#do you think developing and something that requires literally no sentence tells something fucked about me? 😬

[tenrose]

Thinking about the fact that my therapist cancelled my previous appointment, which mean I literally had more than one month to fill the various tests he gave me and still... I do them the night before.

I think he's gonna have a pretty solid idea of the mess I am just by seeing the date 🙃

[butch-reidentified]

“ask the average reader to guess whether a male or female wrote this based on the fact that the author used coarse language I bet they’ll tell you male 😏” this is what you sound like. that person clearly wasn’t even saying that women with body hair are disgusting, they were likening themselves to them, and condemning holding yourself and others to pedophilic beauty standards and you have to be reading it in the worst faith possible to have any other takeaway

yeahhh you're making shit up lmfao

post being referenced:

I never said he said women with body hair are disgusting. I never thought he said that; he was clearly trying to say that we're all just gross animals. If other people claimed he said that, talk to them. HOWEVER. he said "u are a nasty little slug too and having a vachina does not absolve u of that." I take issue with this specifically because radfems take a very "humans are just animals like any other" view. We do not believe "having a vagina" makes us superior or cleaner or less animalistic or whatever the fuck he was trying to say with that weird ass sentence.

my saying that any rando on the street would more than likely read that and assume it was written by a male is not about "coarse language" (this literally made me laugh out loud, so ty). have you looked at my blog?? it doesn't get much more "coarse language" than my writing 💀 you can say "this is what you sound like" all day, but you made that up completely while dozens if not hundreds of women knew exactly what I was referring to. Not that I actually believe that you were confused what I meant by that, but to be clear, his post reads as male because it reeks of porn-induced brainrot. "breedable 12 year old anime girls floating in a glass jar of formaldehyde waiting for some old man to come and fuck them and tell them they are so teeeeeeeeny tiny and worth it" specifically is simply not a turn of phrase (or even abstractified image) that would ever enter my mind in a million years, nor that of any woman I know. I've never seen a woman say something quite that far porn-rotted. not that it's never happened at all, but I've never seen it and I would bet my life it's exceptionally uncommon.

Everything within that image he painted is the polar opposite of how radfems see women/what radfems want for women. "Holding yourself and others to pedophilic beauty standards" - you mean the exact ones radfems speak out against relentlessly every single day??? Search my blog for terms like "female body hair," "shaving," "beauty myth," and the like, and tell me how on earth you came to the conclusion that I think women should shave or tweeze or laser or whatever a SINGLE hair even once in their entire lives. I don't shave my legs, which were wildly god-tier hairy BEFORE even I was on T. I don't shave my bush, I don't shave my armpits, I don't shave my mustache or the chin hairs cross-sex hormones gave me.

Radfeminism is opposed to every single thing that has to do with the gender construct. We absolutely do not have any requirements or expectations or criteria for womanhood beyond simply being a human + female. Like I said about viewing humans like any other animals, radfems see "woman = female human" the same way one means "doe = female deer." Woman is not a gender; it's a term referring simply to species (human) and to sex (female). That's it. No further expectations or criteria apply.

Before you try to argue that this definition excludes women who are infertile or intersex, let me be very clear about sex:

> "of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs"

"the sex that CAN" is crucial to defining female/male. the female body has biologically, genetically, and physiologically developed from before birth to support the POTENTIAL capability of producing large gametes (eggs aka ova). It is totally irrelevant if one has a medical complication that prevents her from actually producing those gametes; which gametes your body has clearly developed structurally and functionally to produce is what defines your sex, no matter what.

The fact that this is how we view "woman" and "man," as simply referencing one's sex and humanity - this is why we maintain that trans-identified males are men. Again, we don't see "man" as a gender in the slightest. We don't engage with the gender construct at all beyond our desire to dismantle it entirely so that everyone would be able to live free from those roles/stereotypes/expectations that are assigned on the basis of sex.

This makes it a ridiculous thing to assert that we have to "go so far to prove that trans women are actually men...." We do not feel that it requires any effort at all to say "a drake is a male duck, a buck is a male doe, a man is a male human." It CERTAINLY does not in ANY capacity require us to "reduce women" to that horrific sentence, or to "reduce women" at all. Is it "reducing" a doe to state that she is a female deer?

It also makes it ridiculous to insist radfems "dehumanize" women by using this definition - the definition which includes "human" as a non-negotiable criterion.

About the first of his two-part post pictured above, last but far from least: There will NEVER come a day when women - ESPECIALLY lesbians & ESPECIALLY extremely gnc lesbians - calling out misogynistic males for their behavior counts as "punching down." No matter how he identifies, how he dresses, where he works, what his talents are, what he likes/dislikes, his sexual orientation, or anything else, women (and again, lesbian women especially) do not hold institutional/systemic power over men.

as for the 10 foot pole part, I really couldn't care less what he meant or why, tbqh, because the supremely creepy pedophilic rant that made up the first part was the thing we all truly took issue with in that screenshot.

and let's not forget, this all started bc he called an ND woman the r slur for her critique asserting that he was appropriating a type of religious trauma specific to the sex-based oppression of women/girls, and profiting from doing so. personally, as a human female with a history of such religious trauma, while this has been resolved for approximately 7 years in my case, I still vehemently object to any male claiming it as his own for profit. especially if said profit is hoarded rather than given back to victims of such trauma.

NOTE: this answer was written while I'm barely staying conscious. I will come back to edit/clean up a bit later after getting some rest 😴

[themattress]

Haven't seen this string of posts in years, but wow, how'd I miss this shit?

However, at this point, the story was still moving forward. Completely new characters, concepts, and ideas were being introduced, existing characters (primarily Riku) received development, and so on.

Which is different from KH2...how???

Oh! And more importantly, the story makes perfect sense without prior knowledge of KH1.

That's a goddamn lie. How the Hell this particular universe even works is not explained in CoM, references to things like Ansem or things that were done or said at Hollow Bastion will fly right over a player's head if they haven't actually seen KH1, and there's little reason to actually care about any of the characters if you're just starting here. You absolutely need to have prior knowledge of KH1 to truly understand CoM's story.

Everything that’s gone wrong with the series, I attribute to KH2′s shoddy handling of CoM

What "shoddy handling of CoM"? The fact that it didn't go out of its way to reference it or make it more important even when knowing not all players will have played it or even heard of it? That's really something you wanna criticize?

CoM didn’t leave out Roxas’ backstory

How the Hell did KH2 "leave out Roxas' backstory"!? We literally have Riku tell it to us in a few sentences, and that's all we needed to know! We didn't need to actually see his life in the Organization, because the point was that he left it in the end. His importance in the story was connected to that and what transpired afterward, not to what he did while in the group.

or introduce the Ansem-not-Ansem “plot twist”

Um, yes. Yes, it did. Reverse/Rebith very specifically set that plot twist up with DiZ and with what Vexen said about Ansem to Riku. The twist wasn't revealed until KH2, true, but CoM is the one that technically introduced it into the story.

or bring up Xehanort

Again, it kind of did. Not saying the name doesn't mean it wasn't foreshadowed.

or put more effort into rendering Kairi’s panties than into proofreading the in-game text or overall plot

its plot is such a complete and total hackjob, both due to its failure to properly explain how CoM fit into everything and for completely unrelated plot points (Ansem-not-Ansem and Xehanort) that all subsequent games have been trying to rationalize and consolidate the mess

No. Its plot is something of a hackjob, but not because of its "failure to properly explain how CoM fit into everything" (because what's there to explain!? CoM was a bridging game, that's it. You seem weirdly bent on it meaning far more than it was ever meant to), and not because of plot points you don't like (which, again, were seeded in CoM), but because its writers were all out of sync with one another. All the subsequent games haven't "tried to rationalize and consolidate" anything, they've just been continuing the mess and making it way bigger.

The fact that KH2 required fixing at all is the problem here.

Except, it really didn't. Not to the extent you seem to think it did.

The only major fixing it needed...was done already in the Final Mix version.

And it’s probably what eventually got Nomura dead-set on turning the plot into a fishnet of connections

No. Nomura became dead-set on that all by himself, just because that's the type of whackjob he is. KH2 could have avoided all of the petty grievances you have with it and Nomura would still have turned the series plot into a fishnet of connections because he just can't let anything go, can't keep anything simple, and can't move the fuck on like a reasonable person can.

Anyway, as to @ultraericthered's post that the thread concluded on:

it has BBS doing all the KH2 hole filling that it does but then leaves all that other stuff that BBS brought to the table dead and buried in the past where they belong

Sort of...you do also kind of need to use your imagination and block certain things from BBS out for this to fully work. Which, with the Skip Scene function in-game, isn't too hard. :P

Hahahaha, yeah, no.

First off, the mess technically started with CoM. That’s where the seeds of the Kudzu plant were planted, it just sprouted and grew all over the plot in KH2, which was indeed a mess.

Second, the problems with KH2′s story didn’t actually effect most people’s enjoyment of it. The confusing stuff is nowhere NEAR as confusing as the stuff that came in the games that followed it. And above all, the game delivered a very satisfying, uplifting ending to the story arc that had been progressing since the first game. I had such a good, positive feeling about the series’ future following KH2, convinced that whatever story problems there were could be fixed in later games. I had the exact opposite feeling following BBS, which was definitely more solidly written than KH2, but the contents of its story proved to be far more damaging.

This video here explains it better than I could:

The bottom line is this: what was wrong with KH2 could have been fixed by later games. What was wrong with BBS was irreversible. BBS was the downfall of the series, period.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Ok so after reading a response to my last post about fifteen I realized I kinda fucked up a sentence and so I did not get my point across quite right so let me clarify about why I am so hoping the scene with Rimbaud's motivation to remember what happened to Verlaine is adapted (even though it's very short; like, half a page) and why I think it is a crime that the anime cut it:

First and foremost: that's like. Rimbaud's entire motive that just kind of got glossed over. And as a result, his characterization suffers - that scene recontextualizes him as being a very human character with human motives, instead of just some ultra-powerful next-level ability user spy - which is kinda the overarching theme here?

Secondly, it's a great Chuuya character moment. In the midst of a climactic battle scene, which is entirely framed around the doubts of his humanity, Chuuya reveals that throwing away everything for someone you care about is not only "respectable" but something that requires no thought at all from him - it's natural, even second nature. It's also this scene that leads into Chuuya using his hands for the first time and explaining why he hadn't before, addressing Rimbaud directly. I think there are a few interpretations for why he did such a thing but I believe it has a lot to do with having a newfound respect for his opponent - and the fact that the other two people in this fight have now revealed very human reasons for wanting to win. Rimbaud wants to find Verlaine, Dazai has just decided to try living, and Chuuya responds by taking a chance on finding an attachment to his own person - not just others. The fight goes from an ultra-powerful spy vs a demon and a potential god trapped within a hollow vessel to an amnesic guy who is willing to go to any lengths for his friend vs a suicidal kid looking for hope and a boy who needed a reason to value his own life the way he so naturally values the lives of others.

And lastly, there's Dazai in all this, who seems genuinely confused by the reveal of Rimbaud's motive - "It's all a bit hard to believe." And he's described as saying this weakly too - yet another small indication that young Dazai doesn't quite have his masks mastered which was kind of lost in the anime where he didn't get a lot of these moments of genuine emotionality or weakness (see: looking pained and saying it hurts when first attacked by Chuuya - which is in the new manga, yay!, watching Chuuya's fighting technique with awe, the quiet helpless honesty that accompanied his decision to live).

15 year old Dazai literally seems incapable of comprehending the idea of such drastic action being motivated by concern or care for one person - when I say the scene is foreshadowing, yes, of course, I am referring to Oda and Dazai's drastic decision to leave the mafia for no other reason than that he trusted his friend to know what he needed. But this line kind of kickstarts Dazai's relationship development in general - as someone who starts with purely logical viewpoints, and who later develops to make decisions based on emotion - even if these instances are very few and far between. We get this as soon as Stormbringer - he lets Chuuya make the decision as to whether to activate Corruption and even started on a backup plan just in case - action generated not by logic but by some level of concern for another. It's also apparent in the way he insisted that Oda need not use the Silver Oracle to request his help; he'd help him regardless. I also think telling Atsushi it's alright to cry over the orphanage director's death is a lesser example of this kind of principle. Of course, Dazai still needs a LOT more development on this front but since I'm pretty sure that's where his arc is going to take him, I stand by this interpretation.

Also, it's interesting that in the manga, we've left Dazai off with a difficult decision - stick to his logical goal of killing Dostoyevsky and lose Chuuya, or go down the emotional path of saving Chuuya and potentially losing his chance of stopping Dostoyevsky (and giving him free ammo... concern for others is a weak point Fyodor loves exploiting...). I know it looks like he's made his choice to sacrifice Chuuya (I have my doubts) but whatever choice he makes, I fail to see how this is not going to be some kind of turning point for him, with it being Chuuya who, once again just by existing and being who he is, unintentionally exposes his flaws and failings and forces him to learn and change.

This got long and I kind of rambled but tldr:

Scene Good. I want to see their facial expressions and line delivery. That is all.

[tomtenadia]

My knight in shining armour

Rowaelin month Day 2 - University AU

I literally just finished this. I wasn’t going to write for this prompt but then an idea finally hit me.

The title as usual is bad... sorry

2k words

-----

Aelin had days in which she hated men. That was one of those days. 

After finishing high school she decided to took a challenging course at the University of Terrasen. Her dad, before he retired, had been an airforce pilot. She had grown up going around his base, visiting him when he was back. In doing so, she had become obsessed with planes. As she grew up, her dad had let her get friendly with his engineer and the man had started teaching her all she needed to know about aircrafts. From the basic physics to the more obscure detail of how the jet worked. Aelin had been fascinated. She had started reading all the possible books, and as she got older, her dad’s engineer had also started having her to actually help her in the hangar. In the summer when school was out, she would actually get a part-time job as an apprentice at the base and she had loved every moment of it. She had also become very close with the two female pilots and together they had spent time talking about the life of a woman in a boys club. The two women had become her role models very quickly.

Terrasen was quite and open minded country but some ideas were still quite obsolete.

In high school at the question “what you want to be when you grow up?” She always answered an aircraft engineer for the airforce. She never faltered or never doubted. That’s what she wanted to, that was her path.

But when time for uni arrived and she applied for a degree in aeronautical engineering, that’s when she realised that the boys club extended far more than she expected.

She was basically the only woman in the class. None of the guys had approached her and on the first day she had walked in the classroom, one of them had the guts to tell her that the humanities department was in the annex c. She ignored the bastard and sat down at the front. She belonged in that room and she would prove it to every single one of them.

Day after day she had shown her knowledge and surprised her professor who was amazed at the fact that she could answer such in depth questions. Last time it happened, she had turned to Chaol - the asshole who had told her about the annex c, and gave him a smirk. That had removed his stupid grin from his face. It felt amazing.

During a private one-to-one with her professor she had confessed to him she had been working at the airbase as an apprentice during the past three summers. Her teacher had luckily been very supportive and encouraged her to keep up the good work.

Now, six months in, she still hated with a vengeance the arseholes she had to study with. Some of them even had the guts to ask her for some help after they realised she was actually good. She had answered that surely they didn’t want the help of a woman, and walked away.

After another class it was finally lunch time and she was meeting Rowan down at their spot on the grass. They were a couple. He had asked her out in the summer after high school was over and they had been together ever since. He was a med student and he knew her pain about choosing a challenging degree. Both their degrees were very intense and required a lot of time so they would just try and spend as much time together as they could. They had a flat together but the public library was were they spent most of their time.

And when their schedules allowed it, they would enjoy lunch together, venting about their academical choices.

“I fucking hate that bastard.” She raged, dropping her bag on the grass and sitting at his side, depositing a kiss on his lips. She felt better almost immediately, being in his arms was all she needed to feel okay again.

“What did he do now?” Asked Rowan knowing of her struggles in her classes.

Aelin grabbed her bag and pulled out her food, the dinner that Rowan had prepared the previous night and then packed away for both of them.

“The teacher gave us an exercise where we had to design an aircraft with what we had learned so far.” She told him, while munching away her food “He was up first and his project was a effing disaster. Seriously, I’d wouldn’t want to fly on a plane designed by him.” She took a sip of her water “the teacher asked us to say what was wrong and it took me ten minutes to stop. I mean, a two year old would have done a better job with lego bricks.”

Rowan giggled at her side “then my turn came and the bastard had the guts to tell me that the aerodynamics of my plane were off and that my ailerons where wrong as well and would not allow the plane to function properly. I took my laptop and shoved it in his face and told him to find the error in my math. He had no clue.” Her face turned smug “then the teacher took over and said that actually my project was, among all, the only one that could actually fly. I felt smug as fuck.”

Rowan pulled an arm around Aelin’s shoulder and pulled her to him. He was proud of her. Every damn day.

“Then after class, he threw me a paper plane and inside it had a message saying this is the only plane you will ever build or work on. I swear, the guy is still alive only because I am not looking forward to finishing my degree via distance learning from a prison.”

She calmed down “how was your day?”

Rowan leaned back against the tree “I had anatomy and physiology. Today we covered the endocrine system and it must be one most boring of them all.”

“Well,” she added with a big smile “when you cover the reproductive system you are welcome to practice with me…”

He laughed and squished her to her chest “I am a very big fan of your… bits.” She kissed him deeply not caring that they were in public, she wanted him and hated that they had more classes before being able to go home and then alas, study more. Maybe for one evening they could study something different.

“Aelin?”

“Yes, buzzard?”

His tongue gently teased her and she opened for him while his hand brushed off a rebel strand of hair.

He pulled back “Nothing, you had tomato sauce on you lips. I was just wiping it off. Did you think I wanted to kiss you?” 

Aelin gently punched him on the shoulder, in return he gave her a massive grin. Rowan was a very reserved man who struggled with stranger, but she had her own version, the goofy one, the one who made jokes and loved to cuddle with her. She would treasure that version forever. That was just for her.

They were busy chatting away and she was showing him on her laptop the exercise she had been working on and her plane prototype and although what she was saying was greek to him, he still listened to her in fascination.

She was telling him how a plane flew and the four forces when a figure stopped in front of them.

“It must be exciting to brag with your boyfriend about your hopeless projects.” Said the man.

Rowan raised his eyes and finally saw the face of the man that had been making Aelin’s life miserable.

“What did you just say?” Rowan stood and towered on the brown-haired man by twenty centimetres. Chaol also looked frail compared to Rowan’s muscular frame.

“Chaol, you’d better go.” Not that she cared about the man, she just didn’t want Rowan to get into trouble for a petty man.

“You’d better give up while you still can, Galathynius. Aeronautical engineering is not a field for a woman.” He crossed his arms at his chest trying to look intimidating but the look in Rowan’s eyes told her it was a useless attempt. Her boyfriend was ready to attack. She knew he had never hit anyone, but had a feeling that if Chaol didn’t stop it could be a first for Rowan.

“Chaol,” she stood as well and growled his name in warning.

“Oh, so you are one of those arseholes who believes that certain jobs can be done only by those who were born with a penis. It’s the fucking 21st century. Grow up, idiot.”

Rowan swore, alarm bells rang in Aelin’s head. He only swore when he was extremely mad, something that her unflappable boyfriend rarely was.

“Oh look, Galathynius, you have a knight in shining armour.”

Aelin moved between Rowan and Chaol, trying to separate them when her boyfriend moved a step closer to the other guy.

Chaol chuckled “Did you sleep with every professor—” but Chaol never finished his sentence. She saw the scene develop in slow motion in front of her. At those words Rowan’s face had turned feral and as on instinct his arm moved and a second later his fist found its target in Chaol’s face. 

Rowan then grabbed Chaol by the collar and lifted him up slightly “You take it back, immediately or I’ll smash all the twenty two bones in your skull.”

“Go on,” said Chaol, nursing a broken lips.

Aelin stopped in between and grasped Rowan’s hand gently “Put him down, Ro, he is not worth it.”

Her gaze then turned to Chaol “now you go back to whatever shithole you came from and perhaps go back working on your project and design a real aircraft.” She moved closer to him “I know what the fuck I am doing. And I know I will have a job in the airforce after this. You will just go back being daddy’s little spoiled boy.”

Chaol glared at her and Rowan finally let go of him, bur before he fully released him he pulled the man close enough that his mouth was near his ear “you disrespect her like that one more time and you’ll finish your degree from a hospital bed while sipping your food from a straw.” Rowan flashed his teeth in a threatening gesture “you leave her alone, because if I hear you have been a bastard to her one more time, I will make your life a living hell.” And eventually released him. Chaol shrugged his t-shirt back into place and walked away without adding another word.

Rowan sighed and then turned to her, his expression back being soft as soon as she looked back at him.

“You didn’t have to punch him,” she said while snuggling against his chest. His arms quickly around her.

“Yes I had to. What he said….” She felt him tense up again “he made me so mad, fireheart.”

“Seeing you thump him was very sexy,” she kissed him gently on the lips “my knight in shining armour.”

Rowan chuckled and looked into he blue eyes “you don’t need a knight. You are fierce, brave and strong and do not need any protection,” he added, his lips on her head. Nesting under his chin was her favourite position. They fit perfectly “I, on the other hand, as a male who is hopelessly in love with you, felt the desperate need to avenge the sullied honour of my amazing other half.”

Aelin giggled hard “you really sound like a knight.”

“Come on, Sir Rowan Whitethorn of Wendlyn, let’s finish our lunch, I have an hour of mechanics of flight coming up and I need sustenance.”

“Yes, my queen,” he said kneeling in front of her.

