#ended up bringing them in after the house was built (they were still stuck there. for days) and they had trouble getting up stairs too

[eudico-my-beloved]

managed to pirate minecraft and just built a fuckass house B)

[pinkcarnatixns]

georgia stanway | flowers for vases

synopsis georgia does her first tattoo on you, it leads to a confession after of years of feelings [1.6K] contents best friends to lovers, nervous georgia, tattooing, mentions of needles

You normally took pride in your fearlessness when it came to adding to your growing collection of ink on your skin, but now you were completely petrified.

When Georgia had first approached you to be her canvas for her very first tattoo on real skin, you had immediately agreed- your haste chalked up to a trust built on years of friendship and definitely not the fact you’d do anything she asked. 

What your sometimes scatterbrained best friend had forgotten to mention was that this was not a private affair, but a moment that was going to be televised for all the nation to see. Of course, this meant that you’d have to act like you weren’t completely smitten with the woman-  in front of a bunch of cameras while you tried to not blush at her hands on you. 

Safe to say, you were quite ticked off with Georgia when you first arrived at the small tattoo studio’s address, only to be greeted with people rushing filming equipment inside the building from a van with a big ‘BBC’ plastered on the side. When you entered the studio with a quirked eyebrow and crossed arms, her face clearly dropped as she realized her mistake, rushing over to your side. 

“I completely forgot to mention the filming part, didn’t I?” She pouts at you, grabbing a hold of your bicep to plead her case.

You sighed, “You know, I really thought this was a sweet gesture of trust between us, not to get you a big check from the BBC.”

At your jest, she deflated even further and you struggled to stop your lips from quirking up at her dramatics. You could never stay mad at her for very long, especially when she made you laugh just by being in the same room as her. Still, you were a bit mortified at the possible outing of your feelings for the girl being broadcast to the world, so you tried your best to hold your ground. 

“It’s not like that at all! You know there’s nobody else I’d rather share this with, I swear!” She held onto your biceps tightly, and you felt your resolve washing away like a sand castle with the wave of her cologne that hit your nose. 

Her hands were trembling lightly, and at her gaze and proximity you quickly turned shy, only managing to mumble out, “You don’t mind sharing it with everyone in the nation, clearly.” 

However, taking pity on her already clearly fried nerves, you followed the snark up with a playful eye roll and returned her gaze. “Well, since I’m here, let’s see what you’re going to put on my body forever.” 

Her already big brown eyes seemed to light up at your compliance, and she gently pulled on your forearms to uncross them with a blinding smile. She effortlessly initiated the intertwining of your hands, nearly dragging your shocked form to the ground with her fervor to show you what she had drawn. 

She got shy as you both approached her already prepped little work table, going quiet as you peered down at the paper and leaning into your body for comfort. The warmth that spread through your body at your still entwined hands creeped all the way up to your ears at what she had designed just for you: a little broken flower vase. 

When you two had first met as kids, Georgia, persistent to impress you with her football skills- had wrongly decided to do so inside your house. When this naturally ended in the broken heirloom, and your mother’s harsh scolding, you had taken the fall for the overexcitable girl. She had been inconsolable at the mess she had caused, promising to make up for it someday. To this day, she still felt guilty for the incident while you often brought it up, joking that she was only still by your side to repay her debt. 

Through all the growing pains and hard times, you had stuck by each other’s sides. Even when you got into fights, one of you would always bring up the vase as an olive branch, knowing that it really meant that you could never get rid of one another. 

Your eyes got misty, your heartbeat in your ears drowning out the hustle and bustle around you two, “Georgia, that’s so sweet- you sap.”

“You really like it? Don’t lie.” Her hand nervously fiddled with the rings that adorned yours, both of you refusing to meet each other’s eyes. In a moment of bravery, you pecked her on the cheek and rested your head on her slightly taller shoulder. 

“I love it. Can’t wait to have it on me forever.” You punctuated the genuine words with a squeeze to your intertwined hands, hoping to calm her nerves with the action. 

She stumbled a bit over her sentence, before forcing it out nearly too fast for you to catch it, “There’s three flowers on one side and then one on the other. Y’know like 31, like my number at Bayern.”

Your head jumped off your shoulder, gaping at her as she was locked in a staring contest with the table- cheeks red like she had just played a full 90. With your heartbeat nearly breaking at the confines of your ribcage, you decided to lean into the moment, tripping over your words a bit but whispering. “That’s perfect. I like it even more now.”

At your reassurance, she shyly met your sincere gaze, struggling to keep a goofy smile subdued as you nodded at each other.

Your little bubble was broken when a crew member called for her presence, apologizing for interrupting as he dragged her over for an interview. You watched on with hearts in your eyes as she spoke to the camera, her sincere appreciation for the art shining through with every word and the sparkle in her eye. Caught up in watching her, you barely realized when they had wrapped up, rushing over to her side after missing your name being called a couple times.  

They perched you up on a stool for her to place the stencil on your calf, sighing in relief as it peeled off exactly as she wanted it. She gently held your hand to help you down, using it to guide you over to the table while instructing you to lay down comfortably.

When she actually starts dancing the needle over your skin and attempting to answer questions at the same time, she clearly struggles. Nearly every time she punctures your flesh, she can’t help but look to you for your reaction- scared to hurt you. You try not to laugh as her sentences trail off again and again as she continually locks eyes with you, knowing she’s going to make the editor’s job a nightmare. As she nears finishing, you try to shoot her encouraging smiles, wishing you could tell her how good she was doing if not for the mics that would pick it up. 

The tattoo takes quite long for how simple the design is, partly due to her insistence on doing everything right, stopping for the littlest things. It’s sweet that she’s so adamant to not hurt you or have the ink blow out, but it’s pretty comical and clear that the camera crew is getting antsy. You are happy to sit for as long as she needs, content with the heat of her palm through her gloves soothing the ache of the needle, but try to silently encourage her in order to get everyone out on time. 

As she takes the final swipe of a paper towel over your skin and declares that she’s finished with a shaky breath, the first thing she does is to once again look at you. She visibly relaxes as you send her a beaming smile, taking your hands to move you to sit upright. You admire her work as she turns to give you her water bottle, watching you like a hawk as you take a sip.

You get shy at her attention, “I’m not going to pass out you know, I’m literally covered in tattoos already.”

“You’re really feeling alright? We can take pictures after you have a second, yeah?” 

“Georgia really, you look much more lightheaded than me. You did great, I promise.” As you try to scoot off the bench, her hands stop you- pinning your thighs to the table. The position forces her to lean closer to you, putting you at eye level with one another. She has a certain determination in her eyes, but is clearly quite mortified at the proximity her actions have caused.

Still, with her big brown eyes boring into yours, slightly rough palms on your naked thighs, and the slight dizziness that you do feel- you look around the room to see everyone busy packing up before you do something drastic. As you turn back to her soft gaze, a slight tilt to her head and a quick glance at your lips is all the encouragement you need. 

Your hands cover hers, desperate for something to ground you as you lean in to peck her lips. At your slight movement, she excitedly surges forward and you clash much harder than you had expected. 

Pulling away, you’re both reduced to hysterics at the release of the tension that the day caused, and for finally giving in to a moment to had both waited for all your lives. Who knew it would take her marking you forever for you both to make a move.

a/n: wow so sorry I have not uploaded in forever! midterms absolutely kicked my butt and then I was celebrating my birthday! anyways I'm not super happy with this but I hope yall enjoyed <3

my requests are still open and i will really try to be much quicker in getting to them lol

[idontknowreallyidontcare]

Silly Husband!König decided to give it a try to one of Soap’s girlfriend’s ideas. Out with the boys for a beer, he let it slip that in some weeks you’d celebrate your first anniversary and he’s just scared of not being able to make you live a night full of passion, he’s getting a bit old after all.

Some of the girlfriends were trying to give him lots of advice, “don’t watch porn, don’t masturbate, don’t be overly sexual because you might not be able to get it up”, Soap’s girlfriend casually mentions just taking some aphrodisiacs and calling it a night (better if taken some hours before the act, so sexual tension can be built up). Soap ends up telling König how it actually works and how his girlfriend never had a complaint while they used them, just make sure not to exaggerate with the dose/the amount of times you use it.

Husband!König returning home to you, finding your precious self asleep on the couch as his heart starts pounding and blood rushing, he just loves you so much, he will not risk anything to ruin the day of your anniversary. He brings you to your shared bed and gently tucks you in, kissing your temple as he gets out the room, closing the door slowly so he doesn’t wake you up.

Husband!König that spends the night on the computer and researches the topic of aphrodisiacs, writing down every pro and con he finds. He goes thru a list of the safest ones to buy and chooses the absolute best one, paying a good amount of money for it, but it’s all for his sweet lady upstairs, he would pay millions just to make sure she’s safe.

Husband!König that receives his package and runs to hide it asap, so you don’t see or suspect anything. Your anniversary it’s in a week, he can’t risk to ruin the whole surprise. The bottle it’s actually small, or maybe his hands are too big (umm.. DUH?), but he reads the instructions very well, aside from trying to remember what the website he bought this thing from said. A maximum of 2 drops mixed with anything, or just plopped in the mouth and swallowed, if taken more, there was not really any risk, the state of the aphrodisiac would just last longer, but don’t go over 5 drops, it’ll be painful to deal with the effects for DAYS!

Husband!König is getting ready for your dinner, being finally the day of your anniversary, and as you’re still stuck on your make up, he prepares two glasses of champagne for you two to drink before going. Of course he has a reason to, he squeezes, well he tries to, some drops of the aphrodisiac. He’s careful to remember not to go above 5 drops, and decides to be precautious, he’s squeezing in 2 for you, you’re a young lady, your stamina still pretty high, while he gives himself double, 4 drops hoping he didn’t fuck up, still, he’ll think later about consequences. He brings the glasses upstairs to you, and you both drink, you thank him and notice how he is not able to keep his hands off you already. You have to drag him outside the house, or you’re risking your dress ripped off and your makeup destroyed, but it’s still too early for that!!

Husband!König that’s being tasted for the whole duration of the dinner, you caress his hands, your foot seductively touching his leg, running up and down his calf, your eyes focusing on his face and never breaking eye contact, your lips, your voice, everything about you is so sexy and seductive, and he can’t wait to just bring you home and give you a proper fuck, one you’ll never forget, and not because it’s your first anniversary together, but because he really plans to fuck you good, worship you but still get you all dirty and messed up for him. He’s a man of thought, he bought condoms, he has lube, even bought one that tastes like strawberry, he’ll pour it on your pussy and enjoy himself between your legs for a good amount of time. He has cuffs, ropes, toys that you would already regularly use, but tonight he wants to push you to the limits, he’ll probably stick his cock inside your pussy while he fucks your ass with a dildo, he’ll make sure to torture your clit with a vibrator while he fucks your ass, and play with your tits, maybe even sticking his cock between them too! Night’s young and he has a lot of plans, he can tell that his magic drops are working on you also, not just on him, because the moment you both leave the restaurant you’re leeched onto him, grabbing, touching, tracing his body and hungrily kissing his lips when he allows you to. He’s a taste, he’s not lowering himself on purpose just to hear you beg and whine about wanting his lips.

Husband!König who stands on his title as a silly man, because he might be actually good with technology, but why would he not delete the chrome history on a computer he knew very well you were using too. Maybe it was a slip, maybe he really didn’t think that his searches would pop up on the search bar the moment you typed an ‘A’ onto the keyboard, eager to look for ‘Austrian foods’ to make for him, just to have ‘Aphrodisiacs for couples, pros and cons’ pop up as a recent search. Needless to say, you left it be, your silly husband was onto something and you were really exited to see how it would all play out. You knew the moment he brought you the glass of champagne, you knew what he had put inside, and you still drank all of it. Careful not to spill a drop. The night was long ahead, you knew, but were more than happy about it. Feeling your panties already sticking to your folds while in the car was an indicator that the aphrodisiac was indeed in your champagne, and it was working its magic already! Of course he wanted you to suffer a bit by giving it to you before dinner, but he mostly wanted to edge himself, force himself to have you all wet and ready for him the whole time you were at the restaurant, having to wait till back home to have you in every place and position he wanted.

[charliehoennam]

hero's homestead

A/N: just a lil blurb I've had stuck on my mind and had to frigging get out since watching Road House

Pairing: Elwood Dalton x f!reader

Warnings: physical injuries, jealousy, kissing, mentions of grief and death

SHARING IS CARING, SO PLEASE REBLOG

Growing up in Glass Key made your face quite familiar around these parts. Everyone knew you, not because you were popular or from a rich family. Lord knows you wish you were.

But because the island was just so small, like a little fishbowl with too many sharks circling around their prey, everyone knew each other around here. However, the small island was full of a strong sense of community.

Your friendship with Charlie started while you were in high school. You were just a freshman and Charlie was six when Stephen and his wife would very often ask you to baby-sit.

Saying no to them was nearly impossible. Not only did they pay you well, but they always offered you a ride home and made you sure you had dinner before leaving. They really treated you like you were part of the family and helping one another in the community was just so normal.

They always treated you with welcoming kindness and respect so, if there was anything you could do to help them, you did it. Aside from baby-sitting Charlie, this included working at their book store.

You were around there most of the time. If you weren't at home or at school, you were at Glass Books.

As you got older, you started to spend less and less time there in order to focus on your own personal and professional life.

That didn't mean you were never around anymore. You still made your frequent stop to buy the new read of the week.

"Why don't you just get all the books you want for the month, so you don't have to keep coming back?" Charlie questioned genuinely curious.

"Nah, I like coming here. I like the service. And besides, you'd miss me too much, kid" you chuckled watching the young teenage ring your book up at the register.

When Stephen told you about his wife's illness, it really took you by surprise. She could've easily been voted the happiest woman of Glass Key. The aura she possessed could make the dullest room become the brightest. Her sense of humor would have even the most no-nonsense person cracking a smile. She was an amazing woman and a motherly figure to most.

The entire community mourned her loss. The blue sky and the tropical environment wasn't enough to brighten the day for your neighborhood's residents. The heavy rains that followed that entire week led you to believe that even the island was weeping for her absence.

Between medical expenses, funeral costs and a growing teenager, Stephen had to learn to be a single father quite fast. And that meant working a full-time job to make end's meet.

He asked you to help out with the store and you happily agreed. Glass Books was his wife's dream. She loved spending her days there, in the cozy little bookstore she'd built with the love of her life.

Although you know Stephen has a lot on his plate, you can't help but wonder if he wants to avoid the store and her memory altogether.

You refused to accept money for it, knowing the shop didn't make so much money. Even so, Stephen would still transfer you a small amount whenever he could and would often bring you breakfast, lunch or dinner because he felt it was the least he could do.

All you wanted to do was help.

He was more than grateful, especially when he saw how you could make Charlie laugh by putting on music and dancing in the middle of the store with her.

He could see her slipping into a dark place after the death of her mother. Dealing with his own pain, he did his best. But, you were the best friend she needed. A feminine figure she could go to talk about more embarrassing situations or just to get her mind off of the loss.

