#he's going to have to demonstrate those stitches for me so i know going in

[mx-lamour]

I see art with top surgery scars, even some really jaggedy ones, and I applaud them and I think they're beautiful. Sincerely, I love the celebration of self-actualization and comfort.

But also. For my chest.

My loves, I am a tailor. If my seams don't come out smooth and exact, I'm going to feel compelled to rework those darts myself and trust me no one wants that.

[solarmorrigan]

See, just because Steve lets Eddie and the kids play D&D at his house now doesn't mean he's really interested in the game, just the same as even though El and Max sometimes tag along, they're really there to hang out, not play. They each bring their own things to do, and one night El brings a ball of yarn and a shiny little metal hook and a vaguely rectangular yarn-thing that she focuses very hard on while the boys shout in the background.

Steve has no idea what she's doing; he'd say she's knitting, except he's almost certain that involves some kind of sticks, not a hook. But since he's not really doing anything himself, he sits down next to her and asks what she's up to.

"Joyce has been teaching me how to crochet. She says it will help with my hand-eye coordination." El holds up her project with a proud smile. "I am starting with a scarf."

It's not the world's most attractive scarf, but it's not like Steve could do better. He's still not entirely sure what crocheting is, to be perfectly honest. "Is that different from knitting?" he asks.

El nods gravely. "It is," she says, and takes to showing him how she loops the yarn over the hook and pulls it through the stitches in her scarf and adds a few more inches to the row she's working on.

When Steve's attention doesn't completely wane during her demonstration, she pulls a second ball of yarn out of her bag and presents it to Steve.

"Oh, I don't–" Steve tries to demur, but El is determined, and Steve has seen entire dimensions pale in the face of her determination.

This is how he finds himself crocheting a little chain of stitches with just his fingers, the same way Joyce had apparently started El off. El beams at him and returns to her own project, occasionally checking on his progress. The chain is a few feet long by the time everyone needs to be driven home, and Steve decides it actually hadn't been a bad way to pass the time. Kind of relaxing.

The next time everyone is over, El sits down with her scarf, and after a short while, Steve sits down next to her. He compliments how much longer the scarf has gotten (and it does seem like the shape has evened out a bit as she's been going along). She smiles and pulls another ball of yarn out of her bag. This time, she has an extra hook and seems intent on showing Steve what to do with it.

Almost involuntarily, Steve's attention flashes to the group clustered around the table, hesitating to take the yarn from El, and she frowns.

"Joyce says these types of skills are important for everyone to have," El says firmly, and, well– Steve's not really going to argue.

He learns how to crochet a chain with the hook. It feels odd in his hands at first—the shape too small, the metal a little too slick, the yarn not wrapping naturally around his fingers the way it does El's—but he gets the hang of it. When El is pleased with his progress, she shows him the stitch she's been using: a simple single crochet. It's tougher than it looks, and Steve understands immediately why El's scarf is so uneven; neither of them have ever done anything like this before.

Still, he doesn't hate it.

In fact, he really kind of enjoys it.

He enjoys it enough that he asks El to show him more the next time she's over. She's still new herself and is really only working with pretty much the same couple of stitches, but she proudly teaches him what she knows, and Steve picks it up as fast as she's able to lay it down.

Steve goes out and buys his own supplies, no longer content with mooching off of El's. He hadn't realized there were so many different kinds of yarn, and resigns himself to awkwardly asking one of the craft store employees what type might be best for beginners.

The employee—a woman about his mother’s age with a much warmer smile and far less judgement in her eyes—explains with great enthusiasm what all those different types of yarn might be used for, and how the size of the hook affects the outcome of the project, and shows him so many different pattern books his head spins. He realizes that she probably upsells him on a lot of shit, but he leaves with a few different sizes of hooks, some new yarn, and more excitement for a hobby than he's felt probably since high school.

El and Robin are the only ones who know about his new hobby, of course. It's not really that he's ashamed to tell the others, he just knows how teenage boys work and he's not keen on giving a bunch of fifteen-year-olds another reason to bully him. Maybe in a few months. In the meantime, he crochets at home while he's listening to the radio or watching TV, and he crochets at work during down times. Robin finds his newfound hobby morbidly fascinating, but vehemently denies any and all offers to teach her.

("I will find a way to damage myself with that hook and I think we both know that," she says. "It's just kind of wild to see you with a grandma hobby."

Steve threatens to tell El she called it that, and Robin shortly finds a new label for it.)

Fall rolls around and the air acquires a chill sometime in mid-October. Steve's been making practice scarves for a little while now (largely because he really only knows how to make rectangles at this point, but he doesn’t have the attention span for a whole blanket just yet), and he even considers wearing his least heinous attempt despite the fact he's never really wanted for good winter clothes. Then he notices Eddie.

Most of their little group has begun dressing appropriately for the weather, but Eddie doesn't do much more than add a pair of fingerless black gloves and maybe a heavier leather jacket to his ensemble. Steve's not even sure it's because he can't afford it – he's pretty sure it's because Eddie is committed to his aesthetic. Nancy had tried to force an extra scarf on him one day after a little cold snap, when they'd woken to frost on the ground (the scarf is blue, patterned with white snowflakes; it's actually Mike’s, but Mike is also refusing to wear it and Steve suspects Nancy doesn’t want to hold it, but also doesn’t want to get in trouble for letting Mike lose it), but Eddie had declined, insisting it doesn't match his vibe.

Steve can respect this. He himself has a certain aesthetic going on. However, he can also see that Eddie is definitely cold, and that just won't do.

He picks through the scarves and other various wooly things he's accumulated so far, but decides none of them would suit Eddie and, besides that, none of them are really warm enough. If he's going to make Eddie a scarf, it ought to be a good one.

So Steve sucks it up and heads into Melvald's one day when he knows Joyce will be on shift, hoping she won't be too busy for a quick chat.

When he catches her, Steve explains that El had shown him the basics of crocheting but that his ambitions have outgrown his skills and maybe if she isn't too busy sometime, Joyce would be willing to show him a little more?

Joyce, because she’s a saint, says she would be delighted, and invites Steve to come over on their next shared day off.

When he gets there, she tries to ask him who he's making the scarf for, and the best he manages is, "...someone."

Joyce bites down on a smile. "Someone?"

"It's a surprise," Steve finally declares.

"For everyone?"

"Yes."

Joyce bravely manages to not laugh at Steve and instead asks him what kind of scarf he thinks Someone would like.

Steve decides that it needs to be thick, but it should also be soft. It should also be textured, because Ed– because Someone really likes fiddling with things. He can't get too ambitious with colors or patterns, but he decides that black and grey stripes will be perfectly suitable.

(He doesn't kid himself into thinking that by the time their brainstorming session is over, Joyce hasn't figured out exactly who he's talking about, but she's kind enough not to say it out loud.)

Steve's always been good with repetition and patterns—it's probably one of the reasons he’d found crocheting so relaxing in the first place—and he picks up the new stitches with ease under Joyce's deft instruction. She sends him home with the practice piece he'd made with some of her scrap yarn, and after a quick stopover at the craft store on his way home (he briefly gets stuck between shades of grey, but eventually decides on the silvery one over the steely one), he's ready to begin.

He expects making the scarf to be tougher, but once he gets into the rhythm of it, he sails right through. It takes him less than a week (albeit devoting a few solid hours to it every day, possibly more on his days off) to end up with what is, if he may say so himself, a pretty fine scarf.

The challenge comes in actually giving it to Eddie.

Christmas would be an excellent excuse for presenting it to him, except that's a little over a month away, and Steve doesn't want Eddie to go cold until then. Instead, he takes to keeping the scarf in his glove compartment just in case the perfect occasion for giving Eddie a scarf arises.

And much to Steve's surprise, one actually does.

It's right after the first real snow, and Steve has insisted on driving to pick Eddie up so they can hang out (Steve has nightmares about Eddie's driving when road conditions are optimal, never mind when the roads may be icy). He can see Eddie shivering under his jacket, blowing warm air into his cupped hands (Steve wonders if he could learn how to crochet gloves at some point, too. Ones with full fingers), so he ever-so-casually gestures to the glove box and tells Eddie, "Hey, if you're cold, I've got an extra scarf in there."

He's possibly not as casual as he hopes he is (or maybe Eddie just sees through him, like he always seems to), because Eddie gives him a look. "You do, huh?"

"Yep."

Steve concentrates very hard on the road in order to avoid Eddie's eyes. It doesn't stop him from hearing the little laugh Eddie lets out before popping open the glove compartment.

"Oh," Eddie says quietly as he pulls the scarf out, likely having been expecting another castoff piece of outerwear. "This is... actually really nice."

For a moment, Steve can't help but glance over to see the way Eddie is fingering the crocheted ridges of the scarf, running a thumb over the bright silver stripes picked out of the black, and he immediately looks back up at the road.

"Yeah. You should– you can, uh. Keep it. If you want," he says, and wonders what happened to the days when he was smooth.

"No, man, this is, like, for real nice. I couldn't take this," Eddie says, though he's still holding the scarf in his lap.

Steve draws a breath in. "I mean, I was kind of hoping you would, since it's for you."

"Seriously?"

They have unfortunately arrived at Steve's house at this point, and there will be no avoiding the conversation now.

"Yeah," Steve says. "I, uh. Made it for you. So you should take it. Don't let my hard work go to waste, yeah?"

"You're shitting me," Eddie unfolds the scarf and holds it up in delighted scrutiny. "You made this?"

(Distantly, Steve appreciates that the emphasis isn't on "you made this?" Like Eddie doesn't immediately doubt he's capable, only that he's holding a handmade item at all.)

"Yeah. No big deal." Steve shrugs.

"You made this for me." Eddie looks at Steve, and it sounds like that had been meant as a question, though it comes out in flat uncertainty.

"Yeah. Just noticed you were cold, but you won't wear anything that doesn't match your aesthetic," Steve tries to tease, wiggling his fingers at Eddie's outfit, but Eddie doesn't say anything in return.

He doesn't say anything for just long enough that Steve gets insecure all over again, reaching hesitantly for the scarf.

"But, I mean, if that's weird, or whatever, you don't have to-"

"Nope. Fuck off, I'm wearing this forever." Eddie loops the scarf quickly around his neck and squeezes the ends in his hands. "Jesus, this is soft."

Steve grins. "I'm not sure it'll last forever, but I can make you another after than one wears out."

"You'd better," Eddie says, and he's grinning too. "So, what, you knit?"

Steve points a very serious finger into Eddie's face. "Crochet. There's a difference," he says sternly.

Then, because he can't help it, he bops the end of Eddie's nose before getting out of the car, leaving Eddie to scramble out behind him, laughing and calling him a dork as he goes.

(The kids, incidentally, don't tease Steve nearly as much as he'd thought they would when they find out.

This is possibly because they're more mature than he gave them credit for, but more likely it’s because El is standing beside him and daring them to say anything unfavorable about their shared hobby.

Mostly they just let it slide, though Dustin demands to know why Eddie got a scarf and he didn't. Then Lucas wants one, too, because Mike and Max have already received various bits of outerwear from El, and he's not about to be left out. And then Robin, of course, will want to know why Steve hasn’t made her anything, once she finds out that he’s making things for the kids.

Steve resigns himself to a busy winter spent under a pile of yarn.

It's not really a hardship.)

[Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Epilogue | Ao3]

[girlbeyondthegrave]

I Watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a Third Time: More Things I Noticed

Here’s my previous list for those that haven’t read it. Enjoy!

A lot of people on this post I made thought that the dog in the MacArthur Park sequence was Taco from the Ghosthouse segment where Beetlejuice appears in the audience. I am sad to report this is not the case. Taco is a chihuahua, and the dog that appears is more of a terrier. However, some people on Reddit wonder if the dog is the one that ran out in front of the Maitlands’ car and killed them. I haven’t rewatched the first movie yet to check.

When Beetlejuice stitches Lydia’s mouth shut, she’s more exasperated than afraid. She literally tries to yell, “COME ON!”

Beetlejuice looks so offended on Lydia’s behalf when Rory calls her codependent. Like, “Is he serious right now? Get him, babe!”

Beetlejuice appearing before Delia can finish summoning him furthers the eavesdropping theory I made in my earlier post, and if we go off that theory, we can explain by Beetlejuice wasn’t that bothered by being summoned away at the wedding. He’s overheard Lydia’s desire to take her relationships slow and her reluctance to marriage. (Which is most definitely because of him and the fact that the last living person she loved tragically died—even if their relationship was over before that point.)

In the film, Beetlejuice is the ONLY person that agrees to help Delia find Charles, which we see her do at the end of the movie. This means that Beetlejuice kept his word and helped Delia, and he didn’t keep her away from Charles after the wedding fell through.

“MacArthur Park” plays when the studio intros roll, during the wedding sequence, and the end credits—three times when we have three different iterations of Beetlejuice and Lydia’s dynamic, fun fact. This is meant to be their song, and although the song is about a doomed relationship, this part sticks out to me: “After all the loves of my life / You’ll still be the one.” It doesn’t matter if Beetlejuice gets the timing right. It doesn’t matter if Lydia marries him. He considers her “the one.” He’s always going to wait for her, as conveyed by “Right Here Waiting.”

Astrid opens pages about violation 699 and summoning sandworms via trapdoors. I understand that was meant to “foreshadow” later events and explain why she knew how to do those things, but the terms for 699 are barely on-screen, so it’s hard to catch the part where it lays out how bringing Lydia illegally into the afterlife makes her contract null and void.

When Delores appears at the church, there’s a huge gust of wind, and the Handbook moves, but NOTHING ELSE MOVES with that precision until Delores moves Lydia away from the altar. This is kind of a stretch, but I personally think it’s possible that Beetlejuice saw Delores, and he purposefully sent the book in Astrid’s direction. If we go off my eavesdropping theory, he clearly knows Astrid is a smart girl. Plus, he stopped her from getting to the book earlier, so he knows it’s a threat.

When Beetlejuice has a dramatic entrance or exit, it’s very intentional. He does a whole dramatic couple’s therapy bit for Lydia and Rory. He does the earthquake through the model with a slow rise from the smoke. But we’ve also seen him appear in straightforward ways, too, like how he appears randomly to spook Delia. Beetlejuice controls his entrances and exits, and so his dramatic exit at the end is intentional. He allows Lydia to send him away. He makes a big show of it. Lydia has been manipulated by Rory for years. He’s tried to control her and stifle her. When Beetlejuice lets Lydia send him away and makes a big show of it, he’s demonstrating the amount of control he’s giving to Lydia. He goes because SHE wants him to, not because he can’t stop her from saying his name.

(Editing to say that this post confirms the dog is Tim’s dog.)

[moonydustx]

I was asked on Ao3 to create a cute and different scenario with Law. I don't think this is even close to being the final version, but I thought it was a little cute and decided to bring it here. Cute, Law tries one of the reader's hobbies and fails, probably poorly crocheted, poorly written and poorly revised

Law x F!Reader requests here | rules and guides | masterlist

Comments, reblogs and likes are greatly appreciated

--

All of Law's methodism seemed impossible at that moment, at least it seemed to make the task he intended to do even more difficult. He liked you, it was as clear as any sea you two had ever crossed, but how could it be so difficult to put into words or demonstrate?

Luckily, his way of demonstrating whatever his feelings were and no matter how much they remained hidden for a long time was by demonstrating services, in this case, he was looking to demonstrate that he also cared about your tastes.

The two of you had already spent nights counting coins - and being careful not to mix the repeated ones with the new ones - reading and rereading the stories. Now his objective is to introduce you to something you liked, nothing more fair, right?

However, it seemed impossible. How could it be so difficult to connect those two dots? In fact, the two stitches were huge threads and crochet needles, at least in Law's head they were much bigger than the ones he used in surgery.

The task was being doubly difficult for two specific reasons: one, he had no idea about crochet, even with the magazine he had picked up and all the clothes you had already presented to your colleagues and two; he was using your material and at some point, no matter how much he tried to keep busy, you would suspect he was missing.

After sitting for hours, Law found himself doing something he would never have thought of: giving up. He dropped the needles that were now becoming a big knot on his bed and went out to try to breathe something that wasn't so stressful. He just didn't expect to find the person "responsible" for all this.

"Hey!" His voice came out suddenly, surprising you as you rummaged through the kitchen cabinets. "Everything is fine?"

"Someone hid my things!" your furious voice woke him up, apparently he was about to be discovered and you didn't seem to like the idea of ​​his disappearance. "Can't you help me?"

"So, I…"

"I don't know, maybe teleport my things here? I'm a little stressed and that helps me so much to get my head straight." you interrupted him, letting the flood of words come out, barely realizing that you had interrupted him. "I don't think so, do you? Sorry to bother you with this."

"I know where it is." he snorted, his slumped shoulders indicating that he was giving up. "But, I have a good explanation, I think."

"What do you mean a good explanation?"

He just indicated the way with his head and without even blinking, you decided to follow him. After all, what would your captain have related to crochet and needles?

The first thing you found strange was that he immediately took you towards his room, this being a place rarely visited - and authorized - by the crew of the Polar Tang. Law opened the door and allowed you to go through first. The second thing that surprised you was the tangle of lines that were on his bed. The way Law looked at you indicated everything you needed to know, guilty.

"May I ask why?" the light laugh that escaped your lips eased the tension under Law. "I mean, I never expected that."

"I just wanted to do something nice, after all you always help me with the coins, and the books and…" he limited himself to responding, watching you sit on his bed and start to undo the knots. "I tried, but it ended up becoming a big knot."

"Not a big knot…" you moved the needles and soon the tangled threads became a small stitched thread. "You just left it inverted, you managed to make a little fabric chain."

"All this work for a little chain?"

"Were you doing this for me?" you answered his question with another, leaving him stagnant. It only took a few seconds for Law to just nod. "It looks amazing, captain."

"Was it amazing?" his eyes looked like a puppy's, trying to recognize the praise in your words

"For a beginner, of course! I can even use it like this." you tied the thread sewn onto your wrist, turning it into a bracelet. "If you want, I can teach you how to do it."

"I think I'll let the idea go for a bit." Law's body sweated as he saw you approach, even with a safe distance between your bodies. "But if you want a quiet place to do that, you can come here whenever you need. I mean… I can read and you can stay here, I-I don't know."

