#so now i have all of the moon theme on guitar

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Two

“I’m really sorry,” Steve is saying before Eddie has the door fully open, but it makes Eddie smile. It feels like Steve has started saying ‘I’m sorry,’ instead of ‘hello’ as a matter of course.

It’s Sunday afternoon though, and Eddie isn’t cooking anything and Steve isn’t holding an empty plate, so Eddie has no clue what Steve could be sorry for this time.

“Could you come and help me with something? It’ll just take two moments.”

“Sure thing,” Eddie agrees easily, slipping on his adventure crocs and following Steve down the hall.

Eddie follows Steve into and then through his apartment into the small bedroom. It’s a two bed apartment, the same as Eddie’s. Eddie uses his spare room to store his guitars. He has a desk in there too; a place to write and paint his miniatures and do guitar maintenance.

It’s a nursery. It’s cute, animal themed. The ceiling is painted powder blue, which drops down onto the walls about a foot before ending in a neatly done scalloped edge. The walls are white, but have cloud shapes printed on them in the same blue. There are random tufts of painted grass popping up from the floor; some with flowers. The rocker and the other furniture, including crib and chest of drawers, are all painted the same green, and the blinds are green jungle, with elephants and big cats and monkeys hiding amongst the leaves. A lot of the soft things are yellow and white, and Eddie has not a fucking clue as to the sex of Steve’s pup, so he asks as much.

Steve smiles, “I don’t know. I didn’t want to know. I like surprises.”

“Huh. Well. I’m always the one shaking the gifts at Christmas, but I do love a surprise too. What did you need?”

“We have the fixings for the mobile there ready, but I clean forgot about it until now, and I’m too big to stretch up there. Didn’t do it at the time because we were moving furniture and I was frightened I’d break it.”

“Okay sure,” Eddie takes the dangly parts of the mobile; cute little moons and stars and sun shapes, and fixes it to the bit already attached to the ceiling. It’s nice, and easy to figure out, but it does hang low so he gets what Steve means.

He also sees why Steve can’t reach; he seems to have suddenly gotten even bigger over the last week, and he's also only been wearing these sort of loose shift dresses, like a blouse, a button up, and a tent had a horrendous love child.

He looks gorgeous though. Eddie always thought pregnancy must be pretty fucking miserable; your body betraying you almost. Needing to pee all the time, unreasonable hormones. Cravings. Morning sickness. Odd shit happening all over the place. Eddie always figured telling pregnant people that they’re ‘glowing’ was just a nice thing people said to make them feel better during what must be a pretty shitty nine months.

Not with Steve though. Steve’s actually glowing. Not like literally glowing but...he’s beautiful, and Eddie suddenly understands what all the fuss is about.

Steve clears his throat. Right. Right okay, Eddie’s creepy staring, “so I was going to make chicken parm again tonight, since I know you like it and it’s been a bit...do you maybe want to get out the apartment and come to another, slightly different, apartment?”

Steve laughs a little, looking at where his hands cradle his bump, before looking back up, cheeks pink, “I think I’d like that.”

Eddie’s laid the table as nice as he can. He snagged a little bunch of daisy looking things out of the garden and shoved them in a mug, just because he remembered Steve’s little daffodil.

He doesn’t own place mats, but he does dig out a table cloth he usually only uses for games night; it’s black, but it’s clean.

Steve settles himself at the table and Eddie goes and gets dinner, he can’t help but notice Steve shift in his seat, wincing.

“You okay?”

Steve hums, “been getting funny back pain, but it’s all normal. Could be anything really, just the weight of the baby, or maybe they are leaning on my sciatic nerve. It’s all fine. Nearly done now.”

Steve takes the first bite of his dinner and hums appreciatively. It makes Eddie warm inside, a little tickle of his brain releasing happy chemicals. Omega is being fed. Omega is safe and happy.

Eddie tells it to fuck off.

“So you’re due soon?” Which feels like he;s stating the obvious, Steve is the size of a tiny moon.

“Tomorrow.”

Eddie makes a noise, startled, then nearly chokes on a string of spaghetti, “excuse me,” he manages to get out, before drinking half his water, Steve looking half concerned and more than a little amused from the other side of the table. “Tomorrow?” Eddie asks weakly.

Steve nods, chewing and swallowing before he answers, “the due date is tomorrow, but it’s the norm really for first pups to go over that, even more normal with male Omega, don’t worry, it’s fine. Although it should be soon, I passed the mucus plug yesterday.”

Eddie nearly chokes again, “the what?” he tries his best not to sound too horrified.

“Oh. Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about the uhm, the kind of gross stuff.”

“No, no, of course it’s fine what is...uhm...that?” And Eddie is fully prepared to regret acquiring this cursed knowledge. He doesn’t even know what it is and he’s already eyeing his spaghetti sauce dubiously. For Steve though...he will learn about the gross stuff.

“Oh, well, when you’re pregnant you get sort of this...lump of...gacky stuff and blood. You don’t have periods when you’re pregnant usually, so it kind of protects everything from infection getting in and stuff like that.”

Eddie takes a deep breath and lets it out, blowing up his bangs, and makes himself eat his dinner normally, “fair enough, but that means you’re...kinda’ close?”

“Well, kinda’. Robin’s spending this morning with her girlfriend and then this afternoon sorting her place out. She’ll be over later, she’s moving in until the pups a week old or so, just make sure I’m okay.”

“She’s...a really good friend, right?” It warms Eddie to know Steve has someone like that in his life.

“Yeah...she’s been there with me through everything. Every appointment, all the classes, everything. Even when I decided I wanted to do this it was...it was right after yet another crappy breakup, you know. She could have said all the sensible things about maybe it's not the right time yet, or that I should...think about it. You know, all that things that would have been totally reasonable for her to say but I'd just...I’d just had enough of waiting and she said she’d support me whatever, and that was that. She’s the best.”

Steve shifts again, putting down his cutlery to try and stretch his back out, hissing with pain, “you sure you’re okay?” Eddie asks, concerned.

“Yeah, fine I think,” Steve bends forward then, gripping the edge of the table and breathing out harshly through his nose, “oh that felt weird.”

Eddie’s up and coming around the table before he can stop himself, hovering his hands, not sure if it’s okay to touch, “Steve?”

“I...oh. Oh gosh I’m so sorry Eddie,” Steve stands cautiously revealing a very clear wet patch on the seat.

“I...that’s fine,” Eddie squeaks out, “are you...is this. Is that…?”

“Yeah, pretty sure my water just broke. And I really wanted that chicken parm,” Steve sighs.

“I can make it again,” Eddie says reflexively, “kind of feel like there’s bigger things to think about what should- like can I help? What do we do?”

Eddie finds himself, very strangely, not panicking. Like, well, maybe a little, but not an uncontrollable amount. Which now he’s here that’s a really nice surprise.

“I’ll just call Robbie, and then will you walk me home?”

And Eddie had maybe had inappropriate thoughts about walking Steve home so he could steal a kiss, not whatever this is. But. Still. “Of course.”

Steve smiles at him with his phone next to his ear, “it’s go time Birdie. Oh, what was I supposed to say? Code red? The eagle is...leaving? I can’t remember, you couldn’t make your mind up about the-” Steve hisses, bending to lean on the table, “yep, yep, see you soon.”

Steve hangs up, telling Eddie she’s on her way as they walk down the hall, dinner abandoned on the table. Steve chooses to stand, walking little laps back and forth along the back of the couch, “is there anything I can do?”

“My bag and car seat are in the nursery, if you don’t mind grabbing those?” Eddie does, putting Steve’s things right by the door, “oh, and a towel, from the bathroom? I don’t want to make a mess in Rob’s car.”

“Sure thing,” Eddie grabs a bath towel from there, and puts it on top, just as Steve’s phone starts ringing.

Eddie can practically feel it when Steve tenses up, his scent turning bitter with distress. Despite what’s going on, Steve’s scent hadn’t changed at all until now, “your car won’t start?”

He sounds terrified.

“I. Yeah. Okay. I can wait I’ll- okay.”

“Okay?” Steve shakes his head, eyes suddenly wet, he looks like he’s biting back tears and Eddie can’t stop himself from going to him.

“She’s got to wait for Chrissy to get to her place and pick her up, then they’ll come over,” Eddie has to make this better. He has to.

“Okay, how about this, me and you go now, I’ll take you, and they can meet you there? That’ll make it faster right?”

“I mean, I’m not...I mean labor can take hours and hours, I’m being silly I just- Eddie I’m a bit scared. She was supposed to be here, it’s a bit too soon.”

They end up holding hands, which Eddie’s kind of thrilled about even if Steve is squeezing the life out of him, “would you feel better if you were waiting at the hospital?”

Steve bites his lip, clearly torn, “are you sure you don’t mind?”

“I’ll get my keys.”

Part Four

[lagomoz]

Proseka headcanons

-as rui’s childhood friend, nene has extensive fire safety knowledge

-shizuku is adopted, hence why she looks so different from shiho. she was adopted shortly before the moon rabbit event and it contributed to her clinginess

-shiho forgets this fact sometimes. she’ll casually mention something like shizuku got all mom’s good genes so unfair and ichika has to be. um. shiho

-kanade is mildly nearsighted/myopic but spends so much time at her computer she hasn’t noticed

-emu is buff. she climbs multiple stories without breaking a sweat and is canonically part of the swimming, handball and rhythmic gymnastic clubs, you can’t tell me she doesn’t have some muscle

-saki helps out as a human notepad for tsukasa, reminding of him things he would otherwise forget within 5 minutes

-the vocaloids also help. at first it was unnerving to have hatsune miku be an extension of his psyche that knows his darkest secret (stole saki’s candy when he was 6) but now his phone has a more reliable catgirl themed reminder system

-you know that classic nightmare of leaving the house without pants? tsukasa has legitimately done that as a kid. he forgor. (saki will never let him live it down)

-in the kamiyama student council/hall monitor room, an has put up at sign saying “_ days since last kamishiro incident”

-the shinonome siblings both figured out the other one was gay before they figured it out about themselves

-airi’s great at trivia from her time as a variety show star. she still can’t beat minori at idol trivia, though

-ena keeps a diary with fort knox level security. try to read it and you’ll lose a finger

-saki learned to crochet from the old ladies in the hospital

-shiho’s most treasured phenny is a somewhat lumpy crocheted phenny holding a very lumpy crocheted bass guitar

-tsukasa snores. he falls asleep in 10 seconds and sounds like a dying lawnmower

-mizuki has learned a small bit of french from their sister and uses it exclusively to teach rui and an how to swear in french

-emu still celebrates her grandfather’s birthday, even if he’s not there to celebrate with her

-ena is allergic to dogs, the middle point to airi’s cat allergy and akito’s dog phobia

-rui has various small scars from his experiments over the years, but nobody ever believes the real causes (rocket launcher, robot bite, exploding balloon animal, etc.) so he just makes up a new cause every time someone asks

-mmj! has had repeated incidents of minori and airi’s little siblings walking into frame when streaming at their houses. shiho understands the concept of a livestream but has still been caught failing at creeping past like that one new broadcast of the guy crawling along the floor

-kanade has pots & eds, this one I have a reason for look at her symptoms. chronic exhaustion, heat and cold intolerance, comorbid sleep issues and depression, dizziness when standing up, fainting after standing up, very pale skin, family history of medical issues, pain at normal physical activities, exercise intolerance, vertigo at mild exertion, she just fucking dies during the entire baseball event, I could go on. she canonically gets pain in her hands from opening a jar girl that is not just being out of shape that is physical disability. this one I will go conspiracy board on listen to me I’m right

-kohane ate bugs as a kid. an is horrified, toya is confused, akito is impressed

-ena and airi got in trouble in middle school because they’d keep starting fist fights in defense of the others honor. if they saw the other in a fight they’d jump in guns blazing no hesitation no questions ask ready to throw the fuck down

-vbs!rin and len were given a skateboard by an and then promptly had the skateboard confiscated by meiko for property destruction

-haruka is horrible with slang. she asks the stream chat what poggers means and immediately uses it completely wrong, killing all viewers on impact

-minori is torn between thinking it’s cute and wanting to die

-toya has been banned from arcades before because he made them lose too much money/they suspected he was cheating

-ena brought kanade over for girls night and nearly scared akito half to death because he went down to get a late night snack and there was some Ghastly Creature looming in his kitchen

-kohane's parents stick out like a sore thumb when going to her live shows. it mortifies her that everyone on vivid street can recognize them as the only milquetoast middle aged couple dressed in normal clothes loudly going YOU'RE DOING GREAT SWEETIE that don't know the first thing about music

-minori knows basic programming. she mostly uses it for forums, blogs, html, other web design things usually related to idols as a hobby, but she's become the groups designated anti-shizuku tech support

-mafuyu has always been able to see ghosts but after adults figured she was just playing pretend as a kid so she shrugged and figured it was normal and not worth bringing up again

-honami has one of those massive extended families and somehow keeps track of them all. at any given time cousin #57 can crawl out of the woodwork and she remembers their new job, favorite food, past three romantic relationships and list of allergic reactions

-mizuki does doll customizing as a hobby. they prefer making human sized clothes, but it's fun to make them miniature too. they've introduced shizuku to it and she loves it, but doesn't have the heart to do anything that would hurt the doll (sawing limbs off, dunking them in boiling water, shoving wires in them, etc.)

[pleasantlycrazyworld]

Can you write about Eddie dad, like he buys his kid his first guitar? But he has to sell sweetheart to get it? But the reader gets sweetheart back with her engagement ring and then Eddie is like where is your ring???

Just an FYI the baby's name is Asher.

Eddie always knew his child would end up loving music, when you two found out you were expecting he started to play music to your bump as it grew, when your baby boy was finally here with you two Eddie was the only one who was able to make him fall asleep as he sung to him.

It's been years of singing to him, of playing the guitar with him that lead to Asher asking for his own guitar for his birthday. You and Eddie talked about it and decided that seven was old enough for him to start learning how to play.

Eddie was over the moon that his son wanted to play the guitar...he was also heartbroken knowing that you two couldn't afford a nice guitar for him just yet. You both agreed to pick up more hours at work and to save as much as possible in the next few months leading to Asher's birthday. He never wanted to have to pinch pennies now that Asher is old enough to notice slight changes that comes with having to save money.

It was a few weeks before Asher's birthday and he was so excited, all he can talk about was his rockstar themed birthday party. You were busy getting everything ready that you haven't had time yet to talk to Eddie about the guitar and Eddie took that to his advantage. One day you took Asher to the party supply store to pick out whatever he wanted and Eddie quickly went to the pawn shop.

