#it is a Nightmare it is Supposed to be upsetting why am i worried! (and now im worried that it's just. weak. and not that upsetting at all)

[apocalypticdemon]

i hope that someday i'll be able to write without second-guessing whether or not the thing i'm trying to write is too much

[inkedbybarnes]

anything

bucky barnes x fem!reader

summary: bucky is determined to take care of you while you're sick.

word count: 1.6k+

warnings: mentions of insecurities, mentions of illnesses (but vaguely described), fluffy ahh shit bc why not, usage of pet names such as baby and doll. bucky being stubbornly sweet (it is indeed, a warning), lowercase writing.

i've been sick the past few days hence the creation of this fic. idk why my mood drops when i'm sick... once again, this is too fluffy even for my own good but i warned you and you're reading it still anyway. 🤨 haha jk, i hope you enjoy this one! 🩷

dividers by @cafekitsune!

reblogs, comments, and likes are highly appreciated! thank you. ♡

“can you please let me in, baby?"

that was the fifth time bucky had asked the same question, never giving up on his mission to take care of you after learning from jarvis – out of all people... or robots? – that you were sick.

“bucky, i promise, i'm fine. stop trying to break the door,” you answered, your clogged nose not helping as you sounded horrible even with a concrete wall separating you from him. “go and tell steve that you're joining the mission. you can't withdraw yourself just because i'm—achoo!”

your nose began to leak, and you were now distracted with the need to find the tissue box that used to be on your bed. you didn't hear the door clicking open as well as the heavy footsteps of a certain soldier walking towards you.

“just because you're what? sick?”

you jumped, feeling the edge of the bed sink with his weight. you quickly grabbed the tissue box that was mysteriously thrown under the bed before facing bucky with the duvet covering most of your body.

“how did you open the door?”

bucky shrugged. “i broke the doorknob. you didn't say anything about breaking doorknobs.”

you sighed, not winning this argument with bucky. “you shouldn't be here, bucky. you're supposed to be preparing for a mission tomorrow, not babysitting me!”

“and let you go through this on your own? tough chance, doll. i'm your boyfriend for fuck's sake, and don't tell me that you're worried about getting me sick because we both know i'm immune," he argued, reaching out and pulling the blanket down enough to reveal your face. “are you really upset that i want to take care of you? you should be demanding things from me, baby. instead you've been hiding from me.”

“because i don't need anything, bucky. i can handle myself just fine." you huffed, knowing you wanted his attention and care so badly. remembering your face was exposed, you felt insecure again. you dragged the cover back up and turned away. “i also don't want you to see me like this.”

“like what?"

“like a mess," you muttered underneath the sheets. “you've never seen me like this before, and i swear i am the worst when i'm sick. you don't have to see me like this, okay? i don't want you to.”

you felt silly. it was completely normal to get sick, but you hated how extreme your body would act out whenever an illness would attack you. you'd always sound and look like you were fighting a battle in hell alone. the way your mind would take an entire flip and drag you to your lowest point didn't help either. so, not only were you feeling physically horrible, you were also struggling mentally.

“a mess? what mess?” he asked, lifting the cover to join you underneath it which caught you off guard. you were entirely exposed to his eyes now. “there's my girl. where's the mess that you're talking about, huh?”

with the little amount of energy left in you, you brought your hands up to cover your face. he could see how much of a mess you were now, far from the dream you've painted since the day you dated him. now, you were nothing but a nightmare of your reality.

“don't you dare hide from me. i haven't seen you all day and it's driving me insane," he complained, pulling your hands away from yourself. he brought his thumb to your teary eyes, wiping the tears away before they could fall. “i can't believe you're hiding from me just because you think i can't handle seeing you sick. what did you think i'd do once i saw you like this?”

you sniffed, hesitation holding you back from telling him the truth. it's only been three months since you've started dating bucky, and you were still in that stage where you'd constantly try impress him.

you weren't faking yourself, no. however, you still did your best to only show your good side and tuck away your insecurities. unfortunately, you had to get sick too soon and have to risk bucky seeing you this way.

“you thought i'd leave you? won't like you anymore? get turned off or something?”

you nodded, knowing that was exactly what went through your head and a bit pissed that he was able to read your mind without actually having the power to do so.

bucky's eyes softened at your confession, letting out a soft sigh as he saw how badly you were beating yourself up.

“if it's because of how you look right now, then it's true. you do look different," he answered, your chest tightening. “your eyes lost their glow, you're frowning more often, your eyes are all puffy, you are definitely grumpier than usual, your lips are dry and chapped from—”

“okay, i get it, bucky! you don't have to rub it in my fa—”

“but i won't be doing whatever is on your mind. you're sick, doll. it'll affect you. it's normal. hell, i look even worse when i used to get sick, but you? you still look so fucking lovely." he held your face gently, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. “even then, i don't give a fuck on how messy you can get. i'm your boyfriend. i should be taking care of you, helping you feel better, and bringing back the glow in your eyes. please, baby. let me take care of you.”

this time, you were looking back at him. "you mean it?"

"of course I mean it," he replied softly, his voice filled with sincerity. "i love you, doll. i don't care how you look like right now. you could look like a swamp monster and be sick as a dog, and i would still think that you are the most beautiful woman for me."

you giggled softly, his words filling you with warmth and reassurance. you felt so lucky to have a man who truly loved you and handled your insecurities with such understanding and care, and even sillier for thinking he'd leave you for such reasons.

“thank you. that really made me feel better," you told him, your arms slowly creeping forward to hold him. “i'm sorry for hiding. i was just scared to turn you off or anything.”

“are you kidding? i'm trying my best not to hold you down and kiss you all over. i haven't even hugged you for a day,” bucky said, a pout on the verge of forming on his face.

“it hasn't even been a day, bucky. now, who's dramatic?" you said, rolling your eyes playfully. “and you're supposed to be on a mission tomorrow! are you really not going?”

“when i could be here taking care of you?” he asked, as if the answer was already obvious. “the others can handle it. my main priority is to do anything you want and make you feel better.”

“anything?”

he smiled, leaning down to let your lips meet softly. "anything."

( a lil bonus < 3 )

“what is that smell?”

sam, steve, and natasha entered the compound after a quick briefing for their mission tomorrow. they joined tony and clint who were having a casual conversation in the living room about the best burrito in town.

the kitchen was an open space, the aroma of whatever bucky was cooking spreading all around the nearby rooms.

sam didn't hesitate to come closer and inspect the kitchen, finding the entire counter lined up with various spices and plates that bucky filled with his dishes.

“what's the occasion? did i miss something?" sam asked, grabbing a fork to take a little taste until bucky slapped his hand away. "ow! what was that for?"

"hands off." bucky warned, frowning at sam. “that's not for you, wilson."

“not even a nibble? come on, man. it smells amazing!”

their usual bickering caught the attention of the other avengers, immediately joining them in the kitchen which annoyed bucky even more when he saw them eyeing the food he made.

"before any of you try to ask, no. this is not for any of you."

"who's it even for?" natasha asked, the least interested to have a taste, but was curious either way.

bucky answered with your name. "she's sick."

"what? since when?" clint asked, worry flashing across his face. "can we do anything?"

bucky glanced up before hesitantly answering. "well.. she did say she wanted to watch a movie after eating."

clint snapped his fingers and smiled. "i'm on it."

"i'll get jarvis to check on her vitals every hour and create a diagnosis," tony said, already tapping on his smart watch. "assuming she wouldn't be too comfortable letting the entire team know what's going on with her body, i'll just let you receive the updates. just update me with what you can, yeah?"

"i'll talk to fury and let you both have a week free from work," steve offered. "she needs the rest and she needs you."

"oh, i'll handle fury. he can't say no to his favourite," natasha said with a smug smile. "tell her i'll bring her all her favourite snacks once we're back from our mission, and that she better be back to full health so we can go out together."

bucky nodded, chest warming with the genuine concern they shared. he was excited to let you know how loved and deserving of all this you were.

if you have any requests for bucky, send them my way! 💌

[solarhysm]

THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE | PARK JIMIN

one shot

> summary: you lost the love of your life, but you will forever be his.

> pairing: jimin x reader (+taehyung)

> genre: angst

> warnings: death, mention of blood, grief, accident, swearing (i'm not good with warning)

> word count: 2k

read it with 'The Night We Met' by Lord Huron xx

*french writer, i apologize in advance for my awful english!

You giggle, pushing him away when his fingers tickle your bare ribs. A soft smile spreads across his lips as he props himself up on his shoulder to look at you.

“What?” you ask softly, using your arm as a pillow, your eyes never leaving his.

“How long do you think we’ll live together?” he whispers, leaning in to nuzzle his nose against your cheek.

“I don’t know. We’re in our twenties. Maybe fifty more years,” you reply, tracing the plump curve of his lips with your thumb.

Jimin leans his face into your palm, closing his eyes slowly. You’ve been together for almost a decade now. You met him at a party when you were twenty, and now you’re almost thirty. You’ve built a life together and even plan to have a baby in a few years.

“Nah, I want us to live until we’re over a hundred years old,” he grins, and you huff playfully.

“People that age don’t even remember their own names,” you laugh, mirroring his position.

You’re both lying in bed, still riding the high of the orgasm you had a few minutes ago. Pillow talk is your favorite part—both of you could spend hours lying on the mattress, talking about everything. Jimin loves to touch you; his hands are never far from your skin during these moments.

“I’ll remember yours,” he adds sincerely. Your eyes soften at his words, and you lean in to kiss his lips. He slowly deepens the kiss, making you smile against his mouth as he rolls on top of you.

Adoration. That’s what you feel for this man. He is the love of your life.

Was. He was the love of your life.

Your eyes never leave the metal coffin as it disappears into the incinerator. Your brain can’t process that he’s really gone. Your shaky hands tighten around the picture frame with his smiling face. How are you supposed to live without him now? How are you supposed to breathe without your lungs?

From the moment you got the call until now, you’ve dissociated. It’s just a bad dream—a nightmare. Any moment now, you’ll wake up and he’ll be beside you, comforting you in his arms, pulling you against his chest so you can find refuge in his warmth.

Swallowing hard, you remain standing in front of the glass wall. Half of the people have already left. Most of them didn’t know him the way you did. His mother is sitting on the bench behind you, silently sobbing. You wish you could comfort her, but Jimin was the one who was good at that—drying people’s tears and making them feel better. It was a gift he had. You wish you could enjoy that warmth it right now. But no. He’s in there, burning like a fucking steak on a grill.

What now? How are you supposed to learn to live without him? He’s everywhere in the house you bought together. His scent, his toothbrush on the sink, his side of the bed. His clothes are still on the couch, where you repeatedly told him to put them in the laundry basket. You always complained about it. Now, all you want is to see him throw them there after a long day at work.

“Are you okay?” you hear Taehyung ask next to you, his hand resting on the small of your back.

Am I, Taehyung? you want to snap, but no words come out. You know he’s just worried—he’s grieving too. He lost his best friend.

“Let’s go eat something,” he says softly, but you don’t move. You know you should. Everyone is in the next room, eating, drinking, talking. You hate it. Why aren’t they mourning him? Why are they all getting drunk while he’s in there?

But you know it would be disrespectful not to join them. Jimin would be upset if you stayed here alone, and his friends know that too. You turn to look at them, all waiting for you, while half the people here have already gone to the ‘goodbye gathering.’ His six closest friends close the distance between you.

And when you swore you weren’t going to cry again, they wrap you in a group hug. The tears fall uncontrollably as you break down into a crying mess. You hate them for it. You hate the world for taking away the only good thing you ever had. They hold you until your sobs fade.

“Come on, Y/N,” Hobi whispers when they step back. You wipe your wet cheeks and take a deep breath before nodding.

The boys sit you down at a table away from the others. They know you didn’t want to socialize—not when most people here didn’t even know his favorite food or how his laugh could light up a whole room.

“He didn’t even know half of these people,” Yoongi mutters, like he’s reading your mind. “Why are they even here?”

“They’re his parents’ close friends... and a few people he met before,” Namjoon explains as he pours you a glass of water.

“I didn’t know this was his parents’ funeral,” Yoongi retorts, rolling his eyes. Your lips twitch into a slight smile. You’re grateful for Yoongi’s sharp tongue.

