#i’ve seen things like this on other people’s aus and thought it would be cool

[flowersdiceandlove]

Please tell me about your Eminence in Shadow!SY AU, that sounds really interesting and badass

Okay, so, in case you don’t know “Eminence in Shadow” is a reincarnation, isekai anime where a guy named Cid Kageno ends up in a world with magic. He likes playing as “Background Character A” by day and being “The Eminence in Shadow” by night. I was watching this anime and while I was watching, I felt like Cid and Shen Yuan were a lot alike. (I’ve only watched the anime which only has two seasons, so anything beyond that in the manga I have no idea about)

Now, onto the idea (I og had this written out as a prompt and then thought, huh, this might actually be fun to write, so just…didn’t post the prompt. I think I’ll come back later and post an actual prompt for this though. But, I'm literally just copy/pasting what I already wrote for this.)

Imagine, Shen Yuan transmigrates into Background Character A in PIDW, and, just like Cid, throws himself into the role. He just wants to get through the plot without drawing attention to himself so he can avoid Bingge's ire. But! But! This is Shen Yuan who has always dreamed of transmigrating into this type of story. How can he just pass up the chance of becoming a cool cultivator??? He can't, that's how! So then, how does one remain Background Character A while also being a Mysterious And Cool Cultivator? By acting out his role as Background Character A during the day and growing his power to become a cool cultivator in secret! That's how!

He'll spend his days idling and playing his role as Just Some Guy to perfection, but in secret, he'll hone his cultivator abilities, slay monsters, study demonic beasts, and live out his cultivator fantasy! He transmigrates early, maybe as a baby, and uses all his knowledge of reading PIDW and other cultivation stories to work out how to cultivate in secret. He won't interfere with the plot, making sure he blends into the background so as not to draw attention to himself, and will be able to survive the merging of the realms with his cultivation abilities when that time eventually comes.

But, of course, this is Shen Yuan we're talking about. He stumbles his way into trouble and wifebeams people. He plays up his Mysterious And Cool Cultivator act like Shadow/Cid does and ends up amassing his own Shadow Garden (harem of highly trained women dedicated to Shadow and his cause, for those of you who haven't seen Eminence in Shadow) but the gay xianxia version. We're gonna get Zhuzhi-Lang, Liu Qingge, ect. But, just like Shadow/Cid, Shen Yuan does not realize he has amassed this massive harem who would literally do anything for him and have created an entire clandestine organization (that's really more of an empire) with him as the head. He thinks they're all just Really Good Friends who are helping him live out his Mysterious And Cool Cultivator dreams.

Just like Shadow/Cid bullshits the Cult of Diablo, Shen Yuan is gonna bullshit his own stuff. And, just like with Shadow/Cid's stuff, Shen Yuan's words are gonna turn out to be true. I'm thinking he ends up uncovering all the corruption and drama surrounding the Old Palace Master and Huan Hua Palace. It'll probably end up being a whole big thing and once they start digging, they just find more and more sects, companies, people, etc. involved in this. Part of the corruption and wrong-doings they find, is a lot of provoking of demons. Shen Yuan, of course, knows none of this, and always ends up on the outskirts of the investigations bullshitting some Wise Nonsense that has everyone in awe before kicking the Bad Guy's butt, not knowing what's Really Going On.

He remains oblivious to all the Drama going on and what he's leaving in his wake. One thing he is absolutely certain he must do is Keep A Low Profile and remain Background Character A, so all his Mysterious And Cool Cultivator adventures are done in secret and he makes sure that his version of Shadow Garden knows that This Is SECRET!! Do Not Tell. shhhh.

Just like in Eminence in Shadow, Shen Yuan's harem (that he still doesn't know is his harem) venture out on their own to gather more people to add to the harem join their cause.

Shen Yuan had to have met Liu Qingge before he entered CQMS. Maybe Shen Yuan's Background Family is from the same village/city the Liu Family is from and so they grew up in the same social circle. When Liu Qingge eventually goes to join CQMS Shen Yuan sighs and thinks What a good guy, playing with me all this time. Now he's off to be a Great Cultivator himself. I hope we can still see each other again sometime. Not at all knowing that Liu Qingge has the BIGGEST crush on him and once in CQMS is trying to recruit more people to join Shen Yuan's harem organization. He probably convinces at least half of the future Qing generation in time as well as many disciples from various peaks. It helps when on a couple night-hunts Shen Yuan, in Mysterious And Cool Cultivator mode, showed up out of nowhere and solved the problem like a Wise Immortal and effectively wifebeaming all present.

For Zhuzhi-Lang, Shen Yuan definitely found him hurt and cooed over him, nursing him back to health. Eventually Zhuzhi-Lang had to return to the Demon Realm and Tianlang-jun, but tells Tianlang-jun about the Nice Human Cultivator who took care of him. Tianlang-jun clocks Zhuzhi-Lang's crush immediately, and tells him that he can go woo his human all he wants as long as it doesn't interfere with work, and also, he would like to meet this human.

Shen Yuan nearly has a heart attack when the DEMON EMPEROR (and Luo Binghe's father!! Ahhh!) shows up at his house to invite him to a picnic (thankfully no one else saw this so his cover as Background Character A is still in check). He doesn't turn him down though, that would be stupid, Tianlang-jun could kill him in a heartbeat if he offended him. So, he goes on the picnic. Tianlang-jun thanks him for taking such good care of his nephew, and Zhuzhi-Lang is a blushing mess the entire time. Tianlang-jun as being Tianlang-jun keeps trying to set Shen Yuan and Zhuzhi-lang up. Shen Yuan laughs it off. Clearly Tianlang-jun is quite the jokester and eternally flamboyant (and you know how Tianlang-jun is), and thinks all his suggestive comments are just his weird sense of humor. Tianglang-jun is most definitely trying to get both Zhuzhi-Lang and himself into Shen Yuan's pants. Shen Yuan is, of course, oblivious to this.

After the picnic Tianlang-jun and Zhuzhi-Lang leave but have secured invitation from Shen Yuan to return as they please so long as they keep it hush hush. Zhuzhi-Lang will actually visit a lot and spend a lot of time in tiny snake form curled up around Shen Yuan's arm under his sleeve or in his robes. Shen Yuan idly pets and strokes him, feeling the cool texture of his scales without thinking about it. When he does realize, Zhuzhi-Lang tells him that it's fine and he can keep petting him as much as he wants. Sometimes people will see Shen Yuan, Background Character A, with a green snake on his arm, or in his robes, or draped across his shoulders, but never really think too much about it, thinking he just has a normal pet snake.

Since this initial meeting, there are a lot more snakes around the Shen Estate, and Shen Yuan's parents tell him to get it under control, thinking that his pet snake is attracting them. Shen Yuan apologizes and says he will. Zhuzhi-Lang then tells his snake underlings to hide better. They were there to make sure Shen Yuan was safe, not get him in trouble.

When Zhuzhi-Lang is back in the Demon Realm he talks about Shen Yuan. He also knows about the Mysterious And Cool Cultivator thing and is also trying to recruit demons to his harem cause. Tianlang-jun knows about this and is fine with it. He's long decided that he's gonna get Shen Yuan into his bed family service and so him having his own underlings and support of demons would only make it easier to do so down the road.

Despite Shen Yuan's meddling, the Tianlang-Jun and Su Xiyan thing still happens and the Old Palace Master stuff leading to Tianlang-jun being sealed. Even with Shen Yuan and his harem friends taking down branches of corruption, they weren't able to take down the Old Palace Master (not yet at least). So, that whole Fiasco happens. Shen Yuan feels guilty about it. Tianlang-jun and Zhuzhi-Lang had become his friends and he knew what was coming. He was confused though because Tianlang-jun did not seem like he was trying to take over the Human Realm and that was why he was sealed. Maybe the System finally decided to pop in and say he couldn't interfere in it, and that some things just had to happen for plot reasons (like with the Endless Abyss). Or, Maybe Shen Yuan didn't see it coming, thinking that he had somehow influenced Tianlang-jun to not want to invade the Human Realm, not knowing that it had always been a lie and set up, the truth never being revealed in PIDW.

Zhuzhi-Lang flees to Shen Yuan, hurt from the attack, and, of course, Shen Yuan accepts him even in his half snake, half humanoid form. It took him a moment, but then he recognized it was Zhuzhi-Lang by his eyes and tended his wounds (again). Zhuzhi-Lang tells him the story of what he and Tianlang-jun believe to be true. By the time he's well enough to do that though, Shen Yuan isn't able to do anything about Su Xiyan's situation. She's already long vanished. Shen Yuan also decides that once Bailu Forest isn't under such careful observation after Tianlang-Jun's sealing, he'll go see the man with Zhuzhi-Lang to see what his state is. Despite it all and Tianlang-jun's...unique personality, Shen Yuan still considers him a friend and wants to help where he can.

It, unfortunately, takes a while for things to cool down around Bailu Mountain and then again to find a way to Tianlang-jun's prison without setting off any alarms. By the time Shen Yuan finally sees Tianlang-jun again, years have passed. He's alive, but not in a great state what with being crushed under a mountain and all. Shen Yuan is in awe of the resilience of Heavenly Demons. When Tianlang-jun sees Shen Yuan he's like "ah, if it's the only human who hasn't betrayed me. What brings you to this place?" all casually. Shen Yuan actually brought him some trashy books and food that he knew Tianlang-jun would like and Tianlang-jun is overjoyed by it. You wouldn't even think he was being squished under a mountain with how happy he was.

Shen Yuan works with Zhuzhi-Lang to figure out how to get Tianlang-jun out, but only after he makes Tianlang-jun promise not to slaughter everyone (probably saying some Wise Nonsense, but is really just trying to get Tianlang-jun to not obliterate humanity). Tianlang-jun pouts, but does. Shen Yuan appeases him by getting him more trashy books and human paraphernalia. During this time, Shen Yuan mentions (intentionally) that he heard rumors that Su Xiyan may be pregnant—Shen Yuan doesn’t think Tianlang-jun’s as interested as he should be in this development; this is Luo Binghe after all—and also that he thinks there’s more to this than they originally thought. Tianlang-jun’s attention is then fully shifted from killing all humans except Shen Yuan, to figuring out what’s going on because hm, you’re right, A-Yuan, this doesn’t make much sense.

With Shen Yuan also working on how to get Tianlang-jun out, Zhuzhi-Lang is able to go back to the Demon Realm to keep things in order. At least to an extent. They keep the fact that they’re trying to free Tianlang-jun a secret bc you never know where there are eyes and ears. Shen Yuan helps Zhuzhi-Lang keep his more humanoid appearance since Tianlang-jun isn’t able to, so that helps Zhuzhi-Lang keep the demons under control, but doesn’t help a whole lot. Things still kinda fall apart there. Shen Yuan’s harem organization is still holding up there and work in secret despite the shakiness in the Demon Realm and the demons in it even use the political uncertainty to their advantage to gain more power.

Maybe Shen Yuan figures out how to make the Sun and Moon Dew Mushroom compatible with demonic qi or maybe he finds another solution. But, either way, he gets Tianlang-jun’s soul out from under the mountain. There is just one caveat of this new body. It must grow from infanthood again at a normal rate. They grow the body, and then Tianlang-jun’s soul pops over to it when it’s a baby, freeing him from his prison. Since the Demon Realm has grown unstable and Tianlang-jun is in a vulnerable state, they decide that the best and safest course of action is for Shen Yuan to keep Tianlang-jun in his care. So, Shen Yuan returns home with baby Tianlang-jun claiming the baby’s his. What better place to hide than in Background Family A, after all? Shen Yuan’s been doing it for decades at this point and thinks it’s the perfect way of living. Thankfully, Tianlang-jun, despite being a baby, does still know how to control his demonic qi, and is able to hide it, making himself appear like a normal human baby.

When the rest of Shen Yuan’s harem Friends find out about “his baby” they’re all seething in jealousy wondering who the mother is. (gender neutral use of the term “mother” here. That harem is definitely trying to figure out how to have Shen Yuan’s baby or get Shen Yuan to have their baby) They also start seething in jealousy over the baby itself bc Shen Yuan is doting on him to the max. He’s holding and rocking him, soothing him, patting him, feeding him, cooing over him, ect. Shen Yuan just can’t get over how cute baby Tianlang-jun is, and is wondering what baby Bingge looked like. (By this point, Binghe’s already entered CQMS)

Every time Liu Qingge leaves the sect to go on a night-hunt, he always stops by the Shen Estate to see Shen Yuan and drop off some monster head/part for him. Shen Yuan always greets him with a smile and thanks him, but asks if dropping the bloody carcass in the entry hall was really necessary. Who’s gonna clean this all up, Liu-didi, hm? Be nicer to the servants! Don’t make unnecessary work for them! The first time Liu Qingge sees the baby, he’s doing this. Shen Yuan comes out to meet him with the baby in his arms, and the sight of Shen Yuan holding a baby, smiling at him, and welcoming him back makes his brain blank for a long moment.

Shen Yuan either is super vague about the baby!Tianlang-jun’s mom or has a super detailed background story ready to go. It’s a bit of a minor scandal in the way that all bastards are, but Background Family Father A is happy to get a grandson from Shen Yuan.

As baby!Tianlang-jun grows up, he gets super smug about having Shen Yuan as his dad and attention. He’s good at playing his role as a little kid around others, but then in private just acts like his usual self, lounging around like the emperor he is, reading scandalous smut, and saying all his suggestive and lucious things. When the members of Shen Yuan’s harem Shen Yuan’s friends show up, he always plays up the act and gets Shen Yuan to let him sit in his lap, pet his hair, snuggle against his side, or something. Shen Yuan’s harem friends swear that the kid knows what he’s doing, but can only chug vinegar in silence bc it’s Shen Yuan’s son. Tianlang-jun is loving having Shen Yuan as his dad, being the only one to call him “daddy” or “baba” or “a-die” or such and has Shen Yuan curled around his finger with his cuteness. (He’s long stopped trying to get into Shen Yuan’s pants and is much happier being his adoptive son. He is still trying to set up Shen Yuan and Zhuzhi-Lang though.)

Because of Shen Yuan’s interference, Liu Qingge either doesn’t have that deadly qi deviation, or is stable enough that when Shen Qingqiu tries to help him with it, is actually able to help. So, Liu Qingge lives.

When Luo Bingge is finally out of the Endless Abyss and is working his way through conquering the Demon Realm, he starts to slowly find out about this vast and secret organization that’s in control of so much. Digging deeper, he’s able to uncover that it spans into the Human Realm and includes some well respected and high class cultivators too. Luo Bingge tries to wriggle out who the leader is, but everyone is so tightlipped and elusive that he’s actually having trouble finding info out. It drives him mad. Xin Mo is also capitalizing on this obsession. Luo Bingge can’t be the indisputable Emperor of all if there’s some shadow organization pulling the strings behind the scenes. Shen Yuan, however, is blissfully unaware that he’s caught the attention of Luo Bingge, still thinking he’s successfully flown under the radar, and tells his harem Friends to avoid getting on Luo Binghe’s bad side and to help him however they can, hoping that this will get those that would have died as canon fodder in Bingge’s rise to greatness to be able to survive it. This just drives Luo Bingge even more up the wall bc he doesn’t know why this secret organization is deciding to back him in everything and so he doesn’t know their motives and so he can’t use those motives to his advantage and so he doesn’t have absolute control! 

When he does finally get a member of the harem organization to talk to him, they just say “Our master is wise. He sees potential in you. Do not squander our master’s good will.” because when they asked why Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan said something like “I believe he’s destined for greatness. I want to see the world he creates.” or “He has great promise. I want to see what he does.” all sage like while internally panicking, hoping that that was vague enough so they don’t continue to ask why he wants to help this random demon that he’s never met. This answer does not help to assuage Bingge’s unease at this secret organization and their secret leader, and only makes it worse bc how does this man know Luo Binghe well enough to know his POTENTIAL!?!?! But he can’t ask the person more bc they vanished from their cell after Luo Bingge was called away on urgent business. And, they also somehow have a way to counteract his blood parasites. Bingge is seriously losing it over this. (He doesn’t know about Zhuzhi-Lang and Tianlang-jun, and I’m sure they both know a lot more about Heavenly Demon abilities and how to counteract them than Bingge does)

Shen Yuan and his harem friends end up leading Bingge through the Demon and Human Realms with mind games and wild goose chases, every adventure leading to Bingge gaining more power. Shen Yuan eventually learns that he’s caught Bingge’s eye and hopes that this all will show that Shen Yuan is a friend and not a foe. See! He’s helping you gain power, Bingge!! We’re not enemies!!

