#i hate seeing it at the top whenever i open stats

[ikeasharksss]

team should i orphan my first work on ao3

[wolfiesmoon]

Genshin guys as dads 🤭

in honour of finally getting off my ass and finishing mondstat, i bring you genshin men as dads <3 i decided to challenge myself and write for characters i haven't written for at all yet

the reader is gender neutral (u can interpret that the kid was adopted or u can interpret that the kid is biologically yours)

Yk the more i read these guys' lines to get a better idea of their characters the more i think they need a therapy session stat

Characters featured: Diluc, Alhaitham, Childe, Ayato

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Diluc Ragnvindr

"Diluc! Diluc, are you in here?" you knocked before opening the door to his office, assuming he's probably there. You were finally returning to the winery late in the evening and wanted to see how your daughter and husband were doing.

Tonight, they should both be at the winery.

But to your surprise, the office was completely empty. You haven't heard a single peep from your daughter yet, either. Usually she'd be running around and yelling, even if she wasn't with Diluc.

You went upstairs to check your bedroom and were met with a most adorable sight when you opened the door. Your daughter was very peacefully asleep, drool and all, on Diluc's chest. Diluc did not seem very pleased with this arrangement, however.

"Welcome home." he sighed upon seeing you walk to the side of the bed.

"Looks like someone's on pillow duty." you teased him, petting your daughter's head.

"Don't make fun of me. She's been running around all day with seemingly no end to it. Sometimes I'm surprised at what her tiny legs are capable of." he leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"She said she's not tired at all. But she fell asleep almost instantly when she sat on top of me to, umm... bother me." to anyone else, Diluc would seem like he hates this kid with how much he says she bothers or annoys him, but you know that isn't the case.

Whenever she runs up to him to show him something she did, he pats her little head lovingly. He keeps the drawing she made of him in his office, even if he is a bit concerned at how grumpy he looks in her artistic interpretation.

"I wasn't making fun of you... Okay, maybe a little bit." you leaned down, cupping Diluc's face and kissing his cheek. He hummed in dissaproval, but his cheeks turned pink anyways.

"Would you mind joining me? If I can't... I want to know that you're safe, atleast." his eyebrows were creased in worry. You don't know what for, exactly, but you gladly joined him on the bed, hugging him too.

"Is your aim to suffocate me further?" the combined weight of about a quarter of your body and his daughter was not the most freeing in the world.

"No, I just happen to understand the appeal of sleeping on top of you." and you really do. It's always so warm and homey.

"You've worked hard today, dad." you moved some stray hairs out of his face. His tired eyes met yours for a moment before they slipped shut. Hehehe, you need to take a photo of this.

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Alhaitham

(let's pretend you live together with him now instead of kaveh haha)

"Dad doesn't love me!" the sudden accusation had you turning your head fast, wanting to know what was going on. "What did he do, sweetie?" the little pout on her pudgy face was adorable.

She ran up to you and hugged your leg. "You still love me, right?" she seemed very worried about your reply. It seems like she isn't in the mood to give a proper answer to your question, though.

"Of course I do. You're very very very special to me." You pat her head gently. She seemed satisfied with your reply, giggling happily at you before running off to play.

.

When Alhaitham returned home that day, he attempted to interact with his daughter, as he tries to every day, but he was utterly ignored.

He looked to you, hoping you'd know the reason, but you just shrugged. "She says you don't love her anymore."

"Hm..." was his only reply.

"That's because he doesn't! I told him 'I love you' yesterday but he didn't say it back!" Your daughter crossed her little arms, scowling at her dad before turning around so she didn't have to look at him.

"So it was that." Alhaitham seemed like he understood the situation properly now. And you realised what happened too, because it happens to you occasionally.

"Sweetie, listen. Your dad likes to wear these thingies in his ears. And when he wears them, he can't hear a thing." You explained in the most child friendly way you could.

"Not even an explosion?" Your daughter finally turned back to look at you and Alhaitham, though her eyes were fixated firmly on you.

"Nope. Nothing at all. When he didn't say 'I love you too' yesterday, it was because he was wearing them and couldn't hear." Your daughter turned her head back with an annoyed 'hmph', but you knew she was listening to you.

"So I propose a hug attack. Whenever you see him wearing them." You smiled evilly, glancing at Alhaitham who shot you a dissaproving glare in return.

"Leave me alone." Your daughter huffed, stomping off down the hallway. Oh well, kids don't always think critically, do they? You have a feeling she's already forgiven him a little, though.

"Children make no sense to me." He admits, and you finally greet him properly with a little welcome home peck.

"That's the fun in it, though." You smiled at him and to your surprise, he smiled right back. As awkward as he can get with the kid, he loves her a whole lot.

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Childe

"Mhhhh... what is it?" he mumbled in annoyance when he felt his hand getting shook. His voice sounded quite raspy now.

"Dad... Dad..." turns out it was your son who was pulling on Childe's arm. He looked like he was about to burst into tears any second, now.

As soon as he saw the distress on his son's dimly lit face, his attitude changed and he was overcome with the sudden urge to take revenge on something or someone. Maybe it's the dad instinct.

"I had a nightmare.... I'm scared..." your son sobbed.

By this point, even you woke up, but your body was still mostly asleep, so you were just listening in.

"Come up here." Childe tapped the bed and your son awkwardly climbed up into his arms.

"Was it a scary monster?" Childe asked in an exaggerated scary voice. Your son nodded, gripping onto the front of Childe's shirt.

"In that case... you don't have to worry at all. I always love a challenge." you could practically see the smile on Childe's face. You turn over, opening your eyes slightly. You have to admit, the sight in front of you is adorable.

"What do you mean, dad?" your son sniffled, rubbing the snot away with his tiny hand.

"I'll fight the monster, of course. Oh, how wonderful it would be to see the b-" he winced a little bit when he felt the light slap on his face.

"Ajax, you'll scare him even more." you warned, your own voice raspy. You moved your other hand to ruffle your son's hair to comfort him.

"Ow, clearly, someone doesn't appreciate me enough." Childe rolled his eyes playfully.

Without warning, you lean forward and peck him on the lips. "There. Now I've evened out the slap."

"Just one peck? Well, I suppose we can't do much more right now... Hehe." Childe turned his attention back on your son, stroking his back gently to calm him down.

"Why do you have that look on your face?" you noticed he was smiling strangely.

"What look?" your accusations have been denied. But he sure does have a plan for you later.

౨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅ Kamisato Ayato

"DAD! Look at where I am!" Your son shouted from somewhere in the tree that was stood in the beautifully maintained garden.

Being the little rebel he is, he climbed the tree despite you telling him multiple times not to.

"Please get down from there. It's unsafe." Ayato tried to reason with him calmly upon noticing him in the treetops.

"Nah, it's so cool up here! I can see the whole estate!" Sometimes, your son's stubborn nature made it hard for him to get along with Ayato. This is one of those cases.

"This is not a joking matter. You could get seriously hurt." Ayato doesn't think he could properly live with himself for a bit if his kid got hurt when he could have prevented it.

"What's going on here?" You joined in, happening to pass by the garden.

"He won't come down. I'm... worried about him." He admits, crossing his arms. Though you do sense a bit of annoyance behind his voice, too.

"Come down. I told you not to climb that tree so many times." You crossed your arms firmly. Your son looked at Ayato's face, then yours and sighed, beginning to descend from the tree. He'd rather avoid a scolding. But his little foot slipped and he suddenly tumbled to the ground.

"Son!" Both of you immediately ran to his side as he started wailing. "Call for healers. Immediately." He seemed fine, looking at him initially, but he might have a broken leg or something.

Both of you stayed by his side the whole time, offering him words of comfort (and a bit of a scolding). It seems like something like this happens almost every week, now. The Kamisato household has certainly gotten livelier ever since getting blessed with your son.

.

"Well, that was certainly an afternoon." You huffed, sitting down behind the table across Ayato.

"I wish he wasn't so reckless and disobedient, sometimes." Ayato held his cheek in worry. He let his son get hurt, again.

"He got that mischief from you." You smiled innocently, sipping your tea.

"Whatever do you mean, dear?" He smiled innocently back.

"I miss days of solitude. We only have moments now. I suppose my life hasn't been a calm one for a long while now, though." He sips his own tea, looking outside at the sunset. Working as hard as he does every day is taxing on the soul.

"Guess we gotta make the most of it." You stood up, sitting back down next to him and playfully pecking his cheek.

"Oh, I see what you mean." He returned the mischevious smile you know and love. Just as he grabbed your waist, though...

"LOOK WHAT I HAVE!" Your son burst into the room, holding a sword. His sword.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?!"

[anon-drabble]

20 question-majigs for writer-whosits

tagged by my @jafndaegur (yes mine, i own my very own jaf, get your own)

AO3 username: anon_drabble

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 104

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 200,016 (i find it funny that i have like 5x as many fics as jaf but still less total word count lol)

3. What fandoms do you write for? mysme, fire emblem, dragon age mostly... but mostly only mysme because i don't like writing fic unless i know the series backwards and forward

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

interlude - jaehee smut

the true gift - jaehee smut (i appreciate how thirsty jaehee fans are...)

danger - mafia!jumin my beloved (my first-ever multi-chapter fic, i'm so surprised to see this on my top 5 and i'm honestly touched)

sleep deeply - the mysme fandom desperately wants jumin to just take a freaking nap

doting - preggers!mc with a loving jumin

5. Do you respond to comments? most of them... i haven't lately because i haven't written so i haven't been on ao3 in months

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? oh man i have so many angst fics... maybe for the rest of her life or found and lost i think... cracks in the pillar isn't necessarily specifically a fic nor an angst ending but it's probably one of the ones i'm proudest of the angst that i put in it.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i dunno, man. i don't like my fluff as much lol. sleep deeply? or weddings always make me cry maybe

8. Do you get hate on fics? only one, my ace!seven headcanon fic. got lots of hate for it but never regretted it lmao

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? not a lot. i've written some, obviously jaehee/f!mc smut; jumin/mc smut; zen/mc smut... more smut that are in my wips that will never see the light of day lmao.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? i've never been much for crossovers but technically i wrote a crack star wars/pokemon crossover and jaf and i attempted a grounded/mysme crossover lol.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? who would want to steal my fics? definitely not well-known enough for that lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? see above. not well-known enough

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? technically one of the very first fics i ever wrote was co-writtten with my best friend at the time, it was a crack yu yu hakusho fic and to this day, i adore it because it was so much fun to write. and then the fic with jaffu.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? um.... like that i've written or just ever? that i've written is probably obviously jumin/mc but also zen/mc, i just don't get to write zen as often. i don't even know in general. there's some tv show from my childhood that i ship hardcore, like painfully so but i always, always forget it until i re-watch and then i get the feels but then they're gone whenever i'm asked what my top ship is, lol. but the feels are intense for that one, lmao. if only i could remember what it is!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? my gale/tav fic... or any of my bg3 fanfic ideas...

16. What are your writing strengths? probably dialogue or angst lmao. i want to believe i'm a fairly emotive writer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? descriptions, definitely, lmao. aphantasia will do that to you...

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? what's not to love?

19. First fandom you wrote for? ...an old book series that i never finished writing and it was before the days of the internet so it died in my notebook lol.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? oh you mean my baby, my precious fic that i poured my heart and soul into more than any other, the one that has the among the lowest stats of all my works? that one? definitely all those hearts lay open; that must sting. i worked on that more than any other fic, it's the only one of mine that has EVER been proofread and edited after writing. i researched, really pushed myself as a writer and i am proud more of myself than the fic. but i knew it would "bomb" because it was a horror fic and i wrote it for me and one other person and i liked it and that other person liked it so in that regard it was a success.

[outerbankies]

You know how teenager rafe is gonna just be spiralling over reader going to prom with someone else? I’m going to cry cause like he’s a baby and he doesn’t know why he has these feeling for this one person that he’s always kind of orbited around?? And he knows she’s it for him but only deep down cause he’s trying to figure so much out and how could you know who you’re going to end up with at the age of 17 let alone 10 or 12 but he’s always known and aaaaah imagine that kind of love

an angsty little pre-series prom blurb partially inspired by this ^ ask that made me spiralll. thanks anon i hope u like this!

—

new light blurb: before we knew — rafe cameron

new light series masterlist

obv takes place pre-series in high school! referenced in part 1

warnings: underage drinking

“Top, it’s not fucking funny.”

“It’s kinda fucking funny, Y/n/n. Like, way more than a little.”

Rafe had ditched the last fifteen minutes of statistics when he finished his test early today, and he’d been messing around on his phone for ten minutes waiting for the rest of you to come and get in Topper’s Jeep so you could all go to lunch off-campus today.

Rafe stands up straight from where he’d been leaning against the hood when he hears your voice approaching, his smile matching yours once you see him. “Hey, Rafe. How did your stats test go?”

“Good, hey, Y/n. What’s not funny?” he asks, opening the passenger side door for you before sliding into the backseat behind you.

“Oh, get this, Rafe,” Topper says, laughing. You just groan again, clicking your seatbelt on. “Griffin is gonna ask Y/n to prom. Tomorrow.”

Rafe blanches. “Griffin?”

He knew Griffin thought you were hot. Certainly had to hear it enough times in the pool at practice every day. Rafe always found himself biting back a remark—well, almost always. As captain, Rafe was able to tell everyone to run another play whenever he felt like it. The extra exertion in the pool was nothing compared to having to tread water and hear his teammate talk about you like that.

But even after all of that, he still had no idea Griffin had the balls to actually make a move on you. Because Rafe could tell you’d seriously rather die than ever give Griffin the time of day. And Griffin had been pursuing you without luck for months, even though you’d been trying to gently show you weren’t interested. Half of the time, Rafe wished you'd just tell him to fuck off.

The other half of the time, Rafe was considering just doing it for you.

Rafe clears his throat after his outburst, a finger digging into a hole in his jeans. “How do you know?”

“He just told me in PE,” Topper says. “He said he has this huge banner, and speakers, and he’s gonna do it at lunch right in the middle of the quad—”

“Topper.” You cut him off a bit more seriously this time; Rafe can hear the shift in your tone. You've always hated being anywhere close to the center of attention, getting embarrassed by the smallest things others wouldn’t even think about. If Griffin actually knew anything about you the way Rafe does, he’d know you wouldn’t like something big and flashy. “Can you stop?”

“Hey, cut it out, Top,” Rafe is saying immediately. Topper just rolls his eyes, but Rafe doesn’t care. “You okay?”

“Yeah, Rafe,” you say, smiling over your shoulder at him. “M’fine.”

“Do you want me to tell Griffin to—”

Topper laughs from the driver’s seat, clearing his throat to cover it up when you look over at him. You look back at Rafe, and his heart breaks at the worry in your face. “Don’t, Rafe.”

“Are you gonna say yes?”

“No,” you immediately laugh, looking at him like the idea is preposterous.

“Oh c’mon, Y/n/n. Can’t say no to him in front of all those people,” Topper teases. “And where the fuck is Kelce? I’m starving.”

“You’re right,” you sigh. “I don’t wanna embarrass him. I’ll just find him after school today and tell him I’m going with Kelce.”

Topper’s eyes widen, Rafe catches it in the rearview mirror before he hurriedly looks away. Rafe clears his throat, settling back into his seat from where he’d been leaning into the front space to talk with you. “You—uh, are you actually going with Kelce?”

“Yeah,” you nod, distracted by your phone. “We said we’d go together if we didn’t find dates. Kelce didn’t really wanna ask anyone after what happened last summer. And after nearly being set up with Top last night, I’m about ready to throw in the towel.“

Rafe looks to his friend that sits in the driver’s seat, who's looking straight at his lap, the back of his neck bright red. “Wait, you two?”

“It was just our parents, dude. Went to dinner at the club last night and our moms brought it up,” Topper mumbles. You giggle at the idea, completely unaware of the energy in the car right now.

“Yeah, sorry, Thornton. But no thanks. You and Emily should be really cute, though,” you say earnestly, patting his shoulder.

Topper just stares straight ahead. “Thanks, Y/n/n.”

“And then this thing with Griffin—I’m just so over the idea of finding an actual date at this point,” you sigh. “Plus, I know Kelce won’t put up a fight about the color scheme. I’m thinking like, aqua. Or maybe pink? I don't think I'd look good in gold.”

You'll look good in absolutely anything, and Rafe will just have to watch you from across the floor of the Island Club, while Kelce twirls you around the dance floor or holds you close during a slow dance.

The guy in question opens the car door and slides into the backseat next to Rafe right then, sighing as he slides his backpack off. “Sorry guys, coach stopped me in the hall. Where are we eating?”

Rafe glares at him.

“I want a smoothie,” you declare from the front seat.

“Fine with me,” Topper nods, pulling out of his parking spot. “Guys?”

“Can we go to that place with the deli next door? I’m so hungry,” Kelce says.

“Yeah, I like their açaí bowls,” you say, twisting around to look at Rafe one more time. He must not be able to hide his emotions as much as he thought, because your smile drops when you see him. “Rafe? Does that sound good?”

He turns his body to look out the window, eyes flicking back to yours one last time. “Not hungry.”

—

Rafe meets Topper and Kelce at the dock later that night, the three of them intending to get drunk and maybe take Topper’s boat out if they felt like it.

Kelce is already there by the time Rafe pulls up, drinking a beer with Topper while they laugh at something on his phone.

And Rafe paces right down the dock, snatches Kelce’s phone out of his hand, and pushes him off the platform and into the water.

“Rafe, dude,” Topper says, immediately pushing him back by his chest.

“What the fuck?” Kelce sputters, spitting out water as he surfaces and climbs the ladder back up. “What is your fucking problem?”

“You couldn’t ask literally fucking anyone else? It had to be Y/n?” Rafe says, laughing indignantly. He looks down at where Topper is still keeping them separated. “And you—what the fuck—”

“I told you, man. It was just our moms. We didn’t even consider it,” Topper says, rolling his eyes.

“You both lied to me,” Rafe accuses. “Because you knew I’d be mad.”

“And why’s that, Rafe?” Kelce spits, reaching around Topper to try and push at his chest. “Why are you mad? Not like you were gonna ask her.”

“No,” Rafe says immediately. And he isn’t even lying; it’d never crossed his mind as a possibility. Which is why he can’t even begin to try and work out why he’s this upset about it. He didn’t do anything to stop this, but it’s still happening, and it’s making him crazy. “You know my dad’s making me take Reagan since we’re both on prom court.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kelce grumbles. “I was gonna tell you.”

“When?”

“Soon, I just—we made the plan so long ago, bro. Neither of us wanted to worry about dates… but I gave it time because I thought you might��I dunno,” Kelce trails off, shrugging. “I dunno.”

“Thought I might what?”

“Figure your shit out and ask her yourself,” Topper says, coming back from the boathouse with a towel that he passes to Kelce.

“Even if I could, Y/n/n would never say yes to me,” Rafe scoffs, shaking his head and reaching for the six-pack they were working through.

Topper scoffs back. “Oh, yeah ri—”

“Guess we’ll never know,” Kelce says, cutting him off while he dumps the water out of his shoes. He sighs at his soaked clothes before he looks back up at Rafe. “You know I’m not into her right? We’re just going as friends. It’s senior prom.”

“Why would I care what you’re going as?” Rafe says, shifting in discomfort, hand clutching his already-half-empty beer can a little tighter. “None of it even matters.”

“Whatever you wanna tell yourself, bro,” Kelce sighs, grabbing his phone out of Rafe’s hand and pushing past him to go change.

—

“Nice taste, Y/l/n.”

You whirl around from where you’d been adjusting Kelce’s boutonnière (you’d only pricked him twice, which was a personal record for you) at the sound of Rafe’s voice, plastering on a smile before you face him. Your eyes drop to his attire immediately. “Oh shit, Rafe. We match.”

