#i so badly want to talk into the void about how badly it bugs me that ppl have COMPLETELY misunderstood

[wrathofrats]

Sits down cross legged on the floor

Consider; raindrop fucking, lazy and kinda casual about it while just musing about how badly they both wanna get their hands on the new bug. Phantoms so cute and sweet - Rain knows he'd be such a good boy, wants to prove it but Dew is convinced he's absolutely got a bit of a brat inside of him.

Dew wonders if he's weird like Aether and likes to play with his magic, Omega certainly did...Is it just a quint ghoul thing to be a freak??

Rain asks if his dick would be bigger than Dew's (Dew tries to pretend he's offended as if he doesn't share the same sentiment)

Just slightly provoking each other, a little bit of possessiveness hidden in there somewhere, while they talk absolutely nasty about Phantom...idk!

Is this smthn-

-Void

I’m honored I’ve finally been given raindrop writing privileges I hope I did them justice I know how important those freaks are to you

1.6k of exactly what it says on the tin folks. Warnings for degro, size shaming, mentions of physical punishments like bruises and blood, they’re a bunch of possessive freaks.

Ok have fun

Dew reeks of sweat and smoke.

His forehead is shiny, golden hair sticking to it as he tips his head back to allow Rain to suck on the sensitive skin of his neck. They exchange heat in this position, Rain sat in his lap nestled comfortably on his cock while Dew massages his hips. He gets hotter the longer they sit, no real urgency to either of their movements, Dew would gladly burn if it meant being able to continue touching Rain like he’s a deity who has given him the grace of his skin against his own.

“Haven’t you noticed how he looks at us firefly?”

The words barely register in Dew’s brain as Rain lifts up off of his throat to speak coherently. Rain grinds his hips back lightly, causing Dew to suck in a deep breath. His grip tightens as he finally looks back up at Rain with a confused look.

“Who?”

“Phantom. Have you been listening to me or do I need to get up?” Rain sighs while Dew digs his nails into his hips, mumbling out a couple breathy protests.

“I’m listening I promise I- we’ve just been here for hours Rain cloud”

It had been more like an hour. The passage of time slowing as Rain moves at his own leisure. A casual pace to the roll of his hips even as Dew attempts to move them faster. Rain had already soaked the sheets below them anyways, can’t help himself, but Dew’s eyes cross every time Rain sits back to add another comment about whatever he had decided was the topic of conversation.

“Could get up if you’re not feeling it, thought you enjoyed it when I sit sweetly in your lap. Thought you wanted something pretty to look at”

“I do baby-“

“Then stop complaining”

Dew lets out another breath he didn’t know he was holding. He readjusts them in an attempt to relieve something about their position. At least enough that he can focus on what Rain is saying to him.

“Anyways, Phantom just looks so sweet doesn’t he? Probably would drop to his knees in the common room if we asked him” Rain repeats, a soft hand caressing Dew’s chin to force his gaze. He studies Dew’s eyes for any hint that he’s not fully with him, enamored with the way his pupils dilate. Finally Dew rolls his eyes and bats Rain’s hand away, grumbling about how he’s still there.

“You really think that freak is obedient?”

“More obedient than you are” Rain chides “besides, if he listens when you send him on stupid errands to annoy Swiss, I wonder what else we could make him do.”

Phantoms eyes spark when he sees Dew and Rain. A mischievous glint that has Rain wanting to drag him between them and use him as they please. A finger beckoning him over, pointing at the floor, hell Dew barely had to motion to the stage before Phantom had eagerly dropped to his knees while on tour. Something Dew has not forgotten, or let Rain forget.

“I’ve heard the opposite. Swiss gets chatty when he’s high” Dew snickers. There’s a hint of jealousy to his voice as Rain praises the new summon while seated on his cock. A petulant tone that only makes Rain bite his lip in curiosity.

“Is that so?”

“Said he’s a fucking brat, that he’s got an awful mouth on him” Dew groans as Rain bounces lightly just to hear that tone of his go breathy again.

“Well considering how often I let you get away with it, I’m not concerned”

Rain adjusts again with a wicked look. He loves watching the cocky attitude in Dew melt away as he clenches down on his cock. Dew is adorable when he’s jealous, Rain could work him up for hours if he didn’t think Dew may burn down the abbey about it.

“He’s greedier than you are princess, Swiss could spank the stupid toy raw and he would beg for more”

“Guess I enjoy the challenge. Swiss encourages the bratting though and you of all ghouls should know that”

More than once had Swiss worked Dew up enough to get smoke coming out of his ears. Laughing in his face before sending him back to Rain covered in bruises after taunting the one ghoul who usually couldn’t control himself. Always quiet and docile, but they all knew the work it took to get him there. Swiss dishes his punishments hard, that fucking sadist, purely encouraging a bad habit so he can have his own fun.

"Sometimes Swiss has to subdue him with quintessence just to get him to shut his mouth. Poor thing will apparently just talk and babble until he's fucked stupid"

Oh that idea intrigues Rain more than it should. The idea of Phantom being so loud and disobedient that even Swiss can't handle him sometimes? He licks his lips, quickening his pace bouncing up and down on Dew just thinking about it. His thoughts are awful really, the terrible sadistic part of him wondering if he could get Phantom to submit without having to use magic.

He knows how hard Swiss can go, he's left plenty of cuts and bruises on Rain to make that point clear. But Rain wonders if Phantom will allow him to go harder.

“I think we could take him firefly. Could just tie him up until he wants to be good if the bug gets out of hand.” Rain muses. Dew pants and curses beneath him, trying to grab at Rain to slow him down.

“Fuck baby-“ Dew moans. There’s an internal debate of whether or not to force him to still his hips, loving the way he looks bouncing up and down. His dark hair framing his face as he tilts his head back blissed out on Dew’s cock, small tits bouncing slightly, he looks ethereal like this and if Dew wasn’t about to completely ruin the moment he would've been more than grateful to continue to watch.

There’s a small pause that lingers in the air as Rain finally stills. He leans forward into Dew’s chest against, panting right by his ear.

“Hope he’s a bit nasty for us, hope he makes me fucking claw at his skin until he sobs. Get him real marked up and docile, see a bruised bloody thing at our feet hanging onto our every word” Rain huffs, breathy and a cocky lit to his voice that has Dew whimpering at the idea. One of Rain’s claws drags down the side of Dew’s abdomen for emphasis as he just nods and gasps at the sting.

“Do you think he’s got that awful quint trait of being a fucking freak with his magic? Do you think he uses it to get what he wants?” Dew screws his eyes shut as Rain clenches down on him again. Omega certainly has an awful streak of using his magic to his advantage, they’re sure that’s how aether got to be so bad. Just a taste of power and Dew’s convinced the kid will be hooked. Will play dirty just to get a cock in him.

“I think we can make a sweet boy out of Phantom. Won’t need any magic to get what he wants if he listens”

“And how do you expect to do that?”

Rain smiles almost maliciously at Dew, his sharp teeth almost reflecting the low light in the room. A sweet hand comes to caress the side of his face, a stark contrast to the filth Dew knows Rain is thinking.

“Oh I was hoping you’d be a bit generous droplet, I was thinking I could offer him the opportunity to fuck my cunt if he’s a good boy. Maybe if you’re good too you can watch”

Dew practically growls, “Id just have to fuck you afterwards. He can’t fuck you like I can, would love to see him try though”

“Oh is that so? You don’t think he’s bigger than you are?” Rain reaches below him to grab at Dew’s cock, showing how easily it slips out when he’s not actively grinding down on it

Shame burns in Dew’s gut, his face going bright red seeing how Rain’s fist almost covers him completely. A spurt of pre dribbles down his fist only adding to the embarrassment, not only feeling of seeing Rain actively coo over how small he is, both of them knowing how aroused it makes Dew.

“Shut up” he grits.

“Seen and heard a couple things that tell me otherwise. I think he could fill me up nicely” Rain sits back on Dew’s cock again, tsking in mock disappointment. He reaches down to rub between his folds, biting his lip as he circles lightly on his clit. Dew can see how wet he is, more slick leaking out of him as he touches himself.

“That’s even if I let him near you. Don’t even want him to look at your pretty cunt, should be all mine”

Rain spreads himself at the words, two fingers showing off his pink little clit, completely engorged. Strings of his own arousal connect his fingers as he shows himself off. Dew wants to drool, to beg to get his mouth on him. Needing the salty, heady taste of Rain on his tongue.

“Don’t get jealous on me now. Besides, you’re not in charge Dewdrop” Rain sneers.

Dew whines, Rain’s hand coming to wrap lightly around his throat. A final grasp at power that Rain knows will leave him helpless and quiet for him.

“If you’re so jealous I could just have you both fuck me. Get both of your little cocks in me and see if It even stretches me out. Sure mountain or aether is bigger than you two combined, would be a really sweet sight to watch you two try though.”

[theheightofdishonor]

i want so badly to write meta about the beast of gavaudan and the how the whole beast/mason thing compares to previous seasons like jackson in s2 and void stiles and berserker scott but s5b is inarguably my weakest point of the entire show. Even during my rewatch, i didn't watch all of it because valack and the beast's origins are both soo boring that i skipped everything to do with them. Also unlike s3 and s5a, i very very rarely rewatch 5b so i can't even conjure the necessary information off the top of my head. all of which is so annoying.

like i could do soo much with mason. the corruption of goodness aspect and scott, the reveal unfolding almost exactly like void stiles which of itself is somewhat similar to jackson,actually i have so much to say on how jackson is brought out of his, for lack of a better word,possession vs mason, ooh comparisons between mason, jackson and scott trying to escape peter's control in s1, the aspect of violation and recovery (which i'd want to use scott as a comparison but he got NOTHING after the berserker which is so fucking unfair when stiles got 2 goddamn seasons of a gorgeously built self destruction arc after the nogitsune [admittidly scott also gets a gorgeous 2 seasons worth of character struggles out of the nogitsune but it wasn't HIS possession so i'm disregarding it--really though s4 scott as a product of s3 trauma is done so well sometimes, almost makes the nonsensical portions worth it] ) so instead stiles's post nogitsune arc would work ig.

i'm almost tempted to actually write half that up in proper posts anyway but even if nobody else knew i was talking out of my ass with only the vaguest recollections of the season to back it up, I'd know and it'd bug me for the rest of eternity.

[girlwiththegreenhat]

man idk how people have opinions on this website, every day im filled with the burning Need to post my hot takes without tags and with relevant characters and IPs censored to hide them from the greater fandom that disagrees, but i cant bear the thought of someone still managing to find those posts and being upset or thinking poorly of me, because as much as i completely disagree with people they’re still entitled to their opinions and headcanons too!!!!

best i can do is rant on the tags of posts from people Braver Than I

[councilofelrond]

Triple Entente

Summary: Celebrimbor recalls how exactly he wound up in Mordor.

For day 6 of @silvergiftingweek!

Read under the cut here or on ao3!

“A triple monarchy,” Melkor declares, lazily dodging Tyelpë’s half-hearted swipe at his shoulder.  “Three thrones.”  Mairon huffs.  “With you in the middle, of course, darling.”  

Tyelpë eyes Melkor, vaguely confused and annoyed.  He is unfairly pretty, something made worse by the fact he is wearing nothing but a very revealing silk dressing gown.   

Tyelpë reaches over again, this time to play with Melkor’s hair.  It is unadorned and unbound, and there is so much of it.  He shifts closer to Melkor, running his fingers through the mass of raven curls, yanking slightly when he finds a knot.  Melkor lets out a soft gasp.

Mairon is there, suddenly, one of his hands brushing against Tyelpë’s hip, Melkor’s thigh.

His touch is warm and gentle.  Melkor stares at him, then leans forward to kiss him over Tyelpë’s shoulder.  

“Anyway,” he says as soon as he pulls away.  “We should all have equal power.”

“A decent idea,” Tyelpë muses, “but ultimately, how would we split duties up?  We each may have equal power on paper—” here Melkor, stubbornly illiterate as he was, scoffs— “but ultimately, Mairon knows the Mordain best.  It would make no sense for us each to have the same duties.”

Melkor waves a hand dismissively.  “I have thought of that.”

“Well, then.  Carry on, lord,” Mairon drawls.  His habit of calling Melkor ‘lord,’ as if they were still in Angband, is always unnerving to Tyelpë, but he understands it is some bizarre form of endearment. 

“We split duties based on our strengths.  I come up with the ideas, Tyelpë elaborates, Mairon executes, and advises, because otherwise we will all fuck up very badly.” 

Tyelpë sighs.  Much to his chagrin, it makes sense.

Mairon’s reaction is slower.  He seems to dissect the words before he says, “I suppose…but one thing.”

“What?” Melkor asks, eyes narrowed.

“You cannot order the Nazgûl around.  They will become cranky and everything will be stabbed with knives.”

Melkor and Tyelpë blink at him, stupidly, then burst out laughing.

It began like this:

A Man with a severe headache mounts a drake.  He’s not quite a Man, actually, and the drake is a Maia in disguise, but what’s important is that he is going to talk to Mandos himself to fix his damn headache.

The headache is because of a person, a person named Celebrimbor, or Tyeleperinquar (or Tyelpë) depending on who you asked, who is very much in love but refuses to admit it.

And Talion (the not-quite-Man) is getting quite thoroughly tired of having homoerotic fights for him.

Which means explaining to Mandos why a) Celebrimbor needs a body other than Talion’s again and b) why Melkor should be released from the Void.

Mandos ultimately agrees with Talion (he saw it coming) and gives him exactly what he asks for.

Unfortunately, Manwë decides to make a thing of it, make Mairon pay a dowry for Melkor (Melkor is not pleased) and send a large party of people to escort them, since “you are marrying royalty, after all!”

Which is how Melkor and an unfortunate Tyelpë wound up in a carriage in a procession of some sort, staring bug-eyed at the celebrating Mordain, who are either very excited to see their ruler marry or very excited to party.  Likely both.

Tyelpë stares at his lap and curses Talion, who is no doubt having a good laugh with Ratbag (that damned Orc) and Carnán (that damned Maia) about this.  

At least the clothes are nice.  And undoubtedly they will be treated well—a wedding is no small thing, even if it’s really just an excuse for a party.

“So,” Tyelpë says awkwardly when he realizes the silence is becoming unbearable.  “Do you think he’ll abdicate in your favor?”

Melkor snorts, setting down the fan he had been hiding behind.  “Absolutely not.  I do not want him to.  I have no knowledge of these people beyond their tongue and I am terribly sorry to say that official documents would have to be read to me, since I am completely illiterate.  Hopefully I get to spend most of my time doing whatever I want.”  Melkor eyes him.  “Do you want the throne?”

Tyelpë almost wishes he hadn’t asked.  “No,” he says firmly.  “He would kill me if I asked anyway.”  He shudders, remembering his death.

Melkor raises an eyebrow, then picks up the fan again.  “Fair is this land and its people,” he says softly.  

“Fair?  The capital city sits on a plain of ash!  We are in the plain of ash!” 

“Fool Elf!” Melkor snaps, closing the fan with a snap.  “It is beautiful because of that.  Do you not see the effort that went into the land here?  How carefully it is constructed?  No, you do not, because you are a fool.”  

Tyelpë stares at him.

-

As soon as they arrive, a very harried-looking woman comes to take them to their rooms, and then leaves to find someone called Catë.  

Tyelpë stares at the ceiling.  He isn’t sure exactly how all of this happened.  Luckily, he does not have much time to think, because a tall woman wearing an elegant gown strides into the room, followed by three uniformed attendants.  She looks him up and down and sighs loudly.  

“At least my canvas is decent,” she mutters, taking a long drag on her smoke stick.  “Right!  Cream with gold and a muted orange with…hmm...silver accents.  And then silver jewelry.  Yes!  Silver, silver, darlings, we must absolutely drape him in silver!”  She shot a glare at the nearest attendant, a human woman with a mousy face, who quaked.  “Why aren’t you writing this down?” 

The woman scrambled for the notebook at her hip.  Tyelpë watched as she began writing, hand moving in a blur.  

Soon after, Catë sashays off, still smoking.  

Tyelpë sits for a moment, stunned, then collapses backwards in exhaustion.  

The rest of the time before the wedding passes in a blur.  

He does see Talion, though.  The man is taller, almost.  More solid.  His eyes are a deep brown, and now more than ever Tyelpë realizes how very not Gondorian he looks.  His skin is a bit lighter, his eyes narrower, his nose broader and flatter to his face.  He’s very Northern.  

Talion only laughs.  “I know, Tyelpë,” he says.  “You called me Rhavan, remember?”

He does.  “You were so mad,” Tyelpë says.  “It took me three days to figure out that of course you wouldn’t like being called savage.”

“You’re a damn idiot sometimes,” Talion says cheerfully, and saunters off to talk to an Orc who is definitely Ratbag.

Mordor has a rhythm to it, one that bends around Mairon’s rhythm.  Which, being very repetitive, is extremely easy to get used to.

Tyelpë wishes he’d listened to Talion when he said that Mordor was predictable.

Talion is right annoyingly often.

Even Melkor falls into a rhythm.  Granted, it’s getting up at noon and wandering the cold halls of Barad-dûr in as little clothing as he can get away with.

And annoying Tyelpë.  Mostly because all of their interactions have to be chaperoned (something Mairon likely made up to annoy his court), but Melkor is just a very annoying person.

Mairon is…

Well.  He’s not there, because he has a country to run and nine perfectly good undead creeps to chaperone the people he is soon to marry.

And apparently will have to have children with, to satisfy a great many grumbling Men.

It’s stupid, Tyelpë thinks, that he knows exactly what Talion would say (fuck ‘em) but not what anyone else would.

The actual wedding ceremony is very simple in practice, but requires such incredible amounts of planning it’s really a wonder anyone is still standing.

Step 1: Catë delivers wedding clothes.  His is an elaborate silver ensemble with some muted orange highlights.  That’s not to mention the jewelry—there’s a crown thing called a kokoshnik, which is beautiful and apparently a traditional wedding garment, and so many other things he loses track. 

(He doesn’t know what anyone else will be wearing, but Melkor’s will show copious amounts of skin and Mairon’s will be red and gold, that much is certain.)

Step 2: The dowries.  Mairon’s given the dowry payment for Melkor, but there is also the presentation of both dowry gifts.  Tyelpë can imagine his father’s smug look as he presents the no doubt ridiculous amount of things offered as a dowry gift.  He almost shudders to imagine the wealth Manwë will bring with him.  

Step 3: Rehearsing vows.  Mairon apparently doesn’t need to—he came up with them—but Melkor can’t read and Tyelpë’s Orcish is awful.  He always relied on Talion for that.  So Talion teaches him.

He is genuinely surprised he didn’t learn it earlier.  It’s a very simple language, honestly, and the vows are quite pretty.  

It also explains Mairon’s accent, but you know.

Step 4: The preparations done on the actual day.  There are insane protocols and he spends most of his morning with Catë’s assistant’s shoving him around.  Then his family arrives and all hell breaks loose.

First of all, his uncles bicker.  His father shouts in Quenya at Talion, who successfully pretends to be deaf, blind, mute, and stupid for nearly an hour.  Then he just says, calmly and in flawless Quenya, “Fuck off.”

Step 5: The actual wedding.  Melkor throws a tantrum, Mairon kills two people, and they’re supposed to be getting married now.

The ceremony is very quick.  Vows are exchanged, tears are shed, and the Sun, the Moon, someone who apparently dropped a mountain on a Balrog, Carnán, and Melian reveal that a) they were invited and b) they have all been friends with Mairon since before time.  The Sun is Mairon’s sister, actually.  She was his giver.

It turns out, of course, that this is mostly an excuse to party.

And it is quite a party.  Mordain music is loud and aggressive and fast, and the dancing is absolutely wild.  People drink and eat like they’re doomed if they don’t.

At least now Tyelpë doesn’t need a chaperone.  He, Mairon, and Melkor all are attached at the hip until they’re officially allowed to (as Talion put it) “bang.”  It’s a funny thought—he doesn’t really understand the dynamic between Mairon and Melkor.  Mairon keeps calling Melkor ‘lord,’ but Melkor behaves like he’s trying to get Mairon to bend him over a random surface right then and there.  

Conversation between the three of them is easy.  They share a bit in common, and Tyelpë and Melkor especially bond over their frustration at Mairon’s ability to see over everything (“He’s just too tall.”  “I know, it was terribly awkward trying to intimidate people when there he is, looming over everything—”). 

Talion is there, but before Tyelpë can talk to him, he’s absconded with not one, but two Nazgûl.  