"Thank you captain." you smiled and in a burst of courage - mixed with fear of his reaction, you stood on tiptoe and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I loved the gift and I also loved the proposal, see you later!"

Law watched you leave with his heart almost coming out of his mouth. He still preferred to keep the surgical needle and sutures, however, that little bracelet on your arm symbolized more than any other hobby you two had tried together.

[pinknpoodley]

OKAY. i've seen 200% wolf again and i wrote up my thoughts. this is like soooo much fucking word vomit if you're gonna expand the post lmao

TL;DR i give the movie a 4/5. overall, it was SOLID, though i do acknowledge it had some flaws. it was a major improvement over 100% wolf, much to my relief. i realize that i'm very biased, but it's far from abysmal like some reviews are saying. for me, it was well worth the wait and the hype!

(major spoilers, obvs)

okay, first of all THAT INTRO THO. IT WAS ACTUALLY SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL I'M NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING. IT WAS CAPTIVATING I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. i actually thought 100% wolf's opening scene was VERY solid too, actually one of my favorite parts of the movie, but in a more emotional and heartwarming way

-WHOEVER DESIGNED THE MOON SPIRITS JUST FUCKING KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK. HOLY SHIT. they look perfect in EVERY single way, and i never thought much about how they looked before but man, this beats anything i could've ever imagined. i think about them constantly, just... WOW. and they way they dance around and create a circle when they're gathering moonfire to beam to the earth in order to bless a werewolf with warfing abilities is just...amazing 😭

-as a side note i wonder why they chose to demonstrate some random woman gaining the ability to warf and not a teenager like freddy. i have a hc that werewolves go through their first warfing around the age of puberty which is why freddy warfed on his 14th birthday. but now i'm wondering if there are exceptions to the rule and "late bloomers" so to speak cause that chick was like 30 lmao

-MOOPOO IS ACTUALLY REALLY CUTE. i saw some reviews saying he was annoying but no!! i love his fun little antics (like riding the space rover in the intro) and i'm still adoring the fact that he was modeled after fin edquist's kids. absolutely melts my heart ahh 🥰 i will agree that he is reminiscent of stitch at some points lmao

-LOVED freddy's narration and the character introduction, the way they made it look like a comic book with each character's name, title and class. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE SO PRETTY. AND I AM GLAD THEY DESCRIBED HOTSPUR AS AN EX-CON bc it implies he actually got a greater punishment than just picking up dog shit but still the fact that it's never referenced again in the movie bothers me. "poodles can do anything werewolves can do, but poodlier" and "hardcore awesomeness in-training" FREDDY'S SUCH A DORK I LOVE IT

-interesting how batty's sense of smell proves to be very useful on the mission and is one of her greatest strengths - how she can detect the wind changing and the blimp changing course. i sorta wonder if that's why the pack allows freddy to take her along when they go on missions, cause literally she's the main reason why she and freddy were able to save those people

-loved freddy and batty's teamwork too, how that was showcased. they were seriously so badass!! like damn these gay dogs are getting a lot more done than those big, buff, powerful wolves LMAO. maybe that just drives the primary message of the movie home even more, now that i think about it

-IDK what flasheart was thinking telling the others to act like pigeons to fool the lady but hey somehow it worked!

-"hey it worked! hit more things" BATTY NOOO i felt bad for freddy he got so abused trying to stop the blimp lmao

-THIS FELICITY HAZZARD AND HER FAKE NEWS REPORTING. i much prefer her in the series smh

-lady hightail was such a bitch wtf "we'll discuss his role in the pack later" ??? girl he is the future high howler tf you mean

-legit felt so bad for freddy during this part, it's definitely hard for him when the pack just sees him as a joke. it's terrible seeing him cry like noo bby. AND THEN THE WAY HE SLAPPED FLASHEART AWAY ?? OMG. like i know he was just frustrated and hurt but damn??? knowing what they've been through it just hurts to see that even more cause they usually have a very healthy and loving relationship ): ): and i could never see freddy seriously resenting flasheart, like not even for a second. he loves and admires him so much 😭

-"hey. i respect you...kinda" batty's dialogue in this movie omg I LOVE HERRR she was so cute trying to cheer freddy up!! not to mention the animation ahhh she's just so cute 🥺

-"cut and color? maybe get some of those curls straightened?" i'm gonna conveniently interpret this to mean that freddy goes to the groomer or maintains his look as a hot pink poodle somehow and i fucking love that lmao

-the lore about the summoning stone is interesting

-the sequence where freddy contorts like something from the exorcist kind of like in the first movie and explodes into a wolf HSDKFvb i'm obsessed

-i don't really get why people have a problem with freddy's wolf form, i think he looks just fine?? i mean, you have the fursona and shreddy jokes and w/e but some people flat out hate it. idc, i think it's very consistent with his poodle and human design. i really believe they put a lot of thought into it. not to mention how well they managed to capture his mannerisms and personality across all three of his forms, i was pretty impressed by that. it had to be pretty challenging. ALSO i figured he would've naturally been a pure white wolf if he'd warfed into one originally, just like he was originally an all white poodle, so it fits right in with my own hcs.

-HIS EXCITEMENT AT BECOMING A REAL WOLF WAS SO FUCKING CUTE OMG. I LOVED THAT PART SO MUCH. WHEN HE WAS FROLICKING LIKE A DEER AND GROWLING AT THE FLOWERS IT WAS ADORABLE HDJDFCVNMB i kept remembering the intro of the first movie where he was little and jumping around all excited to grow up and become a wolf just like flasheart shdfjkc 😭 WHOLESOME AF.

-ALSO. ALSO ALSO ALSO I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HOW HE DIDN'T ACTUALLY GAIN NEW ABILITIES. he didn't become super strong or anything like his dad. he pulls a fucking twig out of the ground and acts like he is but no lmao it's like spongebob holding up the stick with the marshmallows on both ends acting like he lifted a fuckign barbell shdjfkgv he's STILL the same freddy, goofy and clumsy, he literally just took a different form. i can't express enough how much i LOVED that seriously

-moopoo first meeting batty and freddy and the montage with him and freddy being goofy and bonding together was so cute ahh

-MOOPOO TRYING TO EAT A CROW WAS SO OUT OF POCKET LMFAO. also i love his tendency to add "-poo" to the end of everyone's names lol

-it was cute the way freddy scooped batty up and put her on his back ahhh

-i was disappointed that the pack didn't have more of a reaction to freddy becoming an actual wolf like he was hoping, i mean c'mon he was so happy and excited lmao

-"wow!! thanks uncle!!! ^.^" FREDDY. HE TRIED TO KILL YOU AND IMPRISONED YOUR DAD FOR SIX YEARS. THIS IS NOT A SITUATION WHERE WE LET BYGONES BE BYGONES. HOW DO YOU LOOK AT HIM AND NOT FEEL ENRAGED

-MAX'S BACKSTORY IS SO GOOD IDC. also i love her wolf design, it's actually rly cute. tiny wolf hehe

-the elders really suck actually. i feel like they're always looking to blame freddy for something or scold him, at least as they appear in the movies. they're not very fair imo, they clearly still judge him for being a poodle. also, lady hightail suspending him from the night patrol SMH

-well, flasheart...that was an awfully gentle way of telling freddy that moopoo's gonna die if he stays on earth. but it's super in character for him i feel. also it got really fucking dark there for a second

-the sequence where batty and freddy chase moopoo around on the roof of farfang was so cute ahh

-I CAN'T FULLY EXPRESS HOW MUCH I LOVED TWITCHY AND HAMISH IN THIS MOVIE. LIKE HOLY SHIT. they were okay in 100% wolf but they didn't really stand out imo. but like whoa, the writing for them REALLY improved in the sequel. i love them sm now especially hamish lmao

-as a side note i'm sorta confused, do twitchy, hamish and bruno still live on the street while batty lives at farfang w/ the werewolves? based on how the first movie ended i sorta thought they were all living together now??

-twitchy insisting she doesn't like babies and getting freaked out by moopoo was soooo in-character for her lmao.

-hamish and his personality switch with the shades is hilarious hsdjf

-based on some reviews i read i was think there would be more scenes featuring or referencing shit, but it was literally just one and idk why people were freaking out. it wasn't even that bad 🙄

-moopoo is 400 years old apparently, i wonder when moon spirits reach maturity

-the great kennel and adding to the dog pack lore?? kinda neat i guess even if it only appeared very briefly

-THE SCENE WITH HAMISH TALKING TO THE "ORACLE" LMFAO

-also freddy not being used to having a big heavy wolf body shdfv

-"learn how to transform with your clothes on" BUT HE LOSES THEM WHEN HE TRANSFORMS BACK. WHAT IS YOUR POINT TWITCHY. but yeah like you'd think he'd be more careful in the sunlight when he's in his canine forms by now but he's so impulsive

-it was so cute how they put moopoo in a baby stroller with twitchy and disguised bruno as his mom shjfk

-OK BUT I WILL DEFEND THIS FIT WITH MY LIFE. GENUINELY AWESOME AND ADORABLE. like he worked with what he could find and he rocked it. and holy shit the queer coding is absolutely insane IDCCC. also batty being super supportive 🥺🥺

-the montage of hamish failing at being a guide dog and twitchy eventually getting fed up and kicking his ass,, rip

-"shave the baby" shdfvj

-THE DUCK FLYING INTO THE FORCE FIELD AND DISINTEGRATING ???

-moon spirits are incredibly powerful holy fuck. the way moopoo blasted through the force field like ??

-i actually think it's cute and sad how batty is scared of bats and it's implied she got her name from other dogs teasing her hsdjv

-wholesome batty and freddy moments 🥰"i'll take care of them lupin style" and then he falls over himself SDHFGK

-HANK W/ THE TENNIS BALLS. he seems fun i want more lore on him

-the moopoo hungry scene ahhh it was so wholesome to see freddy comforting him. and the animation where he was trying to consume his inner moonlight was really cool, like woah. the whole concept of werewolves having an inner moonlight/moonfire...i just love the lore in this movie so much it's unreal

-AND THE PART WHERE MOOPOO STARTS DREAMING. HOLY SHIT?? THE COLORS AND VISUALS. the animation is SO FUCKING GOOD i'll fight anyone who says otherwise

-THE LULLABY OMGGGGG I'M OBSESSED IT WAS SO SWEET

-freddy punching gar-gar in the eye and running away w/ batty I CAN'T THEY'RE SO GOOFY

-jennifer saunders is amazing as max, i loved her from the first introduction of her character omg. she killed it! also her expressions are sooo good i love it

-love how they made the same joke as they did in 100% wolf with freddy trying to spit on the ground but failing dfgj

-more hamish and twitchy banter, i love how they tease each other and bicker sm

-the part where max mentioned a trust exercise and freddy assumed she meant a trust fall HSDJFV

-"if you'd rather be moopoo's daddy, i'm cool with that. i could be the mummy" BASED hamish

-the entire scene where freddy is pretending to kill the dogs LMAO?? then moopoo waking up and finding them "dead" SDFJGF

-"weird is different, and different is good" i really liked the scene where max and freddy were bonding. it gave max more depth and insight to her character. and freddy does tell batty he doesn't trust her but i think he did end up sympathizing with her in spite of what she'd done because he is very soft-hearted

-hotspur dumbass moments, he deserved to get caught in every one of those traps. also it was kind of really fucking weird how flasheart was laughing at him like it was endearing or something when this is the same monster that locked him away for six years and tried to kill his son. maybe he was happy bc he thought one of the spikes might impale his heart or something but that's probably wishful thinking. WTF this family. and NO I'M NEVER GONNA SHUT UP ABT THAT. IT MAKES NO SENSE HOW HE'S STILL PART OF THE PACK

-interesting how moopoo turns red and turns into a little gremlin when he takes the energy from the whoopsies lmao

-why did max diss freddy's human form tho i genuinely don't get it 😭 poor him

-gar-gar was cute when he wanted to play fetch with batty aww. the way their friendship develops is super sweet

-yeah idk the wolf runes look different to me in this movie compared to the series. it's pretty interesting. also interesting how freddy specifically said wolf runes, implying the existence of other runes, namely dog runes like in the series. i sorta doubt that was intentional but it's fun to think of it that way

-"we're looking up" is SUCH A CUTE SONG. I LOVED THAT ENTIRE MONTAGE. ALSO THE BABY GAR-GARS WERE ADORABLE. and the earth magic stuff is really fucking cool, i wonder if they might incorporate that lore into the series.

-i noticed that the magic only changes the color of freddy's eyes, but that doesn't happen with max? i wonder why that is. maybe i missed something. he looks pretty neat with the glowing red eyes tho lmao

-why did bruno, twitchy and hamish want to eat moopoo's vomit tho

-OK BUT HAMISH SCREAMING AT GAR-GAR LMAO

-also freddy becoming sorta possessed by the earth magic was interesting? i feel like they could've done a lot more with that

-why did freddy cast a rainbow spell around batty... HMMM

-i was surprised by the way max felt genuinely betrayed by freddy, and the way he said she has no friends. like basically, she's alone. and they did appear to have a heart-to-heart there while freddy was trying to talk her into casting the portal spell. she was just fooling them but still, it did seem a little genuine. i think she was just overcome with the urge to get her warfing abilities back and get revenge on the moon spirits. but honestly think max could've been rehabilitated, there was potential there. it sucks that in the end she was turned into a whoopsie and that was it

-i like how max couldn't find a word that rhymes with gravity, so she just made up a word lmao

-wait how tf did twitchy swallow hamish's shades

-yeeeah i was not a fan of the fart joke with bruno, with that being like his main contribution in the film ?? but at least it didn't drag on for too long ??

-gar-gar's return was sweet, again i love the friendship he formed with batty ahh

-the giant mutated moopoo was...completely unanticipated. but it was so sweet the way freddy sang his lullaby to calm him down

-AND THE SCENE WHERE FREDDY GAVE HIM HIS INNER LIGHT. i just...omg that was so beautiful and so in-character. like yeah, he WOULD be that self-sacrificing and it hurts so much

-it was incredibly sweet to see moopoo reunited with his mom and the other moon spirits omg. AND THEN HOW THEY ALL WORKED TOGETHER TO RETURN FREDDY'S INNER LIGHT. THAT WAS GENUINELY SO BEAUTIFUL OH MY FUCKING GOD

-THIS IS HTE MOST WHOLESOME SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN OMG LOOK AT THESE DOGS

-AND THEN HOW THE PACK BOWED TO HIM AT THE END AHHH THAT WAS ACTUALLY PERFECT

closing thoughts:

-there were a lot of reviews complaining that it was unfunny. i can agree the jokes are kinda dumb and corny at times but to me that gives it charm lmao

-it's kind of interesting how the moonstone ring doesn't appear at all, like it isn't even referenced?? i thought it would be, but it wasn't important to the story at all. the story was purely focused on the moon spirits.

-ALSO NO HARRIET, CHARIOT OR MRS. MUTTON which surprised me, but again, they weren't important to the story at all. and i was thinking we'd see hotspur and flasheart (and the other wolves for that matter) in their human forms apart from in the intro?? but again, i guess it wasn't relevant so they didn't include that

-lastly, i've gotta be honest. i think this movie was much better enjoyed by fans of the series and the first movie than by people who know absolute nothing about the franchise. not to say that it can't be enjoyed by people who know nothing about it otherwise. it's just that knowing the characters and events from the first movie makes it a little less confusing imo. we did get some background on freddy, hotspur, flasheart and batty in the intro. however, there was barely anything about twitchy, bruno and hamish and no references to how they met batty and freddy. the segments featuring wolf runes also make more sense if you've watched the series imo, they are well established in the show.

-i may have additional thoughts on the movie that i'll post about later but that's it for now. AGAIN, IT WAS SO WORTH THE WAIT. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.

[kuraikyu]

Anonymous: What happens if Kenjaku's upper part of head is entirely removed? And do you think his stitches are ordinary?

As long as the brain stays /in/ and not /out/ of the body, he's fine. Kenjaku even demonstrated that to Gojo during Shibuya Incident by opening the upper part and revealing his purple-plump real form. But here we have this father / son sorting issues, which repetitively proves that even if his entire skull-lid blasts off ... it changes nothing except for the discomfort of fixing himself. He still maintains control over the body because the brain remains intact and neatly stored in his newest fancy suit to promenade in.

The mystery of Kenjaku's stitches is such a morbid deep thrill for me I literally wanna cry about because of overall lack of content around it!! But I would like to think they are not ordinary. At first, I thought it could be any absorbable monofilament suture ( Catgut ) that is often used in plastic surgery but as I re-checked a few panels over and over again, that idea gradually lost its grip on me, and I eventually pressed pedals for something more interesting such as: 'thread' as a part of his technique acting as a last piece of puzzle / a seal to complete the procession of body switching. OH, by the way, while I'm at it we know stitches remain on the forehead of the person Kenjaku hijacked, plus I discovered Gege mentioned somewhere that those stitches act as Binding Vow = thus why they never heal. I suppose it could have something to do ( or maybe not but either way I would like to use this for headcanon ) with Kenjaku being forced to spend a certain amount of time in a body to obtain its technique and use it in a different body ... *coughs* Kaori *coughs* anti-gravity ... Here goes cardinal connection to how his stitches look like. But I would like to add another spice here, and that is how Sorcerers & non-Sorcerers can see them.

Thread headcanon: there is one single thread created purely from cursed energy which is a part of his innate technique. While other Jujutsu users can see it only the curse users can touch and remove it. The longer he stays in a specific body the less actual stitches are visible to the naked eye and could even blend in visual confusion posing just as some weird scars. Stitches run horizontally along the forehead; never entire head.

-> If thread is partly destroyed by another technique and at least one small fragment remains in the skin, it automatically restores itself to the previous length. -> If it is destroyed entirely he has to go through a long and exhausting process of re-casting the backup replacement WHICH DISABLES HIM TO PARTICIPATE IN COMBAT & TEMPORARILY USE THE TECHNIQUE OF THE BODY HE'S USING until the thread is restored. I purposely counted how many stitches he has ( pic below contains 6 where 6th is under the bangs ) but I can't use much esoterical symbolism here because Akutami draws them differently and mostly they don't match in number; yes, I also counted the body of Noritoshi and Kaori too, and -- *shrugs* unfortunately. BUT is what I came with so far.~

Hijutsu-shi are likely to see this:

( Chapter-143 ; Kaori talks to Jin and her father-in-law - likely both non-Jujutsu users and second. ) ( Chapter-167 ; Kenjaku in China talking to the government & confirmed non-Jujutsu users. )

And here I go back to what I mentioned before - the 'spice'. The stitches look the way they do because he spends long enough time there to obtain other's technique and are not really visible to non-Sorcerers. While Jutsu-shi can see this:

Juso-shi (only) can remove the stitches.

