#link is angry with how normal's plans have only seemed to hurt more people and he is VALID for that anger like it makes sense!

[kaseyskat]

my Thoughts on like, normals character and where he's going btw are highly based on his own flaws and like. idk ive kinda seen both sides (normal is a baby and must be protected versus normal needed this ego blow because he was getting too into his head) and I think it's maybe more nuanced than that? cause the thing is. normal is RIGHT to think that his side of things are the morally correct side. he's the one whose seen what the doodler wants and fears and where it came from, he had more perspective on the quest than any of the other teens and I'm not arguing otherwise because it'd be silly. it's HOW he's going about it that puts him firmly into the, "teen character is going to fuck up because they're a teenager" category: as much as he does genuinely try, he's not good at connecting to other people and he does put himself on this pedestal of "i know better and therefore im the best" that isn't exactly the MOST healthy mindset, as a self-proclaimed leader.

that being said, I absolutely understand where he's coming from in this episode in a very. he is hurting and lashing out kind of way? we know why scary is acting the way she is (her own past with her dad + willy trauma=she's still looking for the trauma that justifies her inner darkness) and we know why link is acting the way he is (he's hurt and scared and he never asked for this and he just wants to ensure that he's not the one actively hurting people, he never forgave himself for the casualties of ep2 and the last thing he wants is to add more) and one of normals flaws is his pride, the way he's so sure of what he's doing, he's the best for this and of COURSE it's the right way, he knows that!!!

but he can't empathize with scary right now. very specifically he cannot empathise with her because he can't trust her. and if he can't trust link he can't empathize with him either. normal does view himself as the reason the team is together, and I think that's why he was suddenly on board with kicking scary out when before he was so deadset on helping her: if he personally can't trust anyone, does he really have a team he can lead?

that being said, the shots taken on him recently have been sooo low in comparison. scary has done nothing but bully normal since they reunited. link has been sassy and snippy with normal even since ep26 and it's only gotten worse. normal and taylor don't really have much of a relationship outside the teen friendship circle in general. hermie is angry at normal- and I kinda agree with will that it should NOT solely be up to the players to remember anthony's fucking npc, as funny as it is. as much as I want normal to listen and understand and empathize with scary and link both, it IS a little frustrating when in comparison normals been fucking tanked at every opportunity by the other players- and link's line to normal after he found out about hero actually made me so upset on normal's behalf like dude.

I'm still on the boat that normal should get and deserves a mild villain arc. I desperately want him to team up with hermie and go to the goofs realm alone. I think it might be good for him- both to have a solo adventure with hermie and to have a solo adventure in general, so he can find out why he loves having friends so much. and I think him going through a villain arc would be so narratively compelling, because again, he's not WRONG about the path they should be taking: it isn't underestimating links personal trauma to admit that normal is actually right and he's just so bad at following through. it's just kinda a little tiring sometimes when normal actually does his best to keep the group together and it doesn't work (looking at episode 27 in particular) or when he tries to bury that oak family generational anger the way sparrow and henry do. let him be angry!!!

[warden-melli]

So we know that Melli Pretends to have another personally. Like he pushes people away with a completely different personality than is naturally shy one. Does this mean that people have hurt him in the past due to this? Because normal people, who aren't hurt by others, don't push others away from themselves by having a different personality. This just makes me sad for him, that people have hurt or even used him due to him being shy.

I feel it’s very much open for interpretation. It’s an interesting angle to examine his character from, even if I don’t share that headcanon/interpretation. While it’s true that Melli has adopted a different personality, I personally don’t believe that the intention in him doing so is to “drive people away” at all, actually it’s the opposite. He’s just really bad at it

Mai tells us that Melli’s goal in life is to help Adaman become a great leader, and it was the declaration of that goal that accompanied his change in persona. Melli is a naturally shy person, so in order to help Adaman, Melli felt it was necessary to change the way he presented himself in order to be the type of person that could help Adaman achieve that goal. That if he was seen as meek, timid and unsure of himself, that he would never be taken seriously. That he wouldn’t be good enough.. So he had to be great. It was more a fear of not being perceived as good enough, not a confirmed reaction to any specific act of trauma that caused Melli to adopt his persona. He is “fake it till you make it” personified, the only problem is that he never did “make” it, so he just comes off as fake. Because he is.

As a naturally shy person, Melli truly lacks the understanding of what it means to truly be confident, so the persona that he presents is more of a caricature of what he believes a confident person to be, resulting in an over exaggerated performance of “confidence” by a person who is not confident in the slightest. I think an important aspect of Melli’s character is that he genuinely doesn’t know that he is being perceived as arrogant, he thinks he’s performing confidence. He doesn’t necessarily think he’s being rude, he is trying to be assertive. The same lack of social skills that facilitated his shyness, now render him incapable of correctly interpreting how others perceive him at all. He genuinely believes that he has everyone fooled, that his act is flawless and that no one can tell that he isn’t still that same, shy little boy from all those years ago. And he’s partially right, because to a lot of people he is not perceived as shy or insecure anymore, but as overconfident and stuck up. This is ironic because in his attempt to be seen as someone more likeable and worthy of being included, he has accidentally presented a persona that has instead pushed others away

It could actually be argued that his entire motivation in the plot of PLA is to actually be more included, not to push people away. He’s is upset and confused when he isn’t invited to the meeting about Lord Electrode. He is actively distressed and insulted by being asked to let you handle the situation with Lord Electrode without his help, and asks to be included in the plan later on in the plot, becoming angry and upset when Adaman turns his help down. He seems deeply upset that Adaman intends to rely on other people, including the player character, instead of him. The entirety of the duration of PLA, Melli is advocating to be included, and all of his purposefully antagonistic behaviour during the events of the plot can be linked to situations where Melli is insulted or excluded in some way, especially by Adaman, the person he looks up to (metaphorically lol) more than anyone in the world. Melli’s happiest moment in the entirety of the game is actually when Adaman chooses to invite him to battle alongside him down in Jubilife village, finally being included by Adaman after being pushed away the entire game

Personally I think the saddest part of this interpretation is that the tremendous and years long effort he has put into masking his true self is most likely unnecessary, and its his own anxiety and lack of self worth, not any real tangible threat of rejection or incompetence thats lead him to act this way. He appears to be an extremely gifted singer and performer, and there is supplemental material that indicates that he is generally pretty well liked in his community. He was also able to achieve the position of warden, something unlikely if he wasn’t a capable person, regardless what persona he presents. Even his main goal in life, dedicating himself to helping someone else to achieve the honour becoming a great leader, as opposed to trying to become a great leader himself, highlights his lack of self worth, as it doesn’t even seem to have crossed his mind in the slightest that he could be capable/worthy of achieving something like that for himself. Quite the contrast to the persona of “the great Melli”, but that’s precisely the point, isn’t it?

But this is just my interpretation of course, and while I don’t really see any evidence that mistreatment is the reason behind Melli adopting his persona, that doesn’t mean its not a valid, and super interesting interpretation. I think it would be incredibly tragic to learn that he has been hurt in his past, especially with how dedicated he seems to be to his people, their leader and their beliefs. I would feel sad for him too :(

[prof-peach]

if fans wanted to include peach in stuff they write, would that be okay? and how would they write peach's personality? aside from "FIGHT ME" anyway, i think that much is a given lol. i only really write the anime characters 'cause that's what i know, but it sounds like it'd be kinda fun to try making a version of ash that fits into this blog's universe! nerf'd Obviously, but i think she'd probably appreciate how hands-on he gets when training his pokemon!

Ok, I get a lot of these messages, and I often hear folks wanting to throw peach into their stories and comics and writings, and I will always simply ask that if it’s published online publicly, to be linked to it so I can snoop and enjoy the content too. If someone asks about her in your work, let them know about the blog I guess? But literally I love that people take this stuff, these characters and stories, and make new stuff with it. No ones making money off my work here? So where’s the issue? Go for it buddy, knock yourself out, I’m all for it.

For you, and all the others out there who want to add peach, and other characters to your world building, I will give you a detailed rundown of the main lot, and how they behave, what they do, how they function. You can use that, use bits, or use none of it, I do not mind at all. If you’re creating something, you’re in control, not me.

So, peach doesn’t actually fight people as much as you’d think. She’s very aware most cannot and do not want to do that, and so she likes to keep to herself with regards to that aspect of her life, she doesn’t ask to spar with people, or even bring it up at all, but people ask her all the time, even if they clearly would lose or become hurt should she miscalculate during the fight. She looks at people like they usually create problems, and often has a somewhat reserved nature to other humans. You have to work quite hard to get anything more than formalities out of her. She will dead-pan handle people with blunt and very to-the-point statements, aid whenever possible, but very quickly get back to handling the Pokemon she so carefully tends. Her focus is clear, she’s all about hard work, her very small select family, and the Pokemon.

Her brutal, loud and brash personality only comes out with friends, family, difficult humans, OR any Pokemon. She will joke and laugh and play with Pokemon, but clam up around humans, maintaining tight body language and generally will be a little cold by regular standards. She does however have some weaknesses in this emotionless shield she puts up. When peach was young she was always angry, which swung so fast to sadness, back and forth. Her teenage years it just got worse and worse, it was crippling at points. She is to this day, full of fire and rage, even sadness, but now she has learnt to control it, to use it. When she sees that in others, it’s familiar, and she is pushed to drop the front, and be very real with the person. Underdogs I suppose, people who get bad reps, but deserve the same as everyone else. She can’t ignore it.

Once you start to pry open her personality, you’ll find she’s a lot more laid back and fun than originally appeared, you just have to work hard to find that side of her. She will meme reference, can’t dance to save her life, loves her coffee, and can be caught in quiet contemplation while gardening. This hobby is her calmest, and often is why she can stay so level headed when her quiet rage boils up again. Without time outside she will become grouchy, a little snippy, and lethargic. Will not go in the ocean for any reason other than life or death, is fine with ponds and rivers, or water at wading height. Likes the rain.

With regards to her training others, they usually have to tolerate her somewhat strict nature. She is a little....unforgiving, holds a grudge if you make a lot of mistakes, and has no tolerance for ignorance in the age of information that we all live in. In previous posts I’ve mentioned she’s only recently selected two students, after many years of testing kids who want to learn from her. Hundred tried out, only two have ever been approved. How she teaches is very fast paced, be prepared to get some scrapes and bruises, she will test your physical and emotional tolerances with intense tasks, carefully watching students like a hawk. Bad posture in your stance? She’ll be the first to tell you to sort it out. Not hearing your Pokemon partner? Right, now you spend the day without using words trying to communicate, let’s see how you like not being listened to.

This is a woman who has spent her life saying very little, and watching everything, she watches Pokemon and can see an issue from a mile off, and in battles, her observations are why she can react fast, and chose effective strategy to avoid damage and achieve results. Don’t let her body fool you, her strongest asset is analysing, watching, planning. Those skills have over the years transferred to people too. As a student, mistakes don’t go unnoticed with this professor.

Her methods are harsh but fair, and should you prove yourself, she will protect you with her life.

Because of her disinterest in kids and lots of noise, she does pass the training of students on to the other staff members whenever possible. Grey takes on the lions share of battle lessons, he is far calmer, more open and friendly, with patience for people, and an empathy that peach sometimes struggles to have. When you go through a lot of harsh training, and difficult events, it’s hard to change how you feel or think, with peach, well, she’s been through it. Most do not come out the other end in one piece, but she did, and it made her strong. You may think I mean strong like buff and big, and yeah sure she is, but I mean it mentally more than anything. Peach will not quit. She has learnt to destroy the boundaries that stop people getting hurt, gone is the fear that freezes you in your tracks, that feeling that you’ll pass out if you go one more step. She’s learnt to ignore it.

This means she’s a little forgetful at how it is to be normal, to be vulnerable and soft and squishy like students so usually are.

She has her issues, but for the most part, visitors get a laugh, a smile, a calm assertive confidence, and facts. She will indulge those who have genuine interest, or show a connection with nature, an understanding of the balance that needs to be struck for everyone to live well together.

Despite her many flaws, she’s fiercely protective, and will go above and beyond to defend the island, it’s staff, the Pokemon and the visitors. Injustice is her biggest gripe, along with littering, and she doesn’t stand by quietly if something happens that seems unfair.

You will not see her without Valka, her vulpix, close by. That Pokemon doesn’t like to be touched by strangers, at all, and will run the second someone comes at her with that intent. Peach will scold you for pushing yourself onto her, should you persistently try to get close to pet Val. They are in sync, if peach is sad, Val is sad, if Val is stressed, peach is stressed, and so on. They are inherently connected, it’s just been that long, the psychic bridge between them has been built, and reinforced over the years.

The only other Pokemon who follows her so endlessly is Booker, a teddiursa who’s pretty rough looking. He quietly trots behind, grouchy and stoic, they fight closely together a lot. He lost his mom a long time ago to poachers, and peach took him in, and changed her whole life for him. Not many people know, but Booker was the reason she left the rangers, changed career, and got so strong. Will tolerate people petting him but isn’t keen at all, grumbles a lot and tries to move away.

You may also need to know about the others, for the sake of writing, she here a few more bits that may be important to you, or others wanting to do this.

Grey is very tall, very burly, composed, tells bad dad jokes, is a bit of a goof if allowed to be. If he sees a pun, he’ll say it. Can’t help himself. Very nice guy to work with, good at keeping people calm and grounded. Pokemon are drawn to him like a moth to a flame, he gives off warm energy, and has inhuman amounts of patience. If you wrong his family however, he will snap back.

He grew up in the city, loves to swim and hike and cycle, can snowboard, is really sporty. A total brain box with held items, and boosting stats. He will explore many paths, to make sure visitors and students get the information they need, in a way that can be remembered and retained for later. Is a huge guy, but will get on the floor to play with a tiny Pokemon. Treats big “meaner” looking species like babies, very good with all pokemon.

His free time is spent either tinkering, swimming, or trimming his bonsai trees. This guy stares at screens a lot, so appreciates time away from them. Peach built him his own little greenhouse for his trees and tools, which he keeps clean and loves dearly.

His methods as a teacher are built around fun and games, he makes hard work easier to do by distracting trainers from the difficult bits, and focusing in on something more interesting or compelling.

His most commonly seen Pokemon would be a houndoom, Saxon, old battle veteran, retired now to herding and being a good boy. Very gentle, loves a pet.

Pari, now a fully fledged nurse, often oversees the labs front desk and pokecentre features, such as healing pokemon, and informing trainers who come to visit. Her skills with eggs and hatchlings is high, she’s great with younger Pokemon, and hands out good advice to trainers a lot. She’s not a fighter, never was, but can find any file, any study, any book, and any refrence you may need. A true bookworm, loves her romance novels, chat shows and upbeat celebrity gossip mags. Will cry at a lot of stuff, be it sad or happy.

She’s got a seriously upbeat personality, but if caught off guard or shocked, she gets a little flustered. Too much chaos will overwhelm her, but usually she’s on top of things. The years spent on the island have made her better at maintaining composure in emergencies. With lots of siblings, she’s very competent with others, and has a good ability to disarm cagey people with her jolly nature. Because of this, she can sometimes gain information from trainers that some of the more harsh professors may not have access to. Charming is a word for it.

Her partners are an eevee, and a happiny. They are quite sweet and well adjusted, the eevee gets a bit bouncy if you get it too excited.

[the-bau-quinjet]

what about doing a steve x reader? maybe where the reader gets hurt during a mission by hydra?? just an idea!! xx

He’s Like a Brother to Me

Summary: Pretending to be a couple for a mission is normal, so why is your Captain so upset?

Warnings: being injured on a mission, kissing, a swear word or two

Word Count: 2202

a/n: My first request!! To the anon that requested this, thank you! I hope you like it :) Sorry if it's not angsty enough! I really tried, but once I got this idea in my head I ran with it. 

Also! I didn't do my normal tag list since y'all requested to be tagged when I was only writing Criminal Minds fics. Just lmk if you want to be tagged in marvel or CM or both!

"The mission is simple. You two will go to the gala as newly weds, pretend to be interested in more than the charitable events of the evening, figure out the chain of command for the weapons dealing, and put a stop to the weapons dealing assholes." Tony laid out the plan as if nothing could go wrong.

You turned to the super soldier on your left, relieved to find a matching grimace on his face.

"We have to pretend to be a couple?" You asked, turning back to Tony.

"Yes. The invites we secured are for Mr. and Mrs. Farley, so you two will be Mr. and Mrs. Farley for the evening. Any other questions?" Before you could chime in with the 17 questions in your head, Tony kept talking. "I didn't think so. Your clothes have already been dropped off to your rooms, so get ready. You'll have Rogers and Wilson doing surveillance in case anything goes wrong." Without another word, Tony forced you and Bucky out of the room.

"I guess I'll see in an hour, husband." You tried to joke, but your smile didn't meet your eyes.

"Same to you, wife." Bucky's face held a similar expression as you both turned your separate ways to get ready for the gala, trying to put the awkwardness behind you.

You and Bucky have been incredibly close ever since he first came back from Wakanda. You became fast friends since you are both so close with Steve.

It was easier for Bucky to open up to you than he anticipated, and in part it's because you remind him of his sister. Similarly, Bucky is like the older brother you never had. The two of you mesh, in the most platonic of ways.

He is there to tease you about your not-so-secret crush on Steve, and your there to help Sam come up with more annoying nicknames (starBucks being one of your favorite to date).

When it comes down to it though, you look out for each other. Of course, that won't make pretending to be a couple any less awkward.

-

You and Bucky enter the gala just after 8:00 pm. The large hotel ballroom is lit up by three enormous chandeliers, spaced throughout the room, with small sconces lining the outside walls. There are round tables around the outside of the room, framing a large open space for dancing.

People are mingling in small groups scattered throughout the room, waitstaff wondering around the room in precise lines to ensure anyone who wants a drink has access to one.

With a deep breath, you link your arm with Bucky's, laughing at the surprised look on his face.

"We have to at least try to sell it." You whispered in his ear, trying to play it off as a cute couple-y thing. "Even if we'd both rather be anywhere else." That comment earned a laugh, easing the tension from his shoulders.

Steve's voice in your ears refocuses you on the mission. "We just got video feed from the security cameras, so we have eyes on you now." You would have sworn you could hear an unfamiliar strain in Steve's voice as he spoke, but you chalked it up to just being nervous for the mission. "Try to mingle, figure out who's in charge."

Mingling was easier said than done. Every time the two of you tried to talk to anyone, the conversation was awkward and tense. You just didn't know how to answer questions about falling in love with each other. Ultimately, you decided eavesdropping was your best bet. Bucky pulled you to the dance floor, whispering in your ear as he held you, "dancing is the perfect cover for moving around the room."

You nodded your head in response, wrapping your arms around his neck.

"What are you doing? I said to mingle, not dance." Steve's voice in your ears surprised you. Normally, he'd stay quiet unless he received intel that could help with the mission or noticed something for you to look into.

"We're listening to other conversations, relax punk." Bucky's voice was light as he spun you around, closer to the most suspicious people you've found thus far.  

"What time is it happening?" The woman seemed nervous as she checked her watch.

"A few minutes. Relax, we'll meet them down the hall at 8:45." The man was calm and collected as he took her hand, leading her across the dance floor and out of the room.

"Guess that's our cue." You stated the obvious as you and Bucky went to follow them out of the ballroom. The couple turned down a side hallway, pulled out a key card, and entered a room, about halfway down.

You and Bucky made quick work to reach the room, pausing outside to listen in. You heard the couple, along with an unfamiliar voice.

"Do you have them?" The unfamiliar voice asked.

"We do. They're hidden in another room down the hall." the woman again sounded nervous.

"You" the unfamiliar voice must have pointed at someone, "go get them. Your wife will stay here to keep me company. Make it quick, Hydra has more important things to do."

Yours and Bucky's eyes went wide at the mention of Hydra. This mission wasn't supposed to have anything to do with them. Before you could react, footsteps could be heard coming toward the door. You had a few seconds max to figure out a way to hide.

