#sorry i like... my last rewatch has me deep in my feelings

[inthe-dark-tonight]

three days too long

rick grimes x fem!reader

summery: you wake up to a surprise after rick comes back from a three day long supply run

word count: 1.8k

warnings: prison era, secret relationship, reader is down bad for rick (just like me), smut, p in v sex, light biting??? idk

notes: well……. i’ve been rewatching the walking dead so naturally my rick era has resurfaced and i’m not sorry. expect more to come. thank you to my love @joelsversion for reading this over for me ILYSM!!! <3

You’re not sure when he got back or how long you had been asleep before he quietly snuck past the white sheets covering the door to your cell.

Rick had been gone on a supply run for three days, not knowing it would take that long when he left alongside Daryl and Glenn. You spent those three days doing anything to keep your mind off him and where he was at. Taking watch in the tower with Maggie one morning, watching after Judith a few hours each day, tending to the gardens. None of it helped to keep your thoughts from drifting towards Rick.

You start to stir when you feel warmth pressed against your back, a large arm snaking under you to wrap around your waist, the other across your chest as you lay on your stomach. Warm breath fans over your neck, tickling you as a humming sound sends a vibration through you. At that moment you know it’s him. He’s finally back.

“Rick?” Your sleepy voice comes out barely a whisper as your eyes begin to flutter open.

The moonlight seeping in through the barred windows of the prison, filtering through the white sheets you keep up for a bit of privacy, creates enough light for you to make out his figure.

“Shhhh,” His deep voice sends a shiver down your back. “Missed you baby,” he whispers, lips lightly brushing over your ear before planting a kiss on your cheek.

You hum softly, nuzzling into your pillow and shifting to make yourself more comfortable. Your hips lift up from the bed, unintentionally pressing into Rick’s as he pulls you closer to him. He lets out a low groan before you lie still again, and you can feel his bulge starting to grow in his jeans.

“I missed you too.” You finally answer, turning your head over your shoulder to get a good look at him.

He must've washed up before coming to see you, you think to yourself. His face was clean for just coming back from a run, not a single smudge of dirt on his cheeks, his hair slightly damp where it curls around his neck and ears.

“Three days too long for you, hm?” He smiles and a deep chuckle escapes him before kissing your cheek once more.

You take in a deep breath, eyes falling shut. “Way too long.” You hum.

He continues kissing you, lips moving slowly down to your jaw, trailing down the side of your neck. The feeling of his beard against your soft skin tickles you, causing you to shrug your shoulders. A soft giggle leaves your lips as you try to wiggle away from him, causing him to hold you tighter.

“Mm mm, stay still.” He plants one last kiss on your shoulder before letting you go and shifting positions.

One arm holds him up, hovering above you, as the other reaches down for his belt buckle. The sound of his buckle coming undone sends heat straight to your core, and a second later you hear the sound of his zipper. You look down over your shoulder to catch a glimpse of him, a large hand wrapped around his fully erect cock as he pumps his fist a few times. When your eyes drift up to his, he’s already staring down at you, mouth parted and a hungry look on his face. You have to bite down, hard, on your bottom lip to suppress your moan.

This thing between you two hasn’t been going on for long, maybe a couple months at most. Ever since you first laid eyes on Rick, when he showed up at the camp in his sheriff's uniform over a year ago, you’ve been harboring a small crush. Even after finding out that same day that he was Lori’s supposedly dead husband, you couldn’t help yourself. And here you are now, trying to keep quiet, keep this thing a secret from the others. For now.

“Gonna stay quiet for me?” His head tilts to the side, eyes still locked on yours.

As soon as you nod your head, a silent promise, his hand releases his cock and finds its way to your shorts. He pulls them down along with your underwear, and the cool air hitting your already soaked cunt causes your hips to lift off the bed.

He leans back down, pressing his body against yours once again, his cock slipping between your legs and finding a spot between your wet folds as he positions himself. Both of his hands move to cover yours where they lay next to your head, intertwining his fingers with yours before slowly moving his hips back and forth, cock sliding effortlessly between your folds.

His lips are back at your ear as he slowly rocks back and forth, covering his length with your juices. “Three days was too long for me, too.”

Your stomach flutters at his words, walls clenching in anticipation. Rick rocks his hips, once, twice more through your folds before pulling all the way back, tip catching at your entrance.

“Rick,” you sigh. “Need you.”

“I know, baby.” He nuzzles his face into the side of your neck, breathing you in before slowly thrusting fully into you.

Your eyes squeeze shut as you bite your cheek, trying to hold back any noises. Once you're full he stills for a moment, letting you get used to the feeling of his thick cock stretching you before he moves again. As he slowly pulls out, you can hear how wet you are.

“Shit.” Rick mumbles into your hair, moving one of his hands to grip at your waist.

Gently, he tilts your hips up, holding them there as he thrust back in. A soft moan escapes you, and you quickly stop yourself, biting at your lower lip harder than before. Rick doesn't say anything, instead he starts to quicken his pace, letting out soft groans as he fucks into you.

You reach your free hand back and bury your fingers in the dark curls at the back of his head, tugging at them lightly. He lets out a low grunt, muffled by your hair where his face is buried in your neck.

Rick lifts his head up, staring down at you with a slack jaw as he continues his deep thrusts. Although it’s quite dark in your cell, you can make out the beads of sweat starting to form around his temples, causing a few stray hairs to stick to his forehead. The moonlight creates a white glow around him, he’s pretty. You’ve thought that from the start, but especially like this. Panting above you as he thrusts his cock deep inside you, stifling the moans that threaten to escape his pink lips.

He leans down, tilting his head so his lips are less than an inch away from yours. You tilt your head up, brushing your nose against his as his eyes fall shut and he leans in to press his lips to yours. Immediately his tongue is asking for entrance, pushing past your lips and intertwining with your own. He hums, his chest vibrating against you as your lips move in sync.

The knot in your stomach starts to tighten as he hits all the right spots inside you, his thrusts never faltering. He holds your hips at the perfect angle, hitting you at just the right spot with each thrust. You pull your lips away from his for a moment, catching your breath as his forehead presses against yours.

“‘M close.” You say between breaths.

“Let me feel you.” His blue eyes look back into yours, desire swimming within them.

His hand leaves your hip, hooking his fingers under your jaw as his thumb rests on your lower lip, pulling it down ever so slightly before kissing you. His other hand lets go of yours where he’s holding it against the mattress, lightly brushing over the back of your neck to move your hair out of the way. Both of his rough hands rest on your shoulders as he places kisses on the back of your neck.

The sensation of his lips against your damp skin sends heat straight to your core, causing you to clench around his length as you fight the urge to cry out. You tug at his hair, harder this time, trying to pull him closer if it’s even possible. He lets out a low whine, sinking his teeth lightly into the skin at your shoulder, leaving an open mouthed kiss over the small mark left there as he plunges into you one last time. Your body stiffens, eyes squeezing shut as a white hot feeling shoots through you, the coil in your core finally coming undone.

“Ri-“ before you can finish crying out his name, his hand quickly covers your mouth.

You whimper as he presses his hand lightly against your mouth, your own hand quickly moving to grip his forearm as your walls flutter around him, drenching his cock. Your eyes squeeze shut as he continues to rock his hips back and forth, holding you tightly against himself as your orgasm washes over you. A deep muffled sigh leaves you as your body starts to relax, and you feel his thrusts start to slow down before he quickly pulls out, lifting himself off of you and aiming at the edge of the cot.

Through heavy lids you watch him, trying to catch your breath as you roll onto your side. He’s sat on the edge of the bed now, buttoning his pants as your eyes trace over his silhouette. When he looks back down at you, a small smirk grows on his face. He pushes his damp hair out of his face with his large hand and shakes his head back and forth before leaning down, only inches from your face.

“You better hope they didn’t hear you.” He says in a sarcastic tone, hand resting on your cheek as he kisses your lips softly.

A smile forms on your lips as he pulls away, then he stands up to fix his pants. As he slowly heads towards the doorway, he fastens his buckle. You quickly shoot up, sitting up right in your bed now.

“Wait!” You whisper.

He quickly turns towards you, a concerned look on his face as he looks over your form.

“Stay.” It’s not a question, and he knows that.

He nods his head, pausing for a moment before walking back towards the single cot. You turn towards the wall as he climbs in behind you, the springs beneath the mattress pad squeaking as he does so. When his arm wraps around you, you scoot closer so his warm chest is pressed against your back. He nuzzles into the back of your neck, burying his nose into your hair as you let out a content sigh, eyes falling shut as you slowly drift off to sleep.

“Missed you so much.” He whispers, barely loud enough to hear before you both fall asleep.

thank you for reading <3 this is also posted on my ao3 - pale_m00nlight

also if anyone would like to follow my twd sideblog where i only reblog and talk about the walking dead and my love for rick grimes…. feel free to follow me @scary-divine :))) 🤍

[austinswife]

ALWAYS YOUR SECOND CHOICE - ‘Buck’ Cleven

SYNOPSIS — In the final days before Gale "Buck" Cleven leaves for war, you can no longer ignore the ex-girlfriend who has been a constant presence in his life—always pulling him away, always his priority. After months of feeling like a second choice, you finally confront him about his divided loyalty. But the truth that unfolds is even more painful than you imagined, leaving you questioning whether your love is enough to hold on to.

WARNING(S) — Themes of betrayal, jealousy, and insecurity, heated, emotionally charged dialogue, emotional turmoil, heartbreak, unresolved tension, possible relationship breakdown.

fia’s note: rewatched ‘masters of the air’ and felt like maybe i should write somehing angst so please don’t hate me. possible of part 2 (not sure)

𝜗𝜚 ALL FEEDBACKS, IDEAS SUGGESTION — TO AUSTINSWIFE

You stood by the window, arms crossed tightly against your chest, watching as the last light of the day faded into a dusky orange. Buck was late again. Of course, he was. She had called earlier—again and you already knew where he was. You didn’t even have to ask. You’d been through this before, too many times to count.

The door creaked open behind you, and you turned to see Buck stepping into the room, wiping his hands on his jeans. He froze the moment he saw the look on your face—like he knew what was coming but wasn’t ready to face it.

“Y/N…” His voice was careful, too careful.

“You’re late,” you said flatly, your voice devoid of emotion, though your heart pounded in your chest. You were holding on by a thread, and you knew it.

“I know. I’m sorry,” he said, tossing his keys on the table. “She just—”

“She just what, Buck?” you snapped, cutting him off before he could even finish the sentence. “Needed your help? Needed to talk? Needed you?” The words dripped with bitterness, the anger you’d been bottling up for months finally spilling over. “Because, God forbid, Marge ever doesn’t need you.”

He sighed, the familiar look of frustration crossing his face. “Y/N, come on. This isn’t fair. She’s going through a rough time. You know that.”

“And when is she not going through a rough time?” you shot back, stepping closer, eyes blazing. ���Every time something goes wrong in her life, you’re the first person she calls. You’re always there for her, but when it comes to me? You’re never here, Buck. You’re always running to her.”

“It’s not like that—” he started, but you weren’t done.

“Then what is it like?” Your voice cracked, the emotion breaking through despite your best efforts to hold it back. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like she’s the one who really matters to you.”

Buck’s eyes hardened, his own frustration building. “That’s not true, Y/N. You know it’s not like that.”

“Then explain it to me!” you shouted, taking a step closer, your fists clenched at your sides. “Explain why every time she calls, you drop everything and run to her! Explain why I’ve spent the last few months feeling like I’m competing with someone who isn’t even supposed to be part of our lives anymore!”

He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came. The silence stretched on, his hesitation speaking louder than anything he could have said.