Luo Bingge is not put at ease by this and every encounter with the harem organization is just leaving him more frazzled. Eventually Shen Yuan and Luo Bingge meet on one of these crazy adventures when Shen Yuan had to get involved, Shen Yuan in his Mysterious And Cool Cultivator act, and disguised so that even a Heavenly Demon and the protagonist won’t be able to recognize him. (Zhuzhi-Lang and Tianlang-jun helped him test his disguise out) Shen Yuan spouts more of his Wise Nonsense at Luo Binghe to make Luo Binghe see that they’re on Bingge’s side before vanishing without a trace. After every time, Luo Bingge screams and levels some stuff in frustration. He still doesn’t know what these people are after! How are they so elusive!? 

Because of all this, Luo Binghe’s plans to infiltrate Huan Hua Palace and destroy Cang Qiong Mountain Sect are put on hold. He doesn’t know exactly how far this secret organization's power reaches, but he can’t go in blind with such a big power behind the scenes. He does know that the secret organization has reaches in CQMS, but doesn’t know how deep (Liu Qingge’s been hard at work there and all of Bai Zhan is under Shen Yuan’s command along with over half of the other peaks. Shang Qinghua is freaking out because he didn’t write this!!! Who the fuck is that guy!?!? Why is he rivaling Bingge!?!?! And, WHY IS HE WINNING!?!?!? Bingge’s supposed to reign supreme, not some rando he never even wrote! He’s wondering if he maybe wrote out this idea while high as fuck and delusional with sleep depravation which is why he doesn’t remember it, but he knows he wouldn’t do that even at his most addled bc Bingge is supposed to be unrivaled. That’s why he scrapped the Tianlang-jun vs Bingge idea.) 

Bingge gets so caught up in paranoia over this secret organization and not knowing whose a part of it and who's not and what they really want that he’s not negating Xin Mo with dual cultivation bc are the women part of the organization? Are they in on it? What do they want? What do they gain by sleeping with me? So his control is slipping.

It’s also during this time that the harem organization start getting closer to Huan Hua Palace and the Old Palace Master. Their progress is helped when Shen Yuan, during a friendly get together with one of the high ranking members of his harem organization his Friends, he accidentally slips that he’s wondering the validity of the Old Palace Master’s claims of Tianlang-jun wanting to invade the Human Realm and the story of what’s really going on there. The harem organization takes his words as Shen Yuan telling them to look into this matter, so they set their sights fully on Huan Hua Palace and the Old Palace Master.

Not long later, they uncover the Truth, and clear Tianlang-jun’s name, dragging the Old Palace Master’s through the mud. Tianlang-jun, hearing about this, swoops in and kills a whole bunch of Huan Hua Palace high ranking members and the Old Palace Master along with a bunch of other powerful people involved in the cover up and mess. The organization, at seeing the gruesome slaughter, are at first horrified bc who has this kind of power to slip past the organization's defenses and do this? But, then someone spots Tianlang-jun slipping away, recognizes him as Shen Yuan’s son, and concludes that Shen Yuan was the one to do this. Later, at another friendly get together with Shen Yuan, one of them vaguely mentions the slaughter, subtly asking if Shen Yuan knew of it and even more subtly inquiring if he was the one to do it. Shen Yuan, knowing that Tianlang-jun was the one to do it and just got finished burning the bloody robes Tianlang-jun had come back in after reprimanding him to be more careful what if someone saw you???, doesn’t pick up on this at all and is instead trying to divert attention away from them, says something vague back which only confirms in the organizations mind that Shen Yuan was the one who did it. With their firm belief that Shen Yuan knows what’s best, even if they initially thought the execution was horrific, they believe that they had deserved it if Shen Yuan would resort to such tactics.

The organization sweeps in and helps clean the mess up, CQMS and other sects and businesses affiliated with Shen Yuan and the organization distribute Huan Hua Palace’s wealth and territory, gaining more influence. Luo Binghe hears about all this, and poking around some more, finds that the organization was behind this. The fact that this clandestine organization was able to take down such a well established and reputable sect like Huan Hua Palace only sets him more on edge about them. If they can do that, they could also dethrone him too, couldn’t they?? Just because they haven't outright opposed him yet doesn’t mean they won’t. He cannot trust such a powerful organization.

Eventually, Bingge tracks down Shen Yuan and, in a great show like in Hua Yue City, Shen Yuan has to pull the “self-destruct for you” card to stop Bingge’s qi deviation while saying more Wise And Meaningful Nonsense that has Bingge realizing that this guy was really on his side. This entire time, this guy has had unwavering faith in him and his abilities. This entire time, he’s had his whole organization working to help him in any way possible simply because of that. That this entire time, his only motive was to see what Bingge would become, see the world he creates, and for him to be happy. And now he can’t even do that. Because he’s dead. For Luo Binghe’s sake!!

And, Binghe…

Binghe just can’t take it. He hasn’t had someone so staunchly on his side since his mother died when he was little. He starts bawling. He can’t help it. He hasn’t cried in so long, and he just can’t stop the tears. They just keep coming, a heartbreaking wail from his mouth, while he hugs the dead body to his chest.

Other members of Shen Yuan’s harem organization that watched the whole thing stay standing around this scene, some tears falling from their eyes too, not able to believe that Shen Yuan is really dead. Liu Qingge, and others, are getting ready to fight Luo Binghe for Shen Yuan’s body, but before more fighting can break out, Tianlang-jun struts in with Zhuzhi-Lang following meekly behind him. The harem organization members that don’t know about the truth are shocked and scared bc they were supposed to get Shen Yuan’s son away from this chaos and protect him from Luo Binghe. But, Tianlang-jun (whose like a teenager or something by this point) just ignores everyone’s shouts and deftly evades their protective grabs for him, waking straight up to the still bawling Binghe.

See, Tianlang-jun is not nearly as oblivious as Shen Yuan is—he’s the exact opposite really—so he clocked Luo Binghe starting to fall for Shen Yuan a while ago, captivated by the challenge and mind games that Shen Yuan was playing with him, and is staunchly knowing that Luo Binghe won’t attack them again.

“Luo Binghe, do not fear,” he starts seriously, then breaks out in a massive grin and gives him a thumbs up, “we have contingency plans in case of death! Many of them!” Because of course they do. They’ve long secured the Sun And Moon Dew Mushroom Seeds and started growing them to Shen Yuan’s body. Tianlang-jun also still has access to the Holy Mausoleum and the Resurrection Chamber. And, with both Shen Yuan’s PIDW knowledge and Tianlang-jun’s and with his resources, they have a vast variety of back up bodies and plans for many different circumstances. It is also revealed that this is Tianlang-jun and literally no one is surprised by this development. Of course Shen Yuan’s son is the last Demon Emperor who’s supposed to be sealed under a mountain. It also made some of them “understand” why Shen Yuan had been so ruthless in his execution of the Old Palace Master and others since they now knew he had a personal interest in the matter.

When Shen Yuan wakes up, he’s immediately tackled by a sobbing Luo Binghe who places a big, fat, wet kiss on his mouth. He tries to reel back, but Luo Binghe has him in a death grip, so he can only stare wide-eyed at Luo Binghe until he pulls back to keep sobbing against his chest. Those of the harem organization that were there were furious at this bc barely any of them have kissed Shen Yuan and they’ve been in his harem service longer!! And, instead of shoving Luo Binghe away, Shen Yuan hugs him closer and pats his head, trying to calm him down, whispering that “No, Binghe, I won’t go anywhere. Yes, I can stay with you. Please don’t apologize, Binghe, this isn’t your fault. I should have done better to make you see I was on your side. You’ve done nothing wrong.” and so on.

After this, Shen Yuan is no longer able to maintain his cover as Background Character A, but that’s okay because he only kept it so he wouldn’t get taken out as Bingge’s rival or something. Since Binghe is on his side, he can live his whole life as a Mysterious And Cool Cultivator, living out his transmigration dreams unhindered! But, Binghe, what do you mean you’re making me Empress of the Demon Realm? I’m a man! I can’t be your Empress! Pick a pretty girl for that if you want one! Tianlang-jun, why are you laughing!? Why are you supporting this!?

Binghe convinces Shen Yuan to marry him by presenting it as a political marriage since Shen Yuan is in control of so much, and if he wants Luo Binghe to be the Emperor of it all (which he knows Shen Yuan wants) then they really need to be married and Shen Yuan made Empress for his reign to be undisputed. Shen Yuan eventually figures it out, and by that point he’s also figuring out that he actually has feelings for a lot of his “friends.” Well, it’s a good thing they all want to marry him too.

There are a long line of weddings after this as so many of Shen Yuan’s friends harem demand to be formally married. Binghe fights for position of First Husband. And wins. Because of course he does.

Luo Binghe has pretty much lost interest in his own harem (which was still pretty small and shrinking when he decided to kick women out for fear they were part of the organization), and becomes nonexistent after his marriage to Shen Yuan. It’s not a problem though, because Tianlang-jun, Shen Yuan, and Shang Qinghua pull resources and knowledge to nullify Xin Mo’s effect on him, so his harem is obsolete anyway.

—Later, once things are settled, probably:

SQH: bro, wtf? You haremed my harem novel.

SY: 🤷

I just feel like Shen Yuan and Cid are so similar. They both curate their role in their new transmigration life, bullshit through so much by spouting wise nonsense, and making people fall for them left and right while being totally oblivious. Shen Yuan just gives Cid levels of oblivious vibes.

I’m not super feeling my svsss fics right now, so I don’t think I’m gonna write on them and just close the tabs for now. Idk. I’ll prbly come back to this later at some point, but 🤷‍♀️ Hoped you enjoyed this 😊

If anyone has any ideas for what to call sy's version of Shadow Garden, let me know. I was feeling stuck on that part, but like I said, I don't know when I'll come back to this.

[paracosmicka]

i've contemplated sending u an ask here for like 2 days regarding ur sonadow art and oufhgh i have to say it is so,, so gentle like the intimacy and softness of it all/pos i hardly see artists that explore the intimate cuddly drawings without the sexual coding so finding your art is so nice?? like refreshing nice as an aroace person bc in my perfect world, many little guys are just cat coded and it's so so cool to me to have found ur art out in the wild also for the mpreg stuff youre literally one of the most normal ppl i've seen draw/bring it up lol, i'm aware so many ppl like to meme on it or make it a fetish which tbh is pretty transphobic, so i'm just really glad you steered it away from that direction and displayed it as something normal and gentle given the context of the au/lh

first off thank you this is such a nice message and i love that people also feel the vibes of soft and intimate from my sonadow art that’s my only ever goal whenever i drew them 😭😭

second off FELLOW AROACE PERSON ACQUIRED 🫵‼️like omg you get it i love thinking about ships in a cat coding way if that makes sense but especially sonadow bc they’re animals so i just love thinking about them as little guys i can put in my pocket just like my cat

like idk if this is an aroace thing bc i don’t hear it described in a way that i relate to exactly so this might just be me but basically: i’ve always loved romance and ships in fiction but as i got older i slowly realized that i don’t think i can feel it for myself. which kinda made me sad at first because the idea of having a partner always seemed so nice, that was the main reason i didn’t think i was aroace at first because i thought i had always wanted to be in a relationship. i did some research and looked into different identities on the aroace spectrum, and thought that cupioromantic was probably the most accurate to what i was feeling, but later didn’t feel like it applied to me because i think the “enjoys the idea of being in a relationship” doesn’t fit right? ig?? idk how to describe it other than i like the idea of relationships, but it took me awhile to realize that i didn’t really want to apply myself in one if that makes sense.

most likely there’s a thing or word out there that already exists to describe that and i just haven’t been looking up the right terms, but basically this is just a very very long way of saying that i feel like whenever i get into a ship it sorta..��attaches?? to my very identity or something?? like i know people can be like “this is my OTP i love them forever and think about them literally all the time” and it’s like YES that’s me but also feels like an understatement, like all of my past hyperfixations on ships are literally ingrained into my soul even i’m not that into them anymore. and i know people compare hyperfixations to relationships and tbh that’s probably the most accurate description but again, that feels like an understatement.

okay honestly idk where i’m going with this i think what i’m TRYING to say is that i feel like because i can’t feel romance for myself my appreciation for ships feels so much more…emphasized, and sonadow is like the longest consistent hyperfixation i’ve ever had on a ship and at that point usually when something has been a “hyperfixation” for 2+ plus years i put it on the special interest display case in my brain except that display case has only ever had like hobbies and fandoms themselves, never an actual fictional relationship that i’m obsessed with but here we are. it might be the development of brain has synched up with this specific hyperfixation but sonadow is the first ship that makes me feel genuinely happy to this degree. it doesn’t make me sad to think about them and also go “aw i’m sad because i’ve never felt that way about another person and probably won’t experience that ever” in the exact same way you would go “aw i’m going to be dead someday” when you think about the fact that you’re alive right now and conscious and exist and have a mini existential crisis of the week. like sonadow doesn’t do that to me, i really just love those stupid fucking gay hedgehogs so much they’ve actually changed the entire layout of my brain and all the neurons and shit they’re everything to me.

ANYWAY JESUS CHRIST sorry for the ramble uhhhh lemme know if you or any other aroace people know what the fuck i was trying to say there hope you’re doing well and also happy new year!!!

[project-sonadow]

hello—i have a question to ask, and i figured it’d be better to do it here than to bother an individual artist about this. (sorry in advance for bringing the mood down w/ a serious question, btw.)

so, i’ve seen posts going around lately where people are like “hey, stop being explicit about sonadow, it’s weird”. and i agree that making explicit comments on sfw work is not cool. forcing the creator to see stuff that might make them uncomfortable is rude. /gen

however, if the characters are explicitly stated to be aged up (like, have lived several years beyond the games) or are in an au where they’re older, is that still bad? /genq because i always thought that the authors/artists were specifically going out of their way to say “we’re actively not wanting to make these pieces about children, we just want to see these two personalities and how they would behave in nsfw situations”.

sorry again. i’m just very confused (and a bit scared by the hostility /nm) and was hoping that i could maybe get some clarification.

(btw, thanks to all the artists on this blog for making such cute art. it’s all really nice stuff.)

Hi there. This isn't the type of thing we would typically address here, but your approach tells me that you're looking to learn and understand, so I'll give you my thoughts.

First of all, to address hostility - it's intimidating and intense, because this is the kind of thing that fires people up. We're not exempt from this, because we do not want to see explicit content about minors, and we will be direct about this fact. And for some reason, some people get very offended when you tell them this.

I'm going to respond to you in good faith, and I don't assume any bad intentions on your part.

On aging characters up. I will be specifically talking about the sonic franchise as my example here, but this applies to any series where the focus characters are children.

Sonic and Shadow are kids. They are teenagers. Age discourse is NOT relevant. They are depicted as teenagers, they act like teenagers, and they are meant to be viewed as teenagers. And so this begs the question: why is there a need to see them in adult situations? Why is there a drive to depict minors in explicit situations?

Even if a creator is theoretically not making a piece about minors, when they choose to age up minor characters, that tells me that they thought about those minors in explicit situations, or that they wanted to see those minors in those situations, but needed a way to justify it.

This is why I fundamentally disagree with aging characters up to put them in adult situations. The core characters are children. Wanting to see a child character in explicit situations so badly that there is a need to justify it by aging them up or making an au or whatever is strange and disturbing, and I personally would not want to associate with someone who does that kind of thing.

Reflect on the issue yourself. All I can do is explain my reasoning, and say that I will choose not to associate with people who make and/or consume content of minor characters in explicit situations.

I appreciate that you want to learn. I am answering this question specifically because of the way you asked it, and that I see this as a way to tell you why we think certain things, and why we vehemently disagree with certain types of content. To others reading this, this post is NOT an invitation to discourse with us. I will not be arguing about ages or logistics or whatever. Do not try to convince me that nsfw of minor characters is okay, you'll get blocked immediately.

[merakimagic]

TMNT Reunion Event: Campfire Stories

The air felt cold where Mikey stood. Aware from the fire as the orange flames flickered, sparks drifting upwards, embers glowed and laughter consumed the air as all the other cabins gathered around. Roasting marshmallows, making s’mores.

The fire crackled and popped, logs broke and the fire began to settle after one of the Raph’s had rearranged them.

A peaceful scene but not even the warm laughs or fire could defeat the cold that surrounded Mikey.