With no other options in sight, you pulled Bucky across the hallway into the world's most awkward kiss. When the door swung open, you pretended not to notice, too lost in your "relationship" to care.

The man you saw earlier walked a few doors down before entering another room. You pulled back from Bucky, wincing slightly at the expression on his face. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't think of anything else to do to make it look like we weren't listening..." You trailed off.

"No, no it's fine. It was the only option." Bucky cleared his throat, still slightly dazed and very thrown off.

"Could the two of you stop staring at each other and get back to work?' Steve's voice was again present in your ears, and this time he was definitely angry.

"Right! Right, of course. Let's go." You awkwardly pushed off the wall, moving down the hallway to the room you saw the man enter. On the count of three, you burst into the room together. It was easy enough to over power the lone man in the room, but you and Bucky were still a little shaken up after the kiss. You handcuffed him to the bedpost, taking the key card he used earlier and moving back down the hallway.

After a brief, awkward eye contact, Bucky opened the door with you rushing in behind him. The only two people in the room were the two you heard earlier, making for a fairly easy take down.

"Cap, we got 'em. Two in room 217 and one in room 223." You started to fill him and Sam in, unsure if they still had eyes on you. At that exact moment, three more Hydra agents ran in from an adjoining room, catching you off guard.

You yelped when the gun went off, surprised at the sudden noise after thinking the mission was over. You and Bucky managed to take down the three agents without much more difficulty.

"Scratch that Cap, five in room 217." You again began filling him in, but the room started spinning. Your voice was wavering when you collapsed, the last thing you heard a mixture of Steve's voice in your ear and Bucky's in person calling your name.

"Y/N!" Then everything faded to black.

-

"What the hell happened in there?" Steve and Bucky were standing just outside of the med bay. After you collapsed, Bucky realized you had been shot in the stomach. While other Shield agents came to collect the men you had stopped, Bucky carried you to the quinjet, meeting a pissed looking Steve at the door.

The two didn't talk at all during the short flight back to the compound. It wasn't until you were in the med bay receiving medical attention that Steve rounded on Bucky.

"There was never any indication that more agents were there. They caught us off guard! I didn't even realize she had been shot until after we had them contained." Bucky was beating himself up. He let his guard down, still trying to get over the lingering weirdness of you kissing him.

"Caught you off guard? Buck-" Before Steve could yell anymore, Dr. Cho came out to talk to them.

"Y/N will be fine. She lost a lot of blood, but she should recover relatively quickly. She'll likely wake up in the next half hour." Dr. Cho got straight to the point, trying to ease the nerves of the two super soldiers.

"Thank you so much. Thank you!" Bucky called over his shoulder as he ran into the room, planting himself by your side. He may be weirded out by the kiss, but he knows you were too. You're still like a little sister to him, nothing could stop him from being there for you when you wake up.

Steve followed Bucky into the room after thanking Dr. Cho and briefly discussing the timeline for your recovery.

"As I was saying. Caught you off guard? I've never seen you caught off guard before." Although he was whispering so as not to disturb you, his words were nearly venomous. "The two of you let your feelings get in the way of this mission."

The look of guilt already present on Bucky's face multiplied tenfold. "You think I don't know that? I should've seen it coming. If I wasn't distracted I could've stopped them before Y/N got hurt."

You woke up at some point, hearing Bucky blame himself. Instantly, you wanted to ease his worries. "Hey," the two men turned to you, concern clear on their faces. "It wasn't your fault, Buck. I was just as distracted. Neither of us saw it coming, even though both of us should have. It doesn't matter though, because we got them, and I'll be fine." You sat up, wincing slightly at the pain in your abdomen.

"How can you say that? Of course it matters! You could have died, all because Bucky was too busy making heart eyes at you to-" Steve's words were cut off by identical sounds of laughter from you and Bucky.

"Heart eyes?! Oh my god, that's hilarious." You stuttered out the words between laughs. Steve look so confused, you couldn't help but laugh at his cute expression.

Every time you thought you were done, one look at either Bucky or Steve had you laughing again. "Oh god, make it stop! It hurts to laugh!" You pouted slightly, begging Bucky to stop laughing and Steve to change his expression.

Finally, Bucky reined it in enough to speak. "I was distracted because Y/N like a little sister. It's definitely a bit distracting to feel like you just kissed your sister" You and Bucky each made a face of disgust as you looked at each other.

Meanwhile, Steve had a look of complete shock on his face. "Wh-what? You two aren't ... ya know?”

Again, you and Bucky share looks of disgust. "God, no. He's like a brother to me."

"Yeah, I love Y/N like a sister. I'm definitely not in love with her." Bucky agrees.

Steve's expression is sheepish as he tries to explain himself, "but, but after the kiss you were staring into his eyes like you were in love!"

"We most definitely were not." Mumbling under your breath, you kept talking "his aren't the blue eyes I'd like to lovingly stare into."

Steve was shocked into silence by your statement.

"I think that's my cue to leave." Bucky wore a smug grin as he slapped Steve on the back, uttering a quick "good luck, punk" before leaving.

It was quiet for a minute, neither of you quite sure what to say.

"Who's blue eyes do you want to stare into?" Steve broke the silence, shuffling closer to sit on the side of your bed.

"What?" It took you an embarrassing amount of time to realize you said that sentence out loud. "I said that out loud?" You threw your hands up to cover your face, mumbling about being an idiot to delay having to answer.

"You did. So... who's blue eyes?" Steve's demeanor quickly shifted from shy to confident. He slowly moved your hands off your face, tilting your chin up to look into your eyes. One look had you confessing all your secrets.

"Yours. It always been yours." He rubbed his thumb across your cheek, leaning in closer to you until your foreheads were touching.

"Let me take you on a date." His words were barely a whisper, the warm air from his breath sending a shiver down your spine. You nodded in response, not trusting your voice.

He leaned in closer, barely brushing his lips over yours. "I need words, sweetheart."

You pushed forward, your lips meeting his in a passionate kiss.

"Yes."

[dongofthewolf]

Hiii! Can I request no.9 from the cliché prompts and fake dating au?

Making Amends

Abby Anderson x Reader

Prompts: 9. “There’s only one bed and we sleep as far away as possible from each other but wake up cuddling” 18. Fake dating au

Warnings: swearing, fluff, hint of angst, Owen and Mel slander (sry I had to)

No pronouns are mentioned for the reader

Link to the prompt list here

A/N: Both tropes are literally my favourite things ever and it was so fun to write so ty for requesting it. It ended up way longer than I intended so uhhh yeah hope you enjoy LOL (esp if you requested it)!!

“What the hell Abby?! Have you been telling people that we’re dating?” You had cornered Abby into a secluded hallway, trapping her against the wall with your finger on her chest accusingly.

There was a flicker of fear in Abby’s eyes as she chewed on her lip nervously. Abby was considerably stronger than you and you probably looked like a mouse trying to intimidate a lion, but you didn’t care.

Abby couldn’t meet your burning gaze, all she replied with was a prolonged “Uhhhhhh”.

“Abigail Anderson, answer me right now or I swear to God-” It was rare for you to whip out her full name. And maybe it was kind of a cheap move, but it was a cheap move that almost always worked.

“Fine!” Abby interrupted, letting out a short sigh and preparing herself for the worst. “I kind of told Owen we were dating and I'm pretty sure he’s been telling other people.”

She said the words as quickly as possible, closing her eyes like a bomb was about to go off. Your reaction wasn't far off to say the least.

“You what? Why the fuck would you tell him we’re dating?” There was venom in your words and Abby flinched just slightly.

You were angry, incredibly so. You and Abby have always been close friends, or more so you had been until she started dating Owen. At first it was small things; cancelling plans or leaving early because she was busy and you completely understood. It’s not like you didn’t want her to hang out with him, and obviously you wanted her to be happy, but eventually it got to a point where she hardly ever spoke to you. Aside from the occasional greetings in the busy stadium, it was like you guys had never even been friends.

Now, after completely ignoring you for the past months, she decided it was a good idea to tell people that you guys were dating? It only seemed right for you to be pissed off.

“I just... Everyone kept looking at me like some sad puppy dog because I broke up with Owen, which normally I can handle. But every single day I kept getting the same sad fucking looks and I couldn’t take it anymore, so I told them I was seeing someone. I never mentioned your name but they kept prying, and prying and you were the first person that popped into my mind. I’m really sorry Y/N.”

You didn’t say anything at first, instead you looked at Abby without a hint of emotion on your face, and even less in your tone when you did finally speak. “Why didn’t you tell me you guys broke up?”

Abby paused, she didn’t know what response she was expecting but it definitely wasn’t that. “I um, I figured you knew. Pretty much everyone in the stadium knows.”

“Yeah well… I didn’t.” You were quiet. A part of you was angry and annoyed, but another part of you pitied Abby. She had never been one to lie, especially about something as petty as this.

Before you could think of something to say, Abby broke the silence. “Listen, I know you probably hate me right now, but I need to ask you a small favour.”

“Seriously?” You nudged Abby’s chest, pushing her into the wall again. The pity quickly dissipated to nothing, leaving you once again with a seething rage.

“Look, I know things between us haven’t been ideal but-“

“Haven’t been ideal?!” You interrupted, the absolute ignorance in her words tipping you off the edge. “Abby, you threw me away like I was trash! We were friends and you left me to hang out with Owen. I didn’t even know you guys broke up because you don’t tell me shit anymore!”

“I’ll do anything Y/N, okay? I’ll do your laundry, clean your room, I’ll even take your shifts for patrols.” Abby’s hands were on your forearms as she spoke. “Please just do this one thing for me and I’ll spend the rest of my life paying you back.” There was sincerity in Abby’s face, a hint of desperation too.

You paused. What could Abby possibly want so badly that she’d be willing to do all this for you? Even though you were angry at her, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t just a little bit intrigued.

“I’ll do anything Y/N, please. There must be something that you want.” Abby pleaded, absolute seriousness in her eyes.

“What I want is to never see you again.” Your finger was pointed at her chest again, poking her lightly.

Immediately you could see the hurt on Abby’s face. Okay, maybe that was a little bit harsh (and kind of petty) but you weren’t just gonna let Abby off that easily. Not after everything she’s done.

“Fine…” Abby paused to contemplate her next words, wiping the sadness from her face. “Fine, after tonight if you do this thing for me, we’ll never have to see each other again, I promise. I just need you to come to this party with me. We don’t have to talk or hold hands or anything and you can spend the whole night hating me, but I just need you there.”

“I-“ You couldn't do that. You couldn’t just pretend and lie to all of Abby’s friends for a whole night… Could you?

“Please Y/N. It’s embarrassing, okay? When we broke up, Mel immediately jumped in to fill my space. Everyone knew it and I had to pretend like I didn’t care so people would stop treating me like a wounded animal. If they find out I lied about you? I don’t think they’ll ever stop seeing me that way.”

You looked at Abby and felt a tinge of sympathy, she looked so sad and desperate, and for a second you even considered it. One night couldn’t hurt, right? Wait, no.

You mentally slapped yourself, trying to snap yourself out of it. You were not going to give in that easily. Nope. This was Abby, the same girl who threw away your friendship like it was nothing, and you were not going to let her use you like this. Not even while she’s looking at you with those sad, blue eyes. Nope, you’re mad, you’re angry, you’re-

“Fine.” Fuck.

“Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Abby’s eyes lit up as she wrapped her arms around you, lifting you into the air while she let out a breath of relief.

What did you just get yourself into?

—

“I can sleep on the floor, it's really no problem.” Abby offered, there was a slight nervousness in her tone as she stood in front of you shifting her weight on the balls of her feet.

“Abby, that’s stupid. It’s not like I’m infected or something.” You huffed, reaching for the box of matches to light the candle next to you.

Sometime after the party there had been a power outage and the entire WLF base went lights out. Meaning there was no heat and most annoyingly, no lights.

After a night of uncomfortable looks and even more uncomfortable conversations in which you spent most of the party trying to avoid Abby’s friends, she was walking you back to your room when everything suddenly went dark.

The both of you practically crawled to your room before you could locate a light source of some kind. It had been an hour since the power went out and you insisted that Abby sleep in your room, for… safety purposes.

You shook the match till it was out, suddenly you were thankful for impulse buying those candles last week.

“It’s fine, I’ll just crawl halfway across the stadium until I find my room. No biggie.” You couldn’t tell if she was joking, but something in you felt like she would actually do it if you didn’t insist she stay here.

You sighed. “Just sleep here Abs, it’s easier and I’m offering. Plus, I don’t need you army crawling across the entire WLF base. It’s hard on the arms, even for someone as strong as you.”

“You think I’m strong?” Abby smiled teasingly and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes, looking away as you tried to hide the small grin on your face. God, it was hard to stay mad at Abby.

“Shut up and take the bed.” You could tell Abby was reluctant but she still plopped herself onto your bed. She sat awkwardly on the edge, unsure of how this was going to work.

You tried to ignore Abby’s weird energy as you buried yourself beneath the covers. It took a minute for her to actually lay down in the bed but when she did, she was careful to keep her distance. It was pretty funny (and pretty cute) how unsure she was.

After a few minutes of silence you heard Abby whisper your name softly, almost like she wasn’t sure if you could hear her.

Nuzzling your nose into your pillow you whispered back a small “Yeah?”.

“Thank you.” You could hear the genuity in Abby’s voice, how grateful she was for such a simple act and suddenly it hit you, you didn’t want her to leave you alone. You missed this—missed Abby.

Instead of responding you nudged her foot lightly with yours. It was something you guys had done as kids, like a silent way of saying “I’m here.”. Under the dinner table with the Fireflies or during training when you first joined the WLF; it was an unspoken thing between the both of you. An action that spoke much louder than words possibly could.

The both of you laid on opposite ends of the bed, your backs turned to each other. You shifted under the sheets before finally finding a comfortable position, you fell asleep that night to the steady sound of Abby’s breathing.

—

You were first to wake up, confusion washing over you when you felt your head rising and falling. Why the hell was your pillow moving? Then it hit you; it wasn’t the bed moving, it was Abby. Your head lay resting on Abby’s chest, her arm over your back while your limbs were wrapped around her like a giant stuffed animal. The sound of her beating heart was soft in your ears and you could feel her breath coming out in steady increments, blowing lightly against your head.

You weren’t sure what to do about your compromising position. It was already too late for you to leap out of her arms and a large part of you didn’t want to move anyways. So you decided to pretend to sleep until she woke up. That way you wouldn’t have to decide what to do, she would.

Abby woke up shortly after you, you could tell she was awake by the way her breath hitched in her throat upon noticing how you guys were situated. However, instead of jumping out of the bed in a panic, Abby didn’t move either, and it took everything in you to not open your eyes.

After a few moments of stillness, you almost thought she had fallen back asleep. It wasn’t until you felt a light touch on your temple that you realized she was awake. The touch so light you nearly missed it when Abby brushed a small strand of hair away from your face.

Then slowly, Abby pried you off of her and you nearly let a small groan slip from your lips when you felt the absence of her warmth. She gently rolled you over, covering you with the blanket before walking into the bathroom.

That’s when it happened: the ache. A sharp, jarring ache in your heart that you only felt with her— that you haven’t felt since the two of you were best friends. It had left you when you and Abby stopped talking, but it returned just the same when you witnessed the tenderness of her actions. You never thought to put a name to this feeling (and maybe a part of you didn’t want to), but it was near impossible to ignore it.

You couldn’t possibly be harbouring secret feelings for Abby, right? You tried to distract yourself from these thoughts, it was way too early to be worrying about these things.

Feigning tiredness you rolled off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. You knocked on the door and when Abby opened it you noticed she was in the process of redoing her braid.

You leaned against the doorway as you watched her skilled fingers work. “Abs?”

“Hm?” She replied as she tied off the end of her braid.

“I didn’t really mean what I said to you last night… about never wanting to see you again. I’m sorry.” You picked at your thumb anxiously, eyes wandering around the room, looking anywhere but at Abby.

Abby turned to face you, letting the braid fall to her side. “You don’t have to apologize Y/N, I deserve it. I didn’t even hesitate to leave you when Owen and I started dating, and I was-“

“Stupid?” You finished for her, looking up from the floor to meet Abby’s gaze.

“Stupid. And for what it's worth, I’ve really missed hanging out with you Y/N, even if it is under these circumstances.”

“You know… I think I know a way you can make it up to me, if you’re still up for it?” Abby looked at you with a raised eyebrow and you noticed the corner of her mouth curling into a small smile.

“Oh yeah? What would that be?”

“You see, there’s this guy that’s been trying to ask me out for weeks even though I keep rejecting him.” You gave Abby a tiny grin as you continued. “Well, maybe if he found out I was dating a certain soldier who could pound his ass into the ground, then he’d leave me alone.”

Abby nodded her head nonchalantly as she took a small step towards you, crossing her arms across her chest. “You know what’s crazy? I think I have just the person for you.”

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (June 2/2021) - Self-Care and Reconciliation

Fundy tries some speedy self-care to follow Quackity’s directions of “finding himself.”

Foolish finds out about the supreme fridge and isn’t pleased. 

Antfrost seeks out Foolish, Bad and Puffy to find peace and make amends after what happened with the Egg. 

---

VOD LINKS:

Philza

Tubbo

Fundy

Foolish

Eret

Captain Puffy

Antfrost

Michaelmcchill

---

- Phil works on the basement some more

- Tubbo works on his outpost

- Tubbo comes over to the Arctic and visits Phil in his basement to “spy” on him 

- They go to Tubbo’s outpost and Tubbo asks if Phil would like to make a TNT canon with him. Phil sees Las Nevadas 

- Tubbo’s a changed person since he tried to kill Phil’s friend, and now he and Phil are on good terms!

- Tubbo and Phil start attempting to wrangle a Ghast together for the outpost

- A few days ago, Quackity told Fundy that he could have a plot of land in Las Nevadas under certain circumstances, and Fundy has a choice to join the nation or not

- When he and Quackity spoke, Quackity said that this plot of land can be his if Fundy can find himself. Fundy needs to fix what’s broken

- Living in the middle of nowhere away from other people isn’t good, so today, Fundy wants to take care of himself and become a better person

- Fundy’s snow fox is outside, but Fundy decides to let him roam for the time being

- Fundy goes outside and creates a board with signs: 

FUNDY’S PLAN TO BECOME BETTER MAN:

Healthy diet! fish, steak, vegetables, fruit, dary, grains

Take care of himself. be able to cut down tree fast

mine diamonds

be able to accept therapy say “im okay with therapy”

good friends, get 3 people to say im a friend

sleep

take care of pet :)

learn to count

- He sets up a timer to do these eight things, and once it starts, he immediately runs off to fix his diet

- Fundy fetches some cod from the sea and spots Tubbo’s outpost in the distance. Curious, he goes over -- if someone lives there, that can go towards his friend goal

- Seeing that Tubbo isn’t online, Fundy messages Phil instead. He asks if they are friends, and Phil just asks what he wants. After a lot more pressing, Phil says they are friends! Fundy is his grandson, after all

- Phil asks if Fundy is safe. Fundy is overjoyed that he cares about his safety, and counts that as two friends! Fundy says he should come by to play cards sometimes, and Phil likes the idea

- To himself, Fundy whispers: “You are a friend and you are appreciated and worth something. You are cool. You are special. You are loved.” 

He counts this as the final friend, and has now completed one goal!

- He creates a small patch of dirt and plants wheat, then goes mining for diamonds

- Fundy chops some trees and returns to his house

- On his bed, he psyches himself up and musters up the courage to say something

Fundy: “I...accept...and am okay...with...”

(he struggles to say the last word)

Fundy: “I accept and am okay with...therapy. I accept and am okay with THERAPY!”

- He then goes outside and learns to count by killing zombies

- After that, he has to go find his pet snow fox. He asks a nearby Enderman where he is

- Fundy and the Enderman go searching together

- Fundy can’t find the fox. He keeps searching around the forest, until he comes back towards his house and finally finds the fox sleeping on a nearby hill

- With all his other goals done, there is only one remaining: sleep.

