#i may have given up the ghost if i had to suffer through another day of that tbh

[teddy-bear-baby]

Their Deadly Flower - Three

A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, sorry. I hope you still enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, I’m sorry it’s a day late.

Pairings: Ghost X GN!Reader, König X GN!Reader

Warnings: None

Prolog - Chapter one - Chapter two

     Things went downhill really fast after you walked into Laswell’s office. She tried her best to feign surprise that you were still alive, but with an accusing tone, you called her out on it. “Come on Laswell, don’t do that.” Your tone is dull, bored as she pierces you with a don’t-you-dare look.

     “Don’t do what?” Her voice is higher in pitch, but her facade doesn’t break.

     Pinning her with an accusing look your arms unconsciously cross over your chest. “Don’t, I’m serious. The lies end here.” Shaking your head you turn and lift yourself to sit on the edge of her desk. “Well?” You gesture to the four men standing in the room, all of them with confused looks on their faces. “Tell them. If you don’t, I will.” She lets a small sigh fall from her lips as she leans her weight on one leg.

     Ghost huffs with growing agitation. “Tell us what?” His gaze flicks between you and Laswell. His usually blank eyes hold confusion and anger. His aura radiates through the room causing the tension to grow heavier. 

     Laswell finally relents, throwing her hands up in surrender. “Fine, you win.” Her eyes dart around the room, ensuring she has everyone’s attention. “I knew that Iris was alive.” Her lips purse in discomfort at her own words.

     Your eyes instinctively go from face to face as they all react to the confession. Gaz and Soap look on incredulously, as if not understanding the words that had just come out of her mouth. Ghost’s eyes are blank, staring headlong at the woman standing next to you. “Don’t stop there.” You turn your head to look at her defeated face. “Tell them the rest.”

     She shakes her head lightly. “Why are you doing this? What’s your end goal here Iris?” She steps back leaning on one of her filing cabinets. “What do you gain from interrogating me like this in front of them?” Her posture now mimics yours, blank-faced with her arms crossed over her chest. Her confidence irritates you more than it should. It seemed like she thought you’d buckle under her questioning. 

     You don’t buckle though, instead, you answer honestly. “I gain quite a bit from this actually. Firstly, I get the satisfaction of you speaking the truth. I get to watch as you tell them that not only did you know I was alive, but that you had another team with you when you found me bleeding out on the floor. I get to hear you tell them how you abandoned me in that city all by myself. How you left me there confused with no way to contact anyone.” Your voice begins to raise and your hands begin to shake as the feelings of betrayal come rushing back. “You took me away from my family, dropped me in the middle of nowhere. And then today…” Angry tears well up in the corners of your eyes. “Today I found out that they thought I had died. KIA.” A sad smile crosses your lips. “You lived your everyday life, while I suffered alone for two years. Only to find out that no one was coming for me.” The anger subsides leaving way for sadness to take hold. “It’s fine though, in the end, you're the one that has to live with what you did.” You slide from the desk and make your way out of the room allowing the information given to fester in the silence of the group.

~~~~~

     It's been a week now since you blew up at Laswell. In that time you'd found your way to old sleeping quarters and rummaged through your old belongings. It took a whole day to wash all the old dusty clothes and about 4 hours to sort, clean, and ready all of your old tactical gear. The room itself wasn't as messy as you'd thought it would be. A light layer of dust quickly wiped away as you kept yourself busy, avoiding the thought of what kind of rift you may have just caused in the delicate balance your team held. Well, not your team. You found out about forty-eight hours ago, from Price, that Laswell had just finished putting in the paperwork for you to formally rejoin the 141.

     She was putting in the effort to set things right with you and the members of 141. Everything had been so tense after your small blow-up a week ago. There was no talking between you and Laswell. No nods of acknowledgment when you'd pass each other in the halls. No 'Good evening' even when you sat elbow to elbow with her at dinner. There were no words that could be said that would allow you to trust her the way you once had. Not for the time being anyway. She seemed apologetic enough from what Soap and Gaz had told you. She’s apologized to them once, and only once, after your quick retreat from her office that day. You hadn’t expected her to say it at all. Admittedly, it made you happy that, at the very least, she showed remorse for the hurt she’d caused the others. 

     Loud footsteps echoed in your eardrums from the hall outside the training room. Workouts and sparing seemed to be the only thing that pulled you from your rut. Waiting for the paperwork to be finalized was killing you slowly. You had to watch your team gear up and go on at least two small recon missions without you in the past week. Your body vibrated at the idea of being out in the field again. The footsteps fell silent just after reaching the door. Your head snaps away from the punching bag you had been taking your frustrations out on. A large masculine figure standing in the doorway halts all other thoughts in your head. Their eyes fall to yours, studying your form as you turn to inspect them.

     You didn’t recognize the monster of a man standing before you. You’d not seen him around before. You were absolutely certain you’d have recognized a hulking beast wearing a loose cloth hood over its head. Dark eyes linger on your form from under the makeshift hood, dissecting you from across the room. “Can I help you?” Your voice doesn’t waver even under his gaze. He says nothing in response as his eyes move from you to examine the rest of the room. Was he ignoring you, or was he mute? It didn’t matter to you either way, he was here now and you weren’t finished making this punching bag sorry for the things that you’d been put through. 

     “Okay then.” Your words came out low and breathy but you were sure he heard it in the quiet that had befallen the room. You swiftly turned back, putting your mixed martial arts skills to work on the inanimate object. As you focused on the soft wooshes and smacks of your fists on the vinyl, you couldn’t tell whether he’d left, moved into the room, or remained in the doorway like a creep. You hadn’t heard footsteps and really didn’t want to have another staring contest with him. Taking your chances you speak out into the void. “You got a name stranger?” 

     The low grunt sounds from behind you near the weight racks, confirms that he had indeed managed to silently enter the room. “Not much of a talker. Got it.” Your fist slams a bit harder into the side of the bag. “I’ll be quiet now.” Your voice comes out in a huff as you bring your knee up into your stuffed opponent. No response came from the man behind you, only the clanking of weights being pulled free of the rack.

     Another hour went by with silence between the two of you. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you’d hoped he’d do a few sets and leave but, of course, he hadn’t. He had taken his time moving from one exercise to the other as though the quiet tension in the room didn’t bother him. Maybe it was just you. Perhaps you weren’t in the mindset to be around people. A sigh escapes your throat as you flop down in one of the few chairs that littered the room. “Fuck.” You hadn’t worked yourself this hard in a long time. Your body begins to ache from exertion. Wiping the sweat from your brow you sneak a glance at the man who had taken up residence in the corner. His muscles rippled with every lift of the weight in his grasp. A thin sheen of sweat coated the coiled muscles in his arms. 

     “Iris.” A deep voice rings through the room causing you to nearly jump out of your skin. “Captain is requesting your presence in his office.” Your eyes meet Ghost’s, his mere presence enough to stifle the tension flowing through the room. The look he gives you tells you everything you need to know. You jump from your seat and stumble slightly as you sprint to the door, unable to contain the excitement bubbling in you. You stop yourself a hair's-width from Ghost’s body. His eyes scan you as you stand there waiting for him to move or say something. His gaze feels almost defiling as he drinks in your features.

     “Sorry, Lt.” You hadn’t meant to invade his space the way you did. Your excitement had gotten the better of you. His dark eyes cause an odd heat to crash over you. Before you can enjoy the way his eyes linger, he’s striding back down the hall toward Price’s office. “Hey, Ghost, wait up.” As you start jogging to catch up, you swear you hear a chuckle coming from the man in the room behind you. 

~~~~~

     Price’s smile was all too telling as you entered the room side by side with your Lieutenant. Soap and Gaz were already standing in the room grinning from ear to ear. Your giddiness escaped you as your face broke out into an equally broad smile. “Well, Iris.” Price gives you a restrained smile as he rounds the corner of the desk. “Welcome back to the team.” His hand falls on your shoulder as his smile grows wider. “Are you ready for your first order soldier?” Your head nods on its own as you listen closely. “Tonight at approximately twenty hundred hours you are to meet with the rest of 141 for a drink to celebrate your return.” He brings you in for a big hug, something he used to do often. He was like a father to you, always so caring, and had a never-ending supply of jokes and rebuttals. After a moment another pair of arms wrapped around you both. Soap laughed as he squeezed you both. Two more arms joined the hug as Gaz made it known that he wasn’t letting you escape the duty of your first mission back. 

     “I’ll drag you out of your room myself if I have to.” Gaz’s lilting voice gave way to a small cacophony of laughs from the rest of you. Your mind wanders to Ghost, he’d had no input thus far. Before you can think too hard about it, Soap’s body twists against yours.

     “Come on Lt. you’re part of this team too.” You feel as Soap reaches toward the man in question. “Come on, for Iris?” He reaches a bit further and with a sudden tug, the whole group is jostled by the sudden impact of Ghost’s large frame joining the pile. Your smile widens even further at the three words that slip off of his tongue.

     “This is humiliating.”

[milogreer]

Grah (Milo 🥺🥺) ('send me a character' ask game!)

@darlinghowl asked: milo too!

YAAYYY HUSBAND TIME 🩷🩷 ↳ send me a character!

My first impression: i’m being so so serious when i say i had to pause milo’s first audio pretty much immediately after he started talking because his accent made me blush LMFAO it’s like he was built for me in a fuckin lab. werewolf with a ny/nj accent, the cockiness and bitchiness with just that hint of a soft side near the end when he talks about wanting dahlia to stay safe, and the FLIRTINESS my god. and that was ONE AUDIO LMAO that’s not even getting into everything else he has going on that felt tailored to me (*cough*heatingupinthebedroom*cough*) 🫠💖 

My impression now: unchanged baby he has been my number one since day one!!! not that this is surprising to anyone given my blog theme 🤣 i may not talk about him all the time but he’s never losing top spot in my heart. i’ve gotten butterflies from a handful of moments across the redactedverse but nothing that stuck with me as hard as the panic attack audio did, and he still makes me kick my feet and twirl my hair whenever he gets all sweet 💘 he’s truly the redacted love of my life

A favorite thing: as a massive horror media enjoyer, i think it’s so cute that he’s a little scaredy cat when it comes to ghosts and demons. the gameplay vids are super immersive for me bc whenever he jumps at something i start giggling and then he tells sweetheart to shut up for also giggling LMAO 

Least favorite thing: nothing. he’s the most perfect man ever. actually no least favorite thing is that he doesn’t talk abt his family enough !! i wanna know more about his family life so badly after the “worried about you” audio 😫 i wanna know more about marie other than that she likes ghostbusters and nags his ear off when he gets himself hurt and i wanna really dig into his feelings for his previously alcoholic/gambling addict father

Favorite interaction they have with another: AHHH THE ASHER MOUNTAIN INCIDENT. ok ok i’ve talked abt this before but i’m gonna say it again bc it always bears repeating. this was i think the first time we’ve heard about him shifting after regaining the ability post-inversion and it made me actually cry bc it was just two best friends having stupid fun together as shifters 😭😭 like even though milo came out of it injured he still got to wolf out and fuck around with asher and that makes me sooo happy for him after suffering through those 5-6 months being unable to shift

A character that I wish they would interact with more: DARLIN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE erik i’m on my knees!!! darlin’s gotten audios with david and asher, when will it be milo’s turn!! i’ve thought a lot about them as teens and how they got on and how they navigated being sort of the odd ones out wrt their family dynamics vs david and asher’s + how the pack meeting with darlin went ☹️ i need them to get a one on one audio

A headcanon: aggro is a black cat that milo adopted from a shelter specifically because of the stigma surrounding black cats. people think they’re unlucky or evil or whatever but aggro is the sweetest little thing and he was just a little baby who had been there for probably a month or two and when milo came around, there was an instant connection 🥺 i also think that if he wasn’t already a registered ESA then they definitely would’ve gotten it done post-inversion. milo doesn’t typically take him anywhere but sometimes sweetheart will take him with them to the office; he even has a cute little ESA vest 🥰

A song: this is so hard because i have a handful of good ones… one i don’t think i’ve posted before is just what i needed by the cars! really early relationship vibes, i like it a lot 💕

An unpopular opinion: [looks around cautiously before leaning close to the mic and whispering] i don’t think he’s into being called daddy. MAYBE I’M BIASED because i don’t usually vibe with it myself, but i just don’t see it. however i think if you called him “sir” you’d both be locked up in the bedroom for several hours 🤷🏼‍♀️

[bluegekk0]

Did Hornet or Grimm ever tell FPK about Ghost? I feel like he would merit some mention from either of them, (I will ask vessel related questions till the day I die or think of something else)

They did tell him! It was one of the first things they told him about since he was curious about the infection stopping. And of course he was, I mean, Grimm told him that he could sense that The Radiance was dead (they were siblings so he would be able to feel her absence), so naturally FPK was really curious as to who succeeded where he failed.

Of course, no one knew what exactly happened, but it was easy to connect the dots and assume that Ghost had something to do with it, so they were seen as the savior. Hornet would have the most to tell him since she met them multiple times, but because at that point she was still angry at him, he didn't want to bother her too much, so he didn't learn the full story until a bit later when Hornet toned down her anger. He did eventually hear from her that they went down into the Abyss and that they were going to face their sibling in the temple but never showed up, suggesting that they found another way to stop the infection.

Grimm didn't know as much about Ghost as Hornet, he only met them once when he gave them the charm that would summon his Grimmchild form, and he never saw them (or the charm) again. But he did notice that they were determined, plus he saw that they had both Kingsoul fragments, so he also suggested that they must have been the one to wake FPK up. So that was another clue that helped FPK piece the story together.

I imagine he also asked around the town, since he heard many mentions of them and the fact that they saved everyone. Elderbug, Cornifer, Iselda, even Bretta and Zote, they all had something to say about them that painted a clearer picture of the vessel. Quirrel eventually visited the town as well, and he also had quite a lot to say about Ghost and their journey, such as confirming that Monomon was in fact dead, as well as some information about where they traveled, since he bumped into them many times.

So while he may never learn everything about the Ghost of Hallownest, he knows enough to feel proud of them. He also found some comfort in knowing that his plan wasn't all a failure. Of course it doesn't excuse the cruelty, but at least it wasn't all for nothing like he thought before. It was, after all, one of the vessels who stopped the terrible infection, just not in the way he anticipated.

There's also the fact that, unintentionally, they allowed him to find his family again and live a happier life. They freed Holly from the temple, they led Hornet to wait there for them, allowing her to meet Holly and take them to Dirtmouth, they summoned Grimm's troupe to Hallownest for a ritual that never finished, and, of course, they woke him up from his slumber. So he visits the shrine made in their name quite often, to apologize for all the suffering he made them and their siblings go through, and to thank them for the second chance he was given. He never met them in person, so this is the best he can do to show that he's proud and grateful.