You were against inviting so many people. You told his mother when she made the list. But she yelled at you, insisting it was her son’s funeral and she knew best. You stayed silent, too exhausted to argue. Jimin has…had only a few close people, and they’re all here, sitting with you.

“We’ll still be here, you know,” Namjoon says, placing his hand over yours and squeezing it gently. “For you.”

“I’m okay,” you reply quietly, your eyes falling to the glass of water in front of you.

Taehyung watches you, biting the inside of his cheek. You know they’re all worried that you might do something drastic. Maybe they’re not wrong. That’s why Taehyung suggested staying at your place a few days ago. It’s hard for him too, but you were half of Jimin’s soul. He can’t imagine what’s going on in your head.

You take a deep breath and wipe your sweaty hands on the yellow dress you’re wearing. It was Jimin’s favorite. You bought it online in a different color, but it arrived in this horrible yellow. Still, he made you try it on, and he loved it. You rarely wore it, only sometimes to make him smile, though he always complimented you for no reason.

It was hard to get out of bed today, let alone shower. When you saw that awful yellow dress, you started sobbing. You should have worn it more often. Now, wearing it helps you feel like he’s with you, in some way. It comforts you to think that he’d like the gesture—to see you one last time in his favorite dress.

You stayed longer after everyone else had gone. Taehyung sat beside you in silence. Your eyes couldn’t leave the picture surrounded by flowers. That’s all he is now—a frame. You close your eyes and exhale softly.

“Hi,” someone says, making you frown as you look up from your drink.

“Hi,” you reply to the guy smiling at you.

He looks nice. His hair is bleached, but somehow the blonde color suits him. The mysterious man wets his plump lips before sitting next to you.

“I’m Jimin,” he says with a smile, offering his hand. You shake it.

“Y/N.”

“I’m not a creep, I swear,” Jimin defends himself immediately, making you laugh. “I just… shit, I’m not good at this. I saw you sitting alone.”

“And you pity me because I look pathetic by myself?” you joke, and he shakes his head, eyes wide.

“No! I—I thought you were beautiful and I worked up all the courage I had to come talk to you. I didn’t want to miss my chance and regret it later,” he says, and you press your lips together, trying not to smile. “But if I’m bothering you, I’ll leave. I swear.”

“You’re not,” you reply, tilting your head toward him. It’s hard to believe someone like him would be interested in someone as boring as you.

“Awesome,” Jimin grins, turning more toward you. “What’s your poison? I’m paying.”

“Y/N?” Taehyung’s voice pulls you back to the present as you blink a few times before looking at him. “They’re closing. Let’s go home. You must be tired.”

Your eyes drift to Jimin’s picture for a few seconds. You take a deep breath and stand up. Taehyung walks over to the frame and picks it up. He offers you his arm as you step outside. It’s already dark. And cold. But you’re not surprised—it’s November. How many more Novembers will pass before the pain numbs, like your frozen fingers?

two months later

“Are you sure?” your friend asks, frowning as you stare at the streetlight surrounded by bouquets of flowers and notes through the car window.

“I need to,” you reply to Taehyung, and he nods, turning off the engine while you clutch your flowers to your chest.

It’s snowing outside. You hear the crunch of snow under your boots with every step you take. It’s been two and a half months since that day. Your bottom lip trembles as your eyes land on a picture of him with your mutual friends.

You were on the phone with him that night. He was telling you he was almost home, that he couldn’t wait to see you. He didn’t see the car. The drunk driver didn’t see him either. He left Jimin bleeding on the ground. How long was he there, alone? How long did he wait before someone found him? Why didn’t you stay on the phone with him?

You place the bouquet in the snow, biting the inside of your cheek. It’s still so fresh. Sometimes you wake up at night and call for him, like he just went to get a glass of water. But no one appears in the doorway. Just you, alone in the dark.

“Selfish,” you whisper, smiling softly as your fingers trace his face in the picture, the way they used to trace his lips. “You said we’d live until we turned a hundred.”

Taehyung stands behind you, pinching his lips together to keep from sobbing. He wants to stay strong for you, but this place makes him break down. He hides his face in his arm, but you can still hear him. You don’t turn to look. You know you’ll cry too.

And four more winters passed before you felt the warmth of spring. It was unexpected—it just happened. Two broken hearts coming together, fixing each other’s pieces. Jimin’s mother hated you for moving on from her son with his best friend. But Taehyung was the shoulder you cried on, and you were his. It was never the plan for either of you. He never saw you like that when you were with Jimin, and you never imagined him as a love interest. It took almost five years.

“I dreamed about him last night,” Taehyung says, and you freeze, the water still running, a dirty plate in your hand. He doesn’t need to say the name—you know. Jimin’s picture hangs in your living room, along with other memories of him around the house.

“Did he kick your ass?” you reply softly as you continue washing the dishes. Taehyung walks over, leaning his hip against the counter. He pushes a strand of hair behind your ear and stares at you.

“He said he would if I ever made you cry,” he replies, making you laugh. That sounds like him. “I told him he’s the one who made you cry the most, and he punched me.”

“You deserved that one.”

“Right. He said he’s glad it’s me and not some asshole… He said that you better live until you’re a hundred years old. I woke up and cried,” Taehyung adds, his voice shaky. You turn to him, your breath catching in your throat.

Wiping your hands on your jeans, you wrap your arms around his waist and hug him. Taehyung sighs softly, kissing the top of your head, his arms holding you close. You don’t really believe in things like this, but the way he described the dream… you know it’s his last goodbye.

Alright. I wrote it two days ago, i wanted it to be longer but i think i cried enough while writing it. It's my first one shot, but don't worry, i'll make happier stories in the future haha. tell me what you think about it, i can't wait to read your reactions!!

[mmikmmik]

When Mirabelle chews Siffrin out in Act 5, she actually does correctly touch on a huge issue in their relationship that's prominent from at least Act 3 and arguably present before the loops.

From the ISAT script project (emphasis mine):

Mirabelle: Is something wrong, Siffrin? Did something happen? Did you have a nightmare or something? Siffrin: No, of course not. Mirabelle: Then what happened, Siffrin! Because clearly something did happen!!! Otherwise, i-if nothing happened, I'll have to accept the fact that I was wrong about you!!! Siffrin: (Huh…?) Wrong about me…? Mirabelle: . . . Mirabelle: You always tease me, Siffrin. And it's fine. Everybody does. I guess I have the kind of personality where it's easy to want to tease me. But I know people don't mean it. It's how-- It's how some people make friends. And I thought it was the same for you. I thought, "It's okay, they don't mean it, it's how they are. They tease me, but they're never mean. And Siffrin never really hurts me." "Would never really hurt me." Mirabelle: . . . Mirabelle: But now you have, Siffrin! Thinking I should be alone… Telling me I should be alone… Who do you think you are, to say this to me? Acting like-- Like you know better than me!!! Always soooo mysterious, Siffrin, always talking as if you're better than me! As if you know me!!! But you don't, Siffrin!!! You're just as lost and useless as I am!!! So stop!!! Talking!!! As if you know me!!!!!!

I think it's easy to miss because so much of what Mirabelle says is off base. Because Siffrin insists "no, I really did just decide to suddenly undermine your self-confidence and trust in me out of nowhere for no reason, on the day before we're supposed to fight the King together", Mirabelle goes off that premise and rants that they must never have really cared about her or their mission. Obviously untrue. I think even Mirabelle's dialogue here is hinting that she knows on some level that this is one of her deep insecurities coming to the surface and it makes more sense if something did actually happen that Siffrin is refusing to explain.

But it is true that Siffrin acts superior sometimes. At the start of Act 3, Mirabelle sees him freaking out after his first meeting with Euphrasie and tries to comfort him. She sees through multiple attempts to laugh it off or deflect her (i.e., lie to her); she coaxes them to talk to her, she begs them to talk to her, and finally gently but seriously tells them that the group needs to trust each other and share their worries. And Siffrin's take-away from that last tactic is... "[I] know why she's asking [me] this. Poor Mirabelle can't just say it, so [I]'ll have to do it for her..." and asks Mirabelle what she needs help with, to Mirabelle's visible and uncharacteristic frustration. What condescension! Siffrin was being way nicer about it when he was in a better mental space, but he was basically doing the same thing Mirabelle correctly accuses him of doing in Act 5.

To be fair to Siffrin, they seem genuinely confused in Act 3 when Mira is trying to convince them to share with her, so I think it's more about them being repressed and inexperienced with friendship than an ego thing. But I do think ego is part of it, if only in an "I like myself better when I'm making Mirabelle happy" kind of way. Whatever's going on internally, the bottom line is that Siffrin is not treating Mirabelle respectfully as his adult peer and friend.

Of course Act 5 Mira doesn't remember that Act 3 conversation, so given how she described the behavior, I'm guessing Siffrin has done this sort of thing occasionally before the events of the game. And I think you can see some similar behavior in earlier acts. Siffrin worries a lot about saying things that might have upset or embarrassed Mirabelle, and a lot of their non-plot-related dialogue variations I can think of are trying to be more encouraging towards her. That's more of a grey area, though - I'm not sure I disagree with him doing stuff like faking enthusiasm for the sleepover idea or calling her plant cute. It's kind of a red flag in the context of everything else, but I can't really blame him for it. Even if these issues were fully present before the loops, I think Siffrin and Mirabelle could have worked past them without having to have a really awful fight like that, if Siffrin wasn't falling apart so badly. I really, really like their resolution to be "feelings buddies" as a conclusion to this character arc - yeah! opening up! mutual trust and reassurance! willingness to be vulnerable with each other! Good for them!

[wsleysworld]

I’m Here, I Promise - Fred Weasley

Paring: Fred Weasley x F!reader

Summary: Fifth year. After a detention, Fred comforts you.

Warnings: Bitch!Umbridge, fluff fluff fluff 

Word count: 1.2k

AN: hii, this is my first Fred Weasley fanfiction, I hope you like it!!

Defence against the dark arts with Umbridge. Ugh.

You were on your way for your next class with Fred Weasley, George Weasley and Lee Jordan, you were about to suffer another class with Umbridge. This year was like living a nightmare, it wasn’t Hogwarts anymore, it wasn’t your safe place. You couldn’t even make any pranks with the Weasley twins, whatever you three were doing, she was there to stop you. So, classes? Hell.

You’ve been friends with the Weasley twins since the first day they entered this school, you three were alike, always there to help people, and to make them laugh. George was your best friend, he knew how to make you laugh. And Fred, your relationship with him was different, you both have been flirting for a few months now, but nothing happened. You couldn’t lose him, he was your safe place.

You entered the class and sat next to Fred at the back of the class. You just wanted to ignore Umbridge as much as you could.

George sat next to Lee just in front of you, waiting for the class to begin.

‘’I wish I could just go.’’ You sighed and whispered.

Fred was about to say something, but Umbridge entered the class at the same moment. As she walked to her desk, she looked at everyone to see if they were using their wand or anything related to magic. ‘’That’s rubbish.’’ You heard Fred and George said that at the same time.

Umbridge didn’t react at this, she was kind of used to it, to be honest. The class was getting more and more boring, you couldn’t even use your wand, you never learned how to defend yourself. What was the point of this class then?

A few minutes later, you decided to have fun with Fred, you took out your wand that was in your pocket and were about to cast a spell, when you saw Umbridge approaching to your desk. You tried to hide your wand discreetly, when you heard her voice. Shit

‘’Miss Y/L/N, what do you think you’re doing?’’

‘’Nothing, professor.’’ You answered as if nothing happened.

‘’You were about to use your wand, am I right?’’

‘’No.’’ You could feel that everyone was looking at you.

‘’LIAR.’’ She yelled with such a high voice. ‘’You’ll see me at the end of the class and- ‘’

‘’No, I won’t. We can’t even use our wand in your class, so how are we supposed to protect ourselves? This is supposed to be Defence Against the Dark.’’

‘’I am the professor, this is my class, and you’re the student.’’

‘’I DON’T CARE.’’ You felt that Fred was trying to calm you but you were too upset. ‘’I can’t respect you anym-‘’

‘’ENOUGH!’’ you jumped as she yelled and approached you. ‘’Detention in 30 minutes, Miss Y/L/N.’’ You could feel a tear falling down your cheek and whipped it before Fred could see it. ‘’You okay?’’ Fred whispered and you smiled.

