#might be for the best... or else I might give you another gigantic block of text in the tags!

[dyrewrites]

Pale Blood - wherein there is a wolf snuggle

Packed, of course it’s packed, Odea fretted at the entrance to the skycab station. Fran had given her a ride on her hovercycle—after vehemently insisting it was perfectly safe and also yes she does need to hold her waist that tight—but she didn’t stick around long.

So Odea stood alone, in front of a crowded station, doing her best to force her feet to move towards the ticket booth and the benches beside it.

It wasn’t working.

“Where are they?” She asked the cars yet pulling up, and the towering parking garage waiting to welcome them, and the fog-black sky—which should not have been that color.

No, she whined, internally, terrified already that every single ear within a ten block radius could hear her every panicked gasp. I can’t be alone and drenched, not, not in front of all of these...people—one might be inclined to think her judgmental, but it really wasn’t fair to think of all those who shuffled past her as ‘people’ as very few were human.

Odea had another agonizing, gut-wrenching minute to fret before a familiar cab pulled up directly in front of her. It should not have, that area was for walking, and she hadn’t the breath to ask how its driver managed to as she had to leap out of the way—along with about five other pedestrians minding their business. Then its wheels turned, to landing position, and it dropped onto the shiny white walkway with a rubbery squeak.

The front passenger window squeaked next, opening at a pace just slow enough to allow her to recollect herself, and her glasses, and entertain the briefest thought of, why didn’t the alarms sound?

“Carl?” She asked the specter behind the wheel, peering at him from a distance of not-quite-but-almost inside the window—it was no ordinary cab, clearly, and she was curious.

But the cabby, who had not known his own name—and had a whole spiel prepared to greet her with that just puffed away—simply flickered and stared at her as memories he had lost rippled through him.

After a second of confusion, followed by another, and then another, he remembered how to move the air through what had been his lips, “Carl...?”

“That’s, that’s your name, isn’t it?” Odea fell then, into faster speech, as she remembered her yet open connection—that refused to close as quickly as it rightly should have, “I’m so sorry, did you not know? It puffed out when you opened the window and I didn’t want to be rude and—”

“No need to fuss,” He cut in and his wispy smile put her at ease, “Just been a bit since I heard it...and it’s got me wonderin’ what else I’m missin’.”

“I, I can help with that,” She offered but with the looming black clouds and the deep, thrumming drone of the projected clock in the station reminding of the time, she changed that to, “Later, I can help later. Anytime after today?”

“Much appreciated,” Carl said, beaming, his soft blues vibrating brighter.

Odea smiled as well, and shielded her eyes against his joy before peering through the tinted windows of the cab, “Are they in there?”

“Yep, yep, they’re in the back but uh...give em a minute, would you? They had a bit of a tiff and though it all got smoothed over, well, they’re,” The backseat window slid down, forcing Odea’s prying palms off it, and Carl beamed again, “jus’ so darn peaceful.”

While their position didn’t look terribly peaceful, Odea couldn’t help the little swooning coo at the sight of it.

Delmas had been shoved back into the corner of the seat, and sat folded over on his side, with his head on the back of a gigantic black wolf that lay beside—and a little under—him.

Odea could only assume the wolf was Den, albeit fluffier than she expected someone so sleek’s ‘wolf’ form to look. With her face just skirting the window frame, she searched for his and found he it buried most of the way inside Delmas’ coat. Then his tail twitched, just below her near the opened window, and wagged—ever so slowly—as the sleeping hand on his head absently scratched behind his ear.

She swooned again and more slipped before she could stop it, “Well aren’t you adorable.”

Den’s ear twitched with her voice and the eye she could see popped open and swiveled its amber glow to find the source, narrowing to a glare as it did.

And he became decidedly less adorable.

Odea backed from the window, bent and gagging with the crack and squelch of Den’s shift from wolf to man.

While Delmas, woken less by the shift and more by the loss of soft fur on his skin, sat up and groaned at the kink in his side. Until silky hands found his face, and softer lips met his. His smile ached with the width it stretched, but it refused even to wrinkle.

While the werewolves of Morne took to their furry four-legged forms often, typically for faster travel—or if one needed stronger teeth while the suns were open—it was a vulnerable shape. One none but family and those they trusted implicitly were allowed close to, and rarely, if ever, to touch.

And Den had allowed him both, and done so with casual ease—shifting while Delmas slept, and snuggling up beneath him after. So it is little wonder why that smile dripped through his voice like so much syrup, “You went all fluffy.”

The high-pitched sweetness cost him a second kiss as Den buried it in his shirt and muttered, “Shut up.”

“But having a big purring pillow was so comfy,” The sweetness did not leave Delmas’ voice, even as Den groaned, but when he nudged that face back up to look at him he dropped the higher pitch, “Really…it was nice.”

Curled up on his lap as Den was, with his fingers in the curly hair of Delmas’ beard, those warm hazel eyes gazing at him, it was difficult not to believe him sincere. Yet far more difficult not to notice their closeness, how steady his breath, and where those strong hands of his had fallen. How easily they’d slipped to his hips, thumbs firm against his thighs, as if they belonged there. Or how he’d pulled him closer after; not eager, not hungry, but to hold him.

To keep him…

“You guys about done in there?” The witch asked, leaning too far into the window—and scrambling back out as gravity worked against her.

Den groaned and, as Delmas laughed, he shoved those hands off him and crawled out of the cab toward Odea—why yes, he could have gone out the closer door, but that wouldn’t have given his boyfriend the lovely view, and who doesn’t enjoy a little wiggle when the world’s falling apart around me.

[yeleltaan]

Poppy, Violet, Willow, Zinna

BOTANICAL HEADCANONS | not accepting

///Very long answer, so putting it under read more!

poppy :   what comforts your muse ?

Most if not all of Cayin’s stress and concerns are things his human side experiences. Despite the fact that his eldritch nature allows him to see and understand what most cannot, and allows him to observe reality from a higher perspective that encompasses a bigger picture, that half of himself is also very primitive and straightforward in its train of thought. After a long period of infiltration, specially one that actually presents a threat to him, returning to the shadows and resting in the quiet, vast darkness is very soothing for him. And allowing his more contemplative human mind to sleep when he’s feeling somber can be relieving.

The nostalgia, or simply yearning depending on how connected you believe Cayin to be to the man that he was made from, for the joys of grounded life, from the simplest overlooked sensations to his interest in various forms of art (theatre being his favorite) can be the source of melancholic thoughts from time to time. Clinging to these things can lead to lament, “needlessly” as other creatures of the cosmos might claim, but he can also find great joy in them. Having someone close who engages with him in those activities regularly can be a strong source of comfort so long as they continue to do it, as well as developing said bonds, though it comes at the risk that one day that friendship might stand in the way of his job.

It’s also worth noting that at times his mission will lead him to places where his connection to his master is partially severed, requiring him to hide and make preparations in order to communicate with him properly. Needless to say he feels much more comfortable once he’s back in Yig’s area of influence.

violet :   how does your muse respond to betrayal ?

It depends on the intensity of this betrayal and what Cayin was doing at the time it occurred.

Taking advantage of Cayin when he doesn’t have a concrete task , has one but it’s of low importance or has one that involves him pretending to be a fairly ordinary individual will not cause you much trouble. To some degree, being wounded superficially (or more significantly, but in a way that it’s only a small setback for him) or made a fool after someone pretends to be his ally can be beneficial to him as it makes him seem less of a threat, less of an important player in a play. He won’t fall for it again, he’ll be wary and probably won’t display as much kindness towards you, but he most likely won’t be bitter about it and won’t seek any form of retribution.

If you were very close, he will feel disappointed and make sure that you know it. Still he won’t be angry, probably sad but he knows to expect some people like this in life. Diplomacy will still be possible, Cayin is professional about his duties and he will still heed your word. He might, however, be notably less polite and imbue his words with cutting sarcasm. He will speak more plainly about what he doesn’t like about you, about what he considers to be your failures, whenever he disagrees with your judgement. Not gratuitously, not out of nowhere, only if it’s relevant to the conversation, but without sugarcoating it. Forgiveness is still possible however, though it depends on how understandable he finds your betrayal judging by your circumstances at the time. Much more likely if one of his tasks inconvenienced you significantly (not in response to what you did) and you still wanted to restore your friendship, in a bit of a “now we’re more or less even” mentality.

This all pertains to betraying him, on his own, when it doesn’t affect Yig much. But he will not tolerate the same when Yig is involved.

If he’s acting as Yig’s representative, it’s not just disrespecting the messenger. Cayin will demand the respect befitting his master and he will not be nearly as patient or forgiving as he would be if this only involved him. Yig is a Great Old One- and one implied to be a great significance among that group despite his obscurity in written material, as for example the old civilization of K'n-yan venerated him and Cthulhu as the two main gods. Cayin may be humble about his position and often refer himself as little more than an errand boy, but he will make no pretensions of modesty when he represents his master. Wronging Yig is deeply dangerous, he’s mentioned to be more benevolent than most of his kind but he’s also very vindictive, he won’t forget a slight against him and his agent will be the one to ensure that you either compensate him or face punishment.

A similar case applies when Yig’s children are harmed. Reptiles of any kind, many may go unavenged in their great numbers (and hunting out of necessity is less likely to provoke his ire) but if Cayin witnesses it or knows you’ve harmed them he will be angrier than if he were the victim. And once again, if Yig is furious, Cayin will be the one to let you know.

Another important fact to mention: Autumn is the season during which Yig falls into a ravenous hunger and frenzy, and Cayin is also affected by this to a lesser extent. During this time Cayin is most likely at work 24/7, and if he’s not already making his way to settle things with someone that provoked Yig’s anger, he’ll be looking for the next most deserving option. There is no reasoning with him during this time. He will retain some patience if you mean a lot to him or if you are deeply important to Yig, but even then it’s not safe at all.

willow :   how does your muse handle sadness   &   depression ?

Despite what I’ve mentioned in the first question, Cayin isn’t someone who generally feels strong sadness often. If anything, it’s jarring how... emotionally detached he feels from things at times, and sometimes that’s a bigger problem for him than any form of sorrow. Since the moment Yig revealed himself to him he hasn’t felt vulnerable, at least not much. When he feels that way, it’s usually because of self-doubts surrounding his humanity. First threads generally take place at a point in time when he hasn’t had the chance to really mourn someone- he’s had to cut some ties with people he’s felt a connection to and that’s a shame, a bit sad, but he knew that would happen and he carries on with his life. I do think, however, that there will be people he will be very sad to have to let go of, specially if they met in a situation that was very out of the ordinary and that caused Cayin to resonate more strongly with this person. Even worse, if he might have to hurt them.

How he handles it is more or less what’s described in the first question, sometimes it involves retreating into his eldritch life where he won’t think about the things that sadden him, other times he entertains himself with activities or seeks to lift his spirits by meeting a friend that still remains. He might seek to speak with someone about something vaguely relating to what made him so sad without outright mentioning it. He also often goes on walks and goes to places he finds peaceful and pretty, though that doesn’t necessarily help him, it’s just what he feels like doing.

zinnia :   how has the loss of fallen comrades and/or loved ones affected your muse ?   has it taught them anything or given them any new perspectives ?

This is a tricky question: Cayin, since his first conscious moments as a new being, has not experienced great loss. Perhaps one could count the old life he once sought to learn more about, and maybe even go back to, as something he lost but he doesn’t care for it anymore. He’s become very disinterested in whoever that man used to be and anyone who had any connection to him.

He will feel pity and sadness for reptiles he sees suffer, but... the ties of family between Yig and his many children are interesting. They can be somewhat impersonal in a way. Think of a wild animal without much emotional range or depth, that will defend its offspring with its life and show sadness at the loss of them, but not quite deal with the trauma that would suppose for a human being or some of the more intelligent and emotional animals. A part of ruthless nature, how many reptiles are there in the world? How many die in just a few moments, some unnecessarily others as a necessary part of the cycle of life? How deep and personal is the relationship of a being so large, long-lived and busy (though with a very keen eye and capacity to spread his attention) with those countless little animals of varying levels of expressiveness and sentience? Yig’s care for them goes further than what I have described, but it’s still an aspect of it that remains.

In the end, I don’t think he’s learned anything from it yet. But I do think that if he were to develop a very strong bond with someone that could seriously impact his perspective. Regardless of how well he handles it, I think Cayin would be surprised to see just how human he still is, and how much he cares for people deep down.

[shinygoku]

gordon gordon gordon gordon

Gordon Gordon Gordon Gordon!!

He's been sneaking into these asks by proxy, so it's finally time for his dedicated session, hehe~

First impression

WUAAAGH what's up with this WEIRD LONG NOT-THOMAS and his FACE?!

Impression now

His face is still pretty weird! But you know what else it is? Part of an Absolute Legend ✨

Like, man, Gordon is such a big presence and interesting character, the entire premise leans heavily on him. I'm inclined to go as far as to say that the Blue Boys of 1, 2 and 4 here are the three most important characters for the franchise (not at all to knock everyone else lmao) and they slot nicely into a Triforce of Courage, Wisdom and Power, and Gordon has Power in spades!

Gordon is The Vain One (not James!). He's legit very strong and the fastest on Sodor (which isn't just being a big fish in a small pond because that island has some crazy cool engines!) but unfortunately he lacks humility. His success seems to have been lodged in his head before the series even begins and this Pride is the source of pretty much every single conflict he's involved in.

But when it isn't his self satisfaction in his actions, it's being smug about being such a grand, magnificent Tender Engine and he is snooty as hell about it. He seems to look at smaller engines [pretty much everyone compared to him lol] as a lesser class, particularly if they're small and cheeky and Tank Engines. This may not be the case exactly, but his way of talking to them and some other things he says are very condescending.

However... as much as a gigantic jerk he is at several points, with Gordon I kinda feel like he plain ass doesn't conceive of his words being out of line. That and having to Unlearn things... he's not innately better than everyone else. He sees things in black and white. There are Useful Engines, and those who should be scrapped. There are Noble Tender Engines and Lesser Tank Engines who exist to do the tedious chores on behalf of the Superior ones. Edward doing shunting is seen as Demeaning and contradicts Gordon’s world view that Tender Engines Don't Stunt™, and he doesn't like that one bit! (Also Edward was crossing the picket line but that wasn't Awdry's concern lmao)

Related is Gordon does seem oddly dense at times, like assuming that Tenders are in of themselves a Status Symbol rather than a large lunchbox of sorts lol, or that Tender Engines like him being too heavy for Branch Lines being because something about Branch Lines are degrading. This might be all Elitist Brainwashing influence. But still, that he just takes these as The Truth means I get to affectionately call him an idiot. And there is no other way to explain how he genuinely believes Bill and Ben were going to murder him if he wasn't missing a few brain bolts in there.

Fortunately, he does eventually start to learn the important lessons.... very gradually, but the Early Gordon is a pretty different beast to Later Gordon, and it's wonderful~

Also, I gotta give credit to him for having some moments of utter brilliance and actual grasp of reality and more complex matters, like culture. (Yeah, I'm rolling with his geniune Opera Knowledge from s6 of all things. It's good!) As much as Awdry himself may have disagreed, Gordon was in the right to want a Station Pilot and the Strike was called for (not bullying Edward for it, but myeah) ...but this leads to my next point: He seems to have a mental block when it comes to Emotions.

Certainly, he's as emotional as the others are, it's not just a scale of Snooty, Arrogant, Condescending, Prideful ....well, it is, but ALSO the more mixed and varied feelings: Shame, Sadness, Fear, Ambivilance, Irritation, Anger, Passion, Amused, Delight and so on. However, Gordon is seemingly unaware of how his words may make the others feel, and even at his cruellest it doesn't look like he's aware he's twisting a knife in. To Gordon, he's being honest, but his verbose manner ends up twisting and wriggling away from any valid point like an overgrown vine that somehow links back to how [Other Engine] is disgracing him, Gordon, by association.

Examples include: Being offended by Henry's new shape (??? Gordon dude he nearly died and this is an improvement, a good thing!), saying that Edward's age and difficulty starting a heavy ass packed load of passengers is grounds to be Retired or even Scrapped, other little insulting things like calling the likes of Thomas and James Little insistently (it seems to vary if he's trying to put them down or actually be affectionate), and many more when in the hands of inept writers who have to wheel out the same Gordon Learns A Lesson Plot every other season.

Like I said in the James post, I also think he kinda poisoned the Red guy with his snooty attitude... but I maintain that I think Gordon was unaware of this. He may know he has Influence, and enjoy that, but he really truly doesn't appear to mean to mould James into a smaller, redder version of himself. He's oblivious and from his own point of view, benevolent. Which is in fact a dangerous combo indeed!

It's... a lot o7;;

Again though, if you're looking at the books and s1-s5 of TVS you can see him grow and change. He does take a while to learn the lessons, but as time goes on he moves 2 steps forward and 1 step back, then eventually less steps back entirely. It's great! And so is Gordon. A big dumb meathead with not entirely uncalled for delusions of granduer. A dramatic so-and-so who is the best engine for his job.

I love this sophisticated jock who grows more kindness~ 💙

Favourite moment

Hm! This isn't as easy to decide lol. We all like Gordon Goes Foreign... but you know what sticks in my mind more?

hOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH

Look, I’m not 100% objective, here! But Ringo’s read of this line is fantastic (and keeps making me expect him to finish saying OOOHH SHIT) and it’s also a well deserved bolt of divine retribution for how rude he was being earlier. (As long as my essay already was, he very much needed the knocking down of some pegs here!)

Idea for a story

While both my fics with him thus far have been variations of Pre-Canon, Full-Arrogance and Snobbish Gordon (and both were a lot of fun!) ...but I cannot bear the same expired horse being beaten more when the story is set waaay later but he’s still up his own ass. Please, PLEASE writers, let him hold what growth he’s managed to gain!

I think it’d be good to accept that he’s gonna be outdated sooner or later, so have him help train another High Speed Engine and take them under his wing. The Christopher Awdry books kinda have something similar with Pip and Emma, but I think a better way of having Gordon be involved would be if he was actively doing some mentoring himself, as well as being a neat parallel with Edward, whose type was once Express only but got outclassed by A1s, and so the same can happen to this big A1 -> A3 lad and he can form a healthy relationship with some bright eyed newbie (and maybe have some self awareness and try to stop their head getting too large, lol).

Unpopular opinion

I know I just said him mentoring would be a cool story idea, but in canon? He is NOT a resident Dad type!! He’s a hotshot young man but he’s also a hot mess. He’s physically large but he’s not got the Energy of someone who dispenses sage advice and a shoulder to cry on. At best, he’s a weird uncle! One who means well but you shouldn’t take his life advice to heart because he’s actually just as, if not more clueless than you!

Favourite relationship

I feel inclined to say Thomas here. Emphatically not because Gordon is ‘old’ and Thomas is ‘young’, but because they’re so damn alike and actually make an excellent, albeit unconventional type of Rivalry.

Both are self important with genuine finesse in their respective talents, both are honest to a fault, both have redeeming qualities to offset their initial abrasiveness, and the first TVS episode is centred on the both of them and sets the tone for the series as a whole. There’s more parallels, of course, but I also wanna point out they’re effectively the mascots of North Western Rail in universe too, and I absolutely love this picture:

I also have immense fondness for the Down the Mine paradigm shift! Thomas gives Gordon grief over the ditch incident and later when it emerges the Fat Controller is gonna send for Gordon to pull him out, Thomas is filled with dread. But Gordon isn’t using the chance to lord over Thomas, he’s actually so amused by Thomas’ mishap and it coming at a time where he’s been significantly humbled, they instead become Comrades and I love it. I eat it up! Paint Pots and Queens isn’t anywhere near as good but I adore the little bit where they’re appealing for the other, equals and watching each other’s back~

But yeah, as Friendly Rivals they both feel very authentic and yet, in a daft way, sweet ;3

Favourite headcanon

He still says “Hurry, hurry, hurry!” when pulling the Express. That’s a HC as I think the show phased it out, but I like it lol. I feel like my essay on him contains most of the headcanon stuff, but it’s all based on what’s shown, baybee!

[lovelyirony]

the much anticipated second part for the amnesia-related fic. 

A wedding ring. 

This doesn’t mean that he and Tony are married except that he hasn’t seen Tony with a wedding ring and he hasn’t mentioned a wife and he doesn’t sound like he has a wife and if Rhodey-if Jim had a wife, then wouldn’t he know about her? Wouldn’t they have met by now? He may not know Tony yet, but he doesn’t think that he would be that cruel. 

“Colonel Rhodes-” 

“Friday, don’t,” Jim says, swatting at the air. “What-why did you hide that from me?” 

“Sir believed it would be best,” Friday answers, tone almost quieter. “He...wasn’t sure that you would understand.” 

“I don’t understand,” he says. “Why would I marry him of all people? He’s not exactly my type.” 

“Since I am a learning program, I cannot say for sure. Humans do a lot of illogical things.” 

He’s trying to wrap his head around it and avoid Tony at the same time. 

Friday won’t let him see any wedding pictures, not until he remembers more. 

- 

Even though he’s been (mostly) successful at avoiding Tony for about a week and a half, the man is still so nice. 

He’s still operating under the assumption that Jim has no idea that they’re married, and he does stuff like leave out a cup of coffee and offer breakfast up or ask if he wants pizza for dinner.

Jim reads too much into it. 

And he doesn’t know why, because it’s not like anything has really changed, except for the fact that Tony won’t call him Rhodey. 

Jim gave him permission to, saw how much it killed him with every correction and every reminder. Told him “you can call me Rhodey, if you want.” 

And he doesn’t. 

Tony never does. 

He still almost says it, but Jim is quicker on the tongue, and he doesn’t make a move to try to push any memories at all. 

(Even though he remembers how happy Tony was to hear that memory about grocery shopping and Dum-E’s code source.) 

He does want to remember. He wants to remember why he apparently married Tony and was genuine about it, why Pepper and him are best friends and never were anything more, why he’s...why he’s so different from what he wanted. 

-

Tony knows that Jim’s acting differently. He’s not sure why. He’s not sure he wants to know why, because that might complicate everything. 

And he doesn’t want another thing to be wrong. Everyone’s walking on eggshells around him except for the one damn person that probably should be, but Rhodey’s never been good at following rules. (But he’s good at fooling people.) 

Pepper talks to Tony a lot. Asks him how he’s doing, if there’s anything she can do. 

Repair someone’s memory is a little bit outside of her area of expertise. 

“It’ll be okay,” she says, putting her tiny hand over his. “Things will work out.” 

They both know that in Tony’s life, luck has never been quite what it seems. Or existent at all, at times. 

-

Ironically, it’s their anniversary of the wedding when Jim remembers something else. It actually comes in the form of looking in the fridge and not finding his apples. 

“Quit leaving honey-crisp off of the list just because you don’t like them you asshole,” he calls to Tony. 

Tony almost yelps. 

“Out of everything in your life and that’s what you remember? Your stupidly sweet apples?” 

“Are you gonna get them?” 

“Why don’t you come with me?” Tony asks, “just so that you can get your apples and maybe get out of the house for once.” 

“Hmph. Fine,” Jim answers. “Where’s my coat?” 

“Uh...” Tony trails off, trying to find the words. “Third peg on the...right, I think?” 

“You’ve known me for years, and you don’t know where my coat is?” 

Rhodey is always the one to hang up his coat, and then put his arms out for Tony’s. 

“To be fair, I am important and fancy and a big deal,” Tony scoffs. “Come on, go get your coat and then I’m going to show you what horrible things you buy from the store.” 

“It’s not that bad. And what, you don’t like good apples?” 

“As sour as can be, sourpatch. As sour as can be.” 

-

Grocery shopping with Tony is...interesting. He didn’t think it would take so long. 

“This is why you don’t usually come,” Tony teases him. “I take so long and you end up sitting in the car and cursing at Pepper or Happy about how much time I spend dedicated to snack-judging.” 

“And I put up with that?” 

“You do,” Tony says, grabbing the cart. “Because you love me and you deal with a lot worse from me.” 

“Like what?” 

“Best not to talk about it,” Tony says. “We’re in public after all, honey.” 

“Ugh, boo,” Rhodey teases. “Give me the list. I bet I can speed-run this.” 

“How? Technically, you don’t think you’ve ever been to this store before!” Tony exclaims with a gigantic, shit-eating grin. 

“Way to rub it in you bastard,” he says with a laugh. “Now come on, I wanna see what kind of salad you think we’re gonna get.” 

“Not you thinking you’re going to be eating junk food,” Tony sighs. 

“I lost my memory!” 

“That would’ve worked, like, two weeks ago. Now I know better.” 

Grocery shopping is...fun. They make fun of foods and different products, and Tony shows him which things he might like. 

“I like...I like fruit salad?” 

“Yes, yes you do Rhodey-dear,” Tony says. “Your favorite thing in the world for fruit.” 

“Seems suspicious.” 

“You’ll have to try it again, then.” 

Rhodey watches him as they’re shopping. He’s easy to be around, honestly. He has that sort of energy that makes you feel like he’s just happy to be in that moment. 

Tony also has very questionable taste in everything. 

“Quinoa?” 

“What? You’ve eaten it before! It’s not your least favorite thing that I’ve cooked?” 

“How is it not? Is it because I’m old?” 

“No, not because you’re old,” Tony scowls. “When you’d come back from the service, you’d eat literally anything I put in front of you. I once gave you a block of cheese and you just sat there. Eating it.” 

“There’s no way I did that.” 

“You did! Ask Pepper, she has a picture of it!” 

He goes back to quiet after that, remembering the picture. 

-

Jim isn’t even sure he wants to bring it up. He’s not even sure if he could love Tony again, and somehow that thought makes his head hurt. 

He knows that apparently, he fell in love once. 

So he needs answers. 

-

Jim had talked to his parents, but he hadn’t really had an opportunity to talk about anything important. Try as he had to get more information out of them, they weren’t giving much up, except for parts about his military achievements and funny stories that he’s written to them about. 