[sesshy380]

Five Lines Tag

Thank you @late-to-the-fandom for the tag! Using this as an excuse to go back through longfic from the start in hopes that the passion I once had for writing it will re-ignite. I love my story, but I just haven't had the motivation to work on it like I used to.

Rules: Find five lines based on the prompts you are given, then change one of the prompts at the end.

A line about a building

A sad line

A line about the weather

A line about a drink

A line of your favourite dialogue

I'm gonna be a rule breaker and post more than a line. More like snippets from throughout that apply instead. Putting below a cut since this is gonna be a bit long bc of it. Also, not tagging anyone, but all are welcome to steal and do whatever with.

cw: vampirism implied for the drink portion

A line about a building

It took him a long second to recognize the remains of the ancient architecture. The last time he had seen the Colosseum, it was fully intact, covered in floral arrangements with a brightly colored velarium angled down around the outer edge to keep the sun off the spectators below. Now it looked like any other ancient landmark in this era, the obvious effects of time showing. The wooden floor had long since rotted away, exposing the network of tunnels that ran below. Scaffolding and railings had been put in place for the safety of the vast number of visitors the landmark received daily. When Bakura and Kat had spoken repeatedly of visiting Rome, Atem had pictured something else entirely. He had pictured flowing chiffon and bright colors, along with the heavy scent of flowers and perfumes in the air. Where were all the gold decorations? Floral arrangements hanging everywhere? Where were all the people that scurried about preparing for the day’s events? Right now none of that was present. Right now, he was being forcefully reminded that the world had changed in his absence.

A sad line

She tried to squirm and break free from the ghostly visions that were dragging her deeper and deeper, reaching her hands for the surface. She wasn’t afraid to die. She was afraid to be stuck in a never ending cycle of dying without a true death. To continuously live while knowing that another agonizing moment was just around the corner. An endless loop of suffering. The surface faded from her view, the figures having long since vanished. Salt from the tears she shed mixed with the sea of nothingness. No one was coming to her rescue. She would spend eternity alone in the void, only the ghosts in her memories to keep her company.

A line about the weather

Marik wasn’t certain how long he’d been walking, and he honestly didn’t care. He wasn’t even certain what part of Domino he was in. He stopped and looked around. Nothing looked familiar. He didn’t want to head back, but he wasn’t certain where to go either. He thought for a long moment, debating on finding his way to the Kame Game shop, but didn’t really want to have to deal with Imhotep. He could only imagine the teen would be thrilled to learn that his mom had practically thrown herself at his dad. While he stood there contemplating, rain began pouring from the sky. “Oh, c’mon! Are you fucking serious?!” he shouted at the sky. Now not only was he in a foul mood, but he was also soaking wet. He began stomping his way down the sidewalk, looking for somewhere he could stand out of the rain. He began to internally shiver as his soaked body tried its best to keep warm in the cold downpour. He gave up on his search, reluctantly turning around and heading back the way he had come from. Thunder rumbled in the distance. “I swear to whatever fucking god is in charge of the weather in these parts, you had better think twice before adding lightning to the mix! I may not be a god or an immortal, but that won’t stop me from trying to kick your ass!” he shouted loudly to the sky.

A line about a drink

cw: vampirism implied

She reluctantly pulled herself away from the source of sweet nectar. When she opened her eyes she found the world distant and out of focus. Her ears were filled with a pulsing that was growing faint. She felt herself being pulled back and away from the nectar source, and she reached out begging to keep hold of it. Something gold and red flashed before her, leaning over and reciting something by where she sensed her nectar was. “I think he’ll be okay now, but he’ll need rest. What the hell were you thinking?!” Kat continued to try to bring the world into focus, but the song was displeased with having its sweet meal taken from it. It cried out, throwing a tantrum. Give it back! GIVE IT BACK! It is OURS!

A line of your favorite dialogue

“Hey, Pharaoh…can you fly?” Atem barely registered his body hitting the wall that shattered around him, shards of glass momentarily hung suspended in midair as his mind tried to catch up with what had happened. He watched as the glass retracted back to its origin, the window reforming almost immediately as his body began to rapidly descend away from it. Panicked voices and screams from below filled his ears. He felt a cool gust of breeze that somehow moved differently from the air around his falling form. The screams and voices vanished, and he found himself upright. He was no longer falling. Instead he hung suspended in the air by the collar of his shirt, a pale hand the only thing keeping him there. Atem looked down, the building he’d been thrown from appearing far below him. Looking back over at the one holding him in place, he could see Bakura’s hair and clothing moving as though a gentle breeze were playfully toying with them. The elemental floated effortlessly among the clouds, appearing almost angelic in the golden rays of the sun. If it weren’t for the fact that he could obviously see Domino far beneath his feet, Atem might have thought he'd finally arrived in Aaru. “Why didn’t you just let me hit the ground?” Atem asked in annoyance. Bakura’s face was emotionless as his eyes moved over Atem, studying him. “Did you honestly think I would make your end that quick? You should know by now that I enjoy playing with my things long after they’ve broken…and you aren’t even remotely broken…yet.” “I don’t belong to you,” Atem scowled. Bakura brought Atem in close, grinning devilishly as he licked along the side of Atem’s face. “You do now.”

[popculturebuffet]

Hang Around For Scooby Doo: SD Ghoul School Review (Comission for Emma Fici)

Happy Halloween all you happy people! Our halloween stuff rolls on as I introduce a new not at all consitent series on this blog, Hang Around For Scooby Doo! This probably won't be a monthly thing like my muppets reviews, but it will be fun.

See over a year and a half ago my good friend @jess-the-vampire and I started having movie nights every Tuesday and Wedsday on her nights off. It was during this we found a mutual love of Scooby Doo, both having grown up with it despite being a generation apart. So when she told me about a Scooby Doo film where Scooby goes into space in a trek inspired heavily by BioShock and alien, how could I say no? The film was Moon Monster Madness, and I shall cover it some day. Finding out i'd missed films like this made me curious: I'd grown up with the DTV scooby movies, even watching them into high school on sick days or summer days as CN played them a lot, but after Chill Out, Scooby Doo, they stopped playing them as much, and I stopped seeing them as a result.

So in over a year and a half we watched and re-watched ALLL OF THEM. No hyperbole. We watched the greats, we found hidden gems and we also suffered through Return To Zombie Island and Fred's weird singing voice in the somehow boring vampire musical. And once we were done… we kept going and have been watching some Scooby doo ever so often since. We watch other stuff sure, it's how I got sucked down the Miraculous Ladybug Hole, but it's built on a foundation of Scooby Doo

And of course watching entirely too much Scooby Doo has given me a MASIVE repository of review material yet untapped. From weird individual episodes like Shaggy becoming king of the goths, Fred's ass terrifying everyone, One of NSYNC framing the Gang for crimes, Shaggy nearly being drowned for being a witch or a rejected skeletor minion haunting a 70's dude at Wimbledon. IT's a weird wonderful buffet and since my good friend Emma commissioned this from me, we got a great place to start digging in Shaggy style so Hang Around after the Read More for Scooby Doo: Ghoul School!

The history for this one is interesting, as this flim happens to be part of another small project I've intended to start for a while: an on and off look at the Superstar 10, 10 films packaged for Hanna Barbera's funtastic world of hannaa barbera saturday morning block. Even if you haven't heard of them, you may of seen some as all three red shirt shaggy films as well as Flintstones Meet the Jetsons are part of it, and cartoon network tended to air them a lot growing up as they filled up time nicely. Why the others weren't used, especially since one of Yogi Bear's other films, his wonderful christmas special, was aired every year…

But the non-scooby ones are only avaliable via Warner Archives, so i'm curoius to see what hiden gems and things that are better off locked in the archives lie in wait, so once again while this review is paid for, it's something that was inevitble.

The Superstar Ten Trilogy of Scooby Films is highly notable for being the first Scooby Doo films, the ones that likely gave the crew of Zombie Island to try one for the DTV market as unsuprisingly these three had vhs' (and I had one for the reluctant werewolf. Wish I still did. It was sweet. ). These films paved the way for us to have almost 50 MORE after them.

This trilogy is also intresting for when it was made: coming out in the mid 80's, this was around the same time as 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo, The New Scooby Doo shows and others that largely broke from formula with Fred and Velma largely put on a bus , leaving the gang just Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne.. Scrappy

And their bitching van. Despite the show before it being the bane of many fans at the times existence, the Daphne and Shaggy era shows are well regarded and I hope to binge 13 ghosts at some point as it sounds utterly awesome. Weirdly though despite Scrappy's wide backlash he wasn't the team member to get dumped for these movies, with the trio instead being reduced to just Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy. Now…

Scrappy.. really isn't that annoying here. He still has his traits of running at danger and being Scooby's Hype Dog, but he's also fairly intelligent, helpful and functions as a replacement Fred without being nearly as bland as pre-Zombie Island Fred Jones. I mean he can't say treasure that special way

But he still does well. It's why i'm really baffled at how Scrappy's been reduced to either not existing anymore (Curse of the 13th ghost) or a hilarious joke not to be talked about (Mystery Incorpeated): yes he's widely hated but you can do stuff with him as seen with the 2001 Movie and Scooby Apocalypse. And you can do stuff with him as is. I will always be in favor of fixing a character if possible instead of just tossing them aside because it's supposedly what people want, something I doubt will change for poor Scrappy as Warner Bros Discovery has shown it doesn't care what anyone wants, needs or feels.

The Red Shirt Trilogy is also notable for being one of the biggest examples of real monsters in the franchise. As I found out via Billiam's videos these weren't the first time this happened, but it became one of the most memorable, both due to these films getting replayed more often than the scrappy era shows, and because of the neat designs, memorable characters, and all three breaking from the mystery of the week format. Sure there is an unmasking in Boo Brothers, but instead of trying to figure out whose haunting them the Red Shirt trilogy focuses on different genres each time: Reluctant Werewolf is a very mild Horror Comedy that turns into Wacky Races, and our feature presentation today being a slice of life school based story that turns into an adventure film in the last act. It shows just how flexible Scooby Doo is and why it's lasted so long: You can do a LOT with these characters, whether there's a mystery or not and new writers never stop coming or having new ideas to bring to the table. While it was a surprise, it wasn't hugely shocking to find out the writer of this one, Glenn Leopold, went on to write the first three dtv scooby doo movies, all very different. It does surprise me he wrote the godawful and boring Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights, but I forgive him.

So with that we can actually get to the movie itself which as I said is a shockingly chill for most of it's runtime slice of life comedy: Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy are heading to Grimwood's School for Girls to become the new gym teachers. Some of you less familiar with Scooby Doo may laugh, but keep in mind both Scooby and Shaggy are storied Laugh-A-Lympics trained athletes, their team the Scoobie Doobies having won a mind boggling 14 out of 24 games in this storied contest, and Shaggy would later participate in the World Invitational Games. Their more than qualified. Scrappy is there because I assume Scooby just adopted him at some point becaues having scrappy for a child did this to a his mother

So she had to pass the curse on to someone. Naturally things can't ever be easy for our heroes and they find out that while Miss Grimwood herself seems human, we'll get to that, the rest of the students are all the daughters of classic horror monsters: Sibella, the fantastic daughter of dracula with a habit of saying fantastic, using her hair like a cape (something Jess caught and I didn't) and turnign into a bat, Elsa Frankentien, daughter of Frankenstien and somehow bride of Frankenstein, maybe they had hate sex and they alternate weeks I dunno, Phanty, a delightfully hyper phantom with a love of exorcist head and a dad whose apparently the phantom of the opera's ghost? I have a lot of questions I dont' think Erik is ever going to answer. but I mean.. it tracks. He does die in most adaptations, so… there's that, Winnie the son of some sort of wolfman, and Tanis, an adorable Mummy child whose conception is best left a mystery.

Shaggy naturally tries to run the fuck away but he's under contract, with Scooby and Scrappy as witnesses. What's nice though is while Shaggy is, being shaggy, is a bit freaked at first he quickly warms up to the girls. It's a gradual shift and while the character development probably could be done a tad more overtly, it still works for the time with Shaggy going from being afraid of these precious children to genuinely supporting them and being the coach they need. The bulk of the first act is just shaggy training up these girls and doing fun exercises with them. The girls even happily get their coach a pizza without being asked when he can't find anything he likes to eat at grimwood (understandably since in classic adamss family fashion everything's rotten). And while it has cobwebs and stuff they genuinely like it and try it. It's small stuff.. but it works.

It helps the girls themselves are incredibly endearing. Their not huge on personality in the dialogue itself, mostly being limited to their traits of "Vampire", "Kinda awkward", "goofy and does the head spin", "energetic werewolf" and "baby girl baby", but the various quirks they have animation wise and their genuine kindness and enthuastim towards their coaches make them hard not to root for. It's no wonder the five became instant fan faviorites and it's more suprising it took TWENTY YEARS to have any sort of followup, especially since after likewise breaking out the Hex Girls have shown up in every series sense. Also if your curious yes we will be getting to it this halloween, Emma's using her patreon review for it. Their just well designed, fun characters and add to the fun chill atmosphere. It's also a nice lesson about tolerance without hitting you over the head with it: Shaggy sees someone different, reacts badly, but grows to see them as what they are: people who are different but at the end of the day still just people. Simple yet heartwarming.

Playing our girls we have Susan Blu, whose a long time voice actor and voice director, best known for this flim and Transformers The Movie as Arcee, as Sibella, Patty Maloney who played Twiki on Buck Rogers a few times and Darla in the 80's version of the little rascals I just found out existed, as Lil Tanis, the late, great Russi Taylor as Phanty, Susan Blu, mother of Mae Witman it turns out and vetran va as Elsa, and the late longtime HB voice actress Marilyn Schreffler as Winnie. Impressively all but two of them came back for the OK KO reunion years later, with only Schreffler and Maloney being replaced as the former had sadly passed ona nd the later had retired, with it being JUST in time to catch Russi Taylor before her tragic passing not long after.

As for what Shaggy's coaching them for in grand 80's fashion he's training them for the big game with the snotty rivals just next door, the Callaway Cadets who seem to be actively in denial about the girls being monsters. Thankfully while they avoid the trap of most standard 80's

Characters: Unlike say Huey Dewey and Louie or the bros of my little pony tales, the boys, while cocky and confident, are mostly just clever and ready to win and are heavily regimented. At most their petty jerks and cheaters, but there's no overt sexism needing to be taught a lesson here. It's also nice that their one plus sized member Tug is NOT singled out for his weight or the subject of constant fat jokes. Which doesn't seem like a high bar clear but for the time it is. At most he falls on a guy maybe once. Their a little charming but obviously leagues behind the girls in terms of actually being memorable. Their col is also delightfully stuck up, the Callaway himself. Their also well child acted, with future robin Scott Mellinvlle being one of them.