Gradually, it seemed like their small family was beginning to heal. Although the loss was a still a fresh wound, and Stephen would often find Charlie clutching a small portrait of her mother asleep in bed, they were managing to keep the pain at bay.

You understand how important this store to them. It represents so much more than being just a simple local book store. It represents her.

The store was just as special to you as it was to Charlie and Stephen.

It had always been your refuge, but now, it was always the place where you met him.

Charlie, with her overly friendly nature that she inherited from her mother, struck up a conversation with the then stranger just outside the bookstore.

Her overprotective father was soon outside within seconds. Although the friendly streak ran deep within him too, he knew these parts were full of men with bad intentions.

Once he realized the stranger wasn't from around, he felt a little more at ease.

Although you remained inside the shop, you could overhear their conversation as you inched towards the door and opened it to stand in the doorway, eyeing the stranger with caution.

Stephen was surprised to know he'd come out of town to work at the Road House. To be honest, neither of you expected him to last very long. At that place, security never does.

The bouncer turnover never ceased with the riots that broke out there almost every night. So, you didn't bother getting your hopes up.

However, Dalton kept coming back. Every other day, he came in with the excuse of using the computer or buying a book just to strike up a conversation with you and lay down his flirtatious charm.

Charlie was the first to notice he would always come around when you were there and, if you weren't, he'd always make sure to ask when you were.

She had quite a bit of fun poking fun at you, telling you he had a crush on you or mocking the unconscious change in your voice you had when talking to him.

It didn't long take for feelings to develop between you and him. There was no doubt in either of you. Although unspoken, the magnetic attraction was undeniably present.

Some of those talks were deep and you felt you could confide in him to share things you hadn't shared with anyone at all. He, in turn, told you about the night on the train tracks and how the last fight he had in the ring haunted him every night.

There was no denying the bond you were forming. However, the rumors that were spreading around the island about the closeness between Ellie and him made you hesitant to make the first move.

When you casually brought it up into conversation, he shook his head and told you it wasn't anything serious and that she'd took him on a date once. You wanted to ask him if he had feelings for her, but that would be too much.

"So what's the deal with you and Dalton?" Charlie curiously asked, having picked up on the constant courtship that you two refused to act on.

"There is no deal. We're just friends. Hardly that."

"I may be young, but I'm no fool. I know there's something going on between you two."

"Sorry to disappoint you, kid, but there isn't. Besides, I hear he's got a sort of a girlfriend" you replied without looking up at her from the book in your hand.

You were both sat in fold-out beach chairs placed in front of the store, enjoying a couple of white cherry slushies, hoping the ice cold drink could soothe the hot, humid weather.

"How do you have a 'sort of girlfriend'? Either she is or isn't."

"Those things are complicated. I guess they're getting to know each other," you shrugged wishing you could avoid the topic.

"Like you guys are?"

"There is nothing going on. Sure, he's cute and funny and all, but he's seeing someone else. He's not interested in me, Charlie."

"So, you are interested in him?"

"It doesn't matter if I am. She's a doctor, she's smart and she's really pretty and drives a nice car. I know I don't stand a chance, so I'd rather not get my hopes up," you rambled, failing to read anything on the page you were stuck on. "Can we please drop this now?"

"Oh my god," she smirked staring at you. "You're jealous."

You scoffed at her ridiculous accusation and shook your head as you closed the book and set it in your lap.

"I am not jealous. I do not get jealous."

"Yes, you are! You totally are!"

"I am not! I just don't want to talk about this anymore, alright? So can we drop it?"

"Alright, alright. Sorry I brought it up."

She couldn't stop smiling as you opened your book to continue reading. Although you weren't her parents, her mind couldn't stop thinking of a way to parent-trap you into getting together.

However, her plans were brought to a halt when Brandt's lackeys invaded the shop just a few days later.

You tried your best to stand your ground and defend the shop along with Stephen. He told you to leave, but you refused.

After the beatdown you both received unwillingly, a fire had been set and the cruel men left. The adrenaline that surged through your bodies was enough to numb the pain in order to get you both quickly back on your feet to put out the fire.

Between the blood loss and the resurfacing pain, the billowing smoke got stronger and stronger. The flames became too strong too quickly and had engulfed the entire wall across the front counter.

Light-headed and dizzy, Stephen tried to save whatever he could from the store. As you rushed back and forth, you realized that the fire had grown too much and swallowed the front entrance.

The heat of it shattered the glass windows. The open air only fueled the fire more. Coughing from the heavy smoke, both you and Stephen got down on the floor to avoid the unbreathable air and attempted to crawl to the back exit.

Everything went dark after that and melded into one huge blur.

You don't remember when you actually blacked out, but you do remember feeling relieved once you heard the fire department's arrival.

The time you spent in the hospital was short - only a couple of days - but it was enough to make you reflect on your life.

An overwhelming sense of regret washed over you as you thought about Dalton.

You'd only known each other for a few weeks, but what if you could've had something special? What if Charlie's jokes were true and he actually ended up to be your soulmate?

She could be wrong too, but the fact that you could've died and never found out if you ever really did stand a chance ate at your mind.

You hadn't fully realized the extent of your attachment until a couple days later.

You show up at the store with a limp from the beatdown you'd received a couple days ago.

Stephan tries to assure you they're fine, that you need to rest and recover, but you argue that you'll go insane if you stay at home with nothing to do, high on pain meds.

Helping the owners clean and salvage whatever they can, Charlie casually mentions that Dalton and left her and her father a suitcase full of money to rebuild the store before he got on a greyhound bus destined to leave Glass Key.

The same regret you'd felt in the hospital strikes you again and secretly consumes you.

You try to play it off and instruct her to not to tell anyone about the money. You barely understand what she said after that. All you can think about for the rest of that morning is that he left and didn't even say goodbye.

When Charlie and her father invite you to get some lunch with them, you politely refuse, opting to stay back and keep yourself busy. You lie and tell them you had a big breakfast beforehand just so they won't worry.

You promised you wouldn't get your hopes up. You knew better than that. Bouncers never last at the Road House. You know this just as well as any of the other residents of Glass Key.

He's gone now.

You just want to be alone for a bit to process it.

The door opens and the bell above it rings as you sweep away at the shattered glass, forcing you to look back over your shoulder.

The sight you see has you frozen in surprise.

His face is impossible to forget. You could never forget those big blue doe eyes, even with the dark skin that circles his right eye.

You groan lightly at the shooting pain from your broken rib as you straighten and turn to face him, holding the broom by your side as you stand next to it.

Dalton closes the glassless door behind him as he greets you with a silent but friendly smile until the cut on your lip and the black eye remind him of the damage he caused.

He doesn't look too different from you. His eye is still a little swollen but mostly black now, his lip busted and the stitches on his eyebrow are all evidence that business has been handled at the Road House.

"So, the Glass Key hero returns" you smile at him, ignoring the sting on your bottom lip. "Charlie said you were riding off into the sunset. You forget something?"

"I'm not a hero and, no, I didn't" he starts, looking around the burned down shop trying to swallow his guilt.

"Changed your mind?"

"Someone kinda changed it for me, actually. A very wise person told me that heroes don't always have to ride off into the sunset. They can stay and make a homestead instead."

Joy bursts within you like fireworks on new years. You try to fight back the smile that creeps onto you lips.

"Thought you weren't a hero."

"I'm not."

You nod biting the inside of your cheek to mask your excitement. You take the second broom that Charlie had been using earlier and left leaning against the wall by the front door.

"This homestead could use a hand" you smile and offer him the broom.

He takes it with a happy grin, feeling finally accepted as if he finally found somewhere he belongs.

"There's, uh, one more thing" he says in a soft voice.

His hand raises to your chin, tilting your head up as he cranes his neck to kiss you in the most tender of ways.

Unable to forget about Ellie, you place a hand on his chest and gently push to stop the kiss.

Dalton's face contorts with confusion. He doesn't notice the breath he's holding, anxiety settling in as he fears that you'll ask him to stop. Maybe he got the wrong signals and you don't like him that way. He'd respect it, if that's the case, but it doesn't mean his heart won't be crushed.

"I thought you were seeing Ellie?"

He blinks slightly surprised. That's not what he had expected to hear, but it makes him kind of happy that you're not asking him to stop.

"She took me on a date and we kissed, but that was it."

"So, you are dating her?"

"What, are you jealous?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I'm not jealous."

"You sound a little jealous" he smirks.

"I'm not. I just... I don't wanna get my hopes up."

"I'm not dating her," he says gently stroking your bruised cheek. "I told her there's someone else for me, someone that I really wanna date."

He gazes into your eyes as you smile up at him and let him continue his kiss. You let his lips linger on yours and smile when you feel them stretch into a grin.

The cuts on your mouths hurt, but neither of you bother to pull away.

His kiss gradually intensifies. His tongue flicks over your bottom lip, politely asking for entrance. His free hand reaches for your waist as the other sets against your cheek, leaving the broom tucked in his arm.

You let his tongue slip past your defenses. The gentle way his hand cradles your face has you holding onto his strong forearm and the other broom for balance as the room spins around you from his vertiginous kiss.

Your chest presses against his as you moan softly into his mouth. It takes him every ounce of his self-control to not pin you against the wall.

The bell rings again, alerting you both of another's presence so you quickly pull apart, trying to quickly compose yourselves. Your eyes shoot to the door along with Dalton's.

You realize who it is, so he shyly lets his eyes wander around what's left of the store and sweeps the ashy floor.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Charlie smirks sipping her juice from a straw as she stands in the doorway.

"No, no," you reply nervously as heat pools in your cheeks. "Dalton and I were just, uh, cleaning up."

"Cleaning what? The floor or each other's throats?"

Dalton snickers at her candor, glancing at you until she continues.

"Good to see you're back though. And if you ask me, it's about time."

[no1frogfan]

In the wee small hours of the morning

Tsukishima Kei x gn reader

Word count: ~1k

Tags & warnings: fluff, a little angst but it's just soft pining Tsukki

Note: Idk it’s cold in the mornings now and that makes me think about him too much. Trying out a new header situation too, I guess?

“Tsukki?”

A confused rasp stills him as he’s pacing through the living room, down the hall, and back up again. Outlined by the flickering tv screen, he sees a nest of hair poke up over the back of the couch.

“Y’ok?”

The gravelly timbre of your exhaustion weighs down each syllable, the edges of each word melding into one another over the tinny sound of some cooking show rerun.

After weeks together, the two of you have finally grown accustomed to sharing space. The living room is evidence of that — his half-built lego set, your cups (yes, multiple cups) of water, his clean jerseys, both your books, they all lay strewn across its surfaces. Kei’s finally stopped cloistering himself in his room, and you, you’ve moved past the pretense, no longer tip-toeing around him or bothering to look “presentable” around the house (not that he ever cared).

Actually, he likes you better like this — mussed hair, ratty house clothes, unguarded, at ease. It’s a secret little sliver of you that nobody else gets to see and he wants to hold it tight against his chest.

Instead of answering you, Tsukishima rubs his bleary eyes.

He’s been drifting through the apartment a lot these days, mostly in the early hours. Restless. Cold.

His toes are freezing and the tips of his fingers are icy as he curls them into his palms. You keep the apartment too chilly for him, but he never touches the thermostat. Not when you always look so inviting, all cozy and bundled in an oversized blanket. Yes, inviting. Even now, when you’re clearly pissed that you’re still awake, and so worn out that your face is crumpled into a tight grimace.

Three days ago, he admitted to himself that he’s hurtled past the line of friendship with you.

If he’s honest, he passed it a long time ago, and living with you has only forced him to come to terms with that fact. He’s sprinted far beyond a passing crush, barreling straight into whatever this is. Whatever it is that has you swimming across the inside of his eyelids whenever he closes his eyes. Whatever it is that compels him to pace the length of your apartment at night, slowing his steps when he nears your door, lifting his hand to the doorknob before hastening away, only to spin around the next minute and do it all over again.

It’s not cowardice. It’s not. It’s just…

Tsukishima stares at your huddled form. There’s a hint of impatience in the tilt of your chin, but mostly, you look concerned. Beneath your joking barbs and prickly exterior, you’ve always been concerned about him. That’s why he’s even here, trying not to inconvenience you further while his landlord fixes the leak in his apartment. It was supposed to take a few days, then a week, but now it’s been almost a month with no news, and he thinks he should just find a new place to live. But even when he’s snippy and seething about the whole thing, you’ve been gentle with him, letting him stay in your office-slash-guest room without paying a cent of rent (though he’s tried to insist on it many times), and bringing home treats to share after work (“They were having a sale!”).

It wouldn’t be right to force his feelings on you when you’ve been nothing but generous.

(What he can’t admit is that he doesn’t want this to end, for you to shut the door on whatever this is, once and for all.)

Plus, he’s seen you with Tadashi and Yachi and even Kyoutani, and you’re like that with all your friends. It’s not like you’re sweet on him. You’re just sweet. But he’s not sure how much longer he can stand to be stuck in limbo, unable to tell you and unable to not tell you.

The heat finally kicks on and Kei’s reminded that he’s cold. Freezing, actually, and haggard from lack of sleep. But he also puts on a bit of a show, rubbing his arms and shivering theatrically (why, he’s not sure).

“You’re cold,” you state dumbly, after staring at him for too long. “Do you want…?”

There’s less hesitation in your voice than he expects as you sit up a little to lift the corner of the blanket.

Maybe exhaustion was the final push he needed. He rushes over — before you change your mind (before he changes his) — and slips under the blanket.

Stiffening, you utter a bewildered noise.

Ah, shit.

Shit. Maybe not. Did he- You were offering the blanket to him, not telling him to get in with you. Obviously. Obviously. Fuck. Should he double down? Should he back off? Should he-

You stir again, and the weight of your head drops heavy onto his shoulder. (Is this…?) Tsukishima hardly dares to breathe as you pull him close and cradle your hands against his chest. He’s lightheaded, giddy as he tucks in the edges of the blanket, making sure to completely cover you both. He’s careful with his ice-cold hands, too, avoiding your bare skin as he wraps his arms around you.

Your exhales fan hot against the crook of his neck, and slowly, slowly, they deepen.

Eventually, drowsiness overcomes him too. After the frantic pattering of his heart has subsided, and after the bright red flush on his cheeks has faded. After the feathery wisps of dawn unfurl from behind the curtains, he cracks his heavy eyelids open one last time to look down at you, nestled tightly against him. Your face is slack, your lips gently parted, chest rising and falling in time with his.

Kei knows that tomorrow, when you’ve both had a good night’s sleep, you’ll have to talk about this.

He tightens his hold.

Tomorrow, whatever this is, you’ll cross that bridge together.

[xenon-demon]

only one (1) coherent thought in my skull right now and it’s domestic steddie with Steve washing Eddie’s hair after he’s discharged from hospital post-Vecna.