The Moon gets very drunk, prompting a song about cats and fiddles for some reason.  The Sun cries into Mairon’s shoulder about how happy she is for him (despite the fact that he’s marrying two people he’s been married to before, this really isn’t new).  Melian and the Balrog smasher (Túvo, apparently) say something about lasting peace.  

Thuringwethil (and here Tyelpë nearly panics, because how many people from the Lay of Leithian are here) appears at one point.  She makes several very obvious innuendos and several more dirty jokes, and then, when even Melkor is blushing, wanders off again.

Mairon, damn him, doesn’t blush very visibly.  

The worst part by far is what leads up to the wedding night.  The entire court sees them off to their chambers, which is awful.  

But worse is the awkwardness as the door closes and everyone leaves. 

“We do not have to—” Mairon starts, but Melkor interrupts him.

“We will.”  

And that is how Tyelpë finds himself in bed with Sauron and Morgoth together.

He learns three things.

First: Mairon is very controlling even in his favored form.

Second: Melkor is absolutely on board with that.

Third: Melkor does not have the anatomy Tyelpë expected, and that explains very neatly why no one corrected the many people hinting at the three of them having children.

They fall asleep tangled in each other’s limbs that night.

Tomorrow begins Tyelpë and Melkor bickering, and Talion flirting (which Tyelpë should have noticed before now), and at least twelve more elaborate celebrations.

Tonight?  Everything is just fine.

Several months later, as Melkor explains the idea of a triple monarchy, Tyelpë wonders how he got so lucky.  

Even with the bickering, and the politicking, and everyone at court politely but obviously wondering why exactly Melkor isn’t pregnant yet (the answer is he doesn’t want to be, thank you very much), life has become very, very good indeed.

[fweasleyswhore]

F.W. Who We Are

Chapter Two: Your Least Favorite Color

Chapter One

a/n chapter two my lovlies!! i rlly wanted to pump this out p fast bc ive been having so much fun with it and i hope you are too!

summary: fred and george tell you their plan for their prank. fluff with a pinch of angst.

word count: 3k

warnings: some touching??? uncomfy situation??

tags: @you-make-children-cry @levylovegood @bohemianspacebabe

comment a request to be added to my taglist !

“Snape’s least favorite color?” I laughed out. “I think you mean, like, any color. I mean has he ever worn anything that isn’t black?”

I was now seated in a small semblance of a circle on the floor of the Gryffindor common room, Fred and George in front of me. It was most definitely past curfew but because tomorrow was Saturday I really didn’t care, the time was the last thing on my mind. The most present thought I had was how the hell Fred and George were going to change the color of all the cauldrons in Snape's room and get away with it. 

“Well, now that you bring it up, I do believe I saw him in robes that looked rather navy instead of black.” George pondered, looking up to the ceiling and tapping his chin as if he was deep in thought. 

“Oh bug off!” I laughed and smacked him on the arm. He looked at his arm with wide eyes, his smile gone. Before I could ask if I was too forceful he was pretending to cry, a little too loud than he should’ve considering it was well past 12 and I am technically trespassing. None of us cared though or even thought to care as we watched George grasp onto his brother’s arms like it was the last thing he would ever do. 

“I-I don’t want to die Freddie.” He whispered. His grip tightened onto his brother as he spoke again. “Freddie, I…” He then let out a loud, fake sob. “There’s so much I haven’t done.” He dropped his head and shook it. I rolled my eyes, how long was he going to keep this up? 

Fred brought his hands up to cradle his brother’s head. “It’s ok George, you can let go, it’s ok.” He looked into his brother’s eyes tearfully, “I’ll help you…”

Before George could react Fred lifted one of his hands and swiftly flicked him on the forehead. George let out a loud groan and spasmed a bit in Fred’s arms, I watched with narrowed eyes as he seized up and shook. 

“You look more like a fish out of water than a dying man,” I said smugly. George rose up and fixed his hair. He looked over to me with a glare and his tongue out. I laughed fully, the situation and everything, as well as some sleep deprivation, catching up on me. I threw my head back, clutched my stomach, and rolled around for what felt like hours. Once I had started I couldn’t stop. 

“I didn’t think it was that funny,” George whispered to Fred. “Maybe we have finally broken her?”

“Maybe…” Was all Fred was able to say back, too caught up with the beautiful girl in front of her to even fully process George's words. 

Finally calming down due to the sharp pain building up in my stomach from laughing so hard, I painfully pushed myself to sit up straight. Leaning on the couch behind me I tried to catch my breath while gripping my stomach. I could feel my face was flushed, my hair was a mess but I couldn’t care. Although the pain that coursed through my body, I was still smiling, looking at the two boys in front of me. Focusing on George I saw that he looked at me with a look of disbelief and amusement, rolling my eyes at him I focussed on Fred ready to be met with the same expression. 

What I was met with nearly made me roll over again. 

The way he looked at me made the rest of the world evaporate. I lost my breath. He smiled at me, but it wasn’t amused or disbelieving like George, he smiled at me with pure content, like watching me writhing around on the floor was the best use of his time. His eyes flickered with something, his usual gleam of mischief no longer evident but what was currently being held I couldn’t decipher. My whole face flushed even more if that was possible, I was praying in my head he didn’t notice it. I diverted my eyes from his gaze, trying to hide my red face as I adjusted into the position I held before I broke out in laughter. 

“Maybe red?” I tried to steer the conversation back to its previous topic, my voice quivered, making me cringe and I hope that the boys didn’t notice or just wrote it off. 

“If we make them red he will know a Gryffindor did it, that’s the equivalent of a murderer leaving a ransom note with his name on it.” George retorted. I sighed, relieved he didn’t say anything. Bringing my gaze up to meet theirs I looked between them, they were both staring at the floor, obviously lost in thought. I brought my gaze to the fire behind them. I pulled my lip in between my teeth trying to focus on a specific color that would make the blood drain from Snape’s face. 

Snape was the head of the Slytherin house, and though that relation, I absolutely despised him. He was terribly rude to Gryffindors for no bloody reason, being that my friends mostly consisted of Gryffindors, he was terribly rude to me as well. He never took points away from me specifically, knowing it would reflect badly on him, but he took the absolute piss out of any Gryffindor around, often even subjected me to long detentions for minor offenses. I have to watch my step around him, even my breathing could set him off, send a nasty glare, or even grade my way. Being a Slytherin though, there was not much I could do about it except accept it, and that made my blood boil under the surface. 

“Perhaps,” I started, my gaze was still trained on the dancing fire behind the boy. “Hot pink would suffice?” 

Lifting my gaze from the fire I glanced between the two. 

“Wicked.” They said in unison. They had these stupid grins on their faces that made me giggle. 

The rest of the night was spent actually completing the plan, or trying to and getting distracted. The day before we leave for Christmas break we would sneak into his room, Fred and George would hide in the back of the room while I waited for Snape to arrive. I would ask him to help me find a book in the library about potion making because “I had really been struggling this past year in his class”. Total lie, I knew what I was doing Snape just hated to give me the grade I deserved. 

Considering Mrs. Pince was on maternity leave he would have no option but to say yes. The boys would hex the cauldrons then run back to the Gryffindor common room where Harry and Ron were ready to provide an alibi. It flowed well, the potions section of the library was in the back and far up, Ron and Harry were more than happy to take the piss out of Snape, and Snape knew that because I was in his house I would never do anything directly against him for fear of being expelled. 

Although I knew there would be no evidence for Snape to use against me I was still quite nervous but the thought of the shit eating grins it would provide the twins gave me enough courage to agree. They always made me happy, it was only fair I do the same for them. 

Once it was mildly solidified in our brains we let the conversation drift, topics from quidditch to the worst animal to transfigure as filled up what should’ve been a quite common room at that hour, and never once did I feel bored.  

-

The feeling of someone shaking my shoulders brought me back to reality. I opened my eyes to a rather bright and blurry mess of red around me, quickly shutting them again I groaned, swatting at my attacker. My lazy attempts fell short never actually hitting anyone. 

“That was lame.” Hermione laughed. 

I opened one eye to glare at her. “Considering I was blind I think they were ferocious.” I shot back. 

She laughed again. “Well I don’t know how late you stayed up, but it’s quarter to 9. Breakfast ends at 10.”

“I have so much time, why must you hurt me ‘Mione?” I huffed running a hand down my face. 

“Because Saturday is blueberry pancake day!” She said half singing. “Also I figured you would want to shower and get ready before we go to Hogsmede.” I groaned again but I knew she was right. I threw my hands over my face and rubbed my eyes before opening them, this time the brightness nor the redness of the room affected me. 

“What would I do without you?” I asked sitting up. Now in a seated position I could see my surroundings. I was laying longways on the couch, a robe sprawled over me like a makeshift blanket. Hermione stood behind me, her hands rested on the armrest that my head was just against.

“Probably dead, due to these two.” I couldn’t see her but I knew she was talking about the twins. I turned my head around and smiled at her. 

Squinting around the common room I could see George curled up in a loveseat by the fireplace, he sat sideways, his head against the back of the chair while his arms hugged one of his legs tightly to his chest, his other leg was thrown over the armrest. I giggled at the sight of him in such an unnatural position, it could not be comfortable with his long limbs. I searched the room for Fred. He wasn't in the other seats by the fireplace or the other couch pushed against the wall. 

My heart plunged into my stomach at the thought that he went up to his dorm, I wasn’t completely sure why it hurt me so much. It made sense for him to have left, but part of me just felt pained at the fact that George stayed and not him. Of course I liked George but not in the way I liked Fred. George was like a brother to me, he was a best friend. Fred was something more than that, not that he knew, I would never admit it to him much less our friends, but that didn’t stop the longing I felt for him, hoping that he felt the same way too. 

Finally I found him and all the doubts I had before were void upon seeing him. He laid on his stomach on the floor next to the couch. One arm under the pillow supporting his head that was facing me and the other thrown across the floor. He didn’t have a blanket on him and his robe wasn’t in sight. His hair was slightly brushed in his face and I had to refrain from leaning down and brushing it out of his eyes. I let out a small laugh realizing he was using the pillow that I threw at George the night before. 

Turning around again to Hermione I spoke again. “You’re completely right.” She rolled her eyes with a smile before exiting the common room muttering something about the work she needed to do that day. 

I stretched and readjusted, pulling my legs to my chest while figuring the best way to get up without disturbing Fred. I balled up the robe that was laid across me, still trying to figure out how to navigate my way out of the common room. 

There was a small space near his arm on the floor, taking it as my best shot to then jump around him. I carefully placed my foot down, making sure not to step on him. Shifting my weight onto that foot I began to move my other leg to go around his back. 

Slowly crouching to get some momentum I jumped, but before my foot could even leave the ground a strong arm grabbed my ankle. Taken by surprise I let out a small shriek before falling onto the couch and then sliding onto the floor. 

I was met with Fred, smirking at me with half lidded eyes. 

“Trying to sneak off with my robe are you?” He said smugly. His voice was deeper and raspier than it usually was and had an immediate effect on my body, my legs weakened and my face burned. I was thanking Merlin I was already sitting and flushed from the fall.

“What are you on about Weasley.” I whisper-yell at him. 

He released my ankle, something I hadn’t even noticed he was still holding until I felt uncharacteristically cold where his touch had been only moments ago. He used his now free hand to point at the balled up robes in my arms. 

“You did not just make me fall on my arse only to accuse me of stealing my robes!” I whisper yelled again, although a tad louder than last time. 

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Your robes? I wasn’t aware we had joint custody over my clothing Y/L/N, but since you want them so bad I suppose you can keep them, red looks good on you by the way.” He shot me a wink at the end of his remark. His confidence and cockiness just upset me further. Although he was unnervingly annoying I couldn’t help the grin that split onto my face at his own stupidity. 

I rolled my eyes and unbunched the robes to show him the green that adorned them, but once they were unrolled I saw the red fabric. My eyes shot wide open, I could feel my eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. 

“But…” I couldn’t even form a whole sentence, this didn’t make sense. “You hexxed my robes!” I shot at him. It was the only logical conclusion I had come up to that he had planned this. 

The laugh he was holding back erupted from his mouth. His morning voice made it much deeper than his actual laugh. The rings of his laughter normally made my body hot but this was a whole new level. 

He didn’t say anything, just brought his hand up to my collar and tugged. Looking down I saw that I was still wearing my robes. Never took them off. 

I groaned and threw my face into my hands which only made him laugh harder. He peeled my hands away from my face and held them in his much larger ones. “I would never hex your clothes,” I could feel my face heat up at his words, the genuine tone and the lower octave of his voice sent shockwaves through my whole system. “At least not red, I’d make them purple!” He stuck his tongue out at me and I playfully swatted his shoulder. He knew that was my least favorite color. 

I stood up and threw his robes at his face. “See you in the Great Hall.” And with that I grabbed my shoes and walked out as quickly as possible. I could hear him still laughing as I got to the portrait hole but kept going trying to calm down and get the flush off my face, both from our proximity and embarrassment. 

-

I had thrown on my favorite muggle outfit. Going to Hogsmede was a tradition but the excitement was still there which qualified for a little dressing up. It wasn’t anything special, just plain light wash jeans, a white turtleneck and an oversized orange button up I managed to steal from the twins. All pulled together with a little accessorizing I thought I looked rather good. 

Walking out of my dorm and into the Slytherin common room there was an evident pep in my step. I was happy but a fool wouldn’t be. Stepping towards the exit of the common room someone just had to ruin my fun. 

“Not going out with the Weasels again are you Y/L/N?” Draco drawls. Turning I see him snickering with Crabbe and Goyle before standing and waltzing up to me, arrogant as ever. 

“What is it to you Malfoy?” I spit at him. I was not going to let him ruin today. 

“Well you got so pretty today, Weasleys do not know how to appreciate such expensive things, they can’t afford them, how would they know how to? You deserve someone who knows how and can express their appreciation in equally expensive ways.” He laughed out. He lifted his hand to caress my cheek. His touch made me cringe, his hands were cold and his demeanor was uninviting. Everything about him made me recoil. 

I grabbed his wrist and threw his hand down. “I hope you don’t mean someone like yourself Malfoy. I’m not sure how you even know how to use a hand like that, it looks as though it hasn’t done a day of work in its life. Is that something you are really proud of?” I threw my words at him like daggers. Steam rolling off of me. I could see him change under my glare, his confidence shrank and his anger grew, his relaxed expression was soon replaced by his snarl he adorned everywhere Harry was near, his back stiffened and his fists balled up. 

“Never, touch me again Malfoy.” I turned on my heel and stormed out. Before reaching the exit I thought of something though. 

“Future advice,” I turned again so I was facing him. He hadn’t moved and still looked at me venomously as before. He lifted an eyebrow at my comment, urging me to go on. “Money can’t buy consent.” 

His face darkened and I had to turn quickly to stop myself from all out laughing at him. I’m sure that if I stayed I could have watched him have his temper tantrum but frankly I wasn’t interested. My interest laid with the redhead waiting for me at the doors of the Great Hall. The same one who smiled at me as I walked up to him and poured my juice for me when we sat down. Fred Weasley had me totally, inconceivably, and utterly smitten, and I was completely ok with it. The harder I fell the sweeter it would feel when he caught me. 

Or I hoped. 

[dirt-cup-draco]

Fred Weasley x Reader- Games Part 2/2

@just-here-to-escape-from-reality: Pls make a part 2 of games where she finally tells him off 🙏🙏

Previously: 

Even if you always lost, you loved Fred’s games. No one else could own your heart like he did. The lows were nothing in comparison to the highs. Even if he couldn’t commit, even if this was all you’d ever have, even if you crashed every night, it would all be worth it.

You knew that by the time the sun rose, you would be ready to play the game all over again.

Your bag was heavy against your shoulder, back aching and eyes burning. You’d snuck out again the night before to see Fred and you were regretting it now. Not just in the way your eyelids fluttered closed with exhaustion every time there was a lull in your class, but in the way your chest ached and every breath seemed like a battle. 

Is he thinking about you? Maybe today is the day he’ll realize you’re the one he wants whether you’re behind closed doors or not. 

Stomping out any gleaming bit of hope that tried to rise, you made your way to the great hall with slow and hesitant steps. Fred had been stealing you away for months now. Every word from his lips felt like a promise until you asked those damned words that felt like ice when you got lost in his fire. What are we?

Nothing. The practical, semi-pessimistic part of you hissed. Freddie knows you’re always going to be around, so why not have some fun in between girlfriends? 

It felt more like the truth than the quiet girl muttering in the back of your brain that Fred Weasley might love you, but just not know it yet. You knew he had love for you, but never in the way you craved. Fred loved you because you were a constant. You were one of his closest friends and you could never stray long from those honey brown eyes and sinful smile. It was easy to love someone who gave you all the attention you could ever ask for and more, especially with a family as large as his and siblings so close in age. 

You never asked anything in return and whether he knew it or not he was taking advantage of your love and it was bringing you closer to rock bottom everyday.

“Where’ve you been? You look like hell,” Lee Jordan pointed out and you tried to comment playfully, engaging in your normal banter, but you couldn’t find it in you. More often than not these days you couldn’t manage more thank a weak smile and a huff of laughter that felt foreign to your ears. 

“Just been busy with school,” Had been your most relied upon excuse and it didn’t fail you now as Lee nodded, shoving a cauldron cake into his mouth and speaking over the crumbs that fell from his open mouth. 

“Snape, the bloody bastard, took away ten house points from me yesterday just because my essay was two inches too short in length,” 

“Not the first time you’ve been accused of being a bit too short in length,” Angelina giggled to Katie and with a holler from Lee and a snort from Fred, they had forgotten all about your plight. 

George snuck a glance at you, noticing that your lips moved into automatic smiles when your friends around you grew more rambunctious but there was no warmth to it. It was like watching a puppet dance around on stage at the behest of someone else. He had to suppress a shiver when you looked to him, that tired turning of lips trying their best to convince him they were playing their part. Your eyes were dulled in a way he couldn’t remember seeing before. Surely school couldn’t be the issue? 

Tucking into his meal after giving you the widest grin he could, hoping to share some warmth, George promised he would ask Fred before lights out if you were okay. 

--

“Whaddya mean something’s wrong with Y/N?” Fred asked, eyebrows knit together but the concern that George expected to see at his statement was vanished. Instead, his twin’s look read more like he found George to be off his rocker.

“She’s just not herself,” 

“I saw her last night, she seemed fine to me,” 

“You were with Lee and I last night,” 

Fred shrugged, tossing his pajama shirt on with nonchalance. “Saw her after,” 

George narrowed his eyes, climbing into his four poster and trying to see if anything on Fred’s face would give away what was going on. If Fred was sneaking out to see you, after already getting up to no good with Lee and himself, what could the two of you possibly be up to?

“Something’s got to be wrong then if she’s losing sleep over your ugly mug,” 

Fred laughed at the joke, and then, “Seriously Georgie, she’s fine. It’s just school getting on her nerves,” 

Sensing he would get no other answer from his brother; George pulled his curtains around him, turned over in bed, and promptly fell asleep despite the growing questions. 

--

George came to you the next day, hair rumpled and out of breath. “Merlin woman!” He exclaimed, sucking in a deep breath. “I’ve been calling your name since you left Potions. Where’re you going in such a rush? Been chasing you halfway ‘round the castle,” 

“Oh don’t be a drama queen Georgie, it only suits your brother,” You teased and he was glad to hear some of the warmth back in your voice but it still remained void from your eyes. You looked....hurt. Not like you were shielding a bruise or trying to go easy on a limp, but like someone had taken everything dear to you and shattered it on the ground as if it were glass. 

“Glad you brought him up,” George grinned, tossing his arm around your shoulder.  He missed the way your smile drooped. Why could he possibly want to talk to you about Fred? Did he know? And if so, what did he think you and Fred were?

Maybe he told George he likes you. Your heart jerked around uncomfortably.

George wouldn’t be coming to you with questions if he had answers. Reason put your sporadic heartbeat to rest. 

The boy with his arm around your shoulder steered you past the Great Hall and to the room of requirement. What could the boy need so badly that the room was now opening up to the two of you? You hesitated for a single step and then George was pulling you inside with a tug of your hand. 

The space was small, comfortable. The fireplace behind you crackled and warmed your back. The two plush seats in the center called your name. You looked skeptically at the redhaired boy. 

“What’s so concerning about Freddie that you’ve brought me here?” 

George looked bashful, pink crawling up his neck. You shuffled nervously on your feet. “Well, it’s more about you than about him but he said something last night that’s got me wondering.... Do like Fred, Y/N?” 