I will admit there's not a huge amount of build up to said game, it's the main goal for 2/3 of the movie but htere's no traning montages or real drive to win other than Tanis wanting one for her big ass mummy case. But it really doesn't matter: It's more about having fun with these characters with the game simply a setup for said fun and some hyjinks. The big game isn't the reason we're here, i'ts to see shaggy and scooby get into antics, some ghoul children be adorable and quirky, and legendary action Glynis Johns to ham it up to all hell as Mrs. Grimwood. Mrs. G is delightful, being wonderful supportive of her girls, a decent enough boss, and fun to be around. She's also in my eyes a witch since, given the later OK KO crossover, that's an actual species in this unvierse and we don't have one on the good guys side so why not. She also has an octopus butler i'm hence dubbing Geoffry. He rocks even if I somehow forget about him EVERY TIME I watch this film. The film is good Adams Family/Munsters style fun complete with thinking creepy things are fun, eating gross food, and shrieking for exercise making the two buzzards who work there quit.

The actual game is engaging though as you want the girls to win, they use their powers, the boys use the power of cheating, it's good times. Seriously the cadets just.. blatantly cheat in front of them. Dick Dastardly at least had the decency to try and do it while no one but the audience was looking. Come on man. OUr heroines naturally win of course, with Tanis getting the trophy that they just pass back and forth because why not.

We also get a really adorable scene as it's PARENTS DAY!… which for Shaggy and Scooby means

Though it turns out like their kids the various parents.. are all nice. Tanis' dad in paticular gets the immortal line "I don't want to hurt you I want to HUG YOU!" Awww, what a sweetheart. THey also all thretan to straight up murder shaggy and scooby if their daughters get hurt

This leads us into the last act.. and the weakest part of the film. See either because the script ran short, the execs wanted it or the writer just done goofed, the last part feels kind of jammed in there. The first chonk of the film is fun slice of life while the last third is an adventure film with horror elements in which the dread witch Revolta and her much cooler and more intmidating assitant the Grim Creeper kidnap the girls and plan to brainwash them to give Revolta an army to become top monster since the girls dads went soft raising families. I mean dracula emptied a whole boat before settling down. Can't argue that.

The problem is besides Revolta feeling really jammed in, only showing up for one scene to show us she exists in the first section of the film, she's also REALLY boring. Ruta Lee gives a great voice performace but Revolta's design is meh and her personality is entirely absent. She has no motive other than

Which granted isn't much of a step down from most scooby doo villians crooked real estate schemes, but it just makes her boring. And if she did more I might respect her but she spends the film sending out minons, her spider bats and the again far more awesome grim creeper and grousing at the Creeper ocasionally. She could be replaced by her sidekick entirely and the film would not change. She also somehow.. surivives the finale? Which like.. is someone going to send the cops after her? Are there monster cops? Would anyone else want to see that spinoff? Valid questions.

The Creeper is great though, voiced by Andre Stojka who played the owl in winnie the poo after this. Great guy. The creeper has a neat , creepy design, a great voice and depsite bein ga tad goofy is a through threat, being the one who actually you know does shit, using his vines to grab people, going out to help the spider-bats with the kidnapping and generally doing all the work. He even tries feading Scooby , Shaggy and Scrappy to a well dweller who also looks neat, and is cleverly defeated by scrappy getting it to play with a bouncing ball. I genuinely wish he was the main villian. Granted I also love any and all cyclopses like this boy here

But still the Grim Creeper rocks. The last third of the film dosen't: Once the kidnappings happen, which are genuinely creepy and unsettling , paticuarlly Sibella as while she tries to escape she's captured mid-air by the bats and Winnie and Tanis who are dragged into an abandoned shack by their big sister figures, so it's not al lbad.. but then the last 25 minutes is just almost entirely our heroes dicking around a castle. There's some good bits such as Shaggy meeting the bad shaggy, because he's the good shaggy, whose just a …

With Evil Shag being genuinely creepy.. but instead of serving any plot ponit he just.. runs back into the mirror after chasing Scooby and then Scrappy for a bit while the girls chant "I obey only revolta " to an annoying degree. It'd be creepier to have them actually attack their surrogate uncles instead of just, you know chanting and doing nothing. It's not TERRIBLE, the good set pieces help outweigh the bad parts, but it's nothing really special or necessary after 2/3 of a really fun chill slice of life comedy.

The climax likewise is just kinda there: Our heroes just happen to accidently break Sibella free, she frees the rest, and the cadets, who previously refused to help for no good reason…

Had a change of heart and decided to come help and take everyone away on their helicopter they have because the one kids an inventor and they actually set it up so good for them. Our heroes escape and have a really fun dance party to the Scrappy Rap, aka Scrappy being shockingly fun as an mc. It's cheesy sure but it's sstill got a decent beat, is fine for a goofy 80's film, and is far from the most embarassing rap i've seen

The ending.. dosen't quite work for me as Shaggy and Scooby run off from next semesters kids: A creature from the black lagoon who looks delightfully orange, an alien, and Godzooky 2: The Quickening. Seriously I want to know more about these kids they look adorable. GIVE ME A SEQUEL YOU COWARDS

DON'T GIVE ME ONE FOR GOD'S SAKE YOU COWARDS.

So that was Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School and while far from the deepst or scariest scooby work, it's one of the funnest, the most creative and it has an octopus butler. None of us can say that and more should frankly. If you can find it, as it is on DVD at least, check it out. It's a fun ride and easily the best of the Red Shirt Trilogy, which i'll get back to.. eventually. For now have a good day, follow me here for more and on patreon, feel free to hit me up for comissions and thanks for reading.

[ofkingmakers]

this means war I FALCIEN

Walk the razor's edge, cut into the madness, question all you trust, buy into the fear. I see the man ripping at my soul now. I know the man, I know him all too well. There's nothing here for free, lost who I want to be. My serpent blood can strike so cold on any given day. I'll take it all away, another thought I can't control. This means war.

Stefan agreeing to leave with him had been the final piece of the puzzle that he needed to start the last phase of his plan. Getting Stefan’s body back to the warehouse had been simple enough, due to the man being unconscious and he smirked when Fallon rolled his eyes at the sight of the pair.

“Was it really necessary to knock him out?” she asked, moving to help her uncle drag Stefan’s body into the warehouse.

“Probably not, but it was certainly more fun,” Lucien answered with a shrug. He closed the garage door once the man was safely inside. All of the noise had woken Caroline from her slumber and the scream that she let out at seeing Stefan was unlike anything that Lucien had ever heard. He had never felt so strongly about anyone that the sound of grief and misery and sorrow that left Caroline at the sight of Stefan unconscious would be something he’d be able to replicate.

“You son of a bitch!” Caroline shrieked, kicking at the bars of her cage with all the strength that she had left in her. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to rip you apart bone by bone and feed you to a fucking pig farm, I swear to God. I’m going to kill you.”

Lucien didn’t even flinch at her threats, turning instead to look at Fallon. “Shut her up, will you?”

Fallon sighed but didn’t hesitate to complete the request. She ghosted to Caroline’s side, pulling her roughly from the cage and unceremoniously snapping her neck. The blonde falls to Fallon’s feet with a thud and she grabs the girl’s hand, pulling her over to where Stefan lay.

“You know that he’s going to kill me for this, right?” Fallon asked, not finding it necessary to clarify who him was. They both knew that she was referring to Klaus.

“Can’t kill you if the plan goes off. Just make sure you have that necklace. He’s stronger than either of these two, you’re going to need every bit of power you can to subdue him.”

Fallon nods, feeling in her pocket to make sure that the necklace she’d ripped from Caroline was still there. It was the only link that she had to Lizzie, and having the power of both heretics was the only way that this plan was going to go the way it was supposed to. “I told him that she wouldn’t die. He’s going to be out for my blood.”

“Just stick to the plan and you won’t have to worry,” Lucien snaps, fire in his eyes as he finally turns to look at Fallon.

She closes her mouth quickly, embarrassed at being scolded so viciously. Lucien reaches down and arranges the bodies of Klaus Mikaelson’s lovers so that they’re laying next to each other, Stefan’s hand on top of Caroline’s. “And you’re sure you can make her look believably dead?” Lucien asks.

Fallon rolls her eyes, grabbing Lucien’s phone off the nearby table and handing it to him. “Just get ready to snap the damn picture.”

Magic was amazing to watch, and Lucien stared in awe as the glamour Fallon cast changed the appearance of Stefan and Caroline. Stefan’s eyes, while closed in reality, were suddenly open and glassy, his neck was ‘broken’ at an odd angle, his body a little too stiff. Caroline’s form turned gray with black veins running through her. He was almost too stunned to remember he had a task and it took Fallon clearing her throat for him to focus the camera and snap the picture.

She dropped the illusion as soon as they had what they needed and set to work getting Caroline back in her cage and shoving Stefan in the one that was set up for him nearby. Klaus’ lovers may still be alive, but their suffering was certainly far from over.

Lucien is quick to pen a message to the hybrid. He sent the photo first and the message that followed simply read, ‘Feel free to come collect their bodies at your convenience’ with the address of the warehouse below. He knew Niklaus. He would be angry, he wouldn’t ask for backup, he would come alone. The hybrid would probably have suspected that Lucien would have run after ‘killing’ Stefan and Caroline, but the opposite was true instead. He would be here and happily waiting when Klaus showed up.

It was time to end this once and for all.

[aoicourier]

October 26th, 2281

I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see the flames. The blood. The bodies.

At least the pounding of the rain on the roof drowns out the vile silence that has settled over this town.

Walking into Nipton was like stepping through the gates of Hell.

Ghost had assumed the Powder Gangers were involved when she'd seen the smoke on the horizon. Sure enough, as I reached the town, a lone Powder Ganger was screaming and cheering as houses burned all around him. I later found out his name was Swanick. He was talking gibberish, saying he'd won the lottery. He ran off down the road before I could get any sense out of him. Weaving between the flaming buildings, I turned the corner towards the town hall, and that's where the sight - and the stench - struck me like another bullet to the head.

Severed human heads mounted on spikes. Dead and dying bodies lashed to makeshift wooden crosses, all lined up in a row along the street. The scent of charred flesh hung in the air, even heavier than the smoke from the burning buildings. There was blood everywhere, running in rivers, collecting in brown puddles like dirty rainwater. Some of the crucified bodies were still clinging to life, moaning in a kind of hellish harmony.

The perpetrators weren't hard to find. In fact, their leader approached me, quite cordially, as I stood there stunned by the horrific scene I'd stumbled into. He was no Powder Ganger. He had red armour, and wore a dog's head like a helmet. He did not give me his name, but I discovered later he goes by "Mr. Fox". As if he was talking about the weather, he informed me that he was a member of Caesar's Legion - he pronounced it KY-SAR - and said he would allow me to live, to spread the word of what happened here in Nipton. He said it was a warning, to all. Nipton was wicked and immoral, he said. A town of whores. People who only cared for themselves. People who watched as their loved ones were killed right in front of them, without doing anything to save them. I mumbled something in return. I knew I'd be burning on one of those wooden crosses myself if I opposed him here and now. He had armed men behind him, and feral-looking dogs, and there was a chilling complacency in his voice. He truly believed that the slaughter and sacking of this town had been morally just.

They left, unhurried, along the road that leads to Novac. I stumbled into the only building on the street that wasn't burning: a general store, if only to get away from the bodies and the smoke. The man inside screamed when he saw me. He was a Powder Ganger, and he recognised me as their angel of death. Word of my actions in Goodsprings and Primm must be getting around. His legs had been smashed to pieces. Shattered by hammers, he told me, because he'd come second-place in the lottery. He explained that the Powders had struck a deal with Nipton's mayor, Joseph B. Steyn, to trap some NCR troops who were visiting Nipton to enjoy its "nightlife". But unbeknownst to them, Steyn had also made a deal with Caesar's Legion. Both NCR and Powders alike were captured, taken to the centre of town, and given a lottery ticket. One-by-one, the tickets were called. The "lucky losers" were decapitated, quick and clean. The next numbers called were crucified, slowly. People with third-place tickets were enslaved, taken east. The second-place winner had his legs smashed by hammers. The mayor who had helped the Legion spring this trap was burned alive on a pile of tyres for his treachery.

Only the man with the winning ticket, Swanick, was allowed to leave unharmed, although judging by his maniacal laughter, I suspect his mind has not remained as unscathed as his body. I gave the injured Powder both of my doses of Med-X, to ease his suffering. I've killed a lot of Powder Gangers over the past few days, but I won't stoop to killing an unarmed, wounded man. That level of violence is what separates me from this accursed Legion.

My faint hopes that there may have been survivors holed up in the town hall were unfounded. All I found in there were dozens more dead bodies, being savaged by Legion dogs. I shot the dogs, my hands as numb as my head. I was able to access the mayor's computer, up in his office. Found him bragging about his dealings with Mr. Fox, how clever he was to have tricked everyone, how many caps he'd be paid in return. He may be the only one who deserved his fate here today.

When I left the town hall, the sun had set and the rain was coming down hard. Extinguishing flames, washing away all the blood. Thunder rolled, right above my head. I was immediately soaked to the skin.

I want nothing more than to leave this place. But between the night and the rain, visibility on the road will be non-existent. I'll be torn apart by giant ants or shot by raiders before I get halfway to the NCR outpost, and that's assuming I don't freeze to death first. Instead, I've ducked into a house on the outskirts of town, one of the few that escaped the flames. I'll leave at first light.

I need to push on to Novac. My goal hasn't changed. I need to find the man in the checkered coat and get to the bottom of this mystery. I didn't see his body among the Legion's victims. Perhaps he was captured and enslaved. Or perhaps he'd already passed through, before Mr. Fox's arrival.

I just hope I never witness something like today ever again.

[ghostsinthecellar]

yesterday I was sprawled out on my mattress topless with two fans blasting trying to cool down an tonight I'm snuggled in my blankie 🤗

[milliedazzledust]

I'll Come Back for You (Bucky Barnes imagine)

REQUEST: ANON - something where he is in winter soldier mode and protecting the scientist (y/n) where she is the only one who can sort of calm him down after a mission

ANON - winter soldier!bucky being protective over his scientist who’s forced to be take care of his health and she’s being kept there against his will too

ANON - Bucky Barnes request about how both reader and Bucky are each other support systems? It could be like a headcanon, how would the reader comfort him while how he comforts her so forth and so on

WORDS: 3506

A/N: So I don't know if I was inspired or if I just wrote too much, but I'm not sure this story's good. Anyway, feedback is really appreciated and I hope you'll like it :) (also don't forget to tell me if you want to be on my taglist ^^)

“What happened this time ?”

Her voice was only a whisper in the quiet room. The broken man silently sat on the examination table while she stuck a needle in his functioning arm. He didn’t speak, didn’t even flinch. This masquerade had started the moment she had set foot inside Hydra secret base. They had brought her against her will to take care of their most valuable soldier. It was always the same dance, rehearsed a million times since she had met him. After each mission, each murder, he’d come to her. She’d fix his physical wounds, take care of his arm and let him go.

