#like i get if more story-focused games aren’t your cup of tea

[hamethyst]

“This game is too linear and story-centered!”

“This game focuses too much on dialogue and relationships and not enough on combat!”

Well, damn, what’s it called? Sounds right up my alley lol.

[justjessame]

Light Through the Darkness: Chapter 56

The entire point, Damon reminded himself as his eyes landed on Abi’s smiling face tilting close to Mason’s to hear whatever he was telling her, seeing her shake her head at whatever he was offering her, of this damn barbeque was to PROVE that HE was a werewolf. That was it. It was why the guest list was kept small. Why Ric and he had a schedule of ‘events’ and why when push came to shove, he planned on shoving something silver deep into Mason’s flesh. As Abi’s lips curled into a wider smile and a giggle escaped her lips, Damon was thinking of a far more dull silver option than the sharp knife he’d considered first and a far more sensitive area than he’d picked earlier.

“Calm down,” Ric’s lips were barely moving, but Damon could hear him perfectly fine. “I swear I can SEE the steam coming out of the top of your head.”

“He’s practically pissing on her leg,” Damon growled as Abi bit her lip to hold back a laugh at something the neaderthal said. “LOOK at him.” His teeth were almost bared as he watched Mason flirting with Abigail. HIS Abigail.

Ric did, and what he saw was a guy who was trying to make sure the odd one out, Abigail in this case, was kept comfortable in a new group. He was making sure she understood the rules of each game and that she was kept fed and watered. He was being a good guy. He watched as Mason tucked an errant curl behind Abi’s ear and heard Damon make a sound that worried him. Of course, he was also forcing the green-eyed beast to the forefront of the least stable vampire in residence, which wasn’t smart, but he didn’t necessarily know that.

“I understand this game, Mason,” Abi assured him, with a chuckle. Charades weren’t exactly a new concept. “It’s the topics that aren’t exactly my cup of tea.”

“I’ll make sure you get to pick something you know.” He promised, and while she didn’t trust him, not fully, she knew that he wasn’t completely evil. He just wasn’t completely on the up and up. “I think Pictionary might be the one that does you in.” His dimple came out and she shook her head.

“I’ll take a mad guess and assume that has to do with drawing something,” she offered with a roll of her eyes. “Perhaps like charades, but with drawing?” She’d done her homework, with Marcel and Gloria. And then there was the internet and her insatiable curiosity. Popular culture though, that was mind-boggling.

“Hark who’s learning,” he tossed a throw pillow at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. Playful and silly. “You look a hell of a lot like this girl I saw once,” he started, but Damon cut in with the announcement that the first game was about to start.

Charades was strange, Abigail thought. She’d skipped her go, too focused on watching Ric and Damon. What were they doing? And then she realized there was a third to their game. Mason.

As they took a break, from the first game, Caroline finally took a moment alone with Abigail. Quiet and unsure, she approached while Abigail was finding time to get some fresh air on the porch. She was considering whether it was the same part where Damon had - but she was pushing the thought away when Caroline approached.

“Alaric told me who you really are,” the young vampire said quietly, keeping her distance. She gave an almost silent chuckle. “I told him about you being trapped still, you know? I thought it was a silly story, an urban legend." She studied Abigail, seeing her for the first time, really seeing her. “They told me what she did to you. How you feel about -” She swallowed and she realized that Caroline feared that she hated her.

“Oh Caroline,” Abi shook her head and her smile turned sad. “I came out of that - I don’t even know what to call where I was,” she looked down at her wrist, where the bracelet that Emily had created still rested. “I came out stronger than I went in. I came out knowing that no matter what tries to break me, only I have the power to allow it to.” She was still waiting, completely still like only her kind could be. “You are still you, you’re just MORE you.” That caused a smile to creep onto her lips and the storm cloud that had started to cover her face was brushed away. “A very large teacher shaped birdie told me you seem built for this new life, even if you didn’t choose it.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, and finally moved closer. “I guess being a control freak finally comes in handy.” Abigail hugged her, still much smaller than her, but somehow offering her the comfort she needed. “My mom is gonna hate me, Abi.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, Caroline.” Abi promised. “Don’t borrow trouble, not yet.”

Damon watched as Abi comforted Caroline. As she showed the compassion to the blonde newbie vampire that she seemed to overflow with for everyone, but him. Then again, he thought, as Elena walked across his sight line it wasn’t as if he didn’t keep screwing up everything, time and time again.

Pictionary was much of the same as charades, and Abigail found that watching and waiting was still the best course of action. Jenna was having fun, but the amount of alcohol being consumed probably helped her miss that the game still seemed far more Mason versus Damon than anything else. When Mason finally yelled “wolf”, she remembered the talk that she’d had with Ric. Werewolves. Clearly Mason was the suspect, and she’d completely forgotten. Perhaps her overindulgence lingered longer than she’d given credit.

Elena and Caroline left soon after the game, and Abigail would have as well, but she felt beholden to help Jenna clean up. Since the men seemed focused on - something else.

“It was really great to meet you,” Mason offered before he left, and Abigail smiled up at him. “You really do remind me of her.”

“Who?” Abi asked, head tilted.

Mason leaned forward, his lips very close to her ear, so only she could hear him. “The sleeping beauty in Morgan House, of course. I was on the football team. Devil’s Night tradition we’d break in and there she’d be -” he didn’t step away, not yet. “You’re a dead ringer for her.” That final shot, he stood up and smiled down at her, waiting to see her reaction.

“I AM the last living Morgan,” Abigail shrugged. “If this ghost story you’re telling me has a basis in fact, then it would make sense that I look like her, I’m her descendant.”

His eyes stayed on hers and the air grew tense. Jenna broke it when she came in and asked what she missed. “Nothing,” Mason offered, breaking eye contact first and smiling at his old friend. “I was just telling Abi that it was great meeting her, always fun adding new blood to the town, right?”

Jenna’s eyes narrowed as she took in the two of them, but since Abigail’s smile was still as benign as before, she chose not to push. “OK, well, weird way to put it, but sure.”

“I thought I’d help with cleaning up, since your niece decided to retreat,” Abi offered with a grin.

“Teenagers,” Jenna sighed, but her grin told Abi that it was a contented and happy irritation. “I will happily accept, if I can buy you a drink.” She held up a bottle of wine and Abigail blanched. “Or not.”

“I overdid it last night,” she admitted, but told Jenna to have her share. Then they worked together to put the kitchen and house back to sorts. While Mason left and Ric happily helped with the cleaning up and Damon disappeared.

Damon had helped himself to one of Jenna’s mother’s silver knives while Mason’s attention had been locked on Abigail, a small mercy in the entire horrendous ordeal that was this nightmare of a barbeque. His hold on the handle, now that he was moving after the feral dog threatened the integrity of the metal, especially when he’d seen Mason leaning in to whisper in Abi’s ear and that tense little bubble that Jenna finally interrupted - Well stabbing his smug ass was starting to sound more and more satisfying, regardless of what it proved about his nature or his weaknesses.

“Steady,” Ric had murmured, eyes locked on that same scene as Damon, but seeing it in less stark tones. “I don’t think he’s romancing our fair Abigail.”

Damon snorted, thinking that Mason Lockwood couldn’t hope to come close to knowing where to start in the HOWs of how to court Abigail Morgan. “Like he could even-” But the moment passed. Mason and Abi had been interrupted by Jenna - then Mason was on his way out the door.

The confrontation could have gone better. Damon was self aware enough to admit to it. It hadn’t gone so horribly upside down just because he wanted to double down on proof that not only was Mason the Big Bad Wolf, he knew that, or that silver was the end all be all for ENDING the werewolf problem. No, it came to a boiling head when he had the nerve to toss out a ‘warning’ that reeked of threat about Abi’s true identity. Making his and Stefan’s lives miserable was one thing, but Abigail? Yeah, that dog was lucky he walked away with all his limbs attached.

He came back to the Gilbert house as Abi was getting into the driver’s side of a Mini Cooper.

“As I live and breathe,” he was beside her, as though she called to him, the pull to be near her was so damn strong. “Abigail Morgan are you driving this ‘roaring box on wheels with no discernable means to explain -”

She turned and he was rendered silent by the way the moon and street light bounced off her pale green eyes, and how - even when she was done with him, she still found a smirk of amusement at his antics.

“I had a firm teacher take me in hand during my travels.” Abi leaned against the side of her car, the door open, her bag on the seat. “You have a bit of blood on your -” she pointed at the hand still holding Jenna’s knife. “I’d suggest cleaning that up before returning it.”

She sounded so nonchalant about it, as though a bloody knife, or blood on him were synonymous, that he wondered if he’d missed a step somewhere?

“Yeah, I had an experiment - a theory to test.”

“And?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. When he said nothing, she sighed. “Did you? Prove it, I mean.”

He nodded, distracted when she licked her lip and sighed. “Yep, werewolf.” That’s the topic, Damon, he reminded himself, as his body was trying to convince him that he REALLY wanted a refresher on how she tasted.

“I’m fairly certain you knew he was a wolf prior to the bloodletting.” She was studying him, his eyes were roaming her body and he seemed distracted. “What was the point of stabbing him?”

Damon tried to focus on her question, but the light wasn’t just making her eyes twinkle, they were making her lips glisten, her skin looking luminous. And he wanted her so damn bad. Focus, he told himself, she wanted to know why he stabbed Lockwood. “Silver,” right, the knife was silver. “Werewolves and silver, it’s supposed to be bad for them.”

“And is it?” Her head tilted and the natural curls, some loose tendrils teasing her shoulders and tempting him to touch the silk of it. “Silver, Damon? Is it bad for them?”

Right, another question. “No, myth.” He sighed and shut his eyes, maybe if he couldn’t SEE her he could think straight. The breeze shifted and the scent of her skin hit him as he was about to tell her that Mason was one of the idiots who broke into her house and creeped on her sleeping body, his entire body felt like it was on fire with need. “Damn it.”

“What’s wrong?” She sounded so concerned that he remembered being jealous of Caroline and how she’d shown her so much compassion on the porch earlier. “Damon?” If she touched him -

“I’m fine,” he opened his eyes, and was happy to see she hadn’t moved. “I should -” their eyes met and he groaned. He wanted her and fighting it was harder than anything he could think of - the knife hit the pavement. “Abi,” it came out a plea, and she bit her lip. “You should go.”

“Why?” She sounded breathless, and she wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t she moving? Damon wondered if she was the misery he promised to torture Stefan with come home to roost for him?

“I want you and -”

“And?” Abigail Morgan was his torment, that had to be the answer, as she stood in front of him, the light of her tiny car’s interior dome light framing her from behind, the moon and street lights creating a halo over her from above, she looked like heaven, but must be his Hell.

“You hate me.” Was that his voice? It came out so NEEDY.

“Do I?” She shook her head and let out a long breath. “I’m not sure what to call how I feel about you, Damon, but ‘hate’? I don’t think that’s it.”

It took more than Abigail cared to admit to finally turn away from Damon and get into her car. More than she wanted to consider to start the engine and pull away from the curb, careful of the knife he dropped and of him - even if he wouldn’t be harmed if she had tapped him, and more energy than she wanted to ever think about to NOT glance in the rear view mirror as she drove to her house to get ready for bed and curl up with Cat and get used to her new life in her new house.

[d0llpie]

could we suggest a scenario instead of a # from the prompt list? if we can could you write hcs (or whatever format you prefer haha) of fake dating for sakusa? like maybe you’re going home from college and ur parents are expecting you to bring home a boyfriend.

ofc if this isn’t what you normally do i understand !!

Fake Dating Sakusa

sakusa x reader

a/n: Hii yes this is perfectly fine, thank you for the request love <33 Also i don’t usually incorporate ‘germaphobe’ sakusa into my works, i still make reference to his social anxiety and cleanliness but i keep it low key if that makes sense? Hope you enjoy regardless <3

wc: 2k

- You were friends with Komori during middle school since he lived near you

- As you grew closer you started attending his volleyball practices and he introduced you to Sakusa

- You were bright and bubbly and spoke to him every game and practice, commending him on his skills. It was rare to get a reply but you still tried nonetheless

- Once Komori had asked you to become the manager, the three of you started hanging out more often, leading to you being one of the few people Sakusa wasn’t uncomfortable around

- Once you entered high school together the boy’s volleyball team was already amazing, Sakusa became the ace while you were focused on your studies and own extra curriculars

- When Sakusa asked you to manage his team he didn’t think you would decline, as petty as it was he started ignoring you

- Komori was annoyed at his behaviour and you just tried to get under his skin to annoy him. Slipping notes into his locker and notebooks, even flinging your mask at him across the classroom but he didn’t blink.

- Your mum asked why she hadn’t seen Kiyoomi around lately and you decided to tell her everything, including how much you missed him.

- She offered to call his mum but you quickly shut her down, instead making Komori talk some sense into him.

- The next day he showed up at your door, with brows furrowed, although you could only see half his face you could tell he had a guilty expression

- “Soo, you come crawling back to me just like always” you sighed dramatically before entering your house, rolling his eyes

- “I’m sorry for expecting so much from you, i know you aren’t interested in volleyball and just support me but i enjoy your support.” you were taken back by his blunt apology and nodded, about to speak when you were interrupted

- “Sakusa! Come in come in, i haven’t seen you in while how is volleyball!” you mum ushered him into the kitchen, starting the kettle to make some tea

- “Hi mrs l/n, it’s been good, we’re improving and nationals is approaching” he removed his mask and sat at the bench, looking over at you expectantly

- You smiled before sitting next him, “Well thats great! I’m sure your mum is proud, i need to catch up with her soon” you watched fondly as they interacted, remembering how your mum seemed to be on his side more when you explained his absence

- “I have to leave soon, i’ll be back in a few hours, Kiyoomi would you like to stay for dinner dear?” he nodded curtly “if that’s okay with you” she smiled before turning to you

- “y/n, about the trip next week, your cousin is bringing her boyfriend so you can bring Sakusa, if you’re free of course” you became embarrassed quickly, understanding that your mum had mistaken Kiyoomi for your boyfriend when you spoke to her

- “mum wait-“ “okay i really need to go now, we can talk about this later, bye guys” she rushed out the door and you sighed, slowly turning to see Sakusa’s unreadable expression

- “Is your mother under the impression that we’re dating...?” you wanted to crawl under the floorboards and melt into the earth “um, i think so? i didn’t tell her that i think she got confused when i explained why you were ignoring me..” he nodded understandingly

- “I am free” you quirked your brow “Omi you don’t have to come i can explain everything to her..”

- “i guess, that’s a bit of a hassle though don’t you think? And besides, your family likes me more than you.” you lightly hit his shoulder before standing up to bring the tea into the lounge room, Sakusa following behind you

- “I guess, but, you’d have to pretend to be my boyfriend in front of everyone and my cousin will ask a lot of question, do you think you’d be okay?” his eyes softened at your concern before he answered

- “I don’t mind, it won’t be difficult, plus we can always just stay in the hotel room and say we’re on a date or something if it gets too much” he shrugged “wow Omi, i didn’t know you could think this much so fast” he glared at you and you laughed

- “Alright then babe, i’ll tell mum when she gets back” you laughed again, focusing on your cup of tea, missing the way the tips of his ears burned red

~

Next week came all too fast, you and Sakusa had managed to slip back into the way your friendship was beforehand, comfortable.

Sakusa was sitting on the edge of your bed, watching you pack up the last of your things into the suitcase. You knew it might be a bit much for him to be in a car with your family for hours so you were going to take his car. It would give you both time to sort out your story and prepare for the week ahead. You hopped into the passenger seat and started playing your playlist.

“Okay so, mum won’t ask many questions, she loves you anyway, however, my cousin will ask about first dates and will want to know e v e r y t h i n g” you turned to face him when his arm reached behind the head of your chair, he looked back to reverse and you stared blankly at his side profile, seeing his arms flex. You cleared your throat and turned back in front of you to continue. “We need a story”, as he pulled out of your street and began driving he spoke “I mean we can tell the truth about how we met, say you confessed after a volleyball match where i won and our first date was a picnic, we’ve been together for a few months and your mum found out recently” you stared at him shocked “i thought i would be having to prepare you but okay” you playfully rolled your eyes and smiled “What about acting like a couple?” “well your mum already assumed and i’m comfortable with you so it’s not like people don’t already think we act like one, anything off limits?” you hummed “jeez what do you have in mind” you teased and he scoffed “I mean the obvious hand holding and hugs will have to probably happen but anything else you do or don’t want?” yes. You shook the thought away “That should be fine, what about you?” “that’s fine, you can take a nap if you’re tired, it’ll be a few hours” you nodded before settling into your seat comfortably, quickly falling asleep.

Sakusa looked over at you and noticed the goosebumps on your skin, he reaching onto the backseat floor and placed a jacket over you the best he could. He glanced to you at the side fairly often, watching you peacefully sleep under his jacket. He smiled to himself while continuing to drive.

You woke up as soon as the car stopped, looking around confused, feeling an unfamiliar weight and material draped over you. You looked down and recognised Sakusas jacket, remembering you fell asleep in the car. You looked over to see Sakusa looking down at you “sleep well?” “mhm” you sat up properly and took a few minutes to adjust to being awake. “Alright well, your family is here, you ready to act babe?” he threw the nickname back at you and your eyes widened before you put on a casual smile, realising you needed to get used to acting like you were in a relationship with your friend.

“Y/n, Sakusa! How was the drive? We’re all gonna put our bags away and get settled in before dinner, make sure you both get ready!” your parents greeted you both “It was nice, we’ll settle in now, thank you” your mother handed Sakusa one of the room keys. You went to grab your bags but Sakusa beat you to it, taking both of your bags and leading you to the room.

When you entered you made a mental note to annoy your mother, there was only one bed. “Kiyoomi i’m sorry, I didn’t know she would book it like this, actually i’m not surprised...” he nodded understandingly, putting both your bags on the bed. “I’ll sleep on the chair or the floor it’ll be fine, c’mon let’s get ready” you wanted to argue against him doing that, but hummed and began to get ready.

Once you finished getting dressed, you left the bathroom and met Sakusa by the door “You look good, ready?” you nodded, smiling brightly at him. He slipped an arm around your waist and you tensed up before relaxing into his hold

Dinner went smoothly for the most part, you let Kiyoomi do most of the talking since he answered all the questions relating to your relationship with ease, even including stories from middle school and weaving them into the lies about your dating life. “So, when did you realise you liked each other?” your cousin eyed you curiously and you looked over to Sakusa. “I’ve always known, she’s always made me feel safe enough to be myself, respecting me while still annoying the crap out of me. I knew on her first day as our manager in middle school, during a break she handed everyone water bottles but she went to my bag to bring me my own water bottle instead” you were staring at him in awe, millions of thoughts running through your mind. Was he serious? He couldn’t be..but wow that was detailed and he seemed, genuine? He looked over to see you staring at him, starstruck expression on your face, similar to when he looks over to you in the stands after landing a spike. Your cousin let out a few ‘awws’ holding her boyfriends hand before turning to you again. “Oh, um, I knew when he came and picked me up at the mall, i had had a horrible day, everything was going wrong and i just wanted to get out of there but i was so stressed and despite the crowded place he still came anyway.” your heart was racing, you were sure you looked completely flustered, fiddling with your hands under the table. Sakusa noticed your nervous state and gripped your hand in his own, squeezing to calm you while keeping his attention on the rest of the table. You smiled, squeezing back softly.