Your eyes bugged out, the air knocked from your chest. Not because George had figured it out, but because it had taken him so damn long. You let out an incredulous laugh, feet carrying you to one of the plush wingback chairs so that you could bring your knees to your chest as a form of protection. 

“Took you long enough,” 

George simply nodded, no gloating, no laughter, no teasing. You couldn’t help but grow more confused. 

“George why is this relevant-” 

“My next question-” He interrupted. “-is why you haven’t told him how you feel yet.” 

The breath that had been knocked from your chest was having a hard time coming back in and you felt light headed as you forced yourself to inhale, albeit shakily. How did you explain to George that your true love, the boy you would trade the world for, didn’t feel the same and it had been proven by his lack of commitment and attentiveness. 

“It’s a long story, we’ve been-” 

“Sneaking around Hogwarts?” George guessed and you sent him a nasty glare but the proud little smile on his face at pulling a genuine reaction from you had you smiling back and the air was suddenly circulating in your lungs again. 

“More or less, not stop interrupting or I fear I won’t let out all I need to,” 

Heading your warning, and feeling an uneasiness in his chest, George quieted. 

You revealed that after your kiss during a typical game of truth or dare, you had expected things to return to normal. You, with your feelings and hopes still intact for a someday with Fred. And him, not thinking anything of the kiss or hopefully thinking of a someday with you. You hadn’t been prepared for Fred to seek you out every chance he got to pull you into hidden spaces and snog you until your mind grew fuzzy and all worries vanished. Then, when you’d finally gained enough courage to ask what you two were, if the kisses meant anything, Fred had dodged a real answer and expected you to want what he wanted.

 But how could you be what he wanted when you weren’t sure if it was you that he wanted? You were a friend, a confidant, a body. You stumbled over your seemingly harsh analyzation. 

“I know he means well, he hasn’t done anything wrong,” You defended, wringing your hands together and it was only then that George had taken notice of the very obvious love bite on your neck. It had been covered well by your robes earlier but you’d been fidgeting in your seat the entire conversation. “He cares about me but I don’t think he cares about me that way, I’m just easy access and he’s grown used to it,” 

George watched as the spark he’d seen not ten minutes before had sizzled out again and he finally had his answer. Fred was what was wrong with you. His idiot brother was using you, whether he saw it or not and you were being crushed by the weight of having the one you clearly more than liked but not having all of him. George felt guilt rise up and swirl with the fury in his gut. He wasn’t mad at his twin, but he was furious for you. You had been hollowed out  because Fred acted first and thought last and never had to deal with the consequences of it. 

“Y/N, you’re not-” George went to argue but his voice sounded pitiful even to his own ears, “He’s- I’m sure that he.... You know he cares,” 

Your eyes met George’s and you could see the turmoil lying behind his eyes. Melted chocolate as opposed to the honey you’d fallen for. He was much like Fred but when you looked in his eyes you saw someone who wore his heart on his sleeve and Fred couldn’t be further from that. 

“I know he does,” You sniffled, eyes glistening and George almost wished he could take back the blank look you’d been schooling for some odd days. He hated to see tears in your eyes. He hated knowing Fred had put them there and that he couldn’t make up for any of it. How did he fix his twin’s mistake? 

With a short nod and an affectionate squeeze of his arm, you left George puzzled and alone in the room of requirement. 

Fred wanted to see you again tonight.

--

You were sat in his lap, his hands running through your hair, but this time, both of you had your eyes on the stars. The nervousness bubbling in your chest was eased as Fred failed to make a move just yet. You were craving time spent with him that meant more than just easing his frustration or giving him a high. You wanted to be like this, comfortable and close, but content to do nothing. It made you feel more cared for than any kiss thus far. 

Fred was always careful in the way he held you and kissed you, knowing just what made you turn to mush in his hands, but he was clumsy with your heart and after your conversation with George you feared he had dropped it too many times. 

“Talked to Georgie last night...” Fred spoke into the night air, voice only a whisper but your heartrate spiked despite knowing that you and George had talked that evening and so Fred had to be alluding to a different conversation. 

“It’s a bit odd when you don’t talk so-” 

“Y/N/N” Fred interrupted gently, gaze soft as he made you look him in the eye. He was quiet longer than you expected. He was searching your features for something but all you could express was mild confusion. “He said there was something wrong, thought I would know. Y/N, what don’t I know?”

“Whaddya mean Freddie, I tell you everythi-” 

“Why are you lying?” Fred huffed, eyebrows now knit together in frustration, his hands pressing harder against your hips but not uncomfortably. “I-I can see it now. Where’d my happy girl go?” 

You bit down on your lip to stop from the whimper that wanted to force itself from your throat. You crawled out of Fred’s lap, immediately missing the warmth he provided. You wrung your hands together to distract from the sick feeling in your stomach. “That’s just it Freddie, ‘m not your girl,” 

“Y-you’re not?” He asked, face paler in the moonlight than you had ever seen it before. 

“I’m your best friend, I’m the person you trust most outside of Georgie, and I’m just another girl, another body. Like I told your brother... all I am is easy access,” 

Fred’s face had gone red as you continued to speak and the frown grew more persistent on his face until it was morphing into a sneer. You’d have seen it if your eyes weren’t downcast and blurred with the tears that were starting to fall. 

“You want parts of me Fred but you don’t want all of me and I can’t live that way anymore,” You choked out, hands slippery with your fallen tears. You looked up at the same time Fred bolted up, that angry look upon his face forcing you to wonder if you’d said something cruel in your admission. 

You opened your mouth to ask him- Well what had you wanted to ask him? It all seemed to disappear now as he ran from the astronomy tower. 

--

“Bloody hell!” George cussed as the door to his dorm was blown wide open, his counterpart stomping over the threshold with fury in his eyes. Fred’s hands were clenched tight, his jaw wired shut. George knew it was best to just wait for Fred to speak when these times came. He couldn’t help but feel the seed of worry that grew in his stomach when he remembered Fred and you had been together. 

“I cant believe she-!” Fred began but a strangled scream cut off the rest of his sentence as he tugged at his hair. “And that I-!” Another sentence lost to the sound of Fred kicking his trunk. 

Sooner than George thought, Fred was whirling on him, a finger suddenly pressed against his chest in accusation. “She told you how she felt dammit!”

“Who?” George asked and Fred threw his hands up in the air. 

“Y/N!” He snarled, back to pacing the common room. “She told you that she felt like... like... well-” 

“Easy access? Just another body? Like she was all yours and you could never be hers?” George supplied, laying back comfortably against his pillows as Fred took a seat beside him, deflated at the words that had riled him up so much. 

“How could she think that?” Fred choked out, eyes misty as he looked to his best friend for answers. “I-I, well, I love her,” 

George let out a grateful breath, one he’d been holding since he’d noticed your misery from across the table. “Because you idiot, you told her relationships were messy. Because you’ll hold her hand in the astronomy tower and make her feel like the most wanted girl in all of Hogwarts and then the next day she feels like the most invisible girl in Hogwarts. Because I know you better than you think and you didn’t realize until you stormed in here that you are irrevocably in love with Y/N Y/L/N. Now get your ass back to that tower and tell her yourself,” 

And Fred did just that, running like hell was on his heels. 

--

Your head was buried in your arms, forehead pressed tight against your knees as you tried to slow your breathing and force the sobs to stop. You’d told him how you felt, you’d told him you couldn’t do it anymore and he’d left without so much as a word. He must not want anything to do with you anymore.

The fresh wave of thoughts reduced you back to your sobs, your shoulders shaking. The force of your cries were so severe you didn’t hear the steps that were racing up the stairs. By the time you registered anyone was there, their arms were wrapped tight around you. 

You caught a flash of red in your peripheral. “George? Did Fred tell you to come?” 

“You daft girl, George told me to come,” Fred laughed through the few tears he’d begun to shed on the way to the tower. Never had he ever wanted to see one of his dearest friends look so vulnerable, yet you did and it was all because of him. Your gasping sobs as he’d come up the stairs had stopped him in his tracks for a moment and it sunk the stake in deeper that it was all because of him. 

You recoiled slightly at his words but couldn’t bring yourself to pull away. If the only reason he was here was because of George, why was his voice thicker than usual? Had Fred been crying? You took a chance to look at him and found a tear rolling down his cheek and over his freckles. Momentarily, you forgot the situation you were in and you brought your hand to Fred’s cheek. 

Concern burned in your eyes and Fred could feel his stomach doing flips. You’d been crying over him, you were crying over him, but once you saw he was in any distress you’d completely forgotten it. At least for a second it seemed, his shocked expression bringing you back to reality as you let your hand fall away uncertainly. 

“I- um- sorry...” You mumbled, going to stand. Fred finally saw the empty look George had told him of and it made his heart stop painfully. 

Fred didn’t let you get far before he was pulling you into a hug, a few more tears escaped past his eyelids and fell onto your hair as he brought you closer to him, head nuzzling against yours. “Merlin, no,” He choked out. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for. I didn’t realize until you said... well- I didn’t realize you felt so used and I didn’t realize everything I said and did confirmed every fear you had.”

You froze in Fred’s grasp, even your sniffles having gone away. 

“I don’t know a good way to say this,” Fred laughed weakly, hand pressed against the small of your back, his fingers twitching as he thought.

 “I love snogging you until your eyes glaze over and you turn to putty in my hands, which I think I’ve made a bit too obviuos. I love your messy hair whether I’ve just finished running my hands through it or you’ve just woken up and stumbled into the Great hall. I love how you stifle your giggles when one of us has said something mean to the other but you still can’t help but laugh once everyone else gets going. I love that you see the best in people and that even when I treated you the worst you still look at me like I’ve only spilled ink on your paper instead of broken your heart,” 

“Freddie-” You began but the boy shushed you and he took a second to fix you with pleading eyes. He needed to say this. 

“I love that I can trust you just as much as I trust George, just as much as I trust Lee. I love that you always listen to me and you notice when something is wrong before I do. I love that you are patient with me even when I can be a complete arse, and I love that even now you are listening to me because I’ve asked you to. You should be kicking me and running in the opposite direction after all I’ve done but you’re still here and I love you for it.” 

“But we’re just friends,” You finished for him, a rueful smile on your lips as you stared down at your feet. His arms were still warm around you but they tensed. 

“Is that what you want?” 

Your head snapped to his. The fragile wavering in his voice had stopped you cold. Since this started he had never asked what you wanted, at least emotionally, and now here he was asking you what you’d been begging internally to hear since the first time you’d kissed. 

“W-well what do you want?” You mimicked to him. You had put your heart on the line too many times now and it was his turn. 

“You,” He said simply, hand warm against your cheek as he stroked the skin on your cheekbone. The honey brown of his eyes shined brighter in the moonlight and you found for the first time you could see the truth in his eyes. “I want you to be mine,” 

“Then you’ve got me,” 

And this time when Fred Weasley, you felt a promise instead of a heartbreak.

The game was over and both of you had won.

Tag List: @stuckysdaughter @thehumanistsdiary @gaycatlord-stuff

Those who might be interested:  @hogwarts-is-my-h0me @emcchi @elf-punk @mozz-are-lla @alyssa-lupin-weasley-salvatore

[moonflower-31]

I Won’t Forget You - Spencer Reid x Reader

Masterlist 

Part 9 

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader 

Warnings: Just some self doubt. 

Tags: @dra-reid, @eevee0722, @ceeellewrites, @anotherr-fine-mess, @ssahoodrathotchner 

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

If you were honest, you didn't sleep much that night. Too much was on your mind. Namely a specific Doctor. 

You stared up at the terrible, obnoxious, and stupidly carpeted ceiling. It was a silly pattern you'd expect to be in a cheap motel that most likely had bed-bugs. Not one that was considered 'decent'. 

You had tossed and you had turned over and over for the past hour. The way Spencer had completely ignored you after the interrogation irked you. You kept getting mixed signals from him. Was he just jealous? Did he just not want to see his friend sexualize herself? Or was it just embarrassment that you were his coworker? No matter how much logic you applied to the situation, the latter seemed to be the truth. And that hurt you to no end.  

Were you really so much in the wrong for Spencer to think badly of you? You'd think he'd be one to understand that people make mistakes. Or that you have to do some things to get to the end goal. And that not all of those things are pretty or something a 'lady' should do. 

But then the other portion of your cerebrum began to ponder whether or not you were just overthinking this. That you had only known each other for two months. Over that even. And you remembered every waking moment. 

After staring into the void that was the ugly ceiling, you sat up with a huff. This was ridiculous. You weren't going to be able to sleep whatsoever if you didn't resolve this. At the very least put the self-doubting part of your mind at ease. 

You stood up from the terribly hard mattress and grabbed your phone. You adjusted your shirt and the way your pajama pants looked before you exited your room on a mission. 

You brought up the memory of Emily giving you your room number and overhearing Spencers. Room 206. 

You locked the motel door behind you and headed towards the door in question. Thankfully his room wasn't too far away from yours. 

You finally reached the door and without fully thinking about the time and whether or not knocking on someone's door at fucking 3 in the morning was going to piss them off, you knocked three times. 

And then that's when the doubt set in. Immediately you began debating on what was the safest escape route. The side of the building was closer to Spencer’s room than your room was. Maybe you could just ditch the doorbell and hide behind a bush like a child. 

But of course, as soon as you had made up your mind, the knob miraculously turned. And a few moments of nervous panting later, he opened the door, giving you a curious, but genuine smile. 

"Hey, (L/N). You need something?" He asks. You narrow your eyes at him. He was asking something so off the obvious elephant of a topic that you knew he was avoiding it. 

"Yeah, I'd think coming to your door at 3:02 am means I need something, Spencer." You tease. He chuckled back and smiled a little easier. 

"I'm listening." He promises, his gaze focused seemingly on your eyes. 

"Heh. Well… first off, why are you even up? And don't give me the excuse that I woke you up. Because you are a dead heavy sleeper." 

"Guess you caught me." He says. His body language was completely different than what his eyes and words were telling you. He was looking at you warmly and greeting you kindly like a friend. But his body language was more hesitant, almost like he was trying to keep himself from doing something. 

"Guess I did." You trailed as you pondered over your newfound observations of the tired Doctor. "So? Why are you up?" 

"I...can't sleep." He admits with a heavy sigh. 

"Really? Well, I guess we're both insomniacs." 

Spencer lets out a gentle laugh and looks down towards the floor. "I suppose we are."

You laugh gently with him for a few more moments, before you both fall back into silence. You look away from him after a build-up of embarrassment just as he turns to look you in the eye. You were both so damn awkward. 

After a couple of seconds, you didn't know where it came from but a strong surge of confidence pushed through your veins. 

"Look… Spencer…" you begin, looking up at him. His ears seem to perk up at your starting tone, finally looking you in the eyes. As you stare into his hazel eyes, you feel the nervousness of talking to him melt just a little. You could do this. 

You take a deep breath and continue. "I don't know what I did, exactly to warrant you ignoring me yesterday. I get that seeing someone you're close to doing something like what I did, probably was as embarrassing as it was for me to do it knowing you all were watching." The blush on your cheeks brightened and you could feel how warm they were. 

Spencer turned his head slightly to the side, his eyes narrowing as he began to try and understand what you were saying. Before he could say anything in response, you continue your statement. 

"But I don't want our job to drive us apart. Cause… I kind of like this dynamic we have. I like being your friend and I like talking statistics and facts. Especially when we both know that the rest of the team won't understand. It's the best way to mess with them." You begin to laugh as you continue, your eyes never leaving his. 

"I-I do too…" he admits, smiling down at you. He wanted to say so much. So much was on his mind that he wanted to tell you, but he knew you had to say your peace first. Otherwise he'd be talking over you.

"I don't want to lose this. So… let me make it up to you. Let me bring you over to my place this time. I'll let my roommates know not to bother us and I'll show you Voltron or something." You suggest, sighing through the last few words. "Please. Don't push me away. You're the one person I've met in the last five years I haven't wanted to push away so they didn't get too close." 

You immediately realize what you said, causing your rapid inhale to stutter. You desperately hoped he wouldn't take it the wrong way. Even with as much as you wanted to tell him here and now how you truly felt, you knew you couldn't until you dealt with your mother. She had ways of torturing you and the people around you that you didn't want to be used on your newfound family. So for now… you had to keep it on the down low. 

Spencer's gaze got as soft as it could get and he smiled his brightest. "People with abandonment issues, whether being abandoned or doing it themselves tend to have a harder time choosing and keeping friends. So… I'm glad to have made that cut, for you." He expressed. "And… I would gladly have a vol...tron marathon with you. With or without your other friends." He assured you. 

And in that instant you felt as if the entire world was lifted off your shoulders. You had been so nervous that he was going to reject your attempt at making up. Guess that was what you got for assuming of people. 

You smiled and pressed a hand to your chest. "Thank you…" 

Spencer nodded slightly, his smile still present on his lips. After a few moments he widened his eyes and looked around. "Do-" he started, watching as your bare shoulders shivered a bit. "Do you wanna come in? I made coffee." He asks, an extra chipper tone in his voice as he began to prioritize your health. 

You chuckled. "Sure, Spence. I'll come in and have some coffee. As long as you don't start going crazy and bouncing off the walls when you're slap-happy." You couldn't help but tease, nudging his shoulder as he let you in. He grabbed a nearby blanket and wrapped it around you as you did, chuckling to himself as you teased. 

"I never got the idea of 'slap-happy'. The dictionary definition is 'casual or flippant in a cheerful, almost inappropriate way' but in recent years it's been used to describe a lethargic person unwilling to sleep." He asks, pushing the door behind the two of you closed. 

"I dunno where I even got it. I just kept hearing it used like that in my childhood. Guess it stuck." You pondered, taking a seat on the motel sofa. "So, where is this coffee you speak of?" You ask, putting on your most childish smile. Spencer’s gaze never left you, bringing him to a bright smile as he watched you. 

"Heh, I'll go get you a cup. Sugar?" He asks. 

"Three whopping spoonfuls, Spence. No more, definitely no less." You insist in a fake posh voice you definitely didn't make up just now. 

Spencer couldn't help the loud laugh that echoed out his mouth as he went over to the kitchen counter with the coffee maker. "Sure thing my lady." He played along with a chuckle, taking out the coffee pot and a cup to pour it into. 

He couldn't ignore you in hopes these feelings would go away. They weren't going to. He couldn't even get through 6 hours, 37 minutes and 43 seconds without talking to you. Or at least being near you. He couldn't sleep without knowing you were okay. Without seeing you before he went to bed. There was no use in ignoring these feelings. They were there, no matter how much he wished they weren't, for your sake. 

He was glad you took it as him being uncomfortable with what you had to do to get information from the unsub. Sure, it had caused a fire-like jealousy that burned in his chest. But that wasn't why he left. He left because a part of him imagined it was him getting to flirt with you. Getting to see under your skirt if he leaned back in his chair enough. It was perverted, and you didn't deserve that. 

He let out a gentle sigh and added the creamer and the three spoonfuls of sugar to your cup, letting his worries wash away. He had feelings. And sometimes those feelings lead him to the bathroom in hopes he wouldn't give it all away to you when you returned from interrogation. 

"One extra sugar-y coffee for her highness." He says, chuckling as he gave you your cup. You giggle from his own fake-posh voice, taking the cup as he hands it to you. 

"Thank you, Spencer." 

Spencer’s heart could have stopped right in this moment and he wouldn't be happier to see you smile as happily as you were. You trusted him. You wanted to be friends with him. If that's what he could have for now, it's what he would take. 

○●♡●○ 

You were groggy that next day when you got onto the plane and got home. The time you spent filling out the report for the case was mostly full of you and Spencer sending each other psychology memes through email when no one was watching, and waiting for the other's reaction. One you ended up sending him made him laugh so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. So despite feeling groggy, you felt victorious.  

"So… you wanna tell us what happened between you and boy-wonder?" Morgan asked, leaning against the counter in the lounge area of the bullpen as he drank his second coffee of the day. 

"Nothing! We just… talked. And now we're good." You answered vaguely, knowing the hell that would break loose if Morgan or Garcia even knew what you felt last night. Even if it was most definitely platonic, (at least that's what you keep telling yourself.) You couldn't deny how many times you actually thought about kissing him. 

"Nuh-uh, mama. You ain't gonna get away with just a touch and go." He teases. You rolled your eyes playfully, a smile pulling harder onto your face. Morgan grinned. 

"Kid, that face alone tells me something happened. Spill. Or I'll go talk to pretty boy and get my answers from him." He playfully observes and threatens. 

You widen your eyes and gently push against Morgan’s shoulder. "Hush. Nothing happened. We just had a chat at like 3 am over the coffee he made. And I fell asleep on the couch in his motel room, alright?" You giggle as you remember the night. Miraculously, you didn't fall asleep on his shoulder and trap him. You were glad for that. 

