#cliff hanger ending

[vintagegirl01]

I have a feeling we aren’t in the 21st century anymore! (Chapter 5)

AU Young Leto Atreides x fem reader

Summary: You find yourself in a time and place you aren’t familiar with. Now trying to find your way home, you come across a man unlike any other.

A/N: Finally have part 5 written out. Thanks to all those who took the time to vote for what should happen next in this story. Hope it meets expectations... and please let me know what you all think.

“You grace?”

“Huh?” The dazed Duke of Caladan says, coming back to reality from his thoughts.

Thoughts filled with you and him. In both innocent and pleasurable situations. Thoughts that have only persisted since the distance you put between yourself and him.

“I said, it seems you and Lady Jessica are hitting it off. No?” Gurney Halleck, Leto’s war master, asks him.

“It seems you are wrong, my friend,” Leto muttered to himself.

Though it was expected of him to consider taking the Bene Gesserit acolyte to be his concubine and eventually have a child, he felt that he couldn’t go through with it. Not when you were there.

The war master smirks at Leto as if he had been confirmed of something. “Is everything alright, your grace?”

Leto looks at the war master in confusion. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“I asked you if I could be relieved of my responsibilities for the rest of the day… and it isn’t even noontime. Now if I had been a new recruit, I wouldn’t haven’t questioned you, but we have known each other for quite some time, have we your grace?”

Leto is speechless. For the war master had caught him there.

Gurney, seeing the look on the duke’s face takes mercy on him and walks closer to him until they are face to face.

The war master gently pats the man on his right shoulder. “Tell me what ails you, your grace. For I’m not only your war master but I’m your friend.”

Hearing this, Leto lets out a sigh and decides that it may be best to get another perspective in this situation he currently faces.

“…And since then, things have been different between us. Like she’s present but her mind is elsewhere,” the duke swishes his glass wine around in his right hand.

The duke and his war master barely finished their lunch of fish pasta with a mix of various vegetables and savory white sauce to top it off. Though it was a usual favorite of Leto’s due to its rich flavors, he could hardly be concerned about it when he was worried about you and what he had done wrong to cause the distance between the two of them.

Gurney gives his duke a look as if the answer were right in front of him. “Don’t you see that Lady (y/n) is in love with you, your grace?”

Leto gives his war master a look of confusion. “I… um… what?”

If this situation wasn’t so important to his grace, Gurney would have let out genuine laughter at the Duke of Caladan’s cluelessness in the matters of the heart. “The sweet lady (y/n) is in love with you and everyone but the two of you have noticed.”

“Are you sure of this?” Leto asks, worried that these words were too good to be true.

Gurney nods. “From what I hear, yes. Though, I’m not the one you should be asking this, now, should I?”

Getting the hint that his war master and friend were giving him, Leto stands up from his chair. He then thanks Gurney and starts to make his way towards your room.

You are in Leto’s library, your nose stuck in a book —about some of the future civilizations beyond Earth (though history for Leto and those in this time)—in a hidden nook when you feel a presence standing in you.

Feeling that whoever was in front of you was wanting to get your attention, you look up from your book to see Leto in front of you. “Is this seat next to you taken?”

Realizing that you must look foolish looking up at him, you shake your head and invite him to join you.

It isn’t too long until you finish saying those words that Leto fills the space next to you. “I didn't find you in your room, so I figured this would be the next place you would be.”

You close your book to ensure you are giving him your undivided attention. “You were looking for me?”

Leto nods. “We haven’t spent much time together recently… and I missed you.”

You look at him in shock. “I had no idea. I figured you hadn’t noticed since you have been spending your time with Lady Jessica and…”

The rest of the words that you say become background noise to Leto as he realizes what has caused this distance in your relationship with one another.

Wanting there to be no more doubt at your end regarding his feelings towards you, Leto gently takes your hands into his own in hopes of calming those doubts running through your mind.

“My dear (y/n) …” Leto brings your knuckles up to his lips to give them a kiss. “How did I not realize this before?”

Still trying to recover from the gentle kisses he’s blessed your hands with you manage to get out, “Realize what, Leto?”

Leto looks at you filled with determination. “I don’t have feelings for Lady Jessica because my heart belongs to someone else.”

Before you can form a response to Leto’s statement, he leans in close. “My heart belongs to you, Lady (y/n) and has since the moment I laid my eyes on you��� Will you accept it?”

While a part of you should have known better than to give in as you two were both from different timelines, even backgrounds, you eagerly find yourself accepting his words of love and bring his hands to your lips to kiss them. It isn’t too long after this that the two of you notice how close the two of you are.

Eager to explore this new aspect of your relationship together, you lean into kiss Leto.

When Leto initially doesn’t react, you think you may have read into the situation wrong and were about to pull away until you felt the man bring his hands to your face. Gently caressing you as if you were the most delicate thing in the world.

Unbeknownst to you both, a shadowy figure watches the two of you in anger. For you were ruining the plans that were meant to Bene Gesserit …and they have that now, can they?

Taglist:

@autismsupermusicalassassin @missdictatorme @nathanbatemanfucker @bit-dodgy-innit @angel-of-the-moons @reallyrallyauthor @runa-falls @steven-grants-world @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @gills-lounge

[shorthaltsjester]

watching the sdcc panel and i am just very :) about how sweet their answers to “what are some of the micro moments from the game that have stuck with you the most over the years?” are. taliesin saying what the fuck is up with that which was the first like The Party Gets To Know Each Other moments of c3. travis saying asking his wife if he could kiss her in campaign. marisha going way back to the cannonball competition in campaign one. ashley choosing the beauyasha date but also just the silly goat noise matt made. liam adding onto that to compliment matt roleplaying grass so well and then saying his favourite moment was writing a story for laura and reading it to her as caleb for jester. and then matt saying that was his answer, and that his favourite moments of the game are when they find ways to give gifts to each other whether tangible or not. and sam saying his favourite moments have less to do with the story and is more so when he can just. see his friends across the table from him. when marisha perches and when laura and ashley are (badly) drawing dicks and liam saying he loves when sam sneezes and ashley tells him to stop it and just. yeah. they Are an extremely popular online powerhouse, but i’m so happy that they’re also friends building a world together out of gifts to and love for one another.

like i Am so enamoured with the characters and the world of exandria but the moments when you can feel the love that those people have for each other reach out from behind the stained glass of their performances (to steal a metaphor from brennan lee mulligan) are so extremely special and i am endlessly grateful that they decided to share their silly little home game with the world.

[sweethischier]

hey there! for your sunday funday can I please request 02. pushing strands of their hair out of their face with john marino? thank you queen!!

thank you for sending in!!

John was never an overly touchy person. He wasn't a big hugger. He always made sure to keep enough space between him and someone else. It wasn't that he was against it, he just thought it to be intimate and an act reserved for loved ones. At least he did until he met you.

When John moved to Utah, he obviously hadn't had many friends outside of the team, but then he stumbled into you in the lobby of his building. He had nearly ran you over trying to get to practice one morning, apologies tumbling out of his mouth as he helped you pick up the contents of your purse. You were sweet, telling him that it was perfectly fine and accidents happen.

You had reached for your lipgloss at the same time that John had, your fingers brushing together for a fleeting second in a way that made goosebumps rise on his skin. The touch makes him freeze, giving you the opportunity to gather the rest of your stuff and rise to your feet. You watched as he shook his head and his curls bounced around before he stood to his full stature, which was tall.

