#perhaps I will try again someday and continue to figure it out

[onefriendeveryday]

Apple - 19/11/2023 (though uploaded 21/11/2023)

The two hundred and forty ninth friend. An apple. She loves music. His favourite music is opera. She likes hearing what people can do with their voices and thinks opera singing is incredibly impressive. She does like most other genres though. Her playlist is a very strange experience for others to listen to. It can switch from classical to rap to pop to whatever else. He loves it though. He loves it all the more for its variety.

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2024-08-16

(Previous post - current page 666)

We're continuing from yesterday inside Therapy Purgatory, and by checking out this second part with what looks like Mindfang's Journal, I'll finally be caught up on Homestuck^2: Beyond Canon and ready to liveblog any future updates as they come! :D Don't expect me to drop everything and blog immediately every time there's an upd8, but you CAN expect me to be ready to liveblog at least within a couple days of each one, I'll try to keep track of the Homestuck Twitter for updates to this section specifically too.

So, Mindfang's Journal... what will this represent in comparison to the others? Not Terezi, yet? It seems like her feelings toward Terezi would be either saved for the last part (the 8-ball) or not shown here at all, because her path to growth regarding Terezi is meant to be resolved outside the Plot Point's purgatory, not inside.

Will this deal with her relationship with her ancestor, and/or her mother? Is she going to see that she was looking up to a toxic role model in those journals? Are we going to see any hints of Vriska having been transfem or is that relegated to Pesterquest still, 'cause that would be nice to see? (I don't know much about Pesterquest other than that toblerone wish being fulfilled over there along with several other possible-trans identities hinted, no need to spoil me on any of it in case I have the courage to go through that content someday. It'd be too much work to LIVEBLOG it but I might go through it on my own and have commentary to share with y'all or something.)

Okay, clicking on Mindfang's journal now...

YEAR 4

WOW, she's going to have caught up to John (and/or Terezi in the (Meat) Timeline more like) in age at this rate? GOSH she takes a long time to psychotherapize but this is the best deus ex machina I could have ever imagined, getting her to have so much time without distractions to ACTUALLY work through her issues is fucking incredible.

But what is she working on this time?

Oh hi, one of the Nannasprites? Her "lucky mojo"... so she doesn't feel like she has her powers in this realm, which makes sense because there's no relevance or luck left to take/steal from here that isn't already concentrated inside herself?

HOLY SHIT SHE'S ACTUALLY GROWING UP IN THE SPRITEWORK, she's taller with longer horns and everything!!!!! Compare to this from the Flarp Manual section:

--although when you compare that to THIS from the very BEGINNING of page 666's sequence before the two year skip, there's not much change:

--so this NEW, MUCH TALLER sprite model is a huge step up in visual age that will likely last a section or two at least, or even serve as her final form aside from outfit changes.

Moving on...

Okay, so she's been trying to use her powers with everyone cheering her on, and it hasn't been working.

VRISKA: I don't want to 8ore you, it's just the same pro8lem as always. VRISKA: Finally I get my sea legs and figured out what this whole process is a8out, 8reeze through Eridan and John and Kanaya, only to get stuck all over again on HER.

Interesting... so is it Terezi, Mindfang, or her Lusus? I figure the Cueball section that isn't done yet is Doc Scratch, because Doc was someone who intentionally used and took advantage of her faults compared to almost anyone else, and fooled her into using the excuse of inevitability. Interesting that that's the next step after she's "cleared" lessons she's learned from her past relationships with the others offscreen. So who's this HER who's the step before this?

VRISKA: I'm not so sure........she's different from the rest of them. And no matter how I approach this, I can't figure out what the hell she wants.

Hm-- perhaps this one isn't about listening to them and what they want, but penetrating through to a way in which THEY wronged YOU and that you SHOULDN'T be listening to what they want, if we're going with Mindfang or her Lusus?

Ooh, it's weird and heartening to hear her honestly telling the Nannasprite Duo that they've made this "whole experience way more 8earable" and honestly thanking them. She's really in the process of growing up emotionally, not just physically, and it's SHOWING.

And now she's talking about having talked with John about Nanna and their shared experience of "connecting to our predecessors through their writings". Maybe "HER" IS Terezi, and she's going to try to take a detour to try and learn from Mindfang to help her with the process, only to figure out how to be somewhat disillusioned with Mindfang or actually learn from Mindfang's mistakes somehow?

VRISKA: What exactly do humans get out of these familial prim8 relationships, anyway?

Hrmm, maybe this IS about her lusus?

Ooh, Vriska asking Nannasprite why she had children (Dad Egbert). Never thought she'd ask something like that.

NANNASPRITE: I couldn't exactly bring that man [Sassacre] back from the dead, but I could put myself in his shoes and do the bang up job he never had the opportunity to do. Not to mention, I like babies! :B

Yeah, you would!

Hahah, of course Vriska doesn't understand why a human would want to raise a gross infant. So maybe this IS about her Lusus, and why her Lusus would really "want" to raise her and not eat her in part, not to mention accepting how her Lusus essentially abused and used her in ways that fucked her up?

Nanna talking about wanting to avenge herself against the Batterwitch once, before she'd vanished, of course.

NANNASPRITE: So many nights spent plotting that awful woman's downfall and making her pay for all the indignities of my childhood. For always making me feel like I was powerless to do anything.

OH THIS SECTION IS TOTALLY ABOUT VRISKA AND HER LUSUS ISN'T IT!!!

NANNASPRITE: Not to mention that now, after seeing what my younger self has gotten up to in this realm [Candy], I clearly underestimated the depth of my own desires.

Yeah, that must have been disconcerting. It's so easy for Life players, tied to the aspect of power and wealth and privilege, to decide they want IT ALL regardless of their class.

And Nannasprite realizes that if she HAD gotten revenge against the Batterwitch she wouldn't have been satisfied, that's a mature viewpoint; she can't fill the hole in her heart with it.

Wow, even watching Vriska these past few years has changed Nannasprite's point of view, she says?

NANNASPRITE: I had always wanted Betty Crocker to know what a mistake it was to steal my life, my potential, from me. NANNASPRITE: But the real issue was that not once during my childhood did I ever feel particularly wanted, or welcomed, into the world. I only had my brother, and even he ran off on me! NANNASPRITE: Yet despite that fact, and the anger and the disappointment, I still raised someone who knew what it was like to be loved.

And that pretty much SOLIDIFIES that this has to be about Vriska's lusus. We'll finally get to hear the version of her that TALKED to Vriska in sprite form, possibly! That would be the best way to work through the abuse that she was put through in part, and how unloved she felt in other-part where she felt if she didn't feed her lusus said lusus would easily have turned on her and eaten her to search out better food providers, Vriska likely always believed. Perhaps she'll also learn that her lusus thought teaching her to feed on and kill other trolls would MAKE HER STRONG, much like Bro's abuse of Dave was intended to make HIM 'strong' but weakened him in ways he's still reckoning with.

Nannasprite definitely feels that despite her hardship, she "indeed fulfill a path of potential to its fullest degree", lived a full and enriching life by doing what her own parent wouldn't for her for someone else, and doesn't regret it. And almost ("marginally") is grateful for the Batterwitch serving as counterexample, as learning NOT to live like her taught her how to seek true happiness through fulfilling others, not just herself. Vriska needs to learn this same lesson from her own experience with her lusus, it's being all spelled out here practically. Heck, it almost feels like we're speedrunning the part, except Vriska will need a bit more than the answer spelled out for her like this to get it through her thick head I bet.

VRISKA: I guess that makes sense. Weren't you worried, though? That you weren't following the right path, or living up to your destiny? NANNASPRITE: I never even considered that, hoo hoo! NANNASPRITE: Is that how you kids think these days? My lord, no wonder none of you go outside anymore.

(Pff)

Interesting, maybe Mindfang IS involved in this section too, maybe BOTH her lusus and Mindfang-- and the above is indeed an insecurity Vriska reckoned with through the very end of her plotline so far.

VRISKA: Don't p8tronize me, old lady! Destiny's the found8tion of my godhood!

Yeah, she still has a lot to learn.

Nannasprite contending that "destiny mostly fulfills itself" is nice, and also a very Life-player outlook I'd think.

Aw, Vriska's even apologizing for getting snippy!! She's come so far already!!!

Oh gosh, this WONDERFUL pose in this frame and Vriska's eye shining with emotion in it, that's so good.

{Choose Mindfang's Journal.}

Pure white...?

{????????}

Oh you overdramatic 8itch, Ancestor-version Aranea Serket! Mindfang being as overdramatic and insufferable as she TRULY MUST HAVE BEEN.

Now she's storywriting for her, setting a scene unseen, the way Mindfang's journals must have done for Vriska making her imagine her ancestor's setting and travels. Also interesting how her tangled spiderweb looked like broken glass...

As was the figure 8efore her. Though she had only ever seen it 8ehind her eyes, its form was shaped 8y words.

I have to admit, overdramatic as Mindfang can be, sometimes her writing is really damned good.

VRISKA: You can drop the ominous buildup, I already know the twist.

Hahahaha, even SHE'S getting impatient with Mindfang by now.

Oh? Had the thief 8een here 8efore?

Interesting to see the ghost/image that "shouldn't" know about the broader situation visibly deducing things about its recurrence, because both the real Mindfang would have and Vriska's image of her was smart enough to put it together.

--AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS!??! WOW. When she said she was stuck at this part, she wasn't kidding! I hope some of what Nannasprite just told her helps her finally break through the web Mindfang's journal caught her in.

VRISKA: The whole endeavor usually ends with me either killing you or... feeding myself to you.

WOW

IT'S HER LUSUS *AND* MINDFANG COMBINED

HOLY SHIT

Talk about a tangled knot of insecurities to tackle together all at once!!!!!!

VRISKA: You were all like, "Surprise, 8itch. I'm 8oth the Marquise, and your lusus!" And I fell str8 on my ass, flipping the fuck out like a 8ig tool.

Of course, this wasn't the way it was back in her real life. It's the fact that the impact both Mindfang and her Lusus's expectations had on her was similar, and an intertwined problem she has to deal with all at once. (Also this is a more interesting way to hear her lusus "talk to her" than hearing however the fuck Spidersprite must have roared.)

Scene change to the feeding cliff.

VRISKA: Hi, Momfang.

That's a heck of a nickname that works so well right now.

Holy FUCK AAAAH!!! That's a hell of a clever jumpscare and artistic depiction, her lusus roaring from out of the shape of the back of Mindfang's HAIR!

Ew, Vriska got stuck in the web once and had to eat her way out? Not pleasant.

WOW THAT'S DISTURBING, Mindfang tenderly hugging the lusus's severed head from after Vriska mercy-guillotine'd her. HS^2 artists are going crazy good here, both visually and thematically.

The girl was 8linded 8y her pup8ed angst. As 8efouled as those we8s were, this gossamer carnage had 8een home, once. Her time here made her who she was.

Fucking indeed. Vriska has to come to terms with that, both the good and bad of it, in ways she's refused to confront fully.

Mindfang asking her to collaborate with "thespian vivacity" here in her melodrama.

Yeah, back then the satisfaction of FLARP as a game was short-lived because it meant feeding the troll who lost to your lusus, ending in screams.

VRISKA: Every win, I had to share with her. Every moment, I felt her w8ting for me. It feels 8ad, not getting a choice when you do all the fucking work.

Yeah, her lusus's relationship with her was abusive and PARASITIC.

VRISKA: Sure, the 8ooty was gr8, up until the point where there was no one left to play with. After that, it was all good as gar8age.

:CCC

Ah HERE we go. Vriska's now hearing the voice of her mother(s) speaking to her conviction that it was a GOOD thing to be raised as a killer, when parts of Vriska have learned that there are ways of growing up not shouldering that awful responsibility that could have been better... but needs to accept that in her own case, too.

VRISKA: I've already tried respecting you for making me the 8est, 8ut you know what I'm realizing? VRISKA: I didn't have to go through aaaaaaaall of THAT to 8e strong. Vrissy didn't! VRISKA: Even growing up in a f8ke world where no one has a spine, and with 8arely any guidance, her powers can do things mine can't.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT she's LEARNING FROM VRISSY ALREADY YESSSSSSSS

AND FUCKING CONFIRMATION THAT I WAS RIGHT THAT SHE WAS MANIPULATING HUMANS IN WAYS VRISKA HERSELF COULDN'T!!!