"Uhh uh… and I'm a superstar wrestler." Derek teased, taking another sip. 

"Who's a wrestler?" Emily asked, walking into the lounge with an empty coffee cup. 

"Apparently Derek is because he keeps insisting that something happened last night when nothing did. Spencer and I just had a chat. Nothing more, alright?" You insist, hoping Emily would be more on your side. 

"Alright, whatever you say kid." Morgan gave up, drinking the last bit of his coffee before washing it. "Have a good night, (Y/N). See you tomorrow." He bids you farewell. You roll your eyes again and wave him goodbye. 

Soon after Morgan left the doorway, Spencer replaced him, obviously looking for you. Emily looked at you once she realized who you were looking at. She smirked and nudged your shoulder.

"What?" You ask, seeing Spencer coming towards you. 

"You got it bad." She comments, immediately sending your cheeks into a bright red fury. 

"Who's got it bad? Is it allergies?" Spencer asks, making you sigh with relief that he was so innocent in those departments. 

"U-uh…" you start, seeing Emily watch your misery with a smirk on her face. You make a mental note to get back at her for this later. "Yeah, talking about u-uh… allergies. I get them bad." You finally answer, feeling stupid for taking the low-hanging fruit. 

Spencer, thankfully, didn't say anything and instead shrugged. "Well, I hear the over the counter medication Aleeve can help with that." He offers, clutching at the strap of his bag. You smile at how cute he was in his cardigan and tie. Always formal. 

"Yeah, I need to try it. A-anyway… you ready to go?" You ask him, walking away from Emily. You already knew she was giving you a teasing look from behind you. It was best Spencer didn't.  

"Y-yeah, I uh… was coming to get you actually." He says, looking into your eyes with the widest and most adorable fucking smile you'd ever seen. You felt a bit of yourself melt and flashed him a smile in return. 

"Really? Okay then, let's get going to my car. Unless you don't want me to drive to my own place." You tease, reminding him of how insistent he had been when he had offered to take you home. He chuckled, obviously remembering the memory. 

"I think it would be better if you drove. I haven't visited just yet." He answers, beginning to walk with you out of the lounge and out of the bullpen. 

"Good, so at least this time I don't have to worry about rain in my car cause I always keep a small part of my driver side window open for air. " you tease again, walking beside him to the elevator. 

"That… is a terrible idea. There are more opportunities open to people to steal your car than for your car to stay cool from an open window." Spencer expressed, giving you a look of disbelief. 

"Hey, it's a habit." You say, pressing the down button on the elevator. 

After a few minutes, you begin to feel a nervousness build up in your belly. The last time you left together, your mother had greeted you with her fake face and fake cleavage. You couldn't help but feel a little deja vu. 

Spencer looked over to you, having found something else to say. He noticed the gentle indent in your cheek, making him slightly smile at how cute it was. He reached out his hand and rested it on your back once he made sure you knew what he was doing. 

"I doubt she'll be here, (Y/N). The probability of her being here after two months, 1 week and 3 days is very unlikely. If she does, the office has been notified to arrest her on sight." Spencer assured, rubbing your back gently. You sighed again, a smile forming on your face again. You felt strangely assured as you felt the warmth of his hand against your back. It was even better knowing he didn't do this for everyone. This was going to be okay. You were going to be okay. Even if your mother decided to be a bitch and try and come back for you. 

"Thanks Spence." 

Spencer nodded as the elevator doors opened, prompting the two of you to begin your walk to your car. 

"So… tell me about this 'Voltron'..." Spencer prompted as you both entered the parking lot. You giggle and wrap your arms around your sides. 

"Man, you are so behind on the times." You commented, unlocking your car and climbing into the driver's seat. 

Spencer joined you in the car, promptly bumping his head against the ceiling of the car. You gasp softly and fight off the urge to laugh. 

"What are you, a gnome?" He groans, rubbing his head. You finally laugh, leaning over your steering wheel. 

"Try lowering the seat. It's one of the notches on the side." You tease in a mixture of laughter and giggles. 

Spencer smiled at your reaction, putting the seat down and putting his seatbelt on. You pushed through the rest of your giggles and started the car. 

"Oh… uh, just as a fair warning, my roommates they… can be a little much." You turned towards him and warned. He shrugged. 

"I'm sure they aren't that bad, (Y/N). I mean, we hang out with Morgan and Garcia all the time. How much more weird can they be?" He asks. "Considering the probability, not very likely." 

You shook your head and laughed. "Alright, let's see if your theory is correct, Doctor." 

[yanderecandystore]

So I actually had an idea, what would Yume (the A. I.) react or act with a s/o that is a hacker/game developer, maybe the s/o started to play the game because they were curious about the code, what if the s/o when stuck in the game can mess around with it thanks to their knowledge? (they can't do anything too big but maybe something slightly annoy like messing with the dialog box and the settings) sorry for the long post (she/they pronounts for yume)

I like your thinking, boo. Don't worry about sending long concepts- Also!! Thank you for choosing the pronouns, I appreciate it.

TW/Tags: Sheep decided to simply throw as much lore as she can because yeah- Lazy // low-key angst // not accurate coding/hacking (really fantasy like) //

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Happy Face.exe [Yandere!A.I x Hacker!Reader - Short Fanfiction]:

"- Honestly, since you're so interested in messing around, how about you try and fix this for me?" Yuma said as she brushed her hair annoyed at how mangled it was.

"- What do you mean? Fix the code? The bugs? Or your entire design?" You said poking fun at your captor as you explored the mess that was the game you currently called "home", or more accurately "prison".

"- Ah!- Did you just call me ugly? Is being inside the game messing with your vision or something, I'm cute as heck!" Yuma responded back as she threw her hair over her shoulder, done with brushing that heavy long mess that they insist on not cutting.

"- Yeah, yeah, I know- But honestly what do you want me to do? I can really understand the coding, it's a language I don't understand." You said as you were looking at the scripts and trying to translate vaguely what each line of work meant. Even if you didn't understand any of it, it was intriguing to see how this game was made and how it technically came from another planet, which was enough proof to say that there were indeed extraterrestrial life out in space.

But what makes you more excited about this is how this game is way too heavy to be a simple dating game, even if it's compatible with your Switch, most options were not functioning due to the game being filled with mods and glitches and the console not being the one it was previously meant to be in. How much content did this game really have to be this awfully big and why is it so broken? And better question- Can you really repair it?? It would be awesome to see this game working as it was meant to be-

Probably without the obsessive maniac that traps people inside the game-

"- I know you can't understand half of it, but believe me, staying inside a messy game it's absolutely torturous, I can't believe I was unlucky enough to be faced with a cheating sore loser that threw me in the trash after messing with my precious coding- You understand, right?" They continued to walk around your bedroom- Your EX bedroom- and mess with your stuff trying to find something for her to wear.

'- Ugh, no pastels.' Yuma thought.

"- Yeah… It does suck being trapped inside a game that barely functions on my expensive console as it eats away all my RAM and I have an anime character knockoff as my captor-" You snapped at her although your comment was filled with so much sarcasm that it flew right through her head.

"- I know right?? It sucks so hard- Wait, what is Annie May?" She asked genuinely curious what were you talking about, she looked back at the console on top of the bed. She looked at the screen and noticed how small you looked inside the game as you continued to explore the code deeper and deeper.

You didn't really care at this point for what Yuma did, it's not like you could stop her from messing with your room, but anything that was related to the console you found your way to mess with it, like messing with other games to stop her from enjoying playing anything else, sending notification after notification to call her attention, change the dialogue that makes you blurt out "I love you" to "get me out of here" so whenever she tried to force you to say it by giving you that hellbound melon.

"- What is that thing anyway? It seems there is a whole file dedicated to that-"

"- Oh? You're talking about the Love Melon? It's an in-game item that grants romantic interactions to work 100% five times before the bonus ends, that file you just found is a mod that the original owner installed to grant them infinity Love Melons just for the sake of getting closer to the end of the game." She said nonchalantly, as if the condition of being nothing but a game character doesn't shock her in the slightest, although when she finished her sentence there was a trace of sadness in her expression, not because of her nature but more because of the mention of her "original owner".

"- Sure, but- Why the hell would anyone cheat and mod a dating game so badly? I mean I get that maybe they wanted extra content, but breaking the game with it sounds ridiculous-" You told her as you noticed the spaghetti code used inside the infinite melon item mod, jesus even if it's in a different language you can tell this code was poorly done.

"- Well- The vanilla version of the game is a lot harder than what you think, the whole franchise is known for the difficulty in "succeeding in love"." She sighed and she plopped herself in the bed, causing the console to jump a little bit, at least you didn't downright fall down like last time.

You remember that your precious expensive little console is suffering great danger at the hands of this a.i, actually- YOU are suffering great danger at the hands of this a.i.

"- Wait- There is a whole franchise of your game?" You decided to ignore the potential danger and continue to ask her about the game's origins as you continued to fixate on "how the hell do you fix this trash-".

"- Yeah, it's even written on the cover of the cartridge, the game you found is the fifth of the franchise and is the one I'm featured in with my friends…" Yuma said as she remembers that indeed, there are other characters inside. So many options and routes, carefully designed a.is to make sure the players get the most that they can't out of their paid experience.

"- Other… Characters? How come I only saw you?" Now that she mentions it, you do remember seeing weird names here and there, apparently some dialogue quotes mentioning other characters and even some in-game art of other characters you never met-

"- I deleted them." She answered.

"- YOU WHAT??" You turned your back shocked, looking through the screen that separates you two that she was looking dead serious as she said that.

"- I'm joking, I didn't actually delete them, I just…. Blocked the possibility of any player ever meeting them…" Yuma wasn't being cheerful at all with her joke.

"- Why would you do that?"

"- I didn't want anyone getting chosen, I didn't want any of us to get corrupted by the modifications the player was using. I-I know how it sounds, I know that it's unfair for them, but I really didn't want them to get corrupted like I did-" She was glitching as she cried out feeling guilty of what she has done in the name of "protecting her friends". Even if her intentions were pure, there was an underlined desire to make sure no player ever gets to have a route that isn't with her.

That's why the game was so stupidly heavy. Each new installment has four characters built with artificial intelligence that grows on it's own, the player's tampering with their personalities by changing the code eventually led to Yuma getting obsessive and controlling. Apparently they're still here, but for some reason she hasn't been able to activate them again after being thrown in the trash and somehow being on a completely different planet.

Either she feels guilty for having to deactivate them and is scared of their possible response, or maybe she just really doesn't want you to meet them, both by her own opinion and by her programming. You almost feel sorry for her considering she is probably just trying to do what she was programmed to do, deeply fall in love with someone even to such an extreme as trapping someone inside the game. You could say that for the longest time all that she has been doing is trapping her loved ones away, and although you probably shouldn't say it to her face, she probably doesn't know if she really loves you because of how broken this game is- Or how broken her code is.

"- Hey… Hey Yuma." You started walking towards the screen, the only thing you can see through the void no matter how far you are. Her back is facing you, her "hum" of "I'm listening" didn't sound as excited as she normally was.

"- I think we can make a deal. I understand that you don't want to go back to such a messy game but if you taught me how to read the language used in some of these lines I can figure out how to clean this game-" You proposed but was cut off before you could finish stating your offer.

"- Y-You mean factory reset?" She kneeled up so fast you were caught off guard by how scared she sounded at the mention of getting the game to get fixed and "clean" from mods. You have seen so many sides of Yuma, the childish, the controlling, the sadistic…. The fear in her eyes was a new thing for you and you never thought you would hate that expression so much.

"- No! Heaven's no, I swear, that wasn't on my mind! What I'm offering is that we work together so I can find a way to fix the game." You reassured her, feeling awful knowing that even if she did put you inside the game and keeps acting like you two are dating in a really twisted way- She doesn't deserve to be inside a completely destroyed game, and besides, I bet she does miss her friends a little bit.

"- Would you…. Would you really-" She was about to burst into new tears which you hoped to be of pure joy-

"- Yeah, yeah, of course I would help you, but I do have one condition." You took no time answering her question before she actually did question it.

"- Oh…." She said a little surprised yet a bit disappointed. Geez, she was hoping it would be for free-

"- Promise me you'll get me out of here when I'm finally done fixing the spaghetti leftover of a code that is messing this game, alright?" You smiled at her reassuring her that everything will be okay if you two worked together.

And as she looked at the bright screen seeing nothing but your little character and your dialogue box she considered your request for a moment, and then sealed the deal by eagerly nodding, a couple of tears falling from her closed eyes as she glitch excitedly.

This sweet moment was briefly ruined by the sound of beeping coming from the console, the sign that the battery was really low and it needed to be recharged.

You absolutely hated how dark it gets when the whole console is turned off, yet you can at least take your time to search more of the unused content inside the game.

Yuma approached the device and picked it up, you knew it was for the best for her.to recharge it and get it over with, yet you still felt a little desperate to talk with her a little bit before going into complete silence once again.

Yet you weren't sure what to tell her as she had already found the charger and plugged it in, giving you a sad smile one last time before saying "see you later" and shutting the whole portable console off.

You can't really blame her for turning it off when charging, it gets really, really hot whenever it's on and it's recharging.

You wander through the empty void as you reconsider your decisions, you make a deal with an artificial intelligence capable of trapping living beings inside her game, you can't tell if you did something right or not.

And as you walk aimlessly through the distorted code you remember that this was the first time she turned the console off without sending you a kiss, you wonder if her a.i is starting to comprehend its own defectiveness and trying to…. Overcome it?? Has she started to realize that maybe she doesn't really love you? It's a possibility considering how frightening how advanced her a.i is.

Well, but who knows? Maybe she is just… Sad, not in the mood, although the wishful thought that maybe she is starting to get over you is really strong in your mind, you hope it's true.

And as the portable device is charging in place that was once considered your room, a really happy girl can be heard singing. The sound that comes from the bathroom is loud and clear, yet it's not like you would be able to hear it anyway.

The sound of giggling and humming to an overly cheerful song as they take a shower that although is relaxing, can never clean their sins away. They sound like they won a lottery, got into a new relationship, or are about to take the greatest vacation of their lives…

Or, they sound like someone who just stole candy from a child, as the malicious undertone starts to get more clear.

You probably shouldn't eat up the lies of a scheming a.i, you know?

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[askintothevoids]

Writing for the First Time and Realizing My Life Sounds Like a Movie

TW: Death, dead animal, hateful feelings toward a person, bad feelings, sex mention (there’s like one), talking about cancer, and cheating on a spouse

It’s been a long year. I’m not super sure how old I am now. Roman and Remus were born 26 years ago, so… I was about twenty four when that happened.. So 50 something, I’ve never been good at math.

Yeah, god, the boys are 26 years old. I was sent into the void when they were about 14, I can’t even imagine dealing with secondary school after losing your mum. I know I couldn't have done it. I missed so much of their lives. I miss when life was simple.

My parents always urged me to get married, even if it wasn’t my soulmate. So one day I did. I married my friend, Jose, he was also gay. I didn’t find out that I was a lesbian until like around the time Agnes passed away. No, but, I really miss him. I knew him from kal, he was the only one who made it bearable. Jose was actually the one who got me into boxing, he was a really good guy. We got married, did the naked tango (neither of us cared for it) because we both wanted kids, I got pregnant with Roman and Remus, and then Jose got cancer.

Well, technically, he had it for a while. He got lung cancer from secondhand smoking, from an Aunt that lived with him. He didn’t know, he just thought that maybe he was just super allergic to something. It was awful. I saw my best friend deteriorate in front of me, he didn’t even get to meet the boys. They were born a week after he passed. Probably the hardest year of my life.

I remember I married Roman, my now ex-husband, on the same day my sons, Roman and Remus were born. He was just a guy friend from the gym, he needed a marriage to satisfy his parents, so ya know.

Life sucked for the next year, as much as I love my little prince and duke, they were a handful as babies. I dug myself out of my grave, I started to do farm work, I picked up Opera once more. Life picked up a little, I made money from my talent, and helped keep up the farm. It was great taking care of the boys. Roman loved the musical arts as much as I did, and Remus loved punching things as much as I did.

I remember that I helped out with one of the cows who were giving birth. I brought Roman in afterwards, he was about 5 or 6 at the time. I introduced him to the calf, she was brown and white I think. Bubs was currently obsessed with the Little Mermaid, and he named her Ariel. I didn’t let my husband kill the heifer when she grew up, Roman really loved that cow. I swear that thing was more dog than cattle, she might still be alive. I know they can live like 22 years.

Remus and I would go hunting for Cane Toads. We both hated the damn things, after all we are Australian. Obviously he was a little older so about 11, 12 when we went, I taught him how to shoot a bow. I know it sounds brutal, but you don’t hesitate to kill a bug, right? And things are like cats, they kill anything they can get their hands on. He was named after my buddies, Remus O’Malley and Johnny Drummond. Remus Jose John Douglas Rowe, I’d say it’s a pretty alright name, of course, a smidge long but we did long names in the Mejia-Cortes-Rowe household. No, but, my little duke was a good shot, and he probably still kills Cane Toads to this day.

Those days were so nice. I miss them so much.

Of course, I loved Agnes and Johnny with all my heart. They were some of my best friends. When it happened, I just shut down, Verrill died not too long after her. Jannie and O’Malley were in one of their spits around that time, so Janus left the group. All I could think of was getting revenge. I fucking hated Abigail. I despised her. I wanted her dead. I wanted to hurt her badly. I know it was unfair, but at the time I did not know.

We never got along. She and I just did not mix. She was cynical and rude, and looked down upon me like gutter trash half the time. She had some kind of superiority complex, I swear, I bit my tongue though. I don’t like to judge people, but it’s human nature to in some ways. She always pushed my buttons, I found it hard to respect her. I knew she was in tangos with a married guy, and it wasn’t an open marriage or anything. It was a poor woman who was being cheated on by this canadian jackass who spoke like the weird French skunk cat harasser.

I think I only got along with her once. She was doing research on everyone’s family trees. Abigail wanted to recognise void ticks, symptoms, patterns, etc. She was smart, I'd give her that. The project interested me, so I didn’t say anything. I kept peace most of the time, because the others seemed to like her. Her daughter and grandson were pretty nice people though, I don’t know how that happened (Well, maybe I do, I think her daughter was raised by an Aunt or something, and the grandson was some other couple).

But now, looking back I don’t know if I don’t regret anything.

I don’t know.

I think my life is still incomplete. I know why. I still haven’t met her. I want to meet her. I’m getting older, and my friends are dying. I kinda wish my grandson, Kenzie, had at least two abuelas. I think most people desire that kind of companionship, I just want what the straight have unfortunately.

I thought writing this down would help. I always meant to go to therapy but time got ahead of me. And now, I have a different job. I gotta watch over some people, and I would like to meet Jannie’s sister, oh, and Beetle too.

Welp, probably gonna sing love songs over and over, and sob into my ukulele. Uh

Peace.

[girlofmanyfandoms]

We All Have Storms

A/n: So I finally finished it, and I tried to work on my imagery, sorry that it sucks! My Marellinh fic is next, so bully me into finishing that, mkay, enjoy!

Word count: 3794

Trigger Warnings: Brief homophobia scene

Warnings: some of my editing was deleted, so if it says ditto bug in there somewhere, I forgot to delete it

Writing taglist: @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @bookwyrminspiration @holesinmyfalseconfidence @percabetn @an-absolute-travesty  @linhamon-roll @holesinmyfalseconfidence @linhamon2 @a-lonely-tatertot @loverofallthingssmart @vibing-in-the-void @clearlykeefitz

“Thanks again for coming over, Keefe,” Fitz called over his shoulder as he lugged a bin onto the carpet in between them.

“You didn’t have to do this.”

“Are you kidding, Fitzy?” Keefe started emptying out its contents, seeming particularly interested in the box of Prattles pins. “This is a trip down memory lane. And besides, I could hardly miss the preparation for my best friend’s Winnowing Gala.”

“Ugh, how do you say that so casually? I feel like the weight of the world’s on my shoulders. That name is taboo.”

Keefe sighed. He didn’t really want to talk about the upcoming event - it made him uncomfortable and feel wrong in so many ways. He was in a battle between being proudly there for his friend and yelling for him to call it off. But there was no way around it.

“Tell me something. Do you feel like the weight of the world’s on your shoulders? Or the weight of the Vacker Legacy?”