When he gets back home and he sees Mama, she knows. 

“Come here baby,” she says, putting him into her arms. “Let me answer your questions.” 

“Why him?” 

Mama laughs, grinning up at him from her place on the couch. 

“You reacted like this when you first started rooming together, too. I was worried that I’d be involved in a court case for attempted murder!” 

“And you weren’t?” 

“No,” Mama answers. “Instead, I get no phone call from you for three weeks, until the day before your holiday break started, and you told me that you were bringing who you used to call ‘the biggest nuisance since fruit flies’ home to Thanksgiving.” 

“Why did I...why did I bring him?” 

“I didn’t get that answered until he fell asleep,” she says. “I’m making you some coffee, alright dear?” 

“Okay, so long as I get an answer.” 

“So impatient,” she mutters as she makes her way to the kitchen, Jim following. 

He watches how easily his mom pours the coffee, and remembers in a brief flash that Tony always would bring the fancy, flavored creamer to the holiday events. 

“Oh come on,” Tony said. “You have gotten too used to my kindness, and there’s no reason to stop being kind. Besides, remember last year when you nearly cried because I bought creamer from the store? Yeah, not having a repeat of that.” 

“And would that be so bad?” he teased Tony, wrapping an arm around his waist, and-

He blinks. 

That was...that was definitely a new kind of memory. 

“James, are you alright?” His mother is looking at him, and maybe she knows, maybe she doesn’t know that he just remembered something. He’s honestly not sure. 

“Uh, yeah. Fine. I’m good.” 

Mama looks across the room, smiling. 

“He was a timid little thing when he got here. Fixed up the washing machine when it broke, just in time. Nearly wore a suit to dinner, said you didn’t tell him what kind of ‘casual’ we were going for...” 

He snorts as he slowly remembers that one. 

“What do you mean you didn’t mean a suit?!” Tony had wailed, gripping Rhodey’s shirt. “You said I had to dress nice!” 

“I meant literally anything but your Black Sabbath shirt!” 

“Why would I have worn my Black Sabbath shirt? Your mom would probably think I was a Satanist!” 

They both look at each other for a moment, and Rhodey’s the first one to break and laugh. 

“Listen you idiot, it won’t be so bad. We can just ditch the coat, ditch the tie, and you’ll be...okay. A bit nicer than most of us, but hey. That’s what I get for not telling you that suits are weird.” 

“Suits are not weird, you’re just uneducated in what is sophisticated,” Tony says, turning his nose up as Rhodey rolls his eyes. 

“Oh yeah, sure, because knowing which one is the dessert spoon is going to help me save people abroad. My bad.” 

Tony looks back at him, and his heart skips a beat. It does. Really, it does. 

It almost feels like someone’s reading back to him what he already knows at this point. 

His mom squeezes his hand, smiling. 

“You remember at least some of it, don’t you?” 

“Well...uh, yeah? I-I do.” 

“Does Tony know that you know that you’re...married?” 

“No,” Rhodey says. “I know some, but not enough.” 

“Give him a chance,” she says. “And get back home, I’m sure he’s missing you.” 

Rhodey embraces his mother, and prepares for the drive home. 

- 

Being missed is a weird concept to deal with. 

He also did not exactly think of that. So he’s currently driving back and checked his phone to seven missed calls from Tony, three from Pepper, and one text from Happy that simply reads “lol ur dead hahaha good luckkkkk” 

Well shit. 

Tony, understandably is pissed and scared and a tad upset. 

Not a tad. 

“Where were you?” He says as soon as Rhodey appears back in the kitchen. Tony’s hands wander close, and he almost leans in. 

Almost. 

“I was visiting my parents,” he responds. “Sorry, forgot to text.” 

“Please remember next time, your-well, Tony’s annoying when you leave,” Pepper says. 

(Okay Rhodey doesn’t know how they got away with this for so long, it’s really, really obvious that they’ve been covering it up.) 

“I will,” Rhodey says. “Did I miss anything?” 

“I’ve elected that we’re going to cook tonight,” Tony declares. “I am absolutely sick to death of takeout, and I’m pretty sure that with your lack of knowledge on recipes now, I have you beat in the kitchen.” 

“I can still read recipes, you dumbass. Besides, I just remembered your stupid ‘bake’ hack for your stupid casserole dish, so...” 

“Out of everything, and that’s the thing you remember today?!” 

“Well, I also remembered that apparently you wore a suit to my house for Thanksgiving!” 

Tony stops. 

“What else you remember from that, or was it just that?” 

He doesn’t want to say anything in front of Pepper, doesn’t want to say anything just yet. 

“I remember that you were weird about your suit!” 

Tony deflates a bit, but still smiles. 

God, he looks gorgeous. 

Rhodey blinks. Shakes his head out of the thought.

“So. What are we cooking?” 

- 

Tony and cooking is a very interesting concept because it shouldn’t work. 

He never stops moving, can lose interest quickly, and Rhodey would think that he could burn water. 

But he doesn’t. Tony hums along to music, and he tells him all about his favorite songs and why. 

It’s not any rock music, any heavy metal. 

“I don’t listen to that all the time,” Tony says. “You always think I do!” 

“Oh right, because someone who personally has Angus Young’s number just casually isn’t someone who listens to the band all the time, sure,” Rhodey says sarcastically. 

Tony grins, and it’s probably the best damned thing he’s seen all day. 

His heart zings at the realization that Tony smiling is what makes him smile now, what makes him want to stay and learn so much more about how they came to be, what they’ve done together. 

-

Dinner is fun. Tony tells him all about college and what they used to do, and what Rhodey had done. 

Memories are coming back easier. 

“You totally emailed the professor really petty responses!” Tony cries, laughing. 

“It wasn’t that petty,” Rhodey said, huffing. “He was an asshole anyway, he hated whenever we would come late because we wanted coffee, and your order was too complicated!” 

“It wasn’t that complicated!” 

“Oh I’m sorry, them having it written down behind the register for when you come in?” 

“Oh, like they didn’t have a description of you.” 

“Yeah, as your long-suffering companion,” Rhodey teases. 

“You’ve always been,” Tony says. “Because you’re the best.” 

Rhodey stops stirring the pot for a moment. 

“Rhodey? What is it?” 

“I...” 

Tony stands there, grinning. He’s nervously fidgeting, and it’s his move to say the vows. 

“You know, I wasn’t ever sure you’d be up to marrying someone like me,” Tony confesses. “Especially since I almost burned down our dorm room one time.” 

“Wasn’t just one time,” Rhodey teases. “But carry on.” 

“You loser,” Tony says. “Even now, interrupting my heartfelt moment.” 

There’s a ripple of laughter from the small crowd that’s gathered. Rhodey smiles at him, feels tears prick up around his eyes. 

“But I knew that I loved you ever since you would always buy my favorite ramen even though you hated it, and you were the one to get the pizza when I was sad. I knew I wanted the chance of seeing you every day, coming home to you at the end of the day. You’re home, Rhodey. You’re it. No one else could ever possibly hold a candle compared to you.” 

Rhodey startles, looking at Tony. 

“I...I remember. I remember!” 

“Remember what?” Tony asks cautiously. 

(He can’t be let down. Not again.) 

“You smashed cake in my face at our wedding!” Rhodey yells. “And we got married! We got married! Where the fuck is my ring?” 

Tony laughs, scooping Rhodey into a hug. 

“I can’t believe you remember.” 

“Well I was bound to at some point,” Rhodey says. “I can be smart, doofus.” 

“Don’t call me ‘doofus’ during an emotional outburst you absolute nimrod!” 

“I’ll call my husband whatever I want,” he teases, “although I still wanna know where my ring is.” 

“Come with me and get it,” Tony says. “I hid them in my room, just in case.” 

It’s all coming back, the steps they take, the way that Tony supports him as he moves slower. 

Iron Man, for one. War Machine the next. The dates they went on, the proposal. 

The rings are simple. They’re also not wedding rings. 

The class rings. 

Rhodey remembers getting them, remembers getting his initials and Tony’s on the inside, remembers how Tony made some “adjustments” after they received them. 

“You know that you got me,” Tony had told him. 

It slides on, and it feels right. Feels like something was missing. 

He looks up at Tony, smiling. 

“Show me the pictures, Tony.” 

- 

Pepper walks in to find Rhodey absolutely terrorizing Tony about the decor choices from the reception. 

“So I agreed with red and gold? I had no problem with it?” 

“Well, I did do some major convincing, so...” 

“What does that mean?!” 

"You’ll remember later and be sad,” Pepper says. “Or happy. But please don’t tell me if you remember it.” 

“You loved the color scheme,” Tony says. “Because you love me!” 

“Now I am doubting,” Rhodey declares. “I loved you enough to have those colors?” 

“You lost a bet, Boss,” Friday interjects. “That’s why there were those themes.” 

“Friday,” Tony whines. “Why snitch on your creator like this?” 

“I am not programmed to have loyalty, Sir.” 

Rhodey laughs, taking Tony’s hand in his. 

“Well, I guess I’ll still love you. Even if our wedding theme was weird.” 

“It wasn’t that weird!” 

-

It takes about another month before all of the memories are all back to normal, and in that time Rhodey learns (and relearns) a couple of things: 

1.) The best feeling in the world is waking up to Tony, who sleeps very lightly and also wacked Rhodey in the face a total of ten times. (That’s not a new thing, he remembers.) 

2.) He special-orders peppermint-flavored coffee creamer. 

3.) Tony was lying when he said that Rhodey’s new favorite movie was The Goonies. 

(He mostly forgave him for that one.) 

[lettrespromises]

KUROO, AKAASHI AND ATSUMU - TAKE MY HEART WITH YOU.

@luveranime​ wrote : ❝ Heyyy! Could you do one where kuroo and akaashi and atsumu are leaving to another country for volleyball purposes and they have to say goodbye to their s/o?🥺🥺 ❞ A.N :  ❝ Dear reader,  this is my first request and i’m nervous as heck, i’m trying really hard not to scream right now. anywhoopsie! i tried to make these both sad and fluffy because all my posts are kind of angsty and i don’t want to be pinned as a heartbreaker. i had so much fun writing this so thank you so much for requesting, sending lots of love and kisses your way! mwah!  Sincerely yours, Nikki ❞ Genre: Kinda sad, kinda fluffy. Warnings: Bits of crying, mentions of sex but no actual smut (post time-skip for Atsumu).

Kuroo is the type of person who gets emotionally attached slowly, but once he’s attached to you, there’s no going back. His passion is unmatched (yes I may be writing this because he’s a scorpio and so am I), meaning that he will pour every ounce of love he possesses into your relationship.

He loves hard and will always put you before anything else. As a matter of fact, you were the one who had to force him to go abroad to study new volleyball techniques and come back as a better, more experienced player.

It took forever to convince him though. He felt guilty for leaving you behind and as stated before, you come before anything else, including volleyball. (Lucky you, he’s putting his first love after you.)

As much as he is excited to meet new players, learn new ways to be a more efficient middleblocker and discover a new country, his excitation counterbalances with the thought of leaving you. He’s both looking forward and dreading leaving Japan, and you in the process. 

The latter causes him to lack slumber, he has terrible insomnias because his emotions are tearing him apart. Thankfully, you’re here to whisper sweet nothings to him and secure him in your embrace to make him fall back asleep (although, the few nights leading to his departure often result in him squeezing the life out of you when you’re sleeping, send help.)

The atmosphere of the ride to the airport is very close to pure denial. You’re both singing until ripping your vocal cords, his palm has found a permanent place upon your thigh, sometimes he squeezes your flesh to print this sensation into his head because deep down he knows this is the last time he gets to see you and touch you before a long time.

At the airport, you’re the kind of cliché couple to melt into each other’s embrace amidst comforting silence. You both feel like you’re all alone in the airport, like there’s nobody else there.

Your hands grip his Nekoma jacket hard, as if your life was depending on it, but after all, you just needed to keep this feeling with you at all costs- the feeling of your boyfriend’s toned arms around your waist, squeezing you like there’s no tomorrow while you keep your eyes shut.

Kuroo, on the other one hand, runs his digits through your hair in a comforting manner and delivers occasional pecks on the crown of your hair. 

However, you both know it’s time (although you might have been trying to purposefully make Kuroo miss his flight), which results in Kuroo saying “Kitten, I know it’s hard but I have to go now.”, cue your cute self looking at him with pleading eyes. “Don’t give me this look, baby, I hate this as much as you do.”

He envelops your cheeks with both of his gigantic palms and presses one final kiss upon your lips, it’s everything you wanted and represented Kuroo so well- passionate, caring, both soft and rough on the edges. His thumbs wipe away the tears crashing down on your cheeks, once he pulls away due to the lack of oxygen, he doesn’t miss to slap your butt because... Kuroo...

Upon leaving, he puts his Nekoma jacket upon your shoulders while flashing you his toothiest smile : “I’ve always thought you rocked it better than me, kitten.” 

As he makes his way to the main hall, he looks back at you and mouths a very touching “I love you, I’ll be back to you soon.” and blows a kiss your way, you stare at him and squeeze his jacket against your chest, at least you have a new cuddle buddy as a replacement.

Ahh, Akaashi, or as I like to call him: agASHEHHHH.

It’s safe to say that he is the polar opposite of Kuroo regarding display of affection. Love with Akaashi echoes to comfortable silence, but that certainly does not mean he wouldn’t get the moon for you if you asked.

Akaashi becomes unconsciously a bit more distant and a bit more silent the week leading up to his departure. He thinks that gradually separating himself from you will hurt you less once he’s gone, he just wants his absence to cause you as little pain as possible.

You, on the other one hand, get quite frustrated with this semi-silent treatment. He doesn’t come at your place as often, he cuts the conversations short and says he’s too busy with Bokuto-san to hang out with you. 

The truth of the matter is, he’s hurting so much from the inside, and this idea of his is just eating him alive. It eats him alive because you’re away, and he’s the one blocking you off. He absolutely hates the way he’s acting.

Hence why, the day before of his departure, he crashes at your place with takeout, a bouquet of everlasting flowers and all the good stuff to have the perfect movie night.

Needless to say, you’re shocked once you see him and all these things he brought specifically for you. He takes time to carefully explain why he chose to bring you all of this: he ordered this peculiar takeout because it’s your favorite, he got you this bouquet of everlasting flowers so you can have a permanent proof of his love for you and the full ‘movie night’ equipment to light up the mood of this fatidical night.

Although he doesn’t really initiate any kind of affectionate touches, this night is the total opposite- he delivers pecks everywhere on your face, envelops you safely into his embrace, plays with your hair while you’re watching the movie and whispers a few “I love you so much.” in the crook of your neck.

Eventually, you both fall asleep and he carries you bridal style to your bed where you both spend the night together, comforted by each other’s embrace.

Akaashi insisted on going to the airport alone, the will to cause you as little as possible still embedded in his brain. Thus, he leaves you while you’re sleeping and admires you one last time before delivering a sweet peck on your forehead and whispers “I’ll be back before you can say it, dove.”

Once you wake up, you pat the other half of your bed only to realize you’re alone and Akaashi has already left. However, there’s a curious bag next to your bed. As you open it up, you realize it’s filled with Akaashi’s clothing and his signature smell is locked in within the fabric, there are also a bunch of neatly handwritten notes for each day he’s gonna be without you. All of them are reminders of your qualities, how much he loves you and memories of your dates with polaroid pictures.

 Upon seeing all these precious things specially prepared for you, you go back to sleep, hugging his pillow close to your chest with a soft smile on your face, Akaashi’s favorite smile.

Oh well, now this is a wild one.

Dating a professional volleyball has its pros and cons, and needless to say, the biggest disadvantage of dating Atsumu is how often he needs to go abroad to play against a foreign team. 

Now, of course you’re his number one fan and rightfully so and Atsumu asks you to come with him all the time but you can’t just leave your professional life aside, hence why it’s always bittersweet when he has to leave.

However, if it’s bittersweet to you, to Atsumu, it’s the best occasion to tease the hell out of you because you pout every time he brings up the fact he has to travel to another country. Cue the inevitable “Aw, is somebody gonna miss me or what?” and the obvious wink sent your way.

Teasing you is a way to make you crack a smile or laugh, which indirectly makes you forget about his trip for work or at least it makes it less painful because you’ve been laughing so much with your boyfriend. And to Atsumu, it’s the perfect way to capture a few candid pictures of your beautiful grin so he can admire them all once he’s far away from you.

Now, I hate to state the obvious but when I said that Atsumu is a wild one... I meant it. Hence why the night before his departure, he always makes sure to please you in bed and make you scream him name, because God knows when he will be able to do it again and hear such a sinful melody coming out of your mouth.

He does insist on you coming to the airport with him, and there again, he’s a wild one : Atsumu has no shame in making out with you right there, right now in the airport in front of the incredulous looks of the passengers around you.

He won’t hesitate and honestly has no shame regarding public display of affection : open mouthed kisses, trails of kisses left on your neck, a hand adventuring on your derrière, hell, even hickeys if he’s feeling like it.

Atsumu takes pride in leaving a few love bites, it’s a literal physical reminder that even though he’s not here with you, you know who you belong to. And nothing makes him smile more than imagining you staring at your reflection in the mirror once the bruises have healed up.

Nonetheless, the full make out session is broken by none other than the MSBY Black Jackal team’s obvious coughs, you know, a way to say “Hey, lovebirds, we don’t actually want to assist to the creation of a baby live in an airport and we kinda have to go.”

Both you and Atsumu know it’s time to part ways... But not before he plants a series of kisses on your plump lips and whisper a succession of “I love you so much, babygirl” or other “I’m gonna miss you so much, you have no idea”, orrrrr “You drive me crazy, baby.” and eventually the obvious “I can’t wait to make you walk weird for three days straight once I come back, princess.”

Eventually, you wave at Atsumu with a shy grin plastered upon your face, now that everything he said to you has sunk in, in return, he blows an obnoxious kiss your way. 

Once he returns to the team, Kiyoomi keeps his distance, even more so than usual because, I quote, “Do you have any idea of how many bacterias are shared in a kiss, Miya? 80 millions, which gives me 80 millions to stay away from you.” cue Atsumu replying with a smirk “I don’t regret a single one of these bacterias you’re talking about, totally worth it.”

[dean-winchesters-gardian-angel]

The Same bed - Chapter 4

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Summary: Friends are there to help each other out, but can they help falling for each other when all the long days they spend together turn into late nights they have and their reliance on each other.

Word count: 2544

Warnings: Fluff, angst, description of blood and injuries, nightmares, slow burn.

A/N: Chapter 4! Off we go. Read it enjoy and I’ll see you on the other side. There’s also a tag list, so be sure to tell me if you want in, as well as a masterlist so be sure to check it out. As are the latests, Unbeta’d all mistakes are mine.

Series masterlist 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean didn't sleep that night, too busy cursing himself for hurting Y/N and simultaneously afraid he may have a nightmare. He had gotten up several times with the intention of going to her room and seeking forgiveness if she'd give it to him, though he wouldn't blame her if she refused. Instead, he'd pace around his room or make it as far as her door before heading to the bathroom to wash his face rather than knocking.

The next night Dean had been too exhausted to stay awake, now accustomed to getting around 8 hours he passed out some time just after 2 in the morning while everyone else slept soundly. Dean managed to get just over an hour of shut-eye before waking up to one of his worst nightmares. He jolted up with a scream though quickly cut himself off as to not wake anyone. Nevertheless, he was half a scream too late as Y/N sat up in her own bed wanting to go check on him but refused due to her own stubbornness.

Dean mumbled a 'son of bitch' before getting up and making his way to the kitchen to get started on some coffee. Dean was given about 2 hours to contemplate his idiocy towards Y/N before his brother found his way to the kitchen.

"Dean?"

"Huh? Hey, morning."

"Man, you look like trash."

"Oh, thanks you're not so bad yourself in the shorts." Sam looked to his running shorts before rolling his eyes.

"You always did give me a hard time for wanting to stay in shape."

"Hunting keeps you in shape, not some little jaunt you do every morning. Hey, speaking of, have you found any new cases seems like forever since we've killed a deserving asshat."

"I've been talking to Jody and Donna, they've got a lead on a vamp nest, said they're heading out in two days and we're more than welcome to tag along."

"So, tomorrow. What time."

"They wanted to hit it just after sundown. So, we would leave tomorrow morning if you're interested."

"Oh, I'm interested, give me some' to kill."

"Dean are you sure you're okay. You usually become self-destructive when you've got something going on, something you need to talk about."

"I'm fine, Sammy."

"I'd mention that Y/N isn't sleeping in your room anymore, but I think that'd just make you mad considering that's probably what's bothering you."

"So much for not mentioning it." Dean swallowed what was left in his coffee cup before washing it and setting it in the dry rack. He made his way back to his room hoping his brother would take the hint and leave for his run, which he did. Once he heard the bunker door shut Dean went back to the kitchen to have another cup of coffee. As he sat down the sound of footsteps padding down the hall alerting him that Y/N had awoken. Dean straightened his posture as she entered the kitchen making her way to the cabinet to fish out a mug without making eye contact.

"Morning Y/N."

"Oh my god! It speaks." She filled her mug before walking out having not looked him in the eyes once. Dean rested his chin in his palm kicking himself for having hurt her. After a deep sigh, he dragged his palm over his face closing his eyes momentarily allowing them some rest from the lights of the bunker. Dean strolled his way to Y/N's room and knocked on her door. He heard her sniffle some before the door swung open, Y/N standing in front of him, eyebrows raised clearly on her last nerve.

"I just wanted to let you know we've got a case tomorrow, with Jody and Donna, we've got to leave early-ish so, you know, you might want to pack today so you're not rushing. Anyway, just keeping you in the loop." Y/N looked at her best friend whose eyes were tired, red, and glossy, staring at the ground in front of him. She missed him, but she didn't know why he was angry at her.

"Thanks." She turned away from him intent on closing her door to block the view of the broken man she so deeply cared about and wanted to help, and he spoke.

"Y/N."

"Yeah?" Dean swallowed trying to think of what he wanted to say to her but came up with nothing. There wasn't anything specific he wanted to tell her in that moment he just wanted to be with her. In the same room sitting next to her, looking at her. He wanted to spend time with his best friend whom he had been missing lately but if there was one person more stubborn than Y/N it was Dean.

"Nothing...nothing." With a sad smile and a sigh, Dean walked to his own room with the aim of avoiding her, once again, all day.

Dean listens as Y/N played her music in her room and smiled when the Grease love song came though it wasn't given a chance to finish before Y/N skipped it. He could hear his brother and Y/N talking in the library during the day occasionally finding something funny as they giggled in unison. He missed having her, missed being the one laughing with her, or even just talking with her.

Nearing the end of the day, Dean made his way out of his room for the first time that to grab a snack before trying his hand at some forty winks, wanting to be rested up before their hunt tomorrow. The energy of the room sizzled to nothing as he entered the kitchen. Sammy and Y/N were sitting next to each other looking at pictures of haircuts on the internet.

"Seriously Sam, I've been cutting my own hair my whole life. Just let me add a little shape to it. A little trim here and there I can make you look like the handsome devil you really are."

"I'm not letting you cut my hair. I don't trust you not to just cut it all off. Besides, I don't—" Both their eyes looked up to Dean as he stood in the doorway observing their interaction. Once he noticed their gaze he moved to the counter, pulling a bowl from the cupboard and reaching for the box of cereal.

"Sam and I made pasta if you're hungry for real food." Dean looked over the noodles as his tummy growled, licking his lips.

"Dean, just have some, we're not gonna finish it. It'll just end up going to waste." He hesitantly looked over his shoulder forcing a smile to Y/N who had the smallest one of her on her face. She watched him as he traded his bowl for a plate. Dean plated himself some of the homemade food before Y/N gestured at the spot in front of herself and Sam along with the parmesan on the table. Dean took a seat not wanting to be impolite more so than he'd already been.

"Anyway, I'm trying to convince Sam to let me trim his hair."

"You're not touching my hair with a ten-foot pole."

"Oh, come on Sam it grows back. You'll see, it'll look really good and you won't even want to grow it back. Won't be in your eyes anymore, won't distract you during hunts, monsters won't be able to grab at it. You know I make a good case."

"Sure. But you're still not cutting my hair." Meanwhile, Dean was silently moaning at the flavours on his plate. Y/N watched as the eldest closed his eyes savouring the taste, before he spoke, displaying his voice to them for the first time since the early morning.

"This is kind of amazing. I don't think I've ever had spaghetti this amazing. What jar did you guys use?" Referring to the sauce that had his taste buds dancing on his tongue.

"Actually, Y/N made the sauce."

"My mum used to make these gigantic pots of spaghetti sauce and freeze it so we could have it whenever we want. I was missing it, so I made some from memory. It's not hers but I think it turned out alright. I know I missed something, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was." Dean looked up, his mouth full, to the women speaking, no longer focusing on him rather in her head desperately searching for the missing ingredient, as he swallowed.

"You made the sauce? From scratch?"

"Uh-huh. Yeah, I mean it's not really that hard just time consuming, you have to let it simmer for a little bit, but I think it's worth it. Once in a while at least."

"You mind if I have more?"

"Go right ahead. Sam and I both already had seconds." Dean finished what was left and helped himself to more before moving back to his spot at the table.

"Sam promised to make me the 'Winchester Surprise' one day? Said you used to make it for him." Sam looked to his brother who reminisced, thinking back to the worst meals he had prepared for his baby brother.

"It was terrible. Sam that's — to repay her for this. Seriously Y/N you won't want to eat anything we make for the rest of your life. It was god awful."

