#needed to be at the time' and 'in this au Simon lost his parents still but also a whole home and Lance lost his best friend so

[sege-h]

When I say this is the au where Kamina lives, I Mean it

Even if I don't know what leads to this moment yet

[beloveds-embrace]

The potential for Yandere Dukedom au has me rattling the bars of my enclosure! Begging on my hands and knees for it!!?

I gotchu anon 🫡 dukedom au masterlist (hasn’t been fully updated yet)

You had always been told that marriage was a duty, not a dream. Love is for poets and fools, your mother had said. You’d grown up knowing that your life was a delicate dance on high society’s tightrope, and failure would mean a fall that could ruin your family’s name forever. And if the failure itself was not your end, you family's response would be.

So, when the proposal came from Duke John Price- an older, respectable man with no scandal to his name- you accepted it with quiet resignation. A Duchess, at least, would hold some measure of authority, and John Price was no cruel man. It certainly quietened your parents' frantic mumbling of why no one was asking for your hand, stopped them from accusing you of doing anything inappropriate under their noses.

You expected a lonely life, but hopefully a painless one.

What you didn’t expect was the warmth.

The household welcomed you as if you were a long-lost treasure. The head butler, Kyle, was a marvel, guiding you through your new responsibilities with patience and quiet charm. The estate’s chef, Johnny, fed you meals so exquisite you sometimes wondered if you’d been starved your whole life. And the Duke’s closest friend, Simon, treated you with a quiet protectiveness that was as comforting as it was unnerving.

John himself was kind, though reserved. He assured you on your wedding night that there was no rush for an heir, blue eyes soft yet unreadable. You’d been grateful for his restraint, retreating to the safety of your role as Duchess while leaving love to the poets and fools just as your mother had said.

But the warmth never waned.

Kyle’s attentiveness went beyond what was required of a butler, beyond even that of a friend though you'd never admit that to yourself. He always seemed to know when you needed a shawl before you felt the chill, when you needed a quiet walk in the garden instead of a crowded ballroom, his arm looped with yours pressing you almost fully against the warmth of his body. Dark eyes followed you with something almost reverent, though you dismissed it as your mind straying from you.

Johnny’s meals grew more tailored to your tastes with each passing day. He’d tease you as he presented your plate, a boyish grin on his face as he watched you savor every bite. “You're too good for this kitchen, lass.” He’d joke, though his tone carried an edge of sincerity that made your cheeks warm. "Though I would nae want you anywhere else."

Simon was the hardest to read. He rarely spoke to you, but his presence was a constant shadow. He would escort you to galas when John could not join, his broad frame a silent barrier between you and prying eyes, and he'd be your sole dance partner throughout the night. His gaze lingered a little too long when you danced with your husband, too, though you never noticed how it darkened when anyone else dared to approach you.

And then there was John.

The Duke had a way of watching you that made your skin tingle. At first, you thought it was scrutiny, a husband assessing his new wife. But as the months passed, his gaze softened. He began joining you for tea in the afternoons, his deep voice rumbling as he asked about your day. His hand would brush against yours as he handed you a cup, lingering just a moment too long, and only pulling away when he'd notice you flustering.

Eventually, you grew accustomed to the quiet intensity of your household, never once suspecting the storm that brewed beneath the surface like a raging beast.

It wasn’t until a year into your marriage that the cracks began to fully show.

It started with a simple comment at another gala. Lady Fitzgerald, a sharp-tongued widow with too much time on her hands, had leaned in close, whispered, and tsked. “Still no heir, my dear? One wonders if the Duke regrets his choice.”

You had smiled politely, excusing yourself before the tears could spill- because she was not the first, nor will be the last, and she despised your mother and you knew she would hear of this, as well. But the moment you returned to John’s side, he knew. His hand tightened around yours, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on Lady Fitzgerald tittering with some other ladies. He hadn't said much, but he kept you close to his side after that and you had no protests.

The next morning, you learned that Lady Fitzgerald had decided to leave town for an indefinite period- her son was found dead early in the morning, and by the time he was found by his wife, the rainy weather had washed away all traces that could be used to identify the murderer.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Kyle had remarked, though his tone suggested it was anything but. You hadn't noticed at that time, and then forgot about when Johnny and Kyle worked so hard to remove that furrow in your brows until you were smiling once more. And you did not ask Simon where he was taking the newspaper when he asked for it, nor did you wonder why John held the air of a particularly satisfied cat.

From then on, the protectiveness of your household grew more palpable. Kyle began shadowing you more closely, always within arm’s reach. Johnny’s playful teasing took on an edge, his jokes about locking you in the kitchen too pointed to be entirely humorous. Simon’s presence became impossibly more imposing, his silent stares daring anyone to look at you the wrong way.

And John… John grew possessive, and you noticed all of it.

He began escorting you to every event, his arm a constant weight around your waist. He dismissed servants who so much as looked at you the wrong way, their replacements carefully vetted. His touch grew bolder, his kisses lingering on your forehead, your hand, your neck.

You didn’t notice how often he murmured, “My Duchess.” as if to remind you- and everyone else- of who you belonged to.

One evening, as you sat by the fire with John, the warmth of the room making you drowsy, he spoke.

“Do you love me, wife?”

The question startled you, your eyes snapping open to meet his. His expression was unreadable, blue eyes fixed on you with an intensity that made your heart race within your chest like a hummingbird.

“I… Of course, John. You’re my husband.”

He hummed, his thumb brushing over the back of your hand. “That’s not what I asked.”

You hesitated, unsure of what he wanted to hear. “I… I care for you deeply.”

His grip tightened, just enough to make you notice. “That’s not enough, my Duchess."

Before you could respond, the door opened, and Kyle entered with a tray of tea. He set it down with practiced ease, eyes flicking to you before settling on John.

“Will there be anything else?”

John’s gaze didn’t leave yours. “Yes. Stay.”

Kyle’s brow lifted slightly, but he obeyed, taking a seat across from you. The tension in the room was suffocating, though neither man seemed bothered, and you couldn't yet bring yourself to speak or pull your hand away.

It was Johnny who entered next, his usual grin replaced by something far more subdued. He took his place by the fire, his eyes darting between you and John, and something satisfied flickered in his gaze.

Finally, Simon appeared, towering frame filling the doorway. He said nothing as he entered, yet his presence was a silent command. You've been here long enough to know that there is something between all of them, but you hadn't dared bring it up in fear of breaking what could be a very fragile... thing.

You looked at each of them in turn, your confusion mounting. “What’s going on?”

John leaned closer, his lips brushing against the back of your hand. “We’ve been patient, my Duchess. But I think it’s time you understood.”

“Understood what?” you whispered, your voice trembling.

Johnny’s grin returned, sharp and wolfish. “That you are ours, lass. Always have been.”

Kyle nodded, softening. “We’ve loved you long before you even knew our names.”

Simon’s hand rested on your shoulder- when did he get so close?- and his touch was gentle. “And we’ll make sure you never forget it.”

John’s other hand cupped your cheek, forcing you to meet his eyes. “You’re not just my wife, darling. You’re ours. And we’ll do whatever it takes to keep you that way.”

The fire crackled in the silence that followed, its warmth nothing compared to the way they peered at you, and the firelight cast flickering shadows across the room, wrapping the four men in a golden glow that only heightened the weight of their presence. You swallowed thickly, your gaze darting between them, searching for some explanation, some reassurance, that this was all a misunderstanding. But deep down, the way their words wrapped around you like ropes and chains, the fierce devotion in their eyes that you'd seen only in the most devoted of the churches, sparked something you weren’t ready to name.

“I-I don’t understand,” you stammered, your voice barely above a whisper. “What do you mean, you’ve always loved me? We… we only met after the marriage proposal…”

Johnny let out a low chuckle, his accent thick and his grin sharp enough to cut. “Oh, lass, you really think that? That our John just happened upon you like some fairytale?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. A little closer, and he would be able to kneel in front of you. “We’ve been watchin’ you for years.”

“For years?” The room spun for a moment, and you grasped the armrest of your chair. “What do you mean? Why would you- ”

Kyle leaned forward, eyes locking onto yours with an intensity that made you shiver. “Because you’ve always been ours, my lady. From the first moment we saw you. We knew it then, and John sealed it the day he put that ring on your finger.”

Simon’s gloved hand slid from your shoulder to the curve of your neck, his fingers resting lightly against your pulse. “We’ve waited. Played the roles. Watched you be the perfect Duchess for us.”

“Perfect,” Johnny echoed, his grin softening into something dangerously tender. “You were made for us, darling. Couldn't let anyone else have you, our treasure."

John’s grip on your hand was firm, grounding, as if daring you to pull away. “You think I proposed out of convenience, don’t you? Because society demanded it?”

You nodded slowly, words failing you under the weight of their gazes.

His chuckle was low, humorless. “Convenience had nothing to do with it. You were chosen. Handpicked to stand by my side- and by theirs. Did you truly think so little of yourself, that you never wondered why no one was asking for your hand, dearest?"

“I… I never…” Your words faltered as the pieces began to fit together. The strange familiarity in Kyle’s guidance when you first arrived, so easily fitting into the way you worked. Johnny’s uncanny ability to prepare your favorite dishes, even those you hadn’t mentioned. Simon’s quiet, watchful presence that always seemed to know where you were. John’s unyielding devotion to your well-being, even when it bordered on overbearing.

“You’ve all been… orchestrating this?” you asked, your voice trembling. “Why?”

Kyle’s hand rested on your knee, the warmth of his touch seeping through your gown. “Because you’re ours to protect. To love. To cherish. No one else can give you what we can.”

Johnny’s grin widened, though his eyes were soft. “And no one else will, lass. We’ll see to that.”

“Forever.” Simon rumbled, his voice like a promise carved into stone.

John leaned closer, his forehead brushing against yours as his fingers slid under your chin to tilt your face up to his. “You’re not going anywhere, love. You belong to us. And we belong to you.”

The fire crackled again, the sound startling in the heavy silence that followed. Your heart pounded, a mix of fear, confusion, and… something else.

You should have been alarmed- should have pushed them away, demanded they explain themselves further. But you couldn’t deny the truth buried beneath their words. They had woven themselves into your life, wrapped you in their devotion, and with every gesture, every sacrifice, they had proven they would do anything for you. For the first time in your life, you felt truly seen, cared for, and adored. It was overwhelming, suffocating… but not unwelcome.

A shaky breath escaped your lips as you met John’s gaze, his thumb brushing softly over your cheek. “You’ve all done so much for me,” you whispered. “You’ve given me more than I ever thought I deserved.”

Kyle’s hand tightened on your knee, his expression softening with something like relief. “Because you deserve the world, my lady.”

Johnny leaned closer, his grin tempered with warmth. “And we’ll give it to you, every last piece of it.”

Simon’s hand on your neck steadied you, his touch grounding in its quiet strength. “You don’t need to fight us. We’ll always take care of you.”

John’s lips brushed against your forehead, his voice low and certain. “We’ll never let you feel unloved again. You’re ours, darling. And you always will be. Don't fight against this, please."

The room seemed to exhale with you, the tension melting into something else entirely. They weren’t letting go- and, if you were honest with yourself...

You didn’t want them to.

(And even if you wanted them to, they would have not. Never, ever.)

[snootlestheangel]

Bringing back the royal au i had but like make it different

Lot more fantasy elements (magic use primarily)

Still Prince/King!Soap with the head of the Royal Guard being Price

Gaz is the personal guard to Soap

Simon grew up with Soap and became a knight from an early age. Goal was to have a close relationship between "the common" (Simon was from the poor part of the city) and the royalty.

They had fallen in love over the years, and at a certain point everyone basically knew the crown Prince was madly in love with his Knight, but honestly the kingdom was at peace so they saw it as a sign of their prosperity.

But then one night, the night Ghoap are about to um... you know... when an alarm goes off.

A fire had been set in a major part of the city and was burning everything down. Simon's family was still in there, and he left to try and save them.

Dozens of knights bravely lost their lives that night in the fire, yet Sir Riley's body had never been recovered.

He had been named "The Lost Knight" because Soap had refused to give up on looking for him. Their Prince himself spent a week in the ashes of their homes searching. He saved more lives and helped rebuild all because he kept searching for Simon.

Its been years and Soap has only just now given up hope on Simon finding his way home.

Hes given up because now he's suddenly King. His parents murdered brutally in the middle of the night, several guards and servants slaughtered for being in the way. It was traumatizing to see the King and his queen in their night robes, bloody and left for dead in the grand hall.

They know who did it: a man named Manuel Roba. He's known for being the puppet master of a massive ring of assassins.

He spends so much time and resources trying to hunt Roba down, but is unsuccessful. He's so good at covering his tracks and he has so many goons to sacrifice for his own safety.

Its been months since the assassinations of his parents, there's been raids on the smaller towns of his kingdom. They're losing resources, money, and are no longer the great kingdom they once were. They're being slowly taken down, and Soap's counsel of advisors is trying to arrange things with an allied kingdom.

Soap's people need a victory. And he is a King for the people

So they work it out with a few allied kingdoms to host a competition of sorts. Like a games

Except there's an expected winner: this is all for fun, to give Soap's people something exciting to distract from their woes.

The Prince of a neighboring kingdom is expected to win. And the people are happy about this. He's charming, good looking, talented. His kingdom is wealthy and will be able to provide for them.

The winner of the competition gets Soap's hand in marriage.

Anyone and everyone is allowed to enter to compete, and many of Soap’s royal knights enter, if only to have fun and make jokes about possibly marrying their King (Soap who has remained very close with the guard after Simon's death, they were a second family to him)

The famed assassin Ghost is rumored to be one of Roba's best puppets. He's not credited to a single assassination in Soap’s kingdom, but his name still strikes fear in everyone.