“I know,” he laughs. “My step-mom wants a picture.”

You furrow your eyebrows, shifting in your heels, the tule of your dress suddenly itchy against your legs. “Um. Shouldn’t you take one with Reagan?”

“We already took a million. From every angle. With every possible fucking pose,” Rafe sighs. “C’mon, please? Before the limo comes.”

Rafe grabs your hand and you look back at Kelce who just nods, downing some champagne. “Take care of my date, Cameron.”

You can see Rafe just shake his head where you trail behind him, leading you back to where Rose is talking to one of the other moms. “There you are. Your dress is beautiful! I wish we'd found one like that for Reagan. It looks great with Rafe's tuxedo.”

“Uh, yeah. It's nice to see you, Mrs. Cameron,” you say politely, ignoring the last half of what she said completely. She pulls up her phone and Rafe’s bringing you into his side, his hand resting in the middle of your back.

“This okay?” he murmurs, his breath fanning over your neck as he leans down.

“Yep,” you say quickly, but you can’t help but look around and catch multiple of your friends watching you, including Reagan, who promptly rolls her eyes once you make eye contact with her.

“Y/n, sweetie, just a few pictures for the newsletter,” Rose says, reminding you of your purpose right now.

“Right, sorry,” you say.

“Hey,” Rafe whispers. You look up at him, feeling his hand bring you closer to his body. “Take this a little more seriously, Y/l/n. Don’t you know that the next issue of the Island Club newsletter will be completely ruined without this one specific photo, that will probably be squished into the corner of a terribly- edited collage?”

You laugh in surprise, hitting him on his chest for joking about his step-mom right in front of her. “Rafe. Be nice.”

He just grins down at you, before straightening up and turning back to the camera. “If I’m nice, will you save a dance for me later tonight?”

You’re glad he’s not looking at you anymore, because then he’d see the way your smile faltered before you turn back to the camera as well. “Sure.”

—

“How is my flask empty?” Kelce groans, tipping it over and shaking it out for emphasis.

“That’s what happens when you drink it all, bud,” you laugh, patting his shoulder. He rolls his eyes at you, linking his arm in yours as you both pass through the crowd to find Topper and his date, Emily. You all watch Rafe up on stage, waiting to inevitably be crowned prom king.

He was a shoo-in anyway, but you’d definitely distracted your English teacher with a conversation about the 1984 essay you just turned in while Topper and Kelce stuffed the ballot box he was meant to be guarding.

Rafe seemed like he couldn’t care less about stuff like prom court, just shaking his head when his name was announced over the speaker as a nominee three weeks ago at lunch.

And he’d dragged his feet through finding a date, just shrugging whenever you brought it up to him, prying partially for your own sake.

You couldn’t figure out why he seemed so averse to the entire event, but you supposed that was better than having to hear him go on and on about Reagan and how he asked her and what corsage he bought for her and if he was bringing her to after-prom—or anything else that would’ve dragged up some feelings you thought you’d firmly buried at this point, telling yourself for years that you never stood a chance with Rafe.

But the closer graduation got, the more you’ve been realizing that things with your friends would never be the same. Things with Rafe would never be the same.

“Kildare Academy, your prom king is Rafe Cameron,” the DJ says, snapping you out of your thoughts. Kelce and Topper cheer obnoxiously while you laugh, a little grateful they’re both drunk and distracted—so happy their plan worked (Rafe subtly flips them off behind his back as he’s crowned) that they can’t notice the way your shoulders slump as Rafe leads Reagan, just crowned queen, out to the middle of the dance floor while some Ed Sheeran song starts playing through the speakers. You’d roll your eyes at the terrible music selection if that was what you could focus on.

All you could focus on was wondering if Rafe would even remember that you promised him a dance tonight.

Kelce is dramatically bringing you into his arms as the prom court dance takes place, subtly turning you around so your back faces the stage and the court, smiling as he holds your waist. “C’mon, dance with me.”

—

Rafe’s letting go of Reagan as soon as the song ends and everybody cheers, dashing off to the DJ booth after telling her he’d be back in a bit. She merely shrugged before adjusting her crown and going off to some friends.

“Hey man, can I pull some prom king privilege right now?” he says, leaning in to speak into the guys’ ear. “I have a song request.”

“Playlist is set, approved by the school,” he says dismissively.

“Thought you might say that,” Rafe grumbles, reaching into his breast pocket before he can take the time to wonder if he’s really going to do this—if he’s really going to bribe the DJ to play a song by your favorite band before he goes to cash in on that dance together that you’d promised.

He hands him a crisp hundred.

The DJ sighs, snatching it out of his hand and pocketing it while Rafe smirks in victory. “Alright, what song, country club?”

And then it's practically a race to find you before the Kid Cudi remix currently playing ends. Rafe heads off in the direction where Topper and Kelce had been yelling when he was on stage, evening his pace when he spots you jumping around with Kelce, your dress fanning around you while you laugh, the string lights illuminating your face.

You’re smiling so big that it stops Rafe in his tracks.

Guys had always shown interest in you, and you turned most of them down. Not all of them; Rafe still had to see you with guys who absolutely did not deserve you giving them the time of day, sometimes at parties or maybe at the Club. Rafe could usually lie to himself, write off these feelings as some protectiveness over you, a nice girl who’d been a good friend to him his entire life. Rafe was protective of all the people he held close in his life, why wouldn’t he look out for you, too?

But something must have changed, because now—now Rafe’s looking at you, and he knows time is running out before you both set off on your futures. He has three weeks of school left with you, then a summer of seeing you around. And then... that's it.

And now he’s looking at you, those feelings less and less ignorable with every single second closer Rafe gets to not having you around him every day anymore.

Those feelings are crowding every corner of his mind, finally coming to the surface after all of the drama with prom dates had forced Rafe to wonder why he couldn’t stand you going with Griffin or Topper or Kelce. Couldn’t stand thinking about you ever being with someone that wasn’t him—a reality he knows he’d have to get used to you a lot quicker than it took him to even realize he’d fallen for you.

Because the future’s coming, and maybe in the future you actually end up with someone like Griffin, or Mateo, or that guy from the party that one time, or that touron from New England that your parents tried to set you up with, some hotshot you brought home from California after a semester, or Kelce—even Topper. Your parents would love that one. And one day in this future, you’re running into Rafe on the soccer field; your kids play for the same team together. Rafe ended up settling for someone he could never like half as much as he loved you, and he sees you across the field with a sweater tied around your shoulders, chatting with all of the other moms. The lucky asshole you finally chose just watches you the way Rafe always had, the way he is now as you dance with his best friend, the way Rafe will probably never be able to stop himself from doing.

Or maybe there's another future without you, where you move away to somewhere that suits you; the Outer Banks had never good enough for you, in his mind. Maybe you stay in California after school. And you bring home that hotshot that’s perfectly matched for you, who gets to hold you and kiss you and have you. Rafe only gets to see you every once in a while, when you decide to grace the Outer Banks with your presence for the holidays or for Midsummers. Maybe in this scenario, Rafe was never able to find someone else, maybe he shows up solo while you flash your engagement ring when the old crew gets together for drinks—no, you wouldn’t do that. You’d be absolutely smitten with whoever won your heart, showing the ring he got you to your girl friends with an embarrassed little smile pulling at your lips while they all gush over it. And maybe one of your friends jokes about how Rafe used to have a crush on you. You'll just laugh and shrug it off, nodding—because you knew all along. Of course you knew, everyone had to know at this point. And Rafe can picture you merely laughing at his feelings for you as the other guy gets to pull you closer on his lap.

The opening chords of your song snap him out of his reverie. He can see the exact moment you realize what song it is.

Rafe beelines for you, holding his hand out as soon as he’s in your vicinity, fully pretending he hadn’t just realized he’s fallen for one of his closest friends in the middle of prom. Like he hadn't realized that he wasn't just into you, didn't just think you were cute or like the way you made him feel when you remembered his stats tests or wore his shirt to his water polo games. Like he hadn't just realized that no matter how many times he'd told himself it didn't bother him that much that you'd never come close to giving him the time of day, that he'd never forget what it felt like to not even be on your radar.

“You promised me a dance, Y/n.”

You look at him and his outstretched hand and smile, then look back to Kelce, who's quickly letting you out of his arms, casting an accusatory glance at Rafe. But then he smiles a little. “I'm gonna hit the restrooms.”

“Too bad our one dance is gonna be to a song by a band you hate,” you laugh, accepting Rafe's hand. Rafe’s on autopilot, his hands resting on your lower back while yours move to his chest, swaying the two of you in little circles. The song is already through with the first verse.

“I don’t hate this band,” he lies. But maybe it’s not a lie—how could he hate anything you loved?

“Okay, prom king,” you laugh, fiddling with his pocket square a little, the one that matches your dress. “Still can’t believe we ended up matching.”

“Great minds, Y/l/n,” he shrugs, eyes trained on your face. Your hands slip up around his shoulders, and you nudge the plastic crown on his head before leaving your arms to rest there, fingers locked behind his neck. Rafe pulls you closer. The second chorus was already starting up. Time was running out.

“I’m not sure what the optics are of our matching and you leaving the prom queen to come dance with your friend,” you say, your small smile turning into a frown. “Reagan already seemed pissed earlier.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Rafe says. “It’s just you and me right now.”

“When we go off to college, I think I might just miss you, Cameron,” you say, smiling.

And Rafe might not ever get to tell you how he feels, or ever be with you the way he wants to, but at least he got to dance with you at his senior prom.

“I know I'm gonna miss you.”

—

@moniamaybank @downbytheouterbanks @littlementalpolaroids @fangirlvoice @chicagoblackhawkslover96 @pogueslandia @loveylangdon @oopsiedoopsie23 @sodasback @rafeseggplant @cooper8224 @rafeyybabyy @lemur46 @cameronsrafe @theepoguelandia @judayyyw @irlpadfoot @synonymforlame @tinawhynot @mildkleptomaniac @ilymarkchan @sofiatheseconf @hockeyshmockey @supersouthy @coffeeandcrimeshows @emptyloverofmine @infinitleyethereal @nerdypartytrashpsychic @mrs-cameron @tcmhollnd @nicavass @sakikos @catonthesideoftheroad @jemimah-b99 @serrendipiity @depressinq @svechnibrock @julianakawaja @ctrlcherries @lostaurorax @wildflower98 @babygirl2022 @lieswithoutfairytales @painlesslies @messagesinthesky @orrsoared @destourtereaux @sammywilscn @tylernagle @anonymousobxfan @lilacsandwhiskey @raphaelcameron @mardema @princesspogue @alwaysclassyeagle @brittlehe-art @drewswrld

[dearsnow]

Here’s my description for the matchup trade! I’d like to be shipped with Eddie please, but I’m honestly kinda convinced you would’ve picked him anyways once I get through with my description. I bolded the important parts because this is kinda long, sorry about that

I’m 19 years old and going to be 20 on Valentine’s Day. I’m bisexual and on the Autism spectrum with ADHD. I’ve got chronic pain in my hip and back a lot too. Eddie and I probably met because I helped him study or something, I’m very smart and I love helping people. Either that or we met at a local D&D store. I can get really nervous sometimes but once I’m comfortable with someone or an environment I become really excitable and open. It’s weird because a lot of people assume I’m super shy or reserved but then they hear me making dirty jokes and dancing to weird music and they get caught off guard lol. I’m also really clumsy and am both nervous but also quite blunt somehow (basically I’m forward but in a blushy way). I also completely lose track of time and space a lot and end up forgetting things or doing stupid stuff. I have no self preservation skills despite giving good advice - high wisdom, low intelligence kinda stats. I also research anything that interests me and know tons of facts, and I’m really touch-starved. My love language is physical touch. 

The easiest way to get me to come out of my shell is playing Dungeons & Dragons or talking about similar interests. I’m currently studying to become a Television and Cartoon writer but am applying to local D&D stores in the meantime (very on brand). I also draw and read Tarot cards! If I lived in the 80s I’d definitely be considered just as weird and Satanic as Eddie lmao. I’m very cheap and will diy stuff if I can, I don’t like spending money. I also love making jokes and puns, and I’m really good at coming up with funny comments. 

I’m really short, like 4’ 11” (149 cm) tall. I’d only come up to his shoulder at best. I have wild wavy brown hair, am very slender and toned (you can actually see my abs really well), I wear glasses and am kinda androgynous-looking. I’m currently wearing an AC/DC crop top (aka a tshirt I cut into a crop top). Most of my wardrobe consists of funny t-shirts and jeans.

Thanks so much!! Take care of yourself and remember to drink lots of water, okay? :)

YOU’RE STUCK WITH…

Eddie Munson!

a/n - omg it was so hard to just pick a few of your traits, but i did my best :) you seem so awesome. mwah

- there is no way this man isn’t neurodivergent too. He knows exactly what you’re feeling at all times and always takes that into account. He’s a master at keeping you comfortable so you can let your amazing personality shine

- sometimes he says he hates smart people, but you know he’s never talking about you. He actually admires your brains a lot and even asked you to help him study before you ever even became a “thing”

- whenever you stumble, he’s there to keep a hand on your back or tug the waistband of your pants to keep you from falling. It’s so hot when he does it too, it truly makes your heart pound

- he’s also a bit forgetful, but he always remembers the most random things. Your second favorite animal? He knows it by heart. The vocab words for the quiz next period? He hasn’t retained a single one

- he loves sitting you on his lap for some much-needed cuddles. Sometimes he even plays guitar over your body

- you guys can shoot DnD facts back and forth for hours. It’s honestly really impressive

- he takes such an interest in all of your hobbies; tarot, drawing, anything you’re into, he’s also into. It doesn’t matter if he knows literally nothing about the subject, he just likes to listen to you talk about your passions. It makes him really giddy

- Eddie is such an asshole (lovingly) about your height. He’ll use you as an armrest and put guitar picks in your hair when you’re not looking

[curioskitty]

THE・Rarest Bakugou

Given Bakugou-kun's description as a "juvenile delinquent" (Horikoshi sensei uses the term 不良少年, or furyou shounen, meaning juvenile delinquent boy), it's expected that he wouldn't conform to standard. So obviously, it's not possible to find Bakugou-kun wearing a tie properly................

What is up with this perfectly tied nonsense right here?!

Bakugou-kun, I thought I knew you!!! THE LIES! THE BETRAYAL!!!

But, it's probably just a fluke. You didn't mean it, right Horikoshi-sensei?

WTF?! WHY?!!! Horikoshi-sensei?!

Yep. Contrary to expectations, Bakugou-kun wearing a tie correctly only ranks at Ultra Rare status: difficult to find, but not impossible.

So, what's rarer than a tie-wearing Bakugou-kun? Go Beyond, Plus Ultra Rare Bakugou!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In fact, it's even harder to find Bakugou-kun wearing a tie improperly. Given proto-Bakugou's loose tie design, I would have expected that to be the likelier delinquent-esque tie option. But I've only seen Horikoshi-sensei draw him like this once:

(Horikoshi-sensei's one year celebration illustration. This is still fairly early in the publication.)

On top of that, Bakugou-kun consistently wears his uniform tie-less and with at least one button undone on his shirt collar. His pants are always slung low on his hips and legs bunching up at his feet (except when he had to wear jeans for Best Jeanist). You can even see panels where Horikoshi-sensei drew in the rips at the hems near the heel where they drag on the ground.

So why the inconsistency, Horikoshi-sensei? I see you over there, stop pretending you didn't notice. I know you're paying attention.

Horikoshi-sensei gave proto-Bakugou a loosened tie, so what is the reasoning for taking Bakugou-kun's tie away?

Some No-Tie Theories

Fan Theory #1: HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW

//Like Midoriya-kun, Bakugou-kun came from a middle school with gakuran uniforms. They never learned how to tie them. Midoriya-kun messes up his tie, while Bakugou-kun doesn't even bother to try.//

I actually think this is the least likely reason. Bakugou-kun was designed to be a naturally talented genius. I think this applies to anything he wants to do. If he does something, it's always perfectly done.

Bakugou-kun can (and does if you look above) tie it perfectly when necessary.

CONCLUSION: If Bakugou-kun doesn't do something, it's completely out of personal preference or because he doesn't see a reason to.

Fan Theory #2: REBELLIOUS NATURE

//Bakugou-kun is a delinquent and maintains that image because he thinks it looks cool. Or maybe he is rebelling against fashion designer parents. Either way, because of his family background he knows how to tie a tie, but wants to be a rebel.//

I'd give partial points for this one. I'm pretty sure he wears his pants loose at least partially because he thinks it looks cool. However, Bakugou-kun's parents were noted to be designers and not specifically fashion designers.

Despite appearances, this is the kid that sleeps at 8:30pm, doesn't break school rules, and yells at his friends for smoking.

He zips up the collar on his gym track suit all the way. Both the summer and winter versions get the same treatment. He doesn't feel the need to "make a statement" by wearing his track uniform incorrectly. Outside of class, he can and does sometimes wear his track jacket unzipped, but during class he always wears it properly.

So then why does Bakugou-kun refuse to wear the band T-shirt and Christmas party Santa outfit? Because he isn't cooperative. In Ultra Analysis, his Cooperativeness Stat was the lowest rank: E.

CONCLUSION: Bakugou-kun may be non-conformist and uncooperative, but he isn't a rebel.

Fan Theory #3: TRAUMA/PTSD

//This is one of the more popular theories. Between Dabi grabbing his neck, the Sludge Villain and being restrained at the School Festival, our boy has been through the wringer. As a result, he just doesn't like stuff around his neck because it gives him anxiety.//

The Western Fandom is definitely concerned about the mental health of the kids. But I don't actually think this is the reason. Not that I don't think they all need some therapy and self care, especially right now, but there just isn't evidence for this specific trauma in Bakugou-kun.

He wears scarves and even turtle necks without a problem.

On top of that, Bakugou-kun ALSO unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and gakuran in middle school; even from before the Sludge Villain incident. There isn't any evidence Bakugou-kun changed his dressing habits due to trauma. He wore a scarf to the entrance exam for UA, too.

CONCLUSION: Bakugou-kun has ALWAYS worn his shirts with the top button unbuttoned.

These 3 theories are inadequate, too. Even if they did explain the reasons Bakugou-kun doesn't wear a uniform tie, they don't factor in the reasoning for why he DOES wear his other ties properly sometimes.

HC#1: Bakugou-kun's preference

Bakugou-kun doesn't seem to care about his image and how "extras" see him. Even during the press interviews after his hero debut, he wore the same style of open collar look. He's not shy about being nude or taking his shirt off.

But what he hates is being uncomfortable.

He is "explosively brawny". Just look at how thick Bakugou-kun's neck is when compared to Midoriya-kun's. It isn't just that Midoriya-kun is supposed to be scrawny, but also that Bakugou-kun has a thicker than average neck.

Bakugou-kun doesn't like to button up his shirts all the way because it's uncomfortable. It's reasonable that he zips his track suit and everything else up because those are looser at the neck or made of stretchier materials.

As for why he doesn't wear the uniform tie at all... Don't forget Bakugou-kun is a perfectionist and a bit of a neat freak.

He always tucks his shirt in. For the band performance he wore a collared black dress shirt. From what we saw of his room, it's minimalist and clean. I don't see him wanting to look like a slob.

A sloppy loose tie would probably irritate him more than just not wearing it (which is even funnier when you think about Midoriya-kun's chonk tie. It probably makes him want to strangle Midoriya-kun, or maybe just tie it himself...)

Bakugou-kun has difficulties compromising when it comes to his high standards. So if he has to wear it, it's going to be either 0% or 100%.

HC#2: Explosiveness

Why draw Bakugou-kun with either 0% tie or 100% tie? If Horikoshi-sensei is going for a delinquent image, wouldn't the 50% tie option make more sense?