"As much as I believe you because I do, by the description, Sam gave me, oh boy, I'll still be the judge of that." Dean chuckled at her retort missing her effortless comebacks and modesty when it came to the things she was good at, though he found it frustrating when she didn't accept the compliment he'd give her. He wanted her to brag about how many Djinns she could kill in a week, or in this case how good the sauce was instead of saying it wasn't perfect, so he'd done it for her, telling his brother when she would do something 'awesome', as he'd put it, that made him feel proud to call himself her friend. The guilt he felt was sudden and overwhelming. Even after he'd gone days without speaking to her, after pushing her away so abruptly, she was still offering him dinner, the conversation, the casual smile, the eye contact. How he longed for her eye contact. She had always been able to communicate with him with her eyes. He craved her gaze, how her orbs would sparkle when she was happy or grow dark when hooded with anger. But the thing he loved the most about her eyes was the fact that when they looked into his, it was like nothing else mattered. He could see he had her attention, and he wouldn't want to look away.

"I'm—ehem— I'm heading to bed, didn't sleep well last night, gonna try to rest up before our hunt tomorrow." Dean looked to Y/N who had a saddened look on her face, clearly angry and confused as to why Dean wouldn't let her help him. When he noticed the look on her face, he realized his words and quickly made up an excuse for why he couldn't sleep hoping to ease Y/Ns mind indirectly.

"Maybe it was a full moon, could never sleep well during a full moon."

"Full moon was last week Dean." Y/N answered him with an unreadable expression along with it. He didn't respond in an effort to save what dignity he had left. He forced a smile in Y/Ns direction as he passed by, once he'd finished cleaning his dishes.

"You mind telling me what's going on between the two of you Y/N?"

"Honestly Sam I haven't got the slightest."

"I know you two were sharing a bed... was that like—"

"If you're suggesting that we were a thing then no. He slept better when there was someone in the room with him, so I was that someone. Then out of the blue, he got distant and said he didn't need me anymore so." She shrugged not sure how to further explain their recent exchanges. "I know he's not through with the nightmares though because I heard his screams last night. I didn't check on him 'cause I was angry at him saying they were done, and he didn't need me anymore, but it was petty. I wanted him to stew in his nightmare, remember how bad they were before I told him I'd stay. I just don't understand him, I didn't do anything to warrant his actions. I haven't bothered asking why he's mad at me and even if I did, he'd just ignore me some more so what's the point. He's being a child. He's acting like I killed his brother when really all I'm trying to do is cut his hair." Her joke succeeded in lightening the mood as Sam chuckled moving to the sink to clean off his plate.

"You're a good influence on him, you know?"

"Why's that."

"Well for starters, he washed his plate."

"Oh yeah, I yelled at him this one time for leaving a mess, which I'm pretty sure was actually mine from the night before, but he hasn't left dirty dishes since so I guess it all worked out." Sam outright laughed at that before excusing himself to prepare for bedtime.

By the time 8 o'clock rolled around the bunker was silent, everyone in their respective bedrooms reading or watching a little telly before getting some rest. Due to the lack of sleep the nights prior and the upcoming hunt, Dean closed his eyes tight willing the nightmares away as he gripped his sheets. It didn't take him long to doze off though and it didn't last long before he was startled awake by Y/Ns voice. "Dean! Wake up!" She looked terrified, holding Dean down by his shoulders. "You idiot. Get up."

"Y/N? Why? What's—" She dragged him out of bed to the bathroom.

"Look at your hand Dean." She could hear the anger in her voice frustrated with him for refusing her help. The help they both knew would work. Dean looked down at the palm she hadn't grasped as she marched him down the hall like a child in trouble. It was bleeding, trailing down his fingers, shards of dark glass still imbedded in the tender skin of his palm.

"How did—" It came out as a whisper, laced with sleep as he did his best to orientate himself. Y/N turned on the light in the bathroom before forcibly sitting him on the lid of the toilet.

"You must have grabbed the beer bottle on your nightstand in your sleep." Y/N had pulled out the first aid kit they had stored under the sink along with a pair of tweezers, kneeling in front of the older Winchester.

"Y/N you don't have to—"

"I swear Dean if you tell me you don't need my help one more time I swear," she looked up from his palm to glare at him, "I’m going to tie you down until you get past... what ever this is." She didn't break eye contact with him until he nodded, shamefully looking down at the injury he only now started to feel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5 ~~ Out now!

Tag List: @akshi8278​ @bargedog @just-someone-difficult​ @mila-dans​ @valhallavxlkyrie​

Series Tags: @autobotgirl15-blog​ @classyunknownlover​ @laycblack​ @lovememisha​ @music-is-all-i-need​ @redbarn1995​ @wellfuckmyexistence​

[botw-oneshots-and-other-bs]

The Divine Beast

Chapter 2 - Vah Ruta

A/N: Chapter 1 is right here. I highly suggest you read it before this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy! <3

A full season had passed since Alyss decided to follow Robbie and Purah to the Ancient Tech lab and Alyss had to admit, she was having a lot of fun. The training that Robbie put her through was exhilarating and reminded her just how much she enjoyed fighting enemies. So far, she has only fought Moblins, Bokoblins, and Lizalfos, and her need for larger enemies grew by the training session. After every fighting session and at least once a month, Purah gave her a physical check up to make sure that nothing was changing drastically, or not going back to normal, which weirded her out at first but as their friendship grew she started to not mind them. 

Alyss had become great friends with Purah over the months and often they would sit down and chat with one another over a nice cup of tea. Today was no different. As Alyss sat giggling with Purah over the latest bit of gossip they had heard about two Sheikah scientists hooking up the other night, Robbie came bursting in through the door to the study. 

“It’s been found,” he all but shouted as he jumped up and down on his tippy toes. He looked like a gigantic toddler to Alyss and honestly it made her giggle a little at how insanely cute it was. Over the past season she had found herself lowkey crushing on the eccentric scientist. She would have told Purah but she wasn’t ready to face her emotions, and to be quite frank she wasn’t even sure if her feelings were romantic or platonic. In order to keep them under wraps Alyss would make sure she didn’t look at or spend too much time with him, but that didn’t stop the sideways glances she would give him or the double entendres she would catch him saying to someone while glancing at her. 

Purah jumped up, almost knocking over her plate of honeyed fruit and ran to him, “oh snap no way,” she pointed a small finger into his face. “If you’re lying to me I will end you.” 

Robbie laughed and threw his hands up in defence to the small woman’s playful aggression. “Purah, why would I lie to you about this?” He looked behind her to Alyss who he playfully raised his eyebrows at a couple of times. His goggles blocked most of his silly gesture, but he did notice the way her face lit up in a small pink blush and how she tried to hide it by taking another sip of her tea while pretending not to notice.

Purah jumped back and waved her hands happily as she turned to Alyss and grabbed her hand to roughly pull her up from her chair. “Well then we shouldn’t waste any time! Where are we going?” 

“The Zora’s Domain,” he responded, leading the two women out of the study to prepare for the long trip. 

After a long night of packing, Alyss, Robbie, Purah, and two Hylian Guards were packed and ready with their horses to head for the Zora’s Domain. Everyone was excited and ready to head out and get the field work under way. According to the letter Robbie received along with the news of Vah Ruta’s finding, they were to meet with the Princess, her knight, and her consort when they passed through Castle Town. Alyss wasn’t super excited about meeting with the Princess but not for any reason she had given her. Alyss knew it was selfish and unfair of her to treat the Princess of this time as though she was the one who sealed her away, but it was hard for Alyss to dis-associate her with her ancestor. 

The small group of scientists rode in a comfortable silence the entire way from the Royal Tech Lab to the walls of castle town, but when they got to the town Alyss was the first to break the silence. “Do we have to go to the Castle?” 

Robbie looked over from his beige stallion at her question. He studied her stoic face and heard the dread in her voice at her question. He moved his horse closer to hers while avoiding villagers who were going about their lives on the streets so that he could talk to her respectfully. “I do believe we are meeting them at the gates but you don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.”

Alyss sighed heavily and shook her head at the mere thought of entering the castle once again. She had too many memories there. “No, if everyone else is going it would be rude of me not to…” she grumbled. 

Silence passed for a second as they rode closer to the entrance of the Castle, but it was quickly broken as Robbie held his hand out to her. “I’ll wait with you. How does that sound,” he asked with a warm smile. 

Alyss could tell that his crimson eyes were smiling with the rest of his face even through his brown goggles he was always wearing. Looking from the sincerity on his face to the hand held out in between their horses, Alyss smiled thankfully and placed her smaller hand in his. “Thank you Robbie,” she whispered, truly touched at his gesture of comfort. Little did she know that a certain eccentric scientist was listening to their conversation in front of them and smiling to herself. She knew that there was something going on with Alyss as she would catch her little glances here and there and how she would blush when he spoke to her directly, but she was starting to think maybe there was something there with Robbie as well. Making a mental note to herself, Purah continued to the Castle leaving the other Sheikah behind. 

Alyss slid off of the saddle that was positioned on her teal horse’s back and searched through her bag to find a bright red, juicy apple for the horse. Walking to the front of her horse, Alyss rubbed her horse’s mane and face as she fed her the fruit. “Good girl Sea Foam, eat up. You need your strength.” Sea Foam gave a small nudge to Alyss’s hand happily as thanks for the apple before she walked to a nice patch of shade to lie down and cool off. The Summer sun shining over Hyrule had reached just past it’s peak, but that didn’t make the heat dissipate any. 

“So, enlighten me,” Robbie started as he sat down in some shade and placed his hand behind his back to keep himself up right. He watched as she turned back to him from where she stood watching her horse. “Why do you not like the Castle? You said it yourself, it’s completely different from what you remember, so why avoid it?” 

Alyss sighed and joined him in the shade. Pulling her knees to her chest, she rested her chin on them and picked at a small blade of grass at her feet. “I have some pretty bad memories here. That’s all.” 

“Oh come on there has to be more to it,” he laughed, “but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” 

Alyss looked over to Robbie for a minute and laid her cheek on her knees. “Well… I actually grew to call this place, er, the Castle I knew, home when I left Kakariko Village to train. All I wanted was to be a knight in service to the Princess, but when I offered myself to the King he turned me away. Princess Zelda interjected and said I could be of some use. That I could help defeat the Calamity.” She looked over to see Robbie looking right at her, egging her to continue. 

“I was taken to a laboratory and undressed. The scientists took my blood - which hurt a lot - and laid me down on a gigantic slab of stone over a blue furnace. All I remember is being told that I was going to be their greatest invention yet and that Ganon didn’t stand a chance before everything went dark. 

“When I woke up I felt normal, a little sore, but normal. The Princess stood next to my bed and treated me like royalty, and it wasn’t long until I grew to love her as I imagine I would have loved my sister. She was my best friend, my confidant,” Alyss smiled happily in fond remembrance as she continued, “I trained day in and day out here at the castle against all kinds of people. Great warriors from across Hyrule came to test my strength before they started pitting me against all kinds of monsters. I loved it as much as I love when you send me into battle, but it didn’t last long.” 

Alyss took a deep breath and buried her head in between her knees. This was still hard for her to think about but she figured talking about it with someone she trusted might help take the burden off of her shoulders. With a shaky breath and clenched fists she continued her story, “I lost myself. The beast inside of me took over. All I heard was a sickening voice taunting me, telling me my friends and family would die, and I couldn’t save them. It drove me crazy, I couldn’t escape, and I almost killed someone,” she whispered. She could feel the familiar tightening sensation in her chest as her anxiety started to skyrocket. She felt her nails starting to dig into her legs and her skin started to bristle as it did before it turned scaly. “I tried to get away, to make it stop, but I almost killed the King,” she whispered, horrified at herself as tears started to form in her eyes again. “It was a mistake, I would have never done it on purpose, but the voice. That voice, it-” She was broken out of her trance when she felt a strong hand lay itself on her arm and pulled her sideways. 

She didn’t register that Robbie had gripped her arm and pulled her into a warm and comforting hug until her face was pressed flush against his bare chest and the scent of his robes were gracing her nose. “R-Robbie,” she said in astonishment as her face blushed a bright red.

“Is this what was bothering you all those months ago?” he asked, trying to piece together how long she had been dealing with this information alone. He felt his heart break for her, he saw her skin turning and how tightly she held herself. This was not the first time he had seen her like this, but he couldn’t imagine the memories she held inside were that bad. Robbie got no vocal answer to his question, but he took the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to pull her into a tighter hug as his answer. 

Resting his forehead against the top of her head he tried to provide the most comforting hug he possibly could. “You have been alive a very long time according to the scroll we found, and Alyss from what I have personally seen in the past season is nothing short of someone who is an amazing and a wonderful person. Please don’t beat yourself up over something you did ten thousand years ago, especially if it was an accident.” 

Robbie received no answer, but he was ok with that. He cared about this woman and he wasn’t sure just how much yet, but what he did know was how bad his heart hurt for her in this moment. It didn’t take long before he heard the voices of his colleague, the Princess, and Impa heading closer to them from the Palace. He watched as Alyss removed herself from his embrace before anyone could see and went to attend to her horse, picking herself up emotionally the best she could. 

As they left Castle Town’s protective outer wall, Alyss listened to the Princess and her Consort, Impa, talk to the rest of the group about the newly found Divine Beast. She rode Sea Foam beside Link, who made sure he stayed in front of the Princess at all times, and stiffly stared ahead. 

            "Vah Ruta is an amazing Divine Beast," Zelda continued as she filled in Purah and Robbie. "It is absolutely breathtaking and I wonder what secrets it hides within it’s walls.” She was practically jumping out of her saddle with excitement, like a toddler presented with her favorite toy, at the discovery of this beast that it was impossible to not share her enjoyment.

“However,” Impa interjected, “when we used the Sheikah Slate to try and activate it, nothing happened. We tried everything we possibly could to get it up and running, but eventually we decided that you might have better luck.” 

Purah touched her hand to her chin and snapped as though she had a eureka moment, “I wonder if Alyss would be able to activate it.” She looked back to Alyss who had perked up at the mention of her name in curiosity. “After all, she has ancient Sheikah technology residing within her. Maybe this is the reason she woke up at the start of our journey?” 

Alyss shrugged, “I guess I could give it a try, but I don’t really know what I would do.”

“Oh don’t be so hard on yourself,” Purah cooed from in front of Alyss, completely missing the way her face deadpanned. “I’m sure you could think of something the rest of us haven’t. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Alyss sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. “Ok, ok, I will do my best.” This seemed to satisfy the others as they all murmured different ideas and ways of going about activating this newly found ray of hope. 

The moon was high in the sky by the time the company rode up to the gigantic horse head that resembled peace and restoration. The horse stables had come to be a welcoming sight as Alyss got more and more accustomed to this land and their ways. Dismounting her horse and giving Sea Foam a light pat to her silver mane she headed into the inn with the rest of the group. The mere thought of food was on nobody’s mind as the Princess paid happily for everyone to have the comfiest beds. Alyss stood next to Link and let out a yawn that turned into a smile as she watched Purah happily run to a bed and jump on it. 

“Hey be careful,” her sister called out claiming the bed to the right of Purah. “These beds will break, you know!”

Robbie chuckled as he walked up to the group and wrapped each arm around Alyss and Link’s necks. “Oh I’m sure these beds have been through much more than Purah jumping on them. I bet they’re really sturdy, right Alyss?” 

Alyss furrowed her brows as she tried to piece together his off handed attempt at flirting in her sleep deprived mind, but her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud. Looking over at Purah laying on the floor, Alyss let out a hearty laugh as the eccentric scientist tried to pull herself back onto her bed. She barely noticed Link choking back his laughter and the light punch to the side he gave to Robbie as he removed his arm and took his bed closest to the entrance to the inn. It took her a moment to process his flirting, but by the time she had got it, Robbie had already moved to his bed on the other side of Purah. He was letting his hair down to it’s natural length and removing his backpack and goggles that would be uncomfortable to lay down on. Alyss blushed when he looked back to her and winked before laying down on his back with his arms behind his head. 

The only bed left was beside Robbie and as Alyss moved towards it she could feel his eyes following her body. Alyss felt her hands and legs start shaking as though she was wet from head to toe and stuck in a cold breeze. What was this feeling? She was nervous, her hands were clammy, and the mere thought of what could possibly be going through his mind made her shiver harder. Why was she feeling this way? Turning her back to him she let her hair down and shakily placed the clips and rods on the bedside table. 

“Are you ok?” she heard him ask in a taunting tone. It was almost as though he knew exactly what was on her mind. She felt as though she was as transparent as water and he could read every single emotion that ran through her body, every thought that passed her mind, as easily as he could see the rocks sitting at the bottom of a creek. Alyss turned and locked eyes with his. Opening her mouth she racked her mind for any possible retort, but she was exhausted and the only thing on her mind right now was confusion and him. Sighing, she shed her robe, leaving her in her blue tunic. She couldn’t sleep in her entire outfit like everyone else in the group could, but she knew she couldn’t get one-hundred percent comfortable like she could at the Royal Tech Lab as these were open inns and privacy wasn’t exactly a thing. 

Alyss sat down on her bed and pulled her leg up to take off her stocking, ignoring the look Robbie was giving her the best she could and trying to not be so obviously affected. Mustering up some sort of courage, Alyss gave him a side-eyed look and lifted her chin in the air slightly. “Enjoying the show?” She asked to which she received a low hum in response. Alyss laughed softly at him and moved on to her other leg, exposing the soft skin she kept hidden day in and day out. 

“You’ve got nice legs,” Robbie murmured lowly, trying to not wake any of the others on the other side of him. 

“Thank you,” Alyss responded as she discarded the other stocking to sit next to the white one on the table. Laying down, Alyss turned onto her side and faced Robbie. The sleep she so desperately needed was quickly calling out her name, but she was determined to stay awake just a bit longer. She had finally gathered up the courage to ask her question that had taken over her mind. “What is this?” 

Robbie raised an eyebrow and sat up intrigued by her sudden question. He could tell she was quickly falling asleep but if he could get some clarification he would. “What is what?” 

“What is this feeling...” Alyss sighed as she slowly blinked. Her eyes barely registered his gaze upon hers, but still she continued her sleep induced thoughts. “I feel so weird around you Robbie. Are we friends or…” Opening her eyes she looked into his intense gaze and giggled happily, letting the intense wave of sleep she felt drag her further down. Little did she know that her words impacted Robbie deeply. 

Once he was sure she was completely asleep, he quietly slid off his bed and grabbed the folded blanket by her feet, unfurling it, and placing it over her body. He took his time to allow himself to really study her features from the way her legs curled closer to her body when she slept, to the pieces of hair that fell down over her closed eyes. He gently kneeled down to be face to face with the Sheikah woman and traced her jaw down to her neck. “Good night Alyss,” he whispered before placing a gentle kiss upon her cheek and heading back to his own bed to sleep.

The next morning came bright and early for the company. Link made a delicious breakfast of Crepes and simmered fruit for them all as they got themselves and their horses ready for the rest of the trip up to the Zora’s Domain. As they walked, Alyss did her best to keep her distance from Robbie as the memories of last night came to her in bits and pieces. She was embarrassed at how easily he had affected her with nothing but his look and it did nothing to ease the frustration and fear she felt growing within her mind. This is why she found it best to just push herself away from the rebellious scientist and stick closer to Impa and Purah. This put her a little closer to the Princess but she was easy to ignore as well. 

She noticed the confused glances he gave her the few times they had to look at each other as they stopped for breaks throughout the day, but she did her best to shrug them off and pretend as though nothing was wrong. By the time the sun had started its descent and the moon was rising into the sky, the Company could see the Zora Domain which was welcomed like a fresh cup of tea after a long day of hard work. Alyss was watching the full moon rise when the Company stopped halfway across the Luto Crossing. She almost ran her horse into the others but thankfully Sea Foam stopped and whinied. 

“Goddess look at that,” Purah whispered in awe as she stared over the bridge down into the lake below. “It’s even more magnificent than I could have imagined.” 

“I bet there’s loads of information and data on that Divine Beast that I’m dying to get my hands on,” Robbie commented as he rubbed his hands together like a starving man about to tear into the flesh of a perfectly roasted turkey. “Alyss, come take a look at this,” he called out as he looked over his shoulder at her. 

Dismounting, she walked between Purah and Impa, not really paying attention to what was down below them, but when she saw it she gasped. Memories flooded her mind as she once again gazed upon the magnificence of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. She remembered her mother and father helping make the layouts for the beasts. She remembered when her and Princess Zelda would sneak out late at night to mess around with the prototypes of the Divine Beasts. She remembered talking to the spirit of the Beast as though it was her sibling and the memories they shared as Vah Ruta would shower her with water from it’s trunk. “Ruta,” she whispered softly. Looking down at the water below, her stomach twisted, but she wanted to get to Ruta. She needed to touch her again, but before she could climb over the railing and jump down into the water below, Link had grabbed her hand and pulled her back. 

She quickly turned around to snap at him and tell him to let her go, but when she saw his expression of warning she shut her mouth. Pulling her hand from his calloused touch she held it close and turned back to the Divine Beast giving it one last look. 

“That water is treacherous if you aren’t a Zora or gifted Zora’s armor,” Princess Zelda started with a small smile towards Alyss. She knew how frustrating Link could be, but at the same time she also understood why he pulled her back from the railing. “Do you know Vah Ruta? Do you have any information you can give us?” She asked, trying to be friendly, but she was met with an annoyed expression from Alyss. 

“I don’t remember much that would be useful,” the Sheikah said curtly and very obviously lying. Her expression said otherwise, but it was late and the Princess didn’t want to push just yet. They still had time and the questions could wait until they were safely near Vah Ruta. Alyss climbed onto her horse and squeezed her with her legs to tell her to move forward. The rest of the group followed not too far behind her, but Purah was quick to catch up with her. 

“Alyss, you were there when they were built right?”

Alyss nodded her head. “My parents helped create their insides.” 

Purah laughed and clapped her hands together once. Even though it was nighttime and everyone was starting to get tired from the long journey, the excitement of the Divine Beast provided a nice adrenaline boost for Purah and Robbie. “Insides,” she practically shouted out looking at Alyss and not where she was going anymore. 

Alyss smiled at her and nodded. “I vaguely remember that the insides were extremely complex, but I was just a child when they were being built. Zelda and I would frequent the Divine Beasts as we got older and while she made sure they were holding up well and their pilots were adjusting well, I would talk to them.” Alyss had a far away look as they came upon the main bridge leading into the Zora’s Domain, but the current Princess Zelda’s voice broke her thoughts.

“Talk? They can talk?” She asked, expressing everyone’s question at this new found information. 

“Well, not exactly,” Alyss continued. “It’s been so long I bet they’ve forgotten me. I had most of a connection with Vah Medoh to be honest, but it’s Champion didn’t really like anyone going up to his Divine Beast without his permission,” Alyss scoffed at the annoying memories of the Rito Champion, “What a frustrating man…” 

“What about Vah Abyss?” Zelda asked which caused Alyss to slow down tremendously deep in thought. They had come upon the Zora’s Domain which was practically silent since most of the Zora were sound asleep in their beds, but as Alyss reiterated Zelda’s question as a question of her own, a Zora warrior approached them and bowed deeply to the Princess. 

“King Dorephan has been awaiting your return, your Highness, Lady Impa,” the warrior stood back up and held her spear close to her body. “Shall I escort you to him?”

“Yes, thank you,” Zelda answered politely as the Princess of Hyrule was expected to do. Dismounting her horse and handing it off to another Zora to take care of while they did their work. Motioning to everyone else to do the same, she nodded to the Zora Warrior to lead the way. With this the Zora warrior seemed satisfied, turned, and started to lead the group of people into the Zora’s Domain.

Alyss looked around at the beautiful architecture of the Zora’s Domain. Everything from the dark blue foundation that had not changed one bit from the Zora’s Domain Alyss remembered, to the ginormous fish on the top of the King’s Throne room was beautiful. The waterfalls that cascaded down the sides of the main level of the domain added a soothing ambience that made the entire Domain feel at peace and untouchable by evil and wrong. Alyss followed the group as they climbed the light blue staircase that glowed under her feet. They were almost to the top of the stairwell when a small puddle of water caught Alyss off guard and sent her falling backwards. Alyss let out a small cry as she felt herself falling backwards, but was caught by a pair of strong arms.

“Careful my Lady, these floors are wet and can be dangerous.”

Alyss looked back and smiled kindly at the forest green Zora that had caught her fall. “Th-Thank you, um,”

“Councilman Muzu,” the stingray Zora responded with a warm smile. “I am the Royal Advisor to the King and teacher to the Princess and young Prince. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.” 

Alyss smiled and thanked him as he helped her stand back up right. “Thank you, Councilman, it’s very nice to meet you.” Alyss watched as Muzu bowed and walked up the rest of the stairs to the group who stood with the King watching the two interact. Alyss joined as well but failed to see the frown that darkened Robbie’s face at the sight of Alyss in another man’s arms. He had no reason to feel this way, there was nothing between them except gratitude at him saving her from pain, but that didn’t make the annoyance any less. Was he angry that she should have watched where she was going or was he angry that he should have been there to catch him? Perhaps he was just annoyed she was ignoring him for some reason. No matter the reason, Robbie pushed it deep down to deal with at another, more appropriate time. 

King Dorephan commanded the room with the clearing of his throat and spoke to the Company in his deep, time-worn voice, “Princess Zelda and friends, I assume you are here to research Vah Ruta am I correct?”

Zelda bowed slightly in respect to the King of the Zora, “Yes, King Dorephan. I have brought two of our royal scientists who have logged countless hours into their research to try and reawaken the Divine Beasts powers. I believe that we will be able to mount Vah Ruta and acquire some sort of knowledge that will help us, as long as we have the permission of the Zora people to do so of course.”

When King Dorephan chuckled, the floor underneath the group of Hylians and Sheikah rumbled. He leaned over and smiled down at the Princess. “Do as you need, Princess. We all have our part to play in defeating the Calamity. If you need anything from me or my people we will do all we can to aid you in your research.”

“Thank you King Dorephan,” Princess Zelda bowed. Shortly after their interaction with King Dorephan, the group was led down to the inn that resided in the Zora’s Domain. They were given beds free on orders of the King but the Princess insisted she give the innkeeper something for their trouble. The innkeeper thanked her for her generosity and led the group to their finest water beds. While everyone was preparing to head to bed, Alyss quickly found a bed near Purah and closed her eyes. 