Mikey thought to himself

“I’ve seen them before

I didn’t realise it at the time but

I’ve seen them

Even before this all started

I knew my powers were getting stronger but I didn’t want to think about it

I thought they were just dreams

Donnie says my imagination has always been overactive

So I thought it was nothing

But I was wrong

So many people

So many versions of us

All so different

But also the same

Some remind me of when we were kids

When it felt like nothing could touch us and the world was still such an unknown. When we would get upset when separated and our imaginations could keep us occupied for ages.

Some remind me of just before everything changed

When we still challenged everything and being hero’s was so exciting. When Leo still acted like a big shot and Donnie still talked to us about his latest project with amazement and excitement. When Raph still kept his cool and when no matter what we were doing we would just hang out together.

Some have grown up completely different to us But there getting better and there trying to be there for each other

…

All so different

But almost all with their own problems

Lots of problems

I guess he was right

We are creatures destined for tragedy

…

But maybe….

Just maybe… we’ll be okay and be like we were again

Everyone here has overcome challenges and faced adversity.

Yeah

We’ll be okay

We’ll all be okay”

——————————————————————————

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion

For Cabin 11 Baby!!

I wanted to draw the whole thing as a comic but my tablet is braking and so is my laptop. He just gotta hang in there for a little longer

Other People who’s AU’s I included:

First Panel:

@allyheart707

@misshowdoyoudo

@littlemissartemisia

@xxsociallyunacceptablepuppetxx

Second Panel:

@hitwiththetmnt

@banana-pancake5

Third Panel:

@itzzaira

Forth Panel:

@v-albion

@liya4kar

@evenmoreofadisaster

Honestly guys, gals and non-binary pals, there are so many amazing AU’s that are involved in this event and I can’t wait to draw more of other peoples AU’s interacting with my own. I definitely suggest checking out these incredible AU’s, created by some pretty incredible people✨

[heartvshand]

On the Road Again

Summary:

Agatha is getting the band back together at the request of Billy Maximoff. But before they can hit the road, she and Rio have unfinished business to resolve.

Written for Agatha All Along (AAA) Week Day 2. Band AU.

---

On the Road Again

A reunion tour. Who would have thought?

The way she left, I figured we’d never be in the same room again, let alone on tour together. I stared at the email and let out a long exhale. It was from Agatha’s personal email address. And her personal phone number.

From: Agatha Harkness

To: Rio Vidal

Subject: Reunion Tour

Rio,

We’re doing a reunion tour. 10 shows, 10 cities, March through September.

Would love to have you join. Give me a call.

Agatha

It even read like her. I chewed my lip, unsure what to say. Did she really want to see me?

I cleared my throat. It had been ten years since we’d seen each other. Eleven years since the band had broken up.

I closed my eyes. I could see her, sitting in the coffee shop, tracing her finger along the lid of her cup. She was still sad about Nicky dying. She blamed me, despite the hard truth that sometimes, people die, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.

Opening my eyes, I pulled up her contact card and called her. After all this time, I still loved her. I’d still do whatever she wanted. If she wanted to go on tour, then we’d go on tour.

“Rio.” Her voice was sharp. “I’m surprised you called.”

“Hi, Agatha.” I laughed, already on edge. “I got your email. You want to do a reunion tour?”

She grumbled something and then cleared her throat. “Management wants us to do it. They’ve got some new young gun in charge. He’s insisting we should capitalize on the surge of popularity we’re having with the kids.”

Nodding, I imagined her slightly irritated but triumphant expression. “I wondered if they’d do this. I’ve been hearing our old stuff on the radio a lot lately.”

Agatha scoffed. “They also want us to do a new album.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Yes. It’s some kid named Billy Maxipad. He’s an idiot.”

Rolling off the bed, I laughed. “Oh, come on, his name is not Maxipad.”

I could hear the smile in her voice when she finally replied. “Fine. It’s Maximoff. Maxipad is just my special little name for him.”

I flicked through the clothes in my closet, already planning what I’d pack and what I wouldn’t. What she’d like and what she wouldn’t. How many suitcases would I need?

“Rio?” Her voice was softer, like old times.

“Hm?” I was afraid to say too much and break the spell, afraid for her to harden again.

“When do you think you’ll be here?” Agatha Harkness sounded nervous.

I paused before answering, still afraid I’d scare her back into her shell if I spoke. I tried to figure out what the right answer would be. I ran my tongue over my teeth, feeling each one.

I cleared my throat. “I’ll pack and look at flights today. When do we hit the road?”

“First stop is March 28th—we’ll start in New York and hit some major cities along the way back to L.A.” Agatha’s voice was all business again. “We’ll start in L.A. for press, then we’ll take a plane to New York for the show, and then, the buses will take us from there.”

“Very cool.” I kicked myself for picking the wrong answer. “Do they have hotels for us already? In L.A. I mean?”

Agatha was quiet. “I was hoping you might want to stay with me. But yes, they have hotels booked.”

“I’d love to stay with you.” I wasn’t sure how to say the right thing. “I’ve missed you.”

She exhaled. “I’ve missed you, too.”

#

Landing at an airport outside of Los Angeles forty-eight hours later, Agatha picked me up without any fanfare.

We threw my luggage in the trunk of her SUV and then buckled into the front seats and for a moment, it felt like we were normal people who might still love each other instead of famous singers on the brink of a reunion tour with a deep scar spanning the distance between us.

The radio started up when the car did. I turned it down just a little as she maneuvered out of the parking spot.

“Hi.” I unzipped my small, cross-body bag and pulled out a small, fake flower. “I got you this. It’s not real, so it won’t die or need water or anything. Very low maintenance.”

Agatha eyed me, then the fake flower. She laughed quietly, taking it. “Charming.”

With a shrug, I looked out the tinted window. “You like it.”

Palm trees and people zipped by us. I fidgeted with the button for rolling up and down the window but didn’t press it. We were quiet, letting the radio fill the space instead of conversation.

“I don’t know if you’ve been to this new place.” Agatha’s voice brought me back from staring out the window. We’d just turned into a gated neighborhood.

I looked over to her.

She pointed out the windshield. “The one at the end here, that’s mine.”

Looking to where she pointed, I nodded. “Cool. I think you’re right. I haven’t been here.”

Once we were inside her home and my suitcases were tucked away in the guest bedroom closest to her room, the canyon of a decade sat between us without music to fill the gaps. We stood in her kitchen, drinking water and searching for topics to talk about without talking about Nicky, our break up, or the band’s break up.

She finally let out a long, frustrated sigh. “Let’s just get it over with. Hash it out now before we meet up with everyone else, before we get on the road and fuck it all up out there in front of people.”

My shoulders fell; I nodded. I knew she was right, but I’d just arrived, and I had hoped for some sort of normalcy before diving into the hard shit.

After a long drink of water, I said, “All right, Agatha. Where do you want to start?”

She blew out a breath and shrugged. “I miss Nicky every day.”

Shutting my eyes, I nodded. “I do, too.”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was a strangled whisper.

My eyes snapped open; words caught in my throat.

“I wanted to call you every single day. But. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.” Her eyes were wet. She blinked several times, gaze dropping to the ground. She shook her head. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she looked back up.

Agatha was not someone to apologize. My heart raced; my head spun. I fumbled with the bar stool at the island I was leaning against.

Sliding into the chair, I gripped the marble countertop in front of me, focusing on the cool, smoothness of it instead of Agatha’s words and what they meant.

I failed to say anything before she continued.

“I know it’s not your fault.” Her words were shaky, and her wet eyes were boring into mine. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“And it wasn’t yours.” I licked my lips, gripping the counter, afraid to break eye contact.

“I don’t hate you.” Her voice cracked. The tears ran down her cheeks.

“I don’t hate you either.” I swallowed.

We watched each other.

Agatha’s phone buzzed. Our eyes moved to it and then back to each other.

“Are you seeing anyone?” She silenced her phone when it started buzzing with a phone call.

I shook my head; my heart raced.

She made her way around the island and closed the distance between us. I spun around on the stool and faced her; she stood in front of me. I hopped off the stool. She pulled me in for a hug.

My arms wrapped around her; I buried my face in her neck. Her hand cradled the back of my head. Tension left my body until the buzzing returned.

Her phone buzzed again. And again. And again. “Damn it, Billy.” She pulled away and walked back to her phone. “He’s extremely excited that you’re here early and staying with me.”

My eyes widened. “Oh?”

Agatha rolled her eyes and answered the phone. “What?”

There was chatter on the other end; she held up a hand and moved it in a way that mimed talking.

“Yep, she’s here.” She leaned against the counter and sighed. “No. We were in the middle of an extremely important conversation.”

Billy said something else I couldn’t hear.

She rolled her eyes and glanced at me. “Yes. Don’t lecture me. Bye.”

She hung up and walked back over to me.

“What did he want?” I glanced at her phone.

“Wanted to make sure you got here in one piece, that we hadn’t killed each other, you know, all that.” She waved the question away. “Listen, everyone else is arriving next week. Jen, Alice, Lilia. I don’t want to fight with you on the road. And, in general, I don’t want to be at odds with you.”

My chest tightened, realizing quickly what she was getting at. “They still don’t know what happened with Nicky.”

“No. They don’t.” She dropped her gaze to the floor.

Frowning, I watched her tap her fingers against her thigh. I exhaled. “You didn’t stay in touch with them, did you?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I did not.”

“Did they reach out about the rumors?” I chewed on my cheek. None of them had called me, but they’d always liked Agatha more.

She shrugged. “Yeah.”

We were quiet for a moment.

“He just got sick and died,” I said.

She nodded.

“Those headlines were all trash.” The tabloids flashed across my mind: ‘Agatha Harkness let her son overdose on heroin!’ ‘Was Agatha’s addiction the downfall of her own son?’

My frown deepened. “Agatha. You didn’t let them believe those things, did you?”

She shrugged again.

“Our son,” I said, clenching my jaw. “He did not die from an overdose, and you aren’t even addicted to drugs! He got sick and died, Agatha.”

“I know that!” Her eyes were hard when she looked at me. “But nobody else gets to know me. Or Nicky. The public doesn’t get to have him.”

I blinked several times. “Our bandmates weren’t the public. You could have told them the rumors weren’t true.”

“You and I were very private about Nicky and the cancer. I didn’t want anyone to know. I still don’t.” She took a sharp inhale and wiped her eyes.

“Not even our friends?” I paced in front of her.

“No, because you never know who they might tell. Everyone trusts someone with secrets,” she said.

I stopped and tilted my head. “Oh, come on. That’s a little paranoid.”

“Everyone has someone they tell secrets to. And one of those will leak it to the wrong person. I don’t want Nicky’s face everywhere all the time for the rest of my life paired with to see the headlines about him being so brave, or the articles about his cancer, all of it.” Her voice cracked; she buried her face in her hands. Her body shook with sobs.

I pulled her in, holding her. “Okay, that…I can understand.”

She held on to me, burying her face in my neck. I stroked her hair and took deep, even breaths. It felt good to hold her, to talk to someone about this.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes and untangled herself from my arms. When she spoke, she had a renewed frustration in her voice. “I’m so angry that you let me leave.”

My brow furrowed. “What was I supposed to do? Hold you hostage? Force you to stay and pretend to love me?”

She snarled. “You could have fought for me.”

“Agatha, do you remember that entire last year together? We quit the band, because I was fighting for you.” I clenched and unclenched my fists. “We stayed in that cottage in the middle of nowhere, where all I did was try to fix it. For an entire year!”

Her face, twisted up with anger, softened again. She crumpled in front of me, curling up, squatting, gripping her stomach. She took ragged breaths, and then the sobbing resumed.

I wasn’t sure if I should even try to touch her. I stayed put, waiting for her to switch gears, finding new resolve to be angry with me.

She sank on to the ground and held her fist against her chest. My heart hurt watching her. I couldn’t take it anymore.

I slowly approached her. Meeting her on the ground, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and held on to her again.

She looked up; our breathing mingled. I imagined her lips on mine and swallowed. Then, our lips were pressed together. She was kissing me, grabbing my face. I pulled her up and guided her to the couch, kissing, hands exploring whatever they could reach.

Her fingers threaded through my hair.

I slipped my hands up her shirt. I broke the kiss. “Is this okay?”

“Yes, now shut up and kiss me.” She pressed her body against mine.

My hands slid upward, dancing across the bottom of her bra.

She moaned softly. “Your hands are so soft.”

I smiled against her lips, kissing her then trailing kisses down her neck. “Mind if I start undressing you?”

“Only if I can do the same to you,” she said. Her hands slid out of my hair and found their way to my pants.

“Be my guest.” I laughed, lifting my hips so she could pull the pants down.

I unclipped her bra and pulled her shirt off. Once she was done removing my pants, she tossed her bra across the room, then she tossed my shirt and bra in the same direction. She hurriedly removed her own pants and then stood there, chest heaving. We stared at each other, taking in one another’s bodies. A decade had gone by since we’d seen each other naked. I bit my lip and pulled her to me.

#

“Here’s your shirt.” She tossed me my t-shirt.

“Here you go.” I walked up to her, with her bra in hand. “Turn around, I can help.”

She laughed and took the bra from me. “Stop it.”

“What?” I quirked up an eyebrow.

She shook her head. “You know what.”

I pretended to think about it for a moment before shaking my head. “Nope. I don’t know what.”

“Stop being so…cute.” She eyed me. “Unless you want to take this to the bed.”

“Considering we just lost about four hours to having sex on the couch, I’m guessing we don’t have another four hours to lose, so we probably should keep it in our pants.” I winked. “Maybe later?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we’ll see.”

I laughed before my smile slowly faded and reality sank back in. “Agatha. You know we should figure out...things, not just fuck it out.”

“I know.” She sighed. “I don’t want to think or talk about it yet.”

I suppressed a sigh, pressing my lips together tightly and forcing the air out of my nose in an even way. “Okay.”

She whipped around to face me. “Rio, what do you want?”

My eyes widened; I backed up, tilting my head. “I’m fine with talking about it later.”

She looked confused for a moment before her expression smoothed out. “Oh, no, I know. I meant…what do you want?”

She gestured between us. “What do you want this to be?”

I stared at her for a moment, weighing whether I wanted to be that vulnerable. I dropped my gaze to the ground then found the ceiling. Anywhere but her.

“Agatha, I want to be with you. I’ve wanted that the whole time. That hasn’t changed.” I kept my eyes focused on the window behind her, watching birds flitting by outside.

She exhaled and smoothed out her clothes. “I want that, too.”

I looked at her. “Really?”

“Yes.” Her voice was tight. “If you’d give me a chance.”

“Of course.” I reached for her hand. “Want to be my girlfriend?”

She rolled her eyes, but a smile played on her lips. “Yes.”

I leaned in and kissed her softly.

“If the ladies ask, please don’t tell them about Nicky.” Her voice was a strangled whisper. She looked at me with a desperation in her eyes. “Please.”

Shutting my eyes, I nodded. “As you wish, Agatha.”

Opening my eyes, I watched her try to give me a smile briefly before blinking several times and letting out a big exhale. She turned away from me.  “We’re meeting Billy for dinner. We should get ready.”

#

Sitting in the restaurant, Agatha fiddled with my hand; her eyes scanned for Billy.

I draped my arm around the back of her chair and leaned back a little.

She shifted in her seat.

“You nervous, sweetheart?” I raised an eyebrow.

“A bit, yeah. This wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind as our first official night back together.” She ran her hand through her hair.

“Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?” I smirked and tilted my head.

“A quiet dinner, more sex. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Not a business dinner.”

“We were always really good at mixing business with pleasure. Maybe we can have a business dinner and cap the night off with some more sex,” I said, nodding in the direction of the door. “Billy’s here.”

She looked from me to the front of the restaurant.

“Are we hiding this?” I motioned between us.

“No.” Agatha’s brow furrowed; she shook her head. “No, never.”

I nodded.

“I’d never hide you, Rio,” she said, softly.

I smiled before turning my attention to Billy, who was quickly approaching.

“Hey, Agatha! So good to meet you, Rio!” He leaned down for a hug, which I obliged.

“Same to you, Billy.” I wondered if he knew about Agatha’s special nickname for him or not. He took the seat across from us. “What have you two been up to with your first day reunited?”

Agatha cleared her throat and made a few faces. “Oh, um, you know. We talked everything out. We, yeah, we got back together.”

Billy eyed us, then looking at me, he said, “Is that so?”

“Can confirm.” I smiled. The image of Agatha coming undone with me between her legs filled my mind.