Taking a look again at Bakugou-kun's profile page, Horikoshi-sensei describes him to be explosive in every way. That includes his whole body being "explosively brawny", but also adds a note that he looks slender in clothes.

Horikoshi-sensei put an effort to make every element of Bakugou-kun's character in some state of either fully compressed or explosive.

His slimming clothes, general appearance and even his speech patterns are highly compressed (blunt/terse) and loud. The extremes of his attitude are compressed too; if Bakugou-kun is not loudly raging, then he's quietly observing.

This contrast is key to his character. You can't explode if you aren't compressed first. It's supposed to be shocking to see how brawny he actually is under his slenderizing clothes. And I always feel shocked whenever I see this kid compressed into a tie.

HC#3: Deku & Kacchan

These two are set apart from the class by design and very much on purpose. Horikoshi-sensei designed them to be at opposite ends of the same spectrum.

If Bakugou-kun has muscular arms, then Midoriya-kun needs muscular legs. If Midoriya-kun buttons up his shirt all the way to the collar, then Bakugou-kun's collar has to be loose. Their designs reflect their connection.

So if Midoriya-kun has a poorly tied tie, the opposite of that is either non-existant or perfectly tied. If it's perfectly tied, he'd just blend in with the class.

The no-tie option just makes more sense.

Plus Ultra Rare Bakugou

Horikoshi-sensei only ever draws Bakugou-kun with a tie in specific scenarios. Costume events that require the neck tie as part of the costume or "fancy" events where everyone is in formal wear. And even in those, Bakugou-kun manages to not wear his tie 90% of the time.

So, I just imagine that when Horikoshi-sensei makes Bakugou-kun wear his tie, he's super grumpy! Just look at his face in every illustration he's wearing a tie in. He's probably hot, uncomfortable, and really not enjoying himself at all.

Ultimately, the "Plus Ultra Rare Bakugou" is a Bakugou-kun who wears the tie and SMILES while doing it.

(Yes, I know that's NOT actually a tie. Shut up Bakugou-kun. You're only smirking in this one because you won the Popularity Poll for the 5th time in a row...)

(Well that's random, you say? Welcome to my blog. Considering the stuff going down on canon, I figured I should give fans, and myself, a break from angst to talk about something silly.

Please note that this applies only to the manga. I've found that the anime isn't quite so strict about how Bakugou-kun looks.

Regarding the headcanons, I just want to clarify that everyone is free to think whatever they like. I enjoy all headcanons and support your right to have them.

I wrote this a while ago and then debated posting it because it's such a huge meta about... Bakugou-kun's tie. I had regrets. But now it's become my new years post. Regrets were for 2020, it's already 2021!

Demons out, fortune in!!! I know it's not setsubun for another month, but 2020 was such a demon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!)

[pedro-pascal-love]

The Past

Chapter Four of Well, This is Awkward

Series Masterlist ❖ Main Masterlist ❖ Join My Taglist 

Rating: 18+, NSFW

Word Count: 2k+

Summary: Some things come to light about Reader’s past and Dave is a tease.

Warnings: Language, angst, slow burn, graphic descriptions of sexual acts but no sex (yet!)

⟸ Previous Chapter ❖ Next Chapter ⟹

A week. That’s how long you’d had been avoiding Dave at all costs. You made damn sure not to be caught alone with him whenever possible, always having one of the girls there or being out of the house running errands while the girls were at school. As far as you could tell, Dave was avoiding you too. Which you’d admit hurt your pride a little bit, but hey, he was married, so you had no right to be upset.

You’d tried to get your mind off him as much as you could by working on things around the house or helping the girls out with homework, but you could only do that so much before boredom overtook you. Whenever you weren’t busy with the girls or doing errands, you often hung out in your room on your phone or laptop, just scrolling through social media. You’d done your nails several times this week already and had perfected the art of folding your towels five different ways and rearranging your bedroom. Yeah, you weren’t going a little stir crazy at all. Carol was due back from her trip in a week, and you’d hoped to avoid Dave the rest of the time until then, but fate had other ideas.

It started like any other day; you’d gone to drop off the girls at school and then hidden away in your room. Two hours passed before you heard a peep from around the house, and it came in the form of a knock on your door. Your heart stopped; your breath hitched.

“Yes?” You called out, nerves consuming you in anticipation.

“It’s Dave, mind if I come in?” Dave replied through the door. You looked down at your clothes, contemplating if you should change or not. All that preserved your modesty was a pair of yoga pants and a tight-fitting tank top.

Fuck, you thought. You straightened yourself up and took a deep breath, putting a pillow on your lap under your laptop and took in a deep breath.

“Come in,” you stated, bracing yourself for his entry. Dave quickly opened the door, and it took everything in you to remain conscious. How would a man look so good in merely a dress shirt and trousers?! Dave made his way to you and sat on the foot of the bed while you scooted back a little bit more on the bed and propped yourself up against the headboard.

“What can I do for you today, Dave?” You inquired.

“I think you and I need to have a little chat,” Dave replied. You bit your lip.

Fuck, I do not like where this is going.

“What about? Is something wrong?” You replied nonchalantly.

“Yes. You’ve been avoiding me this last week, and I’d like to know why,” Dave stated, cutting right to the chase.

Fuck.

“Oh….Um….Well, you see….” You stammered out, not sure how to answer that without sounding like a complete idiot.

“I mean, I have a few guesses, but I wanted to hear it from you.” You sighed, hearing his words.

Here goes nothing.

“Yeah…..I have sort of been avoiding you, and I’m so sorry if it came off as rude,” you began. “It’s just; I’m not sure how to handle this situation.”

“What? The fact that you and I have fucked, and now you’re my children’s nanny?” Dave blatantly asked. You bit the inside of your cheek at his words, but his words didn’t stop there.

“The fact that I’ve had you bent over, with my cock deep in your soaking wet pussy, letting a stranger fuck you in a public place?” You clenched your thighs at his words, the action not going unnoticed by Dave, as his eyes shifted down to your legs covered up by the pillow. You gulped and nodded,  eyes downcast.

“I see…..Well, I guess I can only assume that you wanted to pretend like that never happened. However,” Dave paused. You lifted your eyes and met his gaze. “What if I don’t want to go on as if nothing happened?” You felt the fire in your soul flare. Were you really hearing his words? Dave got up and moved until he was sitting next to you on the bed, shutting your laptop, setting both the pillow and the computer down next to you.

“See, Princess, I kind of really liked how you felt around me. Feeling the tight walls of your pussy clench around me, milking me for every last drop.” The pet name made you bite your lip and fidget with your hands. You didn’t want to let his words affect you, but they were, and you felt yourself grow hot at the memories. You felt Dave place his hand under your chin and bring your face up to meet his stare. You hadn’t realized how close he was to you until that moment. Should either of you lean forward, just the smallest amount your lip would meet. You inwardly shuddered at the thought.

DAMMIT NO! You scolded yourself.

“Dave, you’re married!” You finally croaked out, snapping your head back so fast it almost hit the headboard. You watched wide-eyed as Dave threw his head back and laughed.

“That didn’t stop you before, baby girl,” he coolly replied. You felt your blood start to boil. He was married, and yet here he was acting like he wasn’t.

“I didn’t know you were married that night,” you shot back, crossing your arms.

“No, but you know now, and I can tell that you still want me,” Dave smirked.

Damn him.

You shook your head, adamant not to fall under his spell, but your willpower was waning.  Dave leaned in close to your ear. “C’mon, sweet girl, you’re going to resist, Daddy?”

“Dave….” you whined, your breath hitching feeling his breath on your ear. Dave smiled and moved your face to capture your lips with his. Heat engulfed your bodies as you moaned into the kiss, grabbing onto his shirt and pulling him closer to you. Dave took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth and battling for dominance. You whined as you felt him bite your lip and then pull away, your lips swelling from the interaction.

“That’s what I thought,” Dave said as he got up and walked out of the room, leaving you hot and bothered.

“Fuck!” You cursed out as you brought your fingers to your lips, feeling the ghost of his kiss. “I am so fucking screwed.”

Dave was annoyed, to say the least. You’d been avoiding him for the last week since your encounter in the hallway, and he’d had enough of it. He’d spent all week watching you on the cameras, watching as you touched yourself when nobody else was home, listening to your little whines and moans. He’d spent all week listening to you pant out his name, and he’d jerked himself off to the image of being there with you. He had begrudgingly given you space this last week and studied you. He wanted to know what made you tick and see if he’d be able to get away with the plans formulating in his mind.

Carol was due back in a week, and he damn well wanted to have you before his wife was back in town, and his chance at more fun would fly out the window. Today he would take what he wanted and tease you, even if it ended up with him getting blue balls in the process. Dave had chosen today when he knew you’d be caught off guard, and boy was he glad he’d done that. Your little make-out session in your bedroom was just the beginning, and he could tell that you’d eventually give in to him. He watched you on the security feed as you laid in bed, annoyed that he’d left so abruptly, and was pleasantly surprised when you picked up your phone to call your friend Melody. Dave got onto his computer and decided to tune in to your little conversation to see what you two were chatting about.

“Hello?” Mel answered.

“Mel, I’m so fucked,” you started. He could hear Mel on the other end of the phone laugh at your words.

“What happened?” she implored.

“Dave…..He…UGH. He needs to stop being so damn sexy!” you proclaimed. Dave smirked at your antics while Mel laughed.

“I mean, he looked fine as hell when you met him; you can’t just turn that kind of sex appeal off,” she replied. You groaned, and he watched on the screen as you slapped your forehead.

“I know! It’s so bad because I want to jump his bones. Like ALL THE TIME,” you said exasperatedly. “And I hate that he’s married, Mel. It’s so fucked. I don’t know how things in their marriage are like, but Carol seems like such a nice woman.” Dave’s ears perked up at the mention of his wife.

I wonder where this is going to go, he thought as he heard you sigh into the phone.

“I know. It’s pretty fucked that he slept with you that night at the bar, but at the same time, that wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know,” she consoled. “For all you know, they might have like an open marriage or some shit like that.”

“Yeah, who the fuck knows, man. But uh, you should probably know something…” You trailed off.

“Did you sleep with him?!” Mel exclaimed through the phone, both sounding concerned but also excited. "Girl, you know I wouldn’t judge you if you did, ‘cause hot damn, I’d love to be in your situation with a hot boss and all, but the whole Carol thing is just weird.”

“No, no, I didn’t sleep with him, but damn do I want to,” you replied with a laugh. “No, he just came into my room a bit ago, and fucking called me out on why I’d been avoiding him. AND THEN THE MOTHERFUCKER KISSED ME!!!” Dave could hear Mel gasp through the phone and then burst into laughter.

“Oh man, what?!”

“Yeah! He came in all serious and then was like, ‘Have you been avoiding me cuz we had sex?’ and he started fucking dirty talking, all like describing how it was when we were at the bar,” you continued.

“OH MY GOD. HOT DAMN GIRL! That’s some fucking Big Dick Energy if I ever,” Mel cackled. Dave shook his head. You girls were too much, and he liked your friend.

“I KNOW! And then he like got all close to me and just - ugh! I even called him out about how he’s married, and you know what he did? He fucking said that he knew I wanted him even after finding out he was married. It’s like he’s a goddamn spy or has eyes watching me or something!” Dave let out a chuckle at your words. Oh, if only you knew how close you were with that statement.

“Oh, man. That’s so hot,” Mel laughed.

“Yeah…But then the son of a bitch went and kissed me!” you said as you threw your head back with a groan. “And Mel, it was so fucking hot. Ugh. It seriously took everything not to rip his clothes off.”

“Oh my god!”

“I KNOW! And then the fucker had to be like ‘That’s what I thought,’ all sexy-like, and then he walked out!” You cried as you flung yourself into your bed while Mel cackled even more over the phone.

“Hot diggity damn, girl. I say you march into his office or room or wherever he is and take what you want. Better yet, tease the fucker back,” Mel suggested. You pondered her statement for a moment and grinned.

“Give him a taste of his own medicine? Fuck, I really should!”

“Do itttttttt,” Mel encouraged. “But you should be careful. Like maybe a little teasing and stuff, but until you figure out what’s going on with him and Carol, don’t cross that line, you know?”

“Yeah, good point. I don’t want to be a homewrecker, but like fuck, he makes it so hard,” you whined.

“I know, chicka, I know. Who knows, maybe he’d leave your wife for you,” she joked. “Wouldn’t that be a twist!” Dave quirked an eyebrow at her words.

I mean fuck, I never had that thought before, but the girls do love her, and we have a lot of chemistry that not even Carol and I had when we first got together, Dave thought to himself.

“Oh my god, Mel. Don’t say that! Dammit, I’m going to Hell,” you groaned out as you laughed.

“It’s ok; I’ll make sure to save you a seat!” “I feel like such a teenager right now, though, dude. Like I don’t know how I’m going to survive.”

“Take it one day at a time, but make sure to keep your head on straight. I’ll support you no matter what, you know that. If you want to pursue things with him and be happy, then go for it. Just make sure that you don’t get hurt in the long run, you know?” Mel said.

“I know, I don’t want to have to deal with another heartbreak. Especially after what happened with Tom,” you breathed into the phone with a sigh. Dave felt a ping in his heart. He knew all about your situation with your ex-boyfriend Tom and how badly that had ended. He knew all about the abuse that you’d been through at the hands of that asshole and had seen the police reports and photos of your battered face. Thankfully Tom was rotting away in prison, but only after he almost killed you. Dave felt his blood boil at the thought of someone hurting you.

“It’s going to be alright, girly,” Mel consoled. “I don’t think Dave is like Tom at all, and Tom is rotting away after what he did to you.”

“Yeah, I know….I’m just scared,” you whispered into the phone. “Anyways, I have to take a shower and run a few errands in a bit, so I’ll let you go.”

“Ok. You be careful, ok? And take care of yourself,” Mel said as you bid each other farewell and hung up. Dave watched you sit in bed for a moment and contemplated going into the room and comforting you but thought better of it.

I’m getting a little in too deep with her.

Shit.

⟸ Previous Chapter ❖ Next Chapter ⟹

[artofdying1970]

music tag time :)

thank you for the tag fiona @odearjohn mwah

Who was your first favourite artist? katy perry 100%!! i remember me and my cousin would watch her music videos on her ipad when we were around seven :)

Who are your current favourite artists? phoebe bridgers, mitski, taylor swift and simon & garfunkel ! and the beatles .. i guess 🙄

Are you into musicals? Which ones?/Why not? not really. back in 2016-2017 i was your stereotypical Theatre Kid that liked hamilton, heathers, dear evan hansen etc etc all of those with notoriously bad fandoms lol. i guess it was really cathartic for me because i haven't bothered getting into musicals again, but i'm open for suggestions !! :)

Are there songs you consider so special you only listen to them very rarely? i think 'a burning hill' by mitski is such an intimate and fragile song for me that makes it hard for me to listen to it whenever. i have to be in a certain headspace if that makes any sense LOL

What's your preferred way of listening to music? (time of day, medium, situation) while i do homework ! but the music i like just makes me want to get up and sing at the top of my lungs so sometimes i have to stop lol

What would you say is the most niche music you listen to? this band/duo/thing called girlpool ! they haven't dropped anything since last year but i'm holding out for a new album soon :) i don't think their stuff is for everyone, especially their earlier projects (the delivery on their vocals and harmonies can be kind of annoying) but i think you should check them out if you like the sort of music they play in indie coming-of-age films where nothing happens lol

What's your favourite music related movie/TV show that's not a musical? almost famous !

Albums or playlists? both ! but tbh i tend to lean towards the first. most of the playlists i have up on my profile i don't actually like use? they're mostly just for show i don't trust myself to know what songs go well together lol. but sometimes listening to an album on loop can be quite boring if it has a Very Cohesive Sound so i'll put something on shuffle

Favourite albums? revolver (1966), bookends (1968), the idler wheel... (2012), bury me at makeout creek (2014), be the cowboy (2018), punisher (2020)

Is there an artist you're trying to get into? frank ocean ! would appreciate some song recs/albums to start :)

Whose music do you find overhyped? hngnghh ed sheeran ik it's trendy to hate on him nowadays so it's not really an unpopular opinion but i just. Don't See The Appeal

What's an underrated song? remember my name by mitski .. stream <3

What's a thing a bunch of songs do that you love every time? i don't know any like. music terms but i love love love it when a song starts out relatively calmly and it slowly builds up until it reaches a MASSIVE climax it makes go !!!! (ex. i know the end, bridge over the trouble water etc etc)

What song is better acoustic? does while my guitar gently weeps count?? the album version is obviously iconic but the demo version hits a little harder idk

What's the worst song of all time? achy breaky heart

Do you put individual songs on repeat? If so, for how long and how often? i do it pretty often! mostly for about an hour or so, more if i really like it. i really should stop because i'm going to make myself hate a song i really like (semi-related story: my friend and i were obsessed with 'hard times' by paramore back in eight grade and i played it so much it's STILL my most streamed song of all time accordijg to my spotify stats even though i haven't listened to it in like a year. yeah)

Do you make your own playlists? If so, what's your most entertaining playlist title? i do, but they don't really have fun titles or anything. they're mostly from poems or song lyrics that fit the theme :/ pretentious much ?

Headphones or earbuds? not opposed to either ! but you can't go wrong with the classic wired girlies :^)

Do you always sing the lead vocal or do you harmonize sometimes? If you harmonize, do you ever invent your own harmony? i do a mixture of both . it's a bit of a mess ☹

A music confession jack antonoff isn't that bad of a producer imo. he has a really inconsistent output but that doesn't necessarily mean he ruins everything his production touches :* (this year has been rough for him though lol like chemicals over the country club + solar power were both So underwhelming) i will admit that yeah. he tends to recycle stuff quite a bit lol

tagging the besties (no pressure obviously !!) @mithranqueer @belldog @aerialballet1968 @runofthemilldemo :)

[script-nef]

Fluff alphabets | Kageyama Tobio

Others: Hinata, Oikawa,  Tsukishima

Category: fluff

Affection: How affectionate is he? How does he show affection?

It depends on the location but he’s generally very affectionate and loving. 

Not so good on the “confessions of love” or “love serenade” front but expresses them through little things he does for you.

Like picking up your favourite snacks on the way home or trying to teach you volleyball so you understand what’s happening when you visit his matches or practices. When you look into his eyes, there’s nothing but desire and love for you.

Baby: Does he want to start a family?

He wouldn’t mind and leaves the decision to you.

He’s not all that good with kids but there’s no doubt that he would try his best to be a great dad for his children.

*spoiler alert* So you know how his parents weren’t around all that much in his childhood? He doesn’t want that for his babies. He’ll make sure to be involved in his children’s lives and be as attentive as he can be. And hopefully play some volleyball with them.

Although to do that, he wants to put them off for a while because he’s currently incredibly busy as the best setter in Japan. He’s also thinking of you because you’re successful in your career right now and doesn’t want to take that from you.

Cuddles: Does he like cuddling? How often does he like hugging?

Poor boy is touch-starved and intends to never have you feel the same way.

Hugs you whenever he sees you: after matches, returning home, watching movies, cooking dinner and on and on and on.

He would rest his head on your shoulder or head and squeeze tightly. Or sometimes fiddle with your hair. And hope that you understand how much he loves you through these small acts of affection.

Date: What is a typical date?

It’s usually watching movies/TV shows or teaching him cooking. Since he’s entire childhood was volleyball-based, he missed out on classic shows like Doraemon, Pokémon and animes. So you try to help him become educated.

The food front is abysmal. There’s a theory that when he was born, his volleyball stats were maxed but everything else was sacrificed in its stead.

Other times it’s going shopping because he has an absolutely terrible fashion sense or doesn’t try at all. Everything is either black or grey so you try to give him some colour which works out perfectly because hello? Japan’s next top model is ready to be contracted over here. Effortlessly beautiful and catches everyone in the shop’s attention.