"I'm sorry, again," He rushes out, his brown eyes soft and genuine.

"It's okay," You reiterate, your smile making John's heart ram into his chest, "I promise, but I do think you owe me something."

"Oh, yeah," He chuckles, quirking his brow as he looks down at you, "What's that?"

"Your name, maybe," You smoothly affirm, lips twitching in amusement.

"John," He introduces, giving you a smile of his own as he holds out his hand, "Yours?"

Your name filters in through his ears, but the second your hand slides into his, it was like everything around him disappears. Your touch makes him feel something warm, something unfamiliar. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but the one thing he was sure of was that he wanted to feel it again.

As your friendship with John began to grow, you came to realize that physical touch was definitely his thing. He was always throwing his arm over your shoulder, pulling you into his chest, and he always sat close enough to you that your thighs were pressed against each other. It never bothered you and you never thought anything of it, but after a few hangouts with his teammates and friends, you realized that he was only like that with you.

The realization gave you hope. Hope that maybe your relationship with John had all the necessary components to progress into something more, something romantic.

“I don’t see why you insist on walking here when it’s this windy,” You complain as you try to keep up with John’s long strides, “I have a perfectly good car at the garage!”

“Because it’s the routine,” He states matter of factly, slowing down so you weren’t having to take such large steps, “We do this every game day.”

“Hockey players and their damn superstitions,” You let out a teasing groan as you knock your shoulder against his bicep, “Our routine couldn’t have been like, I don’t know, door dashing breakfast or something.”

John’s ears perk up at the way the words ‘our routine’ flows so effortlessly off your tongue, and it makes the warmth in his chest spread all the way to his finger tips. He tries not to let himself focus on it too much, wanting to be present in his time with you, but damn can he not stop thinking about it.

By the time the two of you finish eating and are heading back to the complex, John has nearly convinced himself that he was ready to tell you how he feels. He couldn’t pretend with you anymore, he needed you to know.

“Are you coming to the game tonight,” He asks as he comes to a stop right outside your door.

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” You confirm, shifting your gaze to him, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Your hair had fallen in your face during your search for your eyes, and you were seconds away from pushing it back when John beat you to it. He gingerly brought his hand to your face, his fingers grazing your cheek as he pushes the loose strands behind your ear, his eyes never leaving your face.

Your heart was ramming into your chest, your breathing uneven and shaky from his touch alone. Your skin was on fire, anticipation building in your stomach as you waited, hoped, that he was finally going to make a move. His thumb brushes the curve of your jaw as he retracts his hand back to his side, snapping you out of your haze before you take a deep breath.

“Almost had me there,” You nervously let out.

“What do you mean,” He earnestly asks, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

“Thought you were finally about to kiss me,” You swallow as you immediately let your stare fall to the floor. That way if he rejected you, at least you wouldn’t have to see it.

“You—,” He cuts himself off, taking a step closer to guy before he continues, “You want me to kiss you?”

“Obviously, Johnny,” You mumble, throwing your hands in the air, “I don’t look at your lips all the time for no reason. I thought maybe yo—”

He doesn’t let you finish your sentence. Instead, he hastily closes the already small gap between you and slams his lips on your own. Your reaction is instantaneous, your hands fisting the fabric on his chest as you kiss him like you’d never kissed anyone before. His hands were pulling you in by your hips, the two of you clinging to each other like you were the only thing keeping each other anchored to reality as your mouths moved in sync.

You were getting dizzy, both from finally kissing John and from lack of air getting to your lungs, and you reluctantly pulled away from him. You don’t get too far, though, only moving enough to let your forehead fall to his chest as you catch your breath. His chest heaves under you as he does the same, his arms circling around your lower back to keep you close to him while the two of you stand there in silence.

“I hope you know this is a part of our pre-game ritual now.”

[kurosstuff]

Hopefully thos is a good casual talk(not totally idk HELP ?)

HELP- Im still watching so forgive me if I didn't write her wrll I don't remember much from the first time I watched- tell me if I need to change anything from how I write "soft" carmilla(which tbh I don't think would be all that soft given who she is bur she tries)

Warning(s): fluff no angst(maybe a tiny bit? Idk), soft Carmilla, MAYBE ooc carmilla, carmilla is just head over heels for you, CLIFF HANGER ENDING, kinda rushed idk

Carmilla x human! Reader: late night talks

It's not every day or night you get alone time with your beloved girlfriend...or mate? Whatever the proper term would be. Carmilla was always busy doing God's knows what. From being with her sisters and planning whatever they do in that meeting room, going out personally to ensure her plans are working herself. Never allowing herself a break not even the Queen vampire herself is free from paper work.

Just comes with the responsibilities she has on herself

Makes nights like these so worth it- how she wore her sleep wear finally relaxing in bed with you awake this time- a hand gently scratching your scalp- her retractable claws shortened to ensure your comfort and safety- how she pulled you snug into her chest- "my darling?" She spoke softly- making you grin nuzzling into her making her hum softly

Oh how lucky you are- the only one in the universe itself to hear her speak speak in such a soft way- "my mate?" She purred out softly kissing the top of your head smiling softly once you looked up at her "now what's on your mind? So much I had to repeat myself to gain your attention?" She purred softly the usual playful glint in her eyes when she looked at you.

But you knew. Everyone knows how she loaths repeating herself. No matter what it is- but when it's you? She doesn't seem to mind that much...but even she has limits with you.

"You~" you replied, quickly leaning up to kiss your lover softly, making her hum content almost smug at your words "oh of course~ my darling Carmilla adores to be thought about no?" You teased softly moving to sit up stretching

A soft growl followed by a grumble escaped the vampire behind you- followed by rustling "you know your the only one I want to think of me in such a way. Like how you plauge my thoughts and dreams~" Carmilla purred out, moving to wrap an arm around your waist, pulling you close, practically dragging you on her lap- you'd call her clingy if you didn't get hissed at before from the 'lies'

"Oh~? I plauge you my dear? Such a horror no?"

"Indeed it is~" smirking softly kissing your lips softly her cold fangs brushing against you in a soft motion "but I wouldn't want it any other way my lovely little human~" she hummed out softly leaning to look out the window- the full moon shining as she huffed

You knew exactly what that meant. That distaste on her face. How irritated she became so fast- so quickly. You prayed you had longer to be with her. In her arms

"I must leave soon"

"Must you?" You cut her off knowing anyone else? Wouldn't have survived much less gotten a half of a glare. "Must you leave? You can stay longer~? With me.. in our bed~ our room? Cuddling more?" Turning in her hold to face her fully as she hummed thinking it over

"..not too much longer. My sisters think I spoil you too much, " making you fake gasp- earning a soft laugh,"but I believe you're not spoiled enough~" staring at you softly in that loving look- how you truly help her unbeating heart as she holds your beating one

"What do you think of marriage?"

The room fell silent as she stared at you- mouth slightly open before she hummed. Automatically, you felt guilty. Knowing from what she spoke before- she doesn't enjoy the idea of it. How she would have to share her status? Share control? Both things she hated the most.

Hated giving control to anyone. Even her own sisters. To the point it would lead to arguments. Rare fights between them all- but as you understood, they did to- so their would always be a condition. Agreements. How Carmilla would have more control then the others even just slightly. It's something no one could blame her for it.

