#i'm convinced that erik has heard of it

[themonotonysyndrome]

A man falls asleep dreaming that he's a butterfly. That butterfly wakes up as a man.

Is he a man or a butterfly?

Let's backtrack a bit.

What if instead of a man, it's a caterpillar? Who dreams so sweetly that it doesn't even realise that it is in a cacoon, and it emerges as a butterfly, still dreaming.

Is it a machine? A man? A caterpillar? A butterfly?

Who the hell knows! Not the 'Asset' that's for sure.

The therapy bill is gonna be as long as the Nile River sdkjfnkjdsnfksjf

All in all, if this is the conclusion of Project Meridian, then I'm so happy with it.

(I know that 'it was all a dream' as a plot twist might not be for everybody but this one was executed well. So I'm squealing. The question now is, how the fuck does the 'Asset' know about the Sovereign?)

Also, I no longer hate James 😂 Now that was unexpected!

[icarusredwings]

A love with no need for words.

Chapter 2.

A sfw young Cherik fic

Pretty boy indeed...

Upon arriving at the mansion, Charles now stumbled into the lounge with a laugh. “I can't believe you almost hit that poor deer! Did you see how big its eyes got!?”

“It jumped out in front of me! That's not my fault-”

“Well maybe if you weren't going 70!”

As much as he was laughing, Erik had a feeling of embarrassment, putting the keys where they belonged, helping him to sit on the couch, trying to take off his coat.

“Oh, cheers. So now what? Hopefully not driving lessons.” He mutters, leaning back to lay down, Putting his arms behind his neck, watching as Erik takes off his own coat, wandering his way to the kitchen.

“Are you bringing me a drink?” He shouts, sitting up as if afraid Erik was going to leave him, to sneak out the back.

“Shhhh. Charles, people are sleeping.”

Seeing him start the kettle, He settled back into his spot, waving a hand. “Nonsense! It's my house.” Laying back onto the couch, he hums a quiet tune he heard at the bar.

In the kitchen, he smiles, chuckling. Oh he missed him like this. The Charles who didn't mind his manners And was quite rude in that snobby kind of way. It made him joyful to know he could drop the professionalism around him.

“I can shout if I wish.”

“Yes but if you shout you'll wake the children. Or worse- Raven.”

He hears the groan from the lounge room and can't help but smile more.

“Raven would chew me up if she knew.”

“Knew what?” He asks, bringing the cups on a tray.

“Knew that we owe yet another neighbor a mailbox.” He mumbles, taking the cup, sitting up and tries to sip it only to suddenly look confused.

“... there's nothing in this..”

“It appears not.” Erik laughed softly at the disappointed look. “It's still on the stove. Should be done soon…now.” He sits across from him, on the tall chair that complimented his shoulders.

“Tell me about this other mailbox.”

Still holding the cup his eyes light up, lounging back again “Okay, So when I was a lad, Raven and I were… Ehm… Practicing our driving skills.”

“You stole your fathers buggy, you mean.”

“Precisely.” He nods, grinning. “And one day, I completely wrecked into the neighbor's garden. Absolutely demolished their post box right?”

“Mhm.”

“And poor Raven- Fell right into their rose bush!”

“Oh nooo!” He chuckles. “I hope she was alright.”

“You're not going to ask about me? Tch now you're the one being rude, my dear friend.”

“Oh of course, Apologies.” He says sarcastically. “Were you okay? Wait, don't tell me- you died!” The bit of this joke was that Charles couldn't have died because he was sitting right in front of him. It took him a few seconds to process this, staring at him like he were a moron only for his brows to raise.

“Ooh! Ha! Yes, quite, Oh how did you know? Was it the tombstone outfront?”

“Obviously, How could one miss it?”

Giggling, Charles came back to the story. “So anyway, Were standing there, terrified because we just wrecked my father's car, smashed our neighbors custom mailbox-”

“Custom? Mailbox?”

“Oh yes, those are commonplace.”

“Sorry, Charles but I don't think I'm financially acquitted enough to understand what language you're speaking, And I know multiple.”

Another giggle, his eyes so bright and smile so wide that Erik's heartbeat quickened, grinning too, happy he was having a good time.

“But yes, So there she is, poor Raven, Covered in thorns and out comes Mrs. Chamberlain. I'm not sure how the conversation went to agree upon this but Raven then turned into my father and convinced Mrs. Chamberlin that he was driving… sooo.”

Erik gasped. “So your father got accused of what you did?”

Nodding, He was absolutely glowing, lighting up the dark large room with his grin alone. “Yes! And because he was so drunk he-... you really think so?”

“What? Think what?” Honestly he thinks maybe the light of his smile may be more intoxicating than the alcohol itself.

Please, did you forget who I am?

He frowns, furrowing. “I didn't give you permission to do that-”

“Oh come onnn, Erik! You know I can't help it when I've had too much to drink. It's not like I wanted to.” He borderline whines, flashing him those big blue eyes of his.

Erik grunts. “Fine.. but just.. stay out of there.” He mutters, watching Charles’ pout turn to an adoring smirk, starting to tease him.

“Aww, what? Afraid I'll see something naugh-” he jumps slightly when the kettle screeches, letting them know it was finished.

Erik blushed, quickly getting up as he scurried away to pull it off, not wanting to wake any of the others. “You deserved that.” He mutters, coming back as he finally pours tea into his cup.

“Easy… Don't spill it. It's hot.”

“Aren't you hot?” He asks, causing him to stumble, gasping as he catches the kettle from actually spilling any onto him, just the carpet.

“W-what!?”

“Hm… Well that's a shame” The man mumbles, staring at the spot on the carpet.

“What did you say?” Erik asks, carefully conducting the kettle to do as he said, causing it to float away, placing itself back in the kitchen where it belonged.

Watching this, Charles holds his cup in awe. “.. You're amazing.” Another whisper. He did this at times, saying quietly what he should have kept inside his head, but sometimes he had trouble doing so.

Swallowing, he picks up his own cup.

“Uhm.. th-thanks??”

“Hm? Oh! Oh- I uhm.. Oh, goodness, you'll have to forgive me. I think my mind is trying to run from me.”

Sitting, Erik smirks, realizing that they were in the ‘I'm gonna say everything out loud and hope no one hears me’ portion of the night. “I don't blame it, I'd hate to be connected to someone as mad as you.”

“Mad? Why would I be mad? It's just carpet. Replaceable.” he mutters.

Erik gives him a look. He really is losing it isn't he?

“Is that why you said I'm ‘hot’?”

Choking on the tea, Charles sits up. “What? Oh- No, no not in that sort. I was referring to the kettle. Didn't it burn you? Your hands?” He asks then says casually. “Besides, Dashing? Perhaps. ‘Hot'?” He shakes his head. “Not you.”

Eriks jaw opened slightly. “ ‘Dashing’?”

“In a sense, of course My friend. I'm sure anyone would be lucky to go on fine evening with you… if you don't crash the car first..” he mumbles under his breath with a mocking tone, Taking another sip.

“Oh yes Because your record is so clean isn't it?”

“Tell you what, Next time we go, I'll drive.” He offers a small cocky smile, a flush painted permanently onto his cheeks from the drinking.

“No thanks. I'd like to arrive alive, thank you… and if you must know.. I wasn't touching it.”

“Hm? Touching what? The kettle? Yes I saw.”

“No. Before that. I was only pretending to touch it. Bad habit.. you see this is what I'm talking about, charles.”

The mindless stare that he got in return told Erik he wasn't litsening.

“Hm?”

“Even now I mask my abilities unconsciously, afraid of what will happen if I do not, even in the safety of a place like this, Where mutants are supposed to be able to be themselves.”

His eyes soften as he starts his speech.

‘Oh have his eyes always been that strong? What am I drinking right now?’ He glances down to the tea with a ‘hm’ only to let his eyes slowly wander back up. He had a feeling in his head, his chest open and warm, perhaps it was the alcohol or maybe the tea but he felt… oh goodness what was that word? Staring at him, he has a soft smile on his face. ‘He's just so…’ Despite being so spaced out, he was calm when his name was called.

“Charles? Are you even listening?”

“Of course, my friend. And you're making a very compelling argument. Continue.” He says, mindlessly praising him on auto pilot as he's always done.

“As I was saying, That's what humans don't get, Is that we should be feared and you would think because of those they would accept us in fear of upturning their precious-”

‘Precious… Yes, that's the word. That is perfect. Oh how passionate he was as well…’ His soft baby blues work their way to his lips, watching each harsh sentence that came from them. Such sinful acts and atrocities he wished to commit. ‘He says he's the devil but all I see is a gentle angel..’ He thinks.

‘.. I bet I could do something about that..’

“What do you mean ‘gentle angels’ ? Charles, you've seen how they treat us on the daily! It's not right!”

“I bet I could do something about that..” he mumbles, only coming back to reality when Erik's eyes light up, grinning. “Yes! WE could do something about that! And we should! For all the others that are like us!”

Tilting his head, Charles furrowed that adorable little look he held of slight disgust and serious confusion. “What? Erik- No.”

“But.. you just said-”

“I said I could do something to show the world that WE are gentle angels.”

‘Yeah great save, chuck.’ He internally rolled his eyes at himself, shaking his head then took a deep breath.

“It's getting late.. forgive me.”

“But Charles-” Erik sets down his cup, coming close to him, their foreheads merely centimeters apart. “Think about it! Think of how much of a difference we could make. Together!”

Again his eyes wandered, Smiling lopsided like a moron. “Oh I am.. I am thinking about that..”

“Yes! What did you have in mind? Please, Tell me.” He shifts to kneel down, taking his hand, Staring up at him as if he were a messiah in their new theoretical world.

“Please.” He repeats. “Put it in my head if you must. If it mustn't be said out loud.”

He whispers, his eyes so focused, so … Yearning…

‘Please Charles. Tell me. I want to hear your ideas. All of them.’

Are you up for a game, Pretty boy?

[new-tella-us]

Seduce Me Situations

Cause I'm bored!

But not tired apparently.

Okay this one needs a little context. Have you all heard of a concept called the "Call to the Void"? That's basically the urges you get to do life threatening things like jump off a high building even though you aren't suicidal.

So, what if Mika had that call one night? And maaaaaybe she's standing on the wrong side of the railing on her balcony, staring at the ground beneath her. She's not gunna jump but it's still fairly dangerous.

What would the boys do about that if they witnessed it?

James would carefully, but firmly have a grip on Mika's shoulders. He doesn't want to ruin her fun but he also doesn't want her to go splat, yknow? He'd probably also ask some questions to figure out why she's doing this as he's learnt that sometimes she's just a reckless dumbass and other times, there's a legit reason.

Erik would convince Mika to come back to the safe side of the railing. He'd probably use the classic "Just... do it for me, please" line because seeing your girl one hand slip away from sudden death is scary. They can enjoy the night sky without the risk of falling off the balcony.

Sam is just dragging Mika's ass away from the ledge. He literally picks her up to get her away from the edge and then scolds her for being so reckless. Like some "What were you thinking?! You could have died you doofus!" type shit. He'll also just casually ignore Mika when she brings up his hypocrisy since he's frequently found on the roof because he thinks that's "different".

Matthew doesn't want to lecture her or spoil her fun so he seems cool with it, even striking up a conversation but he has a noticeably tight grip on the back of her shirt just in case. A part of him is scared that he wouldn't be strong enough to catch her if she fell so he tries to steer the conversation to the idea of going inside.

Damien, blunt as ever, just says that it's dangerous. What if she gets hurt or worse? He knows that she doesn't seem to have any suicidal ideations and it's more curiosity and the thrill that drive her but still, he's concerned that those two things overrode her common sense. He already knows she has some issues and this stunt might be what triggers a conversation the next morning.

[mileenaxyz]

Five seasons in and these writers stay playing in our faces. 😒 Like...am I the only one who feels like this whole "seven seasons" thing could've been knocked out in three?

