#in my dream...i sang an elaborate song

[calamarispiderart]

blehh

[demonio-fleurs]

the headcanon ask game!

for both sabo and koala:

🏳️‍🌈🧸🎶💝❤️‍🔥😶

Send in a character or characters and an icon and I’ll give you...

i am so sorry this took so long btw, a mixture of me being busy and also having to come up with these on the spot made it take longer than i wanted it to!

these also range from "simple and straight forward" to "mini fics/drabbles" haha, sorry for the inconsistency

🏳️‍🌈 A sexuality headcanon

they're both bisexual, although koala is (in my opinion) far more likely to be vocal about it than sabo, who is too busy with work to think about relationships.

koala realized she was bisexual when she met betty for the first time, and no i will not elaborate further. meanwhile sabo has just always kinda known that gender doesn't matter for him.

(more under the cut!)

🧸 A headcanon about their childhood

one day, while traveling the seas with the sun pirates, their ship was attacked by slavers looking for a profit. they were arrogant, and believed they could easily take out the group of fishmen on the ship.

koala doesn't remember much about that night, except for how frightened she was, as the ship had been caught up in a cyclone right before being attacked.

but she does remember huddling in a corner of the ship, wide eyes staring as a man came rushing towards her. she remembers jinbei, stepping out of nowhere and using Samehada Shotei against the slaver, and how the sheer force of it was enough to cause the man to be tossed across the room, knocking him out. jinbei then turned to her, and had her crawl onto his back for safety until they could ensure there was no one left on the ship.

that memory stayed burned into her for the rest of her life, and the day that hack told her that she'd finally perfected the Samehada Shotei technique was one of the happiest moments of her life.

for the longest time, sabo's childhood was not defined by memories, but rather feelings and vague nightmares. he remembered there being a great, terrible fire, and the fear he felt when he saw it. he remembered the feeling of a bird, trapped in it's cage and wanting so desperately to fly free. so many dark emotions, so many nights waking up in a cold sweat, gripping onto his sheets.

but sometimes, there were positive thoughts and dreams from his childhood. a song played in a bar on a mission might bring back the memory of tall, towering trees amidst a humid jungle. koala clinging to him in the middle of a hot night brought back the feeling of creaky wooden boards beneath him, and the starry night sky above him.

it wouldn't be until after ace's death that he gained the context necessary to understand those lingering childhood memories, but context didn't make his heart feel any less heavy in his chest.

🎶 A headcanon about music

one day while laying low in a bar and trying to plan out their next steps on an important mission assigned to them by dragon, koala began singing along to an old song that was being played on a dingy old piano in the corner. to her surprise, sabo began humming along with it, despite it being a song that was usually only known by pirates.

after their mission, she sat down with him and sang the lyrics in the hopes of triggering some memories from his past, but the only thing that came to mind for sabo was a warm summer night in a jungle.

later on, he'd put together that he must have heard the song from luffy, who taught both him and ace the lyrics to "prepare them" for their life as a pirate.

💝 A headcanon about their love language

sabo is a very "physical touch" person, when they are alone he is constantly either in their lap, or clinging onto them, almost as if when he lets go of them, they'll disappear forever.

koala, on the other hand, is more of a "quality time" type of person. to her, so long as she is near the person she loves, that is quality time, even if they aren't doing the same thing. this doesn't mean that she isn't physically affectionate, in fact she can be quite clingy when she's worried or upset, but that isn't her primary love language.

❤️‍🔥 A romantic headcanon

oh gosh, haha, i'm honestly one of the worst people for romance but here we go

one of sabo's favorite things to do when coming home from a mission is to put his head in koala's lap and fall asleep. almost every outside observer wonders when koala will get fed up with him and kick him out of her lap, especially since she'll complain about it to anyone who will listen, but hack knows that koala secretly loves it. when she thinks no one is looking she'll often run her fingers through his golden locks, and simply enjoy the downtime with him.

😶 A random headcanon!

sabo has fangs like a dragon 3:

koala has an incredibly high spice tolerance, but primarily bc she enjoys food that has strong flavors.

[foxgirltail]

I remember lamenting recently that Brian David Gilbert's "perfect pokemon rap" was already over a hundred Pokemon out of date, however, upon reviewing the footage earlier today I realized bdg's true genius:

His perfect pokemon rap would always be (nearly, more on that later) perfect, regardless of how many new Pokemon were created afterwards.

Firstly, he splits "standard" pokemon up from "rare" pokemon. These are your legendaries, mythics, ultra beasts, and gods. These rare Pokemon are not represented verbally, but rather by "the dream ballet" (an elaborate interpretive dance), to which it does not appear there are distinct moves for each individual Pokemon. Instead there appears to be a handful of moves for each body type. This means we can add rare pokemon in from other generations without much hardship, just update the powerpoint in the background to move faster or have more on screen at once

Secondly, he relies on audience participation for something like 300 Pokemon. He argues that if enough people shout out names at random from a predetermined list, there's no way to verify that any Pokemon got missed. From that, we can argue that as the audience gets arbitrarily large, we can increase the sizes of the list and still be safe. The 2 official pokerap videos put out by polygon have a combined view count over 10 million; that's a large enough audience for me. Therefore, if we just keep the list of random Pokemon to shout out up to date, we can assume that someone, somewhere, has said it in time with the song.

From these two holy grails, Brian David Gilbert's perfect pokerap can never truly be outdated, and can be sung at any time with only PowerPoint changes, and still be accurate

Now, as to why I said "nearly" perfect at the start: when bdg sang his pokerap, he explicitly named at least one pokemon from each generation (not relying on the dream ballet or audience participation). With my suggested changes this would no longer be true, and as the generations of Pokemon continue to grow arbitrarily large, the percentage of generations represented verbally by the singer will continue to shrink. This is less than ideal to me, but they're still technically in the song from the earlier arguments so it is ultimately semantics

[good-beanswrites]

In line with the previous ask because I'm so bored at class and this au is living in my brain or is my brain living in this au...

The first few days were tense. The prisoners swung rapidly between the painful awareness of their lie and the odd feeling of believing it. They panicked that they were showing too much on their face, or they’d said the wrong thing, or they acted strange around Es. And then moments later they were glancing at the prisoners around them with apprehension – they were murderers, after all. 

It went on for several days, stopping only when Mahiru had quite enough of the whole thing.

“We’re having a bonding night!” She announced after Es’ door clicked tight for the evening. Not taking no for an answer, she gathered everyone in the panopticon. To those who worried it was bad for the experiment, she assured them she’d be doing the exact same thing even if they truly were prisoners.

Fuuta crossed his arms. “I didn’t come here to make friends. I don’t need your little fucking girls’ night.”

“We don’t have to be friends,” she said, her eager smile making it difficult to believe. “But if we’re going to be living together for this long, we have to get to know each other. Oh! Why don’t we start with something easy? I won’t even ask about your lives yet. Let’s talk about the songs we sang!” 

Her attention swung to Haruka, making the poor boy flinch. “I heard you rehearsing one day, when we walked past the recording rooms. You sounded beautiful. I’ve heard tons of love songs that didn’t put as much heart into their singing as you did.”

“A-ah!” He kept his eyes glued to the ground, but a smile was wobbling its way to his lips. “Th-thank you. I – uh, I wasn’t, wasn’t doing anything special.”

“Oh but you were! And I assume you had the other heart-wrenching one,” Mahiru folded her hands over her chest as she turned her gaze to Kazui. “Your voice is pretty hard to mistake for another.”

He bowed his head in thanks. “I’m flattered. And I’ll say the same about you. I caught a bit of your recording session as well – I don’t know if I ever could dream of matching your speed and enthusiasm.”

“My goodness, you’re making me blush!”

Mahiru only had to pick on a few more people before the conversation picked up on its own. It was difficult keeping ten people completely separate for such elaborate filming processes, so at some point they all had overheard bits of songs coming from within the recording booths, echoing from a distant set area, or rehearsed quietly to oneself in a closed dressing room. 

Muu agreed that Haruka’s song had been very emotional, and she commended Shidou on moving her as well. Yuno and Amane traded compliments about their voices and song styles. Mikoto told Kotoko her song was very powerful, and he liked the message of it.

Yuno looked around, mentally matching up voices with the muffled snippets she could remember. “Wait a second, who had the heavy one? With the yelling?”

Fuuta puffed out his chest. “That would be me. Pretty cool, huh? It’s called Bring It On, and –”

“No, no, not that one.”

He blinked. 

“I remember yours, but there was another one too.”

“Yeah, I heard it as well!” Muu said. A few joined in agreement. 

“They gave someone else a rock song…?”

The group looked to one another, waiting. They looked some more. 

Mikoto’s carefully held face broke into a grin. “Aw, you guys got me. I was trying to keep it a fun little surprise until later…”

“You?”  They chorused their shock.

He shrugged innocently, furthering their disbelief. 

“I didn’t know you were into that kind of music!”

“That’s so cool!”

Shidou said, “I know it’s only been a few days, but never would have expected that side of you.”

“Eh, I’ve got a few unexpected sides of me.” Mikoto winked, and the conversation moved on.

[black-arcana]

MARKO HIETALA Doesn't Rule Out Starting New Band With TARJA TURUNEN

In a new interview with El Planeta Del Rock, Marko "Marco" Hietala, who is currently on the road in South America as part of the "Living The Dream – The Hits Tour 2024" with his former NIGHTWISH bandmate Tarja Turunen, was asked if there is any chance of the two musicians launching a new project together. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I won't close that option off. We haven't talked about it, putting up a group together or anything like that. But at the moment, it seems that we've got a different kind of connection than it was [in the] past. Because then the camps were really divided already when I stepped into [NIGHTWISH]. And it was hard to find the truth of things, because a lot of it was like a managerial turf war where we got told certain things by one side and told certain things by the other side and lots of confusion — blah, blah, blah — and in the end, yeah, what we already realized a few years back when we were all together there doing the Christmas shows in Finland that after all the hassle has died and the noise has died and everything, you still find out that you lost a friend. And that was the main [reason] why we are basically doing this together again."

In a recent interview with Thiago Rahal Mauro of Brazil's Metal Musikast, Tarja spoke about what it was like to team up with Marko to perform a cover of "The Phantom Of The Opera" during their special open-air concert in July 2023 at Z7 Summer Nights in Pratteln, Switzerland. Tarja and Marko both played individual sets at the event, with their rendition of the main theme from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical coming during Turunen's portion of the show.

"I got a call from a promoter to take part in one festival in Switzerland last year in a European summertime in July," Tarja said. "And then I got to know, when I had accepted to be the artist of the evening, then I saw that they had also invited Marko and Marko's band to perform in the same festival. So I thought, 'Hmm.' And I was actually sending a message that I wished to reach Marko, because I didn't have his contact any longer, to ask him to perform with me 'The Phantom Of The Opera' in my show. And he responded 'yes.' So, after 18 years [laughs], we were about to sing the song together. And it was super exciting. It was really beautiful. The people got very emotional about this.

"We had met already before — we had been singing on a few occasions in Finland a few years before — so we kind of cleaned the table on that occasion already," she explained. "So we were in good terms, so to say, but now singing 'The Phantom Of The Opera' together after all these years was amazing. So we did it twice, actually — we did it in Switzerland and then in Finland. And now we are going to do it — that and a lot more [laughs] — there in Brazil [during our upcoming joint tour]."

Tarja also elaborated on her friendship with Marko, saying: "It's a new relationship with him, because he's not the same person anymore than he was in the band. He has changed a lot, and many years have passed by. I've changed myself. Life has changed us. So it is a new relationship, let's say. And it had made me very happy to get to know him better after all these years."

Last November, Tarja admitted to Chaoszine that she was "nervous" before performing "The Phantom Of The Opera" with Marko at Z7 Summer Nights. "I believe that he was nervous as well to meet up with me, but we were both very excited to go back to the stage and to sing the song," she said. "We sang 'Phantom Of The Opera' in Switzerland for the first time. Then we went over to Finland to perform it again, did a show together there — he with his band and me with my own. Wow. It was pure emotion. I think it was really beautiful, but it made me kind of… I was, like, 'I'm in peace,' sort of. The feeling was great. I think it was even more for Marko, because I saw him standing there after my concert, when I finished my set, and he came like almost in tears, saying that this was important. We reconnected, and it's great. Now I'm really looking forward to have this tour [with Marko] in South America in March [2024], and I'm sure you will see something else happening also. Yeah, you'll hear."

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH at the end of the band's 2005 tour by being presented with an open letter which was published on the NIGHTWISH web site at the same time. In the letter, the other members of NIGHTWISH wrote: "To you, unfortunately, business, money, and things that have nothing to do with emotions have become much more important."

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later called the decision to part ways with Turunen "the most difficult thing I ever had to do." For her part, Tarja said the way she was kicked out of the group proved that her former bandmates were not her friends. "Maybe one day I'll forgive, but I will never forget," she said.

In 2019, Turunen dismissed Internet chatter about her possible return to NIGHTWISH after her December 2017 onstage reunion with the band's then-bassist/vocalist Hietala during a "Raskasta Joulua" concert in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

"I know a lot of fans would love to see something happen, but it's a very long distance away," she told Kerrang! magazine. "Personally, I don't see anything happening with me and them, to be perfectly honest. Marko came a little later into the band; he wasn't there since the beginning. He was always a guy I was close to. Me and Tuomas Holopainen, however, haven't seen each other in a long time… but we have been in touch. It's not bad. The past is what it is; we can't change that. We can only change the future."

NIGHTWISH's authorized biography, "Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006", was published in Finnish in 2006 and in English three years later.

Turunen's husband, Marcelo Cabuli, and his business partners later sued the parties behind the book for defamation. Named in the lawsuit were the publishing house Like Kustannus Oy and the author of the book, Marko "Mape" Ollila. Cabuli and his Brazilian business partners argued that the book includes false accusations and insinuations that have caused them suffering and financial problems.

The book blamed Cabuli for the events leading up to Turunen's dramatic expulsion from the band in late 2005.

In 2011, the Helsinki District Court dismissed Cabuli's lawsuit, ruling that the book — which criticized Cabuli on only a few of its 380 pages — did not detrimentally affect his work or reputation in South America. In addition, the court determined that Ollila did not maliciously portray Cabuli in a negative light.

Nearly two years ago, Tarja was asked in an interview with Top Link Music manager and concert promoter Paulo Baron and music critic Regis Tadeu if she would consider doing a tour with NIGHTWISH if all of her former bandmates apologized to her about how their split happened and invited her to share the stage with them again. She responded: "It is very, very hypothetical that all what you said will happen, first of all — it's very, very hypothetical.

"I'm living in a world, like we are all living in a world, that things happen without us noticing," she continued. "I mean, I can't really close any doors in that sense; I'm not that kind of person any longer. I learned so many things in this life already. I take them as they are.

"So I don't know. It would be very hypothetically possible," she added. "It would be unlikely to happen."

Hietala announced his departure from NIGHTWISH in January 2021, explaining in a statement that he hadn't "been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now." He has since been replaced by session bassist Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN),who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences.

In an August 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Hietala revealed that he went through a dark period in his life, which included depression, insomnia, anxiety and an eventual attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. Speaking about how he eventually came to the realization that exiting NIGHTWISH was the right thing to do, Marko said: "It was a long process. Of course, the COVID year that was there, where I had a lot of time for soul searching, it obviously gave me the last incentive that I need something else, that if I just continue with this I'm just gonna get sicker and sicker. But, of course, it's a process.

"I've been chronic depressive since 2010 [or] 2011, so I've been on a permanent medication ever since," he revealed. "Sometimes you get used to the meds [and] you will need more. We did raise [the dosage] during the years also, but it just didn't work. And now that I started to do… I had psychotherapy for over four years now, and then I also talked to psychiatrists and some doctors and did that also in Spain. Then my psychiatrist here in Finland said that I should do these ADHD neuropsychological tests, which I then did in Spain. And, okay, I got it."

Hietala reiterated that he "had been thinking about" leaving NIGHTWISH "for a while" before making the final decision. "Because I had a lot of weight. And I tend to… With the attention disorder, it tells me that when there are lots of trouble, then the disorder makes it into a real chaos," he explained. "There's a shitload of stuff coming and going and no peace anywhere. And for a year or two, I was already waking up every night at three o'clock to bad dreams and anxiety. So I'd say that the whole process probably started already with my former divorce [in 2016]. That was a very sad time when you think about your kids and your broken homes and all that. And then, when I started to get clear from that, then there were, well, all kinds of things. I don't really wanna go any deeper to what kind of things I'd gone through, but I'd gone through enough."

Acknowledging that making NIGHTWISH's latest studio album, 2020's "Human. :II: Nature.", was a "difficult" experience for him, Marko denied that his mental state at the time resulted in a diminished role for him on the final LP. "I think the original idea was to have that… we'll do a couple of [solo vocal appearances], or one solo for me and Troy [Donockley], and the rest Floor [Jansen], and then the harmonies; that was the idea originally for that," he said. "So I don't know if it affected. I think it was sort of as planned. But at that time I already had serious trouble with concentrating and serious trouble with a constant black cloud over my head."

