#gave him a reason to hope for a brighter future

[scribbly-artist]

Gently, Please

Summary: Jayce is at a breaking point now that he’s on the council, he wasn’t expecting all of this responsibility put onto him. He goes to the place (and the person) that puts him most at ease.

Author’s Notes: For some reason I struggled with this one and I wasn’t really sure why. I feel like they’re a bit OOC, but you guys can judge that or let me know if I’m overthinking it. 🤔 I feel like I write a lot of angst/comfort tickles, someone should tell me to write some sass with Jayce and Viktor one day, I feel like it’d be fun.

Thanks to the anon for giving me this prompt! I hope you like it. :)

Words: ~1,300 | AO3 Link

Jayce couldn't take much more. 

He missed being in the lab with his partner. Being in the council was fine, he supposed. It gave him a lot of opportunities to help with their Hextech research outside of the lab. Getting investors and funding really helped. 

But honestly? He'd rather be in the lab. 

That's how he always felt - he wasn't used to telling others what to do, wasn't used to all this responsibility. He needed a break, even for an afternoon. 

And that's what he intended on doing as he made his way to the lab - his second home - pushing the doors open upon entry.

Viktor was working away - as usual, he practically lived here - his back turned to Jayce. As Jayce approached, he could see Viktor was messing with… some sort of new device at the workbench. 

The sound of Jayce’s footsteps alerted Viktor, resulting in him swivelling around in his chair, pushing his goggles up to his forehead. 

“Hello, stranger,” he commented, looking Jayce up and down. “I haven't seen you in a while - mm, how are things with the council?”

Jayce’s expression changed to something troubled. “It's a lot to take in. I'm not used to all of this. If I'm being honest, I'd rather be here.”

“Would you be comfortable talking about it?” Viktor enquired, using his cane to lift himself off his seat, and then lifting himself to sit up on the workbench, waving a hand to offer Jayce his seat. 

Jayce sat down, the chair bouncing a little as he lowered his weight on it. 

“I didn’t ask to be on the council. I know there’s a lot of benefits to it. For our research, for me, for you. This is all new to me, though.” Jayce leaned over, laying his head down on Viktor’s lap, the other placing a loving hand gently on his head. “I’m a symbol - an icon now. I’m the Man of Progress, making Piltover’s future brighter. But it’s a lot of responsibility I didn’t ask for.” Jayce let out a sigh as he finished speaking.

“It’s a lot to take on, that’s why I try to not be in the public eye,” Viktor spoke, carding his fingers through Jayce’s hair. Viktor knew it soothed him in times of heavy stress. “I apologise for that. Perhaps if I did, you wouldn’t be bearing this feeling all alone.”

“No, Vik, it’s fine. I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable having so many eyes on you,” Jayce moved one of his hands to rest on Viktor’s knee. “I just have to bear it. For us, for our work. For our Hextech dream.”

“I’m always in the lab if you need someone to discuss this with, Jayce. All you need to do is ask, and I will always assist you when you need it.”

“I’m grateful you’re on my side, Viktor.” Letting out a relieved sigh, Jayce closed his eyes. “It’s good to get things off my chest. Though, it didn’t make me feel as good as I thought it would.”

“Mm, Is there anything I can do to make it better perhaps?” Asked Viktor, his fingers tangled in Jayce’s hair.

Jayce thought for a moment. Well, he noticed there was always something Viktor would do for Jayce whenever he was stressed out. He always struggled to find the words to ask, though… 

“Can you do… that thing?” Asked Jayce, craning his head so he could look up at Viktor.

Viktor raised a questioning eyebrow. “That ‘thing’?”

“Yeah, you know, that thing you always do whenever I'm stressed out of my mind… or when I’m annoying you too much.”

Viktor tilted his head in confusion at first. He had to flip through his memory for this one. 

Whenever Jayce was being stubborn or particularly irritable, mainly when Jayce was running low on sleep, Viktor had a few tricks up his sleeve to try to make Jayce relax. Sometimes, he had to pull out the big guns… ah, he remembered. 

Jayce wanted Viktor to tickle him. He realised Jayce had the most roundabout way of asking for it, though…

“Ehh, you can use your words, you know.” Viktor had to tease Jayce just a little with a chuckle. 

Jayce moved his hand to cover his eyes with the back of it, his cheeks a little red from the conversation. “It's embarrassing… it makes me feel weak. But I never seem to mind whenever you do it.”

Viktor’s hand trailed from Jayce’s head to the nape of his partner’s neck, scribbling his fingers against the skin. “Well, how could I decline?”

Jayce was already starting to crack up from the small simple touch alone. “Ahaha, can you just– hehehe, be gentle?”

Viktor scoffed at that. “Aren’t I always?”

“Yeheheah, but extra gentle thihihis time.” Was Jayce’s giggly request.

“Whatever you say.” Gently pushing Jayce’s head so Viktor could slide off the bench, he propped his cane off to the side so he could use both hands. He reached forward, gently wiggling his fingers against Jayce’s sides.

Jayce was already giggling, even more so now. He reached out and latched his hands on Viktor’s wrists, but made no attempt to move his hands away. In fact, it was to keep Viktor’s hands in place. Viktor’s hands moved up to gently squeeze at Jayce’s ribs, causing Jayce to throw his head back and laugh.

“You know… mhm, whenever you want this, you can just say the word. You don’t have to bug me while I’m trying to concentrate. And you don’t have to beat around the bush when you’re upset, you understand? Even without saying it directly, I can always tell when you’re in a mood… for this.” Viktor wanted to know Jayce was safe to tell him these things.

Jayce nodded his head in reply, scrunching up his nose when Viktor hit a particularly sensitive rib. Viktor always liked to watch his face change whenever he tickled him. He looked different with a carefree smile stretched across his face.

Viktor started to slow down, figuring that Jayce had had enough. He pulled his hands away, placing them on his hips instead. “How was that? Did it make you feel better?”

Jayce was slowly catching his breath, even gently tickling took his breath away. “Yehehes, thank you, V…” he gazed up at Viktor with a smile, getting up from the chair. 

“It’s definitely a strange thing to ask to make yourself feel better… but it makes sense when it’s you, somehow. Very odd, but endearing.” Viktor gently teased and gave a small smile.

Jayce’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest at Viktor’s comments, his face growing more beet red. “Ahem, anyway… before anyone starts looking for me, why don’t I help you out for a while? Knowing Mel, she’ll start wondering where I am.”

“Of course, I’d be pleased. You haven’t been in the lab for quite a while now. I appreciate the assistance, and the company.”

They both wandered over to the blackboard to discuss some new ideas for Hextech. They could be lab partners for a little while longer.

He really missed this.

[wr-n]

GOD i love dustard,,,,, GOD,,,,, yeah,,, yeag,,,,

they're just,,, SO GOOD i cant even,,,,

[navybrat817]

Finding the Positive

Pairing: Chop Shop Mechanic!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Summary: Bucky didn't have the brightest outlook on life until you came along.

Word Count: Over 1k

Warnings: Established relationship, bit of backstory, fluff, reference to smut, slight feels (it's me), Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?).

A/N: Inspired by a sweet nonnie ask and part of my Jaded to Joy AU, which began with Double Shift. Not beta read and written on my phone, so any and all mistakes are my own. Divider by the talented @saradika-graphics and gorgeous Bucky edit by the amazing @nixakimbo. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are loved and appreciated!

When you met Bucky, something slowly changed inside him. Before you came along he tried his best to stay positive for Becca, but seeing her struggles with her illness and the stress she was experiencing from medical bills still clouded his heart a little. She deserved a bright future, not a financial burden. Taking a job at the chop shop only darkened his outlook more, leaving him a bit jaded in the process.

A couple of the guys were in the same boat as him, doing what they could to get by or try to build a better life. The rest seemed to get off on taking advantage of others. It made him feel sick. And wasn’t he complicit to everything by working in a place like that? He wasn’t hurting people physically, but he worked with stolen vehicles and parts. It affected people. And he wasn’t that excited at the prospect of opening his own honest shop because why get his hopes up?

But then you showed up in his life like a blazing sun, radiating warmth and hope. You found reasons to smile on bad days, which made no sense to him. He knew you were struggling, that things in your life were far from perfect. So how did you carry yourself as if the weight of the world wasn’t weighing you down?

“I try to look for something positive every day,” you told him. “Even if it takes almost all day to find it.”

It may have sounded corny coming from others, but you said with such sincerity and conviction that he wondered why he hadn’t tried to do something similar. If Becca found reasons to smile and so did you, why couldn’t he? Why wasn’t it that simple?

“So, you don’t see the negative?”

“No, I see the negative and I allow myself to feel it because ignoring it won’t do me any good. I just don’t allow myself to dwell in it,” you explained, nudging his shoulder. “Being positive doesn’t mean I’m happy every single moment of every day. I’m still learning, still growing, and still looking for the sunshine even on the dark days.”

“And what happens one day if you can’t find the sunshine?”

You gave him one of your brightest smiles. “Then I’ll have to be my own sunshine, won’t I?”

It was inspiring. Life wasn’t easy for you, but you refused to let it get you down. Your attitude on your worst days was still better than Bucky at his best. While he would never see the world through rose-tinted glasses, your outlook made it look a little brighter. And while he allowed himself to vent or feel anger, he didn’t stay in that headspace. He took your words to heart and made sure to look for something positive.

You were in the kitchen when he got home from work and he was content to watch you at the stove with a soft smile on his face. The blend of spices made him smile more when he realized you were cooking one of his favorite meals. You were so thoughtful, so beautiful, and you saw the best in him. He’d never be able to give you a fancy house, but he’d give you a better home one day.

“Hey,” you smiled over your shoulder, his heart skipping a beat. He captured the image in his mind and tucked it away for when he’d need a reminder of the good things in his life. “How long have you been standing there?”

He strode across the room and rested his chin on your shoulder once he was close enough. Wrapping his arms around you, he turned his face and breathed in the sweet scent of your perfume. Soft yet surprisingly powerful, just like you. “Long enough to find my positive for the day.”

“Oh, yeah? Tell me about it,” you said, resting a hand over his as he began to sway you back and forth.

“Well, work sucked and I’m pretty sure one of the guys tried to steal the lunch you made me,” he told you, smiling when giggled. He kept his hand over yours when you tried to grab a cooking utensil. “But I finally got that overtime pay and it was more than what I expected.”

He didn’t like working the extra hours if it meant being away from you, but the money helped, and he wouldn’t have to do it much longer. It was for a better future, a brighter future. One that he was building with you.

“That’s great!” His heart skipped a beat again when you turned your head far enough to brush your lips against his. “That’s a huge positive.”

“It is,” he said, helping you stir. He was a decent cook, but a novice compared to you and you always managed to put together delicious meals on a budget. “I started thinking about us working at the shop together. Me working on cars and bikes, you in the office making sure things are running smoothly.”

“And sneaking into the office for a quickie?” You pressed your hips back against his, making him groan and grit his teeth when you did it again. You were the best kind of tease. “I know you, Bucky.”

As tempting as it was to put you on the counter and feast on your delicious cunt, there would be plenty of time for that after dinner. “I know you, too, and you’d welcome that,” he said, nipping between your neck and shoulder.

You gasped, shutting the stove off. “I would,” you agreed as you leaned back against him. “I think that’s my positive of the day; thinking of us working together and creating more memories.”