It was finally the end of the class, you tried so hard not to show any emotions during the rest of the class, you could see that the Weasley twins were worried about you and what was going to happen.

‘’Are you gonna be okay, Y/N?’’ George asked and you sighed.

‘’Don’t have a choice. See you guys later.’’

-

You were now with Umbridge, she asked you to write a few times : I must respect my professor.

‘’How many times, professor?’’ you sighed.

‘’You’ll know when to stop.’’ At first sight, you didn’t understand why she said that, but when you started writing, you did. You felt your left hand burning and you realized your writing was now scarred in your skin. Once you finished writing the sentence, you looked at your hand again, and looked at Umbridge. ‘’I hope you understand,’’ She said.

‘’Get out of here now, Miss Y/L/N.’’

You didn’t waste any more time and got out of the classroom, you saw Fred waiting for you but you didn’t even looked at him, you walked as fast as you can. ‘’Y/N, wait please.’’ But you didn’t stop, Umbridge tortured you, and you were too hurt to talk about it.

Fred grabbed you by your arm and turned you around. ‘’Hey, what happ-‘’

‘’LEAVE ME ALONE.’’ You yelled. You were shaking, crying, and it was the first time Fred saw you like that. ‘’I’m sorry..please, leave me Fred.’’

Fred didn’t move, he stood there, looking at you. ‘’No. I won’t leave you, never.’’ He moved closer but you stepped back, you were afraid, after what just happened.

‘’I won’t hurt you, love.’’

He moved closer, again. This time you didn’t step back, you stood there without saying anything. Suddenly you felt pressed against him, he wrapped his arms around you for a hug. His hugs were the best. You couldn’t hold your tears anymore. You were crying, sobbing, and he was there to comfort you. He kissed the back of your head and lifted your chin up to look at you.

‘’Come with me.’’ He said softly and you accepted.

You were now in the Gryffindor common room, he sat on the couch in front of the chimney. It was just the two of you, you sat next to him without hesitating and felt suddenly safe. He moved closer to wrap his arm around you and kiss the back of your head. At first sight, you didn’t talk, you just stood there in his arms, your head against his neck, safe. ‘’You okay, Y/N?’’

You nodded looking at the flames of the chimney. You wanted to tell him what happened in Umbridge’s office but you just didn’t know how to start. you lifted your head and looked at him, trying to say something, after a few seconds you finally said : ‘’She tortured me.’’

‘’What?’’ He immediately looked at you, worried.

You didn’t say anything, you just took your hand out of your pocket and showed him. You felt a tear falling down your cheek, he read what was on your hand.

‘’I’m so sorry,’’ He whispered. ‘’You didn’t deserve this.’’

‘’I did, Fred. I’m the one who talked to her that way. I should’ve done that and-‘’

‘’Stop. Don’t say that, please.’’ He was still looking at your hand and started to caress it. ‘’She doesn’t have the right to do this, and you know it. And trust me, you said what we all wanted to say.’’ He smiled and looked at you in your eyes.

Other tears were falling down your cheeks, and you looked away. ‘’I’m sorry, I – I just can’t, I-‘’

‘’Hey,’’ he lifted your head up while wiping your tears away with his thumb. You felt his finger stroking your cheek, and that was the best feeling ever. ‘’Do not apologize, never. I’m here, I promise.’’

You were now so closed to each other, you felt Fred leaning down and pressing his lips against yours. It was a sweet kiss, you two needed each other at the moment. You smirked against his lips and kissed him back, he put his other hand on your waist and pulled you closer.

After a moment, you stopped the kiss softly, you were looking at each other when he said : ‘’I wanted to do that for a long time.’’

You smiled and gave him a kiss, as an answer. ‘’I’m sorry for yelling at you, earlier. I didn’t mean-‘’

‘’Shh,’’ he whispered ‘’I know.’’ And he gave you a kiss on your forehead, holding your hand that was hurt.

[alovesongtheywrote]

i feel like everyone's gonna be asking for this but i'm gonna need a nightmare academia part 912828277 if that's how long it'll take for those two to finally kiss

♥ Summary: will you settle for them very briefly holding hands? in this chapter of nightmare academia, reid and the reader shut down a party and lie to the police. [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: the reader cries over the two-headed calf poem, spencer wants to throw himself out a window, the cops show up and. are cops. discussions of sex, drug use and alcohol consumption in passing, and i think that's it?

♥ A/N: ough, this is gonna be the last happy chapter for a while- but it isn't gonna be sad in the way you're expecting :/

♥ Word Count: 3341

Series Masterlist

♥♥♥

So.  You were right.  Reid’s friends wanted you to fuck- and they weren’t the only ones.  They weren’t the only ones by a long shot.

Since the first bet had been placed, the betting pool on whether or not you and Reid were doing it had only grown.  There were more things to bet on now, too- who topped, who bottomed, whether the two of you used handcuffs from Reid’s FBI days, etc.  Your students were degenerates.

Your co-workers were running their own bets.  Professors Evans and Peters had a running bet on whether or not the whole affair was a friends with benefits thing.  Other professors made a game of seeing how many times a day you and Reid would visit each other’s offices.  

The head of the criminology department, Professor Belker, assumed the two of you had some sort of secret relationship- and she was generally fine with that.  She just wished you and Reid wouldn’t cause so many disturbances about it.

About a week after the George Michael incident (which only ended after you and Reid got someone to smash the musical mechanism) you and Reid were called into Professor Belker’s office for a meeting about your behaviour.  

The meeting took place later in the evening.  Reid arrived fifteen minutes early.  You arrived five minutes late.  You were also crying.

Upon seeing you, your co-workers stood.  Concern rose in Belker’s chest, but panic rose in Reid’s.  You were crying.  You shouldn’t be crying.  Reid decided there and then that he didn’t like seeing you cry.  

“Professor (L/N)?  Is everything okay?” Belker asked as you took a seat next to Reid.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Professor Reid just put that one poem about the two-headed calf in my office.”

It had been a prank- just a prank to lower your mood.  He knew that the poem would upset you, but it wasn’t supposed to do this.  You weren’t supposed to cry-

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine in like-” you checked your wrist.  When you noticed your lack of watch, you grabbed Reid’s wrist instead, “Five minutes.”

“Reid.”

Spencer had heard that tone before- it was the one Hotch used when he got a little too invested in cases, or when he acted out of line and spit hard facts at local cops.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you-”

“Reid, it’s fine, I swear, I just-” you sniffed, “The cow is just a baby, you guys.  As he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual.  No matter how many times I read that damn thing, I always end up crying.  I don’t know why.”

You were trying to be professional, but it was really hard.  That poem is so fucking sad.

“Did- did you know that crying has a self-soothing effect?  It activates your parasympathetic nervous system which helps you to relax-”

“Reid, please-” Belker held up a hand, to stop him, but you held up a hand to stop her.

“No,” you took a deep breath, “Let him talk, I brought this on myself.  Besides, it’s helping.”

Spencer perked up at the instruction.  He quickly looked to his superior for permission, but before could even begin to nod her consent, he was spouting off facts about tears in a way that only Spencer Reid could.  He didn’t stop until there was a smile on your face.

He smiled back.

“Well, now that you’ve calmed down, can we move on to the true purpose of this meeting?”  Belker raised her eyebrow.  She had posed her words as a question, but you both knew that she was making a statement.

“Yes, we can, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, just- maybe don’t read that poem during any classes.”

You tapped at your chair sheepishly, “Absolutely.”

Belker nodded at you and drew in a long, slow breath, “Now, I understand that the two of you have a… unique working relationship.”

She paused.  In the space she left behind, you and Reid nodded.

“Now, this is fine.  Whatever is going on between you is none of my business.  As long as everything is reported to HR in an appropriate and timely manner, it doesn’t matter to me.  With that said,” the woman leaned forward, eyebrows rising again, “I need to be sure that the two of you can work together- without disturbing the student body at large.”

“Of course we can, I apologize for previous inconveniences,” Reid kept his voice calm, though internally, he kinda wanted to fling himself out the window- it would spare him of any and all future embarrassment.  It might also spare him from making you cry again.

“I apologize also- and I would like to make it known that I didn’t know the George Michael music wouldn’t stop.  The mechanism was supposed to shut off once the cabinet closed, I don’t know what-”

Belker gave you a look that stopped you in your tracks.

“Again, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.  Just as long as the two of you can-”

Then, from the distance- a funky pop beat cut off the distinguished professor halfway through her sentence.  The song was loud enough to make you jump, but quiet enough that you couldn't quite make out what it was.

Belker rose from her desk and turned her gaze to the window, glaring off into the night.  You followed her gaze.  There, standing out in the middle of the darkened campus, was a rainbow glow of light.  It radiated out from one of the frat buildings.  If you focused, you could hear the cheers of drunk students echoing off the various buildings and into the dark.

You expected Belker to give an exhausted sigh, or to roll her eyes at the nature of college kids, but when she turned, a smile lit up her face.

“This is the perfect opportunity.  (L/N), Reid, I want you to take care of this.”

“Excuse me?” you asked, tilting your head.  Belker ignored your question.

“Professor Reid, you have a history with law enforcement, yes?”

Spencer nodded, not saying a word.  Belker’s smile grew, reaching her eyes and setting tiny fires inside them- or maybe that was just the reflection of the lights outside.

“Perfect.  If the two of you can take care of this without incident, then I’ll know for sure that the two of you can work together, and no one will have to be moved to a different department.”

“Was that on the table?”

“Don’t mind that now.  Just go deal with this before someone in the neighbourhood calls the police.”

It was a valid concern.  You stood quickly, giving your superior a two-fingered salute.  Reid followed behind you with less enthusiasm.  Once the two of you were out of her office, Belker grinned to herself.  Was this whole thing an effort to make you and Reid go out to a place that was not college?  Perhaps.  Whether or not it was, that was something she would keep to herself.

-

You and Reid wandered through the darkened campus side by side, heading to the rainbow-coloured lights of the frat house.  Honestly, they were pretty hard to miss- and even if you had, you could always follow the sound.  Music blared, echoing in the air with the excited shouts of students.  You still couldn’t make out the song’s lyrics.  At that point, you were pretty sure they were Swedish.  

In opposition to the noise of the party, you, Spencer, and the rest of the campus were mostly silent.  Your footsteps echoed off the various buildings.  The pavement before you was illuminated by shitty outdoor lights, the rainbow light from the frat house, and the few classroom windows that remained lit at this hour.

Your tears had long since dried, but your skin still felt a little tacky in the light evening breeze.  Beside you, Reid’s gaze was glued to the ground.  He had been silent since he made his apology, and you were mostly fine with that.  In your opinion, there wasn’t much to talk about.

“I’m sorry I made you cry.”

Apparently, you were wrong. “Hey, don’t mention it.  You fixed me, remember?” you gently rammed your shoulder against his, “All your crying facts made things better.  Besides, I’m gonna get you back for it.  That’s a promise.”

“Good.”

When you turned to face him, he had a small smile on his face.  You counted that as a success.  You shifted your gaze back to the pavement in front of you, walking with an extra spring in your step.

“Do you think Belker was serious about making one of us change departments?” he asked.  

“Probably not.  But if she was, you don’t have to worry.  I’m the one that would have to move.”

“Oh?” Spencer raised an eyebrow.  He knew about your degrees.  He knew you were a good professor.  He just didn’t know why you were so confident that you would be the one to switch departments.

“Mhmm.  You have how many years of experience in law enforcement?  A million?  Two million?”

“Hey, I’m not that old-”

“You dress like you’re that old.  Seriously.  I can imagine you teaching dinosaurs about the concept of psychopathy.  I’m sure they’d all come away much smarter.”

Reid paused before letting out a very confused, “Thank you?”

“Don’t mention it.”

The two of you walked in silence for a few moments before Reid turned to face you again, “For what it’s worth, you could teach anything.  You could teach the phone book and your students would learn something.”

“So could you.  Quick, give me a fact about the phone book.”

He didn’t even hesitate, “The first phone book was published in 1878- hey, wait-”

“See?  Honestly, if they let you, you could probably do both our jobs and teach a course about the phone book.”

