#something went weird so this is the second time I've made this post?? but it only shows up once

[anothermonikan]

Man high school was fucked up. You ever think about that. Thank fucking god I'm not in high school anymore

[itsgonnagetinspiringsoon]

@caitmayart WAIT WHAT-

losing my mind trying to figure out what the different colored backgrounds mean for the fhjy characters. Absolutely cannot find a common thread so far. It's not villains/non-villains bc gorthalax and ruben are both red?? maybe the more major characters are certain colours? maybe it means absolutely nothing at all and I'm steadily going insane over nothing??

^ me rn

[ckret2]

So a while ago some friends were talking about fans who claim the Same Coin theory is canon. And I made the mistake of saying:

Do you know who also has tons in common with Bill? Mabel. Yet nobody claims Bill reincarnated as Mabel. …wait now I want a "same coin but it's Mabel" AU. Funniest Bill reincarnation option. The all-seeing arsonist is making macaroni glitter art. The omnipotent tyrant is crying because a unicorn called her a bad person.

And then I overthought it for two months.

So—AU where after death, Bill's soul shoots 13 years into the past and reincarnates as Mabel. I'll call it ✨ Sparkly Coin AU ✨

Don't leave yet. Lemme show you why it works. Behold the eerie amount of parallels in their personalities, dialogue, behavior, mannerisms, tastes...

I could have kept going but my attention span ran out. All right, we all on board now? Convinced we could segue from one personality into the other? Great. Now here's why you should be interested: the juicy post-Weirdmageddon angst potential.

As long as a small fringe of the fandom still thinks Weirdmageddon is Mabel's fault, why not amp that up x100 and have some fun with it?

Is everyone sold now? Great. Let's get into the details. I've got 8 more pieces of art under the read more.

So the AU starts the instant Bill dies. Thanks to invoking his deal with the Axolotl—one way to absolve his crime, a different form, a different time—the Axolotl gives him a new shape and shoots him thirteen years into the past. Apparently, the Axolotl thought it would be very funny to stick Bill in the family that defeated him.

Which probably made for a jarring transition.

(It's fine, she's like 10 minutes old, she probably can't even tell who she's looking at. Not being able to tell who she was looking at is what got her into this situation ayyyy)

When Dipper & Mabel come back from Gravity Falls complaining about this triangular jerk Bill, their parents mention that Dipper's name was nearly Bill. See, after they knew they were going to have a boy, one night their mom dreamed about a visitor—some kind of magic pink salamander??—calling her child "BILL." Then at the next sonogram they found out they were having twins, the girl must've been hidden at a weird angle the first time, and they wanted matching names, so they thought, Bill and Bell. But they didn't really like Bell; but eventually they stumbled on Mabel, so to keep the names matching they switched from Bill to Mason. Isn't that the darnedest thing?

(Of course, Mabel and Dipper assume Bill harassed their parents to try to trick them into naming a kid after him. To be a jerk.)

When Bill meets Mabel, he's unaware that she's his future self—Bill's notably bad at doing things like, say, double-checking to see whether he's going to die anytime soon—but like... he can tell something's up.

Naturally, before visiting Gravity Falls, there were echoes of who Mabel used to be—but nothing anyone would be able to identify without context. All her Bill-ish quirks either smoothed out with time (see: how between second grade and fourth grade Mabel went from being the "freak" to the popular girl in class), or else they were accepted by her family as Mabel-ish quirks.

After they meet (and kill) Bill, they have the context to understand some of Mabel's behaviors... and unfortunately, some of Mabel's latent Bill-ness starts surfacing after she's been directly exposed to her prior incarnation.

The part of the Pines family familiar with Bill thinks the worst case scenario is that maybe Bill's survived and is slowly possessing Mabel; but far more likely, they think this is just some weird way of trying to subconsciously process last summer. Mabel doesn't think she's being weird, you guys are being weird, stop giving her weird looks. They get attacked by one triangle and now she can't wear yellow or pick up macrame as a hobby??

(It's not all red flags and uncomfortable triangle imagery, though. When Stan asks her what she'd like as a gift for some important event, she shyly admits that she thinks she's starting to outgrow her plastic gem jewelry and maybe she's old enough to get her first piece of real gold jewelry, if that's not too expensive? And Stan's never been so proud of her. Thirteen years old and already thinking about buying gold!)

But of course, the real fun starts when Mabel finds out.

That's the face of a girl who's just discovered that she tortured her great uncle. Now imagine running into the brother she possessed.

But I've already spent a million words and thirteen images on this post. If enough folks are interested in the AU maybe I'll expand on it later. Let me know what y'all think.

[hottiesforhockey]

may the best brother win pt. 2 ⎜hughes brothers

pairings: quinn hughes x afab!reader ⎜luke hughes x afab!reader ⎜ jack hughes x afab!reader ⎜ genre: romance ⎜bachelorette-esque situations ⎜angst? ⎜friends - to - lovers warnings: awkwardness between reader and Jack⎜mentions of a bet / competition⎜friendly love-hate relationship ⎜luke being a cutie patootie ⎜luke's love language is very much physical touch ⎜ kissing with mild heavy petting ⎜jack's kind of an asshole in this one ⎜miscommunication ⎜ synopsis: you have been friends with the hughes brothers for years - but why does this summer feel so different? word count: 5.1k authors note:  this is luke's chapter - I've always seen things saying that luke is super sweet and shy but really playful with people he knows so I kinda went with that for this story - anyway I hope you all enjoy! (p.s. i will be posting chapter aesthetic pics at the bottom so you can get an idea of what I was picturing :) ) pt 1 ⎜pt 2 ⎜ pt 3 ⎜

(unedited)

“You look like you’ve been kissed.” Lukes voice carries through your bedroom, as you stand in front of your vanity mirror, trying to braid your hair to avoid it getting stuck to you with sweat overnight. 

“Huh?” You question, turning around too quick to be casual to look at the long legged boy sprawling himself across your bed. 

“Your lips are a little swollen?” Luke continues, trying to play oblivious to the nerve he was hitting with his words. 

“Didn’t know you pay so much attention to my lips, Lukey.” You hiss back, turning back towards the mirror watching him in the reflection.  You stick your tongue out at him, a quirk of his lips brightening the atmosphere as he leans forwards, his elbows pressing into his thighs. 

“So how’d the date go? You both came back in a bit of a weird mood.” Luke notes, his eyes catching the small twitch of your jaw as you clench and unclench thinking of what to respond with, “Did something happen between you two?” He adds, goading you for a reaction. 

“The date was nice.” You say softly, finishing the second braid and tying it off with a hair band before turning around to face the intruder. “He’s very serious about this bet thought, so you better have something good planned.” Your snark surprises Luke as you walk around to the other side of the bed, slipping onto the mattress besides him. 

“He did kiss you didn’t he?” Luke’s smile is outrageously large as you cover your face with your hands, already feeling the tips of your ears burning. 

“Don’t say anything.” You snap, letting out a long groan into your hands as the tingle returns to your lips - the featherlight feeling of Jack’s lips still lingering. “It was spur of the moment, it didn’t really mean anything.” You admit - the memory of Jacks joking comment playing through your head on repeat. 

“Does Jack feel that way?” Luke asks, his question, making your turn your head in your hands, just peeking over at him from the corner of your eyes. 

“I mean he said and I quote ‘if I don’t win this competition, I’m gonna say it’s rigged’, so I don’t really think feelings were on his mind.” You say, trying to do your best Jack impression, your voice mockingly low as you recall his words. Luke winces as you sigh, leaning back against your headboard - the large puppy of a man turning on his side to face you. 

“I think you made him nervous, kitten.” Luke whispers. 

“If you ever call me kitten again, I’ll cut your balls off and feed them to you in a sandwich.” You snap, Luke immediately throwing his hands up in defence. 

“I’m just testing some out - give it time, pumpkin.” 

“Get the fuck out of my room.” 

“I’m kidding.” He laughs, his hands grabbing hold of your wrists as you try to shove him off the bed. “But I was being serious, Jack says stupid shit when he’s nervous or caught off guard.” 

“Are you saying kissing me somehow made him nervous?” You can’t help the way your head shakes as Luke nods his in agreement with what you’re saying. “There is no way, hot shot hockey star got nervous from kissing the girl he went bra shopping with when they were ten.” 

“It’s just a suspicion, so don’t take his stupid comments to heart.” Luke admits, dragging the covers which lay folded at the end of the bed over the two of your before settling down into the pillows. 

“What are you doing?” 

“My room is so far away.” He whines, patting the space next to him waiting for you to follow suit. “I’m not leaving so get comfortable.” Luke adds, his arms crossed against his chest, a triumphant smile on his face as you settle into your own pillows turning your back to face him. 

“Get a good nights rest cause we have a big day tomorrow.” Luke warns before rolling around in the bed till he finds a comfortable position. 

+

+

The sound of “eye of the tiger” blaring in your dark bedroom and the heavy arm over your waist is what makes you crack your eyes open - glancing around to confirm the you are still in fact in your own bedroom. You glance down at the arm around you in confusion, your eyebrows lifting in surprise at the sight of Luke’s fingers entwined with yours sitting comfortably against the comforter. “No wonder my hand is so sweaty.” You mumble

“Luke.” You groan, trying to get his hand to release yours so you can tug the covers up and over your head. 

“Shit, sorry.” He mumbles back, his eyes barely opened as his fingers release yours, rolling onto his back, slapping his hand around the mattress for his phone. “Eight AM sugar cookie, rise and shine.” His voice is crackling with sleep as his arm drops back to the mattress the alarm no longer singing the song of Rocky Balboa. 

“Sugar Cookie?” 

“I know, it’s just not right, is it?” He agrees, as he raises his hands to rub at his face before pulling himself into a sitting position. “We gotta get up though, can’t let date day go to waste.” You dare a glimpse over at the curly headed morning freak who is greeting you with a beaming grin, you can already see the energy buzzing under his skin. 

“Time for us to get our game faces on!” He grins, flicking your forehead gently. “The bet’s not gonna win itself.” 

You roll your eyes, sitting up and stretching. “This is ridiculous. I don’t even know why you’re this invested.” 

“You’re just mad cause Jacky made a boo boo.” Luke teases as he slides off the bed, walking over to your curtains to rip them open, unleashing the morning sun in your face.  “You don’t think I’m gonna let him just coast to victory, do you? He thinks he can just kiss you out of nowhere and then act like it’s nothing?” Luke’s voice is teasing, but there’s an edge to it, and you catch a glimpse of his competitive streak.

“Pfft, not on my watch. I’m gonna make this the most fun you’ll ever have on a date.” He tries to keep his face serious as he adds, “You’re going to go on other dates and be like ‘god I wish this was even close to being as much fun as I had with devilishly handsome and oh so charming Luke Hughes’.” He mimics trying to raise his voice as high as it’ll go. 

“Actually scratch that - you’re not going to go on other date ever again cause you’ll be so enamoured by me.” He corrects, his smile as wide as it can get as you let out a bark of laughter. 

“Very funny - now get out and I’ll get ready for whatever you’re going to enamour me with.” 

“As you wish, m’lady.” He says as he makes his way to the door, pulling it open all the way, Jack stopping just outside the door, looking between you and Luke in surprise. “Oh and wear something comfy.” He adds, nodding hello to his older brother as he fiddles with the long messy curls falling in his face. 

“He has a lot of energy.” Jack notes, stepping forwards to lean against your doorframe. 

“He’s excited.” You say with a shrug, slipping out of the bed and adjusting your pyjama bottoms which had ridden up over the night. 

“Listen, I think we should talk.” 

“Can we do it later? I have a feeling if I’m not ready in fifteen minutes Luke is gonna drag me on this date in my pyjamas.” You joke risking a glimpse at Jack’s face, expecting there to be a light smile but met with a blank expression. 

“Yeah.” He says quickly, clearing his throat. “Yeah whatever time suits you.” Jack says snapping out of his daze as he shoots you a quick smile, clapping his hand against the door frame before walking the rest of the way down the hall to his bedroom - the sound of the door closing echoing through the house. 

You can’t help the shiver of nerves at Jack's sudden shift; maybe Luke was right. 

"Fifteen minutes, princess!” Luke’s voice rings from this bedroom down the hall, and you huff out a breath, rolling your eyes. Luke’s enthusiasm for this date was charming in its own right, and for now, you'd focus on that. 

You dress quickly, pulling on a white thin sweater and some muted green overalls with your favourite broken in and worn down white converses as you gather a small cross body bag with the essentials. 

“I’m coming.” You hiss and Luke stops outside your door, pointedly looking down at the watch on his wrist. You pull your hair into a ponytail, the loose pieces at the front unable to be contained by the hair tie. Luke has on a simple pair of black shorts, with a washed out blue concert tee - his hair freshly washed and dried, and also possibly brushed, which was rare for the younger brother. He sports his own white converse - quick to point out the unintentional matching. 

“We’d just make the cutest couple, wouldn’t we?” He sing songs to Quinn who slides a plate of freshly cut fruit over to you as you take a seat at the counter - thanking the oldest as you dig into the juicy red apple slices. 

“He’s got a lot of energy.” Quinn notes, the deja vu slapping your across the face. 

“He’s excited.” You agree the encounter mimicking your earlier run in with Jack. 

“So what’s your plan for today?” Quinn questions Luke, watching his younger brother shove gatorade bottles and packets of chips into a small backpack. 

“Why? Trying to keep your enemies close?” Luke chides, slinging the mini black bag over his shoulder - the item looking smaller then before against his broad back. “We may or may not be going to one of her favourite places.” Luke hints, your eyes lighting up as Quinn looks over to you in confusion. 

“There’s a fair nearby?” You question, Luke nodding his head as he grabs an apple from the fruit bowl taking a large bite from it. “Since when? How did I not know about this.” 

“Wait, didn’t your friends from u-mich invite you to hang out with them there?” Quinn questions, a teasing smirk on his face as a frown grows on yours. 

“So you’re using this date as an excuse to hang out with your friends?” You ask Luke, his head shaking quickly as he bends down his mouth just besides your ear. 

“No I’m using it as an excuse to show you off to my friends.” He corrects, a shit eating grin on his face as he ushers you off the bar stool and towards the front door. “We’ll see you later tonight.” He bid farewell to his older brother before slamming the door closed. 

“C’mon we have a one hour drive ahead of us.” Luke says, his hand reaching for yours for what would be the first time of many throughout your date. 

+

+

The one-hour drive feels like minutes, and before you know it, you’re pulling into the makeshift parking lot beside the fairgrounds. The scent of fried dough, popcorn, and fresh-cut grass wafts through the open window, instantly transporting you to childhood summers. The sound of laughter, carnival games, and the occasional squeal from the rides fills the air.

Luke parks the car and hops out, circling around to open your door before you can even unbuckle your seatbelt.

“What a gentleman,” you tease, stepping out and adjusting the strap of your crossbody bag.

“Only the best for my date,” Luke retorts with a wink, grabbing your hand again.

The fair is bustling with people, families with kids in tow, couples hand-in-hand, and groups of teenagers excitedly darting between rides. Luke leads you through the crowd, his fingers laced securely with yours, making sure you don’t get separated.

“Where to first?” he asks, stopping in the middle of the main walkway. His eyes gleam with excitement as he scans the colorful booths and towering rides.

“I don’t know... you’re the one who planned this, remember?” you tease, nudging him with your shoulder.

“Right, but it’s all about what you want,” he insists, gesturing dramatically to the array of options. “Games? Rides? Food? Name it.”Your eyes land on a giant Ferris wheel at the far end of the fairgrounds, its lights twinkling even in the daylight. 

“That,” you say, pointing to it. 

“The Ferris wheel? Starting strong, I like it.” Luke grins and starts leading you toward it, but not before pulling you to a halt at a booth along the way.

“Hold up,” he says, eyeing the rows of oversized stuffed animals dangling above a ring-toss game. “I’ve got to win you something first. It’s tradition.”

“Tradition?” you ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Yup. No fair date is complete without a ridiculously large stuffed animal you have no idea where to put later,” he says with a smirk, handing a few bills to the booth operator.

Luke’s competitive streak comes out in full force as he lines up his shots, determination etched into his face. The first two tosses miss, and you try to hide your giggles behind your hand.

“Oh, laugh it up,” he says, narrowing his eyes playfully. “I’m just warming up.”

The third ring lands perfectly around the target, and Luke lets out a victorious shout, throwing his hands in the air. The booth operator hands him a stuffed bear almost as big as you are, and he turns to you with a proud grin.

“For you,” he declares, presenting it with a flourish.

You laugh as you take it, hugging the soft toy close. “This is so impractical, but thank you.”

“Impractical? No way. It’s the ultimate prize,” Luke insists, leaning down to whisper, “Besides, it’s my excuse to keep carrying stuff for you all day.”

“Smooth,” you say with a grin, letting him take the bear back as you head toward the Ferris wheel, your hand slipping into his again.

As you step into the Ferris wheel carriage, the world below begins to shrink, and the view stretches out for miles. Luke sits close beside you, his knee brushing against yours as the carriage rocks gently.

“Okay, you were right,” he says, looking out at the sprawling fairgrounds and the sun painting the horizon in shades of gold. “This was the perfect first stop.”

You glance over at him, catching the soft, thoughtful expression on his face. “You’re full of surprises, Hughes.”

The Ferris wheel slows to a stop at the very top, giving you a moment of stillness high above the fairgrounds which is becoming increasingly busy as time seems to pause. 

“Pretty great view, huh?” Luke says, his voice quieter now, almost reverent.

“Yeah,” you agree, though your eyes aren’t on the horizon. Instead, they linger on the way the rays of sunlight catch the edges of Luke’s face, softening his features.

He turns to catch you staring, and a slow, teasing grin spreads across his face. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“No,” you say quickly, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks. “I just—yeah, it’s a good view.”

Luke’s grin softens into something gentler as he leans back against the carriage, letting the quiet between you stretch comfortably. The Ferris wheel starts to move again, and he shifts closer, his arm brushing against yours.

By the time the two of you reach the ground the fair has hit peak chaos - hundreds of people filling the walkways, your new bear tight in one arm, Luke’s hand gripping your free hand as he leads the way through the crowds, his oversized frame making it easy for him to pull the two of you between the masses of people. 

“Alright, it’s time for the most important part of any fair experience: food,” he announces, his enthusiasm infectious.

“Let me guess—corn dogs and funnel cake?” you ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Obviously,” Luke says, feigning offence. “But also, those giant turkey legs and deep-fried... well, anything.” You laugh, letting him pull you toward a stand where the smell of fried batter and powdered sugar makes your mouth water. Luke insists on ordering for both of you, and soon your hands are full of hot, sugary funnel cake and a comically oversized lemonade.

The two of you find a spot on a bench near the carousel, sharing bites of the funnel cake and laughing at the powdered sugar that inevitably ends up on your face—and his shirt.

“You’ve got some...” Luke gestures vaguely toward your chin. 

“Where?” you ask, swiping at your face with a napkin.

“Nope, you missed it,” he says, reaching out to brush the spot away with his thumb. The simple touch sends a warm flutter through your chest, and for a moment, the chaos of the fair fades into the background.

“Thanks,” you murmur, your eyes meeting his.

“Anytime,” he replies, his gaze lingering just a little longer than usual.

“So what happened to your friends? Are they not meeting you here?” You question, clearing your throat as the two of your break eye contact, your focus going back down to the funnel cake in front of you. Luke also clearing his throat as he pulls his hands off the table where they were resting to pull his phone out of his back pocket. 

“I’m not sure, they’re somewhere around here.” He says, tucking his phone back into his pocket, digging his fork into the remaining food in front of you taking a bite as you tilt your head in confusion. 

“I thought you wanted to see your friends?” You ask, your eyebrows furrowing deeper as Luke lets out a long sigh. 

“I do.” He admits, whispering something inaudible under his breath, his eyes still turned towards the table. 

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch it.” You joke. 

“I said, I’d rather spend today with you.” He repeats himself, his shoulders sagging a little almost in relief as the words leave his mouth - his eyes finally lifting to yours as he leans back on the picnic bench. 

“Okay.” 

“Okay?” He questions your head nodding quickly. 

“I like spending time with you too, Luke.” You admit, smiling at the surprised grin that spreads on Luke’s face. 