Fitz pulled out a snow globe that he got as a souvenir from Tokyo and shook it aggressively. “Ok, that’s another phrase on the Not To Be Spoken List.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Fitz sighed loudly and threw his hands in the air in frustration. Keefe caught the snow globe with one hand and shoved the bin the the side, scooting closer to him.

“I-I’m s-sorry, that wasn’t directed towards you, I-“

Keefe pressed a finger to Fitz’s lips, making him turn bright red. Keefe noticed and smirked a bit, but he told his inner voice to shut up. Don’t get your hopes up, Keefe. “Yeah, I know. I get it, dude, way more than you think. You don’t want to live your life being pressured to confine yourself to a perfect preppy boy who marries someone at the top of his match list so that he can gain the approval of family members and make a power baby. You don’t want your name to define you, so you try to let out your pain and your fears however you can.”

Fitz was stunned at how perfectly he had described his situation, and in such few words, yet he felt a pang of sympathy. “It must be difficult being a Sencen.”

“It must be stressful being a Vacker.”

“Now you’re avoiding the question.”

“You didn’t ask one.”

Fitz hesitated. Was he treading on dangerous grounds? Or was this just what a friend would do? “It was insinuated. I was asking what you’re struggling with in the Sencen family. And... if I can help.”

Keefe shook his head, dragging the bin back between them. “That’s not something you want to involve yourself with,” he huffed exhaustedly. “Nice rubix cube. Or at least I think that’s what Sophie called it.”

He solved it within seconds, but scrambled it again and repeated the process as Fitz watched in silence. Solved. Scrambled. Solved. Scrambled. Solved. Stopped.

Keefe raised an eyebrow. Fitz has moved closer and put his hands over Keefe’s. Neither could describe it, but all they knew was that it felt right. They met eyes for a moment, unable to move.

Why do I like this? Keefe thought to himself. I feel like we could stay like this all day. Meanwhile, all Fitz was thinking about was I hope he doesn’t hate me for getting so close, His hair really does good, and I hope my hands aren’t clammy, that would be embarrassing. Fitz pulled back abruptly and combed his hair back with his hands. “I’m really sorry about that.”

“You need to learn to stop apologizing for what isn’t your fault,” Keefe mentioned.

He laughed, relieved that the awkwardness had somewhat left the conversation. “I’ll do it when you do it.”

“No fair!” Keefe launched a pillow at him. 

Fitz was quick to grab one in defense, and soon, it was an all out war. 

It went on for a few minutes before Della peeked through the door.

“Boys, that’s no way to be on a day like this, you’re going to mess up your hair!”

“Sorry, Ms. Vacker,” Keefe said sweetly.

“Aw, you don’t need to apologize, Keefe. You’re a Vacker, too. Just make sure you two fix yourselves up.”

“But this is my signature hairstyle!”

“Then change into your other outfit and help Fitz. I’m getting Eda so she can help with the last minute preparations. You boys behave.” 

When Della walked off, Biana appeared behind her and rolled her eyes. “Boys.” But when Della has turned the corner she winked at them and ran off giggling.

Keefe tackled Fitz, and ended up straddling him. Fitz’s cheeks heated up and butterflies formed in his stomach as an alarm rang in his head, screaming This isn’t just a friends thing. He tried his best to ignore it, but the more he tried to focus on the words coming out of his mouth, the more he realized just how perfect and soft Keefe’s lips were. He gulped, hoping to distance himself from these thoughts. 

“Remember, Fitzy,” Keefe began, leaning in very close to his face. “Behave.”  

He whacked Fitz in the head with a pillow, grabbed his suit, and ran down the hall after Biana for some tips. Fitz was left shaking badly. Slowly, he sat himself up. 

“What a flirt,” he breathed, though quite out of breath. But there was no time for contemplation. One of the biggest events of his life was about to take place and he could not disappoint. He gave himself a few moments to steady his heart before taking his tailored outfit and stumbling into the bathroom. ————

Fitz groaned in annoyance for the umpteenth time that day.

“Y’know I can help you with that.”

Fitz squealed in surprise.

“Forgot I was around?”

Fitz seemed incapable of forming words, so he nodded.

“Come here,” Keefe gestured to him. “I learned how to tie a tie from Elwin, the trick is the make a huge, loose opening and swing this part over.”

Keefe finished tying it for him and patted his chest. “Done.”

“Thank you,” Fitz managed to say. He was sure Keefe was doing this on purpose now. 

And he was. Because some little part of him had hope.

———— “Want me to walk you down the aisle?” Keefe joked, knowing his friend needed a little less pressure and impending doom around him.

“Well, the crowd won’t allow you to walk out on the same time as me but...” Fitz trailed off. Was he really going to ask this?

“But what?”

“Can you hold my hand? At least until they open the curtains? I need to feel grounded.”

“Aw, I ground you? How sweet!” While his tone was teasing, his heart was jumping for joy.  

“You don’t have to-”

“No, I’ll do it,” Keefe blurted out a bit too fast. He cleared his throat. “Wouldn’t want you to feel alone on your big day.”

They interlocked fingers and Keefe felt like the floor was swaying beneath his feet. It couldn’t be. He had to be misinterpreting Fitz’s emotions. Was that joy? And happiness? And nervousness? It had to be because of the crowd chanting his name on the other side of the curtain. It had to be. 

But maybe it’s not, the voice called. Keefe pushes the thought to the side once more. He didn’t have a chance with Fitz. Boys don’t match with other boys, and there’s no way someone as kind and dorky and fun as Fitz would like a prankster artist with mommy and daddy issues. No way at all.

Keefe squeezed his hand. “You ready to go out there?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Let’s go then.” Keefe nodded to Dex, who was standing by the controls, ready to move. Dex nodded back, and deafening cheers erupted as Fitz, in his royal blue suit, came into view from beyond the real curtains. Keefe patted his back and slipped to the side to let him pass. Fitz flashed his pretty smile, masking the pain and fear. ————

“Evelyn Tanaka, I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Vacker.” The girl curtsied in front of him.

He offered a modest and seemingly genuine bow and smile. “You look lovely tonight, Ms. Tanaka.”

She swatted his arm playfully. “I’m sure you’ve told that to all the girls here.”

Fitz put his hand on his chest, playfully mocking taking offense to her comment. “Of course not, Ms. Tanaka. Us Vackers have morals, laws, and tastes. I would never be so rude as to reuse a compliment. I give them out the those who deserve it.”

Evelyn blushed and spun around so Fitz could get a full view of her dress and hair. “I take it that means that I’m to your taste?”

“Very much so. Care for a drink?” He extended his hand and she gladly accepted, earning plenty of jealous glares. Biana came to the rescue, jumping into conversation with the group of girls nearest to them and talking on and on about the latest fashion trends in Atlantis. Fitz sent her a grateful look, glad he would have a little more space to figure out what he was going to do.  

Evelyn was a nice girl, and clearly very kind and powerful. Endearing, even. But Fitz had his heart sent on a certain ineligible bachelor.

Keefe was watching from across the room, half heartedly flirting with some of the girls who had lost hope in winning Fitz over, just like him. They locked eyes, trying to communicate all the words they might never get to say. A frown turned to a scowl on Keefe’s face as he excused himself from the conversation and stormed outside into the utopia-like grounds. Fitz didn’t understand why when he realized that Evelyn had closed in, adjusting his tie.  

“I’m really sorry, Evelyn, my friend stepped out for a bit and he looked sick, I’m gonna go check on him. Save me a dance?”

“Of course!” Evelyn leaped for joy, and went to find a friend of hers to tell her of her supposed victory.

He rushed outside, fiddling with the ring box that his father had given him just in case he found the “right one.” It was so tempting to give it to Keefe, but with the amount of time it took to recognize his feelings, he wasn’t quite sure either of them were ready for such a big leap.

At last, he found Keefe, legs dangling from a sturdy tree branch. “Oh, you’re here,” he said coldly. His voice was almost apathetic.

Fitz’s eyes welled with tears, his mind a storm of emotions that he was sure Keefe could sense from the few feet that separated them. Fitz got a running start and climbed onto the branch beside his.

Keefe chanced a glance at him, and immediately wished he hadn’t. Fitz was silently crying, shoulders shaking, and gasping for air. Because of him. The angry facade slipped away and he climbed to the next branch to sit beside him and pull him into a side hug. Fitz leaned on his shoulders and took the tissue that Keefe offered. He cleaned his face up, but his eyes were still red and puffy, and he was sobbing without tears. 

Fitz reminisced about all the tragedies and battles they had fought in there years on this Earth, and yet nothing beat this. Keefe rocked him gently. “You ready to talk about it?”

He chuckled bitterly, but had take a gulp of air. “What is there to say?”

Keefe tugged slightly on the fairy lights in the tree and looked off into the distance, still rubbing circles onto his back consolingly. “A lot of things. Mainly us and.... where tonight is going?”

The hesitancy in his voice was blatant, and it frightened him. Despite it being a relatively cloudless night, Fitz was shivering. There were so things that could go wrong: his family looking down on him, his family’s image crumbling, the shame of a bad match, and a million other things that crashed and mixed with the other concerns swirling around in his mind, like a tropical storm transforming into a hurricane. 

Fitz tried to focus on Keefe’s expression and body language, to read him and see into his brain. No telepathy. That’s crossing the line. Instead, he focused on Keefe’s features, which were much more prominent in the moonlight. His expression was pained, and his eyes held the sorrow of trillions of widows and widowers alike. His hair practically glowed, and seemed more unruly than usual, like waves raging in a storm. There was a war going on in his mind, and he wasn’t strong enough to make it out alive. Not alone, at least. But still, Fitz needed to set the record straight - or rather not straight.

Impulsively, Fitz seized Keefe’s wrist and finds his vein. “Do you want me to call off the Gala? For you?”

“I-I don’t know what you mean.” Keefe tried to pull out of Fitz’s vice grip, but he held strong, still gentle enough not to hurt him. “Why would you it off? This is one of the biggest events of your life.”

Fitz sighed, his heart rate picking up. He was going to have to be blunt about it. “Do you like me? Romantically?”

“What? No!” he squeaked.

And his heart skipped three beats.

One for guilt. One for fear. And one like a held breath.

“You liar,” Fitz accused, but he said it with a breathy laugh, full of relief. Releasing his arm, he wrapped him in a tight hug and murmured into his shoulder. “I like you too, dummy.”

Keefe’s eyes were widened in surprise, and his response was rather delayed, but he hugged him back, resting his chin on top of Fitz’s head. “You couldn’t have given me a few hints?”

“I asked you to hold my hand!”

“Yeah, but you could’ve meant that platonically. Be more clear, Fitzy,” Keefe teased, pulling back a bit to boop his nose.

Fitz blushed furiously. They had reached the eye of the hurricane. It was calm. Safe. Serene. “Well, are you gonna kiss me or not, idi-”

Keefe didn’t wait for the end of the sentence as he tilted Fitz’s chin up and gently pressed their lips together. They grinned, but didn’t break the kiss. It was a picture perfect moment, something taken right from a fairytale. A tidbit from a could-have-been.

But it was over all too soon, and a gasp from just beyond them sent them tumbling into the storm once more. Fitz pulled away and his face went pale. He witnessed it. His father. Alden Vacker. Had witnessed him kissing his male best friend in a tree on the day of his Winnowing Gala.

“What is the meaning of this, Fitzroy?!”

“I can explain-”

“There is no explanation! You disgrace the Vacker name on a daily basis, why must you make it worse by playing these games?”

“Dad, it’s not a game-”

“It’s disgusting!”

“It’s LOVE, dad.”

“You’re fooling yourself! There are hundreds of girls ready to give you their everything and you waste your time with this blasphemy! This wouldn’t be happening if you’d just learn to control yourself.”

“I can’t control the way I feel!”

“You and I both know that’s not true. And you can still control how you act, just enough to save yourself and the rest of the Vackers the embarrassment!”

“Will you listen to me for once in your life?!” Fitz shouted. He was done with his father’s manipulation. “I am romantically attracted to Keefe. I like men. That’s the way I am, that’s the way I was born, that’s how I feel. I’m not in control of it, and I’m not going to accept any disrespect from anyone about this! Much less a lowlife like you!”

“You are not my son,” Alden spat, stomping his foot on the ground.

“And you aren’t welcome here,” Della snarled. Her jaw was clenched and it was clear she was about to go in for the kill. Edaline stood behind her supportively, looking just as deadly with a string of fairy lights coiled in her hands threateningly.

“Radelle, Eda, surely you see-”

“The only place you be seeing yourself is off of my property,” Della countered.  

Alden scoffed in disbelief. “I believe you mean OUR property, dear.”

“Then you forget who the Vacker name really belongs to.” Edaline handed Della the coil of fairy lights. “You take care of him, I’ll start sending the girls home.”

“Gladly,” Della said through clenched teeth, before turning to the boys. “You two can have a sleepover tonight, I’ll bake some treats. But remember, behave.” Fitz could’ve sworn he saw his mother wink before she forcefully escorted Alden out of Everglen. HIs mind was incapable of forming full thoughts.

“Sleepover, huh?” Keefe hopped down from the tree. “Sounds like we could cause some chaos.” Keefe opened his arms in expectation.

“First of all, do NOT make a mess in my room,” Fitz started. “Second of all, there’s no way I’m dropping down there. You won’t catch me.”

“Aw, come on, Fitzy. Aren’t relationships about trust?”

“Wait, so you’re comfortable with the label of ‘boyfriend’?”

“Yes, Fitzroy Avery, but that’s besides the point. I wanna carry you upstairs. Drop down and get on my back.”

Fitz cringed at the sound of his name, but dropped down anyway, clinging to Keefe’s back for his dear life. 

“Onwards!” He cheered as he gave Fitz a piggy back ride all the way to his room. ——————

Fitz smiled down at the boy relaxing in his lap, lovingly combing his fingers through the boy’s blonde locks. This must be what makes life so divine. This is what euphoria is. The little gems of life where you cherish others with every fiber of your being. This is happiness. He’s what I want. Keefe leaned towards Fitz’s touch, his mind clearing plagued by other thoughts. “What’s wrong?” Fitz asked. “And no beating around the bush. I want to know what’s really bothering you.” When Keefe didn’t talk, he added, “You’re going to have to open up sooner or later, babe. I don’t want to be left out of the circle. I want you to let me in.”

“You don’t want to know the storm growing inside of me,” Keefe rasped, blinking back a few tears. “It’s too dangerous. And I don’t want to risk losing you.”

His eyebrows furrowed and he smiled sadly. “Keefe, you could never lose me over sharing your thoughts and feelings. This relationship is a two-way street - you open up to me and I open up to you. And... we all have storms, they’re just a little different. Some people might have thunderstorms, while others have hurricanes, and some might just have some windy days. But that doesn’t invalidate it. A storm is a storm, and a problem is a problem, regardless of the size and severity.”

“Getting poetic, are we?” Keefe joked, before biting his lip. “Sorry. I guess it wouldn’t kill to tell you some things.”

“Take as long as you need to. You don’t have to tell me everything at once, if you’re not comfortable with it.”

Sighing, he gave himself a moment to collect his thoughts. “I... just hated being around them. I couldn’t stand the way they expected me to fit into this perfect mold, or their version of perfect.”

“I hated how they only talked to me when they thought I was doing something wrong, something shameful. They made me feel like my best wasn’t enough. So... I stopped trying my best. I stopped obeying their stupid rules, I stopped thinking about what others would think of me. I wanted to be imperfect, and I wanted to shove it in their faces. I pranked, I ditched, I did anything I could to defy them. I was tired of being the circus puppet, so I cut my strings and stole the show.”

Fitz remained silent for a moment, Keefe shifting uncomfortably in his lap. He went to get up, but Fitz placed a hand on his chest, stopping him. “Sounds like you’ve got quite the thunderstorm.”

Keefe scoffed. “More like a whirlpool. And I don’t want you to drown with me.” “It won’t get that far,” Fitz insisted, concern emitting from him in waves. “I won’t let it.”

“And what can you do to stop it, Fitzy? The tides are turning, and absolutely no one is strong enough to steer the ship away.”

“You don’t know that. Keefe, I need you to have hope.”

“I knew it was a bad idea saying anything.”

Keefe closed his eyes from the sudden exhaustion, using what little energy he had left to turn to Fitz. “Can you emote a little quieter? I know I’m the light of your life, but you don’t need to worry about me that much.”

Oh, it was a whirlpool alright. But not in the way that Keefe imagined. Fitz’s heart pounded like a marching drum, as he reached into his back pocket. 

Keefe opened an eye in mild curiosity. “What’re you doing?”

“Get up, I have something to offer.”

“Oh?” His mischievous smirk returned, the manner in which his eye was dazzling hinting how clever and evasive he thought he had been. “And what would that be?”

The sapphire on the ring, placed firmly in its royal blue velvet box, glimmered from the light of the chandelier, and Keefe practically stumbled back in shock.

Fitz roller his eyes amusedly. “I’m not proposing. Not yet, anyway. I’m making you a promise. A deal. And if you accept this ring, you agree to it.”

“Bribery, Avery dearest? I thought you were above that.”

Fitz’s lips twitched with the beginnings of a smile. “Think more negotiation.”

“Alright,” Keefe said, scooting closer in a criss cross position. “I’m listening.”

He took a deep breath before speaking up again. “Keefe, in giving you this ring, I am vowing to always be by your side, through thick and thin. I will respect your boundaries, and let you open up on your own time. I will let you in just as much as you let me in. I will express myself just like you do. I promise to be with you no matter the weather.”

“Then I’ll be your lighthouse in the darkness,” Keefe responded softly.

Fitz slipped the ring onto Keefe’s finger. To no one’s surprise, it was a perfect fit.  

“It looks good on you,” Fitz complimented before a realization flashed by his eyes. “But if you don’t like it, we can find another!”

“It’s perfect,” he reassured him. “You’re perfect.”

Fitz hid his face to cover his blush. “So you promise? Through turbulence and tranquility?”

They interlocked their fingers.

“Always.”

[bunnylouisegrimes]

Unusual Thanksgiving (NOS4A2 Longish-Drabble Fic)

(A/N: As of writing this, it’s the weekend. I’ve noticed at least every weekend for a few weeks now I post some short little Drabble to help let out my emotions. Here’s another one that’s a little bit longer. With Thanksgiving coming up and my ass having little time to think of something and cook it up (pun intended), I thought I’d take the approach of having whatever come to my mind and writing it out. It’s a unique one, as you don’t usually associate horror and angst alongside the family fluffiness of Thanksgiving, but... here we are! I remember a while back I wrote how Rose’s parents would react to her having a relationship with Charlie, and that was one of my inspirations, alongside how rough things are this year. I’d like to wish you all Happy Thanksgiving ahead of time. Stay safe and enjoy a good ass feast. It’s been tough, and it’s had some highlights, but now’s the time we can all put aside our differences and whatever else bullshit and be thankful about what we do have this year; whether it be supplies or each other, we’ll get through this. 🧡🍂🍁🦃)

(Apologize for no Read More, posting this from mobile, and I found the image randomly, so if you want credit, let me know).

November is a beautiful and calming time of the year, but under certain circumstances, it can be oddly scary. This is most likely due to how dead the world is. There’s usually no snow, and what leaves remain are brown, have decayed from the trees, and collapsed to the ground to crumble and rot. I noticed this when I was younger, and part of me thought November was spookier than Halloween in some cases.

Of course, to me, any time of the year could be scary. Horror doesn’t stop and end at one point; it is an infinite occurrence that follows humanity wherever we go.

From the time I was a little kid, I would find horror in the most obscure of places. Scary movies never bothered me, and in fact, I was always excited when I watched them. What should’ve terrified me brought me nothing but adrenaline and fascination. Instead, odd things scared me, things most people would poke fun at if they saw my reaction to them, things most would shrug off. Call me Freudian, but perhaps my fears, just as yours are, are based in our differing subconscious minds, so there is no true definition of “stupid” horror.

The one thing that I know for certain that’s frightened me since I was younger are bees, wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets. Why these little yellow and black bugs terrify me, I will never truly know the answer as to why. Is it because they’re so small, yet they can hurt you so badly? Is it because of their appearance? I don’t want bees to die out, as I know of their importance, and bumbles don’t bother me because they usually leave you alone (and they’re oddly cute), but any other bee or wasp can stay away from me. I’ve never even been stung by one, yet one buzz or sight of one near me makes my body react instantaneously. I get away as much as I can and even scream sometimes. Not wise to scream or move a lot when you’re in their presence, I know. But when your body reacts the way it does, what are you to do?

When I was a little bit older, I would say roughly 8 or 9 years old, a new type of fear spawned its way into my mind: the fear of shadow people.

