#i doubt anyone outside of solo runs

[lochiiee]

i made a stupid dandys world oc LOOK AT THEM!! they r kinda ugly bc i cant draw but STILL (passive scaling under cut :3) I LOVE THEM!!! any pronouns but mainly them

[dami-is-delusional]

Fighting or Flirting?: A Series of Confusing Events (seriously. someone stop them.) - Steve Rogers x ExHydra!Male!Reader

Summary: You used to be an experiment, curated by Hydra to be a living weapon. Somewhere along the line, SHIELD saved you and decided to place you with the Avengers. As the superficial leader, Steve Rogers tried his best to welcome you. Somehow it all went downhill from there... until it didn't!

(enemies to lovers, might not be the most accurate Steve, my second fic ever so i apologize in advance.)

PART TWO: Meeting the Avengers (and your downfall... jk it's just your future bf!)

If someone were to see your expression on the car ride to the Avengers tower, they would've assumed someone had just killed your puppy. But nope, you were simply upset that you had to join the team of heroes. Were you even going to get paid for this? Probably not. You sighed, the agent who was driving paid no mind. Now, one might be questioning why you were so against joining the Avengers. If it were anyone else, they probably would've been absolutely thrilled! Who wouldn't want to be in the same space as the heroes of New York? You. That's who.

It wasn't like you had anything against them. No, quite the opposite. You admired their heroism and their desire to keep people safe. You found it noble and extremely cool. It was like something out of your comic books. The real problem was the fact that you would have to work with them. As in teamwork. As in talking to them. As in socializing and having to hold conversations.

Due to your experience at HYDRA, you knew how to do many things. Like how to intimidate and interrogate people into giving you information. How to sneak around buildings without making a sound. How to end someone's life in 74 different ways. You know, the basics! What you didn't know how to do was how to interact with other human beings. Making conversation past a basic introduction? Not your thing! Turns out that being isolated from humanity for a good portion of your life doesn't exactly do wonders for your social life. When SHIELD took you in, you were perfectly content with going on solo missions where you only had yourself to depend on. That's what most of your life has been like anyways. It wasn't anything new. You went from one set routine at HYDRA to another set routine at SHIELD, both in which you were by yourself.

Now, you were being added to a team of people who already knew each other pretty well. You would be an outsider who didn't even know how to knock on the door. You didn't know how people behaved around each other. You didn't know how to get closer to people. You had very low hopes on surviving this. You sighed once more and the agent driver ignored you and your brooding once more as well.

The tall and imposing Avengers tower stood like a mean taunt. Poor little Y/N is going to have to function like a normal human being! Let's hope they don't secretly hate you! You looked up at it and grimaced. It almost felt like the building was making fun of you and already predicting your inevitable doom.

"Maybe doom is a bit much. Oh, who am I kidding? If I'm lucky, the building will explode and I won't have to talk to anyone," you thought hopefully. You looked at the tower for a couple more seconds. No explosion. You sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Before you could decide to run away to India, you stepped into the building.

The elevator ride up to the floor you were told to go to was nerve wracking. Questions and doubts swirled inside your mind like a snowstorm trying to keep you frozen where you stood.

“What if I can't do my job properly? What if I can’t figure out how a team works? What if I trip when I step out of the elevator and that’s all they think about?” Luckily (and unluckily) for you, your thoughts were brought to a stop when the doors of the elevator opened. Taking a deep breath and giving yourself speedrun mini pep talks in your mind, you took your first step as an Avenger.

CRASH.

Several people stumbled over to the elevator and tried their hardest (and failed miserably) to look normal and stoic. Clint Barton and Tony Stark seemed to have toppled over each other in an attempt to be first. Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner approached in a much more orderly fashion, the former looking as though she was going to whack the first duo. Finally, the poster boy of all of America. Steve Rogers. How could someone look like a Greek statue and a golden retriever?

“So these are the Avengers… at least I didn’t trip!” you thought, feeling the most joy you could muster up from this day.

The owner of the building and the man who could probably buy your entire life with one phone call started to speak first.

"So you're the new member that Eye-Patch was telling us about! Welcome to my- our tower," Tony said in greeting, correcting himself after a sharp nudge from Natasha. You knew both Natasha and Clint since they were also SHIELD agents like yourself. You hoped that they could help you out so that you didn't actually have to talk to someone entirely knew about it.

"Yeah, I'm Y/N L/N," you answered simply. You were already off to an awkward start as you stood there, unsure of what to say. You had expected this, of course, but it felt ten times more unbearable in real life.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Steve Rogers, welcome to the team," came a kind and gentle voice.

You looked over at the source and saw Captain America himself, smiling politely. What were you supposed to say to that? You didn't want to lie and say you were happy to be here.

"Shit, should I smile back? Do I say thank you? Oh wait, a thank you sounds right..."

Hoping no one took note of your obvious silent panic and hesitance, you cleared your throat, "Uh, thank you. I hope... we can get along...?" you weren't sure if you were actually replying or asking a question. At this point, you were just relieved that you managed to say something at all.

To your surprise, the recently defrosted Super Soldier just continued smiling. It was beginning to creep you out. "I'm sure we all will. We're excited to have someone new! You should join us for lunch, Stark is taking us to some shawarma place," Steve offered, his golden boy smile seemingly glowing and radiating with his optimism.

The idea of being thrown into a group social setting right off the bat made you want to jump out of a window. You prayed to some divine being that your face didn't automatically react and show your distaste to such a plan.

"I'm okay, thank you. I'm just gonna... find my room and settle down... and stuff," Lord, you wanted to shoot yourself because of how stupid you probably sounded to them. You saw the slightest falter in Wonder Boy's face but it was gone the next milisecond.

"That's alright! You do that. We can all get together another time," he suggested. You just sort of laughed awkwardly and walked past them with your bags. You wanted nothing more than to hide in a hole and never come out.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y is gonna help you find your room!" Tony called out as the group walked over to the elevator. You turned back slightly to nod in acknowledgement, even though you had no idea who the hell 'Friday' was. As you did, you noticed that Steve was staring at you oddly. He immediately looked away when you caught him. Weird... but who were you to judge?

The elevator door closed and you let out a shaky sigh. How long would you have to repeat the tedious and torturous act of making conversation? You picked up your bags, ready to crash into a bed.

Now for future references, if anyone asked you if you screamed louder than a tornado warning siren when a disembodied, robotic voice began talking, you will deny it with your whole body and soul.

So that's who F.R.I.D.A.Y is...

A/N: This totally did not take almost a full month to make, no you're just being crazy. I don't procrastinate EVER.

Side note, I don't know why I put this off for so long. I will try my best to be a tad bit more consistent in the future.

[mydearestbeloved]

you know based on the latest updates so far, the system and reader, to an extent, seems to determine to keep things and comply with the canon timeline so this make me question one thing: why is reader here? is something about this timeline different than the canon that requires her to intervene and keep things running? I hope I don't come across as rude or hateful but since things haven't changed much that much compared to the main storyline, so far, reader being here feels rather... redundant? (besides making the lives of people around her easier of course) I'm not saying huge changes won't happen and i probably need to be more patient but i have my doubts when you mentioned potentially making one of the endings where jinwoo doesn't end up with reader and marry haein instead and follow up on that is the trial player au of solo leveling ragnarok, which, imo, kinda make adding reader pointless in a way if nothing major changes in the end. idk maybe i expect too much since i thought iseka'ing reader to SL means something significant and changes, epspecially the positive kind, mean she is needed but idk it's your fic so I'm sorry if i sound overbearing.

?System¿:

[ Ask reviewed as of (26/11/2024) . . .

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have unlocked a Hidden Information!

⚠️POTENTIAL SPOILERS ALERT⚠️

Would you like to view?

<<Yes>> <No>

We thank you for your support, Reader.

System will now connect you you to 《AUTHOR》 ]

.

.

.

No, actually, you are thinking in the right direction! 💞

Since you’re onto something, I’ll give you a little bit more information without spoiling too much:

A Recurring Theme

You noticed the pattern, yes? That, for now, this AU doesn’t seem to change much from the original plot of Solo Leveling, only that it has a new major character who doesn’t even seem to change the trajectory of events, their outcomes, or the story overall. Even outside of the story, I, as the author, seem to fuss too much in my discussions about staying canon-compliant when this story is an AU, not a rewrite of the original. So let me tell you this one thing:

It’s all intentional.

The deeper plot of this AU of mine is related to why, for now, the story is staying mostly canon-compliant. This is also related to Trial Player!Reader’s actual role in this story.

Trial Player!Reader’s Role

“Why is she here?” That is one good question, my friend. Indeed, besides making small changes that don’t affect the outcome much and making the lives of people around her easier, in retrospect, her presence doesn’t change anything major.

“So far, Reader being here feels rather... redundant?” That’s exactly the first point of this story that I want to introduce to you all. Because, let me repeat, this is intentional.

“Is something about this timeline different than the canon that requires her to intervene and keep things running?” Instead of thinking like that, let’s try the opposite: In order to keep things running naturally, don’t intervene. But if that’s the case, then what’s the use of her being here? Especially with the power she has?

To that question, let me raise you another: If you have a plan, don’t you have a backup?

The point of a backup is to anticipate uncertainty, just in case something goes awry with the ongoing plan and the outcome is not as expected. But if the plan goes smoothly and the outcome is as expected, then the backup is instantly discarded, no?

Does this ring a bell, anyone? Because that’s exactly what TP!Reader is. But what uncertainty is she here for exactly? For the answer to this, we’ll have to see further in the story.

Trial Player, a Solo Leveling AU, and Its MC

“Is something about this timeline different than the canon?” No, they should not be different. Why?

This is already a recurring theme in isekai’d-to-a-story-I-know fiction, where the isekai’d MC tries not to change the story unless it’s for one reason or another (living the life they didn’t have, saving themselves from certain fate, saving others from certain fate, and so many more). I’m sure some people are bored of this, but then, why is it written again and again and again? Because it is the most logical approach.

Remember, we as readers view this story as purely fiction, a fantasy. However, we also view this story from the viewpoint of someone whose dreamy fantasy turned into cold, harsh reality. In reality, everything has consequences. We survive by learning to choose and bear the consequences of our choices. And when in the shoes of someone in a fantasy-turned-reality, isn’t it normal, wouldn’t it be safer, to anticipate what you already know will happen and its more predictable consequences instead of an uncertain future and its more uncertain consequences?

Of course, change is inevitable. Their presence where they shouldn’t have been is now part of the story, their new reality. So changes will happen. Then what can they do to salvage the security they’ve left? Minimize the changes, and improvise if the worst comes.

TP!Reader thinks this way. However, she was first and foremost human, a normal human like the rest of us. And humans seek to change and change others for one reason or another.

TP!Reader officially arrived in Solo Leveling’s Earth during the first S-Rank Gate tragedy, near the end of the catastrophe. Even if she didn’t directly participate, can you imagine how horrifying it was to witness the event, a real event, in person? Not to mention if you have this intrinsic urge to change, further pushed by being given the power to make a change, yet all of it is useless when it takes just one instance of you being reminded of something beyond your control. The helplessness—don’t we all feel that at least once in our lives?

TP!Reader chose to make life easier for Jinwoo. Note that the system didn’t force her, didn’t even give her a side quest to help Jinwoo (Why?). She did this out of her own volition, and perhaps one reason was to not feel that suffocating helplessness she felt before. So imagine, after finally feeling like you can help and make amends, you are reminded once again of how helpless you are. The first time the system erected that barrier to prevent her from changing Jinwoo’s mother’s fate, it left a permanent scar on her.

When you already think like someone who’s in fantasy-turned-reality, have invisible scars and deep trauma from just trying to survive, and then the system pulls a stunt like that—how would you react? For one, TP!Reader became even more convinced that she shouldn’t change the major events in the original plot. Which also aligns with the deeper plot of this AU of mine.