Experience: How much has he dated before? How does that reflect in this one? 

You’re Kageyama’s first significant other!! *party blowers and confetti*

He was incredibly clumsy and confused when it comes to dating and being a boyfriend, but years of practice helped him. He regularly asked for what you wanted and expected from him and did his best to achieve that. And now he can understand your moods from the smallest signs.

He didn’t understand boundaries very well but as soon as you say something like “please stop”, he immediately leaps back and apologises. And he remembers what he did wrong so he never does it again.

Fight: Do you fight often with him? How does it usually end?

Fights don’t happen often and even then, it ends pretty quickly.

He can’t concentrate on anything if he knows you’re mad at him and tries to understand anything he did wrong to make sure those kinds of arguments never happen again. He goes around asking everyone for their help and opinion on the matter and tries to find the fastest way to fix the relationship.

If you did something wrong, he doesn’t back up. No matter how much he loves you, you have to apologise if you’re the cause. He is quite stubborn when he knows he’s in the right.

Gentle: How does he treat you?

In the beginning, he barely even held you because he didn’t understand how his strength should be adjusted for you. Slight paranoia of “what happens if I hurt them?” crept into his mind.

So when you asked if he didn’t like physical contact, he panicked and confessed his predicament. You laughed and said “I’m not a glass doll. Besides, if you don’t try, are we going to stay in this relationship with no touching at all?”

So after months of careful and tentative touches, he got a hang of it and is now completely gentle whenever he initiates physical contact.

Hand: Does he like holding your hand? How often?

Kageyama is fascinated by the size difference between your hand and his.

Holds your hand as frequently as he can and fiddles with your fingers. Often interlaces his fingers with yours and loves how your hand fits perfectly into his.

Impression: What was your first impression of him?

Not that great (Feat. Death glare and lack of vocabulary)

You visited one of his matches in high school and caught him just glaring at you with the most piercing eyes. It made you think “Does he hate me or something? I’ve never even spoken to or seen him before!”

Needless to say, it threw you off and made you kind of avoided him whenever you went to their matches. He was secretly dejected when you would slip away from his sight. He was just staring at you because you were so radiant and beautiful that it took his breath away. 

Thankfully, after talking to the third years, the misunderstanding cleared and you started hanging out with him. 

Jealousy: Does he get jealous easily? What sets him off?

He doesn’t get jealous easily because he trusts you and knows you love him with everything you have like he does for you. 

Rare occasions where he gets annoyed is when you become a fan of other setters and praise them for their skills. He’ll sulk and say “I’ll beat them all so you can see I’m the best.”

Kiss: Is he good at kissing? When does he kiss you?

His kisses are soft but pretty long. Just spends the entire time pressing his lips against yours and doesn’t even dare to do more than that. 

If you want to do deeper than that? Then you gotta start it, because this boy is too scared of making you feel uncomfortable. 

Love: Who said “I love you” first? And when does he say it?

You. Definitely you. This boy was seriously too shy when the relationship started to give away anything.

He immediately replied “I love you too” once you admitted it.

Nowadays he says it before falling asleep, whispering against your ear.

Memory: What’s his favourite memory with you?

The first “date” you had with him, when he came over to your house for a tutoring session. You weren’t going out back then but it’s one of his most treasured memories.

It was his first time being alone with you and he thought about how perfect you were. How patient and understanding you were even though he couldn’t comprehend anything.

It was also the day he learned the most about you through your chatter after the session.

Nickname: Does he give you a nickname? Do you have one for him?

You have some for him like Blueberry, Prince Charming (in exchange for the King of the Court), volleyball dork and so on

He doesn’t have any for you. He prefers to call you by your name because he thinks it’s beautiful and most importantly, it’s your name. Would shorten it but he never calls you that in public. Our boy is too shy //^//

Open: How open is he about his feelings?

The weird thing about Kageyama is that once in private, he confesses his feelings for you like it’s a fact. No hesitation, no embarrassment, just his overwhelming love for you. In fact, it makes you blush a lot because of how unashamed he is.

But if someone else asks him about his feelings for you, he clams up. Sometimes he even refuses to look at the person and hides his face because of how red it became. He can eek out an incredibly quiet “I love them” and that’s it.

PDA: Is he fine with PDA? How far can he go?

He’ll turn into a flaming blueberry but tries to do it if you want to.

His limit is kissing on the lips. Hugging and hand-holding is “okay” but the edges of his ears will be tinged in red and hot to the touch. If you initiate the kiss, he becomes unresponsive and needs to rest for a while.

If someone manages to snap a shot of you two kissing and upload it for the world to see, he’s never going to live it down. He’ll be so embarrassed but also happy that the world can see how much he loves you.

Quirk: Habits or something he does which is unexpected?

He gives you manicures.

You asked him once when he was taking care of his nails and he responded with “do you want me to do yours?” and boom your nails have never looked better.

Does his best to make yours amazing and neat as possible, working at each cuticle with Bobby Fischer intensity. It’s to the point where you have to push his head away and say “Sweetie, your face is a centimetre from my nails.”

Expands his skills to painting as well. How he found the time, you will never know.

Relax: What activities do you do with him to relax?

Taking naps together. Kageyama runs on a tight and strict schedule which stresses him sometimes, so the best thing you can do with him is to take afternoon naps.

Just talk or sing quietly and he’s out like a light. He demands you sleep cuddled with him even if it’s in the blazing heat of summer. Even bought 2 fans to convince you that you would be fine while snuggling him.

Support: How supportive is he of your dreams? What do you do for him?

No matter what you do or what you want to do, this boy is there to back you up and encourage you every step of the way. Will try to help you even with limited knowledge with your work and tries not to bother you when working.

He loves it when you come to his matches and cheer him on. Every time he scores a point or sets a really good toss he turns to you at the end of the rally. Whenever you smile and wave to show your support he gets these explosions in his chest and it keeps him going no matter what.

Talk: What does he like talking about?

Most of his talk would be about volleyball (of course) or you.

Everyone knows he loves volleyball with his entire heart and most of his social life revolves around it. But for the first time in interviews or when chatting with fans, he would finally say something from his personal life if it has to do with you.

To you, he recounts all the things he did that day and how much he missed you when he comes back home.

Umbrella: What’s their favourite weather/season?

Kageyama likes cold winter days, preferably when it’s snowing. It’s the best when he wakes up with you and sheets of snow are covering the roads. 

Making sure you’re warm, wearing hats and gloves, he would build snowmen and get into snowball fights with you. Due to his infuriating athletic prowess, he always wins and leaves you soaked from head to toe.

“Why cover me in all these layers if you’re going to drench me with snowballs?!” 

“You’d get hypothermia if you don’t though.” (lmao does he even know what hypothermia is)

But he makes up for it with cuddles and hot chocolates

Vaunt: Does he like showing you off?

Not really. He doesn’t hide you from the world or deny that he’s dating anyone because he’s so proud of you and this relationship which impacts him in more ways he can express.

But at the same time, he doesn’t want your privacy to be invaded and therefore doesn’t give out personal information like names. He does, however, share bits like “they got a promotion” or “We tried painting together. It didn’t end well.” The viewers understand the extent of his love for you when they see him smile when talking about you. 

World: Where does he take you for vacation?

He doesn’t really care for vacations but knows you like them. That’s why he listens and writes down all the places you said you want to go to, even if it’s in passing. Like Sapporo during the Snow Festival or the beaches of Okinawa. Paris or Hawaii.

And even places which he thinks you might like from all your previous comments and remarks.

X-ray: What happens when you’re injured or sick?

If it’s a physical injury, he knows how to take care of it due to his years of playing volleyball where he came into contact with tons of athletes getting hurt. Like sprains, pulled muscles, bruises and cuts—he’s got it under control.

If you’re running a fever, then he’s a bit more panicky. Searches up how to take care of someone who's sick and reads so much even though he might not understand all of them. Tries and fails to cook some soup or porridge but brings you lots of tea and medication.

He tries his best not to get injured or sick because he knows you’ll worry and doesn’t want to burden you :( But loves it when you nurse him.

Yearn: How much does he miss/pine for you when apart?

Because of his and your work, mornings and afternoons are spent apart and he doesn’t like it one bit, not at all. He’s always thinking about you and is restless if he doesn’t see or hear from you. 

But he also doesn’t want to be overbearing or controlling. So he waits for you to contact first most of the time. If he’s had a bad day, then he’ll call you first.

Checks up on you a lot by messages and calls, receiving looks of surprise from all his teammates. He loves it when you send him videos of yourself telling him to cheer up and endure the time apart.

ZZZ: Does he have sleeping habits?

He’s a calm sleeper and doesn’t really move around when snoozing away. Tossing and turning, sure, but nothing more than that.

Besides, he’s pretty much anchored in place with you in his arms.

[jungle321jungle]

Ten of Swords- Level Five: Good and Bad Ideas

The world of Swords of Power and Conquest was one Virgil dove head first into, giving his soul and life to the game. He would play whenever he could, and had even decided he wanted to go into game design. At times he had even dreamt of how wonderful it would be to be inside that world for even a moment- until that world became his reality.

The familiar world he had come to love was now a foreign prison, one with no way out.

Taglist: @angels-and-dreams @ollyollyoxinfree @gattonero17 @chumo-cookie @dreaming-always @anxiety-ismy-name @mrbubbajones @janustheliar @why-do-you-care

Ao3 - Masterlist

Level Five: Good and Bad Ideas

To be quite fair a duel was probably the dumbest idea he could have possibly ever had. If they were just talking swords themselves Logan had the upper hand. Sabers were fast and quick, the complete opposite of Virgil’s dadao. Sure he had practiced with it and he certainly was fast enough to fight a monster, but against a skilled player like Logan, he wasn’t so sure. Then there was Logan’s ability to read him on top of all of that- and he was a higher level too. So really the only thing Virgil had on his side were his skills. His skills... his skills which he was still perfecting... this was truly really a horrific idea wasn’t it? Why had Dee let him do this?

Virgil’s gaze glanced over to Dee who was meanwhile still convincing Patton this was a good idea.

“Backing out?” Logan hummed.

Virgil shook his head, “Just wondering if they’re too close.”

“I see. And your assessment?”

Virgil resisted the urge to call the older man an ass in reply.  “They’re fine. Traditional rules?”

“Traditional rules are fine. I wonder if the game still has the duel feature or if we’ll need to time it ourselves.” As Logan paused to scroll through his menu Virgil was still trying to determine how the hell he could beat Logan.

He was also failing at determining how to beat Logan.

Virgil gave a mental scream of frustration. He had proposed this idea to get Logan to loosen up and work with the rest of them, and maybe better understand skills- but he wasn’t sure he could draw the match out that long.

“Ah! It is here.”

Fuck.

Virgil forced himself to take a deep breath as he got into a ready stance and drew his weapon. He could do this. Being evasive was his specialty. He knew how to avoid mobs of players to steal from under their noses, so he could avoid Logan long enough for the other player to be pissed off. Somehow he would manage to be okay. He had escaped the tyren pack on the way to the Tavern with nothing (with Dee’s help) he could definitely do this! Well... maybe. Probably. Most likely...  hopefully.

The moment the duel began Logan was rushing him. Virgil held in a screech as he dodged and god did he hate that smug look on Logan’s face. Dodging would do him no good. He jumped back to put some distance between them but as Logan lunged in he quickly stepped and turned. Logan didn’t hesitate to pivot and strike again but this time Virgil had turned his large blade on the side to act as a shield as he moved. It was a risky thing, holding a two handed sword with one in this manner- but the only advantage Virgil could possibly have over Logan was his strength stat. Given his naturally heavier weapon he needed to put his points into strength, while Logan had focused elsewhere. He backed up again holding the sword in one pained hand while touching the flat part with the palm of his other. And this time when Logan pressed in, Virgil shoved back with all his might. It wasn’t much- not at all. But it was enough to catch Logan off guard causing him to stumble and give Virgil an opening.

His arm was straining from the weight but even so Virgil swung towards Logan’s unguarded torso. For a second Virgil thought he could land a strike. For a moment he thought he could at least land a single strike on his perfect opponent. Just for an instant.

Just as Virgil’s blade should have been smashing into Logan’s ribs- a forceful parry sent shockwaves down his arm causing the weapon to slip from Virgil’s fingers. He didn’t even have time to draw his back up knife before Logan’s sword tip was at his throat. “I understand now,” he said simply. “it is very much like muscle memory.”

“I told you!” Remus shouted from the side.

Virgil bit back a retort. “Congrats.”

“Your strength stat must be quite high,” Logan commented sheathing his blade. “But it could be higher, as could your stamina.”

“I’ll win next time.”

Logan's face didn’t change. “No you won’t.”

~~~~

“Hello sir, would you like to browse my shop?”

Roman gave Virgil a glare. “You know I hate you right? You know well I just left to get something.”

Virgil blinked. “Hello sir, would you like to browse my shop?”

“Yes!” Roman shouted in annoyance.

Virgil wasn’t fazed as he unlocked the door to allow Roman inside the meeting room but he stayed out. While he did truly want to know what was going on with the intel Dee had gotten, more people had found their way to the Tavern in his absence and they needed to be sold weapons.

“Anthony!” Someone called. “I’d like to shop!”

“I'm very sorry, but the Owner has closed my shop for a private meeting.” He gestured to his right. “But I have some of my new items right here. Would you like to browse?”

“Hell yes.”

Virgil was quite frankly thankful when he was allowed to stop playing NPC for the night. The moment he was through the shop door he sunk into the nearest open chair. “Why is this more exhausting in person?”

“Because when it was on the computer you could multitask,” Dee answered easily.

Virgil gave a sigh, “Where’d you send the others to?”

“Patton’s asleep upstairs, Logan is checking on a loose thread to our lead, and the twins are coordinating with some other players to see if it’s even possible to move forward with construction.”

“For what? I wasn’t here during your little meeting, remember?”

“I want to go all in on a new business venture,” Dee started. “We take this from a tavern, to an inn. But to do so we need more space. We could pay other players for construction, and then when it’s up and running we can charge less than the game inns. And we can also encourage trade.”

Virgil gave a frown, “How long have you been thinking about this?”

Dee gave a chuckle, “A few days. But I had been thinking before that if we are going to do raids for the swords we will need a whole lot of money to fund that and we aren’t a guild with that sort of reserve. So I came up with this idea. I figure we get started with our lead and we have people building while we are gone. I’m sure the players who have been sleeping on the floor will help in return for a bed too.”

“You are always doing so many things at once.”

“I guess,” he shrugged. “If this works out we can expand your shop too. I can hire people to work in your place while we travel. But...”

“But?”

“I guess I should ask if you’re okay with all of this. We built this together after all.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m fine with it. Why wouldn’t I be? Your crazy scheme to build this place worked so why would I protest expansion? I mean you’ll get a ton more secrets to sell this way.”

“By the way... why did you agree to this in the beginning? This could have very well been a horrible mistake.”

Virgil gave a shrug, “Well initially we had just been looking for a place to build a house for us instead of paying for an inn so I didn’t care. But then when you came to me with this scheme I thought it was crazy. But I also thought if there’s any chance in it working, that you’d be the one who could do it. So, I just trusted you.”

“That’s insane.”

“I guess. But it’s not like we spent a ton of real world money on this so I didn’t mind. Finishing the quests to get the materials we needed was fun all in all.” Virgil gave a slight smile. “And I still remember how you used to scream at the NPC who built things because it didn’t customize right. You kept going on and on like it could understand you.”

“I wanted things to be perfect,” Dee grumbled.

“I know, I know. But you know to this day you still haven’t told me how you managed to get your hands on a guilds teleport point for this place.”

“I’m still sworn to secrecy on that.”

Virgil gave a chuckle, “Sure whatever.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence just listening to muffled the sound of talking from the main floor.

“Did it really hurt that badly?” Dee asked him suddenly.

Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Hm?”

Dee gave a sigh as he hung his head to look at the table. “Dying I am mean... I know it’s been a while since, but- but I never knew how to ask.”

Virgil hadn’t realized he had been smiling until it slipped from his face at the question. He looked back to Dee’s concerned gaze and gave his friend a slight smile. “Yeah... it did, and then some.”

“Are- are you okay? You... you did die.”

Virgil took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling above him. “I... yeah. Yeah I am.”

Without looking Virgil could tell Dee didn’t believe him, but it was true. Dying had been the worst thing he had ever experienced and yet... somehow he was okay. He wasn’t great or even good, the pain has shaken him to his core. He wasn’t bad either, he didn’t have nightmares or think much of it strangely. So yeah in this moment at least, he was okay.

Logan didn’t come back till early morning, but apparently his news was important enough that Virgil found himself being woken up. He sat up blearily and rubbed at his eyes as Logan spoke before he shook Dee beside him.

“We now know for certain which group has the Sword of Stone,” Logan started when they were all sitting on the bedroom floor.

“Who?” Patton yawned.

“Shadow Dawn.”

“Fuck no,” Roman said loudly.

“Roman,” Patton chided. But the other player didn’t seem to have heard.

“Let’s start elsewhere. I don’t want to deal with them at all.”

“We don’t have any other leads,” Logan frowned.

“Ignore him,” Remus said, rolling his eyes. “They’re one of the many he fucked over.”

“I did not!” Roman yelled back. “They screwed me over!”

“Didn’t you try to steal a commander’s armor after claiming his play style wasn’t fit for it?” Virgil asked in confusion. “And then when he did change it they lost a war because he longer had the underlying skills for it?”

“I-I mean yeah! But- but they left me stranded in a mine!” Roman yelled back.

“After you did all of that to them.”

“W-what do you even know!?”

Virgil gave a slight shrug, “Well I’m a fan of yours... and I used to have a friend in the guild.”

“I’m not doing this,” Roman declared.

“No one is asking you to,” Dee replied. “You don’t have to do anything other than be a good diversion.”

Logan nodded in agreement. “Agreed. I suggest we start with diplomacy and send the twins to speak with them. If it doesn’t work we move to the second part. Virgil, Patton, and I can offer services to them.”

“You three should go ahead of Roman and Remus. Might seem too suspicious otherwise.”

“True.”

“Wait Virgil can’t go,” Roman put in. “Won’t he be recognized? Anthony is pretty easy to remember no? Won't people make the connection to the NPC?”

“I use a different avatar skin as an NPC and I hide my level and player icon with a few glitches I’ve fostered,” Virgil assured him. “So people usually just assume I’m boring because of it and leave me be.”

“...You make that sound like a good thing.”

“And if anyone figures it out I can usually just offer them a good deal to pretend they don’t. It’s easy really.”

“Why was this so time sensitive again?” Remus yawned.

Dee gave a frown, “Isn't it obvious? We aren’t the only ones after the swords.”

“Who else is?” Patton asked worriedly.

“Not sure just yet. But other people have been poking around and soon enough they’ll make the same connections we are. We need to get the Sword of Stone first.”

“But then is it really a good idea to ask Roman and Remus to talk to them? Isn't a surprise better?”

“But if they say yes and join us Patts then we got a whole ass guild on our side,” Remus answered, laying down. “We might only need to sacrifice Roman.”

Roman opened his mouth to most likely shout at his brother, but Remus had already fallen back to sleep. He gave an eye roll. “This is still a bad idea. SD will shoot me on sight.”

Logan didn’t bat an eye, “You have enough gold for revival.”

Roman gave a groan and collapsed onto the floor. “This is gonna suck.”

~~~~

Level Four - Level Five - Level Six

[hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis]

Caught In Between 17. Little Sparks

Summary: Athena Dumont has finally found a place to call home after many years of foster homes and traveling. She had finally tamed her supernatural side and just wanted to live a normal teenage life. She quickly discovers that there is nothing normal about her hometown, Mystic Falls and gets sucked right back into the supernatural world.

