or pleading will get him to drink alcohol. He has gotten drunk once since waking up and the experience was awful. He woke up the morning after and struggled to remember what happened and it made the poor boy panic. I also think it makes his memories/flashbacks worse. So Wild is stone cold sober and will stay that way.

Legend: Ahhh, the one that started this whole thing (as it often does cause this man is permanently on my mind). Legend is more like Time in that it's more of a social/celebratory thing for him but probably does it a bit more often. He doesn't like getting drunk though so it's rare for him to drink that much.

If you do get him drunk? Ohh boy. Oh have fun with him. Legend is basically an entirely different person when drunk. This boy is making friends with everyone. He's telling stories, cracking jokes and just being the friendly traveler he was born to be before all the trauma. He will break out into song if given the chance and try to get everyone to join him. And he will succeed. He drips charisma when drunk and its almost as intoxicating as the actual alcohol.

Hyrule: The desire to say he doesn't even know what alcohol is would be an absolute lie. Hyrule definitely drinks to the shock of the others. (Mostly Wars). Can absolutely out drink basically all of them except Wars and Time. Is the most likely to start a bar fight. Not for himself, but on behalf of his brothers. And if anyone dares try to spoil Legend's cheerful mood? Bro better start digging his own grave cause Hyrule will be out for blood.

Four: Not a big drinker. More than Sky but only barely. Each of the colors handle it differently so unless he splits it's gonna give him the worst hangover/migraine. You also never know what you're gonna get, it'll depend on which color is coming through the most. Vio turns into the biggest little shit and is probably gonna be the one getting punched for saying the wrong thing. Green is probably the one who punched him, red is passed out in the corner and blue is eating everything he can get his hands on.

Wind: Has he had drinks before? Yes, duh he is literally a pirate. Does his grandma know? No and it will stay that way if he has any say about it. However he lies through his teeth about how much he actually has/does. It's his way to make the others not look at him like the child he is. He also just loves how horrified the others are when he drinks from a flask. (It's just his grandma's soup). The only ones that have figured it out is Legend and Wild who help him keep up the facade cause they too think it's hilarious to see the others flip out

[devochive]

imagine jax eaves dropping over you, his one and only fuck buddy and ragatha, something about you confessing to RAGATHA ?? spoiler alert she was helping you to practice your confession to jax !! he doesn't know about that part since he left silently fuming, now here he is waiting at your room. long story short jealous sex turns fluffy :)

yes yes a thousand times yes.

---------

tags: oral sex, rough oral sex, jealousy, misunderstandings, confessions, smut, and fluff.

minors dni.

more below the cut.

You and Jax had established a .. friends with benefits type of relationship as of late. The next best thing to keep your brain stimulated was well... sex. And boy did it work, Jax knew how to push your buttons, among other things. But... as time passed, your feelings began to change into something much stronger. Lust was becoming .. love? You felt so silly thinking it ... so how the hell were you supposed to say it?

Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to read Jax, so you couldn't even tell if he felt the same way. There was a fifty percent chance he'd deny you. And that was all too high. You'd need help on this endeavor, and you knew just the doll to ask.

A short while later, you arrived at Ragathas door. Lucky enough to have Kinger become a distract for Jax to sneak away. Once she swung the door open, the words erupted from your mouth. "Woah, woah y/n slow down ! Wanna come in?" You caught your breath and nodded, a little embarrassed.

"So, Jax, huh? He's... not my first choice for you, but I will be 100% supportive!" She said with a smile. "Thank you, Rags.. I just know how to confess to him. What if he..laughs you know?"

"Hm.. yeah, I see. He can be a jerk sometimes! heh.. But, I think if you're serious.. he'll listen. Like really listen. I have an idea! Practice on me."

"W.. What? On you? That'd be, too.." Your voice trailed off.

"Come on, y/n it's just me!" She nudged you and caused a smile to lift at the corner of your lips.

"Fine." You rolled your eyes before straightening up your back and looking the doll in the eyes as if to get into character.

"I've.. wanted to talk to you about this for a while now.." You started your 'confession.'

Unbeknownst to you, Jax finally managed to shake off Kinger and was searching for you. He checked your room first , then a few others before ending up in front of Ragatha's. "I finally get rid of that nutcase and you ditch me. Givin' me a taste of my own medicine, huh?" He spoke outloud just before he rose his fist to knock on Ragatha's door.

Before his knuckles could make contacr with the wood, he heard your voice and leaned in. That permanent smile was growing on his lips. He was evesdropping, of course, because why wouldn't he?

Unfortunately, this was the first time he regretted doing so, he heard you.. confessing!? He quickly pressed his head a bit harder to the wood. Making out the words carefully.

'I love you. I.. wanted to tell you for the longest time but I didn't think you saw me in that way.'

Love? Her? Since when?

Jax felt clenched his fist , absolutely seething. Sure, you were only friends with benefits, but maybe you should have disclosed our feelings for the rag doll before allowing him to rearrange your guts.

He stomped off to your room like that of an upset child and waited , sitting your bed and staring at the door.

Meanwhile, you were giving Ragatha a goodbye hug, squeezing the doll. "Thank you, that helped a lot. I'll .. let you know how it goes." You parted ways and headed to your room, knowing Jax would either be there or eventually show up sometime tonight. You were in a chipper mood, full of confidence as you swung the door open to your dimly lit room.

Immediately, you felt the wave of anger hit you. It was thick in the air. And Jax was sitting there, his eyes on the ground and his smile not there. "Jax..?" Your voice was small, you couldn't muster up anything more than that.

"So, you and Ragatha, huh?" He almost spat. "Y'know I knew you were a slut but, .. you really had me fooled."

"What? Jax? I can explain— it's not what you think." You said and nervously scoffed towards the end of your sentence.

He took this as you laughing at him, "C'mere, doll." His voice was flat, not playful and teasing like it usually was. Your body didn't want to move.

"Now."

You shuffled over, a familiar heat growing in between your legs. You knew this was a misunderstanding and knew you could clear it up if he let you speak.. but he was also really fucking hot right now.

"Jax just listen to me please." You begged.

"On your knees toots, ya know. I was here first, befofe her. If she's gonna have you, its not gonna be til im done with you first." He said, pointed at the ground, and you instinctively fell to your knees. "That alright with you doll?' He was still checking in, making sure he wasn't really doing something you didn't want but you nodded eagerly.