He shut his eyes. Having someone so loving and uplifting wanting to spend time with him blew his mind. It seemed too good to be true, but it wasn’t. This was his life.

“I’m looking forward to it, baby,” he whispered.

He was looking forward to every moment with you, even on the days where it would take longer to find the positive.

No nickname yet for this reader, but I adore them. Love and thanks for reading! ❤️

Masterlist ⚓ Bucky Barnes Masterlist ⚓ Ko-Fi

[diivineangel]

“ i’ve got something to confess…i keep you in my pocket to use…. you’re my only compass, i might get lost without you. ”

𝓢ynopsis: toji, your boyfriend, after escaping from the oppressive zenin clan with your help, has managed to find peace and happiness at your side, forming a small family with you and your son, megumi. now, with his heart full and his future clear, he gathers his courage to ask you the question he’s long kept close: will you be by his side, not just today, but for all the days to come?

pairing: toji x fem!reader

cont: pure fluff!!

wc: 944

────       𝓢ince the day Toji met you, his life had shifted like night to day. For so long, his world was a bleak, unforgiving place, suffocating under the weight of the Zenin Clan’s shadow. From the moment he could remember, they had stolen his peace, filling his life with violence, betrayal, and endless despair. But then you came—an unexpected light, so steady and unwavering, guiding him out of that suffocating darkness.

It was you who gave him the courage to break free, to turn his back on the demons of his past and embrace a life he’d never dared to dream of. Now, away from the poison of the clan, Toji finally knew peace. He wasn’t perfect—his work with the Time Vessel Association still bore its own burdens, and the itch of his gambling addiction lingered like a storm on the horizon. Yet, for you, for the person who held his heart so tightly, he was determined to be better.

You weren’t just his love. You were his everything. His sun. His reason for trying, for smiling, for waking up every morning with hope in his chest. And there was one other piece of light that had crept into his world: his son, little Megumi. Barely a year old, Megumi was a miracle—a reminder that even in his broken life, something pure and beautiful could exist. Toji adored him, fiercely and protectively, holding onto him as if the boy was the fragile thread that tied his family together.

It was a golden summer afternoon when this small family—yours, his, and Megumi’s—shared a moment of calm. The backyard buzzed with laughter and warmth as close friends gathered for a poolside day. Children dashed across the grass, their shrieks of joy filling the air, and little Megumi had found a fast friend in Itadori, a boy with the same playful, unrelenting energy. They chased each other around the yard, giggling, their tiny feet padding against the ground.

You leaned back, soaking in the scene, but something tugged at the edge of your attention. Toji wasn’t himself. He sat near you, his eyes sharp and restless, his jaw tightening every so often. Though his lips curved into a faint smile, you could tell it wasn’t quite reaching his heart. You caught his gaze and raised a brow, silently asking if he was okay. He shook his head slightly, dismissing your worry, and you let it go—for now.

As the sun began to dip lower in the sky and the guests prepared to leave, Toji excused himself. You watched him slip inside the house, confusion creeping in. Moments later, he returned, and this time, something was different. His entire presence seemed to glow—his shoulders relaxed, his steps confident, his eyes brighter than you’d ever seen them.

“Hey, everyone,” he said, clearing his throat and catching the attention of the group. The chatter fell silent, curiosity sparking in their eyes. Toji looked at you then, and you could feel the weight of his gaze, heavy with something unspoken yet overwhelming.

He took a step closer to you, rubbing the back of his neck—a small crack in his usual unshakable demeanor. His voice was lower now, softer, meant only for you despite the crowd around him.

“Babe,” he started, his lips twitching nervously. “We’ve been through so much together. More than I ever thought I’d survive. You’ve… you’ve changed everything for me. You gave me a life I didn’t think I deserved. You gave me hope. And Megumi… you gave me a family.”

Your breath caught, the air around you suddenly thicker, the moment stretching out. Toji paused, swallowing hard, his fingers curling into fists as if steadying himself. Then, as if he could hold it in no longer, the words tumbled from him, raw and honest.

“I don’t know how to say this in a way that does justice to what you mean to me, but… I want you forever. I want to keep waking up next to you, keep watching you laugh, keep being the man you make me want to be.” He dropped to one knee, and the air around you seemed to explode with gasps and murmurs from your friends.

Toji reached into his pocket, pulling out a small, simple ring—modest, but gleaming with a kind of care that took your breath away. His voice cracked as he spoke, but his words were steady, strong, and utterly sincere.

“Marry me, sunshine. Be mine forever.”

The world seemed to stop. All the noise—the laughter, the distant hum of summer, the pounding of your own heart—melted into silence as his words wrapped around you. Toji’s eyes, filled with hope and a rare vulnerability, searched yours, waiting.

And in that moment, there was no hesitation, no second-guessing. Only love.

🏷�� : @lemonlover1110 @sugoroo @wintrrxxo @yung-notorious @jazzthatonewriterchick

[anotherwriternamedclara]

✦ . admiring from afar . 01 – first morning.

prev | mlist | next chap summary: your first day in jujutsu high. you're not much of the 'hanging around new people' type, but everyone seems pretty cool! and oh my goodness, there's a flower garden? | word count: 789 warnings: yn is ur stereotypical nervous freshman who overthinks a LOT of stuff (this is very self indulgent im so sorry) but its okay!! because everyones cool :D

“mr. gojo, i really don’t think i can do this…”

it was your first morning in jujutsu high. despite numerous attempts (involving one, then two, then four bags of different-flavored kikifuku, for some reason)  from your teacher satoru gojo, you couldn’t bear to enter the school.

though you’d made your teacher constantly repeat to you all the students’ names, assorted likes and dislikes, physical appearances, and other bits and bobs so you could imagine that you did know these people, you still felt the tumble of anxiety in your stomach. meeting new people has never been your forte. there was just a lot to consider, wasn’t there? you so badly wanted everyone to like you, as this was going to be your future now, and these people would see you every day for the rest of your life. what if you messed up? or even worse, what if you messed up so badly that everyone would hate you for the rest of your…

“ah, yn, don’t worry!” the white haired man said lightly, ruffling your hair. it had barely been a day since you met him, and he had evidently already decided to sort of adopt you as his own. “in the klerb, we all fam.”

you nearly burst out laughing, the tumble in your stomach lessening significantly. “no way you’re on tiktok, mr gojo.”

he shrugged thoughtfully, and steered you inside, taking your laughter as a sign that you were, in fact, ready. “i choose to leave it to your own interpretation, yn. now, let’s introduce you to everyone!”

turns out your anxiety wasn’t quite necessary. your classmates were the friendliest group of people you had met in your life – except for megumi fushiguro, the dark haired guy exuding mysterious emo energy, who seemed content pretending like there was something better to do. you’d long given up pretending, or putting on an act, as you knew you were eventually going to love all these people – one of the advantages (or disadvantages?) of having a heart meant to love and be loved.

“don’t mind him, the killjoy,” nobara kugisaki, the perky orange haired girl huffed, as you all made your way to the school cafeteria for lunch. “he’ll warm up to us eventually is what mr gojo said.”

“will not!” megumi called, a few paces behind the trio of you.

yuji itadori, your new self-proclaimed best friend with bright pink hair and an even brighter smile, linked his arm through yours. “you’re going to love the second years!” 

the second years weren’t worth that much of your anxiety either, as they seemed really nice and sincerely happy to see someone new. maki zenin, a dark green haired girl with glasses, seemed so damn cool to you. she gave you a friendly pat on the back upon your introduction. “welcome to jujutsu high, yn. i do hope you’ll like it here, despite the douchebags lying around here and there.”

panda rolled his eyes at her comment, then swept you into a very warm and fluffy hug. “don’t listen to her, we never lie around.”

“so there’s only two of you?” you asked once panda had let you go. “mr gojo mentioned that there were four second years…”

maki straightened her glasses. “well, we would be four, if yuta okkotsu were still here – did gojo tell you about okkotsu? yeah, he’s training in africa, which makes us three.”

“inumaki’s probably in the garden,” megumi said, almost sounding offhanded as he leaned casually against the wall, next to yuji.

your eyes widened. “pause. there’s a garden??? a flower garden???”

yuji perked up. “see, that’s a normal reaction, guys! yn, i didn’t know you were a plant person too–”

“i am going there right now and every day after this.” you turned to embark on your new adventure. “thank you everyone! you’re all so cool!”

your dear pink-haired best friend yuji went with you, chattering about his favorite flowers as he guided you through campus. the garden wasn’t far, but a person could easily get lost trying to find it by making a wrong turn.

“my grandfather takes care of a sunflower plant we have at home, so my favorite is obviously, yes, a sunflower. though i also like daisies, they’re so cute, right? i really think weaving daisy crowns is something that should be made popular nowadays. oh, anyway, we’re here!”

ever the gentleman, yuji opened the small, creaking gate for you, bringing you into a serene and secluded garden. different variations of flowers bloomed here and there, and so did various plants – you recognized the popular japanese maple, and different types of ferns and mosses.

and standing in the middle of it all was the most beautiful boy you had ever seen.

extra notes:

yes, sadly yuta is still in africa. will i bring him back? we'll see

the sunflower thing is one of my hc's - don't mind it it's just cute

also grandpa itadori NEVER i repeat NEVER died. yuji still visits sometimes!!

megumi doesn't know what do to around new ppl js like yn frfr

a/n: going to be on a short break as it's nearly exam week, then after that i have rehearsals and a play to perform (it's the wizard of oz but christmas version)! but i hope you guys enjoy this part :D finally done with all the intros and actually going to move onto the plot!!! yayay im just as happy as you are-

taglist: @hibsjebwj, @bisforbuse, @kameyyy comment to be added to the taglist <3 pls dont repost w/o my permission !

[https-genesis]

your beauty, beside me | neteyam x f!reader

Summary; Neteyam is positively infatuated with you. He'll prove it if he has to.

Contents; small drabble, fluff, omatikaya reader, soft neteyam, reader is depicted to have long hair/braids, friends to lovers

Dictionary; sempul - father , sa'nok - mother

A/N; im back :)) neteyam is so babygirl it hurts my heart

The first time Neteyam Te Suli Tsyeyk'itan set his eyes on you, he was a still a small toddler. His sa'nok had told him that playing with other kids would make him happy, so the first person apart from his sister, Kiri, that he went to, was you.

The years went by, and you grew togheter. You watched him grow into a beautiful young man, the mighty warrior and future Olo'eyktan that he is, and he watched you grow into the most ethereal na'vi he had ever seen. Your hair that fell onto the small of your back had him wondering what it would feel like to the touch. Your eyes that seemed to shine a brighter shade of yellow than the others made him think that if Eywa had a physical body, you two would be twins. The way you'd ride your ikran with the rest of the hunting party, your war cries that , to his ears, sounded more majestic than any other song Neytiri would sing to him.

His sempul had noticed the way Neteyam stared at you. With his eyes full of the same love Jake had for Neytiri during all these years. So, Jake decided he'd catch his son alone, and have 'the talk' with him. Alone in one of High Camp's huts.