I don't think this is the right place for her to realize that the other Vriska has a different Hero Role, but she will eventually, doubtless, if the theory pans out, and I just can't wait for that if it's going to happen.

VRISKA: 8ut that's the point, right? VRISKA: There is no p8sitive spin, no learning to appreci8 you, 8ecause even by Alternian st8ndards you sucked! VRISKA: You weren't a cust8dian, you were a responsi8ility. VRISKA: I protected you, I c8red for you, and you would have happily killed me the moment things didn't go your w8y.

FUCKING PREACH

And?

FUCK YOU MOMFANG

VRISKA: Th8t's not fucking norm8l!!!!!!!!

YESSSSS GROW UP VRISKA!!!!

Oh wow, now LUSUS HEAD Momfang is holding MINDFANG's head.

VRISKA: I had one place I was supposed to feel safe. VRISKA: Why did you h8ve to 8e everything wrong with the w8rld, rolled into one terri8le monster?

😭

Yeah, the momspider was only acting according to her toxic nature. There's nothing to redeem about it.

VRISKA: I KN8W YOU'RE HUNGRY! What a8out me? My entire gru8hood, I gave and you took. F8r once, what a8out what I w8nt?! She has never considered this. And wasn't considering it now, to be clear.

😭😭

8ut the narrator was curious, what DID the spiderling want from the monster?

Here we go... open your heart and spill out its contents, Vriska.

VRISKA: What I w8nt is for you to go 8ack in time and pr8tect that fucking kid, like you were supposed to!!!!!!!! VRISKA: If you did, may8e I'd 8e a8le to relax and let my f8cking guard down for ONCE, instead of const8ntly ruining things and thinking everyone is going to turn around and kill me!

😭😭😭

VRISKA: Oh my god. VRISKA: Tavros was right!!!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT

YOU GO GIRL!!!!

VRISKA: Now I get why talking to all my friends finally led up to you. VRISKA: Y8u're the reason why I could never trust any8ody! VRISKA: Even h8r!!!!!!!! Especi8lly her.

Nooooo Terezi thoughts!!! 😭 I mean I LOVE that she's finally putting it together but it's also SO SAD OMG

This is the pain she needed to face.

And now she's even rolling it into following in the footsteps of the Marquise being wrong.

She taught her descendant so much, and in such lurid detail. VRISKA: It was 80% smut!!!!!!!!

LOLOLOL

Yeah, just as you're saying now Vriska: Mindfang's example helped keep you alive, made you a "wicked pir8", but also made everyone else hate you. :C

VRISKA: I could have 8een any8ody... and you took that aw8y from me. You made me afraid of it.

I'd insert another very appropriate sob emoji here but I'm afraid of overusing it. I'm so glad Vriska is coming to terms with all this, FINALLY, after two years of trying to confront her mothers' ghosts.

--Of course Momfang says she thinks she would be an idiot to trust anyone. She was passing along her own toxic mentality.

And Vriska says she doesn't want to think like that anymore.

"TRAPPED."

Vriska regretting not killing her lusus, saving herself from what she became, before it was too late.... christ that's heavy.....

8ut even as she said it, the Thief knew that was never an option. Emancip8tion couldn't 8e granted to either party, only mutually assured destruction. VRISKA: ........ VRISKA: I wish it had 8een different. Impossible. VRISKA: I wish I was 8orn some8ody else.

Oh honey!!! 😭😭😭

Another dead end.

STFU

Vriska deservedly blowing up and yelling at her to let her get out from under her, be her own fucking person for once...

What will you do?

Oh boy... the PROMPT appears again for the first time in this branch. What will you do. Do what you will.

I wonder... perhaps this time you can run from her. Live without her. Seek... some sort of sanctuary, like the one your friends could have given you. What if you had gone to live in Terezi's treehouse and just, never, ever come home again? Her sleeping lusus wouldn't have eaten you, and you'd have been just as protected as Terezi was. What will you do, Vriska? What will you do here and now?

VRISKA: Huh. "KILL." VRISKA: You know, every week I come in here trying to figure out what more you could possi8ly want from me, and every week it's the same shit. VRISKA: I really am suuuuuuuuch a moron. "FEED." VRISKA: Exactly. It was never any deeper than that, the answer was right in front of my face. VRISKA: Well. I'm not your free ticket anymore. M8tricide then?

No, she's just going to walk away. She doesn't need to CONFRONT her mother... she just needs to MOVE ON from her.

VRISKA: Nah. VRISKA: I never really wanted that either. Lest the girl forget, there were only two choices.

Nope. There's always a third option. Tavros's option, the one you used to think too cowardly. You can always simply flee.

VRISKA: 8ut that's not true. I'm not a wiggler anymore. Alternia is dead. VRISKA: For once in my life, I have options. And just what did the ungrateful upstart mean 8y that? VRISKA (that pose from earlier, hands at her hips, grinning and eye shining almost-wet, brilliant.): I'm glad you asked! VRISKA: It means I finally get to walk away from all this. And I'm not going to look 8ack.

YES, YOU GET IT VRISKA! You can finally MOVE ON from her! You can be who you want to be now, you're not trapped anymore!

The spider forgot her hunger, for a moment at least, as the reality of such a statement sunk in.

Whoa, you even gave THEM pause. :D

She was only a spider. She did not fear death, or feel regret, or hold any sadness. She never once loved the girl. She did not feel responsible. That said, the arachnid had grown accustomed to the smaller creature's presence. She extended one long, spindly leg 8efore her, towards the young troll.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 fuck it I'm using as many of these as I want

As if to say, "HUG?"

😭

VRISKA: Oh, a8solutely not. VRISKA: Hell no.

Maybe. But if you held any feelings for her... what would be the harm, one last time? One first time?

That proved a good call, as the spider had 100% planned on eating the girl.

Okay I stand corrected. XD Get the fuck out of here Vriska, now that you finally know you never need to come back!

Instead, the long lim8 was retracted, placed 8etween the monster's own massive jaws.

What?

Crunch noise???

The spider would not notice when the girl turned to leave. And the girl would not turn around to see if she had. The 8ound cover was closed on our trusted narr8tor, as she whispered these final words. "Good luck, Vriska. 8e assured, you will need it."

🥺

And we hear the sound of footsteps, finally walking away.

{Level Complete!}

Lots of Fire motifs in the titles this time, ending in "FUNERAL PYRE". And that long candle... is it burning down a little bit each time? The lonely candle?

Perhaps representative of the trap?

Instead of going back and comparing it, I'll just take the easy route... and wait to compare it to how it looks the next time this game on page 666 updates. C:

Gosh that was so good. We'll leave things here. I'm finally caught up. I could speculate on what the last two that aren't the cueball mean... the feather doesn't make sense to me, and the 8-ball might just need to be BROKEN in order to escape the black Plot Point, metaphorically and/or literally, since Calliope did raise the possibility that the plot point might need to be "destroyed" and this candle of the time she's spending here might itself be burning it away, until she learns she has it in her heart to shine like the SUN and melt away the wax of the candle to nothing... but for once, instead of doing too much speculation on what's about to happen, I'd rather leave it for next time.

We might get to commentary at some point, or Patreon bonus panels, or even some of the Bonus Comics from before I might have missed the last tail ends of... in which case you'll get surprise posts about them from me, most likely. But for the moment, I'll just relax and see y'all again soon. At the minimum: talk to you next upd8! Or likely before then, since it seems these additions to Homestuck^2 might be weeks apart, and I'll likely feel the issue to delve into SOMETHING of the back-commentary before then in case this Mindfang journal update was anytime recent. <3

Note that if you didn't know already, the official homestuck twitter account is letting us know when the Plot Point page is upd8-ed (this last one was August 11th), and you might need to Force Refresh or clear your cache on the page if that Mindfang chapter or whatever new one that comes out later doesn't show up immediately. I'll be putting that twitter account on Notify for certain.

[lovevuni]

Double Dare Romance : Enoch O’Connor x Reader : Part 2 Success

Warning: Flirting, Fluff, slight dirty flirting (like two bits), Slow burn

Summary: You take your new challenge into effect, taking every oppurtunity to flirt with enoch to get him flustered in order to soften him up. Your only goal is to get under his skin and have him admit defeat. Is this when you succed?

A/N: Again I hate using Y/N but sadly have to. Enjoy~

Part 1: Challenge Accepted

You are unpacking your luggage in your room Miss Peregrine has assigned to you.

“Ah, Y/N. Always one step ahead of everyone else. I must say, I admire your tenacity.” Enoch says as you are unpacking causing you to look at him.

“tenacity?” You question not understanding the word. 

“Yes, tenacity. Despite our initial differences and the challenges that arise when you’re around, you never give up or lose sight of your goals. Whether it’s advancing your mission or getting under someone’s skin, you always keep pushing forward. It’s an admirable quality, even if it does drive me mad at times.”

“The only thing I want under is you pretty boy.” You tease him causing him to raise an eyebrow at your amusing words.

“Ah, I see you’re still trying to rile me up. Well let me tell you, Y/N, there are much more effective ways to get under my skin than cheap taunts and insults.”

“I bet there is, but this is a lot more fun” You wink.

He chuckles at your antics, “Indeed it is, Y/N. And who knows, maybe someday you’ll find a way to genuinely get under my skin. But until then, I suppose I’ll just have to content myself with watching you try.” 

Claire walks into the room announcing that it was time for dinner before skipping out of the room. (I love claire)

“The night is still young, Y/N. Perhaps we could continue this conversation over dinner? My treat, of course.” In your head you roll your eyes knowing Miss peregrine and the children make the food.

“We shall” You say as you grab his arm for him to escort you down to dinner.

He smiles as he takes your had, leading you out of the room and towards the dining hall.

“A charming lady like yourself should definitely make the most of social situations. Who knows, perhaps tonight will bring about a new opportunity to annoy each other further...or perhaps something more meaningful may come from it? Only time will tell.”

“Oh I plan on it” You finish the conversation as you take a seat next to him, planning your next attack.

He takes a sip of his drink looking pleased as ever, “You know, Y/N, sometimes I wonder what motivates you. Is it simply the thrill of the chase, or do you truly wish to engage in meaningful discourse with me? It’s hard to tell with you; you’re so elusive and unpredictable.”

“I’d never tell you” He grins at this.

“Of course not, Y/N. That would defeat the purpose entirely. Part of the fun is trying to figure you out, to test your boundaries and push your buttons. And yet, despite our differences and opposing viewpoints, there’s something about you that draws me in.” 

You decide to end the conversation there and move your focus to Millard, conversing with him about different books you both enjoy.

Enoch watches as you begin to speak with millard about literature, “ Ah, a love of reading. How quaint. I must admit, though. I’m suprised to see you conversing with such a lowbrow individual as Millard. Then again, perhaps you seek to prove some sort of point by associating with those beneath you?”

You decide to ignore him and continue your convo with Millard.

He seems offended but stays silent as you converse with Millard, but continues to watch you carefully.

As you finish talking and begin to eat Enoch takes this time to try and speak with you again, “So, did you enjoy your chat with Millard? I must confess, i found it somewhat amusing to observe.”

“You’re observing me now?” giving him a shocked look knowing full well he was.

He smirks, “Indeed, I find myself fascinated by your every move. Perhaps it’s because we have such a strong connection. Or maybe it’s just that I enjoy pushing your buttons. One cannot be sure in these matters. What do you think drives your interactions with me Y/N?”

“You believe we have a connection now? If I were any better I would say your catching feeling now Enoch” You say teasingly as you run your foot up his leg under the table making sure non of the children see what is happening.

He laughs as he glances at your foot on his leg before meeting your gaze once more, “Oh, I know you are much too good for me, Y/N. But perhaps there is something about the way I challenge you, the way I push your boundaries, that appeals to you on a deeper level.”

“I wouldn’t say that now” You continue to move your foot up his body to a more intimate area of his, still making sure no one else can see.

He smirks leaning closer to you, their voices low enough not to be overheard, “is it possible that part of you enjoys the thrill of danger, the excitement of exploring forbidden territories? Are you secretly drawn to the darkness withing me even though it terrifies you at times?”

“there is nothing intimidating about you my boy, I’m just trying to prove that I can get under your skin” You whisper with your hot breath in his ear.

