#so far i got like 4 different paintings already

[azultecnicolor]

I need to be put down

[persevereforahappyending]

A Legacies Secret |13|

Pairing: Tara Carpenter x Reader

Summary: You just wanted a happy life with your girlfriend but then Ghostface attacks, revealing long thought to be buried family secrets.

Warnings: Canon Typical Violence, Stabbing, Attempted Murder, Murder, Death, Blood

Word Count: 3.4k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15

You glanced to the side as some of the guys laughed and shoved each other. You shook your head; you weren’t really friends with any of them, but they were fun. You put your attention back on the large canvas before you, smirking as you raised the spray paint bottle to the brick wall. While the others drank and smoked weed, you tended to focus on the vandalism side of things, you didn’t do any major damage, it was paint, it would wash off, eventually. Besides, it was the high school, it’s not like you were hurting anyone.

Just as you began to spray another line a siren sounded and there were red and blue flashing lights. “Shit,” you whispered. You tossed the can aside and took off running behind the others.

While the guys ran to their cars or down the street you veered right, running behind the school. You kept going, running behind all the buildings next to the school. When you no longer heard sirens or saw any lights you slowed to a light jog and eventually stopped all together. You rested against a brick wall as you tried to catch your breath.

You looked around one last time before pushing off the wall, you shoved your hands in your pockets and walked towards the street. If you acted casual, then no one would suspect anything. Almost as soon as you stepped onto the sidewalk a police car appeared. Your head snapped to the car, and you shuffled your feet as you considered taking off again.

“Don’t even think about it,” Dewey’s voice came from the speaker on the car.

You rolled your eyes and raised your paint-stained hands. You locked them behind your head as Dewey got out of his vehicle. “Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic,” he sighed. “Is the whole hands behind the head thing necessary?”

“Don’t you think some light vandalism is a little below the sheriff’s pay grade,” you snarked.

“What can I say, I just knew you’d be involved.” You couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Let’s go.” He gently grabbed you by the arm and led you to the cop car. He made sure you ducked down far enough so you didn’t hit your head getting in the back seat.

The two of you rode in silence back to the police station. “Want to give me the name of your friends?” He asked.

“They’re not my friends,” you said.

“Right,” he sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

You watched Dewey through the mirror, he was still treating you with the same kindness he always did when he brought you in. There was something different though, there were bags under his eyes, and it seemed as if he hadn’t slept in days. You slumped in the backseat, nothing to do put pick at the hole that was already there.

The one good thing about living in a small town was that you arrived at the police station in a matter of minutes. Dewey wordlessly got out of the car and opened your door for you. He once again gently grabbed your arm and led you into the station. You passed by the officer left at the station, he barely glanced up from his paper before rolling his eyes at seeing you again.

“Sit,” Dewey ordered when the two of you got to his office.

You slumped down in the chair across from his desk. You looked around, nothing was new, not like it had been long since you had been in this same position before. Dewey’s office was at the back of the station, but he generally kept the door open, and the blinds were always up so he could see out onto the floor and his officers could see him.

“What was it this time?” Dewey asked as he leaned against the front of the desk, staring down at you. He once told you he did this because he felt it created a more open dynamic, that it was more casual, and easier to talk than it would be if he was sitting behind the desk.

“Nothing,” you mumbled. You crossed your arms as you refused to look him in the eye.

“Come on-”

“Look can you just call my foster parents, I want to go home.” You rolled your eyes, you didn’t know why Dewey was trying to do this tonight, it was late, you weren’t in the mood for one of his speeches.

“Cut the bullshit,” Dewey snapped. You couldn’t help the way you flinched, your eyes instantly snapping to Dewey. “We do this almost every week, you’re sixteen,” you looked down at your hands in your lap. “I can’t keep protecting you.”

“Then don’t!”

“So, juvie, that’s what you want?” You glanced up to see Dewey’s disappointed glare. “Is it?”

“No,” you mumbled.

“Cause that’s where you’re headed if you keep this up. If you’re lucky!” You looked up at him, your eyes wide. “If they wanted, you could be tried as an adult.”

You opened your mouth, but no words came out. ‘I’m sorry’ didn’t seem like enough. ‘I’ll do better’ wasn’t enough, those were just words. Words didn’t mean anything at the end of the day, actions are what matter, actions are what spoke the loudest.

“He came home drunk, again,” you whispered.  You glanced up to see Dewey’s furrowed brow. “My foster dad.”

Dewey sucked in a breath and nodded. He knew what your foster dad was like, he knew exactly what your life was like. “Did he hit you?”

You shook your head. “Left before it got that bad.”

Dewey sighed and took a seat in the chair next to you. “You don’t have to stay there, you know.”

You let out a humorless chuckle as you scoffed at just the idea of that. There weren’t any other options, you had to stay with them until you were eighteen and then they’d kick you out and you’d be on your own. “Yeah, cause I have so many places to go?” you snarked.

Dewey got up and made his way around his desk, grabbing something on the shelf behind it. When he turned around, he was holding a packet of papers. He leaned across the table, holding out the papers to you. You hesitantly reached up, taking the papers from him.

When you looked down at the papers you couldn’t help but furrow your brow. “Emancipation?” you asked, looking up at Dewey. “There’s no way I’d ever qualify,” you shook your head, tossing the papers back onto his desk.

“Not if you do the work,” Dewey said. He picked up the papers and held them out to you again. “You’re a smart kid, the only one who can pull you out of the path you’re on, is you.”

You reached up and took the papers back from him. You looked down at it. You had thought of it before, of course you had. Getting emancipated required a lot of work though, you had to have your living situation figured out, you had to have an income, you had to prove that you could be independent and support yourself.

“I don’t even know where to start,” you mumbled.

“First,” Dewey said. “This shit,” he picked up an empty spray paint can from a previous encounter with you. “Has to stop. No more. I don’t want to see you in that seat,” he pointed to the chair you were in. “Again.” You nodded, keeping your eyes on the floor. “I can’t keep giving you chances.” You nodded, you had gotten lucky every time Dewey was the one to bring you in, no one else would have been as generous. He got up and made his way to the door, resting his hand on the doorknob as he looked back at you. “You know the way out,” he said before leaving his office, letting the door close behind him.

You continued to stare down at the papers in your lap. Maybe Dewey was just having a bad night, maybe he really was done with you, either way, you needed to get your shit together. You were going nowhere if you kept going at it like you were, it was only a matter of time before you got caught up in something much bigger than a little vandalism.

You shot up in your seat, your heart beating erratically in your chest as you looked around. “Hey, hey,” Tara’s soft voice came. You calmed down instantly when your eyes landed on her. “It’s okay.” She gave your hand a comforting rub. You were at the hospital, you were still at Tara’s bedside, you guessed you had passed out from all the crying.

“Sorry,” you rasped out. You got up from your seat, moving to the little sink in the room to fill a glass of water.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” You leaned your back against the sink, resting your hands on the counter behind you. “How are you holding up?”

You shook your head; you had no idea how you were doing. “I hate this town.” You stared at the floor.

You felt Tara’s eyes on you, but you couldn’t look away from the floor. “Ask me again?” Tara whispered. You scrunched your eyebrows, looking up at her with a tilt of your head. “Ask me again.”

Your eyes widened when you realized what she meant. You couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on your face despite your current situation as you made your way to her bedside again. “Run away with me?” you asked, leaning forward to stare into her eyes.

Tara nodded, happy tears filling her eyes. “Okay,” she whispered. You were already leaning in as she reached up with her good hand, resting it on the back of your neck to pull you closer.

You eventually moved to Tara’s other side, even though you couldn’t hold her hand anymore, you still wanted to keep your eyes on the door. You were in the chair, pressed against the bed as you ran your fingers through Tara’s hair. The two of you were watching some mindless TV, trying not to think about everything that had happened.

You rubbed your eyes tiredly; you could barely remember what sleep felt like. The only times you had slept since Tara’s attack had been in an uncomfortable position in a chair, passing out from crying yourself to exhaustion, and the few hours you had been knocked unconscious, though Tara told you that last one didn’t count as sleep.

You pulled out your phone when you felt it vibrate. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes when you saw whose name appeared on your screen. “Who is it?” Tara asked.

“Your sister,” you grumbled. You rolled your eyes again as you swiped to answer the call.

“Y/N,” Sam practically screamed into the phone as the phone got to your ear.

“Too what do I owe the displeasure Samantha?” you asked, unable to hide the irritation at her calling. The only reason you even picked up was because of Tara, you had no problem letting it go to voicemail.

“Ghostface is going after Tara.”

“What?” You shot to your feet. “How do you know?” You started pacing around the room, your eyes darting all around for anything that could be used as a weapon.

“Judy’s dead.” You stopped in your tracks. Your eyes were wide as you looked up at Tara. She scrunched her eyebrows, silently asking you what Sam was saying. “Wes too.” You shook your head, that couldn’t be, you had just seen both of them.

“Fuck,” was all you could manage to get out.

“He’s going after Tara.” Sam was clearly struggling with what she was about to say to you. You were sure it probably had to do with the fact that she told you to stay away from Tara and now she was calling you, telling you Tara was in danger. “Look I’m-”

“He’s not laying a fucking hand on her,” you cut her off. You didn’t need her apology; you didn’t want it. All that mattered right now was protecting Tara, that was your only concern.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

You clenched your jaw and gripped the phone in your hand tighter. “Whatever,” you hung up.

“What happened?” Tara asked.

“We need to get you out of here,” you said. You looked around until your eyes landed on the wheelchair.

“What’s going on?”

You rolled the wheelchair as close to the bed as possible, so you could get Tara into it without risking hurting her more. “Come on.”

“What’s going on?”

Tara grabbed your hand, forcing you to look her in the eye. “Ghostface.” Tara’s eyes instantly filled with tears, and she began shaking her head. The same fear you saw when she first woke up was back. “Hey,” you moved to her side instantly, gently brushing away the strands of hair that fell in her face. “No one is going to hurt you.” You stared into her eyes. “I swear, I’ll protect you. Okay?” You waited for her to nod.

You locked the wheelchair in place. As soon as you got your arms under Tara to lift her you heard a noise outside the door. You held your breath as you stared at the doorknob, waiting for whoever was out there to start turning it. You could feel Tara gripping onto you, her nails digging into your arm.

You moved quickly, getting Tara into the wheelchair as you continuously glanced at the door. No one tried coming in and you couldn’t hear a sound coming from the other side. The silence, which should have been peaceful, was anything but, you knew the second that door opened all hell would break loose. Sam said Ghostface was on the way, but he could have already been there. The only thing standing between Tara and Ghostface was you and you weren’t going to let him lay a finger on her.