For those who already read Chapter 20, it might look like saving Min Byung-Gyu is a great deal in the road of changing the story. However, Min Byung-Gyu was already retired, so theoretically, his presence won’t change the story. But then, why did TP!Reader forbade him to join future battles if he’s already retired? The exact reason why he chose to participate in the Jeju Island Raid in the first place—his sense of duty. Min Byung-Gyu is an S-ranked healer, a capable hunter even with his distaste for violence. Even the slightest chance of him joining a future battlefield for his friends could bring about too many changes, minor or major, we don’t know.

So even when she wanted to help, to change his fate, TP!Reader, who’s already traumatized, will not take even the slightest chance of him being alive changing the story. The system also wouldn’t let her bring him back to life if his presence brought about those changes. Hence the ultimatum: If Min Byung-Gyu accepts being brought back to life, he will never step foot on the battlefield again. The moment he does, he will die, as he should have.

Let me repeat this one last time: There’s a deeper ongoing plot to why this story seems to revolve around the canon storyline so much for now. If ‘Solo’ is Jinwoo’s theme, then ‘Preparedness’ is TP!Reader’s. The Trial Player AU will have a Happy Ending. Discussions about other endings and ideas are conceptual, not canon.

_____

I think that's all I can say for now.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your thoughts!

I finally get the chance to geek out about this in another form beside the story, which still got a long way to go. 🥲

Thank you once again for giving my story a chance, for your interest and support. I really means a lot! 💞

[megzscribbleznwordz]

got any nsfw hcs for any of the main ypfigth guys ( gary claude troy satan ) perhaps ? ^_^

OOOOOOOOOhhhhh absolutely! I had so much fun writing these. I gave mostly general ones, if you'd like anything more specific or more for anyone else let me know!

Gary

Gary has a very high sex drive… like, even for Hell standards

Easy to overstimulate and arouse… Like, the smallest most random thing could turn him on out of nowhere. Someone he’s attracted to says hi? Boner. Anybody whispers anything in his ear? Boner. 

Very into teasing, be it being teased or doing the teasing… both finds the banter fun and also manages to be the best at finding what exactly to tease somebody about to get the desired response

Also super into edging, along with overstimulation and post-orgasm torture… pretty much anything that takes advantage of how sensitive he is / his sexual partner is

I think Gary would be a switch, with his decision on being dom/sub purely based on his mood in the moment

Claude

Also very teasing, but with more emphasis on degrading rather than banter. Very yappy to, won’t shut up ever about anything that takes place over the encounter

Claude is a reader… definitely has the biggest collection of raunchy novels. Loves using them as reference for what he does to himself/his partner too, like sexual inspiration

A bit of an underwear thief, very good at hiding it… collects the underwear off whoever he manages to sleep with, uses them to fuel his fantasies and as future jerk off fuel

I can’t explain this one at all but… definitely has a hand fetish. Tends to find himself attracted to people with well kept hands/very dexterous and hand-intensive interests/hobbies

A try-anything-once-even-if-I-don’t-think-I’d-be-into-it type of guy. Even in solo escapades, I feel like he does a lot of sexual introspection and exploration

Troy

Also a bit of an underwear thief, but more terrible at hiding it… weirdly gets off on the fact that he’s bad at it. Part of the arousal for Troy is the fear of getting caught.

Definitely super into anything that scratches his ego, ex. Begging, Overstimulating, Edging all in the Dom sense.

Very wordy as well, about everything pretty much. Be it narrating his actions/intended actions, praising and degrading his sexual partner, groaned out pleasure filled curses, his mouth is always going

Particularly loves blowjobs… I mean LOVES. Gets super into it too, running his hand through his sexual partner’s hair, guiding their head up and down on his cock

Troy is a groaner… also very sensitive! Most anything he either does to himself or has done by other leads to deep, difficult to contain guttural groans.

Satan

Office sex, office sex, office sex! It gives him the biggest power trip ever… Nothing scratches the ego like the feeling of bending some cute thing over his desk, papers spilling over the edges and sliding gently over onto the floor, hearing the footsteps of other demon’s outside the door no doubt unaware of the actions occurring behind it…

The only drawback is that he’s very loud… even when going through his solo sexual exploits. Moans, groans, hisses, curses, the whole nine yards.

Likes for his sexual partners to put on a show for him, if comfortable. Masturbating for him, stripping, wearing lingerie … the whole show is part of it for him.

Satan is super into the possessive sorts of kinks. Collars/leashing, predator/prey role play, anything that makes use of his power and possessive nature

Big fan of foreplay, when the time calls for it. I feel like most of his sexual encounters are quickies so whenever able he loves to take his time and building up the mood a bit

[dametussy]

On Being an Unloved Character from an Unpopular Source

My name is Dametas, and I regret to report that I’ve been forgotten.

My source material, a Shakespearean/jukebox fusion musical called Head Over Heels, lived and died on Broadway some years ago. With it, so did I, as I know myself. Other versions of me survive in whatever regional theatre companies have the good taste to adapt HOH, but none of them are me. We have two other fictives from this musical: the selfless shepherd Musidorus, and my most beloved, dearly sacred Pythio.

Musidorus sees some glimmers of herself in other adaptations, but she was sourced from a regional production to begin with, so there’s already a level of unrelatability to her self-conception, when I compare it against my own. Pythio, being the complex angel that They are, sees the complete reflection of Themself in the face of every actor or actress who has ever borne Their name on a playbill. This includes everyone from Their Broadway actress, Peppermint, to our very own body— on a technicality— and I can’t say I don’t envy Them for it.

Where I think the three of us differ is in essence. Musidorus relates solidly to her Broadway version, not in the least because of their similar voices and physiques. Most of their differences are in subtler things like hair color, facial structure, or alignment on the bigender presentation spectrum. In the end, she can recognize any portrayal with a similar essence to her own as a Musidorus unto himself.

As I partly described, Pythio can perceive anyone who claims to be Their character as a new aspect of Their being, with no regard to appearance, acting ability, species/gender presentation, or otherwise. This could theoretically be detrimental; if one were to name a cooked spaghetti noodle “Pythio” and toss it onto a stage, our Pythio would sincerely resonate with that interpretation. I adore every one of the infinite multitudes Pythio contains, but I am much more attracted to people than to pasta.

To return to myself, I rarely ever see more than glimpses of my own essence in portrayals beyond the familiar Broadway territory. If he doesn’t look like me, chubbiness and sock-sandal-combo and all, the connection is DOA. If he’s taller than Pythio, or if he seems to regard Them as anything less than the very possessor of his soul, then he’s like me in name alone. I haven’t yet run across a second portrayal of my character that resonates, and because of this, I sometimes feel like I’m dead to the outside world.

Not only was my essence scattered to the wind after the Broadway HOH’s closing night, but even before then, I doubt I was particularly well-known. In the days when it was open, Pythio was Pythio, and as such was inherently unforgettable. Musidorus was a main protagonist, with all the charm and drama needed to win audiences over. But… me? I was the set piece in a world full of star power. They fought duels and issued prophecies while I pushed around props and “coincidentally” found myself in the back row of every dance number. If an audience member fell asleep during the right twenty minutes, I could have easily been mistaken as part of the ensemble, if not a fashionable stagehand.

That’s not something I would change about myself, but it is something that brings up emotions too complicated for names. I’m naturally helpful and obedient— I was King Basilius’s advisor and servant, so of course I’d be doing the menial work that was too good for him! That was my entire job! Pythio has helped me feel prouder of my station and personality, but I feel no less neglected by the general public for it. I got a minute-long solo :) which didn’t even make it into the show :( It’s a miracle it ended up on the soundtrack!

My heart goes out to fictives who identify with their sources and suffer as I do. To the side characters, to the background characters, to the OCs, to all of you who never make it onto merch or the tops of tierlists… I see you. Trust me when I say that you are worth remembering, and it is only the fault of a tasteless audience that your source languishes in obscurity. If you want it, I hope you find fanwork that makes you feel understood. I hope your sources and their fandoms make you feel as seen as you want, and that they characterize you in ways that do you justice. If you wish to be, may you be a blorbo to somebody who gets you.

It’s late, and I think I’ve made the points I needed to, with the exception of one: while I heavily identify with my source— clearly— I respect and acknowledge that many in the plural community do not. I understand that the way I talk about my source will not resonate with all of you. That being said, I hope my long-repressed rant finds the folks who feel like me. I hope they know they’re not alone in this.

[isabel3710]

Alright, I have been working on a lil something for my Pop Star AU. A two shot!

Here is the first part and I'll let you guys know when the second part is posted.

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

To the outside world it looked like Floyd Barlowe had the perfect life. After his boy-band broke up, the fourteen year old started a solo career which quickly became successful. And now, almost seven years later, he had all the success and fame anyone his age could want and there was no doubt that he would be successful for a long time.

But the truth was that Floyd’s life was a nightmare.

—---------

Floyd stared out the window of his hotel room on Vacay Island, watching the distant waves crash over the beach. His eyes were vacant as he stared out at the scenery, not bothering to take it in. 

Publicly he knew he was here on a ‘relaxing vacation to celebrate the release of his latest album’ but Floyd knew that the week would be spent making content for his social medias and doing photoshoots and promos for whatever brand deal he was currently on. He also knew that he wouldn’t get to actually enjoy the island during what little downtime he had because Floyd’s manager kept him on a short leash. 

Floyd readjusted his position on the window seat before looking back at his room. It was a fairly small and basic room with all the necessities; a bed, desk, TV, and a bathroom.  There were also two doors, one led to the hallway and the other led to the room next door where his manager was staying. He knew that this type of room was often used for friends or family traveling together but Floyd knew it was so his manager could keep a close eye on him. And have access to him in the middle of the night.

As a teenager this would have made Floyd feel icky and gross but this has been happening for so long he just felt numb. Though Floyd didn’t know if it was a result of him having gotten used to the older man’s treatment or from the medications constantly running through his system.

Floyd kept staring out the window and watched as a surfer got back to shore and picked up their board, seemingly done for the day. His eyes followed the figure as they walked across the beach and back to the boardwalk, as they got closer Floyd could see that it was a man.

The man walked back down the boardwalk, surfboard under one arm, and as passed underneath Floyd’s second story window he was able to see the surfer better. He nearly fell out of his seat in shock because that was Spruce!

While it may have been a while since Floyd had last seen his older brother he was able to recognize him anywhere. Once he had recovered Floyd pressed his face against the glass, watching his Spruce walk down the boardwalk until he left his line of sight.

—----------

Shortly after spotting Spruce his manager had returned and Floyd was pulled off for various tasks, leaving him exhausted and sore. Now it was early evening and he was back in his room while his manager went off to do who knows what.

Floyd sat on his bed watching some random reality show while attempting to ease the pains in his bad leg by using the stretches and massage techniques his physical therapist taught him.

He eventually gave up and submitted to the fact he was going to be in pain until his manager forced pain meds down his throat. Floyd hated taking his meds because of how empty they made him feel. He even hated the pain ones because he never knew if they were really for the pain or for something else.

Laying back on his bed Floyd stared up the ceiling and his mind drifted back to Spruce. Gosh he would love nothing more than to try and find him, for the chance of seeing his big brother again. But he couldn’t just leave, for the moment he did his manager would find out and see it as an escape attempt. And as soon as this ‘vacation’ was done Floyd would be locked up back in the mental hospital. 

Floyd began to fiddle with his shirt, pulling at the tread and unraveling it. He didn’t know what his manager was up to but he had a pretty good feeling he was off drinking at the hotel bar. If he could just get out of the building he might be able to get away with leaving, as long as he was back before morning. Especially if the man was too drunk to make Floyd partake in his nighttime games. 

Sitting up Floyd bit his lip, wondering if it was worth the risk before deciding that yes. It was.

He carefully got off the bed and went to his bag and pulled out his leg brace, strapping it on. His manager tended to keep his arm crutches and cane hidden to make it harder for Floyd to run off. So, as much as it was going to suck, Floyd was without any of his normal mobility aids. 

Floyd limped to the door and opened it slightly and peeked out to make sure no one was around, once he was sure that the coast was clear he left his room and headed to the stairs. 

He would take the elevator but it led to the hotel lobby. And not only would the bar be in sight but Floyd wouldn’t be surprised if the person at the front desk was in his manager’s pocket. Which meant that as soon as he was in sight of them they would alert his manager. Wouldn’t be the first time. 