Post Date: 09.08.20

Word count: 3.6k

Based off: 03x14 “Dangerous Liaisons”

Masterlist

CIB Masterlist

The next day Elena had invited me and the Salvatore’s over to her house to explain something that happened last night, “It was their mother Ester who was sealed in that coffin,” Elena explains as she puts cleaning supplies away.

“As in the Original Witch?” I question.

“What? How is she even alive? I thought her hybrid freak show of a son ripped her heart out a thousand years ago,” Damon states.

“Umm...hybrid freak here,” I say upset at what Damon had just said.

“I was saying Klaus is the hybrid freak, not you,” He scoffs.

“I don’t know. I’m guessing she has a couple of connections in the witching community. Elijah said that she wants to live in peace with her family, including Klaus,” Elena explains.

“She was supposed to be the weapon to help us kill Klaus,” Stefan states.

“Yeah, well, not anymore. At least not according to Elijah,” Elena responds.

“That coffin was the only thing stopping Klaus from tearing us to shreds,” Stefan stats making his way around the kitchen.

“Anyone else feeling used right now?” Damon questions as I raise my hand in agreement. 

“Look, Elijah promised me that his family wouldn’t hurt any of us,” Elena says before the doorbell rings. “I believe him,” She states. Elena makes her way to the front door and I and the Salvatores follow her. Elena turns around with an envelope in hand. 

“What is it?” I ask as she shuts the door. Elena opens the envelope and reads the contents.

“It’s an invitation. ‘Please join the Mikaelson family this evening at seven o’clock for dancing, cocktails, and celebration’,” Elena repeats what’s written on the card.

“Who the hell are the Mikaelsons?” Stefan asks.

“The original family,” You respond.

“It’s not bad enough they’re moving into town. Now they want a housewarming gift?” Damon questions.

“Wait. There’s a note on the back,” Elena flips over the card. “‘Elena, I think it’s time we finally meet. Esther,’” She reads.

The four of us make our way into the living room trying to figure out this whole ball thing, “If Esther wants to talk to me, maybe I should find out why,” Elena says.

“Well, that’s a dumb idea. She already tried to kill you once,” Damon states.

“No, Elena’s right. Bonnie was led to open that coffin for a reason. I think there’s more to this than just some family reunion,” Stefan says.

“Can we go back in time to the old Stefan who cared if Elena lived or died?” Damon asks.

“I agree with Stefan. I think we should find out,” I inject.

“Stefan and Athena have a point, Damon. I should find out what she wants,” Elena says.

“You can’t protect yourself,” Damon states.

“I’ll go, Klaus probably already sent me an invitation,” I say.

“No we can’t have your sired self, spilling all our secrets,” Damon responds.

“Ok, fine. Then I’ll go,” Stefan offers.

“You pissed off enough originals to last a lifetime. I’ll go,” Damon offers instead and plucks the card out of Elena’s hand. “End of story,” Damon says sternly before walking off. 

I follow Damon back to the Salvatore house. I make my way into my room, hoping not to find some envelope addressed to me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, but it wasn’t just an envelope. It was an envelope and a box sitting on top of my bed. I tried to ignore it but letting my curiosity getting the best of me I open the letter. The same information was written on the front. 

On the backside, it had a handwritten note written on the back, “Save me a dance. Fondly, Klaus,” I scoff at the note and go to open the box. As soon as I take the lid off, a blue dress is neatly folded inside along with a sunflower necklace atop it. I hear a knock on my door and set the dress down to see who it was. 

“Yes?” I question finding Damon at the door.

“I just wanted to see if you’re going to the ball. What’s that?” He asks noticing the dress laying on my bed.

“Oh, that?” I ask pointing back at my bed. “Just a gift from Klaus,” I say annoyed.

“So does that mean you’re coming? You do have a formal invite,” Damon smiles.

“By the look on your face, it doesn’t look like I have a choice,” I lean my head on the door. “Well at least I have a dress,” I say after Damon just nods his head.

“It’ll be great,” Damon says walking off.

A few hours passed as I sat there just debating on really if I should go to the ball, “Hey! You ready? The party starts in an hour,” I hear Damon say from the other side of my door.

“Uh, yeah. You guys can go. I’ll meet you there,” I yell back, but get no response.

I meet up with Elena who gives me a ride to the Mikaelson mansion. We make our way in and of course, are greeted by Stefan.”What are you doing here?” Elena asks him.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Stefan responds.

“Surprise. Surprise. Nice tux.” Damon says making his way to us. “You’re not supposed to be here,” Damon turns to Elena.

“Well, I am, and I’m not leaving until I find out what Esther wants, so shall we?” Elena explains. Both Salvatore brothers hold out their arms to escort us in.

“I’m going to find my secret admirer,” I say even though I knew it was Klaus. “Find out what he wants from me,” I say as Elena then wraps her arm around Damon’s arm. I walk off into the crowd of people searching for the one person I didn’t want to talk to but knew I should.

I make my way through the mansion but have no luck in finding Klaus, “Are you lost?” Kol says bringing my hand up for him to kiss.

“Uh, no,” I respond. 

“I--I remember you. You were at that lovely dinner. What was your name again?” He asks.

“Athena Dumont. Better known as my date,” Klaus says coming up to us.

“Ah yes. The second successful hybrid you made. You look lovely tonight,” Kol says and displays a charming grin.

“Thank--” I start.

“Get lost Kol. I’d like to spend time with my date,” Klaus steps in between you two.

“Fine. It was lovely to mee you Athena,” Kol says after the brothers have a staring contest, he leans over to look at me before walking off.

“Good evening,” Klaus turns back to me. 

“I need a drink,” I say before walking off.

I make my way back to the entryway where the Mikaelson’s are standing on their staircase, “Uh, If everyone could gather, please,” Elijah says from atop the stairs.

“Looks like that went well,” I say walking up to Elena.

“I hope it did,” She responds before we turn our attention to the family on the stairs.

“Welcome. Thank you for joining us.” Elijah starts as you see a woman, who you guess is Esther making her way on the stairs from the second floor. “You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it’s tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight’s pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom,” Elijah finishes and makes his way down the stairs.

Elena notices as Esther makes her way back up the stairs and gets ready to go up before Damon stops her, “Don’t even think about it.” 

“She wants to see me alone, Damon,” Elena states trying to head up but Damon stops her again.

“Well, it sucks to be her, then. Was I not clear this morning?” Damon asks.

“I was invited,” Elena states.

“You have to tell me before you walk into a lion’s den,” Damon whispers.

“Why? So that you can stop me?” Elena questions.

“Yes,” Damon quickly responds.

“She doesn’t have to tell you anything,” I inject.

“It would be rude not to dance, you know,” Damon says putting his hand out for Elena to take.

“It is tradition,” Elena reluctantly takes his hand. 

“Well, while you two dance. I’ll wait out here,” I say as they start to head off.

“I think you have someone waiting for you,” Damon says gesturing his head to Klaus waiting in the doorway. I sigh and shake my head as I make my way over to him.

“May I have this dance?” Klaus asks holding his hand out.

“I’d hate for you not to have a partner so I guess so,” I respond taking his hand as he smiles at me.

We make our way into the ballroom and get into formation for the dance. As we start to dance, I notice Klaus’ affectionate look at me. One I hadn’t seen in a while. Klaus spins me around and I fall into his arms, feeling his soft touch on my waist as we dance around in a circle with the other couples. It reminded me of the first time Klaus had taught me how to ballroom dance, preparing me for moments like this. When we were in our room practicing as I stepped on his toes.

“I’m glad you came,” Klaus says as we keep dancing.

“It seems that you and the Salvatore’s didn’t let me have a choice,” I respond.

“I’m am truly sorry for what I did. I never meant to hurt your family, to leave you without one,” He says.

“You’re lucky I found one here,” I respond.

“And for what it’s worth--” He starts.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I responded coldly.

“Very well. On to more mannered subjects then, like how ravishing you look in that dress,” Klaus says.

“I didn’t really have time to shop,” I respond.

“And the sunflower necklace I gave you, what’s your excuse for wearing that? Seeing as you’re wearing your family’s necklace along with it,” But I gave no response to Klaus’ question.

“You must’ve practiced since I’ve taught you. You’re quite the dancer now,” Klaus compliments noticing you haven’t stepped on his feet yet.

“Well, it helps when you’ve had a good teacher and had a few balls you’ve had to go to,” I respond.

“I’m glad it paid off,” Klaus smiles. We continue to dance to the song as you are passed off to another person, that being Damon.

“So any sparks?” Damon asks as we start to dance together.

“Damon,” I shake my head.

“What? It’s worth an ask,” Damon responds.

“I--I don’t know. I guess I feel a slight pull, this sire thing is really hard to keep back. But I’m trying my best to stay away from him,” I say.

“That seems to be going well for you,” He says.

“What is your plan with me? You wanted me here, so I am,” I question.

“I don’t know. Guess I’m trying to test the waters of you and the sire bond,” Damon says before I’m passed into Matt’s arms.

“Hey, there,” Matt says as I’m greeted with his smile.

“Hi,” I respond.

“So, this thing you have with Klaus. Is it because of the sire bond or past feelings?” Matt questions.

“uh...I don’t know both?” I sigh.

“Well, whatever it is. I just hope you’ll be happy. I know you deserve it. We all do in fact,” Matt says before you all break up as the dance was over. I knew what Matt said was what he believed but I didn’t want to hurt my friends over some little feelings for Klaus, the one person who destroyed their lives.

As I make my way into the bar area I’m stopped by a hand on my waist. I turn around hoping it wasn’t someone I disliked. Luckily it was Elijah, the one Mikaelson I actually enjoyed.

“Hey,” I say turning around.

“Hi. I didn’t think I’d see you tonight,” Elijah smiles.

“I didn’t think I’d be here tonight either. I thought it would look good as a founding family member,” I respond.

“That’s not why you’re here tonight, is it? I see you’re wearing the dress and necklace he picked out, it’s for Klaus, isn’t it?” Elijah questions.

“Uhh..yeah,” I drop my head. “I just can’t help but feel a pull to him. And it’s getting mixed up with the sire bond and my past feelings. They’re almost indistinguishable,” I confess.

“Look, Athena. When you figure it out, I just want you to do what will make you happy. I know there’s a room here for you and he’s offered it already. I would love anything for you to join us here, but I just want you to choose what you feel is right,” Elijah says squeezing my hand before walking off.

I walk outside to gather my thoughts and figure out what I want to do. I notice Caroline watching the horses attached to the carriage, “Hey,” I say making my way to her.

“Hey, come to get away from the craziness too?” She asks.

“That and figure out what I want to do and where I need to be,” I tell her going to pet the horse.

“What do you mean?” She asks.

“You know that ever since I’ve been made a hybrid, I’ve felt this pull towards Klaus. But what you might not know is it’s not the sire bond kind of pull like Tyler has. I mean I’m sure it has something to do with that. But it’s like my feeling for Klaus just decided to pop up. Out of nowhere,” I start.

“Yeah,” She says softly.

“Well, I’ve been fighting it as much as possible. But the more I do the harder it gets. My heart is telling me to go with him, but both my brain and even a part of my heart is telling me to fight it, stick with you guys. I don’t want any of you to get hurt because of my feelings and my choices but it’s getting harder fight and everyone keeps telling me to do what makes me happy, including Matt. And besides the Salvatores,” I confess, spilling my heart and thoughts out to Caroline.

“Well for what its worth. I agree. I know you’ve been trying your best to stave off this sire bond. But the way you’re putting it, it sounds like its not just that. I know you want to protect us, but everyone deserves to be happy, including you. If being with the Mikaeson’s makes you happy do that, if fighting the sire bond makes you happy do that,” Caroline says.

“Thanks. In all honesty that doesn’t help much,” I chuckle. “But I just don’t want to cause any problems. I feel like I’m being pulled on two different ends of myself. I’m just not sure what to do,” I say.

“I think whatever you do you’ll make the right choice,” She says and hugs you. “Speak of the devil,”  She says as you notice Klaus sauntering up to the two of you.

“Evening ladies,” He says.

“I’m gonna go and uh, find Elena,” Caroline says before walking off. 

“I remember when you found that horse on the side of the road and helped it get back on its feet,” Klaus says recalling when you had helped a hurt wild horse. “You were always good with animals,”

“You remember a lot,” I chuckle. “Including my favorite color,” I say looking at the dress.

“Of course, how could I forget,” He responds.

“Why did you invite me here? Personally.” I ask him.

“Because I still fancy you,” I send a glare his way after he answers. “Is that so hard to believe?” He asks back.

“Just a little,” I respond.

“Why? You’re beautiful. Y--you’re strong. You’re full of light. I still love you,” Klaus confesses.

I laugh, “After I betrayed you, left you? Klaus, I vowed that you lost me after killing my pack and hurting the people I care about,” I say.

“And yet you’re here,” He says back.

“And yet I am,” I mutter to myself.

“It intrigues me honestly. I mean I have done the worst to hurt you. I dragged you with me across the country, with no choice,” Klaus starts.

“Klaus please don’t’ start,” I say feeling my eyes water.

“I unintentionally killed your pack, hurt your friends,” He continues.

“Klaus please,” I say feeling tears streaming down my face.

“And I made you the one thing--” 

“Nik! stop, please,” I cut him off as the tears continue to fall. 

“It’s ok sweetheart. I did it because I care about you and I never want to lose you,” He says pulling me into a hug.

I find my self sobbing into his chest, “What are you trying to do? Win me back?” I then quickly shove him away. 

“I just want you back. You complete me,” He responds as you notice the sad look fall upon his face.

“Yeh well, listing off the ways you hurt me. Is the wrong way to do it,” I respond.

“Athena, you are the love of my life. My mission isn’t going to be complete until you realize that you are. I love you, Athena. I will do anything to get you back, anything. I know it’s not just the sire bond that pulls you back to me, I know you still love me,” Klaus responds wiping the tears from my cheek.

“Oh what, so now I’m some little mission to you now?” I ask as my voice wavers.

“No, not that’s not it. It the fact that you make me feel--” He starts.

“Stop just stop. I know you, Klaus, you won’t stop until you get your way. But you’re not just gonna get your way with me, not with how much you hurt me. So if you truly love me and would do anything to have me again. You’re gonna have to fight harder than this, you’re gonna have to prove to me that you still care, okay?” I explain trying to hold back any more tears.

“Athena, you know I will--” Klaus starts again.

“No, no. You don’t get the last word in this conversation. Just listen ok?” I ask as he just nods. “I know you love me, you proved it a long time ago. But you’re gonna have to prove it again. And I know you know how, you just have to do it the right way. And I’ll leave you with this, Klaus, just so you know how hard you really have to fight,” I pause for a moment to gather myself and take a deep breath. 

“I do still care for you and I know that deep down, no matter how hard I’ve tried to keep it down, that I still have feelings for you. It’s not something that I can just forget. The first time you made me feel like I belong somewhere and the first time that I felt like someone cared for me, loved me, and would look out for me is not something I can just erase. But you yourself have to realize that I’m not just gonna fall into your arms again not after how much you took away from me,” I confess not only to Niklaus Mikaelson but also myself. I stand there waiting to see if he had some remark to make but he just stood there, looking almost defeated. Not long after I make my way back into the mansion. 

I quickly make my way to a bathroom to clean myself up, in hopes that no one stops me in the process. I make my way back into the entryway and find Elena and Elijah talking.

“Hey, you alright?” Elijah asks noticing how shaken up I am. I notice the concerned look on both Elena and Elijah’s face, they must be reading me like a book. 

“Uh, yeh I’m fine,” I’m able to make out. “Your mother is about to make a toast,” I turn towards Esther standing on the stairs as I take a glass of champagne from a tray.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming by with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I’d like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers,” She says raising her glass. Everyone else follows then taking a sip from their glasses. As I down the entire thing.

“You sure you’re good?” Elena asks noticing that my entire glass of champagne is gone.

“Yeh, I uh just needed something to get me through this night. And that just did it,” I say setting the empty glass down on a tray as a waiter passes by. “Alright, I think I’m gonna turn in for the night. Please thank your mother for her hospitality,” I turn to Elijah.

“Will do, It was good to see you,” He responds.

“I will see you later, night Elena,” I say hugging her.

“Night Athena. Get home safe,” She says pulling away from me.

Once I got back to the Salvatore house, I quickly change into comfy clothing. As I get ready for bed, I notice a slim box sitting on my nightstand, “Really,” I sigh to myself. I open the box and unroll the paper inside. I find a drawing made by Klaus with a note on the bottom, “Thank you for your honesty,” I read quietly to myself.

I quickly put it away not wanting to think about the conversation we had and get into bed. 

A/N: It’s really all out in the open now. Athena really is “Caught In Between” with her feelings for Klaus and her will to keep her friends safe. I hope you enjoyed this part! Thanks for reading.

🏷: @tristanacarry | @commentaryfanfic | @april-14-blog |  @simonsbluee | @awkwardspontaneity | @keiko0

BONUS CONTENT!!!!!

So @awkwardspontaneity​ made this amazing piece of artwork of Athena. All I gave her were my physical appearance descriptions and all the creative freedom. She drew her in the ballgown that Klaus gave her with the sunflower necklace. I love this so much and am high-key obsessing over it, I really can’t get over it. Please check her other artwork she’s posted out! And enjoy this drawing of Athena. 

[sirspud]

A Vulgar First Impression of Coromon

Playing Pokémon games recently has been something akin to hiring a fairy princess to perform for your daughter’s birthday parties. The first few times she came around were fun, she made all the kids laugh and play their games, but now the princess has grown lazy, idly watching YouTube while disinterestedly mumbling the same four or five lines she’s been spouting for the past twenty-three years. But you keep hiring her regardless, even though your daughter’s trying to point out that she’s not into princesses anymore because she’s pushing 30, and you’re starting to think she might not be worth three hundred bucks a visit. And she’s starting to smell.

So as the Pokémon community sits and waits for the Diamond and Pearl remakes, because what is Pokémon if not a prolonged exercise in nostalgia bait, some indie developers have been trying their hand at doing Pokémon, but properly this time. First came along TemTem, which was, “Like Pokémon but online”, and now there’s Coromon, which is “Like Pokémon” and that’s it.

I’ll admit, I was attracted to Coromon not because of any underlying nostalgia or a want to replay Pokemon, but because the devs put out a free demo for the game, which is a rarity in this modern age of Early Access and delayed release dates. Intrigued, I decided to take a closer look, to see which warts they cut off and which ones they allowed to fester.

The game starts with our protagonist waking up in a small town with his mother about to go get his OR HER first Pokémon. So far, so standard. But where Coromon differs is that you aren’t some apple-cheeked youngster with a criminally neglectful parent, but a college kid who’s been selected for a prestigious university that studies Pokémon – sorry – “Coromon”. And incidentally, Pokémon scores the first point for having a name that actually means something. They’re monstrous creatures that can be caught in a ball and put in your pocket – “Pocket”-“Monsters”. What the fuck does Coromon mean? Because Coro only has a meaning if it’s in Italian, and I’m pretty sure these things aren’t meant to be called “Choir Monsters!”

Anyway, a dude in a wheelchair who was apparently the guy in charge gives you a magic glove and tells you about these glowing elemental orbs, which are important for some reason I wasn’t clear on, and he sends you out on a journey to collect more by finding six elemental titans and – as far as I understood the process – murdering them and stealing their essence in the name of science.

We choose our first Pokémon from a choice between the fire-type, the water-type or the… ice type? And then, we set out on our journey to fight trainers, make new friends, and shuffle about in the grass for an hour because your gobblefrog isn’t level sixty-two yet.