"Like I thought, a slut." He scoffed and gripped the back of your neck, pulling you closer as he pulled his semi hard cock from his pants. "Be a good girl and suck me off, I want you to go back to Ragatha with the taste of me on your lips." His words morphed into a whisper towards the end, and a breathy chuckle escaped his lips. Your stomach was in knots.

He yanked you forward again, and you whimpered, lips brushing against his tip. Your mouth opened and accepted him inside with ease. He moaned, "Mn.. yeaah.. ya think you have the luxury of takin your time? Nah." He slammed your head forward and you scrambled in between his legs , gagging on his cock as he used your throat like a flesh light.

"J.. Just like that, take it .. gonna shake that little brain up til you forget about her.." He groaned, and your eyes fluttered shut. Trying hard to keep up with his thrusts, but they were too sporadic. To harsh, yet your cunt throbbed the entire time.

He was quick to spurt ropes of cum into your mouth, pulling back— his cock slipping out of your mouth with a lewd pop. "Nh.. hhaa.. " You tried to catch your breath. "Now, what were you tryna say earlier doll?" He leaned back on his elbows, also trying to catch his breath.

"I was .. practicing my confession to.. ragatha.. it was just practice..f-for you.. Jax.."

His ears seemed to get straighter, pointing directly up upon hearing that. He immediately slid off the bed and kneeled next to you. Gathering your face in his hands and wiping your damn hair from your face, "Me? You.. were plannin' on confessing to me..? If this is some kinda joke y/n—"

You cut him off and planted your lips onto his cheek. Peppering his face in kisses. "It's.. not a joke. I love you, Jax." You were flushed, your body still so turned on yet filled with emotion as well.

"So , you wanted me to face[censor!!] you huh? Ya could've told me to stop ya airhead." He teased and stared at you with a softer grin.

"I didn't want you to, you getting all jealous was actually pretty hot."

"Was it now? C'mon toots, on the bed.. I got some makin' up to do." He said and helped you onto the soft mattress, "Oh and.. I love you too. Took ya long enough."

[mediocrecowboyhat]

Not yours - Epilogue

John Marston is a man on the run, but not from the law. Instead he's running from the responsibility of being a father and caring for his family.

After the birth of his son, Jack, he took off for almost a whole year. What was he up to during that time?

Previous chapter

Word count: 4.1k

Notes: This is the last part of this story and I'm low-key sad. I went into this, thinking it would only be a couple chapters, but it has turned out to be way longer. I hope you all had just as much fun with it as I did <3

The sun is beating down on your neck and you wipe away the pearls of sweat from your forehead. A variety of curses and profanities leave your lips as you cling onto the small, but packed bag while stumbling along the road. You had a horse, a Morgan. He had been a good stallion, always loyal to a fault, but also old.

Unfortunately earlier on your travels, he had collapsed out of nowhere and didn't get up anymore. Now with feet aching, muscles sore and your clothes mostly covered in dust, you push on. So far, you haven't met a single soul, not one person who could have taken you with them. It's only your solitude and occasional birds flying over your head to keep you company.

Then in the distance you hear the familiar sound of hooves. They're fast and heavy, indicating that it's most likely a big one. You stop in your tracks and catch your breath before turning around to see who is approaching. It's a Dark Bay Roan Mustang and a mean looking one at that. The rider has their face hidden under the rim of their hat, but after a few moments you're able to make out blonde hair that is tied into a braid.

Your eyes immediately fall onto their weapon belt strapped around their hips and the ungodly amount of ammunition they're carrying as well. Hopefully it's a bounty hunter or someone working for the law and not some criminal coming to rob you blind. Not that they're going to get much from you with how little you're traveling with.

It sure is a risky gamble to call out to this person and maybe ask for a ride. You get the sense that their Mustang isn't the only tough one in this duo.

"Excuse me!", you shout with an awkward smile and wave at the person.

They lift their head, revealing the face of a rather beautiful woman. The scowl on her face seems to be edged into her features, but they soften a bit when her eyes fall on your pathetic form. Who knows if you actually look as awful as you feel, but you hope you don't. Though that isn't too impossible with the way your clothes cling to your sweaty and sticky skin.

"You need some help here, ma'am?", the woman says, a heavy country drawl accompanying her hoarse voice.

She sounds rough as if she hasn't talked in a while. It only makes sense considering she's out here alone. You can imagine that your own voice sounds pretty similar.

"Could you give me a ride? My horse collapsed on the way and you know how it goes.", you explain and much to your surprise, she nods.

"Where are you headed?"

"Blackwater."

Suddenly her entire face lights up and she waves you over.

"It's your lucky day, 'cause that's where I'm goin'. Hop on."

She doesn't have to tell you twice. In a heartbeat, you climb up onto her horse's back. One arm is holding tightly onto your bag while the other is wrapped around the woman's waist.

"Thank you so much.", you speak up, genuine gratitude and relief accompanying your words. "I don't have much to offer for your kindness, but I can buy you a coffee."

At that she let's out a breathy chuckle and shakes her head.

"Don't sweat it. You don't owe me anythin'.", she answers in a matter of fact way. "Why are ya goin' to Blackwater, if you don't mind me askin'."

"I'm looking for work.", you awkwardly respond, hoping she won't question the topic any further.

You have been on the road for many years now, riding from one place to another in search for work. Some places you end up staying for a longer time, but at the end it's never really permanent. Ever since that shady business between Eli and the O'Driscolls, you've become mighty restless.

Now the memories come back up again and you're reliving it in your mind as if it has only happened last week. John had left you in the middle of the night without a word or a letter, leaving not only you but the O'Driscolls behind. Eli was unable to pay all his debt and so they thought it would be a good idea to set the saloon on fire.

With one of your jobs gone, you couldn't afford to pay the bank and eventually lost your home. Everything afterwards is kind of a blurr and the years have been passing you by ever since. People and places have entered and left your life, nothing really ever remaining constant. Not even your precious horse.

"How about you?", you ask the woman in an attempt to think of something else.

"Business. I'm a bounty hunter, you see."

That answer makes you raise both your eyebrows and you nod to yourself.

"I kind of guessed that."

"If you know your way 'round a gun then I'd take ya with me on the job.", she suggests, but it sounds more like a joke. "But I got a friend in Blackwater, ownin' a ranch. Maybe they could use a hand."

"I'll look into it. Thanks."

Ranch work doesn't sound too bad. You have done it a couple times before throughout the years and have always enjoyed working so closely with animals. The moment you get settled in and find a room to rent in town, then you'll go look for that ranch.

"No problem. It's called Beecher's Hope."

"I see." There is a long pause between the two of you. "I don't think I've caught your name."