“I doubt that.  Besides, if anyone were to teach a course about a book, wouldn’t it be the person with a doctorate in English?”

“Don’t accuse me of being literate.  Besides, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m kind of dumb.  I got into teaching by mistake.  Honestly, I kind of got my doctorates by mistake.  So if one of us is going to teach a course about a phone book-”

“Wait, what do you mean you got them by mistake?”

“I don’t know.  I didn’t really- it didn’t feel like I put in the same amount of effort as everyone else.  It just kind of happened to me,” you stopped walking, “Anyway.  Here’s the source of the noise.”

On your left, the frat house stood in all its rainbow glory.  Spencer was so invested in your conversation that he had almost missed it.

“So,” you leaned towards him slightly, just to make sure he could hear you, “How do you want to do this?”

“Should we find someone and ask them to turn the music down?”

You looked at him with a raised eyebrow, “You can try that.  I’m just gonna turn the music down myself.”

Before he could stop you, you had already disappeared, vanishing behind the massive doors of the house and leaving Spencer alone and out of his element.  He wasn’t alone for long.  About two minutes after you left, a chant rose from inside the house.  At first, he couldn’t quite make it out, but then he heard it clearly-

-

The second you got inside, you felt the overstimulation starting to creep in.  There were bodies everywhere.  The stench of alcohol and weed hung in the air like a cloud of smog.  It was bright- far too bright, and the strobe effect that the lights took on was almost enough to trigger an epilepsy attack.  The music was deafening, but you could somehow hear snippets of conversation over it as you wandered through the house.

“Oh, they’re totally fucking.”

“Hey man, pass the chips!”

“WHERE IS MY BOOOONG?”

“Don’t speculate on them, they’re your professors!” that was Opal’s voice.  

“Let’s stay in the building.  It’s too fuckin cold outside.”

“It’s fall.  What did you expect?”

“I don’t know, man.  The elf subplot in those books is so fucking weird.”

“Dude, you wouldn’t even have to pay me to fuck him.  Professor Sexy is just that- Professor Sexy.”

“He looks like a long Victorian child, dying from the plague.”

(Technically, if he were Victorian, it would be tuberculosis.  You kept the thought internal and continued to search for the speakers.)

“Dude, I got pulled over the other day and I hadn’t done a damn thing wrong.  Why?  Oh, you already know why.”

“Fuck the police!”

The sound was small- and it was so loud in the room that you assumed if you repeated it, no one would hear you.  Your opinion would be lost among a thousand screaming voices. 

So, you said it.

“Fuck the police.”

Within seconds, the house devolved into chaos.  Kids were standing on tables and couches, doing the worm and grinding on each other, all while yelling, “Fuck the police.”

By the time you found the speakers, you were laughing too hard to properly turn the music down.  

So at first, you turned it up.

-

Outside, Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose.  This had to be your payback- your revenge for him making you cry.  Honestly, he wasn’t even upset.  Just impressed.  Then he heard the sirens.  Blue and red lights flashed against the house, against the other buildings on and around the campus.  Someone had called the police.  

Students swarmed out of the building, running across the campus and back to their dorms with bongs, beers, and snacks in hand, all while chanting, “Fuck the police.”

Spencer didn’t see your face among the crowd.  As the officers stepped out of their cruiser, their faces red with emotion at the chant, Spencer darted into the house.  He slipped between students, searching the faces that passed him for you.  

He used his height to his advantage.  It helped.

When he found you, you were slumped over a speaker, cackling so hard that you couldn’t stand straight.  Your face lit up when you saw him.  Spencer could feel something warm fill his chest, and he tried very hard to kill it, just as you tried very hard to school your expression back to something less luminous.

You both failed.

“Are you hearing this Reid?  I didn’t even plan it, they just started saying, ‘Fuck the police.’”

“That’s great, that’s so cool, the cops are here.”

In less than a second, the smile dropped from your face.  When you spoke again, the joy had been stripped from your voice.  You sounded terrified.

“What?”Without another word, Reid grabbed your wrist and pulled you outside.  There, you watched as the police tried their very best to stop any students they could.  They didn’t manage to catch many- they did, however, manage to grab Opal.  

You watched as one of the cops grabbed her arm, her face screwing up in a wince at his grip.  Her braids flew out behind her as the officer pulled her closer.  You jumped down the stairs, practically running towards your student.  Without a word, Spencer followed you.

The cop saw you coming.  Opal saw you, too.  He let her go, and she ran towards you, stopping a few feet ahead.

“Are you okay?” you asked, just brushing the top of her shoulder with your fingertips in an effort to keep her steady, “Is everything okay?  Can you get back to your dorm safely?”

She nodded at you, quickly reaching up to pat your hand.

“Okay, go.  Don’t be afraid to call campus security.”

Like a flash, the girl was off, racing towards her dorm.  When you turned back, Reid was staring at you.

“What?” you asked, pulling your arms across your chest protectively.

“It’s nothing.”

The cop- the one who had grabbed Opal so harshly- did not agree with that statement.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?  I could bring you in on obstruction of justice!”

“Shutting down this party,” you answered, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Responding to a noise complaint,” the officer spoke to you like you were stupid, “I was going to apprehend that subject for questioning.  Can you not smell the illicit substances?”

“Okay, well, she’s gone now.  And the source of the noise has clearly gone silent.  The party has dispersed, so it looks like you won’t have to apprehend anyone.”

You were right.  The campus had gone dead silent.  Someone had shut off the lights, too, leaving you, Reid, and the cops with only the shitty campus lights and the blue and red glow from the police cruiser.

Still, the cop glared at you, “And what do you know about police work?”

“Well, y’know.  I just have doctorates in criminology and law.  No big deal.”

The man looked you up and down, clearly judging you, “I have a hard time believing that.”

“Why is that?” Reid stepped forward, putting himself between you and the officer, “Dr. (L/N) is well respected in their field.  They’ve written numerous in-depth papers on the benefits and downsides of various policing policies and criminal justice strategies.  Their conclusions are always brilliant, and your field would improve if officers like you would bother to examine their research.”

A blush crept onto your face as you listened to Reid.  Did he really think so highly of you?  Of your work?

“If you ask me,” the cop spoke again, “All you academics are a bunch of useless degenerates.  I have half a mind to-!”

“OH MY GOD, YOU’RE THAT FBI GUY!!” the cop’s partner cut him off, “You were on the team that took down The Silencer!!  And the Seattle Strangler!!  Oh, I have so many questions.”

Beside you, Reid noticeably tensed up in discomfort.  Without thinking about it too much, you grabbed his hand.

“Unfortunately, Dr. FBI guy is currently suffering from a bout of retrograde amnesia- sadly, he remembers nothing from his FBI days.  If you want your questions answered, I recommend contacting Derek Morgan, he’s lovely to criminal justice students!”

You pulled Reid away before either cop could respond to your final cry of, “Have a nice night!”

Neither you nor Spencer realized you were still holding hands until you reached the main building.  Until then, his long fingers sat intertwined with yours like they belonged there.  

Your face burned as you pulled away from him.  In the quiet of the atrium, you both fell silent.  The only sound was the buzzing of the fluorescent lights above.

“I fucking hate fluorescent lights,” you weren’t sure why you said it.  It really came out of nowhere, and you were just starting to regret it when-

“Really?  So do I.  That's why I can’t stand hospitals.”

“Oh, I get that.”

The two of you smiled.  You had probably agreed on things before, but for some reason, this felt like the first time.

“Hey, thanks for having my back earlier,” you crossed your arms and swayed back and forward slightly.

“Ah, it’s no problem.  I meant it.”

Heat rose to your face again, but before you could ask him if he really did mean it, he was speaking again.

“Thanks for getting us out of there when you did.  I’m not in the mood to answer questions about grisly murders right now.”

“Damn it,” you grinned, “I was just going to ask about the worst cases you’ve seen.  Oh well, I’ll leave it for another night.”

“I appreciate your sacrifice.” “My sacrifice?  It’s basic decency, Spencer.”

The smile on his face matched yours.  

-

Meanwhile, back at Quantico, Penelope Garcia was not smiling.  In fact, she was grimacing.  She had accidentally gazed upon some gorey case details and it had kind of ruined her night- at least, it had until she saw just where the murders had taken place.

She dialled a number into her phone- Morgan picked up on the first ring.

“What’s up, baby girl?  Do we have a case?”

“We do!  And you’ll never guess where.”

♥ Tags: @icarusignite, @usuallyunlikelyfox, @maraudersforlife2005, @fictionalcomforts

[wrathofrats]

well... how abouuuttt "why dont you ever listen to me?" with a ghoul of your choice, maybe the other ghoul is mad at dew, or maybe dew is upset, maybe because hes been trying to communicate that hes struggling ajd the others havent picked up on it, and he just wants it to stop. idk im not that good at coming up with prompts on the spot but i hope this is a good enough idea!! 🤷

Hi it’s been ….. we aren’t going to talk about how long it’s been.

But I hope you enjoy, yall seem to love when I give Dew problems (don’t worry I love it too)

Slapping aether in here because it hurts

Anyways, cirrus makes a joke, dew needs a hug and aether is a very supportive boyfriend

-

Dew doesn’t know when it began to bother him.

He sat on the couch nonchalantly watching some horror movie cirrus had thrown on. The exorcist? He doesn’t know, he doesn’t think he really cares.

“Careful cir, you’ll give him nightmares” aether teased

“He is the nightmare” cirrus rolled her eyes in a response, a playful smile at her lips. It was a joke.

His chest feels hollow as aether ruffles his hair. Something about it didn’t feel right. A normal quip that would have him saying something stupid in response, or simply giving her the finger, suddenly didn’t have the same feeling to it.

He swallowed heavy, the salvia only added to the pit in his stomach.

It’s a gross feeling, something between knowing he’s overreacting and wanting to cry at the thought that they actually think he’s a nuisance. Both are untrue, the logical part in his brain tries to convince him but it doesn’t stop the tears that sting in the back of his eyes, the flush in his face or the way his head feels like it’s full of starch.

It was a joke.

He’s overreacting, he’s certain of it but he can’t stop himself from getting up and walking away without his usual banter.

“Dew? What’s up?” Aether calls after him, following him into the bathroom.

Dew shakes his head to save his dignity. His voice will shake and crack, he knows if he even tries to say he’s ok a sob will rack his body and he won’t be able to contain himself anymore.

He’s embarrassed because he’s overreacting and he’s clutching the sink as aether puts a supportive hand on his back but it feels patronizing because he knows he’s overreacting and he’s-

“Did we say something?”

Dew sobs. Quick, choked off like it wasn’t supposed to come out because it wasn’t. Because he’s overreacting and he shouldn’t be acting like this. Because it was a joke and he’s making a scene because he can’t help but overthink everything.

“Dew, it was a joke” aether embraces him, lightly to not overwhelm him, but he can’t leave him like this. Dew barely lets go of his vice grip on the counter top to let aether pull him into himself. “She didn’t mean it, we thought you liked jokes like that”

He doesn’t. He’s said that.

Dew shakes his head and pushes away from aether enough to speak.

The crack in his voice makes him wince as he chokes and gasps the sobs back to try and get out what he’s saying without being a complete mess, but it’s pathetic anyways, he feels like a child. The way aether stares in concern makes him feel like a petulant toddler throwing a fit.

“I can’t stand them anymore. I’ve said this”

“Have you?” Aether asks, genuinely. The fact that he’s being genuine almost makes it hurt more. He wishes aether would just let him be dramatic and leave him alone.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?” Dew all but wails. He’s louder than he means to be, another sob ringing out in the middle of his sentence. Aether looks confused and concerned, like dew has actually lost it this time, over a joke no less.

“I am, I am listening to you droplet, tell me what’s wrong”

It feels patronizing, dew knows aethers not trying to be but the frustration builds anyways.

“I’m tired aeth, I’m tired of you all acting like you hate me. No one ever acts like they genuinely like or want to be around me and it’s fucking heart wrenching” dew cries

“Water bug you know i-“ aether shakes his head, remorseful.

“No, aether you don’t understand. You all keep saying you hate me. It stings. I don’t know what to do I don’t understand why I’m the only one not worthy of kindness” dew clings to aethers shirt like if he lets go aether will disappear and stop listening to him.