“That’s good.” He says feigning nonchalance. 

“Yeah, you’re like my best guy friend.” You tease, watching Luke’s face drop a little, the infamous Hughes pout spreading across his lips. 

“Great, this is great.” He groans, running his hand down his face in despair. His head dropping against the table as you let out a snort of laughter, sliding out from your seat, making sure to grab the arm of your oversized bear before making your way over to his side. 

“I’m kidding, Luke.” You whisper, as you perch one knee on the bench besides him, leaning forwards to press a soft kiss against his cheek, jumping back as he flings himself from his hunched position. “Are we gonna continue this date or not?” You smile, as Luke nods his head, sliding out of his seat, and reaching his hand behind him as he waits for you to follow after him. His fingers squeezing yours tight as you slide your palm into his. 

Your day seems to fly by as the hot summer sun slowly descends in the sky, your arms now filled with your giant bear and a more modest sized unicorn that had taken Luke six attempts to win from the basketball game. “You’re looking a little tired.” Luke notes as you make your way down the significantly emptier main walkway. “Do you want to start heading home?” 

“I just need to use the bathroom.” You respond, pausing your steps as you catch sight of the bathroom sign, Luke quickly pulling the stuffed animals from your arms motioning for you to go ahead. 

“I’ll wait right here.” He says the sound of his voice being called hitting you as you walk into the restroom. You make quick work of your business after waiting in line for ten minutes, trying to push your way out of the bathroom without touching any of the admittedly dirty walls. 

Luke is exactly where you left him, talking animatedly with who you quickly realise must be the friends he had avoided meeting up with all day so he could spend the day with you. You take a few steps forwards before deciding to hover back a little bit, letting the friends catch up without the interruption of a stranger. Pulling your phone out of your bag to check the notifications you had ignored for most of the day. 

Jack 😈: let me know when you guys are heading home. 

Jack 😈: I hope you had a lot of fun on your date

Jack 😈: I’m sorry if I made things weird between us. 

Quinnifer 😇 : I think you broke my brother. 

“Hey, what are you doing over there?” Your head pops up at the sound of Luke’s voice, the sight of the group now turned towards you making your eyes bulge a little. 

“Just catching up on my messages.” You say quickly, awkwardly showing your phone to the group, hoping it was enough to dismiss the attention. You watch as Luke’s friends nod to you in acknowledgement before turning to talk to each other in hushed whispers, the words obviously pleasing Luke as his boyish grin lights up his face. 

His eyes make contact with yours, his head motioning for you to come over and join him, his hand reaching out towards you, making quick grabby motions similar to that of a toddler as he waits for you to take his hand. You feel his body relax as you slip your hand into his, his arm pulling you close to his side as his raises your joined hands to press a soft kiss to your knuckles, your heart speeding up to a hundred miles an hour as you glance up at him in surprise. 

“It was good seeing you guys, we need to do a lake trip soon.” Luke interjects, wrapping up to conversation efficiently as he quickly bids his friends farewell, making promises to hang out soon, as the two of you slowly wander away from the group of college students.  

As you settle into the car for the ride home, Luke glances over at you, his expression soft and a little shy. “So... was this a good first date?”

You smile, leaning your head against the window. “It was perfect.”Luke grins, reaching over to place his hand gently against your thigh, his hand remaining there for the whole trip home, his thumb rubbing soft circles against your skin. 

+

+

 Luke parks the car and turns off the engine. For a moment, the two of you sit in comfortable silence, the air filled with a warm contentment that neither of you seems in a rush to break. His hand lingers on your thigh, the steady pressure a grounding reminder of his presence.

Finally, Luke looks over at you with a playful smirk. “You’re not going to make me walk you to your door like a proper gentleman, are you?”

You chuckle, undoing your seatbelt. “Well, you did just earn some serious points tonight. But sure, let’s see how gentlemanly you can be.”

He shakes his head, pretending to be exasperated, but he’s out of the car in an instant, jogging around to your side to open the door for you. He extends a hand with an exaggerated flourish. “M’lady.”

You take his hand, laughing as he helps you out of the car. The cool night air brushes against your skin, and you instinctively lean closer to him as you walk up to the door. His arm slips around your waist, holding you close as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. 

When you reach your doorstep, you turn to face him, surprised as he doesn’t slow down, opening the front door and ushering you inside. 

“Where are you going?” You ask, Luke turning back to look at you with a smirk. 

“This is the door, but not your door.” He responds, your brain catching up quickly as you close the front door softly before following him up the stairs until the two of you stop outside your bedroom door, your heart fluttering as you meet his gaze. His boyish grin is back, but there’s a hint of nervousness in his eyes now. He rubs the back of his neck, glancing down for a moment before looking at you again.

“So… I had a really good time today,” he says, his voice softer now, more vulnerable.

“Me too,” you reply, your voice matching his quiet tone. “Thank you for making it so special.”

He takes a small step closer, his free hand reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair from your face. “I’m glad. I wanted it to be… I don’t know, just right.”

“It was,” you assure him, your heart racing as the space between you shrinks. Lukes hand slowly cupping the side of your face, searching for any signs of resistance before he leans down, pressing his lips firmly against yours, your own hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, as you lift to your tippy toes pulling yourself tight against him. 

His free hand raising to grab hold of your door handle, as he twists it open, slowly walking the two of you inside your bedroom, kicking the door closed with his foot. Both of Lukes hands are gentle against your jaw as you pull away from him, his eyes meeting yours as you chew on your bottom lip. 

“Is this too much?” He asks gently, his thumbs rubbing softly against your cheeks, his breathing heavy as he waits for you to respond. 

“Is this not kinda of crossing the line? I mean I know we didn’t set any rules for the competition but do you not feel weird that I’ve kissed you and your brother?” You explain, grimacing as you speak the situation out loud. 

“Do you want to kiss me?” Luke asks slowly, ignoring the rest of your statement, his eyes searching yours as you nod slowly - unable to miss the way Luke grins as he mumbles, “Then fuck the competition.” Luke doesn’t waste time in reconnecting your lips, his hands firm on your hips as he walks to two of you back towards your bed, perching himself on the edge. 

Luke’s lips leave yours for no more than ten seconds, ripping his shirt over his head as his hands tug your body onto his lap, your legs straddling him as he shoots you a quick grin, before leaning up to catch your lips again. Your body melts against him your hands rake up his arms, Luke letting out a small shiver as they tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer to you. 

You’re both starved for each other, taking the time to melt your bodies together as Luke lies back on the mattress pulling you down with him, his fingers digging into the plush flesh of your thighs, before moving higher up your body. 

“Why’d you have to wear fucking overalls?” He grimaces as you sit back against his pelvis, your hands briefly bracing against his bare abdomen the muscles tensing under your touch before reaching up to undo the two buttons holding up the top of the overalls letting the top fall off your shoulders. Luke lets out a shaky breath as he reaches forwards griping the hem of your sweater waiting for your small nod before pulling it up and over your head. 

“I wasn’t really going for aesthetic when I got dressed this morning.” You admit, glancing down at the black sports bra with a frown, your overalls bunching at your hips as you glance down at Luke, still sprawled on your mattress glancing up at you with a sparkle in his eyes.  

“I’ve never been one for aesthetics.” He says quietly, his hands running up the skin on your sides, goosebumps blossoming on your skin as he pauses as the clasps on your sports bra, a knock sounding through the room. 

“Are you in there?” You just manage to catch as your head spins towards the door, the clear shadowing seeping under the door, Jack’s voice slicing through the tension in the room. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Luke growls, his hands sliding back down to your hips to hold you steady as he sits up from his spot on the mattress, his arms wrapping around your waist as your turn your head back to him in panic. Luke leans forwards, skin pressing against skin as he steals one, two, three more kisses before pushing himself off the mattress, your legs wrapped around his hips, Luke slowly letting you place your feet back to the ground. 

“Don’t panic.” Luke whispers, his forehead pressing to yours. “He probably just wants to talk to you about your date last night.” Luke reminds you, pressing one more sweet kiss to your nose before stepping away from you, picking your sweater up off the floor and handing it to you to put on. 

“I’ll come back later.” Luke reassures you, grabbing his own shirt off the floor before moving towards your bedroom door, pulling it open and sending his surprised older brother a glare. “Don’t say anything stupid.” Luke warns his brother before padding down the hallway to his own room. 

Jack glances over at you in surprise, his expression almost an exact mirror of this morning when Luke left your room. “I have a feeling I interrupted something.” Jack notes your arms crossing over your chest as you choose not to respond. 

“I just wanted to apologise for last night and thought that maybe the kiss made things weird between us but…” Jack pauses, glancing back in the direction his brother just went before looking back at you, his expression shifting from soft confusion to simmering anger, “Clearly the kiss wasn’t the problem.” 

“What are you saying, Jack?” 

“I’m just saying I thought maybe I crossed a line by kissing you but obviously that line doesn’t exist with you.” Jack reiterates, his words making you lift your eyebrows in surprise. 

“You were right, Jack. The kiss wasn’t the problem.” You begin, opening to your mouth to continue explaining but pausing as you watch Jack take a step backwards, his head nodding as he frowns. 

“No don’t bother - I understand now.” He says quickly, escaping down the hallway to his room slamming the door harshly the sounding ringing through the house. 

[landograndprix]

╰┈➤ ❝ desire us • l.n ❞ iii

part two - part four

➪ life changed after you decided to go through it as a single woman, offering your daughter the best life she deserves, focusing on work, friends and family but damn, that guy.

➪ co-parenting, dead-beat fathers and curious friends.

➪ mom!reader x dad!Charles (platonic) x lando

➪ my babies are back and they're lying their asses off <3

➽────────────���───────────❥

y/nusername

📍 Monte-Carlo, Monaco

liked by charles_leclerc, manon_roux and 478,963 others

y/nusername obsessed actually.

tagged: manon_roux, alicedidier, charles_leclerc

view all 1,425 comments

hamilt44n ma'am how many more babies are you going to steal from your friends? 😭

charlesgirlies so true bestie I'm obsessed with Leo leclerc as well!

↳ charlesgirlies and the other dog, don't know who he is but I love him as well ❤️

bobnorriz oooh who got you those chocolates huh? 👀

pierregasss time to have your own babies again!

↳ lanlan yes!!!! Zoey would make such a good sister!

norry4 first if all its zoë and not Zoey and second of all, stop telling y/n she should get another kid..it's weird

bananacharles obsessed with Charles as well?

estiebestieocon baby number two when? 👀

manon_roux so that's where my son went..

↳ y/nusername *our son

milliexoxo little Noah belongs to us all 💙

alicedidier all our kids belong to you all apparently

y/nusername yeah 🥰

leolec16 leoooooooo 🥰

schumimick charles gave zoe a baby brother now its your turn 😍

↳ yukisan girl stfu maybe she doesn't want to???

norrizz some of y'all so rude! If you were even the slightest bit interested in y/n like you claim, you'd know having kids is difficult and having zoë wasn't something that just happened..

↳ norry4 this!!

charliecharles I didn't even know this...how do you know?

norrizz go watch zoë's 2nd bday vlog

➽────────────────────────❥

➽────────────────────────❥

➽────────────────────────❥

y/nusername posted to their story

manon_roux replied to your story

manon_roux

you are giving this man way too many chances

y/nusername

he showed up sober

manon_roux

This man has problems

y/nusername

Zoë still likes her grandpa

manon_roux

this man is not grandpa worthy

he's never been a normal dad how does he know how to love a child in the first place?

are you alone with him or is charles with you?

y/nusername

yeah and joris so I'm good

we're almost leaving

manon_roux

where are you staying?

charles? Hotel?

y/nusername

what's got that to do with all this?

manon_roux

Just curious 😉

y/nusername

I've got a roof over my head, I'm fine.

➽────────────────────────❥

➽────────────────────────❥

y/nusername posted to their story

milliexoxo replied to your story

milliexoxo

you might be able to fool some people but I know exactly where these pictures are taken, I've been in that man's house a lot 😂

you're at lando's place?

y/nusername

If you know, why'd you ask?

milliexoxo

So? 👀

y/nusername

he offered me a place to stay, he's not even in town so calm down

milliexoxo

Wow I'm just curious 😂

y/nusername

last time you were curious about my relationship with lando you threw a tantrum because i broke up with him..

milliexoxo

Can you stop using that against me? 😭

I was immature and dumb ass fuck and I've apologised for it

So you're not together together?

y/nusername

No millie, we're not

➽────────────────────────❥

➽────────────────────────❥

y/nusername

📍 Miami, Florida

liked by charles_leclerc, milliexoxo and 465,577 others

y/nusername dora, boots & swiper.

tagged: milliexoxo

norrizz you're dora, zoë's boots so millie is swiper?

↳ y/nusername you know it! 🤗

milliexoxo always made the villain

norrizz millie you are a criminal, you're always the villain 😂

piastry mom's weekend with the kids <3

yukisan bunch of pretty ladies 🥰

manon_roux 🎶 backpack, backpack 🎶

↳ y/nusername 🎶 backpack, backpack 🎶

manon_roux 🕺 💃 🕺💃🕺💃🕺

julieeeexo when you're a mom, you turn up to kids shows 😂

y/nusername ask millie where she got the dress from

↳ hamilt44n where's millie's dress from?

y/nusername my closet

hamilt44n 😭 😭

milliexoxo best store in town tbh

landooooo just 3 bestie exploring the world together :)

sharl16 so we just gonna ignore the fact y/n, lando and zoë flew to miami together like a happy little family or what???

➽────────────────────────❥

➽────────────────────────❥

➽────────────────────────❥

Everything taglist; @thomaslefteyebrow @hopefulinlove @smoothopz @honethatty12 @cixrosie @ireadthensuetheauthors @be-your-coffee-pot @heli991113 @kodzuvk @reality-is-a-con @80sloverry @bibissparkles @myescapefromthislife @lanando4 @elliegrey2803 @ravisinghs-wife @harrysdimple05 @minkyungseokie @pretty-little-bunny382728 @thatgirlthatreadswattpad @severewobblerlightdragon @cherry-piee @namgification @mycenterfold @celestialend @jsjcue @d3kstar @themislovesf1 @mehrmonga @gentlemonsterworld @destinyg237

Lando taglist: @simp-for-fictional-people @landossainz @christianpulisic10 @bored-brunette2 @i83andrew @mcmuppet @justdreamersdream

Desire taglist; @sainzluvrr @writingworlds @chezmardybum @lewisvinga @xjval @fanficweasley @rockyhayzkid @aundercover @thecubanator2 @minchedchilli @crimeshowjunkie @alisoncasey21 @eeviepepi08 @shamelesspotatos @sleepybrokenmelle @leireggsworld @janeholt3 @iamahalicinationn @dessxoxsworld @kapsylia @22yuki @dark-night-sky-99 @sheslikeacurse

[qu1cks1lversb1tch]

Sinstagram | L. Morningstar

Warnings: Lucifer being a slight menace to society, Reader is also a fallen angel, fem reader, bestie Angel Dust, mother reader, older sister Charlie, kinda wholesome, Lucifer being a good dad and an amazing husband, semi suggestive(?)

Word Count: 1.1K

A/N — sorry if it's kinda all over the place, I've been stuck in a horrendous bout of writers block and just barely had the motivation to sit down and write for Lucifer, my love 😭

"No fuckin way!" Angel Dust cackled from two rooms over and immediately you heard his footsteps coming towards you. It could be one of two things — Val posted something weird as fuck or he uncovered pictures of the two of you absolutely plastered from three months ago.

"What's up?" You asked, looking away from the paperwork Charlie had you doing for the hotel, while she took her younger siblings out. Some of the stuff she didn't understand, even with the help of Vaggie or Alastor, so you stepped in to help as you were a manager at a hotel when you were sent to earth for work — it was a way to blend in that unironically gave you experience.

Angel stopped before you, a smirk falling upon his face filled with glee and suggestive glances. "You check your phone in the last few minutes?"

Confused, you shook your head 'no' and set down the small stack of papers that had been stapled together so you could view them with ease. "I've been working for the last few hours to make up for being gone with Lucifer all weekend, so it's on silent. . . Angel, what's going on?"

He leaned across the counter and turned his phones screen to face you. It was Lucifer's most recent Sinstagram post. For a moment, you were confused until your eyes scanned the caption.

'She calls me apple the way I be in cider 😏🍎'

Immediately, you blushed and covered your blazing cheeks with your hands. "Oh my." You breathed out. That blush immediately became a flush of mortification when Angel clicked on the picture and it showed that he had tagged you. Your Sinstagram username stared back at you.

"So, you and the short king got down and dirty on your weekend retreat, huh?" Angel Dust smirked, turning his phone back to himself to scroll through the comments that were rolling in by the second.

"Well," you began, unsure of where your words were going to go. "I am his wife. . . It's a natural thing that married and apparently unmarried people do. . . Yes, it's only natural."

Angel snorted. "You ain't gonna hear any complainin' from me, [Y/N/N]. . . So long as there ain't anymore little Lucifer's running around anytime soon."

"About that. . ." You trailed off.

Angel Dust opened his mouth to reply.

As if on cue, the front doors of the hotel opened, Charlie and Vaggie entered, each holding one of your children — the former exorcist angel holding your sleeping daughter. She had your hair but Lucifer's eyes and rosy cheeks.

Your son was wide awake, bearing a striking resemblance to his father and older sister, but with your eyes.

It was clear just by the way he was buzzing that they had gone to LuLu World. He was always energetic coming home from such an exciting trip, whereas your daughter was out cold halfway through the ride back home every time without fail. It was likely a sugar crash.

"Looks like someone had fun." You removed your hands from your face and stood from your seat, rounding the desk.

"We all did. . . Thanks for letting us take them out, [Y/N]. I wish you and dad could've come with us and made it a family day." Charlie smiled brightly at you.

"We will soon, I promise. . . Thank you for taking them while I got some work in."

"It's no problem! I love them — they're just the cutest."

Your son practically jumped out of his sister's arms when you got close enough for him to wrap his arms around your neck. He went on and on about all the fun stuff the four of them had while you finished up working, until he fell asleep mid sentence.

You chuckled lightly and asked Angel to bring your daughter out to the limousine that was waiting out front of the hotel. He arrived a few minutes later and your daughter acted as if she was beginning to wake up, until she was strapped into her car seat and the driver started the vehicle.

"One more Morningstar, huh?" Angel questioned before you could close the door behind you.

You smiled, chuckling slightly. "Just one more. He convinced me this time."

A couple minutes later you were on your way, watching the buildings fly past your window. You decided to check your phone finally. The post had over a million likes and had just over six thousand comments. You liked the post, the blush creeping up once again. At some point you had to stop caring — you were in Hell and there were people doing worse things than being romantically involved with their partners.

It wasn't long before three of you arrived home and Lucifer threw the front door open before the vehicle could even stop. When the driver opened the door, Lucifer was there to see his children after a long day.

"Look at my babies!" He gushed quietly, tears springing to his eyes as he watched them sleep so peacefully.

You snickered and he turned to you.

"And my beautiful wife! Hi! I love you so much!" He kissed all over your face while placing one of his hands on your belly — you weren't showing yet, but would be in the next few weeks.

"I love you too, Luci. . . Let's get them inside. I want them to be in bed before you and I have a talk about what we do and don't say on Sinstagram when we'll be apart for hours." You whispered the last sentence, caressing his cheek.

His eyes widened and he gulped before chuckling nervously.  "You saw that, did you?"

"I sure did. . . Apple." You could've sworn he was gonna pass out from the tone of your voice, but he instead cleared his throat and unbuckled one child while you handled the other.

The two of you got inside and put the kids to bed, silently thanking Charlie for making sure they ate something other than sugar before they came home.

Then there was a lot of talking. Definitely just talking. . . Yeah. . . Talking. 👀

A few hours later, the two of you laid together, Lucifer laying his head on your lower abdomen. "I know I said one more. . . But what if we had more?"

You laughed lightly, raking your fingers through his hair. "How many more are we talking, Luci? I'd consider one more after this, but then we wouldn't have an even number. . . Charlie adores her siblings, but I think another after our littlest Morningstar would be pushing it."