"It's Sadie. Sadie Adler.", she answers over her shoulder and you shoot her a smile that she can't really see.

"A pleasure to meet you, Sadie.", you say and give her your own name.

In the distance you can already make out some buildings and the sounds of busy streets. Blackwater isn't a large town, but you're not looking for a big city life. You don't even think that this will be your permanent home either, though it does look promising for a longer stay. Sadie hitches her horse on the side of the road and you slide off it's back.

"The ranch is just outside the town in this direction.", she tells you, pointing to the side and you shoot her a grateful smile.

"Thank you so much. You're a real life saver, ma'am.", you say, but she waves off your words with a bashful chuckle.

Before the two of you part ways, she tips her hat in your direction and you go find a hotel to stay in. It's a red brick building, looking anything but fancy, but you don't really need it to be. As long as the prices for a bed are decent, you're happy. After settling inside your room a bit, you decide to go explore the place and find a bite to eat.

It's impossible to get lost in Blackwater and so you take your time wandering around the docks and the main street. There's a general store in the corner, a restaurant up ahead and they even have a theater here. You have never seen one of them moving pictures before and you make a mental note to check it out at some point.

The residents in this town seem friendly enough as well with the occasional jackass lingering about the place of course. Still, it's a lot nicer than some other areas you've been to. A memory from a couple years ago pass by your inner eye and you internally cringe at it. For a while, you had been living and working in Saint Denis and that dump is definitely on the far bottom of your list.

While you recall the not so fond things, you turn around the corner, not noticing the man coming your way. You bump face first into him and grunt as if you've just hit a solid wall. Gentle, yet rough hands shoot forward to your shoulders to balance you before you could make an even greater fool out of yourself by falling.

The man infront of you has broad shoulders and long, dark hair. What almost immediately catches your eye is the feather attached to it next to his jaw and then your eyes flicker down to the holster on his belt. Seems like every person you run into is armed to the teeth. He gives you an almost apologetic look and quickly let's go of you.

"I'm sorry. You okay?", he asks, his voice deep and soothing and you manage a hasty nod.

"Yes, I'm fine and no need to apologize, sir. I was the one who didn't look.", you rush to explain, not wanting to make any enemies here just yet.

But something tells you that you don't have to worry about him. Then another man shouts further ahead the sidewalk and waves at you or rather at the kind stranger next to you.

"Charles!" It's an old man. His voice is carrying a certain urgency. "Come lend me a hand with this, will ya? My back can't really handle the labour."

The stranger, who is apparently called Charles, let's out an irritated noise, but still does as he's told and moves to load some equipment onto a wagon. You would have left to continue your exploration right then and there, if they hadn't mentioned Beecher's Hope. Now that gets your ears perked up and you sheepishly make your way over there.

Maybe they'd be so generous to take you there, if that is where they're headed and if you ask nicely enough. With your horse gone and no funds to afford a new one, you'd be forced to walk all the way to the ranch and your feet are still sore.

"Excuse me.", you call out to them, successfully grabbing both their attention. "Beecher's Hope, you said? The ranch?"

"That's it, yes.", the older man answers while Charles focuses back on the job.

"I heard they might be looking for some hands and I thought..."

You trail off, hoping that you've made your point clear enough and the older man's eyes light up. He shoots you a wide grin and motions towards the wagon with his arms spread. For someone who complained about his back earlier, he sure does have a lot of energy.

"Of course, miss! We can take ya with us, right Charles?"

Charles hums in agreement and you can't help but let out a relieved huff. Once they're all ready and good to go, you jump onto the back and find a spot to sit on between all the ranching equipment. During the ride, the older man introduces himself as Uncle and if there is one thing you've learned about him, then that he talks a lot without really saying anything.

After the fifth topic, you don't know what he's trying to get at anymore, you just smile and nod along in hopes that he won't notice how you've zoned out ages ago. Charles on the other hand doesn't say a single word throughout the entire way, most likely doing the exact same thing you are. Then he takes a turn and steers the wagon past some wooden fences and the familiar smell of farm animals and hay fills the air.

"And here we are!", Uncle exclaims in an almost ceremonial way and you jump off the wagon.

It hadn't taken that long to get here, but your feet are still appreciating the saved time and effort. You turn around yourself to take in the sight of the many buildings. The property is nice and wide and by the looks of it, rather new. Judging by the state of the structures, they must have been built not longer than a year ago or so.

There is some movement happening in the corner of your eyes and you watch Uncle exchange a few words with a woman further ahead. He points at you and you immediately straighten your back when she approaches you. You assume that she must be one of the owners and you want to leave a good first impression.

A bit nervous, you try to busy your hands by smoothing out the wrinkles on your blouse, but the warm smile the woman gives you, puts you at ease in an instant. She introduces herself as Abigail and ushers you inside for a cup of tea or coffee to talk about the details.

"My husband bought this place only recently and we're still tryin' to figure things out.", she explains with a chuckle while filling up your cup.

"That's absolutely alright, ma'am. The place is beautiful, by the way." You mumble a quick 'thank you' once your cup is full and watch her take a seat across from you. "So your husband bought it for you?"

"He did."

There is a proud gleam in her eyes which makes the corners of your mouth curl up.

"He must love you a lot.", you comment and watch her relax a bit under your words.

A light shade of pink tints her cheeks that she tries to mask by taking a sip from the steaming coffee in her mug.

"So regardin' the work.", she starts, changing the topic and you nod. "We could use the extra help. My husband will be home soon and then you'll get to meet him too. Would you like me to show you around?"

"Yes, please."

Once you both finish the coffee, she takes you outside and leads you around the property. The ranch isn't anything too huge, but it's a decent amout of work with all those animals. They seem to be taken care of quite well and you grow fonder of this place by the second. The more you see, the more you get the sense that this could be one of the longer stays.

You're currently leaned against the fence next to the stable and watch the horses with a happy grin on your face. That's when Charles appears from around the corner, saying something to Abigail that you can't quite hear and she excuses herself for a second. You turn your attention back to the animals and lean your chin against the palm of your hand.

Heavy boots can be heard from behind you, together with the jingling of spurs and you turn around on your heels, guessing that it must be the husband or another ranch hand. What you don't expect is for your heart to basically get caught in your throat when your eyes land on the familiar face infront of you.

He stops dead in his tracks as well, his face dropping in an instant and all color vanishing from his face as if he has seen a ghost. It feels like someone has pierced your chest with a spear and suddenly all sorts of memories wash over you like a wave. An overwhelming amount of emotions hits you like a freight train, from fury to joy.