“Dewdrop I’m sorry I didn’t know-“

“Stop please just - I don’t get it” dew sobs. He leans his head into aethers shirt, fist fulls of fabric brought up to his face as aether embraces him tightly.

Dew just weeps, a dam of emotions he can’t bare to vocalize comes out in tearful pleas instead.

“I don’t get it. I’m sorry. Please listen I’m sorry. I don’t understand” the demands come out in choked off cries, forceful sounds racking his small frame as aether hugs him tightly to try and get him to stop shaking.

Aether lowers them to the floor, holds dew in his lap and tries to soothe him.

“You’re not being dramatic, I’m sorry. We love you so much and I’m sorry we don’t say that” aether whispers into his hair.

Dew starts to quiet down as aether traces shapes into his back, the distraction well needed. He clings and listens and tries to focus on whatever aether is dragging into his skin with the tip of his fingers.

“So sorry waterbug, you’re ok, I love you so much. You’ve done nothing wrong”

Dew realizes what the shapes are.

He’s tracing hearts into his back.

[gachawolfiebloom]

Your Pursuit of Perfection

Story and Artwork By: @GachaWolfieBloom

Chapter 5: The Return of I̵̤̫͘ǹ̷͇̇s̸͈̦͗̆ȁ̵̟̉ñ̷͔̰ḯ̶̲͇̅ṫ̵̝͗y̴̺̠͆̀

Summary: A few months after the events of WOTFI 2023, SMG4 starts having really bad dreams about the "Its gotta be perfect" incident. One night however, his fear allows the nightmares to break through and he gets taken to a horrific dimension. He finally meets the tv adware, who manipulates him into returning to his insane ways, intent on claiming much more than the perfect video. Now it's up to his friends to stop this madness and save SMG4. Can they do it in time or will they lose SMG4 forever? (In case you are unaware this is a sequel to the its gotta be perfect movie)

Tags: angst, its gotta be perfect, love confession, luigi, mario, meggy, melony, nightmares, scary, smg3, smg4, smg34, smg3 x smg4, tari, tv adware

"HELP ME PLEASE! SOMEBODY!! ANYBODY!!!" Four kept calling out, but nobody came. After screaming for a few minutes, his voice became hoarse so he observed the surroundings instead. "Where am I...?" It was dark and clammy so he couldn't make out exactly where he was. All he could see around him was a floor made of goop and eyeballs. It seemed to be the same goop that had overtaken Peach's castle back at the "perfect" incident. As that ghastly image struck in his mind once again, he felt a sharp pain in his head.

"Why won't these bad memories go away?" He wanted to forget it. For everyone to forget it. Even if they had forgiven him, nobody would forget. He tried to stand up, but something pulled him back down. Two tentacles with claws were gripping tightly on his arms, keeping him pinned to the ground. "What!? What's going on? If this is a joke it isn't funny!" Suddenly he heard a faint whooshing sound. "W-w-who's t-t-there? S-s-show y-y-yourself!"

As soon as he said that, the whooshing got faster and louder. "Come on Four be brave." he thought to himself. In a struck of dumb confidence, he shouted out "Really? That's the best you got!" The figure was not intimidated as the whooshing started coming from multiple directions. Four's courage started to wear off as his fear slowly came back. "I'll admit that was kind of creepy..." he said in a shaky voice. The whooshing finally stopped, but only because the figure was now stepping out into the light. "Okay that's definitely a step up." Four finally was face to face with the guy who brought him here. The guy behind all his nightmares. The guy who gave him the keyboard...

The TV Adware stood in front of him with a smirking grin as he felt quite pleased with his entrance. "Good show TV guy." Four said as he tried backing up. The Adware crept closer, approaching Four. All he could think now was "What does he want with me?" Something far greater that Four didn't know about was what he wanted.

The crew were grabbing supplies and planning to making their way back to the forest. Eggdog ran up to Three and rubbed his leg as if he was begging him not to go. As much as he didn't like to see Eggdog upset, he couldn't subject his beloved pup to the horrors he and his friends were going to face. He crouched down to pet his adorable dog and said "Sorry buddy, but you have to stay here."

Beeg raced up to him as well, making a bunch of "Eugh" noises. He seemed very worried for his father. "You have to stay here too Beeg. I called Karen and she said she'll take care of you guys while were gone." He gave a kiss to both of them and went off to join the others.

They all got to a spot deep within the forest and when they stopped, Three said "This is where I last saw Four before he and that weird fog disappeared." One and Two examined the ground and faced the others. "I think there is still trace of him which we can use to find the opening." They joined hands and used their meme powers to lead them to a thin spot that could be opened. Once they found it, they used their energy again to this time, split the ground apart into a giant chasm.

"We're supposed to jump down there?" Meggy asked. "I don't really like that idea." Tari said as she hid behind Meggy. "WE NEED A TEST SUBJECT! ANY VOLUNTEERS!? asked Bob. He scanned the group, but when nobody volunteered he decided to take matters into his own hands. He grabbed Boopkins and threw him into the hole. "SO LONG GAY BOOPKINS!!!" He watched as the fish fell further and further down into the darkness. He kept waiting for the sound of him hitting the bottom.

Three just rolled his eyes and said "Lucky for all of you, I brought rope." Thankfully, the rope was just long enough to make it to the bottom. They figured that out when a crashing sound could be heard at the bottom of the chasm. "BRO ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Bob heard a barely audible groan and turned back to the others. "YEAH HE'S FINE." As Three threw the rope down, Smg1 said "Remember the TV Adware will use all his powers to scare you. He can unravel your greatest fears."

Mario felt confident as he struck back "Mario isn't afraid of anything! As long as he gets Smg4 back everything will be okey dokey!" As they all climbed down the rope, Meggy waved back to Chris and Swag. "Good luck! Please protect the Showgrounds." Chris nodded and Swag said with a wavering hand "DON'T WORRY SQUID GIRL. IF ANYTHING CROSSES SWAG IT WILL BE BOOM BOOM MCDOOM TIME!" 

Meggy didn't feel entirely confident with leaving them in charge, but there was no time to waste. She got onto the rope and carefully climbed down with the rest of her friends. Mario was bouncing along on the rope, swinging it back and forth. "Oi! Quit it fatso!" Meggy shared similar feelings to Three as she tried to stop Mario as well. "Stop it Mario! You might end up hurting someone!"

Mario tried to reassure her by saying "Relax Meggy. Mario knows what he is doing. He's not going to hurt anyone and it's not like-" Before he could finish that sentence, the rope snapped. They all came tumbling down until Meggy spotted a ledge. She grabbed it and held onto her friends for dear life as they had all grabbed onto each other. Her hand was slipping, slowly losing grasp. Just when it seemed like they were goners, Smg1 and Smg2 used their powers to save them.

Once everyone made it safely to the bottom, Meggy asked "Is everyone alright?" Three spitted out in a fit of rage "NO! MARIO ALMOST KILLED US!!!" He expected Four to say a follow up of something like "Well what did you expect?" but the man wasn't with them this time. It made Three feel remorse again. Just then Boopkins came up to them like nothing had happened. "There you guys are!"

Smg1 looked into the dark abyss of the Nightmare Realm and said "We must hurry. They'll know we're here." The others looked upon them as Meggy asked "Who is 'they' exactly?"

"The TV Adware needs servants to help him. The inhabitants of this world became his victims and were turned into disgusting creatures that guard and protect him." Tari gasped and said with an innocent heart "How could he do that to those poor sweet things?" One and Two sighed. "They aren't sweet anymore..."

~Meanwhile in another part of the realm~

The TV Adware finally broke the terrifying silence between them with an intriguing voice. "Listen here. I have made one thing perfectly clear." Four interrupted him with a sense of panic. "Clear? What that you have been terrorizing me and my friends! JUST LET ME GO!!!" His breathing got steady as he remember what the TV Adware did to him when they first met. "You corrupted me and destroyed my home!"

The mysterious TV man raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly. "Oh I know that. All you ever wanted was for things to be perfect... And I do need help from a powerful being such as yourself so how about we make a deal."

He inched closer to Four and put his hands together as a little gesture. "Without you, my entire existence is useless. Your energy could save me." Four looked confused and blinked. "My...energy?" He pointed to Four's hands and said "Your meme guardian powers of course! Did you really think that I didn't know about that." Four felt a chill go up his spine as he pulled his hands away and retorted "No! My friends need me!" Don't fall for his tricks Four. That's where you went wrong last time.

The TV Adware was cunning. He wasn't going to give up that easily. He always knew what to say to persuade his victims. He tapped his chin in thought and said "Do they? Or will they reject you if you come crawling back to them? Maybe replace you with someone they can trust?" H-how did he-

The TV Adware was reminiscing the awful nightmare Four had earlier. His face was horrified as he he remembered that image of his friends walking off, leaving him in the dark. His heart started to beat faster and tears started to form in his eyes. Speaking with a lump in his throat, he said "B-b-but... they w-w-wouldn't forget me. Would they?"

The tentacles slowly let go of him as the TV Adware watched his insufferable pain. "Stay with me and your talents would never be taken for granted. You would never be forgotten." The Adware stuck out his hand, waiting for Four to take his deal. "Never?" Four couldn't take the nightmares or memories any longer. "I just wanted it to be perfect..." He slowly took hold of the TV Adware's hand as darkness started to come up behind him. Four gasped as the darkness grabbed him before he could even react. It engulfed his body as he could feel his skin cracking and losing control of his mind.

The TV Adware watched this with an evil grin. "And you will help me more than you ever dreamed..." Four closed his eyes whispering "More than I ever dreamed..." That was the last thing he remembered. As his eyes shot open, they were now a glowing pink color and his pupils were shrunk.

Its gotta be perfect...

Chapter 6: It's All Your Fault

[static-errorcode]

part two

featuring

@the-random-creechur, me, @darkleafblack, @toffeechad, @bobateablue, @sleepypillowynight, @demondevilevil, @smoken-bagel, @phobiiii, @coolkiwiyummy, @woodrocko

Pillowy: HELP! I TOLD DEMON I'D COOK DINNER TONIGHT BUT I CAN'T COOK!

Phobiii, pouring milk directly into the cereal bag: And you thought I could help?

Static: Get in, loser, we’re committing vehicular manslaughter!

Beanie: You've been given a new job to do, but I'm worried it might make you angry.

Phobiii: Just say it quick, like ripping off a band-aid.

Beanie: You have to teach Bagel how to drive.

Phobiii: ...put the band-aid back on.

Demon: Happy birthday Pillowy! I'm your gift!

Pillowy, whispering to Slimebottle : Did you get the receipt, or do I have to keep them?

Pillowy: Help! I’m drowning!

Phobiii: Calm down. We’re only in six feet of water!

Pillowy: NOT ALL OF US ARE TALL!

*While the Squad is in a battle*

Slimebottle , trying to warn about the location of an enemy: To the left!

Static: Take it back now y'all!

Pillowy: What's two plus two?

Slimebottle : Math.

Pillowy: ...I will accept that answer.

Demon: What kinds of sounds annoy you?

Bagel: Are we talking real sounds or imaginary ones?

Demon, now interested: Lets say imaginary.

Bagel: Spiders wearing flip flops.

Static: You're pathetic!

Nightmare berry: You're pathetic-er!

Kiwi : You're both losers.

Bagel: Good morning!

Bobatea, checking their watch: Correct.

Bobatea: Goddamn it, the printer broke while printing out Pillowy's birthday invitations.

Static: Well, what are they supposed to say?

Bobatea: "Pillowy's birthday".

Static: So, what do they say instead?

Bobatea: "Pillowy’s bi".

Static:

Static: Works out either way.

Bobatea, texting Static: Static! Help I'm being kidnapped!

Static: Where are you?

Bobatea: I'm with some strange person. In a car. Help.

Static: I'll call Demon. Demon, answering their cell: Y'ello?

Static: Where's Bobatea? They texted me that they were being kidnapped.

Demon: Demon? Whaddya mean, they're right next to me-

Demon: Demon: I'll call you back. *Hangs up*

Demon: THE NEW HAIRCUT ISN'T THAT BAD!

Bobatea: WHO ARE YOU!?

Bagel: If I punch myself and it hurts, am I weak or strong?

Slimebottle : Strong.