It hurt his heart having to sell his sweetheart but it broke his being knowing that Asher wasn't on the path of getting a guitar with how much you've been able to save. You've cut back on everything. You saved as much as you possible could for the past few months and it wasn't enough. Eddie saw how much you were upset over knowing Asher probably wasn't getting a guitar anytime soon and as he thinks about you and his baby boy he knew he had to sell his sweetheart to make his sweethearts happy.

You got back to the house with bags full of party supplies and a very happy six year old. "Mama can I call grandpa! I want tell him bout the party theme!" You laugh feeling you heart swells hearing how excited your baby was and you allowed him to call his grandpa as you put away the party supplies to be used later. As you were putting things away you noticed your husband missing. Soon after noticing this Eddie walks through the door with the excuse of Dustin asking for help with the upcoming campaign. You shrug it off without thinking of anything.

When it's time to tuck Asher into bed he asks Eddie to play a song. You see Eddie tense up and stutter out an excuse of his throat hurting slightly. It takes Asher a little longer to fall asleep that night.

It's two days before Asher's birthday when you pull Eddie to the side to ask about the guitar. "I think we have just enough for a cheap guitar for him" you mutter when Eddie sighs, "Actually...." he mumbles and winces as your focus snaps towards him. "Actually?" You question making him nod. "Isoldsweetheart" he says as quickly as possible. You glare at him playfully, "Munson you know I can't understand you" you say playfully, he takes a deep breath and says it again. "I...I sold sweetheart" Your eyes widen and your breathing hitches. "YOU WHAT?!?!" You nearly scream as he covers your mouth, "Baby don't yell you'll wake Ash" you nod and he uncovers your mouth and sighs again.

"I sold sweetheart. I don't want to give him a shitty guitar for his first one and I can always get a cheap one later to replace her." He tries to justify his actions as you shake your head, "Baby you love that guitar" He shrugs, "I sold it. That's the end of that but I want to get him a true guitar. One that he'll grow up with." All you can do is nod knowing there is no point in arguing.

Eddie was in charge of getting the guitar, you knew nothing about them so he went to his work and got what he deemed worthy enough for his baby. While he was getting the guitar you dropped Asher off at Wayne's to go get sweetheart back. You can tell Eddie is upset with the lost and so is Asher even if he doesn't know that sweetheart is actually gone just yet. You found out where Eddie sold the guitar at and went over with the only expensive thing you owned...your engagement ring.

Today Asher woke up with so much knowing that today was his party. You were in such a rush that you forgot all about sweetheart and your ring. While you were setting up the tables Eddie was setting up all the presents for Asher to be open later in the day. He looked over at you and smiled seeing you talking to Asher trying to lay out the table cloth. He goes over to you two so he can help you out but then something makes him stop in his tracks. "Where is your ring?" Hearing his voice makes you stop in your tracks. "Baby. Where is your ring??" You can hear the confusing and the panic in his voice, you turn to see him and you swallow the lump in your throat before trying to explain yourself.

"Well I...I got sweetheart back..." You mutter making his eyes widen. "You did not sell your ring. You loved that ring!" You nod trying to calm him, "I did but baby I told you before I don't need a ring! I always just wanted our matching bands" He shakes his head but before he can argue back everyone shows up for the party. "We aren't done talking about this." He says before going to greet everyone.

The party is coming to an end when it's time for Asher to open his big present. Seeing his eyes light up and hearing his shouts of excitement made it all worth it. What made it even more worth it was seeing him and Eddie play their guitar together.

A few months later when your birthday came around you were surprised by your baby boy playing one of your favorite songs on his new guitar, and by your other baby giving you a new engagement ring that he made you promise to never get rid of.

Tagging: @emmyshortcake @bloodthirstybreedingbunny @ghosttownwherenoonegoes @thefreak0fhawkinshigh @lofaewrites

[headcanonsandmore]

Can you do the "all the Doctors" thing, but what would they do if they started a band?

I certainly can!

One: Gets gently pushed into it by Vicki. Can actually play the piano rather well, and starts chuckling to themselves when he starts getting into it. Ian and Barbara got a little sick of the solos after over half an hour, though.

Two: You'd think that a recorder wouldn't be a good instrument to play in a band, but you would be as pleasantly surprised as Two was. Gets on surprisingly well with the hippie crowd, although Jamie has to keep them from getting pulled into smoking illicit substances which may or may not be legal. With time lords, who knows what the effects could be?

Three: Can practically play any instrument given to them because "my dear fellow, it would be vain to explain why". Jo loves it when they play Beatles songs. Has an unfortunate habit of playing in venues that later get attacked or blown up by the Masters scheme of the week.

Four: Pulls the weirdest looking string instument you've ever seen out of their enormous coat, plays some weird jazz-fusion stuff that sounds like a cat making love to a washing machine, grins unnervingly and walks off stage. The stage is a random cafe that hadn't even asked them to play. No-one ever speaks of it again, just in case they come back.

Five: Likes to play ABBA on the rhythym guitar, much to the amusement of their kids young friends. Insists on explaining the themes of each song before starting. Has an unfortunate habit of falling over halfway through their set and knocking themselves unconscious. Given the time period, they often get requests to play "That's Entertainment"; doesn't mind playing it but wishes Tegan and Nyssa would stop sneaking away halfway through to snog in a cupboard somewhere.

Six: Loves playing the drums. Their main inspiration is Keith Moon. Mel says it's good exercise for them. Peri is just glad that they don't wear their coat whilst trashing about with the drumsticks, because that would be a chasm too far.

Seven: Spoons. Ace rolls her eyes but knows that they enjoy it. Is surprisingly popular amongst latter-day beatniks and jazz fans. Often gives some lecture after each song. The difference is that, unlike with Five, people actually listen instead of groaning.

Eight: Just has to sing. You would not be able to stop them. They are surprisngly good at it, although sometimes you wonder whether the words have a hidden meaning.

War: Doesn't play anything, for obvious reasons.

Nine: Bass guitar, and in a very no-nonsence sort of way. Can get down and be funky with it. Rose loves it, and enjoys dancing along, which makes Nine very happy.

Ten: Maraccas, weirdly enough, and often with Donna. Both of them are laughing. The rest of the band doesn't really understand why but it seems to work so who cares?

Eleven: Glockenspiel. No, seriously. Amy and Rory don't know where it came from, and it's actually starting to get a little worrying. Especially when Eleven insists on practicing at 3am with no warning.

Twelve: Lead guitar, obviously. Nothing but shredding solos and awesome punk-style riffs. The fact that they don't have a top-selling album is mindboggling.

Thirteen: Fiddle in a folk-punk-fusion band. Very good at it and is having the time of their life. Loves to dance whilst playing. The happy love songs are their favourite, but has a habit of tripping over their feet on stage if they catch Yaz smiling at them.

Fugitive: Doesn't play anything; again, for obvious reasons.

TenThree/David Doctor/ sorry-mr-tennant-i-cannot-call-you-fourteen: Traded in the maraccas for a trumpet. Donna has a trumpet now too. Things seem to be going well for them.

Fifteen: Sampler. Creates tons of exciting sounds based on all of their previous lives, blending them together in a hopeful, joyeous mix. Well, so far anyway. We'll have to wait and see...

Thanks for the ask!

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

An Unwavering Light - Chapter 2

Rating: T/Teen for violence (in this chapter) and mature themes, including ones about trauma and depression.

Setting: begins before the confrontation with Aizen and co. in Fake Karakura Town arc, and goes from there to the Thousand Year Blood War arc. This chapter takes place during the events of the manga from chapters 334-391.

Music to listen to: Recollection I (YT | Spotify), In Remembrance by Evan Call (YT | Spotify), Ceremony Commences by Shiro Sagisu (YT | Spotify), 1130 TYBW full of guitars by Shiro Sagisu (YT | Spotify), Nothing Can be Explained Instrumental by Shiro Sagisu (YT | Spotify), Nightmare by Shiro Sagisu (YT | Spotify) Invasion by Shiro Sagisu (YT | Spotify)

Fic synopsis: During the confrontation against Aizen, the unthinkable happens. For Hitsugaya, a vow is broken, and for Hinamori, her future is unknown. With everything in shambles, how can they piece their lives back together? Or their bond?

Chapter synopsis: Hitsugaya loses his focus after Hinamori's sudden appearance on the battlefield and he finds himself turning his attention to the man who started all of this. Hinamori sets out to prove why she is worthy of being the lieutenant of the Fifth Division.

AN: A warning that this chapter is particularly violent, with mentions of severe injuries, including self-inflicted (only for Halibel's fraccion if you remember how Ayon comes into being).

Other than that, this chapter feels like I'm going 'look at all the missing scenes!'. I didn't want this to be a complete a play-by-play for the whole battle (and for the moments I did, I simply to did it either to show another perspective or look deeper into how the character may have felt in that moment), so I found moments where I thought something may have happened. We're only moments away from the pain that is chapter 392/episode 293 ;_;

Hope you all enjoy this!

Disclaimer: BLEACH and it’s character’s belong to Tite Kubo.

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___________________________________

The crescent moon shone overhead against a starless sky.

Hitsugaya shielded his eyes to make it out. He’d never seen a moon so sharp and bright. Somehow, though, he knows he’ll eventually grow accustomed to it. That it will become as natural to him as the sun and moon in the real world.

Hello, Master.

The booming voice didn’t startle him. He lowered head and hand, but was slow to turn to the towering dragon behind him. Unlike the last few times, the creature doesn’t bring icy gusts of wind or crashing snow with his arrival.

“It’s you again,” is all Hitsugaya could say. He was not in awe or fearful, only confused. What was this creature? Did he have anything to do with the spiritual potential that woman mentioned? “I can understand what you’re saying this time.”

Do you know my name? he asked.

Hitsugaya shook his head.

The dragon lowered his head rather sullenly. You will hear it in time.

"You haven't told me what it is," he said.

I have tried, but you cannot hear it.

Hitsugaya didn't understand how that was possible. Rather than question the dragon, he stared at the ice beneath his bare feet. It’s cold, but it does not freeze him. A landscape like this should have him shivering at the very least, but it’s surprisingly not unpleasant. If anything, it felt liked he belonged here.

The idea made him frown. “What is this place?”

Your inner world. It is where all your potential and power resides, the dragon said.

“And why did you bring me here? Why are you in my dreams?”

You called out to me.

Hitsugaya raised his head. “What do you mean? I never did that.”

You did it without realising. I hear things you cannot. For years now, you have been calling out to me, and I heeded.

“No, you were trying to hurt Baa-chan,” Hitsugaya accused. “Why?”

I did not. That was a result of you not having control of your abilities. I had hoped you would hear my name, and in doing so, harness the power within you. The dragon gave a growling huff – a sigh, perhaps. However, despite the power you have, you are still a child, after all.

Hitsugaya bit back a barrage of arguments, knowing it would get him nowhere. He was also perplexed at the range of emotions this dragon was showing. Before he’d been stoic, but just now he’d sounded disappointed. Still, there’s a patience about him, a willingness to listen to him even when he knew it would get him nowhere. In a small way, it reminds him of the patience of his Granny.

He stared down at his hands. This power the dragon spoke of, did it come from them? If he directed his hands in certain ways, like how Hianamori did when she practiced those weird gestures on her breaks from the Academy, would it he be able to control it?

Without realising, he found his mind shifting, as if focusing on a sense. But this was nothing like the senses he knew. He didn’t see, smell, taste, hear, or physically feel anything. It was a sense beyond those, one that encompassed his mind. It picked up a presence in the land around him and the towering dragon before him. It radiated in icy, invisible waves. It’s immense, so much so Hitsugaya winced as he tried to break out of whatever this was.

With a yelp, he freed himself, but it sent him stumbling back and barely catching himself before he could fall on his backside.

“W-What was that?’ he murmured to himself.

You sensed the power within you. That is only the surface, like what you see immediately here.

He looked around again and noticed for the first time just how vast the icy plain was. It extended beyond what his eye can see, continuing past the horizon into darkness. Frozen trees and hills far as the eye could see, lit only by a small crescent moon.

Hitsugaya shook his head. “What’s my power?”

You will learn that in time. First, you must train. Then, you must learn my name. The more the learn about your abilities and mine, the better control you will have.

“And Baa-chan will never be hurt again?”

No, my power will be for you and you alone to wield.

Shinigami were supposed to use their spiritual powers to protect Souls and Humans from harm caused by Hollows. He’d seen, however, that Shinigami are not the revered figures most children saw them as. Like any adult, they have faults. Like any adult, they could disappoint you.

He raised his hands again, looking at the backs before rotating them to face the palms up. What things could he do with these powers? The same as other Shinigami? He never wanted to become a Shinigami, but it seemed he had no choice. If he stayed in the Junrinan, he would never learn how to control the cold that had nearly killed Granny. And Hinamori would be there at the Academy, at least. He tried to ignore the slight glee that came with that thought.

“How do I learn your name?”

____________________________

When Hitsugaya woke this morning, before the sun had risen and all of his officers were still asleep, he thought about seeing Hinamori. Try as might, he couldn’t dismiss the idea as he changed into his uniform, attended the emergency meeting, or ate a small breakfast, appetite lost at the thought of who he would be facing. Even after Rangiku joined him in the few hours they had left before the battle, he thought to ask his lieutenant to take a detour with him to Fifth Division before they met up with the other captains and lieutenants.

But he didn’t. He couldn’t. He needed to focus on what lay ahead for them. They weren’t just engaging Aizen in battle, but the Arrancars. He’d trained in the spare time he had to ensure he was better prepared than he had been in the World of the Living.

Hitsugaya would cross swords with Aizen, he would see to it that it happens. Because he would not cut him down out of malice or hatred. He would defeat him for the vow he'd made years ago, and for Soul Society as part of his duties as a captain of the Gotei Thirteen. He had earned the title fairly and without agenda, Aizen had not. He would stand as an example of what captain should be, and against everything Aizen is and believed in.

He would go to this battle as a captain, and return ready to help Hinamori through whatever came next.

Yet, as he and Rangiku had made their way to the Senkaimon, he’d extended his senses to detect Hinamori’s reiatsu. It was stable, much stronger than he thought it would be. He couldn’t help but let out a small, relieved breath. She’ll be safe here, he thought, they can’t get to her here.

It’s why the pulse of her reiatsu is a shock to the system. For a fraction of a second, he thinks he’d imagined it, but it’s stable and remains in the periphery of his sense. He hesitates mid battle, almost earning him a slash from the blonde Espada. He doesn’t have time to look around as Hyourinmaru clashes with her sword.

The Espada holds him there, matching his strength. “Your spiritual pressure was spiked for a moment.”