After dinner you flopped onto the bed, exhausted and trying to calm down. You let Kiyoomi shower first, hopping in after him, letting the hot water soak into your muscles and relax you. After you got ready for bed you came out of the bathroom to see Kiyoomi setting blankets on the floor “Just get on the bed Sakusa” you laughed and slid under the covers, lying as far on edge as possible to avoid making him uncomfortable. “I wasn’t lying.” he was lying on his back, staring up at the roof, you turned to face him, your heart rate picking up again. “Me neither...” he turned his head to look at you, moving onto his side, your faces mere inches apart. “I agreed to this because i like you y/n..” you could feel his breath fan across your face and you smiled “I wanted you to come, i like you too” you whispered the last part as you closed the distance between you both, kissing him on the cheek softly. A small blush spread across his cheeks and he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you into his chest “I’m glad we aren’t faking anymore” you whispered into his chest “i never was, goodnight y/n” you snuggled further into his hold “goodnight omi”

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

completely brainless 1am ramble

On the topic of stagnation, and the geopolitical plot vs. character-driven plot discussion people are having rn:

Maybe this is just a nostalgia-blinded bias of mine, having started with the Disc War, but...I’ve never minded the more character-based plots? Anyone who’s followed my blog for a bit knows that I love the Pet War, but I also loved the Disc War and the Final Pet War too. In those conflicts, the factions served as a backdrop rather than being the main focus, and the plot was driven by the characters and their grievances with one another.

One of my favorite smaller plots from Season Two was Fundy and Ghostbur. That had absolutely zilch to do with factions, or L’manburg, or geopolitics, but it was honestly one of the most well-acted and heart-breaking plots I’ve seen from the SMP in its entirety. 

I think that character-driven plots are places where the SMP’s really shined, at least to me personally.

Maybe that’s not everyone’s thing, but I don’t think it’s bad for the stories to be more character-driven! I think a lot more of the SMP than people realize has been like that this entire time. I think people sometimes overestimate how much the factions have actually mattered, in a sense?

Remember how the Disc War started? 

Tommy and Sapnap were a pair. Punz and Tubbo were a pair. Ponk and Alyssa were a pair. Dream logged on to stop the fighting and Tommy and Sapnap killed him, leading to Dream allying himself with Ponk and Alyssa. These weren’t faction lines dividing everyone, but personal grudges. That’s how the SMP’s entire plot started. “You and me, versus Dream,” right?

While the L’manburg War was amazing and a game-changer for the SMP storyline as a whole, I feel like the motivations, the driving forces for that war were actually a lot weaker than the recent conflicts. It was a cool bit of political roleplay, yes, but it was kind of just a war for the sake of a war, to be honest.

L’manburg was founded because some Americans got in the way of Wilbur and Tommy stealing everyone’s blaze rods. It went from a hotdog-selling business to a literal independent country because...revolution, I guess? And Dream declared war because...sometimes you just gotta kill some people sometimes, y’know...? 

It was the character-based conflicts from before that war that ended it. The discs ended the war even though they had nothing to do with the reason L’manburg seceded, because Tommy and Dream’s grudge against each other held more weight than the actual country. Who cared if L’manburg gained its independence as long as Dream gained the discs? That was a bigger win for him.

The conflicts that happened afterwards continued that trend of being character-driven rather than faction-driven. L’manburg kind of disappeared for a month as the Disc Saga continued with Tommy and Dream, Tommy and Quackity founded the Cartel and then the Pet War started up because of Sapnap.

None of these conflicts had anything to do with factions, really, and having all these little smaller stories gave a chance for people like Quackity, Fundy and Skeppy to get in on the drama more and throw their hats into the ring. 

That’s what I think is happening right now, except since there are a lot more people on the server now, they’re starting up their individual plots around the same time so that they start to overlap. 

And remember how Fundy and Tubbo started up the Dreamon Hunters plot, picked out new skins, built a new setting and everything just for that plot to never take off due to needing to prepare for the Manberg Festival? Such a cool plot idea, and it just never happened, really.

Well, now, the Badlands have been having fun creating their own Blood Vines plot, and since they aren’t very involved in what Tommy and Dream are doing, they have space to flesh out that idea and not have it be overshadowed by other things. Whether or not you, as a viewer, want to follow along with the side plot is your choice! But Bad seems to be having a lot of fun telling his own story. 

Quackity creating Mexican L’manburg and having that turn into a five-day plot that ended in war? That’s basically just the L’manburg War 2.0, and if you don’t feel like following along with the plot -- again, no need to! But Karl finally getting his chance to shine, Sapnap and George having character development with Dream, and Eret, Puffy and H getting in on some drama was honestly pretty exciting!

The thing about the SMP is that it’s not really built to be just one storyline. It’s never just been about L’manburg. 

While the Camarvan was built, Fundy and Eret were having their Prank War.

The same day Dream and Tommy fought to bargain with Skeppy, Fundy was getting into a court battle with Punz, Eret and Tubbo.

While the Election was happening, so was the Pet War.

In the middle of Pogtopia building its resistance, the Battle of the Lake happened with Tommy, Sapnap and the Badlands.

The SMP has always had storylines going on at the same time. It’s just that since most of the viewers have always focused on Tommy and Wilbur for the most part, a lot of the time those extra storylines slipped through the cracks of memory.

Now let’s get back to the geopolitics vs. character-driven thing:

This feeling of “stagnation” isn’t new! The SMP’s had periods like this, where it feels a bit slower and everyone’s a little confused about where it’s going before.

Remember that period from like, October 18th to November 6th or so where pretty much nothing happened to progress the plot? And since none of the other streamers on the SMP were doing their own plots, it was just kind of this period of...”who knows what’s happening right now?”

The thing about a politics-based plot vs. a more character-driven, million side-stories type deal is that as long as none of the country leaders were online, nothing could really happen to progress the main plot, and since the character-driven stuff wasn’t the main focus, that couldn’t drive much either.

So...yeah, you got the Tubbo Bathwater stream three days after the Festival happened. That’s just kinda how it went.

Schlatt only got on very rarely, Wilbur a bit less rarely, and Dream logging onto his own server was always more of a surprise more than a routine. Tommy and Techno were getting into hijinks, but there weren’t really any political stakes. Even though he was supposed to be exiled, Tommy just moved back into his house anyway, because who was going to stop him? The one person who cared about him staying out wasn’t there to do anything.

Yes, the Big Plot Days like the Festival and the Meeting were jaw-dropping and amazing! I loved them! Incredibly-written, incredibly-acted. 

But what about what happened between them? 

One thing I’ve enjoyed about the recent period is that it feels like a lot more streamers are keeping track of their characters and holding onto longer plot threads. It feels like more people are interacting with each other instead of doing builds by themselves. And even the main plot is progressing at this more subtle, bit-by-bit pace where there’s a bit of new development with each stream. The big event days still happen, like the New Festival and the Execution, but the pacing’s a lot more consistently spread out. And with all these other streamers keeping their own mini stories as well, it’s more of this melting pot of different people interacting, each with their own arc and tale to tell.

Ponk and Jack, for example, are keeping their ongoing rivalry. Sam, Bad and Ant are getting into their own storyline whereas before, the Badlands weren’t really doing much of anything. And Karl’s been doing the same fun side-things that he’s always done for months, but he’s recently started to try and find a niche for himself by trying these light-hearted events or his new Tales series, which could end up being really cool the more he refines it! 

I feel like a lot of the “chaos” feeling isn’t really from how the SMP’s main storyline has been written; most of the main plot has still kept to L’manburg and Techno.

It’s just that more people are taking notice of all the side hijinks that are going on in the background all the time, and some of the people who weren’t involved in the main plot before have started creating their own storylines for fun. 

I will say it again and again: you don’t have to follow along with every storyline! If it overwhelms you to try and keep up with the Blood Vines? That’s okay! You as a viewer have the freedom to create the viewing experience that makes you the most comfortable, that brings you the most joy! 

But I also think people could try and branch out a bit too. Give some new creators a try. No pressure or anything, and it’s fine if you just want to stick to Tommy or Techno! But there are a lot of talented people on the SMP, and I feel like some of these smaller stories are worth paying attention to if you’re interested!

Aaaaanyway, this is just a long, long post with some nonsense thoughts that I felt like getting out. Feel free to disagree! The SMP’s an interesting piece of media that everyone’s going to experience slightly differently. What may be my cup of tea might not be yours, and vice versa! :]

[lupinlongbottom]

Practically a Weasley pt. 3

Charlie Weasley x Reader

Summary: What could make Charlie’s life more full? He already had a wife he adored, a job he loved and a child who loved him more than the moon and stars. Lunch with his mum isn’t the first idea on his list, that’s for sure. 

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: a couple of swears? but like when isn’t there my dudes

A/N: So like, these are probably like 3 different stories in one, no clear plot. Oops that’s just my brain getting excited at the idea of their child and the Weasley dynamic so idk still cute

Part 1 ... Part 1.5 ... Part 2 ... Epilogue

__

“Charles Septimus Weasley!”

The name echoed through the quaint cottage, volume boasting only what could be rivaled to a howler. Charlie had been anticipating a screech like that all day, quietly enjoying a pot of tea, reading the latest issue of the Quibbler before his wife awoke.

“Yes my flower?” Charlie hummed, eyes not leaving his magazine. The latest headlining story involved a sighting of a new type of mini-dragon, one with invisible wings. They were not lizards, a fact Charlie was sure of.

“I just received an owl,” (Y/N) pointed, hopping down the oak stairs as if it were nothing. “From your brother,” she crossed her arms.

“You’re going to have to be more specific, love. Got quite a few of those,” he took a sip of tea.

“From Bill, the brother who was watching your daughter last night?”

“Oh love, I can’t remember much from last night. Maybe you can jog my memory?” His eyes peeked over the magazine, eyeing his wife up and down. 

“Cheeky,” (Y/N) replied cooly, feeling a slight heat rise to her cheeks. “He said that Kayda had a wonderful time with her cousins, but when it came time to get ready for bed, she didn’t have any pajamas.”

“Oh?”

“You know what she had, though?”

“Not exactly,” he shrugged, flipping the page. “I let her pack her own overnight bag.”

“Did you double check it before you dropped her off?” (Y/N) crossed her arms, all her weight shifting to one side. “You know, considering she’s five?”

“I trust my daughter,” Charlie said, finally setting the magazine down, looking his wife in the eye. “But, to answer your question, it just might have slipped my mind.”

“Funny,” (Y/N) moved over to the table, standing directly over Charlie. “You know, last night, I was wondering why I couldn’t find that little red thing you like,” (Y/N) hummed, tapping her chin. “But Bill made it abundantly clear that Kayda had a very similar ‘night gown’ to wear.”

It took Charlie every ounce of his being to not laugh out loud. “And? You wore the black thing I like even better,” he grinned, pulling his wife onto his lap. “I’m sure Bill was mortified.”

“Charlie, I’m mortified! I don’t need your brother knowing what sorts of intimates I own!” (Y/N) allowed her head to fall into her hands. Charlie wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Flower,” another kiss. “He know’s we fuck. He babysat the evidence last night.”

“Charlie!” (Y/N) slapped his arm, trying to escape her husband’s grip. He tightened his hold. “I’m serious. We have lunch with your mum today! How am I supposed to look anyone in the eye?”  

“Then don’t,” Charlie shrugged, swaying side to side, resting his head on (Y/N)’s shoulder. “Try avoiding your best mates once Bill tells ‘em after he drops Kay off,” Charlie laughed, pressing a kiss to his wife’s neck.

“No,” (Y/N) practically sighed. “Fred and George aren’t going to let me hear the end of it,” Charlie pressed another kiss to her neck, this time sucking lightly on her pulse. “Charlie, we shouldn’t…”

“Funny,” Charlie said, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. “You didn’t say that last night. Got out all the candles, busted out the turntable—”

“—we have to leave for The Burrow soon,” she sighed again, leaning into Charlie’s peppering kisses. “I barely have enough time to get ready as it is!”

“Come on, love. You look even more radiant than the day I met you,” He pressed a kiss to her lips, soft and sweet. “We can be quick, considering we took our time last night,” another kiss. “Think of it as an encore presentation.”

(Y/N) laughed, finally releasing herself from her husband’s grip, headed towards the stairs. Charlie focused all too intently as she walked away. “Well?” (Y/N) stood at the end of the stairs, hand on her hip. “You coming?”

__

Charlie and (Y/N) arrived to their planned lunch on time. It only took a quick use of their floo and a careful once over of their appearances to make it to Molly and Arthur’s.

“Charlie! (Y/N)!” Molly exclaimed, practically rushing over to the fireplace to greet her children. With two wet smooches, (Y/N) and Charlie entered the living room. “Oh, Kayda is going to be thrilled that you’ve made it,” Molly said, rubbing Charlie’s cheek. “Sorry, sweetie. Floo powder.”

“Mum…” he hissed, swatting her hand away. “Where is everyone?” Charlie noted, taking a longer look at the living room and kitchen. 

“They’re out playing quidditch, dear,” Molly answered, nodding her head to the back door. “Ginny made time in her busy schedule to be here, so Fred and George have been testing their little sister’s skills.”

“Sounds about right,” (Y/N) laughed, putting a dish on the kitchen table. “Do you have room for a cake, Molly? Charlie and I made one last night,” (Y/N) laughed. “Well, Charlie did most of it, but I added the hundreds and thousands.”

“I’m sure with the lot outside working as hard as they are, they’ll appreciate the treat, it won’t go to waste,” Molly smiled, setting the table. “I think the twins were trying to get little Kay up on a broom, might need her mum’s eye on that.”

(Y/N) groaned. “Peachy. Thanks for the heads up, Molly.”

“(Y/N), hear me out,” Charlie approached, blocking (Y/N) from opening the door to the backyard. “If they let her fall off you take Fred and I’ll take George.”

“Deal.”

The couple walked out to the makeshift quidditch pitch, hand in hand. Only two redheads could be seen flying in the sky, relief leaving their bodies with a deep exhale. 

“Mummy!” A little redhead exclaimed, her chocolate brown eyes meeting (Y/N)’s. She struggled out of Ginny’s lap to run over to her mother, barreling faster than a snitch. Her little arms wrapped tightly around (Y/N)’s legs. “You’re here!”

“I am!” (Y/N) giggled, pulling her daughter up into her arms, kissing her forehead. The softness of her red bangs tickled (Y/N)’s nose.

“Daddy made it too, you know,” Charlie mumbled, fighting back a grin. He pulled his family in for a short hug, enjoying the warmth.

“Hi daddy,” Kayda said, waving to her father lightly, her hand moving in small circles.

“Glad to see you two made it safe,” Ginny laughed, walking over to her brother and his wife. “You just missed Bill.”

“He’s not staying for lunch?” (Y/N) asked. Ginny shook her head. “Amazing,” (Y/N) sighed, setting her daughter down. “He didn’t… share anything about their night last night, did they?”

“No, nothing out of the ordinary,” Ginny hummed, fingers running through her pixie cut. “But Kayda couldn’t stop talking about the dinner that Auntie Phlegm made.”

Kayda’s eyes lit up, a lightning bolt of remembrance hitting her face. “Oh! Mum! Aunt Phlegm made this yummy—”

“Kayda, her name is Aunt Fleur, not Phlegm,” (Y/N) looked at Ginny, who was wearing a proud grin, pride boasting from her chest. “What did Fleur make you?”

“Sorry mum,” Kayda sighed. “Aunt Fleur made dinner with all vegetables! She cut them really, really thin and called it rat-a-patoolie!” 

“Rat-a-patoolie?” Charlie asked.

“You ate vegetables?” (Y/N) asked.

“They were really good, better than your veggies, mum!” Kayda smiled, hands on her hips. “Did you see that I dressed myself?”

“I did,” (Y/N) smiled, noting the bright purple overalls atop of a lime green jumper, not a pair of matching socks in sight. “I heard dad let you pack your clothes.”

“We heard that too,” Fred said, leaning down from his broom, now hovering over his family.

“Bill told us all about it,” George winked, hovering a few meters away from Fred, spinning upside down. “Say, Kay, how were your pajamas?”

“Red!” Kayda exclaimed, jumping lightly.

“Don’t worry, (Y/N), Uncle Billy made sure that she wore something else,” Fred cooed. “Mummy’s ‘fun clothes’ are folded neatly away.”

“You both have seven seconds to fly away,” (Y/N) said, pulling her wand out of her sleeve. “Before I do something I regret.”

“I’d listen to her, blokes,” Charlie laughed. “She nearly had my head this morning.”

“Bet she had more than your head this morning,” George smiled, high fiving Fred. The two laughed in the air, circling menacingly.

“Charlie, Ginny, take Kayda inside,” (Y/N) pushed up her sleeves. Charlie nodded and swooped his daughter right up.

“What’re you going to do from down there?” Fred chided, flying higher on his broom. “Last I checked, little (Y/N) isn’t good in the air.”

“Yeah, as long as we’re up here,” George laughed, holding his arms out. “We’re untouchable!”

(Y/N) stood for a moment. This was true, she was never good on a broom, practically cursed the second she sat upon it. It had been years since she tried again.

“Mum’s going to kill you!” Kayda shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. “You’re just scaredy-cats! Come down and fight her like boys!”

“Kayda,” (Y/N) scoffed. “I would never kill your uncles,” she smiled, patting her head. “Seriously injuring or harming them? Fair game.”

“No fair,” Fred yelled. “Using our favorite niece to taunt us?”

“Low blow, (Y/N),” George added.

“She learned that all on her own,” (Y/N) laughed. “Now, do you want to disappoint your little Kay-Kay?”

“Uncle Fred, Uncle George!” Kayda waved, grinning widely. “I wanna see your new toys!” Charlie whispered in his daughter’s ear. “Please?” she pleaded, now corrected by her father.

“Kayda…” Fred groaned, hanging upside down on his broom. “Stop looking so cute!”

“(Y/N), using children like this should be a criminal offense,” George pointed. “Punishable by an unforgivable curse!”

“Charlie?” (Y/N) turned, giving her husband a knowing look. “Time for the big guns.” Charlie nodded, leaning in to whisper to his daughter one more time. 

“Uncle George and Fred?” Kayda asked, batting her brown eyes. “If you won’t come down to play with me, I’ll make Uncle Percy my favorite uncle.”

“Percy!?” The twins screamed in unison, instantly lowering their brooms and landing on the ground below. 

“Go on, (Y/N),” Fred said, getting on his knees. “Take your best shot! We’ll take anything over your daughter’s threats.”

(Y/N) smiled, walking over to the twins, tapping her wand to the tip of her nose. “Rictusempra,” she mumbled, causing the twins to buckle in complete hysteria. She turned around to her husband, still holding their daughter. “Let’s go see what Molly cooked for lunch, yeah?”

__

“Mummy,” Kayda whimpered, pushing her plate away. “I don’t want any carrots.”

“Darling, you’ll hurt your gran’s feelings if you don’t at least try them,” (Y/N) sighed, patting her daughter’s back. The rest of the family had finished eating over 20 minutes ago, Ginny had already left, the twins were outside. (Y/N) was determined to get Kayda to eat one baby carrot, even if it killed her. 

“You won’t hurt my feelings,” Molly piped up, washing the dishes. “Charlie never cared for carrots either,” she laughed.

“Molly,” (Y/N) hissed. “If she can eat Fleur’s ratatouille, she can eat at least one of your carrots.”