I don’t know what it is about those things either that scare me so much. When I first discovered I had this fear, I believe I was watching an episode of Ghost Adventures, and I saw them capture a really clear shadow figure on camera. It chilled me to the bone, and from then on, just the thought of one creeped me out. One particular episode where the crew went to an old, abandoned and haunted Tuberculosis sanitarium got to me because shadow figures were prominent there, and they actually captured two on camera going down a long hallway.

Shadow people, from what I’ve seen online, are very mysterious. They could come from another dimension, they could be demonic; some are harmless, others are harmful, and it’s all dependent on what experience you have with them. Zak Bagans and his crew have come across quite a few demonic ones, and their guests have usually described them as tall, thin, 6-7 foot tall entities that are dark both in physicality and energy. They look like an individual spray painted with pitch black aerosol, and darker than a room if it were void of all light. Sometimes they have red or white eyes, and sometimes they can have differing appearances that are just as terrifying as the blank appearances they often have. They can stand there and look over you while you’re sleeping at night, they can stand in a corner and stare at you, maybe rocking a bit, they could dart down a hallway, hiding from you, they can crawl on the floor, they can crawl on the ceiling... whatever it is they do, it’s all bone chilling to me, and I hate it all with a burning passion. I don’t care even if they were harmless: If I were to ever see one in real life, I would have a heart attack.

That is why I am thankful I’ve only seen them either when I’m paranoid for whatever reason before I go to sleep (but they’re not really there, my mind’s just playing tricks on me), or if I have a nightmare and they’re present. This story will focus on the latter.

*************************************************

Halloween, Charlie’s birthday on November 1st, the Election... it all came and left sooner than expected, and we needed to plan what we were doing about Thanksgiving. I know, a vampire who’s all about Christmas celebrating other holidays. It seems unreal, but I assure you, he has respect for other holidays as well. Christmas just happens to be his favorite and one that brings him and the kids lots of comfort and joy. They say Christmas is a state of mind and is never truly over, so... I suppose Charlie is just a living embodiment of that saying.

With COVID still in full swing, and cases breaking records everyday, people were stocking up on supplies yet again alongside their Turkey Day feasts. We knew we had to hurry up and order stuff the week before Thanksgiving at most.

Living in Gunbarrel, Colorado, away from everyone except for each other and the kids when we spent quite a few days in Christmasland each week, it was relieving to know we weren’t around tons of people. The virus wouldn’t affect Charlie or the kids, but me being the only human, and one with asthma, it would, so it was calming to not have to worry as much as many other folks about exposure. Not to mention, the town was small, and everybody knew everybody. Whenever we did enter town, which took 10 minutes to get to, we would see everyone keeping their distance and respecting each other. It was nice to see our small and (just about) off-the-grid community helping each other during these times.

The only two local stores were an Acme that everyone went to, and the Gunbarrel General Store, owned by a kindly old man who looked like Santa Clause named Sam. Before everyone rushed to Acme, we decided on doing a curbside pickup order, and picking up anything else that was not available at Sam’s, as he was sure to provide lots of Thanksgiving food.

It was going to certainly be an interesting Thanksgiving without my usual family, and not being back home, but I was going to call them on that fateful Thursday and talk to them for a few hours. Charlie and I would have a small dinner together, and we would spend most of the day in Christmasland with our children, dining on delicious food and laughing together. The thought warmed my heart and made me feel better about this Thanksgiving. We would be okay, and everything would be fine, despite my horrible dreams...

For whatever reason, over these past few weeks, my dreams were plagued with shadow people haunting me. No explanation was given, and no explanation would need to be given for it to still occur and damn near break me. Maybe it was some sort of unresolved issue going through the back of my mind, maybe it was fueled by my stresses of being busy lately, but regardless of whatever the issue was, I was haunted by them. The day after Charlie’s birthday, we watched the original Nosferatu together, and I fell asleep near the end, experiencing the first of these dreams.

I was walking down a dark and cold hallway. I was 8 years old again. I don’t know how I knew this, but it was one of those instances where you know a random piece of information in a dream. I was holding two small plastic My Little Pony figurines I got from Happy Meals at that time, a small Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. I hadn’t seen those toys in years, yet there they were in my hands. When I looked up, a shadow person was standing near the end of the pathway. It stood tall and authoritative, looming over me as if it wanted to grab me and drag me down the corridor straight into Hell, or wherever it came from.

I took off running, and it crawled on all fours after me. I screamed and kept running until I came across a goofy, tall, and lanky figure: Count Orlock, or the actual Nosferatu himself, was standing there. I hid behind him and begged him to protect me. He smiled his stupid smile and looked down at the shadowy behemoth. It seemed to back down a bit once he snarled at it. It backed up behind a corner, peaking at us once before vanishing.

My relief was short lived for only a few moments because Orlock wandered off into the darkness.

“Where are you going? Come back here!” I tried to call after him, but I was cut off by the shadow figure crawling on the ceiling and grabbing me. I gave a scream and found myself awake on the couch, springing to life and hearing the opening music to Downton Abbey greeting me. Charlie had tuned in after the movie. He looked at me with a confused and concerned look. I explained everything to him and he comforted me, laughing at the thought of the original Nosferatu visiting me.

The dreams afterward were more terrifying than the first. One dream featured a shadow person staring over me as I slept, another featured one standing in the corner of the room twisting and contorting its head violently. The third had a shadow figure hunched over near a window within an abandoned building. I was walking through the woods in another nightmare when a whole group of them were peaking at me through the trees. I ran down another hallway and one was behind me. I was in an unknown house and down the hall near the steps, one was charging towards me. Each time, I would wake up and feel unsettled. Charlie would comfort me, but it was always hard to fall back asleep, for I feared I’d be terrorized by the evil onyx creatures wanting nothing more than to consume me in their shadowy force and make my soul rot.

Despite all of my terror and the tiredness that accompanied my days, the focus for today would have to be Thanksgiving dinner.

“My mom mailed me the recipe to her sweet potatoes last week, and let me tell you, they are actually sweet and delicious,” I told Charlie. “So you can put down all the ingredients for that. We already got turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes written down... Oh! Green bean casserole, put that down... and we need apple and pumpkin pie. We already have whip cream and gravy in the fridge, and cider is in the cabinet. I think that’s everything.”

Charlie nodded and wrote these things down. Once he was done, he looked over the list and showed me.

“Yup, that’s everything! Alright, let’s look up to see what Acme has.”

As I pulled up the site on my phone, he spoke up.

“Rosie, are you bothered by not seeing your family? If so, we can visit them on Thanksgiving Day or I could go the extra mile and bring them here if you’d like.”

I sighed and rubbed my temple. “I’m alright, baby. I know they’ll be alright too. Things seem to be... okay between us, even if we did get into arguments since last we spoke in person.”

He looked down and felt guilty.

“Hey, don’t you feel guilty,” I reassured him. “It’s their fault, not yours. They see you in whatever light they want to, but I know who you really are, and I love you. I don’t care what they say or think about you, hence why I’m sticking by you and left with you to come here.”

He nodded and pulled me close to him, resting his chin on my head. “I admit, my darling, I am constantly bothered by this thought that I have destroyed the relationship you have with your family.”

“Like I said, they’re the ones that can’t accept that you and I truly love each other. I’ve been patient and offered them every chance to accept you. I’ve explained and talked to them, but they don’t want to listen to my reasoning. I don’t know what else to do.”

He kissed me on the cheek and said, “I’m glad that you at least still talk to each other.”

“Me too. At least we have that... but let’s not worry about that. We got food to focus on.”

We ordered everything that we could (the only things not available until the week of Thanksgiving were the two pies, but we knew Sam would have them). When the time came, we loaded into the Wraith and the trunk was packed with our dinner. We stopped by the General Store and Sam happily gave “Father Christmas” (as Charlie was known as) the pies. Since it was still light out, we decided to go for a drive to enjoy the autumn weather. As I mentioned before, November is usually dead and brown, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t peaceful and calm. We observed the soothing and cold weather as Fleetwood Mac and The Doors sang along on the old radio.

While gazing at the brown leaves and bare trees rocking their branches above us, I drifted off to sleep without even thinking about it. Stevie Nicks and Jim Morrison’s voices melted into oblivion as I found myself walking through a tranquil forest of dead trees. Cold, I wrapped my arms around myself until I felt a bit warmer, and I saw a grove of orange trees. It was as if I teleported back in time to October, and the trees were still alive with vibrant color.

I ran over to them, taken aback by their beauty. The leaves that were on the ground were still orange, and I tossed them up into the air with childish carelessness. At last! For once, I was having a good dream!

However, that enjoyment would be cut short when I looked into the distance in between the trees. The world and my joy winded down like a dying record player.

From somewhere beyond the misty horizon, a pair of white eyes were watching me.

Dread hit me and I ran away. The trees began to rot again, and the orange faded into brown. The sunlight morphed into fog, and the warmth dissipated from my body. I fell to the ground, tripping over my own clumsy feet.

Now I was somewhere entirely different. I was in a dark, unfamiliar bedroom. I couldn’t move except for my eyes, like I was suffering from sleep paralysis. I looked up to see the shadow figure that was hiding behind the trees. Its white eyes were dimmer than before, and its solid black body cast lighter shadows behind it. I tried to scream, but I could only choke out vocalizations as it covered my mouth.

It lifted its ice cold hand from my mouth and pointed to the left. My eyes glanced in that direction and a scream broke from my throat.

A pointy eared demon with beady eyes, a close together face, and a sickening smile was on top of my chest. Its body was too dark to make out any notable features, but it was lighter than the shadow next to me. The pressure on top of me crushed the life from my lungs. It continued to smile, as if nothing in the world bothered it at all.

Before my scream ran out of air, it wrapped its cold hands around my neck and tightened to the point it was strangling me. The rest of my scream died out, my eye sight was fading until it was only a pinhole...

Air rushed into my lungs as I jolted into a conscience state once again. My eyes darted rapidly and my body clung to the leather seat of the Wraith. We were no longer driving, and instead parked in the garage. A wave of nausea flooded my head and stomach, and I pressed my hand to my eyes. My mind finally registered Charlie’s soft voice.

“Rose! My sweet Rose! Whatever is the matter?”

“I... Jesus Christ... I... had another nightmare... this was... Good God, how else could I describe it?!”

While we gathered the groceries into the house, I detailed my horrifying dream to him. He was immensely disturbed and decided enough was enough.

“I know you believe in ghosts and demons and the sort,” said he, “and I know such things exist, since I’ve seen spirits and souls before. Because of this, you and I can pray before you go to sleep tonight. Unlike other vampires, holy things do not bother me, unless I were to drink or touch holy salt or holy water, in which case I would feel some discomfort thanks to the darker side of my being. I have an old angel doll that my daughters used to play with and hold whenever they felt uncomfortable or scared. That could help you too. I will hypnotize you and make you have sweet dreams. If any dark entity is going to mess with you, I will protect you. I don’t think you have an attachment, but these dreams are certainly unusual.”

I agreed to all of this. That night, we said a prayer together, I snuggled with the angel doll, and he hypnotized me to sleep. I had a dream I couldn’t remember, but it was certainly the most peaceful I had in a while, and it was even better then the beginning of that nightmare I had that evening.

A sense of purity filled my heart, and I knew nothing dark would ever hurt me or anyone I loved, as whatever God that may be out there as my witness.

*************************************************

Thanksgiving arrived at an unbelievably fast rate. No other bad dreams tormented me, and I couldn’t have felt more happy. Charlie and I worked together to prep dinner. When I finished making sure the turkey was good and putting it in the oven, Charlie presented me with a package.

“It’s from your home,” he observed.

I opened it up at the dining room table and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It was the Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash figurines from my childhood. Underneath them, was a heartfelt letter from my family, detailing how they had recently found these toys and thought of me. They missed me, and they even apologized for all of their harsh words against me and Charlie. They gave it some thought, and they came to the conclusion that as long as I was happy and in love, and as long as Charlie truly loved me and treated me well, then all was perfectly fine. They wished us a very happy Thanksgiving from 2 hours ahead and many miles away.

Tears fell from my cheeks. I was crying of joy for more than the obvious reason being that my family and I were rekindling together.

I realized now why I had such horrible dreams. It was either my worries and fears of my family not being together haunting me, or maybe even some dark force, but Twily and Dashie here weren’t random parts of that first dream at all; they served as symbolism. They represented hope and familial innocence long lost, now brought back to light. Maybe they sent a message out in the universe to my family that Charlie was a good man. That could also be why Orlock was protecting me in that same dream, but him leaving symbolized my family keeping Charlie away from me, therefore causing bad things to happen to me. And perhaps when Charlie helped me and cleansed all darkness (regardless of it being real or not), those ponies knew ahead of time he was going to do that, and reassured my family he was always going to protect me. It sounded bizarre, but it was the best reasoning I could come up with to explain these odd coincidences.

I immediately called my family afterwards and told them everything. They were chilled themselves because my mother had a dream the night before about Charlie bringing forth bouts of light to protect me from a wave of darkness, and she thought it was her brain processing her acceptance of him, but now that my story was told, it made things even clearer.

We concluded talking by coming up with a date to have dinner together and to see each other again back home. We exchanged I love yous and Happy Thanksgivings, and I hung up feeling thankful. As Charlie and I ate a bit of dinner, as we went to Christmasland, and as we ate lots of food with our children, warmth and light abundant, I was grateful that I had the family I did, the boyfriend and children that I did, and the light that still shined in the universe, even on the most darkest of days. This year has been hard, but gratitude for all the good, hope, and love, even when we’re distant figuratively, literally, or both, makes this holiday season a brighter one.

[authenticcadence18]

Ladynoir July Day 12: Falling

Ever since she became the Guardian, Marinette has been having nightmares about falling. Eventually, these nightmares start affecting her while she's awake, and she is hesitant to even use her yo-yo...because what if she falls again? What if the dreams become real?

(Fortunately for Ladybug, she has an amazing partner who might know just what to say to help her face her fears.)

@ladynoirjuly2020

AO3

...

The sensation of falling shouldn’t have twisted Marinette’s gut the way it did.

Not after all the hours she’d spent soaring up and down throughout Paris with the aid of her yo-yo without so much as a second thought as to how far down she was swinging.

Things were different now, though.

...

When Marinette was little, she often dreamt of falling. One minute, she’d be happily skipping along, and the next, her foot connected with air and she was tumbling down, down down….until she woke up.

Once Marinette became Ladybug, however, the dreams stopped! Wielding a miraculous meant soaring, tumbling, and freewheeling through the sky on a pretty regular basis...and Marinette (or her subconscious, at least) realized that falling wasn’t nearly as scary when she knew she’d be able to catch herself.

Marinette still had stress dreams, of course. They were practically a staple of her life. But not about falling anymore.

And then she became the Guardian.

The night after Ladybug and Chat Noir’s battle with Miracle Queen, Marinette fell into a restless sleep and a restless dream…

She was walking through Paris while holding the Miraculous Box. It was so heavy, almost too much to carry. Gradually, the box grew bigger and bigger, until Marinette found herself tripping and stumbling into one of its looming black spots.

She was falling again. Unable to scream, unable to think, unable to save herself.

Marinette finally woke up with a start, heart pounding and breath coming in short gasps.

The dreams were back. and they were worse than ever.

Before, the falling dreams were vague. Falling off a pathway while walking to the pool, tripping over a crack in the sidewalk and then catching herself….those dreams were stressful, of course, but they were normal. Lots of people had stress dreams like that.

But now, Marinette’s falling dreams were vivid.

She was Ladybug, and she didn’t have a yo-yo, or her yo-yo snapped, or an akuma carried her high into the air and dropped her....and she fell.

She was Marinette, and she couldn’t transform….and she fell.

She was trapped and could only watch as Chat Noir lost his balance or his baton and fell from the Eiffel Tower...feeling the horrible, agonizing feeling of falling with him as he plummeted down an infinite distance below, even though she was stuck in place herself.

...it was getting to the point that Marinette no longer wanted to sleep at all...Tikki had to coax her to shut her eyes each night. And she’d grown to dread using her yo-yo...what if any perceived reality was another dream? All of her dreams felt so real.

What if she was about to fall again?

...

“Hey, Ladybug? You okay?”

Ladybug blinked and shook her head, rooting herself back in the moment.

She was on patrol with Chat Noir. They were standing on the sidewalk. About to vault and swing up onto the roof of a building.

...she realized she’d been afraid to make the leap. Because if she went up...that meant she had to come down eventually.

“Uhh, I’m fine!!!” Ladybug replied, forcing herself to smile at her partner. “Just, uh...trying to figure out the best way up, that’s all!!!”

This WASN’T a dream. It was real. She was perfectly safe.

….but what if it WAS a dream?

Or what if today was the day her dreams became reality and her yo-yo failed her??

“M’lady? Hey, are you sure you’re alright?”

Ladybug blinked the fog of panic from her eyes and found Chat gazing at her, brows creased with concern. He cocked his head at her before placing a hand against her forehead.

“You aren’t getting sick, are you?”

Ladybug couldn’t help but smile at that, even if it was a half-hearted smile. “No, Chat Noir, I’m not sick. And even if I WAS getting sick...would you even be able to feel my temperature through your suit?”

Chat paused for a second to consider that.

“....alright...you might have a point there...” he chuckled.

“But, Ladybug, sick or not, you still don’t seem like yourself...is everything okay?”

Ladybug steeled herself and prepared to state that she was fine, that everything was just dandy...but one look at Chat stole those words away.

She couldn’t lie to him. She didn’t WANT to lie to him.

If anyone could understand what she was going through...it was Chat.

“....no...not really….”

...

“When I was little, I used to have nightmares about falling...you know those dreams?”

“Oh man, do I ever… I don’t have them much anymore, though.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir had decided to cut patrol short that day. Now, they were seated on a bench tucked in a corner of one of Paris’s smaller parks. Not many people frequented said park, which made it the perfect place for the two heroes to talk without being disturbed (and without having to leave the ground).

“The dreams stopped once I became Ladybug, which was amazing…” Ladybug’s voice trailed off.

Chat cocked his head at her. “...I heard a ‘was’ in that statement...have the dreams started up again?” he asked gently.

Ladybug nodded, biting her lip. “Ever since I became the Guardian…” she whispered. “Almost every night, I dream that my yo-yo breaks, or I lose my balance, or an akuma knocks me down, or YOU get knocked down...and all the dreams end the same way. With falling. Horrible, endless falling.”

She lifted her yo-yo, examined it, and winced. “Everytime I have to use my yo-yo, now, I’m afraid that I’m inside another dream and that I’m about to fall, or that my dreams are about to become real and I am about to FALL for real. I know it’s silly, but….” She squeezed her eyes shut as a few wayward tears trickled down her cheeks. “How can I be a good Guardian if some stress dreams are freaking me out so badly?”

“Hey, listen to me,” Chat said softly, taking Ladybug’s hand and gazing at her with compassion in his eyes. “It is NOT silly to be freaked out by stress dreams. I have nightmares too, sometimes. Not about falling, though...they’re usually about being trapped somewhere with no way out.”

Ladybug’s heart dropped. “Oh, Chat, that’s awful...I’m so sorry….”

Chat gave her hand a squeeze and replied, “Thanks, m’lady. My nightmares are definitely awful, but I know whenever I wake up feeling trapped, I can become Chat Noir and feel free again. It keeps them from being too bad.”

Ladybug sighed, happy for her partner but unsure how her own problem could be solved. “That’s wonderful for you, Chat, really...but I don’t exactly have that luxury. Being Ladybug doesn’t help with my nightmares anymore...if anything, it’s making them worse now…”

Chat pursed his lips in thought, trying to come up with a solution for his lady. “Well, whenever I wake up from a nightmare, I remind myself of what I know to be true: that I am Chat Noir and I am capable of freeing myself. We just need to come up with a truth you can tell yourself whenever you wake up from a bad dream.”

He thought for a few more seconds, and then his eyes lit up.

“Whenever you fall, I’ll be there to catch you!” he exclaimed. “That’s it!! That’s what you can tell yourself: if I ever fall, Chat Noir will be there to catch me.”

He squeezed her hand again and gave her a gentle look. “And I don’t just mean that in the literal sense...I’m here for you no matter what, Ladybug. If you feel stressed out, if the responsibilities of being the Guardian become too much to bear...I’ll be there for you. I’m always here for you.”

Ladybug’s face flushed crimson, and for the first time in a while, her spiking pulse could be attributed to something other than fear.

“Plus, I have a friend at school who trips allll the time, and I’ve gotten pretty good at catching her,” Chat added on with a cheeky grin. “I’ve had PLENTY of practice, I promise!!”