Beanie: Weak.

Phobiii: An idiot, is what your are.

Static: Can we go out to get icecream?

Phobiii: Did you ask Slimebottle ?

Static: They said no.

Phobiii: Then why did you ask me?

Static: They're not the boss of you.

Phobiii, internally: It's a trap, it's a trap, it's a trap.

Phobiii: *is visibly upset*

Pillowy: Phobiii, what happened? I haven't seen you like this since you found out candyland wasn't an actual country.

Pillowy: Did you wash the dishes?

Demon: I thought you wanted to do that...

Pillowy: *chuckles* You were WRONG.

Phobiii, handing out popsicles: Which flavor do you want?

Pillowy: Blue flavor!

Phobiii: Uh, you mean Blue Raspberry?

Pillowy: Blue flavor! Blue flavor!

Phobiii: Blue is not a flavor!

Pillowy: BLUE FLAVOR!

Bobatea to Slimebottle : Turn that frown upside-down!

*a little while later*

Bobatea: What are you doing?

Slimebottle , trying to do a handstand: You told me to “turn that frown upside-down” but it’s not working .

Bagel: Why does my arm shake and turn bright red when I’m eating dirt?

Beanie:

Beanie: Why are you eating dirt?

Bagel: Did I ask you if I should eat dirt? No, so answer my question.

Mp: Oh my Static.

Nightmare berry: Don't you mean 'oh my god'?

Mp: You worship your god, I'll worship mine.

Static: Beanie is so...

Kiwi : Annoying?

Slimebottle : Cute? Bagel: Funny?

Demon: Weird?

Static: I don't know, maybe if y'all let me FINISH for ONCE IN MY LIFE, I'd tell you!

Slimebottle : Pose as a team because SHIT JUST GOT REAL!

Pillowy: When I see initials carved into a tree with a heart I think it’s so romantic. Two lovers on a date... one of them carrying a knife for some reason.

Mp: What is wrong with you?

Pillowy: Many, many things...

Pillowy: And most of them are your fucking fault.

Demon: Phobiii doesn’t look very happy.

Beanie: That's their happy. They're just a bitch.

Pillowy: But that place is haunted.

Nightmare berry: Ghosts prey on fear. Just be confident!

Pillowy, marching into the haunted house I AM NOT SCARED! I AM NOT A PUSSY!

The end

[kitpanthera]

chapters 11-13 🎉

again, no pressure to answer any/all of them! thanks sm!!

but first, a visual representation of me for the past two days:

1. bill telling dipper to put the journal away because he can answer dipper's questions ! really trying to drive that wedge in now huh. wondering what the plan would've been if he didn't end up bringing dipper in so much? like, what he would've done if they didn't have their more intense and sincere bonding sessions later when dipper basically swears to stand by him no matter what. would have have still had dipper try to bond with ford or try to keep him out of the equation?

2. dipper not even caring that he almost got mauled by a wolf ! child, what are you doing ! also, is there a particular reason it got changed from the canon panther to a wolf?

3. i wonder what the alternate universe where mabel decides to fully trust dipper and bill after the situation with gideon looks like right now...

4. did mabel overhearing dipper's conversation with bill change her feelings about bill? or would she always have reverted back to being anti-bill?

5. "despite knowing she wouldn't have a clue who he really was" dipper, maybe dig a little deeper into that sentence. feels like it goes beyond the costume, buddy.

6. "are you really showing your birthmark?" is mabel upset because she's worried he's going to get picked on or that this is another sign of how close he is to bill? or are their parents the ones that wanted him to hide the birthmark (since it's "freaky," as wendy says) and she's picked up on that?

7. did the trickster actually sense dipper's magic or did he really feel bill?

8. dipper not caring about bill burning his universe to the ground,,, time for more self-reflection?

9. i love that you called out how weird the shirtless werewolf thing is. especially since stan knows how insecure dipper is!

10. with dreamscapes not happening the way it does in canon, dipper never finds out that this is all a (misguided) attempt from stan to help him. of course, it really just shows the double standards he has between mabel and dipper. do you think that's because of a gender thing or that he thinks dipper is too much like ford?

11. is blue really dipper's natural magic color or bill lying again?

12. bill driving a further wedge between dipper and everyone else by being the only safe place he can express himself and dipper told him he was the only one he felt seen by 😐 i feel totally normal about this 😐

13. what songs do you think bill is singing to dipper (i love this sm)?

14. not me sending the previous question about bill not being with the henchmaniacs when the answer is literally in ch 13. is it just that it's harder for him to focus more on stuff when he's in two places at once? so for big things (like his fight with ford in the nightmare realm), he's only in one place? (feel free to ignore if you address it in my other ask!)

thanks!

Shdgbkjcjk I am so honored, sincerely, that you are this obsessed with my fic, I'm so glad you're enjoying it this much aaaaaa

1. In that case, I think he would try to keep Ford more distant, while trying to draw him in himself on his own time. He'd be too dangerous to keep around a Dipper he wasn't certain would be loyal.

2. He trusts that he's protected. :) Why a wolf? Symbolism, my friend, symbolism!

3. Weirdmageddon is a lot more brightly colored. And glittery. Also, their parents... well.

4. Hearing them talking and hearing that the costume was actually supposed to be Bill reminded her how deep he was in it and sent her in the anti-Bill direction again. More on this is the novella!

5. It sure does!

6. It's all about Bill. He's changing her brother, and even if it seems to be positive progress, it scares her. Still more on this in the novella!

7. That is the question to be asked! Who knows? :)

8. Like myself at his age, he's way too dismissive of things that should be concerning, and way too emotionally intelligent for someone so young. To him, it's something Bill probably doesn't want to actually talk about in depth.

9. Yes!! I thought this was so weird and kind of creepy in canon? Especially given him being shirtless? No one is safe, I'm calling out canon!

10. Stan has some gender stuff he's never worked through. On one hand, there's the antiquated idea that men must be strong, both physically and mentally, at all times, which he holds himself to. He sees Dipper's weakness and he sees Ford, someone who had trouble defending himself as a child. Stan knows for himself that boxing and self defense really toughened him up, helped him defend himself when he had his back against the wall. Ford never properly learned those, and he didn't have the fortitude Stan had, and look where it got him, right? So Stan thinks in order to help save Dipper from becoming Ford, he should make him more like himself, able to survive in any environment life throws him into.

11. It's his natural color! His aura is sort of a murky royal blue color, and the color of your magic reflects the color of your aura in my AU.

12. :)

13. So everything he sings is very gentle since he's singing him to sleep, so imagine these songs as soft and sweetly sung, sweet as honey:

Dreamcatcher by Set It Off

Blackbird by The Beatles

Speed of Sound by Coldplay

Arsonist's Lullaby by Hozier

14. Yeah, pretty much! He's not omnipresent or anything, but it's hard for him to split his attention between two realms perfectly the way he has to sometimes.

[jbcomic]

carnival (meeting arthur in dreams after folie )

i am still upset about the sequel the reason i decided to write one more comfort fanfiction for me and all arthur lovers who felt betrayed by the ending of folie

you had walked into the theatres to watch the sequel of joker you were aware about the things happening in the movie but u had to watch it with your own eyes u were not sure if the rumors and spoilers were true the love of your life arthur was back on the big screen but at the same time u were disturbed your mental health was not the same after reading those negative reviews with a sigh u stepped inside the room u sat with hope of a better story for arthur since he had changed your life for the better u could not leave him alone in his tough time when he had been your pillar of strength for five years this trail and aslyum scenes were a nightmare but u also saw arthur being happy singing and dancing, he looked like an angel in his dreams u wished u could hug him through the screen and hated the scenes when that lady manipulated him u wished to punch her in the face while u realised the second half was going to get worse u had to prepare yourself for that final goodbye u could not breathe u almost felt a panic attack u closed your eyes wanted to run out of that place how could u watch your angel getting hurt it was brutal u felt a pain in your chest u almost tripped and fell from your seat crying and the end credits rolled u could still hear his voice " true love will find u " u were in shock u needed someone to comfort u but there was no one around u it felt like an oxygen mask was removed and u were on a hospital bed lying lifeless u cried for hours and when u finally arrived at home u sat on the bed looking at arthur picture he was smiling and u hugged it u whispered " sorry " tears rolling down your cheeks u fell asleep with the hope of not waking up again

you woke up with chaos u had no idea what was happening but then u found yourself infront of a library it was weird since this place looked familiar u crossed the streets u found yourself infront of hahas u saw gary walking towards u he smiled at u and u smiled back he said arthur is late for work as usual he was supposed to be here for the kids party and u shook your head but u didn't know what was this timeline and then u saw arthur in carnival makeup he saw u and pulled your hand " let's go we are late for the party " he waved at gary and crossed the streets with u there was traffic 🚦 arthur waved at the cars honking and yelling gotham was a mess u also saw the garbage 🗑️ arthur kept running faster it was difficult to match his speed u bumped into people and one lady yelled " stupid clowns " u were annoyed by her behaviour while arthur was searching for the building where he was invited to perform and he looked stressed

" arthur can you please tell me what's happening why are we here , are u late, how did i move into your world when i saw u in the movie last night " arthur was surprised hearing your words he giggled " u are funny yn but this is not the time to joke the kids are waiting for me did u bring the magic wand " i kept staring at his beautiful face i didn't know if i this was a dream or reality, i had to check i smacked arthur shoulders he squealed " ouch what are u doing yn it's not time to play i need my magic wand " u could not believe arthur was standing infront of u but he looked younger than arthur in folie " what is the date , month and year " arthur was worried about getting late but he had patience " listen yn i know u are upset we didn't attend your relatives dinner but it doesn't mean u are going to cancel my gig u know Hoyt is still upset with me after that Kenny music incident " u got hints this was a time before folie, your arthur was safe in this universe u hugged him tight but arthur looked uncomfortable u kissed his cheek he looked in pain, u realised he was hurt by those kids u whispered " i am sorry artie i forgot u are hurt i was excited to see u safe i could not control my emotions " arthur touched his shoulder in pain " u are joking right u took care of my wounds last night " u were speechless did u really live with arthur u touched his brown curls and his shoulders this time being careful not to hurt him and arthur felt giddy u saw his eyes was blinking and he fell in your arms u held him before he could fall " arthur what happened please talk to me " arthur was not able to speak and u felt another panic attack but this time he was holding your hand and whispering something it was not audible due to the sounds of vehicles " arthur " he fell unconscious u kept shaking his head and hands but no response the people around the building saw u and the kids ran closer they saw arthur face and recognised him they screamed carnival and u asked them to call for help then a lady walked outside her apartment with a water bottle u took the bottle from her hands and splashed water on arthur face he woke up feeling light headed but the kids were smiling at arthur and arthur smiled at them u knew these kids recognised him and their mom spoke to u " we were waiting for him it's our son birthday party but the kids said he was arguing with u on the streets are u his girlfriend " u looked at arthur he tried to wake up dusting his pants and u held his hand for support arthur smiled at the lady " no she is my friend she works at hahas she books and keeps track of our events , i am sorry i arrived late i was confused with the address " the lady nodded her head " oh we forgot to mention we shifted our apartment this week the last time u performed for our kids was in the opposite street " arthur smiled at her " yeah no wonder it took me time to search for the apartment we can go inside the kids must be waiting for me " u were worried about arthur health he had fainted few seconds ago how was he going to dance at the party u pulled his sleeves and arthur looked at u u whispered " arthur are u sure u can dance u are not well " arthur put his wig back on his hair and kissed u the kids started laughing and u felt awkward this was your first kiss with arthur and he had no idea about it you stared at him with a silly expression and arthur pulled your hand walking inside the house

u watched arthur dancing with the kids , making balloon animals and almost tripping on the sofa while you moved to catch his hand arthur blew the party popper, he was being a prankster and u didn't complain u were so happy to share this beautiful moment with him when the party was over u waved back at those kids and walked out in the streets it was cold u felt a breeze of air and started shivering arthur noticed it and being a gentleman pulled his hoodie out of his bag and put it on your shoulders u smiled at him while he held your hands tighter whistling a tune of frank sinatra song u had walked a few streets and arthur noticed you were staring at him he pulled u for a hug u saw the stairs on the left u could not believe u were in his gotham city this was the best night of your life u climbed the steps together u felt arthur had a mischief in the way he moved his feet and bumped in your shoulders while holding your hands he hated the stairs he had this boring routine of climbing it eveyday it was difficult on days when he was tired and didn't have the energy but with u he felt happy u reached his apartment block and arthur walked towards the mail box " u know mom is waiting for the letter " u sighed " i know she is obsessed with thomas wayne " arthur eyes looked like a saucer and u felt bad for being honest u were going to apologize but he burst into laughter and u were confused what was so funny arthur laugh was echoing in the small space he looked so beautiful u pulled him for a kiss and arthur kissed back