“Let me try,” Charlie said, sitting on the chair next to his daughter, cracking his knuckles exaggeratedly. “Kay, you remember going to go see Harriet, right?” Kayda nodded. Harriet was her favorite to visit at the sanctuary, after Charlie of course. “She didn’t used to be as big as she is now, you know why?”

“Because she grew up?” Kayda asked, looking up at her father.

“Well, yes,” Charlie smiled lightly. “But she grew because she also ate her carrots.” Charlie put his hand atop his daughters, holding it gently.

“Dragons don’t eat carrots, daddy,” Kayda laughed, swatting his hand away. “You said Harriet used to eat spinach too! She can’t eat both!”

(Y/N) laughed. “She’s right, Charlie, Harriet couldn’t possibly have eaten both carrots and spinach,” Charlie gave (Y/N) an exasperated look. She shot back a shit-eating grin.

“Tell you what,” Charlie said, picking up a spare fork. “If you eat a carrot, I’ll eat a carrot,” he held back a gulp. “Then you can go and play with Fred and George all you want, okay?”

“You’ll eat a carrot?” Kayda’s brown eyes grew to the size of saucers. She quickly shoved her fork in her mouth, the orange disappearing behind her lips. A few chews and swallow, she grinned. “Your turn, daddy!”

Charlie sat still. “You ate that fast, Kay,” he laughed nervously, tapping the fork lightly to the plate. “Did you think she’d eat it that fast?” He turned to (Y/N). She laughed.

“She’s your daughter,” (Y/N) shrugged. “Stubborn and determined as all hell.”

“As all hell!” Kayda repeated, grinning wildly.

“Kayda,” Charlie groaned. “What did we say about swearing?”

“That mummy and daddy are allowed to do it, but not me,” Kayda sighed, looking down. Her crestfallen expression quickly flipped. “Eat your carrot, dad!” she exclaimed, changing the subject.

“She’s right,” (Y/N) hummed, leaning behind Charlie, wrapping her arms around his chest, head resting on his shoulder. “You’re avoiding the carrot, dad.”

“(Y/N),” he groaned again, feeling (Y/N)’s lips press against his temple. “Carrots are gross.”

“Stop being a baby,” (Y/N) laughed, her hand guiding his to the plate, stabbing a baby carrot with the fork. “You’re setting a bad example for your daughter,” (Y/N) said, holding his hand, now forcing the carrot closer to his lips. 

“What’s in it for me?” Charlie asked, turning his head away from the fork.

(Y/N) smiled, her lips meeting his for a short peck. “The satisfaction of your daughter’s dreams coming true,” another short kiss.

“Please, daddy?” Kayda pleaded, clasping her hands together. Molly grinned from the sink, enjoying the scene before her.

“You have two beautiful girls asking you to eat a carrot, Charlie. There are worse things.” Molly laughed.

Charlie took a deep breath, finally determined to fulfill his promise. With a bated breath, he put the carrot in his mouth, chewing slowly. All eyes were on him, waiting for his final swallow. “There,” Charlie groaned, slamming the fork down. “Are you all happy?”

“Yeah, I am,” Kayda said, dropping down from her chair. “Gran, can I be excused?” Molly nodded. “I’m going to go play with Uncle Fred and George!” 

“You did it,” (Y/N) laughed, rubbing Charlie’s back. “You ate a carrot without vomiting,” she grabbed Kayda’s plate, finally turning it into the sink.

“And they say love is dead,” Charlie said, wiping his mouth. “I can’t believe Kayda actually ate a carrot. I was almost certain she would throw a fit.”

“You underestimate our daughter, sometimes.” 

“Maybe so,” Charlie groaned. “She just holds such a power over me, (Y/N),” he shook his head. “I better go make sure Fred and George don’t use Kayda as a test subject or something.”

“A doting father never rests,” (Y/N) laughed. 

“You know,” Molly said, turning from the sink. “I never thought I’d see the day where Charlie was under the complete mercy of a little girl,” she laughed, pulling her greying hair out of her bun. “Besides Ginny, of course.”

“Children change people,” (Y/N) shrugged. “Changed me a bit. Kayda gives me more than enough inspiration for new books. I reckon I could pump at least two or three more out just thinking about it.”

“Children?” Molly asked excitedly.

“What?” (Y/N) felt her cheeks heat up, realizing what she had just said. “Oh, Godric no! I reckon one’s enough. I was talking about my books, Molly.”

“You never thought of having another one?” Molly sat at the kitchen table, summoning a pot of tea. “Children are a blessing, you know.”

“Charlie and I never talked about it,” (Y/N) shrugged. “I know Kayda wants a little brother, asked for one last Christmas. But Charlie’s so busy at work, I’m practically locked in my study every hour of the day now that Kay’s at school…”

“Last I remember, you and Charlie didn’t talk about having Kayda,” Molly hummed. “Come to think of it, you didn’t exactly talk about marriage either. You’re a very spontaneous lot, the two of you,” she smiled, sipping from her mug. “I know it’s none of my business, but I would adore another grandchild.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Molly,” (Y/N) said, forcing a small smile. “It’s just, our life is just so perfect the way it is, you know? I have a husband who loves me unconditionally, an angel of a child and a career I love. I’m just afraid—”

“That a new baby is going to ruin it?” (Y/N) nodded her head. “Did I ever tell you about when I had Bill? Arthur and I had the same conversation about having Charlie.”

“You did?”

“Children bring joy, (Y/N). I’m sure you know that with Kayda. I’m sure Charlie knows, too.”

“You seem a bit biased,” (Y/N) smiled.

“I am,” Molly laughed. “I just can’t wait for more grandkids! I’m up to four now, quite the collection.”

“I’ll try talking to Charlie, see where his head is at,” (Y/N) stood up, hearing a loud crash from outside. “Didn’t Fred mention at lunch that they were working on a new dungbomb?” Molly nodded. “I didn’t realize becoming a mother meant I had to babysit my best mates and husband, too,” she sighed, enjoying the jovial laughter Molly sprung from the kitchen as (Y/N) went outside.

The scent was excruciating, swelling into (Y/N)’s senses. The culprits, (Y/N) deduced, were laughing like maniacs. The sweet bell-like sound of her daughter’s laugh was sprinkled into the mess.

“Mummy! Do you smell that?” Kayda laughed, calling from George’s lap, his arm wrapped lovingly around her. “Uncle George farted!”

“Did not!” George said, looking down at his niece. “I thought that was you!” Kayda’s laughter rang out again, shaking her head wordlessly. “Maybe it was Fred?”

“Oi! Maybe it was the dungbomb?” Fred asked, pointing to the exploded fragments a few meters away from the group.

“Can’t even go along with Kay-Kay’s joke? What kind of comedian are you?” George asked, glaring at his twin. “Honestly, I don’t even know you anymore.”

“Where’s Charlie?” (Y/N) asked, realizing that her husband wasn’t around.

“He’s out flying,” George said, thumb pointing to the pitch. “We convinced him to—”

“—blow off some steam while we had some quality time with the greatest product tester,” Fred ruffled Kayda’s bangs, eliciting a grin from the girl.

“What did you say to him, exactly?” (Y/N) asked, knowing full well that Charlie wouldn’t have just left their daughter in the hands of the twins for too long.

“Oh nothing…”

“Just maybe that his quidditch skills are dwindling every second he spends off of a broom…”

“The fact that also his little sister is dominating in the quidditch world and out-shining him as the ‘Weasley star’…”

“Alright,” (Y/N) said, holding her hand up. “I’m going to find my husband, don’t let Kayda eat anything funky, okay?” (Y/N) turned to the pitch, walking away.

“Is a ‘face pickling fudge’ considered funky?” George shouted, ignoring the finger (Y/N) was proudly flashing for him.

(Y/N) looked to the sky, watching Charlie zoom through the various hoops on either end of the field with ease, as if he had been born on a broom. The wind breezed through his hair, blowing it back. Charlie noted his audience, lowering almost instantly.

“No helmet?” (Y/N) laughed, kissing Charlie as he dismounted. 

“Seekers don’t wear helmets, love,” Charlie said, combing through his hair. “Besides, you love the wind-swept look.”

“I do,” (Y/N) hummed, kissing her husband again. “For someone who claims to never fly at work, you were pulling those stunts off pretty easily,” (Y/N) noted, tracing her finger in a loop.

“I didn’t say I never fly,” Charlie said, laughing lightly. “But flying for fun and flying away from an angry dragon are two completely different things, flower.”

“Maybe,” (Y/N) agreed. “Why don’t you fly more around the house? Kayda would love to watch you.”

“You know how you are on a broom, love. The second Kay sees me fly around, she’ll want you to join. I’m just avoiding that disappointment.”

“Disappointment?” 

“When Kayda figures out that her mum’s a wussy,” Charlie beamed, fully expecting the slap to the side he had received. “You know I’m right!” 

“Kayda knows that I’m shit on a broom,” (Y/N) said, crossing her arms. “I know how badly you want to get her on one, but we agreed—”

“Stop talking, (Y/N),” Charlie said, hopping back onto his broom, holding his hand out. “Get on the broom.”

“Are you kidnapping me to make a point?” (Y/N) laughed, pointing an eyebrow upwards at the notion.

“Wouldn’t call it a kidnapping,” Charlie said, offering his hand again. “Don’t you want your child to know you’re not a wussy? If I can eat a carrot for our daughter, you can ride on a broom for her too.”

“I failed flying class at school—”

“I didn’t,” Charlie said, taking his wife’s hand, pulling her up onto the stick. She sat behind him, holding onto his chest tightly. “I’m the one flying this broom, yeah?”

“Charles Weasley if you do any funny tricks, I swear on my own life—”

“What? I can’t hear you!” Charlie shouted, swiftly lifting into the air, pointing to his ear. “The wind!”

“Shut your mouth, Charlie!” (Y/N) screamed, clinging to her husband tighter as the ground below became smaller and smaller. “You can hear me perfectly fine!”

Charlie stopped, floating midair, The Burrow the size of an apple below them. “Love, there’s no need to shout,” he said, turning his head slightly, a grin stretched to his face. “I’m right here.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” (Y/N) said, burrowing her face into Charlie’s red jumper.

“Aim for one of the twins, would you? I overheard them scheming to put different prank supplies for Kayda in her bag before we leave,” he laughed. “Besides, you’re the one who gave me this jumper, I quite like it.”

“I guess it’s not so bad from up here…” (Y/N) said, taking another look at the ground.

“Of course not,” Charlie laughed, causing (Y/N)’s arms to bounce. “You’re with your favorite person, your husband, whom you trust I hope?”

“Kayda’s my favorite person,” (Y/N) said simply. “You’re up there, though."

“I could flip this broom around right now and you have the audacity to say that your daughter is your favorite person?”

“Hey, she’s our daughter. Last I checked it took the two of us to make her,” (Y/N) laughed. “I can be a bit of a narcissist and say that my favorite person is a perfect mix of my other favorite person and myself, right?”

“Perhaps,” Charlie said, flying slowly around the grounds, gently elevating and dipping every so often. “She’s pretty perfect.”

“Do you want another?” (Y/N) blurted, not even realizing what she had said. 

“What?”

“Molly said something after lunch that had me thinking—”

“Yes,” Charlie said simply. “Of course I want another.”

“You better not be pulling on my leg, Charles Weasley.”

“I’m serious,” Charlie laughed. “I know my mum planted that seed in your head—obsessed with her grandchildren, that one—but understand that I’d be open to having another.”

“Open?”

“Like you said, love,” Charlie began to fly closer to The Burrow, watching Kayda jump enthusiastically below. “It takes two,” he shrugged. “Don’t get me wrong, I would love nothing more than to try day and night—”

“I get the picture,” (Y/N) laughed, her face surely growing pink. “I’m not entirely sure I want another, honestly. We didn’t plan Kayda, but I’m so happy she’s in our lives…”

“So maybe we don’t plan?” Charlie shrugged, turning his head again. “Maybe we just continue our weekly routines—a little less carefully—and accept whatever is to come of it?”

“We’re quite against planning anything, aren’t we?” (Y/N) said, loosening her grip on Charlie, finally growing used to the height.

“Speaking of, we didn’t use any—”

“—this morning? No. No we did not,” (Y/N) laughed. “An oversight.” (Y/N) pressed a soft kiss to the back of Charlie’s shoulder, leaning fully onto his back. A husband who loved her, friends closer than brothers and a child who lit up her waking days? Maybe another wouldn’t hurt.

Right?

__

General Tag List: @maralisa124 , @leighxlover , @hey-its-me-rai , @missihart23 , @biatheintrovert , @chocolaterumble, @why-am-i-sad-and-sleepy , @steve-thotgers , @greeneyedthief

Charlie Weasley Tag List: @sungoddessra , @phantom-pheonix , @dccomicnerd-world , @marveltrash99 , @graymountaingal, @storiesbycaroline, @mytinybaguette , @garbdump , @utahjoerdis , @eldritchscreech , @fiiiinewine

want to be added to a tag list? hmu in the replies or ask box with what characters you’d like to be tagged with!

[isolemnlyswearpevensie]

And This Is How It Starts | Susan Pevensie x Reader Soulmate AU

Warnings: Slight homophobia, shitty friends???

Time/Era: Modern AU

Word Count: 1.9k

Summary: Everything your soulmate loses, you receive. Turns out, Y/N’s soulmate is very forgetful. 

Request: helloo. can you write a sapphic susan fic please! take it whatever way you'd like :)

A/N: I’m not sure how many people read Susan fics, but I really like this one :D

masterlist | narnia playlist | read on ao3

“Gross, can you guys please cut it out?” Y/N stated, watching her best friend suck faces with her soulmate. She was on his lap and their make out session was starting to grow more intense than Y/N was comfortable with. Hannah pulls away from Alex with an exaggerated groan. 

“You’re just jealous you’re still stuck in the ‘lose it and receive it’ phase. Not my fault you haven’t found him yet.” Her voice was light and teasing, but Y/N couldn’t help but fell her heart rip. 

“I’ll find her eventually,” Y/N sighed, taking a book out of her schoolbag. It was a small, very beat-up copy of The Hunger Games. 

“Her?” Alex responded, tearing his gaze from Hannah’s face. “How do you know it’s a her?” 

Y/N opened the book delicately to reveal “Susan Pevensie” written in perfect cursive on the back of the front cover. The book had multiple stains on it, most likely tea judging by the color, and the same perfect cursive riddled the pages. Whoever Susan was, she adored this book with her life. Y/N’s fingertips lightly traced the writing before turning the book for her friends to see. Hannah scrunches her face at it. 

“It could be his friends, you know. Like she lent it to him and he lost it,” Alex kisses Hannah’s cheek. 

“Or this Susan girl is his girlfriend,” Hannah smirks.

“Or,” Y/N was growing frustrated. Whenever she hinted that her soulmate might be a girl, everyone dismissed her suspicions. “My soulmate is Susan Pevensie and she keeps losing her things. And besides, this book is really loved, she wouldn’t just give it to someone.” 

Hannah scoffed, tossing her hair in a very I know everything, and you don’t kind of way. “Fine, believe what you want. Not sure why you would want a girl soulmate anyway, I know I wouldn’t.” 

“Well, yeah, of course you don’t. You’re straight,” Y/N flipped to a random page and read the gorgeous handwriting that was scrawled in the margins. Her mouth twitched slightly at how perfect the script was. 

“What? And you aren’t?” 

“No, I’m not.” Y/N’s eyes didn’t move from the page as she spoke. The teens sat in silence. “Is there a problem?” 

“No! No, of course not,” Alex answered quickly. ‘I guess we just, uh, didn’t expect it… I guess.” 

“Well, surprise. Now that that’s out of the way, do you guys like The Hunger Games?” 

The two grew even more uncomfortable at the sudden tension they were feeling. “No, not necessarily.” 

“She seems to. A lot. And there’s a cute little strawberry bookmark on page 47,” Y/N sighed dreamily picturing what Susan must look like. Based on her cursive alone, she must be absolutely jaw-dropping. 

“Has, er, Susan lost anything else recently?” Alex asked. Y/N nodded excitedly, digging in her bag again. She pulled out a set of keys with a feather pendant keychain, a light pink lipstick, a glass water bottle, and a small fabric coin purse. Y/N grinned down at the items then looked back towards her friends. 

“Oh, she must be quite forgetful. Do you have any other stuff?” Y/N’s grin brightened even more. 

“Oh, loads, this is just what she’s lost within the past week,” The keys jingled as she moved her hands. “The keys must’ve really ruined her day. I wonder what they’re to.” 

“Hopefully somewhere in England. Where’s the money from?” Hannah gestured to the yellow coin purse. Y/N shrugged and tossed it towards her friends. It was rather small, barely the size of Y/N’s palm, and it had a gorgeous diamond quilt pattern. 

“No clue. I haven’t opened it if I’m being quite honest.” Alex’s noble fingers undid the clasp and looked inside. 

“Well, it’s definitely British currency, which is helpful.” He tipped the pouch and emptied the contents into his hand. As expected, a variety of different coins came toppling out, along with a folded piece of paper and various pins. “Can I have this?” 

“No, you cannot have my soulmate’s belongings. Give me that,” Y/N grabs ahold of all the bag and its contents. With her hand cupped like a funnel, the pins and money fall smoothly into the coin purse. Y/N discards the pouch into her bag and begins to unfold the paper. 

She had expected the paper to be riddled with text, like a to-do list or a small reminder. Instead, it appeared to be a little photograph of a family. The paper itself seemed to be fragile as if it had been handled a lot or had gotten wet, so Y/N handled the photo with care. 

The scene depicted the smallest of the group, a little girl, giggling up at the oldest as the other two looked on with large smiles. Y/N turned the photo to look at the back, just in case any date was included with the photo. In the same gorgeous script as the book, Lucy laughing at Peter because Ed insulted him “in the name of justice.” June 15  was written in black ink. Y/N turned the picture over frantically and scanned the faces of the family. 

Susan was absolutely beautiful; her dark brown hair was styled in effortless waves and her lips were painted with a cherry red color. Her eyes were wrinkled in the corners, due to her contagious smile, and she looked like she was filled to the brim with happiness. Y/N had never seen such gorgeous baby blue eyes. 

The poor girl was speechless, her mind running a mile a second and vision focusing on only Susan’s portrait. 

“She’s gorgeous,” Y/N murmured breathlessly. 

“Who is?” 

Y/N looked up at her friends, turning the photo to show them. 

“Susan, my soulmate.” 

~ 

Susan read over the essay that sat in her lap, taking in every detail of the writing. It wasn’t hers, but it was her soulmate’s misplaced homework. The topic wasn’t overly exciting, an analysis of a book Susan hasn’t read, but just the way her soulmate wrote captivated her. Y/N L/N, which was the name written on the top of the paper, had such a poetic way of writing. It was as if she was telling Susan a story, rather than writing about an 18th century novel. 

“Reading the essay again, are we?” Peter snickered from next to her. Susan would have hit him with the paper, but she didn’t want to risk damaging it. 

“Yes, what’s the problem with that?” 

“Nothing, Su, I just don’t think rereading missing homework is going to bring Y/N any closer to you. It’s over a year old.” Peter had found his soulmate when he was young, so he didn’t quite understand his siblings’ desire to find their other halves so quickly. 