Fury, because he hadn't even been bothered to leave a note that fateful night and joy, because you're finally standing face to face with the man you had loved. John Marston has changed a lot over the years and not only in age. Deep scars are running over the side of his face like claw marks and the look in his eyes is different too. It lacks the coldness and distance from all those years ago.

Before you is not the outlaw and gunslinger anymore, but the rancher and family man. The realization shatters you into a million pieces, the same pieces you had to pick up and put back together after he had run out on you.

"I..." John let's out a breathless chuckle as he lowers his gaze and shakes his head. "Damn."

That voice, that familiar raspy voice. You have almost forgotten how it sounds.

"You...you look good.", he says rather awkwardly and you swallow the lump in your throat.

"Thank you." You motion with your chin towards the scars. "Did you pick a fight with a bear or what is that?"

"Wolves. It's, ah, a long story."

"I bet."

For a long time, the two of you just stand there in complete silence and he shifts his weight from one foot to another. His hair is a bit shorter, but still as disheveled as you remember. The grey shirt he's wearing is stretching over his chest and shoulders and that is when you notice that he's become a bit broader too. Most likely from all the manual labour with the animals and such.

"Abigail tells me that you're lookin' to work here?", he then asks, breaking the silence and you glance past him to where she's standing.

She's back at the front porch of the main house and talking to a young boy.

"Yes. Your wife is very nice."

"That she is." There is a hint of helplessness behind that iron mask of his, as if he doesn't know what to say or what to do. "How have you been? We- it's been a while."

That last part gets a scoff out of you, which harshness surprises even you. You're over him, have been for a long time now or at least that what you have thought. Now that he's here, only a few feet away from you, all that hurt and pain seems to come back up again. The possibility of making Blackwater a temporary home is evaporating into thin air with each second that passes in his presence.

"It sure has, Marston." Looking into the distance, you cross your arms infront your chest. "And I've been fine, thank you very much."

Of course John notices the tension in your demeanor and the strain in your voice. Any fool would have.

"Look.", he starts and takes a step towards you. "I ain't proud of what I did."

"Don't." The word shoots out of you like a bullet. "I made peace with that a while ago."

That seems to fly right over his head or he simply chooses to ignore it, because his feet carry him another step forward and then another.

"I'm sorry for how things ended."

"Don't say another goddamn word."

"I should have at least left a letter or waited until the next day."

Each and every sentence crossing his lips is like another blade to your heart.

"Stop it, Marston.", you demand in a trembling voice.

Now he's standing right infront of you and you fill your nose with his scent, a whole new memory popping up in your mind. It's from the last night when you have given him both your body and heart. When he had left his kisses and marks all over your skin and ruining every other man in the world for you. The images your head is conjuring up are a bittersweet reminder of what you had and lost.

There is a part of you that you will never see again, for you had given it away and John has been carrying it around all those years.

"I cared for you. I mean it.", he says and you close your eyes shut, unable to look at him. "I can't make up for the pain I've caused you, but let me help you now. If you're lookin' for work then we'd happily take you in."

"No. I'm not looking for work."

Finally, your eyes flutter open and John looks like you've slapped him across the face.

"But-"

"You have a made a beautiful home and I really like your wife, but I can't stay here. You know that I can't."

"And where will you go then?"

You run a hand over your face and shrug with your shoulders.

"I don't know. Up north? I heard that Canada is nice around this time of the year."

"You can't be serious."

"But I am serious, John."

With that you move past him, but his hand shoots out to grab your wrist. His fingers feel hot on your bare skin and it sends a jolt through your veins that you haven't experienced in quite a while. Your name leaves his lips like a plea, making the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

"I need you to know that you're always welcome here. Our door will always be open for you.", he says, finally letting go of you and you let out a breath.

"I know."

Unable to stay around him any longer, you force your legs to move and leave him standing there with his arms hanging on either side. Abigail rushes over to you and opens her mouth to say something, but then shuts it again when she sees the tense look on your face.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality, Mrs. Marston, but I will be leaving now.", you tell her, the words coming out short and strained.

Worry and confusion are edged into her soft features as she follows you towards the edge of the property.

"Did somethin' happen?", she asks and you can't help but feel touched at the sincerity in her tone.

That's when you stop and turn to face her completely, a reassuring smile on your lips that doesn't quite reach your eyes.

"I'm fine. I- this just isn't what I'm looking for at the moment. I'm so sorry for wasting your time."

"Nonsense, you didn't waste anythin'." You can tell by her expression that she wants to say more to you, try harder to make you change your mind and stay. Then the look in her eyes shifts as she gives up. "Very well then. I do wish you the best."

"Thank you."

With that you turn your back to her, the ranch and lastly John.

---

It's early in the noon and you find yourself once again on the road, your muscles protesting profusely. But you grit your teeth, brace your shoulders and push onwards. You would have preferred to leave yesterday already once you had made it back to the hotel after visiting Beecher's Hope, but it was too late in the day. As much as the area has started to pull you down, you don't really fancy stumbling about the place by yourself during night time.

The sound of hooves draws closer from behind and you look over your shoulder, hoping that it might be Sadie Adler again. Unfortunately it's not her, as funny of a coincidence as that would be, but it's a friendly and familiar face nonetheless.

"Charles!", you call out in confusion, but manage a smile. "What brings you out here?"

He returns your friendly greeting and his own lips curl up, even if only a little bit.

"Moving away.", he answers and you raise your eyebrows in surprise.

"Really? I thought you were working at the ranch."

"I was, but I never intended to stay."

With a thud, he dismounts and takes in your rather messy appearance. Meeting John again has left you kind of all over the place, so you hadn't even thought about freshening up this morning. Moving on as soon as possible has been the only thing on your mind this entire time. 

"Where are you headed?", he asks you then and you think for a second.

Sure, you told John that you'd be going up north, but that hadn't been a serious answer. More the first thing that had come to your mind in that moment, but now you're not too opposed to the idea.

"Canada. Maybe."

Charles widens his eyes in disbelief, but he quickly catches himself. He motions with his chin to his horse and steps aside to make room for you.

"I'm going there too."

"Seriously?", you exclaim and then shake your head when you realize what he's offering. "Oh, you don't have to take me with you. I'm sure you'll be faster without the extra baggage."

"I don't mind the company. Also, no offense, but I don't think you'd make it far on foot. It's a long way."