“See?” you said, your voice quieter now, broken. “You can’t. You can’t explain it because deep down, you know I’m right.”

He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head in frustration. “Y/N, you don’t get it. She’s my friend. She needs me right now. It’s not about choosing her over you.”

“But that’s exactly what you’re doing,” you whispered, your voice trembling. “Every single time, you choose her.”

His eyes met yours, something unreadable flickering across his face. “It’s not a choice. She’s in trouble. I’m just trying to help her.”

“And what about me?” you asked, your voice small, the pain in your chest making it hard to breathe. “What about what I need? You say you’re trying to help her, but what does that make me? Am I just supposed to sit here and wait until you’re done saving her?”

“Y/N—” His voice was softer now, more pleading, but you didn’t want to hear it.

“Why are you always running to her, Buck?” The question hung in the air, raw and vulnerable, the one you’d been too afraid to ask until now. “Why is it always her?”

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Because she needs my help, Y/N. I don’t know what else you want me to say.”

Your breath caught in your throat, your heart shattering at his words. You felt the anger swell in your chest again, but this time it was mixed with something deeper—something closer to despair.

“No, Buck,” you said, shaking your head as tears filled your eyes. “You’re fucking wrong. It’s not about helping her. It’s because she’s always been your first priority. It’s always been her, hasn’t it?”

His face softened, his eyes filled with regret. “No, Y/N, that’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” you demanded, stepping closer, tears finally spilling over as your voice broke. “Because it sure as hell feels like it. I’ve spent this entire relationship feeling like I’m second to her. And you’ve done nothing to prove me wrong.”

He shook his head, stepping forward as if to reach for you, but you stepped back. “I love you,” he said, his voice desperate now, pleading. “You’re the one I’m with. You’re the one I want to come home to.”

“Then why does it feel like I’m always waiting for you to choose me?” you cried, the weight of all the pain and insecurity crashing down on you.

“I’ve tried, Buck. I’ve tried to be understanding. I’ve tried to give you space, but it’s never enough, is it? Because no matter what I do, I’m never going to be her.”

His face twisted with guilt, his eyes glassy. “Y/N, it’s not like that. She’s just… she was a part of my life for a long time, and I can’t just—”

“Just what?” you interrupted, your voice rising with a mix of anger and heartache. “You can’t let her go? You can’t put us first?”

He opened his mouth to respond, but the words never came. Instead, he just stood there, helpless, as you poured out the truth you’d been holding onto for far too long.

You took a step back, shaking your head, your voice quivering. "When I was in the hospital, Buck—when I was so sick, have you been there for me?"

He flinched at your words, and you saw the guilt flash across his face, but he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t.

"Okay, you told me you couldn’t come because you couldn’t skip a day at the base. I told myself I could understand that. I could understand that," you continued, your voice choking on the emotion you had held back for too long. "But when she… when she told you she needed your help, you left everything behind in an instant."

Your voice broke as the tears spilled freely down your face, your heart splitting wide open.

"It hurts so much, Buck. It hurts too much for me to handle. I can’t keep doing this, always wondering where I stand. I don’t even know if I’ll ever heal from this, because the more I love you, the more it hurts."

“Y/N…” His voice was thick with emotion now, but it wasn’t enough. His words weren’t enough.

You looked at him, your heart aching with every beat. “I deserve better than this, Buck,” you whispered, your voice barely audible now. “I deserve to be someone’s first choice, not their backup plan.”

“You are my first choice,” he said, his voice cracking. “Y/N, please—”

“No,” you said firmly, wiping at your tears with trembling hands. “If I were your first choice, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. If I were your first choice, you wouldn’t be running to her every time she snaps her fingers.”

Buck looked at you, his eyes pleading, but you could see the conflict in him, the way he wanted to be there for you but couldn’t bring himself to let her go. It was written all over his face.

The silence stretched between you, heavy and suffocating, until finally, you shook your head, the decision made for you.

“I can’t do this anymore, Buck,” you whispered, your voice barely audible now. “I can’t keep fighting for a place in your life when already taken.”

His face crumpled, and for a moment, you thought he might fight for you. But he didn’t. He just stood there, torn between two worlds, unable to choose.

You took a shaky breath, the finality of your decision settling in. But even as your heart shattered, you couldn’t help but care for him. That’s how it had always been. No matter how much he hurt you, you loved him. You couldn’t turn that off. Not now, not ever.

“I hope you come back safe, Buck, truly” you whispered, your voice breaking with the weight of unshed tears. “I hope you survive the war, and that you come back whole.” You hesitated, your throat tight.

“But I won’t be here waiting for you.”

His breath hitched, his eyes wide with shock and pain. “Y/N, don’t—”

“I have to,” you interrupted softly. “Because I deserve to be someone’s first choice, Buck. I deserve to be more than just someone you run to when she’s not calling.”

The tears fell freely now, but you didn’t wipe them away. You let them fall as you gave him one last, lingering look—the man you loved, the man you couldn’t stay with.

With one final, heartbreaking step, you turned and walked out the door, leaving behind the love you thought you had and the life you had to let go of.

[mercillery]

Hey! Idk of you're taking requests atm so feel free to ignore this if you're not. But Nacht has just showed up on my rewatch of black clover and I'm kind of getting ahead of myself with this hyper fixation?

Could I please humbly request a Nacht (or Julius if you don't do him) x femreader who uses demon soul magic? Like Mirajane Strauss from fairytail? Possibly with a similar backstory if you would be so bold? 👀

Your humble servant - 🍚🦐

WARNINGS: FEMALE READER

NOTES: Had to pull her backstory and powers from the wiki, so sorry if I get some parts of the backstory wrong. Hope you don’t mind that it’s Julius! AND IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG.

Julius, with his insatiable curiosity and deep passion for magic, was immediately captivated the moment he heard about you—a user of demon magic. The concept itself was enough to make his eyes sparkle with interest and excitement. The sheer rarity and potential power of such magic fascinated him beyond measure. He couldn't wait to someday meet you in person, to witness your abilities firsthand, and to understand the intricacies of your unique magic!

When the day finally came and Julius laid eyes on you for the first time, he wasted no time in approaching you. His excitement was palpable, radiating off him in waves as he practically bounced over to you. "You must be the demon magic user I've heard so much about!" he exclaimed, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. His eyes, wide with wonder, already filled with countless questions. And without a moment's hesitation, he began bombarding you with a flurry of questions. "How does your magic work? What are its limitations? Can you show me some of your spells?“

You were taken aback by his relentless inquisitiveness, struggling to keep up with the rapid-fire questions. Yet, despite the initial shock, you found yourself trying to answer each one as best as you could.

From that moment on, Julius began to spend a significant amount of time with you, since you allowed him to. He became a constant presence in your life, so much so that Marx knows that if Julius is once again neglecting his duties but is not in his usual places searching for new magic, then that likely means he’s glued to your side. And every time, he is spot on—much to Julius’ disappointment, because then he’s dragged away by Marx and forced to do boring paperwork again.

And naturally, since Julius spends so much time with you now, he's had the chance to see your demon magic in action—though you might not have been aware of it. He’s not a stalker, but come on, demon magic is just too cool to pass up! Whether he catches glimpses of your magic during your daily activities or because he outright asks you to demonstrate some spells, Julius is always overjoyed.

When you finally agree to show him your magic, his reaction is nothing short of ecstatic. His eyes light up with an intensity that borders on childlike wonder, filled with an insatiable curiosity. Every spell you cast and every display of your abilities leaves him more amazed than the last. It’s like you’re opening up a whole new world to him, and he can’t get enough. The more spells you show him, the more he urges you to continue. His excitement is palpable, and his enthusiasm is incredibly infectious. You demonstrate how you can take on the form of different demons, each with its own unique powers. Julius is practically bouncing with excitement. And when you show him that you can destroy and control demons without even assuming their forms, he’s utterly beside himself with joy.

“You can do that too? That’s incredible! Can you please show me more?” His eyes widen with amazement, and his voice is filled with awe and admiration. Every new aspect of your magic feels like a revelation to him, and he seems on the verge of exploding with excitement. If you continue on, he actually might explode confetti. 

And as much as Julius fanboys over your demon magic, he takes his time to truly appreciate you as an individual, not just for your magic. It wasn't long before he genuinely saw you as a friend, and not just someone who’s tolerating him and his endless questions. In fact, the moment he excitedly bombarded you with questions about your demon magic, he had already considered you a friend. But as time passed, your bond grew deeper, evolving from a shared interest in magic to something more emotionally profound. And obviously, as your friendship with someone deepens, conversations about the past are more likely to happen. However, Julius did not learn about your past from you.

He learns about your past through Yami.

I know this isn’t specifically about Yami, but I have a strong feeling that you and Yami have known each other for a long time—since you both arrived in the Clover Kingdom around the same time. This means Yami has literally known you longer than almost anyone else. He’s seen your journey and transformation into the sweet and motherly figure you are today. Yami's knowledge of your past is something he tends to keep to himself. He respects your growth and doesn’t want to bring up memories that might disturb your peace. However, I imagine there was one night where Yami had a bit too much to drink—and in his inebriated state, he let his guard down and ended up spilling the beans to Julius about how you used to be. Julius, always eager to learn more about his friends, listened intently as Yami talked.

This is how Julius’ face looks like the whole time Yami talks about your past: 🙂😶😮😯

Yeah, Julius is stunned. Not in a bad way, though.

To think that you, the most motherly and sweet woman Julius knows, used to be punkish and temperamental? He was definitely shocked. He had expected many things, but not this. Julius genuinely had to take a few moments to process what Yami had told him. Even with Yami's straightforward description, Julius found it hard to picture you as anything but kind and gentle, even if it was in the past. Julius knew you were tough now, fully capable of defending yourself if necessary, but learning that you were once feared for a completely different reason was a revelation. Yami, realizing his slip-up, quickly muttered an “oops” and told Julius to forget everything he said, as if he hadn’t just unveiled a shocking chapter of your past.

But despite the unexpected information, Julius didn’t feel any negative emotions about it. Instead, the first thought that crossed his mind was curiosity about what might have caused such a drastic change in you. He wondered what significant event or series of events had led to your transformation from a feared figure to the sweet, motherly person you are now. As he pondered this, Julius felt a swell of pride for you. If there was one thing Julius absolutely loved, it was witnessing people change for the better—and you had done just that. This newfound knowledge didn’t alter Julius’s perception of you negatively, not even a tiny bit. On the contrary, it deepened his respect and admiration for you. He saw you as a woman who had not only mastered incredible magic but had also transformed herself into a beacon of kindness and strength. He wasn’t expecting to find out about how you were back then, especially from a drunk Yami, but he isn’t complaining. He learned something new about you today, and he’s proud of the change of character you made.

But now, every time Julius sees you, he tries to imagine you as mean just out of pure curiosity—but he literally cannot. He simply can't fathom you being unkind, even toward the worst being on the planet. But despite his curiosity, he keeps his mouth shut about what Yami revealed, respecting your privacy and not wanting to make you uncomfortable. However, his curiosity continues to grow until one day he can't contain it anymore. Julius is careful and considerate, waiting for the right moment to bring it up. He makes sure it's a time when it's just the two of you, with no one else around to overhear or intrude.

When the moment finally arrives, Julius approaches the topic gently. He understands that the past can be a sensitive subject, and he wants to ensure you feel safe and respected. "I've been meaning to ask you something," he begins, his tone soft and sincere. "Yami mentioned a bit about your past when he was... well, not entirely sober. It made me curious, but I didn't want to bring it up until I felt it was the right time." He pauses, giving you a moment to process his words. "I know that the past isn't always easy to talk about, and I respect that. But if you're comfortable sharing, I'd really like to understand more about your journey." Julius watches your reaction carefully, ready to back off if he senses any discomfort. His genuine interest and respect for you are clear in his eyes.

