#i haven't decided how i want to do it yet

[sp0o0kylights]

Steve Harrington showing up to Hellfire made sense.

He knew the kids. After The Incident of which they Do Not Speak Of, he knew Eddie. There was a friendship there that was pulling him into Hellfire’s orbit, and the elder members followed their leader's cues when it came to jocks who had decided to redeem themselves and evolve into beloved town hall heroes. 

Showing up to Corroded Coffin’s recently restarted band practice required a bit more adjusting, but it was fine. 

Everything was fine.

Steve showing up in the middle of a heated, completely nonsensical argument with Eddie, was also, unfortunately, growing to be something normal and fine--but arguing over Jeff specifically?

That was a little harder to ignore. 

“That’s my Robin.”  Eddie had started, pointing sternly towards Jeff as he marched up Gareth’s driveway. 

Steve rolled his eyes. 

“You already claimed Gareth as your Robin, you can't also claim Jeff.”

Yes I can! Because I have two--no, no, three!” Eddie counted on waiving fingers, “I have three Robin's, Grant’s one too!

Jeff blinked, before turning to his other bandmates. “Any idea about what this is about or…”

Nope.” Gareth refused to even look at the duo arguing. “And I don't want to know.”

“Okay then.” 

“They each have different specialties,” Eddie was animatedly arguing, having stopped in the center of the garage to square up to Steve. “So combined they make up one Robin.” 

“That's not how that works!” Steve loudly scoffed, arms winging out in a way that disturbingly, looked like a move he had copied from Eddie. 

He got a smirk in return. “Don't  be mad because I'm more popular than you are these days, Steven.” 

Oh now they were approaching dangerous territory-- Eddie was getting smug.

A smug Eddie, Jeff knew, was an obnoxious Eddie. The kind of obnoxious that refused to let things go and claimed victory over random bullshit. The type of obnoxious that would take weeks to kill, with them all suffering through Eddie’s crowing in the meantime.

Given the look on Steve’s face, he knew it too.

There was only one way to prevent the monster known as Smug Eddie, and that was to cut him at the knees before he properly got started. 

Something no member of Hellfire had ever before managed to accomplish--on purpose.

Steve, Jeff thought, was not a member of Hellfire. 

With a sudden and distrustworthy narrowing of his eyes, the ex-jock asked. “Didn't you say Jeff bakes?”

“No--” Eddie spat instantly but it was too late, Steve was already turning and--oh God, trying to pull Jeff into this shit. 

“Yes--hey Jeff, man, do you bake?”

“Uh…”

Grant looked between Steve, Eddie and Jeff, before taking one giant step to the right of them all.

The traitor. 

“Don't answer that!” Eddie commanded, stalking around to put himself between Jeff and Steve. “Do not answer that!” 

“I--yeah?” Jeff answered anyway, confused to hell but choosing to trust Steve on this one.   

Unfortunately for Corroded Coffin as a whole, and Jeff specifically, what they were missing was the fact that Steve could be a downright petty bitch. 

“What’s the hardest thing you can reliably bake?” 

It took a moment for Jeff to realize Steve was still talking to him, given his eyes were locked onto Eddie’s. 

“I like doing those kind complicated swirls with frosting sometimes?” Realizing how that sounded he quickly added; “To make cool patterns and shit!”

Steve nodded once, before boldly declaring: “I'm taking Jeff.” 

Eddie sputtered. 

“No you are not--” 

“That way,” Steve said, steamrolling right over, “you have two and I have two.”  

“Were not sharing cookies here, Steve!” 

“I know,” Steve retorted and oh God, now he sounded smug, “because Jeff and I haven't baked them yet.

“No--no! Jeff, Jeffery look at me.” The older teen whirled around to face Jeff, face serious. “You are forbidden to bake with this heathen.” 

“Wow, controlling much?” Steve drawled, moving fluidly around to stand shoulder to shoulder with Eddie, facing Jeff. With a weighty sincerity, he said, “I would never tell you what to do.”

“Yes he would! Yes He absolutely would! 

“What the fuck.” Jeff muttered, as they both continued to stare at him while maintaining their argument with each other. 

“You made eye contact, this is on you.” Grant told him. 

20 minutes later and Jeff would finally announce he was not going to do anything with anyone until after band practice. 

20 hours later, Steve would invite himself into Jeff’s house with a bag full of baking ingredients and a look in his eye that terrified Jeff more than Jason ever had. 

2 days later, Eddie would loudly declare Jeff’s status as a traitor, only to renounce it five seconds later after Gareth shoved one of the cookies they baked in his mouth mid rant. Only then would he agree that Steve could have Jeff as “his second Robin.” 

Unfortunately, he did this in front of the real Robin, who, as it turns out, can give one hell of a rant. 

(Later, Jeff, Grant and Gareth would loudly declare Robin their Queen and expert in all things Steve and Eddie, going so far as to present her with a Burger King crown to seal the deal. 

She would proudly wear it, despite all the bitching it caused from Steve and Eddie.) 

[vorfreudevortex]

Fake It 'Til We Make It

-`♡´- 11. Made It!

-`♡´- a chaptered smau series featuring: editorial assistant!ino x copy editor!fem!reader

warnings // 3.3k words/12 min. read - cussing, mentions of drinking alcohol, angst, your toxic ex tries to freak you out again, mentions of fighting and arguing, crying, confessions, uhhh lmk if i missed anything!!

author's notes // well damn. i guess that's all folks! thank you all SO much for reading my silly little self-indulgent series!!! might write an epilogue? or something spicy/18+? haven't decided yet, all i know is that i love my lover boy ino and he deserves the entire world.

stay tuned for my next smau/written series starring mafia!toji x sweet!fem!reader :) let me know if you want to be on the taglist for it!! i also have some yuta and noritoshi smau ideas floating around in my brain so please feel free to recommend tropes or anything else you want to see!! love you all and thank you so much for reading!!

10 // series masterlist // my masterlist

Takuma cocks a brow when the large, tattooed man pulls out and sits in the linen-covered chair next to him. He figures right away that he wouldn’t ever be friends with the man as he takes in his appalling salmon-colored hair and the treacherously thick tattoos that cover his face and wrists.

The man doesn’t seem to be able to shop properly either, considering the pearly buttons on his white dress shirt seem to be precariously stretched to their fullest extent to keep the fabric together.

“I fucking hate weddings,” the man says with a grimace. Takuma casually shrugs and offers him a polite smile as takes another sip from the cup of beer in his hand.

“Meh, I kind of like ‘em,” Takuma responds politely.

The man scoffs. “What’s your name?”

“Ino. You?”

“Sukuna.”

“Nice to meet you, man,” Takuma smiles.

“How do you know the couple?”

“Oh, I don’t,” Takuma shakes his head. “I’m here with my girlfriend. She’s old friends with the bride.”

“Your girlfriend?” The corners of Sukuna’s lips twitch up. “Where is she? Maybe I know her.”

“Hah, probably. She’s been talking it up with old friends all night,” He quickly scans the room for your figure, but doesn’t spot you anywhere. So, he pulls out his phone and sends a quick text while he continues. “She’s probably still in the bathroom.”

“Maybe she’s hiding from me.”

Takuma glances at Sukuna with a wry smile, just to see him wearing his own smug grin. Okay… he’s weird, Takuma thinks. They offer each other a dry chuckle before Sukuna moves on. He lazily points to the white shoulder bag Takuma holds in his lap, the straps wrapped around one wrist.

“Cute,” He sneers. Dickhead, Takuma thinks. With a little bit of alcohol in his system, he has no problem giving the guy a little flak.

“I agree,” Takuma smiles sarcastically. “It matches her dress perfectly. Plus, I need to make sure she doesn’t lose anything while she dances.”

“Hm…” He responds. “Are you from this area?”

“Nah, I’ve lived around Tokyo for pretty much my whole life.” Takuma sends you another text before continuing the conversation. The last thing he’d ever want to be to a large man with face tattoos, is rude. “What about you?”

“I live in Tokyo, too. But I grew up around here.” Takuma just nods. “You know, I’m starting to think your little girlfriend left you here.”

“Nah, she would never,” Takuma laughs. Another text sent. “The line for the bathroom is long.”

“She seems like the type that would try to up and leave.”

Takuma gives the man a confused side eye, paired with an awkward smile of disbelief. What the fuck is his problem? “…You don’t even know her, man.”

Sukuna just laughs, loud and raspy, as he slaps a hand down on Takuma’s shoulder. “Relax, kid. What’s your deal?”

Your boyfriend doesn’t return the laugh, but holds his uneasy smile as he glances back and forth from the hand on his shoulder and the pink-haired man. Sukuna quiets and his eyes lock on something beyond Takuma with a smug glimmer.

“Hey there, princess.”

Confused, Takuma turns his head to find you standing just a few feet away. You look beautiful as ever, but your shoulders are tense and your lips are parted in disbelief. Your eyes don’t fall on Takuma, much to his disappointment, but to the man next to him. The alcohol in your boyfriend’s system delays the realization that there is nothing but fear in your eyes.

You turn and rush away. Sukuna rises from his seat and follows, Takuma does the same. He grabs a handful of Sukuna’s dress shirt, which is promptly slapped away. “Get off me, boy,” he snarls.

“What did you do?” Takuma spits out, yanking on his arm to slow his hasty strides.

“That’s my girl, you little fucker,” Sukuna growls back. “Know your place and—”

“—Ryomen.”