He clapped, smiling wide. “Wonderful! Congrats!”

With food in front of us, I took my hand from hers and focused on eating and whatever Billy had called us here to go over.

“Rio, I wanted to make sure the interview questions were all appropriate. Are there any topics you don’t want to be asked about?” Billy wiped his mouth.

“Nicky.” I took a sip of water. “My personal life in general. Stay focused on the music.”

He nodded, taking notes on his phone. “Okay. I’ll do my best. You know how reporters are.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. They’ll get some weird answers if they ask me anything I don’t want to answer.”

Agatha snorted. “I’m sure the whole band will help deflect for each other.”

Billy pointed at her and nodded. “Yes. Definitely.”

I focused on the bite of food in my mouth. After swallowing, I took another drink. “How many interviews will there be before we hit the road?”

Billy rattled off a list of names I recognized as magazines, but I stopped listening after the third one.

“So. A lot.” I sighed, nodding. “Sounds about right.”

“It’ll be a variety of magazines, podcasts, online video channels,” he said, continuing.

Agatha and I exchanged a glance.

“That’s enough, Billy. We get it.” Agatha rolled her eyes and finished the last of her food.

“Everyone else arrives next week. For convenience, we want you two staying at the hotel with them. It’s going to make transport a lot easier. Do you want one room or two?” Billy took a long drink from his water, finishing it off.

We looked at each other. Agatha spoke first. “Two rooms with an adjoining door? Or one room? What do you think?”

“I’m comfortable with either. Let’s do one room since there’s a big chance that we’ll be sharing one most of the time anyway. Might as well save some money, right, Billy?” I looked from her to him and back at her.

“Love that thinking, Rio.” He nodded. “Agatha, one room for you two, then?”

She nodded, trying to hide a smile. “Yep, that works.”

Watching her hide that smile gave me a rush. I smiled at her and mouthed, “I love you,” to her while Billy kept asking his questions.

She winked.

We stared at each other, and I missed anything else Billy had to say.

#

Agatha fluttered around her home all morning, packing, unpacking, and repacking things and muttering to herself and sometimes to me about what she should and shouldn’t bring. I lazed on the bed, watching her. My bags were already good to go.

“Have you talked to Lilia, Jen, or Alice?” I practiced twirling the drumstick between my fingers. It fell and almost hit me in the face. I picked it up and tried again, trying to shake off the rust.

Agatha paused and stared at me, registering what I was doing. “We haven’t been rehearsing day in and day out. Oh my god, what were they thinking? We should have started practicing months ago.”

“We’re musicians. I’m sure it’s like riding a bike.” I thought about the familiar beats and rhythms and way to play our music. “It’s not like we all quit music after we broke up. We all have had our own careers.”

She nodded and went back to running around. “Right. Right. Of course. But we should still practice together.”

“And we will. I’m sure we’ll have time for that.” I yawned and dodged the drumstick as it almost fell on my face again. “You could call Billy and check.”

“Can you do that, please? I’m still packing.” Agatha wandered out of earshot.

I set the stick down on the bed and grabbed my phone off the bedside table. I tapped on Billy’s name and waited for him to answer.

He answered after two rings. “Rio? Is everything okay?”

“Hey, yeah. Agatha’s busy packing, but she wanted to make sure we’re going to have time to practice and play together before we perform on stage together, right?”

“Oh, yes. Practices will start as soon as everyone else arrives.” Billy paused abruptly, and I waited, giving him a chance to say whatever he was trying to before I hung up. He didn’t speak.

“Okay, cool. I guess that’s all. See you soon. Oh, also when do we need to be at the hotel?”

“A car is coming to pick you two up in two hours. Their flights should all be arriving soon, so they won’t be far behind you.”

I groped around with my free hand until my fingers wrapped around the drumstick. I tapped the stick against my thigh. “Cool. See you soon.”

“Agatha?” I rolled off the bed and headed into the hallway.

“Kitchen!”

I frowned. “What do you need in the kitchen?”

“I don’t know. I’m double checking.” She laughed and I heard a few loud noises and hurried to see if she needed help.

____

This was supposed to be a one shot. But there might be more later. I had to stop here for today, but I wanted to still post. Thank you for reading.

[enidtendo64]

How is Preston in the Diner at the end of falls au

I know you said that you think Pacifica is thinking she can change him. But does he deserved to be changed? The man conditioned Pacifica with a bell which is horrific!

But who knows maybe having his face re-arranged and his wife leaving him changes a man. But I am curious and skeptical about him.

Also I absolutely love your au, so far I’m loving the additions you made to characters and the fun dynamics I’ve seen so far!!!

I never thought of Albert Corduroy before as a character but I find what you did with him interesting!

AND You added additions like Tres and Quattro and Abigale that make me JUST *GESTURES HANDS HAPPILY*

One more thing is McGucket and Tate also going to be in this? And if so, what is their relationships with Pacifica like?

I know some people started making McGucket and Pacifica close because of weridmagedeon and because Pacifica might have inventor genes from Abigale so I’m wondering your thoughts on it

Sorry if this is just a bit much but this quickly gained my attention and became one of my favorite aus

Oh I’m not even gonna try to be mysterious about it, Preston sucks lol. It’s more just, it’s more about Pacifica’s evolving character that she wants to try to help him than him in general. She sees herself cut from the same cloth as him, I mean she’s as Northwest as he is. But with Dipper and Mabel’s help, she was able to grow despite her environment and people around her. She thinks that if she doesn’t at least try to help him, then isn’t she kind of like a hypocrite? Like why is she any different than him?

But really that’s just all part of the entire mock show’s recurring themes of Pacifica being forced into situations and headspaces that kids don’t normally have to deal with (I.e. having to work to pay rent, worrying about job security, being consistently in the face of the concept of death and loss) and her not realizing it’s different for her and her dad. She was just a kid, sure she did make her mistakes, but they also had a heavy hand in why she was who she was. Sure Preston can change, but he has more responsibility and penance bc he’s an adult—he should’ve known better. Oh and also he’s like her dad so she is also clinging to that lol.

Thank you! Honestly this started out as just finding it funny that Paz works at the diner post show, but then I started just using it as a way to use and explore other minor or background characters in the show. I more or less gave myself a rule that I’ll try to have no complete ocs for the living people, and I can make OCs only for the ghosts, just so we can really use everyone! Or at least try to, to an extent lol

YES I had to put Archibald in bc he’s basically one of the catalysts for why Pacifica has such an interesting post series story! Not only is she working at the diner, but apparently Archibald and the rest of the lumberjack spirits around have been protecting her from Bill! Like she really won them over with that party 😭 makes sense tho that the zombies from scaryoke got introduced during a party they love to go crazy

YEAH! I just like using the background or one off characters lol. Quattro and Tracey are interesting cause like their clone brothers straight up died, but what’s the difference between clones vs being your own person? Did the clones have ghosts/sounds that moved on? 🤔 and then Abigale Blackwing was just a fountain of good shit to headcanon. I think her being some ghost supreme is just really cool and also lowkey fits the Northwest brand of being haunted af (like what do you MEAN they have their own graveyard on their property 😭)

So as for McGucket and Tate I had planned something where their (re)introductory episode would be ghosts bothering Pacifica at the diner and saying something crazy’s going in Northwest manor. This leads to Paz and Kevin going to Paz’ old house and Kevin finding out the Pacifica Northwest lore of her growing up in a haunted house, and Pacifica ACTUALLY seeing how haunted it was instead of just getting a chilly feeling all the time. They meet with McGucket and Tate who are the reasons the ghosts are in a tizzy, they’re full ghost harassing! All four team up when an especially malevolent Northwest ancestor starts up some trouble.

Throughout the series I imagine McGucket and Tate and the Northwest manor being recurring appearances, especially regarding either they need something specifically science-y with the ghosts OOOR…when they need to find homeless Tracey and Quattro a home….hello Father McGucket!

In terms of Paz and McGucket and Abigale, I think Pacifica feels a little weird about McGucket since he effectively owns her old home now (she’s better but lbr she’s still petty lol) but I think there’s some mutual respect. McGucket might find some of Abigale’s old schematics maybe? And probably have some great admiration/respect for her with what he sees. Paz might also surprise him by being surprisingly adept at mechanical thinking and actions (as if she’s got…muscle memory? 🤨) but Paz doesn’t think of it since she doesn’t have a huge interest in that stuff. But now you know why she’s so damn good at minigolf (“it’s all geometry, duh.”)

Thank you so much for showing so much interest! I’ve spent an embarrassingly long time thinking of this AU and will probably continue to think more of it so I’m glad there are people who like it!

[therapycat21]

All Right Now Part 9

Travis Kelce x Famous!Reader Description: The reader catches the eye of famous footballer Travis.

Warnings: None

Social Media AU

I still can’t believe it, I never thought I’d be engaged to be married, ever considering my track record, But I guess the best things come when you least expect it to. Travis and his family coming into my life was definitely a blessing in disguise. There is no doubt I love my family but it’s a different feeling of love being accepted by your partner’s family. 

It’s been a few days since Travis proposed, the news outlets obviously already know and are spinning a bunch of theories every day. 

“They only got engaged because she’s pregnant”  “She gave him an ultimatum and that’s why he did it.”

Every day it’s something new, I know it is only because we have only been together a year but jeez, people get engaged after only being together for a few months, and a lot of the time those are the couples that are the happiest and stay together the longest. (In my opinion) Travis has been over the moon and telling pretty much anyone he can, even after a game in the press room, he finds any chance to bring it up, It is definitely the cutest thing to see him blushing on TV.  I even see it all over TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, you name it and it’s there.

We have been getting calls, and texts all day. Some from friends and family others, news networks, talk shows, and everything. It has been crazy. Travis and I are both doing talk shows, not together but a few days apart.

"You think these go together?" Travis has been inside the closet for an hour trying to find an outfit when he goes on Jimmy Fallon tonight.

I look up from where I lay on the bed scrolling through Tiktok, he’s holding a black suit set. “Ohh, that would look so nice, especially with your gold jewelry,” I tell him he gives me a smile in response hanging the outfit on the side for later “You are one amazing woman, you know that?” he smiles at me once more.

We both head downstairs to film a new episode of New Heights with Jason. We settle in the chairs, pull the headphones on, and wait for Jason.

“Hello hello, family!” Jason somewhat yells. I laugh at the face he makes before Travis and Jason get into their announcements and sponsors.

“Now we have two special guests today, my awesome and beautiful wife Kylie and our awesome sister-in-law Y/n!” Jason announces loudly earning a weirded and shocked look from Kylie “Oh my” she mutters smirking at me through the camera, I try to hold in my laughter behind my hand, “gotta love Jason’s enthusiasm” I tell them laughing. We talk about a few topics before Jason brings up the big one “Okay, I waited long enough to bring it up, can we please talk about the proposal?” he asks.

I look to Travis for agreement, after a brief nod and encouraging smile “Well It was definitely a surprise I’ll tell you that, we had talked about it and I didn’t expect him to propose a few weeks after that talk.” I laugh. I turn and face Travis “You know it was perfectly timed, as someone who didn't really see themselves getting married, I knew the second we met that she was either gonna be my wife or I would never get married to anyone else unless it was her.” He replies looking at me after. I tried to hide the tears forming in my eyes, I dab under my eyes “I love you so much” I tell him giving him a quick soft kiss.

 We turn to see Jason and Kylie both smiling wide. Jason was sporting the proud big brother look “When Trav came to me and started talking to me about how he was planning all of this, for one, I was shocked cause, for one I’ve never seen him talk so passionately about someone or something as much as his car collection, so It was so cool to see him do that, and two, I was just excited to be able to watch it happen in front of my eyes.” Jason says before turning his attention to Kylie “what did you think?” he asks her. 

She smiles “I for one was kinda just like thank god, he finally asked her and now I have my sister-in-law” she laughs “When Jason told me the plans I was ecstatic, It feels good to see you both happy.” she says in response. We give them both fond smiles “Aww, see and my biggest fear was everyone thinking we were crazy for doing this too soon.” I laugh.

“If I never met you and your family I would have thought the same thing but everyone can clearly see you guys are in love and like Travis said if it feels right then it’s right and you gotta take that chance when It shows itself,” Jason tells us. We talk a bit more and we say goodbye to them.

An hour later

Travis and I are in our closet getting ready to head out for his interview tonight with Jimmy Fallon, Travis wearing the black suit ensemble and me wearing something similar. 

We pull into the studio already seeing paparazzi surrounding the entire sides of the entrance to the studio. I huff trying to mentally prepare for the swarm about to happen, Travis leans over grasping my hand in pulling it towards his face giving the tops of my hands a chaste kiss. “We got this, and always remember I got you, baby,” he reassured me. I nod my head. He leans forward and opens the car door, the camera lights flashing like crazy before it doubles when I also come out of the car, the driver shuts the door and Travis guides me protectively towards the door, pushing back over pushy paparazzi.

We finally make it inside the building and we are met by a studio rep, they guide us to where we need to be. We chill in the studio’s dressing room before we are guided over to the studio’s main stage and seating area. I give Travis a kiss before he heads back and I open the door to where the audience is and where my front-row seat is.

I hear gasps flow throughout the room I look up to see the audience staring at me in shock “Hi everyone” I wave to them shyly. I hear quick responses throughout the room and sit down in my seat where a couple of younger girls are. I give them a smile before I focus my attention on Jimmy walking out onto the stage and sitting behind his desk. “Okay, we are live, in three, two, one” I hear the camera director announce. “Hello everyone, today we have a very special guest, please welcome the man, the chief king and big yeti, Travis Kelce!” he announces theatrically before the crowd starts to yell out and Travis works his way to his seat “Hello hello” he waves to the audience, winking at me, I smile in response. 

They talk a bit about his games, and about the new documentary Jason has made coming out soon. “Okay, now we all know there is something big that needs to be talked about,” Jimmy smirks, Trav laughs rubbing his bearded chin and nodding “Yeah, I have a feeling I know” he laughs. Jimmy laughs “okay we all know you recently proposed to your now fiance Y/n L/n” the crowd starts clapping and hollering as Travis blushes “Yeah, I got her to say yes, thankfully” Travis jokes. Jimmy laughs “okay, so tell us how it happened, how did you do it?” he asks “Well, I had started planning all of it a few months ago and had the ring for a while, and I decided to set up a small park that we always went to and had her favorite flowers scattered on the ground with those tea light candles and then I did it.” he tells them cheesing big. 

The crowd awws and hollers “oh my, well that sounds amazing.” Jimmy compliments, “So of course I have to ask cause everyone was talking about how too soon it was, do you think you did it too soon?” he asks. Travis smiles shaking his head “no, absolutely not, I knew it was the right moment and me and her are big believers in if it feels right take that jump cause we see too many people lose those opportunities and I can’t lose her.” Travis tells them gaining soft coos from the audience.

Jimmy is smiling softly at him “you know, you are so right, and I just want to say congratulations to you and I know you guys are gonna do amazing, I wish I could tell y/n so please if you can pass that for me” Jimmy laughs, Travis nods smiling “actually one second” he hold a finger up before standing up and heading off the stage to the audience and holding his hand out for me to grab.

The crowd starts to yell as Travis guides me towards the seat closest to Jimmy. 

We smile at each other and pull each other into a hug “Oh my god, I can’t believe your here? It’s so cool to see you again.” He tells me I smile “It’s so good to see you too, I mean I’m gonna be here next week so” We laugh and sit down. “This is crazy, So congratulations, how are you feeling?” he asks “Thank you! And very very good, I could not be happier” I smile at him.

We sit and talk a bit more before the show ends and we say our goodbyes to Jimmy, the audience, and the production before we head home.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Like my writing? Buy me a coffee. I would be so grateful!

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[jacarandaaaas]

I notice how (most of) the fandom likes to pin Mirabel as motherly but...Camilo's right there. I can see him getting strict when he needs to be or blurts out the right advice at the right time...which literally shocks everyone when he does but still. In other words, he's the "mom/dad" friend that everybody needs at the right time.

He takes care of kids all day + Is a natural caretaker like Julieta is. We don't know much of his personality other than "mischievous" but taking care of kids from an early age can surely make someone responsible and mature overtime.

Mirabel isn't the town babysitter; she has her own things going on. And I know she loves kids and all, but she strikes more as an older sister/ "aunt who gives you the candy you aren't supposed to have" kind of gal than a motherly type. Don't get me wrong, I honestly think she's good with advice too, but Camilo comes in a close second.