So instead Floyd was stuck slowly inching down the stairs, gripping onto the railing for dear life. Until, finally, he spotted an emergency exist to the outside world. He pushed the heavy door open and found himself standing behind the building in the bright sunlight.

—-----------

It wasn’t until a half hour of careful, and painful, walking it then occurred to him that Floyd had no idea where Spruce might be. All he had was a vague direction in mind and there was no telling that was the only place he had gone today. 

Floyd just about collapsed onto a bench on the side of the boardwalk, reaching down to rub at the tender muscles on his bad leg. He groaned in pain, a part of him just wanted to go back to the hotel but at this point it was too late. He had already made it this far, might as well keep going. 

“Yo man” he looked up to see a man who smelled vaguely of weed. “You good? You look rough.”

“Yeah,” he stammered “yeah I’m fine…”

The man squinted at him “do I know you from somewhere? You look familiar.” 

Floyd sighed and got ready to put on his ‘celebrity face’ as this usually led to him being recognised. Though he was more than ready to delay it as much as possible. “No, I don’t think we’ve met.”

The man peered at him closer before his face eased up “oh! I know what you remind me of.” Here we go “you look like that restaurant dude, Bruce!”

That… Was not what he was expecting “restaurant dude?” Floyd repeated.

“Yeah! Bruce” the man said “you know. Long purple hair, tall wife? Bruce!”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Floyd said.

“Really” he looked surprised “you two look a lot alike. You dudes could totally be related. Anyways, you should check out his restaurant” the man pointed down the boardwalk at a building not too far away “they got killer nachos.” 

“Oh” he said “well uh… Thanks.”

The man, who was clearly high, walked off and Floyd went back to rubbing his leg. The interaction was strange but… Good. It was nice to not be recognized for once.

As he massaged his leg Floyd frowned to himself, he didn’t know what it was but that name sounded familiar. Where did he know it from?

“Bruce” he mumbled, as if saying it aloud would jog his memory “Bruce, Bruce…. Spruce!”

That’s it!

Logically Floyd had always known that Spurce’s real name had been Bruce, kind of like Branch’s being Brandon, but since his older brother had never gone by it he had never associated the name with him. 

Straightening Floyd looked over at the building that the man had pointed at, while Bruce was a common name this was the closest he had gotten to a lead all night! So, despite the pain, he stood up again and started walking. 

As he got closer to the restaurant he was able to see the sign that read ‘Bruce and Sons.’ Looks like this was the place, Floyd headed to the door, navigating past the tables and chairs out front. 

Once inside he headed to the host stand where a young woman, around his age, stood and she greeted him with a smile. “Hi, do you have a reservation?” 

“No... Um” Floyd sputtered “this is going to sound weird but I was wondering if I could see Sp- I mean Bruce?”

“You want to see the owner?” She frowned “I’m sorry but not just anyone can see him, you know?”

“Yeah, no, I get that” he said “but if I could see him then I would be really grateful.”

The girl’s face then light up “hang on, I know you! You’re Floyd!”

He repressed a sigh and smiled awkwardly “yup, that’s me.”

Floyd wasn’t very good at the whole ‘celebrity charisma’ that others were. In fact, he had to practice and run over questions for interviews and often answers were fed to him through an earpiece.

“Oh my gosh!” The hostess squealed “I am such a big fan! I’ve been following you ever since the second ‘Music Is Life’ movie. Which was amazing by the way, I still think you should have gotten a bigger role instead of just singing at the end.”

Floyd just nodded along and kept his ‘celebrity smile’ on his face as the girl rambled and fangirled. Thankfully, someone intervened. “Emily,” a woman walked over. “Is there a reason why you are keeping a customer hostage over here instead of seating them?”

“Oh he doesn’t want a table” the girl waved dismissively “but look! It’s Floyd Barlowe. You know, the celebrity?”

The woman’s eyes widened and Floyd had to resist the urge to shrink in on himself, great, another fan. “Emily,” she said, “why don’t you take a break? I’ll handle things here.”

“But-”

“Now!” She said sternly and Emily’s eyes widened before running off. 

The woman turned to Floyd and he was able to take her in better, she wore a pair of light blue jeans and a yellow top. But the thing that caught his eye was how tall she was, at least six feet. 

She stuck out a hand “I’m Brandy.”

He shook it “Floyd, but you already know that.”

Brandy nodded “yes… Forgive me for asking but… Do you have a brother named Bruce?”

“Yes” he said, “but I always knew him as ‘Spruce,’ that's part of the reason why I came in here, to see if he’s the same guy.”

She smiled “well, I can say that Bruce and Spruce are the same person. He’s my husband.” 

“Wait” he stared at her “really?”

Brandy nodded “really. If you’d like, I can take you back to see him.”

As much as he wanted too Floyd didn’t think he could take another step without falling over “um… I’m good, I can wait here.”

Her eyes flicked down to his leg brace “well, why don’t you sit down at the very least? It’s not too busy tonight and we’re closing soon anyways.”

“Yeah, yeah that sounds good,” Floyd agreed.

Brandy led him over to a booth and Floyd gratefully sat down and took a look around. Growing up Spruce always talked about wanting to move near a beach and run his own restaurant, so he was happy to see that he had managed to accomplish that.

Floyd was pulled out of his thoughts when someone entered his peripheral vision and he turned to face them, the man beamed at him. “Floyd!”

“Spruce?” Floyd stood, grinning.

He was pulled into a big bear hug and was briefly lifted off his feet “It’s so good to see you!” Spruce said, setting him down. 

Pain shot up through his leg and Floyd braced himself against the table but smiled through the pain “it’s good to see you too Spruce”

His older brother looked really good. His hair was no longer cut short and straightened, now it was long and curly; though still purple. He had lost his famous abs and gained quite a bit of weight. 

Spruce was wearing a pair of shorts and an open Hawaiian shirt and Floyd could see the glint of a gold wedding ring on his finger. But most importantly he looked happier than Floyd could ever remember him, he seemed lighter. Like the pressure of BroZone was no longer on his shoulders.

Spruce sat down at the table and Floyd carefully eased himself back into his seat across from him “oh, just so you know, I go by Bruce now.”

“Oh,” Floyd said, "really?”

“Yup” he smiled “I wanted to put the whole boyband thing behind me. I also took Brandy’s name when I got married.”

“That’s cool” Floyd nodded “what is it?”

“Abbot.”

“Bruce Abbot” Floyd said aloud “it suits you.”

“Thanks!” Bruce smiled, “Also, you’re an Uncle.”

“Really?” Floyd sat forward eagerly, he loved kids. “That’s amazing! How many?”

“Three boys” Bruce said “Bruce Jr is five, Troy is three, and then little Cove is six months.”

“Wow” Floyd said “congrats, I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks,” Bruce said, “so what about you? What are you doing here? Last I heard you were doing a solo career.”

Floyd laughed nervously “ah well, you know, I’m just here for work stuff. You know how it is. But what I really want to talk about is my nephews. Tell me all about them!”

Thankfully Bruce took the bait and began rambling on and on about his family, not that Floyd minded. He was enjoying hearing about his brother’s family, even if he would never be able to be in their lives.

[vellaphoria]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @waffleinator-inator! <3

20 Questions for Fic Writers

How many works do you have on AO3?

There are 40 that I’ve solo-authored, and 9 that I did varying degrees of work on when a group of dc writers doing a round robin fic collaboration thing

What’s your total A03 word count?

It’s a bit thrown off by the aforementioned colabs, but I don’t want to go through and do the math, so the overall total is 567,072

What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly DC! The comics variant, that is. And within that, mostly Batman-adjacent characters. Though I also have one fic each for the avengers, the silmarillion, and haikuu

What are your top five fics by kudos?

Excluding the collaborations, it’s:

Cut and Run (Bruce crashes Tim and Ra’s’ dinner/business meeting; T, gen, 1.6k)

Deadfall (Canon divergence where Tim died in Red Robin and was resurrected/kidnapped by Ra’s; M, gen, 125k, on hiatus)

Recursion (Tim accidentally travels back in time to when Dick was just starting out as Nightwing, which is complicated by the fact that they still haven’t made up after Damian became Robin; M for mild nsfw, DickTim, 20k)

Complications (Outsider POV of post RR-canon divergence, ft. morally grey Tim; G, gen, 1.7k)

This Whole Damn City Thinks It Needs You (But Not as Much as I Do) (There has been a fair amount of building ust between Dick and Tim after Red Robin. Dick decides to do something about that; E for blatant nsfw, DickTim, 23k)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, but very slowly!

I respond because is someone took the time to engage with my work and actually write one, then it feels like it’s only right for me to put in an equal amount of effort to respond.

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would probably be the DickBabs with unrequited DickTim wedding Tumblr fic (here, if you like pain)

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It’s hard to say. Since I tend to be averse to bad endings, most of my fics have happy endings of one sort or another

Do you get hate on your fic?

Sometimes. Usually from people who can’t grasp that limited third person POV means that the narrating character doesn’t have perfect information at all times, or people who are upset that characters don’t make 100% rational decisions 100% of the time.

Do you write smut?

Yep! <3

Do you write crossovers?

Depends on how you define them. I tend to do a lot of AUs which blend elements from other settings with DC, but I don’t really enjoy writing characters from different, unrelated media meeting.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge!

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! My Running (and when to stop) DickTim series was translated into 中文-普通话 國語 by SummerVapour and tiktiktiktiktam, which is linked on the fic itself

Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes; I helped write a few fics in the round robin collaboration series A Journey of Personal Discovery Through Social Isolation. Amusingly, we named it that a year before the pandemic started.

What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

DickTim, to absolutely no one’s surprise :D

What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Probably To Break Every Bended Knee; or, Apocrypha. I really love the setting, but the fic is supposed to be JayTimDick and all the endings I plotted for it ended up being DickTim with Jason kind of doing his own thing. That doesn’t seem like a particularly satisfying conclusion to anyone interested in the story, so I decided to put my time elsewhere.

What’s your writing strengths?

Comments that have gone into specifics have said that my fics have good characterization, visualization, and engrossing plots.

What’s your writing weaknesses?

I’m very bad at brevity, so writing short, snappy fics that also make sense doesn’t usually work out for me.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I pretty much only speak English, so I don’t tend to do it. If I ever had a fic that absolutely needed it, then I’d ask for writing support from someone who actually does speak the language in question.

First fandom you wrote for?

Depends on how you define wrote. If you mean wrote and published, then it’s DC. If you mean wrote when I was a kid and then let disappear into the files of a long-defunct computer, then probably Stargate SG-1.

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Of the stuff I have published, probably Recursion. Though if I’m allowed to include WIPs, then I’ve been working on a DickTim slowburn on and off for a while now. It’s meant to cover things from when they meet to post-Red Robin, with a fair amount of mini canon divergences throughout. Currently it’s somewhere upwards of 50k, but I haven’t had a chance to work on it in a while. If you're in the mood for it, no pressure tagging @gerryrigged, @marirah, and @themandylion :D

[empressaraceli1992]

Nothing

GhostxSoap

Angst/Hurt/Hurt with eventual Comfort/Crying/Suicidal Thoughts/Gaz is ride or die (Don’t piss off the tiny sergeant!!)/Price is a concerned father

18+ Only!

Soap felt his heart lodge itself in his throat. He stood outside of Ghost’s door feeling worse than the time he had been shot in Las Almas. How could it have come to this?

Soap had knocked so confidently, and presented his true and honest to God feelings for the man. Only for Ghost to –

“I love you.” Soap smiled, looking into those amber eyes with such hope.

“No, you don’t.” Ghost snapped.

“Simon—”.

“Stand down Sergeant.” Ghost growled. “It didn’t mean anything. We are nothing.”

Soap struggled to breathe. He was so stupid. The tension had been so high after the mission. Soap had been injured. It was only natural for Ghost to want to blow off steam. Right…? It was Soap’s own fault for letting his feelings out over a hookup. Soap hadn’t realized he was still standing outside of Ghost’s room until the door swung open again.