"Oh god i.. carmilla, I'm so sorry for suggesting g the idea i-" you quickly rushed to fix your slip up- something you never wanted her to know. The one selfish(you deemed) thought.. dream to have. To have her as your wife- more then just a girlfriend as you spilled over your apology- Carmilla watched you closely in thought

"Marriage?" She hummed softly, rubbing your waist in an attempt to calm you - which as always did. "I have thought of it," she hummed softly, "marrying you. Making you mine for eternity." Leaning agaisnt the bedframe making you look at her once again flushed- earning a smirk from her "being your wife~ now that. Isn't a bad thought~" she hummed in thought tapping your waist in deep thought of what that could mean

Of what she's saying.

"My gods.. Y/N.. how inlove with you must I be to allow this thought?" She spoke softly speaking parts of her mind allowed. You stayed quiet listening to her as she gathered whatever she had planned "marriage is on equal standings with each other. Of course we are now but. Their was always that control I had fully. I'm a queen- your my human lover." She hummed softly tilting her head furrowing her eyebrows

Had you heard anyone else say that- you'd be upset. Mad. But not her Not at your Carmilla. You understood why she said that- why she saw you as an equal being but not. Your still a human- not even you can make her see humans as more then a pest- but you've always been seen differently in her eyes

"...I think I'd like it" Blinking, you looked back at Carmilla, who almost seemed bashful.. an odd contrast from what you usually see. The usual calculating face. Of someone who planned what she would do. Planned to say before hand

But now- you hear the rare thoughts allowed before she herself thought it through "I would love to marry you one day. Maybe not soon. But one day. When you and I are both fully ready." Holding you closer, not minding the fact you are now too flustered by her words to reply - she already knew the answer - so she smirked, kissing you deeply trying to show her deep love to you in a physical way "so I'll ask you~ my darling human~ my mate~" she purred against your lips leaning back- to hold your hands kissing the finger where a ring would sit

"Will you marry me one day?"

[lfghughes]

Won't Do It Again pt.3

It was easy to fall back into this habit with Jack. All the times he hurt you would be erased from your mind and instead you lived in this love filled state. It had been a couple of weeks since Jack had reached out and it had been a blissful couple of weeks. You were getting the attention you wanted from him and he was over essentially every night.

When you weren’t with Jack, you were still spending time with Nico. Of course some guilt filled you when you were with Nico because yes you liked him and yes you liked spending time with him but he wasn’t Jack. It also made you feel worse because you knew he liked you a lot more than you liked him.

Earlier today he had asked if you wanted to go watch his practice and you agreed because why not. You barely had spoken to Jack at his practice but you weren’t really expecting much from him during his practices. It also wasn’t shocking hours later when he ended up at your place. Both of you laid on the couch, his arms around you as his fingers playfully traced your skin. “So you and Nico have been hanging out a lot…”

Your stomach took a small dip at the mention of Nico but also a part of you wondered if Jack was slightly jealous. “Yeah, we’re good friends. You know this.” You shrugged as you looked up at him, trying to decipher the look on his face. “So that’s all it is? Just friends? You’re not into him a little?” He asked and you shook your head. 

“Why are you asking? Trying to make sure you still get invited over?” You teased. Jack rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “No, I don’t care. You can date whoever you want. Doesn’t matter.” And with those words your heart sank into your stomach. It was clear he didn’t notice how much his words hurt you and so you sat there in silence, not sure what to say. Part of you wanted him to leave but another part of you still wanted to believe he was just jealous and didn’t mean what he said.

Suddenly you felt his fingers trace against your skin again. “We’re going on one of our road trips for our games. Kind of hate going because can’t be here with you every night.” He mumbled and once again you were melting into him. “I’ll miss you too loser.” You teased him as he gave you a quick kiss to the top of your head. “I’ll make sure to call you before bed every night.”

And he had kept that promise. While he was gone he did indeed call you every night he was out. How were you supposed to convince yourself that he wasn’t into you when he did little things like this. It was getting close to the time when Jack would call you. It was one of their last nights on this trip and hopefully by tomorrow you could see him again.

When your phone rang you expected it to be Jack but instead you saw Nico’s name pop up. You answered, slightly confused from the phone call but you weren’t about to ignore it. “Hello?” You said into the phone. “When were you going to tell me about you and Jack?” And just like that your stomach took a big dip as you became speechless on the phone.

[nonbinarykai]

Guys… guys.. the whole reason we don’t see Cole and Zane’s reaction is because their going to parallel what happen to kai to the aftermath of Zane’s death in s4 and the tournament GUYS… GUYS WERE GOING TO SEE MORE OF THE NINJAS REACTION TO KAI BEING GONE GUYS PLEASE…

[estinesstories]

𝓒𝓸𝓻𝓴 𝓘𝓽, 𝓟𝓲𝓰. 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 1-2

𝙃𝙖𝙯𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙃𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙡 𝙭 𝙁!𝙋𝙞𝙢𝙥!𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙑𝙖𝙡, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙜𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 💗

𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙨: 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙢𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧/𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙢𝙞𝙭, 𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙤.

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮: 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙗 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙞𝙜 𝙗𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙨, 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚’𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: 𝙑𝙪𝙡𝙜𝙖𝙧 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙑𝙞𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝘼𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙚, 𝙎𝙚𝙭𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙈𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙍—𝙥𝙚.

(𝙃𝘼𝙕𝘽𝙄𝙉 𝙃𝙊𝙏𝙀𝙇 𝘽𝙀𝙇𝙊𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙏𝙊 𝙑𝙄𝙑𝙕𝙔𝙋𝙊𝙋! 𝘾𝙍𝙀𝘿𝙄𝙏𝙎 𝙏𝙊 𝘿𝙄𝙑𝙄𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙎 𝙂𝙊 𝙏𝙊 @𝙘𝙖𝙛𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙪𝙣𝙚! 𝙂𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 💗)

You tapped your foot impatiently as you waited for the demon at the front desk. It had been thirty minutes, thirty minutes since you were supposed to meet Valentino for direction issues. You growled to yourself as both your arms and legs were crossed, your ermine coat sagging on your shoulders and showing your gold chains and velvet dress. Your star glasses rested softly the bridge of your nose as you looked around the room. Pulling out a cigarette, you lit it and watched as the demon at the front desk tapped away at her computer. Finally, the door in front of you that led to the hallway to the studio opened, revealing Val in all his glory. He smiled evilly at you through his glasses while you glared at him. He took a drag of his own cigarette as he watched yours hang from your mouth.

“Y/n! Good to see you again~.” He slurred your way, watching as you stood up and strutted over to him with narrowed, pink eyes.

“Your lucky I didn’t leave, ya fuckin’ lump.” You growled at him as you walked past.

You’ve never liked Valentino. You were aware he abused his cast members and employees, so you tried your best to stay away from him. You didn’t need him anyways, you were the biggest pimp/porn director in hell! It helped a lot that you were half-hellborn, so you could travel to all of the rings and make videos for everyone. You were also friends with Asmodeus, who gave you plenty of tips and tricks. He also taught you that list should be enjoyed and never forced, and that it’s an art. Which was specifically why you and him alike hated who Val was and what he did. He was just lucky Ozzie couldn’t travel to the Pride ring, or else Val wouldn’t have a career anymore, let alone a life. The only reason you were teaming with him for this was because you his movie meant really good money.

Val glared at you as you walked in, but held his tongue for the money. As you entered the studio, you looked around at the actors and crew members. All of them looked rather… on edge. You furrowed your brows, but ignored it.