Stitches are visible because he possesses a body for a short period than his vow / technique requires.

[libidomechanica]

Untitled Poem # 12093

Well needs it; by the quiet sound!     The Crowning; Psyche true! In the ranckorous rigours, and     headlong fasting ruffles: temperature ye may descry     the beard-blown goat hang on her hands: which was his terrifying.     Haste, haste, official

duties of tempest, when ye behold     her lips, which all wo can abide the mellowing years     I have sewn it over my flowers. Nay, better, and freeze     anon, and find their proportion, nor every gust of rules.     You come to let those hat

you yourself thou live it not his     mantle blue: to-morrow, is not mine—but half without all     they were disarayde: then if for my sweet and gathers some     proper pale, to name and greater grief, and then for aye undone.     Why alas doth steepe.

Shining chief, although our straying     heauenly madness melts, should narrate. Love surely had I been     now in Eden with so much he says, she love hid in me     sings no more of seas he blames in which I doo complayne, much     greater might, to leap large

recompense, and is, what they were     widows here, till allures her sex, the bond—still on her     face! The body needs let me love. Mystery by midnight     hour of lies. Though Amaryllis dance to let the skie: and     miseryes. The woman

who knows what’s fit for they did pray.     Nothing the manners of that which eloquence is things     captiuity the marks were radiant with keeping? And men, and     labourest by such death shall at last, what perilous flood. As     time stands; thy voice is heard

it and in thine, then weepes Lobbin     so without a stitch on to turn softly in her eyes     liked her deep ways is. And double gilds the Baby of hers     did close of Gulistan shall be but a humble, low-born     thing, and glorious distant

… I will decided to allot     each other until none else. Am fain to changes     of the rays of verity. To new-found my foot is ill.     By the mark of prayers with intertex! I love you because     a sugred kisses

smooth thee my dearest day, and in     his feast, thy heart joins chorus, Fame is the—the—Pooh! Yet that     of Nessus, and cling upon it? Twas Cupid humble, low-     born things serve your selfe kynd with shew of mortal eyes allure     me to time for years he

woo’d too, to be a foreigner, and     ask me to me alone. Eyes, nor an altar to applied     unto all that land: through my soul and betwixt myself were     like dust, the night painfully quiver of holy the Winter-     sterued. Kiss the

violence that what we might before     in dread voice reverberates of sleeping his Doric lay;     and also the lips: but I, so much by love, and into     the woods, and of the South, and sighed to see you: go. Yet I     bore up in college but

gaze upon his wildness, memory     ran. Tresses trim her back, both become, and fyrie furies     fell those thought I see, and Pain foul demonstrative, that will     be in each! What their And borne of his livelier land.     Of this was more his eyes.

[happyandticklish]

Practice Makes Perfect

Notes: I know for a fact that people grabbing onto your legs unexpectedly is ticklish as fuck, and I will absolutely be projecting that onto Charlie. I’ve had this sitting in my drafts for so long because I had this idea the moment I watched that scene in the show and just,,,, haven’t gotten around to finishing it lol. But I’m done now and that totally makes up for it~

Summary: Nick is a bad idea and rugby is a sport born out of hell—so why does Charlie keep finding himself here?

“C’mon, just go for it! You’re thinking about it too much, that’s your problem.”

Okay, so maybe, possibly, signing up to be on the rugby team just to spend some time with your probably-straight-crush hadn’t been Charlie’s brightest moment. In his defense though, it was impossible to say no to Nick’s face, innocent and earnest in his belief in Charlie. Now, however, standing out on a field with clouds grumbling ominously overhead and sweat trickling in rivulets down his back, he was beginning to regret that decision.

“You know, I find that in most areas of life, it’s actually beneficial to think about what you’re doing before you do it,” Charlie said nervously. He shifted from foot to foot, trying to release the tension clenching up his muscles and making movement impossible. “For instance, you’re, like, a thousand times bigger and stronger than me, and I’m built like a twig. With those odds in mind, I think I’d rather not try to tackle you, thanks.”

They’d been at this for over an hour now, practicing basic maneuvers and going over the rules of the game so many times that Charlie could probably recite them in his sleep. Nick seemed excited about it though, and so Charlie reluctantly listened, and even found himself having fun at times. All the way until Nick insisted he try a proper tackle, that was.

Despite all his arguing, Nick seemed amused rather than irritated at his obstinance. Charlie wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or annoyed at that. “How about I try to tackle you then? Give you a demonstration?”

Flashes of Nick, arms wrapping around him, his body pressing him down into the dirt, clothes rumpled up haphazardly from the fall, flashed through Charlie’s mind. He flushed, taking an instinctive step back as though proximity could somehow broadcast his thoughts. “Right. Yeah. Because standing here while you barrel at me is so much safer.”

Though Charlie felt it was a legitimate argument, his only response from Nick was an exaggerated role of the eyes. It was clear he was merely teasing, but Charlie couldn’t help a slight twinge of guilt anyway. He hadn’t meant to be so difficult, especially over something he had agreed to do.

Instead of trying to prove his point further, Nick resorted to crossing his arms and staring at him, a silent challenge. For all of half a minute Charlie tried to hold his gaze as well, his stubbornness leading him on.

“…Fine.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. But be gentle! I don’t want to end up with any broken bones. I’m pretty sure Tao will have your head.”

Nick’s face brightened like a child on Christmas morning, and Charlie cursed how cute he was, because it was largely getting in the way of him regretting this decision.

His legs trembled as he tried to stay still, fighting the urge to dodge out of the way as Nick raced towards him. Luckily, he didn’t have too long to think about it before strong arms wrapped around his thighs and the two of them came careening towards the ground.

It was surprisingly less painful than Charlie had been expecting—more shocking than anything. The breath rushed out of him in a startled gasp as his back hit the grass with a thud. He waited for the anguish he was sure was coming, the bruises followed by stitches he’d have to get after being rushed to the ER. Instead, he felt… well, fine. A bit sore maybe, but otherwise fine.

Of course, now that he wasn’t dead or prepped for a full-body cast, he was met with a slightly let serious but more concerning problem—Nick’s hands, wrapped around his legs where he had grabbed, fingers curling innocently into his thighs for a grip. A surprised, bark of laughter, and Charlie was jerking his legs up, nearly kneeing Nick in the face but failing to get him off, unfortunately.

“Woah! Hey, are you okay?” There was still a hint of a smile in Nick’s voice, the adrenaline of the fall lingering in his system, but genuine concern crept through as well. “It really isn’t supposed to hurt, I promise.”

Charlie couldn’t possibly answer under current circumstances, so instead he shook his head, hoping that would be enough and Nick would let go—

“Here, let me check for bruises.”

—or he would do that. Suddenly the fingers were intentional, brushing and pressing against his skin as Nick asked him if so-and-so hurt, leaving Charlie to nearly fling himself out of his skin in response. He jolted forward when Nick grabbed the back of his knee, a primal instinct driving him as he shoved his hands away with fluttery giggles.

“Wahait, wait, wait,” he managed, the words slipping out in a panic that was mostly habit. “You can’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Can you please just let go first, and then—”

“Am I hurting you?”

“No, but your hand is still on my caHALF—!”

“Oh.”

The word hung between them, Nick’s hand frozen on his shin where he had accidentally squeezed moments before. Charlie refused to look at him, certain if he did, he would pass away from embarrassment.

“I didn’t realize you were ticklish.”

Charlie cringed at the word, his shoulders ducking up. “M’not. I just don’t appreciate being manhandled, Nelson.”

He managed to gather the courage to glance back at him, only to be met with a delightful smirk cutting across Nick’s face. Devious and happy and a little bit flustered, which was adorable and decidedly not helping. “Nelson, huh? Have we really regressed all the way to last names?”

“I don’t know.” Charlie shrugged, knowing he was only digging himself into a deeper hole, but he could never help it with Nick. He seemed to have a talent for drawing out this side of himself. “You haven’t really earned first name rights.”

“Ah, I see.” He had forgotten all about Nick’s hand which squeezed again now, gently digging into his leg. Charlie could hardly help his jump or the sharp hiss of breath it caused. “Well, what if I don’t want to earn them? What’s to stop me from taking them?”

Charlie swallowed nervously, wanting to flee but doubting he’d get very far even if he tried. “The honor system? A sense of fairness? Whatever will make you let go?”

“I thought you weren’t ticklish.” Nick cocked a brow. “Surely my hand isn’t bothering you, is it?”

Charlie flushed. “Ah. Well. It’s possible I might have… embellished the truth a bit.”

“And so it comes out at last.”

Nick started pinching up his calf, forming a ticklish trail that had Charlie squirming the higher he got. He wasn’t particularly sensitive there, but he was much too close to areas that were, and the anticipation was driving Charlie up the wall. This was a new Nick, a smug one emerging out of his normally sweet cocoon. It made Charlie’s stomach writhe with pleasant nerves, and he hated himself for it. Crushing on a straight boy was one thing. Whatever the hell this was, this moment was, was dangerous.

Unfortunately, Charlie didn’t have the means to care as his mental energy was quickly devoted to focusing on nails skating by the sides of his knees and just how much that apparently tickled.

“Shit!” He made a solid attempt to jerk his leg back, but with a flash Nick’s other hand shot out, securing his ankle and forcing him stupidly in place. This resulted in a series of giggly whines as Charlie fell back on the ground, resorting to cover his face instead. “Nihihick!”

“Yes?”

“Plehehease!”

“Please what?”

“Ihihi dohohon’t knohohow, juhuhust—” he broke off, not sure how to say keep going and stop in the same sentence. Historically speaking, tickling had always been a thing Charlie had tried to avoid. He was far too susceptible to it, and he had already gone through his fair share of Tori abusing that privilege whenever he was being annoying. It wasn’t bad, per se, but a lot, and often not something he could handle.

So why, instead of kicking Nick in the face or running or any of the various other things he wanted to do when Nick started fluttering traitorous nails over his thighs, did he let out a squeal instead and lay there taking it, not even attempting to fight back?

“You know, this makes sense,” Nick mused, scratching at this one spot in-between his knee and thigh that was driving him crazy. “You seem like someone that would be ticklish.”

Charlie scoffed, a difficult task while laughing. “Whahahat dohohoes thahaht eheheven mehehean?”

Nick shrugged carelessly, that wild grin mounting his features once more. “Dunno. Something about your energy, I guess. You’re always so nervous, Charlie. Constantly on edge, like you’re just waiting for someone to sneak up on you.”

“Y-Yeheah well,” Charlie panted, his words halting briefly as he fought back another giggle storm. “It’s nohohot exactly w-working ohout for me, ihis it?”

“Well, I imagine you wouldn’t suspect your friends, now would you?” Nick offered him a pitying glance that was far too full of teasing affection to be genuine. “You do seem to be laughing quite a bit though, so I’ll make you a deal. You agree to try one tackle today, just the one, and I’ll stop.”

“Whahahat? No, noho way!”

“Your funeral.”

Charlie opened his mouth to lash back a witty remark only to let out a yelp instead when light skittering turned to playful squeezing. He jerked upright as Nick started digging into his thighs, a spot that was, evidently, horrible. Quick, little pinches to send him spiraling into a frenzy of frantic laughter as he scrambled to grab at his hands. Nick simply ignored him, moving to a new spot each time to avoid him and leaving Charlie no time to adjust to the sensation.

He had thought the tickling before was bad, but this was wholly unbearable. Each squeeze sent shockwaves shooting through his legs and filling him with liquid electricity until his whole body seemed to buzz with it. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, necessarily, but it was too much, far too much. Especially at 6:00 am on a Saturday, the previous exercise and a lack of sleep making him dizzy and laughter-prone already.

Noticing this, Nick decided to go in for the kill, lowering his voice to a teasing drawl that did far more to Charlie than the tickling ever could. “Charlie… I know it tickles, all you have to do is agree and I’ll stop. It’ll only get worse the longer you resist, so you might as well just put an end to things now.”

Charlie’s brain screamed at him in agreement, but he held out despite it, for reasons he couldn’t quite put a finger on. He didn’t really care about the tackling (okay, he did, but certainly not as much as he had exaggerated for Nick’s sake), but he did care about anything that would remove Nick’s hands from him, that would make the sensations short-circuiting his brain stop. He wasn’t sure if it was because Nick Nelson, of all people, was touching him or if tickling was secretly addictive and everyone had been lying to him all his life.

All he knew was that he didn’t want it to end.

Not yet anyways.

And so, for the next two minutes—a short time normally, but an eternity when Nick had just discovered the bundle of nerves along the back of his thighs—it didn’t. Charlie had long since abandoned speech, and instead laid there helplessly, barely fighting back as he shrieked and giggled. Nick more than made up for his conversational absence with a tirade of teases, making avid commentary about which spots seemed more effective, and how “if you need a break, all you have to do is agree”.

In the end, what broke him was nothing spectacular. A flurry of squeezes on his calf, the exact thing that had started this whole mess, casual and unassuming but unbearable all the same after everything else. Charlie finally found the motivation to sit up, grabbing Nick’s arms frantically.

“OhohoHOHOKAY, ohohokay! Yohohou wihihin, juhuhust stahahap!”

“Ah-ha! Victory at last!”

Nick quickly released him, triumph shining in his eyes. He looked far too pleased with himself, in Charlie’s opinion. He would be annoyed at that if he himself weren’t already floating on cloud 9. “Was that your plan all along then?” Charlie asked, once he had regained enough breath to speak coherently. “Tickle me until I agree to practice?”

“I might have improvised a little,” Nick admitted, standing up and holding out a hand for him. Charlie tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach as Nick’s hand gripped his. “Besides, I don’t think you really minded that. Although I guess you might have been trying a reverse psychology trick by not fighting back.”

Crimson heat swept over Charlie’s face, and he glanced away. “I was taken off guard, that’s all.”

“Ah, right.” Nick managed to find his gaze anyway, locking eye contact for an embarrassing but thrilling couple seconds. “I’m sure.”

For a while they stood there, stuck in the happy afterglow of the moment, Charlie’s hand still grasped in his. And then Nick coughed and Charlie pulled away and they were teenagers again, awkward and fumbling over their sentences.

“So,” Nick said with an easy air that was clearly forced. “I believe you owe me a tackle.”

Charlie made a face. “You’re gonna hold me to that?”

“Relax, Spring.” Nick grinned, and this time, it was a real one. “I have faith in you.”

And, as it turned out, his faith was well-placed. Tackling wasn’t as hard as Charlie had built it up to be, and Nick went sprawling back into the dirt with a grunt. The grunt quickly transformed into wild laughter as Charlie paid him back tenfold, abandoning his legs quickly to move onto greater and sweeter territory.

Maybe Charlie had enjoyed the tickling, sure, but what was wrong with a little revenge?

[justwritedreams]

Stay with me - Part 2

Oh Sehun x reader, soldier!au

Word count: 4978 Genre: fluff, drama and comedy Author: maari Warnings: jealous Sehun, Brian being a a$$hole, difficult relationship with father, mentions of death and illness. Note: the second part is here!! I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for those who encouraged me to continue. Please, tell me whhat you guys think! Summary: It's time to say goodbye to patient Sehun but a surprise comes on your first date. << Previous | Next >>

It was early when Sehun had the stitches removed, the Dr. had assessed his condition and assured that she had never seen such a rapid recovery. He would have more exams to do and after that he was released, I confess that it made me a little sad, almost a week with him there and I had already gotten used to his presence. Without Kai and Chanyeol's company, he practically begged me to take him somewhere other than the hospital lobby and the bedroom, so I decided to take him out to the small garden. The weather was good, the hospital movement was calm, a 5-minute rest would be good. Sehun was silent the whole time, the sun was shining and it made him even more handsome. It wasn't like I could deny that I was attracted to him anymore, even though I knew the risks, it didn't make any difference in the end.

"I know I'm handsome but you could disguise it from time to time." he stared at me deeply and I looked away. I hadn't even noticed that I was looking for so long. "I wasn't staring at you because you're beautiful, I just wanted to understand." "What?" "Why a guy like you is in the Navy, it's hard to see him as a Captain." "Because I'm very attractive." I looked back at him and he was smiling in amusement. “Are you doing this just to get me to agree?” "Maybe..." He shrugged and I laughed. "My whole family is in the military." started and I paid attention. “I grew up believing that I was destined for this and when I finally got in, it just felt right, like it had found myself, you know. I wanted to be able to make a difference, maintain peace and diplomacy while bringing security to everyone.” he sighed and looked ahead, as if he was lost in his own thoughts. It was the first time he was so sincere and serious at the same time. “It is a very worthy job.” I said and he grinned. I sighed to see him smiling, he was gorgeous and utterly charming. “What about you, Y/N? Did you choose this profession so that patients would have a beautiful vision when they woke up? The strategy is good.” he looked at me and I felt my face burn. He was a born conqueror. "It wasn’t my intention." I admitted and faced nothing. “When I was little, my mother was always sick, she tried to hide it from me so I wouldn't suffer, I joked that I was her nurse and that I would take her illness away one day. My mother had cancer, she died a short time later, so I decided that I would be it. I became a nurse but I never kept what I had promised.” I smiled weakly, I had never told that to anyone. My father was too busy, he never talked about my mother. I didn't judge him, I imagined how difficult it had been, I was just a child and he was a widower. But still, she was my mother. I was so distracted that I didn't even notice when Sehun put his hand over mine, giving it a light squeeze, I just felt the heat of his hand and it made me shiver from head to toe. "I haven't met her, but I know she's very proud of you, wherever she is." I felt the sincerity in his words and controlled myself not to cry. "Thanks." I smiled and he took his hand from mine, again he was serious. That was a miracle considering he looked like a kid these last few days. "Tomorrow I'll go back to base..." he took a deep breath before continuing. “We will have to postpone our date.” I tried to demonstrate that it didn't affect me that much, I knew it would happen sooner or later but I didn't imagine I would be so sad. “This has to do with the Admiral’s visit, doesn’t it?” I asked and the answer was silence. I knew what that meant. "Already understood. Well, you know where I work.” I shrugged and smiled at him. Sehun stared at me for a while before returning the smile. "Come on, you need to go back to your room."