He keeps his expression neutral. Was this a tactic to catch him off guard? “What are you on about?"

Her gaze narrows a fraction. “What happened?”

He matches it. “I don’t know what you're walking about.”

He releases a flurry of ice, which she lunges away from with ease. At least it put distance between them. More than being perturbed by his opponent’s observations, his chest constricts at sensing Hinamori’s reiatsu is still in the area.

Hinamori…

She’s somewhere behind him, next to Rangiku. She was likely the source of that fiery explosion before that helped his lieutenant against The Espada’s fraccion. Just as he noticed this morning, her reiatsu is steady and strong, perhaps the best it’s ever been. Yet he is reminded of the last time he’d seen her.

Please save Captain Aizen!

He lets out a shuddering, quiet exhale through his parted lips. Why did you have to come?

What’s going on in her mind? More importantly – the very next thought makes his stomach churn and anger roil up at himself for even thinking such a thing – was she here for the Soul Society or for Aizen?

His opponent comes in for another strike, and he’s forced to forget about Hinamori for the time being. If she’s with Rangiku, she should be safe.

___________________________

It’s had been simpler to find the battle than Hinamori thought. It was simpler still to rush around undetected, setting up an invisible kido net that used a combination of the spells around Rangiku and attaching it to her lieutenant’s badge. It’s one of the many combinations she’d come up with while researching and reciting kido chants in her room. Depending on how they faired after this one, she may need to use another. As Genji had said, these opponents are far stronger than any they’d faced, she can sense it from the reiatsu that emanates from them.

Even as she stared down these opponents a few minutes ago, Hinamori couldn’t help but notice Rangiku’s worry in her peripheral. This is why she came here: to prove to her and everyone else she was no longer Aizen’s subordinate. She was the lieutenant of Fifth Division, and she would fight alongside them.

Around them, her fire now extinguishes to smoke. She pants for a couple breaths and a sweat has broken out on her face and arms from exertion and nerves. She inwardly chastises herself for the latter. She has been in many battles, some of which have had months long gaps between them. Why should this one be any different?

“Are you okay, Hinamori?”

“Yes.” She drops a hand from Tobiume’s hilt and turns to look at her fellow lieutenant. She musters up a smile – albeit an rueful one. “I apologise, Rangiku-san. That’s the first time I’ve ever used that king of kido combination.”

Rangiku smiles faintly. “Don't apologise. It was impressive.” She briefly glances at the slowly dissipating smoke around them. “That was Fushibi, right? I’ve never seen it so finely spread out before.”

Hinamori can’t help but embrace the tiny swell of pride cause by Rangiku’s words. She lifts her other hand from Tobiume and gently massages it with the other. “Well…I blended Fushibi with Shakkago. After that, I cloaked them with Kyokko and stretched it out like a net.”

Most of the smoke has dissipated, and she casts her gaze to the horizon. It’s one of the few places where she didn’t see a battle occurring. “I must admit, it was hard to do all of that under these conditions but…” She returns her small smile to Rangiku. “I’m glad it worked.”

At Rangiku’s widening smile, Hinamori dares to hope. Finally, one of her friends’ worry had vanished. She’d proven she didn’t need worry or concern. She can fight alongside Rangiku and the others. Now, she needs to confront –

One of the few plumes of remaining smoke shifts strangely. Then, not even a second after, “Thrust, Cierva!!”

The other two also emerge from the smoke, calling out what sounded like releases for their weapons.

Hinamori’s heart races. “What?!”

She takes in their changed appearance – one has become half humanoid half serpent, the middle one has horns, and the last one had a yellow mane coming from coming from a headpiece. But above all, they looked unharmed.

She shakes her head. “I knew it wouldn’t affected severely affect, but there’s unscathed!”

“They regenerate when they perform their resurrection,” Rangiku explains. “It's their most powerful attack."

So surprised by this revelation, Hinamori doesn’t pay attention to what her opponents say to each other. Both she Rangiku raise their blades, ready for their next attack.

For Hollows, Hinamori had a knack for being able to tell what sort of attacks they will likely use. There was usually a tell, perhaps in something unique about their appearance or in the way they moved across the battlefield. With these three, she has no idea. They’re a species she’s not confronted until now. She wishes she got more intel about them before coming here.

Then, without warning, all three Arrancar each violently rip one of their own arms off. Both she and Rangiku can only gasp in horror, and watch as they throw their limbs into the middle of their semicircle, where they knot over one another, then twirl and becoming a thick cloud of white smoke.

It expands, becoming monolithic and taking the shape of something inhuman.

“Wh-What is that?!” Rangiku stammers.

But Hinamori cannot reply. She has lost her voice, and all she sees is darkness. A strange terror has her in its clutches, one that sends ripples of cold through her and drags her closer and closer to the beast’s eyes that are as black as bottomless pits.

___________________________

A new presence has joined the battlefield. One which gives Hitsugaya pause. He’s never felt anything like it; a dark abyss of energy, one that threatens to suck in anything near it.

He doesn’t chance a glimpse in the direction of the reiatsu, focusing on the Espada as she lunges forward with a particularly hard strike. He deflects it with a grunt, sending her sword off to the right. He takes the chance to stab at her side, but she spins out of the way and comes for his side instead. He twists and blocks the attack, but it leads to them clashing swords again.

Neither budge, pushing their strength and weight into their weapons. There’s faint tremor in his limbs which he pointedly ignores. However, there’s something about the Esapda’s posture too, it’s a fraction more ridged than it should be. He hasn’t been much of a struggle for her up to this point, and surely crossing swords like this was not a challenge for her. Is she affected by this dark presence too?

“What is that thing?” he demands. “It’s come from your fraccion.”

Halibel considers for a moment, simply returning his glare. “It’s none of your concern.”

Before she can notice, he lands a kick in her sternum, sending her skidding back. The beginnings of Hyourinmaru's Shikai are on his lips, ready to use the chain to –

Rangiku’s reiatsu violently spikes up

He freezes, eyes widening at the shock of it. She’s severely hurt, bordering fatally. Matsumoto!

Faintly, he hears someone else scream her name. With a grunt, he realises it’s Hinamori. What’s happening? He needs to --!

The Espada is suddenly in front of him. Her slash at him sends him barrelling backwards, his feet in the air until he forces them to the ground to skid him to a stop. Heart pounding and a bead of sweat falling down his temple, he struggles to return his focus to his opponent. He goes on the defensive against the Espada while he senses what’s happening with the lieutenants.

Rangiku’s is falling, and so Hinamori. Judging from her stable reiatsu though, Hinamori isn’t injured. Again, she calls out his lieutenant’s name. Then, they come to a stop, and as he dodges a strike from Halibel, he sees below them and off to the far right a blur of blue -- some kind of kido net, he can’t tell which – and two figures in the middle.

He barely has time to feel an iota of relief. Not because of the Espada’s attacks sending him away from the view within seconds, but because that dark presence suddenly appears in front of Hinamori’s reiatsu. Only two seconds later, it strikes her.

The impact on her reiatsu is as sudden as Rangiku. She’s gone into shock, and her injures are almost as severe as his lieutenant’s. She’s being propelled backwards.

He almost falls back and drops out of the sky. Hinamori! No!

He quickly straightens and looks back in the direction of the lieutenants. He can’t see them anymore, but there’s the source of the powerful reiatsu. A giant creature stands in the air above the city building, looking like a Huge Hollow but having the height of a Menos.

That all too familiar violent anger boils up in the pit of his stomach. He goes to flash-step to Rangiku and Hinamori, ready to freeze whatever this vile creature was to the bone.

A stab from the Espada stops him. The point of her sword comes dangerously close to his temple, and he barely manages to evade it. Strands of his hair are off, flying into the air.

"Pay attention," she reprimands despite her flat tone. "Their battle is not yours."

Hisagi and Izuru’s reiatsu suddenly appear next to Hinamori’s. The creature hasn’t moved, keeping it’s distance from Hinamori but still far too close to Rangiku.

Can he leave it to them? Does he really have a choice? His opponent won’t let him leave their fight, and he can’t let her attack someone else. With that in mind, it pains him to return his full attention to the Espada.

___________________________

Hinamori can barely breathe. There’s a wheezing sound coming out of her mouth as she tries to get air into her punctured lung. She tries to ignore the coppery taste on her tongue and she’s distantly aware that Hisagi is battling Ayon, but she only keeps her hazy gaze on Rangiku.

Izuru has his back to her, bent over their fellow lieutenant as he heals her. Sweat drips down his face and arms, and his brow and lips are drawn down in concentration. The green-blue kido emanating from his hands stands in stark contract to Rangiku’s paling skin and the light blue of the Tozansho’s prism.

Rangiku’s bones and organs slowly heal, while her flesh knits over itself smoothly and quickly. It’s evident Izuru hasn’t performed this kido in years; the spell is supposed to heal both internal and external injuries at the same pace, but an inexperienced or rusty user ends up repairing one part quicker than the other. Still, it's beneficial, better than her bleeding out.

Without warning, Izuru goes rigid and twists to the looming threat approaching them with booming steps. Hinamori forgets to breathe. Where is Hisagi? Had he been defeated by Ayon?

“H-He’s coming!” Izuru says, more to himself. “I’m almost finished, I just need a little more time.”

The kido beneath his palms stutters out for a moment. Hinamori is about to call out to him, when a hole of blood appears in Ayon’s chest. When she notices the Captain-Commander, she doesn’t know whether to be scared or relieved.

Izuru stumbles over his words in the older man’s presence, who lectures him in return. She loses focus, not able to keep up with what they’re saying. A wave of dizziness and cold suddenly overcomes her. Has she lost too much blood? Or is this from pent up anxiety?

She rests her head against the kido beneath her, but turns her gaze back to Rangiku. She’s still taking shallow breaths, and her shattered ribs and injured organs are sealed over by skin. She’s safe for now, but it won’t be long until she’s back to being on the brink unless Izuru continues to heal her.

“Izuru-kun…” Hinamori rasps out.

She’s not sure if he heard her. A darkness creeps in around the edges of her vision and a fatigue sets into her limbs. Her eyes become hooded, trying to resist closing them all together. Something escapes her lips, but she can’t tell if it’s a slurry words or a just a sound.

Izuru becomes a blocky blur, but he twists around to her. Before she falls into the darkness, there’s a loud, terrifying roar, and as she shuts her eyes, she thinks she hears Izuru say, “I’m going to move you and Matsumoto-san! Hold on, Hinamori-san!”

___________________________

Hitsugaya spins away from another missile of water. It splashes hard into the top of a building, caving in the roof and several floors before pouring out on to the streets.

He stops flapping Hyourinmaru’s wings and flattens them, sending him gliding lower. The Espada is stronger than he anticipated, and he hadn’t understood her battle strategy before. She shoots with waves after wave of water he can easily dodge. However, as he soars over the streets, the collecting waters gave him the idea. She’s waiting for water to build up.

To think he would face an opponent like her. They can wield the same element but in opposite states. Had Aizen brought her here to face him for that very reason? There’s something that feels almost predetermined about their fight he can’t shake off. Nor can he forget how she’d threatened the Captain-Commander.

“I will avenge their deaths.”

He glances over his shoulder. She’s gaining on him, fast. She draws her weapon back, and his eyes widen at the yellow glow that builds up on the blade.

“Cero.” She slices the air, sending the beam in an arc. He flash-steps away, but not quickly enough. One of Hyourinmaru’s wings is cut in half, and he has to quickly find somewhere to land. He goes to the first rooftop he sees and lands on it’s balcony. The railing is slick with water, as are the walls beneath and the power-lines above it.

Another of Hyourinmaru's flower petals breaks apart. Considering the attack he’s come under just now and for how long he’s been in the Bankai state, he’s doing better than he anticipated.

In the back of his mind, something bothers him. Reaching out his senses, he curses under his breath. Izuru and Komamura’s reiatsu are close by – so much so Hitsugaya is confident if he looks over his shoulder right now he would see them be able to clearly make them out from this distance. Next to them are the weaker reiatsu of Hisagi, Rangiku, and Hinamori. He takes what little relief he can that his lieutenant and childhood friend are both safe and no longer on the verge of serious injuries. Still, the way Hinamori’s reiatsu flickers and wanes, is worrisome.

He wills his expression to neutral, but find himself fighting off a deepening frown. The Esapda has her back turned to him still, but she no doubt sense him. Based one how this fight has gone, he’s confident she won’t attack the others; she seems focused on finishing their fight first.

“Your tactics are strange,” he comments, drawing her attention. In his peripheral, Hyourinmaru’s wing regenerates; he needs to stall until it’s completely reformed. “But I have a feeling why that's the case. I'm guessing we're both waiting for the same thing to happen. For this battlefield to fill up with water, allowing either of us to strike a killing blow.”

She says nothing, and her expression remains impassive. Still, it’s all the confirmation he needs to say his theory was right. He’d said to her before one should save their greatest tactics for the greatest moments of crisis. Given who is not too far away from them and how the battles around him were going, he needs to help shift the tides in the Soul Society’s favour. Given her strength, there’s only one ability he had that can vanquish her at this point. What if it affected the others somehow? He's never --

"Are you concerned for them?"

He grunts, returning his gaze to her. "What?"

"Your allies just over there, are you concerned for them?"

At his lack of an answer, her expression briefly breaks into something reflective. "Right now, you have a choice to either sacrifice them or make yourself a sacrifice to save them. Regardless of what you choose, either you or they will carry the moment you made a choice forever." She raises her weapon, once again becoming stoic. "Choose carefully."

What was this? Is she trying to unnerve or goad him? He shakes it off, choosing to see this as a threat to those behind him.

“Fine. There’s no use both of us waiting.” He raises Hyourinmaru, and more to himself than his opponent, he says, “I’ve never tried this while in Bankai, but you leave me no choice."

“What are you talking about?”

Hyourinmaru’s wing is almost regenerated. He doesn’t have to stall her for much longer. “To tell you the truth , I don't need to wait for water to gather. Hyourinmaru is the ultimate ice-type zanpakuto.” He fully faces her and grips his zanpakuto with both hands. “All water is my weapon.”

The Espada lets out a quiet, startled sound and her eyes widen at the sky as what he meant dawns on her. The clouds darken and rapidly gather above them, blocking out the sun for half of the battlefield.

With Hyourinmaru’s wing back to its full form, he launches himself from the railing and shoots back into the air, coming to level with her. “The whole sky is under my control.”

“What is this?”

It’s most emotive she’s sounded. He thinks to just initiate the attack and not tell her; given the circumstance, it might the smartest strategy to use. However, he finds himself uncomfortable with the idea.