The first thing that struck me about Choirmon is that it really isn’t being coy with its desire to ape Pokémon. Everything, right down to the statistics of each monster, is identical to the way Pokémon does things. The types have the same names, evolving is still called evolving, it even gives you berries and other items for your monsters to hold. You can battle monsters in the wild, blundering into tall grass to scare them out of hiding and capturing them after beating them into a bloody pulp, or you can battle monsters owned by other trainers in unregulated dog fights. So it isn’t trying to be like Pokémon, it is Pokémon. It stabbed Pokémon in an alleyway, cut off its skin and is now swanning about performing a perverted Face/Off act.

Now, I love Pokémon just as much as the next guy, but I’m no deluded fanboy. Pokémon is not perfect. In fact, it’s a game with a lot of flaws. And in its desire to imitate, Collectamon inherits a lot of the same problems that Pokémon does. Using items, for example, takes up an entire turn, and while this can be forgiven in a party-based RPG, where you have other actors to make up for the guy losing a turn, you can only put out one monster at a time, and using anything other than a healing item in the thick of battle just makes you an open target.

Trying to think strategically is also a lost cause, because again, it’s fucking Pokémon. The only strategy is “use whatever the opponent is weak to” or “mash attack until one of you dies”. And while you could argue that Pokémon’s strong point is its simplicity, it does mean that winning a fight is more a matter of patience than a matter of skill.

At time of writing, I’ve been playing the demo for 7 hours. An impressive run-time for a demo, to be sure, and that’s only up to the first boss. Incidentally, it’s in that area that we meet the evil team of this game, because Pokémon had evil teams, and so must we! I don’t even understand their motivation, or who these people even are! They’re presented to us as if we already know what their deal is and why we should hate them. All I know about them is their name and the fact that they like to hang around in caves. Pitch-black ones that you navigate by wandering around aimlessly getting lost in the samey-looking environments.

Really, guys? You thought it’d be a good idea to preserve one of the shittiest areas in Pokémon? Actually, they follow it up with an even shittier level that plays like the gym leaders from the annoying puzzle gyms got together and tried to devise the most efficient backtracking machine, culminating in a game of Mastermind out of fucking nowhere.

Well, so far I’ve just been going on about how the game is the same as Pokémon. What’s different? Well, for a start, each monster has a well of stamina points that they spend to use their special abilities, limiting how many times you can use those moves before your monster has to have a little rest. So you have to weigh up whether or not you want to waste stamina using that really powerful move or whether you want to keep a steady pace with the weaker moves. Except, Pokémon already did that with each move having limited uses. So we haven’t gone anywhere. All we’ve done is paint the walls a different colour.

Erm… what else? Well, your character speaks for one thing, despite you being able to name them and customise them to your liking. I think we tried the talking player avatar thing back in Fallout 4, and it was just as unimmersive back then too. It means that you don’t really get to impose your own character on the avatar, because the avatar makes his OR HER own decisions without your input, accepting every single quest that gets handed to you without even flirting with a dialogue box because it means oh so much to them to help this random faceless NPC, whose unique name and appearance does nothing to make him feel any less forgettable.

…Ah, that’s something different. There’s a quest system. I’m not sure why. In an open world game, quest systems give the game a structure and a reason to explore the world. But, as we’ve established, Crackmon is Pokémon, and so progression is strictly linear. It’s hard to tell just how much it’ll impact the game, since it’s just a four-hour demo, but a quest system like this can easily turn into a to-do list of tedious tasks for rewards that you don’t need. One of the sidequests early on had me capture a pissweasel for some guy, only for the bloke’s mentor to smack him across the head and have him hand the pissweasel right back! This is the very definition of wasting my fucking time! The only reason I caught that pissweasel was for your quest, and I don’t want to deal with its incontinence issues!

Another way that Cloacamon tries to differentiate itself is though its Potential mechanic. Get this – whenever your pet cockcrab reaches a certain XP interval, you get to directly increase its stats by a total of 3 points, on top of the cockcrab’s normal stat increases, so you don’t have to muck around with effort values and breeding to optimise your stats. Each monster also has a “Potent” and “Perfect” form, with each form reaching these intervals sooner than the normal version of the cockcrab. So the game encourages you to abandon your monsters frequently, exchanging them for their shiny, better versions, which I would argue goes against the whole point of Pokémon. At its core, Pokémon is a game about going on a journey and creating a bond with your tag team of beasts, a bond which is impossible to form if you’re encouraged to chuck your friends in the bin the second you find their better, newer models.

I could go down my list of subtle differences, most of which are quality of life changes, like the ability to evolve mid-battle, or the ability to swap out different moves instead of permanently forgetting them, or the fact that you use HM moves yourself instead of teaching them to your Pokémon. But I’d rather finish this first impression by once again re-iterating that Cocaniumon is just Pokémon. It’s not writing any new rules, it’s not even reworking old ones, and it seems content to merely lie on its back and spin its wheels. And while you could argue that Pokémon’s formula doesn’t need to be changed, I would argue right back that not having the ambition to change has long been part of the fucking problem!

If all you want is more Pokémon but with less bullshit, then go ahead and give Coromon a try. Personally, I wasn’t motivated to continue playing past the first boss fight. Part of the problem was that I had no idea what I was ultimately working towards. Collect all the titan essences, so that we can research them! Research them for what? So we can finally uncover the mystery behind shitty Netflix sci-fi originals?

[fnniganthomas]

                  ❝ in my mind I am eloquent; I can climb intricate scaffolds of                      words. but when I open my mouth, everything collapses. ❞

{ cis man, he/him } ❝ icarus is forever deemed the boy who flew too close to the sun and got burned. to me, he is just a boy too enthralled by beauty to care whether or not it could hurt him. ❞ huh, who’s TAYLOR ZAKHAR PEREZ? no, you’re mistaken, that’s actually LEANDER FINNIGAN-THOMAS. he is a 23 year old HALF-BLOOD wizard who is a TATTOO ARTIST. he is known for being RETICENT, SELF-CONSCIOUS, STUBBORN, INARTICULATE, and PERSUADABLE but also TRUSTING, SYMPATHETIC, EARNEST, PERCEPTIVE, and QUICK-THINKING, so that must be why he always reminds me of the song EPITAPH BY HIPPO CAMPUS and THE SMELL OF HOMEMADE BROWNIES BAKING; TECHNICOLOR PAINT STAINS ON EVERYTHING YOU OWN; A SKY GONE GREEN WITH PROMISED RAIN; WORN FLANNELS YOU’RE HAPPY TO LET OTHERS BORROW; A LUMP IN YOUR THROAT FROM THE WORDS YOU SWALLOW. i hear he is aligned with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, so be sure to keep an eye on him. { zoe, 22, cst, she/her }  [ leander is adopted. ]

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS:   leander’s playlist, stats page, & pinterest board    CHARACTER PARALLELS:   jason mendoza (the good place), chidi anagonye (the good place), ty lee (atla), finn (star wars), troy barnes (community), brittany pierce (glee), ponyboy curtis (the outsiders), aang (atla) 

one.

there was no real doubt in anyone’s mind that leander was his fathers’ son. even the two of them had no trouble seeing bits of the other in him. 

dean could be heard calling leander seamus’ son when he ran into the side table holding lit candles and set several wooden picture frames ablaze. seamus returned the favor and referred to leander as dean’s son when he walked into leander’s room and saw he’d upended several jars of paint on the floor. to this day, none of them could really say if he’d upended the jars on purpose or not.

leander liked to think it was on purpose, even as he proclaimed his innocence every time the family told the story over laughter-filled dinners. proclaiming his innocence was just part of the way that story got told and he couldn’t go breaking tradition. really, he liked the way the rainbow of colors was still burrowed into the grooves of the wood and the slats between floorboards, even after countless attempts at cleaning the last of it. a part of him wondered if that hadn’t been an early sign of magic; he knew that that paint washed easily out of his hair and off his closes, but it stuck stubbornly to the floor right where he liked it. 

the colors on the floor nearly matched the technicolor quilt that lay on top of his bed year-round. he liked when things matched like that, almost by accident; like the world liked when things looked pretty as much as he did. he kinda hoped that was one of his first bits of magic; it felt fitting. he said as much to his gran once and had his hair ruffled for his trouble.

two.

when he was a child, he was always elbow deep in some messy thing. it wasn’t that he had a knack for causing trouble  —  he just had such a hard time saying no to trouble when it came calling. he had a hard time saying no to anything that came calling.

that was probably why trouble was always calling him. it knew he was an easy mark.

he made friends easily as a child, when things were easier and no one seemed to mind or care that he had such a hard time finding the words for things. leander was too polite to voice the blame out loud, but he was convinced that his friends growing up were at least half behind all the messes he got into.

the other kids around him might’ve been better at causing messes, but leander made up for it by being a mess. he was always having a crisis as a kid  —  his stuffed dragons were just ravaging the block city, dad, but what about the finger puppet people formerly houses in that block tower? do they even sell dinosaur insurance?? why didn’t I think of the implications here …

he and his sister played knights a lot, with toy swords and helmets modeled after the suits of armor in hogwarts  (dean asked seamus if that wasn’t a little much, when they bought them; they were a few years out from school, after all, they didn’t care that the helmets were accurate  — )   and leander always wondered about the ramifications of two knights fighting each other. shouldn’t they be friends, he thought? she always took his ensuing rambling full of hypothetical knight-schisms as opportunity to knock him flat backwards.

he was a needy kid  —  he always had questions at his lips, a thousand things he wanted to say. it took him forever to find the way to say them, though; leander hated feeling any negative thing, but he was used to frustration turned inward. it was his least favorite feeling, and one he was all too accustomed to. even now, leander was never quite sure what to do with his words. his mind was an easy enough place for him to navigate, and he loved being there for others when they needed someone to listen.

but whenever he tried talking himself wires got crossed and nothing came out how he wanted it to.

three.

he’d always been more quiet than he’d have liked to be, because he did actually have a lot to say. by the time he was nearly hogwarts-aged, he’d mostly forced himself to get over his hang-ups around his family. they poked good-natured fun at him, but he knew they’d always give him as much time as he needed to phrase a sentence or find a word. he could be assured that some of the other kids he’d grown up around would know that he just took a while to say what he really meant, too.

it was the thought of the castle, so full of strangers and professors he didn’t know, that scared him. getting sorted into ravenclaw scared him even more. he knew he didn’t always sound smart, and it worried him that others would listen to him and decide that he wasn’t, actually, smart enough to be a ravenclaw. he knew that he was smart, that he had things of value to offer to conversations. he was just so bad at getting them out the way he wanted to.

he stayed quiet for a while, even knowing he didn’t actually want to be quiet.

whenever he tried to articulate that point to other people though, it tended not to go as well as it did in his head  —  only proving his point. one of the prefects his first year rolled her eyes, said, ‘if you want to be less quiet, just say more, leander.’ but it wasn’t that easy, for him. he had a lot to say but had trouble finding the words for all those things. he could usually carry polite conversation just fine; fool people into thinking he knew what he was doing. but anything more than that required his total focus, and still was rarely quite right.

he bit down on half-formed questions because he thought it was better to not know some things if it meant he didn’t have to see people grow annoyed at his fumbling words. then that made him feel even more like he was some sort of fraud-ravenclaw  —  what ravenclaw thought they were better off not knowing things?

just like he forced himself to get over his worries to talk to his family and old friends, he forced himself to accept that words were never going to be his specialty. then he forced himself to be fine with that. he worked hard to focus on the things he was good at, that didn’t require him to talk too much  —  he always felt at home in the air on his broom, or with a sketchbook in his lap, or in the kitchen whipping up something that’d make other people happy. those things weren’t nothing. 

four. 

leander was smart, actually; he excelled in herbology and charms and worked hard enough everywhere else to not be singled out during class. he never caused as many explosions as his dad did from simple transfiguration. and he was great with people, for all that he got so in his head sometimes that he felt clumsy with even his dearest friends. but being smart never stopped anyone from being a fool. 

when leander looked back on his childhood, it was as if all of his roiling anxieties melted away. it was like looking in on a world encased in the sun  —  he imagined his memories as some sort of weird, reverse snow globe, where everything shimmered at the edges and only got brighter as you shook it up. 

hindsight made even mundane or negative memories seem golden, to leander. his biggest fault was that he always liked to think things were kinder than they actually were.

leander trusted people to be better than they were  and was bad at saying what he meant, which was, at times an awful combination for him. he trusted the world to treat him better than it did. 

if someone ever tries to convince him that, no, really, that harsh person from a historically bigoted family is not a good person, his stubbornness really came out and saw leander dig his feet in. he never wanted to believe that people had to be truly black or white  —  he was stubbornly convinced that there was good in every person, even when he was told he shouldn’t try so hard to look for it.

leander knew what was it like to feel you stood on the fringes of everybody else’s lives; no amount of forcing himself to be comfortable with the way he was ever took that anxiety away. he tried his hardest to be accommodating and friendly and understanding to everyone he came into contact with, even the people who maybe didn’t deserve his kindness. especially them, sometimes. he didn’t want anyone feeling like he was someone to be wary around. leander was steadfast in his beliefs and knew he wouldn’t change them, but all the same  —  that shouldn’t be a reason for someone to look at him and expect anything less than he gave everyone else.

four.

home never stopped being the most comforting place for leander. not even once he was older, a little more settled, and no longer had such stress over belonging in ravenclaw tower. not even once he had plenty of friends, a spot on the quidditch roster, a place in the castle. he adored not feeling so lost at school the older he got, but it couldn’t compete with home. 

the golden gleam of his memories made everything feel well-worn and well-loved in his head, but home was the biggest victim, and the most deserving of such treatment. leander was stubbornly adamant that there was no better place in the world than the finnigan-thomas’ home in kenmare. holidays at home with his family, extended and sprawling and filled with family friends as much as blood relatives, were leander’s favorite thing. 

he loved his dads so much  —  even as he couldn’t help but wonder, privately, if they wouldn’t have preferred a son who wasn’t such a fuck up sometimes. he’d certainly caused several dinner parties to grind to a halt with a poorly-phrased question directed at the aunt he forgot he wasn’t supposed to sit next to, after the incident over christmas dinner when he was ten. 

leander wondered if his dads wouldn’t want a son who was better at words, because leander always thought there were ways for him to be better. he wondered, privately, because he couldn’t help but worry. but the logical part of his brain knew that there wasn’t a need to worry over them. they loved him, he knew, and didn’t even need his memory to gloss everything over for that to be true.  

five. 

there was always a level of creativity in the house growing up, and leander took to it like a fish to water. he never really let up on his fascination with color and the physicality of paint clinging to his skin and the paintbrush and whatever canvas was in front of him. the permanently-painted floorboards in his room weren’t the only casualty in the house, but that was alright. no one ever gave leander too much grief over tracking paint everywhere.

it was easier for him to take a pencil to page than to find the words, sometimes, and he was so happy his family understood that about him, and let it grow. 

leander couldn’t keep track of how many drawings his dads pinned up to the fridge when he was a kid, or how excited dean had been to lead leander around museums growing up. he cherished every minute seamus spent nodding along as leander rambled about some era in art history seamus knew nothing about. it didn’t matter that leander grew into being comfortable at hogwarts, and around strangers, and people who weren’t so understanding with his fumbled words; it was work, with all of them, even as the work got easier on him. 

nothing about being near his family and feeling that love felt like work. 

leander, even grown out a childhood-self that worried over the ethics of stuffed dragons knocking over block towers, couldn’t help but be dragged down the whirlpool of hypothetical thoughts. he wondered if there was some alternate-universe leander who wasn’t as lucky as he was, who didn’t have his dads and his sister and his friends. maybe there was a leander who had those things but still lived in a world that was altogether harsher than his was. he thanked the universe as often as he remembered to that he was who he was, and that he was where he was. 

leander was bowled over by stress and anxiety and worries more often than he existed in a state of honest chill, but he was still so happy to have the life he did. he didn’t always feel like he deserved it, but he was glad it was his. 

six. 

when leander was sixteen, he dicked around enough on the internet to teach himself how to give magical tattoos and muggle tattoos both. he really thought that it shouldn’t have been so easy to order all the necessary equipment and have it delivered to his house; he really, really thought that the owl that came bearing his enchanted ink should’ve asked for, like, ID or something. it felt like getting away with something, how easy it was. 

leander was well-versed in courting trouble at this point and knew he shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. he just thought it was important to note that he worried at it being so easy for people without training to get all that stuff. 

he practiced on himself and his sister, with a little needling and an iron-clad pinkie swear that they’d keep the tattoos a secret from their dads. in hindsight, it was a very stupid decision on leander’s part to start practicing in the summer, when they went to the beach often enough that the two finnigan-thomas kids had to order some fancy witch-owned brand of waterproof concealer to cover the evidence. their dads didn’t notice the tattoos until they came home that winter break and forgot to start hiding them again, though, so leander would take the win. 

he offered tattoos to people at school, and really hoped that some of them also forgot to hide them when they went home for winter hols. it felt only fitting that his not-thought-out plan brought some other people a bit of trouble. he’d call it payback for all that time in their childhoods when he’d been the one getting dragged into problems, but the thought of payback as a concept made leander a little sad, so, whatever. 

seven. 

it felt only fitting that he looked into doing tattoos as a professional once he was out of hogwarts. dean certainly insinuated, when leander mused over the option, that it would make the shock he’d given his dads over the tattoos worth it. leander kind of agreed; he didn’t think the tattoos weren’t worth it, already, but there could be layers to worth. on principle, he loved the idea of practice. he liked to think that everything in life was practice for something to come  —  that nothing happened to you that couldn’t have a use later down the line. 

it had a nice symmetry to it, a circular-ness. it was the sort of lofty thought he’d have an absolute monster of a time voicing out loud, but he felt it, and sometimes that was enough for leander. it was like the paint worn into his floorboards that matched the quilt on his bed; unintentional but fitting anyway. 

leander wondered if maybe he shouldn’t look into going to muggle university to study art, or at least take an apprenticeship under a wizarding artist so he could learn how to paint portraits and landscapes that could move and all. there was still a career in that, people looking to have themselves or their relatives or their homes immortalized in oils even as moving photographs were so much easier these days. 

he was  —  definitely, he was interested in learning that sort of thing. it just felt like too big a goal to have for his life right after school was over. he hadn’t been suspended in a state of constant stress during his time at hogwarts, or anything, but h still felt a strong sort of relief when it was over. 

there were things he’d miss; how easy it was, having so many of his friends all living in the same place, all doing the same things and living such parallel lives. he’d miss quidditch practice now that he knew he’d never make it as a professional  —  and never want to, besides. he’d miss the community of it all, even as he recalled how hard it had been for him to settle into it. he knew that it would only take a year or two, maybe less than that, for him to start romanticizing his time there like nothing had ever hurt in the castle’s walls. 

but the sigh of relief, that was bigger than anything he missed, and it made him sure he wanted to take a step back from school and any formal training or education. he already knew enough about tattooing now that he felt assured it wouldn’t feel so much like starting over to make a job of it.

eight. 

leander was always far better at thinking on his feet than most people would guess from knowing him. it sometimes surprised leander himself, even  —  he knew he had a propensity towards worry, and it seemed like maybe he shouldn’t actually be good in an emergency. maybe it was just that he had an overactive fight or flight instinct that he’d long trained over the years to fight through whatever it could. he might not be the person people in his life wanted around when they were going through a crisis, but he knew how to handle himself in all manner of unexpected situations. leander liked to think he rarely made things worse. 

does he make good choices whilst thinking on his feet? not all the time. but then, who could be relied on to make the perfect decision during every high stress situation they found themselves tossed into? leander made choices, and knew better than to stand idle; leander was of the belief that second guessing things had no value, even as he couldn’t help himself sometimes. he tried his best to face every consequence of every action head on. 

he dug his feet in over stupid, foolish decisions often enough. it was fitting that sometimes when he dug his feet in, it was for a purpose. the best way out is through, and all that  —  maybe he’d get that adage tattooed on him someday, too. 

sometimes it still felt like things happened to him, like he was a less active participant in his life than others were in theirs. he’d always pick fight over flight but not every situation asked that choice of him. it was less because he had a genuine go-with-the-flow personality, and more that he had such a hard time saying no.  

nine. 

when the world around him started turning itself upside down with awfulness and inside out with tragedy, leander knew it wouldn’t do him any good to freeze now. he joined up with the order because he knew there really wasn’t any other option he could take and still look at himself in the mirror. he wasn’t an auror or a healer or anyone that he thought had, like, much of value to offer the cause. but he was asked, and he said yes, because leander always, always said yes when trouble came calling for him. it was instinctive at this point.

leander liked to think he didn’t hate a lot of things. his heart was too open, to full of potential love, for him to like feeling anything harsher than annoyance, frustration. he forced bursts of hurt to come and go in a count of ten, because dwelling on the negative made him feel hollowed out. 

but he stopped laying in bed at night so often, thanking his lucky stars that he was leander in this world over any others; he started, instead, wondering if any generation in this world of theirs would get to be untouched by even the threat of war. he wondered if it was too naive to wish this darkness would fade as quickly as it did when his dads were kids. 

he turned things over in his memory now that some of the worst had come to pass; normally he let everything be painted in shades of gold, but he wondered if that wasn’t part of the problem. maybe too many people had worked too hard to push prison breaks and strange disappearances to the side  —  maybe too many people had had wanted to remember things only as happy and bright. it was such an ingrained part of himself now that leander knew he’d never be able to stop thinking things were better than they were. 

maybe it would be the end of him one day. but at least he’d be himself, at the end. 