Robbie was confused by this. The entire time he watched Alyss head to bed, not even disrobe and get comfortable just lay down, he couldn’t help but entertain the feeling that she was avoiding him for some reason. What had he done to warrant her avoiding him he wondered as he laid himself down a few friends down from the girl in question. Robbie recounted everything that had taken place the last few days trying to find any reason she would be ignoring him until his eyes eventually closed from exhaustion.

“You wish Mipha to be the Zora chosen to pilot the Divine Beast?” King Dorephan asked Princess Zelda who stood before him.

“Yes, if you would allow it,” the Princess continued in her polite request.

“I’m sorry, Princess. The Divine Beast isn’t up and running and all efforts until now have failed to get it to work. Knowing this, coupled with the information that the Knight who will seal the darkness has not yet appeared, I cannot put my only daughter up against the Calamity. It is too dangerous.” 

Princess Zelda turned to Impa who was behind her in a silent plea for any sort of help to which Impa could only shake her head and offer none. Turning back to the gigantic whale, the Princess nodded solemnly, “I understand your majesty. Thank you for allowing us your time.” With that, the Princess and her consort left the throne room of the King of Zora’s Domain and regrouped with Robbie and Purah in the middle of the common area. 

“I take it he said no,” Purah asked, placing her hands on her hips to which Zelda could only nod. “Well… What do we do now?” 

“I guess we do the only thing we can do,” Robbie continued. “Let’s go see if we can find out anything about the Divine Beast, but…” he looked around, “... has anyone seen Alyss?” When everyone shook their heads no, Robbie nodded and headed back towards the inn where he found Alyss sound asleep on the water bed she chose the previous night. He laid a strong hand on her shoulder and shook her gently so as to not spook her awake. The last time he did that he got smog to the face and it took him a good bit to recover from that blow. “Alyss.” 

Alyss groaned and buried her face into the soft pillow clearly signifying she did not want to wake up. 

Robbie pursed his lips and furrowed his brows as he decided how he should approach this situation. Apparently he wasn’t thinking straight as he gripped the bottom of her blanket and ripped it right off of her body. He watched as Alyss sat up and glared daggers at him, her eyes were purple but her pupils were slits. The area around her eyes was that of reptilian skin, but there was surprisingly no smog this time. Crossing his arms as though he was a stern father of a teenager, he tapped his foot and raised an eyebrow over his goggles. “Morning sunshine,” he spat a little more harshly than he meant it to come out as he was still a little sore over the events of last night. 

“You have three seconds to tell me why you woke me up so early or you’re getting smog to the face Robbie,” she groggily groaned, rubbing her eyes to relieve them of their reptilian skin and slits.

“We need to go examine the Divine Beast, and for your information-” he began as he tossed her blanket back at her forcing her to remove it from her face and glare at him. “-it’s a little after noon.” He walked out of the inn leaving behind a very confused and very frustrated Sheikah. 

It didn’t take long for Alyss to join the rest of the group excluding Lady Mipha and Link who were off doing their own thing together. That made Alyss wonder, did Link and Mipha have some sort of connection he never mentioned? Her thoughts were cut short as they arrived at the edge of a large cliff to the South of the Zora’s Domain and facing the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. 

“Now, Alyss,” Impa started as they broke themselves out of their astonished stupors. The Divine Beast was much bigger than the scientists had anticipated it to be as it easily met their gazes on the top of the cliff. “All you have to do is take the Sheikah Slate and try to activate the Divine Beast, but the only problem is that you have to be able to board it and none of us have succeeded at that yet.” 

Nodding Alyss took the Sheikah Slate into her hands and stared down at the inactive screen. With one tap the screen burst to life but so did Divine Beast Vah Ruta. Alyss’s head snapped up to look at the Divine Beast that had now turned blue and let out a loud trumpeting sound. This forced the company to cover their ears to not be deafened by the noise, but they didn’t expect it to be accompanied by a violent Earthquake that lasted only a few seconds and was forceful enough to throw everyone to the ground. A stunned silence befell the company as they watched Alyss stand up cautiously and walk as close as she could without falling off the cliff. “Vah Ruta,” Alyss whispered, receiving another loud trumpet from the magnificent elephant shaped machine. “It’s been a long time my friend,” Alyss said, smiling happily. Her infectious laughter rang throughout the air as Vah Ruta raised it’s trunk and proceeded to shoot water straight into the air causing it to rain freezing cold water down onto the group as a whole. 

“Ruta, that’s cold,” she exclaimed as the elephant moved it’s trunk back down into the water and let out another loud trumpet. Water dripped off of her body as she held out her hand to touch the curve of Ruta’s trunk that was moved closer to the edge of the cliff. Once her hand made contact she felt a surge of sadness that Vah Ruta must have been feeling being buried for ten thousand years. “I’ve felt your pain,” Alyss started in a lower tone. She was trying to sympathize with the divine beast as she petted it’s trunk the way she used to do all those years ago. “They locked me away as well, but I’m here now and you’ll never be alone again.” 

Zelda finished wringing out her hair and took a small step forward, astonished at the conversation that was taking place. “So this is what you meant when you said that you could talk to them. Alyss, can you ask it about a pilot?” 

Alyss looked at the Princess and tried her best to not just straight up say no, but she knew this was important so turning to Vah Ruta, she asked, “Ruta, do you have a pilot?” She waited for a second but got no trumpet or response of any kind. Furrowing her brows, Alyss stroked Ruta’s trunk and turned to Zelda shaking her head. She turned back to the Divine Beast and asked it if they could board it to which Vah Ruta responded by moving closer to the edge of the cliff. Alyss looked back at Purah and Robbie and motioned with her head for them to follow her into Vah Ruta to which they gladly obliged. 

Once stepping foot inside Alyss looked around in shock. “This is what they built,” she asked in awe. There were pools of water, there were podiums, she had come to recognize through Purah as terminals, placed in many awkward places. The number of spinning cogs that were of numerous sizes was outstanding to Alyss as she reveled in the work that her family did to create these beasts. 

Purah raised the Sheikah Slate she had taken back from Alyss when they boarded and placed it against the terminal directly outside of Ruta’s body where they had entered. The light underneath her feet turned a bright blue she had come to associate with ancient Sheikah technology and with a glance at Robbie, she walked inside to join Alyss. “Holy crap,” she muttered in awe as she looked around with Alyss. “This thing is ginormous!” 

Robbie walked in as well and furrowed his brows making a mental note of multiple pieces of technology he saw. Before he could say anything, Purah was trying out the Cryonisis feature on the Sheikah Slate to open the gate sitting in water. This caught the attention of the rebellious scientist and Alyss as they turned to follow her under the gate and to the terminal. 

“I think we should activate as many of these as we find,” she spoke her thoughts as she placed the Sheikah Slate face down onto the terminal. It’s activation made the three Sheikah’s gasp as a detailed diagram of the inside of Vah Ruta was pulled up on the Sheikah Slate’s screen. 

“This is aMAZING,” Robbie hollered out in excitement as he took one half of the Sheikah Slate in his hand and stared at the screen next to Purah. “What are we waiting for, let's get to it!”

Hours passed as the trio of scientists worked through Vah Ruta to activate the six terminals, but when it came down to activating the main control unit none of the scientists were able to. “I think we have to call it a day,” Alyss muttered as she placed the Sheikah Slate on the main terminal unit again making sure nothing would happen. Sighing, she walked back to Purah and Robbie with a dejected face. 

“Hey, don’t look so down! We made great progress today and I bet we will make much more when we get a pilot for Vah Ruta. It’ll be a SNAP,” Purah shouted, throwing her hand to her face in a rock and roll hand sign. This made Alyss smile and laugh as she agreed with the progress they had made. 

“Let me go tell Ruta goodbye and we can go give the Princess our findings,” Alyss said as she turned to walk towards Vah Ruta’s head. 

Robbie tore his gaze away from Alyss and started walking back to the entrance of Vah Ruta where they entered earlier without a single word to either of the females, but he was quickly stopped by Purah who skipped to catch up to him. “Hey, hey, where are you going?” She had asked when she caught up to his side. Not sparing her a glance since it wasn’t her fault he was feeling this way, Robbie opened his mouth to speak until he was cut off by a loud trumpeting. This made him a little frustrated, but he continued talking, “Well, there’s nothing else I can do here.” 

Purah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and stepped in front of him only to be sidestepped, “Yeah, but our friend is still up here,” Purah said motioning to Alyss who was walking back towards them and taking her time. She turned back to see Robbie stepping out to the cliff from the entrance to the Divine Beast without saying another word to her. Purah scoffed in shock as she had never seen Robbie act this way before, however when Alyss joined her and asked what was wrong, Purah decided to drop the issue as it was none of her business. Shaking her head and smiling, she and Alyss left the Divine Beast. 

As the sun rose again on their second day in the Zora’s Domain, Alyss had made her way back to the Divine Beast to sit and keep it company. As she reached the cliff they were at the day before, Alyss dropped to the ground with a sigh and put her chin on her knees. “Ruta, can I talk for a bit?” She waited for a brief second to see how Ruta would react, but when she got nothing out of the Divine Beast she continued, “I have all these memories from a long time ago, and I’m afraid to move on with my life. What if the Princess decides to follow in her predecessor’s footsteps and shut me back in that wet cavern? Ruta, they buried all of us under the ground and forgot about us, and now we are here to defeat Ganon yet again. How am I supposed to ignore the thoughts I have and do what’s expected of me?” 

“Well, I think Vah Ruta feels the same way,” a sweet, quiet voice answered her rhetorical questions from behind her. When Alyss turned around she saw two red Zora walking her way, they both had silver headpieces adorning their heads, but one was much smaller than the other. “I’m sorry, not to be rude, but this is kind of a private conversation,” Alyss murmured as she turned back to Vah Ruta who still hadn’t made any attempt at responding to her. The red Zora stopped a little behind her, “ah, yes, I’m sorry to intrude. I came to introduce myself. My name is Mipha, I am the Princess of the Zora, and this here is my little brother Sidon.” 

Alyss turned and stood up bowing slightly as she had seen was the custom of this land, “I am Alyss. It’s a pleasure. Pardon me for my previous rude attitude Princess. I have a lot on my mind.” Alyss looked down to the ground where she saw Sidon smiling back up at her sweetly. The sight made her heart warm and a smile grace her face as she has always had a soft spot for children. 

“Well, I wish to not intrude. I will leave you to your conversation,” Mipha said as she turned and started to walk back the way she came, but Alyss stopped her.

“Wait,” Before Alyss could continue her thought Vah Ruta let out a loud, harsh trumpet making Alyss turn around. A large group of enemies were charging towards Zora's Domain from a distance which made Alyss’s eyes widen. Vah Ruta was not only warning them of the danger, but it said Mipha’s name. This gave Alyss an idea. Running to her and grabbing her hand, Alyss shoved the Sheikah Slate into her grasp. “Princess, take this. Board Ruta and make your way to it's inner chamber. There you will find a large terminal that resembles a flower bud. Use this Sheikah Slate and activate Vah Ruta. You can defend your people and defeat these enemies!”

Mipha turned her head to the side where she heard a loud growl. A large group of electric Lizalfos were charging the area where they stood. 

“I will protect Sidon, you must go and Pilot the Divine Beast,” Letting go of Mipha’s hand, Alyss ran to Sidon and formed a ring of poisonous smog to surround the two of them. “Go!” Alyss shouted as she started taking out the Lizalfos.

The rest of the group stood in the throne room of the Domain going over the information they had gathered from the Divine Beast the previous day with each other, when a Zora warrior ran in shouting about a large group of enemies. Before anyone could move into action, a loud trumpet was heard from the side accompanied by loud shaking steps that everyone soon recognized was a result of the Divine Beast. Thinking it was Alyss they ran outside to check, but what they saw shocked everyone. 

“Mipha,” King Dorephan cried out, but all he could do was watch as his daughter moved Ruta towards the enemies, shooting rays out of it’s tusks destroying multiple enemies at once. It didn’t take long at all for Mipha to wipe out every enemy attacking the domain, and everyone had to admit they were completely shocked. 

“Where’s Alyss and Sidon,” Princess Zelda asked looking around. She didn’t see her anywhere and she knew that Mipha went to talk to her and introduce themselves. 

Before Zelda could ask anything else, Link, Robbie and Purah were off to try and find the scientist and the young Prince. They ran into a good number of lizalfos and moblins that had come down from the mountains during the onslaught. With Link leading them, they were dead within seconds, but this didn’t do anything for Robbie’s nerves. Sure he was jealous and a little hurt, but she was important to their research and a good friend. When they arrived closer to the area, they could see a large ring of smog and a bunch of dead Lizalfos surrounding the two, but as Alyss’s main concern was the Prince and not hurting him, she was quickly becoming overwhelmed. 

“Sidon,” she spoke as she kicked back a Lizalfos into the smog, “leave me!”

“What, no, I can’t!” He shouted back to her. 

“Listen, you’re small enough to break through unnoticed! I will draw their attention, but you have to run and get help,” she tried to encourage him without scaring him. A moment passed as she knocked a Lizalfos back, it’s weapon grazing her arm resulting in a pained hiss. The moment, however, was enough for Alyss to let down the ring of smog. She growled, drawing all of the ugly bastard’s attention to her. She watched as Sidon escaped out of the corner of her eye but while knocking Lizalfos down she noticed Sidon had stopped. “Sidon, run! What are you doing!?” 

“Alyss!” She heard someone shout out before another yell drowned them out. As this shout sounded out, multiple Lizalfos fell at her feet. She looked up to see Purah waving her towards them while Robbie and Link ran towards the young Prince to scoop him up and take him to safety. Smiling, Alyss ran with the rest of the group back towards the Zora's Domain. When they were far enough away from the ugly lizards, she stopped and turned to wrap the rest of the enemies in a large cloud of poisonous smog quickly choking them out. 

After they started to fall, she turned and caught up with the rest of the group. The entire fight took an hour or so at most, but it was a big turn of events for almost everyone. When Mipha brought the Divine Beast back to a cliff easier for her to access and entered the Zora’s Domain once again to join everyone the first thing she did was hug her brother. “Sidon, I’m so glad you’re alright.” Sidon smiled a bright smile and brought his fist up to his face in an “alright” motion. Mipha turned to face the rest of the group and her father who had been quiet through the entire exchange. Bowing, she spoke, “Father, I’m so sorry, I-” 

King Dorephan held up his hand and chuckled, “Mipha, it seems that I have been proven wrong. I’m certain you will make a fine pilot for the Divine Beast as long as you make one promise,” he finished looking at the Princess. “Keep my daughter safe.” 

Princess Zelda smiled and bowed deeply to the King of the Zora’s Domain. “You have my word.”

[too-scared-to-do-this]

Of the Devil’s head

Chapter three - Sneaky as a house fire

Sander’s sides fanfiction

Wordcount: 1165

Ships: still just plain old eventual prinxiety

TW: Ammmm.... I mean, death? Can dead people die again? Oh well... Some mentions of fire and burning stuff down, a bunch of complaining, mention of torture (nothing specific) and I think that’s all. If I missed anything let me know :)

Summary of the whole story: They say, the one that wears the crown rules all - the living, the dead, the walking, the crawling, the rooted, the sane and the mad. They say, once you own the crown, you become the  most powerful being on Earth and beyond. Roman’s stolen bigger things - a measly little crown won’t present a problem, even if he has to steel it straight off of the devils head!

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Chapter three - Sneaky as a house fire    

Roman burst out laughing.

A cave? Really? They could have done literally anything else and that would be less cliché than a freaking cave!

Like, carving a hole in a tree. Or making a trap-door-like-contraption in the ground. For god’s sake, they are demons, they have powers - they could’ve made a portal! But no! These idiots went with a cave.

But, what did he expect? They left signs for if they got lost on the way back. Apparently, these creatures weren’t as smart as people gave them credit for.

He shook his head still snickering. This mission seemed to be getting easier and easier. If the servants were this simple-minded, how smart could the King be?

And while Roman took his sweet time entering the endless darkness; much, much deeper in the cave, the crackling and buzzing of Hell’s residents was in full swing.

“No! Please no! Please NO! NO! NOOOO!”

“Agh this is getting so annoying! Like, can you not? I’m trying to keep my hearing, thank you!” a servant rolled his eyes, pulling on the next soul’s arms. It pleaded and cried just like the one before, and just like for that one - it didn’t help. Remi sighed bored-ly and pushed him into the pit. “You see what I mean, babe? Bo-ring.”

The soul he was talking to was completely and utterly terrified.

The demon paid him no mind, though, and kept on talking. “Since Virgie lost his interest in torturing those measly humans it’s no fun here!” he tossed another soul down the cliff. It was it’s tun - the talked-to one’s.

Remi sighed again, falling into a daydream. “You guys have it so easy! Just stan around for days and then fall into the abyss. And you cry so much! I have it so much worse! I have been stuck here, working, for millennia! And there’s not a single Starbucks down here!!!”

The soul galped.

“HHhhh….” deflated, Remi rolled his eyes and sent it flying down the hole. “They don’t pay me enough for this…”  

And while Remi kept on pushing damned souls into the fiery pit of Hell, Virgil sat on his throne, sprawled out. Scrawling through tumbler aimlessly.

It took him literal years to figure out how time worked down here. Turns out it doesn’t. You’re a timeless being living in a timeless hole. But tends to forget about it. Millenia is a long time to keep track of…

All he knows, that it’s been much over 2000 years since he first sat on this throne. It hasn’t gotten any comfier - the same shitty stone seat as before.

His father used to say he’d get comfortable once he got used to ruling. Well. Save to say neither of those things ever happened.

So now V just sits, scrolling through tumbler, bored out of his mind. Torturing souls isn’t fun anymore. And humans just don’t interest him. They all want the same thing - money and fame. No matter what time-line you’re in, it’s always like that.

No wonder so many people end up here.

It’d be fun to talk to someone though… anyone.

“Agh! Virgieeeeeee! I am soooo booooreeeed!” came Remis wine as he entered the throne-hall.

Well maybe not anyone.

He put his phone down and sat up a bit straighter, one leg still over the armrest. “Then go do something, Remington. there’s always work to do around here. Go look around and you’ll find something interesting.”

The skeptical glare the servant through at his king was beyond acceptable. But with him doing this for years, V just got used to it and didn’t pay it any mind. The dramatic demon slumped his shoulders and threw out his hands. “You know what I’m talking about, Vee. There is literally nothing to do here!”

“Well, what do you want me to do? I can’t exactly up and leave. And I can’t let you out either.”

“Oh, come on! That happened one time!”

“Remington, you burned down a Starbucks because they didn’t get the drink you wanted.”

“Yeees… I diiiiid… but she was being so mean to me! I politely asked and she refused to give it to me!”

“You burned down the whole building.”

“Babe, I needed that coffee!” he threw his hands in the air. Virgil just razed a single eyebrow at this. “Oh, my gosh! Okay, okay. I was wrong I get it… But I am a demon after all, it’s my job to do bad.” the servant grinned cheekily as if that would excuse any of his actions. “Besides, you used to love when we tortured humans. You can’t tell me you don’t miss their screams of terror!”

If Virge was honest with himself, he really did miss the rush of it all. But the faces of those people, the screams… They have all been haunting him since then. Coming back in his dreams to wake him. To ask him what wrong did they do to deserve such a fate… And V didn’t know. many of those people probably didn’t even deserve what they did to them… So, no. He didn’t miss it one bit. “You tell me. You are a Mind-reader, after all.”

“Agh! You’re no fun!” Remi rolled his eyes. “I miss Fun Virgil. If you see him, please tell him I desperately need him to come back!”

Just then, Virgil caught something in his peripheral. A white thing rushing between the thick stalagmite columns. He watched it sprint out and hide behind the next. Getting closer to the throne.

V bit his lip. Now this was something interesting. This might just turn out to be fun. The entity leaped out again, moving to the next stalagmite.

The devil looked back at his servant and grinned. “You want Fun Virgil back?” Remi turned his head with interest, eyebrows high on his forehead, grin in place. “Watch this.” the kind mouthed, nodding slightly towards the moving white blur.

The servant’s eyes widened. The sharp intake of breath that was done purely for dramatics, earned a silent glare from the devil. “So… you want me to get back to work then?” Remi tried to correct his mistake; eyes glued to the uninvited entity in the room.

“Yes, that would be great. There are many souls that need to be terminated. I don’t want Hell to get overcrowded.” V played along having lost the white blur from his sight.

Roman, who still thought he managed to get this far completely unnoticed, tried to climb the gigantic stone throne from the back. His plan was to reach around the side very quickly and snatch the crown off of the devil’s head. Then run, obviously.

It wasn’t really Roman’s strong suit, this planning stuff. But that never stopped him before.

He was so close already! Just had to slowly stick his hand out and grab the cr-

He didn’t estimate the distance he had to reach for correctly…

Roman went flying over the thrown straight onto the devil himself.

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Ouuh I’m back! And I wrote another chapter! Be proud!

No writers-block is stopping me from making Roman embarrass himself in front of the Devil!

So... I don’t know when the next chapter’s coming... I’ll do my best, but school has started again and my little bro’s on zoom-school too, so I’m basically doing homework for both of us. 

I’ll keep you updated though :D

Anyways, as always, I really really hope you liked it! <3

Thanks for reading! :3

Tag list:

@alice-only-me

[sanstropfremir]

it's kingdom time for real!!! the first episode is here and mnet finally uploaded the stages from like a month ago so i can actually watch them more than once to review.

happy to see them all actually performing. not the most interesting stages overall, but it was the 100sec one-take so i wasn’t expecting anything crazy. like the performance stages, this is about what i expected at this point in the show.

ranking under the cut, i have Opinions(tm) and they are not all pretty.

(anyone that’s seeing this for the first time, i’m a trained performance designer with over 30 credits and a decade of experience, yes i can talk about this with authority)

a few general notes:

this type of stage that mnet has built is called a traverse, or alley, stage. named exactly for the reason you think. it’s characterized by a narrow playing space with audience on opposite sides, and two entrances on either end. so mnet had a pretty typical setup. there are some advantages to this type of stage:

because of the narrow stage space and usually smaller audience capacity, the performer and audience are in much closer proximity

because of the shape of the space, blocking (choreography but for not-dance) can travel well and be very dynamic

it’s uncommon outside of midsize/small productions so there’s some novelty for the casual theatre goer

however! there are some pitfalls with this type of stage. the hardest type of stage to work with is (theatre) in the round. theatre in the round is characterized by being....in the round. that means the audience is placed 360 degrees around the playing space. which means that they can see everything; every entrance, every exit, every performer’s back, 360 degree sightlines means there is nowhere to hide. and in a medium that relies on concealment to create magic, it’s a tough stage to work with. not saying it doesn’t work. some of the most incredible shows i’ve been to have been theatre in the round, but when you go to those type of shows, as an audience member you understand that there will be some scenes where you only see the actors’ backs. there is no perfect seat in the round. the reverse is true as well, the actors can only act to those in front of them. and like i stated previously, on the production end it becomes difficult to hide things like props/set/costume changes that you might have been able to in another type of theatre. why am i talking about theatre in the round? because traverse works on exactly the same principle. even though the audience is only on two sides, the same issues still arise. directionality is key: a director has to be careful of how exactly the stage gets blocked.

why am i talking about stage formats? because the space always informs the performance, that’s why. i think mnet made a sort of smart choice to build a traverse stage. since the ‘audience’ is a video camera, that eliminates the need to play to the opposing seating banks, and opens up more staging opportunities. it’s a fancy looking stage that does what they need it to. 

now here’s my gripes. if you’re going to specifically orient a stage so that it is by nature directional, why are you broadcasting in a format where direction doesn’t matter? if the camera has no fixed position, then you’ve just skipped directly into in the round staging without taking into account the function of the space. it's a round peg in a square hole; yes it fits, but you can see the spaces where it doesn’t quite match up. for a very obvious example, any shot that is not staring directly down the barrel of the stage from left or right has audience in it. and not enough to be worthy of a reaction shots (because those are just cut in in post), but enough to just be there. why would you do that when you could just.....not? just go properly in the round and then you wouldn’t have that distraction. especially when the audience is wearing white. also, there are only so many ways you can stage on a traverse, you’re pretty much limited to directional points on a compass, because there are literal risers in the way. because of the way most groups are choreographed, the member layouts lean more towards having the members in a line than they do layering the members deep. this configuration is fine on a proscenium stage (which is what most stages are), and would even be fine on a traverse stage if you were playing to the risers. you could even do some interesting choreo alterations. but! because mnet has decided that the camera is perpendicular to the risers, that means that most of the formations are not optimized for the stage dimensions and are in fact the opposite dimensions. most of these groups are doing their longest blocking across the shortest area of stage, which is dumb. although it isn't much of a problem because the stage is still very large, but it's still a bizarre choice on behalf of mnet. why would you not arrange the stage so you have more clearance for the camera, the audience, and also the performers? i would have to check back over the rtk performances, but im pretty sure at one point they switch to an in the round stage. why are you not doing that from the start? this would also allow for more built setpieces. although it does remain to be seen if they do switch after this episode, since this particular challenge was a one-take with minimal props/set pieces. which segues to my next point: these groups barely took up the parameters of the challenge, or utilized them effectively! this is also mnet’s fault, mnet if you say that you’re gonna do a one-take, don't cut between seven other cameras!! show us the power of that single point of view! let the groups actually do some interesting blocking with the path of the camera! there’s so many interesting things they could have done, but no!! had to be boring!! i know this is technically an introductory stage, but i also don't care. these groups have (relatively) competent ADs and stylists, they can think outside the box.

ok now here’s my actual rankings:

1. btob

sorry babies, none of you can match them vocally. love you ateez but you sure fucked up picking them to go after you because they blew you out of the fucking water. and everyone else, but ateez cumulatively is the weakest vocally. more on that later. like the performance stage they showcased their strengths and the experience (and training) shows. good use of the directional stage having three vs one that came together in the middle. loved the white suit variations, im especially a sucker for a belted suit jacket. loved peniel's gigantic trench and massive earrings, very mid 90s, his stylist definitely took a lesson in how to accessorize very short hair. always love good use of fog. uniform colour theme, all elements were there to support the vocals. no complaints, chef’s kiss.