“Not physically, but I already know a lot about her from this one paper. I know her handwriting, how she talks, the way she feels about some things…” 

“Yeah, how she feels about classic literature. Not exactly groundbreaking.” Peter sunk deeper into the couch cushion in an attempt to get comfortable. 

“Maybe not to you, but to me it is. You don’t have to be such a happiness drain, you know.” Susan was growing more frustrated by the minute. She didn’t want her older brother to snatch the paper away from her, so she gently creased it and placed it into her notebook. 

“I’m just taking the piss.” 

“Well, it’s not funny. And shouldn’t you be doing your wash? We leave for school tomorrow.” Susan stood up, lifting her bag off of the floor and onto her shoulder. 

“Yes, alright mother.” 

~

“Y/N! Are you coming?” Hannah hollered over her shoulder. She was walking towards the train station with a large group of her friends. Y/N waved her off. 

“I’ll meet you there! Save me a seat, yeah?” Hannah shrugged her off and continued the conversion she was more invested in. 

Y/N sighed, watching their backs disappear into the distance. She never quite liked the group Hannah was friends with, so them leaving her out never quite bothered her. Especially when she could get sandwiches for the train ride. 

The teen was waiting at a crosswalk when she spotted her. Susan was stood at the newspaper stand outside of the corner store Y/N was going to. She looked stunning as she flipped idly through a Vogue magazine. The sun shone across her hair and Y/N thought she looked similar to an angel. 

When the light turned green, Y/N scurried across the street in order to meet her love. However, she paused a few paces away to steady her breathing. 

“Excuse me, are you Susan Pevensie?” Y/N spoke, voice shaking. Susan turned around, utterly confused. Y/N was right in her assumption; Susan was in fact an angel. An angel that looked even more heavenly in person. 

“Yes, and may I ask who you are? And how you know my name?” 

“Oh, right, um I’m Y/N L/N. I’m not sure if you know who-” Susan’s eyes widened and she couldn’t help but cut Y/N off. 

“You’re my soulmate.” Her red lips were slightly agape as she took in Y/N’s appearance. “Excuse my bluntness, but you’re even prettier than I imagined.” 

Y/N’s cheeks grew hot and her fingers fumbled with the buckles on her bag. She was much more nervous than she had hoped, but Y/N couldn’t help it. Once the bag was open, she gripped Susan’s possessions and held them out. 

“You need to keep better track of your things, love.” Susan’s perfectly manicured fingers brushed Y/N’s as she took back her book and keys. Y/N’s legs felt like jelly. 

“How could you possibly know what I looked like?” 

“You lost a picture of your family. Well, I suppose a coin purse with a picture folded inside. Still, a picture was lost and I saw it.” Y/N rambled, making Susan giggle. “I’ve been looking for you for ages,” 

“And I you, darling.” Susan placed her belongings into her bag and embraced Y/N. Y/N didn’t quite know what to do; Susan smelt of rose petals and honey and her hair was so soft as it brushed against Y/N’s cheek. All the same, Y/N wrapped her arms loosely around Susan’s waist. 

“Am I allowed to kiss you?” She whispered into Y/N’s ear. Y/N could have fainted on the spot, but she squeaked out a small yes. 

Susan kept her arms wrapped around Y/N’s neck as she kissed her gently. Y/N’s thumbs danced across the floral patterned fabric that covered her hips as she kissed back. It was light and fleeting, but it still made Y/N feel like she was going to burst. The pair pulled away and looked into each other’s eyes. Susan’s were even bluer in person. 

“Can I buy you a sandwich?” Y/N croaked, cutting the tension. Susan giggled happily. 

“As long as you let me cover the dessert.” 

[emu-lumberjack]

Don’t Answer the Phone tired Part 3

Damian’s left at the mercy of his brothers, and he really needs to start paying attention.

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

Hi guys, I’ve had probably too much caffiene late at night but heres the next part to Don’t Answer the Phone Tired. Some backstory and croissants are in order. I promise next time more Marinette. also as a side note, the Kipo soundtrack is amazing to write too. 

Part one

Part two

Part four

part five

“Since you pricks are insistent on being social, tell me how Gotham is.” Damian asked his brothers, downing a swig of coffee.

“Oh you know dark, gloomy, and full of rouges.” Dick said “But enough about Gotham. Tell us about Paris, specifically a special somebody.”

“No.” The voice he used was cold and curt. “Where do you want to eat.”

“I think there's a bakery nearby.” Jason said with a grin, the exhausted Damian didn’t put two and two together until they were at the door of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. “Shit.” Damian turned around to leave, only for Jason to pick him by his hood and look him straight in the eyes.

“Now listen here Demon spawn. We’re hungry and poor Timmy over there is freezing cold after the nice little ice bath you gave him.” A glance over to Tim saw the poor boy shivering in his still wet clothes. “So we are gonna go in there and grab some nice warm pastries. Unless there's a reason we shouldn’t, but I couldn’t think of one could you?” Damian silently cursed his mother for teaching Jason to be such an ass, more so than he normally was. He kept his mouth shut knowing it would be worse for him to say that this was Marinette's bakery.

The party walked there normal mismatch of aesthetics. The bakery smelled like warm bread and freshly baked cookies. Like Marinette. It was enough for Damian to temporarily relax and let loose a breath he’d been holding for the last hour. This change in demeanor wasn’t missed by Dick but the elder boy chose not to comment.

“Hello and welcome to the Dupain-Cheng Bake…… Oh Damian it’s you. Wait, why aren’t you at school? Is Marinette alright?” Sabine came out from behind the counter, turning off her customer service voice the minute she saw it was Damian.

“Yes Sabine she’s completely fine. In fact she made sure I got up in time.” He motioned with his coffee mug. “A real lifesaver. The reason I’m not there now is because my brothers decided they just needed to come visit me in Paris so my dad called me out for the day.” Sabiene looked at the 3 other men in the room before responding,

“Oh how delightful, you never speak of your family. I was starting to think you just hatched out of an egg somewhere.” A snicker from the boys in the back, “well no matter we must sit down and talk, I’d love to get to know them!” it was then that she noticed Tim in all of his drenched glory, “I can also lend you some of Tom’s old clothes while yours dry.”

“Oh if that wouldn’t be too much of a bother, someone thought they were funny and tried to get me up in a not so polite manner.” He glared at Damian, the latter pointedly ignoring him.

Sabine caught on to his meaning quickly and stifled a laugh “Oh it's no problem at all, they might be a bit big though.”

Ten minutes later they were situated around the table on the upper level, hot coffee in front of Jason, Tim, and Damian while Sabine and Dick both had tea. The boys had chosen different pastries. Dick went with a blueberry scone, Tim who was now sitting in a much too big white shirt and comically oversized pants for his frame had a classic butter croissant and Jason went with a pain au lait. Damian having already eaten just sat sipping his coffee.

“So Ms. Dupain-Cheng..” Dick Began.

“Oh please just call me Sabiene” She interrupted.

“Alright Sabine, Damian’s been less than forthcoming about his time here in Paris, would you be able to fill in some gaps? Like how he and Marinette met.” Damian kicked Dick from underneath the table.

“Oh I’d be happy too! It’s actually a rather cute story. Damian had just moved to Paris and was having trouble making any friends, Marinette had taken note of that and asked me and Tom, he’s my husband you’d meet him but he’s out of town right now, so she asked Tom and me to help make this boy in her class some macaroons to help him get more accustomed to Paris. We thought to remind him of Gotham so we made them Batman and Robin themed. We actually probably have a picture of them around here somewhere.” She mumbled the last bit to herself as Damian steadily slunk down in his chair attempting to hide from looks his brothers would throw his way. “Well anyway the next day they were in class, and since they sat next to each other she tried to offer him the macaroons then, but Damian being Damian didn’t want to take them. Something about not liking sweets. Instead of shying away she just split one in half and asked him to just try that.”

“I can take it from here Sabine.” Damian's voice surprised even him, but the boy knew what was coming next and it would be less embarrassing if he said it.

“Of course, you were there so you probably know it better anyway.”

Three predatory gazes settled on Damian taking note of everything he said to rely to Bruce, Damian took a breath and continued, “I took the half she offered me out of politeness, after all Sabine you and Tom worked very hard on them. They were probably some of the best Macaroons I’d ever had. Marinette left the box between the two of us on our desk and went back to her school work. When she wasn’t looking I took another one, I hadn’t eaten breakfast and it was a very nice gesture.” Damian looked up to see Dick holding his hand over his mouth, concealing a squeal most likely. Todd was looking at him with laughter in his eyes, and even Drake had a shit-eating grin on his face. “Anyway I ended up eating the entire thing, after class Marinette and I started talking more, and eventually we just ended up hanging out outside of class playing video games and the like.”

“Oh my Gosh that is so adorable.” Grayson was the first to speak after Damian finished. “Damian I never knew you could be so… so…”

“Nice?” Tim supplied.

“Yes nice!”

“I’m mainly focusing on the fact that Damian was kind enough to actually have her keep up conversation after the first one.” Jason was looking at Damian incredulously.

“Ah I see his prickly attitude is not a recent development.” Sabine said, taking a sip of her tea.

“That would be an understatement. Although believe it or not he’s actually a lot better then when we first met him.” Dick said politely.

The five of them sat quietly trading stories of Gotham and Paris, Damian firmly keeping them off the topic of him and Marinette. Cups of tea and coffee came and went until a cheerful voice called from the foyer “Mamman I’m home!” Damian immediately sprinted downstairs and tackled Marinette in a bearhug.

“Please never leave me alone with them again.”

She just laughed and said “Was it really that bad Dames?” Tim who had just walked downstairs startled chuckling.

“What’s so funny Drake?” Damian said icily.

“The fact she called you Dames! Last time I think someone tried to do that you had a katana at their throat and they were found hanging upside down from one of the gargoyles at Gotham academy.”

“Did you seriously do that Damian?” Marinette focused her gaze on him.

“Ok in my defense it’s also because he wouldn’t stop coming onto me even though I had said no. I mean he wasn’t even my type.”

“Oh and what is your type then?” She asked.

“Blue hair with gorgeous blue eyes. A complete klutz half the time, while still somehow managing to keep seven layer cakes from falling down. Someone who will draw and sketch to their heart's content, while simultaneously dealing with a dumbass. Also doesn’t hurt if they can make the most beautiful clothes.” He planted a small kiss on Marinette's cheek just to emphasize.

“Seriously, how did you do that.” Tim’s voice cut through the moment, Damian turned towards him annoyed.

“Now that is a story for after lunch. How bout we go grab some sushi and we’ll tell you.”

Not again.

Tag list (I’m assuming if you wanted to be tagged in part two you want to be tagged here, if not: welp you are anyway): 

@ur-average-reader @kristycocopop @k-laconia-bug1 @smolplantmum @dast218 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @acoursedprophetwithasmothie @g-arya @loysydark @mewwitch @itsemeanne @hauntedstudent99 @shippernaturalsanderspjoandscifi @purplesundaze

general writing tag: 

@clumsy-owl-4178

[thran-duils]

You’re Now Mine (P.15)

Title: You’re Now Mine (Part 15) Summary:  Fulfilling a request for @lets-personofinterestontumbir! – “Could you do a drabble for the Persephone AU I don’t know If you’ve seen once upon a time but the episode 1x07 reminded me a lot of this story when the evil queen ripped out the huntsmen’s heart if you could do something like that it would be awesome. Thank you.” Words: 1,826 Warnings: DARK AF, Emotional/Mental abuse, smut

Chap 14 || Chap 16 || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

Tucking the blanket underneath your feet further, your eyes scoured the tree-line. You had seen some deer earlier and were hoping to see them again. After they had left, you had scattered some oats along where they had been in the act of attracting them back. It was chilly outside, still being an early spring morning as it was, but you were comfortable enough on the deck with your warm cup of tea.

Lucifer had been gone for almost a day at this point, leaving you behind here. You were all alone, truly.

Biting your bottom lip harshly, you tried to hold back the tears that were brimming as you saw Sam and Dean die again, flashing before your eyes. You hated Lucifer for doing what he had done, no matter what reasoning he had had. He had not been sure about it but still sacrificed them all the same. You knew he despised them but never thought he would be that cruel.

The air shifted from behind you and you whipped around quickly, spilling some of your tea. At the sight of him, you almost dropped the cup completely in your shock.

“C-Chuck?” you sputtered.

His hands tucked into his coat pockets, he shrugged sheepishly. “Yeah, In the flesh.”

You placed your cup down and stood, tossing the blanket over your shoulders to keep yourself warm. “How did you get in here?” Chuck’s brows furrowed and you explained, “Lucifer said… he said he locked me away in here.”

“He did,” Chuck confirmed calmly.

It was your turn to look confused; how was he sure of that? He took a step closer to you and you instinctively took one back, an ominous feeling slowly welling at the fact he was here. Was it truly even him or was Lucifer playing games again? And why would he choose Chuck out of all people?

Chuck – if it was even him – smirked slightly noticing your movement back from him. He stopped and held his hands up in a friendly manner. “No need to be scared of me, Y/N. I’m here to help.”

“Help with what?”

“Amara. My sister.”

His sister?

“I’ve stayed out of the picture for too long. Left you all to defend yourselves when I should have been here assisting. It is my mess and I need to fix it. I was the one who locked her away in the first place.”

Hesitantly, you asked, deciding to play along, “What do you mean? What can a prophet be doing in this situation? No offense.”

Chuck’s smirk grew into a smile. His eyes fell away from you to the empty garden pot near him. He walked to it, reaching out over the bare dirt. Beneath his hand, flowers boomed.

Your eyes widened in shock and you had had enough. “Lucifer!” you rasped, tearfully. “I’m not in the mood for mind games! Please, just stop.”

“I am more than a prophet,” Chuck continued, ignoring your request. He faced you, telling you sincerely, “I’m God.”

Shaking your head, you said, “That… that’s not true.”

“It is. Lucifer was right. I should have come sooner, not driven him to such ends to try to get my attention. I did hurt his feelings by showing up now, but I am here nonetheless. And I have struck a deal with him to get him to agree to work with me – again – on putting Amara back where she belongs.” Chuck clicked his tongue and added, “Plus, I need Sam and Dean to come back to help us. They’re always a key in these fights.”

Your mouth fell open in shock and you stammered, “C-come back? You’re going to…?”

“Of course. I couldn’t let them die like that,” Chuck returned. “I created them to withstand battles like this one.”

The question of Castiel almost fell from your lips but you bit it back. You were still unsure whether or not this was actually Chuck or Lucifer. If you asked about Castiel, you knew that would infuriate Lucifer.

How you hated not being able to tell the truth from an untruth. Lucifer had made sure of that.

Sighing loudly, Chuck looked out over the yard. “It’ll be beautiful here when the flowers fully bloom, Y/N. You have a good spot.”

Why did you feel something was about to happen?

His gaze fell back on you, and he smiled softly. “It’s been good knowing you the way you’ve been over the encounters we’ve had before this, Y/N.”

“What do you mean?”

Chuck merely cocked his head, that smile still on his lips.

<> <> <>

Everything was fuzzy. Your vision, your thoughts. Rubbing at your eyes with your blanket, it tightened around your shoulders.

Blinking, your vision focused on the person in front of you. “Chuck? What? How did I get out here?”

Chuck smiled at you, slow and simple. “Yes, Y/N. Just checking in to make sure my son is taking good care of you. And I found you out here, taking a nap. I’m sorry I startled you.”

“I…” you trailed off, trying to remember when you had come out here. Looking around, you were still at home. It was spring… why could you not remember? You noticed someone else standing by the sliding glass door back into the house. A dark haired, handsome man. His hands were in his slacks pockets, watching the two of you intently.

Chuck followed your stare and assured you, “Oh, that’s one of my angels. Don’t worry about him, just accompanying me.”

You tore your gaze away from the man and directed at Chuck, “Has… has something happened to Lucifer? Has he done something?”

Chuck shook his head, smiling still. “No, Lucifer is fine. You’re fine. You’re still safe here. Just like he promised for this last millennia.”

Your shoulders relaxed hearing his soothing words. You had worried for a moment that something terrible had befallen Lucifer. You knew little of what went on outside your home, so you had a lot of opportunity to wonder what dangers lay out there for him when he was away.

Chuck held out his hand to you, beckoning you. “You should go inside. Get something to eat. Lucifer will be back soon. I promise.”

Following his lead, the two of you made your way back towards the door. The other angel stepped out of the way, allowing you two to pass by. His aquamarine eyes were piercing, watching you intently.

Curious, you thought to yourself but paid no more mind.

<> <> <>

Dean and Sam blinked in astonishment around the bunker. They were sitting at the entrance table, far from where they had been. They both remembered what had happened, Lucifer standing in front of them, smiling wickedly. Y/N had been begging him to spare them and he had not heeded her pleas. The immense pain as he twisted their insides… then darkness.

How were they back home? Was this heaven?

They locked eyes. “What…” Sam muttered, knowing damn well Dean did not have an explanation but asked nonetheless.

“Back in one piece then,” a voice sounded from the other end of the table.

Their attention snapped towards it and they stared in shock at Chuck Shurley sitting at the end of the table. And Lucifer.

Dean’s face hardened immediately. He began to stand up from the table, “You sonofabitch—”

He was slammed back into his chair by a wave of Chuck’s hand. “We don’t have time for revenge right now, Dean.”

“Dean is hostile! Wow, what a surprise!” Lucifer said, trying to push Dean and Sam’s buttons. It was working too.

Chuck said firmly in warning, “Lucifer.” Lucifer shut his mouth and settled back into his chair, staring down the length of the table at the boys.

Sam narrowed his eyes in curiosity at the exchange, wondering why Lucifer backed off so easily. Staring hard between Chuck and Lucifer, he sized them up for a few moments before realization dawned on his face. “You… no…” he trailed off, in shock.

Halfheartedly, Chuck waved his hands. “Surprise.”

“You’re God?” Sam blurted.

“What?” Dean demanded, looking wildly between Sam and Chuck.

“This whole time?” Sam asked harshly.

“No, actually. He was a prophet and God decided that he should take the reins—”

“Lucifer,” Chuck warned again, and Lucifer shut his mouth.

Sam shook his head and said more to himself than anything, “This whole time.”

Dean leveled Chuck with a glare. “And you just sat back this whole damn time?”

Instead of arguing, Chuck said, “I had other pressing things to attend to.”

“Then the whole damn world being threatened by the Darkness? What else could have possibly been occupying your precious time?”

“A lot of things I don’t want to discuss with you, Dean,” Chuck returned, an ice to his tone. Dean caught it, realizing he was pressing God. He leaned back, his gaze moving between Lucifer and Chuck. Straightening out his jacket, Chuck said, “What matters is I am here now, and we have to figure out how to get Amara back in her imprisonment.”

That lit a fire underneath Dean again. “We?” He demanded, his finger circling around the table but his gaze was pointed at Lucifer, hatred burning in his eyes. He growled, “Hell fucking no, You killed us!”

“And?” Lucifer drawled.

“And?” Dean snarled, incredulously.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Lucifer pointed out. “My plan worked. You’re welcome.”

Pissed, Dean shook his head. “Nice friggen plan, Lucifer. You traumatized Y/N and killed us! What a bang-up job!”

At her mention, Sam asked before Lucifer could retort anything, “Where is Y/N? Is she still in hell? She should be here.”

“She’s not your concern anymore,” Lucifer said, feigning lightheartedness. “And she’s not Cassie’s either.”