More than often, she found herself feeling sorry for him. She knew what Hydra was doing to him, she’d heard the screams echoing in the distance. It would keep ringing in her ears for hours. Sometimes, the simple thought of picturing what he was going through was enough to bring her to tears. No one deserved to suffer this way.

The Winter Soldier was a cruel man, an assassin. She had seen him in action, had even been attacked the first time they were introduced. But despite being the necessary tool to take care of their valuable killer, she liked him. This wasn’t a place anyone could handle, not even him. And while she was aware of the danger Hydra represented, he was a different story. The man he once was had been trapped in a small corner of his mind, disconnected. His hands were his own, but his actions were dictated by an army that had invaded his head long ago. He was a machine turned on and off at will by the power of ten simple words.

“I was stabbed” Was his only answer. He didn’t give any detail, simply raised his shirt so she could inspect the injury.

“Do you feel any pain ?”

He blankly stared at an invisible point on the wall, avoiding looking at her. He was aware anyone could be listening.

“Soldier ?” She called him, stopping her movement and waiting for his response.

“I don’t feel anything” His voice was emotionless and a chill ran down her spine when he spoke. He was detached, impassive, a statue unaware he was capable of sentiment.

She cleared her throat, trying to stay focused on her task. She cleaned the wound, took his vitals, wrote down the conclusion of her examination and prepared what she needed to sew him up.

When she was about to administer the anesthetic, he suddenly grabbed her wrist. She caught her breath, frightened, but made no movement. For the first time that day, he turned his head to look at her. Whatever she saw in his eyes was enough to ease the tension in her shoulders and she relaxed.

“It’s okay” She whispered, a kind smile on her face. “This is propofol”

She knew he would recognize the name. She had spent countless hours explaining everything she was doing to him in detail so he wouldn’t be uncomfortable or scared. He was a super soldier that required extreme measures of treatment.

“No drugs,” He told her.

“You might regret that decision once I start to put the stitches in”

“I need to stay conscious,” He explicated, almost begging her. “Please”

She didn’t argue, only glanced at a camera behind her recording their interaction.

“Alright” She conceded. “I’ll switch to saline”

He nodded, grateful she wasn’t pushing. She turned her back carefully so her table was no longer in the camera’s field of view and he watched her emptying the needle and filling it with a harmless mixture of water and sodium chloride. Nothing that would put him to sleep.

“Have you ever been to Greece ?” She asked him out of the blue. He stared at her curiously. “I’ve always dreamed of visiting. It has the longest coastline in Europe, with so many islands between the blue Aegean Sea to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Ionian Sea to the west. Can you imagine how beautiful it must be ?”

She kept talking for a while about the country, the books she had read and the films she had seen about it. His eyes stayed on her the whole time, his head tilted to the side, wondering why she was telling him all this. Not that he minded, he loved listening to her. She had the power to calm him down. He was constantly on high alert, ready to fight whomever he was told to kill, prepared to endure whatever torture they had prepared, but this room and the woman inside were his only small moments of peace. Her voice was the music he desperately needed to sooth his soul.

“Why are you telling me this ?” He wondered out loud.

She smirked. “To take your mind somewhere else than here. Seems like it worked”

He glanced at his stomach and realized the stitches were already there. Too engrossed in her story, he hadn’t noticed or felt anything.

“How…”

“Funny how magical words can turn out to be, isn’t it ?”

She could swear she saw the flicker of an emotion on his face looking back between his wound and the woman, but just as quickly as it came, it was gone.

“Thank you, doc”

She hesitated a moment before gently taking his hand on her own.

“Be careful” She muttered. “There’s only so much I can fix”

“I will” He promised. “Are they … are they treating you right ?”

She shrugged. “If threatening to kill me is what you consider right, then I guess I’m a real princess in a castle”

He ran a jerky hand through his hair and seemed to be looking for the right words to say but never spoke.

“Can I ask …” She began, curiosity getting the best out of her. “What is your real name ?”

When his gaze fell on her, all she saw was pure panic. Her question, as simple as it may have been, had surprised him. He didn’t remember, didn’t even question anyone, because it hadn’t mattered. He didn’t need to be more than a ghost to be able to kill.

“I’m sorry” She apologized. “I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t mean to…”

“I don’t know” He admitted.

She gulped and looked away. His eyes held too much confusion and despair. Coming face to face with the enormity that was this man’s fate was sometimes undeniably heartbreaking.

“Can I call you Winter, then ?” She suggested.

He seemed to ponder for a while before offering her a small smile. “Yes, yes I’d like that”

It hurt to see a glimpse of happiness on his face for something as simple as a name and the woman didn’t realize that what she had just given him was the shred of an identity. A tiny piece he would hold onto. He was living inside a nightmare he had no idea he was trapped into, and if she dared to help, she would pay it with her life. So all she had the power to do was give him a name. Make him feel alive again.

The next time she saw him was only a couple of days after, carried by two agents, head hanging low and barely conscious. His clothes were stained in blood and his metal arm seemed dislocated.

“Patch him up” One of the men coldly ordered. They dropped the injured soldier on the ground like he was nothing more than an object, not even human.

She rushed to his side, checking his pupils first with a flashlight to rule out any intracranial damage to his brain. She did the same on his chest with a stethoscope, searching for any potential life threatening injury. When she moved to his shoulder to inspect the metal bones, he regained consciousness. Maybe it was the sight of yet another scientist above him or the touch of her fingers on his skin, but the man was quick to react and got on his feet in no time. His human hand wrapped around her neck tightly and he pushed her body with force against a wall, choking her. She tried to speak, but the action had been so sudden and violent that she was unable to move a muscle. He was in a trance, eyes filled with hatred that she knew was not directed toward her. Whatever he was picturing in his mind had awakened the assassin. She was the threat and he was in a game of survival.

She whispered his name several times but it was only after a minute, when she was on the verge of passing out, that he seemed to realize what he was doing. He stared at her with wide open eyes and released her from his grip. Her body fell on the floor before she started coughing, struggling to catch her breath.

“I’m…” He tried to speak, looking down at his hands in horror.

“Water” She managed to whisper.

He brought the woman a bottle and tried to help her on her feet. When he reached for her, she involuntarily flinched. A pure reflex. She didn’t miss the sadness on his face as he recoiled from her.

“I didn’t mean…”

“I know. It’s alright”

“I could’ve killed you” He said it more to himself than to her.

“But you didn’t” She laid a hand on her chest, taking a deep breath to try and calm her heart rate. “What happened ?”

“You touched me,” He explained.

“I touch you all the time” When he smirked, she realized the double meaning behind what she had just said. “Hm … why would it be any different today ?” She immediately changed the subject.

“Usually, when I’m unconscious I can … sense them around me. Working on me. And I can’t move but I still feel the pain”

Once again she was at a loss of words against the heaviness that was the burden of his life.

“Are you sure you’re alright ?” He repeated almost in a childish voice.

“I’ll get over it, don’t worry” She tried to reassure him. It didn’t seem to work. He took a temptative step, making sure she wasn’t uncomfortable. He moved his hand toward her neck, deliberately going as slow as he could. His eyes stayed on hers, watching out for any sign of fear. “What are you doing ?” She said in a breath, a different kind of shiver rolling down her spine.

“I need to make sure I didn’t hurt you” The sincerity and concern she heard in his voice were unsettling. She stared back in disbelief, but didn’t move. This was the closest they had ever been and it almost felt unreal for both of them. Too good to be true, especially in a place of nightmare like this.

He tilted her head to the back, still looking at her, and softly brushed his thumb over her skin. A bruise was already starting to appear. She saw the change in his eyes, the regret and sadness when he lowered his gaze. He kept inspecting her from all angles possible, making her chuckle in the process.

“Are you done, doctor ?” She joked.

He tried not to smile but miserably failed. “Almost. Haven’t found a diagnosis yet”

This time she laughed.

“C’mon, I’m not the real patient here. I need to take a look at you” She glanced at his metal arm, still dislocated. He was avoiding using it and she had noticed.

He sighed but didn’t remove his hand from her neck. Instead, his thumb slowly reached her cheek and he gently stroked her skin.

“I wish I could get you out of here” He whispered. “You don’t deserve any of this”

“Neither do you”

He clenched his jaw and plastered a tight smile, refusing to acknowledge what she had just said. He lowered his arm and sat on the examination table without saying anything.

“I’m gonna … hm … I’m gonna need to cut your shirt open” She gulped, trying to keep her cheeks from getting any warmer.

The man smirked and grabbed a pair of scissors nearby that he handed to her. She took it but didn’t dare to look at him, too uncomfortable by the situation. As she cut his shirt higher and higher, her hands started to shake. He could see her shifting her weight from side to side and desperately avoiding any eye contact. She was embarrassed and he was enjoying every second of it.

When finally she had taken it carefully off his body, she huffed in frustration. There was no denying that he had beyond toned muscle structure, verged into defined and well built curves.

“Is it… is it alright if I touch you ?” She allowed herself to take a glance at him, and rolled her eyes when she saw the smirk on his face.

“More than alright, doc” He teased her.

The moment her hands came in contact with his skin, he involuntarily flexed his muscles. She took a sharp breath, trying not to lose focus when she cleaned his wounds. She looked up at him to make sure he wasn’t in any pain, only to realize he was already staring. What should have been a quick glance turned into something more, a moment that lasted a little too long. When he leaned in toward her, she suddenly seemed to notice the lack of space between them. She cleared her throat and took a step back.

“Quit flirting, Winter” She reprimanded him with a playful grin.

He laughed. It was the first time she heard that sound and she couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her mouth. He looked so carefree and alive, so human. She was finally meeting the man behind the assassin, and he troubled her even more than the silent killer.

“I kinda like to see you flustered, doc”

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to hide her obvious nervousness.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” She pursed her lips to keep from smiling.

“Sure you don’t” He sniggered.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna need to put that shoulder into place”

Instead of talking, he grabbed her hips and considerably shortened the distance she had put between them. Her eyes widened from both the sudden gesture and the feeling of his fingers on her body.

“Go right ahead, doc”

She leaned in toward him to have a better access to the injury, ignoring the unexpected shudder. She was practically over him, a hand on his shoulder, the other on his broad back. If he felt any pain when she pushed the bones back into place, he didn’t show.

“All good ?” He muttered, heavily breathing. She was about to ask if he was okay but the words stayed stuck when she realized how close their faces were. He wasn’t hurt, no, he was perturbed by her presence. He could smell her perfume and see the hair raising on her neck. Whatever he was feeling, she felt it too.

“Do I make you nervous, soldier ?” She said, a smile building on her full lips.

“You have no idea, doctor”

She turned to face him. They locked eyes and, for a moment, none of them moved. The atmosphere instantly changed when he bit his lips. He bent closer and closer, and this time she didn’t push back. When finally he kissed her, she froze in place. He was about to draw back when she grabbed his neck, deepening the kiss. A sensation she couldn’t comprehend took over her whole body. He didn’t rush, took his sweet time lingering his lips over hers. She could swore her knees would have given out if he wasn’t holding her in place. Her chest was fluttering and she lost all sense of time. He pulled back from the lack of oxygen, but not before caressing her mouth one last time.

“Too much?” He inquired quietly.

She shook her head, laughing. “No. Just enough”

“I’ve been dreaming of doing that for a while” He admitted.

“Quite the change of attitude. I could’ve sworn you wanted me dead only ten minutes ago” She joked.

He pouted, not particularly happy she was reminding him of his previous outburst.

“You’re all set up, Winter” She announced after one last look over his chest. “No major damage”

“Have you checked my heart ?” He joked with a smirk. “I think it’s beating a little fast”

She coughed to try and hide her laugh.

“I’m afraid that’s not fixable” She started to write her report, ignoring his lingering gaze on her. Her brain was still fuzzy from the kiss they shared. “Unless I stay away, which would probably ease your … discomfort”

“Who said anything about discomfort ? That’s a kind of pain I’d rather enjoy”

She raised an eyebrow, not missing the way her own heart palpitated.

“Don’t play with fire, soldier”

He smirked. “Between us, I’m trying to delay the moment I’ll have to go through that door again”

This time she lost all joy and raised her head from what she was writing on her report to look at him.

“You’re strong enough to leave this place, you know”

“Leave where ?” He asked.

“Somewhere you’ll find who you really are”

“Does that somewhere include you ? ‘Cause you should know I won’t go without you”

She walked up to him and took his hands.

“Save yourself while you still can, Winter” She sadly replied.

“What about you ?”

“I’m just … collateral damage” She exhaled.

He gently pressed his forehead to hers.

“I promise I’ll come back for you after that last mission”

“I’ll hold you onto that”

He planted a soft kiss on her lips, making her forget once again where they were and what their reality was.

“I’ll take you to Greece” He whispered. “Just the two of us. Wouldn’t that be great ?”

“It’s a date” She grinned, making him laugh.

“You’ve got yourself a deal. We’ll get out of here” He swore. “And I’ll take you dancing under the stars of Mykonos”

He didn’t know then that he would never have the occasion to keep that promise. They would have more moments, stolen from the chaos of this place, but nothing more. Weeks later, he would hear rumors about treason and compromising positions. He would understand too late they meant her. She was his weak point, and the Winter Soldier couldn’t have any weaknesses. She was disposable, he was an assassin with superpowers. All the recordings they had proved he no longer could be operational so long as she was still breathing.

“Buck, you alright ?” A voice suddenly spoke in the agonizing silence.

He turned around to his friend, brushing the tears he didn’t realize had started to fall. Standing in the empty room, he couldn’t move away from the dried patch of blood on the floor.

“Yeah, I just need a minute” He shook his head, trying to make the painful memories disappear.

The man behind him began to inspect the place, searching through scattered papers around a desk.

“Dr. Y/N Y/L/N” He read.

Bucky closed his eyes, clenching his jaw. The simple sound of her name was enough to widen the open wound inside his chest. He sat on the examination table one last time, without her. Forgetting he wasn’t alone, he let himself wander into his most precious memories. He remembered the taste of her lips, the smell of her perfume and the touch of her skin. Every detail engraved in his head forever.

“Did you know her ?” The person asked.

“Yeah”

The man stopped what he was doing and observed the former assassin for a solid minute. He looked heartbroken.

“Bad memories ?” He inquired.

“Not in this room” Bucky sadly smiled.

“What happened ?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Steve”

The Captain hesitated for a moment but didn’t push. He was aware his friend was still healing and whatever the place was, it was part of his pain.

“Is she dead ?” He only questioned.

He gulped and tilted his head backward to keep the tears at bay. “They took her away from me” His voice cracked when he spoke. He was not able to stop the violent sob that escaped his mouth. He wanted to say so much more but the lump in his throat was far too heavy.