Aelin laughed and kissed him deeply “maybe I can be your queen tonight in bed as well.”

His smirk grew wider and Aelin felt heat pool at her core at his expression.

“Whatever m’lady commands.”

They finished their lunch in peace without any more interruptions and eventually they parted ways, going to their respective classes.

Chaol did not bothered her anymore. He didn’t even met her gaze and him ignoring her was all she asked. She was there to learn, he could just go and sulk in the afterburner of a jet, perhaps while on, for all she cared.

Aelin texted Rowan a thank you and his reply was a simple To whatever end.

[weelittleweasley]

guitar lesson (f.w.)

prompt: the band that the weasley siblings had formed brought new excitement to hogwarts. new music, new 

pairing: guitarist!fred weasley x fem! reader

warnings: language, allusions to sex (for like one second)

word count: 4.7k

a/n: this is literally just pure fluff. pure cute musical fluff.

George groaned and halted his drumming, “Bloody hell, Ronald, it’s not that hard to get the chord progression right after the third time drilling the song!” he cried out before tucking a drumstick behind his ear. “We go from G to B minor to E minor back to B minor. What is so hard about that?” he scolds his brother who just rolls his eyes. “Do we want to get this right or not?” George looks to the rest of the band comprised of his other siblings.

Ron just retorted simply, “It’s the first time we’ve ran this song in weeks, George. Everyone is rusty. Just give it a rest. We’ll get it right next go. Besides, aren’t we due for a five?” he looks to his sister who gives him eager eyes and a nod, signaling they were in desperate need of a break. 

George scoffs at his younger brother and says, “No, you’ll get it right the next go. Which starts now. Ginny, from the chorus. Fred, keep the chords crunchy, it sounds better that way. Ron, don’t fuck it up. Ready?” George directs the band as they all sigh. 

They had only been in band practice for an hour and a half and George was already making it a living hell. Sure, it was his idea to form a band and it seemed like a great idea. It was a way to spend more time together, to make music, to meet new people, and blow off some steam. If anything, Fred was the first one to jump on the offer. He knew that it would be a way for his family to bond, but also a way for him to show off his guitar skills that he had been honing for the past few years. Fred had once said, “Ladies love musicians. Especially the guitarists.”

But now it seemed like the band, which once was a low-key, stress free environment has changed wildly. Almost overnight things took a rapid 360. George had managed to book a gig for their band, The Burrow Bangers, at Three Broomsticks for the next weekend. George had convinced Madam Rosmerta to let them have the whole building for the evening for the gig if they promised to bring in the people. Which would not be a problem. Students were itching to see the band of siblings play. But this meant high stakes for the Weasleys. A real gig, paying them real money, to play real music. All they had ever done before was fuck around and play random music that they thought was funny. But this? This was all very new and very different than what they were used to.

With a few strikes of his drumsticks, George yelled out, “A 1, 2, 3, 4!” And the band swelled with music, George keeping rhythm on the drum kit, Fred wailing on his guitar, Ron strumming on the bass, and Ginny belting into the mic.

“She’s a Killer Queen, gunpowder, gelatine, Dynamite with a laser beam. Guaranteed to blow your mind; anytime...” Ginny belted into the mic, her alto voice resonating throughout the room of requirement as Ron and Fred stared at each other, wondering when they would get a break. Fred looked concerned at Ginny who's voice was obviously getting tired from belting for an hour and a half with no water or bathroom break.

Fred drops his guitar and speaks, “Hold on, hold on!” The band fades slowly before George throws up his hands in protest, asking why they stopped. “Do you not hear Ginny’s voice? She’s tired. We’re all tired, Georgie. We’ve been working non-stop for next week’s gig. I don’t think a ten minute break is gonna kill us,” he protests.

George rolls his eyes, “None of you are taking this seriously. We are getting paid for this. People are coming to watch us. Don’t you wanna be decent?” George rises from his seat, searching the eyes of his siblings for some agreement. 

Instead, he’s met with concerned eyes and tired expressions. Ginny looked absolutely exhausted, Fred looked exasperated, and Ron was flat out fed up. But all were equally concerned as to why their brother was so gassed up over this gig. George sighs, “I-” Fred gives him a sympathetic smile. “Of course, we wanna be good, Georgie. But we need to balance things out. Let’s all take a break for a while. Reconvene tonight after some much needed rest and we’ll talk details of rehearsals then. Good?”

Ron eagerly nods his head before slipping the bass off from around his body. Ginny turns off the mic and starts out with Ron, talks of what was for dinner in the Great Hall. Fred approaches his twin and places a hand on his shoulder. “What’s bugging you?” he asks, knowing that this behavior wasn’t typical for George. It wasn’t like George to get serious all of a sudden and push everyone to work without a break. Something was up and Fred could read it all over his brother’s face. 

Defeated, George sighs. “I don’t know, Fred. I guess I’m getting myself all worked up because I invited Angelina to the show and I wanted to ask to be my girlfriend and I guess I just want things to be perfect for her in a way.” Fred gives his brother a knowing look, wiggling his eyebrows. “Oh, shut it, you dickhead,” George laughs, pushing his brother’s shoulder. “You’d do the same if you fancied someone,” he teases Fred as his twin shrugs. “Freddie...you don’t mean to tell me no girl has walked up to you and has told you how hot it was that you played lead guitar in Hogwarts’ premiere band?” he teases.

Fred laughs, “Can’t say anyone has...yet.”

This makes George laugh and shake his brother’s shoulders. “That’s the spirit,” George slings his arm over Fred’s shoulder. The two twins carry back their band equipment as they make their way to the Gryffindor common room. “Seriously, Freddie, I bet I can set you up with one of Angie’s friends. I’ll tell Angie to bring her to the show and she can see just how sexy you look fingering those strings,” George alludes as Fred chuckles. 

“Nah, mate, I don’t wanna just have a set up of a date. I want to naturally meet a girl, you know?” Fred tells his twin as George rolls his eyes. Fred was always a hopeless romantic deep down. Although he had some flings in the past and had his fun with shagging a few girls casually here and there, Fred was looking for something more serious now. Someone he could connect with. “I’m not expecting for the perfect girl to be right around the corner, Georgie, but I’m not expecting her to be a-”

Fred stops mid sentence as he feels his body collide with another body as they walk around the corner of the hallway, making Fred and the person he had bumped into stumble back a bit. “Godric, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t pay attention to where I was going,” Fred looks around at the sheet music that was now cast about the floor. “Did I make you drop anything?” Fred asks, now looking up at a pair of eyes that made his heart skip a beat.

There you stood, a little flustered, in a hurry on your way to the library. You were late for a study group with some of your friends from your Charms class and it would be your third time late this week. If you were late again, they would surely give you shit for it. But as you took in who was causing you to run late, you suddenly didn’t mind. “Uh,” you gulp, “I’m alright, don’t worry. I should have watched where I was going. Now I’ve made quite the mess, haven’t I?” you lightly laugh as you crouch down to help him pick up the miscellaneous pieces of sheet music.

Fred joins you on the floor, picking up the scattered sheets. “It’s equally our mess,” Fred gives you a soft smile as you blush lightly. 

Fred looks up at George who wiggles his brows as if to say Oh La-La! before he winks at his brother. “Oh, hey (Y/N),” George speaks before continuing to walk down the hallway, giving his dear twin some privacy. Fred shoot his brother a look to say, Mate, what the fuck? 

“Hey, Georgie,” you laugh. The two of you continue to pick up the pieces of parchment as you inspect the scribbling on them to be the treble clef. “You’re a musician?” you ask him, referring to the sheets. Fred nods. “What instrument?”

“Guitar,” Fred beams as you widen your eyes and nod. “I’m actually in a band with George and my other siblings,” he tells you. “I didn’t know you were friends with George.”

You hand him a small pile of sheet music before you both rise to your feet. “Yeah, George and I have been friends for a little while. I helped tutor him in Divinations class,” you tell Fred who nods. Fred mentally yells that he wishes George would have told him that he was friends with an absolute stunner of a girl. “I didn’t know that you and George were in a band. That’s really cool,” you tell Fred with a smile.

As you stand before Fred Weasley, you hope he doesn’t know how flustered you were. You had always seen him in the halls with George and admired how charming and handsome he was from a far, but never said anything to him. You could have easily told George that you had a thing for his twin, but you were far too nervous to act on your little crush. You clutched your textbooks closer to your chest as Fred fixed the strap of his guitar on his chest, muscles flexing underneath his shirt as your eyes darting to watch them tug against the thin shirt material. 

Fred spoke, “We started the band a couple of months ago. So it’s a pretty recent development.”

You nod your head and awkwardly stand before him before realizing that you were just staring at Fred’s face, admiring how his lips curled into a little smirk when he looked at you. Clearing your throat, you breathe, “Wicked.” Fred chuckles. “I’ve always been fascinated by musicians. I wanted to teach myself how to play guitar, but I’ve never gotten around to it,” you word vomit, instantly regretting the words coming out of your mouth. Damn it, (Y/N), you might as well just tell him your life story, you think to yourself. 

With a cheeky smile, you watch Fred’s face light up. “I could teach you,” he suggest as your eyes widen. Fred immediately back pedals. “If you want! I mean, Godric knows that you are probably very busy, but if you ever wanted an instructor, I wouldn’t mind giving you lessons,” he retorts as you can’t help but have a lazy smile appear on your lips. Fred’s heart skips another beat as he gulps. “That’s only if you’d like me to teach you, (Y/N).”

The way he spoke your name made your stomach erupt with butterflies. His voice was like honey as words parted from his lips, the sweetest sounds you have ever heard. You watched his eyes as they looked into yours, monitoring how you reacted to his proposal. 

Guitar lessons with Fred Weasley? You would have to be mental if you said no. With a meek smile and you reply, “You really don’t have to, Fred.”

“I want to,” he jumps before clearing his throat, realizing how quickly he answered, making you giggle as Fred blushes a deep red that matched his hair. “I would like to teach you, (Y/N).”

With a nod, you say, “I’d like you to teach me.” 

Fred smiles widely. “Wicked,” he breathes out as you look away from his gaze to hide your rosy cheeks. “Just one catch,” he smirks as you furrow your brows. “You have to come to our show next week. At Three Broomsticks. And bring friends.”

Extending your hand, you tease him, “You’ve got a deal.” Fred shakes your hand firmly as you laugh. “I’ll see you around, Fred.”

You start down the opposite direction before Fred calls out. “First lesson is on Thursday! 4pm sharp,” Fred says as you flip around to look at him. “Tardiness is not tolerated,” he winks at you as you roll your eyes before walking away to the library.

As you walked down the corridors, you could help but smile to yourself. Your cheeks tingled from your large grin as you toyed with the edges of your books. The thought of Fred Weasley’s hands guiding yours as he taught you how to play guitar made your heart giddy. You nibbled on your bottom lip at the thought that danced around your head. Suddenly, you didn’t care how late you were to this study group.

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

Thursday rolled around slowly, but surely and Fred was checking himself out in the mirror, combing his fingers through his red hair, brushing the pieces out of his face. He nervously looked at himself in the mirror. Should he have shaved? Was he wearing too much cologne? Should he brush his teeth for a third time?

He frantically ran around his dormitory room, thinking he should change his shirt again. Maybe you liked the color green better than blue. As if the color of his shirt would determine the outcome of this lesson/date. Fred didn’t even know if he could count this as a date. 

George tapped out rhythms on his bed frame, watching Fred change his shirt for the fourth time as he shook his head. “Freddie, mate, are you really sweating that much?” he laughed.

Fred shot his twin a dirty look. “No,” he spat. “I just...I like the green better than the blue,” he lied, pulling the green shirt over his head and down his torso. Fred darted to his bed and grabbed his guitar and checked the time on his watch. He had ten minutes. “Good Godric,” he huffed.

“You alright? Haven’t seen you this shaken up since the time you thought you ate puking pastilles before your O.W.L.s,” George laughed as he tapped away on his bed frame. 

Fred nervously tapped on his thighs, “I’m fine, George. I, uh, I’m giving (Y/N) a guitar lesson today,” he reveals to his twin who's eyes widen and chuckles, “It’s just a lesson. Nothing else. But I’m bloody nervous about it.”

Sitting up, George speaks, “You got nothing to worry about, mate.” He walks over to Fred and places reassuring hands on Fred’s shoulders. “(Y/N)s a great girl. She’s sweet and funny and proper fit,” George raises his brows as Fred groans. “I’m teasing you, Freddie, calm down. You’ve got nothing to lose. Now get down there and make her swoon.”

Fred was never nervous for dates or flirting with girls. All of that stuff came naturally to him. But for some reason the thought of you was enough to make his stomach do somersaults. The palms of his hands got sweaty when your name was spoken. There was something about you that made Fred Weasley lose his senses and that was hard to do. 

Shaking it off, Fred huffs and leaves the dormitory making his way down to the common room. With each step he descended, his heart beat harder and faster against his rib cage. As he came down the stairs, your figure came into view which only made Fred’s mouth dry with anxiousness and excitement. He took a deep breath in and exhaled in attempt to calm himself down. I got this, she’s just a girl, he thought to himself. “4:00 on the dot,” Fred speaks, getting your attention, causing you to turn around to face him with a smile on your lips. “Very punctual, (Y/L/N).”

You take a good look at Fred and think about how effortlessly good he looked. Hunter green t-shirt hung on his tall frame perfectly as he walked over to where you sat on the couch, acoustic guitar in his hands. “Not to toot my own horn, but I was here at 3:55, Weasley,” you joke as he smiles. “Early is on time and on time is late.”

Fred chuckles, “In that case, pardon me for my tardiness. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive someone as foolish as me.”

His smile made your heart flutter and you couldn’t help but smile back at him. His joy was infectious. How could someone be so addictive? “Hmmm,” you pretend to think, “You’re lucky I’m such a kind and forgiving person.”

Fred places a hand over his heart and feigns relief. “Thank Merlin,” he fans himself as you chuckle. “Alright. You ready to get started?” he asks as you nod your head. “Brilliant, let’s start with the basics...”

After an hour of trial and error, you had managed to learned some chord progressions and strumming techniques from Fred. You had to give it to him; he was a great teacher. He was patient and smart and knowledgable. Not to mention, you loved listening to him talk about music and how passionate he was about playing. When he talked, he spoke with so much heart and life, it made you gently smile as you watched how animated he became. Fred Weasley really was one of a kind. 

You were nearing the end of your lesson as Fred showed you how to play an F chord on the guitar. “Best chord,” he spoke as you looked at him quizzically. “F is for Fred, keep up (Y/N),” he teases making you scoff. 

He explained the finger placements as you struggled to get it just right. “Wait, my second finger goes where?” you ask again as Fred points to the third string. You adjust and strum as an off-key chord resonates. “Now, that can’t be right,” you laugh as Fred shakes his head.

Fred gets up and moves from the chair in front of you to the seat next to you on the couch. He looks at you and asks, “May I?” He gestures to placing his hand on yours as you shake your head.

Gently, Fred places his hand on yours that holds the neck of the guitar as the other hand rests on your other elbow. Having his body is such close proximity to yours made your breath hitch in your throat as you felt his chest press against your back. Fred’s fingers adjust your placement carefully as if you were made of glass, trying his hardest not to make you break into a thousand bits. “This finger goes on the third string and this one stays on the second,” he lowly instructs. “And now, strum,” he speaks, a smile in his voice.

And so you do, a soft F chord playing as the strings underneath your fingertips hum sweetly. You two let the sound ring a little bit, either one of you not daring to breathe, scared to say or do anything. Just the position that you were in, his hands on yours, his chin resting near your shoulder, your back pressed against his chest. You gulped and exhaled softly. “Pretty,” you smiled.

Fred chuckled softly. “Yes, you are,” he spoke making your heart stop, wondering if he had just spoken those words. 

You turn to face him, a questioning look in your eyes as Fred allows a small smirk to dance on his lips. Cheeky bastard, you think to yourself as you smile at him. 

The two of you remain in this position, looking into each other’s eyes for a moment. Fred’s eyes were a rich brown, like pools of chocolate melting under the summer sun. His eyes were full of playfulness and cheer which made joy course through your veins. Fred Weasley was special. 

You didn’t even realize that he was leaning in until his forehead was pressed against yours and you connected the gap between you two, connecting your lips in a gentle kiss. As you kissed, he inhaled deeply, cupping your cheek with his hand, bringing you closer to him. His hands were calloused from the guitar strings as they pressed against your soft cheek. You pressed your lips onto his harder as Fred smiled gently into the kiss, enjoying every moment. You were first to pull away, but it didn’t last long, Fred’s lips following yours for another kiss as you giggled lightly. His lips were soft and tasted of sweet cinnamon and you wanted more, like your own drug. 

Fred gently pulled away before speaking, “I have a confession.” You hum in response. “I was planning on kissing you this whole time. I was just trying to find a good excuse to sit next to you,” he confessed.

You smiled involuntarily and laughed. “I believe that,” you speak before placing another kiss to his lips quickly. “I also have a confession,” you bite your lip as Fred looks at you confused. 

Scooting back a little, you cradle the guitar in your grasp before skillfully strumming a combination of chords that could be recognized as the beginning chords of I’m Looking Through You by The Beatles. Fred’s mouth goes agape and eyes wide as you play better than he could ever. “I lied about not knowing how to play the guitar,” you laughed. “I’ve known how to play since I was ten. I just wanted an excuse to see you again.”

Fred shakes his head in disbelief. “You sneak!” he exclaims. “A woman after my own heart,” he jokes as you laugh before he kisses your cheek. “Well, I guess you don’t need anymore lesson from a git like me. But I still think you should hold up your end of the deal,” he squeezes your hand.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Weasley,” you smile. “Although, I will be coyly judging your skills from the audience.”

Fred laughs, “I’m sure you will be, darling.”

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

After days of rehearsing and planning and scheduling and rehearsing some more, the gig at the Three Broomsticks rolled around. Ginny had managed to convinced the entirety of the Hogwarts quidditch league to come out which already filled the Three Broomsticks at half capacity. But getting more people to come wasn’t a problem. The promise of good music and Butterbeer was enough to have swarms of students flow into the small building. 

The Three Broomsticks was soon teeming with people, chatting and drinking and laughing. The energy was high and the Weasleys could feel it from their make shift backstage (which was quite literally a curtain that Ron managed to pin up). 

However, this meant that expectations were high which in turn made the band exceptionally nervous. Ginny nervously danced around, doing lip trills to warm up her voice as Ron tuned the bass. George sat at his drumming seat and ran over rhythms in his head, Fred pacing back and forth, biting on his nails.

You shuffled through the audience and found Harry and Hermione sitting at a table in the front as you approached them. You could hear Hermione gush about how hard Ron has been practicing for the gig, a rosy hue forming on her cheeks as Harry poked at her crush. As you approach, Hermione notices you and beams, “(Y/N)! Hi! Are you excited for the concert? You know Ron is playing bass?”

Harry rolls his eyes, “Did you know Hermione has a big, fat cru-”

“Shut it, Harry,” Hermione quickly snaps as you laugh. “Anyway, what’s up?”

You smile, “Do you know if Fred is with the others still? I know he was nervous about tonight and I just wanna make sure he’s doing alright.”

Harry looks at Hermione and then back at you. “Yeah, he’s back with the others,” he says as you nod, leaving. But before you can leave, Harry stops you, “Wait, hold on, I didn’t know that you and Fred were....” he looks for the words.

“We’re not officially together, but we’ve been seeing each other,” you confess with a smile. Hermione gives you a teasing glance as she sips on her Butterbeer and Harry nudges her with an ooh. “Oh please. You think you two are slick? Everyone knows Harry fancies Ginny and Hermione is practically head over heels for Ronald,” you teases as they both wear bright red cheeks. “Mhm, that’s what I thought,” you laugh. “I’ll see you both in a minute.” You make your way to the back of the Three Broomsticks, behind the curtain to find a nervous band of siblings. Ginny catches your glances first and a smirk comes onto her lips. “Oh, Freddie,” she sing songs. “You have a guest.”

Fred turns around to face you and relief washes over his face as your heart skips a beat. Fred looked good sporting dark wash jeans and a black henley. Simple, but Godric, it was enough to make you swoon. Fred grabbed your hand and walked you over to the corner for a little more privacy. “I’m glad to see your face,” he spoke before bending down to press a sweet kiss to your lips.

“I told you I wouldn’t miss it,” you squeeze his hand. “How are you feeling?”

He shrugs and gives you an awkward smile as you blurt out a laugh. “I don’t know,” he joins in. “Nervous? Excited? Weird? All three?” 

You reach up and brush his hair out of his face as he relaxes under your touch. Just the simple gesture was enough to calm him down instantly. “It’s alright to feel like that. You are gonna be bloody brilliant. All of you,” you tell him sincerely. “You’ve been working so hard and you are all so talented. You’re gonna knock the audience’s socks off. I have no doubt in my mind,” you encourage him.

Fred smiles and without another word, he pulls you in by your waist to press your lips to his. You wrap your arms around his neck as you kiss him sweetly. His lips are pressed against yours firmly, but sweetly with passion. His touch was enough to make your head reel. Fred pulls away and presses his forehead against yours, “I’m playing for you tonight. And only you.”

Your heart skips a beat as you smile, staring into his eyes with so much adoration. It had only been a week and a half since you had started seeing each other, but you couldn’t help but have the overwhelming feeling that Fred was the one for you. He was everything you could ever ask for. Charming, kind, handsome, funny, witty. Fred Weasley was it. 