“So, where’s the star?” You huffed as you looked around the room, multiple large, buff sinners as well as tiny petite, skinny ones as well. Val seemed to be searching as well for a moment before growling and turning to you with a very forced smile.

“One moment.” He seethed before stomping off to a door on the other side of the room. You quickly glared at him and stopped his movement. Her stopped dead in his tracks and cold sweated as he heard your heels walk up behind him.

“I’m gonna get ‘em y’ abusive prick.” You whispered to him, making sure no one else could hear as they worked. “Go back t’ yer fucking chair.”

You heard him scurry off as you softly knocked on the door that read Angel Dust at the top, golden plate. Moments late, a hesitant “come in,” came from inside. You gently open the door, having to duck your head as to not hit it as well as your horns on the top of the frame. You smiled at the sinner in front of you, a white, demon, spider boy in a red velvet robe. He looked at you with wide eyes.

“Hey, darlin’,” you cooed as you strutted up to him, subconsciously swaying your hips. You took note of his funny expression. “Are you my star?”

“Who are you?” He inquired, turning in his chair to actually look at you.

“I’m y’ new co-director, doll!” You cheered. “Whenever yer ready, come on out. We’ll wait for you.”

Angel looked utterly confused as you twiddled your fingers his way as if to say goodbye before walking out of the room and back over to Valentino who sat impatiently in his chair. You sat in the one next to it leaned back.

“If I ever find out you hurt another one o’ yer workers, girls or boys, I will rip your limp dick off of your bald balls and chop it in half, and then I’ll shove one half up your ass and see it shut. The other half will go in your throat, and then I’ll see that up too.” You threatened him in a low voice, not looking at him in the eyes. You just heard his breath hitch for a moment before Angel’s door opened, revealing him in nothing but black leather boots. You snatched the script from the table beside you and looked over the first scene. You turned to Valentino with a snarl.

“Are you kidding me? The main subject is gonna be some random robbery rape? No one’s gonna like that shit.” You whispered at him. He huffed at you with crossed arms.

“Fine then. You direct it if you’re so full of it.” He seethed. You scoffed at him but stood and walked over to Angel and the group of large sinners.

“We’re changin’ the script up a bit, fellas.” You took a huffed of smoke and blew it down and away from their faces, something that made them raise a brow.

“Who the fuck are you, bitch?” One of the bigger demons rasped out. You narrowed your eyes at him.

“I’m Y/n, owner of Star Streaks. And your new director, since your old one,” you growled out, glancing back at Val, who was glued to his phone. “Is a bit busy at the moment.”

Their eyes widened at your names, and they all immediately shut up. Your eyes finally landed to Angel with a sweet smile as you looked down at him. “We took out the rape-y-aspect of it, darlin’, don’t worry about it.”

Angel’s eyes seemed to soften slightly till you finally looked back to the others. “Alright, here’s the new script,” you snapped your fingers, making each of their hands hold a packet of papers. “I’ll give you an hour to memorize it. Now, I’m gonna order everyone some bloodbaths from Frazzola’s!”

Before they could say anything, you walked off and pulled your phone out, failing the bakery. “Aye, Baldi,” you turned to Valentino, who looked like he was having the worst day ever. He gave you a half-assed glance. “How many people are workin’ on this right now? Cast and everything.

“Uh, like, I don’t know, forty?” He sighed with a rose brow. You smiled at him and walked off, listening to the cheerful woman answer the call.

You watched carefully as the sex scene finally took place. Suddenly, your phone vibrated on your lap. You picked it up and looked at the name, your assistant’s popping up on the screen. You showed Valentino and watched him silently nod. You exited the room quietly and stood outside to pick up the call. A few seconds later, a blonde woman you knew as the princess of hell, Charlie Morningstar, walked up to the door to the studio. Your eyes widened.

“Excuse me for a moment, Honey.” You whispered to her, looking to Charlie again. “Princess Charlie! What a lovely surprise.”

Charlie seemed startled by your voice before widening her eyes at you. “Y/n Star? Woah, I didn’t know angel works for you too!”

You chuckled at her and smiled sweetly at her excitement. “Oh no, honey. I’m just his co-director. Speaking of, make sure yer quiet when you go in, their recordin’.”

She nodded at you silently before entering the room. You then unmuted yourself and apologized to Honey for having to hold on her.

As you were talking with Honey about statistics, which quickly just turned into how excited she was that she was pregnant with her dear wife’s baby, it was a few minutes after Charlie went into the room, and you heard crackling and screams coming from the room. You also noticed an orange hue illuminated under the door. Soon, smoke poured out of the door, and the screaming stopped. Your brows furrowed.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry darlin’ I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I think there’s a fire in the studio.” You hurried out and hung up before whipping open the door. Behind it, stood charred equipment that had been knocked over, as well as multiple workers and actors sprawled all over the room, terrified expressions on their faces. It didn’t help that you looked furious. You searched the room and landed your eyes on Charlie, who looked more scared than anyone there. You frowned and looked at her worriedly. “What the fuck happened in here? Are you okay?” You put a hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t speak. You turned to the rest of the sinners and demons in there room. “Is everyone okay?”

You got multiple nods and “yeah”’s from everyone, making you sigh in relief. Suddenly, you realized you couldn’t find the two most important people of the movie in the room, Angel Dust and Valentino. You seethed, angrily storming to Angel’s room and slamming open the door so hard it causes the handle to get stuck in the wall. Valentino whips his head up to look at you, and all color leaves his expression as you slowly looked down to Angel Dust, who was crumbled up on the floor in pain, and held a black bruise on his eye. You were absolutely fuming. Angel looks at you with a painful expression, tears just barely brimming his eyes. You looked back up to Valentino. You stepped over Angel and towards Val.

“Angel, go get Charlie and leave. Tell ‘er you ain’t comin’ back ‘ere. And remember not to be mad at her, be mad at this little cunt sucker.” You growled, never taking your wild eyes off of the abuser. He said nothing, and only left. You ripped the door out of the wall and slammed it shut. “Are you FUCKIN’ KIDDING ME!?”

“W-wait, Y/n! Please, it was an accident-“ He stuttered, backing up as you stepped closer. You growled as he finally fell back onto the couch in his room.

“Fuckin’ accident my ASS, you SHIT DICK BITCH!” You screamed in his face before slapping him hard across the face. The hit caused him to fall to the side, but you caught him by the throat before he could go very far and slammed him back into the wall behind the couch. “What’d I tell you!? WHAT THE FUCK DID I TELL YOU!? I TOLD YOU IF I CAUGHT YOU DOIN’ THAT FUCKIN’ SHIT I WAS GONNA FUCK YOU UP, RIGHT!? IS THAT WHAT THE HELL YOU WANT ME TO DO TO YOU!?”

You slammed a flat palm onto Val’s crotch, causing him to let out a mangled mix between a pleasured moan and a pained grunt. You narrowed your eyes at him in disgust as he looked at you with wide, lustful eyes. Your grip on his neck tightened, causing his top hands to grasp your forearm weakly, his bottom hands spreading flatly onto the back of the couch to hold himself up.

“You, are fuckin’ disgustin’. You’re the sluttiest, bitchiest, most insecure, insufferable piece of pimp trash I have ever had the torment of meeting. You’re lucky that I have a lick of damn sense, or I’d rip that hard little mealworm you call a cock into pieces. I know that you own Angel’s soul. Give me that contract or I’ll still consider your damn punishment.” And with that, you let go of him. He panted and quickly snapped his fingers, the golden contract appearing before your eyes. You snatched it and glared at him before storming out of the room. You turned to the sinners who were still left in the room, an apologetic look crossing your features. “I am so sorry t’ all of ya, y’all can go take the rest of the week off, and I’ll make sure to give you all your paychecks by Tuesday.”