“I was too late,” He whispered. “I promised I’d come back for her but I was … too …”

His shoulders started to shake as tears ran down his bloodshot eyes. Steve rapidly closed the distance between them and hugged his friend, letting him express his sadness. They stayed there until he was calm enough to take a deep breath.

“You ready ?” The Captain inquired.

The broken soldier silently nodded.

“Where to now ?” Steve asked him. “You’re free to go anywhere you'd like”

“Greece. I have a date in Greece”

Taglist below the cut

@partypoisonsblog - @tylard-blog1

[luminari-mc]

4 Female with satan

Late Night Rescue (Satan x f!MC)

Prompt 4: “I know it’s 2 in the morning, but do you want to...”

Genre: Fluff, Slice of life

Warnings: N/A

A/N: First Satan piece! Coincidentally enough, he has been growing on me a lot more lately. I hope I get to work more on him in the future so I can explore other parts of his personality (I just think he's neat).

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

It was with a long, deep groan that MC's forehead met with the surface of her desk. Three long hours on this homework, and she still couldn't see the end of it. When the teacher had first said that the entire class was about to "taste true suffering" for getting a low score on the previous assignement, she didn't think he would actually be this serious. But what was she expecting, really, when it came from a demon teacher?

With a hand that had turned stiff from writing down notes since the beginning of her study session, MC grabbed her phone and slid it close to her face. She sighed upon seeing the time flash on her screen, reminding her of her grim reality.

2:13am.

"Aaah, and we have to wake up in 5 hours..." the hard truth fell from her lips as she painfully straightened herself in her chair. If Lucifer knew she was still awake at this hour, no doubt she would get a full-blown lecture after coming home from RAD tomorrow. She ran her hands over her face in an attempt to wake herself up as she groaned. She wasn't about to get any sleep tonight, was she?

"What's this coffee made out of, seriously?" Frowning, a pout birthed on her mouth upon looking down at her notes. The pile of books next to her only let her see how much more she would have to write before finalizing her assignment, and giving it back to the teacher tomorrow afternoon.

"It's not doing shit." MC propped her elbows on the desk- maybe a bit too loudly given the time-, and placed her head into her hands. If only she hadn't made a detour to the store with Asmo after school! But she had desperately needed new skincare products, and Asmo's puppy eyes had proven to be way too effective against her. Ugh, she could have been in bed already...

She felt her heart skip a bit when the phone under her hand began ringing, the soft ringtone she had set for nightly calls much welcomed to her ears. Although, a small knot took form in her throat as she began to wonder who could be calling her at such an hour. Maybe a wrong number?

She instantly placed the phone against her ear, her tired mind making her forget to check the name appearing on the screen. "Huh, hello?"

"Ah, so I was right. You are still awake after all." The voice, warm and affectionate in its tone, gave MC the impression that it was the first person she was speaking to in a week.

"Satan?" She asked, rubbing a wrist over her eyes.

"You know, I had a hunch it was going to take you some time to finish your work, after you've left dinner so quickly to close yourself in your room. But to still be going at it at this hour..." The demon clicked his tongue. "Did you even take a break since then?"

"No... I mean, I've finished most of my regular assignements. But I've been stuck on this one for a while now." MC replied as she turned around on her chair to stretch her legs, before curiosity took over her. "How did you guess?"

"I went to the kitchen to grab some water." The blonde answered over the phone. "That's when I noticed the light from under your door. I didn't want to bother you, in case you had fallen asleep with the lights on, so I didn't dare knocking."

Looking back at the door, MC felt lucky it had been Satan who called, and not another one of the demons. The Avatar of Wrath had always been one of the few men in the house who had always respected her boundaries whenever she asked to be left alone, especially more when it was to work on something. Yet, she couldn't help but clutch the phone a little more against her ear, feeling grateful that he was checking up on her in the middle of the night.

"Well, I'm definitely not sleeping right now." She giggled slightly. "But what about you, though? Were you asleep before going to the kitchen? I wouldn't want you to stay awake because of me."

Satan's laugh brought a warm feeling in her stomach as it entered her ear. "Actually, I wasn't. There's been a particular problem that's been keeping me awake, you see. So I've been trying to find an idea as to how I can resolve it."

"A problem?" MC blinked, her eyes opening a bit wider.

"You left dinner relatively early today, so you didn't catch up on it." Satan explains. "But I've recently noticed the presence of a kitten in the cemetary. It's been there for a few days now, and as far as I know, it doesn't seem that it left the area to return to a home, so it's just been taking shelter in one of the mausoleums. I told Lucifer about possibly bringing it inside to give him in a warm place so it can sleep and eat, but of course, he refused on the spot."

MC arched an eyebrow. "I thought you of all people wouldn't care about Lucifer's rules when it comes to cats."

The demon laughed in response.

"Oh trust me, I'd love nothing more than to defy his rules on a daily basis. But I've sneaked cats in the house in the past, and it usually doesn't end well for me, and the cats eventually have to leave. It also wouldn't be easy to bring this kitten inside, now that Lucifer knows about it." Satan sighs loud enough for MC to hear over the phone. "No doubt he would be on my tail if I were to try anything."

She mimicked the demon, letting a puff of air escape her nose in frustration. Lucifer was very stubborn when it came to having animals in the House of Lamentation, the only exception obviously being Henry 2.0 since he was a small goldfish. Even Mammon had been yelled at whenever his crows would enter through the windows to drop freshly stolen goods at his feet, but they'd usually only stay for a couple of minutes. So convincing the first-born to let Satan take care of a kitten... would prove to be challening, no doubt.

MC didn't have the time to offer her support, than Satan immediately started speaking again.

"But you know, MC." The smile in his voice seemed to have doubled in an instant. "I think I may have found a solution to this problem of mine. Now, I know you're still stuck on your homework... And I know it’s 2 in the morning, but do you want to..."

Satan let the end of his sentence unfinished, probably waiting for MC to guess it. Her mouth stayed agape for a few seconds, until she finally took the hint.

"Do I want to... help you?"

"We all know Lucifer has a soft spot for you." MC could hear Satan move around his room as he continued to explain his plan. "I take that if you and I were to go and bring this kitten to one of our rooms, he would be a bit more mellow than if I were to try on my own. Would you be up for it?"

MC weighted the ups and downs in her mind. On one hand, getting caught by Lucifer could result in a punishment her exhausted body wouldn't probably be able to take. But on the other hand, she was the only one at this hour who could help Satan with this predicament. And MC would be lying to herself, if she said she didn't want to see this kitten and give it a better home than a cold, damp mausoleum.

"Ah, and if you need a bit more convincing-" Satan's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, "I'll help you finish that assignement of yours tomorrow morning. Whatever it is, I can assure you we'll be done before lunch."

"You would?!" She found herself gasping as if she had just heard the best news of her life. "Satan, that would help so much!"

"It's for Curses and Hexes, isn't it?" Satan's chuckle felt like honey to her ears. "That teacher really is as sadistic as Lucifer, so no wonder you're having a hard time with it. Don't worry, I'll even complete the assignement for you if we need to."

"I'll help!" MC declared, practically jumping out of her chair to go grab her shoes near the door. "B-But, I was going to accept even before you offered me your help, just so you know!"

"Haha, I know MC. You are truly kind." Satan's words felt sincere. "Now then, shall we meet by the entrance? Be careful not to make any noise on your way there. This rescue mission depends entirely on our discretion, after all."

"I'll be so silent, Lucifer might as well think I turned into a ghost." MC grinned while crouching to put her shoes on. "See you soon, Satan. Let's help that kitten together."

"Thank you, MC. I'm really looking forward to do this with you. I will see you there." As Satan hung up, MC could swear all of the exhaustion she had previously acquired in the past few hours vanish in an instant. Who cared in the moment if her back ached a little? Something much more interesting than taking notes was about to take place.

As MC grabbed her jacket and flipped it around her shoulders, she found herself smiling upon stepping out of her room, this innocent but sneaky rescue mission with Satan making her the most excited she had been in weeks. And with him getting to help her tomorrow... it seemed like, for the first time in a while, her stubbornness had worked in her favor.

[whimsicallyreading]

An angsty one-shot for your day. I stayed up way too late to write this.

CW- drinking

Aelin keeps the letters stacked neatly on her desk.

Each letter is stamped, addressed, and ready to mail. In tiny marks on the back, she writes the date every individual one was written. The envelopes are his favorite shade of green. A deep, pine color that she’d painstakingly scoured every stationary shop to find.

Delicately, Aelin seals the latest envelope and adds it to the growing pile.

My Love,

It’s almost winter here in Orynth. I know it’s your favorite season and you are probably sad to miss out, so I took a Polaroid of the clouds coming in over the staghorns for you.

Do you remember how we’d sit in front of Mistward every year and watch the first snow storm come in over the peeks? We would drink hot chocolate and talk for hours. About our families, our futures, anything and everything. It’s still one of my favorite traditions.

In fact, it’s where I am right now. Writing this letter to you. Just because you are overseas doesn’t mean you get to bail out. I bought two hot chocolates, but I suppose I’ll have to drink yours for you. What a shame.

Writing to Rowan was her weekly tradition since he got deployed. No matter how busy life got, every Friday she wrote him two full pages front to back. Whether she got to sit at her desk or had to scribble against the rusty bench at the bus stop, every inch was covered in her hand writing.

That was her personal rule. They had to be handwritten. Aelin felt it meant more that every piece of the letter was entirely from her. So she keeps a collection of colored pens handy for whenever the urge to speak to her husband grows to be too much.

At the bottom of the last page, next to her signature, Aelin always kisses the paper with red lipstick. Maybe it’s cheesy, but it’s the same shade she wore at their wedding.

You could see the ghosts of the color along his jawline in their favorite photos together. His beaming smile, the smudges of red on his face and the collar of his white dress shirt. A remnant from the happiest day of her life she thought would bring him comfort.

My love,

Winter is here! It’s so cold outside. You would say it’s this frigid every year, but it just feels different this time. Maybe it’s because you aren’t hear to snuggle up with and your side of the bed is empty? You were always so warm.

I keep your slippers by the couch. They are ridiculously huge on my feet, but I swear they still feel like you just walked in them. Your warmth is still there.

You would laugh if you saw me hobbling around the apartment in them. My toes slide all over the place. Truthfully, your feet are atrociously large, dear- Still they remind me of you, so I love them.

Aelin gets home late from work that night.

Humiliated tears sting her cheeks, even as she rubs them away. The feeling of that creep, Cairn’s, hands lingering on her ass.

She was used to fending off handsy patrons. What bothered Aelin is that when she complained to her boss, Erawan, he publicly berated her for instigating the customers.

None of the other waitresses would meet her eye when she looked for back up. Grave, the bartender, sniggered through the entire dressing down. Aelin could still feel their eyes on her skin as Erawan accused her of being provocative.

Rowan would have demanded she quit the job. He would have marched down to the bar and broken Cairn’s face. Possibly even held him back so Aelin could do it herself.

Aelin needs the money, though. Rowan’s accounts were frozen due to some stupid technicality at the bank. Without her paycheck, she would lose the apartment.

Sniffling, Aelin slides her feet into Rowan’s slippers and plops at her desk. It isn’t Friday yet, but she’s desperate to speak to him.

As her hand flows across the paper, Aelin knows she won’t describe the days events to him. He’s under enough stress without her work drama adding to his worries.

My love,

Yulemas is next week. Aedion is in Caraverre with Lysandra and our new nephew. Lorcan and Elide are going up from Perranth to stay with them, but the roads are so frozen in Orynth I may just stay here this year.

Besides, work is busy right now. They need someone to man the place for the people with nowhere to go for the holidays.

Maybe I’ll host a little celebration at the bar. Like we did that one year when we got stuck in the Hostel in Rifthold. We made the best of a bad situation, and it was the first time you told me you loved me. I think I’d like to relive a little of that this year.

I miss you. Please come home.

Aelin lays in her bed the night before Yulemas and sobs.

Ugly, guttural noises spill from her chest and she soaks their pillows with tears. The newest envelope is clutched against her chest, and the building stacks mock her from their spot across the room.

Her heart is so raw. Aelin knew it was a bad idea to count the letters, but there was so many. Curiosity got the better of her, and now she was bleeding for her mistake.

Fifty-six.

A full year of letters she hadn’t been able to send.

Rowan had only ever written her twenty before he was declared missing in action.

A year ago, she’d been hanging bobbles and decorating a tree knowing her husband only had a few weeks left of his tour.

Aelin had painted a welcome home banner, and her whole family made plans to come and spend the holiday with the soon-to-be-reunited couple.

She had his slippers waiting by the door. Rowan’s favorite blanket was laundered and folded on his side of the bed in case he wanted to lay down. Aelin had it on good authority that the bed would be one of the first places they visited when he arrived. Emerys had even given her a mixture of their favorite hot chocolate to make.

Everything was perfectly in place for his return.

That’s what when the soldiers arrived at her door and her world fell apart.

Lorcan came home a week later. He hugged Elide and she cried into his shoulder. Happy tears. So unlike the ones Aelin had been shedding. Her friend beamed ear-to-ear, as the love of her life gathered her into his arms and squeezed.

It was a touching sight, but Aelin could feel the hot knife being twisted in her chest. Elide’s happiness caused her physical pain, and it made her feel so selfish. She didn’t begrudge Lorcan his life, or Elide her joy- Aelin just missed her own husband.

Elide and Lorcan spent Yulemas together. Kissing and holding hands. Lysandra finally announced her pregnancy. Aedion’s expression when he opened the box with the baby onesie inside was priceless. Her cousin whooped and hollered, almost dancing with the prospect of becoming a father.

Aelin smiled. She gave her congratulations and celebrated with her family. They hugged, and laughed. Aedion took care to include her in everything, and she played her part even as she tried to ignore the concerned looks her family exchanged behind her back.

Aelin made it to lunch before she couldn’t take it anymore.

Fenrys was the one to find her having a panic attack on the bathroom floor. She hadn’t even known it was a panic attack. Aelin just assumed the pain of losing her soulmate was finally killing her. The tightening of her chest and the body aches felt enough like a heart attack to be convincing.

He gathered Aelin in his arms and counted breaths with her. His twin brother Connal was lost in the same fight where Rowan had gone down. Fen had seen the whole thing from the cockpit of his plain, and nothing he did could’ve saved them.

He shared his pain, and for the first time Aelin felt like someone understood her.

Fenrys let her lean on him as they excused themselves from the celebrations. They drove to some bar in Caraverre and spent the rest of the day wallowing over whiskey.

Aedion came to collect their drunken asses later that evening. Worry etched into every line of his kind face. It only made her feel ashamed that she’d rained all over their happy day.

He was going to be a father, and she’d forced him to spend his time fretting over her instead of reveling in that news.

