#like… there’s someone out there who probably thinks I’m a saint and would never tell a lie to a single soul

[smoreal]

Hm. Having said that though, I love Sonic regardless of how fucked they characterize him. like annoying, cringe, semi-asshole hehehe yeah. HIM. I like it :)

[n30n-l1ghts]

Okay, I need to rant. Fuck AI. And I mean seriously. FUCK. A.I. I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but more people need to be talking about this, and there’s no point in me saying that if I’m not willing to talk about it too. AI has done nothing but ruin our communities and defile the art that millions of hands have spent millions of hours creating. Fanfiction is a work of passion. Drawing is a work of passion. Voice acting IS A WORK OF PASSION. AI has no passion. It takes the soul out of the things we love and cherish. It steals what we as a collective community have lovingly crafted, and it shatters it to a thousand pieces, spits on it, curses its family, and throws it in a flaming dumpster to be eaten by rats. It is despicable and disgusting.

I won't lie, or pretend I’m a perfect saint. I myself was a user of Character AI until somewhat recently. And as ashamed as I am to admit that, I feel it’s necessary to own up to my own faults. But after seeing the damage it causes, I can’t in good conscience even consider touching that site. Many of us write because it is our passion. Many of us because it is our job. And many of us because it is our *friend*. AI steals the writing of your favorite creators WITHOUT PERMISSION and mashes it together like Frankenstein’s fucked up monster to create storylines that aren’t even fucking coherent. Not only that, but Character AI uses whatever you respond to it with to teach itself as well, which means that the company has access to whatever you chat about, and free reign to do whatever they want with it. They also make absurd amounts of money from it, which in comparison, fanfiction writers, who spend countless hours writing stories for our favorite characters, more often than not charge nothing. And the ones who do charge, tend to have reasonable, if not highly lenient prices for their labor.

Which leads me into another side rant. SUPPORT WRITERS THAT YOU LIKE. It’s really not that hard, it takes two fucking seconds of your time and it makes someone's day. Reblog. Share with your friends. Like. Comment. Just let the writer know that you saw it, and that you liked it. The amount of fanfic writers I have seen get completely discouraged from writing because of lack of engagement is astounding. I’ve seen several posts on Tumblr or Twitter or Bluesky talking about creators that were incredibly popular but never knew it due to lack of engagement is appalling. If you can rant about your love for their work on Discord, you can rant about your love for their work in the comments. Just fucking copy paste it. Tell them how much you love it. Show them support. Especially the ones that don’t charge. Because for those of us that don’t, our only payment, is your feedback. Even constructive criticism is greatly appreciated by damn near every writer I can think of. Because even that shows that you read it, absorbed it, and thought about it enough to have something to actually say about it.

The same thing goes for artists and voice actors. You see a drawing or animation you enjoy? Comment. Like. Share. You see a character in an anime or a game and you love their voice? Go check out their voice actor, maybe they do some other cool stuff, and you might just discover your new favorite series or streamer. A perfect example is Alejandro Saab. I became a fan of his through his astounding performance in several series dear to me, and lo and behold, he’s also a streamer I enjoy. Same story with Aleks Le, or Ray Chase. Yuri Lowenthal, Lizzie Freeman, Landon Mcdonald, Zeno Robinson, the list goes on. But seriously, it’s not that much effort to just show a little love to the creators you enjoy. The people who breathe life into the series’ that we all hold dear. AI does not breathe that life. Using AI, and supporting those companies, will destroy those pillars of our community. And if that happens, the AI would crumble too, it would have no new information to use. SO really, what’s the benefit? I’ll tell you. There is none.

Stop using AI. All it does is bring harm and slowly kill our community. It’s disgusting, appalling, and downright fucking egregious.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[malum-forev]

jealousy, turning saints into the sea

*

Summary: After Bucky made you jealous with a new recruit, you decide he should get a taste of his own medicine.

Pairing: Bucky x Agent!reader

Part 1: jealousy, jealousy

“Your dark, angry, grr, Winter Soldier persona isn’t hitting as hard anymore.” Sam smiled as he sat down at the bar next to Bucky.

“Everything that’s happening is your fault.” Bucky hissed, not taking his eyes off of you. You were only a few feet away but the way you were actively ignoring him made Bucky feel thousands of miles away.

“Hey, you were the one who agreed.” Sam held his hands up defensively.

It started as a joke and Bucky never intended for it to become a big deal, or maybe subconsciously he did want it to become a problem. That’s the only explanation as to why he accepted his friend’s bet. 

It all started when Sam suggested Bucky’s love language is possessiveness.

“I am not.” Bucky grumbled, forcing his eyes to concentrate on the man in front of him instead of you. You were finishing up a team meeting with some ex-SHIELD agents. But proving his point about not being overprotective was becoming more and more difficult. His enhanced hearing was playing a twisted game, making Bucky clench his fists as he heard the agents talk about how you looked in your tactical suit. 

“So I assume you waiting for your girlfriend outside the conference room has nothing to do with the fact you want to metaphorically pee on her.” Sam’s smile only made Bucky’s scowl deepen. 

Sam’s words combined with the agents depraved (but accurate) description of your looks were making Bucky’s tolerance level drop down to a zero. His heartbeat rose and he felt a cold sweat start to form. Is this what a panic attack feels like? He asked himself. 

“The things I’d do to her, starting by bending her over the desk and-“ One of the agents said. That was it, he’d had enough. 

Bucky slammed his open palm on the glass barrier separating him from you. The agents jumped in their seats as they saw the Winter Soldier all but break the wall. 

“I’ll be done in a few minutes.” Your sweet voice calmed his racing heart, Bucky nodded with a tight-lipped smile. 

Sam clutched his stomach as his booming laughter took over the hallway. “You couldn’t even wait for her to get out of the room! You are totally marking your territory.”

“I’m not a dog!” Bucky rolled his eyes. 

“Then what’s the problem? What’s making your cyborg brain crash?” Sam wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

Bucky ran his palm against his face and considered the pros and cons of telling Sam the truth. Pro: he would get it off his chest and it would probably make him feel better. Con: Sam would know.

“The problem is,” Bucky sighed, looking back at you. “She never gets jealous. It’s physically impossible for her to care, and it’s been driving me insane! I consider myself a good-looking guy, some women have even called me handsome! And she just carries on like it doesn’t matter. I feel like she doesn’t want me.”

Sam crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re telling me you want her to be jealous?”

“Maybe I do, sometimes.” Bucky shrugged his shoulders. “It’s just, I think about her morning, evening, and night so whenever I see someone who wants to swoop in and woo her- it makes me violent. But whenever some woman hits on me, she thinks it’s cute.”

“First of all, you need to get that checked. Go to therapy about it or something.” Sam’s reply made Bucky regret ever telling him. “And second of all, of course she gets jealous. She probably just doesn’t tell you.”

Bucky rolled his eyes again. “I’m telling you, it’s impossible to make her jealous.”

“Wanna bet?” Sam’s Cheshire smile should have been a big enough red flag. 

So that’s where Bucky found himself, paying the debt for his stupid bet with Sam. He’d succeeded, Bucky made you jealous but at what cost. You’d invited the team out for drinks after a mission and dragged Bucky along just to see him wither. 

You threw your head back with laughter and patted the agent’s chest with your hand.

“No one is that funny.” Bucky grumbled. 

“Is this foreplay for you guys?” Sam wrinkled his face. 

“Of course not,” Bucky drowned the whiskey in his cup. “she’s making me pay for the stupid thing with the recruit.”

“Glad to know my plan worked.” Sam nudged the brunet. “See, this is why you should start listening to me when we’re out on the field.”

“Yeah well your genius plan is biting me in the ass.” 

The way the agent hungrily looked at you made Bucky’s jaw twitch. You were doing this on purpose, and he knew the only thing he could do was sit back and receive his punishment.  

His eyes still sternly glued on you, your every move. Bucky watched as you brought your hand behind your neck and tossed your hair to one side; exposing the side of your neck, a place he knew you loved being kissed. Next, you brought your hand to twirl around the necklace, the long metal catching the agent’s eyes. The eyes that were now traveling to your cleavage. His hungry eyes darted around, trying to catch a glimpse at whatever he could. 

Bucky knew that look, the look of someone trying to memorize everything their seeing so they can replicate it a few hours later when they’re alone in the shower.

But what sent him over the edge was the way the agent pulled you closer. He snaked his arm behind you, pulling your waist into him. Bucky couldn’t take it anymore, he saw red and was looking for blood. 

Bucky slipped off his leather jacket but not before taking the silencer from the breast pocket. 

“I don’t condone violence.” Sam warned. 

“You fight, knock down and kill people with metal wings.” Bucky said with a harsh tone as he screwed the silencer onto the gun hidden in his back.

Sam placed one of his hands on Bucky’s chest and extended the other one. “Give it to me.”

“You ruin everything.” Bucky groaned, placing the gun in Sam’s hand. 

“That’s more like it.” He smiled. 

“You never said anything about not being able to use my God-given skills.” Bucky said as he pushed up the sleeves on his Henley.   

“God didn’t give you that vibranium arm!” Sam yelled as Bucky pushed past everyone in the small bar.

Within a couple of seconds, Bucky had walked all the way over to the other side of the bar, pushed the agent up the wall and took his shirt in his left arm, the mechanical whir of the vibranium showed the agent just how strong he was. Bucky may no longer have the red star on his shoulder but it was tattooed in his soul, and he wasn’t above showing someone what that meant. 

“You will never again speak to her, touch her, or look at her.” Bucky’s deep voice made the young agent’s eyes widen. “Is that clear?”

The man in his grip nodded furiously. Bucky brought him up a few feet from the floor only to drop him down. Slamming the agent’s body against the wood floors. 

Bucky walked past the lump of bones on the floor. “SHEILD is making its agents weak.”

“You ready to go home, big guy?” You couldn’t contain your smile. 

Bucky left some crumpled bills on the table and took your hand in his, intertwining your fingers. “I’ve been dying for you to say that.” 

————-

Author's Note: hi hiiii! I'm so glad you guys liked pt. 1! Sooo here's Bucky's version! Hope you guys like it! As always pls like, reblog and comment if you do! <3

And don’t forget to ask a prompt for my 1k bingo game! 💖

tagged: @kpopgirlbtssvt @shara-ne @namelesssaviour

*Any gifs posted are not my own and I give the artist full credit.

[thequeenofneverland1]

Draco Malfoy///Meant to be

Request by @characterxreaderimagine: imagine being a potter and Draco having a huge crush on you but denies it.. and eventually gets jealous when he here's Fred Weasley is going to ask you out which lead him to confess his feelings for you but.. plot twist is that your brother finds out and wanted to break the two of you up but eventually failed to do so and just warned Draco never to hurt his sister.. a few years later he got an invitation to a wedding 💀

Since a baby, Harry could always remember James telling him to look after you and to protect you at any cost.

Ever since the death of them, Harry promised to himself that you would be his first priority. and that he was going to protect you at any cost.

At first it annoyed you because his overprotectiveness also included scaring all of the guys away.

but little does Harry know that a certain guy that goes by his name Draco has a crush on his sister even though he denies it every time he gets asked.

“So what you're trying to tell us is that you don't fantasize about Y/n, not even a little bit?” Pansy raised an eyebrow clearly not believing him.

Draco laughs as he shakes his head. "Of course not, who does?"

“Everyone, I mean who doesn't? She's really gorgeous, right Pansy?” Blaise replied, smirking as she nodded with a smirk too.

Draco stops laughing and he glares at his friends. “Everyone does? Does it include you guys too?”

Gregory chuckles, "You shouldn't care since you said that you don't fantasize about her.”

Draco rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. "So what?, it’s not like Saint Potter is going to let one of you date his sister.”

Pansy shrugs her shoulders. "I don’t know but I heard Fred is going to ask her out and probably Harry might let him since they are friends.”

“What carrot head is going to ask her out?” Draco growls “Over my dead body that I’m going to let that happen, Y/n is my future wife and the mother of my kids.”

"But you said that you didn-."

“Blaise shut up, I know what I said.” Draco interrupts and he looks over at Gregory and Pansy “don’t think about saying it.”

Pansy pulls her hands up, " I wasn't planning to.”

"but you did say it.” Gregory whispers hoping that Draco didn’t hear since Pansy and Blaise started laughing.

"What are you two laughing about?" Draco asked madly, causing Blaise and Pansy to stop laughing and to come up with something to answer him with.

“A Joke that someone told us I would tell you but I forgot about it after the scare you gave us.” Pansy replies

Draco chuckles, "a bunch of scary cats that I have as friends getting scared over anything.”

"says the one that's scared to ask Y/n out just because he's scared of her brother.” Gregory mumbles quietly but this time Draco heard him

He pushes Gregory causing him to fall down on the ground “I’m not scared of him or anything and you know it really well Gregory.”

“Then prove it by asking her out if you don’t then you are:”

“Of course!!! I am going to do it because I love her and don’t want her to be with carrot head, not because you're asking me to do it.”

“It’s going to be amazing to watch. Hopefully Draco doesn't have his ass beaten.” Blaise said as they watch him leave

“Freddie, are you sure that you want to ask Y/n out? Are you not afraid of Harry? And what he's gonna do?” Ron asked

He smiles, “He won't dare to hurt me because you're his best friend, and I know that you would not permit him to do so if that were to occur.”

“That’s the thing, I'm his best friend but Y/n is his sister. What kind brother do you think Harry is?” Ron looked at his brother hoping that he remembers how overprotective Harry is.

“Yeah that you’re right I just like Y/n really much and didn’t think about that.”