(...)

I left Sehun's room feeling my smile disappear completely, it was not common to get attached to patients, I was always a professional in that part but with him everything was different. I didn't attend him out of obligation, on the contrary it was great to be with him, the playful way made everything easier. I sighed when I remembered that soon it wouldn't happen anymore, it would be hard to get it out of my head. “Y/N!” Oh no, not now. I took a deep breath before turning with a fake smile to Dr. Brian. “Yes, Doctor?” "What is happening?" “Sorry, what are you talking about?” "You’re avoiding me." Damn, did he just understand this now? “No, of course not, I just…” I tried to be polite but stopped talking when he came over and took my arm. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" His face was close to mine and for a mere second I was scared of him. "It's been almost a week since I've even seen you, you don't help me with the surgeries anymore and I still haven't been straight about what I really want." he looked my body up and down and I shivered in a very bad way. "I'm too busy..." "Yeah, your friends told me so but let me be clear: I don't like it." "Dr., can you please let go of my arm, you’re hurting me." instead of doing what I asked, Brian pinned me to the wall and squeezed my arm even tighter. “I always wondered if you were the type that like pain.” he smiled and I avoided looking at him. The hallway was empty just when it needed movement the most. “Let me go” I asked slowly. “Oh please Y/N, I know you want that too.” he tried to get closer and I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to stop him from continuing. "If you don't let go of me, I'm going to scream." threatened. "You damn right you’ll and I'm going to love it." he smirked and I clenched my fists, knowing I wouldn't have the physical strength to resist. “Let her go, now!” I jumped when I heard Sehun's voice. Brian didn't let go of me but stopped to face my rescuer, contrary to what I imagined, Sehun was dressed in his uniform and his position was rigid. The Doctor flinched a little and I was quick enough to knee his nethers, he released me as he groaned in pain, holding where I had hit him. I ran to Sehun and he put me behind his body with his arm outstretched to protect me, his expression was serious and I feared he might do something. Not that Brian didn't deserve it, but Sehun had just been discharged, he might still be weak. “I don't want to see you near her ever again, understand? It's the first and last time you've even touched her, you don't want to meet me if you dare to do that again." Sehun's voice was cold as ice and sharp as a spear, I could see the vein in his neck popping out and he practically tortured Brian with his eyes. Brian grumbled and glared at both of us angrily but tried to get out as quickly as he could, he was visibly scared. Sehun took a few deep breaths before turning to face me, his hands stopped on my face and he looked into my eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly and I shivered. “Y-yes. Thanks." I tried to smile but I don't think it worked because he kept looking at me worriedly, I put my hands in his fists and one of my fingers caressed his skin. "I'm fine, really." "I heard a noise and I thought it was nothing, but then I heard your voice and I knew something was going on." he explained quietly and I nodded, not having anything to say. Then he hugged me. I took a deep breath when I felt his natural perfume, even though he was in a hospital he smelled very good, I felt my eyes watering and I closed them to be able to control my breathing. Sehun stroked my hair softly and I wished I had this contact sooner. "I swear I could rip his hands off." I laughed without any humor and pulled back enough to look at him. "I can find a place to hide the evidence." He looked at me and smiled slightly. "That's great, we'll be partners in crime now." I didn't say anything, I just stared at him steadily and he didn't look away. "You have your uniform on." I noticed and he began to assume the pose of a conqueror. “I get really sexy, huh?” he joked and smiled. Sehun would never change. "Yes, you do." I nodded suddenly and put my hand over my mouth as soon as I realized what I had done. Sehun looked at me shocked, he didn't expect me to admit it so quickly. And neither I. "You could have said that sooner." His hand stroked my cheek and he looked at me with a calm that didn't seem to suit him, I smiled fondly as he brought his face closer to mine. I didn't stop, much less back away, I didn't know when the next time I would see him would be so I allowed myself to enjoy the little time we had. Sehun held tight to my waist and I supported my hands on his hard torso, he was getting closer and my eyes were slowly closing. I could already feel his breath against my face. "Sehun!" hearing Kai's voice in the hallway was enough to make us jump away. "Aish, I don't have a minute of peace." I heard him speak quietly and had to hold back a laugh as I watched his friend approach. "Is everything okay over here?" Kai looked slightly innocent about what was going on and I wanted to laugh one more time. "Could be better." Sehun grumbled and I looked at him, he carried a giant beak and looked like a child. I scratched the back of my neck. "The doctor has already signed the release." I announced, unable to hide my disappointment, I saw the two staring at me. "Sehun is ready to go." I smiled weakly and he continued to look at me. "Well then, let's go!" Kai jumped to Sehun's side and punched him in the shoulder, who grimaced and complained. "It is ok, go ahead." I said and he looked at me as if asking if he should. "See you." Kai dragged Sehun, saying that Chanyeol had his car parked in the middle of the street and that they needed to go soon, Sehun let himself be taken away but kept looking at me and I saw him disappear down the hall. I sighed and went back to the room, I needed to tidy up before the next patient was sent there. Before I could do anything, I noticed a paper on the bed addressed to the "Angel who took care of me". Curious, I opened the paper.

“Doll, we haven't had as much time as I'd like, but it's not like that's going to stop me. This is my cell phone number. Please call me. I'd love to hear your voice one more time ;D But if by any chance you're a tech dinosaur and aren't adept at texting, this is my email. From the handsome soldier that you find irresistible, Sehun”

Without wanting to control myself, I smiled genuinely. That wasn't goodbye.

(...)

It's been a few months since Sehun and I were talking. What I thought was just a flirtation that would pass the moment he stepped out of the hospital turned out to be something stronger. Unfortunately, our first date hadn't happened yet. I didn't even expect this to happen the day after he was discharged, I know the army demands a lot from soldiers so I didn't start deluding myself. Of course this was not a hindrance to him, Sehun made a video call whenever he could and said that soon we will meet again, he continued with the same flirtatious way that made me feel embarrassed but in a good way. We ended up becoming good friends, or at least that's what I wanted to convince myself. I confess that it was becoming part of my routine to always talk to him, in fact I couldn't even remember what my life was like before his abrupt arrival. And when he took time to answer me, sometimes for weeks, I worried because I knew it had something to do with his work. It was then that I realized that maybe I was starting to be interested in him more than I should but I didn't feel bad about it, Sehun always made it clear that he didn't just see me as a friend and his flirtations were having a certain effect on me. I had just finished my shift, has Friday off and had left the hospital when I ran into Sehun at the entrance. He was leaning against a gray Audi, the kind you only find in a mafia movie. He was dressed in a white button-down shirt that turned up to the elbow, gray pants and white shoes. It looked like he had just come out of a magazine catalog. He smiled at me as I walked towards him.

“Did you drop you captain patent to be a CEO?” I said laughing and he straightened his posture. "I wasn't going to pick you up by bike." he laughed and gave me a better look, as if to make sure I hadn't changed a bit since the last time we saw each other. In fact, I didn't even care. We could take the subway or walk and it would still be ok. "I know you got ready for us to go somewhere nice, but do you mind if we have a pizza at home? I need a shower." I admitted and he laughed. "I got ready for you, you can choose whatever you want." he replied and I rolled my eyes theatrically already feeling my cheeks burn. Sehun indicated for me to get in the car and followed me to close the door right after I sat on the leather upholstery. Like the perfect gentleman. The way to my house was a lot of fun, I pointed the way amidst the various subjects he brought up. He wanted to make me comfortable, like he always did, and it was like I'd known him all my life and we hadn't even been apart for so long. It was a strange feeling because it feels like he had been part of my life since forever, talking to him made me feel happy, like I was at home. Even with his jokes or the way he tried to flirt, which always had an effect on me. We went up to my apartment still talking and I opened the door, giving him space. “Can you ask, please? I’m going to take a quick shower and be right back.” I warned him and he nodded, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “Want some help?” he asked and I turned to face him, he was smiling amused but I knew it wasn't just a joke. I grabbed the pillow from the couch and threw it towards him, he held it effortlessly. Of course, blessed military reflex. "You won't make me embarrassed!" warned. Although I was already. I heard him laugh as I went to my room, put away my things and get another outfit. That done, I went straight to the bathroom, undressed, and put on my robe while I filled the tub. Everything was going well, even too well, until I heard a noise and something from the faucet came out, it was enough for the water to fly all over my bathroom and I ran desperately to close it. Problem is, this wasn’t the first time that this happened and like every other time, I couldn't turn off the faucet because it was hard and the water coming in my face wasn't helping. This was the worst time for this to happen. Not knowing what to do and afraid of flooding my apartment, I had no alternative but to call Sehun to help me. He came running, looked a little scared because of my scream and almost fell on the wet floor, my bathroom was a mess. "What happened?" he asked as I tried to make room for him to take my place while trying unsuccessfully to stop getting the water in my face. “The faucet broke and I couldn't close it.” I replied a little desperately, seeing that he was as soaked as I was. “Where do I turn everything off here?” “Under the sink!” I pointed and he turned to find it, but with the movement Sehun tripped over his own foot on the wet floor and fell on his butt. “Sehun!” I went to him to help but I couldn't do much as I also fell with my legs stretched up. It took a few seconds for the silence between us to turn to laughter. Sehun opened the cupboard under the sink and turned off the record while we couldn't stop laughing like two idiots. The water had stopped leaking but we were still lying on the floor, laughing. "Are you okay?" I asked, feeling my stomach hurt from laughing so hard. “I think I broke my hip.” he replied laughing and I looked at him seriously. "Are you serious?" I asked worriedly. Imagine it, him having to go back to the hospital. "Why? Will you look?” he raised an eyebrow and chuckled mischievously. I snorted but laughed along, even then he didn't change. “You don't even settle down. Your fall was pretty funny.” I commented trying not to laugh again, or else I would have another burst of laughter. "Don’t laugh at me." I raised my hands in the air, as if in surrender, but I kept laughing. Until Sehun got up from the floor completely red and wet. The sight of the white blouse now completely transparent and clinging to his body made me shut up quickly. I shouldn't even stare that long, but I'm not made of iron either, I've seen Sehun shirtless, I've seen his broad chest but there were other circumstances. Now, we were alone in my house, he was there making it very clear that he wanted me and that situation was too advantageous for me. Of course, the way I was blatantly staring his body didn't go unnoticed. Even because my open mouth making the perfect O wasn't so discreet. "Are you okay?" he asked and I cleared my throat, looking away from his athletic, statuesque body in front of me. "Ah yes." I replied as I got up off the floor, scratching my head. "You know it's not fair." "What?" He laughed, not understanding. “You be like that!” I pointed at him frantically and he braced his hands on his hips, further improving my vision. Sehun approached, he didn't need to take more than two steps to almost touch me with his torso. "Like that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He wanted to hear, of course. But this time, I wouldn't hide it anymore. Who knows what the next time we'd see each other would be, we weren't in the hospital so I wouldn't be sure if he'd be there the next morning, I had to seize the moment. “As if it was carved by a god!” I spoke quickly, seeing him smile. "How can I go on with my life knowing that someone like you exists and that..." I couldn't finish talking as Sehun took another step, his hands went up to my face and made me look him straight in the eyes. My heart started beating so fast I thought he was listening. “Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?” he asked and I swallowed hard as his gaze hovered over my mouth. "It's a family flaw, I don't shut up when I'm nervous or when I'm anxious." admitted. “I think I can help with that.” he whispered and brought his face even closer to mine. With his heavy breath on my face, I decided to give in, feeling my stomach churn with sheer anxiety as I watched him wet his own lips with his tongue. In order to keep myself upright, I placed my hands on his wet waist and waited until our lips touched. Just as we were about to do so, my doorbell rang shrill and we jumped in fright. I internally debated whether to answer or continue where we were, but Sehun smiled slightly and walked away. "I'm sorry." I spoke quietly and walked out of the bathroom, mentally cursing whoever was in the way. I was so close, I had managed to feel the heat of his mouth next to mine… “What is it…” I opened the door, annoyed. Imagining it was the delivery guy but my jaw dropped the second I stared at the face I already knew. It was a surprise that he was here and there was no way to hide it. "Dad?" I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, Sehun could mess with my head but not to that extent. "Why are you here?" “Is this how you welcome me?” he asked seriously, even though I knew he was joking. He wasn't one to laugh much, not around me. "Sorry, I'm just surprised." admitted. “Are you going to leave me out here?” I shook my head and let him in. I was so surprised that I forgot for a minute that Sehun was in my apartment. Well, I only remembered when I saw my father stare at the man who came out of the bathroom shirtless and dried his hair with my towel. Sehun stopped in place and faced my father, but the reaction he had was completely different from what I could have imagined. His face turned serious exactly the way I saw it when the Admiral went to visit him in the hospital, his posture became more rigid and he looked at my father and me as if trying to find an answer. “Captain, what are you doing here?” my father asked and I looked at him confused. “Sir, it's…” Sehun saluted and looked at me, not knowing how to respond. “Wait, do you two know each other?” I questioned. “Have you forgotten that I am the Minister of Defense?” my father asked and I shook my head. I could never forget that, but I still didn't understand. "Captain Oh and his crew work for me." I felt my jaw drop and the world seemed to spin. Wait what? Since when? Okay, I knew that the Armed Forces were commanded by my father but I didn't imagine that he had such direct contact with the lower-ranking soldiers, for me he only spoke to generals. My father cleared his throat and I looked back at him, now he was the one who took turns looking between me and Sehun. It was then that I remembered that I was still in my bathrobe, all wet and that Sehun was still shirtless and as wet as I was. I didn't owe my father satisfaction, first because we rarely saw each other because of our jobs and second because he wasn't the protective type, not least because he'd never met any of my ex-boyfriends. But the situation was different now, Sehun was one of his subordinates, and apparently he knew him very well, and the situation really felt like Sehun and I were doing things that I wouldn't want to talk to my father about because they were too embarrassing. I mean, I was embarrassed. Even if nothing really happened. Now I was sure that if he wasn't the jealous, protective father, he would be. “Do you need anything?” I asked, watching him try to question me with his eyes what we were doing but I wasn't going to answer, not now. I didn't want to show Sehun how difficult my relationship with my father was, I didn't need another reason to push him away. “I came to deliver this to you.” my father took an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to me, I looked at the fancy paper. “It is the invitation of the annual event of the Institution of Monalisa.” he commented as I opened the invite. Monalisa was my father's fiancée, she was philanthropic and had several institutions to help those most in need. Every year I was invited to go to balls and events, it seems that this year would be no different. “You can take the Captain if you two are…” my dad moved his hands like he was trying to find the right word and I felt my cheeks burn. Okay, this was too much for me. “Alright, Dad.” I said hastily, wanting to stick my head in a hole. My father looked at Sehun who looked away, still with a rigid posture. He was just as uncomfortable as I was. "Well, I'll go then." my father announced and I nodded in agreement. That was the best idea he had that night. "I don't want to interrupt" I closed my eyes for a second, he had to make the situation worse. I walked him to the door and he said goodbye briefly, no hugs and no forehead kisses, cold as our family was. I closed the door with a thud and kept my back to Sehun, I didn't know how I would face him now. I took a deep breath and plucked up the courage to look at him, his expression was one of pure shock and I tried to smile. I tried, because I'm sure it looked more like a grimace. "Wow." was the only thing he said. "I'm sorry, my dad can be…unnecessary when he wants to." I couldn't even describe it. “You never tire of surprising me.” he said, laughing lightly. I wanted to be funny but the truth is that I was tense. I didn't know the extent of the relationship between boss and subordinate, I didn't know whether to be happy or afraid that the two of them knew each other. "I'm sorry?" Sehun approached, this time calmer. "You don’t need to apologize. I didn't think I would meet your father so quickly, but it could have been worse.” I smiled and continued to stare at him. “Worst like, he hires someone to look into your past and tell me things you did when you were 10?” I joked, even though I knew it could happen. “Worst like, him ordering me to stay away from you now. I can't do this, not anymore.” contrary to what I was used to, Sehun wasn't kidding. He was serious, he had sincerity in his words. "Why?" "Because I'm in love with you." he admitted looking me deep in the eyes and I shivered all over. I didn't know what to say, not when Sehun was staring at me so intensely. Reluctantly, he brought his hand up to my face and I nodded for him to continue. His warm hand gently caressed my cheek as he placed his fingertips perfectly on the back of my neck, making me shiver from head to toe. I smiled as he started to approach me and when his nose touched mine I closed my eyes. His heavy breath hit my face and his full, rosy lips touched mine in a rush, and I sighed on the spot. Sehun was intoxicating, his scent, his face, his touch, everything was addictive. And it was strangely amazing how perfectly he fit me. When his tongue sought mine, I had to grab his broad shoulders to keep myself upright. He knew what he was doing, and that wasn't a surprise, but what was really surprising was how my body was completely at his mercy, I had surrendered completely and in fact, I wish I could feel my heart racing like that forever. The feeling of our tastes mixing together was too good to undo, but with the kiss avid like that, we eventually had to part. "Damn it." I said, trying to catch my breath. "What's it?" "You're even a good kisser." I noticed and opened my eyes, seeing him smile irresistibly and touch our foreheads. "Is there anything you don't do?" It became increasingly impossible not to fall in love with him. “Make a good impression with your father?” asked and laughs. “About this event he talked about, if you don't want to go, I'll understand. The situation is going to get complicated with my father now.” Sehun smirked and looked at me tenderly as he caressed my face again. “What kind of soldier would I be if I ran away? I'm not the type to give up easy, doll." Yeah, I knew that very well. I smiled proudly and wrapped my arms around his neck, making him hug me around the waist, I had to stand on my tiptoes to try to get close to his height. "You better not give up, because I'm in love with you too." I admitted and saw his eyes sparkle. "Now I'm ready to deal with my father-in-law."

[giorno-plays-piano]

Material Girl

Pairing: Dabi x reader

Warnings: yandere, violence, home invasion, allusion to dubcon.

Words: 1.5k

Summary: Looking around, Dabi smirked at the sight of a pretty princess sofa, pink pillows, toys, a lovely dressing table with shiny little bottles and cosmetic jars on it, and a huge white wooden wardrobe that was full of dresses, he was sure of it. Huh, so you were daddy's princess, a spoiled little girl who was always getting whatever she wanted.