Now here she was a year later. Aelin wasn’t going to subject herself to that again. Couldn’t. She wouldn’t force her grief upon anyone else this year, either. Just because she was hurting didn’t mean that everyone else had to suffer with her.

So, as Yulemas Eve came, and before she could finally distract herself with work, Aelin pulled Rowan’s blanket over herself. She’d spritzed it with his cologne, donned his shirt, and pulled his socks over her feet. Aelin did everything she could to feel surrounded by him.

Then, alone in their bed, she watched as the clock ticked down to midnight.

Rowan,

Wherever you are, I hope my words reach you and that you know you aren’t alone. I wish with every ounce of my being that I could trade places with you- would give anything, just to know where you are.

It breaks my heart, to be without you. Every breath seems pointless. I lied in my last letter. The roads aren’t frozen. I’m not needed at work. No one really needs me to be around them. I just couldn’t spend another holiday surrounded by happy people when the other half of my heart is gone from me.

When you come home, I will feel like celebrating again. I’ll wrap my arms around you, and we can make up for lost time. Just please, don’t make me wait too much longer.

Merry Yulemas, my love. We will be together again one day.

Until then, I’ll keep on writing, only so long as you don’t yield.

Sincerely, your loving wife

Aelin

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

May 2021 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

It’s a cray cray Friday when Vietnam gets its eng subs up before GMMTV Thailand. What alter-reality are we in? Well, the Vietnamese offerings are better right now anyway. (Oooo, feel that burn.) 

Ongoing Series - Thai

Top Secret Together Ep 2 - pulping it up in the best possible way. Sure sound and production values are pants, and in classic Thai fashion the editing in post is exacerbating (rather than fixing) pacing issues, but it’s still CUTE AF. I don’t even mind the added university storyline, because they’ve got good chemistry (and a confident gay fresher after a panicked gay hazer is an old favorite... what can I say, SOTUS was my first love). We aren’t spending too much time with any one couple, so it’s weighted a lot better than Brothers was, but also character development is slow. 

Siew Sum Noi Ep 2 - Unfortunately, it’s just too hard to find, plus no subs. I’m dropping it in the hopes it comes back on my radar some day. 

Y-Destiny Ep 8 - (Thurs) It’s rough having a ghost boyfriend, half your friends are scared, the other half think you’re crazy, and kissing shortens your lifespan. This was a cute couple even if I wasn’t wild about the surrounding story. 

Close Friend Ep 5: (Dear My Star/JimmyTommy) - about high school penpals. It had to rely entirely on voice over work as the actors only meet face to face at the end. It’s a good thing they are appealing screen presences on their own, with good vocal control. It’s hard to imagine any other BL pair carrying this kinda plot. It’s by far my favorite of the series so far, and I’m not even a big JimmyTommy fan. 

Fish Upon The Sky Ep 7 - no subs. Do we care? Not really. Because we have... 

Nitiman Ep 3 - currently my favorite out of Thailand. It’s the university Thai BL i’ve been waiting for since... when was the last good one? My Engineer? Yowza. Anyway we got: head on my shoulder, baby is a floppy drunk (but still wants to be in control), proximity alert, boyfriend’s closet, seme gets seriously jelly, and a cute twist on feeding him. There’s something fun and complex about Jin’s character. He’s not a panicked bi. He knows exactly what’s going on, he just hasn’t decided if he wants Bb or not. He clearly enjoys being looked after, the compliments, and the attention, but he’s not sure if he’s going to like what happens if he gives in. I like that twist on the usual tsundere uke archetype a lot, cautious rather than willfully obtuse or freaked out. We can see Jin realizing in stages: I like this person, I like that they like me, I like the romantic attentiveness. But in the background is... do I actually want to f*k him? It’s a dynamic we don’t often see on BL. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 10 fin - the most ridiculous show using BLs worst tropes in a sort of weird smoothie of bitter greens and too ripe banana. The ending was the sappiest cheesiest thing ever, like cheese syrup tapped from the cheese tree. So of course I loved it, but I’m pretty sure I giggled through all the bits meant to be profound. Because, in the end, to tolerate this show at all, you just can’t take ANY of it seriously. RECOMMENDED (with some SERIOUS reservations and trigger warnings.) Full review here. 

Be Loved in House: I Do (Taiwan) Ep 1-2 - I don’t mind a damaged seme character but this one is a bit weird for me. Like creepy Cheese in the Trap level weird. On the bright side, the story has given our tsundere uke good motivation for his angst and great existing friendships, loyalty, and likability. Plus I’m invested in the cafe owner/innocent puppy side dishes. So if it’s only the seme character I’m not jiving with, and he’s the most established actor, it should all turn out fine. I believe in you, Taiwanese BL. 

Papa & Daddy (Taiwan) Ep 6 fin - speaking of belief. This such a good show but they gave us a cliffhanger ending. Now we must hope against hope for season two. That’s never guaranteed with Taiwan tho. So, I’m docking a few points and saying, RECOMMENDED so long as you realize it’s a cliffhanger. 

Love is Science? (Taiwan) Ep 1-9 (BL subplot) - this is a good het romance, but the fact that the BL subplot is a beautifully acted disaster bi + confident gay means you’re hearing about it whether you want to or not. Plus they just added in some GL! Come on! I gotta support Taiwan normalizing queer to this extent. They are fighting the good fight and if I also have to watch a career lady and her much younger softest straight boi get it on, too? Twist my arm with that service sub subtext. Go on Taiwan, TWIST IT. It’s on Viki. Join the revolution.   * Incidentally if you actually like the D/s het dynamic of this show, I highly recommend Japanese Kimi wa Petto - career woman keeps a hot young dancer boy as a pet. Oh yes, an actual pet, that IS the pitch. Never doubt Japan when kink is on the line. It’s also on Viki. Go get your kink on, thank me later. (If it helps: That was not a request.)  

Most Peaceful Place 2 (Vietnam) Ep 2 (AKA 5) - love triangles aren’t my thing, but if you’re gonna do it short form, by all means bring in the lead’s other BL pairing so the chemistry is on point. Now I've no idea who I want him to end up with. Can’t they just be in a poly triad? 

My Lascivious Boss (Vietnam) Ep 7 - I’m still enjoying it a lot. It’s still unabashedly queer and the tension is ramping up. We now have secret identity, blackmail, femme fatale, faen fatale, and incoming seme confrontation. Best of all, the series is still airing, which makes it longer than any other Vietnamese BL I’ve seen (aside from Tein Bromance - which is just too weird to count). 

Gossip - Thai BL 

SEVEN PROJECT TEASERS

No one is entirely sure what Studio Wabi Sabi’s Seven Project/7Project will entail. 

It might be like Close Friend (1 episode per couple, no linking), 

or Y-Destiny (2 episodes per couple, loosely linked), 

or The En of Love (4 episodes per couple, linked but independent consecutive stories). 

They’re giving the couple’s arcs separate titles. So each one would be what? Seven Project: Once Upon a Time or the like? We’re in Taiwanese title territory people and NO ONE WANTS TO GO THERE. Anygay... 

Once Upon a Time is the BounPrem (og UWMA) anchor story, and seems to be the most dramatic and likely saddest. These two can handle most of what’s thrown at them at this juncture, so it should be good. 

Vs Love is a BoomPeak (og Make it Right) university vehicle. Since I thought Boom was done with our nonsense, I couldn’t be more thrilled and surprised this pair is doing another show together. I don’t think either of them are the greatest actors but I find Peak very endearing and Boom charismatic on screen, so I’ll watch. 

Would You be My Love is the hotly anticipated SantaEarth launch. They’re a (cultivated) IRL ship and Earth is an established BL actor. They have great chemistry and high energy so this could be lots of fun. 

We are also getting a GL from this series from established BL actresses Samantha and Pineare. Nothing teased yet on that, but I’m looking forward to this installment the most. Also curious to see how the ladies handle the branding and promo side, not to mention the culture. (Thailand variety shows gonna force *girls* to play the Pepero game?) 

Secret Crush on You upcoming Thai BL with no release date, co-produced by and featuring (but NOT staring) Saint and directed by Cheewin (sigh) with all fresh faces. (Previously known as Stalker the series.) It looks like pure pulp and I’m not wild about the plot but could be better than expected as it’s adapted from a novel. Cheewin is an okay director when he has an actual story to follow. 

Don’t Say No the series. Coming from the producers of TharnType this is the JaFirst vehicle many have been waiting for. Friends to lovers + a good boy/bad boy pairing on a sports romance foundation. It’s basketball so they tapped Meen as well (he’s semi-pro). The bad news? You get one guess as to who is writing the darn thing? Yep it’s MAME. So, ya know, expect some slam dunk kidnapping, a light dribbling of rape, and me turning into a basketcase. AKA... 

Will I have to live blog this series in order to survive it? That seems to be the only way I can. So probably. Which means the bad sports puns will continue. Look, if I’m suffering, SO ARE YOU! 

Rumors of a new YinWar vehicle The Best Story (mini series) coming in July. Also rumors that their previously announced Love Mechanics (full length series) has either been delayed, is facing money issues, or is moving studios, or all three. 

Breaking News 

DELAYED (I’m talking these three off the watch list until we get new airing dates) 

Love Area’s release was pushed out but it got a trailer. 

Golden Blood was supposed to drop Weds but comments in MDL report that it is delayed due to C19.  

Love’s Outlet (Taiwan) is supposed to have started a 50 episode run (only 3-5 min each, what utter nonsense). Sadly, this delay is due to a surge in cases in Taiwan which was doing so well, but also doesn’t have many inoculations. 

Bad Buddy has started workshopping at GMMTV actual. 

Kang Insoo’s BTS for Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding is SO FLIPPING CUTE. You have to watch it. Trust me, I don’t rec behind the scenes stuff often. 

Next Week Looks Like This: 

Some shows may be listed later than actual air date for International accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[jonahlovescoffee]

“sleep tight, darling” | J.M.

a/n: i swear i don’t write smut on purpose :/ blame @slytherinked for always giving me smutty prompts ToT anyways happy reading <3 (and yes this is also slightly inspired by the inn scene in acomaf)

summary: jonah has a special way of putting his insomniac girlfriend to sleep.

warnings: smut again without coitus bc dingdongs are scary to write-

word count: 1970

It was once again one of those nights where you couldn’t sleep for no reason whatsoever. It wasn’t that you weren’t tired, as a matter of fact, you had a long day and were incredibly exhausted yet the moment your head hit the pillow, every ounce of tiredness magically disappeared like it was never there in the first place. So there you laid on the bed staring at the ceiling mindlessly at the dead of night whereas Jonah was already sound asleep beside you, completely unaware of you struggling to sleep.

After a while, you heaved a sigh, before sliding out of his arms and sitting up on the edge of the bed, keeping your movements as light and slow as possible in order to not wake him up. You planned to head downstairs to make some tea for yourself but before you could go anywhere, a hand grabbed your wrist. You turned around to find him already half-awake, gaze hooded as he looked up at you.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked, voice still groggy from just waking up.

You nodded. “Yeah. I was just about to make some tea—”

“No, you don't have to. I have a better idea,” he interrupted, making you confused. You suffering from insomnia at night was considered a rare occurrence but it happened frequently enough for Jonah to find and learn the most effective method to solve your problem.

“And what is your idea, exactly?” You asked curiously, extremely doubtful about his statement since nothing you tried had worked. A lazy devilish grin formed on his face and you gulped nervously for he only wore that expression when he had a mischievous plan in mind.

“I’ll tell you but first, I want you back here next to me,” he said and with an eye roll that he probably couldn’t see because of the dark, you laid back down on the bed, sliding under the covers. His arms immediately snaked under and over you and he placed a hand flat on the bare skin of your stomach under his jumper that you wore to tug you closer against the hard warmth of him while the other banded tightly around your chest, pressing his front into you.

“Better,” he sighed, inhaling the faded sweet scent of the shampoo you always used. He made no further elaboration afterwards so you spoke, breaking the brief silence.

“Now may I know about your idea?” You were impatient. You desperately needed sleep and this wasn’t the right time to be fooling around.

“Remember the last time this happened?” His fingers that were splayed out on your stomach started to make idle strokes, goosebumps blooming wherever his calloused fingers touched. Your breathing hitched, not only because of the wonderful sensation of his cold fingers tracing your skin, but also because of the memory of a similar night months ago when you couldn’t sleep while he’s away.

Your cheeks heated and no words escaped your mouth, which was how he knew that you indeed remembered every detail of that lonely night, including the shameful part where you heeded to his suggestion and let your hands roam your body — a poor substitute for his larger ones that usually were the ones that did the job every night when he’s with you — as you followed the instructions that he gave through the phone until you were screaming his name as released barrelled into you, followed by immense exhaustion that managed to make you finally sleep not long afterwards.

“But this time,” his breath caressed the shell of your ear, sending shivers down your spine as his hand around your chest travelled southward, down the slope of your breasts before diving clean under your jumper and sliding back up to the same spot, teasingly brushing a knuckle against your breast. You could already feel your breasts tightening, becoming full and heavy, aching like what was now pooling at your core.

“This time I’m gonna do it for you,” he squeezed one of your breasts in his palm for emphasis, earning a shocked gasp from you. Under his grasp, your nipple hardened as he began to toy with your skin, massaging it as he pressed soft, sensual kisses on your exposed neck. “Is that okay, baby?” He grazed his nose against the exposed bit of neck that you arched habitually for him.

“Uh huh,” you were instantly liquid under him, his every touch setting your skin on fire.

“Thought so,” his teeth scraped your neck in a lazy caress as he took your nipple between his thumb and forefinger, rolling it between his digits languidly with no sense of urgency. “Love this so, so much.”

His other hand, however, headed toward the low band of your pants and the building ache beneath it. The second his fingers came into contact with your clothed core between your thighs had your mouth falling open in a silent moan. “And this?” He ran a finger along your slit and let out a satisfied hum when he found your panties utterly soaked with your arousal. “Love this even more. So nice and wet for me,” he cooed, pushing your panties down so he had full access to your cunt.

You whimpered when his fingers went to the place where you wanted them most, ghosting over your lower lips, gathering your juices and bringing them up to swirl around your swollen clit that was constantly throbbing at the eager paced touches to the point where you were biting lightly on your bottom lip and grinding slightly back onto his hand. The movement caused your backside to brush against the front of his sweatpants, to find him already as hard as granite behind you.

“Keep still,” he hissed and he exerted more pressure on your clit for emphasis as his grip around you tightened to stop you from rocking your hips against him. You moaned at the sensation and the words that followed. “Or you’ll be up all night long.”

“I wouldn’t mind that one bit,” you replied cheekily, twisting your head so that you were facing him. He laughed, a deep sound that reverberated through his chest. He leaned in to put his lips on yours and you nearly whined when he pulled away before you could savor the kiss.