" u are the reason i felt giddy in the morning " u hated the way he was teasing u but also could not deny the fact he was the carnival arthur giggled and kicked his feet moving towards the elevator u both touched the button at the same time arthur smirked and kissed your hand pushing the button u had fantasies of being stuck in the elevator with him but when the moment arrived u were standing looking at the ground arthur could sense your nervousness he pulled out his magic wand and u looked at him " it's here u had kept it in my bag i didn't notice it in the morning " i took the wand from his hands smiling at the fake flowers u hugged him and felt safe in his arms

u woke up feeling better arthur was living, breathing and working as a party clown this sequel was only a nightmare of joaquin and nothing else u had to be brave and move on in your life writing more fanfiction for arthur and joker he was never going to be hurt again with the fandom supporting their adorable clown in chuckle town

[criolla-star]

Overwhelmed(Vinny x Garmadon)Part 27

(I suggest you check out parts 1-26 if you haven't already)

Vinny stayed sitting up in bed, not being able to go back to sleep how could he? Some weird figure that's he's never seen was in here watching him sleep and probably the reason for that awful nightmare. The cameraman reached for a bottle of water and drank from it. He stood up and wobbled slightly before going over to the bathroom. Vinny stared at the mirror and washed his face, "It wasn't real....then who was that...?" he thought as he looked down at the sink his hands holding onto both sides of it.

"Should I tell someone....? I can't tell Garm...he'd freak out....Nya? No....she'd tell Lloyd and I don't want that...." Vinny said as he splashed water over his face a second time. An idea popped in his head, "Wu! He'd probably know what to do....he won't tell anyone.....hopefully..." Vinny said before realising something, "Where's all the others...it's the only 6pm and how didn't they see that person come in....then again it did just disappear as well..." Vinny said as he continued talking to himself.

"Holy shit...I really have lost it haven't I....I'm probably seeing things....I'm just tired.....but I don't want to go to sleep..." Vinny said as he looked back at the mirror. He jumped back in surprise, to his surprise he reflection was looking back smiling it's eyes were a different colour they were now dark red..... Vinny grabbed a toothbrush to try and defend himself even though it would do nothing. "Are you scared~?" The reflection said as it grabbed the toothbrush from Vinny. the cameraman was really shaken up.

"You-You're not real.." Vinny whimpered out fearfully. "Yes I am...I'm as real as you, as Lloyd, as Nya as all the ninja and I'm as real as Garmadon~ He's real isn't he~ actually here's a bigger question! Are you real~!" The reflection asked Vinny stumbled back, "Y-yes...what kind of dumb question is that!? If anyone no, anything isn't real it's you!" Vinny said in a panicky tone before quieting his tone since Garmadon was sleeping.

The reflection smirked, "No need to worry about waking your boyfriend~ He won't be able to hear you~" the reflection teased as if swung the toothbrush around, "I don't know what you are....but are you even real?" Vinny asked, the reflection turned to him and smirked, "Of course I am~!" the reflection said as it stuck its head out of the mirror and grabbed Vinny by the collar. Vinny tired pulling away, but couldn't, "Even if you are real you're not me!" Vinny hissed as he dug his nails into the 'things' hands causing it to flinch its hands back.

The room changed colour from a blue and white scheme to a dark red and black scheme as the reflection climbed out of the mirror. "You know...I really thought this was gonna be easy...but he was right you really are smarter than you look~ Let me help you" The reflection spoke out as it went closer to Vinny and grabbed his cheeks making him look at it. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?!" the cameraman hissed. Trying to pry free of its grip, "Wow so much more aggressive as well, all bark not bite~" The reflection teased.

"Y'know....I saw the way you looked when you found out Misako upset Garmadon....I know you can kill....say how about we go after Lloyd and Nya~!" The reflection teased before summoning a dagger from thin air and placing it in Vinnys' hands. The cameraman looked at his hands and tightened the grip on the dagger. "What about your little boyfriend~ Well he isn't exactly little he's like twice your size, but, why don't I go hurt him...make him feel miserable...make him feel like he really hasn't changed and is still just a monster!" The reflection shouted before getting stabbed in the stomach by Vinny.

"Heh...good...perfect just what I wanted.." The reflection said before taking the dagger out which was covered in blood. "And wow did you stab hard...." it said as it twirled the dagger around, poor Vinny was so tired and sick of this. "Like I said before he was right about you being smarter...and more aggressive than you look..." the reflection chuckled before disappearing into thin air.

"What the fuck...?" Vinny said as the room returned to it's original blue and white colour scheme. "Who was that...who the fuck were they talking about..?" Vinny said as he began panicking and left the bathroom. "Fuck...all in my head..." the cameraman said as he sat back down on the bed.

"If it's all in my head why'd he know so much...." Vinny thought as he rested his face in his hands

(DAMN I'M TRAUMATISING HIM BUT I LOVE THIS CHAPTER IT'S MY FAVE SO FAR AND GARMADON JUST SLEEPING THROUGH IT MAKES ME DIE OF LAUGHTER)

[mysteriousdragon2]

Howdy everyone. I know I’ve been venting a lot, but it’s all that my mind’s been focusing on.

Meaning I’ll vent again, and keep it on “keep reading”, since it covers personal feelings. In addition, up to you if you want to read it. If not, please disregard this post.

What do I even say…? The situation from my previous vent post has not changed. If not, if occasionally worsens.

“Parents” are telling me I am an idiot, that I’m useless at just about anything. Telling me that I need to seek “help” before it’s too late. And I’m not going to, because I am fine. Just not around them. They make me feel so uncomfortable and nervous, it’s beyond me.

I thought parents were supposed to be encouraging and supportive of their child’s choices and wishes, but no. Not mine. Mine despise me to the bone, much to the point of disowning me. They also shame my body. Every. Single. Day.

You have no idea how much is aches me to know that I’ve been disowned, with a chance of getting kicked out and living in the streets. I have my commission sheet ready, yet I don’t want to post it to the public. If others can’t afford my commissions, reblog this post. If someone wants to commission me, DM me and I’ll send the sheet. I just don’t feel confident and mentally well to have the sheet posted.

During my sleep, I keep having nightmares about them. My neglecting “parents”. It’s always about them yelling at me, down talking me, making me feel insignificant. Or them trying to kill me. This screenshot of DIO/Hol Horse represents just that, how I’m feeling to terrified, that I can’t even move. Perhaps even cry. It’s tormenting. It’s haunting.

I’ve been nothing but upset. I can barely even draw, I hardly have time for myself anymore. Only because I am escaping my home, waiting until my “parents” go to bed so they can leave me alone, but it leaves me with no time for anything to do for myself.

I’ve been lost. Lost with myself. And I’ve been missing my friends so much. I fear something in regards to friends now…

…fear the abandonment. It’s all I’ve been worrying about with them. I used to never worry about abandonment, until later on in life. Why must this be so upsetting to me, I don’t even know.

Again, I’ve been clinging on for dear life everyday. Trying to hang on. It’s tough, it really is. And I’m desperate for money. And pardon that art’s been so slow on my behalf for anything I owe to anybody, or for the sake of posting for fun. I’m really trying. It’s been very difficult to do anything with the little time I have, plus my mental state.

I’m trying to keep myself mentally stable, with my friends, cats, art, and by looking at fictional characters. They all mean too much to me.

Thank you for reading everyone.

[help-me-find-a-name-please-lol]

CM HOTCH/REID HEADCANONS

My headcanon about Hotch leaving in Season 12, Reid's reaction, and trying to have it make some kind of sense.

Disclaimers:

This is the first rewatch of the later seasons I've done since it aired on TV, and I've only just finished Season 12 episode 4 (I do, however, know the early seasons ridiculously well).

From LDSK onwards, I only ever really watched it for Hotch, Reid, and the Hotch/Reid dynamic. I didn't really watch it after Hotch left, but caught bits and pieces because my roomates did.

Yes I know why Thomas Gibson left the show and why they had to suddenly wrap up his character. No, I don't condone violence in the workplace. I also never dove deeply into the behind-the-scenes lore of this show, cast and crew interviews, etc etc. This will purely be relating to the show as it was depicted on screen, and my love for the characters as their own entities.

I am not going back to fully source which eps all my observations come from, cos I'm supposed to be working on an assignment rn and CM transcripts are a ducking nightmare. I just wanted to put this idea out there cos I think we all need a bit of self-soothing after the crap they fed us to write Hotch out of the show.

Also fun story I just came back to finish writing this after being interrupted by what I though was someone trying to break into my house at 4am (heard a noise, gate wide open, can't see anyone but damn, scary. My town's big on crime, too). SO my thoughts may now be even more disorganised thanks to the adrenaline crash headache I'm currently experiencing.

So anyway like I said, just finished watching S12E04 Keeper, during which Reid gets a call we don't hear, is visibly upset by it, and takes a bit of prodding to discuss it with JJ and Rossi. He then reveals that he was just told his mother left her care facility on her own and was found wandering confused around a casino. He takes minimal convincing to head back to Quantico and lines himself up another couple of days off to visit his mum (yes I'm Australian, this is how we spell it lol).

MY HEADCANON: This is when Hotch called Reid to tell him that he was going into witness protection and wouldn't be coming back. (Exactly how much was discussed on the phone vs possibly being discussed/explained later in person is of course open to interpretation, but enough for Reid to know Hotch wanted to say goodbye and to not tell the rest of the team).

I know that his mum's issues are an ongoing valid storyline. But this is why it was also a plausible excuse for Reid to come up with on the spot as to why he was upset.

Another thing that makes it entirely plausible that the phone call was about Hotch is the long, significant staring Reid did at Prentiss as she walked away after they discuss what supposedly happened with his mum. To me that could scream that Reid was actually dealing with something team-related, and was already grieving how it would affect the other members of his team that he's keeping it from. He could have gazed down or elsewhere to communicate his worry for his mum to the audience, but he specifically turned and watched Prentiss leave, looking all angsty.

What's a heck of a lot less plausible:

His mum, who has been in care since Reid became a legal adult, suddenly escaping her care facility, despite having been in care for well over a decade and who now needs even more supervision due to Alzheimer's on top of her Schizophrenia. Yeah, escapes happen, but to make it all the way into a casino and being found in a confused state? When this didn't happen before Reid flew up and got her diagnosed her with Alzheimers? Even though she'd been getting some increased freedoms for doing well on her new meds prior to her sudden worsening with the Alzheimer's onset?

Hotch leaving without saying something directly to Reid first. Yeah, I'm a shipper, and I know Hotch has his son to think about, but I call BULLSHIT. Hotch knows all about Reid's abandonment issues and there is no way he'd want to end up on the same mental list Reid keeps alongside Reid's father and Gideon. When Gideon went AWOL, Hotch returned from suspension, despite the fight he knew it would cause with his wife, because "the team" needed him. Then Haley stressed "no, they need Gideon". Fully believe this was all just about Reid (I also kinda low-key believe Haley had an inkling about Hotch's thing for Reid but anyway). Hotch, Reid and Morgan functioned as a team while Gideon was on leave after the bomber case, Morgan didn't even really want Gideon to come back and would not have been that thrown by his absence. Reid however we all know was very emotionally-involved. And it's Reid that Hotch pulls aside to get his head back in the game (and who then gives them a breakthrough in the case shortly after, at Hotch's encouragement). When Gideon had officially left and Hotch addressed the team about it, he mostly directed what he was saying towards Reid, when he said that he couldn't explain why he'd left the way he did, etc. And when Hotch was trying to decide whether he'd take over as section chief after Strauss left, again he was addressing the team but pretty much turned and spoke directly to Reid when he said something along the lines of "if I decide to leave the BAU, you'll be the first to know". He also saw how much it killed Reid to be lied to about Prentiss (and you can see he felt like shit about it during Reid's assessment). This man. Would NOT. Have left Reid without saying goodbye. That's the hill I'm dying on. On top of that, Hotch is always the most emotionally-compromised whenever Reid is in danger, and he knows it (he let Gideon know he was currently a terrible example of "handling things emotionally" while Reid was being held by Hankel, resulting in Gideon's weak reassurance of "We'll get him"; when Reid got on that train with Elle he tried to stop it then immediately went to chat with the sniper; when Reid was in the cult compound he had to hand off negotiations to Rossi; when Reid was protecting Owen Savage; heck he practically yeeted Morgan out of the way when Reid was trying to talk down Maeve's stalker and they heard a gunshot. Etc etc.). And whenever Hotch gets emotionally affected by other things (eg that defence attorney for amnesia/coma guy, or regarding his brother), Reid is the one who can break through that and keep him steady. Reid is VERY IMPORTANT to Hotch and I don't see him hurting Reid in what to him is the worst way someone could do it.