"So... son. ' He pauses to cough.' I uh... I've noticed somethin' is off 'bout you these last days." Neteyam felt his cheeks heat up. He took a breath, and his eyes moved to his feet. "Oh uh... It's.. it's nothing sir. I guess the last hunting party has gotten to me." Jake laughed, and put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Look, Neteyam. I know you've had a lil' crush on that girl... and watchin' you stare at her from a mile away's creepin' me out." Jake shook Neteyam's shoulder lightly. His cheeks were a deep purple by now, and he started into his father's eyes.

"Dad I- I don't know. What if she doesn't like me? I mean we are friends and all but I do not know if she likes me that way and I'm scared that it'll ruin our friendship and I-" Jake laughs, so loud the he has to hold his stomach to keep himself from getting a cramp.

That day, Neteyam had an hour long talk with his sempul about love. Jake told him about Neytiri, the way they fell in love, and how they survived the war together. Neteyam found himself imagining you and him, riding your ikrans off to wherever Eywa would take you. He decided to make up strange and silly little reasons to make contact with you, maybe even try to gift you courting presents. He asked Kiri to craft a beautiful beaded necklace with oranges and deep blues like his ikran, and he made sure to add one of the prettiest rocks he'd found at the bottom of it. You were weaving a basket when he knew this was the right time to approach you.

Neteyam walked fast and stiff to you, and the cracking of branches under his feet made your ears perk up and twist your head towards him. The way your hair moved with it made his stomach do flips. "Oh- Neteyam! Hi!" You gave him one of your sickeningly sweet smiles that made his face hot, and patted the empty spot next to you, signaling for him to sit. "Hey, um.. Hi." He took a seat close to you, his body stiff and rigid, and hid the necklace in his hands. Looking at you, he forced words out his mouth. "I have a gift for you. I-uh.. I hope you'll like it." Neteyam slowly reached one of his hands to yours, and you took it as a sign to put your work down and give the backside of you palm to his. You smiled again, and cocked your head to the side in a curious manner. "I made it with Kiri." He said as he placed the necklace into your much smaller hand. "It's for you.. Well, yeah." You smiled again, brighter, and giggled. He start to wonder if you were ridiculing him. "Oh, Neteyam... It's... It's beautiful. I love it... Thank you." You ran your finger along the thing beaded piece, and pat the small rock dangling at its bottom. Neteyam felt his heart flutter again, and his eyes rapidly shifted from your face to your hands. "You.. want me to put it on you?"

You nodded eagerly, your hairs following suit. Handing him back the necklace, you shifted and turned you back to him. His touch uncertain, he placed your hair over your shoulder and the slight graze of his fingertips against your skin made you shiver. You felt his arms reaching around you, and his heaving breathing agasint your shoulder as he passed the necklace from one side to another. Few seconds later, he tied it at the back of your neck and gently caressed the skin there. Shifting again, you turned back to front him, and he went a deep shade of purple. The necklace accentuated your skin and yellow eyes even better than he pictured it to, and the way your face lit up made him feel faint.

"I love it Neteyam. It's beautiful, really." You grinned again, and for a second you seemed unsure of yourself. Closing your eyes for no more than a few seconds, you opened them again to press a kiss to his cheek. He fell out of his lovestruck trance, and his smile rivaled the sun's. He took your hands again, and he felt you squeeze them gently. "I see you, beautiful girl. I see you."

"I see you, Neteyam. My mighty warrior."

my first avatar drabble! live laugh love neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan

[poundcakecrm]

‼️ MHA SPOILERS ‼️ SPOILERS FOR EPILOGUE ‼️

Can You || dabihawks drabble || 1k || aka the exploitation of the new chapter for some angst before entering my usual canon compliant "fix it" excuse & headcanon era 🤡

Can you still hear it?

Amongst the black noise of your flames that still eternally ring in your ears. Amongst the beeping of the machine that keeps your heart pumping, and the machine that keeps your lungs breathing, and the machine that keeps your kidneys filtering — but just barely, and just barely, and just barely. Can you still hear the promise you made him, smoke spilling from your seams, smile scabrous? More importantly, can you still hear his own right back?

Freedom.

Together.

Fly.

Can you still see it?

That potential future you both shared but never dared utter. The alternate ending to the story you both already knew the ending to. Can you still see the what if? Where he keeps his wings, and you keep your skin, and he smiles bright, and your fire burns brighter, and both outshine the brand that Endeavor seared into your soul. Your actual future, of course, will bear that mark to your grave. Your scarlet letter. But the maybes had been fantastical to envision, once upon a time.

Do you still feel it?

Like it’s still rubbing against the skin of your palms after the flames die down, a thousand ashes for a thousand dead, a thousand grains of sand slipping to the bottom of the hourglass. Can you still feel time running out? Or, alternately, can you still feel his calloused hands on your hips, or his silver tongue on your neck, or his lips against your own?

Can you still feel anything at all?

He won’t do it unless you don’t. He won’t do it if the answer is yes to any of these queries, or the countless others he’s posed over the past few months while the monitors beeped and your heart slowed and your lungs weakened and your kidneys tired. Kiego. Exhausting optimist. You hate how much hero is left in his eyes and his hope every time he comes to visit your prison disguised as a medical facility. You wish the war, you wish you, had burned it all out of him until only the cinders of those manacles remained.

But he still wears his old uniform beneath his fancy little suit and bandages from various continued surgeries, and the wings of freedom (together, fly) are gone for good. At least in this life.

“Touya.”

He speaks, bringing your mind away from his attire and back to his face. There is no smile today, actually. And there is barely the ghost of any hope left. What remains of that ghost is what keeps his hands frozen above the control panel, a mere breath away from all the buttons that glow red with warning. Right. He won’t do it if you give him even the barest, most remote reason not to. It’s why your eyes stay half-lidded and listless. Why your fingers slightly twitch as if aching to make a fist. Why your lips remain still (although you haven’t been able to utter a word in the past two weeks, not since you’d managed to whisper your request before the last of your vocal chords gave out).

You can’t still hear it. 

You can’t still see it. 

You can’t still feel him.

Liar.

Fine.

But that’s why you need him to do this.

He doesn’t want to. The past two weeks have made that perfectly clear. He’s argued. He’s urged. He’s refused — and yet he’s kept coming back. You’ve waited him out — not that you have any choice, near-corpse in a tube that you are. 

C’mon, Kiego Takami. You’ve done worse. 

He hasn’t argued today, though. Everything he has asked and promised and pleaded has been with his eyes, and the quiet uttering of his name. You’ve continued to wait, because he has a track record of burning himself out, and this battle will be no different. 

Icarus. Please.

After several more minutes tick on top of the weeks that have passed, you must finally look tired enough. Dead enough. Because Kiego swallows and it looks like it hurts, and his fingers tremble just slightly over the computer. 

“Are you sure, Touya?”

What is the alternative? To die later tonight, or tomorrow, or the next day, or the next? Because you will die, as the doctors have predicted (promised), and it will be soon. It may be alone. It may be amongst stiff white lab coats and cold, unforgiving stares. Or it may be in front of only your father and his apologies and mundane updates of his mundane life; sweet words and acknowledgments that had once soothed the wounds to his soul before they caked on too thick, losing their potency and meaning with every visit. It had only taken three months before he wouldn’t meet your eyes anymore, as if he were speaking more to his own reflection than his greatest mistake behind the glass. “I’m sorry,” he’d once said to you. “I’m sorry,” he now says to himself. He’d missed a visit three weeks ago, and two the last. It will only be a matter of time before this life support machine becomes Sekoto Peak; you will be thirteen again, except this time, you will see it coming.

No. You won’t die as a mere balm, a bandage, for a fallen hero and his fight for repentance. And you won’t break Fuyumi’s heart, or Shouto’s forgiveness, or Natsuo’s new life, or your mother’s fragile mind.

Him. It has to be him. 

You want it to be him. 

You’re sure.

He understands. His shoulders slump, and his breath holds, and his fingers descend to touch the keypad. The light in those big, bright, golden eyes die like he’s ending himself as he ends you, but then again, freedom, together, fly.

Those eyes never leave yours as he presses down on the keypad - click, click, click - and the room falls completely and utterly silent.

He speaks. His lips mouth something, and you can’t make it out, but the knot in your stomach hears it anyway. Meanwhile, his eyes continue on, glistening and screaming I still hear it. I still see it. I still feel it.

If you could smile, you might’ve. If you could respond, you would. The silence fills your ears. Your vision vignettes to the man on the other side of the glass. And yes, you still feel his calloused hands on your hips, and his silver tongue on your neck, and his lips against your own. He still feels it. You do too. He must finally tell because suddenly he’s only inches away, one hand on your glass coffin, one last spark igniting in his eyes in a plume of frustration and understanding and tragedy. You’re glad. You wouldn’t have wanted to see anything else in those last moments.

He burns out. You do too. As all destined heroes do.

Freedom.

Together.

Fly.

Maybe someday.

--- --- ---

This is probably the only time I’ll play with the idea he actually dies and from this point forward the headcanon is hawks stole funds and helped touya fake his death to appease the public, push endeavor on his way, and let touya recover in peace with the help of expensive hero society medical miracles. 🥲👍🏻

[buggyjuggie]

I know this might be a weird request but I saw on one of your old post and it was mentioning a swap AU with kenshi and Johnny, I wanted to do something kinda similar and it be instead swap, be opposite personality (ex johnny instead of being confident and cocky hes timid and insecure) I'm new to MK so im not sure how opposite kenshi would be but I hope you understand, if you have any questions feel free to ask me again!

──★ ˙ ̟Johnny and Kenshi Swap personalities AU

( There’s little hints of johnshi here but can be read as just platonically)

「 ✦ Kenshi ✦ 」

* So because this is swapped personality but not positions Kenshi i imagine is in a higher rank in the yakuza than normal.

* Because of his cocky attitude he takes more jobs and is more confident about his missions.

* He still doesn’t like doing them but he hides his guilt using his personality.

* I feel 50/50 about the idea of him being a show off for example in MK1 Johnny tends to show off his wealth, fame, movies, everything but i feel like even in this AU if Kenshi did it would make him look insane on one hand he’d do it because of the amount of time he’s spent in this bussines has at least semi desensitised to it but im not sure at the same time cuz i dont feel like it’ll fit his character so idk let me know what you think.

* When Kenshi broke into Johnny’s mansion i want you to imagine the scene where johnshi + Kung lao are walking to Baraka’s village and basically take the dialogue and put it here Kenshi just straight up shit talking Johnny to his face

* After losing to Johnny, Kenshi is absolutely pissed because he’s never failed a mission.

* Johnny and Kenshi’s relationship initially starts off very hostile they bicker argue and insult each other but trough training at the academy they slowly start to put that behind them and it evolves to a sort of rivalry less hating each other and more competitive if that makes sense.

* Kenshi was surprised when Johnny gave him Sento while yes he’s cocky and acts childish Kenshi still feels guilty for all the lives that he has taken while being a part of the yakuza, Kenshi doesn’t feel like he deserves this until Johnny explains his reasonings and slowly starts to put the past behind him and starts hope for a brighter future.

「 ✦ Johnny ✦ 」

* Because his personality is different in this AU instead of being knows for action movies Johnny is most known for horror and historical films.

* His social media presence is small but he’s still got big fanbase that likes him for his mysterious aura.

* Because of his now more silent personality when Johnny drops movie quotes in conversations it tends to sound more ominous and makes people scared of him.

* Johnny and Cris break up still for the same reason as normal : Johnny’s spending habits and perhaps some looked over alcohol problems.