Ron chuckles, “I comprehend you have her in your mind and heart that you almost forgot that you were choosing death over living.”

Ron and Fred started laughing with one another, but they stopped when they saw you and Draco leave together.

Ron looked at his brother, who was frowning, and asked, “Are you all right?” Fred, on the other hand, took no notice of Ron, choosing instead to follow behind Draco and you.

Draco and you went to the courtyard since he told you that he wanted to talk to you in private

“So what is it!?” You asked

Fidgeting with his hands and avoiding your gaze, he seemed to be nervous. Finally, he uttered, “Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?”

His sudden boldness made you feel taken aback and you couldn't help but smile. "Of course!!!”

A smile spread across Draco's face, but it soon faded when he saw Fred walking towards him and you. “It's carrot head.”

You looked around to see what had caught his attention and saw Fred advancing with a mischievous smirk on his face. You couldn't resist laughing at the sight. Fred was well-known for his pranks and jokes, and it was obvious that he had a plan.

"Hey, guys.” Fred winked at you. “What are you guys talking about?”

Draco intervened before you could respond. “I asked Y/n to be my girlfriend and she agreed.” Draco's demeanor became slightly defensive, causing you to look at him with shock.

Fred raised an eyebrow in anger, but quickly recovered. "Harry will know about this.”

You gazed at Draco with a puzzled look. “What motivated you to tell him that? Mostly it was a lie.”

Draco's expression was serious as he grasped your hands to kiss them. "I have a fondness for you and I don't wish to lose you to carrot head."

“But I don’t like him.” You told him.

“But he likes you.” He tells you back “so do you like somebody?”

"I have feelings for you too, Draco.” He was filled with excitement after hearing your confession.

You spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing, with him and by the time you said goodbye. Harry waited for you in the common with his arms crossed and an angry expression.

“Is what Fred told me about Draco and you dating accurate?”Harry asked with anger

“So what if it is?” You replied

“I forbid you from seeing him and I want you to break up with him.” Harry said before leaving

Dating Draco Malfoy, of all people, was not a good idea for him. He prohibited you from seeing Draco again, but you couldn't stand to think about hurting him. Draco and you are still keeping your relationship secret.

Unfortunately, Harry did find out and confronted you both. He tried a lot of different ways to end things, but he finally gave up when he saw how happy you were with Draco. He warned him not to hurt you because it would make him regret it.

Harry got an invitation to a wedding shortly afterwards. Upon opening it, he came to the realization that it was from his now-brother-in-law, who was inviting him to the wedding. Harry was grateful that they had found a way to come together as a family even after a bumpy start and couldn't help but smile. As he stood at the dancing floor and watched you have your wedding dance with Draco.

[strniohoeee]

Undefiled

Pairing: Matt Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Y/N is tired of being the butt of every joke with her friends for being a “saint”, so she goes to Matt for help🪷

Warnings⚠️: It’s just cute as shit

This was for my request asking for the reader to ask Matt to be her first kiss🥹

Song for the imagine: Sparks- Coldplay

I knew I wasn’t experienced much, but that never made me feel any type of way. It was completely normal….everyone experiences these milestones at different times in their lives

I never thought twice about it, not till I made some friends who already had crazy sexual experiences. I always sat there listening, but never saying a word. At first this went unnoticed

But the more they spoke about, and the more I grew quiet they would start to give me certain glances. Glances that kind of made me feel left out, and like a fool.

My friends had been spending the night at my house like most girls our age did. And with these sleepovers came talks of boys, and talks of boys meant stories of their interactions. Interactions I’ve never had, therefore I would never have anything to say

“How come you never have anything to say?” One of my friends asked bringing me back to reality

“Hmm?” I said peeling my eyes away from the floor to look at her

“Everytime we talk about our experiences with guys you just go mute” she said

“Oh…well I've never had any of those crazy experiences, so I just listen in” I told her in all honesty

“Oh well that’s okay” she said shrugging her shoulders, which put me at ease

“I’m sure you’ve at least had your first kiss. Tell us about that” my other friend said

“I uh actually never kissed a boy before” I said avoiding eye contact

“Oh…” she responded looking around at everyone else

“Held hands?”

I shook my head no

“Hugged?”

I shook my head no again

“Damn girl nothing?” She had asked me

“Nothing…” I said shrugging my shoulders

“She’s a fucking saint, she has virgin practically written all over her” one of my other friends said

“Hey! That’s not nice” the other one said

“I mean it’s the truth….she obsesses over guys basically drooling over them, but can’t even strike up a conversation with them, why would you think she’d ever kissed someone” she responded laughing

“Ehhh that is true” the other girl said laughing with her

“She’ll probably stay shy and inexperienced forever” she said

“Could you not” I said with a straight face

“I’ll stop when you find a guy, and finally kiss him” she said rolling her eyes

That whole interaction really hurt me, and made me feel like shit. I was just waiting for the right guy to come alone for me to kiss. There was nothing wrong with that, but the whole interaction with them constantly played in my head. I had distanced myself from them as I really didn’t want to be their punching bag for “innocent virgin” jokes.

I started to hang out with my other friends Chris, Matt and Nick because they never brought up things like that, and made me feel comfortable.

Today the triplets had asked me to come over and hangout with them. I agreed, and we were all chilling in Nick's room when the interaction with my “friends” started to play in my head. I was looking at the three of them

I mean they are good candidates….well not Nick because he’s gay, mmm Chris maybe but he’s a player and that’s too much for me, so I finally settled on Matt.

He was so cute, shy, in tune with his emotions, nice and just overall everything I liked in a guy. I’d say I had a bit of a crush on him. I mean what’s not to like??

I was deep in thought about how I would approach the situation, or even if I ever would.

“Hey you okay?” Chris asked looking at me, and thus made me snap out of thought

“Yeah sorry I was just thinking” I said smiling at him

“Thinking what?” Nick asked

“Thoughts” I said laughing

“Okayyy weirdo” Nick said laughing

I laughed with them, and just continued to think about what I wanted to do. I mean I wanted to talk with Matt, but I was going back and forth in my head, and I started to get anxious because of this

“Hey Matt, is there any way I could chat about something with you?” I just randomly said. My mouth was moving faster than my brain was

“Yeah sure” he said, getting up to head out the room so we could chat. We had stepped outside right outside of Nick's bedroom

As we stepped outside I closed the door, starting to get even more anxious

“Are you alright?” He asked once I finally stood next to him

“Um yes I’m okay, but something been on my mind” I told him

“Well I’m like the therapist of the group, so lay it on me” he said laughing

“This is super personal, and I’m not sure if you’ll get uncomfortable” I said wincing at my own words

“I would never! Go on” he responded nodding his head at me to continue

“Well um…..so basically I have these friends who are very experienced as far as sexual intimacy, and they’ve been making me feel some type of way” I told him, but before I could finish he cut me off

“Screw them who gives a shit. Virginity is a fucked up social construct” he told me

“No I know, but umm they just always call me a saint and innocent because I’ve never kissed a guy. I mean I’ve never even held a guys hand, or hugged one in a romantic way” I said back to him

“Ohhh I see” he said looking a bit confused

“I was wondering if you’d be willing to maybe be my first kiss?” I asked him. Cringing internally at home embarrassed I felt

“You want me to be your first kiss? I mean yes I’ll do it, but me?” He asked puzzled

“Yes you! I feel like you’re the only person that I’d enjoy kissing plus I know you” I told him blushing a little bit

“Oh uhh thanks” he said also blushing

“Okay sooo teach me how to kiss” I said jumping straight into it

“Well first come closer” he said, and to this I walked directly in front of him waiting for further instructions

“And then uhh…you could lick your lips, but you’re wearing chapstick so you’re good” he said as he licked his own lips a little bit

“I’ll take the lead” he said

“Well duh Matt I’ve never done this” I said laughing at him

“Right….sorry” he said shaking his head

He looked into my eyes, and then down at my lips. My heart was racing so fast I could hear it in my ear drums, and I’m sure he could hear it too.

He placed his hand on my cheek, and slowly leaned in tilting his head to the right a little bit, shutting his eyes. So I such my eyes as well and leaned in slightly

Matt pressed his lips against mine, and for a moment I just stood with no movement, until finally my brain turned on.

I kissed him back, and then we separated for a second and went back to kiss again.

When we pulled away my face was blushed, my pupils were dilated, and I’m sure my heart was about to burst out of my chest.

“How was that?” He asked looking into my eyes

“That was perfect” I said smiling at him

“Want one more for good measure?” He asked with a sly smile

“How could I resist” I said rolling my eyes in a playful way

So he went back and kissed me a few more times. That was until Chris banged on the glass of the window, and when we looked over his jaw was dropped

“OH MY FUCKING GOD” he screamed laughing like a schoolgirl and running to get Nick

“This kid” Matt said laughing as we walked back into the house.

The End

Whoever requested this I HOPE YOU LIKEEEE, and now back to writing. I got 9 more stories to go😁🤭

-J💅🏽

[jazzythursday]

Omg what’s sun summoner Jesper!?! 😱

Hi! I’m so glad you asked!

Sun summoner Jesper is a wip I started on a whim a while back. It follows show canon for sab but with Jesper in Alina’s place and Wylan in Mal’s (but with a lot of mixing and matching, i.e., Wylan is a cartographer and Jesper is a soldier, etc.) what I have so far is mostly based on the first 15 minutes of s1e1. Kaz and Inej also make appearances as Jesper’s friends and fellow soldiers (though I have Kaz as more of a strategist and assistant to Per Haskell, who in this is the lieutenant)

I want to tackle at least one other au before I dive into this one (probably my Rapunzel au) because if never written a long plot-driven fic, but I do definitely want to return to it eventually. There’s a lot still up in the air story-wise—I don’t know how Nina and Matthias will play into it, who the Darkling is, or if I’m going to use other characters to swap roles with the crows. I do know that it will span, at the very least, the plot of season 1 and probably a lot of season 2… and also that Kuwei is going to be Zoya.

You didn’t ask for a snippet, but I can’t really help myself, so here’s a decent chunk that takes place towards the beginning of chapter 1:

“Bit quick on the draw there,” Kaz chastens, as Jesper finishes re-loading the barrel of his rifle and pointing it at the target once more. He fires off a quick shot, one that lands directly between the eyes of the target dummie’s head. He follows it up with a second hit to the same spot, just to prove a point. Jesper cocks his head to the side, raises an eyebrow to match Kaz’s own arch look.

“You were saying?”

Unimpressed as ever, Kaz returns to his tent. That he expects Jesper to follow is just a given, one that he doesn’t bother with the directive for. He sits at his desk—a makeshift bureau of used crates and an old door strapped to the top—he finishes counting off his share of their earnings and passes the rest to Jesper.

“Don’t get cocky,” he says, continuing their conversation from before, “and don’t”—he points a judgemental, solitary finger at Jesper—“get fancy. I don’t need the other soldiers getting jealous enough to want to take you down a peg or two because of flash. Someone will get the bright idea to tell Haskell.”

“Aw, you think they’re jealous?” Jesper bats his eyes and pretends to swoon. “Of little ol’ me? Re-ally? Who? Tell me. Tell-me-tell-me-tell-me—”

“Bolinger looked like he’d rather use you for target practice more than that dummy after today.”

“Aw Kaz, are you worried? I never knew you cared.”

Kaz looks at him. If looks could kill, Jesper thinks, knowing Kaz Brekker would have killed him a thousand times over by now.

“Not just Bolinger. Keeg looked about ready to stage a mutiny.”

“Keeg’s a sore loser, that’s nothing new. It isn’t my fault he bet on the poor shot.”

“Would you just stop for—Hello Inej.”

Jesper blinks. “What?”

“Kaz is right,” says Inej, standing right next to them, and Jesper jumps.

“Fucking Saints!” he pants, hand over his chest to feel his racing heartbeat. “Warn the guy with the gun, people!” He lifts up his rifle and shakes it a bit for effect. “Gun, weapon”—he gestures to the rifle, then points to himself—“me, Jesper. What is confusing here?”

Kaz rolls his eyes and Inej smiles fondly at them both.

“What news?” Kaz asks her, their standard greeting.

“Nothing you don’t already know. Bolliger is whinging about Jes thrashing him in the match.”

Jesper can just feel Kaz’s eyes on him. There goes another life. “What else?” he asks, instead of giving Kaz the satisfaction of looking back.

“That’s everything. Oh”—her eyes widen—“and they just brought in a new caravan. Cartographers, from what I’ve heard. They're combining them with our unit to go south.”

Jasper starts walking straight out of the tent. He slings his rifle over his shoulder, tucking the prize winnings away, deep into his pocket. He doesn’t give his friends an explanation—he doesn’t have time to—he’s already striding across camp. Moving purposefully towards where he knows any new caravans full of cartographers would have been parked.

Cartographers, Jesper thinks, trying and failing to tamp down on the fluttery hope rising within him. Cartographers could mean—

“Jes!”

Jesper stops dead in his tracks. There's a swarm of butterflies made up of half hope and half fear flapping up his spine. He turns, and is met with familiar wild auburn curls and wide, crystalline blue eyes.

Jesper might not be special, but right now, he’s feeling pretty fucking lucky.

“Wylan!”

They run—literally run—to meet each other's outstretched arms, crashing and holding onto each other tightly.

“Wy,” Jesper whispers. He closes his eyes and rests his head on top of Wylan’s, soft curls pillowing his cheek. Wylan melts into him, head buried in Jesper’s large coat, hugging him even tighter.

Wylan looks up, but doesn’t try to put any further space between them in the slightest. He grins. “Jesper.”