Season 5 was yet ANOTHER filler season with a couple of answers (and some freaky tidbits I'm still not convinced we needed to know). And I felt let down by those answers. I was not at all impressed by the Aaravos prison (btw, shout-out to everyone on here who's roasted the writers for the whole "Sea of the Castout" reveal. Your jokes are giving me life 😂).

I predict Season 6 is just gonna be more filler, and while Season 7 may answer all our questions, I'm afraid we're going to be underwhelmed by them. Aaravos has been built up so much at this point that even the writers don't seem to know what to do with him (hence all the stalling. I'm convinced *they* don't even know where they're going with this series; they just needed a paycheck).

I'm so upset because by the end of Season 3, I felt like Aaravos was one of the most compelling characters on modern television and now...now they're just wasting my boy Erik Dellums's time. He's had less than 10 minutes in the last two seasons combined--like, what the hell???

And why haven't we heard anything more about the Orphan Queen? She's the one who exposed Aaravos--why haven't we gotten a whole season about her? Season 4 should've been all about him. Season 5 should've been all about her.

Did she and Aaravos end up having a thing? Is Ezran a distant descendant of the Fallen Star? Baby boy *is* special in ways that haven't really been explained...(unless I missed something 🤔).

Which reminds me...Callum SHOULD'VE been Viren's third child. 💁🏽‍♀️

[slashingdisneypasta]

I've been in a musical mood since I moved into my apartment (Seriously, there's something very satisfying about playing these Broadway songs out loud in your own living room (when my roommate left of course)), and seeing your dark Musical AU Post made me think of musical AU's for my... Oof countless ships 😅 of course you don't have to worry about answering ^^

Smarty-Pop • Phantom of the Opera AU

I have not known peace ever since you briefly mentioned their Erik/Christine dynamic in my sad Smarty-Pop ending drabble, and i mean that in a positive way XD and this gave me the perfect opportunity to explore an actual AU.

I'm thinking maybe Poppy can play a little bit of Madam Giry's role too, being the only one who knows the Phantom's secrets, the only calm one when the Phantom of the Opera strikes and possibly even delivering messages to the opera managers for Smartass. And unlike with the OG story, I like to imagine them in an already established relationship here- just, you know, a little secretive since it's the phantom we're talking about.

It's not uncommon for Poppy to go disappear down in the depths of the Opera House, whether it be through her mirror or one of the trap doors. And if one were to look through her dressing room, you could find many pink roses in various stages of wilt, and letters personally addressed to her written in the same colored ink. She claims she doesn't know who sends her them, but her dreamy smile shows more than just flattery. She leaves her own notes for Smartass as well, leaving them in loge #5 just before a show begins. Just sweet love letters only for his eyes.

No, they don't always agree. Poppy has lost track of how many times she's stormed down to Smartass' domain after something he most certainly did, and all the attention and admirers she had been gaining as her stardom rose have been dangerously grating Smartass' nerves. But at the end of each night, she is his, and he is hers. As it should be.

(Yeah this is partially me venting how i think a Christine x Phantom relationship would have turned out if it was the canon ending XD Also I'd like to point out that you said yandere Snartass might make his S/O marry him, which also correlates with the phantom trying to force Christine's hand. That is totally not going to become part of the Smarty-pop AU) thought XD

Greasypop • Dracula AU

I did struggle with Greasypop admittedly, but then I heard the song Please don't Make Me Love You from the soundtrack and I could not get this dynamic for this ship out of my head. Besides, it gives me an excuse to use the Vampire or the Monster AU XD No matter how you slice it, Dracula is pretty manipulative when you think about it. Especially with how he convinces Mina that Lucy's death was not his doing, which does fit Greasy's more manipulative nature... Not to mention that it'd be his fantasy to have as many hotties as Dracula did 😅

I'm just imagining vampire/incubus Greasy shows up into town, looking to plant his roots here for a while, and Poppy is one of his targets. Poppy can tell that something isn't quite right with him, even when he offers her comfort after she reads about yet another attack in the night. There's just something not right with Greasy.

But even so, she's having a hard time denying what he does to her. Just like how theres something about him that isn't quite right, there's something about him that makes her head feel dizzy. Something that let's his touch linger on her shoulder or arm before she snaps back to her senses. Something that makes her wish those evenings when he shows up unannounced and they wind up sharing a meal together don't end. It's like her heart is trying to give itself to Greasy, and her mind is trying to keep her grounded in reality.

It's not long before she breaks down, feeling like she's being driven mad, and just asks her friend- if he can even be called that- what he wants. She knows Greasy is not who he says he is, and she knows there has to be a reason he keeps coming back to her even though she's made it clear she doesn't want a man right now. Something tells her she doesn't want to know the truth, and yet another something tells her she wouldn't care.

But either way, no matter what, Poppy knows one thing for certain. Her heart can't take much more of this. And she didn't want it to. She doesn't want someone to come around and ruin this tranquility she's built for herself just for his own fun. So she asks, practically begs him, to just don't make her fall in love with him. Don't make her chase after him if he had no intentions of keeping her. Her instincts tell her that this is a terrible idea, that she should have slammed the door on the Spaniard long ago as she locked eyes with him.

But there was just something about him that made her love him.

(Not exactly the Dracula route I meant, I'm still working on it, but I hope it's still fun to read XD)

Peezy • Little Shop of Horrors AU

Ok ok I know this may not sound right but hear me out- Poppy x Wheezy are the most wholesome of the ships, kind of like how Audrey and Symore are wholesome. And also share the fact that Poppy/Audrey still see Wheezy/Seymore as such a good person deep down despite knowing or finding out the things they've done. Not to mention that Wheezy would treat Poppy right just like how Seymore would for Audrey.

Poppy and Wheezy work together in the same flower shop, and they both would agree that they are the high lights of each others work day. It's not exactly hidden that the two have feelings for each other- as their boss blatantly told Wheezy that he knew he thought things about the sweet girl. Though for many reasons, one of which is Poppy's horrid boyfriend Ben, they aren't together.

It was always heart-wrenching and rage inducing whenever Poppy would come in with fresh tears in her eyes, or when she would brush it off as just 'typical relationship struggles'. Wheezy has tried to just keep it to himself, and offer Poppy any comfort she needs. Though the night he got to actually see how that bastard treated her, he decided enough was enough. That bloodthirsty plant was the one who suggested it, but it's not like this wasn't a long time coming anyway.

The next morning, when Poppy is crying out of guilt rather than heartbreak, Wheezy keeps a cool head as he wraps an ashy arm around her and assures her that she shouldn't waste another second on that boy. He was never worth it, not if he couldn't appreciate what he had. Everything is alright now...

(... This was meant to be more fluffy, as fluffy as the original was, but it turned out a bit more manipulative than I intended at the end? I think? 😅 but hey, no one's gonna miss Ben either way-)

Pocho • Sweeny Todd AU

This one is special because here, Poppy is playing the role of Anthony, and Psycho Johanna. Specifically, I'm imagining the part of the play where Johanna is stuck in the asylum and Anthony is trying to break her free. Poppy in the Tiny-Tots AU is trying to set her friend and love free the second she finds out about him being locked away. Even if she has to employ the help of criminals to get him out.

Or, if we want more horror, Psycho is Sweeny, and Poppy is Lucy. Falsely accused of crimes he didn't commit just so the accuser could take his wife. Despite the fight he put up, Psycho and Poppy were separated, and she... Got hurt badly. And Psycho only finds out later when he comes back, now driven over the edge of sanity after all these years. And now, it's time for revenge.

Popshine • The Count of Monte Cristo AU

Another odd choice, I know. I almost gave this AU to Peezy in fact, but... Honestly I don't have too good of an excuse, I just want Shiny to sing Hell to Your Doorstep.

Also, just- can you imagine these girls using threads from their clothes in placement of engagement rings?? Shiny coming back years later, a shell of her former self but still being in love with Poppy despite how angry she is?? Poppy recognizing her immediately despite all that's happened and does her best to convince Shiny she still loves her???? My heart-

(Also I have a strong lesbian need to imagine Shiny in count clothes-)

Griny • Bonnie and Clyde AU

C'mon, how was this not going to be them?? Now granted, the only song I know from that musical is Buck you're going Back to Jail, but I do know the story of Bonnie and Clyde.

Shiny and Greasy would absolutely be criminal lovers on the run if it was just them. They would be such an infamous duo on the road, as they both can get mean when they need to.

(I would add more details to this, but I've been working on this ask for literal hours and I can't just save it as a draft so I'm trying to finish this 😅)

Bonus! Kingston X Poppy • Heathers AU

Ok ok ok I'm not sure if this musical would fit them honestly. Mainly because Kingston is your OC and you have broader musical knowledge than I do, so you know what would fit Kingston best. I just like the idea of Kingston singing I was Meant to Be Yours while Poppy is panicking in a closet.

What Musical would you say fits these two best, if you want to add onto this?

This is a very long ask, I apologize 😅 but I hope it's fun to read! ^^

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH OKAY

Smarty Pop Phantom of the Opera AU: I love how you set this up!! Pink roses at different stages of wilt? Poppy reading 'secret admirer' letters with a dreamy smile?? Ahhhhhhhhh

Greasy Pop Dracula AU: Ooooooh i love this.

please just dont make me fall in love with you, poppy breathes, heavy eyelids tired with life hanging heavy over her pretty eyes. Greasy's in her bedroom (vaguely she notices that he looks caught, for a moment. Eyes a smidge rounder and stock-still). She was sleeping until she had a bad feeling and woke- and saw him there. She should be terrified, she should try to run. She knows this. And yet she feels overwhelmingly calm, even with his wolf-like smile on her in the enclosed space; sleepiness from just a moment ago acting like a sedative. That, and that thing about Greasy that... always just makes everything go s l o w, around her.

(her will, her instincts to get away, her common sense, her movements... )

his smirk in the dark is definitely a warning as he straightens up, the sharp glint of his teeth making her feel a primal discomfort- almost fear.

i make no promises, hermosa. go back to sleep now. and in the morning try to resist; id like to see you try~

goodnight.

poppy watches the nightmare disappear swiftly, inhumanly gracefully, out her open window and only once he's gone- does she start to feel scared.

Peezy Little Shop of Horrors AU: I LOVE THE IDEA OF WHEEZY AND AUDREY II INTERACTING XDD I JUST KNOW IT WOULD BE GREAT XDD Also also-- Wheezy calling Ben 'boy'??? Sarah do you want me dead????? XD

Pocho Sweeney Todd AU: Ahhh, I love how you twisted this one around!! And the second one- woah XD Psycho is, of course, a great Sweeney. Plus they have kids so that works out, too (Imagine Turpin in this sent Percy away to boarding school or something, but kept Penny) I have to admit though that when I first saw the title here I thought Poppy was gonna be Joanna and Psycho was gonna be Anthony- and I thought, Rena would make a g r e a t Judge Turpin 😏 (i'm sorry, i'm thinking about rena in the turpin costume now XD the tight pants?? whoops- )

Griny Bonnie & Clyde AU: I LOVE BONNE & CLYDE I'M LISTENING TO IT RIGHT NOW. And- obviously- yes, this is absolutely perfect XD

Popshine Count of Monte Cristo AU: 🥺💕🥺💕🥺💕

(Also I'm very happy we both have the urge to put our mean bisexual oc's in periodwear XXD )

*just after they conspired to break greays outta jail*:

Seeing you mention You're Going Back To Jail though made me think XDD- who would Buck and Blanche? XDD Buck, Clydes brother who also broke outta prison and Blance, Buck's hardass wife who 's snide towards Clyde and Bonnie and sends her husband back to jail so they can one day be happy? XD My vote is for Jane Doe and Wheezy XD Can you imagine Wheezy gettin' told by his girl to turn his ass back the hell in??? 'what the hell are you talkin' about!??' *audible panic in his tone*

Bye, baby~

See you soon, sugar~

Kingston and Poppy Heathers AU: Oooooh, I could totally see this in the Highschool AU! XD

Hmmmmm, which musical AU should I go dor with King and Poppy... I donno, but I'm thinkin a Beetlejuice AU for Poppy and Rena XD Poppy is Adam (Or Lydia more like. But like grown adult Lydia who gets just as uncomfy as Adam does.), of course, and Rena is BJ XDDD Rena is such a gross femme fatale XD

I think we're a perfect fit, lets make out a bit-

Bigger, further, harder-

C'mon, drop your panties, I'm trynna fill you with wisdom and skill and the instinct to kill-

Gotta haunt til it hurts through the night~

etc

[asksoldieron]

SO-1: Here We Go Again!