I’m imagining Eddie’s being discharged to Steve’s house, because Steve is but a simple man with a saviour complex (and also a crush on Eddie) so he’s letting Wayne and Eddie stay with him. Partly so they have somewhere to be while the government sorts out some new housing for them, but mostly because Eddie needs support for these first few weeks out of hospital and Wayne is away at work a lot. Having Steve around as well means Eddie won’t end up in a situation where he needs a hand but is stuck home alone for hours.

Eddie’s recovered enough for discharge but still requires a lot of physical therapy, and one of the things he still can’t do is raise his arms above his head. He can’t wash his hair pretty much at all, and while the nurses washed it for him in hospital, they didn’t do it frequently enough for Eddie’s standards. His hair has been driving him insane, as the limp, greasy feeling against his face, neck and scalp makes him want to claw his skin off. When he’s told how long it’s expected to take before his arms have full range of motion again, he makes a joke-that’s-not-really-a-joke about going back to his buzzcut days just to avoid dealing with the feeling.

Steve is horrified at the suggestion, and immediately offers to wash Eddie’s hair for him. He also divulges that part of the reason he styled his hair the way he did in high school was because he played a lot of sports, and couldn’t stand the feeling of sweaty hair against his neck and face. Sure, he genuinely did want his hair to look good, but styling it up so it was out of his face was an added bonus.

Eddie’s hair is driving him so crazy that he says yes, especially once he realises Steve might actually get where he’s coming from.

Cue an emotionally tense shower, where both Steve and Eddie are stripped down to their boxers because they don’t want to this fully clothed but they sure as fuck don’t want to do it naked, either. (Spoiler alert, they’d both actually love to have a naked shower together, they’re just both too nervous to bring that up at this stage!)

But then Eddie slips while in the shower, still unsteady on his feet and learning to adjust to his bad leg, so Steve makes an executive decision to switch over to the bath. After a bit of manoeuvring they find a comfortable position to do this; Eddie sitting in front of Steve in the bath, Steve’s legs stretched out either side of him. Between the physical intimacy of having your hair washed by someone else, and the way they don’t have to look at each other’s faces as they do this, they end up talking. They get a lot more personal than they were able to in hospital or during Spring Break, and it’s such a nice experience that they’ll each happily put up with the sensory hell of waterlogged boxers.

Eventually - after Eddie and Wayne have moved into their new place, but Eddie and Steve are over at each other’s houses often enough that they might as well still be living together - Eddie can move his arms enough to wash his hair on his own. He’s gotten more used to his bad leg and can stand long enough to even shower if he wants to. They go about three weeks with Eddie washing his own hair, both of them desperately missing this little routine they’d built but not wanting to admit it. One day, however, Eddie feels so lonely and so tired from physical therapy that day that he asks Steve to wash his hair for him. Steve accepts in a heartbeat, almost before Eddie’s even had time to say the words.

It feels different that time. The energy between them is charged, everything feeling more intimate somehow. It’s so palpable a difference that after Steve runs the conditioner through Eddie’s hair to let it sit for a few minutes, Eddie turns around in the bath to face Steve. He takes a breath, trying to steel his nerves, and asks: can I kiss you?

Steve doesn’t answer him; he thinks the way he leans in and slots his lips in between Eddie’s is answer enough.

[naamah-beherit]

Heart of Chaos

A series in 3 parts

Cosmic horror Hualian AU in which Hua Cheng is an eldritch god and Xie Lian is a human (but not for long). 16k words in total.

*****

Part 1: dreams in the dark

[ rated E • monsterfucking ]

Stuck on a planet he'd rather never have seen, Xie Lian dreams. Faced with a tsunami of cosmic proportions that will destroy everything he's built, Jun Wu makes a decision. Given an opening, Hua Cheng uses it and takes everything.

Or: the story in which the most terrifying being in all of creation loves a mortal man.

“San Lang, you…” Xie Lian’s head starts spinning. Is it because of Hua Cheng’s proximity, or from elation at the prospect of leaving this backwater planet for worlds he can’t even imagine? He seizes that feeling and basks in it. “Who are you?” Hua Cheng inhales, then grazes Xie Lian’s jaw with his teeth. “Yours.” Hua Cheng’s kiss tastes like lightning. His touch sets Xie Lian’s skin on fire and reaches his bones to take root there, spreading flame through his veins until he’s full of it to bursting. At some point, he grabs fistfuls of Hua Cheng’s clothes and clutches them like they’re his only tether to the world. There’s a lightness growing in him, a feeling foreign and terrifying in its enormity.

@auchrauch drew this gorgeous painting for this part <3

*****

Part 2: broken dreams

[ rated M • POV outsider ]

This is how Feng Xin's world ends: in the rain of fire and death, as the universe comes knocking on his village's doorstep and brings with it flames of war. It brings a priest, too, one who calls to his god on the notes of his blood. And unlike the god of Feng Xin's home, this one actually heeds the call.

Or: the story of the end of the world. And the beginning of a new one.

Warships arrive at dusk. Clouded in interstellar dust, they appear on the sky and immediately start raining fire. Forests burn, houses lie in ruin, the world itself groans and cowers under the onslaught a fortress couldn’t have withstood, let alone a settlement without defences. There are no evacuation ships. Not that it would change anything if there were—the army blankets the sky so densely not even a sliver of starlight makes it through. Feng Xin looks up and, without a shred of doubt, knows this is how they all die. “This is insane!” Mu Qing screams as they run between burning houses and craters some of the buildings have already turned into, and try to herd the survivors away from the bombardment. “What do they even want?!”

*****

Part 3: i've touched my dreams, but still i bleed

[ rated E • body horror • transformation ]

Nightmares are a persistent thing. Xie Lian's greatest one raises its head from the dead in the least expected moment.

Xie Lian aches. Down to the marrow of his long-dissolved bones; to the deepest forces linking particles of what makes him himself; to the darkest, faintest thoughts that have ever run through his mind—he aches. He aches when he moves, aches when he lies still, aches when he lets Hua Cheng pour power into him until he’s full to bursting, aches until it settles and then after it’s long gone; he aches, aches, aches. Pain courses through him, sets what may yet remain of his nerves on fire and unleashes thousands of unseen worms crawling under his skin. They aren’t there. Never. They don’t exist, and the crawling is merely sensations firing up in echoes of his nerve endings and synapses in the memory of his brain that fails to process so many impulses all at once—fails to have realised it’s all but gone. He runs a fingernail down his chest. The skin splits easily in a clean, smooth, deep cut. There’s no blood. No fat, no viscera, no bone peeks out from layers of tissue. There is no tissue. There’s only light: blinding, potent, pulsating golden light.

[shygirl4991]

Brewing Romance Chapter 4 Eye for a eye

A Collab Story with @lizaluvsthis SMG3 and SMG4 design for the AU by Liz!

Last Chapter Next Chapter

Summary: :SMG4 starts to struggle with his finances when he learns living in his newly built castle is more pricey than he thought. So when he gets an invite to the grand opening of SMG3 Coffee n Bombs he manages to land himself a second job as the cafe waiter where both men will learn that coffee won't be the only thing brewing in this cafe.

Tags: Slow burn, fluff, comedy, just two idiots in love, love confession, first kiss, angst, blood and injury, Canon Character death

SMG4 gets home letting out a sigh as he changes out of his uniform, he sits on his bed holding the hat and origami rose. He was extremely happy to see such a rare sight of SMG3 kindness, he could still feel the warmth in his hands. One thing he wasn't a fan of is knowing how good Three is at reading him, then again that skill is what helped him reach out to Four when he lost himself making the perfect video. 

Setting the hat and origami rose on the table stand next to him, SMG4 lays down and falls asleep thinking about the events that happened years ago.

Two years ago

SMG4 runs around the house in a panic, SMG1 told him to bring a box of memes to Omnia academy for the meme research club and thanks to a late night of editing he is cutting it close. He picks up the box of memes and dashes to his car, he starts it only for the vehicle to make a strange sound. He groans, headbutting the steering wheel before stepping out to see what was wrong. Looking around the car he noticed the issue “What the hell? Why is there ravioli in the car engine!?” 

A horribly written note was stuck next to the mess, while he couldn't read what the note said he knew the person behind this. Running out of time he runs to catch a taxi to get to the academy. 

At Omnia academy SMG1 and two were teaching a class on memes, standing in the middle of the room was Mario. SMG1 walks up to Mario “And as you can see here, the universe's avatar is just a regular human but with extraordinary abilities!” The class gets excited taking notes as Mario stands there picking his nose not fully understanding what was happening. SMG2 chimes in “Now up next, we are going to see how meme energy can be used to power up our avatar!” 

SMG4 finally arrives at the school, he taps his shoes and skates as fast as he can to the class. He pushes the door open keeping the box of memes balanced on his right hand, he smiles and waves at the other SMG’s as he skates in “Hey so sorry i'm late guys!”

He drops the box of memes then glares at Mario “SOMEONE thought it would be funny to fill my car engine up with ravioli!” Mario laughs pointing at him “Ha got em!” SMG4 had half a mind to punch his avatar over what happen

SMG2 smiles softly at Four “Don't worry SMG4, you're just in time!” two then walked up to the box “Wonderful you brought them.”  SMG2 opens the box while one speaks up “Ok class, SMG2 and i will now conduct a little demonstration. While SMG4 explains what's going on.”

SMG4 felt himself getting nervous, this whole guardian role was new to him after all he is just a youtuber that loves memes. How he ended up being some kind of demigod over meme energy he will never fully understand, even more that his other half is his rival of several years.  Taking a deep breath he begins to explain the situation “So we meme guardians can transmute memes into energy, and then transfer them into our avatar.” SMG1 and two hold hands focusing on the memes in the box. The memes then turn into orbs and slowly flow into Mario.

Mario starts to glow as his hand grows, he stares in awe before getting excited “Hey, just in time for the end of no nut november!” SMG4 sighs hearing his friend's words. That's right everyone this idiot here is the avatar of the world, things could be worse on avatar choices they could have ended up with Bob.  SMG4 turns and smiles at the class “So we have to be careful with meme energy as it can be extremely volatile!”  At that moment Mario came up with an idea. Opening his mouth he eats one of the energy orbs, he then soon regrets it as his stomach starts to scream in pain. He spits out the energy knocking SMG1 and two down. 

Losing concentration the energy in SMG1 and two start going wild, all the students start turning into energy as they flow into mario. SMG4 panics grabbing SMG2 “You guys stop!” the pair try to pull apart unsuccessfully “W-we can't.”

SMG4 pulls as hard as he can to break the connection, with one final tug he pulls them apart. He lets out a sigh of relief only to hear Mario panicking, he turns to see the energy has turned Mario into a rocket SMG4 screams as Mario hits him they go flying taking Meggy who was in lunch with them. The rocket finally crashes when it hits power 101 exploding and knocking SMG4, Melony, Meggy and Mario down. 

The professor glares at the group “DETENTION!!!”

The crew sit in detention, annoyed at how they got in there in the first place, Melony sighs looking down at her desk. She takes out a notebook and starts doing small doodles of her and Axol, that's when something wet hits her cheek. She turns to see a student she didn't recognize sitting next to her smirking, letting out a sigh as she looks forward, the teacher still scolding them for what happened. 

SMG4 wasn't sure why he was even in detention given he wasn't a student, though since he had meme training later in the week at the school he assumed that was good enough to mark him as one. The teacher walks out of the room talking to someone which caught the attention of SMG4 “Oh no…” Swag and Chris walk into the room. 

“HELLO YOU MISBEHAVING HOOLIGANS.” Swag lets out a smirk as he looks at everyone in the room. Meggy couldn't believe out of any pair to watch over detention it would be these two “What are you guys doing here?” Four nods agreeing with Meggy “Yeah aren't you mean to oh i don't know be in the military protecting the kingdom?”

Chris sighs at Four’s comment “We are temporarily suspended because someone thought it would be funny to stuff the tank engine with ravioli!” he turns glaring at his partner. Swag chuckles to himself “HA GOT EM!”

SMG4 couldn't help smacking his forehead hearing the story, at least he knows he isn't the only one in the world dealing with an idiot.

Swag then starts telling everyone how to escape detention “GO WRITE “SWAG IS BEST” ONE BAJILLION TIMES ON THE BOARD, THEN YOU CAN LEAVE.” 

Four and Meggy roll their eyes at what they were hearing, Meggy raises her hand “And what if we don't?” he looks her straight in the eyes “I'M GONNA START YODELLING.”  In a panic SMG4 and Meggy start writing on the board, Melony goes back to doodling in her notebook while Mario comes up with his own escape plan.

Mario starts a war with Swag and Chris to escape while SMG4 and Meggy get into a competition over their assignment to escape detention. Through all the chaos someone hit Swag with a random object “ALRIGHT WHO'S THE WISE GUY!” 

“It was her!” the voice said, Swag’s head turned to look at Melony who was still practicing her drawings. She looked up confused then shook her head, all she wanted was to figure out her god power so she could never lose a loved one again. Why did things have to get so complicated, after being scolded she turns to the person next to her “What was that for?” 

He tosses another item shifting the war to the crew now throwing random items at each other, Melony did her best to avoid it all. The moment she missteps she gets hit in the face knocking her down. The guy next to her chuckles “Well you were close, next time predict their trajectory yeah? The name is Niles.” Melony looks up at Niles, taking in his words. He then hands her a goomba “Cmon clueless, fight back!”

She takes the goomba, throwing it softly in front of her, Niles laughs at her making Melony glare at him “Im trying!”

“You gotta channel your inner energy as you throw, aren't you in power 101 i thought you would be better than this.” he looks away from her acting disappointed. Melony was getting annoyed by Niles, he had a point in what he was saying but she wasnt a fan at how mean he was being about it. She needed to focus,she wanted this so she would be stronger, with her power she can make sure no one ends up like Axol. She can feel energy flow through her as she gets ready to throw another item, taking a deep breath she throws a koopa at full speed. It knocks Swag down, everyone takes it as their chance as they all run out of the room at full speed. 

It was the next day and SMG4 was standing outside waiting for his partner to show up, he looked around to see all his friends training. The one training the hardest being Melony, understandable after what happened with zero and Axol.  He lets out a sigh when he looks at the time “Where the hell is he?” 

SMG3 was panicking, going back to school after everything that happened in the past with memewarts. Man did life love to laugh at him, he drops to the floor unsure what to do. He hears a click and turns his head seeing Terrance, he lets out a soft smile “Your right Terrance, Im Supermemeguardian 3 this won't be like last time cause im better then everyone haha!” he lets out his evil laugh then grabs a pair of sunglasses. He wasn't going to be a loser this time, he taps his shoulder for Terrance to climb up then snaps his fingers to open a portal. 

SMG4 turns his head when a portal suddenly appears, there he sees SMG3 walk out with a huge grin “Yo sorry i'm late, meme guardian stuff, yada yada you know?” he lowers his shades and makes eye contact with Four “oh, hey jerkface!” SMG4 crosses his arms “Good to see you to SMG3,” his eyes flicker to the meme casually sitting on the man's head “You don't expect to train with that knuckles on you do you?