And Ghost is a last minute entry into the competition

[sweetbillwriting]

In The Dead of Night

THE LAST CHAPTER

& EPILOGUE

Characters: AU Eric played by Bill Skarsgård from The Crow (2024)

Setting: This story is set in A WHOLE OTHER WORLD than the movie. Shelley isn't a part of this story. Eric will be different from the movie.

Warnings: 18+, NSFW, heavy themes.

Notes: Thanks to @b-afterhours for helping me with the language. Picture credit to @hiddlelecki

It was obvious Robin had done something to destroy for Eric, and the only thing I could see it could be, was the relationship with Lotti. The relationship with Simone wasn't good enough to feel a victory over by destroying, and it didn't have anything to do with their relationship either. The thing the two of them had fought about their whole lives was the love from their parents, so it must be that Robin had taken away from Eric.

Eric didn't see Lotti; Lotti even believed he was dead, but that seemed to be his own decision—not anything Robin had forced him to, but Eric grieved his relationship with Lotti, even so loudly he cried over her like a little child. Once again I thought back on Eric's hurt look I had inflicted, and I swallowed dryly. I owed it to him to get to the bottom of this, and if Robin didn't want to talk to me, I must find someone else, someone who had been by Lotti's side more than her sons had in recent years.

×××

I had visited Lotti several times at the home and started to get used to the procedure, but that day I wasn't there to visit her but to talk with someone else; Fiona, her contact nurse, who had the closest relationship to her of all the nurses. I didn't know if she would give me anything because of the patient's confidentiality agreement, but I needed to at least give it a try for both Lotti and Eric. They deserved having a functional relationship, and something obviously stood in the way for that to happen—something Robin had created.

At the reception stood a young nurse I recognized, and with a small smile I asked for Fiona.

“She's with a resident right now, but if you want to, you can wait for her here.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll do that then. Would you let her know I'm here? I just have some questions.” The nurse nodded with a bright smile before turning her gaze back to a laptop. I looked around while waiting and felt my nerves going up by just standing there. Fiona might refuse to talk to me. After ten minutes, I saw her come out from the door behind the reception, and when she saw me, she smiled.

“Here to see Lotti?”

I took a deep inhale and approached the reception again.

“No, I want to talk to you actually.”

Fiona looked at me surprised but then nodded a little.

“Is it a sensitive topic?”

I nodded, and it made Fiona nod too, and then she gestured to me to follow her.

She took me to a little room with a view over the yard and with four armchairs. It felt like the room where they told family members someone had died, and it made me a bit uncomfortable, but I still sat down in one of the armchairs while Fiona fixed coffee from the machine in the corner.

She sat down with a loud exhalation and corrected her ponytail.

“So what can I help you with?”

I looked down at my phone and looked through my phone’s gallery. It was full of pictures of Eric. It wasn't weird; he was so photogenic it would be a crime not to photograph him. I found a picture, modest but sweet, to show Fiona. He sat on the couch, occupied with his sketchbook, brows furrowing deeply. He wore an acid patterned t-shirt; in many of my pictures, he was shirtless. I gave her my phone, and she looked at the picture of him and nodded a little.

“The son she lost?” Fiona said carefully. My gaze lowered into my lap, avoiding the question, but she probably believed it was a yes.

“Did he ever visit her?

Fiona laid my phone on the table and gave me an empathetic look.

“I can't talk about that.”

“But I don't mean to know anything about Lotti, I just want to know if he was here. Fiona looked between my phone on the table and me. My eyes were glassy, and I tried to make my hands stop shaking by dragging them over my jeans-clad thighs. Fiona licked her lips and then nodded.

“Once… Not long before his accident happened. He… He didn't look like he felt so good…” She said everything low, like she was afraid someone would hear her. “Then it was so... It was really awful—his last meeting with his mom, and she didn't recognize him. Robin told me she more or less had screamed at him, and,” Fiona pointed to my phone. “He ran away. I didn't get a chance to talk to him and explain it was a bad day.”

I swallowed hard and dragged my hands over my cheeks. I couldn't even imagine what happened in Eric's head when his mom didn't recognize him, but I could also guess what Lotti saw instead of her youngest son. I had seen the pictures of the unhealthy Eric, thin and pale, hollow-eyed, and then on top of that, all his tattoos. The meeting must have been heartbreaking for Eric. His loving mom screamed in terror at seeing him, the person he loved the most judging him. I laid my hands over my face when I once again could hear my own words to him. Fucking junkie. I was the worst human ever.

“I can't tell you more; I've already said too much…” said Fiona, and I nodded.

“Thank you, thank you…” I said when I had removed my hands from my face. Fiona gave me a small

smile before we said goodbye.

×××

I sat on a bench in one of my town's parks even if the wind blew cold. I looked at Eric's number on my phone. I didn't want anything else than to call him and beg him to forgive me, but I had already done that once, and it felt like it was harder to defend my right to do it.

I wanted to be able to say something real to him—not just whine and beg again, but it also felt like I had something to say.

I tried to paint up a timeline in my head, and for everything I put on it, a more and more clearer picture grew in front of me.

Eric Senior; Robin and Eric's father had died, and it had made Eric lose his footing again. Once again, he started to use drugs. Lotti got in an accident, causing her stroke, and when she met Eric, she couldn't recognize him. Robin got him into rehab, but they also said to Lotti that Eric was dead.

Looking at the timeline, it felt obvious what was missing. Robin had never told Eric it was just a bad day, that Lotti did remember him but just had a confused day. He had let Eric believe his mom saw him just as a druggy guy. Robin had taken his mom away from Eric when he had the chance and left Eric alone, without a family.

I let my tears run down my cheeks slowly while I looked down at the ground. My heart was bleeding for Eric, but I also felt so fooled by Robin. He had been my best friend for two years, and never had I thought he was capable of such an evil crime. I couldn't see another reason to do it than just punish him for being the favorite son, but with this, it became even more understandable why Eric was the favorite. He had a heart of gold, while Robin obviously could let his heart become stone.

Eric needed to know this as fast as possible; he had already missed so much time with Lotti.

×××

It wouldn't be easy to get Eric to listen to me; I knew that, but that didn't make it any less frustrating when he didn't pick up when I called him. I called him every day that week while working in the salon. Robin was sick, but I was quite certain the truth was he didn't want to meet me.

When the weekend came, I had decided to go to Eric, but to my surprise my sister showed up with Odin. I didn't think Robin would keep our schedule, but clearly he would. Desiree looked at me irritated when she just dropped Odin's leash so he could give his wild hello to me.

“Are you fighting again? Come on, you too shouldn't have a dog together!”

I sighed a little while patting Odin's dark fur. It looked like Eric's hair, but Eric's hair was much softer. “He refused to see you.”

“Yeah, because he lied to his mom about Eric being dead,” I said with a pointed look. Desiree looked at me with big eyes; once again, the gossip devil burned in her eyes.

“Seriously??”

“Yeah, because he's jealous. If I could, I would crush his nose!”

“That's insane! But are you and Eric a couple now?”

I gave her a pained look.

“It's so fucking messy, but I will fix it. I know it sounds silly, but I can't live without him. I can't breathe right without him.”

Desiree smiled a little at me and nodded. She probably started to understand Dante wasn't the real deal, Eric was.

“What is your plan?”

“I must go to him and tell him about Robin so he can fix his relationship with his mom. It's a super long story... But his story.”

I meant it wasn't my story to tell, and Desiree nodded, but she looked disappointed. She wanted more gossip.

“But now you have Odin, will you wait-”

I stop her with a head shake.

“No, I'll bring him. Eric loves him. He loves Eric more than anyone else.”

She giggled. “More than you?”

“Totally. I'm the third wheel with them.”

Desiree giggled, then gave me a hug.

“Fix this then. I want to know how dad reacts when you have a boyfriend with Lovecraft on his back.”

I smiled warmly at her but also nervously, not because of my dad's love for gothic literature but because I couldn't mess this up now when Desiree rooted for me.

×××

“Please open Eric! Please!” I shouted outside of his door. I didn't know if he chose to not open it or if he actually wasn't home. “Eric!”

Odin barked twice, but not even that made Eric open the door. I walked to my car again and tried to find a solution. I looked at Odin in the seat next to me, and he looked at me with one eyebrow lifted and eyes full of worry that I wouldn't fix this.

“We will fix something for us to eat and take a long walk and maybe a nap because we will visit someone late tonight…” I said to him and patted his head and ear.

I bought us each a hamburger, not the best dog food, but for one night it was okay, then I tried to make the time pass by walking around; it was boring as hell, but at 00.30 am we could finally go to Jackie’s. I didn't care that it was desperate; I was desperate.

Jackie opened with a smirk. He was obviously high and didn't even give us a confused look. I let Odin's leash go; that way Jackie or anyone else couldn’t easily kick us out. Odin ran into the living room so fast he slipped on the floor. That kind of joy could only mean Eric was there. My heart speeded up at once, and for a few seconds I wanted to turn around and flee.

“Eric is here if you’re searching for him, but I don't think he wants to see you,” said Jackie teasingly. Normally I would answer such teasing with attitude, but now I just swallowed hard and looked down at the floor. Jackie turned to the living room but stopped in the doorway, probably because of my big dog. I looked at myself with the help of the front camera on my phone. I had fixed my makeup and hair earlier in the car, but now, with the nerves, it felt like it all had fallen. After that, I finally brought myself together and walked into the living room. The scene there looked like it usually did. Five guys listening to music, drinking cheap beer, and smoking herbal joints. The air was heavy with the spicy smoke and the mist hung in the air for a long time after someone had exhaled.

Eric had moved down to the floor to cuddle with Odin, and he lay on his back while the dog licked his face almost sensually. I wanted to lay down with them but knew that would be too much, so I sat down on the armrest of the couch. His friends looked at me with big eyes, but none of them would get themselves involved in our mess. Eric sat up and pushed Odin away when he started to get way too excited, and with a snap of his fingers, he got him to lay down on the floor next to him. Odin looked at me pleased, and I envied him for how easy it was for him. When I looked at Eric, he looked away. I had planned to be cool in front of his friends but forgot all about that when he finally looked at me. The sob and tears came from nowhere, and even if I didn't see anyone's expression, I knew everyone in the room was uncomfortable.

Eric didn't let me sit and cry in front of his friends for a long time, he was too kind to do that and took my hand so we could get away.

He guided me out to the hallway and succeeded in having Odin as a tail.

“We’ll take a walk, okay?” He said lowly to me, and then he put on his khaki-colored vans and his long black coat. I put on my outerwear with some struggle, and when I was finished, Eric stood with Odin, leashed by the door.

We walked in silence, the only thing we could hear was my nose that couldn't stop running and Odin's claws landing on the concrete. I looked carefully at Eric, who looked sad and disappointed. I hated the look, and especially that it was me who had caused it.

“I want to say sorry three hundred times for what I said to you—that I accused you of taking those pills, but it isn't why I am here, or not just that reason.”

Eric gave me a quick look but then looked away, uninterested.

“It's about Lotti. Why did you stop seeing her?”

Eric scoffed after a while and shook his head.

“None of your business.”

His answer had some attitude, and even if it was just a little, it surprised me.

“Is it because she forgot you?”

Eric scoffed again and looked down at the ground. He really tried to have a cold attitude, but he was too bad at concealing his real emotions.

“She hasn't forgotten you-”

“Fuck Della! Please, why do you do this?” He said, irritated, and stopped to look straight at me. I stopped just in front of him and looked up at his face.

“She hasn't forgotten you; she misses you all the time-”

“I've met her! She threw a fucking glass at me! She has forgotten me, okay?!” His voice was loud now, but it didn't feel scary because it was such understandable frustration and pain.

“It was just then. It was just that moment. She forgets me too; the next time she's her normal self again. Robin has lied to you. She talks about you all the time and is broken without you!”

My voice was also loud now, to make him listen and shut him up. It worked because Eric stood and looked at me with big, glassy eyes they gave more light than the street light next to us.

“...what?” He said after a while, with a small voice.

“It's a lie, Eric. She hasn't forgotten you. She believes you're dead because that's what Robin said to her, and you believe she has lost the memory of you, but she hasn't! She thinks about you daily!”

I looked at him straight in the eyes, even if they shifted round and round. He dragged his hands over his face and dropped Odin's leash, but he stood by his side anyway. Big tattooed hands covered his face while sob after sob left his mouth. I wanted to hug him but didn't dare, but when he started to cry uncontrollably and was forced to sit down on the ground, I sat down in front of him.

“You can meet her, baby... You can be with your mom again…” I said calmly, and it made him lean his forehead against my shoulder. I took that as an invitation to hug him, and it caused him to unleash his feelings again. He cried loudly in a way I never heard a grown man cry before, and that made it even more heartbreaking. He wasn't a man at that moment, he was Lotti's little boy.

I hugged him hard with Odin sitting close to us, and Eric hugged me around my waist like he was much smaller than he was. I wiped his tears over and over, hushing him, but it took so long for him to calm down. He was shaking when he looked at me with red eyes and nose.

“I want to go home,” he said, wiping his eyes and nose with the backside of his hand. I nodded and dried away a tear on his jaw.

“Let's get home.”

×××

He calmed down quite quickly at home and let me help him take off his clothes down to his boxers and then bundle him up in bed. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought he had a serious cold; he both acted and looked like a sick person, but he was just upset. I sat down on the edge of the bed and forced him to drink a glass of water. He looked at me with his red-rimmed eyes. I was prepared for him to turn his back against me, but instead he pulled my top and pants like he wanted me to take them off.

“Do you want me to lay here with you?” I asked softly, and I got a nod back.

I took off my clothes close to the bed—so close he could drag his hand over my leg while I did it. It was obvious my skin was calming to him, and he tried to feel as much as he could. When I just wore my bra and panties, he looked up at me, then stretched out his arm and pulled in my panties. He did it again when I looked at him pointedly, so I pulled both them and my bra off. He lifted the cover so I could crawl down next to him, but he pulled me up over him. I sat up, straddling his hips to be able to look into his eyes.