In July 2022, Hietala told Finland's Iltalehti that he had not kept in touch with NIGHTWISH since his departure or followed the activities of his former band.

In May 2021, Holopainen said that Hietala's decision to leave NIGHTWISH "came as a bit of a surprise." He told Finland's Kaaos TV: "Marko informed us in December [of 2020 that he was leaving the band]. And even though he has been very open about his state and problems during the past years, it still came as a bit of a surprise for us. So it was a really tough pill to swallow. And for a few days, I was actually quite confident that there's no coming back, that this is it. I remember talking to Emppu [Vuorinen], the guitar player, and we were, like, 'You think this is it?' 'Yeah, I think this is it.' I mean, enough is enough. So much has happened in the past. Something that broke the camel's back, as they say. Then, after some time had passed — a few days — we started to think that it's been such a ride of 25 years, with so many ups also, that this is not the way to end it."

Tuomas elaborated on NIGHTWISH's reasons for carrying on, saying: "I think we still have something to give, and that's the main point. The music is still there. We felt that there's still so much music that needs to come out from this band that, 'Okay, let's give it one more shot.' And then finding the new bass player was really easy."

He added: "It's not like we do this just because we need to do it and there's nothing else to do. On a personal level, I feel that there's still so many stories and melodies that I want to share with the world with one lineup or another, so that's why you want to continue and keep on going.

"I've said this a million times, that a lineup change is the ultimate energy vampire, and that's how it really felt and still feels."

In June 2021, Jansen spoke about Hietala's exit from the band in an episode of her "Storytime" YouTube video series. She said: "That was a very sudden surprise that, of course, was not fun at all. But we understand — I understand — it was a necessary thing for him to do. And from there, we had to think of how to continue without him, and that also, in preparations towards the virtual show, that was a huge challenge."

In December 2020, Hietala was crowned the winner of the fall 2020 season of "Masked Singer Suomi" — the Finnish edition of the popular masked singing contest. He was disguised as Tohtori — the Doctor.

In the summer of 2021, Holopainen said that NIGHTWISH would split up if the band's current singer Floor Jansen ever chose to leave. Holopainen, who formed NIGHTWISH in 1996 with guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and Turunen, made the comment while discussing the departure of Hietala.

Pressed by U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine about his 2019 statement that NIGHTWISH would disband if another member opted to depart, Tuomas said: "That's how I felt back in 2019, and that's also how I felt when Marko left. I take my words back when it comes to that. But if it would be Floor leaving, that's it, it's the end of NIGHTWISH. Absolutely, 100%."

[giggly-squiggily]

Here’s a random question for you on this Monday afternoon - which character(s) do you think can sing really well? Whether through natural talent or tons of practice? 🤔

Hope you’re having a good beginning of the week! 😊❤️

Hehe, yes! A question for Monday afternoon- totally didn't forget to answer this until Saturday, nope! Not at all...👀🤣

Nah but seriously- I've gotcha friend! :D This is a fabulous question AHH!

Right off the bat- RIGHT OFF THE BAT: Chuuya. He's got an amazing voice and a wide range of musical taste, so if you're lucky and catch him in the act, you'll be treated to a mini performance! Dazai will sometimes sit by and listen in, just out of sight so Chuuya doesn't stop. He might not know many of the songs he's singing, but my god does he love it!

Also: Zenitsu! I've said this before, but the electric blonde has a really good singing voice! Just like his skills with the Shamisen and Koto- his hearing allows him to make sure he's pitch perfect. Also; he's just got a really nice voice, you know? When he's not screaming and freaking out; it's incredibly soothing to hear!

Joe from Sk8? He loves to sing while cooking! He mainly sings in Italian for the vibes (and to wow the pants off the kids- they didn't know he could sing- let alone in a different language!). He also knows those incredibly romantic love songs he saves especially for Cherry when they're alone; it's one of the few things that'll fluster him and Joe is living for it!

Gordon can sing opera. No I will not elaborate.

...okay fine akljrekarjkejkrj I think he mainly picked it up cause he tends to mumble so much? Opera requires you to really bring it, so he figured if he learned to do so, he'd have an easier time speaking a bit louder. The results?...He still mumbles TwT' But now there's the added effect of him singing opera while in the bath and everyone assuming the Bull's base is haunted kjarjkekjrakjejk (I love Gordon so much akrjajerje)

Yor is a good singer- she sang lullabies to Yuri all the time when they were kids and things were difficult; and she sings them to Anya whenever she's having a bad dream and needs comfort. Loid sometimes will listen in whenever she sings to Anya cause it reminds him of his mom doing the same thing years ago.

Finally, cause it's me and I wanna yell about Blue Lock- I think Nagi is a surprisingly good singer? He's one of those people who have tons of hidden talents, you know? Maybe one day he hears Chigiri singing something under his breath (credit to you friend for the hc that Chigiri can sing :3) and joins in cause he recognizes the tune- it's likely from an anime they both watched at some point. Now the redhead's all: ??? Cause he didn't know Nagi could sing and Nagi's all "Why'd you stop?" cause he was starting to get into it kjarjkekjrjkaejrk

There's so many more, but I'd end up writing a whole novel of characters I think could sing if I didn't stop here ajejrarjajkrjk

Honorable mentions go to:

Akutagawa (BSD): He plays the piano as well!; Mikasa (AOT): She doesn't sing all that much, but if she did it'd be the prettiest sound ever!; Mitsuya (Tokyo Revengers): The man has pipes! If you catch him in the Home Etc. room after school working on the Toman Jackets, you'll find out he's got one heck of a singing voice!; Finral (Black Clover): Him and Vanessa can sing- sometimes they do little duets!

Thanks for asking!

[ourrechte-blog]

Without a Link in Hyrule

This is spawned from a discussion about Link deciding to stay on Soul Calibur earth and his kid going to Hyrule in his place. I said that the idea also works for Termina and Koholint, so…

------

The world shook. The heavens boomed. And a child cowered in her mother's arms as the waves crashed against the boat they occupied. "Mother, I'm scared," the child cried.

Her mother just held onto her as tight as she could. "I know," the woman soothed. "I know things are scary, but you need to be brave," she says, gently rubbing the child's back. "Right now, your father's fighting to save you."

"You mean us," the child corrected. The woman held a sad smile and shook her head, there were slight tears in her eyes. "No, just you."

The child was confused, before her mother elaborated to the child, despite the raging storm around them. "Human. Monster. Sea. Sky. A scene on the lid of a sleeper's eye. Awake the dreamer and Koholint will vanish much like a bubble on a needle…" her mother spoke.

"W-what?" she asked after hearing it.

"This island… no, this entire world exists within a dream,” the woman explains. “Link explained it to me his plan. And I agree with it. Your father and I won't survive this. But if everything goes well, you will," she says forlornly.

"Mother!" The girl screamed, pointing at a mountain shattering. The woman turns her gaze towards the cataclysm before returning her attention to her child. "Your father and I love you," she says, as she braces for the finale.

"Wait!" the child cried. "What is it?" her mother asked. "Sing. One last time," she begged.

"Of course," her mother says soothingly and, taking the child's hand in her own, sang one last time. "Sleepers wake…"

The child closed her eyes as her mother's song drowned out the world ending around them. The rocking of the boat no longer registered as she succumbed to darkness.

When she regained awareness, she found herself clinging to driftwood. Among her mother's last words were to be brave. So she tried her hardest to not cry.

She failed, but salty tears were hardly noticeable among the salty waters of the sea, and still managed to collect the supplies that had fallen overboard.

"I'm scared," she whispered to herself. "I want them back," she wept. "I can't do this without you. Mother, Father," she begged as the sky darkened around her. Surprised, she looked up, dreading another storm only to find a large fish like creature flying above her and a familiar melody echoed through the air. Her eyes were wide as the Wind Fish soared through the air, its ballad-no, her mother’s song-accompanied it.

She sniffled and a sad smile formed on her face. "I won't forget either of you. And I'll think of you," she promised, imagining her parents looking down and watching over her.

“I’ll make you both proud. I’ll be a union of your songs,” she says to sky. “That’s why isn’t it?” she ponders. “That’s why you named me Medley.”

------

I have no plans to continue this since it’s not part of my actual fic

[pinkiepiebones]

So tell you weird dreams, hu? I've had a couple(?) that possibly featured Ghost, but last night it was a definite thing. I remember seeing Papa and a few of the ghouls. In fact, I think I was.....a ghoul myself? A new one at that. They were making me do stupid boring chores for them. And right after that I remember being in a car with Dew, but everything kind of dissolves after that. 🤷‍♀️

Sometimes the dull dreams are the best because it's manageable, you know? I've had a few Ghost dreams, mostly involving me trying to get to concerts in inconvenient places like airport terminals or highschool gymnasiums. Tobias walks into my dreams sometimes. Literally- he walks in, usually holding a drink, looks around, realises he's "in the wrong scene" and shyly backs out like a staffer walking into a camera shot. Except the one dream where he picked me up from class and just drove me around while he rambled about my potential and other garbage.

Last night I dreamed Bill Cipher sang an elaborately animated over the top Disney-villain song at me.

[kyetalksshit]

hi y'all it's been forever since I've done a dream post but I had two nightmares last night, the first of which woke me up and had me scared to fall back asleep 🙃

My first nightmare was honestly the scarier one but also much shorter. So I'm talking to a guy who my dream self had a fling with as children. (He does not exist irl lol)

We're laughing and reminiscing and telling the story (to my mom??? I think???) and he's like omg yeah because remember I kissed you that first time? And I'm like OH Omg yeah in that dark hospital hallway right??? And he's like yeah exactly!

And suddenly that's just where we are?? In this dark abandoned hospital except we're adults now and my mom isn't there so we're just reminiscing together. It's like the memory just appeared as we remembered it. He goes "yeah remember I just - (and the like puts an arm on the wall above me and leans in like he's ABOUT to kiss me but he doesn't) went for it like this??" And there's not like tension, neither of us are trying to rekindle anything so I'm just standing there very close to this man as he leans over me and I laugh. I'm like "omg yeah! And as soon as you kissed me I ran out of the hallway and made you come with me because I was scared of the dark?" And he laughs and agrees, and then i glance to the right and there's this human sized gnome statue that I never noticed before. Blue hat, yellow shirt, white gloves, biggest creepiest smile I've ever seen and his ceramic eyes are staring right at me from the side. I see it and shuffle a little closer to dude and make the mistake of saying out loud:

"Yeah I'm more scared of the dark now than I was as a kid." Like as a general statement that can also apply here yk?

And it was like saying that gave the gnome the agency to act. Its hand moved. Dude says something else but I can't understand much anymore because of the terror I feel at this gnome but I also know if we start running it'll be worse. So I inch away (dude is no longer leaning over me) and say something back, trying to act normal. But the second I avert my eyes and look at dude and inch away, the gnome moves again, this time blocking any further movement. I'm literally in a corner and the gnome grabs my ankles. Dude runs away at my behest.

Now that we're alone, the gnome's movements are still slow and robotic but it doesn't wait for me to look away. It starts to crush me, the huge creepy smile and ceramic eyes fixed on me but not moving. It crushes my ankles, my ribs, my jaw, all slowly and one piece at a time. I switch between first and third person POV as I am slowly crushed to death, and I vividly watch my jaw break, my teeth crack and then slowly fall out of my head, and blood start to pour out of my mouth. And then in first person, I collapse and lay my head on a white car trunk (reminiscent of the piece of garbage I drove for a month irl).

And then I woke up irl and desperately tried to distract my brain with fun happy things that would be ok to dream about because I did NOT want to see that gnome again. Even now at 11am and after having a whole second elaborate and scary dream, that gnome is clear as day. 😰

The second felt like an astral games situation, I remember running through the woods a lot with my mom I think? And at some point I ended up at this castle. There's a lot of chaos, something else did try to kill me but it's a bit blurry. But then at one point I was sitting with my sister and like one or two other people (we were eating or playing a game or something, unsure) when my mom walked in. She said something about one of the guys in the castle leaving a hint that there was a body in his room and we had to listen to the song playing over the radio. Each line went down like a half octave or something and I sang along how it was supposed to go so we could hear it ourselves. The song was absolutely going down in pitch and we started freaking out and then my mom and I ran in his quarters to look for the body. The lady we saw on the floor was apparently someone related to us, my aunt or something (in dreamland, not irl) and she was sprawled out on the floor.

Just then, dude walks in while we're standing over her body freaking out and he's like why are y'all in here, etc. My mom says she's gonna tell someone and he gets violent, we're hiding and runnjng, etc. I remember multiple fights to the death with him and various people outside the castle while we all hid from him. I was like behind cars and stuff and staying hidden and far enough away to run if he saw me but close enough to see what was going on.

Atp he had morphed into looking like a coworker of mine that makes me uncomfortable. For the purpose of this post we'll use Dennis and he/him to describe this person. So Dennis has already killed somebody and is now in a super intense fight where his opponent is behind this weird thing that almost looks like a soccer goal but there are giant square holes, it's not really a net, and someone is holding it up while he stabs his sword through, trying to stab Dennis. He keeps missing though because Dennis backs away just enough each time to avoid the sword. But then someone else from the castle runs up behind Dennis and pushes him straight into the blade. Everyone cheers and we're all relieved that this violent person has finally been stopped.

Except he wasn't stopped because he seems dead for a second and then he reanimates, but monstrous this time. Like now that Dennis is out of the way (who WAS also a violent killer) this demon or whatever is in control (or that was always his truth, unclear). Anyway he reanimates and everyone scatters and screams and he goes on a rampage, but this time he traps everyone inside the castle. And he somehow just KNOWS where everyone is so I can't hide. He's got us all quaking in our boots while we do our tasks and pretend everything is fine and he's in charge and there are still bodies out front but ok.

At some point I have a friend who is a close confidant of Dennis. She starts going into town dressed as different characters to "spread the good word" and try to make allies for Dennis. Thanks to her I manage to slip outside undetected but I have to stay close enough to the castle to not trigger any alarms. I'm up in a tree and watching as she comes back day after day with reports on diplomatic relationships and stuff.

Then, since I've been working with her on it, I don a whole getup and pretend to be a nun from town visiting the castle to determine if we want to help. I look VERY convincing. One of the brute guards that actually is on Dennis' side demands to know why I look so familiar. I tell a false story about being part of the "great cleanse" (or something like that) years ago and was tortured here (implying you should feel shame for what you did, I suffered so much and I remember him being part of it). He's squinting at me and trying to disprove it and wants to know details I don't have ofc but my friend comes and sweeps me away to give me a tour of the castle.

Guard must have alerted Dennis or something because Dennis is on a RAMPAGE I mean screaming and being violent and such. I hear him coming when I'm out on the balcony and I hear him (so clearly like my coworker and looking so much that way too even in the dream I was like OMFG ITS DENNIS?!?!?!) and he's coming right toward me screaming my name. He def saw me for a second around the corner so I just take off running, which only makes him more upset. He starts chasing me and I'm trying to zip around corners so he won't see me but he keeps knowing exactly where I am, so I'm like fuck it I'm risking it, and I start jumping down to floors that are below me and eventually into the trees theirselves.

And at some point, still being actively pursued, I wake up. 😮‍💨

[knottedskein]

(This is a letter written to my baby nephew one year after his birth.)

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

Querido sobrino,

Do you remember when you were a little bean? You probably don't, but your mamis do! You were a little baby bean in Mommy's belly. Mommy and Mami were so excited and they held onto you like their dearest little secret with all ten of their fingers and smiled because they knew they would soon have someone new to love.

I remember the first day when your mamis told me that I would be a tía and that a little baby bean was growing. Soon, we all knew, because this little baby bean was starting to grow ten little fingers and ten little toes. So your mamis shared their little secret with the whole wide world! And the whole wide world knew that a little baby bean would sprout into a little baby boy and be welcomed into the whole wide world with so much love and joy from his mamis, abuelitos, tías, and tíos. And they all smiled because they knew how much they are going to love you.

I remember the day when you, my little nephew bean, sprouted. I couldn't wait to meet you! Your mamis told me all about your ten perfect tiny fingers and ten perfect tiny toes. They told me how you were already smiling, because you knew how much you are loved.

I remember the first day I met you, little sprout. You were just as perfect as your mamis told me you would be. Ten perfect tiny fingers and ten perfect tiny toes. You always had a smile on your face because you knew you are loved.

I sang you lullabies about blackbirds and walruses. Sweet whispered songs about yellow submarines and octopus gardens. I carried you around the colorful dreams of creators and imaginators. We baked elaborate patty cakes with all ten of our fingers. Then we pondered about little diamonds in the sky. And I smiled at you because I knew I loved and will always love you.