He goes on to explain his abilities to her, and she only listens, not moving to strike him when she has every opportunity to do so. Is she accepting her fate?

When he comes to the end of his explanation, he pauses. He was not blood thirty or a lover of fighting like Kenpachi, but she’s been a worthy opponent, the strongest he’s faced in decades. Then there was her threat to Captain-Commander that won't leave his mind…

“What is your name, Esapda?”

As if his words take her out of a daze, she schools her expression to impassive again and looks down at him. “I'm Espada Tres, Harribel Tier.”

“I’m Captain for the Tenth Division, Hitsugaya Toshiro.” He raises his blade. “Are you ready?”

___________________________

Both Hinamori and Izuru watch as the clouds part and form a circle above the Espada. The that snow descends in a cascading rush through the hole makes both of them gasp. It’s so glaringly white, she has to squint to still see Hitsugaya and his opponent, who goes to make an attack against his. It’s useless; the magnitude of the avalanche is something no one can fight off.

“I-Incredible,” Izuru murmurs, stunned. “What…What is that ability?!”

“Whatever it was, he risked much doing it this close to us,” Sajin comments, failing to keep the alarmed tone out of his voice. “But then, he didn’t have much of a choice.”

Within seconds, the snow rapidly transforms into a tower of spiky ice. It resembles a pillar of flowers, piled on top of one another as though growing from hundred of vines snaked around a column. The Espada is nowhere to be seen, likely trapped within the ice.

The clouds begin to thin and the sun returns, but Hinamori frowns when she notices Hitsugaya hasn’t moved away. He remains close to the ice tower, zanpakuto lowered. Is he gazing into the ice to check his opponent is there?

Eventually, he turns, lingers for several more seconds, then flies off. He's heading towards them. For a moment, she wonders if he’s coming to check up on them. However, he angles himself higher into the sky and passes them overhead. She loses sight of him and she can't help the tiny pang that pricks at her heart.

“Shiro…can.” She barely realises she’s said the nickname aloud.

It’s been so long since she last saw him, and now she’s only gotten to see him from afar. That will change after this battle is over, she’ll make sure of it. Whether he’s angry at her for coming to battlefield or happy to see her, she’ll find him after all of this and thank him for protecting all them.

A whimper comes from her left. She lolls her head to the side. Rangiku has her eyes shut still and her brow furrowed in pain, but her breathing is normal. Izuru has done the best he can, but Hinamori hopes Fourth Division will arrive to battlefield sooner rather than later.

On the thought of her friend, she tilts her head downward to look at him. He’s kneeling over Hisagi, working on his internal injuries. The Ninth Divison’s lieutenant is still conscious at least, but he grimaces as he’s being healed.

Izuru's forehead and temple glisten with sweat, and there’s a small tremor running through his arms. He’s getting fatigue. Soon, he won’t be able to keep this up without hurting himself.

“Kira-kun…”

“I’m almost done here,” he says, slightly clipped.

“Are you all right?”

He lets out a grunt, and finally his eyes reach hers, wide with bewilderment. “What? Why would you ask that?”

“Don’t…push yourself –” A cough interrupts her, causes a fresh trickle of blood to run down her lips. The pain returns afresh, and she winces as it explodes through her chest.

Alarmed, Izuru looks between her and Hisagi. She wants to tell him to focus on Hisagi, but at the former’s nod towards Hinamori, Izuru deactivates the kido and rushes to her side.

“You’re the one who shouldn’t be pushing themselves,” he warns, before activating the kido over her torso. The relief comes quickly, soothing the pain into smaller waves. Her breathing remains shallow, not able to take in full breaths.

Her gaze slips to behind Izuru’s shoulder. There’s the pillar of ice, which Hitsugaya has returned to. He's comes out of his bankai state, but his posture is one of vigilance. He watches the battle unfolding around the area, looking for a moment he can strike perhaps.

Further away, Yamamoto’s flames burn in a circle of high walls. Hinamori tries and fail to not detect the reiatsu emanating from behind the fire.

She looks at Izuru. “Have you seen any of them?”

He picks up on the implication quickly. His brows fall into furrow. “No, just sensed him.”

She can’t help but let out a relieved sigh. “I hope…you don’t have to.”

The corners of his mouth tighten. “Yeah…I hope so too.”

The spike in his reiatsu says otherwise. There’s a hint of anticipation there, buzzing along the weighed down whirl that is his reiatsu.

He hesitates as he deactivates the kido over her. They both wait for almost a full minute for another coughing fit or for her pain to return.

“Where’s Abari-kun?” Hinamori asks in a whisper.

“He and Kuchiki-san went to Hueco Mundo.”

“Why?”

“I can’t say for certain, but likely because their Human friends went there to save the girl that sided with Aizen.”

Hinamori frowns. If she’s a traitor, why would they go after her? An answer comes to the surface, one she desperately wants to dismiss. Are they like herself? Unable to accept the truth about someone they thought they knew? Or perhaps this girl is innocent in all of this, and had been tricked by Aizen into following him. Perhaps it’s the fatigue weighing her down or the last embers of hope, but Hinamori wants to believe the latter is true. “I hope Abarai-kun and Kuchiki-san are all right.”

Izuru doesn’t respond. After a beat, he tilts his head to the side, pensive. “Why did you come here, Hinamori-san?”

She blinks. She shouldn’t be surprised by the question, but perhaps it’s because it’s coming from Izuru. A part of her had thought he’d understand without having to ask.

She lifts her gaze to battles happening above them in the distance. “I couldn’t stay behind. I had to be here, it’s a simple as that.”

He doesn’t raise his head. “You’ve always been like this.”

With how flatly he says it, she can’t tell whether it’s a fond observation or a critique of her character. “How do you mean?”

He shakes his head and shifts over to Rangiku. With his back turned, she can’t tell how he feels. “Nevermind.”

She wants to say more, but finds herself speechless. Is he disappointed that she came? Are there others who feel the same?

She watches the battles unfold, first with victory of Soi Fon over her opponent, and the battle between an Espada and Kyoraku and Jushiro.

Terror grips her as the sky splits a new Espada arrives with a fearsome, gigantic creature. The new Espada injures Jushiro and with a yell, breaks the ice encasing Hitsugaya’s opponent. Near her, Izuru goes rigid, his wide-eyed gaze solely on the events unfolding above them and the kido cast from his hands over Hisagi stuttering away to nothing.

He begs Komamura to go join the fight, but before Komamura can respond, a sounds comes the creature. It moves out of the split in the sky and comes to loom over the circle of fire. Pursing it’s lips, it blows a current of air flames, reducing them to streaks of smoke within seconds.

Hinamori forgets to breathe. Her vision is becoming increasingly blurry, but she can clearly distinguish Aizen. He’s there. He’s really there.

Izuru lets out a choking sound. In the end, he did see his former captain afterall. Despite their earlier interaction, she wishes she could stand by his side and they could help each other through this.

He falls forward, barely catching himself with his hands on the ground. “This is really the end!”

It must be. What can they do against Aizen? She came here and show he doesn't have a hold on her anymore, that she is worthy of carrying her title. In the end, she has ended up injured and scared.

And then, without warning, a new presence joins the battlefield. No, not just one, several. It's enough to pull Hinamori out of the spiral that threatens to engulf her. She barely registers the new arrivals, her senses so hazy she can’t quite distinguish each reiatsu from the other. There’s something strange about them. They’re Shinigami, but there’s something else within them.

She searches the sky, finding a group wearing clothes from the World of the Living. They’re directly confronting Aizen and the other former captains. Who are they? Are they on their side?

Perhaps her panic has gotten the better of her or her bewilderment is so great that she's lost her mind, but she can't help but feel an inkling of hope.

___________________________

The winds were harsh, screeching in his ears and threatening to push him over. It was the coldest it’s ever been on the frozen plains, it even burned the soles of his feet. Still, he remained standing. Still he kept his eyes closed. Still he gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to raise his arms and block the wind from biting into his face.

He focused on the power of this place, burling around him like a blizzard. This was his, even if he didn’t fully comprehend it. He knew it had to be his. Only he can wield it.

He cursed and opened his eyes. The dragon towered over him, watching Hitsugaya, unflinching as a statue. He could hear him speaking, voice as loud as a thunder clap, but like all the other times, the words are lost in the wind. He listened, really tried to listen.

“Your name is…Your name is!”

He hissed out a frustrated grunt. No matter how far he tried to reach for it in his mind, it always slipped from his grasp. He’d been training this whole time learn it, and yet it had only taken him so far in learning his zanpakuto’s name. Was it that the dragon did not trust him with it?

He’s at his limit. The desperation clawed at his heart, twisting and clenching it. Where else could he go? This power was his. He wanted it, needed it…

He flung his gaze up to the dragon’s. “There are things I want to protect with this strength and power!” he yelled over the wind. “That’s all I will ever use it for!”

The vice around his heart squeezed even more, causing him to let out a strangled gasp. If he didn’t have this power and strength, how can he possible help those who helped him? How can stand by Hinamori’s side? How can he --?

It came out him as a scream, one that soared above the winds and plunged deep into the ice below his feet. “I want to protect her!”

There was a flash. Not before his eyes, but somewhere within him. Something like a locked door finally opened. One that had always been within him, hidden away until this very moment.

The power shifted, coiling around him, hissing in his ears and rushing up into his veins. He gasped at the cold of it, at the way is thrummed through his blood and against his bones.

“It’s…coming,” he murmured in wonder, staring down at his hands. Then, with more excitement, “It’s coming to me!”

Another flash, this time through his whole body. The power solidified, as if turning to impenetrable ice. It was a vital part that kept him together and whole; he doesn't knwo how he's lived without it for this long.

With widened eyes, he looks up to the dragon. He’d spread out his wings and bowed his head closer. The very action stopped the winds and brightened the moonlight shining down upon them.

The creature, he realised now, is truly a part of him. This power he held was this creature, and it carried in it a name. He spoke to him again. “ ‘My name is…’” Hitsugaya repeated back without realising.

He stood taller, hands fisted at his sides. He listened closer to the voice that whispered rather than roared in his ear, echoing from his veins and heart. From a part of him that had always been there, remaining unnamed until now.

He grasped on to what it said, in the voice of the dragon. “ ‘My name is Hyourinmaru!’ ”

He left his inner world through the moonlight, letting it consume him as the ice crackled and Hyourinmaru flapped his wings with a howl.

___________________________

Hitsugaya leaps forward, the air whistling around him and the world becoming streaks of color. He only sees the traitor he will cut down. He is far from anxious to face the Soul who had cut him down ad made him feel powerless. That boiling in his stomach roiled as he raised Hyourinmaru and brought the blade down harshly against Kyoka Suigetsu. It did nothing to rattle Aizen, but he half expected that would be the case.

“You came at me without much thought,” Aizen says, smiling faintly. “That was rather reckless of you, Captain Hitsugaya.”

Hitsugaya withholds a sneer; he refuses to show any emotion in front of Aizen. “Someone had to make the first move. I commend you for not activating Kyouka Suigetsu on your first strike.”

“Allow me to do the same for you…” Aizen says flatly, before deflecting Kyouraku’s attack to his side with a kido shield.

Hitsugaya knew Kyoraku would follow, had sensed it in the way he’d glanced at him briefly. Had he known he would strike first? Hitsugaya shakes his head; it didn’t matter.

He falls back, sensing the remaining captains, lieutenants, and their newfound ‘allies’ all coming towards them to join the fight. He and Kyouraku will have to keep Aizen occupied for the next minute.

He goes in for several attacks, as does Kyouraku, all avoided or blocked with ease. This is not the fighting style Hitsugaya has seen Aizen use before. This is a different Aizen, a truer version of him. He still has the same grace that comes when he deflects an attack with his zanpakuto and casts a kido at the same time, but there’s a fast pace to it, and a calculation behind each strike. It’s as if he knows their moves before even they do.

Swallowing the cry that wanted to come from his throat, Hitsugaya lunges again, bring Hyourinmaru down hard. He can’t let this frustration get the better of him. He can use it as fuel to keep him engage in the battle, but never as source of power. Never as his sole motivation. He is a Captain of the Gotei Thirteen, and the Soul before him had turned his back on that title.

Aizen brings his zanpakuto down, countering the attack and causing Hitsugaya to skid back. He comes to a stop a short distance away. As he stares the traitor down, he can’t get rid of the previous thought. Aizen hadn’t just turned his back on the title, but also on everything it stands for.

The words come to the surface, and Hitsugaya doesn’t stop them from reaching his throat. “Before, you said a sword without hatred is light an eagle without wings…that a sword swung out of duty will never cut you.” Aizen’s smile falters, falling to a straight line. Hitsugaya doesn’t gloat on the small victory, instead continuing as he lowers Hyourinmaru to his side, “You don’t seem to know the truth, and that is…a sword wielded from duty alone is what a captain always does. To wield one with hatred is nothing but violence. The Soul Society would never consider that a battle.” He stands a little taller. “It seems, Aizen, you weren’t ever captain material if you truly believe that.”

He was always planning the Soul Society’s downfall and their deaths along with it. He never cared for a single Soul or Human. He didn't even care for his allies, cutting down Harribel like she was nothing to him this whole time. The vision he had, whatever it was, had led him to this and dragged everyone in with it. To think he can hold such power, it sickens Hitsugaya.

“How interesting…” Aizen’s smile returns. “To hear those words from you, the captain who hates me the most out of all of them, is quite surprising to me.”

Hackles raised, Hitsugaya brings up Hyourinmaru again. He loathes how the comment struck close to home, that he has read him that well.

“Are you telling me you have no hatred in your sword right now?”

What’s he getting at with this?

“Or perhaps…did your hatred vanish when Hinamori-kun showed up completely recovered?”

It rushes up his spin, white hot and surging through every nerve-ending. It’s something dark and scorches like an ice burn. He’d experienced in the past few months on a smaller scale, in the moments where he struck a training dummy far too hard, or awoke in the middle of the night wanting to scream to the sky, or when he had last spoken with Hinamori and wanted nothing more than to kill Aizen right there and then.

Her near-death flashes before his eyes, far too vivid still. He can never forgive the traitor for that, could never let him walk away from this battle alive.

He’d missed whatever had happened between Aizen and Kyoraku as he'd gone into this state. Aizen turns around when Hitsugaya cries out his Bankai’s release. Behind him, Kyouraku becomes wary.

He ignores his fellow captain, zeroing in on Aizen alone. “You’re right, Aizen. My sword is filled with hatred. Hatred for you.”

Hyourinmaru roars in his mind, ready for this fight. The burning cold now flows through his veins and strikes through to his bones. He will become as cold and ruthless as he needs to be, as vicious as a blizzard that smothers all life caught in it.

