#canon is a little fast and loose here- hope that's okay

[generic-sonic-fan]

Robotnik Family Reunion

Summary: Eggman never really knew his cousin Maria. 

Shadow receives a letter.

(3938 words)

Sonic checked his mail and was not surprised to find an enormous package shoved into the tiny box. He was also not surprised when, upon pulling it out, he saw the logo of the Egg Empire stamped proudly on the side. He rolled his eyes, as if Eggman could see him from here, and brought it back into the house.

“Hey, Tails! Eggman sent me a ‘gift’ again. Give it a once-over some time today, yeah?”

Several bumps, bangs, and crashes echoed from the basement, and Tails popped his head out from the stairwell. “I told you not to bring those into the house!”

Several hours later, Tails had defused the bomb and Sonic was holding the letter.

Happy belated birthday, Sonic! It proclaimed. Here’s a little gift to keep you and the fox on your toes, along with some spending money. Go buy yourself something nice.

Sonic shook the envelope. Out slid a few quarters.

“At least we know he cares.” He rolled his eyes.

He went to throw away the rest of the package, but stopped when he felt something heavy weighing it down. He pulled out several sheets of bubble wrap before finally unveiling another envelope. This one was addressed with To Shadow- Sonic don’t read!

He furled his brows. His number one nemesis couldn’t even stay focused on him on his special day? Gee, happy birthday indeed. He ripped open the envelope and shook out a folded-up letter and something that looked suspiciously like one of Eggman’s personal communicators.

He unfolded the letter.

Dear Shadow,

There’s something of import I would like to discuss with you. What do you say we get together and have a little chat about it? The communicator I’ve included is my personal line. Let me know the time, place, and what restaurant you’d like takeout from, and we’ll make a lunch of it.

You’re likely wondering what exactly it is I’d like to discuss, but before I tell you, allow me to issue a warning to any nosy blue hedgehogs or foxes- SONIC, STOP READING THIS! YOU CALL YOURSELF A ‘HERO’ YET YOU SNOOP IN LETTERS THAT DON’T BELONG TO YOU? PATHETIC!

Anyways, Shadow, as it is, we’re the last two bearing the Robotnik family name, if the file I have on your genetic background is anything to go by. It’s come to my attention that I don’t know much about your side of the family. I’d like to learn a bit more about my cousin, Maria-

Sonic quit reading as his eyes hit the name. He folded the letter back up and slid it back into the envelope.

He carried it and the communicator with him as he went downstairs. Tails had already turned around from his workbench when Sonic opened the door to the workshop.

“Hey, buddy, one more thing for you to look over.” He held up the Egg communicator.

Tails grabbed it and quickly got to work dismantling it.

“You’ll be able to repair that, right?”

“Why?”

“Personal delivery. I’ll be running it to Shadow. Just get rid of all the usual tracking and explode-y stuff Eggface usually puts in there, yeah?”

“Are you sure? This could be a trap, for either one of you.” Tails paused in his work.

“I’m sure.”

—

There was a knock on Shadow’s door. He put down his book and scowled. Rouge had said that putting up the “no soliciting” sign on the door would stop random strangers from intruding into his private life, but he should’ve known better than to believe a flimsy sign would fix the problem.

He got up from his rocking chair and walked over to the door.

“Go away.” He shouted.

Another knock. This asshole wouldn’t know what was coming for them. Shadow looked through the peephole to size up the intruder, only to find a familiar blue color.

He sighed, deeply, before opening the door.

“Hey, Shads-”

“What are you doing here?”

“Great question.” Sonic replied. He held out one of his hands, revealing a heavy envelope with the words To Shadow- Sonic don’t read!

The envelope was open, of course.

“Eggman asked me to play mailman, apparently. Here you go.”

Shadow took the envelope. “Why?”

“Well, you’re gonna have to read it for yourself.” Sonic rubbed the back of his head. “But know that it’s probably some kind of trap. My ‘gifts’ from him usually are.”

“He gives you ‘gifts’?”

“Yeah, he’s weird like that. But hey, Shadow, I mean it. It’s probably a trap. He used a name in there that, um, I don’t think you’d like him using very much.”

Shadow curled his free hand into a tight fist.

“I had Tails look over the communicator he sent with it. He turned off all the location tracking and explosives and stuff, but Eggman will still know your location if you call him on it. If I were you, I’d just throw away the whole thing. He’s probably just trying to get a rise out of you by mentioning you-know-who.”

Shadow looked at Sonic, then back down at the envelope. He then stepped back and began to shut the door, but not before mumbling a brief “thanks.”

He paused by the door, long enough to hear Sonic’s shouted “you’re welcome” from the hallway and long enough to hear him speed off. Then he returned to his rocking chair and tore the letter from the envelope, sending something heavy within it, probably the communicator, tumbling onto the floor. He unfolded the letter.

His grip curled the paper as he read it. He read it again. And again.

He set it on the end table and leaned forward to retrieve the fallen communicator. It was a small red-and-orange device that fit neatly in the palm of his hand. He ran his fingers along the edges of it, though taking care to avoid the button at its base.

Family. Maria had always wanted to know hers better than she did.

He stood up, carrying the communicator with him as he went to the door. After checking the peephole to ensure Sonic wasn’t still somehow waiting out there, (for this seemed to be the type of thing the blue hedgehog would stick around and be irritating about,) he left his apartment and made his way down to the street. Just outside was a park with enough space to gather momentum to get his jet skates going. Very soon after he was on the edge of the city.

He pressed the button at the base of the communicator, and it crackled to life. 

“Gah! How many times have I told you not to use this line when I’m in my-”

“Doctor.”

“Shadow? Oh, Shadow! Count me impressed. How’ve you been?” The doctor’s voice lit up on the other end of the line.

“Why did you send me that letter?”

“I’m frankly amazed you got it at all, between Sonic not messing things up as he always does and you not simply throwing it away the moment you got it. I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“Why did you contact me?” Shadow snapped.

“You do know how to read, hmm?”

“Of course I do.”

“Well, then, what do you say? A little ‘family reunion’ to put in the books?”

“How do I know this isn’t a trap?”

“I’m letting you pick the time and location. You could very well set a trap for me and I’d be none the wiser. I also don’t give out my personal line just on a whim, you know. Imagine how much of a pain Sonic would be if he got ahold of it.”

"Then why did you deliver the letter to him first?"

"I don't know where you live. I suppose I could've hacked your employer's database to get your address, but consider the fact that I didn't as a sign of my courtesy and sincere intent."

"Hmph." Shadow couldn't find any fault with that.

“So what restaurant do you want?”

“Restaurant?”

“Yes, yes, for the takeout.”

“I haven’t told you whether I’ve agreed to this or not.”

“Sonic’s particularly fond of a little hot dog stand in Station Square. I know very little about hedgehog diet, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume you have similar taste, yes?”

“I hate chili dogs.”

“Then do tell?”

Shadow sighed. “There’s an asian fusion restaurant on the corner of 5th and Crystal street in Emerald city.”

Rouge had taken him there once and it had been the best food he’d had since, well, everything.

“Ooh, never took you for the type. I’ll go look at the menu. Now, where will we be meeting up for our little chat?”

“Preferably not in public.”

“Yes, preferably! Unless you want the police to be chasing us down the entire time. I’m a wanted man, you know.” The doctor giggled. 

Shadow closed his eyes and thought for a moment. “There’s an abandoned GUN base, coordinates 53, 46. I’ll meet you there in three hours.”

He pressed the button on the communicator again to end the call. He used the sun to orient himself before taking off in the direction of the coordinates. He could be there in just under two hours, and that was intentional- being early would allow him to ensure the doctor would be true to his word. He skated towards the mountains on the horizon.

—

He arrived fifteen minutes later than planned, but it still gave him time to catch his breath and inspect the ruins for suspicious activity. This base hadn’t been a large one in the first place, and it had been destroyed during an incident a few years back involving severe worldwide seismic instability. Sonic probably had something to do with that, knowing him, but Shadow did not care to know the details.

He’d learned about this spot after the fact, when he’d been sent to retrieve sensitive data and destroy what remained of the databases. Sunlight streamed down from holes in the concrete ceiling, and tall grass and flowers grew up from between the cracks in the floor. Shadow traced in the shredded walls where he’d spin-dashed into the mainframe once he was done with it.

There were no traps, no bugs, and no civilians. He sat down on a concrete chunk and waited.

A jet engine hummed on the horizon, growing into a roar as it came closer. Shadow stood and jogged outside to catch the doctor’s Eggmobile descending from the sky. Its top cover unfurled, revealing the man himself holding two flimsy white foam takeout trays. 

“Doctor.” Shadow greeted.

One of the mobile machine’s walls folded down into a set of steps, and the doctor walked down them.

“You didn’t tell me what to get you, so I picked something at random off the menu.” He grumbled and held one of the trays forward.

Shadow approached. The doctor didn’t react in any nervous manner that could indicate a surprise attack, so he grabbed the tray from him. 

“Some place you’ve picked. A bit morbid for the subject matter, don’t you think?”

“It’s isolated.” Shadow turned and entered the ruined base. “Come on, doctor.”

He followed. “‘Doctor’. A bit formal for family, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Then at least call me ‘Ivo’.”

“Very well. . . Ivo.”

The name felt familiar, although he’d never heard anyone in this age call him by that. Shadow settled himself on the concrete chunk he’d claimed, placing his tray on his lap, though he didn’t open it yet. 

“So, Maria, hmm?” Ivo held his takeout tray between his hands and sat himself down on a nearby rock. He flicked a bug out of his noodles, before grabbing the fork and taking a bite.

“Get to the point. Tell me what you already know about her.”

“I never knew my cousin. She was only a few years older than I was and she got whisked away to the ARK before I could ever meet her. I assume you might have seen her once or twice up there, eh? That’s why I invited you out here.”

“Gerald was your grandfather.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

“Did you know him?”

“Oh, vaguely. Nothing like seeing your grandfather publicly executed on live television to spice things up, right?”

Ivo chortled and slapped his knee. Shadow crossed his arms.

“Now, I wasn’t aware you were a fan of dodging the question, hedgehog. Get to the point. Tell me about Maria.”

“Your family never spoke of her?”

“On the contrary!” Ivo stood up, tray in one hand, the other with a finger pointing toward the sky. “They hardly ever shut up about her.”

“Then why are you asking-”

“‘Oh, poor sick Maria! Such a wonderful little girl she is!’” He turned away and cooed to invisible air. “Maria, Maria, Maria. ‘Ivo, let’s go outside and see if we can see the space station pass over us. That way we can all wave to our wonderful Maria’.”

Shadow stared down at the tray he was holding, clenching it hard enough to crunch the foam in. Ivo had fully turned away from him now, gesturing into empty space as if he were leading a symphony.

“Oh, if only Maria had had more time! She would’ve done such marvelous things. Marvelous things like turning the vacuum into a robot to win first prize in the science fair- except that was me. Or maybe she could’ve automated the kitchen to make our meals for us or our laundry to wash itself, but oh, wait, that was also me.” He slapped his palm against his chest. “But who cares about mean little Ivo? ‘Ivo, quit doing that, Ivo, play nicer, Maria wouldn’t be behaving this way’.”

Shadow dropped the tray from his hands and stood up. He turned for the exit of the ruins, but then Ivo snapped around, pointing a finger directly at him.

“How was I supposed to compete with a dead girl, hmm? You tell me.”

“You’re looking for someone to blame.” Shadow spat. 

“I’m- what, no I’m not!”

“I’m not giving you that ammunition. We’re done here.”

Shadow began walking. Once he got clear of the chunks of concrete he’d have enough room to power up his jets and-

“At least take the food with you! I paid for that, ungrateful moron.”

“I’m the ultimate life form. I don’t need to eat.”

“You said this was your favorite restaurant. Come on.”

Shadow stopped, huffed, and turned around. He grabbed the damaged tray from off the ground. A bit of sauce had leaked out from where his grip had torn through the foam. Whatever. 

“I’m not blaming anyone. That would imply that I’ve failed, which I have not.” Ivo said.

“You hate her.”

“I don’t hate her. I hardly even know her.”

“You’ve already made up your mind; what’s the difference?”

“It’s not like you’re any better. You still hate everyone you meet regardless of what you know about them, unless you have some undying love to suddenly proclaim about Sonic or something.”

“Not love, but. . . respect.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not. Unfortunately.”

“He tends to do that. You’d have to be a fool to not respect him. That’s something I learned the hard way,” Ivo sat back down, “after waking up surrounded by the smoldering wreckage of my own creations a few too many times.”

“So you really think that highly of him?”

“Pfft, no. I suppose if you vastly oversimplify things, then perhaps you could construe it that way- but I digress. If I can respect Sonic, then maybe I can respect my late cousin, but only if you enlighten me. Understand?”

“Very well.” Shadow sat back down.

“And please, don’t let your food get cold while you’re at it.”

Shadow threw a glare his way, before popping off the lid of the takeout tray. 

“What was she like, anyway?”

“Nice.”

“Very descript.”

“Kind. Funny, though sometimes annoying. Sick, but you already knew that.”

“Spoiled, no doubt, by all those scientists tending to her beck and call.”

“They didn’t give a damn about her! To them she was one half of the experiment, nothing more. They only wanted results.”

“Oh.”

“They didn’t care how much pain she was in. I was the only one who ever helped her with anything. They saw her only as a nuisance that interfered with project development.” 

“You two were close.”

Shadow shut his mouth and stared at the concrete wall just over Ivo’s shoulder.

“You two grew up together, didn’t you?” Ivo asked. “Tell me what that was like.”

“We only had each other. Gerald was hardly of any help.”

“Of course.”

“We would. . . take care of each other.”

“Naturally.”

Shadow paused.

“Well? Keep going, you’re hardly giving me anything to work with here.”

“You said it yourself, doctor. We grew up together.”

“She was like a sister to you.”

He closed his eyes. “Yes.”

“Oh, Chaos. . . that means it really must’ve messed with your head when they shot her in front of you!”

His eyes snapped open. 

“That must’ve been terrible! You must have been so angry, having the one you thought of as a sister murdered in cold blood. No wonder you were so enraged when I woke you up.”

“I don’t need your useless pity.”

“Surely it’s bothering you that I’m speaking so plainly about her getting shot?”

“It’s the truth, and as I said, I don’t need your pity!”

“Good thing I’m not terribly interested in giving it.”

Shadow rolled his eyes. 

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that.” Ivo grabbed his fork again and ate another bite of his noodles. He spoke with his mouth full. “And eat your food. It’s cold by now.”

“Whatever.”

“You still haven’t told me hardly anything about her.”

“What more do you need to know?”

“I don’t know! I still can’t get a clear picture of her. She has to be more than ‘nice’.”

“Then ask.”

“What was her ambition? What did she want to do? What grand and glorious thing was she going to accomplish if only she just had more time?”

Shadow looked at him, before looking down at his food. He took a bite. Spicy. A little bitter. Overall edible. He looked back up at the doctor.

“She wanted to see the world.” He said.

“What?”

“She wanted to see the world. We read about all this,” he gestured to the overgrown ruins surrounding them, “in our books, saw the green grass and blue sky in our pictures, but she wanted to see it for real.”

“That can’t be all. Be more specific; tell me exactly what she wanted.”

“She wanted to feel the wind. She wanted to touch the grass.” Shadow shrugged. “She wanted to climb a mountain and see what it was like at the top.”

“That’s it? No greater ambition, nothing?”

“We were kids.”

“That’s no excuse! When I was a kid, I was already dreaming about world domination-”

“I get the distinct feeling you’re the exception, not the norm.”

Ivo crossed his arms. “I’ll ignore that.”

The wind blew through the hollowed-out remains of the base they sat in, creating a small whistle. Shadow turned his ears to listen. 

“Was she just. . . not smart enough to want anything more?”