You started to roll the wheelchair as quietly as you could when you saw the doorknob begin to jiggle. You raised a finger to your lips and moved across the room, so you’d be behind the door when it opened. Tara shook her head furiously, but you kept your attention on the door, you weren’t letting him get her.

As soon as the door creaked open you rammed your shoulder into it. There was a groan as the door whipped back into whoever was trying to open it. You quickly opened it, ready to tackle the person when you stopped in your tracks. “Richie?” you asked.

“What the hell?” Richie said, holding a hand to his bleeding nose.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Richie opened his mouth, but you didn’t know what he was about to say because behind Richie was Ghostface. “Look out!” You tried to warn him. Richie turned just as Ghostface brought down his knife, slashing him across the forearm.

Richie backed up, nearly tripping over his own feet before Ghostface grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. You kept yourself between Ghostface and Tara, straightening your back as Ghostface turned to face you. He tilted his head and twisted the knife in his hand.

“Move as fast as you can,” you whispered, glancing at Tara out of the side of your eye.

Before Tara could argue with you, you moved. Ghostface raised their knife, but you caught their arm as they tried to bring it down. You backed them up, slamming them against the wall. You heard the wheelchair begin to move behind you, at least Tara actually listened to you for once. Ghostface pushed back and you turned them, so your back was facing the door. You just had to stall them long enough for Tara to get to safety. You started to walk them back when they tripped over Richie’s feet. Ghostface crashed to the floor, their knife flying out of their hand.

You didn’t hesitate as you turned and ran out of the room. You got your hands on the wheelchair and began racing down the hall towards the elevator with Tara.

Something hit you in the side, sending you slamming into the wall, the force making Tara’s wheelchair tip over, and sending her crashing to the floor. You groaned, your eyes instantly widening when you heard Tara’s cries. You moved to go to her when you felt something pierce your side. Your breath caught in your throat as you looked down, seeing a knife in your side. You lifted your head, staring into the white mask as Ghostface slowly pulled out their knife.

“No!” you heard Tara scream, though she sounded far away.

Ghostface raised their knife and waved it back and forth in front of your face so you could see your own blood coating the knife. They brought the knife down, shoving it into your left shoulder and giving it an aggressive twist. You screamed and brought your hands up, trying to pull their hand away from you. They ripped it out without a care and watched as you slid to the floor. Your right hand went to your shoulder as your left hand held your side, trying to stop the blood but it continued to seep between your fingers.

You tried to pull yourself up as Ghostface slowly walked towards Tara, he was taunting her, knowing she couldn’t crawl away. It sounded like Ghostface was talking to someone, but everything was muffled. You tried to move as Ghostface reached her, but you only collapsed to the floor.

You took away your hand from the wound on your side, reaching out as if you could get to them, as if you could stop Ghostface. Just as Ghostface raised their knife the elevator doors opened. You choked out a sob as Dewey raised his gun, firing several shots at Ghostface until they dove out of the way down another hall. Sam rushed to her sister’s side, helping her up and as gently as she could rushed her to the elevator.

Dewey rushed to your side, he swung an arm around you and helped you to your feet. He whipped around with his gun when he heard a noise, but it was just Richie coming out of the room, a hand to his head from where he was hit. Dewey put his other hand around Richie and began struggling to help the both of you to the elevator.

As the three of you passed the hall Ghostface ran out, slamming into the three of you, making you crash to the floor again. Richie stumbled back to his feet, his eyes widening in horror as Ghostface dragged you back by your feet. He stood above you, and you could only stare up as he raised his knife.

The next thing you knew Ghostface was thrown back, crashing into the cabinet display along the wall. You turned your head to see Dewey with his gun raised. He kept his gun trained on Ghostface as he ran to your side. He didn’t bother flinging an arm around you this time, opting to just drag you by the back of the shirt towards the elevator.

Dewey finally let you go when he reached the elevator, letting you slump against the back wall. Tara dropped down to your side, resting a hand on your shoulder. Sam dropped down next to her, helping put pressure on your wounds. Richie was slumped in the corner, holding a hand to his bleeding arm. Dewey pressed the button for the first floor as he stood in the doorway.

“The head,” he whispered.

“What?” Sam asked, furrowing her brow as she stared up at Dewey.

“You have to shoot them in the head. Otherwise, they always come back.”

“Who gives a fuck!”

“I do.”

You Dewey held your gaze as he stepped back out of the elevator. You shook your head, you tried to move but your body just wouldn’t cooperate. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“N-n-no,” you whispered, coughing up some blood in the process.

Dewey gave you a sad smile before turning and walking back to Ghostface. You shook your head as he raised his gun at Ghostface’s head who still laid motionless in a pile of broken glass. When Dewey stepped closer, the broken glass cracking beneath his feet Ghostface’s arm shot up, stabbing Dewey in the gut, making him drop his gun.

“No!” you screamed, tears instantly feeling your eyes.

The last thing you saw before the elevator doors closed was Ghostface standing tall above Dewey, raising their knife as they prepared to stab him again.

[aakeysmash]

Roommate or boss?

part 1, part 2, part 4

Pairing: f!reader x Katsuki Bakugou.

Warnings: none.

Word count: 1.5k.

Katsuki knows you will not remember anything from this night tomorrow, since he sees how drunk you are. He’s sober though, and what you said has him thinking from the moment he leaves you on your bed, soundly asleep.

He’s always been a rude guy, he thinks people are too used to kindness to function properly in nowadays society.

To prove his (still standing) point, he opened the cafe when he was 18. He wanted to make something out of his life, and he knew he couldn’t do it without a steady income. Honestly, he opted for a cafe just because one day Midoriya said he couldn’t see him as a cafe owner. Basically, he opened it out of spite. So he bought the store from an old lady that was literally almost gifting it, painted it himself all summer, put the counters/chairs/machines that he bought all over the country (“if they’re good, cheap and they can ship them here, I can always fucking renovate them”) and he hired some of his frien- uhm, classmates, as his work subordinates.

They all just finished high school, so they all needed money. Todoroki and Momo weren’t even together back then. They had their little flirt moments, sure, but working together really strengthened their relationship. It made Katsuki sick to his stomach.

If Katsuki was something, he prided himself on being honest: he never said their paycheck was coming in late, or that they wouldn’t be paid. He did all he could to be the boss he wanted others to be happy about.

For the last 4 years things have gone pretty well. Kirishima was (and still is) a big part of this project, and Katsuki probably wouldn’t have come so far without his aid (even if he would never admit it).

Even if he was indeed the boss, he opts to never go himself at the cafe, since he likes to be behind the scenes more (also, even if he doesn’t know it, this is the reason why he doesn’t recognise you, even if you have been working there for 2 years). And maybe it’s also because seeing some of the people that stuck with him since the beginning makes him feel a tenderness that he doesn’t want to acknowledge.

And yeah, he was definitely still a rude guy. He just didn’t think he wanted to be nice to people, or, well, he knew he didn’t want to be. Things have gotten better since middle school, sure, and he now has friends who accept him just as he is, but he isn’t used to making friends. One day he woke up and he had friends. He always (jokingly?) said he was forced to be their friend.

But you were different.

At the time he met you, he was really desperate to find a place to stay in, since he had to be more and more present each day at the office. His old landlord was an ass and kicked him out since all of a sudden he wanted to rent each room of the establishment to a different person, and he remembers crashing at Kirishima’s place for two weeks while he was searching for a new apartment. You just happened to post that you needed a roommate the same day he was about to call his parents (yes, he was THAT desperate).

You were the 23rd person he visited in those 2 weeks. He was pissed out of his mind: 5 out of 22 people never got up to greet him at the door; 6 already had a roommate and they just wanted to sublet to make more money; 10 were living in such horrible conditions that he thought he got sick every time he saw a pile of old dirt in their home; 1 just wanted to have… some kind of intercourse… since they saw his photo on the booking app.

And when he saw you opening the door of your house with sleep still covering your features, he was about to turn around and really call his old folks. He was tired of this shit.

But you still managed to smile, even if he noticed how your eye ticked slightly when you clarified that he was indeed early after he pettily said that he waited for you for 15 minutes. Also, that remark was probably what made him stay. He didn’t want a weak extra as his roommate, and his more-than-good sixth sense was saying that you were indeed capable of holding your ground.

He does find you incredibly annoying, though. You have this aura of softness he doesn’t like, but that he is drawn into. He is a pretty silent guy when he is in his personal space, while you like to talk about whatever you have done a certain day, or about your new trashy show, or the new recipe that you saw on IG that he “absolutely has to try”. You basically yap all day long, and it gets on his nerves. Badly.

But he also enjoys your company. He’s very loud when he’s with his friends, being as naturally angry as he is about anything, but your softness rubs on him the wrong way, and it makes him stay silent. Well, he knows this is what he tries to tell himself, anyway.

He doesn’t want to admit to himself that the way you want to be his friend puts him in the awkward position of not being able to reciprocate your efforts. It’s not like he doesn’t want to, it’s that he doesn’t know how to, and he hates not being good at something.

And so, he distances himself. Even if he does watch you from afar, and even if he did notice a lot in the 4 (almost 5, “fuck rent is due tomorrow”, he thinks) months you have lived together. For example, you’re super easy to please. When you have a bad day he notices that you brighten up if he cooks both of you dinner (which really isn’t a hassle for him, even if he says so) instead of making you cook for yourself. Or that if you have a pretty tiring day at work/uni and he “accidentally” leaves some coffee in the pot before his morning run the next day, your eyes twinkle a little bit more when he comes back home.

He’s not used to being so close to someone who tries their best to be happy anymore. The last time he was that close to someone happy, he started to be a bully (yes, he did say sorry to Midoriya. Multiple times. Mostly when he sporadically got drunk in high school).

Your outburst gets him thinking because, after all, you’re a really good fucking roommate. He’d hate to have to search for another apartment because you get sick of his ass.

Most importantly, some part of him likes how different you are from him, and he doesn’t want to be rude when he knows you’re just trying to make him like you. But it’s second nature to him. You’re too pure in that sense, and he wants nothing to do with that.

He doesn’t know how to say sorry, just like he doesn’t know how to change things. The fact that you won’t remember anything and even if you will you probably would just shrug it off just makes him believe that it’s not that big of a deal.

After all, if your roommate still pays their rent and acknowledges you as a human being, what could possibly go wrong?

“Fuck, my head is killing me” whines Ochaco while you escort her out of the door.

“We really have to stop getting drunk” you sigh, while rubbing your temples. “You have Midoriya picking you up, right?” you ask your best friend.

“Fortunately yes. Say hi to your roommate, I don’t think we had the chance to meet yet” she responds.