Soon, everyone left, and you stepped out of the room left with a closed eye sigh. Your index and thumb were rested on the bridge of your nose as well as your hand on your hip as you felt a headache coming along.

“Uh, Miss Star?” You were startled at the name, whipping your head to the side to find Charlie and Angel seeming to wait for you outside the room. They stepped up to you when you softened your gaze. Charlie smiled sadly at you, while Angel just kinda looked sad.

“Oh, what is it sweet heart?” You asked tiredly, leaning down a bit to talk to them both. Charlie looked over to Angel and nudged him towards you encouragingly. He sighed.

“Thank you. Thank you so much fer helpin’ us,” his voice cracked, and he sounded like he was about to cry. Your frowned at him. “Fer helpin’ me.”

You smiled gently at him and looked in between the two. “Can I give y’all a hug?”

Charlie looked ecstatic, while Angel rose a brow, but you pulled them both in for the most genuine, comforting hug either of them had ever felt, like that of a mother. They both relaxed into your embrace for a moment before you suddenly remembered. “Oh! Angel, I forgot.”

The then snapped, the contract the sinner had signed appearing in front of all of them. Angel’s eyes widened, tears brimming them yet again.

“Holy fuck,” he muttered and grabbed the paper, before you set it into cold flames, causing him to jump.

“You’re free now Angel, no more abuse, and no more pornos unless that’s what y’ want.” You spoke softly, placing a hand on his shoulder with a smile as he turned to look at you. Suddenly, he rushed to take you in a tight hug, leaving you surprised. But your gaze soon softened at him.

“Thank you…” he whispered, and you patted his back.

“Course, honey! Now, if you did wanna keep working, do not work for that man. If you want, I’ve got an open spot for actor. No contracts needed, tons of friendly demons, loads of breaks, and you can totally quit whenever. But I do understand if you don’t wanna keep the business. Just make sure you call me if you want the gig!” You gleamed at him, giving him your card as you started to walk down the hall to the elevator. “Or, you can just call me! I’ll be happy to talk whenever! Love you, kids!”

And with that, you left, strutting iconically down the hall and leaving the two staring at you in shock.

“Oh, she’s definitely my new idol.” Angel mumbled.

“Uh huh.” Charlie answered.

𝙄 𝙇𝙊𝙑𝙀𝘿 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙊𝙉𝙀!! 𝙃𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙤! 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨! 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨 💗🫶

[tea-potato-gt]

A Borrower at the end of the world part 12

Word count: 2000ish

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***

Three Years ago…

The sun trekked across the sky and beat down on Jace, he sighed, knowing he was going to sunburn and freckle. He currently sat behind a tree waiting for one of the traps he set up to catch something. 

On Briar’s part, he sat on a branch at eye level with the boy. He watched the various pitfall traps he had the boy dig.

The borrower managed to climbed up there on completely on his own. He even walked through the woods, though much slower than the bean. When he arrived at the perfect tree, he swung his hook out and climbed up on a low branch to lie in wait. Jace never touched the borrower as promised.

Each pitfall trap was about two feet deep, with a metal pot or box at the bottom. On top were piled leaves and a bit of canned corn sprinkled around to incentivise an animal to come looking. When any animal that weighed more than a few ounces stepped on the trap, the creature would fall through the leaves, into the pot to be (eventually) killed and eaten by the bean and borrower waiting behind the tree.

The key to hunting is patients. Though it seemed Jace didn’t have much of that in his body. He was still young, only 11. He began to grow bored too quickly and wanted to fill the void of silence.

“So…” Jace started. 

Briar sighed and looked towards the boy. The borrower wasn’t used to long conversations with others and it just seemed like a drag. His heart stopped for a second when they made eye contact, he also wasn’t used to being visually perceived by a bean. “Yes?”

“Why did you decide to help us?” Jace wondered aloud.

***

He remembered that just a month or so ago, he and his sister were left to die by their own people. When food became scarce, the humans grew mean. After their mother died, they were alone. No one to care or provide or protect them. People were dying left and right. Jace had to resort to stealing from the few who were left. Eventually, they ran out of food too.

At the time, they had nothing to eat, no clean water and their clothes were filthy rags. As the days wore on and the hunger grew stronger, Jace found himself not caring anymore and having no motivation to move. Until all he wanted to do was sleep away the pain in his empty stomach. Jace had all but given up. 

Then a silver can rolled into their room in the middle of the night. 

No human had helped them. They were abandoned by their own kind. Jace felt a bitterness towards those who had forsaken him and his sister. They left them for dead. He even felt a bitterness towards his own mother for dying and leaving her two children to fend for themselves. A bitterness towards the world that turned against them.

Only by the grace and kindness of a man the size of Jace’s hand were the kids still alive today.

Jace owed everything to this borrower, he thanked his lucky stars every day that they met.

But why? Why would this man, a stranger, (not even the from same species,) help them when their own people refused too?

***

“Do I have have a reason to help you?” The borrower seemed defensive.

“I guess not,” Jace conceded.

Briar paused for a long time. Why was he helping two gigantic beans? 

He wasn’t entirely sure himself. There were so many potential reasons and none of them seemed to satisfy why he was doing this. But he settled on one reason that might make sense to a child. 

“Borrowers believe in helping each other, no questions asked.” Briar began. “My parents always opened their doors to travelers if they ever crossed paths. We never had a lot, but what we had we shared…” he sighed, “And I mean it when I say we didn’t have a lot. My Ma and Pa couldn’t seem to stop making more mouths to feed. Then Pa would bring home travelers to add to the chaos.”

Briar chuckled at the memories of his childhood. A tiny home full of laughter and excitement. His siblings and his cousins sitting around the fire listening to the tales of the new borrower currently staying in their home. In his youth, Briar was determined to have some adventures of his own like them when he grew up. Tales he could pass on to the next generation of borrowers he might come across.

“I learned a lot from some of those people, like how to properly string up animal skin to dry in the sun. Picked that up from a vagabond guy, liked to backsass my mother, but damn if he didn’t love yapping about his wife.” Briar believed his name was Sprout? Or Piller? He couldn’t remember.

Jace hung onto every word as the small man spoke.

“Since there are no other borrowers around anymore,” Briar looked at the bean who stared back. “I suppose you two were the next best thing.” The man’s smile revealed the years of wrinkles, pain and loss that decorated his small face. 

He really is all alone too, Jace thought.

A smile slowly grew on the boy’s face. Being a borrower sounded lovely, everyone caring and looking out for each other. Even complete strangers. Jace couldn’t imagine getting the same kindness from other humans.

“Do you… Do you think your parents would have liked me?” Jace asked.

Briar was quiet for a moment, looking at the sky for an answer. “Well, if I’m being completely honest, I think my Ma would have fainted at the very sight of you.” The man laughed. “She was deathly afraid of Beans. She even refused to move into a house where more than one lived.”

“Oh,” Jace looked down at his hands. He never thought of himself as scary. But he supposed if he faced a giant, he'd be pretty scared too. 

Briar saw the change in the child’s demeanor. Jace became very self conscious, like he wanted to disappear into the tree behind him.