That gets a laugh out of you and you mount his horse with a sigh. Once he hops into his saddle, you begin the travel together in comfortable silence. You turn your head to get one last glimpse of Blackwater and your mind wanders back to John.

Seeing him again after all this time has re-opened a wound, but also your eyes.  John Marston has always been and will always be the same to you.

Not yours.

Taglist: @warmsideofthepillow03 @lotvsflwrr @nalitali @committingcrimes-2047 @seere-mela

[spideyhexx]

fem!reader saccharine

Billy knows your whole thing is being one big tease to him, to other too, but mostly him, and he is close to losing it.

He already had a rough morning after getting barely any sleep. Why, he wasn't sure, but the heaviness in his head was weighing down on his day from the very start. He forgot to pay the innkeeper, borrowing money from Jesse to pay off his room, but now he owed Jesse money. Billy planned on going to the saloon later that day to play poker, but he was dreading it. He knew his tiredness would make it harder for him to play and play well at that. Most of the gang left him alone, seeing the permanent furrow in his brow and the way his shirt wasn't even buttoned right, it was clear it was an off day for him.

But then there was you. You knew he was having a bad day, but you couldn't help it. You always teased him and he always bit back. Not as hard as you would hope, but the game was always a thing. You follow him around that day, having nothing of importance to do for yourself.

He thought it akin to a puppy following you around and every time he turned and saw your smiling face, he'd roll his eyes, his jaw clenching so tight, you were sure he was gonna break his teeth any minute.

"Bonney, do you think I'd look better with your hat?" You run up to catch up to him as he walks.

"No," he replies, his eyes looking anywhere but you.

"Really? Cause I was thinkin'-"

"Can you stop followin' me?" Billy interrupts, his gaze still ahead, so he misses your eye-roll.

"Listen, I have nothin' else to do so I-"

"Well, 'm goin' to take a piss, so I don't think you should follow me," he says, his tone sharp and he looks at you, giving you the quickest, fakest smile he could have. It only brightened your grin.

"Oh, c'mon, I'll just look the other way, I've been around you guys far too long to get weird about that," you tell him, and he seems to know it's the truth, he can’t fight it. He shakes his head. "Leave," and he points back to where his and your horses were.

You're not that easy. Billy knows it too, but he prays to God that you'll see how annoyed he is in this moment and how he wants his time alone. You poke his arm, then jab your elbow at him, "I think I'll stay with you, Bonney."

"I need-"

"I can keep quiet if that's what you really want, but I think it's best if I stick around, what if-"

"Will you just shut up?!" His voice raises, stilling his walking to turn fully towards you. Your eyes are widened a little, but you don't answer his question.

"There's no way in hell you can keep quiet, 'cause all you do is talk. You bother me so much like...," he trails off, then lets out a harsh chuckle, swallowing his words before he spits them out at you, "you're...you're like a pest. I don't get it one bit how anyone likes you. ‘M…’m done with it, I can’t I…you really are a fuckin’ pest.”

His words sink into you. It stings, though you know he's got merit to his words. That you shouldn't have bothered him as much as you were today, that you should have just left when he told you to, but you thought it as much a game as playing poker would be. But Billy is fuming. You can see the anger in his eyes, the way his words rolled harsh on his tongue, the only time you've heard him speak like that was to people the gang was rivaling.

It's hard to stop the tears from welling in your eyes. Your chest burns and you feel the familiar ache in your heart. You try to stop it, but you've never been very good at that. "Pest...okay. 'M sorry, Billy," you say, your voice breaking on his name as your tears start to stream, falling to your cheeks as you sniffle. Once it’s starts, you know you really can’t stop it. You turn your heel and walk away from him. Part of you didn't want him to see that side of you, but it was also too late. Billy's heart drops at the sight. His words echo in his own head, realizing how bad they sound. "Shit, wait," he says, but you keep walking.

Billy's shoulder slump. He's never seen you cry, let alone speak so quietly. He was beginning to think nothing ever upset you until now. He knows he lashed out, but he hopes you at the very least understand why he did. However, to him, he knows he shouldn't have said that. You're a piece of glue for the gang, even he could admit that. Your pure nature was friendly, he knows why people like you so much, but he still said what he said. He thinks about going after you, but he can't. His feet are stuck to the ground as he swallows the lump in his throat.

"Shit," he mumbles to himself, rubbing his hand over his face, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

let's chat about billy, here :)

[cy-cyborg]

Disability Tropes: The Miracle Cure

The miracle cure is a trope with a pretty negative reputation in disability circles, especially online. It describes a scenario in which, a disabled character, through either magic, advanced technology, divine intervention or some combination of the three, has their disability cured throughout the course of the story. Sometimes this is literally, as in the disability is completely and entirely cured with no strings attached. Other times, it looks like giving an amputee character a prosthetic so advanced that it's basically the same as "the real thing" and that they never take off or have any issue with, or giving the character with a spinal injury an implant that bypasses the physical spine's break, or connects to an exoskeleton that allows them to walk again. Sometimes, it can even look like giving a character some kind of magic item or power that negates the effects of the disability, like what I talked about in my post about "the super-crip" trope. Either way though, the effect is the same: The disability is functionally cured and is no longer an "issue" the author or character has to worry about.

But why would this be a bad thing? In a world with magic or super-advanced tech, if you can cure a character's disability, why wouldn't you?

[ID: a screenshot of Roy mustang from Full metal alchemist Brotherhood, a white man with short black hair in a hospital gown. In the corner of the screen is the hand of another person holding a small red gemstone. /End ID]

Well there's a few reasons. First, lets talk about the purely writing related ones. If you've been around the writing or even media critique communities for a bit, you've likely heard people voicing their frustrations with tropes like "The fake-out death" where a character is either implied to have died, but comes back later, or is explicitly shown to be dead and then resurrected. Often when this happens in media, it leaves the audience feeling cheated and like a character's actions and choices don't really matter if even the worst mistakes and consequences can be undone. In the case of the latter situation, where they die and are brought back, it can make the stakes of the whole story feel a lot lower, since even something like death is shown to be reversible, so the audience doesn't really have to worry about anything bad happening to their favourite character, and once you've used this trope one time, people will constantly wonder why you wouldn't use it every time it comes up.

The same is true for "fixing" a character's disability. It sets a precedent that even things as big and life-changing as disability aren't permanent in this setting. We don't have to worry about anything major happening to the characters, there's no risks associated with their actions if it can all be undone, and it will lower the stakes of the story for your audience. Personally, I also feel like it's often used as a cop-out. Like writers wanted to include a major injury the leads to something big like disability for shock value, but weren't sure how to actually deal with it afterwards, so they just made it go away. Even in cases where the character start the story with a disability and are cured, this can still cause issues with your story's stakes, because again, once we've seen you do it once, we know its possible, so we won't feel the need to worry about anything being permanent.