You raise an eyebrow before saying “you don’t think?”.

She shrugs, before adding “you never know, this town isn’t that big. Maybe I’ll find out that, I don’t know, he used to be my boyfriend’s best friend or something like that”.

You laugh, “you read too many novels”.

A car parks right in front of your door, and a guy with green curls walks out of it.

“Hi! I’m Midoriya. You must be the best friend Ochaco always talks about” he says while putting on the biggest smile you’ve ever seen on a human face.

“Hey, that’s most definitely me. Take good care of her, okay?” you reply with a smile of your own. “I have to get back to my thesis, but we have to meet each other again soon. Drive safely!” you add, while he gets her purse on his shoulder and gets the door of the car on her side open.

“Thank you so much babe. Don’t stress yourself and text me!” your best friend says before Midoriya nods at you and starts the car.

You get inside of your house again.

You and Ochaco just woke up, so you still have to eat breakfast.

While you get near the coffee machine you notice a scribbled note on the counter.

“Left coffee 4 u. u'll need it. also, rent is due. -K”.

You smile and roll your eyes, pouring the coffee into a cup while opening your text messages app.

You: you could’ve texted me, you know. Thanks for the coffee.

Bakugou answers almost instantly.

Katsuki (roommate): wtv.

[yuriisclumsy]

HELLO !! I SEE THAT YOU WRITE FOR CALE HENITUSE :d you've got good taste that man makes me feral i love that unbelievable idiot :D

Whadoyyathink about Cale being with someone who's weaker than him but she's kinda useful (one of pookie's powers is to boost someone's abilities, it generally doesn't matter if the one she's aiding doesn't have magical powers, they just have to be good at something like for example, painting and swordsmanship—she can enhance their ability and knowledge temporarily).

She's a mage that's dying the more she exploits her mana. She tried to not use too much, but in a reality where she and everyone suddenly got thrusted into war? She couldn't help but use, use, use.

None of em knew her degrading lifespan until one day she just told em casually when the gang asks wtf is wrong w u why do you look like u r boutta die and why do you keep passing out sometimes

If this is too much feel free to ignore, though thank you for reading :D

Will you stay by my side forever?

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 1,443

[Authors Note]: This thing took me so long to make because I couldn't figure out what setting to write it on. Besides getting a bit tired of only writing for Cale back when I was consistent with the requests. But, hi! I'm back! At least just for this one. This request is back from May 💀. I still have two more, one from June, the other from July. So I might come back and do those. Do people want a part 4 for Love's Dance?

»»►Ouuu, what a fun scenario.

»»►Apologies in advance if it’s a bit weird, haven’t read or written for Cale in a while, so I might have lost my touch.

»»►Warning (I never really do these, but I thought it would be appropriate): could be inaccurate to the Henituse War Arc because I have yet to read it.

»»►Also, the POV is different on this one.

Dragons.

Powerful beings, capable of destroying us all if they wanted to.

One thing they weren’t meant for was to let humans ride them and control them like animals. They had far greater intelligence than any being in existence. 

So why should they submit to us?

The skies are filled with erratic bat-winged lizards; their flames and roars were scattered all over the field.

This was a war.

Dragons…What pesky creatures. I already have one to deal with, I don’t need more.

“Choi Han!”

“Yes, Master Cale?” said man came within seconds and kneeled in front of him.

“I need you to scout out the area in the east for me,” I commanded.

“On it,” and with that, he left as fast as he came.

I already know how all of this will pan out, but a little safety never hurt no one…

“Master Cale!”

“Hmm?” I turned to see one of the city guards running in a hurry towards me. “What is it? Why are you in such a hurry?”

“I-it’s lady [Name]! S-hes…” the guard gasped for air from the run.

“Easy, calm down… Now tell me, what’s wrong with [Name]?” I patted him in the back.

Recuperating the lost oxygen, the guard went serious and looked at me. “Lady [Name] has lost a great deal of blood and fainted..! S-she just started to cough and— M-master Cale–? Where are you going?!” The Guard shouted at me, but all noise was shut down by my mind.

That instinct to check on those you care about kicked in the moment I heard the word blood being uttered.

I ran.

Ran, and ran, until I was able to see the camp where she had been stationed at by me. A camp far from the battlefield, but close enough for me to constantly check-up on her.

How could a thing like this happen to me? I had just checked on you a few hours ago, so why? Why are you suddenly bleeding?

The men there stood aside as I ran past them. They understood not to be on my way with the expression I wore on my face.

“Where is she?!” I yelled to the men crowding a tent. I already knew my answer when they looked at me  and then at the inside with sad expressions.

I burst in and scanned the area to look for the woman I ran miles to see. I paused. There, on a bed on the far corner of the shelter, was her. [Name]. Medics surrounded her with yet more sad faces.

I walked slowly towards them, not wanting to know if what I had in my mind were to be true. “Is she alright?” I asked when I was a mere few feet away from the bed.

The head doctor looked at me with furrowed brows and sighed. He then gave me a smile when he saw my eyes, filled with worry.

“She is fine,” he said. I let the breath I didn’t know I was holding. “But she has lost a great deal of blood. I need her to stay in bed for a few days, and another more of pure rest until I see her health back up again.”

“I see… Thank you.”

“No need, it’s my job,” the doctor looked at the other two, who I believe to be his apprentices, and gestured to them to exit with him. “I’ll leave you alone with her,” he patted my shoulder as he left.

I stood there for a bit, before I went and sat on the bed right next to hers. I stared at her face; the face that made my heart jump from excitement wherever I saw a smile; the face that l would look at and made me feel better instantly; the face that made me fall deeply in love with her.

“...Cale?” a voice rang in my ears which made me snap out of my trance. My eyes meet with hers.

“[Name]...you’re awake,” I let out simply. She smiled at me, relieving me from the aching I had in my heart moments prior. “Are you feeling better?”

She nodded. Her eyes were filled with a love I can’t put in words, stared at mine. “I’m… I’m sorry,” she said sadly.

My eyebrows knitted in confusion. “What are you sorry for? None of this is your fault.”

“...” she stayed silent. She turned her head to the other side, blocking my view of her expression. I knew this move of her’s. She did this whenever she was hiding something. And then I realized something. I hadn’t asked what the cause of the blood was.

“[Name]...” I called to her, “..this wasn’t your fault…was it?”

“...I’m sorry,” she apologized and let out a low sob. “I didn’t want for any of you to find out this way….”

I was in disbelief. What possibly could she have done to cause such blood loss other than a stab wound…had she...?

“[Name], tell me… You didn’t cut yourself, have you?”

She quickly looked at me, “no, of course not, I would never do something as bad as hurting myself!” She reassured me.

That’s good…but that doesn’t answer how she had lost a lot of blood.

“Then…why were you bleeding?”

“...That’s..a long story.”

“I have all day,” I crossed my legs and rested my head on the palm of my hand.

“...”

“...”

She sighted thinking I would give up on the subject, but I’m far too stubborn to give up. “I lost a lot of blood because…”

“Because…?”

“Because of my ability…” she finally said.

“Your ability..? The ability to enhance abilities?” I asked in thought.

“Yes.”

“How exactly does your ability work then?”

“Well, you know that I can upgrade someone's abilities, yes?” I nod, and she continues, “but what I didn’t tell you was the toll it comes with.”

“Toll? Wait, have you been hurting yourself while using your ability?” I accuse her.

“No! Well…yeah, but exactly how you think…” that wasn't very convincing. “Whenever I use my power, it takes energy from my body. The more I use it, the weaker I get.”

“...”

“Please don’t be mad at me…” she pleaded with puppy eyes.

“...I’m not mad.”

“I feel like you are.”

“Well, I’m not,” I straightened my back, “but I will have you permanently stop using that power of yours.”

“What!?” She sat up at lighting speed, and groaned out of pain.

“Don’t sit up so quickly,” I got up and held her back.

“Y-you can’t just…prohibit me from using my power! How else would I be useful to you? How would I earn money!?”

I didn’t say anything. Then an idea came to mind. My ears were burning at the thought.

Taking courage, I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat at the word I was about to say.

“...I’m firing you,” I said.

“...Huh?” She looked heartbroken. Oh, how I can’t see you like that. “no…No, no. Please, let me work for you. Please, Cale!” She grabbed my arms in an attempt to make me rethink my decision.

“No, my choice is final,” she was at the brink of crying. “Instead… I want you to stay by my side.”

“What..do you mean?” Her eyes gawk at me with tear drops threatening to spill out.

“Let me rephrase myself so you can understand,” I cleared my throat, “I would like for you to be mine.”

We stared into each others eyes. She shed a tear from before, but not out of frustration, or grief of a lost job, but out of love and affection. She chuckled.

“Is this your way of courting me?”

“Is it bad?”

“No! No, it’s…interesting,” she lowered her head to laugh at my proposal.

“So?” I placed my index finger under her shin and tilted her head to look at me. “Are you going to accept?”

“Hahaha… Yes. I accept,” she gave me the happiest smile I had seen from her.

And in that moment, I knew I was the happiest man alive.

Fin

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Master-List

[shuttershocky]

what do you think of shu, new sui kid on the block? i like her design. the colors are very tasty looking :)

Shu's design is my favorite among the Sui siblings so far, very impressive given how much Ling was made to appeal to my personal tastes.

It's the Roberta in her eyes (same artist). Can't help but be charmed.

I also love that her whole theme is agriculture. All the Sui embody an artform. Nian does metalwork, Dusk does painting, Ling does poetry, and Chongyue does martial arts, but Shu's art is agriculture. Not to embody an Asian stereotype here but I love the respect towards rice farmers.

Now as for her skillset, Shu is a Guardian Defender, a bold choice when Saria has so thoroughly dominated the Guardian class (or just ground support units in general) that the last 6 star Guardian, Blemishine, steered clear of Saria and played a funky DPS/Sleep/Defensive Recovery support role just to be able to see play.

Shu on the other hand, returns to focusing on heals and support utility, meaning she'll actually be encroaching on Saria's turf. Let's look at her skillset.

So from her first talent, we see that Shu goes all in on utility, compared to Saria talent 1 bulking herself up with +ATK and +DEF stacks, or Maria's talent 1 letting her attack sleeping enemies. The "rice fields" give HP regen instead of heals (which means it heals unhealable units like Musha or Juggernauts) which greatly extends her versatility, and granting shelter to allies hiding in her sowed times is a nice bonus, but what I really value about the talent is that she sows the 4 tiles around a healed ally as well, meaning you can get great coverage on a map.