* Did not understand at all what was going on when Kenshi broke in. Whas this a movie ? A prank ? Or is it real ? Dont look at him because he doesn’t know either.

* Johnny keeps sento to himself not because of it’s monitory gain instead for it’s history and doesn’t give it to Kenshi because he think that he’s untrustworthy.

* Eventually after being in the Wu Shi academy for long enough he starts to slowly open up to the people around him.

* Kenshi tends to rile him up so after a while when he gets annoyed he’ll talk shit back to Kenshi and they’ll be off just bickering (like love birds WHO SAID THAT)

* As for the dreaded Mileena poking Kenshi’s eyes out™ i imagine it goes pretty much the same Johnny realises that Kenshi saved him. Even trough all the bickering and rivalries that they had Kenshi still choose to sacrifice his sight for him.

* After the incident Johnny gives Sento to Kenshi as a token of his appreciation of the man and the sacrifice that he committed.

「 ✦ Random hc, these can be read as platonic or romantic ✦ 」

* Because Kenshi was part of the yakuza since he was young he didn’t have many chances to see any type of movies so when Johnny suggest to watch something Kenshi is on board,he’s really excited and keeps talking and making comments while watching.

* Kenshi’s favourite movies tend to be action and thrillers.

* Yes Johnny did show Kenshi the movies he played in but only because he was forced to after loosing a bet. Kenshi just talked about how hot Johnny was.

* Because Johnny doesn’t flaunt his fame like in MK1 his mansion is diffrent. It’s smaller, has simple designs, the awards that he’s won in his carrier are stored on a shelf in another room, all the items he bought are expensive but in the modern art type of way aka simple shapes, basic colours, some of them are small and don’t take up too much space.

* Johnny and Kenshi have different aesthetics when it comes to clothing Johnny tends to wear more basic and neutral colours while Kenshi if he’s not on some sort of mission wears more vibrant clothing.

* Ok i know this one is basic and practically canon to the fandom but still i gotta do it. Johnny buys Kenshi blindfolds, they tend to differ in colour so Kenshi can match them to the outfit that he’s currently wearing some of them have embroidery on the front(?) to make them fancy.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Happy new years !!! I wanted to get this out before new years in my time zone so I’m a bit late lol. This one was a bit hard to write and get idea and I’m REALLY hoping that i didn’t make the character OOC if i did please let me know so i can improve but yeah hope you like this :3

[sleekervae]

The Bride [0.2]

Masterlist

Pairing: billy the kid x fem!reader

Summary: Billy and Eleanor reunite in Silver City.

Warnings: foul language, mentioned racism

Word Count: 4,458

Tag List: @poppyflower-22 @ponyslayer

Life didn't get much easier for Billy. His stepfather's reckless spending on brothels and alcohol left them with dwindling funds, worsened by the bank's refusal to extend more credit. Forced to seek new opportunities, the Antrim family packed up and headed to Silver City.

Billy learned of a town called Silver City, and after the sudden and tragic death of his friend Carlos, he didn't find much more reason to stay in Santa Fe. It was about an arduous journey, a week-long trek through scorching heat, relentless mosquitoes, and the ever-present danger of snakes. Yet, despite the challenges, they finally reached Silver City, hopeful for a fresh start and a brighter future.

Though as it turned out, opportunities in Silver City weren't so good either.

While Kathleen embarked on a new restaurant venture, Henry flitted between jobs, proving too finicky and fragile for any substantial work. So Billy helped out where he could, working odd jobs here and there, and playing rounds of cards to make some more money. Sometimes he won big, other times he lost hard.

But at least he wasn't alone. Along the way, Billy crossed paths with Jesse, an older, more weathered individual with a cynical outlook on life. Jesse and his circle shared this perspective, yet Jesse saw a reflection of himself in Billy. Taking him under his wing, Jesse offered his help wherever he could.

Silver City was still a sprouting town, with newer businesses opening all the time. One of those businesses was a saloon, indistinguishable from the other dusty timber buildings around. But on the entire way over, Jesse was trying to talk the nerves out of Billy. He had reluctantly agreed to join up with Jesse's cattle rustling ring, he desperately needed the money after all. Joe had caught consumption, it was just another expense piling on top of all the other expenses his family had accumulated.

"Don't look so spooked, Billy," Jesse slapped him on the back, "You look like I'm taking you to you're fuckin' execution,"

"I'm not spooked," Billy assured him, but on the inside he truly was. He'd never been involved in any type of criminal behaviour, and while he knew it was wrong, he was also extremely desperate.

"You gotta get a better poker face," Jesse chuckled, "Don't worry. I'm gonna introduce you to a friend of mine,"

"What friend?"

Jesse's smirk only got wider, "You'll see,"

They strolled into the saloon, already filled with dusty, gnarly cowpoke, the distinctive smell of bitter whiskey and smoke immediately filled Billy's nose. There were a couple girls standing over card tables, watching with lacklustre while the men played silently. The energy at the bar was matched, men drunk and rambling amongst each other while bartenders poured and sweated over his glasses.

Jesse and Billy took up a spot at the bar, and Jesse gave a sharp, short whistle to get one of the bartender's attention. He motioned for two glasses of whatever they had.

"So, where's this friend of yours?" Billy asked, dark eyes darting across the crowded room.

Jesse took a brief look around as well, his smile growing when he spotted his friend, "Over here," he pointed out a young woman clearing empty glasses from a poker table. Her back was turned to them, her hair tied up tight in a ponytail, small and petite but she moved quickly.

Jesse led Billy over, "Billy, I'd like for you to meet my girl, Ellie," he grinned.

The woman turned around, her eyes rolling as she turned; and as she did, Billy swore his heart may stop.

"Jesse, how many times do I have to tell ya to stop telling everyone I'm your girl --?" Eleanor's words stopped short when she laid eyes on Billy, any inch of vexation in her suddenly vanished, leaving way for only disbelief.

Billy was equally stunned. Of all the places he'd hoped to find Eleanor again, this saloon certainly wasn't one of them. He had so many questions, how did she get here? How did she know Jesse? And what did she possibly have to do with cattle rustling?

Jesse was hardly the wiser to either of their shock as he continued talking, "Oh, come on Ellie, ya know I say it with the most respect and admiration or ya,"

Eleanor quickly resolved herself of her stupor and picked up her tray of empty glasses, "That's you all over, innit' Jesse? A perfect gentleman to every woman in town," she huffed, "Erm -- who's your friend?"

Play dumb, got it.

Billy nearly jolted as Jesse slapped him on the back, "This here is Billy. I'm taking him under my wing, so to speak," he grinned.

Eleanor scoffed, looking to Billy again, "And may God have mercy on your soul. Aren't you a bit young to be a cattle rustler?" she asked him.

Billy finally found his voice again, clearing it briefly as he spoke, "Aren't you a bit young to be working a saloon?"

"Touché. I'm Eleanor... or you can call me Ellie," she nodded to him.

"Billy," they all suddenly turned when a bartender shouted out.

"Ellie! I need them glasses lickety split!" he called, "I don't pay you to chat to the customers!"

"I'm coming, David! Keep your britches on!" she started for the bar, turning to the boys briefly as she muttered, "Meet me behind the building in ten minutes. Oh, and Jesse -- you're paying for those drinks this time,"

Jesse simpered, "Yes ma'am," and they watched her go back behind the bar.

Billy took a nervous sip of his whiskey, the singeing after taste barely left a burn on his mounting curiosity.

Sure enough, ten minutes later the three were cloistered in the shadowy alley, away from any prying eyes or ears. They had to be quick before Eleanor's boss would notice she was missing.

"Here," she threw a map at Jesse, "The cattle are gon' be on the North-East side of the property, just out by the forest. You'll have plenty a' cover there. But you gotta' move fast: there's two minutes in between shift change with the guards,"

"You don't gotta worry," Jesse assured her, "We'll be in and out before they know what hit 'em,"

"Good. Now, how about my money?" Eleanor's gaze darted between Jesse and Billy, her expression unreadable.

Jesse leaned back, a smirk playing on his lips, "Don't worry, darlin', you'll get your cut. Just as soon as our business is complete," he replied, a hint of menace underlying his words.

Eleanor's jaw clenched, but she maintained her composure, "I expect nothing less," she retorted, her tone firm, "Now get outta' here, before someone sees me talking to you,"

Jesse laughed, "You're too uptight, Ellie. We should go riding together sometime," he tilted his hat down, his eyes darkening, "Might relax ya,"

A familiar feeling swirled in Billy's chest: disdain, distrust, perhaps even a hint of possessiveness. He didn't like how close Jesse was getting, and given the unamused glare on Eleanor's face he understood that she didn't take too kindly to his advances either.

"You know the deal, Jesse," she drawled back, "I'd hate to have to tell the boss that you or any of the guys were giving his spy a hard time,"

And with that, Jesse put his hands up and stepped back, "You made your point. I'll have your money by the end of the week,"

"Alright," she looked to Billy again, "Don't get yourself killed," and she extended her hand to him.

"I'll try my best," Billy forced a brief smile, shaking her hand while taking the piece of paper she had clenched in her palm. He shoved the paper into his pocket before Jesse could catch on.

Eleanor left without another word, her icy exterior faltering the moment she had her back turned. Her heart raced, her knees tingled with every step she took. She had only dreamed about the day she might find Billy again, she just didn't realize how he'd be so wrapped up in her business.

Billy walked with Jesse, the note still clenched tightly within his pant pocket. He was ever so curious to read it, but he saw the way Jesse looked at Eleanor; he didn't want to get in between anything that didn't involve him.

"She's cold as ice, but she's smart as a whip," Jesse sighed, "We've made good money off her,"

"She's... pretty intense," Billy muttered, "Doesn't seem to like you very much,"

Jesse laughed under his breath, "She likes to put on a hard edge. Fact is that girl owes me her life," he then looked to Billy, his attitude turned cocky and cold, "... and she knows that," he started walking towards his boarding house, "I'll come get ya in the morning, get some sleep,"

"Alright," and he watched him walk away. Billy waited until Jesse had disappeared around the next building before he pulled out Eleanor's note. There was no message, just a building name and a time scrawled in pretty writing.

The Imperial Hotel stood grand and imposing, a beacon in Silver City, its doors welcoming a steady stream of transient souls. Eleanor stood beneath the awning, wrapped in a shawl against the evening chill, her brimmed hat shielding her eyes. She lifted her gaze at the sound of approaching footsteps on the gravel.

Billy's figure emerged from the shadows, his steps measured and wary, illuminated by the soft glow of scattered lanterns and moonlight. Eleanor stepped out from the building, she felt as though she was in the presence of an approaching ghost. She hadn't seen him in a year, yet he looked different. Weathered and worn.

"My god," she gaped, "You look like shit,"

Billy scoffed back, "Why, thank you. I feel like shit," he smiled nevertheless. Eleanor smiled back, it was the first time today she felt relatively... happy.

The hotel clerk was down for the night so Eleanor invited him inside. Billy noted how she didn't have much with her, the bed spread hardly appeared to be touched. He took a seat in a miscellaneous chair while Eleanor poured two glasses of bourbon.