“Say that again and I’ll make sure you won’t live to regret it.”

“Alright, alright! Sheesh. She was a Robotnik, after all, I should have figured.” He made a calming gesture. “I simply find it hard to believe that that was the extent of what she wanted.”

“. . . I suppose she did want to help people.” Shadow closed his eyes. “She cobbled together a low-gravity wheelchair for us to use when either of us had a bad pain day after the tests. She also made a set of greenhouse lights, for us to keep our little plants alive.”

Ivo made a ‘hmph’ noise, but said nothing else. 

“We saved the scraps of plants deemed ‘unproductive’ in the greenhouse and tried to grow them ourselves. We kept them on the top shelf of an unused maintenance closet. She built the lights.” Shadow tried to explain more. 

“Fascinating.”

He’d heard the doctor use that word in many different contexts before, but this was the first one he could recall that felt genuine. 

“What else did she want to build?”

“It was less about the building, for her, and more about helping.” Shadow continued. “She was glued to Gerald’s side whenever something was broken and needed fixing.”

“Just like me, but I bet he found her endearing rather than annoying.”

“Not always.”

“Ah, it’s the Robotnik family values, after all! Use your intellect to serve but never accept help. That’s a formula for a hellish household, in case you weren’t aware.”

“It seems I didn’t get the full experience.” Shadow covered his mouth to suppress a laugh.

“Yes, well, you’re adopted! Mostly. Sort of.”

“Our family is a strange one, it would seem.”

“But at least there’s one thing consistent between you, me, and her.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow to humor him.

Ivo grew quiet. “You know, I want to help people-” 

“Not another word.”

The warm feeling in the air between them evaporated. Shadow crossed his arms.

“You didn’t hear what I was going to say! All I’m saying is that if we worked together, then maybe we could fulfill Maria’s dream. I want to build things to help people. Why do you think I’m so hellbent on establishing my empire?”

“You’re trying to manipulate me. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“And what are you doing with your life to make her proud, hmm? Working for the same organization that murdered her?”

“It’s different!” Shadow snapped. “If I am their most lethal agent, then nothing like that will ever happen again. I will ensure it.”

“How terribly naive of you. You really are just a child. Sometimes I forget that.”

“And you are an egoist who can’t see past his own blind ambition. You’re hardly different.”

“Oh, am I?”

“Worse. You’re cruel, only caring about how your little experiments benefit yourself regardless of what they do to your victims. You’re no different from all the other scientists aboard the ARK. She would have hated you.” Shadow put his hand on his chest. “Though that’s just my assumption. She did have a rather strange taste in who she called ‘family’.”

“So you’ll be just like everyone else in the family, then? Judging me by a dead girl?”

“Are you finished?” Shadow stood up. “I’ve given you what you want.”

“I guess we are finished here. Thanks for nothing, you useless rodent.”

Shadow tossed his food on the ground, letting it spill out across the grass. Ivo mirrored the gesture, albeit with his empty tray. 

“The feeling is mutual. Let’s not meet again.” Shadow said, before turning to walk away.

“I hope you know what this means, Shadow the Hedgehog! I won’t pull any of my punches should you decide to interfere with any of my future plans!”

“Good, because I won’t pull mine. Goodbye, doctor.”

Shadow dashed from the ruins, firing up his jets to maximum speed as soon as he was clear of them, sending a shock wave ricocheting behind him. 

—

“Hey, Shads, just calling to ask if everything went okay. Eggman is certainly a character. He’s already bad enough as it is- I couldn’t imagine actually being related to him, so, like, if you ever need to talk-”

Shadow deleted the voicemail from his inbox as he held the burning letter. The ashes fell to the ground, joining the broken shards of the communicator.  

[sundew199]

Birthday present

a/n: just smth cute to celebrate Zoro's birthday ♡

tags: Roronoa Zoro x f!reader, fluff, dad!zoro, family dynamics, post-canon

His hands shook as he wiped them from on the sides of his pants, clammy and moist from the nervous sweat he had broken out into as he waited.

It'd been a couple of hours since he received word that you'd gone into labor, caught up in a class and doing his best to rush back to the compound where the two of you lived. The whole day had been a mess, Zoro not anticipating you'd be close to delivering when he agreed to teach a class halfway across the island almost a year ago. Oh well, he can't go back and change the past, all he could do now was apologize and make up for it somehow.

"Everything went smoothly."

Not even hearing the door to the bedroom open, let alone spot the doctor slipping out of the room, snapping Zoro's restless thoughts back to the present. The man looked kind and forgiving, features creasing soft in a reassuring smile as he patted Zoro's arm.

"I'll give you all the time you need, congratulations."

Zoro barely smiled at the doctor as he turned down the hall away from the bedroom Zoro stood outside of. There shouldn't be any reason why he was nervous, right? I mean this wasn't a surprise, sort of planned and wanted so he should just go in and forget about everything swirling in his head. But his stomach flipped and churned and he wished he knew why.

Well. He can't stand out here for the rest of his life.

Slowly pulling back the shoji, slipping inside, Zoro just about melted seeing you cradle a small bundle in your arms, paired with the brightest and yet most tired smile he's seen on you.

"Hey." Falling to his knees beside the futon, grasping the back of your head and placing a kiss on your cheek. "I'm so sorry, I tried to get here as fast as I could."

A soft hand came to silence whatever else might've come out of his mouth next, gently laughing and kissing his cheek back, making the unease in his veins simmer into nothing.

"It's okay, this was kind of unexpected, for everyone."

Zoro cumbersomely laughed, pressing his forehead to yours and then following it with a kiss, reassured to know you weren't upset with him for missing the birth of his first child. You began to scoot over to make room for him, adjusting the baby in your arms and giving Zoro a brief glance. Shit he felt so emotional, a lump rising in his throat and finding no way to make it go away.

Slowly your hand moved the loose blanket swaddled around the baby out of the way so Zoro could see them properly. They were sleeping soundly in the comfort of your arms, it almost didn't look or feel real that he was a father now. He'd hope the realization would've set in sooner, but at the same time the overwhelming sensation coursing through him felt other worldly.

"Can I?" Asking nervously, watching you break out into a small laugh at his question to hold his own child, but Zoro was nervous and it couldn't be helped.

"Of course."

The exchange felt like it was in slow motion, Zoro something of a giant to this new life and instantly on pins and needles when the baby was placed in his arms. Moving as carefully as he could while sitting on the edge of the futon, Zoro looked at you with misty eyes, not quiet crying but overflowing with joy.

"It's a boy by the way."

Hearing you whisper the sweet words and smiling even harder, looking back down again at the baby and adjusting his hold to where he could move the blanket further away from their face. His son made little faces at the adjustments, worrying Zoro for a moment but calming when he continued to sleep.

"I meant to get you a proper gift, but I hope this is okay for now."

Quicker than he could process, Zoro was twisting to look at you fully, uncertainty taking over in his expression.

"Gift? What are you talking about?"

Your sweet laugh confused him further, wondering what you were talking about. Subtly, you scooted closer, hooking your chin over his shoulder and throwing an arm around the other, pressing your cheek to his as you both admired the sleeping baby in his arms.

"It's your birthday today."

Oh.

Oh-

Zoro slightly turned his head with wide eyes, the reminder dawning on him in that moment and suddenly he felt emotions he couldn't find proper words for. His birthday wasn't anything he cared much for, just another year getting older, but he did like the excuse of getting to drink as a form of celebration. He'd been so focused on you and the dojo that his birthday didn't even cross his mind once.

"Shit it is isn't it?"

Lips vibrated on his cheek as you kissed him with another laugh, running your fingertips along his shoulder and humming peacefully.

"Mhm. You don't mind sharing a birthday do you?" Asking with a bit of humor in your tone, pulling the corner of Zoro's mouth into a firmer smile.

"No," Moving to fully turn and face you now, getting himself properly adjusted on the futon next to you, checking in on his son still fast asleep. "Probably just made my birthdays more memorable from here on out."

With his free hand, Zoro cupped one side of your face, locking you into a deep kiss, stroking his thumb over your cheek bone when he pulled away.

"It's not going to bother me, but we never know how he'll feel about it when he's older." Motioning down towards the newborn baby with his chin, breathily chuckling at his own comment.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Leaning over to kiss the top of your son's head, proceeding to give Zoro a quick kiss as well before curling up into his side carefully, running your hand across the soft newborn hair with your fingers.

[queenxxxsupreme]

At the End of the World (Cooper Howard x reader)

(Part 2)

A/N: So I don’t know how much I like this, but I think after this piece I’m going to try to follow some of the show but just add my own little twists into it :) I hope you guys like it! Enjoy!!

Warning: nothing outside of canon, mentions of bad dreams and of child loss, a twisted ankle

Word Count: 4.3k

Summary: Sometimes Lucy doesn’t know when to stop asking questions. Here is Part 1 in case anyone missed it :)

You jolted awake, eyes opening wide and lips parting with a soft gasp. Your heart beat so hard against your chest that it actually hurt.

“Easy, doll.”

You furrowed your brows as you looked up at Cooper. Your head rested in his lap, his hand gently brushing over your hair.

You pushed yourself into a sitting position, rubbing your hands over your face.

“Shit.” You cursed.

”Everything alright?”

”Yeah. Yeah, um…. Just a bad dream, I guess.” You looked over your shoulder to him. You moved to sit against your backpack, your leg brushing against Cooper’s. You bent your knees slightly, bringing your hands up to rub your face. “Do you have my smokes?”

He reached into the pocket on his jacket for the carton of cigarettes and a lighter. You took the carton and pulled out a cigarette. His eyes watched you put the stick between your lips. With a flick of his thumb, a flame appeared over the lighter. You leaned over to light the cigarette, taking a small breath.

“Heart’s racin’.” He commented.

You leaned back, blowing a cloud of smoke out of your mouth.

Your hand falls down to your lap, the cigarette dangling loosely between two fingers.

You try to fight the feeling, to fight the scratchy lump forming in your throat. Your right eye stings with tears and your chest tightened as if you were being suffocated.

“I miss her so much, Coop.” Though your voice was weak, he could hear your words just fine.

“I know ya do, doll.”

You hastily brushed the tears off of your cheek. Your gaze fell upon the Vault Dweller that laid fast asleep just a few feet away from you.

You raised the cigarette to your lips, the stick trembling just slightly in your grip.

“My Gracie would be about her age now.”

Wordlessly, Cooper reached over to place his hand on your knee. He didn’t know how to comfort you, how to make you feel better. As a parent himself, he knew what it was like to lose a child. Though for him, there was the smallest chance that his girl was still alive. He just wasn’t sure.

”Finish that cigarette, doll, then you need to try to go to sleep.”

You stiffly shook your head.

“I don’t want to sleep. If-If I have to see her again….” You trailed off.

Cooper let out a soft sigh. You were one stubborn lady.

Silence fell between the two of you. Your eyes seemed glued to Lucy but your gaze was blank. Even though you sat right next to him, you were a thousand miles away.

***

When the sun came up, you, Lucy, and Cooper were back to trudging across the Wasteland. You walked a few feet ahead of Lucy and behind her was Cooper. His eyes continuously scanned the Wasteland for any signs of danger, one hand resting on a handgun on his hip. He had bound Lucy’s hands before the three of you started your journey. He didn’t trust her.

“You’ve been awfully quiet.” Lucy spoke as she jogged to catch up to you. You glanced over to her for a few moments before looking back to the path ahead.

“I’m not feeling too chatty today. Didn’t get a lot of sleep.”

”Are you okay?”

”Yes, I’m fine.”

”I’ve been having a lot of bad dreams lately too.” Lucy sighed out. “There’s just…. There’s so much death and-and blood. I don’t know how people do it.”

”We don’t have any other choice.”

”Yeah, I guess.” The vault dweller shrugged her shoulders.

“Some of us have had to go through so much that the thought of giving up now seems…. It seems pointless. We just….” You paused for a moment. “We just have to keep finding the next thing to keep us going.”

”Like what?” She looked over to you. “Icy, I-I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. You had a family, a whole family and-and now…. I wouldn’t be able to keep going.”

You pressed your lips together. You wanted to be angry with her, to be upset with her. If she thought that everything that had happened to her in the short time she’s been on the surface was bad, she was in for a nasty surprise.

“Sometimes after such loss…. It takes finding someone else who has been through similar things to keep you going.”

Lucy glanced over her shoulder to the Ghoul that traveled a little ways behind them.

The vaultie followed you down a slight incline, but she stepped the wrong way and twisted her ankle. Immediately, she fell to the ground from the pain.

“Ah! Ow! Ow, ow ow!”

”Quiet down, girly.” You knelt down beside her. She clutched at her ankle, groaning in pain. With your cybernetic left eye, you could see that she had overstretched the ligaments.

”What the hell happened, Vaultie?” Cooper looked down at the two of you.

“She sprained her ankle.” You sighed, untying her boot.

“Course she did.”

“Wait, what-what are you doing?” Lucy furrowed her brows.

”Your ankle is going to swell and if you leave it in your boot, it’ll only do you more damage.”

”Oh. O-Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. I guess.” Lucy breathed. “Are-Are you a doctor?”

You looked at her for a couple moments. Sometimes you weren’t sure if she was being serious or joking with you.

You put the boot into your backpack and stood up.

“She’s not going to be able to walk much longer, Coop.”

”Well she don’t got much of a choice, does she?”

You looked to the west where the sun was beginning to set.

“We’re about four hours out from Alma’s.” You looked to Cooper. His jaw went slack as he brought his hand up to rub his brow.

“Damn it.”

”Who’s Alma?” Lucy started to try to stand up. You held your hand out for her to help her to her feet, then you cut off the rope binding her hands together. It would make it easier to help her walk with her hands not stuck together. “Thanks.”

”She’s a friend.”

”A friend ain’t what I’d call her. She tried to kill me last time I saw her.”

”Well she isn’t exactly your biggest fan, Cooper.”

The Ghoul held your gaze. He didn’t want to go all the way to Alma’s. It was out of the way and would just tack more time on to the trip. Not to mention, he didn’t want Alma involved. But with Lucy’s new injury, you really didn’t have a choice.

”I reckon we’re goin’ to Alma’s.”

”Come on, Lucy.” You moved to stand on her right side to provide her support while she walked.

***

Six Hours Later

It was dark by the time you arrived at your destination. It was in what used to be a suburban neighborhood but many of the houses had long since been abandoned. You passed by one derelict house after another, eyes carefully scanning broken windows and rubble for any signs of danger. You knew the danger would be limited as Alma was in charge of most of the raiders in the area, but sometimes the raiders were a little rowdy and eager to attack.

There was one house that stood a little better than those around it. Its windows were mostly boarded up and there was a barbed wire fence around it. The siding of the house had long since lost its original color, instead taking on a more rusty brown color. The right side of the roof to the front porch had fallen in and it made the house appear unsafe to enter.

You stopped at the fence and let Lucy go.

“You two stay out here for just a moment.” Your eyes flickered back to Cooper. He nodded once in acknowledgement.

You slipped between the barbed fencing and then climbed the creaky wooden stairs. Just as you were about to knock on the door, it was pulled open.

An older woman stood in the doorway, a shotgun by her side. Her dark but graying hair was put up in some sort of high mess atop her head. Behind large lensed wire framed glasses were two big brown eyes.

“Icy May. Ain’t no way in hell I thought I’d be seein’ you again.” The shotgun in her hand was leaned against the wall on the inside of the house.

“Hello, Alma.” You smiled, embracing her tightly. “It’s good to see you.”

”You too, dear. So good to see such a pretty face.” She pulled away to get a better look at you. “You look all in one piece. What brings you all the way out this way, darlin?”

”I have a huge favor to ask you.” You stepped aside so that Alma could see the two who traveled with you.

Alma leaned forward, eyes squinting as she struggled to see whoever it was even with her glasses on.