It’s a good look on him, Jesper thinks. Smiling. It makes the freckles dotted all across the bridge of his nose to his cheeks crinkle up like clusters of stars. It makes his eyes look like precious gems. Like solid cut sapphire.

Thanks for playing!

[bigasswritingmagnet]

Relatively Speaking This Will Probably Be Fine (ch 8)

Fandom: Girl Genius Rating: T Summary: Everyone knows Agatha Sannikova can't be a Heterodyne, even if she did arrive mysteriously one night to live with Lady Teodora and Lord Saturnus. She's got those headaches, and she's not too bright - she's not even a Spark! She does get along quite well with Lord Saturnus, which is a bit odd, but she's had a very good affect on his health. Lady Teodora doesn't like the kind of, er, "life lessons" he's tried to teach her, but Agatha hasn't set anyone on fire or unleashed any terrifying monstrosities on the town.

...what do you mean, tempting fate?

<Last Chapter | Chapter One | Next Chapter > AO3 Link

“Saturnus!”

“Did I tell her to make a death ray? No! Did I show her how to turn him into a frog? No!”

The front door slammed. A few moments later, Teodora appeared in the doorway, blazing eyes in sharp contrast to the tidy blue dress and hat she had worn when she was called to the school.

“The fact that you know exactly what I’m going to yell at you for means you know what you did was wrong.”

Saturnus snapped his book shut and glared back at her.

“No, it means I knew when I did it that you were going to get mad about it when you found out,” he said. “Just because you think that’s the same thing—”

“You cannot teach Agatha that it is okay to punch people in the throat!”

“It was self-defense! Black fire, Teodora, you think Bill and Barry never hit anyone when they were out doing their sainted heroing?” 

“Not twelve-year-olds!”

“Because they weren’t being threatened by twelve-year-olds! She’s ten! And he’s got half a foot on her; you should be impressed!”

“Impressed? The school was ready to suspend her!”

“Until…?” Saturnus prompted. Teodora’s mouth went tight and flat. “Until…they asked her why? Until…they found out what he’d been up to? Until…they suspended him instead for hitting a girl two years younger than him?”

Teodora’s cheeks were burning now.

“That is not the point.”

“Then why did you mention it?” Saturnus asked, mockingly. Teodora scowled, but pretended to ignore it, which only amused him further.

“The point is, you are teaching her to solve her problems with violence.”

“I am teaching her how to make a statement. It’s going to be important when she takes over Mechanicsburg!”

Teodora was no longer blushing.

“What do you mean when she takes over Mechanicsburg?” 

Saturnus raised his eyebrows.

“You may have noticed, Teodora, that I have recovered my faculties enough that I can see the obvious.” Suddenly he sat upright, expression indignant. “Were you trying to keep it from me? I thought you didn’t think you needed to tell me—you didn’t want me to know?”

“I didn’t want you to do anything rash,” Teodora said, not looking at him.

“Like what, get someone to write it in big flaming letters on the side of Castle Wulfenbach while I paint a big bullseye in the center of town for her to stand on?”

“Like telling her.”  

“Which would have about the same effect as flaming letters on Castle Wulfenbach; Teodora, I am not an idiot.”

“So you knew you were telling her to hit a boy who one day will be one of her subjects?”

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, raising his hands.

“Do you.” Her voice was flat.

“Yes. But the damage years of bullying would do to Agatha’s self-confidence isn’t worth how funny his face would be if we let it go until they’re grown up and he finds out the girl he pushed into the mud yesterday is the Lady of Mechanicsburg.”

Teodora put her face in her hands. Saturnus did not seem to notice. 

“I know he’s one of her people; she doesn’t know he’s one of her people. I didn’t teach her to hit her servants; I taught her that when people hit her, she should hit back. I am teaching her to stand up for herself.”

“I am teaching her to stand up for herself; something I know a great deal about,” Teodora said. “I never needed to resort to violence.”

“Well,” Saturnus said, raising his eyes to the ceiling, innocently. “There was one rather memorable time—”

“You threatened to kill my sons!”

“And you punched me, and then I didn’t. Listen. A peace treaty to prevent a war is one thing, but when an army rolls into the valley and you use nothing but diplomacy to get them to go away, it looks like weakness! All her enemies would see is that she will allow an army threaten her without repurcussions. Then everyone with a death ray starts showing up to see how much they can get away with!

“But, if she turns that first army in a smoking crater, the line is drawn. The world will know what she can do, and more importantly, what she will do. I even told her, she wasn’t just fighting this one boy, she was making a point to everyone who ever has or will try to push her around. This will be the last time anyone lays a hand on her, I guarantee.”

“We are not talking about war, Saturnus, we are talking about a pair of school children.”

“Oh, please, the schoolyard is a warzone for children. Telling a teacher would have made her a snitch, which is worse than being a bully. Teodora, you can’t tell me that when you found out, you didn’t want to drop kick the little bastard out the window at least a little bit.” 

Teodora looked indignant, but notably did not protest. Saturnus leaned back against the headboard and sighed. His gaze drifted to the window.

“I’m hoping she’ll grow out of the headaches, or maybe they’ll go away when she breaks through—”

Because he was not looking, he missed the expression that flitted across Teodora’s face—an expression that would have been very, very telling.

“—but if they don’t go away, she’ll be at a significant disadvantage. She’ll have to prove her strength to a lot of people, and it won’t be easy for her. But Mechanicsburg will be behind her,” he added, firmly. “She’s still their Lady. They’ll love her no matter what.”

“Of course they will.”

They pretended not to hear the uncertainty in each others’ voices.

[teddy-bear-queen]

Bro I have to say this I swear-

I see people trying everything to make it seem like Wukong is a lot worse then he is. I understand you like Macaque, I do too! But the entire point of their relationship is that they’re both in the wrong. The difference is, Wukong got, well, character development. It just feels super annoying to discredit Wukongs hard work in JTTW because of things he did prior.

I’m not saying Wukong is some saint, or an amazing person even while the story is taking place, but he is NOT as bad as some of the people in the LMK fandom make him out to be. I assume it’s because Macaque is the goth shy boy (/hj? /lh), but Macaque literally comes out just to manipulate MK and steal his powers. He’s making the exact same mistakes Wukong did, fighting for power so that he can protect himself. Get stronger. Etc.

Season 4 Special Spoilers:

I don’t think Wukong was ignorant in saying that Macaque doesn’t come to help him. I mean, he got beaten by the Jade Emperor and presumably everyone just left him there and ran off. I’d be pretty mad too. Of course, Macaque was hesitant to begin with, and that’s fair. But he was already there, he could’ve tried. But Macaque has a habit of shying away from fights, only really fighting others to settle a score (S1 E9) or if he has to (LBD arc - both working for and against her, but the S1 E9 relates here, too.) I’m not saying this as an insult, more of an observation. He’s not a coward by any means, a coward would be Peng, who leaves mid-battle in fear of being hurt or losing. Macaque finishes his fights (still knowing when it’s reasonable to retreat), but more often then not prefers to prevent them in the first place. (WHICH IS WHY THE DIVORCE SCENE HITS SO HARD, you know he’s been bottling that up ;v;)

ANYWAY back on topic. I definitely think everything Wukong said there was true. I don’t think he was trying to lie or manipulate Macaque by saying “everything I did was for us”. This is further confirmed when we see him later, tired and completely defeated.

He has nothing to hide here. He’s at his lowest point, stuck in a mountain, tensions high from being abandoned by his sworn brothers, being abandoned by people he held dear. Macaque was trying to be nice, but if I were stuck in a mountain and offered food from someone who left me in such a vulnerable state? I probably wouldn’t take the it either. ALSO. We still have NOT seen these things from Wukongs perspective! Every single time something is revealed from his past, it’s narrated by Tang, Azure, Macaque, etc. Wukong has never (from my memory) spoken about his trials first-hand. This is why I love the guy so much!! What’s going on in his head? How does he feel about these things?

These are such complex characters who have been through so much, so it really bothers me when people look at Sun Wukong and decide to demonise him because of the past which, not only has he moved on from, but we have never even seen his side of the story on. Why did he kill Macaque? Did he kill Macaque? (I’ve seen theories he didn’t, we don’t know rn tho)

Wukong went through a lot of pain to change. Wukong is haunted by his past and in genuine distress over it. You can’t tell me this isn’t a man filled with deep remorse for his actions.

He’s not perfect, but he’s a hell of a lot better. It just really frustrates me that people disregard and discredit the work he put in to get to this point.

THATS IT THATS THE POST

This is really disorganised I’m sorry, I just keep seeing people act like Wukong is the scum of the earth and I honestly just do not get it.

Please don’t send asks about this post, just reblog or comment.

I don’t want to deal with passive aggressive (or just straight up aggressive) people.

As a final note: No, Wukong is not perfect. He’s still a deeply flawed character even with his development. No, Macaque isn’t the scum of the earth. They both have their own problems and they both fucked up. They both did something wrong. That’s the point.

[wayfayrr]

I can't quite believe this was first in my drafts in feb and I've only gotten to actually writing it these last two weeks.

This fic was based off of five songs from spotify shuffling one of my playlists which was an idea inspired by @trulytiredhermit and then it kinda just went from there

the songs that I based it on were: To my enemies - Saint motel, stalker’s tango - Autoheart, meet me in the woods - Lord Huron, The red means I love you - Madds Buckley and Bitter water by the oh hellos

You know they say you're nobody until someone wants you dead, and I can't help but feel like it's morbidly accurate for everything that's happened to me recently.

That weird shadow brought me here for whatever, most likely because it wants my head for some reason. and then all of a sudden?

I'm one of the most important people to the heroes of Hyrule, brought here by fate for whatever reason and they all love me… although love might not be the best way to describe it. If you were to ask any of them they'd say "It feels so wrong it's right" Heh how ridiculous to be that obsessed, so I ran as far as I could, lost in a world that isn't my own and one that shouldn’t exist out of fiction. Those boys that I once cared for; who promised me they'd find me someway home, but talk is cheap after all and it's oh so effortless to lie when it brings you so many benefits.

The situation was so incredibly strange, I don't think there's any amount of time where I could've gotten used to it despite what they would say. it started, well I can't say normally as nothing about this is normal, but it started well. they were themselves, they were still sane. but then they started to slip letting me out of their sight, less and less and less until it was like I had to be in at least one of their line of sight at all times, they wouldn't let me talk about my home, wouldn't let me focus on things that weren't them always trying to justify it whether it was to me or themselves I could never tell. Perhaps it was both?

This little journey I’ve taken into the unknown?

Oh, I’ll go back changed, I wonder if those I cared about would even recognise me at this point. How long have I been away at this point, it feels like ages yet my phone says it’s only days. Well in the games back home the games always ran on a much faster time scale, it wouldn’t be impossible that I’m still running off of real-world time; if anything it makes more sense with how I’ve not needed to eat or sleep for days on end. I’ve never been away from the links for this long, not since I started travelling with them that is. They’re probably worried sick at this point; it’s probably only a matter of hours until they do manage to find me. Until Wolfie sniffs me out, Sky uses Fi to dowse for my signal, or even Wild traces me with his slate.

“[name]?”

And with that last thought it’s as if I’ve jinxed myself and my hiding spot. The one thing I can be glad for is that it’s Sky who found me, while his anger is terrifying it’s not on the same level as Time, Warrior or Light forbid if Legend was the one to find me. Sky is oh-so-nice compared to them, even if he is a yandere with a strange fascination, a near-obsessive infatuation.

he still treats me like I'm a person though, so there's that. He, I think if I were to end up with any of them it would be him. 

"oh by Hylia, [name] are you alright? you've been missing for so long, we thought you were kidnapped, but by the looks of it, you've managed to escape them! even, even if it did leave you hurt"

his smile doesn't look right. he's lying, lying straight to my face... 

but it's not like he's lying to me. No, it's like he's trying to convince himself that's what happened. His concern is sweet despite how misplaced it may be; I can't bring myself to break it to him that it's not what happened. Unless...

I couldn't, could I?

oh, but I could.

"link, I- I wasn't kidnapped. I was scared of how the others are acting, I didn't feel safe so- so I ran as far as I could"

This affected me more than I thought, seeing as I could barely finish the sentence without stuttering or coming close to bursting into tears, I hope he reacts the way I want him to and by the look of it, he will.

His face instantly fell when I said that, filled with pity and something else I can't quite put my finger on, the closest thing I can think of is pride but even that doesn't seem right, is, is he smug? Why would he be smug that I’m scared of the others when I…

“Oh my dove, you don't need to be worried now, I'm here. I'm the only one you trust after all; the only one of us you need. you're my betrothed, my one true love until the end of time"

his"betrothed", when did he- how would he- how didn't I realise? Is Skyloftian culture so different to my own? oh, what am I saying of course it's that different. why is he reaching for - the feather? he proposed when he gave me that earring, didn't he?

"I knew I made the right choice when I chose you as mine, we’re perfect for each other can’t you see? And I know I shouldn't love you, I know I shouldn't love you but I do and nothing will separate me from you again as long as I draw breath.”

And isn’t that the truth, that look in his eyes, that stupid lovesick look. I’m not a fool entire for I know exactly what it means. The idea that even if I somehow made it home…

He would find me.

And he would never let go.

How are you even supposed to respond to something like this? This declaration of ownership, that no matter what I do I’m his. To think how I idolised him when he was nothing more than a game character, how naive was I?

Even still I can’t bring myself to hate him, even if he’s a walking red flag. Even if he’s someone I should run from in fear - It’s still Sky, still the only one to welcome me with open arms, the only one to treat me ever so kindly when I was petrified of everything.