Gasping with shivers down his back as he feels your warm breath against his ear, “You certainly succeed in getting under my skin, Y/N. And yes, I admit it - there is something about the darkness inside of you that draws me in like a moth to a flame.” SUCCESS!

You laugh as you completely pull away from him in a succeeding manner, “told you I would get you”

He laughs, “Well played, it seems our little game has become quite heated. Shall we continue?”

“why should we, when I have already won.” You get up in victory from the table to help Claire get ready for bed, “Come on Claire, time for bed.”

He watches you leave the table and take care of Claire, feeling conflicted emotions swirling within him.

“Intrigued by your wit, intelligence, and hidden desires. Driven by the need to understand you better, to uncover the depths of your soul.” He says to himself.

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

Part 3 : Only Fun

[darknight3904]

The Stars

Masterlist / Main Masterlist

Asgard 2013

Warnings: Loki's dirty thoughts about  Astri, Loki talking about his life with Thanos.

For someone who had been locked up for weeks, Loki looked a little too desirable. His deep voice was soothing as he read the book he had chosen for tonight. Astri had long ago stopped focusing on the words and was admiring him through the yellow barrier that separated them. His hair was a bit curlier today than it had been yesterday, Astri wondered if he had done it like that on purpose. The green leather and golden armor he normally donned was gone and in its place was a softer more comfortable-looking outfit, perfect for the lounging that took up his days.

   "You aren't listening," Loki said suddenly

   "Sure I am." She lied

   "I chose a romance book because I thought you'd enjoy it." Loki sighed

   "And why would I enjoy a romance book?" Astri asked

   "I thought most females enjoyed romance books." He reasoned

   "How stereotypical of you, Loki." Astri smiled

   "Well if you don't want to read what do you want to do? Our options are limited given I'm stuck in here." He said, snapping the book shut

Astri thought about what they could do with Loki stuck in a cell. The idea of trying to push her way through the golden barrier crossed her mind, sure her magic might be strong enough but was Odin's rath worth it? Astri wasn't quite sure. 

   "How about we just sit and talk?" Astri suggested 

She took Loki's silence as agreement and began the conversation. 

   "What do miss now that you're stuck here?" 

   "Everything," Loki admitted 

   "If you had to pick one thing," Astri said

   "I guess I'd choose...the stars. It was always peaceful looking out my balcony at night when the stars shone. I wish I could experience it again." He chose 

   "Interesting choice." Astri complimented, standing up

   "Where are you going?" Loki asked 

   "To my chambers. I'll see you another time." She explained as she walked away 

She could hear Loki scampering to find a reason for her to stay longer, even offering to never choose a romance book again for them to read together. Astri was glad that he had chosen something simple for her to bring to him, had he chosen something like conquering Midgard that would have made her idea much harder. Now, all she had to do was figure out how to get through that damn gold barrier.

Loki didn't see Astri for the rest of the week, the only signal that she wasn't angry with him was the romance book she had sent to him via a guard who had handed him a note to go with it. 

Thor's lady, Jane, says men who read romance books are hopeless romantics themselves. 

Was he a hopeless romantic? Surely not. They were just means of entertainment for him after all he had a higher purpose that he'd someday fulfill. Astri's analysis was wrong. Speaking of Astri, where the hell was she? She had said she'd see him again but didn't give a date or a time and it was driving him mad. The only other real interaction he'd had since she left earlier this week was with Frigga who projected herself to his cell. Sure, it felt like she was close to him but it hurt when he'd try to reach for her only for his hands to slip right through. Loki loved Frigga deeply but he yearned for Astri's sharp remarks and how she'd immediately call him on his lies. 

He wondered what she'd be wearing the next time she entered the dungeons. Perhaps a lilac dress? She had been in a pale pink the last time they spoke. Of course, he'd love if she wore the blue one she had that had white lace embroidered on it, that one was his favorite. The way it accentuated what she thought was hidden so well under the fabric was perfectly sinful. Astri's figure had been on Loki's mind a lot recently. Initially, he thought it was because of being stuck here and the fact that she was going through his mind at night. But it had continued the entire week and he hadn't seen her at all. Sure, it could have been her going through his mind but that didn't explain why he thought of her even during the day. He'd spend time reading or drawing and find his mind wandering to her what her lips would taste like. He had smelled the stuff she put on them once, it smelled like fruits, would she taste like it too? Loki's mind spiraled more as he wondered what she'd look like if he slipped his hand up her skirt and into the apex between her thighs. He'd love to pin her down on the bed he was sitting on now and press his face between those same thighs until she screamed from overstimulation. He wondered about what she'd look like above him, gasping in pleasure as she took what had always been hers.  Loki wanted to be able to press a kiss to every inch of Astri's body and yet here he sat, imprisoned while she flitted about in the castle about him.

   "Good, you're still awake." 

Astri. Finally, she showed. Loki's hands fumbled with the pillow beside him as he placed it quickly over his lap. It was so late what was she doing down here now? 

   "Well don't be shy, get up and greet me properly." She commanded 

Loki eyed her arms which were overflowing with a bundled-up blanket and a big wicker basket. Ordinarily, he would've risen to greet her but his half-hard cock wasn't something she'd want greeting her so he stayed put. 

   "Fine, be rude." Astri huffed, pushing the blanket and basket through the small weakness in the yellow shield that was meant for delivering his meals. "You'll be thanking be after this." 

Loki's eyes widened as Astri's closed. A soft blue hue covered her body as she took a step towards the shield. 

   "What are you doing? The guards will-" Loki stopped his words as Astri phased right through what was penning him in. "When did you learn to do that?" 

   "What do you think I've been spending my week doing?" She smiled crossing the cell to get to him 

Loki wasn't expecting a warm hug but he welcomed it anyway. 

   "I can't believe you tried conquering Midgard," Astri said pulling away and giving him a hard shove 

No sooner had he opened his mouth to explain his glorious purpose than Astri had slapped her hand over it, shutting him up entirely. 

   "You can talk about glorious purpose later. I have a surprise." She smiled, turning around and laying the blanket on the ground. 

   "What are you doing? You do realize this is a dungeon...how did you get past the guards?" He asked suddenly curious 

   "A cloaking spell." She smiled and began unpacking her basket which as it turned out was full of food. 

   "So you're here to have a midnight picnic with me?" Loki asked finally standing up 

   "No, silly. You said you missed the stars, so I brought them here." Astri smiled pulling him down on the blanket with her. 

Loki decided to indulge her desires and got comfortable beside her. His hand reached for a grape as Astri snapped her fingers beside him. The area around them dimmed and the ceiling of the once bleak cell was transformed into a brilliant light show. The other cells disappeared as Astri's magic took over and seemingly wrapped them in their own little bubble. The stars twinkled and danced in front of Loki's eyes as he observed what she had done for him.

   "Do you like it? I know it's not the stars from your balcony but it's the best I can do right now." She said

   "I love it." He smiled, looking at her 

   "Good...I also brought some food." Astri awkwardly pointed out

   "Yes, I see, thank you. " He said genuinely 

They sat in awkward silence as Loki tried to think of something to say to the girl next to him. This was the first time they had been physically in front of each other in weeks. His hands itched to take hers in them, they looked impossibly small as she picked at the skin beside her nails. 

   "What the hell were you thinking?" Astri asked suddenly 

   "I bed your pardon?" Loki asked, confused. 

   "You knocked me out, destroyed Joutunheim, then let go and fell who knows where after Odin woke up and tried to help you and Thor." She explained 

   "Is that what they told you happened?" He laughed 

   "Yes. I want an explanation, now." She demanded, reaching to poke at his ribs, an oddly ticklish spot for him 

   "There was no point in staying behind. There still isn't anything for me here on Asgard, my rotting in this dungeon proves it. I have never and will never be essential to the house of Odin." He said 

   "Nothing here for him he says." Astri sighed "What about me? Or Frigga? During the year you were off gathering an army did you ever think about what we were feeling?" 

Loki felt his anger boiling in his stomach. Did Astri think he was off galavanting across the galaxy, feasting war generals so he could use their troops to win Midgard? 

   "Do you honestly think I was living my best possible life after I left here? What do you think I was doing all that time?" He snarled, upset that Astri was only talking about her and his 'mother'. 

   "I've wondered every night what you were doing where you were but you never speak of it." Astri said 

She had him there. 

   "Have you ever heard the name Thanos?" Loki asked, he felt his hands shaking. Why is he telling her this? Stop it. Send her away, yell at her to go back to her room, and push her away. 

   "I've heard it, in whispers from travelers and reports from across the galaxy, Odin has mentioned him." She said, Loki could feel her eyes on him, his gaze cast at his lap. 

   "After I let go I ended up in a place called the Sanctuary. I met Thanos there. He offered me control of Midgard in return for the Tesseract." He said shakily. 

   "What more? Months after you went missing, I kept trying to find you, and one night I did, or I think I did. You were suffering heat or something was being used." Astri said gently brushing her hand along his shoulder. 

   "He uh...He, Thanos used a tremendous amount of heat to buy my submission." Loki said, shutting his eyes. "Frost Giants can burn as it turns out." 

Loki felt Astri's hand rubbing at his back and her chin resting on his shoulder. 

   "After I had submitted to his whims, he used the Mind Stone, one of the Infinity Stones to do his bidding. After that, he sent me to Midgard, Infinity stone in hand." He said, "It remains there, those Avengers have it." 

Loki heard Astri let out a soft hum of confirmation next to him. Minutes passed and Loki dared open his eyes when he felt Astri shift beside him. 

   "I want you to know something, Loki." Astri said hooking a finger under his chin so he'd look at her "You are good. You always have been even if can't see it. 

Their noses brushed as Loki's eyes fluttered shut again. He felt hot tears run down his face at Astri's words. Damn it why did he always cry when he wanted to express emotion? 

   "Thank you, Astri. I don't feel that way, though." Loki said his eyes opening to meet Astri's whose face was close to his. 

   "You will. One day." She reassured 

Astri was indescribably warm as she pressed her forehead to his. Their breaths mingled as Loki took her hands in his. 

   "I missed you. There wasn't anyone to read with or joke with." She admitted 

   "You could have with Fandral." Loki smiled 

   "Oh please, Fandral reading?" Astri scoffed 

   "True, I think he'd rather chop off his right arm than pick up a book," Loki said, sitting up and pulling away from her slightly. 

Astri's hands broke from his, and she grabbed at his shirt, pulling back towards her. 

   "Wait." She murmured 

   "What is it?" Loki asked 

Astri's face grew redder the more Loki looked at her. 

   "Don't you have something to say? You told me to wait." He teased 

   "I just..." 

Come on, say what's going through that pretty head. 

   "I like it when you're close to me." She whispered as if it were a secret.

   "I it like when you're close too," Loki admitted, reaching out and twirling a strand of  her hair around his finger 

Astri let out an amused giggle and leaned closer. 

   "Guess I should stay nearby then." 

Loki had no complaints about that statement and nodded in agreement. Astri's scent invaded his nose, it was exactly as he remembered. Fruity yet flowery at the same time, and yet it wasn't too overpowering. He watched as her tongue appeared, slightly wetting her lips, it was like she was trying to tempt him into touching her. 

   "What're you thinking about?" Astri asked 

   "You," Loki said 

Astri barely had enough time to crack a smile at his admission. Loki knew what was next, a smart comment about how she was always dancing around in his mind. So, he stopped it in what he thought was the cleverest way possible and brushed his lips on hers. They tasted of fruit just like he had imagined for so many years. Astri had let out a small squeak of surprise when Loki had leaned in but now, he felt her smiling into their kiss. Smaller arms wrapped around his shoulders as she let out a laugh, breaking away for air. 

   "What was that?" She breathlessly asked 

   "You said you liked it when I was close." He said a wide smile on his face. 

Astri tossed her head back with a laugh and Loki felt his own laugh bubbling up through his stomach and out his mouth. He felt Astri's hands playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck, her nimble fingers pushed through his dark strands and a shudder ran down his spine. Their lips met again, this time with Astri initiating. Loki gently cupped her face as he felt her invade all of his senses, her presence was casting an unbreakable spell on him and he gladly welcomed it with open arms, after all, it was all he could ever dream of. 

Hehe first kiss for Loki and Astri. 

I am having Coriolanus Snow brain rot. Tom Blythe is one sexy mf. 