“Oh hell, Icy May.” She shook her head, adjusting the old cardigan that she wore.

“Well ain’t it my favorite old maid.” Cooper spoke, giving Lucy a nudge to go through the fence. Lucy slipped between two of the barbed wires and nervously started for the stairs.

“Shut the hell up, you old bastard. I still haven’t gotten over what you did last time you was here.” Alma nodded her head to the side of the porch that had fallen in.

“I happen to think it made this place look better. More welcomin’.”

”Well I ain’t trying to be more welcomin’.” Alma put her hands on her hips. Her eyes followed Lucy as she struggled to get up the stairs. “What in the hell is this, Icy? A vault dweller?”

”It’s a long story, Alma.” You shook your head. “We just need to rest for the night.”

Her eyes flickered up to you, hesitating. A vault dweller could mean big trouble.

”Aw, what the hell.” She threw her hands in the air and turned to go into her house. She picked up the shotgun she had left by the door.

You offered Lucy your shoulder once again and walked with her to the living room.

The house wasn’t as bad on the inside as it was on the outside. Wallpaper was peeling off of the walls and in some places, it was missing all together. There was a fireplace that had been filled up with rocks. A sofa, which had definitely seen better days, was in the living room. Beside it was a rocking chair and a little end table. It appeared as though the end table was a combination of two different tables put together.

“You have a lovely home.” Lucy complimented.

Alma shook her head, swatting a hand at the Vaultie.

“There’s food in the pantry and water in the washroom down the hall. You’d better get cleaned up and settled for the night. It’s already late.”

”Thank you, Alma.” You offered her a little smile. “We’ll be gone when the sun rises.”

”Better be. Don’t want Howard fuckin’ anything up anymore than he got to.”

“Missed you too, ya old bat.” Cooper muttered.

You took Lucy to the washroom and left her there, then you went to the kitchen. Cooper was already helping himself to the pantry. He sat at the kitchen table with a can of some sort of nonperishable food.

“There’s the couch in the living room and there’s two rooms with mattresses.” Alma told you. She moved around the kitchen, gathering up a canteen and a pack of cigarettes.

”Where are you scurryin’ off to?” Cooper asked her.

”I ain’t scurryin’ nowhere, asshole. It’s past my bedtime and you bunch look worse than the backside of a feral hog.” Alma stopped at you to give you a one armed hug. “We’ll talk in the mornin’, honey.”

”Good night, Alma.”

”Night, girly.”

You watched her leave the kitchen then listened to the floorboards creak as she disappeared down the hallway.

“You should eat somethin’.” Cooper spoke. You rubbed his shoulder before moving to pull a chair up beside him.

“I will.”

It felt nice to finally be able to sit down. Your feet hurt and you were exhausted.

Cooper leaned forward to give your knee a squeeze. Your eyes flickered up to meet his gaze.

***

A little while later, Lucy had retired to the room she was going to be staying in. You and Cooper would be sharing the other mattress in the room across the hall from Lucy.

You made your way down the hallway, doing your best to be as quiet as possible. You didn’t want to disturb Alma.

You came to a stop in the doorway of Lucy’s room, watching her as she sat on the edge of the mattress . She was in the process of eating a can of peaches when she noticed you were standing in the door.

“Oh, um…” She quickly swallowed a peach and held the can out towards you. “Do you want a peach?”

”No, thank you.” You shook your head. “Alma is a good friend of mine.”

”Oh, yeah! She’s incredible. Super nice person.”

”Can I trust you to be here, Lucy?”

She stopped eating the peaches and directed her attention to you.

“She’s taking a big risk letting us stay here for the night. If anything happened to her while we were here….” You trailed off. “Alma’s one of the last few good people out here.”

She nodded her head softly, understanding what you were telling her.

”So do I have to keep an eye on you or can I trust you?”

”You can trust me.”

You weren’t sure you completely believed her.

“Good.” You turned to leave but she stopped you.

“Thank you, Icy. For…. For everything.”

You leaned against the doorframe, crossing your arms.

“You need to stop thanking me.”

“You’ve practically saved my life by showing up. Who knows what that man would’ve done with me if you hadn’t come along.”

You gazed at her for a few moments, her bright blue eyes still filled with some sort of kindness. It wasn’t often that you came across those kinds of people.

“Good night, Lucy.”

“Oh, uh good night, Icy.” Lucy was confused with your sudden ending of the conversation. That seemed to be a trait of yours.

You moved down the hallway, your quiet footsteps still making the floorboards squeak.

Cooper was in the room the two of you would be sharing. He had taken off his bandolier, holster belt, and duster coat. All items had been placed in a pile at the foot of the mattress. The ghoul was lounging across the mattress with his breather in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and his shoulders leaning up against your backpack. One knee was bent and that was where his hat rested.

His eyes watched as you took off most of your layers. First it was your jacket, then the old flannel, and tattered sweatshirt. You were left in cargo pants, boots, and a thin brown tank top that had definitely seen better days. You pulled your hair out of the ponytail it was in to fix it up for the night.

“My, my, my. Ain’t you a sight fit for kings.”

I tried to bite back the smile that crept across your face but it was no use.

“Keep the charming to yourself, old man. We need to get some sleep.” You sat down on the mattress facing the ghoul. You leaned your torso against his bent leg, picking up his hat and placing it on your head.

He offered you the cigarette, which you gladly took. His breather was discarded on the floor beside the mattress.

You inhaled and held the chemicals in your lungs for a few moments. As you exhaled, Cooper brought his hand up to cup your face. His thumb, calloused and rough, traced your bottom lip.

You let him do so, your eyes steadily watching his face.

He traced the curve of your bottom lip, then used his fingertips to trail along your cheekbone and your temple. He brushed a few pieces of hair back out of your face.

”So what’s your big plan once we get to Hank MacLean?”

The ghoul paused for a moment, pulling his hand away from your face to rest it on his chest. You passed the cigarette back to him and he took it.

”I want to know what happened to them.” He was quiet as to not let his voice carry throughout the otherwise silent house.

You nodded your head. Cooper waited for you to speak. He waited, and waited, and waited. But you said nothing. All you could do was gaze down at one of the buttons on his shirt. The original button, which had been a light shade of brown, was torn off some time ago but you recall sewing a dark green button in its place.

“Say somethin’, doll.” He urged you, tapping the side of your leg gently.

You bit the inside of your cheek, finishing off the cigarette with a deep inhale.

“I hope you find the answers you’re looking for, sweetheart.” You put the cigarette out on the soul of your boot and started to move, wanting to reposition yourself. Cooper stopped you from moving, his hand grabbing yours.

“I just…. I have to find out, Icy.”

”I know.” You murmured softly with a nod of your head. “I’d want to know too, if I was in your place.”

It wasn’t like the two of you were in a full fledged relationship where one of you had asked the other to commit to you, but it also wasn’t casual. Cooper Howard didn’t do casual. It was far too hard to trust someone enough for that sort of thing.

”Haven’t been able to stop thinkin’ about it.” He put his head back, his hand steadily rubbing your leg as he directed his eyes to the ceiling. “I mean, if MacLean has been able to live this long, then there’s a chance…. even the smallest of one…. that they could be out there.”

You smiled a little, though it was sad and didn’t reach your eyes. If you believed in a higher power, you would pray to them to make it all true, to make his hopes and desires a reality. It was what he deserved after all that he had been through.

Though you wanted to be happy for him, your chest tightened a little with the idea of him finding his family. What would happen to you if he found his wife and his daughter?

You reached out to take his hand away from your leg, clasping your fingers together tightly.

“I hope they are.” You brought his hand up to kiss the inside of his wrist.

Cooper watched you kiss his wrist once, then twice before holding his hand in your lap. He didn’t let you linger in your thoughts for too long. He pulled you down towards him, making you lay down beside him.

“It’s nothin’ but wishful thinking.” He thought out loud.

“Sometimes that’s all that keeps us going.”

***

The Next Morning

Lucy made her way out of her room, using the wall for support as she limped down the hallway. She peered into the living room and found it empty. Her next stop was the kitchen.

The Ghoul sat at the kitchen table, which was covered in an assortment of junk. He was wiping off one of his hand guns.

Lucy looked around the kitchen, hoping and praying she’d find you or Alma.

Cooper glanced up at the vault dweller, very briefly meeting her gaze before looking back down at his weapons.

“Oh, um…. Good morning.” Lucy greeted him in an attempt to be friendly, but friendly wasn’t Cooper Howard’s thing.

He stayed silent.

Lucy leaned against the doorway to take her weight off of her ankle.

”Is Icy up yet?”

”She went out with Alma.” His answer was short and stiff.

“Oh, okay.” Lucy nodded her head.

She stood there for a few moments awkwardly. Should she just go back to the bedroom and hideout until you and Alma returned?

Oh, what the heck.

Lucy limped over to the table and pulled out a bulky wooden chair to sit in. She sighed in relief as she sat down. She examined the amount of junk on the table, curious as to what exactly everything was.

It wasn’t long before Lucy became bored and found herself watching the ghoul that had taken her hostage.

“So…. Is your name Cooper? Or is it Howard? Because, well, I heard Icy call you one and Alma called you another. So I guess I’m just a little confused.” She chuckled nervously.

”My name don’t matter to you, Vaultie.” He sat the handgun down on the table then picked up a shotgun.

“Well I’d like to have something to call you when I talk to you, to have a conversation like real people do.”

”Ah, but who said I wanted to have a conversation with you?”

Lucy pressed her lips together. This man was awfully hard to get along with.

”That’s fair, I guess.” She nodded.

Silence fell between the two as Cooper continued to clean the gun. Once he was finished cleaning the sawed off shotgun, he began to load it.

Lucy sighed, bored out of her mind. Cooper wasn’t entertaining at all. She messed with the cuff on her suit to try to keep herself occupied and to try to keep her mouth shut for a little bit longer.

“Do you love her?” The question kind of just came out without Lucy really realizing what she had said.

Cooper dropped the bullet that he was trying to shove into his gun. It made a loud banging noise as it hit the floor.

“What in the hell did you just say to me, Miss MacLean?” He looked at her, his eyes dark and sharpened.

The use of her name made Lucy feel on edge. He had always just called her Vaultie.

“I-I was just— I just see the way you guys are with each other. I didn’t mean it in-in a bad way, you know?”

The ghoul was silent as he held her gaze. He leaned forward to retrieve the bullet from the ground. He shoved it into the gun and placed the gun on the table.

The front door to the house creaked open. Lucy turned her head to see. You and Alma walking in.

“How’d you sleep, honey?” Alma put her hand on Lucy’s shoulder. The vault dweller opened her mouth to answer but Alma spoke over her. “Howard, if you don’t get your damn guns off my table, I’m gonna beat the piss outta you.”

Cooper didn’t offer any sort of smart comment back. He just picked up each gun and tucked them into their appropriate holster.

“I slept well, thank you. Where, uh, where did you guys go?” Lucy asked, turning her attention to you.

“Had to make a run early this morning.” You placed your backpack on the table, pushing some of the junk back so you had space. You rummaged through the bag before pulling out a stimpack. ”How’s your ankle feeling?”

”Really bad, actually. It’s super sore and looks very bruised.” Lucy eyed the giant needle at the end of the stimpack. “What’s, um, what’s that for?”

”You’re ankle. You can’t travel with a busted ankle and we can’t stay here.”

”But what is it?”

”A stimpack. It will heal your ankle up enough to get you back on your feet.”

With no warning, Cooper stood up and left the room rather hastily. Old floorboards creaked beneath the weight of his worn boots.

“What crawled up his ass?” Alma pushed her glasses back on to her head to hold her hair back out of her eyes.

“I don’t know.” You hummed. You listened to him move around in one of the back bedrooms.

He wasn’t a chatty person by any means, but surely he would’ve greeted you and Alma with some sort of witty remark. And you were very positive he would’ve given Alma an asinine remark about his guns on her table.

“What happened while we were gone?” You turned your attention to Lucy.

“I-I was just trying to talk with him.” She put her hands up, shaking her head.

“And…. Boy is he difficult to have a conversation with.”

You sighed heavily. Why couldn’t the vaultie get it through her head that sometimes she needed to shut up?

“I’ll be back in a second, Alma.” You looked over to your friend before going down the hallway to the bedroom Cooper was in.

He stood leaning against the side of the open window. He was fidgeting with his breather, replacing the empty vial with a full one.

”You leave me with that girl again, woman, and you’re gonna be scrapin’ what’s left of her brain off of Alma’s walls.” He grumbled.

You pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of your jacket.

“She’s got a way of getting under your skin.” You put the cigarette between your lips and tucked the carton away, then pulled out a lighter. “What’d she say?”

”Don’t matter.” He took a puff of the breather. You held the cigarette out to him and he gladly took it, crossing the room and closing the space between the two of you in just a few strides.

You watched as he put the cigarette in his mouth and took a deep drag from him.

“I’ll fuckin’ gut her like a pig next time she tries to talk to me.”

”You don’t mean that.” You shook your head gently.

He exhaled the cigarette smoke right into your face, then took another quick puff of it.

”Like hell I don’t.”

You took the cigarette from between his fingers.

“She means well.”

Cooper watched you, his gaze still hard and angry. You inhaled the cigarette.

“What did she say to you, Cooper?” Your voice was quiet.

He looked down at you for a while. Then let out a breath and adjusted the hat on his head, casting his eyes downward to his boots.

”We need to be leavin’.”

Without another word, the Ghoul slipped past you to go down the hallway.

taglist: @green--beanie @mack-attack420 @miniemonie2001 @eykismyfav @fallout-girl219 (I think I tagged anyone but I’m so sorry if I missed you!)

[the-sky-queen]

How much chaos would Duke and Scourge cause in the IDW comics?

Sooooo much probably. XD

For the sake of the ask, let's assume that IDW is at least semi canon to whatever canon we're working off of for Duke and Scourge's stuff. I think for the most part, they're off doing their own thing, but occasionally run into Sonic and the Restoration. Scourge doesn't really want to work with the Restoration, and the Restoration probably doesn't trust him in the first place.

The real thing I'm looking at here though is the Metal Virus Saga. It happens after all the drama with Duke's inhibitors goes down, but before Starline's capture of Duke (and later Wilder). I think it would be fun if Scourge and Duke end up in a town that gets hit by the Metal Virus and get to witness it first hand. Scourge gets Duke out of there as fast as possible. They need to find a safe place to hide out and Duke suggests they go to the Restoration. Scourge is reluctant, but eventually agrees.

As they approach the base, they cross paths with Sonic who's out on a run to burn off the Metal Virus. Sonic gives them the condensed version of what's up and asks Scourge to please stick around and help them. Sonic can fight off the zombots directly since he's already infected, but they need another speedster to help with evacuation. Scourge immediately refuses. He's not here to help save the world, he's here to make sure his little brother stays safe. Sonic presses that the only way Duke is gonna STAY safe, is to help them fight off this plague. Sonic needs to leave to finish his run, but he urges Scourge to please think about it.

In the end, Scourge does decide to help them out. He goes on missions with Sonic and the Restoration to help with evac, though he makes Duke stay back at HQ for his own safety. Now. Here's where I'm gonna get evil. >:)

Duke being at HQ means he's there when the outbreak happens. And unlike Amy, Cream, and Espio, Duke isn't able to make it out. When the remains of the Restoration comes to pick up Scourge, Sonic, and Tails from their mission in the city, Scourge ends up finding out what happened to Duke. His brother went down the zombots and he wasn't there to save him. Scourge is FURIOUS. He yells at Sonic for tricking him into this. He yells at Amy for not protecting Duke. He yells at Tails for loosing the cure data. Finally, Scourge jumps ship and and runs off, desperately searching for his little brother.