"She always wanted a big family. . . Lots of brothers and sisters she could spend time with. She used to beg Lilith and I all the time for siblings, but I won't push you. I understand your concerns. I'll be happy regardless of what you decide." Lucifer declared, looking up at you with his pretty eyes.

"We'll see. . . I love you, Lucifer. You know that, right?"

"I know. I love you so so so so so so much." He replied. 

The post in question and the image that gave me the idea for this in the first place (the first pic expands more, fyi 🙂):

[aliferous-ly]

A ghost haunted season 10. Certainly not a malicious one, if a bit mischievous - and one had to keep a careful eye out to catch him.

Jevin heard him first, deep underground. He was hunting iron, early in the season, and he was having the worst luck. He even looked up where iron should be, to make sure the updates hadn't changed anything! Alas, the iron evaded him. Jevin might have to resort to begging and then jump straight to a farm.

And he kept hearing these crackly, faint snickers. At first he thought he'd been on a voice channel accidentally, but, no, his comm wasn't connected. Then, just to make sure, he disconnected it entirely - but the laughter prevailed. Jevin chalked it up to too many sleepless nights, and went to find an overachieving hermit already building an iron farm.

Stress heard him next, but as someone who heard murmuring monsters on a good day, she didn't give it a second thought. Clear as day she heard an, "oh, bugger." She thought, you and me both, monster, before going along with her day.

Then it was Xisuma, though he didn't hear anyone, he saw. It was a mere glimmer out of the corner of his eye. White hair, stout, pickaxe slung lovingly over a shoulder. When he looked back there was nothing. He resolved to run diagnostics on his helmet, because something was clearly haywire.

And in Joel's defense, he was both exhausted and brand new to hermitcraft. It wasn't like people had nametags on, they were a group of friends! So when an old man grumbled by, lost as could be within the shopping district, Joel furrowed his brows but ultimately was too tired to ruminate. He overheard the man saying something about shroomlights and called out, "Tango has the permit, but he doesn't have a shop up yet!"

The man startled, muttered something about "permits?" before scuttling off like a spooked horse. Joel shrugged. It was called hermitcraft, after all. There had to be loads of people he hadn't met yet.

Small instances added up. Scar fell asleep making a tree, hidden amongst the branches, and was spooked awake by the sound of a player dying. But when he checked his comm, nothing showed up. A dream, he thought uneasily.

I just need sleep, Tango thought.

Wow, someone's wearing a sick costume, Skizz thought. Too bad I'm too busy to go chat right now!

Who's messing with my hourglass now? Doc thought. Only, there wasn't anyone else on the server at the time. Probably an armor stand prank.

It all came to head when Hypno stumbled across his fifth stripmine in one mining session. He rolled his eyes, because of course Wels had created tunnels beneath Hypno's place just to be a nuisance. Except when he pointed it out to Wels, who was on call with Hypno but was busy caving, Wels expressed confusion.

"I've only made one or two strip mines. And they're not near you," Wels said.

Hypno saw a wisp of white hair turning a corner. "Haha, very funny, Wels. Come on out."

"I'm not joking?" Wels said in confusion. In the same beat he got the achievement for sneaking successfully past a shrieker for the first time and Hypno was far too high up to be near an ancient city.

"Maybe it's someone else?" Hypno murmured, checking who was online. Grian and Joel, who were having their own shenanigans blowing up the comms (it involved TNT, so the blowing up was quite literal). Impulse had just left. Etho, who could be a contender if Hypno didn't know he'd fallen asleep at the post office three hours ago. Plus, what sort of prank would this be, from Etho?

He explored the endless strip mines and got so lost that he had to dig his way up. When he mentioned the strangeness to Keralis, the man lit up and exclaimed that he'd found the same thing, how weird was that, huh?

Hypno investigated. If there was a bug in the world he'd need to know.

"You know, it might not be a bug," Cleo said meaningfully. They fidgeted with a tear in their clothes.

"What else would it be?" Hypno asked, mystified.

"Maybe it's a player. You know. Someone we never removed from the whitelist."

Cleo raised an eyebrow. It wasn't in their nature to beat around the bush, but at the same time they didn't want to act crass. Not for this.

Tentative realization trickled through Hypno. He nodded and abruptly left, unsure how to feel.

The information spread slowly through the rest of the server. Joe took to leaving boxes of torches and iron pickaxes about, and every so often would have to refill them. He didn't ask, but everyone swore they hadn't been stealing. Who would need an iron pickaxe at this point, anyway?

One night, Cub let off a slew of fireworks that were spherical and solid green. He heard a faint chuckle on the breeze, and raised a drink in quiet salute.

So, yes. A ghost haunted season 10. But ghost haunting had such a negative connotation, didn't it? The hermits, if they spoke about him at all, much preferred to call him the True Hermit who never left.

[willbyersabyss]

The Upside Down is stuck on multiple days, not just November 6th, 1983. I've already discussed this possibility a little bit, but I collected more evidence and I want to make a longer theory post about it!

The Wheeler house is stuck on November 6th, 1983, but do we know that about the rest of the Upside Down?

This was mentioned in another post I made, but Robin literally says it herself. She says Nancy's house is stuck, not the entire thing. This line could be hinting at the UD having different time appearances in different locations.

So let's get into the evidence:

The most damning evidence of this theory is that the Snow Ball decorations are in the UD. The Snow Ball takes place in December, not November. Even the cars in the parking lot are the same. The sparkly lights hanging inside can be seen as well. If the entire UD is stuck in the same time, there's zero explanation for the Snow Ball decorations appearing there.

Joyce already had problems with her magnets before so they want us to look at these damn magnets! In the UD Byers house, the big pink magnet is low down on the fridge, but it's on the top in the real world. The pair of magnets that are above the pink magnet are not there at all in the UD. It's possible that the magnets fell and got rearranged during that week with all the crazy stuff happening, but it's definitely something to consider.

What if the magnets are different because this wasn’t a 1983 version of the Byers house?

This might be a bit of a stretch but we know that Joyce was working the night Will went missing. If the UD is stuck on that night, why isn't Joyce's car in front of the store she works at? Little weird.

Here's another one. On the right in the real world, there's a black car with a white top. This car is in that exact place in the UD. Will was in 1984, so why is that car in the same place in 1983? This goes for all of Will's s2 visions. I won't put photos for all of them, but each vision looks identical to the 1984 version of Hawkins instead of 1983.

All except for one.

This is where it gets weird. You could say that Will's visions are identical to 1984 because they're Vecna visions, not the actual Upside Down. If that were the case, why is the UD different from both 1984 and 1983 in one of his visions?

Look. There's no laundry in this vision. The second image is from 1984 and there's laundry on the line. There's also laundry in the 1983 version. But none in the UD? To be fair, the second pic was a few days after the vision so it's possible that they did laundry between the two scenes. But I don't like simple explanations! It's weird!

Ok so why is the UD stuck on different days? It has to do with memory travel. I think multiple people have travelled into different memories and this altered the appearance of the UD.

Max's Snow Ball memory is the reason why the decorations appear in the UD. There's even foreshadowing for this in the original Snow Ball episode! Max has a hair pin with a stained glass rose on it. El also has a bracelet with a little flower. This is because they meet there later on the other side and fight Vecna who is represented by the stained glass window!

Look at the lyrics that play during Lucas and Max's first kiss. "It's you I can't replace" is a very telling lyric here. People can't be replicated in the UD, but buildings can. Max's memory didn't have any people when she travelled there. She literally can't replace or replicate Lucas.

The next line talks about feeling cold. What place is described as cold? The Upside Down. Right. Also the entire song is filled with "I'll be watching you" lines which are self explanatory. She was being watched by Vecna. This is proven right with the Mind Flayer transition a bit later!

So what if the Mind Flayer was there during the Snow Ball not only for Will, but Max? We know a red storm follows Vecna/Mind Flayer wherever he goes. The Mind Flayer might have been there because Vecna and Max were there in the future (past?) in her memory. This is why the storm appears around Max’s memory as she’s fighting Vecna.

Notice how Will gets pulled into a version of the arcade that looks normal with no people before he arrives in the Upside Down version. Yeah. Same thing happened to Max. She saw a happy, normal version of the Snow Ball for a few minutes until it started rotting and replicating the UD. Will's change only took a couple of seconds, but he's been in the UD before, so it doesn't take long to convince his mind that he's there.

The similarities here show that Will may have memory hopped like Max did at some point!

Look at this! The first image is Castle Byers in 1983. On the table to the right, there's a microscope in the UD version. That microscope isn't there in the 1983 version. You know when it is there? The 1982 memory Joyce recalls. The lion plushie also moved which either means 1. Will was cuddling it in the UD (cried typing this) or 2. the UD version is not the 1983 version.

After Joyce recalls the 1982 memory, the sheet blows aggressively in the wind. The wind isn't that strong elsewhere in this scene. What if that wind was Will travelling into a Castle Byers memory? When Max travelled to the Snow Ball, her hair also blew in the wind! (partially because Billy threw a door across the room but work with me here). I bet the version of Castle Byers in the UD is either the Joyce memory here or the memory of him building it with Jonathan.

What if each time they flipped to a memory of Will in s1, he was travelling into that memory and transforming the UD to replicate it? He kept trying to hide in a happy memory, but it always ended up rotten because of Vecna.

So when Will was initially kidnapped, he tried to go back to the Wheeler house memory to save himself. That’s why their house is stuck on that day but the rest of the UD isn’t.

It's also totally possible that some of the locations in the UD replicate future memory hopping. Maybe some characters in s5 will hide in a happy memory and alter the UD. Some parts of the UD could be from the future!

The Upside Down might be like a meeting place for memories and mind weirdness. Multiple connected mindscapes? One mindscape they're all tapping into? A random void-like dimension that they go to when they enter their own minds? Many possibilities! All I know is that the UD isn't stuck on one day and Max's Snow Ball memory definitely had something to do with that. Memory hopping changed that damn dimension!

[dykeknightrises]

PROMISES

A/N: I'd just like to say that I'm in absolute awe about the reactions to FALLING, really! I was very hesitant to post something that I've wrote but now I can't help but to be super excited laknkdns Seriously, thank you guys SO much for it! Here's part two, I hope you enjoy it <3

PART 1 - FALLING

PART 3 - US

After a couple of years living the best and worst of her life, Alexia promised herself a break. A year where she would be one hundred percent focused on football and herself. She had a lot to catch up with her family and with being comfortable with herself after her injury.

Everything had been going fairly well on that front until Y/N arrived in Barcelona. Alexia remembered the bright-eyed teenager, far too young to be playing in the u-19 team, being playing great, nonetheless. Watching the teen leave absolutely everything even when they were down 4-0 made Alexia respect her immediately and to keep up with her career whenever she could.

The Y/N was far from the shy teenager that Alexia first met, but still so terrifyingly similar. Her first few weeks in Barcelona passed in a blur, but not a good one. The midfielder and the rest of the team barely interacted with the newest signing and when it happened, which was strictly at practice since she didn’t join them when they spend time together, it was mostly through the shortest sentences possible.

Alexia realized the smallest flinch from Y/N whenever someone spoke to her in Spanish. She didn’t mean to and was honestly certain nobody else, even yourself, realized it. Then every downed on her.

Her time playing with Espanyol and Levante was weird. She was still in her home, still in her country, still in her city, but everything was just so different. Her teammates, the team culture, everything made her doubt herself for the first few months. A new country, a new city, a new language, a whole new culture? Alexia could not fathom that.

Settling in making Y/N feel home, Alexia now spent most of her time dedicating herself to her. They were partners in every training drill, spending their time together doing the heavy speaking in English. When she was home, countless of hours on YouTube were split between watching highlights of Y/N through the years and on tutorials about the best ways to make someone feel welcomed.

She wasn’t sure why and at that point she didn’t care enough to ask, but she needed Y/N to feel at home in Barcelona. When her attempts were going well, but too slowly for her liking, she was running out of patience.

Walking Nala down the streets was something she was doing a lot lately, lost in thoughts about Y/N. The little furball got tired after twenty minutes of their walk, making Alexia pick her up, only then realizing where she was.

In front of her stood her favourite chocolate store, the best in the entire Spin if anyone asked her. Deciding to buy a bar a pick-me-up for the moment, she walked into the store, greeting to small family that owned the business and making small talk.

Picking the small bar of milk chocolate, her hand unconsciously hovered on a second one, for Y/N. With her own bar clutched in her hand, she stood in front on the chocolate bars display, not knowing which one was your favourite. After a few minutes of contemplation, she grabbed one of every single chocolate the store held, giving the owner a sheepish smile as the old man raised his eyebrows at her purchase.

It was a Thursday when she got the guts to approach Keira to ask such a random and somewhat personal question. The Englishwoman responding very confusedly, making Alexia bolt before she could ask any follow up question on why.

Going to her car to retrieve the precious bar on a break from practice, Alexia slipped it in her locker before any of the girls could see and went back. When training was over, she managed to catch up with Y/N on an empty hallway by the pitch, telling her that it was okay to be with the team even if you weren’t in “Spanish Mode” yet, they just wanted your presence.

When she sees the realization down on Y/N eyes, she confirms that she didn’t even realize what was happening. Knowing that, if you were anything like herself, a whole moment of self-reflection would follow the realization. Alexia slips that chocolate bar on her hands and squeezes her shoulder as she leaves.

The unknown feeling growing in her gut through the rest of the day and the next one too, unsure if she overstepped or not. It was the team’s first Friday off since preseason and she was so desperately uneasy about it, unsure if she made things worse.

Walking into their usual restaurant, Alexia felt her heart skip a beat as she hears Y/N laugh at something Frido said, the smile brighter than everything around. Settling herself in the seat in front of her, being greeted with a smile and a warm gaze, a silent “thank you” written all over it.

 It wasn’t long until everything was fitting together. The team quickly welcoming her into the family and their routine stronger than ever. It wasn’t until she refused the invitation to hang out with her friends for the sixth week in a row and got called out on it that Alexia realized that Thursdays had became their day.

She was fine with sharing Y/N with the team the whole time but was so deeply grateful to have her for herself on Thursdays. Sharing their passion for football, exploring the city, and cooking together had quickly became the favourite part of Alexia’s week.

Days bled into weeks, which bled into months, and everything was perfect. It wasn’t far from Winter Break when she went to lunch with the Putellas, this time without Y/N, and got asked where her girlfriend was that Alexia realized her feelings.

Loving Y/N was disturbingly easy, Alexia though laying in bed later that day. She’d been doing it for months now. Every moment of her days she wanted her there and every moment of her night she dreamt about her.

The warmness of her discovery was slowly cooled by the realization that had already broken her promise to herself. The heartbreak of her past relationships sucker puncher her into choking down a sob, knowing that she could not take that once again, not from Y/N.

The next month passed in a haze. Alexia felt like the biggest liar, and she smiled, making sure no one could see past it. It wasn’t until she reached home that she allowed herself to crack, suffering from a paralyzing fear of having her heart broken before she even gave it away once more.

It was on their Thursday that she felt herself cracking, knowing she couldn’t be alone with Y/N, cuddled up on a couch, being surrounded by her. Texting her asking to go out instead was easy, choosing Sala Apollo came unconsciously because, even if she could be alone with Y/N, she still did not want to share her on their day.

Breathtaking. Jaw dropping. Beautiful.

Words only came to Alexia brain a few beats after Y/N opened her door or them to go out. A stutter complimenting her was the only thing the Catalonian managed to slip out before she was dragged out of the apartments complex by hand and getting in the Uber.

The decision to drink that night was a well though out one. On one hand she felt like she needed a couple of drinks to function near the younger woman that moment, but she was well aware that her inhibitions lowered considerably. She chose to drink.

Dancing with her, Alexia felt every single part of her on fire. Whenever the touched, for the briefest seconds, her heart skipped a beat, and her breath was taken away. Hands slipping on Y/N waist, pulling her closer, was a necessity.

When Y/N perfume hit her nostrils, Alexia knew she was gone. Losing any shred on self-control, Y/N was the entire world right now. Hands roaming, lips finding the skin on her neck, sucking, and biting like her life depended on it. Maybe it did. Y/N turned around to kiss her and when their lips met Alexia was sure she was in heaven.

Going home, staying up the whole night, discovering each other in so many ways was everything Alexia ever dreamed of. The warm, sweaty tanned skin against her, made her overflow. She was everything.

Waking up on the next day to a cold bed made her choke. Reality crashed down, eyes glassing as she though she was being left once again. Minutes passed, with Alexia trying desperately to not cry before she heard the noise in the kitchen.

Slipping a shirt in, she stopped on the threshold, watching Y/N happily making them breakfast. Somehow, that made her hurt more. The thought that she could have left, that she the worst of you for just keeping their routine. It made her feel sick.

She knew then that she was not ready. The feelings she held for those tortuous moment where far worse than any previous heartbreak. Just the thought that Y/N left almost broke her. Alexia knew right then that she could not be with Y/N right now, no matter how much she ached for her.

Alexia was not enough for Y/N right now.

When she turned around, spotting her tucked in a corner of her own apartment, Y/N looked at her like she hung the sun, the moon and everything else. Her breathes came out ragged as Y/N came closer, warm smile and sparkling eyes still in place.

“This was a mistake.” Alexia choked out before she came any closer. The Spaniard knew that any poor excuse that she came would never be enough.

Y/N steps haltered, no more then a couple of meters away from her, lips parting and heart breaking. Alexia could see the younger woman opening and closing her mouth, frown in place, trying to come up with an answer.

“Oh.” The word came out in a breathless sound, after what felt like a whole eternity. “I’m sorry. I’ll get out of your hair now.”

“Y/N” The blonde called, holding the other woman’s wrist, desperately not wanting her to go, despite messing everything up.

“It’s okay, Alexia. We will be okay. We are okay.” She said, slipping her wrist out of Alexia’s grasp, shutting the door after her.

She took her heart with her. Any will to do anything and joy left right after them. Falling to the floor, on the same corner that everything became a mess, Alexia let herself be mess too. Sobs wreaking her body for hours, only getting up to crawl to bed when night came.

Days came and went, turning into weeks, and Alexia was still broken. She could not look at Y/N without breaking. That was reserved for the privacy of her place, where she didn’t have to be the Alexia Putellas, where she wasn’t a symbol of strength. Strong was the last thing she felt in those months.

Months passed by before Alexia even saw anyone after practice. She missed team bonding, birthdays, media duties, her own family. A knock on the door broke her out of the pit of misery of the day, making her drag her feet through the floor, feeling like her legs weighted a thousand kilos.

The grinning face of her childhood best friend greeted her when she opened the door. The grin quickly lost the place when Ana actually saw her. Pushing past her and settling down on the couch after opening a bottle of wine, the woman looked at her with an expectant gaze.

Alexia knew she could tell her the truth. Ana was her friend enough to just call her stupid and tell her to beg for forgiveness. But she didn’t know Y/N, didn’t know Alexia’s feelings. So, the blonde settled for a lie.

Maybe the lie was too good, because the very next day, she showed up with her girlfriend and another woman. A surprise double date, she said. The woman was great, there was nothing wrong with her. In fact, Alexia was sure that if she did not love Y/N so deeply she would have giver her a chance. But she was not her.

The next day, a Friday, Mapí and Marta coaxed the date out of her. Not that it was much to tell, Alexia herself was only half present for it, but it was enough. Enough because Y/N arrived in the locker room just as the defenders teased her about it. Y/N lips trembled when she heard the word date and that was enough to bring tears that were never shed to Alexia’s eyes.

She cancelled lunch with her family again on the weekend. She hadn’t gone back ever since they asked her about Y/N, too scared that they would see her, that they knew. Preparing herself for another day the bare minimum for herself, her door opened. Alba standing on the doorstep. Alexia never saw her baby sister look so angry.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Alexia?” the younger sister growled, entering the apartment. “Mamá is pit of worry because you look like someone has been running over you with their car everyday for the past year!”

“I’m sorry.” Alexia choked, flinching away from her sister.

She didn’t even realize that the tears, her current best friend, has already spilled out of her eyes and found home running down on her cheeks until Alba cradled her face, holding her in a hug. They laid on the comfortable couch for hours before Alexia managed to stop crying, her sister not laxing her hold for any second, whispering quiet reassurances at her every few moments.

“Ale, what’s going on?”

“I fucked it up.” She breathed out, before telling her everything.