“I love you, and we should talk and all that, but... I need you now, please. I need you now.” He said with a low voice while pulling down his boxers. I nodded and leaned down to kiss his lips. After that, I didn't drag it out; I let him slip into me, and I rode him until he couldn't handle anymore. 2 minutes and 36 seconds.

×××

I asked so many times if he had forgiven me, and he said yes, and that he loved me, every time. He could see that both of our emotions had been wild in every way lately, but I still continued to say I was sorry for a long time.

I had hoped he would want to see Lotti at once, but something held him back, so it wasn't until two weeks later he dared to come to my town to visit her. I would talk to her together with Fiona the day before so she wouldn't get a heart attack from the news. Robin hadn't tried anything to stop us from seeing her, and maybe he had given up. I tried to tell myself he wanted to do the right thing, but to be honest, I didn't know. It felt like I didn't know him.

Fiona and I looked at Lotti as she fixed coffee for all three of us and searched for some biscuits, but they seemed to have disappeared, in some sort of way. She was a bit confused that day but still in a good mood, and me and Fiona waited patiently on her to not destroy the good mood. She needed to be calm to be able to hear that her youngest son was still alive.

“I don't need any biscuits; I think just coffee sounds great!” Said Fiona optimistically to not make Lotti sad.

“Yeah, same,” said I, so Lotti would sit down with us. She gave us a bit of a bothered look but accepted what we had said and sat down by the little table with us and took a sip of her coffee. I looked at Fiona to have permission to talk, and she gave me a nod. She had never heard anything like Eric's story before, so neither she knew the best way to do it.

“Lotti, I am here to tell you something, something great, really, really great but strange,” I began and smiled nervously. She looked at me with a bright smile, like she thought I would tell her I had a bottle of wine in my handbag.

“Eric, Eric is alive and wants to see you.”

Lotti stared at me, then turned towards Fiona with an upset face; she probably wondered if I was lying.

“It's true, Lotti,” said Fiona, who had talked with Eric over a video call.

I could see how Lotti's face changed in slow motion from anger and confusion to laughing in disbelief.

“What are you saying? Are you trying to give a sick lady a heart attack?” She said with a laugh while wiping away tears with a plaid handkerchief. I took her other hand in mine and smiled at her.

“Eric is alive, Lotti.”

“But Robin..?” The emotions swam in her eyes, and I could also see disappointment, like she knew Robin had lied. I just nodded a little; she got to interpret that however she wanted, but she didn't seem to have time to because she laughed and cried in a beautiful mix of emotion.

“But where is he then??”

“He's at my place. We thought you maybe needed some time-”

“Time?! You say my son is alive, and you think I need time to calm down?? I need to see him! I'm his mother! I should see him now!”

Now Lotti sounded angry, and Fiona patted her shoulder a little.

“Delilah, maybe you can tell him to come, while Lotti, you can rest a bit on the bed?”

“Rest?! I want to see my son!”

“Lotti,” said Fiona, giving her a strict look. “This is a big thing, so you should be rested when Eric comes here, right? So he can see you at your best.”

Lotti looked irritated and wiped away some more angry tears, but then listened to Fiona and went to bed.

Seeing Eric in the reception of Lotti's home was surreal even for me, and it seemed so even for Fiona. She looked at him up and down like she really was seeing a ghost, but she also smiled a little embarrassed when he took off his long coat and showed off muscular tattooed arms in a black t-shirt that also hinted about the rest of his fit body. I smiled big with every positive feeling in my body but also to calm Eric down, who looked so worried.

“Sometimes you're the only thing she talks about... She has been angry at me now because she can't wait,” said Fiona with a giggle. It felt like she acted differently in front of Eric, and to make things a little more clear, I took Eric's hand in mine. He smiled nervously at Fiona and then at me but didn't say anything. I knew talking to new people wasn't his thing and especially not when he was nervous.

“I’ll go in and see if she's ready,” said Fiona, and Eric gave her a little smile.

When we were alone, he leaned down to kiss my lips, then rested his forehead against mine. I laid my hands on his cheeks and breathed deeply together with him.

“I'm so fucking nervous... It feels like I will throw up…”

“It's Lotti. Your mom, no one else, you will feel better at once when you have seen her.”

He nodded and moved away from me so he could smile at me. I smiled back brightly, high on love, and fixed his hair and played a little with his dagger earring.

“You're so handsome.”

He shrugged his shoulders but kissed me with a smile. I let our tongues say hello a couple of times before I giggled into his mouth.

“I love you.”

“I love you too. Most in the entire world.” He whispered and kissed me again.

I left them alone to have their meeting to themselves. Just like I most often wanted Eric to myself, I knew Lotti felt the same. Eric was everything, after all.

×××

Epilogue

Mine and Eric's lives changed drastically after he and Lotti had a relationship again. He wanted to be close to her as much as he could, so after a couple of months, he moved into my apartment. Robin fled from us to another town but still visited his mother. Odin became mine and Eric's dog. It wasn't anything we discussed; it just happened.

My mom succeeded in finding a job for Eric. He was skeptical at first when he heard it was at a daycare and couldn't understand how my mom could feel that was a good idea, but after just a few months, he went from being an extra staff member to getting himself established employment. The whole thing was so sweet, and sometimes I just went by the daycare to see him play in the sand with the kids or have three of them climb his long limbs.

Life was good for thirteen months, without really any big problems, but then Eric's beloved mother had another stroke and left us without a warning. It led to Eric getting depressed again, but with a stronger, better safety net, he didn't fall down the hole with drugs, but he still ended up sleeping for weeks and weeks while I tried to encourage him to do something instead, but he didn't listen. He just wanted to sleep.

It was a sunny March day, and he finally wanted to leave the apartment. He had lost a lot of his muscles and was a skinnier version of himself. He had moved to the couch from the bed a couple of weeks before but now felt so good he even smiled when we spoke.

“Do you want company?” I asked while he put on his running gear. He shook his head with a smile.

“I just want to clear out my head; I can take Odin, though.”

He gave me a peck on the lips when he had tied his shoes, and I gave him several more after that. He smiled at me and then buried his nose in my neck.

“I can make tartar tonight.”

“Really?” I said excitedly and lifted his head so I could look at his smiling face.

“Yeah, with your help and a better alcoholic-free wine than the last time.”

He didn't even drink anymore, and I glowed with pride when he said it. He had made so much progress. But life has a tendency to break when it is finally good. I wasn't even worried when Eric left our home with Odin. I had been that in the beginning of our relationship, but now I felt sure he wouldn't do anything crass; the only thing I didn't think about was that there were also things like bad luck.

The first thing I noticed was that he was out running for a longer time than usual, but I thought he probably just needed some more time in the fresh air. When he had been out two and a half hours, I started to think about calling him, but it was then an unknown number called me. I thought about not answering, but something made me do it anyway. I regretted at once doing it because the thing they said was nothing I wanted to hear. I knew something had happened as soon as they said they were calling from the hospital and wondered about my relationship with Eric.

“I'm his fiancee; has something happened?” I said worriedly and held on to a chair in front of me. I rarely called myself his fiancee because it sounded a bit silly to me, but I was, he had proposed to me in the October sun, at a farmer's market. It was spontaneous, like he often was, but straight from the heart. He didn't have a ring, so we bought one together instead. I didn't care that he couldn't afford one by himself; that wasn't important.

“We want you to come down here; it's good if you bring a friend with you,” said the nurse.

“What happened??” I asked, upset because that sentence made it seem like something was really, really wrong.

“Eric has been in an accident, but it's best if you come down here instead.”

I started to cry on the phone because if it was good, or at least if there was hope, they would have told me.

I brought Desiree with me, who came and got me in her car. I just cried and cried in panic while she tried to say it was probably not as bad as I thought, but it felt like not even she believed it. At the hospital, they took me to a similar room I had spoken with Fiona in. Desiree hugged my hand in hers because now she couldn't pretend it wasn’t worse than it was.

“Eric came in with a gunshot wound in his chest an hour ago. He had stepped in and tried to stop a fight between some teenage boys without knowing one of them was armed… We did everything we could to stop the bleeding, but... I'm sorry, but he didn't survive.”

..

.

…

How do you react when the love of your life gets taken away from you so fast? How do you react when they tell you how unfair life is?

Eric had come jogging with Odin in one of the rougher parts of town. He didn't think much about it because he had always been in those sorts of areas and people had respect for him. He was tall and built and tattooed in a way that made some believe he was in a gang.

The teenagers were just fifteen, and in his eyes it looked like kids having a fist fight. Other people let them fight; they either didn't care or didn't have the courage to do something, not even when one of the boys lay on the ground, getting kick after kick towards his head and neck. Eric acted on impulse. Fear was nothing that held him back, and if he thought something was wrong, he would jump in, so he did. People around saw how calm he was, how he acted like a safe grown up and got the kids to move away, everyone except one who acted just as impulsive as Eric.

It was his older brother's gun. He had brought it to be cool, but he fired it when he felt powerless, shooting Eric in the chest once and Odin in the neck twice. People around just looked at the mess for several minutes while Eric disappeared slowly from the world. Odin had left it behind at once. My fiance lay several minutes without receiving help until a young couple ran up to them, even if the boy still held the weapon pointed towards Eric. The boy was in shock, seeing the grown man on the ground fighting for his life. Another man succeeded in taking the gun, and others around called 911, but their help was too little, too late.

Eric died in the ambulance. He never even saw the harsh light of the emergency room.

How do you react when a kind soul as Eric dies while he tries to do good? How do you react when someone who has fought his whole life dies in such an awful way?

They showed me his body. They had tried to make the room look nice with dimmed light and him lying on a covered observation table, but it couldn't be nice because then they showed me Eric's lifeless face, pale and relaxed. His face had changed because of the relaxed muscles. He looked much softer but still so regal with his high cheekbones.

How do you react to seeing the man you love not breathing? How do you react when you realize that everything the people have said is true?

Eric didn't exist anymore. The light had left his eyes, his voice just living inside of me. The magic was gone forever, and I was left behind. My whole little unit disappeared on the same day. My fiance and our dog. My whole life. I didn't have a life anymore.

×××

I didn't cry after leaving the hospital. A numbness took over—a feeling of resignation. Crying was for people who were cleansing, that tried to move on, I wouldn't move on. Tears were a relief, making tension disappear. I didn't need that. I didn't have any tensions, I wasn't scared, and I wasn't vindictive because I didn't have a future. I was just as dead as Eric.

I could feel everyone around me staring. I just sat on the couch, looking straight forward. Even Robin stretched a hand out but I didn't give him any response. My family thought about calling the psychiatric hospital but let it be, they thought I would come out of the daze I was in. They were wrong, so wrong. It wasn't even a daze; it was my reality. They believed I was stuck in grief, but I had left all earthly feelings behind. They lay forgotten on the hospital floor.

If there is nothing left for you at the party, you should leave it; you will have it better at home. I needed home again—Eric's warm embrace.

If my family knew what I was thinking, they would have taken me to a hospital, but it wouldn't really matter. It was too late. I would have done it anyway.

They had taken me to my parents house so I could live there. They thought I just needed love and comfort, but I couldn't even understand what they tried to do because I wasn't there; I just searched for an exit. They didn't believe I would go out in the dead of night in my trance-like state. I already had found my exit. I didn't have time to spill; I needed to go to Eric.

The exit was at the central station, the trains came all hours of the day, even in the dead of the night. It was easy. My party was over, and I needed to come home to Eric. It was easy.

.

..

…

I recognized the place at once. I had been there many times—oh, so many times. I was at my old street again, by the playground. It wasn't as dark as it had been the last time I was there; all the streetlights were on, and the sky shifted in a warm peach color. The sun was on its way up. I looked around, seeing if there was someone there; it was, I heard a loud bark. I recognized that bark so well, and it made me shiver in comfort. I laughed when Odin came running, and I sat down on the ground to let him give me a proper hello. While he licked my neck, I heard footsteps in the gravel. I wouldn't even need to look up to know who it was, but why wouldn't I want to do that? I stood up and looked at my tall fiance standing there, looking like he did in the prime of his life. His cheeks were a bit rosy from the coldness in the park, but still he just wore a black t-shirt with his khaki cargo pants.

“Hey,” he said with a warm smile, and I threw myself around his neck at once, without even thinking. His warm embrace caught me. I was home again. He laughed a little and then kissed me. I couldn't stop, and when we had started, we let it become a make-out session. I giggled into the kisses, and I could feel him smile.

“Did you get to decide on a meeting place again? Fuck, I thought it was my turn now!”

I laughed and dragged my fingers through the hair in his neck.

“So you remember this place?”

“Yeah, from when I was in the coma. I didn't remember the girl's face though, but it was you… the whole time.” He hugged my waist while looking me deep my eyes.

“I never dared to tell you about my dreams; I would have sounded like a stalker.”

“More than you already did, you mean?” He teased, and I hit him playfully on the arm, but then we laughed together. He gave me a soft kiss but then looked at me seriously.

“You shouldn't have taken your life, babe. You had so much to live for.”

He looked sad, but I wasn't really. I felt bad for my family, but I wasn't sad; I was with Eric.

“I think it was meant to be. Here we are, the three of us again-”

“Four.”

“Hm?”

He pointed to a light pole, and I looked up at it where Crow sat, looking down at us.

“He has guided me back two times; I know he will guide me away today. To my parents.”

I looked at him seriously.

“And I will follow you wherever you go.”

Eric looked at me examining with big green eyes. The mesmerizing eyes. He nodded and looked up at Crow.

“I love you most in the entire world, you know," I said with a giggle and took his hand in mine. He smiled at me and kissed my hand.