The next time we see Scourge, he's gotten himself infected, but he's able to fight it like Sonic. By now, everyone's up on Angel Island and since Scourge threw away his communicator when he left earlier, he can't contact them. But that's okay. He doesn't want to see the Resistance's stupid faces anyway. Scourge confronts Sonic right when Zavok smacks him all the way down to ground. They have a pretty one sided fight where Scourge once again lets out all his grievances against Sonic. Sonic can't really fight back much since by now he's so dead tired. But miraculously Sonic is able to get a word in and he apologizes. He knows he messed up. He knows this is his fault. He never thought Duke would get infected. He truly thought he'd be safe at HQ. Sonic promises he'll do whatever it takes to make this up to Scourge, but right now, he needs to get to the last Chaos Emerald so he and Silver can fix this. Please. Scourge punches Sonic one last time and says. "You'd better." Right then, Metal swoops in and flies Sonic up to the last emerald. Scourge goes off to look for Duke.

Once everything is over and all the metal virus has been pulled away and burned, Scourge starts to loose hope. He can't find Duke anywhere. What if . . . he . . .

And then Duke pulls himself up from some rubble and catches sight of Scourge. He calls out to him. Scourge looks up, tears in his eyes. The brothers run for each other and collapse to the ground in a hug. ❤���

[mushangaa]

silence is gold

2024/01 (full view)

discourse is silver, silence is gold

I drew a gold bg with copics for something on non-tmnt acc and that got me in a mood. I went "huh, neat, liquid gold would be so nice" and then got hit with inspo and here we are. More input under the cut.

So, stay with me for a hot minute, this is not little Present Day Leon, this is Future Leonardo, but in baby, sorta. I just went with the notion of dripping gold and drew Leo and he became progressively more unsettled and then I was like "yeah no that is the Leo who had to go through live without his older self being there to pick up the pieces." Also F!Leo is, in my story, canonically deeply unsettled and lowkey terrified by larger bodies of water - so rule of the thumb could be that if I draw a Leo not having a good time with H2O it is probably F!Leo in his youth. Which will make sense once I get around to explain it organically in like.. what.. Chapter 2 maybe. (they say, having not even fully drafted Chapter 1, while already dreaming of Chapter 3) But while we are on that topic, one thing I could ramble about is that all the kids mystic powers are more rooted in elements, and here I had to play a bit fast 'n loose with both the 4 element and 5 element systems because I have six kids to account for so I hope I can be forgiven that Wood and Air exist both in this one. But yeah so Leo's mystic powers are related to water, the element fits him and in my head it makes the most sense to link his powers up to water, especially the portals when I think about how still waters and mirroring water surfaces are linked to doorways to other worlds, the afterlife, and so on. Imagine Leo just pulling the humidity right out of the air to manifest his portals or something like that. Manifesting swords outta thin air due to water. Also idk okay I just think, with water being so versatile, being wild and calm capable of changing on a dime, treacherous, nurturing, dangerous but without it we could not even exist. I always just linked Leo in general to water but that association runs all the way back to the 2003 series (I need to rewatch the 1987 series to see if the association hits me there too tbh)

But yeah, in general, I have a lot of concepts and little things that pop up while I focus on the core story and the element thing will come up here 'n there, but it ain't the main focus. I just think it is funny to mention how Leo's powers are absolutely based in the element water and F!Leo is terrified of water. (which will come up and become a rather important at some point both the why and what that meant for him and his powers or the lack thereof) I also have another picture in the works of Leo in the water, but it is little Leo who has no water based trauma so he is having a better time in the drawing than his counterpart.

[functioningtrashcan]

Rearranging Canon

I was thinking, what would've happened if Miguel tried to intercept Miles before Spot got to him? What if Miguel knew not to trust Gwen or Jess to deal with 1610? He seems like the type of guy to subscribe to the "if you want something right, you gotta do it yourself" mentality. So, here's an au I made (at least, I haven't seen any fics with this premise yet)

This is just a preview of something I've been thinking about a lot. Hope you guys enjoy

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

"Sooooooo, uh, Macho Libre sir... when do I start?"

The child standing next to him was still shaking, costume torn and hair singed. Her grin was plastered on, breath quick as she tried to ease the mounting tension in the room. He could hear how fast her heart was still beating nearly 40 minutes after leaving her home universe behind.

"Start what, exactly?"

"I- you know. Spider.. society... stuff?"

It took everything in Miguel not to glare at Gwen from his spot across the table from her. She stayed silent the whole time it took them to walk from the portal to the cafeteria, and now she's biting the inside of her cheek like she needs to move on from this as quickly as possible.

"You're not doing any 'Spider Society' stuff right now." Miguel kept his tone as firm as he could without sounding angry at her. He was angry, just not at her. She was just a kid, after all. Super-powered kid or not, she couldn't brush off watching her own family - her own father - point a gun at her with intentions to shoot. It made his blood run hot and cold at the same time. What type of man would do that to his own daughter?

Gwen herself barely picked at the food in front of her. Miguel kept his eyes trained on the half eaten plate of empanadas in front of him, but he could still sense her eyes peering holes into him.

"Whatever you're thinking, no."

"I- "

"First rule of Spider Society," Miguel started, standing up, "is to listen when I ask you to do something."

He must've raised his voice, because Gwen flinched before he got to the end of his sentence. Shock, if only he knew a better way to connect with the skiddish thing immediately after such a traumatic event.

"Please, no worrying about any missions right now." Miguel softened his voice. "Jess prepared your room for you. Go."

Silently, Gwen slipped off out the door and down the same hallway they came. Miguel sat back down, sinking his head into his hands.

"Lyla."

The little hologram glitched into existence.

<You okay, bossman?>

"How much more time before the prediction?"

<Models suggest 7 months, 15 days, and 43 minutes.>

Already running out of time. Great. There was now less than a year before the original anomaly was set to destroy the multiverse, and nearly all of the spiders who came with it. No matter what he tried to do, Miguel couldn't figure out the catalyst. Something big happened after that collider went off, something bigger than a new Spiderman in a world where a new Spiderman shouldn't be. Whatever it was, he had no choice but to stop it from happening.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. 7 months. That's all he had to figure it out. None of his teams were any closer to getting it, and now that Gwen was here, Miguel was almost certain that he had to figure it out. Before the multiverse collapsed, before the anomaly was set loose on them all, but most importantly, before Gwen caught wind of who the anomaly was.

Gwen's plate still stared at him from across the table.

Every force was working against him, it felt like. How was he supposed to fix everything if he couldn't even talk to one kid properly?

Kids. It's always kids. It's always-

"Miguel! Hey Migs! Miggy!"

Miguel scrubbed his face with his hand. A bumbling idiot in a pink robe slid into the seat next to him.

Nevermind, he would rather the emotional conversations with the traumatized kid.

"Hey Migs, I've got some exciting news-"

"Make it quick, Parker."

"Oh come on, you always say that."

"I always mean it."

"You're no fun anymore." Peter B Parker groaned at Miguel, casually draping an arm over his stiff shoulders. "What's up with that? You're the only Spider here with no sense of humor, and it's like you've gotten worse!" He grinned, scrubbing his knuckles into Miguel's scalp. Miguel swatted at his arm.

"You have three seconds."

"Yeesh, alright, alright." Peter took the hint and slid off. "Wanna hear some good news?"

"No."

"So MJ just got back from a doctor's appointment - for the baby, remember?" Peter continued. "The baby's coming soon and they were just checking to see if she was healthy and what's going on, that kinda thing." He took an empanada from Miguel's plate and bit into it sloppily. "Kid's already gonna be the best thing ever, I can tell. I feel like such a dad already."

"Uh huh, wow." Miguel really couldn't care less right now.

"Y'know, I think a kid would really suit you-"

Miguel shot him a glare.

"....not that I'm saying that you should replace your daughter, but you should really do something else with your time!" Peter chuckled nervously. "Kids are so healing."

"You're not a dad yet."

"I will be in a few weeks! I'm tellin' ya, I never thought I would enjoy baby shopping as much as I do."

Miguel sighed heavily out of his nose.

"I'm trying to figure out a way to deal with the anomaly, Parker."

Now it was Peter's turn to look serious.

"Don't tell me you're gonna hurt the kid, are you?"

"No. Of course not." Not unless it ended up being necessary.

"Because he really isn't that bad- I'm sure he doesn't even know his world is a problem. And hey, you gotta cut him some slack," Peter shook Miguel's shoulders slightly, trying to wring some lightheartedness out of him. "He had a terrible teacher."

"Absolutely horrible, you're right." Miguel deadpanned.

"I know!" Peter laughed. "I did the best I could with him. He was like a practice kid, almost."

"He deserves a better teacher."

"I mean- hey, woah," Peter put his hands up in mock offense. Miguel quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm right."

"I wasn't so bad. I got him on his feet, and-" Peter kept babbling on. Whatever this story was about the ill-fitting costume and the failed web-swinging tutorial, Miguel heard it a million times. He couldn't be bothered to listen so closely, and instead, his mind lingered on something new.

He deserves a better teacher.

That could be it. That could be the answer Miguel's been looking for.

Miguel stood up again, nearly knocking over the table and Peter.

"Woah, Mig-"

Miguel roughly pulled Peter up from his seat and clapped him on the back.

"For once, you were useful."

"My stories?" Peter was confused, but Miguel was already halfway across the room.

"Tell the others I'll be out for a while. You're in charge of watching Gwen. Tell Jess that assigning teams to catch anomalies is her job now."

"So I don't get a fancy job now?" Peter jogged up to Miguel, obnoxious story forgotten. "Where are you going?"

"Earth-1610." Miguel replied simply. "I'm going to give the kid a better mentor."

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

And scene! Lemme know if I should finish this au

(Also, I've never posted fanfiction here before. If you guys have any formatting tips, help a trash can out)

[alexanderlightweight]

writing Wednesday!!! best day of the week!

My prompt, if it suits you: During the first uprising the circle won and took over rule of shadowhunter society. Fast forward about 2 decades and reluctant circle soldier Alec gets thoroughly seduced to join the downworlder resistance by Magnus 💜🖤💜🖤

It’s so sweet that you think it’s the best day! But it’s also the best day of my week where I get amazing prompts like this one.

Uh okay so this is super dddne (not malec) okay? Canon typical implications of: torture/genocide/war/incest/obsession/brainwashing/homophobia

suicide mention/ideation and graphic mention of self harm to the degree that it could be considered a suicide attempt but is also an attempt at getting free.

Ahahaha… I’m not even sure I can should say ‘I hope you enjoy’ with this one but I really do hope so. Also this was a super complex (and enjoyable prompt) because it changes the dynamic of the entire shadowworld.

This is not morgernstern friendly btw

—

Alec sits as still as possible but with his muscles loose and his spine straight but relaxed.

He’s in a predator's den and even if his mother were here with him, he would still be on his own.

“So, Alec—“ and Valentine smiles at him, lips curled in an utterly charming and fake smile. “You’ve impressed your mother and myself, neither of which are easy things to accomplish.”

And Alec, oh he hates where this is going.

Because he’s almost nineteen and his mother gets colder and sharper and more deadly with her disappointment every year. Never once has she complimented him and to hear this, Alec knows it’s nothing good.

“You’ve never once asked to leave Alicante and you’ve never slacked on your training.”

Alec has asked for both of those from his mother, at the same time.

Once.

He learned quickly to never ask anything from anyone ever again.

“It’s my duty.” Alec recites as he twirls his noodles and he hates how good the meal is. “You wish for me to be here, so here I’ll stay. Every nephilim requires training, it is our honor to fulfill it, and a blessing to do so in the divinity of our homeland.”

Alec has practiced small phrases here and there on his own parents, he knows almost everything that is safe to say around Valentine.

Valentine's grin grows a little brighter, a little more real and Alec swallows another bite of noodles instead of shuddering.

“Well, despite your issues—“ and Alec’s stomach shrivels as Valentine frowns, the reminder that everyone knows Alec doesn’t like girls hanging over Alec’s head like the blade of the soul sword. “Maryse and I feel as though you’ve earned a reward. For all of your loyalty and hard work.”

Valentine is talking like he’s one of Alec’s parents and Alec can’t stop himself from paling because he knows nothing good comes from Valentine’s rewards.

They are traps wrapped in filigree promotions and satin words.

“Your mother has been my most loyal and she and I agree that it’s a pity our family legacies haven’t been joined before. I’ve been very careful with Clarissa and sometimes she does act a little silly, but she’s fifteen now. Sixteen by the time you’re twenty, I think it would be a good fit, for both of you. Our labs will ensure there are no issues with having heirs.”

Alec can understand exactly what Valentine is saying. They want him to marry Clary. To get her pregnant as many times as Valentine asks, to be her protective shadow and her strategist and also the chain around her impulses.

Because Clary is spoiled and doted on and while she’s a spitfire fighting — violent and vicious and slightly deranged — she lacks any of the qualities for leadership that Valentine wants. Because she does what she wants, when she wants and if she doesn’t get her way, it goes poorly.

She’s a mad dog, waiting to be put down and Alec is the prison they want to chain her to.

She is also secretly dating Jace Herondale.

And Jace is the closest thing that Alec has to a friend, even if Alec doesn’t get to actually have friends. And while Jace doesn’t know Alec knows, it’s hard not to with how obnoxiously blatant they are.

Jonathan is smiling too.

But his smile is less fake and more considering, appreciation that Alec doesn’t trust in his gaze.

“I’m honored.” Is the only thing Alec can say even though this is the worst thing to ever happen to him and even by nephilim standards, Alec knows his life has been pretty miserable.

“I thought you would be!” And by the angel, Valentine looks really, honestly thrilled and Alec wants to throw up.

But that would be insulting and he can’t afford to insult Valentine.

No one can.

“You and mother lead us for a reason.” Alec demures. “You’re only looking out for the future of all nephilim. How could I disagree with the betterment of our people?”

Because he can’t. He can’t say no even though the word is dancing on his tongue.

“Well since that’s finished. Then I’ll leave you boys to chat, get to know each other as future family.” Valentine says and he claps his hands together before leaving.

Alec wants nothing more to exhale but there’s still another predator in the room and as shaken as he feels, Alec knows it is only going to get worse.

“I—“ he starts and then stops because he doesn’t know what to say. Just something that will convince Jonathon that Alec’s going to do his level best to never even touch or look at his sister.

“Oh Alec.” And Jonathon is laughing and it’s a charming and real sound, which makes it more distressing.

Jonathon is always the most dangerous when he’s being honest.

“I know, don’t worry—“ Jonathon promises and he’s getting up from where he’s been sitting across from Alec and walks around.

Alec swallows and forces himself to let go of his silverware, hands going to his lap.

Jonathon would know if he took the fork.

So he doesn’t, even though he wants to.

“It really is a pity that Robert ended up raising your siblings at his family home, I think you’d have been an amazing older brother.” And Jonathon is watching him with an interest that is normally reserved for his sister.

Alec swallows and turns, keeping his eyes on Jonathon.

“Oh.”

And Jonathon is smiling even softer now and Alec doesn’t even know what he’s doing wrong. “My father isn’t wrong, you know. It really is a pity our legacies aren’t already tied. Who knows, perhaps you could have been my brother.”

And Alec isn’t even going to try to touch that demon nest with an answer.

“Yeah.” Is all he tries to say and then because Jonathon continues to look at him eagerly he takes the risk and adds, “it would’ve been nice.” And then because Alec slips and he thinks of Izzy, the glimpse of her pudgy toddler face and the one picture he saw in Max’s dossier, he can’t help the soft smile of wistfulness that crosses his face.

And he doesn’t see the way Jonathon notices but he does notice when a hand is on his chin, forcing him to look up at the younger boy.

“My father has goals, Alec. But he doesn’t care how he gets them. He wants a Lightwood in the family and I agreed. He offered your sister for me, but I think you’ll fit into our family much better.” And Alec can’t breathe because Jonathon is too close and he’s being gentle.

Jonathon is never gentle unless it’s something he wants to break slowly.