If there's a lot of engagement on this, this post is liable to get real long, beware before you expand.

I'll edit in the real art once I make some!

Welcome to the Engagement Lounge, for This Seems Familiar (SO-1) an instalment! Short comments can go in the replies, but there's a 475 character limit. Longer ones will need a reblog. Remember to @asksoldieron if you're reblogging someone else's reblog, so I can see it too!

Woo. It's been a while since I posted this one now. As of this writing it's still lacking an illustration, but I went through and edited for continuity. I don't think this one changed much. (Mainly I needed to add the gumballs, and that's not until later. It's very important about the gumballs. Why? You'll see 😁.)

There may be a little quality loss here, but I'll need yet more distance to see it. The main thing is that I wanted to pen an opening that wouldn't be too confusing to new readers, or too boring to old ones. That's tough! And I don't have any beta readers who aren't already familiar with the story.

I should say, I didn't. And now I don't again! But earlier this year, I joined a group for autistic writers and... Ohhh-kaaaay. That was an experience I will not repeat.

I got fed up and finally cut ties when I found out they were affiliated with a local group that offers ABA for autism. You'll still find a lot of "favourable" articles about it on the internet, including from our "friends" at Autism Speaks! People just love it because it makes autistic kids stop acting autistic! Not "being," no, it just trains them not to act that way and inconvenience the rest of you. Often with punishments! Ha-ha, yeah. That's fine. This is fine. A disability is just like any other antisocial behaviour, you can just cut that shit out!

But I didn't know that about them, and I've been trying to make friends and connections. A group of autistic writers? And we don't have to meet in person? Sign me right up!

It was more a group for one particular autistic editor and her longsuffering friend, and the editor had all the inflexible dogmatism media tells you to expect from people like us. "I think everyone should stop masking because it's hard for me!" she said (I'm paraphrasing) once. "If we all just stop doing it, there won't be a problem!" Ha-ha. Yeah. They kill people like me when we don't behave up to a standard. Maybe not like her, because she's small, feminine and white, but people like me and my family.

That's the level of insight I was getting, but I stuck with it because I'm a people-pleaser!

We only had "time" for a couple pages of the first draft of this instalment (even though not many people were there and not all of them wanted to read words aloud, my god) and I got pressured into sharing first, having never been there before with no idea how I was meant to act. She proceeded to critique it as if it were a short story (not true) and as if that were all, or almost all, of it (clearly not true, I was sharing my screen at the time). I dunno if you wanna open it in another tab and look, but I began with Erik in the first draft. 1000 words into that is 1/5 of a standard instalment length and you've barely met him by the end.

I went back and added Miss Doubek (whom I was going to save for #6) at the beginning, so you could see the world through the eyes of someone a little less impaired. Because this writer group and editor convinced me y'all needed me to hold your hands a little tighter or you'd nope out.

"I don't understand what's happening" is like a kick in the groin to me. Growing up, I did not have a big enough vocabulary to express my big stories and big thoughts, so I heard that a lot. I still do sometimes! I'm overly specific and complex, especially when I'm upset, and I get aphasic and shut down. But, no, they didn't understand. The editor's poor friend was willing to hazard that there was obviously something wrong with Erik and she was beginning to suspect he was being held against his will - as one should. I solve that little mystery for you by the end. But I didn't get to read the end. I didn't even get to John coming home.

The editor told me (and, if I ever die of an aneurism, it will have been these words in my brain that killed me) "People don't say 'I know.'" That shut me right down. I was expected to keep talking and I probably did, but... Wha? Buh? I say "I know" all the time! One of my top ten ways to sort out my thoughts or rephrase and repeat what someone's trying to express so we're both on the same page. "I know [this], are you saying [that]?" But I removed it, and I don't think I put it back. (I think I ended up referencing the brain damage earlier instead, because I thought you needed to see a reason Erik might bit a little off, even if that's not the real one.) I'm still feeling self-conscious about using that phrase, in text and IRL!

By the grace of god, I didn't have a total meltdown and gut everything, but I wrote poorly and without joy for a long while. Trying to meet the standards of someone who had no idea what I was doing and didn't care to learn. She was an editor! I always wanted access to one of those!

Yeah. This helped solidify my now-militant belief that 1) Traditional publishing is not for me and 2) Stuffing art into a tiny box will kill it, so 3) Maybe we should be a little more grateful that people share the things they love with us.

I am clueless. I have sinned. I have issued unsolicited criticism on the internet, with the best of intent. But I am gonna try like hell not to do it anymore. Y'all don't need to be ruin your week. Unless you say you want help (and I will take you seriously, even if you don't mean it, so be careful!) or you're hurting others, I will back off and accentuate the positive. Even if the best I can come up with in the moment is "You made a thing!" (Ha-ha, nonverbal blues.)

Wow, that came out kinda sad. But I'm OK now! Tired of website glitches, but loving the writing part. I'd rather write another instalment than do any of this other stuff I got on my plate, but that's not in the cards for a few more days...

[Back to the Site?]

[bubblyernie]

I'm so very normal about Cam and I'd love to hear a bit more about him 🙈

grins in an evil devious way

YESSSS

Okay, im so excited, ill put it under the cut though EHEHEHE

Cam is one of those characters that in my opinion is there to be....like....deplorable. Like Erik from phantom of the opera (i actually have an AU of that in my queue for July OTL sorry its so far, pride got a big chunk of june), in the "yeah toxic absolutely mansplain manipulate manslaughter but if evil why sexy?" I think its great to love morally questionable characters and i love love lovvveee cam

Okay so backstory first, then other tidbits — long story short, imagine being so fucking cringe you get cucked by 3 generations of the same family and then end up being such a nice guy about it you turn evil. He's like "he's irredeemable. Oh wait he is redee- never mind he's actually still gross"

----

Cam is a changeling and a hexblood. He's super duper in kahoots with Alphonse's whole family tree — you don't tend to age that fast in the feywild, that's important to keep in mind. He was born to like really humble family in the feywild, adopted and raised by an aunt (h-hag), unseelie court (not evil, i don't like how binary some people make the seelie and unseelie court, but theyre definitely opposing sides). And he worked really hard to get his career off the ground.

Cut to when he's a young lad, like 20 in whatever the equiv of fey ages are. Kinda falls for this Seelie gladiator who he saw performing (for the royal court) and loooooved the thought of performative battle. That was the monk-barbarian Maxmillion Zeus Chiore who's Alphonse's maternal grandpa. Max is like nah dude I'm a player, accidentally knocks up a woman and has to take care of the child who he was a really good dad to and ended up being kinda mellow.

Cam's like ugh he lost his flair. I wanna be a performer though. Grinds his ass learning to do ballet dancing, opera, and stage direction (Maestro bard). He's a really solid singer and since he's a changeling, he's usually deemed to be like a double or understudy — obvs wanes on him a little bc he wants the spot light. Years pass, he spots Max's daughter, Aesta, who leaves the royal court performing gig to be part of a travelling bard theatre troupe and he's like YOOO ill join you. So he does, they're really solid together, Aesta's an actress mainly, and Cam's like......bites lip. Aesta turns him down, and no matter how hard he works to try and convince her she's just not interested.

At this point. He kinda has this "I've busted my ass for everything in my career and my life i came from dirt. You noble seelie mfs are so dismissive of my feelings bc you have everything already, give me a chance" RED FLAGS ALL OVER. Worst of all, Aesta fucks off to the material plane for a while and Cam catches wind she married a MATERIAL PLANE ELADRIN, whos not a performer, he's a samurai. At this point he blows his fucking lid and storms off to his aunt like OOOH why i oughta!!!

At this point in a fit of rage he decides to swear an oath of vengeance (he's an ancients paladin) on behalf of the seelie court. Also becomes a hexblood — so the catch is that because of this, he has a crown of eldercross and a curl on the centre of his forehead (when he's good, he's very very good, but when bad, he's horrid). And every disguise he has now has a limit as his punishment.

Timelines diverge here — in one timeline, he actually DIES (slipped on a tomato, fell off the stage and broke his neck. So cringe) and now has a revenant bullshit thing going on. The other one, he unfortunately lives and ends up being the guard of Hallow King and the Unseelie side of the Harvester's Passage (its a two way door that connects the courts at the autumn court. Duke is on the other side).

Long time passes. This 7'6" fucking idiot falls through a fairy ring, he hears through duke who heard through pin that this guy is a chiore (goes by Alphonse Alpenski) and Cam is just livid bc alphonse is kind of a freak accident as material-fey offspring is pretty much impossible — its the genealogy of plants and crossbreeding, just doesn't happen. Swears like I'm going to end this fucking bloodline — tries to flirt with him for two seconds and Alphonse is like...damn dommy king okay bites lip. but at this point cam is just so enraged he cant even think about anything but hate LMAO

------

Modern AU is kinda funny bc theres none of that weird family shit going on he and alphonse are just in a kink dynamic. Uh happy pride ig. They both kinda hate each other but in a mutual respect kinda way

Tidbits though uhh

All my fey are based on a type of insect or animal. Cam's is a chameleon, his armour is based on golden tortoise beetle shells.

His eladrin version has chameleon plant leaves

His name is a poorly disguised pun. Cam(eron) O'Vladjcik - Camouflage

His main stage person is a tiefling named Martinus (discoverer of the chameleon plant) Dolos (greek god of deception) who has a kinda matador outfit, and Seamus, a satyr.

He's agender but always uses he him regardless of presentation.

Modern AU, has a horribly modern industrial style home that looks like it costs a million. Also keeps his granola and coffee pods in big glass jars. Almond mom energy. And he smokes. Yucky

Kinda hard to avoid in dnd setting but a bit of a hypochondriac.

Lot of the sock and buskin (theatre masks) motifs going on for him. Its why his face looks like that. SJFDKFD

His spells are flavoured to be theatre themed (summons a broom like Enter stage left!! Spotlight faerie fire, mannequin spirit guardians, trapdoor misty step, etc.) he is a theatre kid above all else

Hes like a homophobic homosexual

Spanish accent, baritone singing voice.

Changeling, bard expertise, actor feat -- my deception is +15.

Big art snob, i really love him, i talk shit but i actually really do enjoy writing his character, its fun playing insufferable npcs

im sure theres more but thats all i can remember rn. sorry its so long

[daxwritesstories]

College AU part 25: Party Poison

Content warning: transphobic language

Scene 1: the actor

(Scene title by dynastic)

INT. Celia & Cyra's dorm - Morning

Celia is sleeping peacefully in her bed, on her side, until Cyra jumps on top of her.

CYRA: Wake up, Celia!

Celia groans and rolls onto her back. Cyra stares down at her excitedly, all four limbs pinning her to the bed.

CELIA: What is it?

CYRA: It's cast announcement day!

Celia groans again.

CYRA: We have to go make sure we got the right parts.

CELIA: We don't even know if we were cast.

CYRA: Yes we do! I made sure that we did.

CELIA: Huh?

CYRA: I worked my magic. As usual, I can make anything happen.

CELIA: Who did you sleep with this time?

CYRA: No one! I've never had sex ever.

Cyra giggles and climbs off of the bed. Celia sits up and rubs her eyes.

CELIA: We literally had sex last week.

CYRA: Nuh-uh! Let's go, let's go!

CELIA: Hold on, I have to get dressed.

INT. Hallway - Morning

Celia and Cyra are standing in front of a bulletin board. Cyra points at a sheet on the board.

CYRA: See? I'm Columbia and you're Magenta.

Celia looks at the sheet in slight disbelief.

CELIA: Wow, you were right.

Cyra takes a step closer to the board.