Happy birthday, little sprout. Your tía Bibi loves you very much.

[strrvnge]

The 1

part 1

Pairing: Stephen Strange x reader

Warnings: kinda angsty, unedited (also im sick so im not overly proud of it, I wished I could say choosing her birthday is a coincidence but it realy isn’t ,for my swifties out there you should listen to illicit affairs, exile, betty, this is me trying-okay thats it)

summery: after years after the breakup Stephen finds you hoping you’ll forgive him

Stephen Strange had changed. After a deadly accident that made him lose everything and after defeating a demon in another dimension that led to him becoming the protector of that reality he really had changed.

With no strings holding him in the past he had become a brand new person with literally knowledge of everything. Why did he still think of you however was a question he didn't even dare to answer.

Ever since the accident you were always in his mind, haunting every thought of his. Sometimes he recalled how you sang to the same song that happened to play on the radio the days he was at the hospital, how fascinated you'd be if you knew that magic was real and even now when he sat at the Sanctorum looking at the starry night.

Of course he had promised himself a long time ago that he would never reach out to you -not after that night. So all those years he avoided asking about you when he saw some mutual friend, not even Google you up.

He said it was for you but honestly he just couldn't face you. As immature as it might be he even feared the possibility of bumping into you on the street. He really wanted you to have moved on after what he did to you, the thought that you were somewhere now happy, making your dreams true eased his sleep at night but then again he really wished he was living that with you. That he was happy with you, just like it was supposed to be.

But that was before the accident. Before his life turned upside down and he had become a new man that saw the world from a different perspective. Also he had been thinking about you more than ever, now torturing his mind. Perhaps seeing you would bring him some kind of salvation. He had hurt you after all. He owed you an apology.

So with the help of modern technology he found out you were having a party in your parents' holiday house near the lake for all your college friends to come. Of course he shuddered with the thought of going to a birthday party after the last one-but this time was different.

Hurting you was still an open wound for him and the only way of healing was only through you. For years you had been his little secret he hadn't spoken of you to anyone and now he would finally find the courage to see you, talk to you, make it up to you.

So there he was standing on your doorstep and even though he was planning it for weeks, only now did it start sinking in and he swore he couldn't feel his legs.

Like a tall child he stood outside your doorstep, awkward and nervous, just staring at the door as if it was to open by itself.

Right now it was the last moment he could dream about what would happen when you saw his face. With sweaty hands he rang the bell, took a step back and waited.

"Coming!" His heart skipped a beat, he almost had forgotten your voice.

The knot in his stomach tightened.

"Well it was about-" The door opened widely, revealing your figure, the warm smile in your face quickly disappearing the moment you realise who it was "time"

It was you. After all those years you stood before him in all your grace. It was like there hadn't been a day since the last time he saw you, you looked the same; your hair might have been a few shades darker and longer yet there were still the same delicate features, that big warm smile and those starry eyes that made him feel like home just with one glance.

And perhaps he was home.

"Stephen" His name left your lips like the sweetest lullaby and suddenly he had forgotten every elaborate speech he had prepared.

"Hi" His once shaky legs were now frozen to the ground "I hope I'm not interrupting", he said looking behind you inside the house where loud noises of chattering and music were heard.

"Oh no. I'm having a party " You looked at where the sound came from. "It's my birthday"

"I know. I remember" You nodded and gave him a weak smile, making it impossible for him to understand if you were happy to see him or not."I really hope I'm not interrupting"

"No, no"you nervously said.

He shouldn't have come. He shouldn't intrude into your life like this. Not after all those years. Not after what he did. This was a terrible terrible id-.

"So…come inside?" you said and opened the door wider for him to come in. "I mean you're obviously here for the party so we can't leave you here"

"Yes, thank you" Hope suddenly sparkled inside of him. You didnt tell him to fuck off so that was a good start.

"Can I take your coat?", you asked once he got inside and he politely took it off and gave it to you.

"I brought you a gift" He took out of his pocket a small black box but before you could take it a woman rushed out of the kitchen grabbing your attention.

"Y/N we have a canapés situation and we kinda need ya' ", she said and pointed to the kitchen.

"Oh of course Anne. I'll be right back", you gave him a small smile before wandering off, leaving him there alone.

⚛

"Found you", you chirped, approaching him out on the balcony.

"I can't believe you actually bought a telescope. I mean I knew you always wanted one but I never knew you wanted it that bad" Stephen knew he had to play it cool, make the situation as comfortable as possible. He just wished you could look him in the eyes.

"I actually use it more than I'd like to admit", you chuckled and stood beside him, still avoiding eye contact. "So how are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

You nodded, muttering a small 'good' and then you returned into that deadly heavy silence.

Stephen had never been so terrified of silence. Once he wouldn't mind, as it was just proof of how comfortable you were with, staying with him just because you enjoyed his presence and not because there was something to be said. Now you felt distant, cold and even though he understood he still hated it.

"Oh my god" you suddenly broke into laughter, the alcohol finally affecting you "I'm so sorry this is just so painfully awkward. What will be our next topic, the weather?"

"Not before I ask you how your family is"

You laughed till your stomach hurt. With your hand you wiped away some tears from your eyes, suddenly your laughs turning into sobs.

"I'm sorry for the accident" you said once you calmed down.

"Oh it's alright. That was a long time ago"he reassured you yet you noticed the way he looked down at his hands.

"I'm sorry for not visiting too"

"You didn't have to. I wouldn't if I were you" He admitted. There were many times at the hospital that he wished for you to come and see how he was, that you still cared about him, that you were worried. He couldn't blame you however when you never came."You sent me flowers though"

"You sound surprised", you said. Both of you continued avoiding each other's gaze, looking away at how the starry sky reflected on the lake's clear waters."What did you do after the accident?"

"At first I tried everything to heal my hands. There were many expensive procedures yet all of them were unsuccessful. I had to sell everything to afford doctors all around the world but everyone said there was nothing that could be done. Then I heard about a place where you're taught how to heal yourself by the power of the mind"

"And you went? I'm sorry but it doesn't really sound much like you", you chuckled and took the last sip from your wine.

Stephen smiled. He had missed the sound of your laugh so much. He had missed talking to you but as the years passed and he never heard of you he knew that wouldn't happen again. Now that he was with you everything felt like a fever dream. Suddenly he was overwhelmed with an unexplained enthusiasm and the need to tell you every little detail of those years he spent without you.

"I was desperate. My job was everything I was left with. I couldn't lose that too" He looked at you but you just stared down at your empty glass. "In a nutshell there we were taught about the Mystic Arts by the Ancient One, the previous Sorcerer Supreme. Then her previous protégé Kaecilius contacted Dormammu, a powerful demon from the Dark Dimension who pretty much wanted to destroy this reality. Then the Ancient died and I had to fight Kaecilius. Now I'm the Sorcerer Supreme and you're welcome"

"You know you can tell me if you had to work as a stripper for a while, right?", in disbelief you chuckled and his heart fluttered. "I mean you didn't have money something had to be done so"

"I'm glad to know you still think I'm equipped enough for the job." He laughed before with a movement of his hands he filled your glass with wine "Sorry to disappoint though"

You gasped dramatically before giving him one of those childish grins he so much loved when you were excited.

"Better than the stripping huh?"he asked and you nodded.

"A little bit" You bit your lower lip to stop your smile from reaching your eyes, hating how he still had you smiling like a kid even after all these years.

"A little bit" He repeated and shook his head, watching how you grip tighter the wooden bannisters, the cold breeze air hitting your face messing with some locks of your hair. You looked so beautiful it broke his heart.

Hesitantly he took your hand in his and you didn't flinch. His thumb caressed slowly your knuckles, trying to remember the softness of your skin, its warmth.

You looked down at his hands, lines starting from his fingertips till they met down at his wrist.

You wondered if it hurted. Ever since you heard about his accident it was everything you thought of. You were worried sick, pondering whether you should visit him or not, if it would be weird or alright. But you couldn't stay away and went to the hospital only to find Christine shaving him. Fortunately they didn't see you so you left in shame cursing yourself for going there even when you knew you'd have your heart broken again. Instead you sent a basket with flowers and a get well card, hoping that was what it took to stop worrying about him. He had moved on with someone else, probably he had forgotten you already, so you should stop caring about him too.

But how you missed and shuddered under his touch was proof you clearly didn't.

"Y/N" He called once your name but it was mostly for him to realise what he was about to do. You looked at him -now in the eyes- and he hated himself for losing that sight even if it were just for a few years "Y/N the real reason I came here wasn't just to wish happy birthday. The truth is I.. I can't stop thinking what would have happened if we-"

"Stephen" you shook your head with disapproval.

"No, please just listen to me. You can't imagine how many times I had this conversation in my head, how many times I held myself back from coming here and saying it. But keeping it inside of me is the most painful thing I could ever do so let me-"

"Stephen", you cut him off more sternly understanding where the conversation was going

"I know I've made mistakes and that I hurt you. You obviously don't have to forgive me I understand that. You have every right to be angry and disgusted by me because you were so sweet and understanding and I was a coward. I just-"

"Y/N" Before Stephen could continue you immediately turned around at the sound of your name.

"There's the party girl" Stephen frowned as the man wrapped his hand around your waist and gave you a kiss on the cheek"Oh didn't know you had company"

"Stephen, this is James. James Stephen" As you introduced them James hold became tighter pushing you against his chest, making Stephen clenched his jaw "Stephen's… a friend from med school"

"Oh nice to meet you man. Why don't we go downstairs baby? I'm supposed to lure you to living room so we can surprise you with the cake"

Stephen heard you chuckled at Jame's terrible attempt of a joke but he took his eyes off how you looked at James.

Just a friend?

"Stephen, do you mind going downstairs first so she can make an entrance?" James snapped him out of his thoughts and Stephen nodded with a fake smile.

Trying to wrap his head around what had just happened, he walked down the stairs as your friends started gathering. Grabbing a martini he moved past them and found a corner to wait. He watched as you walked down the stairs, James always by your side, your friends singing happy birthday, the room lightened up just by a few candles.

"Make a wish"

Closing your eyes you blew the candles and everyone cheered.

"Thank you all for not being here. The surprise was perfect and certainly unexpected" James said and everyone laughed.

God that man was insufferable. How could he get away with such jokes?

"But I have a surprise of my own for Y/N"

No.

"I know we've been together for barely two years but from the first day I knew you were the most fucking perfect woman I've ever know-sorry mom" he started taking your hands into his "Sweet, smart and caring and I know it deep in my heart that you are the one and I don't want to waste any time. So"

No.

James got down on one knee and everyone gasped. "Will you please marry me?"

No, just no.

Stephen rushed out the side door. He had enough.

What the fuck was that? Fancy, crowded parties, a mystery boyfriend, a proposal? No, that night was nothing like he had imagined.

Did your so-called friends know you hate large crowds? Did they know you were always sad on your birthday so you never planned a party? So he always tried to cheer you up, plan something fun yet intimate. Did your soon-to-be husband know how you made fun of couples calling each other baby? But he did. Stephen knew everything about you?

He ran his hands through his face, allowing the cold air to hit his face, soothe his aching mind. Maybe then he could think of something else other than that circus.

"Hey" Stephen quickly turned around as you walked out the door with a smitten smile on your face.

God it hurt him so much, how happy another man had made you.

"I thought you left. Will you stay for the cake?"

Honestly he would rather choke on it than stay and see that idiot kissing and touching you.

"Of course I will. You know I can't say no to cake" He tried to smile but it didn't reach his eyes no matter how much he tried. But then again he didn't want to try. Why would he? This night was nothing he had expected. You're getting married for god's sake.

"Crazy night huh?"he asked, watching how you shyly played with the new ring around your finger, unsure how to feel.

"Oh it's more than crazy" you said with a laugh "I just can't believe it happened, not so quickly and certainly not in front of all this people"

Stephen hummed sarcastically. He didn't want to ruin this night for you. Not when it's supposed to be the happiest day of your life. He had no right. He just could wrap his mind around how impulsively you said yes.

He wasn't jealous. No of course not, you had moved on he had moved on, the only reason he had come here was to apologise. He just couldn't understand how could you in such a few years get over him and so absurdly marry a man you barely know. You weren't dumb to realise that he knows nothing about you, but he did. Stephen did.

"Are you sure though?" He interrupted your rambling "About marrying him"

You giggled but once his piercing gaze met yours you stopped, realising he wasn't joking.

"What?"

"I mean you know each other for just two years, how well do you even know him?"

"Enough to know that he's a good man-"

"A good man", he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Stephen is a good man. I'm sorry, are you doubting my decision?" you asked, noticing his ironic tone.

"No obviously you know the best but it's just two years. We were together for what six years and we didn't thought about marriage once"

"Yes but we- This is different. James is nothing like you"

Even if James was better than him, how could you marry him? How when you once swore Stephen was your whole world?

"Oh please you barely know him to say that" He laughed bitterly.

"Well I knew you and we know how that ended up!" You snapped having enough of his tone.

So yes at the bottom line perhaps Stephen was a little jealous. You were with him for more years than you were with James. He knew you better than anyone else, he loved you more than anything and if he hadn't been such a coward perhaps he would be the one beside you in this stupid party, he would be the one marrying you instead of James so perhaps yes he should be jealous.

And angry, for believing that once you'd forgive him you would go back to him, kiss him, love him. Because he missed you more than anything and the thought that you would never be his again, that you would never kiss him, never look at him with those adoring eyes-it was just not fair.

And now you just stared at him like he was the worst person to exist. Eyes full of rage and bitterness and suddenly that night in his apartment played like a memory in his head.

"You think I would marry someone on a whim?"

"I actually didn't but tonight I guess you proved us both wrong. Two years and he organised you a party for your birthday. That's how much he knows you" He exclaimed

"It's just a party! And if you need to know it was my idea the party Stephen and stop pretending like you know everything about me" you crossed your hands over your chest

"I don't pretend Y/N. I do know everything about you. You know who's pretending though? Him thinking he knows the slightest thing about you and most of all you. Pretending you'll be happy marrying a stranger. Pretending you're happy doing all of this shit!"

"He's not a stranger and this shit is my life. I love James, I love him. I really do. I have no reason not to because he's nice and sweet and funny, he gets along with my friends and family and most importantly he loves me - are you even listening to me?", you yelled

"Oh you're speaking to me? Because honestly it sounds more like you're trying to convince yourself"

Yes he was jealous and yes he shouldn't have tried to make you doubt your decision.

It was selfish and pathetic but he needed you to be wrong, he needed you to truly believe that it was a mistake marrying anyone else other than him. Because then there might have been a chance for him. A chance to make it up to you, make everything right.

He fucked up. He fucked up and now he knew it more than ever. He had never been more jealous of a man as he was now of James. He wanted to be him so so badly. He wanted to wake up to you everyday, he wanted you to be the first and last thing he saw in a day, he wanted to be the one you'd be giving your sweetest smiles. He wanted you to laugh at his jokes, play with his hair and make a mess of it, kiss him in the most random moments. He wanted to live every single moment of his life with you, he wanted to do the simplest, dullest things but with you by his side because you make everything so sweet, so beautiful.

You could give him happiness beyond any woman could, yet you didn't even have the power to look him in the eyes.

"He won't hurt me like you did Stephen. Because he loves me, something you couldn't do not even in six years."

"Of course I loved you Y/N!"he exclaimed, raising his eyebrow. "I loved you more than he could ever in a lifetime"

"When? Where? Where was that love Stephen? When you fucked her and then shamelessly returned to our house, our bed that was your love?" You took a step closer to him "If you ever loved me the slightest you wouldn't have done this to me in the first place. If you loved me you wouldn't have let me go that day"

"Well I do let you go now and believe me it takes a lot more than slightest to do this" he said no table to stop himself

"What?"

Your faces were so close, Stephen could hear your heavy breathing, see the tears in the corners of your eyes you held back all that time. He wanted to cry too. He always hated fighting with you. Like a little boy he wanted to wrap his hands around your legs, making sure you wouldn't go anywhere before shoving his face in your dress so he can away from the world. Suddenly he was afraid, the realisation of this possibly being the last time you ever talk being held like a gun in his head. He had to choose his words wisely for they might be his last.

You stood there waiting for him to answer as if he would speak of the holiest thing, but to be honest he didn't know how to put it in words. There were so many things he wanted to tell you and he never got the chance.

"Y/N '' someone got outside and called your name but none of you turned around.

Don't go.

Suddenly he wondered what would happen if he just kissed you. Cup your cheeks and then kiss you with the most deep, innocent kiss. Maybe that would make you stay, make you choose him over everyone else in that stupid party. He needed you to choose him. He needed you to forgive him because if you didn’t he wasn't sure he would ever be able to forgive himself.

"Y/N!"