“It’s amazing how you’ll never have to touch her, but you’ll have so many children. I wonder who they’ll look like the most, Clary, you, or me.”

“Clary doesn’t want kids. Especially not with me.” Alec tries because he knows how much Jonathon cherishes his sister.

How covetous of her he is.

“I know—“ and Jonathon pats his cheek tenderly. “But they’ll have you and they’ll have me. I’ll step up where Clary can’t, hmm? Keep it in the family.”

And Alec realizes as Jonathon’s thumb brushes the corner of his mouth that Valentine's heir isn’t just talking about helping raise his hypothetical nieces and nephews. He’s talking about having Alec, in the way Alec will never let Clary.

And Alec smiles and lowers his eyes in the way that prey is supposed to and internally, the small secret part of himself that he keeps tucked away unlocks.

—

Magnus finds him by chance.

He’s in Portugal chasing a lead on a poisonous ward array when an old woman taps his shins with her cane.

Magnus follows her into her shop and exits with a lighter pocket, the array sent to Ragnor and a piece of information burned into his mind.

Young. Lots of tattoos. Lives on the water. Smell off.

Magnus has the scent and for once, he is the hunter.

—

Alec swallows and tries very hard not to be disappointed in himself.

He’s learned a lot in the eight months that he’s managed to live as a mundane. And he knows he’s doing it poorly, but he’s still alive and he’s mostly free so he figured that was enough.

He was wrong.

So very wrong and as the warlock comes closer to him — the magic bringing him lighter but stronger than anything Alec’s tied up with before — Alec resigns himself to either a brutal death or being tortured for information.

And Alec finds that both options are still more preferable than being tangled with both of Valentine’s kids.

“Now what’s a shadowhunter doing here, living like a mundane and hiding on a boat.”

“Nephilim.” Alec corrects automatically and he winces, flushing when gold eyes narrow at him — and how can eyes be so beautiful.

“I—“ and Alec hesitates because he’s not sure if he’s about to get himself into more or less trouble. “I never became an official shadowhunter, not really.”

Because Alec has never officially left Idris and has never led a solo or team mission.

And Alec made sure he never would.

Because Valentine puts unblockable tracking runes on his shadowhunters but he doesn’t bother for his nephilim.

Why should he, when they can’t leave Idris alive.

“Is that even possible?”

Alec is asked and he realizes that he’s going to have to explain. Quickly, before his captor grows impatient.

—

Magnus watches as the young —so young but still not as young as so many murdered downworlder children — nephilim shrugs. He looks uncomfortable but not scared or disgusted.

“It’s not supposed to be.” The nephilim mutters and then he raises his hands, slowly, to rub his palms across his face. He smears blood across the edge of his cheek and even ten years ago Magnus would have been tempted to reach out and wipe it off.

But he knows better than to risk it.

“Tell me.”

Is all Magnus says and his captive responds to his order like it’s automatic.

“It doesn’t work on corpses or bodies near death.” Is blurted out and then the nephilim looks both tragically horrified and upset at his admittance.

“Oh? And what crime is so heinous that someone like Valentine would sentence a young, promising soldier to such a fate?”

And Magnus didn’t mean for a compliment to slip in there but, then nephilim is very easy to compliment.

“I did it to myself.” Is spit out and dark eyes are glaring at him mulishly, as if Magnus is going to judge a nephilim for wanting to escape Valentine so badly. “Valentine wouldn’t have wasted a still breathing body by letting it pass the wards.”

Magnus is delighted.

“Couldn't handle the megalomania? The torrid speeches? I know it wasn’t because of a love for the downworld.” Magnus hopes the nephilim isn’t stupid enough to try the last one. Magnus would burn his lying tongue in his mouth, no matter how pretty it is.

“Couldn’t handle marrying Valentine’s daughter—“ is confessed and there is a dark spark to Magnus’ nephilim. One that says he’s serious and Magnus finds it intriguing.

“I’m going to keep you for a bit.” Magnus says, casually pulling the nephilim closer with magic. “And then we’ll find out if you get to live, hmm?”

—

Alexander, or Alec as he introduced himself, sits like he’s afraid to take up room but afraid to look afraid. He gives Magnus all of his attention and tries hard not to look at anything else, like he’s not supposed to.

And he stays polite if not terse and he agrees to everything asked until Magnus summons a needle, because he requires blood. And then Alec is like a trembling statue, the kind you might see before an earthquake shatters it.

Magnus had thought the syringe would be easier, but it appears not.

“I need your blood.” He reminds his prisoner, losing his patience because he’s already being nicer than he should be as it is.

“Can’t you just use your magic?” Is blurted out and Magnus freezes, his fingers tightening in disbelief around the needle.

“You want me to use magic, would in fact prefer it to this?” Magnus asks and he raises a hand with the syringe and one with magic and Alexander flinches.

From the syringe and towards the magic.

“Anything is better than that.” Is spat out with true fear and vitriol and the second Magnus vanishes the syringe, Alec relaxes. He’s wary in a way that’s new and Magnus realizes that despite considering him a threat, this is the first time Alexander has shown actual fear of Magnus.

Magnus finds that shockingly, he doesn’t enjoy it.

Normally, he would revel in it.

He holds out his fingers, wreathed in angry red flames and Alexander offers his hand, not even flinching even though Magnus knows his magic burns when it’s this agitated.

“Thank you.”

Is whispered when Magnus is finished and leaving the room and Magnus pretends he’s hearing things.

He’s dehydrated, he reminds himself.

He needs a drink, he thinks as he summons a glass.

Half a bottle later Magnus finds himself watching Alexander stand at the balcony and marvel at the city below and he can finally admit it.

He wants Alexander.

Desperately.

Magnus lets himself wallow a full hour before he decides he really doesn’t care if Alexander is a nephilim.

Magnus has slept with his fair share of enemies. Has killed and had others try to kill him during sex and Alexander is hardly as bad as all that.

He is nephilim, but why shouldn’t Magnus gain something from this war. If the Council of Elders dislikes the trophy Magnus is going to take for himself, then they can fight without his power.

Magnus will take his people and his nephilim and keep them safe somewhere else.

He can even take them to another dimension and tie the wards to Alexander’s blood, ensuring no other nephilim can ever pass.

But while Magnus is willing to take a risk, he’s not willing to take a leap of faith and so he’s either going to keep Alexander or make sure he never sees him again unless it’s to kill him.

He walks to the balcony and startles for a moment, magic flaring before he realizes Alexander is the dark puddle curled up with a blanket on Magnus' sofa.

Magnus pretends he knew where Alexander was all along.

“So darling,” and the endearment slips out before he can help it and Alexander blinks up at him in wary surprise, but no protest.

“You have three choices before you. One, I can bind your nephilim blood, your Sight and your memories and throw you to the mundane world and let them deal with taking care of you. I can let you run back to your little boat with a geas on your tongue that will never let you speak of anything you learn and alert me if you encounter others with angel blood.”

Alexander is watching him with hope and desperation and Magnus wants to see what he looks like for the last offer.

“Or, you can be mine. Take all that loyalty that Valentine tried to beat and bribe into you and surrender it to me. Because unlike Valentine, I don’t break what belongs to me and I don't let it go.”

—

“Yes.” Alec says because he knows exactly which option he wants. He’s only made it to nineteen so far because he tried to live like a mundane and keep his head down but he doesn’t enjoy it.

It’s a better life than what he had, but it’s not the kind of life Alec wants. Not after the risks he took, not after he almost succeeded in killing himself just to have a better future.

And Alec doesn’t want to forget himself or how hard he fought to survive.

How for a time, he won.

And Magnus is… Alec can guess what Magnus is implying and he can be good, he’s been trained to be good, to obey.

But most of all, he wants to stay near Magnus. Who gives him options and doesn’t force Alec to do something because he is afraid of it.

“Yes—“ and Magnus trails off leadingly.

“Yes, sir.” He adds, because it doesn’t feel like torture to call Magnus that, even if the word still tastes wrong on his tongue.

And twin moons are blinking at him and then there is a dark, reassuring chuckle.

“I was asking what part of my offer the yes was to, but I suppose that answers that.”

And Magnus leans down and magic surges through Alec’s body and Magnus is kissing him.

Magnus tastes like how Alec imagines magic does.

Tingly and powerful and too wild to ever chain and Alec sobs brokenly into the kiss.

Because Magnus tastes like the future.

Alec’s future.

—

It’s been two weeks since Magnus claimed the spoils of a war he didn’t start but he’s certainly trying to finish.

He’s limited himself to a very few excursions with Alexander, mostly mundane and with a very firm hand on the small of Alexander's back.

And a tethering charm.

And several tracking amulets.

And an earring containing a shard of hellfire hidden under Alexander’s soft curls, in the cartilage of his left ear.

And it’s been going splendidly, until today. When Alexander pressed closer than usual and pressed his lips to Magnus' ear and mouths, “shadowhunters.”

And Magnus knows it’s a warning and not a threat but he pulls Alexander in even closer and loops magic around Alec’s waist to keep him near.

“Where?” He whisper-breathes back and Alec is nodding to the side when his gaze catches somewhere in the middle of the crowd of mundanes approaching them.

“Jonathon.” Alexander whispers and he is shocked and pale as he says it, horrified even. And Magnus concludes that this Jonathon is not someone he needs to worry about Alexander missing.

And then Alec is ducking around and behind Magnus, making himself as small as possible without forcing Magnus to turn his back.

“A friend?” Magnus asks, his magic only staying in place because Alexander came closer to him instead of closer to this, Jonathon.

“Valentine’s son.”

“Ah, your would-be-brother-in-law.” Magnus says with some disdain and eyeing the shadowhunter with more intense scrutiny. He wonders if he can manage to take out the boy without hurting the mundanes and exposing the shadowworld.

“He wanted a uh, little more than that.” Is muttered against his neck and Magnus’ magic swells and thrashes as anger bubbles in him.

“He’s really talented. The best of the best.” But Alexander doesn’t sound like it’s meant as a compliment, “and he really loves his sister.” There is a wealth of unspoken information there in the emphasis, “he implied that he suggested me as Clary’s future husband to his father. Mostly because he knew I wouldn’t fuck her. He promised he’d help me get her pregnant without me touching her and he was very uh, touchy himself.

“Oh?” Magnus asks, voice cool and even despite the stuttering of anger in his veins.

“He’d never touched me outside of sparring or lessons before that.” Alexander tucks his head closer to Magnus’ shoulder like it can hide him, “he basically said that Valentine doesn’t care which of his kids fucks me as long as he gets Lightwood genes out of it one way or another.”

“And his sister?”

“She stopped me when I was leaving and told me she was ‘glad I and Jonathon were getting along so well’.”

Magnus feels very much like the calm before an avalanche.

The slightest bit more pressure and everything will break but he still asks, keeping his voice soothing to not spook Alec.

“And did you consider it?” Magnus asks because he has always loved tempting fate and his own temper.

“Magnus, the night I ran I climbed the tallest tree I could find at the brink of the ward lines. I set myself up on the highest branch that held my weight and I stabbed myself in the heart with one of my own arrows. So that when I fell from blood loss and shock and pain, I’d still fall over the barrier.

“I had the arrow tied to the tree so it would come out and I activated a bunch of runes first. And when I woke up, I had to lay there in agony and alone and quiet at the boundary of Idris until my body decided if it was going to give up and die or struggle to continue. I ran that night and picked that method because Jonathon came to me that morning.

“He promised me that my wedding night would be a ‘memorable one’ and he called me his brother and told me he was looking forward to having a new sibling.”

Magnus blinks as he remembers what Alec had said earlier,“because Valentine wanted you to wrangle his daughter and didn’t care if his son fucked out as long as you also sired a lot of babies for his future armies.”

Alexander nods, miserable and exhausted as he closes his eyes and trusts Magnus to protect him.

“Then I’ll just have to keep you far away from him.” Which is a fortunate timing for their conclusion to reach, as Magnus knows his eyes have finally been spotted.

While he has a mundane-proof glamour on, Magnus never hides his warlock mark anymore.

Let them see him.

Let them fear him.

Let them attack him.

He will incinerate all that try.

However, Magnus is currently in a small mundane town and Magnus will not risk Alexander being snatched away from him.

“They’re coming.” He whispers, lips brushing Alexander’s ear and Magnus sees the exact moment Jonathon Morgernstern recognizes who is in his arms.

The vindictive glee of having found a warlock to hunt turns to shock and then feral rage.

“Alec!”

Is shouted across the court and only a few in the crowds of mundanes twitch, downworlders who can’t afford to be as open as Magnus is.

Alexander simply keeps his eyes closed and his cheek to Magnus’ chest.

“Give him back, warlock!” Jonathon is saying, blade drawn and Magnus can see shadowhunters gathering to his call.

“Who would I give him back to?” Magnus queries in mock confusion, “he already belongs to me.”

Valentine's heir spits at the ground and then gives a vicious curse before demanding, “Alec come here.“

And it’s an order and Alexander looks across, at the life and people he left behind and Magnus tightens his hold but Alexander leans back instead of forward.

“Why?” Alexander asks and his confusion is as beautiful as it is fake, “I’m right where I’m supposed to be.” And he tilts his face up, lips parting like petals beckoning for a taste of the sun and Magnus kisses him.

Magnus kisses him and lets his magic visibly dance on Alexander’s body for several dangerously blissful seconds.

And then there is the scream of an enraged animal who has had its prey stolen and Magnus laughs, throwing his head back as he opens a portal behind himself.

“He’ll never be yours, he’ll never be anyone’s but mine.” Magnus promises with a vicious, victorious smirk as he tips them back, letting space and magic absorb them and take them away, Alexander exactly where he belongs.

And later, in Magnus’ lair and behind his wards, Alexander will frown and say “I think maybe I should have said something else. What if he thinks you bewitched me? I’d rather be a traitor than have them trying to ‘save’ me.”

And Magnus will kiss him and hold him down with magic so that his hands can cup Alexander’s face.

“It wouldn’t have mattered, it doesn’t matter, I have you.” He will promise.

Because Magnus recognizes the look Jonathon gave Alec and it’s not one that will let Alexander go, not without a bloody fight.

Which is fine.

Magnus will enjoy making Valentine’s heir bleed.

[typewriter83]

But then she smiled, and her gorgeous green eyes seemed to shine, and his heart of stone started to crack. He felt the warmth flood his cheeks and his throat felt dry. He knew he was a fool if he thought this could work.

Kshdksjkd giiiiirl? Okay let's get started

So yeah, Ellie being the orphan kid no one wants is typical in every universe so I wasn't really surprise when miss girl's first scene as a child was sitting woth an officer lol poor baby. That foster mother was a real bitch, second villian in this story just behind her husband (that btw was david? He wasn't mentioned but I just figured). It really pisses me off in every fic that Marlene has the same personality she has as canon: ellie lives a miserable life and marlene still acts like the girl is just being ungrateful or something. Yikes. So ellie got to live with marlene in this one, that's a miracle.

I'm very curious about what ellie's blood disease is, is it life risking even on earth? I really hope not, because she it already crushed her dream :( and wait, so Nasa kind of knew about it but let it go as a form to keep exploring her image? Wow, that... Sucks. But doesn't surprise me actually.

Oh man, I remember reading some anon here said something about brother-in-law Tommy and I feel like that really is gonna be something in this story lol. He just met ellie aka cute girl from the bar once (twice now) and he's already more invested in this relationship than Joel😂and by the way he was asking what did joel do, it won't take long for tommy to take only the "brother" role from "brother-in-law". And hell, that was mighty akward lmao, I had to pause every sentence because it made me cringe (in a good way), but it was also funny so I couldn't stop giggling.

Well, I forgive Joel. I feel like he really realized how much he fucked up by ghosting her when he saw how it made her feel used. He's so bad at feelings, Geez, maybe that's why they never gave him a pixel girfriend in the games🤭

Anyways, I'm excited to see how this is all gonna turn out (specially to see how bad they can pretend they can be just friends lol).