CYRA: I need to make sure the rest of the casting is right too. So far it looks like it...

ERIK: There you are!

Cyra and Celia look over to see Erik and Rhett walking up to them. Erik is walking fast and Rhett is trailing behind him a bit.

ERIK: What the fuck did you do?

CYRA: What?

ERIK: This cast list has your grubby fingerprints all over it.

CYRA: So what? I'm a very influential person. And I know who would be best for each role.

Erik leans in closer to Cyra and lowers his voice.

ERIK: You're fucking Roman, aren't you?

Cyra reacts with played-up disbelief.

CYRA: Whoa! Where is this coming from?

ERIK: How else did you manage to get all your friends cast? Seems like a pretty big coincidence.

CYRA: You really think that little of me? I happen to be very persuasive. Roman's my friend so I just gave him some suggestions.

ERIK: Oh, like how you "persuaded" me to audition? And Rhett? I'm sure you did the same to Celia and Prince and Jayce and Connor.

CELIA: Chill.

Rhett puts a hand in front of Erik.

RHETT: Erik...

CYRA: Hey, I've never slept with Connor.

ERIK: Wow!

CYRA: Why are you so mad?

ERIK: I don't wanna be in this play, Cyra! I can't believe you convinced me to audition for this stupid thing!

CYRA: Then fuckin' quit! See if I care!

CELIA: Guys, people are looking.

CYRA: Erik started it!

Embarrassed by people looking, Erik lowers his voice again.

ERIK: I heard what Roman said to you in the car when he drove us home.

Cyra lowers her voice too.

CYRA: He was joking.

Erik glares at Cyra before turning around and storming off. Cyra folds her arms. She looks upset.

CYRA: I didn't fuck Roman.

RHETT: I know. He's just pissy.

CYRA: If he really didn't want to do the play then why did he audition? I wasn't trying to make him mad.

RHETT: Yeah, for once.

Cyra shoots a glare at Rhett.

RHETT: He'll get over it, just give him a day. On the bright side, I'm playing Eddie.

CELIA: And I'm gonna be Magenta!

Cyra gasps and her face lights up.

CYRA: I get to make out with both of you!

Celia smiles at Rhett, but Rhett looks away shyly and lets out a nervous laugh.

RHETT: Yeah... Let's just hope no one else is mad about their roles.

Cyra makes a face like she just remembered something and then looks at the bulletin board again.

CYRA: Wait, who's playing Rocky?

Celia looks at the board too and laughs. Rhett snickers too.

CELIA: Devin?

Cyra turns around to face Celia and grimaces.

CYRA: He's gonna kill me.

Scene 2: Sweet Transvestite

INT. Connor & Devin's dorm - Late afternoon

Connor is sitting at his desk, putting makeup on in front of a mirror on the table. Devin is pacing.

DEVIN: I'm gonna kill Cyra.

CONNOR: Well, she'll be here in a few minutes, so go nuts.

DEVIN: First that stupid thing and now this. Why do I keep doing favors for her?

CONNOR: What stupid thing?

Devin stops, realizing what he just said.

DEVIN: Uh... don't worry about it.

Connor laughs.

CONNOR: Okay.

Connor puts his makeup brush down and stands up, revealing that he's wearing a leather jacket, a skirt, and stockings with garters. He also has black heels on.

CONNOR: How do I look?

Devin looks Connor up and down. He doesn't say anything though.

CONNOR: Too much?

DEVIN: Um...

There is a knock at the door and Devin jumps at the opportunity to leave the conversation.

DEVIN: I'll get it.

Connor rolls his eyes as Devin hurries to the door.

CONNOR (sarcastically): Fine, don't answer me.

Devin opens the door and Cyra and Celia are standing there. Cyra immediately puts her hands up in defense.

DEVIN: You know I'm mad at you, huh?

CYRA: Look, I didn't think they would actually cast you.

DEVIN: Bullshit.

CYRA: Can we talk about this later? We have to g–

Cyra stops talking when she notices Connor standing behind Devin. She smiles in surprise.

CYRA: Whoa! Connor! What's with the get-up?

Cyra walks past Devin, completely brushing him off. Celia follows Cyra in, glancing at Devin on the way.

CONNOR: I'm method acting. I gotta get into the Frank-N-Furter mindset.

CYRA: Well damn, wanna go "method act" with me in the bathroom?

Connor poses, modeling the clothes.

CONNOR: Yeah? You like this?

CYRA: I have never been more attracted to you.

Celia laughs and smacks Cyra's arm.

CELIA: We gotta go. I'm the only thing keeping our "driver" from leaving without us.

DEVIN: Why is Ace even coming to this thing? He's not in the musical.

CYRA: What? Don't wanna see him after the other night?

Cyra smiles at Connor, hoping he'll get what she's saying. It only takes Connor a second before his jaw drops, which quickly turns into a smile.

CONNOR: Wait–

DEVIN: Oh, for fuck's sake! Let's just go!

Devin quickly leaves the room and Connor runs after him.

CONNOR: Devin, wait! Devin!

Cyra and Celia follow after them, giggling.

Scene 3: Party Poison

(Scene title by My Chemical Romance)

INT. Restaurant - Evening

The majority of the musical cast is already sitting around a long table (Bella, Jayce, Prince, Rhett, Erik, and Vir). Roman and Misty are there too.

Cyra, Ace, Connor, Celia, and Devin walk into the restaurant together and make their way to the table.

ROMAN: Took you long enough!

ACE: You can blame all of them for being slow.

Ace gestures to the group with him. Everyone fills the remaining seats. Devin sits next to Erik. Connor and Celia sit with Prince and Jayce. Cyra follows Ace to the far end of the table where Roman is sitting.

As Ace passes Devin, he subtly runs his finger across Devin's shoulders. Devin looks at him but Ace doesn't look back or give any acknowledgement.

ROMAN: Saved you a seat.

Ace and Roman hold fake gang signs up at each other before Ace sits down next to him. Cyra quickly takes the seat next to Ace, like she's afraid someone else is going to take it.

CONNOR: So? What did we miss?

PRINCE: No, no. Show us the outfit first.

Connor smiles and stands up. He strikes a few poses and spins around.

VIR: Ooh! Ahh!

CYRA: You look so fucking hot!

Ace looks at Cyra and then dramatically flips his hair over his shoulder.

ACE: Tranny chaser.

Cyra looks offended but Ace ignores her, pretending to check his nails.

Connor finishes showing off his outfit and then sits back down.

CONNOR: Okay, now tell me... What's the hot goss? What did we miss?

PRINCE: Not much. Mostly just Erik bitching about Cyra.

Devin looks at Erik.

DEVIN: You're mad too?

ERIK: Yeah. I didn't fuckin' wanna be in the play.

DEVIN: Me neither. And why do I have to play Rocky? I've seen the movie. I know that's the most humiliating character.

CONNOR: I think you should just embrace it. You're the only one here who has the body for it. Well, besides me.

DEVIN: It's not the costume that's the problem, it's the character. I don't even have any lines.

ERIK: I haven't even seen the movie and I already know I don't wanna do it.

ROMAN: Well, you all got what you got so just suck it up. If you didn't want to be in the play then you shouldn't have auditioned.

Erik glares at Roman and then looks around the table.

ERIK: Anyone else find it kind of convenient that this entire cast happens to be friends with Cyra?

Roman frowns but doesn't say anything. Cyra looks a little panicked, but she tries to hide it.

CYRA: Erik, why can't you just be happy that we all get to work together?

CELIA: Yeah! I think it'll be fun.

Erik sighs and folds his arms.

ERIK: You always have to have everything your way, don't you, Cyra?

Cyra frowns and slams her fists on the table.

CYRA: This is such a stupid thing to pick a fight with me over!

Ace places his hand on Cyra's wrist.

ACE: Relax.

Cyra immediately drops her feisty demeanor.

ERIK: I'm just tired of being dragged into your weird schemes.

Cyra looks upset but doesn't try to argue, afraid of Ace.

BELLA: Okay. Someone needs to change the subject.

Everyone is silent for a long moment, waiting for someone else to say something. Eventually, Vir speaks up.

VIR: So, Ace, tell us what's going on with you and Cyra.

Roman snickers and Ace smiles at Cyra.

ACE: Is there something going on with us?

Cyra just smiles and shrugs.

VIR: Are you dating?

Ace smiles politely at Vir.

ACE: I have a boyfriend.

VIR: And Cyra's been single for about three months now. That's weird.

PRINCE: That is weird.

JAYCE: Yeah...

Ace looks at Cyra again.

ACE: Your friends are nosey.

CYRA: We're not dating.

Prince points at Cyra.

PRINCE: What's that on your neck then?

Celia and Vir giggle. Ace smiles and sticks his index finger under Cyra's collar.

ACE: Oh, this?

Ace yanks Cyra closer to him. He pretends to examine the collar. Cyra looks like she's about to burst from excitement.

Devin stares thoughtfully at them.

BEGIN FLASHBACK

We cut to a shot from Devin's perspective. Ace and Cyra are kneeling on the floor in front of him. Ace has his fingers under Cyra's collar. He roughly pulls her closer to him and whispers something to her that we can't hear.

Ace then pushes Cyra back a bit and raises an eyebrow at her. She nods obediently. Ace seems pleased with her response and looks up at the camera.

END FLASHBACK

ACE: Hm... Never seen it before.

Ace pulls his finger out from under the collar and Cyra sits up straight again. Devin looks down at the table, thinking hard about something.

VIR: So if you're not Cyra's date then why are you here?

Ace puts a hand on Roman's shoulder.

ACE: Roman asked me to come, not Cyra. If Cyra asked, I wouldn't be here.

Cyra and Roman both laugh. Ace mindlessly fixes the arm of Roman's jacket sleeve.

ROMAN: Ace and I go way back. He knew me when I was in my old band.

ERIK: You were in a band?

ROMAN: Mhm. I didn't get all these tattoos just for fun. Thought we were gonna make it big.

CYRA: Oh! You, me, and Rhett should all get a bunch of tattoos! Then we'll look like a real band.

ACE: No.

CYRA: What?

ERIK: We are a real band. We don't need tattoos to prove that.

Misty claps and starts signing something. Everyone at the table watches despite not knowing what she's saying.

Erik looks at Cyra.

ERIK: What did she say?

CYRA: She said you're right and that anyone can get tattoos.

Erik smiles at Misty and puts his arm around her.

ERIK: See? She gets it.

CONNOR: Devin has a lot of tattoos.

ACE: He sure does!

Devin raises an eyebrow at Ace but doesn't say anything. Ace puts his elbow on the table and leans forward.

ACE: I love guys with tattoos.

Devin nods.

DEVIN: Cool.

CONNOR: I also like guys with tattoos. When did you get yours, Devin?

DEVIN: I started getting them done as soon as I was old enough. Then I just got more over the years whenever I had money.

Devin nods at Ace.

DEVIN: What about you?

ACE: I got my first tattoo when I was 14. Then I just kept going until I was completely covered. I'm still getting a lot of my old ones covered.

DEVIN: 14? That's young.

CELIA: How old are you?

ACE: 32. And you, love?

CELIA: I turned 18 in October.

Ace frowns.

ACE: ...when in October?

CELIA: Uh... oops...

Cyra's jaw drops and she grabs Ace's hand, laughing.

CYRA: I didn't even realize!

Ace smiles and shakes his head.

ACE: Oh boy...

DEVIN: What?

CYRA: Nothing. Jayce is still 17! He's the baby of the group.

Connor looks at Jayce.

CONNOR: You're 17?

JAYCE: Uh... My birthday's in January. I'm basically 18.

Roman laughs. Prince puts their arm around Jayce.

PRINCE: Still a baby!

CYRA: Baby man!

DEVIN: Wait, who's the oldest here?

CYRA: Roman's old as fuck, so probably him.

Ace snickers.

ROMAN: I'm 35. But I'm your teacher, so I don't count.

ACE: Then that would make me the oldest.

Devin points at Erik.

DEVIN: How old are you?

ERIK: 23.

Devin points at Rhett.