Taglist: Comment below to Join

@buttercupcookies-blog

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[fangirlingfromdownunder]

A Sweet Mishap - Chapter 3

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Reader 

A/N: If you read my Christmas Advent stories then you may be familiar with this story already, however, I've been working hard to turn it into a longer fic and as such a few things have changed (hence the reposts). New chapters will commence next week. I hope you enjoy! Let me know if you want me to be added to the taglist

A Sweet Mishap Masterlist | Main Masterlist

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Jensen and I continue texting whenever we can around our busy schedules. I consider more than a few times over the weekend to throw caution to the wind and meet up with him in his hotel room or invite him to my apartment. But in the end, I manage to stay strong, stick to my convictions and better judgements regarding my safety, and text instead. Despite not having the courage to call, it feels like we’re building a connection. But even if I had the courage, he’s been pretty busy and the texts have been sporadic with replies coming in hours apart. He did say he had to work, so I just figure he’s busy with auditions or meetings and am grateful for him making the time to text amidst the chaos. 

One thing I do is Google his name to find out what he’s starred in. His biggest project appears to be a horror show called Supernatural. I consider watching it just to see, but I don’t want to get a false idea of who he is, so I decide to stay blissfully ignorant and try to get to know him for who he is as a person instead. He did say he preferred that, after all.

It’s almost dark when I finally strip off my apron and hang it on the hook in the staff room. I collect my phone and jacket from the locker and return to the dining area to leave. I check my missed notifications as I walk out. I find my mood dropping slightly when I discover there’s none from Jensen. Instead, I scroll through our last text-chain. Suddenly, I collide with something solid–or perhaps I should say, someone, causing my phone to shatter to the floor. I quickly duck down to inspect the screen, only to find it littered with cracks. I sigh and then remember the person I ran into. I look up to apologise but lose all words when I meet his emerald eyes. I just smile in shock. Even with his pulled-down baseball cap and dark sunglasses, and after a single meeting, I instantly recognise him.

“You really gotta stop running into me like this,” the man says with a laugh.

“Can I buy you a drink to make up for it?”

“As I recall, that didn’t end well. Regardless, I can’t stay long, I do have a flight to catch. I just really wanted to see you again before I left.”

“You sure you can’t stay?”

“I’m sure. Someday. Let’s just promise to stay in touch.”

“I promise. At least just let me make you something for the road.”

“You look like you’ve already finished for the day. Go rest. You look exhausted. We’ll talk later.”

“Alright. Have a safe flight.”

He pulls me in for a brief hug and then disappears out onto the street and into a dark Range Rover. I smile at the whirlwind visit and then go back to my apartment. I throw a microwave mac and cheese dinner in to cook while I shower and change into my worn-out PJs, which consist of an oversized sweater with a teddy on the front and pink, plaid flannel pants. I’m not sure how long his flight will be but by the time I sit on the couch with my cheap and unappealing dinner in my lap, over an hour has passed. Despite not knowing when he’ll see the message, I decide to text him anyway.

It was great to run into you again *literally*... I am sorry about that, I really need to watch where I’m going Have a nice flight home or wherever you’re going Text me when you get there 

Not expecting a response until later, I put your phone to sleep and flick through the TV channels. To my surprise, Supernatural is airing. I have no idea what episode or season it is, or what they’re up to, but when Jensen’s face appears on the screen I’m unable to bring myself to change the channel. Despite my initial desire to stay ignorant, I just can’t look away. I gasp and try to resist the urge to look away when his character, who you’ve gathered is called Dean, slices off someone or something’s head. But somehow he manages to make decapitation attractive. Every expression on his face keeps my eyes glued and I find myself getting even more engrossed. He tells the story so well even though I don’t really know what the full story is. His taller brother in the show is also incredibly attractive. The longer I watch, the more I find myself not caring about the plot and just enjoying the eye candy instead. Part of me feels a little guilty for looking and thinking about Jensen like that when he seems like such a nice, genuine guy in real life. And he genuinely seems interested in pursuing a friendship — or hopefully more — in the future. 

Once the episode ends I force myself to switch off the TV, clean up and go to bed; I have another early shift tomorrow. As I lay in bed, the images of Dean – or Jensen – flow through my head. Unable to sleep, Idecide to text him again.

I guess you’re still on your flight Just wanted to let you know I saw you on TV tonight Your show Supernatural was on when I was flicking through the channels Can’t say as I picked up on a lot of the plot but I can see why the paparazzi follow you Anyway, I’ll stop bombarding you now Good night

I force myself to switch my phone onto sleep mode and plug it in to charge. As I lay in bed, I relive the impromptu meeting until I finally fall asleep.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

Taglist: @stoneyggirl2

[k-slla]

Before you continue to reading I'm letting you know that in here is a major spoiler for Spn se15.ep20 - you've been warned 🥲

Warnings: all angst this one, show level violence, death

WC: 2,222

I am sorry, but kind of I am not- I've cried a lot writing this and I hope that you will too..🤍

All mistakes are mine!

My Masterlist

Enjoy!

You sat at the library table, staring at the working voice recorder placed on the table in front of you. You didn’t even know what pushed you to do these recordings. Maybe you wished, deep in your heart, that somehow  some version of Dean from an alternate universe would find them. All that sorrow, grief and pain that you went through from losing a soulmate of your world, should probably have some effect on them, too, right? He wouldn’t be the Dean you’re talking about right now, but he’d know that in some other timeline he was loved, he’s gone and you’re missing him, a lot. You wanted to hope so at least.

Maybe it was just to get those feelings out that were burning your insides like acid. Even if it was the same story told by you every day. Maybe it was just your way to deal with losing him.

Well, whatever the reason was, you had no one you needed to explain yourself to. 

Some days it was just maddening, being all alone in the Bunker. Sam had left a long time ago. He didn't forget Dean, but he definitely moved on. You stayed put, you couldn't take the needed step to move out or to try move on. All connections with Jody and Donna and even Claire slowly died off and there was no one left for you to go to other than the recorder now waiting for you to speak your mind. Perhaps that was just your fate. Who could change that?

“Hey, Dean, it’s me. Today is..” you sucked in a quick breath. “Today marks the full year that you’ve been gone now.” You continued quietly. November 19th. You couldn’t believe that it’s already been a year without him. “Each day getting closer to today, it has gotten harder for me to climb out of bed in the morning. Every morning when I awoke, I looked beside me in bed and you weren’t there. You haven't been there for a year and I miss you, Dean. I miss you so much.” You thought you had already shed all your tears, but no - they still kept pouring every morning, day and night. 

“And I miss Sam, too. I know that I’ve probably said it a million times before, but…Well, Sam moved out of the Bunker not long after we gave you..” Following words scraped your throat like thorns. “..the burial. And I completely understand that. He didn’t want to stay here anymore. I can’t blame him. I couldn’t leave and now it’s just lonely here. He begged that I’d let him take Miracle with him. I know how much you loved that pup. I miss him, too. But believe it or not, Sam left me the Baby for now. I did tell him that this was your legacy, your father's legacy and he agreed that when the day comes, Baby would be left to his eldest.” You smiled through tears that were silently running down your cheeks, thinking of Sam someday having kids. 

Something that Dean never got to enjoy for his own. Talking about everything over and over again eased you in some way. Even if it was for the day.

“I still have a hard time thinking about that night. Nightmares even. That was supposed to be your last hunt. We were almost out. And…And it was your last hunt.” 

You and Dean did have dreams. Big dreams for your future without Chuck, monsters and hunting. You never told anyone, but you and Dean were very close to trying to start a family. 

You definitely had hoped for a little Mini-Dean. Both of you were so excited, when you had all your late night pillow talks about family and kids, thinking about names even. He would've been an amazing father, you were absolutely certain of that.

“What am I supposed to do now?” Your voice broke. You figured that if it wasn't for you talking to this recorder on a daily basis, you'd probably go mute. You and Sam texted, very infrequently, once a month or so. He gave a promise to Dean, to look out for you, but it wasn't his fault that you were the one drawing back from him. Even with a text a month, you still felt like you were hanging over him like some shadow from his past, clawed to his back, keeping him from moving on. And you didn't want that, so you’d rather not speak at all. 

“What am I supposed to do?” You repeated with a whisper. You still hunted sometimes, if you had the energy for that or if it happened to be close to you. But it was a rare sight. You did some odd jobs, just to have some money for food to keep you going. But you didn't need much. Meal a day was enough to sustain you after all the hard work of sitting at the library or sleeping. 

Honestly you felt like you were fading away staying in the Bunker. But also there was nowhere for you to go.

“We were so close. So close, Dean, to get to our dream…and still…” You couldn't stop the tears that were now free falling. Memories of that night forced themselves into your consciousness. 

A simple routine vampire hunt. You had to admit, you were a little bit nervous, but still, there were the three of you together, so you knew the chances of anything happening were slim. But there were more vamps than you all had expected and it turned out to be a struggle. You were all battling for your lives there. Everything happened so quickly. One second Dean was fighting with one of them, the next moment he was across the room, pinned against the post.

Sam quickly took care of the vamp who had attacked Dean, while you fought with one on your own. Sam came to help you out, and when you took a look around, you saw all the headless bodies laying around. Neither of you didn't even realize at first that Dean hadn't moved after the attack, not before he called out to you. “ Y/N, I- I can't..” 

Sam reacted first and ran to him. “Hey! Hey, hey, don't move, Dean. We'll get help for you. It'll be okay.” Dean took a few quick breaths in. “No, Sammy. It's…I think it's pierced.. right through.” He looked at his stomach and your eyes followed, and you saw a tip of a metal spike coming through.

“Dean! No, no, no…please no! Sammy, help him!” You yelled hoarsely, while your hands traveled all over Dean's body, trying to find the best way to get him off there.

“No, Y/N, sweetie. No.” Dean remained calm when he looked at you. “You can't move me. I'm sorry. I don't think I have long left…” He spoke quietly, a few tears running down his cheeks. You stood in front of him, barely able to stay up as he brought up his hand to your cheek. 

“I love both of you. So much.” His eyes shifted between you and Sam. “Please..Y/N, can I - can I talk with Sam for a second?” You nodded and shut your eyes tightly, fighting tears. “Of course, honey.” You let go of him and walked a little bit further to give them a moment. 

You sat down on the ground and looked at the brothers, who were now saying their goodbyes to each other. This wasn't how the hunt was supposed to end. This wasn't how everything was supposed to end. It was too soon. Just a simple vampire hunt had turned so quickly into this nightmare. 

With his last strength Dean was holding onto Sam's shirt. “You’ll have to look out for her, Sammy. For me. She'll need you out there..” You heard Dean say quietly. “And-” Dean's voice had started to quiver. “I love you so much, my baby brother. I-I need you to tell me…” he took a deep breath to steady his voice and looked Sam straight in the eyes. “I need you to tell me that it's okay. I need to hear that from you, Sammy.” Both of them had tears silently streaming down their faces. “I’ll look after her, Dean. I promise..” You knew how much it hurt for Sam to say the following. “And it's okay, Dean..It will be okay.” he tried to smile through his tears. 

You saw how Dean looked at Sam. His baby brother, he’d taken care of almost all their lives. They've had all their fights over the years, differences on what's right or wrong, or how to save the world, but ultimately all that what was now left there, was love. The same, unconditional love that they've had for each other from day one.

Dean let go of Sam and looked at you on the ground. You knew what was coming and you were not ready for that. “Y/N, please..come here..” he was out of breath just a little. “Dean, no..” you were bawling and protesting against saying goodbye to him even though you still dragged yourself up and to him. 

“I'll be outside for just a second.” Sam moved a few steps back, to give you two a moment alone. You held onto Dean's shirt, keeping yourself from collapsing. You were shaking all over your body from the shock. Even now, standing face to face with him, you couldn’t look Dean in the eyes. “Baby, please look at me.” You shook your head and sobbed loudly, fingers clinging tighter onto his shirt. “I can’t, Dean!” 

Dean reached for your cheek, holding it softly and whispering. “I need you to…I need to see you..” You took a shuddering breath and finally gathered strength to look at him. You didn’t want to think of what’s going to happen tomorrow. All you could do for now, was to cherish the time you had with him. Even if it ends way too soon, you had to be happy with the time you had together. Not every hunter is as lucky as you and Dean were. You had to take everything from that moment that you had to say goodbye to Dean. 