Dean snarled, “The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“How can I be any clearer, Dean-o?” Lucifer taunted.

“Let it go,” Chuck advised the boys.

“Let it go? She’s family!” Dean barked at him before pointing at Lucifer threateningly. “And you’ve been torturing her for months!”

“She’s not your family anymore!” Lucifer snapped in return, his cool demeanor gone, bristled by Dean’s accusation.

“This is not important enough to bicker over right now!” Chuck shouted, losing his temper. The table fell silent at his outburst instantaneously. “Yes, Lucifer was reckless and should not have done what he did. But that’s because he felt he had to force my hand and that’s my fault. Y/N’s fine, you’re fine. What is not fine is Amara is running loose wanting to destroy the planet.”

No one said anything in response to him, sitting in tense silence.

Chuck inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly. Clearing his throat, he said, “We need a plan. And we need more help. Specifically, from hell and from a witch.”

Lucifer chuckled at this, leaning back in his chair. “Ah… Crowley and Rowena. Of course. My favorites.” He flicked his gaze to Sam and Dean, smirking. “The ol’ team is back together again, eh?”

~~~

CASTIEL FOREVER TAGS: @willowing-love @perseusandmedusa @greenappleeyes @afanofmanystuffs @earthtokace @shikaros-blog @marisayouass @splendidcas @stixnstripesworld

Tags I missed who requested to be tagged or showed interest (for this one time just so I don’t bother people who are not interested anymore. If you want to be tagged again, just leave a comment on the post or PM me!): @itsmeempar, @vvipgot7be, @roonyxx, @littlesupernaturalwords

[danger-xylophones]

Family Reunion (Darth Maul x reader) Pt. 3 Madness

{masterlist}

story summary: reader reunites with Maul for the first time in twelve years and...the ex-sith lord gets a strange surprise

Warnings: Tiny bit of existentialism, canon-madness, canon-violence

Notes: Female pronouns, an OC child

Part 1, Part 2, current read, Part 4, Part 5

...............................................................................

You had no clue how long you‘d been following Morley, a while to be sure, but so far he had acted as a very competent guide. As of now, he’d safely guided you around the firebreathers and had helped defend you against the Junkers (there was a Junker taking aim at you that you hadn’t seen, Morley had slapped the blaster away to deflect the shot). However, you still hadn’t found a trace of Maul. 

Now, as you stood amongst the carnage of yours and Savage’s showdown with the junkers, Morley began to laugh. “Wow. Wow-hahahah-wow!” The snake beamed at the two of you, oddly pleased at the fleeing trash-beings. 

Savage simply looked down at Morley before looking at you where you stood slightly crouched next to him. The large zabrak male bumped your arm to prompt you to put your lightsaber away before urging the three of you to continue. You promptly fell in step with him as Morley slithered along behind. “So…” the snake soon drawled as he moved forward, “who are you looking for?” Savage and yourself shared a look, questioning if you should divulge that precious information. Morley seemed to sense your hesitation for he soon annoyingly begged you to tell him. 

With a heavy sigh, Savage relented. “My brother. We’ve been searching for him.” 

“Been missing for over ten years.” You huffed rather pathetically despite yourself. 

Morley, however, seemed intrigued. “Ehhh...does he look like you?” The large snake asked Savage. 

“Have...have you seen him?” Your voice lifted as genuine shock surged through your system. 

“Uh, no, no,” Morley deflated, “I just...heard stories about a horned man. I thought it was just an old local legend.” 

“How old?” Savage stepped in to steal your next question.

“Old.” Morley’s forked tongue quickly darted out of his mouth as he looked around the area, almost as though he was fearful of being overheard. “They say he drags things down, beneath, and they never come back up.” The air seemed to grow thick with the newly revealed information. Excluding the part about the horned man, that didn’t really sound like Maul. But...Savage did say that he might not be the same man you had once known. Perhaps it was him and he had changed-forced to in order to survive. “Oh, but it’s only a legend like I said.” Morley broke the silence and dismissively flicked his tail. As if to amplify the already bizarre mood, thunder crashed not far away from where you and Savage were standing, rooted to your spots as both of your minds reeled with wondering. Eager to move on, you began to walk once more in the direction Morley had been guiding you. Savage soon caught up, indicated by his heavy footfalls. 

You flinched as something stinging landed on your cheek. With one hand coming up to cup the area of irritation, you were met with more and more stings in the form of droplets as it had begun to rain. But what kind of rain stung? “Acid rain.” Morley tutted, winding around a piece of scrap. “It’ll melt us down if we don’t find shelter soon.” He further warned as Savage raised his left arm for examination. The armor was sizzling in protest as you found some suspended scrap metal to stand under. 

Savage looked around as you focused on rubbing the stinging sensation out of the back of your hands. Searing, prolonged pain you could deal with but this minuscule irritation that built up over time was so not your cup of tea. Savage seemed to spot something as he loudly exclaimed ‘over there!’ and bounded off in the direction of what looked like a large broken pipe with wood partially covering the mouth of it. Wary of your companion running head-long into a trap or someone else’s home, you sprinted after the speedy zabrak. 

The tunnel itself was a welcomed sanctuary from the acidic liquid dumping from the sky and you welcomed it with eager arms upon realizing that it was decidedly abandoned. Or at least, it would have been decidedly abandoned if not for the dead Junker hanging from the ceiling. Morley released a soft exclamation of surprise that you elected to ignore as Savage moved further in. Junk was piled up on all sides of the pipe and you unceremoniously tripped over a rogue sheet of metal as you shuffled in to check for signs of life. It was unneeded though as a soft blue glow caught your eye. “Savage, the talisman.” You mumbled, mouth suddenly feeling dry. The golden zabrak looked down at his chest and you could see his shoulders lift in relief that it had started working again. Like a silent game of hot and cold, Savage stalked around the pipe with you watching to see where the talisman glowed the strongest. He eventually stopped right in front of you whereupon the magic jewelry piece was glowing brighter than you had ever seen it before.

“This is it.” Savage confirmed and softly moved you to the side so he could investigate the pile of metal behind you. You quickly began looking for a hidden door that would hopefully lead you to what you hoped was Maul’s hideaway. What you thought to be a pile of metal turned out to be another dead Junker that fell over when Savage touched it, making you halt your own search. 

“It-It doesn’t look like anyone’s here, you two.” Morley offered unhelpfully to which Savage snapped at him and continued to search, growing more agitated by the second. You couldn’t be mad at him as you could feel desperation starting to rise within you. With a low breath, you stepped back into the center of the room and closed your eyes. You were trying to sense for either any life or a hidden door, whichever stood out first. You heard the clattering of another Junker being tossed to the side in front of you by Savage and felt your companion’s mind start to spiral as he backed up next to you. 

“Mother Talzin…” Savage muttered under his breath, prompting you to open your eyes as your focus wasn’t holding. “She betrayed me…” Savage’s voice grew more steadily into a growl. “My brother must be dead!” Savage smacked the body of a dead Junker away as you watched on, the familiar dull sting of onsetting apathy creeping into your bones. Your companion yelled in frustration, hands clutching at his horns as he tried to steady himself. You hated to be right. “Y/n, I-I’m so sorry.” Savage sobbed softly as he turned to you. 

You sighed low, face carefully constructed to restrain the heartache. What had you expected? Face purposefully neutral, you opened your mouth to console Savage who was most likely devastated only for Morley to cut in. 

“Y’know,” he dragged out, voice inappropriately peppy, “She’s not the only one who betrayed you.” Your eyes widened as the snake raised his tail and smacked it on the ground in front of you. Suddenly, the floor gave way, and you and Savage were sent plummeting down into the inky blackness below. “You two will make good offerings, and when my master’s finished with you-I get the leftovers!” Morley’s high pitched laugh echoed down the hole along with yours and Savage’s frightened screams. You didn’t know how long you’d been falling or how swiftly the ground was approaching but you did know that it was too far for you to force jump out and that the end of this road would most likely result in a few broken bones. Or at least, it would have had Savage not graciously acted as your landing pad. 

You landed with a huff and a sore stomach from where your front collided with Savage’s back. But, aside from what would definitely form into a bruise later, you were fine. Pissed, but fine. 

The place you had landed in was dark and you could scarcely make out the back of Savage’s head as you slid off of him amidst apologies. But it wasn’t so dark that you couldn’t see a form skirting a corner up ahead, making you freeze. “If we ever see that traitor again,” Savage grunted as he rose to his feet, completely unaware of what you had seen, “I’m going to kill him.” 

“Savage,” you grabbed your brother-in-law’s wrist without tearing your eyes away from the spot where the form had disappeared, “We aren’t alone down here.” As if to punctuate your statement, the sound of a creature skittering across the trash floor echoed around the two of you. Immediately, you put your back to Savage’s and pulled out your lightsaber, ready to defend yourself. Savage also brought out his lightsaber but did not ignite it. While the two of you waited with bated breath and the chittering grew louder and louder, you found yourself growing more enraged. Whatever was down here was going to die-you had a son to get back to. 

Something toppled over in one of the numerous tunnels resulting in an obnoxiously loud ‘clang’ that caught you both off guard. Savage, ever hopeful you guessed, decided it would be a grand idea to talk to whatever was down here. “Brother? Is that you, brother?” The zabrak’s voice reverberated unnaturally as it bounced from wall to wall down the dim tunnels. When there was no response and no other noise from the creature, Savage straightened his posture and activated his lightsaber. The zabrak bumped his hand against your arm to prompt you to look at him to which Savage nodded in the opposite direction the creature had run off to and began walking. You were forced to follow or be left in the tunnels. 

The walk was tense, silent, neither one of you wanted to speak for fear you would miss a noise that could prove vital to your survival. You both were also careful not to make any noise yourself, the only sounds being Savage’s heavy footsteps which masked your own and the soft hum emanating from your weapons. Every so often, you would swear that you could hear the creature but as soon as you would turn around or look above you, there would be nothing. Was the creature real, then? Or was that the morbid beauty of Morley’s master; he served no person just the excruciating onset of madness. You were happy you had someone else with you though. 

Cutting through the tense atmosphere like a stray blaster bolt across a peaceful field, the sound of metal scraping against metal immediately put you on edge once again. Savage called out once more, “Is that you, brother?” There was no response. The two of you rounded a corner and when you peered into the tunnel before you, you could see the outline of the creature. A human torso, a spider body, and what looked like antlers growing from its skull. 

When the creature noticed you and Savage, it growled in an almost human-like voice and backed away, as if desperate to avoid the light shining from your sabers. You paused, prompting Savage to do the same as the creature continued to back up-still growling and grunting like an angry, feral tooka. Fearing that it was getting ready to charge, you attempted to soothe it. You lowered your saber and spoke in a soft voice. “Hey, it’s alright, we’re not here to hurt you.” It felt like you were trying to calm a feral loth-wolf as the only response was another, even lower growl. Savage stepped in front of you, one arm out to shepherd you behind him as the creature grew increasingly more agitated. The second Savage did so, though, it bolted-racing away. Savage, like the moron that he could be decided to run after it which meant that you were soon racing after Savage too. 

You weren’t sure what his plan was (if there even was one) but you did know that you were going to keep him alive no matter what. Strange how spending two months traipsing across the galaxy with someone could change your opinion of them. 

The creature continued to flee, hissing, growling, and spitting with its strange ever-present chittering in tow and you continued to follow it. Occasionally, it would rear up, bringing its human arms up over its head as it backed away and the light from your sabers would almost reveal the features of the creature but before action could be taken, the strange abomination would back away. “You!” Savage had begun yelling at it by now as he gave chase. “What have you done with my brother?” You weren’t sure why he was so adamant that Maul was still to be found in these tunnels because every time you glanced at the talisman it would appear to be glowing but you couldn’t tell if it was from your saber or not. “You!” Savage tried again as the creature tried to back away into a tunnel leading downwards. “What have you done with my brother? Answer me, you monster!” That seemed to finally light the fuse in the creature’s temper. With a bone-chilling snarl, it charged right for Savage. One of its many legs kicked you away, sending you backward and against a wall of trash as your lightsaber sailed out of your hand. You lifted yourself off the floor and summoned your weapon back to you just in time to watch Savage get pushed into a different tunnel by the creature. Thinking fast, you took off after it with saber ignited, following the guttural cries of the tunnel dweller and the unmistakeable commotion of a fight. You rounded the corner in time to see Savage and the creature locked hand to hand, both trying to overpower each other. Still approaching, you raised your hand and focused on pulling the creature off and away from your companion. 

The strange mixture of spider and man twisted around to face you, teeth bared, fists clenched, and chest heaving with exertion and anger. You raised your saber, ready to draw the creature closer and run it trough but that was when you saw it-the creature’s eyes. “Maul?” Your voice broke as your brain registered not what but who was in front of you. Your grip went lax and your saber clattered at your feet leaving Savage’s talisman as the only light source. Even then, there was no denying whose silhouette it was. For a minute, you were still, your grip on Maul through the Force also waning as you both just stared at each other-you with elation yet simultaneous devastation at what your lover had become and him with the wildness of a rabid animal. The spell was broken though when your grip on him finally loosened completely. As though he had suddenly recognized you, Maul’s eyes locked with yours and his snarl fell away into what you almost thought was a grin but that did not last. Maul’s new spider legs moved far quicker than you could have fathomed and he was on you in seconds, nails digging into your bicep as he latched onto your arm. With a prolonged cry, Maul ran off, dragging you along with him.

......................................................................................

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[tmntgirlie]

Saviors in a Half Shell 4

Ah, the plan. The plan to help Y/N, the plan specifically created and constructed to assist Y/N. The Y/N Plan.

Splinter was, as usual, the first to wake up.

He loved his sons dearly, but he also loved the quiet he had when he woke up before them. Once at least one was awake, he knew he would be forced to socialize, step into his fatherly role (not that he didn’t love it, but everybody needs a break from time to time), give advice that only a rat father could. Especially right now, he knew that all four of his sons were nervous about their roles. It was warranted.

It was the ripe time of almost noon. He decided it was about time to make his first cup of tea for the day. Tea was always a pleasant beginning.

As the kettle began to head up, he heard a rustling near the doorway. “Leonardo, you’re awake early-” he began to say, but stopped when he saw who it really was.

Y/N stood, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was a little bit all over the place, something dark shaded under her eyes. “I’m so sorry, what was your name again?”

“You may call me Splinter, my dear. What are you doing up so early?” he asked warily.

“I don’t usually sleep this late,” the girl said, covering her mouth when she yawned. “I’ll take it that last night wasn’t really a dream.”

Splinter quietly added a little more water and tea leaves to the kettle. “You would be correct. Did you sleep well?”

“For someone that doesn’t like sleeping anywhere but my own bed, I’d say so.” She gave him a small smile. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“Welcoming me into your home,” Y/N said with a shrug. “A stranger, giving me a safe place to sleep.”

“We help those who are in need of help,” he told her, leaning against the makeshift countertop. “You were not in a good place last night. Would you agree?”

Y/N nodded silently.

“I won’t pry into your personal health,” he said. “But I’d like you to know that we can be here for you if you want us. My sons aren’t like anybody else. They may be rough around the edges, but they have good hearts. They want to help you just like I do.”

He poured two cups of tea and gestured for them to continue their conversation elsewhere. She followed him down a few more narrow hallways, carefully holding her cup to keep it from spilling. He pushed back a few curtains to reveal a greenhouse of sorts. It was warm, the air was moist, and the room was filled with potted plants, flowers, and what she thought were herbs of sorts.

“It’s amazing,” she said quietly. “I never thought these kinds of things were even possible down here. You live down here. It’s amazing.”

“We made do with what is available to us,” Splinter said with a small smile. “This is all we have ever known.”

“How did you- you know, come to be?” Y/N asked.

The question he was waiting for.

“As you probably could have guessed,” he chuckled. “We aren’t your typical rat and turtles. Years ago, we were subjects in an experiment to create a substance that could withstand a harsh environment.” He spared her the nitty gritty details, it was likely too early for that.

“One night, a fire erupted in the lab. We managed to escape, though at the time we were still seen as the ordinary rat and four turtles. As years went by, we grew into what we are. It has been twenty-two long years. I took the role as both father and master of the turtles. It wasn’t easy, but it needed to be done.”

“That’s amazing,” she repeated, a little more enthusiastic this time. “You could write a book about this.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “I’m afraid not. You see, we aren’t accepted by the general population of this city. A select few humans have actually had the pleasure of seeing us for who we are and not what we look like. You are now one of them.” Splinter carefully sat his cup of tea down on a bare crate. He picked up a watering can and began to get to work.

“Need any help?”

“I enjoy doing this myself, but the company is appreciated. If you have any more questions, I’m sure my sons would be happy to explain their life stories to you.”

Y/N searched her mind for their names. It had been so late, the events of the night prior were blurry. She remembered their faces. Each wore a different colored mask. They were all so different, so unique- what were their names?

“Dad, I can’t find-” A voice rang through the greenhouse-room. She instantly recognized it, the first voice she heard. The first one she remembered.

Y/N turned to see who she instantly recognized as Leonardo, Leo. It had just dawned on her that their names were in reference to Renaissance painters. She’d have to ask about that later.

The turtle stopped. “Oh. There you are.”

She waved awkwardly. “Here I am.” She gave him a small smile.

Yeah, okay. These guys were freakishly huge turtles. Who were extremely muscular, bore weapons draped over their shells and at their sides. Sure. But they were her rescuers. She was comfortable with using that word now.

Leonardo noticeably relaxed. “You’re up early.”

“It’s almost noon. I usually wake up before eight,” she said. “...Thank you.”

He tilted his head. “What?”

“Thank you. For last night. I know it was… Not the greatest way to meet you guys, or for you to meet me.” Her gaze shifted down to her feet. “I just have some… Issues. That I need to work through.”

Leonardo turned to his father, who only nodded before going back to watering his plants. He wondered what all was said before he got there.

This wasn’t technically part of the plan, but this was a good start nonetheless.

“The other’s won’t be up for a while still. I’m heading to the dojo for my morning meditations.”

“You even have a dojo?” She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice if she tried. Mutant turtles that meditate. That live in the sewers, that drink tea (at least one of them), that like Thai food, video games, and who knows what else.

Leonardo held back a chuckle as he gestured back towards the doorway. “You can join me, if you’d like.”

Y/N quickly shook her head. “I don’t even know how to meditate.”

“We all start somewhere. Are you coming?”

It was hard to say no.

Leonardo positioned her at the opposite end of the dojo as him. He gave her a few quick pointers to get her started before he sat down and shut his eyes.

Y/N watched him for a moment before she did the same. His words echoed in her head, so few instructions but so many at the same time.

Count your breaths.

In one, out two, all the way to ten and start again.

Let your mind feel what it needs to feel. Don’t let it engulf you, but allow yourself to feel.

When your mind wanders too far, start at one again. In. Out.

To think that she thought she was good at taking instruction.

In, one.

Two, out.

As she counted up, she could feel a metaphorical weight lift from her shoulders. She could hear Leonardo’s breathing in the corner, though it was soft. She felt his presence.

Shit, did I leave the tea in the greenhouse?

Back to one. Out, two.

Y/N could feel the darkness in her mind. She allowed herself to feel it, welcoming it as a friend as opposed to an intruder. It was part of her, her own way of feeling.