DEVIN: And you?

RHETT: 21.

DEVIN: And then everyone else is 18?

VIR: I'm 19.

CONNOR: I'm 20.

DEVIN: Huh.

ACE: You're all so young.

ROMAN: This might as well be a high school play.

Ace laughs.

ROMAN: So, other than Erik and Devin, are the rest of you happy with the roles you got?

PRINCE: Yup! I get to do a weird voice and walk around like a goblin.

CONNOR: Hell yeah! I get to murder Rhett and touch Devin a lot.

VIR: I get to dance on a table!

RHETT: I like my role. I literally sing one song and then die.

CYRA: And we get to make out! Oh! I get to make out with Celia too!

Celia giggles bashfully.

CYRA: What about you, Jayce? You get to be the male lead.

JAYCE: Oh, uh, yeah. That'll be fun...

Roman raises an eyebrow at Jayce and then looks at Bella.

ROMAN: Bella?

BELLA: Hm?

ROMAN: Are you happy with playing Janet? You've been really quiet so far.

BELLA: Oh, um...

Bella glances at Jayce.

BELLA: Yeah, I... wanted to be Janet.

DEVIN: Wait, you're playing Janet?

Bella smiles at Devin.

BELLA: Mhm!

DEVIN: Okay...

CONNOR: Rocky's not such a bad role now, huh?

Everyone laughs, except for Jayce.

CYRA: Oh! This is just like the dinner scene in the movie! Erik, start singing Eddie!

Erik rolls his eyes and Connor laughs.

RHETT: Wait. I'm supposed to be dead under the table.

Rhett pretends like he's going to duck underneath the table. Everyone laughs.

Scene 4: Good To You

(Scene title by Marianas Trench)

INT. Band practice room - Afternoon

Jayce is sitting on the couch, tuning his guitar. He's alone in the room until Cyra opens the door and walks in.

CYRA: Hey, kiddo.

JAYCE: Hey.

Cyra looks around.

CYRA: Where's–

JAYCE: Enzo and Celia went to get food. They'll be back soon.

CYRA: Oh, okay. Sorry I'm late.

JAYCE: No worries.

There is an awkward air in the room. It's making Cyra uncomfortable. She sighs and sets her bag down on the floor.

CYRA: Are you okay?

Jayce stops tuning the guitar and looks up at Cyra.

JAYCE: Did you really convince the directors to cast all of us?

CYRA: I made a few suggestions to Roman. I guess he agreed with me on most of them. I didn't tell him to cast Bella as Janet though. I didn't even know she was auditioning.

JAYCE: Yeah, I had a feeling that wasn't your doing.

CYRA: You know I wouldn't try to make things even more awkward for you two.

Jayce stares down at the floor with a thoughtful expression.

JAYCE: I bombed my audition.

CYRA: What?

Jayce looks at Cyra again.

JAYCE: I forgot some of my lines and the directors didn't seem to like my acting. So I was shocked when I got the part. But now it makes sense. You convinced Roman to cast me anyway, right?

Cyra smiles.

CYRA: Don't say I never did anything for you, kiddo.

Jayce laughs and Cyra ruffles his hair.

The door opens and Celia and Enzo walk in together.

ENZO (jokingly): Leave Jayce's hair alone!

CYRA: Impossible! And I'll mess up Celia's too!

Cyra runs towards Celia, but Celia runs away.

CELIA: No!

CYRA: Give me your hair!

Celia laughs as she runs.

CELIA: Fuck off!

[themultifandomgal]

Temptation Pt16

Temptation Masterlist

A few months have gone by and there has been a rise of people going missing, maybe vampires turning others. I sit down at the lunch table next to Edward

"Hey" Jess says more towards Bella

"Just in time, alright check it out. 'My fellow students' right, right" Mike starts

"Wow" Jessica doesn't seem all that convinced 

"We are the future, anything is possible if you just believe"

"Nice" Angela laughs

"Perfect" Erik shakes his head

"Blah blah blah, and you got yourself a speech"

"So basically every other high school graduation speech?" I raise a brow

"This will be my speech when I want everyone to throw diplomas at my head, so thank you" Jess throws the paper at Mike

"You gotta embrace the clichés" Mike says looking at me. Not when you have heard that speech a bunch of times. Edward hears this and laughs at me

"They are the bread and butter of all valedictorians"

"Mm at that is why you are not valedictorian" Angela comments

"Jess doesn't need clichés. The speech is going to be epic" Bella says

"Epic? it will change lives" Alice sits down next to me with Jasper

"I have decided to through a party"

"After all how many times are we going to graduated high school" Jasper jokes making Edward, Alice and I snicker

"A party at your place?" Angela looks shocked that Alice has even suggested the idea

"I've never seen your house"

"No one has ever seen their house" Erik extends on what Jessica was saying

"Another party Alice?"

"I will be fun"

"Yeah, thats what you said last time" Alice leans back, knowing Alice is having a vision Bella distracts the others asking if she needed help with something. Edward reads Alice's mind so he knows what the vision is. Jasper and I kept in the dark for now, but on the look of their face's it's not great.

While Edward takes Bella to the police station to met her dad there, Alice tells us what her vision was as soon as we get home

"Victoria is coming back here, Edward is trying to convince Bella to go to Florida to see her mom"

"When will she be here?" I ask Alice while I'm wrapped up in Emmett's arms

"This weekend"

"Great" I sigh.

That weekend Edward and Bella leave town to see Bella's mum. So here the rest of us are, waiting in the woods for Victoria to appear. I stand in between Emmett and Rosalie

"Are you sure this is where you saw her?" Carlisle asks

"She's almost here" Alice says seeing Victoria in her vision. We all look around the wood, I then smell her sent

"On our left!" I shout, we all head in that direction. Obviously the others being quicker than me with speed, but the trees kinda slowing them down. Emmett and I are next to one another, he goes to grab her, but she ends up flinging him into a tree which pisses me off. Just as I'm about to grab her she jumps over on the the wolves territory making us all halt

"Wait she's on their territory" Carlisle puts his hand out to make sure none of us go after her. I grunt as I chase her, but over on our side

"She'll get away!" Esme yells

"No she wont" Jasper replies as the wolves all come out of the trees. Just before they grab her with their mouth she hopes back over to our side of the territory. Just as I grab her we both flip on to a rock, thankfully I don't feel much pain. I'm on top of her holding her down but as Rose and Thomas come into view she manages to throw me backwards into Rose knocking us both down

"You ok?" she asks me helping me up

"Yeah you?"

"Yeah" she breathes out. Thomas and Emmett run past us, Emmett looks even more pissed than I was. Rosalie and I get up and run to join the others but when we arrive Emmett is in the water while a wolf is snarling and snapping at him

"He tried getting on their land, to focused on catching Victoria" Esme explains to me

"Damn it" I sigh "Emmett!" I call. He speeds over to me

"Are you ok? I wanted to kill her so bad for hurting you"

"I'm fine, the real question is are you ok?"

"Yeah" Emmett pulls me into him "I'm ok as long as you are"

"Just don't be so stupid again"

"I won't, I promise"

"She's gone, theres nothing we can do now. Go hunt if you need to. Kat go home and rest" Carlisle walks over to us placing a hand on Emmett's shoulder.

[teasandcardigans]

I would be absolutely thrilled and honored to hear about the questions you have for erik about the redactedverse

you wanna hear about MY QUESTIONS??? THANK YOU

okay so:

are there undercover empowered agents hidden within unempowered government systems/law enforcement who assist in covert operations?

like for example, with vincent, fred, bright- humans turned vamps- was there someone to help coordinate the story of how they died in the police force? vincent is an easy explanation, died in the wreckage. but fred and bright, they "died" but who explains to the human world looking for answers as to what happened to the bodies?

or people in the irs, who explain how the same citizen has been paying taxes for 173 years? how they've filed the same address on their returns for so long?

a lot of these revolve around vamps and practicality of their lives

bc it's implied that will is like,, loaded and takes care of his clan in financial ways, but for vamps who dont have those circumstances, do they have to move often, change their identity to continue to maintain the age range in which they died? or does dump help them settle somewhere and use their potential field ops to keep them under the radar?

and working if you don't have a Sugar Daddy Clan King. how do you get a job and support yourself if you're more or less dead to the public. would you seriously have to relocate at that point? or does dump provide funds and/or lodging to those who need it? or do they become nomads like quinn seems to be?

and also, where did all of will's money come from?

also. wonderworld.

you'd think local police would keep a close eye on that place, considering it would likely be a hotspot for reckless teens to drink, smoke, etc, yet they seem not to. three humans got in and two actually died within the park and it seems like there's not much to worry about on the human side, so...

does dump have an agreement with local law enforcement to steer clear of the park? or is there something along the lines of magical deterrents that convince police they don't need to check the park?

moving along

for public magical fights, sweetheart/milo vs shade, gavin vs vega (not technically public but in the fl apartment) is there someone who makes the public forget those Very Not Subtle things happened? like im sure the freelancer's neighbors heard the commotion happening and yet the police wasn't called? call me crazy, but if i heard crashing and yelling and fighting from my neighbors, i'm getting someone over to help asap

these are just some of the questions i have thought of while watching and listening and MAYBE they have been answered already, but i don't know that they have! let me know if you know what's going on here

[earnestly-endlessly]

Hi! I'm wondering if you can make a list of fics where Erik's jewish heritage isn't ignored? I just came across the fact that a lot of authors don't explore this part of him for some reason and i found it kinda upsetting so i'm wondering if you have any recs! I liked "As They Kiss, Consume" and "Who Shall be King Hereafter" by sherwoodfox, in case anyone who's reading this ask is interested in the same topic.

Hi Anon. I'm sorry for taking so long with this list but your request sent me on a wide search for fics that fit with your request. I tried to find a variety of fics where Erik's Jewish heritage is addressed. Some of them aren't necessarily cherik, but most of them are. I hope you enjoy this list.

Mistletoe, Latkes, and Long-Term Revenge Strategies – pocky_slash

Summary: Charles knows that Erik hates working at a department store in the best of times. Being Jewish in a department store during the holiday season is far from the best of times. He does what he can to help.

A Nice Boy (the Family Matters Edition) – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik's not sure whether the problem is that he doesn't want his parents to meet Charles or that he doesn't want Charles to meet his parents. Either way, he never invites Charles to brunch. Why should he? It's not like they're dating.

A Road Trip to Pennsylvania – Aainiouu

Summary: For a year Charles has nurtured the biggest and most embarrassing crush known to man towards Erik. They are friends and roommates and when Erik asks Charles to accompany him to home on Thanksgiving of course Charles goes.

In the Bleak Midwinter – keire_ke

Summary: It is not easy to find out, well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, that your mother arranged a marriage for you. It is even less easy to convince her that you have no interest in the very fertile Magda, she of the wide hips and lustrous auburn hair. Fortunately, with a good friend at his side over the holiday weekend, Erik is sure he will prevail.

Speech Making – phalangine

Summary: Modern Emma AU- Charles Xavier, accomplished matchmaker and headmaster of North America’s preeminent school for mutants, intends to add another notch to his belt: setting up his friend Moira. His oldest friend, Erik, has doubts about this plan.

Charles doesn’t share them.

This is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

Bashert – AvengingAngel

Summary: Erik and Charles meet and fall in love. I wanted to write a story where Erik had a huge family. Pretty fluffy (for me anyways). I suck at summaries.

Note: The summary doesn’t reveal much but if you’re looking for a fic where Erik is jewish and has a large family with a heavy dose of cherik fluff and angst then this one is for you.

Math Reasons – pearl_o,  pocky_slash

Summary: "Mom says Erik always knows what he wants, it just sometimes takes him a little while to actually realize it," Ruth said.

Charles fell in love with Erik the first night they met, the first week of freshman year. Two years of friendship, adventures, arguments, hijinks, secrets, and summer visits later, Erik is starting to catch up.

Ser

It’s kind of our whole things – pearl_o, pocky_slash

Summary: After two years of best friendship, Charles and Erik thought they knew everything there was to know about each other. They're surprised, then, when their first summer as a couple reveals that they have a lot to learn about each other and themselves.