“And I’ll be cheering you on the whole time,” you tell him, extending your pinky finger to him as he loops his with yours. The two of you press kisses to your thumbs, making it a pinky promise. “Now, go get ‘em, tiger,” you encourage him. As you walk away, Fred taps you bum playfully as you scurry away, back into the audience with Harry and Hermione. 

The three of you buzz about the band and the atmosphere, sipping on Butterbeer before suddenly the audience starts wildly cheering. You turn your attention to the make-shift stage and see the Weasleys all enter. You immediately start clapping and cheering for the band as Ginny speaks into the mic. “Hello, Hogsmeade!” she laughs as the crowd cheers louder. “We are the Burrow Bangers and tonight we’ve got quite the show for you all!” she exclaims as the audience claps and shouts out. You look over at Harry and a wide grin is plastered on his face. “So, without further ado...”

“1, 2, 3, 4!” George bangs on his drumsticks before 80s rock blares through the small inn, the crowd immediately cheering and dancing the sound of the music.

And you had to admit it. They were damn good. They were all in synch with each other and blended so well together. The Weasleys were performers no matter how much they may hate it admit it. Not to mention, Fred looked hot wailing away on his cherry red electric guitar. His fingers skillfully strummed out chords and he musically added riffs when needed which made the crowd roar. 

You were overwhelmed with pride at the boy you had taken such a keen liking to you and it was palpable. Fred would catch your eyes every now and then and drop his left eye into a wink, making you blush and cheer louder for him.

Tonight, and every night following, he played for you and you only.

[zodiyack]

Love Reunited (Love On The Run - Part Two)

Pairing: Elijah Mikaelson x Female!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, angst reader has a bad bitch moment, fluff, threats + mentions of murder, no proofreading

Words: 2,114

Summary: In the heat of the moment, Y/n says something that pissed Klaus off. Elijah does the only thing he can and tells his wife to run for her life. | The only thing standing between Klaus and forgiveness from his older brother is Y/n and her freedom.

Taglist: @matth1w​, @redspaceace-writes​, @fandom-puff​, @darling-i-read-it​, @dpaccione​, @sebastianstanslefteyebrow​, @simonsbluee​

Masterlist | The Originals Masterlist

Part One.

Ever since Klaus’ resentment for Y/n, and the sworn death sentence he’d given her, chased her out of New Orleans and into constant relocation just to be safe in hiding from her husband’s brother, Elijah had developed a new feeling. He began to loathe his little brother. Though he’d claimed to have detested his brother many times before, this time was different. Even so, that wasn’t the only thing different about this time. 

This time, Klaus knew he was fucked.

He’d cried for forgiveness over the past few years, yet Elijah ignored him every single time. One of the, scarcely occurring, times he actually spoke to Klaus about his apology, he’d brought up the situation with Y/n, quoting the hybrid word for word.

“You did say, ‘live with Elijah’s hate,’ did you not? So, why can you not just live with the burden of the reality that I in fact do, and will always, abhor you, Niklaus? Or are you just so diabolical, so selfish. that you merely cannot fathom losing the one person whom has vowed to stay by your side, always and forever? The one person who can tolerate you.”

“Elijah- ple-”

“So long as my wife is on the run from you, running quite literally for her life, you will never be reprieved.” Everyone who knew Elijah knew that he always kept his word. “I give you my word on that.” Always.

“Please, brother! I’ll do anything for your forgiveness-” He was genuine. As Klaus begged, practically on his knees with tears stinging his eyes, he was a hundred percent genuine.

Elijah turned his head, finally facing his brother with full attention and interest for the first time in a painful handful of years. “Free Y/n.”

“W-what?”

“Free my lover from this condemnation you have unjustly sentenced her to and allow her to walk away from your grudge without harm and without the risk of you creating blackmail material of her actions that you have unreasonably deemed intolerable.”

“Anything else?” He was only kidding, but Elijah wasn’t.

“You’ll have to collect her from whatever location she’s at currently. And please Niklaus, do so without any violence on your behalf.”

He chuckled for a second. Then his smug, carefree, expression morphed into one of uneasy guilt. “You’re...serious?” Elijah held his stern manner. Klaus took his lack of response as a yes and sighed, “Alright. Consider her free.” then he turned to go hunt for Y/n and earn his brother’s pardon.

“If you lay a hand on her,” Klaus halted in his tracks, eyes darting to the side as though he could see his brother clearly despite Elijah being directly behind him, “be it a hair pulled from her head or even a tiny meaningless spiteful threat, there will be splinters for you to pull out of your skin for years. And though it will not permanently kill you, I shall drive stake upon stake through your chest and never feel remorse for any part of it.”

Klaus almost wanted to scoff, laugh it off and tell Elijah he’d never actually do that but a part of him wondered if he really would. If his own brother would end his life for anything done to Y/n. Deep down, he knew Elijah would have a rage that would overflow and cause terror and destruction in it’s wake.

He knew the wood couldn’t kill him. He’d do it over and over again, for the next centuries to come, and the centuries after those have passed, the cycle never ending. A never ending cycle of a living hell. And a hell that he knew would be well deserved for it would only come to such a punishment if he did anything to hurt the love of his brother’s life. An easy mistake to avoid ...if your name wasn’t Niklaus.

“Understand?”

Klaus wondered what happened to the old him; the merciless, blood thirsty, cruel and sinister hybrid, the one true immortal being, now showing mercy to, and retrieving, someone who’d crossed multiple lines in his eyes. Whilst she did have a point, he chose never to say so. He chose to ignore all attempts to draw the light in him into the world. He chose to ignore all pleas for his goodness in fear of his softness- his weakness getting the people he loved hurt.

But it was time to push past that, for if he didn’t, there wouldn’t be any people for him to love.

He swallowed and redirected his narrowed eyes to the door. His jaw clenched and his breathing became uneven. “Understood, brother.”

Niklaus was a stubborn man, and he knew it. But he would do anything, very close to literally anything, to gain his family back. To atone for his mistakes over hundreds of decades. To plea for redemption from their bad sides. And although Elijah would forgive him with simply letting Y/n return to his arms once more, Niklaus new his pleading wasn’t quite over yet.

Y/n wouldn’t just forgive him so easily. She wouldn’t, and because he knew that, he wasn’t surprised when she narrowed her eyes at him and furrowed her brows before releasing an avalanche of years, years of which felt horribly elongated, of pent up rage upon him instantaneously without any form of hesitation.

He found her with the help of witches, and quite easily seeing as moving from place to place as quickly as possible would require avoiding any type of relationships with everyone. She didn’t have anyone to preform a cloaking spell, but she did have great strength as a back-up strategy.

A note, placed by the barkeep, was subtly dropped in front of her, the words written in blue by the pen he’d snatched from a barmaid’s apron as she walked past. Two little words sparked her curiosity almost immediately. Her head snapped up and turned left and right, looking for who the mysterious messenger, whom she hoped was Elijah. Much to her disappointment, the person who suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder was a different Mikaelson.

Y/n grabbed his hand and flung it off of herself harshly. “You?”

“Don’t sound so disgruntled, love, I am here to collect you after all.”

“No. I won’t be going anywhere with you.”  Venom entwined her words as she referenced him. She clenched her jaw and swiftly turned to face the bar again. The scrunched up napkin was thrown over her shoulder. He opened it, “come home” sprawled messily across the soft material.

Klaus felt the anger wash over him but promptly remembered Elijah’s words. He calmed himself with a few deep breaths before clearing his throat and trying again. “I’m afraid I can’t take no as an answer.”

“And I’m afraid I would rather stake myself than go literally any place on this green fucking earth with you.” Y/n spat through her teeth.

Her blatantly obvious execrating feelings for him amused Klaus, a small grin appearing on his lips as he tilted his head. “Do you even know where I’m taking you?”

“To hell, most likely.”

Klaus, unsurprisingly, had a snarky retort ready on his tongue, but she was already out the door and taking a sneaky head start for her run to the farthest place from Niklaus possible. He was on her tail within seconds and cornered her in the woods. A smug leer, not uncommon to see upon his features, promptly slid onto his face.

“What the hell do you want, besides to kill me?”

“You to come with me.”

Y/n paused, as if she were considering his demand, then rolled her eyes. She tried to step around him, “Like that’ll do me any good-”

“It will.” Klaus stepped in front of her, blocking her way once more. “C’mon. From here on out, your sentence is over, you can return to New Orleans-”

“And how do I know you mean the words you speak? How do I know you shall stay true to whatever comes from your mouth?”

“You know me, I-”

“You’re quite correct, Klaus. I know you. I know that you are not infamous for nothing. You lie, deceive, torture, humiliate and do so many other things to people underserving of your cruelty! How should I forgive you when you have yet to adhere for the hurt you’ve infected innocents with?”

His gaze dropped, guilt creeping over his face. He knew what he did to those people.

“Do you even feel bad for what you’ve done?”

Not really. Not all the time. Hardly ever at all if he were to be honest.

“Do you feel the need to morn those you have wrongfully sentenced to death? Those you have sent to the deepest pits of hell based on erroneous judgement?”

She came for his throat, each fact that was spat from her mouth verbatim.

“You are callous and you are heinous! You wonder why your siblings hate you, and yet you constantly do vile things to people! You have erroneously punished people over and over again. You swear you will change, many times, and they believe you but then the next thing they know, they’re in a box for a couple decades. And you think they need to plead for absolution?”

Hundreds of years spent seething in hostility for her brother in law, all ranted in this one moment hit Klaus like a bus, taking the air from his lungs and sending a feeling deep into his gut like someone had just swung a baseball bat into his stomach a dozen times. But she wasn’t finished yet.

“You want to ask for my exoneration? Well you have years, and I mean fucking years, to make up for.” She laughed sarcastically. “To absolve you from everything you’ve put me through, everything you’ve taken from me, everything I’ve fucking missed because of you- to absolve you from all of that would take many years of penitence and work to fix what you have done. Are you really prepared to do that? Are you, Niklaus fucking Mikaelson, ready to take a lengthy withdrawal from your wicked and corruptive reign of evil to earn my remission?”

He hated the fact that she teased him for it, rubbed it in his face, but he knew he deserved it. Klaus knew he deserved every harsh and bitter word she spat at him. He had a thousand of years of blood on his hands, the true number of all the lives he’d snuffed out still paling in comparison to the amount of power that radiated from Y/n, the amount of guilt and remorse she’d forced onto his shoulders with simple words.

“You are no fucking king,” she sneered, “at least, not compared to me.”

Silence made the air heavy with tension as the minutes passed by. Then, she sighed heavily and spoke, slicing the thick tension with an imaginary blade. “I will go with you,” he looked to her with relief, “but I meant every word I said. You will have to work to ensure your vindication. And it will not be an easy task.”

“I understand.” Klaus bowed his head, submitting to her and trading in his crown to prove his worthiness of her forgiveness.

She happily accepted it.

“Y/n?” He couldn’t believe his eyes. Last he’d checked, he hadn’t been bitten by a werewolf or hybrid, nor had he inhaled or consumed any witchy substances that would make him hallucinate. He didn’t pray much, but in his head, his thoughts muttered over and over, “please be real.”

“Elijah!” Her eyes lit up the second they met his form. She surged forward, lips colliding with Elijah’s for the first time in years. He wrapped his arms around her and twirled her round.

The world faded to an irrelevant blur. It felt amazing to be home, to be in his arms once more, to be free of Klaus’ ridiculous furry, free of the ill intentions previously directed towards her. Minutes had went by and yet, neither of the two noticed a single thing.

Years that had passed by soon drifted away, like they weren’t apart for any of it. Like time had hit pause when she’d left his arms and resumed when she returned to them. It felt as though time froze whilst the two embraced. The moment could’ve lasted an eternity had Klaus not cleared his throat to announce his presence.

“So uh...brother...have I earned your forgiveness?”

“I suppose you have.”

“And Y/n? Have I made progress on clearing my name with you?”

She made eye contact with Elijah, exchanging a small grin before returning her eyes to Klaus and nodding slightly. “You’ve got a ways to go, but you’re off to a great start. Thank you, Klaus.”

[sevenstarsinning]

Invasion Ch. 12

Description:  A planet conquering race of Saiyans invaded Earth and deemed it worthy of habitation. After bringing the humans to their heels, they set up a new society where humans had one role, to serve. You found yourself in the unlucky faction of being bought and sold as a human pet. With absolutely no interest in owning a human but no way out of having one, Kakarot made a bid on you at the urging of his brother. It was only a matter of time before you were either killed or forced into obedience.

You can find previous chapters in this link: Ch.11 or you can read it here on my AO3

__________________________________

A routine developed for you, wake up, eat, meet with Gine to train, eat lunch, train more, eat dinner, heal any bruises and scrapes in the healing pod, then back to the palace. Bulma had left you alone for the most part, which was good because you really didn’t feel like explaining to her where you were going and what you were doing. That morning you finished your breakfast and opened your door to head out, but you ran smack into the one person you were just trying to avoid.

“Shit, sorry, Bulma.” You said as she took a step back.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” She asked the question you were trying to avoid.

“Um, just out. I need some fresh air.” You lied.

She pushed her way into your room, “yeah, I understand that completely. Today is not going to be fun for anyone.”

You turned to face her with your brow furrowed, “why not?”

She stared blankly and confused at you, “you- today’s the trial for Kakarot. Did you forget?”

“Fuck. I didn’t even- I knew it was coming up, but I didn’t realize it was so soon.”

“Are you okay? You’ve been a little off lately.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Um, the trial, you’ll let me know what happens?” You hoped to distract her from more questions.

“You do know that you’re expected to be there, right?” She continued to regard you as if you had a second head or something.

“Me? Why? I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Because Vegeta wants to show us off to his father and from now on you’re required to attend any event in the palace. But besides all of that, you love Kakarot, I thought you’d want to be there?”

“Loved,” you corrected, “he made it abundantly clear that it was just great sex.”

“I’m- I don’t know what to say here. You seem so careless about this?”

“No, I cared, I cared too much and ended up hurt. I can’t hold onto those feelings when they meant nothing to him. I’ll go to the trial because the last thing I need is Prince Dickhead angry at me, but I’m not going because of any assumed loyalty to Kakarot.” You felt bad for snapping at her, but you honestly didn’t have the capacity to show any sympathy anymore.

A heavy silence fell over the two of you as you stood there for a moment, “is there anything else I need to know?”

“Just be ready within the hour to meet with the King before the trial and I’d change your clothes if I were you. Also, Vegeta says we don’t speak unless spoken to and even then we probably shouldn’t speak.” Her expression had dropped from concern to one of sadness as she left the room.

You let out a frustrated sigh, wishing you’d said more to her or done something else to make her understand, but it was all too overwhelming and you honestly wanted to just forget everything and move forward, whatever direction that actually was.

Picking out a decent dress shouldn’t have been as hard as it was, but there you were with too many choices and honestly, not enough motivation to care. You grabbed the one that didn’t make you feel completely exposed, black silk with a low cut back. You threw your hair up in a semi-presentable bun and headed down to where you assumed Bulma and Vegeta would be.

You descended the stairs to the main hall to see the two of them standing next to one another as they waited a few feet away from the door.

“Cutting it close, human.” Vegeta snapped as soon as you were within earshot.

“Sorry, dresses aren’t my thing.” You shrugged.

“Clothing isn’t your thing, breeding isn’t your thing, if we weren’t so pressed for time, I’d love to hear what your thing actually is.” He grabbed your arm and pulled you around to his other side.

You peered over to Bulma who looked absolutely flawless in a long, strapless, red dress that hugged her curves almost as if it was her own skin. Vegeta was also apparently wearing his best, his armor was adorned with gold around the seams, a cape flowed behind him, and his emblem was embossed on his breastplate. They really did look like a royal couple and then there was you, looking like you’d rolled out of bed just moments before.

“I’d rather not go on the assumption that she told you this already, but you will not speak, no utterance of even a syllable If you’re spoken to, you’ll answer with a nod of your head. Understood?” He seemed even more tense than literally any other time you’d seen him.

“Got it. No words.” You wondered if Gine was going to make an appearance. She probably didn’t even show for training that morning, especially if she knew about the trial being that day.

“When this is over, there is still the matter of your use to be discussed. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

Before you could respond with some half thought out comeback, the large doors opened, and you immediately felt a tenseness building in your stomach.

The second you laid your eyes on the King, you knew what all of the hype was about. His demeanor alone was demanding of respect as he carried himself without an ounce of carelessness or patience. The scowl he held on his face seemed like a permanent fixture, at least you’d seen Vegeta with a little more range.

“Father.” Vegeta nodded with a slight bow of his head.

“Don’t be so familiar in front of others. Have you already forgotten all of your etiquette?”

“I apologize, King Vegeta.”

You held back any facial expression you wanted to give in the moment about his name being the same as Vegeta’s and their entire planet. Vegeta didn’t seem like the ‘junior’ type.

“Allow me to introduce my humans, this is Bulm-“

The King waved his hand dismissively, “I have no interest in knowing either of their names. My concern only goes as far as the abomination of their blood mixing with a saiyan’s.”

“Our race has bred outside of our line in previous years, they’re the most compatible to-“

“You’re doing nothing but chasing a myth with this hybrid idea of yours. I’m only allowing this rouse to continue because this planet has resources we can exploit and the humans seem to keep the morale up for the lower class saiyans.” The King seemed to sneer at the two of you with a glance that barely lasted one second.

“Of course, sir. I apologize for suggesting their usefulness expands beyond that.” Vegeta cowering was an odd sight to see.

“We need to discuss the sentencing before the trial begins. Where can we speak privately?” He made no move to look at the either of you.

Vegeta snapped his fingers at one of the saiyans standing to the side, “show the King to the study, I’ll be along shortly.”

“Do not keep me waiting, Prince Vegeta.” He shot him a warning glance before following the saiyan.

You waited a moment before relaxing a little. Your entire body had been tense that whole time and it was exhausting.

“Go to the throne room and wait for the trial to begin.”

“Do I have to be there?” You asked.

A thick silence lingered for a split second and you noticed the Prince’s jaw tense before he turned to you and clamped his hand over your throat.

“I’ve suffered your insolence for long enough, if you truly wish to be excused from this then I’ll be more than happy to end your involvement now.” He tightened his grip, his fingers digging into your skin and cutting off any air supply you had.

You grabbed at his forearm, struggling to breathe as your vision blurred, “p-please-“

“I’m not in the habit of repeating myself.” He released your throat and left you gasping and choking for air as he headed in the same direction the King had gone.

You held your throat as you inhaled sharply and filled your lungs with air once more, your eyes watering.

“Let’s go.” Bulma placed her hand on your back and guided you with her, offering nothing else for comfort.

After a moment of walking with her, you were finally able to breathe normally and felt like the color had returned to your cheeks.

“He won’t hesitate to kill you, especially not with the King around.” Bulma finally spoke as you walked.

“Maybe that would be better than this?” You rubbed your neck, knowing bruises were already forming.

Bulma stopped suddenly and turned to you, “if you want to keep toying with your life, then do it when I’m not around. This isn’t a perfect life and it’s by no means the life I wanted for myself, but it’s what I have and I enjoy waking up everyday knowing I’m still alive because I’ve seen what happens to the others who weren’t as lucky, who didn’t get the same opportunity as me.” The tears in her eyes remained there, never falling and staining her cheeks.

“Bulma, I-“

“Just stay on his good side when I’m around, please?” She didn’t wait for you to respond before she returned to her path and walked ahead of you.

You felt bad for putting her in any kind of harm’s way. You could tell she was just as frightened as you, but there was something more to it than that. There was still a lot of unknown bits to how Bulma ended up where she was. You never really asked and she never really offered the information freely. Of course there was the curiosity, but you assumed it wasn’t the same as yours. She always seemed so much more capable and put together, and less likely to end up in an auction. She had a genuine fear that doesn’t come from just hearing about something bad, it comes from experience.

You followed her in silence, wanting to reach out and apologize for being selfish, but you couldn’t find the right words that didn’t make you sound like a complete jackass. You entered the throne room, which had been altered a bit for the trial. Two thrones sat at the far end and a cement post had been placed in the center with what looked like an iron fixture on it.

Bulma took her place next to one of the thrones, obviously knowing which one was for the Prince and which was for the King. You stood next to her and fought with yourself on an apology before deciding on how to say what you needed to say. You grabbed her hand suddenly and squeezed it slightly, pulling her gaze directly to you. She offered a small, fleeting smile before turning away again, but she made no move to take her hand from yours.

You stood there together for what seemed like hours. Either time had stopped or it was just going by so slowly due to the anticipation. You felt anxiety sitting like a rock in the pit of your stomach, not just about the trial, but seeing Kakarot again. You hadn’t seen him in what felt like months but had only actually been a few days. You flexed your freehand, feeling the ache still settling in your fingers from the last session with Gine. You didn’t have the full time in one of the healing pods so there were still bruises and aches that remained. As a few other saiyans entered the room to stand in witness of the spectacle, you thought about how far you’d come since your first time take a step into the palace. You were overshadowed by Kakarot, all of it seeming so daunting in the moment.

The second Vegeta and the King entered the room, Bulma released your hand and seemed to stiffen. Her demeanor changed completely, but you assumed she was more accustomed to this sort of thing than you were. You silently chastised yourself for not asking her what to expect at the trial, how it would go down and what would happen afterward. A few moments passed after they took their positions in the thrones, then the large double doors at the end of the room opened, several saiyans entered, surrounding Kakarot. He was restrained almost in overkill. He was adorned with a collar similar to the one you had, only this one was thicker and probably had a lot more stopping power in it. They even had his tail restrained and pinned down around his waist. You couldn’t help but smirk at the black eye Turles was wearing, it made you feel a little better knowing Kakarot was most likely the one who gave it to him.