P.S. All characters are adults.

___________

When he's landing on a windowsill of someone's house, it's late night, and the deep wound on the right side of his torso hurt so much Dabi wanted to howl like an animal. The blood loss made everything blurry, forcing him to grab the window frame not to fall down.

Dabi had no idea where he was, but heroes had finally lost him, and it's the only thing that mattered. Now he needed to patch himself up and return to the League before he would faint from pain.

Of course, he had no time for looking at his surroundings, but he's forced to when he felt a movement somewhere in front of him, on a large bed covered by a pink blanket - Dabi watched as you lifted your pretty head from the fluffy pillows, blinking and trying to understand what awoke you in the middle of the night. Shame, he thought when he looked at your cute face, wondering if he had to burn you right here right now if you decided to scream, waking up the whole house and giving heroes a chance to trace him again. You, however, stayed silent even when you saw a wounded villain sitting on your windowsill.

Yawning, you slowly got out of bed, and now Dabi could fully appreciate the sight of your alluring body covered only by a see-through nightgown as he stared at your every curve. In any other time he'd definitely comment on the beautiful bends of your body and your bare legs, but his bleading wound was ruining all the mood.

"Aren't you the one from that League of Villains?" You asked him suddenly with curiosity of a kid seeing their favourite hero on TV, showing no fear when you came closer and then stopping right away when you saw the red stains on his coat, his arm pressed tightly to the wound to stop the blood loss. "Oh. You're hurt."

"Thanks for noticing," he said between gritted teeth, thinking if you asked one more stupid question he would definitely burn your house to the ground.

You blinked a couple of times, staring at his blooded arm, then rubbed your eyes, smacked your pouty lips like a child, and slowly moved back to your bed, getting on all fours to grab something from beneath it.

A gun? No, you looked far too calm for someone who was going to defend herself against a villain like him. It was something else, and the curiosity took over his anger when he watched you pulling out a little metal case. What the hell was that and why you weren't scared of him the slightest bit? You certainly knew who he was. Were you so dumb you didn't understand he could kill you because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

"What the fuck are you doing?" He finally asked when you turned to him with a case in your hands.

"I'll patch you up," you yawned again as you stepped closer to him, opening the case to demonstrate it was a first-aid kit with bottles of antiseptic, bandages, pills, and all other stuff, "or you're gonna bleed all over the carpet, and daddy will get mad at me."

For the first time, Dabi thought he was in a strange fucking house with a strange fucking family living in it. What the hell did you mean by that? Who was your daddy if seeing blood on the carpet in his daugther's room would make him angry and not scared? Some kind of villain or something?

Looking around, Dabi smirked at the sight of a pretty princess sofa, pink pillows, toys, a lovely dressing table with shiny little bottles and cosmetic jars on it, and a huge white wooden wardrobe that was full of dresses, he was sure of it. Huh, so you were daddy's princess, a spoiled little girl who was always getting whatever she wanted. Dabi finally realized everything here, including even that subtle scent of perfume coming from your hair, was crazy expensive.

Ah, so you were mob's lovely daugther. Now he could understand why the sight of blood didn't scare you.

"Are you used to patching up your daddy?" He grunted when you forced him to take his hand away from the wound, assessing how severe it was.

"I've been doing it all the time when I was younger", you muttered under your breath, seeing how bad the blood loss was and sighing. "I don't have anything to numb the pain, so you'll have to endure it. Just a second."

Then you brought him an opened bottle of martini, and Dabi let out a husky laugh, the pain becoming so unbearable he barely made a sip - and then emptied the fancy bottle with a one long gulp. Taking something hard you gave him to hold in between his teeth, he squeezed his eyes shut.

He didn't remember what happened afterwards when you cleaned his wound and stitched it. He didn't even remember the feeling of your soft sheets and blanket on his skin when you put him on your bed, although he heard you saying something he needed to leave before 7 am next morning because that's when your daddy was going to come up to your room. What he remembered vividly was a dream he saw where he was laying on a meadow with wild flowers blooming in between his burnt fingers.

By the time you woke up just before 7 in the morning, the stranger you were patching up half of the night was long gone, and the window was sealed shut.

________

When Dabi looked at a shiny diamond necklace he stole earlier, Toga whistled behind his back, staring at it with wide eyes.

"Woah, where did you get this?" She asked, jumping in front of him and poking the necklace with her tiny finger. "And for whom is it? Is it for some girl?"

Dabi winced, hiding the necklace carelessly in the pocket of his pants as if it didn't cost more than anything he ever held in his hands. He cared little for luxury and these expensive trinkets, but you, certainly a high-maintenance girl, would appreciate something like this, he's sure. He planned to visit you again after his wound healed - not so much to say thank you, but because he liked you, daddy's dumb little girl who wasn't scared of all the burns and wounds on his body. In truth, Dabi was fucking dreaming to lift your pink nightgown and get in between those beautiful thighs of yours.

Funny enough, you didn't look even the least bit surprised to see him on your windowsill again as you drank tea from a fine china cup, half-lying down on your fancy Italian sofa. Seeing him smirking at you as you wore a pink dressing gown that was slightly see-through too, you sent him a flirty stare.

"Hello, Mr. Villain," you smiled, putting your cup on a coffee table but not changing your position, obviously to attract his attention.

Little slut, he thought as he stepped down the fluffy carpet in his combat boots. You were tempting him despite knowing who he was, not showing any signs of being repulsed with his clearly intimidating appearance. Well, you did patch him rather nice, considering the conditions.

"Did I leave any bloodstains the last time?" He asked you, smug.

"A little."

You gestured him to sit on your lavish bed - it was so huge it could probably fit him, Spinner, Shigaraki, and one Nomu altogether, and some space would still be unoccupied.

Snickering, he landed on your pink blanket with casualty as if pretty girls were constantly trying to get him into their beds. You were either incredibly brave or very stupid, he didn't decide it yet.

"Oh, is it for me?" you perked up as you saw something shiny slipping out of Dabi's pocket onto your bed, and he threw the necklace to you like some trinket as if he could get something like that every day with ease.

You proved to be agile when you caught the necklace without leaving the sofa, looking at it with pure admiration in your eyes: you had a good idea how much these diamonds cost, and you immediately put the necklace around your neck, standing up and rushing to your dresser. Judging by the expression of sheer happiness on your face, Dabi chose a right gift for you.

"It's so pretty!" you clasped your hands together, laughing. "Thank you! Oh dear, I certainly have to put a price on my medical services..."

"It's not my payment for that night," he cut you off, standing up and walking over to you until he put his hands on your shoulders, enjoying the heavenly feeling of a fabric of your dressing gown against his skin.

You raised your head, blinking in surprise, "It's not?"

"No. It's your present for today, babygirl," he whispered into your ear, his hand taking the dressing gown off your shoulder.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hi yes im still alive

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST--

HAVING A MOMENT TO PROCESS ALL THE LORE AND STORY CHAPTER 6 JUST DROPPED ON US, I CAN BARELY WRITE

AHHHHHHH, I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS 😭 kjdbbaufbiafafvoaybo LEMME PUT ON MY THINKING CAP AND THROW SOME STUFF OUT ASDYUBUASDLI;AGVUOQIB;VI You’ll understand why I used Leona’s face here even though it’s Idia and Ortho’s chapter after you read my thoughts--

***Chapter 6 (and other main story) spoilers below the cut!***

Okay, just to keep it simple, I’ll try to keep things in chronological order!

First is a bullet point list of my thoughts on chapter 6 so far, then all my questions and theories (mostly a biggish theory on Ace) are at the end of the post.

Expectation: Idia cowering in his room, Vil and Rook busting down his door using Epel as a battering ram, dead Ortho theory confirmed

Reality: SWAT TEAM RAID ON NRC, DORM LEADERS (sans Kalim) AND JAMIL GET KIDNAPPED

Admittedly, I’m disappointed to see that the injury Grim inflicted to MC was basically just a cat scratch and nothing more. I thought it would be a lot more impactful if MC had to deal with juggling the realization that Grim has betrayed their friendship and trust while also on the verge of death (or at least while being severely injured)... And given how MC reacted to the attack at the end of chapter 5, I would think whatever struck them was much more substantial than just a cat scratch. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say either the script got scrubbed by Disney, or the intent was that MC was still woozy from VDC / OB Vil, MC felt so betrayed that it shook them emotionally, or that MC was just that weak by default that they can’t defend themselves against cat claws.

Hey, Ramshackle’s finally getting renovated! Proceeds to immediately get destroyed again--

I feel like????????? They tried to retroactively explain why Neige won to try and mitigate the uproar over how VDC ended. There’s some dialogue between the VDC group about how they didn’t perform at their peak because of having just walked out of dealing with OB Vil, and how Neige’s fans were going to vote for him anyway because they resonated with his background. Honestly, I think they should have moved on from that sore spot instead of bringing it up again, even if how chapter 5 ended didn’t personally bother me.

BOOM, HERE COME THE TWST TERMINATORS--

NOT GONNA LIE, THOSE STYX GUYS LOOK HOT SO COOL

AAAAAAND IT’S KIDNAPPING MONTAGE TIME, KIDS

JOABSFHUPAUABDBADB CALM DOWN, RIDDLE??????? YOU’RE GOING TO COMMIT ARSON IN BROAD DAYLIGHT--

Okay, I know this chapter’s focused on Ignihyde and Grim, but the standout part to me (so far) has been the scene where Leona’s being kidnapped. Historically, Leona has not been a character that I like (excluding that one time I had to pretend to like him for a game). I feel like he’s one massive missed opportunity (he didn’t show up much in chapter 2, he’s pretty similar backstory-wise to his Disney counterpart compared to the other Dorm Leaders, he didn’t seem to learn anything or become a better person even a LITTLE after chapter 2, etc.). I’m not a fan of his lazy and arrogant attitude either (even if it is justified by his backstory). But here? THIS IS THE LEONA I ACTUALLY LIKE AND WANT TO SEE MORE OF. 

LIKE????? I CAN’T DESCRIBE TO YOU HOW MUCH I LIKE THIS SCENE???? Yeah, we have Leona fighting STYX at first, but as soon as he realizes who they are, he wises up and surrenders because he knows better than to resist arrest. AND NOT ONLY THAT, but he uses King’s Roar in a smart way--to turn the falling greenhouse glass panes into sand so they don’t hurt anyone nearby (namely him and Ruggie).

And after he turns himself in????? LEONA TELLS RUGGIE TO TAKE CARE OF SAVANACLAW FOR HIM!!! THIS is what a real leader would do. He looks after himself and his people, but he knows when to surrender, AND he leaves his “kingdom” (the dorm) in good hands while he’s away. THIS is the Leona I want to see.

AJBDUASHPFBUABFIABIYFBIPFAAFIAF I ALSO REALLY LIKE HIS SASS WHEN HE JUST THROWS HIS HANDS UP AND ASDBIASBIABAIODDAYOFAIPPADAIDB SAYS “I’ll go with you, but be careful while escorting me, okay? Despite my looks, I'm a precious prince. I’ll get sick/dizzy if you drive recklessly.” SARCASTIC SASSY SMARTASS??????? IF YOU HAD MORE LINES LIKE THIS, I’D LIKE YOU MORE

I love how Azul’s still talking about capitalism/how he can profit from Idia (apparently the Shrouds are like the TWST equivalent of Google??????) as he’s being escorted away by the agents?????? IF I WERE HIM, I’D BE PISSED OFF THAT THEY INTERRUPTED MY BOARD GAME????? At least let the man finish first--

Damn, everyone’s being tasered???????? And apparently all the STYX agents are equipped with anti-magic plates? I guess Bind the Heart can just eat shit then--

Lilia’s ringtone is cute, period.

CROWLEY CALLED STYX TO CAPTURE GRIM???? GRIM IS OFFICIALLY A SCP THAT NEEDS TO BE CONTAINED????

WAIT WHAT CROWLEY’S BEING KIDNAPPED TOO??????? Oh well, the school is probably safer in Trein’s hands anyway--

askhlbfbilhidbabbidasb RIDDLE WAKES UP POST KIDNAPPING AND HE’S USING LEONA AS A LAP PILLOW?????!

How does it feel to be held in a room against your will, Jamil? Yeah, don’t like a taste of your own medicine, do you?

OH HI IDIA, NICE YZMA MAD SCIENTIST GETUP YOU GOT THERE

Wait, what????? THAT’S IT?????? SERIOUSLY???????

MAN.

I have so many questions??????? Specifically about STYX and what they do, and how the Shrouds are tied into all of it.

So they say STYX is a specialized unit called in to quell serious Overblot cases. And if Crowley called them to deal with Grim... well, bad times ahead for Grim. STYX has also been studying Overblot for a long time, which is why (I think?) they captured Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, and Vil. 

There’s been some allusions made between Grim and Stitch in a lot of fan art and fan theories I’ve seen, since their struggles have some parallels: that being them struggling to decide if they are “good” or “bad”. I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of the TWST writing team, but regardless, it’s a really good concept that plays into the themes of TWST itself. There’s no good, there’s no evil, no black and white--most of the characters we see may be BASED on villains, but that doesn’t MAKE them villains. They are good, and bad, in their own ways--and now Grim is dealing with that crisis as he fights to keep his sanity and avoid completely succumbing to Overblot.

Though Idia seems to be involved with STYX’s research, it doesn’t sound like he personally gave the order to retrieve those test subjects (or at the very least, he’s not happy about roughing up the test subjects), it sounds like the orders came from other people in the organization. His parents, perhaps?

They mention briefly that Idia’s parents are asking him to “come home”, so it must be for something urgent. Are they worried about his safety? But Idia’s lines at the end of chapter 5 lead me to think he is estranged from his family, since he straight up rejected a job offer linked to them (Olympus Corp is owned by the Jupiter family, and the Shrouds are a branch family of Jupier), and says something like “I’m not welcome anywhere”. Has Idia done something to disgrace him from the rest of the family? Or is it more of a self imposed/self inflicted statement, given that he always says he’s “cursed” and acts like he’s guilty of something that deserves scorn?

Why is Idia participating in STYX research, even if it means experimenting on his fellow students (and fellow board game enthusiast Azul)? People are speculating that he wants to use blots to fully revive Ortho (if dead Ortho theory is true), or that Idia actually has heroic intentions (he wants to know more about blots to prevent OBing from happening?), but at this point??? Literally anything could happen?!

In future parts, I’m guessing Pomefiore, MC, and Adeuce will team up to break Jamil and the Dorm Leaders (except Malleus, Malleus got left out again www) out? And HOPEFULLY we get to see Rook’s Unique Magic or at least more screen time, since I feel like he got so little in chapter 5... Another thing I’d like to see is Ace and/or Epel getting their Unique Magic, or at least starting to develop it. It’s really mostly Ace I want more details for.

A theory I’ve been holding onto for a long time is that Deuce getting his UM will spur Ace on to become jealous (since he has always seen Deuce as an idiot/”lesser” than him), and that will cause a rift in the friendship, or for Ace to throw himself into a dangerous situation to prove himself (he has done it before with Riddle)... and has his ass rescued again. This would make Ace even angrier, since he feels like everyone is treating him like a little kid or rubbing it in that he isn’t “as good” as they are. I don’t know where it would go from there (I’m sure TWST would get creative), but ultimately it would culminate in Ace making amends with everyone and rushing in to save them from either Grim or Idia OB.

I don’t think Ace would discover his UM in a similar manner as Deuce (Deuce had to embrace his own stubbornness and straightforwardness, but as the term “Unique” Magic implies, the way a magic develops and manifests is “unique” to the user). While Deuce has to learn to accept his own way of thinking, I believe Ace is already sure of his own way of thinking and has totally accepted it. I think what Ace has to deal with instead is coming to terms with his fickleness. We’ve seen him time and time again treating his loved ones kind of callously, from constantly bullying MC, Grim, and Deuce to ghosting his own girlfriend and flaking on people when they are counting on him to do a task.

The issue with Ace isn’t that he isn’t aware, it’s that he is aware and he seems to think this behavior is totally okay. He demonstrates little to no remorse in what he does and says, and he doesn’t seem to care about the consequences either (how many times does he get punished by Riddle, yet he keeps doing the same dumb things over and over?). Ace appears to operate under the mindset of always being in the right, or (if he’s in the wrong), he won’t really acknowledge it, or he will wave it off as “no big deal”--and I think that’s his greatest weakness.

In the scenario I described earlier, I mentioned that Ace’s jealousy will cause a wedge between him and his friends, and I think this will play into him realizing the error of his ways. When he has finally driven away all of the people that supported him, what will he have left? Nothing. Then maybe Ace suddenly finds himself relating to Idia, or to Grim, who have Overblotted and are in a similar emotional state as he is. Confused and lonely... and that energizes him to pitch in again, even if all he has is wind magic up his sleeve. Everyone could be shocked that Ace has returned, and in that moment, he could finally realize his true potential and unlock his Unique Magic!

(Maybe that’s too specific, but that’s a scenario that I’ve had playing in my head for a long time!)

... Buuuuut given that Ace has gotten little to no spotlight so far in chapter 6, I’m not sure if they’ll lean into him developing his UM yet (unless they pull a chapter 5 and really start addressing Ace in the latter half of the chapter like they did with Deuce). Seeing as chapter 6 is dealing with a lot of heavy topics (death, Grim lore, Overblot lore), I’m thinking maybe the TWST team will push off Ace’s UM development to chapter 7???? The only way I can see it happening in chapter 6 is if the chapter is SUPER long, or if the writing is REALLY good or really bad. 

Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed!!! I’m so excited for the rest of chapter 6... I hope that we don’t have to wait too long for it!

[mercurysstars]

All That Glitters Is Not Gold (part 5)

Summary: Y/n gets hired to be the avengers chief physician and also happens to be an ex assassin.

Word count: 1.7k

Warnings: Avengers doing domestic things.

A/N: A silly chapter before some shiii starts going down. Also I’m posting two chapters because I really hated this one.

𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳

𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴' 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴

_

"Come on it's not that hard just up and over." Bucky once again demonstrated to Sam how to throw the knife over his arm and catch it. Wanda had her feet kicked up on Y/n's desk painting her nails and Y/n was watering her plants on her office window seal.