It’s the groom, with angry eyes but a warm smile. He pulls Sukuna away. “—I thought you promised not to—”

Takuma doesn’t hear or care about the rest, he’s already hurrying after you. He sees you push your way into one of the bathrooms and quickly lock the door. Takuma jiggles the knob and gently knocks.

“Hey, pretty? You in there?”

No response. He hears the soft sound of your whimpers and sniffles and Takuma feels a foreign feeling of hurt course through his chest. As different thoughts fill his mind, he realizes that Sukuna had to be your ex boyfriend. The unsettling way he spoke, the way he reacted, the way you reacted? There was just no other explanation.

“Let me in, please? That guy is gone now.”

“I’m fine, Takuma,” your muffled voice responds. It’s shaky and small.

Takuma remembers the discussion in the groupchat from long ago, about the guy that barged into the office and dragged you out. He suddenly notices that you’ve never spoken about Sukuna to him before, and even diverted conversation away from the topic during the few times it was brought up. It must have been…awful, Takuma thinks.

“Please?” Takuma asks. It comes out as more of a desperate plea.

There’s movement behind the door before the lock quietly clicks open. Takuma immediately slips inside to see you sit back down on the toilet and bury your face in your hands. He locks the door behind him. The bathroom is quite small, with just enough room for a toilet, sink, and a small stool.

You’re humiliated, trying to hide your tears from Takuma as he sits on the stool and gently wraps a hand around your calf.

“Are you alright?” He delicately asks. “That was your ex, wasn’t it?”

You say nothing and avoid his gaze. After a quiet moment of attempting to wipe away your tears, you offer him a small nod.

“I’m so sorry…” Takuma nervously chews on his bottom lip. He looks up at you from the tiny stool, his fingers unconsciously kneading your leg. If you weren’t so distraught, you may have even giggled at the way his long legs awkwardly bent up to fit in this space. “If I’d known, I would have never kept talking to him.”

You let out a sniffling sigh as you shake your head. “Not your fault,” you croak out.

Takuma stands, sets your purse on the sink, and gets a handful of paper towels. He takes your hands from your face and starts to blot away your tears as he awkwardly bends over you.

“God, please don’t cry,” He says with worried eyes and a slight grimace. His face is just inches away from yours. “You’re making my heart break, pretty. I have no idea what to do when people cry.”

You’ve never been so embarrassed, never felt so vulnerable. At the end of the day, Takuma is just your coworker. Technically, your boss. Someone you see 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. Who reads your writing, gives you a stamp of approval, and sends it to Nanami. And here he is, wiping your tears in a tiny bathroom as you sit on a dirty toilet with a lump in your throat and hurt in your heart.

“I was certain he wouldn’t come,” You sniffle, still avoiding eye contact with Takuma. “He doesn’t come to these types of things.”

Takuma, on the other hand, is a bit distracted. He stares at your swollen lips and ruddy cheeks as he carefully wipes away each teardrop that spills from your eyes. The mascara smudged around your lashes makes his heart leap a little. His eyes travel down to your hands in your lap, which fiddle and fumble with the hem of your dress. The dress that he bought for you, the one that made him blush when you first tried it on. To Takuma, you’re just simply beautiful.

“You think he came because he knew you’d be here?”

You nod. His soft finger swipes a hair from your face. “I think he’s been chasing me down for a while.”

Takuma’s movements still. “Chasing you? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” You shrug. “He just always seems to be everywhere I am. Even everywhere I’m not.”

“So he’s stalking you?”

With a small scoff, you shake your head. “I don’t know.”

Takuma sits back down on the stool, eyes filled with concern. “What do you mean?” He repeats. No response. He takes a hold of your hands with his, both of them now a warm bundle in your lap.

“Hey, I’m serious,” He says softly. “Is this Sukuna guy stalking you?”

You finally turn to look at him. The odd intimacy of direct eye contact feels suffocating for a moment. You’ve never seen Takuma so stressed as his big, brown eyes stare back at you. He doesn’t break away while he takes in the exhaustion and pain in your face.

The moment feels like a lifetime before you take out your phone and show him the texts you’ve received from your ex boyfriend throughout the past few months, before you finally blocked him. Takuma reads them in silence. There’s no movement or sound in the bathroom aside from his thumb scrolling and thick swallows as he reads the worst of it.

“This is insane…” He mutters with a disgusting face when he’s finished. “How long were you with this guy?”

“…Three? Four years?” You mumble, ashamed once more. “If you add everything between breakups together.”

“And you kept going back?”

“I…” A small, weird surge of irritation and helplessness courses through you. You pull your hands away from Takuma’s. “Do you really think I wanted to?”

“No!” Takuma’s eyes widen with guilt as he scrambles to find your hands again. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

In a second of silence, he realizes your face is turned to the wall again, and he’s lost a piece of the trust he’d built with you. A pit forms in his stomach. “What I meant is…” Takuma clears his throat. “…You deserve better.”

“Yeah, sure,” You respond dryly. A tear rolls down your cheek.

“I’m serious,” He presses. “You’re just so kind and considerate. Don’t you think you deserve that, too?”

“But I’m really not,” You scoff. “I’d scream and yell at him. I’d call him names, too. I would just up and leave in the middle of the night when I knew he’d find me anyways.”

“Yeah, well, from what I’ve seen, the fucker deserved it.”

“So, you’re saying we both deserved what we got?”

“No.” Takuma stands, gently pulling you up with him. Warm hands delicately hold your arms. “You never deserved any of the shit that Sukuna guy did and said to you, or any guy for that matter.”

“Hey,” He quietly calls when you don’t respond. When you still don’t meet his eyes, he delicately takes a hold of your face in his hands. “That asshole deserved every argument and name you called him, because I know for a fact that he was the one that started everything and drove you to the edge.”

“Just because you fought back, it doesn’t mean you’re a shitty person,” He continues. “You’re intelligent, kind, thoughtful and… you’re so beautiful. You deserve someone that actually likes you, and loves you. Someone that shows it all the time, not just when they feel like it.”

More tears fall down your cheeks, which Takuma catches with his thumbs every time. “Aw, please don’t cry? Please…” He mumbles. He looks exasperated and… desperate? The guilt and exhaustion of the situation bubbles up in your stomach once again.

“Takuma, he’s said it himself,” Your breath catches in your throat as another sharp sob escapes. It feels like you’ll never escape Sukuna. You’ll never be able to rid your life of his hurtful words or his dangerous presence. You’re exhausted. Although he may not be the first thought in your mind anymore, his existence still persists in the back of your head. He almost haunts you. “There’s no one like that left for me. I-I’m… ruined.”

“W-what?” Takuma sputters. “That’s just—that’s not true!” Another raspy sob bubbles out from your throat, and you bury your face in his chest. With furrowed brows, he instantly wraps his arms around you. He pulls you in tight with one hand in your hair and the other on your back, desperate to comfort you. “You know… I’m here.”

You don’t respond. You can’t, not through the painful cries you’re sending into his sternum.

“I’m here,” Takuma swallows. He hopes to God you can’t feel his heart relentlessly pounding in his chest. “I like you.”

“But you don’t like me, Takuma,” you hiccup, voice muffled in his shirt. “You don’t love me.”

“I…I’m pretty sure I’m in the process of it.”

You snap your head up, both of you staring at each other with racing pulses and bewildered eyes.

You’d be utterly lying to yourself if you said you didn’t feel the same. How could you not? It became harder and harder throughout the past few months to not look at Takuma with something that bordered on genuine affection when he complimented you, cooked you dinner, or simply asked about your day.

You remember just a few days ago, after he cooked you your favorite meal and watched your favorite movie with you on his couch. Takuma never checked his phone once, even though it was a cringe rom-com that you had “forced” upon him. As the night wore on, you went from sitting beside him with his arm resting on the back of the couch, to having your slouched body pressed into his side as he scratched your scalp and played with your hair.

It was the first time you had ever let yourself get that intimate with Takuma. You were half-asleep by the time the movie ended and he woke you up. When you had raised your head, you were met with his face just inches from yours. You hadn’t said anything, only a long silent stare at the shape of his eyes and the curve of his lips.

In a sleepy daze, you leaned in. But as soon as Takuma started to do the same, something in your head clicked, and you backed away. You remember the heart-racing confusion as you quietly stared at each other once again. You remembered his disbelieving wide eyes, lit up by the glow of the TV. Your gut had tumbled and turned.

“I better head home,” You had whispered. He had put on a warm smile and nodded. When you got home later, you could only pretend you didn’t know what he was asking about. Laying in bed for the night, you could’ve sworn you felt those all-too-familiar butterflies in your stomach— The same ones you felt when Sukuna kissed you for the first time.

But each time that fleeting feeling of affection would float through your mind or heart, you’d dismiss it immediately, reminding yourself that it was just pretend. It was for the sake of a good article. A promotion. It was for the sake of saving face at this wedding. It was for the sake of a ongoing office prank.

It’s all fake.

“Takuma,” You blink. “Don’t—Don’t say that.”

“I’m not,” He replies with a wry smile. “…This is really not how I wanted this to happen.”

“Don’t say that,” You persist, your grip on his dress shirt tightening. “It doesn’t mean anything. We’ve just spent a lot of time together and we’re confused.”

“We?”

Your mouth snaps shut. Takuma just looks at you with hopeful eyes. You realize you’re both still holding each other, his large hands around your nape and lower back, but neither of you dare to separate. “No—I—okay,” You sputter. “Yes, we. We are confused.”

“I’m not confused, though,” Deep brown eyes dart around your face as he gnaws nervously on his lip. “I’m certain that I’m not. Are you?”