“Kakarot.” Prince Vegeta spoke first, drawing attention from everyone in the room.

“Prince Vegeta. King Vegeta.” He offered barely a nod at them while he glanced at you.

Just his gaze alone sent a shiver through you. You still felt that pull to him, regardless of what he’d said before. The pain and hurt was still there, but seeing him again made your feelings grow complicated. Your eyes met his in a split second and you wanted two things, to hit him and make him hurt the way he’d done to you, and then kiss him.

“Let’s begin. You’re being tried for murdering seven elite warriors and conspiring to overthrow myself and the Prince. These are treasonous charges, how do you plead?” King Vegeta said with as much disinterest as he could.

“Not entirely guilty.” Kakarot said.

“Explain.” The King urged.

“I’m only guilty of some of it. I did kill the elite warriors, I take the full sentencing for that, but my motives were my own. I had no plans to unseat you or the Prince.”

A lull of gasps and muttering spread throughout the room from the other saiyans. You noticed Gine and Bardock standing towards the front of the crowd with Raditz near. You wondered if they would stay after the trial, mainly Gine.

“You admit to slaughtering seven saiyans without provocation?” The King questioned.

“I admit to killing them, but it wasn’t without reason.” Kakarot continued to steal glances at you.

“Out of my own curiosity, I will grant a less severe sentencing if you share your reasoning behind murdering your fellow elite warriors.”

There was a silence that fell over the room as everyone froze with intrigue, wanting to hear his explanation. You were also extremely interested in why he would do such a thing, especially when he made such a point to be in defense of his brother and the other saiyans. Kakarot looked back at his family, his gaze meeting Gine’s in that moment before he turned back around.

“I can’t do that.”

“Can’t do what exactly?” The King pressed.

“I can’t share my reasoning.”

“Kakarot, please!” Gine called out, but was quickly silenced by Bardock pulling her back and placing his arm around her.

The King seemed to grow annoyed as he sat forward, “and why not? Are you protecting someone? An accomplice?”

“I acted alone. I’d like to request my sentencing now.” He seemed to be in a hurry to get it over with.

You looked over to Vegeta who had remained quiet. His hand gripped the arm of his chair to the point where his fingers were digging into the wood itself. There was more to this than Kakarot was letting on and Vegeta seemed to have answers.

“You’re forfeiting a right to a fair trial? Without sufficient evidence to discount the charge of treason you will be taking on all charges, regardless of your plea.” The King explained.

Kakarot gave you one last glance, “I plea guilty to all charges then.”

Your heart sank as more muttering erupting throughout the room. Gine turned towards Bardock and buried her face in his chest. Kakarot remained calm and stoic, giving no emotion away as he awaited his sentencing.

“Why is he doing this?” You whispered to Bulma.

She turned her head towards you, “I-I don’t know. I’ve never seen a trial like this before. Normally they have witnesses to their character, their actions, someone to defend them, but he’s giving up all of that.”

“You leave me no choice but to continue with your sentence. Since you are under the Prince’s orders, I’ll allow him to deliver the ruling.” The King sat back in his throne.

“As an elite warrior you pledged your allegiance to protecting all saiyans under the rule of myself and the King. You broke that allegiance when you took the lives of those you swore to protect. We find you guilty of all charges of murder and treason, for which the sentencing is death.” Vegeta spoke with little emotion, his hand still holding a death grip on the arm of the throne.

[tentavamp]

Here are a bunch of my Stone Ocean Bad Girls Club headcanons. They’re all equally weird and together their dynamic is all fucked up and I just think they’re neat. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO TALK TO ME ABOUT STOCEAN GIRLS HEADCANONS AT ANY TIME I LOVE TALKING ABOUT ALL OF THEM, GOOD GIRLS OR BAD GIRLS!

Gwess

Age: 22

Sexuality: Bi-Curious (Abso-fucking-lutely Bi)

Relationship to Others:

Miu Miu: Is intimidated and often inwardly annoyed by Miuccia, but the positive validation the woman gives her for falling in line is enough to keep her subservient.

Miraschon: Finds Miraschon fairly easy to hang around. Wishes she were more affectionate, but the fellow prisoner doesn’t talk over her. She doesn’t even notice most of the time if something of hers goes missing after a visit. Has become rather fond of her, but struggles to analyze her own feelings.

Headcanons:

-Suffers from attachment/ abandonment issues and anxiety, along with an undiagnosed emotional imbalance disorder. She often picks her lips and fingers.

-Her Stand only works when either her confidence or desperation have reached their height, and she herself believes that she can overpower the person. She can’t just shrink anyone she wants on command, and being ignorant about Stands, she often believes Goo Goo Dolls doesn’t like her too much because of this.

-Grew up in the Florida boonies. Isn’t full country, but she spent a lot of her childhood around the swamps.

-Vented her emotions by burning dry trash piles or old, dilapidated and abandoned structures in the wilderness like sheds or cabin frames.

-Her sentence in Stone Ocean involved unintentionally almost killing a recent ex-boyfriend in a fire. The court did not accept her “unintentional” claim with her existing record and history with the victim.

-Is internet illiterate. You could tell her slang words mean anything and she’d believe you.

-Has a few childish interests including Disney movies, My Little Pony and the in-universe equivalent of Calico Critters. She enjoys small, cute things that she can collect in swarms. They make her feel like a benevolent god.

-Is very messily figuring out her sexuality as an adult, because she was conditioned to repress herself in her youth by her religious parents.

-Developed a mild form of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome after a case in her early teens. Her symptoms include occasional joint pain and fatigue, so she avoids heavy activity.

Miuccia Miuller (Miu Miu)

Age: 25

Sexuality: Bisexual (Masculine preference including GNC women)

Relationship to Others:

Gwess: Thinks she’s a pathetic little mouse of a person, but is amused by her unusual personality and often finds use for her eager-to-please attitude.

Miraschon: The two only really talked when Miraschon was required to report to her as a middleman for Whitesnake. Finds the woman rather boring, but she does as she’s told.

Headcanons:

-Disguises herself as a prisoner to keep up with prison gossip. The wealth of information she gathers straight from the prisoners mouths makes her very adept at blackmail. Only a very select few prisoners know that she is actually staff.

-The prison pays her around 75K a year, but she still enjoys bolstering her paycheck with bribes and hush money.

-Literally everything in her wardrobe is designer, but it’s either stolen or second hand. The majority of her makeup and perfume is stolen testers or samples. She can afford all of it; she just prefers to think of herself as “thrifty”.

-She is Whitesnake’s second-hand in the women’s prison, being the middleman between him and his Stand User lackeys. She is unaware that Pucci is her counterpart in the men’s prison.

-Isn’t afraid to use her feminine wiles to get what she wants, only because it’s easy for her.

-If she didn’t have the power and charisma that she does, it would be a lot easier to see her as the messy, trashy bitch she is.

-Hates romance movies with wholly happy endings. She thinks they’re boring.

-She is a born Stand User, and ended up giving a handful of her childhood peers brain damage with an immature and uncontrolled Jailhouse Lock.

Miraschon

Age: 24

Sexuality: Lesbian

Relationship to Others:

Gwess: Secretly feels somewhat protective of Gwess from Miu Miu. She also believes the girl is pathetic but has some budding amount of hope within her. Hangs around her thinking some of that might rub off on her. Is slowly developing feelings for her, but believes herself to be undeserving of many forms of happiness, including close relationships.

Miu Miu: Thinks she’s an obnoxious and pompous bitch. She sees Miuccia as a bad influence upon Gwess that wouldn’t mind putting the younger prisoner through hell. Would probably beat the shit out of her and take her place in the prison hierarchy if she wasn’t so sensible.

Headcanons:

-Feels used and manipulated my Miu Miu and Whitesnake, and wants to avoid Gwess falling to the same fate. She would never admit that, though, and all of her protective efforts are “under the table”.

-Developed her gambling addiction when she discovered that she was a particularly good manipulator herself. Thrives off of swindling those who would underestimate her and let their guard down. She scammed many a businessman in her younger years this way.

-She has a very dry personality and sense of humor, having almost permanently adapted into her poker-face. Every once in a while, more intense emotions slip through, especially when putting on an act, but it hasn’t happened as much since she lost to Jolyne and lost her chance at parole.

-For the most part, most of the women’s prison finds her uninteresting. This is on purpose.

-She can do a few slight-of-hand tricks, and Gwess frequently asks to see them.

-Still steals from Gwess, but she’s only been stealing things the girl wouldn’t miss. Taking what she thinks she needs is just hardwired into her.

-Her sentence came after a failed robbery that was meant to subsidize her debts. After the death of her single mother, who she helped support most of her life, she hit a rough patch of recklessness where she made too many losses to pay back.

[downn-in-flames]

let’s keep it casual

this was written for a trope stew challenge on @hpfanfictalk​ - my assigned tropes were 1) roaring rampage of revenge, 2) snowball lie, 3) friends with benefits, 4) it's personal, and 5) mistaken for betrayal. somehow, i think i managed to squish them all in here :P

read it on: hpft | ao3

[Tuesday 10 May, 15:04]

james potter: u up?

lily evans: it’s 3pm

james potter: good observation

lily evans: you need to get more creative with your ‘hi i’m bored can you come over and fuck me’ lines

james potter: did it work though?

lily evans: be there in 15

*

[Tuesday 10 May, 16:42]

sirius black: ran into lily in the lobby a few minutes ago sirius black: tell me, when are you going to finally own up to the fact that you fancy the shit out of her and aren’t just casually fucking her with no feelings involved

james potter: hmm, but see, that would require that statement to actually be true james potter: seriously, it’s just hooking up james potter: we’ve got a good thing going, i’m not going to ruin that by catching feelings

sirius black: ~catching~ feelings? sirius black: dude sirius black: feelings have long since been caught sirius black: by both of you

james potter: ur wrong but i’m not arguing that point with u anymore

sirius black: because your counterarguments are shit and you know it

*

[Wednesday 11 May, 20:53]

lily evans: i’m going to kill him i’m going to kill him i’m going to kill him lily evans: I’M GOING TO KILL HIM lily evans: give me ONE good reason not to commit murder right now

james potter: you can’t fuck me if you’re in prison?

lily evans: damn you have a point there

james potter: also why are you contemplating murder, that seems extreme

lily evans: two words for you: severus fucking snape

james potter: that’s three words

lily evans: do you want me to kill you too, bud??

james potter: you can’t fuck me if i’m dead james potter: but seriously, what did that greasebag do

lily evans: remember when i beat him to checking out the last copy of that chemistry research journal from the library?

james potter: i believe you described it as ‘the most victorious day of the semester to date’

lily evans: and i stand by that lily evans: but ANYWAYS lily evans: the creepy fucker SNUCK INTO MY ROOM and STOLE IT lily evans: and had the nerve to leave me a fucking LOVE NOTE in its place

james potter: he left you a love note?? james potter: what does it say?

lily evans: that is not the part of this story you should be fixating on lily evans: he wheedled his way through the front desk security and came into my room and WENT THROUGH MY STUFF lily evans: not to mention, the damn journal is still checked out in my name lily evans: so if he doesn’t return it on time, I’M going to have to pay for it lily evans: those things are expensive as FUCK

james potter: what a fucking twat

lily evans: i just lily evans: i can’t with him lily evans: the creepiness and borderline obsession with me is one thing lily evans: the fact that he acts like i owe it to him to be in love with him is another lily evans: but straight-up violating my privacy AND sabotaging my perfect reputation with the university library?? lily evans: i’m taking him down

james potter: hell yeah, you show that fucker once and for all

lily evans: wanna be my accomplice

james potter: that’s perhaps the sexiest thing you’ve ever said james potter: ofc i will be

lily evans: will text u when i come up with the appropriate revenge scheme

*

[Thursday 12 May, 13:02]

lily evans: meet me at the library in an hour

james potter: is this part of aforementioned revenge scheme?

lily evans: obviously

james potter: i shall be there

*

[Thursday 12 May, 15:23]

james potter: okay what the fuck was that

lily evans: in my defense it was not supposed to go that far

james potter: mind telling me what you DID have in mind when telling the librarian that we’re engaged?? james potter: because i’ve been wracking my brain and i’ve got nothing

lily evans: she was supposed to give me edit access to my account to fix my last name lily evans: which she did lily evans: and thanks to my BRILLIANT computer skills from there, the journal is checked out in snape’s name instead of mine lily evans: but clearly i underestimated how close i am with the uni library staff

james potter: no shit

lily evans: anyways, what do you want on our wedding registry

james potter: what

lily evans: i’ve got to give her a wedding website link!! she asked for it, i can’t very well show up at the library next week and not have a wedding website for her lily evans: i also ordered a £5 ring on etsy lily evans: it’s huge and tacky and exactly the sort of thing a trust fund baby like u would propose with

james potter: jfc james potter: put one of those mini waffle makers on there james potter: also i’m offended that you think so poorly of my ring-picking skills

*

[Friday 13 May, 9:10]

lily evans: hi, i have a weird request

remus lupin: that’s always a concerning sentence

lily evans: can you take fake engagement photos for me and james?? lily evans: will pay you in bourbon and chocolate

remus lupin: ……. literally what the fuck, lily remus lupin: why on earth do you need fake engagement photos

lily evans: i need them for our fake wedding website

remus lupin: somehow, that still doesn’t make this make any more sense

lily evans: it’s a long story lily evans: can you though?

remus lupin: *sigh* yes

lily evans: bless u

*

[Monday 16 May, 8:57]

lily evans: thoughts?? lily evans: Attachment - 12 Images

james potter: wow james potter: those look… really good

lily evans: we actually look like an engaged couple lily evans: like….. go us lily evans: alright, time to upload these bad boys onto the website

*

[Monday 16 May, 9:12]

james potter: sirius james potter: oh dear brother of mine james potter: who is nothing but kind and supportive and never gives me shit for anything james potter: how are you this fine evening?

sirius black: spit it out

james potter: as you know, i have been pulled into the most hare-brained of schemes with none other than lily evans james potter: and it spiralled into remus taking a bunch of fake engagement photos for us this weekend

sirius black: i am well aware sirius black: you stole my boyfriend from me on what would have otherwise been a chill saturday morning and used him to take pictures in a fucking flower field

james potter: that is correct james potter: anyways james potter: it has come to my attention that we make a Very Cute Couple

sirius black: are u saying what i think ur saying

james potter: and now i feel weird because i kind of... wish they weren’t fake??

sirius black: u ARE saying it sirius black: oh my GOD sirius black: took you long enough

james potter: hey now, you agreed not to give me shit

sirius black: if you scroll up, you’ll see i never agreed to anything

james potter: i can’t believe you’re being so rude to me in my time of dire emotional distress

*

[Monday 16 May, 15:32]

remus lupin: heard you finally got your head out of your ass and admitted you like evans as more than a friend slash hookup

james potter: i’m going to kill sirius, he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone

remus lupin: he’d like you to know that he never agreed to that either remus lupin: but seriously, it was about time

james potter: :( stop making me feel like an idiot for having feelings

remus lupin: you’re not an idiot for having feelings remus lupin: you ARE an idiot for taking so long to realise you’ve had them

james potter: this is a new development james potter: i only had friendly feelings for her until yesterday

remus lupin: …… james remus lupin: you once woke up in the middle of the night to drive to that 24-hour ice cream shop on the other side of town at 3 a.m. so you could take lily her favourite milkshake while she was studying remus lupin: that is NOT something you do for someone you only have friendly feelings for

james potter: it isn’t???

remus lupin: would you do that for me or peter?

james potter: no

remus lupin: hence, not friendly feelings

james potter: … oh

remus lupin: you are useless remus lupin: absolutely useless remus lupin: truly do not know what lily sees in you

james potter: well that’s mean

*

[Monday 16 May, 16:53]

lily evans: is it sad that i keep forgetting this wedding website is fake?? lily evans: like, i am putting Way Too Much Effort into this given that it is an elaborate ruse to appease some librarians and i keep catching myself fantasising about a real wedding lily evans: literally what is wrong with me

remus lupin: jfc remus lupin: you two really ARE meant for each other

*

[Monday 16 May, 23:49]

james potter: wait what do you mean ‘what lily sees in me’?? james potter: remus?????

*

[Tuesday 17 May, 10:03]

lily evans: stage 2 of burn snape’s life to the ground begins tomorrow lily evans: are you ready?

james potter: should i be prepared for a fake marriage this time?

lily evans: haha no, i promise i won’t spring any fake relationship statuses on you this time lily evans: but now that you mention it… lily evans: check out this work of art lily evans: theknot . com / deerlybeloved

james potter: fucking hell, evans james potter: you went all out

lily evans: umm yeah lol lily evans: turns out designing a wedding website is a really fun way to procrastinate

*

[Tuesday 17 May, 10:16]

james potter: she used a deer pun in the fake wedding page name i actually can’t breathe

sirius black: the transition from complete denial to pathetic sod happened even faster than i expected

james potter: you are ruthless

sirius black: remember when i was the pathetic sod about remus and you gave me SO much shit about it?? sirius black: this is payback, bitchhhhhhh

james potter: you’re right, i deserve this

*

[Wednesday 18 May, 19:34]

james potter: truly, evans, i don’t understand why you’re studying chem when you’re this good at hacking into things james potter: in other news, i’m having the absolute fucking time of my LIFE on snape’s reddit account rn james potter: i just wrote a long essay about how i’ve learned the errors of my bigoted ways and am embracing the blm movement and intersectional feminism and i’ve never seen something get so violently downvoted so fast

lily evans: see, this is why i knew you were the right accomplice for this lily evans: keep destroying his internet reputation and trolling his weird alt-right community with all your research and logic lily evans: you’re doing amazing sweetie

james potter: studying human rights law does occasionally have its perks james potter: this, plus ya know the whole ‘making the world a better place’ thing

lily evans: i was about to say lily evans: i should hope the only perk isn’t trolling the internet

james potter: ahahahahah yessss one of the admins is threatening to kick me out james potter: also he keeps using mudblood as an insult and i’m like ??? james potter: what does that even mean??

lily evans: somehow i feel like you don’t want to know

james potter: update i found out, and yes you were right, i didn’t want to know

lily evans: in that case, not gonna ask

*

[Thursday 19 May, 17:35]

severus snape: Potter.

james potter: fuck i really thought i’d blocked your number

severus snape: You’ve pulled childish pranks in the past, but getting me banned from the Death Eaters Messageboard is a new low.

james potter: i’m sorry what james potter: i don’t know what you’re talking about

severus snape: Cut the bullshit. severus snape: In the process of reinstating my account - with none of my reputation points, might I add, thanks for that - I’ve acquired photo evidence of the posts that resulted in my expulsion. severus snape: I know no one else who would both make a play on words about deer and quote a Taylor Swift song in the same sentence. It was obviously you, you childish buffoon.

james potter: haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate

severus snape: I’m not joking around here.

james potter: baby i’m just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake

severus snape: You’re going to regret this, mark my words.

james potter: i shake it off, i shake it off

james potter has blocked severus snape

*

[Thursday 19 May, 19:03]

lily evans: come over i’m bored

james potter: is this a ‘come over so we can have sex’ type of come over or a ‘come over so we can watch the good place for the hundredth time’ type of come over

lily evans: why does it have to be one or the other?

james potter: touché james potter: omw

*

[Thursday 19 May, 22:38]

james potter: RED ALERT I HAVE FUCKED UP james potter: you’re 1000% gonna roast me for this and i don’t fucking care because if i don’t tell someone i’m actually going to explode

sirius black: what happened with lily this time

james potter: bold of you to assume this has to do with lily

sirius black: does it have to do with lily?

james potter: ….. yes

sirius black: my bold assumption proven correct

james potter: anyways, we were shagging, as we do james potter: and it was the ~heat of the moment~, you know??

sirius black: i am not qualified to give you sex advice, if that’s where this is going

james potter: and i might’ve accidentally told her i loved her

sirius black: oh fuck that’s not where this was going

james potter: and now i don’t know what to doooooo

sirius black: well, what did you do after you said it?

james potter: honestly i blacked out james potter: i think i backtracked by telling her i meant that i love fucking her and then just like….. left as soon as we were done

sirius black: jesus fucking CHRIST

*

[Thursday 19 May, 22:54]

remus lupin: sirius is banging his head on the table repeatedly and given that he was texting you a few minutes ago i can only assume you said something on a whole new level of stupid

*

[Thursday 19 May, 23:01]

james potter: sirius??? james potter: help???

sirius black: i have never gone out on a date with a woman and even i can tell you that that is absolutely NOT what you do when you tell a girl you love them for the first time sirius black: you absolute knob

james potter: so what do i doooooo

sirius black: tell her the truth maybe? sirius black: the cat’s out of the bag now anyways and it’s not like you can make things any worse than you already have

james potter: but we agreed no one was going to catch feelings when we started sleeping together!! james potter: we pinky swore james potter: i can’t break a pinky swear

sirius black: ffs the fact that you two pinky swore on a sex agreement is something i’ll need to give you shit for at a totally separate time but that’s not the most pressing issue at the moment sirius black: my point stands, breaking a pinky swear is still an improvement on the current situation sirius black: just tell her the truth so you two can become that nauseatingly adorable couple and overtake me and remus as the most vomit-inducing pair in college

james potter: ughhhhh james potter: curse my blood-deprived brain for getting me into this mess