2. ikon

hey baby groups? see bobby having fun? do that more. i know you think performance face is sexy and serious but none of you know how to act and you all look dead inside on stage. the lights may be on but nobody’s home. anyways. excellent beginning formation, excellent ending formation, no complicated position changes that make the camera give you motion sickness. fun choreo that they are obviously having fun performing, which goes sooooo far in the success of a performance. only group so far to use silence as an effective device, and the arrangement was interesting and suited to the song+performance. i think it was smart of them not to deploy bobby right away, although it would have been funny to watch after whatever it was that stray kids was trying to do. again, like btob and also sf9, sticking to their strengths. costumes fun and fitting, indicative of both the colour of the group and of the song. nice detail in the monochrome and the black accent details.

3. sf9

taeyang is that bitch and they only way this would have been better is if he had actually grabbed the ties of those two other members (if you think i am going to remember anyone's names other than the people i already know you are wrong). love the confidence to waste a good chunk of your 90 seconds for walking and standing in formation. actual good use of one-take directional camera, even though they ruined it once they started dancing. choreo perfectly fine, lighting good complementary colour scheme, costumes nothing to write home about, surprisingly good projection design? wasn’t expecting that. im not the biggest fan white suit jackets over black shirts but ill give it a pass for the proper suit accessorizing.

4. ateez

i applaud your dedication to the pirate gimmick but boys you don't need that anymore, i promise. hongjoong's lil bloody cough was a fun gag that didn't draw too much attention but fit with the theme. came out of the gate strong with an actual clear narrative, which can be a challenge to do in 100 seconds, and the only group to have a narrative. also actual camera choreo! that was interesting! mnet stop fucking cutting to overhead shots! apparently im destined to always be beefing with the ateez stylists because what was the point of all that? very little variation in texture or pattern on matte all black just made any relevant details disappear. torch gimmick and end formation fun, and the arrangement had an obvious climax. weird and kinda fun projection design, but not helped by concert-style stage lighting. pick one or the other lighting designer, don't make them fight like that! props to them for actually having their mics on the whole time, even though they are probably the weakest group vocally. im also going to be beefing with the choreographer because they are always making seonghwa sing while doing ridiculous moves that make him go offkey. ateez has some of the stronger 4th gen vocals, but they're at a disadvantage because a) none of them have proper vocal training, and b) their main vocal is not actually a skilled singer and is destroying his voice.not a lot of vocals for them to showcase this stage and that was probably for the best. hanya (@changdyke) is in charge of vocals critique and will have more to say about this than me, even though i am also trained. im just here to talk about the production.

5. the boyz

im neutral to positive on tbz because i did really like their danger stage from rtk. this performance is just....fine. I don’t like the arrangement, but that's mostly personal opinion. but it doesn't have a conclusive end and the whole dissonance thing isn't really working for me in this instance. the choreo is quite flippy and tricking is not necessary for an interesting choreo. i did like the throwback/use of modern choreo, i think that's a strong choice for them and it's not something that many other groups are doing, so they should stick more to that than to tricking. the camera choreo is also not good. here’s where the clearance issues and fighting against the stage layout happen! stop making a handheld do a 180! are you trying to make us motion sick? to be fair, this is not the most egregious one, but at least ateez got it right by having a person lead the camera in a particular pattern. also, what even is the theme here? leatherclad boys in the forest? nobody give me any shit saying it's based off one of their music videos or whatever, that shouldn't matter. there should be a clear theme that can be easily identified without prior knowledge of the group, especially when this is an introductory stage and they are a relatively young group. none of the other groups have this issue. that being said, at least the costumes were interesting to look at, although thematically confusing. good use of accessories, texture, and bedazzling to make the black stand out against the stage. the hands in front of the camera were kind of fun but didnt really mean anything? again, back to the lack of clear concept. i did like them reaching out to pull that member forward, it would have been better if they had just left it at that.

6. stray kids

the more i watch this the more i hate it. im not even sorry about it anymore. starters, and i will admit this upfront: i do not like most 4th gen music, so the spiderman meme groups are already operating on a deficit in my point of view. and i particularly did not like this arrangement. same as with tbz, why did it not have a conclusive end? also overuse of sound effects. and stop saying your fucking band name! the only musician that’s allowed to do that is jason derulo and thats because hes a meme now. but twice in 100 seconds? no. and what was the point of that logo/crown reveal? im tired of crown reveals we have seen them so many times by now, we don't need to see it again. was it meant to be that they were carving it into the ground?? very unclear. there was an attempt with camera choreo, and i will admit that the pan up and then back down to the ‘wolf pack’ was probably the strongest moment in the whole performance. the lights were in their mouths, by the way. however, the rest of the choreo is all over the map, quite literally. as with tbz there’s a lot of members in the group and so in order for everyone to get their screen time they break down into smaller groups, which i don't disagree with on principle, but here.........the breakdowns are just tricking, which although eyecatching, does not a very compelling or cohesive choreo make. even the unison choreo is weird, obviously its stylized horror but it just looks awkward and strange. you can make awkward/unattractive choreo work (see taemin’s want, or even move, to some extent)***, but skz doesn't have an ounce of the charisma that taemin has so it just looks awkward. also, that rapid switch between opposite sides of the stage? nausea inducing. ateez was the one with the pirate concept but skz apparently trying to make us seasick. im not gonna say anything about that rap other than it was bad, why was that allowed on stage. the sparkthrower was fun but that's like the 14th gimmick in this 100 second stage and that’s too many gimmicks. costumes are truly nothing to write home about, extremely unclear relation to the theme. if you're gonna be wolves then at least have some fur accents or something. the makeup effects were a bit over the top and not necessary in the actual performance. a hairdresser needs to thin out felix’s hair because he looks like he's wearing one of those lego hair helmets. oh, i did like that one guy’s shirt with the collarbone cutout, but again: how is that relevant to the theme? cmon people!!!! design the whole experience!! im sure there’s more i could write but holy shit this is long and im tired and also i don't want to watch this stage anymore.

ok im done. jesus this is long. again, this is just the intro stage so i suspect that some of my complaints will become null next week, but we’ll have to see! well, what i actually want to see is changmin insulting children but i’m not holding out hope for that to happen. hopefully we see some more spectacle-y stages and i can really go in.

***this is not me saying that taemin has a bad choreo that he’s making the best of. want is purposefully choreographed that way in order to showcase taemin’s ability. same with move. the point of want is that it IS awkward and should not be seductive or appealing and yet it still is. almost like....it’s in the name of the song or something.....

[stereksecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, noahreidhours!

For @noahreidhours. You wanted angst, have some angst (and some fluff, I guess)

*****

It starts like an avalanche, a small, defined moment that coalesces into something much bigger. Derek can’t pinpoint the exact moment everything clicked into place and the snow started, metaphorically, tumbling down the mountain, but once it started, it didn’t slow, didn’t stop, and couldn’t be avoided.

Derek has been convinced for so long that good things didn’t happen to him, that when things start looking up, he tries to quash it away as best as he can, in the only way he knows how; he bares his claws and snaps his fangs.

He doesn’t know when it stopped working on Stiles.

— — — — — —

It must be a day that ends in Y, because Stiles goes missing a few days after the pack discovers something hinky going on out in the preserve. Boyd and Erica have both found evidence of some sort of magical presence - fire pits that stink of non-native herbs, a spool of twine, a silver coin, several rocks and tree trunks painted with strange runes that even have Deaton scratching his head - and not even Derek is able to catch a scent.

Things really go ass over tea kettle when, one day later, Alison goes missing, too.

Chris Argent calls in every favor owed to him to aid in the search. Chris vouches for every hunter that comes to town, swears that they keep to the code, but Derek trusts them about as far as he can spit.

Derek delegates that Chris and his hunters can search one half of the preserve, while he and his wolves check the other half. Boyd and Erica make up one group, Scott and Isaac the other. Jackson and Lydia are holding down the fort, so to speak; Danny’s hacked into the database that stores the video for traffic cams across town, and the three of them are going through it in hopes they can find something. Thus, Derek searches alone. After all, he’s the strongest, he’s the alpha.

It’s more coincidence and dumb luck than expert tracking that Derek finds them at all.

The moon is high, and he pauses by the stream that runs through the preserve, scenting the air. He smells nothing but the forest around him, crisp and clear and just a little damp from the afternoon rain.

That’s when he hears it, a strange sound that has him freezing in place. It sounds muffled, like hearing a TV or radio in another part of a house, softly faded but just loud enough that, if you listen closely, you can make out a word or two every now and then.

Derek hears the sound again, but this time he’s ready for it, and he leaps off his vantage point and tears through the underbrush, teeth gnashing, eyes red.

He skids to a halt when he enters a small clearing. A length of red twine connects seven trees until it comes back on itself, making a lumpy circle of sorts. Off each length of twine, between one tree and the next, hang small wooden tokens, square in shape, twine threaded through a hole near one of the corners. Derek thinks there might be writing or runes on them, but he’s too focused on what’s inside the circle to investigate further. On two slabs, floating several feet off the ground, are both Stiles and Alison, tied up with what looks like the same twine that surrounds them. He can’t make out Stiles’ upper body due to a tree blocking his line of sight, but he’d recognize those lanky legs and scuffed-up high-tops anywhere. He sees Alison’s profile, and, unfortunately, she doesn’t look too great. There’s a length of cloth tied around her head acting as a gag, and her face is sporting more than a few bruises and cuts.

That’s not all, though, because of course it isn’t. Good things don’t happen to Derek Hale, remember?

Not one, not two, but three hulking, vaguely human-shaped figures stand within the circle, along with a single hooded figure.

What’s more is that Derek can’t smell any of them.

When he sees one of the mammoth figures move a bit, he realizes that he can’t hear them, either.

The figure that had started moving comes to a stop next to the slap Stiles is tied up on. It raises a gigantic, meaty fist and-

Derek is moving before his brain can catch up with his feet. He tears out of the foliage, and as he passes into the circle, a strange feeling ripples through him, sends a shiver down his spine.

Witchcraft.

The hooded figure takes one look at Derek and then flees like his ass is on fire. Derek moves to give chase, but narrowly misses the haymaker one of the lumbering figures throws at him. He flips backward to dodge it, and with it his shoulder catches a length of twine, his body weight snapping it easily.

A little more hell breaks loose after that, because why not, right? In for a penny, in for a pound. As soon as the twine snaps, the two slabs holding Stiles and Alison fall to the ground with a tremendous sound that makes Derek wince.

The three figures don’t pause in their assault, however. They move fast for their size, and when Derek executes a move that would take off the arm of a normal being, he almost twists his spine in two trying to dodge the creature’s countermove.

“Derek!” he hears Alison yell.

“Little busy!” Derek shouts back, snaking behind a tree.

“No, Derek, they’re golems! There’s a word carved into their foreheads! If you erase the first letter, they’ll stop moving!”

It takes some fancy footwork on Derek’s part to manage to get high enough to reach the creature’s forehead, but one well-placed claw swipe has the golem crumbling into dirt. The next golem goes down as easy as the first, but the third gets in a good punch. It sends Derek flying back, but he easily rights himself. As he moves back to his full height, he bites his teeth and pops his shoulder back into the socket. For one moment, he feels a searing pin-point of white-hot pain, but it’s over in the blink of an eye, and Derek’s back to being fight-ready.

He snarls, then charges the creature, his dense muscles knocking the thing off balance. Another swipe to a forehead and the golem crumbles under him.

Derek jumps back to his feet quick as he can, rushing back to where Stiles and Alison still are. Alison’s managed to free herself, and Derek dashes to her side, using the claw of his index finger to cut loose the twine that binds Stiles’ hands together. After that, he cuts the gag free from the boy’s face.

Stiles doesn’t thank him, because Stiles is out cold, and a little more than a little worse for the weather. He’s got a black eye and a fat lip, and there’s a dark, ugly bruise peeking out from the dip of his t-shirt.

“Can you-” Alison starts to ask, but Derek’s already scooping Stiles’ unconscious body into his arms.

“Are you alright to walk?” he asks Alison.

“I’ll be fine if we go slow.”

It takes almost an hour to get back to where Derek had parked the Camaro. Derek has Alison reach into his pocket to grab his phone and call the others, then, when that’s done, she tells him the story of what had happened since she’d been taken.

Stiles wakes up right as Derek is able to see the road.

“Am I being carried like a damsel in distress?” Stiles slurs.

“I could have thrown you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes,” Derek answers. He’s at least a little pleased Stiles feels good enough to be sarcastic. Though, to be fair, there’s never really a time Stiles isn’t sarcastic. Even in life-or-death situations, he can’t keep his mouth shut.

“Oh, man, don’t talk about food. I haven’t eaten in three days.”

Derek growls at that, displeased. He thought it had been a trick of the moonlight, but Stiles’ cheeks and eyes looked sallow and thin when Derek had picked him up.

Alison reaches into his other pocket and frees his keys and helps Derek gently heft Stiles into the passenger’s seat, the back of the chair laid as far back as it can go. Once safely seat-belted in, Derek lets Alison climb into the back.

The trip back to town is quiet. It’s a little disconcerting, considering what a motormouth Stiles usually is. Derek can tell he’s not sleeping from the patterns of his breathing and heartbeat, but he keeps his eyes closed and his body still all the same.

Everyone is already gathered back at Stiles’ house, and Derek is more than relieved for the lack of police cruiser in the driveway.

Scott crowds around Alison, helping her out of the back seat of the Camaro, and Chris’ face scrunches up like he’s just caught a bad smell.

Derek doesn’t really bother with anyone else, though Erica is the one who opens the front door for him. He carefully navigates up the stairs and brings Stiles into the bathroom that’s across the hall from his room, carefully seating him atop the closed lid of the toilet. He rids the boy of his shoes first, then his shirt, while allowing the sink faucet to run until the water turns warm. He wets a washcloth and rings it dry, handing it to Stiles as he fishes for the first aid-kit under the sink.

“Wait, you get the golems?” Stiles asks, scrubbing at his face.

“All three that were there. It was eerie, the way they didn’t give off a scent.”

“Golems are made out of clay or dirt. If they were made out of stuff from the preserve, of course you wouldn’t be able to sniff ‘em out. They’d just - ah, hey, careful!”

“Quit whining, it’s just peroxide. There’s a few cuts next to your black eye. And they’d just what?”

“They’d just smell like the rest of the forest.”

Derek nods, feeling a little relieved over the idea that his inability to scent the monsters hadn’t been due to some inadequacy on his part. Still, if the witch decided to make more, he’d have the same problem…

Once Stiles is patched up, Derek helps him into his bedroom and gets him to sit on the bed, grabbing him a change of clothing.

“How did you find us, anyway?” he asks.

Derek furrows his brows. He can no longer hear anyone outside of the Stilinski home, and finds himself inexplicably annoyed over the fact that no one else had come to check on Stiles after Derek had brought him into the house.

“I heard something. I don’t know what it was, but it was loud enough to get my attention.”

Stiles’ grin is blinding. “Knew it!”

Derek raises an eyebrow, trying to appear unimpressed.

“The twine wrapped around the trees and the runes on the square pieces of wood made up a silencing spell. I managed to snag a handful of gravel, and had spent the next, like, hour throwing it outside of the barrier, piece by piece.”

Derek blinks, taken off guard. Stiles’ thrown-together-on-a-hunch plan had literally been what helped Derek find them. “Smart,” he says, as close to a compliment as he’s willing to give.

Stiles grins wider in response, and something inside Derek twists a little.

“Well, I mean, it’s what got me clocked upside the head,” Stiles says as he gestures to his rather beat-up face. “And, hey, thanks for patching me up, man.”

Derek nods. “Get dressed, I’ll get you something to eat.”

Down in the kitchen, Derek makes two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then fills a glass with water, since he figures if Stiles is hungry, he’s likely a little dehydrated, too. When he’s back inside Stiles’ room, Stiles has changed his clothes, though the boy is now laying half on the bed, his knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

Derek puts the food on the bedside table.

“Get some rest,” he tells Stiles and he heads for the window.

“Derek,” Stiles calls.

Derek stops, and then turns his head over his shoulder.

“I mean it.” Stiles’ voice is softer, and Derek can hear the sincerity in his tone. “Thanks for the rescue and the Florence Nightingale treatment. And thanks for, you know, the whole golem-slaying thing. Though I am a little disappointed I didn’t get to see them go down. You’ll have to give me a play-by-play so I can add it to the bestiary.”

“Get some rest, Stiles,” Derek reiterates, avoiding saying anything else by means of jumping out the window.

He knows what that pang had been, there, in his chest, behind his heart.

After all, he’d felt it twice before.

And each time had ended in utter ruination for him.

So Derek does what he’s taught himself to do in order to keep himself safe.

He ignores it.

— — — — — —

Three weeks later and the door to the loft swings open, and Stiles, in a flurry of over-gesticulation and an almost-incomprehensible string of words, storms inside. He smells like anger and hurt, and makes a b-line for the musty, second-hand couch.

“What are you doing here?” Derek asks, crossing his arms in front of his chest and doing his best to glower.

But Stiles is already unloading his laptop from his backpack, his face screwed up in frustration. “I just need, like, an hour, okay?”

“For what?” Derek snaps back.

Stiles doesn’t even seem to notice how angry Derek had made himself sound.

“Dad’s up my ass about why I looked like I went ten rounds with Muhammad Ali the other week. I hate lying to him, but I’m not about to spill the proverbial beans about Beacon Hill’s propensity for the supernatural, so I didn’t have a choice. He’s not listening to it, which, hey, I get, but I can still get mad about it when he accuses me of being in a gang.”

Derek sits in his favorite armchair. It’s the one with the least amount of foreign scents.

Stiles turns to look at him. “Me. In a gang. I’m hardly a buck forty soaking wet.”

He can’t help it, Derek lets out a soft wuff of a laugh.

Stiles blinks at him a little in surprise and a little in awe, and Derek doesn’t miss the sudden uptick in the boy’s heartbeat. He quickly schools his features back into a scowl. “So you need an hour because your dad thinks your extracurricular activities are of a more nefarious nature?”

The spell is broken and Stiles rolls his eyes. “I need an hour because I’m really good at being an asshole when I’m mad and blurting stupid things out.”

“No, you do that on a pretty continual basis, angry or not.”

Stiles glares. “Yeah, ha ha, sassy-wolf. Laugh it up. I need an hour to do my homework in peace before he leaves for his shift, and this was the only place I could think of with a couch and outlet where I didn’t have to buy a menu item every half hour to occupy.”

Derek leans back, reaching for his unfinished book on the coffee table. “If you take anything from the kitchen, I’m charging you.”

“Love you too, big bad,” Stiles says, eyes focused on the start-up screen of his computer.

And while the boy does well to hide his tone with layers of sarcasm, Derek almost drops his book when he doesn’t hear the tell-tale skip of a lie in Stiles’ heartbeat.

He swallows, breaths out through his nose, then pushes it out of his mind. It doesn’t matter, it will never matter. Derek Hale doesn’t get nice things. No, that’s not entirely true - when Derek Hale gets nice things, the world around him crashes and burns. Sometimes literally.

— — — — — —

Isaac gets launched backward, and Derek hears him hit the wall. The concrete indents slightly where Isaac had landed, but he’s back on his feet in a heartbeat, looking more than a little pissed.

“Once I’m in charge of the territory,” the beastly intruder growls, “I’ll kill everyone that ever associated with you.” The creature laughs. “And then, I’ll turn everyone else!”

Derek’s ready for the creature to charge at him. He’s the alpha, and the beast - Derek’s weary to call it a werewolf, given how different it looks in comparison, but Stiles had been adamant - wants that alpha spark.

But even as Derek braces for impact, the blow never comes because in the next second, moving with a speed Derek didn’t know he was capable of, Stiles runs and leaps at the beast. Above his head, ready to be swung downward and clutched tightly in both hands, is, of all things. A baseball bat.

But Stiles never does things in halves, oh no. It’s not in his nature.

The baseball bat connects with the back of the beast, an awful, meaty sound echoes throughout the room. The creature stills, then falls to his knees.

“Wh-wh-wh-”

Derek notices that Stiles’ hands are empty and the bat is somehow stuck to the back of the creature.

“I carved that from a branch of mountain ash, and drove nails coated with a liquid wolfsbane mixture.”

In complete and utter awe, Derek blinks at Stiles.

The boy doesn’t notice. He’s still staring at the incapacitated creature as it sways on its knees, then falls on its side.

“The nails make sure it stays niiice and stuck in you, and the mountain ash is a great paralytic when used like this.”

“Holy shit,” Derek hears Scott whisper.

“Now, because the wolfsbane is a mixture, there’s no way for you to naturally find what’s in it before it kills you. I have the antidote.”

True to his word, Stiles pulls out a small vial from his pocket.

“I’m giving you two options. You can lay here and die, and hey, that solves all of my problems. Or I can take the bat out, give you the antidote, and you’ll never hurt anyone again.”

The beast growls from his position on the floor. “Wh- what’s to st-st-stop me from going b-b-back on my w-word?”

Stiles smiles. “Because Alison Argent’s archery skills rival Hawkeye, and I made her entire cache of arrows the same way I made the bat stuck in your back.”

“Okay, I s-s-swear.”

It’s hard to miss the fear in the beast’s eyes.

Stiles, without any soft of gentleness, puts his foot on the side of the beast, then uses it as leverage to pull what Derek now knows to be a nail bat from his flesh. It’s a sickening sound, and a few of the nails drip with fur and blood, but as soon as it’s free, the beast takes in a shuddering gasp of air. Stiles tosses the vial on the floor next to the creature, then digs out a lighter from his pocket.

“You have until sunrise to get out of the county.”

Stiles doesn’t look back as he walks toward the door, and everyone follows suit, including Derek.

Outside, as they near their cars, Derek watches as Stiles gestures for Isaac to come near. Careful to stay a fair distance away, Derek watches as Stiles looks over Isaac like a doting mother hen might.

“I’m fine. The broken ribs already healed,” he hears Isaac say.

Stiles nods, then pats Isaac on the shoulder. As Isaac walks away, Stiles looks around and makes eye-contact with Derek. The boy gestures him over, then turns around and starts digging in the back seat of his Jeep, where he’d stashed his ridiculous weapon.

“What?” Derek asks as he nears.

Stiles doesn’t even turn around, just hands him a bundle of stuff. When Derek takes it, he sees it’s a pack of baby-wipes and a new shirt.

Derek’s lack of movement is likely what tipped Stiles off, because it’s not a moment later when he speaks. “I know how much you hate getting crap in your car. Figured this would come in handy eventually.”

Staring at the shirt and package of wipes in his hands, Derek’s mind races. Stiles had kept an extra shirt in his car. But not an extra shirt for him, no. Because as Derek holds up the shirt, he can see that it’s not in Stiles’ size; it’s in his.

His mouth goes dry as he turns away and heads toward his Camaro.

— — — — — —

It never gets any easier, the anniversary of when his family had…

But he hasn’t visited his mother’s grave since he and Laura left, and as much as it hurts, he knows he should. Maybe it’ll finally give him a little closure, or maybe Derek just likes inflicting all manner of pain upon himself; it could go either way.

What surprises him, however, is the fresh bouquet of flowers already decorating his mother’s headstone. He blinks in surprise, then furrows his brow. It’s been years since his family had died. Who would bring them flowers after all this time?

The cemetery is mostly dark. It’s just before sundown, and the tall trees that pepper the pristine-grass and well-kept headstones make long shadows. But who is Derek kidding, he’d recognize that stupid red hoodie anywhere.

Part of him is mad, and he doesn’t quite understand why. Misplaced anger, maybe, or something more deeply rooted. As he nears Stiles’ sitting form, ready to verbally tear into the kid, he stops short.

“And, like, you should have seen it! The whole kitchen was a mess!” Stiles laughs, then the sound tapers out into a sigh. “He misses you. I mean, I miss you, too. But I know it’s different for dad. When you lose someone you love the way dad loves you, it’s like you’ve lost a piece of yourself.”

Derek swallows.

Stiles sighs again, then rubs a palm over his face. “And I know I’m not making it any easier on him. But you understand why I can’t say anything, right? He’d blow his top, never let me leave the house. Sometimes I wish I could tell him. And maybe someday I might, or I might be forced to. But I have to protect my friends before I can protect his feelings.”

There’s a long, sad silence that follows. Eventually, Stiles moves to stand and Derek maneuvers to hide himself behind a tree. “Thanks for listening, mom. And thanks for sharing your flowers.”

When Derek gets home, he showers, then eats a bowl of cereal just to get something into his system. He lays in bed, staring at the exposed pipes and beams of the ceiling. Sleep doesn’t steal him away for some time.

— — — — — —

Things stay quiet for a time, which suits Derek just fine. It means he doesn’t have to deal with people; he holes up in his loft and marathons shitty TV shows on the streaming service Stiles had insisted be set up. When he can’t stand to look at the TV any longer, he reads. And, when he runs out of books, he finally leaves the warmth and solitude of his flat to venture out to the grocery store. He stocks up on what he knows he’s out of, without any sort of meal-plan in mind, then scours the pathetic section of books he finds in the same aisle as the greeting cards. Most of them have ridiculous covers and names - bodice-rippers, uncle Peter used to call them - but he finds a few that at least look somewhat promising before he heads to the checkout.

He’s almost completely done putting away the groceries when he hears Stiles let himself in. How the little shit had managed to get a key made or copied in the first place is outside the realms of Derek’s imagination.

When he turns around, it’s to see Stiles, holding out two small, wrapped gifts.

Derek furrows his brow.

One present is wrapped in Star Wars Christmas paper - R2D2 is sporting a rather stylish Santa hat - and the other, much to Derek’s surprise, is wrapped in what appears to be birthday-themed paper.