You didn't want to go to whoever called you. You just looked deep into his eyes and for an odd yet familiar reason it felt the right place to be. For one more time you found yourself begging for him to say something, anything but you felt it deep in your bones that he wouldn't say anything.

Tears streamed down your face and Stephen wished he had the courage to wipe them away. He wished he had the courage to say the right thing, make all your pain go away, if there was any. But he knew better and he knew you did too. He wasn't going to do anything. He would just let you go.

"No one can hurt me like you, Stephen Strange."

You couldn't look at him anymore. You just turned around and walked towards the door. You were tired of waiting and hoping and longing for him for so many years. You just wanted to rest from everything and everyone. You would go inside to your soon-to-be husband and laugh at stupid jokes while pretending you enjoy yourself and that conversation with Stephen never happened.

Stephen Strange would forever be an open wound for you.

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[todayesterday]

Hi there, darling. :)

I just saw your (completely heart shattering) post about John and Paul’s song “call and response.” I’m wondering if you know where I can find a list of all of the Paul and/or John songs that are confirmed (or speculated) to be about each other or about the other.

Thank you so much. I appreciate you!!

[re: there's a story]

thank you very much for your kind words! i was planning to provide a more complete answer to this ask, and planned to elaborate a little bit on each one - particularly the ones that speculated - to explain with sources and such why they are/might be about john/paul, but i ended up never getting around to it, so i wanted to give you the list i came up with and just a few (not-that-serious, my-mind-deteriorates-more-the-further-down-you-go) thoughts on the songs, with the disclaimer that these are the ones i remembered and the ones i believe to be about the two of them (apart from the ones we know for a fact):

if i fell, by john — speculated, but. but!

in my life, by john — I know I'll often stop and think about them / In my life I love you more. i mean.

here, there and everywhere, by paul — paul wrote this in john's house waiting for john to wake up and join him. plus john said this was his favorite beatle song. and paul said it was his too because john loved it so much. plus, this ain't about jane asher. like, there's no way

hey jude, by paul — ok so john is the one who speculated this might be about him and therefore who am i to argue with him (and i agree that the 'go out and get her' thing might very well be about yoko)

two of us, by paul — not even paul believes himself anymore when he says this is about linda

i’ve got a feeling, by paul — All these years I've been wandering around / Wondering how come nobody told me / All that I was looking for was somebody / Who looked like you (this is speculation and might be a long shot but i don't care they sing this one together and i can't imagine it being about anything else)

the long and winding road, by paul — sad and gay

oh! darling, by paul — sad and gay, very much intesified (plus he sings hey johnny)

don’t let me down, by john — might not be 100% about paul but. they said it themselves, there's a story. they were communicating.

i found out, by john — I've seen religion from Jesus to Paul might be the queerest line ever sang by anybody

too many people, by paul — song wars: the beginning

3 legs, by paul — just trust me

dear boy, by paul — another one where john is the one doing the speculation but i agree with him

how do you sleep, by john — the start of john using paul songs to reference paul

jealous guy, by john — sad and gay, john ver.

dear friend, by paul — paul said so. this one keeps me up at night sometimes

best friend, by paul — this fucking song... dreaming about you... screaming out over you... TELL ME WHY WHY WHY DO TREAT ME SO BAD..

let me roll it, by paul — not the lyrics necessarily but the vibe, which paul admitted is a very big nod to john

beef jerky, by john — so naturally what john does is ripping of the riff of the above song. they did these kinds of shit and called it communicating

i know (i know), by john — yeah.... this one has so many references to paul (yesterday, just like he did with hdys) and it's just... yeah... now I am sad and gay

call me back again, by paul — john lennon for the love of god pick up the phone

coming up, by paul — :( they were about to be together again

(just like) starting over, by john — i could write a 456 page essay on this one and all the paul references he managed to squeeze in but i will say take a trip somewhere far far away is about hitchhiking to paris

grow old with me, by john — this one is on me i just like being sad

i’m stepping out (demo), by john — I MEAN (and another reference to yesterday)

free as a bird, by john and paul — i just think that can we really live without each other

real love, by john — you know, it fits so well with i've got a feeling's "all that i've waiting for was somebody who looked like you"

here today, by paul

the lovers that never were, by paul — I hang patiently on every word you send / Will we ever be much more than just friends? / As for you, you sit there playing this game, / You keep me waiting / When all of the clocks have run down, / We'll be the lovers that never were (do you ever just cry? plus there's a small reference to i know i know there too)

this one, by paul — paul even said this is about john and i do cry myself to sleep listening to it once every blue moon

yvonne's the one, by paul — She'll never know how much I loved her / I never got to tell / We never had the chance to say farewell. speculation too, but it fits very well

early days, by paul — about the beatles in general but about john too

there are probably more out there, but i think these are the main ones. here is a spotify playlist with all of them if you're interested in that as well!

[snailor-bee]

Songfics Part Eleven

I'm back!! My friend wrote me an AMAZING songfic and got me really into the idea again! The last time I did these I’m unsure if I talked a lot to @sugxrslushy or @childofblackmaria but since then they've been super lovely friends to me. ;u; So I wanted to do some for them. I hope you both enjoy!

I wanted to do a Roger to this but my hair appointment got moved up so I gotta RUN. Sorry Lale yours is so sad?!?! Why is Rayleigh built for sadness I don't understand.

GN!Reader / SFW / 1.9k Characters: Rayleigh and Perona Warnings: Rayleigh's is pretty sad y'all, I'm sorry. The song was just to perfect I couldn't resist.

Song: Nati Dreddd - Caledonia

I don't know if you can see the changes that have come over me, In these last few days I've been afraid that I might drift away.

So I've been telling old stories, singing songs, that make me think about where I come from That's the reason why I seem so far away today.

You set a concerned hand on Rayleigh’s shoulder, jolting the man as he tore his eyes away from the fire.

“Are you alright?” you asked and he smiled.

It didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Fine, fine, just lost in my thoughts.” Rayleigh grabbed onto your wrist gently and tugged you into his lap. He wrapped his arms around your waist while burrowing his face into the crook of your neck.

After a long enough pause that told you he wasn’t going to elaborate you hesitantly asked, “Beli for your thoughts?”

Rayleigh chuckled, the sound vibrating through you. “Thinking about the past.” Before you could ask further he went on, “Want to hear a sea shanty?”

Even though you knew he was only asking to distract you, you really couldn’t resist. Rayleigh so rarely sang but you loved it every time. Voice a deep baritone it shook you down to your knees whenever he did, the way he gazed straight at you, whiskey rough voice singing softly just for you. Smiling, you agreed, thinking you’d dig a little deeper later.

Let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time Caledonia you're calling me and now I'm going home

But if I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

“What was it like?” you asked one night in bed, staring at his weathered face. Rayleigh cocked a brow at you in question, but the knowing smile told you he knew what you were asking for. He just wanted to hear you say it. “Traveling with Roger and the others.”

His silver eyes, normally obscured by glasses went a little distant as he thought about it. “Amazing. The best time of my life, it made me feel alive.”

When you shuffled into yourself a little more his eyes focused once more on your own and he reached out to run a hand down your side, the worn palms catching on your skin slightly. “Don’t be upset.”

“I’m not,” you said, and you meant it. “I just wish…I could do more for you. I see the way you look sometimes, so sad and I just wish…I could fill more of that void for you.” You reached out and cupped his cheek, thumbing at the skin before trailing your hand down to run through his white beard.

Rayleigh’s eyes flashed and for a moment you felt pressure weigh you down before it released. With the hand on your side he pulled you closer, into his chest. “I love you. Don’t worry about it, you do more than enough. What I lost, it can’t be replaced but that doesn’t mean this life is bad either. Just different.” He kissed your forehead, but you still weren’t entirely soothed.

I have moved and I've kept on moving, proved the points that I needed proving Lost the friends that I needed losing, found others on the way

I have tried and I've kept on trying, stolen dreams, yes there's no denying I have traveled hard sometimes with conscience flying somewhere in the wind

Still, even if Rayleigh denied it, you couldn’t help but notice the way he looked, at times when he didn’t think you were watching. The way the lines in his face seemed deeper as he stared out at the horizon. The way he drifted—mid-task he’d just stop and stare into nothing, lost in thought. The drinking until dawn. He tried to joke like it was just something pirates did but you weren’t fooled.

Drinking might be what pirates did, but they weren’t drinking everyday to escape into the past. They were drinking to celebrate what they had. You understood the difference and was sure Rayleigh did as well.

You bit your lip with indecision. You knew Rayleigh was a wanderer at heart. When the two of you first started, you were fine with it. Always figured he’d leave eventually. A small blip of time with the legendary man, nothing more.

But then he stayed. And kept on staying.

It felt almost unfair, like forcing you to fall in love with him was a test somehow. To see if it would be enough to fill that ache inside him.

As you watched him, hands frozen half-finished putting up the laundry on a line looking out at the sea you knew it wasn’t enough and your heart ached with all that meant.

Now I'm sitting here before the fire, the empty room the forest choir The flames that couldn't get any higher they've withered now they've gone

But I'm steady thinking, my way is clear and I know what I will do tomorrow When the hands have shaken and the kisses flow then I will disappear

Another night in front of the fireplace, Rayleigh stared into its flames a bottle of booze dangling from his fingertips. You tsked before sweeping in to pull it from his loose grip.

“Careful, you’ll spill it everywhere.”

Rayleigh hummed and his melancholy mood seemed to lift just a little as he looked you over, his eyes sparkling. Quicker than you could see, he snatched you up making you screech as you dropped the bottle.

“Rayleigh,” you hissed out angerily, hearing the bottle clatter to the floor. “What are you doin—mmph!”

He silenced you with a hard kiss. Automatically your hands went up to tangle into his white hair as he settled you against him, a strong hand at the back of your neck and the other wrapping around your waist.

Although Rayleigh was engaged that night, covering you with kisses and present in a way he so often wasn’t, there was still something that nagged you about it. But even knowing that, you still got lost in his kisses, in his love.

Let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time Caledonia you're calling me and now I'm going home

When you woke up the next morning to an empty bed with only a note on the pillow, you weren’t surprised, even if you felt your heart breaking already.

Opening it, your eyes were hot with unshed tears as you read,

Sorry love, I just can’t help it. You’re lovely I just gotta go home. xRayleigh

Home. How you hated that word. As if you weren’t trying to make one with him, here. Your tears splashed, smearing the ink.

But if I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Song: Alice Phoebe Lou - Witches

You've got this golden way of making my body sway Of making my mind fly away Of making it fly

Hearing a voice echo down the hall you stopped in your tracks. There was only one woman in the castle but you’ve never heard her sing before. Entranced you followed the sound closer. There was a door barely ajar, and you pushed it open wider, the thick carpet covering any sound.

Perona stood in front of a mannequin, fabric pinned to its frame. Her ghosts danced around her as she sang, rotating her hips.

It's a world I love to be in Come on, let's go high above the ceiling Oh, what we could be feeling Oh, what we could be feeling

Putting a hand in the air she did a spin, closing her eyes.

I'm one of those witches, babe I'm one of those witches, babe Just don't try to save me ‘Cause I don't wanna be saved

“Wow,” you breathed before you slapped a hand over your mouth in horror, eyes widening. Perona stopped singing at once, large dark eyes snapping open to see you hovering in the open doorway.

“What are you doing here!?” she screamed with rage, and you held out both hands in apology.

“I heard singing and wanted to see! I’m sorry!”

Perona looked so angry, her face flushed to an alarming level of pink and her ghosts drifted closer menacingly.

“I really liked it!” you said loudly before flinching back, expecting to be hit with a hollow and begin groveling on the ground. When nothing happened, you squinted open an eye.

She still looked upset but both hands were fisted in her skirt, and she pouted. “My singing? You liked it?”

Seeing your chance, you nodded your head quickly. “Yes! I loved it, can I hear more?”

Perona narrowed her eyes at you before she gestured you impatiently into the room. Eagerly you came closer, deftly avoiding the hollows that still floated around and giggled at you. When she pointed at the couch you took a seat without argument.

“Now, where was I?” she asked herself, index finger pressed against her chin in thought.

“I’m one of those witches,” you repeated without prompting. She hummed before opening her mouth.

Me, I've got my own little magic And I'm not tryna wreak havoc It's just that sometimes I see something and I just need to have it Let's share a few dirty habits Let's share a few dirty habits

Now that she had an audience, she definitely put more of a performance into it. Swaying her body more, she kept your gaze as she sang, beckoning you with a finger at the last few lines.

You pointed at yourself with a confused look, not sure if she actually meant you to come closer or not. When she nodded you gulped before standing.

Last night when you pulled through I put a spell on the moon It was three times the size In your moon-lit eyes

Perona tugged you close before running a hand through your hair, nails scraping as she sang. You shivered at the attention.

And I sang you an old tune Mom sang me when I was half the size And I looked at you and your moon-lit eyes And your moon-lit eyes

Leaning against you, she pressed her chest against you, singing so close to your lips you felt the air puff against them, and you shook with expectation and wanting.

I'm one of those witches, babe I'm one of those witches, babe Just don't try to save me ‘Cause I don't wanna be saved

Then suddenly, she pulled away with a familiar laugh, leaving you standing there dazed and confused.

“You didn’t actually think I’d kiss you, did you?!” she said with a smirk.

You shifted awkwardly before you frowned. “You could have just let me stay on the couch, I was enjoying the song just fine without the teasing.”

Rolling her eyes, she pushed at you, causing you to crash back into the couch. You opened your mouth to complain but was quickly silenced when she followed you down, climbing into your lap.

“Geeze, you’re so dense. Obviously, I wanted you to kiss me. I don’t sing for just anyone you know,” she said with a pout.

Blinking, you rested your hands at her hips as she sat above you, folding her arms and looking huffy.

“Oh. Give me another chance?”

She sniffed. “Don’t think you deserve it now.”

“Aww come on, Princess, just for me?”

“Hmph.” But still she conceded and started to sing the last bar.

I'm one of those witches, babe I'm one of those witches, babe Just don't try to save me—

You reached up and pulled her down before she could finish the last line into a bruising kiss. Your teeth clicked together and the both of you winced before changing the angle and trying again and it was perfect. Everything you thought it would be and you sighed happily.

‘Cause I don't wanna be saved

[ellana-ravenwood]

Good Night Rituals - Batfam x Fem!Reader

Synopsis : You have a special little way to tuck your children in, to tell them “Goodnight” and send them off to have sweet dreams, and they absolutely love it. It makes, however, your Bruce a little jealous, at times...

When I was a kid, my mom used to sing to my brother and I a song every night, after our bed time story, and then she’d tell us she loved her, we’d in turn be like “I love you from here to the Moon !” and it’d go for a good half an hour of arguing over who loved the other one most...It inspired this mini-fic. Something very short, again to make you wait for longer more elaborate stuffs. Sorry i’m being slow, a lot of things (good things) is happening and I have very little time. I hope you will like this little thing :) : 

My masterlist blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

_________________________________________________

Dick

Dick is the one that invented this little “night ritual”. 

He told you this was the perfect name for it, because it sounded like you were witches up to no good, and he “loved that for you two”. 

Of course, it was fairly obvious he’d be the instigator of it all, as he was the oldest child. Your first little kiddo. Oh, but you helped too. 

The good ol’ days, during which you had absolutely NO idea how to raise a child. When you and Bruce, frankly, hadn’t been adults for THAT long, considering. 

And yet, and you were sure it was entirely thanks to little Dickie, everything came to you naturally. Everything felt right. Even if sometimes, you were a little clumsy. 

Both you and Bruce tried so hard though. To make Dick feel home. And like you were his parents. You never tried to replace his mom and dad. But in Dick’s own words, you just slowly became his chance at having parents again. 

Becoming Dick’s mom, and Dick’s dad, didn’t mean he forgot the ones he lost. It just meant he loved you as much as he loved them. And though the loss would forever hurt, he did know both John and Mary Grayson would’ve want him to be happy. 

And at Wayne Manor ? With you and Bruce ? He became happy. There was a few rough and dark first days, but things slowly build up. 

You became a family. You were his parents, now. And he knew, that his mom and dad wouldn’t be mad at him if he “moved on”, and allowed himself to love again. 

Bruce often said that he adopted Dick because he didn’t want the boy to become him. And in that simple fact, in that simple way little Dick Grayson understood he still had a chance at being happy, at having a family...He was already extremely different from his “new” dad. 

At least, from when he was at his age. 

Mission accomplished. 

In any case, this parent thing that was thrown your way, became one of the most important thing you’ve ever done in your life. 

And again, although there were some clumsy moments, and not everything was always great (Dick had some mighty fit of rage at times, Bruce could be a jerk, and hell sometimes you needed to get away from them as well because you could be such a dick...Everyone has their moments where they’re not on their best behavior, it’s called life), you were a mom, now. 

And being a mom, in your mind, meant tucking your kid in when it was time for bedtime. 

Only, it was easier said than done. 