"David couldn't pay my wage one day, so he paid me in whiskey," she sighed, handing him one of the glasses, "Straight from his 'private collection'. Cheap old bastard,"

Billy took a sip from his glass, the taste was bitter and burned while he nostrils became singed from the strong scent. Nevertheless he watched Eleanor take a seat on the bed, kicking off her boots and folding her legs like a young child.

"So, what brings you to Silver City?" she asked.

Billy shook his head, "You want the short version or the long version?" he asked.

"Whichever is less likely to cause you a headache," she said.

So Billy summed up... well... everything. Carlos was murdered, Antrim was a fraud, money was drying up so they had to move on. His mother was slaving away at a new restaurant, his step-dad was a penniless deadbeat, and his little brother had fallen very ill. Hence why he was entertaining Jesse and this cattle rustling business so he could get medicine for Joe.

Eleanor watched him talk, she noted how deflated he became the more he talked, he was missing that spark of mischief and optimism when they'd first met. He was so beaten down, scraping at the sides of the barrel trying to make his way back up. She felt for him, couldn't imagine the kind of shit he'd had to put up with.

"Jesus Christ," she shook her head, "I'm so sorry,"

He shrugged back, "It ain't got nothing to do with you. Ma says God has a plan for all of us, whether or not it's long or short... it's not up to us,"

"But it doesn't change the fact that he's your little brother, he deserves a chance to grow up, just like you," she replied.

Oh, he knew. He knew damn well how unfair it all was. Joe never did anything to hurt anyone, so why was he suffering so?

"Yeah, I know," he muttered, wanting to change the subject, "What about you?" Billy then asked, leaning forward in his chair, "How did you get here?"

She sipped her drink, pondering how much to tell, how much to leave out. Overall, she had traveled from town to town, living on whatever provisions she could scrape up while trying to survive as a single woman in the blistering terrain. She'd been approached, propositioned, threatened, nearly robbed how many times, and every time she dodged out of the fire until she got to Silver City.

"Jesse found me sitting outside the hotel down the street; they wouldn't let me board unless I had a man to escort me," she explained, "He offered me a job, a place to stay, I was desperate so I said yes,"

"What came first? The saloon or the ranch?" he asked.

"The ranch. Billy Matthews needed a care woman to do the cleaning, cook for this cowboys, and Jesse and his gang needed an insider who knew where the cattle were gonna' be," she replied.

"S'pose you're lady-like enough you can actually get away with it," Billy noted, a small, teasing grin tugging at his lips.

Eleanor rolled her eyes, "I suppose so," she simpered, "The saloon came later, a fall back just in case something... happened. It's a good cover for passing information,"

"And it affords this place?" he asked, wagging his finger around the room.

"I'm in town three nights a week. The rest of 'em I live out on the county line," she replied.

"County line?"

"Lincoln county," Eleanor glanced out the window, the town near-pitch black under the rain of subtle stars, "Jesse and 'em have a house out there. No one knows, no one checks on 'em. Kind of like a secret lair of sorts," she chuckled at the end.

"And they keep you safe?" Billy asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "They're all outlaws and criminals, but they've shown me more decency than any man ever has. Barring yourself, of course,"

Billy tried to smile, but he couldn't help but sense the deflection in Eleanor. She was grateful to be alive, for the money she had and for how Jesse took care of her, but she didn't seem happy. Happy with life, herself. Billy only saw her truly happy once, no worries and at ease in his old home, tossing cards at each other and staring at the stars.

He came to sit beside her on the bed, staring out at the sky just like she was. The night glistened in silver dots, there was not a soul to be had on the streets below, and beyond the town the horizon of the desert called, beckoning to be explored for new adventures.

"What do you want, Eleanor?" he asked, his tone soft and cautious, "In life?"

She sighed softly, turning her gaze to meet his, "I want to step outside and not have to feel the urge to look over my shoulder all the damn time," she replied.

"Is the captain still looking for you?" Billy asked.

"I guess so. I haven't heard anything. But I also don't want to give anyone the power to hold... things over me," her gaze was dark, her deflection growing. Though Billy had a feeling she was talking about him, maybe that was why she didn't want Jesse to know about them?

"What about you, Billy? What do you want in life?"

Billy didn't have to think very hard about that one, "A good night's sleep," he said, "Because if I can sleep, I know I'm not worried about anything,"

Billy and Eleanor sat in silence, their breaths mingling in the stuffy room air. Billy’s mind raced with the reckless notion of grabbing Eleanor's hand and running away, leaving behind the suffocating constraints of their lives without a care. Meanwhile, Eleanor couldn't tear her eyes away from him, marveling at the way the moonlight highlighted his sharp features, his eyes sparkling with a warmth that made her heart flutter. She yearned to bridge the gap between them, to taste the promise of his lips, but the moment felt fragile, precarious. So, instead of voicing her desire, she pointed to the sky, her voice barely a whisper as she asked:

"Can we see Orion's Belt from here?" Her question hung in the air, a delicate thread connecting them, while the words they truly wanted to say remained locked inside.

Billy snapped out his train of thought, immediately sitting up and glancing out the window, "Yeah," he pointed off in the distance, "Those three stars, the little bright cluster. You see it?"

Eleanor nodded, though peripherally she kept her gaze on Billy, "Yeah, yeah I see it,"

Sure enough, Jesse came to get Billy the next morning. Billy was a ball of nerves all day, right up until he rode with Jesse to the edge of the forest and met up with another group of men. This was Jesse's gang, ten or thirteen brutish men, hankies drawn over their noses, whips and guns holstered to their belts. And while they were at first skeptical of Billy's appearance and know how, they let him join in.

Billy kept his focus as sharp as possible, but he couldn't shake the notion that this was the gang, the group of thugs that were taking care of Eleanor. As they yipped and herded the cattle along, Billy could just spot Matthews' ranch house off down the hill. He could picture Eleanor in his mind, peaking through the window, watching him and the others make off with the herd in the blink of an eye. And they were fast enough that they got away with it without so much as a twig snap of trouble.

And while the money Billy was paid was good, it wasn't enough to make a difference. Joe was too far gone, and in only another week he passed away. Kathleen was devastated, and despite her justification for God's plan, watching her youngest son be buried only made her more heartsick. Billy wanted to stay as strong as he could for her, that being said he was angry. Angry that Joe was taken so soon, angry at himself for not getting the medicine in time. Angry at Antrim for showing up at the last moment to beg and make his case for how he was a changed man. The only relief he had was finally being able to kick Henry Antrim out of their lives once and for all.

Despite his grief, Billy still had work to do, bills to pay. He continued running rustling jobs with Jesse for money, all the while practicing his shooting out in the fields. Jesse was much more of a practiced gunslinger, but even he had to admit Billy was a great shot. As far as he knew, Jesse didn't know about a thing between Billy and Eleanor. And while he doubted he would ever hurt Eleanor, he knew how rough Jesse could be, he didn't want to put either of them in a position to be hurt.

On his off days, Billy would go down to the saloon to see her, just talk to her. It was relaxing, she was relaxing to be around. They talked as if no time had passed; Eleanor would spill some of the gossip about the saloon's patrons while Billy would tell her the stories that he'd picked up on his travels. It got to the point Billy's visits would be the absolute highlight of her day, a shred of flickering happiness within her weary spirit.

Things turned rough yet again when Billy learned of his mother's sickness. Consumption, just like Joe. And while Kathleen was a devout catholic woman, even she professed how she wasn't ready to go yet. Billy shut down more and more, devoting his time to care for his mother, to make sure he was comfortable and at ease. He stopped coming to the rustles, stopped seeing Eleanor. All that mattered to him was his mother, she was the only family he had left. But just like his dad, just like Joe, his mother slipped away too.

Billy was the only one left now.

He wasn't the same, and despite Jesse's coaxing, despite Eleanor's promising that he would be alright, Billy didn't feel alright. He felt desperate, alone, and without many options. So, when Jesse offered him to help rob the home of Chinese family, Billy took his chances. It would be one job. One quick job to get him started, and then he'd pick up the piece from there.

Of course, no job ever went smoothly, and soon enough, Billy found himself in court, being sentenced for armed robbery. Eleanor sat in the back, her heart heavy and breaking as the verdict was read. Billy wasn't a criminal; he wasn't like Jesse. Jesse, the coward who couldn't even bother to try and save Billy, left him in that house alone at gunpoint. Eleanor's grief for Billy quickly morphed into anger —anger at Jesse's stupid plans, anger at Billy for being so easily influenced, and anger at the judge, who she knew was fully on the take.

Eleanor wasn't sure what to do from here, so she did what she was used to: keep her head down and work until she could move on. It was the way her life went; she found her people, got comfortable, and then something would happen to uproot her. Billy was going to spend the next three years in jail, and she wasn't content to slave away in Billy Matthews' ranch for that long. She wasn't quite sure what she wanted, but she was sure she wasn't going to find it in Silver City.

She said goodnight to David and started back to the hotel, the quiet night wrapping around her like a comforting blanket. The soft glow of lanterns cast long shadows on the deserted street, and the faint smell of smoke from nearby fireplaces filled the crisp air. The only sounds were the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze and the distant hoot of an owl, making her footsteps seem unusually loud. As she walked, Eleanor couldn't shake the heavy thoughts of Billy, but the serene surroundings offered a small measure of solace.

"Ellie," she stopped dead in her tracks, turning to find Jesse leaning against an awning post, hat missing, hands deep in his pockets, a solemn look on his face.

"Jesse," she muttered with disdain, "What do you want?"

He stepped out from the shadows, his lean figure illuminated by the pale moonlight. "I guess you heard about Billy."

She scoffed bitterly, "Yeah, I heard. Heard how you left him for dead on the Chinaman's floor. Nice work, hero." She turned on her heel and kept walking. Jesse followed her.

"Well, it was either one of us or both of us," he caught up to her. "I thought he was right behind me!"

"And he wasn't, was he?" she huffed back. "That's just you all over, Jesse. I wish you'd told me what you were doing so I could talk your dumb asses out of it!"

"Well, I wish you'd told me about you and Billy, and yet here we are," he hissed back.

She stopped again, whipping around to glare at his smug expression. "What are you on about?"

"I know Billy comes to see you. I see him do it. I see how different you've been since I brought him to you," he dropped his voice to a gravelly whisper.

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Whatever you think is going on in your feeble little mind, drop it. Nothing is happening, not with me and Billy, and certainly not between us!"

Jesse's gaze turned cold. "I saved you. You'd be dead if it weren't for me, Ellie."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself. This is not about us!" she snapped.

"What's it about then?" Jesse asked.

"We have a working relationship, that's as far as it goes!" Eleanor exclaimed. "You did with me what you do with everyone: bring new people into the gang and train them, protect them. You didn't protect Billy. You failed him, Jesse. Now he's gonna spend the next three years chipping jib rock and fighting over bread rolls with other inmates. Congratulations."

She turned to leave again, but Jesse moved quickly. He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back. "Hey!"

"Don't you walk away from me, woman!" he seethed.

"Let go of me!" Eleanor growled, her mouth agape, eyes wide with rage.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll scream so fuck'n loud I'll wake up God himself!"

Despite his anger, Jesse knew how devious and petty Eleanor could be. He begrudgingly let her go, sniffling and wiping his nose from the cold. "I don't want to fight with you, Ellie. You know I care about you."

"… I know," Eleanor conceded. "What do you want from me?"