Ok, so that's the purely writing related reasons, but what if that situation doesn't apply to the story you're writing? What if they're "fixed" right at the end, or the way they're cured is really rare, so it can't be used multiple times?

I'm glad you asked, because no, this is far from the only reason to avoid the trope! In my opinion, the more important reason to avoid it is because of how the a lot of the disabled community feels about the miracle cure trope, and the ideas about disability it can perpetuate if you're not very, very careful.

You might have noticed that throughout this post, I've put words like "cured" and "fixed" in quotes, and that's because not every disabled person wants a cure or feels like their ideal to strive for is able-bodied and neurotypical. For many of us, we have come to see our disabilities as part of us, as part of our identities and our sense of self, the same way I, as a queer person might see my queerness as a part of my identity. This is an especially common view among people who were born with their disability or who had them from a young age, since this is all they've ever really known, or who's disability impacts the way they think, perceive and process the world around them, how they communicate with people or in communities who have a long history of forced conformity and erasure such as the autism and deaf communities. Many disabilities have such massive impacts on our lives that we literally wouldn't be who we are today if they were taken away. So often though, when non-disabled people write disabled characters, they assume we'd all take a "cure" in a heart-beat. They assumed we all desire to be just like them again, and this simply isn't the case. Some people absolutely would, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not as universal as media representation makes it out to be.

Another reason it's so heavily disliked is because this trope is often used in conjunction with other ableist and harmful tropes or it's used in ways that perpetuate misinformation about living with a disability and it can have ableist implications, even if that's not what the author necessarily intended.

If the miracle cure is used right at the end of the story for example, as a way to give characters a happy ending it can imply that the only way for a disabled character to be happy in the long run, is for them to be "fixed", especially if they were miserable all the way up until that point. If it's used earlier in the story as a way to get said character back into the action, it can also be read as the author thinking that disabled people can't be of use to the plot, and so the only way to keep them around is to "fix" them.

Of course, there's also the fact that some authors and writers will also play up how bad being disabled is in order to show why a cure is justified, playing into the "sad disabled person" trope in the process, which is pretty much what it says on the tin. Don't get me wrong, this isn't to say that being disabled is all easy-breezy, there are never any hard days and you should never show your character struggling, not at all, the "sad disabled person" trope has it's place (even if I personally am not a fan on it), but when both the "sad disabled person" trope and the miracle cure trope are used together, it's not a great look.

This is especially bad when the very thing that cures the disability, or perhaps the quest the heroes need to go on to get it, is shown to be harmful to others or the disabled person themselves. Portraying living with a disability as something so bad that it justifies hurting others, putting others at risk, loosing yourself or killing yourself in order to achieve this cure perpetuates the already harmful idea that disability is a fate worse than death, and anything is justified to avoid it.

I've also noticed the reasons the authors and writers give for wanting to cure their characters are very frequently based on stereotypes, a lack of research in to the actual limits of a person's disability and a lack of understanding. One story I recall reading years ago made sure to tell you how miserable it's main character, a former cyclist, was because he'd been in a car accident where he'd lost his arm, and now couldn't ride bikes anymore, seemingly unaware of the fact arm amputees can, in fact, ride bikes. There are several whole sports centred around it, and even entire companies dedicated to making prosthetic hands specifically for riding bikes. but no, the only way for this to resolve and for him to be happy was to give him his arm back as a magical Christmas miracle! It would be one thing if the story had acknowledged that he'd tried cycling again but just had difficulties with it, or something was stopping him from being able to do it like not being able to wear the required prosthetic or something, but it really did seem as though the author was entirely unaware it was even possible, which is an issue when it's the whole point of your story existing. This happens a lot more often than you'd think, and it's very clear when an author hasn't even bothered to google search if their character would be able to do something before deciding the only solution is to take the disability away.

There's also the frustration that comes from being part of an underrepresented minority, finally seeing a character like you on screen or in a book, only for that representation to be taken away. Disabled people make up roughly 16% of the population (though many estimate these numbers are actually much higher), but only about 2.8% of American TV shows and 4.1% of Australian TV shows feature explicitly disabled characters. In 2019, around 2.3% of films featured disabled characters in a speaking roll, and while it's slowly getting better as time goes on, progress on that front is very slow, which is why its so frustrating when we do see characters like ourselves and so much of their stories focus on wishing to be, trying to become or actually being "cured".

An finally, there's the fact this is just a really common trope. Even if we ignore the issues it can cause with your story's tone and stakes, the harm it can do to the community when not handled with care, the negative perceptions it can perpetuate and everything else. It's just a plain-old overdone trope. It shows up so often that I, and a lot of disabled people, are just getting tired of seeing it. Despite everything I've said, there are valid reasons for people to not want to be disabled, and just like how I made sure to emphasise that not everyone wants a cure, it's important to recognise that not everyone would refuse it either. So long as it's not done in a way that implies it's universal, in theory, depicting someone who would want and accept a cure is totally fine. The issue is though that this trope is so common and so overdone that it's starting to feel like it's all we ever see, especially in genres like sci-fi and fantasy (and also Christmas movies for some reason).

[ID: A Gif of a white man in a top hat nodding his head with the caption "Merry Christmas" down the bottom. /end ID]

Personally, because it's so common, I find even the few examples of the trope used well frustrating, and I honestly feel that it's at the point where it should be avoided entirely where possible.

Ok but Cy, you mentioned there are ways to use this trope well, what are they?

So, like I said, I'm of the opinion that this trope is better off not being in your work at all, but if, for whatever reason, you can't avoid it, or it's use is really that important to the story you want to tell, there are less harmful ways to implement it.

Don't have your only disabled character take the cure

If you really must cure your disabled character's disability, don't make them the only disabled person in the story. Show us another character who, when offered the same cure, chooses not to take it. This at least helps push back a little against the assumption of "of course everyone would want this" that these kinds of stories often imply and doesn't contribute (as much) to disability erasure in the media.

Don't make it a total cure

In real life, there are cures for some disabilities, but they rarely leave no trace. For example, an amputee's limb can sometimes be reattached if it was severed and they received medical treatment fast enough, but it usually results in at least a little nerve damage and difficulties with muscle strength, blood flow or co-ordination in that limb. Often times, these "cures" will fix one issue, but create another. You might not be an amputee anymore, but you're still disabled, just in a different way. You can reflect this in your fictional cures to avoid it feeling like you just wanted to avoid doing the work to write good disabled representation.