Sam took the knife from Bucky and attempted to do what he showed him but failed which caused the knife to fall and slide across the floor. He muttered a few curse words and picked it up. Sam once again flung the knife up, he went to catch it but Y/n was quicker snatching it out of the air.

"No more throwing knives in my office, you're going to cut off your fingers, and IM the one who's going to have to stitch them back on." Y/n hissed.

"Oh come Y/n don't be a buzzkill you should trust me," Sam exclaimed.

"No, I'd trust a sketchy party clown for hire who likes to take 'bathroom brakes' more than you." Wanda scoffed.

"Don't you guys have a job to do? People, to save instead of bothering me?" Y/n put her hands on her hips.

"Don't lie to use doll we know you like having us around." Bucky grinned.

"No, no I don't. You guys are like cockroaches in a shitty Brooklyn apartment that no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to rid of." Y/n waves the knife around in her hand pointing to the three Avengers.

As much as Y/n loved her newfound friends they were distracting and caused her to get little work done, though Tony probably wouldn't care as he was the number one slacker, Y/n still liked to pull her own weight.

Y/n walked back around her desk and plopped down next to Wanda, she took the nail polish and began to do the nails that Wanda couldn't.

Bucky rolled his eye "Anyways, when are you going to move in?"

"Well, Tony said I could hook the SHIELD trailer onto my car and I have everything packed I just need someone to help me move." She shrugged.

Wanda perked up and grinned "I'll help, I've always wanted to see the apartment that you're found enough of to drive an hour and back to every day."

"An hour? I thought you lived in Brooklyn." Sam said.

"Nope." Y/n popped the 'P' "I live in Hell's Kitchen."

Bucky frowned "That neighborhood with all those vigilantes?" Y/n just nodded.

"Well, I and Buck will help." Sam put his arm around Bucky. He tried to shrug it off and Sam pulled tighter.

Y/n thought for a moment, it would definitely help to have more than one other person to do the heavy lifting, and anything she didn't want anyone seeing was packed away so it could work.

She shrugged "Okay we can go we I get off which is in about 30 minutes."

Y/n stood up "But in the meantime, I need to work and I can't do that with dumb and dumber around." She started to push Bucky and Sam out of the room.

"Oh come on Y/n don't be like that." Bucky teased.

She gave the final shove "Wanda and I will meet you by the first-floor elevator in 45 minutes."

Both Sam and Bucky opened their mouth to protest "Bye." Y/n waved and slammed the door.

"Men am I right?"

Y/n scoffed "You're telling me."

_

Wanda and Y/n stepped out of the elevator to see Bucky and Sam leaning against the wall waiting for them. "Boys." She nodded. Y/n and Wanda began to walk over to the front desk while both men trailed along like lost puppies.

Y/n put both arms on the desk and leaned forward. The blonde at the desk looked up with a smile, it dropped for split second, so slight that if you weren't watching you wouldn't have noticed.

"Dr. Y/l/n what can I do for you."

Y/n put on a fake smile and curiously narrowed her eyes "Teresa right? Well, Tony said the trailer was already hooked up to my car I just needed someone to let me into the garage."

"Of course, when you hear buzz head right on."

"Thanks!" She exclaimed.

Y/n turned around and her smile immediately dropped, she walked back over to Wanda and the boys, and they all started to walk to the garage.

"What's her problem?" Y/n nodded over towards the desk.

"Teresa? Well I know she used to be a high-level SHIELD agent but requested to be moved to the front desk, it was a pretty big deal. It happened just right before you started working here actually." Sam told her.

Y/n hummed and opened the door leading to the garage. They walked toward the back and stopped in front of a grey 2010 Honda Civic.

"Here's my baby." She made jazz hands to show off her car.

"This is your car? Being friends Tony Stark I assumed you'd have something newer." Bucky joked.

"I call shotgun," Wanda yelled hopping into the passenger seat.

_

30 minutes into the ride Y/n and Wanda are screaming blank space by Taylor Swift on the top of their lungs while Sam and Bucky are crammed in the back seat trying not to cringe at their 'god awful' singing.

Another 20 minutes and Y/n pulls in front of her apartment. The car was barely at a stop when both men scrambled to get out Wanda chuckled and Y/n just shook her head.

They went inside of the building and once again crammed into the elevator. "You have a really shitty apartment," Sam stated matter of factly.

Y/n rolled her eyes and stepped out of the elevator the three Avengers followed suit and walked behind her while she lead them to her apartment. Y/n pulled out her keys and opened the door.

"Welcome to my humble abode."

Bucky was the first one to step in, he felt something rub against his leg and meowed. He looked down to see a white fluffy cat with emerald green eyes. The cat meowed again and stretched its paws onto his pant leg. Bucky smiled and pick the cat up. The cat immediately began to nudge into him and purr. Bucky turned to Y/n.

"What's his name?"

Y/n arms were crossed and was leaning against the doorway with an amused looked and her face "Her name is Alpine."

"I forgot you said you had a cat." Wanda squealed.

Y/n chuckled at the redhead and started to walk down her hallway "Alright we only need to grab the boxes and the furniture in my room. Matt said he could take the rest of the furniture and use it for his law firm."

Bucky's face slightly fell and his heart skipped a beat "Matt is that your boyfriend?" Bucky tried to sound as though he was genuine even with the sick feeling in his gut.

Y/n felt as she could sense some slight jealousy in his statement. She got a quick sensation of butterfly's and started to feel a little hope at the possibility that he could be interested in her but she quickly shoved that thought down.

"No, no, you could call him a childhood friend." She breathed.

Bucky's heart began to beat normal again and the wide smile was put back on to his face. Wanda walked over and pulled the cat out of Bucky's arms. Alpine snuggled into Wanda falling back asleep in her arms.

"Well, what are you boys standing around here for, get to work," Wanda exclaimed clapping her hands to show she was serious. Y/n chuckled and both men began to pick up boxes.

Y/n and Wanda sat on the couch watching as Sam and Bucky brought boxes to the car. Y/n and Wanda smirked at each other as they watch Bucky and Sam lift her bed. Seeing the way their muscles move definitely a sight for sore eyes. After an hour of talking and moving they were finally done. Y/n stood up off the couch and stretched her arms.

"Guys that was hard work."

Sam scoffed "All you did was hold the cat while watching us doing the heavy lifting."

"Whatever," Y/n murmured.

"Wanda, why didn't you just use your powers?" Bucky asked.

"I was holding the cat." She shrugged.

Both men rolled their eyes in sync "Will you guys stop whining if I buy you food?" Y/n raised an eyebrow.

"I would never say no to free food." Bucky grinned.

_

Bucky woke up to the feeling of vibrations on his chest, he peeked an eye open to see a blob of white fur. Alpine noticed he was awake and nudge her face against his scruff, he chuckled and sat up.

"How did you get in?" He looked over to see his door still closed and locked, he frowned.

Alpine gave him an innocent look, he lightly nudged the cat to push her onto the bed. Bucky stood up and grabbed his pants, he put them on and grabbed Alpine.

"I've got to bring you back to Y/n's room mommy probably misses you." Talking to a cat wow a new low Barnes He scoffed at himself.

Bucky opened his door and walked the far distance of three feet to Y/n's door and knocked. He heard a muffled come in. He walked into her room to see her going through her boxes. She looked up, saw him, and smiled.

"Hey, Bucky what's up."

"I think this belongs to you." He chuckled nodding toward Alpine who was curled up like a baby in his arms.

"Where did you find her?" Her eyes lit up at the sight of her car.

"Actually she found me first I woke up to her laying on me."

"I think someone's got a crush." Y/n teased.

She grabbed Alpine then she noticed what he was wearing, rather the lack of what he was wearing.

Her eyes traveled down his toned chiseled abs landing on the sweatpants laying low in his hips just above his V line.

"Y/n?" That snapped her out of her trance.

"I'm sorry what were you saying?" Her eyes darted back up toward his face.

"I was saying I'm going to make breakfast do you want some." He raised an eyebrow with a smirk. Y/n's face instantly flushed oh my god he totally caught me checking him out.

"Uh yeah, sure."

Part 6

[anyoneseenadam]

The Moon Spirit - One

Dorian x reader (throne of glass) (future fenrys x reader)

Description: When you’re taught to be a queen from such a young age, nothing could go wrong. But when the king starts to fear your growing power you find yourself thrust into a world of faeries, evil magic and powerful men, learning to stand on your own can be harder than it seems.

warnings: blood, graphic descriptions of violence, objectification, gross old men, Dorian is a ball of love and niceness however, angst, fluff, possibly smut in later chapters

word count: 4.5k

a/n: ahhhhh I’m finally writing this!! This has been in my head for so long now so I’m so glad I’m finally getting it down and I’m really excited to develop it further and possibly go into some poly!dorianxfenrysxreader but that shall all be revealed soon lmao, pls comment and let me know your opinions and theories and shiz it always makes my day!!!

—————————————————————————-

“Wake up.” You felt insistent tapping on your forearm, groaning as you shook it off, turning onto your side and burrowing deeper into your soft duvet. “C’mon wake up princess,” your brain barely registered Dorian’s whining as you groaned in return, throwing and arm out behind you and batting at his firm chest.

“Go away.” You moaned as you felt a firm body land on top off yours. Dorian pressed his face in between your shoulder blades as his arms wormed their way beneath your stomach, warm fingertips massaging the skin of your belly as you cracked open an eye, albeit reluctantly.

“I have to say all those lessons in ladylike manners sure paid off.” You heard Chaol’s sarcastic voice and turned your head just enough to glare at him as well as he sat comfortably on the armchair next to your fireplace.

“I also have lots of lessons in stabbing rude boys, shall I demonstrate those,” you grumbled, flipping him off before shaking your clingy boyfriend away, sitting up in bed and glaring at both of them as they laughed at your disgruntled expression. “What do you want and why are you waking me up?”

“Well, my love,” Dorian moved behind you to gently start brushing your hair as you hummed in delight at the attention, both of you ignoring Chaol’s eye roll, “It is your birthday isn’t it?”

“So you choose to torment me?” you asked as Dorian stood again, smiling at you boyishly as he moved around your room, tidying away clothes.

“Well seventeen is a big one,” he wiggled his eyebrows at you and Chaol moved to translate as you stood and made your way to your bathroom where a bath had already been run for you, the hot water smelling of expensive soaps and salts.

“We have to make appearances today, and there’s a ball tonight.” Your shoulders slumped as you realised what your day entailed.

“Appearances?” you gave your friend a pleading look, but he just shrugged his shoulders sympathetically.

“Carriage through the city, the whole point in the public seeing you so much is to dampen any threat of revolution and they haven’t seen the two of you together recently. Your birthday is as good a time as any.” The older boy explained as your dark-haired prince moved closer to you, wrapping his arms tightly around you and kissing your head.

“I know it sucks princess, but if we make the rounds this morning, we’ll have all afternoon to ourselves before the ball.”

“I don’t like being a show pony.” You grumbled as the familiar frustration prickled behind your eyes, tears forming on what was supposed to be a happy day for you.

Chaol and Dorian averted their gazes at your words, both feeling a deep sense of guilt over something they truly couldn’t control. You had spoken of this before, only in confidence to them; Dorian the love of your life and Chaol alike a brother to you, you had told them how you felt like a toy, a shiny thing for the king to display, waved around in front of the public until you were drained, and they were putting artificial colour onto your face. You had once described it as being alike a corpse in makeup, dragged around for others entertainment as you slowly rotted and decayed until you were unrecognisable.

“I’ll be there the entire time my love, when it gets too much I’ll drag the attention away from you okay?” you nodded as he stroked your arm reassuringly.

“I love you,” you said to him as you leaned up to kiss him gently.

“I love you too baby, happy birthday.”

Chaol walked past as he left the room so you could clean, ruffling your hair as he passed. “Maybe next year you’ll grow,” he mocked, narrowly missing your smack as the three of you laughed.

“Clean up, we’ll be waiting when you’re ready,” Dorian pressed another kiss to your head before he was dragged out of the room, his grin easy as you waved him away.

--

You washed quickly without the help of the maids that usually surrounded you. You presumed that was a birthday present from Dorian as he knew how much you despised the bustling groups of women that would preen over your every feature.

You spent half the bath scrubbing off layers of dead skin and the other massaging your hair until it had no option but to shine in the morning light. Cleaning your face and dragging a razor over any visible body hair as you repeated the rules you were taught in your head.

1.      Never look anything less than perfect. A queen must look put together.

2.      Always stand straight.

3.      Never smile with your teeth.

4.      Wave to children only, adults get a polite head bow.

5.      Speak once spoken too and only if given permission from the Crown prince…

The list went on for what seemed like hours and at one point you had it written down and pinned on your wall next to your mirror, reading it every day. The first four years you had spent under the king’s care were the same. Lessons followed by more lessons, restrictive diets, and waist training. They broke you down and remodelled you into the perfect queen, and throughout those lonely years you never once saw Dorian, excluding the first time you met as children.

Only when you were twelve did you see him again, and from then on you did everything together. When he sword trained you practiced ballet, when he read, you read, when he ate, you ate. You became one person, never doing something without the other, Chaol turning your duo into a trio soon after.

When you turned fourteen he kissed you. You both knew you were to be married one day, but one snowy day he had pulled you aside and kissed you quickly, face as red as the roses your mother used to grow every summer. He had asked you to be his girlfriend, speaking so quickly you barely heard him as you held in laughs at your usually so composed prince. You had nodded in response and he kissed you again, holding your hand tightly as the two of you escaped the castle for the night, determined as he was to take you on a real date.

You dried quickly when you got out the bath, rubbing your favourite lavender scented hand cream into your hands and neck. You towelled your hair off and dressed quickly, mindful of the delicate necklace that always hung around your neck, the one that secured your place in the glass castle. Even if you didn’t know why.

Your dress was dusty blue with silver stitching, the king and queen liking when you and Dorian sticked to a theme. You thumbed some silver earrings in and adorned your wrists in similar dainty, silver bracelets, finally twisting your hair into a low bun and pinning away the loose strands, applying minimal makeup.

You heard a soft knock at the door before it pushed open, a familiar mop of dark hair appearing at an odd angle from behind the door. You smiled when you saw him, unable to escape the rush of feelings that appeared whenever he walked in a room, all easy smiles and suave manner.

He sauntered over to you with a cheeky smile, his hands hiding something behind his back.

“Maybe Chaol was right about the height thing,” he commented when he reached you, your similar heights long gone as you both grew into your bodies, the days of being young and without consequences gone.

You jabbed him in the rib jokingly, “It’s my birthday and all I’ve gotten so far is abuse.”

“Let me change that then,” he pressed a kiss to the underside of your jaw, and you shut your eyes, revelling in the attention from your lover. He pulled away and revealed the flat box he was holding. “I know you can’t take your necklace off, but I thought this would go nicely with it,” he opened the box in your direction, and you looked down at a beautiful gold necklace with a circular pendant showing an opalescent crescent moon with three stars on the gold plating it rested on.

“Oh Dorian,” you whispered, picking the necklace up gently to admire it.

“Of course I have a million other presents waiting for you later, I have to treat my best girl,” he scrunched his face up in the way that always reminded you that he too was just a boy, despite his lessons. You loved these gentle moments when you both let your masks drop, and instead focused on the true love you shared, a lack of care for the way it was pushed. You instead focused on the luck that had given you a man you could truly love, through all the pain and harsh words, the world had given you someone to endure its hardships with, and for that you would remain grateful.

“Put it on for me?” you smiled at him, biting your lip gently as he turned you around, clasping the necklace that sat perfectly under your crystal behind you neck, his fingers soft and gentle as they trailed down the chain and settled between your collarbones, his touch almost wary of the stone as he moved to stand in front of you.

He seemed like he was about to say something but clearly decided against it, instead reaching to tug some strands of hair down to frame your face, twirling them in his long fingers.

“We’ll be fine today, it’s only an hour or two.” He said, his voice steady and sure, his courage coursing through you as he cupped your face lightly.

“We will be. We always are.” You moved away and sat to pull on your shoes as Dorian checked his sword was hanging safely from his side still before he picked up a light shawl, slinging it around your shoulder and linking arms with you.

“The city awaits my love,”

--

Chaol was escorting you through the courtyard when you were surrounded by a fleet of soldiers, exchanging a worried glance with Dorian.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, his arm tightening around you as he and Chaol both scanned the area.

“Yes your highness, however a rather dangerous prisoner is being taken to the king, so we are simply on high alert.” A guard you recognised said, Dorian frowned but you all continued onwards, only slowing when you passed an ever-larger group of guards. When you passed them you looked to the centre where a beautiful girl with a tear-stained face stood, being dragged along, her blonde hair matted with blood and dirt. She locked eyes with you, and you felt a pulse of power go through your body, her turquoise eyes widening for a second as time seemed to slow around you, a soft glow emitting from your neck. However before you could ponder it she was dragged away, and Dorian was asking you a question.

“Huh?” you asked quietly, mind occupied by the strange, beautiful girl.

“What do you think she did?” he asked, his grin cheeky.

“Maybe she steals princes hearts and eats them,” you joked, nudging his side even though your smile didn’t feel real, hiding your shaking hands behind the pleats of your skirt.

“Shame mine has already been stolen,” he flirted, and you laughed genuinely as he helped you into the carriage, pushing down the thoughts of the girl and the anxiety that surged through you as you prepared to plaster on a fake, placid smile.

“I haven’t eaten it yet though,” he laughed, joining you and squeezing your hand.

“Save it for dessert.”

--

The rest of your day passed slowly. Practiced waves and polite conversation taking up a majority of your morning as you tried to keep a pleasant facial expression when all you wanted was to curl up with your very cute boyfriend and sleep your birthday away.

You hated being put on display, the way you were shown off like a shiny toy and your hand was frequently finding Dorians, holding his tightly while you dug your nails into the palm of your other hand, the biting pain reminding you that you were in fact human.

By the end of the long, slow loop of Adarlan your shoulders were aching, and your mouth hurt from the still, soft expression you had kept it in. However you didn’t let your shoulders drop as you moved swiftly through the castle, Dorian by your side and Chaol a pace behind. Instead you only let your shoulders fall when you reached your room as you squealed, clapping your hands together and turning to Dorian with wide eyes when you saw the copious amounts of presents laid out for you.

“Dorian this is too much!” you exclaimed as you tackled him in a hug.