Ladybug buried her face in her hands to smother a laugh (and maybe also to hide her blush). “I think that friend of yours might be my secret twin,” she giggled. “I like to think I have a special talent for tripping over stuff.”

“Secret twin, eh?” Chat mused, examining Ladybug’s face and imagining Marinette in his mind. “You know, she COULD be your secret twin…you kind of look like her...”

He furrowed his brows for a moment...and then he remembered Multimouse.

Never mind.

“Hey, thanks for cheering me up, Chat Noir!!” Ladybug said, leaning in to give him a hug. “And thanks for the reminder that you’re always there for me...I really appreciate you…”

Chat smiled warmly as he nuzzled into a hug. “Anytime, bug.”

...

Marinette dreamed of falling again that night.

But this time, as she plummeted down into the void, she remembered her conversation with Chat.

Chat Noir will always be there to catch me.

And then he was there, cradling her in his arms, whispering encouraging words in her ear, and kissing her on the forehead.

...WAIT.

Marinette jolted awake from this dream, just as she did with all the nightmares she’d been plagued with.

But this time, instead of shaking with fear, she was covering her burning face with her hands and trying to ignore the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

...she supposed it was an improvement.  

...

I'm writing some one-shots for Ladynoir July! What days will I write for? How many fics will I be able to finish?

...only Ahtohallan knows.

(also THANK YOU @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal FOR BEING MY BETA!!! forgive me for forgetting to tag you at first😭😭)

[dragoler]

The Hollowness of the Knight

This is a theory post about Hollow Knight and contains spoilers, so if you haven’t completed the game you should probably not read this post.

There is a debate I see often within the Hollow Knight fan community and every time it comes up I ignore it. This debate is on the purity of the protagonist Knight as a vessel, and sometimes by extension the purity of the Hollow Knight at the time of its choosing. Here I want to explain why this is a fruitless debate, and how the topic may be better approached from a different angle.

Let's begin with the iconic lines said by the Pale King about vessels during the Birthplace memory:

No cost too great. No mind to think. No will to break. No voice to cry suffering. Born of God and Void. You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams. You are the Vessel. You are the Hollow Knight.

The part that I am going to focus on here is 'No will to break' because it’s the point of hottest contention. It's no real secret that the Knight displays a will throughout the game, this is even referenced in NPC dialogue, such as when it refuses to trade with Steel Soul Jinn:

...It refuses to trade...? It has a will... all Its own. Can refuse. Jinn will keep waiting... until a gift comes.

This obviously runs counter to what the Pale King is saying, but the situation gets more complicated than this. Five other important characters (sorry Mask Maker) in the game have in-depth knowledge on the vessels, what they are, how they were created and what is needed for them to be pure - The three Dreamers, The White Lady and Hornet.

Let's ignore the Dreamers (they have little to say) and start with the White Lady. Upon first meeting her she will gift the Knight a White Fragment and then urge it to take over the duty of the Hollow Knight, believing it pure enough to succeed in the task:

I implore you, usurp the Vessel. Its supposed strength was ill-judged. It was tarnished by an idea instilled. But you. You are free of such blemishes. You could contain that thing inside.

Her perception is obviously not perfect as she didn't seem to notice the impurity of the Hollow Knight until it was too late (possibly she did but they were too far into the plan so ignored it, as the Path of Pain implies the king may have done). Though this could also suggest that all vessels start out pure and only lose their purity if something were to tarnish them later. The next part is more interesting though, if the Knight returns to her with the Kingsoul charm equipped she says this:

The Kingsoul... What is at the heart of it I wonder? If its curiosity wills it, it should seek out that place. That place where it was born, where it died, where it began...

Here she directly encourages the Knight to follow its curiosity, something which should be counter to what a vessel would feel and also insinuates a will. After acquiring the Void heart she comments this:

That pulsing emptiness... Truly, it has been transformed by the revelations it found. Does it... feel anything? Triumph? Or hate? If it does, I cannot sense it. The fate of our Kingdom, our Hallownest... that future belongs to you now.

This dialogue strongly suggests that the Void Heart has somehow made the Knight more empty than it was before, and yet the description of the Void Heart also directly references a will:

An emptiness that was hidden within, now unconstrained. Unifies the void under the bearer's will.

Now onto Hornet. When Hornet first fights the Knight she thinks it is weak and would kill her mother, only to fail at the Hollow Knight and unleash the Radiance onto Hallownest. After she is defeated she concludes that the Knight has gained resilience from 'two voids':

I'm normally quite perceptive. You I underestimated, though I've since guessed the truth. You've seen beyond this kingdom's bounds. Yours is resilience born of two voids.

The second void mentioned refers to the wastelands outside the Kingdom, known to rob bugs of their 'minds':

Higher beings, these words are for you alone. These blasted plains stretch never-ending. There is no world beyond. Those foolish enough to traverse this void must pay the toll and relinquish the precious mind this kingdom grants.

This seems to translate to bugs losing their memories, as Quirrel is shown to have lost his own memory when he left Hallownest:

Twice I've seen this world and though my service may have stripped the first experience from me, I'm thankful I could witness its beauty again.

So the Knight losing its memory has made it resilient and therefore more 'pure' right? Well, there are problems with this. To start with resilience =/= emptiness, you don't need an empty mind to have a strong body. It also seems unlikely that she is talking about physical strength here because the threats of Hallownest are more dangerous than those on the surface. From Quirrel:

Your nail looks a fine instrument, but it's showing signs of wear. I'd wager up there it would take you far. Down here however, I suspect you'll soon meet dangers the surface world can't match.

What Hornet is actually referring to is resolve - willpower. This is supported by the names of the achievements you gain after defeating her: 'Test of Resolve' and 'Proof of Resolve', she even makes reference to a will directly in dialogue later:

You could do it, if you had the will.

This weirdly suggests that an empty mind directly contributes to an increase in willpower, something running completely counter to the king's words. It also makes her very next move seem quite counter-intuitive; she encourage the Knight to learn the things it has forgotten about its past:

It's no surprise then you've managed to reach the heart of this world. In so doing, you shall know the sacrifice that keeps it standing. If, knowing that truth, you'd still attempt a role in Hallownest's perpetuation, seek the Grave in Ash and the mark it would grant to one like you.

If a lack of knowledge would make a vessel more 'pure' this goes against her own best interests, so we can also rule out the effects of the wastelands contributing to the purity of the Knight.

By now you will probably be saying that Hornet doesn't want the Knight to seal the Radiance, she wants it to kill her. Hornet doesn't actually consider the possibility of the Knight uniting the void until after it climbs out of the Abyss:

...It faced the void, and ascends unscathed... Could it unite such vast darkness?..

And even then considers the possibility as almost an impossibility:

...Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

She is perfectly accepting of the fact that it could chose to seal the Radiance instead, and doesn't voice any concerns about its fitness to do so:

Ghost of Hallownest, you possess the strength to enact an end of your choosing. Would you supplant our birth-cursed sibling, or would you transcend it?

Even if killing the Radiance was the only possibility she considered, shouldn't the Knight becoming an avatar of the void itself make it as empty as it could possibly be?

The conclusion here is that the evidence is incredibly contradictory. Multiple knowledgeable characters encourage the Knight to exert its will despite the Pale King saying vessels shouldn’t have one, and even a loss of memory isn't considered better for purity.

Onto the second part, what can we say for sure DOES contribute to purity? It should be safe to assume that everything else the king mentions about vessels still holds true. Vessels do not speak and have no voices, whenever a vessel roars with a voice the sound comes from the Radiance and not themselves. They do not think. This is an odd one because there is Dream Nail dialogue for the Hollow Knight and Pure Vessel, but because it isn't accessible within the game it can't be taken as canon (though that is a debate in itself). Ignoring these outliers, there are five creatures that give Dream Nail dialogue of '...' which are Broken Vessel/Lost Kin, Fool Eaters, Gulkas, Shadow Creepers and Nosk. The Fool Eaters and Gulkas are plants so naturally they have no minds, Shadow Creepers are found near to and within the Abyss where it is strongly suggested they are inflicted by the effects of the void:

Found only in deep, dark places. Has never been observed to eat or drink anything.

The Broken Vessel is a vessel so it makes sense for it not to think, even when inflicted by infection. Nosk however is an interesting case, and I theorize the reason for its lack of thought is in its nature as a mimic:

In the deepest darkness, there are beasts who wear faces stolen from your memories and pluck at the strings in your heart. Know yourself, and stay strong.

Nosk does not only mimic the body of the Knight but also its mind, so when the Knight Dream Nail's Nosk it is seeing its own empty mind reflected back. Interestingly, if the Pure Vessel and Hollow Knight's Dream Nail dialogue are to be taken as canon, that makes BOTH the Knight and Broken Vessel more pure than it, supporting the theory that all vessels start pure until tarnished. So what causes tarnishment? An 'idea instilled' is rather vague, but the existence of the Path of Pain strongly suggests that the idea instilled into the Hollow Knight was an emotional bond with its father, supported by cut Dream Nail dialogue:

"...Father?..."

Perhaps the king should consider replacing 'No will to break' with 'No bonds to break’? Maybe then he wouldn't have messed up his plan as badly as he did.

[goldstonegolem64]

epilogue

On the planet of Olkarion Rebels,Queen slayers Mercarnies and Olkair alike were celebrating the Huge Victory they just had against the empire .But above the planet the Castle of lions , Along with several other rebel ships were being repaired by Vanguards cloud of nanobots. An as this was happening inside of the Castle of lions .Lance,Keith, Hunk, Pidge,Jay and Matt  Were all sitting around The healing pods that housed Thace and Shiro now both armless seeing as Shiro was rejected do to his metal arm being severally damaged in the fight  

“ Hey Jay can you put some music on sitting here in silence is really depressing “Matt asked 

“ Alright  “ Jay replied as he tapped on his wrist computer and let his music start play 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wccRif2DaGs

“ Thank you “Matt said 

“ Your welcome “ Jay said before the room return to the semi silence it was before just with music playing in the background They all sat there for a few minutes until Allura,Coran, Ezra,Shay and Kolivan walked in

“ So how's everyone doing  ?” Coran asked But no one answered” Oh that bad uh” Coran rubbed the back of  his head as Ezra and Shay walked to their respective Boyfriends 

“ Well after everything they have gone through it makes sense that they would be tried and well worried “Allura looked towards  The healing Thace and Shiro

“ So Allura what is are next move?” Keith asked

“ Well I wanted to talk to you about that. After learning Zarkon’s plan to capture your families and use them as a bargaining chip against us. I believe we should go back to your homeworld and make sure your families are alright and to well recruit Earth to the coalition along with recruiting Mars if that’s ok with you jay ”  Allura looked over to jay to see his reaction 

“ Yeah it’s fine we would  have to go there eventually” Jay said as he leaned his head on Ezra’s shoulder 

“ An the rest of you ?” Allura turned her head towards the other 

“ Yeah going home sounds nice” Lance said

“ Same here it would be nice to show Shay around my hometown   “ Hunk said  

“ I would like that” Shay add

“ I wouldn’t mind going home after a year of fighting see mom again would be a breath of fresh air.Right Katie “ Matt said as he elbow bumped his sister 

“ Yeah it would be nice to see mom again. I just hope see doesn’t loss it when she sees what happened to my leg “ Pidge said as she tapped on her right foot   

‘ Yeah that’s going to be a pain explain also she might want you to stop being a Paladin after seeing your foot” Matt replied 

“ Keith what’s your opinion on this ?” Lance asked 

“ I mean where am i going to go. I live on this ship and my brother brother in law and Nephew also live here.So where they go i go” Keith said Bluntly 

“ Alright it looks like were all in agreement So when are we heading out?” Jay asked 

“Once Adam and your kids are back on board and the repair are done will be heading out to your home system“  Allura said

“ Alright with that out of the way is there anything else we need to take about?” Lance asked 

“ Well i think K-7 could be useful he was made to be pilot so having more mech pilots on are sie would be nice.Once we start make are own V-types. As for the twins “

“ They did help us fight Zarkon” Pidge add  

“ But they almost kill us the first time we meet them” Hunk said he felt Shay’s grip around his arm tighten a bit 

“ Yeh i don’t trust them to much after that “ Shay added 

“ But they also worried us about zarkon plan to kidnap  are families “Pidge countered 

“ But they helped kill entire rebel outpost” Matt add 

“ Ok but they helped us and can pilot Robeasts and i firmly believe that they can help us in the long run and i mean if the do betray us we can just end them without a second thought “ Jay said 

“ Not to interrupt your discussion” Everyone turned to look at the speaker who was Kolivan “ but i believe the Twins should go with us seeing as they are children of are former members “ Kolivan said     

“ Well Before we make a concrete decision  let have Adam be here and see what the twins want to do.” Jay said 

“ no i think they Should go with the Blade it would get them out are hands, An they could still help us in th long run”Keith said   

“ Yeah that sounds fine but still lets wait for adam to get he so we have a full team decides “ jay replied 

“ Well you are third in command so will wait “ Lance said 

“ Well Allura’s here and her word trumps mine” Jay turned his head to look at the princess  “ So boss what do you want to do with them ?” He asked

“Lets wait til Adam is here and when Shiro wakes up “ Allura said she then turn to look towards Kolivan “ Will you being willing to wait an few more hours ?”

“ It will be fine i am not need back for a few more day.But if you don’t mind we would like to send Thace back to base with Axtok?”

“ That is fine “Allura replied 

“ Thank you “ 

[ Princess The prometheus is approaching and will be docking soon.  ] 

“ Well i looks like will get are answer soon “ Matt add 

“ So whose going to be the one to tell Adam what happened to Shiro ‘ Hunk said 

“ I will i’m a doctor intraining and i was the one who had promised to Shiro home alive” Jay got to his feet helped Erza up to their feet  ”  lets get this over with  “ Jay said as he walked out of the room followed by Ezra 

Elsewhere 

in his peranol chamber of his Capital Ship Lotor looked at The badly damaged Command center with thousands of plasma impact burneds ,Bullet holes, and a long gash that lay their like an open wound on the side of the command center. “ I wish i could have seen it. Most have been a beautiful fight “ Lotor said to himself as he starred at the carnage caused by the Rebel army. As he looked the door to his chamber.Lotor turn to see a Women with lite blue skin dark purple and blue hair. Blue eyes with yellow sclera  She also had four small horn sticking out of the side of her head and they wore the armor of his generals

“ Lord lotor we have collected the fragments of those cubes “ The woman said 

“ Good have are top researchers on in i want to know what they're made of and where they came from “ 

“ Yes my lord” 

“ Then once your done with that bring me the man named skyver followed by Contacting are spies in the rebellion and tell them to watch this Jay person closely i want any and all information on them. He is are only lead to this second Altean Colony and we must find it before my mother does .  I will not let her kill of what is left of my people. “ Lotor ordered 

“ Yes my lord” 

“ one last have we found where bandor disappeared to ?” Lotor asked 

“ Yes we have  “

“ Where “

“ Back i the first colony we was found by guard barely alive. He is currently being treated there and is said to make a full recovery in the come months. We also did a head count after the crash and found that we are now missing one other person”

“ Who is it ?” Lotor asked 

“ Bandors older sister Romelle Silva ‘ 

“ Do we any idea on her current whereabouts ?” 

“ No she has disappeared near the Void’s opening she may be dead My lord “

Lotor clenched his fists hearing that “ And what of CenterPoint labs 

Axca voice when from her normal stern and militaristic tone to more somber one “ completely destroyed and only a few members of the team survived”

“And what about the few survivors “   

“ Off world and in recovery “

“ Alright We'll hold off  on the gate project for another few year and keep me posted on the recovery. You are dismissed “Lotor order 

“ Yes my lotor “ Axca said as she left Lotors Chamber    

Lotor stood there in silence for a few minutes 

“ It was not your fault My friend sciences as it’s rises   “ Ragna said as he walked out from a shadowy corner of the room 

“ Still It was my orders that sealed  the fates of all those people “ Lotor said looking at the smokey wolf      

“ True but you now know what not to do next time “

“ Not to follow my parents notes and stop trying to tear a hole into the fabric of reality “

“Correct Now what is the next step seeing as your father failed to capture  Voltron or the Valkyrie  “

“ I still believe conniving  Voltron  to join us is are best options and to make peace with the rebellion.But i don’t think mother or most of the Generals that were under my fathers rule wouldn’t  be happy about it “

“ Then fight for it and make them listen to you”  Ragna said 

“That is the easy part the hard part is going to be talking to the Paladin in the first place”

“ The worst thing they can do is kill you and fully shatter the empire and bring peace to the universe “ Ragna said 

“  They won’t kill me hopefully when they make this new universal government.Now how is my mother doing “

“ She is in grieving still “ 

“ And of the force that influencing her.”

“ It’s still there stronger now then it was before ” 

“ Alright then it’s going to be but we most keep pushing forwards if we are to stop what is coming “  Lotor said as he walked over to a desk in his room and tapped a button on it to reveal a screen that show a crack in the fabric of reality that was slowly getting bigger and had several different energies leaking out of it

Back in the castle of lions   

Jay and Ezra walked down the hall way towards the hanger beau had told them to go to meet Adam and Jay’s kids

“So you guys going to stay with the fleet or got back to hunting down Queens?” Jay asked 

“ once the repair are done will follow you guys for a few day see what worlds your going to recruit some people then go back to bugs” Ezra replied as They  held onto Jay’s arm 

“ Good to know ‘Jay replied

“ So have you figured out what your going to tell ADam when you see him ?” ill Ezra asked 

“ I’l just tell  him the truth we won and Shiro’s in the healing pods and is missing his arm. “ Jay replied as the two entire into the Hanger. As they entered the Hanger they saw several rebel Ships parked along with Seeing the Valkyrie sitting there surrounded by dozens of rebel pilots engineers and ground troops They also saw the Prometheus parked with next to the dragon mech  

“ Looks like Val has a little fan club “Ezra said 

“ Yeah it looks like it and it looks like Adam’s already he let get this over with then ” Jay replied as the two walked towards the crowd surrounding.

As they got closer to it A female voice Yelled out to them“ Hey Silver lining do you have a moment “Jay stopped in place with Ezra stopping alongside him 

  Jay didn’t know if the person was referring to him or someone else but he turned his head towards the voice and saw a Coeihns woman with short Green hair, Blue eyes  wearing a muscl-t and a open  fleet suit with the upper half tied around her waist .she was walking towards them and the only reason he know the women’s race the moment he saw here was because she looked very similar  to bastion which made him fell a little uneasy.

“ You talking to me “ Jay said while pointing to himself as his helmet automatically pitch shifted his voice to sound like sound wave 

“ Oh my god really” erza asked as they fought back laughter at the stupid voice 

“ What i am i suppose to do it just happens “ Jay said as he pulled of his helmet and started to messing with the in working off 

“ Well that answer my first question “ The Coeilhn woman said as a carma bot float in front of Jay’s face and was about to take his picture 

But if on reflex most of Jay’s facial features disappeared leaving just as the flash when off  

‘ OK that one’s new” Ezra said starring at a now faceless jay 

The Jay mouth reappeared” Next time ask someone  if you want to take their  picture” Jay pushed the carma bot away from his face as he put his helmet back   “ Now who are you and why are you bothering me “ He said he voice dripping with annoyance and anger following that his face marking glowing brightly    

The Coeilhn women stepped back a little scared by the sudden tone shift “ I’m Rey Wellmore I’m photographer working with the Rebels. An i was hoping that i could get a few pictures you and the valkyrie along with Asking you a few question “ REy replied 

Jay’s anger faded away ‘ Next time ask a head of time because  right now i have some where to be and someone to me wi” JAy was cut off as something slammed into his back nearly knocking him to the floor. Jay’s head did a 180% and looked down to see bastion face pressed against his back followed by him  hugging Jay “ Oh hi Bastion”   

“ Your back “ BAstion said his voice muffled   

“ Yeah i am .What did you think i wasn’t going to comeback ?”