Briar didn’t want the poor kid to be upset so he continued, “But if she got over her fear. Yes, she probably would like you. I think she’d yell at me for not feeding you two enough. She’d think you’re too skinny and try to fatten you up with the last drops of her stew. She was always giving things away to people in need.”

“She sounds nice.”

“She was.”

Silence returned between the pair, both thinking about their respective loss of parental figures. The only difference was Briar was a fully grown adult when he lost his parents. He had enough time to know his parents on a personal level, he would even go as far to call them his friends. Jace and Layla on the other hand will never get that chance. 

“I envy you, Jace,” Briar offered. 

“You do?”

“Yes, you have that picture of your family. Perfectly captured in a glass frame. You’ll always know what they looked like.” Briar conceded. “All I have to remember what my family looked like is up here,” he tapped his forehead. “As the years go by I remember less and less. Like, which brother had green eyes or how tall my oldest sister was. Even the sound of their laughter grows quieter in my mind.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Ah, such is life for my kind.” The borrower shrugged. “We don’t exactly have the same luxuries you Beans have… had.” 

Jace thought long and hard about everything the borrower said. And what he didn’t say. For one thing, the small man still hadn’t told Jace his name. Something he kept close to his heart like the most important secret in the world. But something about the fear Briar talked about made Jace think. 

“Boss… A-are you afraid of me?” Jace looked at the small man sitting on the tree branch then looked at his own hand. How could he not be afraid when Jace was so much bigger than him? “Is… is that why you didn’t show yourself sooner?”

Yes. 

But the boy didn’t need to know that. Briar steeled his face to hide a flash of anxiety from crossing his features as he thought of an answer. “I’d say I have a pretty healthy fear of you, boy. I recognize that in a fight, I’d never beat you. But I trust you enough to sit here with you right now.” The Borrower nodded. “But between the two of you, I’m honestly more scared of your sister.”

“What?” Jace burst out laughing, “She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

But Briar didn’t laugh. “I saw what she did to that doll.”

Jace immediately got quiet, he knew exactly what Briar was referring to. 

***

Last week, Layla had accidentally popped the head off a barbie doll while trying to brush its hair.

Unfortunately for Briar, he was watching the whole thing from the walls. He had nightmares of his neck snapping or his head also popping clean off for days.

Briar almost ran away from the giants right then and there. Choosing to never speaking to or seeing either of them again.

But the way Layla cried and begged her brother to fix her doll made Briar falter. She definitely wasn’t careful, but she definitely cared if she broke or hurt something. 

Now was that ‘care’ connected to possessiveness over her toys? Maybe. She was a young kid after all.

Would she also think of Briar as a doll and try to play with him? Twist his arms and legs into shapes they weren’t supposed to bend. Or try to brush his curly hair till his head pops off too. 

Layla often played too rough with her toys, smacking them into eachother and throwing them haphazardly around the room. If it was Briar’s body that she was manipulating and throwing like that, he'd be dead in minutes. 

She was still a child. Briar had even seen his little sibling play the same way in his youth. He completely understood. He just never wants to be anywhere near her giant chubby hands. He wasn’t a toy. He was a living, breathing, thinking individual.

Briar had a healthy fear of the strength the children had over him. And he hoped that wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass later. 

***

Briar looked at Jace and continued, “With you, on some level at least, I feel like you respect me. You have been respecting me enough to not touch me at least.” 

“I did promise,” Jace smiled.

“Now with a child, any child— not just your sister— I doubt I’d be seen as anything more than a toy.”

“I think you’re being too harsh. Layla is a good kid.”

“I’m not saying she’s not. I just have to always be careful around beans. My life is in constant danger just by existing.”

“Well, the way I see it, the only difference between us is I’m slightly bigger than you. You’re just a person. A really, really, really, really–”

“I get it.”

“-Really short person.” Jace finished with a mischievous smirk. 

Briar smiled back because was referencing one of the first things the borrower ever revealed about himself to Jace and Layla: That he was not human, but he was still a person.

“Size be damned?”

“Size be damned.” Jace agreed. 

After coming to an understanding, they settled into a comfortable silence.

They really weren’t so different. Both the Borrower and Beans were trying to survive in this messed up world. 

They sat under the afternoon sun in silence for a while till…

THWAP.

The sound of crushed leaves and a quiet thud interrupted the stillness.

One of their traps had been activated. Jace and Briar froze and looked around the tree towards the trap. A gaping hole in the earth sat where the pre-teen had previously laid down leaves.

Jace stood up and quickly walked towards the pitfall trap. “I think we got something, boss!”

***

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[redo-rewind-if]

(o゜▽゜)o☆ progress report time! ☆゜

Next Update (Chapter 4):

Opening: 100%

Avoid August/Confront Him: 100%

A Normal Day at Work: 100%

You Can Fix This, Right? 🤡: 95%

Keep Your Friends Close...: 35%

Avoidant Route: 0%

Good news everyone! I'm getting really, really close to finishing the writing for this chapter. I'll still need time after for editing and coding and all that jazz but soon... soon...

My current (admittedly probably too optimistic) estimate for the Chapter 4 release is late February/Early March. No promises but I think it's doable. This chapter is shorter than the last, it's just complicated due to the time loops and the variations I need to add. Oh well, got nobody to blame for that but myself lol. 😅

[jane-the-good]

SLEEP TOKEN

Take Me Back To Eden

(as a hoodie)

[motleyfam]

In the most non-judgmental way possible (because fandom is for fun and everyone is welcome to enjoy it whatever way suits them best), it really amuses me when people bookmark an ongoing fic series as “to read when complete” or something similar. Like, every individual fic within the series will be completed—it’s not a cliff hanger or anything!—but since the series itself is still actively updating, they’re holding out for that green check mark before they dive in.

Like maybe it’s the binge media consumption culture we live in or whatever, but it’s just so funny to me. Because when I get invested in a particular fic universe—whether as a reader or as the writer—I hope it never ends. I hope the author keeps on getting more ideas and expanding and growing and adding to that world that they created because it’s giving them so much joy they don’t ever want to stop. I hope we all get to play in that sandbox they created as long as possible because… what else was the point of making it?

An ongoing fic series just means that there’s still potential for more, and it always leaves me scratching my head how that could ever be taken as a bad thing.

[casualcannibalisms]

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: The Mechanisms (Band), The Magnus Archives (Podcast) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: The Mechanisms Ensemble & The Mechanisms Ensemble, MAYBE polychives Characters: Jonny d'Ville, Martin Blackwood, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives), Sasha James, Nastya Rasputina, Gunpowder Tim (The Mechanisms), Ashes O'Reilly, The Toy Soldier (The Mechanisms), Drumbot Brian (The Mechanisms), Marius von Raum, Ivy Alexandria, Raphaella la Cognizi, Elias Bouchard | Jonah Magnus Additional Tags: Chatting & Messaging, Canon-Typical Violence, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist is Jonny d'Ville, Angst, Mentioned Suicidal Ideation, its like blink and you'll miss it but better safe than sorry Summary:

joe spooky: is this the same sister who spammed you with questionable links at 3 am?

what were the links: … Yes, Tim.

hacker(wo)man: oooh I wanna meet herwhat were the links: god no

[darkfictionjude]

I finally got around to reading the wwc update and THE CLIFF HANGERS GET ME EVERY TIME!!! SCRATCHING MY WALLS I! NEED! MORE! 😫😫

Yall are gonna lose it with the cliff hanger to part 1 (probably)

[acescorazon]

Title: Changes

Chapter: 12

Rating: M

Word count: 2838

Chapter excerpt:

All of Buggy’s negative emotions quickly overwhelm and consume him. He feels like he’s trapped in a never-ending nightmare, and can’t help but go over his every little interaction with Mihawk and Crocodile. As he wonders where it all went wrong, a series of memories play out in his head like a movie.

|Ch1|Ch2|Ch3|Ch4|Ch5|Ch6|Ch7|Ch8|Ch9|Ch10|Ch11|

Buggy cries until he’s unable to cry anymore and even once his tears dry up, the heavy ache in his chest lingers as he tries to process what just happened between him and Crocodile. Their confrontation from earlier plays in Buggy’s head on an almost endless loop, reminding him of his failure to seize the perfect opportunity to get what he wanted finally. Buggy has wanted a somewhat peaceful life for ages now, yet when the opportunity arose for one, he foolishly turned it away. 