A long, stretching silence follows his question. Every interaction, every word and memory you’ve shared with Takuma spins through your mind. You remember all the innocent touches, accidental or not, that sent shivers up your spine or a heat across your cheeks.

You have no idea that Takuma is remembering, too. All the times he hyped himself up before sending a flirty text, the giddiness he felt dropping you off after a date, the fluttering feeling in his heart when you flashed him a genuine smile, the raging jealousy that ran through his blood when he met that random dickhead date of yours— Takuma remembers everything.

“I just… want you to be happy,” He hesitantly continues with a sheepish smile. “…Preferably with me—”

“—No.”

Oh.

Takuma’s face falls the smallest bit before he recovers himself. “That’s alright,” He begins to remove his hand from your waist. “I completely underst—”

“—No! I mean I’m not confused.”

“You’re not?” His face is full of uncertainty.

It makes you wants to slap yourself for making him feel this way. You’ve felt it boiling in your bones for weeks now. You wanted to tell him, or at least accept it, that you wanted him. You wanted Takuma to look at you, to sit next to you during meetings, to text you even if it meant you would be too scared to flirt back. You wanted him to keep remembering your coffee orders, be your partner on work assignments, to ask you to proofread his articles.

You wanted him to touch you, but not like that. You wanted the innocent ways like a protective hand on your back, an arm around your shoulders during a movie, or how he’d fix your hair when something was off. God, you even want him to kiss you. Just once, to know what it’s like. You’ve thought about it over and over, but it’s only in this moment right now where you’re allowing these amassing feelings to finally settle.

��I’m not,” You whisper. “I’ve just been denying it. Attempting to, at least.”

“Yeah… I gave up on that like two months ago,” Takuma cracks a smile.

“2 months ago?” Your heart skips a beat. It never really occurred to you that he was having the same thoughts. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

“Eventually. Were you?”

“Eventually,” You can’t help but smile back. “…I knew all of this was a bad idea.”

“But you did it anyways,” He swipes away a stray tear that remained on your splotchy cheek as you both let out nervous giggles.

“…What do we do now?” You whisper.

“I always imagined that after months of pathetically yearning,” He starts playfully, “I’d finally get the courage to confess, you’d feel the same and be so smitten and overcome with emotion that you’d jump into my arms. I would finally kiss the fuck out of you, then we would ride off into the sunset in a cool car or something, leaving Nanami and Yuji to fend for themselves at work.”

“Then… what are you waiting for?” You blurt with a laugh. Takuma’s eyes widen.

“W-what do you mean?”

“Oh, God,” You mutter, shaking your head with a smile. You look up at his sweet, brown eyes, and sigh in relief. “I’m tired of denying it. Please, just kiss me, Takuma.”

With a fiery blush on his cheeks, Takuma pulls your body in flush with his and lifts your jaw with a gentle hand. The warmth of his hand on the small of your back and his breathe against your lips leaves you reeling in anticipation. You wrap an arm tightly around his neck as the other still grips his shirt. The tip of his nose nudges against yours and you both smile.

“Pretty girl,” The tip of his nose nudges yours, you both smile. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you to say that.”

10 // series masterlist // my masterlist

notes & fun facts! //

i'm kind depressed that this is over but i hope you all enjoyed the fluff and slow burn!!

i wanted to add more drama with sukuna but i ultimately decided against it because y'all have been through enough 😭

lowkey how do i write x reader without saying "you" all the time LMAO i fucking struggle everytime

if i wrote an epilogue it would delve more into their future at jj&k, they'd live together, and just be super fluffy and happy. idk if that's something people would care about tho but lmk and i'd be happy to write something out hehehe

thank you all again for reading :') i love you so much

taglist // @jayathelostdragon @vesserz @loveyislost @grierpilots @shokosbunny @darkstudentsaladbakery @rieamena @yourhornysister @emlient @shutuppeter @90s-belladonna @sttaejoon-blog @fuckisthatahotghost @aldebrana

banner from pinterest (help me credit the artist!) // divider by @/kodaswrld <3

© vorfreudevortex // all rights reserved. do not copy, translate, or repost my work.

[tinylilacbun]

is it possible to request Rafe (and JJ if you want!) with a depressed little?

recently I’ve had not motivation to do thing and just lay in bed. I’m even failing to take care of myself so I NEED a Rafe with a little like that

-🩸

"C'mon, cupcake, let's just go to the beach for a bit or wherever you want." JJ coaxes you to come out of bed for the third time already, rubbing a hand gently up and down your arm.

"No wanna..." You mumble, burying your face further into the pillow, clinging onto your stuffie. "Jus wanna s'eep."

His shoulders slump at that. "Okay, I'll be back in a minute." He sighs, leaning forward to press a kiss to your forehead before getting up from the bed and out into the hallway where Rafe - who also already tried to get you out of bed - is leaning against the wall right next to the door, watching JJ close the door softly.

"And?" He asks, nibbling on his thumb, only receiving a shake of the blonde's head. "A'ight..."

"What do we do now?" JJ questions, running a hand through his hair. "She's like a whole other person."

"It's just because she's off meds, her doctor isn't available 'til next week. So, all we can do is be there for her and- and help her out. Like always." Rafe breathes out, to which JJ nods.

You're obviously still in bed when the door opens again, now sucking on a pacifier as both your boys come into the room, having gentle yet concerned smiles on their faces as they approach the bed.

"Hey, baby. You feeling a little sleepy today?" Rafe asks, smoothing some of your hair behind your ear as you nod slowly. "That's fine. How about a shower, huh? Could make you feel a little better."

Again - as to everything they suggested by now - you shake your head, messing a bit with the ear of your stuffie.

"No? Well, how about a bath then? You don't gotta do a thing, we'll handle everything, yeah?" He then suggests, waiting patiently for you to decide.

When you eventually agree he carefully scoops you up into his arms, carrying you to the bathroom while JJ gets you a fresh set of clothes to put on afterwards.

Rafe keeps you in his hold the whole time until he's able to lower you into the bathtub filled with warm water and some bubbles, reaching out to grab the custom made pacifier from your mouth but you instantly whine, turning your hand away.

"Shh, okay, you can keep it. I just didn't want it to get wet and lose some of the gems." He assures you, waiting for JJ to come hold your head up in a comfortable position because it seems you don't feel like moving at all today.

It takes a while but soon you're back out of the tub, sitting on JJ's lap as Rafe gets you dressed again, both being as gentle as they can be.

JJ is then the one to carry you back into the bedroom, setting you down on the bed and making sure you're tucked in comfortably, being his usual cheeky self to make you smile even just a tiny bet.

Rafe meanwhile prepares some sandwiches and sippy with juice for you, knowing you haven't consumed anything since you woke up and it's almost 3 pm.

Thankfully they managed to get you to eat a few bites and at least half of your sippy before settling on each side of you for some peaceful cuddles.

Rafe is spooning you from behind, his arm wrapped around your waist to keep you close while JJ's facing you, tracing his fingers from your shoulder to your elbow and back up.

The boys chatted over whatever, occasionally bickering but keeping it lightly with you present. That's until they hear you start to sniffle all of a sudden, quickly turning their attention back to you.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's wrong?" JJ asks, propping himself up a bit to place a hand on your cheek, caressing your skin with his thumb.

You can feel Rafe's hold around you tightening a fraction at your emotional distress, now sitting up a bit as well to look over your shoulder. "Talk with us..."

"I-i...m'sowwy." You sob, burying your face in your plushie, not even knowing what you're apologizing for right now, just feeling overwhelmed with those giant feelings in such a small headspace.

"What are you sorry for, button?" JJ questions, watching you shrug, still hiding your face from them.

"Is- s'jus a lot..." You sniffle pitifully.

Rafe understands immediately, leaning over to press a kiss to your temple. "It's okay, I get it. All those feelings are just too big for you right now."

You nod at that, curling into yourself a bit, feeling the boys wrapping you in their arms, calming down from their mixed scents and calm beating of their hearts in the quiet room.

Despite the storm going on inside you, you feel protected and loved, all thanks to the only two people in your life who don't push you away for how you feel and hold you safely in their arms even when their relationship with each other isn't the greatest yet they only care about your well-being than over their own comfort.

[munsonsmixtapes]

Hii can I request buck x reader like each other but they’re both in denial and the ppl they’re around can see it and it could be a smut if you want

I eat this trope up so thank you for this request! I haven't written for Buck in a a hot minute, so please be gentle with me!

You and Buck are just friends, at least that's what two of you think. Everyone else, however? Not so much. you're not sure why they all seem to think that there's something else going on. Something romantic. You don't want to believe that there could be anything more because as much as you make like him, love him, even, you've only ever been just friends.

Buck doesn't want to believe that there's anything there either. But that's mostly because of his abandonment issues and he can't stand yet another person leaving him when things inevitably crash and burn. He doesn't want to believe that there's something going on between the two of you because he's afraid. He puts himself in danger every day for his job but starting something with you is the thing he's most afraid of.

No matter how many times you vocally deny the possibility of anything happening between the two of you, nobody seems to believe you. they just laugh it off and tell you that it'll take time. they even have a bet going to see who breaks first.

Even though you refuse to see it, you can understand why they all would think that you're a couple. Buck spends more time at your apartment than at his own place and you even sleep in the same bed, cuddled up in each other's arms. You put each other down as emergency contacts and you even sit in his lap when there are plenty of empty chairs. But you still don't like Buck like that. You can't.