He listens very closely when you tell him about your past. Believe me when I say that you have his full undivided attention, and he’s literally more focused on you than ever right now; he’s not letting a single word from you go past one ear and then out the other. 

In your younger years, your life was marked by utter tragedy and sorrow. After your parents died, you and your siblings were left to fend for yourselves. When you were around 13, an incident occurred that would change your life forever: a demon had taken over the church in your village, terrorizing the townspeople. In a desperate bid to help, you confronted the demon, using your nascent magical abilities. However, in the chaos of the battle and your lack of control over your powers, you inadvertently took on the appearance of the very demon you had defeated. The townspeople, instead of seeing you as a savior, recoiled in fear and disgust, scorning you and viewing you with hatred. The pain of their rejection cut deep, and you felt an overwhelming sense of shame and self-loathing. Unable to bear the hostile environment, you and your siblings decided to leave the village behind, seeking a new beginning.

Your journey brought you to the Clover Kingdom. While it was a fresh start geographically, your emotional state remained turbulent. The trauma of your past left you withdrawn, mean, and intimidating. You had built a tough exterior, becoming a bully as a means to protect yourself from further hurt. Despite settling into the Clover Kingdom with your siblings, the belief that you were possessed by the demon lingered, fueling your insecurities. After some time in the Clover Kingdom, you finally learned that you were not possessed. Yet, even with this revelation, the deep-seated belief that you were a monster persisted. The scorn and hatred you faced in your village left scars that were not easily healed. You considered leaving the Clover Kingdom to escape your past and the lingering self-doubt, but your siblings persuaded you to stay; they didn't want you to face the world alone.

When Julius finally asks you about your past, you take a deep breath and share your story with him. He listens intently, his eyes filled with empathy and understanding. As you recount the painful memories and the journey that led you to the Clover Kingdom, Julius feels a profound respect for your strength and resilience.

He seems visibly astonished when you're done talking about your background, but he covers it up so his surprise doesn't affect you. However, he remains composed and gives you a nod, letting you know that he listened to absolutely everything you had to say. It's clear that he has a great deal of sympathy, and he feels awful for you because of your difficult and painful background.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that," Julius says softly once you've finished, looking at you with eyes full of compassion and empathy. "But I hope you know that you're not a monster. You've shown incredible strength and kindness despite everything."

His words bring a sense of comfort and validation, easing the initial nervousness you felt about speaking of your past. You look down and smile, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction in knowing that he completely understands and doesn’t show an ounce of disrespect toward you for your past. In that moment, you genuinely feel comforted—not just by his words, but by the genuine concern on his face. It's a relief to have someone hear you out without judgment, and Julius's acceptance brings a warmth to your heart that you hadn't felt in a long time. And after that emotional moment you shared with him, your bond becomes stronger than ever.

Julius won’t bring up your past again unless you decide to do so yourself. He respects your boundaries and understands that such memories are deeply personal and sensitive. However, from now on, Julius will see you in a different light—a much brighter and more admirable one. He looks at you with a newfound appreciation, understanding the depth of your journey and the immense strength it took for you to transform into the person you are today. Every time Julius sees you now, he's reminded of the incredible resilience and courage you've shown. The hardships you've endured and the significant changes you've made only serve to elevate his respect and admiration for you. It fills him with happiness to know that someone so strong and kind has overcome such adversity.

He’s genuinely glad you felt comfortable enough to share your past with him, and this trust has only deepened the bond between you. He knows that opening up wasn't easy, and your willingness to let him in is something he cherishes. And from now on, Julius will carry your story with him. He feels honored to know the true extent of your past and the remarkable strength it took to overcome it. Your presence is like a constant reminder of the power of change and the human spirit's capacity for growth. Overall, he feels incredibly lucky to call you a friend. :)

[constellationguy]

Another perspective

Episode five

"Text: regular talking

'Text': regular thinking

"Text": Saiki talking telepathically

'Text': Saiki thinking

Previous episode

ATTENTION! You might want to rewatch episode five of The Disastrous Life of Saiki K before reading to fully understand the events.

Summary: Episode 5 in L/N Y/N's perspective.

It is 4:00pm at PK Academy and everyone is trying to go home, Y/N was no exception. However Y/N had to do some homework in the library so they stuck around a couple extra minutes to finish it before going home.

While Y/N was in the library they heard Takahashi calling out for Saiki. ‘Why the hell is he looking for Kusuo? He’s probably already left by now to catch that show he was talking about,’ they thought. They didn’t pay it much thought though and soon left the library to go home.

Just as Y/N reached the shoe lockers they heard Kaido scream. “AAAAAAAAA”

“What’s wrong Kaido?” Teruhashi asked.

“A ghost just lifted up the locker I was hiding in! No wait, it wasn’t a ghost it was dark reunion!”

“Slow down! Nothing you’re saying is making sense,” Teruhashi said trying to understand him.

“HOLD ON ILL SAVE YOOOUUU,” Hairo screamed, running back into the building.

“What happened?! I heard a scream!”

“It’s Dark Reunion! They’ve found my hiding spot!”

“Oh… okay ya.” “Of course,” Hairo and Teruhashi said unimpressed.

“Finally heading home Saiki?” Toritsuka asked.

‘Saiki?,” Y/N thought. They were on the other side so wouldn’t be able to see him but they didn’t hear Saiki approaching earlier.

“I’ll walk with you pal!”

“You idiot!”

“AH THERE HE IS!” Teruhashi, Kaido, and Hairo said, finally seeing Saiki.

‘Oh man, I feel bad for Kusuo, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. It’d probably draw to much attention. I know he won’t be to pleased with me ignoring this but he’ll get over it right?’ Y/N thought feeling a little guilty.

“Saiki! I need to repay your favor!”

“Our teacher asked me to give these to you!”

“I have a layer now!”

“You’re not busy are you?” They asked in unison.

‘Sorry Kusuo….’ Y/N thought as they quietly left, not drawing the group’s attention.

—————————————————————————

“Listen up guys, today’s about one thing. US BEING NUMBER ONE!” “LETS DO IT!”

“CLASS THREE GO!” “YAAAA”

“Sports day, so annoying.”

“You’re just saying that cause you suck at sports.”

“SHUT UP!”

Y/N had to agree with Kaido. It’s not like they didn’t like sports or they were bad at them, sports day was just a gaggle of activities that didn’t hold much value to them. Shouldn’t “sports day” be about actual sports anyway?

“Yo Saiki, hey! You pumped?”

“I’m the opposite of pumped.” Saiki replied plainly.

“And Nendo, you’re a fit guy! I expect big things out there from you too!”

“That’s right, you’re not beating me this time.”

“We’re all on the same team,” Saiki said exasperated.

“And Kaido, my man!….. just do whatever it is you can do. I’m sure you’re gonna try really hard.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

While Hairo was talking about the other teams Y/N couldn’t be bothered to pay attention. They really didn’t think winning sports day should be that deep.

“Our first event! Boys hundred meter dash!”

‘Ooo, Kusuo’s up first! This should be fun.” Y/N thought while pushing to the front of the class to get a better look at the race.

“Saiki you got third!”

“Why is everyone so excited?”

“All the other racers are on the track a field team. And the forth place guy has a school sprint record!”

By Saiki’s expression, Y/N could tell he didn’t take that into account. “Truly remarkable,” Y/N snickered.

“Not bad buddy! But I am pretty sure I could smoke you one on one, oh that guys running.” Nendo trailed off.

“Kaido’s running?”

Y/N knew this was a bad choice but they also knew seeing Kaido get absolute last place would be funny.

In the three legged race Sawakita was running along side Teruhashi. It turned out to be more of a carry but it was still entertaining, creepy maybe, but entertaining.

“Scavenger hunt race? I wonder which of us is doing that.”

“You are.” Saiki replied annoyed.

“ITS MINE I WIN! I GOT THE PAPER!” Nendo celebrated.

“Now go find what’s on that paper.” The intercom announced.

“AAAAAA! Here, let me have this!” Nendo said after running towards class 3’s group.

“Ya sure!”

“No not the racket! This, thanks!” Nendo then took one of Saiki’s limiters off his head. Y/N didn’t notice this so the couldn’t prepare for Saiki falling down and taking them with him.

“SAIKI!” The whole class screamed.

“Nendo what did you do?!” Y/N asked Nendo as they sat up and sat Saiki’s head in their lap.

“I just took his hair clip,” Nendo replied, looking at it then set it into Y/N’s out stretched hand.

‘Damn, I haven’t done this in a while, but fuck it, we ball,’ Y/N then went for it and stuck Kusuo’s limiter back into his scull.

Shortly after putting it back, Saiki regained consciousness and shot up into a sitting position.

“Are you feeling okay? We were worried,” Kaido said crouching down to talk to Saiki.

“You fainted when Nendo took that thing out of your head so Y/N put it back.” Saiki was looking around rather shocked like he was making sure everything was okay.

“You scared me.” Y/N said while they suddenly hugged Saiki’s shoulders. They held that position for a moment before letting go and asking Saiki a question. “Are you alright? You still don’t look to good.” Y/N asked while putting the back of their had to Saiki’s forehead.

Saiki let it stay there for a second, then shakily took Y/N’s wrist to bring it away from away from his head but didn’t really give them a complete answer, staying in his thoughts for a moment before getting up.

“Woah, I almost lost my buddy.” When the intercom announced that class three came in last place Nendo wasn’t too bothered by it. “Nothing I could have done about that one guy, huh, when your best buddy passes out there are more important things than sports day. We’ll get the next one.”

“He passed out because of you!” Y/N couldn’t really tell who said that cause they were still in the ground, but they assumed it was Takahashi.

“Hey are you alright?” Hairo asked Y/N while helping them up.

“Ya, I’m not injured. No harm, no foul right?” Y/N said trying to sound half hearted but they still came off a bit shaken.

“And that’s it for our morning events, time for lunch!”

“Well pal, it’s time for food.”

“Where’d Saiki go? SAIKI? WHERE ARE YOU?!”

Y/N could hear Nendo yelling but choose to ignore it in favor of following Saiki.

“I’m not feeling so hot. It doesn’t matter that it was only out for a second, it’s still causing me all sorts of problems.” Saiki commented to Y/N.

“Alright that’s it. If you keep that up, you’re going to break those chopsticks, give them here.”

“Why?” Saiki asked.

“Kusuo Saiki, give me the damn chopsticks.” Y/N said sternly, Saiki chose to comply. “You’re still really shaky and you really need these calories to recover.”

Y/N then grabbed an edamame with the chopsticks and brought it close to Saiki’s mouth. Saiki made a face for a second then put the edamame in his mouth. “What are you, my mother?” Saiki asked all snarky.

“Aw what? Don’t like the idea of me being your mommy?” Y/N said teasing back then they both broke out laughing.

“No but seriously, my body isn’t listening to me, I need to go home.”

“Saiki?! We playing hide and seek?”

“Well that’s my cue.” Saiki tried to teleport but it clearly didn’t work as he stay there as Nendo rounded the corner.

“Hello? Huh, doing some private stretching? Hey you alright? Maybe you should go home early.”

“Sorry you’re sick bro.”

“You need help getting home?”

“Oh no. His parents are here, I’ll just take Kusuo to them so they can head home together, but thanks for the offer. I’ll be back in a moment.” Y/N interrupted the group of guys trying to talk to Saiki.

Kusuo could only thank Y/N silently as they walked to meet his parents.