Her Talent 2 is kind of a meme. The Max HP and ASPD effects are really easy to get which is great, but the SP and ATK buff applied when four of Shu, Nian, Chongyue, Dusk, and Ling are all in the team is kind of a meme imo. That's 4/12 slots taken for a meh attack buff and a 0.25 SP/s increase, which is lower than the +0.3/s provided by Ptilopsis (although Shu's appears to work on all SP recovery types which is nice). The Sui siblings don't really have all that much synergy with each other (in fact Ling would rather fly solo to have as many deployment slots for her summons as possible) so trying to force the Sui buff by having 4 deployed seems to me like you will just be griefing yourself half the time on harder stages.

Now for her skills

S1 looks to be the exact same thing as Saria's and default Nearl's. I think Saria's S1 will remain the most valuable version of this since Saria stacks both ATK and DEF on herself over time and this S1 is mostly used to make a Guardian act as a tank. Shu's regen and shelter from ricefield tiles would have to be crazy high for me to consider her S1 when I already got both Saria and Nearl on S1M3.

Shu's S2 is interesting, it's basically an upgraded version of regular Nearl's S2 (which no one uses). I need to see the numbers on the boost to Talent 1 to properly judge this skill, but for now this could potentially open up new strategic options (due to being a ground unit-based shelter buff). It's manually activated and heals two at a time which can be a pain in the ass vs just using Saria's S2, but I'm looking forward to seeing how much it buffs her sow tiles.

And now for Skill 3.

Welcome to the rice fields motherfucker, you aren't allowed to leave. The bonus ATK and ASPD for allies inside her range is a buff no other Guardian can provide, but the really cool bit is teleporting enemies who have stepped on a Sow tile back into it if they end up walking too far.

I'm going to be honest, I have no idea if that is insanely broken for crowd control or if it's just a big meme, as you need to heal allies to plant sow tiles (so you can't plant ahead of your units to make an unescapable trap without using an Operator to create the Sow tiles). It is weird and creative and a very different take on Saria's S3 also being AOE crowd control and heals though, so I like it and can't wait to experiment with it.

[marieracingteam]

Till then I will forever miss you – sv5

Sebastian Vettel x reader

word count: 1588

summary: In which Sebastian Vettel knew he couldn’t be friends with his ex-partner until he got his priorities straight.

The news about Sebastian Vettel’s retirement was out and everywhere. His video has already been shared more than a million times in the few days it has been out. So he guessed anyone with a minor interest in the sport knew who he was and what the future looked like to him now.

Or at least what they imagine his future would look like.

The reality is that not even Sebastian knew what life had in store for him.

He was a divorced thirty-something, with three daughters who lived away from him most of the year and an apartment that made him feel like a caged animal. He had 4 world championships and a full passport, but he also had 35 years behind him in which he felt that he had achieved nothing in his personal life.

He could try and blame his fast-paced professional life for his half-hearted personal life, but he couldn't deny that he was mostly to blame for his failed marriage to a wonderful woman, his poor parenting of wonderful daughters who adored him, and his too-modern home in a city he hated.

Since his divorce, he had dedicated all his energy to racing and fast cars, but he quickly discovered that his heart wasn't in it either. So he obviously knew that he should retire and leave that seat free for someone whose heart was at the wheel.

The worst thing was that Sebastian knew where his heart was, he just didn't know how to get to it. It just had been lost since 2015.

Without it, he had been floundering ever since. He had moved, he had pursued a different lifestyle, he had gotten married, he had even changed teams trying to find it, but he always knocked on the wrong doors only. The truth was that the closest he had been to happiness had been when his daughters were born, but by then he was no longer the man he wanted his daughters to learn from.

But now, he thought. Now he was free of the chains to which he had bound himself. Now he was finally starting to realize his mistakes and taking the right steps to correct them. Now he was ready to be the man he wanted to be, for himself and, most importantly, for his daughters.

After the last race of the season, Sebastian took the first flight to his native Germany and completely left behind his past life and the mistakes he had carried in it.

He bought a house in the country as he had always dreamed of and painted rooms with children's motifs for small beds and toys. He adopted a dog as his psychologist had recommended. And he dusted off the old cell phone that he always carried with him.

It was a long shot and he knew it, but it was the only thing he could think of to find peace and happiness.

In those long eight years, there was a good chance that she had changed her number or blocked him. Maybe she too had gotten married and had a life away from him, probably better than the one he could offer her.

Maybe she had forgotten him. Maybe he should have forgotten her.

But there was no chance, however remote, that he could live in a world in which she did not occupy his thoughts at all hours. He'd been a stupid kid when he'd let her get away thinking he could do it.

He had promised her father that he would do right by her and that is what he had tried to do all his life since he met her in school. His problem had been thinking that he was doing it when he let her go so that she could find happiness away from his chaotic life when she wanted to start a family and he could only think about lifting the championship cup with the red team.

He had been a fool thinking a trophy could give him more than a life with her and even more so for believing that she could be happier away from him.

And all for what? To end up forming a family far from hers? To have his heart searching for something that he knew he would only find with her? He was a fool and he had paid for it by being miserable for the next few years, thinking that his repentance was not enough to deserve her back.

Now, something about him had changed, although he wasn't sure what at the moment. He knew now. It had been the robbery he suffered during one of the Grand Prix he raced in which he lost the photo he kept of her in her wallet. He had hundreds more hidden in his house, but that one was special. That had been a gift from her after graduating from school, a photo that her parents had taken of them to remember their last day as classmates, and that she had wanted him to have to remember her if they were not classmates at high school.

Losing that photo had been the last blow he needed to get her life back in order. When he retrieved the empty wallet he could only kneel on the ground and cry for the life he had lost. And when he found it after hours looking for it in all the garbage containers in the city he knew to do something, even if it was for nothing.

Less than a year later he was a different man. What remained to be known is whether she was also a different woman. And what that meant to them.

After breaking up their relationship, they both accepted that they couldn’t be friends. Not when they knew what it felt like to be more. Not when they had never been friends.

Since they were six years old they had been best friends, lovers, confidants, each other's other half... but never friends. Now they were nothing, not even acquaintances who follow each other’s lives on social media. Despite having let her be free to find happiness elsewhere, Sebastian knew that he couldn't bear to see her happy away from him.

He thought he was sacrificing himself for her when in reality he had just condemned them both.

However, now he wanted to change it and his only asset was that old phone that he had kept as his most precious possession.

The only number still saved there was the one he used to call at all hours and that he still had memorized.

By the fourth ring, Sebastian was convinced he had lost his last hope. But she had always told him that a fifth championship awaited her. And there was no better victory in his eyes than that fifth tone that she cut to make way for the voice that always accompanied him.

“Hello?” she whispered in German.

“Hello” he whispered back and he felt like coming finally home “I didn't know if you had changed your phone number”

“I did” she confessed “but I kept the phone in case you ever called”.

Sebastian completely forgot the paper he held tremblingly in his hand with everything he wanted to say written down when he heard her.

“You did?” he dared to ask.

“Of course,” she said “who could I not?”

“I didn’t hope you would wait” It was difficult to hear her with her racing heartbeat in his ears, but Sebastian did his best to memorize every one of her words.

“I have always waited for your love, Sebastian”

At that he couldn’t hold any longer the tears that begged to break free from his eyes. A sob left his mouth. What had he condemned them to when he chose for her?

“Everything's fine. We have a lot to tell each other, it's fine. It was difficult for me, but I understood why you did it. It wasn't our time, we didn't know how to align our dreams. But I felt your love in your sacrifice. Everything is alright.”

Sebastian could only nod even if he knew she couldn't see him. Words could not come out of his mouth with his body paralyzed in the only chair he had for now in his new living room. That photo that she almost lost on her knee staring at him.

“I’m back” he gathered the strength to say.

“I know” he answered.

“I came back for you” was his time to confess.

She laughed timidly at that and more tears escaped his eyes. “I know”.

“Can I see you?” he begged.

There was a lot he hadn't asked. He didn't know anything about what his life had been like in those eight years, so he didn't even know if he could ask that question. But he had to do it now that he had worked up the courage to do it.

“Sebastian... I also tried to look for you elsewhere” she whispered again, probably afraid of what those words could mean for both of them.

“I don’t care, liebe. There's nothing you can say that will make me love you less”.

“I have my two boys with me till next month” she said.

“I have my daughters with me next week for a month too”.

She laughed again and he knew she also felt it. He knew that she felt that everything was fine now, that everything was finally falling into place.

They will be fine.

[artiststarme]

Pain's An Old Friend

Based on a prompt from @nburkhardt! I hope it met your expectations. Let me know what you guys think in the comments!

Now with a second and third part!

~*~*~*~

Steve was no stranger to hiding his own injuries. Growing up in the home that he did, it was practically second nature to hide unsavory things from people in order to protect the Harrington image. From a young age, he would go to school with his mom’s concealer painted high on his cheekbone to cover the evidence of his father’s anger. He’d hide his pain during practice when he sprained a ligament so his coach wouldn’t pull him from the Friday night game. He was well used to hiding his pain in front of people that could weaponize it. 

After joining the Party though, Steve started to lower his guards. He’d speak freely about past injuries and slightly more loosely about his current ailments. He was still the babysitter though, the guy that the kids looked toward to protect them. He couldn’t be fully transparent about his migraines or the constant blurriness in his left eye. 

One day though when the kids needed a ride to the arcade on Steve’s day off, he had to be honest with them. His brain felt like it was trying to escape the confines of his skull and his vision pulsated with every heartbeat. 

“Hey, I’m sorry guys but I can’t today. My head is killing me so I need to just relax and wait for it to blow over. How about you guys ask Eddie? He got off at 4 today so I’m sure he could give you a ride.”

Dustin, Lucas, and Will were satisfied with his explanation. They wished him well, volunteered their moms to come drop off soup to him later, and got back on their bikes. Mike though was visibly annoyed. He hung back after the others and turned to face Steve with a glare. 

“Seriously, Steve. You can’t do one thing to help us? It’s not even that far out of your way!”

“Dude, I already told you I have a headache. I’m not driving anywhere,” Steve tried to explain. He didn't know why Mike was so mad. Yeah, they’d wasted time biking to Steve’s house instead of directly to the arcade but it only added an additional five minutes to their commute. It would only take them about ten minutes to get there on their bikes, a completely reasonable distance. 

“A headache? You know how pathetic that is? There’s people that are dying, Steve. And you’re complaining that your head hurts a little bit. You’re just useless!” Mike hissed at him. 

And wasn’t that a surprise. He and Mike still weren’t on great terms, obviously, but he liked to think that they were making progress. To find out that they were still in the same position as they had been all those years ago when Steve was Nancy’s asshole boyfriend and Mike was her bratty little brother, was gut wrenching. 