"I'm sorry I grabbed you," he nodded. "I'm just… you're right. I failed Billy. I haven't been able to stop thinking about him," he wandered over, kicking at the dirt and rocks. "He's like a little brother to me, ya know?"

"I do know," Eleanor nodded, her voice calmer, demeanor gentler. "I could see how you guys worked together. But being a brother and friend means protecting your own. Billy's not ready for this kind of life, Jesse."

Jesse shook his head, his gaze softening. "No one's ever ready, but we don't have a choice," he replied. "I'll come see you tomorrow. Let me know where Matthews is moving the cattle." He started walking away.

Eleanor watched silently, the tension, pent-up rage, and frustration melting away into a deep, aching sadness. She knew Jesse better than he knew himself, knew how much he was blaming himself for this. She should have seen it too, should have warned Billy not to fall in with Jesse. But even she couldn’t have predicted how things would unfold.

She looked up at the night sky, her eyes finding the familiar cluster of stars that made up Orion’s Belt. It was said to symbolize the eternal resting place of Osiris, and she wondered if the rest of the stars were other souls at peace. Maybe her mother was up there, staring down at her. Maybe Kathleen was watching her eldest son falter at the hands of poor influences.

Eleanor wasn’t a religious woman, but she said a silent prayer to those stars. Was she expecting an answer? Certainly not. Was she hoping for some shred of a miracle to get her out of this mess? Just maybe.

[wyllaztopia]

My question is: let's imagine that Nightmare had a childhood friend, his one and only childhood friend, and that she was a little girl who liked to fight to protect him and who literally had scars because of that because she literally fought every day to defend him, let's imagine that she survived the "incident", After the corruption of Nightmare how would he be with her? Would he be distant because he doesn't want to remember his past and the fact that he needed someone to defend himself, would he be tsundere with her or would he have a soft spot? Because I mean, his brother did not protect Nightmare because he was not aware of the others who harassed him, but she was the only one who had protected him, in part in any case. sooo.. would he be able to hurt her as much as he would be able to hurt Dream? After all, it's not as if she had protected Nightmare from absolutely everything, because as you said, it's not the only reason why Nightmare became corrupt and there were many others who added up.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ (i love that enoji-)

I really love your version of Dreamtale! Joku doesn't give any more news so I have trouble orienting myself with Dreamtale’s story, but you show a whole new vision of things with Soulsborne! The philosophy you gave to Nightmare is much more complex than that of the original but I really hope that Joku will develop Dreamtale in the future! And we're counting on you for Soulsborne and his development 🫵🏼

thank you for such kind words omg this version of dreamtale literally came to mind when me and @neotxnic were reading the original dreamtale comic after we had a session of elden ring - it was also around the time i was delving deep into the dark souls trilogy lore. i wanted to add more depth and tone to the world of dreamtale and fromsoft games have really good story telling and lore so i wanted that to reflect on our revision of the story. note that i'm not trying to compete with joku and the original dreamtale. i think the original is good as is and very fun + heartfelt to read. on anotherrrr note - this will be a really long response to the initial question so buckle up because i will lore dump.

For this specific scenario, I won't make this character's insertion into the lore canon yet - I actually want you lot to share your opinions on the addition of Nightmare having a childhood friend.

-

Nightmare and Dream were both born from the roots of Motus Arbor (the Tree of Feelings, the very being of Nim or what's left of her). The two of them are task to guard the tree - Dream guarding the negative apples and Nightmare guarding the positive ones.

Dream sought out to the people, he believes that through guarding the tree, he also has to guard the feelings of others. Thus, he often travels around the kingdom where he does his best to help his people have a brighter day.

Meanwhile, Nightmare keeps to himself and guards the tree while Dream focuses on their people to keep their emotions stable. He usually sits by the bed of motus arbor and reads books under its huge shade.

Because of Nightmare guarding the positive apples and the stereotype people have formed of him being the guardian of negativity (despite Dream's attempts to let people know that Nightmare isn't a bad person), many other kids would go behind Dream's back to harass Nightmare and accuse him of taking advantage of the positive apples.

This happens often but Nightmare never paid mind to these claims or mistreatment. Because of his pessimism being influenced by the positive apples that he guards, he's more of a realist (pessimism-leaning) - and so he doesn't see much value in the bullying.

However, a young girl around his age would stand up against the bullies, speaking up about their prejudice and unfair treatment. She called them out about how their judgement held no merit because they didn't know Nightmare personally, what right did they have to come to such conclusions about a person?

As the kids went away, Nightmare told her that there was no need for her to stand up for him since he wasn't affected by the mistreatment. He was perfectly fine simply ignoring the flock. She shook her head at his statement,

She told him her belief that passiveness won't progress society to a better environment. If we simply ignore the bad, does that make us good? Does that stop the evil? Does that stop the dishonesty? How will a wrong become a right if nothing is done for it to be so?

This philosophy was quickly dismissed by Nightmare; "Fighting fire with fire never bears any good fruit."

Despite their opposing ideals, this girl would pursue a friendship with the dark prince. She was true to herself despite how different their worldviews are but somehow, some of their morals were seen to overlap - such as their respect for intellect and honesty. The two both found enjoyment in books and being less social. It was a blissful friendship where they didn't feel the need to be someone else and the other was perfectly fine with it.

However, the conflict between Dream and Nightmare happened. Nightmare saw that Dream was being mistreated by the other kids, that they were abusing his kindness - and he hid his feelings from his very own brother, Nightmare. The guardian of negativity slowly realized that Dream's ignorance and selflessness - whilst spreading happiness… it was happiness given the wrong way. It was a clear imbalance.

And for the first time, he'd heed his friend's words: something had to be done. - and as for how nightmare would treat this friend of his in the present time? well, he holds no attachments. he had already stripped himself for any positive feelings towards anyone - including the very friend that pioneered his current ideals. however, deep down, he respects her integrity - a thought lingers within him that she'd understand his plans if one day she were to find out. however, if he finds reason to, he'll kill her with his own hands.

[antiquatedplumbobs]

Spring 1916

It was a cool spring evening and Will Sewell was rushing home. He'd come to town on important business: accepting Joe's job offer.

The older man has been ecstatic and insisted the two share a celebratory drink, the very reason Will was now running late. Taken with Joe's infectious excitement, Will found himself unable to stop smiling even as he made his way home. Of course, he’d have to wait a bit before starting: Joe still needed to find an investor, an endeavor that was proving difficult, with the war in Europe making everyone a bit skittish. That was good for Will, though — he had yet to tell his father the news and wouldn’t turn his nose up at a bit of extra time to do that.

He was nearing the train station, his mind still occupied with fantasies of the future awaiting him, when he noticed a young woman standing by the notice board. She was dressed somewhat shabbily, and had only a thin sweater and straw hat to protect against the chill off the bay. He would not normally stop, running late as he was, but something about her caught his attention and he found himself impulsively stopping to offer assistance .

She turned, looking up at him with a suspicious, unfriendly look. A look Will hadn't noticed, being too distracted by what he thought might have been the clearest blue eyes he had ever seen.

“I thank you, sir, but I am quite alright on my own,” she said stiffly, turning away. Will realized belatedly that an unsolicited offer of help from a strange man might unnerve a young, unaccompanied woman.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes shifting to the ground. “It looked like you might be a bit lost, and — well, it’s going to be dark soon; I just thought you might need some help.” He turned to go, discomfited at the thought of having upset her.

Wait!” He turned at her call. She was biting her lip and looked deep in concentration. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. I could use some directions.” She looked a bit like she’d just eaten an entire lemon; asking for help did not seem to be a comfortable experience for her. “Do you know the Cavalier Hotel?”

“Oh sure, that’s just up that-a-way,” he said pointing. “You’ll want to take Front Street, then when you see the cannery, take the lane to the north, and then it’s just up the Cove Road. It’s a bit of walk, but manageable.” She looked in the direction he had pointed, not looking all that comforted by what Will considered to be very good directions. He held a grin back and said, “I could show you the way, if you’d like.”

“That would probably be for the best.” She sighed. “I’m not good with directions.” They began making their way, and Will cast a surreptitious glance at her, intensely curious about this tight-lipped, brusque young lady.

"What brings you to Brindleton?“ He asked, trying to make conversation as they began to leave the town.

"I saw an advert saying the hotel was hiring chamber maids,” she replied, sounding almost defensive, as if expecting him to argue.

“The Cavalier’s a mighty busy spot — lots of wealthy tourists stay there. I’m sure they’d be lucky to have you,” Will said earnestly, and she looked up, perhaps surprised at the honesty behind the words.

“I hope so," she said with a small smile. There was something about that smile — perhaps the way her nose crinkled up, or the way her eyes seemed to shine brighter than a sun-soaked ocean — that entranced Will. It seemed all too soon the Cavalier Hotel was looming above them, the walk having flown by. As they reached the gate, she turned to look at Will.

“I do thank you for showing me the way, Mister —” Will realized he’d never introduced himself, and flushed as he answered the unspoken question.

"Sewell, Will Sewell."

“Pleasure to meet you Mr. Sewell, I’m Hattie Willager.” She gave him that lovely smile of hers, and then she turned away, heading up the drive towards the bright electric lights of the hotel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

next / previous / first

[lloyds1fan]

Ninja habits

This is pretty much a post about habits I think the ninja would have or things that they would do in the show or my au, I might to do other people in the future but no promises :)

KAI: ○I think Kais eyes would get slightly brighter red then usual when he gets super angry or hurt. ○ Kai has slight burn scars on his hands from when he first got his power and weren't used to them (same with his dad Ray). ○ Kai is like a human heater, his body temperature is always warmer than a normal person's so he is always in the middle of the couch or cuddle pile with the ninja.

COLE: ○ I feel like Cole is the best at being intimidating out of all the ninja even though he is a huge cuddle bug.○ From his time being a ghost sometimes he forgets he's human again and tries to walk through a wall or something or and sadly has nightmares of dissappearing. ○ Cole has super good lower body strength as well as upper body strength from when he used to be a dancer and sometimes when he's playing music he starts dancing using some of the moves his dad taught him.

JAY: Jay has little lighting spark scars on his hands,wrists, and arms. (I know they have a proper name but I forgot it, I'm sorry) Nya calls Jay's lightning spark scars lightning kisses :). ○Jay and Cole sometimes curl eachothers hair out of boredom or for practice, and they both have little pins and trinkets they put in eachothers hair (I don't really ship bruise shipping but if you do thats all good :). ○ Jay and Nya often help eachother when they have nightmares because they mainly have nightmares abt Nadakan and the others don't know what happened.

ZANE: ○ Zane is the main healer/nurse/doctor for the team and helps treat their injuries after training or missions. He also gave all the ninja basic training on how to treat simple wounds. ○ When he is especially stressed or upset he accidentally creates thin layers of ice over and liquids nearby. ○ Zane and Lloyd always had a closer connection after Lloyd saved Zane from his ice emporer situation and so Lloyd often helps Zane when he has nightmares because of that (yes I believe Zane has nightmares and sometimes needs sleep (some sort of temporary shut down mode that's needed for whatever reason). ○ After missions Nya or Pixel helps him with his injuries if he can't take care of them himself. ○ Zanes eyes glow in the dark like Christmas lights and so when the other ninja run into him at night they get the scare of their lives because it's like waking up to a freddy fazbear in your house.