“I know you wouldn’t, baby, but I would,” he moved his lips to your neck, sucking and nipping at the smooth skin, until your cheeky smile faded and you were mewling his name softly, wrapping an arm around his neck habitually to keep him close. “Now allow me to make you sleep, okay?”

You nodded and the pace of his fingers increased a little as he sank his teeth into your sweet spot with just enough force for it to leave a bite mark, the perfect combination to turn you into a moaning mess in his arms. After deciding that he had already given enough attention to your neck, his lips made their way to your ear, leaving a trail of soft kisses as it went, making your skin tingle at the sweet sensation.

“Good girl,” he praised darkly, his lips brushing your ear as he spoke, before sliding a finger into you, the extreme slickness making it incredibly easy for him to do so. You gasped at the sudden intrusion while he groaned at the intoxicating feeling of your pussy gripping his finger ever so tightly and he hadn’t even added the second one yet. “So good for me.”

Starting slowly, he plunged his finger in and out of you at a relaxed pace to stretch you out until you became comfortable before he started to speed up. He continued thumbing your clit through it all, circling it expertly in just the right way he knew would make you see stars.

And just like that, the sounds you were making got so much louder that he had no choice but to capture your lips with his in a heated kiss to drown out your moans that would probably wake his roommates. Your mouth moved in perfect sync as his and before you knew it his tongue was in your mouth, exploring every single part of your wet cavern.

Yet all of this pleasure Jonah had given wasn’t enough. You wanted more.

In other words, you wanted him to forget fingering and fuck you senseless with his considerable length.

“Want you inside me now,” you whined, breaking the kiss.

He grinned and gave an apologetic kiss, this time on the tip of your nose. “I’m sorry, princess, no means no.”

Jonah did, however, slid another finger into you and massaged your velveteen walls, wiping away the frown on your face and enjoying the way you rolled your hips, trying to bury the two fingers further inside of you. “See? This isn’t too bad either, isn’t it?” He pulled his hand back, twirling your clit with his thumb, before he slid back in enjoying the wet squelch of your juices against his fingers.

“Feels so much better than your own fingers, hmm?” He said as he plunged his fingers into you with more vigor, hitting hard and deep and changing his angle so that each time his fingers disappeared inside you, the palm of his hand kissed your clit. Your pleasurable moans were the perfect answer he was searching for.

He simply adored the sight of you writhing in his arms and the sounds of your blissful moans made the pain in his sweatpants nearly unbearable as his member pushed against the soft material, wanting to break free. He tried to cling onto the last bit of self-control that he had but you weren’t making the task any easier.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” you chanted breathlessly as you neared your peak with your head thrown back into the crook of his neck and your eyes screwed shut as you focused on the overwhelming pleasure. In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to give into your request of wanting his member.

Suddenly he felt your walls clenching tighter around his fingers.

“Almost there?” He asked, and you nodded.

“Yeah, I...Jonah,” you breathed shakily when he curled his fingers and started doing patting motions inside you.

“Cum for me, sweetheart,” he coaxed in a gentle tone.

Almost immediately, you tumbled over the edge into ecstasy, panting and your legs trembling with release while Jonah praised you softly and gave you featherlight kisses, fingers proceeding to move in and out of you slowly to help you ride out your high. “Feels good baby?”

You turned around so your entire body was facing him and gave him a tired smile. “So much better than just ‘good’.”

His eyes held yours, gaze completely innocent as he withdrew his fingers and brought them to his mouth to suck on the taste of you. “Same can be said about your cum.”

You were going to eat him alive.

You rolled on top of him to pin him down on the bed but before you could do anything else, he grabbed your wrist. “Tomorrow,” he brought your hand to his lips to kiss your knuckles. “I’ll let you have it your way tomorrow, I promise,” he wrapped his arms around your waist before placing you back down on the bed beside him.

“But your…” you gestured towards the bulge in his pants.

“Which is why you should sleep now so that you’ll have enough energy to make up to me in the morning.”

“Now, sleep tight, darling,” Jonah pressed his lips onto your head when you yawned, giving you a light peck. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

“I’ll only let you bite me, my love,” you replied and his soft chuckle was the last thing you heard before you drifted into a peaceful slumber.

taglist: @spicy-seavey @neralondon @mia-marais @randomlimelightxxx @hopinglimelight @kvd963 @cutiebandlover202 @savspersonalproperty @slowdownatthelotusinn @angelmarais @freakshows199 @my-fangirling-outlet @the-girl-who-cried-wolf

[elysianluv]

[no specific character mentioned, imagine your faves lovelies <3 character's pronouns are he/him, g/n reader, death mention; not angst, reader's relationship w/ character is vague]

1:02AM — ( you are the light )

he comes to you, as he always does.

the whistle of wind that rises and dies down, a rushed knock against your window, and suddenly he is there. waiting, patient until you slide open the balcony doors that are never locked.

this is frightening. he prays to the night that you do not hear the screeching of his heart, the way it pounds against his ribcage when the comforting familiarity of your home hits him. this is frightening, and yet here he is, back to you.

back with you.

the tenderness with which your fingers curl in his hair is one he could almost call love; it may very well be, something akin to fondness, at least — or perhaps he knows nothing of love at all.

but this could be, he thinks — sitting side by side on your bed, your hand tracing up his back and finding itself buried in his hair so naturally — whether or not this is love, he knows that even among all the chaos of the world, you were always supposed to find each other.

"is it heavy?" you ask, your voice dazed and slightly disoriented, on the verge of a trance. you speak of the burdens of humanity and of death; of the very ghosts haunting him enough to bring him to your door as often as they do. "are you strong enough to carry them?"

he turns, allowing your head to fall onto his thigh. he would like to provide you with similar comfort, a hand gently massaging your scalp, the sweet gesture lingering enough to bring you pleasant dreams and an eased mind. but his hands are harsh and unforgiving, and with their touch comes the suffering he has both endured and brought onto others. he is undeserving of you and of this moment of peace you have given him; you were never meant to be his partner this delusional dance of companionship and vulnerability he loves so much, not when you could find love elsewhere, in someone's else's embr—

"are you lost?" you ask once more, prepared for the silence that will follow. you are both aware of the answer, after all. "are you losing yourself?"

you shift your weight on him, and perhaps that is what gifts him the strength to form a reply — perhaps the only weight he was meant to carry was yours. "what if i said yes? what would you do then?"

you will never be able to fully understand his mind — we are all swords forged from the metal of our experiences, after all, and you have not lived his life, just as he hasn't yours — but you know that the tip of the iceberg, the bits of vulnerability he shares in these moments of safety, all begin with uncertainty swirling within him, an uncertainty that dissipates once your fingers lace through his. and so you do, keeping his hand firm in yours, hoping your sincerity is conveyed. "i would ask you to breathe, and breathe again, and continue until you remember that after a life such as yours, you have woken up another morning without letting this world poison you, as it has so many others. i would ask you to breathe until you remember your pride."

there is an end to everything that begins, just as quietly as he entered he will slip away, under the cover of darkness, out past your door and into a world that seems slightly softer than he had left it.

and in a few days' time there will be an identical knock on your door, another gentle evening, and the game of cat and mouse will recommence.

[gumnut-logic]

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?!”

He’d done it and he’d done it proper.

“I told you it wasn’t safe. I told you not to go in. But no, you know better.”

Oh, yes, he had done it proper. He hadn’t heard Virgil go off the deep end like this since high school and the time Gordon had decided to not be where he was supposed to be at school pick up and the three hours of terror that followed.

Admittedly, Scott had been just as angry at the time. It was a whole new perspective to be on the receiving end.

“Virg-“

“No, Scott. I’ve had it. You obviously don’t trust my judgment. You think you know better. Well, newsflash, hot shot, you don’t!”

Oh, yes, this was going to go on for some time.

So, he kept his mouth shut. It would be worse if Virgil realised that not only had his jet pack run out of fuel, but it had dropped him from quite a height. Without warning…he must speak to Brains about that. Fortunately, he had rolled down a slope and into an underground lake.

Unfortunately, the slope had been jagged and torn up his uniform somewhat.  There was likely some bruising.

And the lake had been damned cold.

Virgil had been livid by the time he had arrived in Two. Yes, he had told Scott not to go in. Yes, it had been a gamble. But if it had worked, Scott would have been able to locate the cavers much faster than Gordon who was still looking with a second pod while Virgil hunted down their wayward commander.

Of course, Virgil had found him as fast as possible, but the engineer had had the remainder of Two’s flight time and the pod hike down into the massive cave network to stew on the stupidity of his brother.

Scott was forced to agree that he might have a point. But he was not going to apologise. Command decisions were command decisions whether they succeeded or failed. He owed no-one an explanation.

Regardless, he was sat in the back of the pod so far, he may as well be sentenced to the trunk, while Virgil blew steam.

On any other occasion he would have given as good as he got, but to be honest, he wasn’t feeling so great.

The pod itself was clambering up an almost vertical cliff - proof that flying in was far more practical than climbing - and Virgil’s concentration between expletives needed to be focussed. Scott would mention it on the next flat bit.

But then they would be getting out of here soon anyway. Might as well wait until they reached the surface.

He let his head drop back against the seat.

“Scott?” The pod was dangling from an overhang and had stopped moving. Its spots lit up rock inhabited by dangling…things.

He blinked as something flew through the beams.

“Scott? You with me?”

“Huh?”

There was silence a moment, Virgil’s head attempting to turn around and look at him, but failing with an exasperated grunt. “Scott, speak to me.”

“Wh’t do you want me to say?”

His brother grunted and the pod began moving again. This time though, it changed direction and shook harder as if his brother was in a hurry to get somewhere.

Next thing he knew the pod had stopped, the hatch was open, a yellow light was flickering everywhere and a pair of worried brown eyes were glaring at him.

The light vanished, leaving his brother’s helmet lamps to pale him to a ghost creature dressed in deep blue.

“You said you were okay.” It was soft and hurting. The ghost hovering over him just looked sad.

“’M okay.”

“You’re bleeding and suffering from hypothermia. How can you possibly be okay?” It was said quietly, but it cut through him like a knife because with it came disappointment. Virgil turned away and reached for the storage locker below his seat. “I guess I should know better.”

“Virg…” But his brother refused to look at him, even when he folded up the front seat and climbed back in to hunt down exactly where Scott was leaking blood from. Turned out he had cut the back of his leg. Not badly, but bad enough.

The water in his boot was so cold, he hadn’t felt it.

Sure and caring hands removed Scott’s footwear, his helmet, and his baldric was unfastened and tugged off. Virgil, it was Virgil, ever dependable Virgil, was unzipping his uniform, gently pulling him forward and peeling his under shirt off his skin.

He should be helping, but he couldn’t quite pull the energy together.

An emergency blanket appeared and Scott found himself quickly swaddled. A hiss and he was suddenly smelling something warm and chocolatey.

“Scott?”

He discovered his eyes were closed and he forced them open. Virgil was crouched in front of him, holding up a plastic cup of something emanating warmth. He had no hands to take it, but his brother offered it up to him like a baby.

Somewhere in the back of his mind the big brother part of him was outraged and horrified, but he was too busy sipping warmth to care.

A cap was gently tugged onto his head, completely messing up his hair.

Warm fingers brushed the strands out of his eyes.

Virgil was staring at him, so much emotion in that one expression. Exasperation, frustration and worry, but most of all love.

Something inside Scott just melted.

“I’m sorry.” It came out in a rush through a throat that had suddenly grown tight.

Those brown eyes widened and Virgil leant back just a little. His lips parted, but he didn’t say anything. He just stared for a moment before lowering the safety harness over Scott’s shoulders.

“I need to get you back to Two as fast as possible. Gordon has located the two cavers and is making his way to the main cavern. They report no injuries and once orientated will be climbing out themselves.” His brother unfolded his seat and clicked into position before jumping into it. “You’re the only injury.” The canopy hissed shut and the pod started up, its claws immediately grabbing at rock.

Scott swallowed.

He lost some time after that. The next thing he knew he was in daylight and the pod was stomping over level ground only to be engulfed by the green shadow of Two.

The pod came to a halt and the canopy was thrown open. “Hey, Bro, how you feeling?”

He found enough energy to frown. “I’m fine, Gordon.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that too often if I were you.” He lowered his voice and leant in as if conspiring. “Virgil is pissed.”

“Move, Fish.” Gordon disappeared to be replaced by Virgil. His lips were tight as his eyes examined Scott. “You’re going to ride back in the infirmary and you are not going to complain. After that, you have two days off rescues and if you say anything in protest, I’m reinforcing that medical order via Grandma and her latest interest in exotic soup. You will do what you are told and after a health review we will have a discussion regarding operative safety.”

“Virgil, I’m sorry.”

His brother froze.

“I mean it. You were right and I screwed up.”

Another moment of staring. “I need to get you to the infirmary.”

Scott untangled himself from the blanket and grabbed his brother’s arm. “Virgil, I mean it.”

The engineer looked down at Scott’s bare arm and the hair suddenly standing on end the length of it. A gentle hand reached up and moved his arm back under the blanket. “We’ll get you well, first, then we will discuss this.” His brother’s gazed dipped and for a split second a deep sorrow flickered across his expression.

But only briefly. A blink and Virgil was reaching into the pod and lifting the restraints. “C’mon, let’s warm you up and fix the holes you’ve got in you.”

Scott pushed himself to his feet somewhat wobbly. “Holes? I thought I only had the one injury?”

Clambering over the side of the pod, Virgil caught him and eased him to the ground. “That would be too easy. You, my dear brother, are hard work.” He pulled a hoverstretcher close. “Now make it a touch easier by lying down without arguing.”

“I’m fine, I can walk.”

The growl that echoed off the module bulkheads was positively savage.

Okay, perhaps he should let Virgil have this one. He backed up and sat down on the stretcher.

He was forcibly nudged to lie down and his feet lifted up onto the cushioned surface by a smirking Gordon.

As the stretcher was pulled into motion, his medic brother muttered under his breath.

“So much damned hard work.”

-o-o-o-

[teddy06writes]

nonono I need more ANGST part 3 for out of his grasp/out of their grasp were reader comes back as a ghost like Ghostbur but remembers bad memories so she doesn’t remember Dream or George

Out of Their Grasp

{THIS IS THE NEW UPDATED VERSION BECAUSE APARENTLY THE FIRST VERSION WASN”T ANGSTY ENOUGH}

{real talk though I thought maybe I could change this to be more angsty cause I didn’t think the ghost thing would work}

requested by this anon: “hey hey I was wondering if you could do dream x George x reader fantasy/royal au (bc I just read "for his hand" and I love it so much!!) where reader and dream go to battle but only dream returns from it. and he has to tell George that reader died. the more angst the better😝💅”

and also this one: “will there be a part 2 of For His Hand? It’s so good, i loved it!”