“Fine, I’ll give you assholes a ride. Let’s go guys. Leave the bikes, you can pick them up tomorrow. Come on, before I change my mind.”

The drive to the arcade was uneventful. They all made it to the arcade in one piece and no one said thank you aside from Will, as per usual. 

The ride home however was a different story. The sun had started to set and Steve’s headache had devolved into a migraine. His vision was tunneling and he could hardly keep his eyes open against the pain in his head. He was taking one of the back roads home and was almost there when a shadow passed in front of his car. Steve’s left fender hit the being before he could turn the wheel and when he did, he steered the Beemer directly into a tree on the side of the road. 

Steve’s head slammed into the steering wheel, hard enough to lacerate his temple and spill blood all over the driver’s side dash. Thankfully, he didn’t lose consciousness and his migraine wasn’t significantly worse than before so he was reasonably sure that he didn’t have another concussion, at least not a severe one. 

Now, a normal person might walk to the nearest house and call the police or an ambulance. Steve though, was not normal. He picked up his keys, wallet, and sunglasses, and walked all the way home. It wasn’t too far, a mile at most but with his head hurting the way it did, it felt like forever. He would call Thatcher Tire tomorrow morning and get the Beemer towed then he would call his dad to beg him to cover the damages and everything would be fine. But the second Steve got back to his house, he laid on the couch and took a nap. He’d worry about everything else the next day. 

~*~*~*~

Steve had forgotten that he made plans with Robin for today. He woke up to manic rambling that he was too tired to follow and his best friend pulling at his arms. 

“Go ‘way,” he mumbled when she once again jostled him. 

“Steve, wake up! What the hell did you do? You have blood all over your head and you weren’t responsive. You were supposed to come over to my house to pick me up so we could make cupcakes and watch movies! I walked over when you didn’t show and I had to walk in to find you dying on your sofa! What the fuck, Steve?!”

“Not dying and please stop yelling, my head hurts.”

“I’m sure it does, Steve! Your entire forehead is black and blue and there’s blood everywhere. Oh my god, I might actually throw up. Stay alert, I’m going to go throw up then I’m going to call Eddie for a ride since neither one of us has the cash to pay for an ambulance. Stay conscious or I will hurl all over you,” she promised.  

True to her word, she went and threw up in the kitchen, grabbed some ice for his head, and then used the living room phone to call Eddie.

“Hey Mr. Munson, is Eddie there? It’s Robin Buckley… I know but I don’t have a license yet, I’m poor… Touché, Mr. Munson… Okay, great! I’ll see him soon then!”

She hung up the phone and returned to Steve's side. “Okay, he’s on his way so we just have to wait. We’re both going to give you a long talk about taking better care of yourself and not damaging any more brain cells, got it?”

He tried to nod at her but the miniscule movement only caused his vision to white-out and his eyes slammed shut. The last thing he heard was Robin screeching at him to wake up before everything went black. 

~*~*~*~

When his eyes opened next, Steve was in a bare hospital room with both of his hands restrained. No, people were holding them. Upon further investigation, he noticed that Eddie was sleeping at his right side with his hands wrapped around Steve’s wrist and Robin was at his left with her fingertips pressed over his pulse point. 

With both of his friends there, the feeling of security almost willed him back to sleep once again. But then he heard loud yelling coming from outside of his hospital room. 

“Where is Steve Harrington?! I got a call about another head injury, is he alright? I will not calm down, that’s my kid and none of you goddamn idiots will tell me anything about him! Where is he?”

The door flung open to reveal Chief Jim Hopper in all of his furious glory. All of his anger melted into worry when his eyes met Steve’s. 

“Hey Hop,” Steve told him with a small smile. 

“Do not ‘hey Hop’ me. What the hell, kid? First I get a panicked call from Robin that you’re in the hospital again, then I get a call from Callahan that he found your car bent around a tree, and then I find out that I’m your emergency contact.” His eyes still held a hint of panic but now they looked tired too as if the events of today had aged him several years. 

“Okay, it’s not bent around the tree. Callahan’s a fucking liar and I keep telling you so! I lightly bumped the tree. Lightly! Everything worked out fine! It’s all good, Hop.”

“Are you not hearing me? Do we have to get your hearing checked too?” Hopper laughed sardonically and threw his hands up exasperatedly. “Steve, you gave all of us heart attacks because you didn’t tell us that you had been in a car accident! And you could’ve died going to sleep like that with a concussion! You know better.”

“Look, in my defense, I didn’t know it was a concussion. And what else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t drive myself to the hospital,” It made sense to Steve but apparently not to Hopper or the now-awake Eddie. 

“Steve-” Eddie whispered in confusion but Hopper’s screaming cut him off.

“You should’ve called someone! Me, Munson, Wayne, hell even Joyce! Wha-the-fu-goddam-ahh!” He stammered with feeling. “Why were you even driving in the first place? You were at home!”

“The kids wanted to go to the arcade and when I told them I couldn’t, Mike said that people had bigger problems than headaches. And he was right. I just wanted to do something useful and then it hit me all at once when I was driving home,” Steve shook his head. He should’ve taken a nap or something instead of giving them a ride then they wouldn’t be in this position right now. 

“Of course it was Mike. It’s always Mike fucking Wheeler,” Hopper scoffed under his breath. His profound annoyance towards the kid continued. “Steve, you can’t listen to that bitch-ass kid! He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Next time, call me and I’ll handle it.”

“Okay, well I will remember that for next time. Next time I have a migraine, I won’t give the kids a ride and I won’t crash my car lightly into a tree. Alright, when are they releasing me? I just want to go home and go back to normal,” Steve said. 

Hopper and Eddie shared a look before Eddie woke Robin and lugged her from the room. Watching that display, he knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear and he didn’t.

Hopper chuckled humorlessly, “I’m detaining you. You’re coming home with me when they release you.”

“‘Detaining me’? For what? I didn’t do anything,” Steve asked him in confusion. 

“For acting like a dumbass. You’re going to recover back at my place, Harrington. El and I are going to keep an eye on you.”

“I’m not going to-” Hopper cut him off with a yell that made him jump. 

“You’re detained, Harrington! No more arguments!” 

“Hop, that’s kidnapping!” He proclaimed in outrage. 

“You’re not a kid, it’s fine,” Hopper brushed him off. 

“What- that’s not even, you can’t just force me to accept your help!” 

“Watch me!” Hopper said indignantly. This was ridiculous, despite the evidence, Steve was more than capable of taking care of himself. He was an adult, dammit!

“Hopper, you can’t just hold me against my will. I-I have rights!”

“Yeah? File a complaint. I’m the chief of police and I’m basically your dad so I’m going to take care of you whether you like it or not. Now, are you going to accept this so I can let your friends in and we can all eat Jello or are you going to keep arguing with me?”

Steve looked at him blankly for a moment before he yielded. “Jesus Christ, fine. You win.”

“I know kid, I always do.” He patted Steve’s foot and opened the door for Eddie and Robin to slink back in. “Alright, you better have gotten orange or I’ll kick you both back out.”

Steve had a lot to learn about accepting help and being forthcoming about his injuries. But with his dad, his boyfriend, and his best friend by his side, he had no doubt that he'd get there eventually. He didn't have any other choice.

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[definitelynotaminion]

Rated "R" - Part 4

First 7k here (my blog) or on ao3 here | Skip ahead to the end of my WIP doc/see all updates on patreon (full 11k doc) | The tag i'm using for this fic on tumblr (chronological order)

-

His breath picks up, exactly like a little bird trying to keep his respiration even without the cheat of tactical breathing patterns. Giving Jason his-- fuck, his honesty here, not trying to hide behind the training!

“God, I was a little asshole.” Jason says fondly. “Leaning over you, nudging you, teasing just to get a reaction.”

“It was terrfying.” Tim says, lips pursed but audibly fighting a smile. “I was worried you’d find out that I knew. Or that I was so far from home.”

“Instead you showed me a shit picture of the sky—you totally took that right before I landed on the balcony, you little shit—and stuttered through your planned lies and let me talk you into sneaking out to the corner ice cream shop.”

It’s fuzzy around the edges, just another night as Robin before the end, but Jason remembers how easy it was to coax startled laughter and wide-eyes out of the boy, how impressed he’d been when Tim shimmied down the fire escape so easily for his ‘first time’.

“It was the best of night of my life.” Tim says quietly. Not quite wistful, but something… a treasure, here, pressed into Jason’s hands.

Jason had swung the young boy back to the landing, felt his shock and joy even as he was so quiet, not whooping or screaming—Jason wasn’t suppsoed to use the grapple with civilians outside of emergencies, but aside from the stuttering and awe he hadn’t managed to get strong reactions out of Tim.

He'd wanted to.

“I’d have recognized you.” Jason announces. His head thumps back on the pillow. “At the next gala.”

A sharp inhale.

“You… that was only two weeks before Garzonas.”

“And three weeks before I fucking bit it, I gotcha.” Jason blows out air heavily. “I don’t remember the dates, but that was April. Earth Day had already happened, so…The next one would have been, what, the Belmonts’ charity ball?”

Tim disagrees with a little noise of dissent.

“Sophia Starr held a big event in May to raise money for cancer research.” He reminds. “Her aunt died from brain cancer the year before.”

“Better that than fundraising for shitty outreach programs that ended up embezzled, or tax write offs, or fucking—early movie showings.” Jason had almost forgotten the contempt in his heart for all the different reasons Gotham’s elite got together to spend their hoardes of money.

“Mm.” Tim quietly agrees. “You weren’t there.”

Jason squeezes his eyes closed, thinking about where he was instead—and what he would have given up to be there, once the trap sprung. 

Shit. He needs a distraction. Galas and balls, little birds dancing around each other.

“If I had been?” Jason tips his chin up, eyes still closed. “What was your plan, hmm? I’d have recognized you.”

A shaky inhale as his reward. Jason grins again.

“Do you think you’d have come, even if your parents weren’t in town? Tim Drake, almost old enough to be chauferred there, to apologize with a smile for his parents’ absense. Schmooze a little on their behalf.”

“I first did that to get close to… well.” Tim lets the words trail off, lets Jason pick up what had really been going on at the time. “It was closer to the end of summer by the time I realized someone had to step in.”

“Let’s not go there,” Jason decides, letting his eyes open, see the lines in the ceiling. “We’re painting a different picture, here, Tim. C’mon.”

“Yeah?” Something soft in that tone, almost breathless. Jason gets more comfortable.

“Mm.” Jason prompts. “The mysterious boy at the gala. I’m… on edge. Fed up with Bruce’s bullshit. I’d latch onto that kind of distraction.”

“Latch onto… me.” Tim blinks hard.