- He goes to his bed, hesitates...

...and sleeps.

(This is a set up for next stream)

- Foolish returns to his summer home from Las Nevadas and finds the WAR sign, confused. He then notices the disappearance of the supreme fridge

- He reads the war note left in the chest for Ponk and is outraged. That fridge was his gift! Of all the buildings that have been built here, the fridge was the one thing he allowed

- There will be consequences, but as Foolish will be gone for a bit, he can’t do anything now. 

- Foolish begins to go through the stages of grief, mourning the fridge, before leaving a note:

---

You destroyed my fridge. It was my gift from Ponk. The one structure that was built for me on this server was destroyed. Once I go through the 5 stages of grief...I will then add on a bonus stage.......REVENGE

---

- He kills one of the L’Sandburg citizen llamas to send a message

- Foolish goes to the main area and visits Eret’s fortress, noticing the totem statue Eret made in mourning. He changes the sign to simply say “in honor of Foolish” instead

- While working on his pyramid some more at the summer home, Foolish notices Antfrost just over the hill. Ant comes over, seeking to apologize for killing Foolish

Foolish: Listen Ant. From the very start I blamed the egg. And I don’t believe the REAL Antfrost killed me. Nice to see some blue eyes as well

Ant: but we didn’t listen to your warnings, we had our chances and we betrayed you and our friends. I wouldn’t blame you if you killed me right here

- Foolish doesn’t. He tells Ant that he’s moving on. 

- Ant asks if there’s any way to make it up to him, and Foolish says he could use some help gathering sand (Antfrost finds sand tasty, but Foolish doesn’t eat sand. It has too many calories)

- The two gather sand together

Foolish: I hold nothing against you

Ant: thank you

Foolish: Honestly I think the banquet has changed me for the better

Ant: how so

Foolish: It has given me new found strength. Basically from here on out...I’ll be less timid to take action

Ant: well at least something good came out of it

Foolish: So how about you Antfrost, what’s next for the old sly cat

Ant: I need to talk to Puffy and Bad and Sam and everyone I’ve wronged

- Ant asks if Foolish has seen Puffy anywhere, whether there’s something he can give her as a peace offering. She likes llamas

- Foolish thanks Ant for his help. Ant says if Foolish needs anything, to let him know. Foolish looks forward to happier times

- Puffy comes on later and finds the book Foolish left in the chest. She reads it, but she still thinks getting rid of the fridge was better for the aesthetic, and she had to get back at Ponk

- She writes another letter, this time to Foolish, titled “To my sharkyson”:

---

Dear Foolish!

It was not my intention to make you sad or angry! I didn’t know you cared so much for the fridge as well. it was kinda ugly and it stood out so much from the rest of the builds! But I assure you I’m not allied with Bad, my whole goal behind L’llamaburg was to keep an eye on Bad so he didn’t build any further on your land or cause you more problems.

Once Bad was gone I fully intended to disband l’llamaburg and tear it down!

Sorry for any sadness I may of caused.. you don’t need a fridge though to be reminded of how Supreme you are!

---

- Ant is at the animal sanctuary. Everything’s been destroyed, but at least Floof is still alive

- He saves Asshole the fish from suffocating out of the water and puts the fish back in the aquarium

- Ant goes looking for Bad. They need to talk

- They meet at the Community House. Bad hasn’t seen Ant in a while, he hasn’t been around. Bad asks if Ant is okay, and Ant doesn’t know. He died

- Ant asks what happened. Bad says things didn’t work out according to plan. Ant remembers Quackity coming in at the Banquet...

Ant: “Bad, what did we do? I killed Foolish...”

- Bad says stuff happens and he doesn’t think anyone would blame Ant

Ant: “Bad, I killed him! What do you mean you don’t think anyone blames -- Bad, we’re monsters! Do you know what we did?”

Bad: “W-well, I try not to think about it!”

Ant: “Well you can’t just ignore -- you can’t act like we didn’t do -- Bad, I killed Foolish, we were gonna kill E-- oh my god, Eret’s on the server too.”

- Bad thinks it’s fine, Foolish will recover and Puffy killed Ant but it was one for one. Ant remembers all the horrible things he said to Puffy before he killed Foolish and asks where Bad went afterwards

- Bad had no choice but to run. He couldn’t save Ant, they were outnumbered

Ant: “...Do you not feel bad about anything? Bad, we’re...we’re mon-- we did horrible things!”

Bad: “Well I mean, yeah, you did do some horrible stuff...”

Ant: “No, YOU! You did some horrible stuff! Who pushed Skeppy into lava, Bad? Who betrayed their friends? We betrayed Sam, Bad!”

Bad: “Okay, we did some horrible stuff -- hey, no! Okay, but -- there were good reasons at the time, or we felt like there was!”

Ant: “No! No no, Bad, we let the Egg control us! No! Did the Egg give you what it promised?”

Bad: “No, ‘cause...we never completed the plan...whatever it was. Ant, I can’t remember exactly...it’s not -- look, it’s -- I don’t know...”

- Ant asks if he’s talked to Sam and Puffy yet. Bad’s trying not to think about it, but Ant says they can’t ignore this. They’re friends, they should make amends

- Ant asks if Bad’s been back down there, but Bad’s steered clear. Ant is feeling normal again

Ant: “I...Bad, do you not...We’re fucked up! We did horrible things! Our friends tried to stop us, and we didn’t listen! We didn’t do anything!”

Bad: “There’s a lot of ‘we’ going on here...”

- Bad points out Ant didn’t really say anything. Ant accuses him of blaming him

Bad: “No, I’m just saying that...if the collar fits!”

- Ant says they both did horrible things, they dragged Hannah in, Punz too and Ponk. Bad hasn’t checked up on those three since. It doesn’t seem like Bad feels bad. Ant’s been gone because he felt ashamed

- If there’s anybody that they’ve hurt the most, it’s Sam. They were the Badlands

- Bad says they were brainwashed. He knows it’s not an excuse, that they should still own up to it even if they weren’t fully to blame

- They both killed one person each. Ant accuses Bad of putting the blame on him again and says that Bad killing Skeppy was worse because they’re platonic soulmates

- Ant wants an apology for letting him die and leaving him. Bad didn’t do anything, he just watched Ant die. Bad was caught off guard. On the other hand, maybe it was a good thing that Ant died, since otherwise they would’ve killed more people

- Ant says they should own up. Bad apologizes for letting Puffy kill Ant. He should have protected Ant, not just from Puffy but from the Egg too. Ant forgives Bad and says sorry for not protecting Bad from the Egg either

- Seeing as Puffy’s online, Ant suggests they go look for her. Bad says he’ll talk to Puffy later. Ant asks about Skeppy -- Bad talked to Skeppy right after what happened, but he hasn’t seen Skeppy since. They had a bit of a confrontation

- Ant wonders if Sam will forgive them. The Badlands wouldn’t be the same without him. He leaves Bad

- Puffy comes down the Prime Path and meets Antfrost face-to-face. The two have a bit of an awkward greeting

- Puffy reminds him of what happened. He doesn’t know how to apologize, but he says sorry. For saying awful things, for killing Foolish. He doesn’t expect her to forgive him, but he apologizes for what he did

- Puffy says it wasn’t right that she killed him, even though she was acting defensively, and she apologizes as well. Ant didn’t deserve to die either, he was blinded by the Egg. She holds Bad more to blame -- Antfrost talked to him recently

- Puffy forgives Ant. She asks how Bad handled it, and Antfrost says Bad is full of guilt and is hoping he can just forget about it

- Bad hasn’t apologized to Puffy, but Ant says he’ll get around to talking to everyone. Puffy made a burner Twitter account to hate on Badboyhalo and if she doesn’t get an apology, she might have to use it

- About L’Sandburg, Ant says he was there for like five minutes, but he doesn’t know what’s been happening since

Puffy: “Ant, you have to be your own person, Ant. He always uses you as his little pet to do things for you, and you murdered a man now because of it, because of Bad.”

Bad uses Antfrost to do things. Why didn’t Bad kill Foolish himself? Why was Antfrost thrown under the bus?

- She tells Ant that he needs to stand up for himself. She had to watch so many “RIP that pussy” and “Why’d you have to kill my cat” edits, it was the worst timing

- Puffy messages Bad asking if he’s apologized to Ant. They spot Bad nearby and walk over to confront him. He’s selling arrows

- Bad says he said sorry for letting Ant die, but Ant wants an apology for Bad making him do everything. Bad says they were both just following the Egg’s orders, that Ant had a grudge against Foolish -- but Ant says he didn’t, that Bad said he had to kill people

- Bad says sorry, but the Egg just wanted it that way. They accuse him of making excuses. Bad apologizes to Antfrost for making him kill Foolish, and the two hug

- Bad and Skeppy had a disagreement after the Red Banquet, and he has to check up with him to make sure he’s okay

- Bad says sorry to Puffy for what they did while under the Egg’s influence. Puffy was told that they were turning a new leaf, letting bygones be bygones so many times that if she took a shot every time she was told that, she would get alcohol poisoning

- Bad says sorry for everything to both of them, from the bottom of his heart. Puffy accepts to be the bigger person. They’ve always been a trio, always been friends, and now that the Egg’s no longer here, she’ll let it slide

- They do a group hug

- After some chatting, Puffy accuses Bad of having a Wattpad account to write Skephalo fanfiction and they continue talking about Skeppy’s merch boxes

- Michael joins the call! They all hang out together

- Later on, Eret and Foolish join in as well! 

- A while after, they all go over to Ponk’s stairway to heaven to finally destroy it

(The build dates back to at least early July, possibly June, of 2020)

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

an icarus and his sun: chapter 10

A/N: y’all ever think about that one empires episode of pearl’s where she helps sausage fight off a raid and that turns into a pvp battle between them, and she absolutely destroys him? yeah me too. also check out this awesome art by @amostfoolishgold​! anyway back to jimmy pov!

Warnings: injury, unconsciousness, fevers, talk of death, violence, corruption/infection, self-blame

AO3 Link - Tumblr Masterpost

-

The sun was nearing the horizon, casting the Overgrown in a golden glow. The castle was beginning to take shape, but they had unfortunately run low on materials, and Joel and Lizzie weren’t back from their gathering trip yet. So for the moment, they all just sat in the half-constructed shell of a castle, having light conversation as they waited for Joel and Lizzie to arrive. But soon enough, the conversation dwindled into an awkward silence. That is, until Gem stood up with a determined look in her eyes and a gentle smile.

“Why don’t we head to my empire for dinner? We’ve been working hard all day and could use a break!” she said brightly. Jimmy wasn’t sure how he felt about Gem quite yet, after everything that had happened- but she and Pearl had been a huge help. Meanwhile Shelby looked intrigued by the offer, and while Katherine first nervously glanced to the horizon, she looked back to Gem with a smile.

“That is very kind of you, Gem. I’d love to- we should probably just leave a note for Joel and Lizzie to let them know where we’ve gone,” Katherine said, standing up as well. Gem looked to Jimmy semi-nervously- and well, Jimmy was always a bit of a softie, wasn’t he? He smiled at Gem and stood up too.

“That does sound nice, thank you for inviting us,” Jimmy said. Gem beamed, and Pearl looked relieved as she stood up next to Gem.

“Well, you definitely won’t see me complaining about free food!” Shelby chimed in, hopping up to her feet. That caused the group to break into laughter, and the air between them felt comfortable again.

Once Katherine had written the note and put it where Lizzie and Joel could easily find it, the five of them (minus Pearl, who had wings) equipped their elytra and flew off to the Crystal Cliffs. When they first arrived there, everything seemed normal. The grand cliffs themselves, the buildings nestled in and around them, the towers- it was a beautiful and mystical place. But there was something blue, white, and gold that stood out in a heap on the ground near one of the buildings- a very familiar something blue, white and gold.

“Oh my god-” Gem started, landing on the ground beside the figure.

“Is that-” Pearl said, unable to finish the thought as she landed just behind Gem.

“Scott?” Jimmy finished, voice shaking as he came in for a bit of an unsteady landing a few feet away from where Scott laid on the ground, breathing shallow and upon a closer look, something red pulsing and spreading beneath his skin like some sort of vine. Jimmy barely registered Katherine and Shelby landing on either side of him, too focused on what was before him.

“This- this red stuff reminds me of the redstone spikes in Fwhip’s empire- or maybe something from the nether?” Gem pondered as she knelt beside Scott, a purple glow coming over her hand as she reached out towards the infection in his arm.

“I’ve seen that before,” Shelby said, voice sounding distant and laced with horror. Everyone turned to look at her, surprised to hear such a terrified tone of voice from the usually enthusiastic gnome.

“The infection?” Pearl asked.

“The corruption. I’ve seen it happen to my people back home, until it consumed them until there was nothing left- it’s why I came here, to try and find a cure or some way to stop it. But nothing worked,” Shelby explained shakily, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Jimmy felt like he was going to cry too- and some awful part of himself thought that he should be glad that this happened to Scott, that it served him right after betraying Jimmy and breaking his heart- but he couldn’t. Despite everything Scott had done, despite never wanting to see Scott again- none of that meant that Jimmy didn’t want a world where the winged elf wasn’t in it. And what about what Pearl had said? Scott didn’t seem happy with Fwhip either, but now Jimmy would never know the truth. Not if it died with Scott.

Jimmy was so wrapped up in his conflicted mess of emotions that he didn’t even notice that someone else had flown in until Katherine let out a sharp gasp. He tore his gaze away from Scott to see what had caused that reaction from Katherine- and saw Fwhip. A mix of anger and terror boiled in his veins and swirled in his stomach at the sight of him. Fwhip looked baffled to see so many people in Gem’s empire, and plastered on a forced friendly smile. Jimmy’s hand found Katherine’s, and she squeezed it back tightly with no intention of letting go.

“Gem! Hi, so I wanted to smooth things over- I think we left things on a bad note-”

“What did you do to Scott,” Gem demanded, cutting off Fwhip as she stood up from beside Scott. Purple sparks danced in the air around her, and Jimmy swallowed nervously- he didn’t think he had ever seen Gem seem so intimidating before. Jimmy was relieved to see that Fwhip looked nervous too.

“Well, I haven’t seen Scott since our meeting, he seemed upset when he left- weird that he ended up here- y’know I was actually gonna go and talk to him after you-”

“If by talk, you mean do whatever you did to Scott to us?!” Pearl demanded, hand on the hilt of her sword as she took a step forward to stand beside Gem.

“I didn’t-”

“I’ve had enough of your lies, Fwhip. What. Did. You. Do,” Gem said evenly. Fwhip swallowed nervously, before sighing and finally giving in.

“Okay, so I may have set a few traps in his empire and got Sausage to help me with letting a raid infiltrate his village and the surrounding lands- but I figured Scott could handle a few traps and some mobs, it was only meant to be a warning, I never meant to kill him! He must have really gotten soft if he couldn’t deal with it,” Fwhip rambled. Gem and Pearl seemed semi-satisfied with his answer, but Pearl kept her hand on her sword and purple sparks still danced around Gem. But there was something that Fwhip said that bothered Jimmy, and along with what Pearl had said… guilt was beginning to settle in the pit of his stomach.

“What do you mean by that?” Jimmy asked tentatively. Fwhip let out a harsh laugh, turning to Jimmy incredulously.

“The idiot actually fell for you. He was just supposed to be a distraction, a contingency plan to make sure you wouldn’t be trouble. But he got in too deep, and look where that got him,” Fwhip scoffed, looking down at Scott’s deathly still form in disdain. Guilt was crashing on Jimmy in waves now. He had pushed Scott away. Scott had actually cared about him and he pushed him away. And then he had no one to go to for help when Fwhip decided to send a “warning” and got hurt as a result.

“You’re lucky I’m a pacifist,” Katherine spat, more angry than Jimmy had ever heard her. He wished he could have shared her anger, shouted at Fwhip too- but Jimmy just felt numb.

“Well unluckily for Fwhip, I don’t have that problem,” Pearl fumed, drawing her sword. Fwhip started to scramble back as Pearl leapt at him. His backwards stumble turned into a run, and Pearl kept pace with him just fine, using her wings if necessary and brandishing her sword to chase him away.

“Pearl can handle him- can you three help me get Scott to the apothecary? I’d do it by myself, but he’s tall and there’s the bulk of his wings to worry about too,” Gem asked, looking down at Scott worriedly.

“Erm- right, of course,” Jimmy said, letting go of Katherine’s hand to join Gem at Scott’s side.

“Hold on- go to the other side and help me turn him over,” Gem said. Jimmy did as she asked, and being mindful of his wings, the two of them gently rolled Scott over so he was on his back. Scott was feverish to the touch, and even unconscious his expression was contorted with pain.

“He’s hot,” Jimmy said, distant horror in his tone.

“Now isn’t the time for that, Jimmy,” Gem teased, trying to lessen the tension in the air. Jimmy’s face scrunched up in irritation as he half-heartedly glared at her.

“He has a fever, Gem,” Jimmy huffed. Gem laughed nervously.

“I know, I know, just trying to make this less terrible than it is,” Gem sighed. Jimmy gave her a weak smile, and together the two of them gently lifted Scott up. Jimmy ended up mostly holding Scott, while Gem supported his wings. Scott’s head lolled against his shoulder, labored breaths fanning his neck. Jimmy should have felt embarrassed or flustered, cradling Scott like this- but he was too concerned with how limp and unresponsive Scott felt in his arms.

“I’ll get the doors for you!” Shelby offered, quickly making her way over to the apothecary door. Katherine hovered around Jimmy and Gem semi-anxiously, making sure that they had a good hold on Scott as they made their way over to the apothecary. But all went well, and they were able to safely transport Scott into one of the apothecary beds. He had begun to shiver and tremble every so often now, and Jimmy could have sworn the corruption had spread, reaching his fingertips.

“There’s gotta be a way to stop that, or at least slow it down,” Gem murmured in thought, pulling up a chair to sit at Scott’s side. She reached out to the cut where the corruption on Scott’s arm stemmed from, hand glowing purple again. She closed her hand over it, and her eyes began to glow the same purple as her hand. But then the glow flickered, turning red for a moment before it dissipated entirely and Gem drew her hand back with a yelp, stumbling backwards out of her seat beside Scott’s bed. Jimmy scrambled over to help her up, eyes darting nervously between her and Scott.

“Is everything alright? I chased Fwhip off, but I swear if he’s done something in here…” Pearl trailed off as she walked into the apothecary, eyes zeroing on Gem as she rubbed at her temples.

“I’m fine. The corruption- it fought back. It’s… alive, somehow,” Gem said with morbid curiosity in her tone.

“It’s a type of fungus. That’s as much as my people could figure out before I came here to try and find a cure. The red stuff is everywhere in my old home- even if you tried to get rid of it, it would just come back. And in the cases where it latched onto a person… there was no getting it out,” Shelby explained, sounding like she was going to cry. Gem hummed thoughtfully.

“Did you try any sort of magic with it?” she asked.

“No, my people were not magic-users- in fact I’d hardly seen magic before I came here, where the air seems charged with the stuff,” Shelby replied, gesturing around her. A determined expression came over Gem’s face.

“Then I’m not gonna stop trying. I don’t know if I can fully fight off the corruption, but I definitely think I can slow its spread. In the meantime, we’re gonna need to get Scott’s fever down- at this rate, that’ll kill him before the corruption will,” Gem said, resting the back of her hand on Scott’s forehead and frowning.

“He’s probably a little beat-up too- Fwhip did say he trapped his empire,” Katherine added. Gem nodded in agreement.

“We’ll need cool water and cloth to make a compress for his forehead- and I should have some healing potions around here- it couldn’t hurt to brew some more though too, just in case,” Gem rambled, starting to stand up before Pearl put up a hand.

“You two stay here with Scott, I know where you keep things around here. Katherine, Shelby and I can worry about getting things for you,” she soothed. Jimmy tilted his head in confusion.