He looks up and is met with Stiles’ soft smile. “One’s for Christmas, one’s for your birthday,” Stiles tells him, like this kind of interaction is completely normal for the two of them.

When Derek doesn’t move to take them, Stile rolls his eyes and just puts them on the table. “Open ‘em or don’t, Scrooge-wolf. I’m not trying to put pressure on you or anything.”

Even though Stiles has told him there’s no pressure, Derek’s pretty sure the amount of pressure he currently feels rivals that of the deepest part of the ocean. After a moment, he musters up his, what? Courage? Fortitude? Doesn’t matter. He takes a deep breath, and reaches first for the Christmas present first. Red and green light-sabers and Princess Leia with reindeer antlers peel away to reveal a box. Inside the box is a little tissue, and when Derek finally gets what he supposes is the actual gift free of the packaging, he stills. The mug is plain white, but on the side are printed letters.

What do you call a wolf that

has his shit figured out?…

Aware-wolf!

Derek shoots Stiles a look of disdain, but it doesn’t seem to deter the boy. He’s grinning like an idiot. “I got one for Isaac that says ‘What do you call a beta wolf? A sub-woofer.’”

Derek rolls his eyes, but he lets his lips curl up into a slight smile. Terrible as the Stiles’ jokes may be, it’s not hard to see that they are never meant to be harmful.

The birthday present is next, and Stiles seems excited about this one. He leans forward a little as Derek tears open the paper. It’s another box, but it’s much smaller, and when Derek opens this one, he’s confused for a moment.

It’s a ring. But it looks like some kind of wood and epoxy mixture, with the wood making the ring portion of it and the epoxy forming an almost rectangular shape on one side. He takes it out of the box carefully and looks it over. The wood inlay looks splintered, and the transparent epoxy holds… a little moon?

“I don’t expect you to wear it or anything,” Stiles says. “It’s, uh, it’s a piece of wood from your old house. And I made the moon out of clay, because I thought, well, with the whole werewolf thing and-”

“Get out.” Derek’s voice is low and cold.

Stiles freezes. “I’m sorry, I thought you’d-”

“Get. Out.” When Stiles doesn’t move, Derek growls and lunges forward, taking a handful of Stiles’ shirt and pulling him toward the door. He shoves Stiles through and into the hallway, then slams the door before he can catch a glimpse of Stiles’ expression. He locks the door, then leans on it, the ring still clutched in one hand.

“I’m sorry, Derek,” Stiles says.

Derek doesn’t move, hardly breathes. He stays pressed against the door as he hears Stiles walk away. He remains there longer still, far past when he can hear the Jeep start and Stiles drive away.

He peels off his clothes and climbs into bed, despite it being four in the afternoon. He pulls the covers over his head like he used to when he was little, when his mom would turn out the light after tucking him in.

For a long time now, Derek’s mastered the art of trying to not care. The walls around his heart are made of solid steel, layers upon layers.

But now there’s a hole somewhere in that barrier.

He doesn’t cry. To be honest, he doesn’t think he can. He’d cried himself stupid after the fire, had sobbed almost every night for the six months following, and then he just… closed up. He’d shut the door and locked the deadbolt, because kindness and sincerity and just a dash of naivety had been the perfect mix to allow for someone to manipulate him. What had he left now? Every one he’d ever allowed himself to love were dead and gone.

And Derek couldn’t do that to Stiles, couldn’t put the burden of the curse of his heart, of him vulnerable, on Stiles’ shoulders.

— — — — — —

“Stiles, hey - hey, keep your eyes open!”

Derek’s voice is frantic. He cups Stiles’ head in his broad palms, a protective barrier between the back of the boy’s head and the cement below.

Stiles blinks one eye open - the other is already swollen shut.

They’d found the witch with a penchant for creating golems, the one that had kidnapped Stiles and Alison months ago. But this time, instead of three, the damn bastard had made an army of the fuckers, giant, lumbering automatons that swung their ham-sized fists without restraint.

The fight was dirty and tiresome, and even Derek, who’s been a wolf since birth, is tired and nearly out of breath.

Stiles’ good hand, the one not resting in an unnatural manner, rises up and tugs on something that’s dangling from around Derek’s neck. His blood-splattered lips curl up into a smile, or as much as he can make of one, considering the awful state he’s in.

“Scott’s already called Malissa; there’s an ambulance on the way. Just stay awake for me, just-”

“Sourwolf, you kept it.”

Derek pauses, then looks to see what Stiles holds.

It’s the ring made with the wood of his house and the little moon sculpted by Stiles’ own fingers.

“Thought you hated me after I gave this to you.”

Unsure of what to say, Derek just shakes his head.

Stiles coughs, and Derek can hear the strain. It’s a wet sound, and Stiles is slow to take air back in. One of his lungs has likely either been punctured, or has already collapsed.

Derek’s hands are shaking.

“I need a favor, big bad.”

Stiles cuts Derek off before he has time to protest.

“If I don’t make it, keep my dad safe, alright? Make sure he’s… make sure he’s okay.”

“You’re going to be fine, Stiles.”

Stiles just smiles, blinking slowly.

“And you.”

“Me? Derek breathes.

“Allow yourself to have something nice, damnit. You deserve nice things. I know that shit’s been really bad for you for a long time, but you shouldn’t let the hurt that might come outweigh any good that comes before.”

It feels like someone has Derek’s heart in a vice-grip. He swallows, licks his lips, then does just that.

Derek Hale allows himself to have something nice.

He kisses Stiles square on the mouth.

— — — — — —

There’s no other choice to make.

They tell the sheriff what happened. Exactly what happened. Scott fumbles through a lot in his attempt at an explanation, but Derek backs him up, and is the one to shift when the sheriff threatens to have them all arrested unless they tell him the actual truth.

How could they not? His son, his only living blood, looks like he’d been in a one-on-one match with a woodchipper. The hospital did well to keep Stiles alive, but he’d flat-lined on the operation table twice, and Derek had nearly cracked his teeth from clenching so hard. Once stable, Stiles had been set up in a private room, though he hadn’t woken up yet.

Derek’s been at his side for three straight days.

Isaac brings him a change of clothes and something to sleep in, saying that even the nurses were starting to complain.

Sheriff Stilinski doesn’t seem to know what to make of the twenty-something-year-old young man that never leaves his son’s side longer than it takes for him to use the shower or restroom. But, well, he can guess. He’s not really happy with it, of course not. All things considered, however, his son is still alive, isn’t some kind of creature of the night of myth or legend, and has what likely constitutes to be as close to a superhero as you can get at his son’s back; things could have gone a lot worse.

He’ll give Stiles a week before he’s grounded until he’s eighty.

— — — — — —

Derek slides the window open. He sees Stiles partially sprawled out on his bed, laptop balanced precariously on top of a pillow.

“Hey, sourwolf,” he greets. His eyes look less sunken in, though he still hasn’t gained back all of the weight he’d lost.

Clothing the window, Derek toes his shoes off and comes to rest on the other side of Stiles’ bed. It’s small, more than a little cramped, but they make it work.

He gets comfortable, and, as soon as he’s settled, Stiles hooks a leg over his, then reaches out and laces their fingers together, all the while never moving his eyes from the screen.

It’s slow-going, this thing between them, partially because Stiles is still very much on the mend, and partially because Derek still has a hard time with intimacy, especially showing affection.

If it bothers Stiles at all, Derek would never know because it’s never been brought up. Stiles is perceptive, can obviously guess why Derek sometimes still stiffens when they touch, but he doesn’t push. It’s sweet, he thinks, the way they are slow-dancing around one another. They hold hands and watch movies, with legs or heads in laps. They press their shoulders against one another when they go out to eat and take up a single side of the booth.

They kiss.

That’s something new to Derek, the slow press of lips without the promise of something in the distance, kissing just to kiss, tasting one another for the sheer thrill of it, and then backing off slowly, with no one’s feelings hurt.

Stiles falls asleep, his head resting on Derek’s shoulder.

The avalanche has passed.

[redhawtriot]

Caught in The Act (Bakugou x Reader x Todoroki)

ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFTTTT!!! I honestly loved how fun this has been with you all! It’s gonna be bittersweet to end it for sure

Love you

HnM💕

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,  Finale

Part 5:

Your fingers anxiously danced against the back of his hot neck as you ingested his expression. Todoroki was always an extremely difficult person to evaluate, even when the two you were at your closest, so it was no surprise that you were unable to pinpoint his emotions. You could, however, narrow it down to something similar to discomfort… maybe sadness?

Your fingers halted their dance as you suddenly gathered him into a hug. You deepy sighed against his chest as your fingers slowly dropped from around his neck to meet with his face instead, “God, you’re so right,” you shook your head, trying to rid yourself from the guilt that ate at you, “It wouldn’t be fair to Bakugou, and I would be putting myself on his level by moving on so fast, anyway.”

He grabbed you softly by your wrists and floated them down as he stared purposefully at you, “This has nothing to do with him,” he tenderly reprimanded, “Let’s give us some time. It’s all about you properly healing. You said that to me once, remember? In U.A.?”

You totally had said those words to him in high school. It wasn’t the same situation, but comparisons could be made, you guessed. When you first met Todoroki, you had naturally gravitated towards him due to the stoic demeanor of his that mirrored your own. As time went on, you had found, however, that the similarities had not just ended there.

His father, much like your own, was a very miserable man, who committed very miserable acts of hatred against his own children. You had spoken those words of encouragement to Todoroki after he had lashed out on you because of his deeper-rooted pains.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” you blinked, completely unprepared for the barrage of memories dating back to your high school days.

“Trust me, I have never craved affection like I crave it from you,” he reassured as he dropped your hands fully so they dangled by your sides,  “but it wont do either of us good to rush into things right now. For now, let’s not even expect to start a relationship. Maybe expectations are what messed us up last time.”

You and Todoroki had vowed to try things again one day when he had become more comfortable with himself, as to not wear down your already fragile relationship. It had worked for the most part— mostly thanks to his other best friend Midoriya keeping him centered. You and Todo had become close again in no time at all—pretty much inseparable.

Pretty much.

As your shell broke, mostly due to your friends in class 1-A, you had begun to gravitate towards a certain explosive boy. Bakugou pretty much pulled out a side of you that felt as natural as breathing— like you had been holding your breath for years as you desperately tried to maintain an image of yourself that you thought would protect you, and when you two started dating it was like a weight had been lifted from your lungs.

You would still maintain a calm demeanor for the most part, because it was what made you feel safe, but you could finally expand your lungs again, having some flexibility in the persona.

Honestly the person had completely shattered once Bakugou cheated on you. Much like what had happened to All Might a few years back, your flexing form withered away little by little until you were eventually only able to conjure it in spurts.  

But were you happy about that? You had nothing to hide behind now. You were completely bare and out in the open.

Honestly you were to blame as much as anyone else for that. You saw the signs ahead of time. You just didn’t want to admit it. Bakugou was cold, distant, rude, arrogant, hotheaded, and apparently disloyal. GOD!

Were you an idiot or what? Young you really dumped Prince Charming and got engaged to the fire breathing dragon.

You snapped yourself out of your thoughts once more as you raised your eyebrows together and looked at the man trying to keep his distance from you, “Todoroki… we were just kids. There’s nothing else to it.”

“Even so,” he smiled, but you swear that a flash of remorse flew across his expression, “I am just happy that we are friends again. I would be just fine with that for now.”

You reluctantly agreed as you tried to flash him a slight smile.

You and Todoroki had mostly stayed true to your agreement. At first, it was hard. Maybe it was the fact that you guys had been completely starved from each other for an entire year, but the tension that resided over the two of you was almost overwhelming.

Luckily, or unluckly, depending on how you want to look at it, Fae made a fixed habit of interrupting the two of you as soon as tensions became too sweltering. It was almost as if she had a cock blocking quirk. But no, her quirk was printing her thoughts on blank papers, which helped her a lot in her profession: writing.

She would often times come bursting in with her usual, “Oh! I’m sorry! I hope I am not interrupting something!” which the two of you would furiously deny before she would have Todoroki skim over her latest work in literature.

Over time her Cockblocking became less an less, but only because the intense moments became less an less. Time flew very quickly as the passing days where you would find yourselves in awkward, close-proximity situations, moved on to weeks where you would accidentally say something with too much sexuality in your voice, which finally moved on to months where the two of you would only steal lingering glances from one another.

All in all, you two eventually could cohabit without wanting to jump each other’s bones. You went on to working as a high school teacher as usual, he went on to working as a top hero as normal, and everything became rather smooth sailing from there.

Until it didn’t.

“Get the hell out of my way, you IcyHot bastard!!”

“Kachhan, we have to work together if we want to stop this guy!!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP, DEKU!!”

A group of heroes had gathered in the middle of the city square to corner a gigantic kaiju villain with an arbor quirk. The open space would allow for the heroes to minimize the already skyrocketed property damages due to his people-sized thorn projectiles. Ground Zero scoffed as he tried to distance himself from the other heroes and zero in on the villain by himself.

Kirishima frantically scrambled after his best friend. He knew that Bakugou certainly had not been in a good mood that day. He had hardly found any good days with the man since you had left two months ago frankly,

“Hey, Bakugou man, calm down!” Kirishima pleaded as he held his arms up to block his friend from moving closer to the villain, “We’ll never take this guy if you can’t keep your cool and focus!”

“Fucking watch me! I’ll take him down my damn self!” Bakugou threw a warning blast directly in Kirishimas face. Due to his quirk the blast didn’t hurt him at all, but it did send him back a few steps, allowing for Bakugou to move around him, “You think an extra like him is enough to keep top heroes down?!”

Kirishima blinked at his friends choice of words before a huge smile tore across his face, “So you believe in us? That’s thinking like a man, Bakugou!”

“Dammit, stop twisting my words, Kirishima!” the man fumed as his hands crackled angrily, “That’s not what I said, you dumbass!” he finished before Todoroki and Midoriya suddenly appeared by their side.

“Kachhan, you and Todoroki have to flank him from the right while I stay with the long range fighters up front as a distraction!” Izuku commanded. The man must have felt unimaginable pressure in the situation since he was the top hero, “Kirishima! You have to finish leading the evacuation. There are still people that need saving from under the rubble.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!!” Bakugou roared before begrudgingly heading to the right flank alongside Todoroki, “Just stay out of my way,” he growled.

“It likely wont be a problem, since you’ll have trouble keeping up with me anyway,” Todoroki coldly replied as he sped ahead of the blond, sliding on his ice.

“The HELL did you just say?!” The explosive man screeched before using the blasts in his hands to propel himself next to Todoroki again.

Todoroki didn’t even throw him  glance, “Focus on the mission and being so damn irate.”

“Focus on this, asswipe!!” Bakugou roared as he blasted the other man away from him.

“Cut it out.” Todoroki lowly warned as he fixed himself to send the giant tree villain a sharp ice attack. Bakugou simply growled in response,

“Just get out of the way then, half and half bastard,” he seethed as he sent a series of wild explosions toward the villain. They were highly effective but knocked into the ice cage that Todorki had set up, allowing the kaiju to move enough to send a barrage of heavy splinters toward the two.

“LOOK OUT!” Izuku screamed right before the two managed to narrowly doge being impaled to death. The large splinters found their way whizzing past the two, piercing many buildings behind them. Todoroki clenched his fists tightly as crystals began to form on his hand,

“You’re acting like a child!”

“Maybe if your ice wasn’t so damn weak we wouldn’t be in this mess right now!” the blond spat back.

“Just STOP the nonsense, Bakugou!” he screamed very uncharacteristically, “I want to make it back home to Y/N in one piece,” he finished wildly.

Bakugou’s heart immediately shriveled inside of his chest, “What…” as Todoroki stormed back toward the villain, Bakugou felt as if the world around him was moving at a much slower pace and he replayed the other man’s words in his mind again.

Because he couldn’t have heard that right.

It felt as if one of those thorny projectiles had actually managed to stab him in the chest, as he tried to figure out with that damn mismatched loser had tried to insinuate. He loudly growled in frustration as he sent a colossal Howitzer impact towards the giant tree of a man, setting him aflame with a thunderous screech.

Bakugou found himself frozen again as he realized that no matter how loud he screeched, no matter how many things he blasted, this pain would never go away. It had been months and yet it was as if he still had a fresh, life threatening wound.

His faltering gave Todoroki and the other heroes the opportunity that they needed to rush in, extinguish the fire and contain the bad guy.

Bakugou watched the world slowly move around him before he fell limp, grabbing his throbbing wrist. No matter how many times his brain tried to reassess it could only come up with one scenario: you had ended up with Todoroki again—just as he always feared you would.

Bakugou didn’t even realize just how much the back of his eyes stung until Todoroki had spoken up to him once more, “There now was that so difficult?”

The blond kept his eyes low as he silently stormed away from the battle scene, leaving the other heroes baffled and confused as they watched his quiet form stalk away.

After the situation had been properly handled, Kirishima casually came home after work, just as he always did—completely unsuspecting of the shit show that he was about to walk into,

“Bakugou, man! We really could have used you out there for cleanup!”

“The mismatched bastard seemed to think he had everything under control,” he grumbled as he walked away from his sweaty, filthy roommate, “I’m sure even you guys could handle it,” he sneered without throwing him even a glance.

“That’s not the point!” Kirishima argued with furrowed eyebrows as he followed his friend. What the hell was he thinking? It was like Bakugou had completely forgotten all those years of training to be a hero,

“There were people who still needed saving, and you turned your back on them. I mean, you’re lucky no one died, man!” Kirishima had expected the other man to quite literaly explode at his words. The redhead was completely unprepared for the awkward silence that densely sat inbetween the two as Bakugou paused and stared at the ground in front of him.

Kirishima worried for a moment that maybe he had been too hard on his friend before the silence broke.

“Did you know…?” Bakugou finally croaked, “about, Y/N and Todoroki?” he grimaced at the ill feeling that the phrase left in his mouth.

“What?!” Kirishima gasped, “No! of course I didn’t... Seriously!? A-are you sure?” His eyes widened substantially.

“Why the hell would I make something like that up, huh??” Bakugou sharply grabbed Kirishima by the shoulder straps before throwing him against the wall, releasing him.

“Okay, man….” Kirishima cautiously began , “I am just gonna come out at say it! You need to talk about what happened between you and Y/N.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he huffed as he stiffly threw his hands into his pocket and walked to his room, slamming the door behind him. Kirishima sighed before walking up to the door,

“Hey Bakugou, I am your friend, man,” he argued into the wooden barrier, “You can talk to me! I can see that it’s eating you up inside. I just want to h—”

“Cut that shit out, Kirishima. I don’t want to talk,” his muffled voice sounded from the other side. Kirishima sharply bit his tongue as he debated on saying what was on his mind.

Fuck it.

“I’ve seen that ring in your pocket,” he breathed, “You still carry it around after all this time. I know you miss her like crazy. She was a great woman to you, but… it might be time to let her go, man,” even his own heart broke at the words that spilled from his lips, but he continued, “How are you supposed to do that if you can’t even talk about what went dow—"

Bakugou suddenly ripped the door back open, revealing his furious expression, “You don’t think I know that? Huh?! I know how amazing she is, fucking shitty hair. I’m the one who dated her remember?!” He screamed in Kirishima’s face, “No matter how many times you fucked her in that pervy little brain of yours, I am the one she slept next to every night. And now??” His voice cracked, “I’m alone every night with my fuck ups eating at me. How I let my soulmate down-- I let everyone down!!” He screeched.

Kirishima could only stand frozen with a horrified expression plastered onto his face, leaving Bakugou to scoff at him,

“Oh, What?! You didn’t think I knew?!” He angrily wiped his teary eyes with the back of his hand, “How you looked at her? How you found every excuse in the book to wedge yourself into our time together? That night, you told me that you didn’t want her to leave us. There is no us, you delusional bastard. It is me and her. Or was,” he angrily threw a quick glance up at the ceiling as he tried to hold back his tears,

“And you cant even spring up that familiy bullshit. Its not exactly the three amigos when you look at her like apiece of meat.”

“Look who’s talking,” Kirishima lowly muttered to himself.

“What the FUCK did you just say?!” Bakugou screeched as he shoved he other man hard into the wall behind him, leaving an obvious crack.

“Look, Bakugou, man, I know that you are hurting right now,” the calmer man began as he hardened and swatted Bakugou’s hands away from him, “but I am not about to feed into your anger, bro. I just want to help.”

“How the hell are you supposed to help me?” Bakugou shoved him again, earning a cautionary glance from Kirishima, “Can you help me erase what the fuck I did!? Can you help me get her back???” he shoved the other man over and over agin.

“You cheated!! I don’t think there is going back from that with her!!” Kirishima loudly blurted finaly.

“What the fuck do you know, loser?!” Bakugou screeched, his voice cracking as the back of his eyes dared to burn from his head. Kirishima walked away rather than try to indulge in his friend’s behavior, but Bakugou wasn’t having it, “Don’t walk away from me, bastard!!” he charged after the man, “Hey! We aren’t finished,” he screamed as he threw a blast directly into Kirishmias face.

His wrists still hurt from his altercation earlier but he didn’t care has he sent a barrage of assaults Kirishima’s way. Kirishima could only throw his arms up and initiate his quirk.

“Fight back dammit,” Bakugou wasn’t even trying to hold his voice back from falling apart anymore as tears agressivly rolled down his cheeks.

After a while of just taking it, Kirishima had finally had enough, “You haven’t even tried to fix things with her!” he erupted before the smack of his hardened fist against Bakugou’s face echoed against the walls, “You’ve just been avoiding everything that you are feeling and bottling it up until it explodes. And then you start all over again. You’re never going to get her back with that cycle!” Bakugou had fallen to the floor but was steadily picking himself back up,

“Shut up!” he snarled as his weakening muscles failed underneath him, sending him back to the floor.

“I mean at least try, man!” kirishima threw exasperated clenched fists into the air, “Do you even care that you’ll never be with her again? Or are you just one big self-pitying party?”

“I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!!!” Bakugou roared as he sent a final large explosion Kirishima’s way. The redhead could hardly harden in time before the blast reached him.

After the smoke had cleared a hungry flame was revealed.

“Shit, man.” “Fucking hell.”

The two men could only watch in horror as the flames greedily began to eat away at their home, growing and destroying anything in their path.

Meanwhile.

You had a fire of your own to deal with,

“Hot, hot, hottt!!” you tried to ventilate your mouth with sharp sucking breaths as you tasted the gumbo that you were preparing. You were entirely too used to cooking for Katsuki for all those years.

“Hey, Y/N!” you heard Fae’s light voice sound from the front lving room, “Come on out, I would really like for you to meet my little sister before we head out!”

Oh yeah, you had forgotten that she was coming over today. Fae’s sister hardly ever stopped by, but you’d been dying to meet her after all of the funny stories Fae had shared about her,

“Okay coming, just gimme a sec!” You threw a pitying grimace to the pot of food you had been slaving over, “Hope she likes spicy food.” You whispered to yourself before throwing the stove on low and making your way to the living room,

“Sorry, I was just fixing up dinner! Hope you like Gum… bo.” Your word barely managed to find its way out of your mouth as you threw a horrified expression to the nightmare in front of you.

“Y/N, this is my sister, Farrah,” Fae’s sweet smile greatly contrast the soup of hot, disgusting feelings that had been simmering in your pot for two months.

Her sister, Farrah? You mean the same girl you had found pinned to your grandmother’s dresser two month ago.

“H-holy Shit! Sis, this is that crazy bitch I was telling you about!” Farrah anxiously tapped Fae on the shoulder, much like she had Bakugou that night.

Do you tell her about herself and calmly walk away from the situation? Or do you BEAT THAT HO ASS?

YOU DECIDE!

Follow this link to cast your vote!

[kellanswritingblog]

The final day of @tmafantasyweek!  Today I went with the prompt Legend and combined it with the Tower prompt from earlier in the week.

I want to give a big thank you to the organizers of this event and to everyone who participated, it is so cool to see what everyone has come up with!

Basira heard tales of an incredible treasure at the top of the tower, but none before her proved strong or brave enough to survive the climb.  In the end, she finds neither gold nor gems, but instead a woman named Melanie, and they attempt to find a path to freedom together.

CW: heights, vertigo, isolation, cave-ins

Basira pushed through the rotting wooden door and stepped inside.  She knew her trials had just begun.

The journey to the tower was difficult enough, leading through treacherous woods, across stormy waters, and atop mountainous peaks.  Now, she had finally arrived, ready to claim the treasure that awaited whoever proved strong enough to reach the top.

She expected levels of monsters and constructs meant to stop anyone from climbing it, but instead she found nothingness.  No stairs, no floors, no enemies.  Only a rickety wooden ladder on the far side of the rounded wall that led upwards into clouds and fog.

The only sign that anyone else had ever attempted the climb was in the remains that scattered the ground.  Other treasure hunters, but they had lacked the finesse to scale into the heavens.

Basira removed her plate armor and set it near the door along with her other supplies, save for an extra length of rope and a few pitons, just in case.  She didn’t need any extra weight pulling her down.

And then she began the climb.

The ladder creaked with every step, and the rope holding it together threatened to fray with the slightest wrong touch, but Basira continued to ascend, begging herself not to look down.  Looking up was little better, as the top of the tower was still so, so far away, hidden in mist.  Instead, she focused on the rungs in front of her, one after another.

Eventually, the ladder ended, and Basira thought for a brief moment that she’d arrived, that she’d made it to the top when so many others had failed.  She panted with exertion and hauled herself up over the edge, only to find a small outcropping, just large enough for her to rest upon, and still so much more distance to go.

She drank a bit of water from her canteen and regained her breath.  Once she felt she was ready to carry on, she looked up to plan her next moves, but there was no ladder.

From there, the only way up was to climb upon the stones themselves, to choose those that jutted out far enough from the rest to gain some purchase.  Basira tied her rope around her middle, making an impromptu harness, then attached it to a piton that she hammered into the wall by the outcropping.  That way, hopefully she wouldn’t fall all the way down if the rock gave out; but she still had no idea just how far up she had yet to climb.