Yet, there's literally a tag on ao3 that's "Mirabel Madrigal acting as Antonio Madrigal's parental figure" that belongs to 94 fics. It's not a lot but still.

I'm okay with it being an au and all, have your fun, but Camilo takes care of kids on a regular basis. Shouldn't he be the one that's seen as parental?

It would be funny to see the slacker get fed up with someone's antics and start scolding like a parent would. I'm sure when it happens it makes the person do a double take because it's not something he does often. Rarely even.

So, when it does happen, it's shocking.

It would be nice to have Camilo be painted as someone who is emotionally mature. Maybe not to the extent of Mirabel, but like I said, he takes care of children. That has to make someone emotionally mature to some extent.

It would be nice to see Camilo not painted as a jerk for once. Sure, he's incredibly blunt but not a jerk! And yes, he's a teen boy, he's going to feel emotions like one, but we SAW him giving tea to his mom when she was freaking out.

Not jerk teenager would do that unless they were forced too. Camilo isn't forced, he wants his mama to be calm so SHE can feel a little better. We can see that by the way he's talking to her.

It would be hilarious to see Camilo using a chancla on someone (maybe a bully who's harassing Mirabel) and ending it with-

"AND DON'T THINK YOUR PARENTS WON'T HEAR ABOUT THIS!"

Sorry for the rant, I didn't intend for it to get that long.

anon you are speaking my language!! I’ve talked about my dislike for parentified mirabel before so it’s nice to see I’m not alone on that!

camilo definitely has a more nurturing side and we see it as early as the opening song! Whilst I wouldn’t go as far to say he acts like a parent he definitely knows how to discipline children and is just naturally good at dealing with them! I would love to see more content that talks about how caring camilo is (I am sick of the jerk camilo thing he’s not heartless guys!) I can definitely see him as more experienced with kids than mirabel as he’s the babysitter she’s more just the fun one who hangs around with them! it’s a very different dynamic as we don’t really see mirabel necessarily looking after kids only entertaining them! As for your point on camilo being emotionally mature I would have to agree! the mothers wouldn’t trust him with their kids if they thought he would be irresponsible! he definitely knows how to scold them even if it’s surprising when it happens! I’m glad you mentioned the tea scene, as I think it shows a different side to camilo! he is caring and he’s good at comforting people! he isn’t gonna try make a situation worse he cares about his mother and wants to assure her! and I hate when people use that scene against pepa too! it is normal to make your mother tea weirdos!!! I love that scene despite how brief it is and we see glimpses of that side of camilo in the comics too!

As for mirabel 100% agree! she definitely strikes me as someone the kids would view as the cool older best friend much more than a parental figure. They don’t want to make her mad because in their eyes she’s cool! she’s fun and entertaining and they don’t want to make her mad! it’s not the case of a parent where it’s they know they’ll get in trouble for it! that’s partly what inspired my camp counselor au lmao! the fact mirabel is so good with kids in a way she makes them feel validated she doesn’t reprimand them she is someone they view as a friend! The mirabel is antonios mother fic genre is one I completely avoid i love their relationship because she is so much more of an older sister figure to him! I’ve said before I don’t like these fics so I tend to avoid them even if I don’t really read fics anymore lmao!

but I agree with most of your points! camilo is always seen as the fun one whilst mirabel is the parental one when in canon it’s the other way around! that’s not to say camilo isn’t fun because he absolutely is but we see him actually babysitting we see mirabel just hanging out with kids for fun! what I really need to see is mirabel and camilo as a babysitting duo that would be so fun!! both of them are 15 and deserve to have fun!! let mirabel have fun!! I would love to see more stuff involving camilos nurturing side for sure though!

[justkindalivin]

Shotgun

a/n: AHHHHH hello!! I’m Lottie and I've been so horrifically obsessed with dealer Ellie that it's not even remotely okay. I had an idea for a fic and instead of requesting it from someone else, I decided why not write it myself! I’ve never posted any fics before bc I’m lowkey ass at writing so if any dialogue is awkward or the grammar is bad I'm so sorry :(  Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy it, have a great day I love you ♡    part 2

I kinda modeled the reader after me subconsciously, so the reader is a bit shy and bi (sorry to my lesbian baddies I luv yall, its only one line). Also, I just made up a random roommate named Sam, very sorry if your name happens to be Sam. 

Summary: After being dragged to a party by your roommate, you escape out to the porch for some air. Not realizing it was already occupied, you end up having a lot more fun at the party than you thought you would 

warnings: language, modern!au, dealer!ellie, weed, shotgunning, collage!au, things get the tiniest bit spicy (only a tad)

wc: 1.6k 

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

The music pounded in your ears as you pushed past all the sweaty bodies in the middle of the room. Parties had never quite been your scene, but Sam had begged you to come with her and that girl does NOT take no for an answer

This all started with Sam bursting into your shared dorm, ripping your headphones out of your ears, and standing beside your desk with her hands on her hips. “Bitch, you never come out with me! It's like all you do is sit in the dorm all day, you gotta get out there!!” She excitedly screamed, pulling you to your closet to pick out what you should wear. 

You and Sam had been randomly paired as roommates but quickly got close despite how different the two of you seemed to be. Sam was always out at parties being social and seemed to know absolutely everyone on campus. You on the other hand... well were almost the exact opposite. You always joked that you were like the crotchety old man of your floor who only left for food or class, and just wants all those damn kids to quiet down while you’re trying to sleep. 

“Sigma Nu is throwing tonight, you HAVE to come with me. I’ll be lost without you please please please!” 

Sam was, in fact, not lost without you. She had practically ditched you the minute some frat boy asked her to play pong with him, leaving you alone and painfully sober in a sea of drunk college kids. As much as you loved Sam, she always seemed to do this whenever you come out with her. She’d beg that it wouldn't be fun without you but would leave as soon as you got there and you’d be stuck on babysitting detail for her drunk ass for the rest of the night. After about the fifth push and second drunk couple not noticing you leaned up against the wall and making out basically on top of you, you decided to leave in search of some desperately needed air. Weaving through sweaty drunk people should be a fucking Olympic sport because holy shit- you barely escaped with your life. After going through the kitchen, you finally found your way to a sliding door, quickly getting it open and stepping out into the cool night air. 

“Jesus christ why did I fucking come here,” you say under your breath, leaning against the porch railing and putting your head in your hands “And I can't even leave because I have to make sure Sam’s okay- god damn it”. Scrubbing your face with your hands, you look up at the sky and get lost in your own head until the sound of someone clearing their throat startles you. 

You quickly whip around, hand on your chest, to look at the other person who has also been occupying the porch without your noticing. A girl with short auburn hair and beautiful green eyes stands leaning up against the house. Her face is dotted with freckles and she’s wearing a comfy-looking flannel over a plain white tee, one hand shoved into the pocket of her jeans and the other holding a joint between two fingers. She is, without a doubt, one of the prettiest girls you’ve ever seen. You’re so entranced by her that you barely even notice when she says something to you. 

“oh...uhm- what?” you oh so eloquently reply, internally debating if you should throw yourself off the porch to make your escape from this awkward ass interaction. The girl smirks as her eyes scan you up and down- if you didn’t know any better you would think she was checking you out. 

“I said are you good? No offense but you kinda seem like you're freaking the fuck out” She repeats, smirk still present on her face as she brings the joint up to take a drag from it, blowing the smoke in your direction.

You blush, embarrassed that someone had been witness to your mini breakdown. “Yeah, I’m good. It's just a lot, you know? I don’t go to parties too often.” As soon as the words leave your mouth you cringe internally. Don’t go to parties a lot? You seriously couldn't think of anything cooler to say? Way to embarrass yourself in front of the hottest chick you’ve ever met. Your downward spiral continues until the girl breaks the quiet with a chuckle

“I get that, frats aren’t really my thing either but I get good business here so... here I am”. You nod your head, looking back up at the sky. “I’m Ellie, by the way. What's your name gorgeous?”. Your face feels like it's on fire, your brain practically short-circuiting trying to process that this actual goddess just called you gorgeous. You quietly tell her your name and when you look back at her, she has a wide smile stretching across her face. “Pretty name for a pretty girl.” 

Holy shit this girl is going to be the death of you. You’re sure that your face is going to melt off from how hard you’ve been blushing, the ability to speak has left you altogether. You’ve had flings in the past, with both boys and girls, but no one has ever been so brazenly interested in you. You find yourself desperate to know more about her, maybe run your hands through her hair and cup her face as you lean in for a- WOAH. You’re goin wild right now, you need to cool down

“So um... what do you sell?” You ask, trying to change the topic and give yourself some time to chill out. Ellie looks at the joint in her hands, then back at you with raised eyebrows. “Right right, sorry stupid question” you huff while looking down, embarrassed yet again by your lack of rizz. Ellie lets out a full-on laugh, pushing herself off the house and making her way over to you.

“You ever smoked before, pretty girl?” she asks while leaning on the railing next to you, so close you can feel the heat radiating off of her. Looking up, you’re surprised to see that her face is so close to yours that your noses are practically touching. 

“A few times, not a ton. I cough a lot though, so it's kinda embarrassing to do it with other people”. Ellie taps off the ash at the end of her joint, seemingly contemplating something before turning her attention back to you

“Well if you’re down to smoke, we can try a different way that maybe will help you cough less. That is, only if you want to”. You’re surprised by how quickly you accept her offer, asking her what she had in mind. Ellie moves from beside you to directly in front of you, planting her empty hand on your waist and bringing the joint she held in her other hand up to your face. “Okay, so it's called shotgunning. Just open your mouth after I take a hit, sound good?”. All you can do is nod, mesmerized as she brings the joint to her lips. The moon reflects off her soft skin, the end of the joint burning a deep orange as she inhales. After her hit, Ellie looks over at you and you do as she said. 

Flicking away what little is left from her blunt, Ellie cups your face with her now empty hand and brings her mouth to yours. As she’s kissing you she blows the smoke into your mouth, but you can barely concentrate, too focused on the feeling of her lips on yours. After only a few seconds, Ellie pulls away but keeps her forehead pressed to yours and you blow the smoke in her face as you both giggle.

You reach up and brush away a bit of hair that had fallen to cover Ellie’s eyes, running your fingers down the side of her face until you are cupping her cheek as well. You look at each other for a beat before you both lean in, lips meeting again. Ellie caresses your cheek before her hand moves to join her other one on your waist, finding their way under your shirt and stroking the skin there. She tries to deepen the kiss, licking your bottom lip which you playfully deny. Suddenly, Ellie pulls away for a moment to lift you up onto the porch railing. Your legs fall open and Ellie steps between them, connecting her lips to your neck and kissing down the side to your collarbone. Letting out a breathy moan, you grip the hair at the base of Ellie's neck and throw your head back. 

-SCHWOOP-

The noise startles you and you pull away from Ellie, much to her annoyance. Looking at the sliding glass door, you notice some obnoxious frat boy has thrown it open. 

“Hey, you deal right? I need a pre-roll if you have em”. Talk about a fucking cock block. Ellie all but growls into your neck, whipping around ready to give this dude the verbal thrashing of his life when you stop her by placing your hand on her shoulder. 

“It's okay, I need to find my roommate and get going anyway. But um... do you have your phone on you? Maybe I can give you my number and we can do this again sometime?”. Ellie smiles at that, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and handing it to you. Feeling bold, you give her one last kiss on the cheek before heading past the frat guy and back into the house.

You really hope she texts you. 

----------

an: tf kinda noise does a sliding door make? Def not schwoop but thats all my brain could come up with lmao. so thats my first ever fic, my writing could use some work so i’m def open to any feedback! Stay super freaky, have great vagina, I LOVE YAAAA 

[apomaro-mellow]

Mafia AU 6 / AO3 Link

Part 5

Eddie didn’t get a call for a couple of days after their little sparring session. When he did, he was only told to meet him at a tailor’s in town. While getting ready, Eddie checked himself over in the mirror and considered going to Steve with his hair down for once. He was aware that those in high society didn’t appreciate his sense of style. But Steve had mentioned something about having a trademark. He wasn’t sure if he wanted it to be his hair though.

In the end, he kept it up in a ponytail as he usually did. Maybe once the weather cooled, he’d have an excuse to let it down. For now though, he’d leave it as is.

Eddie had never been inside a tailor shop. Never had a need or even the means for bespoke clothing. But Steve was already sitting in a chair, deep in discussion with a man who clearly worked there.

“I see what you mean. Yes, it is quite urgent.”

“Thank you for taking it on such short notice”, Steve said.

Eddie found himself being approached with measuring tape and he took a step back, holding his hands up. “Whoa, whoa, what’s the big idea here?”

“Just let Enrico do his magic”, Steve said, still sitting. “There’s an event happening soon, and I can’t let you show up in the same suit you’ve been wearing.”

Enrico made Eddie hold his arms out to the side and Eddie kept them up, understanding about only half of what was going on. Steve was getting him a new suit? For what? A party?

“You’re getting me a new suit?”

“Three. At least. It’ll have to do for now.”

Enrico tutted under his breath as he got Eddie’s measurements. “You were right about him.”

“Right about who? About what?”, Eddie asked, trying to follow Enrico as he moved around his body but also getting the feeling he should stand absolutely still. That was what people did at these fitting things, right?

Steve stood and sauntered over. Gently, he pushed Eddie’s arms back down. “I told him that you looked a little rough but underneath it all something special was waiting to shine through.”

Enrico chose that moment to measure up Eddie’s inseam and he all but jumped right into Steve’s arms. Steve grinned, keeping him upright and Eddie felt like this was all some kind of game that he didn’t know the rules of. Steve moved back and started perusing material around the store.

“Do I really need three?”, Eddie asked, grasping at something to say.

“While being sponsored, you represent me. And if you pass, it’ll be even more so. If you look ragged, I look weak. And like I don’t take care of my own.”

Eddie tried not think of how much this bill could run. “So I guess you’ll take these suits out of my first paycheck”, he teased, but was also seriously asking.

Enrico had finished and was now writing something on a notepad. Steve turned away from a selection of ties to look him up and down.

“It’s not like that. Think of it as an investment in you. I’ve never sponsored anyone. I’m hoping I get it right the first time around.”

“What happens if you get it wrong?”, Eddie asked.

Steve shrugged. “Usually the guy gets offed. Knows too much about us, you know? Can’t let him go on. I did hear that one time they let a guy go free but only after cutting his tongue. But I heard that story from this guy at a party and they like to exaggerate.”

Eddie swallowed. He knew he absolutely HAD to make it through this. But he hadn’t thought long enough about what would happen if he didn’t. If he pissed Steve off or if he didn’t do right by him. He liked having a tongue. And a life too.

“Speaking of parties, what’s this little soiree you’ve got planned?”

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

Eddie should’ve known that if Steve was putting up the money for new clothes, it wouldn’t be little. It was still being held at the Marini home (or was it the Harrington home now?) but there were more people this time. And some of them looked…normal. Every other time Eddie had seen people gathered here, it had just been the men, on the premises to discuss business.

But now he was seeing wives and children, all dressed to the nines. Steve had told him it was all in celebration of his grandfather’s birthday. It made sense that they went above and beyond to honor the previous boss. Eddie had put on one of the new suits Steve had bought for him and could feel the difference in quality immediately.

When he looked in the mirror, he could see how much better it fit him too. He didn’t look like some ruffian from the street right now. He looked like he could go and collect on behalf of his boss on his own. Like he had real credibility. Still, Eddie didn’t think it wise to try and stand out tonight.

There were plenty of bigwigs and like Steve said, he was repping his sponsor. So he stayed close to Steve’s side for the evening. Which also meant being close to Steve’s friend, who was named Robin. She’d given Eddie an odd side glance, but then ignored him for the most part. Not for the first time, Eddie wondered what her role was. She’d been hidden in that room when Steve had tried seducing him, and she’d been around in the maze that one time, but never on any of their outings.

Was she just a friend? Or was there something more going on here?

It should be said that while she didn’t talk directly to Eddie, it didn’t mean she was silent. Every time she spoke up though, it was in Italian, and Steve responded back, keeping the conversation between them. Eddie didn’t know if that meant he was the topic of the discussion or if it was actually secret family business. Either way, it was beginning to irk him.

“I’m going to go and talk to my grandfather. You two stay here. And play nice”, Steve said.

“...Was he saying that to you or to me?”, Eddie asked, breaking the ice.

Robin crossed her arms. “Either one, I guess.”

“Ah, she does speak the common tongue.”