Part of me is telling me to leave, to do what's smart and practical. But another part is pulling me towards staying, following my heart even if it means taking a risk. I know I’d have regrets either way for I would be losing something I care for no matter my choice and I’ll need to say something soon to him, even if it’s a lie. I can’t bear to see him so worried, even knowing where that worry is from.

I don't know what the right choice is, but I know that I have to make a decision. And no matter what I choose, I'll have to live with the consequences.

[sleeplyparks]

Metaphors

Or: Lazari & Ben have a chat, maybe they realize that they might be more alike to eachother than they seem (all platonic).

CW— moral debate, religious themes

“Move over.” Lazari says, looking towards him.

He raises an eyebrow: “Say please.”

They look at each other for a moment, and she lets out a defeated sigh, “Please.”

“Please what?” Ben taunts, mainly to be a dick.

She clenches his jaw, “Please move over, you asshole.”

He grins, “Close enough!”

She moves to sit next to him on the coach, and he continues to mindlessly watch a movie on Jeff’s crappy laptop (he may have stolen it).

“Why are you up so late?” She asks.

He eyes the clock— four am, “Why are you?”

“I don’t know,” which isn’t an answer— “do you think that we’re bad people?”

Ben frowns, “We’re no saints.”

“Obviously,” She rolls her eyes: “But do you think that we’re bad people?”

Ben taps his fingers on the keyboard, “Well, would you say that Sally is a bad person?”

Lazari eyes widened, “No, not at all, she's just a kid.”

“There's your answer.” We’re also just kids, goes unsaid.

“We both hurt people.”

“Was it on purpose?” He is reminded of when she first came to the mansion, six years old and covered in blood.

“No, but—”

“Were you just scared?”

She frowns, “I mean, yeah.”

“Then you’re not a bad person.” He shrugs mindlessly, “bad people don’t care about what they did.”

“You killed someone before.” She points out.

“Maybe I’m bad than,” He notes, “I don’t care all too much.”

He spares a glance at her— her hair is frazzled, eye bags as if she had stayed up for more than a week. She looks terrible. He sighs, closing the laptop.

“What's with the philosophical questions, anyway?”

“I don’t know— Just,” She picks at her nails, “I’ve been stuck in my childhood.”

That wasn’t new, the mansion was a magnet for people with bad childhoods— what was new was that Lazari was talking about it. He eyes her, the moment she speaks he makes sure to talk slowly — like approaching a wild cat , or as he thinks looking at her horns, a wild demon. “Yeah, what was that like?”

“My mum,” She hesitates, “wasn’t the best.”

“Wow, couldn’t tell.” He comments, maybe a bit too blunt because she glares at him. “In what way? Drugs? Murder?”

“Very religious.” He frowns— and than eyes her horns once again, and too red eyes, and yeah that would probably be a problem.

He whistles, “That sucks ass.”

“Yeah man, sure did.” She huffs— before looking at him, “what was yours like?”

“Cult, probably.” He shrugs.

She blinks, “Probably?”

“Death is weird.” He says, “I know I was taken and shit, and then underwater I went.”

“Should’ve just breathed.”

“Wow, how helpful.”

“You could be a mermaid!” She defends, “I don’t know.”

Ben rolls his eyes, “If I was a mermaid I would’ve dipped from this place a while ago.”

“Really?” She looks down the hallway— carefully, as if she was about to get in trouble, “Do you think you would leave if it allowed us too?”

Oh.

He freezes just a bit, watching the hallway: eyeing the walls. You never know when it can be listening, he fiddles with the end of his shirt — choosing his words carefully. “I think I would, leave the forest.”

The forest is a place they can’t leave: a guard between them and the outside world, the only people who could come and go seemed to be the Proxies of the mansion, but even then their life was under the thumb of the Operator.

“I would too,” she whispers. “I don’t know where I would go, but I would.”

He nods, “I don’t know where I would go either, I don’t know if I could go anywhere.”

Lazari makes a face, but it’s true — no one really knows what happens when a ghost who the Operator has collected goes out into the real world. Maybe he’ll be solid like he is in the mansion, or maybe he would cease to exist.

They go back to silence.

He taps his fingers along his thigh, and focuses on the deathly quiet that is the mansion — he wonders briefly if any of the others were awake like Lazari and him were. Somehow along the way he starts to think once more on Lazari’s question.

“I don’t think we’re bad people,” he says, “I think we’ve done bad things, but I don’t think we’re bad people.”

“Hurting anyone is a sin,” she counters: though her voice is monotone, as if repeating something told to her. Ben doesn’t look at her, instead he looks through the window. “I don’t want to be a bad person.”

“Lulu’s hurt someone before, does that make her bad?”

Lazari opens her mouth — closes it, and then opens again. “I don’t— I don’t know.”

“I don’t think you can focus on if people are good or bad, thats not how life works.” He says, “Alot of things aren’t just black and white, I think the mansion is a good example of that.”

The demon picks at her nails again, before nodding. “You’re probably right,” she speaks slowly and he blinks.

“Woah,” he starts, “I can’t believe Lazari Swann admitted that I’m right! This is life changing.” He grins, and ducks to avoid the slap to his head.

“You’re a dumbass.” She snorts, “just a bundle of stupidity.”

“That's rude, Lazzy.”

Her nose scrunches up. “Ew, don’t call me that.”

“What about — demon girl?”

“That’s just not creative.”

“It's four am, I don’t have the brains to be creative.”

“Do you even have brains?” She raises an eyebrow.

He gasps in mock hurt, “Can’t believe this! After we had a bonding moment too.”

“We did not have a bonding moment, I still dislike you.” While her words are harsh, there's no actual heat behind them, which means she must like him, just a little.

“Yeah, okay, I hate you too.” He utters, ignoring the roll of her eyes.

Its quiet for a moment before she starts talking again — “Wanna make hot chocolate?”

“What?”

She shrugs, “I’m thirsty, and I don’t think you’re going to bed anytime soon.”

Well, looking at the clock, he supposes she's right— its nearly morning, which will mean that Tim will be waking up soon to go on morning patrol around the woods. “Yeah sure.”

“Cool, I’m gonn’ put salt in yours.”

“You wouldn’t.” He thinks for a moment, “Okay maybe you would.”

She barks out a laugh, and he grins — it takes way longer than it should to make, but he ends up with no salt in his, and he thinks that's a success.

[igotanidea]

Selflessness : Matt Murdock x fem!reader pt 1

Request: Ages ago (I'm so, so, sorry) @somest1 gave me an idea: in her free time from law school(*) reader does kind of volunteering - helping people in the church under the guidance of Matt's mom. Season 3 where he is healing in the church, so she basically helps him, but doesn't know who he is.

I changed it a bit and decided to divide it into parts (probably up to 3 or 4) but the main idea stays unchanged. Once again, I'm sorry and hope you enjoy it :)

***

„I’ve taken care of the kids in the room 6, sister Maggie. They seem unruly, but to tell the truth all they need is some care and attention.”

“Thank you, Y/N. You are a saint.” Sister Maggie Grace smiled lightly at the girl. Normally, she was far more reserved in her opinions and praises but this girl brought on the softer side of the nun.

“I assure you. I am not. I made a lot of mistakes in my life. Some worse than others.” Said girl looked down, a bit ashamed of her past.

“We all did, Y/N. What is important is that you are trying your best to do good. You help people.”

“I still think like I’m not doing enough….. Like there are so many men and women and kids who are suffering …..”

“You sound awfully like someone else I know…..”

“Really? Who?” that little tone of curiosity In her voice was not a good sign. Y/N was the nicest person even but also the one who wouldn’t take no for an answer. If she wanted to do or know something there was no power in earth, heaven or hell that would prevent her from it. She would charm her way around, getting exactly what she set her mind to.

“Doesn’t matter. But he has the tendency to put himself on the cross and take the pain and suffer from everyone in the name of greater good.”

“Seems like a charming person.” Y/N smirked

“Oh, you poor girl…..” Maggie sighed and shook her head. It was better to just distract her little helper from whatever was going on inside her head and heart “if you are done talking here, off you go. You might have covered for 6, but little Tom has been crying all night again. I have no idea why, but you are like the only person who can get to him, so why don’t you focus on the job?”

“On it, sister Maggie.” Y/N flashed her most beautiful smile and with her sunshine and rainbow attitude left the nun by herself.

“Don’t you think she could be the one to help our guest downstairs, Maggie?” the second Y/N was out of sight father Lantom emerged from the adhering porch.

“No.”

“Maggie.”

“No, Paul. I’m not putting her into this mess. She’s been through enough.”

“And you are wondering who Matt took his stubbornness after.” Lantom muttered, but it was done with his representative sympathy. He was not the one to mock people. “I’m just saying, that perhaps she will help him see the other side of life. Not all the darkness and evil. And bring him back up. She has a natural talent for it, and you know it.”

“If anything it would consume and crash her. Just like it did to Matt. I’m not letting another kid go through something like that.”

“She’s not a kid.” Lantom shrugged but turned serious under the nun’s stern gaze  “Just think about it Maggie, that’s all I’m asking.  She’s been through a lot and nothing broke her, so maybe she’s stronger than you presume.”

“Hm.” Maggie scoffed

“Promise me, you’ll consider it. You know I only want what’s best for both of them.”

“Fine, fine, I promise.” she threw her hands in the air “you are so persistent at times. God have mercy on us all if they were to meet.”

***

Y/N Y/L/N was a perfect kid. Obedient, helpful, cheerful. Great student coming from a good family. An only child, never causing any trouble. Listening to her parents, her teachers, her lecturers. Graduated with honors and getting her MD, even if it came as a surprise to those who knew her. She always gave an impression of a person who would focus rather on some humanistic studies like  literary science or philology.

Her choice however was deeply rooted in her past, in her good family heritage.

You know this saying that every family has its secret. Some of them have more than it seems, and sometimes so called good ones are truly the worst, after you strip them from all the window dressing and hypocrisy.

Y/N had to be good and avoid trouble. Otherwise, any manifestation of disobedience, even the slightest would be met with extensive punishment. Most of the times leaving her with literal bruises, that she had to learn to cover and in tears and sobs that she had to muffle to avoid harsh words and accusation of her being weak and pathetic. Both of her parents were esteemed at work, mum being a CEO and dad a computer programmer and were extremely busy. To say the least, they have little to no time to take care of a kid, more often than not leaving Y/N wondering why the hell did they decide to have one in the first place. Their relationship was based on the how was school, did you do your homework  and what grade did you get from the test questions. And that was only from her mother, her dad never cared enough to even form them. Excusing himself with tiredness and the argument that woman should be taking emotional care of the kid, especially a girl.

All things considered, Y/N was lonely. She did not really have any friends, because how can you form any relationship if you have no good patterns of how it should look like. How can you connect with someone when all you know are quiet evenings filled with work and avoiding another members of the family. What was surprising about her, was that despite all this gloominess and coldness stemming from her closest surrounding she developed this quiet, inner happiness, calmness and peace. When there was problem she was the one to keep straight head and solve it. When someone was in distress she was the one to ease the situation and placate the conflict. But despite that, she was lonely. Always looking for something more, trying to make it better for people who were less privileged then her. And that was how she ended up volunteering at the convent under sister Maggie’s guidance.

She quickly proved herself to be great working with kids, and Maggie warmed up to this optimistic, energetic soul in a way that surprised and delighted father Lantom. It’s been three years of her work there now and she gained sympathy and trust of both.

***

 “Hey there little guy” Y/N entered the room when Tommy was placed. His back was to the door but he turned around as soon as he heard the girl’s voice.

“Hi, miss Y/N.”

“Some little bird told me you had a hard night?”

“I wasn’t sleeping” he rubbed his eyes with fists, looking so small and fragile, Y/N heart was breaking.

“Come here.” she sat on the edge of the bed and opened her arms, in which the boy immediately dived in. This poor little one, abandoned by his mother was in desperate need of warmth and whatever little joy could be given. And Y/N was more than willing to give hugs to him. “Did you have nightmares, again?” he muttered something, hiding face in her sweater “come on, Tommy, I need you to use human language.” She laughed

“It was the clown.” He pulled away, a few tears dripping down his cheeks

“Again? Oh, you poor thing.” Y/N caressed his cheeks rubbing the water away “was it that guy at school again?”

“Yes. He’s making me scared…..”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll settle that matter” she embraced him once again rocking gently from side to side “and in the meantime…..”

“Why is the time mean?”

“Oh, no, it’s not like….. “ the girl could not stop the giggle. Luckily the boy smiled as well, dispelling her worries that he might feel laughed at “ you know what, in fact, we are going to have a really, really nice time. I got a new book if you are interested. No clowns there. How does that sound?“

“Ok.” he mumbled

“Ok? Good. I’m gonna pick it up in just a second…..”

“Can you hug me some more?” the boy asked

“Sure, Tommy. We got time here.”

“Y/N?” Lantom was like a literal ghost, appearing out of shadows, out of nowhere “how’s out little fella doing?”

“I think it’s nothing  a good story and a serious talk with certain guy from room 11 could not fix.”

“Was it Anton again?”

“Mhm. Unfortunately. I’ll talk to him.”

“I think this boy may need some more seriousness than you can treat him with.”

“I can be serious.” She scoffed moving towards Lantom with twinge in her eyes, causing Tom to hold onto her tighter and  whimper.

“That’s good. Because we got one serious matter we need to discuss.”

“We being me and you, father?”

“We being you, me and sister Maggie.”

“Oh. I don’t know if I’m worthy enough.”

“You are the most trustworthy person we know, Y/N.”