Knuckles squeaks at the attention, the thought of sending Terrance home gives Three anxiety. He knew Terrance would have his back, he made him feel that he can be loved and cared for. Sending him back would mean he might have to relive memewarts and no one would be there for him. Covering his mixed emotions he rolls his eyes “Sorry Terrence, looks like the fascist doesn't want you here.” Terrence nods, climbing down and giving his father figure a hug before going back home. SMG4 walks up to SMG3 clearly pissed off “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?” Three gets even closer their faces just an inch apart “You heard me or do you need to clean out your ears, heh maybe if you did you can finally hear how unfunny your memes are!” 

SMG1 claps, getting the pair's attention “Alright! Its training time,” noticing how close he is to SMG4 he slides away from the man slightly blushing. SMG2 smiles at the pair “I know it’s been a while, but let's start off with some basic meme transmutation.” SMG3 frowns knowing that means he has to hold the other man's hand, SMG1 steps in the middle giving them a stern look “There is something important you both must know before we get into it, never use your meme powers alone.” SMG4 tilts his head “We could use meme energy alone?”

“Yes and no, to explain we can channel meme energy and make it do what we want. But meme energy is wild and hard to fully control, using it alone without your partner could lead to damage to your body…maybe even death if done too much.” SMG1 walks back to his partner and grabs his hand only to get a smile from his long-time best friend. SMG3 and four exchange looks before One continues “Not to mention alone your meme abilities are weak, after all we come in pairs for a reason we are stronger together!” SMG2 nods pointing to the chest of memes “Now get ready to transmute!”

SMG3 looks around nervously “Aww man, do I have to hold his hand we’re in public.” The thought of someone seeing him hold his rival's hand makes him feel sick. It’s not like he enjoyed the feeling of the other man's hand in his, it didn't bring him any comfort either just made him annoyed. SMG4 couldn't stand it anymore “Dude how are we going to train if you're gonna be insecure every time we do it!” SMG3 glares at Four and stomps the ground “HEY! I'M NOT INSECURE YOUR INSECURE! Baka…” he blushes as he looks away from his other half.

Seeing SMG3 blush made SMG4 giggle, he wasn't sure why but he couldn't help finding his rival cute when he blushed. Smirking he reaches out waving his hand, with a sigh SMG3 grabs his hand. They both start to glow as they slowly absorb a random meme walking around campus. Meanwhile in the background the box club gave Mario a mission to go around the school and collect students for their ritual. Their mission was clear, with enough students to sacrifice the god box would answer them and give them unlimited power. SMG1 nods pleased with the energy the pair has absorbed “Good! Now up next we’re going to use this meme energy offensively.” SMG2 puts down several dummies “Concentrate your focus and throw the energy at the dummy over there!”

Feeling each other energy they stare at the dummy launching the energy at it only to completely miss the target. SMG2 slowly turns to the pair “Yeah uh…you guys overshot a little bit there.” SMG3 shivered, the power he felt when he connected to SMG4 was amazing to him “woah…so…..much…power! If he could lure Four to the dark side he could only picture how they both would rule the world, he chuckles to himself causing SMG4 to give him a strange look.

SMG1 claps to gain the pair's attention again “lets try that again, this time aim please.” SMG3 chuckles, grabbing Four hands “Please i bet i could aim only using one eye!” Boopkins runs up to them in a panic “Guys, Mario has been kidnapping students you have to help!” SMG4 chuckles “What? Nah he’s probably just trying to steal spaghetti or…something?” He watches as Mario drives a truck taking one of the students. Without thinking he tightens his grip on SMG3's hand, feeling this SMG3 walks closer for Four to let him know he is there  “Come on let's stop our idiot avatar.”

Seeing this SMG1 lets out a soft smile at the pair before they all run after Mario.  Catching up, the box club leader turns and stares at the group in shock, ignoring the others SMG4 lets go of Three’s hand to get closer to Mario “Mario what the hell are you doing?” Mario keeps eating his pile of spaghetti as he lets out a shrug, that was answer enough to Four that Mario was yet again doing something for food. The club leader steps in front of SMG4 “You dare interrupt the god box ceremony?!” 

SMG1 and two gasp in shock catching the groups attention, shaking SMG1 speaks up “Did….did you say god box?”  SMG4, noticing their fear steps closer to his partner “Uhh what's a god box?” SMG1 explains the God box to the group slowly losing SMG3 the moment he heard unlimited power, with which he could shape the world and be loved by all. SMG1 gives the go for the crew to fight, they need to make sure no one finds the god box. SMG3 was lost thinking about the god box not paying attention to the fight going on in the room, he was still stuck with SMG4 even with the unlimited power. He wondered if there was a way he could seduce the other man to the dark side. 

Niles smirks “Hey! It’s time to put your training to good use.” Melony nods as she connects to her deity form  The box club leader seeing this turns to the one member of the group not fighting “Hey you want power? Stop them and I will take you to the god box!” hearing this Three’s eyes brighten up as he looks around and notices Mario. Since Mario is the avatar he knew they would have no choice but to stop fighting, after all no Mario means the world ends. He walks to Mario lifting him up and hanging him above the sacrifice hole  “Oi losers!”

Four growls seeing what Three was doing “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” SMG3 looks into Four’s eyes “I want unlimited power,” he blinks and suddenly is hit by Melony. He hits the floor with a harsh thud, she readies her sword to stab SMG3. Seeing this SMG4 sprints towards them “NO! MELONY STOP THAT'S TOO FAR!”  SMG3 starts to see his life flashing before him, all his life alone and hated with no one caring if he was alive. Then an image of Terrence hit him, looking at four he gave him a sad smile “Look after Terrence for me..” 

Hearing this SMG4 runs faster throwing himself in front of SMG3 with the sword stopped an inch away from Fours neck. Melony shakes her head fighting for control “NOOO!” she drops the sword, then turns away from the pair in shock with what she almost did. SMG3 sits up staring at SMG4 with wide eyes “You…saved me?” shaken, Four drops to his knees letting out a shaky laugh “Of course..we fight and try to kill each other but I still believe we can be friends that you can change,” he turns, giving Three a bright smile “we are partners after all!”  

SMG3's heart skips a beat seeing his bright smile, blushing as he turns away confused by a strange emotion. Melony started to clutch her head in pain, the pair turned their attention to her. Before they could do anything she flys off in a panic leaving everyone behind. It was the next day, Melony was running around looking for SMG3. She wanted to check on him after what happened, lucky she ran into SMG4 who thankfully wasn't harmed when she lost control, he smiles and tells her where to find the other guardian. She finds him sitting at a table alone, slowly she approaches “Um..I’M SORRY!” She then hands him a piece of paper, nervous about his reaction. SMG3 was startled to have someone yell an apology at him, slowly he takes the paper unsure exactly what the girl was trying. 

He blushes when he sees it a drawing of the two of them back when he first recruited her, blushing he folds the paper and puts it under his hat “oh..well it's whatever, you were just doing your thing.” he wasn't sure what to do in the situation and just hope those word were enough to get rid of the melon girl. It didn't, she smiles and takes out a notebook showing him her art “Axol told me if you can't figure out your words, draw them!” She then hands him a pencil and watches him. He sighs and starts to doodle, he had to admit it was relaxing for him as if he could let his feelings out and no one would judge him. His face goes red when he notices he doodled him and Melony hanging out at Peach's castle, he attempted to hide the drawing from the girl but it was too late. Seeing the drawing her face lights up, she ends up hugging the flustered man in excitement “YAY! I hope you know I never hurt my friends, I'm going to get stronger and I will protect you all!” 

She lets Three go and gives him a wave before running off with her notebook, SMG3 couldn't help letting out a soft smile “She has changed a lot from the day we first met, wonder if it's because of that shrimp she fell for?” Remembering he had a final to get ready for he gets up, then a thought came to mind.Looking around he takes out a notebook of his own and starts to write in it “Dear Diary, Melony isn't so bad these days.” he then did a doodle of Melony, it wasn't the best looking drawing in the world but SMG3 isn't an arts guy and he never would be. “Only time i do this, after all arts and crafts aren't for manly men like me.” Humming he walks to meet his other half for training. 

Then everything changed, the box club kidnap Melony seeing that the crew goes after them only to get lured into a trap. The crew slowly started passing out, SMG3 attempted to reach Melony only to pass out a few steps away. A few moments later they woke up, the guardians stuck together while the others were locked away “Oi! What the hell is this?!” barked SMG3 as he pulled at the restraints. “Calm down, it will be over soon.” the club leader chuckled, making the guardians nervous. Meggy growled as she kicked the cage door “You're so dead when we are out of here!” The leader explains how they are going to use the guardian's power to ascend to the god box, SMG3 eyes light up hearing about it only to get a glare from his partner in return. “Oh come on, think about it SMG4, we are already powerful but with this box we can be stronger!” 

SMG1 couldn't stand it anymore “YOU IDIOT IF THE BOX OPENS THE WORLD ENDS!”  The guardians start screaming when the leader hits a switch to end their conversation, using their power he turns the members of the club into meme energy creating a ship to fly to the god box. The leader then shakes Melony and wakes her up, seeing that Meggy cheers “Kick their ass Melony!”

She blinks looking around “Guys? Where am i? Niles?” the crew stared at her confused “Who is Niles?” Tari asked. Hearing this Melony points to an empty spot next to the crew, she freezes in shock when she realizes she has been the only one able to see the man. “Who...who are you?”  Niles walks up to her and smirks, lifting up his bangs to reveal a familiar eye “It’s been a while huh Melony?” “ZERO!” with that a huge blast erupts from Melony transforming her into her deity form, in no time he takes over her body and heads straight for the god box.  

Now knowing Zero is back and now in control of Melony the group make a plan to escape and beat Zero to the god box using the SMGs USB. The crew was helping with evacuation, using Terrance they were able to find trapped memes and help them escape. SMG3 smiles proudly seeing his right hand doing such a good job, Terrance runs up to him excited to see what his father figure was thinking. SMG3 looked around to make sure no one was looking before hugging the meme "Terrance, things are going to get tough so promise me no matter what you won't leave me." after a clicks from the meme promising to stay by his side SMG1 and two arrive with their USB ships.

In no time the group get in their ships ready to face zero and save Melony, as the crew lift off no one notices an extra member making his way into the ship. Mario, SMG3 and SMG4 look around in this strange area they are in. They notice memes floating around with an energy the group has never seen before, SMG1 calls their usb “So the myths are true thats an anti meme, after memes become corrupted and the universe collapses pieces of the universe and i guess the memes end up here.” 

Mario gets nervous and holds on to SMG4 arm “Mario doesn't like the way it's looking at us,” just as those words escaped his mouth the anti meme charges at their ship. The two start screaming as SMG3 looks around trying to come up with a plan, seeing a piece of a world floating in front he speeds up the ship. Four seeing this panic “Three what the hell are you doing!? We are going to crash!” at the last second he dives the ship making the meme crash. SMG4 runs up and hugs Three making the man blush “That was amazing flying SMG3!” flustered from the attention he pushes Four away “You could have thought the same if you bothered using that brain of yours.”

Staring at the meme a thought came to mind, these anti memes were still memes therefore he and SMG4 could absorb its energy. Without another thought he grabs SMG4's hand, confused he squints at SMG3 “What are you doing?” then a surge of energy hit them both. SMG3 looks at their hands with a huge smile “This feels amazing!” another anti meme was going to attack, seeing that he uses the new energy they absorb and blows up the meme. SMG4 could only stand watching in shock of this new power flowing between them. “That felt amazing didn't it four?” he turns to the man seeing him stare at his hands “Yeah…that did feel good.” 

SMG1 seeing what happened turns on the mic “Guys anti meme energy is extremely unstable more so than normal meme energy, i would suggest you don't use it again.” SMG3 waved his hand at the older guardian “Yeah yeah, hey look a piece of a universe let's look there and not talk about this!” The group went to different universes asking every meme still living there if they have seen Melony, at one point Four lost his two companions only to find the pair at a club throwing dollar bills at dancing skeletons. Years of being rivals and somehow SMG3 was fitting right in with his friends. Back on the ship they kept getting attacked by anti memes, Three and Four grab hands absorbing the power as they fly through. The more energy they took the more the pair felt high off of the power, then they grabbed an anti meme and threw it to a piece of a universe destroying it. 

Mario’s eyes go wide seeing this, he turns to his friends to see them laughing “YESSS FEEL THE POWER!!!”SMG3 wanted more, SMG4 was starting to get into it himself.  Shaking Mario walks closer to the pair “Guys..i’m scared Mario doesn't like what's happening,”  growling SMG4 turns around “SHUT UP MARIO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BLESSED BY THE GOD BOX!” Mario holding back his tears shakes his head “But Mario knows this isn't you, please don't go coo coo crazy!”

Seeing Mario about to cry he snaps out of it, this power was not worth hurting the people close to him. He hugs Mario “I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.” SMG3 gets excited seeing that they were finally closing in on Melony's ship he takes Four hand “Quick lets use the meme energy to take that ship down!”

Before SMG4 has a chance to pull back he can feel the corrupted energy flow through them, Mario panics “GUYS THAT'S GOING TO KILL MELONY!!!” he runs pulling at their hands he had to break them apart he was the avatar he knows he can do this. Feeling a strange energy he pulls at their hands one more time breaking them apart causing the energy to go wild blowing up their ship. They wake up in a strange cabin looking around “What happened?” Mario stomps in front of them furious “Don't you remember? You both went coo coo crazy and blew us all up!” SMG4 frowns “Right sorry guys..”

SMG3 sits up noticing another person in the room “Who the hell are you?” the person smiles and waves at them “Oh my name is SMG0! Welcome to my home.” They all freeze hearing the name, seeing this zero knew exactly what must have happened “Oh no..he.. i..we hurt you didnt we?”

SMG0 takes a deep breath looking away from them, as the group yells all kinds of questions at him. He gives the group a sad smile as he explains everything that happened, the crew stayed silent learning the truth of everything. After a few moments SMG4 speaks up “Oh no then that means, Niles that's why he came here to fuse back with SMG0!” in panic Four grabs Zero “YOU NEED TO GO NOW!” It was too late. Niles crashes through the roof finding exactly what he was looking for “Hey Zero, how you been? Missed you and was hoping you were ready to get back together?” 

Nervous Zero steps closer to the other guardians “Niles, you don't need to do this! Look see we got our old universe back. Everything is perfect again so please, come home. ”  Niles glares at Zero “Perfect?! This floating rock isn't perfect, but with the power I have acquired I can make a true paradise for you and me!” Mario, sick of the talking, runs up to Niles and kicks him, throwing him across the room “Mario’s not the smartest guy in the room but Mario knows enough to say you need to shut up and let Melony go!” Niles starts laughing as he slowly gets up, SMG3 and four get up from their seats, nervous about what Niles was planning. “Wait your turn Mario, I'm still gonna need an avatar after all this.”  Then he punches Mario, knocking him down with a chuckle, then turns to SMG3 and kicks him down holding Melony's sword above him. SMG4 panics seeing Three in danger again “STOP! JUST GIVE US MELONY BACK!” 