“I speak four languages, jackass. And if you’ve got any hope for your future, you’d do well to follow along.”

“I’ve picked up a few phrases”, Eddie said. “Mostly naughty words, which are, you know, the best ones. But I guess my superiors wouldn’t want to be told ‘suca’, huh?”

“God, not with that pronunciation”, Robin laughed, cracking a smile for the first time that evening. 

“Care to give me some pointers on proper Italian, then?”

“You’re gonna need it if you’re serious about all this”, Robin gestured to the room where mobsters were mingling.

“I don’t do anything half-assed. I’m in it to the end.”

“And to what end, exactly is that?”, Robin asked. “Why are you here?”

It was such a bold question, Eddie was caught off guard. No one had ever asked him why. Or even if he wanted to. A couple goons offered him money for a job and he took it and kept taking it. Then the sponsorship had been dropped in his lap without any real input from him.

“I want a better life for me and my uncle. And if being loyal to this family gets me there, then that’s what I’ll be.”

“Loyal to the Marinis? Or to the Harringtons?”

“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask. What’s the difference?”, Eddie questioned.

“How much do you know about Steve’s family history?”, Robin asked.

Eddie thought about the bits and pieces he’d heard and gleaned. “Mom married an outsider, now he’s the boss.”

Robin hummed and nodded, confirming that part. “Sounds like you could use a crash course though.”

“I wouldn’t mind one”, Eddie said.

Robin led them over to a more secluded part of the room where they could sip and talk. “You got the summary right. Steve’s mom was a mafia princess. She was probably supposed to get with someone her dad, Steve’s grandfather over there set her up with. But she fell for this guy who had worked with the family but he wasn’t family , get it?”

Eddie nodded. Someone who wasn’t directly connected to them. Someone like him or Wayne. Well, Wayne was in now, so it was just Eddie. But he could change that.

“So anyway, it makes waves ‘cause she’s going against the grain. But her father approves it, lets them get married and all that. Steve’s grandpa retires and his son-in-law, Harrington inherits the title. Not long after that, Steve’s mom died.”

Eddie took a moment to look at Steve, who was no longer just with his grandfather, but with his dad and a couple of other men too. Eddie had a feeling about the missing mom, but he’d never confirmed it with anyone.

“Steve took his dad’s last name, which was a huge thing because in this world, the Harrington name means nothing. There’s this…divide I guess. The ones who support his dad and the ones who think he’s not right for the role of boss. And because they don’t like his dad, that means they don’t like Steve.”

“Why? Has he done anything?”, Eddie asked.

“That’s part of his problem. He can’t really do much since he presented as an omega.” Robin swirled her drink around. “It’s on him to get with a proper alpha and fix the Marini family.”

Eddie could guess what proper meant. Someone from a good family, for one. And they’d probably prefer someone Italian. Someone with similar roots to the Marinis. Someone who wasn’t an outsider. All of those guys who had seemed interested in Steve, Tommy included, all would have been accepted without much fuss, he was sure. Eddie was so out of his league, they were playing different sports.

Wai-why was he still trying to think of himself that way? He’d told Steve to his face there’d be no funny business. And then Steve had basically told him he would always fly solo. Eddie didn’t need to think about Steve’s marriage prospects because it had nothing to do with him right now.

Still, Eddie couldn’t help but think of Steve, raised up and under the tutelage of a mob boss only to be told his job was to marry someone every else thought was good enough for him, have that guy’s baby, and live out the rest of his days as an afterthought while that guy ran his family business. 

Steve found them from afar and waved them over to him.

“Is he waving to you or to me?”, Eddie asked.

Robin’s response was to lock arms with him. “Looks like we’re being summoned.”

Part 7

[sheeparuu]

I’ll call it Severed link au for now.

So I was always a sucker for a bad ending and I wanted to put out a few ideas cuz I thought it would be fun. Yes it started from Linked Universe since I’ve seen people make their own versions and I thought it would be cool to do it too. Also, English is not my first language.

Games I’ve finished:

1.  Sky: Inheriting a god’s power after defeating them is not something Link would have expected to happen after stopping Demise. Still, if the corruption of his mind and body is not enough proof of that, his old home falling out of the sky might be.

2. Twilight: Having a pointy chunk forcefully jammed in one’s brain is bad, using it to keep switching between hylian and beast form is worse, loosing their mind the more they shift is the worst. At least he might be able to get a position as Ganon’s lap dog.

3. Wind: One would be surprised how hard it is to kill a parasitic entity, especially when it takes over your body as a host. Still, after such a gruelling fight, it might remain inactive for a long time, licking its wounds at the bottom of the sea.

4. Spirit: When the hero fails saving his best friend and end up having to swear allegiance to the demon lord inhabiting her body, everything seems to be going to hell. But having that fight with the said demon awaken something from the sea might be just as bad.

5.Wild: Sometime even if a friendly goat amputates your arm, it might not completely remove the malice from your blood stream, or stop it going to your brain. It might just slow it down enough for you to realize that something is taking over you from inside out.

Games I haven’t played/ finished but I tried to research:

6. Losing your uncle, the girl of your dream and having the path to Lorule closed might give someone things to grieve about. Hoarding magical items and knowledge for the purpose of “keeping the people you love safe” is also bad. Being swayed by the dark magic to the point where turning people into stone to “protect them” is, you guessed it, bad.

7. Time: Once a certain evil entity realizes that the kid carrying godness power is a better target than a mere Skullkid it might just have to switch hosts. Maybe if the other masks the “hero” carried weren’t splitting his mind like hair ends he could have stood a chance.

8. Four: Sometime allaying with the wrong side, even if you plan to change sides once you get the upper hand, might lead to actions that you can never forgive yourself for. And sometimes the shame grows to the point you can’t even face the three other versions of yourself, even when they are fighting the big bad of your world. And sometimes when they lose, you might feel the most vulnerable you’ve ever been.

9.Warriors: Maybe if the portals Cia chose to open lead to worlds were the heroes won their adventures, the story would have been different. Maybe if she never realized that Link wouldn’t be hers, even by force, she wouldn’t have turned him into a puppet king. Maybe if his mind wasn’t completely aware of everything around him, while being completely disconnected from his body he wouldn’t have had to agonize like this.

10. Hyrule: Sometimes when a the kindness and heroism of a child is rejected by the entire world and the cult that’s following him takes a much more manipulative approach instead of trying to kill him, it might just end much worse for the common man.

Notes: I always liked the idea that heroes are not purely good and always getting the good ending, and that if their life had just enough differences they would have failed/turned to the dark side. I mostly thought it would be cool for the characters to have a “failed” version and in my head they could serve as a “self discovery journey” for the og heroes. Like having to compare yourself with your worst version would cause some major introspection.

P.S: Yes I added Spirit since I think he and Wind could have some really cool dynamics. Also if someone already did the idea before me I'd like to know.

[musclesandhammering]

Unpopular Phase 4 & 5 Opinions

Quantumania is the worst Phase 4/5 movie. And it wasn’t even because “kang got beat by ants.” (I liked kang in this movie). It’s just that the Spy Kids aesthetic & bad acting & overall weird vibes just weren’t for me.

Love and Thunder is no worse than Ragnarok. I would argue that it’s better in a lot of ways, actually. I really liked it.

Taika Waititi ruined thor with bad humour all the way back in Ragnarok tbh, but y’all weren’t complaining about it then 😒.

BuckySarah is better than sambucky every day of the week.

The Marvels was a good ass movie & they’re one of my favorite teams in the mcu. I’ll never forgive cbm sites & online dudebros for killing the hype from the moment the film was announced.

I adore America Chavez & Kamala Kahn and I want to see them in everything. They must be protected at all costs.

Multiverse of Madness had shitty characterisation & basically just copy-pasted the ‘grief made me go off the deep end & hurt people, then I realised and stopped myself’ storyline from Wandavision… but Wanda was extremely selfish & apathetic to other people’s suffering from the time she was introduced in the mcu. MoM didn’t make her like that.

Wanda should’ve been looking for Vision (her actual real life boyfriend whom she spent years with irl) in MoM instead of the kids that weren’t even real that she spent like a week using as characters in her sitcom.

Making everyone forget Peter Parker wasn’t profound or poetic in any way- it was just frustrating and needlessly cruel.

I’m begging marvel to understand that heroes don’t have to be in constant suffering to be heroic & villains don’t have to sacrifice themselves to achieve redemption. Let characters heal and atone, you absolute weirdos.

What If…? is the most boring show ever. I’d rather watch Secret Invasion or She-Hulk.

Season 2 of Loki is, in a cinematic & artistic sense, the best marvel project period.

Loki season 1 was meh- more of a fun au than anything because his characterisation kinda sucked. Season 2 fixed it, though, and made it way easier for me to incorporate this version of Loki back into the larger mcu.

Having Steve stay in the past with Peggy was stupid af.

I don’t hate Peggy (or Captain Carter), though. I actually think she’s pretty cool.

I don’t really love Steve. He’s arrogant & they never really let him have flaws & something about him being a perfect metaphor for the American military industrial complex (and marvel painting that as a good thing) doesn’t sit right with me.

The Illuminati got done dirty and the only reason they went down so fast was because Wanda had all that plot armor.

I thought the retcon of having Wanda be “destined” to become the Scarlet Witch since birth was an annoying cop-out. Her powers originating from being experimented on with an infinity stone was way more interesting.

Loki & Wanda have almost the exact same powers.

Nebula deserved a bigger rule in killing Thanos & everything else moving forward.

I love Kathryn Newton but her acting as Cassie Lang was the worst acting I’ve ever seen in the mcu, like it was outrageously bad.

I’m glad Sam is the new Captain America and not Bucky.

The fact that Bucky probably isn’t gonna be one of Thee lead characters in the upcoming avengers movies feels sick and twisted.

Secret Invasion was actually passable until the G’iah scene at the end. That ruined it. And Nick Fury deserved way better for his solo series.

Kang is so much more interesting than Doctor Doom. I really hope they just recast him.

Carol Danvers does NOT deserve the hate she gets.

I actually disliked Carol until The Marvels. That movie made me a stan.

The way people treat Monica as Wanda’s little inferior pet creation or smth & then brag about it is uhh very sus.

I don’t like sylvie (bc she’s an amalgamation of 3 different comic characters- which killed any hopes of them appearing individually in the mcu, the creators used her existence to butcher Loki’s genderfluid rep, & she was written poorly) & I HATE sylki (bc it’s weird & unnecessary).

Marvel isn’t dead. I actually love where they’re taking things. But that’s just me.

[olympeline]

FrUK FACE family Parent Trap AU, part 9! Part 1

Last time: shock! Horror! Alfred, and by extension the whole scheme, just got rumbled! By Uncle Gil of all people! Who could have seen it coming? Not Alfred. But then he hasn’t known Gilbert long. Under that nutty exterior tick-tick-ticks a surprisingly sharp mind. Gilbert had been suspicious almost from the start. He didn’t say anything because that’s not his way. But now things have gone on long enough that even Gilbert has to step in. If for no other reason than he needs some news of Mattie.

So, under threat of an immediate call to Francis, Alfred is forced to confess all. They sit down over delicious and nutritious frosting sandwiches and Alfred tearfully confessses all that’s gone down since the twins were reunited. Everything from their chance meeting to their time living the other’s identity. Gilbert doesn’t let him off the hook, prodding for details and making Al show him his phone so he can confirm what’s been said. Alfred burns with embarrassment when Gilbert scans some of his early descriptions of him (the words “freaky” “weird” and “totally batshit” may or may not have been used) but Gil doesn’t comment. The let up in the grilling (gilling?) is when Gilbert sees a picture of Arthur in his conservative dad clothes.

“HA!! Mein gott, that’s precious! Old punkass, slutbag Kirkland turned into a right old tory, huh kid?”

“What’s a tory?”

“Ask your dad. He dresses like one of their rentboys.”

“What’s a rentboy?”

Gilbert changed the subject after that. To what the two of them intented to do now. How long were they planning to keep this up? What were they hoping to achieve? Alfred just shrugs helplessly. They weren’t really hoping anything. He tells Gilbert they just wanted to get to know the other half of their family. Finding the missing piece that’s always been there for both of them. Gilbert listens, takes another look at Alfred’s phone, then gives it back. Alfred sees it’s open on a selfie of Mattie and Arthur. Matthew has an Alfred-style big, sunny beam. Even after playing his brother for weeks, Mattie isn’t a good enough actor to fake it to such an extent. Gilbert knows him well enough to see that.

Alfred haltingly asks what Gilbert’s going to do now. Gilbert is quiet for a long time. Then he shakes his head, grins, and ruffles Alfred’s hair.

“I’m no snitch, kaulquappe, and I always thought what your dads did was moronic. I can’t imagine doing nothing after finding out what you did. Hell, if it were me and Lud I would have done the same. So don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Really?!” Alfred’s heart leaps and so he does too. Right off the couch. “YAHOO! Thanks, Uncle Gil! I-”

The rest is cut off when Gilbert stuffs a sandwich in his mouth.

“Cool your jets, yanketito. I wasn’t done! Remember I told you about my lil bro’s wedding?”

Alfred nods through a mouthful of frosting.

“Mmhm.”

“Gut. Obviously I’m going down to liberty land to be his best man. Ha! As if he’d dare choose anyone else! I’ll put Honda over my damn knee and spank him with his own bodypillow if he even thinks of muscling in on my territory!”

Alfred has no idea who this Honda is but pities him anyway. He nods as that seems the safest option.

“Mmhm.”

“So! I’ll be going down to NYC. And you’ll be coming with me.”

Gilbert gives him that rust-coloured stare again and Alfred, for one of the few times in his life, knows it would be futile to argue. Uncle Gil is like a force of demented nature.

“Like I said, I won’t snitch but this can’t go on forever. So enjoy your time up here, kid. It just got a curtain call, ja?”

Alfred swallows the sandwich and nods. What else can he do? Gilbert holds all the cards and they both know it.

“…Ja.”

“YEAH! Good choice! Now, call Mattie. Tell him to get his maple-print panties in a bunch because Uncle Gil knows and Uncle Gil wants to talk.”

(Have a small update! I’ve been very busy lately and I will be for a while so I can’t promise when there’ll be more. Just when I can snatch a few minutes. Until then, please enjoy and stay tuned for part 10! (´ε｀ )♡)

[cherrifire]

Archived in the Southlands: Martyn's Mix

Case #0211905-C

Original recording from Martyn Littlewood's personal supplemental tape.

[Martyn] Ello, ello! I'm Martyn Littlewood, also known as the Archivist. I reckon I've had that title for about 3 years now? And this is my new personal supplemental tape.

Word count: 2244

Be sure to read Case #0211905-A and Case #0211905-B before this one.

[AU Masterpost]

[Click]

[Martyn] Ello, ello! I'm Martyn Littlewood, also known as the Archivist. I reckon I've had that title for about 3 years now? And this is my new personal supplemental tape.

But to start, this tape is NOT meant for research or theories. I get enough conspiracy theory rubbish at the Institute. Something destroyed the place I was living at with BigB and Grian. And if I have to think about that case one more time, I'll crawl into a grave and let the Buried claim me.

I genuinely just needed a personal tape of my own to ramble on to. Lots goes on in this massive brain of mine. I just need something to talk to and get those thoughts out. This could technically be used as a memory log? Something for me to just look back on later down the line. I actually used to keep a log like that before the Archives and I kind of miss it.

I'm going to leave this tape in my flat so I don't get it confused with the hundreds of other tape recorders floating around the Archives. Maybe I'll be able to catch some fun stuff of my new flatmate too.

Speaking of Ren, I'm going to try and convince him to grow more than just roses. He seems to know a lot about caring for flowers, so I wonder if I could throw him off his game with something completely different. Oh, maybe something we can eat would be cool! I'll mention it next time I see him.

Though, I'm not sure when that'll be. I've noticed he tends to go out a lot, but that doesn't surprise me. He probably gets invited to all sorts of parties and events. Probably for the best.

(a pause)

Oh, good grief! For the record, I am NOT turning this into a gross emotional audio diary either!

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Martyn] Someone knocked on the door today looking for Ren. I'd never seen him before but he said his name was Doc. The name reminded me of someone I used to know, but again, I'd never seen him before.

It's not unusual, people come by looking for Ren all the time. It's actually really sweet how many folks just stop by to check on him.

So sweet, it makes me sick. He's usually never here, but I always like to take messages and relay them back to him when I see him. It's hard to forget things nowadays, so it's not an issue. Though, I guess it doesn't really matter, since I like to change the message anyway, just because I can.