“All right then. I’ll meet you after I make sure Tommy is taken care of.”

***

“You want to me to take care of a guy in the basement.” She repeated, both Lantom and Maggie watching her reaction carefully. She showed no emotions and it was hard to guess what was going inside her head. “Is he in need?”

“Yes.”

“All right then.” she shrugged “I’ll help.”

“Just like that? No more questions?”

“Why would I need any? If you trusted him enough to take him in. It’s not like he is the daredevil, right?" she smirked (not realising how shocked her interlocutors were for a moment) "So of course I’ll help. Should I go now?”

“You know the way.” Lantom managed to say, since Maggie couldn't force herself to say a word.

“On it, father.” she smiled, using her typical sentence and walked away.

“I think we made a mistake here, Paul.”

“She’ll be fine. She’s gentle but not naïve and know how to take care of herself.”

“I still think we made a mistake.”

to be continued (part 2 is up)

@pinksirensong

[ctrl-alt-em]

Horse theft is a crime, Delacy

The sun was just barely starting to raise when Silas was woken up by Delacy stumbling around as he pulled his boot on.

“What are you doing this early, kid?” he asked as he rubbed the crick in his neck.

Delacy looked at the window. “It’s not early. It’s morning.” He put on his hat. “I’m heading to the stables.”

Silas groaned and got out of bed. “Why are you going to the stables?”

Delacy smiled. “I’m going to get Humble Ned ready and bring him to the station.”

Silas raised an eyebrow, “Humble Ned, a horse, is going to get on a passenger train with us?”

Delacy nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! I saw Arlo, the train ticket man, last night after me and Garnet left the doctor’s office. He said that a lot of the trains have horse cars so I’m gonna buy him a ticket.” He pulled a crinkled advertisement from one of his pockets. Across the top it read ‘KEYSTONE PALACE HORSE CAR COMPANY’, in the middle was a drawing of a livestock car with a clerestory roof and a horse being loaded onto it, and in smaller print at the bottom ‘5 cents per mile per horse. Limited to 12 horses per car. Number of cars varied by train. Feed can be provided by owner prior to departure or purchased from car supplies.’

“Uh huh, so you’re actually planning on taking the horse with you?”

Delacy tilted his head. “‘Course, he’s coming. Why would I leave him here?”

Silas dragged his hand over his face. “Because you never actually paid for the horse and you didn’t win that bet neither. You just shot the man in the leg. The only reason you haven’t been hanged for horse theft is the lack of a sheriff or marshall in town.”

“If there’s no sheriff or marshall to stop me, why can’t I take Humble Ned with me?”

Silas gave the boy a stern look. “Because theiving is a crime and I’m not gonna be traveling with a kid that thinks shooting people will get him whatever he wants. If someone stole your gun from you and said there wasn’t anyone here to enforce the law so why not take it, would you be fine with that?”

Delacy glared at the floor and pouted, “No one better try to steal Rooster.”

“And you shouldn’t steal Humble Ned. Hell, you got a fortune on you now. We’ll head over there and you can pay him $200. Tell him you got the money plus some now that your job is done.”

Delacy gasped, “But he said the horse was $150! Why the hell would I give him $200?!”

“You shot him in the leg, Delacy,” answered Silas, “There’s not a lot of men who will let that slide just because you're a kid. Paying him off is the easiest way to make sure he keeps quiet and doesn’t decide to cause trouble for you or us later on.”

Delacy thought about it for a moment. “Why can I just shoot him dead then?”

Silas rolled his eyes upwards. “That’s murder and will also get you hanged.”

“We killed those other guys for money,” said Delacy, “How’s that different from killing the stable owner for Humble Ned.”

Silas was ready to go back to bed and the sun wasn’t even fully up. He took a deep breath. “Those were bad people who liked hurting good people. No Deposit Bill is an honest man trying to make a living. The only thing you think he’s done wrong is have something you want. Understand?”

Delacy crossed his arms. “What if he’s not an honest man? What if he’s done bad things we just don’t know about?”

“You can’t shoot a man for something you don’t know. Maybe he is a serial killer, maybe he’s a saint. Unless you have some proof of his wrongdoing, then that’s not justice. It’s just killing for the thrill of it.”

“I guess,” he said with a pout.

Silas shrugged. That’s probably as far as he’s gonna get with Delacy today. “Good, then let’s head over to the stables and see if Bill’s around so you can make things right.”

Delacy scrapped his boot on the floor. “Okay,” he muttered and followed Silas.

The two told Nate where they were going and headed out. The town was as quiet as ever. The sun was starting to rise and the night chill was slowly lessening.

No Deposit Bill was in the corral, putting out a bail of hay as the two walked up to the fence. Silas tilted his hat so he couldn’t see the horses inside the corral.

“Mornin’,” Silas called out. “We have some business if you free.”

The man looked up, caught sight of Delacy, and immediately started limping towards the stable as quickly as he could.

“Goddammit, man, get back here. The boy is here to pay you, not shoot you!”

“Do you think I’m stupid enough to fall for that again!” He yelled back.

“It’s true! I’ll hold his gun if you just come over here!” yelled Silas. “We don’t have time for this nonsense.”

“You didn’t say anything about…” started Delacy. Silas quickly slapped his hand over his mouth.

“Behave, Delacy, or that horse stays here.”

Delacy scowled but stopped struggling.

The stable owner had stopped. He eyed the two uneasily. “Alright. Take his gun then and back up.”

Silas held out his hand. “Delacy.”

The boy begrungently unholstered his gun and handed it to Silas.

The stable owner watched closely. He took a few steps forward. “What is it you want, boy? Come to ruin my other leg?”

“I thought about it but Silas said that was wrong,” Delacy said with a shrug. “He says I have to pay you for Humble Ned and your leg. So here.” Delacy rifled through his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills.

Bill walked up slowly, looking between Delacy and Silas for any signs of movement. He stanched the bills from Delacy’s hand and back up. His eyes widened. “Do you know how much this is, kid?”

Delacy shuffled his boots in the dirt and shoved his hands in his pockets. “200 dollars. Silas helped me count it.”

“It’s 150 for the horse and 50 for you not to go saying there was any ‘miscommunication’ between you two initially,” explained Silas a nod, his spare hand resting his own gun. “Should be more than enough for your troubles.”

Bill looked between Silas, Delacy, and the small fortune in his hand. “Are you folks leaving town today?” he asked Silas.

Silas nodded, “First train this morning.”

Bill shoved the money in his pocket. “Take the damn horse and get out of here. As long as I don’t see the boy again, I’ll consider us even.”

Delacy took off running towards the stable.

Silas nodded at the man. “Much obliged.”

Bill turned away with a dismissive wave and a grunt.

Silas waited across the street from the stables. Delacy walked out leading Humble Ned who had a bridle and saddle on him

Silas raised an eyebrow, “Please tell me you bought that saddle.”

“Victoria let me have it from her stable.” Delacy frowned and wrinkled his nose. “I don’t have to pay her for it, do I? She said I could keep it and then she tried to kill us.” Beneath Delacy’s shirt, the top of his bandages could be seen.

“Nah, if anything we should have taken more,” answered Silas, patting the boy on the back.

Silas stood on the opposite side of Delacy from Humble Ned and tilted hat to block his view again. He was willing to tolerate the beast but that didn’t mean he liked him.

Delacy led Humble Ned and Silas to the train station to wait for the others to join them. The clock above them showed 8:00. “Delacy, why don’t you hitch up Humble Ned and go buy our tickets?”

Delacy smiled and nodded. He took his horse to a hitching post.

Silas collapsed on the bench and lowered his hat over his eyes. After a while, he noticed Delacy wasn’t back yet.

Putting his hat back on right, he glanced around for the blond boy. Over by Humble Ned, Delacy had started braiding the horse’s mane.

“Delacy, what are you doing?”

“Braiding his mane,” he answered without looking away.

Silas raised an eyebrow. “I see that. What I meant is, why?”

“I want Humble Ned to look good for his first train ride,” Delacy said, moving on to the next lock of hair.

Despite himself, Silas couldn’t help but grin. He relaxed back on the bench, listening to Delacy tell his horse about another horse named Buckthorn.

[darknessisafriend]

another max california request from different anon🙈 could you please write something about reader being tom welles's investigation partner, so at first she has to tolerate max around for information and then they fall in love🥺 i Absolutely Refuse to accept the canon not gonna lie

Heyyyy here you go the first chapter is finally here! I hope you will enjoy it^^

8mm Max California x You

“This is leading nowhere.” stated Tom, your investigation partner, catching your attention while you were blankly staring at a bunch of papers in your hands. From the corner of your eye, you could see him exhaling the smoke of his cigarette, both of you were visibly frustrated.

 You had been working on that case of ‘snuff movies’ for literally weeks, but there were no clues that this was a real thing, and you didn’t believe in it either. Rumors said that the actors just pretended to die, for the appeal of some weird creep jerking off over that crap, but no actual murder. “Calm down, Tom, I’m sure that with a bit of attention and patience, we will be able to collect some more clues, getting angry won’t lead us somewhere either.” you replied, dropping the papers you were holding on your desk, but some of them fell on the floor instead. Tom snorted, annoyed. 

“You’ve been saying it for three weeks. I do have patience but I’m not a saint yet. Seeing any halo?” he sarcastically asked, you rolled your eyes. He was unbearable when stressed out. Both of you shut your mouths, filling the room with an awkward silence.

 “We need to find someone who works in the porn industry, someone who has a link perhaps, or we will never-”. he added after a while before being  interrupted by your phone ringing.

“Tom Welles's private detective office, it’s his assistant Y/N speaking. How can I help you?” you professionally answered, listening to the phone call. You didn’t understand much, there wasn’t enough network, but you recognized the voice of your current client, a young man, his tone was quite desperate, maybe on the verge of crying. You remembered his issue, his fiancé had been gone for a while, the two of them were about to marry in a week. When he called you the first time, he specified that he preferred speaking with you instead of the police, in fear of mockery, or even worse, vengeance. But one thing picked your interest during this second call, he was saying it was related to the porn industry, his fiancé had fallen deep in it…well, this perhaps was the clue you needed for your current investigation, and maybe some other cases you and Tom had been working on lately. “Thank you. Let’s meet at 7 pm at Casey’s cafe on 7th avenue.” you indicated to the young man, noting his name on your notebook. You could tell that man wasn’t from the US, he had a foreigner name, a certain François. 

You hung up after a while, feeling Tom’s gaze on you. “So?” he asked. You deeply sighed and shrugged, combing your hair back with your fingers. 

“So, maybe we can start seeing a little light in the dark.” you replied with a little smile full of hope. 

Now, finally things were moving in the right direction. You decided to keep looking for a link to the porn industry, heading with your partner to a sexshop in the neighborhood before the meeting with Francois, so you would have plenty of leads, hopefully. You grunted in disgust, you didn’t get the pleasure people got from such places as sex shops and even less those working in it, you were probably wrong but you imagined the worst perverts.

“I went there yesterday, the seller seemed to know his stuff. I think he could help us.” commented Tom, feeling you doubtful of his lead. 

“What is he like?” you asked, expecting a stereotyped answer, an average middle-aged creep who enjoyed sharing some of his perverted material with his customers. Your opinion on the guy would be biased for a while.

“Some young punk guy. He seems pretty normal actually. He was even pretending to read porn and instead was reading a classic. He has potential I think.” he described to you, making you arch an eyebrow, well you didn’t expect that kind of description at all. 

Once you arrived at the sex shop, Tom entered first, you followed, looking around, all the magazines, toys, movies and such, it made you quite uneasy and disgusted. Maybe you weren’t as open minded as you thought, the truth was you were simply flustered by the place, you had heard many things about it. But then, your eyes finally landed on the seller, he indeed looked like a punk, dark blue hair, piercings, tattoos, he looked pretty cool actually and rather handsome to your taste but you quickly pushed that thought away. To work in these kinds of places he must have some twisted personality, he looked out of place, he was better suited as a musician, tattoo artist or even barman. This made you grow suspicious, he had something to hide. 

“Hey, looks like you came back for the battery operated vagina after all.” grinned the young man as Tom approached him; you widened your eyes at his words, and glanced at Tom, was he interested in buying? Tom ignored your gaze, with you and the boy in front of him he felt like a babysitter for teenagers. 

“We need information, I hope you'll be able to help.” your partner said, showing his PD card, making the man detail the badge, as if he knew how to differentiate a fake from a real one. 

“Thomas Wells…wait you said ‘we’?” that’s when he noticed you, showing your card to him, a little smirk appeared on his face.

“I always had a thing for women of power.” he told you, a first attempt to flirt and test you. Despite his beauty, he looked like the kind of person who liked to tease people. You had this feeling about him, and you weren’t very pleased.

“You don’t want to piss me off, man.” you replied, on the defensive, already he irritated you, your bitter response made him giggle amused. 

“Oooh, you do have claws, huh? On the contrary. I’d love to see that.” he replied, getting distracted by you before Tom snapped his fingers in front of his face, telling him to behave and focus. You had to admit you didn’t expect to attract the attention of somebody, but maybe it was just him wanting to mess up with you. Other men already did it to you, wanting to be playful and teasing you to ease the atmosphere, wanting to appear charming with their sweet ways, just in order to sleep with you. No thanks, not again, your guard wouldn’t be defeated by a random punk porn stuff seller.

“Alright, what kind of information are you looking for? I got all kinds…” he chuckled, his tone lower though. You looked at him suspiciously, he indeed seemed to have connections in that dark world; after all, maybe he was a jerk, but a jerk with precious pieces of information. It was better for you to befriend him and keep him calm if you wanted to know more. 