Dick was a difficult child to put in bed. He’d always find ways to not sleep, and make you stay longer with him. Eventually, you made a “deal”. 

And that’s how the “night ritual” was born. 

You see, before this little ritual. This “deal” as you called it at first, before Dick found the name. It took you hours, to put him to bed. 

Bruce was often out in the city early (although he always made sure to be here for a good night kiss and a “love you, champ. See you tomorrow, sleep well”) and Alfred would monitor the computer, at those times. 

Later, when Dick grew up, you’d often be behind that monitor. But if a kid had to be put to bed ? You gladly took it upon yourself to do it. 

For you, especially in those early motherhood days, it was important to be there for your child. For him to feel like he wasn’t an afterthought, and that “the butler” (although everyone knew Alfred was more than that) wasn’t here to take him off of your hands. 

So bedtime, was your task. The task you gave yourself. 

And oh boy, with Dick ? It quickly turned into a hassle. 

“I’m thirsty...Wait, I’m afraid to stay alone in the room, piggyback ride to the kitchen ?” 

“I can’t sleep, it’s a full Moon.” 

“Hey, I didn’t clean up my room today ! We can’t leave all my toys laying around like that, can we ?” 

It was always “one last story” or “I have to pee” or “I forgot to brush my teeth !”. 

And at the time, you just didn’t have the heart to scold him and tell him it was enough, that it was time for bed. Oh well, who were you kidding. Even now, you didn’t scold your kids if they took their sweet time to get to bed. 

You just didn’t quite understood the point in getting  mad at them just because they didn’t go to bed right away. Dick eventually fell asleep, and not even that late. And if he was stalling for too long, he would only get mad at himself the next day because he’d be exhausted, and then that night he’d go to bed earlier. 

So no. You didn’t get mad. It sounded ridiculous, to yell at kids for this. However, you were a mom now. And you knew your kid couldn’t just do whatever he wanted, even if he was as sweet as Dick. 

Dick was nice almost all the time. He listened, did his chores, worked in school...So what if you gave him a little freedom sometimes ?

Yes. Sometimes. It was fine sometimes. 

But not all the time, like it had become. And not for bedtime. Seeing your son, in the morning, with big bags under his eyes, made you think of your husband, and oh you didn’t want this little 8 years old to be as tired as your Broosh could be. 

Of course, Dick was in bed WAY BEFORE Bruce came to bed. But for a small child like him, falling asleep at 10 or 11 pm was already too late. 

And so, one day you had enough. And you decided to make a deal with him. There had to be things required for him to go to bed (like a story, for example), but when you said : “it’s time for bed now”, he HAD to listen. The threat was that you’d just kiss him goodnight and leave. 

At first, Dick didn’t believe you. You couldn’t possibly have the heart to not tell him a story, and leave him alone so soon ! But you had to give him a lesson. 

And so, came the first unpleasant act you did as a parent. Because being nice and lenient was one thing, but you still were his mom. Not his friend. And there had to be certain rules, especially for such a young child. 

Rules, that he had to understand, or it was meaningless. Now, of course, you weren’t as harsh as your husband (you’d get mad at him enough, when he trained Dick and was a little too much). But still. You couldn’t let him decide of everything. You really REALLY didn’t want him to become a brat who thought he could just have anything whenever he wanted. 

Dick was a great kid, your worst fear at the time was that he’d turn into a phony who thought of himself as superior just because he was from a famous and rich family, and allowed to do whatever he wanted. 

And so, the “night ritual” began. On a common accord (because Dick was such a good kid, but also because that time you just kissed him, tucked him in and left really left a mark on him and he hated that so much !). 

You realized the reason he couldn’t get to sleep right away was because he was always wayyyy too excited, but also...because he didn’t want you to leave so soon. 

He dreaded the moment you’d leave, and he would be alone in his room. 

So you put in place a system, that would gradually make him sleepy. And...

It worked. 

First, you’d get dessert in bed. Usually fresh milk and a cookie. Something light, just to put him a little bit to sleep (Dick always got sleeping after he ate something, for some reasons). And you’d talk about your day, about how you felt. You’d lay it all out, so that your boy wouldn’t get to bed with any negative feelings. Talking, always helped. 

Then you’d read him a bedtime story. Better yet, you’d invent a bedtime story just for him (this is how your most famous book saga, “Richard and the Space pirates” came to be). If you felt benevolent that night, you’d even tell him two stories. 

One would usually do the trick, however.

Then you’d sing him a few lullabies, to lull him softly to sleep. 

And as he’d fall asleep, you’d whisper : 

“I love you so much.”

And he’d answer, outraged but too weak to really argue. A few last words before falling into a deep slumber : 

“I love you more !”

And bam. He’d be passed out. Your soft voice in his ears, as you told him a story, sang to him, and told him he was loved...It was what he needed. 

He was a rather young child too, who had a busy life. School, training, homework...So of course, with a little coaxing, he’d fall asleep fast. 

But he had to know you were there. Had to know he had those moments with you, and wouldn’t be alone before he fell asleep.

See, you understood that all his stalling before the “night ritual” was put in place, was because he was trying to tire himself out before you left. He was trying to keep you there as long as possible, just so he would fall asleep fast once you were gone. 

“I love you most.” 

You’d tell him, as he was already sleeping sweetly, clinging to his comforter as you slowly caressed his hair, laid a last kiss on his forehead, and left the room. Making sure before, that his little light was on, in case he woke up at night. 

Dick hated the dark. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you more !”

“I love you most.” 

Night ritual. 

Existing because your oldest kiddo, Dick, needed some “guidance” to fall asleep. But most importantly, because he needed to know you’d be there too, until he fell into his dreams. 

You’d indulge him. Meeting him half-way between “doing everything he wants you to do” and “being way too strict”. There were rules, to bedtime. 

A “night ritual”. 

But the rules were lax. Could be bend. And existed only so he would be able to sleep relatively early. 

For years and years, you’d do that little nightly ritual with him. It stopped when he was around 14, even if he still had a kiss goodnight and got tucked in. Things really stopped overall when he left for the Titans, shortly after turning 16, after that awful fight with his father. 

Oh and to be honest, something he’d never tell anyone...Even now, as a grown ass adult, he’d sometimes call you at night just so you could sing him a song, as your voice was still the thing that’d put him peacefully at sleep even to this day. But the real “night ritual” stopped. Your little boy grew up.

Which made you so sad...But then Jason came in. And soothed the pain. 

Jason

Jason ressembled Dick in that he really wanted you to stay for the longest possible. But, unlike Dick who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and who could be a bit of a brat sometimes, Jason wouldn’t say anything. 

Dick definitely used his little charms and smiles to make you and Bruce crack, and give in...the little bugger even taught his younger siblings everything about how to manipulate you two into saying “yes”, to your greatest dismay...

Oh but, was one more scoop of ice cream really that bad ? After all, your children were nice most of the time, it was fine to be a little lenient sometimes, and though Bruce loved to think of himself as a strict parent, nobody was fooled, you were both pretty cool and lax...Which didn’t mean your children were misbehaving brats, although they had their moments, like everyone. 

Anyway, Dick used to make it clear he was demanding for you to stay longer with him when bedtime was coming. 

But Jason was a little shyer. He spend his entire life until then thinking he was bothering the people around him, that he was a burden, so he really didn’t want his new family to think that of him. 

But you could see it in his eyes. You could. When he wanted for you to tell one more story, or to sing him one more lullaby. And although you were constantly teased by your husband about how easy those kids played you (as if he was one to talk)...you couldn’t resist. 

You were always left rather sad and depressed, if you put one of your kids to bed and they looked visibly upset. So you’d stay longer. Anything for them to go to bed feeling good. 

About life. About themselves. About everything, really. 

A child shouldn’t have his sleep burdened by any worries.

Of course you knew you couldn’t be forever there for them, they’d eventually grow up and you wouldn’t really need to “tuck them in” anymore (at the time, you had  no idea that even well in their twenties, if they came to sleep at the Manor, even as they already moved out, they’d ask you for a good night kiss...The magic of being consistent in your love for them, really). 

You knew that eventually, they’d grow up too much and wouldn’t need you as much. That it’d be harder, too, to cheer your little ones up. Growing up unfortunately meant your worries grew with you too, and were harder and harder to forget. Or to be distracted from. 

You knew one day would come, in which little Jason would not be soothed anymore, by you telling him a bed time story. 

So maybe, you cracked a little too often, especially with him. 

You knew Dick had a good childhood, before you adopted him. But Jason ? He was bruised and abused, and thrown away like a dirty socks too often. Nobody ever wanted him, anywhere he went. 

Which was why, he didn’t dare to ask for a second story when you finished the first one. 

See, Dick would just jump up in his bed, do a backflip and dramatically say : “Pleaaaase fair lady, another story for the poor squire boy !”. Which would make you smile, and tell him one more. 

But Jason ? He didn’t say anything. And held all his feelings of sadness and disappointment inside. 

He wanted, more often than not, a second story so bad. But he didn’t want to bother you. He didn’t want you to realize he was actually a burden, and to throw him away, just like everyone else did. 

Jason always got to have a second story. Of course, any of your kids would if they asked. But Jason never dared to ask. So you’d just give it to him naturally. 

He always started to fall asleep half-way through the second story, which you’d keep on hold to then sing to him. 

Your songs would make him slowly drift to sleep, a genuine smile on his face. 

Oh. Jason. Always such a sweet boy, afraid to bother others, yet as contradictory as it sounded boisterous and full of life. 

Your little Jason. When Dick left for the Titans, you hadn’t realized how much you missed having a little one home. And then. 

Then there was Jason. 

When he died, you thought your “motherhood” died with him. Dick was over eighteen by then, and even if Jason’s death made him come back to the Manor, there was no “night ritual” anymore. You didn’t have the heart for it anyway...

You still had Dick, but losing your young son like that, knowing how he died, made you feel like you would never recover. You were in such a bad shape, that you couldn’t even help Bruce when he also fell into a dark well. When he turned back to being overly violent as Batman, practices he stopped when Dick left and opened his eyes. When Dick questioned him. 

You still had Dick, but it felt like part of what you were as a mother, died with Jason. How could you do a “night ritual” properly now, with the memories of your son’s sweet smile, him telling you this was his favorite part of his day ? With the memories of...

You moved from the East wing to the West wing, after Jason’s death. None of you could walk past his empty room anymore. 

Dick came back. And it was his turn, to help you fall asleep. More than one night, he spend trying to comfort you as you couldn’t stop the tears from running down. He never left you alone. 

Bruce couldn’t handle any of it, and he buried himself under his work as Batman. It would take him some time, before he realized that you had to be there for each others...

When Jason died, it felt like it was the end of everything nice about motherhood. Every night, you fell asleep with your head in your oldest son’s laps, seeing in his eyes the grief and pain of it all.

And you felt guilty. More depressed and sadder. You always hated seeing your children off to bed looking upset...

But it was hard to resist. Everything felt so far away. And Bruce wasn’t there. This was one of the darker moment, in your family life...

Dick felt helpless. He hadn’t been able to save his little brother. Now he couldn’t even help his parents. It felt like the entire family was breaking...

And then. Then Tim came in. 

Tim

Tim’s parents never tucked him in, too busy with their high society lives. 

So when he started to live with you and Bruce, after he lost both of them, he didn’t really expect you to...

“Do you want a bedtime story, maybe ?” 

You asked him on his first night being officially adopted. 

Oh but this was rather long after you started to see him as your own son. Tim already stayed over the Manor many times (without his parents ever even calling to know where he was). And he’d been Robin for a few months, before his parents passed away and he was officially adopted into the Wayne family (A/N : no need to tell me that canonically, Tim got adopted quite a long time after his parents died and he was “just” a ward like Dick was, for a while ;). No need either to tell me he was “older” than the age I give him there, which is around 10/11...Firstly because it varies according to canons, like sometimes he’s young, sometimes he’s fifteen, but also because this is a fanfic and my canon ages for the boys are taken from the canon I prefer XD which are not the ones in which he had a certain “Happy 15th birthday” pizza. Anyway what I mean is, that I’m not entirely accurate here for sure, but eh, it’s a FANfic, let’s allow ourself a little freedom...there’s no official canon on his age or how old he was when adopted anyway, it varies wildly from era to era hehe). 

Both you and Bruce kept your distance from him, at first. In more way than others, he painfully reminded you of the son you lost. And it felt wrong, to replace him so...

Replace him ? 

Slowly, both of you were reminded of that conversation you had with Dick, once. When he was little, and asking if his parents would be mad if he called you and Bruce “mom and dad”. 

That conversation, during which all of you talked about how you didn’t replace John and Mary, you just became another family for him. His new parents. 

Didn’t mean he would ever forget about the ones who were ripped away from him. Just that he...

He allowed himself to love again. 

And you did, too, when you finally accepted Tim in your life. 

That boy had a way, anyway, to crawl inside your heart and settle comfortable there...He was just such a bright one, in more than one way. Sure, he was extremely intelligent, but he also just...Shone. A new sun in your life. 

Not one that would replace any other Sun. Just. A new one. That you were allowed to love, too. 

“Do you want a bedtime story, maybe ?” 

Now, he was officially your son. And this was the first night he’d spend in the Manor being yours. Before, you never dared to tuck him in, by fear of getting too attached just for him to be ripped away from you...And he almost did. 

His father, almost took him away, before his ultimate demise... But that was another story. 

Tonight, was the first night as your son. And he was still so small, just ten little years. The age Jason was too, when the official adoption papers were signed...

You chased away the painful memories, as little Timmy looked at you, surprised. But you could see a hint of interest in his eyes. 

“A bedtime story ?” 

“Yes, if you want to of course. You don’t have to-”

“I’d love a bedtime story !” 

He was in such a hurry to tell you this, that it made you smile. And you could feel it in your bones. That boy never had anyone asking him if he wanted to be told a story, before sleep. 

It was obvious in his excitement, and it was obvious in his hopeful eyes. Eyes that were asking : “...Do I really mean something to you ? Enough that you’d spend time reading to me ?”. 

It broke your heart. Poor little one. Even though he had parents, and came from a rich family, he was never truly cared for. It was obvious in everything he did. 

Often, he’d try to do stuffs on his own, and would be surprised if you, Alfred or Bruce would ask if he needed help... 

Ah. Well tonight. Tonight called for one of your made up stories for sure. A mere random storybook wouldn’t do. No. You had to tailor one for him. Just for him. So he would finally know how special he is. 

“Ok, well then.”  

You settled next to him in his bed, as he sat up, the excitement pouring out of his very being. Alfred chose that time, to drop some milk and cookies, as he informed you he would be down in the Batcave to help Bruce. 

Impeccable timing. As usual. 

You thanked him, and started your story, as Tim looked at you with wide eyes, eating his cookie absentmindedly, quickly realizing you were telling a story about him ! : 

“Once upon a time, there was a little boy. His name was Timothy, and he didn’t know it yet but one day...He’d save the entire Kingdom of Waynalia. How, you might ask ? Well it was simple. You see, young Timothy had a talent to cure people’s heart. And the King and Queen of Waynalia, who were known to be cruel and vile, only were so because they’ve had broken hearts for far too long...” 

Tim fell asleep at the end of the story. And just like his brothers, quickly took to this “night ritual”. After all, he was still just a child. And this entire “milk/cookie/ story/lullabies/kiss goodnight” was great. 

Cassandra

Cassandra was fifteen, when she started to live with you at Wayne Manor. Too old, you thought, for the “night ritual”

Dick himself stopped demanding it around aged fourteen (after a certain Wally West mocked him when he heard of it), and even that was rather old when you thought of it. One of the main reason he slowly detached himself from it (apart from being mocked), was being Robin full time now, and going most nights out, so he didn’t really have the energy anymore for the ritual. It wasn’t needed. Which sort of broke your heart. 

Jason died before he ever got the “chance” to ask you to stop....

But this was not something you wanted to think about. Oh no. 

In any case, Cass was fifteen, and you thought, too old to want some bedtime stories by her mom, or any sort of snuggles. 

That was until...

A nightmare. 

You heard her, it felt even in your sleep. Something woke you, and then she started to scream. Bruce wasn’t home yet, and it was her night off (you forced all of them to have one, at least once a week). 

That night, you had marathoned your favorite TV show with her, and went to bed your separate ways. You did kiss her goodnight, and told her you loved her (you always told them at least once a day, because you learned that in your line of work...you never knew what could happen...Jason’s smiling cheeky face came to your mind, did you tell him often enough that he-no. Not tonight.). 

And then, late, it was pitch black out, you heard her scream. 

Your mother instinct made you run to her. Quickly, you understood she had yet another bad dream about her father coming to get her, and forcing her to be a weapon again. It happened so often... 

You shook her up, and she almost knocked you down as she was slowly regaining consciousness and wondering what the hell was happening and where she was. You know, those few seconds before you’re fully awake, when you’re not even sure you’re even someone anymore ? The time you need to remember oh right, I’m human, and I was in my bed. This is my bedroom. Right. 