[bearpillowmonster]

Xenoblade Definitive Nonspoiler Review (Gameplay)

The combat is pretty simple but it gets better after the first little bit. If I were to add something to it, it would be to push the analog stick in a certain direction at certain points for more damage. It already has you pressing B at the beginning of the battle, just more of that. 

Some moves are more effective from "the side" or "behind" but your enemies move so frequently (unless you topple them) that you may be on the side when picking the move but that doesn't mean you will be by the time Shulk hits it. Same goes with Monado arts, there's that one move that you use when an enemy is inflicted with Break so that you topple them and it takes so long to activate that the break effect wears off before you even get to use it. Same with the Daze. I've felt so cheated so many times by that alone, I could keep going though. So many moves wasted.

Enemies can topple you, rendering you helpless and if they choose to use a special move right after then you're screwed because your party members are more than likely toppled too. That mechanic is stupid, I get that enemies can do what you do to them but it's not satisfying. 

You can play as a good variety of characters and they all have different weapons and move sets. Also your health auto-replenishes after a battle so healing is just during battles as certain characters moves. There’s an affinity system, so any NPC (and Playable characters for that matter) with a name can get put into the affinity log. You can also trade with them which is pretty cool especially considering you might need a specific item but don’t have the money to buy it (you will have the money) but relationship points are nice too, it kind of reminds me of the villagers in Minecraft but it puts you in the world a bit better.

The day and night cycle initially stressed me out but you can just change it if need be in the menu which is really handy because sometimes NPCs or a mob is only there during day or night.

But the quirk for playable characters is that reaching certain levels unlocks a “heart to heart” scene and if you know me, then you know I’m into that cheesy goodness. You see where they are on the map but it’s not like “Should I do this one with Fiora or Reyn or...?” They’re already set up for specific characters and have to be unlocked after certain main story events and relationship levels. Coming on top of that is that characters getting discouraged in battle, it doesn’t happen often but when it does, you can encourage them and that’s really cool because it improves stats.

Seems like even if a party member is in your reserves (you can only have 3 to fight with, the rest are interchangeable) then they still get the exp so you don't have to worry about grinding up a specific character, they're all pretty even. The one thing that doesn't improve is affinity, you need to have them in your party to improve that. All in all, it really just comes down to your level, who you have in your party, and luck, if you can't beat a battle, just switch around your party.

Sometimes you use a Monado art only for the boss to use a special move right after (which a Monado art would've come in handy with dodging that) but then you have to rely on using your teammates. You can't switch characters in battle and can only use links when they're available but whenever there's a special move coming, you can warn a party member and you can pick the move that you think most appropriate. A lot of time I heal or revive party members only for them to be killed straight after, or another party member already heals them, so it didn't matter if I used the move but it still counted. You can choose to have the party members stay near you and such but most of the time, I had worse things to worry about. Plus sometimes the enemy can just change targets in the middle of a special move, so if you used shield bullet, you better hope it's on the right person. Despite all this complaining, somehow the gameplay felt like just enough to make the grinding not as bad as it could’ve been because you know there’s a lot of it.

With the affinity system, it says a character’s “likes” and “dislikes” so you can increase relationships between characters by giving gifts from your spoils. And accept as many side quests as you can because chances are that they’re just clearing out specific monsters that will be in your way anyway. I’ve finished more side quests unintentionally than intentional. Plus, accepting missions can increase relationship, specifically with Reyn because he likes to help people.

Speaking of monsters, this game can be compared to Monster Hunter, there are so many different varieties and drops you can get, I take out certain ones just to put them in my index because they look cool. The one thing about the Monster Hunter games is that they lack any motivation or story and this game has plenty. The chests stay in place even if you die. I actually left some at Eryth Sea and came back multiple times and they were still there after most of the story (we’ll call it an experiment but the truth of the matter is that new enemies spawned and I couldn’t beat them at the time)

QUESTS I have a small complaint about the quest system. So you can set a side quest as active, except for the Colony 6 items, but in order to see where the location is, you have to be in that area. So imagine there’s one in Colony 6 for example, you’re in Colony 9, it’ll tell you it’s there but not where you should teleport. You teleport somewhere in Colony 6 and then it tells you where the side quest is. Why couldn’t I just go there directly?

Another small gripe, it auto saves but you can also manually save but if you die it doesn’t load the most recent one, it automatically goes to the auto save but you can manually load your manual save and it’ll be right where you left it but the enemies still respawn. It’s confusing because with auto save, I’ll find chests from the battle I just failed in, so did I still get the exp?

Normally with open worlds, you end up exploring all the parts but even if you count side-quests, that doesn't account for the vastness, I was surprised at just how much you can explore. I wanted to dip my toes in earlier but I realized "We're already past that section!" (story-wise) it just keeps expanding. Luckily, it's like Skyrim and you can fast travel and go back and do stuff you might've missed. It kind of justifies that it holds your hand trying to navigate you but I'm not complaining.

The side quests don't offer much, just kind of a time filler but I wanted to get the full experience so I played all of the Alcamoth as well as Colony 9 quests that I could get, to see if I got anything special (both day and night), yeah there's nothing special, I'm not sure if it does anything if you beat every side quest in the whole game but there's a ton. I worked on Colony 9's affinity a bunch so that I could unlock more, but I finished all the quests so what you need to do is talk to all villagers with a name and trade, I could never get to 5 stars so I quit and I’d rather be playing missions instead of hunting down villagers all day. Why did I try it though? For Desiree, she has a quest and I was interested in it, it even involves Dorothy. You'd think I'd be super buff and stuff for finishing everything in those two areas but no, not really, it certainly helped but I was very under leveled at various points, a habit that I have with RPGs because I hate grinding.

[izzyhunterscar]

Kirishima X Reader X Midoriya (DEATHNOTE AU)

Yandere!Izuku X Shy!F!Reader X Yandere!Kirishima (How tf do you spell his name? Eijiro or Eijirou… Wiki says Eijiro but like tons of other things says Eijirou. Help mehhh I'm just going to go with Wiki....)

Quirkless AU, Deathnote AU

Requested by BooksForLifeBowTies

You watched the television eating your favorite snack (f/s). "Blah blah blah, just tell me the dude's name already." Tapping you finger on your death note impatiently. "Dewa Fujio how should you die...you seem kind of old, but they're catching onto my heart attacks...not that they could catch me." You scrawl down his name.

'Dewa Fujio. Trips and cracks his head open.'

"Sweet and simple!" You smile and put your deathnote in your desk under the false bottom of your drawer. "I should probably sleep....or I could grind on some videos games!" You get on your computer and log into your account. 

[Welcome to Hero Academy! Please login!

User: (Gamer/name)

Pass: ***************]

[Welcome (G/n)!

Press Tab for stats, I for inventory, and P for teleportation]

You notice that your friends Izuku, Katsuki, Ochaco, and Eijiro were on. You teleport to them and they invite you to their party.

"Hey guys!" You speak into your mic.

"(Y/n)! I thought you had to study?" Izuku greets. "N-not that I don't want you here! I-I wan-"

Katsuki cut him off. "What Deku is asking is if you finished your studying."

You laughed. "Yup! Got my hour of studying in and took a quick nap! Now it's time to GRINDDDDD!"

Eijiro chuckled. "I never understand how you are such a high level with your busy schedule."

"Study, sleep, eat, and video games!!" You openened your stats.

[Lvl. 325

Health: 5200/4500 (+700 equipment boost)

Stamina: 3500/3000 (+500 equipment boost)

Strength: 7900 (+900 weapon boost)

Quirk1: Sniper Healing  Quirk2: Death Wings] 

You groaned. "I just want to be level 500!!! Is that so much to ask!!!" 

You heard collective laughs and grumbles. 

"Oh shut up, nerd!" Katsuki grumbled out at you. "Quit complaining, we're all at level 150 so stop your whining."

"How did you level up so quickly? Didn't you start a while after us...." Izuku wondered.

"Simple!" You exclaimed happily. "First a leveled up group adopted me at the beginning and helped me grind out to level 45! Then once I could solo the villains, I calculated-"

"I'm muting you..." Katsuki growled out.

"You're just salty!" Kirishima laughed ta his friend. "But (Y/n)! Teach me your ways!!"

"Me too!" Izuku chimed in.

"I'm going to go guys! You have fun!" Ochaco left the game. 

You continued explaining your grinding techniques and Katuski got tired of it and left as well. 

"So basically, it's all about timing. Once you have the timing and maxed out your stats at your level you're pretty much unstoppable! You can even take on people with a higher level if you got the strategy down!" 

"You're so amazing, (y/n)!" Izuku gushed over the chat. Eijiro joined in on the compliments. 

You blushed, not that they could see. "I'm just average, guys. S-stop with the flattery, I'm blushing!"

After a while of you carrying your trip through dungeons, Izuku brought up an interesting subject.

"But isn't Kira kind of a hero? I mean she-they are getting rid of the trash in the world. I wish I had the courage to do that!" Izuku praised the serial killer that was recently on the news.

You froze up at the mention of your recent activities. You noticed Izuku always brought Kira up whenever you were together. "O-Oh well I mean they aren't wrong for getting rid of the criminals, but is it really for them to decided?" You countered. 'Yes it is definitely for me to decide, who else would do it, they might be back on the streets days later.'

Kirishima butted in. "I feel like you don't like Kira that much (Y/n). You never seem to approve of them."

"Well, you guys always bring Kira up and killing is just wrong in general. And how do we know they aren't going to start killing whoever. Your name could be on tv and Kira could just decide they need some entertainment."

"But you wouldn't kill us right? If you were Kira and got tired of us, you wouldn't kill us right?" Izuku presssured.

You chuckled nervously, "IF I was Kira and I got tired of you guys, I would kill you off. If I were to think in a Kira mindset, I'd want you to stop snooping around and bringing Kira up. Unless, of course, you made yourself useful. I mean, Kira doesn't know everything. It takes time." While you tried to make it sound hypothetical, your threat was clear. You didn't want to talk about Kira anymore.

Izuku laughed nervously while punching some demon away from your character. "S-so do you want to come with Eijiro and me to karaoke after school tomorrow?"

You sighed, you were different in real life, they knew that. You hated being put on spot and stuttered when the attention was on you. You were shy but not as shy as Izuku, that didn't mean you were a pushover. 

Tons of things were going down tomorrow. The FBI was looking more into the cases and you knew it was a matter of time before the famed detective, known as L, would takeover the Kira cases. You would have your work cut out for you and no time to play after the fact. Your lovely companion, Ryuk, had told you of the Shinigami eyes you could obtain. The price? Half your life. No thank you. You wanted to live a long successful life. 

"I would love too, but I have even more studying as the exams come up." You politely declined. "I-I also won't be online as much, just to let you all know. I'm a little worried about the exams so I'll be taking some online courses."

Kirishima blew a raspberry into his mic. "C'mon, (Y/n)! You are literally top three in smarts in the whole school! You don't need to study THAT much! Just tomorrow! Please! It's not manly to not hang out with your friends!" The spiky redhead huffed.

You rolled your eyes, typing '-_-' into the chat. "Kiri, I'm not trying to be manly, I'm trying to pass school. And on the topic of school, you aren't doing so hot are you?"

Over the mic you could hear him accidently knocking some things over. "N-no! I'm doing-"

Izuku cut in. "Eijiro, you are failing history. And math. And the remedial classes they put you in."

You giggled. "Nice try, Kiri. You can't keep this from me. Here's a compromise, how about you come over to my house and we can study instead of going out to karaoke. That way we can hang out and get some work done."

"Sounds good!"

Izuku sputtered out, "H-Hey! What about me?"

"Uh," You thought about it for a second. Both boys coming to your house, alone with each other. You blushed furiously. "Y-you can come if you want! I-I didn't mean to leave you out like that! I just know that you are so smart already and you don't really need help. But I'm not that great of a tutor so you can help  me help Kiri! You can totally come to my house too! A-And why not make it a sleepover! T-This Friday let's meet up and we can sleep over the weekend! My parents are on another business trip so we'd have it all to ourselves! N-Not that it was my intention or anything!" You rambled on in embarrassment and guilt.

Both boys perked up to the sleepover part and almost died of redness. "That sounds amazing, (Y/n)!"  They both replied to you.

You let out a long breath of tiredness. Damn your shyness and kindness. Not that you didn't love the two boys, but you might have to put your vigilante duties on hold next weekend. Those boys were already curious enough about Kira, aka you, not that they knew.

"I-I'm going to go to sleep now...see you tomorrow! Night!" You quickly logged out and shut down your computer.

They both let out lovesick sighs and shut down their own computers, each saying good night to you in their own special way. 

Izuku opened his closet and pressed a code into the back wall. The wall opened up to a shrine of things you've touched, pictures of you as well as any notes or gifts you have given him. He glazed over the items and bowed on both knees. "Night, love! I'll figure out a way to be helpful to you! Just you wait!"

Kirishima opened a folder full of intimate pictures of you, changing, bathing, sweating and many other activities. "Good night, my princess. If you even found about this you would never think of me manly again. I'll have to steal you away and prove my manliness to you. That actually doesn't sound so bad...I'll prove how much a man I can be to you!"

You checked the news on your phone one last time before turning it off and heading to bed. Your head was full of worries and strategies on the new obstacles you brought upon yourself.

The week went by a blur. You saw your friends occasionally, mostly at lunch and some at your free period, but that was the most social interaction you had with them for the week. You would give a shy smile and wave before going straight home after school to do extra and thorough research. You doubled up on the criminal research since your weekend would be occupied. 

Watching the news in anticipation, you saw that a rapist had escaped and was on the run. "Useless police." You murmured as you brought out your prized deathnote. "Ryuk, would you do me a favor and just tell me the name of that man." You pointed your pen at the picture on screen. The name unreleased due to "privacy", but everyone knew the real reason. 

"You know what to do, mortal. Just half your life and you won't need me to do anything for you." 

"B-But....fine. I guess I have to do everything myself." You scoffed. "You are as useless as those cops."

The Shinigami ate his apple in silence as he shrugged with no care as you set yourself down at the computer.

You cracked your knuckles and stretched. "Alright! Stalker mode on!" You did an image search and found him in a social media post, however the account was not his and he wasn't tagged. "Well I guess I'll pay this person a small visit. Simple. Just go and ask the woman the guys name." You found the woman's address and dressed in warm clothes. You paced the sidewalk, you just had to turn the corner and ask the woman. "J-Just go up and ask. S-Simple. (Y/n)! Pull yourself together!" You turned the corner before abruptly turning around and heading home. "Dammit. Stop your snickering you Laughing Jack rip off."

He stopped snickering and snarled. "Just because we're both larger then your puny self does not make us the same."

"Wow, something actually bothers the death god. Shocker." You threw an apple his way, sighing in defeat. "I can literally figure out anything on the internet but when it comes to real life I can't do anything! I-It's not my fault people are hard to talk to!" You threw yourself on your bed and fell asleep as soon as your head hit your pillow.

The next day came as fast as you went to sleep it was one of those nights where you blinked and it was morning. 

Running on caffeine and a blink of sleep, you got through your school day. The end of the day came quickly and you found Izuku and Kirishima waiting for you at the front gate already packed and conversing in hushed whispers.

You called to them and both of them immediately stopped talking but smiled and walked over to you. Even though you were slightly curious as to what's got them huddles together with not-so innocent smiles on their faces, you were never one to push or pry.

When you reached your house you gave them a basic house tour and brought them to your room. You had already set the futons out in your room and let them bicker over who got which one. Your room was spacious enough to put a barrier between the beds and give you privacy. You told them to get comfortable and you were going to take a shower first, since you interrupted their conversation earlier, you hoped they resumed it here. 

When you didn't hear anything of interest, you hopped into the shower, humming a sweet tune. What you didn't expect, was for them to be so snoopy.

You exited the bathroom wearing a comfy silky robe and caught the two with your death note in their hands and Ryuk conversing with two other shinagamis.

You let out a shocked squeal and retreated to the bathroom. Your thoughts were haywire. What were they doing looking for your death note? Why were there two other shinagamis out there and why should you not barge out, grab your note, and kill them? You calmed yourself down and thought about everything rationally. 

You took a deep breath, opened the door and walked out. All eyes were one you. You snatched your death note from the two boys, who looked liked kicked puppies, and sat down in a sofa chair. 

Your body shook a little due to the fact you had to confront them about the recent events. 

"So..explain." You opened your death note and tapped the pen in your hand as a warning.

They both immediately fell to your feet and uttered ashamed apologies.      

"I didn't ask for an apology, I asked for you to explain."

Izuku started. "Remember how you said IF you were Kira you would kill us if we weren't useful? We love you so much and would happily die for you, but we want to be as useful as we can to you!"

Kirishima finally looked up and added onto what Izuku had said. "And then we both were granted death notes! And we remembered that you can't do everything and we certainly didn't want your life taken, so we both traded for Shinigami eyes!! Now we can help you!"

You bit your lip nervously. "This is certainly a surprise. I had no idea you l-loved me! The thought just sounds crazy. Moving on...how did you know I was Kira. I was sure I was careful."

That's when Izuku made his move. He latched onto your crossed legs and rubbed his cheeks on your bare skin. "Oh my love! You were very careful! You are so smart and wonderful and a great actor, but we've studied you! We notice things no one else would about you! My darling, we would know if you were keeping things from us! That's why we got rid of all your obstacles! Well as many as we could."

You shuddered at the weird behavior both men were exhibiting. This was nothing like what you thought they were like. "Wait! How long have you known? And how long have you had your death notes?"

Kirishima eyed Izuku with jealousy as the broccoli haired man stroked your legs lovingly. "We've know for a little over three weeks, about the same time we were granted our death notes."

Your eyes buldged. You were that obvious to them?! You turned and glared at Ryuk. "Tell me you didn't let it slip to your buddies."

He shrugged. "My 'buddies' already knew. They saw and they made their decision on what to do with that information."

A hand on your chin moved your gaze to red pointed eyes. "Don't look at those monsters, princess. They're too hideous for your precious eyes."