You've been burned too many times and you refuse to let someone in only for it to go up in flames yet again. You have a history of getting scared and leaving when things get too serious and you just can't do that to Buck. You just can't.

Bobby and Athena's backyard is all decorated for your birthday because of course they insisted on celebrating you. There's a table piled high with presents and everyone who you could ever care about is there, all sitting at the table, passing around a bowl filled with your favorite dish. Even though they all knew Buck first, they've all welcomed you into the group no problem and now consider you one of their own.

Buck is to your left, the two of you giggling to each other, in your own world as usual. and no one seems to be bothered by it either. They all just exchange knowing glances with each other, hoping this will be the night where the two of you finally realize that you're in love with each other.

He's dangerously close, whispering things into your ear and being able to smell his cologne is making you dizzy, wanting to curl yourself into him and be wrapped up in his arms for the rest of the night.

He thinks you look beautiful (well, he always thinks that) he wonders what you'd do if he tried to kiss you. He wants to so badly, but he doesn't exactly want to do so with all of his closer friends present.

"Should we do gifts or cake next?" Bobby asks, pulling you out of your little world. Your head snaps in his direction, wanting to give him his full attention.

"Gifts," Buck replies and everyone laughs in response.

"Buck, maybe you should let y/n decide," Athena tells him, taking on her motherly role and you wave it off.

"Gifts is fine," you nod. It was what you were going to choose anyway and considering that Buck was so quick to answer, you just know that whatever he got you is going to be good.

Gift giving is Buck's specialty. every year, he's somehow managed to top the previous one. He knows you so well and somehow is always able to get you things you didn't even know you wanted. He always puts so much thought and love into each one the only way he knows how.

"And you're going to open his first which is going to make all of us look bad in comparison," Eddie pipes up from the right of you with a roll of his eyes and everyone nods in agreement. Buck doesn't even know what everyone else got you, but what he does know is that his gift is superior. Which is why he tells you to open his last, so you do.

It's an envelope that has your name scrawled across the front in his familiar handwriting. You open it and there's a card that just has a generic "happy birthday" written on the front. Inside the card, however, he's written a lengthy letter that takes up both sides of the card accompanied by a folded up piece of paper that have a photo of your favorite band and the name of the tour they're going on this summer. He got you concert tickets.

As soon as you realize what it is, you throw yourself into his arms and he's quick to catch you, his arms wrapping around your waist tightly as you bury your faces into each other's shoulders. Once you pull away, you still stay there, staring at each other with nothing but love in your eyes.

"I thought maybe it could be a date?" He asks and you smiled widely, the both of you tossing your insecurities aside and deciding to just go for it. This isn't something you can avoid any longer, the feelings too palpable now to ignore.

"I thought you'd never ask," you reply, pulling him into a kiss. He gasps into your mouth at first, but is quick to melt into you, his slip slotting between yours. Yeah, you think it's safe to say that this has been the best birthday ever.

[callme-naomi]

Pieces of My Heart

hi guys! first of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE AMAZING RESPONSE TO MY PAST POSTS. I swear I had no idea this would happen but you guys are the best!!! And I'm enjoying writing this so much buahahahaha. This might be one of my last few works before I go on a hiatus till the end of May, so yeah.

And then, what do y'all say for another AU? Arranged marriage with another character?

okay this one will be long hahahaha

You and Nanami Kento had been blissfully married for one entire year, and you could have never been happier and more in love.

Life was going smoothly for the two of you. Both found a home, and love in each other. And apparently, the two of you had become an exemplary couple to both your households, your duo being the favorite and the one gaining all the attention whenever you walked into a gathering, your hand in his.

So you'd be constantly questioned by everyone, about is he nice to you? Does he care for you? Have you two fought yet? How long did you two know each other? How to get a marriage like yours?

Similarly, he'd be questioned on, is she a good wife? Can she cook? Can she clean? Does she annoy you sometimes? Is she loyal to you? Did she buy you anything yet? Are you two happy? How did you find this girl?

And so on, so forth. Both your answers, be the other in the room or not, would be full of love and admiration for each other, you being obvious with it and Kento expressing himself in few but precise words, leaving the listeners in awe of the two of you, the new Mr. and Mrs. Nanami.

There was one question, however, that you had dreaded and had been asked from you since your third month of marriage.

Are you expecting? When are we getting the good news?

In different words and different people, the same question would be asked of you over and over again.

In the beginning, the two of you had decided that you two will take some time to figure out the house dynamic, because it was your opinion that since a child is a great responsibility, it wouldn't be easy handling it if you still didn't figure out how to handle the house, and Kento had agreed for you to take as much time as you needed.

Apparently Kento had known this was meant to come, because one night he told you this at dinner.

"Y/N, I should warn you. I'm the only son, and therefore the heir to my family. And with you as my wife, it will be expected of you too to give the family a child soon. So be prepared for being questioned. I'll be beside you, but should you ever find yourself alone and unable to handle it, please let me know. Alright?"

"Yeah," you replied, not having thought of it as much of a problem back then. "I can handle it though, don't worry."

"I'm not worried about them." He had crossed his arms. "Don't pressurize yourself with what I might think."

"I'll just come and ask you!" You had added brightly. "You'll tell me anything there is I should know, right?"

"Yes. And whatever happens, I'm on your side. Remember that."

"You're so sweet." You had taken his hand and kissed it. "Though, I can't imagine how they can find the audacity to ask this."

"You'll be surprised."

You noticed that this would be asked of you whenever you were alone, and while at first you would find some suitable answer, or would just laugh politely and change the subject, you found yourself running away from gatherings because of this question.

And they never disappointed your expectations of being asked at every event. And it hurt you even more when it would turn out to be your own family.

Your sisters and your mother reminding you of another duty as the wife. You knew they had meant well, but it still hurt.

On the other hand, Kento was initially interrogated too, and he did not hesitate to show his annoyance with a few of his blunt responses, for instance, "I find this irrelevant with you wanting to know about our marriage,"

or "I'm not interested in discussing anything I haven't announced personally. Me and my family matters are not open for discussion."

or "I don't see why this should interest you. No man wants to be interrogated about his family." or "You should be focusing on helping the host family. They're the star, not us."

Once, when some people went too far as to suggesting there might be a problem, he had said, "I apologize for not making it clear earlier, but I will not tolerate anything about my wife. Next time, it will be your apology I'll accept."

And that was when everyone knew not to interrogate him. So they put their wives on the task of asking you, the timid Mrs. Nanami who couldn't say no to save her life.

You didn't tell him anything, out of fear of the fact that he might think you're trying to estrange him from his family, or if he did sever ties, you'll be the one his family will blame. And you wanted to maintain a good image.

So when it finally was enough, you decided to do it.

Yes, he had listened to your agreement, but he also had his own family image to protect. And there was no way you're going to let your hesitation become his humiliation.

You just went up to him, your heart thumping wildly and asked if the two of you should try now, and though you thought you had done a good job at hiding your feelings, he had seen through you.

"Are you sure about this, Y/N?"

You nodded.

"Why did you change your mind? Do you think you can handle it now?"

"I think I can. And it's because I want to."

He stayed silent for a while, looking at you as if trying to gauge something from you. When you couldn't hold his stare and bent your head, he slowly asked you.

"Is it another responsibility you're supposed to do?"

Your silence prompted him further. "You can tell me anything, you know. I promise I won't say anything."

"But, won't you mind if I said I still don't want to?"

"I would mind if you tried to suppress your want for me, or my family. And I wouldn't know what you wanted, if you won't be honest with me."

He then smiled at you. "A responsibility you have as my wife is to be honest with me. And then I'll do my responsibility of listening to you. Think you can do that?"

And that's when you spilled it all. He, true to his word, listened silently to you, and in the end, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, and then repositioned himself to face you.

"Y/N. I'm sorry you had to face all this without me, but let me make one thing clear: this decision is ours and ours alone to make. Nobody gets to tell you what you're supposed to do when I'm here, alright?"

You nodded, feeling relief seep through your chest.

"Having a child is no small task, and it won't be easy if both of us aren't willing to do it. Take your time, alright?"

"But, don't you want it?"

"I do. But I also want your opinion to be taken into consideration."

And within a few days, your mind was won over.

You had always seen Kento being the kindest person with kids. Be it from his side of the family or yours, the kids adored him, and would flock him every time he'd come over.

And the joy you saw on his face made you daydream about having your own child with whom he'd smile like this every day.

Now you found yourself ready to take on this new role.

And so, when you approached him with your newfound decision, you assured him that it was your want, all yours.

And of course, he was ready.

*****

When you finally became pregnant, it was an understatement to say that his joyous disbelief knew no bounds.

When you thought he couldn't care for you any more than he already does, he surpassed your expectations as he anticipated the moment he became a proud father.

There would always be a bright glint in his eyes every time he looked at you, always one word away from fulfilling your every wish, keeping an eye on you for any problem or complication. And he would be up late, reading about parenthood and all that stuff, even going as far to take leave from his work for your appointments and cancelling plans to stay at home with you.

In those days, you agreed to a trip with him to his family living out the city, for a weekend stay at his family's. His parents received you both with extreme joy and when your mother-in-law found out the surprise, well, she immediately began being your greatest fan.

Do you want something? Are you feeling well? Want to go out? Shall I call Kento for you?

She would always be asking you these things and you would be left fumbling for a suitable answer except 'no, thank you'.

News of his arrival spread, and soon the house was teeming with his aunts and uncles and cousins and friends, and their children who kept a mayhem in the building. Not that you were complaining anyway.