To sooth her, you started to slowly sing to her. To hold her while you rocked gently back and forth, and sung. 

She didn’t talk, as you dried her tears. As you reminded that this was all fine, she was home, and David Cain would never hurt her again. 

Cass calmed down, and fell back asleep. You held her most of the night, waiting for Bruce to come back. You just didn’t feel like going back alone in your bed, after such screams

The next night off she had, when it was time to part at the top of the stairs after yet another TV show marathon, when you’d go to your room and her to hers...

She stopped. And held onto your sleeve. 

“Cass, honey, what is it ?”  

There was a few seconds of silence, before she said : 

“Do it again ?” 

And you understood instantly. 

See, the other nights, the ones she didn’t have off, Cass would come home exhausted after a night of vigilanting. But when she had her night off, when she wasn’t “working”...Sleep was hard to come. 

You knew all too well what she felt. Your Broosh was the same, and already poured his feelings to you about it more than once. 

Now, Cassandra wasn’t much of a talker (your husband either, really, but then it was different with you)but you could see it in her eyes. 

“Sing ?” 

She nodded. And so you went to tuck her in. 

You thought she was “too old”. You thought she wouldn’t like it. You thought, as she was slowly discovering her own independence after being treated as a weapon and not choosing anything in her life, that she’d want to be alone in moments like this. 

And oh. Oh you thought wrong. 

That night, you sang to her until she fell asleep. And slowly but surely, the “night ritual” put himself into place. 

Over the years, it didn’t change much. Because it was such a successful formula. Milk and cookies was talking about their day, getting their feelings out. A story by you. A soothing lullabies. Snuggles and kisses. 

Winning formula. 

Why change it ? Your children were all wildly different, but the one thing that linked them all, was how much they loved you and your antics. 

Each of them had “mom time”, where they’d spend the day just with you (just like your Broosh and you had date nights and such). You always took time to spend individual time with all of them, and during those times the activities would be very different from one kid to another. 

But those “night rituals” ? They didn’t need to change. Because they were perfect the way they were. Exactly what they all needed. Pure love, in many ways. And the knowledge they’d never be alone again. 

Love and loneliness. 

Two things your youngest son, Damian, struggled with for years. 

Damian

“I love you, little one.” 

The first time, Damian didn’t respond. He just nodded, and turned around in his bed, back facing you. 

He couldn’t face you, or you’d see the “stupid” smile plastering his face at the mere thought he was loved, and had a real mom...But that, you didn’t know.

You didn’t really take it personally, you happened to know another “emotionally stunted” Wayne, so you were used to it. It took a while, for Bruce to finally admit his feelings for you. Even if they were obvious, and written all over his face (which is why Damian used the “back facing you” trick). 

You knew it’d take time. So for now, you’d settle with a simple kiss, and reminding him he was cherished. 

And then one day... 

“Why do you not read me bed time stories ? Or make one up, with me as the hero ?” 

“Beg you pardon ?” 

You were diligently tucking him in, as he never told you off when you did it, when he asked this, taking you by surprise. What he said didn’t quite register, until he added : 

“Grayson says that when he was little, you’d tell him a story. Made him the hero of it. And then you’d sing. He said there were cookies, too. Why do you not do that with me ?” 

Oh. Oh. Oooooooooh. 

You got it now. But you’re no less surprised. 

“I thought...You had no interest in those ?” 

Damian nodded slowly, and said : 

“I know why you would think this...Mom.”

Mom. That...He hadn’t call you that very often, so far...

“But when you come to tuck me in, I never have nightmares. I sleep soundly, and I dream of-Soft things. Like unicorns and cats.” 

This makes you smile. Oh. Oh if only people could see the Damian right in front of you, and not the Damian he liked to pretend he was. 

Sweet, sweet boy. 

“I know why you think I don’t want a story, and snuggles, and all the thing Grayson gushed about for hours. But I...Do. I like when you come to tell me goodnight, and I wouldn’t mind if it lasted longer ?” 

He was so unsure. Very unlike his cocky usual self. 

This, was the real Damian. 

The one who really wants to connect with others, who wants to be good, but he’s just not really sure on how to proceed. So he pretends he doesn’t care. 

But he does. He cares a lot. 

He’s very much like your Broosh, in that regard. Like father like son, eh ? Both of them love to hide emotions from their faces, and pretend everything is ok, even when they’re breaking inside. 

Silly boys. 

You managed to reach Bruce. You were sure you could reach your son...

And it had already started. You could see it. You smile, and leave his room to get cookies and milk. 

And oh damn it, you should’ve told him you were doing that ! Because when you came back, he was laying in his bed and looked absolutely crestfallen ! There was even small tears in his eyes, oh no ! 

You quickly understood that he thought you were refusing to do the famous “night ritual” with him. That you just went to bed too, and weren’t going to tell him a story. 

His face brightens, truly brightens, reminding you of when the sun just comes out from behind high mountains. He sees the cookies and milk, and oh. Oh he looks so excited. 

You dried his tears with the back of your hand, and smiled fondly at him. 

It makes everything worth it. All your effort to connect with him, worth the work and heartache it brought. 

You knew. You knew you’d eventually make it. And it’s that evening, when he asked for “the night ritual”, that you truly realized it. 

First, cookies and milk, and a little talk about his day. His feelings, too. 

Then the story, one you made up with him as the hero. He seemed to love that, especially to be a good hero, and not a villain. Cute, and heartbreaking at the same time. 

Then come the lullabies. 

And finally, the soft drift to sleep, and a last feel of warmth as you kiss his forehead and leave him to a deep slumber. 

Damian has never felt so peaceful in his life before. 

Duke

You didn’t really dare, at first, going to tell him good night. 

Unlike your other children, Duke arrived in the family being a sixteen years old boy. Way pass needing someone to tuck him in. And you didn’t want to overstep your bound, you already knew how difficult things were for him. How hard it was to adapt to it all. 

It was quite the same than with Cass. But even more complicated. 

Cass’ childhood was inexistent, really. Destroyed before she could enjoy it. So sometimes, when with you or Bruce, she’d let go, and act like a child, even though she was older. It was fine. She never had a childhood, she could make up for it now. And so what if she liked hot cocoas and cuddles ? Nobody would hold it against her. 

In fact, most adults would probably LOVE to be taken care of by their mom again.

But Duke, was different. He had a happy childhood, parents who were loving and caring...His mom most likely told him stories, and sung him lullabies. 

And he was sixteen. And in the middle of an identity crisis, as his powers just barely manifested. 

So you didn’t go to tuck him in. Even if you really wanted to. 

You wanted to give Cass freedom, let her explore herself, as she always lived following someone else’s orders and view of life. 

But Duke ? Duke was an entirely different case from Cass. And you could see him, at times, feeling lost and sad. 

You always hated having your kids go to bed upset. But what could you do ? 

He was certainly not gonna let you...Or, was he ? 

After all, you never asked. 

“Do you...Want a bedtime story ?” 

He stares at you, visibly confused and thinking you’re a little crazy. And you realize yes, this question is ridiculous. The boy was sixteen ! 

“Nevermind, sorry that was stupid. I was just thinking...Well I don’t know what I was thinking. Sorry. Night buddy.” 

“Wait !” 

Uh ? There was a sort of little panic, in his voice. As if he was afraid you were leaving so soon. You turned around, and waited for him to speak again. 

“Maybe not a...bedtime story but...Maybe, maybe we could talk ? For a little bit ? My...My mom and I used to talk every night, it helped me sleep.” 

You felt a lot of things at the same time. 

Touched he wanted to do with you what he used to do with his mom. 

Reassured to realize your guts were right, and that his mom did tuck him in sweetly every night. 

And sad that it took him so long to ask you for this. 

“Of course Duke, of course.” 

Duke, was older than any of your other children, when he came into your life. But it didn’t mean...

It didn’t mean he didn’t need you. Or your motherly side. 

He never quite had the full “night ritual” experience, as some aspect of it were definitely too childish. But he had the cookies and milk. And the talk. And the feel that you would always be there for him. 

Always. 

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

The end ? 

No. 

Bruce 

Bruce tossed and tossed in his bed, sleep evading him. 

There used to be a time, every nights were like that. Unable to fall asleep, and when he did, his slumber was plagued with the most terrible nightmares. 

Maybe that’s why, more than anything else, he decided to use his nights to be a vigilante ? Of course, the cover of nights helped in many ways, doing his Batman work in broad daylight would be more difficult (even if he did do some work during the day). Especially in regards of his “Brucie Wayne” persona, his cover up, pretending he definitely can’t be Batman. 

Ever since his parents died, Bruce had trouble falling asleep. That’s probably why it was so easy for him to train himself to sleep barely a few hours a night, and stay in shape even as he often ran on very little resting time. 

He lived like that for so many years...

And then. Then you appeared in his life. 

And every nights in your arms were peaceful, he was taken by a deep sleep that could happen only with you. He slept so soundly, when you were there, that often when you had to wake up before him, you had to call Alfred so he’d help you untangle yourself from his grasp (I wrote a story about that haha : How to remove a Wayne safely).

You forced him to take at least one night off, and he was so sure he wouldn’t be able to rest on those nights...yet he always fell asleep like a baby, around 11 pm max, often falling asleep in front of whatever movie you were watching, just the two of you. 

You had that power. To allow him to sleep well, and not have such awful nightmares.

So when you weren’t with him, he couldn’t find sleep. 

He would toss, again and again, and whenever he’d almost fall asleep, his hand would unconsciously look for you in bed and the fact you were absent would make him be wide awake again. 

Yes. He just couldn’t sleep, when you weren’t there. 

Which is why...Which is why he was a little grumpy, when you would take a long time telling your children good night. It was a sort of jealousy he wasn’t very proud of. 

Fighting other men to get your attention ? Any day. Fighting his own children...Felt a little shameful. Not like he could control this feelings, there was time, he was a little selfish. And you two had such few times to yourself, with the life you lead, that any opportunity was taken gladly.

He’d always try to be there for the story time, and for a kiss and some “Love you, kiddo” before leaving either for the cave, or to take an early night in.

Early night ins. Rare occasion. 

Like tonight. His one night off this week. 

He trusted his cousin, Batwoman, to take care of the city, and his oldest sons, Dick and Jason, who were now old enough to go out there on their own, too...Well, he did still hid trackers in them, and made sure to ask Kate to keep an eye on them, but they were adults. 

Capable of taking care of themselves, and go out there to keep Gotham safe, and take care of their younger siblings.

They were still absolutely forbidden to go out there alone. And no one wanted to argue much with your husband about safety, he had already made punchlines for those occurrences and it was impossible to win against him. 

Cass, Tim, Damian and Duke weren’t allowed yet to fly solo like their older brothers. They were only allowed to go out there while Bruce wasn’t IF they were with Kate, Dick, or Jason. 

Bruce particularly liked when they were with Jason because although many would think he was the most reckless one, because of his “bad boy” reputation but...When it came to his siblings’ safety, he did NOT joke around. 

Dick encouraged them to become their own person, and to take initiative (he trusted them to know what they could and could not do, and he was right). But Jason ? Jason took after you, and your “mama hen” personality, for sure. 

Actually, Bruce often sneakily stuck one of his younger kid with Jason, so his reckless son would be more careful. Neither you nor your husband wanted to ever lose him again...So what if you had to resort to dirty tactics and ask him to look after a younger siblings for him to be less incautious ?

In any case, it had been a long time deal by then, that Bruce HAD to take at least one night off. All of them had; They each had one night a week. Conveniently, there were seven of them. 

On those nights, you and Bruce would be together every single second of it, relishing in a little alone time, and in spending an entire night together for once, and not just a few hours there and there. 

But tonight, Damian was sick, and couldn’t go out either. Which was why you weren’t in bed with Bruce, right now. You were tucking your sick son in, and it already took quite a while on normal days but as he was feeling under the weather ??

Bruce knew you. He knew you would stay with him until he fell asleep. And he knew his son, too. He knew he would try to stay awake as long as possible just to be with you. 

Which meant...Your husband being alone, right now, and unable to sleep. Ugh. He should’ve just gone out as Batman tonight, and take a break another day. ...As if you or Alfred would’ve let him. You knew that “taking a break another day”, with him, meant never. 

Bruce tossed a few more times, and resolved that he couldn’t sleep up until you’d come. So he sat up, and thought he might as well take a walk around the Manor. It always calmed him down, as a child... 

That’s when you decided to come in.

“Going somewhere ?” 

You ask him, suspicious. He knows you think he was about to leave for the Batcave. And he doesn’t correct you. It’s better you think that, you already knew way too much how to push all his buttons down, he’d rather you not know that he was in fact about to just walk around the Manor and not go to the bat cave because he promise you to take the night off... 

Oh. Oh if Superman could hear his thoughts right now. He would surely not recognize his “workaholic” friend...And definitely not recognize his will to not piss off his wife, and listen to her. The Batman didn’t care, if he pissed people off ! Well. Except for his wife, who could be very scary, when angry. 

Damn it. 

Your face. 

Your face shows much concern, behind that slight bit of anger at the thought he was about to sneak to the Batcave, that he can’t hold it back for too long. 

To hell, if you were the only one who knew him perfectly, and had him wrapped around your little finger. You gave it back to him plenty. So, just as soon as he was telling himself he wouldn’t tell you the truth...He told you the truth : 

“No. I was-...I was just about to take a walk around the Manor.” 

You look at him, a question in your eyes. And you don’t have to ask him, as he answers : 

“I can’t sleep when you’re not there. Needed to clear my mind.” 

It makes you smile, of course. And it’s the truth, oh it’s the truth. 

He really can’t fall asleep, when you’re not near. 

You climb on the bed, and slowly move to him. 

“How’s Damian ?” 

“Asleep. His fever went down, finally. Thanks the gods.” 

“Was he trying to fight sleep, and argue to have another story ?”

“Oh you know he did.” 

“Haha, I don’t blame him. Anything, to keep you closer for longer.” 

“What a sappy man you turned out to be, my heart. Who would’ve thunk, right ?” 

“Don’t tell Clark.” 

This makes you laugh, and you move even closer to him, settling in his laps, facing him. His hands find themselves around your waist naturally, and as you lay your own hands on his cheeks, looking at him fondly and longingly, you say : 

“I love you, my Broosh.” 

“I love you more.”

“I love you most.” 

“I love you so much I think I’d die if you were gone.” 

“I love you so much I put up with your bullshit.”

“Hahaha. Cheeky. I love you so much I eat your awful gluten free cake without batting an eye.” 

“You ass ! Well, I love you so much I don’t even mention it when you call this disgusting mixture you make in the morning “coffee” “

“Oh wow, ouch. I love you so much I don’t even care about you criticize me.”

You chuckle a little, and kiss his nose, before adding :  

“I love you so much, that I wouldn’t change anything in my life. Not even the heartaches...Because everything lead me to you. And a life without you, is no life at all.” 

Admittedly, you cheated a bit, using his “I love you so much without you I’d die” against him, twisting things a little to pack a little more punch. And...

There’s a short pause, he looks at you, and then he leans over, slowly and softly pecking your lips. You think this means you won tonight, and you will be back in his arms in no time, allowing him to sleep properly...But you’re wrong. 

He says, after burying his face in the crook of your neck, in barely a whisper, his breath tickling you softly : 

“I love you so much, I would quit being Batman if you asked me to.” 

“Wait, what ?” 

You never asked him to. You never did, and never will. Because you were on of the only person on this Earth that truly understood him, and that loved him unconditionally. 

You knew and understood why he dressed like a bat each (or almost each) nights, to go fight crimes in Gotham City. 

You knew and understood all of his motives. 

And for this reason, you’d never ask him to stop doing so. But him admitting he would stop if you did ask, it made you feel...So much. 

It touched you beyond all measure. You didn’t even know how to respond to it. 

“Ah, I win, didn’t I ?” 

You had no words to answer. You knew how much you loved him, how much he meant to you, and how impossible it was to even envision a life without him. But he always  managed to surprise YOU with how deeply in love he was with you. How much he’d give up, just for you. How you knew, he would burn the entire world, if it meant saving you...

He would for his children, too. There was no doubt in his mind that if he had been to that warehouse sooner, and killing the Joker meant saving Jason...he would’ve done it. There was no point doing in afterward, once his son was already gone...But there, in the moment, to save him ?

He would. He would kill everyone, just to save his family. 

This was a side not a lot of people knew. They all assumed he wouldn’t do it, that he would let you or his children die for the greater good. That’s why considering, you guys weren’t kidnapped that much. 

Every villain, everyone, always thought that the Batman would not budge from his principles even if it meant saving those he loved. 

And they were wrong. They were so wrong. 

It was good, though, that only you knew that. 

“Ah. I win, didn’t I ?” 