{Technically you don’t have to read part one but I would recommend it because this one takes place in the same universe}

Dream x George x reader

trigger warnings: swearing, yelling, major character death, aGnSt

premise: war breaks out near the borders of the SMP, you and Dream are sent ahead of the royal party to the front lines in an attempt to stop any further battles until a peace can be reached when disaster strikes, leaving your partners to deal with the repercussions.

{dude I’m like manically laughing right now}

(y/n/n)- your nickname

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

“It was just skirmishes, here and there for the last few weeks,” Sam gestured to a few spots near the northern boarder on the map spread out across the table, before pointing to another in the center of the rest, “But then, yesterday there was a huge attack on the villages, and our military bases in this valley.”

You glanced around the room, from person to person, gauging there reactions.

George had visibly stiffened in his seat, and behind him Dream seemed equal tense.

“Have we taken any measures to fight back?” Sapnap asked impatiently.

“How bad are the damages?” George asked, ignoring him.

Eret looked down at the report they’d been given, “There seems to have been more pillaging than raiding, they were breaking into peoples house, causing general destruction and looting, when our forces attempted to stop them they began to fight. All in all 30 of ours were killed and there was an estimated 10,000 in damages.”

George frowned, as Niki spoke up, “We should pay the people reparation's and help them with any reconstruction that needs to be done.”

Many people nodded, but next to you Sapnap was still unhappy, “Are we doing anything about the invaders? We cannot just sit here and allow them to attack the people!”

“Pushing, pushing.” You muttered.

The king looked at him for a long moment, before turning to Callahan, the scribe, “Attempt to negotiate a peace. I don’t want anymore bloodshed to curse this land.”

The man beside you groaned, and you were quick to elbow him in the side and Sam ended the meeting and everyone began to file out of the room, hissing, “I don’t know how they do things where you’re from but that is no way to behave in an advisory meeting. Next time you pull that shit you won’t be allowed back to one.”

-You had taken the new coming warrior on as a sort of apprentice after he’d first arrived at the palace, and it was clear the change of pace wasn’t something he was ready for-

“They can’t just stand by! The King is a fool if he thinks a peace can be reached like this!”

You glared at him. “The King is no fool.”

“You only say that out of obligation.” Sapnap fired back.

You recoiled, burned, before crossing your arms and starting out of the room, “You may be a trained mercenary but you haven’t the faintest idea as to how to hold yourself among this crowd. It will be the death of you.”

He followed you back toward your office, listening as you continued, “King George is a good and just man, to say that he is a fool is to say the sun is square. He has wiped this kingdom clean of many years of bloodshed.

“The Kings advisors, and cabinet are kind, respectable people, you must remember to hold your tongue  unless spoken too, and never say anything brash as you have done now, lest you make a greater fool of yourself.”

He huffed, “If I must stay silent in those meetings than how can I get my point across? Sending a messege to the enemy through force may be the only way!”

“Now you sound like Tommy, just as foolhardy and headstrong as the child,” You pushed the door to your office open, “I’m sure that Technoblade agrees with you, though he knows better than to speak freely.”

“If he agrees with me than perhaps it’s the right move.”

You turned to look at him quizzically, finally saying, “A wise king does not seek out war, no matter what his knights advise.”

Sapnap turned, “Then the lot of them are fools.”

“I have told you once to never disrespect the king, I suggest you don’t do it again. This land has seen it’s share of unjust rulers, be thankful you have not come here under worse authority.”

~~ That night, when the palace grew quiet, and the sky dark, you found yourself back in Dream’s quarters, an overtired, overstressed George having wedged himself between you two and refusing to move.

You sighed as Dream ran a hand through your sleeping partners hair, “He’s anxious.”

“I mean, can you blame him? War may be on the horizon.” Dream murmured.

“I meant even now- in the time of sleep. I think Sapnap is just adding fuel to the fire.”

Dream sighed, “If he has another outburst like that-”

“He’ll be cast out,” You nodded, “I know. He just needs to be willing to learn the way things go around here. In time he will learn.”

Your boyfriend chuckled to himself, “Fucking hotshot.”

“I think you’d like him, if you were able to spend more time with him.” You smiled.

“Well someone had to go snatch him up as an apprentice!”

“Well it was him or Ranboo, and Ranboo is far too- forgetful, for this sort of thing. I’d’ve had Tubbo but he and Tommy are a package set an you took ‘em.”

“What about Purpled?”

You rolled your eyes, “He started an apprenticeship with Punz ages ago.”

“SHHhhhhhhh, ‘m tryin’ to sleep.” George muttered, burying his face in your shoulder.

In the darkness of the chamber you could barley make out Dream’s eyes sparkling as he took your hand, “Course love, course.”

~~

As the weeks continued the damages on the northern boarder only seemed to grow, the new invaders claiming three of the villages there own.

There was yet another large attack on the town that had been damaged the first time, this time a direct threat left etched on the walls, ‘You have made my people suffer, and now yours shall feel the same’

“Militia, both local and our own soldiers have taken it upon themselves to fight back, almost a hundred lived lost to each side.” The silence in the room grew deafening as Sam finished reading his report, not even Sapnap daring to speak.

“Your Majesty?” Bad hazarded, “What is our next course of action?”

George frowned, glancing around the room, “Peace is still the priority. Maybe- maybe we call a ceasefire, I could meet with there ruler-”

“No,” Dream interrupted, drawing all eyes to him, “It would be too dangerous. How do we know they can be trusted to lay down there arms?”

George shot him a look, “How do we know that we haven’t done anything to provoke them? Whatever we have done wrong we need to fix it. If we can work something out then people will be spared on both sides.”

“Shall we arrange for a ceasefire?” Eret asked.

The King nodded as Wilbur spoke up, “We could set up a meeting place, on neutral ground, possibly similar to the holy lands, so there would be no worry of a security breech.”

Dream seemed to relax at this, and then eyes were turned to you and Sapnap, representing the royal guard, “We can, but even so we should stay vigilant, perhaps send a group ahead with the runners to see too it.” You said, noting the gratitude on Dream’s face, as well as the slight annoyance on George’s.

“Well I see no one better to attend to the King’s safety than you,” Bad said, “You shall go with the party, and Technoblade with you, Sapnap can remain here to take over your day to day duties.”

The man in question quietly shot you a pleading look, at which you sighed, “With all do respect I think Sapnap could be better severing to the crown if he joined the running party.”

Bad glanced around to the others, looking for any objections before shrugging, “We can find someone else to do the work. So that’ll be you, Technoblade, Sapnap, and we can send the usual scouting party, and Sam shall go with again.”

~~

You sighed, tracing an absent pattern on George’s side, listening to Dream’s ramble about how dangerous the idea that had been decided on at the meeting was.

“Finding peace is the priority, you can’t can’t change that.” George mumbled.

“That doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous!” Dream protested.

“It’ll be fine, We’ll have a perimeter set up with guards and everything. I’ll make sure none of them can even get near him with such intent.” You yawned.

The blonde huffed, “That just makes me more worried.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Your hand blindly sought his, “I’m going to do everything in my power to keep the ceasefire from being broken.”

“I know.” Was the only quiet response you received.

The next morning found you suiting up and heading out to the stables to tack up your horse. Techno was already down there, idly chatting with Phil as he readied Carl for the journey, and out in the courtyard you could see Sapnap talking to two men.

“Good morning, (y/n)!” Phil chirped, waving your direction.

“Morning Phil.” You moved down the row, reaching out and letting Beckerson nuzzle into your palm.

After getting your horse cared for and saddled, the rest of the party had headed out of the stables as your partners entered.

George took your hand, “Don’t start any more trouble.”

“Sounds like your talking to Dream not me.” You chuckled.

“Hey!” Dream protested.

“I’m not wrong!” You teased.

George rolled his eyes, quickly pulling you in for a kiss, “Make things good for me to be out there.”

“Stay out of trouble.” Dream advised, pulling you away from George to kiss you himself.

“You underestimate me.” You smirked, grabbing Bekerson’s reigns.

Dream rolled his eyes as you started to lead the horse out of the stable, calling, “And stay safe!”

“I’ll see you in five days!” You chuckled, heading out of the stables and quickly mounting your horse, kicking at his sides to catch up with the others.

~~ The last few days had been spent anxiously waiting, and now the journey to the norther board was coming to a close.

Dream rode alongside the carriage, eyes following the strange trail of smoke on the horizon; something was wrong, he could feel it.

The quiet, almost calm of the morning was slowly being cut through by a growing noise, and then finally shattered as one of the runners sent ahead to signal their arrival came crashing through the trees looking panicked.

“What’s going on?” Punz asked.

“They attacked! They broke the ceasefire!”

Dream’s brain surged with panic as he turned to where George and his advisors were starting to climb out of the carriage asking why they had stopped, “Turn around! It isn’t safe here! Go! Punz! Tommy! Ponk! Get them out of here!”

Before he could even stop to see if they were following his orders he was rushing forward down the road, urging Spirit to go faster as the road widened into the village.

Dream was met with nothing but chaos, the royal insignia’s on the tents set up in the field were aflame, and the clashing of swords filled his ears as the royal army and the few commoners who could fought back against the pillaging people.

“About time you showed up!” Sapnap yelled from halfway across the field, “We could use some fucking help!”

“No shit!” Dream yelled back, dismounting and unsheathing his sword.

Almost immediately another person came barley towards him, throwing him into combat.

He cut his way across the field, taking down people here and there, still searching the carnage for you.

Eventually he made it to where Sapnap had just disarmed and knocked out another opponent, “Where are they?”

His eyes danced around the wreckage, “Could be anywhere, saw ‘em trying to get the townspeople out of the way.”

Dream cursed, running off the direction of the village, calling you name.

The fighting continued, the addition of the extra royal guardsmen helping turn the tide of the battle, though Dream still couldn’t locate you on the battle field.

The invaders, or what was left of there battalion began to retreat, but still Dream could find no sign of you, the now all too quiet valley erupted into noise as another skirmish broke out.

Taking off at a sprint he made it up the hill to find you locked in combat with another warrior.

You panted, throwing up you shield to block another strike from his axe before shoving forward and swing your sword at his spear wielding hand.

He wasn’t excepting this, and the spear clatter out of his hand, the shock on his face giving you enough momentum to keep pushing forward, throwing attack after attack at the man as he edged backward.

You had just managed to shove him to the ground when a cry broke your attention.

“(Y/N)!!”

You turned to see Dream, smiling, words starting to form on your lips as a spear suddenly drove through your chest.

“NO!!!!!” Dream shrieked, charging forward and quickly slashing at the mans throat before turning to where you had fallen in the grass.

“T-that one was your fault.” You mumbled as he did his best to pull your shaking body into his arms, “You-ou had t-to go distract-ing me.”

“I know,” tears flooded his eyes, “It’s gonna be okay, I’m gonna get help.”

You did your best to smile through your fear, “What would G-George say if he saw you here cuddling m- m- me without him? Huh?”

“(Y/n)....”

“Bad time for a joke I guess,” you shaky voice was disrupted by a painful cough wracking your body, “Never real-really planned on being r-r-ran through with a spear this morning.”

“It’s gonna be okay! It’s- it’s gonna be okay!” Dream desperately pushed your hair out of your face, head whipping around to where the royal soldiers were beginning to regroup, “WE- I need a medic! Please! We need a medic!”

It was the first time you’d ever heard him sound so distraught, gently you reached up to his face, “Dream- Clay, leave it alone, they won’t be able to- to do anythi-ng.”

You coughed again as he turned back to you, “Don’t say that! Don’t say that!”

“It’s just my time d-d-darling,” You gasped at the pain brought by him trying to pull you closer, “You- you gotta let go.”

“NO! You’re not gonna die! You’re not gonna leave! I won’t let you!”

“I d- don’t have your permission to d-die?” The spots floating in your vision began to grow larger, blocking out spot of his face, and the sky.

“No! You don’t! You’re not leaving! I’m not letting you!” He said desperately.

“You’ve- g-got too...”

He glared down through the valley, barking out, “I said I need a medic! Someone! Please! They need help!”

There were people hurrying up the hill now, not that you could see, as Dream continued to yell.

The spots began to grow even bigger, merging together until darkness fully overtook you and you slipped from there grasp, “I’m sorry...”

Dream tore his gaze from the approaching medical team, looking down at your now limp body, “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no-”

“You can’t leave! You- your not allowed to leave us! You- you can’t- I- I didn’t give you permission to die!”

He blubbered, still trying to pull you closer to him, as if he held you tighter you wouldn’t have slipped away.

“You can’t go! I didn’t say you could go! You can’t leave! You can’t.....”

Then people were pulling you away from him, and Sapnap was pulling him up, and leading him away.

~~

“Your highness, news of the attack on the boarder has returned.”

George stopped his anxious pacing a Wilbur led in a scarily calm Technoblade and a visibly shaking Dream into the room, Sapnap still with a firm grip on his shoulder.

“What happened? Where’s (y/n)?”

Dream started to shake more at the mention of your name, and Techno stepped forward, “(y/n)- died in combat two days ago.”

George stayed silent, so he continued, “They died a hero’s death defending our kingdom.”

The king waved them away, “Out, please.”

Wilbur nodded, and quickly Sapnap and Technoblade followed him out of the room, leaving Dream to slowly move toward George, pulling him into his arms, tears coming from both men.

“It was my fault. They were fighting- an- and I distracted them.”

“You- you what?” George croaked.

“I wasn’t thinking,” He said quietly, ducking his head as George pulled away, “Th- they died in my arms George!”

“Wh- what have you done?”

Dream looked at him in shock, “What do you mean?”

“Tell me what happened.” It was a command, said in a way Dream had never heard directed at him.

“I got there- there was fighting, when the fighting died down I still couldn’t find them- then I heard another fight- on the ridge, I got up there, and It seemed like they had won, I yelled there name- and-” He broke off, barley muffling a sob.

“You all but killed them yourself.” George muttered.

“I didn’t- th- I- George.” Dream grappled for words.

“You killed them.”

“I didn’t! George I know it’s my fault, but-”

The King just shook his head, turning and silently stalking out of the room.

~~

The castle seemed to stay in mourning for weeks, the kings council having to take over as the king stayed shut up in his chambers, refusing to talk to anyone.

The King’s Knight became more and more vocal during meetings, providing insight on how to get back at the enemy, amplifying Sapnap’s voice.

Then, as plans were being finalized, Dream was met by another figure as he sat in front of your grave.

“You think this will make up for what you’ve done?” Georges voice was horse, rough, as if he hadn’t spoken in days, though still laced with the same venom as when he’d found out.

Dream nodded, remaining quiet as he traced the hilt of his blade.

“Tomorrow then?”

Again Dream nodded, looking down at the copy of the note that had been sent to the enemy:

‘Holy water cannot stop me now, a thousand armies couldn’t keep me out. I don’t want your money, I don’t want your crown, see I’ve come to burn your kingdom down’