It was one day before you were meant to get home, when you were in the living room with his female cousins, all congratulating you.

"It will be lovely to see him with his own little kid," the oldest said. "He's amazing with children."

"Yes, he is." You fondly responded, watching out the window where he was playing with some children.

"Can't wait to see the mini-Kento," her sister remarked, and a giggle spread round the room.

"Well, it could be a mini-me," you replied.

"Sons don't usually take after their mothers. Have you decided a name for him?"

"It's too early yet. And we don't know if it's a him." You expressed your confusion.

"Well, it better be."

"What?" you glanced with wide eyes, and the ladies looked blankly back at you, until one of them said, "she doesn't know. Explain it to her."

"Sons are the heirs of the house, right? And well, in my experience, people desire sons more than daughters. Since you're the only daughter-in-law of the household, you have to have sons."

"Who said sons could be the only heirs?" you argued.

"I know it sounds unfair, but that's the custom."

"We generally tend to break them." You fired. "And aren't we all daughters of our houses?"

"And you'll find most of us were neglected in favor of a son. Mark my words."

"And who even needs a daughter anyway?" one lady snorted. "All you have to do is rear them until they get married off."

You had enough. You had heard of families uprooted because of the child's gender, but you couldn't sit and hear your worst fear realize before you. Standing up, you excused yourself and left, but just before you went to find your husband, the oldest cousin caught you.

"I'm sorry, dear, that you had to hear all that, but unfortunately, that's how it happens."

"But, I don't get to decide the gender."

"None of us do, but we're still punished for it."

******

On your way home, you were quiet. Kento had assumed you were tired, so he let you sleep at the back, but your mind was whirring with this newfound worry.

What if he also wanted a son? And what if you had a daughter?

You had at first denied the possibility of your man having any problems with the gender, but now that you thought more about it, it ate away at your soul.

When you reached home, you immediately went for bed, and when Kento asked you if you were sick or if he should get you something, you said no.

The next morning, coincidentally a national holiday, he brought you breakfast on the bed, and as you slowly chewed down beside him, listening to him tell about the children he was playing with that day, you voiced out the question that haunted you.

"Kento? Do you want a son or a daughter?"

He halted and looked at you confusedly. "What, darling?"

"Do you want a son or a daughter?"

"I...I haven't thought about it. And it doesn't really matter to me."

"Oh? But I thought...So you won't be mad if I had a daughter?" You felt tears brimming in your eyes, and he immediately set the tray aside, scooting closer to you.

"Hey, Y/N. Look at me."

You obeyed, chin resting atop your knees as you looked at his worried face with tearing eyes.

"What were you thinking about?"

"You said that your family wanted an heir from us. And you wanted a child too. I...I heard that," you hiccupped, "sons are the pride of a family. I've seen families wanting sons more, so I just thought...would you hate me if I had a daughter?"

He drew you close to his chest, and let you sob, your tears wetting the place above his heart, and when you wouldn't stop, he finally whispered, "shh, Y/N, it's all right. Listen to me."

His thumbs came to caress your cheeks, and you silenced and listened.

"I won't hate you for giving me a daughter or a son. Who am I to ever do that, when you're the one giving me the blessing? If sons are the pride, then daughters are the honor."

"Really?" you sniffled.

"Absolutely."

"Are you telling me this to silence me? You really mean it?"

"Y/N, have I ever lied to you?" as you shook your head no, he continued, "you're someone's daughter too, aren't you? And I imagine your parents must be proud to have you as theirs. The same way I'd be proud of my own."

You tore apart to see a soft smile on his face.

"The thing is, a gender doesn't define our love for that child. A son, or a daughter, all that matters is it's ours."

Comments, reblogs and likes are highly appreciated. Feel free to post your opinions and recs!

series masterlist

[irregularcollapse]

Hiiii just wanted to pop in and say I watched Masters of the Air and I really enjoyed it! Wouldn’t have known about it/known to look for it were it not for you and I enjoyed spotting all the moments I remembered seeing you reblog gifs of as I watched it ❤️ you’ve successfully carried on the grand tumblr tradition of influencing people to watch a show with gif sets! I can’t decide yet if I want to read any fic for it or not but if I do decide to I’ll definitely start with yours 👍🏼👍🏼

This is SO exciting to me hooray! I've managed to trick a few people into watching MOTA because I knew they'd like it, and it feels like an achievement every time. There's a lot I really like about it as a show, but especially the core performances, and John and Gale as characters. Personally, it resonated with me more than other war shows I've tried to watch, which is just a matter of individual taste really. I'm as surprised as anyone to find myself writing fic about military men 🤪🤪🤪

No pressure to read fic at all (though it's very nice that you're considering reading mine waowww ty ty) but this message was a perfect reminder for me to do something that I keep forgetting to do because my brain is a sieve, which is to shout-out a few writers whose stuff I have been enjoying recently, who I haven't personally seen recc'd a whole lot and so may fly under the radar (not a pilot pun, I swear) if you go looking for other fics. Alphabetised!

@blixabargelds / hart who is not only a brave writer, but one who writes with raw vulnerability that makes each work a visceral, multi-sensory experience, and truly approaches writing with a purpose and intent which radiates off the page -- as do strength of concept and the truthful, emotional weight that sits behind everything Frankie writes

@constanthaunt / justfine whose writing has such a beautiful cadence and flow to it, and who has such a rich understanding of not only how to use these particular characters but of how people work, and produces writing with real emotional nuance and depth

@feyd-meowtha / feyd_meowtha whose writing has a heightened, shiny quality to it that I really want to spend more time delving into. There's a real sense of fun and playfulness in what I've read of their work, and a clear enjoyment of the texture of words

@pleasuretrade / PleasureTrade has big things on the way I'm sure, because the snippets I've read have a really deft command of interaction and dynamic -- such lovely character interplay that I can't wait for more of, and dialogue which settles so organically and authentically

@reallylilyreally / ReallyLilyReally whose writing has a warmth and affection for character in it that is lovely to read, and really demonstrates how observation and action are the best tools for constructing characterisation. I've found a real "slice of life" quality in what I've read of their work which is so clever and well-executed, and I'm so keen to read more

@shipstorms / ipsilateral writes with a precision of word choice that I appreciate so deeply, and everything in each sentence feels so well-placed, and in their work as a whole there's such excellent use of pacing -- every paragraph serves a purpose

@soliloquy-dawn / soliloquy_dawn is so lyrical and lovely, with a richness of style that poses a confident challenge to the misconception that all detailed writing is "purple prose" (simply not true!); to me, Dawn's writing shows that often more is more and immersion is achieved best through a luscious focus on detail

@weimarweekly / VoluptuousPanic is delivering a masterclass on character voice with Looking for Eight, with writing that balances interiority, experience, and visualisation in such a delightful way. There's specificity in vernacular which is so competent and impressive, and the flow from a sentence > paragraph > chapter level carries you along in such a natural, gorgeous way

For a relatively small fandom, the writing side is quite prolific! There's a lot getting written all the time and I know I find it hard to keep up (and am sure a lot of people do). This list is hardly a dent in what I've enjoyed and who I've read! But it's stuff that's dug into my brain in the best way.

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 13

Extreme apologies for the lack of updates recently. Since the last post I have: moved, started a new job, spent like 27h going places in various trains and buses, done my last exam.

In these chaotic times there's nothing I'd like more than a little certainty, so I turn to Miles and his chaos instead.

We were with the plan to retrieve the gene banks (thanks, Ivan!)

Staying at the ambassy just in case someone out there tries to assassinate him is reasonable. Too reasonable. Can't wait to see how he's forced out. Rian?

Miles hoped that Lord X was very, very sorry he had decided on Barrayar. And I'm going to make you regret it that much more, asshole.

Oh Miles I have missed you.

I hope the Key is indeed in a cipher lab so I get to see what a futuristic cipher lab looks in the Vorkosiverse, and compare with labs in real life.

I wonder to what degree Miles' excuse, desiring ship duty, is still true. Like, rn he's at the best position for him, answering only to Illyan and Gregor is where he fits best, I'd say, and he must know this, but 20 years of hopes don't disappear easily. And also that line earlier "Hi, I'm a war hero but I can't tell you why, it's classified". Ship duty are were the public heroes are.

Miles pointed to the ceiling with his thumb. Maybe they're listening to us. Ivan's lips formed two words. Fuck them.

I love the idea of Illyan being a sort of god to ImpSect that lives in the ceiling of all rooms, but I love more the idea of very-human Illyan receiving the recordings of Miles and Ivan's rooms days after the fact and having to listen to them while Miles is right in front of him like "Yeah me and my coz possibly avoided a fourth Cetagandan war. On our own. Neat, right? :3"

Forced outdoors by social events! Wow this is the most terrible thing lol

Maz and Vorob'yev are so getting together.

Yeah, what do they want Ivan for. Is this a case of "No, the Fullmetal Alchemist is the short one"?

NOT KIDNAPPING!! I mean, it's narratively fullfilling and all that because Ivan has been complaining all book about being in danger and specifically Miles getting him in danger BUT NOT IVAN!!! My boy!!

Rian!! Things are moving!!! Aaaaaaah!!