That day was months ago. Surprising her, Alba didn’t judge her, didn’t jump the gun as usual, she held her, reassured her and gave really good advice. Which brought her to now.

Alexia spent the last few months talking extensively to her therapist about it, about everything. Her heartbreak, her injury, falling in love again. She wasn’t better yet, but she was in a much better place than before. More than wanting Y/N to love her back again, she needed her in her life, even if she had thrown away her only chance of them spending their lives together.

Today marked a whole month that Alexia came every day to Y/N doorstep, looking at the piece of wood that stood between her and the love of her life for hours, too much of a coward to knock. Finishing the cup of coffee that the awfully familiar doorman gave her from his on stash, she got up, standing in front of the door.

She had been in that exact place far too often, never knocking. Lifting her fist, she banged against the door before loosing her courage once again, like she had done far too many times.

Y/N opened her door and took Alexia’s breath away. She stood there, with a little black dress, light makeup coating her face and heels that put her just a little bit shorter than the Catalonian. The blonde felt her mouth dry at the sight of her, hands trembling away, tucked into her hoodie.

She felt like she had stood there, forever, just taking Y/N in, appreciating her, breathing her in. The younger woman was everything. She had always been everything. Her impossibly soft gaze, even now, asked Alexia what she was doing there.

“I was hoping we could have our usual Thursday? I have a lot that I need to say to you.”

[idontevrnknow7]

cannn I request a Jax x fem reader nsfw!! With Jax having a breeding kink,, due to him being in this weird digital version of heat, due to him being a rabbit, also reader is Ike very girly so skirts and stuff!! Also.. Jax begs , yuuuup!

ofcccc!!!! sorry it took me a while to post I had a lot of school to catch up on but now I'll post more on!

includes:fingering, biting, breeding kink, Jax is in heat

jax

you

It's annoying going from a normal man to a rabbit in a digital world who goes into heat. Jax hates the feeling of always being hard and the urge to hump his pillow as he thinks about someone. You, in your skirts and girly stuff, just thinking about him fucking you drives him crazy. “God why am I like this?...” he laid on his bed until he heard a knock at his door. “Crap” he gets out of his bed and tries to make it not noticeable that he was hard. As he opens the door. It's you, “Hey Jax! are you coming to the activity today? Caine wants you to!” as he looked you up and down, wearing a skirt and a pink top on. ‘God she would look so good with my seed in her’ he thinks as his cock gets even harder and feeling that he could snap at any moment.

 Jax sighed "ugh fine I guess..." jax walked behind you as he was in his thoughts thinking about you of course. After the activity he started to walk back to his room trying to get away from people before they noticed something was wrong. "Jax wait up!" ad Y/N rushed next to him. "what do you want Y/N?" Jax looked down at you "Well wanna come to my room? I have a new outfit and I need your opinion" Jax looked away for a sec "ugh fine only for a second" Y/N then walked to her room happily with Jax trailing behind her

after she got her outfit on and showed him, "um you look good I guess....but um I need a favor from you" you looked up "yes Jax?" as he looked up at you "i-i need you doll, look what y-your doing to me.” You blushed as you can see his bulge through his pants "Jax....are you saying you want to do...it?" Jax blushed and looked away “yes....please”..... Jax pleaded until you nodded to help him with his heat, since you did like him. Jax got up and pushed you on your bed.

He was breathing heavily and reached up your shirt to feel your breasts. You yelped as he squeezed. “Hha jax-” he attacked your neck with kisses and bites leaving a bunch of hickeys that you would have to hide from the others. "@#$! Y/N you're so pretty with those hickeys on you. Now they will know that you're mine ." he then took off your skirt and panties and shoved a finger inside you "hah jax~" you moaned out his name and he then added another finger then you moaned as Jax bite your inner thigh leaving it bruised but not hard enough to break the skin. hearing you moan made his cock twitch in his pants as they began to be very tight around his cock as it was throbbing from not having attention. you felt knots in your stomach about to burst until he took out his fingers "h-huh? Jax?". as you looked at him in disappointment "can't have you cum yet doll~"

he then took off his overalls and stroked his cock a few times to get it ready to enter your cunt " you know how long I've been wanting to do this" as he lined up his tip at your wet folds. “Looks like it will be a tight fit…..you can take it though right? “ then his hips began to push forward as his tip harshly made its way past your walls. “Hhha…its…huge…jax-” 

“f-$#@” as he began to slam his hips forward “look what your doing to me doll…” as he was pounding into you. Already feeling ready to cum into your pretty cunt. He went down and sucked on your tits leaving bite marks all over your chest "god your so p-pretty when you moan my name" As he continued to pound into you as knots were increasing in your stomach about to burst. “J-jax im about t-to- '' you were interrupted by you moaning as you released your orgasim and jax still kept going until he started to get sloppy notifying you that he was super close. “G-goddamn…y/n i-im about to cum” as he finally slammed into you as he released all his warm cum into your tight cunt, filling you up. Then he got off you and laid next to you. “Geez doll you made me feel so much better for now heh.” you turned over to look at him “i didn't know you could go in heat. Or had a thing for breeding” he looked away “yeah….maybe you can help me for now” as he smirks at you. Jax pulled the covers on top of you ad him and cuddled 

.

.

.

Kinger bursted into the room “JAX Have you see-.” as he just stares then slowly turns around. “oh um...i'll….just…go…..”

.

.

.

A/N: Thanks for the request! I know it might be a little crappy but its my first time writing so! I hope it's good:) have a good day/morning/night.!!!!!!

[otherone12]

I BEG FOR MORE BASEMENT GEE FICS

I've been obsessed with your account forever but these last few Basement Gerard Way fics make me need more of them. I love seeing Gerard as the comic-obsessed, introverted, whiny, trash-smelling, wood-scented geek in the room. I love your fics, I give you the best of luck, you deserve recognition or whatever in this

Black Coffee

(damn, i'm awful choosing titles)

Basement!Gerard Way x Reader

-> Masterlist

HEYYY!!! OMG THANK U SMMM!!! ngl I almost cried at this (yes, I'm emotional)… so consider this a gift 4 uuu!!! As well as writing the fic, I also wrote some drabbles of this relationship… I hope you enjoy them!! I'm so so sorry for taking so long, school was killing me (it still is, but I'll try to keep posting often). There are more basement!gee fics coming soon, and I'm writing a “Ray x FilmNerd!Reader” request!… I hope you like it! <3

Summary: You've finally talked to the quiet, awkward guy who always comes to the coffee shop where you work (those drabbles are about him being awkward/cute/nerdy with his new - and first - girlfriend).

- Word Count: 2.730 + 5 Drabbles

- Warnings: None :)

- Ps: I'll not use y/n…

- Ps2: I'm brazilian, so english is not my first language... sorry if i wrote something wrong.

______________________________________

1st Person.

It was just another day at the coffee shop, where the morning crowd shuffled in like clockwork. I had my usual regulars, the early risers, the business types, the half-awake students. Nothing unusual. That is, until I saw him.

He looked a bit out of place. Messy black hair falling in his face, an oversized jacket that looked like it hadn’t seen a washing machine in a while, and a worn sketchbook tucked under his arm. He shifted nervously as he got in line, eyes darting from the menu to the floor, like he was afraid to make eye contact with anyone.

When he finally made it to the counter, he hesitated, glancing up at me, then quickly looked back down.

-  Hi, welcome! - I greeted, with my usual smile - What can I get started for you?

- Uh-  a coffee, black, please... - He muttered, really nervous, scratching the back of his neck. His eyes were wide behind his greasy messy hair. 

He handed me cash with slightly trembling hands. The whole interaction probably only took a few seconds, but it felt… different. Like he was processing everything in slow motion, or like maybe he’d never seen a girl before.

He murmured a quiet “thanks” and shuffled off to wait for his coffee, sneaking glances at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. I shook my head, stifling a small laugh. Maybe he was a little weird, sure… but something about him was interesting. 

Well, he started to come here every single day, always at the same time, carrying either a comic book or his sketchbook. He's always wearing a worn-out band T-shirt or an old sweatshirt, and his hair always looks like it's never been shampooed. He never talks to anyone, and no matter how many times I’ve handed him a coffee, he never seemed to get used to this, always avoiding my eyes and muttering. 

After a few weeks passed, I observed his weird way of acting, and that made me even more curious about him. Taking advantage of the fact that, by some miracle, the cafeteria was empty except for him, I went to the little table in the corner of the cafeteria. He didn't take his eyes off the comic book he was reading, until I cleared my throat.

- Hi… - I started, and he looked up at me with wide eyes. I felt a rush of nervousness myself but forced a smile to hide it. - Sooo… I just realized I’ve never asked your name. 

- H-Hi - He blinked, clearly taken off guard. His cheeks immediately flushed, and he muttered under his breath. - Uh… M-my name’s G-gerard… 

- Well, nice to meet you! - I sat in front of him, introducing me to him. But as soon as I said my name, my gaze fell on the comic book he was reading. - IIs that a 1940's Batman #1 spring issue?!

- Y-yeah.. are you… into comics? - he still looked a little shy, but his eyes lit up. 

- I kinda like the art of it… - I explained, - Can I sit?

- S-sure… - a light smile appeared on his face when I sat in front of him. - D-don't you have to… uh… work?

He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, still not looking directly at me and with a slightly pink face. 

- Nah… If a client shows up, I'll run there - chuckling, I gave another look at his comic - So… some considerations about that comic? Is it nice?

- Y-yeah… I'm kinda obsessed with Robin's costume… - He looked at me with a little uncertainty, analyzing if I really wanted to hear it. I nodded, with a smile. -  b-because it's incredibly dangerous, like he has no body armor and he wears the brightest colors… and it makes no sense.

The last thing I knew was that I got lost in our conversation, all of his opinions about the art, the lore and everything. I swear I never imagined we would have this detail in common... little by little I realized he loosened up a little, but it seems like he still has a lot hidden under his wrinkled sweatshirt… 

Unfortunately, customers started showing up and I had to get back to work. 

- So… I gotta go now - I sighed, standing up. - But it was nice to talk to you, Gerard… I guess you will be here tomorrow?  

- I-i guess so… - he muttered, playing with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. - Was… uh…  nice to talk to you. See you tomorrow then.

I smiled at him, and he did the same thing, and for the first time I saw how beautiful his eyes were.  Well… there I go, back to my work, watching him leave the place. 

Next day was going normal and at the usual time, he showed up, with his scarf, his black hoodie and his messy hair. Gerard walked to the counter to place his order. Unlike usual, he was a little more confident, although he still stuttered a little when placing his order. 

- Hey, Gerard! - I smiled at him, was his gaze met mine - usual?

- Y-yeah, please. - He stood up awkwardly while I prepared his coffee.

- So… - I handed him his coffee. - any new comic stuff?

He looked confused, and a shy smile appeared on his face before he blushed a little and picked up the drink. 

- I found some new stuff at the comic store… - his voice is a bit louder than a whisper - I-I can show you… 

I glanced around the place, seeing that it was empty, except for one couple who were at some corner. 

- Yeah sure!

Again, the time seems not to pass, and this talk with him turned into some kind of routine for us... Asking him about details of comics and hearing him explain everything… I'm not the ‘nerd kind’ like him, but I knew enough to keep the conversation going.  

A few days later, as we were into our usual banter about comics and superheroes, something felt different. Gerard seemed a bit... bolder. His shoulders weren’t as hunched, and he was smiling more, albeit shyly, like he was starting to get even more comfortable with me, like we were friends... I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe we could be more.

 I caught him glancing my way a few times, a thoughtful look on his face, like he was debating something.

- Hey… uh… - He glanced up at me,  - I was wondering… d-do you want to… uh…  I mean, only if you want to… maybe come over t-to my place? I have more comics there... like, a lot more. We could, um, look through them together?

I blinked a few times, surprised by the sudden invitation. We've become so close in just a few months, it's crazy.

- Sounds pretty nice! - my reaction made his blush light a little - I’d love to see what you’ve got. 

- Y-yeah! I mean, since you like comics... you’ll probably enjoy it. - Gerard’s smiles grow, he gets excited every word that slips out of his mouth - And, uh, I could show you my... collection. It’s not, like, super impressive or anything... but... yeah… you  should come tomorrow… 

- Sure! I’ll be there!

When I arrived there, I was surprised. The basement was even more than I imagined, a treasure trove of comics, action figures, posters, DVDs, and CDs stacked on every available surface. It looked like the ultimate geek haven, where every corner had a story to tell. In addition, there were several drawings and sketches of people that he himself had created, as well as piles of sketchbooks on the floor.

- Holy shit! - I blurted out, spinning in place to take everything in. - This is awesome! You have, like, what… a billion comics here?!

Gerard shuffled nervously by the door, scratching the back of his neck. 

- A-actually... it's not that much... b-but, um...- His face flushed a little as he responded,

- Are you kidding me? - I interrupted, wide-eyed, as I reached out to touch a vintage Batman figurine still in its box. - Oh. My. God! This is collector's stuff... You’ve got first editions, limited prints... This is incredible!

- I-I’m kinda... uh... a fan of... you know, comics. A-and stuff. - He smiled shyly, his fingers fiddling with the hem of his hoodie.

- Dude, that’s awesome! - I said, completely genuine, scanning a shelf crammed with Marvel and DC titles, mixed in with indie graphic novels. Everything was in meticulous order, and it was clear he cared about this stuff more than most people would understand. - I had no idea you had so much cool stuff down here.

- Y-yeah, well... I don’t, uh, really show a lot of people this stuff, - he admitted, his eyes darting nervously to the floor. - It’s kind of... my space, I guess. It’s... messy, and maybe a little... weird.

I stepped forward just a little bit more, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from him.

His breath hitched, and he swallowed hard, looking at me like he was trying to solve some impossible puzzle. 

- I... um... you’re... really close,- he stammered, his voice shaky. - I mean, not that I... mind... or anything, it’s just that I don’t... I don’t usually... have people down here... or... or close to me like this.

I could feel his nervousness, but there was something vulnerable about it that made me want to close the gap even more. His eyes locked onto mine, and this time, he didn’t look away.

We got close enough for our lips to touch, then he involuntarily pressed his lips on mine.

It lasted only a few seconds before his eyes widened and he pulled back in shock, his face burning. 

- I-I'm sorry - he stammered, hands trembling as he scratched the back of his neck, his voice faltering. - I shouldn't… I'm really sorry… i'm not used to having people around me, and i just… uh… kinda where too much-

His words trailed off into a mess of nervousness, like he couldn't even form a coherent sentence.

Before he could keep trying to apologize, I leaned in again, pressing my lips to his, more confident this time. He froze, completely still, like he didn’t know whether to react or if he should apologize for the first kiss again. His lips remained soft and unresponsive against mine, and I could feel his panic radiating off him.I backed off a little, rubbing his cheek with my thumb.

-y’know…it would be a lot easier if you kissed me back… - I chuckled. Approaching again. 

His eyes widened even more, his whole face lighting up with embarrassment, and he looked like he was trying to process everything happening all at once. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. He took a deep breath, glanced away, then back at me. 

- I... I didn’t- uh, I wasn’t… -  He shook his head, a nervous laugh escaping his lips as he rubbed the back of his neck. - I-I’m just... this is really… uh, a lot for me. I mean, I don't know how and…

- Gerard - I said, my voice gentle but teasing.  I couldn’t help but chuckle softly, enjoying the effect I seemed to have on him.  - Relax. Just kiss me back...

Our lips met again, but this time he didn't remain static. His cold hand moved up to my neck, while his thumb pressed lightly on my jaw. Our lips moved gently as he seemed to be really enjoying every second. 

When our lips parted again, he was redder than ever, but his eyes remained on my face. He bit his lip, nervously.

- Was this… uh… nice? - he asked, voice barely above a whisper. His cheeks were still flushed, and his gaze darted between me and the floor, like he couldn’t settle on one thing. - I mean, I... I don’t know if I did it right. I’ve only really read about these things, you know? Like, I mean, there’s all those superhero issues where they do the whole kiss thing, but none of them are... uh... well, they’re not like... this.

He rambled on, nervously tugging at the sleeve of his shirt, clearly overthinking every word. At first I was afraid I'd gone too far, but as he didn't refuse and even worried about whether I'd done well, I didn't regret it at all.

- It was perfect, - I said softly, brushing a lock of hair away from his face. - You didn’t need a superhero comic to do it right.

- O-Okay... good... I mean, I’m... I’m glad. But I don’t... I don’t really know what this means, you know? Like, am I... are we... Are we, um, dating? Because, uh… - He faltered, eyes darting to the side as if trying to avoid my gaze. - I’m not really good with... social stuff, and... I mean, I know the whole ‘dating’ thing is, like, a level-up situation, right? Like, uh, like when Spider-Man gets his suit upgrade and-

- I think you’re overthinking it, Gerard. It’s not like it was some complex time travel stuff - I chuckled, with a soft smile  - And… about the “dating thing”... do you want to be my boyfriend?

- I-I do! - His shining eyes and his huge sudden smile turned into some shy look, a bit unbelieving, his voice was barely audible, like he was testing the words out. He caught himself, clearing his throat as if he was afraid of sounding too eager. - But, like, are you sure? I mean, I’m not... exactly, uh... the smoothest guy in the room, and I’m kind of, uh... awkward, and-

- Gerard… - I cooped his face, looking deep into his eyes - You are perfect.. I mean… I think you’re perfect. 

- Really? - His eyes searched mine, like he was still trying to process it. - Okay. I... I’m... I mean, I’ll try not to, like, mess this up.

- You’re not going to mess this up,- I said, leaning into him. - Trust me… 

he nodded his head in shy agreement, while a small, insecure smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

- Can I... kiss you again?

- Of course you can.

I barely finished the sentence, his lips crushed into mine. It was slower, more confident, though still laced with that same shy excitement. It felt like the start of something special, something that didn’t need to be perfect, but was perfect all the same.

- I... I’m really glad you’re... okay with me. - his forehead rested against mine, and he let out a soft, relieved laugh.  - All of me. Even... the awkward parts. 

I knew the next day would be different from normal. Same coffee shop, same people, but knowing that the weird, shy, nerdy boy was now my boyfriend, so I couldn't be happier. The way I feel more comfortable with him than with anyone else is what makes me sure we were making the right decision.

I was behind the counter, wiping it down, when the familiar jingle of the café door caught my attention. I looked up to see Gerard standing there, his usual nervous posture gone, replaced by something… different. His shoulders were straighter, and he didn’t hesitate as he walked right up to the counter.

- Hey, Gee! - I greeted with a bright smile, already reaching for the coffee pot.

But before I could say another word, he leaned over the counter and kissed me, firm and a little awkward, but full of this newfound confidence. I froze, eyes wide, and for a second, all I could hear was the quick thumping of my heart.

He pulled back, he cleared his throat. 

- Uh… I-I did it right? -  his face immediately turning pink - I mean... I’ve never... dated before, so... I-I thought 

I couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of me, my heart melting at his adorable uncertainty. 

- You did perfect,- I reassured him, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. His whole face lit up with relief.

- Okay, good, - he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck with a shy smile. - I... I was worried I might’ve

- Relax,- I laughed, giving his hand a squeeze before letting go. - I’m just gonna make your coffee now, okay?

He nodded, that sweet, hesitant smile growing even bigger, and I turned to get his usual order, feeling my own cheeks heat up. This was Gerard, still awkward, still nervous, but there was something different in his eyes today. Something that made my heart skip a beat.

______________________________________

Drabbles:

(These are disconnected scenes that I think go well with this fic.)

1- Holding Hands

As usual, I sat by his side on the coffee table, he was calm, with a pen in his hand, focused on his sketchbook. His other hand was unoccupied, and without thinking twice, I moved mine to meet his, interlacing our fingers. The moment he felt my skin on his hand, he froze, slowly turning his face so that our gazes met.

- Is that okay? - I asked, afraid of maybe causing him some discomfort.

- Uh… yeah, I just… didn’t expect that… - A shy smile appeared between his stuterning words. - But it’s uh… nice.

- Good. - Moving closer, I teased him, placing a kiss on his cheek. - I didn’t think of moving it anyway.

___________________________________________

2- So... You Like Hearing Me?