When Ren gets home, I'm going to tell him that Doc wants to make a diss track with him about Grian.

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Martyn] I wouldn't do it.

(Jimmy's voice is coming through a phone speaker)

[Jimmy] Martyn, I promise you, I'm quitting if you do it.

[Martyn] (laughing) Right, but I wouldn't do it.

(Movement is heard as Martyn starts to look for something.)

[Jimmy] (frustrated) No- but you're saying it like you are going to do it!

[Martyn] But I wouldn't though!

(something falls, making a 'thud' sound as it hits the floor)

[Jimmy] I can hear you rummaging through your things!

[Martyn] (wheezing) But I-

[Jimmy] If I walk into the archives tomorrow and you scare me with a stupid party popper again I promise you I will leave.

[Martyn] (wheezing) I just wouldn't though.

(another object falls)

[Jimmy] Martyn.

[Martyn] I wouldn't.

(something else falls. Martyn is probably doing it on purpose)

[Jimmy] STOP!

(Martyn laughs)

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Martyn] I think my favourite thing about Tim is that I could tell him anything and he'll think I'm messing with him. I told him today that I was looking into a case about a cult dedicated to darkness. His immediate response was:

(mocking) "That's not funny, Martyn, stop it!"

(Martyn laughs)

(a pause)

I’ve known him since we were kids, but Jimmy doesn’t know me enough to tell when I’m joking, I guess.

(static)

Ah, wait-

(a pause then a light knock on the door)

Come in!

(door opens)

[Ren] Hey dude, is there a reason your rent paperwork has a completely random name on it?

[Martyn] Oh, Martyn Littlewood isn't my legal name. It just sounds cooler.

[Ren] That checks out. I looked at the name on this thing and was like "who is this loser?" 

[Martyn] (laughing) I'm a different person now. My loser days are behind me.

[Ren] Well, thanks for letting me know, Phillip Watson.

[Martyn] Don't you dare!

(Ren laughs as he closes the door.)

[Martyn] If he starts calling me Phil, I swear to God-

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Martyn] That play Ren's been rehearsing, The Rise of the Red King–it's starting to grow on me. I remember helping him practice a little the day I moved in, but I'm forcing him to let me help more since I caught him rehearsing it on his own again.

He was in his room just repeating the lines quietly on his own. I imagine he was only holding back so as to not disturb me, but the unfortunate curse for the beautiful Archivist is I hear everything.

Which means I heard the awkward silence between each line he read out. So I took it upon myself to start responding, to fill that gap.

He said something like, "and as you know, every king must have a hand."

And I, charming as ever, poked my head in and said, "two is preferable, so you can hold things."

Then he continued, "I can think of no greater person than you." 

And the accent he chose for this character was like a mix between Scottish and Irish with like a bit of pirate. It was so bizarre. I'm doing the best I can to imitate it but I just can't do it like Ren. And I-

(door opens)

[Ren] Good afternoon, Martyn.

[Martyn] Good day, my liege.

[Ren] Martyn, will you do the honour of being the Hand of the King on this fine day?

[Martyn] Oh my word. Do I get a little pin badge?

[Ren] Definitely, dude.

When a kingdom is formed, loyalty must be proven. Later there will be a test for you. And if ye pass, it'll be ye and me to the end!

(Ren clears his throat and returns to speaking normally)

It's shopping, your test is grocery shopping. I'm heading out, did you want to come?

[Martyn] Only if you do that voice in public.

[Ren] You're insane, dude.

The King likes it. And you shall follow in his footsteps! Today, both our mettles will be tested.

[Martyn] Oh geez. I don't think my metal is very dense, so I'm gonna struggle.

[Ren] Alright, chat over. Let's get out of here, dude. But um- are you recording this?

[Martyn] Ah-! 3 years and I still always forget to turn these-

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Martyn] Good evening, my liege.

[Ren] Hand of the King. To what do I owe the pleasure?

[Martyn] The carrots, m'lord! It will be a bountiful harvest!

[Ren] Oh, dude! No way! Show me right this instant.

[Martyn] I took your teachings and successfully grew a small handful of carrots. Come see!

(a pair of footsteps then a sliding door being pushed out of the way)

(Sound of dirt shifting as a carrot is pulled from the soil)

Ta-da!

[Ren] (excited, high-pitched) Oh! Dude! Look at that!

[Martyn] That's right boss, fresh produce right here in our garden. They're a little small, but size isn't everything.

[Ren] Let's get these out of the ground and wash them. We could make a carrot cake with these!

[Martyn] This is why you're the boss. I would have never thought of that.

[Ren] (laughing) But what's a King without his loyal Hand?

[Click]

-

[Click]

(the recording starts while Martyn and Ren are in the middle of laughing)

(there's the sound of cake batter being aggressively stirred underlining the recording)

[Ren] Martyn, you're wasting batter!

[Martyn] You said to mix well!

[Ren] Dude! Not that well! You're getting cake giblets all over the kitchen! Stop it!

(Martyn and Ren laugh)

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Ren] (mocking) Statement of Ren Diggity Dog

I have no idea what you actually do at the archives, but I bet that's what you sound like.

[Martyn] Dude! What are you-

[Ren] Yes, I'd like to talk about my strange roommate-

[Martyn] Ren, don't even joke like that! Now give it here-

[Ren] You always use this to record me anyway. Why? Is it your personal audio diary?

[Martyn] No! That's not what that is!

[Ren] Then what is it?

[Martyn] How about you just hand it back and-

[Ren] (laughing) You're deflecting, dude! Oh, this is definitely a diary.

[Martyn] (laughing) Ren, give that-

[Click]

-

[Click]

(all sound is muffled as if through a wall)

[Scar] Knock knock!

[Ren] Scar-

[Scar] Ren! It's been a while!

Oh man, I missed this place. It's been, what? Four months since I last saw you?

(a pause, then Scar laughs)

As talkative as always.

How's your new roommate? I haven't seen the Archivist in ages! Is he good?

(a door opens and Scar's voice is no longer muffled) 

Oh wow. There's a lot of interesting stuff in here.

(Scar hums something as he thinks)

(he starts to rummage through Martyn's things)

Ah! There it is.

Ren, you won't miss these, right?

[Ren] No- No, you can have them.

[Scar] Wonderful. Pleasure doing business with you, Ren.

[Click]

-

[Click]

(extended silence)

[Martyn] I thought I could trust him...

(a pause)

(Martyn makes a frustrated sound and tosses the tape onto his bed)

(fading as he walks out) Ren, did you touch the thermostat again!?

[Click]

-

[Click]

(door opening)

(silence)

[Ren] Sorry, Martyn.

(Ren sniffs the air then he enters the room)

(extended sound of papers being rummaged through)

[Ren] There you are- erm, whatever you are.

Statement of Pearl Moon. Okay. I can work with that.

(a pause then footsteps approach)

[Ren] When did this turn on?

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Martyn] (whispering and panicked) Ren has been standing on the other side of my door for an hour now. Waiting...

I don't know what he wants. I know he's been taking Hunt statements, but I have no idea why. I can't even tell how far gone he is or why he's hunting m-

(a knock on the door)

(Martyn holds his breath)

(extended silence)

(distant footsteps as Ren walks away)

Yeah, fuck that. I'm not sleeping tonight.

[Click]

-

[Click]

(distant sounds of screaming, everything muffled as if through a wall)

(there's a collection of a dozen heavy footsteps all quickly getting further away along with the screaming)

(Ren and Martyn are also muffled through the wall)

(Ren is laughing, hysterical and manic)

[Martyn] Ren, get a hold of yourself!

(Ren continues to laugh)

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Martyn] Hang on, I'm just going to grab a few random statements then we can go!

[Ren] (distant) Take your time!

(sound of a small handful of papers being picked up)

[Martyn] It's going to be fine...

(Martyn takes in a deep breath)

(he releases his breath, quivering like he's cold)

(a pause)

Fuck...

[Click]

-

[Click]

[Ren] (whispering) Martyn passed out the moment his head hit the couch. The statements he read helped heal his wounds a little. They're still... bad, but at least he's sleeping through it.

Me, though? I think I'm going to be awake for a while.

So I'm trying what Martyn does. Talk complete nonsense into a tape just to turn thoughts into words. I had to grab his audio diary from his room since the one we had ran out of tape. I'm sure he won't mind this one time. Plus, I know he listens back through this one all the time and I...

I kind of want him to hear this.

I guess first, Martyn looks terrible. I'm staring at his filthy face right now from across the room. He's covered in dirt and his sweater is completely ruined. Although, I guess that's my fault. But he's been wearing that same sweater for months now. Good riddance, I say.

I'll find him a proper style when he's ready to go out again.

(Ren chuckles to himself then pauses)

Only if he wants to, of course.

(another pause)

I think... I think he's stuck with me now. After my... change, he said the hunt was over but... I know he only put it on hold. I can feel my blood waiting, itching for him to run so I can chase him down again. He said he wasn't going anywhere but...

[Martyn] (groggy and distant) Ren?

[Ren] Oh- Martyn. I'm sorry, did I wake you, my friend?

(movement as Ren gets up and walks towards Martyn)

[Martyn] No. I've been up this whole time. Listening.

[Ren] I didn't mean to keep you up, dude. My bad.

[Martyn] Can I have the tape?

(the recorder is passed to Martyn)

Ren, did you know the cold is typically an attribute of the Lonely?

[Ren] So what's your theory on the snow back at Dogwarts, then..?

[Martyn] My current theory is that you're too much of a social guy to be attracting the Lonely.

(a pause)

[Ren] Oh, Martyn...

[Martyn] I meant it, okay? I'm not going anywhere. I'm with you.

[Ren] It's you and me to the end.

[Martyn] Yeah. To the End.

[Click]

[sidecharactersdomatter]

Thoughts I had during TGCF S2 Ep 2

Also watching this while sketching now here we go!

Previously on TGCF… 

-And starting off at the Gambler’s Den!

-Hey you’ve heard the old saying, “It costs an arm and a leg” I think this fits perfectly for the red demon masked gambler

-Hey! No getting sweat on the gambling table!

-Hua Cheng: No Thanks~ *fans myself with a hand*

-Yeah those are the best house policies San Lang

-Man, the loop braided ghost assistant is literally all of us fawning over Hualian amirite? (that Ghost maiden is going places!)

-This den operates on Hubris Logic

-Stop decreasing your child’s lifespan!

-Now Roll!  That just made think of DND, I dunno why

-Those dice weren’t loaded (Anybody seen Road to El Dorado 10/10 totes recommend)

-Worst dad I’ve ever seen and he’s just a gambling NPC

-Hehehe Just imagine Toph in the Gambler’s Den (For those anticipating The Scrap Immortal and the Avatar, I’m afraid that’s going to be a scene that won’t come to fruition, really sry readers)

-“It’s despicable, and that’s coming from a ghost like me” that was a really great quote ngl

-Kinda hard to accomplish since you were talking to a ghost

-Yep prolly the worst Dad I’ve ever seen in all of TGCF

-Hi Rouye

-Hi Windmaster

-Honestly, the reason they have Qingxuan switch from Male to female in this season is that from a Union Standpoint, they had to allow Anjali Kunapaneni dub other series while Jacob Eiseman took over and vice versa.  That’s just my theory, I’m not sure if it might be true.

-Aw, he’s worried over his complexion

-Man, Xie Lian’s expression shifts as he inspects Qinqxuan’s complexion.  I love that little attention to detail in the animation.

-And then Qingxuan happily exclaims while putting both hands on his cheek was 100% precious!

-“If I were a mirror where would I be” they have the best lines of this Season 2 so far!

-Wind Master laugh is clearing my pores

-Hi Qianqiu, Hi Mengyou

-Not so smart to me

-All the ghosts have really unique and distinct designs (it’s that kind of uniqueness I’m trying so hard to capture in my TOH Oc murder mystery au)

-“Aw man!  What was his number!  Not cool Taihua!” - Literally every ghost in the Gambler’s den, and also me.

-Well, you’re not wrong, Qianqiu

-Hehehe the double facepalm XD

-Not the brightest candle on the altar

-Let’s face it, we all lost it during Hua Cheng soft chuckle!

- He noticed the laugh!

-Man the background ghost voices are on point

-And I’m like at Qingxuan, “You didn’t read the signs?” Does anybody other than the ghosts, read the signs???

-“He might be fine if he doesn’t reveal who he is” Qianqiu: *reveals who he is* Too soon dude

-That blue masked ghost woman sure has sass

-That blue beaked ghost also has a cool design tho

-Don’t mind me just fanning myself whenever Hua Cheng speaks cause it gives me the vapors~!

-The fact that they thought the same thing!

-No not the gambling table!  

-Woah he sent it right back!

-This is infinitely better than the live action martial acts films I’ve seen in my whole life

-It’s like a stake raising tennis match

-That glow in his eyes

-He’s going Super Saiyan

-That animation really did get better

-“He’s stuck up there!” My comment: “Like a fly on fly paper” My sister’s comment: “Like an idiot on idiot paper” lmao

-Yep just point and laugh ghosts, point and laugh

-You mean from bad to worse

-I told you Ghost City’s the Las Vegas of Ancient China, told ya~

-A new table!

-You’re not wrong on luck

-Snake eyes is even worse

-“Like I said, biggest is so overdone!  Crazy idea, what if smallest wins? Sound fun?”  Qingxuan is spitting bars in the dub people!

-They’re just gonna believe that from two newcomers?

-Xie Lian, internally chanting: “Small…small…small…” His cursed and horrible misfortune: LOL nope :3

-Not your fault for looking like a snack Qianqiu

-Wait till you see the fandom, Taihua

-Alright, hat got Hua Cheng enticed

-Literally everybody witnessing a man in white robes desperately shake a pair of dice: Is…that guy ok?

-His smile widened!

-“I can’t watch!”  I can and it’s gonna be something!

-Oh he sees a lot in that raggedy jerk than you do right now buddy

-“What’s there to teach about shaking dice?  It’s just shakin dice!”  The best random quote of this episode, and the tone when that side character said it!

-“And you’re the expert!” He got sassed back

-*Hears Hong Lian Qian starting up like* Aw yeah, the best song of the new season! *Vibes out with writing and sketching like no tomorrow*

-Dude! Pass me the Aux cord!  You better not be playing mainstream garbage!  *Casually plays Hong Lian Qian like a G!*  WOO!!!

-There he is, just a red transparent curtain keeps them apart, also Hua Cheng’s status but let’s not get ahead of ourselves

-The wind animation!!!, and Wind master’s not even summoning it

-Literally when my older sister first saw this scene she was like: It’s the pottery scene from Ghost

-He rolled an 11!

-If my underaged TGCf OCs witness the infamous dice scene like in season 2, Qing Tao and Chun Xue(both 12) look up to their older friends: “..ssShould we be listening to this?”  And then Lan Hai and Nuan Yu (both 14) frantically respond with covering their younger friends’ ears: “…pProbably best if we played it safe.” (Quotes are from an episode of Close Enough) heck I can imagine the Gaang reacting like this witnessing the dice shaking too, just swap Qing Tao and Chun Xue with Aang and Toph, and Lan Hai and Nuan Yu with Sokka and Katara, (Zuko would also try to cover the Southern Water Tribe Sibs’ ears, but this hypothetical scene also won’t happen in my TGCF x ATLA xover, now back to the reaction!)

-The singing really is timed well with the animation!  10/10 baby!

-“You see, it’s bigger now” …I got the joke

-“It’s starting to feel like San Lang is just teasing me” Oh yes he is~

-They’re chucking their dice at him!

-It’s a 10!

-“Now I’m sure San Lang is just teasing me”  Told ya~

-The chibi scene!

-Welp, looks like those rolls were just practice rolls

-You gotta love Xie Lian’s internal monologue

-Qingxuan chucked his fan at Taihua, and it came back like Sokka’s boomerang (I had to make that reference!)

-That tapir/baku headed Ghost

-It’s a 12, and it timed well with the rising crescendo!

-That one monkey like ghost

-Right on the gambling table!

-Did he cheat?

-The music change!!!  The soundtrack team knew what they were doing!

-“Who cares it’s gorgeous!  He’s so handsome I think I might just die right here!”  “What are you talking about?  You’re already dead!”  That was a really great exchange!

-And he is seeing his real face!

-“Please my lord don’t tease me!”  Oh yes he will~!

-Now the ghosts are suspicious it took em like half an episode!