For a little while, both of you stared at each other without saying a word. In his eyes you saw acceptance of what’s to come. He had already made peace with his fate. Now there was only left for you to do the same.

“You are beautiful, Y/N.” he smiled weakly. “I’m sorry..for leaving you, but I know you..” He closed his eyes for a second to take a deep breath to keep going. “I know you’ll be alright, but baby, you have to stop hunting..please promise me, Y/N, that you’ll get out.”

“Dean, I can’t…not alone..”

“Yes, you can.” His hand faintly squeezed yours that was still locked in his shirt.

You moved closer to Dean to rest your forehead against his. “Well...I don’t want to.” you sniffled.

“You have to, sweetheart…Tell me..it’s okay..you have to tell me it’s okay..for me to go.” he spoke fast but the words were quietly fading on his lips. This was it. 

You turned your head towards the door. “Sammy!” Turning back to Dean, you kissed him for the last time. “It’s okay, Dean, you can..you can let go..I love you.” Very faint smile appeared on Dean’s face as he saw Sam beside you again. 

“No bringing me back this time, Sam.” He wheezed out. “We’ll see each other again soon enough.” You rested your head on his shoulder and felt his whole body slowly starting to relax. Dean leaned into you and with his final breath, he quietly whispered into your ear. “I love you, Y/N.” 

From the corner of your eye you saw Sam break down on the floor. He sat there for a minute while you still held onto Dean. A moment later, Sam got up and pulled you into his strong embrace when you were still struggling to breathe. “We- we got work to do.” You sniffled and let go of Sam, sudden numbness taking over you. 

You didn't know how long you were sitting there, thinking about his last moments. You had no idea what time it was. Day or night, it started to feel all the same to you. 

Your brain had blocked out mostly everything after the goodbye. You knew you helped Sam with Dean and the pyre, but there were no emotions there. You were numb. Your moves were robotic. Both you and Sam stood by Dean as long as the fire was out. He wanted to get you away from that but you refused to leave. All you could think of while you were standing there, was that there was no one, nor will there be anyone you'll love more than Dean. 

“I love you, Dean. I'll speak to you tomorrow.” You whispered your last goodbye for the day before you turned off the recorder. Every day has become the same to you. You knew that one day you'll see him again and that was all that kept you going. Knowing that Dean was still waiting for you was all you needed to move forward.

Taglist: @jackles010378 @cevansbaby-dove @alternativeprincess94 @deanwinchestersgirl87 @il0vebeingdelulu

[desultory-novice]

First off, Anon, thank you! Second, I loved your ideas (which is why I'm going to paste them at the end of this ask) but I also ended up spinning this off in a completey different direction! ^^

I started with summarizing Marx and the Haltmanns because I had the strongest concept for them. Buckle in folks, this is LONG...!!

It's time for a Villain Swap!! (With pictures!)

-

Kirby Super Star: "Glittering Galaxy Gambit"

["Milky Way Wishes" ; Marx the Cosmic Jester > Max Haltmann]

Antagonist: "Max the Magician"

-A traveling stage magician who showed up in Popstar a few months back and has become a popular figure thanks to his friendly, jovial dad-figure vibes and dazzling magic tricks that defy reality! (At least, "reality" as the backwards Dream Landers know it! - In actuality, everything is done with holograms and advanced technology. Max doesn't have a drop of magic in him. Plenty of dad vibes though.)

-One day, Max's biggest, most highly anticipated magic show is interrupted: the sun and the moon have started a fight and can't decide whether it's night or day!! The Dream Landers beg him to fix this and he attempts but even HIS "great magic" can't do anything.

-He's knocked back by the attempt. When Kirby runs to check on him, he tells Kirby the legend of Star Dream, a wish granting comet that was long ago broken into pieces. If one can collect the pieces and put it back together again, it will grant a wish. Surely THAT will be powerful enough to restore Dream Land and Popstar to normal!

-When Kirby succeeds in assembling Star Dream, Max, who had been following him, shoves Kirby out of the way! Oh, how he's been waiting for this moment! Having given up a successful business and disguised himself as a traveling entertainer, going from planet to planet, putting on shows for "backwater bumpkins" looking for someone he could use to help him get what he needs!

-Even "the sun and the moon" was a highly advanced hologram to usher Kirby toward his quest. And now that that's done, Max can make his wish: for Star Dream to bring his daughter back to life...!

[Basically Max + Beta Magolor]

-But...Star Dream starts to malfunction immediately Max's wish! A logic error has caused a fatal exception and the wish cannot be executed!! Instead, Star Dream begins opening a planet-sized rift in an attempt to rip several different dimensions through each other!

-"...What have I done? Why did I try to activate such a horrible machine..." Max mourns his mistake, but it's too late. After all, he's just a tech startup CEO masquerading as a showman. He has no REAL power, magic or otherwise to stop this... but Kirby does. Max summons his behind-the-scenes "stage assistant," the Robobot, and instructs it to help Kirby shut down this berserk machine!

-After Star Dream explodes, Max apologies to Kirby for fooling him and everyone... He's a fraud AND a failure. And always was...

-Kirby lets him know that he's not THAT much of a fraud. Everyone on Popstar enjoyed his shows after all, even if they were never real magic. And...if his wish to bring his daughter Susanna back to life didn't work, maybe that means... she isn't truly dead...? Perhaps she's still out there somewhere in this vast galaxy, looking for him too...?

-Max wipes his tears and resolves to follow Kirby's advice and keep looking for her. To continue on as "Max the Magician" putting on his tech-infused magic shows across the galaxy in hopes that someday, he will find Susanna - or vice versa! He also vows to come to Kirbys' aid at any time in thanks for stopping him before it was too late.

:Cue Kirby's Triumphant Return:

--

"Kirby and the Cosmic Circus"

["Kirby: Planet Robobot" ; Max Haltmann > Marx the Cosmic Jester]

Antagonist: "The Ringmaster"

-One lazy day, a giant circus situated atop what will eventually be revealed to be a golden watch appears in the skies above Popstar and now everyone is acting really, REALLY weird?!

-That's because this is no ordinary space-fairing circus, it's the dreaded "Cosmic Circus" and it's run by a mysterious figure known only as The Ringmaster, supposedly a once upon a time clown who's said to have been traveling the stars for countless years.

-Any place his circus visits is soon after forcefully turned into an extension of The Ringmaster's show by powerful Ancient magic. The people are forced to dance and sing and smile and serve popcorn and juggle and tumble and clown around and otherwise perform nonstop in demeaning shows to an audience of their fellow clowns.

-"Patty" a pink-haired songstress in a ridiculous looking clown nose and tutu, who confirms she is just one of The Ringmaster's many victims across the galaxy, caught and forced to perform in his show many years ago, appears before Kirby to tell him the origins of the Cosmic Circus and The Ringmaster piece by piece through song as Kirby gets closer and closer to The Ringmaster's main tent... 

-It all started with a spell gone bad... The former clown attempted, on his own, to open a Dimensional Rift to locate/rescue his missing friend and co-conspirator, who'd disappeared in the Mirror Dimension. It was foolish to attempt so without an Ancient Artifact, and when the spell backfired, the clown found himself sent several centuries and several dimensions away. Having lost all hope of seeing his fellow magic-user again, all he wanted now was just to go back home, to where life was simple and fun. A very small wish...

-As luck would have it, the clown DID run across an Ancient Artifact, a wish-granting Clockwork Star! But this star was old and weary looking, and the clown had grown paranoid after his previous failure. He refused to make his single wish for fear it would go wrong and he would be left with nothing again. He poured his soul into magic to form a link between himself and the Star, giving up an eye in the process. The clown had succeeded in BECOMING the star, giving him access to as many wishes as he could possibly need!

-But his fears were right all along. The dusty old Nova was not so good at interpreting the clown's wishes to return to his home dimension, and it's said his many, many attempts to get it right was what originally lead to the creation of the cursed Cosmic Circus: every planet his circus passes by now "becomes" what the Nova believes the clown's former home to be. Or perhaps, it was having so much power and using so many wishes that twisted the clown into becoming The Ringmaster of his own volition? "Who can say...?"

-Kirby reaches the center tent in order to put a stop to The Ringmaster and free the people of Popstar from the Nova's curse.

[Su... "Patty" inherited all of Marx's missing cuteness]

-After an initial Wizard of Oz-esque fight with a giant, threatening Ringmaster that is no more than an illusion, Marx the Clown is revealed to be a surprisingly tiny figure. But boy is he ANGRY! He hooks himself up to Galactic Nova's wiring which acts like set of mechanical arms to try and kill you. How dare you stop his show?! How does someone like you have so much power?!

-But Kirby succeeds in besting Marx again and this time... something familiar sparks in Marx's mind. He... he knows someone strong and pink like you... He knows this place... Is he...? Did he... make it home to Popstar? After centuries, his wish was finally granted...

-He turns to Galactic Nova and tells the machine the show is over. He can rest. They can all rest. The show is done and he "...doesn't need .your broken wishes anymore. Put a stop to it a-..."

-">BUT...THE SHOW MUST GO ON" Galactic Nova sends a powerful shock to Marx through the wiring, knocking him unconscious and absorbs Marx into the machine before Kirby's surprised eyes. The Ringmaster can't be allowed to leave or the circus really will be over.

-Galactic Nova, now that it has fused with Marx and "taken control" refuses to release the performers and threatens to expand the circus's reach to the entire galaxy! Looks like it's time for a fight!!

-But the berserk artifact is too big to take on, being nearly Popstar-sized itself!! From within the machine, a barely conscious Marx weakly informs Kirby the best and most efficient way to stop the star: destroy its wish-granting nucleus, that being Marx himself. 

-"...I got my wish. I made it home, even if it was too late to matter... It's time to make yours. You don't want this for Popstar, right...? Neither do I. This planet is MINE. I won't let this machine ruin it!"

-With Marx's death, the broken Galactic Nova powers down for good and the string of broken wishes they left begin the process of fading away into a distant and mostly awkward memory. Popstar and its residents are returned to normal as the Cosmic Circus's performers are released from their roles at last from all across the galaxy.

-While there is no saving Marx, whose life was forfeit when he first linked his soul to that of the broken star so many years ago, now that the circus has closed down, "Patty the Songstress", aka, Susanna Patrya Haltmann is free at last to reunite with her father, Max the Magician! But...why does she still have a clown nose...??

...And what of that wizard friend of Marx's who wandered into the Mirror Dimension? Will Kirby and friends be in time to save him...?

Given this is the permadeath swap... things aren't looking good for Mags...

-

[Anon's Full Ask - I loved these concepts too btw!]

[true-blue-sonic]

if we're talking about things in the Sonic Central that were kind of worrying/annoying: did i hallucinate, or did shadow use a move that looks suspiciously similar to Silver's PK in that Shadow Generations trailer? Like he glowed green, the debris around him glowed green, and then it went flying into Metal Overlord?

Because idk, I think I'll be pretty irked if it turns out that's what it is. Both because it might be trying to hint at Dadow being canon (which I'm super not a fan of for various long reasons) and more pettily because I'm a little bothered by the way Silver's move pool has by now seemingly shrunk to just shields and moving things with his mind, despite him once having had more abilities (teleportation, his Rivals ESP, stunning enemies in 06) whereas a character like Shadow continues to be granted new shiny powers game after game - now possibly including Silver's (I assume the Doom powers at least are going to be a temporary thing but y'know. still)

No, I think you're right. I would argue it's almost the exact same shade as Silver's PK, even.

But then again, it seems like this ability uses the same colour as well? It seems like a time-stop of sorts? Interesting🤔

But no worries about Dadow: Takashi Iizuka has gone on record very bluntly stating Shadow is not Silver's father. Besides, at least in '06 it's impossible: Shadow is too busy being trapped forever to be able to start a family in any way, haha. As for Silver... I guess we simply don't see him enough to really give his abilities a chance to shine? In Generations he could do the teleporting and create Psychic Knives (and Meteor Smash, my beloved!), but in Forces I'd say that none of the characters really got a chance to let their abilities show. At most they're just kinda punching away at Infinite's clones in the final battle in a way that makes sense for each character (e.g. Amy with her hammer, Espio with ninja posing); it's just that for Silver his lack of other abilities is far more noticeable because he is the one fighting Infinite. And since after that his appearances have stuck to mobile games, TSR, Sonic Channel stories that I guess most Western fans don't know about, and the IDW comics that have nerfed him completely, there's not been any time to show off what he can do in a better way.