*

[Saturday 21 May, 9:37]

lily evans: phase 4 of fucking up snape’s life starts today - you ready?

james potter: uhhh yeah james potter: listen, are you okay?

lily evans: yes? why wouldn’t i be?

james potter: idk james potter: but good, that’s good

lily evans: yep, it’s good

james potter: how many phases are there to this snape plan anyways? james potter: will i get to know any of the phases in advance?

lily evans: 4 phases lily evans: phase 1 was putting the world back in its rightful order, phases 2-4 are all about destroying the things he holds most dear lily evans: see: his top 5 placement on that alt-right message board (phase 2), and his good reputation with all the chem professors (phase 3) lily evans: (i handled phase 3 on my own, btw)

james potter: fair enough, don’t know how i would’ve helped with chem professors anyways james potter: pretty sure one of them (slughorn i think?) hates me from that one time sirius and i let chickens loose in the science building

lily evans: oh god yeah he definitely probably does lily evans: anyways, phase 4 is sneaking into his room like he did to mine, and you’re gonna leave the note lily evans: he’ll be properly pissed off if he knows you got in, but he’d probably just wank to a note i left

james potter: thanks for the most cursed mental image of my life james potter: but you’re prob right tbh

lily evans: anyways, i’m pretty good at picking the locks on the dormitory windows, so i’ll go in that way and unlock his room from the inside - all you’ll need to do is show up lily evans: tonight at 7

james potter: roger that

*

[Saturday 21 May, 13:46]

remus lupin: have you talked to lily about the infamous mid-coital ‘i love you’ yet?

james potter: jfc must sirius tell you everything james potter: and no, i’m getting there i swear

remus lupin: get there faster

*

[Saturday 21 May, 22:40]

sirius black: is everything okay?? sirius black: actually wait i know the answer to that sirius black: you came in soaking wet two hours ago and grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the kitchen and have been blasting all too well at top volume ever since sirius black: everything is definitely not okay

james potter: fcuk lily evans james potter: and not in the fun way james potter: i’m never gonna fuck her in the fun way again

sirius black: what happened?

james potter: rememember how we were sabotaging snep’s life james potter: *sneep james potter: *snape james potter: turns out, she and sneep go way back james potter: motherfucker james potter: sneep is jsut his name now james potter: anyways, she set me up and betrayed me james potter: sneep knew i was gonna be there and put a booby trap on his door, and he and lily were inside LAUGHING at me

sirius black: wait what the fuck sirius black: lily would never

james potter: but she would apparently james potter: she even has pictures of them in primary school together james potter: i just james potter: fuck

sirius black: that’s actually beyond fucked up

james potter: originally this whole revenge on sneep thing was just me following along with lily’s rage james potter: but now it’s personal james potter: the lily revenge plan didn’t have a phase 5, but the james version does james potter: and i’m taking both of them dwon james potter: is it petty? yes james potter: will it actually fix th fact that evans betrayed me? no james potter: but will it make me feel better? yess james potter: and that, i think, is a valid reason james potter: will u hlep me??

sirius black: i mean, i’m always down to fuck with sneep sirius black: but uhh, maybe sleep off the alcohol first sirius black: and stop playing all too well

james potter: okye

sirius black: that was not an invitation to start playing you’re not sorry

james potter: taylor swift is th eonly person who gets my sadness right now i cant’ help it

*

[Sunday 22 May, 9:21]

lily evans: i called you like 5 times last night, why didn’t you pick up

james potter: i wasn’t aware you’d want to talk to me james potter: too busy hanging out with your bff sneep

lily evans: jfc you’re such a drama queen

james potter: excuse me

lily evans: also god no i’d never hang out with snape lily evans: sneep? lol

james potter: it was a typo that i’m making into an Official Thing james potter: you two seemed awfully cozy yesterday james potter: you know, when you betrayed me and led me straight into a trap

lily evans: ffs i didn’t betray you lily evans: if you would’ve picked up any of my calls last night, i would’ve been able to explain to you that this was all part of the plan

james potter: wait what

lily evans: i had to make you think i’d betrayed you because you can’t act for shit

james potter: why did you need me to think that

lily evans: for the real phase 4 lily evans: i’m destroying everything snape holds dear lily evans: which, yes, includes both his weird messageboard reputation and his teacher’s pet status, but you know what’s at the very top of that list? lily evans: his perpetual wank that i’m going to realise he was the perfect man for him all along lily evans: hence, i have lulled him into a false sense of believing his fantasy has finally come true so i can crush it under my heel once and for all

james potter: that is… downright diabolical

lily evans: i take revenge crusades very seriously

james potter: ok but how do i know you’re not double crossing me again?

lily evans: bc for fuck’s sake in what world would i EVER want to be with someone who treats me like a fucking prize that he’s owed for being nice to me as a kid?? lily evans: c’mon potter, you know me better than that

james potter: it felt SO REAL yesterday though

lily evans: that is because i, unlike you, am excellent at acting

james potter: why do you keep implying i’m a bad actor??

lily evans: because you are lily evans: exhibit a - you told me you loved me and then proceeded to full-on panic so hard that you gave the world’s worst cover up and ran away at the first possible moment

james potter: oh god, you noticed that

lily evans: of course i noticed that, because once again, you are the world’s worst actor

james potter: yikes james potter: i’m sorry, i know i managed to break literally the only rule we had going into this arrangement

lily evans: it’s actually kinda convenient, tbh lily evans: considering i broke it as well

james potter: you what

lily evans: as it happens, i have somewhat recently come to the realisation that my feelings for you are somewhat outside the bounds of what one would consider ~friendly~

james potter: was it the wedding website james potter: is that what did it

lily evans: embarrassingly enough…. yes

james potter: SAME

lily evans: wait seriously??

james potter: so serious i’m not even gonna make a sirius pun james potter: i mean, did you SEE how good we look together?? james potter: evans, we are a POWER COUPLE

lily evans: hell yes we are

james potter: a power couple who takes sneep down once and for all

lily evans: hell yes we are x100 lily evans: come over in a bit? gotta discuss the actual plan lily evans: i may have an idea that makes it even better

*

[Sunday 22 May, 10:21]

james potter: on second thought, plans have changed yet again

sirius black: i take it this is a positive change sirius black: given that you have now taken to blasting call it what you want

james potter: :)

*

[Sunday 22 May, 13:05]

james potter has unblocked severus snape

james potter: hey bro i just wanted to say i’m sorry for trying to sneak into your room

severus snape: You’re not my bro. Don’t call me that. severus snape: We both know you’re only apologising because you wanted to get into Lily’s pants.

james potter: not what this is about but go off i guess

severus snape: You’re just jealous because for once, the nice guy did get the girl. severus snape: Apology not accepted, by the way.

*

[Sunday 22 May, 13:13]

james potter: Attachment - 1 Screenshot james potter: at what point do i get to tell him i’ve actually been in your pants

lily evans: your time will come lily evans: but for now, stop texting sneep and put your phone down so that you can cuddle with your naked girlfriend who’s literally on the other side of the bed waiting for you

james potter: don’t have to ask me twice

*

[Sunday 22 May, 13:57]

lily evans: hey sev? wanna meet me at the founder’s garden this afternoon?

severus snape: Of course. Let’s do 4.

lily evans: looking forward to it xx

*

[Sunday 22 May, 18:59]

sirius black: heard sneep had a temper tantrum so dramatic half of the college overheard it

james potter: it was iconic

sirius black: also heard you and evans are engaged now???

james potter: ah, that part is just hearsay james potter: we decided to lean into the fact that we’ve already got a fake wedding website and just throw a fake proposal in there for good measure james potter: it’s still not an actual engagement james potter: but sneep doesn’t know that, and he never will

sirius black: that is so fantastically stupid, but then again, i don’t know why i’d expect anything less from you two at this point

james potter: i am going to buy her a less shitty ring though - not like an actual diamond one, but something in the middle ground, ya know? james potter: if she���s gonna wear it all the time it might as well be nice

*

[Sunday 22 May, 23:41]

severus snape: You are despicable. severus snape: You stole the girl who was clearly MINE. Lily loved ME first.

james potter: first of all, lily doesn’t belong to anyone james potter: second of all, she picked me

severus snape: And we all know you’re just going to drop her as soon as you get your dick wet.

james potter: not that our sex life is any of your business, but i can assure you that i have already disproven that theory

severus snape: That’s disgusting. I didn’t need to know that.

james potter: i mean, you’re the one who keeps bringing things back to getting into lily’s pants james potter: just wanted to share that the experience is indeed a pleasant one, 10/10 would recommend, not that you’ll ever get to experience it for yourself

severus snape: Fuck. You.

james potter: you know what i think, sneep?

severus snape: My name is Snape. Surely your pea brain can at least spell that properly.

james potter: i think you need to calm down james potter: you’re being too loud

james potter has blocked severus snape

*

[Monday 23 May, 12:54]

lily evans: fyi the uni library staff sent us one of those mini waffle makers as an engagement gift

james potter: oh my god james potter: best fake engagement ever

lily evans: figured you’d enjoy that

[queertazsecretsanta]

A gift for @all-made-of-stardust, created by @gravitaz!

~~

tiles are cold (so am i)

warnings: bad words, allusions to ptsd and other mental illnesses. we’re doing some good old fashioned hurt/comfort, lads

summary: taako looks terrible. he has dark circles so deep that kravitz wonders if he can feel where they indent his skin, and even in the dim light from the few candles in the corner of the room, kravitz can see that his olive skin is at least a shade or two paler than normal. he looks ill, and that sends a spark of anxiety shooting down kravitz’s spine.

There’s familiarity in hiding from love and from warmth and from light. And familiarity, Taako used to find, is comforting.

When everything else failed him and when the world treated him with almost calculated cruelty, he found it simple to take the hand of habit and treat it in the same way. The world was a game of chess, a game of strategy, and he never lost. He was never able to afford to lose. He was all alone, in this world that was dark and dangerous and cruel. He had no one to pick up the knocked over pawns. That was a lesson he learned years ago in Glamour Springs; a lesson he was reminded of in Refuge.

So when Istus changes her tune, naturally, he grows suspicious.

Merle says never to blame the Gods for suffering. But when they are so unknowable, Taako finds it difficult not to. Especially Istus; it’s all well and good being one of her emissaries, after all, but he finds it hard to believe that she can be the Goddess of Fate and yet have no control over the tapestry she weaves.

Of course, the parting of the clouds brings with it a little metaphorical sunburn. Yes, he gains back Lup, and sure, he’s reassured of Kravitz’s love. His family surrounds him, five other little birds, but it all hurts with the sixth there in the centre of it all, his little sister, a woman who stole everything from him for ten years, only to give it back when she got caught. Maybe Istus isn’t feeling so kind yet.

Neither is he, to be quite fucking frank. That kind of thing requires time that he has not yet had, and a fortitude he has had no reason to develop. The wound runs too deep.

Standing in his kitchen at only the Gods know what time shows him exactly how fresh it is, and not just the one she left him with. The light of the moon leaks in through the window, and three candles in the corner cast a strange, flickering light across the room, and Taako’s leaning over a counter trying desperately to catch his breath like he never learned how to breathe. The air in the room is thick and heavy as he tries desperately to push it into his lungs.

This is why he doesn’t fucking sleep any more. He doesn’t even need to do it, so why the hell he subjects himself to it is beyond him.

That’s the funny thing about grieving, and the odd thing about guilt. No matter whether or not a person thinks they might be over it, it never really goes away. Taako knows he isn’t responsible for what happened to those poor forty, and he knows his family is safe and alive and well. But whenever he closes his eyes, that mass grave still haunts his thoughts and all he forgot from those hundred years comes back to pester him in his dreams. He can’t seem to catch a break from it.

“Taako?”

He whips around so fast that he’s surprised the sound barrier doesn’t shatter around him, glamour up like a shield. Kravitz’s tired eyes greet him from the doorway. It makes something ache in Taako’s chest, seeing him this way. He grows more human by the day; skin warmer, breath deeper. He forgets that, while Kravitz is death’s emissary, he is a person and he is softer, gentler, now.

“Oh, Kravitz,” Taako says, as casually as if Kravitz had just come back from a trip to the Fantasy Costco. It’s a pretense he hides behind well; after all, he has had several years to practice, and several years to learn how to work through the guilt that bites at him for his dishonesty. He drops his glamour, but still throws out his best grin. “Bit early to be going to work, isn’t it, babe?”

Kravitz scowls.

Taako looks terrible. He has dark circles so deep that Kravitz wonders if he can feel where they indent his skin, and even in the dim light from the few candles in the corner of the room, Kravitz can see that his olive skin is at least a shade or two paler than normal. He looks ill, and that sends a spark of anxiety shooting down Kravitz’s spine.

“What’s the pout for, handsome?” His boyfriend’s voice catches him off guard. “M’ not allowed to grab myself some eats at three AM, is that it?”

Kravitz, of course, knows better than to go for the bait. “Not even close,” he says, pulling himself up to sit on the island in the middle of the kitchen. The granite is hard and glacial underneath him, but it takes away some of the stone-cold formality of what he wants to say, what he wants to talk about. “It’s your house too, love. You know I don’t mind. I’m just worried, that’s all.”

Taako’s jaw sets hard for just a second, almost imperceptibly. When his speaks, his voice is noticeably softer. “About what?”

“Well, you. This is, uh, extra, even as far as you go.”

“And what about it is extra, exactly?” Taako breezes past him, and in the dim light of the room, Kravitz thinks he spies that Taako’s face is just a little redder, a little puffier than usual. It’s also noticeable in the way that Taako begins to clatter around the place for something, anything to do to stop Kravitz from worrying that something is wrong. It hurts to watch. “Maybe ch’boy just wants some fucking pancakes, alright? That’s nothing to worry about, is it?”

“We’ve been over that already,” Kravitz says. “And the answer was no. But it isn’t that I’m worrying about.” He slides himself down from the countertop, deciding that this is no longer the type of conversation that he can force to be casual. Taako pauses at this motion, seeming to get what it means. The metaphorical gloves have come off. “Look, if you don’t want to talk, then that’s fine. But-”

“Fuckin’- don’t do this to me, bones,” Taako replies, voice a little thick. “Things’re fine, just- you know me. Takes more than a nightmare to take ol’ Taako down.”

Kravitz sighs. “Stop it.”

“What?”

“Fucking- that.”

“I’m not catchin’ your vibe, Krav.”

“Stop pretending you’re okay, Taako.”

Kravitz swears that all the air in the room turns to sponge when Taako puts the spatula in his hand down forcefully. He could probably hear the beat of a hummingbird’s wings, the silence left in his wake is so deafening. “I know you do it because you’re worried about me, too,” he continues, “even though you won’t admit as much. And you know that I’ll never force you to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about. But please, for the love of the gods, stop pretending that everything’s fine. That just worries me worse.”

The silence doesn’t let up, and every moment that passes is another anxious knot that forms in Kravitz’s stomach. He is sure that this will go one of two ways, and neither one is pleasant. Either Taako will put up another wall, another fifty feet for Kravitz to scale, or all of the ones he currently has built up will crumble unceremoniously at his feet. Even though both outcomes make him feel a little sick with worry, he decides in an instant that he will deal with it, if it is what it takes.

However, Taako does something that Kravitz does not account for. He sighs, and his shoulders relax.

“Why didn’t you just fuckin’- just tell me that-” He seems unsure as to how to even start his sentence. And Taako is shorter than Kravitz to begin with, but in the low Candlelight, Kravitz swears that he has never seen Taako look smaller. “You know, I hate it when you’re right. But I don’t- I don’t think I do wanna talk.”

Not yet, anyway. He doesn’t doubt that it’ll all come out on another morning just like this one. Uglier, more raw, less restrained. He’s already had some times like that, but Kravitz has not yet been privy to them all. He thinks that this will come with time. And a warm relief settles in his chest when his boyfriend nods and his hunches are confirmed.

“You got it.” Kravitz dithers for a second. And then, wordlessly, he opens his arms in Taako’s direction.

One thing that Kravitz understands about Taako, even for their comparatively short time together, is that Taako is not massive on physical affection in these situations. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule; the plate of sapphire on Phandalin, Carey and Killian’s wedding, their evening at the Chug N’ Squeeze. But under this circumstance, raw emotional vulnerability is not something Taako handles well. It’s a little bit of a surprise when Taako regards this posture, meets Kravitz’s gaze, and slots himself into the open space in Kravitz’s arms.

They stand like this for what is probably only a few minutes. Kravitz feels as though he could hold Taako forever, though. He doesn’t say this.

“Taako,” he says instead. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” Taako whispers, without hesitation, because it’s the truth. He laughs, and the sound is just a little bitter. “Should fuckin’ act like it, shouldn’t I?”

Kravitz, though, does not laugh. He simply shakes his head. “Sometimes, that just isn’t how things are wired,” he says softly, pressing a kiss to the top of Taako’s head. “And that’s alright. We can rewire it, no sweat. It’s not as if we’re on a time limit here, my love.”

“Does five or six hundred years count as a time limit?”

This time, Kravitz does laugh, and it warms Taako’s veins. “Well, yeah,” Kravitz says, “but I’m literally an emissary of death herself. I think I can pull a few strings to get us a bit longer.”

Taako grins. “Tight.” And then, after a moment’s pause, “Does that mean we have time for me to make these fucking pancakes? Because I don’t know about you, but I’m not really in the mood to go back to sleep.”

Kravitz tucks Taako’s hair behind his ear, presses a gentle kiss to his forehead, and says, “More than enough.”

[gcldveins]

HELLOOOOOO everyone !!!!!!!! i just wanna say .. thank you SO MUCH for joining misty hollow with jin and i , you have no idea how happy it made us to see so many people interested and join and like .. just clearly so in love w their own muses so like i just wanna say i love u all with my whole freaking heart !!!! ok enough w the sappy stuff let me introduce to u all literally the worst muse i have ever created .. malcolm o’sullivan. but he goes by sully bc he was ur og e-boy who goes “ oh ? my favourite band ? you wouldn’t have heard of it .. they’re called the rolling stones uwu ” and i rlly do hate him for that... it’s okay tho i punish him accordingly :~)

overview

✎⌠paul rudd. cismale. he/him⌡❝ — well, look who’s just arrived ! if it isn’t the one and only malcolm o'sullivan. though, around here they’re known as the harlequin. don’t tell ‘em i said this but the forty-seven year old owner of o'sullivan’s books kinda has a reputation of being stubborn and irresponsible. but y’know, they can be creative and analytical too. typical aquarius. anyways, welcome home and stay safe sully ! ❞

statistics

full name: malcolm eamon o’sullivan

nickname(s): sully, anything else and he twitches ..

date of birth: february 2nd, 1973

hometown: misty hollow, connecticut.

gender identity: cis gender 

preferred pronouns: he/him

sexual orientation: bisexual

hogwarts house: ravenclaw

aesthetic: an old leather jacket thrown over a wrinkled t-shirt, dog-eared pages, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes, untied laces, the soft rumbling of a motorcycle engine, messy handwriting, calloused fingertips

distinguishable characteristics: is looking homeless a distinguishable characteristic..

pinterest board: here.

their song from the sigh no more album bc i love this album and it makes me Sad™ : little lion man 

background ( murder tw )

— born in the town of dingle, a small port town in ireland, malcolm and his family immigrated to america when he was ten years old. they moved into misty hollow after his father opened up his own bookshop and the o’sullivan’s have been there ever since. 

— always having been a rebellious child, malcolm ( slowly gaining the nickname sully in school ) seemed to have a knack for doing anything that pissed his father off. his greatest act ? moving out as soon as he graduated without so much as a goodbye.

— malcolm was only a wee lad when the misty hollow murders were happening. his older brother, his only brother, was unfortunately one of the victims, being eight at the time. he’s not too torn up about it, he was only two years old. but his father reminded him everyday growing up, how much smarter and accomplished and just overall better his brother was than him.

— the only thing that sully was grateful for about his father was the love for books he had ingrained into him. growing up, he developed a knack for writing and he ended up going to the university of pennsylvania for journalism. after that, sully moved out to new york where he worked as a journalist for the new york times and wrote articles on political updates and reports. 

— he met his wife in new york and they had three children together, two girls and one boy. sully was living the classic american dream. until, of course, it was all ruined in a single camping trip. 

— it was just sully and the three kids, except the trip was cut short and he had to come home with two kids instead of three. sully’s youngest, nancy, was taken at the campgrounds and evidence of her murder was found in a nearby cabin.

— this tore sully’s family apart. the tragedy forced him towards a downwards spiral, an endless cycle of destructive habits. it got to the point where his wife decided to divorce him and to take the kids with her. 

— sully eventually, reluctantly, made the decision to return to misty hollow. there, he stayed with his parents for a bit until he got a job at o’sullivan’s books and was able to take a couple months to get back on his feet. 

— his parents initially pushed him towards trying to work at the mystic herald but sully hasn’t written a single sentence since his daughter died. now, his father has essentially left him to run the bookshop for him, which sully doesn’t mind. it’s quiet work that doesn’t require too much effort.

personality

— to sum it up in one sentence .. sully has essentially has regressed into a man-child in the more recent years of his life, but the inferiority complex is a tried and true constant. 

— he hasn’t really properly dealt with his daughter’s death ( even though it’s been over a decade.. ), just lives in a constant cycle of whenever he does try to think about it, he feels like shit and just thinks about all the things he could’ve done differently so he stops immediately. 

— sully always wanted to be a dad, to prove that he could be a better one than his own father. so he feels like he really failed in that retrospect. he’s like a human pity party. though he does that classic thing where he glosses over his sad feelings with destructive behaviour and inappropriate humour.