“Hey mom, hey dad. Kusuo needs to go home. He’s not feeling to well.” Y/N told Saiki’s parents. They’ve been a family friend for a long time so they called his parents mom and dad as well.

“Oh okay, we can take him home. How about you come with us, I’m sure Ku would like to company.” Kurumi replied.

Y/N looked to Saiki, he only shrugged in response. “I’m sure in Kusuo-ese that means, yes I’d love for you to come, so I’ll just take our head bands back to the class and we can head out.” Y/N said before patting Saiki on the back and taking both their headbands back.

“Hey, turns out I’m also headed out. Sorry I also have to leave. The Saiki’s are my neighbors so they are gonna sign me out so I can help take care of Kusuo.” Y/N told Hairo and handed him the headbands.

“Of course. No worries at all. We’ll just have to work extra hard and we’ll win this. For Saiki!” “YAAA”

Y/N then ran back to the Saiki’s and went home with them.

When they got home Y/N helped Saiki get to his room upstairs. “You go change out of your gym uniform and I’ll be back with my famous healing soup in about thirty minutes, alright?” Saiki nodded in response as Y/N closed his door.

Kurumi and Y/N made the soup together and got to talking.

“Honestly Y/N, thank you for taking care of little Ku. I know he doesn’t show it often but I know he really appreciates it.” Kurumi told Y/N.

“It’s no problem really. I need to pay back all the times he helped me out when we were little anyway. He’s been there for me ever since we were born, it’s only fair that I can be there for him when I can.” Y/N replied sentimentally.

“Aww,” Kurumi cooed as she hugged Y/N. “Well the soup’s almost ready, how about you go change while it finishes.” Kurumi said as she whipped her tears.

Y/N went over to their house to change, then quickly came back to serve Kusuo the soup.

“Knock knock. Still awake in there? Hey, how are you doing?” Y/N said gently while opening Kusuo’s door.

“Not the best but a little better,” Saiki replied.

“Well, finish this then take a nap. That should help you feel better.” Y/N said while putting the soup on Saiki’s table.

“Why are you still acting like my mom?” Kusuo asked laughing lightly.

“Someone you actually listen to has to make sure you’re taking care of yourself. And besides you don’t hate it do you?” Y/N teased.

“Whatever you say.” Saiki said, smiling very lightly.

“Okay well, finish that then get to bed. I’m going to go pack you some of the soup for your lunch tomorrow,” Y/N said while getting up.

“I’ll see you when you wake up ya?”

“Ya,” Saiki replied warmly, a little sleepy even. Y/N then closed the door to Saiki’s room.

The the next day when Saiki and Y/N came back to class, Saiki’s closer friends had buzz cuts.

“So uh, how did this happen?” Y/N asked Hairo. “Well it all started when….” “Woah! What kinda soup is that? It’s smells good. Did your mom make it? What’s in it? Tell me about it!” Nendo bombarded Saiki with questions about his lunch.

“Non of your business.” Saiki said while starting to eat his soup.

—————————————————————————

“Alright everyone, today we are having a safety drill.” Hairo announced to the class.

“I don’t need a drill, I’ll be fine.”

“Nendo. You need to take this seriously, imagine this rooms on fire, way hot flames are everywhere, the smoke makes impossible to see let alone breathe. So what then? You got an escape plan? How will you know what decision to make if you don’t participate in this drill?! Preparation is the key to survival!”

‘He’s as hot and smothering as a fire,’ ‘Ya, I see that now.’ Y/N and Saiki thought towards each other.

“So when the alarm goes off, follow my lead and evacuate to the court yard.” “Okay.”

“Here’s an easy way to remember the correct procedure in an emergency.” Hairo said while weighting S O S on the board.

“What’s sos? I know what that stands for! Save Our Selves. SOS!”

“Ya that’s the plans but that’s not-”

“If it’s not that how about Someone! Over here! Save me!”

“Hehe, each one of your guess is dumber than the last one.”

“Alright do you know what it means smart guy?!”

“Of course I do. Obviously it stands for Scorching Oblivion Smackdown…. Hehe, I’m joking. It stands for Slow, Orderly, and Silent right,”

“Yup you got it. Now everyone just remember those simple rules and we’ll ace this drill!”

“The first floor science lab is on fire. Please evacuate.”

“That alarm sound always makes me so nervous,”

“I’m with Teruhashi, it’s so jarring. I know fires most likely won’t ever happen but still, the thought is kinda scary,” Y/N thought aloud.

“Stay calm everyone Open your bag and get your Safety hood, stand in like after that in order of student number.”

“Where’s my hood.” “Oh crap I think I left it at home.”

“Seriously?! If this was an actual fire Obviously you’d be Smoldering ashes!”

“Oh I can’t seem to find my safety hood.” Said Teruhashi.

“Oh come on not you too!”

“Use my hood!” “No use mine!” “Use mine!”

“But if I take all of yours then you’ll die!”

“She’s right! This is not a safe plan!”

“Sacrifice” “Ourselves to” “Save her”

“Oh okay,” Hairo said awkwardly.

“Okay, let’s move out.”

“Hold on, I forgot my phone.”

“Stop Takahashi. Out of line is to dangerous. Stay in place!”

‘What’s with the SOS obsession?’

“Stop it guys, Obviously it’s not the time to Stupid fights.”

“Okay gang we’re almost down- AAAAAA! Stop everyone! Our path leading out! Shuddered before us!”

“Seriously?” “Oh come on!” “Screw it we’d be dead.”

“Hey, isn’t this the first floor science lab that we are supposed to avoid cause it’s “on fire”” Y/N air quoted.

“They are testing to see how well payed attention, clearly our class leader didn’t pay attention to the announcement.”

“Stay calm. Obviously there’s a Solution to get outside. Yes that’s it! I understand why they locked us in. They’re testing our physical strength, ya that’s the only explanation! We don’t have to send out an SOS if we can overcome obstacles by ourselves! Which means to get out we must break down that shudder!”

“Alright let’s break it down boys!!!” “AAAAAAAA”

‘Is it too late to leave the pack and go to the court yard by ourselves?’

‘In a real fire they’d be the first to die.”

“So you wrenched open a metal shudder and ran out the front door? I see. WHY WOULD YOU ANIMALS BREAK OUR BEE SHUDDER, WE LITERALLY INSTALED IT LAST WEEK LOSERS! So what are you gonna do? Obviously you’re idiots, Shudders are expensive to fix!!”

“WE’RE SORRY!”

“This school doesn’t even need to bother with emergency drills, after all… So long as I’m here Ordeals like fires Simply won’t happen.”

“As punishment you’re all getting buzz cuts.”

—————————————————————————

Next episode: in progress

[mumms-the-word]

Yet another Veilguard update with the usual good, the bad, the ugly, and the me freaking out about minor references and callbacks haha

This one is very long sorry

So since the last update I have done as much side content as possible before heading to the Hossberg Wetlands and later Weisshaupt (which I just completed last night) which included, briefly, unlocking all of the solas regrets murals

And uh WOW was that whole deep dive a doozy. I definitely should have spaced out the murals over time rather than movie-marathoned them back to back. But the things I learned about Solas…it’s insanity

In a good way

In a really horrifying way

I loved that our theories about Solas being a spirit of Wisdom first were confirmed, and I lost my mind over the fact that the first elves were spirits who gained physical bodies by taking Titan blood (aka lyrium). And the fact that Solas CREATED THE BLIGHT by essentially making the Titans Tranquil?? And that’s why Dwarves don’t dream????

Losing my mind. Solas what have you DONE.

I still ahev to process it all haha but I do have a few thoughts

So far, I wish there was more engagement with these elements and the Chant of Light. The companions react and say that these reveals basically dismantle Andrastianism but the Chant has several allegorical parallels to what, apparently, really happened. The Maker’s first children were spirits, and all that…so I kind of wish the Chantry had a bigger presence in the game with more reactivity

But that’s a post for another day. For now, I reloaded back to only 3 murals unlocked so the team only knows the story up to Solas creating the Veil. I’ll rewatch the others later.

I got worried about being locked out of stuff so I went ahead and did as much side content as I could with a couple of exceptions. Turns out, I probably didn’t need to do that and it would have made more sense narratively if I hadn’t. More on that in a minute

The Siege of Weisshaupt mission was SO GOOD!! Like…the main missions are really where this game shines, I think. I have gripes with some of the companion conversations, but in the actual story missions, the action, the intensity, all of it is so good. And I thought Ghilan’nain turning her archdemon into a many-headed hydra creature was *chefs kiss* so cool. I love fighting big/unique stuff like that!

All that said the follow up scene with the team at the table leaves…a lot to be desired

Listen, DA games pride themselves on bringing together a team of companions that players adore and fall in love with. Naturally we enjoy helping out our companions because we like them. We don’t have to be told to help them because we just generally do that…and if we don’t then, rip, suffer the consequences

So I got a bit annoyed when the scene suddenly turned to a very overt “fix our problems” narrative

I don’t know, that feels so…forced to me. Varric literally tells me I have to solve everyone’s problems. Which is like…I was going to! Because they’re my friends! But being straight up told like “hey you have to solve everyone’s problems and stop their distractions or this team isn’t going to function” is like…I’m sorry are we adults or aren’t we? Why am I being told to babysit the team? Can you guys not pursue these distractions on your own rather than wait for me to give you permission? Did we all forget that two gods are out there rampaging? That they’re strong enough to destroy a fortress that stood against the blight and various conflicts for over 900 years? That they haven’t stopped and show no signs of stopping anytime soon?

But no, by all means, tell me in very obvious terms that my job is now to reconcile all your differences before I face the gods again. That doesn’t feel very handed at all.

Let me be clear. I love to help my companion. I love the idea that you build a team that works well because you have shaped them via your leadership skills. I love the idea that your team works well because you have invested in them. That’s really the heart of any DA game—gather your team, earn their loyalty, and see how well the friends you’ve made along the way assist you in the big battles to come.

But…that scene around the kitchen table could have been so much better, so much more nuanced, and far less “Solve their problems.”

To me, that scene should have been everyone fighting, calling out everyone’s distractions and mistakes, and essentially devolving into outright arguments over the table until Rook yells at everyone to shut up. Everyone is mad, everyone is upset. And then maybe the companions are like “sorry Rook, listen, I have a lot on my mind. I’m still going to help with the Big Problem but I’m also going to pursue this Other Thing whether you like it or not.” No suggestion that it’s now your problem to solve, but a heavy hint that it might get done more quickly if you help (which also gives you room to be an ass and not help). In this scenario, everyone ends up being very disgruntled with you, but you still have your hint that you need to pursue companion questlines if you want to see their cool abilities or special items or get them to be a Hero of the Veilguard or whatever…but that’s just my opinion

Basically I wanted subtly and tension. So much more tension.

What we got instead was a couple of annoyed comments and then Emmrich being like “oh dear we’re all distracted by the things that bother us” and everyone offering up distractions that, yes, need to be resolved…but it’s very easy to be like “hey bud the Hand of Glory and the Nadas Dirthalen can wait until the gods aren’t threatening to destroy the world I think.”

It’s not the worst scene in the world, but it could have been reframed better. Either frame it as “Sorry Rook but none of these factions trust you enough to aid you in the fight, you have to prove yourself to them” (and loop in the companion questlines that way) or show your team literally unraveling because they can’t get along or agree with you—now you see the evidence of what you need to fix, and nobody has to outright tell you to “solve everyone’s distractions.” It’s just implied. Because you saw them fighting. A lot.