This was one of those evenings that we just wanted to spend together. Gerard and I were re-watching Star Wars, and he started to explain every detail of one of those scenes, while I paid attention in every single word. But he stopped.

- Am being annoying again, aren’t I? - He sighed, scratching the back of his neck.

- No way! - I interrupted, my eyes lighting up with excitement. - I love hearing you talk about it. Keep going!

He blinked, stunned by my enthusiasm, and his cheeks flushed a delicate pink. A bashful smile spread across his face as he picked up where he left off, his voice even more excited now that he knew I was genuinely interested.

___________________________________________

3- You Are Not Ashamed Of Me?

We went out to the comic store. On our way there, I held his hand, and he looked at me, with wide eyes that I didn't understand at first.

- We are… uh… in public - Gerard looked around, worried - People can look and-

- And what? - I cut him off, chuckling.

- You don’t mind being seen with me? - His insecure tone was so damn cute.

Not at all! I want them to see - I squeezed his hand, smiling at him - You are my boyfriend, right?

He nodded, and I pressed my lips against his, a quick kiss that made him seem radiant

___________________________________________

4- Movie Night

As the weeks went by, it became common for me to go to his house to watch movies, and this time was no different. While we were cuddled up watching the movie, his hand naturally rested on my thigh, and when he realized it, panic overtook him.

- I'm s-sorry - he moved his hand quickly.

- Don't be - I smiled softly, and caught his hand before he could move it away completely. - I liked.

His breath hitched, and he swallowed, his fingers resuming their gentle touch. Feeling my encouragement, he allowed himself to relax, and soon we were cuddled even closer together.

___________________________________________

5- First 'I Love You'

We were sitting on his bed, laughing about something silly, when the laughter died down, and they just looked at each other. Gerard felt a warmth spread through his chest, and before he knew it, the words tumbled out of his mouth:

- I love you.

As soon as he said it, he froze. His face turned bright red, and he immediately started to backtrack. 

- I-I'm sorry, - he stammered, panic flashing in his eyes. - I didn’t mean to... I mean, I did, but I know it’s too soon, and I-

- Hey, - I interrupted, placing a finger on his lips to stop his anxious rambling. - I love you too.

His eyes widened, the fear in them melting away into relief. 

- You... you do? - he asked, almost disbelieving.

- Yes, Gerard.

______________________________________

~ Sooo that's it! Lemme know if you liked! And if you have any ideas, my requests are open!

[slackerlifewhere]

What Kim Rok Soo probably thinks about Cale Henituse

Okay, so I mentioned that I'm rereading the first part now so I can finally read the second part of the novel.

While reading, I noticed how calm and normal Kim Rok Soo is about Cale. Like yeah, he finds him amusing and interesting, but coming from a man who has read five volumes and notices (and remembers) every little detail about it, it makes me wonder what he truly thinks about Cale Henituse.

[✋Possible SPOILERS for the first part of TCF ✋]

As I reread the story in the first few chapters, despite how little Cale Henituse's importance is in The Birth of a Hero or how few his appearances are since it focuses on Choi Han's adventure, Kim Rok Soo somehow describes moments that make Cale look like trash but it's like he understands why the noble was like that before they switched bodies (except for the Harris village since he didn't know about that until OG Cale mentions it).

Like think about it. We all know KRS grew up with his abusive uncle. He knows how bad it is to live with an alcoholic but he doesn't judge Cale's antics when he's "drunk". We also know that he's been alone most of his life so he probably thinks that Cale is just a lonely person because of his reputation.

Guessing that there are some assholes during the apocalypse (I haven't read the side stories yet but I can guess), he probably thinks that Cale is more complex than what he shows in the books because he has seen the worst kind of people that makes Cale look like a normal person. After switching bodies, Venion, White Star, Arm, and Adin are definitely 1000% worse than Cale.

Kim Rok Soo is very sharp when it comes to understanding people. He understands Choi Han and Alberu's problems and understands the trauma the kids went through. He also understands how corrupt nobles and priests are and doesn't judge Mary and the Dark Elves all because of a stupid religion. He understands how hard it was for Lock during the war and was comforting about it his own weird way.

He's a perceptive and understanding person.

Although he's incredibly bad at judging himself, he's good at judging a person through their motives and actions. It's why he somehow befriends Toonka and Bud. It's why he became allies with Hannah and Fredo. It's why he quietly listens to DHB later on. He understands people and it's why people like and trust him.

In short, he knows that there's something more than what the books say about Cale Henituse.

It's kind of the reason why it made me pause a bit when he finally meets OG Cale.

Their conversation was so calm, it's as if they knew each other for a very long time instead of just literally a few minutes ago. He easily accepted what OG Cale has to say about his mother and his new life as Kim Rok Soo and he trusts him with his former team. Like I've mentioned before in my other post, he's happy for both of them because they're both content with their new lives despite their regrets in their last lives.

Cale looked at Kim Rok Soo, who was laughing and making gestures that he would never have made, and nonchalantly added on.

“I guess you’ve really been happy.”

He recalled the moment he met with Lee Soo Hyuk and got the ‘Embrace’ ability.

Lee Soo Hyuk had handed Cale the ability and told him about the real Cale Henituse as he disappeared.

‘Oh, by the way, the original owner of your body is living well too. He’s happy. That is why Jung Soo, I, and everybody is happy.’

Kim Rok Soo had a bright smile that suited a twenty-year-old person and not someone in his mid-thirties.

- Chapter 656: Everything can be connected

I'm guessing that when he read the parts about Cale throwing bottles at a random asshole in the books, he probably thought that he might do the same thing. Remember how badly he reacted when he learned about the slaves being sent to the Empire? He basically used the same tactic but instead of throwing the bottle at someone, he drank a lot because of how pissed he was and made it look like the "trash" he is while waiting for everyone's signal.

He even has some thoughts about how annoyed he is whenever the knights or butlers would flinch away since he knows Cale never tried to actually harm them. And he knows about Cale's troubles with the staff back home in the Henituse territory.

So yeah, it's pretty sweet in a way that Cale Henituse has someone who kind of understands him and won't judge him for his actions even though Kim Rok Soo doesn't know everything about him because of the books (like his conversation with Basen).

“It looks like you will need to struggle a little longer, but anyway, live well. Please take care of my family.”

“Please take care of my team members.”

Both men let go of each other’s hand with a small amount of sorrow visible in their eyes.

- Chapter 657: Everything can be connected

[makuyi13]

"The Least They Could Do" (Morpherine / Morph x Wolverine)

by @makuyi13

"The ways they could make him happy if they were Jean. But they weren’t. Logan was the man, the myth, the legend, and Morph was just Morph. And they were just friends.

And they hoped to God that was enough."

-

Author's Note: Alright guys I've gotten over an adequate amount of my fears and written a little one-shot after years and years of not being able to write fan-fiction! So anyways this is a really big step for me and I'm obviously very nervous, so please be nice. If I messed up on Morph's pronouns or grammar or spelling somehow, though, please do tell me so kindly. Anyways fellas enjoy I hope it's good :)

Oh I added some more edits, too. The ending is better now.

Edit: The hell have I been doing not posting this on AO3. Here you go fellas https://archiveofourown.org/works/57571678

-

Logan was upset. Again.

It was like the guy was sentenced to be upset for life. There was always something for him to be frustrated about. There would be a few days, weeks if he was lucky, when there wasn’t, and all was well. But then something would go wrong again.

This time it was about Jean.

Again.

She was to have a baby with Scott.

And of course Logan was upset about it.

Morph felt bad about it, being such good friends with Logan and all, and caring about him and his happiness so much, but there was a part of them that was glad that Jean was with Scott. They didn’t know why, and there was always a bit of them that didn’t want to find out. And even worse (Morph felt horrid about this), there was always that part of them that hoped Logan would never have Jean.

It made them feel evil, wishing that kind of misfortune upon somebody, especially their best friend. And being evil was a wretched thing, they knew, but they couldn’t help it. They couldn’t help it at all.

Smart people knew better than to bother Logan when he was upset. But the good thing was that Morph didn’t necessarily consider themself smart. So that was how they found themself opening the front door and stepping outside the mansion to go find Logan.

It happened to be cloudy. All murky skies and chill, although there wasn’t excess moisture or cold. Morph walked down the slight slope, hands behind their back, looking around. Logan was slumped in the distance, staring off. Morph jumped and started, almost running, but caught themselves just in time. As they stepped nearer, they suddenly became painfully aware that they had hands. They tried to drop them by their sides, but they seemed too stiff. Crossing their arms seemed weird and hostile. Keeping them behind their back just seemed awkward and unnatural.

They shook their head forcefully. What was wrong with them? That coffee Jubilee made them must have had something in it. Morph shoved their hands in the pockets of their sweater after whatever fumble just went on. Ignoring it all, Morph opened their mouth to say “hello”.

“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?”

Morph cringed. Of course what came out instead had to be something dumb. They felt their face burn and suddenly felt a strong desire to dig a hole and die. God Almighty, why would they say that? Just why? Why did they always have to try and fail to be funny?

Logan didn’t look their way, but grumbled something under his breath instead. He didn’t say anything else, and Morph took that as an invitation to sit down next to him. They brushed their long skirt, gathering it as they settled. They began to have second thoughts about this. Maybe Logan didn’t want to see them. Maybe they couldn’t really make Logan feel better. Maybe Logan didn’t care if they were there or not. After all, who were they? They were just a friend. They weren’t even Jean.

But… that didn’t really matter, did it? They didn’t need to be Jean to have the kind of time that they wanted to have with Logan. Did they?

Morph realised they were staring and studying Logan a little too closely. Running their eyes along his brow, down his temple, his mouth… Ugh, they thought to themself. That was really pathetic of them. Ripping their eyes away and trying to shift a little to seem a bit more animated, Morph heard Logan sigh next to them. As if he had been tensing his muscles the entire time he was out here and had relaxed them just now.

“You know you don’t have to follow me around when I ain’t feelin’ well, right, bub?” Logan finally spoke, his voice gruff yet slightly defeated.

“It’s the least I can do,” Morph shrugged.

And yet it kind of was the truth. There wasn’t really anything Morph could do to make Logan feel better but this. They thought all the time about all the things they could be. Thought about the sweet songs they would play for him if they were some kind of musician. The long, heart-warming letters they would write if they were some kind of writer. The ways they could make him happy if they were Jean. But they weren’t. Logan was everything; he was the man, the myth, the legend; and Morph was just Morph. And they were just friends.

And they hoped to God that was enough.

They blinked a few times. Keep it together. Clear the mind. But now they’ve realised that Logan’s shifted his body so that they’re sitting across from each other, facing each other, and now their mind’s a little too clear. Blank, even. And then Logan’s reaching for their leg and their heartbeat’s getting loud and fast, fast and loud, and then that thick, rough hand of his is touching the fabric that’s swimming around Morph’s legs, and all they can think of is damn, all they can hear is the heavy, rapid thump of their heart. 

But all Logan does is touch the hem of the skirt and softly say in his tough, gravelly voice, “This looks good on you.”

And it suddenly means the world to Morph. Their heart squeezes tight and releases. He likes my skirt, he likes my skirt. They dare to look at his face. It's saddened, defeated, creased with age and worry and hardened with pain, and yet they can't find ugliness in it, because there's a sixteenth of a smile lingering on his chapped lips and an unbearably sincere look buried deep in his brown eyes, no matter how much Logan tries to hide it all and shove it under. And that's when Morph knows they would wear that skirt over and over just to see that kind of look in Logan's face again and again. A confusingly, maddeningly good kind of feeling is rushing through their veins, and Morph wants to push it away, tell it to leave them alone, but they can't. Because they do love that feeling, even if they don't know what it is.

"Thank you," Morph breathes, wishing they had more to say.

And then Logan avoids their eyes, turns his body away and it’s over. Morph could kick themself. But instead they silently swear not to say or do anything stupid while they’re with Logan. So they just sit. And so does Logan. Neither says a single word. Neither moves. It’s just Logan and the grey sky and the still air and the lawn and Logan and the silence and the sweater weather and Morph hoping with all their heart that Logan was feeling a little bit better at least. But then again, they didn’t really do much for him. They couldn’t really. All they could do was just come and be there and try their best not to fumble like an idiot (again). Even if Logan said they didn’t have to.

It was the least they could do.

[thescarletnargacuga]

Hey there! I just wanna start by saying that I absolutely adore your work! You always know how to pull a reader right in, and I always get excited when you post something new (especially the Showtime stuff, but I'm biased on that front).

Anyway, to keep the train rolling, I've got a Harlequin request for you:

Pomni is out on patrol duty, with a plucky little Cade in tow. Suddenly, they encounter a group of rogue marionettes that somehow snuck their way into the occupied part of the city. Naturally, Pomni's protective instincts kick in, and she engages them.

Cade has never seen his mom in combat before, and he's pretty excited at first, but when he witnesses the level of brutality she displays, he becomes rather frightened…

(It's my first time making a request like this, so I'm really really nervous. I hope this prompt isn't too weird or anything)

A/N: Anon, Anon, come here. Come closer. I won't bite. THIS IS PERFECT! This situation gives a chance for mother/son bonding and growth. While the world they live in has improved, it's still very dangerous. Thank you for this!