You shook both boys off. "Y-You want to help me?" You asked uncertain.

"Yes, darling."

"It is my wish to stay by your side, princess."

"Oh, well I can't deny the usefulness you both can be with those eyes. I suppose I'll allow it."

Eijiro and Izuku managed to wrap themselves around you and nudged you towards your bed. You all fell onto it and was squished between the two.

"Now that we've gotten the business part over with. What do you say about our manly confession? Only a true man would kill for the one he loves."

You looked at him dreamily. "If you killed someone for me, I'd marry you."

They both looked at each other and then at you. "We already did."

This got your attention. "Y-You have? For little ol' me? I-I who?"

You felt both their arms wrap around you as they told you of their killings. As weird as the situation was, you fell asleep to the whispers of their stories.

"You promised yourself to us, darling. We expect all your affection!"

"Don't be shy with us, we were made to please you."

"Never look at another male with those beautiful eyes."

"We're your kings and you are our princess. We'll have to lock you away in a tower if you don't love us."

A/N

I know this isn't exactly what you wanted, but I tried ;-; hopefully it's alright. It went a interesting direction buut it's finished! I had a lot of fun writing it even though I stretched the prompt a bit. Sorry for any mistakes!

-Izzy

[losingmymindtonight]

I heard that a lot of y’all were wondering what would’ve gone down if Peter had survived the Snap long enough to get stranded on that ship with Tony. Unluckily for you, I had the same question. Even more unluckily for you, I decided to write this fic to answer it.

WARNINGS: Major Character Death

Tony realized they were going to die about two days ago.

Their ship had no fuel, no power. He’d screwed around with the wiring a million times, just trying to get communications back online, but all he got was a few painful burns and jack shit in the way of results.

They were going to die in an alien spaceship, floating lightyears away from home, and there was absolutely nothing Tony could do about it.

It wouldn’t have mattered as much if he’d been alone. Sure, dying adrift in space was a pretty shitty conclusion to his life, but it wasn’t like he’d expected much else. After all, when did Tony Stark ever get lucky?

It was just… he had Peter with him.

Peter, who had stood next to him in silent horror as each and every one of their companions crumbled into dust. Peter, who Tony had checked over a hundred times in the aftermath, terrified that he was next, that the effects were just delayed, that the kid would fade before his eyes. Peter, who had been silently bearing the weight of losing on his shoulders ever since he’d seen firsthand the real consequences of war.

Peter, who was just sixteen years old.

“Mister Stark?” Peter peeked over his shoulder at the one working control panel in the whole cockpit. Tony quickly closed the oxygen stats he’d been looking at. “What’s wrong?”

Someone still might rescue us. Peter’s suit sent out a distress signal when it went offline. As long as we’re not too far out, the radio signals should have reached Earth. They’ll come. They will.

“Nothing. Just some info on the ship’s systems. You good?”

“I’m fine.” Peter shuffled a little on his feet. “A little bored, I guess.”

“Bored? I take you to space and you say you’re bored? Honestly, Peter, what do I have to do to please you?”

The kid laughed. “Dunno. Maybe take me to Paris, next time.”

“When we get home, I promise to take you to more than just Paris. We’re going on a European tour. Every major city is our new playground. Sound good to you?”

Peter flashed him a huge smile. “Sounds awesome.”

Let me get to show him Paris, and Venice, and Rome. Let me watch him graduate. Let me bring him home to May.

Please. Please. Please.

--

They ran out of food two days later.

At that point, his brain had already fallen into one single loop.

Keep Peter alive. Keep Peter alive. Keep Peter alive.

He’d cut back on his own rations from the beginning, only eating enough to keep his body functioning at moderate efficiency.

The rest went to Peter. It was never even a question.

Which means that the decision of what to do with the last of their reserves wasn’t a question now, either.

“Here. Eat.” Tony pushed the packet of food into Peter’s hands. “You need it.”

“Aren’t you gonna eat, too?”

“I’m alright.”

“You’re not.”

“I can go longer than you can, squirt. You know that.”

Peter’s face twisted up in frustration. Tony felt a lump form in his throat. This was a child. Just a child. “I want you to eat.”

“And I want you to survive.” Tony poked the food held loosely in Peter’s hands. “So please, Pete. Eat. I’ll be okay.”

The kid took his first tentative bite and Tony rubbed his shoulder gently. “Good boy.”

“I’m not a dog.”

“Really? With those puppy dog eyes of yours, you almost had me fooled.”

“I do not have puppy dog eyes.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“You’re the worst.”

“Yeah, well, who’s keeping you alive in the middle of space, huh?”

Peter’s face softened. “We’ll be okay. My suit sent a distress signal, right? Mister Rhodey will come for us.”

“Yeah, kid. Of course he will.”

“See?” Peter tilted his head sideways and beamed, all teeth and misplaced optimism. “It’ll all be okay.”

Tony watched him eat the rest of the food in grim silence.

--

Peter’s metabolism was fast, and Tony hated it.

It meant that by the time 24 hours passed without anything to put in his stomach, Peter got sick.

At first, it had just been a headache and shakiness, so he had set the kid up on a bunk behind the cockpit and ordered him to rest. Peter had smiled tightly and said that he was fine, that Tony should stop worrying so much, and that he’d be just fine on his own if Tony wanted to go work with the ship’s circuitry again.

And Tony, the fool that he was, believed him.

When he came back a few hours later to find Peter shaking and dry heaving, Tony decided all at once that he was definitely not fine.

But despite that, there wasn’t anything they could do besides wait it out, so he sat on the bunk and let the kid use his lap for a pillow as he choked back tears over stomach pains, wrapped him up in a blanket as he shivered, and played gently with his hair until he dozed off into a restless sleep.

Then, once everything was quiet and he had a moment to breathe, Tony Stark finally let himself cry.

--

Their oxygen would run out tomorrow morning.

Nobody was coming to rescue them, at least not in time. But Tony did have hope that someone would find their bodies, someday. Maybe Star-Lord would go looking for his ship after the other Avengers reversed the Snap. If Steve was still alive, he’d pull it off. Tony didn’t doubt that for a second.

So maybe they weren’t living through this one. Maybe this was it. Maybe Peter was gonna die before his first goddamn kiss, and maybe it was all because Tony couldn’t save him.

But Tony did have a quasi-working Iron Man helmet with recording capabilities, and that glimmer of hope that this ship couldn’t stay lost forever, which meant that he could let the kid say goodbye.

He carried the helmet over to the bunk quietly. Peter was dozing. He’d been doing a lot of that, recently. Tony guessed it had something to do with his body entering starvation mode. All he knew was that the dry heaving had stopped, and he was choosing to see that as a good thing.

“Pete?” He jostled the kid’s shoulder gently. “Hey, buddy?”

His eyelashes fluttered in lazy acknowledgement. “Hm?”

“Wake up, Spider-boy. It’s important.”

Peter blinked his eyes open slowly. “Mhm?”

Tony raised the half-destroyed helmet. “Managed to get this thing partially working. Do you wanna record something for May?”

“Huh?”

“If you want to record a message, the helmet can make a hologram for her. If anyone finds the helmet, it’ll let them know there’s messages stored in its memory banks. I can’t be sure they’ll get it but it’s… it’s just in case, anyway.”

“Oh.” Peter pushed himself up, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Yeah. Yeah. May. Should make something for May.”

“I’ll turn it on for you. Do you want me to leave?”

“No. Stay.”

“Alright.” He reached under the chin of the mask and pressed a button, watching as a blue light spilled from the eyes and swept over Peter. He forced himself not to check the vitals the scan would have recorded. They wouldn’t tell him anything he didn’t already know.

Peter was dying. So was he. They were dying. And the kicker was that it didn’t even matter, because tomorrow morning their oxygen would run out.

They were going out on a final gasp. Literally.

“You can start talking whenever, kiddo. It’s recording.”

“H-Hi, May.” Peter winced as he shifted. Hunger pains were a bitch. “I, uh, I’m really sorry I got off the bus. I know I shouldn’t’ve. It was… it was dumb.” He glanced up to Tony. “Mister Stark’s with me, though. So I’m… I’m okay. I’ll be okay.” He took a shaky breath. “I-I know raising me wasn’t always the easiest, and the thing is… you didn’t have to. I wasn’t your responsibility, but you did it anyway. So, thank you, I guess. For being the best aunt, for being the best mom, I could’ve had. I-I love you. So much. I hope I can come home, but-but if I don’t… it wasn’t your fault, okay? None of this was ever your fault. Yeah.” He nodded to Tony and dropped back against the wall. “I’m done.”

He clicked the button again and watched the light go dark.

“You alright?”

Peter nodded once, then pushed off the wall until he was lying down again. “Yeah, I’m good. Gonna nap some more, I think.”

“Good idea. You rest.” He sat on the bunk beside the kid and set a hand on the top of his head. “I’ll play around with the circuitry again while you get some shuteye. Maybe I’ll figure something out.”

Peter yawned, eyes closed. “Mm. Maybe.”

He watched Peter fall asleep with trepidation heavy in his chest. As soon as he was sure the kid was out, he knew what he had to do. What he’d been putting off for days.

Come on, Stark, he thought, tomorrow morning you’re going to watch a child die. You can record a goodbye message for your fiancé.

He carried the helmet to the cockpit, careful to muffle his steps. He didn’t want Peter to hear this.

He waited as the blue scanner swept over him. Once it beeped in affirmation, he slumped back against the metal wall and sighed in defeat.

If Pepper was still alive and, god, he prayed that she was, then he knew that the only thing she wanted was for him to come home. And he couldn’t do that for her. The only thing the woman he loved wanted, and he couldn’t fucking do it.

He couldn’t save Peter. He couldn’t save himself. He couldn’t save anyone.

When he worked up the courage to speak, he was surprised that his voice came out as steady, as normal, as it did.

“Hey Ms. Potts.” It should be Mrs. Stark. All I’ve ever wanted was for it to be Mrs. Stark. “If you find this recording, don’t feel bad about this. Part of the journey is the end. Just for the record, being adrift in space with zero promise of rescue is more fun than it sounds. Peter says it’s a little like Star Wars, and I guess he’s right. Those movies always gave me the heebie-jeebies, though.

“Food and water ran out,” he paused to calculate, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, “four days ago. Oxygen’ll run out tomorrow morning.” He forced himself to look anywhere other than the spot where Peter was curled up on the cot. “That’ll be it.”

What was he supposed to say? What do you say to the one person you’ve loved more than anything else, when you know it’s probably the last thing they’ll ever hear from you?

He leaned forward, and didn’t think. He just did.

“When I drift off, I will dream about you. It’s always you.”

He reached out and clicked off the recording without another word. The eyes of the helmet went dark.

He forced himself not to consider the symbolism.

--

What do you do, when death is imminent? What is the right thing to do?

Tony didn’t know, but he chose to sit with Peter, and it felt pretty damn right to him.

--

It was later that night when Peter spoke, voice surprisingly loud in the silence of the dead ship.

“You look sick.”

Tony twisted his neck so he could stare down at the kid tucked into his side. “You’re not looking too great yourself, buddy.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, none of that. Why are we apologizing?”

“You’re gonna have to watch me die.”

He brushed a stray curl out of the kid’s face. Just tell him. He deserves to know. “Doubt I’ll be much for watching. Our oxygen supply runs out in the morning. If anything, we’re watching each other kick it.”

Peter blinked. He looked surprisingly apathetic for a teenager who just learned he had less than 12 hours to live. “Oh. That’s good, then.”

“That’s good?”

“Dying together. Better than dying alone, right?”

Maybe. But I’d give anything to be dying alone right now if it meant that you were safe. “Yeah, kiddo. I’ll be right here.”

--

They slept fitfully. Consciousness seemed pretty damn valuable, all of a sudden. Then again, anything in short supply always was.

They had 2 hours left. About the length of a movie. Somehow, watching The Phantom Menace felt like a decade but now every minute felt like the span of a heartbeat.

“We should go to the cockpit.”

Tony tried not to flinch at the kid’s suggestion. “Why?”

“You can see the stars there. ‘S a pretty place to, well, to be, I guess.”

It’s a pretty place to die.

“Yeah. That’s… that’s a good idea, kid. You need help standing?”

“Nah, I’m alright.”

Tony had to steady him when he got up anyway.

They curled up near the front of the ship, backs resting against the wall. Their shoulders brushed, and Tony wondered why he’d rejected human contact so vehemently for so many years. That had been a mistake. Then again, he’d made a lot of those. What was one more regret?

“Look,” Peter whispered, eyes locked on the swirls of dust and debris, “it’s like being inside the Hubble Telescope. Uncle Ben bought me one of those photo books with a bunch of images it took when I was a kid. I still have it.”

“Space nerd, huh?”

Peter dropped his head onto Tony’s shoulder. “Yeah.”

“Any of your opinions changed?”

Now that you’re going to die here.

“Not really. It’s still beautiful.”

Tony closed his eyes. He didn’t want to stare at those damn stars any more than he had to. “That’s… sweet.”

“They don’t want to kill us.”

“They’re just stars, Peter. They don’t want or not want to do anything.”

“So why do you hate them so much?”

“I don’t hate them.”

“You do.”

“Alright, fine, I do.”

“Why?”

“Pete,” he turned his face into the kid’s hair, “let’s not, yeah? Dissecting my issues isn’t going to do any good at this point.”

Peter twisted until he was curled more comfortably against Tony’s side, like he’d just remembered this was his last chance to cling to another human being. “I guess it isn’t.”

--

“How much longer?”

Peter was slumped against his chest, back facing the pilot’s chair and control screens.

Which meant that only Tony could see the countdown to their deaths.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I’d rather know, Mister Stark.” Peter’s voice was tired. Resigned. “Please tell me.”

He swallowed. “30 minutes.”

Peter’s breath caught a little. “Oh. Okay.”

They spent the next 3 minutes and 22 seconds in silence. Tony knew, because he counted.

“It’s… it’s funny.”

Tony stiffened at the laughter in Peter’s voice. They still had oxygen, so this wasn’t hypoxia. Hysteria, maybe? The stress finally catching up to him?

A small, selfish part of him felt frustrated with the kid. He’d wanted him to stay Peter right up until the end. It would’ve been easier that way. Easier for Tony, at least.

“What is?”

“I wasn’t really all that scared when we fought Thanos. It’s not like I didn’t think I was gonna die, because I did. I-I didn’t really expect to live through it at all, actually. It was just… I didn’t know how I was going to die, and how can you be afraid of something if you don’t know how it’s gonna happen?” Peter lets out a strained laugh. “But now I-I know. At least, I kinda know. I’m gonna-gonna suffocate and it’s gonna suck. And I’m-I’m scared.” Peter buried his face into Tony’s neck with a wet gasp. “Mister Stark. I’m so scared.”

“Hey, hey.” How do I comfort him? How do I keep him calm in the face of the scariest thing in the universe? He’s just a child. “Did I ever tell you about the time Rhodey made me do hypoxia training?”

“No?”

“Well, he did. Damn bastard threw a fit when he found out I was flying around in a metal suit without it. It’s a requirement for every pilot before they can go up.”

He had Peter’s attention, at least. The kid had unstuck his face from his neck and was watching him with only slightly teary eyes.

“Hypoxia… it’s, it’s not a bad way to go, really. Doesn’t actually hurt all that much. It’ll be gradual for us, too, which is a lot better than it sounds.” He squeezed the back of the kid’s neck and shoved down his rising nausea. He didn’t have anything in his stomach to throw up, anyway. “You’ll just get dizzy, feel a little weird, and then fall asleep. It’ll be alright. Shouldn’t hurt.”

If it was going to hurt, I’d have ended this already.

“Promise?”

“Of course I promise. And remember what you said earlier? It won’t be bad because you won’t be alone. I’m gonna stay with you the whole time. We’re doing this together.”

Peter pushed his face back into Tony’s neck. “Together.”

--

“That up there? That's the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?”

“Together.”

“We'll lose.”

“Then we'll do that together, too.”

--

“How long?”

“8 minutes.”

Peter nodded, fist clenching in the hem of Tony’s shirt. “You’ve been a really great mentor, Mister Stark.”

He ran a hand over the top of the kid’s head. “Thank you, Peter. You’re brilliant, you know that? So fucking brilliant. And braver than any kid your age has a right to be.”

“Thank you, Tony.”

“You’re more than welcome, Pete.”

--

Nothing dramatic happened when the timer ran out.

In fact, it took a good 5 minutes to even notice the air getting thinner.

Tony tried not to think about the growing static in his fingertips. He just listened to the whish, whoosh of Peter’s breathing instead.

--

“‘M dizzy.”

“I know.” I am too. “It’s alright.”

“I don’t want to die.”

“I know.” I don’t want you to die either. “It’s alright.”

“‘M scared.”

“I know.” I’m sorry I can’t say anything to make this better. “It’s alright.”

--

He couldn’t stop watching Peter.

All the lights dimmed out. The rest of the world fell into a strange blur of washed-out apathy. But Peter mattered. His eyes could still focus on Peter. He wanted to watch Peter.

He wanted to talk to Peter, too, but the cotton in his lungs and the numbness in his lips was making that a lot harder than he felt it should be.

The kid blinked up at him slowly, hand clenching and unclenching almost impulsively in his shirt. Tony tried to smile at him, but it was getting harder to feel his face so he wasn’t sure it worked.

“‘S okay, Peter.” He could barely remember why he needed to reassure him, but he knew he had to. It was important. “Y’re not alone. ‘M right here.”

“T’ny.”

“Peter.”

The kid didn’t respond again.

--

Peter’s head dropped off of Tony’s shoulder when he fell asleep.

Tony didn’t like that. He wanted to see the kid’s face. Plus, his neck was bent forward unnaturally. That would hurt when he woke up. Tony wanted to fix it.

It took him 5 attempts to convince his arm to move, and an even larger count to get his hand in Peter’s curls. He tried to shift him up again, but his muscles kept twitching his grip loose before he could finish the movement. Finally, he managed to grab a fistful of the kid’s hair and haul him back to his shoulder that way.

He felt a little bad about pulling on his head like that, but Peter’s face stayed slack and peaceful so he guessed he hadn’t disturbed his nap.

--

“I’m gonna stay with you the whole time.”

--

His vision blurred. He couldn’t see Peter anymore, but he was still distantly aware of his weight against his side, so he wasn’t really worried about it.

When I drift off, I will dream about you.

He felt strangely peaceful. He’d done everything he could, given everything he had. It was his time to tap out. Peter was sleeping, warm and snug in his arms. Right where he was meant to be. He’d join him, in a minute. They could rest together.

He missed Pepper, though. He wanted to think about Pepper.

It’s always you.

Pepper. His Pepper. Sweet, beautiful Pepper.

He was going to marry her.

He felt his forehead knock against the crown of Peter’s head as his neck gave out, but the kid didn’t shift. Good. He didn't want to wake him. He was sleeping so quietly. He must be really tired.

It’s always you.

Pepper. He’s… thinking about Pepper. The haziness in his skull didn’t matter because he didn’t need coherency to think about her. He’d remember her after he’d forgotten everything else.

It’s always you.

He couldn’t wait to marry her.

He held onto that thought as everything around him winked out.

--

By the time Rocket helped Steve and Rhodey track the Milano, drifting listlessly at the edge of the gravitational pull of a cold star, the ship was silent.

The air was cold and thin. Too thin. Steve had to hastily shove an oxygen mask over his face before following Rhodey into the ship’s cockpit. Tony and Peter were curled in the corner, just behind the pilot’s chairs, backs pressed against the harsh curve of the metal wall. Tony’s lips were blue, the corner of his mouth just peeking out from the crown of Peter’s curls. His body was lax, head lolled forward and chest still.

But his arms? They were still wrapped firmly around Peter.

--

“We’re doing this together.”

“Together.”