“You were a mystery, baby bird. I was a detective.” Jason clicks his tongue. “Besides, those parties were miserable. You would have been fun.”

[hometoursandotherstuff]

This 1959 brick duplex in Tucson, Arizona is known as "The Castle," but I think it looks more like The Alamo. Anyway, if you like brick, this house has a lot of it. 4bds, 2ba, and it's got a "lived-in" look, but maybe a little cleaning and polish will brighten it up. At $485K it's not a bad price in today's housing market. It already has a sale pending, too.

Entering the front door, the living room is to your right. There's a nice large brick fireplace- love the 2 little houses on the mantel. That has to be the original floor and it's throughout the house. I wonder if they recently painted the brick white, b/c I tend to think that it may have originally been natural. The home was built by a master mason using old bricks, I doubt that he'd paint that.

To the left of the front door is the kitchen. The light fixture is above a roomy area for the kitchen table. This home is a little dark and even the skylights and big windows don't help much.

The kitchen has the original knotty pine cabinets, but look at the 70s brown oven. What a gem. Straight ahead at the far end looks like a water heater and washer.

This is cool. The cooktop is in a brick oven type thing. There's storage underneath (I'd be a little afraid to open it) and I like the lights in the hood. The floor is damaged a bit, the corners need the white tornado to clean it, and look at the grease on the brick.

Oh, here we go, there is a laundry room at the end of the kitchen.

Funky bath. I told you it had the lived-in look. The bottom cabinets have some water damage and need refinishing.

Here's a family room with a a rounded brick corner fireplace. I like the light in the niche. This room opens to the patio. Unless this is a bedroom, b/c I don't see one pictured.

So, here we have an enclosed porch with nice shelving. Floor needs paint, but this would be a nice potting room.

This is behind the house, probably the back entrances to both units. The sale includes the whole building and the description says that both units are rented. I don't know, they're empty in the photos.

So, here we are in Unit #2. Notice how shiny the floors are in this unit. The ceiling beams even look polyurethaned.

This unit looks bigger, so maybe it's meant to be the owner's side.

This unit has a different layout and looks larger to me. It has a built-in shelf and a corner fireplace.

The kitchen has a different layout, too. Not lovin' the original tile counters. It has the same original oven, but the cooktop is in the corner.

This unit looks to be in better condition.

They don't really indicate which are the bedrooms, but this may be the primary with the fireplace and closets.

This bath is better shape than the other one.

Private patio has a wall between the units. Is that round thing a barbeque?

This rock formation sees to have a light inside, or maybe it's a pump for a water feature.

The yard appears to be gravel and there're built-in tables that are so cute.

This yard has some grass and a garden.

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about pacing and how it's why I became a Byler.

If Mike and El were endgame, the pacing of season 4 would be....weird.

Normally conflict and confrontation is climactic, ESPECIALLY simultaneous conflict that "all crashes down on you". That's built up separately as A and B plots that intersect, this point of intersection being Mike.

Which is why I was so surprised when Will and Mike fought and had to pause it and go, "wait, what's happening?" Before that point I was worried that the season conflict was veering towards pitting Will and El against each other over Mike based on the tension at the rink - I naturally assumed that it was setting up the season arc with the current events that would continue until a 3rd act payoff, but it wasn't.

Will calls Mike out immediately and El calls him out the next day. Leaving the rest of the season empty. It's why Mike's final speech doesn't work. The plot was not maintained. It was a setup and payoff much like the painting, which I forgot about by the time he pulled it out might I add. We do not follow either Mike nor El's point of views on this plot, with only one even ACKNOWLEDGING it.

It doesn't. Make. Sense. At least not for my original prediction. Which is why I paused it, and thought:

If Will is calling Mike out now that means he won't ignore him for the rest of the season. Then what will the central conflict be? Will has said what he needs to say. Mike clearly has not, though, so this is more of a setup for him, but a setup for what? Will has nowhere to go from here because he has already reached the peak of this arc, demonstrating the vulnerability self-assuredness required for this honestly AND there is nothing for him as a person to follow this up with. The ball is in Mike's court to apologize. So the ball is in Mike's court for this plotline, this scene is an inciting incident for Mike, but for what? In this scene, he contrasts Will's honesty by being closed off and defensive, so his arc is to truth, but what truth? What secret would be threatened by Will's accusations of- OHHHHHHHHHHH

Will got too close, Mike got defensive, and his season arc is gaining the courage and vulnerability to explain himself. Got it. (We're not done)

2 episodes later: he apologizes and explains with vulnerability - WHAT? Okay, but he still hasn't told him how he feels so they're just pacing it differently, we mentally adjust. He is building up to telling him no longer with the stakes of his relationship to Will but rather the urgency of owing El an explanation/decision by the time he sees her again, one which he would likely tell Will first. The stakes are the commitment and pain he causes the longer he stalls. He needs to confess by the time he sees her again. Yes. He seems to be slowly working it out, coming back to the "why" repeatedly, and Will is giving him coded words - not enough to be a confession from Will and he has already demonstrated his honesty (the van scene is really just an inciting incident for the Jonathan coming out scene as far as Will's plot goes) - that he's reacting to and are perfect to be the tipping point for his motivation. And he's looking between El and Will with a strange expression. And he's......(I kinda just sat confused for a while until I got to the end and realized it was supposed to be a cliffhanger for the first time and also that there was a season 5, at which point I sat further before understanding that this was a multi-season arc because season 4 had themes of subverted happy endings into tragedy)

I had to adjust it with little tweaks throughout but only ever in pacing, never in event. But if I got it 2 hours into a 13 hour season, I'm sure they'll catch up in the next 8.

[spooky-something]

WARNING;

we're about to seriously yap and put out some hot fucking takes about Phantom of the Opera, so if you're sensitive to that/don't wanna hear that, scroll.

We finally finished POTO, and what I can say; hot take; This is a fucking nightmare that just DOESN'T deserve the fame it has. It's awful . /Hj The writing itself is okay, it can be really good at times, but I hate the way it's framed; having Leroux litteraly self insert himself as the narrator, which could've worked, but for me, it just doesn't. It would've been great, had that narrator not litteraly been himself, but because it's him, it not only takes away from the realism he tried to built via this, but also comes ass as SUPER, SUPER annoying at times. The story itself is just cluttered, way too cluttered; the unnecessary details, events, attempts at shifting narratives that could've been better done/explained quickly and more efficiently, it's a lot. Some examples are the "Rat Catcher"; entirely unnecessary additional, why the fuck was he even there (It was so bad, we started cackling mid class because it was so fucking random)???? Or the random "apparition" added, again, for no reason. None of these were mentioned before, nor explained whatsoever; the "apparition" litteraly being wrote off by LEROUX HIMSELF as "something I cannot explain". Which, in my opinion, is extremely stupid. I don't care if it's for the "mystery factor", because, considering there was already far too much going on, and plenty of OTHER mystery elements, adding something just because with no purpose was and IS obnoxious. All it does it make the story you're trying to tell more convoluted, which was exactly what we felt while reading. Yet, the MAIN issue, the characters, and by extension, the message Leroux is so DESPERATELY trying to convey with them. I am going to say the hottest fucking take known to man; I fucking DESPISE Erik, and litteraly, ONLY kept reading because of the fact I knew he'd die at the end, and I wanted that satisfaction (was so disappointed his death was so vague and lame...). I understand why people can feel bad, at least, PARTIALLY, but the amount of fucking love and DEFENDING I see for him is ACTUALLY INSANE. Erik is

A. A fucking murderer

B. A stalker

C. An abuser

D. A manipulator (And, gaslighter, by extension)

E. A thief

F. An (ALMOST) terrorist (litteraly tried to blow up the entire opera)

G. A liar

H. A kidnapper

And

I (This stands for:). An incel (This one's more of a "joke", as the rest are all litteraly book canon, but he is literally an incel; he checks all the boxes), and yet, people out pour him with support; the amount of apologists is crazy. I've even seen people compare him to THE CREATURE (Frankenstein) which is just NOT CORRECT AT ALL???? They have similarities, yeah, but the amount of differences is insane.

1. Erik is a litteral millionaire (Yeah, I did the math for the amount of francs he got then for American dollars, now, and it was at LEAST, like 2 million...)

2. Erik IS human, biologically; yeah, he was treated differently, but he still had the COMFORT of knowing he was a human, that he was, in at least some form compared to the Creature "natural"

3. Erik was raised by his family (yes, they were abusive, and I'm not saying they weren't, but he HAD PARENTS, AND AN EDUCATION; I think, idar if he was educated or not, but my point still stands: he had a family)

4. Erik, despite the novel trying so hard to say otherwise, was HIGHLY respected; HE LITERALLY WORKED WITH ROYALTY????

5. Erik HAD FRIENDS???? Once more, not only did he work with royalty, he had the Persian/Daroga, which, again, despite how much the novel tries to say otherwise, was very clearly a friend; very clearly someone who DID care about him (if he didn't, why would he save his life even AFTER LITTERALY TORTURING PEOPLE???)

6. Erik, AGAIN, is denied humanity nearly as much as it's painted; he litteraly mentions how he wanted to be normal, and so, applied for a normal ass construction job at the Opera, AND GOT IT NO QUESTIONS ASKED???

[goblinpuppy35]

Bright Eyes

(Previous Chapter) - Part 4 - (Next Chapter)

Student Remus x Male Reader

Summary: The Marauders start to hang out with an unexpected new friend who Remus falls for.

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

It was several days after the prank and Remus had not seen Y/N since he disappeared from the Great hall. Unfortunately for Remus the full moon was advancing fast which caused his mind to fog and his bones to ache, he could never get used to this painful build up. As he was walking to his next class he suddenly felt dizzy and nauseous, with panicked hast he found the closest communal bathrooms, pushing through the door and  rushing to the sink he gripped the porcelain rim and heaved. His grip was so strong be feared he would break the fixture. His vision started to blur "calm down. you need to calm down!" but his mind continued to race.

"Take a deep breath in" a strange voice flouted into Remus' earshot, was it his own thoughts? his consciences? " Remus. Take a deep breath in" the voice was calm but firm and in his panicked state Remus decided to listen and follow the instructions. Slowly Remus opened his quivering lips and took in a long deep breath, "now breathe out" he followed the words " and breathe in .. and breathe out" these words flowed in time to his chest rising and falling. After several repeats Remus's body started to feel still and his head didn't hurt so sharply. Looking into the mirror he watched his vision come back and clearly see his own exhausted reflection in the mirror. Then he became aware of a figure only a few steps behind him. Once Remus' eyes refocused, the green hair boldly stood out against the pale white tiles of the bathroom. It was Y/N, although he looked different.