And then she began, carefully testing her weight on each protruding stone before using it to pull herself up and up and up.  With the ladder, she could focus on the rung in front of her, but now she had to look up and down and all around in order to find the next safest step, which mean there was no avoiding just how much space there was between her and the ground below.  

She couldn’t focus on that.  She could only focus on the fabled treasure at the top.

After what felt like eons, a ceiling appeared above, and Basira knew she was almost there.  She had to be.  But her rope harness tugged at her as the length ran out.  If she wanted to reach the trapdoor up there, she would have to untie her safety line.

She perched carefully on the stones, and let the rope fall.  Without anything to catch her, she continued the climb.

The trapdoor was almost in her grasp, but her handhold crumbled beneath her grip and she very nearly began to plummet downwards.  She would not give up so easily.

With her last purchase on the wall, Basira pushed herself upwards and barely grabbed a hold of the ring on the trapdoor, saving herself from the descent. As the door fell open under her weight, a pristine wooden ladder folded out from the edge and gave her easy access to the top of the tower.

The legends said there would be jewels, gold, treasures beyond imagining. Instead, Basira found a relatively empty room.  It looked like a bedroom.

“Somebody actually made it?”

Basira had only just pulled herself into this room and pulled the trapdoor up to seal it; she didn’t want to trip and fall down there after all the work she’d done to reach the top.  Now, she turned to look at the voice that had spoken.

She was a small, wiry woman, with suspicion in her eyes and what looked like a knife in her hand.  

“Yeah, somebody did,” Basira replied.  She continued to sit on the floor and catch her breath, then shook her arms and legs as her muscles cried out in pain.  “I thought there was supposed to be treasure?”

“Oh?”

“They say there’s treasure up here.  I didn’t expect a person.”

“Right.”  The woman tucked the knife into her belt, and then came to sit on the floor across from Basira.  “I don’t know what to tell you.  I’ve been here as long as I can remember.  I don’t know about any treasure, it’s just me.”

Basira looked over at her, at the gauntness of her features and the paleness of her skin.

“You’ve been here forever?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t remember anything else, just this room.”  She gestured to the space around them.  It contained the basic amenities, but also a makeshift set of dummies along the far wall that had been slashed and pummeled.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”  

“I’m sorry too.  That there’s no treasure for you up here.”

Basira shook her head.  “My name is Basira.”

“Melanie.”

Basira held out her hand for Melanie to shake, and she did so.  

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you need,” Melanie added.  “I assume you’ll plan to climb back down at some point, but until you feel up to it, there’s room here.  And the food just magically appears three times a day, so I figure it’ll provide for you too.”

“Thank you.”  Basira stood, and Melanie followed suit.  “Have you never thought of making the climb down yourself?”

Melanie looked at her hands.  “I’m not strong enough.  I know I’m not.  I can try and keep myself fit up here, stop myself from atrophying, but I can’t make it down on my own.”

“We’ll find a way to get you out of here, I swear.”

She glanced at Basira and narrowed her eyes.  “I gave up on hopeful thinking a long time ago.  But… thanks.”

Basira stretched out her muscles and then collapsed into a chair that Melanie pulled over for her.  As she had suspected, a second plate of food appeared for Basira when it was dinner time.  Not that Basira had any idea what time it was or how long she had been climbing, just that it was long enough that she eagerly devoured the meal.

Melanie was quiet, examining Basira’s every move.  Occasionally she would ask a question about the outside world. She had read about it – at least her prison cell had a decent selection of books – but never experienced it herself, and there was so much she wanted to know.  Basira did her best to sate her curiosity, but didn’t make any more promises about getting her out so that she could experience the world for herself. Given Melanie’s disbelief before, Basira didn’t figure that it would help.

When Basira let out a lengthy yawn, Melanie chuckled.  

“I imagine you’re exhausted,” she remarked.

“I am going to be so sore tomorrow,” Basira laughed.  

“You’re welcome to the bed.  I can sleep on the couch.  Unless you don’t mind sharing.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t.  It’s your bed, after all.”

“Fair enough.”

Melanie offered Basira a spare change of clothes, and then they crawled into bed together.  They each clung to their side of the mattress, terrified of invading too far into the other’s space.  Basira might have made more apologies if she hadn’t been so exhausted, but, in her current state, she couldn’t even remember if she offered Melanie a proper goodnight or if she had fallen asleep without another word.

The next thing she knew, the floor was shaking.

“What’s going on?”  Basira exclaimed as she sat bolt upright, taking in the crumbling walls around them.

“I have no idea!  This has never happened before.”

Basira attempted to race to the window, but a chunk of ceiling fell in and blocked her path.  Instead, she threw herself back into the bed, and pulled Melanie into her arms to protect her from any other debris.  If the tower continued to collapse, it would do little good, but at least neither would die alone.

“I’m sorry…”  Melanie breathed as more of the ceiling clattered down around them.  She held tightly to Basira’s arms.

Basira didn’t have the chance to reply.  In a cloud of dust and smoke, they both had to shut their eyes.  The world shook around them and then, as suddenly as it had started, all was still.

When the coast was clear, they took in the collapse around them, coughing up the dust that got stuck in their lungs, but neither let go of the other. Instead of a locked tower room, they found themselves on the ground, the wonderfully safe and normal ground.  A few stone walls protruded from the landscape, but besides those and the untouched bed beneath the pair, there was no sign of the gigantic tower that had once stood atop the hill.  

“Are you alright?”  Basira asked.

Melanie nodded.  “You?”

“I think so.  That was… strange.”

Only now did Melanie extract herself from Basira’s grasp.  She looked around every which way, mesmerized by the tiny little details of the world that Basira overlooked.  

“I’m… free?”

“Looks like it.”

Melanie turned to Basira.  “I think you reaching the top somehow reset everything.  I don’t know how, but the whole place was magic to begin with, so…”

“Who cares how?  You can leave!  You can do whatever you want!”

“I don’t know what to actually do now that I have the chance.  Will you… will you help me?”

Basira smiled.  “Of course.”

Melanie slowly reached out and took Basira’s hand into her own.  Basira squeezed it gently and met Melanie’s excited and terrified gaze.  

“We’ll figure it out.  You and me.”

“Thank you for rescuing me.  And for everything else.”

Together, hand in hand, they made their way back along the path Basira had once trod alone.  They made slow progress, as Melanie darted around to examine the world she had never been permitted to experience, but Basira didn’t mind.  She couldn’t help but think that the legends were right, and that she had found a treasure atop that tower after all.

[astraphobe]

[ LAWRENCE “LARS” MALKIN. 40. CISMALE. HE/HIM ] is here! They’ve lived in Silver Lake for [ 20 YEARS ] and are originally from [ OREGON ]. They are a [ MECHANIC ] and in their downtime love [ PLAYING HIS ELECTRIC GUITAR ] and [ WRITING MUSIC ]. They look a lot like [ CHRIS PRATT ] and live [ IN OASIS APTS ]. (ooc: otto, 19, he/him, cst)

hello !! i’m otto and this is my first muse here. he’s garbage but, like, good garbage ?? compost ?? idk. anyway. i hope you guys like your man-children middle aged and with two kids because if you expected anything else you’re gonna be dissapointed.

BASICS.

Name:  Lawrence Malkin. Nickname: Everyone calls him Lars, but his mom and dad used to call him Larry. He hated it. Gender: Cis-male. Sexuality: Gay (homosexual, homoromantic). Race: Caucasian. Age: 40 ( 01/10/1980 ). Zodiac: Capricorn. Hometown: Grants Pass, Oregon. Current residence: Oasis Apartments. Career: Mechanic.

Astra inclinant, sed non obligant !

this is the background bit. i didn’t want it to be long but it ended up being long, so if you don’t wanna read it you don’t have to. i did spend a lot of time on it, though. hopefully it isn’t shit. enjoy ( but only if you want ) !

world, meet lars. lars, meet world. he’s ... going through it right now. not a lot of things have gone right for him.

he’s the youngest of five in a strictly evangelical household. everything was about rules and if he didn’t abide by them, he’d be punished. he remembers getting hit with switches and belts and wires. he’d be locked in prayer closets and forced to confess his sinful thoughts. he recited every word of scripture, was slain in the spirit, proselytized to all of his friends, and he got nothing but fear and anger out of it --- it was all very ... carrie, but without the promises of superpowers.

when he started going to a secular public high school his entire viewpoint shifted. he made friends who snuck him into rated r movies to watch him squirm at things he’d never heard of before. he started smoking cigarettes, smoking grass, failing classes, and playing sinner’s music on his guitar. strict parents make sneaky kids, he used to be able to all of this in his church clothes.

after high school lars stopped talking to the rest of his family. he rented an apartment with his friends for a two year stint at community college ( he was an automotive specialist major ) and started a band with them in silver lake once he graduated. he never really wanted to talk about girls or stare at nudie magazines like the rest of them, no. he just wanted to make music. until he met margo and his life fell apart.

he only started to date her because it felt right and she promised to take care of him. no one else has ever made the effort to take care of him --- he’d been locked in closets and hit with willow tree branches for the duration of his adolescence. he just wanted comfort.

after he met her, she was the only thing on his mind outside of his band. it wasn’t love, though, even if that was what he thought it was. everything seemed perfect. it all seemed like a normal he could get used to. until she got pregnant and they weren’t ready. she was 24, he was 25, they were both fucked. this was the beginning of the end of them.

click ... click ... click ... boom ! shotgun wedding. as soon as he signed that paper he felt that straight man ball and chain around his ankle. he felt regret, he felt guilty, and, at first, an eighteen year weight stacked atop his shoulders. what more could he do other than ... grin and bear it.

he stopped talking to his friends, who were all busy having fun and playing music and doing everything he wanted to do and more. separating himself from the men he loved most, even if he didn’t want to say it, made him bitter. he stopped doing gigs to make more mechanic money. after the birth of his first daughter, yael, his life was boring and monotonous. five years down the line, margo threw out her birth control pills without letting him know. this was how his second kid, ruth, was brought into the world. it was also the straw that broke the camel's back.

the divorce was long and messy --- he’s glad his kids don’t really remember it too much. margo and lars ended up splitting custody with yael but because of the bullshit that came with ruth, she’s all his. he started meeting up with his friends for gigs again, rediscovering his passion for music. and also drugs. he’s reclaiming the youth he lost when he started dating margo, even though it’s a little weird. he’s happy but he’s not fulfilled, and his kids could see that, too.

the process ruined him financially, enough for the bank to foreclose his home only a few months after the split. he filed for bankruptcy, destroyed his credit score, and moved into a seedy two bedroom apartment ( which isn’t cheap in the city of angels ) that managed to be just a few blocks down from where one of his old friend lived. he came out while lars was married and he didn’t know until he saw the flag hanging in the window. he was curious about it, but we all know what that did to the cat.

lars doesn’t want to be gay, but everything he does makes him feel like he is. the way he talks, the way he sits, the way he cries while watching the notebook --- he knows these are all stereotypes now, but what would his younger self think ?? two kids, no money, AND he’s queer ?? he wants to push this all down, and he does, but he knows that it won’t do him any good either. he knows that everything will all implode, but that day isn’t today, and with any luck, it won’t be tomorrow. he’ll sit in his idea of normalcy until he can’t anymore.

Per angusta ad augusta !

bulletpoints and headcanons, baby !

lars loves his kids. like, a lot. when he was with margo he regretted them entirely but he doesn’t feel that way anymore. he wants what’s best for him, and he wants to give them everything his parents couldn’t give him. namely: love. he doesn’t want more kids, though. he’s saving up for a vasectomy.

he’s not a perfect parent, though. i wouldn’t even call him a great one because of how often he has to be away from them and how much he drinks his feelings. at least once a year he’ll go on a bender and he’ll have to pay a babysitter more than he can afford because of how long he’d be out for. now that his kids are old enough to pick up on these things, they’re becoming more and more concerned with his behavior. he can tell, it’s just another thing he’s trying to avoid bringing up. it’s just another thing that pushes him back to drink.

speaking of his kids. i love them. i love them just as much as i love lars. yael is fifteen and she’s a mini version of her father. when lars has the time, he teaches her to play the guitar on his old acoustic. she manages to make a’s and b’s and he could never be prouder, especially because he barely graduated high school himself. ruth, on the other hand, is an enigma and he doesn’t really understand her but he tries her best. she says a lot of things that ten year olds probably shouldn’t say, but he lets it slide because it’s funny. he’s had to raise her mostly by himself which has been a gigantic struggle for him, but it’s proving to be successful thus far. she really wants to be a teenager and she emulates teenagers to the best of her ability, but it’s what a ten year old thinks a teenager should act like, so it’s far from accurate. loves cleaning her room, though. it’s the most pristine part of their house and he has no clue why.

margo was jewish, so both of his kids are being raised jewish. he doesn’t really believe any of it himself, but his kids seem pretty happy. yael had a bat mitzvah and ruth is coming up on hers, but he has no idea how that’s going to work out because margo did 99% of the planning for yael and he doesn’t know how any of that shit works. ruth also decided that she wants to eat kosher now. she’s been like this for, like, a year and lars thought it would be a phase but at this point she’s in it for the long haul and there’s a pretty good chance she’s not going back on it.

when it comes to his sexuality ,,,, he has a lot of feelings. he acknowledges that being gay is a possibility but he’s definitely never thought enough about it to make a decision. at the same time, he’s hyper aware of anything that might make him seem gay so he dresses like a slightly grunge dad redneck and makes sure to never cross his legs when he sits down. despite all of this. he has had sex with men before. especially after margo. he fucked his gay friend, too. he doesn’t think they count because he was desperate. they count. don’t tell him.

he has five different guitars. the bulk of them sit in his closet, but he has names for all of them. they were his babies before his real babies. his first two were dr. jekyll and mr. hyde, an acoustic and an electric that took about six paychecks for him to finally buy. yael plays on dr. jekyll and he’s spent a lot of time thinking about how he wants to make it a family heirloom if she doesn’t smash it first. he got a white strat in college that he named angel because of how gorgeous she sounds. i'm gonna stop here because this bullet would be so fuckin long if i didn’t. i like guitars. he likes guitars. maybe i’m projecting. who knows ! not me.

it’s easy to assume that his band never really went anywhere. cause it didn’t. they play heavy, heavy, heavy rock and that’s incredibly out of the mainstream right now. their band, shit and sugar, did get a little bit of recognition in the local underground scene during the early 2000s. now they’re just older dudes that play in diy venues and bars sometimes. lars is pretty sure he’s been called a geezer a few times by teens yael’s age.

despite never really getting off of the ground in the music industry, he’s very good at what he does. there’s not a lot left for him to learn in terms of technique and his style of playing is very uniquely his. big inspirations for him include the likes of rivers cuomo, jimi hendrix, kirk hammett, and dimebag darrell.

all in all, he’s an extroverted ball of energy most of the time. he’s got a lot of ideas and he’s very goal oriented, even if he doesn’t end up achieving them. not the smartest tool in the shed, either. he’s childlike and playful in the best way possible. again, most of the time. this ends up biting him in the ass a lot. especially because of how impulsive he is.

Ars longa, vita brevis !

wanted connections ! i’m definitely going to put one or two up on the main but here are a few that i think would work nicely.

people he met through music ---- even though people don’t know about shit and sugar you’d definitely recognize him if your character frequents local bars and DIY venues in sketchy basements. from friends to enemies, i think this one has a lot of breathing room for ~ creativity ~ and all that.

neighbors ---- he’s a guitarist. it’s a loud hobby. he’s nice to everyone in the complex, but god, that’s gotta get annoying.

men he fucked that “don’t count” ---- some of these could’ve ended seamlessly. maybe they get beers now. maybe your character hates him. maybe your character pities him for being in so much denial about his own sexuality. maybe your character is trying to help him. this connection has, like, no limit and all of the plots can be different and unique i’m so excited for it. he’s a bottom, if anyone was curious.

unlikely pals ---- this character is probably the exact opposite of a fuckup. god knows why they even associate with lars. but they do, and they want the best for him. hey !! maybe lars can break them out of their shell a bit.

potential romance ??? owo ??? ---- i really want this to happen because i want lars to eventually come to terms with his sexuality. all he wants is mutual love and good sex. safety, stability, all that good stuff. shouldn’t come without hardship, though. if you have a good idea make sure to make it angsty because i live off of that shit.

someone he doesn’t like ---- i thought of this one because it’s incredibly hard for lars to not like someone. he finds amazing qualities in most people, but he’s prone to holding grudges. i want a character who he just can’t see any good in filling this connection. how fun would that be, right ??

a jewish friend that helps him out with his jewish kids ---- i’m the knowledgeable jewish friend in 99.9% of my friend groups. most people don’t have a knowledgeable jewish friend out of necessity, but he definitely needs one because he doesn’t know shit about some of the things his kids talk about. i swear, ruth mentioned how eggs are pareve and he short circuited please help this poor dude out.

ok that’s. that’s it. i’m done running my mouth on main, but if you wanna plot or just hear me run my mouth about dumb and unimportant shit hit me up here or on discord ( deus ex machina #2294 ) !!! i’m more active on discord because i don’t have this acc always up on my phone. i’m so excited to write with you all !!!!

[moodysnowflake]

First of all, gigantic

SPOILER ALERT

'Cause everybody shoud say it before starting.

Sure, it's not really a spoiler by definition, 'cause it's been 23 years, but still.

It's almost like with Harry Potter. Who read the books knows, and if you just started, it would be a really mean and dickish move to say anything.

Just because you've played FFVII, it doesn't give you the permission to rob the experience from new players, if they try not to get spoiled. Even if the game has been out there for two decades.

It would be like if, knowing the actual plot by Nomura-san himself, I will leak it you, old player.

You wouldn't like that very much now, would you?

Also, please let's keep it human and reasonable, this is just a stream of consciousness and my personal thoughts, I'm not going to insult anyone, nor players, nor Square Enix, so I would appreciate the same respect. Thank you.

I've already written stuff so far in order not to reveal, and if you, knew player, are insisting on continuing...well, what can I say? You've got a big storm coming; you just decided you didin't care, I'm not going to be responsible for ruining your experience. I warned you, you've spoiled yourself, and I'm sorry for that.

That being said.

This is exactly what it looks like, a huge steam blow, to get all my convoluted trains of thoughts out of my head, and see if someone else is perceiving the same things as me or, if not, is able to discuss it in a civil and constructive manner.

What I think about FFVII:R story and ending.

To start, I will be referring to the gameplay's events as timeline 2, and the original as timeline 1. You'll get why.

I think that, despite the dubious ending, we've all been already played, and what we think being the first destiny's divergence, a.k.a. Zack's survival, is actually a flashback of timeline 2. So yes, something that already happened in the actual game and influenced the story so far.

Why is that?

Let's start from the beginning. Or the end, depends on how you look at it.

Aerith.

'Not Sephiroth?' you might ask.

Nope. Not Sephiroth. Aerith indeed.

In timeline 1, she died, and become one with the Life Stream. We know it. That's okay, I'm not trying to argue with that.

I'm considering it for its very meaning. Aerith became one with the planet, so one with destiny itself.

Let's try to look at this perspective: if you were given the power to change destiny, anywhere you want, for everyone you know...Would you really not give it a try? If you were ever given the chance to save the person you love, and everybody who died because of your fuck ups, would you not even consider to change things? Not even once?

Aerith has always been energetic, sometimes naive, so full of life and hope, especially HOPE, despite everything, even being afraid of freedom and the unknown, but giving it a go anyway. So why couldn't she have tried? I can see that happening.

It wasn't Sephiroth who destroyed the Whispers of Midgar in that shiny, golden, big-ass explosiong which knowcked Zack off of his feet. It was her.

Zack was not supposed to reach Midgar, and Aerith interfered, saving him...for what time we're allowed to see until the end of the game.

Being the Whispers a sort of "defence line", I don't think that she got rid of them for good, because they're part of the very backup system of Gaia, so I'm more inclined to think that she just managed to temporarly shut them down.

Hoping to give Zack more time...but, in my opinion, not that much.

Let's be real; Zack's death has been one of the most tragic and emotional ones of the compilation, because Zack Fair is as near as you can go to the definition of Best Boy and everybody should love him. Yes, he was not immune to the SOLDIER's madness, because he was obsessed to become a hero, to be able to save someone.

But we have to thank him if Aerith decided to sell the flowers; if it wasn't for him, Aerith and Cloud would never have met (in every timeline).

He was the reason of the Seventh Heaven's name. He's the reason of that goddamned squatting minigame (yeah...you didn't think about that, did you?).

And naturally, he's the reason why our adorkable Cloud Strife not only is still alive, but also the source of his combat abilities.

Sure, Spike was trained and filled up to the brim with mako, but where do you think he was pulling all of his batshit crazy stunts from, if not Zack's memories?

e.g.: the very first landing in Crisis Core is e x a c t l y the same movement, the only difference being Zack touching the ground putting the weight on his right side while Cloud did it on his left. The only reason I can think about is because Zack wasn't holding the Buster, and that is how you would handle your balance if you were rigth-handed.

First digression done...it's gonna be painful...

Nobody is forcing you: don't like, don't read.

Feel free to stop whenever you like, I'm not gonna get offended.

So, Aerith tried, because she is the ultimate cinnamol roll and she wants to believe. She's fantastic and hopeful, and she firmly believe in trying to change destiny, saving as many people as she can. Why wouldn't she?

So she tried (why not from his mother's death? She could have tried, but Ifalna migth have said she didn't want to be saved. Who knows. I definitely don’t.), but it simply didn't work, because Zack had to die anyway, the Whispers de-bugged themselves and everything spectacularly backfired.

The question is how he's gonna die. If Crisic Core’s death was the worst, how could it go more bananas? I have some alternatives:

- Cloud (by Sephiroth intervention) killing Zack with his own hands without realizing it until the very end, Zack accepting it and trying to comfort him while drifting away [the less likely one for me];

- Zack dies again (maybe in the sewers?) because of Cloud's fault, either giving him the Buster to defend himself (remaining disarmed) or because he physically shields Cloud from a bullet shower or an explosion (something has to get rid of Shinra's troops to let Spike escape);

All of these theories imply that Zack still dies like a hero and knowing it.

- Let's go Cruelty: Full Cowling. Let's shatter even that one joy, the most important thing Zack managed to accomplish in his mad chase, reaching for his dream: die a hero. He could have managed to hide Cloud, giving him the Buster, running in the opposite direction and getting captured instead of insta-killed. Returning in Hojo's nightmare, this time dying a slow, agonizing, dark death. What if the bastard, in Zack’s very lasts moments, will deceive him, telling him they found Cloud, even if they haven't, just to mess up with him? That would be devastating: Zack would die feeling completely useless, absolutely worthless, even if he's not. He's still a hero, but he will never know.

This is where Sephiroth might come along.

Specifically, Advent Children's Sephiroth.

Who, at some point, gave/activated/infused/whateverisgonnabe timeline 1 Cloud's memories into him. Because Cloud has friggin’ Jenova's cells within him, so Sephiroth can do what the heck he wants and toy with the guy as long as he sees fit. As he has done throughout the game.

When could we see it?

- "I've killed you with my own [hands]...": Sephiroth is doing a vibe-check, to see how much Cloud remembers, and simply goes masterfully along with it, starting to fuck with him right then; he needs for Cloud to be as mentally unstable as possible, because of Black Materia reasons. He is one of the best manipulators in the game, after all. If not the best one.

- "But that is then, and this is now." Criptic af, could be interpreted as both Cloud canonically remembering in a modified timeline 1, or timeline 2 innest. Being Sephiroth, the jackass could be referring to both of them, just becasue he can.

- "Promise you'll come and save me" scene. Timeline 1 Cloud shouldn't remember it at that point in the game. Also, this wouldn't lead to the heart to hearth with Tifa right after. If it's not a modified timeline 1, to show that spiky boi is not a total socially awkward blond artichoke.

- Aerith's death and Holy's flashes. What could possibly confuse you more than that, together with a blasting migraine? I think this is Sephiroth not-verbal way to say "You're not gonna be able to save her. Ever. You didn't succeded then, you're not gonna make it now, not even if she knows it. It's gonna happend anyway."

- At the Edge of Creation, when he asks for Cloud's help, Cloud has a blink-moment in which his right hand seems to move towards him, an uncoordinated gesture, but still there (memory of timeline 1...when he sort of did it)

*What about Zack's name being said in Emerald Park and nothign really happening to Cloud? Well, if you have been innested another timeline's memories, things would be pretty screwed up in your head, wouldn't they? That could be why Cloud had just a crippling aneurisma hearing it: his brain was probably trying not to melt in a puddle. Also, Aerith could have been interfering with it (but I'm explaining that later), blocking his possible messed up recollection, because that would have been quite the situatuion both for Spike's sanity and the players'.

Advent Childrend's (AC) Sephiroth? Why not another one? Come on, we've got plenty of evidence of it during the gameplay (I'll be referring to both English and Japanese [coming from the Italian adaptation, which is the closest one {yep, I’m Italian, but I think the English adaptation is still the best in terms of localization and conversations’ management}]):

- The very first thing he says to Cloud, when he blabbers "You're not real...You're...dead.", is the trolling (and perfect) "I am?"...I mean...has he ever really been? Cloud's words implies (because this is Japanese) that you might also read it as "This is just my PTSD fucking with me, you're a memory".

- Aaaand which line hits you like a truck? "I will never be...a memory." (last line of Sephiroth in AC before smiling and disappearing)

- Last Sephiroth's line of the cutscene, which in English is a very uncospicuous (but very menacing, almost Itachi-like) "Hold on to that hatred.", in Japanese is "Never forget me." That's pretty different.

- Aaaand which line hits you like a wrecking ball again? Never forget me..."I will never be...a memory."

- While you, old player, are still wondering what the fuck just happened, 'The Promised Land' (AC soundtrack) starts playing...