“Wait, I can help get things too…” Jimmy trailed off uncertainly.

“You can help if you want. I just figured you’d wanna stick by Scott,” Pearl shrugged with a gentle smile. Jimmy flushed slightly as he looked down at the floor, away from Pearl’s knowing stare.

“I… yeah. I’ll stick by Scott,” he said softly, gaze shifting to look at the winged elf who always managed to make his emotions into a muddled mess. Scott was an enemy, a friend, a- a something, then an enemy again- but whatever Scott was to Jimmy now, he knew one thing: he wasn’t letting Scott out of his sight again. Doing so the last time caused this to happen. He had to be there if- no, when Scott woke up. He had to apologize for pushing him away, and hope that maybe Scott still cared about him after everything that had happened to accept it.

-

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[captainimprobable]

Part 3 of that thing I’ve been posting.  This is a first draft, once it’s edited I’ll put it on Ao3.  There will be five parts! Part1  Part 2  ~~

Amity has a plan.

She knows her girlfriend likes meaningful gestures, especially when it’s about something important.  So as she signs her name at the bottom of the pink paper, she wills herself not to be nervous.  She’s doing everything right, she knows, and besides, it’s Luz.  Luz is understanding and generous.  She’ll love this. 

(Amity hopes.)

Walking to school the next day is torture, and she’s brought back to a similar morning a few months ago, when she was clutching paper from the same notebook she used today.  She didn’t go through with it then, but everything is different now.  Luz will say yes.

So why can’t she stop shaking?

She walks into the building and immediately spots Luz.  Her stomach flips itself over, as usual, and she nervously walks over to her girlfriend.   

“Amity! I missed you!”  Luz sees her and runs over, catching her up in a hug.  Amity tries not to swoon.  

“Luz, I saw you yesterday,” Amity says, smiling as she’s picked up and swayed a little.  

Luz pouts as she puts Amity down.  “Yeah, but that was a long time ago,” she mumbles.  She looks down at the ground, and her eyebrows scrunch together.

“Oh wait,” she says, stooping down and picking something up.  “You dropped this.”

It’s the pink paper.  Amity wants to die.  “WAIT,” she says loudly, startling a couple of other kids down the hall, “DON’T LOOK AT THAT.”

She grabs the paper and then stops.  Wait.  Things are different now. 

“Actually,” she says, with as much composure as she can muster after an outburst like that, “this is for you.”

She holds out the pink paper. And Luz. Takes it.

If Luz recognizes the type of paper the note is written on, she doesn’t mention it.  Amity is shaking as Luz opens the note, inspecting every single change in Luz’s face, anticipating a possible rejection. 

But instead, Luz’s face morphs into a huge smile, and she turns the paper over so Amity can see the words she’s written.

“Luz, will you go on a date with me?”  

 There’s color high in Luz’s cheeks as she asks “Really?”

“Of course really,” Amity scoffs, her entire body relaxing at Luz’s reaction. 

“Ohmygosh of course I will!!!!!  Where are we going? What are we doing? Can we-”

Amity holds up a hand to stop Luz’s train of thought.  “I have it all planned out,” she says proudly.  “All you have to do is show up.”

 Luz smiles, the crinkles at the corners of her eyes getting deeper as she does.  “Of course you do,” she says.  “I’ll be there!”

~

Amity had thought she was nervous yesterday, but that’s nothing compared to today.

 Edric and Emira are trying to help calm her down, but they’re somehow making it worse.  “I’m sure she’s gonna have a great time,” Ed says sincerely, nodding to himself.  “Unless….she doesn’t,” he adds.  

 Emira hits her twin on the arm.  “Ed, not helping,” she scolds, and puts her hands on Amity’s shoulders.  “First dates are scary, but this is Luz.  You could take her to the dump and she’d thank you.”

 “I’m terrified,” Amity confesses to her sister.  

 “Don’t be!”

 “Thanks, Em, suddenly I’m totally fine.”

 “Glad I could help,” Emira winks.  “Now go get your girl.”

~

It’s time for her date with Luz.  Well, actually, it’s an hour before her date with Luz, but she’s leaving now anyway because she likes to be punctual.  

 As it turns out, she doesn’t have a lot of time to be nervous, because when she opens the door to leave Blight Manor, Luz is standing there with flowers.

 “Hi,” Luz says excitedly, laughing a little at the look on Amity’s face.  “These are for you.  I got you purple ones because they match your hair!”

 “You’re early,” is all Amity manages to say.  She takes the flowers from Luz and their fingers touch.  Normally, this wouldn’t be such a big deal anymore, but knowing they’re about to go on an actual date makes everything feel a little different.  Amity tries not to jump.

 “Yeah,” Luz says, hands behind her back.  “But I know you, and I knew you’d be early, so here I am!”

 Suddenly Amity feels like crying.  Being known isn’t something she ever thought she would get to experience.  Being known this well was never even a thought.  She is so, so lucky.

 She blinks the tears away and manages to direct a smile at her girlfriend.  “Thanks,” she says.  “I love them.”

 Luz beams.  Amity still marvels over the way Luz’s expressions are so open and extreme.  She’s smiling with her entire body, somehow, exuding so much happiness just because Amity liked the flowers.  

 “So you have an idea?” Luz asks.  

 “Oh, yeah!” Amity says.  “I have the perfect plan.”

~

Amity watches Luz’s face stealthily out of the corner of her eye the entire way through Bonesborough.  They’re holding hands, and it feels like magic, but Amity is so nervous that Luz won’t enjoy what she’s planned that she can barely appreciate it.  Luz looks unbothered, though, swinging their hands between them happily as she chatters on about something King did earlier in the day.  Normally, Amity would be paying rapt attention, but today she’s a little too wound up.

 “Okay, here we are” Amity says nervously, watching  Luz’s face carefully for any sign of rejection.

 Luz looks up and gasps.  “A bookstore?????? I didn’t even know there was a bookstore here!”

 “Yeah,” Amity says shyly.  “I just thought...well, the first thing we really bonded over was Azura, so I figured maybe we could wander and…” She trails off.

 Luz is jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.  “Yes! I’ve always wanted to go on a bookstore date! I wonder what kind of weirdness a Boiling Isles bookstore has! Unless it’s just, like, a normal bookstore.  Which would be disappointing but still cool!”  She grins and pulls on Amity’s hand.  “Cmon, let’s go!”

~

It’s going well, she thinks.  Luz looks like she’s having fun as she pulls book after book off the shelf, commenting on them each before putting them back.

 “I’ve been wondering about the Azura books,” Luz says at one point.  “Like, how come we get them in the human realm and the Boiling Isles? How is that possible?”  Luz scratches her head.  “Maybe the author is from here and somehow managed to get their books to my realm? Maybe they’ve got a really good publicist? Or maybe they’re human and their books accidentally made it here somehow, like, maybe Eda brought one back one day and someone bought it and-”  Luz stops.  “Oh my gosh, Amity, do you think Eda is responsible for the circulation of the Azura books on the Boiling Isles???”

 Amity considers that.  

 “You know, I haven’t really met any other people who like these books,” she says.  “I always wondered why they weren’t more popular.”  Her eyes widen, realization dawning.  “What if I’m the only one? What if Eda sold them to the bookstore and I bought them and-”

 “Woah,” Luz says.  “That is some crazy coincidence.”

 “Well,” Amity says bravely.  “Guess it just means we were always meant to be.”

 She gets a bright red Luz as a reward for her nerve, and she smirks.  It’s fun to make Luz nervous.  Knowing she has that effect on her makes her so happy.  

 Luz doesn’t say anything, just reaches out a hand for Amity’s.  Amity gets it.  Sometimes holding Luz’s hand is the only thing that makes sense.

 “Oh no way,” comes a voice from behind them.  Amity’s heart sinks.  Oh no, not now, why now, why here, why-

 They turn around and Boscha comes into view, scrutinizing their linked hands.  “You’re actually dating the human.  Wow.  I thought that was a rumor, like, one so ridiculous it couldn’t even be true.”  She smirks.  “And yet here you are.”

 Amity can feel Luz stiffen next to her, and she’s suddenly filled with rage.  Luz escaped her world to avoid being made fun of, she shouldn’t have to deal with that here, too.

 Amity raises her chin and looks Boscha in the eye.  “Aw, what’s wrong, Boscha, jealous that nobody wants to hang out with you?”  She looks around pointedly.  “Looks like you’re alone, huh?  Has everyone finally realized what a monster you are?”

 Boscha’s face turns a shade of pink darker than her hair.  “I’m not alone,” she spits.  “I came here by myself on purpose.  It’s exhausting, having followers all the time.”

 “Sure,” Amity says, turning to leave.  “Come on Luz, let’s-”

 “Can’t believe she went and got a girlfriend from another species,” Amity hears Boscha mutter under her breath.  And then, a little louder, clearly intending to be heard- “Guess shopping at the bottom of the barrel is easier than finding someone normal.”

 Amity stops.  She’s gripping Luz’s hand so hard it’s probably starting to hurt a little, but she can’t help it.  Luz seems to sense the storm coming, and she scrambles to stop it.  “Amity, it’s okay, let’s just go-”

 But Amity is done.  Done with Boscha and her stupid games, done with everyone making fun of Luz for things she can’t control, done with her girlfriend being treated lesser than because she wasn’t born a witch.

 She releases Luz’s hand, whirls around, and says, quiet as the dead, “Say that again.”

 Boscha seems to realize she went a little too far this time, but she’s not one to back down.  “What are you gonna do, Amity? Hex me? You don’t have the-”

 Before she can finish her sentence, Amity’s fingers are twirling in circles and Boscha is on the ground, angry hives crawling up and down her body.

 A security guard comes over, looking bored.  He gives Boscha a glance, unimpressed.  “Miss,” he says to Amity.  “I’m gonna have to ask you to go.”

 “Don’t worry about it,” Amity says.  “We were just leaving.”

~

Amity thinks her hands might be clenched permanently, now.  The anger (coiling, rampant, hot to the touch) she’s feeling isn’t new, but it’s somehow louder now, a line of static in her ears so loud that she doesn’t hear Luz calling her name until the third time.

 “Amity!”

Amity blinks herself out of her stupor and remembers, suddenly: she’s supposed to be on a date.  A date with her cute girlfriend.  A date that she messed up by getting them kicked out of a store.

 She knew she’d mess this up somehow.

 “Amity, are you okay?”

 Luz is looking at her with concern in her eyes, and Amity doesn’t deserve it.  She doesn’t deserve any of this.  She’s ruined everything.

 “I’m sorry,” she mumbles, not looking Luz in the eye.  She’d understand if Luz dumped her over this.

 “For what?” Luz asks sincerely, and Amity looks up in confusion.  “Um, for ruining our date?”

 Luz raises her eyebrows.  “How exactly did you ruin it?”

 “I hexed Bosca, I got us kicked out of the bookstore, I-”

 “What I’m hearing,” Luz says, taking Amity’s hand again, “Is that you got angry on my behalf and defended me from a bully”

 “But I got us kicked out of the store!” Amity insists.  She feels like she owes it to Luz to admit what a screw up she is, but Luz isn’t having it.

 “No, Boscha got us kicked out of the store.  Besides, it’s no big deal, we were basically done anyway.”

 This isn’t right.  She knows she should be happy that Luz isn’t blaming her, but something inside her insists that Luz needs to know, that Luz needs to understand that Amity messed up and will probably mess up again, that she had everything planned out perfectly and it went nothing like it was supposed to and Luz should probably break up with her and-

 “Break up with you?????” Luz sounds scandalized, and Amity realizes: she said everything out loud.  

 “You think I would break up with you over this?”

 “I..I don’t know,” Amity says, closing her eyes as though that will make her disappear.  “Maybe.”

 “Amity, I-I don’t like you because you’re perfect.  You’re only human- I mean, you’re a person, and people make mistakes, and that’s okay! I make mistakes all the time! Just today I missed a step and fell down the stairs.  It happens!”

 She takes Amity’s other hand and looks her in the eyes.  “You’re perfect to me.  But not because you never mess up.  Because you’re kind, and funny, and beautiful, and you do things like hex bullies because they make fun of me.  I don’t need the perfect date, Amity.  I just need you.”

 Amity is speechless.  Nobody has ever said anything like that to her.  She remembers what she told Hunter in that cave all those months ago: I grew up thinking everything was an opportunity to justify existing.  But there are people out there who won’t make you feel worthless.  You just have to let yourself meet them.

 It’s time she took her own advice.

 “Thank you,” she says quietly, smiling shyly.  “You’re the best girlfriend a girl could ask for.”

 “No, you are!” Luz says earnestly, and Amity realizes that, if she had the courage, she could kiss Luz right then and there.

 She doesn’t, of course, but now that it’s in her head, she’s not going to forget about it anytime soon.

[nmikaelsonimagines]

Gold Rush: A Klaus Mikaelson Imagine

Request from @lanadelswiftie​: Hiii i saw your post and i was wondering if you could do a gold rush post where klaus gets jealous of everyone wanting or being enchanted by the readers beauty?

Thoroughly enjoying writing the Evermore collection! Hope this is okay for you lovely, and enjoy x 

Want to hear the song? Find a link to it just below:

Gold Rush

What must it be like to grow up that beautiful? With your hair falling into place like dominoes I see me padding across your wooden floors With my Eagles t-shirt hanging from the door

Klaus was always blown away by Y/N. It didn’t matter where they were or what they were doing, she always managed to take his breath away. She was beautiful, something he told her daily earning a blush that made him love her even more, and he knew just how lucky he was that it was her that he got to wake up to every morning.

She was perfect, he knew that. It was just a shame the rest of the world did too.

Y/N had scolded Klaus about his jealousy multiple times, telling him over and over again that it didn’t matter if others out there wanted her. She loved him and him alone. That would never change. But her words, however comforting, never allowed him to forget that she would be ogled at in the streets, that, undoubtedly, the same thing would happen later in the evening at his family’s ball.

But as she approached him, bare feet padding against wooden floors as she made her way over to the bed, her hair falling perfectly into place, only for him to tuck it behind her ear as he kissed her, he pushed his jealousy away.

He may have been the Devil in disguise, but here was an angel willing to save him.

At dinner parties, I call you out on your contrarian shit And the coastal town we wandered 'round had nеver seen a love as pure as it And thеn it fades into the gray of my day-old tea 'Cause it could never be

Whenever someone looked at Y/N like she was the only person in the room, Klaus felt two things. The first was jealousy, naturally, a desire to go over and kiss Y/N hungrily, showing the world that she was with him. If anyone wanted to get in the way of that, Klaus was more than happy to rip their head off.

The second was a gnawing doubt, a fear that maybe, one day, all it would take was a smile, and Y/N would fall for another. One day, she would sit him down and tell him that she’d realised he simply wasn’t good enough for her and that she deserved better than a monster like him. She would tell him that she was tired of pretending to love him, of feeling like she was just something for him to show off as they walked around town.

Klaus was scared of his nightmare coming true, of losing Y/N completely. He couldn’t imagine a life without her, couldn’t imagine a life without her touch, her smile, her kind heart, her beauty that blew him away every day.

But as she walked over to him, the fabric of her ball gown sliding over her body perfectly, he pushed away his fears, linking his arm with hers and placing a kiss on her cheek.

“You look beautiful, Y/N.”

She blushed again, and Klaus couldn’t help but smile.

'Cause I don't like a gold rush, gold rush I don't like anticipatin' my face in a red flush

It wasn’t long before Y/N caught someone’s eye. Klaus rolled his eyes as the man, dressed in a shabby tuxedo, hair untidy in the way that seemed to be fashionable in the twenty-first century. He turned to scoff at Y/N, but stopped in his tracks when she waved at the admirer.

“Do you know him?”

“He works at the Grill, gives me free coffee every Monday morning.”

Klaus refrained from saying what he felt, that the free coffee was only a ploy to get to Y/N, instead feeling his face go red, a darker crimson than that of Y/N’s blushes. He hated this, hated that Y/N was so unaware of how people were using her for her looks. He looked over at the man, making sure that Y/N’s eyes were elsewhere before he glared, giving his opponent the look he reserved for his enemies.

Much to his satisfaction, the man seemed to get the hint, moving out of sight. Jealousy was clearly going to be a guest at the ball tonight.

But as Y/N tugged him away, over to Rebekah, telling him all about her day and just what she planned to do tomorrow, jealousy became a distant thought, a third wheel, and Klaus reminded himself that he was her date for the evening.

And would be for the rest of her life.

I don't like that anyone would die to feel your touch Everybody wants you

“You’re jealous.” Klaus rolled his eyes at his sister’s words as she tauntingly whispered them into his ear. “Anyone can see it, Nik.”

“Well maybe they should,” Klaus snapped back. His previous glare at Y/N’s friend hadn’t been all that effective. Y/N had told him she was going to say hi, and hadn’t come back for ten minutes. Klaus’s eyes were on the pair and he was seething.

He had tried really hard not to be jealous, not to be frustrated by Y/N enjoying the company of another man. But he couldn’t help it. He was waiting for the moment when that man would touch her, knowing that once someone had met Y/N, it was incredibly hard not to. He hated the way they treated her like an object, a marble statue, there only for their pleasure.

He had tried really hard, but there was only so much he could take. When he heard Y/N’s laughter floating across the room, he decided that it was time to take action. He stalked across the dance floor, ready to show her admirer just who he was trying to take Y/N away from him.

But, as he saw her smile, her eyes light up at the sight of him, her wave to usher him over, to meet her friend, to introduce himself as her boyfriend, all his anger dissipated, and Klaus decided to try and be calm.

Try being the key word.

Everybody wonders what it would be like to love you Walk past, quick brush

As calm as Klaus was trying to be, focusing on Y/N’s hand on the small of his back, he couldn’t help but notice the look in the man’s eyes. The glint as he looked Y/N up and down, no doubt wondering what it would be like to share a bed with her. That was knowledge only Klaus had, and knowledge only he would have.

It was going so well, his breathing steady, his jealousy and his temper at bay. And then-

“Well, Klaus, if you ever fancy sharing this one, you be sure to let me know.”

Hands slipped. Eyes widened. Snarls started to brew in his throat.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Well, I can imagine Y/N can be a bit of a handful, if you get what I mean.”

Klaus felt Y/N’s grip tighten on him, her words hurried. “Klaus, don’t. He’s drunk.”

He heard them, but he didn’t listen. Y/N’s words were just background noise as the sound of his blood pumping, raging, drowned out any sound. Y/N’s friend wanted to know what it was like to have Y/N touch him. Well, now he was going to find out what it was like to have Klaus do so.

He knew Y/N would be angry, but as she pleaded with him, a voice that normally would have brought him back down to earth fading into the distance, Klaus curled his fist, and threw the first punch.

I don't like slow motion, double vision in rose blush I don't like that falling feels like flying 'til the bone crush

It wasn’t like Klaus particularly enjoyed hurting people in front of Y/N. But he couldn’t deny that there was something awfully satisfying about the bones crunching beneath his knuckles, the blood staining white shirts, the colour of it reminding him of Y/N’s blushes.

Y/N. She had her hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him away, to make him stop. A crowd had gathered as Klaus pummelled this man to near-death, the bartender now unconscious. “Klaus, stop, please.”

Everything happened in slow motion. Klaus’s vision cleared at the sound of her voice, as he turned and looked at her. There wasn’t any fear in her eyes, just a spark that threatened to blossom into a fiery rage. He knew he would pay for his actions later, knew as he stood and let Y/N pull him away from the scene, back into their bedroom, that she would scold him yet again for his jealous behaviour.

“Y/N, before you say anything, let me-”

His words were swallowed by her lips on his. She kissed him as if she wasn’t angry with him, taking him by surprise. She’d had many a reaction to Klaus’s jealousy before, but never one like this.

He wasn’t quite sure what to do, but as she continued to kiss him, lips moving in sync, his angel healing him from the wounds anger had etched into him, he realised he didn’t care.

Everybody wants you But I don't like a gold rush

“What was that for?”