Reid being so chill about Hotch suddenly leaving without saying goodbye. Goes without saying, yeah? But I'll say it. I get that they've been trying to paint him as more emotionally-mature and that he was able to handle Morgan leaving, but it is SO not the same relationship or circumstance and Reid would not have taken Hotch's departure in stride like that. I get that they also wanted the show and its characters to move on as quickly and as apparently unaffected as possible, but it still clearly flies in the face of proper characterisation. Reid is brilliant and back when he was being held by Hankel, I'm sure he could have found any number of ways to communicate with a specific team member at that moment, but he chose Hotch. He knew Hotch would be the only one capable of putting his ego aside at being "picked to die" and to listen properly to the rest of Reid's message. Once he confirmed that his message was correct and that he was in a cemetery, Reid was so sure that Hotch understood his message and would be coming to save him that he let his guard down for the first time. I think he only picked up that gun and shot Hankel with it in the end to just superstitiously make sure that the bullet never did reach Hotch (and to "free" Tobias, or whatever. Either way Hankel wasn't going for the gun or to use Reid as a shield when he turned to face off with the FBI and any of them could have taken him down easily). They've only been getting closer and closer over the years, on-screen and off (Fist-bump anyone? Always standing close together? Plus Reid's been teaching Jack magic tricks and was the one to get him smiling and laughing after Hotch got arrested by SWAT, which you know would make Hotch even more gooey for him). They're 100% an army of 2/hyper-competent power couple (take for instance the way Hotch and Reid were mirrored against Garcia and Kevin when she referred to her own pairing as the President and Vice-President after the bank blew up?) who can probably achieve 90% of the team's success level on their own. That super-serial-killer chick may have talked about Reid losing a "protector" in Morgan, but Hotch has always been the one Reid has come to or looked to. He was pretty distraught about the idea of Hotch leaving to be Section Chief, not that long ago, too. Also, constant super-crush behaviour which I could list but this post is already very long. Reid would not just immediately go "Prentiss is our leader now, this'll be great!". FFS.

Anyway we all know the way they wrote Hotch off was bullshit, hence the suuuper-long monologue to explain everything that's apparently happened off-screen, and yeah he'd totally enter WITSEC without even telling the team (until he decided to resign) when Peter Lewis had already hacked it once and killed the person on it before the team figured out who he was after and got there 🙄. All of it is super implausible. But to me, nothing more so than Reid's poor imitation of shock/surprise and almost total lack of emotional reaction. Him knowing beforehand, because Hotch already said goodbye to him, is the only thing that will ever make me be at peace with this crap from an in-universe POV.

This could all be shot to pieces in the next ep lol, but for now I'm just glad my brain has a way to make sense of it.

[seraph-of-sizes]

Hi!! I absolutely adore your writing and I think your broken home au is the best thing in existence, I was hoping you could do something with tighnari and borrower collei because I love them so much, if not then no worries :>

Thank you so much! I love my kids. But I also adore the Sumeru cast so much, Sumeru was the first nation I got to experience from -.0 to -.8 so here ya go:

================================================

The sound of pen on paper filled the quiet of the evening, the usual noise of the Avidya Forest fading to soft chirping and the bubbling of Ghandarvaville’s Creek. Rustling paper, the scratch of nails on wood, an old habit from the Academiya.

His ear flicked in annoyance. 

“My hearing isn’t any worse than it was the last time you tried this.” He spoke softly, not even bothering to turn his gaze to where he knew his apprentice was standing like a Sumpter Beast in lamplights.

“Aww…” Now he turned, resting his head on his hand and fighting back the smile that wanted to cross his features. “Cyno said I would get you for sure this time!”

“Well, for one, Cyno walks barefoot.” Tighnari chuckled as the green-haired girl deflated immediately. “And for two, I’m a little more aware of your presence than I am of Cyno’s.”

That caught her attention. “Huh?” She tilted her head. “But why?”

“Well,” He gently reached out and waited for her to take the first step, as always. He remained completely stationary as she reached out and touched his gloved hand, relaxing only as she felt the pads on his fingers. It was one of his less noticeable features from his Valuka Shuna heritage, but to Collei it meant safety. She had explained that even in her nightmares, her brain couldn’t replicate the feeling of them, so as long as she could feel them, she knew she was safe.

“Well, what?” She said, looking up at him as she sat down in his hand.

Inwardly he was a little glad that she couldn’t see the fact his tail was swishing in content like a simple dog. “Well, because Cyno and I have known each other for many years now. I trust him with my life, and I trust him not to get into trouble less than 10 feet away from me.” The soft scold was met with a wince from the tiny girl.

“You’re still mad about the glider…” She grumbled. “I jus’ wanted to impress Amber when I saw her next.”

“Yes I’m still upset. Not mad, upset. You could have gotten very hurt.” Tighnari sighed. “But we’ve already had this discussion, no need to reiterate it now.”

“Cyno said the Windlume festival is coming up.” 

“I’m going to kill him.” Tighnari rolled his eyes. “That was supposed to be a secret.”

“I knew it was coming anyways, Amber sent me a letter about it, I’m getting better at reading, but her handwriting is still hard to read from up close…” Collie hummed. Tighnari blinked before relaxing, good, their surprise trip wasn’t ruined after all.

[the-present-is-a-gift-au]

Chapter 13: In Which Old Friends Return

After the encounter with Drowzee, Twig was left grasping at straws to explain why she slammed the door on Darkrai when they were supposed to be heading out to the market. He had run into it face-first, and was understandably (and also terrifyingly) upset by that. She had said that a drowzee passed by who was deathly allergic to nightmares and wanted to play it safe, and apologized for not warning him— she was worried about exposing the drowzee to Darkrai’s weird Legend aura nightmare thing and sending the poor guy to a clinic. He seemed understanding at that, but Twig was so terrified by the close call with someone who could have recognized Darkrai that she ended up holing herself up inside for the next few days. Regrettably, the pantry did not stay full, and she had to venture out to the market once more— and Darkrai tagged along as always.

People were used to seeing Darkrai now, and he was able to go about town without raising any alarms like Twig had feared initially. He offered to carry the bag of groceries as Twig shopped for more pantry staples and a few miscellaneous items that had been depleted as well— she’d completely exhausted her store of chesto berries in particular, and she needed more if she wanted to survive her new normal. 

She looked over her list once again. “There’s a few more things I need to grab— flour and some more persim berries— but once I grab those, we can head back.”

Darkrai hummed distractedly.

“What is it?” She cast a wary glance over her shoulder. “Do you need something, too?”

“No.” His brow furrowed, and he continued to stare off into the crowd. “Pardon my directness, but… Do you smell something?”

Twig narrowed her eyes and tried to catch whatever scent he was referring to. Sure enough, something powerful was wafting through the air, enough to make numerous market-goers hold their noses or vacate entirely. She frowned. “Ew. Yeah. Yeah, I do. Ugh, it smells like…”

“If it ain’t the reigning wimp herself!” Hollered a familiar voice. 

Oh, great.

Koffing, Zubat, and Skuntank stormed through the crowd, giving little attention to maintaining a polite distance from the pokemon doing their shopping and completely disregarding the idea that you shouldn’t shout from across the street to someone who didn’t want to see your face ever again. Skuntank laughed heartily as he approached, Zubat and Koffing snickering and chortling shortly behind him. 

“It’s been ages, kid!” Koffing said. “You still look scrawny as ever!”

“Gee, thanks,” Twig said with a sneer. “I don’t want to talk to you guys.”

“Aw, c’mon, we’re all friends. Why wouldn’t you want to talk to us?”

“Huh. I dunno. Maybe because you guys were jerks to me and Kip when we were apprentices?”

“What?” Zubat’s ear twitched in surprise. “We were just messing with you two, don’t take it so hard.”

“I don’t need to worry about ‘taking it so hard’ when we were stuck taking the fall for you guys every time you did something to ruin our day. Do I need to bring up the perfect apple escapade?” 

“Perfect apple…” Skuntank’s eyes widened in recognition. “Aw yeah! That was great! Wigglytuff really tanned our hides in the end, though. Never did like that guy. He was always a creep.”

“Hey, speaking of, who’s tall, dark, and freaky over there?”

Twig was instantly reminded of Darkrai’s presence as he introduced himself. “I am Ark,” he said, voice dripping with icy distaste. “And you are?”

“Team Skull. We haven’t been on any jobs in a while, but it still has a nice ring to it, eh?”

Twig’s lip curled in disgust. “You need to complete a minimum of three jobs per year to maintain your exploration team’s activity status, you know. You guys aren’t in the books because you didn’t ever go on any expeditions other than that one as apprentices.”

“Still a stick in the mud, then, huh?” Skuntank let out a hearty guffaw. “You’re the same teacher’s pet as always! Makes me wonder why Chatot would get on your case so much.”

“Gee, I wonder why.” 

“Where’s the other half of the wimp-o duo? What’s his name… Tick? Trick?”

“I think it was Blip, boss.”

“Wasn’t it Nip?”

Yeah, it made sense that these jerks couldn’t remember the name of the guy they’d bullied so thoroughly and terribly that he doubted he could chase his dreams even years down the line. She gritted her teeth. “Kip. He’s off on a big archaeological expedition—”

“Without you?!” They all asked in unison.

“... Yes? Why wouldn’t he?”

The three broke into uproarious laughter.

“Wow,” Koffing wheezed, “He must have finally grown a spine of his own then, if he’s not still attached to your hip! Yikes, must be weird to not have the little guy to follow around, huh?”

Twig readied a rebuttal, but the three had turned around and left without another word, cackling all the way. She scowled as she watched them go. 

She hated them. She hated them so, so much. 

“Who is this Kip I keep hearing about?” Darkrai asked. 

“My friend. We used to be in an exploration team together. We were apprentices and partners at Wigglytuff’s Guild when those three knuckleheads were even worse than they were just now.”

He looked off at where they’d disappeared into the crowd and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t care for them.”

“Yeah, no joke. Me neither. Ugh, they were the worst. I can’t believe they have the guts to show their faces to me and act like they didn’t do anything wrong…” She resumed shopping, ranting to Darkrai all the while. “They started off stealing from Kip. He was way younger than them, first of all, and they thought it was funny to shove him over and grab an heirloom from his parents when he dropped it— and then they decided to talk about selling it in front of him when he tried to get it back. Agh, and that’s not even to mention when they showed up as apprentices the first time…”

Twig spent the rest of the shopping and trip back home rambling about all of Team Skull’s misdeeds and how they always managed to pin the blame on her and her partner. She surprised herself with how long she spoke on the subject— clearly she was still ticked about all the awful stuff they did despite not realizing this— but she was even more surprised by Darkrai’s reaction when she apologized for talking his ear off.

“No, no. I’m grateful for it.” She glanced back at his awe-inspired tone and was shocked to find him looking oddly touched. “Thank you for confiding in me. It means more than I can say.”

“Uh.” She blinked. “Yeah. Sure. No problem.” 

“You’ve not been so open before now. Not willingly.”

She frowned.

“Your trust in me is appreciated.”

His words rattled around in her head as they stepped inside her home— she accepted the bag of groceries from him and put them away, wondering all the while if she somehow had said too much by telling him about some childhood bullies.