Niles chuckles, lowering the blade close to SMG3 right eye “I think Four SMGs is a bit much, don't you? Maybe let's cut it back a bit.” Everything went slow as he saw the blade move across SMG3's eye. SMG4 runs and kicks the possess Melony out the window quickly after he turns freezing up at the sight, SMG3 right eye was sliced, it was hard to tell how bad given three covering his eye screaming “FUCK! My eye…he got my eye ah it hurts!” Mario runs up SMG3 crying as he places his hand on top of SMG3's hand to help stop the bleeding staining his own gloves “DON'T DIE PLEASE FOR MARIO!”  Four started to shake seeing the state SMG3 was in. He wasn't fast enough, SMG3 is hurt and if they dont something he could die. He could feel himself struggling to breathe as the world became nothing but white noise, then a memory came to him.  He looks at his hand then at Three, a meme guardian can use meme energy alone but at a risk.

Without a second thought he rips his sleeve and sits next to Three who was starting to lose consciousness, he moves both men's hands seeing the wound he gasps. If he took even a second too long SMG3 wouldnt have an eye to save, shaking his head to not focus on the damage he wraps the eye. And focuses his meme energy “Don't worry SMG3 i will save you, an eye for an eye.” his eyes glow as the energy transfers to his hands stopping the bleeding. As he stops the bleeding his left eye starts to hurt, Mario noticing Four losing his focus places his hand on SMG4 shoulder “Mario believes in you!”

Suddenly four stops glowing, feeling weak his body slumps into Mario’s arms. He gives a soft smile to Mario before noticing the world looking a bit blurry, he touches his left eye “Guess I see what SMG1 was talking about.” He had no time to worry about his eye, he forces himself up to then lift SMG3. Hearing screaming outside they run out to see Melony has broken free from the control and Niles has gotten zero. 

Melony in her deity form saw her friends and waves at them “I got this go to the ship!” with a nod they run to the ship gently placing SMG3 on the floor. SMG4 starts hitting buttons and groans “Shit we can't go anywhere like this!” Mario starts to clap, catching Four’s attention “Terrance?!” he watches as SMG3 right hand meme starts fixing the ship. The moment the ship lights up, Three slowly wakes up feeling extremely weak “Uh what happened..?” he touches his face and freezes feeling SMG4 sleeve around his right eye.

He stays silent, understanding enough as Terrance gives his father figure a hug for comfort, SMG4 starts the ship as a chase begins. SMG1 and two announced they were going to blow up the god box and they all needed to leave. As the chase went on Melony did her best to fight back Zero, then in a flash Melony was gone as the creature ate her. SMG4 felt all the air in his lungs leave him, this can't be happening he lost Axol, almost lost SMG3 to now lose Melony.  SMG3 seeing the dark look on Fours face grabs his hand “Mel is strong this won't keep her down, trust in your friend and lets get out of here!” 

Zero, angry he can't reach the ship, tosses a piece of the universe at them blowing up their ship, now floating in space the crew had nowhere to go. Four sighs knowing this is the end “Mario, despite everything you’ve been a great friend.” Mario’s eyes start to water as he looks at his best friend “You too..”  Then SMG4 turns to SMG3 “Hey Three…thanks for staying by my side these past days.” Melony wakes up and slashes her way out of Zero.

The group cheered seeing her alive,  she smiles at them then at her drawing of her and Axol she will defeat Zero for him.  She charges at Zero ready to get revenge for Axol, as the fight goes on anti memes start showing up “Looks like all this noise attracted some visitors.”  the anti memes start getting in Melony’s way. Seeing this, Three comes up with a plan “Lets transmute these anti memes and get them away from Melony!” SMG4 shakes his head “It’s too risky plus what if your wound opens because of it and you bleed out! There has to be something else we can use, think!” 

SMG3's heart drops knowing there is only one way out, slowly he picks up Terrence doing his best to hold back his tears he gives the meme a sad smile “Terrence…i'm sorry little buddy. We need you to save the world…please don't hate me…goodbye.”  Terrance then hugs SMG3 “I love you,” Closing his eye he quickly grabs SMG4 hand “Three are you sure?” suddenly the meme before them is gone and the energy is going into Mario “We don't have a choice.” SMG3 turns to see the energy has turned Mario into a giant head perfect for getting rid of the anti memes and saving the day. 

It was finally over, Melony killed Zero, the god box was destroyed and the day was saved. The crew was now in the hospital being taken care of, SMG1 sighs looking at Fours eye “I told you using your meme power alone would do damage to your body, your left eye has lost a majority of its vision and color. Lucky for you we have made you a special contact that can help, they last two months before you have to come see us for another.” 

Four was getting sick of the ear full he was getting from the older SMGs, he knew what would happen choosing to save SMG3. So he can't see well in his left eye and it's now a more lighter blue, that didn't change he had no regrets. SMG2 smiles and hands him the box “The contact will also cover up the change in color, if you have any questions come to us anything!” He nods waiting for them to leave, once gone he sprints to the other room. He had to see SMG3. He needed to know the man was okay, so he opened the door to feel relief to see SMG3 with a patched up eye drawing in a notebook “SMG3! You look like a pirate thank god.” 

SMG3 glares at his partner “Really that's the first thing you say, since you mention my eye WHO THE HELL COVERS AN INJURED EYE WITH A GROSS SLEEVE! Who knows if they even wash that thing.”

SMG4 runs to hug SMG3 making the man blush “Hey what are you gay?! Stop hugging me, people might see this!” SMG4 giggles at the man letting him go. His eyes then drift to the doodles Three was doing and notice drawings of Terrence. He frowns slowly grabbing SMG3's hand, Three looks away feeling awkward from the hand grab “I’m sorry about Terrence…i know he meant a lot to you, but you're not alone you have me.” hearing this the man turns looking into Fours eyes.

He squints his eye, noticing the other man's left eye seemed strange, then again his eyes aren't doing the best after the battle Three brushes off the thought to focus on his partner's words.  “I promise SMG3 as long as I live I will always be by your side, i won't leave you no matter what.” 

Present Day SMG4 wakes up in a cold sweat, those were memories he didn't want to relive. Just remembering how badly hurt Three got put him in a panic, he had to make sure the other man was okay. He picks up his phone to call SMG3, he hears the phone ring. For him it went on for too long in his panic state, he throws his phone and runs to SMG3 coffee and bombs.  He pounds the door in a panic, SMG3 hearing the pounding run from the back room “SMG4?” 

He opens the door to be tackled by a crying SMG4, confused he holds the man close not noticing his hat slowly slipping off “Hey it's okay what happened?” he awkwardly pats four back. Once SMG4 relaxed he steps back sniffling “Sorry, I had a dream about…you know the god box and zero.” It was strange just seeing the man and being near him made all fear and panic vanish, everything felt so much better.

SMG3 sighs, this was his fault for rushing the hat and hurting himself due to it. He should make a note to keep better care, he gently takes four hands and leads him to a chair to sit on. “Guess I'm making more coffee for us since it seems you can't stay away,” SMG4 giggles wiping his tears away “Can't help it if i have such a charming boss!” as Three walks to the machine his hat slips off. Turning quickly to grab the hat he forgot that his bun was tied loose due to lack of sleep. SMG4 eyes go wide as Three grabs the hat and his long hair is set free, Four needed a distraction and a distraction he got.

Time felt like it slowed down as he watched Three catching his hat and flipping his hair out of his face, Four started to blush as his mind went blank “You…uh the er hair is long..you look haha so how about that latte?”

[rappaccini]

arcane act ii

controversial opinion: oh this isn't good its just pretty to look at

ok yeah the time jump is not good. so many important things happen that we're only catching the tail end of.

speeding past the adoption of jinx as a symbol. speeding past the firelights realizing ekko is missing. jinx goes from suicidal and self serving to Joan of Arc in one week. ?????

the sequences with different animation styles were cool... would prefer more character work. (why is this giving me what-btsv-will-look-like vibes? why does it feel like that's what they'll do-- jam in a ton of pretty-looking scenes while failing to wrap up all their loose ends and relying on fanservice to get emotional moments)

ambessa having no real strong reaction to mel being missing... no that doesn't work.

mel being stuck in the shadow realm... good on her for not being fridged yet but look idk wtf is going on there. secret lineage plotline included. if we got one hint of her being connected to any of this in s1 i coulda dug it but it truly reads like the writers threw her this out of nowhere plotline bc they didn't know what to do with her after deciding she'd survive the blast. i'm at the point where i'm like. maybe she should have died bc literally nothing would change except a slight amount of political maneuvering.

jayce... well him shooting vik was fun but idk man.

viktor becoming jesus felt about right. hate that sky's trapped in his brain forever. HATE the 'fridged woman haunting the guy who killed her to make him vaguely guilty' trope. free her.

ambessa and caitlyn's mentorship is still great. kinda want them to kiss too.

salo seeking viktor out was a great idea. wish we could have SEEN IT instead of the aftermath.

the whole scene with the sisters' mom and silco and vander... no actually i dislike how all of a sudden everyone is related to everyone. zaun doesn't feel like a city anymore it feels like a tiny town. also it doesn't click at all with how silco doesn't give a fuck about vi.

zaun in general feels so empty without silco or ekko to articulate its needs. piltover's reeling post-jinxbomb felt adequately established but zaun's... nothing. just vague shapeless chaos in a music video. even the zaun v piltover conflict feels limp. i feel like this is largely because, again, the major zaunite political players are dead or in the fucking spiderverse. and jinx is off babysitting instead of being the avatar of zaun's anger and desperation, and finding a new sense of purpose post-silco in owning her terrorist attack and riding that wave into being the face of the zaunite faction. insane to me how fucking isha just swept in and derailed that entire trajectory because i guess jinx just wants to play house.

okay so jinx's psychosis being so backseated in act i wasn't because she was drained emotionally and suicidal and is genuinely bc the writers are yoinking her mental illness back to make her more likable. hate that!

this warwick thing... i like the way it brings the sisters back together but i hate the conceit of 'hey that traumatic death that shaped you and everyone in our society? didn't happen!'

also idk the reconciliation sure didn't take long. the antipathy between jinx and vi's been built up for years, so it really feels disappointing that just like that they're cool again. hanging out like it's nothing. okay.

also get jinx jr the fuck out of the group hug.

isha has no personality. no flaws. no interests. no lines??? she's just there to be cute and sweet. such a downgrade from how the kid characters were handled in arcane i.

she truly just feels like a plot device to make jinx heroic and sympathetic. instead of the audience and vi empathizing with jinx for her own sake, it's because she's just so darn nice to this sweet kid. fuck off.

her entire death felt so... ugh to me. i'm not sad because i care i'm sad because someone's holding onions under my eyes and playing a sad song in my ear, not because this feels earned in any way. just comparing this to milo/clogger or silco is laughable.

cait sure turned on a dime. nvm her arc sucks now.

... so where the hell's ekko. why has he gotten benched in the spiderverse all season when his reactions to learning that silco died, watching the war break out, the zaunite power vacuum and people deserting the firelights for jinx and viktor could have been So Interesting. what a waste.

yeah you can absolutely sense that while s1 was labored on for years, s2 was rushed and had to condense a ton of story. riot sacrificed arcane so they could get the rest of their lolcu going and it shows!

[xtrafluffyteddy]

Everdoor

spiritfarer!Johnny mactavish x spirit!Reader x spirit!Simon Riley

I’ve been playing spiritfarer and I got inspired, this is mostly from Johnnys pov, kinda bittersweet ending?

Being the new spiritfarer wasn’t an easy task but when Johnny was choosen for it he knew he could handle the weight and burden of having to cross over the many spirits still stuck in the ethereal plane “Johnny” the previous spiritfarer Price grumbles lowly, Soap was quick to look up at the large creature like man “yes sir?” He replied, “make me proud” was all Price said as he crossed over into the Everdoor.

“Okay Riley” johnny huffed as he looked down at the German Shepard by his side wagging its tail in happiness “let’s go help some spirits hm?” He smiled as Riley barked in reply reaching his large hand down to scratch behind the dogs ears before turning to his controls setting his navigation to some random island on the map.

That’s where he met the first spirit who would board his ship, standing before him was a very large cloaked figure at the end of the pier staring out into the vast nothingness “hello?” He called out causing the spirit to quickly snap towards him “who are you, how’d you get here, how’d you find me” the spirit shot off rapid questions already on guard “I’m Johnny but you can call me Soap I’m the newest spiritfarer” he reassured putting his hands up to show he’s harmless “my boat took me here I’m guessing to bring you aboard” the cloaked figure held an aura of distrust as it reluctantly followed Johnny to his ship.

Once the cloaked figure set foot on his ship it’s cloak immediately vanished leaving a very broad and tall man with a skull mask staring back at him “I’m Ghost” the spirit grunted as he looked at his new surroundings before digging around his pocket to give Johnny his obal

Days and weeks passed as Johnny upgraded his ship, helped other spirits cross over while Ghost remained never growing close to any of the other spirits, always sticking to himself only really talking to Johnny or playing with Riley. “Phew another spirit in the Everdoor I’m on a roll aren’t I” he grinned at Ghost who was sat in his own house that Johnny had built for him “you remind me of my old team” Ghost mumbles as he looks lost in thought “always ontop of things, always together” that’s all Ghost said for the rest of the day deciding that he just wanted to be alone worrying Johnny just a bit.

He couldn’t stay worried for long as he docked at a new island filled with cherry blossom trees and strawberry bushes which he quickly harvested as he made his way up towards the lone cabin at the very top of the hill. “Hello?” He called out to the cloaked figure sitting at the lone bench over looking the sea “hello?” He called out again as he made his way towards them “hello Spiritfarer” you say still not turning towards him “I’m guessing you’ve come to take me away from my home” you inquire turning slightly to look at the large man “only if your comfortable with that” he reassures “well I mean it’s time isn’t it I can’t cling to the past forever” with that he watches as you rise up take one last look at your home and follow him to the ship once onboard your cloak melts away revealing your form standing before the only other spirit on the ship and Johnny “it’s been so long since I’ve been around others” you snicker

The three of you were thick as thieves growing closer and closer as the days turned to weeks then months everything was well sure you’d had a few times where Johnny was worried because you were struggling against an unseen foe, or when ghost would have what he could only guess were ptsd flashbacks that caused him to be catatonic for days, the good times outweighed the bad in his eyes as long as you both remained happy then he would keep trying to make you both better.

“Johnny” Ghost said one day after Johnny had fed him his favorite food of beans and toast “I think it’s time Johnny” Soap felt his heart drop into his stomach he knew this day was coming but he would never be ready for it “I’m ready to go Johnny” ghost said as he placed a calloused hand on Johnnys warm cheek “you know what to do” Johnny nodded a sadness burying itself in his heart as he set his navigation to take him to the Everdoor

“I’m gonna miss you Simon” Johnny watched as you said your goodbyes to your beloved Ghost hugging him tightly and pressing a soft kiss to his cheeks then his lips only letting go of his hands as Ghost boarded the small boat that would take him to his final resting place “ready” Johnny questioned his voice thick with emotion “ready” Ghost reassured as he gently placed a hand on Johnnys knee giving him a smile behind his skull mask.