I think this discussion is much larger than just Silver, though. Shadow's simply getting a ton of attention currently, arguably at the expense of/overtly so compared to other characters (afaik there was no Year of Knuckles to tie in with the second Sonic movie, for example). It makes sense because Shadow is among the most popular characters in the franchise ever, who even was more popular than Sonic for a while in the 2000s iirc, but it also means that other characters just don't get the same spotlight and can't show off what they can do as much as he can. So I don't think Sega is deliberately trying to give Shadow all the cool new powers while Silver and the others are losing theirs: I figure it can be attributed to the fact Shadow is mainlining in a game right now, so it makes sense he'll get new abilities to engage players, whereas the rest of the cast is just not so important and thus there are no opportunities for them to show off their own powers. Overall, I think Silver still has all those abilities (such as his ESP), there just hasn't been any room to show them. Perhaps someday in the future again!

[aetherose]

She would free herself of this thing, no matter what. Ever since the day she was shackled to it, she determined she'd be free someday. No matter how long it took. And with the power of a Wellspring, she finally had her chance to break away, even if it meant severing herself from this world.

As if she cared. This world was rancid to it's core. She failed to protect Seele when that orphanage fell, and robbed her of the only good thing she had, and the despair led her down a worse path than she'd ever imagined. And even before that, all she'd ever faced was abuse, Seele being the only one to reach out to her.

No, this world could rot. She only cared for her freedom from this Heart of Despair.

And so, she forcibly cut herself off from her world, from that thing. But of course, it came at a cost. Her body. If she wanted to survive, she had to find and reside in someone else's, in another world. An alternate her would be most preferable.

What luck that because of that thing, she had only one Mirror World as an option, and the her of that world was in some weapon. Ha. Figures that's some twisted universal constant.

Then, she saw her. Seele. Not hers, but the her of this world. This world seemed to have events play out at different times, but in the end, that incident was occurring again, and there was no Veliona this time to protect her. To protect Seele when her orphanage was attacked, and she witnessed her fellow children and caretaker all be slaughtered by some twisted monsters.

She didn't remember what they even were now. Well, not like it mattered to Veliona. They were scum all the same. Toys to be broken for what they did in another reality. Perhaps she should've thought more before she made the decision she did, but she didn't hesitate.

She awoke within her body. Seele's body. She could hear Seele in her mind screaming and crying. She always was a crybaby...

"...Haha...I'll enjoy breaking every last one of you!"

This time, she was strong enough to obliterate. Every. Single. One. She ruthlessly tore them apart with her crimson claws, and the creatures evidently were caught incredibly off-guard. Not like it mattered too much; they were fodder for her. And in the end, she'd stand before their bloody corpses with a twisted grin.

This time, she protected her.

But when she found her control slipping and her claws faded away with her control over the body, she heard the screams of terror of the girl she just entered the body of.

'Will you quiet down before you attract who knows what else that wants to kill you?'

Seele went dead silent, looking around her at first to try to find the source of the voice.

"Who...are you?! W-where are you?!"

'I thought you'd be smart enough to deduce I'm in your head. But I guess you're more of a dummy than I thought. Hmph. Whatever.'

Veliona grumbles, before continuing.

'Anyway, it doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that my newfound residence in your body has granted you power. Power that no doubt will attract the attention of all kinds of things. Threats beyond your comprehension.'

"Wh...what? Nyet- you-"

'So I'm going to need you to first off, get the hell out of here. And second off, be ready for...that thing, in case it's invading this world too.'

"Th-this...this can't be real...I have to be dreaming-!"

Seele tries to pinch herself, wincing a little at the small pain she feels, accidentally pinching too hard due to her severe stress.

'I'm not lying to you-'

Seele wasn't even listening anymore. She'd began running as Veliona had suggested, but not for that reason. She didn't want to believe any of this was real. That everyone she ever knew and loved was gone, that she had this...voice in her head that just...took control of her?

She doesn't even know. She doesn't want to know.

'Just sit down and listen to me for a second, idiot! If you run recklessly into the Backstreets you'll-'

Ah.

Organ harvesters.

She froze in place, staring on in horror before she slowly backed away, just as they started to approach her.

She tripped, and she screamed. They drew closer, sneering as they raised their blades.

'Ugh.'

And suddenly, the claws manifested again, and the organ harvesters became nothing more than minced meat.

'You're a real nuisance, you know that? But I'm stuck with you, and you're stuck with me, so listen to me for a second. Because you're not going to survive if you don't.'

As control faded away from Veliona once again, Seele slumped onto her knees upon the ground as she stared at the carnage Veliona wrought.

"I...I-I just want to go home..."

'If you want to ever find a place you can call home again, then you're going to have to work with me here.'

"...Wh...what do I have to do...?"

'Find somewhere safe, first off. This place is crawling with things that'll try to kill you. Then I'll tell you more.'

Seele looked on for a short time longer at the deceased organ harvesters...before she shakily stood up.

"...O...kay..."

And she slowly walked away, to find somewhere to reside for now.

[faith-less-one]

Hey lovely!

For your WIP game (SO glad you joined me in this!) anything you'd like to share about 'So It's You'? <3

Oh, you KNOW I want to share stuff about "So It's You". ♥

For those of you not in the know... this passage was in my very first Brennan/Cassandra fic (Stargazing) - which I wrote over four years ago:

Unconsciously, he wonders what it would be like if they hadn’t met the way they did. If he didn’t have the anchor in his hand and the fate of the whole world on his shoulders. If he wasn’t a mage and she weren’t a seeker. If he’d just been introduced to her at an Ostwick ball, some very minor member of Nevarran royalty who his mother thought would be an excellent match for her second-eldest son. Would they have flirted? Danced? Would he have stolen her away to a deserted corner of the grounds he barely remembers, to lie and stargaze like this?

And I always had in my head that someday, I might write that AU. No Inquisition, no titles, no powers... Not a mage, not a seeker. But the whole rest of my canon universe kept happening, and so it was always just... a thought.

Then, a little over two years ago, I wrote a short modern AU Brennan/Cassandra ficlet on my birthday (Glad You Exist). And it was so much fun, that on my birthday last year, I was like - "I should write that Ostwick ball fic!". So I started it. And... it ballooned.

It ballooned into a Fantasy-meets-Regency, highly Bridgerton-inspired literal novel (over 75,000 words!). Utterly indulgent, probably entirely ridiculous, and so, so much fun.

Technically I finished it last November, and commissioned ART for it, but I had it in my head to write an 'epilogue' in the style of the Bridgerton second epilogues. Except I kept stalling out and rewriting over and over again, and nothing felt as good as the initial fic did. So I dropped it for a few months. And then recently, I decided eh, fuck it, it doesn't need the epilogue.

But how to post it? It's fourteen chapters and (as I said) 75,000 words, so I didn't want to post it on my normal schedule, because it would take half the year, and that's a long time to go between updates of my regular series. Then, the other day, after posting this WIP game, I decided eh, fuck it. I want to share it!! (With more than just @ooachilliaoo !) So... yup, starting next Friday, I will be. And then a chapter every other week (alternating with my regular fic chapters) right up until Christmas. :D

And in case you've read all of this and aren't horrified... A short, highly indulgent snippet under the cut!!

---

He hears some soft grumbling coming from the other side of one of the hedges. Too quiet to make out any words, but it sounds distinctly… grumpy. And feminine.

“Uh… is everything all right?” he calls out, deciding that announcing his presence is better than attempting to continue to eavesdrop and try to figure out who it is. No one he recognises immediately, at any rate.

There’s a surprised, somewhat irritated gasp from the other side of the hedge. “Excuse me?”

She sounds more confused than outraged, thank the Maker.

“Hello!” he responds, trying his best to sound bright and non-threatening. “Do you need any help?”

He waits for a response, but there is none. Perhaps she’s just in a bad mood and he’s disturbed her from a perfectly acceptable bit of alone time before the ball starts. He grew up with three brothers and a sister, he understands how important a little solitude can be when you’re feeling stressed.

“Sorry!” he calls back, after a few long moments. “I’ll just… I didn’t mean to disturb you. Ignore me. I’ll leave you be.”

“No, wait!” The voice sounds a little frantic. With a Nevarran accent, perhaps? One of Great-Aunt Lucille’s guests. A damsel in distress? “You know your way around this blasted thing?”

“I do!” And then, after a beat. “Would you like me to show you the way out?”

He’s careful not to say the word ‘lost’. It seems like she might be the type of person to take such a thing badly.

There’s a short delay to her response, as if she doesn’t want to admit that she needs his help. And then finally, she makes a sort of grumbling noise.

“I’ll take that as a yes, shall I?” he says, and then, because he imagines she’ll probably want to get this encounter over sooner rather than later, he adds, “Just stay where you are. It’s a bit twisty, but I’ll be with you in a minute.”

Then, without waiting for another response, he continues on, deeper into the maze, toward her. Though he’s still a little wary of coming across other people on the way, he decides whatever embarrassment he might cause would be worth the trouble.

Less than his promised minute later, he turns the corner and finds a lady standing with her back to him. Right where his mysterious damsel in distress should be.

“My lady?”

She turns sharply, and he gets his first look at her.

Her.

Oh.

His heart nearly stops.

This is it, he thinks, when he recovers the power of thought a moment later.

This is that spark he’s been waiting his whole life to feel...

[andersunmenschlich]

Holidays

I don't celebrate.

Not New Years. Not Independence Day. Not Earth Day. Not my own birthday. I'm just not a very celebratory sort of person. I don't celebrate things.

No one pesters me about this in real life anymore. In this, the thirty-fourth year of my existence, I've managed to cultivate a life in which no one bothers me about celebrations.

It's startling that this should be so difficult.

After all, if a person is being forced to celebrate—if they've been pressured into it—they're not really celebrating, are they? They're enduring your celebration, which you are pushing on them without their consent.

There are many reasons a person might not want to celebrate a holiday.

There is no reason they should have to share their reasons with anyone and everyone who wants to know. That they don't want to celebrate is enough.

Part two!

There are a surprising number of people who insist on giving you their reasons.

Further, they insist that you agree with their reasons. And if you don't, they wail about how terrible you are for trying to force them to celebrate a holiday they don't want to!

Consider this example which I have just made up:

A worshiper of the goddess Anoia doesn't celebrate Hogswatch. Neither do you. Someone passes by and wishes you both a Happy Hogswatch. You smile a bit drily and say, "Yeah, you too." They grin and bounce on along their way. You shake your head and turn back to the Anoian. She is livid. "Something wrong?" you ask.

"I hate it when people assume I celebrate Hogswatch!" she says, vehemently annoyed. You agree that it can be obnoxious, but before you can say anything, she continues.

"I don't celebrate Hogswatch!" she declares. You had figured this out. You open your mouth to say yeah, me neither, and are cut off.

"I worship Anoia, and she doesn't have any holidays on Hogswatch or Hogswatch Night!"

Yes, all right—you didn't ask, but that's fine. It seems to you that Anoia never said anything about her worshipers not being allowed to celebrate any holidays other than the ones dedicated to her, but... fine.

"Hogswatch is a Nugganic holiday!" she vituperates. "I'm so sick of Nuggan worshipers thinking they can push their Nugganic holidays on all the rest of us!"

"Now, hang on," you say, so taken aback that you finally interrupt. "Hogswatch doesn't belong to any particular god as, like, a stable and unchanging thing! It started out belonging to the goddess Urika before the god Nuggan claimed it, and not only do worshipers of Urika still celebrate it in her name, these days it's really associated more with the Hogfather than with anyone else!"

The worshiper of Anoia turns on you, face pale. "How dare you," she hisses.

You blink. "What?"

"I don't want to celebrate it!" she screams. "I hate Hogswatch! It's not Anoian, it's not Urikan anymore no matter what her worshipers think, and it's definitely not just about the Hogfather—Hogswatch belongs to Nuggan, and I hate it! How dare you try to make me celebrate it?"

You are astounded. "What?" you say again. "But I didn't—I wasn't—"

She cuts you off, furious. "You can't deny it, you... you... anti-Anoianite!" And she storms away leaving you completely stunned.

.

I have not yet achieved a life in which this sort of thing does not happen to me. Someday, perhaps.

I look forward to it.