LLOYD: ○ Lloyd loves pillow mints and has his own secret stash of candy beneath the floor boards in his room. (He used to have one in the kitchen but then someone found it and kept stealing from it, he has no idea who though.) ○ He purrs when he's happy like a cat, him and garmadon have also hissed at eachother every now and then when angry at eachother. (He's also accidentally hissed at enemy's before and the other ninja find it very amusing) ○ Sometimes due to being part oni he feels the need to eat raw meat, (NOT HUMAN MEAT) so he often eats beef jerky or uncooked lunch meat because he finds it unsanitary and wierd (Zane tried to convince him it was normal and he wouldn't get sick because of it because hes part on but Lloyd didn't care.) ○ Lloyd is a VERY light sleeper during to a couple of reasons 1) When he used to live on the streets he was always alert just incase someone found him and tried to hurt or help him. 2) He is scared of enemy's coming to attack someone on the monastery 3) Because he is part oni his senses are a lot stronger than a normal person so he can hear super well so he wakes up easily when other people get up at night. ○ Lloyd's eyes glow in the dark and scare the life out of the other ninja when they run into him at night.

Thats all for now. (I think you can tell my favorite character from how long these are and my username and ig my entire account lol) Hope you enjoyed these! :)

[prozacwhorehouse]

Could you write a story where the reader is dating zeke tyler and they hangout at his house and then shortly go to a festival on a Friday having fun being cute and this girl starts make jabs about why our you with him and talking bad about him and you defend him and he gets guilty and feels like u should leave him but you tell no u won't and hug him and kiss and everything.🤍

note: thank you for this request ! I love writing for zeke so this made me very happy, enjoy 💗

————————————————————————-

“y/n!” Delilah spots you in the hallway, skipping over with her books clutched in the arms. “hey,” you smile softly, turning towards her as you close your locker, slinging your bag over your shoulder. “you coming to the fair with us tonight? jenny said she has lots to tell us and angela has updates on her new boy toy,” she grins, raising her eyebrows to peak your interest. although intriguing, you already had plans.

“you know I would, but I’m going with zeke,” you remind her. her face drops, not attempting to hide the change of expression from you. more like she’s emphasizing it, like she wants you to see it.

“what?” you ask in an accusatory tone, somewhat harsh, knitting your brows together.

“you spend a lot of time with him, y/n,” she tries to throw you a bone, allowing you to finish what she’s inferring so she doesn’t have to say it herself. you’d never known her to hold back on something like that. she could practically major in bitchiness.

“so?” you ask, your face scrunching a little bit more.

“come on, y/n,” she scoffs, shifting her weight on to her other foot, cocking her head down slightly. “he’s a degenerate. seriously. we’re just, worried about you. don’t want him to ruin you, or anything,” she reasons. from an outsider perspective, for someone who doesn’t know zeke at all, her initial judgement isn’t far off. he’s a careless drug dealer, any friend would be concerned if their best friend became suddenly infatuated with a potentially corrupting person. but that was just on the outside. zeke wasn’t like that at all, to you.

“he’s not ruining me, Delilah,” you sigh, turning to start down the hall. she follows, watching her own heels click down the crowded hall. “he’s more than you think. if you gave him a chance, you’d know that,” you raise your brows, always the voice of reason. the bell sounds, cutting off your interaction.

“how about we get our nails done tomorrow?” you offer with a smile, a peace offering for bailing on the fair. she can’t resist a manicure, she never can, shown by the grin that spreads across her face. “im holding you to that,” she says as she turns to skip down the hall, in hopes of beating the late bell.

—————————————————————————

the festival was buzzing with life, people passing with cotton candy clouds of all colors, screams echoing from the rides, carnival lights flashing.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” you nudge his arm slightly, nodding towards the bathroom.

“alright, you want anything? a coke?” he asks.

“I’m okay, thank you,” you reach up on your tiptoes to press a chaste kiss to his cheek, a faint blush forming on his cheeks along with a closed mouth smile. “I’ll be back.”

before you can get too far, he spins you back to him by the belt loops, his lips landing on yours.

“she’s got a bright future. you know that, right?” she asks, brows raised. the words cause him to furrow his, responding with a hesistant, “yeah?”

“it’s not getting any brighter, being with you,” she almost seethes, it’s nasty. hateful. but calm. like he can’t even fight her on it. he knows she’s right. any other day, he’d call her a bitch. On any other topic, he’d bite back. But he swallows, waiting for her to continue.

“you’re bringing her down, zeke. she’s never going to get out of this town with you holding her back,” Delilah says matter of factly. “I mean, Christ, you were held back. who knows how many more times that’ll happen. and she’ll stay for you. and she can’t afford to let that happen. do you understand what I’m trying to say?” she questions him like he’s just learning English. he feels small, less than - he always has, but this feels different. that people who aren’t the voice of his consciousness in his mind telling him she deserves more than him think the same.

he clenches his jaw and only very slightly nods his head, an acknowledgement that’s enough for Delilah.

“you need to let her go. she’s too good-“

“what the fuck, D?” they don’t even notice you’re back from the bathroom, catching the last bits of their conversation.

“y/n! you’re back!” she smiles, trying to void the conversation and dissolve the look of confusion and anger on your face.

“you don’t get to speak to him like th-“

“it’s all good, y/n. im exhausted, can we go home?” he pleads, and it’s not urgent, hurried - it’s sad. you can fight him later, not here. his tone and facial expression are pleading for you to leave.

“yeah, fine. let’s go. wouldn’t want to corrupt anyone else,” you spat, glaring at the group of girls. they look guilty, caught.

he turns, guiding you by the small of your back away from the group. “see you tomorrow, y/n!” she tries to offer peace one last time, only receiving no acknowledgement as you follow zeke to his car.

—————————————————————————

“since when do you care what Delilah thinks?” you scoff, confused as to how a quip from a person he would usually bite back at hit him so hard.

“she’s right,” he’s staring blankly through the dashboard, clenching the wheel harder in his fist.

you can’t help the shock that hits you square in the face, jaw slightly dropping. your next words catch in your throat, forcing out, “what?”

“she’s right. you’re to good for all this. for me,” his jaw tenses, not looking you in the eye.

you scoff, “you don’t truly believe that, do you?” silence.

“zeke,” you sternly say his name, an attempt to get him to look at you. no response.

“look at me.” still nothing. “goddamn it zeke, look at me.”

he turns to look at you, blinking back the tears he couldn’t possibly let fall, zeke tyler doesn’t cry.

you reach forward, inching closer in the seat as you cup his cheeks. when he looks back down, attempting to hide the break in his demeanor, you force him to look back up at you.

“listen to me. too good for you, too good for this- fuck that. are you kidding me?” you narrow your eyes, slightly shaking his head to get your point across. “you are just as worthy as anyone in this, stupid fucking town, and you should never let anyone make you feel like you aren’t. you’re smart, and you’re an asshole, but in a funny way,” you smile, causing him to softly laugh, “you’re incredible. i love you. you understand me? i. love. you.”

he grabs your face, pulling you to his lips. love isn’t something he was convinced was real - with you he found it possible.

“i love you, y/n.” he smiles, hurrying for another kiss. “so much,” he mutters against your lips.

“you’re crazy if you think I’d ever leave you. can’t get rid of me that easy,” you joke, softly pressing your lips against his, and another, and another.

you spend the night in his car showing him how incredible he is 😉😉

[bindeds]

explaining my musical-only lucifer magne/morningstar playlist bc i would be confused too if i just happened to chance upon this on spotify BUT I HAVE EXPLANATIONS I PROMISE

quick disclaimer before i start, this playlist is still a wip and these are just my headcanons of lucifer’s story from his pov! i just wanted to share because i wasn’t sure if anyone’s done anything like this (and i may have hyperfixated on this instead of falling asleep, whoops.)

i grew up on theatre so a lot of these songs mean a great deal to me, though some of the movie versions are here instead of the animated films (for disney only) because i simply prefer the movie versions.

i arranged the playlist according to the (rough) order of events, meaning i’ll be going section by section which represents each stage of his story. i won’t be going through every single song but majority of the time, the titles explain themselves but i will be talking about the songs that stand out to me.

of course, we have his heaven era, which has two subparts—his admiration for heaven but his hopes and dreams for a brighter future for the world they’ll make.

speaking of subparts, lmk if you want a part 2 of this as i’ll only be covering the ‘first arc’ of this backstory in this post and i have songs all the way up until the hotel becomes successful (which hasn’t happened yet, i know. but sometimes i am hopeful.)

i feel like honor to us all not only represents how lucifer had to conform to the other angels’ way of thinking but also just how rigid the rules and system of heaven is. the entire song, mulan gets told that she must be this or that and a lot of it are almost impossible standards, and i imagine lucifer, especially being the dreamer that he is, found it even just a little suffocating in the beginning and of course it grew worse as time went on.

“men (god) want girls (angels) in good taste; calm, obedient who work fast paced”

i imagine the angel’s got to properly see the wonderful things lucifer was capable of before he started talking about them and i think the greatest show represents that well.

a million dreams is obviously a song that can describe lucifer’s many creative ideas and goals for the new world they’re going to make soon.

— mother knows best is where his pure admiration becomes unstable doubt as it’s god/the angels shutting lucifer down on his ideas (and possibly gaslighting him into making him feel ashamed for having ideas.)

proud of your boy is lucifer listening to god at first, seeing as being an angel is all he’s ever known, of course his first instinct was to obey god and listen to the other angels.

waving through a window describes lucifer’s struggle with being shut down and being forced to essentially hide who he is, and since he was no longer allowed to take part in the making of man, he was on the ‘outside looking in.’ lucifer also gave the angels reasons to stare at him and cast him out when he shared his ideas so the first line fits perfectly.

“give them no reason to stare; no slipping up if you slip away, so i’ve got nothing to share. no i’ve got nothing to say.”

“we start with stars in our eyes; we start believing that we belong; but every song doesn’t rise, and no one tells you where you went wrong.”

“when you’re falling in a forest, and there’s nobody around, do you ever really crash or even make a sound? did i even make a sound, did i even make a sound, it’s like i never made a sound—will i ever make a sound?”

— DEFINITELY represents how he was casted down into heaven later on, and he wonders if he ever even mattered to the angels, if he made even just one valuable contribution in their eyes, so maybe they can reconsider and see that he could be forgiven.

waiting on a miracle definitely refers to him being a part of the angels and yet they don’t quite treat him with the same respect just because of his ideas, and him ultimately hoping that he can go back to being or feeling loved by god wholly.

“don’t be upset, or mad at all; don’t feel regret, or sad at all. hey i’m still apart of the family madrigal (angels) …”

“and i’m fine, i am totally fine; i will stand on the side as you shine … i’m not fine, i’m not fine.” — ‘shine’ could refer to the archangels making the new world without him.