“I’m grateful for everything in my life” Ghostst began as Johnny continued to row “grateful for my team, for the tragedies, for meeting you and them” Ghost smiled as he took off his mask wanted to feel the breeze on his face one last time “I’ve done bad things, and at one point I was sure I was a villain but when you look at me it makes me want to be a better person” Johnny sniffs but keeps a strong composure “I've never deserved you anyway... But I've loved you, and that won't stop even if I'm not around anymore. The ones who really love you never really leave you, you know” Ghost reassured as they stop in front of the large door Johnny quickly rushing to pull ghost into a tight hug inhaling his strong scent “I love you Simon” Johnny murmured as Ghost rose above him disappearing in a burst of light

It was lonely without Ghost on the ship but things had to keep moving, Johnny continued helping spirits cross over while you remained unmoving wanting to stay by Johnnys side for as long as you can teaching him lessons on how to open up to people, to love, to grieve properly. “Even when I leave you Johnny I’ll wait for you on the other side so you don’t have to cross alone” you smiled as he pressed a soft kiss to his lips before disappearing into your house.

The day johnny had been dreading had come you were ready to leave you had told him so as you were helping him into his orchards “I think I’m ready Johnny” you say as you put the fallen apples into a basket “I’m done fighting the inevitable I’ve had a wonderful experience seeing the world with you but it’s time for me to go” you gently cup Johnnys cheek and all he can do is focus on remembering your touch “you know what to do”.

Johnny couldn’t fight the few tears rolling down his cheeks as he helped you into the small boat watching as you sat across from him brilliant smile never leaving your face “you know I used it be such a logical thinker, everything had its place, everything was black and white, then when I got sick I started changing started learning a new way of living and I always wanted to pass that down to someone and I’m grateful it was you” you coo as you reach out to caress Johnnys cheek “The only lesson I have left is to show you what we're made of. Of ephemeral starlight. We're but a few particles of thought on the vast stream of consciousness” you sigh happily as you lean forward pulling Johnny into a soft kiss wrapping him up in your arms “I love you Johnny and I’ll be waiting” with that he watched as you burst into a ball of light taking your place amongst the stars next to his beloved Ghost.

Years passed Johnny lost track of how many souls he’d helped pass on but now his time was up it was his turn to crossover and he knew that you and Ghost would be waiting for him with open arms and happy smiles.

[senkusphone]

@aresagainstthemachine asked so this one is for you. Video of it working at the end.

Here's the one project I am so proud of I named my entire blog after it.

Back in 2020, while I was stuck at home with few pleasant things to do, I decided to bring this contraption to life.

Only recently had I gotten into this inspiring series called Dr. Stone, and when I saw them make this device in the anime, I knew it was my divine calling to build it, for I had prior experience building circuits with vacuum tubes, an interest that was fostered greatly by my late grandfather when I was a boy. It had been because of the stories he'd tell me that I built my first crystal radio back then (which took me about 4 years of trial and error). Now, people had ''built'' the phone on youtube at least once before, but I was not satisfied with what they did, when they used parts that were too advanced and didn't even get it to transmit a voice, only to pick up radio stations. So I tried to go beyond while being as accurate as possible to the level of technology they had, I was seeking to achieve more with less

Making something that picks a radio signal is relatively easy, the challenge was making it also produce its own signal so it could truly be used as a phone (or more accurately, like a walkie talkie), and I restricted myself to use the most primitive tubes I had, the ones most similar to what old Kaseki would have made.

(Happy birthday to Kaseki by the way, February 9th) I started out using this beautiful Western Electric 262-A tube. This general purpose triode was developed around 1928 by the Bell Telephone company and one of the things it was known to be used for, was in cinema projectors to amplify the sound from the early talkie films. I think that's interesting enough to mention.

It wasn't long until my experiments showed great promise, eventually I moved on to a type 45 vacuum tube, another triode which is more powerful as a transmitter than the 262-A yet its construction is much more primitive. This tube is very similar to what Senku & Co. would've had.

I started building the definitive device, simultaneously laying a plan to combine a transmitter and receiver in the same unit using just one tube, a task that required this one part to perform four different duties (because I hadn't read the manga, and I didn't know the final unit they dispatched used two tubes instead of just one). On new year's eve at the end of 2020, the circuit was broadcasting One Small Step by Lillian Weinberg, loud and clear to a radio across the room.

You can get a recording of that in the link below as Tumblr won't let me upload it (yes I am using discord to host files, it also works for hosting images for your fanfics on Ao3, you're welcome).

The wooden circuit board was wired with homemade wires, made by cutting a sheet of copper into strips, and wrapping them in cotton and thread. A relay is used to switch the phone from receiver mode to transmitter mode with the push of a button.

Then the coils were calculated and wound, including the iconic large transmit coil

but would this coil that was made to look like the one in the series, be suitable to repeat what I had achieved in my experiments, would it resonate and produce the signal?

yes

I intended originally to have this project done before season 2 of Dr. Stone started, and put out a youtube video, but that ended up not happening. Still, the unit finally came together, and the plastic housing was a tupper with the rim cut off, painted orange and applied lettering.

By now season 2 had already ended, I believe, or it was soon to. Before I painted the case, I had to have one definitive test, to see that my creation demonstrated the functionality it promised, and now I had just the right voice to do it.

The final circuit was based on the work of radio pioneer Edwin Howard Armstrong, who was one of the fellows who invented the wireless world we know it today.

I turned the switch, and watched as the tungsten filament in the tube started glowing red. First I adjusted the receive coil and a radio station came in on the crystal earpiece, then, with a radio receiver in tune nearby, I started the sound I wanted to send over the air, and I pressed the transmit button...

It's true, it can be done. Today, there are people still alive who saw the day when the cutting edge of electronics was at this level. How far we've come from these baby steps, over such a short time.

Isn't science awesome?

I still haven't built a second unit.

[h-c-u]

Ways he shows you love

Summary: Maverick's love languages and some of the things he would do for you.

Pairing: Pete "Maverick" Mitchell x reader [I actually managed to keep the reader gn :) ]

W/C: 2.6k

Rating: PG

TWs: none

A/N: There is no specific story, just a bunch of soft headcanons stuck together with a washi tape, but they were bubbling in my head and I had to get them out in one place.

Masterlist | List of tags

After the initial - I don't deserve you, I'm too old for you, I'm always away, etc phase - he would finally relent and properly asked you to be his... girlfriend.

Since it was his first serious relationship, he wasn't exactly sure what it entailed. Of course, he knew the "proper relationship" tropes from movies, books, and Goose and Carol, but you didn't exactly fit into any of those categories, and he wanted to bring heaven to you, he just didn't know how. Yet. What he did know how to do, was how to fix things, so he started there. 

He took care of your leaky faucet in the kitchen first. Next, he replaced that one glass panel in your bedroom window, that started to crack. Later he connected the water pump in the garden to the main line, so you wouldn't have to drag heavy watering cans from the inside of the house anymore. 

When you mentioned that you wanted to paint one of the walls in your living room gold, he went to the ends of the Earth to find four different shades of metallic paint you might like and prepared everything, and that included taping the corners of the other walls and ceiling, putting protective foil on the floor and getting you all the rollers and paintbrushes you could possibly need. And when you were finished and decided that you wanted to paint realistic clouds on the ceiling, he was right there with you, researching the best techniques and renting a proper scaffolding for you, so you wouldn't have to balance on a ladder for three days straight; he wanted to do so many things for you, but respected that you also wanted to do them on your own, so he was just happy to... well... make you happy. 

When you couldn't find a specific coffee table you wanted, he spent hours upon hours asking you questions about it. What wood would be the best, did you want it stained? How about edges, rounded or squared? The exact dimensions...? To which height you wanted the countertop to raise, so you could still work and eat on it? How many compartments on the inside? Did you want any drawers...? How tall the legs should be...? And after about two weeks of those relentless questions, you came back home to the exact table you wanted, because he built one for you, with a small help from his friends. 

He very quickly noticed that you didn't drink coffee, observed which teas you'd prefer during the day, and was ready with one as soon as you realized you wanted it. 

When he was in the country, he was the one doing the majority of day-to-day cooking, while you were the one who took care of preserving fruits and veggies from your garden for longer terms. 

Since you had an inquisitive mind and loved understanding exactly how things worked, he answered every question you had in extreme detail. It didn't matter if it was about that fixed leaky faucet or the engine of his plane and why it needed that exact maintenance. 

He was always happy to teach you new things, and learn new things from you. 

Since you quickly became a top specialist in your field, you didn't have to work as much, because you were usually called only as a last resort or to teach courses, leaving you tons of time to work on your home and to spend time with Maverick; and you both used it to the fullest. He was genuinely interested in your work, even if he didn't always understand everything, and that sometimes made him wonder if the interest was actually there, or did he enjoy seeing you talk about something you were so passionate about, that he would do anything to maintain that level of energy in you. Either way, he ended up with a much higher level of knowledge about cloud engineering than some of your colleagues.

When you expressed interest in the local huntsman community, he was right there with you, learning and acing all the tests about maintaining a proper balance in nature, how to create spaces for endangered species, and sometimes - how to help control a population. He was there when you killed your first deer, and held you close when you cried. You knew it had to be done because he was attacking and killing the younger bucks in the area, yet still - it affected you. And he guided you through those complicated emotions. After the meat was tested, he was the one to properly process and preserve every possible part, and that helped you feel less guilty, because every part of that majestic animal was properly utilized, and it fed both of you for over half of winter.

Even as a kid you wanted to do as many things as you could from scratch, that's why you ended up in a small house next to the forest, with a giant garden, that already had a proper orchard, and he never batted an eye when you wanted to plant new veggies, try freeze drying or dehydrating them, and when the pantry next to your small kitchen filled up, he was the one that came with the idea of building a root cellar, and you took a course on building one together.

And next year, when you wanted to get chickens, he was the one who researched what would be needed in the coop and built one from the recycled haul of the plane, which made you laugh so hard because you just loved it. And after that, when you wanted to start a small colony of bees, he was right there with you, preparing proper frames and contacting local beekeepers in search of a hive. 

He helped you maintain everything in tip-top condition, even though you were the one who usually got up first to do some light weeding, feeding the chickens, and gathering eggs. He was up just as you were finishing up, and was ready for you with tea and breakfast. 

It was only natural that he was the one to move in because he knew that you would suffocate living in assigned housing on base, so far from nature. He loved that duality in you... You were working in a very technical and futuristic field, and yet, here you were... Gathering honey from your bees. 

You knew he was doing a lot for you, but it first hit you how much, when he was deployed for the first time since he moved in. All the teas, the cooking, making sure that you'll actually eat during work... Of course, there were other, more technical things around the house, but you were more aware of those since you knew the building in and out, and you knew you'd had to take care of them when he was out. But there were so many small things that you didn't even notice during the regular day, which made you feel guilty because you weren't doing as much for him... An empty house was something that you could stomach, an empty bed...? Let's just say it was harder. That's when you noticed that he left three of his favorite t-shirts and his leather jacket, and you took full advantage of wearing them almost every day. The shirts quickly stopped smelling like him, but the jacket... it was what helped you the most since the calls were so few and far between. He couldn't even tell you where he was, so you weren't even able to check the news from that area.

When he proposed, he didn't do it in some grand way, because he knew you would hate it... He actually planned a beautiful two-day hike to the top of a mountain, just the two of you, where he planned to propose, but a huge storm caught you, and you had to pitch a tent in a rush because coming down was more dangerous than staying where you were. And the storm just went on and on... So you've spent the whole night just... talking, nothing else. Whispering soft stories about your time together, possible plans for the future, and the silly little project you wanted to do around the house... All the words were barely written into existence before being drowned by the sounds of rain viciously attacking your tent. And when in the morning the storm was still raging, he realized that you're not gonna move anytime soon, and he just couldn't wait any longer, so he pulled out a small box with a simple, handmade ring with a green stone embedded in such a way, that it wouldn't snatch on anything. You of course said yes because for you - it was perfect and unusual, and you loved to tell that story, even if most of your friends couldn't quite understand why.

He insisted on having a prenup, since you were the one who was earning more in your relationship, but to be honest, both of your pensions were mostly piling up in your accounts since you were mostly living from your land, which somehow wasn't the plan when you first bought the house. Sure, you wanted to have some fruits and veggies during the summer, but it somehow evolved into this beast that you loved more than anything, because your land basically became a living thing that required love and attention, but was giving so much in return. You eventually decided to get solar panels and dig a well, after one particularly long break in receiving water and electricity after the hurricane. You weren't one of those people that were getting ready for the apocalypse, and you definitely wouldn't try to force a similar lifestyle on anyone. And of course, you didn't judge anyone for living differently. You just found it funny that you've found yourself in this position, but you loved every moment.

When it came to gifts for special occasions, he never gave you something that you could just buy yourself. It was either something you wanted, but couldn't find anywhere, or an experience. Because of that, he took you to pottery classes, found a bookbinder who spend a weekend with you, teaching you the basics of making and conserving paper, and later - how to properly bind it. He also took you to a jewelry workshop, where you learned different methods of casting metal, and after that, he found a geologist who took both of you for a day-long adventure all about finding raw crystals and how to recognize fossils hidden in simple stones; you still had few of those on your fireplace. 

He was never the biggest fan of public displays of affection, but neither were you and yet when you on occasion grabbed his hand and intertwined your fingers, he never let them go.

He learned everything there was about you... Not only what was visible on the surface, but because he spent so much time looking at you, he knew things even you didn't know were there. He noticed that when you were working, you preferred to use one specific type of perfume, and you were using them unconsciously when you needed to focus on work. So when he noticed you were having trouble focusing on the task you just had to do, he smeared a bit of them behind your ears, kissed the top of your head, and in only a few minutes you were back to clicking on your keyboard at the speed of light. He noticed that you gravitated to one specific brand of pens when you were documenting what you did in the garden and when you were tracking the crops, so he made sure that they were always laying around the house in visible places, and it wasn't even your favorite brand, you just liked them for this specific activity. 

When you were leaving for a week with your friends, he not only drove to the meeting point but prepared snacks for the road for everyone, and even made a thermos full of mulled wine, and you knew that you were leaving your home in very capable and loving hands, so there was not even a second when you were worried when some of your friends did... About their husbands, about their kids... And you...? After all those years you two became an extension of each other and there was nothing but trust between you two. And when you came back after a whole week of backpacking, there was a white gazebo with a blue roof, and a swing mounted to the ceiling in the corner of your garden, a mirror image of what you had in your head. He even planted the vines on the sides, but it would be a while until they'd covered the intricate white paneling. 