“For defending me. No-one’s ever dared speak about me like that before, especially not someone who’s supposed to be my friend. Not that I’m condoning just how far you went,” she looked at him with those eyes that he could never resist, and Klaus desperately wanted to kiss her again, “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“Y/N, I’ll heal.”

“So you don’t want me to undress you?”

A familiar growl started to build in Klaus’s throat, earning a cheeky grin from Y/N. She was stunning, and he was so lucky to have her. For her to stay with him in spite of everything, for her to love every part of him.

Klaus was always blown away by Y/N. It didn’t matter where they were or what they were doing, she always managed to take his breath away. She was beautiful, something he told her daily earning a blush that made him love her even more, and he knew just how lucky he was that it was her that he got to wake up to every morning.

She was perfect, he knew that. It was just a shame the rest of the world did too.

But maybe, just maybe, that didn’t matter.

Masterlist

Evermore Masterlist

[imagineteamfreewill]

Imagine Robbing Dean’s Cabin

Pairing: Robber!Reader x Dean

Word Count: 1,510

Warnings: None

Square Filled: Robber!Reader

Summary: The reader finds what she thinks to be the perfect hit, but it turns out to be less than perfect.

A/N: This is a submission for the 2020-2021 SPN AU Bingo (@spnaubingo​). Please let me know what you think, and enjoy!

X

_______________

“Perfect,” you murmured, and you shifted on the tree branch to get a better look at the cabin. It was empty, just like it had been for the past three months, which made it the perfect hit. You’d been craving a good robbery ever since you’d gotten into town. You were supposed to be getting out of the life, but old habits die hard.

Silently, you climbed down from your perch and slipped between the shadows of the massive fir trees. The ground was blanketed with fallen pine needles and you sent up a prayer of thanks. They kept your footsteps quiet, making it easier to sneak towards your mark, not that that mattered when the cabin hadn’t been used in months.

You were halfway through the kitchen window in the back of the house—some idiot had left it unlocked—when the light flipped on. A man was standing in the doorway, and he had a gun trained on you. It had been a long time

“How do you feel about cops?” he asked, his voice low.

You inhaled sharply, frozen in place as you frantically tried to figure out the best way out of this. You could back out of the window and risk being shot while you tried to escape, or you could climb the rest of the way in and face the man head-on.

“They’re not my favorite,” you finally responded after he raised an eyebrow at you. Slowly, you lowered yourself onto the kitchen counter.

“Me neither,” he replied. He cocked the gun and you glanced towards the nearby door. It led out onto the back porch, which was a straight shot into the thickest part of the forest. If you could only make it there, you had a pretty good chance of coming out of this unscathed.

He gestured with the gun towards the plain kitchen table nearby. When you didn’t move, he took a step towards you and his upper lip curled as he growled out, “Sit.”

Your mouth grew dry and you swallowed hard as you crossed the short distance between you and the nearest chair. It creaked when you lowered yourself into it.

“What’s your name?” the man asked. When you didn’t answer, his jaw clenched and his eyes flickered dangerously. “What’s your—“

“Amy,” you murmured.

“Bullshit.”

You stared at him, pressing your lips together. Who did he think you were, an idiot? No one with any common sense would give their real name after being caught in the middle of robbing a house.

“Listen, I’m not in a good mood, so you’d better stop lying to me. I’m not a person you want to make angry,” he ground out. Though the kitchen was well illuminated, his face was still half in the shadow provided by the hallway, and you suppressed a shiver as fear slid into the back of your mind.

“I wasn’t going to hurt you or anything,” you told him. “I was just gonna take a look around, see if there was anything of value. If you let me go, I promise I won’t come back. You’ll never see me again.”

“There’s nothing valuable here.”

“Great, then let me—“

“No. Stand up,” he ordered. You stayed in your seat until he stepped closer and held the gun to your head.

“Whoa, hey!” you cried, but you got to your feet. This was not turning out the way you’d hopped and your heart was thundering in your chest as the man led you towards the living room. He turned on that light too, then prodded you towards a faded couch against the main wall. You sunk down onto the middle cushion and stared up at him, holding your breath.

“I’m not gonna hurt you if you cooperate,” he told you, and you nodded weakly, exhaling heavily. “Do you do this often? Rob people?”

You shook your head, then thought better of it and murmured, “Not recently.”

“Explain.”

Taking a deep breath, you clutched your hands together and tried to keep your voice from shaking as you told him about the man who’d first coerced you to help him rob someone, and then how it had become something of an addiction. You hadn’t been able to go more than a few days without sneaking into someone’s house or a business to find something that would give you the same adrenaline rush. After a close call that left you in the hospital and your partner six feet under, you’d moved to the tiny town of Evergreen Falls, Montana. You’d been hoping it would be the perfect place to recuperate and find a new hobby, but you’d been wrong. You’d seen this cabin and it had only worsened the itch that nothing seemed to scratch.

“So what was your plan, exactly? You’d just rob me and then go back to living your cute little life in town, and everything would be great? You wouldn’t feel the need to steal anything else ever again?”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were an expert,” you scoffed. If you were being honest, that had been the plan, but when he put it the way he did, you realized that you’d been stupid. Of course you wouldn’t have been able to go back to living a normal life after robbing this place. You would’ve gotten the buzz of adrenaline back and never wanted anything else ever again. Nothing could replace it. You’d tried.

The man stared at you for another moment before the corner of his lips quirked up in a smile. Silently, he uncocked the gun, flipped on the safety, and tucked it under his shirt.

“What if I told you I had a business proposal for you?”

“I don’t typically do business with people who hold me at gunpoint,” you said, keeping your arms crossed over your chest. “And definitely not after they mock me. I know I don’t make the best life decisions, but I don’t need people making fun of me for them.”

He kept silent and stared at you intently, and you shifted uncomfortably under his steady gaze. Finally, you uncrossed your arms and got to your feet.

“Can I go or are you gonna shoot me if I try to leave?” you asked.

He shrugged. “Don’t tell me you aren’t at least curious. You rob places for the adrenaline, right? I can promise you that the rush is ten times better in my line of business, and you actually help people.”

You hesitated, glancing between him and the front door. He was right—you were curious. Quietly, you sized the man up. He was broad-shouldered and he stood tall, and the way he moved stealthily as he walked proved that he was used to sneaking around. You hadn’t even noticed his presence in the cabin until he’d announced himself, and you’d been watching the place on and off for months now. A big part of you wanted to know how he’d managed that, even if you didn’t end up doing business with him. You were an observant person and not much got past you.

“Alright,” you said. “I’ll bite. What is this business proposal?”

“I need someone to help me take something,” he replied.

You rolled your eyes. “Obviously, or you wouldn’t be talking to the person who just tried to rob you. What exactly would you need my help with and why should I help you?”

He glanced towards the kitchen and you waited patiently. Clearly, the man was caught between telling you some sort of lie and telling you the whole truth. 

“My brother and I need to break into a museum and steal a painting.”

“Is it a money thing? A kinky thing?”

His ears turned red. “What? No!”

“Then what is it? Are you thieves? Is someone paying you to bring it to them?”

He shook his head and sighed, running a hand through his hair. “We have to destroy it. If we don’t, more people are going to get hurt.”

You raised an eyebrow and crossed your arms over your chest again. This guy was crazy. “Right.”

“I know it sounds bad—”

“Oh, do you? Good, I was worried you didn’t!”

He sighed again. The man looked up towards the ceiling for a long moment, mumbling to himself before finally saying, “Sit down. I’ve gotta give you the talk if you’re ever gonna take this seriously.”

“I’ve already had the talk, thanks. My parents were pretty specific when it came to the whole birds-and-the-bees thing.”

“It’s a different talk. Just sit down, alright?” He gestured to the couch behind you. 

After a moment of thought, you reluctantly lowered yourself back down again. The man took a seat in a worn green chair that faced the couch and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning towards you.

“Promise me you’ll wait until I’m done to ask any questions,” he said, and you stared blankly at him in response. “Just promise?”

“Fine, I promise.”

“Okay. So my brother and I, we work together…”

_______________

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[oceanera12]

Linked Darkness

Four wanted to scream. All four of him.

So. Apparently something called “Dark Link” was behind their meeting or something or other. He was the one infecting monsters. And he looked like a Link. Most everyone didn’t even flinch at this revelation. If anything, most people were angry and threw their nearest weapon at the time in the general direction of the creepy red-eyed guy.

Dark Link just laughed, all evil like and made some comment about how they’d have to do better than that to catch him.

And then he ran off into a cave.

And everyone chased after him, sans Four. He was a little busy trying to keep his four selves from murdering something because for a brief second they had all thought...

Never mind what they had thought. This “Dark Link” gave a bad name for all shadows and by Hylia, they would not let that stand. And so they dashed, a bit late, after the group.

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

Warriors was hitting his sword against a stone wall, when Four finally found the group. Blue had to admire the angry yelling that was also being shouted. Legend and Time were panting from exhaustion from something and it seemed like they had all determined to leave Warriors alone. For now.

Time nodded at Four, “I was about to send someone to look for you.”

“Sorry,” Four shuffled, “Dink caught me off guard.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Dink?”

Vio smirked. It had been his idea for the name. It was every bit demeaning as that cursed shade deserved. Red had clapped politely for the name but Blue had expressed how proud he was of Vio for such an idea. Green had to be the “normal” person but he wanted to pat Vio on the back and determined to let Vio be heard by the other Links more often.

“I am not calling him Dark Link. It sounds wrong on so many different levels,” Four replied. “Dink is short, easy to remember, and gives him the right amount of respect. Which is none.”

No one spoke for a moment. Warriors began to laugh, soft and low. His sword stopped hitting the stone and he sank to his knees. Wind took a very hesitant step away from the Captain. “Guys, I think he’s lost it.”

Warriors turned around and rested against the stone wall. His laughter turned into a chuckle and he shook his head. “Four... don’t ever change.”

Vio frowned, puzzled. Green forced a stiff nod. Red bristled with pride at the compliment. Blue just rolled his eyes.

Twilight sat down in front of Warriors, “You okay?”

“Yeah... sorry. Dark is a touchy subject with me.” Warriors shrugged. “He taught me a very valuable lesson.”

Time nodded slowly, “I believe he taught all of us something.”

“I haven’t met him... at least, I don’t think I have.” Wild said.

“Consider yourself lucky, cub,” Twilight sighed loudly.

“We should get moving,” Time finally said. “Dark Link--

“Dink!”

“--is long gone.”

A chilly wind suddenly blew through the cavern, chilling every hero to the bone. “Be careful what you wish for...”

And that was when everything went black.

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

“Four!”

“Present,” Four grumbled into the darkness. “I think Dink decided a cave in was the best way to kill us.” At least he hadn’t crushed anyone... or even tried to. Four was worried about that last part.

Wild’s Sheikah slate was currently the only source of light, but he was working on getting some torches out.

“Only two,” Four had told him. “We need the oxygen as much as the light.”

“You been in a cave in before?”

“No, but I read about it.”

Vio was in charge at the moment. They had all determined the cool, calculating, smartie pants was the best bet at the moment.

Fire sparked and suddenly the cavern lit up a few feet. The torch was passed to Time, who held it aloft to get a look at everyone. No one appeared injured and satisfied with the well being of the group, he turned to the far wall. “We need to find a way out.”

“Great...” Legend grumbled.

The second torch flared to life, illuminating the group enough to see Legend’s displeasure. Wild shrugged, giving the second torch to Twilight. He fiddled with his slate for a moment. The eye on the front suddenly illuminated so brightly that Four shut his eyes for a second. “Wild! A little warning next time!”

“Sorry!” Wild turned the light outward. “This was something my Zelda figured out shortly before our journey. She called it a portable light or something.”

And with that, the group set out on their trek. The cave system was relatively safe, compared to other caves the various Links had gone into over the years. A few keese here, one wizzrobe there but nothing out of the ordinary. They were not even enhanced, which was definitely weird. Alarm bells were ringing through Four’s mind and all four of him were on the highest alert. 

They finally found the exit door after two hours of wandering into dead ends. And that was when Legend began to curse. Loudly.

“Language,” Time scolded.

“Don’t!” Legend hissed. “You don’t even know why I'm cursing.”

Siy asked, “Why are you cursing?”

“Because I know where we are. And we are not getting out.”

Dink’s cold laughter echoed through the cavern and everyone drew their swords, standing back to back to each other. “Enjoy your suffering heroes...”

Four bit back a few choice words. “Legend, where are we?”

“An old prison of some ancient tribe of something or other, I don’t remember. But here’s the thing: the tribe were traitors to Hyrule. They got a kick out of taking loyal citizens and soldiers and tossing them into this prison to fight and eventually die. The only way to open the door is to have the blood of a traitor of Hyrule.” Legend cursed again. “I’m many things, but a traitor isn’t one of them.”

Four felt Warriors stiffen to his right and heard Time utter his own curse under his breath.

Wind spoke up, a bit hesitant, “There’s another way out, right?”

Legend shook his head. “I have chased after traitors to this prison. They used it as a hideout. I searched for weeks for another entrance. Nothing I tried did anything. And I tried everything from magic to brute force.”

“But didn’t Dink cave us in?” Wild asked. “That was another exit!”

Legend shook his head. “I don’t think it was a cave in. I think he shut the door. Do you remember a large crash of rocks?”

No one spoke as Dink laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Well, that certainly put a damper on the situation. 

Four looked about the room, glaring into the darkness, “Shut up, Dink, I’m trying to think!” He put his sword away and marched forward.

Dink stopped, probably from the shock of the name. Or maybe he just wanted to watch Four pace back and forth. When nothing happened to kill Four, the rest of the group relaxed (mostly) and began to run through options of how to get out.

Four had a different kind of debate. This one took entirely in his head.

Green was hesitant to start. Vio just sighed. “We have a way out.”

“But do we?” Green argued back. “No one knows about the whole ‘split situation’ and I don’t feel like now is a good time to show that off. And even if we were, you were not an actual traitor, Vio.”

“If I recall, you all called me such,” Vio argued back. “And I did nothing to deny the fact. And I did a few things that would be considered treason to many people.”

“But you were faking it!” Red yelled back. “You were not a traitor.”

“For once, Red, I need you to think I was,” Vio would have glared at his brothers. “It is our only way out of the cave.”

“We can find another way!”

“Blue, you have been awfully quiet. Something on your mind?” Green asked.

There was a pause. Then, “We can’t throw Vio under the horse.”

“... Aw, Blue does care,” Red sighed.

Vio growled back, “Now is not the time to be sentimental. This is our way out.” Vio paused. “It would be best to split. The group will see you as heroes and me as the traitor.”

“We are not just going to let you take the name traitor in this group!” Blue practically shouted.

“WELL ,YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE!” Vio roared back. He paused, collecting his thoughts. “It is fine. For once, being a traitor is turning out to be a good thing.”

No one spoke for a moment. Green then hesitantly asked, “Would it work if we did not split?”

“Why would we do it as Four?” Vio huffed. “No need for the group to hate all of us.”

“Would it work?” Green pressed.

Vio sighed, “It most likely would. We are one as Four. All our blood is the same.”

There was silence.

“No.” Vio growled.

“All in favor?” Gree asked. He, Red, and Blue chimed in. “All opposed?”

“I can handle this by myself!” Vio protested.

Red spoke up, soft and slow. “But you don’t have too. We do this together, or not at all.”

“They will see all of you as traitors. They will not see you as a hero.”

“You’re a hero too, Vio. You’re our brother and we stick together. Got it?” Blue demanded.

Vio was quiet for a moment. “It is illogical and sentimental and will be detrimental to the entire group.”

Green sighed, wishing for the ability to hug all three of his brothers. “But it won’t be to you.”

Silence.

“We love you, Vio,” Red said softly. “You did what you thought was best and it hurt you. And you were alone. You are not alone anymore.”

“... I still believe it to be a poor decision. But very well.”

“Alright,” Green sighed. “How are we going to do this?”

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

Four had been quietly pacing for over an hour. Warriors watched him out of the corner of his eye that entire time.

Most everyone had settled down. Dark Link had left them alone again, thank Hylia. The group had been listing off various actions that they considered “treasonous” or ideas on how to get through the cave. All of them had been shot down, one after another. The familiar feelings of despair had settled over the group.

Four stopped pacing.

Warriors looked over at him. He caught the blacksmith’s eye. For a brief second, he could have sworn it flashed purple, but then it turned back to it’s usual green color. Warriors blinked, but shook the situation aside. “Any ideas, Four? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

He really hoped their smallest warrior would have a better plan then throwing remote bombs at the door.

Four didn’t respond. He tore his eyes away from the group, looking down at his belt. A small dagger was produced and Four marched over to the door.

Time sighed loudly, “Four, we already tried that.”

And they had. Warriors had been ever slightly relieved that his blood hadn’t done anything.

Four ignored the group, making a shallow cut on his hand. The smallest bit of blood oozed out of his hand and Four pressed it against the door.

Nothing happened.

“See?” Time said. “We’ll need-”

The door suddenly flared red. The writing glowed of pure malice and the old magic hummed. The air felt “wrong” and Warriors found himself gripping his sword hilt as the door opened.

No one moved for what felt like a century.

The sun had set at some point while they had been in the prison. Four was illuminated by the night light outside.   His back was turned to the entire group. He was looking down at the blood on his hand, but Warriors was unable to see his face.

Four finally turned around. He appeared very nervous, but he squared his shoulders and stood as tall as he could. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He closed it, paused, then tried again. Nothing. Finally, the words came. They were cold, calculating, and felt hollow. “There was a moment in my adventure where I found it necessary to pledge loyalty to a dark lord, who was trying to overthrow Hyrule. Many people in my life, including my family, branded me a traitor of Hyrule. I turned against him in the end, but I did still do it.” He paused. “There were some... actions I had to take to ensure Vatti believed I was on his side. I do regret that I had to do them but I stand by my decision.”

No one moved.

Four shifted uncomfortably. “Think of it this way: if I hadn’t done it, then we’d all be trapped in here for eternity. So... yeah.” He turned on his heel and marched out of the cave, calling behind him, “You might want to move. I don’t know how long that door will stay open.”

There was another pause and then a mad dash for their supplies and for the door. It shut behind them with a grinding sound, leaving the prison dark and cold.

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

No one had spoken since they left the prison. Camp had been set up in silence, Wild had cooked without his cheerful humming, and no one was looking at Four.

Four tried to ignore it. He knew what he was doing. Vio was yelling at the others for being idiots and not allowing him to take the full force of eight heroes disapproval, but they paid him no mind.

This had been for Vio. Not for them.

It was Wind who broke the silence, with a question “What kind of actions?”

Everyone looked at him, clearly confused. Wind gestured vaguely at Four, “You said you took actions to ensure what’s his name thought you were on your side. What kind of actions?”

Four thought for a moment. “Mostly the passing along of information. Battle formations, dates and times of when and where Vatti’s enemies would be, etc.”

“So...” Warriors said slowly. “You were a spy.”

“Of sorts,” Four shrugged. “I also had to appear to try and kill some of my... comrades. I failed, obviously, but it looked real enough that they believed I actually turned against them.”

Warriors didn’t reply to that.

Time cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. He turned to Four, “It was very brave of you to admit that to us.”

Four shrugged, “I did not see another option out of there. It was the logical decision.” He paused. “I am unsure if Dink knew about my past or if he was just as shocked as all of you. I would like to think the latter.”

“Wait,” Hyrule raised a hand. “Wouldn’t Dink know about it if you know him?”

“Uh...” Four paused again. He was quiet for sometime. “I don’t know him.”

“But you have had some experience with something similar?” Time asked. “You did not like Dark Link. That hatred did not come from nothing.”

“... I told you that there were reasons I had to swear allegiance to Vatti,” Four wrung his hands, avoiding eye contact. “It is... complicated but the short version is there was someone who was like Dink. I called him Shadow because he... well, he came out of my shadow.” Four appeared lost in memory then snapped back. “Shadow was loyal to Vatti, but he would often seek me out to simply... talk. I found myself confiding in him and he in me. Being the hero was very... difficult on my mind. It was good to have a friend. 