“And I love you most in the entire world and wherever we will go!” He said it playfully. I giggled, because I wasn't afraid. Eric looked at Odin, then at Crow. The bird made a caw and lifted his wings. I knew that was the signal, and when Crow lifted from the light pole, all three of us followed him towards the sun.

×

[kommandonuovidiavoli]

How did we get here...?

Nigel's parents died allegedly in a car accident when he was 14. When the news reached the spaceship he was on, he requested to be sent back on Earth immediately, and he was let go from the GKND.

Since he was still a minor, Father, or rather, Ben took him in and strangely... things were starting to get good. Maybe it was the fact the man realized he lost more than he wanted to admit, but he started treating Nigel as a kid of his own, arriving to reprimand the Delightfuls if they tried to play tricks on him.

The day the high school principal called Ben to school, because of Nigel being a distraction and cause of unsettling for being gay, Ben threatened to cut funds to the school if they dared to expel him because of that.

"The boy has every right to be happy, no matter who he wants to his side. And if that causes problems around school, I suggest you educate your students better on the matter. They are the real problem."

Fact is, that after two years of living with him, Nigel not only was starting to trust Ben, but also... care for him. He saw him as an adult he maybe could trust.

But then, he turned 16. Or better... 18.

Father knew Nigel could have his same powers hidden inside him. The only way to awaken them was for the person to be an adult. And Father already waited two long years, so he decided to cut times a bit. He built a machine, starting from the faulty delightfulizing one, that would advance Nigel's age by two years and awaken those powers he wanted to bad.

On the day of Nigel's 16 birthday, breaking that trust the boy slowly was building, he dragged him into that machine and started the plan he'd been working on for years at this point.

Everything turned out as planned.

Nigel now had those dark powers, raw and powerful, and he would use them as he wanted. If only he didn't miscalculate a little thing...

Nigel didn't want that. And now there was a furious batter inside him to take control, two forces battling, resulting into a body out of control, that would attack anything and anyone around himself.

Even Father.

He didn't know the kid was actually that strong, and with a single strike he left Father grasping for life. And he was still battling and losing, apparently, not being able to control that dark, terrible power.

Luckily for him, his friends realized something was off when they couldn't hear from him for the whole night, so they decided to go check on him. They found the Delightful Children running to them and asking for help, because it was not what they wanted!

When they got to Nigel, they couldn't recognize him at all. They needed to get him back to normal before the KND would know that another kind like Father was around, or they would lock him in forever!

Cue POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, they tried and hugged him all together, trying to reassure him everything would be okay.

It worked. Nigel calmed down and was left a crying mess in his friend's arms.

Numbuh 2-2 was the Soopreme Leader at the time, and he managed to help them hide what happened so that Nigel could think about getting better only. He would stay at Abby's, so that she and Simon could keep an eye on him better.

After the ordeal, Father and the Delightfuls would disappear for a year. No one heard from them since.

Nigel took time to get back from the shock of now somehow being two years older, a legal adult, with powers he didn't want and with one last piece of his heart missing.

Since he was an adult, he was able to get his parent's house back. He decided to finish school so he could stay closer to his friends, and was given CODE 0010 RED.

Since the house was inhabited again, the KND could finally claim the Treehouse above and reestablish a new Sector V.

And from there, the Teen AU starts.

[thekatebridgerton]

Today on stories I'm too sleep deprived to write #XYZ

Sometimes I really think about writing a Polin fanfiction where Penelope marries Lucy's uncle and ends up neglected and abused, but doesn't leave him because of teenage Richard and little Lucy. Until she finds out about the deal to betroth little Lucy to Haselby Junior and how her husband is commiting treason and basically wants to sell his young niece to cover it up. So Penelope finds some will to live after years of just taking the abuse to protect the kids and sells her husband out to the crown, on the condition that the Abernathy title isn't affected.

Cue Lucy's uncle officially dying in a mysterious accident and Penelope moving back to London with little Lucy and young Richard. The Bridgertons and the Featheringtons are happy to have her back but Penelope's marriage has changed her and the first one that notices is Colin.

Penelope doesn't smile anymore, she's busy running the Abernathy estates and putting the fear of God into her teenage nephew because Richard is the darn heir to the Abernathy title and he needs to act like it, David did Richard no good and he really needs a good male influence in his life.

'No Colin not you, the last thing I need is Richard deciding he wants to drop everything and go gallivanting across Europe while his aunt and little sister despair in worry... I meant a male influence like Anthony, or Simon'

Colin starts putting the pieces together about her marriage when he sees that Penelope keeps reassuring Lucy that yes everything in the mansion is all theirs and that nobody can hurt them now. And when she keeps pushing Richard to make friends among the ton so his sister can have a better chance when she's presented.

Basically, id love to see a deconstruction of a situation where Penelope doesn't realize she's turning into her mother. And actually begins to see things from Portia's point of view now that she's officially An unhappy widow who's only joy in life will be to see her wards safely married and enjoying the life she never could.

She's Determined to make up for lost time when it comes to building connections and ensuring Richard and Lucy's future, going as far as policing Lucy's friend circle because ' Lucy is too kind and too naive, any false friend could play her for a fool'

Everyone else thinks Penelope is just being Penelope but Colin can see that she's spiraling under the weight of her worries and the ghost of her former husband, and he wants to help, he keeps showing up to everywhere she goes, trying to bring a smile out of her, encouraging her to think about herself, to dream about love, maybe remarriage, like Francesca, live again with a purpose.

Penelope thinks Colin is cute but annoying and needs to buzz off, she may still think he's handsome and charming but gone are the days she would feel over the moon for sharing a dance with him. The harder he tries to cheer her up, the more upset she gets, who gave Colin the right to see through her? Why is he so fixated on helping her, she's fine, she got rid of David, she's got Lucy and Richard and boatloads of money to do as she pleases! Penelope doesn't need Colin Bridgerton's pity!

Bonus if this is an au in which Colin still remains a bachelor, because he never found the love his parents used to have. And always felt guilty for not saving Penelope from the marriage that ruined her life.

But Colin keeps trying. Almost as if he's in love with her or something, but Penelope no longer believes in love. She's only hopeful for Lucy, because that child deserves true love, Lucy will have everything Penelope never did, Lucy is the future...

Even if Lucy IS developing the same predilection for Eton attending Bridgertons that Penelope did in her youth, Penelope will ignore Gregory's friendly attention to Lucy the same way Portia continues to ignore Colin's attention to her.

This won't backfire, not at all

[crownedwille]

My wilmon vampire AU

Since I keep seeing vampire fics I decided to share some of my own WIP I've been writing on and off for like a year. It contains vampire Wilhelm and vampire hunter Simon and I need to spread more of that propaganda to counteract the vampire Simon stuff lmao. This is only a snippet since it's not done yet and I don't know when it will be but this part felt like a good introduction.

Enemies to lovers type of situation, mentions of blood and death (duh), and Simon having a strong case of I can fix him, no really, I can

"Wille, you promised."

Simon got out his stake out of reflex, ready to aim and use it. Wilhelm grinned darkly at him, blood still staining his teeth, a body lying on the ground, neck ripped apart. If Simon were to touch it, it would probably still be warm. If he had come a few minutes earlier maybe then he could've still saved this life.

He hated it. He hated when Wille decided to bring his meals home and he hated coming home to a bloody massacre (and when he did he start considering Wille's place home?) and not being able to do anything about it. It was by far not his first time seeing a dead body in his job but it still left a stinging pain in his chest. He always mourned the ones he couldn't save, even if they were faceless strangers.

"You know you can't kill me." Wilhelm referred to the stake Simon was still clutching in his hand.

Yes, he knew. It wasn't about whether Simon built up the courage to do it (they both knew he was more than capable). Wilhelm had opened up about his family one cozy evening and told him that he was born into one of the three noble vampire families that were considered well over a thousand years old. They were at the top, basically royalty amongst vampires and couldn't be killed by sunlight or wooden stakes.

There was a weapon rumored to exist that could kill them but it has vanished and no one has come across it in over two hundred years. Wilhelm was, for better or worse, truly immortal.

Wilhelm had told him even more about his family that night in a bitter tone, how he had had a complicated relationship with his parents, feeling like he had to always compete with his brother for their affection and lost but he loved his brother who was always there for him and made sure he didn't feel lonely in their castle and then Wilhelm lost him, the only person he was ever close to and he has been angry and lonely ever since. Since now.

Wille had cried that night. According to his own words, it has been about 90 years since he last shed any tears. It was the first time Wille had been so vulnerable with him and Simon had cried too and Wille had let Simon hold him and they had the most gentle sex that night.

It never happened again.

Simon swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to conceal his nerves and come across as determined. "No but this can still hurt you." And he would use it. Maybe just to teach Wille a lesson.

Wilhelm chuckled. "As if I'd let you come this close with that."

"You already have, once," Simon retorted sharply.

Wilhelm's laugh died. Yes, they both vividly remembered the day they first met when Simon put a stake in his heart. "And I won't make the same mistake again. I have been doing this for centuries, long before you were even born, don't think you stand a chance against me."

Simon got the warning. Wilhelm was superior to him in everything, speed, strength, experience and he would lose the fight. He was only alive because Wilhelm let him and had to count on Wille's soft spot for him that it was enough.

Simon knew by now that it was more than just that, there was real affection on both sides. The time they spent together couldn't just be erased, Simon was in way too deep now. He had feelings for Wille and he knew they were reciprocated.

Wilhelm was unpredictable and impulsive but he wouldn't kill him, of that he was sure. But could Simon just stand by and watch him murder innocent people? He had made a pact to himself and the Hunters League to protect the innocent from monsters like Wille. It was his duty. And he had always been proud to fulfill it.

And now here he was, letting Wilhelm continue killing innocent people.

"I can't let you keep doing this, you know I have to do something," he tried to bargain.

"So just because you feel guilty I should stop doing something that keeps me alive?"

"Bullshit," Simon snapped, "you don't need to kill them to stay alive."

Wilhelm gave a miniscule shrug. "Maybe. But I want to."

Hearing those words so straight forward made Simon flinch. He knew that was a reason why many vampires killed, not because of survival, taking a little blood would sustain them enough but they enjoyed it. They were predators. It was nothing new but still, he hated hearing it from Wille's mouth.

Wilhelm caught his reaction and scoffed. "You knew exactly who I was from the beginning, I never pretended to be anything else. You knew and yet you still continued to come back for more. I didn't make you do anything, so don't you come here and blame me now, this is on you."

Simon suppressed a wince. Another thing he hated, being confronted with the truth. He knew about Wille being a vampire before they had even spoken but not what kind and he had not anticipated the feelings and complications that came with it.

He wanted to say it was a lie, that there was more to Wille and he wanted to be a good person and was trying so hard not to kill. There were occasional hints that made Simon believe in it and what made him stay. He had hope when Wille was his soft and tender self with vulnerable eyes and then he crushed it again when he got cold and mean.

"I can't let you kill." He tried again, the wood digging into the palm of his hand.

Wille's grin came back, he licked the remaining blood from his teeth. "Too late for that."

Wilhelm was being intentionally cruel right now. It was something he was very good at, digging right into Simon's insecurities and moral struggles when he wanted to win an argument and it definitely was not the first time they had this one.

Simon kept feeling conflicted and hated himself everytime he let Wilhelm get away with murder. He couldn't actually slay him but he should at least stop seeing him, he shouldn't still have feelings for Wille even after he saw him draining somebody of their blood, right? What was wrong with him?

Wilhelm walked towards him. He took the stake out of Simon's hand, who let him, and threw it carelessly on the ground somewhere next to the body. "Just give it up."

"Why don't you give it up and stop being such a bastard!" Simon snarled, some of the fight coming back to him.

Wilhelm didn't react to Simon's aggressive taunt like Simon expected him to and instead started caressing his neck and ran his fingers down his arm tenderly. Simon shivered. "I'm sorry, okay. I won't do it again."

There it was, the sweet soft Wille that promised him to stop. Lies. They were lies. Simon was aware of it by now but it was still comforting to hear. He decided to turn off the rational side of his brain telling him that, he wanted to stop fighting, he just wanted to be with Wille without any of the complications.

"Promise?" He yearned to hear the empty words again and feel Wille's lips on his.

Wilhelm nodded and pulled Simon closer for a kiss, the drained body lying on the ground forgotten.

"I promise."