Y/N's hair remained the vibrant green on the top however Remus observed he had trimmed down the back and sides , removing the green and bleach blonde to reveal his natural Y/H/C beneath, the contrast was fantastic. As Y/N brushed his hair back Remus noticed several piercings on his now visible ears. They shine slightly in the evening light cascading through the windows. A strange feeling grew in Remus' stomach but it didn't feel like his normal pre full moon symptoms.

"Are you okay Remus?" Y/Ns brow was thick with concern. "You were having a panic attack right?".  Whilst this wasn't entirely untrue Remus couldn't comprehend explaining everything in this chance meeting with Y/N. "umm yeah ... I guess so" Remus sighs "You .. you look different" Remus said in between his deep breaths. 

Y/N shrugged and looked away, glancing at the mirror and brushed his fingers through his hair again "yeah well going against Luscious in the dinning hall was enough to sever all ties to the family so I figured might as well go all in and give a fuck you to the whole family. It's nice tho.. I feel more me you know." for the first time Remus  saw a genuinely happy smile paint across Y/N lips, he couldn't help but softly smile back "yeah I get you. You look great!". Y/N looked up in surprise at the taller boy. Fuck. Went too far. Shit.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the two boys. The persistent drip of a tap echoed around them. After another still moment Remus finally said what he had wanted to say "I'm sorry" he began "about the prank, it wasn't meant for you .. well it was but I was going to tell the others to back off. It was more for Luscious you see and and I don't normally get involved .. I .. I just wanted to say I'm sorry" hopelessly Remas hung his head. Y/N chuckled at his defeat "Honestly it's okay. In fact James and Sirius already explained it all to me". Remus' whole body jolted "They did what!?".

Y/N tilted his head to the side as he continued "yeah, the told me they were sorry I got caught up in it and respected that I didn't give a damn what Luscious thought, they are actually really funny guys" Y/N began to make his way to the door. Upon passing Remus Y/N suddenly placed his hand on Remus' shoulder and smiled again. Remus felt his eyes dilate and his cheeks flush as he looked down at Y/N. God this boy was gorgeous. "Oh yes, they also said that you repeatedly said you didn't want to be involved and was incredibly butt hurt, there words not mine, about the whole thing" Y/N's laugh song into Remus' ears and he nervously laugh back, with this Y/N let go of Remus' shoulder and began to open the door. "Besides, if anything you guys pranking me gave me jumping off point to leave my disturbing non family behind me, so in a way thank you." and with a flash of eye contact Y/N was gone. Remus' rocked on his heels alone in the bathroom.

The dull pain of his aching bones was slowly rising up again but now his insides were mixed with a number of different feelings. Y/N seemed so much more confident and happy compared to how he was when Remus first met him, there was a sense of pride in him. He also felt embarrassed by how much he blushed when Y/N placed his hand on his shoulder, Remus could still feel the pressure of Y/N's fingers above his clothes. There was also a strange uneasy feeling he had when he thought about James and Sirius hanging out with Y/N without him.. was it jealousy. With an exhausted sign Remus rubbed his face and marched out of the bathroom. This was too many emotions to deal with this early in the morning.

[wildechild3]

Modern Maurice AU

Part 4: The Kiddos!

(Re-posted because someone decided to leave a rude comment on the first one. Please keep in mind, this is for fun. It's fanfiction. It's literally not a big deal.)

This part is background information about Maurice and Alec as parents. Like I said in part 1, none of this is spoilers for the fic I want to write. Also, feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions, these are just my headcanons!

The Kiddos:

Early on into dating, Maurice mused to Alec about being a father. But he only spoke about it in a hypothetical way. It was only the one conversation, and he didn't think Alec was really listening anyway. (Alec was. That's the biggest difference between Clive and Alec, he listens.)

After they got married, they took a short vacation to the countryside and found they liked it a lot more there than in the hustle bustle of the city. Maurice is already working from home at this point (I'm thinking this is late 2020-2021) and Alec's construction company had an opening closer to the small country town they were interested in moving to. They decided to take the chance, and found being closer to nature and out of the city was much better for their mental health (especially Maurice's, who's in therapy by this point).

They've lived in this country town for about a year when Alec gently broaches the subject. He brings up the conversation they had early in their relationship (to which Maurice replies, "You remember that!?"). He ends by saying he never saw himself as a father, but now that him and Maurice are settled and happy, he couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else.

Maurice is thrown off and doesn't give solid answer at first - which Alec is confused by but respects and gives the topic space. Maurice isn't against the idea, in fact he very excited by it. He just never thought he'd get this far - and he sits Alec down to tell him as such. He talks about how deep his depression was and his suicidal ideation - both of which convinced him that he'd never live long enough to see thirty. Yet here he was. Freshly thirty and the happiest he'd ever been. He ends by telling Alec that he'd love to be a father with him - but is scared of being too 'muddled' to be any good at it.

Alec responds by assuring him that he doesn't have to be perfect. That he wouldn't be alone. That he and Maurice would be a team. He tells Maurice that they can take their time and suggests they start small and work up to actually doing it.

So they do. First, they talk about which rooms in their little house would be a good spot for a nursery/child's room. Then they talk about how'd they fix it up. (Alec comes home to Maurice painting his once beige office a pale yellow.) Then they talk about where they would go to school (and Alec pretends to not see Maurice looking through reviews of local schools on his phone while they watch a movie.) They talk about how they would raise a child, which leads to a conversation about their own childhoods (both agree to never use spanking as a punishment.) Finally, Maurice brings up the subject on Halloween night after a little boy dressed as a cowboy comes to their door with his two fathers.

They decide to go the adoption route and after almost a year working through the process, they adopt a four year old boy - Archie - and his 6 month old sister - Winifred ("Winnie"). They agree to an open adoption, and by 2022, they become their legal guardians.

*Just a quick note about the names: I know they're older sounding names. I chose them based off of the 1913 UK census of the most popular names to help blend them into the story. I just felt like it would be weird to have classic names like Maurice and Alec paired with Brandon and Mckeighlynn.*

Both of them go on paternity leave to help the kids get settled into their home and to help Archie get ready to go to school. It's the wildest, weirdest, and best two weeks of their lives.

Alec is so sad when he has to start going back to work, but the first time he comes home and sees Maurice and Archie making dinner together- it's all worth it.

They get in the habit of taking the kids to the park after dinner. Sometimes Maurice will hang back if there's something he didn't get done for work during the day, which happens more often than Maurice would like.

On the weekends, they go to the bigger park near the center of town. It's usually a 20 minute walk and they'll pack a lunch since they're usually there all day.

Final details: Alec is insanely good at clamoring around the play-sets. Maurice jokes that it's because he's the shorter one, but Alec is a pro at running around these structures built for people far shorter than him. Maurice usually hangs out with Winnie at the swings. He's the best at giving those big dad-pushes that'll make you feel like you're flying.

And that's the world building I've sketched out for the AU! Like I said, feel free to correct me on my American-isms or add suggestions.

(Also, I'm trying to be very respectful of adoption. I don't know how different it is in the UK, but in the US it's a very complicated thing to say the least. If you're an adoptee and I said something ignorant please let me know so I can fix it.)

[fanfic-lover-girl]

I finally watched HTTYD 3 and I am still in shock

I knew I would likely dislike the movie but I wanted to watch the entire trilogy. I feel robbed when I remember I paid $4 to rent the movie. I even watched it a second time (which I don't usually do) by myself to make sure I never had first watch bias or something.

There are several posts already about the flaws of the movie. I want to do something different. I went into this movie with a lot of prejudice from Youtube reviews, Tumblr posts and even some fanfics. So I will highlight how these prejudices were challenged when I watched the movie.

Let's start with the positivies:

How the movie was not as bad as I thought

The fate of the Death grippers

I don't care much about animals. In fact, I am not too fond of how the movies paint the dragons as innocent victims all the time (except for the dragon queen) and the humans as the evil ones. Not all dragons can cohabitate with humans and some are genuinely dangerous. The death grippers are vile creatures and I felt little pity when Toothless barbequed them. Grimmel using their venom to control them was so dumb.

Gobber and Eret

People made it seem like Gobber was hitting on Eret. Sure, he said Eret had the body of a norse god but that was basically it. It's easily forgettable. In fact, when I first watched the movie it didn't even sound like flirting but Gobber making a quip in response to Snotlout's idiocy.

Hiccstrid peptalk

I don't agree with Astrid that Hiccup was back where he started. However, the scene where she agrees that Hiccup is a screw-up was not as bad as I thought. There was more levity than people give credit for.

The animation

Hiccup and the others looked way too pretty but it didn't bother me much.

Light fury and Toothless' relationship

I have seen people describe it as shallow. Meh, it was ok. It never got me emotionally invested but I didn't hate it. They had three fairly adorable courting scenes and the light fury was obviously interested. I was confused why she was pursuing Toothless instead of trying to get as far away from Grimmel as possible. When I first watched the movie, I thought Grimmel was forcing her to chase Toothless as part of his plan. I guess that was not the case. I don't agree that she only likes him because he's an alpha. Even if she did, she's a wild animal. Given that Toothless and she are animals, I am not fussy that their relationship was not given more depth. It just meant that I hardly cared when Grimmel was holding her hostage to control Toothless. In fact, I kissed my teeth when Toothless sacrificed Berk's dragons for her. All I could think was 'Berk has TWO crap leaders'.

Toothless not defending Hiccup from the Light Fury

I was not a fan of this scene. At all. But I surprisingly had more grace for this scene for some reason. The light fury is aggressive because she's frightened and after Toothless growls at her she backs off. It just sucks that Toothless shows little to no concern about Hiccup.

Who died and made you chief

Not as bad because everyone on screen reacted appropriately and Gothi whacked him on the head :)

This is Berk

Not too bothered that this movie lacked the classic Hiccup intro and outro. Hiccup's perky intro tied in nicely with the complete chaos of the Berk opening scene (still not over the monstrosity Berk became - glad they left that dump behind). I hated Hiccup's message in the outro but at least there was something. I wish there was more exploration about New Berk though :(

How the movie was worse than I thought

The gang was annoying as hell

Tuffnut was the top offender. His marriage pep talks made me want to tear my hair out. So cringe and unnecessary. What a waste of screentime. Fishlegs and Fishmeat were annoying too. Everytime I saw Fishmeat on screen, I felt slightly angry. Snotlout's crush on Valka was also unnecessary and the triangle with Eret made me roll my eyes. Why is Valka entertaining this fool? Ruffnut was not as frustrating given her minimal screentime.

The intro scene

The intro scene was so bad. The gang have been dragon riders for 6 years now so why are they acting so sloppy?? Hiccup ruined the scene the minute he shushed the guard and opened his mouth.