- Merida Cub

Hello Merida Cub! I’m so glad you’re following along - I hope you continue to after the next chapter - we’ve got a new trope coming and it can make readers land on one side or the other. Ominous, I know 😏

So yes, Ellie’s foster parents when she was 13 was David and his wife - and I will circle back to this later, just like I will circle back to what happened to Sarah in Joel’s backstory. I wanted to lay the groundwork, but leave enough out so the reader finds out the whole story when Joel and Ellie finally bond over their trauma.

Marlene is not the villain in this story - she just didn’t give enough of her time and resources to Ellie when she needed it the most. Marlene gives Ellie what she needed when she was a teenager - a roof over her head and steady schooling so Ellie could thrive - which of course, Ellie still did on her own. Marlene will show up again later.

I tried to play Ellie’s disease off her canon condition - a type of blood disease. And of course, I’m not a doctor or scientist, so I’m playing fast and loose and taking dramatic license for this. Something that’s not life threatening, but could derail her career, but also will have future implications. Ominous, I know 😏

100% Tommy is more invested in the relationship than Joel is! He is good little brother and fully committed to the idea of being Ellie’s big brother, a role he’s never had, but would wholeheartedly embrace. Plus, he knows his brother has been in a dark place for a long time, and Ellie is clearly a bright light that Joel needs. Maria is Maria, that’s all I’m gonna say, lol.

Joel is so bad with his feelings - he doesn’t want to hurt this girl like he’s hurt others. I’ve alluded to Tess and Tommy forcing themselves to stay in Joel’s life after losing Sarah. Now Ellie is there and what’s she gonna do? Annoy the hell out of him - curious about his job, coming to his classroom because - let’s face it - she likes him, and she doesn’t want to just be his friend. And Joel is all “I you work on the other side of the building, what do you want?” 🤭🤭 You, she wants you, you fool

🫶🏻

[exitthedoughnut]

Particle Accelerator // Marvel

About Me and My Writing

Hi, you can call me Malibu (or w/e floats thine boat). I'm in my late twenties, my pronouns are she/her. I am both queer myself and obviously queer friendly. I'm not always consistently around due to both some environmental circumstances and personal struggles (it's the mental illness).

My writing style is third person present tense. I do have the ability to write in past tense if present tense bothers you. I can write anywhere from 200 words to about 3,000 (I don't measure in paragraphs as I play a little fast and loose with the definition of "paragraph" aksjdfhg).

While I don't expect you to mirror/length-match me, I am asking for someone who is comfortable writing detailed, literate posts. Not every post has to be 800w, I often dip low in my word count during dialogue heavy scenes. And I'm not asking for perfect spelling every time, lord knows I have a myriad of typos and I don't re-read my posts when I get excited. But I'm asking for the basics.

I am not caught up on the MCU. I just watched Multiverse of Madness last week, which is about where I'm at. I'll have a more comprehensive list of what I do and don't know a little later in the post.

The Rules

Since I'm in my late-late twenties, I'm looking for someone who is at least 23 themselves, but it'd be even better if you were 25+

In this house we double. If you don't know what doubling means, it means that I write both my character and who you want me to write for you, and you write your character and who I want you to write for me. It's a fairness thing derived from the old days of "canon x oc is SO selfish and unfair" which is why old farts like me say it's for "balancing" or "tit for tat" or whatever, since I've seen a lot of confused people lately. If I'm asking for canon x oc, it's only right I offer the same (or whatever it is you want) in return. Something I am completely capable of, I don't know why people make such a big deal out of lying on their fainting couch and claiming they can't do two sets of characters at once. Especially when they're totally okay with writing out background characters at the same time??

I will even triple for you, if you're in the market for a love triangle or a polyam OT3. You do not in any way have to triple in return, in fact I'd prefer if you didn't.

I also am completely comfortable writing as much space filling NPCs and canons as we need. I never let a scene go empty, and I'm happy to write surrounding characters. In fact I do it automatically. Sometimes people are surprised by this. I used to admin group roleplays.

At this time I am not looking for any NSFW content in my roleplays. I fade to black, and I won't be bullied into doing otherwise. (Dick jokes and talking about the fact adults do fuck is fine though, fading to black doesn't mean instant prude status)

I am however alright with like, a bit of violence. About Witcher 3's level is as far as I'm comfortable going: Fights can get messy as a treat if we want, we just don't need to go body horror with the organs, right?

Limits: Are very important, do not forget them. I do not want drugs, alcohol, smoking, vaping, or substance abuse to feature in or out of character. I don't want to see memes about it, I don't want to write about it. Nothing. I should not have to justify this, but my hobby and the dms of people I hope to be friends with is literally the only place I can ask to be a safe space. Because it is everywhere. I'm not judging people, I don't care what you do. I just don't want to hear about it, because I can't escape it anywhere else. I also am not wild about sexual assault, or the community's standard limits list of: pedophilia, incest, bestiality, etc. Leave all of that at the door, thank you. Rule number one of the salon is don't be nasty and you know that!

The mediums I use are: Discord and Email (I'm not keen on writing here on tumblr, but I'd be happy to idk, make a private Proboard or something?)

New rule: Please do not show me AI art of your character. Don't use an AI generator about it if you plan to write with me. Find a picrew or a dress up doll or some random picture on Pinterest. Hell just give me a paragraph description if you have to.

When you message me, do not just ask for my Discord or my Email. Do not just ask if I'm still looking, don't just say hey. The first message is a first impression, make it a good one. Tell me about yourself, tell me who you want me to write for you, what you're thinking, if you're picking up what I am putting down. Put some personality into it: This isn't a job, it's a hobby, it should sound like it when you talk to me. In this same vein, I'd prefer said first impressions are conducted over email, but messaging me on tumblr is fine too I suppose

Characters and "Plots"

First of all, in regards to sexuality / gender / canon / oc identities, everything is peachy keen! M/F, F//, M//, Trans, NB, Canon/OC, Canon//, OC// are all fine by me ♡

My side will be M/F Canon/OC, but you are welcome to request anything you would like. This is Build-A-Bitch and you can, in fact, have it your way.

My side is also M/F in a distinctly queer way. My OC is under the ace umbrella, as well as someone who doesn’t entirely conform to gender, so take that as you will ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I will make you an OC, I will play multiple Canons for you, you can write as any gender identity or sexuality as you please. Just rub the lamp and make your wish! I will write almost any Canon for you, barring noted exceptions.

That out of the way, here's what I'm looking for!

I am looking for you to write: Tony Stark against my OC. I would particularly love to write for you: Steve, Bucky, Quill, Peter (Parker, MCU or Insomniac), Rocket (I will not make him a human), Drax, Stephen, Sam, Yuri (Watanabe, Insomniac), May (MCU), Mantis, Quentin Beck (Insomniac), Yelena, Natasha, Agatha, damn near anyone your gay heart desires Who I'm not particularly keen to write: Thanos, Quentin Beck (MCU), Tony Stark (duh)

And here's some plot jumping off points I've got rattling around in here, my favorites I'll mark w a heart scale out of five:

Iron Man 2008 ♥♥♥♥♥

My OC x Pre-established, Pre-Afghanistan Tony and working through the films? His life? An AU? W/e, but starting in 2008 Iron Man

Now I know a lot of people tend to cringe at pre-established or in general think it’s boring. But I don’t mean they were already like super together and had had a full character arc and everything prior to the roleplay ever starting. What I mean by this is I want to play with a plot where my OC and Tony were acquainted (preferably as friends with benefits) prior to his abduction in by the Ten Rings. During his time away my OC will realize oops! She accidentally fell in love with the emotionally unavailable playboy she was supposed to be having a not serious relationship with! And now he’s probably dead. Cue emotional turmoil! I like to pick the plot up at and start the roleplay when he comes home from Afghanistan, and work through the no doubt complicated feelings going on, building their relationship throughout the timeline. I’m not asking for insta-love. I’m just asking for two people who know each other and now have a whole lot of baggage to haul out of the basement thanks to someone’s near death experience.  I’m also not looking for this idea some people have that a roleplay ends with a couple getting together. I don’t want to artificially postpone them getting together, but again I’m not asking for insta-love. Just for something to evolve naturally. I’m sure that’s all obvious but I have had people try to withhold them from dating for esoteric reasons, and I just want to cover my bases since this is the most frequently misunderstood plot I want to do. Now obviously, this is very self indulgent. I would never dream of asking for this for my side without being willing to absolutely reciprocate. If you have a Marvel bae you want to work through the films with or some other self indulgent ask you never get to use, ask away. I am happy to do whatever you want for your side in exchange. I also recognize this is disgustingly self indulgent, but what is roleplay if not the wish fulfillment hobby? Naturally, in return, I am happy to write whatever self indulgent AU you are after!

Guardians of the Galaxy (1, 2, Game, whatever!) ♥♥♥♥♥

General space shenanigans. Tony + his found family the Guardians is extremely important to me.

I absolutely adore throwing Tony and my OC up into the cold, unforgiving expanse of space to be picked up by the Guardians. Them acting as a found family for Tony just means a lot to me, especially with how the writers for the MCU just. Refused to make the Avengers friends? If they won’t let the Avengers be friends, then I’ll give Tony friends by way of the Guardians god damn it. (Yes, him being Friends with Rocket and Nebula in Endgame was very important to me, thank you for asking) I am perfectly happy with your side being either from Earth or from space! Although this idea revolves around the Guardians, please don’t feel like your love interest has to be from the space scape, as I am ready and willing to find a way to drop kick everyone into space regardless of where your love interest comes from. If curious! My most commonly utilized plot involves the Collector hiring someone, be it the Guardians or another faction, to scoop up Tony. Frequently the reasoning is either A) Tony’s suit and reactor is unique, and he’s interested, or B) he’s interested in getting him as a gladiator present for his brother, the Grandmaster's, birthday. We don’t have to use this idea, I am happy to come up with others, brainstorm something together if you like But I know people often wonder how I plan to get them up there, and that one’s a pretty sure bet.

Potential Firefly influence?

Either instead or or in addition to the thoughts above, we could add some Firefly spice into this? Firefly is cowboys in space, let’s be real, and Quill gives a lot of pretending at being a space cowboy energy. I think kind of slapping him with some Mal energy could be really fun if you want him as a love interest.  Not required! Just something I’ve talked about with some people before and I am pretty fond of.

Miscellaneous

I'm also currently in Chapter 7 of the 2021 video game! And I love it a lot so far. I don't know anything about the comics (but want to start reading them soooon especially the arc where Tony is with them 🥺) and we don't at all have to stick to the MCU version of the Guardians (especially since I have my own headcanon version of Quill rattling around in my head that's 100% not Crisp Rat askjdhfg) I just love the Guardians as a concept. I love space families, I love Firefly and Star Trek is one of my favorite childhood series as well, and I love all the space stuff in Steven Universe, etc etc. I just love space settings LOL esp slice of life space settings (ST:TNG my beloved)

Insomniac's Spider-Man ♥♥♥

So I’m like too in love with this game. As someone who never read the comics, and didn’t really get into Tobey’s Spider-Man and catch the bug like my sibling did, I feel like with this game I finally get it, you know? Spider-Man is one of the most popular superheroes, and I wasn’t like. On the hype train. But now I’m on the hype train.  I’m unfortunately not really sure what I want to do with these games. All I know is that I love them, and I’d trade several organs to be able to write Insomniac’s Peter for you. I want to write him so so bad I just think he’s wonderful. I also love Yuri but not nearly as much as Peter.  We could follow the games, maybe do some pre-game stuff with Peter? Explore some of the 8 years prior to the game of him being Spidey? Maybe expand on some of the lore tidbits we get throughout the game in dialogue and mostly the backpack collectables? We could also do some post-game (any of the three) stuff. We could rewrite some of the game! We could save some characters maybe. I’m not sure! I’d love to explore literally anything with this, so if you have something in mind please let me know!  I’d love to figure out some ways to incorporate other Marvel characters too, just because seeing all the little nods and hints in the games to other villains or heroes or the dialogue tied to certain landmarks, or Otto getting bankrolled by Advanced Idea Mechanics: that shit was thrilling. I’d love to find a way to do more of this, even if it’s just figuring out how we slam dunk Iron Man into the scene. 

Thor: Ragnarok ♥♥♥

Science Bro reunion on the planet of trash is very good, ten outta ten. Love to slam dunk people into Sakaar.

I don’t have a whole lot more to say about this honestly? Other than we can also throw in whatever canon you want that isn’t normally there. Want the Guardians to show up? Carol? Want to slam dunk your bae in the gladiator ring too? Regardless of the movie I’m anchoring a plot to, I will throw anyone and everyone into the ring if you want.

Spoiled Princess gets anything she asks for, details at eleven.

I also have an AU where my OC (still human) was adopted by the Grandmaster as a baby, and is essentially the princess of trash planet, and Sakaar is where she meets Tony. Typically I have her ask her dad to spare Tony by way of insisting that he has a champion in the Hulk, why can’t she ever have a champion? He can’t just melt stick everything she takes an interest in! Other than that not much to say, I feel like Ragnarok is a pretty straight forward setting. Most of the ideas for this one would come about in talking it out with you.

Multiverse Stuff ♥♥♥?

Loosey goosey thoughts

I have a few multiverse ideas, one of which is original but could also be tied to NWH if we wanted. Another one involves TVA/Loki s1 stuff. We could probably swing something DSMOM related! Most of it deals with my OC having been involved with a Tony (be it MCU or some other universe's Tony), and loses him. Then typically she either tries to find a way to fix it (TVA intervenes) or she goes on a grief fueled vigilante spree and gets somehow knocked into a new dimension (original/nwh) where she can stop this universe's Tony from suffering the same fate, blah blah blah. It's all pretty loose and idk how super attached I am to it, but I came up with it because I was sad about IWEG and watching Phase 4 is hard LOL I also have a Spider-AU for my OC (who is normally just a civilian and doesn't have any powers other than This Stick She Found™), because who among us didn't make a Spider AU after seeing Spider-Verse LOL

Alternate Universe ♥♥♥♥

I'm always always always super down for an AU. We could use other media as the AU (Star Trek, Gargoyles, Disney/Fairytales, Indiana Jones, Anime, Jurassic Park, Steven Universe - literally name it, if I know it I can probably get hype about workshopping an AU) For more generic tropes/genres I loooove Fantasy AUs, D&D AUs, I love space and robots and sci-fi, I super love spies!! Like oh my gosh spy AUs are some of my favorites. It's like spies, fantasy, space slice of life, and androids are probably my four favorite genres? I'm super down for anything though. I also looove monster AUs, like vampire Tony?? Hello???? You could probably suggest anything and I'd be happy to babble about it. Magical Girls? Dungeon Meshi? Baldur's Gate? (though that's just Gale. Let's be real with ourselves. alkjhdjkg it's 100% why I am romancing Gale) I'm a slut and a whore for AUs aslkjdhfg and I am also a slut and a whore for tending to have like Six AUs I talk about all at the same time with partners who are tolerant of that behavior slkjdfg

Okay !! That should take care of the plot and characters section, onto the last little bit!

What Media Do I Know?

MCU:

Where I'm At:

Phases 1-3, Wandavision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Loki Season 1 (but not S2 yet!), Shang-Chi, a few episodes of What If, Hawkeye, Eternals, No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness, GOTG Holiday Special

What I'd Prefer Not to Do:

IWEG. At least in the way it was shown to us. I'd prefer to just nuke it from existence entirely through plot points that circumvent it altogether, but I understand the blip is like. important or whatever to most of Phase 4 aslkdhjfg so if you want to do something in P4, we can workshop this.