[incomprehensi-bull]

i have been thinking. about a professor layton au. but my thoughts have been entirely too wordy so it's going under a cut instead

originally i was thinking "huh i wonder if anyone's done like an apprentice swap with flora taking luke's role and vice versa" but then i thought "well just swapping them and changing nothing else is a little boring" and it occurred to me. well, what if you made it a timeline swap. as in swap their place in the timeline, like, turn the originals into the prequels and the prequels into the originals.

like if you think about it they kinda mirror each other right. mystery in a small town that results in a child being acquired (CV and LS) -> mystery in a city that's centered around a villain trapped in the past with a related artifact (DB and MM) -> mystery that shakes things up a bit and is related to people tragically lost and also there's a face/heel turn with a companion character (UF and AL). it could work

i'm not QUITE clear on how individual events would change but i would imagine a few broad strokes like

flora meets the professor three years earlier at about the age of 13 (assuming that she's around 16 in the games).

baron reinhold would still be alive, and when she becomes layton's apprentice she would move to stay with her cousin simon in london (assuming that the robots presented as augustus' family would have been based on real people, since there's precedent for it through lady dahlia).

definitely happier and better socialized overall, since she's actually, like. getting taken out and about. for a longer stretch of time too, since she would be present for both trilogies.

and probably getting kidnapped less, emmy is teaching this girl to take people out at the knees. don paolo's days are numbered

luke on the other hand would meet the professor three years LATER at the age of 13. unfortunately for the set-up to work clark and brenda need to leave the picture. sorry luke. i like them too much (and killing off a character's parents as a contrivance to make a mentor figure adopt them actually kinda just pisses me off specifically) so we can say "kidnapped by targent" instead of "kicked the bucket". it's fine. it's fine

(actually, on that topic, his inclusion in layton's 'Known Relationships' tab on the PL fandom wiki lists him as godson, but is that actually mentioned anywhere officially? i mean, i'm going with it because it makes the plot work and at the very least makes sense considering layton was definitely friends with the tritons when luke was born, but i wanna know if it's real or if it's just somebody's headcanon, y'know?)

cough. anyway. since they meet later luke never got the chance to break out of his whole "the specter is the darkness in the hearts of mankind" mindset before it fermented in his brain for a developmentally significant amount of time. which definitely isn't helped by his parents getting disappeared. so he's a lot more closed off initially, and never quite leaves behind his "oracle" crypticness and superstitions.

and considering his distrust, it's likely that he hasn't been interacting with anyone in town much if even at all, other than doland. this kid is getting 90% of his social contact from the local wildlife, he is NOT coming out of this well-adjusted

i'd imagine his situation with being left behind wouldn't quite be as bad, since, (A) his circumstances for being alone are dire enough to probably make you think twice about making him sit at home alone again, (B) he's not quite even old enough to inherently feel secure about leaving him at home alone for that long, and (C) there's three people present that are older than him which means at the very least no matter what there's SOMEBODY keeping an eye on him. speaking of which,

i imagine emmy still joins layton at the first adventure chronologically, but ends up sticking around for WAY longer since AL isn't for another five games. which might be good or might be bad, depending. that sure is a lot more time to get attached to your new friends, huh. surely nothing will come of this.

in this situation, probably a very significant factor in layton feeling comfortable bringing luke and flora everywhere, considering she is ready willing and capable of bringing down multiple people twice her size. taking her into future london is like a jurassic park reenactment. her "i'm not stuck here with you, you're stuck here with me" swag is earth-shattering.

well. maybe that's more than a few. i'm better at imagining character points than widesweeping plot events. but you get the point

(footnote 1: unfortunately the lady dahlia plot feels just a little too loadbearing to the story of curious village to me. sorry flora.) (footnote 2: hershel is hearing luke describe how his parents were taken away by mysterious threatening people in suits leaving him to fend for himself and spending the next night laying awake staring at the ceiling in a cold sweat. which could mean nothing.)

[ya-boi-haru]

Hey SMTO fandom! Amongst my time of cosplaying the characters (which you can watch here if you don't know my stuff) I did also do a genderswap au for a fun thing to continue doing the characters, but that was really it, however I'm about to reveal a project I never got around to working on...

✨️Seduce Me: Band AU✨️

I just recently remembered this, so I'm going to try and remember all the headcannons + add new ones, that I would have done!

James: Pianist, guitar + Band manager/agent, Lead vocal

Erik: Pianist, a little guitar, singer

Sam: Drums, guitar, back up singer

Matthew: base, back up singer, drums

Damien: learning: guitar, base, piano and vocals

Mika (mc): Singer

Diana: solo artist/singer

Saero: Diana's bodyguard

Suzu: Drums

Naomi: piano, harp

Andrew: piano

✨️Now headcannons✨️:

(Disclaimer: I'm not very knowledgeable on music stuffs so...)

• All the boys have tattoos, they all got a matching one of a heart with horns (the horns varying to what theirs look like in the game)

• Tattoos (not including the matching ones)

- James: tribal pattern around his lower torso, music notes

- Erik: Twisted rose vines with sharp thorns with blood drops

- Sam: Dragon on his back, demon circle on his shoulder, tribal patter on his front torso (to match his demon markings)

- Matthew: probably something colourful and kinda cute. A small simon tabby on his calf (he lost a bet)

- Damien: 4 music notes, each one drawn by a brother on his wrist

- Diana: Panther that looks like its coming out of her shoulder, Matching golden rose with Searo

• Piercings:

- James: (1)Earlobe double, helix, eyebrow

- Erik: Ears double, helix double, lip, nose, nipples

- Sam: Ears (double), helix ( double each), nose, tounge, lip (snakebite)

- Matthew: Ears, nose, helix (double)

- Damien: Ears (double), nose

- Diana: Ears, nipples, tounge

- Saero: Lip Dolphin bites, ear, helix

• Whenever Sam needs to vent out his feelings he takes it out on his drums, doing "practice sessions"

• All the brothers are teaching Damien how to play/sing since he wasn't allowed to learn growing up

• They've heard of Diana since their parents tries to get them to make a contract with each other but the brothers left their Fathers publisher name before they could

• While they enjoy playing together, the boys do have their own style as well

• SAM USES GUYLINER

• Mika would sing with Naomi and Suzu and they'd pretend to have big gigs while playing the the garage. Her father would rather she take over the producer company, but thinks its good she's "knowledgeable about the art"

• Erik is in charge of their outfits/costumes

• Matthew organises light/stage work etc

• Damien chills back stage with James when he's not on

• Damien is working on a song

• Sam takes his drumsticks with him everywhere. He has multiple and even a lucky pair

• Sams never been one for writing the songs but he tries to for Mika

• The boys started out at bars and small clubs and just where ever they could get a gig. They also done some shows for charity

• Harold discovered them and let them join his record company

• Mika wanted to be a singer but was supposed to take over her dad for the company and she "couldn't do both"

• Diana met up with Harold before about a job at his company but before papers could be finalised, he passed away

• Damien doesn't want to show his song as he's "still working on it" but if you were listening at the right time, you can hear him humming it, trying to work out a melody and lyrics

• Erik, Mika & Matthew are shower singers (both in the AU and cannon)

• The boys learned how to play Mikas favourite song as a surprise for her birthday

• Mika helps them out with Social Media management

That's all I have for now but hope you enjoy the concept. Feel free to add on or use as inspiration for anything (tho please credit/tag)

[skell3]

Jan Kilbride Fairchild musings

Because I've been writing him more lately and wanted to put this down somewhere. These are just personal headcanons for RP stuff, really.

• Jan grew up with parents who didn't really plan or want a child, so they provided only the 'necessary'; no need for birthday parties or Christmas, with the 'You already have toys, buy whatever else you want with your allowance'

• While quite smart, his is Very Blond and can be dense about feelings and emotional stuff (mostly directed at him/his own). If someone's crushing on him, they're going to have to tell him directly or show him how they feel.

• Smart, and by secondary school he realized how his parents were compared to those of the others at school. He compromised with some things, enjoying friend's birthdays and wishing happy holidays to people but never got into participating. To the point that, as an adult, he just took on the holiday hours and spent any vacation time at his home.

• As he got older, some of the most simple of affections had drawn him in. He's got some questionable exes that not only taught him some life lessons, but he would rather not talk about them. His first love is space, after all, so he can move on and hope for something better.

• In this AU, he became an avatar of the Vast and eventually was tucked into the Fairchild fold by Simon. His particulars have to do with gravity and space, with fears like falling/floating into the sky and not having anything close enough to grab on to. He also could instill the feeling of insignificance to the universe at how small and not even a breath to the things out there so much larger than them. He's still a baby avatar and learning what he can do, what works best for him, and how to bend his version of Sky Blue- The Void- to suit his needs.

• Growing up with an interest in science, it was a primary school teacher that got him into space. Since then, his allowance has gone into books, magazines and even his first little telescope. He did get a bunch of glow in the dark stars to stick on his ceiling but his parents refused to allow him to do that, so he stuck them to his school things and had them until they fell off.

• Jan would make a great housewife, keeping things clean and tidy and also a decent cook. It helped up on the Daedalus and would be perfect for having roommates (Maybe Manuela and Carter). He's chatty, however, and a bouncing golden retriever of a man who also cries pretty easily, so someone would probably need to help care for him emotionally.

• After the events of the Daedalus, Jan has hearing aids for both ears and a difficulty walking at times. Like he can never quite get used to normal gravity anymore, even as he can control his own. When he's super 'hungry' and hadn't taken on enough fear, he feels heavy and can't move as easily. It started a little before he became an avatar, but intensified after and he has to watch where he's going.

• Without his hearing aids in, Jans brain fills in the sound void with the sound of the Titan. Though it's just a memory of the noise, the Titan essentially sings him to sleep or comforts him when he has to have his hearing aids out for loud things or when it rains.

• Along with the gravity issue, he gets lost in staring up at the stars a little too easily. Sometimes he can be found somewhere up high just stargazing and totally not paying attention at all to his surroundings. This has gotten him in trouble a few times, but others he's had Mike Crew or Manuela to hang out with him and enjoy them too.

Space man. Man space man. Vastard Jan my baby boy. Gertrude did not get her hands on this one, nor should she ever. She might find it difficult to because he keeps close company with a lot of people who would protect him.

[chaos-has-theories]

Heaptober Day 1: Forest

No beta, no nothing, just whatever I could get on page on a half hour trainride.

Goes with The Long Way Home, but you don't need to have read that - all you need to know is that it's a role-swap AU in which Jenna got kidnapped by DomDaniel and the Assassin came after the Heaps.

Here's what happened to the rest of the brothers.

Sam dragged himself from the river, grip never loosening from Jo-Jo's awful red-and-white sleeve.

That would be Priority One, he decided: getting them all something to wear that wouldn't stick out from the forest greenery like a signal flare. Except, no: Priority One was getting food and shelter, and making sure the search party - if one was coming after them - wouldn't spot them on the beach.

Except no, because Jo-Jo was shivering in Sam's grasp. They all knew from experience that the no matter how thin the cotton of their uniforms was, it could take forever to dry. So maybe they did all need a change of clothes, though where they were supposed to get those in the middle of the forest, he couldn't say.

A voice pulled Sam Heap from his thoughts. "413," it asked, small fingers tugging at his tunic, "Where's 412?"

Sam jerked up automatically, scanning his surroundings. One, two, three, four, five: plus him meant all the remaining Heap brothers. He hadn't lost anyone. He couldn't have.

There was Jo-Jo, whom he could probably let go of by now. Nicko, who'd been asking the question: only six years old but almost a better swimmer than Simon. Simon. Sam swallowed. "412 isn't here," he said. He wanted to make his voice gentle. It was just -

(I can't leave, Simon had said, looking at him as if he couldn't believe what Sam had asked of him. I'm about to get promoted. And the Supreme Custodian said… Sam hadn't waited to find out what the Custodian had said this time. He'd dragged his brother back under the blankets, holsing him still until the officer outside had passed their dormitory. When the steps had vanished down the hall, he'd slowly loosened his grasp. We need to get the kids out of here, he'd hissed, still so sure that he'd only have to use the right words to make Simon understand. His brother had only shaken his head. I can't leave, he'd repeated, and that had been that.)

"Nicko," Sam said, as solidly as he could. He wasn't sure if Nicko and Jo-Jo even remembered their parents at all. They'd been so young when it all - well. It made sense that they'd be more used to their numbers than their names, but it still made something twist inside Sam. "Simon - 412 - he couldn't come. But we're all out, and noone can take us back, okay? We'll be - like the Wolverines. Awoo."

(In the end, Sam had just been grateful that Simon hadn't told anyone about their plans.)

"Awoo," Nicko repeated dutifully, sounding a bit dubious. "Awoo," Jo-Jo echoed. He just sounded tired.

Right. No more distractions, Sam told himself. He needed to get his brothers somewhere safe. "Um, Sam?" Edd's voice sounded higher than usual. That was… probably bad. "I think we kind of. Kidnapped someone? A little bit?" One, two, three, four, five. Plus Sam was six. Simon was back on the boats somewhere, hopefully keeping his mouth shut. Septimus was - dead, or alive, or who knew what, but certainly not here. So who -

In the light of the midnight moon (it's always safest around midnight, his mother had told him, back when they'd all been a family) Sam saw Jo-Jo, and Nicko, and the twins. And between them, a smaller shape. No taller than Nik was. Smaller, maybe. "Four-oh-nine?" Jo-Jo asked sleepily. The kid nodded. He was staring up at Sam with wide eyes. It reminded Sam of how they'd all looked at the Hunter, or Catchpole, or any of the adults who had been around them since Sarah had died and Silas had vanished: fear, and uncertainty, and knowing that nothing you could do would the stop them from doing whatever they wanted.

Sam crouched down, making himself eye-level with the kid. "I'm sorry," he said. He meant it, too. He'd tried hard to make sure his scheme wouldn't endanger anyone. "I didn't mean to drag you into this." The kid shook his head. No. "I think he jumped," Erik admitted. Sam frowned. "Did you?" Very slowly, the kid nodded. "…do you want to stick with us?" He didn't have much of a choice, really. It was that or staying alone at the edge of the forest, waiting for a search party that might never come. 409 nodded twice, thrice. Seven times. "Alright," Sam said. "Siblings stick together, alright? You can be our little brother." It would be almost like being all seven again, Sam thought. Not quite, maybe. But he was pretty sure that this was the first time this kid had ever smiled.

So maybe - just maybe - it would all turn out okay.

[kivino]

LOST AND FOUND || ZOMBIE AU || PLATONIC PARENTAL FIGURE!SIMON 'GHOST' RILEY X CHILD!READER

my masterlist

ao3 link to this fic

Word Counter – ~5.6k words

Tags/Warnings – Reader is 11-13 years old, Simon is their parental figure, and their relationship is purely platonic. Mentions of family dynamics, blood, gore, guns present; gender-neutral Reader,as per usual with my works.

Summary – You both were lost in this new world, but at least you had each other to lean on.

a/n – so uh. it’s been a minute! this is a fic i’ve been trying to finish since november of 2023, so that’s nice, lmao. i hope you guys like it! please, tell me what you think about it in the comments and enjoy the reading!