Hicctooth in shambles

The friendship between Hiccup and Toothless was severely lacking in this movie. Toothless spent most of the movie not giving a damn about Hiccup. Toothless runs off to the hidden world without even a goodbye. I had thought Hiccup had let Toothless go permanently at that point but nope! Hiccup was expecting him back and it's heartbreaking how Toothless immediately moves on from Hiccup for his new mate. Being with Hiccup seems like a total chore to Toothless.

Romance means the end of friendship

What I love about Hiccstrid is how Hiccup is able to love Astrid and Toothless without any conflicts. He doesn't put one before the other and Toothless and Astrid share a bond too. Why is this not the case with Toothless? Why does mating with the light fury mean leaving Hiccup in the dust? Why is the light fury not given the chance to bond with Hiccup? I would hope that my future significant other would be relatively close with my friends. I think the Hiccstrid marriage happening after the dragons leave also leaves a sour taste in my mouth. The whole argument about not being ready for marriage was a waste of time. What exactly made them not ready for marriage!?

Grimmel as a villain

I have mixed feelings about him. He's simultaneously fun and boring. I can't explain it. I thought the scene within Hiccup's house was badass. But other than that, he fell flat for me. Maybe it's because everyone around him was so stupid. Not sure why Grimmel never killed Toothless when he had the chance instead of taking the light fury on a joyride.

HW!Toothless is not my Toothless

What made this point worse for me was how Toothless dropped the ball as Berk's alpha. He abandoned his pack for the dragons in the hidden world - makes no sense how he became king of dragons btw. I don't know why the dragons are compelled to follow him when he is not a true alpha dragon and he easily traded their freedoms for the life of this light fury he practically met yesterday. Also, Toothless was a lot uglier than I expected him to be. Toothless showed more anger over the light fury stepping on his drawing than he did the THREE times the light fury attacked Hiccup. Toothless was a total disgrace! Toothless had more regality as a lone wolf dragon than he does as an alpha simping over this nobody dragon.

The plot was boring

I feel like the threat Grimmel posed was ruined by the dragon romance. Berk is under threat by a dragon hunter and Toothless is more concerned about chasing tail. Plus, the hidden world was a concept with wasted potential. There was no point in the movie where I felt a sense of awe like the first two. From the first movie, test flight and Hiccotooth bonding. From the second movie, Hicctooth intro flight and Toothless breaking Drago's control because his bond with Hiccup was that powerful. The third movie left me with an agape mouth and millions of questions. I just felt sad at the end. The departure from Berk was too rushed. Toothless' departure was too rushed. The dragons leaving Berk was too rushed. The movie was too rushed and too slow at the same time.

These are the major points for me. There are other disappointing things about the movie but I am glad I watched it so that I have my own opinion of what a letdown this movie was.

[myrmyrtheorca]

(making this post for the second time because I done goofed and posted it instead of saving it as a draft)

I'll take the occasion to thank everyone for your support for Anemone's character sheet!

...aaaand it has come to my attention that so far she's received 4 different marriage proposals, so. I'm afraid you guys will have to form a line or something

Now, onto answering your questions! I thought to group them all here as to not flood anyone's dashboard ->

@lixenn asks the following:

• Actually, astigmatism! Caligari offered her corrective surgery multiple times, but she never really followed through with it. Also, she likes to wear them for fashion and has multiple frames for any occasion.

-

• I'd say she's directly managing around 10 people. She's been selecting the researchers herself. As for the personal assistant, I have yet to assign her one, so thanks for the heads-up as always Lix. 🩵

-

• Your assumption is correct. Caligari Is a medical doctor, but his knowledge seems to be... uncomfortably vast. He taught Anemone everything needed to take the place of the late Dr. Argenti. She specializes in genetics, because it's believed that the Pallid Flame's origin lies in the genetic history of the Cavalieri.

-

• Technically no, she doesn't have one and can't get one. The academic career of a Cavalieri, no matter the field, is limited to the family's context. External professionals that choose to cooperate with the Cavalieri (for example, Argenti) are also advised to keep their public presence to the bare minimum, and are constantly kept in check. They have nothing that can officially attest their level of knowledge in public institutions - hell, some of them don't even have a birth certificate to their name.

-

• fortunately not They met during routine blood work, while Anemone was still studying to become a researcher (and before her transition). Myr commented something nice about her painted nails, she was still an awkward little nerd at the time so that gesture was really appreciated. With time, Anemone got inspired by Myr's confidence and refusal of the family's ways.

-

• She likes to practice nail art! It's not uncommon for Lidija to get a call from her asking her to come over so Anemone can let the stress out by panting Lidija's nails. Myr refuses to participate

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@einsatzzz asks the following:

• Yes! Or at least, they try to be. Anemone is super busy with managing the whole Second Branch, so sometimes they won't see her for weeks. Also, it's kinda risky for her to be seen with Myr often, given she's seen as a troublemaker, but she tries her best to be there (even though it's a really cat Vs dog relationship). Since Myr is often not allowed in recreational spaces, they like to spend their time outside doing mostly things that Myr doesn't get to do due to her restrictions (ex. Picnics, keeping Myr's appearance in check, walks, board games that Lidija sneaks out/Myr steals from the break rooms...)

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@ravensilversea asks the following:

• I chose to keep this one for Anemone, since I was already working on her sheet when it arrived. She's a really pragmatic person, and so typically tries to be rational about things. When she does need to wind down or stop her brain from spiraling, she likes to read books. She's really into anthropology, and...bunnies. Manuals, studies, photo books. She's always wanted to keep one, but never felt truly ready.

[pastafossa]

Dear pasta

Do you have any wood carving tips for beginners?

I bought a bunch of wood and a couple of knives and idk what to do

BOY DO I. And I'm in a good spot for it because I have FOUR carvings of the same design in various stages of completion to assist.

I'm going to also put this behind a cut so that anyone who's like br br pasta it's just wood wood is boring NO IT'S NOT IT'S AMAZING isn't forced scroll by. Although I'm keeping the first tip in the open because IT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

TIPS FROM SIX YEARS OF CARVING/INJURIES/VISITS WITH MY CARVING TEACHER.

First, get yourself a pair of no cut gloves if you haven't already. I use these! They're cheap and they WILL save you a trip to the ER. Take it from someone who carved without them once and slipped with their knife and basically cut themselves down to the bone in their hand. 7 stitches and one bitchin scar later, I now never carve without gloves.

OK. So when starting, you're going to have your wood in of three forms: a blank (a small block of wood), a cut out (a blank that's been cut by a bandsaw into a basic shape), or a rough out (a cutout that's had most excess cut away and just needs details and final shaping). I don't know obviously which you have, but a LOT of people starting out aren't aware that when you're learning you can often purchase cutouts that make things easier (Hummul for example has a lot!). You can still carve from a blank, though! It'll just take a bit longer. Here's a picture with the 3 stages of my sea serpent design, and the first sea serpent I ever made that I carved from a blank, so you can see what I meam (coils are different on 3 just cause I felt like it, so ignore that).

When starting, try to stick to more simple designs so you don't get overwhelmed. Think smaller, basic shapes, usually made of something like basswood which is a nice soft wood (easy to cut). My teacher for example starts everyone on basswood rubber ducky shapes! So there's no complex details, and more abstract shapes. These are three of the carvings I made that first week of my class as an example (the little face is called a wood spirit and you can find a lot of guides for them on youtube, they're very popular!)

There is a basic process here that we can see with the sea serpents again! Step 1 you trace your design. Step 2, you're removing the large or small chunks of excess (this is where some use a bandsaw if accessible). Step 3 is rounding and shaping. And step 4 is adding details and finishing. If you're not sure about shapes, consider using some basic outlines from online! I've even used toys to give me a basic shape!

GRAINS: when you first begin to cut, you're going to want to cut with the grain as much as possible. Wood carves far more easily when your knife moves with the grain than against it. There will be points where you have no choice (this is why basswood is a popular wood for beginners and experts alike - little grain, very soft), but try as best you can to go with it. You'll feel it when you cut with it - it'll be a lot easier, but depending on the wood, you can also see it! The bottom wood has an easy to see grain, the top one a bit harder (also note the difference between the band saw lines - perfectly straight and up and down - and the actual grain - left to right, more wavy, nature hates straight lines), and the middle you'll have to look closely to see. If you've got pretty natural grains, most carvers stain or seal them without paint. Basswood's got borderline no visible grain so is almost always painted (see duck above). You'll likely develop a preference as time goes on, too!

If you're carving from a straight up wood blank, try to make your design fit the shape as closely as possible. This will minimize the amount of excess wood you have to cut off! Especially since your first step is removing what doesn't belong before you start curving and rounding (there's also pencil marks on the top, so I know what I'm carving on all sides).

SHARPEN SHARPEN SHARPEN. If you've got a good knife, it likely came pre sharpened, which is great and can serve you for quite a while, especially if you're cutting softer woods! But you're also going to need to sharpen your knife regularly - I'm working on a very hard walnut dolphin atm and I'm sharpening every 20 minutes or so cause it wears the blade down. To sharpen, you use a strop. There are additional guides for that and places to buy one, but if you're handy you can make one. My teacher's (and mine) is literally strips of cork board covered in compound, and glued to two sides of a wood paddle. Very cheap. 😂 If you need tips on sharpening, let me know!

If you're going to use a natural finish on your wood (i.e. anything but basswood), you'll want to sand after carving and before sealing! Start with 80 grit, then move to 120 grit, and finish with 240. Note: as you start to sand, you'll see lots of little spots appear! You want to sand those away!

MOST SEALANTS ARE TOXIC TO BREATHE, DO IT OUTSIDE OR WEAR A MASK! If you want to avoid that, seal with something like Tried and True Original Finish or try carving wood you paint instead, since you basically carve, skip sanding, and paint with watered down acrylics!

Lastly, the way I hold my knife when carving: I use my thumb against the non-cutting edge to 'push' the knife in a hingeing motion (I'll see if I can make a gif for it at some point). It takes some strain off your hands and lends more strength to the knife for harder or quick cuts. You can also cut VERY fast once you get this down, and my teacher's approved it as a valid technique.

I hope these help! I love love LOVE carving and wish there were more classes around for people to take! Fortunately there are a lot of youtube vids and guides but SO much of it is really just practice. It's also an incredibly soothing hobby. I love sitting in front of a movie or series or listening to a podcast/audio book while I just sit and cut away. And remember, if you have a blank and get into it and start to feel overwhelmed, there are plenty of cutouts and roughouts you can try instead that mean all you need to work on is shaping and detailing! Let me know if you have any other questions!