Out, six.

Meditation wasn’t something she thought of to do. Her life was too busy for something like that, she thought. Those minutes could be better spent elsewhere.

Maybe it was time to slow down.

Alright, back to one now.

Time became an afterthought. When she finally opened her eyes, Leonardo was beginning to stand. He reached his arms up, then held them behind his back in a stretch. She swore she could hear some joints popping.

Y/N slowly got to her feet, reaching her arms up towards the ceiling. Where she could see Leo could easily touch the ceiling, her arms were feet away from it. At least she knew she would never bump her head here.

Not that that was a general worry of hers. Not many walls were only five-foot something.

“That was nice,” she said, breaking the silence. “Do you do this every morning?” She recalled when he had said ‘morning meditations’.

“Every morning when I wake up. It helps clear my head and get me ready for the day,” Leonardo told her with a nod. “I’ll do it before nightfall if I need to as well.”

“A healthy habit,” she mused. “The others don’t join you?”

Leonardo gave her a shrug in response. “Sometimes. They’d prefer the extra sleep. Honestly, they could do with a little more meditation.”

“I definitely feel more ready for the day. Or breakfast at least.” As if on cue, her stomach began to growl.

He laughed. “Come on, let’s get you some breakfast.

“How long did we go, anyway?”

“Thirty minutes. You beat Mikey’s record.”

A small feat, she told herself. Mikey did not seem like one to keep still for that long.

Y/N should have referred to their meal as ‘lunch’, especially considering the time. She thought this as they passed through another corridor, one that was a little smellier than the rest. She did applaud them for keeping the place smelling less like sewer than it actually was. Did turtles have a sense of smell?

“So, you meditate. Do your brothers have any habits or hobbies?”

“Raphael does the most physical training,” Leo said, pointing to a door at the end of the hallway. “Weight training, boxing, you name it. Donnie keeps to his science-y stuff. He’s good with technology and chemistry, that pretty much covers most of his free time. Mikey… He has trouble focusing on one thing.”

“Shocking.”

He laughed. “He’s gotten better, more tolerable to live with. He’s not allowed near Donnie’s things anymore, though.”

Y/N stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest. “Now you have to tell me this story.”

Leo was amazed. She had a completely different presence to her now than the night before. She was sarcastic, she was witty. He could tell she chose her words carefully, but when she looked at him, it wasn’t with the usual disgust or fear. It was with amazement, intrigue.

Strange human.

The tale began of how Mikey had accidentally caused a bad chemical reaction in Donatello’s lab area. It wasn’t a small sort of reaction- in fact, it ended up ruining most of Donnie’s equipment. He refused to speak to him for days as he tried to both fix and replace what had been lost. Y/N made a mental note to ask how they got equipment like that in the first place.

By the time Leo had no more to say, they were settled at the table in the kitchen with some food. He had made up a couple dozen sandwiches with various meats and toppings, all with cheese. When he set the platters down at the table, he paused. “I didn’t ask you what you wanted, did I?”

“I’m not that picky,” she assured him. “You probably need to explain what all these are, though.”

She picked a simple turkey sandwich after an entire speech ensued about each sandwich. They liked variety. As she took a bite, she smirked. “I had no idea turtles ate meat. Good to know.”

“Not sure if you’ve picked up on this yet, but we’re not your run-of-the-mill turtles.”

Oh, she definitely had.

[gaylotusthatexists]

too late to back away

pairing: dukeceit

summary: Janus needs to come clean to his boyfriend before it’s too late.

trigger warnings: sympathetic janus/remus, alcohol, discussions of sex (only briefly, not nsfw)

word count: 1641

a/n: day seventeen!!! today’s prompt was ‘supportive’. i’m actually pretty proud of this one, this was a lot of fun to write haha. i hope y’all enjoy <3

ao3

Janus picked at his fingernails, eyes locked on the table in front of him as he waited for Remus to return with their drinks. He didn't know why he thought this would be a good idea - Remus probably thought this was just a regular date, they pretty much always came to this café anyway, sat at this same table by the window, and Remus had been so happy earlier, what if Janus screwed everything up by doing this? Things were going so well between them, what if Remus thought he was weird, or if it made him lose interest in Janus, or-

Janus breathed in and out, and tried to ignore how his hands were shaking. He glanced down at his gloves, half tempted to shove them back on to stop himself from picking at his nails and to hide how sweaty they were, but he decided against it, because he wouldn't be able to eat and drink with them on. He needed to at least act somewhat normal, so that Remus didn't suspect that anything was wrong. Janus needed to be calm, he needed to act as though everything was just fine. He didn't want Remus to be afraid that they may break up, or that Janus was hiding something.

Well, Janus was hiding something, he supposed, but not like that. No, this... this shouldn't impact their relationship too much, unless it hurt Remus in which case Janus would be okay with ending things. He just wanted Remus to be happy, and... and if Janus couldn't make him happy, then he deserved someone else, someone who could. And... he supposed it was better to get it out now, before things got too serious and it was too late. He just... He needed to be honest with Remus, he didn't want to mislead Remus into anything.

Remus returned with their drinks and cakes and sat down, immediately launching into a speech, as Remus usually did. Janus had always been a quiet person, happy to just listen to others, whilst Remus had always been a rather loud person, wanting to make his opinions known and release his stories into the world. Janus couldn't quite remember what Remus had been talking about - probably some movie or video game - as he'd been too busy stressing over how to bring up the thing, and thinking of every possible way it could go wrong and how he'd bounce back from that. Surprisingly, Remus didn't seem to notice the anxiety slowly settling on Janus' face.

Well, not at first, anyway. As Janus lifted up his tea to his lips, Remus frowned. "Are you okay, Jan? You seem kinda out of it."

Janus drank his tea a little longer than necessary, coughing when he placed his cup down as he very nearly choked, before he plastered on a strained smile and nodded at Remus. "I'm quite alright, Remus," he said, voice a little higher than usual.

Remus' frown deepened. "Are you sure?" He took a bottle of vodka out of his bag and poured a little into his coffee, before taking a sip. Janus tried his best not to be concerned and a little disgusted at that.

"Yes."

"Absolutely positive?"

"Yes, Remus."

"So I don't need to murder anyone?"

"Yes- what?"

"Nothing."

Janus sighed. He took a bite of out his cake, then slouched back in his chair. "Alright, yeah, in all honesty, I'm not doing great," he said, immediately regretting it, but he'd come too far now to turn back. Couldn't this conversation wait a little while? Until next week maybe? Next month? Next year?

No, no. He needed to do this now.

Remus' expression softened. He leaned across the table. "What's wrong?"

Janus breathed in. He glanced around the café, eyes focusing on the elderly couples sitting around, as well as some younger people who weren't exactly the kind of people that Janus could trust, until his eyes eventually landed back on Remus. "Can- Can we talk about this somewhere else?" he asked, not wanting anyone to listen in to his conversation.

Remus blinked. "Yeah, okay." He took another bite out of his own cake, then downed the rest of his drink. "You're not breaking up with me, are you?"

"No, no, I-" He paused. Well, maybe. It really depended on Remus' reaction. But... "No." He didn't want to break up with Remus. It would be fine.

Janus drank the rest of his tea and finished his cake in silence, and Remus continued to talk about whatever he'd been talking about before. Once his cake was finished, Remus drank one of those milk pots that were meant to be put into coffee or tea like he'd drink a shot, then stood up. "Alright, your place or mine?"

Janus hesitated. "Uh... how about the park?" he offered, not wanting to go home and still dreading to find out what Remus kept in his bedroom.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Y'know, I think that's the first time you've been willing to spend more time outside with me than necessary," he said. "I thought you hated sunshine?"

Janus rolled his eyes. "Actually, I don't like the cold. Sunshine is quite nice. And it's still barely spring."

"Sure, Jan." The two grabbed their bags and began to walk out the café, towards the park on the other side of town. It was a Saturday afternoon, so Janus assumed the park would probably be fairly busy, but he also knew of a place in the park that was quiet enough and hidden enough that nobody should bother them. It also meant there probably wouldn't be anywhere to easily escape to if this conversation went worse than Janus already feared, but... it would be fine. Things would be fine.

Maybe if he kept lying to himself, it would become true.

They arrived at a small pond at the back of the park, away from all the screaming children and exasperated parents. Janus sat down at the edge of the pond, staring at the ripples forming across the water as Remus began to chuck small stones in, apparently unable to contain himself - Janus couldn't help but smile fondly at that. Eventually, Remus sat down besides him and got that bottle out his bag again, offering some to Janus.

"No thanks," Janus politely declined, not in the mood to drink straight vodka. Remus just shrugged and drank some himself, before digging into his bag again and taking out a bottle of wine. Ah, that was a little more tempting. He probably needed it, as well, considering what he was about to tell Remus. He took the bottle and had a small sip, not wanting to drink too much but happy to have it as an option.

"So," Remus said, stretching out his legs and twisting his body slightly to face Janus, "what's wrong?"

Janus tapped his fingernails on the glass bottle in his hand. "Nothing's... wrong, per se, but... I do need to talk to you about something."

"Spill."

Janus breathed in. "I... I don't want this to change your opinion on me, and I need you to know that I love you more than anything and still think you are the most beautiful person in the world, but I..."

Remus' eyes widened. "Wait, you are breaking up with me, aren't you?" He cursed under his breath. "Did I do something wrong? I know I can be a little much at times, but-"

"No, Remus, I'm- I'm not breaking up with you," Janus promised. Remus looked relieved by that, but still a little on edge, as though he was scared to hear what Janus was going to say next. It wasn't too late to back down now, was it? No, yes, he needed to just... get it out. "I'm ace," he blurted out, immediately wanting to sink into a hole and die because damn he'd really just screwed up his chance of living happily with Remus-

"Is... that it?" Remus tilted his head.

Janus breathed in and out. What the hell was that reaction meant to mean? He'd expected annoyance, maybe anger at the worse, but... not confusion. Maybe confusion over what ace meant, but not... not that. "Yes?" Janus said, quietly. "I... I understand if you can't work with that, like if you're interested in having sex it may not be a brilliant idea to be with a sex-repulsed asexual, so if... if this won't work, I completely understand, I really just want you to be happy, so-"

"Janus," Remus said, cutting Janus off. "I literally could not care less. You're asexual, that's fine, I'm still madly in love with you."

Janus let out a breath. Did... Did that mean Remus was fine with it? Were things actually fine? "So you're..."

"I'm cool with it," Remus said, with a smile. "Y'know I'll always support you."

Janus felt like he was going to cry, but for entirely different reasons than he'd been anticipating. "I-"

"Was that what you were so worried about?" Remus questioned.

Janus nodded, slowly. "Yeah, I... I didn't want to mess up what we have."

Remus snorted. "Janus, you could literally murder someone and I'd still be in love with you. I mean, I'd help you hide the body, and everything."

Janus tried his best not to laugh at that. He ended up just taking another gulp of his wine, then leaning back, looking at Remus with fondness.

"So," Remus said, "anything else I need to know?"

Janus blinked.

"Like, how far am I allowed to go?"

Janus blushed. Oh. "Er, I don't know, kissing is fine I guess-"

Remus nodded. "Gotcha." He took a large gulp of his vodka, almost scaring Janus. Eventually, Janus scooted over towards him and rested his head on his shoulder. Smiling, Remus wrapped an arm around Janus, pulling him closer. Things were okay. He was okay.

[veinereastath]

Far Cry: New Dawn was a disaster, and here’s why.

Okay, just to be clear - this is my personal opinion, not pure, cold facts that I’m trying to push down people’s throats. I just felt the sudden urge to break down piece by piece my utter hatred towards this game. So, let’s go. What exactly went wrong with it, and why Far Cry 5 was way better? I will try to present my ramblings and point of view by putting both of these games side by side. So, when reading every sentence in this... thing, add in your head a “it’s vei’s opinion” bit to avoid misunderstandings. Thanks in advance! First thing, to make everything clear - Far Cry 5 was not a perfect game. No, actually, it was far from so; there are many games much better plot-wise, with more entertaining gameplay, bigger world, more interesting side quests and so on. But, one thing for sure, this game has a spirit, an unique aura that makes many people want to come back to it and replay it over and over. The way Ubisoft portrayed Hope County is absolutely fantastic - the music, the landscapes, the characters. It was something new, something fresh, and despite quite a lot sceptical voices when the first trailers came out, it turned out really well, and in general, people really liked this game, or loved it even. Yeah, some people hate the endings, the fact that every single one of them is bad one way or the other and that you can’t basically win (I always thought this was fantastic, because, hey, you can’t be a perfect hero every time - even so, I love how this game, Seeds especially, mock the “hero attitude” that protagonist tries to have). But even so, Far Cry 5 was mostly a success, right? And the canon ending when the nukes get dropped seemed to leave a perfect opportunity for a sequel. So, what could go wrong? Well, about that...

1. How long is this game? New Dawn is short. It’s fucking short, because I installed it right after it became available (fun fact, this was the first and the last game I ever pre-ordered, so imagine how excited I must’ve been), and started playing it as soon as I could. In my case, it was around 2-3 am. I had a break then, woke up at 7 am and continued playing. I was playing it slowly - completing the side quests, because I wanted to know what has changed in Hope County, and, of course, I was looking for some easter eggs regarding the Seeds (surprised pikachu - there weren’t any, Old Compound, John’s bunker and Ranch are too obvious).  Took me around 5 hours to move on and actually start playing the main story. I was pretty sure that it will take me at least 10-15 hours to complete it (why was I thinking so, don’t ask me, I guess I still have way too high expectations after what Witcher 3 expansions have shown me). Again, surprised pikachu! I finished the whole game in 16 hours. Sixteen. Including liberating all the outposts (1 star in each, didn’t bother to get 3) and finish all side-missions + driving around the County just to look around. The hell? And it wasn’t a DLC? Just for a little comparison, because, yes, FC5 can also be completed pretty damn fast if you rush it, but my 1st playthrough of it, with all the quests and admiring the landscapes took me 33 hours. Which leads us to the next point on this god forsaken list, and that is... 2. The map.

The next reason why I am shocked this game wasn’t a DLC - the heckitty hecck they did with the map in New Dawn. Radiation zones? Sign me the hell up, they make sense, are cool and stuff, but adding them just so you could bite off half of the original map is stupid, and extremely lazy thing to do. Okay, you can take off some parts, but if you’re doing so, add something new - some new paths, caves, mountain routes, something. And no, expeditions don’t count. To make it worse, the parts that were deleted were one of the best parts of the FC5 storyline. Faith’s Gate, Drubman’s Marina, Jacob’s Armory, Wolf’s Den, and the fucking Veteran’s Center. The opportunity to make this a haunted location with an entertaining quest in it was HUGE and it was absolutely wasted. It’s not like they couldn’t done it, we’ve got the mission in old Joseph’s statue, and the crocodile pikachu in Inquisitor’s Grave (which, by the way, shouldn’t actually exist - this bunker was blown up to pieces, but it seemed pretty decent in New Dawn, there are barely any sings of explosions, not to mention that “The Confession” room is untouched!). You bought this game with an intention to actually go back in time and find out about something that FC5 didn’t tell you? Kekus maximus, you don’t. Have some photographs instead (which are a nice addition, but seem lazy). To give this post even more personal hatred - I really don’t like the Henbane River region, so you could literally hear my heart breaking when I saw that we got 50% of the River, 80% of the Valley and 10% of the Whitetails, which were my absolute favorite. So fun!

3. The Villains. I must admit, in the trailers, back when the hype for this game was insane, Mickey and Lou seemed to be quite interesting. Even though back then it was obvious that Highwaymen won’t have that kind of depth that Eden’s Gate had, it was still something I was looking forward to, even though those vibes aren’t really my cup of tea; but most of my excitement was born from my love for Far Cry 5, so if course I had to try out the sequel. So yes, the trailers were quite nice (just not the live action one - that was a fucking disaster, and killed my hype for a few days afterwards).

Mickey and Lou were quite fun, but to little extent, sadly. I liked their sister-sister dynamics, they really seemed close, and it was nice that shey were so different from each other - Mickey was more calculating, while Lou was living for the action and brutality in itself. The Highwaymen as a faction in itself wasn’t really that great for me, because their only purpose was to cause mayhem, and I simply don’t like something like this. But the sisters were something different, right? No, they weren’t, and that’s the point. I felt like there was little to no depth in their actions - it was all for fun, and I find this just boring and pointless (pr maybe I’m the boring one). I know that this is often how the world works - people take and destroy simply because they can and because it’s considered cool. We suck as a species, that’s official and well known, but I expected something more entertaining from a videogame. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I did. And Mickey and Lou were literally Highwaymen members with a VIP crown above their heads and nothing more. They left their mother? Okay, that is something that could lead to other interesting things. They killed their father for power? Huh, alright, I can work with that. The point is, it didn’t give them that much depth, their main purpose was to plunder everything. Which would be all good and nice if they were some kind of a side-faction. But this was The Villains™, and I wanted to feel something more towards them. And to be honest? I didn’t even hate them. I felt absolutely nothing, they just existed and I didn’t care, because they didn’t make this game interesting. What I will say now may sound brutal, but I will say it: I don’t consider two young people (they were around 19/20) just wanting to blow everything up “for lulz” a good villains. I fucking don’t. It was a huge downfall after what FC5 has given to us. I was just so bored when fighting the Highwaymen, because they were shallow, and their personalities were only focused on one thing. 

Of course, there is also Ethan. Yes, I hate him (he even has a very punchable face, what a coincidence!), but I admit he was somehow a nice touch in this game. Yes, he was a prideful, irritating kid, but while I was just utterly bored by the Twins, Ethan actually managed to make me hate him. The only thing that I’m quite bothered by is that I don’t believe that he’s actual, biological son of Joseph. To put it shortly, and say it louder for the people in the back - The Twins were just meh. Boring. How was the situation in FC5 better? Oh boy.

Putting their obvious... Attractive physical appearance aside, and focusing purely on their personalities, because that’s what I’m trying to explain - they were something else, and something new. Ubisoft took a risk with creating four villains for a single game, because it’s extremely hard to give each one of them the screentime they deserve, and make them interesting and unique. Did FC5 succeed? In a way, yes. I’m not saying that Seeds are absolutely perfect villains (they aren’t), but they can eat Twins for breakfast and still stay hungry. To show you what I mean, have some short descriptions: JOSEPH: Cult Leader, “The Father”, a person who claims to hear the voice of God himself. Someone from a broken family and difficult life, who was in prison (according to song dedicated to him), lost one job after another, lost his wife, killed his daughter, and then formed a religious cult. JACOB: military veteran suffering from PTSD, with a massive knowledge about history and psychology, someone who literally brainwashed nearly half, if not more of the County, and manages to combine religion (something he clearly isn’t really fond of) and personal, darwinistic look on life. JOHN: former lawyer, a person skilled in adapting to any environment, charismatic manipulator abused as a kid, forced to spend most of his life pretending to be someone he hated to be, battled with addictions, emotionally unstable and with sadistic outburts. FAITH: young woman devoid of purpose in life, also battling with addictions in the past, probably on the verge of suicide at some point, who was manipulated (and quite possibly drugged) in order to comply; a broken girl hiding her pain behind lovely smiles. Sounds pretty diverse, right? And I bet that at least one member of this family was somehow entertaining for everyone. Now, here’s what New Dawn has given to us: MICKEY: the more calculating sister; young girl who followed her father and chose brutal life, creating entertainment for herself by making others suffer. Shows some kind of regret when you defeat her by the end of the game. LOU: the more brutal sister; young girl who followed her father and chose brutal life, creating entertainment for herself by making others suffer. Doesn’t show any regrets towards her actions.