Sequel to Math Reasons

A Winter in New York – nextraordinaire

Summary: Charles and Erik have been childhood friends for as long as they can remember – Erik, living with his mother in Queens, and Charles in the big mansion in Westchester. For all, expect themselves, it was just natural progression that they'd end up together.

A series of ficlets from the same universe – can be read as separate and are out of chronological order.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside – heyjupiter

Summary: "It's just, this is my first Chanukah away from my parents. And it's--it's like 90 degrees out."

Erik Lehnsherr and Kitty Pryde celebrate a Genoshan Chanukah. It's a little different from the way it used to be in New York, but some unexpected visitors help them embrace the spirit of the holiday season.

Hold Back the Rain (front!strict mashup) – euphorbic

Summary: Charles Xavier: society darling, powerful political activist, well-known professor, and Dominant.

Erik Lehnsherr: anti-social, international motorcycle racer, and defiant submissive.

Erik is at Sepang in Malaysia for the fourteenth leg of the International World Championship. After doing poorly in qualifying, he's furious to find he has to take another VIP around the track instead of meeting Charles at the KL airport.

The Swan – waitfornight

Summary: In 1939 Erik and his sister Ruth are sent to Devonshire, England, during the Kindertransport refugee program to live with Kurt and Sharon Marko as foster children just before the start of World War II. Angry and wishing he could return home on the night of his seventeenth birthday, Erik meets a boy alone in the forest who is cursed to transform each day into a swan, only taking his true form by night.

Swan Lake AU.

The boy with the heart on his sleeve – euphorbic

Summary: Charles loses a high-stakes bet to Raven and is required to get a tattoo. However, when he makes a disparaging remark about the art form, Raven's acerbic mentor, Erik, steps in.

Or, the one where Erik and Raven are tattoo artists.

The Wurst Case Scenario – sareyen

Summary:If anyone asked why Charles, come rain, wind or shine, made the significant trek during his dismal lunch hour to dine at "Edie's Kosher Delicatessen", he would stubbornly say that it was because their pastrami on rye and potato knishes were absolutely to die for. He wasn't completely lying, because the deli's namesake, Edie Lehnsherr, made the best matzah ball soup Charles has ever had in his life. Still, Charles would rather shave his full head of hair off than admit that the real reason he would willingly walk through hail and fire to get to the corner deli was because of Erik, the insanely attractive man working the counter.

Sure, Erik has barely spoken two words to Charles other than "Hello, what can I get you?" or, after the third day in a row that Charles came to the deli, "Welcome back, what can I get you?", but Charles was more than happy to just ogle at the man from afar while devouring the juicy wurst Erik had put together with his (large and very capable) hands.

But, little does Charles know, Erik doesn't usually work the front counter. He only does it when he knows the cute blue-eyed man will be dining in.

This is life (and everything’s all right) – pocky_slash

Summary: Edie Lehnsherr came into Charles' life long before he ever heard Erik Lehnsherr's name, and her death left a gaping hole in the lives of everyone in Charles' family. As the first Purim without her approaches, he begins to get creative in his efforts to bring everyone out of their grief. Kitchen creativity, however, is not quite his strength....

c'est regarder ensemble dans la même direction – melonbutterfly

Summary: Since that day on the beach, Charles and Erik have learned to agree to disagree for the sake of living and working together. Then, for Christmas, and Charles gives Erik Hanukkah back a second time, and their relationship shifts a little further.

Terrible Hanukkah Sweaters and Other Life Challenges – professor

Summary: “Why am I here again?” Erik groans.

“I need you to lift things and glower at people over my shoulder when I tell people that it’s not ‘politically correct’ or a ‘war on Christmas’ to have a non-denominational winter holiday festival,” says Theresa Pryde.

Well, at least those are two things he’s good at.

Shrapnel – librata

Summary: It's late 1940, and tensions between the Axis and the Allies are tightening. Displaced and alone, 16-year-old German Jew Erik Lehnsherr finds himself employed as a servant by some snobby, terrible family in England whose house is far too big and whose money never seems to end. The worst part is, he isn't just mucking stables or cleaning plates–-he's tasked with tending to the whiny, disabled son named Charles, who might just drive Erik into absolute madness.

Or, the World War II fic in which Erik and Charles experience a changing world and a lot of teen angst.

Defying Expectations – Baamon5evr

Summary: Charles and Erik meet each other’s family. Neither of them gets what they expect.

table for three – pocky_slash

Summary: Erik should have known to call ahead to the Chinese restaurant--it's Christmas Eve and he lives in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, after all. But before he can go home to mourn the loss of another one of his mother's yearly traditions, he's accosted by a teenage girl with a strange proposition--that he should stay and have dinner with her and her mother, instead.

different from all other nights – metonymy

Summary: "This year we are slaves; next year we will be free." Kitty and Erik host a seder for Passover at the Xavier School.

Libertad – ariadnes_string

Summary: Erik knew the look, had seen it his whole life, even before the war.  ”You, with your height and blue eyes and straight nose, you can pass. You can be free of us. You are not marked with your difference.” If you only knew, he’d thought then. He thought the same thing now. And it was that thought, as much as anything, that made him move towards the gate.

Wash Away – sebastian2017

Summary: One quiet, lonely morning, before Yom Kippur, Erik makes his way to the sea in search of forgiveness.

After? There is No ‘After’ – Unrepentant_Marvelist

Summary: Erik knows what he is for. He has known his responsibilities as a survivor since the moment he woke under a scratchy, lice-infested blanket in the Red Army hospital. His world is painted in lucid blacks and whites (so often splashed in red) and there is no room for uncertainty or indecision... until a certain sunburned Englishman throws himself into his world.

The Children of an Idle Brain – Margo_Kim

Summary: Sometimes, when he’s lucky, Schmidt can’t hurt him. It’s like there’s a room inside of Erik’s head that’s he’s usually locked out of, that won’t open no matter if he beats himself bloody against it. On those days, he endures. But sometimes—and Erik doesn’t know why, whether it’s that the stars align or some higher power takes pity or Erik screams loud enough to earn his reward—the door opens. Erik can duck inside and slam it behind him and watches himself through the windows as Schmidt slowly, methodically tortures him to strength.

These days, this past week, there’s a boy in the room with him and he tells Erik, “That’s horrible,” like that means something.

Somehow, across the world, Erik's and Charles' minds touch when they need each other most. They can't be sure that the other boy is real. They suspect that he is not. But that doesn't mean they aren't each other's lifeline until they lose each other and then for a while longer.

Tehillim – kvikindi

Summary: Erik, in Israel, afterwards: another life he could have had. If.

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) – childishinquiry

Summary: Erik has worn long sleeves his whole life, even before they had to wear yellow stars. Marching along his arm, in neat, black, English letters, are the words "My name's Charles Xavier."

Precious Few Years – sherwoodfox

Summary: Erik and Charles (known only to each other by the letters inscribed on their wrists) are meant to be together, soulmates, destined for the most powerful kind of love and connection a human being can experience.

But they are separated in almost every possible way- by distance, by circumstance, by language, by war. Their chances of success- of finding one another in the labyrinth of the world- are very slim. There is a reason why most people never find their soulmates.

But of course, Charles and Erik aren't ordinary children-

They have their gifts.

[pencilofawesomeness]

Hi!

I'm sort of wondering when FT members will learn more about the dragon family's history, and who in particular will learn about it.

I mean, Mirajane finally guessed that Natsu is a demon, and while I doubt Natsu will explain everything to her (given that it would imply revealing secrets that are not only his own), I'm actually not even sure he will mention being an etherious specifically, but if he does, I rather doubt he will disclose what his true relationship with Zeref is (since it would be hard to do either of those things without explaining the whole time travel thing or at least that Zeref is immortal, though I guess he can asks Mirajane not to question that part, but more than that there's a significant difference between being created by a "bad guy" and being related to a "bad guy", so I'm not sure he'll trust Mirajane with that information.)

Anyway my point is : he might not tell Mirajane everything, but the fact that she found out but did not hate him might actually change things for him. What's more, hearing about the part where Erza, Jellal, Lucy and GRAY of all people, made friends with a village of demons might also quell some fears. (As long as he doesn't hear about the Deliora part of the story or that it doesn't affect him too much, that he understand Deliora was hated (and frozen to death) because he was destructive and killed people (including Gray's parents), not just because he was an etherious).

So I wonder if Natsu will start being more open about the fact that he's part demon, at least with the guildmates he's closest to. I mean, sure Acnologia told him it might be better to keep it quiet but a) he meant that in a general context, b) he barely knew let alone trusted the guild and its members at the time.

Speaking of which, I'm also thinking about the dragon's families other secrets, namely their origin, Acnologia's past and their connection with Zeref.

For now, I believe that except for the Exceeds and the dragons slayers plus Anna, no one has the whole story? Lisanna maybe? She knew most of it, I'm just not sure if she was ever told why they were sent in the future (in other words, what Acnologia did).

Other than that, the people closest to them would be Mystgoan, team Thunderstorm, team Shadow Gear and Jellal & Erza. It was pretty clear in the 24 hours race one-shot that Jellal and Erza knew next to nothing, basically they're just friends with Erik and they learnt about dragon slaying magic in passing. Regarding team Shadow Gears, I'm not even convinced Jet and Droy know of the dragonlings' dragon slaying magic, so I doubt they know anything else. Levy does know Acnologia is a dragon (and I must say I'm curious as to how that happened), but I'm really not sure about the rest, I would guess she might know about the time travel, but not Acnologia's past or Zeref. Thunderstorm is probably pretty much unaware of everything - I'm actually not even 100% sure Laxus knows about Zeref. Though with the summer camp thing he would have found out about Natsu, so... Mystgoan I'm really not sure about, but I also don't think he knows anything, if only because he's always too busy with other things.

I'm really curious to see if any of them will be told more in a near future. Or someone else entirely, Lucy for instance. Or if the revelations will always happen accidentally, on the battlefield, through another person, etc.

I'm fondly imagining Erik reassuring Natsu that Erza and/or Jellal wouldn't hold his being a demon against him, nor his being Zeref's brother, nor his loving him still, nor even his not (completely) believing Zeref is a bad person, as long as Natsu explained why he believes that. Because Erik does know enough about them (and the past they share) to know they wouldn't care, would still trust him and care for him all the same. I can even imagine Erik supporting Natsu telling Gray or Lucy about his being a demon, if Erik heard about their demon friends of Galuna Island. (Maybe not the Zeref part though. A bit too risky I'd say.)

I'm really found of secrets and reveals, of the hurt and comfort and the drama. I really look forward to pasts being revealed, be it by choice or due to old enemies (or friends) coming back to haunt the Fairies.

Ah yes this is an excellent question anon. Especially since I know I've been bad/vague on establishing who-knows-what since I've been hitting major events and then going back and filling in details at random times, both because of my flighty mind, and because I've been toeing around some things until I committed. Like this one.

Nevertheless, there are people who know, and over the course of the series, more people will find out in-story. Especially once we hit major group-fests like the Tenrou and GMG arcs.

Their squirreliness and awkward relationship with secrets is certainly something to be addressed. Really, it's like this with the majority of Fairy Tail, and it's a theme I am absolutely fascinated by: FT parades around as a "family," and they trust and love each other, but very few people in the guild are comfortable trusting each other with emotional hurt. Which is to say, the fact that FT is a fresh start for people is an amazing thing, but the focus on moving forward sometimes causes things not to be addressed. Erza would never have told anyone about the Tower on her own; Cana won't tell Gildarts he's her dad; the dragon slayers don't want to bring up their time displacement and quasi-dead parents; Gray didn't want to tell anyone about his and Ur's last conversation; Mirajane didn't want to be anything reminiscent of her younger, scared self. The dragons have created a sort of microcosm of emotional vulnerability within Fairy Tail, mostly by accident and the nature of shared secrets, but that doesn't extend to all of the guild. It's a question of whether it should, or by how much; of where to draw the line between lingering in the past and letting it drag you down unwittingly; of what makes family, and what that really means.