Like duh I knew I’d have to resolve everyone’s problems if I want them to like me or stick around! That’s just what I’ve come to expect from RPG games like this. It’s an expectation of the genre. But I don’t want to be told that’s my job now. If anything it triggers my contrarian nature and now I want to see what bad ending I get when I don’t listen to the game’s extremely heavy push for me to deal with everyone’s issues

I won’t, but I’m tempted

I just…wanted it to be better. I want see everyone bitching at each other until everyone leaves in a huff and Rook just sits at the table, head in their hands like “oh my god everyone hates me and they hate each other and we’re going to die if everyone can’t get their shit together”

Then maybe Varric sits down next to them and goes, “Hey kid, did I ever tell you about the time Hawke tried to convince a Rivaini pirate, a weird abomination, a Dalish blood mage, a stiff-necked captain of the guard, a broody elf who glowed in the dark, and a few other friends besides to all agree to fight as a team to stop a qunari invasion in Kirkwall? It worked, more or less. By the end of the night, everyone had worked together enough to end up with one dead Arishok and an entire city’s gratitude.”

Maybe Rook looks up and says, “And how’d they manage that little miracle? Without everyone trying to kill each other in the process.”

And maybe Varric smiles and shrugs. “They had their differences, trust me. Half the time you couldn’t put two of them in a room together without a fight breaking out. But they all believed in one thing. They believed in Hawke.”

Then maybe there’s a pause, as he lets Rook consider that for a moment, before he stands up and says, “It’s a good bedtime story, in any case. I’ll let you sleep on it.”

Sigh. It just would have been cool…

Now in all fairness the scene felt even clunkier because I had actively been doing side quests and helping out my friends so it was like…it felt weird to have this implication that I’m not already helping them. It makes me think I shouldn’t do any of their side quests until after the Siege of Weisshaupt but who knows

I keep pendulum swinging back and forth between moments of brilliance and moments that leave me baffled and wondering who made some of these narrative/writing calls. I don’t hate the game by any stretch of the imagination. Like I said the Siege of Weisshaupt was amazing! And I loved the callbacks to precious games! You should have seen me live reacting and screaming about codexes in the Weisshaupt library haha But it’s like whiplash when something that good is followed up by a scene that feels excessively more hamfisted in comparison.

Anyway I am very busy this weekend and dunno when I’ll get to write another update soooo if you’re following for more, hope to give you more updates in the near-ish future!

[strongheartneteyam]

I wet you like water but she stained you like blood.

Chapter 2

Pairing: widowed!dilf!Jake Sully x younger!female!human reader

CW: angsty as hell, Neytiri is dead in this AU, unrequited love, older man & younger woman relationship (y/n is in her 20's), feeling like you're only there to fill in the gap someone else left (Neytiri, in this case), mentions of death and being a widow, complex feelings, talks of trauma, CAN BE TRIGGERING TO SOME, mentions of sex, mentions of sexual fluids, reader feeling guilty about being with Jake not long after Neytiri's death

Not proofread. And I can't even read what I just wrote, without even correcting it, because I have to feed my cat and take care of dinner right now. I'm just praying this stuff makes sense. I'll correct any mistakes as soon as I can. Sorry in advance lol This amateur writer here never has enough time on her hands...... 🥲

Chapter 1 𓆩♡𓆪

You're so much older and wiser

And I wait by the door like I'm just a kid

Use my best colors for your portrait

Lay the table with the fancy shit

And watch you tolerate it

If it's all in my head tell me now

Tell me I've got it wrong somehow

tolerate it (Taylor Swift)

𓆩♡𓆪

Jake was a widowed father of 4, he was an attractive, responsible, charming, older man. And he was also funny when he was just chilling, hanging around his friends or his family. Last but not least: he had a delicious "dad bod", a word people came up with to describe older men who are still toned but have some cute fat here and there.

You were a girl in your 20's, a young xenobotanist living in Pandora, who used to spend her nights alone, eating cup noodles, watching and rewatching old TV shows from when the planet Earth was still a place where humans could actually live in, and feeling lonely. So, when Jake Sully got his eye on you, you fell head over heels for him.

You knew well you could never replace Neytiri. Even after her death, she still had a place in Jake's heart that nobody, not even you, would ever be able to claim as yours.

Still, you could not let Jake go. Still, you insisted in staying. Still, you didn't seem to love yourself enough to say to yourself "I deserve better" and wait for a guy who actually loves you, not one that seemed to only love your company and well... your body most of all, as it seemed.

Okay, maybe you shouldn't think this bad of Jake. You knew he felt really connected to you, in a deep level. You two would talk late at night and he would always be vulnerable and tell you about real personal and deep stuff about his life - the one in the human body and the one in the na'vi body -, while the both of you would eat roasted meat and fungi, up in some tree in the middle of the Pandoran forests. But you knew he did not love you. Even if you could feel his heart beating fast through his chest when he kissed and touched you, away from everyone, never in front of anybody, because you two were adults and knew damn well that situation, him seeming like he was so happy and living his best life with another woman, a much younger human girl, who was at an age where she could actually be his daughter, wouldn't sit right with anybody, not human, not na'vi - given that he had children that were still mourning the death of their mother (one of them being a little girl, Tuktirey).

That sacred feeling, love, was saved inside of Jake's heart for Neytiri, his deceased mate, even after death. He bonded with her through tsaheylu. You, as only a human, no neuro queue to connect with his in sight, knew you could never compare to that primal bond he had experienced with her. But worst of all (you felt horrible saying "worst of all" but you knew you didn't mean it like that, like you didn't care about other people's feelings), Neytiri was the mother of his children. She might be with Eywa now but you knew Jake would always remember her looking all beautiful and incredibly feminine carrying his first born, Neteyam Sully, and his other two biological children in her belly (Kiri was adopted after her biological mom died, a dear friend of the couple, Grace Augustine. Kiri was a miracle kid. Her mother was bearing her inside of her body after her own death, inside the lab. That was crazy stuff your human mind would never understand, you thought. Only the na'vi could understand the magnitude of Eywa's power. You yourself knew she was strong and respected her but didn't love and worship her like they did.)

Thinking about the way Jake must still adore the memory of Neytiri and think about her and even cry missing her gave you a big lump in your throat and made you wanna throw up. You felt like the worst being in the Universe thinking like that, but you swore, truly, that feeling that way was not you being a petty selfish girl, jealous of the man you were currently in a situationship with and not even considering to have some respect for his grief and the grief of his children - who had just lost their mother -, but it was actually the love you felt for Jake manifesting in your body, in a psychosomatic way. The pain and desperation you felt thinking about the possibility of him never getting over Neytiri made you sick to your stomach, it made the bones inside of your flesh ache.

The first time you saw him talking to Norm one day at the lab, his tall, large frame in all its glory, his blue skin so beautiful, his dark blue stripes adorning his whole body in intricate patterns, his long brown hair falling on his toned back, his tail looking so cute, reminding you of a kitty cat.... "I'm fucked" You thought to yourself. "Am I really catching feelings for this older na'vi man who will probably never want me in this way?! Damn, he's still mourning his dead mate.... Neytiri died not even a whole year ago... I must be evil to be thinking about him this way at this moment. Stop that, you crazy stupid heartless girl."

You looked at him again and he was smiling, his fangs touching his lower lip. He had such a cheerful, precious smile, even though you knew he had been through a whole lot of pain and trauma in his life. "He must be really strong and resilient. That's beautiful." You thought to yourself

Jake Sully had the right amount of muscles but still had soft flesh in all the right places, his tummy just perfect enough for you to be able to squeeze it if you wanted to, his thighs thick but the muscles were balanced with sweet softness. He made you feel a raw kind of heat in your lower belly and think about him just before sleep, like you were a damn schoolgirl. Sometimes (okay, many times...) he made your panties slick with your own juices when you imagined him taking you in his arms and kissing you hard, dominating you like you were his. Which you wished you were. Until one day that wish was fulfilled. You were in cloud nine when that happened.

Jake had been in the marines back when he was human and lost the movement of his legs, being left needing a wheelchair to move himself around and do day to day activities. He lost his twin brother back on Earth, too, after he - Tommy - had been mugged. And now, he had just lost his wife to death too and was left alone to take care of his 4 children. Poor thing must have PTSD, if the na'vi brains were able to have the same disorders as humans brains had. You didn't know, to be honest. You were a xenobotanist. Your area of expertise was the biology of extraterrestrial plants, not the biology of extraterrestrial bodies.

The fact that he still was capable of irradiating happiness through his eyes, smile, voice and overall presence made you weak with admiration. And love, you must say. Because thats what you were: weak and in love, all for and with Jake Sully.

Too bad his feeling were not even close to being the same as yours. He loved you as a friend and he lusted over your body. He wanted to protect you from any harm anyone could ever do to you. The bitter part of it all is: he could never protect you from the harm he himself did to you. The harm being giving you pieces of what could be his love, but it wasn't. That was the worst crime he could ever commit against you. At least that's what the pungent pain deep inside the arteries of your heart told you. Every night. Every time you remembered he didn't love you, but he loved Neytiri. Everytime you got reminded of the fact that you were alive and she was dead but you still were not his favorite.

Goddammit. How did you end up competing with a dead na'vi woman over a na'vi man's love? You sure were losing your mind.

But falling in love with Jake Sully proved to you that you were not the nerdy science girl who used to always put reason first and feelings last, that you always thought you were. Not when it came to love, at least. Or not when it came to this relationship.

𓆩♡𓆪

If any of you wanna be in the taglist for this fanfic, just leave a comment 🤍 ily n hope you're having a nice day/night 💓⚘

[skoulsons]

“Love is the one thing we’re capable of perceiving that transcends dimensions of time and space”

I know I mentioned this in the tags of my last d and c post but I’m talking about it again okok

The Framework!! But listen!! Because it wasn’t Jemma talking to him about Tahiti and saying, “you are Phil Coulson, agent of SHIELD!” It wasn’t Daisy’s hand on his shoulder! It wasn’t even her saying, “please, remember me.”

It was her recounting their relationship. It was the deepest, most bonded parts of them, their psyches, the very marrow of the bones, even the blood they shared. It was her saying, “this world is scary, and nothing makes sense and… you’re the closest thing I have to family. So I just hope that deep down you feel it, too.”

He’s her family!! Just like he called her the same when she was shot and the nurse said to call her family. He stood his ground and said that’s us. He’s the person she went to when things were heavy! When mornings were tough! When emotions were high and bearing them was too much for her! When the weight of the world fell on her shoulders

And, if I’m not mistaken, he didn’t know her name was Daisy, right? I know she went by Skye in the framework, but I don’t recall her ever changing it to Daisy while they were in there? If I’m wrong, correct me, but if I’m right, that adds so much more weight to him calling her Daisy, because he wouldn’t have even known that about her, if up to that point in the FW he’d ever even heard her called by Skye (I need a rewatch I’m sorry)

But past the framework!! Yes, s5 and literally space and time and my favorite quote from 5x11 and Mike’s whole spiel to him in 5x12 and all that. But season 6 (again need a rewatch forgive me) with Sarge!! Not only their being so many qualities of Coulson within him, especially how he spoke, but the particular scene I think later in the season where he has those fading memories

You know, the ones with the silhouettes? The silhouettes that are clearly two different women hugging him? But the women who are completely black, no face, no features? Because as Sarge, he doesn’t know them. They’re not his, but… he knows them. He can feel it. Somehow, he can remember them

And even into season 7. A Chronicom with LMD hardware, programmed by Jemma and created mainly because she missed him. Space and time didn’t necessarily separate him, but memories did. He only knew what Jemma included, and I’m sure she tried her hardest to recall the things Daisy told her about their relationship that she believed she should include. But he again knew her!! Knew about the letter!! Knew her as a daughter!!