“Kid. Hey. Wake up.” You ignore the quiet mumble in your ears that interrupts your precious sleep and only mutter something unintelligible, rolling over on your side, trying to get away from the voice. “Come on, rise and shine.” You hum in protest, pulling the sleeping bag over your head and basking in its leftover warmth, that slowly slipped away into the breezy morning air. If you saw Simon right now you’d witness him rolling his eyes, despite the rapidly growing smile under his mask.

The winter was coming closer and closer each day, so obviously you preferred the company of that old sleeping bag and moth-eaten blanket stuffed inside of it to whatever outdoorsy activities were waiting for you when you had to pack up and go on your way to next place Simon had in mind. He kept pestering you about having to go south. South, south and south, that was your only direction. But you suppose it wouldn’t get any warmer if you went north, so maybe he was right. You’re not going to tell him that though. He’ll be too full of himself if you do.

“Hey there, come on. We don’t have all day.” He waits a few minutes before saying that and shaking your shoulder carefully. Still, you hear some impatience in his tone. You wouldn’t have been able to tell if you didn’t know him as well as you do now. You don’t really have any control over your body, so you try to swat his hand away, the repetitive motion just annoying you further, but then you realize you’re still stuck in that sleeping bag, and that motion only yanks you over on your other side. Damn, you hated mornings.

Simon only scoffs at this unsuccessful attempt to get rid of him. Quiet and breathy, but you hear it. His laugh is always breathy.

“Get up. I won’t carry you.” Oh, you know he will if you ask him. Nicely. Several times. He pats your shoulder and you open one eye, looking up at him, all angry and annoyed. Just like you are every other morning. You like sleeping, what can you say?

You can barely see anything besides the glint of his eyes in the cold, blueish darkness, his figure towering over yours even despite him sitting down near you. You didn’t need to see him right in front of your eyes to remember each detail of his appearance etched into your mind permanently at this point. Dark brown eyes that looked similar in color to the fresh, crumbly soil in the forest, dirty blond hair that would get too long too fast, so he’d ask you to chop it off as best as you could, and if you were to get right into his face you’d notice a line of freckles right where this eyesore of a balaclava exposes his skin.

“Do we need to get up at the ass crack of dawn each time?” you grumble, wiggling your arm out of the sleeping bag and unzipping this insulated monstrosity that made you look like an overfed caterpillar, covered in some stains that came from who knows where.

“Language.” Simon reprimands (and you can already picture his gloomy frown) while packing up your and his stuff into a giant duffel bag, with his voice sounding similar to a growl of a stray, old dog. He always reminded you of those little guys for some reason. Sad that you don’t see many of those anymore. Probably because they got eaten by those ugly undead. You try to shake off the unpleasant thought.

“Ass is not a bad word.” you return, as you roll out of the sleeping bag and start putting on the heavy worn boots over two pairs of socks that felt a bit damp to the touch. “Besides, you constantly swear, why can’t I do it too?” You were genuinely curious – it felt a bit unfair after all, that he would place some responsibilities on you, but then turn around and still treat you like a kid…which, you definitely hadn’t completely felt like one in a long, long time.

“What’s the first rule?” He asks without actually turning to you, choosing instead to start shoving bottles of water into the bag. You roll your eyes at this but comply.

“Whatever you say goes.” You grumble, while tying your shoelaces, that already started fraying on the ends…you’ll need to cut them, or just use Simon’s lighter if there is any gas left in that ancient thing. You’ll totally forget to ask him, that’s for damn sure.

“Whatever I say goes, that’s right.” He repeats with you, like it would help hammer down the thought into your mind better. Honestly, you’d rather take his sledgehammer to the head rather than go on an extensive trek through misty, damp fields with air that burned your lungs from how cold it was. “Second – once you’re grown up then you’ll say those words. Now you’re just a kid, so you can act like it. I’ll take care of all the adult stuff, which includes swearing.” Simon’s voice is so parental you could almost roll your eyes again. He’s not usually as serious, opting for light-hearted teasing instead so you guess…something might be bothering him. And if it’s true, you’d have to probably torture it out of him to find out.

Because Simon was a big-big, awfully quiet liar. He never talked much about his feelings, preferring to stay silent and listen to your constant blabbering while you two were on the road. You had to pester him for hours just to find out his surname, or what he used to do before the world went downhill. Which, you were pretty sure he lied about. Do mechanics get taught how to use knives that well? You didn’t know, but you were sure that the answer would be “no”. Simon was so secretive and quiet when he found you, barely speaking, at the time his voice reminded you of the way the school bus engine roared when a gray-haired driver drove away from your house.

You missed your old life. You wanted it back.

Slowly but surely you got used to Simon, though. He wasn’t this huge shadow, that silently followed everywhere behind you and regularly gave you heebie-jeebies anymore. Now he was a reassuring huge hand on your forearm. Or a gentle pat on the head. Like a blanket that you’d wake up in after you fell asleep while rereading the same book with your flashlight on. He said that he’d look after you until you find your parents. But you weren’t dumb, you knew that most likely, you’re never meeting them. With endless amounts of those undead things you saw, chances of them surviving seemed pretty slim. You tried not to think about it too often, because tears would inevitably start prickling at your eyes, and your nose would become runny in a blink of an eye. You wanted to bawl and cry, and scream, but then you’d remember Simon’s words.

“Don’t be loud or you’ll attract more of them”

And there was nothing more stupid than dying when you just needed a good eye-burning cry. So, you bottled it up. Of course, Simon would ask you about your parents. So many times, he would try poking and prodding as delicately as he could, and you could only visualize his attempts at subtly approaching your feelings as a polar bear trying out lace-making or embroidery. You didn’t blame him though, it felt like he was coming from a good and genuine place when he asked you all of those questions. Where did you like to go on the weekends? What did your parents do for work? What did your mom usually make for dinner? What did your dad teach you?

Then his voice would become quieter and softer, as he cradled you in his arms, warm as a damn furnace, hands gently rubbing your back as you broke down into small pieces at the memory of your parents. Your heart was tearing apart, and it hurt so bad, and it just wouldn’t stop, tears flowing like a river down your face, as you tried wiping them until your cheeks were raw. Simon would apologize profusely for bringing up your parents and making you sob your eyes out, reassuring you with an easy lie.

“We’ll find them, honey. I’m sure they’re waiting for you.”

You knew you would never find them. But for some reason, it still brought you comfort. They were waiting for you somewhere out there, didn’t matter if it was on this earth, or someplace else. So, your fingers would dig into the thick leather of Simon’s jacket, clinging closer for comfort, as your tears and snot soaked his sweater. Your parents weren’t for you here right now, but Simon was. He’d wipe off the tears off your skin, a lot more gently than you could ever do it. He’d tuck you into all the blankets you two had after you managed to calm down at least a little bit, violent shaky sobs turning into soft sighs. Simon would swipe the hair away from your face, and offer you some water to rehydrate after you cried your eyes out.

“You’re alright, kid. You’re okay. I’m here.”

And things didn’t seem so bad after you heard Simon say it. You didn’t know why he just picked you up like a lost puppy when he found you. You would’ve surely been dead by now if he didn’t, and you were thankful for whatever influenced his poor decision-making. You heard the way occasional groups you came across talked to Simon about having you with him, maybe they thought that your age also made you completely deaf and utterly stupid. And the only thing you wanted those idiots who thought you couldn’t hear them to do is get fu-

“Ready to head out, kid?” Simon shakes your shoulder snapping you out of your thoughts, with your backpack lying near your feet, instead of hanging on your shoulder. “Almost” You nod, as you pick up the bag and continue shoving your sleeping bag inside. “Hurry up, or I’ll leave without you.” Simon grunts, putting on this annoyed and grumpy front. “You wouldn’t.” You chuckle in response, finally zipping up your backpack and carelessly throwing it over your shoulders. You were sure Simon would never leave you. He wasn’t like that and you knew it.

“Careful, this is a hunting rifle, so if you hold it wrong the kickback can bruise you. Not like a handgun.” Simon corrects your stance, making sure you’re doing it just the way he’s been taught. Years ago, memories so hazy, he can barely recall that world. Almost feels like a dream, with how cloudy and unreal it looks in his mind. “Good. Now, open your mouth. Like this, alright.” Riley puts a hand with a worn glove on your lower jaw, pulling it down gently, until you feel the bones click in place. “We don’t want you walking around all woozy with ringing in your ears, right?” You nod, determined and concentrated, eyes directed at the makeshift shooting range in front of you. Simon’s palms cup your ears for added protection.

The sleepy glow of the sun played in the bottles put around the ruins of a burnt-down cabin, which stuck out of the ground like sharp scorched bones. There were also planks, big branches and other trash Simon carefully set to imitate the training ground for you. A kid’s gotta learn how to hold their own, so he put as much creativity as he could to make this hellscape into something decent. Breaking down some of the crumbling walls that turned into straight charcoal with his trusted sledgehammer, which rang like church bells each time he put it to use, covering “the shadows” burned into the floor before you spot them with your sharp eyes, and digging around for anything that can be the target for you. Anything so you can at least defend yourself when he’s…not around. For whatever reasons, that were most likely connected to getting mauled by a crowd of undead.

He keeps thinking about it. Simon can’t escape these thoughts.

That sooner or later he won’t be there to protect you. To laugh with you. To heat up your food and flick your nose for your dumb jokes, wrap you up in a blanket and give you a boost so you could climb the fence with ease. The more death and ruin brought by endless waves of undead you both see, the more it haunts him, like bloodhounds following his trail all over the country, sniffing out every single footstep and campground. And he’s sure it’s dragging behind your thoughts too, affecting the way you see world.

Simon won’t be there to see how you turn out. He knew it, felt it in his bones even. But that was the price he’d pay for deciding to raise you. Like a contract Riley signed with his own hand the day he saw you with your eyes swollen from crying. Simon won’t be there to see how all this bloodshed influences you, if it’ll break you like a fragile, ceramic vase, or temper, like good, reliable steel. He had hoped that this harsh world would make the latter out of you, but he wouldn’t blame you if you were to just…give up. It wasn’t easy out there. Especially if you’d end up alone.

Simon kept thinking about all of those endless groups that you two have been through on your way south. How inevitably, when you two would settle in a for a little while he’d have folk coming up to him for a talk. How he’d see those pitiful, sad looks in their eyes for him - a single father raising a kid in a world that has gone to shit eons ago. How someone’s hand would rest on his shoulder, fruitlessly trying to reassure him, meanwhile hiding even more heart-crushing sadness in the pair of dull, lifeless eyes.

And what he hears is a variety of voices, along with an array of faces that didn’t match any names he could recall. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to make them follow you?” whispers a woman with tight curls and a scar across her cheek.  “They’re just a kid, and you drag them around with you?” accuses an older missus with a knitted scarf. “It must be rough out there” mumbles an older gentleman with a rasp that suggested he enjoyed the company of tobacco more than the company of people back in the day. “You won’t be able to defend them if you continue on like this” sighs a man with deep canyons of wrinkles racking through his greyish skin. Quiet and heartbroken. Speaking from his own experience. A father. And Simon believed that voice.

And that trust is what caused him so much doubt now, when there was no turning back on caring for you. He knew it will end badly. For either or both of you. But Simon would never hand you over to anyone, unless it was your wish to leave him. You were his blood now. His kid. That would never change, in a thousand of years.

BANG. Simon’s ears start ringing, one of his palms now rests on your shoulder as he points towards one of the bottles and squints his eyes to see better in the distance.

“Good job. See? You shot the neck off.” His gloved finger points at the accurately shot bottle and pride swells in his chest. Simon hopes you turn out to be a good shot. You’ll need that.

Almost the whole day passed with the two of you on the road, shuffling through the dead leaves, varying in the hues of brown and grey, yet it still felt like Simon was drowning in his own thoughts like some damn quicksand. And the more he tried to distract himself with some mundane, routine questions of where to find food, shelter, and water he just kept circling back to those doubts, sinking down, deeper into the unwelcoming depth and the unknown.

Even now, when you two finally stopped for the night, tent already set up near the neat, small fire that you managed to make thanks to instructions Simon gave you ages ago, he just sat there, silent. Head heavy with worry, eyelids burning from observing the fire too close, it didn’t matter anymore. Simon was sure his figure was that of an undead right now – round-shouldered and tired. One more similarity between him and those…creatures. Simon was sure that if he wasn’t on leave when all of this shit went down, he would’ve been one of the first people to go. And he didn’t like the quiet, nagging thought that he would’ve preferred that.

That thought dissipates into the thin air the moment he slightly turns his head and sees you in your blanket pulled up to your ears, eyes owlishly staring into the darkness, where you could hear cricket’s song and shuffles of small rodents in the short, dry grass and layers of leaves. If he wasn’t alive you probably wouldn’t have been either. Weird stinging in his chest became even more intense when he looked at you. Life has a weird sense of humor.

Simon wanted to avoid being a father or a parental figure for as long as he could, preferably for his whole life. Being made into a killing machine, a mindless weapon to get rid of the enemy by any means wouldn’t make for a great father material, he figured. He also lacked the necessary emotional vulnerability to meet anyone who’d want to bear his child and stay with him. So, he never tried. Not that he thought he was missing out on something – he felt alright as he was, plus who wanted the responsibility that came with raising another human being? It was never as easy as just keeping a pet or a potted plant, if you fuck up it would take you years to find that out. Possibly through your own blood and flesh going no contact on you and deciding not to reconcile ever.

And despite how much Simon hated the thought, he was his father’s son. It would be too arrogant to assume he’ll be a good parent, if his own fucked him up so much. Simon heard all of these things about “ending the circle of abuse” but he would rather end himself if he ever remotely resembled the monster that was responsible for bringing him into this world.

But for that poor kid, eyes wide from terror, hands hugging their own body, trembling and terrified when he had found them a little less than a year ago, he was willing to try, even if it cost him his life.

“Something’s wrong with you.” He hears your quiet, but confident remark. Your eyes glimmer in the light of the fire, focused and attentive. For a moment it felt like there was no escape from your gaze and many questions hiding behind it.