“Sergeant.” Ghost growled. Soap flinched. Not Johnny, not Soap, Sergeant. Soap could feel the hot tears welling up along his lash line. In his peripheral he saw Ghost stiffen. No doubt he was disgusted with Soap’s pitiable expression. Falling, stiffly, into parade rest Soap squared his shoulders, but kept his eyes on Ghost’s boots.

“Sorry, sir.” Soap rasped. Spinning on his heel he all, but bolted down the hallway. Rounding the corner to his own barrack he collided with Gaz.

“Whoa, easy Soap.” Gaz laughed. “Where are you—Soap what happened?” Gaz held Soap’s face in between his hands as he noticed the tears running down his fellow Sergeant’s face.

“I told him, Gaz.” Soap sobbed. “I told him and he said w-we…we were nothing.” Soap could feel himself teeter as Gaz pulled him into a hug.

“That fucking wanker.” Gaz spat as he led Soap to his room instead. Locking the door behind them Gaz led Soap to his bed. They didn’t bother getting undressed. Instead they laid down together with Soap in between Gaz’s legs, his face buried in Gaz’s chest as he wept. Soap wept for all he was, all he had hoped, for the love of a man he had come to admire, for the friendship lost. Ghost would never forgive him for this. How could he be so stupid? His old team had told him how annoying he was, always running his mouth, always joking, always being in the way. He was stupid. He had annoyed Ghost countless times with his useless flirting. His idiotic banter. He was nothing. He was a Sergeant, a demolitions expert, but he didn’t mean anything…

“Get out of your head Soap.”Gaz chided gently as he patted his back. “Try to sleep.”

Soap tried, he really did, but Ghost’s words played on repeat in his mind like a vicious record player.

Finally, exhausted Soap crawled out of bed and left a sleeping Gaz behind. He would find no comfort in his friend’s arms. They were not the arms his heart ached for. And oh did his heart ache. Soap had heard of ‘broken heart syndrome’. Soap gave a bitter bark of a laugh as he wove his way through the silent hallways. What a way to die he thought bitterly. The muscle in his chest gave a twisting twinge that nearly knocked the air out him.

How was he going to manage training the recruits with the lieutenant looming over him as his heart continued to break? How was he going to cope when Ghost ignored him for the next month? How was he going to eat at the dinner table with the man he loved knowing he would never know him back? He had to get away. He had to hide until his heart could break entirely and kill him or led him on some stupid way to die in the field…

I can’t… Soap changed directions suddenly heading back down the hallway a single destination in mind.

Thankfully Price was always up before anyone else, so when Soap knocked on his door the Captain was wide awake, and busy preparing folders for a mission.

“Soap?” Price asked curiously, looking up from his paperwork. “What are you doing up this early?”

“I came to ask if there was a solo mission I could take.” Soap was proud of himself. His voice barely wavered. Price leaned forward his elbows on his desk, his fingers laced together.

“Alejandro and Rudy have requested help wiping out some remaining Shadows in Las Almas.” Price began.

“I’ll take it.”

“Son, it’s a three month long mission.” Price searched Soap’s face. “I had been intending to send Ghost—”

“Nae, I’ll go.” Soap shook his head.

“What’s going on son?” Price’s brows furrowed. “You don’t like solo missions.”

“Just need a change of pace.” Soap said quickly. It wasn’t entirely a lie.

“Very well.” Price sighed, plucking up a folder from the pile he held it out to Soap. “Transport will be ready at 0800.”

“Yes, sir.” Soap took the folder. “Thank ye sir. I’ll be ready.” Soap turned to the door, and paused. “Sir?”

“Yes?”

“Could we keep this mission between us?”

“I don’t see why not.” Price said slowly. “Is there a reason…?”

“I just…I just want to keep it between us if that’s alright.” Soap sighed. Ghost would have his head when he realized Soap had returned to Almas without him—wouldn’t he? After their last conversation Soap highly doubted it. Ghost had made his feelings clear. Soap was nothing. Soap felt his chest give another painful twinge. He wasn’t going to die of a broken heart. If he was going to die it was going to be on the field. Broken heart syndrome took two months to kill a person. Soap bet he could manage something better for himself before then. Ghost would never have to worry about his stupid feelings again. Forcing himself to smile he turned back to Price.

“Take care son.” Price sighed, dismissing the sergeant.

Soap hurried to his room. He changed quickly: t-shirt, gloves, jeans, boots. He reached for his dog tags sitting on his desk. His heart gave a hard thump against his rib cage. Soap had taken his dog tags off when he and Ghost… shaking his head Soap snatched up his sketch book. Flipping to the very back of the book he found the drawing he was looking for. It was a detailed sketch of Ghost—no Simon—asleep in Soap’s bed, the sun coming down on him from the window. Soap had lovingly sketched every detail from the top of his head to the V of his Adonis belt peaking out from the sheets.

Soap felt his heart break all over again as he—gently—tore the page out of his sketchbook. Folding it into an envelope he carefully slipped his dog tags inside. A single tear escaped as he wrote two words on the outside of the paper. Morbidly satisfied he checked the clock: 7:45a.m—he turned on his heel. Thankfully Gaz’s room was right next door. Slipping inside he caught Gaz getting dressed for the day.

“There you are!” Gaz pulled his shirt down. “Where did you go?”

“I got a mission from Price.” Soap held out the small folded envelope. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure?” Gaz said warily taking the envelope.

“I’m going away for a while.” Soap’s lip twitched. It was a morbid goodbye.

“Okay?” Gaz looked puzzled, but not alarmed. Soap took that as a good sign.

“Could you get this to Gho—Lieutenant Riley for me?”

“Ripping him a new one I hope.” Gaz frowned pocketing the envelope. “You going to be alright?”

“No promises mate.” Soap gave a halfhearted shrug. “I’ll see you later.”

Gaz watched his friend leave, a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

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

Ghost POV:

Three weeks later…

Soap was avoiding him. Ghost knew that the sergeant’s pride had taken a hit when Ghost told him he wouldn’t continue after their… escapade. Ghost had wanted Soap since Las Almas. The sergeant had wormed his way into Ghost’s cold heart.

Johnny was a brilliant man, with a smile that put the sun to shame, and a heart of gold he wore on his sleeve. Ghost had watched those brilliant pale gray eyes fracture into a kaleidoscope of hurt—and something Ghost couldn’t quite place—when he cut off his deceleration of love. Soap—Johnny—couldn’t love Ghost. Ghost wasn’t worth love. He was a memory of a man long since dead. But God did he want him. He wanted to ruin Johnny, claim him, make him his own and damn him to hell with him.

Shaking himself from his own thoughts Ghost longed for Johnny’s warm smile, his laughter… Ghost found himself longing for Johnny’s scent—a strange mix of lemongrass, spearmint, and honey—as he stood outside the sergeant’s door. Ghost knew Soap didn’t lock his door, he never did, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn the handle. So he left. Ghost returned to his room and buried himself in his work.

Over the next several days Ghost found himself haunting Soap’s usual hangouts whenever he was free to think: the wreck room, the large tree to the side of the training field where he liked to sketch, even the gym, but there was no sign of the man. Frustrated Ghost barely noticed the glares he was getting from Gaz. Gaz was Soap’s best friend. Ghost let it slide until he and Gaz were assigned to work together training a group of new recruits.

Ghost was the first to arrive on the field. Gaz arrived shortly before the new recruits began to file out from the barracks.

“Garrick.” Ghost said by way of greeting without looking up from his clipboard.

“Lieutenant.” Gaz growled. Ghost blinked turn to look down at the smaller man. Gaz didn’t meet his gaze. Instead he resolutely stared daggers at the new recruits—barking at them to fall in line. Gaz was never as laid back as Soap, but he was always fair, and (usually) warm to the newbies.

“Problem?” Ghost grunted.

“No, sir.” Gaz said curtly.

Ghost’s brows shot up under his mask. Gaz was never hostile to Ghost. Hell as far Ghost knew the man was scared shitless of him. Not that Ghost intentionally attempted to scare the crap out of the sergeant, but his reputation wasn’t anything to sneeze at. That and his less than social behavior didn’t help, but he had never done anything to make Garrick angry with him. Deciding to open that particular can of worms later Ghost ordered the rookies to separate into pairs to practice hand to hand combat.

Usually he would have Soap for this. Soap was the only one crazy and good enough to spar with the behemoth of a lieutenant. Ghost talked the rookies through the move he wanted them to do, but they all just stared at him in fear. Sighing, Ghost motioned for Gaz to come near.

“Sergeant Garrick lets give these greenies an example to follow.”

“Yes, sir.” Gaz spat.

Okay, now the sergeant was pissing him off. Ghost slid into position on one side of the makeshift ring. Gaz took up position on the other side fists raised. Ghost moved through the first two steps of the move, getting a hold of Garrick by the shoulder, then pressing his knee to the back of Garrick’s leg—Garrick spun swinging for Ghost’s face. Ghost blocked at the last possible second forcing Gaz’s hand down. What the hell? Gaz was turning it into a full blown spar.

Soap was the only one who had ever come close to besting Ghost at hand to hand combat in the 141, but damn if Gaz—Kyle fucking Garrick—wasn’t trying his best to lay Ghost flat. Gaz moved like a mad man: punching, kicking, swinging wildly trying to make contact with Ghost’s weak points.

“You—a punch—fucking—a kick—wanker!” Gaz snarled.

Ghost blocked him easily at first—with his superior skills—but he could only hold him off so long. It took everything in Ghost to not lose his temper and break Gaz in half with the way he was spitting curses at him. Finally, Ghost managed to complete the move he had been intending to show the rookies and pinned Gaz to the mat.

“Now, get to work!” Ghost snapped at the rookies. Shoving himself off of Gaz. “Go clear your head Garrick.” Ghost growled.

“Fuck you.” Gaz grumbled as he climbed to his feet.

“What was that sergeant?”

“I said—” Gaz rose to his full height, chest out. “Fuck you!” Gaze yanked something out of his pocket and threw it at Ghost. Ghost caught it reflexively. “You’re a fucking arse.” Gaz spat, spinning on his heel he stormed back into the building. What the fuck? Ghost looked down at the item—an envelope—but there was some weight to it. Confused, Ghost ordered the rookies to complete their hand to hand exercise, and do twenty laps before heading to lunch.

Going to stand beneath the tree at the corner of the training field—Soap’s favorite tree—Ghost turned the envelope over in his hands. Scrawled in neat handwriting on one side were two words: Sorry, L.T.

Ghost felt his stomach turn to ice. With trembling hands he unfolded the envelope. Something silver slipped out and clinked against the tree trunk. Ghost couldn’t focus on it, because in the inside of the envelope—which he now realized was a piece of sketchbook paper—was a beautiful charcoal drawing of him. There was no other word for it.

Ghost knew Soap could draw, but he didn’t know he could draw like this. Soap had lovingly sketched out every detail of Ghost—Simon’s—face making him look soft in places he had no right to look soft in. Soap—Johnny—made him—made Ghost—look human, loved, soft, gentle… Shaking his head Ghost bent down to retrieve the glint of silver—a necklace? No, dog tags.

John ‘Soap’ MacTavish

Stared up from his palm. Ghost was halfway to Soap’s room before he realized he was moving. Recruits long forgotten. His heart thundered in his ears. Stopping just outside the sergeant’s room he lifted his fist.

“Johnny?” Ghost knocked, hard. “Johnny open up.” Ghost’s fist pounded on the door. “Johnny if you don’t—”

“Soap is gone.”

Ghost spun—Gaz stood in the doorway of his room, his arms crossed over his chest.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Ghost demanded.

“I mean you ran him off you heartless bastard!” Gaz snapped, his hands balling into fists. “But what do you care? It took you three weeks to even notice that he was gone!”

Three weeks? No, Ghost noticed the first day Johnny didn’t come join him at breakfast. He noticed, but didn’t check, didn’t say, just buried his head in his own pain. Because that’s what Ghost did. He pushed people away and buried himself again, and again, and again.

“Where…?” Ghost croaked.

“Why do you care?” Gaz snapped.

“WHERE?” Ghost slammed Gaz into the wall.