(I'm wondering now what languages are spoken in Cetaganda. Like, Miles has been able to go up and effectively communicate with everyone, including Ba which would have no reason to know languages other than those spoken in the Celestial Garden. And I'm assuming he does so in English? I know that the alphabet in Barrayar is Cyrillic but I feel like it would've come up if they spoke Russian? The recruit at the beginning of TVG destined to languages implies that there is not a magic-translate-it-all-gadget invented just yet, so I'm just finding it interesting that the Cetagandans would speak also precisely the same language. And I don't think there has even been a Cetagandan accent mentioned? As opposed of the Betan accent which does exist. This is all a literary tool for making the writers life easier, like making all days day-lengthy-ish and all years year-lengthy-ish, which is something I totally respect btw, but I find that idea of going to an international interplanetary event and be inmmediately understood by everyone to be very anglophone-y)

(Rucy, it's been three weeks, and now you're going on tangents while plot is happening?!)

(Shhh, I haven't thought about Vorkosiverse in too long, I have to make up for it.)

This isn't Emperor Gregor's Birthday Party, dammit.

AHAHAHAHAH POOR GREGOR

RIAN HAS CAPTURED THE KIDNAPPER BUBBLE! Oh I love competent women as well.

Ivan is alive! Yay! Omg using the "not yet" leitmotif on "Ivan is not dead" is genius. Wish I wrote this good.

ETERNAL PLAN A: LETTING MILES TALK IS DOING WONDERS!!! OH I LOVE THIS!! And its not even his usual "Ill convince you", he's stalling for an old woman to go get help/a weapon. This is amazing. I love this book.

(It was, in fact, a case of "No, the Fullmetal Alchemist is the short one".)

Idk how to tell you this, my boy, but Rian is not likely "Empress of Cetaganda until tomorrow". She's probably "Empress of Cetaganda from tomorrow on" as well.

So, Kety still has the bank. And the Key. And he's on notice. -Damn. What idiot came up with the idea of the banks…? Ah, yes…

Give my other poor boy a break, Miles, he's having a very tough day.

Please, not dead yet. I love a good leitmotif.

WE'RE GOING INNNNNN!!!!

[nightdragon22]

Incoming yap sesh

Heart goes out to my ancient tristamp au that existed because I just wanted Vash and Nai to grow up together and for Knives to find some tolerance for humanity.

That being said, here's my info dump about it.

Anyways, Nai loses his leg during the crash after it got stuck in some rubble and Vash accidentally got it cut off with some shrapnel. Because if this, Nai was forced to be taken in by the same humans that took in Vash, ending up wheelchair bound for a bit. He doesn't trust ANYONE and only really let's Vash near him because of ✨️trauma✨️ (they're trauma bonded and act like a pair of anxious house cats with separation anxiety but they do get better as they get older)

It's a very slow process of getting Knives to trust others. Though it starts with the first successful Thomas hatching in their ship, Vash proudly showing off to Knives and Knives ultimately getting attatched. This is his first "project" he ever has while he waits on a prosthetic to be made. First raising Thomas then breeding them himself, (horse girl /j) which gets him to be more social with certain members of the crew as well as overall opening up to Vash more.

Ludia is the one that approaches Knives about the plants. Vash is a huge help with them but Knives is the one that literally crashed the fleet for the Plants. Working one on one with her and Knives to figure out how to ease up on using the plants powers. This leads to the garden idea.

Once he gets his prosthetic leg, Knives starts helping around with the garden on ship three before moving on to spearheading the project. Vash going in and out of the ship more frequently to help gather seeds and equipment. As well as helping out any nearby Plants so they don't die.

Ehm, anywayssss a lot of story beats in this are more or less the same. Knives still is willing to kill others to protect himself and his brother, the scene where Knives witnesses all those plants dying still happening with minor differences. Aka Vash is actually there to witness the Last Run with Knives instead of showing up afterwards. Knives still still gets to cut Vash's arm off and stays hunched over Vash until one of the ship members they trust shows up to help. Knives caring for Vash the same way that Vash once cares for him when he lost his leg.

They do make jokes about it now that they're older in an "eye for an eye" kind of thing.

So about the bounty, you might me wondering. How are they wanted criminals? Easy.

Knives is still stealing plants but in a "Hey, they're dying/dead we gotta get them OUT". He's also breaking and entering to see plants and repair them, which had led to a growing bounty over the years. Knives is the problem child here as he only has so much respect for humans and is running on the logic of "They can't tell me what to do". He's got Vash STRESSED. Also again uh... he do be murdering people sometimes in self defense.

I just realized how much I yapped so I'm gonna do quick finishing bullet points

- Knives has exactly one friend and it's Milly. She saw him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck and he doesn't have it in him to complain. He's teaching her how to repair plants for them him and Vash aren't around. She just thinks he's neat :)

- Meryl and Milly are on sight correspondence! Milly carries radio equipment while Meryl live reports the danger and escape routes... very usual when you have two twins with a habit of accidentally leveling cities.

- Wolfwood is a bounty hunter still but also a cowboy.... might still in a cult against his will haven't decided yet. (Knives and Vash may have accidentally started something similar Eye of Michael, oops). His goal was too catch Knives and Vash for their bounty but well he really hit it off with Vash. Him and Knives are rivals in a "I don't want you to flirt with my brother" "bet? I'll do it to piss you off now".

AND THATS MY SILLY AU FROM LIKE 2 YEARS AGO FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS

Hope you liked my yap session, I call this the Eden au but name is pending <3. Please enjoy my only doodles from years ago I have left of Nai in this au and his Thomas, Buttermilk

EDIT - HERE IS KNIVES' DESIGN FOR THE AU YALL PLEASE ENJOY

[aurumalatus]

hi yall, i know a lot of you are just here for fics and don't really care about all the other discourse stuff, i get it, so i'm just warning you that there is a vent below the cut!

i just wanted to be honest and say that i'm highly considering deactivating. i haven't decided on a particular stance yet, but people have just been EXTREMELY disrespectful to me and my boundaries lately and i just don't know if it's worth it to me to be on this platform anymore. with all the feeding my fics into ai, people saying i'm "making excuses for not updating", i'm leaving everyone in the dark, etc etc. like, i don't need excuses to not update LOL. i could just not update bc i want to? bc i'm doing this for free, as a hobby? like i feel like the entitlement from people has gotten so crazy

(OBVIOUSLY NOT EVERYONE. i have a lot of anons and followers and mutuals who are so sweet and understanding. i am not referring to you all at all, i love you guys)

now, i've had several tumblr accounts before, and i've mentioned this in the past. i've run blogs smaller than this and blogs bigger than this. and though it's a lot of fun to share content with a wide audience, it's also SO stressful because the more people there are, the more bad apples you get. unfortunately that's just how it is.

like i said before, i haven't officially decided what i'm going to do yet, but if i DO deactivate, i don't want to leave everyone hanging completely. i want to get at least one more pixel princess oneshot out, and if it comes down to it, i will share the outline for the rest of turnfire so that at least everyone knows how it was supposed to end.

in the meantime, thank you to everyone who has been patient w me! i'll probably end up making a decision on this soon, but still i love you all! mwah <3

[thequeenofcurses]

The Devil In The Sanctuary

Prologue/Chapter 1

summary: mafia!sukuna x fem!reader. you’re the sheltered daughter of a pastor who finds your world turned upside down when a mysterious and dangerous man seeks refuge in your church. slowburn. eventual smut so mdni.

A/N I usually don't really yap or do trigger warnings in my stories (because I'm bad at them & personally I don't really get triggered by anything, but I understand this could upset other people), and I worked really hard on planning this fic. I don't want to offend anyone since religion is a key theme in this story. Y/n and her father are very devout. Originally the religion was going to be a real one (I won't name it), but I decided to use a fake and completely made up religion for the sake of not offending any one.

If that’s a problem or triggering for you, I don’t recommend reading this fic! <3

tws: violence, gore, blood, religious themes and criticism, character death, eventual smut, slowburn

masterlist | jjk masterlist | read on AO3

The faint glow of the setting sun filtered through the stained-glass windows, casting shards of crimson, gold, and violet light across the worn wooden pews. The air was quiet, heavy with the scent of melting candle wax and old hymnal books. The faint creak of your footsteps echoed in the vast, empty sanctuary as you moved down the aisle, your broom scraping softly against the stone floor.

It was nearly six pm, and the world outside the church was cloaked in darkness, save for the dim street lights flickering in the distance. Daylight was constantly getting stolen from you with the new winter sun. The wind whispered through the cracks in the heavy oak doors. The roof finally stopped leaking since the snow started to melt.

You hummed softly under your breath as you swept away dust that seemed to perpetually settle no matter how often you cleaned. Even though you disliked chores, this was one of your favorite times — the stillness of the evening when the world seemed to fade away, leaving only you, the church, and the faint presence of something divine. You’d often sing in the sanctuary when cleaning because no one was around to hear you.

You paused for a moment, resting on the broom handle as you gazed up at the towering crucifix at the altar. You remembered your parents putting it up the day before your family opened the church to the public when you were a small child. Its shadow loomed large and solemn against the wall, a quiet reminder of faith and sacrifice. A sigh escaped your lips.

And that’s when you heard it, glass breaking? You froze, the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Another sound came again, louder this time, echoing from the side entrance of the church. Was someone breaking into the church? It’s not like you guys had much to steal. The building was falling apart day by day.

Your heartbeat quickened as you turned your gaze toward the darkened corridor, where the faintest flicker of movement caught your eye.

“Hello? Father?” you called out, voice trembling slightly as it broke the sacred silence. Maybe father came back early from his conference? You think to yourself. But why would he come through the back or side entrance?

No answer. Just the soft groan of the creaky floorboards, and then… nothing.