[theunsinkableship1]

Bless the telephone, a LUKOLALAND fan fiction.

DISCLAIMER: This is LUKOLALAND only. Do not read if you're not a shipper. This is PURELY FICTIONAL. No harm intended.

Nicola is sitting on her couch, exhausted after a long day of work. She flips through TV channels aimlessly, but nothing holds her attention. Her thoughts keep drifting back to Luke, and she can’t help but wonder how he’s been. With a sigh, she reaches for her phone and scrolls through Instagram, trying to distract herself and secretly about to rewatch videos and pictures of them together, remembering all the good times they had. He was her best friend, and she had never felt so close to anyone before. She felt so much better with him; he was so charming, so gentle, so generous. She wanted to look at his beautiful face, to feel his tall body close to hers. She catches herself—it’ll hurt again; she misses Luke enough already. As she’s about to put the phone down, it vibrates in her hand, and Luke’s name appears on the screen. Her heart skips a beat.

Meanwhile, Luke is at home. He has been staring at his phone for the last two hours, debating whether to call Nicola. He’s tried to write texts, but none seemed right. He misses her like crazy. With each day that passes, the pain has grown stronger, and lately, it has been even more difficult to ignore the void he feels without her in his life. Thinking about her has become a daily chore; everything reminds him of her. Just yesterday, someone wore the same perfume she used to wear, and he almost got whiplash trying to see if it was her. Everywhere he goes, everything he does, reminds him of her absence. He keeps thinking about all the time they spent together, missing her voice, her laugh, her humor, her eyes—oh, her eyes, how many times had he gotten lost in them, daydreaming about what could be. He wants to see her, to see her smile, to hug her close. What is she doing? Who is she with? He feels a pinch of jealousy he knows he has no right to. He needs her; he has to hear her voice now, at least. Despite his nerves, he knows he needs to hear her voice. Taking a deep breath, he finally dials her number.

Luke: softly Hello… Nicola.

Nicola: guarded, but soft Hi, Luke. It's been a while.

Luke: a pause, nerves tightening his chest Yeah, it has. I’ve been meaning to call... but I wasn’t sure if you’d even want to hear from me.

Nicola: a hint of vulnerability I wasn’t sure if I wanted to either... but I guess I needed to.

Luke: relieved but cautious Nicola, how have you been? I’ve missed you. More than I can say.

Nicola’s breath catches, and she tries to stay composed, but hearing him say those words stirs something deep within her. Luke feels his heart swell with hope as he hears her breathing, sensing that she feels the same, but he’s also terrified of pushing too hard.

Nicola: calmly I’ve been well. I’ve been busy Work is good health not so much but good.And I… I’ve missed you too... but things between us have been complicated, Luke. You know that.

Luke: earnestly, a mix of desperation and hope I know, Nicola, and I’m sorry. For all of it. For not being there when you needed me, for letting things get this messy. I never wanted to hurt you.

There’s a silence on the line, heavy with all the unsaid words, the unspoken apologies. Nicola closes her eyes, feeling the depth of his regret. Luke’s mind is racing, fearing that she might still be too hurt to forgive him, yet clinging to the hope that they can find a way back to each other.

Nicola: softly, still guarded It hurt, Luke. The way everything just... fell apart. I tried to focus on my work, to block it out, but it’s not that simple.

Luke: his voice cracking slightly, the weight of his emotions pressing down on him I know. And I don’t expect you to forgive me just like that. But I want to make things right. I want to show you that (he hesitates, searching for the right words) that we’re worth fighting for.

Nicola feels a tear slip down her cheek, but she quickly wipes it away. She wants to believe him, to trust that they can find their way back to each other, but fear holds her back. Luke’s heart pounds as he senses her hesitation. He knows he’s on the brink of either losing her for good or beginning to rebuild what they once had.

Nicola: softly I don’t know, Luke. I don’t know if it’s that simple.

Luke: more determined, yet gentle, his love for her driving every word It’s not. But I’m willing to do whatever it takes. I’ve been thinking... about everything, and I realized that I’ve been living my life in a way that isn’t true to what I really want. I can’t do that anymore, Nicola.

Nicola’s resolve begins to waver. She wants to say yes, to agree, but the fear of getting hurt again holds her back. Luke’s words hit her hard, he’s always been able to cut through her defenses like no one else.

Nicola: whispering: I trusted you; you know hard it is for me to open up. I thought that you wanted it to. It has been tough I don’t want to get hurt again, Luke.

Luke: pleading, his voice full of longing Neither do I. But I’m ready to take that risk, for us. I’m deeply sorry for how I've handled everything, I was foolish to do so. I can’t forgive myself for hurting you.  I’ll make up for it. I was afraid that you would like to listen to my apologies. I thought that it was better to give you your space, I was trying to solve everything in the best way for everyone involved. I needed time. We have something Nic... something that doesn’t just go away, no matter how much time passes. I want to see where it can take us, if you’ll let me.

Nicola takes a deep breath, feeling the magnetic pull between them. She knows she’s not ready to jump back in, but she’s not ready to walk away either.

Nicola: softly Maybe... maybe we can try. But slowly, Luke. I need to take this slow. It’s too complicated right now and my career is my priority. I need to trust you again and this could take a long time.

Luke: relieved, his voice filled with cautious optimism Whatever pace you need, Nicola. I’ll follow your lead. Just... don’t shut me out. Let’s figure this out together.

She hesitates but she knows that deep inside she wants it too.

Nicola: with a hint of warmth Okay, Luke. Let’s see where this goes.

There’s a moment of silence, a mutual understanding passing between them. The distance between them seems to shrink, replaced by a fragile hope. Nicola knows they’ll be filming together soon, playing a married couple on screen. The thought both excites and terrifies her—being close to him again, pretending to be in love, when the feelings are anything but pretend. Luke’s mind is spinning with the same thoughts, the anticipation of seeing her, holding her hand, even if only for the camera, having her close. He’s more determined than ever to show her that he’s serious, that he’s willing to fight for her.

Luke: gently, almost hesitantly We’ll be seeing each other soon... for the filming.

Nicola feels her heart skip again. The thought of being near him, of those scenes they’ll have to play, stirs something within her that she’s not sure she’s ready to face.

Nicola: softly Yeah... we will. It’ll be... interesting, won’t it?

Luke: with a soft chuckle, but his voice tinged with sincerity To say the least. But maybe it’s what we need... to remind us of what we have.

Nicola can’t help but smile at his words, feeling a warmth spread through her chest. The idea of being near him again, of the connection they share, even through their characters, brings a sense of comfort. Luke feels a similar warmth, knowing that they’ll have this time together, that they’ll be able to reconnect, even if only through the safety of their roles.

After they hang up, Luke leans back in his couch, a mix of emotions swirling inside him. Relief, hope, and an undercurrent of excitement at the thought of seeing Nicola again. Nicola puts her phone down, her heart still racing, but there’s a small smile on her lips. They both know that the road ahead won’t be easy, but for the first time in a long while, they feel like they’re on the right path.

The call ends, but the connection between them lingers, a fragile thread that has the potential to grow stronger if they nurture it. They both know this isn’t the end of their story, just the beginning of a new chapter.

[thursdayinspace]

I was going to do a complete season 1 review for the rewatch, but instead I did a close reading of this scene from 1x24 The Erlenmeyer Flask, because I can’t get it out of my head, I love it so much.

Scully: Wait a second. Mulder? I just want to say that I was wrong. Mulder: It's all right, don't worry about it. Scully: No, um, if you'd had listened to me, we wouldn't be here right now. I should know by now to trust your instincts. Mulder: Why? Nobody else does. Scully: You know, I've always held science as sacred. I've always put my trust in the accepted facts. And what I saw last night . . . for the first time in my life, I don't know what to believe. Mulder: Well, whatever it is you do believe, Scully, when you walk into that room? Nothing sacred will hold.

This is a big moment for various reasons. It’s a defining moment for their partnership. This is almost a summary of the season.

Possibly the biggest thing for their partnership is her admitting she was wrong and Mulder’s reaction to it. We don’t know this, but from all the context we have of his life at this point, it’s safe to assume that Mulder doesn’t get apologies very often. “I just want to say that I was wrong.” It’s important to her to let him know that. And that alone says something about the way she sees him. He’s generally seen as crazy and paranoid. But not by her. More than that, she sees him as a person with feelings that can be hurt, and she wants to make sure he knows that wasn’t her intention. “I should know by now to trust your instincts,” that is a huge thing to say and has to be something that needs a minute to sink in for him. She trusts him. Which is something he knows already to an extent, but to hear it said that openly after how vehemently they disagreed on this is a different thing.

In that context it’s worth looking at their exchange after visiting Doctor Berube. She tells him: “I mean, this has reached the point of absurdity, Mulder. We're out here on half a hunch off of a cryptic phone call chasing down a clue that's based on nothing but speculation.” She voices her mistrust of Deep Throat and Mulder asks her “You think he does it because he gets off on it?” To which she replies: “No. I think he does it because you do.” And then she walks off, effectively ending that argument, she doesn’t have anything more to say. She’s made her point. And to come back from that the way they do in this scene, that is a real testament to how much respect they have for each other. Yeah, he was right. And yeah, he gets that she has to ask the uncomfortable questions.

Just the fact alone that she thinks he deserves an apology is a lot; she doubted him and she’s sorry for that because she knows he’s not crazy. They’re partners and they work as partners. She’s not there with him right now because he asked her. She’s there because she genuinely wants to be and genuinely believes that his explanations of the facts hold value and that she takes them seriously. And nobody ever takes him seriously. He points that out to her right away.

In fact, his whole interaction with her in this scene shows a vulnerability that needs the context of the rest of the season to be fully understood. He could say all of these things to anybody else, word for word, and it would simply be the equivalent of a shrug and a “fine, let’s move on.” But with everything they have been through and with the way we’ve seen them opening up to each other, this means something very different.“It's alright, don't worry about it.” I mean. Shit. The thing is, it probably is alright on the surface. It is a way to shrug it off. Not being taken seriously has to hurt, but he’s used to it, so really, she shouldn’t worry about it, she’s there now and that’s all that matters. But it’s not all that matters to her.

His reaction to her telling him that she should know to trust his instincts? “Why? Nobody else does.” The way he says this, it doesn’t sound like he’s testing her. It sounds a little bitter, but that bitterness is not directed at her. After years of being at best ignored, more often ridiculed, of course he doesn’t have a more positive reaction to something like this at hand. But I don’t think there can be any doubt that it means something to him. She smiles after he says this, and that also says something: she doesn’t count herself among the people who dismiss him and she gets that he’s not dismissing her. She sees the self-deprecating humor in his response. She also hears the “thank you for not being one of them” in his response. His face stays sincere. He isn’t challenging her, but he needs to know why she’s sticking around. It’s such a loaded response. You can hear a lot of things in it if you want, which makes it such a well-written exchange: he is a little confused as to why she’s sticking around, he’s thanking her for being there, he’s bitter about and/or used to nobody believing him, I mean, hell, it isn’t even impossible to find a flirty note in there. In any case, he’s downplaying her apology not because he doesn’t appreciate it, but because he didn’t see it coming since most likely nobody has ever bothered or seen the need before. At the same time, he’s telling her he trusts her too.