Other Marvel Entries:

Insomniac's Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and Spider-Man 2

Chapter 7 of Squeenix's Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)

Deadpool, Deadpool 2 (though I didn't care for the second film) I haven't seen the third yet since it's in theaters and since covid I don't go to those, but I'll see it eventually 🤷

Days of Future's Past, X-Men First Class

Into the Spider-Verse, but not Across the Spider-Verse yet

Marvel Rivals! Yeah there's not a lot of content there but I also really like the dialogue writing alskshjdfg (and as an Overwatch fan I'm used to this like No Content But Somehow the Voice Lines Make It Worth It vibe lmao

I own Squeenix's Avengers, TTG's GOTG, and the Iron Man VR game that I all plan to play but haven't yet

Alright, I think that's probably it!

Hope to hear from you guys, but if I don't, good luck on your searches!

And for those who stuck around to the end and are interested in contacting me, here is my email that you can do that at:

beachcityshores (at) gmail (dot) com

(sorry for it not being very copy-pasteable, trying to avoid you know whats just scraping my email and spamming me)

We can totally RP via Discord, but you gotta get my handle by talking to me first. I'm getting tired of handing out my disco only to be hit with "hi i saw your ad :)" great what do you want [insert something I didn't ask for here]

If you're gonna make me pull teeth at least pay me a dentist's salary first <33

Bye!

[crickets-lovely-place]

Viktuuri Week Day 4—Reinvention

I'm going a little wild on these??? Playing fast and loose with the prompt but that's okay because I MAKE THE RULES HERE. XD

hopeless, breathless, baby can't you see?, by xylophones (15k)

this is SUCH a good reinvention of a popular soulmate AU, and also a really good look at a reinvention for Viktor internally, as he figures out what it means to LOVE. The ending of this one gets me EVERY TIME

I was yours before i knew (and you have always been mine too), by katsukifatale (23k)

Canon divergent AU where both Viktor and Yuuri are looking to find themselves and find meaning again after their careers have ended. Of course, they still find each other :) I love the pacing of this fic, it's such a lovely read!

Tell Me Something About Love, by PastelBlueDahlia (13k)

IDK HOW TO TALK ABOUT THIS FIC. YUURI GETS THE REINVENTION THIS TIME. PHICHIT TAKES HIM ON A LIFE CHANGING TRIP TO NORWAY. This fic is the kind of fic that makes you want to read it under trees rustling in a nice breeze on a perfect summer afternoon. It is so WHIMSICAL and WONDERFUL and REAL.

only way to really know (is to really let it go), by seventhstar (11k)

I feel like I should apologise to Yuuri bc so many of these feature Vicchan's death so centrally? ANYWAY. Yuuri has to pick up the pieces afterward and figure out if skating is still for him when Christophe presents him a unique opportunity!! This fic is silly and delightful, and SUCH a good look at Yuuri!

i ran from your heart the day you stole mine, by thewalrus_said (3k)

OKAY. OKAY OKAY. Another FANTASTIC look at a popular soulmate AU. In this one Viktor and Yuuri meet earlier, and it's not what they might have hoped.... I thought of this one for reinvention because of the way both our heroes have to reinvent their expectations of each other and their relationship, and ALSO how it changes their skating along the way! This piece also has a beautiful 3k companion piece from the other POV which is just!!!

Nothing This Beautiful Could Be Real, by louciferish (58k)

And a LONG fic! I thought of this one IMMEDIATELY as a fic to rec this week, and for Reinvention!!! AH. IT'S AN OFFICE WORKER/DRAG QUEENS AU where both Viktor and Yuuri are at tipping points in their careers and their personal lives when their paths begin to intersect in more ways than one! PLEASE PLEASE READ THIS.

[ratsummer]

hi yes I'm super new to ghost and I'm trying to learn everyone's names n stuff but your post about phantom in a new pack is just . so sweet . like moved me to tears sweet (I'm emotional) (nobody look at me)

Hiiii oh I am so glad you enjoy my silly little thoughts about my beloved Phantom ghoul who I am very normal about all of the time always c: He's just a little doll to me! Okay??! I wanna put him in situations!!

Also, I hope you're having fun exploring as a new Ghost fan!! I love how their "canon" is so vague that everyone kind of just HAS to play fast and loose - sure there are a lot of pretty popular headcanons that many people riff on, but I love seeing all the different ways that people fill in the blanks. There's so much to enjoy and everyone is so creative - what an exciting fandom to be new to! Take your time and enjoy soaking it up and remember it's all just for fun! It's all silly! Don't take anything too seriously!

I know you didn't ask, but here's something I didn't know when I was a new Ghost fan! The fan names for the nameless ghouls are often interchangeable - though there are some names that are more popular for certain ghouls, many ghouls go by a few names (which can make it a bit harder to learn who is who!). For example, you've surely seen Aeon/Phantom for our beloved bug, and though Aurora seems to be the most popular name choice for the new ghoulette, I've seen several really cool others! The one thing I didn't get right away though was Dewdrop - I thought that "Dewdrop" was his name when he was a water ghoul (since he used to play bass) and then got renamed "Sodo" when he changed to fire (lead guitar). This is not so!

Sodo is the real-life nickname for the actual guy who pretends to be Dewdrop on stage (That guy's name is Per, and Per does not really like his nickname very much anymore). SO even though you will see Sodo used a lot, I think it's polite/respectful to refrain from using it generally, but especially when you mean to be talking about Dewdrop (the character) and not Per (the actor). The fun thing for me about Ghost is how easy it is to completely divorce the "characters" from the "actors" - everyone wears a mask! And plays pretend! So the real people get to go home and be themselves while I play dolls with the characters they portray c: To me, using Sodo among all the other names would be like... I don't know... Interacting with superhero fandom and referring to everyone in your little fanfictions as Superman/Clark and Batman/Bruce and Captain America/Steve and then... Like... Instead of Joker using Heath Ledger or Jared Leto or something, idk. Really distracting and weird, to me, to use the actual actor's name when you're making art/stories with the characters.

Wow! Okay, I shall shut up now! Thanks again for telling me you like my lil stories, my heart is warm and full c: Have so much fun with Ghost!!! Welcome!!!!! <3 <3 <3

[narrators-journal]

hello ma friend How you are? I Hope you are okay.

Persona 5 and 4

Sae niijima x narukami x margaret.

Kinks: threesome, maledom, Yuri, petplay, lingerie and impregnation

A smutty história where narukami dominates and breed his pet Margaret which has a dog collar and New lovers sae.

Tanke you and stay safe dude

Hello again! I’m doing okay, hit a bit of smut burn out lol, But, now that I’ve had a dose of something other than the nastiest smut prompts possible, lol, I decided to try my hand at some more. And while it’s still not perfect, I’m much happier with my creativity here. Still struggling with the descriptions of sexual pleasure, but with any luck I’ll be able to cure that with more down time between dickings down.

For this one tho, I mostly just wanted to spice up my threesomes. I’ve done a fair handful of Narukami throuples, and I feel they’re getting a lil stale. So! I took some liberties, reworked the impregnation part into more of a breeding kink and Milf!Margaret angle, dabbled in some post-canon domesticity, and played a bit fast and loose with ‘threesome’ lol. I hope it’s still a good read tho!

CW: Milf!Margaret, Narukami and Margaret have a child. Bondage, collars, toys, a small bit of voyeurism, but Narukami is the one giving the orders this time! Lingerie, masturbation, breeding kink lol, Margaret’s a bit of a brat in this one. Lotsa ground covered, but none are leaned into SUPER heavily I feel.

M: Are you awake, Yu? N: Yeah, was about to take melatonin tho, why? M: How much longer are you going to be away? N: Another few days probably? >_> M: Damn. If that’s the case, could we video call? I can’t keep my surprise a secret much longer.

A surprise? Hm…

N: Sure, hon. Give me a moment to set up my laptop. How’s the kiddo btw? Still camping? M: Yes, they’ll be back tomorrow night though.

As Narukami continued to message back and forth with Margaret, he found his laptop in the darkness of his hotel room and powered it on to illuminate him. The video call program not too hard to set up, but his first call wasn’t picked up, he returned to their texts.

N: ? M: Sorry love, give me a moment, I need to fetch something for your surprise. Ten minutes tops.

Narukami snorted at that, but waited until Margaret messaged again,

M: Okay, sorry that took a bit longer than I estimated. Please call again.

That got an eyebrow raise from the grey-haired man, but he didn’t bother messaging back, simply tried the video call once again. And, that time it was answered. So, Narukami was greeted with his own dimly lit bedroom on his screen. “Are you there, master?” Margaret hummed playfully, the use of his sexual title instantly sending a bolt of heat into his pajamas while she casually adjusted the camera before she stepped into frame. And, jesus christ was she a sight.

Standing in front of the camera, dressed in her embossed leather collar and midnight-blue satin panties with a soft corset top that held her plump breasts in by criss-crossing strings and sheer luck, was Narukami’s old velvet room attendant. The tiger stripes earned by the birth of their child able to just peek out on the small section of belly the panty set didn’t cover, and her warm golden eyes aglow with a mischievous light as she smiled at him through the screen. “Do you like this new set, Master?” She hummed, leaning forward so that her breasts nearly spilled from the cups of her top, “I thought it’d be a nice surprise for you~” “Oh, i-it is.” Narukami finally managed to mumble when his brain finally remembered how to string his words together. Yet, as the attendant stood up again, her smile only grew. “Teriffic! I have another surprise for you, master!” “Another? Jesus, babe. I leave you for a week and you lose all of your training, huh?” The ex-wildcard chuckled, his words noticeably feeding the bratty glint in his lovers beautiful eyes. “Maybe just a little~” She admitted, “But give it a chance, sir. I think you’ll like this surprise just as much.”

With Narukami’s interest properly piqued, Margaret waved another person into frame, her whispered encouragement not loud enough for the speakers to clearly pick up. But, her words didn’t really matter, as after a few short moments, Narukami’s attention was snatched away by the new body that came into view.

Clad in babydoll-style lingerie set of a strawberry hue that contrasted deliciously with Margaret’s, was an entirely new woman. Not Elizabeth, the usual sidekick to his attendant’s more bratty moments, but a more toned woman with stern brown eyes and long, wavy hair in a similar grey shade as his own. “Master, this is Sae Nijima. I befriended her at the gym, and she agreed to help me surprise you tonight.” Margaret introduced, her slim fingers settled upon the pink-cheeked woman’s hips while Narukami drank in Sae’s figure.

She was definitely a contrast to Margaret’s softened figure. More muscular than the types of women that usually gave Narukami that primitive urge, but the loose, sheer fabric that hung from her top, and the warm color definitely seemed to be a flattering style for her. Accentuating her smaller bust while pairing with the small window into the room to keep each peek of naked skin a flirtatious gesture. She may not have seemed like his usual type, but god did his erection not give a shit. ”Well, hello miss Nijima.” He offered politely, though his words seemed to catch in his throat. “You can call me Sae, I think...this situation is familiar enough to drop the formalities.” Sae said with a nervous chuckle, so he nodded. “I take it you aren’t mad at me anymore?” Margaret suddenly prompted, which, got another nod from the man. “I’ll forgive this unprompted decision, so long as I’m told her boundaries.” He confirmed, so, with a smile on her pretty lips, the old attendant prompted Sae to explain her limits. And as she spoke, Narukami let his hand snake into his pajama pants to tease his cock with the gentle brush of his fingers.

Once Sae had laid down her boundaries, Narukami gave her a charm-laced smile, “Great, so you don’t have any issue with being tied up, right?” He hummed, a fresh bolt of excitement poured into his blood when he saw Sae’s cheeks turn pinker as she shook her head. “Alright then, Margaret, tie her up and blindfold her.” “Yes sir~”

While Margaret fished the soft BDSM rope and a thick blindfold from their intimacy drawer, the old wildcard let out a slow breath to ease the tension already built up in his gut from little more than the show and the soft touches he gave himself. Though, once miss Nijima was good and tied up, sat on the edge of her bed within frame, with Margaret behind her with her arms draped over the woman’s shoulders. “Any other requests, sir? Or do you just want to see the both of us tied up tonight?” She teased, and he chuckled back, “No, though that would make a lovely photo set~” able to see how the flirtatious tone he let slip into his voice ignited a filthy light in his baby mama’s eyes before he continued to instruct, “But, that can be done later. This time, I want you to use a toy to tease Sae a bit.” Which, Margaret was eager to go through with.

Narukami, meanwhile, finally wrapped his fingers around the aching cock that threatened to rip his pants open. Though, he held off on the movements just yet. The simple increase in skin-to-skin contact enough to simmer his blood even before Margaret returned into frame with a vibrator in hand.

Sadly, all the grey-haired persona user could do was watch as the collared mother of his children pushed Sae’s thighs apart and drug the quivering toy over the smooth fabric of her red panties. But, he still relished each moan that fell from the woman under the mercy of his attendant’s actions. Which, admittedly weren’t the most patient of actions. “Slow down, babe.” the charming man reminded when Sae squirmed beneath Margaret’s hand. Yet, beyond a playful glance back at her camera, the attendant ignored him in favor of tugging her partner’s panties down her thighs to press the unyielding toy directly to her clit instead. The loss of the thin barrier’s protection enough to earn a surprised gasp that quickly fell into needy moans. As if Narukami needed another hit to the willpower that kept his hand still on his cock.

But, he managed to bite back the urges. He didn’t want to blow his load too soon and end the show early. “Alright, that’s good, Margaret. She’ll cum too soon if you keep that up.” Narukami chuckled, able to hear his old attendants bratty huff even through the speakers of his laptop. But, even if she gave the screen a bratty look, she pulled the vibrator away from Sae’s twitching cunt. Which, earned her one of Narukami’s charming smiles from his end of the connection.

If he’d been there, in the same room as the two beautiful women that so kindly put on a show through the screen, he would’ve kissed the woman. Or, better yet, put a child or two in both of them. But, alas, Narukami wasn’t there to pump their wombs with his cum, he was in America for some lame work conference. So, all he could really do to curb how fast his blood raced was tighten his grip on his cock and finally begin to slowly stroke. Man, being an adult sucks. “Is there anything else you want me to do to your new pet, sir?” Margaret asked, the dance of amusement and arousal in her words drawing the ex-wildcard out of his thoughts and back to the sight of the silver-haired women keeping him company that night. Those glittering gold eyes focused on him through the camera to freeze the slow strokes of his palm along his tortured length. The new ‘pet’ of the group, meanwhile, now sat beside Margaret on their bed, half leaned against the silver-haired attendant limply while she panted. Left to recover from the unrelenting stimulation of the toy. Narukami didn’t know much about her beyond how his lover picked her up to assist her in this long-distance game, but he still felt the same primitve itch in his loins to put a child in her the same way he had Margaret.

“Master?~”

Once again, Margaret’s voice pulled Narukami out of his thoughts and back to her and how her golden eyes twinkled as if she could tell just how hot the sight of two beautiful women who waited for his orders had him under the collar. “A-ah, right.” He said quietly as his hand returned to its slow movements, “How about you treat yourself and have Sae eat you out?” He hummed, and even through the layers of video, he could see his old attendant’s vibrant eyes light up at that.

But, he left her to work out the positions without further instructions. Instead, he let his mind wander for the third time that night. Still vaguely aware of the two women performing for him, but he also drifted between memories and fantasies while he stroked himself. Each one of Margaret’s soft moans that the speakers let slip through another splash of gas on the low burning fire in his belly. “Good girl…” he breathed, his grey eyes focused back on Margaret now, watching as she balanced herself over Sae on his bed with her hands on the human woman’s hips. Her eyes closed against the waves of pleasure each flick of Sae’s tongue gave, and her mouth open slightly to let out more gentle noises at his praise.

After that, maybe he’d let Margaret cum before switching the focus to Sae once again. Maybe.

God if only I was there...

[oonajaeadira]

6 and 15 for your Star Wars fave/least faves 💖

Ahoy there, Lady of Poe. I like your pfp. It brings me joy..