“You don’t have to worry about me, kid.” Simon waves his palm, almost dismissively, but he doesn’t mean any harm. You have enough on your plate already, being a kid during the end of the world. There is no point for you to trouble yourself with his fears and doubts.

“That’s what you always say. Yet you keep making that face when you think I can’t see you” Instinctively, man’s hand reached out to touch his jaw, and when his fingers could only feel the rough, dirty fabric, a slight sigh of relief was torn out of his lips. Though right now, one would think it was his way to express annoyance. It wasn’t quite the case though.

“But you can’t see it.” Simon says with a lighthearted rise in his voice.

“Well, I see the eyes. What are you thinking about?” Stubborn as always. Well, if you were so curious then he has to tell you at least something, right? Been a long time since the two of you had a heart to heart talk with each other. Still, there was a reluctance deep in Simon’s heart. It was unfair that you had to grow up like this. Among walking corpses and ravaging beasts instead of people surrounding you around every corner.

“About how I want you to be able to protect yourself. That good enough answer?” Simon quietly barks, not intending to sound strict, but failing at it miserably. “Now go to sleep. We’re rising early tomorrow” Simon cuts the conversation short rather bluntly, not fond of the idea of sharing more than necessary.

He doesn’t want to tell you about all those nightmares where you scream in agony, torn apart by the undead, innards spilling onto the cold floor, teary eyes looking at him and begging for help, reaching for him, dirty fingers with blood under your nails looking to claw at something to relieve you of at least a sliver of the immense pain shooting through you.

“You’re an ass” You give a firm verdict, turning around and crawling towards the tent, seemingly ready to finally reunite with your sleeping bag and doze off. Your blanket drags behind you over the ground, until Simon quickly reaches out and carefully drapes it over your shoulders again.

“Well, the company you keep.” The man barely contains the laughter at the offended expression you give him after turning your neck so fast that Simon can almost hear your vertebrae cracking from such sudden movement.

“Hey!”

“And what did I tell you about swearing?” Riley immediately reminds you, raising his eyebrow, and you could swear that if you gave him a moment, he’d cross his arms over his chest like suburban soccer mom with a bad bob. Maybe he’ll call a manager after that…

“Sorry.” You mumble to the side, before disappearing in the tent and only hearing a low gruff in response:

“Much better.”

“Now, remember what I told you? In and out, quick and quiet. Whatever there is, don’t pick a fight.” He told you before going in to look for supplies in that hospital. Before the two of you climbed the fence (somehow still mostly intact after almost a year of it not being used and upkept like you would a normal hospital), then crawling up the rusty and unsteady fire escape, which Riley helped you climb, naturally.

Simon wasn’t a fool, not by any extension of the word. He also did not consider himself reckless, at least not to the point of endangering others with his recklessness. He knew that the hospital would be the prime place for a horde of walkers, but the rapidly dwindling supplies (along with your cough and stuffy nose that were getting worse by the day; it was a mystery to him, how you were not yet feverish) and the dangers the not well-scouted area for you were too much. So, he decided it’s better if you keep close to him.

He should’ve taken more time, should’ve been more careful, should’ve investigated the building beforehand, like he always does. Simon thought it would be okay. He knew the kid could handle dozens upon dozens of corpses littering the floor, turning to dust in patient rooms and locked up in medical staff rooms; for so many months they’ve seen only death and decay around. Riley knew that the (most likely) overflowing morgue would be off-limits, not only because of undead activity, but also because of the toxic (once again, most likely) expired chemicals there.

Simon could’ve made it another teaching moment for you, sharing telltale signs of undead presence, besides the smells and the sounds that can be concealed by weather. The undead always leave traces, whether their dulled (or absent) conscience is aware of it or not.

Simon could’ve done so much to prevent this. But he just didn’t. His worst fucking nightmare turned reality in a matter of seconds and he could not do shit about it.

He barely heard anything while rummaging through the supply cabinets in the room right behind what probably once was a nurse station. Which was weird. He always heard everything. He had left you to keep guard near the entrance to the room, because as much as Riley trusted you, it was probably safe to assume that he knew what kind of drugs to take better than a prepubescent teen. Next thing he knew when he looked outside of the door – the undead flooded the corridor and you were nowhere to be seen. His heart dropped, nothing but concern and pure terror in his mind.  A sudden ringing in his ears deafened him for a moment.

You could be dead for all he knew. Torn apart by the undead, begging for your life, bloody and crying, or with your neck broken, from the attempt to escape from one of the windows that was not boarded up, or bitten and left to the terrors of this sickness that will eat you alive in no time. Replacing his poor kid you with a decaying husk, bearing your eyes and your face. It would be extremely dangerous and foolish to attempt looking for you. Downright idiotic.

Good thing his father always called him an idiot, because he won’t leave without finding you. Alive or…otherwise.

Simon had no time to plan everything out, every second contributed to whether you’re walking out of here, or being carried out the building by him. He swung the door open, ready to take the fight head-on.

The smell of the hospital alone was enough to make his eyes tear up. You nor him could ever get used to it, no matter how often you stumbled upon that smell – rotting, nauseatingly sweet, fleshy and suffocating. It was even worse when the undead who emanated this stench stumbled through the corridor towards him. The mask was not helping much.

Riley could not help that primal irrational part of his mind from taking over, it was hard not to, when someone you cherish so deeply is possibly in grave danger. Almost every movement was precise and short, nothing but pure instincts, reflexes and muscle memory taking the ownership of his mind.

He was on the battlefield once again.

Fast jab, swing, push, step, crush, dash, push, swing, crush, jab, shove, swing, crush; it all flowed into one monotonous dance macabre, low hum of something dark puppeteering Simon’s limbs. He could feel that familiar buzz of satisfaction in his head with every skull shattered either by his heavy boots or with the pleasantly heavy sledgehammer. Each kill bringing Simon closer to you, and you – closer to complete safety within these walls. He promised himself that he won’t have to do…all this anymore. But if it meant unceremoniously grabbing you from the embrace of death, he was willing to let himself loose a million times more, until his hands are stained by blood forevermore.

The worry and pure terror for you took over him completely, his heavy blows kept landing wherever there was even the slightest movements and he did not stop. Simon’s hands did not tremble even for a single second. Covered head to toe in guts and rotted, sticky blood, he was more beast than man, shoulders rising and falling, heavy breaths drawn through the several dirty layers of cloth on his face filling him even further with the urgency, with hurry and the continuous urge to maim and kill anything that threatened your and his possible survival.

Because what was Simon, if you, the only thing he carefully and lovingly put all his remaining humanity into, were not here anymore? It was all that would be left of him, if you…

Nevermind. Simon shouldn’t be thinking like that. But how can he not, when he’s been warned all these times that, given some time, one of you will die, protecting another? What else was he supposed to think when day and night the only thing he was worried about was if he was a good enough father to you, or if you would be better off under the care of anybody else, who’s just…not him?

The metal of Riley’s sledgehammer was filthy with brain matter, skin and hair, and his clothes heavy with blood soaking them through and through. He could not comprehend how he was not bitten yet. Line of decaying corpses kept trailing him like a wicked serpent through the stuffy corridors of the hospital.

Until finally Simon saw a familiar pair of eyes looking right at him through the filthy glass of a storage room.

You were terrified out of your mind, shaking and crying, not only because you thought you were going to be torn apart just mere moments ago. There were more possibilities – if it were not for the rotten, jagged teeth finding you, Simon would’ve found you and be furious at you for being a reckless idiot and almost getting yourself killed, running away like that in an unexplored area (even though he never screamed at you in all this time you spent together, and even if he did, that would only attract more undead). Or, worst case scenario, you’d just find Simon’s body somewhere in the hospital, being gnawed on by several undead, coppery, vile smell in the air. You knew that chances of you walking away without losing something were razor-thin.

Yet here he was. Some irrational part of you was convinced he’d yell at you, hit you, throw something at you putting the safety in no regard. You flinched, feeling you body shake against the cold floor. A second passed and the giant of a man swooped you into a bone-crushing embrace, shushing you and slowly rocking you in his arms. You felt more sobs bubble inside of your throat, when you hear him murmur reassurances into your ear.

“It’s alright, kid, I’m here. I’m right here.” His voice is coarse and rough, but so utterly familiar, you feel like you’re being wrapped in a warm blanket when dad Simon talks. To hell with being stubborn and independent. You don’t want to leave him ever again.

“I’m so…so sorry, Simon” you managed to get out, violent sobs interrupting your words. “I didn’t, didn’t want to lead them to you…” Because that would entrap both of you with the undead that flooded the hallway much too quickly, his mind finished the thought that you were not able to articulate in your deep emotional distress. “I tried, I tried…”

Simon’s heart shattered.

He was silent for seconds that stretched akin to hours. Pressing your face into the soaked shoulder of his rough jacket that smelled like smoke and the undead, you had no idea that Simon’s eyes were glistening with tears as well. You felt his hand gently stroking your head, attempting to soothe you to the best of his abilities.

“Shhh, I know, I know. You did you best. You did good, kid. You did good.” The way dad Simon said it made the hot tears pour down from your eyes even stronger, like a sudden storm in the middle of a summer day.

 “I was so-, so- scared, I-I thought you were going to be so mad at me.” You whole body trembled with every shaky breath that you took and Simon did not fail to notice that, his arms closing around you even tighter, which you only welcomed, clinging onto him like he was your lifeline.

“Please, don’t be scared. Why would I be mad at you?” Riley’s voice is so painfully soft and quiet. He came for you. He could’ve left, but he came for you. It dawned on you, how easily you could’ve lost each other in these minutes spent apart, and your fingers clawed into the bloodied fabric even harder.

“I-I don’t know…”

For a split second, you thought you felt Simon’s giant stature shake around you with a barely audible noise that reminded you of a sob. Simon pulled away, his big palms still resting on your shoulders, grounding you, reminding that everything is alright and the both of you are alive.

“Dry your tears, kid. It’s going to be alright.” You could see the corners of his eyes crease in a smile, moisture still shining in them, and you could feel the tears burn your own eyes once again. You, however, tried your best to put on a brave face, not wanting him to see you cry even more than you already did. You reached with your hands to rub your eyes in exasperation. The man, instead, delicately started wiping off your tears with his blood-stained fingers, not even realizing that he was making things worse. But you didn’t care. Simon was here for you. That’s all that mattered in this moment.

Silence felt like it lasted forever until you opened your mouth and quietly asked for only one thing:

“Promise you won’t leave me. Ever.”

Good God, your voice sounded sad. Simon did not respond at first. He knew he couldn’t make promises like that, but the guilt and all these unbearable thoughts of losing you just moments ago got to his rationality, making it absolutely useless. If it meant you’d be willing to stay a kid a little while longer, he was ready to make a false promise he would never be able to fulfill.

“I promise, kid.”

Maybe someday you’ll lose each other to the horrors of this world, lurking beyond what any living soul can perceive. But it won’t be today.

check out my masterlist for more fics or send me a request/comment!

[ninesdb]

We're still going, year-round summer reading!

Shift my Heart, for it is Stone Cold (61090 words) by NobuJr Chapters: 17/? Fandom: Call of Duty (Video Games) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: John "Soap" MacTavish/Simon "Ghost" Riley, Minor or Background Relationship(s) Characters: John "Soap" MacTavish, Simon "Ghost" Riley, John Price (Call of Duty), Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, Kate Laswell, Alejandro Vargas, Rodolfo Parra Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kidnapping, Implied/Referenced Torture, Aftermath of Torture, Grief/Mourning, Werewolf John "Soap" MacTavish, Kinda, John "Soap" MacTavish Loves Simon "Ghost" Riley, Pining John "Soap" MacTavish, Requited Unrequited Love, Simon "Ghost" Riley Loves John "Soap" MacTavish, Sad Simon "Ghost" Riley, Hurt John "Soap" MacTavish, John "Soap" MacTavish Needs A Hug, Simon "Ghost" Riley Needs a Hug, Simon "Ghost" Riley Needs Therapy, Everyone Needs A Hug, Parental John Price (Call of Duty), Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author Has Never Played Call Of Duty, Slow Burn, Rating May Change, Canon-Typical Violence, Not Beta Read, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Blood and Injury, Found Family, Vomiting, Panic Attacks, John "Soap" MacTavish Has PTSD, Minor Character Death, Military Inaccuracies Summary:

Soap has found everything he ever wanted within Task Force 141. People he could trust, a second family, and even somebody he could love (even if just one-sidedly). He was prepared to share his biggest secret with all of them, he trusted them not to judge him. However, before he could summon the courage to do so a mission goes horribly wrong and Task Force 141 has to deal with the fact that they possibly lost Soap forever.

Two years after the tragic mission the Task Force saves a dog-wolf hybrid during a raid on accident. Said canine gets attached to them instantly, especially to Ghost, who never recovered from the loss. The wolfdog goes back with them to base and while his behavior is strange at times, he may be the best thing that happened to the team in a long time.

And they have no idea how true that really is.

WolfShifter!Soap-AU with lots of angst, emotion and a happy ending, just how I like it.

[snootlestheangel]

🗣️🗣️ no time like the present to get writing!! (coming from someone who.. also.. should be writing..)

but i'd like to hear more about the wolfshifter au idea if you don't mind!! very intriguing stuff

Thank you for the ask, my friend! Now that you have summoned every thought, here is a dump of the wolfshifter au!!!

So, for starters: The MacTavish family and their history of caring for wolfshifters. Since the discovery of wolfshifters about a century ago, there's been a huge stigma against them in the broad scope of modern society. Something about them never really being "human" and are typically reduced to nothing but savage beasts. But Scotland, having a high focus on herding, accepts the wolfshifter population the best. They're not exactly buddy buddy with them, but most wolfshifters find easy work doing stuff for farmers and whatnot. Granted, most of their jobs are like "guard dog" sorts of jobs, but hey, in a world where it's really common for wolves to be fired, refused a job, evicted, etc. just for being a wolf, work is work.