Scully has had her beliefs challenged, and she shows right here and right now how much of a scientist she really is. She is ready to admit that one theory hasn’t worked, so she is prepared to examine a different one that looks more promising. This is one of her core traits: she never clings to her theories out of some sense of vanity. She doesn’t have to be right. She just wants to understand, and she needs facts to do so. Poking holes in things is part of science, to see how well it holds up. It’s about getting as close to the truth as they can. And with the evidence to support Mulder’s arguments, she can be convinced to have a closer look at his theory. She says: “I've always held science as sacred. I've always put my trust in the accepted facts.” And that’s what is being challenged here. This is seriously stretching the boundaries of what she accepted to be fact. But she doesn’t stubbornly cling to what she believes. It’s a process, and she respects that as much as he does. Their arguing is never just for the sake of it.

Scully says: “For the first time in my life, I don't know what to believe.” How big is that? But this is something that reiterates and reinforces something we have seen throughout the season again and again: they trust each other. She isn’t afraid to admit her insecurity to him. They’re faced with something she can’t wrap her head around, when knowing things is kind of her job? She makes herself very vulnerable with this statement. His response picks up on that and tells her she’s right to question everything: “Well, whatever it is you do believe, Scully, when you walk into that room? Nothing sacred will hold.” He’s telling her it’s okay, it is all a bit hard to believe. He’s well aware of that. This is not trying to convince somebody to try mayo instead of ketchup with their fries. This is about the fundamentals of her worldview. He does not expect her to be convinced. He is sure she will be impressed. But he accepts her doubt, he always does. “Whatever it is you do believe.” No pressure, but here’s a cool thing that will definitely give you some answers. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen, but that’s a different story.

This little conversation between them is such a pivotal moment. It truly shows who they have become individually and as partners. It wraps up the season very nicely and at the same time cements the foundation of their partnership for season two. Because they can have a conversation like this one and understand what the other one is saying, their pining after each other at the beginning of the next season makes sense. They’ve become very important to each other, they show each other their vulnerable sides, they take care of each other. This little conversation sums that up perfectly.

[euphoriaslux]

hello!

hi everyone, so sorry i have been mia this month your girl had a wee bit of a depressive episode but you know what we're BACK! I'm going to get back to writing daily so i can feed you guys and stop focusing so much on perfection because ultimately i am writing smut about fictional characters who do not know who i am, why do i care so much!!

anywho, here's a little snippet of my part two for "two's a party" that will hopefully come out very soon :) this is mainly angst but there are three separate smut scenes in the whole fic because I'm sick in the mind. my vincent fic will also hopefully come out soon, i have had such trouble writing him for some reason so i think i need to rewatch aoaf and get an idea of his characterization again... ANYWAY enjoy this snippet and let me know if u guys have any requests :p

The sun has set, and you find yourself standing outside of the tennis courts. You passed by gaggles of students on their way to parties and bars, wearing tight clothes and big smiles with the scent of cheap liquor stuck them like a cloud. Hearing the sound of tennis balls clanging against the metal gate, you open the door to the courts ever so slightly, peering in to see Art grabbing neon green balls from a bucket before slamming them with his racket, making you cringe at the harsh smack it makes when it comes in contact with the wall. 

There’s no one else in the courts, likely because it’s nearly sunset on a Friday.  You try and close the door quietly behind you but it makes a loud sound as it goes back to its original position, and you shake your head slightly as Art turns around, meeting your eyes. He’s wearing a Stanford Tennis sweatshirt, with his blond locks peeking out from the black cap that’s backwards on his head. He stands, staring at you for a few moments before he puts his racket on the floor, walking towards you. Your heart starts thumping in your chest, so fast that you’re scared he’ll be able to hear it through your ribcage. 

“Hi,” you smile, hoping your nerves don’t show. You hug your arms as a particularly strong wind chill passes through, feeling the goosebumps start to form. 

“Hi,” he parrots you, slightly breathless. 

“You haven’t been to class lately, just wondering if you’re alive.”

“That’s a good excuse to stalk me,” he grins, and you feel your shoulders drop at the sight. 

“Good to see your confidence hasn’t taken a hit,” you say as he takes some tennis balls from the pocket of his sweatshirt and tosses them into the bucket before taking a few steps closer to you. 

“Nope,” he says, his mouth popping at the p. 

“I think that may be impossible.”

“What gave you such an impenetrable ego, Art?” you cock your head and he shrugs, smiling as he puts his hands on his hips.

“Don’t know, maybe being great at hitting a ball with a racket your whole life does something to your brain chemistry. The jury’s still out on if it’s a good thing,” 

You hum, stifling a laugh. The two of you stand quietly for a few moments before you talk.

“Last weekend, if I did something wrong-”

“No, you didn’t do anything,” Art cuts you off, sighing at the topic. “Patrick and I-”

“We got into a stupid fight. It doesn’t matter.”

You play with the skin around your nails. 

“That makes me feel like it was my fault.” You take a deep breath before talking again.

“What you and Patrick have, how you know each other. How you’ve grown together, and play together. I would feel awful if I played any part in messing that up.”

Art scoffs. “No need to be melodramatic, we’re not fucking dating or anything.”

You nod, unsure of what to say. 

“I saw he has a match this weekend…” you prompt, and Art nods.

“Are you gonna go?,” you ask gently. Art says nothing, and you decide not to press him. 

“Okay, well I’m going to go,” you adjust the strap of your backpack. 

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

Art looks you up and down before he takes off his hat and then brings his sweatshirt over his neck, tossing the sweatshirt into your chest as he puts his hat back on. 

“Don’t want you getting cold.”

“It’s fine, Art-”

“You’ll give it back to me next time.”

Feeling the fabric between your fingers, a grin crosses your face at his words.

"Alright, next time.''

Art watches as you walked out of the tennis courts, leaving him alone in the quiet noise of the sunset. He’s forced to remember that morning with Patrick.

 

It was a couple of minutes before seven, the sunlight just starting to creep through the blinds of the hotel window. You’d just shuffled out of the room a couple hours ago, your shoes in your hands and your shirt on backwards. Art was laid across the two twin beds that they pushed together, his hand on his stomach as he watched Patrick grab his shirt, pulling it on and buttoning the bottom three buttons. 

“Can’t find my pants,” Patrick muttered as he stopped his movement, his eyes scanning the room. Art snickered from his position on the bed. 

“They’re on the chair,” Patrick turned at Art’s voice, grinning as he walked across the room to find his jeans perched on the wooden chair. He could feel Art’s eyes on him as he tugged his pants above his thighs, zipping his jeans and leaving a sliver of his boxers visible. 

This continues for a while - Patrick haphazardly packing and stressing about his tennis game tomorrow as Art falls in and out of sleep, slightly jolting when Patrick closes a drawer particularly hard or trips over a piece of clothing on the floor. Art was almost asleep again when he heard Patrick’s voice, muffled by the bathroom door. 

“Can I use your razor?”

 Before he could think, Art yelled back “I have a new one in my backpack, just use that.”

Patrick’s movement stills for a moment before he pops his head out of the bathroom door, his hand raised with the razor and a slight furrow in his brows. 

“I can’t use yours?” he asks, and Art doesn’t like the guilt that the question causes him, and doesn’t know why the ask makes his mouth dry. 

“Just use the new one. You won’t get my hair on you.”

“No sweat,” Patrick moves to go back to the bathroom but is cut off by Art.

“Use the new one, Patrick.”

“Jesus Christ Art, I just need to use your damn razor,” Patrick’s smiling, but his voice is a little sharper, a twinge of hurt playing on his tongue. 

“Fine, use it. I don’t care,” Art sighs as he rises from the pillow to sit up, pinching the place between his eyes.”

“My dick was in your mouth last night, in case you forgot.”

Patrick rests against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest, Art stares at Patrick for a few moments, feeling the skin on his face get warm. Of course he remembers last night, but hearing it out loud makes him feel a weird mix of rage and embarrassment. Art stands up and moves towards the dresser, grabs his clothes, and starts to put them on. 

“Dude, is it so insulting to think you wanted to fuck me?” Patrick says through a laugh, watching Art intently. 

Art pulls his arms through the sleeves of his sweater, staring at his brunette counterpart as he stuffs his wallet into his pocket. 

“Patrick. Don’t think I did anything last night that wasn’t just to fuck her, alright?” Art gives a tight-lipped smile as he grabs his keys. He tries to move towards the door but Patrick is faster, cutting him off as he blocks the door. 

“C’mon Art,” he playfully taps his chest. 

“It’s just me. You can be honest.”

The soft tone Patrick uses, the implications, the stuffiness of the room and the sight of Patrick’s slightly tousled hair infuriates Art. 

“What the fuck did you think was gonna happen today, Patrick? I mean, what, we were gonna walk out of here holding hands, drinking a milkshake with one straw or something?” Art chuckles dryly, seeing the change in Patrick’s face as he realizes what he’s saying. He knows he’s being mean, but he doesn’t know why. He’s too far gone, now. 

“I don’t want to be with someone like you, and I thought you knew that.”

Art’s words stick in the air as Patrick chews on his lower lip, slightly nodding. 

'“Good luck tomorrow,” Art pats Patrick’s shoulder as he pushes past him to open the door, but Patrick grabs his wrist right after the key clicks open. 

“You know, you have so much going on in your head,” Patrick points his finger into Art’s face, any humor in his voice long gone. 

“That you let it rule your whole life. Well, I’m done letting you infect me with it. I won’t let you turn me into a pathetic coward too.”

Art slams the hotel room door so hard that a couple from across the hallway creaks their door open, asking if Patrick is okay. He doesn’t answer.

[purpledaisiesthings]

I feel like I'm one of the very few Dimone shippers left 😭

I'm sorry but they are my engame....PERIOD

I recently rewatched season 1 & 2 and I was reminded that that man has truly been in love with her from day 1. In a way, he has always been waiting on the sidelines for her. But there never seemed to be the right time for them.

I do feel like they haven't really done their story justice. I hated the love triangle but then again it's a cw show so it's expected lol. One of the things I missed in season 2 was how they were always leaning on each other. TBF, they actually had a few of those moments but because season 1 set the pace for their relationship, I expected to see even more in season 2. I love how they just get each other equally. She knows him so well, and he knows her so well. Their relationship is reciprocal. They are eachother's person. It's almost like they literally can't do without the other.

Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger on who she picks. If it's Lando (just to mess with us), then she will eventually make her way to Damon and they finally get their timing right. OR, she picks Damon (I'm 99.9% sure it's Damon) but they break up for just a short time, go through some drama but find their way back to eachother. It's a teen drama tv show afterall. They're not gonna have it easy. Either way, all roads lead to Damon.

To me, it just makes sense if they're endgame. They've shared a deep bond since day 1. They are the love story that they've been telling since the beginning. Everything has been consistently leading up to their endgame. That has to count for something. I don't care what anyone else says....they are THE SHIP of the show, the backbone of the show both individually and together.

I really need them to get back to the original formula in season 3, for their relationship, the friendship group and also for Damon's character. I need that cocky, confident, "I ain't no number 2," Mr MLB, swaggy, smooth, and arrogant Damon who is also kind hearted, smart, considerate, wears his heart on a sleeve, emotionally intelligent, wonderful friend brother and son.

Anyways, I'll probably just watch the first and last episodes and just follow up on what's happening on social media. Then I'll watch the whole season depending on how it ends. I ain't putting myself through all that just incase I hate the ending.

I need that friends to lovers arc asap 😭

[lixxen]

Danny Phantom Headcanons/World Building (Masterpost)

So I rewatched Danny Phantom within the last week (of the time of creating this) and forgot how much I love it. I'm falling back down the rabbit hole and have started to collect my own HC/world building. This is just a collection of me putting ideas together that my brain was rattling off while watching and a few wiki deep dives. This will probably change as I get more into things and read more fanon. But like. This isn't canon stuff at all and is meant more as a base of operations for any fics I'm gonna write for AO3/drabbles for Tumblr.