“It was Shadow who asked me to join him and Vatti. I refused, at first. But the more time we talked the more... human, Shadow felt. It is hard to explain but I wanted him to be free of Vatti. To have a life of his own. So I told him I would help him.” Four looked into the fire for a moment. “He took my betrayal to Vatti... very hard. But something must have gotten through to him because he shattered the Dark Mirror, which was Vatti’s source of power. It was also... Shadow’s life force.”

Someone gasped softly. Four didn’t look up. “He gave his life for mine. Even after... I hurt him.” He paused, “I killed my own Shadow.”

No one spoke again for some time. The fire sputtered and turned from a roar to a crackle. Wild pulled a log from somewhere and placed it on the fire. The light caught and everyone watched the log slowly wither away.Another log was added some time later.

Warrior let out a heavy sigh, “You’re really something, Four.”

Four titled his head to the side. “I know.”

“That’s not... Four, your shadow turned away from the darkness it came from.” Warriors smiled bitterly. “Mine never spoke and killed many good men. It was born of my own pride and overconfidence. Yours was born...”

“I had to pull the Four sword to rescue Zelda. It was going to release Vatti, but I couldn’t let her die. When I pulled it, Vatti stole my Shadow.”

“Well, no wonder it turned to the light,” Warriors shook his head. “No matter what anyone tells you Four, you’re amazing.”

That was... not what Four had been expecting. “I’m a traitor.”

“Maybe,” Warriors conceded, “But I don’t think any of us ever gave our own darkness a chance to change-- or even had a chance to try. You are a hero in my book. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Four bent his head, hiding the tears pricking his eyes. Vio’s voice was shaky, but it carried. “I... you... what?”

Warriors moved across the clearing and pulled the smallest hero into a hug. “Four... don’t ever change.”

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

This got way to long way too quickly but eh. I woke up this morning with this idea and put off homework for almost three hours to write it so now I need to go work on that. Thanks brain. Thanks for nothing.

Warriors was the one who needed convincing. Everyone else can just accept Four’s actions with his explanation. Warriors is the one who needs the explanation and I will die on Warriors and Four being friends. I just love their dynamics with one another.

[aminiatureworld]

Frustration II

Characters: Albedo, Kaeya, Zhongli, gn!reader

Word Count: 2,820

Premise: Commissions don’t always go as planned, much to your frustration. Luckily there’s someone there to make you feel better.

Author’s Note: Okay I did not predict the first part of this becoming the most successful fic on this blog to date. The people have spoken! So I come to you with more characters, hopefully this will make up for leaving Zhongli in the dust yesterday – that and the fact that his scenario turned out to be the longest to write out of all of them. I also have a few other characters for this prompt in mind, we’ll see. Also wow I don’t know how to title sequels.

Once more my deepest thanks to the 115 people who liked, the 8 people who reblogged, and the one person who commented on the first part. I cannot tell you the joy it brings me to see that people are interested in what I write. It makes me so stupidly happy, so thank you so very much.

Albedo

“I understand that Forsaken Ruins are supposed to hide secrets and all, but honestly how many boxes can one put in the same area before someone tells you it’s time to stop.”

Albedo said nothing in reply, eyes focused intently upon the graduated cylinder and glass pipette in his hands. You watched as he counted the drops under his breath, nodding slightly as the clear water in the cylinder shifted to a rather unimpressive muddied brown. Regardless of the color evidently the alchemist was satisfied, for he stoppered the cylinder and returned the remaining liquid of the pipette into its original container, arranging everything on the shelves, and leaving the rest in the small sink.

“Silver nitrate.” He explained, wiping his hands on a cloth, before going towards where you were sitting cross legged on a stool near the countertop that worked as his desk. “Now tell me about why you’ve been digging up boxes near the Forsaken Ruins.”

“It’s for a commission. You know Bao’er?”

“That suspicious woman from Liyue I keep telling you is probably a bandit?”

“That one.” You nodded curtly, glancing down at your hands. “And bandit or not she keeps commissioning me, I can’t very well not accept. Anyways, she’s been looking for some sort of treasure, but no matter what I give her it’s never what she’s looking for. Do you know how irritating it is to have a passive aggressive customer angry at you about something they did? I mean really.” You huffed in frustration.

“Have you considered the fact that she might just be using you to dig up all the treasure in that area.” There was slight amusement in Albedo’s voice, and your head shot up in response.

“Well forgive me for doing my job.” You shook your head, not truly believing there was any bite behind the alchemist’s words. He was right after all, and you weren’t altogether upset to know that someone else shared your suspicions of this person who kept commissioning you with no end in sight.

“Forgive me love.” Albedo walked over and gave your slightly hunched figure a hug. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, leaning your head into his shoulder. The position you two in wasn’t necessarily comfortable, but there was nowhere proper for you both to sit, and besides Albedo’s embrace was so warm and secure you didn’t mind craning your neck a bit.

“You’ll get there eventually.” Albedo’s voice was steady, confident, as if he’d somehow calculated the fact that eventually this mad goose chase would end, had seen it in one of his many experiments.

“How would you know?” You whispered, still feel a bit contrary, though your frustration had long ebbed away.

“I just do. You can master anything with time you know. That’s the secret of science, the secret of alchemy. In the end it cannot be done without endurance, and I know that your endurance is one to withstand any storm.”

“Only when you’re cheering me on.” You replied, hugging Albedo a bit tighter.

“Oh that’s not true.” Albedo responded in kind, running circles along your back. “You’d do just fine without me. But I’ll be here for you regardless. So don’t forget that every question can be answered and every quest completed. It just takes a little time. We’re all humans in the end, regardless of vision or power. Just humans, and to be human is to sometimes need a little time.”

You nodded, lifting your head to glance into his face, usually passive and clear as ice, now filled with warmth and fondness, smile filled with fondness and love.

“Besides.” Albedo loosened his arms around you, instead reaching to help you off from the stool, laughing slightly as you stumbled, feet having fallen asleep. “I don’t see Bao’er doing any of the digging. How about you remind her of that next time she has an ill word.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” You replied, before leaving the lab, hand pressed firmly into Albedo’s and heart much lighter than before.

 Kaeya

“My darling!” Kaeya leapt down the steps outside the Headquarters of the Knights of Favonius, feet barely seeming to touch the ground, before sweeping you up in a hug. “It’s been too long and I’ve missed you so much.” He declared, ignoring the fact that it’d only been about 8 hours, instead peppering your face with small kisses, before registering the look of frustration clearly being worn by you.

“What’s wrong?” He drew back a bit, though not much, curiosity and worry in his eyes, hands gripping yours. You smiled, shaking your head; Kaeya always seemed to be ready to worry about your happiness, not that you didn’t find that completely charming.

“It’s nothing really important.” You were looking to assure him, but instead Kaeya’s frowned deepend.

“Nonsense. Anything that’s clearly making you so unhappy is of utmost importance. I’d like to know what it is, if you don’t mind. I’d like to help.”

“You’re helpful you being here.” You smiled, giving him a belated peck on the cheek. “But if you must know I’ve got a commission that needs to be done in an hour, and I have no idea how I’m going to accomplish it. You know how there’s a large vein of Crystal in Stormterror’s Lair? Well Wagner asked me to go mine some for him, easy stuff normally. Apparently though the mouth of the vein is situated right in the path of a ruin guard, and I’ve had a terrible time trying to do battle with the thing while being bogged down by mining equipment.”

You sighed, shaking your head. “I mean really this shouldn’t be that hard. Why am I struggling so much? Wagner isn’t asking that much, he’s a good person. I’m just… inept.” You finished, by then your nails had begun digging into your palms. Kaeya noticed this and brought your hands up to kiss them, smiling as you reddened slightly and shook your head, a smile nevertheless tugging at the corner of your mouth.

“Well I won’t tell you that Wagner is being utterly too demanding and that you have a right to a safe work environment,” you snorted at that, as if an adventurer’s work environment was ever safe, “but I will tell you that, since the best, most handsome, most daring Knight of Favonius has fallen hopelessly in love with you, he is willing to do the mining while you use that ruin guard to blow off some steam. Does that sound like a good deal?”

“I can’t believe you’re sitting out a chance to fight and instead are becoming a miner.” You smirked, placing a kiss on Kaeya’s jaw. “But really how could I ever turn down such an offer from such a gallant knight.”

“You’d run back to Wagner and give his ears a rightful scorching I’d hope.” Kaeya replied, linking his arm in yours.

“Hmm… unlikely.” You replied, leaning into the knight. “But thank you Kaeya. Truly, thank you. I know it’s not your job to fix commissions. It means a great deal to me that you’re willing to do this.”

“Of course I’m willing.” Kaeya smiled softly. “You’ve saved me from failing my job too, in more ways than you think. And even if that weren’t true, which it is, I love you so very dearly, and this is a small way to show it.”

You nearly ran into a lamppost, your face pressed into Kaeya’s shoulder, face warm and heart full of love.

 Zhongli

You really didn’t want to tell Zhongli.

That was the thought running through your mind as you hurried up the steps to the funeral parlor. You really didn’t want to tell him.

It’d been little more than a month since he’d given up his position as god of the city, little more than a month since the citizens of Liyue had begun the arduous task of ruling their own city in earnest. And little more than a month since you and the Geo god had begun your courtship. You relationship was still new, and though you’d thankfully mostly lost the sense of smallness that had initially come with falling in love with someone so powerful and so unending as a deity, though you now longer thought the love between you was something that could shatter at any moment, you still were a bit reticent to throw all your insecurities and mundane frustrations at Zhongli’s feet.

The smell of incense hit you the moment you entered, a bit overwhelming at first, but soon comforting and familiar. You exchanged a few words with Hu Tao, before walking over to Zhongli’s office, pace speeding up despite yourself. You might not have wanted to tell Zhongli about your day, but you desperately wanted to see him, as you always did when all was said and done. There was something about his presence, comforting and sturdy, and always filled with kindness and understanding.

Understanding. Zhongli would understand, of course he would. But you still didn’t want to tell him, didn’t want to see his face cloud over with worry as you knew it would. He cared so very deeply, even if he didn’t always express it he truly did. Hidden under layers of politesse, tradition, and decorum there was simply someone who cared so very deeply. And thus someone who was often and easily hurt.

“Hello darling.” You said, entering the office quietly. Zhongli had been reading a scroll, but he quickly set it down, a smile erupting across his face as he stood up and met you halfway, enveloping you in a hug, which you gladly reciprocated. “I’ve missed you.” You said, voice muffled by his chest.

“I’ve missed you too, so very much.” He replied softly, one hand running itself through your hair absentmindedly, the other wrapped around your waist. “The days are terribly slow without you. I never noticed before how an afternoon can stretch so long.”

“Well I’m here now.” You replied, leaning back and bit to cup the archon’s face in your hands. Zhongli placed one of his hands on yours, leaning into your palm, smiling contentedly.

“I’m glad of it.” He said those words often enough, but every time it made your heart speed a bit. You felt so full of happiness you could almost forget the irritation of the earlier hours.

Almost.

“How were your commissions today?” It was early evening by now, and golden light was starting to slant through the windows. Zhongli was cleaning up a bit as you watched, smiling slightly. That smile slipped however once the question was asked, not that you didn’t know it was coming, as you two often asked each other about your days, each being a bit fascinated with the other’s job in some respect.

“It was alright. Fairly ordinary.” You tried keeping your answers brief and your tone light, though you could already hear the sharpness in your voice. Irritation was difficult to hide however, and you could already see skepticism in Zhongli’s gaze as he turned to face you.

“Oh. What were the commissions, if I may ask, the regular spots?”

“Mostly. I had one where I had to deliver a message to the Inn too, and one where, well, it was less of a commission and more of… well honestly I’m not sure what to call it.” You finished, tone by now filled with a mix of irritation an cynical amusement. Zhongli stopped altogether at that and sat at his chair, facing the spot you’d taken on the desk.

“May I ask what happened.” He said once more, tone slightly worried. Shit. Wasn’t this exactly the reason you hadn’t wanted to tell him?

“Well, you see I’m not the only guild member of course. And it’s almost the end of the month. What with everything that’s happened they needed someone to ask after some of the unfinished commissions, the ones that had a time limit. I finished my work early so I went.”

“And?”

“And, well. Well some of these adventurers were honestly hopeless!” You burst out, having shed your worries in your frustration. “I mean I know they mean well, I know they’re trying. Or at least I hope they are, you can’t really tell at some points. Like this one guy, I asked about why he hadn’t done any of the food deliveries he said he would and he made some odd excuse that a coworker was supposed to take care of it while he looked for a text that someone else wanted. Okay, fine. I go to the coworker, and she says that it was a one time thing as far as she was concerned and that she didn’t go to pick up the food after. I go to the restaurants themselves and turns out half the orders never go tthere and the other half have been put on a tab that need to be paid but no one thought to pay it so I do so. That doesn’t even begin with whoever did a hack job at the Wangshu Inn, apparently the boards have caved in again. And I was going to do that, but then I got pulled into some monster hunting so that won’t be done this month and honestly, it’s all just so… so frustrating!” You felt like you were spiraling at that point, all the frustration and shame coming back to you, the feeling of having to smile at someone who you’d much rather scream at.

Your thoughts cleared as Zhongli reached out and placed a hand on your shoulder. Bringing his hand up to your face he wiped away a few tears of frustration that you’d shed. Shaking your head you took his hand in yours. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t worry you about these things. I don’t want you to think Liyue is falling apart. I mean this was a thing even before you stepped down, and I know that I’m complaining too much and it’ll be fine it’s just, it’s just a lot.”

“I know.” Zhongli smiled softly. “You shouldn’t feel like hiding these things for my sake. I appreciate the sentiment, but I’d rather truly know how you’re feeling. Just like you don’t want to place a burden on me, so do I not want to place a burden by you by making it seem as if you have to carry your cares alone.”

“But, with everything so recent… I just. I worry you’ll regret it.”

Zhongli smiled, and leaned in, kissing your forehead. He smelled of incense and glaze lilies, and you found the knot in your stomach uncoiling despite itself. Smiling you linked your fingers through his, focusing on that as Zhongli kept a hand on your cheek, grounding you.

“Thank you for worrying about me. But just as I trust you’d tell me if Liyue were truly about to burn to the ground, so do I trust that it won’t happen. You’ve taught me that you know.”

“Me? Not the Liyue Qixing or the traveler? I think they’ve done a lot more than my running around will ever do.” You smiled a self-deprecating smile, but Zhongli simply shook his head.

“You have taught me that. How you keep going, how you support those you don’t even know for the sake of your guild and your commission, even if you have a grievance. And, more than that, you’ve shown it to me, simply by letting me have a place in your heart.” He lowered his gaze, face clouding over in the way you knew it did when he was considering the past. You gave his hand a squeeze and he looked up, smiling softly.

“I used to think that humans were delicate, no matter what. That they were destined for the tragedy of death and that made them unable to be depended on, that they’d just break and break and that I’d spend my existence watching it until I couldn’t stand it anymore. But you showed me that ultimately humans are resilient, more resilient than any adepti or magical being, who cannot stand to face time or pain or hard work. You’ve taught me that, and if you’ll let me I’d like to share that with you, your burdens, your frustrations, your anxieties. I’d like to be there to support you, if I cannot fix it then I’d at least like to be there for you. So please, don’t hide your struggles from me, so I may remind you that they’re simply proof of your power.”

You didn’t really know what to say, smiling in a mix of relief, sadness, and adoration. Leaning in to kiss Zhongli you felt the word recede and grow around you. You didn’t know how he did it, how he took all your cares and worries and flaws and morphed them into something beautiful.

But that was what made Zhongli special, and you adored him for it.

[plot-prominent-horde-squad-au]

Lonnie: Arc, Personality, Role, and Other Changes (Pt. 1)

Part 2

So, if you haven’t seen the context for this AU, just look at the pinned post on my blog (which will have a link to another post which will have the better description)

This post is going to go over almost everything you’ll need to know about Lonnie in this AU, from the role she has in the story, the changes in her character, her arc, and other things about her. I won’t go over her full timeline in this post or all the events of this AU that she’ll be involved in, but I shall summarize some important general events.

Intro

In this AU, like in the the show, Lonnie is a member of Adora’s squad, but unlike in the show, she plays a special role in said squad (as I went over in another post). She is the squad’s cavalryman, mechanic, and navigator, and kind of the only one to know how to drive a truck, skiff, boat, etc (this is why Catra and Adora will be really bad at flying a skiff in the first episode).

She is also Adora’s (second) best friend, or at least a pretty close friend. Lonnie and Catra are more rivals than anything else (Lonnie doesn’t bully her in this AU), but their relationship changes after Adora leaves and Catra gets a promotion. Due to a need for familiarity and a secret sense of trust (though Catra won’t quite admit this), Catra decides to essentially make Lonnie what is kinda her Right Hand Man (though Scorpia becomes her second in command. The two roles can co-exist).

Lonnie also gets a promotion later, by the second season, and becomes a Major (a few ranks below Force Captain. Basically a normal Captain in the context of the Horde). Because of this, she is often tasked with helping execute many of Catra’s plans. But she also does have a mini-arc centered around becoming a leader and what that means.

She ends up being a minor antagonist in some of the earlier seasons, with a subtle character arc evolving overtime, and Season 4 fully kicks off her arc, before she eventually begins to dismantle the Horde from the inside, and finally leaves by the end of the season.

She then becomes a supporting character in Season 5.

Personality

As much as I love both Lonnie and She-ra, they really messed up when portraying her personality. Though she was shown to have some complexity, half the time it felt like she was just the “Angry Black Woman.” You can disagree with me on that one, but that’s what it felt like sometimes. Of course, sometimes a Black female character who is frequently angry can work, but that’s only if it’s because they have something to be reasonably angry about.

So I decided to take a few of Lonnie’s pre-existing traits, change a few others, and add some new things to fit the type of story I’m trying to tell in order to make a more fleshed out character who doesn’t fit into so many negative tropes/stereotypes.

This Lonnie will sometimes be angry about stuff, but the causes of her anger are quite understandable and not just a personality trait. If they seem “out of nowhere,” it’s because her anger is caused by an underlying problem that she refuses to address because weakness in the Horde is punished.

One major cause of anger for her is the secret sadness she feels over Adora having left her and everyone else, and because Horde soldiers like herself are taught to turn sadness into anger, she expresses those feelings of hurt and betrayal through anger and rage. These shall both be major parts of her arc as  a character.

Another that gradually builds up over the course of the series is her frustration with Catra, especially after the portal incident. Lonnie has to watch as someone she once considered a friend slowly becomes an abusive boss, and it’s frustrating to deal with both a boss like that and that unexpected and conflicted feeling of betrayal over a friend treating you like that.

One final point about Lonnie’s anger is that she often expresses it in the form of quiet, cold, stony anger, which she prefers to release in private. Sometimes she will get a bit snippy with people, or will express it to those she trusts, or will use it for strategic purposes. But other than that, she feels uncomfortable expressing her anger in a fiery way because it makes her feel like she’s letting her emotions take control of her or that she can’t control herself. So she mainly just keeps these things to herself.

I will give Lonnie plenty of vulnerable moments, as something focused on that will be relevant to the story of the AU is how Adora leaving affected some of the squad in different ways and how Catra’s spiral in Season 4 was hurting those closest to her. It can also help show some of the different types of abuse the Horde kids went through.

She is not a completely strong person, she is a person who pretends to be strong 24/7 when she is really just a traumatized, betrayed, emotionally abused college-aged kid who just wants to be needed. This is an important aspect to her and I want to make that known.

An important character trait of Lonnie’s is her ambition and leadership skills. In the show, she was shown to be probably one of the most competent, mentally stable people in the Horde, and was an amazing leader, despite some of her flaws. I’m keeping that, while adding on the trait of ambition and a need for power.