~

THE WAY OF THE COMBAT HARLEQUIN

A HARLEQUIN AU ONESHOT

Harlequin AU credit: @tadc-harlequin-au @iamespecter

WARNING: intense violence, mechanical gore, trauma, hurt/comfort

~~~

Cade had accompanied his mother on her patrols before but they've always been in the inner city. The worst thing she usually dealt with was a neighborly dispute. It was mostly an excuse to get her son out of the house and have him run his energy out.

Now that he was ten, Pomni figured he was ready for a more outer patrol. While not leaving the bounds of the occupation, they were further out from the main population and therefore there was a higher risk of seeing something that wasn't a puppet.

"Do you think we'll see a seeker!?" Cade asked as he swung an old piece of pipe like a sword. He hadn't received any combat training yet, but it's been promised to him. It's a necessary skill to survive. He's heard the stories of his mother's exploits and he's no stranger to dangerous situations himself. "I'd like another chance to take down one of those mechanical mutts!"

Pomni smiled at her son's enthusiasm, seeing so much of herself in him, but her motherly instinct overrides her combat harlequin pride. "I doubt it. The border patrols can handle more than a single seeker, and besides, you're not ready for-"

A group of panicked puppets ran towards them. Pomni grabbed Cade out of the way of the stampeding crowd. Cade dropped what he was holding out of surprise and held to his mother.

Before Pomni could ask what was happening, a tall humanoid marionette vaulted itself over a pile of crates and landed on a puppet. It stabbed the puppet in the chest with it's right hand, sharp digits pierced the puppet's heart and pulled out the core in one swift motion. The puppet's body immediately went limp on the ground as the D.I.E was encapsulated in the marionette's grasp and stored in the forearm.

Pomni's body geared for battle, this was worse than any seeker. She drew her sword. "Extractor!! Cade, run!" She pushed him away from her, motioning him to go with the fleeing puppets. She didn't take her eyes off the marionette, these things were fast and looking away for even a second could be deadly.

Cade hesitated to leave, completely overwhelmed by what was happening. "But mo-"

"GO!!" Pomni rushed the extractor as it made a move to chase another puppet. She deflected it's attacking reach, stopping the extractor in it's tracks. She stood between it and the innocent lives that depended on her for protection.

Cade took a few steps away but instead of fleeing, he hid. He's never seen his mother in full combat mode. He shrank further into his hiding spot as he took in the imposing form of the extractor. It had no face, only a smooth yet rusted mannequin like appearance. It was much taller than his mother, with long limbs that flexed in unnatural directions.

"I don't know how you got this far, but this is where it ends for you!" Pomni lashed out at the extractor. It dodged and counter attacked, reaching for Pomni's heart.

Pomni spun out of the way and brought her sword down on the extractor's arm, right in the elbow joint. She twisted her sword, breaking the joint, and kicked the marionette away from her. She continued her assault with a lunge at the extractor's power source.

The extractor caught it's balance and side stepped Pomni's attack. It grabbed her by the neck and slammed her to the side of a building. It would have gone for her heart, but it's broken arm hung uselessly. The marionette recalculated it's strategy. It threw Pomni into a stack of barrels, making them collapse on her and knocking her off her feet.

Cade gasped. His mother was unbeatable in his eyes, but her being on the ground for more than half a second was enough for him to run out from his hiding spot and get between his mother and the extractor. "Leave her alone!!" He stood bravely but seeing the extractor up close made his whole body feel cold with fear.

The extractor moved its head down to look at the small puppet. Detecting a D.I.E within reach, it's remaining good hand rushed to extract it. It's pointed fingers didn't get close.

Pomni exploded from the barrel pile. Sword and eye blazing with bright yellow energy. She speared the extractor in the gut, pushing it away from Cade. It's feet dug into the earth but the strength of the smaller harlequin forced it back.

"DON'T!" Pomni carved her glowing sword up the extractor's torso.

"TOUCH!" She tore her sword out it's side.

"MY!" She jumped and brought her sword down with both hands.

"SON!" She stabbed the extractor in the top of its chest, driving her sword down through the power source.

The extractor fell to its knees. A mechanical whirring screech emanated from it. Sparks showered the ground as it struggled to move. As it's systems we're failing, it sent out a call for reinforcements.

Pomni ripped out her sword and decapitated the extractor. The head rolled as the body collapsed. She breathed heavily through her teeth, out of both anger and fear. Before she could address Cade, more fast approaching danger made her flare up more with energy.

Two more extractors and an even larger, tank like marionette rushed Pomni's position. Now she knew how they got past the border patrols. Pulverizers were huge, heavily armored, and had arms that touched the ground, making their movement more akin to gorillas than anything human.

Pomni transformed her mechanical arm and sprinted towards the incoming attackers. She shot at one extractor, it leapt onto a wall and climbed to the roof. She shot at the other extractor, it was hit in the leg and it tumbled before getting back to it's feet. She aimed everything she had left at the charging pulverizer. Rusted armor flew off the marionette but it didn't slow down.

Cade covered his head from the percussive shots, it was louder than he ever thought it would be. The noise scared him back into hiding. He stayed out of sight as his mother warcried.

When all five shots were spent, Pomni focused her energy in her sword and waited until the pulverizer raised its arms to attack. When it did, she slid under it and hacked off one of its back feet. The pulverizer stumbled and crashed into a building, momentarily stalling it.

Cade flinched when the pulverizer hit the wall. It's face and shoulder were torn open, it's old frame falling apart from ages of lack of upkeep. He looked back to his mom as she roared at the marionettes.

"PREPARE TO DIE, MOTHERFUCKERS!!" Pomni was confronted and flanked by the two extractors, who attacked simultaneously. The one on the roof tried to come down on her head, but she rolled away and slashed the second. The extractors collided, giving her a chance to charge her sword and cast a flying razor light wave at them both.

The light cut through the marionettes as though they were paper, cleaving them both in two as the pulverizer came charging back. Pomni gritted her teeth and focused energy into her gun. Yellow light gathered at the end of the barrel as she aimed it at the pulverizer's head.

"DIE!!!!!!" A harsh beam of light blasted from her gun, vaporizing the pulverizer's head and most of it's chest. It fell, sliding to Pomni's feet. She continued to yell as she stabbed and slashed at the remnants of all the marionettes until they were nothing but magled scrap.

Cade was horrified. His mother had never spoken like this in front of him, even at her most angry. He didn't recognize her as she angrily tore apart the remains. He stayed where he chose to hide long after she finally calmed down.

Pomni punted the head of one of the extractors into the distance. "AND STAY DEAD!!!" She huffed, her eyes still glowing with mother bear fury. How dare these things choose today of all days to break through to what is supposed to be a safe zone. Cade could've been killed!!

Her mind slowly cleared from the combat hyperfocus. "Cade!?" She looked around for him, hoping he was still safe. She didn't see anymore enemies, but what if he had been hit by debris? She spotted him peeking out at her, but he quickly ducked away.

"Cade?? Are you hurt!?" She rushed over, kneeling next to his hiding spot. What greeted her wasn't relief or gratitude....but fear in her son's eyes. "Cade?" The light in her eye faded, she appeared as herself again, despite the fact that she was covered in marionette oil splatter. "It's okay, they're gone. You're not in danger anymore." She reached for him, but he flinched away from her.

A flash of blue light announced Caine's arrival. "Pomni!? I just heard- oh, you already took care of it." He looked over the carnage, taking how overkilled the marionettes looked.

"DAD!!" Cade bolted from his hiding spot, and hid behind Caine.

Caine kneeled down to his son's level. "Hey champ, you okay? I'm sorry you had to see those things up close, but it's a good thing mom was here. She took care of the bad guys."

Cade fearfully side-eyed Pomni and hid in Caine's arms. "I want to go home." He mumbled.

Caine protectively held Cade close and lifted him up. "We can go home."

Pomni felt hurt that Cade didn't want comfort from her. She tried to get close to Caine but Cade whimpered when she did. She could see him shaking and kept back. "I...I need to search the extractors for D.I.Es and check the outer patrols. Make sure there aren't more of those things lurking around. I'll catch up with you later." Pomni sheathed her sword and held a stoic expression as she passed Caine.

"Alright...?" Caine watched Pomni walk away. She was never this stiff after battle. "Stay safe." He wished her before blinking away with Cade.

~

Pomni couldn't get Cade's fearful expression out of her mind. Did seeing those things really frighten him that much..? No, he tried to face one, despite being defenseless. Then what was he so afraid-......oh.

Pomni stopped what she was doing, feeling like an extractor's claw was around her heart. Her own son saw her fight with all her strength against enemies that didn't warrant it. She's handled far worse with less. She tore them apart to protect her son. That didn't make her a bad person, right?

She reflected on every battle. Every boss. Every rat that ever had the misfortune of crossing her path. She killed...for fun. Her bloodlust was never satisfied. When she couldn't find something to fight, Caine would take up the mantle of spar partner to curb her hunger, but she always craved more.

Pomni looked at herself in the reflection of a rain barrel, really looked at herself. Her soul felt warm in it's chamber, like it was trying to comfort her. "Am I a monster...?"

~

Cade stayed in his room the rest of the day, not telling Caine much about what happened. He hid in his favorite box in the closet. He felt safest there outside of his father's arms. His room door quietly opened and shut. Someone walked across the room and sat outside his open closet. He stayed quiet.

"Cade..." Pomni gently called to him.

Cade didn't respond. While he didn't truly believe his mother would hurt him, but now that he knew what she was capable of, he stayed in his box.

"Cade, I hope...I hope you know that what I did today was for your sake. Those marionettes are very dangerous. They could have killed you and so many others. I had to..." Pomni trailed off, her voice failed her as she wanted nothing more than to hold her son. "I only ever want to keep you safe, but the world we live in is stupidly not safe." She gave a sad chuckle, fighting tears. "I'm sorry today was so much...you weren't ready...maybe you never will be. Maybe that's what I'm afraid of..."

Cade peeked out from his box. "You're...afraid?"

Pomni quickly wiped her eyes. "Yes, I'm terrified. That one day, I won't be there...when it really matters... Please...don't be afraid of me...I would never...I could never..." Tears forced their way out, streaming down her face.

Cade's never seen his mother this vulnerable either. All of this was so new for him. She was always so strong. Unbreakable. Unshakable. Today he thought she was too strong and now...she pleaded with him as though he held her heart in his hand. "Dad said you kill bad guys. They were pretty bad."

"They were. Very bad. I'm sorry I got carried away in front of you, I just...needed to make sure they would never hurt you or anyone else again. It's what I was made for, Cade."

"To protect?"

"To protect this city. And you are part of my directive too, have been since the day you were born. I would fight the world for you, Cade, because I love you."

Cade climbed out of his box and hugged his mother. Pomni pulled him into her lap and nearly broke down with relief. Cade felt safe so close to his mother's heart again. Their soul energy greeted each other so warmly. "...it was kinda cool how you cut those two extractors in half without actually touching them with your sword. How did you do that?"

Pomni took a steadying breath. "It's very advanced soul magic. It'll be awhile before you learn how to use it. A long while. For now, I just need you to do something for me." She adjusted him in her lap so she could look him square in the eyes. She needed to make sure she had his full attention. "When something like this happens, and it will likely happen again, when I say run, you run. Understand?"

Cade nodded. "Yes, momma. I don't want to stick around those things again, not until I know how to swing a sword like you. Then I can help you fight the bad guys."

"I'm hoping one day you get to live in a world without them, but...you are a harlequin. We're specialized puppets, and you have the greatest advantage over all who came before you."

"What's that, momma?"

"You can write your own directive. No human will ever do it for you. You can choose your own path from day one. I know you'll figure life out because you're smart, like your father..."

"And strong like you, momma. I'll be the bestest harlequin ever!"

Pomni smiled. "Yes, you will be, and I'm already so proud of you."

Cade and Pomni sat together in the young puppet's room for hours talking about what the future could hold, and the plan for his future training. He needed to be ready. The world wasn't going to wait for him to grow up before it threw it's worst.

[monstersandmaw]

Male dullahan x gn reader (sfw)

Disclaimer which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

OH boy, this is a personal one for me on a number of levels (which usually means it's gonna tank), but here's the first of my five new commissions - this one is for the incredibly supportive and sweet @doomfisthero.

It features one of the Supernatural Biker Gang I mentioned in this post, which a lot of you seemed to like, so I hope you're keen to meet the cheeky, goofball dullahan with a heart of gold! Not gonna lie, I went way over the agreed wordcount for this one because it's the world I've already started building, and it's got characters I've already been thinking of for a while.

Content: gender neutral reader who experiences severe anxiety around being pranked/practical joked, which occurs at one point in the story. There’s no malicious intent or bullying behind the prank, and it gets discussed afterwards. The reader is a writer, doing research for a story about bikers, and has no idea that there's something a little 'extra' about this gang. Their friend, Adi, is dating one of them already, and I hope to write their story soon too.

Wordcount: 9216

“God, this was such a stupid idea,” you muttered as you approached the only shop on that wide, empty side street. Its metal sign swung gently back and forth in a light, autumn breeze, displaying a full moon on a black background, with a cruiser-style motorbike silhouetted in front of it, and the white, artfully-distressed font underneath it read ‘Full Moon Motorcycles’.

A second later, your friend stepped out onto the pavement and you knew there was no turning back. Adrianne grinned at you, so you kicked your feet back into motion and closed the distance between you, offering her a small hug. Your leather messenger bag bumped against your hip with the movement, and you wondered if perhaps you should have left your notebook and stuff at home for this first time. It felt more like an interview than getting to know them, and you were worried the group of unfamiliar bikers might take offence that you essentially wanted to study them for your novel.

“Ready to meet the gang?” she laughed, sweeping her messy, dark blonde hair back out of her eyes. “God, you look terrified. Come on, they’re nice! Except maybe Pixie. Don’t mess with her, but she’s not here today. Or Demon, but even he’s ok when you get to know him, I swear.”

“Not helping, Adi,” you grumbled.

Ever since she’d started working for Dahlia Ink across town about six months ago, Adrianne had been hanging around with the group of bikers who all got their ink done there it seemed, and it had almost felt like serendipity in action when she’d told you about them over coffee last weekend. You didn’t tend to talk much about your writing, even with your friends, but you trusted Adi, and she’d always been supportive of your career as an author, so you’d shyly opened up to her about your latest idea for a story featuring a group of bikers. You did leave out the part where the bikers in your story were mostly vampires and werewolves, with a few other supernatural species thrown in as well. Fantasy had always been your comfort-genre, but people had snickered in the past and made you feel like it wasn’t a ‘serious’ genre that ‘serious’ writers pursued, so you’d omitted it this time while telling her about it.

“It’s the perfect excuse for you to come and finally meet Țepeș then!” she’d blurted excitedly into the foam of her cappuccino, her green-brown eyes going wide with excitement at the idea of including you in her group of new friends. They all had weird nicknames, and you had no idea if it was a ‘biker’ thing or just a ‘them’ thing, but you’d been burning up with curiosity about them ever since she’d first started dating the one called Țepeș. “I’ve been dying to find an excuse for you to come meet him. Plus you can ask him anything you want to know for your story, and — oh…”

Her face had fallen, and you’d frowned, heart dropping already. “What?”

“Eh, he’s… he’s not completely non-verbal, but Țepeș doesn’t exactly find talking easy. Maybe you could come to the shop and meet the rest of them instead though? I’m sure Pickle or Pumpkin would love to talk your ear off about their bikes…”

“I dunno, I don’t want to get in the way,” you’d said, trying not to let that tiny, kindling ember of hope in your chest wink out completely. “But if you wanted to ask them…?”

She’d run it past her boyfriend, and Țepeș had said he’d ask Hank. Hank, apparently, was the guy who ran the bike shop where they’d all met and first formed their group, and two nights later, you’d got a text in all caps from Adi saying ‘BASIC BIKER 101 FOR WRITERS IS ON!!!! When are you next free?!!!’

A week later, you and your messenger bag with notebook and pens had shown up outside Full Moon Motorcycles, with little clue what to expect, and a heart full of trepidation.

Adrianne giggled as she ushered you inside, and to your relief, you found there were only two other people inside instead of a shop full of strangers. An array of bikes for sale was lined up around the right hand side of the space, and against the back wall there was a wooden counter almost like a bar, where the vintage till and a few key chains were displayed, while the left side of the space appeared to be a more general spot for tinkering and hanging out. Even with the light flooding in through the two huge, picture windows on either side of the door, the lighting was soft, and the polished concrete floor created a mellow atmosphere. The scent of coffee and motor oil hung heavy in the air, and you found it oddly comforting as you soaked it all up.  

Behind the counter, a stocky man with greying, wavy hair that wasn’t quite long enough to tie back but was too long to look tidy smiled you and raised a meaty hand. His blue tartan shirt stretched precariously over a hearty paunch, and he exuded a jovial kind of warmth as his honey-brown eyes crinkled. “Hey there,” he said. “I’m Hank, though most people round here just call me Dad —”

“— he adopts literally everyone who walks through that door, so congrats on joining the family,” Adi laughed.

“Take your pick on names,” Hank chortled. “I understand you’re a writer…” He seemed interested and a little impressed, which was a bit of a confidence boost.

“Yeah,” you croaked and cleared your throat. “Yeah… uh… thank you for letting me hang out here for a bit. I don’t know anything about bikes… I’m just looking to learn a bit so it makes sense for my novel, you know? I’m not going to get in anyone’s way.”

“Oh, you’re fine,” he smiled, gesturing dismissively with his massive paw of a hand. “You just ask what you like and we’ll do our best to help you out. You must know Țepeș already if you’re Adi’s friend?”

You shook your head and Hank looked across the room to where the other person was lurking at the back of the space. You hadn’t noticed Adi leaving your side, but when you turned around, you found her standing with both hands pressed fondly against the chest of the tall, imposing biker dressed all in black and wearing his helmet too, which you thought was an odd choice. But what did you know about the habits of bikers? You were there to learn after all; learn and observe.

Adi waved you over, and you swallowed your nerves and cast Hank a farewell glance before approaching. When Adi stepped back, Țepeș pushed himself off the wall and held out his hand to you to shake. It, like the rest of him, was covered in leather or padded gear. There wasn’t a scrap of skin showing on him anywhere, and with your own face reflected in his black visor, it was impossible to get a read on him.

As if she’d read your mind, Adi smacked Țepeș in the chest with the back of her hand and said, “At least put your visor up, you big, intimidating doofus.”

He snorted a silent laugh and lifted the catch on his visor to reveal a sliver of pale skin and irises as black as the rest of his leather gear. Like Hank’s though, his eyes were kindly, and he closed them briefly as he inclined his head in a kind of apologetic bow. You shrugged, and he laughed breathily.

Hank chose that moment to come over, and you jumped as he clapped you on the shoulders. How a man built like a grizzly in autumn had moved so quietly was a mystery. “Come on, Țepeș, why don’t we give our new friend a demonstration of how a bike works? Since your Ducati is in, why don’t we use that?”

Țepeș gave a quick nod, and ducked away through the door that stood in the centre of the back wall, and a moment later, he pushed an absolute monster of a bike out into the empty space. He jutted his chin towards the front door, and Adi nipped over to open it for him, and when you frowned, she laughed. “That Streetfighter is so fucking loud,” she snorted. “You do not want him starting it up in here.”

“And nor do I!” Hank called, now mysteriously back behind the till though you hadn’t heard him leave. You made a mental note to weave something like that into your story for the supernatural biker characters, and then nodded, feeling sheepish, and followed the two of them out of the shop and onto the quiet side-street outside.

Until six months ago, Adi hadn’t known anything about bikes either, so she used your introductory tutorial as a kind of test for herself, interspersed with little glances up at Țepeș to check that she’d got it right. He either nodded or pointed to correct her, but he didn’t speak. She hadn’t been kidding about him being mostly non-verbal.

After Adi had shown you the basics of the bike’s anatomy, Țepeș patted the seat of the bike and gestured to her to get on it, but she laughed and shook her head. “No way, babe. I’m way too short.”

He put his fists comically on his hips and shook his head, then patted the seat again like he was trying to get a wilful cat up onto a chair.

She made a noise of protest, but did swing a leg over and then hoisted herself evenly into the seat, both legs dangling freely a good way off the ground.

“Happy now?” she shot at him and he nodded emphatically, bringing both hands to the sides of his helmet in a way that mimicked a person losing their mind over a cute kitten. “You’re lucky I love you, you overgrown dork,” she muttered. “Anyway,” she said, turning back to you. “Since this beast has made me get up here, I’m going to start his bike. Not so funny now that I could actually fuck it up, is it?” she grinned.

Țepeș remained perfectly still, and you got the impression it was a comical warning.

“I can’t flat-foot it,” she said to you, “So I’m gonna rest my left foot on the curb after I’ve flicked the kickstand up,” she said. “You can start it with the kickstand down, but if you put it into first, it'll cut out.”

You noted that down, and let her get on with the rest of the sequence uninterrupted, which seemed a lot more complicated than you’d imagined.

Near the end of your tutorial on how to start a bike and the basics of clutch control, and the apparent struggle to find neutral, the sound of a number of approaching engines tore through the quiet afternoon. You looked back over your shoulder to see three sports bikes round the corner and make their way towards you.

The three riders couldn’t have been more different. The one you noticed first was riding a big, brash, bright orange bike that reminded you a bit of a sporty looking dirt bike, and he was wearing, of all things, a black and white cow onesie, with a cow helmet cover complete with fabric horns and ears.

“Fucking Pumpkin,” Adi laughed. “Honestly. I think you’ll love him.”

“Pumpkin?” you asked, wondering how on earth he’d got that name. Then again, Țepeș was a pretty unusual nickname. Perhaps he was a vampire under all that leather, shielding himself from the fury of the sun with his biker gear just so he could spend more time with his human lover during the day… You yanked your over-active imagination back into the present and out of your fantasy novel, and watched the trio of bikers approach down the quiet side street.

“Yeah, Pumpkin’s his name. It’s because he’s a —” Țepeș elbowed Adi in the ribs sharply enough that she had to grab the handlebars to stop herself toppling off his bike. Her eyes went wide and she instantly clicked her jaw shut.

As an author, you were used to watching and studying people, and noting your observations for later. Another writer you knew online had called it ‘cataloguing the everyday’, and it was an apt description. Adi had very nearly given away something huge about Pumpkin, and Țepeș had given her a silent but stern warning.

“Because he loves pranks, like on Halloween?” she finished a little too quickly. “He dresses up with silly helmet covers all the time and he likes to play jokes on people.”