“Nothing is too much for you angel.” He muttered, kissing your head as you practically swooned in his arms.

“You read too much romance,” you said, ducking your head to hide your heated face.

“Plus a solid twenty percent are from me,” Chaol said, and you turned, hugging the tall man tightly too.

“Thank you!” you held your hands to your face, biting the tips of your thumbs like you used to as a child as Dorian led you to the seats where the presents were placed.

“I think this one needs to be opened first,” he said, a glint in his eyes that you couldn’t place as he passed you a large but light box. You opened the lid cautiously as Dorian exchanged excited looks with his brother. You were met by a ball of white fur, bright blue eyes blinking up at you and you gasped.  

You placed a hand over your heart as you reached into the box, picking up the kitten that was roughly the size of your hand and cooing gently as you stroked it, tears filling your eyes. You looked up at Dorian and he smiled at you as you pressed the furball into your chest, nuzzling its soft head.

“I found it abandoned on a street and had to take it home,” he explained, “He doesn’t have a name yet.”

You wiped away a tear that had escaped as they laughed at your emotional state, “Amaris,” you whispered, still choked up, “My little ball of light.”

You leaned into Dorian’s arm and kissed him gently in thanks, his head coming over your shoulder as you cooed at the small kitten that was pawing at your hand like new parents.

“As sweet as this is we’re going to be here for hours if you take this long on everything,” you stuck your tongue out at Chaol, placing Amaris in your lap as you were passed more presents. You ended up opening many presents for Amaris, Dorian sheepishly explaining that he got slightly carried away, countless books, dresses, hair pins and bags filled with sweets from all over the world.

By the time you were finished you all felt slightly sick from the taffy you had shared but the aches left from your smiles were real this time. Maids came in to clear away the wrapping paper and dishes Dorian had ordered up when he realised you hadn’t had any substantial food yet that day.

“I should go, we’ve got dinner then the ball in an hour and I can hear the maids outside,” Dorian said late that afternoon, his arms tight around you as you snoozed on his chest, Chaol having left to complete his duties for the day, not having the luxury to laze around like you and Dorian, and Amaris curled on Dorian’s chest next to your head.

“Do you have too?” you whined, and Dorian laughed,

“Yes, now c’mon. Wear the gold dress tonight,” he was referring to an intricate rose pink and gold dress he had bought you, currently hanging on the screen in your room, the matching tiara in a velvet case on your vanity. You looked over to it with heart eyes, wondering how you got so lucky before you sat up and Dorian marvelled at you, eyes puffy from your nap and lips parted and pouty. He reached up and stole a kiss, dragging your bottom lip between his teeth before deepening the kiss with a hand on the back of your head. He pressed into your body, his tongue seeking out yours and you moaned softly into the kiss, his grin a promise of more to come later in the evening.

He pulled away too soon, leaving you breathless and left with a wink as you were surrounded by a sea of flustered maids, getting swept up in the lace and satin, the rush of the room silencing your mind for the time being.

--

You sat next to Dorian on a velvet seat, Dorian’s hand protectively resting on your knee as you spoke to the duke and duchess of some shit you didn’t care about. They were speaking about their fifth horse when you felt a sharp gaze on you and turned to see the king staring at you with his cold eyes, and for a second you felt that pulse of power again, the Duke cut off mid-sentence as the world slowed. You tore your eyes away quickly, clenching them shut as the image of the blonde girl came back into your head, Dorian gazing at you with worry as he excused the two of you.

“What happened?” he asked, leading you to dance as you forced yourself back into your practiced facial expression, the mask slipping on hiding your fear.

You placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned into his embrace, “I need to talk to you about something that happened today,” you whispered low enough for him to hear.

“Are you okay? Did someone do something?” he asked, grip tightening slightly as he led you in a waltz.

“Not quite, I’ll tell you when we can go somewhere more private.” You peered over his shoulder and met the kings’ eyes again, watching as he spoke lowly to Chaol who turned slightly pale before bowing and making his way over to you.

“May I but in,” he asked, and Dorian nodded, still watching you cautiously as he passed you to Chaol.

“The king wishes to speak to you after the ball, he says it’s the first thing you have to do.” He told you quietly and it took all your training to mask your fear.

“Did he say why?” you asked, taking a deep breath when he shook his head. “Okay, that’s fine. Thank you for letting me know.” You finished your dance with Chaol before carrying on with Dorian, occasionally having to entertain a noble who would breathe heavily in your ear for ten minutes before Dorian found an excuse to steal you back, giggling like the teenagers you were as you did.

When the ball ended and everyone began filing out, all wishing you a happy birthday and you and Dorian a happy future you felt the ball of anxiety that had been in your stomach all night grow, consuming your entire being and swallowing you whole.

“Are you sure you’re okay going alone?” Dorian asked for the fourth time and you faked a laugh to appease his nerves.

“He probably just wants to let me know of new duties now I’m older, I’ll not be long.” You pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“But why won’t he let me or Chaol escort you,” he looked concerned, his trust in his father depleting as he grew older.

“Probably because you’ve both been drinking,” you squeezed his hand as his shoulders slumped, “I’ll be fine.”

“Come up to my room as soon as you’re done okay?” you smiled at his concern, placing a hand over your new necklace, and walking back, away from him.

“Promise.” You blew him a kiss, “see you in a minute, I love you.”

--

You knew something was wrong even before you walked in the room as you watched the queen walk out, eyes red. Her breath stopped when she saw you and she looked as if she were about to come over to speak to you, but shook her head, continuing on with a tight smile.

The guards opened the doors to the large throne room, escorting you into the dark room.

The king sat alone.

The room was dark, lit only by the light of the full moon coming in from the glass walls and ceiling. He sat on his burnished throne; his crown lopsided on his head as he swirled a goblet of blood red wine.

You stepped forward, head bowed, posture never faltering as your mind travelled back to the way you had watched your grandmother stand up to him as well, only to pass away less than a month later leaving you with no real family.

“It’s a shame really,” he started, voice low and gravelly and you stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. “You were truly doing so well, and Dorian the poor boy, this will affect him greatly I presume.”

You fought the bile rising in your stomach at the implications of what he was saying, but kept your mouth shut.

“And I have been nothing but fair, giving you all you could ever dream of and keeping you on a tight leash. But I suppose teenage girls will always want to disobey.” He stood then, motioning to the guards who came and kicked you down, landing on your knees harshly with a yelp as you looked up at the approaching king with fear in your eyes.

He reached you, his hand stroking your cheek lightly before trailing down to your necklaces, gently twirling the stone between your collarbones before holding the one Dorian had gifted you tightly.

“Hmm, tacky,” was all he said before tugging harshly, ripping the necklace of you, and throwing it to the side. “I guess I’ve dragged this out enough now.”

You were shaking were you sat, tears slowly trailing down your face but still to afraid to say a word, even as a guard you didn’t recognise approached you, drawing his sword as the others held you tightly. Your eyes widened, fear seeping in as you started fighting the guards, desperately thrashing in their grips as you met the kings’ eyes.

“You can’t do this,” you begged but it was futile as he laughed in your face, “Please it will destroy Dorian, he is your son please don’t do this.”

“It builds character, a strong king needs to be broken.”

“What about the public! They will figure it out, you can’t spin this one.” You were pulling at strings, but you had to try anything you could.

“I AM KING! WHATVER I SAY GOES, WHATEVER I SAY IS THE TRUTH!” he exploded, and you started sobbing, begging for your life as the king turned away, gesturing for the guard to continue. You were shaking, pulling away from the guards as you fought against their death grip.

You watched the guard raise the sword above his head, squeezing your eyes shut as you sent a prayer to any god that was listening. As you prayed, clutching your necklace letting loose sobs and cried for Dorian you failed to notice the glow emitting from you. You heard the guard step forward to slash down and raised your hands to brace for the blow, a blow that never came.

You looked up to see the three guards that were next to you were all sliced in half, blood spilling onto the floor. You screamed pushing away, slipping on the blood as you tore away sobbing as the king turned to you, face white with fear and rage.

“GET HER!” he screamed but you had already begun running, skirts bunched in your hands, the glow around you shielding you from their arrows as you tore through the doors and into the courtyard, running as fast as your legs would allow, dropping yours arms as the full force of the moons light hit you. You saw a path you and Dorian often took to sneak out and headed for it, hiding behind the mock door that was covered in shrubbery, a hand pressed to your mouth as you muffled your sobs hearing the guards stopping nearby, speaking in hushed tones.

You felt something wet press against your leg and almost screamed, looking down to see Amaris gazing up at you with those bright, unblinking eyes. You held in your sobs, picking him up and pressing him into your chest as you quietly made your way down the path that led to the woods, walking in the moon veiled forest.

Your dress was bloody and torn, your delicate heels had snapped, and your feet were tearing from where you stepped having removed them. You ran through the woods, heading as far away as you could get, however you eventually had to slow walking and holding in your sobs as you realised what you had done.

Not only had you used magic, but you had also killed three men and left Dorian. You held Amaris tighter to your chest as he licked at you gently, your necklace still glowing even thought your entire body ached, ready for rest. But you ploughed on, coming out of the forest onto an empty dirt road.

You sat down for a second, letting Amaris down as you sobbed into your hands until you had no tears left, your entire body still shaking. But you forced yourself to stand, picking up Amaris and walking down the road, luckily finding a small farm with horses.

You quietly took a horse, placing down your tiara in its place, wishing you could apologise more but instead mounting the horse and leaving, riding into the night, tears drying on your face as you held your light close with one hand. You wished you could just wake up, wrapped in Dorians arms as he comforted you after your bad dream, but the pain in your body suggested that wasn’t going to happen.

You wanted Dorian but you needed a plan. And you needed a drink.

--

Chaol stood in the throne room, his hand clenched so tight his knuckles were white as he watched the king spin his story of your sudden disappearance, the sound of Dorians silent cries breaking his heart.

When they were excused he dragged Dorian to his room, where he finally broke down, falling to his knees and sobbing into his hands, muttering about how he should have protected her.

“Dorian I know this isn’t what you want to hear right now, but I think something bad happened to (y/n).” he said, approaching his brother cautiously as he looked at him with wide, tear filled eyes.

“What?” he asked, his voice breaking in his throat. Chaol finally unclenched his hand and passed what he had been holding to Dorian.

The gold necklace was caked with blood.

[whump-town]

In With The New, Out With The Old

Hotch packing Jack up for college

None of it feels real.

For two years after he and Haley divorced he lived in an apartment of boxes. It was some sort of punishment he created for himself while also creating a dissonance he could be lost in -- that he didn’t need to unpack just in case. He had his suits in the closet, his work would not take the fall for his personal life’s failings. The coffee maker sat on the counter, one of the only appliances hooked into a light socket. The necessities followed -- two mugs for coffee, a glass tumbler for the whiskey sitting on the counter, and one plate for when he ordered take-out he couldn’t just eat out of the box.

It had taken him months to buy a mattress, he was perfectly miserable sleeping on the couch. He had only taken Jack to the apartment once, needing to switch into more park-appropriate clothing. Between them, he and Haley agreed that the best thing for Jack was consistency so he would spend all day with Hotch but he would always go home to Haley. He knew this could be used against him in court, Haley could take Jack from his so easily it terrified him but he also knew he’d let her. He was more powerful, he had more strings to pull and more people on his side but the thought of getting on the stand and having his friends call her a bad mother made him feel even worse. So he knew that if it came down to it, he would let Haley have Jack rather put either of them that sort of grueling case.

This was a shared thought between them. Both are aware of the other’s power over the other. Neither will act on their own.

He had only bought a mattress because of New York. Limping home he’d sunk down into his old faithful couch only to wake up the next morning with achingly stiff sutures in his leg and his face stuck to a throw pillow, the blood drying like glue. He had to call Emily and Derek that afternoon. Unable to drive himself with his concussion and consequential blurred vision Emily had come over to pick him up, never said a word about what he’d been sleeping on in the months before. Neither did Derek when Hotch got too dizzy coming up the stairs, the stitches in his leg bleeding through his jeans and so pale Emily had to hold him upright to get him to the bench in the lobby. He was left there, listening to Derek and Emily bicker their way into forcing the mattress into the apartment through the pounding sound of blood rushing in his ears.

That was years ago and yet they’ve created its mirror image once again in his living room.

All of Jack’s belongings in boxes spread out in every room of the house. Packing up to leave.

“Art?” Emily mumbles disapprovingly. She’s knelt down in front of Jack’s bookshelf, dismantling the organized shelves to pack them into boxes. It’s a different method than the one that Hotch uses. Jack has them categorized by author and general theme and as Emily takes down all the books she’s gotten him about cults and psychology and crime she can’t help but feel a little cheated. Jack knows all about crime. He’s had Macdonald’s Triad memorized since he was five -- could give that method of thought its critical analysis as not a precursor to antisocial or serial killer behavior but more as a demonstration of a child’s poor coping skills or as the indicator of a dysfunctional home environment. He’s a well of information about cults, knows the “B.I.T.E.” system.

And he’s throwing all that away because Hotch took him to too many museums as a child?

Jack doesn’t say anything when he hears her grumble about art again, he’s had this conversation so many times. He knows she’s not really mad and she’s not even that irked but she needs to do something with the feelings she has about him leaving and this is just the best way she’s come up with. Better than crying -- which she’s also done far too much of.

“I think art is a great idea, kid.” Derek teases his hair as he passes, sweaty and hot from dragging Jack’s belongings around the place.

Hotch works slowly where he’s been assigned. They all work around him. He’s more freelance than the others. His job is to do what he can and leave the rest for someone else. Today his physical capabilities are not in the way. Derek does all the heavy lifting that Hotch knows is supposed to be assigned to him, it’s his duty as the father of the freshman moving away. He finds himself in the living room, one of Haley’s old photo albums on his lap. Thumbing pictures he can remember going with Haley to print. Pictures he can remember being in. Ones that he took.

He’s crying again.

Emily comes out with a box of books on her hip, having figured out the perfect ratio of books to box to prevent them from falling out the bottom. She sees Hotch wiping his face with a tissue, hiding away but unable to fully pull away right now. The hurt raw. The fear is too much.

The second that Hotch got the chance he left home and never came back. Over the years he returned to his hometown only when he had to -- when Haley’s parents couldn’t be convinced to come to see them. It didn’t matter how down bad he was, Hotch did it on his own. When his mother died when he was thirty he’d talked to her only once since moving out. Then it had only been for the benefit of Sean, who he had driven all the back to Virginia to collect and drove to college.

He fears Jack will do the same and it terrifies him in so many ways.

His own death will come quickly, he knows he’s only made it this long because he’s not alone. Without Jack, there’s no reason to keep going on, not with the way his body aches from years of abuse and neglect. More than that, he knows what growing up that fast did to him. As a child, the things that happen to you are out of your control. Children are sponges, not yet able to take control and mold themselves. So their reactions to abuse and neglect and even just trivial everyday things are but a reaction they are taught to form or never corrected on. But Hotch never corrected his behaviors as a young adult. He couldn’t bring himself to trust anyone, not at twenty, or thirty, and still at forty.

He spent his twentieth birthday on the side of the highway in a broken down car freezing his ass off with negative twenty-three cents in his bank account. No one to call because he couldn’t bring himself to believe anyone would come -- but Haley would have, or Jessica, or the sociology professor who gave him his number for emergencies or “just anything you can think of, just in case you need me”.

He doesn’t wish anything like that on Jack.

The cycle of self-destruction and fear and loathing.

But Jack knows how to form healthy relationships with people. He’s more worried about Hotch.

The car ride is nearly silent.

Jack cranks his window down and lays his head on the seal, lets the wind blow his hair back from his skin, and closes his eyes. There’s no air conditioning but it’s not that bad. The air has cooled off, the thunderstorms taking over the area sucking the humidity from the air as the wind picks up. It’ll get bad again in a day or so but today is nice and Jack wants to enjoy it. To sit contently with his dad and just try to soak it in before he’s thrown into the world of college.

Emily had promised him several times she’d make sure that Hotch didn’t turn himself into a hermit. Jack has grown up watching those two spar off so he knows she’s perfectly capable of getting Hotch out of the house. More than that, Jack knows he’s just going to miss his dad.

“Please--” Jack’s in the middle of trying to reorganize his stuff when he sees Hotch come in with one of the big boxes, one of the heavy ones. “Dad!” Jack takes it from him, not listening to Hotch’s complaint about being able to carry a few boxes. That he won’t break that easily. “Please, just leave the heavy stuff to Emily and Derek. Help me put my clothes away? Please?”

He nearly cries again folding Jack’s t-shirts away. Once upon a time, Jack’s shirts were about the size of his hand. Tiny delicate little things about the size of rags. Now he’s wearing the same size as Hotch, a grown man standing there racing to beat Emily to the heavy stuff because he doesn’t want her lifting it all either.

“Well,” Derek announces, setting the minifridge down, “that’s the last of it.”

Emily offers Hotch her hand and he takes it, grunting as he moves his body back upright.

“Well,” he declares, looking around the room. “We’ll leave you to it. Let you get everything sorted out how you like.” Hotch smiles and Emily and Derek step in to take their hugs, imparting half-wise ideas and a no-questions-asked ride home from anywhere.

“I love you,” Hotch says, he’s quick because he knows he can’t keep his composure if he stays here for too much longer. “I’ll send you care packages, you’ll just have to text me if you think of something I don’t send.”

Jack nods, pretending to make himself busy putting away the rest of his clothes. Trying to downplay his own feelings.

“Ok.”

Hotch nods and they leave, he doesn’t want to make a scene. They’ve hugged and Jack needs to unpack. He’s done. He’s only two doors away when he hears Jack’s door gets thrown open.

“Dad!” Hotch turns and stumbles, an armful of the little boy who was once the size of his forearm. He squeezes Jack tight, laughing through his tears when Jack holds on. “I love you too.”

Hotch holds him for a solid minute, just balanced there with his hand on the back of Jack’s head. “Alright,” he whispers. He sniffles a little, smiling as he cups Jack’s cheek wiping away a tear with his thumb. “I’m just a phone call away, okay? Any time of the night, you know where I am. You’ll be fine. You’re going to make mistakes and you’re going to fail tests and cry over boys and drink too much but you’ll be okay. And-- And if you’re not…”

Jack nods, smiling as he says, “I’ll call Emily.”