If all of this wasn't enough to let your plot bunny run like it was on a carrot high, let's talk about the scene in Hojo lab's corridor, when Cloud, seeing Sephiroth materializing, yells in pain and grips fiercely at his left arm. Which happens to be the very same arm that is gonna get Geostigma (Sephiroth's lovely life-threatening plague-ish gift to humanity in AC). 

And the three glowy whispers in chapter 18? Have you noticed that they move like Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, and have the same weapons (one-handed sword, a gauntlet and two guns, respectively)? With a lot less whining, fortunately. Colors' scheme seems to make sense as well: Kadaj should be Sephiroth's hatred and rage (red), Loz his strenght and speed (yellow) and Yazoo the coldness and detachment (blue/green).

I’m leaving the last variable at the end, ‘cause this way I don’t seem a complete paranoid, even if it has been there all the way: the black feathers. The flippin’ black feathers. Which Sephiroth has ONLY at the end of FFVII: Advent Children. Then, and just then. Not everywhere else. Nowhere. 

 They’re there from chapter 1, joyfully swaying in the wind, Cloud sees one and it doesn’t seems to have that much of a significance, like for new players (meanwhile old players are screaming for their life, looking for cover), and they keep coming up, up, up, up, all over the place. And at the very end, the player sees that gorgeous black wing and they think “Oh! Holy crap, he has been there the whole time.”...and the old players yells “Fuck! He’s AC Sephiroth? We’re screwed. We’re done. This was his plan from the very beginning. Crap, crap, crap.”

This is the game tellying us “Shall I give you dispair?”

All the other interactions could easly come from timeline 1 events, up to the end of the game, and that's okay, because they make you realise that Sephiroth knows shit he's not supposed to have knowledge of at this point. He’s in total control, he has been through the entirety of the game, the sexy bastard.

So yeah, after making his last elegant and terrifying threat to AC's Cloud, our favourite one-winged angel decide to go back to the first checkpoint and retry in Critical Mode.

Fancy meeting timeline 1 Aerith there, in timeline 2, already fucking shit up in his stead. I can see him in my mind's eye, witnessing her intervention and thinking "This is actually really nice!". Since destiny has to be restored, he would have destiny itself playing by his side; he seriously couldn't ask for more.

Do I think part of Aerith is coming back from future too? Yes, she behaves like she knows too much stuff:

- "It's good for nothing at all" when you met her after projectile-crashing from the upper plate; if Zack dies like I hypothsized, this line would get all the more meaning, having her failed to save him;

- When Cloud is on his merry way of vivisecting Reno precisely in half, in English she yells "Stop!", but in Japanese she actually says "No, it's wrong!". How could she possibly know that Cloud shouldn't kill the Turk?;

[short digression over Cloud murderous behaviour towards people (a.k.a. Johnny and Reno) compared to the original game: why not, since he’s been bombarded by splitting headaches, seeing the man (who was his hero and destroyed his life) he killed with his hands very much real (to him but not to anybody else) and messying around, driving him cracker day by day. Anyone will lose their cookies.]

- On the highway, she and Sephiroth have an educated banter, in which she clearly knows something's up with the Sephiroth who's standing in front of them. He's the wrong one. But, at the same time, he's the true one too; He's not a projection channeled by Cloud Jenova's cells, nor using a copy to be seen by the others. So he's not using someone else from timeline 2,  he's not part of timeline 2, that's why he's wrong. Not just because he wants to, you know, eradicate life from the planet. Despite him being his true self, the last one existing, he's from timeline 1, so he doesn’t really belong in timeline 2. That's the biggest hint we have about Aerith coming from whatever happens after, together with the next point;

- When asked how the heck she knows about destiny’s crossroads, she answer with a nice "I'm not really sure.". She's not really sure...anymore, due to the Whispers trying to reset her consciousness and memories back to square timeline 1. She says she loses something everytime they touch her.

I imagine the scene of Aerith feeling Zack's death, again, while she's at home, at night, among the flowers, feeling useless, realizing she couldn't do anything in the end: that is gonna be nerve-wracking.

Sephiroth would appear, maybe using Marco's body (or maybe even his own body), emerging from the darkness of the alley. They would look at each other while he slowly walks down the wood stairs and glides over the surface of the pond, speaking while never breaking eye contact, both knowing where and when they really are from. He would probably say, in his soft velvet voice, something along the line of "I told you it was not meant to work. You're playing with powers you're not able to control, and you're destined to fail. I'm going to ruin him (Cloud) and everything else you cherish. You will experience what true despair means (because why not, let's throw another AC reference, shall we?)." A very Sephiroth way to say "You did such a good job. Here, let me help you screw this up more, Aerith."

He would lift from the pond, silent and tall and silver and monstrous, smiling with his jade eyes pinning hers down, stretching his black wing out, towering over her, before folding it around himself and disappear (like in AC), leaving only Marco behind to collapse over the bed of flowers.

That would be a heck of a war declaration.

Last, and least, the final confrontation at the Edge of Creation, a.k.a. Sephiroth ultimately fucking with our sanity.

Paraphrasing his first senteces, ”I’m not gonna die and I won’t let you die as well”, should be the very final hint which shows he’s AC Sephiroth, as he used Cloud’s memories of him to create a core indipendent from the Life Stream (this is how he managed to bounce back); he needs Cloud to remain alive in order to exist himself. That’s why he feels (to the very confused new players, and the grumpy old ones who think Remake Sephiroth is not coming from the future) so obsessed with Cloud now; he wasn’t in timeline 1 until the last part. This would make sense for now to be timeline 2, because he understood how important it is to keep Spike alive and as insane as possible.

Cloud tries to open Sephiroth up like a can using Omnislash, the original killing blow, and Sephiroth parry and deflects it. Smirking, probably thinking “Nope, I’ve already seen this happening before, not gonna fool me twice.”

The bloody "7 seconds till the end. Time enough for you...perhaps. But what will you do with it? Let's see"

Which in Japanese is - 7 seconds remaining until the end. But you're still in time. The future is in your hands...Cloud -

The flippin’ end. Which one, Aerith or Meteor? I personally think it’s Meteor.

The future is in his hands because he was the one shutting down the Whispers with the final blow? Are they really gone this time? I don't think so. The future might be in Cloud's hands, but Sephiroth is gonna make sure to have his strings tightly wrapped around them.

The fact that he appears way more in the remake makes sense because of what he’s doing (at least what I and other people think he’s doing), and it doesn’t make him less dreadful. Not one bit. Cloud’s reaction seeing him for the first time should set the mood for the new players (I don’t know who this big-ass silver tree is, his voice is so soft it’s disturbing, his eyes are making me really uncomfortable and apparently he should be dead, but still scare the main badass character shitless, so I should watch out for him as well) as much as the old ones (Holy fuck, what the heck are you doing here, Seph?! How? It’s impossible [you do realize you and Cloud had the same emotional response, yes?{Chadley pun perfectly intended}]).

Anxiety is not resolving during the game; he’s still intimidating and scary as fuck whenever he comes out of fricking nowhere, creeping all over you.

I think the only one who knows what's up is him, and he's not gonna give anything away anytime soon. He's just gonna smile, drop an emotional bomb whenever he can and flutter away, leaving behind utter confusion and sheer panic.

Is Aerith gonna die? I really hope so. Don't get me wrong: I love her to the very bottom of my heart, but FFVII is not only a story about love, courage and fight against destiny, it's also about loss, suffering and death. As much as I would really like for her to survive, she shouldn't.

Like Sephiroth, she's a singuarity too, and at some point, she will have to met her fate, regardless of what’s happening.

Did they really have to show Zack? Everybody was secretly hoping to see him, nobody could make me think otherwise. And again, this is another surprise effect, recreating that same impact that old players got: “who’s this guy that looks like Cloud and has his sword (and he’s probably the guy Aerith is talking about)?”, while we are freaking out looking at him dragging spiky boi, limping towards Midgar, criminally handsome and very much alive.

New players don’t really need to know more, because that’s exactly what we knew back then.

As for Sephiroth’s presence in the game. In the original, he appears way later. Here, it’s conceptually the same; he’s there because of Cloud (mind, body/cells, memories) and the copies. He’s the real, complete one only at the very end, that’s why One Winged Angel is playing only then, and it’s just a faint presence here and there, merged in previous tracks (interestingly, it’s also the very first musical phrase we hear in the gameplay, and I think that’s because Aerith sensed him coming from somewhere. It wasn’t because of the whispers, I think it was because of him).

Same for Sephiroth’s backstory, which is none existent, for new players: that’s okay. you see him, you get that he’s unhinged and awfully strong. He’s a cold, collected bitch and he’s clearly plotting something.

That’s okay, it’s enough for now, they’re gonna get the rest in the next rounds. And boy, do I dread that day, ‘cause that’s gonna hurt.

Am I forgetting about Stamp? Of course I am. Not.

Barret stated in chapter 5 that Shinra changed the breed for the military propaganda, and that’s okay. We saw his graffiti, and he’s a beagle. In Zack’s scene, an empty chips bags flies around, clearly showcasing a different Stamp, a terrier of some sort. With a big-ass “Original“ claim in the top left corner. This might mislead you to believe that you’re looking at a different timeline. 

Well...too bad the very same bag is laying on the table of Jessie’s parents...

The hint has always been there: Original. Barret said they changed the breed form the original one...so, yeah, this might prove Zack’s scene is a flashback.

Is Wedge alive? Probably yes.

Is Jessie alive? Probably yes.

Why Bigg's still alive? I don't know.

But I know that you don't build characters up that way to let them live a long life and die peacefully. Someone in this story is really good at giving hopes and then crushing them in the blink of an eye...

The Remake, as it has been said, is incorporating The Compilation, and it’s evident througout the gameplay, from Before Crisis all the way to Dirge of Cerberus and the novels (Leslie and Kyrie come from those. Still waiting on Evan).

I don’t think it has been made to rewrite nor modify FFVII, but to create a definitive end which organically weaves within it.

The story is still alive, kicking, and is the very foundation of the remake. You still have to play the compilation to have the ultimate understanding, because that is the destiny trying to be defied by Aerith and Sephiroth.  

 You can’t try to change fate, if you don’t have one to mess up with in the first place.

Lastly, if Zack will ever be playable at some point, I hope with all of my heart and soul to find myself beating the ever loving crap out of someone with a white and blue parasol.

*End Of Rant*

I'm forgetting something for sure, but well, this is the majority of the stuff that I needed to get out of my system.

If you managed to reach this point, thank you for dealing with me and my madness.

If you want to share your thougths you're very welcome to do so, as long as you can articulate your opinions in a civil discussion.

Have a good day/night.

Finger crossed for 2023.

[notimetoblog]

Knots

Summary: You were bored and Bucky had long gorgeous hair. Braiding it seemed like the perfect solution.

A/N: Hello!!! This is my entry to the lovely @delicatelyherdreams ‘ writing challenge. My prompt is in bold. I hope you love it, Elle!!! I have been working through a serious case of writer’s block so I really hope you all enjoy it! Thanks so much for reading. I hope you all have an amazing week!

“You have to be gentle,” Bucky said letting that last word out a bit more harshly than the rest. Suddenly he turned to look at you from his position on the floor with a betrayed look in his eyes. 

“You ever heard of a brush, Barnes?” you replied, not a look of betrayal in your eyes but one of annoyance at his constant complaining. “If you brushed your hair once in a while, we wouldn’t have this problem.”

“We wouldn’t have this problem, if we had just gone out for a run like I suggested,” he snapped back. Another groan following his reply as his head was once again pulled back by your accidental pulling of his hair. 

You had thought it would be a good idea. With nothing to do, messing with Bucky’s hair seemed like a perfect option. He was sitting right beside you at the couch, anyway, so you had causally proposed it as you reminded him how much he liked when you played with his hair. Almost immediately he was on the floor, his back to you, as you put yourself in position to give him a new hairstyle. 

It had started off well. Your fingers glided though his hair and his eye lids had begun to become heavy. He was having trouble keeping his head up as the need for sleep become stronger. Your tender and gentle fingers, slowly and easily relaxing the super soldier at your feet. 

But then your fingers had entered troubled waters, as a certain section of his hair seemed to have been knotted up beyond belief. The place where his hair-tie usually rested had become a giant knot.

The complaining had begun almost immediately. No matter how gentle you tried to be, your fingers kept encountering knots and slowly you tried to untangle them. To Bucky, though, it seemed you weren’t being gentle enough as he constantly groaned and flinched. 

“I told you,” you finally replied to Bucky’s latest comment. “Wanda and Vis were on the track and I was not about to interrupt their time together.”

“They both fly, why do they even bother with running?”

“You know,” you laughed to yourself for a second, “I’d rather they stare into each other’s eyes at ground level than hundreds of feet in the air. Less painful in case they fall.”

“I’d rather you stopped this nonsense and we find somewhere else to run.”

“Shh. Would you stop fussing? You’re acting like I’m shooting you. I’m just trying to braid your hair.”

“Shooting me might be less painful,” he said with a serious tone, his hand shooting up to where your fingers were working on yet another piece of tangled hair. “I should know, I’ve been shot plenty of times.”

“Doesn’t really say much about your skills on the field if you’re constantly shot, does it?”

“Doesn’t say much about your braiding skills if they’re comparable to getting shot.”

“I should just leave your hair like this,” you thought aloud, actually contemplating doing just that. “Leave you to deal with this mess on your own because I just know that when you try to brush it out, you’ll be at my door asking me to help you.”

“Please,” he scoffed, again flinching as you tried to get your fingers out of his hair. “You and I both know you’re not leaving me like this. You love me too much.”

“Is that right?” you asked, the teasing tone in your voice unmissable. “Because I’m about ten seconds away from leaving you right here, as you are, knots and all, and crashing Wanda and Vis’ lovey-staring contest.”

“Is that a threat, doll?” he asked, turning his head to face you and you cursed yourself for staring too long at the beautiful shade of blue of his eyes. 

He knew you too well, you admitted to yourself, there was no way you could leave him like this. He might be able to get all the knots out on his own, but knowing him, he would just rush the brush through his hair without a care. 

“No,” you began, doing your best to sound convincing. “Just a fact.”

“So, in ten seconds you’ll be out of here and on your way to the track? Do I have that right?” he challenged. 

“Absolutely,” you replied, hoping he wouldn’t actually hold you to your words. 

“What if I ask nicely for you to stay?” he asked, his gaze softening as he came up to sit beside you again on the couch. “I’ll even throw in a little ‘darling’ at the end of my request.”

“I don’t know, Bucky,” you said already feeling yourself smiling at his words. “I’m a woman of my word and I very clearly sai-”

“Darling,” he cut you off. “Stay and help me with my hair? I know I said I would throw the ‘darling’ at the end, but I just can’t help myself.”

“You’ll stop fussing?”

“Only if you agree to dinner later tonight.”

“Then I’ll stay,” you laughed. “But you have to wear the braid to dinner.”

“Anything for you, sweetheart,” he said before pressing a light kiss to your lips. “Were you really going to leave me alone with my messy hair?”

You couldn’t help the laugh that left you. Bucky Barnes couldn’t be more adorable if he tried. He sat waiting for your response, his eyes wide, innocently hoping you weren’t actually considering it. 

“Of course not, bub,” you smiled. “You’re a gigantic fuss, but I love you anyway. And your hair is too gorgeous to let you ruin it. So, come on, let’s make you pretty!”

With a chuckle, he returned to the floor, silently loving the fact that you had suggested braiding his hair instead of running.

---

Bucky Tags

@camillechan @just-add-butter @buckyisthepuresthuman @carry-on-my-fandom @creideamhgradochas @sixweekcure4dreams @verycoolveryunique @dugan365 @jitterbuck @buckysmusculararm @headinthe-fridge @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety @hedwigthelegend @sappybarnes @coal000 @the-whitewolfie @natcad @winters-beauty @dixonsbugaboo @sawdustandsugar @silverbvcky  @whyugottabsorude @theoutlinez @killjoynotes @agentpegcxrter @demonspawn2468 @books-movies-eternal @buckysbeech @thefridgeismybestie @lionheo04 @pinkfairyfluff @imaginecrushes @cauraphernelia @angieptt @fridolf-arach @nerdgirljen @bucky-is-a-hero-fightme @consttantina @titty-teetee @bfuckjames @crowleysqueenofhell @sebtrashcan-stan @jaamesbbarnes @heartssick @losemymemory @redstarstan @dracris33 @fuckthatfeeling @tamed-chaos @bringmetoawonderland @mlehbleh @mawimey @delicatelyherdreams @buckyswinterchildren @jaysaku @stanclub  @your-pixels-are-showing  @thisismysecrethappyplace @who-the-heck-knows @starfisharchives @plumsforbuckxx  @friendly-neighborhood-lich-queen @bambamwolf87 @ohhhotstan @whileinparis @sebbysstangirl @trashpandabarnes @buckybarneshairpullingkink @ohhhotstan @lokilvrr @freyjawalker @sebbybarrnes  @palaiasaurus64 @httpmcrvel  @piensa-bonito @until-theend-oftheline @hello-lucifer-here @sold-my-soul-in-2016 @ifyousayyouloveme 

[blueandgoldoffice]

any good soulmate fics? i’ve read a few but i love them x

Soulmates are my JAM, friend. There are lots and lots and lots of good ones. Make sure you read and review. Happy Reading! Thanks! ❤ Jandy

This is a gigantic list - so it’s going under a Keep Reading Tag. Enjoy!

@bughead4days​ has written several: Black and White -  Tattoo  - Bruises - I Feel You -  Mind Reader - Necklace - Half Tattoo - TiMer

Your Eyes Look Like Coming Home (series) by @lana-luthor​ (2 fics - T)

Summary: People spend their whole lives waiting until the day they can see the world in color; the day they finally meet their soulmate. Sometimes it takes years, decades, nearly lifetimes until you meet that one special person. Unless, of course, you’re Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones who have both seen the world in color since they met each other when they were two years old. Everyone always says that they’re so lucky to have met when they were so young, that they have their whole lives to be together and in love. There’s just one teeny tiny problem. Betty and Jughead hate each other.

I’m half doomed (you’re semi-sweet) (series) by @juggydunes​​ (2 fics - T)

Summary: “Every person has two dates on their wrist. One is when they die and the other is when they find their soulmate. What happens if both dates are the same?”

What Does Shakespeare Know by @typing123​ (3 fics - T)

 Part One | Part Two | Part Three

Summary: AU where you can hear the songs your soulmate listens to.

Call Me A Safe Bet  by @anactualcaseofthetruth​ (14/? - M)

Summary: “Even though scientists are still quite baffled after multiple millennia of medical and technological advances of exactly how the soulmarks work, there has been enough research and study that we now know when and how to expect them… There has yet to be one soulmate coupling occur before the female has experienced a menstrual cycle and the male to begin producing sperm. In short, soulmarks have never appeared before entering puberty…There are many, many more cases in which two people have insisted they are soulmates only to not mark with one another. All in all, only about 3% of couplings are correct in predicting they are soulmates before marks form.”

  ***Betty Cooper is four years old when she meets Jughead Jones. She knows he is her soulmate, he’s not so sure.***

if i told you who i am (can i call you baby?) by @thetaoofbetty​ (10/10 - M)

Summary: Gasping, Jughead Jones sits up in his bed, blindly reaching for his phone, trying to silence the blaring alarm that had jolted him out of his dream. Frustrated and running a hand through his hair, he turns off his alarm, flopping back on his bed with his arms behind his head as he stares at the ceiling and exhaling slowly. He knew the possibility of the dreams would start after he turned eighteen but he’d never thought they’d be starting on the morning of his birthday. Great, he thinks, gritting his teeth, I already hate my birthday and now I’m getting prophetic dreams about my soulmate, a girl I’ve never met and may never find. Or, in other words, Jughead knows he’s got a soulmate and he’s going to do whatever it takes to find her and win her heart.

Meet Me In the Sky by @curlsandcrown (2/? M)

Summary: Betty and Jughead meet on a flight as seat partners heading to a convention but it turns out they’ll have a life changing discovery instead of just a trip to Australia.

Crowns and Ponytails by @alexintheskyy (2/2 - G)

Summary: Soulmate: your other half, the one who inspires you to be the best version of yourself and embraces all of your flaws just the same. The one person you can’t live without that you will carry with you forever. But how does one know who their soulmate is and how can you know for sure? Luckily, there are soulmarks. Little ever-evolving hints appearing on one’s body at random times, disappearing and being replaced by new every once in a while. If you follow your hints correctly and fall in love with the right person, your soulmate’s name will appear on your body and remain there permanently. Betty Cooper was determined to follow each of her soulmark hints down the correct roads and that, one day, those roads would lead to the boy next door. Jughead Jones, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, definitely thinks that fate has made a mistake in pairing him with the perfect girl next door.

What a Catch by @bugggghead (2/2 - NR)

Summary: Veronica pushes Betty to put herself out there, so when a cute stranger spills coffee on her, she agrees to a date. Little did she know, that fateful decision would change the course of her life.

Black Light by @darknessaroundus (1/1 - G)

Summary: William H. Baylor invented the black light in 1932. At the time he wasn’t sure what purpose it would serve. He speculated that it might help authenticate paintings, but beyond that he wasn’t sure.

It Doesn't have to be a Scary Situation by @typing123 (1/1 - T)

Summary: In a world where the first thought your soulmate thinks about you is written on your skin on your fifteenth birthday...Betty Cooper freaks out.

Colors of the Heart by This_is_my_canoe (1/1 - G)  

Summary: “I love you, Betty Cooper.” The words are whispered like a prayer, and Betty feels them warm her skin. She thinks back on all the times he was there for her, even when she pushed him away, even when she was in love with Archie. So, she replies. “I think I love you too.” And that’s enough, at least for now.  or “Colors represent the people that mean the most to you. Betty recollects on how she found hers, and how she eventually admits to loving Jughead.”

*Note - this one is just a giant block of text - but it’s really great. Give it a try. It’s really great.

Skin to Skin by @burgerheadjones (12/? - T)

Summary: Jughead Jones doesn’t know how the crimson crescents ended up on his palms.Betty Cooper is clueless when it comes to the messages on her arms. Soulmate AU where all the little marks and injuries belonging to Betty and Jughead start finding themselves on each other’s skin.

The Girl From the Journal by @juggieheadcoopers (6/?)

Summary:Jughead Jones has been writing about a girl he has never met before, but when he leaves his journal at his favorite coffee shop one day, an unsuspecting young woman finds it without knowing that the stranger who wrote it was actually writing about her

I Found You (chapter 3) by  Jodygoroar (1/1)

Her by BabyAce is a great story that plays on the part of the trope that has a phrase your soulmate says to you tattooed on your body. It’s really great. More like a Jughead stream of consciousness.

The Exception Not the Rule by pressdbtwnpages (1/1 - G)

Summary: Betty Cooper doesn't believe in soulmates.

Crescent Palmed Girl by @tory-b (1/1 - M)

Summary:Betty Cooper is a nurse at a Psychiatric Hospital. Jughead Jones is one of her patients. He disappears without a word and she ends up with the journal he's been writing to his soulmate.

eyes wide open by @aswellingstorm (1/1 - T)

Summary: “when you can’t sleep, your soul mate can’t either. so the next time you’re laying awake, know that somewhere, someone else is laying awake too.” an au where once you turn 17, you can’t get a wink of sleep unless you’re with your soulmate. the system is pretty flawed, so jughead jones is adamant that there’s no way on earth he’s lucky enough to have betty cooper as his soulmate.

simmer down and pucker up by @santiagone (2/2 - T)

Summary: “Betty,” Jughead interrupts. His voice is lower now, and the resignation might even be scarier than the yelling. “We’re not soulmates. We can't.” And therein lies the crux of the problem.

Just Like Broken Glass by @aswellingstorm (3/3 - M)

Summary: Soulmate AU (inspired by silentpeaches): Where you have the name of your soulmate can appear on your body randomly, at any point in your life. Jughead Jones swears he doesn’t have a soulmate and Betty Cooper for the life of her, cannot think of a single person in her life named “Forsythe”.

Written on My Arm by @typing123 (1/1 - G)

Summary: The first words his soulmate are ever going to say have been scrawled on his arm since the moment he was born. He's had practically his entire life to prepare. And he's still blown out of the water.

save that heart for me by @elizabethbettscooper  (1/1 - G)

Summary: But Betty’s mark is small, black and white on her wrist, just over the thin skin where her pulse thrums. It looks like an old, circular typewriter key, and the letter in the middle is a lowercase ‘j’. She isn’t actually sure how she feels about soulmates, but she’s pretty fond of the mark. She imagines it probably belongs to someone bookish, someone who will understand her. Actually, she knows exactly who she thinks it belongs to, but it doesn’t matter.

You're Ingrained In My Skin by @curlsandcrown (1/1 - T)

Summary: In the middle of a major war, Betty meets a pilot who will change her life forever.

Behind The Mask by @futureheartswithbooks (34/40 - M)

Summary:  Starting Sixth Year was meant to be the same as starting any other year a part from the apprehensive of discovering your soul mate, but with the disappearance of Jason Blossom looming overhead, this year would not be like any other. Yet, for Betty Cooper, she also had the complication of sifting through the lies of Archie Andrews and attempting to work out just what was going on between her and Jughead Jones, the Serpent Prince.

Snakes and Crowns by @cooperandjonesinc (13/13 - E)

Summary: Betty Cooper just can't seem to fit in at Southside High. It's run down, everyone seems to hate her just on principle, and the people who are running the Red and Black don't want her help at all. To make matters worse her recently divorced mother is trying to find her 'soulmate' by going to conventions and touching as many hands as possible. Betty doesn't even believe in soulmates anyway. Just because some people's nervous systems happen to sync up when they touch for the first time doesn't mean they're soulmates destined to fall in love. Right?

When the Moon hits your Eye by @typing123 (1/1 - G)

Summary: Betty and Jughead find out they're soulmates when they're five years old.