Because truth of it all was he didn’t come here for the Soul Society. He wanted to fool himself into thinking that was his main motive, but he never could. Ever since the day he’d seen Hinamori dying on the floor of underground chambers of Central Forty-Six, this fight was never going to be about just protecting Soul Society. He'd thought of Hinamori this very morning, and how she would be safe. How he would ensure she remained safe.

“I didn’t come here to just do battle with you!” he bellows. “I came here to violently hack you to pieces!”

Let him be a hypocrite. In face of what this traitor did to Hinamori, what did his captaincy matter? If it meant he had to abandon it, then so be it. He’ll crush Aizen to nothing, will freeze him through to the core and shatter him to icy dust. His name will vanish in the decades, forgotten by all and only brought up when his demise was spoken of.

And what would become of himself? It didn't matter.

___________________________

They’d become specks in the distance, hard to see beyond the yellow of the kido shielding them. Hinamori had tried to keep her eyes open, but they were hurting and she ended up closing them and rolling her head to the side.

Now she cracks them open a fraction, able to see Izuru and Iba watching the battle. They’d stopped focusing on the injured and are completely still. Something must be wrong. She rolls her head to the other side. Rangiku, now conscious, has her gaze also above, but Hinamori can’t tell through the tussled blonde hair if her frown is one of concern or confusion.

She tries to make out the figures, and all but three are indistinguishable. The Ryoka boy – Kurosaki Ichigo, she corrects herself – stands a long distance away from the battle. Hitsugaya’s ice wings flap shooting himse forward at such a speed he becomes a blur before he attacks Aizen.

Other figures swoop in after that, and it becomes a chaotic scene. She loses track of the battle, seeing but not really concentrating on what is happening.

It’s why she frowns when, after Soi Fon engages Aizen in the confrontation, he vanishes.

She let’s out a surprised gasp when her view is suddenly obstructed. The white of the Soul before her is glaring against the kido. Without having to see his face, Hinamori’s heart seizes up and then races as her blood turns cold.

His shadow casts over her. A vague sense of kido, one of concealment, rolls off him. A blink, and Hinamori sees him more clearly as he casts his gaze to Rangiku. In the sickening seconds that feel like minutes, she hazily suspects he’s considering doing something to her fellow lieutenant.  

She makes a sound, the beginnings of a wordless protest, which draw his attention back to her.

Hinamori blinks again, and he bends forward and grabs her by the front of her uniform. His face is darkened by shadows, making his appearance all the more shocking to her.

With a violent jerk, he pulls her back off the ground, forcing a choked gasp out of her. Her head and limbs loll back, as though she were a ragdoll. Is this real? How did he get past barrier? Why is no one around her seeing this? Even if he is using a concealment kido, it would have broken with him grabbing her. Unless it's one stronger than any she knows. The power of him, the things she never knew. The things he'd done, to her and her friends.

She lets out a broken whimper. “C…Captain.”

Aizen pauses. Behind him, high up in the sky, Soi Fon has created an army of clones, but they’re a blur to Hinamori, her focus only on him.

“Why did you come here?” His voice, so familiar but somehow so different, breaks something in her.

She can only let out a strangled sound in response. How she wanted to tell him to his face she'd come her to face him and fight alongside her fellow lieutenants and captains. She should reach Tobiume, sheathed at her hip, or shoot a kido through him. She has the strength to do the latter, but she’s paralyzed.

“No, I already know why.” She can hear the cold smile in his voice.

With a tilting back of his head, sunlight and the glow of the kido around them illuminates Aizen’s face. His eyes finally reach hers. He says something else, but it doesn’t register. The disdain and coldness in his gaze pierces her. It tells her what she already knows, what she’d tried to deny weeks ago but realized before she came to this battle. it's what splints whatever in her had broken before. You never mattered.

With a brutal pull, she’s off the ground completely. Everything passes in a haze, and then all she sees is the sky, much closer than before. A sudden cold presses up against her back, and she’s losing her footing. Looking down, Karakura Town is sprawled out beneath her, and Soi Fon is rushing at her.

Aizen is nowhere to be seen.

__________________________________

“It’s over Aizen!”

Hitsugaya lunges forward, and with a flap of his wings, he shoots forward at great speed. He doesn't give the other captains a chance to deal the finishing blow. He keeps his grip on Hyourinmaru strong and his focus solely on the man frozen again the ice.

Seconds before the blade pierces through the traitor’s back, Hitsugaya thinks he hears Hinamori begin to call out to his name. It ends so abruptly he barely even registers it.

He stabs Hyourinmaru through the ice and into Aizen’s back, and it's all over.

_________________________________

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[bcolfanfic]

Hiii!!! to take your mind to kinder and softer things: any headcannons on josies first birthday with clegan?? will her uncles and aunts come by with truly threatrical gifts that sends buck and buckys eye twitching? will she demand to be carried around by her uncle croz and never be put down for a second? will there be some godawful birthday games that leaves her uncle curt a trip to the er because a game of pin the tail on the donkey is supremely misunderstood? will there be a quieter celebration during the nights bedtime where bucky brushes back her hair and sings happy birthday softly and buck uncharacteristically plays air guitar bc hes ever so freely playful in front of his two favorite people?

i hope everything goes well for you today and tomorrow!! sending love your way ♥️

she’s just a girl living in wyoming, of course it’s horse themed.

gale and bucky have to put it (in bold) on the invitations they send out to the guys that under no circumstances are they to get her a horse, please.

demarco texts bucky and asks on a scale of 1-10 how mad he’d actually be if someone you know- hypothetically,

an 11. we are renting one that will go back to it’s horse house at the end of the day, so don’t worry about making up for us depriving our child.

this is the first real birthday celebration she’s ever had which makes gale emotional in the lead up when they’re talking about it and she doesn’t really get it.

he gets that- he never really had birthday parties growing up either. getting to do different by his little daughter makes his heart warm.

she has a few little friends from school there but it is mostly the guys and their various families that came into town for the the festivities. and josie kinda ditches her little school friends for them, whoops.

especially her moon and sun and stars uncle crosby.

has a little moment where she gets jealous of the attention he’s giving to his youngest who is just shy of a year old. and matter o-factly informs him it’s not that baby’s birthday, ‘s mine 😾

sweet thing she thinks the baby is cute and all just wants uncle crosby to herself. croz hands the baby off, and josie is quick to park herself in his arms before he can change his mind.

she’s absolutely big enough to walk, but it’s her birthday and she’s cute so uncle crosby does haul her around all day.

rosie rosenthal STUNS with a new talking customized pop up card of himself

he even provides him own replacement batteries this time, and gale tells him they ought to throw them away but he knows they won’t.

the guys spoil that girl rotten, and if it’s with some of the noisiest toys produced in the united states then well, so be it.

kenny is one of the few that doesn’t go the noisy toys route- he gets them a membership at a local children’s museum. and writes bucky his own card that makes him tear up.

because kenny remembers the bucky he saw spiraling overseas and that he spent years and tears so worried about. and now he’s here- and he just wants his buddy to know how proud of him he is.

curt doesn’t wind up in the ER but there is a little bit of a near miss when he gets lost in the haze and whacks his good leg with the piñata stick

sweet josie gets so worried, curt laughing through the pain when he hears her ask if they’re gonna have to cut that one off too (it’s just bruised, but she’s five and doesn’t really understand the one that had to get amputated was a little more injured)

gonna decide that gale plays the guitar in this au because why not. he picked it up after he came home from the war just to learn a new skill.

him sitting on the floor against josie’s bed playing it for her at bedtime while bucky sits in her little princess bed singing to her in his arms.

both guys get a little teary eyed- for more than one reason. because their baby is growing up, they can’t help but wish she was with them for her first four birthdays and because the road to get to where they are now singing their little daughter to sleep was long. especially for bucky.

but they made it to the good life damnit. 🩵

[tenaciousduckpoetry]

Sure, Next Time.

This is the fic that won the poll by a landslide. I will be writing the other one next just for fun! Actually, I might make a list of them and publish it so you guys know what's coming lmao

Warnings: mentions of blood, a limp, fights, dislocated finger 💀, hurt/comfort, swearing, Hobie and reader are tired af cause it's 2am, I also don't know how to write Hobie's accent so bear with my while I learn <33

It didn't necessarily surprise you when Hobie accidentally let it slip that he was Spider-Punk. You could recognize the sticker abused guitar and stressed leather jacket anywhere. What did surprise you was the amount of injuries he sustained and how easily he could hide them from you. If he had a limp his excuse was, "Tripped in my boots, luv." Any other injuries he used the excuse of having started a fight with some capitalist douchebag. And you believed it. It was only until he came back for you to patch him up after every battle that you began to truly let your anxiety feed into it.

Hobie had climbed through your window at 2am. The sun was no where to be seen and the moon was shrouded in clouds. You had become a light sleeper as of late, the rise in crime getting on your nerves and preventing that precious rest you craved.

You woke up at the sound of those familiar heavy boots against your tiled floor. Squinting, you recognized the familiar shadow of a certain spider-man, or at least the shadow of the spikes on his head. "Hobie?" You reached to turn on your bedside lamp. Tired eyes squinted as the warm light enveloped the room. Your voice was scratchy from having been woken up at an ungodly hour. Your hair was all over the place, strands in front of your eyes and sticking out in ways that you didn't know it could. You thought this was a dream with how Hobie had frozen like a deer in headlights at the end of your bed.

Hobie thought he could just slip in and out, weaving his way to your bathroom and taking a couple of bandages for his trip home. He was wrong, and now look at him. He had barely made it to your house in one place and there was no doubt that he was not making it back to his own. All his weight was on his left leg, he was using a web connected to your roof as leverage to keep him upright. You could see a dark stain seeping through his mask just above where you assumed his left eyebrow to be. You suspected there to be more than what you could see through his mask, but would have to wait until you finally got him to the bathroom sink to find out.

The corners of his lips turned up as he watched you struggle to untangle your legs from the bedsheets. "Need some help, luv?" A shit eating grin adorned his face but you couldn't see it. Even when he was injured he still managed to make your cheeks flush in embarrassment.

You rolled your eyes. "I'm just fine." You huffed, finally finding the floor against your feet and taking steady steps towards the injured man. You didn't see him using your roof as leverage and silently cursed yourself for taking so long. "You better not pull out my roof with that web. Otherwise you'll be the one dealing with my landlord." You huffed only half-joking. Humour seemed to be your coping mechanism. "Don't get all funny on me now, luv." He chuckled, sounding worn out and in pain. You helped him through your mediocre apartment, having draped his arm over your shoulders and letting him rest his weight against you as you walked (stumbled) to the bathroom.

With a slight huff through your nose and grunt that you wished was silent, Hobie was now sitting on your toilet, the lid shut. He was too tall when he sat on the sink (you found that out the first time he came over) and well, you didn't have much room up there to begin with. You crouched to the cupboard below your sink. In a Spider-Punk themed box (made by you to tease Hobie) was a consistent supply of bandages, disinfectant wipes, alcohol wipes, splints, etc. There was everything you could think of that someone would need when injured. You made this box not long after the first time Hobie came back with blood dripping from his forehead and you didn't have anything to help. That night was filled with gentle sorry's and small panics.

"Can you take the mask off, Hobes?" You mumbled, having pulled the box onto the sink. You turned to watch him, tired eyes noticing just how he flinched when he moved his arms to push the mask over his head and tossing it to the floor. His hands were trembling, one of his fingers looking to be the slightest bit out of place. The cut above his eyebrow was bleeding profusely and it looked as if part of his piercing had been pulled on.

"'s not as bad as it looks." His hands gently moved to rest on your hips, eyes glancing towards the worried look on your face before moving to the roof. "Not as bad as it looks? Baby, you've probably got a concussion.. No, you've definitely got a concussion." You mumbled, hands already digging into that spider-punk themed medicine box. You managed to pull out some baby wipes and a few alcohol wipes. Adrenaline was coursing through your veins, heart thumping in your ears. Your hands came up to caress his face, taking a baby wipe to gently wipe the blood dripping down his face. There was a visible wince and a hiss of pain that came from the touch. Hobie's long fingers gripped the fabric of your pajamas.

"I'm sorry, Hobie.." you muttered, trying to be as gentle and careful as possible. Once the cut was cleaned and a bandage was placed over it, it was time to move to his finger. "I'm even more sorry about this. We're gonna need to put it back in place, okay?" You were kind of glad you took that health course in highschool now.

Hobie let out a groan, to tired to respond with words, but it was clear he was not looking forward to it. His hands released their grip on your hips and instead were placed in your palms. "Okay, we're gonna count to three and I'll put it back in. That good, baby?" You asked.

The suspense was killing Hobie, he was already in pain as it was. He's had dislocated digits before so he understood the importance of getting the limb back in it's socket as soon as possible, but that didn't mean he was going to enjoy it. He nodded. "Yeah, okay." He hummed in response. Except you didn't even count. You waited until he spoke up and quickly pushed the digit back into it's socket, earning a muffled (still loud) groan of undescribable pain. "I'm sorry! Fuck, I'm sorry. It's over now." You apologized, wrapping his swollen wrist in a compression bandage. The tears brimming in his eyes and the sick pop of his finger had you feeling queazy. You felt your stomach flip and not in the usual happy way it did when Hobie was around. However, you pushed the feeling aside, hands resting on his cheeks as you leaned in to press a small kiss just to the left of his bandage.

"Let's get you to bed.."

After finally fixing up his injuries the two of you had found yourselves laying in bed. Hobie was next to you, one arm drapes over your stomach, the other resting under his head. His lips brushed against your cheek.

"I worry about you.. About what you're doing." You spoke quietly, glancing back into his eyes for a moment. "I know it's for the greater good, but seeing you come home in the middle of the night half dead every day is- It's not nice." You rambled quietly before finally going silent.

He huffed through his nose, although it wasn't angry. "I know, luv. Gonna give you a heart attack one day.." he joked, pressing his lips to your temple. "I love you." The words came out quiet, barely leaving his lips before you turned to face him.

"I love you too, Hobes. But next time you get a dislocated finger just go to a doctor. I literally felt sick from that." You mentioned, earning a small nod and a deep chuckle.

"Sure.. next time." He mumbled in response, closing his eyes and wrapping his arm around you securely. There was no need to worry about the outside world as long as you were in his arms.

[robotsrawesome64]

Hello dear, I can't believe I found someone who does cod matchups, I'm so happy! Can I get a matchup with a cod guy? If you already have too many requests and don't feel like writing, you can ignore this, don't worry about it ♥️

Female, 25, gemini, enfj.