[nam-daeeun]

self-para  \  butterfly effect. where: rhee’s bar and grill. when: shortly after this plot drop. mentioned: @brxxksazars & @sita-abbrams trigger warnings: murder, death, mentions of police, and sad dae-eun.

the conclusion is that love is pain, a game that can never be stopped but still, why do i repeatedly scream mayday?

It was just a cup of coffee.

A single act of kindness, one that he hadn't really expected much to come from. He had some extra money, so why not help out? The jokes had caught him off guard, their rapport building quickly. He was sure there was more to the other man than met the eye, but he seemed content to keep the friendship light, so Dae didn't want to pry. The regrets were swinging in full force now, and he swallowed hard. If they'd talked more, if they'd only—

He broke off, shaking his head to try and rid himself of the line of thought. If's wouldn't help anyone right now.

DAE-EUN: just stay safe, don’t want to see you on the news someday. BROOKS: no news for you either DAE-EUN: i promise. BROOKS: holding you to that just so you know BROOKS: sorry you’re stuck with me DAE-EUN: same to you, elsa. sisterly bond or something. so i’ve heard, at least DAE-EUN: stuck like fucking glue

Dae bit his lip, trying to hold back the waterworks that threatened to spill out at a moment's notice. His phone screen was blurry through the unshed tears, but he could still read the words. Just barely, but it was enough.

After the snowstorm and the attack on Jake, he'd felt some sort of bond between the two of them. If nothing else, a pact sealed by stupid jokes and a fierce promise: don't you die on me.

It seemed the promise had never been intended to be kept.

DAE-EUN: there’s something going on here. i just have to figure it out.

Once again, he was useless. Regulated to the sidelines, unable to do anything as the town died in front of him, both in presence and spirit. The longer this went on, the less smiles he saw around him. But not Brooks. Somehow, he kept being his goofy self—Dae still wasn't sure how. Even he didn't have the strength to do that.

Dae hadn't had many friends throughout his life, and even fewer that would've considered him one. So the pleasant surprise of someone not only initiating that step, but continuing to keep it going—it baffled him. Brooks was one of the few people after his move to Nightrest that he truly would have called a friend. And now, he was gone.

He hadn't noticed when everything had happened. Dae had stepped out, looking for a breath of fresh air—Hana's restaurant was thick with people, and they were getting to be too much. Moments after the door shut behind him, he could hear a cheer from inside: the second game was over. 

He stayed outside in the night air for a bit, letting his mind run aimlessly until someone screamed from inside. He wished he could say the scene awaiting him was a surprise, but when he realized that he knew the voice, his heart only sank deeper as he raced back inside the restaurant.

From there on out, the rest of the night was a blur. Dae couldn't concentrate on anything, words slipping in and out of focus. He could barely keep himself afloat long enough to answer the police's questioning. He couldn't get the images of the body bags out of his head. Knowing that behind the thick fabric lay people he knew—knew, he catches the tense change—was beyond unsettling, his stomach twisting every time they passed by. 

Sita.

God, Sita.

Why did this seem to happen to him every time he managed to be happy? It had happened with Selin, and it happened again with Sita. Perhaps this just wasn't the thing for him. 

Dae wanted nothing more than to block the past night out of his head—and maybe someday he could. But that night was not tonight, and his hands shook as he numbly stumbled out the door of the restaurant. He couldn’t even look at his car without pangs of regret washing over him. They’d been there not even three hours earlier.

DAE-EUN: i’m afraid someone just won’t answer. SITA: Don’t say that! SITA: I don’t know how much more death I can take, honestly. DAE-EUN: honestly? me either.

Slowly, he moved towards the car, unlocking the doors and pulling it shut behind him, but he didn’t drive off. Instead, he just sat, staring at the steering wheel. He’d always felt a level of honesty with Sita, one he didn’t feel with many others; she was easy to confide in. A snippet of their previous conversation came tugging back to him, both of them mentioning how they’d never really dealt with death before, uneasy on how to deal with all of this grief.

He supposed he’d have to figure it out on his own from now on.

Memories kept flashing before his eyes: the two of them having a quiet heart-to-heart at a table at C’s, heading out (against his safer instincts) during the fires to scour the scenes, the kiss they’d shared at her house just that night. All of it, gone, just like that—ripped away in minutes.

Not completely, of course—the memories remained, but that was all he’d ever have.

He was getting sick of relying on those alone.

DAE-EUN: if you’re leaving, PLEASE be careful. i have this feeling that something bad is happening.

He took a deep breath, trying to pull himself together enough just to get home—get home, then you can fall apart. Slowly, so slowly, the car drove off into the night.

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

23rd Day of Christmas

An Impromptu Mishap

Summary/Prompt: Part 3 to A Sweet Mishap.

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Reader 

A/N: Merry Christmas Eve to those who -like me- are in countries where you’re celebrating today! This part’s not overly Christmassy, but I just wanted to write another part in this world. Will hopefully continue and expand on this series more in the new year. 

Christmas Masterlist | Masterlist

You and Jensen continue texting whenever you can around your busy schedules. You consider more than a few times over the weekend to throw caution to the wind and meet up with him in his hotel room or invite him to your apartment. But in the end, you stay strong, stick to your convictions, and text instead. You haven’t yet gotten the courage to call, but even if you had, he’s been pretty busy and the texts have been sporadic with replies coming in hours apart. He did say he had to work, so you figure he’s busy with auditions or meetings. 

One thing you did do is Google his name to find out what he’s starred in. His biggest project appears to be a horror show called “Supernatural”. You consider watching it just to see, but you don’t want to get a false idea of who he is, so you decide to stay blissfully ignorant and try to get to know him for who he is as a person instead. 

It’s almost dark when you finally strip off your apron and hang it on the hook in the staff room. You collect your phone and jacket from your locker and return to the dining area to leave. You check your notifications as you walk, not paying any attention to your surroundings as you’re a little disappointed at the lack of messages from Jensen. As you walk you run into something solid–or perhaps I should say, someone. 

You look up to apologise but you lose all words when you see who it is. You just smile in shock. Even with his cap and dark sunglasses, you committed his frame to memory.

“You really gotta stop running into me like this,” the man says with a laugh.

“Can I buy you a drink to make up for it?”

“As I recall that didn’t end well. Regardless, I can’t stay long, I do have a flight to catch. I just really wanted to see you again before I left.”

“You sure you can’t stay?”

“I’m sure. Someday. Let’s just promise to stay in touch.”

“I promise. At least just let me make you something for the road.”

“You look like you’ve already finished for the day. Go rest. You look exhausted. We’ll talk later.”

“Alright. Have a safe flight.”

He hugs you briefly and then disappears out onto the street and into a dark car. You smile at the whirlwind visit and then go back to your apartment. You throw a microwave dinner in to cook while you shower and change into your PJs. You’re not sure how long his flight will be but by the time you’re sitting on the couch with your dinner in your lap over an hour has passed since you saw him leave. Not knowing when he’ll see the message, you send a text anyway.

It was great to run into you again *literally*... I am sorry about that, I need to watch where I’m going Have a nice flight home or wherever you’re goingText me when you get there 

Not expecting a response until later, you put your phone to sleep and flick through the TV channels. To your surprise, Supernatural is airing. You have no idea what episode or season it is, or what they’re up to, but when Jensen’s face appears on the screen you’re unable to bring yourself to change the channel. Despite your desire to stay ignorant, you just can’t look away. You’re slightly unsettled when his character, who you’ve gathered is called Dean, slices off someone or something’s head. But even he makes that attractive. Every expression on his face has you even more engrossed. He tells the story so well even though you don’t really know what the full story is. His taller brother in the show is also incredibly attractive. The longer you watch, the more you find yourself not caring about the plot and just enjoying the eye candy instead. Part of you feels a little guilty for looking and thinking about Jensen like that when he seems like such a nice, genuine guy in real life. And he genuinely seems interested in pursuing a friendship — or hopefully more — with you in the future. 

Once the episode ends you force yourself to switch off the TV, clean up and go to bed; you have an early shift tomorrow. As you lay in bed, the images of Dean – or Jensen – flow through your head. Unable to sleep you decide to text him again.

I guess you’re still on your flight

Just wanted to let you know I saw you on TV tonight

Your show Supernatural was on when I was flicking through the channels

Can’t say as I picked up on a lot of the plot but I can see why the paparazzi follow you

Anyway, I’ll stop bombarding you now

Good night

You force yourself to switch your phone onto sleep mode and plug it in to charge. You lay in bed and let yourself relive your impromptu meeting until you finally fall asleep.

[noir-renard]

In hindsight, they probably should not have let Damian take the reins on contacting the erratically behaving Batmobile. But Robin is Batman's partner, Damian had argued, and as the current bearer of the name, establishing contact with Batman is my responsibility.

Mostly, Dick just wanted it to be a confidence building exercise. What's the harm? He'd thought. This is standard procedure, he'd assured himself.

When Bruce didn’t answer the voice call on the first ring, the assurance made way for a hint of doubt. When it went straight to voicemail, the doubt grew.

"Try again," Dick suggested.

"I know," Damian snapped.

The second time they called, it was rejected.

"Third time's a charm, that's what I always say," said Tim, already hacking into any satellites close to Bruce’s last know location.

"You would say that," said Jason, who was hanging around pretending he didn't care what happened to Bruce and doing a bad job of it.

Bruce’s hands were probably just busy. And he couldn’t use voice commands. Or some other explanation that they'd all laugh at, someday.

"Call him one more time, Damian."

Fortunately, the call was answered this time.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Bruce.

The face looking back at them from the dash cam face chat was not, in fact, Bruce. Or anyone Dick recognized. It did have some similar qualities that usually ended with Dick saying "You have a problem, Bruce," or "did you really need to adopt another kid?"

"Sorry for hanging up on you guys, this car has like a thousand buttons and none of them are labeled. It's alarmingly easy to accidentally turbo boost the car instead of answer the call—"

"Identify yourself," Damian said pointedly.

"Uh, hi, I'm Danny," said the adoption bait driving the Batmobile, sass levels matching ghost peppers on the scoville scale. "Batman's fine by the way, if you even care—"

Something exploded in the background as the speaker—Danny, apparently—swore and swerved around a corner.

"—or he is for now, but we're in a bit of a pickle."

"Where is Batman?" asked Damian.

"Backseat" —Danny jabbed his thumb behind him to underscore the point— "He's not unconscious but he can't drive—"

"What did you do to him?" Asked Jason.

"Me? I saved his ass is what I did. There I was, kidnapped by a billionaire—typical tuesday stuff, you know how it is—so I was trying to make the most of things and destroy a bunch of projects when BATMAN drops from the ceiling, boots covered in ectoplasm" —Danny paused, cursing as he banked the steering wheel left and avoiding another explosion— "and he wouldnt leave me behind! I had it handled, but we were still hashing out the deets, so to speak, when Vlad comes in, mad about, and I quote, 'corporate espionage', which is hypocritical of him, really—"

Dick didn't catch the next thing Danny said, on account of something green flying through the window and attacking him. Danny didn’t seem surprised by this, just annoyed. He grabbed the green thing (still unidentifiable) by the scruff and through it out the window literally. Without breaking the glass.

"Did you say Vlad?" asked Tim. "As in Vlad Masters?"

"So you have the misfortune of knowing him, too," said Danny, like he wasn't talking about one of the regular topper of the Forbes 200 list.

"Long story short," Danny continued, "I blew up the evil lab and got out of dodge with an injured Batman, you're all very welcome. Now, is there any way you could send, like, a jet? Maybe a helicopter? You guys have one of those, right?"

Dick was rarely speechless, and this was no exception. But he was, perhaps, reaching a state of speechless-adjacent.

How can someone say so much and reveal so little?

"Why do you need air transportation, Danny?" Dick cut in.

"Well, we're kind of in the middle of nowhere, and I figured you probably do all your medical stuff in house anyway, and he might need a blood transfusion—"

"Blood transfusion?" Damian hissed. "He's bleeding?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"You said he was fine!" Tim pointed out. Enthusiastically.

"He's fine-ish? He used something from his belt to stop the gushing, but I doubt it's a long-term solution based on what I know about medical stuff, though admittedly I learned most of it from Grey's Anatomy—"

"Danny, focus," tried Dick.

"Why is he bleeding?" Asked Jason.