“You see, a lot of cases related to porn are popping out of nowhere lately, homicides, abductions, blackmails, etcetera. We just thought you already had experience with…this stuff, you know.” Tom explained, taking a porn tape in his hands. “Not that we’re speaking by stereotypes.” you cared to add, elbowing him as to intimate him to shut up since you saw kind of an offended frown in the face of the young man.

“I have nothing to do with this crap. Nothing, got it? I’m just here to sell.” the seller indeed said, in a severe tone and crossing his tattooed arms under his chest, making his leather t-shirt lightly squeak. You clicked your tongue, great, the only hope you had was getting vexed and about to refuse to help. However, the young man noticed your thoughtful gaze. “If you want my help, you better rub me up the right way.” he added proudly.

“If that’s about money, you can get your share if you help us.” instantly replied Tom, he had expected this situation. You detailed the seller, his curiosity was picked, not so much about money you thought..something else interested him and you will find out what. 

“Now that we’re speaking…” he started saying, “Maybe I do know someone who can help you. I will escort you there, since it’s not so easy to arrive at his place. I guess you need some kind of guard who already knows the environment so you can peacefully investigate.” he proposed, you scoffed, clever guy.

“Who’s the man?” You asked, arching an eyebrow, and leaning on the counter, with renovated interest for the investigation and the seller’s motivations. 

“His name is Pierre Beischel.” He replied, a grin forming on his face “A true asshole. I’m used to people with particular tastes, but believe me, this guy is another kind…” he said you noticed he took his pack of cigarettes, putting it in the back pocket of his pants, seems like that Beischel man able to make him nervous.  “I finish in two hours. My name is Max, Max California baby” he stated confidently, here was your investigation truly starting with a strange companion and many dangers

Part 2? tell me!^^

Tag list: @lyoongx @weirdflecksbutok @charlie-sisters @stardancerluv @sgtsavoytruffle @ohcarlesmycarles @rajacero @niniitah-ah @morrisonmercurryphoenix @fly-like-a-phoenix @thatdummy-girl @galos-writing @phoenixbaby88​ @captain-el-writes​ @skaravile​

[weirdo09]

be mine(just for a while i’m afraid)

a byler(bywheelclair) criminal past 90’s au fic

warnings: (slight) drug addiction/abuse, alcohol abuse, character death(one real, another staged), suicide attempts, (mentions of) overdose, depression, self harm(cutting), cigarettes, homophobia and troy walsh(he’s his own warning)(tell me if i missed anything!)

‘crime wasn’t usually high in a city like hawkins, well until these two came along. who are these two you ask? well, one goes by the name ‘mj’. all we know about him is that he stands at about 5’10-11 feet tall, he has jet black hair and pale skin. the other guy goes by no name we’ve heard but many people have called him ‘the lone one’. if you think you’ve saw them, please call your local police.’

will turned off the tv after all. ‘huh, so they are looking for me, too bad they’ll never catch me.’ he thought, smirking. will was considered a criminal in his own right but he’d like to call himself a vigilante. living in a big city like hawkins, most people could get away with small crime and it wasn’t like will exactly chose what he did for a living. it started about a couple years ago, he was fresh out of high school, looking forward to the world ahead him except those dreams would soon be crushed for his mom died months before his graduation.

her will split the money evenly between him and his older brother, jonathan. after that, will didn’t really see the whole point of living. so, he turned to stealing, small things that is. this coping mechanism didn’t exactly help but the rush almost made will forget about his mom’s death. soon, he and his brother’s relationship began to strain, jonathan being too busy with his new life to mind his own brother. that hurt for a while so, will dived deeper into the stealing rabbit hole. now, look at him, considered a criminal and still hurting as much as he did before. though, he’d like to say that he’s better off even with the bounty on his head.

he still had friends, other family and a ‘normal’ life, just not under his name. ‘william jacob byers’ was merely a name of a boy who went missing, surprisingly only four weeks after his mother’s death. will knew his brother was looking for him and if he still had the same spirit he had before his little brother left him, he probably still is. since his ‘disappearance’, will’s changed his name, his life, his whole identity, he was officially someone he couldn’t recognize and i like to think that he liked it that way. will without the tragedies and burdens that had inflicted him so early in life made him smile but also made him cry. he often wonders if his life would’ve been better if he didn’t fake it.

mike had watched his ‘name’ appear on the news, mj short for michael james. he smiled softly, putting out his cigarette. they were trying to catch him but with no avail for he resided on the outskirts of the big city of hawkins, indiana. he had a nice cozy apartment to himself, which was nice but often made him feel like he was missing something, an important piece to his life. mike filled that empty spot with drugs, hoping they’d do their intended job. they haven’t worked so far but he’s hopeful. hopeful, such a funny thing hope is. he was a hopeful child, people said, a child with dreams and ambitions impossible to achieve. ‘guess those assholes were right after all.’ mike thought grimly.

he had grown up in a small town, ironically with the same name as indiana’s second largest city, hawkins. oh, he hated that town, with their same houses, same lawns, same cars, same everything. it irked him like something never before. don’t even get him started on his family, his mother was considered a saint but was nothing of the sort. she settled down young, her ambitions and dreams seemed nonexistent when she settled with ted wheeler, a older rich man. karen wheeler, a pretty woman with an average family in an average suburban neighborhood in an average small town. god, mike hated it, the always pretending to be someone he wasn’t, always hiding parts of himself that he’d love to show, always been his mother’s little doll to dress and control whenever she saw fit.

mike hated that town with his whole being, possibly even more so. those years pretending to be a perfect family, a perfect example of how a good family should be almost crushed his dreams entirely. but then, after high school, it seemed like his world opened up. suddenly, all those dreams, ambitions and aspirations could come a reality. it was sad to look back on now, seeing how naive and gullible he once was. that day changed something inside him forever. june 30th, two three weeks after his high school graduation, he was officially 18 years old and the world was at the palm of his hand until it wasn’t. how mike regretted that day, that day he left his little sister and never came back. he hated himself deeply for leaving her in that house with those strangers.

him, giving into his own selfish desires, left that house as soon as he could. getting the best of him, mike just couldn’t find the strength to leave his precious baby sister but he did eventually. that night, holly had walked into his room to see mike about to crawl out his window. “mikey, where are you going?” she asked sleepy, mike turned to her voice and got up from the window. “oh, holly jolly, i’m just going to leave for a bit.” mike said sweetly, now that he looked back on it, it might as well have been bittersweet. “when are you coming back?” holly asked, tears threatening to come out her eyes. mike sighed before pulling his sister in a hug, “as soon as can, hol, as soon as i can.” he whispered to her, who was now crying softly in his shoulder. “i’ll visit you, ok? we can call and send letters to each other. it’ll be ok, holly, i promise.” mike said with a smile on his face.

‘i promise, about the biggest ounce of bullshit i ever told.’ mike thought, lighting another cigarette. he visited a few times before he couldn’t bear the stares, the questions of when he’d get a girlfriend, a wife or kids, the sickeningly happy atmosphere. it was too much for mike so he stopped visiting and it hurt him more than anything else. to see his sister stuck with those people, those people who made his childhood a living hell. mike cries himself to sleep about it every night, a daily ritual. soon after that, he found a love for stealing, the emptiness in him that couldn’t be fixed with drugs was fixed(temporarily) with the rush of stealing. oh that adrenaline rush seemed to be the only thing keeping him alive, for his dreams were impossible to achieve, too much for little old him so he tucked them away in the back of his mind along with his old identity.

these days, will wasn’t too keen on stealing anything too big. he just wanted the stability of a normal life, the warmth of his mother. both of which he couldn’t have, so he spent the day lying away, thinking about the future that creep straight up behind him. then, an idea struck him. will decided to go on a run, no stealing intended, just something to clear his clear. so he went up out of his apartment, towards the autumn air with a sense of….life? whatever it was, it made him feel like a person for a while. he was content until he was met by a strange figure. the figure seemed taller, about a good four-five inches, had on a sweater, with their jet black hair in a ponytail and light blue jeans. they were sitting on a bench, smoking a cigarette. the smell reminded will of his mother, which drew him near.

will, giving into his impulse, sat down next to the stranger. “uh, hi.” he said, the stranger turned to him, put their cigarette in the other hand. “hey.” they said with a half smile. “what’s your name?” will asked, mentally yelling at himself to stop right now. the stranger chuckled, “my name’s mike, but my friends call me mj.” mike replied before returning to his cigarette. ‘mj? where had he heard that name before? never mind that.’ will thought before saying, “nice name, mine’s will.” ‘will, will, will, will’ mike thought, his name was so strange yet so familiar. it wasn’t really strange, just strange considering he knew a boy named will, well loved a boy named will before he went missing and was reported dead. “nice, what are you doing in hawkins?” mike asked, taking another drag of his cigarette. “just..to visit some family, you?” will replied, mike gave him a look.

he could have sworn he had seen him somewhere once before but alas could not remember. mike was thrown out of his train of thought when will bluntly said, “you know, those things are going to kill you.” nodding at the cigarette. mike guffawed and smiled grimly, “gets the job done faster.” he replied and will frowned. “dying won’t solve all your problems, believe me, i’ve tried.” he said before looking down at his hands. sure, he’s tried to kill himself a few times after his mother’s death, as he felt he could never go on without her and if he did, he’d be betraying her. those first few months were like absolute hell, people giving their condolences and their fake vows of sympathy, he just wanted it all to stop, she wasn’t gone, she was still here, inside of him couldn’t they see? she’s still here!

he still remembers the first night without her, he walked into her room and laid there, sobbing. he wondered why they didn’t take him instead, why they had to take away the one person who loved him regardless. so, he slept in her room for a few days then being in there was too hurtful and he went back to his own room. his brother seemed to be the one who was given forgiveness to the most, it was like people almost completely forgot that he lost her too and it hurt him. soon, the suicide attempts started. the first happened two weeks after, he got some pills and popped them, knocking out instantly. he woke up in a hospital bed, sadly alive. that night he sobbed again, wishing he was dead and with his mom, wishing the pain would go away. will had to promise his brother that night that would never do that again, though that promise was very short lived. a week later, he tried to drown himself in the tub. luckily, jonathan got there before he could actually do it. the two brothers sobbed that night, “i can’t live without her, jonny.” will said wetly in jonathan’s shoulder, he just agreed patting his younger brother’s back.

some bad days, will tries to kill himself then panics and chickens out. he hasn’t tried recently and he’s kind of glad. life’s gotten a little bit better since then, her death anniversary still stings but it’s often welcomed with visiting her grave and crying most of the day. mike looked at will with a somber look, “you know, you’re a strange man, will,” he began to say then continued, “i’d say that i kinda like it.” mike finished, will chuckled softly. they talked for a while, what they talked about, i’m not sure but i know it made the both of them really happy.

the day after, mike was still thinking of will. c’mon who’d want to forget him? his chestnut brown hair that peeked out from his hoodie, his hazel green eyes, those eyes that were once on another he knew, just as lively. god, he desperately wanted to cry, as will was a reminder of his childhood sweetheart. will byers, his best friend turned lover, gone just like that and right after his mom died from lung cancer too. mike stared at his pack of cigarettes, how the irony. he stared out his window, wondering what to do today. then, it hit him, nov 6th, the day that will was reported missing and never came back, four weeks after his mom died. jonathan was distraught, having two of his family members gone like that, fours weeks apart.

the older boy left hawkins shortly after that, word spread that he currently resided in california with some friend. mike stopped to wonder if he noticed what today was too, if he was hurting just a much as he was. he knew that it probably wasn’t true for their bond was stronger than him and will’s, and the fact that they weren’t on the best of terms when he went missing. finally, mike cried, he cried and cried until who knows how long. such a funny thing, all he seemed to do now was cry and bitch and moan and smoke.(he only smoked when he was really stressed and now it seemed like that was all the time) after what seemed forever, mike was exhausted, ready to do something stupid that he’d forget tomorrow. so, he decided to drink his problems away then smoke ‘em away again tomorrow.

mike walked into his little kitchen and opened his wine cabinet, pulling out whatever wine was nearest and brought the bottle to his bed. he laid on his desk and then laid down on his bed, remembering he forgot a glass. after he got one, he started pouring glassful after glassful. mike felt tipsy but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, he had to thank his father for the high alcohol tolerance. mike put the bottle away and stared out the window once more. maybe he should’ve died that day instead of will, maybe then will might’ve reciprocated his feelings, maybe just maybe.

november 6th, 1988, the day will byers was reported missing from his home in hawkins, indiana. funny how the night before, he and his best friend parted ways by kissing each other goodbye. they only dated for about two months but it was evident that they loved each other dearly. “bye, mike, see you tomorrow.” will said, climbing on his bike. “bye, will.” mike said, smiling before stealing another kiss from his boyfriend. ‘boyfriend’, such lovely word when you’re in love and oh how in love mike was. will waved goodbye then faded away down the road, something in mike’s gut told him to come back but it was too late for in the morning, he would be gone. a week later, he was pronounced dead, only a few people came to his funeral mike included. he cried during the whole ceremony, jonathan came to check on him. “hey, mike, how are you doing?” he asked, mike stared at him, tears still flowing down his pale, flushed freckle covered cheeks.