You don’t have the words to answer him, your heart overflowing with so much. Overwhelming. So you go to the next best thing. 

Actions. 

You kiss him. With all the passion and love you can gather in your being. 

You kiss him, and he kisses you back. 

That. 

That was his night ritual. 

The only way he could fall asleep peacefully, like he used to when his mom and dad tucked him in. Before their death. 

Finding purchase once more, in your arms, after years of night plagued with nightmares and pain. 

Being near you. With you. In every way possible. Touching you, feeling you near. Right there. By him. 

The big bad bat’s “night ritual”, it was you. 

It was, and would always be you. 

The end (for good, this time, haha). 

_________________________________________________

As you might’ve noticed, I’m in a very soft mood lately haha. I guess I’m just happy about my current situation, so I wanna write all the fluff and make the Batfam happy...Not for long though. I have some mighty angst in store for you, just you wait ;). In any case, here’s to a small bonus story. Hope you liked it even if it’s not what I said I’d post ^^'. I assure you what I planned is coming, I’m just being damn slow. As usual any comments and reblogs are more than welcomed <3. 

PS : Last time I posted a bonus story, an anon wasn’t happy I wasn’t posting longer stories I said I would post soon haha...So just a quick thing : those stories I’ve been posting lately literally take between 20 minutes to an hour to write. It’s extra fast, and I don’t re-read myself. So I can post them rather rapidly. But those I have in store that are long as hell and full on one-shots I thought a lot about, not just random drabbles, need a lot more work. Which is why they take longer. Which I’d think is obvious to everyone (most of y’all are super understanding and nice <3), but I guess not huh...Please. Be patient with me. I’m super busy lately. But everything I said I’d post WILL be posted. I can promise this much. 

[spenciegoob]

How to Never Stop Being Sad

A/N: Yes, this is another song inspired fic I am OBSESSED with them. If you’ve listened to how to never stop being sad by dandelion hands, are you okay? If you haven’t and you do because of this I would like to formally apologize. Okay so I started writing this and I just want to say that every single one of you is so beautiful because like wait hold on I’m getting flustered... Anyways, everything about you is beautiful that I just got so overly flustered and hot THINKING about it. Okay that’s all carry on.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Summary: Spencer shows Reader how to stop being sad in tiny ways.

Category: Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Content Warnings: mentions of depression, loneliness, body image issues and self deprecating thoughts

Word Count: 21K

Masterlist

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Time has proven that fooling yourself into believing the lies is the most effective way to deal with the things you have no control over.

She sat there, for too long if she was being honest, staring at a reflection that couldn’t have been real. The mirror in her bedroom had to have been replaced with one from a carnival, distorting the image as a sick, twisted joke.

Your thighs are huge.

Your hips are too wide.

Your stretch marks are disgusting.

She had enough, finally letting the tears that welled in her eyes escape, falling down like raindrops on a window as she sat back and rested her head between her knees. She couldn’t bare to see anymore, all the early morning jogs, gym memberships and diet remedies were for nothing. 

Her body had a mind of its own, and she couldn’t control it.

But then her front door clicked as Spencer all too excitedly used his brand new key, expecting to see his girlfriend sitting on the couch he fell in love with her on. The first day she invited him upstairs, the door was opened and his eyes immediately fell to the obscure, bright purple sofa that oddly enough went well with the rest of her simplistic, white furniture. 

“I saw it once at a thrift shop and it was too perfect not to buy it,” she said, noticing the way he was eyeing the couch. He let a smile break across his face, knowing in that moment that he may just be in love.

But she wasn’t there, and when the door clicked shut, she was also made aware of the presence in her home. 

Quickly, she pulled herself off the floor, wiped the tears that accumulated under her eyes and down her cheeks, and avoided looking at the reflection in front of her.

“Y/N? Are you here?” Spencer called from the living room. She knew he was slowly taking steps that he attempted to make as quiet as possible, just in case, towards the hallway that led to her. 

“Uh, y-yeah I’m here. Just a second!” She called back, rushed and stuttering as she looked for the biggest sweatshirt and sweatpants she could find. Deciding on gray sweats and a Caltech sweatshirt, both belonging to Spencer, she took one last look at her face hoping he won’t catch what her previous activities consisted of.

When she walked out of the bedroom, Spencer saw it. He always did.

But what she noticed was the fact Spencer was dressed up, even after stopping home from the office before coming to her. They had a date, and it wasn’t that she forgot, oh no, she remembered clearly, but in her attempts to find something to wear that would be enough, her spiral had begun.

“Come here,” was all Spencer said, opening his arms for her to waltz into, and she did, slowly dragging her fuzzy sock clad feet over to the man in front of her that held both the warmth and answers that she needed.

“I’m sorry, I just... I can’t-”

“I know, it’s okay.” His reassurance calmed the nerves she had for the past hour over if Spencer would be mad that she flaked on a date. “Usually I’m the one to cancel dates. Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

He wasn’t prying for answers, she knew that, and she also knew that if she said no, Spencer wouldn’t push it. That was the thing about Spencer; he didn’t need to know what was wrong, but he always knew how to fix it.

“Not yet,” she mumbled, her words muffled by his chest that she pressed her face into the moment she had the chance.

Spencer cradled the back of her head, forcing it off his chest softly to gaze down at her with a face full of worry, curiosity, but most importantly, adoration.

“Come on, sweetheart. I wanna try something,” Spencer said before grabbing her hand and leading her to the purple velour couch. He sat down first, pointing away from him with his free hand letting her know he wants her facing away.

The second she sat down, Spencer let go of her hand and replaced both on top of her shoulders.

“Spence, what are you doing?” She giggled slightly when his fingers brushed near her neck. Spencer will never quite get used to how ticklish she was.

“I’m giving you a massage, I could feel how tense your muscles were from across the room.” She knew it was a lie. He also knew it was a lie, but neither had the want to say anything about it. 

His hands caressed her shoulders before moving down to her back, his fingers resting on the sides of her body as his thumbs did all the work. She let her head lean back as a sigh left her body with the tension.

“You’re so beautiful,” Spencer whispered just loud enough for them to hear, and even though they were the only two in the room, the admission felt natural as a whisper like if he said it any louder, it may have broken the bubble they were in.

Slowly, she looked down to the left of her, watching Spencer out of her peripherals. The second her eyes started to glisten, he abandoned the massage altogether to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her directly against him.

“I’m sorry I don't know why I’m crying,” she said between gasps for air and soft sobs. Spencer simply shushed her, and held her close to his chest, brushing his fingers through her hair.

He tried to turn her body to face him, but in her stubbornness, she stayed with her back to his chest.

“Hey, look at me, sweetheart.” Spencer put a finger under her chin, delicately lifted her head to lock teary eyes with his loving ones. “You are the most beautiful girl in the world, and I promise to remind you that every day for the rest of my life.”

And Spencer Reid kept his promise.

Keep listening to the mixtapes they made you, overanalyze every single word you hear. "Was this a sign that things were going wrong?" No no, you were the one that cared too hard, not them.

The couple had impulsively decided to spend their two free days together in an impromptu vacation to New York City. Spencer never actually cared for the city, but when he watched the way she lit up as she suggested they go “be one with the New Yorkers,” how could he say no?

That’s how he found himself in the passenger seat of her broken down Volkswagen beetle listening to her sing along to the words of a song he’s never heard. Most of the songs she’s played so far he hasn’t known, but after watching her get lost in music she has no shame in showing she loves, he knows every line.

And when the song changes, his ears perk up because he knows this song. Spencer is aware that it doesn’t quite conventionally fit in his usual music library, but nonetheless, it’s adored just the same as Beethoven or Bach.

But then the channel is changed, the force used to push the button on the radio much stronger than needed. It was quiet for a second before Spencer spoke up.

“Are you okay?” It was simply put enough that if something was wrong, which evidently there was, she wouldn’t feel interrogated about it, only comforted.

“Uh, yeah. Everything’s cool,” she said in what could be the most unbelievable faux cheerfulness Spencer had ever heard. “That song just brings up some bad memories.”

“Oh,” Spencer whispered. When it didn’t look like she was going to elaborate, he continued. “Do you want better ones?”

“What?” She took her eyes off the road to look at Spencer like what he just asked was absolutely preposterous. “What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, he changed the station on the radio back. Time was on Spencer’s side this morning, because the peak of the song was about to play once he settled back.

She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a Line Without a Hook

BABY, I AM A WRECK WHEN I’M WITHOUT YOU

Spencer loudly sang along to the words, throwing his head back as he yelled and using his hands as he sang. She looked over at him with wide eyes that slowly shrunk as her smile grew.

The ice the song caused to freeze over her mind and heart slowly melted from the warmth Spencer’s love spread. Together, they sang the rest of the song, and when it was over, she still had a smile on her face.

“You’re a terrible singer, you know.”

“Oh, I know.”

Stay up every single night staring at your phone either attempting to gather up the courage to turn these demons, these constant reminders of your loneliness into nothing more than a bad dream, or praying just for one second you could feel the warmth of equally returned love.

There are many reasons one doesn’t answer their phone.

She could be on the phone with another person, but no that’s not possible. Her hatred for speaking over the phone ensued she never answered anyone but him.

Maybe her battery died, but that would mean she didn’t charge it overnight. Spencer watched her plug it in around midnight, even after he’s told her the dangers of doing that.

His mind unfortunately went to a darker place, because what he didn’t know was that hers did too.

She had watched her phone on her dresser vibrate insistently all three times until it fell to the floor with a deafening crash. She hoped that it didn’t crack, but that hope wasn’t strong enough to get her out of bed to check. 

Spencer in his panic never expected to walk into her apartment to find everything in its place. Her car keys sat where they always did, in the bowl by the front door. The boots she usually found an excuse to wear with everything were sitting where she struggled every day to get them off by the couch, and there wasn’t a single sign of a struggle.

And then he walked into her bedroom to check one last time before he called Garcia, and while he found signs of a struggle, it wasn’t the one he was dreading.

It was the one she was.

They made eye contact the second the door opened, and upon seeing her safe, Spencer bit back a sigh of relief. There was no relief flooding his veins when the sadness in her eyes traveled to his, creating a sick equilibrium.

Spencer’s mind no longer cared about the missed phone calls, there were more important matters at hand.

“Hi, sweet girl,” was all he said as he shuffled into the room. “I got to go home early today, so I was thinking I could cook dinner for us.” Spencer had started to pick up thrown clothes off the floor, securing them in the dirty hamper. He was about to start putting books back on her bookshelf when she called out.

“Spencer.” It was only a whisper, because anything louder would’ve been too much work.

“I know, I know. My cooking skills aren’t the greatest bu-”

“Spencer,” she said again, much louder this time, even if it was just a hoarse excuse of his name.

He turned to her this time, stopping his cleaning. She had sat up only slightly to catch his eye. Regret filled her veins when they met, but upon gazing into pools of honey that held no pity, but an understanding, it melted.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of truly answering the question, Spencer held up the books that were in his hands. “Do you organize by last name?” When she just gawked at him, he continued, “We’ll do last name.”

She had no energy to fight him, he was right about the last name at least. Instead, she just watched him organize the book shelf in record speed, her mind clearing the fog that laid dangerously close to her thoughts.

When Spencer picked up the last book to be put away, she called for him again.

“Can you read that one to me?”

“Of course, sweetheart.”

Go out for coffee four times a week by yourself, always bring your notebook, never stop writing. Leave little comics and thank you notes with your tip, watch them smile as you get in your car.

She always sat alone. It was the first thing Spencer noticed about her because he too enjoyed his coffee at a table with only one chair. He would watch her every day when he got the chance to go to this cafe, so much so that his brain associated her with the place. The small mismatched couches that gave it a homey feel would always remind him of her, even if she were not sitting on them.

Who she was? Spencer did not know, but he was going to make it his mission to find out.

He always sat alone. A man like that, one with features perfectly sculpted, and an aura of comfortability so strong she didn’t have to follow the jingle of the bells on top of the door to know it was him who entered. She would look up from her notepad filled with doodles of everyone who walked by her, and comments about the day. He would always be reading, it being a new book each time. 

One day when she looked up at him, wondering what he could possibly be reading now, their eyes met. She felt herself get lost in his eyes, like running through a forest, charting unknown territory carefree with no reason to turn back. Everything about him was so soft that she feared if he came any closer to her jagged thoughts, he may find himself ripped to shreds.

For the first time in Spencer’s life, his mind seized its constant running, the relief so strong he felt his limbs follow suit. She had paralyzed him with her stare, green meeting honey, mind numb except for the begging to get up and introduce himself.

In all the times he watched her, Spencer had never seen her smile until that moment. If there was any doubt that he shouldn’t talk to her, it was quickly washed away with the realization he would stop at nothing to see it again.

“Uh hi, I’m Spencer. Spencer Reid.” When she looked up at him from where she went back to writing, his heart faltered. Her gaze was so cathartic that it leaves his brain fuzzy and his heart giddy.

Spencer never believed in a god, but if there was one, she was sitting in front of him.

“I’m Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N. It’s nice to finally meet you.” Giddy and fuzzy.

When his phone rings, Spencer swore whoever dared interrupt the moment he’s been dreaming of every night for 4 months was going to feel a wrath unparalleled. He reached into his pocket, and upon reading ‘Hotchner’ in bold letters, his face fell. 

“It’s okay. We’ll see each other again,” she reassured him before he had the chance to queue her in on his need to leave. She just knew, the same way she knew it wasn’t going to be the last time she saw his face.

“Until then.”

“Until then.” She smiled as she watched him leave, and once the door shut behind him, she returned to her notebook. The smile never left.

Talk down on yourself whenever possible; my life is shit because I deserve it, right? You must have done something real bad, it’s nearly impossible for you to cry now.

It was always the little moments that Spencer let it slide. When he brought her coffee on the off chance he found a free day, and surrounded by her appreciation for his kindness was a mumbled ‘I don’t deserve you,’ he let it go. 

The time they walked by a small boutique, and a dress in the window caught her eye. It was short, purple silk loosely hanging off the collarbone of the mannequin, only to tighten at the waist. 

“I couldn’t imagine wearing something like that,” she told Spencer before the two continued to walk. He could.

Spencer thought she would look rather beautiful in it.

And now, they sat on her purple couch while Spencer attempted to pay attention to the TV show she was binging. He kept all his comments to himself, she liked to talk about what they watched after, and he vowed that this time, Spencer would actively participate in the conversation.

But when he looked down at the girl laying in his lap, he found she was no longer following the storyline, and instead looked a million lightyears away.

“Hey.” Her attention snapped to him instantly. “Where'd you go just now?”

“I was just thinking about you,” she admitted. Looking away she continued. “About us.”

She didn’t continue with that thought, but with the sadness that filled her voice, Spencer knew there was more than what she was letting on. He also knew that if she really wanted to share her demons with him, letting them dance circles around them in the dark until the sun came up, she would release them. So instead, he tried to shoo them away.

“You know I love you, right?” If reassurance was what she needed, he would be more than happy to grant her that.

“Why?” She whispered back, so softly that Spencer could’ve missed the way the room no longer just held the two of them. She could not find a singular thing she loved about herself in that moment, so what was Spencer actually seeing?

Spencer sat with that question for a moment.

“You make me smile, even when you’re not with me. When I’m away, thinking about you is the highlight of my day. You’re beautiful, it kind of knocks me off my feet for a second, and you’re so kind, even when people don’t deserve it. You’re a light in the dark. Plus you make really good cookies, but that’s just an added bonus. Does that answer your question?”

Spencer looked back down at her, finding a smile and tears, and somewhere in his mind, he knew to make a mental note of this image.

“Yes,” she whispered before reaching up and cupping his face. “But now I really want cookies.”

Avoid your friends for weeks even though they're the only sense of consistency you have left in your life, if they really wanted to see you they'd come, but they won't.

She could feel herself slowly closing off, and no matter how much she willed for the isolation to find its way out, it still crept in at night. Without care, she let it consume her, taking more and more time during the day to dissipate to inevitably crawl back at the first sign of dark. It infiltrated her mind like a parasite, latching on to the first vulnerable thought.

Spencer did nothing wrong, he was sure of it. What he wasn’t sure of, however, was the reason for his girlfriend’s abrupt distance. He knew that in relationships, sometimes space apart from one another is important, but that knowledge wasn’t enough to stop the nagging feeling.

Something else was wrong, he was sure of it.

Alone she sat staring out the window at cars that drove by and people enjoying the day in each other’s company. The sounds of the world were not enough to drown out her mind’s racing, the thoughts so loud that she could’ve missed the knock at her front door.

It happened again when she refused to move or make a sound that could inform whoever was on the other side of her door that she was home. By the third round of knocking, she grew irritated and stormed over to give whoever interrupted her self loathing a piece of her mind.

But she opened the door and there stood Spencer, and whatever obscenities she planned on yelling were forgotten. In their place, guilt flooded through her because Spencer didn’t storm in angry, or yell at her for avoiding him for a week. Instead, he just stood there, no anger, just unapologetically Spencer.