— very self-indulgent, does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. as long as it makes him feel better, even just for a moment, he’ll do it. doesn’t take anything very seriously, just kinda jokes around all the time. is one of those people that just give off.. kinda pathetic vibes you know? like you look at him and you’re like ?? what are you doing with your life dude ?? and he’s like idk

— but, on the bright side, this makes him pretty easy-going and down-to-earth. definitely a roll-with-the-punches and no bullshit type of guy, isn’t discouraged by much and doesn’t care a whole lot about what others think of him. it’s easy for him to engage in conversation and be all charismatic when he feels like it. 

— despite all .. of that, sully actually comes across as a relatively okay guy. he can be friendly and crack a few jokes while he’s at it, he’s one of those people that, as long as thinks you’re chill, treats you like you guys have been friends forever. but he can be pretty crude / vulgar at times, sooo how others react to that is kind of a gamble !

wanted connections

his one true bro <3 just someone that’ll be a complete idiot with him and they are definitely a bad influence on each other. this person probably hangs around the bookshop alot and they just spend all day with each other doing and saying stupid shit. like you know that gif set of seth rogen and joseph gordon-levitt where one’s like “ i’d fuck you ” and the other goes “ thanks :3 ” that’s it.. those are the vibes..

drinking buddies ! these two just get really drunk off their ass together and probably don’t even know each other that well despite of like.. several years of sort of friendship. one night they’re probably five drinks in and sully goes “ when i was married — ” and they’re just like “ wayment .. what the fuck . ” and ! maybe if your muse has something to get emo about ! maybe they can get drunk AND emo together <3

casual relationships ? he could have one or two of these ! sully.. does not date. tried being in a serious relationship once after his divorce and it ended... terribly. like imagine asking your adult boyfriend if he wants to move in together and his response is essentially just “ ... yeah i’m ok thanks tho. ” and you never hear from him again ndijgnk

that being said... if anyone wants that plot alluded to above .... let me know......

for the younger muses out there ! anyone that he’s kind of ? taken under his wing. pseudo-children essentially. i can’t promise that he’ll be a good influence.. he’s probably not even aware that he’s done this lmao but deep down, sully’s still a dad. he’ll probably be protective over the youngins but shows it in the form of tough love, y’know ? probably tells your muse to stop being a shithead all the time, cute stuff like that.

and some more casual connection ideas that we can further flesh out through some plotting / brainstorming:

old friends from misty hollow

regular customers

co-workers

an unrequited crush ( either on sully’s end or your muse’s )

a good influence on him .. please... i’m begging you

someone that can nerd out over books with him !

friends !!! everyone needs friends and lucky for sully, he’s pretty good at making them !! in a pushy and annoying way..

enemies / frenemies pls ... these are always so much fun

anything and everything else !! if we can’t figure out a plot between sully and your muse, we can always just do it old school and throw them at each other in a random thread and see what happens !!

[actually-good-rwbyaus-moved]

I already apologize for this angst. AU where Yangs underlying suicidal tendencies are adressed by someone (maybe Blake?). Cause seriously there are LOTS of them like how she still felt she should die for a mistake she did when she was 4! I consider this AU good as it is preventing of Bad consequences and could have some good character Development. Maybe in Atlas there was a Situation where Blake realized it? I mean... try to convince me Yang ISNT somewhat suicidal.

So uh. This is way more than you wanted but I took your last sentence as a challenge. Under a cut for length and TW.

TW for suicidal ideation!

*cracks knuckles* you want me to convince you? Here we fuckn go pal.

So, as someone who is suicidal (not like. Actively. But ya boy just does not want to exist most days), Yang does not read as suicidal. Y’know who does though?

Miss Weiss “My Aura is extremely low and I’m going to fling myself into this exploding geyser to take out an enemy” Schnee. Miss Weiss “Velvet has just been taken out by a mech and I’m going to run into that fight with low Aura and no guarantee of my semblance working” Schnee. Miss Weiss “Constantly throws herself at the enemy with low/no Aura and almost dies” Schnee. Weiss is super bad at taking care of herself during a fight.

Or even Blake who’s Semblance requires her to stand in the way of someone’s weapon before she can leave a clone and get out of the way. We see her stare down Adam thrice with low Aura as he stabs, slices, and shoots at her. If Blake had been just a second slower with her Semblance her head would be gone. She would have been shot in the face. Or she would have been stabbed again. When she’s fighting Roman she literally had to wait for his weapon to be right there before getting the fuck outta the way or else the Dust she used wouldn’t have worked. Blake, who was ready to lay down and die first because she is arguably the most depressed out of the team? Blake, who literally set her house on fire to draw a crowd so she could make a political speech. Blake disregards her safety so much that it is actually worrying to me. Her entire fighting style is about letting her enemy get as close as possible and then getting away with only a second to spare. Her entire fight with the Leifong, for instance. There was no trying to draw it in closer, nah she just used her own clones and Sun’s and Sun himself to launch herself at the damn thing. She stood above Adam and called his name, and yeah she had people behind her to help, but Adam is super fast as we’ve seen. In Volume 1 when she went down to the docks with Sun to see what the hell Torchwick was up to and then she launched herself into the fight? Blake do you not remember you ran away from a high ranking person in the White Fang and he’s probably not super happy about it???? She literally grabbed Roman, a full grown adult, and threatened his life without blinking even though. He’s an adult? And obviously has enough sway over these White Fang goons to have them doing as he says? Blake you are one teenager I love you but what are you doing.

Or what about Ruby? Our first look at Ruby in the Red trailer is her facing down a whole pack of Beowolves. She’s so desperate to prove herself in the first few seasons that she constantly threw herself into fights with things much bigger than her. Strange woman sneaking into the CC tower? Let me go fight her myself without calling for backup. Pyrrha is going up to fight Cinder, who just killed Professor Ozpin, alone? I’m gonna run up there and help even though she just killed Ozpin and there’s also a giant fucking Wyvern up there. When Qrow is up against Tyrian and Ruby is fully aware that Tyrian is there to kidnap her, she still joins the fight. Even though Tyrian is pretty evenly matched with Qrow. Hell, within the last 3 episodes of Volume 6 alone Ruby constantly rushed a giant mech with a giant cannon that shot missiles and Dust, jumped in an airship to try and shoot up the missile part of the canon, jumped into the barrel of the canon to shoot at the Dust in it, and then got up close and personal with a Leviathan with fire-breathing abilities with no guarantee of her Silver Eyes working. Ruby is big into running into high risk situations with no help or guarantee of winning. Ruby, while a beautiful strategist, is horrible at actually going ‘hey maybe I shouldn’t do this thing that may almost definitely end in my death’.

I can make such a big case for Weiss and Blake and Ruby being suicidal, but the only times I can see an argument for Yang is like. Twice? Thrice? And even then, given the actual context of the situations, those don’t hold water.

Yang said she should have died that day. This is true. Had Qrow not gotten to them in time, she and Ruby would have died. Yang should have died that day because she got stuck in Grimm infested woods with her baby sister and no way to get help. Qrow just happened to be able to stop it. Sure the wording is weird, but it doesn’t prove she’s suicidal.

Yang threw herself at Adam in V3 without thinking it through. Yang had also been through a very, very stressful 24 hours. She’s accused of attacking an opponent on live T.V., her friend is then killed on live television, Grimm are filling her school along with White Fang, her little sister is missing, and now she’s staring at a man who has just stabbed her partner. She didn’t have any time to come up with a different way of fighting Adam, she needed to act then.

Yang going up against Neo in Volume 2 could also be a point to make. Except that Neo doesn’t look like that strong of an opponent and Yang thought she could take her. In all honesty a better matchup there would have been Weiss and Neo, but they had no way of knowing the Lieutenant would be in the next car. (Oh hey, another point for Weiss’ suicidal tendencies. Weiss immediately tells Blake to ‘go on ahead’ upon being faced with the Lieutenant, even though he’s a huge guy with a goddamn chainsaw.)

Yang is huge on strategy, she’s not the type to just run into a fight. She fights smart. Look at her fight in her trailer! Sure you could say she’s insane for going up against an entire club full of people with guns, but she obviously had a strategy in place. Shake ‘em up by hitting the floor first, use brute force to take out the waves, dodge the attack from the DJ. When the Twins come out, Yang figures out how to incapacitate them as well and even changes up her style against Melanie when she realizes her punch-oriented style wouldn’t work super well against Melanie’s kicks. Yang doesn’t like high-risk situations, she greatly prefers when she has a high chance of winning it (which is why she’s good in a team. Going up against something high risk on your own is dangerous. Going up against something high risk with a team? Greatly heightens the possibility of winning).

It’s just. Yang isn’t suicidal. She doesn’t have suicidal tendencies. While Blake literally laid down to die Yang was still fighting against it. Yang isn’t interested in dying yet, she’s gonna fight against it for as long as possible. One of our last quotes from Blake this season was literally “A Huntress fights to the bitter end,” and you picked Yang to be the suicidal one in team RWBY? You looked at RWBY who has 3 out of 4 members who have run headfirst into situations they had little chance of winning or getting out of and went ‘Yes. Yang, the most cautious one, is definitely the one with underlying suicidal tendencies’??? If anything we need Yang having a talk with the rest of her team about their suicidal tendencies.

-🍒

[nctsukashii-archive-blog]

Most disliked arc (chapter)? Why?

The saltiest cracker you know is me, Bepsi!10. Most disliked arc (in this case, chapter)? Why? 

I bet you saw this shit comin a mile away huh?

Chapter 2.

Now, it might surprise you, but Hoshi dying isn’t even the worst part of the chapter for me. That’s more emotionally gut punching me and my hopes and dreams that joke characters can live past chapter 3. Actually, Hoshi is without a doubt the BEST part of Chapter 2 even with his death, just because of how amazingly he’s written. 

Sadly, even Hoshi cannot save this chapter from showing just how RUSHED and UNPOLISHED it is. Because holy jeEZ THERE’S A LOT WRONG (albeit it’s personal opinion for the most part). So while you may know them, or may learn something new from my opinion, that’s all cool! Under the cut as Chapter 2 is dissected and torn into to learn why it is sadly, my least fav of V3.

- RUSHED.

Now, this is really easy to see, and I’m sure many others have noticed it as well, but it bears a lot of repeating because it’s a problem. Chapter 2 was rushed to high heavens, in the sense that it mainly serves to push the plot along and nothing more. Things happen too quickly in the story at that point, and while the rest of the game is better off for it, this is the ONLY chapter that REALLY does it so blatantly, and it feels very choking as a result of it.- Tenko’s attachment to Himiko needed to happen, absolutely, but I feel like more should have been done in Chapter 1 to show Tenko trying to talk to her more? Maybe, “OOO maybe himiko wants to be my friend??” and more interactions that show that Tenko isn’t just attaching herself to Himiko b/c she’s “the creepy gay” character. - Toujou becoming the fucking supermaid. This one is the most obvious, but mmm. Everyone relying on her suddenly feels super forced, as characters like Shinguuji and Hoshi and even Maki herself, all ask Toujou to do something for them. It feels out of character for them, and the fact that THAT interaction is the MOST she gets in Chapter 2 before the trial is fucking trash and I’ll explain why in a later point, but you can just TELL that they needed SOMETHING to give her ANY story relevance, and it hurts her character a LOT. - Kaito suddenly wanting to help Maki’s super fucking weird. Maybe if it showed Kaito like “sorry Shuichi maybe later, I wanna try talking to Maki” more in this Chapter to really see that he wants to help her, or even just him going more like “hey Shuichi wanna include Maki in our training? I feel like she could use it.” or ANYTHING that mentions Kaito reaching out to Maki more. Because as it is now, it feels like he’s suddenly placing an all or nothing bet and it makes him, p unlikable at that point b/c Shuichi just goes with it for seemingly no reason because “yeah I guess i gotta progress the plot”. - Those are the main points. Maki is done surprisingly well, actually, she’s really good here. Being sus like that and actually not letting you do FTE’s was cool, and i liked it a lot. Angie’s slow buildup was also pretty good as well, but I think they coulda put Tsumugi in w/ Himiko at some point so it’s not ‘suddenly everyone’s brainwashed!’ in chapter 3, as a slower buildup would do it good! Or at least, more buildup, I should say.

- CLUNKY.

This one is a bit harder to explain, and it goes in hand with the pacing issue, but lemme try. Some of the events and dialogue in Chapter 2 just feel, really clunky? Like, Shuichi’s an emotional guy and I totally understand that, but I don’t think he’d just spill his feelings to the guy that punched him for showing weakness not even 2 days ago? I dunno, maybe it’s just me. It feels like a lot of Chapter 2 was glued into the story as requirements rather than actually to tell a story. It comes in a lot of ways, as previously mentioned a lot of relationships are just ‘suddenly there’ rather than actually built up, IE Kaito and Maki, Tenko and Himiko, etc... and it makes the entire Chapter feel like it’s meshed together with ideas that Kodaka REALLY wanted to be in the game or knew would happen later on, but just couldn’t fit them in, so he shoved them in an early chapter and hoped for the best.

- TOUJOU’S ABILITY TO DO JACK DIDDLY SHIT IN TERMS OF STORY.

Somehow, they managed to make one of the stars of this chapter barely active in it. Can you fucking believe that? Like, no really, if you work off of fan translations I want you to open the translation you have, hit CONTROL+F and search for Toujou and see like, the 30 lines she has before the trial. It’s so MINIMAL, it’s so BASIC, and in those 30 sentences she’s treated like a PLOT DEVICE rather than a CHARACTER. I’m sure a bit of the reason as to why Toujou isn’t as popular as most of the other girls is just how hard the Chapter hits her in terms of not giving her any character development (even in the bonus interaction she’s just “i do this for my job” for fucc sake). Like, even if it was played for a laugh that she’s just so constantly work-focused, or the writing took it as a bit of a punchline for some dry humor (”hey toujou what’re ya doin?” “working.” and just have awkward eye contact and the ‘WOW this is awkward’ thought in Shuichi’s head after a few “...” between the both of them as it happens. easy comedy. see???) it at least would make her seem somewhat important compared to the cast. Honestly, it’s like the Tsumugi Effect but in 2 chapters instead of 6. By doing nothing in terms of plot, she basically puts on this huge fucking sign that says “HEY GUYS IM NOT STORY RELEVANT BECAUSE NOTHING IS HAPPENING TO ME SO I WILL PROBABLY DIE AS A KILLER OR VICTIM” Her trial behavior is really hit or miss as well, because some might find her ruthlessness to be really cool and makes her actually fucking interesting at any point in the story, while others might find it unlikable, excessively cruel, or just out of character for Toujou no matter how desperate she may be. Let alone that her US demographic prolly tanked quite a lot w/ her story focusing on POLITICS of all things (one of the three no-no’s in any conversation), making her very very hard to like, besides on an aesthetic level. Let alone her FTE’s are the worst in the game, as you still barely learn anything about her outside of “im a maid and im good at my job” or other points that the main story already tells you (besides that she once coddled a man so hard he became dependent and that her only weakness is not cutting konjac right ever). It just makes her feel like a barren and incomplete character.

- TOUJOU’S ABILITY TO DO EVERYTHING SO WELL SHE CAN EVEN FUCK HERSELF OVER AMAZINGLY.

Everyone has heard me go on and on about this, but if it doesn’t get said no one will know it so I keep repeating it until the end of time.By making her plan so complex, she basically fucks herself. By making a crime that only someone as competent as her could accomplish, it fucks her because only she can do it. XD. Literally, who do you think would have been able to do all that shit in one night? Saihara’s too weak to drown Hoshi. Don’t fight me on this, because if you seriously believe the detective in training with little self defense training (he worked on infidelity and missing pet/kid cases for fuck sake, his life isn’t really on the line all that often so he prolly wouldn’t know or have to train all that much to protect himself) can take the tennis player that killed over 200 people and has been playing tennis basically all his life (enough to go INTERNATIONAL in MIDDLE SCHOOL) in a fight, we’re gunna need to have a talk.Gonta’s too heavy to use the ropeway.Kiibo’s too heavy to use the ropeway and too weak to carry Hoshi’s body.Himiko’s too weak to drown someone and attempt to shove them in the staircase (which I will touch on real soon here on why even attempting to frame her the way Toujou tried to was dumb as shit).Angie’s... lbr here, prolly missing a few too many tools in her toolbox to really think of a ropeway to kill Hoshi with.Shinguuji’s too weak (and before I get arguments on this, if u think this underweight twig of a man can take out Hoshi when Hoshi’s prolly faster than him and could just run ur wrong)Maki who was the Child Caregiver at the time would be seen as too weak to do anything to Hoshi too (even if she lifts kids, again, Hoshi is fucking rIPPED and has killer legs)Ouma’s too weak (i mean he’s underweight and looks like a twig)Kaito’s a fucking moron when it comes to master plans and wouldn’t have been able to plain something like a ropeway murder (let alone his idol complex wouldn’t have let him kill Hoshi most likely... unless it was a Mondo situation but that’s a later talk)Tenko’s also a fucking moron when it comes to long term planning let alone she wouldn’t touch a man unless to flip him to death, which makes the ropeway seem almost pointlessTsumugi’s too weak to (i mean... rlly. u rlly think she could take him down? under the assumption she isn’t the mastermind ofc at this point in the story, but even then sneak murdering all the kills seems kinda.... eh? too hard for her to do.) Miu’s also a fucking moron that wouldn’t think of using a ropeway (actually, she prolly woulda done the smarter option and just pushed Hoshi’s body out his fucking window since a ropeway would be too much effort)By process of COMMON SENSE, only Toujou would make something so NEEDLESSLY COMPLICATED in an attempt to murder a guy. 

- THE DUMBEST PLAN ON EARTH AND HOW YOU COULD PLAN A SIMILAR MURDER AND GET AWAY WITH IT EASY. 

Toujou’s plan is fucking dumb when you can think of SO many other ways to get Hoshi killed with more leeway as to who coulda done it. So I bring up the window in his lab, because literally you could just push him out of it and the fall would prolly splatter that midget cunt on the ground no problem. Hell, even handcuff him. Nearly anyone could have pushed Hoshi out of the window, meaning there’s a possibility that Maki or Kaito could have done it w/o that stupid fucking ropeway let alone anyone at night (or hell even during the DAY since time of death was obscured), and it wouldn’t LEAVE THE FUCKING GLOVE.MMMM OKAY RANT HERE REAL QUICK I MEAN IT THAT FUCKING TRASH BAG GLOVE IRRITATES ME. Like, hhh I know Kodaka wanted to make a case where something like the glove gets the killer caught, but HOLY SHIT was it poor to use in a case like this. It not only feels like it’s out of place for her not to just get it in the morning, but why the fuck would she use her gloves anyways?? Why not use Hoshi’s hat? Anyone could use Hoshi’s hat as hand protection down the moronic ropeway and since it’s a beanie it’s prolly made of more strong material than I guess whatever her shit gloves are made of, since they tore like fuckin trash when she went down the ropeway. As someone that wears cut and heat protection gloves because of my job, the gloves she uses are HORRIBLY inefficient (let alone if she’s cleaning before touching food w/ them on... like please don’t that can cause so many health problems) to try and stop ropeburn. She could have also just poisoned everyone, or killed them all in their sleep, to make her job easier on herself. Can’t have a trial if no one’s there after all right? No one would suspect Toujou working on her fuckin job to come and snap their necks during the night or w/e, or poison their food before the show. But also framing Himiko is really fucking dumb. Like, she expects me to believe that Himiko, who is only 2 more pounds than Hoshi mind you, managed to drown him and stuff him in that staircase, and pull him out during the show in under a minute. LOL no. Hoshi looks like he can break her arms like fucking toothpicks without even trying?? Let alone her laziness makes it look REALLY hard for her to have planned a fucking murder. The fact that like, the first hour of the trial wants me to believe Himiko could be the killer is asinine, just because of how basically fucking illogical it is.What Toujou could have done instead, was leave his body drowned in the sink. Yeah, it’d be harder because not everyone can drown Hoshi (ie. Himiko and Ouma and prolly a few others that are considered sticks or weak), but there are a lot of people who could, and drowning someone is a lot easier than the stupid ropeway piranha bullshit. OR PUSH HIM OUT HIS WINDOW. JUST KILL EVERYONE THAT WAY COME ON.Actually, she coulda killed two people easy. Just have someone gullible like Saihara come to meet her at night in the lab after she’s already pushed Hoshi out the window (or even just come running to his room with a bullshit excuse that she saw a shadow ‘running away’ and saw that something happened in the tennis lab) and push him out the window too. Boom, makes it look like a murder gone wrong, and the only alibi that’d be able to testify about the events is hers. Easy win, everyone else gets executed.I get it, in the end, it needs to be a solvable mystery in a mystery game, but it ends up making Toujou look like a complete moron as a result of it, which is unfortunate.

- MOTIVE VIDEOS ARE RIGGED AS SHIT.

Upon learning what hers and Hoshi’s are, it seems almost rigged that they would have to be the killer and victim respectively. Hoshi’s telling him to ‘kys’ and Toujou’s saying ‘lol go kill someone’ makes it like... even if everyone else saw theirs that they’d be like.. the only two to really act on theirs besides MAYBE Miu or POSSIBLY Angie. And then we also see Ouma’s?? And his is just actively “lol u don’t kill bitch but u should do it anyways” making it seem almost counter productive. Like, bitch it just said Ouma made a rule that no killing was a thing and u genuinely expect his ass to break that? ha. The odds were stacked against the two of them, which makes it only seem more forced in the long run. Which is great from a meta standpoint, but a story can be meta while still being fun, enjoyable, and flowing functionally and logically. Which this chapter isn’t really.