“shouldn’t i be asking you that? i mean you just lost your brother.” mike asked, fidgeting with his collar, staring down at will inside his coffin, they decided to do an open casket, mike was disturbed by how peaceful will’s corpse looked. jonathan pulled mike into a hug, “yeah but you just lost your boyfriend.” jonathan said the last part in a whisper, hawkins was full of homophobes. that part only made mike cry harder, “i really loved him, jonathan.” he whispered, jonathan nodded. “he really loved you too, mike.” he whispered back. mike chuckled, wiping the tears from his eyes. “ready to put him in the ground?” jonathan asked, mike frowned a bit. “too soon?” mike’s face contorted to a scowl. “yea, a bit.” he replied. the two watched as will was put into the soil, a handful of people who were there crying, mike scowled again. these people didn’t even know will, let alone like him.

mike knew trouble was about to brew when he saw his childhood bully, troy out the corner of his eye. for some reason, he saw him laughing and joking with james. then all of a sudden, troy began to walk towards him. just as he needed jonathan, he went up and left for some reason. once troy approached, mike was still. “hey, wheeler aren’t you happy that that fairy’s finally died? oh wait, aren’t you a fairy too?” troy said tauntingly, mike really resisted the urge to roll his eyes. he sighed, “what do you want, troy?” mike asked, already fed up with his bullshit. “oh nothing, just wanted to make sure that the fag was really died and now look at him! he probably killed by some othe-!” troy began to say but was interrupted by mike’s fist colliding with his cheek. surprisingly, he fell backward, blood was flowing out of his nose.

mike looked down at his fist, some of the fingers were covering in blood. he saw as troy’s mom approached her son. “what is going on here?” she asked then took a look at her son and mike. she stood in terror, giving a scared look at mike then grabbing her son, running away from the ceremony. jonathan came back after that, “hey, mike what happene-.” jonathan began to ask but had already put the puzzle pieces together. the rest of that evening mike spent in the police station, troy and his mom had charged him for assault and for some reason, attempted murder. mike sat there, unresponsive like he wasn’t even there. after that, they determined that the charges should be dropped and mike was discharged. he sure got an earful from his mom though.

“why did you hit that boy, mike?” she asked once they got back home, mike just walked right past her. “michael! look at me when i’m speaking to you!” karen demanded, mike shot her a hateful glare. “do you really want to know or is this just your absolute need for gossip?” mike snapped at her, karen’s face contorted into shock. “well, if you do want to know, i hit that boy, troy, my childhood bully because he kept calling will a fairy and a bunch of other slurs!” mike raised his voice a bit, hoping to get his voice across. karen asked somberly “what happened to my sweet little boy?” mike scoffed, “that ‘sweet’ little boy had to grow up because you just couldn’t handle having kids, could you, karen? you know me and nancy practically raised holly while you were out and about parading around like you were some single woman!” he hissed, karen stood there. “wha-, how did you even-?” she began to ask but mike interrupted, “oh, how do i know? how do i fucking know? because you left your wedding ring on the sink and you didn’t could home til 12 in the morning, karen. should i go on?”

mike asked, all his pent up anger now showing it’s face at his mom. “you know what? go to your room!” karen shouted, mike shouted back, “gladly!” he ran up the steps and slammed his door. karen collapsed on the floor, she was exhausted but not because of tiredness, because her perfect average life was crumbling right under her feet, her perfect little family torn apart all because of her. she pulled herself back up and grabbed a bottle of wine to wash away her pain. thinking back on that, mike was again hit with the sense of irony. here he was, with a bottle of wine hoping to wash his pain away. guess he was more like his mom then he thought, mike scowled at that.

will woke up with a sense that today was special but couldn’t figure out why. then, he realized today was the day that he went ‘missing’. he remember that day bright and clear. well almost clear, he remembered kissing mike and leaving his house then, he rode his bike down the road and everything was fuzzy after that. november 6th, 1988, the day will byers went ‘missing’ and was reported ‘dead.’ here’s what really happened as will ride his bike down the road, he didn’t think that cars would still be out that night and unluckily as he was, he got hit. it wasn’t anything too serious, a mild concussion, a broken left arm and a left kneecap. the stranger was hospitable enough to take him to the hospital, there will would stay for two-three weeks. while everyone in hawkins thought he was died, really will was there in the hospital. he was released sunday, november 20th, exactly two weeks after the incident and a week after his ‘death’.

will unfortunately suffered amnesia and couldn’t remember where he was from so one of the doctors offered to take him in until he fully recovered. this doctor’s name was jim hooper, who lost his youngest daughter a few years back. will found him intimidating at first but he warmed up to him eventually. saturday, november 21st, 1988, he was on his way to hawkins, the big city to live with jim and his other daughter, eleanor ‘el’. to say that el was a strange sort was an understatement, she was unique to say the most. she was louder than most girls will had known.(the few he could remember) she was also strongly influenced by the world and people around her, will thought that he’d get to know her nicely. he then spent two years with the hopper family, his concussion ended months ago, though bits and pieces were still hard to remember but they were happy to let him stay longer til he was back on his feet.

tuesday, november 6th, 1990, will was officially leaving the hopper’s house. he decided that he was ready to go and explore what else this (cruel) world had to offer him. el was the first to cry when the three were sitting outside the driveway in the fall sun. she grabbed will into a massive bear hug, “don’t forget about us, big bro.” el whispered, will began to cry as well. “i won’t, little sis.” he whispered back. he and hopper exchanged looks, unsure to hug or not. surprisingly, will took the initiative for the hug which hopper happily obliged. they hugged for about four minutes until el interrupted. “c’mon dad, before you convince him to stay any longer.” el joked, grabbing onto hopper’s sleeve. hopper wiped a tear from his eye before saying, “ah, ok, el, i’m really going to miss you, kid.” will smirked, “i’ll miss you too, dad.” hopper embraced will once again, el gave him their house number. “call anytime, i’d love to talk about your new adventures.” she said, smiling. will waved the two goodbye and walked towards the bus stop. next stop on the list, seattle, washington.

there was a supposed grunge scene happening there and will didn’t want to miss it. first, he took a bus to indianapolis. then, he bought a car which he would drive for the rest of the way. after roughly 26 hours, will had made it to seattle. the pacific northwest had a different charm than the midwest, to be honest, will kinda liked it. he found himself an apartment a few blocks away from the paramount theatre. there he loaded his stuff and himself in the tiny apartment they would call home. the first night was terrible, the jet lag was finally hitting him aside from this numbing headache that had magically appeared. in the night, it was still there but fuller than before. will decided to go to a nearby record store to clear his head. he grabbed a coat, his keys and headed off. he couldn’t help but smile at his new atmosphere, noting to call el later about his drive to seattle.

once he arrived at the record store, a certain record caught his attention. ‘bleach’ was on the cover and will knew he just had to buy it. so, he walked inside and noticed that there was really no one there except for the clerk at the register and another guy. he went to grab the record when he and the other guy touched hands, “oh, sorry, you can have it!” will exclaimed nervously, the guy laughed which sounded soothing. “oh, no, it’s ok, you go ahead, take it.” the guy said, handing to will. “thank you, uhm what’s your name?” will asked, smiling. “oh, me? my name’s lucas, how bout you?” lucas asked with a grin on his face. “will, have you lived here long?” will asked as the two walked to the register. “oh no, only about two-three years, you?” lucas asked. “just got here yesterday.” will replied, paying for his stuff.

the two of them continued their conversation outside. “ah, fresh meat then, what brings you to seattle?” lucas asked, will chuckled. “uhm, the music scene, i guess.” he replied, lucas nodded in agreement. “yeah, people have been flooding in the masses to here lately. music’s just a plus. where ya from?” lucas asked as they crossed the street. “indiana, you?” will replied, his feet seemed to mysteriously know the area. “same.” lucas said, “wanna check this new hot dog place ‘round the corner?” he asked, will nodded. most of will’s afternoon was spent hanging out with lucas, they exchanged numbers and parted ways at about 4 pm. when will got home, he searched his tons of boxes for the one labeled ‘kid’s record player’. hopper had to have labeled it. once he got it out, he hooked it up and pulled out his nirvana record.

he checked the back of the record, the first song was love buzz. will began to place the record on the player and put the needle at the start. ‘love buzz’ started to play.

‘would you believe me when i tell you’ ‘you are the queen of my heart’ ‘please don’t deceive me when i hurt you’ ‘just ain’t the way it seems’

kurt’s smooth vocals, the constant beat of the drums and the licks of guitar. will couldn’t get enough, he left the living room shortly to call el and hopper back in hawkins. the song still playing softly in the background.

‘can you feel my love buzz?’ ‘can you feel my love buzz?’ ‘can you feel my love buzz?’ ‘can you feel my love buzz?’

will dialed the numbers and waited for them to answer. surprisingly it only took a second. “hey, will! how’s your trip going? did you meet some new people? how’s like wherever you are?” el exclaimed through the phone, will softly winced. “el, slow down, i can’t understand you!” will exclaimed back, tears threatening to fall, he missed his family dearly but el most of all. they were like two peas in a pod the two short years they spent together. they came to each other with everything, el’s a very open person so no secrets could be kept between the two. “oh, ok, hi will, what’s that song in the background?” el asked, holding the phone close to her ear so she could hear everything. “oh it’s love buzz.” will answered, looking over his shoulder. el scrunched her nose “who’s it by?” she asked, “some new band in seattle, nirvana i think.” will answered, el nodded before realizing he couldn’t see her.

“so how’s seattle?” el asked, just barely keeping her excitement to herself. will chuckled, he could feel how excited she was. “it’s nice, i met a guy.” he replied, el could find herself smirking. “is he cute?” she asked, will started to blush. “uh, yeah.” he stammered, el smirked further. “just don’t bring me a niece or nephew too soon!” she joked, will turned raspberry red. “eleanor!” he shouted, el just guffawed. hopper poked into the kitchen, “who’s giving me a grand baby? it better not be you!” hopper said, el chuckled again. “no but will might, he met a guy!” she said, hopper looked at her to know more. “eleanor, pass over the phone, i need to talk with your brother.” hopper said, el whispered into the phone. “good luck, dad heard!” will facepalmed, “i hate you so much, el.” he bemoaned, “i love you too, big bro!” she said before handing the phone to hopper.

“hello, son.” hopper said, will softly grimaced. “hey, dad, how are you?” he asked. “well fine considering your sister just told me you met a guy. what’s his name, what’s he like, do i have to beat his ass?” hopper asked. “oh no no, dad you don’t! he’s great but just a friend and his name’s lucas.” will replied, chuckling softly at his dad’s antics. “oh ok, just don’t send me any grandbabies yet and we’ll be good.” hopper joked, will screeched. “dad, stop! i’ll call you guys later!” will said before hanging up after saying goodbye. he thought about calling lucas until the conversation he had earlier popped into his head.

he blushed hard but called him anyway. the phone ringed and ringed until finally he answered. “sinclair residence.” will heard lucas’ smooth voice and he couldn’t help smiling. “hi, yes i’m looking for lucas, is he there?” will asked, playing along. lucas snorted “why yes, you have him, what’s going on, pretty boy?” lucas asked, will smiled further. “oh nothing, just got off the phone with my family, how about you?” will asked, his eyes closed. “yeah, nothing so far-. erica, put that down!” lucas shouted at someone, will suspected that that was his sister since he remembered lucas mentioning her. “hold on, sorry, pretty boy, i’ll have to call you back later!” lucas said before hanging up. will placed the phone down in its holder and fell out, laughing. seattle was good so far.

days followed into months and months followed into years. will has lived in seattle for 4 years and has dated lucas for 3. funny thing love is, how fleeting and fragile it all is. we met up with will, who was currently making out with lucas. they parted, “i love you, pretty boy.” lucas whispered into will’s ear, his stubble tickling will’s neck. “i love you too, lucas. that day, april 8th, 1994, 3 days after kurt cobain had reported to have killed himself and three weeks before will was to leave seattle to move back to indiana, where he’d bring lucas with him. they turned on the tv and it had been set to the news, where’s the couple would see kurt’s death reported. will stood there in shock, one thing was for sure, his trip here would end soon. lucas looked at him, holding him close, wiping something off will’s face. there were tears, will hadn’t had noticed he had been crying until lucas brought him to his chest, comforting him. there in that tiny apartment, the couple were somber from the new alongside the rest of the grunge world.

friday, april 22nd, 1994, the day that will was scheduled to head back home along with his boyfriend. “i’m really gonna miss this place.” lucas said, looking around the street. they had packed will’s car with the necessities and were about to head on the the road when will started to cry again. lucas frowned, grabbing will’s hand, pulling him close. “what’s wrong, baby?” he asked, will roughly wiped his tears. “it’s nothing, reall-.” will began to say before lucas shot him a look. “oh ok, i guess i’m still sad about leaving.” will admitted sincerely, lucas rubbed his back. “it’s alrigh’, pretty boy. we’ll be ok.” will closed his eyes, reeling into lucas’ warmth. “we’ll be ok.” will repeated to calm his nerves.

crazy to think that was only a few months ago, (back to the november 6th, present day) will and lucas were still going strong. it was just that lucas was away on business and wouldn’t come back until after today. will sighed, he always seemed to slip back into his old habits when lucas wasn’t around. he thought about his mom and that turned into a whole spiral. will walked into the bathroom and grabbed his pocket knife. he cut a small piece of his wrist before making another identical incision. will snapped back to reality and threw the pocket knife back in the drawer, locking it as to never touch it again. he wrapped up his wrist and walked over to the phone. will desperately needed lucas. the phone ringed and ringed before lucas answered.