“I don’t know!” Gaz growled. “Price sent him on a mission—”

Ghost shoved Gaz away, but the sergeant wasn’t done.

“You leave him alone!” Gaz roared yanking Ghost back by his shoulder. “You broke him once you don’t get to—”

Ghost slammed his fist into Gaz’s stomach. Leaving the sergeant gasping for air Ghost stormed off. Price was going to have his head. He didn’t care. He needed to know where Johnny was now.

[progeniterror]

okay since i'm on my bullshit and people seem at least intellectually interested in the idea here's what i've got for tatum prescott-loomis:

sidney opts to keep the baby despite everything really bc she's just so sick of death and she hopes this can be like, a silver lining and such you know?

for max chaos we use my base set up for billy-- just enough about the end is changes to put some reasonable doubt on him being the killer but you know..... you know....... but it does mean he's alive and well to demand access to the kid and Be Insane (derogatory) with sidney about this. the kid is a factor in why on EARTH they'd go to the same college considering everything.

tatum is about 2ish when scream 2 happens. gets kidnapped on the night of the Big Climax by grandma who plans to kill sidney, take the kid and recoop her image by being like "the good grandmother". Deeply Cursed. tatum doesn't super remember all this outside of it being a Core Memory and an underlying mental vibe that plants fears in her.

scream 3, tatum 2 is about 4 and living with her mom in the middle of fucking nowhere. sometimes she lives with dad or he comes and stays with them. it's very insane. sid and billy are both maniacs about safety considering everything tho for different reasons. she's with sidney for the chase scene on the set which is what really puts the fear of god into her. didn't need to see the knife to know he was Evil Bad bc the Core Memory vibes had kicked in lol. for like basically all of scream 3 tho she's pm off screen except for that one bit since you know.... she's fucking 4. that was just bad luck and timing.

Gets shown stab at a sleepover she was invited to EXPLICITLY so the other girls could bully her with this and the whole "your dad's an axe murderer thing" it's honestly so fucking unhinge and experience she doesn't even feel attacked. like when a burn is so bad you don't feel it. mostly just doesn't recover from seeing people pretending to be her parents bone. the mom came in around then and mclost it on the kids and she Went Home. Haunting.

she DOES get the occasional shit at school about who her parents are. this IS a thing.

sid and billy with the most ACCURSED joint custody set up. his wife is the real GOAT here in managing all this drama lol.

scream 4, she's roughly jill's age, a few years younger i think? but like An Teen™. Bleached her hair for a buffy costume for halloween which billy FUCKING HATES SOOOOOO BAD. but sets her up to be marked as "the tatum" of the "remake" jill and charlie are making. went with her mom on the woodsboro book signing trip to visit relatives, see her hometown etc. Mistake. Billy is also here but for his dad's funeral which tatum also probably attends i guess since that's her grandpa rip. ends up brawling with jill at the end to protect her mom. is likely the one who kills her in the hospital too. tells jill to eat shit bc if ANYONE is gonna be the protag of the remake it's THE FRANCHISE BABY. likely after having had some convo at SOME point in the film bit in the hospital or earlier with her dad about killing and you know Just Doing It bc Fuck Em.

Likely has had at least one ghostface solo run. like a ghostface or 2 who gunned for her EXPLICITLY between 4 and 5. by this point she's just really come to accept this is just How Her Life Is and does like martial arts, self defense, weapons training etc. like just full on laurie stro.de/becky mode and prepares to be attacked at any time. naturally she survives this ghostface attack. mom horrified and glad she's safe dad proud about how beast mode she went. tatum just wants a nap.

in her 20s has a go bag that includes a bullet proof vest. basically has her own variation of the "ghostface fit" for when this shit goes down, which is a black track suit with white details. goes for this bc it's made for exercise and gives her some baggyness to obfuscate the vest. kinda makes her look like a prick but hey, it works. yes she has THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT WHAT TO DO WHEN GHOSTFACES CROP UP. IT'S AN EVER PRESENT FEAR IN HER LIFE. AND SHE'S CONSISTENTLY PROVEN TO BE VALID IN HER PARANOIA.

scream 5 and 6. basically kinda go the same as usual but there's EVEN MORE FAMILY DRAMA since she's there and billy's alive and sam's sam. tatum likes sam a lot and has no issues with her but it does cause the first real serious blow out between her and billy. the murder??? she could get past that (insane statement) but cHeAtInG oN mOm?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!1/!??!?!?!? WHAT THE FUCK DAD!!!!!!! 6 includes them reconciling and joining forces to beat the baileys to death with rocks alongside sam and tara. you know family bonding shit.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

I know he's not your bias but if you don't mind could we talk about Yoongi since I like hearing your thoughts? Ever since the solo era started I'm surprised by the different things he's been doing - I always figured that he'd continue releasing albums and do more producing and he probably is doing that behind the scenes, but I'm surprised that he's branched out and even more surprised he's branched out into doing interviews and into fashion. The basketball stuff - I don't know if that's anything official - and the recent artsy photoshoot drops aren't anything solid yet but still weren't thing I envisioned he'd be interested in.

All in all, I think it's too early to say how successful he'll be, but I'm intrigued by all the different stuff he's trying out. I would have pegged him as the last member to select these particular projects. So I've obviously misjudged him deeply - did you expect him directing his solo career in these directions?

Yes, we can talk for a bit.

I sort of like that Yoongi is branching out and does things that maybe people wouldn't automatically associate him with. Instead of just focusing only on producing and releasing his album, he's out there, trying new stuff and showing a lot more of his interests and the range he has. I don't think anyone expected those photos he keeps posting on IG. Which will either lead to something or it's just for fun, which would be equally cool.

I don't really have any doubts of him not being successful. He's well established outside BTS as well and has the skills and talent to adapt, especially in terms of producing. That's a winning card on the long run. And while he still has some time until his military service, he's enjoying life by doing whatever he wants that the time in the group didn't really allow him before.

Since the hiatus announcement, I feel like Yoongi really is on this singular path, quite separated from his group (except the Busan concert) and doing his own thing. And I like that. He's really shown how he is is own person outside BTS in any form (except those Suchwita episodes, but it's a BH production, so it's to be expected).

[tkdunning]

(12)

Heavy focus on Ignorance bridge & solo sections. The isolated speed strumming over string muting is kind of a pain in the ass. I suppose it will force me to learn to be more precise.

Tried out the micro amp that arrived today. Feels like I took off my weights. The difference is night and day in terms of tone - it's literally the best sounding amp (both physical and digital) that I possess. I thought my tone sucked ass because I was a bad player but I guess in hindsight just running the guitar through preamps or headphone out on a bass amp should've been an obvious handicap on tone. Using the bluetooth for metronome apps and backing tracks actually sounds good and doesn't make my ears bleed. I can also practice literally anywhere now and not disturb anyone. I can open the windows or turn on the A/C. I could walk down the street and still practice. Incredible.

Very hefty practice session today. Progress made on She-Wolf and Walk With Me In Hell. Started learning WWMIH solo, can probably start practicing the rest of the song against a metronome tomorrow.

Random rant:

How is it that every single dumb tab and playthrough of 'Walk With Me In Hell - Lamb of God" disagrees on the intro riff. I'm actually being gaslit. I fucking hate tabs - little billy in his fuckin basement noodles around and gets me doubting what I actually hear. The only real solution outside of learning by ear (which can be tricky depending on the mix) is to try and find official sheet music. But then that sort of thing doesn't always exist and I also don't usually care enough to want to invest. Not trying to start a fuckin cover band - I just want to learn it, perfect it, and forget it. As cringe as tabs are, standard notation is arguably worse because it's so incredibly inefficient.

[idksheepthoughts]

Conversation I don’t understand

Starting off Context. We are discussing Hardcore World of Warcraft ruleset. There is a rule set built by the community that you have to follow to play the game mode and get a “validated” level 60 run. There is no Blizzard official servers as of yet. 

Ok so the acquaintance 

(A) starts off with asking me if I wanted to duo. "or full party?" 

 Me: mention only duo/trios are allowed. 

A: Well then by full I mean 3 

Me: Official servers I doubt will have grouping restrictions 

A: Although thats fucking stupid. Yeah official wont restrict it, coz its fucking dumb. 

Me: but under current rules you can't group unless you enter in a name for duo/trio at level 1 

A: Also yes I saw the rules 

Me:  i mean a full HC party would be able to just blast everything no challenge 

A:  the game is literally made with the idea around a full party playing the whole game. that was like the whole concept of mmos at the time. 

Me:  ehhh only for group content like elite quest and dungeons. I enjoy my solo gameplay while leveling tbh. the one thing i hate about the non grouping thing is for named mob tags 

A:  it was after that they were like oh this kinda sucks ass for solo players and slowly rebuilt the game around it.  it was made that way coz they thought people would be running in packs of 4-5 

Me: i mean they changed it later to just allow anyone who damages a mob gets credit. implementing that in HC official wouldn't be a terrible change. 

A: all im saying is that being like "full group too ez" is dumb. but so is banning bubble hearthing 

Me: but leave group petriflask ghetto hearth allowed 

 A:  liek yes its stupidly broken but its a mechanic of the game just grow up and dont play pally if u dont like it right 

Me: there is some rules that i find stupid as hell 

A: literally all of them are dumb as hell to me.  only one dungeon run allowed? (Spams ?????) 

 Me:  it makes it so you can't overgear shit 

A: overgear? 

 Me: you farm bis every level from every dungeon you overgear any other content 

A: yeah like the way the game was literally designed to be played lmao 

Me: then don't play hardcore Lmao 

A: its so dumb to be like no that makes it to easy. you still have to do the dungeon 

Me: you don't have to do any dungeons 

A: dungeons being the most dangerous places int eh game outside raids 

Me: i've seen people level entirely from quest and grinding.I personally just hate spamming the same dungeons over and over though. i'd rather quest.i did that on classic release with friends cause it was "meta" (dungeon spam).spamming dungeons makes me wanna drink, I hate it so much. 

 A: wot im saying is that it was an option that was put in from the start as a mechnic of the game and it makes no sense to ban or restrict its use. like you can still level to max as a mage in 4 days hardcore none of these rules stop that? (spams ???).  but dungeons make the content to easy? 

Me: man idk the fucking thought process behind everything 

A: this is why i am confused lol its just dumb and arbitrary and i want a full set for mydruid 

Me:  but if you dont' give a fuck about valid run do whatever you want. But people will stop grouping with you if you dont' follow the current rule set ya know. also at 60 you can run dungeons as many times as you want its only 1 dungeon while leveling.i personally don't find 1 dungeon while leveling that restrictive. 

A: then why are you saying they should add pvp at 60. by that logic you should just suck it up. 

Me:  because i think it would be fun? 

A: Like im just asking why its weird i didn't say anything about not playing? 

Me: official servers aren't gonna be able to enforce half the ruleset that is currently set in place. 

A: im not talking about not existant offical rules tho 

Me:  I mean if you want to spam dungeons. Thats fine. I don't personally care what people do. But under the current addon. It invalidates other people's runs. A: lmao i didn't say that 

Me: then what are you saying cause clearly im not following you 

A: i said the rules are weird and arbitrary but since you can't like read what im saying and you're getting super defensive forget the group. i dont care that its weird and arbitrary i just said it is weird and arbitrary. liek thats all i said. 

Me: the rules are weird and arbirtary agreed. some i don't agree with but thems the breaks -shrug- 

A:-eyerolls- 

 Me:  like they tweaked the rules after people that are like mods in the community already did it. Like getting the AV quest weapon and then after He did that he banned other people doing it. 

 I assume he left my stream after the eyeroll emoji...

[askingrachelberry]

The unexpected nature of Jesse's arrival had Rachel second guessing her decision to storm the stage. Not because she was intimidated by the idea of performing with him, of course. No, that was something she was very eager to do. But she was hesitant as he seemed to have a certain perception of her that she didn't yet want to shatter. Would he think less of her if her peers were clearly judging her for capitalizing on a performance opportunity? What if they kept up their conversations and her vocals went largely ignored?