While she learns how to be a responsible leader and starts to legitimately care about her workers, she starts out a bit more focused on herself and the idea of rising in the ranks.  This is due to trauma, which I will elaborate on in another post.

However, her ambition isn’t a completely bad thing, and she doesn’t lose it as she grows, it just changes a bit with her. Her determination is what will cause her to save the day multiple times, overcome harsh challenges, and execute a complex plan in a game of politics and lowkey sabatage.

She is one of the smartest people on the team in terms of common sense. Adora is smart in some areas (maybe), Catra is strategically smart, Kyle is spacially and mathmatically smart, and Rogelio is emotionally smart, but most of them (expect Rogelio maybe) are not particularly common sense smart. This is how the team will get out of multiple tough situations.

One thing that I just semi-randomly decided to add to her as a small character trait: because the Horde is all about being tough and masculine and all that jazz, Lonnie has never gotten the chance to explore her feminine side. So I decided that, while she is a tough girlboss, when she goes to Princess Prom, she discovers that she actually kinda loves the glitter and dresses and stuff. She deserves it. For fun.

All other traits I forgot to mention in this section will be covered in other sections or will shine through in her actions throughout the AU, because I tried to make her very multilayered and human, and I couldn’t fit everything in.

Hopefully you’re interesting in this AU, and I hope to finish the other parts of this post soon! (I’m also doing Kyle and Rogelio at some point, then some other stuff for this, so stay tuned!)

[algumaideia]

The ableism in the Acotar series

I was thinking about all the problematic aspects of the Acotar books, and I realized that they are pretty ableist. I don’t know if someone have already talked about it, but just in case I’ll do it. But before I start, I need to say some things:

1. I haven’t read the series for a while, and I don’t remember some stuff. So, I might write something that is wrong.

2. I’m not disabled myself. This post is based on my research about disabilities and how disabled people are represented in the media. I have a lot of interest in the subject, and I also researched about it because I’m writing a story with several disabled characters. I also did a school project about assistive technologies.

3. English is not my mother language and I’m still learning it. There are gonna be spelling and grammar mistakes. I’m sorry about it, but it is life.

4. I haven’t read the acosf book, so maybe SJM changed the story or some character in this book and therefore my post will be incorrect.

5. Besides the fact that I consider Emerie to be disabled, I won’t talk about her in the post. Because as I said I didn’t read acosf and I think that her appearance in the acofas has the same purpose that the other female Illyrians (since Idk how to write Illyrians this will be write wrong in the entire post, I’m sorry).

6. I forget the name of some characters and I don’t want to search it, so I’ll just give them new names.

Now let’s begin.

I’ll analyze the following characters in this post: Papa Acheron, Lucien, Cassian and Ianthe, the woman from the library and the female Illyrians, the female creature from the forest, the Illyrian soldiers that came back from the war and the girl who couldn’t fly. I think I forgot someone, but patience. In the end of the post I’ll talk about disabilities, ableism and worldbuilding.

I also would like to say that almost all her characters got their disability as a punishment, and the problem with this is that it always links disability with something bad.

Papa Acheron:

As I said Papa Acheron got his disability as a punishment, since he didn’t pay his debts, some people went in this house and broke his leg. I might be wrong, but I think that it didn’t healed well and because of that he has chronic pain. So, to better analyze him I’ll compare him to two other characters with chronic pain, Kaz Brekker and Melissa, one of my main characters.

Papa Acheron became useless after he became disabled. He thought he was useless and by extension Feyre thought it too. I’m not saying that internalized ableism doesn’t exist, but the narrative never calls it out. Feyre accepts this excuse, it is kind of implied that if he weren’t disabled, he would be able to help his family and get money. Now let’s look to Kaz (I haven’t read the second book of the duology, please no spoilers). He accepts his disability, not only that but he uses his cane as one of his symbols. He goes against the idea that a disabled person is stuck with a cane or a wheelchair or whatever. He feels free with his cane. Now, this doesn’t mean that every disabled character needs to feel okay with his disability. My character, Melissa, feels a lot of anger because of her chronic pain. It hurts her, it disrupts her plans, it makes her suffer. However, it didn’t stop her to live her life and she also is not seeking anyone’s pity, which is very different from the Papa Acheron situation. Mel has friends, a social life, she studies, she will have a job, she will date, get married and have children. She doesn’t feel mad because she is disabled, she is also autistic, and she loves that part of herself. What bothers her is that her disability makes her feels a lot of pain. Papa Acheron is just someone to you feel bad and angry about. He doesn’t do anything because he is disabled and believes that this makes his useless and the narrative kind of agrees with him.

Lucien:

Lucien doesn’t have one eye, and that’s what makes him disabled. He became disabled as a punishment for falling in love with a lesser fae and not only that, but he is only without his mechanic/magic eye when he is on his worse. He was without his eye when his family was torturing and banishing him. And then when he was UTM. Again, disability being connected with bad things. Now about his mechanic eye. The first time that Feyre describes his eye she says it is creepy. Which is bad. But also, why it had to be magic and give him the ability to see spells or something like that (this was never brought back btw)? Why can’t he have a normal mechanical eye? Why he needs a mechanical eye? Why does his mechanical eye need to compensate the fact he is disabled? He is as much complete with and without his eye.

Cassin and Ianthe:

I put this two together for one reason, their disabilities were cured. I’ll talk about Cassian first. When they invaded Hybrein (I also don’t know how to write the name of the country) they hurt his wings badly. And considering that to Illyrians the wings are as much a limb as an arm or a leg, he was disabled for a while. (I’m aware that to something be considered a disability it needs to be long lasting. But I think that the fact that it was cured is ableist, if I’m not wrong the text said it was a miracle he was healed.)Then we had Cassian in the floor with his wings all damaged, suffering a lot, what a horrible scene. But don’t worry! The next time he’ll appear completely cured, because being disabled is such a horrible thing and SJM never used deus ex machina to save her characters. So, this injured made him disabled for a while, and it could be interesting. The wings are the Illyrian symbol, the symbol of their toxic masculinity and their sexism. Cassian being disabled because of his wings would make him revalue his culture and his own idea of masculinity and it would be so amazing. But he was cured. I think that this makes Cassian falls in the disabled for one day trope. Just like Ianthe. First the way she became disabled was disgusting. Feyre invading her mind was such a horrible thing to do. I’m not denying that Ianthe is a terrible person/fae but that doesn’t change the fact that it was a horrible scene. I really dislike characters with telepathic powers, because for me their powers are crossing a line. They invade and control someone’s mind. They take off the person free will. They basically turn the person in a robot. If I remember correctly when Feyre made Ianthe broke her hand it was with the purpose to make it useless. And when she appeared again in all her glory she was, surprise, surprise, cured.

The woman from the library and the female Illyrians:

I put they together because their disabilities are used for the same two purposes. The first is that they became disabled as a punishment for being female, and the second it to show how FEMINIST Rhysand is. He isn’t feminist, so all these women suffered for nothing. Again, disability being linked with bad things. The symbol of the female Illyrians suffering is they becoming disabled. NOT GOOD AT ALL. About the woman from the library, she was there to also show how good Feyre is. She is there so we can feel pity of her. She didn’t deserve it.

The female creature who couldn’t see:

My problem with her is that it is implied/said that she has better senses because she is blind. And that’s not how it works?? People just pay more attention in what they hear, touch or smell when they are blind/visually impaired.

The girl who couldn’t fly:

I'm gonna call her Anna. First Anna is like the only character who just have a disability. No trauma, no war, no punishment. She just has. Then she is a great disabled character, right? Wrong. She has inspirational porn written all over her story. She is there to make Feyre feel better about herself and make other abled people/fae feel inspired. She is there so we can say: ohhh poor thing, but at least she overcame her disability and now can fly. So ableist. Anna is also only valued after proving herself useful. That is wrong. Disabled people should be valued because they are people. They don’t need to be amazing in anything to be treated with respect.

The Illyrian soldiers:

My problem with them is how their disability is used to reinforce sexism and make Cassian and Rhysand feel bad. But what about the Illyrian soldiers? How are they feeling? It seems this is not important. They also bother me because of worldbuilding questions.

Disabilities, ableism and worldbuilding:

First, why humans and fae feel the same about disabled people? Feyre has the same opinion the IC have. And the humans and fae were separated for 500 years. This doesn’t make sense. Every court think the same thing about disabled fae? Does something change if the disabled fae is a lesser or a higher fae? It should make a difference. A real world example of how social class affects the way disabled people are treated: the first school for deaf people created only taught children of the nobles.

And why the way people look to disabled fae didn’t change after the war? What about the assistive technology? You know what, it is unrealistic the fact that we don’t have any assistive technology in this world. But this happen in the antient times, how could there be any assistive technology? First, assistive technology is everything that helps a disabled person, a cane, a screen reader, a scooter. Everything can be an assistive technology. Second, assistive technologies exist since the antiente times. One of the oldest prothesis were found in a mummy. There is a painting of Hephaestus using a wheelchair. And considering that this series happens in what was supposed to be the Middle ages, it was supposed to have assistive technologies. Wheelchairs during this time were heavy and the user couldn’t use it by himself, but they existed. There are records of a king using a wheelchair during the middle ages. And I mean with the war something was supposed to change. The first place to blind people in the France was created because 300 soldiers came back from the crusades without their eyes. It was in the century 20 that disabled people started to be more included in the society. And one of the reasons were the soldiers that came back from WW1 and WW2 disabled. Not only that but in war times the technology improves, so a lot of new assistive technologies and materials were created during this time. The first record of guide dogs comes from 1819 in school in Vienna, but it didn’t work. Only after WW1 that guide dogs appeared again. And you know with what purpose? Help veterans that were blind due to the war. Braille was a system used for the French army during battles. Louis Braille only made it simpler. The war should change something.

Why is the world ableist?  The excuse that this is an antient society doesn’t work my friend. The Egypt was a very including country. Blind people could be part of any social class. Dwarfs were part of the society since they had a dwarf god. In antient Japan blind people were expected to be independent. They could work with music, religion, telling stories etc. And the work of telling stories was very important since it made the Japanese tradition to continue. The excuse that this is an antient society is just this, an excuse. Now she could have used to say something. Leigh Bardugo used the ableism of her world to criticize the ableism of our world. I’m doing the same thing with my story. SJM made an ableist world just because.

That was my analysis. I’m sorry this was very long. I know this was a little confusing, but it was very difficult to put all the stuff that was in my mind in text. In my mind everythig made sense, but when I was writing it I realized I wasn’t following a logical argument. If that makes sense. Anyway, thank you for reading it.

If you read the books and realized I wrote something wrong, please tell me. If you are disabled and think I said something offensive, I’d love to hear you. If you are non-disabled and want to comment and give your opinion, feel free. And if you don’t want to comment, don’t do it. You can do whatever you want.

Best regards,

Me.

Ps. This is my first post in Tumblr, so I don’t know if I tagged it right, if you want to help, I would be really grateful.

[pride-moth]

You got everything that I want

Ao3 Link

Stolas can’t recall a time where “love” wasn’t synonymous with “pain” for him. 

He had loved Stella at some point, in his own weird way. Yes, it was an arranged marriage, but he had been willing to make it work like so many royal couples had made it work before them. He admired her beauty, her strength, her force of personality. He wanted to love her and so he did. He loved her as his wife, his princess, the mother to their daughter. He really… He had tried, at one point.

But after years and years of trying and compromising and acquiescing to your partner’s every wish without ever feeling them try in turn. Getting up every night to care for the child that both of you put into the world but that only one of you really cares to pay any meaningful attention to… It gets tiring and slowly, surely, all the love you once had for your partner slips through your fingers until there’s nothing left. Nothing but regret and screaming and pain.

He loves Octavia so, so fiercely. He would do anything for her, and yet he can hardly seem to be able to make her smile. And that’s the greatest pain. When you want nothing more than to see your child happy and you would do anything to make it happen, but it’s not in your hands anymore. Octavia is still a teenager but she’s growing up, wanting to do her own thing, starting to live her own life and Stolas feels like the only thing that he could do to make her happy would be to stop fighting with Stella, and that is just not within his powers. Stella will always find something to blame him for and he will always find something new to do wrong. 

When Blitzo enters the picture, he and Stella already haven’t been sleeping in the same bed longer than he cares to remember. It’s a night of weakness, that first one, one where all he wants is to not live his own life anymore and Blitzo, that handsome little imp, catches him off guard, pokes right into his vulnerabilities and Stolas can’t help but take him home, sneak him in and let himself be taken apart in a way he has never experienced.  

It’s a magical night, not romantic, but raw and rough and brutal in the best way. Blitzo makes him hurt exactly how he likes to hurt, gives him the kind of pleasure he could never quite convince Stella into giving him. They don’t even know each other at that point, but there is the kind blind understanding between them that Stolas always wanted to happen between him and Stella, but it never did.

Stolas is almost grateful when he realizes Blitzo has taken his grimoire with him. It’s an easy reason to stay in contact, an easy excuse to call him, set meetings, work out an exchange and get more of what Blitzo gave him that first night. 

With Blitzo, it’s not love. So, there’s no pain. Stolas doesn’t let there be pain, at least not emotionally, the physical pain is something he quite enjoys. When Blitzo leaves after their monthly night together, he doesn’t allow himself to feel pain, only anticipation of the next time. He likes that there’s always a next time, even though that’s because of his active incentive more than anything else. But that’s alright, he doesn’t want Blitzo to come see him without an incentive. He deserves favors in turn for what he’s giving Stolas. 

He enjoys Blitzo’s company in general. He’s funny, quick-witted, intelligent and he handles him with an ease that in any other situation would be seen as lèse-majesté for an imp. And maybe that’s what appeals to Stolas about spending time with Blitzo. That he can be himself, doesn’t have to adhere to the vague behavioral standards of royal life. He can be vulgar around him, and a blubbering mess sometimes, Blitzo doesn’t mind him being angry or frustrated or stupid, he can just… Be. 

So, sometimes he’ll find an excuse to spend time with Blitzo outside of the bedroom. To just be. Because it doesn’t affect their normal arrangement and it’s better than spending time alone in that grand, beautiful, empty palace with a wife who wants his head chopped off and a daughter who makes him responsible for it. Maybe he is responsible for it, he thinks, but that doesn’t change anything, does it?

When he takes Octavia to Loo Loo Land, he wants Blitzo there as his bodyguard, not because he necessarily needs protection, but just because… He wants him there. Around. As company. Because Blitzo is good like that. And he likes watching him fully in his element because Blitzo handles his rifle with the same deft touch and confidence as he handles Stolas and that’s beautiful in a way. 

When Octavia tells them to get a room, it throws him off a little because he didn’t mean to get carried away like that. He truly wanted it to be a father-daughter day, Blitzo and his employees and incidental part of the equation, but he can’t really take his eyes off Blitzo when he’s being all professional and handsome and, God, maybe this was a bad idea to begin with. 

That day ends with him finding Octavia crying and she asks if he wants to run off with Blitzo and that’s… Well, he can’t fault her for getting the wrong idea. Obviously she doesn’t know that it’s just sex between them. She’s just met a man who Stolas is very clearly flirting with constantly, so obviously that would look romantic. But he would never run off with him, it’s not like that. There’s no love between them, only a deal, good sex and good company. 

There’s a little thought spinning around in his head after the whole Loo Loo Land incident that he doesn’t dare act upon for a good while, but it persists. All he needed to do to convince Blitzo to come with him was offer him money. So, maybe, just maybe, if he found himself desiring his company outside of their arrangement, he could just… 

“I’m not a hooker,” Blitzo says sharply when he tries it one day during a phone call. 

“But I usually pay you by letting you use the book,” Stolas tries, not entirely sure why he tries breaking through the metaphorical door that has just been quite clearly slammed shut right in front of face. 

“That’s different! That’s-” Blitzo lets out a frustrated sigh at the end of the line. “Just don’t try that.” 

“But-” 

“Shut it, Stolas, I said no. Just because you’re a Prince or whatever doesn’t mean you can get everything you want by waving some money around.” 

It stings a little, that comment. He didn’t mean to… He didn’t attempt to… Maybe he did. Blitzo said no, so that’s that. No reason to get hung up about it. So, he won’t see him before the full moon. That’s okay. No pain, not about Blitzo. And if he needs to exert some force to make a smile appear on his face, that’s just because he can hear Stella throwing utensils in the kitchen again. 

“No trouble at all, I didn’t mean to offend, my dear Blitzy. See you next full moon,” he says then in his usual blib tone. 

Blitzo hangs up on him after mumbling something about offending his asshole. 

Sometime after that, Blitzo starts sharing cigarettes with him. It’s a little thing that he doesn’t think much of the first time it happens. Blitzo just kind of offers it to him one time, wordlessly and Stolas takes it and that’s that. It’s a little gesture of familiarity that neither of them comment on, but they keep doing it from then on. He starts buying the good expensive cigarettes and keeping them in the nightstand just for that little ritual.

Stolas would never admit to himself that he has a little cruel streak. “Friendly” is his default mode of presentation even if that sometimes gets him weird looks, it being hell and all. But he still grew up here, he still knows how the game is played and he still knows how to hit people where it hurts. 

So, when Stella keeps yelling at him not just about how he cheated on her, though that certainly seems to be some part of her grievance with him, not about how he’s brought the false harmony of their home into jeopardy, not about how their daughter feels about the whole thing, but about how it looks bad that he’s having sex with an imp, how that’s undignified. 

“Should I have used one of your fancy dinner party friends instead?!” he yells back at her one day and she just throws another saucer at him.

“At least that would have been a proper magazine scandal instead of the semi-public embarrassment I got!” 

And that’s where he can’t handle it anymore. He leaves her alone in the kitchen to scream at the walls because frankly, what left is there to say? She wants a magazine scandal, huh? Sure. She can have a magazine scandal. 

Stolas feels nervous when he has to ask Blitzo to come over early, but to his surprise, it’s no problem at all. 

“Is that in addition to our regularly scheduled fucking or a substitute?” is the only question he asks and when Stolas answers, “Substitute” he’s happy with it. 

It’s one of their best nights yet, Blitzo ties him up so good he can’t move an inch and he fucks him and he teases him with a passion that feels entirely new. Blitzo usually isn’t one to tease, he likes getting to the point, but tonight is different, tonight he takes his time and Stolas is pudding in his fingers. 

There’s warmth afterwards, just everywhere. His entire body feels warm and muted and content. And for just a moment, there is pain. And normally he can just wish it away, replace it with excitement for the next time they meet, but this time, he feels the distinct pain of not being able to experience this kind of pleasure whenever he wants. He wants to feel exactly like this, warm and exhausted and content, all the time. But he can’t.

It takes real force this time, but he shoves the thought away. He can focus on getting Stella the big scandal she so craves, and he can kill two birds with one stone here. Not literally.

He invites Blitzo to the Harvest Moon Festival. That’s easy enough, get them out together, have him and Blitzo be in one place together in public. That’s both step one of his barely thought out plan and also another way to spend time with Blitzo which is something he needs desperately. Anything to get him out of this palace, out of the endless screaming matches with his wife. 

And then, he makes it his personal goal to be as obnoxious as possible. Blitzo calls him obnoxious all the time, that’s nothing new, but he can do one better, make sure everyone knows what they’re doing, knows exactly that the great Prince of Hell is consorting with an imp. He wants Stella to look at media coverage of the Harvest Moon Festival and be absolutely furious about it. She wanted this. 

And it’s genuinely exciting, too, watching Blitzo compete in the Games, dominating the competition except for that weird snake man who he eventually shares a title with. Truth is, Stolas doesn’t really need to try very hard to cheer Blitzo on, part of him wants to just shout from the mountaintops how cool and powerful and handsome he is and how well he’s doing. 

To his disappointment, he can’t catch Blitzo after the festival. He’s suddenly gone after the trophy ceremony and is nowhere to be seen for the rest of the day. He leaves him a suggestive voicemail, saying he would love to see Blitzo as soon as possible, but if Blitzo doesn’t feel like it, he’s simply looking forward to the next full moon. 