Maybe he wasn’t your kind of person at all. The very idea of having a practical joke pulled on you was enough to make you feel sick and shaky all over. You'd always hated them, and they’d always left you feeling devastated and on-edge if they happened to you. The more you trusted the person, the worse it felt afterwards.

Țepeș’ huge hand landed carefully on your shoulder joint and you looked up to find him smiling reassuringly at you. At least, you thought he was smiling reassuringly. All you could see were his glinting black eyes that were creased at the corners, and the way the apples of his pale cheeks were slightly more squished than usual behind the padding in his helmet.

You tried out a smile of your own, and then realised that Adi was talking again.

“He’s such a goofball, but that’s got to be his craziest outfit yet! You should see his other helmet covers; they’re all bonkers. My favourite is the pink rabbit one.”

Țepeș nodded once in agreement and let go of your shoulder. You swayed a little at the loss, feeling untethered.

“The guy on the red Ducati is Demon, and the short one on the Ninja in the middle is Pickle.”

When the newcomers spotted the three of you standing around Țepeș’ bike, Pumpkin revved raucously, almost seeming to make his bike laugh with joy at the sight of you. Then he hauled it up into a massive wheelie, only dropping back down once he’d torn past you in a near-vertical pose. Your heart was in your mouth the whole time, but he looked relaxed and even amused behind that absurd costume as he landed it and swerved the bike around to make his way back towards you while the other two came over in a more sedate fashion. In fact, they were so sedate it reminded you of two sharks approaching, and your mouth went dry. Adi had said they were cool with you being there and asking questions, but just then, it didn’t really feel like it.

The one riding the lurid, neon green bike was so short that you wondered for a crazy second if maybe they were a child. The owner of the red bike revved his something wicked as he cruised to a stop, and you had to fight the urge to step back. It felt like being roared at full in the face by a lion, and it didn’t help at all that the guy had curling ram’s horns adorning his black helmet. Even though it was a nippy autumn day, he was wearing a white t-shirt that showed off a golden tan and a truly impressive physique, and his black jeans had a rip in the knee that added to his tough-guy appearance.

Standing beside his own bike, Țepeș folded his arms and jutted his chin in a warning. Demon revved his deafening bike once more though, and the back wheel skimmed from side to side on the tarmac as blue smoke churned up into the air.

Țepeș shook his head and a few seconds later, Demon stopped his mini burnout, and instead leaned forwards on the bike, resting one arm casually on the tank. His whole attention was fixed on you and you tried hard not to regret all of this. It was research. You were here for your story. It was fine. His visor was tinted like Țepeș’ was, but you could feel the intensity of his gaze through the plastic just as clearly as if there had been nothing blocking his eyes from yours.

“Just giving a welcome to your new friend, Țepeș,” the guy purred in a silky baritone that made you think of teeth in the dark.

As the brief puff of acrid smoke from his tyres cleared, the short rider flipped their visor up and regarded you with beady, golden eyes that had to be contacts, surely? Even the pupils were slitted like a cat’s. 

“Who’s this?” came a reedy, tenor voice from under the helmet. Definitely not a child after all, and their skin had a strange, greenish tinge to it that you initially took to be makeup until you realised it went all the way down their cheeks as well. Tattoos? Some kind of condition? You tried not to stare.

Before either you or Adi could respond to their question, the cow onesie rider screeched to a comical halt beside the other two, locking up the front wheel and making the rear of his bike kick up like a bronco, and Adi shook her head. “Pumpkin, honestly. What are you like?”

“I’m Legen-dairy!” he grinned, gesturing wide with both hands. “Oh, hey! New friend?!” he exclaimed, waving enthusiastically when he saw you standing awkwardly beside Țepeș’ bike. He had a lilting Irish accent and a playful intonation that warmed you to him immediately, despite knowing about his penchant for practical jokes.

“Don’t mind Pumpkin,” Adi smiled at you. “He’s… something else.”

“I’m highly a-moo-sing, is what I am,” the guy chuckled. His words sounded clearer than the others behind their helmets, and you wondered if it was something about the design that made it easier to hear him.

“Oh god, please stop with the cow puns,” Pickle groaned, casting him a withering look with those unusual eyes.

“But Pickle, I’m udderly fantastic!”

“Stop.”

“This is just plain bull-ying!” Pumpkin whined, and then he started to bop up and down on his bike as he sang, “My milkshake brings—”

“If you howl one more out of tune word, Demon will eat you for breakfast, and not in a fun way,” Pickle said, casting a glance at the biker with the horns on his helmet.

For answer, the biker in question cocked his head just a little to one side, and Pumpkin slumped in his seat, arms and legs dangling comically, head lolling forwards so that the soft horns on his helmet cover flopped. He let out a long, sad mooing noise sound that dissolved into giggles at the end, and Pickle punched him on the arm.

“Loser,” Pickle snorted with obvious fondness.

“Anyway, I want you to meet my friend,” Adi cut in, turning to you. “I’m sorry you had to meet Pumpkin when he’s in this mood, but —”

“Moo-d!” Pumpkin interrupted triumphantly and immediately burst out laughing. He almost tipped backwards off his big, orange bike. Even you managed to crack a shy smile at that one. It was infectious.

“I give up,” Pickle said, and hopped down off his green Kawasaki, disappearing into the shop without a backward glance just as Hank stepped out.

“How’s that lesson going?” he asked you.

“I’m not planning on riding solo any time soon,” you smiled, “But I’ve got enough of an idea of how things work to start writing, I think.”

Hank nodded and, glancing around at Pumpkin who was still bouncing up and down and making his suspension creak a little, said, “Ah, they’re all idiots, but they’re kind, and they’re my idiots.”

He introduced you by name, and told Pumpkin and Demon why you were there. Pumpkin seemed intrigued, tilting his head to one side and calming his crazy energy a little as he regarded you through the tinted visor, but Demon growled softly as he pushed himself upright again and folded his arms across his ripped chest, muttering something about letting their guard down again.

Țepeș moved away from his bike, petting the back of Adi’s blonde head in a fond, distracted gesture, and then signalled for Demon to follow him inside, which, to your surprise, the big guy did. He walked like a Greek god — like he owned the place and not Hank — but it was clear that he had respect for Țepeș.

Pumpkin took advantage of their absence and leaned a little way off his bike towards you. “So, you’re a writer? That’s pretty cool. And you’re writing a… a book? A story? About bikers?”

You nodded. “Yeah. It’s not the main focus, but it’s a big part of it.” If you hadn’t wanted to open up to Adi about it being a supernatural fantasy story, you sure as heck weren’t going to admit it to a bunch of intimidating, high-octane bikers. “It was Adi who suggested I come and learn a bit more about it all from you guys though…” you said, not wanting them to think you’d just inserted yourself into their group without invitation. Especially given Demon’s weird reaction.

“Awesome,” Pumpkin said, fist-bumping Adi then turning back to you. “You gonna ride with us? We’re all heading out in a bit so you should come too!”

“I… maybe?” you faltered. That had not been on the cards for the day, but the more you thought about it, the more your heart began to race.

“The KTM has a passenger seat,” Pumpkin said, gesturing behind him and patting his pillion seat. “You can be my backpack if you like! I promise I won’t wheelie. I’m not taking the onesie off though,” he added, mooing and shaking his head so that the fabric horns waggled comically.

His energy and enthusiasm really were infectious. He bounced up and down again like an excitable, cow-print puppy, and you bit your lip. The idea of holding onto him, of being perched on the back of his mad, orange bike, was oddly… enticing. Even with his embarrassing costume.

“Come on,” he said. “It’ll be fun! It’s only a short ride because Coco’s Honda’s playing up for some reason,” he added. “Is she here yet? I don’t see her little bumblebee…”

“Bumblebee?” you asked.

“Coco’s bike is a Honda Hornet,” Adi supplied. “She’s got these little antennae for her helmet too. It’s so cute. And no,” she added to Pumpkin. “You guys are the first.”

It didn’t take long for the rest of the day’s riders to arrive, and soon you watched a screaming pink bike roll up, with its rider wearing baby pink leathers and a pink helmet. Her name was Barbie, appropriately enough, and a few minutes later, a skinny guy in all black leathers with a black helmet bearing a decal like a maw full of teeth pulled up, alongside Coco on her black and yellow Honda Hornet that looked very much like the Transformer.

“I see why you call it Bumblebee,” you said to Adi, who was standing on the pavement with you, chatting and slipping you random bits of information about both the bikes and the bikers. The others had all gone inside, leaving you with Adi still casually sitting astride her boyfriend’s enormous, black Ducati Streetfighter outside in the sunshine, and honestly it was nice to catch your breath and let your heart rate settle again.

Pumpkin, apparently, was only a few years older than you, and he had moved to the city to get away from his family and their career expectations for him. His name was actually Callahan, or Cal, but literally everyone called him Pumpkin.

Pickle was non-binary and surprisingly a full decade older than you. They lived with their mother, who needed a bit of extra care these days, and had taken up riding only a year or so ago. Demon, Adi didn’t discuss at all, and she said little about Barbie other than that she kept herself to herself a lot and was pretty shy.

Coco came out to soak up some autumn sunshine a while later, and was one of the only bikers who actually took off her helmet. Beneath it, she had thick, wavy, chocolate brown hair and brown eyes that made you want to drown in them, and a smile so pretty it made your heart skip several beats. She gave off the kind of energy that made you feel safe and relaxed, and you let out a long, slow exhale, feeling the sun wash up over your skin.

That peace lasted until Demon stormed out of the shop, followed by Pumpkin, Țepeș, and Pickle.

“Everything ok?” Adi whispered to Țepeș when he came over and hugged her tightly from behind before passing her a spare helmet. He nodded and jerked his thumb towards his bike. “Yeah, I’m good to go. You coming?” she asked you, and you found yourself nodding before you’d even realised.

“Yes!” Pumpkin bayed in triumph and you startled, not having heard him return to his bike. “You’re mine! I claim you. You’re my backpack!”

“Like anyone else wants a human for baggage,” Demon muttered so quietly you weren’t sure you were supposed to have heard it. As he passed, he slammed his visor back down and you could have sworn that he’d had completely scarlet eyes. You wondered if you were losing your mind a little bit, or if the fantasy of your novel was beginning to bleed into the real world through your over-active imagination.  

Pumpkin practically vaulted back up onto his orange bike and he held out his hand to you. “Alright! My precious and beautiful backpack,” he said, “Hop on!”

Easier said than done, you thought, ignoring the compliment. You watched your reflection distort in his visor as he turned his head when you faltered anxiously.

“I’ll look after you, I promise. But I’m gonna rely on you to tell me if Pickle’s coming for my killswitch, ok?”

Recalling your brief lesson with Țepeș, you eyed the red switch on his right handlebar and said, “That?”

“Yeah, that. Protect it at all costs,” he giggled. “I mean, not all costs, obviously but… Actually, scratch that. It’s Ninja you wanna watch out for. He’s a sneaky, sneaky boy. He blends in so no one sees him coming…” A few of them laughed in a way that made you feel like there was more to it than just an inside joke, and your stomach churned.

A glance back at the skinny guy on the black bike behind you revealed Ninja tilting his hands outwards in a ‘who, me?’ kind of gesture. Hank came over and gave you a helmet, taking your messenger bag from you and promising to keep it safe behind the counter. You slid the helmet on and buckled it up, trying not to feel like an impostor.

Getting aboard wasn’t as hard as you’d thought it was going to be, with brief instruction from Adi and Pumpkin on how to put your feet on the pegs, though you did clunk your helmet against Pumpkin’s when you leaned too far forward, but he made things easier by telling you to hold him round the waist. He turned back over one shoulder and said, “It’s kinda forward, but I don’t mind. You’re cute and I don’t want you falling off.” He had such a lovely voice — warm and rich and reassuring — and you found yourself laughing softly.

“If you say so.”

Pumpkin talked a mile a minute and you really had to work to process everything he was saying as it tumbled out of him in a wild, happy torrent. “You are cute! You’re gonna have a blast today. I can’t believe I’m your first! Oh, and watch out for silly string too. I don’t think Pickle has any in their pocket today, but last time they got me good and it was all over my helmet and my orange baby,” he added petting the tank of his bike.

Your heart lurched at the idea of these pranks maybe escalating, and you tried to swallow down the nausea; you did not want to be sick in a motorcycle helmet. The cold sweat took a while to evaporate and you were sure Pumpkin would feel your heartbeat as you clung onto him before he’d even started the bike. The cow onesie did add a little levity though, and you tried not to feel too silly.

When Adi was safely aboard Țepeș’ bike, Țepeș revved his readiness a few times from the rear of the group, and Pumpkin nodded. “Forward!” he yelled, pointing like he was leading a cavalry charge as he nudged up his kickstand and prepared to draw away.

Adi had been right.

The ride was amazing.

Terrifying, exhilarating, wonderful, and, in the strangest way possible, it made you forget everything.

All you could focus on was the way Pumpkin moved with the bike like it was a part of him — almost like a rider and his horse — and on trying to move with him as he leaned into the corners. He was slim and fit beneath your grip, and he didn’t seem to be wearing any kind of padding under the onesie, but he was wearing biker boots instead of ordinary shoes. There was something alluring about the fact you’d not seen his face and he’d not taken his helmet off. Țepeș had a similar vibe, but it was Pumpkin and his wild, silly energy you found yourself drawn to. It was almost euphoric to be able to press the front of your body against this kind, funny stranger’s back and let him sweep you along the roads.

Of course, there were shenanigans at the first red light you came to.

Pickle came for Pumpkin’s killswitch immediately — almost like they were testing you — but you tapped Pumpkin on the shoulder when you saw Pickle stalking up the line of bikes. Ninja covered his killswitch and waggled a finger at Pickle, and when Pumpkin saw who was coming, he patted your thigh a few times. “Nice one,” he said with a grin evident in his voice. “Best early warning system and best backpack ever! You can ride with me every time!”

You glowed with pride, even though you knew it was probably only fun and games, and when Pickle failed to catch Pumpkin’s killswitch and the lights changed, you laughed with the rest of them as Pickle bolted back to their Ninja and hopped comically onto it at the very last second while Pumpkin sped away fast enough to make you yelp and grip him hard around the middle. You felt him laugh and held him tighter.

He petted your hands where they were laced securely in front of him, and even though you didn’t have comms in your helmet, you got the message: ‘I’ve got you’. You did feel safe with him despite his love of pranks, and you were literally trusting him with your life as you rode behind him.

When the ride came to an end about an hour later, and the group drew to a halt at Full Moon Motorcycles again, you were shaky with the aftereffects of adrenaline and from simply holding on, but beneath your helmet, you were grinning wildly. Secretly, you already couldn’t wait for the next ride and prayed he would ask you again.

Pickle pulled their bike up on your right, the green Ninja 400 idling gently, and when they killswitched Pumpkin’s bike at last, Pumpkin guffawed, but without missing a beat he extended his right leg and tapped the gear lever down to put Pickle’s bike into first, making the bike stall and lurch forwards.

“Gotcha!” he crowed, and then helped you off the back by letting you steady yourself on his shoulders. “And for the pièce de résistance,” he said, fishing in the pouch of his onesie, and he turned something cylindrical in your direction. “I was saving this for Pickle, but since it’s your first ride, you deserve a decent celebration!”

With a loud bang and a flurry of coloured squares of paper, a confetti cannon went off in your face and you screeched in shock, tripping over your heels and landing hard on the pavement behind you. The pieces of paper fluttered down around you while panic and fear and everything you hated about being pranked exploded out of you. Your heartbeat went through the roof. You just glimpsed the horns of Demon’s helmet in the doorway to the shop, and your heart dropped when you saw he was laughing.

Pumpkin was laughing too, and pointing, and beside him Pickle clapped their gloved hands and crooned, “Oh man, he got you good!”

He had got you good, and you hated it.

You hated that it was just a silly, harmless prank, but you were reacting like he’d done something serious. You hated that you couldn’t just laugh it off the way they all did. You hated that you took it so seriously; that it felt like the worst kind of betrayal of that fragile trust you’d started to put in a stranger. And then, behind the visor of your helmet, the tears began to flow uncontrollably.

A huge figure appeared in your blurred vision and you looked up to find Țepeș kneeling down beside you. He blocked the others from your sight with his massive body, and he lifted his visor to show his black eyes full of concern.

You nodded, trying to pull yourself together and grateful beyond belief that the helmet was still covering your face, even though it felt like you were running out of oxygen in there. Pulling yourself together was like trying to hold a bag full of sand with fraying seams. You were seeping and spilling out all over the place and you couldn’t stop. You tried to tell yourself it was just a confetti cannon. You tried to tell yourself it was just a bit of fun.

You tried, and failed.

“I’m… I’m ok… I’m…” you gulped, aware of how choked your voice sounded.

Țepeș stood and held out a hand, pulling you to your feet and ushering you carefully inside. You didn’t miss the way he put himself between you and Demon, who was still snickering in the doorway, and you let him lead you into the shop and into the back room.

He snagged a box of tissues from under the shop’s counter in passing and guided you into a chair. He signalled for you to undo your helmet, which you did with shaking fingers. “I’m sorry,” you gulped as you drew it off over your head and set it on the floor. “I’m sorry I’m overreacting.”

Țepeș shook his head and squeezed your shoulder, offering you a tissue.

“It’s just a prank, I know that, but…”

Again, he squeezed your shoulder, and you took a deeper, steadier breath.

“I hate pranks. Even the harmless ones. I always overreact like this. I’m sorry. It’s not his fault, but… I thought… I thought maybe he… he wouldn’t…”

A knock on the door made you jump, and Țepeș made a ‘stay there’ gesture with his hand and ducked out of the room. A short, seemingly one-sided conversation passed outside while you fought to control yourself again, and then Pumpkin ducked inside.

“Hey,” he said, and your heart broke a little at the change in his energy. It was like he’d completely deflated. He was still wearing the cow onesie though, which brought a slightly hysterical chuckle to your lips before you could stop it. “I’m so sorry,” he said, dropping to one knee in front of your chair. “I… I didn’t think you’d react like that.”

“It’s not you,” you said, sniffling and turning away, cuffing at your eyes. “I just overreacted.”

“You didn’t overreact,” he said, and your brain screeched to a halt.

“What?”

“I shouldn’t have done it to you. I didn’t know if you were cool with it, and I just assumed that… that because everyone else likes my pranks… that you’d be ok with it too, and I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll never ever pull anything like that on you again. Ever.” He crossed his thumb across his heart. “I swear on my True Name.”

The wording was odd, but the air seemed to crystallise around you for a second, and your breath caught. “Like a Fae,” you mumbled without thinking.

He tilted his helmeted head a little. “Yeah,” he said and his voice had an odd ring to it. “You… You know about… about the Fae?”

“I’m writing a book…” you croaked, not really thinking about what you were saying. “Supernatural theme… I’ve always written fantasy stuff… Look, I’m sorry. I’m over-sharing about stuff that isn’t even real. I’m good,” you said, and stood up abruptly, setting your borrowed helmet down on the chair and turning to look at him. He was on his feet again, but he was just standing there.

You walked out into the main shop but he called your name and you halted and turned back around. “Yeah?”

“Are… Are you gonna come back?”

You bit your lip. You probably had enough to write the book now — the biker part of it wasn’t even the main focus after all — but until the prank, you’d felt included and welcomed, and, as you thought about it, the prank had also been meant to welcome you into the fold. It wasn’t Pumpkin’s fault that you had reacted the way you did.

“You want me to?” you asked.

“Please,” he said. “Please, I’d love it. I’ve… I’ve never had anyone I’ve wanted to be my backpack before, and you rode like a natural today,” he added, taking a step towards you. “Please. I promise no one will do any pranks when you’re with us. No silly string, no confetti cannons.”

“I don’t mind it… With the others, I mean,” you said, the words grinding out of you like a boulder uphill. “I mean… So long as it’s not me.”

“Ok, we’ll dial it back,” he compromised. “I’ll even give you one of my little stretchy sticky hands if you like so you can team up on Pickle with me. We duel at the lights sometimes. Does that count as a prank?”

You shook your head, fighting back a resurgence of emotions, mostly good this time.

“Ok. I’m really sorry,” he said again.

“I believe you,” you said.

“Thank you,” Pumpkin replied, his whole body looking relieved. It was amazing how expressive someone could be, even without being able to see their face. “Let me give you my number and I’ll text you when we’re going out next. Or… Or maybe we could go out just the two of us?”

That seemed like way more pressure than you’d been expecting, but you nodded all the same when you realised you weren’t put off by it at all.

As you left the shop not long afterwards, having recovered enough to let the red fade from your eyes, Demon looked you up and down and then approached Pumpkin. You glanced back over your shoulder to see him looming down over Pumpkin, and you just caught him growling, “What happens when you need to take that helmet off eh, Dullahan? You think that cute accent is going to be enough to hide the fact you don’t have a fucking head under there?”

Your breath caught and you tripped, turning away before either of them could notice your reaction.

For a moment, when Demon had spat the word ‘Dullahan’ you’d thought he’d said ‘Callahan’ — Pumpkin’s real name — but the instant he’d said Pumpkin didn’t have a head, your mind made the connection.

Dullahan.

A Fae without a head, traditionally a headless horseman.

The way Pumpkin had moved with his bike, like it was a living creature, had reminded you of a horse and its rider, and you had to wonder if the nickname ‘Pumpkin’ had come from the cartoonish depictions of Dullahans on Halloween with a pumpkin for a head instead of their real one. They did have a head, you knew from research for your writing, but they tended to keep it hidden since that was where their power resided. They could only be harmed if you hurt their head, or if they were wearing it when you attacked them.

But that was all fantasy, right?

Then Demon’s red eyes flickered across your memory, and the weird emphasis he’d put on the word ‘human’ in his snide remarks, and the way you’d thought maybe Țepeș was a vampire because he kept his skin covered up, and the fact that Pickle’s skin was entirely green and they had gold eyes with cat’s pupils… it was all way too much of a coincidence. Right?

You walked home in a daze, not even saying goodbye to Adi who was talking quietly with Țepeș in the long, late afternoon shadows cast by the bike shop’s wall.

Over the next few rides with Pumpkin, you tried to figure out a way to broach the topic. If you just blurted it out, you had no idea how the others would react, so you dropped little hints to Pumpkin that you were writing a supernatural story and that you’d been researching the supernatural for a while, and how you’d always hoped there was more out there than met the eye. You even mentioned it a couple of times on group rides to see how the others reacted, and predictably, it was Demon who bristled, and Pumpkin who looked uncomfortable. Like he had a secret he wanted to tell you.

Each time you did it, he looked torn, like he was right on the cusp of telling you the truth.

It finally came to an ugly head one afternoon as the riding season drew to a close in late October and you all came back from a huge group ride that had included a few more riders whom you’d not met before, but who evidently knew the rest of the group.

As you went inside to return the helmet that Hank always lent you, you caught the sound of an argument and hung back in the small storage room behind the main shop to avoid it, heart in your throat and the helmet forgotten in one hand.