But then again... how could anyone ignore Jesse St. James? One dazzling smile and Rachel was nodding, offering a bright smile of her own as she approached the microphone he'd gestured towards.

Her solo opportunity had turned into a duet, and for once she wasn't complaining.

Eyes briefly drifting closed as the music began to play, Rachel could feel herself slipping into character during the approximately 20 seconds she had before the first verse. Having performed the song at a distant relation's wedding reception, she already knew the lyrics by heart, and without much effort she was able to infuse her performance with the perfect amount of both sincerity and vulnerability. As she began to sing about the "day we met" and her eyes met Jesse's, it wasn't hard to believe that an audience member might think that she was in love with him.

She wasn't. Of course. Outside of their time together during The Sound of Music, they hadn't interacted much. And during both rehearsals and the run, he'd been so charming that she hadn't quite been sure of how to approach him. Jesse was so perfect, so magnetic. It was hard for anyone to take their eyes off of him, and Rachel was thankful that at that very moment she didn't have to.

Maybe it was dangerous to be singing a love song with someone who was now her competition (given their dedication to their respective show choirs), but as their voices came together for the first time in the song on a stunning pre-chorus (the room was almost certainly mesmerized), Rachel couldn't find it in her to care. She'd had no doubt that they'd sound good together - their Sixteen Going on Seventeen had proved that long ago - but something magical was happening. She could feel it.

"I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more."

Jesse knew he wasn't welcome here. This was a McKinley party, to begin with, and he had no shortage of enemies there. Not to mention that he didn't know this Dottie girl beyond what his research had told him about her; she was some mousy Troubletone who he could probably blow away with one well-supported A4, not worth much attention from him. But he knew one person who was likely to be there, and it was someone he'd been trying to get close to for weeks. He had an elementary knowledge of Twilight, a quick Google search told him that some eyeliner and gelled hair would be enough to look the part, and before he knew it he was strutting into this party, pretending he belonged.

Finding her had been difficult, McKinley kids were chaotic and unruly and the party had been difficult to navigate, not helped by the Jeff's guitar and the reptile-looking blonde Troubletone he had singing Paramore songs with him, and it was a relief when they announced a 10 minute break. He was about to throw in the towel when suddenly he spotted her in the place he should've been looking the whole time.

Rachel Berry. As beguiling as she was talented. Honestly, he'd be lying if he said his interest in her was purely motivated by the mission he had been tasked with. Of course, being on top was important so if this was what Shelby needed him to do, he'd certainly oblige, but she had something special that he'd found in very few others. She didn't wait for him when they performed, she went toe-to-toe with him every time, and it was exhilarating. He'd lost ten pounds during their run of The Sound Of Music just trying to keep up with her. You didn't forget something like that easily.

Confidently, he strode over to her, his signature crooked smirk that he knew made every soprano's knees tremble set on his face. Coming up next to her, he looked down at her, his smile widening slightly at her words. "Of course." He replied simply. His eyes drifted down to her phone, and he nodded approvingly. "A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. The perfect choice, I recall it being a duet." His eyes meeting hers again, he raised an eyebrow, swiftly pulling off his leather jacket and setting it down on a chair behind him before making his way over to the mic, laying his hand on top of it. He tilted his head, beckoning her to the mic next to his. "Let's show these try-hards what a real performance is."

[watevermelon]

Same Old Love | Kaeya (Genshin) x Traveler!Reader

✧ Summary: Kaeya was mysterious in every way that made you wary. From the gleam in his eye to how easy it was for him to flirt, it made you wonder how much he was presenting was truly real. Not wanting to get sucked in, you swore not to fall for the Cavalry Captain. At least, that was the plan, right? ➳ Notes: Angst with a happy ending ➳ A/N: Thank you so much for the ask!! This was fun to write ((I feel like I write so much angsty/jealousy fics haha)) I’m just getting into genshin and so please feel free to send in requests for these cuties <3 @breathings-of-the-heart​

Navigation 

—xXxXxXxXxXx—

You had some worries about Kaeya, dubbed “The Handsome Mr. Kaeya” by Paimon.

There was no doubt that he was attractive, his ever present smirk and exposed chest was enough to signify to anyone that even Kaeya was well aware of his looks. But he tended to wield his words like a double edged sword - using his words for an express purpose.

It was admirable, in a way. He was the loyal Cavalry Captain who looked out for Mondstadt’s best interest. And while he had misled you on this pirate treasure adventure, there was no harm really done. In fact, from the way he prattled about haircuts and eyepatches inherited from his parents, you were already sure that it was simply a tale being spun for Paimon to latch onto.

At the end of the day, Kaeya still compensated you for your time and provided you with a higher-level weapon. The criminals were caught and the Knights were credited for another arrest of an infamous Treasure Hunter. It was a win-win situation that you very quickly put behind you as another job done.

The entire quest had not really bothered you - it was not like you had not withheld anything either. You ran from clue to clue without updating Kaeya on your progress, with the express intent of snagging some of this treasure yourself.

It was a really smart move on his part and, for whatever reason, it had the inverse effect on you - it made you want to get closer to Kaeya.

Paimon grumbled for all of a day before she prattled onto something new, complaining about the returning ruin guard by the temple or the way Venti sassed her. But you often found yourself hanging around Good Hunter or  Angel’s Share, wondering if you would be able to run into him again.

It was no surprise that Kaeya was always busy, Jean had mentioned before that Kaeya was the one who often wrapped up every physical incident that occurred in both the city and outer plains of Mondstadt.

And so it was easy to lose track of him, the image of Kaeya still present in your mind, just pushed back in the further recess as you continued in your struggle to find clues about your brother. When whispers on the street spoke of a Dark Knight hero, you were pleasantly surprised to see Diluc patrolling the streets from the shadows.

The last thing you had expected was to team-up with the very man who ran opposite to the Knights, but you learned how oddly sweet Diluc was in that short amount of time. His double life of fighting off the abyss army single-handedly to running the largest Winery on the continent - Diluc’s workload was no easy feat.

You were just out of the clear, Huffman gone to deal with the slimes when a resounding clap started from the dining area of the bar. Kaeya stood and approached you both, you turned to Diluc and he had the flattest, most unimpressed expression on.

You stood mostly silent in that conversation, Diluc with his arms and chin held high. Kaeya had reassured him that the secret was best kept that way, eyes glinting mischievously as they went from the winery owner to you.

You only stared right back, as if Kaeya’s face would give off exactly what he was looking for. Instead, he simply smiled at the both of you and left when Diluc said he was closing the bar. Diluc thanked you for your assistance, reassuring you that in case you need help, he was a willing hand.

When you walked out the bar then, Kaeya was still right outside, chatting casually with some of the late bar-goers that sat at the picnic table. Just as he made eye-contact with you, he bid himself goodbye from the group and fell into step with you.

“Paimon doesn’t trust blue-haired, eye-patched men anymore.” She started next to you.

“That’s good I’m a blue-haired, eye-patched handsome young man.” Kaeya shot back, to which she rolled her eyes. He then turned to you with the same open smirk as usual, “And here I was thinking I could make you my assistant.”

Was he flirting with you?

It took you a second to question this internally before Paimon scoffed, “Ugh, I’m going ahead to the inn. I don’t think I can stand watching you make kissy-faces at each other after the day we had.”

You waved a hand in her direction to smack her, but she was already flying away up and out of reach.

Turning back to the Captain, you were surprised to see that Kaeya was still looking at you, not even toward Paimon as she fled into the night.

Remembering his last statement, you shot back, “Think you could handle me?”

“Confidence, it looks very good on you.” Kaeya replied as his smile widened. He took a single step closer, lowering his voice next to your ear and continuing. “But the real question is if you have any idea what you’re getting yourself into?”

You stood your ground, ignoring the shiver that ran up your spine, “I always like to try new things.”

“I look forward to it.” Kaeya straightened, lightly grabbing your hand in one of his own and raising it to his lips. “Until then, traveler.”

To think that such a simple action, hardly anything scandalous, had lingered on your skin the entire night. You remembered the way his lips felt against your hand, how striking his blue eyes bore into your own. Kaeya was extremely dangerous, able to catch your attention and keep it for hours on end.

The next day you had a commission about dismantling a rising Hilichurl camp, a perfect distraction away from the eye-patched hunk that kept plaguing your thoughts. The last thing you expected was for Kaeya to see you.

“Looks like our honorary knight continues their do-good streak.”

“It’s the least I can do.” You replied back, a sassy hand on your waist.

“Why don’t I accompany you?”

You wanted to scream.

Paimon actually did groan before stating she was going to stay in the city.

And suddenly, your distraction was running exactly opposite to your intention. With Kaeya joining your party, the Cavalry Captain was making himself decidedly known you.

He led you around a cliff, showing you a higher area where you could survey the camp before bursting in guns blazing. There were six Hilichurls, some slimes scattered about and two towers already set-up in this enemy campsite.

You decided to stick together, coming in from the high ground and slamming your weapon into the ground at unsuspecting enemies. It felt nice to fight alongside someone again, oftentimes you were alone in your adventures. Paimon would yell words of encouragement, but never would she actually lift a finger to fight. But Kaeya was reliable, freezing enemies into place and shattering them where they stood.

Taking down some of the outer-rim electro Hilichurls equipped with bows, you were nearly finished with clearing the entire camp. You grabbed the pyro slimes and exploded them near the towers, taking down the camp with them. With the camp almost completely disassembled, you heard the tell-tale electronic power-up that only signified one enemy.

A ruin guard.

Hunched over, you watched as multiple missiles took aim on the nearby unsuspecting Cavalry Captain. Running the best you could, you threw decorum out the window as you all but tackled the poor man out of harm's way.

Rolling a few times, there was no surprised yelp from the man beneath you. He simply allowed you to take the wheel until you came to a stop, hovering over his body. Kaeya was undoubtedly taller than you, but you were face-to-face as he smirked beneath you.

“Wow, not that I’m against this.” Kaeya started, a quip ready. “But ask me out to dinner first.”

You flushed and stood up immediately, “I was saving you!”

“I’ll let you save me any day of the week.” Kaeya replied, earning a half-assed scowl on your behalf. He only laughed at you, calling your attempted look of intimidation only served to make a cute pout instead.

You huffed and considered leaving him with the ruin guard.

From then on there was no doubt about it - Kaeya was flirting with you.

And you were openly flirting back, if of course he decided a less obnoxious moment. In between commissions and nights at Angel’s Share, Kaeya flirtations were growing more and more brazen. It was one thing to kiss the top of your hand in greeting and another entirely for Kaeya to throw his hand across your hair, leaning in to openly bury his nose in your hair.

Diluc called you both disgusting.

Tonight, you entered Cat Tail’s semi-inconspicuously to get a drink. Paimon had long caught onto your game, saying that she surprisingly approved of Kaeya, since after all he was still a good guy in some ways.

But, she still was not exactly a fan of you too making “kissy-faces” at each other, her words. And so tonight you were flying solo, Paimon opting to annoy Amber instead tonight as they tracked down some abyss mage or other.

You tried your best to hang around the bar, looking around the tavern to see if the object of your desire was anywhere around. You meandered for a few minutes, saying greetings to other bargoers that had recognized you, before approaching the bartender if Kaeya has been around

The bartender recognized you immediately. It was hard not to place one of the few new people in Mondstadt, especially one that was crushing much of the country's enemies. Diona had mentioned before that you were a friend of Diluc’s, often more than just a customer at the rival tavern. No, you were seen running around the city with the red-head at random times.

She said the worst thing you could have ever suspected.

“I think Kaeya has a hot date tonight.”

You felt a lump in your throat form, but tried to keep your response guarded. “Oh?”

The bartender continued, “Yeah, I’m not sure if it was Paula? Or Maggie tonight? But you know the captain - always changing up his escapades.”

“Right, of course.” You replied back, words coming out before you could even register it. Instead, you kept on nursing your drink, spiteful words from the bartender marinating in your mind.

Kaeya was mysterious, yes. But was he leading you on?

… Was it right of you to trust him?