Danny shrugged. "Didn't dodge the invisible vampire fast enough, I guess. I was dealing with the bomb at the time."

"Invisible—" Dick took a deep breath. "So it's a puncture wound?"

"More of a piercing slashing kind of deal? What's that?" He turned around and leaned into the backseat, apparently talking to Bruce. "He says it missed the femoral and renal arteries, but may have nicked his spleen? He estimates he has a couple hours until he—oh, I don't think I should tell them that over the phone, Batman—"

"What is it with this family and spleens," Tim mumbled.

Dick wished for a pillow to scream into, but there wasn't time for that kind of personal breakdown mid-crisis. He'd do it later. He already had the pillow selected in his mind (it was a Superman Squishmallow. Perfect for screaming into.)

"We are sending the Batjet to your location immediately—"

"Maybe send it close-ish?" Danny interrupted. "There's a bunch of mountains and trees and ghost-animal-homunculus—homunculi? You get it—"

"I really don't," Dick muttered to himself.

"Anyway, gotta go, this car is kind of a two-hands driving kind of deal, and my sister says distracted driving is a killer. But don't worry! I've never hit anything or been hit by anything the three months I’ve been driving legally, and I only failed it the first three times. How do I hang up…this button? Nope. This one—oh, found the turbo jets, maybe this one—"

The last thing Dick saw was Bruce's gloved hand reaching forward to press the end call button.

"Alfred—"

"The batjet is already ready for takeoff, Master Dick," said Alfred. "I do suggest you hurry, however, as Master Damian has already buckled himself into the pilot's seat."

Dick sighed. One way or another, he had a feeling this was going to end with, if not another brother, then another something. A good story, at least.

Danny’s Wild Ride

Another week, another prompt.

Batman was out investigating a new weapon energy source while the rest of the Batfam was fighting those smuggling said weapons into Gotham. He took the Batmobile, which hadn’t been moving for the last few hours, and is now racing around the surrounding mountains, like a bat out of hell.

So they call the Batmobile. And instead of Batman, they see an bat-doption bait driving the Batmobile. With explosions going off in the background. And Batman with a bleeding head slumped in the passenger seat.

[secretgarden02]

Some random thoughts that I typed in discord when discussing with my friend. The context was pretty much us talking about the dynamics for the dead characters if they met each other in Afterlife 1) Hibiki could have an interesting dynamic if she ever meet Sayaka since both share the similiar talent. But that’s only it. As I already said in the picture, it would be interesting that Hibiki would try go far to commit murder by herself and pin it on Kanade (but I imagine the result ended up not working in her favor since she’s not an experienced killer like Kanade does)

2-3) Talking about possible Yuri and Chihiro dynamic along with Akane. Considering Yuri worships female so much, imagine how awkward would be for him if he discover Chihiro to be male (my friend also said that it also would take him quite fast to figure out Chihiro that he’s actually a boy, he would probably be in denial first though lmao). Also considering that Yuri have met Akane before because she works for him and Yuri wanted to meet her again someday, he would be delighted to meet her again and they probably could stay as friends. But I do wonder what would his reaction would be if he ever find out that Akane was part of Ultimate Despair group before (perhaps he would be disgusted for the first time by a woman) (Starting from here, I just copy paste my overall thoughts from discord since the convos got cut piece by piece when discussing with friends)

4) Void’s reaction if they ever meet Akane, especially Nikei and Mikado since I figured only those two that knows Akane is the only person that is acquinted with Utsuro the closest.

5) Mikako-Yamato interaction with Utsuro-Akane again in Afterlife..... because yes

I would like to continue, but my brain is fried now ngl- so much brainrot over these fangames characters

[falling-pages]

Bend the Knee: Kyoya x Reader

Thanks @ouranbound for the idea <3

-

“I fear I’ve been so busy planning our future that I did not give time to notice how they were exploiting your present."

-

Sometimes Kyoya's betrothed needs help adjusting from their commoner life to one of splendor.

-

Kyoya Ootori x gn! Reader

Genre: Fluff, established relationship, arranged marriage, Commoner! Reader

Warnings: None

-

“Quit.”

“What?”

“Quit. You complain about that job every night, so just resign.”

You sit up on the couch, gasping to even begin to make the young heir understand how preposterous his words were. He barely even noticed, just kept his eyes glued to his novel as you were having a crisis. Just another normal Tuesday in this household. “I can’t quit just like that, without two weeks’ notice.”

“The other employees did.”

“But I’m their best,” you scramble, “I can’t bail while they’re still looking for two more people.”

Kyoya scoffed, licking his fingertip and turning a page. “Is that how they treat their best? Overworked and underpaid? They don’t sound like very good bosses to me.”

“It’s not that, it’s…”

It was that. It was exactly that, which made his smug smile all the more frustrating, igniting that fire under your nails to just punch his lights out. But then you’d have to admit it’s bothering you, and he would win, and even though you were engaged to marry this man, you just couldn’t have that.

You ran your hands through your hair, dropping back down onto the couch. His office futon wasn’t comfortable in the slightest, perhaps to discourage relaxation during work hours, but it’s what you dealt with in order to spend time with him in the evenings, a change you would certainly implement once your name was on the deed and in the will--a revamp of his working space was imperative.

But you supposed you couldn’t complain. It was your little life together, where he manages a multi-billion dollar empire and you whine about your job, where he pretends to not pay attention while you spill your guts. What was the sense in commenting when he knew you wouldn’t take his advice?

“I’ve worked hard for this position,” you settle on, closing your eyes and letting your brain do the work. “I’ve climbed the ladder and gotten promotions and I used to feel so important, and it isn’t my dream job, sure, but I’ve enjoyed the process.”

“Then it’s time to move on to something different,” he suggests, and his tone is softer than usual, though still careful to sound detached. “You know I have more than enough money to provide for you and our family someday. Is that not enough?”

You open your eyes when the voice sounds closer, right above you, and you see him kneeling down beside you on the couch. You start to sit up, but he pushes you back down, helping you stretch out your spine, shake out the stresses in your limbs. And when he takes your hand, drawing his long fingers over the arch of your wrist and against your palm, you were startled to see him at eye-level.

Kyoya Ootori bent his knee to no one except you, and only once, when he slipped that pretty gold ring on your finger. But here where you lay, your faces were on the same level, and you felt like an equal.

“The world I come from isn’t black and white, Kyoya,” you say, as he strokes the back of your knuckles. Such tenderness was seldom seen from him, but you revel in it, grasp onto it with dirty fists and brazen recklessness. To have him so attentive to your needs and listening to you was rare. It was a privilege, a standard you would soon be held to, as well. “To be just...launched into fame because my dad won the lottery is hard, I still need to adjust. It can all be gone in a second, so I can’t just drop something. I can’t...sever the safety net. They need me to keep the place afloat, and even as tough as it has been, I can’t leave on such bad terms. They need me. Just for a little bit longer.”

He sighs your name like the afterthought of a prayer, settling his other hand beside you on the couch. His fingers dig into every indentation, as if joining your discovery of its stiff cushions. The sheen in his glasses signaled he’d look into it, but there were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.

He remained silent, odd for a man with all the answers, but he continued to look at you, not like he was trying to drill a hole through your head, but like you were a puzzle he was just beginning to figure out.

“Have I really been so absent, my love?” he whispered, raising his hand to your face. One finger stroked along your cheek, slowly, lulling you into peace. “I fear I’ve been so busy planning our future that I did not give time to notice how they were exploiting your present. Please, forgive me.”

All of the air was knocked out of your chest as his gentle words, so soft that you almost didn’t recognize him. When your parents betrothed you, and when you fell in love with him, agreed to marry him, even, you knew that he would always be an Ootori, with every string attached. You were ready for the challenge, ready to be with this man no matter what--but his sudden kindness was unexpected, the poetic words unfamiliar in your ears.

“Kyo, you think I wouldn’t forgive you?” you ask, taking off his glasses.

He let you, and when you set them on the nearby stand, his dark eyes glittered with something you had never seen before. Deeper than love, deeper than compassion, a feral protectiveness mixed with sadness skating across his face. It was so rare you saw him without this shield of his, you had almost forgotten how his eyes were like galaxies, like the murky night sky, expansive, swallowing everything in its path.

“If I had been suffering so, I wouldn’t forgive my partner had they not noticed,” he said.

“I’m not suffering...”

“Mmm-mm.” He shuttered your lips closed with his finger, and you couldn’t help but return the affection and press a kiss to it. He smiled, softly, and you thought about how long it had been since you had seen that smile, and how long it had been since he’s seen yours, too.

“I know I’m not the best at expressing my feelings,” he said, and when you snorted, he rolled his eyes and leaned away. “See, this is exactly why.”

You leaned up and kissed his cheek, giggling. The feeling was foreign in the pit of your chest, drumming near your spine. “I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

“Thank you.” He cleared his throat, softly wiping where you had kissed him, a repetitive, soothing motion. “I’m not the best at expressing my feelings. I’ve been raised to think that if you throw money at something, it will go away. It’s a powerful position to hold, knowing you can change everyone’s fates on a whim, but…” he swallowed, breaking eye contact, and you felt his energy shift into something vulnerable. “But you changed that. You make me feel...you make me feel. And at first I didn’t like it. I loved you, but I didn’t like what you did to me. I didn’t like how you made my world shift off-balance, until I realized my world was no longer my family’s company or stocks or what other stiffs thought of me. It was you.”

You tried to lean up and kiss him, but he grabbed your hands and held them in his own. “Please, let me finish, I want...I want you to know. We’ve been betrothed for so long, but I’d like to think we were only truly engaged when I bowed to you with that ring.”

“Okay,” you breathed, shallowly, taking it in, squeezing his hands to help him along.

“Because that took everything in me,” he continued, and his voice shook, his hands shook, and all you wanted was to gather him in your arms and hold him till he relaxed. “I was raised as a superior, but I’m not. Not with you. You are my equal, and I love you, and there’s no future with us if I can’t look beyond my own problems to see yours.”

Your stomach quelled in light of his confession. The life of luxury and fame you had so recently come to know was a blur compared to his childhood swathed in privilege. Only six years ago you were waiting tables to save up for college when your dad bought a lottery ticket for the hell of it. Now you were attending charity balls and engaged to the son of the richest man on earth.

He took a shaky breath and kissed your forehead, seeming to only find the courage once his lips met your skin.

“I notice. I swear I do,” he said. “I tried to act disinterested when you vent to me because it was a protection, it was a way to stay cold, because that was all I ever saw from my mother and father. They were separate people who happened to live in the same house. That’s not us. I’m not my father. I swear I notice. I notice your tired eyes and your tense shoulders and your fake smile and I want to fix it, but I don’t know how, so I clam up. I shut down. And I’m sorry. I truly am, my darling. I don’t know how you put up with me.”

It was an absolute miracle that you could even breathe at the end of his speech, panting almost as heavily as he was. And when you leaned forward to kiss him, this time he didn’t object, but pulled you even closer, shrouding your body with his, his sharp scent overwhelming your senses, clouding the air around you, even when there was no distance between you. His mouth was hot with passion, yet reserved, and though it wasn’t the first time you kissed, it was the first time you thought he meant it when he told you he loved you.

“Kyoya, I love you,” you whisper against his lips. “I have for so long. I wouldn’t have stayed with you if I didn’t, no matter what our parents said.” He laughed, nipping your bottom lip lightly. “And I don’t want you to change for me. You’re under so much pressure, I understand why you act like you do. But our home isn’t Wall Street. My heart isn’t some business bargaining chip. You don’t need to fight your nature to love me. It’s one and the same.” One of his tears splashes down onto your face. “So just see me. Love me. Choose to be vulnerable. I promise it won’t scare me off.”

“I will. I promise.”

He kissed you again, burning his brand against your tongue, hard like a handshake to know he meant it. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him even closer, like you were breathing the same air, using the same lungs, the same heart beating in tandem.

When you let go, his forehead remained pressed against yours. His eyes were slightly open, watching you, eyelashes fluttering against your skin. He was so soft, like this. You wanted to hold him forever.

“Come to bed with me,” you whisper, trailing a hand through his hair. “I just want to spend time with you.”

He kissed your forehead, rubbing his nose against yours in compliance. “I’ll spend all the time in the world with you, beloved,” he sighed, capturing your lips once more. “For as long as you’ll have me.”

-

Kofi