Personality wise, I got two sides (stereotypical for a gemini, ik). Most of the times, I'm affectionate, teasing, playful and loving but I also get dead serious, cold and slightly intimidating in a blink of an eye if it's needed. I'm basically that meme: I can be your angel or your devil. Extremely ambitious when I want something or when I want to excel at something. Really protective and caring to my dear ones, I'd do anything for them. Unfortunately, I tend to overwork myself in silence. I bottle up everything and walk it off, continue working and caring for others more (but every girlboss needs a kiss on the forehead sometimes). I'm confident most of the time and can stand up for myself no matter what.

In cod I'd definitely be support. My favorites are: König, Keegan, Price, Ghost, Krueger. I'm ok with any theme and any dynamic.

My hobbies are: reading, martial arts training, dancing, playing guitar.

Fun facts: I'm in the medical field. I have a hidden tattoo of a a crescent moon. I'm a dog person. Oh and I speak Romanian - I am from Ro lol and German - still learning this one.

Thank you so much for your time, please take care of yourself and have a great day/night!

☾⋆⁺ARE YOU KIDDING ITS PRIIIIICE MAMAS /j /pos

w: described heat exhaustion symptoms, temporarily ill alone with responsibility, dubcon flirting (fraternization; price is a higher rank ((diff units but still)) ), emotional abandonment/manipulation mention (price) + Unfinished, i had it sitting and more ambition but this all i got gotta prioritize self care like u said >:D, short storyish thing, <3, narrator has beef with price

☾⋆⁺ Price is the uhh, Captain right? The one meant to be giving orders, not taking them? The rest of the team had never seen Price stutter before.

☾⋆⁺ (forgive me if I butcher medical infos lmao, help much appreciated) Just kidding, you were a Captain now too via your transfer into English QARANC as Senior Nurse. Oh, how quickly the time goes. To climb that quickly? Impressive dedication. Not that it was surprising coming from you.

So when Price saw you across the room in the flesh as superior medical staff as part of his brigade for his specialist unit- uh oh. How the hell did you weasel your way in here? It's elite-elite, I mean, what are the chances? He- uh, of course you did, who is he kidding. He was just…insecure.

Mouth ajar, he blinked out of his blank expression with a cough as Gaz tilted his head in the way of him- "Sir?"- and followed Price's gaze back to you.