“No weapon formed against me shall prosper,” you quietly murmur to yourself while making a cross with your right hand. You take the broom and head down the corridor to the back of the church. You believe in helping people, but you’re mama didn’t raise a fool.

When you reach what appears to be the shattered window, the only thing you find is a brick at your feet and broken multi-colored stained glass. That window—your grandfather’s work. But that’s not all you find. Red dots that seem to be have dripped. You and your father haven't touched this hallway yet. Could that really be… blood? Cautiously, you followed the trail, firmly grasping the broom with every step.

The scent of iron floods your nose. You stare in shock as the pools of blood seem to only grow further. The trail leads you to the restroom and that’s when you find a red giant hand print on the door knob.

Oh, Celestials grant me mercy! 

Most doors in this building were so old, they could never fully shut. You say a silent prayer to yourself and use your broom to poke at the door to softly push it open.

And that’s when you see him on the bathroom floor. 

The Devil.

A/N Please tell me your thoughts on this! This is my first ever Mafia AU/anything, so I will gladly take any constructive feedback!

masterlist | jjk masterlist

[cosmicconvergence]

✶﹒just one night

plot → You were the Doctor's companion for a few trips, you loved it truly you did, but it became too much and he brought you home. However- a man knocks on your door one night and despite never seeing him before, you knew who he was, even after a few years. Welcoming him in, he asked to stay just one night with a look of such sadness it made your heart hurt. How could you ever say no to your Doctor?

pairing → 9th/10th Doctor x gn!reader

warnings → Angst, fluff, cuddling, 1 suggestive comment

notes → Reader was the 9th's companion before Rose. After 10 defeated the Master in the Valiant and dropping Martha off at his house, he visited the reader.

A sudden knock on your door surprised you as there was nobody expected today. It wouldn't be surprising if it was your date from the other night asking for a second chance after you told him it wasn't working out. He was...nice but too clingy and always wanted to be talked to 24/7. He expected too much from right off the bat. Sighing, you got up from your comfy spot on the couch, set down the remote to the TV, and approched the door. Opening it half-way, the sight made you freeze. A man who you never saw before was standing there still, staring at you with tears in his eyes, but you recognize him, even if he's wearing a new face.

"Doctor" Whispering, you stared back in awe and concern as you haven't seen him in about four years. You didn't know why he was crying, but you knew better to ask. While this would be the first time you met a new regeneration of his- you always knew deep down he was the same man regardless of his emotional state. The fact that he most likely found a new companion after you and yet she wasn't here told you everything you needed to know.

Something bad happened and he was alone.

"One night. Just...one night and I'll leave you alone forever" Heart stinging, you felt guilt as you did leave him, but you never hated him, that's not why you left. But you couldn't blame him for thinking you never wanted to see him again. Tears threatening to spill, you pull him into a hug and he reciprocated, you could feel his chest rise up and down as it was obvious he was trying not to break into sobs. Letting go was almost painful, but you had to in order to let him inside.

He shuffled in looking like a kicked dog as he made his way straight to your couch, plopping down without saying anything else. Shutting the door quietly, you just stared at him for a few seconds before deciding on how to approach him. You knew him well, maybe not this regeneration of him, but you still knew him at his core. Despite his happy-go-lucky exterior- there is darkness within him, constant battles of doing the right thing. When you met him, he was fresh off the Time War, he had to leave his own planet behind, his people. Sure, you travelled him with beyond the cosmos to other planets, but you never permanently left Earth behind. Just the thought made your heart hurt.

Should you make him tea? No, he wouldn't drink it right now. Maybe...maybe you should turn in early. Maybe he just needs to sleep in the same bed as you and hold you close. Your relationship with the Doctor was never strictly defined, yet your connection ran so deep with him. You didn't want to leave, but after almost dying on a priate ship sometime in the 1700s- it was too much and he understood it. But you told him he was always welcomed to visit anytime as long as he didn't drag you along. He wanted you so he wasn't lonely, and you came along so you weren't lonely. Yet here you both were, seeking comfort from each other knowing it wouldn't last.

"Come on to bed with me, I think I have some pj's that should fit you" Lightly pushing him by his shoulder, he put on a soft smile as he followed you.

"You know, if you wanted me to shag ya, you could have asked at any time. Or is it this face?" While he didn't laugh, he still always found time to joke around regardless of how feels. It was his way of coping. Chuckling softly, you pushed back tears in your eyes as you led him to your bedroom. Gathering a pyjama set for him, you exited the room so he could change in peace. You weren't going to shove him into the tiny bathroom, he was a guest, a guest you loved in many ways.

You were looking ahead when the door slowly creaked open behind you, his head poking out with a tired face as you entered. Before he came, you put on your own pj's to relax and watch a movie so there was no need for you to change. But you'd take caring for your Doctor over a stupid movie. You've lived a more exciting life when you were with the Doctor than any movie you could watch.

"I don't want any apologies, got it? I told you you were welcome at any time, this wouldn't be the first time you interrupted me" Hearing a soft snort from him, you smiled and guided him to the bed and pulled back the blankets, he crawled in and laid on his side. Turning on the bedside lamp, you shut off the overhead light and crawled him beside him. Wrapping your arms around him and hugging him from behind, you could feel his chest rising and falling as he breathed. You felt him tug your arms closer to him as if he was scared to let you get away, scared that you would suddenly leave him. You knew he didn't want you to feel guilty- but it was starting to gnaw away at you.

You left him.

"I can practically hear you thinking over here you know" The smirk was present in his voice, but the sadness was just as exposed. "I don't hate you for leaving, I never can, never will. Nothing could make me hate you" A few tears escaped your eyes as you sniffled, you still meant just as much to him as he did to you.

"Goodnight Doctor. I love you" You whispered into his back, knowing he would be gone by morning. It hurt a bit, but this was how he was. This was your Doctor. Never in one place for too long.

"Goodnight beautiful. I love you too" After a few minutes, the presence of being next to each other and sharing body heat lulled you both into sleep. While you may not always be present together, you two were never apart.

[putotyras]

bad horrid uika post

trying to put this together more coherently i am very open to correction.

okay so uika/hatsune(from here i'll say hatsune)'s story as told in episode 11 has a lot of weirdness and inconsistencies in my perspective. i know i'm not the first person to talk about it but just putting down some of the things that feel off to me Personally.

i think the thing i've seen spoken about the most is the conversation between kiyotsugu and sadaharu that uika could not have been present for but is shown in detail. i'm not going to post images of this one because the main issue is the scene's existence at all, really. i'll add that i find kiyotsugu's post-kicked out of the household behaviour a bit out of step with this version of events(namely the way his self-loathing gets depicted and his attitude towards sakiko) but it's nothing particularly concrete. we do at least know that the 16.8 billion loss did really happen also.

the first thing that stuck out to me in the episode personally though is when hatsune says this

she immediately recognises kiyotsugu's voice in a crowd. this seems strange because hatsune has had very little contact with sakiko's family, and only played with sakiko at all for one day. we do see her hear his voice, for exactly one line that she overhears from outside their house. this theoretically could explain it but is, to me at least, a pretty big stretch. it was seemingly years later after all.

in general her conversation with kiyotsugu is a bit weird and off to me, but nothing stands out as blatantly false. the part that i do find strange here though is the timeline of the texts she recieved from sakiko, that have come up multiple times throughout ave mujica and mygo.

i haven't included the translation in the image but it's easy to find in the episode if you want to check what it says. she opens up saying to sakiko that it's been a while and her debut has been confirmed. to me this sounds like it hasn't actually happened yet, but this could be a lack of knowledge on idols on my part. regardless, she also says she's been told not to inform non-family members(...) yet, so it's presumably still early stages.

regardless, when she meets kiyotsugu, it's after she's done an opening performance. again i don't know if this is synonymous with 'debut' in the idol world(the word used in the japanese is, i believe, お披露目, which sounds and seems like the same thing to me, but i don't want to say definitively and make myself look like an idiot, so.) but even if it's not a debut, it certainly seems more public than 'only tell your family'. before this first performance is shown, she uses the same language in the japanese she uses in her text to sakiko to tell her her debut has been confirmed.