“hello, lucas sinclair here.” he answered in a groggy voice “uh hey, lucas, it’s will, did i wake you?” will asked, slightly regretting calling him. “oh no, baby, i’ve been up a while. what’s wrong?” lucas asked. will started sniffling, “i was uhm thinking about my mom and i uh cut myself.” he forced out, tears streaming down his face. lucas’ heart softened, “oh ok, did you dress them?” he asked, will hummed. “i need you to hold on for me, ok? i’ll get the next flight there tonight so i can see you, alright?” lucas said, will whined softly. “can you do that? i don’t want to be a bur-.” will began to ask when lucas cut him off. “baby, don’t you dare finish that sentence. i’m don’t give two shits about this damn job, what i care about is you so i’m going to come home tonight. that’s it, you hear me?” lucas asked, will smiled softly and hummed again. “alright, i’ll see you soon, ok? get some sleep and make sure you eat! love you so much, pretty boy.” lucas declared, will smiled harder. “o-o-ok, love you too, lucas.” will said before hanging up.

he then floated to the kitchen, thinking about mike. will knew it was wrong to think romantically about someone else when you’re in a committed relationship. it wasn’t like he didn’t love lucas with all his heart but will also felt a strong connection with him, something he’d felt once before in ‘88. he decided to talk to lucas about all of that later. right now, will was looking for something to eat in the fridge. nothing looked appetizing so he decided to order pizza. will waited as the pizza was to arrived, so he went to watch some tv. he scrolled through channels until he found daria, one of his favorite shows. after the pizza came, will grabbed it, paid the guy and plopped back on the couch.

he ate 6 slices before putting the pizza in the fridge and walking over to the bedroom, instantly falling asleep. will dreamt of his mom, surprise, surprise. she stood in a white gown, unlike her usual style and her hair was glowing down her back. she looked younger, happier, the one thing will couldn’t be without her. “remember that it wasn’t your fault and that i love you, baby, so much. can’t wait to see you.” joyce said, funny thing that those were her last words before dying in a hospital bed 9 hours after.

mike awoke in a cold sweat. nightmares seemed to plague his sleep more and more often. this time, it was about will ‘dying’ and his corpse coming back to tell him that he was all his fault and he never loved him. he was also crying, great, the hangover hit him instantly. mike ran to the bathroom and thankfully, made it to the toilet. after puking his guts out, mike popped a few tylenols, grabbed a glass of water and laid down. after a 2 hour nap, mike awoke still tired. so, he grabbed his pack of cigarettes, his lighter and sat on the fire escape. as mike smoked his first cigarette, he couldn’t help but remember what will had said about them then what he said after. ‘wonder what happened to him to have tried to kill himself…’ mike thought, blowing smoke into the early morning air.

will woke up to someone holding him. when he opened his eyes, there he saw lucas, fast asleep. will tried to get out of his hold but he just held on tighter. he huffed but was glad to get some extra sleep. ‘we’ll talk later i guess.’ will thought before drifting off. about 2 hours later, will was awoken by the smell of breakfast. he jumped up before remembering his wrist, will winced but made his way to the kitchen. there he found lucas dancing to candy rain by soul for real. “hey, baby! come join me!” lucas said, shaking his hips and reaching out a hand to will, who chuckled softly. “but i can’t danc-!” will began to say when lucas pulled him in. “just follow my lead.” lucas whispered. they waltzed, tangoed and slow danced. “ok that’s enough.” will declared, out of breath, lucas agreed.

the morning was spent eating, goofing off and getting ready of the day. lucas helps will redress his scars, which makes will force back tears. “uhm lucas, can we talk?” will said shakily. lucas hummed. “uh this may sound weird but i found a guy that i think i had a past relationship with.” lucas gave him a look, “why do you think?” his voice, strong with no waver. “well i uh got a concussion which basically made me forget the whole relationship and i think that i still love him.” will admitted. lucas stared at will’s arm, he knew that will couldn’t possibly think of breaking up with him. “lucas? i’m not breaking up with you if that’s what you’re thinking. i love the both of you but it’s fine if you don’t want m-.” will began to say when he then placed in lucas’ lap, who gave him a kiss.

“ah no, nena, todavía te quiero.” lucas whispered after pulling apart. will laid his head on lucas’ chest, “do you still love me?” he asked, “sí niño bonito, todavía te amo.” lucas replied, lifting will’s chin and placing a soft kiss on his lips.

after some time, the couple went in a search for mike. they found him at the park. “you should stay here.” will whispered, lucas nodded after looking around and placing a kiss on his cheek. will walked over to mike and took a spot next to him. “do you remember me?” will asked, mike looked at him then smiled. “of course i do, will.” he said, will looked surprised but was happy. he pulled mike into a hug, “is that your boyfriend over there or?” mike whispered in will’s ear, will hummed. “yeah, it’s kinda complicated but i love both of you and he’s ok with it.” will whispered back, mike exhaled. “so he wouldn’t mind if i kissed you right now?” mike asked, letting go of will. will began to blush, “uhm, i guess not bu-.” he began to say then he was interrupted by mike placing his lips onto of his.

it shocked to say the least but, he began to relax into the kiss. mike tasted like smoke and chocolate, will wanted more but, mike broke the kiss and will whined. “don’t worry, you’ll get more when we’re out of plain sight.” mike whispered and will smirked. they held hands, lucas couldn’t help but feel happy for his boyfriend and the three were off, to will’s and lucas’ shared apartment. there will and mike made out the whole time. will couldn’t believe how good mike tasted, it was so good, he really couldn’t get enough. mike broke the kiss to breathe then went at it again. lucas cleared his throat, the two parted, mike was clearly irritated with him. “getting take out, what y’all want?” “chinese is good!” mike hollered before going back to devouring will’s lips, god how long had it been since they kissed like this? mike couldn’t remember but he didn’t want it to stop.

after a few minutes, mike and will settled to cuddling. will was the big spoon with mike the small, who surprisingly fell asleep right after they got comfortable. lucas scooted close to the couple, “ya happy, baby?” he asked, will nodded leaning in for a kiss. lucas took and placed his lips onto of will’s. “take a nap, pretty boy, i’ll wake y’all up when the food gets here.” lucas whispered, will had happily obliged. he dreamt of that day, november 6th, crazy how it still has an effect on him. the driver carrying him to his car, the blood so much blood, the drive to the hospital, the sickeningly clean loud atmosphere, far away from home, from mike. he had flat lines in the hospital, dead in a hospital without family surrounding him, just like his mom….just like his mo-……

will was shooken awake and he screamed. mike was woken up, “what’s wrong, will?” he asked. will shook his head, his throat too tight. “hey, will, look at me.” mike said sternly, lucas looked at will in concern. will look at him, wheezing. “breathe with me, here, in, out, in, out.” mike said, grabbing one of will’s hands and placing it on his heart. will had calmed down 5 minutes later. he held mike���s face in his hands, his fingers in mike’s hair. will was safe, surrounded by the loves of his live, he was ok. will leaned in to kiss mike, he placed his lips on will’s. they kiss only for a second, will bringing mike’s forehead to his. after that, he pulled lucas to him, leaning his head on lucas’ shoulder. mike got out of will’s arms to go get his and will’s food. lucas pulled will into a hug. “you good, now?” he whispered into will’s hair, will nodded, exhaustion slowly taking over.

mike laid will’s head on his shoulder, eating his rice. lucas sat on the end of the couch, will’s legs atop of lucas’ lap. after they finished eating, lucas carried will to bed. the two of them trying to fit themselves in with will. once the three of them were comfortable, they drifted off to sleep. will was content with his boyfriends in their apartment of hawkins city, the small town of hawkins far from will’s mind. here he was, alive with his joys in life right by his side.

tagslist: @foodiewithdahoodie @adorewillbyers @thefruityfours @atbyler @eefonline @hazmatazz @evil-gay-person @finalgirlharrison @cgi-heart-eyes @cringefail-loser @eggo-owl @thatonesongyouretryingtoremember

[nyastyaraspurrtina]

Question for youuuuu

Hi! I have never actually listened to the mechanisms, but I’m a big tma fan and really like the very slight aus where it’s like the mechanisms were the archivists college band things, so I’ve read a lot of fanfic that basically references them with not a lot of context yk?

Also. Because I have watched some rusty quill stream vods on YouTube, I’m now getting like 9 second mechanisms clips recommended to me.

And. Last little thing. I am a big alt folk person, and last night I remembered this band I love that I basically totally forgot about and hadn’t been listening to for a bit, and went and just shuffled their songs and it was great. (Robert hallow and the holy men! If you were curious)

But. I was like scrolling through the similar artists, and the mechanisms showed up again.

So now partly because I just keep seeing them come up and partly because of curiosity. I’m tempted to actually check them out.

But I’m really bad with new music, just kind of in general I like my comfortable and familiar songs. And I know really nothing about them besides like. Some of their names and the whole like immortal space pirate thing. But like musically? I have like no info.

So basically uh.

What should I expect? What like. Kind of music would I be getting into? Is it worth it?

I’m asking mostly because I’m looking for someone to be enthusiastic so I have a reason to push my hesitancy against new things aside btw.

Sorry this is so long lmao, and thank you :)

OH MY GOD????? IM FUCKING HONORED THANK YOU

Okay so to start out with, they have 4 main albums. Once Upon A Time In Space, The Bifrost Incident, High Noon Over Camelot, and Ulysses Dies At Dawn. They tend to vary in terms of what their music sounds like, but they always have the same instruments, more or less. (Glockenspiel, flute, drums, sometimes Jonny on the harmonica, bass, guitar that I honestly cannot tell if it's electric or acoustic, viola, violin, Jessica Law's amazing vocals, and I think that's it but I'm probably forgetting something else). High Noon Over Camelot has a lot of Western influence, and is very folk-leaning-country, is the best way I can describe it?

You said you listen to TMA, so here's a couple people to know - Frank Voss and Jessica Law. Frank Voss plays Ashes O'Reilly, an arsonist who burned down their home planet and joined up with the Mechs. Here's the song with their backstory. It's very much like jazz, I think. In TMA, Frank Voss plays Basira Hussain. Jessica Law plays the Toy Soldier, a sentient wooden man (or, according to a tweet she made, a metal man that just looks wooden?) It essentially pretends to be alive, and will obey any order given to it. It pretended to be a rich lady's husband for a while, and then fell in love with an Angel - when it wasn't reciprocated, it ripped out the Angel's voice box. Not sure if it uses it as its own voice box, I forgot. No backstory song for TS sadly :(((. In TMA, Jessica Law plays Nikola Orsinov! And then there's Jonny Dville, first mate, killed his dad for money, killed the guy who paid him to kill his dad, burnt down the guy's casino, and joined up with the Mechs. Here's the song with his backstory. Not quite sure what genre that song falls under, sorry! Jonny D'ville is played by Jonny Sims, who is Jonathan Sims. Don't worry, it's really easy to remember /j.

Anyways, I'm gonna assume you're not very familiar with their whole shtick from what you said - basically, each of their albums tells a story, except for Tales To Be Told Vol 1 and 2. In those, all of the individual songs tell individual stories. There is Death To The Mechanisms, but I'd listen to that last. You can listen to the other albums in any order, though! There are some songs that are entirely narration, no singing. If that's not your thing, TheVoidSings on YouTube, who is an absolute SAINT, has a playlist of all the tracks that do NOT have that narration.

Now, the music type. WARNING FOR GUNSHOT NOISES IN ALMOST ALL THE ALBUMS. Not sure if that bothers you, but they do often have gunshot sound effects. If you like, I can compile a list of songs that have the gunshot effect so you can avoid it, if it would make it a no go for you. High Noon Over Camelot - Western. Heavy folk & country. Once Upon A Time In Space....not sure what to class it as. It's a mixture of things. It can be very loud and fast-paced, but sometimes slow? There's some songs that are like a waltz. Some are very fast and loud. The Bifrost Incident - the best thing I can class it as is "train". Very loud, fast-paced, but melodic in a way. Ulysses Dies At Dawn is heavy blues influence, kinda jazz? idk I don't really listen to jazz sorry :(. And while I am biased, it is ABSOLUTELY worth getting into. Like I said, if a whole album at once seems too intimidating, Tales To Be Told vols 1 and 2 have individual songs that each tell a story. Their music as a whole is always pretty loud and fast paced, so don't go into it expecting waltz, classical, slow and soft stuff.

I'm sorry this took me so long to answer 😭😭😭 I hope this is OK please let me know if you have any more questions!!!!!!

[whoredmode]

Uhm hi I've been in your inbox already a lot lately BUT your one post got me thinking. My Saints Row boss (she's in her own setting now but she stems from Saints Row) is like if you took a very stereotypical Italian American mob boss and made her a trans butch lesbian named Duke. She's smokes cigars and wears sunglasses inside and has a very thick New York accent. She loves cooking and violence and (secretly) participates in local BDSM communities. I don't know if she and Anteros would get along but I think having them both in the same room would be interesting. They could probably connect over their shared experiences in the red light districts, if Anteros can stand Italian American cooking. Anyways WHOOPS hope you don't find this too cringe but I really like your characters and analysis and while I can't draw too well your post inspired me to imagine Duke and Anteros in a room at least once. Thanks!

first of all y’all are welcome in my inbox whenever! and second of all she sounds badass. like i’m obsessed.

i think anteros would love her. like she sounds like the type of person who when she starts talking you sit down and listen cuz you KNOW she got stories to tell. definitely sounds like someone he’d really enjoy having a conversation with, bonding over similar experiences, and he’ll never say no to italian food. if she enjoys cooking for people and made him something for them to eat and talk over he’d be so touched. duke sounds like the type of person he’d adore, especially in his pre-sr1 days when he was starting out on his own. i could totally imagine duke or someone like her being someone he met who would’ve had a genuine impact on him.

thank you for sharing this! it really made me smile!