- THE SADLY NOT REDEEMING BUT STILL SUPER GOOD HOSHI FACTOR.

Now, the one thing that I can praise this chapter for really well despite all its shortcomings is Hoshi’s characterization and his story. For one chapter he really makes a hard hit at the time, and it’s easy to become engrossed in his little background story about him wanting to find a reason to live. The real cherry on top is his writing and his interactions with the few people he interacts with. with Kaito, it really shows the disposition that Kaito has against him and just how Hoshi is so understanding of others and like... nice. Even when he wants a goal that goes against everyone, he still respects them. “I won’t do something reckless to endanger everyone.”, and acknowledging that it’s an entirely selfish reason why he wants to find the videos and will still not hurt anyone to do it. He may have threatened to show Maki’s video to everyone in exchange for his own from her, but he never hits her or directly harms / threatens her w/ violence or anything extremely dirty. It’s respectable. Ohhh, and Saihara’s dynamic with him is just so sPOT ON HERE. Between the great advice and compliments in general he has for Saihara such as “the world can be bright for someone that’s looked down for so long, be careful” and “you’re confident compared to before, like a weight is lifted off your back. it’s a good look for you” and other such flattery, to Hoshi being a bit more open to Saihara about his feelings (feeling jealous about everyone else having a reason to live, wanting to find one himself, openly admitting he feels he has no purpose in his life and wants to find a reason to be happy like everyone else, etc.). But this dynamic goes both ways, as Saihara also can read Hoshi super fucking well. Like, seeing the Tennis Lab is a great example of it. When Hoshi states the past is behind him, Saihara thinks to himself ‘but then why are you looking at the court with such sad eyes Hoshi-kun?’ and it’s like, just really nice that Saihara’s not dense? Like, Hoshi expresses himself pretty poetically, with the way he talks and whatnot, acting like a wise sage type w/ endless wisdom all the time, so Saihara being able to read past all the flowery language to just hear “god i miss tennis” or “im depressed” is really REALLY refreshing, and a nice balance to see. If you do Hoshi’s FTE’s it personally makes it even better, but that’s not a requirement so moving on. Even just Saihara asking him things like “are you doing well?” or “Is this what you want?” or “or just the small but surprisingly deep talks they just seem to have with one another are tiny details that really complete the dynamic that they can both read each other and can react to one another super well. It feels balanced between the both of them, even in Chapter 1, and it’s a shame Hoshi had to die because I would have LOVED to see how far it could go and how much it could have been expanded on in the later chapters. 

Sadly however, no matter how great Hoshi is, it can’t save Chappie 2 from it’s endless faults and gripes that I have with it, that ultimately make the story less entertaining as a result.

[starellas]

Voltron S6 Review/Thoughts/Venting? XD

So I’ve finished watching s6 a while ago and my emotions are all over the place. I saw a lot of Tumblr users writing their impressions/thoughts, so I decided to do the same. Right now I’m a mess with feelings all over the place so this will also be a mess (sorry).

The post is long so be warned.

Ok so before I get into anything, right off the bat I want to say that the animation was absolutely gorgeous and stunning. I’m not knowledgeable in animation or anything like that but I was honestly blown away by the small details. I also noticed some mistakes here and there like Lance pushing Kaltenecker into the Blue Lion instead of the Red one, but i think that at this point the VCrew are also confused about the whole lion swap just as much as we are.

Music was stunning, especially during the Keith vs. Shiro fighting scene. It’s so powerful and beautifully goes along with the feelings the characters feel. It portrays their inner conflict but also hurt they’re feeling. We, as audience, can feel all of that in the music alone and honestly, the music made the feeling of that moment all the more powerful. I know it’s something people tend to miss a lot so try listening for yourselves. If you re-watch the season and pick out the music, you’ll see what I mean.

Now I’ll separate my points because if I don’t, it’ll get a bit messy. One thing that got to me is that most fans are talking about ships and about Allurance. Are you guys serious? You’re going to talk about ships while there is some powerful shit going on aside from romance?

Don’t get me wrong, romance plays a huge role this season. We got our very first kiss and then the words “I love you” being spoken. It was a shocker and especially with the kiss, however, before I get to all that, I want to admire the masterpiece that is Keith and his development.

Keith’s arc

Keith was absent from the team for 2 seasons and we were all complaining how badly we want him back. Well, I can officially say that this makes it up to me for all the seasons he missed. His actions were so fucking powerful, and his words were so sincere that it made me cry on multiple occasions. Keith has grown tremendously and his journey of self discovery has really helped him achieve all that, giving us this masterpiece of a finale.

Keith’s selflessness

Keith is the most selfless person on Voltron and nobody will tell me otherwise. I know that we have the other paladins who are just as willing to sacrifice themselves for their teammates but it’s noting quite like Keith.

From s1 we always saw Keith running into danger and in s2 he even went and infiltrated a Galra ship by himself. While his intentions for doing that may have been different (for the mission), this time he’s putting himself in danger for the ones he loves. He jumps into danger for Shiro but also for the rest of the team. We can see Keith’s love for Shiro when he follows him persistently, and even faces a whole fucking fleet of Galra cruisers on his own. That single scene shows how desperate Keith is, and to what lengths he would go for the ones he loves. That scene was so powerful that it left me breathless and that was just the beginning of it.

When Keith got back into Black, we could see his maturity there right away. After taking a hit, the first thing Keith does is ask “is everyone okay” and that one sentence just tells us so much because it shows how much he cares about his team. He also returned to help everyone instead of chasing after Shiro and the pod. Remember when in s1 Allura was captured? Keith was against going to save her, thinking that it would be the best in order for Voltron to not fall into Zarkon’s hands. And now? He’s fucking doing everything he can for his team, placing their wellbeing before his own. That is some quality character development and I’m so proud that words can’t express it.

Keith’s leadership

In s3 Keith has been struggling to accept his role as the leader of Voltron, but now by the end of s6 we see a completely different attitude.

First Keith was placed into the Black lion without a choice.

Then he rejected the Black lion altogether.

Lastly he made the decision to go and pilot Black by himself.

And this decision to pilot the Black Lion again shows so much of his development since s3. Keith isn’t the insecure leader anymore. He’s learned from his past mistakes and doesn’t intend to repeat them again. He realises that being a leader comes with responsibilities and he knows that team comes above anything else. If his time with the BoM taught him anything, then it’s the importance of teammates and teamwork. That’s the main part of his story arc and honestly I think he finally learned this lesson fully. It’s something that’s been with him since s1 and finally seeing him change to a mindset where he values his teammates over his mission is so satisfying.

Keith’s relationships

First I’d like to address his relationship with Krolia. While I noticed that many fans are pissed about the way Keith and Krolia were stuck on the space turtle creature, I personally think it was something he absolutely needed. It gave him the family time he missed with Krolia and gave him an opportunity to bond with her. Since Keith and Krolia just met, I think that gave them the perfect opportunity to get to know one another (without it requiring too many episodes to do). Also, you can imagine the many flashbacks of the past they must have had while there, which means that they got to learn everything about each other whether they wanted to or not.

Not to mention that Keith’s wolf is adorable and him having the wolf while living with Krolia gave me a true sense of a “family home” which is something I think the writers were intending to do.

Keith’s past with Shiro was finally revealed and oh god... Wow... Episode 5 is easily my favourite episode of the entire series. I have no other words but to say that it’s a literal masterpiece. There were so many emotions put into it and so many things come to a resolve in their relationships that it made he cry over and over again.

While watching the episode, you can practically feel Keith’s love for Shiro in his actions, words, and everything he does. If Keith was an orphan and Shiro was the one who raised him instead of his parents, then I fully understand why their relationship would be so deep. Keith loves Shiro as his brother, his only family he had.

Keith’s words “You’re my brother. I love you.” Are so powerful and full of emotion, conveying all of their feelings and their relationship thus far. Those are some powerful words, and they hit you right in the face when you hear them. It’s not subtle at all but it’s out there and in our faces. Not in a bad way! But in such a powerful way that it shows Keith and Shiro’s relationship perfectly.

Shiro has been Keith’s only family, the only person that didn’t give up on Keith. Even if Keith gave up on himself, Shiro never did. “I’ll never give up on you. But most importantly, you can’t give up on yourself.” And those words hit me so hard because I personally do give up on myself a lot. This scene made me realise that and I feel like this will resonate with a lot of you as well.

“And I should have abandoned you, just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken, worthless. I should have seen it too.” Is what Shiro says but despite these strong words, Keith still says “I’m not leaving without you.” And then after that he says “I love you”. I don’t think I need to say anything to this. It speaks for itself.

And just as he cuts Shiro’s arm off, he looks like he’s about to cry.

For the entire fight the animation was done so perfectly and we can see the care the staff put into this scene. They wanted to portray how Keith feels here and they did a fantastic job with it. Keith is beautiful and seeing him like this after all this time of isolating himself is just... so fulfilling.

Keith’s Galra side

Keith suddenly turning part Galra during his fight with Shiro was totally unexpected but at the same time it kind of was? We know that Keith is a hybrid but so far he wasn’t seen with any Galra traits on him. That is except for his sword of course, but other than that, nothing much. Not even purple skin.

After watching this, I feel like we’ll be seeing more of this Keith in the future. I’m going to theorise a bit and say that Keith may be having a problem with his Galra side in future seasons, something he might need help controlling.

But then again at the same time, Keith’s emotions may have been so strong that they triggered him to turn Galra when facing Shiro. It adds to the portrayal of Keith’s feelings towards Shiro, and further strengthens their fighting scene. It is meant to show how strongly Keith is feeling towards Shiro, aside from his words and actions.

Also, is it just me or do you feel like Keith was onto Lotor for the entire s3, s4, s5 and s6? The rest of the paladins were played by him while Keith was the one running around and uncovering the hidden truth. Just a random thought.

I could go on and talk about Keith forever because his scenes were so perfect and beautiful. However, I also want to focus on other things I noticed and I’ll fist tackle another big part of the season; and that is Allurance. But most importantly I want to focus on Lance’s character arc

Lance’s arc

So we know that Lance will have an endgame lover by the end of the series and I think that they’re finally beginning to push Lance towards that direction. Lance’s crush on Allura was there since the very first episode, and I personally believe it is something he will have to get over in order for his character to develop. This development will be essential for him and will push him forward to better things. Allura will be the one to push Lance into this direction because she is his friend, and they’ve undeniably grown really close during these past seasons. There is development and I’m not going to deny it. However, I do not think it’s romantic in any way shape or form.

This part will be ship heavy but I’m conscious that I can’t approach this unless I address the ships. I’ll admit that I’m a klance fan so I’ll approach this from a biased point of view. Then again, nothing is really unbiased so I’ll just go ahead and explain how I feel about this.

For me, Allurance is a ship that died this season. Right from the get go we get a scene where Lance saves Allura and then Allura saves Lance in return. However, for me, these scenes aren’t romantically coded at all and rather portray the closeness between the two as friends. The moment in ep 1 also shows the growth of Allura’s powers (which in my opinion are too op).

But we see Lance struggling with his unrequited feelings for the whole duration of the season and in the end they’re not addressed. It will be brought up again in future episodes since we were left hanging like that without a closing.

Allura rejecting Lance and telling him how she really feels will set Lance on the right path to his character development. Allura has always been something he wanted, a crush, but not what he needed. Sure they may have grown closer during the seasons, but Allura still isn’t returning Lance’s feelings. At the beginning I was super happy about everything that was happening because that means that Lance will finally get over his crush and I really believe that Allura will reject him at this point.

Lauren and Joaquim pointed to Lotura’s relationship affecting another character and that was undoubtedly Lance.

Lance isn’t dumb, he knows what’s up. He realises that he’s the third wheel and that Allura may not have feelings for him (he even says it in episode 2). Yet he’s still here, trying to win her over. But I think that now his feelings got the wake up call they needed and the scene where Allura embraces him is the moment where Lance realises that he’s chasing an impossible target. Allura doesn’t love him back, and I think he realises that much this season. Now we just need Allura to tell him herself before he can fully move on from her.

Also, remember this quote from Lauren?

Lance will end up in a completely different place then he expected, and that will undoubtedly be with Keith. I can go on and on why Klance will become canon, but maybe it’s better if you all read about the reasons here. (yh, good luck with that btw XD)

My prediction for future episodes is simple. Allura will reject Lance and then Lance will realise that he had a crush on Keith all along as well. It may take time, but I believe it will happen. That’s when his sexuality arc kicks in. Remember the drawing by Lauren as well? We have Shiro standing next to Lance here, and since Lance missed to act on Shiro’s warning that he was a clone, I can imagine that Lance would want to make it up to him somehow. Shiro will tell him about Keith and maybe reveal a little something about Keith that Lance didn’t expect. (I’m a firm believer in the fact that Keith is gay, so Shiro telling Lance subtly could make him realise that Keith had been hitting on him since the very beginning).

I still can’t believe that they did nothing with Lance and Shiro this season. I can only imagine how guilty Lance feels for doing nothing, even though he knew something was wrong with Shiro.

Also, Allura’s face when she found out about Lance tells us everything. She has feelings for Lotor and by the end of the final battle, she still feels something for him. Love defines all logic and reason, and I believe that at some point, Allura will forgive Lotor for what he did. She may not fully forgive him, but she may be willing to be with him again. This is a stretch and I don’t know how confident I am in this, but I’m keeping everything on the table thus far.

Keith and Lance’s arcs

Ok so we were all confused about this Klance thumbnail for the trailer. And they put it during pride month of all times. However, hear me out on this one. The thumbnail wasn’t meant to show Klance, but show that this season focuses on their arcs.

Keith’s arc was beautiful and showed so much of character development that it was breathtaking and we’ll probably end up talking about it for months to come until s7 hits us. However, apart from Keith, Lance also had his own arc explored in this, and it’s heavier than in any other seasons thus far. Lance’s character development was always shown in the background, however now, it’s out there in broad daylight.

Keith’s arc is about being there for the ones he loves. He understands the importance of a team and values his team over the mission.

Lance’s arc is about... love as well. He had decent development in s5 where he unlocked a new bayard form, and him becoming Red’s paladin overall was a huge step up for him. He understands the weight of war now, and isn’t goofing around like he used to in s1 and s2. However, apart from all that beautiful development, Lance’s character arc is all about love.

We know that Lance will get an endgame lover by the end of the series and I think that the VCrew are slowly beginning to address that. Love is complicated so it needs time to be solved. Lotura is a perfect example of how complicated love is, and even though Lotor fought against them in the end, Allura still feels something for him.

This season didn’t give us any klance but it did give us Keith and Lance’s character development. It was separate but done in the same season, and that’s what the thumbnail is showing. Both of their character arcs focused on love.

Lotor & Allura

Lotura was strong this season, that is until it all came crashing down in the end. But did it really crash? I mean, I can’t deny that Lotor did some terrible things but I still feel like Allura has some feelings for him. In the last episode when they fought against Lotor, she expressed her hesitation at not wanting to leave him behind. The team had to push her to the right direction, begging her to leave even though she didn’t want to. Allura’s emotions were all over the place, and they mirror Lance’s own perfectly. Both of them had their hearts broken this season, and I think the VCrew portrayed that perfectly.

You can see it in both her expressions and her words that she is pained, and didn’t want to leave him. They kissed this season, and a kiss portrays so many strong emotions into one. The VCrew could have chosen to take this in a different route but I firmly believe that they were aiming for Lotura to kiss and that it was a must in this season.

I’m not going to lie, I’m torn about Lotura. A part of be believes that Allura will never forgive him, but there’s also a part of me that thinks she might.

Lotor didn’t have evil intentions, and nothing is black and right. His cause was just, and I believe that he really wanted peace. However, his methods of achieving that peace were wrong and that’s what broke his and Allura’s relationship at the end. Perhaps a part of Allura knows this, knows that Lotor really meant what he said, but her finding out what he did to achieve that broke that trust and made her love for him crack.

There is still hope for Lotura, at least in my opinion. Lotor will appear once again, and judging how Haggar was protective of him ever since she fond out he was her son, I can see her coming back to get him.

Also Lotura mirror Zarkon and Haggar’s relationship so I can see Allura taking on Zarkon’s role of saving her lover from overexposure to quintessence. Possibly?

Other random thoughts

This post is already getting too long so I’ll wrap this up. All of the characters got screen-time and a moment. Even Coran! And him finding his grandfather’s toolbox was very sweet. Then when he had to let go of the Castle, that was a big step of letting go for him as well.

As my friend @msbluebell said, this season is all about letting go of the past and focusing on the future. The destruction of the castle ship showed that, as well as Lance’s arc where he slowly understood that he had to let go of Allura. Keith, and everyone else for that matter, also changed for the better.

And now that the team is going back home, we are told that things will get more “personal” by the VCrew. I can only imagine that the issue of Allurance will be carried over and that there will be even more focus on ships. Also relationships will be explored, whether it be family, platonic or romantic.

I’m expecting Hagar and Sendak to return as well now that Lotor is gone. Also, I’m not giving up on Alteans from the alternative reality because we know that they have a comet as well. The one Team Voltron found was a second one, meaning that they could very well cross over realities and find Lotor. It may be a stretch, but it is possible. I think we’ll focus more on the Alteans in the future, since now we found out that there are living Alteans in the universe.

(Also, I can imagine that Allura will make Romelle a princess while she sleeps with the rest of the paladins. We know because of a spoiler leaked by Kimberly that the paladins will sleep for a very long time. So what if during that time Romelle becomes a princess?)

Either way, there are still mysteries that are left unsolved and a lot of potential as to what direction the VCrew might take this in. I can’t wait to see what s7 has to offer. I loved all of the season, despite Lance’s arc leaving me a bit unsatisfied by the way it was carried out. Keith’s arc was stunning though and by far the best moment in the entire show thus far.

I probably forgot to mention a million things by the time I post this but the post is already too long so whatever.

(Thank you for reading if you made it till the end)

[mysticalreadingnerd]

Machetes and Near Death Experiences (A Steve Harrington x Reader imagine)

Words: 5286

Summary: Being a babysitter for the Party requires a full set of abilities. Battling inter-dimensional monsters, being a machete swinging pro and managing a bunch of dorks with a penchant for attracting danger being just a few. Add Steve Harrington to the mix and things get a lot more interesting.

Warnings: swearing, violence, Dustin being a sassy cutie

  Disclaimer: I don't own Stranger Things or any of its characters. This is merely me turning my wishful thinking into reader insert imagines. GIF credits to the owner.

“Harrington?”

No answer.

“Harrington, what do you think you’re doing?”

Still no reply.

“Hey this ain’t funny, dammit!”