“It’s been a week,” he said, no heavy emotions in his voice, just very matter-of-factly. “I hope it’s okay I stopped by.”

No one had ever just “stopped by” before. 

“It’s more than okay.”

Allow yourself to lose interest in the things you love, watch as you begin to take a backseat to the world around you, don't fight it. Become a secondary character in your own motion picture.

Spencer wasn’t particularly snooping as he was curious. She was in the shower, and he spotted it. Before he even had the chance to force his eyes anywhere but the leather bound journal, it was too late. His mind was already too curious for any other decision besides to read what was inside.

It was the same journal she was so engrossed in every time he looked at her in the cafe.

The first few pages were simple sketches of people he recognized as regulars from the cafe. On the fifth page, what looked to be an unfinished drawing of a man was found with a little note next to it that read ‘My art doesn’t do him justice.”

Spencer could’ve sworn he had that same haircut 7 months ago.

Moving on, he flipped to a page with a drawing of a sunflower on it, the stem growing up the side of the page with a small flower on the top, leaning over what he suspected was a poem. It read,

with striking precision, my mind is full of thoughts

only i have not a soul to voice these nags

the episodes of Self Growth and Actualization that i long to not be

my reassurance alone.

if only my being was of a sunflower’s,

to sit in a field surrounded by those who are

Just Like Me.

Spencer read it over and over, scouring his brain for the poem’s author. He was trying so hard, his brain going into overdrive that he missed the sound of the shower turning off.

She walked out of the bathroom to find Spencer sitting on her bed, journal in hand.

“What’re you doing?” She asked, although no matter how hard she tried to sound serious and authoritative, it more or so came out joyous with the giggles that followed her question.

“Who wrote this poem?” Spencer asked, finally looking up at her. There she stood in the doorway of the bathroom, bright pink fuzzy pants and a white t-shirt on, drying her hair with a towel and she has never looked more beautiful.

“Which one?” She walked over and peaked at the page Spencer landed on. “Oh, that’s mine.”

It was so nonchalant that Spencer had to repeat it over in his mind to fully grasp what she said. 

“You wrote this?”

“Mhm.”

“Do you have more?” She laughed at his eagerness, but when she looked over at his dead serious face, her smile dropped.

“You can’t be serious. Spencer I wrote those so long ago. Eventually I realized it was going nowhere and just gave up. They’re really not that special.”

“They are to me.” The couple held eye contact, a silent standoff between the two. One of them had to back out eventually, and then the thought that no one in her life had ever told her that her art, whether it was huge painting or little doodles, long written out memoirs or tiny poems, was special. 

So she threw the competition, and sat down next to him on the bed.

“There’s another one on the next two pages.”

You don't need other people to drive away your loneliness, you just needed to find a way to talk to it.

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[devildomdoofus]

I saw you said your commissions are open, if it's ok can I request a fluffy morning with the demon brothers, please? I just found your blog but I already fell in love with your writing style 😍. I hope you have a great day 🤗

Thank you so very much!! 😭 I’m over the moon that I can make you happy with my writing and I’ll GLADLY take this request ✨ I hope you have a great day as well!!

I also hope I’ve done your request justice 🥺

- DevildomDoofus

Through Morning’s Rays

Fluffy mornings with the Obey Me! Brothers

💙Lucifer:

Both of your schedules differed a generous amount. He wakes up the earliest out of the House of Lamentation and Purgatory Hall combined, to ensure everyone’s up and ready for school/work/etc.... and he is the last to go to bed.

That is, if he isn’t dog tired by the time he’s finished doing his last rounds of security checks and sending any remaining night owls to their rooms to keep their schedules in check, and collapses at his desk while finalizing reports.

You, on the other hand, have a steady schedule due to your obligations to your school (and job, if you worked).

To say that you two have a hard time spending any amount of quality time together is an understatement

Please forgive him, he is a lone father and he is trying his best

When he’s up early to get a head start in working to the bone, as usual and doesn’t have much time to share the fleeting, morning hours with you, he’ll gingerly place a kiss to the top of your head and shift the blankets from your late night tossing and turning, back to their place over your shoulders and covers the rest of your body. He’ll leave a little note by the bedside table that wishes you a wonderful day and promises that he’ll meet with you shortly to make up for lost time.

On the rare occasions that he manages to be able to share mornings with you, it is like a gift from the celestial realm to you both in which afterwards, the two of you are like completely different people, beaming with sunshine and happiness as your batteries have been recharged.

In those rare moments, he’ll slide to your side of the bed, oh so carefully snake his arm around you and tugs you gently into his embrace as he places kisses all atop your head. When you finally open your eyes and face him, he’ll run his hand up the length of your silhouette to your face, cupping it, rub his thumb over your cheek and smile lazily. “Good morning, lamb.” He whispers, trying to disguise the grogginess in his voice. Then, he leans down to press his lips against yours in a way that makes you feel like he’s been starving for you for months on end, only to now get what he’s craved and yet it’s not enough.

In this moment, nothing in all of the realms matters to him more than you. Just you and you alone.

💛Mammon:

You spent many, many, MANY mornings with him and they were some of your favorite memories since you first came to the Devildom. For him.... well, maybe not at first since you were kind of a chore. But the was before you two became so close.

The only problem was that neither of you were morning people, especially if either of you had responsibilities that day like school or work. To deal with such a thing, the two of you made a deal where each of you took turns being the one to help wake the other.

There were mornings where he woke you up with a heavy pillow to the torso and it ended up in you two being late for school due to an epic pillow fight that neither of you wanted to lose.

Other mornings, you woke him up by jumping and flopping around next to him on the bed, belting a song that was the favorite of the pair of you, and he tackles you back down to the bed to deliver you a piping hot plate of a tickle fight

and then there were THOSE mornings.

These mornings, when the two of you just happened to wake around the same time, he’d smile sleepily, yank you closer, and place a kiss on your forehead. “Mornin’, my lil’ human.”

UGH, that gravely, morning voice would be the bittersweet death of you.

While having a few hours to spare, you would lay there in the semidarkness, whispering sweet everythings to each other, exchanging kisses and joke ensued laughter, and simply enjoying each other’s company while entangled in a comfy, cozy embrace.

🧡Leviathan:

It’s the same sort of situation as with Mammon; neither of you were really morning people. But with you two, it was because it came with the terms and conditions of being like minded nerds (as a fellow ‘nerd,’ I mean that term in the best way possible and as a compliment) in which the endgame boss had to be defeated, or that one episode simply could not be missed, or your favorite celebrity/idol was going live and you were not about to be absent for it. Many evenings were spent indulging in both of your favorite hobbies, well into the latest hours of the night and early morning, when you should’ve been sleeping instead.

So of course, mornings were INCREDIBLY ROUGH for the two of you.

In the beginning and a majority of the time, you were the one to wake him up. I hope you can forgive him, though, because almost all of his energy is spent drowning out his negative thoughts and the outside judgement from his own brothers, haters, and toxic fans alike via his hobbies and he doesn’t quite have enough energy to take care of himself, including waking up on time for school or other responsibilities/obligations to avoid getting an ass-chewing from Lucifer... much less waking up on time and then having to wake YOU up.

You had to show him the way, in a sense. You’re his motivation and safety net. Where you go, and ensure his ‘safety’ he delightfully follows. Ergo, you had to be the alarm clock for him, for a while, to be shown that you truly care about him and it’s not all just some exasperating, ridiculously elaborate and heart shattering prank.

Your method of ‘raising the dead’ was to gently comb your hand through his hair while softly beckoning him from his dream world with your sweetest voice to ‘the land of the living.’ His eyes would flutter open and as soon as he saw you with that heartwarming smile, his face would turn a deep crimson and he’d smile back, reaching a hand up to place it over top of yours, somewhat nuzzling into it. “Good morning, my human Henry.” His shy, quiet, gravely voice could melt lava.

Through this method of yours, he no longer woke with animosity for the normie world but was rather hopeful and optimistic, feeling as if nothing could bring him down. Not even his brothers’ insults.

Eventually, he got the hang of it, and he was the one waking YOU up and he did so as sweetly as you had done. He’d place his hand on your cheek, rub his thumb over it, and gingerly place a multitude of kisses atop your head as he whispered your name until you woke.

Some mornings when he was feeling extra giddy, he would place a little speaker near where you had fallen asleep and quietly play your favorite song as he sang along and took hold of your hands to swing them gently to the beat. He saw it once in an anime episode and was hoping it would award him the same giggles the love interest gave the protagonist.

Fortunately for him, it always did.

💚Satan:

Being one of the more mature and responsible brothers, he rarely ever slept in. It’s just in his nature to be an early bird to catch the early worm.. mostly to get it over with so he could get back to doing what he loved most; reading in comfort. Even still, his schedule matched with yours almost perfectly, and that’s due to the fact that, similar to Leviathan, you two were likeminded.

You had the same interests and hobbies so of course, the pair of you grew very close, very quickly. You first linked up for study sessions because celestial realm knows that school in the Devildom was VASTLY different than human world schools, then book club meetings for when you got a little more comfortable with each other’s presence, then as you became even closer, you just decided to do the same things at the same time as it killed two birds with one stone; you got to do what you enjoyed with the person you enjoyed the most.

Mornings to you two were fairly simple and honestly, quite enjoyable with the other being there when you woke.

One morning, Satan took the first step and woke you to the pleasant sound of one of your favorite records echoing from an antique gramophone while placing a tray of your favorite breakfast foods next to the bed. He then leant down, took your hand into his, and kissed from your knuckles, all the way up to your shoulder, and then planting one final, light kiss to your cheek. “My darling MC, it is time to come back to me. Your dreams have had you long enough.”

From then on, you took turns in trying to wake the other in the most romantic ways possible. From your favorite flower’s petals scattering the bed, to his favorite audio books reading him awake. There was nothing that you two wouldn’t do in order to guarantee that the other woke to nothing less than the world on a silver and golden platter.

He was the envy of his brothers especially Mammon, getting to spend so much time with you and having you smile as brightly as you did with him.

💖Asmodeus:

Surprisingly, he’s another early riser. Though when you really think about it, it isn’t quite that surprising, considering he has a strict self-care routine that CANNOT be broken, lest he wishes to end up with a pimple or even worse... a wrinkle! Which neither are bad if you have them, it’s just for Asmo’s personal tastes for his own appearance, he prefers to have none of them.

Because he cares for you so much, he forces sternly asks that you have the same schedule as he does so he can give you the same love and care as he gives himself. He wants you to look and feel as wonderful as who you are on the inside... but he also loves it when you absolutely SHINE.

Please don’t be mistaken, he doesn’t think you’re ugly or unattractive or any other negative thoughts you might have about yourself, in the least. Not at ALL. He simply wishes to amplify what wonderful assets you already have (to your own tastes, of course) because of that oh so magnificent way you carry yourself when you feel your best.

Want to as pretty as a sunset? He’s got you covered. Want to be as handsome as... well, him? You’re covered there too. Want a little mix of any and everything? Oh please, give him a challenge! Whatever look you wish for, he’s there to help you make it happen.

You just have to take his hand and follow his lead. And his lead requires that you be ‘up and at ‘em’ early enough to go through the self-care routine (that he handpicked things for, according to you and your body’s needs), and eat the proper foods so your body and mind can handle the weight of being the most stunning thing to walk the face of any of the realms... besides him, of course. Also, all of this has to happen before school begins.

Unfortunately, that’s pretty early. There’s a LOT of self-care to-do’s that you two have to go through to ensure maximum amplification.

But because he knows that this can be rather overwhelming and a bit stressful to keep up with all of the time (and stress causes physical and mental harm), he’s always sure to make your mornings as pleasant and stress-free as possible.

He lights one of your favorite candles or incenses, and/or turns one of your favorite slower/softer songs on then climbs into bed and over top of you to begin his trails of kisses from the top of your head, down your face, neck and chest, further down your precious tummy, and stops right at your hips to go back up your body and start again. All of this on repeat as he coos and whispers your name, his soothing voice leading you from your dreams to the waking world. When your eyes meet his, he hums “ahh, my dear, you’ve returned to me.” He moves to kiss your lips as sweetly as he speaks.

He then slips his arms underneath you and lifts you up, as if you were one of Lucifer’s feathers, to carry you bridal style into the bathroom. He’ll then set you down and slowly undress you, taking as much time as you need him to, before helping you into the tub and giving you the gentlest of washes you’ve had since before you can even remember.

He’s the most soothing alarm that’s ever existed.

❤️Beelzebub:

Not really an early riser but he’s also not one to sleep in, either. To sleep in means to miss breakfast, and to miss breakfast is a death sentence for himself and anyone in the way of his next meal.

It also means that he doesn’t get to spend his mornings or share breakfast with you. Another death sentence but this one’s for his heart. Even though he might not say it, being that putting his thoughts and feelings into words is a bit harder than his more comfortable/natural way of simply showing you through his actions, he loves you very, very, VERY much.

This man cares so fucking much for you, he’d give up eating for the rest of his life if it meant you got to have a crumb. But he hopes it doesn’t have to come to that.

The way that Beel shows you that he cares is through food. Eating with you, cooking with you, watching you eat to be sure that you’re getting enough food in your own body, taking his time to eat his food because, now, he’s too busy having wonderful conversations with you, and every and anything in between.

One of his favorite ways is breakfast in bed. You had done it once for him before on one of your anniversaries and ever since then, he’s done it for you in return whenever he got the chance.

On mornings that he had waken up early enough, he’d quietly get up and tiptoe to the kitchen to make both of you a delicious breakfast. If Belphegor was up, on the rarest of rare occasions that he was, he’ll make a little something for him too. He’d put together your favorite foods and beverage while doing the same for himself, draw a cute little heart on a small post-it note and placing it on your side of the tray, tip-toe back up to the room and sets it on the nightstand beside the bed, then moves in close to you to start waking you up. He leans in close and peppers your face in little kisses before moving a little lower to your neck and giving his signature, gentle bite. “MC, honey, wake up. I’ve brought you breakfast.”

Nine times out of ten, you wake up in an instant. When you’ve slept heavily during the night and have a harder time waking up, he plops down onto you gently of course as to not squish you and groans in your ear, nibbling them to remind you of who you’re keeping waiting. “MCCC, pleeeease, I’m hungry. Don’t make me eat yours.”

The warning never fails.

As you two chow down, his dimpled smile never leaves his face nor his eyes on you as he watches you enjoy another morning filled with your favorite things: Beel and Beel’s signature breakfast.

💜Belphegor:

Morning? What the hell is a morning?

Yeah, yeah, he knows what a morning is. He’s had to get up for them too many fucking times to count in order to get to school on time.. or at least try. His attendance is, more or less, nonexistent. He’s just not a morning person.

at ALL.

WHAT. SO. EVER.

The one thing ‘Mr. Sandman’ doesn’t do is wake up or get woken up if the awakener values their life

However... if it is you, his favorite walking and talking pillow, he can’t be that pissed about it. It’s a little more of a smooth transition from being asleep to being awake when you’re the one bringing him there.

So, yes, you’re the one waking him up and it’s never the other way around, but you knew this would be your lot in life the closer you had gotten to him.

And yet, whenever you tried to wake him, he’d simply wrap his arm over you and drag you back down onto the bed as he rolls on top of you, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck. “No.” he’d groan in his gravelly morning voice.

What? What did he mean ‘no’ ?! It’s time to get up!!

You’d try your best to to wiggle free but Belphegor is far more stronger than he looks and keeps you pinned down in place. Well... at least it’s comfy.

Wait no, this is his way of coercing you to go back to sleep with him!

Before you can try something else, he plants warm and slow kisses up and down your neck and nibbles at the skin just beneath your ear while whispering in a low tone, “why don’t we just stay here and do something better than go to school?”

Your face heats up and body tenses underneath him. It was not uncommon for him to try this tactic, especially in the morning, so you were fairly used to it but sometimes... sometimes it just does something to you and you’re frozen in place with nothing but his voice to lull you wherever it pleased. Maybe it came with being the Avatar of Sloth? He moves up onto his elbows to deliver his final attack that was his signature, teasing smile in order for him to fully keep you here, in bed, with him and simply enjoy each other’s company while you slept.

Unfortunately for him, this was his mistake and you gained yourself a foothold in pushing him off of you. Getting up from the bed, you look back at him as you straighten your clothes out and fix your hair, saying “Breakfast is in ten minutes,” with a stern voice. You take notice of this and try to sweeten it up to truly convince him. “Be there, won’t you?” you demand more than request, with a signature smile of your very own.

He brings his dropped jaw back up from when you were able to knock him off, and shakes his head as he lightly chuckles. “Whatever you want, MC.” Before you completely walk out of the door, he calls after you. “You owe me!”

You peak back in just enough for him to hear you as you’re closing the door. “No, you owe me.”