Pickle was standing in the main area of the shop with their helmet dangling from their hand this time, and you gasped when you saw sharply-tapered ears and a row of pointed teeth in their mouth, and green skin that went all the way down below their collar. Definitely not a tattoo. They looked sharp, their features inhuman; like one of the goblins in your novel. If you’d needed confirmation that they weren’t human, this had to be it.

Pickle was  arguing with Adi and Demon, and Pumpkin was there too, looking helplessly from one to the other of them.

Demon was shouting, and he didn’t have his helmet on either. Perhaps they’d thought you’d already left. The horns that adorned his helmet were… actually attached to his head, not his helmet. He had horns. They obviously grew from his hairline, his black hair waving around them like a river of oil that had a rainbow sheen on it, and his eyes were a luminous, blood-red with slit pupils too. He rounded on Pumpkin like a Wolf on a rabbit. “You think just because we let Țepeș’ little human blood-bag in, we can risk exposing us all to just anyone?” Demon snarled. “I thought you wanted to keep our kind a secret? Now you’re siding with him?”

“Hey!” Adi exclaimed, but Pickle’s lip curled and they turned to her.

“He has got a point, Adi, though the blood-bag comment was way out of line,” Pickle said. “We have to be careful, but —”

“This is different,” Pumpkin interjected. “Ok? I’ve never been in love before, and I love —”

“No. It’s not fucking ok! This is the one place we get to be who we are,” Demon countered, his deep voice cracking as he clearly fought off tears. He sounded afraid and upset in a way that went right to your heart. “This is the one place where we can be safe, Cal, and you’re jeopardising it for all of us. And if we start letting humans in, if our secret gets out —”

“I think it’s a little late for that,” Pickle said faintly, staring straight at you watching the argument unfold, stunned. They were arguing because of you. Because Pumpkin had taken a liking to you — in fact, he’d just said he loved you…

A pair of gold eyes and a pair of scarlet eyes stared at you, while Adi stood there hugging herself and looking hurt and unsure, and Pumpkin was standing stock still with his black helmet still on but you knew he was looking at you too. Was he going to defend you, or discard you and stick with his friends? They weren’t human. None of them was human. Demon’s eyes were blaring a violent red and he had horns growing out of his black hairline and curling back over his head, and there was a watercolour patch of red creeping over his golden tan as if he was losing control of his form. And Pickle was apparently some kind of goblin?

“You’re a Dullahan,” you said quietly, looking at Pumpkin. “A Fae.”

“You know?” Demon hissed, taking half a step towards you. “How the fuck do you know?” and then he shoved Pumpkin back with a hand at each shoulder. “You’ve taken your helmet off already? Did you disclose your head’s location while you were at it?”

Pumpkin shook his head vehemently but then he lifted his shiny, black helmet off in what looked like an act of defiance to Demon.

In the void where his head should have been there was a swirl of bluish-green smoke emanating from the stump of his neck, like the aurora in the night sky, and his skin was a dark, slate-blue colour. Your mind struggled to accept what you were seeing, but with the additional evidence of Pickle’s green skin and Demon’s horns, you knew it all had to be true.

Walking closer, as if moving through a dream, you ignored Demon’s constant, caged-animal growl, but you did jump when the door flew open and Țepeș burst in. He strode straight over to Adi and wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders, tugging her close and putting himself between her and the others. He cocked his head in an impatiently curious manner and Adi answered his silent demand.

“Demon’s laying into Pumpkin about flirting with a human while hiding what he is,” Adrianne said, glaring flatly at Demon. “And he called me your blood-bag,” she added.

Țepeș’ fists curled, leather creaking, and he took a long, slow inhale, as though he was trying very hard not to lose control and launch himself at Demon.

Before anything else could happen, someone clapped their hands abruptly from the side of the shop where the till and the bikes were arrayed, and you all jumped.

Hank was standing there and his eyes were glowing golden. “This family is built on trust,” he said in a low, gravelly bass, and you saw that his canines were chunkier and longer than they usually were, and his hair seemed thicker and fuller, his beard a little bushier around the chops. “And if we welcome each other into it, we must be prepared to trust each other’s judgement.”

“We’re just a little research project!” Demon said, rounding on you. “Adi told you what we are, didn’t she, so you thought you’d come and study us like a science experiment?”

You were still staring at Pumpkin’s empty collar and wondering in an odd, detached kind of way where it would be considered polite for you to look now — did you look at the point where his eyes would be if he had a head, or did you look at his chest? Only a second or two later did Demon’s words filter through and you blinked. “What?”

“You’re writing a fucking book about us! How does that count as trustworthy?”

“I’m not — It’s not about you,” you shot back. “The book isn’t about you. The protagonist is dating a vampire who’s in a biker gang, but… Adi didn’t tell me anything at all about you. I didn’t know you weren’t human until… until I overheard you accusing Pumpkin a few weeks ago. You said something about not having a head under his helmet, and you called him a Dullahan.” You swallowed thickly and watched the shock filter through everyone’s expressions at your words. “At first I thought you were saying his name, but then I realised you said ‘Dullahan’, not ‘Callahan’, and because I’ve looked into supernatural stuff, I put two and two together. I’ve known for weeks,” you said, chest heaving as you fought to maintain some semblance of composure while you finished your defence. “I could have said something, or I could have just not come back, but I trusted you guys.” Tears finally blurred your vision. “You treated me like family. Why would I betray you?”

Pumpkin moved first.

He strode across he space, dropping his helmet on the floor with a loud crack that would have made anyone who needed a helmet to protect their head wince, but you figured his was purely for decoration and disguise anyway. He wrapped you up in his arms and pulled you close to his body. His arms almost lifted you off the ground and he cradled your head in one hand while his left arm curled around your waist and squeezed you so tight you gave a little wheeze.

His voice came from nowhere in particular, just like it did when he had the helmet on, and he said, “You are family. And I love you. If I have to leave this one to be with you, I will.”

Your heart stopped for a moment before you hugged him back, desperately. “Don’t. Not for me.”

He only hugged you harder.

From somewhere off to your left, Hank gave a low, rumbling growl and then muttered, “Kids. Honestly.” Then a little louder, he said, “Demon, go and cool off somewhere. Țepeș, for God’s sake, stand down, and Pickle, go and put the fucking kettle on. I need a cup of tea with half a bottle of whisky in it after all this drama.”

Pumpkin drew back at last, and you looked up at the haze of blue-green smoke that seemed to swirl upwards in a constant stream, like a recently extinguished candle. “How can you see me?” you asked. And then, with a little more alarm in your tone, you yelped, “Wait, how can you see where you’re driving?”

He laughed and leaned in close enough that the aurora-light swirled across your vision and caressed your face with a feather light breath, and you shivered. “Magic,” he whispered.

Demon hadn’t gone anywhere, and was regarding you with a more level gaze. His eyes were still red though. “You knew?” he said. “All this time?”

“Yeah,” you croaked as you refocused your eyes from the magic of the Dullahan’s body to Demon’s very much corporeal body. “I mean, I suspected.”

He sighed, still staring you down. Pumpkin stepped a little in front of you, much as Țepeș had for Adi, but Demon shook his head. He worked his jaw for a second and then slowly held out his right hand. His skin was red instead of the golden tan it had been, and his nails were black and claw-like, but the gesture was one of reconciliation all the same. “Welcome to the family, I guess,” he muttered hoarsely.

You smiled faintly, and Pumpkin took your left hand in a show of solidarity, sliding his gloved fingers around yours while you briefly shook Demon’s hand. “I really didn’t know what you guys were when you said I could come and hang out with you, I swear.”

“I know,” Demon bit out. “I can taste a lie, and you’re telling the truth.”

With that, he stalked away and carefully slotted his helmet on over his horns. You realised that there were specially-tailored holes in the crown of it for the horns to fit through, but when it was on, some kind of glamour made it look like the horns were just attached to the surface of the helmet. Outside, he swung a leg over his Ducati and started it up, revving it and launching away amid a scream of tyres and over-worked engine.

“Give him time,” Pumpkin said as he looked down at you. In the swirl of the smoke at his neck you thought you could make out the features of a face for a moment, but you blinked and it vanished. “You’re family now though, so he won’t give you any more trouble.”

“He did just insult Adi pretty spectacularly,” you pointed out.

“And he’ll apologise to her,” Pumpkin said. Țepeș loomed threateningly beside Adi in silent agreement. “For now, you want to come for a ride with just me? Come back to my place maybe?”

You nodded. “Yeah.”

“Bet you have questions too…”

“You going to fact-check my novel for me?” you asked with a playful smile, and Pumpkin laughed. It felt right to hear his loud, giggly laughter filling the space again.

“You’d actually have to let me read it for that, love, and you said you didn’t like showing your work to anyone until it was done.”

“I could make an exception for you, I guess,” you admitted with a bashful smile.

With Pumpkin still holding your hand, you paused on your way out to check on Adi, who looked a little hurt but otherwise alright, and you promised to check in with her later. Țepeș handed Pumpkin his helmet, and you let yourself be led from the shop. Your helmet was still in your slightly numb fingers, never having put it down, so you slid it back on with shaky hands.

After climbing with familiar ease back up onto the pillion seat of Pumpkin’s orange KTM, you snaked your arms around his middle and squeezed.

“I’m sorry it all came out this way,” Pumpkin said before he started up his bike. “This was not how I planned to tell you. I had no idea how I was going to break it to you, but that… that wasn’t it. I know you hate surprises, and that was a big one.”

“Not all surprises are bad,” you admitted. “And this one turned out ok in the end. Come on. I want to find out how much I’ve got wrong about the Fae.”

Pumpkin guffawed, his laughter audible even after he’d started up his bike and pulled away.

Turns out, you’d quite a lot wrong about the Fae after all, but Pumpkin was only too happy to put you right over pizza and a movie on his sofa that evening.

I really hope you folks enjoyed this one. If you did, please consider reblogging to show your support as well as leaving a like and/or a comment.

Do you want to see the other members of the group? Remember you can find out more about them here in this early post if you're curious. Tepes already has a love interest, and Ninja the mimic is claimed too, but if you're curious, lemme know!

| Masterlist | Ko-fi (tip jar)

[luvo27]

just so we're clear: the reason i used so many words to describe the steph &/ cass relationship in the fic that does not exist is because the theme of that nonexistent fic is about the wonderfully complex nature of aspec relationships and how language serves and also fails to accurately describe them and the way that the world can try to impose a type of relationship in an attempt to either understand or make more palatable what is not something that can be easily understood, and so boiling it down to steph/cass or queerplatonic steph/cass or steph&cass would go against what i'm trying to do, even if the fic in question literally does not even exist. so why am i still talking about this nonexistent fic?

this is an excuse to talk about my feelings regarding aromantic and asexual representation on ao3. (note that i say on ao3, and not in fandom in general because this is me talking about my specific personal experiences, which mostly take place through ao3)

BIG DISCLAIMER THAT I WENT BACK AND ADDED IN BECUASE THIS WENT OFF THE RAILS: this is based on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and FILLED WITH MY BIASES and was written IN A HAZE. (that being said this is something i've thought a lot about over months if not years.)

that tiny disclaimer aside, it goes without saying that fandom as a whole is primarily motivated by shipping, and so fanfiction on ao3 is primarily focused on shipping as well. shout out to this one time i was in high school and reading fic and someone asked (with good intentions) what ship i was reading for, and when i answered none, they asked (again, with good intentions,) what the point of doing that was. this, as you might imagine, made me feel weird to say the least! anyways, go on ao3 and the majority of fandoms will have an m/m pairing in the top most written. go into a small number of fandoms, and an f/m or f/f ship will hold the top spot. (femslash in fandom is a completely different topic) how many fandoms have platonic relationships at the top?

anyways i got curious so working off the knowledge that i have i did some quick looks at a handful of different fandom tags. fandoms which had platonic relationships at the most popular that i expected: dream smp and teenage mutant ninja turtles (all media types). honestly i was a little surprised to see that platonic relationships were at the top for both batman (all media types) and batman (comics), and I was expecting umbrella academy to have a platonic relationship at the top, but it was actually Dave/Klaus! in dr who and related fandoms, there aren't any platonic tags that break the top 10. and ohoho, here's where we get into it: dimension 20's top written relationship was fig/ayda, followed by riz/fabian in second place.

luvo, why did you say here's where we get into it? well, i just talked about the way that fandom focuses on shipping over platonic relationships, but i'm here to talk about aro/ace characters! in ao3's advanced search, if you look for fics with 'asexual' in any category, there are as of 1/7/2025 a total of 67,515 works. looking up 'aromantic' in any category whittles it down to 26,845 works. out of the over 14 million works posted on ao3? (number pulled from wikipedia) these are small numbers, but IT GETS BETTER. if you click on the AROMANTIC TAG, the top written relationship in the AROMANTIC TAG is a SLASH SHIP. (Alastor/Vox, Hazbin Hotel at 533 works.) sort fics under the aromantic tag by kudos, and the first fic under the gen category instead of m/m or multi is the 6th work down, and overall, gen works account for 6,950 out of 18,413 works under the aromantic tag.

my point being, only a small number of fics written with platonic relationships add to aro/ace rep in fic, and following that, when aro/ace characters ARE represented, it seems to be...how do i put this...typically with a shipping lens?

let's take a step back. I want to ask the question of how many canonically aromantic and/or characters exist. just. exist. wikipedia has a decently respectable list of asexual characters in fiction, as well as a much shorter list of aromantic characters in fiction. quick disclaimer that some medias are not represented such as podcasts (jon magnus archives?) or ttrpg shows (riz gukgak?)

what i will point your attention to is: how many of these characters are made explicitly aromantic or asexual within the text of their media? answer: not a lot of them. the majority of these characters have their sexualities confirmed in behind the scenes type things, such as Victor's (Arcane) voice actor saying he's asexual in an interview, Lilith (Owl House) confirmed asexual? or aromantic? over a charity livestream and twitter, Max (Miraculous Ladybug) confirmed asexual in a tweet, etc etc. kudos to Todd and Yolanda (Bojack Horseman) for being confirmed asexual in the media they're portrayed in! these all taken from the asexual characters page, the trend follows in the page about aromantic characters: namely, that if characters are aro/ace, typically explicit confirmation of these identities takes place outside of the media they're portrayed in.

why is that important? because without an explicit confirmation, it makes it a lot easier for denial of these identities to occur. yes, maybe it was the intention of the creators, but look. once a story leaves the author's hands, it belongs to the audience and intentions often have little to no bearing. additionally, if you're reading this then you probably understand that people will also deny coding characters as being gay or bisexual without an explicit onscreen kiss or declaration or some such. and why is this important?

putting the pieces together: characters can be confirmed as allo lgbtq+ through physical acts portrayed explicitly in their stories. characters who are aro/ace, well. more often than not, they can't. they're relegated to being coded as such, and confirmation, no matter how strong the coding, can often be easily ignored or possibly never even heard of.

do not get me wrong, I GET IT. Characters exist in settings where they don't have the word aromantic, or maybe it wouldn't be in character for them to say it as such. I UNDERSTAND COMPLETELY. one of my most popular fics i've posted is about Riz Gukgak and his struggle with internalized aphobia. the words aromantic or asexual do not appear ONCE in the fic. In the sequel, A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CHARACTER has to say the words, and RIZ NEVER ACTUALLY CONFIRMS HIS IDENTITY. I UNDERSTAND THE STRUGGLE.

let's continue down the riz gukgak train. here are the facts: a sizable number of fans of dimension 20's fantasy high would say that riz gukgak is heavily aro/ace coded, with scenes such as:

making up a fake partner ("Clearly you haven't been kissed yet." ... "Actually, I'm dating somebody in the Baronies." Fantasy High Sophomore Year, Sophomore Start, 1:26:55)

being told that he is afraid of his friends leaving him for romantic relationships, (“The years will go by, and everyone will find someone that matters more to them than you do.” - Fantasy High Sophomore Year: Fearful Symmetry, 46:24)

telling his dad that he doesn't want to have sex ("yeah, I don't know... it just isn't happening yet? Like, not even just the act is not happening yet, like me wanting to do it." "It's not happening?" "It's not happening yet. And my friends are all like, [whispered] super horny." - Fantasy High Sophomore year, My Green Heaven, taken from a conversation around the 33 minute arc)

additionally, in an adventuring party episode of a spinoff series, the seven, Brennan Lee Mulligan says that Riz is asexual. ("...in a scene, Murph's character lies about having a partner, like a romantic partner, because Riz is ace, is asexual." - Adventuring party, season six episode eleven at 31:22 )

with all the love to my friends over in the d20 fic server for hunting these quotes down for me. truly my life is made all the better by the d20 fic community in a way that i will never know how to describe

here are some more facts! late march of 2024, with the release of the episode Baron's Game, I was lurking around the fhjy tag on tumblr. given the nature of the internet, there was discourse about riz and his identity, or his lack thereof. apologies to my d20 friends reading this who i love a lot, my rendition of a summary of said discourse follows below:

"if he's only coded to be aro/ace, that doesn't make him actually so. Brennan Lee Mulligan isn't the person who plays Riz, and him saying that he's ace is in behind the scenes content for a different show. Additionally, he only says that Riz is asexual, not aromantic. And even if Riz is aroace, aroace people can still be in romantic and sexual relationships, or a queerplatonic one!"

"why does it seem like everyone is ignoring the fact that riz is aroace? Kristen Applebee's sexuality (lesbian) would never be erased to ship her with a guy, so why are so many people doing it to Riz? Writing Riz in queerplatonic relationships is inaccurate because he's shown to be uninterested in relationships resembling anything like romantic ones, it seems like people are only interested in writing queerplatonic relationships as an excuse to write aromantic characters in the ship dynamic they want to," etc, etc. you get the gist.

let's get something straight about my stance on what people can and can't do with fictional characters: you can do literally whatever you want forever. ship riz in a romantic and sexual relationship. don't. whatever. i do not care. i do not care. he's not real. he's a fake character. he is a character. he exists for the audience to do literally whatever they want with him forever. i'll argue for someone's right to ship this character in whatever way they want. if they go down i go down with them-

ahem. sorry. my overall stance on fan creation crept into this thing that's supposed to be about how aro/ace characters are represented in fandom. whoops.

no, but let's talk about that. so, my personal interpretation of riz gukgak is that he's aroace and both romantically and sexually repulsed. i'm fairly confident in saying that my interpretation is supported by canon. some of my friends interpret riz and fabian seacaster's relationship as a queerplatonic one and they write fic about it, and i've read some it it, and i enjoyed it a lot!! and their interpretation is also supported by canon!! some people will interpret riz as simply being a late bloomer! or demi! or whatever! and guess what!!!! this will also have basis in canon!!!! gasp. shock. it's almost like stories exist for a wide variety of people to interpret them however they want to and i'm back to my philosophy on how we interpret stories in general stay on task luvo this is already too long.

so. recap. there aren't a lot of aro/ace characters who exist. often, their sexualities are reliant on coding due to the nature of the identity, and confirmation if it exists is often found behind the scenes instead of in the media. relatively, there isn't a lot of aro/ace fic on ao3. within that aro/ace fic, there's often relationships tagged with the typically romantic and/or sexual slash.

let's talk about aro/ace characters written in relationships of the romantic, sexual, and queerplatonic variety. mostly the queerplatonic variety. look, the thing is that sometimes it's easier to write a good story explicitly about being aro/ace if it's also a story about finding a queerplatonic relationship. sometimes it's easier to write a good story about being aro/ace if it's a story about finding a romantic and/or sexual relationship. writing the story comes down to the same reason so many aro/ace people struggle to find their identities in the first place: how do you find something that isn't there? sometimes, you do that by focusing on what is there.

let's keep going down this train. there aren't a lot of aro/ace characters. there are a hundred million different unique and complicated ways to have a romantic, sexual, queerplatonic, or straight up platonic relationship. Every single story written about aro/ace characters in relationships of any kind will resonate with someone, whether that's the person who wrote it, or someone who will read it. people write fic about characters in queerplatonic relationships that are exactly like what would generally be considered a conventional romantic relationship, and the only difference is that the characters refer to it as a queerplatonic relationship. thinking ungenerously, maybe this fic was written by an allo writer who just wanted to write a ship. The thing about fanfiction and its growing popularity, is that i would put money on the fact that this has happened, and at least one aspec reader stumbled upon it and their mind was blown and they felt seen.

the first fic i ever wrote with an aroace character tag was 1.8k words, posted over a year ago, and quite honestly i don't think it's very good. i wrote a second fic with the same character tagged as aroace again almost half a year ago, and again, not one of my personal favorites. but I got comments on those fics where someone felt seen, and were happy that they got to see this character be aroace, and were happy to see that this character got a happy ending, if a nontraditional one.

and remember when i brought up the slash fic under the aromantic tag? if you look under the tag Queerplatonic relationships, at the time i'm writing this there are 14,400 works. 5,941 of those are gen, the rest fall into m/m, f/f, m/f, multi, and other. the thing is, there isn't a signifier for queerplatonic relationships. a lot of the time to indicate one, authors on ao3 will use &, /, or a combination, or whatever. the fact of the matter is that the words romantic, platonic, and queerplatonic are doing so much work to carry such a wide variety of how a relationship is expressed, and even if there was a symbol to indicate queerplatonic relationships, (which there are in some places. the comic fan fiction author archive uses ~ to indicate qprs,) there are a hundred thousand different ways for qprs to look like.

um so. i started writing this like maybe 2 or 3 or more hours ago and i don't even know if i have or have ever had a point and this is extremely rambly and not organized in the slightest, but if i do have a point, it's something like:

there aren't a lot of aromantic characters. there aren't a lot of asexual characters. there aren't a lot of aro/ace coded characters. there definitely aren't enough to encompass the incomprehensible number of ways that people can experience or express their identities, and there are never going to be. the human experience is too wonderfully diverse for that, and it's too difficult to distill into the pitifully small vocabulary we have. my point might be to touch grass. by which i mean, don't like don't read, and remember that people are just that: people, with lives and worlds and perspectives of their own, and some of them you will never be able to understand, and sometimes you're not meant to understand them, and they are deserving of love regardless.