At first, it was hard for you to pinpoint a way he'd preferred to receive your love and attention. He wasn't the biggest fan of gifts per se... He of course cherished everything you were giving him, like that stupid pendant you cast in your metallurgy course, that somehow managed to look a little bit like a plane. And the mugs you made together during the pottery course... But something like an expensive watch or a new bike was definitely out of the question. When it came to words of affirmation... He had an extremely complicated relationship with compliments, even if they were genuine, but he loved hearing you say that you love him, so you would try to pepper that in during the day. Neither of you liked touching that much. Of course, there was occasional cuddling, but it wasn't something either of you craved; it was more of a comfort thing after a long day. There was one exception though... He simply melted when you were playing with his hair, didn't matter when or where, it was like his reset button. And even though he showed love by doing things for you, when it came to receiving love the same way, he was more than uncomfortable, so you also had to wiggle around that. And then there was just... time spent together. Didn't matter if you were actually doing something together-together, or you were just simply there, reading a book when he was fixing up the plane. Or if he was going over paperwork on the terrace while you were doing something in the garden. 

Simply spending time with you was recharging his batteries, and your single smile was able to make all the worries go away in a blink of an eye; he just couldn't stay frustrated or angry in your proximity, which was fun to see when you were spending time together with his friends from the navy, because they rarely got to see him as you saw him every day. He was much calmer, less anxious, and somehow... more confident...? Of course as a pilot and a captain, he had to be confident in his decisions, but with you near... It was just another type of confidence, at least that's what Ice said. He couldn't explain it in more detail though. 

You two worked well together and somehow managed to avoid serious fights over the course of your 14 years of marriage. Sure, there were disagreements, but neither of you was above admitting when you were wrong, so you never got properly angry, having too much respect and love for each other to assume less than the best about the other person. 

You were the couple that your friends looked up to and were a tiny bit jealous of... You were the couple that randomly started dancing in the kitchen when "Snowman" by Sia came on the radio. You were the couple that after all those years looked at each other as if you saw each other for the first time ever. You were the couple who read books to each other out loud. You were simply a couple that loved each other. 

[princess-glassred]

Dude a Reddie Hook au would be so fucking good. I know a Peter Pan au already exists but picture this: Many years ago a baby so terrified of his smothering anxious mother it rolls away to never land and becomes Peter pan.

Years later, thst baby is now a worried, constantly terrified 40 year old Eddie Kaspbrak.

He's just doing his normal risk analyst job, freaking out over statistics, and being absolutely stressed over his marriage with Myra.

On the night of his 40th birthday he gets a special visitor and discovers he's actually THE peter pan from the famous stories, having grown up to be constantly worried about everythung and terrified for the future due to living in the real world and finally growing older.

Richie is his Tink, a spitfire little fairy who's always had a thing for Eddie and is the one to finally bring him back. He's charming, reckless, silly, incredibly jealous when it comes to Eddie, and most curious of all, has also aged, but never really matured.

When Eddie left Neverland and grew older, Richie loved him so much he wanted to grow along side him, so he began to age himself as opposed to other fairies who are immortal and young forver, however Richie never understood all that "growing up" entails. His mind is still that silly child in a big kids body.

When they first meet again after 30 something odd years, Richie gets quite a kick out of scaring the shit out of Eddie, he cracks jokes about him being a delusion brought on by alcohol or prescription meds, He tells him he's the ghost of a person he killed in a drunk driving accident, and when Eddie naturally says "i don't believe in fairies" Richie tells him everytime some one says they don't believe in fairies a fairy dies... immediately followed by him doing an elaborate death scene.

Once over the intial terror of it all, they start to do the usual hook shit like fight the famed Bowers pirates, go on an adventure to conquer the great evil Pennywise, hang out in their underground club house with the rest of their old friends, and just act like silly kids, but underneath all of that is the horrible knowledge that Eddie has grown up and Richie hasn't, and neither one will ever truly understand each other now.

Myra's basically his Wendy, while she's not perfect, heck, Eddie's not even attracted to her, they still care about each other and have stuck together through the trials and tribulations of adulthood. Just as Richie and Eddie were a team once, Myra and Eddie are now, just a different kind of team. A realistic team. He cares for her like the mother he never had, and Myra cares for him like a protective brother.

Even bringing Eddie back to never land will never change the fact that at the end of the day... he's too old for fairytales now.

Eddie has a choice though, abandon the cushy life he's built for himself to live in a diluted fantasy world with his soul mate, or accept all the pain that comes with reality, like marrying some one for convenience instead of true love, if it means he can feel real and truly alive.

I think possibly the best outcome here would be for Eddie to decide he wants to still grow up and live with reality, but he realizes being with Myra will never truly make either of them happy, so they decide to have a very supportive mutual divorce.

Richie, having being changed by Eddie coming back , decides to FINALLY mature and decides to leave never land too.

Eddie has no clue about this though until a really reckless and really familiar client comes into his work, claming he has some "risks that need analyzing".

[skepticalfrogcat]

Here you all go, the happy part 3 you all were promised.

And I know that for the last part it was just a suggestion to read the previous part, but for this one I'm going to go ahead and say you have to have read the previous part in this series in order for major scenes in this fic to make any sense to you. You have been warned!

(Also I was told that I should tag @choicesficwriterscreations ! Thank you to @lovehugsandcandy for telling me this!)

Relationship: Finch Parnassus (MC) x Aerin Valleros

Warnings: Minor angst. With a happy ending I promise! And as I said in a post I made a while back, it's mostly very soft emotional stuff, nothing too serious.

Word Count: 3,007

Summary: Finch and Aerin take a trip to Riverbend.

Since the end of the battle with the Ash Empress, and the decision to keep the portals open, Finch had been busier than ever. It seemed as though everyone was competing to get him to pay attention to their personal gripes and grievances, and he only had the time and energy for so many of them. Most of the time he ended up directing them to someone who could actually help, because his reputation often gave people the false idea that he had endless talents, which simply wasn't true. Often, there was no way he could properly accomplish the tasks they gave to him.

Luckily, he'd been spending most of his time with the goblins in the Whimsywood, which was far enough away from the bustling environment of Whitetower for his liking. Evidently, and a bit to his surprise, he had a much higher tolerance for handling people's requests when he was in the middle of the woods. Of course, that wasn't the only part of living in the Whimsywood that he was especially fond of.

He'd moved into one of the houses that had already been built into the trees. It was a more permanent residence, more than his room in the castle had been at least, and he was content with it. Truthfully, he would've been happy to start living anywhere, given that he'd be living with Aerin. It had been proven to him time and time again that he could find happiness anywhere they could be together.

After they'd settled in, they actually hadn't had time to do much other than help rebuild. There wasn't much destruction, and Finch was grateful every day that he'd made the right choices in order to keep it that way. Most of what he'd been doing was diplomacy, sorting out conflicts between people passing between realms. It did settle down after a while, though. The hectic nature of his environment persisted for a few weeks at the most, and after that it was over. Everything became sort of… normal. He hadn't experienced that in kind of a long time, longer than he'd realized. He wanted to take advantage of it while he could, because he knew that eventually something would arrive to stir things up again.

And so, Finch and Aerin had decided to take a trip. Not a big or extravagant one, but a well-needed one nonetheless. It was kind of like a little vacation. Finch had realized that Aerin had never actually been to Riverbend, which he knew needed to be rectified. The destination was agreed upon very quickly, partially because it would provide the relatively stress-free break that they both needed, but Finch knew it was also because Aerin had been able to tell how important it was to him.

The trip from the freshly revived Whimsywood all the way to Riverbend had been a long one. Finch loved visiting home, he did, he simply wished that his Realmwalking abilities provided some method of faster travel. He was sure they might, to someone older or more experienced, but for the time being he was stuck traveling mainly on foot. Besides, he wasn't entirely confident that he'd be able to bring anyone else with him that way anyway, which happened to be fairly necessary for this trip.

Given how tiring it had been to make it to the town, all they'd really been able to do on their first day there was sleep. Kade was still working in Whitetower, but the place they'd lived in together was still available to them whenever they wanted it. That was one upside to having grown up in such a small village: it was almost like everyone was family. Even if he weren't the Savior of the Realm - which would never stop being strange to hear - he was sure he and Kade would still have their room above the local tavern, because that was how things worked in Riverbend. People always did favors for each other.

The second day in Riverbend, though, they were actually able to explore a bit. They went to the river, the town's namesake, where Aerin had been able to do some drawing while Finch chatted away beside him. After that, they'd gone to a couple of Finch's personal favorite places, like a bakery he and Kade had been going to since they were kids, and a really old archery range someone had set up in the woods where Finch had practiced with a rudimentary bow in his younger teen years.

By the time evening was rolling around, they'd made their way back to the tavern. Their plan had originally been to retire back upstairs, but the tavern was much more populated by then, and naturally there were demands for the two of them to stay for a round.

“Why don't you tell us something, Finch?” One patron suggested, gesturing with the pint in his hand as he spoke.

“Ah, you all know I'm no good at it,” Finch waved him off. “Just wait for Kade to come back around, I'm sure he'll have something great for you when he does.”

“Come on, just one new story, and then we'll leave you be,” a girl standing nearby attempted to barter. “Why don't you tell us about… a beast you fought?” she suggested.

“I'm sure Kade's told you all about those a million times over, because I'd bet all of you that you've done this exact thing to him before.”

“We don't have to bug him, he just does it!” Someone called out from the back of the bar. Everyone laughed, and it did make Finch wish his brother were here, but he knew they'd be back in Riverbend together eventually.

Finch leaned over to speak to Aerin, lowering his voice so only he could hear. “What do you think? Should I throw them a bone?”

“Personally, I'd really like to hear which one of your escapades you think is entertaining enough to please a room full of mildly drunk people,” Aerin muttered back. “Especially with the way you tell stories.”

Finch laughed, bumping his shoulder against Aerin's. “Don't pretend you don't listen to them every time.”

“Go ahead then.” Aerin gestured to the rest of the room with a nod of his head. “Prove me wrong.”

Aerin had always been quite good at getting Finch to do practically anything. Finch left his spot leaning against the wall and went to take up an empty stool along the bar, which was more central to the room. Then he started telling the story. He'd chosen to tell them about the time he and Mal had met a mermaid near the Shimmering Isles, because he knew that one had a good enough balance of action and glamor to hold just about everyone's attention, no matter what sort of story they favored.

Truthfully, he was a rather terrible storyteller. Kade could tell a story as if it were happening in real time, always getting the details just right with perfect timing and impeccable vocabulary. Meanwhile, Finch frequently had to backtrack to include details he'd forgotten to mention, and he often forgot what he had and hadn't already said. He was lucky he at least had charisma. Even still, every time he'd glance over at Aerin, he'd be looking back, intently listening as he always did.

When he finished the story, a few people did request another, but that time Finch was adamant about his refusal. It was already further into the night than he'd been planning on staying out. He did receive a few playful jabs about the fact that he was turning in early, but he'd been expecting them. Most of the patrons of the tavern had a slightly warped view of what ‘early’ meant anyway.

So he and Aerin went upstairs, back to the room they were staying in. It wasn't very large, and it was barely furnished. All that was really in the room was a small, tattered rug on the ground, a nightstand with a single lamp on top of it, and the two beds he and Kade had slept in since they were much younger. But, despite the fact that he'd lived in much more lavish places since leaving Riverbend, Finch still thought of this room as home. Aerin didn't seem to mind it either. Finch knew he'd never been suited to the extravagance of the castle.

“Do they ask you to do that a lot?” Aerin asked, already in bed after having gotten ready.

“What, tell stories? No, not usually.” Finch pulled his shirt off over his head and put on the pajama pants he'd brought. “I'd say I'm pretty low on the list, even without Kade here. Honestly I think it's just because you were there.”

“What do you mean?” Aerin moved over on the bed a bit as Finch settled in beside him. It was really only meant for one person, but that didn't matter. Even though they'd never discussed it, Finch had a feeling that Aerin didn't like sleeping alone. Not after all those nights in the cell. “Were they trying to make you seem impressive or something?”

“No, not quite,” Finch laughed. “If anything, they were trying to get me to make a fool of myself in front of you. Kind of like what Mal does to Tyril all the time. Luckily, you love me too much to be embarrassed of me, even if I am a terrible storyteller.” He gave Aerin an exaggerated kiss on the cheek.

Aerin held back a smile and reached over to turn off the lamp, making the only light in the room the moonlight coming in through the window on the wall above the bed. “We've both done stupid things in front of each other enough times that it doesn't matter anymore.”

“It's probably best that we don't keep count.”

Finch closed his eyes as peaceful silence fell over the room. He was lying with his cheek resting on Aerin's shoulder, his forehead pressed lightly against the side of his neck. His hand laid flat on Aerin's chest, and if he focused on it, he could feel the indent about the size of his palm where Aerin's scar was.

He'd only ever seen the Nerada Stone once, but he remembered it vividly. He could still recall the precise details of how it had looked, and the terror it had brought on when he'd seen it. He still didn't know what had caused Aerin to decide to take it out, in the end. Finch couldn't imagine what someone would have to feel to put themselves through that kind of pain. At times he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

“Finch,” he heard Aerin whisper, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Hm?” he hummed in response. He felt Aerin's hand cover his own.

“You were doing that thing again.”

It wasn't the first time he'd done it. Every so often, when he got really wrapped up in thinking about the stone, he would start gently tracing the outline of the scar with his fingertips. He never knew he was doing it until Aerin inevitably pointed it out to him.

“Sorry. I didn't notice.”

“It's okay. I don't mind it. I just want to remind you that you don't have to worry about what I can tell you're worrying about right now.”

“I know, I know, it's just…” Finch shifted in place, propping himself up slightly with his elbow on the mattress so he could see Aerin's face. He had a habit of wanting to be able to look at Aerin when he started talking about something he was deeply invested in. He did it with everyone, but especially Aerin. “I wish there was something I could've done. I'm sure we could've found some other way, if I had known that was what you were trying to do.”

“You not being there didn't have anything to do with what I did. I didn't even know you were gone. Your friends stopped visiting eventually, and no one else seemed to think I should know. So my point is, even if you had still been around, I probably would've done the same thing.” Aerin lifted his hand to run it slowly through Finch's hair a couple times, and Finch leaned into the touch.

“I guess I just want to know why. That's the one part of it I've never been able to figure out,” Finch admitted. “And you don't have to tell me, if you don't want to, but…”

“Do you think it would help?” Aerin's brow furrowed. “Because I don't want to do anything that would hurt you. And don't say it would help just because you want to know.”

Finch considered it for a moment. “I think that… I'd probably think about it a lot at first. But knowing would definitely make it easier to come to terms with.”

Aerin took a deep breath, and sighed it out. “Okay. The truth is…” He looked away, into the wider room, almost as if he was embarrassed. “I decided to take the stone out after you came to see me. All it took was that one time, and I... I knew it wasn't worth it anymore.”