Do something interesting with it

I got a comment on my old tumblr or possibly Tik Tok account ages ago talking about their planned use for the miracle cure trope, where their character accepts the cure at the cost of the things that made her life enjoyable post-disability. Prior to accepting the cure, she had found other ways to be independent to some extent and her community and friends helped her bridge the gaps, but they were all taken from her when she was "cured" forcing her into isolation. Kind of like a "be careful what you wish for" sort of thing. The story was meant to be a critique on how society ignores alternative ways of getting the same result and how conforming to other people's ideas of "normal" isn't always what you need to bring you happiness. This was a genuinely interesting way to use the trope I think, and it's a perfect example of taking this trope and twisting it to make an interesting point. If you must use a trope like this, at least use it to say something other than "disability makes me sad so I don't want to think about it too much". Alternatively, on a less serious note, I'm also not entirely opposed to the miracle cure being used for comedy if it fits the tone. The Orville has some issues with it's use of the Miracle Cure trope, but I'd be lying if I said Isaac amputating Gordan's leg as a prank, knowing it could be reversed in a few hours did get a chuckle out of me.

If your villain's motivation is finding a cure for themselves, don't use it as justification for hurting people

Disabled villains need a post all their own honestly, but when a villain's motivation for doing all the terrible things they do is so they don't have to be disabled anymore, it's especially frustrating. Doubly so if the writer's are implying that they're justified in their actions, or at least that their actions are understandable because "who would want to live like that?" Honestly, as a general rule of thumb, avoid making your villains disabled if you aren't disabled yourself (especially if they're your only disabled character), but if they are disabled, don't use the disability as a justification for them hurting people while finding a cure.

So are there any examples currently out there to look at where the trope is used, if not well, at least tolerably?

Yeah, I'd say so, but they're few and far between. Two examples come to mind for me though.

The Dragon Prince:

[ID: A Gif of Ava the Wolf from the Dragon Prince, a light brown, fluffy wolf who is missing her front right leg. /End ID]

The Dragon Prince on Netflix uses the miracle cure twice, but I still really enjoyed the show (at least I did, up until my Netflix subscription ran out, so I've only seen up to season 4). The first time the trope is used in the series, it's actually a fake-out. Two of the main characters, while looking for someone to help them heal the dragon egg they're carrying, encounter a young girl named Ellis and her pet wolf Ava. The two explain their egg is not looking good and they need to find someone to help it, but no one they've found had the knowledge or ability to do anything to help. Ellis says she knows a healer who can help them, and tells them that this healer even restored Ava's amputated leg when she was a pup. When we actually reach this "miracle healer" however, she is revealed to be simply an illusionist. She explains that Ava is still missing her leg, she simply made it look as though she had restored it because Ellis's parents were planning to throw the puppy out, believing it would not survive with its disability and would only be a drain on supplies. This was not actually true and Ava adapted to her amputation very well, she simply needed more time, and hiding her disability and making her appear abled gave her the time she needed to fully recover and adjust. When they return to the healer with the main characters, she removes the illusion and explains why she did it, emphasising that the real problem was never with Ava, but with how people made assumptions about her.

While I do feel it was drawn out a bit too long, I do appreciate the use of the trope as the set up to an overall positive twist. Disability does come with down-sides, it's part of the deal and it would have been nice to see a bit more of that, but for disabilities like amputation in particular, the worst of our problems often come from a lack of adequate support and people's pre-conceived ideas about us, and it was nice to see this reflected, even if it is a little overly simplified.

The second time this trope comes up in the series is when one of the antagonists, Soren, is injured during a fight with a dragon, becoming paralysed from the neck down. His sister, Claudia is absolutely beside herself, believing it was her fault this even happened in the first place, but Soren actually takes his new disability very, very well, explaining that he understands there are things he can't do now, but that there's a lot of things he can still try, that his previous job as a soldier just didn't allow time for. It's possible this reaction was him being in denial but it came across to me as genuine acceptance. He is adamant that he doesn't want a cure right from the beginning because he knows that a cure would come at a cost that he doesn't want his sister to pay, and that he is content and happy with this new direction his life will be going in. Claudia, however, is not content. It had been shown that she was already using dark magic, but this event is what starts her down the path of using it in earnest, disregarding the harm it will cause to those around her. She ignores Soren's wishes, kills several animals in order to fuel the healing spell that will "fix" him, and Soren is pretty clearly shown to be horrified by her actions. What I like about this use of the miracle cure trope is that it touches on something I've seen happen a lot to disabled people in real-life, but that rarely shows up in media - the fact that just because we accept ourselves, our disabilities and our new limits, doesn't mean our friends and family will, unfortunately. In my own life, my mum and dad were always accepting of my disability when I was younger, but as I got older and my support needs changed, my body took longer to heal and I stopped being able to do a lot of things I could when I was little, they had a very hard time coming to terms with it and accepting it. I'm not alone in this either, a lot of disabled people end up cutting contact with friends and family members who refuse to accept the reality of our situations and insist "if we just try harder maybe we won't be so disabled" or "Maybe you will get better if you just do [xyz]". Unfortunately however, some disable people's wishes are ignored completely, like Soren's were. You see this a lot in autistic children who's parents are so desperate to find a cure that they hurt their kids through toxic and dangerous "treatments" or by putting them through abusive therapies that do more harm than good. Claudia has good intentions, but her complete disregard for Soren's decision still harm them both in the long run, leading to the deterioration of their relationship and causing her to spiral down a very dark path.

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

[ID: A Gif of Ed from full metal alchemist, a white boy with blond hair, staring angrily at a jar of milk on the table. His brother Al, a sentiant suit of armour, is in the background looking directly at the camera. The caption, spoken by Ed, says "So we meet again you little bastard" /end ID.]

The show does begin with Ed and Al looking for a way to cure their disabilities (which they gave themselves when trying to resurrect their mother as children went horribly wrong). However, when the boys discover that the object needed to do that - a philosopher's stone, can only by made through absolutely abhorrent and despicable means, and using one, likewise, comes at the cost of potentially hundreds or thousands of people's souls, they immediately stop, and shift their focus on finding the stones that had already been made so it can't fall into the wrong hands, and preventing the creation of new ones. The core theme of the show is that everything has a cost, and sometimes the cost is simply too great.