And honestly, that’s it. I really tried to write something more for the Twins, but I couldn’t put my finger on anything. That’s all we know. And yes, I know that there is a major difference between them and the Seeds, which is the age gap - FC5 villains are simply older and have more life experience, but honestly, this doesn’t make it better. Mickey and Lou could have much more depth and be far more interesting despite them being young. Age is not a problem in such a case. I suggest to compare Mickey and Lou’s descriptions with the Faith one, since she’s just few years older. There is a difference, isn’t it? And even when playing both of these games, the Seeds just seem to be better developed than the Twins. Ubisoft did something weird, because they managed to focus on four villains and make each one of them interesting in their own way, but made just two main villains flat, and nearly identical. 4. Radio calls. This is a continuation of the point above, because it’s also something I wanted to point out and is connected to the villains of both games. The things you can hear directly from The Twins can be mostly described as “hey rabbit, you’re pissing us off a bit”. Same with the things they say at outposts and direct them to the Highwaymen - it’s always about the same thing, and there isn’t a single line that I found interesting or worth remembering (okay, my bad, the fact that Mickey and Lou seemed to be dissapointed after Nana chose to stick with the Captain rather than them was a nice touch). Meanwhile, I can recite most of the dialogue lines from the Seeds from my memory, and it’s something I could do after 2 playthroughs. They seem to be on a whole different level - and yes, it is true that to some point, the “rabbits” thing is similar to “the weak” theme of Jacob, or “the sinners” in case of John, but it didn’t seem to be that much tiring to hear about. Faith’s radio calls were interesting, because with each one of them you could hear her demeanor towards the Deputy changing - in the beginning, she was friendly, but after you destroyed Joseph’s statue, she was scared, and at the final confrontation - maliciously hostile. Jacob started his radio calls history with a threat towards you, and kind off keeps that all the time, but the closer you get to the final meeting with him, the more... Okay, how the fuck do I describe it in a non-thot way amused (I guess we can call it this way?) he sounded. He was still far from friendly, you still didn’t have any doubts he’s your enemy, but there was something in those radio calls, something that suggested he actually sees the Deputy as something more than just enemy, as a tool he crafted all by himself and he was proud of it. John welcomes you with this cheesy ad at the beginning of the game, and as time goes on, he goes even more obsessed with making you atone and confess; not to mention his absolutely fantastic reactions to stealing his house and destroying his sign. His calls are something unpredictable, because once he’s all official and charismatic, but suddenly he switches to this ominous mode that actually makes you want stop for a bit and look around you, as if he was lurking somewhere. To sum it up, this game made you feel like if you were actually developing some kind of a relationship with each one of the family member. But the radio calls from the Twins seem to be always the same, it’s all about “rabbits” and “problem solving”. Yes, it might've been better if only one sister was all about it, and the other one had something else on her mind, but making them nearly identical was a lazy move.  5. Landscapes.

Far Cry 5 was amazing, because every region was different and had something else to offer. Henbane River was full of Bliss, which created weird hallucinations, Faith dancing around you was also pretty interesting addition, and The Pilgrimage was also a nice touch (I recommend going with it, it’s a really nice experience, actually). Holland Valley was the pure definition of Montana countryside, and it felt fantastic to walk around and see those little farms, cows, windmills and so on. Whitetail Mountains were also something unique, with less open spaces, a huge amount of wildlife, combining massive mountains with deep forests. And even though the colors of this game could be simply described as beige-green, I didn’t really feel bored when wandering around. New Dawn had a cool concept, actually - makind the post-apocalyptic world colorful, instead of making it a grey wasteland was something new and I was excited. And, honestly, I really liked how it all looked like during the first 2 hours of playthrough. After that... I was just so done. The pink colour in itself wasn’t bad, really, but the way they added it everywhere made me feel sick. Those flowers were nearly everywhere and they were always the same. And while I love screenshoting landscapes in games, New Dawn didn’t really felt like something I wanted to spend time on. I like to admire the views of FC5, but not in ND. Combining the small as hell map with nearly the same flowers on your every step was a bad solution. 6. Other. To mention other things - well, I guess we could mention the music, but I feel it isn’t fair, actually. Both games did this well in some way, FC5 songs are certainly something unforgettable, and I mean both the cult ones as well as the OST. New Dawn did what it could - gave Highwaymen music that fits them. The OST, however, isn’t that good. Maybe because it just doesn’t feel unique to me, while the different type of music in each region in FC5 is, for me, unforgettable in many ways.  I won’t really talk about The Deputy >> The Judge metamorphosis, because everyone sees it in a different way. I personally don’t consider it as a bad thing, it’s quite a nice plot twist, and I like it (even though I went with a totally different path with my deputy OC).

Okay, I think it’s time to get to the main point. Why I consider New Dawn as a disaster? The Villains were devoid of any depth and felt exactly the same, the map was small as hell, the story was way too short (and these two things should be enough to make this game a DLC, not an actual installment of the franchise), the landscapes were repetitive, 90% of what was left from FC5 (locations, for example) didn’t get a chance to shine. Just imagine how much more entertaining this game could be if we would find some old recording of the Eden’s Gate songs somewhere. If there were mentions of some terryfingly huge wolves roaming around, if the members of Prosperity actually mentioned something about John Seed (which house they are living in!), if we could visit the remnants of the Faith’s Gate, hear the ominous “Only You” when approaching the Veteran’s Center and read some old notes about experiments that were happening in there, and so on. Basically, the main opportunity that got wasted was focusing on continuating FC5 legacy in a more respectful way. The things I mentioned above seem like small details, but they really could make the experience something else entirely. So, yeah. I hate New Dawn, in case someone didn’t notice. :)

[theoriginalladya]

5, 8, 20, 37 for the writer asks?

from this list

5. Share one of your strengths.

Plotting.  Give me a niblet of an idea and I can plot the hell out of it into a full blown story, possibly a series! lol  I love plotting, actually.  I just wish writing was as easy in the end! :)

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Oh wow.  Let me see here ...  Not exactly short, but this comes from Destiny’s Hand, the ME2 story for ShepShep, chapter called “Look Good for Dead” where Jane goes to see Wrex.

(also going under cut because this got loooooong! lol

“You humans,” he muttered as he walked back over to retake his seat.  “Always trying to hide what can be so clearly seen.”

Jane remained where she was for a minute or two before following suit.  She didn’t bother to ask him what he meant – that was clear enough.  Instead, she opted to pick at one of his earlier comments.  “So, you think I’m with Cerberus too?”

The krogan leader shrugged.  “You have their ship; you have their people – does it really matter beyond that?”

The ‘chair,’ such as it was, allowed Jane to sit in a manner where she could draw one knee up to her chest so she could rest her arms against it as she eyed him.  “You don’t care, then?”

“I have concerns,” he admitted, “but I know you.”  His deep, reverberating chuckle started again.  “No other human ever stood up to me like you did on Virmire.”

Jane blinked, startled by that remark.  “Really?”

The krogan’s head bobbed once before his eyes narrowed and he gave her a menacing look.  This lasted only a moment or two, however, until he sat back and laughed again.  “See?  You aren’t intimidated.”

Jane opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it just as quickly when she realized she didn’t have a response.  He couldn’t be serious, could he?  “Wrex …?”

He watched her closely as she struggled.  “You don’t see it, do you?” he asked.

“See what?”

Head still shaking, he said, “You wound me, Shepard.  Then again, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you intimidated by anyone.”

Jane blinked again.  “I’m … not sure that I ever have been,” she replied.  Frowning, she stared over at him for a moment.  “Though, I seem to recall you giving a good effort the day we met on the Citadel.”

This time the krogan leader’s laughter was open and loud, a barking echo throughout the room.  “You see what I mean?”  He sighed and sat back.  “That’s how I know you are you.  You don’t back down from anyone.  And, if rumors are to be believed, you headbutt like a true krogan.”

Jane gasped, her eyes widening.  “You heard about that?”

“Shaman told me himself.”  He gave her a toothy grin.  “You’re the first human to impress him that much.”

Why am I so proud of it?  I fucking LOVE WREX and writing him is such a challenge at times, but this chapter ended up coming so easily to me, I couldn’t believe it.  I could ‘snippet’ the whole damned chapter for you I’m that proud of it, and that’s saying something because I’m so proud of that whole series, let alone the story itself.  

I remember going into that chapter feeling intimidated at the thought of writing his voice.  I stared at a blank page for almost TWO WEEKS before I finally started writing it.  And once I started, once those first words were down .. the rest just flowed.  And the dialogue - omg, dialogue isn’t always easy for me.  Sometimes it is, but most of the time it’s like pulling teeth.  Still, occasionally I hit a Zen zone, and that chapter was one of them.  The relationship between Jane and Wrex in it is just ... it’s beautiful.  

Here’s another snippet from that chapter - none of them can be short because one thing just flows into another into another, and I just ... AAAHHHHH!!!

Lifting her head, she turned to find him watching her intently.  “Just say the word, Shepard,” he rumbled, “and I’ll send a squad of Urdnot warriors to shake some sense back into him.”

Jane sat still as a mouse; her eyes wide.  “Wrex …?”  His name escaped as a bare whisper.

He folded his arms across his broad expanse of a chest and nodded once firmly.  “Don’t think I won’t do it, either.”

A hesitant smile twitched at the left corner of her lips even as a few tears leaked from her eyes.  Sniffling softly, she murmured his name again, this time in appreciation.

His expression shifted to a scowl.  “I’m trying to help you here, Shepard!”

Laughter managed to work its way into the mix as Jane swiped her hands across her face.  “I know you are, you bellowing bulk, and I can’t thank you enough for it!” she shouted right back at him.  Lowering her hands, she returned the scowl as best she could, nodding at him once.  “I … appreciate it, I really do, but I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Wrex moved his hands to her shoulders.  “You don’t want him back?”

Jane shrugged.  “I do, but I want him back because he wants to be back,” she explained.  “Forcing him back doesn’t help either of us.”  She sighed, her smile curving just a tick more up on the left side.  “But I appreciate that you want to help me.  I really do.”

“Bah!”  His scowl deepened and he yanked his arms away, turning to stalk across the room.  When he returned a couple of minutes later, he had two more cups of Ryncol in his hand.  “You have done more to help me and the krogan than anyone else ever has,” he insisted.  “And rumor has it, the Reapers are going to try again.”

Jane stiffened, her eyes focused on the pouring liquid even as dread filled the pit of her stomach.  “You – you heard about that, too?”

“Common sense,” he said as he handed one cup to her.  “We might have defeated Sovereign, but he was only one.  A scout.  Scouts are sent ahead of the main forces to report back what they find.  Since Sovereign won’t be reporting back, logic says those who sent him have to follow.”  Glittering eyes, as if anticipating the fight, focused on her.  “If we’re going to have to face more of those bastards and find a way to win, we need you leading the way.”

Jane’s breath caught in her lungs as the full impact of his words hit her.  He believes me!  “Wrex …”

The war leader sighed again, shaking his head.  “And if you’re going to do that, you need to have your head on right,” he bellowed, cutting her off again.  “That means you and your husband back together so you can focus on more important things …”

Jane’s lips twitched.  “Like saving the krogan?” she asked.

“Impudent pup!”  His scowl faded in the next second and he chuckled.  Lifting his cup, he amended, “Maybe helping the krogan save the galaxy.  Again.”

Jane’s lips formed a full-fledged grin now.  “I see.”  Her eyes dropped to the cup in her hand.  “So … what are we drinking to this time?”

“You really don’t want me to send a squad or two after him?”

A bittersweet ache worked its way through Jane.  “No,” she managed after a long moment, “I really don’t.  But … thank you.”  She lifted her head to find him nodding once at her.  “Really, Wrex.  No one has ever offered –.”

He swiped his free hand between them.  “And it’s doubtful you’ll ever get that kind of an offer again,” he groused.  “Especially, if you don’t quit the mushy stuff!”

Her head slanted slightly to the left, Jane asked, “Would it get you off Tuchanka and back into the fight?”

“Hah!”

Jane lifted her cup, eyeing it closely.  There appeared to be about the same amount of liquid in it as before.  Pulling together her last threads of bravery, she raised it in his direction.  “To … Clan Urdnot,” she said, smiling, “and their leader.”

Wrex lifted his, knocking it against hers.  “To Commander Shepard,” he corrected, “who at heart is Clan Urdnot.”

See what I mean???

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

Home alone, no cats or kids, music playing, a pot of hot tea that STAYS hot as long as I need it and all the time in the world to just sit and write ....

Or, alternatively, a notebook and pen and wherever I get an idea.  I’m not picky. :P  Seriously, I can write almost anywhere.  I’ve learned to tune things out or listen to music on my phone if I have to drown it out.  I’ve had more luck sitting in McAlister’s on lunch and writing most of a chapter than at home sometimes.  (not of late, though, sadly)

37. Talk about your current wips.

I KNOW WHY YOU ASKED THIS ONE!  HAHAHAHA

Okay, so ... I have a LOT of WIPs at the moment, and I just had a couple more Shepards end up on my doorstep, putting me at a solid #100 on my spreadsheet.  Beyond that, I have a number of Dragon Age WIPs, plus some original fics going.  One of these days, I’ll finish something! lol  Too many ideas, not enough time!!!

So ... a specific WIP ... Hmm ... Well, let me just say that the Biotic Pinball Wizard group - collection of WIPs over there, I swear! lol - is one of the most interesting ones I’ve come up with.  Writing the Reaper War from a perspective of being on Earth?!  What was I thinking????  (oh, that’s right, Anderson’s little visits in game inspired me :P )  I’m really enjoying the challenge.  Funny enough, this one isn’t as plotted through as most of my fics are.  There just wasn’t enough time, plus it’s so complex, I’ve relied a lot on my inspiration throughout Nano this year to help expand it - and it’s coming along quite nicely, to be honest.  I have a number of chapters partly/mostly written.  I have been able to flesh out some plot points that desperately needed it, plus develop the antagonist side of things (beyond just the Reapers).  Characters are falling into place.  Honestly, while more challenging than I originally intended for this year’s Nano to be, it’s been well worth it and I look forward to continuing with the story even beyond Monday’s finishing point!  Having Shepard, Kaidan, James and Kandra together as my core group of personalities has worked really well, too.

[yunohawkeye]

Dropping in to say I love your blog dear! 🥰🥰🥰❤❤❤❤ May I please request for NSFW alphabet for Submissive MC and Ikevamp Shakespeare?

Find yourself someone that devoted lolYou can consider yourself lucky Shakes~

It took some time but I finally finished it :)Thanks for @aromantic-misguide-to-romance and @reneotomegirl for having a look over it ^^

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

If it’s been quite a rough night you won’t even have to ask him. He’ll get salves, a nice steamy cup of tea and everything else you ask of him.He takes very good care of any bruises and handles them with such care that this alone makes you feel like floating on cloud seven.After everything is taken care of he’ll hold you tight, whisper sweet nothings in your ear and either play with your hair or caress your skin.

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

He loves your face, for the simple reason that he loves to see the expressions he can coax out of you. He can’t get enough of seeing you lost in pleasure, in contrast to your innocent smile you wear over the day.

For himself he likes his deft hands. This goes combined with your expressions because, while he’s working you with his hand, he’s also able to look into your eyes.

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

Will is a very possessive lover, so seeing his cum on your face or dribbling out of your mouth after you went down on him gets him hard again almost immediately.

He also loves to see his essence running down your abdomen and just the thought that if this was inside of you- able to create new life sates his possessiveness.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

It’s not a secret that he likes to do light bondage with you but there has been a fantasy in his head.

It involves you tied up, completely helpless and at his mercy while he coaxes those sweet, sweet sounds from you. Teasing and edging you relentlessly just to give you one mindblowing orgasm after another throughout  the whole night.

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He does have some experience, especially from his former life, but even then he focused on the theatre and his plays. It was mainly flirting and flattering but there were some nights he gave in to temptation.

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

He loves to see you lying on your back with both hands tied to the bedpost over your head. This leaves him with many opportunities and his imagination.

But if it’s not just for pleasure but for craved intimacy he likes the missionary position. As much as he likes to be creative he also cherishes those nights where just being with you sates all of his desires.

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Will isn’t one to goof around, but is quite fond of teasing. Through his words he’ll make you giggle from time to time, but mostly uses it for very poetic dirty talk.

But he won’t shy away from cracking a joke or tickling you if you seem down.

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Fitting for a gentleman he’s well groomed and due to personal preference he keeps it very short.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Normally he puts on his playwright mask wherever he goes and doesn’t let anyone actually come near him. This makes it more meaningful when he lets it fall, especially in those moments.

So with Will it’s always very intimate and sensual, even just on an emotional basis.He’d also never leave you unsatisfied or redundant do something you’re not comfortable with but would do anything you ask of him. He’s always weak for you.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon)

Will sees his life as a tragedy so such simple pleasures aren’t normally on his list, although even tragedies have their highlights. But still, it’s very rare to happen.

Until he met you. Since then he feels the urge almost every time after he spent time with you, because you make him feel things he hasn’t felt in ages.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks)

He’s very fond of bondage, from light to moderate.

Will loves to tie you up and give you pleasure until you beg him to stop.

He’s not opposed to be tied up lightly himself, but he prefers if you’re the one tied up.

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do)

Going hand in hand with his preference for bondage, he’s fond of spending those nights in a bed.

He’s also fond of any other place he can tie your hands to, no matter the position. But again, he won’t ever force you.

Will won’t shy away from closets or storage rooms if you both are up for it, as well.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

He gets really turned on whenever he sees you all dressed up and even more so when you decide to show some skin. If you top it off with a nice perfume he gave you, it allows you to see lust darken his eyes.

Other than that, a more innocent turn-on for him is your smile. Just seeing it makes him want to give you all the pleasure you deserve and even more.

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

He won’t hurt you. Not in the sense that he’d deny you any wishes in bed, but even then he has boundaries.

For instance, one thing he’d never do is to degrade you. As a playwright he knows how simple words can hurt. He’d rather praise you in any way he can.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Will loves to go down on you but prefers to do it with his fingers. When he has his head between your legs he can’t see your expressions but loves your wetness on his lips.

When he uses his fingers he can see your expressions and hear those sounds leaving your lips.

Let’s just say he’s torn. But either way, he is a big fan of the sweet torture of edging.

If you want to go down on him he won’t say no, but be warned, because he doesn’t have much control when you tease him too much.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

On a normal basis it’s rather slow and rough but he can go more tender if you ask him to. Will just wants to take his time with you.

Although, if you’ve been spending a lot of time with one of the residents and he’s fueled with jealousy you should prepare for a very rough and fast-paced night.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

He prefers to take his time with you and make it a full body experience instead of just sating the hunger for pleasure.

There are some days where he’ll initiate them, but only if you haven’t seen each other in some time and don’t have much time on your hands.