The first red flag should have been the fact that you knew nearly nothing about him personally. To think that you had spent all this time together talking and fighting alongside one another, but you could not even recall basic facts about him, let alone anything deep. You were unaware of his family history - Diluc was his brother, but it was the red-head who ended up confiding that fact to you.

Kaeya was so charming that you hadn’t even noticed he shut you out of his world.

And so there was no point in actively keeping a one-sided friendship like that. From then forth, you resolved to avoid the Cavalry Captain for the time being. You knew you had to free Dvalin together, but that did not mean you had to swoon for him in your free time.

It was almost expected of you to join him on Friday nights at Angel’s Share, but tonight you were missing. Neither Charles nor Diluc had seen you the entire day. There were probably a hundred different things you were doing - gathering resources, fighting slimes - and so Kaeya thought little of it.

But he was still disappointed not to see your face that night.

And so he thought nothing was wrong the next day when he saw you in the city square, talking to someone at the general store. He approached you and offered to join your party again, take down some enemies somewhere out in the country.

You didn’t even smile at him.

Not this time.

Just a curt no before you were leaving out the city gates.

The second time Kaeya already had enough and confronted you before you could even attempt to walk away.

He grabbed at your elbow, “Have you finally grown tired of me?”

You pulled it back, no real strength behind it as Kaeya still held you under his grip. “Kaeya, why is it that you keep reaching out to me? I have nothing of my own to offer - no money, no family - there is nothing left I can give you.”

He frowned in response but grabbed at your other hand, “I haven’t asked you for anything, have I?”

You looked away, “You don’t have to! It’s inherent, after all. Isn’t that why you asked me to team-up in the first place, to use me to find your criminals?”

Kaeya mentally recoiled, “Woah, back up. I may have guided you regarding the treasure but never have I maliciously led you on.”

You pulled at your hands to no avail, this time the captain actively trying to keep your attention on him. 

“I just! I thought I meant something more to you, Kaeya.”

He smiled and tried to pull you into his chest, but you shoved off his touch this time fully.

“No! You can’t just hug me and think everything is okay. You’re supposed to be one of the good guys, one of the handful of people I can trust in Mondstadt and I know nothing about you.”

Kaeya did not reach for your hands, instead moving to stand in front of you. “I’m sorry that I hold my secrets close to my chest, but that’s what I’m used to.”

Frustrated, you replied. “Don’t you get tired? Holding the people that love you at an arm's length?”

“I’m sorry.” He repeated, this time reaching for you. “I’m sorry that I made you feel like you weren’t special. Trust me, you’re the only one I’ve had eyes on ever since you landed here in Mondstadt.”

You shook your head, “But the bartender, she said -”

“Who cares what she said?” Kaeya interrupted, “They know village gossip, but they don’t know me or you.”

“I don’t really know you.” You replied.

Kaeya caressed the side of your cheek before lightly gently grabbing your hand again, “Then let’s start.”

With a hesitant smile, you closed your eyes and nodded.

“Okay.”

You had your doubts then and it’s not like an issue of trust was fixed overnight. But, to his credit, Kaeya tried as best he could. Instead of meeting randomly at the bar, he would approach you sometime during the day and set-up a date. How he knew where you were was a mystery, but a man with that many connections surely had a way.

He had no qualms about holding your hand or openly kissing your cheek in the presence of others - proclaiming loudly to one and all in Mondstadt that you were his and he was yours.

Taking your first argument to heart, Kaeya was very keen on communication. Anything you were unsure of, he expressed that he was by no means rushing you. And when you finally shared your first kiss, for once not a single soul in front of the Lord Barbatos statue, you leaned into his touch to get many more.

Kaeya made good on his promise, slowly letting you into his world in kind. You remembered one night as the both of you sat on the edge of Mondstadt, nothing but ocean for miles in front of you. You had your head on his shoulder, describing your adventures with your brother and how you missed having family.  

Kaeya had a gentle hand in your hair, rubbing soothing circles as you recalled a time long ago. Once your story finished, you two continued to stare out, wondering what the future could hold as your minds swam in an endless sea of thoughts.

He broke the silence.

“I miss my brother also.”

Diluc was not always his estranged brother, but once a friend, supporter, and sounding board. Some even mistook them as truly twins in heart and mind, defending Mondstadt and having each other’s backs for years. The Diluc you had come to know was a shell of his old self, close friends and past hidden behind years of repressed feelings.

There was no doubt wistfulness in Kaeya’s eyes as he recalled the past to you, but you continued to listen quietly. 

Your relationship with the Cavalry Captain was hardly easy. Often responsibilities called you both - Kaeya was highly stationed in Mondstadt while you still had seven other countries to visit. But that did not mean the end for you both. Even when you were thousands of miles away or sat atop the highest mountain without a clue to where he was, you cherished the thought that you still shared the same sky with the love of your life.

No matter where you were in Teyvat, you had Kaeya to return to.

[dourpeep]

i have even more ideas now...

what about like the moment you open up about your relationship with kazuxiao the fans who were already seeing that happen were celebrating and on both of y'alls insta or something is where you announce and it's like a picture of all 3 of you chilling together or something

and then when they finally appear on a variety show they're just questioned throughly and they talk about how you guys meet and what they like about you

ok but the moments where you just feel sort of insecure since being an idol is hard and you're technically dating your seniors and you're just hit by the antis who are against yourself relationship so you lock yourself in your room in your dorm by yourself to cope. your roommate (can be whoever) contacts them both and they immediately come over and come in and offer soft kisses and soft murmurs of reassurance that they'll never leave you and that everything's gonna be ok.

side note i can see xiao just being a whole meme without realizing?? for like variety shows he's just known for his dead pan expression and then i can see him being so competitive on shows like running man..mans ripping tags left and right, while kazuhas just hiding in a weird spot or something

kazuha on the other hand i can see him being a troll, he likes to mess around with the hosts of the show and manages to mess up some of their plans, he also likes messing with his group members, where xiao likes to say that kazuha looks innocent but is a part of the devil line with venti

onto albedo i can see him like answering questions in his vlive and fans realize that a lot of his songs are more romantic and sort of pining?? and they're asking where the motivation is from. he answers that it's just something that he saw recently so he felt motivated (it wasn't the fact that he had realized that he was 100% in love with you)

but like all of this mans inspiration comes from you, he's had multiple songs dedicated to you before your relationship was even open to the public, and when your relationship finally does, it just clicks for fans and it suddenly makes sense, your ship name trends worldwide for the day

but how you and albedo met, i can see both of you guys being in the industry already and you guys are sort of know each other but it was for a one time off collab with other artists involved so you didn't really talk with each other. like i said before albedos a solo artist while i can see you being a part of a popular group already. but then both of your companies decided to do another collab and especially picked you two since you guys already worked on a collab before.

at first it was like awkward since albedos really socially awkward but then things click when you guys start writing the song together. everything just matches so well?? and you guys just compliment each other?? and that's when you learn of albedo just staying at the studio so late so you often bring food. this leads to you guys getting closer and albedo even stops his work just to talk to you more. when your song comes out and everyone is waiting for the stage, there's just so much tension?? but the good kinda and everyone is awed by the song and the vocals coming from you and albedo.

i can also see the both of you guys appearing on variety shows together too, like appearing on a show where you two travel to another place and experience the culture there, with albedo being your tour guide and showing you all the famous places (one of the many times where fans were awed by his research and knowledge) and then if you guys were to appear together again after you guys reveal your relationship, a lot of the times they show idols as they wake up, they'll see you and albedo being clingy af to each other.

on another side note, albedos totally a troll on variety shows, he likes messing around with the hosts and other contestants since a lot of the time he's not really interested in the show itself, it's more for publicity. however, when he first appeared on a show with you fans noticed that he actually seemed interested for once and that's where your ship name started.

albedos totally a golden child tho, he's like basically perfect in everything so a lot of the times variety shows don't catch him slipping, however the one time that he did was when you were mentioned, the clip of with his ears bright red was trending for a couple of days :)

GIVING ME SO MUCH GOOD FOOD THANK YOU ANON

I think that this covers everything hehehe so I won't add to-

wait wait I put it all under the cut b/c it's a lot again-

Okay okay but like for the 'announcement' picture, what if it's like those photo booth pics (but like each picture you need to scroll through like on Insta) where it's cute and wholesome! The three of you are having fun wearing some silly glasses or hats, doing peace signs or finger hearts....and the very last photo is the three of you sharing a kiss- or, at least trying to.

It's sweet, a little silly, and most of your fans take it really well! After all, they can see the chemistry that you share and can't deny that the three of you would have a good relationship.

As for the insecurities of dating your seniors, Kazuha and Xiao are quick to knock back any of those worries. They love you so, so much and hate the fact that something like that makes you doubt for a single second. If anyone ever tries to bring it up, you know that they're going to immediately quip back.

Naturally, you're roomed with Venven :D He's technically an up-and-coming after he stopped doing idol stuff for a few years, so not only does he know the ropes, but he's also one of your biggest fans and biggest supports (outside of Kazuha and Xiao).

Though he's silly and light-hearted, he's quick to recognize when things are serious and need handling.

So as soon as he sees that you're not doing so great or if he notices the comments on your posts are going in a bad direction, he speed dials Xiao and the two of your boyfriends are right at the door in under 15.

Not only are they fast about it, but they have all your favorite snacks, a movie or two, some popcorn, and a ton of love and affection because they'll be damned if their love is going to be affected by some asshole's comments about their love life! What do they know anyway??

Actually this all could work too if Kazuha and Xiao are part of 4NEMO-

Hmmm

That'd cause so much more ruckus- not only is half of one of the most popular idol groups are taken, but by the same person??? And each other??? Man, that's wack.

BUT THE GAMESHOWS

Xiao would most certainly be super intense with those. He just can't help it--competition drives his blood and makes something snap in him. He's dead serious about doing well, regardless of the game. I actually have never watched said game shows, but--

Like...he's out for blood. No one is safe. Not even you or Kazuha if you're on opposing teams, though he'll be a bit more gentle. Maybe even with the hint of a smile while you have an expression of utter shock at the fact that he's just so fast-

Or if it's not a game show and instead you're doing some sort of idol group activity with a few others to get to know each other?

Someone suggests ping pong and, knowing how competitive Xiao gets, he's pitted up against Tartaglia and man. That's scary. There's no doubt that someone would clip the video and make it into an overly-dramatic retelling complete with music.

Hilarious.

As for Kazuha! He'd be a bit of a mish mosh! He enjoys poking fun at others, and he's so sly! Those poor hosts don't realize that he's goading them on, but sure enough--he is. Who knew that his charming smile and mild-mannered attitude could be so devastating?

But even then, he's mostly wholesome! There's a lot of little clips, mostly of your doing, of him in a 'kiss the chef' apron getting caught off guard while cooking something up. The videos aren't great because you're giggling while recording and he ends up placing the ladle down calmly before wrapping you up in his arms. Half the video ends up being the two of you laughing and joking while it's pointed at a weird angle towards the counter.

Sometimes it'll point just right and you'll get a half-blurred view of Xiao sitting at the kitchen island with his reading glasses perched on his nose and book forgotten. He tends to get up and join in for a few smooches before reminding Kazuha of the food that's still cooking.

--

Albedo!! He absolutely is the golden child. He's fantastic handling things under pressure in a cool, calm manner. Handsome, charismatic, incredibly smart--man's hit all the stops and just keeps going.

It's not until it comes out that the two of you are together that his cool façade (hardly one, though) falters and at the mere mention of you, he'll go soft. There's a tenderness in his eyes, a small smile on his lips, and his blush? Absolutely adorable. How can anyone object when he's obviously so in love with you?

And the idea you mentioned with the two of you traveling and experiencing stuff together sounds so cute (':

He particularly enjoys exploring new cuisine, so expect him to feed you some food from his plate-

There's also a few times where you two have gotten lost in the new places, more because you're both so busy taking in the sights to realize you've taken five wrong turns- But then you make it into a whole adventure, foregoing the map and deciding to wander around. What better way to discover and learn about somewhere than getting lost and wandering?

You find quite a few hidden gems this way since otherwise you'd be hitting more popular areas!

Wait- do they really show idols waking up???