However, right at the end of the show, several characters are healed in a variety of ways. Ed gives up his ability to do alchemy to get his brother's body back, as well as his arm so he can save his friends in the final battle, but neither of the boys come away from this completely "healed". Al's body has not been used since he was a child, and so it is shown he has experienced severe muscular atrophy that will take a long time and a lot of work to recover from, acknowledging that he has a pretty tough road ahead of him. When we see him in the epilogue, he is still on crutches despite this being several months after getting his body back. Likewise Ed is not fully healed, and is still missing one of his legs even if he got his arm back.

The more... interesting use of the trope, however, is in the form of Colonel Mustang who was blinded in the final season. Mustang is shown to take to his blindness pretty well given the circumstances, finding a variety of ways to continue doing his job and reaching his goals. When other characters offer to let him use the philosopher's stone to heal himself however, he takes it, acknowledging that this is a horrible thing to do and that Ed and Al would be extremely disappointed in him if they ever found out. He uses it both to cure his own disability, and to cure another character who was injured earlier in the show. While I'll admit, I did not like this ending, I can at least appreciate that the show made sure to emphasis that a) Mustang was doing fine without the cure, and b) that this was not morally justified. The show spent a very long time drilling into the viewer how morally reprehensible using the stone was, and it didn't try to make an exception for Mustang - you weren't supposed to like that he did that.

When I talk about these tropes, I do try to give them a fair chance and discuss the ways it can potentially work, but I really do want to reiterate that this particular trope really is best avoided. There are ways to make it work, but they will still leave a bad taste in many of your viewer's or reader's mouths and you have to be exceptionally careful with your wording and framing, not just in the scenes where this trope is used, but in the lead up. If you really must use it, I highly recommend getting a few disability sensitivity readers and/or consultants (yes, even if you are disabled yourself) to help you avoid some of the often overlooked pitfalls.

[flippinpancakes64]

The Cullen with a human partner who has very noticeable freckles all over his body and who is discouraged that after the transformation they will disappear.

The Cullens with a reader with Freckles

I made this a little more general to include headcanons of the Cullens with a reader who has freckles. I also made it gender neutral/not specified.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy!

Edward:

He loves your freckles

When you’re asleep, he has nothing better to do than count them

He loves when summer rolls around and he can watch as the sun pulls more out of your skin

If you’re ever insecure about them, he shuts that down instantly

He loves them so shut up

Now according to Stephenie Meyer, vampires lose all of the melanin in their skin when they transform

But that’s stupid so I’m gonna ignore that

When he turns you, you notice that your skin is stuck in the permanent state of winter, where your freckles are at their most faint

He tries to reassure you that they’re still visible

It takes him one entire night of kissing all of them for you to believe him :)

Alice:

She thinks they’re adorable

She wishes she had some

Makes a point to tell you that

Again, she loves the summertime because they become more obvious

One time, she drew a picture of you in art class and you were stunned at the amount of detail in which she captured your freckles

Like she got them in all the right spots, right amounts, everything

Before she turns you, you tell her that you're concerned about your freckles disappearing

She tries to convince you that they won't, but to be honest she doesn't know for sure

After she turns you, she notices that you’re pretty upset

She helps you recreate your freckles with makeup if she notices that it really bothers you

But other than that she tries her best to help you forget

She reassures you that she still thinks you are very adorable/attractive

Jasper:

He thinks they are so enchanting

He gets lost just staring at you very often

Whether that's because he's staring at your freckles or just you is up for debate-

Either way he loves them

He gets shocked around the summertime

"Did you do your makeup today?"

"No, why?"

"'Cause you've got more of those spots than normal"

When he (or Carlisle, let's be honest) turns you, he instantly notices the difference

They're not all gone, but a good chunk of them are

He's a little sad too

But he still loves you so

He does his best to cheer you up

He uses his gift to make you feel better

Rosalie:

When she was alive, freckles were considered ugly blemishes

But she never understood that

She always thought they were cute

So when she sees you and all of the freckles that you have, she is instantly in love

Another one who counts them while you're sleeping sorry

She's the only one who actually has an answer about whether or not your freckles will stay when you get turned

She still has her beauty mark, after all

So at the very least, your biggest, most noticeable ones will stay

And when she turns you, she is proven right

Obviously you're both bummed that not all of them stick around, but she reassures you that it's okay

Emmett:

It isn't the first thing that he notices about you

He sees your personality first

Jk jk jk

I mean it's just not the first thing he sees

However, when summer rolls around and suddenly all of your freckles have multiplied and they're all darker, he notices

"So... what are all of those?"

"All of what?"

"The spots on your face... and arms... and chest"

He thinks they suit you though

One day, Alice used some foundation to cover them all up to play a prank on him and he was so shocked

Almost didn't recognize you

After he turns you, he doesn't really notice the difference

You're gonna have to point it out to him

But he just tells you that he still thought you looked the same

Reassures you that you're probably the only one who's noticed that you're missing a few

Esme:

She thinks they are adorable

I can see her having had a cousin or a niece/nephew who had a whole bunch of freckles when she was alive

She always wanted some

So she adores yours

Loves to stare into your face while you sleep or whenever you aren't doing anything

When you approach her with your concern, she honestly doesn't know the answer

She never had any significant marks on her body, so she never noticed anything missing when she was turned

After she turns you, if you are upset because you're missing a good chunk of your freckles, she tries her best to reassure you that it's okay

"You had more than enough to spare anyway :)"

Carlisle:

It's not really something he noticed first either

He sees so many people everyday that at some point you stop looking really hard

But as he gets closer with you, he notices all of your spots

He thinks they are so unique

It also makes him reflect on past beauty standards

He does go on a whole rant though about the science of freckles

Melanin pockets in the skin and whatever

Unlike literally everyone else that you ask, he does actually have an answer

The most prominent of your freckles will stick around, similar to Rosalie's beauty mark, and the lighter ones that really only show up in the summer will disappear

Mostly because you're not gonna be tanning anymore lol

He comforts you with science

And of course he tells you over and over again that you are still jst as attractive as you've always been

Vampire! Bella:

She's not too shocked

From the very few very grainy pictures I could find of Renee on Google, she has some light freckles all over her face too

So it's not like they're some new exotic thing to her

But again, she feels like they suit you

Like she can't imagine you without them

When you ask her, she has no clue

Like genuinely none sorry

But she reassures you that it can't be that bad

When you do get turned and you lose some of your freckles, she tries her best to console you

"I'm sorry, really I didn't know if they would disappear or not"

She tells you that you are beautiful/handsome/attractive either way