☾⋆⁺ So when you felt the heat of being watched, and managed to scan the new environment just to see him-? Oh, god. How do I say this: to say you've met before would be an understatement.

~~~

You're flooded back to that familiar field tent as Junior Staff Nurse- that suffocating humidity only enunciated by the heat waves blurring your far-vision of the sand and dried shrubs outside the mouth of the tent.

It was your first job allied with an SAS unit, and you could feel the sweat clinging your shirt to your back. All today had been a sudden intake of…too many people. Sure, you weren't alone, but come late afternoon, hurried triaging then treatment, your superiors had taken their break first, leaving you alone simply to monitor your now stable patients.

I think it's in that silence and break you realize just how much your head has been spinning; how the sun seemed to glint on the sand outside and beam right into your eyes; how your cheeks felt burning and your pulse was hammering. God, how did you not notice that before? You automatically caught yourself to brace back on a plastic table as you steeled yourself, reaching back to fiddle out a plastic bottle of water from that mess of container material.

Focus. You forced yourself to take a drink, gaze glazed over but keeping yourself together.

You felt a break in the light in your periphery causing you to faintly wince. The shadow almost walked straight past, but took a step back to pause at the entrance, bobbing both ways to check the interior. "You alright?" A gruff voice croaked out. Regardless of your strained response, they stepped forward, hesitantly taking in the environmental context clues for your circumstance. "Team leave you?" He double-took at the extent of the sight of you, pausing before doubling back to close the tent entrance to keep in the much needed cool. Head lulled down, all you registered was the dry beige camo of his uniform moving in and out of your vision as he faffed with something.

"D'you mind?" He grumbled lightly, offering his hand to help you sit down on the floor, albeit to lean against the leg of the table. He showed the cloth-covered cold pack in his hand, leaning down to meet your eyes with a furrowed brow. "'You're fine?'" He quoted with a chuff. "Ah, alright. More for me." He got up, pretending to pat the pack against the back of his neck and sighing faux relief.

After a pause he raised a smug brow at you, handing you the pack for the back of your neck, etc. In his motion you note the 'PRICE' embroidered on his jacket.

'Price' stood back, exhaling and crossing his arms, sporting light-hearted dry conversation as he rocked his weight. How long you'd felt like that, what happened, where your superiors were. Just checking it was definitely just heat exhaustion and if he had to stay the 30 minutes for you.

When you rightfully spit him out at his low-key condescending tone he put his hands up in defence, apologizing half-heartedly and trying to distract you with humour and everyday questions. He wasn't the most charming thing, but his noise was a half-decent change to your silent suffering prior.

☾⋆⁺ Lieutenant John Price. He always seemed to end up looking over your shoulder in the time you worked alongside each-other. Commenting something dumb only to be rewarded with your wit, sending the two of you into an endless feedback loop until he's leaning a little too close and, uh- check yourself, Lieutenant. Looked a little too fraternal there.

☾⋆⁺ Sometimes it was hard to relate to the other specialists. You'd both graduated your trainings much quicker than your peers, both exceptionally diligent and good at what you do. But every star has to have a weakness, right?

Something about each-others company felt natural, easy. Unintentionally, you both tended to scare off folks. But not each-other. Two sharp-edged puzzle pieces. Lounging around on base, finally on downtime, he'd plant himself next to you. Drowning out the chatter of others, he'd lean over and prop his foot up on his knee, staring at what book you were reading. What today? He reeked of potential snark until you looked at him. Price's face instinctively softened before collected himself with a hand along his hair, trying not to smile too obviously for the others in the room.

☾⋆⁺ One victory later and you couldn't make it out drinking for celebrations due to finishing writing up some boring documentations. Looking both ways, Price snuck out of the event early to return back and find you. He knew where you'd be by now. He always stood at doorways, never in, until the familar tread of boots on dried grass broke your focus. This felt like the first time you both were actually alone. The extent of your intimacy so far was staring for a thousand words a little too long when others weren't looking.

He strutted in the finally otherwise vacant tent, presence arrogantly, blatantly hovering over you as you continued to work. To the tune of- 'c'mon.' He gently tried his hand on your cheek, tilting his head to stare as he rubbed a circle there with his thumb.

If it didn't work immediately he'd take out his phone, humming an incomprehensible tune before the tinny music played from the phones speaker- music you love you'd mentioned in passing. He swayed and mumbled the lyrics (?), stepping a little closer to lower his hand to yours for you to take- to dance with you all the way into the night.

☾⋆⁺ Which makes your throat tighten even more in the present day once the focus(/panic) had passed and he's finally laying stable on the care bed by you.

The man who left you. Abandoned you in the name of work and 'greater causes'. A relationship that would've gotten him fired, yes, but his snap decision and the coldness in his eyes as he plainly announced it had sat rightfully boiling in your blood since.

FIN

~~but i am curious, like as u work together more would u fall back into some kinda tension?? weird asides? him taking yr orders? emotional reconciliation? or is he dead-dead to you?? IM INVESTED ~price by goldeagleactual on PT

[bargainoriley]

The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)

Here are my thoughts on the alleged best album of all time, TDSOTM! Before I even begin to write my thoughts here on the songs, I want to comment on the album title! The title already makes the album very intriguing, since the dark side of the moon title here is (probably) a metaphor for the hidden dark sides of humanity we don’t always see, at least in my opinion! Since the dark side of the moon is a side of the moon we never see when looking up at the sky, but it will always be there, along with the light side we see (just like humanity)! Anyways, here are my thoughts (which turned out a lot more lyric-based than I thought, oops)!

Disclaimer: I have already listened to this album before, so these technically aren’t my first time thoughts like with other albums!

1. Speak to Me

The heartbeat intro is very intriguing, and I love how you can hear snippets of later songs on the album here (e.g., Money, Time, and TGGITS), already showcasing a theme of life here (birth of a child, especially because of the scream borrowed from TGGITS, which sounds like childbirth). 

2. Breathe in the Air

And then we get this gorgeous transition into this song! The guitar work here is particularly lovely, along with the bass and keyboards! Makes you feel like you’re floating. David’s voice here is also lovely! I love the reference here already to Eclipse in the lyrics! The lyrics already set a very interesting theme of life/a person being born and parents giving their kids independence and showing a person’s childhood. 

 3. On the Run

Love how ominous this feels! It gives me video game OST vibes! The synths here are just awesome as well! Very futuristic sounding still in 2024! As the song title says, this song is probably supposed to represent someone “on the run,"  maybe from time, considering it’s the next song? But you can’t run from time, which Time will later go into more. This person on the run here is imo definitely the same one that was born in Speak To Me/Breathe in the Air.

 4. Time 

This song…. Omg it’s so freaking good!!!!! I love the intro here, since it makes you feel like you’re out of time with all the clocks ticking and ringing (the person running from time in the previous song, of course, didn’t succeed; at least I think that is what it’s supposed to represent). And then comes the rest of the instruments along with a heartbeat!! Godddd this intro is so freaking badass and really sets the mood for how depressing/ominous this song really is (the keyboard in this intro is especially so cool). The keyboards here really make the song this good, along with the guitar! Then the guitar kicks in, and along with it the very meaningful lyrics. These lyrics about time always being there and it isn’t going to stop for you even if you’re young/the passage time/you shouldn’t waste time are so freaking good. And then Rick’s ethereal vocals hit in the interludes (I love his voice so much; also, only now with this listen, I actually know this is Rick singing here; previously, I thought it was David singing the entire song; it makes me realize how far I’ve come in terms of PF lore). Then the guitar solo starts after the lyric “You missed the starting gun!" Godddd the placement of the amazing amazing guitar solo directly after that hard hitting verse is really really good! (It shows the despair of having wasted important time imo). The background vocals in this song are also just so goood and really showcase the ethereal/omnipresent nature of time. Then the rest of the lyrics hit! With the “closer to death” and “hanging on in quiet desperation” lines being particularly heavy hitting and meaningful here!!! I just love the combination of the hard hitting instrumental and lyrics! Also love how the melody here goes back to Breathe In The Air to showcase the person being born returning to their childhood one last time (forgot to mention that this is still the same person from the previous songs here)! One of my absolute favorite Floyd songs and one of my favorites on this album! Along with the next song!

 5. The Great Gig in the Sky 

Goddd the transition here is already amazing. And then you get the absolutely divine piano playing by Rick here, making you feel like you’re floating again! And then the beat drops with the absolutely incredible vocal solo by Clare Torry! This song is just so freaking powerful and good sounding it’s amazing!!! The melody here is divine as well! I also love how melancholy this song is and how the vocal solo is technically just a guitar solo being sung instead of played on a guitar! This song, in my opinion, represents the afterlife/death, especially because of the quick monologue here of “not being afraid to die” (and also the fact that it follows up Time, which is about trying to cheat time and being afraid to grow old). The way Torry sings the vocal solo also kind of sounds as if she is dying and giving it her last all (screaming in frustration and in fear of dying—the person from the previous songs desperately doesn’t want to die). Additionally, the end of the song is about accepting death imo since Torry stops singing as powerfully as she did before eventually stopping and thus showing that the person who’s dying has accepted their fate (this is probably still the same person from the previous songs, this time dying). TGGITS is probably my favorite song off this album ngl (and one of my all time favorite Floyd songs).

 6. Money

And here is another one of my favorite Floyd songs ever! The bass/guitar riff here is so iconic and good (fun fact: I learned how to play the bass line to this song!) along with the cash register noises. The groovy vibes here are just so good, and the 7/4 time here makes the song really unique and cool! And the lyrics about how money/capitalism/greed corrupts people here, of course, are amazing as well, though it doesn’t connect with the end of the last song well… Maybe this is a flashback to when the person was alive and succumbing to greed?? (After all it’s been said that your life flashes before your eyes when you die). The guitar and sax solo here, of course, are just sooooo good and groovy as well (especially the guitar solo, omgggg, I was blown away when I first listened to this song)!! The melody here is amazing as well, and I just love how intense this song is! Not to mention, when the solos hit, I was head banging hard! David’s voice here is also so good and soulful! Along with his guitar playing, of course, as well (love the wah wah effects). Also, Nick's drums here are a highlight!! He has such good drum fills here!! The outro here is also so cool (David’s “aways”/vocal scatting is just sooo good, always makes me sing along, in fact, this whole song always makes me sing along).

 7. Us and Them

And then we get this gorgeous keyboard transition!! It's been a long time since I listened to the second half of songs on this album, so let’s see how this turns out! I love the guitar and drums here already—very ominous but pretty sounding! And then we get a soulful sax! I’m also just noticing how well the band plays here on this album as a unit! Then an absolutely beautiful and intense beat drop hits and it’s so good!!!! And I also really like the lyrics here about the negative/dark side of the military and the horrors of war, and the guitar playing here is sooo good as well (sorry for repeating myself so much, I have nothing else to say but that the guitar playing on this album is simply incredible). And then we get a lovely little piano solo from Rick (my comment from my obscured by clouds review still stands: I love his piano solos!) And then there is a lovely sax solo as well! I adore how intense this song is and how full it sounds (even though it makes it very hard to hear what lyrics are being sung in the beat drops—at least imo since I’m not a native speaker and didn’t have the lyrics available to read at hand because I listened to this album on a flight, so I had to listen very carefully for what lyrics were sung on this album)! I also love the echoe effect on David’s voice here! As if people were imitating what he is saying (just like the lyrics are writing about in terms of conformity -> “which is which and who is who”). Surprisingly one of my favorites as well (haven’t heard this song in a while and was surprised at how good it is)!

 8. Any Colour You Like

And then there’s this absolutely incredible instrumental!! I love love love love the synths and guitar here!!! I especially love the synth solo here! It’s very ahead of its time! The guitar effect here is just so cool sounding as well. The fact that this is after Us and Them could maybe show how a soldier is pushing away his issues/negative feelings about the military/war with drugs (especially since this definitely sounds like a drug trip, imo). The bass here is also just sooo good! I’ll repeat it here: the band is playing really well together in this album!! This song also just sounds so otherworldly and divine as well! One of my favorites off this album as well!

 9. Brain Damage 

Love how ominous this already sounds!! I really like Roger’s voice here (and also his harmonies with David omgggg) and the lyrics about mental illness are also powerful (especially in the choruses). I think this song is definitely based on Syd imo (especially since this song’s lyrics about mental illness kind of resemble Syd’s experiences with Pink Floyd imo and also the fact that this song is placed after the drug trip song (definitely a very deliberate choice)). The lyric “the band plays different tunes” also adds to my assumption since this is exactly what happened after Syd got kicked out, and it also resembles lyrics from Jugband Blues here about being replaced. Additionally, the “lunatic is in my head” line could refer to the fact that the way Pink Floyd treated Syd still haunts Roger and the rest of the band (which is something that will come up more in the next album). The melody is also so good, as is the synth at the end. 

 10. Eclipse

And here comes the climax of the album, shown with an incredible transition!! This song is so good and really shows off everybody’s best playing here! The vocal harmonies are also so good and really hammer home that we are not alone in this world: everyone experiences bad things in life/the experiences mentioned here in this album! Also, the lyrics here are such a powerful and meaningful ending to this album! And then the heartbeat starts again, showing the endless cycle of life (and maybe even reincarnation, imo) and that the experiences in this album are bound to happen again and again until humanity no longer exists. As I said, very very powerful!

 

In general, this album is just as good as I remembered it to be! The instrumentation is absolutely incredible, along with the lyrics; they’re both equally good here!! I also love the implementation of the darker experiences of life theme here, and it was also really well done and executed! Every song here is simply incredible: there is no filler, in my opinion, and every song serves its purpose! Not to mention the transitions here are immaculate, and the whole album feels like one very good, very unique experience! As much as I love this album, though, I have to say Meddle is still my favorite (even if it has one filler song), because it just sounds more raw and improvised, and I really like its sound more than TDSOTM’s sound (it’s very polished sounding, I like my music sounding a bit more raw). But TDSOTM is definitely my second favorite album so far (and it’s also a close one at that). Next up is another album I’ve already listened to (a while ago, probably 2 years ago for the first time just like with TDSOTM) but never wrote my thoughts on: Wish You Were Here! Excited about that album as well, since I remembered it to be very good!

[gluion]

of guitar strings and peeled tangerines (i'll bruise my fingers just for you) ➵ masterlist

non-idol!jacob bae x reader, slight non-idol!ji changmin x reader

when you are unable to continue living in the city, you are forced to move back to the small provincial town you begged to stay away from. but when you come face-to-face with the reliable village co-chief, jacob bae, you learn that your stay won’t be so pleasant after all. 

general genre/warnings ➵ childhood friends to strangers to lovers, slow burn, slice of life, angst, but also fluff!, afab reader (they/them pronouns), hurt/comfort, a lot of flashbacks, being lost (and trying to figure things out) in your late 20s, a lot of trauma that stem from mommy issues, themes of grief, forgiveness, and pressure to succeed, jacob writes songs to reader and reader peels tangerines for jacob (hence the title), juhaknyeon has witnessed your relationship with jacob from blossoming to downfall to reigniting stages, ji changmin is the second lead (i am so sorry), taking care of jacob because he gets sick :’), you and jacob end up working at your father's restaurant together!!, your dad has a lot of regret & wants to take care of you to make up for both his and your mom's mistakes, kissing, cuddling, suggestive themes

word count for official parts ➵ projected to be 40-60k words (oops? lets see if i stick with it)

taglist ➵ @deoboyznet @kflixnet @blankjournal @winterchimez @miusgirl @jenoscafe @sweet-unicorn-world @vernyangel @mosviqu @tbzhub

playlist ➵ dreams, books, power and walls by jannabi // slow down by laufey // for lovers by lamp // dried flower by wave to earth // behind the moon shadow by lamp // i'm your man by mitski // my mother and i by lucy dacus // what used to be mine by faye webster // hagupit by ichiko aoba // kodoku by mei semones // matilda by harry styles // when you love someone by day6 // francis forever by mitski // right side of my neck by faye webster // nan chun by se so neon // kind of (type of way) by faye webster // regent's park by bruno major // dreams (demo) by grentperez // let you break my heart again by laufey // class of 2013 by mitski // happiness by taylor swift // clementine by grentperez // in a good way by faye webster // absence of you by grentperez // ripples by beabadoobee // araw-araw by ben&ben // sweet decay by chasu // sunny days by wave to earth // glue song by beabadoobee

a/n ➵ finally introducing the one work i've been very excited to release!!! this idea has been sitting with me even before i wrote “of linked arms and bruised hearts (you are the reason i keep on going)” :OO i hope you come along with me in this journey!! i would really appreciate it if you could take the time to reblog this!

want to be part of my taglist? send me an ask! masterlist

official parts ➵ one

when you are unable to continue staying in the city, you are forced to move back to the small provincial town you begged to stay away from. but when you come face-to-face with the reliable village co-chief, jacob bae, you learn that your stay won’t be so pleasant after all. 

➵ two (coming late january-early february)

jacob makes it clear that he wants nothing with you anymore. after that argument, you share the sentiments. but would peeled tangerines make him hear you out?

➵ three (coming late march-mid april)

you've finally come to terms that the corporate life isn't for you. with that, you decide to work part-time in your dad's restaurant. now, there's no way to escape jacob—and absolutely no way to escape rekindled feelings.

➵ four (coming early may-mid june)

as you take a trip to the outskirts of town, you have to come face-to-face with everything you've kept buried the past years. and although it may be scary, you're glad that you're coming to terms with them—all thanks to time and your best friend.

drabbles/oneshots

coming soon...

note that number of chapters, titles, release dates, and and synopses are subject to change

[muirneach]

okay. neil time. my official review: guys oh my god he is so good i love him so much. but much more gushing below:

im not retyping all that + setlist. he really did not speak like at all. before fuckin up (i think idr) he DID say ‘my producer died. we’re all gonna die by the way. just something to keep in mind’ which like. okay lol. and then every few songs he would say, and i quote, “hows everyone doin”. we’re doing great neil. but i respect it. anyways the man can play a hell of guitar for someone who is 78. i was just standing there being like my god. thats neil young and he is playing guitar. he’s real and he is so good. phenomenal stuff!! i can tell he was just havin fun with it lol. the horse was also very good. they were friends all having fun!! i want to be more insightful than this but literally like. he’s good guys. he did some really good solos. and i love him. good setlist 👍 losing end i feel like was surprising? but lots and lots of everybody knows which is always good. both the electric and the acoustic sets were wonderful. and i don’t know if it was the sound mixing or what but his harmonica sounded absolutely magical. i like harmonica but i have NEVER heard it that beautiful before.

pics i took lol:

this sign… i could cry. welcome back neily :) also i loved the nya village i had seen pics of it but i didn’t know what it was all about. wow the guy just loves to find his way into my envsci heart. imo it really really felt like the times contrarian come to life because it was a bunch of tables with different themes and they were giving away seeds and talking about agriculture and all that. and i loved that it was very local to toronto (/whatever city he’s in ofc). like they had local alternative magazines and their environment stuff was about here. i loved that level of care. this paper was the only thing i got there and now he lives on my bedside table :)

there was a family of goslings before the show and the moon was out and also there was a severe thunderstorm watch and the show almost got postponed but luckily it didn’t even rain so all was good. oh also its victoria day so people light fireworks and we couldn’t hear them because neil was blasting but we could see them it was nice

oh and lastly. him. typically when i take concert pictures they always suck because they make the performers look so far away even if i have good seats. and like thats true here but honestly i was so far away from the stage that he was so tiny anyways. no jumbotron which is a shame but that is par for the course from neil ‘dont even THINK about filming me’ young. i had a great time tho like i definitely saw him. he’s been playing a lot of small venues but lets remember that toronto goes ALL OUT for that old man and this was a sold out 16k seat venue so i cannot complain i literally got to attend a concert from my all time favourite old man. disbelief honestly. i love u neil!!

[dustedmagazine]

Seawind of Battery — East Coast Cosmic Dreamscaper (WarHen)

Photo by Christoper Bruno