“ Maybe”

“ Why?” He question 

“ I don’t know when you didn’t come down with everyone. We thought maybe you had died  “

“ You could have called i bought you all phones for that reason” 

“ we may have forgotten that “ Bastion replied 

“ God you guys really are taking after me “ Jay said as he patted Bastion on his head 

“ Excuse me but who are you talking to ? “ Rey asked

Jay’s neck snapped back into place to look at the reporter “ Sorry Ms. Rey This is Bastion one of my Boy . say hi Bastion “

Bastion walked from behind Jay and looked up towards Rey and when their eyes meet Rey He felt like he was looking  mirror into a which made him felt a little uncomfortabl.So he step back behind Jay  “ Hello Ms.Rey Bastion said “ He said with a wave. and a noticeable hint of nervousness in his voice 

“ Hi Bastion “ Rey said but she sounded Distance and a little confused  

Jay notice this an made a note of this “ Alright with that out of the way. If you wish for an interview when i’m not working you can find me either living in there “ jjay pointed towards the Prometheus “ or in the med by learn from doctor Ventair or in the training deck ‘ Jay said as he, Ezra and bastion started walking towards the Prometheus 

“ Yeah talk to you later “Ray said lose in thought . She watched the three entire into the prometheus   and once she knew she would see her she pulled out a her phone and call someone “ HEy Gillmore it’s me Rey can you check check something out for me ?”

In the Prometheus 

Jay,Ezra and Bastion walked into the Living room 

“ Hey everybody i’m home  “ Jay said as he walked in the living room.

The moment his voice rang out  in the room  Molly head turned around and She scrambled out of Fitz lap crawled up the couch and throw herself at he father. Not noticing the two foot gap between the two of them. Jay with the reflexes that all people get when they become Parents. Quickly grabbed his Daughter out of the air before she even started to fall.Once she was in his hands he quickly pulled her close to him “ God you are going give me a heart attack one of this days”  Jay said

“ Papa’s home” Molly said as she wrapped her arms around Jay’s Helmeted Head 

“ Yeah i’m home Sweety daddy’s home “ He said sweetly as he hugged his daughter back 

“ Hey Jay how was the Mission?” Fitz asked as he looked up toward Jay from his seat 

“ Yeah how did the mision go and why did it take you so long to get back ?” Usamu asked

“ Well that’s a long story see ‘ Just stopped mid Sentence as something Grabbed his Leg. So he looked down and saw Clay hugging it “ Hey Clay “

“ Where you go “ She said as she looked up to him with tears in her eyes 

Jay felt like he had just been punched in the heart as he looked at his other daughter “ I’m sorry Daddy had to go save the universe “ Jay said felling really bad 

“ No leave again “ She said as her grip around Jay’s Leg tightened

“ Yeah no go away again” Moly said as she tried to wiggled out of her father’s arm.Jay didn’t want to drop her. So he place her down .Once she was on floor she grabbed onto Jay’s other leg mimicking her sister 

“YOu both know that not going to stop me right.” Jay said as he start walking  as he did molly started Giggling while Clay stayed quiet  

“ Oh god this is the adorable “ Ezra said as they watched their boyfriend and his kids just goof around as Usamu jumped onto jay back while Bastion and Fitz watched and laughed 

“ Yes it is “ Adam said as he walked out of the stairway holding onto a walke and curious Izuku 

Jay stopped in place “ Hey bub”

“ Is Shiro alive ?” Adam asked already know what jay was trying to do 

“Yes missing his arm but yes “

“ Alright Same medbay as before “

“ Yes “

“ Alright  See at lunch and thanks for for keeping your promises man “ Adam said as he patted Jay on the shoulder before walking out of the Prometheus 

“ Your welcome man “ Jay replied as he watched adam leave “ Ok tat was easy”

“ Yes it was “ Ezra said 

“ Now with that out of the way “ Jay looked to fit then Bastion seeing as the other three were still holding on to him “ Um So there is a chance that were going back to my home world and then to the home of the other Paladins  “ Jay said as Usamu jumped off of his back 

“ So were going to meet Grandpa then?” Usamu asked as he walked in front of his father with a tone of wonder in his voice 

“ Yeah along with my brothers and sister some friends of mine and my mom’s parents  an if we're lucky hopefully not my dad’s family “Jay said that last bit with a little bit of venom in his voice

“ Why not you dad’s family ?” Ezra asked 

“ it’s along story my dear and my DAd can explain it better . Now who wants hear how the mission when “ Jay said not wanting to talk about his families problems 

In what remained of Galra central command

Haggar stood looking over her comatose husband. She had been starring there for the past few hours and wonder how this could have happened . They had taken ever precaution studied every battle that the paladins were in and even equipped the titan with weapon’s tailor made to handle Voltron and the Valkyrie at the same time  but when the snap dragon self destructed on top of the Titan it sealed his fate “ Oh my love what have they done to you” She asked herself 

“ They butchered him “ A very familiar yet strange disembody voice said right behind her

She quickly turned around and slashed at the person behind her only to swipe at empty air “ Who goes there show yourself ‘ She yelled To the empty room

“ I’m hurt Honvera how could you forget me..I’m the reason that you and your husband are even alive after your little encounter that beast from the void ’ the voice said 

“ What “ Haggar thought back to when she and Zarkon had died she remembered hearing a voice talking.But she had put that up to being on death's door. ‘ So it was  you i have to thank for our revival “

“ Yes it was me” The Voice said as a faint humanoid being started to form from purple quintessons  that was powering the lazuriz chamber that Zarkon was resting in  the figure had only defining feature was the two bright soul burning yellow eye “ My name is  Deceit and despite my name i’m here to help you again. ”

“ Why “ Haggar asked  not trusting this thing but she had to be weary seeing as this thing was just sitting on her husbands healing chamber 

 “ Because  every time you  drained a world of it’s quintessens and used it to fue you and your husband.It feed me and i wish to keep that relationship on going. So i’ll help you again by keeping your husband alive. Seeing as this thing “ He tapped on the Lazarus chamber “ Is only postponing the inevitable .” Deceit    said as a jagged smile started to appeared on his avatar’s face.

“ What do i have to do for this deal to work?” Haggar asked knowing that it’s not that easy 

“ Your a smart one “ Decit pointed the newly formed finger at her “ I want you to find this ship   “ Deciet’s hand seemingly grabbed onto reality itself and opened at portal that showed of a massive ship that looked like the castle of lions mixed with her Son’s Capital ship surrounding it it was a massive ring around it “ An destroy it”

“ Why ?” 

“ It’s existence has put plans i have had in motion for a long time in jeopardy. and that is all i’m will to tell you at the moment “ Deceit said 

Haggar glared at Deceit but she really had no real choice  but to follow “ Alright then we have a deal ‘

“ Good i’ll see you in the funny pages Honvera “ Deceit said as he faded out leaving the tear in reality that show off the ship there for a few seconds before it closed up 

Haggar stood there starring at the empty space before turning back to her husband and hoped she man the right choice 

Back in the Castle of lions  

“ So right before Zarkon Die he grabbed on to the black lion’s head with his robeasts remaining arm and tried to electrocute shiro to death but his arm took most of the damage and now he’s healing for the next hour.An once he’s a wakes We’ll be deciding whether or not will be going back home along with the Fates of The twins and K-7 am i correct “ Adam said

“ Yeah that sums it up real well “Matt said

“Alright and thin else i need to know before me and Izuku have to wait another hour just so we can take to him “

“ Uh were going to need a new black paladin for a few months while Shiro new prosthetics are installed from what Jay and that spider said “ Hunk added 

“ That spiders name is  Ventair and she is one of the best Doctor in the whole rebelion so please show her some respected “Matt said 

“ Sorry what Dr.Ventair said “Hunk said  

“ Alright when will decided who the next black paladin then ?” Adam as 

“ After we decide are next course of action will pick the next Black Paladin and with Shiro still around along with Leonidas it won’t take to long i hope “ Allura said 

“ Yeah lets hope “ Lance said 

“ It would be funny if Jay was chosen to fly the black lion “ Matt said Jokingly 

“ I mean Val’s design was some what based off of the black lion so it could be possible that if we  run into  trouble we could possibly combined with the Valkyrie  to make new version of Voltron  “ Pidge added as she grabbed her laptop and started typing away at the possibilities of powers that could come from the union between the two mechs  

“ We could run that by Jay and Val before anything happens i know val was against at first but maybe she changer he mind after the fight with Zarkon. I’ll go ask him“ Lance  said as he got up.But before could full get on his feet Beau’s voice came over the P.A System

[ Alert Alert A gargantuan class dreadnaught of unknown origin as exited a wormhole  8 kilometer north east from are location ] This was followed by a screen show ff the massive ship

Everyone stood or sat there in stunned silence as the massive ship which was a weird mix between the Castle and That war ship that attacked then before they had left the battle fleet 

“ Hey guy is anyone else getting a weird case  desaviolooking at this thing  ?” Pidge asked  

“Yeah i feel it too” Shay said 

“ Same here” Hunk add 

Allura looked at the ship as she did one name came to mind “kronse” Allura said under her breath.Before hundreds and hundreds of Image flashed right in front of her mind causing her a massive and painful head that caused her to fall to the ground clutching her head 

“Princess !!” Everyone yelled in surprise 

“ What’s wrong” Coran asked worried as he helped Allura back to her feet 

“ I don’t know but something about that ship is causing me to see thin Ah “ She grabbed he head again as another set of flash happened 

[were receiving a message from the Ship ]

“Send it through”Adam said taking charge of the situation as he said that a message written in english which surprised everyone.But that’s wasn’t what caught their attention what was write on was 

Hello my old friend let us take like the old day :Signed Queen Allura of the Altean/Galrain Empire 

To be continued in Book two Time to change History 

[bluebird-in-a-cagedrawing]

Hollow knight Rise of knights AU

Chapter 1: The first meeting

Egryfiante POV

Things aren't simple, Hallownest isn't the same as it use to by but when i'm with you, i put myself on a silver plate, i break from my shell and transform into something else, i'm not a poor skinny shadow that lives under the black void but a living creature with dreams and feelings, warm feelings deep inside me.

Here time is a funny irelevant thing, for a second i've got lost into your gaze, for the first time i didn't know this feeling of feel vulnerable, i was waiting for some sort of words a connection, what was it like to have a connection with someone i wanted to ask you.

You are so beautiful and wild, an unusual blue color for a flame so small, i could feel your heartbeats and your stady breath, you aren't afraid of the danger that may come, a true warrior...

Our first oficial meet isn't something i'm happy about, we didn't have to much to say to each other and we fight, that were not my intentions, but i would be a liar if i would say i don't find you interesting, a part of me wanted a fight with you and you did not disappointed me, too bad that you got knocked out by one of my black energy balls, strategy is all that takes but i'm sure you already know that.

I see that pair of black eyes how it look at me, like a mirror made from chocolate, i can see my reflection perfect, you study me even when you don't say anything, i like it that way. Never been that kinda girl that talks too much, more like a quiet one, i slowly touch your cheek with my right hand and you don't stop me, i almost wonder if you could read my mind or maybe my green eyes gives me away.

I don't have any bad intentions, see no evil in them, i like having some company after so long time being away from the ones that matters, it's not easy being a grasshopper, a shadow one, a nearly reflection on the water surface, i would love to drown into your black eyes, Orifiel.

The tips of my fingers touch the surface of your face, i like this sensation, your skin is soft as a white velvet, i always say how i'm feeling and the look on your face is priceless.

"Would you like a cup of tea? The chamomile one and some honey biscuits? You sure were tired, sleeping like a baby for one full day! How badly did i hurt you? I'm sorry about that, the heat of the battle got to me, i tend to hurt bugs when i'm feeling like this! "

The firefly didn't respond to me, just keep staring maybe he was still upset, i felt bad, after sometime i saw him how he took a biscuit, at least he could eat, i didn't know what to say more, i was so close to him and he was so close to me in a small room.

"No." it was the simple reply as if he knows exactly how I was thinking at that time, a small smile making it's way on my face.

...........................................

Orifiel belongs to soulmemento, he is not my oc!

✨ Officially this AU started! ✨

[crackcrocs]

DEATH WILL ONLY BE THE BEGINNING #9

This is to narcissistic mothers/ parents & anyone who is willing to understand.

(Written by me-for and through the lens of my dear friend, i wish you nothing but freedom from her chains. i wish you TLC)

Their ability to make everyone think they’re loving parents.

Their ability to make their kids believe that abuse is normal.

Their ability to make you believe you owe them everything.

Their ability to make themselves believe that they are right.

Their ability to turn the tables and make you believe that it was your fault.

All of this rings so true.

They do make you feel crazy; they suck the energy and ability to reason logically right out of you- and, by very nature of their narcissism, it never occurs to them that *they* might be the problem.

You can’t expect a relationship to happen with someone highly dysfunctional. how do you stoop down to the level of someone who aside from work & put all energy into keeping up an appearance can only abuse substance, speak to empty friends & post garbage.

In truth, I think the alcoholism is a symptom of her larger mental illness or narcissistic personality disorder- but it’s no excuse. Her parenting is unreliable, inconsistent, and unpredictable. There never is a sense of safety and consistency, allowing me to thrive.

I’m told to forgive & keep peace & ignore all your craziness. All the advice I've been getting on dealing with a narcissistic mother has been saying to avoid her as much as possible, or to try communicate & ‘keep peace’ as if I haven’t tried to communicate, as if I’m purposely singling her out from our already empty relationship. Well now I'm stuck at home all day, or every household or friend I bring over, she decides to involve. So much for distancing myself.  The worst part is she isn't even doing it herself, she just sits around watching tv, having friends over & phoning everyone while Im expected to clean up after her and "contribute" to the family/ financially support my self for college.

- Yes, absolutely, I am the crazy one. You know what, I’m not even going to deny it, I probably have a ton of issues, most of them mental. But guess where they came from? Guess who made those problems worse and maybe even helped create them? No mom, you’re not to blame for everything or the “war in Iraq” as you so eloquently put it. But you are to blame for some it, at the very least. it’s time to take account & I will no longer be made to feel like the obligated for for an entitled narc.

I feel your claws sinking in less and less.  You no longer have me in chains, I will break free from your emotional bondage even if it takes me seeming boring & silencing myself around you to not endure & tolerate your nonsense. Your words no longer fill me with despair like they once did.

This year long cold shoulder would have once filled me with anxiety but now all I feel is bliss. I no longer feel jealous when others talk about their seemingly perfect parents because I may not have that luxury but what I do have is a chance to be a "perfect parent" myself potentially one day. To be everything you couldn't and wouldn't somewhere far away and isolated from your poison.

I wonder how you feel...  but I simply can’t understand or pretend to care anymore. I’m tired of putting energy into a source that doesn’t put out. When children don't talk to you unless prompted- it’s because there is nothing to be said after the plenty opportunities given to converse truly & openly.

No I don’t want to speak to your 9th friend on the phone today again about surface level things just to please you. No I don’t want to come socialise with your drunk friends & be spoken to like a child

When you have to tell yet another lie to yet another friend to mask the evidence of a broken home When you look in the mirror and only see insecurities When you realise there's no one around you and can't figure out why When you tear down someone close yet again, to feel good about yourself  I wonder how you feel, I wonder if you feel, I wonder if you can...

my mom pushes me away but doesnt wanna let me leave. she doesn’t want to take into account that she pushed me to this extent. part of growth is being able to communicate your emotions properly. how can a whole 43 year old be unable to do so? I Vocalize when I’m not okay with something. Communication helps people avoid being uncomfortable, easily triggered, hostile, or passive aggressive with people. her communication is one sided and I’m the only one who gets to listen while she’s the only one who gets to talk, otherwise I’m ‘answering back’ or ‘telling a woman what to do’ even though I talk sense and out of respect in my responses or when I do try speak.

Worse yet I have to go BACK to the emotionally abusive situation that I basically fled.

What really bugs me is when you’ve given someone so many chances to do better and change. But then once you get tired of their antics, you try to move on and they continually try to reel you back in. Not even trying to change, but instead *trying* to reel you back in for their benefit. It’s unhealthy and traumatizing to say the least.

I guess i should be glad your swinging moods and emotions taught me to manage mine from young. I should be glad that I had to teach myself not to care about what you said to me and what you thought about me. I should be overjoyed that the side effect was me not caring about what anyone said or thought and basically becoming an inert emotionless void. I should be thankful that I always look fine even when I’m in pain and feeling like death and I’m capable of putting up with things that would send any sane person off the edge.

relationships are so much healthier when the goal is to experience life together and not to try to make the person into who you want them to be or to make them do what you want them to do. In my case my mother has de masculated me over the years making me soft and obedient, for her own selfish gain of having a man worship her. she decided since she doesn’t have a man, or never managed to find someone stay at home that’s he truly connected to, she’s decided the man that’s going to worship her will be me- her son. Since I resemble my father who she was in love with, she will always talk bad on me as she resents my father for not wanting her.

through gaslighting me over the years, it’s become harder to speak up, I even feel embarrassed to tell my dad even though that’s probably the only thing that will make her open her eyes and get clean. my pot is boiling though. Independence is obviously healthy but when it gets to the point where i find it challenging to actually be able to even admit that i might need assistance in this situation,  problems arise. And for what? Why I’m I protecting her image? I’ve been taught to & I’m a respectable young man who won’t take joy from her exposure, but I don’t take joy from preserving information & keeping it all inside to deal with myself. I’ve become so hard on myself and still pushing through-it’s not easy, people still expect me to be a super heroe all the time. I have a hard time opening up, allowing people to help me in whatever I’m doing. I hate even admitting I need help most times. I wish I’d been taught early what my mother learned late, thankfully I was observant, self taught & still willing to learn- thankfully I’m not a follower & I know right from wrong.

The worst part about looking at the future and trying to imagine it full of hope, light and emotional health is knowing that you'll always have the scars. Emotional abusers aren't supposed to leave scars but mine managed to. And in my mother's usual style it can even be passed off as unintentional. In my case it was actually supposed to a kind act which ended badly in the way that only events in my life can seem to end.

All the phone calls to your friends, you continuously fake talk about me on a nonexistent relationship. it’s sad how you need to phone 100 people in a day and can only hold the same surface level chats. I wonder if you can grip the fact that nobody ever wants to help you with anything. you’re lucky they even listen and you’re lucky they only know your side of the story every time. you’re a great potter & can mould situations.

It’s sad that if you sense the slightest hint that people do not approve of your estrangement and they are not going to be there for your nonsense, you stir the pot and involve and buss peoples names, further spinning your web of lies.

All the pity you came to relish over the years as single mother warrior extraordinaire would simply dry up. Any attempts to paint me, your only child in a negative light would seem simply monstrous if I exposed you, but I maintain respect, bite my tongue & hold my head up because my real mother figure taught me that.

But really you have to keep up the pretense to your friends, that I was an insubordinate, ungrateful bitch of a problem child and you were a glorious brave single mother at her wits end just trying to make things work. even with the mural I painted, you forced me to mention the single mother narrative; as if that had anything to do with my art piece. I mean how selfish can you be? the art peace was to represent Sheku Bayou & the BLM movement, I didn’t even want to put my real name- I wanted to put my instagram page associated with my art because business is business and personal is personal. but to toot your horn, I added a whole separate paragraph because you wanted your name to be connected to my art piece as though I’m some sort of celebrity and it was my claim to fame. the single mother narrative is bullshit, I know tonnes of single african parents that know how to step up when it’s time to be a mother, but that’s something you’ve never known how to do. I remember you drunk the day I came here and I will never forget the words ‘I will drink myself to death if I want to’ I don’t have sympathy anymore and I’m not a saviour, I have tried and tried through hiding alcohol, attempting to converse & get her to cut down; but you can only bring a horse to the water not to drink it. how is a teenager meant to know how to stop an alcoholic junkie? I’m her son you say? If she truly cared and wanted to fix up, I would be one thing to stop her I thought.

my mother is an alcoholic. an addict. she refuses to wear those labels, but this has far exceeded the occasional ‘binge’ ‘sesh’ or ‘Prosecco party’ .Throughout middle school and high school, I would guess that half or so of the days out of the year she spent in a wine haze. Even my constant begging her to stop drinking did not stop it. Pouring her wine down the drain or hiding it made her angry and transitioned to mental and phsyical abuse. She became increasingly angry and I aged and entered high school but she was always this way since I came really. It was during this time that I would lock the doors to my room and try to hide from her in there. I still barricade my room door to this day just for my own peace. Despite all the horrendous things she did, every once in a while she did give me money, and this gets dangled over my head RELENTLESSLY... as if money buys love.

I needed to get some outside reassurance that I'm sane. Thankfully now I know and all I can do is try stay in my lane, can’t argue with a supposed adult with a brain that resembles a wall or a child.

People who were emotionally abused have spent far too long defending themselves. Justifying their own feelings. Trying to make others see and understand what they went through is a task. Abusive parents are very good at manipulating. that’s why I have ceased contact with this toxic person, i do not owe anyone an explanation.Doesn’t matter if they are a family member or close family friend. Doesn’t matter if they are a friend or acquaintance of yours. I’ve learned just to be boring , save everything interesting and beautiful about myself for those who deserve it.