Ahh regardless, Albedo's definitely a cuddler. He loves it, can't get enough of it. It's not often that he gets a good night's rest, but with you it seems like he's fully recharged and ready for the day! It's cute too because it doesn't matter--big spoon or little spoon, you on his chest or him resting on yours. Even a few times with you facing each other with your hands intertwined.

I also agree that Albedo would mess with the game show's hosts and contestants. Not only would he, but he'd be entirely smug about it (after all, we need to have that #smugbedo going on).

No doubt, there's been times where the cameras even focus/zoom in on him where he's sitting because he's got that smirk on his face.

[remakethestars]

Being Batman’s Daughter Would Include:

Headcanons.

❝Listen, Robin. At their core, people are cowardly and self-serving. Trust no one until you know them. And even then, never completely.❞

— Bruce Wayne, “The Lesson Plan”

TRIGGER WARNING: Plant murder. Mentions of drugs/tranqs (stopping dealers), violence/physical harm, broken bones (knee cap), limb dislocation (shoulder), (Jason’s) death, smoke, waterboarding/drowning?

Headcanon masterlist.

You know how every teenager has that paradigm shift because as much as they love the people around them, they’ll never know the inner workings of your psyche? And they realize they’ll never truly be known? And it makes them feel really lonely?

Yeah, you never come to feel like that because you know Bruce digs so far into everyone around him he probably knows you better than you do.

Honestly, he probably reads your diary. At least, he reads the fake one you hide under your mattress. And the second decoy in the A.C. vent above your dresser.

If you’re as paranoid as Bruce, you probably don’t have a diary, and the aforementioned “decoys” are just to mess with him.

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was practically your Bible growing up.

You’re torn between giving yourself the tactical advantage of being underestimated & being non-reactive, which — besides giving you the lioness role in the lion–gazelle dynamic — gives you the advantage of having time to think carefully on the repercussions before speaking.

Because, as Sun Tzu said in chapter seven, verse twenty-one, “Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.”

Seeing as Bruce and Damian both have eidetic memories, I’m guessing you do too. 

Which means you totally read the dictionary when you were young and whip our big words nobody’s heard of.

Bruce always assured you it’s okay to be scared. As a matter of fact, like he told Dick (seen in flashbacks in “The Lesson Plan”), he taught you to “Let terror embrace you. The better you know fear, the better you can use it against others.”

And we all know Bruce is the paragon of using fear against people.

Take that, Scarecrow!

(See, I chose that gif because earlier in that move, he displays a fear of bats, & in that scene, he summons them to use as a distraction and walks through them completely unperturbed. No? Okay, I’ll see myself out.)

You started into the vigilante business young, a little bulge under the back of Batman’s cape that made the rest of the Justice League in the meeting think Bruce was host to an alien parasite until your little mask-covered eyes poked up over his shoulder.

The League’s known you since you were young, so they kind of all see you as their niece. That just quadruples the amount of people who are overprotective of you.

Eventually, in your tweens, you think enough’s enough and start out on your own — being underestimated may be an advantage, but it’s getting ridiculous — and you tackle unsolved cases.

You set up various safe houses around the world for your own disposal (using the zeta tubes) and anyone who sees the inside of one in an emergency is always surprised. You don’t really understand why; what serious vigilante doesn’t have secure, state-of-the-art safe locations scattered across the planet?

Sometimes, it gets you into danger, but you always get yourself out of it. If there ever comes a time you can’t, well, you’ve got a direct link to Batman, and if communications fail, you can always yell for your Uncle Clark at the top of your lungs.

If the latter ever comes to fruition, you ask Bruce if he’s disappointed you had to call for back-up or that you called Superman instead of Batman, and he says, “It takes a strong person to admit when they’re weak, [Y/N]; if anything, I’m proud of you. Besides … you’re not the only one who yells for Uncle Clark when they get in over their head.”

Your training entailed hacking and mechanics, so you like to fix computers and sell them on the internet Hugh Jeffreys style. It started out with Macs from the dumpster behind Gotham Academy and turned into a surprising side hustle. Large portions of your profits go into either savings or funding your extracurricular activities. 

You’re using a MacBook that’s running Linux and an iPhone 4 that’s running your own program. 

At some point, your phone falls into the wrong hands, and someone asks why it has such high security. You deadpan and say, “I have three older brothers.” No further explanation required.

One such solo case led you to a ring of drug dealers working in a small town outside of Gotham. You made some tranquillizers and heavy-duty smoke bombs and busted out your shinobi-iri training.

After sliding on a mask covering the bottom half of your face that filtered out smoke, you set all of the bombs off at once in the ventilation system, filling the building and using the infrared in your domino mask to sedate everyone before the cops arrived so no one got hurt (because there would inevitably be a firefight if the cops got involved).

You never go into a situation expecting to go hand-to-hand with someone; you always have a plan to take our your targets quickly an efficiently.

One night, when you’re working on a cold case in Gotham, you stumble across some intel that Poison Ivy’s been stockpiling chemicals and is going to wipe out all human life on Earth.

Luckily for you, Bruce’s paranoia is hereditary; you just happen to carry some white kryptonite in your belt, so you won’t have to go all the way back to the cave to obtain some.

You type out a quick debrief on your wrist computer in case you end up needing to send out an S.O.S., pop on your bottom mask to filter out spores or pheromones she might send in your direction, and bust out your shinobi-iri training again.

Of course, you try the peaceful approach, explaining to Ivy that you agree with her on the tree-hugger front to build rapport (T.B.F., who doesn’t?), but it comes to physical confrontation. You kill every vine that comes your way with a quick punch from your kryptonite ring, toss an expanding polyurethane foam bomb (see Batgirl #38) at her feet, and manage to get an inhibitor collar on her.

Gordon takes her away, and by the next morning, it’s on the news.

“You took down Ivy by yourself?” Bruce asks when you come down for breakfast.

“… Yeah,” you say after a moment, expecting a tongue-lashing.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. She didn’t get a hit in. And before you ask, I had a contingency set up in case things went sideways.”

“… Good job.”

Your dad has the article framed in the batcave, which is the bat-equivalent of having your drawing on the fridge or getting a sticker back on a test.

You’re fighting a grin for the rest of the day.

It bugs you you can’t tell anyone why you’re so happy, so you visit Dick in Blüdhaven while he’s on patrol and give him a play-by-play. You even get a hair-ruffle!

Deathstroke targets you at some point. One of Batman and Nightwing’s worst villains, and he targets you because he knows they love you. You’re the smallest bat at the time, the weakest; he thinks you’ll be the easiest to take.

Boy, was he wrong.

He was trained by the League of Assassins, so you know dropping a smoke bomb’s not going to give you cover (and his mask probably has infrared). His brain processes faster than yours, so tricking him is improbable. He’s probably done enough research on you to know you favor foam bombs and has fast enough reflexes to dodge before they go off.

And he’s jammed your comms so you can’t call for backup. You’re worried he’s got kryptonite on him and will hurt Superman if you call for help.

It’s just you and him.

He has enhanced stamina, so he tries to wear you out. You maintain distance to avoid taking damage and wearing faster.

You always admired Tim for his ability to plan ahead (see, like, the entirety of the Red Robin comics). He doesn’t know how he does it; he just does. He can’t really teach you, so you just watch and learn.

You realize your fight with Slade is just a matter of managing the distance and immobilizing him, so you strike. You duck behind a pillar or grab onto a railing or something and shoot him through the thigh with your grappling gun, reeling him in. He, of course, draws his sword or a knife to cut the line, but you’re already throwing high-density expanding polyurethane bombs.

And, just like that, you’ve single-handedly taken Deathstroke.

It sends a clear message to the rest of the Gotham villains, Blüdhaven’s villains, the League of Assassins — don’t mess with the bat’s little girl. She can hold her own.

Now it’s time for you to come up with another plan to take him down; you doubt the same method will work twice, and you’ve just made a very powerful enemy.

As Wonder Woman’s said, “Do not mistake a desire to avoid violence for an inability to deal with it.” You might go into most situations with a plan to take down your opponent already in motion, but when it comes to an all-out brawl, you’re perfectly capable and don’t pull your punches.

You’re working on an unsolved case in Blüdhaven (Dick’s got enough on his plate) when you get an S.O.S. from the aforementioned along with the feed and recording from his mask. You listen to the mission briefing while you ride back to the cave and then the audio from the Young Justice mission. They got jumped by the League of Shadows in an abandoned factory, and Talia’s trying to coerce Damian into joining the League or whatever.

The usual dropping some smoke bombs and tranqing everyone isn’t going to work on thirty armed League assassins who were trained to fight blind, so you load up on polyurethane foam bombs and call Jason and Cassandra.

The three of you take out the guards outside before splitting up and taking either end of the building (Cass stays with you). You meet in the middle, in the room the team’s being held in.

You highjacked the speakers, so they’re blasting AC/DC’s “Shoot to Thrill” upon Jason’s insistence. You wanted Zayde Wølf or Alice Cooper’s “Hey, Stoopid,” but big brothers will be big brothers.

Jason pops them with rubber bullets from above to slow them down for you while Cass demolishes them and you drop foam bombs, slinging your signature custom shuriken, bonk them over the head with Tim’s staff you picked up along the way, dislocate their arms, or shatter their kneecaps. 

You and Jason get a couple slices from swords that got a little too close, but it’s nothing compared to what you’ve had before. 

When the fighting’s done and the building’s quiet, the team’s, like, “Who the heck are you guys?” 

And Dick’s, like, 😏 “They’re our siblings.” 

Speaking of siblings, you’re older than Damian, and as such, you take upon yourself the honor of teaching him all things pop-culture.

“I have a lot of amazing older siblings. I want to be a good big sister.”

First things first, you give him one of your refurbished e-waste phones and take him to Target to pick out an OtterBox or a LifeProof case or something that’ll keep it safe in the pocket of a vigilante.

Vigilantes are always coming to you when their phone’s broken anyway; you’ve got a stack of spares you’ve repaired.

Then you help him set up a Spotify account (follow me at @remakethestars 😉) and try to help him find his rhythm.

Poor child’s never had Oreos before, so you drag a pack of Double Stuffs out of the cabinet and a glass of milk and show him the best milk-dunking method you know.

You think about handing him a cookie and telling him to waterboard it until the bubbles stop coming up, but cookie-dunking is something every kid does; it’s sacred, and you don’t want him to associate it with violence.

You show him how you and Alfred feed the bats in the batcave.

And you show him Vine compilations and your favorite shows and movies and as many classics as you can, and you put up with him pointing out the inaccuracies and calling them stupid.

Every time he doesn’t get a reference, you write it down so you know what to show him later.

If anything ever happens to you, Damian finds your list and makes it his personal mission to watch/read everything on it. It makes him feel close to you.

You build a relationship with him that’s similar to his and Dick’s, and he comes to you with things he might not be able to come to anyone else with.

Plus, since you live in the manor still and he doesn’t want Bruce to think less of him, it’s you he comes to after a nightmare.

If you know Alfred has pictures of him curled up in your side, you ask him to send them to you. Not for blackmail purposes; just to have.

You’d never use the need of comfort or the sharing of emotions against him because (A) it’s perpetuating toxic masculinity and (B) you don’t want him to think it’s wrong or confirm any of the stupid “strength” things the League of Shadows taught him.

You gave him a stuffed cat that looks like Alfred (the cat, not the butler) with some of your perfume spritzed on it. He verbalized his revulsion when you gave it to him, but on nights he has a bad dream and you’re not home, it brings him comfort.

Titus comes to get you when Damian’s upset. 

Even when he’s not with Damian, he seems to know. Pets are like that.

You’ve learned to trust Titus’s instincts. Damian thinks it’s suspicious when he’s feeling down and you just happen to call.

You never realized it until a long time later, but Ace was acting weird the day Jason came back from the dead.

And he was acting weird the day Jason came back to Gotham too. He ran to the door and began barking. Alfred swept security, but nothing seemed to be off. The whole family was on edge that day.

You were the reason Jason knew he wasn’t completely forgotten; he spotted you through a café window, and you were wearing his jacket.

Visit my headcanon masterlist.