Edit: a couple of people have clarified this for me, which i very much appreciate. hatsune's performance here was pre-debut. that said, in the below image, she does still mention being set to debut as sumimi, and it's straight before the performance is shown. this feels like it implies the debut was somewhat decided beforehand, but i don't know how likely or realistic that is.

she does also thank kiyotsugu for the family connection making her debut possible, in a conversation straight after the performance, which again implies to me it had been confirmed by this point.

i could just be reaching now of course, but i still find the timeline hard to follow. (end of edit)

then, after an opening performance has taken place, she meets kiyotsugu. and then, she asks him to let her meet saki.

and then, the messages sent between them are shown on the screen

(i've cut out the subtitles for visibility's sake, but again it's probably easy to check. they are(mostly*) the same messages we have seen before.

i'm thinking now if hatsune really just told kiyotsugu 'actually i'm not the friend of your daughter that you know, i'm her half sister who's using her name and my dad is your father in law' and hearing this he just gave over sakiko's number. i mean i'll take it if the show really wants me to but i think it's very funny. but it's still really unclear if kiyotsugu did actually give her sakiko's contact details, or if he allowed them to meet and just...lied to sakiko about who hatsune was? would he have told hatsune to keep lying about being being uika? if he wanted to sort it out with the family, shouldn't he have done that first? it's all very vague and i can't tell if it's for the sake of storytelling or if it really is hiding something. we get the 'i must not go to the villa' which could imply her being put in contact, especially since that's when the messages flash on screen, but they're never actually brought up as being the issue. sadaharu seems not to know she's been in contact with sakiko specifically either, he just says to tell her not to approach the togawa family again. though i suppose kiyotsugu could have been hiding it.

but this seems strange to me. if we assume kiyotsugu did, in fact, get her in contact with sakiko(which is notably never stated and is in my opinion at best lightly implied), why did she tell her she was set to debut, rather than she just had? why would she tell her she can only tell family about it when she's already done a seemingly public performance? she could be lying to sakiko, but why would she? it's not explained or expanded upon, and the next scene is the kiyotsugu and sadaharu conversation. again, had this explained. i do still find the events leading to this exchange strange though, including wrt to the things i put in the footnote.

she does seem to know where sakiko is after this happens as we know she attended crychic's performance and she knows in a fair amount of detail what sakiko was up to in the time after. again, it's not clear if kiyotsugu told her about this, or she found out some other way. but they don't meet up for around a year after this, and they don't seem to have been in contact during this time(when we see hatsune's messages in episode 4 of mygo, there's no new ones past that one conversation, and she's surprised when sakiko calls her.)

most things outside of that are less definitively wrong, but still seem strange to me. we obviously know that uika and hatsune looked identical despite the age gap and different fathers(we don't know how big the gap is but it naturally can't be less than nine or so months.) and this isn't a young sakiko mistaking people who looked similar, we've seen them both. they're identical

even height wise they're absurdly similar.

they could have used sakiko only meeting hatsune in the evening as a way to explain it, but they very explicitly played for the whole day in the middle of summer.

(another thing to note that probably means nothing but i still find interesting is that the part in mygo 8 where their memories conflict about who invited who to go bug hunting, is that hatsune remembers what uika said happened, but sakiko is the one who remembers what happened when it was hatsune there instead.) i'll also point out that it's baby uika who has a moon on her shirt, despite it being hatsune that sakiko describes as being like the moon.

there's more minor details, like no-one at hatsune's agency taking much notice of her claimed parentage, and uika being the only character in episode 11 to always be voiced and acted out by hatsune. the timeline between hatsune and sakiko's last meeting is unclear also, something i think is relevant due to the messages again*.

i don't have a clear theory here or anything, i'm just really curious on people's thoughts on it that aren't mostly just trying to make it Not Incest because that's not really what bothers me. at least not nearly as much as everything in this post (among other details).

anyway thank you if you read this fucking thing please call me a fucking idiot and tell me why i'm wrong because i really do want somebody to.

*okay i'm putting this as a footnote because it's likely for space but the messages we see on hatsune's phone and the ones we see projected behind her are slightly different. specifically, it cuts out the 'it's been a while' at the start of hatsune's opening message and changes sakiko's 'youre really going to debut' to just 'really'. i think the 'ひさしぶり', while obviously normal to say if you haven't spoken in a while, comes off as significantly less extreme than 'it's been literal years' when she jumps straight from it into 'i'm gonna debut'. and sakiko doesn't even say hello or seem surprised at 'uika' suddenly contacting her at all. which i think is notable because if it hasn't been years since they were in contact, when exactly did they start communicating again. i really just don't know, and all i can think of is 'hatsune stole uika's phone', but in that case, why would she be going by uika's name in order for sakiko to find her. i just find it strange.

[liraspins]

Looking Tylio up and down it seemed almost like Lira caught some second hand nervousness for a brief moment as she watched him make his move. At first the brunette had to bite down her lip as to not grin like malicious goblin. But at the first sign of narrowed eyes her giddiness became less of a priority. Oh god, I gotta do something, he'll completely show ass. With all the grace of a born con artist, Lira turned her energy up to eleven, slipping into the conversation with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a girl who was just a little too invested. "What?! No, dude, don't sell it, I thought we were gonna hang out and down some later...!" she squawked, yanking the baggy from Tylio’s hand with an exaggerated pout before seamlessly shifting gears. Her other hand landed lightly on their mark’s shoulder as she continued, in one go "This is some good-ass cake right here, man. I don't know where he got it, he's probably a chemist or some shit look at him ." A vague, sweeping gesture at Tylio. "But man, I spent my last penny on it like yesterday, haven't slept and it feels like I had some great sex and then a good nights sleep..."

The shift was immediate. Lira saw it on his face—the slight hesitation, the flicker of curiosity. A mysterious dude with drugs, a charming girl hyping it up, a whirlwind of information, and somewhere in there, was the word sex sprinkled in? Overload. The poor guy didn’t stand a chance. Time for the final push. "If you buy it, could I maybe...oh forget it." she murmured, cutting herself off with a quick, dismissive sip of beer, feigning like she’d let something slip. That tiny, unfinished thought dangled there like bait. She doesn't want me to buy it, so she can steal some from rich boy. something alone these lines at least where the thoughts Lira was trying to provoke. She didn't really allow herself to think while she was yapping at him before but now she realized her heart was going a bit faster; the nervousness was back. Damn Tylio, he's rubbing off! "Alright...how much d'you want?" The question caught her off guard. It worked! Deciding that it was best for Tylio to continue being the silent mysterious one, Lira didn't let him make these kind of suggestions on his own just yet. "Didn't ya' say 120 bucks earlier? I think this gentleman deserves a discount for his good timing and refined taste?" an overly flirty wink in the dude's direction and it took him no longer than a few seconds to present Tylio with some bills. "I got 95, how much do I get for that?" Adrenaline rushed Lira as she casually leaned back just enough so only Tylio could see her face. She mouthed 'all of it!' and gave him an excited nod, followed by a thumbs up.

When Tylio was handed a beer, he instinctively took a sip, though his reaction was not nearly as animated as Lira's. She seemed truly rejuvenated by it, it was kind of amusing seeing her so satisfied by something so simple. He had a feeling that if she wanted to, she could have finished the bottle in one go but for whatever reason, she decided against that. Perhaps she was more responsible than he thought? She turned to him and her voice took on a different tone, a more serious one, as she explained how this was going to work. He was going to have to play along and act the part, something that was easier said than done because what part was that exactly? The part of a drug dealer? Then again, he probably just had to look calm and like he was used to being here. He could do that. He had a decent poker face, he'd been told. She came up with a fake story very fast too, maybe it was one she'd used before. But it sounded like it could work. And if all else failed, Lira did have a certain charm to her. If they got caught, that charm might serve as a distraction long enough for them to get out of the situation.

He didn't have time to say anything - before he knew it, Lira had grabbed him by the arm and they were both headed towards their target. He assumed Lira would be doing most of the talking but as he felt a baggy being shoved in his hand, he immediately realized that she was not about to make this easy for him. Putain de merde. "What do you want", the guy grunted, though he sounded more bored than intimidating. "Just to make some money", Tylio blurted out, because it was the first thing he could think to say.

"I mean...we have something you might wanna buy. The person we were supposed to sell to didn't show up so now we're forced to sell at a discount..." He briefly glanced around before discreetly showing the baggy to their target. The guy glanced at Tylio for a moment, then at Lira and then at the baggy in Tylio's hand. His eyes narrowed, almost as if he seemed suspicious, but it was unclear. His face was hard to read. "What is it?", he asked, gesturing towards the baggy. "Speed", Tylio answered, because he honestly had no idea whether he was supposed to use a nickname for it. Lira would've told him, right? He could feel her grinning from ear to ear. Maybe not.

[chiropteracupola]

"Are you finished with my portrait yet? Show me!" "Cipacton, I can't draw you if you keep moving!"

[hiding-under-the-willow]

Rens body wandering off is really funny. I wonder, is Martyn a ghost too somewhere? Or is Doc around?

I can't decide if I want to have had Martyn died alongside Ren or if he died somewhere else later. If he died at the same time as Ren then obviously it's safe to make the assumption that he's fully not around as a ghost. If he died off somewhere else we may never know. I kind of like the idea of it being ambiguous in the same way what happened to Havers is ambiguous in the show. We never learn where he died, when, what he went on to do after Cap's death, if he's a ghost somewhere. I like that idea for Martyn and Ren.

Idk though maybe there's a fun plot to be had somewhere where Grian runs into Martyn's ghost somewhere off in town and recognizes him from Ren's incessant talking about him and we get Grian having to act as like a go between for them to communicate. I'm not making that officially canon rn but it's a fun idea to think about.

I do want to have Doc around as one of the living characters, I think in some way connected to Etho's past. Whatever Etho was running from when he moved way out to the middle of nowhere in England by himself, Doc was involved. They were really close friends, and Doc has been looking for him ever since he fell off the map. Doc finally manages to hunt him down after ten years, probably through Grian and Joel's involvement. Maybe something to do with the ghost hunting gangs videos. Either way Doc shows up at Etho's door and has some fucking questions. Such as: "Where have you been for the last ten years" "Why did you just fucking disappear?" "What happened to your face did you get mauled by a fucking bear??" "Why do you keep talking to the air like a crazy person?" "Did you know you are a fucking terrible liar?"

I like to think this is like just after Etho and Hels have started to make peace after a bit of intervention from Grian and Joel, but then Doc, who has actually been surprisingly chill up until this point about the ghost stuff since he figured it out, puts together the puzzle pieces of what happened and is like "A GHOST DID FUCKING WHAT TO YOU?? AND YOU'RE STILL LIVING HERE???" and now Etho who was just starting to get comfortable again has to deal with both his past with Doc and with Hels at once.