“i can’t move the mountains; i can’t make the flowers bloom, i can’t stay another night up in my room”

— of course this isn’t about lucifer being unable to do things, but i think it could mean that unlike the other angels, he’s just not comfortable bending completely to god’s command if he has genuinely good ideas to offer. but of course, no one listens to him.

i’d like to think almost there is both about lucifer almost getting the whole ‘conforming to the angel’s rigid rules’ thing right, AND refining his ideas so that maybe heaven doesn’t find them so outlandish and they won’t cast him out again, even if the chances are highly unlikely. judging from just how reluctantly he was to let charlie go to heaven that time, it seemed that lucifer really was as hopeful or even more hopeful than charlie was that heaven would listen to anyone with good intentions, especially their own angels.

when will my life begin and naughty come hand in hand with the former being lucifer trying to convince himself that things are good as it is even if it doesn’t feel like it, and the latter being about two things; 1, to stop sulking about his current situation—2, actually doing something about it, thus the decision he made to visit the garden of eden (because i assume he wasn’t allowed to enter for obvious reasons) where he met lilith and began to spend time with her.

touch the sky is about lucifer getting to explore and spread his wings in eden.

something there and can you feel the love tonight is just two love songs i really like for lilith and lucifer as lilith representing belle, the beauty, is just so accurate and makes so much sense as she was made by god to be ‘the perfect woman,’ even if things didn’t turn out that way. and of course, beast represents lucifer very well because later on lucifer ends up being the devil, the worst ‘beast’ of them all.

defying gravity is lucifer’s first proper realization that heaven’s prejudice against him doesn’t matter and that he should still try to pursue his wonders despite it all. i would also like to think that lilith helped me realize this; that if lilith can make him feel this amazing and this loved being on her own, then imagine the things others can do when they too, like lilith, take matters in their own hands. thus, i headcanon that the idea of free will might have been inspired by lilith caring for lucifer. (i am a hopeless romantic like that.)

“i’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s (god’s) game.”

“as someone (god) told me lately, everyone deserves a chance to fly.”

“and if i’m flying solo, at least i’m flying free”

— if lucifer is the only one who will support himself, at least he is no longer bound the rules that suppress him and who he is as a person/divine being.

“to those who ground me, take a message back from me; tell them how i am defying gravity.”

“and soon i’ll match them in renown.”

— and soon, lucifer will be just as good or even better than the angels who helped make the earth.

the other side is SO definitely about lucifer convincing (or maybe even seducing) eve into biting the apple of free will.

“you run with me, and i can cut you free, out of the drudgery and walls you keep in.”

— drudgery and walls very much referring to having to submit to adam and not knowing the taste of free will. same with ‘same old part you gotta play’ that plays during the chorus

“and if it’s crazy, live a little crazy; you can play it sensible, a king of conventional—or you can risk it all and see.”

— i don’t know. this quote struck me as so, authentically lucifer, the subtle playfulness in both the lyric choice and the tune towards the end.

“is this really how you’d like to spend your days, whiskey and misery, and parties and plays?”

— i can see lucifer saying this to eve 100% because it’s completely reasonable to be skeptical of a man you just met, so this could be him trying to further convince eve.

“if i were mixed up with you, i’d be the talk of the town (angels), disgraced and disowned”

— eve fighting back. though similar to how this song ends, eve gives in eventually … but i do headcanon that lucifer offered eve’s first act of free will to be either to reject or accept to have sex with him, just because i really like the idea of lucifer getting back at those who made the first humans without him by seducing both of adam’s wives.

h

story of tonight is lucifer knowing that his consequences have actions, and even if his plan works, heaven wouldn’t be happy about him disobeying their orders. but at this point, lilith had been the only person to fullyaccept him for who he is, and he realizes it’s not worth conforming to the rules of people who force you to be someone you’re not.

“raise a glass to freedom; something they can never take away, no matter what they tell you.”

— definitely lucifer raising a glass to lilith and eve, because they’re most likely more free from heaven’s clutches compared to him, and both of them have discovered free will at this point already.

if you’re still here, my god, thank you so much!! please let me know if you’d like to see me explain the rest of my playlist, and here’s the link again if you’d like to check it out on spotify :)

[winter-pawpads]

A Double Sided Rainbow - Halloween, 1981 (Oneshot)

TW: MCD (but not detailed)

959 words

The red drapes on The Potter’s windows fluttered from the crisp, autumn air that circled through the house. The three people sitting on the couches seemed so solemn despite their normal tendency to break out in laughter from jokes and stories alike. A man with wavy black hair apparated into the room, and the three tensed, knowing it was time. The secret keeper changed, and there was no going back.

The orange pumpkin laid on Remus and Sirius’ front porch. They’d recently purchased their quaint home together, and they did not have much else in the way of Halloween decorations, but the pumpkins they carved together in silence the night before was the least they could do for the muggle children that would approach later that night for candy, not knowing the danger that surrounded them.

The yellow leaves on the trees outside of Godric’s Hallow were all the little baby could see outside of his window. He didn’t know why he wasn’t allowed to play outside anymore. He didn’t know why he couldn’t use his little broomstick to fly around the backyard, almost giving his mother a heart attack while his father cheered, but at least he could see the leaves as they waved hello to him and goodbye to everyone else peering out.

The green grass, Sirius realized, seemed so much brighter that day as he walked to the market to buy groceries for his favorite little family as he’d done twice a week since he was made the secret keeper. Even though it had changed, he saw no problems with continuing his routine. However, he always took the scenic route, walking through the park and getting to enjoy the gorgeous colors and the frigid air. It was one of the few times he could enjoy the color green, yet, for whatever reason, it just didn’t feel right today.

The blue porch Peter walked onto creaked under each step, making a shiver go up his spine. The house seemed so sweet and bright like an elderly lady picked out all of the colors, likely because one had, but wherever that lady was now, Peter knew better than to question. The moment he walked inside, any figment or idea of joy the colors could have brought him was sapped out of his shaking body, encapsulating the state he would be in for the rest of his life.

The purple dress Lily put on seemed a bit too on the nose. A witch dressing as a witch on Halloween, but she wanted to dress up for her little boy, so she decided to dress as the stereotypical muggle image of a witch, and she helped James do the same as a wizard. It was rather easy with what they had around the house, and it was enough to take a photo for Harry that they could look back on in the future when all of this was over.

The red couch was the backdrop of the photo where, before the camera could flash, there was a knock on the door. James stood up, telling Lily to hurry upstairs. He went to the door, standing tall and firm, not noticing the wand that was left behind. He knew it couldn’t be a trick-or-treater as much as he wished it could be. Instead, he just hoped it was Peter who could have forgotten something earlier that day or Sirius to come with groceries, but he knew better than to be naive. He knew what was behind that door. He knew he’d never see that red couch again.

The orange cupcakes Sirius bought for The Potters landed directly on the concrete when he heard the news, intercepted as he was about to go to their house to cheer up the couple who just wanted to give their son a joyful holiday. The frosting smeared onto his pants leg as his knees gave in. He didn’t hear another thing as the mud soiled the orange frosting.

The yellow clock Remus watched as he paced back and forth seemed to tick at an increasingly slow pace to the point where he had to count aloud to make sure it was correct. But then, without much more warning, the clock stopped. He went over to it slowly, lifting it off of the wall and turning it over. He grabbed new batteries from the drawer and replaced them, but it did no good. The yellow never began to tick again.

The green flash was new coming from Sirius’ wand. It was what he never wished to resort to, but he was past keeping up his moral code. It lit up the block. Nothing but green could be seen through the tears—through the rage that took over his face. His body. His entire existence. That rat, that traitorous, conniving, evil little rat had to feel this. But, when the green faded, he saw enough to know that his target wasn’t there.

The blue motorbike, which Sirius poured his heart and soul into, took off into the sky with a different rider as Sirius laid beside his friend, in the room he’d been in only that morning, giving the secret over to someone he thought he could trust. As he laid there in wait, bound for the inevitable arrivals, staring at the blue that faded away into the night and then at his old friend, he knew he could never trust again.

The purple glow of the telly lit up the room as Remus stood at the phone, clutching it tightly in his hand before slowly, yet never breaking the fluid motion, setting it back down on the receiver. He walked over to the telly, and he pushed the button on the top. The glow flickered to black.

[emmatgc]

Twin Flame ❤️

Tommy x Grace

The scene of Polly saying "or maybe its time you forget about her" and Tommy replying "forget about who?" is very poignant to me in the whole series and I'm sure to all viewers esp Tommy x Grace shippers. The acting and delivery was superb. The feelings oozing on the screen. We felt it.

Little did we know that line would foreshadow what's gonna happen and expose the mind of Tommy from the beginning, in between the break up, the reunion and her death.

Tommy has always been a conflicted and tormented man. He says this yet does exactly the opposite at times. But with Grace, he is ride or die, hell or heaven, he means what he says. Its black or white regardless his methods are greyish and blurry. Plain and simple, his feelings for Grace was never in question. Never in doubt.

To be fair, he tried to move on. He really did. She held on though. He let her go once, she left. I believe he really believed there's no future for them. I believe he thought he doesn't deserve her for both reasons-she was different and she hurt him. It is very interesting to me that never once Tommy brought up any anger or animosity about the so called "betrayal" of Grace in the show directly. The reunion scene was more of her being married to a rich guy. Hardly real anger. Polly did, yes but in a bigger picture, it is heavily implied, it was her job. An actual job. She got the best of her job and in the process lost her one true love at that time. They say all is fair in love and war but neither was true.

Both lost something. Both used each other. Both hurt each other. But the most amazing thing was? Neither of them cared. Neither was mad enough to let go. Neither was sane enough to move on. Neither was reasonable enough to hate or take revenge against one another. For above all of it was love. Love. Respect. Integrity. They were fighting for causes they believed in. In reality, that is a fight worth fighting for ever damn time.

Tommy fell in love with a woman fighting for a cause she believed in. She was not perfect, oh no, she was very flawed, too. But Tommy?heck he was the worse of them all, the family I mean. No sugar coating. Tommy was not a simple man. He was bad, in a lot of ways. But yes, he had redeemable qualities. Twin flames, they were. For better or worse.

See, their worse is not worse though. Theirs was a shining beacon of hope. What they had was a promise of tomorrow, a brighter future and a peaceful life. All colors of Tommy and Grace were brighter, clearer and bigger. That's deliberate by the show. Not coincidence.

So, 2 years without her don't mean a thing. He chose to let her stay-in his mind, heart and soul. She moved on but see that's one of her biggest mistakes. Grace, for me I believe was the one angry he didn't followed her or stopped her the 1st time. Tommy's ego would not allow that plus Tommy loves Grace too much to force her into staying . He respects her too much to make up her own mind. It upsets many Tommy fans that Tommy was passive, indecisive about Grace like dude, forget about her already! You have your whores, etc..she is just another woman, there will be others as Polly said. Yet, there was none.

Tommy held on. Grace held on. Despite the odds. Both patiently waited under dire circumstances. Both went through the uncertainties and dangers, the family objection, the doomed life and for what? For Love. So, no, nobody forgot. Nobody truly moved on. Nobody let go. Those 2 years be damned. Didn't put a dent to Tommy's feelings. Grace loved Tommy, she came back but Tommy fell harder. She was his oxygen. His air and water. You don't forget that. You simply can't. She leaves him breathless after all.

When after all is said and done, all Grace had to do was say "It's me" and the battlefield is back and Tommy is alive again. Love is a battlefield for Tommy. Grace had no one left only Tommy. Tommy had so many baggage but Grace was a priority. Grace warned her. She took his heart and never gave it back. Not because she doesn't want to but because he doesn't want to give it back nor give it to someone else. He allowed his heart to be taken away, broken and repaired only to be broken again. He doesn't care at all. If Only for her. Only with her. They will always find each other. Twin Flame, Tommy and Grace.