How does that make any sense? 

Buggy doesn’t understand why he couldn’t just accept Crocodile’s apology. It doesn’t matter if Crocodile was or wasn’t being completely sincere. His apology was a chance for them to be on ‘good terms’ at long last, so why did Buggy reject it so quickly?

Crocodile was apologizing and trying to make amends, he was offering to finally put an end to all the bad blood between them, but Buggy had a meltdown and rejected the opportunity to finally be happy. Even if they had a short-lived friendship and Crocodile ended up going back to his old ways a week or two later, Buggy could have still benefited from the situation greatly, but he just… shut everything down and didn’t want to hear anything. 

Buggy can’t help but wonder when he became a man who cares if someone is being honest with him or not. Buggy himself is someone who would lie constantly if he needed to, so why can’t he accept Mihawk and Crocodile’s dumb apologies? Why can’t he forgive and forget, and just allow himself to have a moment of happiness?

All of Buggy’s negative emotions quickly overwhelm and consume him. He feels like he’s trapped in a never-ending nightmare, and can’t help but go over his every little interaction with Mihawk and Crocodile. As he wonders where it all went wrong, a series of memories play out in his head like a movie:

It’s about two weeks or so after the official debut of Cross Guild, and the island is a lot more lively now that  Crocodile and Mihawk (and, of course, Daz) are around. The three men are all the residents of Emptee Bluffs Island can talk about these days, well that, as well as the formation of Cross Guild.  

Buggy seems to be the only one terrified that the two former warlords will be calling Emptee Bluffs Island their home from now on though, but he’s trying to remain hopeful. He thinks that maybe, just maybe, he can get on Crocodile and Mihawk’s good side, so not too long after the formation of Cross Guild and their first meeting, he starts brainstorming.  The only problem is Buggy’s mind constantly loops back to the same idea. He wants to give them each an expensive gift but he doesn’t want Crocodile to ask where he got the money for said gifts from. It sucks because gift-giving seems like the best way to show Mihawk and Crocodile that he’s not so bad and make them feel welcomed, but he knows he can’t do it without Crocodile getting all pissy with him. 

Meh, it’s not like he’d know what to get them anyways.

After several days of thinking, pacing around, and asking his men for some much-needed advice, Buggy decides to instead throw Mihawk and Crocodile a nice dinner. He knows that Crocodile and Mihawk aren’t exactly the most outgoing people on the planet, but he has hope that once they see all the effort Buggy and his men are going through to make them feel welcomed, they’ll be a little less hostile.

Buggy dedicates a lot of time and energy to planning his little dinner for Crocodile, Mihawk, and Daz and making sure that the event is kept a secret, which is no easy task considering how much his men like to sit around and gossip. Everything is honestly a little stressful, and at times he worries that everything will end up ruined thanks to someone running their big mouths, but thankfully that never happens. In between deciding the menu and the entertainment for the night, and sending his men out for supplies, he spends his time preparing a welcome speech for his two new subordinates. 

The hard part is coming up with a speech that makes him sound cool yet warm and welcoming at the same time. He can’t just say something like, ‘Surprise! Welcome to the island!’ That’s too simple, too boring, and lacks the emotions that Buggy’s trying to convey, but he can’t figure out what he should say instead. Whatever, he’ll figure it out eventually.

Buggy and his men decorate the cafeteria to the best of their ability on the night of their surprise dinner. At the end of the day, their humble, little cafeteria is nothing compared to a lavish banquet hall, but it feels a lot more cozy and intimate than a banquet hall could ever be. They push several tables together, arrange them nicely, dress them in (cheap) white tablecloths, and decorate them with fancy dishware and napkins. After that, Buggy and his men bring out the food and wine, and everyone seems thrilled as dinner time rapidly approaches.

This is it, Tonight is going to be the night that he wins Mihawk and Crocodile over with his world-class charm and charisma. He has his speech ready and tucked neatly into the palm of his hand, and now all he needs is his honored guests!    

Buggy has one of his men go and fetch Mihawk, Crocodile, and Daz once everything is ready. His heart is pounding in his chest as a mixture of excitement and anxiety washes over him and makes him feel all jittery, and he has to constantly remind himself that everything is okay. In fact, everything is going perfectly for once…Or at least everything seems to be going perfectly at first. Buggy and his crew wait for what seems like hours for their guests to arrive with the fear of Dinner growing cold lingering in everyone’s minds. Eventually, the three newcomers arrive, and when they do, they don’t look surprised and thankful… If anything, they look… annoyed. 

Buggy doesn’t even get to yell ‘Surprise!’ or something cool because everything goes down-hill before he gets the chance to. 

Buggy watches as Mihawk looks around the nicely decorated cafeteria. His expression is devoid of any emotion, and he looks… unimpressed at best and bored at worst. Buggy looks over at Daz next, and he has a similar expression as Mihawk, which is disappointing but not surprising and he shouldn’t have expected much of a reaction from him to begin with. As for Crocodile… Well, his face shows the most emotion out of all three men. Crocodile clicks his tongue loudly and looks rather annoyed as he scans the room and takes in the warm and friendly atmosphere.

“You made me stop what I was doing for this?” Crocodile asks, narrowing his eyes at Buggy, who is baffled, just baffled at the reaction he’s getting from all three men.

“We wanted to welcome you guys to the island!” Buggy says sheepishly, and he can’t help but feel slightly irritated that none of his honored guests are happy to see their surprise. In fact, now that he sees everyone’s sour expressions, he feels a bit hesitant to say the speech he spent so long preparing. “Uh…Um, Please, have a seat!” He says, gesturing to some seats that he specially picked out for the three of them that are right across from his own. Crocodile exhales a sigh, “I ain’t hungry.”

“Neither am I.” Mihawk replies immediately afterwards. 

Oh. Buggy thinks at that moment. Just, Oh. Buggy had decorations hung up and placed all around the room, he had all this delicious food that they wouldn’t eat on a normal day cooked, he had fancy wine bought and live entertainment arranged… He... He really thought that Mihawk and Crocodile would see all the effort he put into welcoming them and would want to sit down and have a bite to eat with Buggy, but they just… 

Crocodile’s cold words yank him back to reality, “Instead of throwing tacky little parties, you should be working on that list of things I gave you to do.” He mutters as he turns around and leaves, and, unsurprisingly, once Crocodile leaves, everyone else follows behind him silently.