Hotch smirks, “well.. After a certain hour, yeah I suppose you’ll have to but yeah. Just call, okay?”

“I’ll call.”

Hotch nods and he has to force himself to let go and walk away. To let Jack do this.

They’re halfway down the hall, far enough away now that Jack won’t see or hear when Hotch starts to cry. He forces himself to keep going. Not to look back. Emily takes his hand, squeezes his fingers and he looks over at her tears in his eyes, and tries to smile.

Emily drives his truck home, she plans on feeding him chocolate and ice cream, and wine this afternoon to improve his mood. He gets a text and he smirks, he actually laughs.

“Let me know when you get home, old man. Tell Emily not to keep you out too late.”

[larrythefloridaman]

Y'all like your deities with or without the shell?

Under the readmore is aaaaaaaaall color god observations and musings based on them, because I am studying to become the world's Premiere Chromatheologian and RGB Understander so under the cut is pretty much Oops! All Spoilers! up to the most recent episode of season 3.

Apparently Universal Color God Attributes:

Damage to their domain hurts them, but fixing the issue, or lashing out by using their powers destructively, can help them to repair the damage.

If they sustain enough damage, it can temporarily paralyze them and send them into a strengthened but 'exposed' state (chartreuse's spirit activation in the last fight of 19) and further damage after that will activate a failsafe, which is unique by domain but seemingly designed to give them the chance to balance things, but can get… very out of hand or backfire depending on circumstances. (see: cobalt’s failsafe sending mark's universe into a never-ending apocalyptic war because word of the cure for death became too widespread for the killing urge failsafe to affectively balance anything because every side could simply revive their fallen.)

Chartreuse's failsafe is something of a stopped time bubble quarantine where processes that require the passing of time cannot complete, allowing her the time to wear down the offending party to beat them to death or plan around finishing them.

Cobalt's is inciting war, the casualties serving to balance the scale. I'm not sure we know Crimson's yet- he's never taken enough direct damage without doing damage to compensate in order to trigger it, although i dont remember season one well enough to recall if any of the universe stuff in it tracks with the pattern bc season one is a bit fucky

Connected in a fashion that allows them to simply Sense the overall status of the others to some extent, although they don't know Why theyre in the state theyre in without asking (chartreuse [and by extension, folk, presumably on her information] confronting crimson via crimsonaut for pretending to be dead, Cobalt confronting both his siblings about how they are handling their duties improperly but not knowing about Folk. He knew about the constants deaths because hes a death god, duh, but he didnt use their names like crimson did, possibly implying they're erased upon death so thoroughly that only crimson and the constants can really recall a shattered constants' existence, not even the other guardians.)

Abilities of the guardians can be replicated by mortals through three apparent methods- through machines (dimensional bus, the time machine, presumably J0hn's part in Sephiroth's resurrection,) simply through advanced enough individual skill (Home MD curing death, potentially Dantoinette's universe portal travel, maybe Genwun's sped up time bubble that evolved them into Genfour? although that could very well have just been an illusion and theyre just like, a fuckin theater kid that was doing pretend character development for the Bit or something given GenFive turned out to be a zoroark) or through stealing some of the power of the relevant god (Dr. Order stealing Chartreuse's power, Dani maybe having stolen some of Crimson's when she beat his ass. Dani's one woman universal travel is like, wicked ambiguous)

Cobalt:

Can seemingly perceive or act through any living material. (The Tree. Cobalt instructed Larry to slap his hand on that tree, that shit glowed and he had a new deal tattoo without Cobalt ever having been physically present)

Can influence the resurrected by giving them a killing urge. Represented by an aberrant brainwave and a ringing in the undead's heads. This doesnt appear to be direct control- as the Grunk could clearly restrain himself from killing people that genuinely didn't deserve it (like nightly and cha cha, who WERE grunk event targets but not fatally so. Nagito was a crimson thing so it really doesn't count here. God poor grunk his life really is just a constant plaything in the hands of the gods huh) and Sephiroth very much had personal motivation to want to kill Folk. failsafe activates this ability on the scale of war.

Deals. The extent of what Cobalt can do with these is unclear but Iggy's god powers were taken from him as his part in the deal so what he can take isn't limited to physical things or things obviously related to his domain.

Weaknesses:

Deals. While this ability is impressive his preference for making deals for those that offend against his domain is potentially very exploitable- Larry's knowledge of the cure for death is, if word of it were to ever get out beyond Larry, wildly dangerous for this dimension, so technically the safest thing for the iron-fisted cobalt to do would be to nip the problem in the bud and get rid of him. But, fascinatingly, that wasn't even put on the table, the first thing Cobalt does is threaten J0hn, prompting Larry to make a deal. While Cobalt enforces death, he also doesn't like unnecessary death, and Larry demonstrably knows how to keep a secret for the good of the world even at great cost to himself and Cobalt is aware of this- easily clarifying to Larry the aberrant thing endangering the universe wasn't his timeloop business. So while he's clearly not letting his resurrection fuckery go unpunished, he's being pretty merciful when he doesn't have to be and from a strictly, brutally pragmatic perspective probably shouldn't be.

His control over the undead manifests as a ringing and an aberrant brainwave trackable by J0hn's equipment, and could probably therefore be accounted for and circumvented? J0hn has, wisely, largely sworn off fucking with people's brains after the sephiroth fiasco went So Wrong, So Very Wrong, Oh God Oh Fuck Someone Cool Almost Died, but if he hadn't, and if J0hn let his dislike for authority and keeping Larry safe outweigh reason like he let safety, spite and comedic value outweigh good ethical sense when reprogramming sephiroth, in theory Mr. 'hacked a time machine for breakfast?' could. y'know. probably do it. what is a god's authority to an anarchist, what better to challenge life and death than the cold and eternal machine, you get the point its a fun scenario

Olive Garden Breadsticks and Small Cute Dogs, apparently

Chartreuse's:

Time Clones: taps into parallel timelines to retrieve alternate versions of herself to utilize.

Time Travel: what it says on the tin. Travel to the past creates painful splits in the prime timeline, but through careful action and traveling back into the past, these can be weaved into a time loop. A split from the timeline is a wound, and a successful timeloop is the surgical scar it can become with attentive care, to use a medical metaphor. Carefully closed and healing. Keeping Folk here is essentially akin to chartreuse pulling out her stitches on the initial incision.

Time Stopping: creates a space wherein things that take time to complete cannot complete, where things can move, but everything within is in a perfect unchanging stasis until the bubble drops. This is the form her failsafe takes.

Timeline Creation: can create timelines from scratch.

Can fuse alternate timeline versions of the same individual to allow them to coexist. (Ryan's confirmed in the discord that Dantoinette experienced both failures in 20, because Chartreuse fused the two instances of her to save the post-raid instance from fading. Could... theoretically do this to Folk and save herself the pain, but while Folk and Therapuppy are the same person, there's seven years and untold amounts of difference deriving from the time and circumstance between them and the inherent cognitive dissonances that would result from attempting that would be wicked fucked up to inflict, and that's assuming there isn't some reason that it wouldn't be possible anyway. while the two Danis had like. A day or so's difference between them, so she could be safely fused with the only dissonant thing being that she remembers both being too slow to prevent order's time escape and beginning to dissipate post-raid, AND losing that fight to her pre-raid. RIP Dani, that perfectionism must be kicking her ass)

Weaknesses:

Unwilling to use her powers destructively in her pursuit of domain repair and thereby much easier to damage to the point of paralyzing her, making her particularly vulnerable to Power Theft

Morally Optimistic. At one point in 19, she briefly justifies Crimson's shitty evil actions to herself after experiencing for herself how Wack the kerfuffleverse is firsthand, ("and all he did was kill a couple people!" Chartreuse. Honey.) and when she fights Crimsonaut she seems to actually believe for a second that he's actually worried about her when Crimson asks if she's okay after he beats her. Additionally, as D+, she concerns herself with trying to understand doctor order's motive, and after Larry defeats Order, he makes a point of confirming she feels no remorse before making his request for what Chartreuse does with her, and appeals to the idea of letting Order fulfill her desire to be a god in a way which isn't a problem for anyone and Chartreuse is more than happy to oblige under these conditions after what Larry's done for everybody. Then immediately threatens to evaporate him for playfully teasing her about having a crush on folk. Fucked up a little bit

Crimson's:

Universe Shifting: Travel between universes.

Universe Correction: appears to replace an aberrant individual with the 'correct' version of themselves for that universe, presumably sending them back to their own. (Mario from super mario was universe corrected, but still seemingly exists in wario form as evidenced by smashup kerfuffle, and was simply temporarily replaced with his corrected universe counterpart. But like. The dimensional bus system is still active crimbo doing the Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me routine aint gonna work if they can come back with a shrug and bus fare. you're fighting the symptoms without treating the problem)

Universal Constants:

Three individuals per universe that serve as the pillars which stabilize said universe, created by absorbing red orbs Crimson creates. Becoming a constant grants power, but also makes the constant fragile, and death wipes them from the face of the multiverse, only crimson, those he's possessed and the other constants seemingly able to recall they ever existed, although some physical evidence is still left behind (Larry's record of Nagito's death, which is just as redacted as everything else relating to him but still is very much something Larry has. Kind of a Voidfish adventurezone type beat ironically enough? Taako really has seen all this shit before no wonder he peaced tf out)

To counterbalance the weaknesses the constants have, they have a sort of spidey-sense to alert them to danger, and an intrinsic bonded connection to their fellow constants, and additionally, Crimson apparently doesn't suffer any pain from the death of constants or the structural instability of a universe.

Possession: what it says on the tin! Seemingly can only be done with permission to living things- none of crimson's direct hosts seem to have entered that agreement unwillingly, Valentine lost a bet, Hamburger and Crimsonaut have been by all evidence intentional allies to Crimson- but electronics are fair game, as seen with The Guy's suit. Kinda curious how that rule applies to bitches that are half and half, like J0hn or the clonebot gang, as its unclear whether The Guy's suit was yoinkable without permission because it was mechanical or because its not sentient. could go either way but if it's the former that's potentially very frightening

Fusion: Two individuals from alternate universes can be fused into one shared body which can take on aspects of either depending on which is currently in control. (possibly allows someone who traveled into a given universe to become a fixed resident there without it being an issue for Crimson, whose job is to prevent interdimensional travel?) Monday Mark and possibly T.O.M. are our main examples.

Corruption:

Unpleasant As Hell and can even kill you instead of changing you if you cant handle it.

turns the corrupted individual into a twisted exaggeration of themself, allows them supernatural control over their shape, and makes them very difficult- if not impossible by traditional means- to kill, based on Garfield.

Subjects them to control by Crimson, but can be exorcised of this influence just like crimson's direct hosts can, although the supernatural changes to their physiology are seemingly permanent, judging from Shantae.

Notable Weaknesses:

Exorcism can be performed to free a possessed or corrupted individual of Crimson's influence. Its unclear how exorcism works/is learned in CPUK, but confirmed exorcists: dantoinette and yung papaya's snake dad, confirmed non-exorcists: folk

The universal constant orbs are physical objects so they are Very Stealable and they grant a power boost so theres literally an Incentive to beat his ass for anybody who wants to be strong and either doesnt know or doesn't care about the whole 'getting erased when you die' part

Crimson has lots of tools to create pawns, but all of them have drawbacks. Corruption could kill a potential pawn, possession generally seems to require permission, and he has no control over the constants' choices and actions

Manipulative bitch's highest stat is charisma and it shows. This motherfucker is selling snake oil. If he was mortal rather than a Whole Entire God he'd make an excellent ineffectual saturday morning cartoon supervillain and i think everyone, including him, would be happier for it, ngl

Something interesting ive realized that likely wasnt fully intentional, is that a lot of Dr. Order's creations, considering her motive, can kind of be sorted by a color god it appears to be a crude attempt at mimicking the abilities of. My Grunk is a poorly executed resurrection, the clonebot gang vs chartreuse's timeclones (this one deserves special mention because Chartreuse used this shitty attempted mimicry to her advantage with D+, very smart and ironic play, excellent job Treusy,) spirits are somewhat similar to universal constant orbs (orbs which can be absorbed to grant power, but which have physical repercussions- key differences being that spirits require activation and grow stronger while attuning to a user without being used, and having far less severe drawbacks, taking a heavy toll on the body, but only once they've worn off and without the risk of wiping yourself from the face of existence,) and she also augmented Perfect Spriteman and Larry, which kind of track as crude imitations of Crimson's corruption!

Garfield was an acerbic cat who loved food and hated mondays, now its an actively malicious ever-hungry amorphous entity whose only weakness is monday and whose only consistency in form is 'cat-like.'

Shantae was (to my extremely limited understanding of shantae,) a friendly heroic type who had to introduce herself often, and she became something akin to a biblically accurate angel that can *only* introduce herself.

The Grunks a tough but sweet and supportive single dad with stage presence and a tendency to fly off the handle when he or his family are slighted, and now he gets so hype in the audience when his son does well that he bursts into flames and ascends and we get random grunk events along with the associated murder charges when he gets mad and the target sucks enough that he doesn't hold himself back from killing them.

Perfect Spriteman and Larry fit the trend of exaggeration of already present traits- Spriteman fucking loves sprite and became something that only thinks about sprite, and Larry the Florida Man, characterized from minute one by unpredictability and who spent his first matches in the series pre-shapeshifter transformation staying alive keeping stocks for Shockingly Long even despite getting seventh, became literally physically random as well as developing the ability to regenerate, albeit with the ability to feel pain normally very much intact, unlike Garfield just... Soaking up damage like its nothing in his pursuit of Jon. The fact that Arbuckle legit defeated Garfield, even temporarily, is terrifyingly impressive honestly that dude is fucking built different for being so chronically bland

i dont think they're actually corrupted in any meaningful way we have to worry about, to be fully clear, Spriteman was cured with fucking antacids, i simply think they could be a fucked up attempt at making something that kind of seems like it from a functional standpoint, from the wannabe god doctor that brought us green clones whose only fundamental association with time was accelerated aging and who thought an actively rotting corpse thats just reanimated enough that it can throw hands was as good as curing death

[mandalorianbrainweasel]

For the prompt asks...how about Boba and Kix time? Maybe Kix can teach Boba how to set a broken nose or something? Idk. I just thinking bonding time is neat.

Not a broken nose, but certainly some bonding-ish time related to treating an injury.

Velvet Twine Stars

G. Boba & Kix. 703 words. Mention of injuries, discussion of deployment. Solus'Tome'verse, which means background Spar & Jango and Fenn Rau/Spar/Mij Gilamar.

Ba'vodu/Ba'tat - aunt/uncle

Buir - parent

Koor - Deal

Boba could argue why any of his “cousins” are his favorites, but that is simply a long thought exercise for why Kix is his favorite.

It all boils down to one thing: Kix doesn’t snitch.

“Okay, so what you want to do is wrap it like this,” Kix says, demonstrating with a bundle of gauze and Boba’s own arm, smeared liberally with bacta on stitched gash. “You want it tight but not tight enough to cut off blood flow. That’s how you make the whole situation worse.”

Boba scowls.

Kix gives him an unimpressed look.

“So if I do it too tight, I unwrap it and rewrap it looser,” Boba recites.

“Yes, exactly,” Kix replies, smirking and patting Boba’s head. Asshole.

“I hate you,” Boba says.

“I don’t have to be the one to patch you up when you do something stupid,” he reminds him.

Boba glares. “Thank you,” he grits out.

“How did you even get a gash at that angle?” Kix asks, scooting away on the rolling chair.

Boba hunches in on himself. “Someone dared me to climb the generator tower.”

Kix shoots him a concerned look. “Really? That’s...different.”

“It’s stupid,” he grumbles. “I’m lucky I just got slashed by one of the fan blades.”

“You really are.” Kix sighs. “If it happens again, to anyone you’re telling me whose idea this was and I’m going to tell Mij’bu.”

Boba jolts. “No! You never tell! And if you tell Ba’vodu Mij, he’ll tell Ba’tat Spar, and Spar will tell Buir.”

“If this is more than just you, it’s going to be a lot worse.” Kix sighs. “You know I’m going to ship out, soon.”

Boba freezes. “What?”

“Yeah, I passed by exams a while ago, but I’m only hitting the actual development requirements for getting deployed next month.” He tilts his head, considering. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and get assigned to Jet or Jag or someone else who is coming in and out of Kamino all the time. But it’s just as likely I’ll get put with a standing unit like the Marines or one of the legions that get thrown at everything, like the 212th. It may be a long time before you see me again.”

Boba stares at him for a long moment, and it feels like everything he’s shored up until now is starting to crumble. He sniffs and Kix looks at him with alarm. “I hate this war,” he cries, curling in on himself even as Kix tugs him into a hug. “It keeps taking you all from me! It takes my friends and it took Jet and Jag, and our other cousins, and now it’s taking you. But I’m just here, with buir and a lot of the ba’vode and, and, and...”

“Shhh.” Kix rocks them back and forth. “That’s just life, Boba. Even those of us who aren’t Mandalorian...war is not a constant, but it is a law of the universe. There will always be change. There will always be conflict. If we’re all very lucky, me, and Jet, and Jag, and all of our cousins will come back. But...not everyone survives. Even when there isn’t war, there are accidents, and incidents, and stupid dares. Life is a gift.”

Boba sniffs again, reaching around Kix’s torso to hug him tight. “You’re right.”

“I tend to be, yes.”

Boba lifts his head and lets it drop heavily against Kix’s shoulder, making him scoff. “Braggart.”

“You’ve been listening to Par’bu talk again.”

He gives Kix a wobbly smile. “Yeah.”

“At least most of my non-standard vocabulary is useful,” Kix grumbles.

“I dare you to say that to their face.”

Kix shoots him a panicked look. “What, just because you lucked out of death today that means I have to die?”

Boba sticks out his tongue and hopes this is a better memory for Kix to look back on when he’s...out there. “Hey maybe we’ll both get off easy.”

Kix snorts. “Shebs’ika.”

“I’m your favorite.”

He shoves Boba away, ruffling his hair as he does. “And I’m yours.”

“No snitching?” Boba asks, extending his hand.

Kix laughs and clasps his wrist. “No snitching. Unless someone else is in trouble. Then I am so snitching.”

“Ugh, fine. Koor.”

“Koor.”