I ramble, but I say that all to say that it's a theme I want to try to intersperse and play with as the series progresses. So to answer your question: yes, secrets will be spilled and/or shared willingly. More people will find out more information. Like with Mirajane in this arc, because Natsu—despite having the most secrets—is a very trusting individual once it starts to unravel. (Almost like secrets can take a toll on the mind: what a concept.) So, without giving away everything, I will say that Mirajane will learn quite a bit by the end of their adventure.

As for who knows, there's actually a handful of people who know a lot, maybe save a detail or two. It's been mentioned a few times (I think, like with Acno's retrospection in bringing in Erik) that once somebody starts being at the house all of the time, secrets go out the window. The fun thing about that bunch is that while they have a ton of secrets, personality-wise, they're not very secretive. That's why the go-to response is avoidance 80% of the time. So Lisanna, Levy, Mystogan, Laxus, and Bickslow know pretty much everything, from a combination of being told things and exposure from always being around. (Lisanna got told everything out the gate by Natsu, since secrets are like his least-favorite thing, and then she was around when other stuff was discovered. Similarly for Levy, Mystogan, and Laxus. Bickslow found some things by accident and then the rest through him being surprisingly chill with everything; I have a side story that I think I referenced in another one that I've been wanting to write that focuses on Bickslow and Lisanna having to figure out soul magic because they're all confused af, but I haven't gotten to that one yet so I understand that nobody knows of what exists in my head, lol.)

It trickles down from there. Erza and Jellal know about what Erik went through, and they know about some dragon slayer magic stuff, but not any of the backstory. (Mostly because Erza didn’t think to question anything, and Jellal was too awkward too, hence the 24-Hour-Race stuff.) Same with Freed and Evergreen. Jet and Droy know a bit more, including about some of the time travel stuff, but nothing in regards to Natsu or Zeref or the Acno-is-an-actual-dragon thing.

With more to come, as I said. Because yeah, as things progress—like with the Galuna peeps figuring out more—it will start coming up slowly. It’s gonna be a lot of fun, that’s for sure. I, too, love all the revealing secrets tropes. >:)

[wrestlingisfake]

Smackdown Fake Rankings, 12/26/2022

Men's singles division - babyfaces

Drew McIntyre

Sheamus

Ricochet

Braun Strowman

Rey Mysterio

Men's singles division - heels

Roman Reigns (WWE world champion, WWE universal champion)

Gunther (WWE intercontinental champion)

Sami Zayn

Solo Sikoa

Santos Escobar

Unranked: Angel Garza

Smackdown's key storylines are a) "WHO can stop Roman Reigns?", b) "WHO can stop the Usos?", and c) "WHEN will Sami Zayn's unlikely alliance with the Bloodline collapse?" None of these questions are likely to be answered before April, and I'm not even convinced they'll be blown off in 2023 at all.

So I could argue this roster isn't doing enough to set up strong babyfaces that can dethrone the heels, but it doesn't matter because WWE has settled into a very long-term formula. Arguing that Smackdown is overdoing the Bloodline would be futile; for better or worse, that's the brand now. It'd be like saying that AEW has too many little flippy guys, or that GCW needs to cut down on light tube spots.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (NXT tag team champions)

Top Dolla & Ashante Adonis

Ridge Holland & Butch

Men's tag team division - heels

The Usos - Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso (Raw tag team champions, Smackdown tag team champions)

Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde

Erik & Ivar

Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci

Sending Kingston and Woods to NXT is clever, but it's a bit of a kludge for a systemic problem. WWE can't think of anything for a top tag team act to do except make a run for the tag title or break up. It makes no sense to split the New Day or book them against the Usos for the hundredth time. So the only idea they have is to put the New Day in the hunt for a different tag title. Which works for now, but eventually you have to come up with compelling non-title storylines for everybody that's not on top. WWE can do this with the men's singles division but it's still too lazy to do it up and down the tag team and women's divisions.

Women's singles division - babyfaces

Raquel Rodriguez

Shotzi

Emma

Women's singles division - heels

Ronda Rousey (Smackdown women's champion)

Shayna Baszler

Sonya Deville

Xia Li

Women's tag team division - babyfaces

Liv Morgan & Tegan Nox

I'm not sure where the Smackdown women's division is headed right now, although it probably won't matter until after the Royal Rumble. Morgan and Nox have been established as a unit but they seem to be feuding with Xia Li, who cost them the tag title but doesn't have a partner yet. So maybe Morgan/Nox focuses on Li/???, or maybe Liv gets back in the hunt for Rousey's title and Nox vs. Li becomes a singles feud. It's pretty bad when your tag division is wavering between one and zero active teams.

No TV, PPV, or streaming matches in 30 days: B-Fab, Bray Wyatt, Drew Gulak, Humberto Carrillo, Jinder Mahal, Karrion Kross, LA Knight, Lacey Evans, Mace, Madcap Moss, Mansoor, Natalya, Shanky, Shinsuke Nakamura, Zelina Vega

Part-time/semi-retired: John Cena, Goldberg, Pat McAfee

Inactive

Big E (neck - C1/C6 fracture)

Charlotte Flair (storyline - wrist injury)

Naomi (suspended)

Rick Boogs (right thigh - quadraceps/patellar tendon tear)

Sasha Banks (suspended)

Banks is reportedly a free agent starting January 1, although I don't think everyone will be convinced until she's actually off WWE's roster and appearing for other promotions. I would assume Naomi is in the same boat but nobody's reported anything on her status.

I don't think Charlotte has appeared for WWE at all since Rousey "broke" her wrist on May 8. I could see them saving her return for the Royal Rumble, but for all I know she could be unavailable for other, unreported reasons. We won't know anything for sure until she's back.

The last I heard on Big E is that the doctors want to wait until March 2023 to check how his neck is healing. That probably rules out a return to the ring at Wrestlemania in April.

[locke-writes]

Okay, Re-Phrasing my ask with specifications this time! 😅

H/C's for Erik from "The Phantom Of The Opera" where the reader is a MAJOR fan of his and comes to seek his help because they have trouble sleeping?

(I'm not talking about insomnia, I'm talking about being so used to being a night owl but the reader's body betrays them and wakes them up at like 6 even though they went to sleep at like midnight--)

*Once again, I apologize for not specifying the first time.*

There isn’t a rule expressly forbidding anyone from wandering the catacombs, it’s just more or less understood that you probably shouldn’t

Still, without a rule in place you find yourself heading to the lake underneath the opera house more often then not

You really hadn’t meant to go exploring that first time, hadn’t meant to stumble upon Erik’s home and yet it had occurred

Stories were told around the opera house about the phantom that lived deep within the tunnels, stories about his antics with actors and composers that he disliked

And they were told as stories but deep down you knew that there was a truth to them

Maybe the details themselves were exaggerated but the actual event overall had occurred, you felt it

Of course you really had no way of knowing that eventually you would be proven correct

If you thought about it enough maybe you’d have been able to pinpoint when your sleep schedule had been corrupted

Staying up late was nothing, you’d been doing that for years, it was the fact that unwillingly you kept waking up early in the morning

Eventually your body would understand when you really needed to wake up, that’s what you had tried convincing yourself

Never had that been the case, never had you gone to be and then woken up at a reasonable time

No, you’d fall asleep around one in the morning and the next thing you knew it was six in the morning, not time for work but what else could you do

Try as you might once you were awake there was no going back to sleep

If Erik was real, if the sheet music that had been found after the opera house had burned was created by him, then maybe he would be able to help you

Fighting off yawns that mean nothing since if you lie back down you’ll just be staring at the ceiling for hours you walk down into the depths of the opera house not sure what you’ll see just that you’ll know when you arrive

Really you hear it before you see him, hear the sound of him working away at something new

He pauses and you know that he’s heard you, rushing out and speeding through explanations hoping that he’ll understand, hoping that he’ll be willing to listen further to the reason why and not just your explanation of you you are

There isn’t much acknowledgment beyond a not and a gesture to step forward but this is really more than you were anticipating

And this may be the first time you meet but it won’t be the last, not even the last for the reason being that you can’t sleep

Any time you do appear with that lingering exhaustion he’ll talk with you about whatever you want hoping that talking will get your mind off of how you feel

Might suggest that you lay down on a lounger he has or even in his bed

Will absolutely play music for you when you’re there

He knows you might not sleep, might not even do anything more than shut your eyes and listen

Yet he’ll be there no matter what because he knows that you’ll be there for him

Tag List: ask to be added

[freckled-words]

Fleeting Worlds - It Only Took 10 Minutes

A/N: Not even 8am in the morning, and I'm back at my old habit of posting fanfiction sneakily while at work (its actually a lot harder this time around, as I have someone sitting to my immediate right.)

I'm on a serious tasertricks kick right now, so you may see a lot of DarcyxLoki content from me ah ha.

This is my take on "What if Darcy had been there when Loki came through the portal?"

All my love to @hijackedreese for dealing with my continuous babble about these two, and for giving this a quick read through to fix the mess that auto-correct was forcing upon me.

Darcy didn’t know why, and didn’t ask why, but she was more or less grateful that Erik wanted her to join him on his super secret SHIELD project.

Director Fury had not been too pleased about her tagging along…right away. It took a couple weeks of cajoling, ignored friendly chattering, and a guessing game of how he took his coffee, but now he’d come around. It also really helped that he loved Nana’s snickerdoodle cookies. (Darcy was 100% convinced he’d sent an agent out to try and recover the recipe.)

Each time Director Fury came to check on their study of the tesseract, Darcy would welcome him with, “Hey Director, how’s the matrix holding up?”

And his response would give her an idea of where his mood was.

This morning he replied, “Stable today Ms. Lewis. How are my researchers holding up?”

At some point in her trying to warm Fury over, he’d decided her official job was “Scientist Wrangler.” Seeing as she was the only one forcing all the egg heads out the door at a reasonable hour every day. She made sure everyone had warm drinks or water at hand at all times, and even left them small snacks within easy reach. If one of them ever seemed to be struggling, she’d wheel them out the door and make them take a walk for some sunshine and fresh air.

Apparently Clint, aka Hawkeye, had reported to Fury that he’d never seen happier, more efficient nerds. The results that Fury was seeing confirmed this, and hearing it from one of his best gave it some gravity.

Along with her fun job title, they’d given her a slight pay raise. So she’d printed out a sign for her work station that read “Darcy Lewis, Scientist Wrangler.” Agent Maria Hill found this infinitely charming.

Darcy pointed to Erik, “He’s concerned, which is why you’re here. He can tell you all the babble. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Fury rolled his eyes, and moved along to speak with Erik. Darcy gave Hawkeye a little wave and called out, “You want more snacks for your perch?”

Clint gave her a thumbs up to acknowledge and answer the question. Darcy knew he’d been on edge since things had gotten a bit weird with their machine lately. Something about doors, and powering itself.

Clint was great. When he was relieved from his post, he’d hang out with Darcy and shoot the shit. Darcy unabashedly praised his arms, and he complimented her on worming her way into Fury’s good graces. They’d swapped perspective stories back from when Thor had crash landed in New Mexico, and bonded over how crazy their lives were these days. Sure he was a super spy, but, Norse Gods/aliens? That sure trumped a lot in the way of weird.

Darcy made a note to grab him more snacks, and hurried on her way to do her business.

She’d been gone for a whole 10, 15 minutes tops. During which time she’d felt the base tremble, causing dust to sprinkle down from the ceiling. And somehow, everything went into crazy bananas land in that short span of time.

As she’d been coming up on the doorway to the lab, she heard gunshots, yelling, and an eerie blue light was glowing from the other side.

Putting down her armful of chips and granola bars, Darcy stuck to the wall and inched her face around the door frame to peek inside the cavern.

The first thing she noticed were the bodies on the floor, some which were pooling blood, and clearly not breathing. Parts of the lab were on fire and sparking dangerously.

This was followed by the sight of Clint standing at ease, and rather close to the source of the violence.