A nasty tension lingers in the air once the three men make their leave. Buggy and the rest of his crew eat quietly and as quickly as possible before making their way to their respective sleeping quarters for the night. The whole ordeal leaves a bad taste in Buggy’s mouth, but he decides to give both Mihawk and Crocodile the benefit of the doubt. Again, they aren’t really social people, of course, they wouldn’t want to participate in some giant get-together, even if it was for them and was a friendly gesture. 

So, after that Buggy tries again to get on Crocodile and Mihawk’s good side. He doesn’t want Cross Guild to be built on a rocky foundation, but more importantly, he doesn’t want Mihawk and Crocodile to hate him and make him suffer. He figures he was thinking too big, too flashy, and should have instead done something smaller, but just as impactful. His mind goes back to the gift-giving thing, and he really doesn’t want to give them something overly expensive and come off as seeming disingenuous or worse have Crocodile question where he got the funds for the gift from. 

Everyone Buggy asks seems to think that Buggy should totally give them bouquets to welcome them to the island and as a friendly gesture, and after some consideration, he agrees. Buggy gets a couple of different recommendations but most of the people he’s talked to say he should give Mihawk and Crocodile lilies, and Buggy, not knowing much about flowers blindly follows their suggestions. He eventually decides to give them both a bouquet of beautiful orange lilies, which he has delivered to the island as soon as possible. 

In the meantime, Buggy spends hours and hours trying to plan out the perfect scenario and what he’s going to say to each man when he gives them their gifts. He’s having the same problems as before, and can’t figure out what he wants to say exactly to either. It has to be cool, though, that’s for sure. Something like, ‘I can tell you’re shocked to see these stunning flowers but don’t be. I got these for you, friend, in celebration of you coming to the island and us forming Cro—’ No, wait, that sucks, but hopefully he’ll figure something out once his flowers arrive.

The day his beautiful, stunning, fragrant flowers arrive, Buggy goes to Crocodile first, who is in the meeting room and right away seems annoyed to see him in front of him (like always) but, hey, Buggy’s trying to fix that. He holds up the bouquet of orange lilies in front of Crocodile and gives him a sheepish smile, “So, uh-” 

All those hours spent preparing what he was going to say become pointless in less than a second because the moment Crocodile takes a look at his flowers, he scoffs and turns his head away. “Instead of picking flowers, you should be getting my flagship ready.” 

Now, Crocodile didn’t throw his gift on the ground and stomp all over it, but it kinda feels like he did. Does Crocodile really not see the effort he’s putting in to get them on good terms…? Buggy places the flowers down on the table in front of Crocodile and gives him another smile, this one a little more forced than the last, “Oh, well… I just wanted to give you these and…” His words fail him at that moment, and he no longer knows what he should even say to the ungrateful man sitting in front of him, “You know, welcome you to the island… and I hope that... Cross guild is a success and that we can be good friends in the future…” 

Crocodile rolls his eyes, “I don’t need any friends, and I certainly don’t need any shitty flowers.” He says rather dismissively, “Now if you don’t have anything important to tell me, get out.” He orders and brushes Buggy off with the shake of a hand. Buggy’s head drops and he quietly makes his way to the exit, and he swears that on his way out of the meeting room, he hears the sound of something being tossed, most likely into the trash can, but he doesn’t want to think about it. 

Okay, so Crocodile is a dick. Buggy already knew that and he shouldn’t feel so gutted. It was obvious from the start that he wasn’t going to act positively towards a gift from Buggy no matter how nice it was. But Buggy was just hoping that… Whatever. It doesn’t matter. 

Things with Crocodile might not have gone well, but he still has Mihawk…Right? At least there’s still hope that he can make an ally out of him… right? He finds Mihawk several minutes later, tucked away underneath a tree and polishing his sword. The sight of his giant blade brings back memories to when Crocodile and Mihawk first arrived on the island and Mihawk chased him and tried to slice him to pieces. And although it isn’t possible for Mihawk to hurt him, at least not with a sword, Buggy still finds himself growing a little uneasy just from looking at his blade. 

Buggy hides the second bouquet behind his back and clears his throat as he approaches Mihawk. “Uh, Hawkeye…?” He calls out quietly, and much to his surprise, Mihawk’s initial response isn’t hostile or cold. He expected him to glare at him with sharp, piercing eyes and go: “What is it now, clown?” Instead, Mihawk glances up at him for a split second before looking back down at his sword, “Is there something you need?” He asks in his usual flat tone. 

By this point, Buggy’s forgotten everything he wanted to say to Mihawk, but still tries to say something nice anyways, “Uh, I know we didn’t get off to a great start, but I wanted to give you these as a welcoming gift…” Buggy tells him, “I don’t know, I just really want us all to get along. So…yeah, here.” Buggy slowly reveals the flowers that he has hidden behind his back, and the moment Mihawk sees them, his face contorts into an irritated expression. “You say that you want to be on better terms with me, but you’re giving me orange lilies?” He asks, narrowing his eyes at Buggy. Well, yes… though orange lilies seem to have several different meanings depending on who you ask, most of Buggy’s crew said they were a positive thing, something you’d give to someone who started a new job or got a promotion, or such.

However… It turns out Mihawk doesn’t have the same feelings about the flowers.

“You’re basically giving me a bouquet that tells me the opposite of that,” Mihawk states with a scoff, “Orange Lillies represent a deep-seated hatred for someone, did you really think i’d appreciate a gift like this?” Woah, woah, woah. What? Buggy thinks. He definitely did not mean for his gift to give off that sort of vibe, and he doesn’t know why Mihawk is the one person on the island who thinks these flowers are something negative.

Buggy feels a little flustered by it all. His face reddens and he tries to stammer out a quick reply, but is once again unsure how to salvage the situation, “No, I…” He tries to speak, but Mihawk puts his hand up in the air, signaling for him to stop talking. 

“I don’t want your gift. Go away.” Buggy feels like he’s been punched in the gut, and he cannot for the life of him figure out why Mihawk’s being so… unreasonable. Is that even the right word to describe him right now?

“I didn’t mean for my gift to come off the wrong way,” Buggy finally manages to say after a moment of thought as he tries his best to defend himself, “I don’t know much about flowers, an–”

“Why are you giving me a gift you know nothing about then?” 

Ouch. Buggy doesn’t have a response to that, so he just lowers his head in defeat once again and walks away from Mihawk. That’s such a nasty way to look at things, yeah, Buggy doesn’t know much about flowers, but he was genuinely trying to do something nice for Mihawk, and he’s acting like he spat in his face. Whatever, Buggy thinks, feeling rather hopeless at the moment. In the end, he decides to give the flowers to a random member of his crew, one who definitely doesn’t see the flowers as a hateful gift and happily accepts them with a beaming smile.

…If only Mihawk and Crocodile had that same reaction.

[ghost-bard]

STARDUST RHAPSODY EP FOUR WTFFFFFF WAHTTTTT EUGHH WHATTTT AHHHH

[taddymason]

Ahh!!! New chapter is so good, but argh! That cliff hanger is something else!

Can you at least tell us if he remains in the tournament?

HDHDD TRUST ME It was worse in the original draft: the chapter originally ended with the fight and Jay just running away but I decided it was too sad a note to leave the chapter on so I included the comfort part.

To answer your question: Would a tournament rigged so that the ninjas lose allow one of them to continue fighting after killing a member of the team that has to win? Sadly no.

However, Jay will have ANOTHER role in the tournament, but I don't think anyone will be able to guess :)