Seawind of Battery, the ambient guitar project of New Yorker Mike Horn, has always been a serene and unruffled enterprise. In a review of the debut cassette two years ago, I noted that “Melodies push forward shyly out of long, pensive drones, yet the mix feels light as air and unconflicted.”  Now, in the band’s first post-COVID album—and the first to include Jarrod Annis on lap steel—the pace has picked up, but the aura of calm remains. Even when the rhythms push the hardest, as on standout “New Moon,” long tones float like cirrus clouds above it all. This latest album is an engaging mix of drift and propulsion.

To hear the progression that Horn and Annis have made, you can start by comparing the two “Moon” tracks, coming at first and second position in the album sequence. “Blood Moon” emerges from a sea fog of long wavery sustained notes, the lap steel carrying a slow melody, every note proposed, considered, and allowed to linger. After a little while the other guitar—Horn, I gather—enters strumming an ambling rhythm. Even here, the song is in no hurry. It tarries here and there in the sunshine, a bubble of optimism rising out of its gentle cadence. “Blood Moon” is not so different from what came before it.

“New Moon,” however, edges away from ambience into something adjacent to space rock. It starts in a twinkling rustle of interstellar hisses and bleeps, then a staccato guitar rhythm intervenes. It is driving but tranquil and full of clarity. It divides the song into clear, legible measures, giving it a throughline and a sense of purpose, but also remains open ended; it could go on forever, it seems. Amid these ratatat contours, Annis executes fluid pedal steel flourishes—I picture lush vines pushing up a trellis here. A little bit of percussion adds urgency, twitching, shaking, and slapping hard on the twos and fours.  The point is that if “Blood Moon” is an oasis, “New Moon” is a journey. It moves. It strives. It aspires.

Country and folk themes run through East Coast Cosmic Dreamscaper, in the twanging lyricism of “Maze of Roses” and the boot-stomped four on the floor of quasi-title track “Dreamscaper.”  Yet these rustic influences are spectral, allusive, and never overwhelming. Think of a hoedown reel distilled to clear liquid and imbued with an inexorable sense of movement. In this new, more mobile iteration, Seawind of Battery may be caught in a daydream, but it is a dream with a plot and a beginning, middle and end. 

Jennifer Kelly

[noys-boise]

okay Felix's ocs big infodump post

featuring picrews made with this maker because I don't have the energy to draw

Seth (he/she/they/xe)

Seth is completely removed from society by choice. They ran away from home when he was 16 because their father was not a very good person at all. Xe moved into an abandoned garage and got (stole) a motorcycle. She makes money by running a not exactly legal piercing/tattoo shop. Xe has a snake named Libby who they care about more than anything else. They're generally really passionate about snakes and have a snake tattoo. He believes being authentic is the biggest virtue someone can have and lives by it. Basically this is my weird child, I found them in a trash can and I love her. They're 19 years old. Oh and she plays the guitar.

Lena/Lemon (she/her)

Got the nickname Lemon as a child and it stuck. She loves organizing things. She has an extensive collection of different plants and stuff. She's planning to go to college later, but is taking a year off. Her parents are kinda rich, which is how she was able to move out as a 19 year old and own a house. She's endlessly positive and caring to a fault (doesn't really prioritize her own needs which is how she's ended up in multiple toxic friendships and a relationship with a guy she doesn't really like). She has a cat named Honey. She's really scared of snakes.

Irene (she/they)

She always manages to be the weirdest person in the room no matter what and is proud of that. They have an original character named Luna who's basically the personification of the moon and then fell in love with her. She constantly paints Luna and wants to become a professional artist. Very strong moon theming going on for her for obvious reasons. Their parents divorced when she was young so she lives with her mom. They got a few tattoos secretly from Seth without her mom knowing about it. She strongly identifies with the three weed smoking girlfiends (yes she smokes weed. no she doesn't have a girlfriend though. she wishes.) Their pseudonym is Pygmalia because of the whole fell in love with her character thing. She's 18. Seth and her are best friends/sometimes friends with benefits

Mike (he/him)

the thing about Mike is that once upon a time he used to be the main character but now I prefer to focus on Seth so he got significantly sidelined. He loves music and writes some of his own sometimes. He's depressed, but working on it. He has a crush on his best friend Dom who also got sidelined somewhere along the line (or more accurately he's too similar to another oc I used for another story which i actually started writing but then discontinued). His parents and Irene's parents are friends, so they've known each other all their life. He's 17.

Christine (she/her)

it's her, she's the problem, it's her. Lena's best friend since high school. Very manipulative, but deep down also very insecure. She has problems and she's definitely not a good friend. She's always wanted to be a singer or dancer. Loves being the center of attention. Gets jealous very easily.

Ella (she/her)

Lena's other best friend since high school. She's the enabler. She sometimes realizes Christine isn't a very good person but is too afraid to say anything and even goes along with it sometimes. She wants to be an author, although she didn't realize that for the longest time because she made Christine's goals her own goals too. She's just trying to find herself mostly.

Leo (he/him)

Local prettyboy. Also went to high school with Lena and her friends. Most girls had a crush on him and he ended up dating Lena, because he genuinely liked her and she felt pressured by her friends even though she really would've rather stayed friends with him. He has a strong interest in reptiles and is a bit of a nerd but he's conventionally attractive enough for that to not bother people. He's actually a pretty decent person.

Okay now some story:

as I mentioned Seth lives in an abandoned garage. They knew the house it belongs to isn't in use, but figured he doesn't need more than the garage itself (he decorated it and everything). But then Lena moved in without Seth knowing about it, because Lena didn't use the garage and Seth didn't use the house attached to it, they just kind of lived next to each other without knowing for a few days.

Then Lena, being the "queen of road safety", almost got hit by Seth's motorcycle, because she may have crossed the road at red light. Seth managed to turn in time, but drove right into a tree, wrecking her motor completely. Yeah this is their first meeting, romantic isn't it? So after Lena apologizes a few hundred times (over apologizer), Seth is about to head home when they finally realize their accidental cohabitation. Since Lena still feels guilty about her recklessness causing Seth to lose his motorcycle, she agrees to let him stay anyway. Though she probably would've either way because she's a people pleaser and like she doesn't need that garage either way. Cut to slice of life sitcom shenanigans of two VERY different people trying to live together. Spoiler alert they fall in love. Which leads Lena to the soul crushing task of breaking up with her boyfriend who she didn't even like. Except he's actually fine with it and they stay friends and he even gives her advice once she later admits she's catching feelings for Seth.

Also Seth introduces Lena to Irene at one point and they don't initially get along, since Irene is somewhat overprotective of Seth and doesn't trust people easily and Lena is slightly creeped out by her chaotic nature, but they come around to each other.

Seth also helps Lena become more confident, which leads her to finally stop being friends with Christine and Ella after realizing how unhealthy their friendship is. Although Ella later apologizes and they'll rekindle their friendship eventually but that still takes time. Also Ella and Leo might end up dating, idk.

Meanwhile Lena helps Seth be slightly more adjusted and to work through her trauma. Plus xe does start to love her which forces him to learn a kind of vulnerability he's never shown before.

Overall I'm just kind of obsessed with all of these depressed bitches ✌️

[afpwestcoast]

Bearsville Theater, Bearsville, NY, 10/26/24

Happy Birthday to MEEEEEeeeeeee!

Things got off to a festive birthday start as we were lined up before the show and the greatest venue security guy ever - Reynaldo Gayle, aka Rey - was going over the rules and warming up the crowd when someone told him it was my birthday, so he led the entire line in a rendition of “Happy Birthday to You!” Heavy foreshadowing.

Before we went in for soundcheck Michael McComiskey (Amanda’s man Friday and all-around stellar human being) handed me a copy of “All the Light We Cannot See” signed by Amanda for my birthday. We watched the mini series based on the book and it was awesome, so I’m really looking forward to reading it. Since the Dresden Dolls began performing together again in November of 2022 there has been a heavy emphasis on new material that they were workshopping and preparing for the new album. That album has been put on hold and so tonight the focus shifted not just to old material, but to some truly deep cuts from the vault. But this was more therapy session than nostalgia tour, as it was clear that Amanda was working through some things. Overall the performance was crisp and tight and thoroughly enjoyable, but lacked the manic energy that characterizes the Dolls at their best.

But then again … birthday shot! So …

Annotated Set List:

Science Fiction Double Feature (Richard O’Brien and Richard Hartley cover) The opening theme to The Rocky Horror Picture Show served as notice (warning?) that this would not be a normal night.

Sex Changes

Gravity

Coin-Operated Boy(!?) VERY early in the set for this one!

Backstabber

My Alcoholic Friends Midway through this song it is traditional for (Tour Manager) Jaron to bring two shots onstage for he and Amanda to do together. I have fantasized about being Amanda’s shot-delivery boy; that didn’t happen, but the next-best thing did! Jaron brought out two shots for him and Amanda, as usual, but Michael brought out two for him and … ME! Amanda said, “Happy Birthday, Tom!” and we all did our shots together. Happy Birthday indeed!

The Kill This is a deep cut that I haven’t heard them play in an age.

Missed Me

“It’s about to be time to vote. And it has come to our attention that there are a lot of people out there in the world with a lot of money who are going to very possibly influence this vote in one way or another and the most important thing as all of these things are happening around us and all of these wealthy people who own all of these newspapers and all of the space and the sky because any day now we are going to look up; we’re going to look up and we’re going to see the moon. And it’s either going to say ‘Google,’ or ‘Amazon.’ We wrote a song about this a long, long time ago so we’re going to play it for you!”

Modern Moonlight

Thirty Whacks

“Sometimes it takes going all the way to New Zealand and living there for a couple years to realize that Lizzie Borden really did have an effect on your childhood.”

Pierre (Carol King and Maurice Sendak cover)

Welcome to the Internet (Bo Burnham cover)

There were two children front and center and someone pointed them out to Amanda saying that they were 9 and 11. “Oh my god! My 9yo wanted to watch a movie tonight instead … and I don’t blame him. He did do an incredible interpretive dance to ‘Pierre’ during soundcheck. Full seven-minute interpretive kind of tacky, stretchy goth dance.”

Mein Herr (from ‘Cabaret’ by John Kander and Fred Ebb) (Brian on guitar)

“I wrote a lot of songs especially towards the very end of the time that I was living right here in this neighborhood in a house that at this point feels completely fucking haunted. And they’re ALL incredibly fucking sad songs. I wonder why? But this one’s actually like the least sad, I think. And it’s really sad. … I wanna say one last thing about Rey, our amazing security guard tonight. I’ve been crying a lot lately because of all sorts of things … I’ve cried a couple times today, but Rey made me cry. … He asked me, you know in that like casual way, ‘How are you doing?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t know. I’m not great. I’m pretty fucked up; I’m dealing with a whole family crisis.’ And he said, ‘Oh but that’s out there. Now you’re with your family.’”

Another Christmas (Brian on guitar; Amanda on jingle bells) This one hit with a little more emotional impact than usual tonight.

“This is a song, also from our second record, back before I learned how to write a powerful song about abortion in a non-sarcastic way. This was like 2.0, before we got to 4.0. You should VOTE.”

Mandy Goes to Med School This one included both a bit of Cab Calloway’s ‘Minnie the Moocher,’ and a brief excerpt from ‘Careless Whisper’ by George Michael tonight.

-crew thanks and merch commercial-

Amanda gave a big shout-out to Nikki McQueen, who has been designing amazing posters for the Dolls’ tours for the past couple years and was brought to the show from South Africa by a successful crowd-funding campaign.

The Jeep Song

Massachusetts Avenue (Grand Theft Orchestra cover)

“This is a break-up song, but it’s a really weird one because it’s about that time when you know the break-up’s gonna happen, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. And you’re still like luxuriating in the agony of ‘We’re still fucking’ but it’s over.”

Boston

Half Jack The extended instrumental intro to this one started with Brian solo on the drums for quite a while before Amanda joined in on piano. It was effective at building tension and anticipation. — — Girl Anachronism

Sing (Brian on guitar to start)

Photo Gallery:

Before the show Michael delivered a birthday present from Amanda!

Soundcheck!

Just point a camera at Brian Viglione and you will get something good.

BIRTHDAY SHOT! (photos by Melissa Smith)

Amanda doesn’t have a thousand-yard stare. Not at all.

Blue period.

The Dresden Dolls!

Mein Herr (upper right photo by Deanna Aliano)

Another Christmas (photo by Deanna Aliano)

Good night, Bearsville!

In a final act of birthday kindness Michael hand-delivered the set list to me after the show. They followed it closely for the most part, but veered off toward the end, as is tradition.

[milafm2002]

Hello, Everyone Happy October We Are Now Officially Knee knee-deep in Fall!.

This is part one of the fall music blog. I've Been Planning This For A While, So Here It is. Part One Is All About Fall Coded Albums And Part Two Will Be All About Fall Coded Songs Hope You Enjoy Part One And Check These Albums.

Alright, Let's Get Into It!

Album 1: Turn On The Bright Lights

Band: Interpol

Released In 2002

Ah, Interpol Starting Off Strong With One of my Favorite Albums From My Favourite Bands. Being An Icon Amongst The Other Album Of The 2000s With Songs Like Obstacles 1 And 2, Untitled, Stella Was A Diver ( And She Was Always Down ), Say Hello To The Angels, And My Personal Favorite Hands Away As Well As Daniel Kessler Iconic Guitar Riffs and Pauls Vocals. I Knew From The First Time I Listen To The Album In October 2022 That This Album Is Perfect For Fall Especially. The Other Fall Coded Interpol Albums Are Antics and Self Titled. Overall TOTBL Is A Fall Album

Album 2: Halcyon ( Deluxe Edition )

Artist: Ellie Goulding

From 2012

I loved Ellie Goulding's music for a long time especially halcyon. This album is amazing with songs perfect for listening to in the forest and each song being pure gold halcyon is truly a fall-coded album 20/20 album brightest blue is also Fall coded but anytime I think of fall And Ellie Goulding I think of Halcyon

Album : 3 Blue Weekend

Band: Wolf Alice

From 2021

With songs like play, the greatest hits, last man on Earth, and delicious things. Wolf Alice's Blue Weekend is scattered with themes of night and has a fall vibe as well as a summer Vibe especially with the songs, the beach and the beach part 2. But overall if you want a good album to listen to on a fall night this is a perfect album.

Album : 4 Memoir Of A Sparklemuffin

Artist : Suki Waterhouse

From 2024

The latest release from Suki Waterhouse From the first listen I knew I had a new favorite album This album compliments huge cities during the fall It's truly amazing. Suki Waterhouse's music always has a Fall vibe To it And make sure the chicken on part 2 because she will be returning

Album 5 : Badlands

Artist : Halsey

From 2015

My favorite album by Halsey Badlands is truly a spectacular album This album is definitely fall coded It's truly One of a kind. This album as well as 2021s. If I can't have love, I want power truly compliment the fall season

Album 6 : Formentera 2

Band : Metric

From 2023

Almost a year ago Metric released Formentera 2 in October. It's no joke that I'm totally obsessed with Metrics music The song definitely compliments Long train rides during fall when it starts getting darker earlier outside. Truly One of a kind

Album 7 : I Don't You Anymore

Band : Cherry Glazerr

From 2023

Cherry Glazerrs most recent album I Don't Want You Anymore. I love this album! Each song has a spooky vibe to it, especially songs like Eat You Like A Pill , Golden, Soft Like A Flower and Ready For You. I Don't Want You Anymore. Definitely Is fall coded

Album 8 : Two Suns

Band : Bat For Lashes

From 2009

The last album on the part 1 fall blog Natasha Khan also known as Bat For Lashes created. Not one but two amazing fall coded albums Two Suns 2009 And Lost Girls 2019 . The one we're going to be talking about is her album in Two suns with songs like Daniel , Sleep Alone , Two Planets , Moon and Moon And the final track The Big Sleep this album has a early Kate Bush sound do it which makes it a perfect album for fall

I hope everyone enjoys part one and stay tuned for part 2 that will be coming next week I wanted to put more albums. There's so many different fall-coded albums, but I hope you enjoy and give these albums a listen. Follow for more posts and I'll see you next time

[sailforvalinor]

OC Mundane Tag Game

Tagged again by @accidental-spice--thanks for the tag!

Rules: Pick an OC you'd like to talk about and answer the questions for them! Then tag ten people, or as many as you can. 'Underdeveloped character I adopted' is fine, too! Absolutely no pressure to play, though

Also, if some of it can't apply to your OCs, just answer what would be the answer-- like if they're in a historical setting, they likely can't watch movies, but what is a movie they'd like?

(Also, most people have many ocs, so feel free to retag people and answer as many times as you get tagged! Or get really wild and just answer for as many ocs as you'd like! :D)

Since I talked about Ace last time, it's only fair that I talk about Joker :D

1. What is their favorite movie?

I feel like Joker's taste in movies is pretty eclectic (especially as she has all of time and space to draw on!), but the first thing that came to mind was White Christmas (the dance numbers!) and Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (she idolizes Grace Kelly). I do associate her quite a bit with that classic Hollywood era, but I find I haven't actually watched a ton of them? If anyone has suggestions, I will gladly take them.

2. What is their favorite season?

Most definitely spring--beauty, rebirth, gorgeous flowers, etc etc. Actually, Ace's favorite being winter and hers being spring is pretty fitting, now that I think about it.

3. What do they find annoying?

People with a lack of imagination, when people don't appreciate things she's enthusiastic about, when she can't find the perfect outfit, bad hair days.

4. How would they like to spend their Christmas or equivalent holiday?

She really would love anything as long as she's not celebrating alone--she has done some pretty spectacular things on her hundreds of Christmases past (sneaking into one of Queen Victoria's Christmas parties, going ice skating on a planet of ice palaces, visiting the Christmas Theme Park that Australia built on the moon in 3489 that only lasted a year (turns out it was because of her, actually), but she mostly does these sorts of things to distract herself from how lonely she is, as Christmas is a pretty family-oriented holiday and that's when she feels it most acutely. Needless to say, her Christmases become much lovelier with Ace around.

5. Do they play an instrument? If so, what? How good are they at it?

I imagine she's probably collected almost every instrument imaginable, and can at least make most of them make sound, but she only really plays acoustic guitar (specifically really finger-plucky stuff) and probably a bit of piano. She also sings, and unlike Ace, has no qualms about doing so whenever the mood strikes. And sometimes it strikes at odd times.

6. What's their favorite meal to eat?

Ooh, this one is hard. I feel like she would be one to be constantly excited about trying different kinds of food--but as for a favorite of hers, the first thing that comes to mind is tiramisu for some reason. There is also always a hot pot of tea in her TARDIS without exception.

7. Do they have a favorite video game or board game?

Joker does strike me as a video game girl--I can see her being a Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts fan (and unlike all of us, she actually has the time on her hands to play every Final Fantasy game, lol). As for board games, I think she would probably like Life, as well as some of those newer fantasy games with a ton of worldbuilding like Scythe. Of course, she probably never played them much up until she met Ace, as playing board games against an AI avatar gets boring very fast. She's also so bad at chess that the first time she played with Ace, he was dead convinced that she had let him win.

8. Do they celebrate their birthday?

Poor Joker is an amnesiac--she has no memory of who she is or where she came from, and only knows the simple fact that she is a Time Lord, and her first memory was floating in the vacuum of space-time as a child in her TARDIS. (I'm not even sure that she knows about the Time War. It's difficult to believe that she wouldn't have heard about it after so much time, so she probably knows...?) Thus she has no idea when her birthday is, so she just picked a random day and celebrated it in much the same fashion as she does Christmas. After she meets Ace, she usually convinces him to take her out dancing (which, to his credit, doesn't usually take too much persuading).

9. What's their bedtime routine?

Do Time Lords sleep? I've been getting conflicting answers about this. I'm gonna go with "sometimes," and in those cases, pretty nightdress, cup of tea, usually plays music.

10. What's an OC (or canon character) they like to spend time around? What do they tend to do together?

Ace is the first person she has ever truly connected with beyond the surface-level, despite their very disparate personalities. I don't want to give too much away too early, but what I will say is that initially, Joker views Ace a little bit like a project, and he views her as a character stepped straight out of a fairy story who is too otherworldly to be real and must have some secret agenda for bringing him with her, and thus distrusts her, but they slowly but surely overcome this rockiness. She sees something in Ace that he refuses to see in himself—but I really can’t say more without spoiling things. Joker is very verbally affectionate, often referring to Ace as “my Ace” or “darling.” He makes a very noble effort to hide how flustered he is by this.

As for what they do together, they of course have their time-traveling adventures (and sometimes run into the Doctor and his companions). I'd say they're a bit more like tourists than the Doctor and Rose are, they tend to go to different times and places with the intent of exploring and sightseeing and their adventures are rarely, if ever, premeditated. Also, as I mentioned earlier, they love to go out dancing--the Doctor and Rose are half-convinced that they're just on a dance tour of the universe, as 50% of the time they run into them, they're checking out the local social dancing scene.

Also, I mentioned this in my post about Ace, but Joker loves introducing him to movies, tv shows, music, and other kinds of media that he missed out on in his time. In return, Ace reads aloud to her a lot--it sort of began out of his frustration that she constantly leaves half-read books around and forgets to finish them, but then it just kind of became a habit.

Tagging @o-lei-o-lai-o-lord @rainintheevening @novelmonger @mythicalartisttm and anyone else who has oc's they'd like to talk about!