Then came along Great-great Grandma MacTavish. Something happened with her husband and somehow, a wolfshifter was the one to provide the best support for the young family during their difficult times. She ends up convincing her husband to start a business; basically a support/help center for wolfshifters in need. They provide basic medical care, food, clothing, shelter, etc.

Skip to modern day and Soap's family is still very heavily supporting this 'little' business. It's grown a significant amount, obviously, and it's the largest of a handful of wolfshifter care centers in the country, all others younger and operating independently. Soap's parents still run the "soup kitchen" that provide homemade Scottish meals to any and all wolves, no questions asked. Soap's eldest brother and wife are in charge of the medical facility that provides care for both human and wolf form. The brother (Oliver) and his wife run the "human" department specifically, and one of the two MacTavish sisters (Sarah) is in charge of the "wolf" department. Tiffany, the second MacTavish sister is in charge of the housing for displaced wolfshifters.

Side note about wolfshifters in this AU: they all are required to wear identifying tags/have ID chips for what's considered "safety" purposes. Ghost, being the legally dead menace to society he is, no longer wears his ID tags/dogtags (military ones), and because of Roba, his chip had been forcibly removed so he could never be identified; he'd just die a nobody.

Then we got Simon Riley. His father, being the absolute abomination he is, never knew his wife was a wolfshifter until after they have kids. Simon got the brunt of his abuse for being a wolf, and he eventually just became so numb to the abuse he gets from everyone that he eventually stops transforming. So much to the point that Price is not aware of his shifter status, but he's definitely suspicious.

But not as suspicious as Soap. Soap grew up around wolfshifters, and he knows there are certain behaviors and whatnot that are noticeable even in human form. He picks up on a few, albeit very subtle, behavioral traits from Ghost that just scream "wolf" to him, but he knows not to approach him about it. He grew up around wolves that had nowhere to go, no one to go to, traumatized and broken regarding their true nature. Ghost is like a poster child for it, so Soap keeps his distance from that topic.

They still end up having a very unique relationship, but it's not established when Ghost goes missing during a solo mission. Their intel was wrong or something else of the sort and he ended up getting captured.

The problem? They're a group trying to weaponize wolfshifters by forcing them to remain in wolf form. There's a special drug that was supposedly lost/abandoned that can induce transformations in wolfshifters. This group has mutated it to the point that wolves cannot physically transform back into human for several months at a time with only one injection of an amount that's in ratio with body weight and stuff.

ANYWHO

Ghost ends up stuck in wolf-form, he's injured, and he has no clue where he is. Turns out, he's stranded in what's considered the world's "safehaven" for wolfshifters all because of the MacTavish family.

Soap's siblings end up having to take him in, obviously not knowing who he is because he has no IDs or anything.

Basically just a really fluffy and angsty story about Ghost finding family with the MacTavish's and Soap just having absolutely world-destroying realizations of his love for Simon Riley. Ghost being soft with the young nieces and nephews, being fiercely protective of his new found-family

Yeah, I clearly haven't thought about this AU at all. Nope. Not a thought going towards it

[the-magnificent-otaku-draws]

A lot of people were really interested in the Infinity Train x Gravity Falls x Steven Universe AU so I guess I'll give some background info that may or may not make it into the actual fic. This is still a work in progress so some things may change a little. This is context for the Infinity Train characters,the Steven Universe and Gravity Falls one will be in another post

In this AU the Apex was never a thing,Simon never met the Cat and instead first met Grace. They grew up together on the train and met Hazel in the Kaiju Car when they were 18. They are super close in comparison to canon with them all seeing each other as family. They all found out Hazel was a denizen when Simon almost died trying to protect both her and Grace from something that tried to take her number. One One decided to let Hazel come with them off the train because that was the only way Grace and Simon's number would get to 0 (And he also got a bit more flexible with situations like this after the incident with Jesse's number). They met Ryan and Min while hitchhiking and they let the three stay with them as long as they need to.

Lake and Jesse's story is pretty much the same except instead of meeting the Apex they meet Amelia who is looking for a train anomaly. She thinks Lake is the anomaly and promises to protect them from the flecs only to try and convince Jesse to give up Lake or she'll rat them out. He stands up to her and gets his exit but Lake isn't able to leave. Everything goes on as it does in canon and they end up going to school together and living normally for a while. That is until someone starts leaving messages telling Lake to come back onto the train and help them escape. Thinking they are being chased by the flecs they decide to run away to help save them,Jesse deciding to follow to make sure it's not a trick. They end up meeting Min and Ryan after getting lost on a highway and say they're trying to find a friend who's in danger. So far they haven't told anyone about the messages.

Tulip's story is the same and this takes place in the second summer after getting off the train. It's the first time her parents let her head to the camp alone and she ends up getting on the wrong bus. It drops her off where Min and Ryan are performing and she sees Jesse and Lake with them. Too afraid to call her parents and look irresponsible she decides to tag along until the summer ends and they can drive her back home.

Ryan and Min's story is also the same,the only difference is that now they have to take odd jobs every once in a while and be dads to six kids.

Everyone knows Lake and Hazel are denizens and try to accommodate them as best as they can. Simon,honing his art skills,helps paint them to look more human and come up with new disguises while Ryan,Min and Grace teach Hazel how to calm down and deal with intense emotions. They both have to be checked in constantly and Lake is more secretive to protect everyone

Amelia is off the train with Alrick thanks to the help of someone who let her off a bit early. They're both very aware they aren't supposed to be there and try to lay low in Gravity Falls so they can live a somewhat normal life.

Uncolored version under the cut

In this AU the Apex was never a thing,Simon never met the Cat and instead first met Grace. They grew up together on the train and met Hazel in the Kaiju Car when they were 18. They are super close in comparison to canon with them all seeing each other as family. They all found out Hazel was a denizen when Simon almost died trying to protect both her and Grace from something that tried to take her number. One One decided to let Hazel come with them off the train because that was the only way Grace and Simon's number would get to 0 (And he also got a bit more flexible with situations like this after the incident with Jesse's number). They met Ryan and Min while hitchhiking and they let the three stay with them as long as they need to.

Lake and Jesse's story is pretty much the same except instead of meeting the Apex they meet Amelia who is looking for a train anomaly. She thinks Lake is the anomaly and promises to protect them from the flecs only to try and convince Jesse to give up Lake or she'll rat them out. He stands up to her and gets his exit but Lake isn't able to leave. Everything goes on as it does in canon and they end up going to school together and living normally for a while. That is until someone starts leaving messages telling Lake to come back onto the train and help them escape. Thinking it's the flecs they decide to run away to help save them,Jesse deciding to follow to make sure it's not a trick. They end up meeting Min and Ryan after getting lost on a highway and say they're trying to find a friend who's in danger. So far they haven't told anyone about the messages.

Tulip's story is the same and this takes place in the second summer after getting off the train. It's the first time her parents let her head to the camp alone and she ends up getting on the wrong bus. It drops her off where Min and Ryan are performing and she sees Jesse and Lake with them. Too afraid to call her parents and look irresponsible she decides to tag along until the summer ends and they can drive her back home.

Ryan and Min's story is also the same,the only difference is that now they have to take odd jobs every once in a while and be dads to six kids.

Everyone knows Lake and Hazel are denizens and try to accommodate them as best as they can. Simon,honing his art skills,helps paint them to look more human and come up with new disguises while Ryan,Min and Grace teach Hazel how to calm down and deal with intense emotions. They both have to be checked in constantly and Lake is more secretive to protect everyone

Amelia is off the train with Alrick thanks to the help of someone who let her off a bit early. They're both very aware they aren't supposed to be there and try to lay low in Gravity Falls so they can live a somewhat normal life.

[bluerosejuliet]

Bridgerton AU: Kathony Bollywood AU

After reading so many brilliant Kathony au’s by @newtonsheffield and @thekatebridgerton . This one was inspired from seeing a picture of Simone Ashley in a Sari. Most of my inspiration for this AU comes from the movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (if you haven’t watched it, you should!)

Kate’s mother and her father had married young, when she was 20 and he was 22. Both of her parents were from well off families and luckily the two fell very much in love resulting in a happy marriage. Unfortunately, this happy time was not meant to last as Kate’s mother gets very ill and passes away sometime when she is a baby. Her father is devastated but resolves to raise Kate as best he can. Three years later, his parents are encouraging him to consider remarriage, hinting that Kate needs a mother figure and that they know the perfect girl for him. Her father however refuses. One day he and Kate come across a very lost Mary Sheffield, who is there to visit her grandmother. Mary’s mother is considered somewhat of a an outcast as she ran off with an Englishman instead of marrying someone within their town but Mary is close with her grandmother who doesn’t give a wick what others say. Mary and Kate’s dad click and end up exchanging numbers to keep in touch. At some point they fall in love and of course Kate adores the pretty lady who sends her books about horses and dogs. So when Mary comes to visit her grandmother again, Kate’s father proposes to her immediately and she eagerly accepts. Kate of course is thrilled.Kate’s paternal grandparents on the other hand, are not to happy about the fact that their sons choice of second wife as she is not from what the consider they proper family and not at all what they expect from a wife. They inform their son that he is to break off his engagement with Mary as they have already arranged another marriage for him with a more appropriate Indian bride. The two lovers decide to marry anyway and enraged, the Sharma’s disown their son. The Sheffields on other hand welcome their daughter and her new family back in England with open arms. 

Despite missing their family and life back in India, Kate and her father are very happy especially when Mary gives birth to a little sister named Edwina when Kate is six. Mary treats Kate as one of her own and the family has a happy life together. Unfortunately this happy time is not meant to last. When Kate is eighteen at Oxford, she gets a call from Mary crying hysterically saying that her father has been in a terrible accident. 

Kate, rushes home and the doctors explain that they should prepare themselves to say goodbye as the outcome does not look good. Knowing her father still loves and misses his parents, she manages to get a hold of them and tell them of their sons condition. To Mary’s surprise, the next day the doctor says that her father’s condition may improve thanks to a transfer to a high end hospital in London. Apparently Kate’s grandparents arranged to have their son put under the best care in the country’s best hospital and have agreed to pay for everything as Kate’s family is not the wealthiest. They explain that this is their offering of the olive branch and to set aside the past so they can get to know their and his family. Mary and Edwina, grateful for their support accept this explanation but only Kate knows the truth.

The Sharma’s agreed to help their son, transfer and pay for his recovery, put aside some money for Edwina’s college fund so she can choose where she would like to go without having to worry about getting a scholarship like Kate is on and also pay for Kate to further her degree, and fully accept Mary into their family. They just have one condition. Kate must uphold the bargain that her father made years before and marry the son of their friends family once she has finished her education Kate knows her family is not the most well of and is willing to anything to see her father well again. She also agrees to mention nothing to her father about it. And when she sees her father alive and smiling as he hugs his parents once more, she knows she has made the right choice.

She’s 26 and just completed her PhD program in accounting (which she may have pursued to prolong the inevitable even though she knows most people don’t go for the PhD in accounting of all things. Luckily she was able to persuade her grandparents that it would help her help her husband with his family’s business). When her father asks what she would like to do to celebrate, she asks her father permission to go on a train trip through Europe with her best friend Sophie, Daphne, and Daphne’s sister Eloise and her friend Penelope and Francesca.

Cue Anthony Bridgerton. Son of the late Viscount Bridgerton and the future CEO of his family’s event planning company. And by that I mean, that they are the ones who the royal family calls when they are planning any event. They’ve planned everything from royal weddings to a birthday for some celebrity. When Anthony started college, he didn’t exactly have a specific major picked as he was unsure if he wanted to take the reigns of the family business. Unfortunately, his father passes away unexpectedly during his first year at uni and he decides to step up to the plate by getting his degree in business and started taking over the business when he graduated and hasn’t stopped working since. When he’s 29, his sisters ask to go on a graduation train trip through Europe but he refuses, explaining how unsafe it would be and that the only way he would allow it is if he went along as chaperone but right now he’s too busy so perhaps they can go later in the year. He should have known his three sisters would not have taken that answer lying down. 

When he arrives to Sunday dinner that week, he notices Daphne’s, Elises, and Francesca’s absence. When he notes this out loud, Violet calmly replies, “they left Friday afternoon dear with a couple of school friends. Didn’t they tell you of their plans? They should be back in a month.”

Anthony of course is furious and manges to rope Benedict, Colin, and his best friend Simon into following his wayward sisters and dragging them back. All this leads to up to an explosive first meeting with Kate and Anthony, missed trains, being stranded in the rain, sharing hotel rooms, and somehow matchmaking some of their friends/relatives that results in them falling in love at the end of their trip.

Upon their return to London, not having voiced their feelings, the two consider telling the other how they feel. Kate is surprised however when she arrives home to find her grandparents sitting in their living room as her family looks on somewhat uneasily. Kate greets them, dread pooling in her stomach as her grandmother beams at her.

“Kathani my sweet flower! I’m so happy to see you. Your tatta and I have wonderful news! We have found you husband!” 

And Kate wants to protest, to make known her feelings for Anthony but then she looks at her father. Her father, who thanks to his family, is alive. So instead she swallows what she has to say and pastes a smile on her face, trying not to feel dread as they announce their plans for them to travel that night to start preparing for the wedding. 

She calls Sophie before boarding the plane and explains everything, asking her to to please let Anthony know that she really did care for him and didn’t want to leave but she has little choice. 

Cue Sophie spilling the beans to Anthony and convincing him to chase after Kate and stop her from making a huge mistake. Of course his friends and family insist on coming with him. 

Cue the shenanigans as Kate’s friends try to stop her from getting married while making sure she ends up saying yes to the right man.