Fave /least fave planet:

Favorite is Endor because forests, but mostly because Ewoks. Also because it now has a "moon" that's a reminder that fuzzy little teddy bears can be a spanner in the works for the Empire.

Least favorite is maybe Drathomir? I mean, aesthetically, I should be all about it and it is home to the Nightsisters which are rad. But There's just something stark and depressing about it. It isn't like Mustafar that is just badass enough to house evil, Drathomir tends to breed it. But like, in a sad way, like there's just no possibility for hope there or that oppression is just inherent in the atmosphere.

.

Fave / least fave line of dialogue:

I answered this here, but there are many answers, so let's go again.

A favorite line of dialogue: I made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs! Okay so we all know that a parsec is a measure of distance, not time, as Han is using it here. And the point's been hammered to death that it's wrong. But I think about this line a lot. Because parsec isn't a wholly unknown word, and it wasn't in 1977 either. The fact that nobody--not Lucas, not anyone on his production team, not the actors--knew or, if they did, fought to correct it, that it just went out like that boggles me. I feel like someone should have caught that. And I don't care if George makes excuses for it whether he didn't know it was a mistake or if he meant it on purpose. What's fascinating to me about it is that he knew he was writing sci-fi fantasy and it didn't matter. The joy is in the story, not in the science. Let words mean different things in a galaxy far far away. That galaxy isn't ours. It doesn't play by our rules. Make that shit up! And then, it's like he did fanfiction on his own story years later when he explained that Han made modifications to the Falcon in order to bend space in order to jump distances so the line could still be seen as correct!!!! He corrected a flub in dialogue by playing fast and loose with science because again, it doesn't fkn matter. And we still buy it and love it and that's the power of a good story, baby.

A lesser loved piece of dialogue: Wizard. I know it's canon now, but I am having a lot of trouble believing Din would ever use this word and I cringed when it happened. It's too catchphrasy for him. And he's not hip enough to have a good grasp on irony this way. His brand of irony would be to downplay it even if he really loved it. "It'll do," is more his style. Of course, it could just be me not loving that he's falling in love with that hussy of a starfighter so fast. Yeah, he likes her now, but where's he gonna take a dump, huh? What happens when he gets a new pulse rifle and has to store it? Not so shiny now, is she. He'll be back for a Crest soon enough.... *pouts*

.

star wars fave / least fafe

[bringcal]

I'm going to be repeating similar criticisms I had on my post I had a bit ago so yeah but I'll try to flesh them out a bit, I do not analyze homestuck so sorry if I fuck up the information a little.

I feel like a lot of people forgot why the epilogues and Homestuck 2 are the way they are so let me just say that when homestuck ended there was actually a lot of unsatisfied and upset people because they think the ending sucked and wanted more from it. Instead of fighting the Big Bad (tm) they take an alternative ending and escape the narrative, creating a new path for themselves. People really wanted Hussie to continue it at the very least and didnt want it to end this way and kept pestering them about it. That is your rundown. The epilogues in a way is a massive troll. a way to say " Oh you want it to continue no matter what? sure. here you go " It was meant to piss you off and it worked, many people hated the epilogues and homestuck 2 because it was so shitty and ruined their characters when that is the entire point. Some people know this and still think it was done in a really stupid way but personally I loved it.

So this is kind of why I dislike where the new team is going with Homestuck 2 because at its core its going against the entire reasoning or Homestuck 2 existing. The entire thing has been a fix-it fic so far, where it feels like everyones getting their highlight and attention and suddenly things are going well. Fans are getting a lot of headcanons and desires for homestuck 2 made canon, and that.. is exactly why I dont like it.

They're trying to do so many things and tie up so many "loose ends" that things are being rushed and the writing is not great. I enjoyed the first update and it began to go downhill from there. I maybe laugh a little, but I don't feel connected to any of these characters or what theyre dealing with because a lot of it is just not.. shown? and some of it is just so out of the blue? You're telling me jake is just like.. Okay now? we needed a single update where he talks to BGD to make him okay and maybe reach ultimate status, which is ultimate dirks entire desire to never let happened and is why jake gets some of the worst treatment narratively? And the whole thing with vriska... Years are passing by in these conversations, yet the only taste we are getting is that core moment things were supposedly building up to, yet we dont get to see the build up were just supposed to infer shit happened and she knows better now. We are rushing vriskas development which is like.. Attempting to give vriska a redemption wouldve failed no matter what, not every character in a piece of media needs a redemption , she just needs to stop being a 16 year old about everything, i think she is allowed to be a bit of a bitch, amen. I have so many thoughts about the handling of vriska and thats all how ill summarize it.

The references and jokes are also like.. So new generation and listen, I never thought homestuck was as "timeless" with the jokes and references as people say it was, but Homestuck 2 is going to age horribly fast. The characters like davepeta and whatever are all quite fanonized and it really feels like fans puppeting empty characters. I feel like there is a huge push to bring back the essence of homestuck but it just cannot be replicated.

I hope, I truly hope, that homestuck 2 is going to do a 360 and end like " hey the fandom fuck you were doing this for you and look how much your desires for more homestuck suck and whatever ! " a sort of "taking the comic back from the fandom" thing and all the characters act more normal afterwards, but I do not see it, and I will be a little sad If i predicted the entire thing.

Sorry for the typos and whatever we are at a brunch and im just putting my train on thought onto paper.

what if i dont like Homestuck 2 anymore. what if I said i thought the old version was better

[mochiimadness]

Can you please do a (2012) Leonardo X mobian reader (if you don't know a mobian is basically what sonic is)

2012 Leonardo with a Mobian s/o!

At first he thinks you’re a mutant

But you explain to him that you’re not a human who’s been accidentally mutated, but instead a mobian.

He becomes really interested about your world

Asks you a lot of questions

“Do mutants exist there?”

“Have the krang been there?”

“How about-“

You answer his questions as best as you can

And he answers a few of your own.

Eventually, whether you want to stay or realize you can’t get back to your world, you ask if you could crash at the lair for a bit

He hesitates but eventually agrees

He can’t just leave you out here- especially with the foot clan on the loose

So he brings you back to the lair and introduces you to his family

Mikey asks if you’re an alien

Raph scoffs at that

But technically he’s right- you’re not from this world

Donnie asks if he could run a few tests if you

Whether or not you agree is up to you

Leo makes the couch comfortable for you while you humor his brothers

Brings you plenty of pillows and blankets

At first, you were only going to stay for a bit

But you started spending more time with the leader

He would invite you to meditate with him

Sometimes it didn’t always work out, especially since he likes to meditate for hours

But you were welcomed to chill quietly nearby

He started making teas for you, and after some trial and error, found which one you enjoyed the most

The pantry suddenly has a small section filled with your favorite kind of tea

He insisted he was just trying to make you feel more comfortable.

It was a sweet gesture.

When it became apparent that you couldn’t leave anytime soon, Leo offered to train you.

What if you ran into foot ninjas, or worse, mutants like Dogpound??

If you know a few fighting moves, he’d ask if you could teach them to him

During training, you two end up bonding and talking about your lives

Leo talks about how he leads his brothers, the foot clan, Shredder, and the krang

You talk about your own opponents back home

After that training session, you two started to spar regularly

Which eventually led to compliments

Compliments led to lowkey flirting

Now things are kinda awkward??? But in a good way

You two became fast besties

*Cough* a little more than besties *cough*

Leo offered you a permanent place in the lair

After you agreed, he helped you set up your own little spot

You were part of the family now!

Life in the lair could go from chill to world ending in 10 seconds

But it was still nice

Leo secretly adores your fur/feathers/quills/etc

You catch him staring pretty often

Eventually you offer to let him feel

He’ll get stars in his eyes but he tries to play it chill

Happy little smile.

You end up helping the turtles fight

If you can spin dash, Leo’s in awe

May get a bit distracted during battle

“I’m okay!” He says, after being flung down the block

Pls check on him

Leo realizes that he may or may not have fallen for you

He’ll be in denial for a bit but eventually confess to you

He’ll have your favorite cup of tea and some sweets in hand when he confesses

Sweet boi

After you confess as well, he picks you up and spins you around

You two are a chill couple

Some of his favorite things to do is run his hand through your fur/feathers/quills/etc

And cuddle on the couch

Also loves sparring with you

Loves the special moves you do- like spin dashes

If you ever do find a way back to your world, he’ll gladly come visit it with you

Hi! I hope you enjoyed. Since there wasn’t anything else you asked for specifically, I went with some general head canons!

Thank you for requesting, and I’m so sorry for the wait!

Reblogs appreciated &lt;3

[friendlyneighborhoodcapricorn]

tasm!Peter Parker x fem!Reader

It's You

Synopsis: after getting dragged into a multiversal mess, reader meet someone she thought she'd never see again.

A/N: Guess who's back with yet another idea that's been done to death already lmao. If you want something to listen to, I had Find Me by Sigma and Birdy on repeat.

Tags: @ginger-swag-rapunzel @wellfuckthis

Warnings: spoilers for No Way Home, swearing, mentions of death and canon-typical violence, it's a little sad, I play some fast and loose with nwh canon

Reader is essentially Spider-Woman.

You stared at the two teenagers, then back at the glowing orange portal behind you, just in time to see it close up. You were so done with this shit.

Radioactive spiders and guys turning into literal sandman, that you could deal with. Glowing portals and interdimensional travel caused by two idiot teenagers?

You were. So done. With. This. Shit."

Turning back to the two startled looking teenagers, you tried to swallow most of your irritation. You'd been young and stupid once too. One could even argue that you were still young, though your joints disagreed. Swinging through the city every night wasn't exactly easy on them. On the upside, you could now tell when it was going to snow three days before it actually did.

"Okay," you said, addressing the girl with the brown curls since her friend was trying to hide behind her. "This is all very funny, but if you could please do that again and send me back to where I came from, that would be amazing-"

"Where did you come from?" she interrupted you.

"Excuse me?"

She raised her chin. "You heard me."

You resisted the urge to face-palm. "I'm from New York, where else would I-"

"You're not Peter Parker," the boy squeaked as he stepped out from behind his friend.

The name felt like a punch to the gut. Even after all these years, that name still got you upset. But rather than revealing that to these two kids, you hid behind your anger.

"No, I'm very obviously not," you said through gritted teeth. "Now send me back."

"The thing is we kinda don't know how to do that," the boy confessed at the same moment the girl said: "Who are you?"

Crossing your arms, you retorted: "What's it to you?"

Glancing around, the girl snatched a piece of bread from a bowl on the table, raising it threateningly. You couldn't help but laugh.

"What're you gonna do, kid? Chuck it at my head and hope it explodes or something?"

You saw her eyes dart from the piece of bread back to you. "Yes."

"Try me," you said, tilting your wrist so your webshooter was aiming for her.

The boy quickly stepped between the two of you, raising his hands. "Okay, let's not throw bread at anyone's head here. There's gotta be-"

"Ned," the girl interrupted, staring at something behind you just as your ears picked up on a strange, sizzling sound, like drops on a hot plate.

When you turned, you saw another one of those portals. Despite your annoyance at those kids, you positioned yourself between them and the portal. Whatever came through that thing might not be as nice as you.

Through it, you saw a dark alleyway and a tall figure dressed in red-and-blue spandex. You rolled your eyes. Throw some white stars in there and they'd be a national emblem.

Upon hearing the sizzling sound, the figure turned and spotted you. They gave an awkward wave and jogged towards the portal before jumping through.

Whoever this was, it had to be an idiot to be so trusting of strange, glowing portals. You weren't much better, you'd accidentally swung through one that opened up right in front of you. Still better than just casually jumping through.

You were pretty sure this person wasn't going to be a threat. Behind you, someone started screaming anyway.

"Hi," a distinctly male voice said, and a pillow flew past your head. "No, no, no, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay! I'm a nice guy!"

You listened as whoever had been screaming bolted out of the room.

The person in front of you sighed and ripped off their mask, and all the air left your lungs at once. The guy in front of you didn't seem to notice.

"Who the hell are you?" the girl demanded, and he placatingly raised his hands.

It wasn't be him. It couldn't be him. This was just some guy who looked a lot like him. This wasn't him.

"I'm Peter Parker," he said, and the earth went out from beneath your feet.

There were voices around you but you couldn't make out what they were saying. Maybe you'd hit your head when you'd fallen.

Except the world was still the right side up. You weren't staring at a ceiling. You were still standing, even if you didn't know how.

Your knees hadn't shook like that since the first time you'd leapt off the edge of a building, praying that your webs were gonna hold. You wanted to say something, ask if it was really him, but you were afraid you'd throw up the second you opened your mouth.

But you also couldn't just stand here and not say anything.

"Peter?" you whispered, raising a trembling hand.

If you spoke any louder, your voice would crack and you'd become a crying mess and no one had time for that right now.

For the first time, his eyes met yours directly. They were undeniably, so completely and utterly his.

Your hand flew up to your mouth, trying to hold back a sob as you staggered back.

Peter tilted his head, clearly confused. "Are you alright, miss?"

Your back collided painfully with the table, but you just sagged against in. Burying your face in your hands, you broke down.

You heard someone mumble something about giving you a second, followed by receding footsteps. You felt someone lean against the table, so close to you that their arm was pressed against yours.

"I've never really had that effect on a girl before," Peter said softly. "Or on anyone, for that matter."

God, even their sense of humour was the same. You let out a broken laugh before looking up at him. He was smiling, and with the pain you had felt whenever you looked pictures of him, came a sense of joy. This wasn't a picture. This was real.

He was really here.

You wiped your eyes on the smooth white spandex of your suit and stared at the place where the portal had been.

"Ten years ago, I was bit by a radioactive spider and became Spider-Woman," you began. "I never told anyone, except my best friend and my boyfriend. Seven years ago, I had to stop my best friend's father. He- he'd been experimenting with radiation and chemicals and- I don't even know what else. He was a danger to the city, so I stopped him. And he died in the proces. And his son, my best friend, was so overcome by grief, and anger at me for killing him that-"

You sobbed again, and Peter softly knocked his shoulder against yours. "Take your time."

"He tried to kill me," you said before you could start spiraling again. "And my boyfriend tried to help me. He did help me. I would be dead without him. You see, I had webbed the Goblin up." It was always the Goblin when you referred to the horrific things Harry Osborn had done. You had chosen to believe Harry and the Goblin were not the same being. "I thought that was it, that the police could deal with it from here. I didn't- I didn't know he had a knife."

Peter had wrapped his arm around your back now, softly rubbing circles into your shoulder.

"I felt something bad was going to happen, but I thought that feeling was just lingering. But then my boyfriend shouted my name, and suddenly he was behind me and there was a knife sticking out- out of his gut and I-" You sniffed and wiped your eyes again. "He bled out in my arms. The last thing he said to me was I'll see you again."

You looked back up at Peter, at those familiar brown eyes, and gave him a watery smile. "His name was Peter Parker, and he looked exactly like you."

"I'm sorry that happened," he said softly, and you thought that the sorrow in his eyes looked a lot like the one you had felt all these years. "And I'm sorry I'm not your Peter."

"That's okay," you mumbled. "Maybe you're not literally him, but... Well, he was right."

Peter tilted his head. "About what?"

"I did see him again," you replied. "Even if you aren't the same person, in a way you are, you know?"

Slowly, he smiled. "Maybe we should get proparly introduced then." He took off one of his gloves and held his hand out to you. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Peter Parker. Not your boyfriend, but- I mean, I could be."

You burst into laughter as you shook his hand, hoping your face wasn't as red as you suspected it to be. "Hold that thought, Romeo. I'm (Y/N) (L/N)."

"Well, (Y/N) (L/N)," he said, his eyes kind. "It's nice to see you again."

You knew it wasn't really the boy you had lost all those years ago, but this felt like closure anyway. Closure and a whole new beginning, all at once.