Finch's eyes grew distant as the memories of that night came back to him. He'd forgotten. So much had happened since then that he'd completely forgotten it. That was a terrible thing to have forgotten, what kind of an idiot forgot about something like that? He remembered it now, of course, but he had no idea how it had ever slipped his mind in the first place.

“Hey.” Aerin tapped gently on Finch's cheek with his knuckle, the way someone might knock on a door if they suspected someone was asleep on the other side. “You're beating yourself up over something right now. Tell me what it is, so I can help. I'm not just letting you sit here and stew in whatever you're thinking about.”

It took Finch another few moments to say anything in response, but Aerin allowed him to work through it for as long as he needed to. “I really shouldn't have done that to you,” he muttered. It wasn't exactly what he'd been thinking about, but it was what those thoughts had led him to. “Not the visit, but the fact that I just left. I got scared and I ran, I didn't even try to talk to you about it. I was a real jerk for that, wasn't I.”

“I… can admit that it's not my favorite thing you've ever done. But I've forgiven you by now, which means you should forgive yourself too, because honestly it was probably the best thing you could've done.” Aerin placed both of his hands on Finch's cheeks. “If you hadn't come to see me, and you hadn't done what you did, we probably wouldn't be here right now.”

“I still think I could've handled things better. I didn't think it through. Any of it. Even just a little more planning would've stopped it from going so poorly.”

“Finch, it didn't go poorly,” Aerin insisted. “Maybe in the moment it did, sure. But seeing you that night, talking to you, the way you kissed me, it all reminded me how much I needed you. Then you left, and I realized that before I could get that life back, I needed to become a better person again. I couldn't go on the way I was if I ever wanted to have something good again. That was why I took out the stone.”

“But it must've hurt you,” Finch shook his head, still catching up with everything Aerin was telling him. “To take it out, I mean.”

“Of course it did. It hurt me to have it, too,” Aerin reminded him. Finch did remember that, from when he'd first seen the stone. “But I was betting on the hope that those last few minutes of pain would pay off with more happiness than I knew what to do with. It was either that, or keep hurting other people for the rest of my life. I didn't know what would happen, but I knew I had to try.”

“And… did it work?” Finch asked, speaking hesitantly.

“Yes,” Aerin nodded, possibly sounding more certain than Finch had ever heard him before. He lifted his head a bit and gently brought Finch down to meet him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “I'd say that it did.”

A small smile crossed Finch's face, which almost always happened when Aerin kissed him. “Good.” He settled back into his place on the bed, lying down the way he'd been before. He felt Aerin's arms wrap around him, warm and familiar against his skin.

He was finally satisfied with the knowledge he had. He hadn't wanted to push too hard on the matter of Aerin’s scar and how he'd gotten it, because he knew that at times the idea of it upset both of them. It was a big sore spot that neither of them wanted to get close to. But he'd always known they'd have to talk about it at some point, and if it was going to happen somehow, he believed this was one of the best ways it could've been. The room felt much more peaceful then. His thoughts weren't quite so loud anymore. Well, aside from one of them.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” Aerin replied, as Finch knew he would.

Finch was well aware that there would be more problems for him to fix eventually, whether it was a simple favor for a friendly stranger or a new foe for him to save the world from. It seemed unavoidable at that point. But right now, he was safe at home, in bed next to the best, smartest, most breathtaking person he'd ever known. There wasn't anywhere else he'd rather be. Things were difficult at times, and would be again. But for the moment, all was well in the world.

[aph-mable]

Dp x Demon slayer au; Nightgale arc

Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, and Zenitsu all collapsed onto their respective beds in the infirmary house. They had just been double checked by the staff to make sure each of them were actually healthy and properly healed up.

It had been an eventual adventure for sure.

Having to dress up in drag for the mission, face off two demon siblings, and Tengen Uzui’s retirement means that the demon slayers are down another Hashira. At the very least there is a bit of a happy ending to it all, the demon siblings finally got a chance to move on and Uzui was still alive.

It's the little things to be thankful for. Even if, technically, it's big.

Though Tanjiro's true mission, gathering up high ranking demon blood to help Nezuko return human, was set back once more. He knows he should be grateful for being alive, yet it feels like obstacles keep getting in the way. Even if they win and survive, Nezuko was still stuck in her own torment.

Falling into an uneasy sleep, Tanjiro wishes something, or someone, could just help him on his mission to cure his sister. _________________________

The trio sat in front of Hashira Kocho, as she looked over their notes of the previous mission.

Glancing over at the three boys, Kocho placed her hands softly on the table. Knowing they worked hard and risked a lot, but missions have to keep getting completed.

"Well, I can tell you all this much, every one of you is healthy and ready to go back into the field." She told them with a smile.

Zenitsu groaned about wanting to rest up just a bit more and maybe hang out with the girls for an afternoon longer. Inosuke yelled in excitement, being ready to hunt more demons and not have to wear ugly clothes anymore. Tanjiro smiled softly, staying silent with his head slightly tilted to the floor.

Observing each, Shinobu Kocho pulled out the information for their next mission.

"And I'm happy to say it's going to be an easy one in comparison to what you have dealt with so far. You’re tasked with finding the Nightgale family and bringing them back to the Butterfly Mansion."

"Um, excuse me Miss Kocho, but who are the Nightgales?" Tanjiro's soft voice echoed in the small room.

"Ah, well where to begin. The Nightgales are one of the oldest demon slayer families. They were, in fact, the ones who figured out what metal could be used to fight against demons, and from there they branched out. Throughout the generations they have been doctors, scientists, slayers, craftsmen, magic users… really everything but cooks. Their entire livelihoods have been built on studying, and slaying, demons." Kocho's lips culled at the last statement as she watched Tanjiro almost jump at her words.

"Study? They actually studied demons? B-but how?! What have they learned? Are they willing to take an apprentice or share what they know?" Tanjiro asked question after question, only quieting down when Inosuke interrupted him with a tackle.

"Will you shut up, Tarongi! you ask too many dumb questions." he growled.

Laughing softly, Shinobu gently pulled on her sword. "Boys, no rough housing in my office."

In an instant both Inosuke and Tanjiro sat properly.

"Good. Now, as for your questions you'll have to ask them in person. The most I know is the latest Dr. Nightgale's have been studying demon blood and physiology, with their only child Jasmine recently finishing up her training to be a demon slayer herself in the last year. The reason you’re heading to meet them is because within that time frame the Nightgales seem to have vanished without a trace. You are to investigate why that is, bring as much information about their research back to the Hashira, and bring with you the Nightgale family as well in case they are in danger."

Tanjiro agreed with newfound determination in his eyes. He was ready to go right this moment and nearly bolted out of the door when Miss Kocho raised her hand to stop him.

"Now, I want you three to know some important information before you head out. The Nightgales are very hospitable to other demon slayers, but the moment they even suspect you're a demon they will not hesitate to attack, capture, study or kill you where you stand. Over the past 13 years they have been more paranoid about demons designing themselves as humans, so tread carefully. especially if you're wearing a mask, flirt, or have a demon with you." She stared at the trio, who couldn't even look her in the eyes.

"Hmp, I'll be giving you a crow to lead where the Nightgale house is… oh, and can I ask a tiny favour?"

“Of course Lady Kocho, what is it?” Zenitsu surprisingly asked.

"Can you get me one of the flowers they've been studying? There have been some rumours that they had found a new type that when matched with Wisteria flowers will amplify the power, and burn away a demon within seconds." She tilted her head playfully.

"A simple task to bring a flower to a fair lady such as yourself Miss Kocho, it would be an honour~" Zenitsu bolted out the door to get ready for the mission. Tanjiro and Inosuke followed, not wanting to be left behind.

__________________________

Tanjiro kept his eyes on his soundings as the crow led the way. To his left Zenitsu hummed to himself as Inosuke ran around looking for something to fight.

So far their journey has been calm, all they had to do was trek though a peaceful forest path, it barely counted as a hike. Nezuko was sound asleep in her box, restoring her energy while the sun was out.

As they continued on the tree's shade became thicker as the path was slowly but surely disappearing, leaving them lost. The crow they had been following seemed to have gone missing, and with the thick underbrush sounding the trio it was nearly impossible for them to find their way.

Untamed Nature caged them, yet strangely there was barely a sound but their footsteps. Not a bird song or the trickle of water, just pure silence. Taking a deep breath Tanjiro decided to keep moving forward, leading further into the unknown wilderness.

Both Tanjiro and Zenitsu were trying to step slowly around roots and lose rocks, but Inosuke got inpatient and didn't want to be stuck going that slow until nightfall, so he took initiative as he shoved past the two boys and ran ahead. With that they gave chase after their boar headed companion.

"Inosuke, slow down! We don't even know if this is the right way!" Tanjiro cried out. Zenitsu was just trying to keep up as he held back the need to cry, everything was going so good, but his friends just had to ruin it.

It wasn't long before Inosuke had run so far ahead he was out of sight, forcing Tanjiro to slow down and smell the air to see which way he went. As he slowed down to sniff the air, Zenitsu, being blinded by tears as he tried to keep up, bumped into the other slayer, causing both of them to fall down a steep slope. Crashing and tumbling down they come face to face with the bottom of the hill, a small valley covered in trees and thorny bushes.

Zenitsu slowly pulled himself up first, his hand pressed against some kind of rope. With lightning speed he moved out of the way just before the trap could pull him into the trees, landing right against Tanjiro’s side, who groaned in pain.

Tanjiro shook his head and got up, making sure Nezuko was okay and her box intact before looking over at a shivering Zenitsu, who stared straight ahead with a terrified expression on his face. Following his gaze, Tanjiro could see traps with rotting meat hanging from various ropes and rusted chains. Magical markings drawn in dulled, red paint covered the slowly degrading building, A vibrant orange sunset illuminating the forest and house before them.

"Yo! Zunkaka, Tabiroj, about time you got here! Hurry up, it's almost night you idiots!" Inosuke shouted as he stomped over. Zenitsu took small nervous steps towards the house, which just made the boar headed man huff in frustration as he marched over and picked up his sparky friend. Tanjiro quickly gathered his sword and Nezuko's box to join them, hearing her small growls and whines as he stopped his friends once they reached the front door.

"Hold on, this place smells weird. and Inosuke, you still have your mask on! Remember Lady Kocho's warnings? Let's just wait a moment." Tanjiro begs.

"No way, we came all this way already. If they want to fight me about what I wear, let them!" With that Inosuke shoved the door open.

What they were greeted by was the smell of medicine, blood, and rotting wood. Through the door was a darkened hallway completely absent of outside light, yet a distinct small shadow sat in the middle of the floor. As they stepped forward to get a better view the child sized figure snapped its head towards the trio, glowing eyes of green and blue illuminated the hallway as red lights flickered on, revealing who was really there.

A small boy with black hair and white tips sat perfectly still, not blinking, not moving, not even breathing. His porcelain skin cracked with scars across his face and down his neck, all while an oversized blue kimono draped over his small body. If it wasn’t for an almost familiar scent of Jasmine, cedarwood, rose and strangely ice, Tanjiro would have believed they were a doll.

Tanjiro stepped forward, about to speak but stopped as the living doll opened their mouth…

A piercing screech caused everyone to drop to the ground in paralysing fear.

Ao3 link here; https://archiveofourown.org/works/46063900/chapters/115954591 

check out @thegatorsgoose fan art too. https://www.tumblr.com/thegatorsgoose/712982462899404800/art-from-chapter-one-of-aph-mable-s-danny?source=share 

[pauein]

Ugh. my horrible sibling bribed me with Frivolous Snack Purchases to post this godawful string of discord messages i wrote regarding whether or not the Boyfriends from webtoons Boyfriends would survive the House on ash tree lane, going off half-forgotten memories of when i read boyfriends as a joke in 2022. SIGH.

"Ok. Fine. For starters. They all move into this house together and when stuff starts getting weird (likely as a result of the shaky foundation their relationship is built upon plus the weirdness with prep and goth) they all decide to investigate it together after some hesitation

Things seem to go mostly okay at first however they all get separated at some point- goth and prep find each other again and soon jock as well but they cant find nerd. Unfortunately continued search efforts have no avail at the moment, so they decide to call upon the Girlfriends (canonically more competent than them) to help out. Girl goth also had like an occult club or something iirc so thats probably the first one they called and she brought the rest of her polycule

However their assessment pretty much ends up being "you guys gotta gtfo" but they refuse to leave without nerd so they continue searching

I honestly dont know much about the girlfriends since they were a later introduction so i cant effectively wrap up their part here but i imagine the tensions between the two preps definitely does not help the condition of the house

Meanwhile nerd is still alive but barely and going insane. Through no fault of his own his sheer dependency on the other boyfriends is leading him into an untimely demise, a labriynth with no escape as he feels there Cant be an escape without the rest of his polycule

Also side note but about the earlier exploration before nerd went missing. Goth was one of the most eager to explore this first because dark and spooky shit but they Nearly got separated the first time, leaving him hesitant the second exploration. However the others still wanted to go back in out of curiosity, nerd in particular. Prep encouraged goth by pointing out that goth is the spooky things guy and its the opposite of going out in the sun. they all vow to protect each other but its a hollow promise against a threat they havent truly come face to face with. And they have already failed through this push to go back in.

Anyway so they go back in , girl nerd maybe stays behind with jock to keep track of things with the radio. The added hope of having the girlfriends along leads them to nerd, but hes clearly already in his death throes. However he attempts to kill goth and prep so they wont be apart. He fails, (might accidentally take out a few of the gfs, idk,) and when he realizes jock isnt even there he gives up, dying tragically, surrounded but alone. he never even finds out jock was keeping tabs on the radio

Goth and prep are stuck figuring out how to get back now, especially what to do about the dead bodies. Unfortunately on their own bringing back the bodies proves to be a very difficult task (girl jock was one of the ones who died and goth and prep are canon wimps strengthwise) and supplies are running low. But they refuse to leave the others behind

Love got them into this mess and theyre going to get out with love in tact, they think.

They just barely manage to reach the escape, however, just as they are, doubt sets in. The corpses they carry and the reality that things will never return to the way they are again stretches the corridor, pulling the door farther, and farther away. Can they truly say they escaped with their love? Like this?

Suddenly, behind them the hall feels like its collapsing, from above, below, all around. Prep panics, theyre both so out of their depth, and now theyre doomed to sink with the ship. However, goth thinks just quickly enough. Almost. He stages his last stand, shoving Prep through the door- sacrificing himself in the process. The bodies also do not make it.

The weight of this grief also collapses the house itself, foundation and walls not sturdy enough to support it. The survivors all escape unharmed, but can they say they really escaped in one piece?

It is unknown where the remaining GFs relationship ends up after this. However, Jock and Prep end up breaking up on despairing but amicable terms, believing nothing can be done to bridge the gap in their hearts. The last shot is of prep, more alone than he ever was, but just as alone as he thought he was before the polycule began.

Fuck you man"

I am not caught up with current Boyfriends lore and i do not plan to be so if i got anything wrong or inaccurate i am not sorry and in fact you should probably be the one whos sorry.