But if you ask for it or initiate it he’d never say no. He'll only initiate it himself after you’ve been away for a long period of time or if his jealousy got the best of him.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

He’s up for risk, especially for the risk of getting caught.

Pleasuring you in a broom closet while the others are eating in the dining room, wondering where you are, all while you have to stifle your moans.

But he’s not up for hurting you, at least not too much. He’s up for some rather rough scenarios but nothing that would leave scars or long lasting bruises.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

He’s pulled many all-nighters in his life, but writing is quite different to having fun with each other in bed. But he can go for a few rounds, depending on the day, some more or less.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Will is very keen on using toys on you. The moment you told him that there are toys for sexual pleasure from the future he rushed to le Comte and asked him to get him some of those.

He’s a fan of burying one of those so-called vibrators inside of you while he keeps the remote to control the intensity. He loves the feeling when he presses just one button and can watch you trying to contain your mewls of pleasure. It has become his favorite  pastime activity.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He teases a little. But he’s very good at dirty talk which always sounds so poetic and makes you feel like you’re one of his masterpieces.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

He’s quite moderate in volume.

Will groans on a normal basis but the moans turn lighter when he gets closer, just to top it off with heavenly sounding moans when he reaches his high.

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

As much as he likes to take charge and have you at his mercy he also loves it when you take control from time to time, when you show him that he means as much to you as you mean to him.

But when you do, please be gentle, because on some days he just needs someone that uses their power to soothe and make him feel safe and cared for.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words)

He’s a little above average in size and girth.

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Let’s just say there’s a reason his pet is a bunny.

He wants to spend as much time with you as possible, also a lot of it in intimate settings. Because life is evanescent and he hasn’t felt the gentle embrace of a lover in a very long time, he  has so many built-up emotions boiling inside him. He needs someone to quench his thirst.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

It takes some time until he falls asleep and he spends as long as he can awake, staring at your face and thinking about poems and stories through which he can show you how much you mean to him.

There are nights where he doesn’t sleep at all because seeing his muse sleeping in his arms gives him so many ideas that he just doesn’t have the time.

So sometimes it would be good to lull him to sleep before you, otherwise who knows how much sleep he’ll miss.

[fluidityandgiggles]

Dalton Big Bang day 22 - That’s What We’re Here For

Writing Masterpost, AO3 Link

Notes: Logan in therapy is a thing I care about very deeply and he needs a good therapist to help him out. Did you really think I'll write about anyone else in therapy?

"This is Dr. Blake's office," Johnny told Logan as they left the horrid medicinal smell of the office building and entered a room that could best be described as what would happen if a unicorn projectile-vomited.

Well, maybe he was exaggerating a little, but still! The walls were a light lilac color, decorated with fairy lights and childish doodles painted on colorful paper; the wall near the door had several bookcases on it, full of crafting supplies and tabletop games and books Logan didn't care to check out, and next to them was a white desk with two colorful chairs right up against the wall.

There were also a small coffee table and a light blue suede couch opposite the desk and chairs. The couch was covered with plushies and there was a soft blanket folded neatly on the armrest. That was the biggest offender in his opinion. That couch in particular.

On that couch sat a young man, about somewhere in his thirties, sipping a cup of tea and looking straight at Logan. He sported slightly messy light brown hair, in a way that still seemed intentionally so, and frameless glasses that sat high on the bridge of his nose; Logan believed that, had the glasses been different, maybe his green argyle sweater vest and khaki pants combo would look less nerdy and more… well, more like something. Anything, really.

"Dr. Blake," John greeted the man, nodding a bit as a courtesy.

"Senator Wright." His voice was calm, but as his face broke into a smile Logan could hear it change into something else. "And this must be John—"

"Logan."

"Yes, of course. Excuse me." As the therapist stood up, Logan could see him grab a cane he hasn't seen before, that until now was resting on the small table. At a closer glance, he could see the man's leg wrapped in a bandage of some sort. "It's nice to meet you, Logan. I'm Arin Blake, you can call me Arin, or Dr. Arin, or Dr. Blake if you so fancy, I honestly wouldn't mind."

"Yeah…"

"Don't fuck this one up," Johnny threatened Logan as he turned to leave. "Your psychiatrist recommended him to us. Don't make her regret it—"

"Actually, Senator, I'd rather you joined us today."

The man was already on his phone by then, but at least he didn't leave, which meant he listened probably. Still surprised at the suggestion though, which showed on his face. Logan just scowled as he went to sit on the truly offensive couch - as instructed by the doctor - and grabbed a cat plushie to hold.

A brown cat plushie, not too fluffy, with embroidered black eyes and a stupid expression.

Kinda reminds him of Julian. In a way. He's not sure which. 

"In order to understand what we're working on here, I'd like to also hear your side of the story," Blake continued as he sat down in a chair in front of them. Johnny took the other side of the couch. "Can I offer you coffee, tea? Water?"

"Coffee is fine," Logan shrugged.

"To me as well."

"Just remind me for a moment, which medication are you prescribed?"

Logan may have rolled his eyes at that.

"Prozac, and I'm starting to take adderall soon."

"I see…" he hummed to himself as he got up and left the office, leaving Logan and Johnny in uncomfortable silence.

Dr. Blake's cup of tea was in a big blue mug, decorated with a print of tiny cartoon citrus slices. A clear plastic teaspoon stuck a bit over the top, and Logan inspected the little tag on the tea bag. Hibiscus apple cinnamon. Sounds fancy enough.

He just about took his phone out and started playing something when Blake came back, hopping on one leg almost, and put two disposable cups in front of them. Johnny's was a cup of coffee. His, though…

"I asked for coffee."

"And isn't this it?"

He took a sip. "It's… it's fine." It wasn't. There was too much milk, he could tell just by looking it. This was just a confirmation. "Thanks."

"So how about you both tell me why you're here?" The doctor sat back down in his chair, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know if you've heard in the news, but there was a fire at Logan's school—"

"Don't act like that's the reason we're here." Logan waited for his father to get red in the face. He always did. So he just leaned back and counted the seconds. "You brought me here because you think that everything wrong in your life is the result of me simply existing, and your only excuse to actually do it is that the people you dumped me on when you couldn't bother with keeping me around anymore can't look after me now."

"How do you think people would have reacted to my campaign if they knew—"

"Oh, come on, not everything is about your FUCKING JOB!"

"Okay, okay, Logan put that cup down." He did as he was told. After all, he can't fuck this one up, can he? "Now, without exploding on each other, please tell me what's going on."

"Logan's school burned down back in March—"

"February."

"—and he's only been getting worse since. He's always had anger issues, but since then he won't stop acting out. Usually over quite… petty things too."

Blake pushed his glasses further up, if that was even possible. "Petty things like what?"

"Like…" Johnny faltered, fumbling for words. So Logan spoke for him.

"Like that time last week when I asked if I can go visit my friend in California and you said I can't because what if his mom says no."

"Ms. Larson is a very busy woman, Logan. You can't just expect her to let you stay over because you wanted to on a whim."

"Well, I'm not five anymore, I don't think it really matters so much whether or not she can—"

"Let's stop it right there, again, Logan." Dr. Blake's stare made Logan curl up into himself. "Repeat that, now calmly."

Logan swallowed rather hard before talking again.

————

"Tell me a little about your friends," Dr. Blake asked at another meeting, about five weeks later. Logan sat on the chair closest to the desk, hugging the cat plushie again, and focused on drawing some flowers.

Lily of the valley. It was the only flower he could draw well. And isn't that just sad.

"There's Derek," he started, drawing the stems. "He… well, if he put half as much energy into caring for himself as he does for caring for me, I think the world would be a much better place. I think he's trying to compensate for this with girlfriends. It's kind of worrying, to be honest."

"But he cares for you?"

"Yeah. Sometimes a bit too much. It's… it's funny, actually, because… he really needs to work on himself. He can't fix me no matter how much he tries, because he's not some miracle worker and my mental health isn't fixable—"

"But it is treatable. And that's what we're here for."

"Yeah. I just… I find it funny, because he spends so much time trying to fix me that he's completely ignoring himself, and then he goes off and thinks having a girlfriend is a good replacement for self care. But I can't just tell him that… he'll get upset and then say it's not important and I'm just obsessing over it because reasons, and then when I get upset over not understanding he says it's my anger issues and I should be medicated."

"And why do you think he's doing this?"

This was the type of question that Logan quickly learned Blake loved asking. 'Why do you think', 'why do you feel', as if he wasn't the expert here. It was weird, having someone interested in his opinion without calling it anger issues and shutting him up, or telling him it's stupid and all that. He wasn't sure he could get used to it, but he certainly felt like he was, and it scared him.

"I think… I think he's just worried… he has anxiety, and I think he's reflecting it onto others because he doesn't know how to deal with it himself…? I know his parents don't know how to. So neither does he."

"And your other friend?"

Logan put down his pencil and picked a yellow one, throwing Blake a look.

"Julian is… he's cool. I miss him, I haven't seen him in months and he can't come over for vacation because his mother won't let him."

"Is he just cool?"

"I mean… he's one of my best friends, so… he's cool. He's very snarky sometimes… well, most of the time… and we talked about it a while ago, about why he's like this, and it was before revising my diagnosis, and he didn't really understand that I was insulting him back as a fight or flight response and he thought I was enjoying it… umm…"

Blake just pushed a mug closer to Logan. It was a clear mug, full of a bright red liquid. The hibiscus apple cinnamon tea. He made it for Logan today, as an attempt to get him to like something with no caffeine. Apparently coffee was bad for adderall. He assumed it'll be okay though.

"We're working on it now. And he needs physical therapy, so it's not like we really can do it in person, but we call each other every day and stuff…"

"You should visit him, then," the doctor suggested, making Logan snort. 

"I don't think he wants me around… his boyfriend is there to keep him company. It's fine. Well… not his boyfriend. I'm not sure what they are. It's complicated, I think. Jules says they're not dating but they sure have a—"

"Dearie, are you jealous?"

He just laughed again. "Of Julian? Nope. Not in a million years. Of Sebastian? I… I don't actually know. I mean, he and Julian aren't together even if sometimes it feels like it, and Jules did say I'm his best friend and stuff, but on the other hand he makes him happy, and…"

"And being jealous is okay, so long as you put it into a healthy outlet and not into anger. Talk to Julian about it. See what he thinks and says."

"But… we talked about it… kind of… he said he's in love with me, but it wasn't at a very ideal situation, and… we agreed to not talk about it. Just… let ourselves work through it, figure out what we really feel… what he really feels… and then we'll see where we go from there."

"That's good. But ask him for clarification, okay? Don't make your head spin like this."

Logan just nodded along, grabbing a blue pencil to shade in the flowers themselves.

"So I think I'm going to visit Julian soon," he continues. "I'll ask Derek to join me too… maybe I can buy him a gift…"

"That's a nice idea. What does he like?"

"He likes… cats, and candy… maybe I can get him new sunglasses. I think he'll like sunglasses. Or coffee…"

"Is coffee a gift?"

"Expensive coffee, maybe."

The doctor just laughed. "How about starting small… what about flowers?"

"...I can get him flowers…"

"That you can. I fear we're running out of time, though." Logan looked up from his drawing, a bit disappointed. "We can keep talking about this next week too, okay?"

"Okay… sorry for wasting time like this."

"You've wasted no time, dearie. It's all good. Just remind your father to write me a check, yeah?"

————

Logan crashed on the blue suede couch and covered himself all the way up over his head the second he made it to Dr. Blake's office that day. Sure, he was still wearing his huge coat — New York was especially snowy this winter, like, much more than usual — but he didn't really want to show his face to the world, and the receptionist who asked him to wait earlier was on the receiving end of his panic attack. It wasn't fair to the others, and it just… it wasn't…

"Do you want me to make you tea, dearie?" Blake asked him, rubbing his back. He sounded worried.

Logan just nodded and whimpered.

"Okay… try to breathe while I'm gone, okay? In for four, hold for four, out for four. Think you can do that?"

He nodded again.

"I'll be right back."

As Logan waited for Blake to come back, he started crying again. Winter vacation wasn't treating him too well, between fighting with Julian back at school right before coming home and getting yelled at by his father for flirting with the son of an associate (well, the guy was pretty cute, and certainly down to fuck) and probably the cherry on top, he was late. It wasn't as bad as the others, but he was late to this appointment, and he had so much to talk about, and…

"Logan, can you hear me?" Blake asked after what felt like forever, holding his hand. Logan whimpered again in response. "Come on, let's breathe together. I'll count."

He didn't even feel how long it took before he was sitting up, a second, weighted blanket on his shoulder, drinking his tea. Dr. Blake was still there, helping wipe his cheeks with a tissue as Logan tried to calm down.

"...Julian and I had a fight."

"Okay… what was it about?"

"I… I tried talking to him again, about… about us, and our relationship, and where does our friendship go, and he screamed at me that he's tired of talking about it and that I need to stop bringing it up, that he's with Sebastian and that's it, and then I yelled back and I… I may have slapped him, but…"

"That's bad, dearie. You know it's bad."

"I know! And I hate myself, I hate myself so much for doing this! He doesn't deserve a friend like me, I'm… I'm possessive and an asshole, and he just…"

"Okay, here's where you're wrong," the doctor told him, taking one of his hands. "You're wonderful, Logan. You're a great friend, and Julian didn't tell you he hates you. He didn't say you're terrible."

"But he implied it."

"He did not. It was an intrusive thought. What did Julian say, exactly?"

"...he… he said it's, he said that he's tired of talking about it, and that… that he already has a boyfriend, so I can't... " He hiccuped.

"Exactly… nothing about you as a friend. Open your phone and call him for me, okay? I want you to talk to him, and I want to see you do it."

Logan just nodded, a bit hesitant. He fumbled with his phone, trying to avoid looking at Julian's number, but ultimately he just… did.

Julian answered at the third ring.

"Hey, Lo."

"Hey…" he sniffled a bit. "I just… I need clarification on… on something." He looked at Blake for approval, wiping his eyes with a finger. Blake just nodded.

"Sure, what's up…?"

"Just… when we… had the fight. And you screamed at me and I screamed back, and…" Logan took a second. "Jules, do you hate me?"

"...are you high right now? Seriously. Are you?"

"No… I'm in… never mind."

"Okay... Lolo, I can't hate you. You're my best friend, you know how much I love you, but sometimes I can get mad or frustrated. Just like you do." He could hear the disappointment in Julian's voice almost. "I'm with Sebastian now. I'm happy with him. I love you, I really do, but you constantly asking me if I'm sure I'm happy and if we can give it a chance is getting tiring. I'm sorry, but it's getting really difficult."

"I… I'm sorry… Jules, I—"

"I accept your apology. I'm not mad at you, you don't have to get so anxious about this. You're starting to act like Derek."

"I'm still sorry…" he could finally take a breath, looking at his therapist for approval again. "That's… that's all I… I'm just in therapy, and…"

"Okay… go back to therapy. Don't waste time talking to me. I love you."

"Yeah… me too."

Logan hung up after that and turned to sip his tea, which has now cooled down.

And then the doctor spoke. "I'm proud of you. You don't need to apologize so much, you're doing just fine, but you did great. I'm so proud."

"Thanks." Logan forced a smile.

Maybe… maybe things would be okay, at the end of it all. He sure hoped so.

————

"I'm going to ask Julian out," Logan announced one day, two years into seeing Blake, just waltzing into the office. He may have caught his doctor by surprise, but as he sat down and grabbed his cat plushie, Blake straightened back up and cleared his throat.

"Doesn't he have a boyfriend, though?"

"Not anymore! And he said he doesn't want a rebound but then we talked about it and—"

"Okay, slow down. Let's start from the top. Julian broke up with his boyfriend?"

Logan nodded, then started rambling — "apparently they grew apart, at least it's what he told me, but I'm kinda pretty sure Sebastian cheated on him with Blaine? Blaine is my ex, he's kinda… meh. But yeah. So they broke up, like, three weeks ago, and Jules said he doesn't want a rebound so fast after the relationship, but I can build up to it! I can… I can start talking to him about it, right?" — all while Dr. Blake listened, nodding along to what he was saying.

"...okay… we can build up to that, then. I can help you do it if you're nervous about it."

"I'm really nervous about this…"

"Okay, okay, I can help. But first, how was your week? I made you tea."

"I saw that, thank you, but…" his stomach fell. "My week was so boring… college is boring. I have an exam in two weeks that I'm not sure I'm ready for, Alex had a mental breakdown the other day that I had to help with because nobody else was around, my dad visited…"

"And how is your dad?" Logan rolled his eyes at this question. "No, no no no. You answer me. How is your dad?"

"He still thinks I'm gay for the rebellion part of it. I mean, he'll get over it, I have faith in Michelle to make him change his mind, but… he and Michelle visited, and it was really nice. I missed both of them so much. But the second he saw my friends again he started talking shit, because Drew's voice dropped a lot since the last time they met and he started making transphobic remarks and it was… it was bad. It was so bad."

"Did you help Drew out?"

"Yeah… and then my dad got mad at me and we went into a screaming match. But it's okay, Michelle… did her best to get us to talk. I think he understands it now… not the gay thing, but… the transgender thing."

"That's good…"

Logan opened his phone right before the end of the session, as Blake was reminding him to remind his father to pay and that next week they'll talk in video chat, same day same hour. He nodded along, looking through to his messages to Julian — there —  and getting up and out.

Lolo: I know you said you don't want to get back at it this early, but when you're ready, wanna go on a proper date…?

Lolo: also, can we talk about something? I have an exam soon and I'm anxious as shit

He kept staring at it as he went downstairs and to his car, watching the text on the screen dance with a pain in his chest.

J is typing...

[7wanderingpaws]

Writing quiz tag

Thank you so much @jj-nyoung for tagging me ^^

Rules: complete the quiz and tag 5 people

Oki! Here I go!

1. What is your ideal setting for focusing on your writing?

I don’t necessarily have an ideal setting, preferably I want to be alone because I tend to talk without me realizing it (to try how dialogues sound or I’m thinking out loud haha) and that can scare people but either late nights or early mornings work for me the best!

2. What is your favorite genre to write?

Fluff, angst and mystery! I also want to challenge mature content... 😅😳

3. Do you prefer to write on paper or digitally?

Digitally. But years ago I had notebooks full of stories. And I literally mean countless notebooks and any free space on my notes for school would be filled with my writings lol. I couldn’t write on a pc before, was too impersonal (sweet times)

4. It’s the middle of the night and you suddenly wake up with an idea. What do you do?

I had couple of times when I wrote it down in my notes app but otherwise I tell myself I would write it down later and ofc never remember it in the morning

5. Who is your favorite person to write about?

Honestly anyone who intrigues me but right now it’s Exo (mainly baekhyun)

6. Do you like making your own characters or do you usually write about real people?

Both. Writing can be difficult without experience, so I put tiny aspects of people I know into various characters but making up a person I have yet to meet is very exciting!

7. Have you ever written a book or a story with more than 15 chapters (or 100k words)?

Yes I have!

8. How often do you get ideas?

Every. Single. Day. Nonstop.

9. Do you really get an idea that you really like but, just can’t seem to finish?

Sigh. Yes I do, I have a story now that is yet to be uploaded on this blog, but I’m reluctant cause the ending doesn’t want to piece together in my brain and it’s devastating

10. What is your least favorite plot?

For me personally stories that have daddy kink, or brutality aren’t necessarily my cup of tea (but if the writing is good I read with one eye open) ^^

Erm this is a bit embarrassing but I don’t really have writer friends here... so I will tag people I know and blogs that I really love to read! Please forgive me if I bothered you with the tag! 🙏

I tag: @junilistic @exoat2am @mangobaek @kyoongaroo @baekingpancakes sorry again if you were tagged already! And No pressure with the tag game ☺️