She latched onto his getup of green and black leather. Recognizing the fashion for Asgardian, Darcy immediately dug through her recently built memory of Norse mythology. Which God had come calling with brutality?

“I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.”

Nice of him to answer her question without her having to ask.

Erik was crouched next to one of the scientists that weren’t moving. She waved a little, and managed to get his attention. He moved his head the slightest bit, indicating she needed to leave.

She shook her head, and motioned for him to come to her. She wasn’t just going to go running without him, Jane would never forgive her.

As Loki began to turn in their direction, Darcy ducked back out of sight.

“We have no quarrel with your people.” Fury’s voice rang out, and Darcy could kiss the man.

He’d been standing towards the machine, which was away from her. She leaned forward and watched Loki turn to face Nick fully. Taking the chance, she pointed at Erik and angrily pointed to the spot next to her.

Erik stood slowly, and much to her frustration shook his head, and motioned for her to get going.

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot.” Loki’s voice was far too calm as he said this. It made her skin crawl.

“Are you planning to step on us?” Director Fury countered back, sounding non-too amused.

Movement from the corner of her drew her attention to Clint. He was looking directly at her, with eyes glazed over with a burning blue edge. Something had been done to him, and as much as she’d love to help him, she didn’t think she could.

“Loki? Brother of Thor?” Erik’s question made Loki stiffen, and turn a hard stare in Erik’s direction.

There was no helping Erik now. But maybe she could get help? Maria had to be around somewhere, she always travelled with Director Fury.

Slowly she inched back out of Clint’s immediate sight. He must have gauged her not to be a threat, that, or whatever had possessed him was making him stick close to Loki.

She took off at a run, needing to find the first person with a comm piece. Or some kind of alarm.

No one knew there was danger in the form of a psychopathic Asgardian.

A spot of red in the middle of a wall caught her eye. A fire alarm! With this being a SHIELD base, she’d bet all her sweaters on this being the noisiest damn alarm ever built.

She just hoped Erik and Director Fury could keep their crazy guest distracted long enough for her to -

“Hello Little Mouse.”

Something with a sharp edge whizzed by her ear, leaving a shallow slice in its wake as it embedded itself just above the alarm. As it settled she saw it had been a dagger. A very lethal looking dagger.

She heard four sets of feet approach her at a quick clip, three of them continued on. Knowing who the remaining set belonged to, she forced herself to take a deep breath and slowly turn around.

He practically loomed over her with his ridiculous height. Roughly around the same stature as Thor, except he was all lean and coiled. Manic amusement bore into her through those green eyes.

Fear took the steering wheel in her head and honked the horn, making her say weakly, “Welcome to Earth…er…Midgard?”

Yea she was totally going to get stabbed to death.

“You don’t appear to be an academic, nor a warrior.” He scanned her up and down, taking in her baggy cardigan, Taco Tuesday shirt, jeans, and knit hat. Smug condescension edged into his eyes and smile.

If it had been anyone else, she’d give them an earful and maybe a taser prong to the nuts. But this was Loki, a sociopath that had managed to brain wipe Hawkeye and make him their best friend.

Thinking fast and kicking down her pride, she dropped onto one knee and kept her head bent down in a bow, “You’re correct. I’m nobody, just a coffee fetcher.”

From Loki’s feet, she could see him lean back, relaxing just a touch. “A mortal with some proper sense at last.”

She hadn’t gotten a good look at it when she’d been watching the show down earlier, but now the tip of his weapon moved beneath her chin.

Loki used the slightest bit of pressure to make her tip her head back, forcing her to meet his gaze, “Tell me Coffee Fetcher, would you like to keep your life?”

She swallowed hard, “If you saw fit to grant such a mercy, I would be eternally grateful.” It was amazing how eloquently someone could speak when their life was hanging a thin thread.

His smile radiated with his pleasure at being acknowledged for who he thought he was. ‘That’s right Crazy Alien, feed that raging ego and get on with your day.’

Of course, this would be the point when Erik came into view. He had apparently been one of the other three that had been travelling with Loki. Like Clint, his eyes had become glazed over with blue fire.

Seeing what was holding up Loki, Erik smiled fondly (eerily) at Darcy, “That’s Darcy. She’s my friend, she’s Jane and Thor’s friend too. She’s no trouble to us.”

Darcy would have slapped a hand to her face if not for the very pointy spear tip under her chin. Said spear had more pressure applied, forcing her to stand if she didn’t want it piercing into the underside of her jaw.

“Well well miss Coffee Fetcher. It seems you’ll be of use to me.” Before she could even think to move, the spear was spun in his hand and pressed against her chest.

Blue light spread across her vision, wiping away all her fear and panic. Loki wasn’t some psychopath, he was her friend.

He placed his arm around her shoulders and led along behind Erik, “Let’s get to work shall we?”

“Just let me know how I can help.” Darcy chirped back, thrilled and eager to help Loki.

[fckwritersblock]

Act 1: While We’re Young

Chapter 5

Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens x Black OC

(Unedited.)

Tuesday

January 10th 2005

Last night was the only night I'm allowing myself to cry over him and his 'return'. What good would it do me? No, I was gonna take Erik and whatever he had to throw at me by storm.

Waking up the next day, I feel refreshed. Like a brand new person with a more positive mindset. Today I had 3 classes and I'm determined to have a good Erik free day.

That whole Erik free thing went out the window as soon as I got to my first class.

Double O Computer Programming 1 was a junior class, however I'd taken it during the summer during my first year at UC Berkeley. DOCP 2 wouldn't be available until next semester but I needed to have a class since this was my first year on the actual campus. Thankfully Miss Hill really needed a T.A and the fact that I could help with an algorithm that tied into thermal nuclear astrophysics had her sold.

Right after I finished taking attendance, she barely got a word out before the door swung open revealing Erik as our late comer. I quickly glanced at the sheet in front of me, scanning for his name. I was so use to calling him N’dajaka when we were kids, I completely skipped over ‘Erik Stevens’. I huffed rolling my eyes, arms crossed over my chest. His timbs were the only thing heard shuffling across the room making hid way toward the front of the class. Wordlessly he handed Miss Hill before his eyes were on me. They scanned me from top to bottom, before locking with me a smug grin on his lips.

"Hey Lona," my jaw dropped.

Before I could get out a word, Miss Hill opened her mouth, looking up from the paper he handed her.

"Welcome Erik, sorry for the confusion."

"It's all good," he shrugged.

"Im Miss Hill, and I see you already know my aid. As I explained to the class prior to taking attendance, If I'm unavailable feel free to email or call her during the hours listed on the sheet." She is then took a sheet from me and handed him to me. "Other than that, find a seat."

He nodded pretending look over the sheet before averting his gaze back on me.

"I'm definitely gon do that."

Fuck my life right?

Well, Erik just so happened to be in the Calculus class I skipped two days ago. I thank God my record was squeaky clean and Mr. Kennedy accepted my poor excuse before I was quickly reminded the man upstairs has a sense of humor as the only available seat was next to Erik.

"The person next to you will be your partner for the remainder of the semester so let's take the next 15 minutes getting know one another hmm?." Mr. Kennedy instructed.

I couldn't suppress the groan that slipped as Erik casually leaned back in his chair, examining me.

"You heard the man, get to know me."

"I know all I need this know about you Erik."

"Oh so I'm Erik now? Like that?" He spoke cool, calm, and collected like our exchanged was normal.

I gripped my pencils tight, my knee bouncing up and down my body tense.

"Let me set things straight now. We don't need to talk to one another. If it doesn't have anything to do with any of the classes we take together, don't want to hear it. When you see me act like you don't know me. We clear?"

The expression on his face was unreadable before his lip twitched slight him responding.

"Crystal."

Wednesday

January 24th, 2005

It had been two weeks since Erik showed up here.

Ok that's a lie.

Apparently this man has been here. And to top it off, this mans name was in every bitch mouth like the second coming of Jesus Christ. From what I've observed though, he doesn't say much, or gives any of these broads much attention. He don't say much in general actually, he's really good at blending in. He got that laid back, mysterious, bad boy vibe going for him and these females out here hella into that.

But when he opens his mouth, that cocky bastard sure knows how to disrupt my entire soul at least while we're in class.

Outside of class though, he acts like I'm invisible.

It was like he never knew me. And honestly, I don't know how to feel about it. I know that's what I said I wanted but it bothers me just the same.

Today in particular though, he argued me down during our Calculus class. We had one problem to figure out before we could leave class today. You and your partner were supposed agree on the answer, and heaven forbid he just agree with me so we can get out of here. Math was always my subject when we were kids, nothing has changed. I was damn near about to say fuck it when he started laughing.

What in the entire fuck it so funny?" I was fuming.

"You," he shook his head. "You really hella mad."

"Um, YES!" I damn near shouted fed up. "You literally been tryna convince me it's 5 when it's-"

"Chill. I know the answer is 3 girl. C'mon, let's go." So smoothly he closed the book, grabbed his bag and headed to the front.

I was so upset, I had to let him do all the talking when it came to explain to the teacher I'll answer and how we got there. I know I open my mouth I wasn't going to say anything nice.

"Girl what crawled up your ass and died?" Donise questioned with a stank look as we sat at one of the benches outside of the library.

"Yeah What did Erik do now," I could hear teasing in Tatiana's tone so I flipped her off.

Only giving a brief explanation, I went on a mini rant about what happened in class 20 minutes ago. Donise's thought it was funny, while Tati just shook her head.

"I still can't believe it him," Tatianna glanced as a group of guys from across the quad headed our way, Erik included.

"Yes, and I wish it wasn't."

Tatianna was the first real friend I made in a while. I was actually tutoring her online for a while before she found out I was 4 years younger than her. Our friendship started off as a trade. I was her tutor and she both convinced and enrolled in a mentor program to help me with my social skills. I didn't speak to anyone much when Erik left, but I got into a lot of fights. According to the school counselor I was taking out my anger and abandonment issues on.I have meds to tame the anger, and while I haven't had to take them in a while Eric definitely bring that anger out of me.

"Girl that's just sexual tension. You got to fuck all that out." Ashley put in her unwanted two cents.

"Trust me when I tell you on God it isn't."

"Well if you out to holla, then trust and believe I will." She tossed her hair over her shoulder

I didn't really mess with Ashley like that, but she was Tati's frat sister which made them 'friends'. That little thot pocket will screw anything with legs, D, and a pulse and I'm not bout that life. Plus she messy as fuck and I don't trust her as far as I can throw her.

"I don't doubt it," I smirked as Donise said exactly what I was thinking.

Donise was coo' though, I meet her when I first got here 2 months ago. Believe It or not she was apart of the welcome comity for MIT and turned out her and Tatiana were already friends. Once she figured out  who I was, I was shot to the front line during registration and everything.

"Anyways, y'all going Ant and them party tomorrow?" Ashley questioned probably tryna bum a ride.

"What party?"

"The Que's," Donise answered. "The dudes with Erik are frat."

Now this was news to me. I met most of them before but I had no idea there were in a sorority. Examining them, I guess it all made sense. Most in the clique sported some sort of purple and yellow lanyard either around their neck or on their keychain that hung from their jean pocket as if  they wanted everybody to know who they were. Which I wouldn't doubt.

"Ladies! What we chattin about?" Moses questions every bit of his thick English accent tapering off every word.

"Our plans for mañana," Tati answered l

"Word. Y'all coming to the party tomorrow?" Jay spoke playing with a few strands of Donise's curls.

"Tomorrow? It's Thursday." I said confused. "Ain't there class the next day?"

"What's the matter, you can't hang?" I glared at Jay, knowing he was only chastising me because him and Erik were close, according to Tati.

I swear to God men gossip more than women do. Rolling my eyes I spared Erik a glance and he looked like he was waiting on me to respond.

"Oh, I can definitely hang."

I couldn't hang.

Around midnight I was  in the bathroom throwing up everything, damn near hug in the toilet as my surrounding looks so blurry and I can barely function. Im not sure when I'd finally finished, but I could feel someone picks me up and out the bathroom and soon everything goes blurry and then black.

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