You weaved a frustrated hand through your hair as you watched the former King of Hawkins High leave the safe haven of the boarded bus in a bid to ‘expand the menu’ as Dustin put it. “Stay here and whatever you do, don’t open the door unless I tell you to.” You ordered the kids in a no nonsense manner and they merely nodded. They knew you enough from previous babysitting sessions to not mess with your instructions. Gripping your machete tightly, you followed the low growling that was slowly filling the night air. “Y/N what are you doing here? It’s not safe...” “Exactly asshole, you need someone to watch your back here. I won’t let you turn this into a suicide mission”, you answered as a demo-dog entered your field of vision. Steve took its jump head-on, the baseball bat landing with a sickening crunch. “That was easier than I had...” another snarl interrupted his sentence as more beasts appeared out of the fog. “3’O clock! 3’O clock!” Lucas shouted and all Steve could do was utter a low “fuck”, as another beast jumped on you both. Snarling with razor sharp teeth, its face opened up in a macabre parody of a flower. Pushing Steve out of the way you swung the machete in an upward motion, slicing half of the petalled horror clean off. You had known this Upside Down shit was no laughing matter when you encountered it last year while babysitting the boys. Keeping El a secret had been a bitch but you had managed, somehow. So the Party knew they could trust to be handy when things started getting strange again. You were no telekinetic Mage like El but you could slash your way through with a machete alright. It was no surprise really, when Dustin showed up at your house with Harrington no less (that pairing had been odd but who were you to judge), asking for your help regarding certain ‘pet’ problems. Turns out, pesky pets were actually demogorgon hounds masquerading as slugs. Code red could have justified one demo-dog, what you weren’t prepared for were a dozen more menaces appearing out of nowhere. “I thought you said there was only one!” you screamed as Steve rolled off the hood of a rusting car, kicking off another demo-dog. Too many. There were too many to hold off. “Steve! Y/N! Abort! Abort! Abort!” Dustin shouted and you guys didn’t need more incentive to abandon a plan which had been foolhardy from the very beginning. The door was thrown open on your shouts and quickly slammed shut just as one of them lunged at the bus, crashing on the door and sliding down. A thrashing limb tried to get in and you heaved the machete, putting your strength behind the swing as you repeatedly clobbered it until it slinked right out. Steve readied his nail ridden bat and you huddled the kids behind you, switching the machete to your other hand. “You think they can bust through the door?” a loud thud echoed off the roof, answering your question. “Shit!” This was followed by a scream from Max the one closest to the ladder, when a demo-dog reared its ugly head through the roof. Steve pushed her towards you and landed a solid hit with the bat. But more kept coming, making him retreat towards you. He clutched your hand blindly, tightening his grip once he found it as if saying a silent goodbye and you started fearing the worst. You hoped you could at least shield the kids before they took you down, when the monsters suddenly withdrew. All of them. With Harrington in the lead, you gingerly opened the door and stepped out to investigate. The coast seemed clear for the time being. “What happened? Lucas asked. “Steve scared’em off? Dustin sounded hopeful. “No. No way”, he replied, “They are going somewhere.” Steve pointedly stared in the distance before shaking his head and looking at you, checking for any signs of injuries. “You okay?” you gave a small nod. “You?” “Peachy”, he answered. Sighing in relief, you took a step towards him. His expression softened on seeing your approach and he was about to say something when you interrupted it by hitting him on the arm. “OW! What the...” Another hit, this time harder. “THAT HURTS!” “It was MEANT TO!” you screamed, huffing loudly at his stupidity. Sighing, you said in a deathly calm voice, “You dare try another heroic stunt like that again Harrington and I won’t just use my fists next time”, you brandished the machete in his face. Steve put up his hands in surrender, nodding in awe. “She’s so cool!” Dustin exclaimed, earning a weird look from Lucas and Max. “Okay. What do we do next?” Lucas asked, finally letting go of Max’s hand. “We need to find out where they went. If they were called back, maybe we can find the source of it and come up with a plan on how to deal with them”, you replied, wiping the machete with your hand, trying to get the blood off. Steve stared at you for a bit longer than necessary, absentmindedly answering, “Yeah, yeah you’re right.” You trudged up ahead with Max and Lucas as Steve and Dustin brought up the rear. Following the sounds that echoed off in the distance was your best bet. More like, your only lead. “Dude, did you see how she swung that machete at the demo-dog? That was pure art in motion!” Unknown to you Dustin raved on, repeating the same movements, swinging with an imaginary weapon albeit much more clumsily, stumbling in the process. “Watch your steps, Henderson.” Steve warned. But he couldn’t have agreed more as his gaze unwittingly watched your shadowy figure walk with an arm slung over Max and Lucas’ shoulders, the machete tucked at your waist, its blade glinting under your plaid shirt. He had been expecting that darn monster to be sweepingly fast but he hadn’t been prepared to face a dozen salivating horrors. He would never admit it out loud but never had a woman looked more attractive than you swinging your machete to slice off inter-dimensional creatures. Dustin noticed his gaze on you and chuckled, “You getting sappy, Steve?” Snapping out of his daze, Steve replied, “Shut your trap, dipshit.” He hadn’t expected to be attracted to someone so soon after what happened with Nancy. Let alone start falling so fast and so hard. It made him wonder whether what he had felt for her was love to begin with. It had been all fuzzy butterflies and tumultuous emotions with Nancy, more feelings than actual understanding. Whereas with you, he got a sense that everything was much more real, as if he could never be more grounded and aware than when he was with you. He had been swept away by Nancy’s perfection, failing to see the cracks that had developed in that facade over time. On the other hand, he was awed by your ability to transform imperfections. You owned them as if they were worthy laurels to be worn with a head held high. But all this over thinking was in vain. There was nothing between you and him, he mused, and it never would be. Even though a part of him hoped otherwise. After all, you were Y/N L/N, a machete swinging, protective badass in plaid. You didn’t do sappy nonsense like romance. Right?

Steve couldn’t have been more wrong. You crouched in a corner of the Byers’ living room wondering what exactly you had gotten yourself into. Bob Newby’s death had come as a shock to all of you. You had interacted with him twice or thrice while babysitting Will and he was one of the nicest people you knew. Slightly weird but nice. You couldn’t come to terms with how someone so good could be with you one moment and gone the next. Your gaze slid over to Steve Harrington as he sat with the boys, a sombre silence blanketing the room. With his perfect hair, kind eyes and warm smiles that brightened even your sulky mood, that beautiful bastard had managed to worm his way into your heart. God! You had hated the way your stomach became all tingly when he had clutched your hand and hovered protectively in front of you, braving the onslaught of a dozen demo-dogs. Brave and stupid nonetheless, but it was the thought that counts, right? You watched as Max sat next to you onto the floor. “Hey” you murmured. She had been taking all this surprisingly well considering she didn’t have as much time to adjust as you had. “Hey. You think this will work?” she gestured vaguely at the scattered papers on the table, ‘close gate’ scrawled across one of them. You merely shrugged, “It’s as good a plan as any. If there’s anyone who could beat that Mind Flayer, it would be El.” An awkward silence grew at the mention of Eleven. Not wanting it to continue, you asked, “You okay?” she muttered something under her breath. “What?” “I said, Eleven probably hates me.” You smiled at that and shook your head, “Nah, I doubt it.” She furrowed her brows, “How can you be so sure?” “Well, for one, I literally had to keep these idiots out of danger last year”, you gestured to where Mike, Lucas and Dustin were sitting. “Also, think about it. She was the only girl among them and then she had to leave these dorks for the longest time, only to find you amongst them. Maybe all she’s feeling is insecure, worried that you will replace her.” “But I’m not even part of the party. Mike specifically said so”, she mumbled the last part. “Oh don’t take him to heart. He’s just been miserable without El, missing her for so long. He’s been in a crappy mood with every one of us.” You gave her hand a small squeeze, “They’ll be fine, trust me. Just give them time.” Max pondered over your words before giving you a toothy grin. “Thanks Y/N! Dustin was right, you are pretty cool.” “Don't you mean pretty and cool?” you looked up to see Steve hunching over you both, obviously having heard your conversation. “Was that a lame attempt at flirting, Harrington?” you smirked, though you had to admit you were pleased on the inside. “Really? Is that the best you can do, man? I thought you could do better than this!” Dustin complained from his place on the couch. Pink dusted Steve’s cheeks as he placed the dish cloth he had been holding on his shoulder. “Hey. Hey. Hey. Don’t sass me you little shits. Let’s clean up this mess. Better than sitting in one place and just waiting for them to come back.” Everyone got up one by one, ready to clear up. Steve offered you a hand as you were about to get up and when you took it, a small smile bloomed on his face. “You are good with this,” he said, pulling you to your feet. “What do you mean?” his touch lingered on your hand as if not wanting to let go. Or was it just something you had imagined? “With Max. With the kids. You’re good with handling them, considering all this.” You found a smile tugging at your lips. Steve intertwined his fingers with yours and you found that you didn’t mind it at all. His smooth fingers filled the gaps between your calloused ones perfectly. “Yeah? You aren’t half bad, Harrington.” “Half bad?” he sounded affronted. “I’m a pretty damn good babysitter!!” Your laughter rang out through the room at that and unlike other girls (he had to admit you were unlike any other girl he had ever met), who giggled or gave high pitched squeals, this was a throaty laugh, rich in timbre and echoing from the heart. Steve found himself mesmerized by the sound. He wanted to hear more of it and above all, he wanted to be the reason for causing it. “Okay, if you two love birds are done canoodling and giggling, can we do some actual work here? Steve, need your help with somethin’.” Steve reluctantly let go of your hand, cursing under his breath about burying Dustin with some unwanted demo-dog bodies. You proceeded to clean up the shattered glass along with Max, noticing for the first time how restlessly Mike had been pacing the whole time. “Mike, would you just stop already?” Lucas tried to reason. “You weren’t there, okay Lucas? That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs!” Mike argued. “Demo-dogs!” Dustin corrected from the kitchen. “The chief said he’ll take care of it!” Lucas bit back, exasperated at Mike’s behaviour. Steve tried to simmer down the argument in his own misguided way, using ball game jargon. Mike was visibly irritated and voiced it out aloud, “Okay. First of all, this isn’t one of your stupid sports games and secondly, we aren’t even in the game. We are on the bench!” Steve sputtered out, “So- so my point...is...” you held your head in your hands, this was getting ridiculous. “Right, yeah, we are on the bench, so, uh, there’s nothing we can do.” He again placed the dish cloth on his shoulder. “That’s not entirely true”, you looked at Dustin, intrigued as he spoke about how the demo-dogs had a hive mind, basically connected to the Mind Flayer and if they were called back, the lab would be obstruction free for Eleven to close the gate. “Yeah, and then we all die!” Steve exclaimed. “Well, that’s one way of looking at it.” Despite yourself you chuckled, earning a grin from Dustin and a glare from Steve. ‘Sorry’ you mouthed at him. Mike started off about distracting the dogs by setting the hub of the tunnel on fire and the rest of them were pumped about the idea, completely ignoring you and Steve. “Hey.” They ignore him again. “Hey! Hey!” This had gone on long enough. You gave out a shrill, piercing whistle calling their attention to you. Silence fell in the room and all pair of eyes were trained on you, “I believe Harrington wants to say something.” “Thank you Y/N for that kindly interruption. This”, he pointed at them, “is not happening.” “But...” “No buts. We promised that we’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what we plan on doing. We’re staying here. On the bench. And we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand? This isn’t a stupid sports game.” Steve paused. “I said does everybody understand? I need a yes.” “We should ask Y/N for her take on this. She can’t be agreeing with him” Dustin proposed, pointing at Steve as if he hadn’t said a single word. “Why are you even asking this? WE”, Steve waved a hand between you two, “are together on this!” “Oh shut it Harrington, we are asking for her opinion not your relationship status.” Steve sputtered incoherently at that. “Yeah, Y/N gets a say. She’s senior sitter, her vote carries more power than your’s.” Mike spoke up. You had been listening to this exchange with mounting annoyance. “Hey shitheads, stop talking about me as if I’m not even here. And that includes you as well Harrington!” you pointed at him with a ticked off expression on your face. You continued, “They aren’t completely wrong...” “Please don’t be actually considering this...” Steve begged. “All I’m saying...” the sounds of an engine revving loudly interrupted you. Max scrambled to the window, fear evident on her face. “It’s my brother. He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.” She looked at you and Steve, just as you both recognised the person to whom the car belonged to. Steve exclaimed, “You are Billy Hargrove’s sister?!” she nodded. You frowned as you motioned to follow him outside. “Y/N stay here.” “If you think I’ll let you go suicide squad again...” “They’ll need someone tough if things go wrong”, he jerked his heads towards the kids.

That was your first mistake. Letting him go out there alone to face that savage Neanderthal named Billy fucking Hargrove. You just wished that King Steve wouldn’t be dethroned by the new Keg King in a fist fight as well. You noticed too late that the kids were crowding in the window when they were supposed to hide. Suddenly they ducked. “Did he see us?” Dustin asked. You closed your eyes and took in a deep breath. This was turning into one hell of a night. You shuffled them into the kitchen and prepared yourself for what was about to come. The door was kicked open with force, as Billy strutted into the room. “Well, well, well. Y/N L/N and Lucas Sinclair, what a surprise.” He looked at you and then at Lucas behind you with a manic glint in his eyes.

“Hargrove, you need to leave this house. Now.” He merely laughed. “Step aside L/N this doesn’t concern you.” He merely laughed. “Step aside L/N this doesn’t concern you.” “Like hell it doesn’t. You stay away from my kids, you understand?” You kept a hand on your machete, prepared for the worst case scenario. He snorted, “Did you and Harrington decide to take the next step and start adopting kids? If so, leave that bitch alone. ‘Cause I ain’t leaving this house without my sister.” “And I ain’t leaving Max with an asshole of a brother.” That was your second mistake of the night. Your sass was going to get you killed one day. Well, who cares, Hargrove had it coming anyway. He laughed out loud as if you had cracked a really funny joke but the mirth didn’t reach his crazed eyes. With a shout he rushed towards you. You whipped out the machete and hit his head with its handle in a bid to throw him off course. The leather grip and your force dealt a sizeable welt to the side of his head. He grunted with the blow but took you down nonetheless. The machete slid out of your grip and fell too far from your reach. Well, shit. The kids were shouting out loudly, telling him to leave you alone but all you could stare at were the eyes of Billy Hargrove as he grabbed your head and struck it against the floor. The pain thundered through your skull, dark spots danced across your vision and all sound turned into white noise. He didn’t give you a moment’s respite, grabbing you by the throat. You were hoisted momentarily in the air before being pushed against the wall. A groan escaped your lips when he choked you, “You should learn to keep that smart mouth of yours closed Y/N, never know who could rip it off.” You crumpled to the floor as he let you go and approached Lucas, slamming him into a wall cabinet with threats of dire consequences on his lips. Had it been somebody else they would have shit their pants. Not Lucas Sinclair. On being threatened, he kneed Billy in the groin. Despite being dazed and disoriented, you were a proud parent. “You are so dead”, the mullet wearing bastard threatened him again before Steve interrupted his tirade, “No. You are.” You were thankful for that as he seemed to have an upper hand in beating Billy out of the house. That was until you saw Steve being clobbered on the head with a plate and subsequently pulverised to a bloody pulp. The white noise was slowly turning into a dull buzz as you stumbled to your feet and approached the pair. “Hey asshole, stay away from my guy!” Billy looked up in time to see your fist rushing to meet his face. Muttering profanities he grabbed you again and returned the favour. You could have dodged that punch, but all you did was smile at the pain, feeling the bruise already blossoming on your jaw. Confused at your reactions, he cursed as the needle pricked his neck. Max had needed a distraction to plunge the syringe, so you gave her one. You left her to threaten Billy with dire consequences, with liberal use of Steve’s bat of course. You crawled towards him, watching King Steve in all his glory, knocked out cold with a bloodied face. God, he had had the daylights punched out of him. Your head pounded and you had a feeling that you were no better than him, though minus a split lip and a slowly blackening eye. You watched Billy promise Max to leave all of you alone and then slump into unconsciousness. They all looked at you as you chuckled, wondering if you had become deranged from his hits. “Did he knock something loose in your head?” Mike wondered out loud. “Nah, I was just thinking that I trained you kids well.” They all grinned at that. You managed to scrap together a few colourful band aids and carefully placed them on Steve’s injuries. That would have to do for the mean time.

Once you reached Billy’s car, you and Dustin somehow squashed Steve on the backseat. You were overcome by a wave of nausea and swayed on your feet. Most likely a concussion, you mused. “Max can you drive? If I attempt to do that in my state, I’ll probably ram it into a ditch.” That was how you found yourselves racing towards the hole Hopper had dug, Max swerving and accelerating at dangerous speeds.

Just as you started thinking that maybe this had been a bad idea, Steve groggily woke up. “Y/N?” he asked Dustin. “I’m here Steve.” He looked at you, before nuzzling into your side. “You look nice.” He felt your chuckle vibrate through his side, if he moved any further, he would be practically in your lap. “Speak for yourself Harrington.” A moment of silence passed before he asked, “Wait did you just call me Steve?” You turned your head to look out of the window, your cheeks flaming red. “What? No! I think you’re still too dazed to think straight.” “Wait, if you are sitting here. Then who’s driving?” His gaze shifted to Max and a chant of ‘Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!’ started. Frankly you don’t really know how you reached where you needed to be. Suffice to say, it involved a lot of shouting, a lot of cursing, one hyperventilating Steve and a smashed mail box. By the end of the ride, you and Steve were clutching each other for dear life.

“I told you, zoomer.” Max said proudly, once you rushed out of the car never more grateful for solid ground. “Guys? Hey guys?” Steve shouted at the kids as they started taking out bandanas and goggles from the boot, ‘protection’ you had insisted would be required if you were to go through with this. You mumbled your thanks to Dustin as he handed you your pair. “Y/N you should be siding with me on this! We aren’t going down that hole! This ends now!” You stared at the ground for a moment before saying, “They are right, you know. I can’t sit there waiting for others to do things knowing I could have done something to help El and Hopper out. And anything goes, even crawling into a slime infested Upside Down tunnel trying to lure flesh eating demo-dogs if that means we can shut this shit down for good.” “You really have a way with words, you know?” Dustin said while giving Steve his protective gear, “Steve, you are upset. I get it. But the bottom line is a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance. Now I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So keep us safe.” He handed him his bat and your machete was thrust into your hands. Steve sighed and took his trusty bat after you gave him a nod. Getting down the hole hadn’t been difficult. Once you landed, the sight that greeted you was hardly scenic. The floating dust particles, the slime lathered pulsing tunnel and the chilly air gave you eerie vibes. It seemed like a piece of hell had been recreated in Hawkins. “Holy shit”, Steve exclaimed. “Pretty cosy, right?” you replied sardonically as the party looked around. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure it’s this way.” Mike shined the torch on the crude map of the tunnels you had drawn. You were glad that Steve stopped Mike and took the lead; these little shits could go running blindly into danger and not even know it. Bringing up the back, you swung the machete in your hand hoping that the demo-dogs would at least let you reach the hub and not make any surprise appearances. Getting there had been fairly incident free if you overlooked a minor hiccup (Dustin being spewed with otherworldly vomit could be considered that, in the grand scheme of things) and before you knew it, you were dousing the hub with all the inflammable liquid you could get your hands on from the Byers’ household. With everyone calling out that they were ready, Steve took out the lighter and flung it into the darkness whilst muttering, “I’m in such deep shit.” For the rest of your life, you would remember how the small flame sailed through the air, almost in slow motion, before landing on the floor and lighting up the room like a bonfire taking to dry wood. Nothing could be more horrifyingly beautiful than an inferno of flames engulfing the slimy tendrils that started screeching on being burnt. “Go, go, go, go, go”, Steve yelled snapping you out of your daze when he pulled you together with him. You quickly ran ahead of the boys, taking the machete out of its place at your waist. Was this how Vikings felt when they launched surprise attacks on enemies? Well, they probably didn’t have someone like Steve Harrington shouting, ‘oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!’ throughout the escape but you wouldn’t have liked it any other way. The euphoria of having burnt an evil shadow monster’s lair pumped through your veins, the frigid air rushing past your party as you ran through the winding tunnels.

That was until Mike’s cries for help brought you to a screeching halt. You changed directions, running back to see him being dragged by the vines. Lucas, Dustin and Max reached him first and tried to pull him out of the vine’s clutches. “Stand back!” Steve swung the bat at it once, twice. You delivered the third blow, cutting it clean from his foot as the shrieking critter gave a few dying wails before flopping lifelessly. You were hoping that that would be the end of your problems. You should have known better. A hungry growl diverted your attention from checking if Mike was hurt and the hair on the back of your arms stood up. A demo-dog stood in front of you in all its slimy, many toothed glory. You made a move to go full Viking on it just as Dustin called out, “Dart?” This was the thing that had been mistaken for a pet?? You lowered the machete as Steve tried to pull him back but he just shushed you guys. You tried to call him back, “Trust me on this!” he replied and you lapsed into silence. Your eyebrows rose up in disbelief as Dustin talked with the creature as if it were a beloved dog returning to its master. You were fairly sure your brows had disappeared into your hairline by the time he had managed to calm the demo-dog with nougat bars and waved you guys to move forward. This night was breaking all previous charts of trippy events but stranger things had been known to happen. You swiftly moved on ahead but a loud rumble shook the ground, tripping you and the others. “What was that?” Max asked. “They are coming. Run. RUN!” Mike shouted from the rear. You all ran like your lives depended upon it as growls echoed deeply from the tunnels, sounding closer and closer as you approached the rope. “There! Let’s go. Go. Go. Go.” Steve steadied the dangling rope while you hoisted Max up and urged them to climb up ahead one by one. You were about to follow Dustin as he was helped up by Lucas and Mike when the growls echoed too closely for your comfort. “Shit” you muttered. Hordes of demo-dogs rounded the corner and filled the tunnel, piling over one another in their haste to reach you. It was too late, you could never make it out in time. This was the end, this was how you would die. At least you both had got all the kids out safely. Your fist gripped the machete tightly, readying it for one last swing. Steve looked at you and gave a solemn nod. You held his gaze and a silent understanding passed between you. Whatever may happen, you would go down fighting. You saw the distance between them and you diminishing at an alarming rate. Running at you at full throttle, closing in on you, faster and faster.... And just continuing on as if you were invisible. Completely ignoring your presence, they roughly brushed past you, almost knocking you off balance. Did they not see that there were two prime steaks standing smack dab in their midst? Steve pulled you in his arms as the tide of demo-dogs made its way around you, disappearing around the corner heading god knew where. As you clutched onto him for dear life, your mind finally registered that you had nearly died just then. You stared at him, not comprehending that the ordeal was at long last over. He gazed right back, holding on equally tightly. As if letting you go would make the monsters come back. As if being nearly run down by literal hell hounds had finally opened his eyes and he was seeing you for the first time. You gave a hysterical laugh and flung yourself into Steve as he buried his head in the crook of your neck, clutching your waist even more tightly than before. You both stayed like that for what seemed like eternity before being interrupted by Dustin. “Guys? Guys, I know it’s literally the end of the world but can you have your lovey-dovey moment after you are safe and out of that hell hole?” You sprang apart at that and let go of each other. Blushing the shade of ripe tomatoes, you climbed up the rope. Once you reached above ground, you slipped your hand into Steve’s, took off the bandana & goggles and gave him a dazzling smile. The headlights burnt bright like two miniature suns, signalling that El had managed to close the gate. He looked at you then, with the fading light reflecting off your sweat and grime stained face. You looked as bone tired as he felt, hair greasy and all over the place. There was a purplish bruise on your jaw that was darkening with every passing minute (Hargrove was going to be so dead once he was done with him). Nobody had looked more beautiful in his eyes. In that moment, Steve Harrington thought that if the end of the world meant you would look at him with such adoring eyes, may be facing ravaging demo-dogs and enduring near death experiences wasn’t that bad of a deal after all.  

A/N: My first Steve Harrington imagine! Not exactly sure how this turned out. Please excuse any typos that may have crept in. I love Mom Steve, if you didn't notice. I react to feedback the way Dart acts with Nougat. ❤ ~mystical reading nerd.