He learns only via Stella’s highly unsubtle phone calls at the dinner table that there was an attempt on life that day. He doesn’t know for sure, Blitzo hasn’t told him, but he suspects that his little imp probably had something to do with it not succeeding and that’s just delicious, isn’t it? That the reason for Stella’s wrath would be the one to thwart her plans? He smiles at himself.  

It’s a week later that Blitzo appears on his balcony without a warning one night, sweating and nervous and completely unlike himself. Stolas practically jumps up from his bed and rushes over to him, pulling him into a hug almost automatically. To his surprise, Blitzo allows it. 

“What’s going on, Blitzy?” he asks softly. 

Blitzo takes a shaky breath and Stolas notices several bruises on his arms. “I just… I needed to… You’re okay.” It comes out shaky and incoherent but Stolas only hugs him tighter. “You’re kind of squeezing me to death,” Blitzo croaks then and lets out a small groan that makes him sound a bit more like himself. 

Stolas lets a bit looser. “Come in, tell me what happened, I’ll call for some tea,” he says as he leads Blitzo inside. 

Blitzo chuckles joylessly. “It’s insane how different shit is for you, you know that? You can just ask for tea and someone will bring it to you. Anything you lift your own finger for, you do of your own volition. Nobody makes you do anything. Unimaginable.” 

Stolas doesn’t have an answer to that. It’s true, kind of self-evidently so. He hasn’t even taken up the house phone yet and a servant is already knocking at the door to offer tea. He takes with a curt “thank you” and hands Blitzo his cup. Slowly they sit down on the bed, arms resting against each other comfortably. 

“You know they’re just like me, right? The servants you order around here all day?” Blitzo’s voice sounds hollow, distant. It’s disconcerting to say the least. 

“Well, I suppose you’re all imps, but you… you’re special.” 

“What if I don’t want to be? What if I want to be just like everyone else and just be… left alone with all the bullshit that comes with being ‘special’? What if I don’t want other assassins to come and try to talk me out of my job and how I do it, what if I don’t want to be the ‘only good one’ for people who’d just trample all over me if they hadn’t randomly decided that I was special, what if…” 

“Blitzy, what’s going on? Do you not want to come here anymore? We can… We can stop if you want to. I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to, I can just leave you the book and you give it back when I need it and-” 

“Goddammit, Stolas, that’s not it, I just… Striker just came to my office and he just doesn’t leave me alone and we fought and he… Stolas, he won’t stop before he has your head and I can’t… I can’t guarantee that I can always be there to stop him.” Blitzo doesn’t look up at him, he just keeps staring directly into his tea cup. 

“Oh, Blitzy, it’ll all work itself out, everything will be okay,” Stolas says softly, tenderly caressing Blitzo’s back, but his hand quickly slapped away. 

“Are you actually serious right now?!” Blitzo looks at him now, angry, yes, but also very obviously hurt. “This guy is after you. And he’s good. I’ve stopped him once, I’ll do it again, but what if he comes here while I’m in the living world? What if I’m caught in some argument with Moxxie?”

“You don’t have to look after me, Blitzy, I’ll be okay, I promise.” Stolas takes a deep breath then, unsure of his next words. “Plus, if I wasn’t here anymore, you could just take my grimoire and run, isn’t that what you want?” 

Blitzo just stares at him, one, two, three seconds. “It sure would be easier,” he says then, pensively, “But I- Well. It’s just that… You know how it is, I don’t want to be responsible for the whole power vacuum that would come with your death and it’s not my style… I don’t know, I just don’t want you dead.” 

Stolas can’t help but smile at him. “Oh, Blitzy, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” 

And finally Bitzo laughs again. Stolas so loves seeing him laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’ve also told you that you’re my pretty little bitch and you have a nice dick and beautiful tight little asshole and you’re probably the only really good sub I’ve ever had.” 

Stolas pulls him into his arms, letting Blitzo lean against him and rests his chin on one of his horns. “I’m not going to die, Blitzy, not as long as you’re here. I would never forgive myself if I left you alone. I promise you, I… I can look after myself.” 

Blitzo sighs. He opens his mouth to speak a few times, but ultimately stays silent. 

They just sit there for minutes, silently embracing and Stolas doesn’t know what to do with that. It hurts. It hurts to hold Blitzo like that, to see him vulnerable and worried for him. It feels good to be with him, to have him be here. It’s warm and familiar and it feels natural, but it’s so, so painful. 

“Blitzy?” Stolas breaks the silence finally. 

“Yeah?” 

“I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.” 

Blitzo doesn’t look up at him, but he nods. “I know where this is going,” he says, half-ironically but there’s no bite to it tonight. 

“I think I’m falling in love with you,” Stolas whispers, “I’m sorry.” 

“Please, you’ve been head over heels in love with me since we first met,” Blitzo retorts but there’s no bite to it. It’s less a brag or a dig than a simple observation. 

“I didn’t mean to, I just… I don’t want it to be like this, we have a good thing here and I don’t… I don’t want to make it all complicated and painful.” 

Blitzo sighs again, but it’s a soft little sound, punctuated with a little laugh. “Stolas, you’re Goetic royalty doing completely shameless BDSM shit with an imp, it’s already complicated and painful.” 

“No, I mean-” he looks at one of the paintings of him and Stella and Octavia, Blitzo follows his gaze, “I don’t want it to hurt like this again. Love always… It always hurts.” 

 Blitzo shrugs. “I don’t think it does. Fights and drifting apart and break ups hurt. Love itself can be fun. It’s just… hard sometimes.” 

Stolas supposes that’s true. But still, is it really worth starting something when you know the end is inevitably going to be painful? And how would that even work, between them? Sure, teasing the press with an affair is one thing, but he can’t make it official. That would go beyond the realms of gossip and annoying his wife. That could potentially jeopardize his entire position and- 

“Christ, you’re overthinking like crazy right now, I can practically hear you,” Blitzo breaks his train of thought. “Nothing has to change here. We have sex, we hang out sometimes, we do movie nights, I know your daughter, we’re already in more of a relationship than you and your wife.” 

And that strikes Stolas like lightning. “You-? You feel the same?” he asks in utter disbelief. 

“You stupid fucking bird, of course I do: You think I would have passed up and opportunity to get the book without fucking you otherwise?” 

“I mean, yes, you could have just saved my life as a friend, I suppose.”

Blitzo shakes his head and grins at him. “I usually don’t fuck my friends. Nine times out of ten, I would like to, sure, but I still usually don’t. And, I sure as fuck didn’t want that either, but here we are and I literally gunned it from Imp City to here just to make sure you were still alive after I beat up Striker again and I… I think this,” he gestures between them, “is good. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever tolerated anyone that long, so… Count yourself lucky.”

Stolas smiles, as wide as he can and then he kisses him, tenderly, softly, chastely, like they never do and that seals it in a way. And for the first time in centuries, he doesn’t think about the pain that love can bring, he just thinks that holding Blitzo in his arms and kissing him feels good and he wants to keep feeling that good, so all the pain along the way, all the shit they might get into for it, might be worth it, in the end. So he pulls Blitzo a bit closer and deepens their kiss, losing himself completely in the warmth between them. 

[sidespromptblog]

Between the Mask: End

One, Two, and Three

Warnings: Panic attack (Virgil), Crying (Virgil), Hurt/Comfort, Angst, and Awkwardness. 

Summary: Roman confronts Janus about how exactly Roman should act around him, after being told by the others that both being nice and mean to him is wrong. Only to discover that, after everything he’s been through Janus isn’t the person he portrays in front of everyone else.

AO3 LINK 

Word Count: 2871

This could not have been more awkward if they’d tried, it was scarily resembling the first time that Thomas had ever brought over his boyfriend to his parents house. Except this time it was just Janus, and Virgil staring holes right through the other side’s head in a silent attempt to slay him where he sat.

So all things considered… not bad.

“So Janus…” Patton tenderly broke the silence that had been sitting amongst them all as the others poked and prodded at their food, only nibbling morosely at the food that had been dished onto their plates. If anything, Patton hoped that a light conversation would ease the tension of the room, even if it was with Janus.

“Logan told us that you made some suggestions on what he should change in his wardrobe? Are we allowed any hints about what might be changing? I never knew you to be very conscious about what we wore before.”

A quick flicker of Janus’ eyes from his food, to Patton, to Logan, and then back to Patton was the only hint of surprise that Janus gave away. Both at the topic of conversation and the fact that Logan had felt the need to even tell Patton of all people that much. Although… he did suppose that in order to get a little, one must also give a little.

“Yes,” A tiny proud grin curled on Janus’ lips as he set his fork down. “I’ve taken up knitting as of recently, and I wanted Logan to model some of the scarves and sweaters that I was planning to make. If he liked any of them I wanted him to be able to keep them, if it made him happy to do so. I’ve already started on my first set of socks,” Janus proudly admitted, his chest puffing out a little at the thought of the cozy midnight blue socks he had painstakingly knitted over the past few days. They weren’t anywhere close to being finished since he was actually making them instead of summoning them, but… it felt nice to work hard on something that someone else could enjoy like that. “Logan picked out the color himself.” He also added softly, a tiny genuine smile playing on his lips.

Virgil merely huffed silently, ignoring the overly wary look that had come from Logan at the motion whereas the tension seemed to bleed out of Patton’s shoulders at that. A much more relieved look on his face as the moral side found it much easier to relax after that, where Virgil found it to be just the opposite.

It was clear to him at least that Janus was just playing some kind of game to get Patton on his side so that he could-

“Have you tried crocheting?” The question came easily enough, and thus the topic of conversation had been started almost as easily as breathing, but even so, with that one question it felt as if the wind had been knocked out of Virgil’s lungs.

Something that seemingly went unnoticed as Patton smiled more easily.

The normal and casualness of the conversation made the tight feeling inside of Patton’s chest loosen at the look of excitement that bubbled up in Janus’ eyes, excitement that Janus was clearly having to tamper down as he readjusted himself in his seat eagerly leaning forward. There were no lies here, and there was no false bravado and slyness like there was in the courtroom. Just… genuine happiness and conversations between two people who could be friends. It made Patton understand all the more just how Logan was easily able to talk with Janus outside of the scope of Thomas, and just how Logan was able to relax around Janus. Janus was… smart, really smart, but there was no denying the level of comfort that the dishonest side practically oozed when he too was feeling comfortable. It was almost like…

The warm hearth of a fireplace.

“I have,” Janus popped a cherry tomato into his mouth, chewing quickly before swallowing. “But crocheted clothes are often times more still, and they’re better suited to blankets and hats, or even curtains if you’ve got a lot of dedication.” Janus gestured to the beanie sitting snugly on his head, only letting out a few wisps of his curly hair. “So while knitting is more challenging, it's better suited to that purpose even if I don’t quite understand it yet. It’s good to challenge the mind every now and then. That’s how you grow after all.”

The clatter of silverware stopped whatever Patton was going to say next.

All attention shifted over to the source of the noise, as Virgil’s hands landed solidly on the table with his plate rattling from the motion. The look on his face wasn’t that of the disbelieving anger he had aimed at Logan mere hours ago, or even one of hate like he had in the courtroom, but one of honest relief and disbelief at the same time. His fingers dug into the wood of the table, his knuckles scraping against it as he clenched his fists as the anxious side took in one deep shuddering breath after another. He looked rather shocked to say the least, well… shocked was a rather tame way of looking at Virgil’s reaction.

“Virg-”

“You’re crocheting again?” Virgil cut in before Patton’s worried exclamation could go any further, as if needing to hear the answer and assure the others that he wasn’t angry all at the same time. There was a desperate pleading look in his eyes, one that barely showed the tears that were welling up in his eyes like a sink on the verge of over flooding.

His breathing hitched for a moment, as Janus answered with three simple words:

“I never stopped.”

It was with those words alone that the hardy anxious side cried, the tears spilling over with ease as he slumped back into his chair as if all of the strength had been knocked out of him. Honestly, none of them had ever seen Virgil cry before, he had always been rather aloof when it had come to expressing or even partaking in emotional moments with all of them. Happy to join in on the fun and good moments, but always so quick to withdraw when it came to sad discussions about his own emotional state that didn’t involve his own anxieties as Thomas’ residential anxiety.

In a last ditch effort to hide the state of his own emotional turmoil Virgil pulled his hood down to cover his eyes, although it did almost nothing to hide the dark mixture of tears and eyeshadow that had already made their way down his face already. If anything it only made it that more shocking to see the other side like this, being so careless as to cry in front of the others.

It was a massive shock for all of them.

But none more so than Janus himself.

The hurried scraping of the chair told Virgil that Janus wasn’t wasting any time in getting to him, just the sound alone reminded Virgil of a time when things had been different. When his caplet and hat didn’t exist, when the most flown thing that Janus had ever owned was a blanket that he kept constantly draped over his shoulders for no reason other than the fact that it was comfortable. He had thought that Janus would be okay without him, that if he were to go to the light sides to be listened to… Janus would be fine, and yet..

He had looked so different when he had finally shown himself to all of them.

The warm person he had grown up alongside might as well have been killed and replaced with the snarky vile person who had slapped Logan’s hand over his mouth the moment the logical side tried to reveal him to Thomas too soon. And the worst part was…

He had no idea what had happened to him, and he could only assume that him leaving had done it.

For good.

“Virgil? Virgil can you hear me?” Soft warm hands cupped his cheeks, as thumbs gingerly brushed away the tears that had made a mess of his face. Through the blurring of his eyesight it almost appeared to be Patton who had come to his rescue, however, blinking hastily up at the person his vision cleared enough to show him the worried face of Janus staring down at him. Fear, concern, and terror all mixing into one big emotion on the dishonest sides face, as the ungloved hands soothingly brushed his messy bangs out of his face. “Virgil?” Janus softly repeated, the snide tone that he had used the last time he had seen Virgil lost, and one of warmth replacing it as if he had never gone to begin with. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

The side in question hated the weakness that welled up in his chest at the warmth in Janus’ voice, it made him feel soft in his hands, like putty ready to be molded for whatever purpose. It felt genuine and.. and just so damn nice, like sinking into a warm back after a long day out in the cold snowy weather.

He hated even more how his bottom lip trembled, and more tears snuck their way down his face only to be brushed away by Janus’ fingers.

“Why did you change?” Virgil croaked out, he wanted to scream and shout this question, to seize Janus by the front of his shirt and shake him until he got his answer. But the emotions clogging his throat made it practically impossible to do much more than whisper, “You changed so much since I left… what happened? Why are you so different? Do you.. do you hate me?”

It would make sense, Virgil constantly acted like he hated Janus after he showed his face to Thomas. But after the other side’s personality seemed to go through such a drastic change… how could he not? It was like whoever was parading around in Janus’ skin loved to rub it in that he wasn’t the same anymore, that he was gone and that he would never go back to the way that things were before. All he wanted to know was why, and just how this had happened to Janus. Was it him? Was it Remus? Or… was this the person that Janus had finally become after having to deal with him for far too long?

He hated who Janus had become, and he hated not knowing why even more.

All was silent around the table, with Roman and Logan trading looks between the two of them and Patton looking as if he’d love nothing more than to quell whatever pain was inside Virgil. Although he knew this time.. this time it was up to someone else to deal with that emotional turmoil now, it was his turn to watch and provide support from the sidelines.

A heavy kind of sigh left Janus’ lips, “Virgil…” He mumbled softly, stooping down even lower so that he could wrap his arms around the anxious side, allowing his chin to rest right on the other’s shoulder leaving his mouth right next to Virgil’s ear. “I… Can’t.” He guiltily mumbled out, he wanted nothing more than to blurt everything out to Virgil, especially seeing how his “change” had hurt the anxious side so much. But he couldn’t, not like this in the very least, not with Patton watching and certainly not in such a desperate kind of moment. He needed everyone to be calm when he explained everything, so that it could all be explained correctly without any kind of misunderstandings.  

Regret boiled in his gut as Virgil’s eyes filled with a hurt kind of betrayal stilling the anxious side completely. The fingers that rested on his back dug almost painfully deep as it clenched the fabric of his shirt, as Virgil chewed angrily onto his bottom lip. That alone told him that Virgil wished to do more, to scream, yell, and tear into him. But he held back, if only by digging his fingers in deeper in an attempt to tame to his famous temper from doing those things.

Regardless, Janus endured it.

Janus’ voice was no louder than it needed to be for Virgil and Virgil alone to hear the secret that was finally coming to light. “I promise,” Janus’ arms squeezed Virgil a little tighter, a grimace appearing on the dishonest side’s face. “I can’t tell you right now, but I will soon, it’s just…” Janus relaxed slightly as Virgil’s grip on him eased just the tiniest bit. “I am quite scared, both of your reaction as well as Patton’s and Thomas’. But I’ll tell you why, you just.. you just have to trust me a little.”

Virgil wanted to shout at Janus.

Not only had Janus almost burned all of his bridges with Virgil, but it had hurt all of them a lot. And for what? Virgil had started to hate him, he had almost convinced Thomas to never ever take what Janus said as any kind of value. He had tried his hardest to fight back against Janus, he had tried to stamp the other side down before he could ever get the chance to tell Thomas any kind of thing. And for what? For the sake of being the bad guy?!

Oh...

Oh.

The bad guy…

He had been the bad guy once hadn’t he? Hadn’t he?

He’d tried to use fear and intimidation to make Thomas listen to him for once, when he had first shown himself to Thomas he’d scared the man so badly that he had tried to use Roman to get rid of him. Roman who now was looking at him from across the table with a wary kind of understanding in his eyes, he had to have known. It was impossible for him not to, not the with the kind of looks he was shooting Virgil right now. Maybe he hadn’t known right off the bat, but when Logan had revealed he had been talking to Janus, Roman hadn’t been at all surprised. He had even attempted to defend Janus when he hadn’t even been there, as well as when Virgil had been talking badly about him.

He’d known.

It was hard not feel a sense of betrayal washing over him, after all, in the past he had been much closer to Janus than Roman and Logan ever was. They knew something that he definitely didn’t about Janus, and it was something to do about how Janus seemed to do a complete 360 in terms of personality. Especially with how coldly Logan had defended Janus from Virgil, only to be backed up by Roman. They were all in one big secret that was being kept from him, a secret that was well within arms reach right this very second.

However, before he could fully allow the stinging betrayal to hold any sway over his heart…

A part of him felt as if Janus was justified in this and that… that Virgil should have known well before all of this had gone down in the first place.

He had been where Janus was after all.  

He had walked the same path as Janus almost a year beforehand, he knew what it was liked to be shunned by everyone around him. He could have helped, he.. he should have helped instead of relying on his gut instinct that had proved him wrong multiple times.

“So which one was it?” Virgil dryly croaked in a whisper, feeling Janus’ startle he quickly elaborated. “I have the feeling that you were dead set about going in for the long game. So… was it Roman or Logan that urged you to give it up?” It had to be one of the two, or even both of them. Janus was a patient person, to the point where he could spend months let alone years trying to do something.

It wouldn’t have surprised him in the least.

Janus chest rumbled with a tiny uneasy laugh, “It was actually Roman,” He softly admitted, feeling the creative side’s gaze burning through his back and scorching Virgil. “He actually busted into my room one night to confront me after our last… altercation involving my name. Scared me shitless at the time too, I thought he had come to take off my head or something...”

“Oh really?” Virgil’s eyebrow dangerously quirked upwards, as he locked eyes with Roman. The dark rolling sensation only slightly satisfied when Roman glanced away from him, “So when exactly are you going to tell me what he knows? Or for that matter, let me into your room?”

Something warm blossomed in Janus' heart at Virgil's question, it reassured him, in just the slightest little bit that when he told Virgil the truth… the anxious side wouldn't hate him for it and that perhaps they could once again be friends.

"Anytime." Janus gradually raised his voice, finally allowing Patton and the others to hear what was being said between them. "My door will always be open to you Virgil. It always has been."