-Hey guys I think we’re all gonna get a kick outta this, “The stale half eaten bun from Ep 5 was in Xie Lian’s sleeve the whole time!”  I’ve always wanted to quote that, and it was totally worth it!

-Man, I can’t wait to write Aang’s reaction seeing Xie Lian and Hua Cheng interact together!

-“Um, I’m afraid it’s gotten a bit hard” Yep, they slipped that in, and James was a boss at writing the whole english script for the season

-He tosssed the bun up and down like San Lang did with a small piece of a broken sword in S1 Ep 6, the parallels people!  The parallels!!!

-And him biting the stale bun got XL all flustered! AAAHH!!!

-Look at him go!

-Not that random stand, wait it’s still in tact

-Slay that performance Qingxuan!

-Chide him good!

-And Xie Lian’s still does a great job as a strategizer and a mediator

-The introduction that would change the season forever, also Qingxuan’s emotion shift when it came to describing his new friend’s current occupation with collecting scraps as a living

-He knew San Lang was Hua Cheng?!?!?!

-Hua Cheng is messing with them!

-They’re using him as bait!

-Oh yeah, that’s right, they’re friends

-Geez savage, Wind master

-Hey, no dissing Ling Wen she’s doing her best!

-Gone from Season 1 eps 2-3 and Ling Wen still couldn’t find him???

-Welp, there’s the cliffhanger

Does this reaction count for Hua Cheng’s B-Day?  More reactions will be on the way, I’ve got 3 weeks left of my quarter and I’ve got two big projects to finish so hang tight everyone!

[sugolara]

Just a little longer

ft. K.B x fem! reader

Synopsis: After a deadly virus leaks all over the world, every country is forced to close down it's borders and airports to prevent anyone from coming in and out. Though, it's to late for some people. The dead has rose and is looking for revenge. Cw: gore, quirkless! au, apocalypse! au, zombie! au, weapons, death, angst, lots and lots of blood, cannibalism, suicidal thoughts, slow burn

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“Hey, where’d you go?”

With the cool air in the sky, the plants in the backyard of the neighbors house swayed, dancing to match the beat of the wind. From the wilting flowers, the petals collided with the breeze, flowing past until it left her sight as it fell on the other side of the backyard where the tan house resided. Only the creaks of the porch’s swing could be heard and oddly enough it sounded peaceful, like an antique music box you’d find in an old abandoned house sitting in the middle of the forest.

She lazily laid on it with eyes feeling droopy as she felt like a baby with her mother rocking her to sleep. And she could have, if it weren’t for her ears catching his lulling voice. As her eyes moved to him, he adorned a smile on his lips and the way the sun kissed his cheeks looked just perfect, especially when it caught his emerald doe eyes. “Is this where you’ve been this entire time? I’ve been looking for you everywhere in the house.”

Tilting his head, he blocked the sun and she was able to finally see his face clearly, “I thought you had gone off to do another project or spare your boredom, but it turns out you’re just wanting to catch a quick nap, huh, F/n?

She stared at him for what felt like hours and when another breeze passed by, she sat up, the swing rocking at every movement, “You know me, Izuku.”

A quiet sigh left her lips—a breath of fog escaping as Izuku sat down next to her, “Never in my life did I think I would be bored of living in an apocalypse. Which is weird, considering that’s all I’ve ever known.”

He let out a soft laugh, placing his hands in between his thighs to keep warm, “I guess having to live your whole life like you’re surviving gets boring overtime—it’s honestly surprising that you’re beginning to get bored now of all time.”

“Well, to be fair I’ve always been bored, I can just tolerate it better.” She shrugged, feeling chilly despite the sun glaring down at them, “But, having you around does keep me entertained.”

“Yeah?” He whispered, voice hinted in hope with his lashes fluttering as they blink at her.

“Yeah.” She repeated and for a moment, they enjoyed the silence of just watching the white butterflies bounce from flower to flower, slurping its sweet nectar with its curling tongue. The vision did remind her of spring, especially when the flowers were blooming right in front of her. Despite her skin feeling cold and the faint sensation of what felt like droplets.

“It is pretty.” F/n said, her e/c eyes locking onto a flower that bloomed immediately when the small wing insect landed on it. She’s never seen such flowers in the wild and she’s come across a lot while camping. It was captivating.

“..I didn’t know you liked flowers.” Izuku hummed. Not that it was a bad thing, but he always associated flowers for delicate people and she was far beyond that. The information had caught him off guard and it made him realize that there were still many things he didn’t know about her, “I guess, I should have been more careful then. I could have spent my entire life discovering things about you.”

His smile grew a little. He placed his hands in his sweaters pockets as his eyes watched the single butterfly continue to move with the cold air, “You always manage to surprise me…and it’s a good thing. Unlike me, you’re not an open book, so reading you is a bit difficult, but finding out what your interests are is pretty fun to guess. Never did I think flowers were on your list.”

The sun moved and with it so did the lighting. She blinked and she could feel the energy in her body leave as it was replaced with exhaustion. She could barely even hold herself up and her muscles ached, but she couldn’t place where. It just hurts everywhere. And when she opened her mouth, she could only let out pants as her lungs tried to catch in oxygen that escaped every time she let one out.

With the sun still in the sky, she felt immensely cold and her clothes stuck on her skin like she had just come out from jumping into the river. Her left eye, that she could feel something wet slide down, was narrowed as her brows knitted close together, staring at Izuku who still had a smile on his face with the sun shining on him like a flower that needed its nutrients in order to not wither away.

She could feel something poking her, but most of all, she could feel like she could ball her eyes out as Izuku sat right next to her, looking like when they had first met; clean. “I don’t think…I’ve ever met someone so mysterious as you.”

“I–” She choked in a cough. Swallowing and ignoring her sore throat as she tried to speak, because Izuku was right in front of her and she could finally find her moment of peace where she could let out all those things she wanted to say before Izuku left her. But her body didn’t allow her as everything hurt and she could barely move a muscle. Even whatever that was sliding against her skin had her feeling uncomfortable as her eye twitched.

“...You’re bleeding.” He turned to her, saying it like it was just an everyday occurrence as a warm smile danced on his lips.

“I know I remember I said not to be reckless.” A quiet upset sigh left his lips. He used his sleeve to wipe the blood that glided against her nose before it could soak into her dirty worn out shirt that's seen better days, “It does hurt to see you ignoring me.”

She took a deep breath, eyes wide with every emotion she felt the day he died, “I-”

He hummed, continuing to clean her forehead, speaking with his voice so softly that she couldn’t hear it due to the roaring, “It’s okay, F/n. Whatever you want to say, it can until you see me.”

He moved his eyes to her, his smile still glued on his face as he titled his head, “Okay?”

She can’t say anything. She feels like her throat is closing up. Like it’s clogged. And just barely could she feel time moving and he’s growing distant and she can’t afford to lose that. Because she feels at home. With just behind around him. So with her aching muscles and shards of glass sticking to her clothes, she tugs him forward until her arms are around his neck, holding onto him tight as she feels like a glacier.

She could feel his body relax in between her arms, but she can’t do the same. Because she can’t feel him. She shuts her eyes as tightly as she could, uncaring at how her eyelids twitch with how uncomfortable it felt. Instead, she let the drops of tears cascade down her cheeks and allowed for his scent to fill her nose. To where all she could recognize is him. Then did she hear him let out a quiet breath and her heart, like a crashing wave pounding against her chest.

“Just a little longer, F/n.”

She coughs. And that's all that she could do as she could feel the rain enter her nose and down her throat. With her elbows, she pushed herself up in hopes it would get rid of the coughing and the rain that then turned into hail wouldn’t feel like tiny stabs on her skin. A sniffle left her nose and she used her sleeves to wipe it while blinking away the remaining droplets of water.

When she could feel her senses, her surroundings smelled gross. She opened her eyes to where she could see her hand on top of a rotting substance that had her pull back and let out a groan. A groan at the disgusted feeling and a groan at the fact her head felt like it would burst. She reached up to touch where it hurt most and when she looked at her fingers, blood was seen before mixing with the rain.

Let out breaths of air, she stood up, using the dumpster to help her steady her foot. The shards on her close fell onto the trash bags and she remembered just what happened. Quickly, she looked up to the window, but she couldn't see anything. She couldn’t see, “Shoto!?”

She let out a shortened gasp, pulling herself out the dumpster and clumsily landing on her feet, “Shoto!?”

With the thousands of hails surrounding her and no flashlight to aid her way, she could barely see. She could make the outline of the building, but not even the moonlight covered by the clouds could help. It almost felt like she was a nightmare—she felt like she was in and god, did he never want to feel like this, “Shoto!”

Hearing the sky rumbled and a thunder crash, a flinch so hard that popped her joints came out of her. Her teeth clattered and she shivered, but she couldn’t leave. She couldn’t just leave Shoto behind, “Where are you!?”

He might be injured, somehow managed to escape the group of dead, but even so, he might be hiding inside the building. She couldn’t even return all by herself. She was injured and she had nothing to protect her. Her bag was probably in the building as she didn’t see it when she woke up, so what is she to do at this moment? All she knew she could do was flinch as another deafening thunder hit, “Please…don’t do this to me...”

She couldn’t tell if she was crying or if the rain that had come back and was now mixed with hail was the perpetrator. She knew she shouldn’t be yelling so carelessly, but she didn’t know if he could hear her with the storm. So like the feeling she would rip out her vocal chords, she screamed, “Shoto!”

The action caused her throat to dry up and she coughed, covering her mouth as she felt all her organs would slip out. Annoyingly, her clothes stuck to her, but what’s even more annoying was the growls that slipped through the rotter's mouth. She turned, only barely making out a figure lunging at her.

She slipped, falling on her back as she let out a gasp. Her hands dug into the hail that melted underneath what little warmth her palm gave. Due to the pounding storm, she wasn’t able to hear or see the dead. She crawled back, giving some space until she got on her feet and looked back at what she hoped was the entrance. Desperately, her eyes tried to make his figure out, but she couldn’t and she let out a breath, “Please, where are you?”

She sniffled and she knew she could get sick and she knew the rotter was just mere inches away from her, but she couldn’t leave him behind. The thought had only felt like a heavyweight. She leaned down, her hands to lean on her knees as she sniffled. With her right hand, she wiped and wiped her face, thinking of what to do until that annoying growl reached her ear.

She was left completely utterly hopeless and damn did that make her want to die.

With what little energy she had, she looked up to where she could now see multiple rotter's heading her way and she should have been worried at how well their eyesight is in the dark. If she didn’t leave, they would circle her where she would then meet her end. So, she took in a deep breath, lungs hurting and headache deepening. She clenched her jaw and her hands clutched her soaked jeans.

She promised she'd come back for him, but until then, she took off, hoping that she was running into the direction of the gated community. She didn’t stop, not even when her body ached and her oxygen was leaving. There were a couple times in which she slipped due to the hail and she received a scraped knee, but not even the sting was enough to pull her out of whatever hell her mind was going through.

Only the flashlight up ahead.

And through his worried ruby eyes, Katsuki met her halfway as she continued to run like a madman, “Holy shit, what the fuck happened to you?”

She breathed in and to his ears she was having trouble. He allowed her to catch her breath as he looked behind her, waiting for Shoto to enter his view of light, but he never did. Alarms soon rang in his head, “Hey, where’s Icy-hot…?”

Her sniffling sounded difficult, but it went deaf in his ears. “Where’s Icy-hot?”

Her legs hurt, “I…I don’t know–”

“You don’t know?” He looked at her, brows narrowing at her like she had just told him the most offended thing, “What do you mean you don’t know? I came to look for you both ‘cause it’s pouring and you don’t know where he is?”

“I don’t know!” She stood to her full height, both of them standing in the rain, but unlike her, he was protected by his hood and his good jacket, “I…We were at the hospital and t-then there was the dead and we were trapped and then…he just pushed me out the fucking window and I couldn’t find him.”

He didn’t care to question her stutter as his mind was focused on the fact she couldn’t find him, “You…lost him..”

“No.” She wiped away the water on her face. If she stayed any further out, she’d be bedridden, “I just can’t find him!”

He looked away from her, letting out a silent gasp. No way. He couldn’t believe that Shoto was..gone. There was no way. Shoto needed to return, otherwise, what was the point? First it was Izuku and now, it's him of all people? Is this really happening? He felt like he just wanted to grab his hair and scream. To let out all his frustration. Why, just why couldn’t he live in his peace. Why did he have to be stuck here on this earth with the low chances of survival.

God, where was his mother when he needed her the most?

“-ki.” Leaving the trance he was in, his eyes moved to her and like the anger he’s been pushing back all these years had now resurfaced, “You fucking lost him!”

Her brows furrowed, “I didn’t lose him!”

“Yes, you fucking did!” He shoved her and she placed a distance between them, but he continued to shove her, “He was the last person I fucking had that reminded me of back then! Back when everything was damn perfect and you fucking lost him!”

“It’s not my fault!” She glared as she placed a hand in between them, hoping the signal was enough for Katsuki to draw back, but it didn’t, “He pushed me out the window and I blacked out! I hit my fucking head and everything hurts! I didn’t know he would do that!”

“Bullshit!” His throat itched and he could clearly see her body limping, but he didn’t care. He knows he should back off, he knows it’s not right, they both know it, but his anger was just in the way and while she should be the bigger person, she instead decided to feud his anger, because deep down, they wanted to feel pain.

Anything to numb what they didn’t want to face, and they both got what they wanted. “If you had given a single shit about this, none of this would have happened! If you had fucking tried harder then they’d both be here! They should be here instead of you! They wanted to live, not you! You tried to fucking sacrifice yourself before, but you’re still here! So, why the fuck did you survive!? Huh!? You never cared, you never bothered, you never cried! Not when you hurt him! Not when you called him names! Not when you killed those people! Not even when you’re fucking family died! So cry! Fucking cry, F/n!”

A smack was heard in the air and her knuckles hurt, but she couldn’t just focus on that single pain as there were other blunts to pay attention to. Mixing with the rain and thunder were grunts and blows. The hail underneath whichever one overpowered felt like nothing compared to the punches. There was no discrimination in Katsuki’s book and there was no frail in F/n’s page.

Born and raised by a father who showed no mercy, she ate the punches like they were nothing. Born and raised by a mother who showed no weakness, he ate the punches like they were nothing. It did hurt, especially when their skin tore and the blood was combined with the rain. While it would be a worry of their blood falling onto each other’s skin and perhaps rotter's hearing them, they didn’t care, because this wasn’t a matter of who was winning, but a matter of who’s frustration would finish last.

And as her bloody brow twitched, fist with watered down blood in the air, she gave him an opportunity to hit, because she felt an immense wave of feelings crashing over her. And he took that opportunity as he shoved her off him, slamming her back into the wet, icy road before sitting on her stomach and he cupped the bottom of her jaw to keep her still. It looks like he lasted longer, because when she wasn’t fighting back, he realized that it wasn’t the rain wetting his fingers, but instead, her tears.

His fist was still in the air, but he couldn’t bring it down, because he was shocked to actually see her cry. It was a view, but not a view he never ever wanted to see, “..Why…are you..crying?”

He could see she was having trouble as her chest rose uncontrollably as she cried, like a newborn baby seeking its mother for comfort. Her tears dribbled down the side of her face and all he could do was watch in with wide eyes that were laced with distress. He removed his hands from her, still sitting on her as his veins were filled with anxiety. He didn't know what to do to help. How to comfort her. There was no saying everything would be alright, because it won’t. So what choice of words should he use? That he’s sorry he hurt her? That he didn’t mean anything he said? His confirmation? His…

“I-I don’t know!” She didn’t know why she felt such strong emotions. She’s never once cried like this—not for anybody. So why? Why was she bawling her eyes out? It felt like she was just drowning and despite not liking the feeling, it felt so right. Like she could finally let everything out. This was exactly what she needed. To just cry.

“I’m s-sorry!” She heaved, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Stop…” He quietly uttered, his lower eyelids threatening to pool of tears, “Stop..”

“I’m sorry! I-I’m so sorry!” She continued and he wanted to burst his eardrums as she spoke.

“Stop…” He sniffled and her yells echoed in the background. The rain stinging his wound was what he tried to focus on and he could move away from her, but he felt like he wouldn't feel his leg. He could only stare at her for what seemed like hours, “...Just…be quiet.”

His fingers twitched and slowly his hands raised in the air until it was placed on her lips, shushing her cries as his own fell on her, “..Just…be quiet…F/n.”