Content warnings: mentioned of childhood trauma, minor graphic descriptions, talk about death

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I was into DP as a kid but was never into the fanbase and online spaces. So some of this is from me as a kid/teenager interpreting the show on my own. And sorry if it contradicts canon or is similar to what other people have said before. Genuinely most of this is from me as a kid or just me rewatching the show. I've noticed some of the things I already was thinking about in fics or in a few posts I've seen floating around.

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Danny specific

Danny did die in The Accident, but was practically zapped back to life at the same time due to the Ghost Zone choosing him. It rewrote his DNA, so he was still a functioning human but with Ghost DNA. Unlike Vlad, whose DNA was just rewritten since he was hit with a pure blast of eco-energy. So think of it as like dying in the hospital but automatically being resuscitated but the resuscitation alters your DNA.

Danny doesn't need to sleep or eat a lot of human food often if he doesn't exhaust his human form. Human functions only apply to his human half, so if he stays in his Ghost half then he will not get tired or hungry in that form. But when he transforms back, he will feel it and need to eat or sleep off what he's done as a human.

He needs to consume/absorb ectoplasm just as much as he needs to eat food. It is more of a balance in his system between Ghost and human. So he will eat ectoplasm (normally while in ghost form but he will do it in his human form since it doesn't matter which form, unlike human food).

Danny's Haunt is Amity Park (see Ghost Haunts)

He is the Ghost Zone's core, as he was chosen by the Ghost Zone (see Ghost Cores).

His own core is an ice core.

Jazz and Danny are very close from a young age since their parents are more or less absent. She raises Danny practically, and once he gets into high school and The Accident happens he drifts because of the secret. This is why Jazz throws herself into psychology.

Danny gained Jazz's music taste over the years from exposure, so he likes different genres and doesn't really have a favorite. Jazz recently has an emo phase before The Accident, so he currently enjoys rock, alt rock, and general alt music ATM. He likes pop because that's the genre his peers are into (like Ember). He's never really had a big opinion about music, so he just listens to what is around him

Out of some of the alt rock bands, he listens to what's popular. Jazz showed him Fall Out Boy and Set It Off first to ease him into it, and he likes them.

Danny's ghostly tied item is a small rocket ship toy his parents bought him (see Ghostly tied items. Also called Ghost objects)

Danny is a trans man, but in Reality Trip he may have changed this. I might expand on this, but as a trans person I automatically saw the opportunity and after that we see him without a shirt so I made jokes about how he changed himself to be cis.

I also see him as bisexual, female preference. But he doesn't really think it's important to label his sexuality and has only really had three crushes and he's 14 when he realizes it because he gets a crush on a random guy for two seconds then moves on. He's 14 he doesn't need to have it figured out, y'know? I didn't when I was his age so it doesn't actually matter to him. He just knows he's fruity

Danny has nightmares. Bad nightmares. Nightmares of being dissected by his parents, Amity Park mobbing him for a witch hunt, his friends dying, of Dan (TUE evil Danny will be referred to as Dan) coming back. Stuff like that.

Danny is touch starved from an absent parent childhood. Don't get him wrong, they were there and showed him love and they're so proud of him. But they weren't... there. Y'know? They would give him hugs here and there but he doesn't have positive physical contact memories. So whenever his friends hug him he loves it. When they hold hands he loves it.

Danny and Tucker are close. In the way that when they were younger they'd take naps next to each other. They're platonic and people thought they were dating in middle school before Sam joined them. Sam wasn't always goth and was more opened up in middle school. But 8th grade hit and she saw Jazz go into her emo phase and she found goth and that scene understood how she felt inside (insert Sam's trauma from being in a picture perfect family and the pressure coupled up with her parents controlling her every move. And she just doesn't like pink and light colored stuff y'know). Sam also enjoys the contact, but only from her friends and mom. She loves her mom. I got off topic, but she would never actually use the photo against them. Besides, she partook in the sleep pile and still does. They just never talk about it.

He's called Daniel (aka full named) by Vlad and Lancer because it's them genuinely respecting his identity. Lancer did it to reinforce the name. The town is actually very pro-trans and accepted Danny with ease. But some people still messed up, y'know. So Lancer does his best (he cares deeply about his students)

Talking about Lancer; he noticed Danny's changes in behavior. After Danny spent a few days in the hospital for The Accident, Danny changed. He is constantly worried for Danny.

Dash and the popular kids also noticed and let up for a bit and did feel bad for him. On days he's visibly not feeling good, they don't bully him. They're not heartless. Just bullies.

The class knows he was in an ecto based accident, so they think that's why he's a bit weird and the ghosts are attracted to him. Even if others don't believe it, they just go along with it for the sake of Danny

Danny is also the Ghost King. After defeating Pariah Dark, the recrowning process starts and months later he ends up being King. Clockwork hints that this was planned from before he was born since he knows how time will go. Clockwork had made sure he got to this point.

Danny begrudgingly became king and is actually quite happy with it. The ghosts treat him slightly better and they've come to a mutual understanding with Danny.

Danny really likes space and he has a collection of space books and rocket ship models. He's been to Cape Canaveral multiple times with his family and he used to spend nights on his roof with Jazz looking at constellations. That's why when they went to camp that Sam made them watch the stars. She knew that he wanted to be an astronaut and admired the stars

Danny's ghostly obsession is protection (see Ghostly obsessions). Since he is half ghost, he isn't always having to obey his ghostly obsession. But he doesn't have a say in it. Some days he is strongly attached to it, when something triggers it or it's just one of those days. Then sometimes he has almost no connection to it. It's why sometimes he would rather not deal with everything and wants to give up his powers (or doesn't care) then turns around and is over protective. But in the end, it's protection because his subconscious recognizes he should have been protected from the accident and that no one looked after him to stop it.

Danny also never gets sick. If something's up, it's ghost related.

Being Ghost King means that he is one of the most powerful ghosts. He just is too young and inexperienced to understand and be able to use his power. We already know Dan was the most powerful, so its possible.

Have I mentioned that he is begrudgingly King, so whenever he is interrupted in his daily life for King duties, he is openly annoyed.

The ghosts fetching him will overshadow his classmates to talk to him, or Sam and Tucker, since he made it clear his human life cannot cross paths. They respect their king so after the first time of him enforcing it they just stuck to overshadowing.

Danny is 100% repelled by blood blossoms as a ghost and is only allergic as human. He will sneeze if he smells them, get rashes and hives if he touches them. If he ingests small amounts he will just get sick and poisoned, throat will swell slightly and tongue goes numb. He may have bad stomach problems. But if he eats a lot it can possibly send him into anaphylactic shock. (I have more on blood blossoms later)

Danny does have gnarly scarring on his chest and back from the Accident. It disappears into his skin as a ghost, since ghosts seem to not show injuries or death related scars on them. But as a human they're raised; some parts pink and some white. They spiderweb across his chest and back, blossoming out of his right (our left) side. He has some on the back of his neck and there's a few underneath his hair (which is thick enough to cover). There's a few scarring on his arms and hands, but they're small enough to not be noticed.

His eyes used to be fully blue, like an icey lighter blue with dark blue edges, but around the edges are little spikes of green that you can't see unless you're close and looking into them. Dash noticed it one day when he pushed Danny against a wall and commented on it. Danny called him a weirdo for looking into his eyes enough to notice.

He will get phantom pains randomly in his chest. They're from his organs being damaged from the Accident and his core sits near where his heart is when he's a ghost, so if his core is hurt then his heart aches. Vice versa.

Danny's death was horrible and every once in a while he gets flashes of it. His ghost and human half will try to fully take over and he will have the feeling shoot through him and he kinda jolts. His eyes will change slightly, just a moment of flickering.

Danny always has a pull or need to go into the Ghost Zone. It's like his DNA is calling to go home and absorb the natural energy. It is also because he is the core of the Ghost Zone (will be explained later)

I feel like Danny would have trust issues and PTSD. He'd hate sudden loud noises and sudden blinding light. It will shake him to the core because of the accident. He doesn't like thunder and lightning (the type that lights up the room and is really close and blinding. Not the distant little line in the sky ones)

I feel like he would also not have a good sense of self identity. He would feel alienated from humans AND ghosts because of how Ghosts don't treat him like normal, and how humans just aren't the same anymore and the ones who know treat him differently. Even if the ones who don't know, he just can't fully relate anymore. He also can't be close to the only two (technically) who can relate since Dani isn't around and he doesn't trust Vlad. Makes him uneasy and feel like shit constantly. (Also the fact that he doesn't feel like a guy fully and can't relate to girls anymore but has the lingering connection. Y'know, trans stuff).

Human world

A lot of this is set Post-S2 and Pre-Phanton Planet and most of S3, so Vlad is mayor but no one besides Sam, Tucker, and Jazz know for (canon) humans. Thought I'd give a timeline.

The town LOVES Phantom. After a year or two of him openly saving people, they treat him differently. The Fentons still don't like him but barely tolerate him. They'll try to capture him still and want to dissect him.

The town as a whole think the Fentons are crackjobs that shouldn't have the funding they do, but if they're managing ghost levels with Phantom then they're okay to stay. They also acknowledge that as destructive as the two parents are, they do actually help and know what they're doing

There's different types of ghost hunters in the world; theology based and science based. It depends what region you're from and your roots.

There are people like the Fentons, Men in White, and the various others we see who are science based and somewhat understand very basic ghost biology and rules because they studied it and went to school for it (or have scientist families).

Then there's theology based hunters (who would best be compared to the Winchesters in SPN) who come from lines of old school hunters. The theology hunters are just as valid because their system works (salt and iron work, holy water depends on the type). But the scientific world laughs at them because they're seen as archaic and outdated.

Blood blossoms were bred centuries ago by the original theology hunters. The legend states that a hunter received seeds from their god and was told to burry it in salt and iron inside of a graveyard. The flowers grew into blood red flowers and kept ghosts away. They were bred with a few other flowers to have them in different regions. There are no cases of allergies or being harmful to humans, even for ones that were centuries ago crossbred with flowers that are known to not be good for consumption. They seem to always be edible to humans and are grown in churches and graveyards specifically. They taste like rose and sweet, according to people who have access to them.

The town didn't believe in ghosts at first, but did halfway through S1.

Wes exists in this. I know enough about Wes to say that he just happens to be a ginger look alike to Danny and they were friends in middle school. His parents told him to stop being friends with Danny, especially post-accident. He is one of the first to realize Danny is Phantom and isn't fixed in Reality Trip since Danny thinks it's HILARIOUS. And nobody believes Wes.

Word travels quickly in this small town, like normal. So there's a giant gossip mill; being anywhere near the popular kids will give you a chance to hear just about anything and you can get about anything in there if you talk loud about. Tucker and Sam use this to their advantage sometimes. So do other students. It's great

The town loves Vlad, but think he's weird as hell. They can tell he beefs with Danny but doesn't know why.

Talking bout Vlad, his ghostly obsession is being loved. That's why he is so obsessed with Maddie Fenton. When he found out Danny was half ghost like him, he was added to the need for love. He wants Danny to love him like a father just as much as Maddie to love him as a husband. But as Maddie rejects him, he starts to shift his focus more on Danny becoming his son. He acknowledges that Danny will never want to be his kid, so that's why he creates the clones. He's a really lonely dude and his obsession is what basically corrupted him and turned him evil, from being unchecked and never balanced. If he was regulated like Danny, he would be just like Danny and less effected by it.

For the clones, Dani was actually the perfect clone because she was the only female clone. Vlad just didn't like that and so he wanted to have a perfect male one to be respectful to Danny. But he realized it later on and that's why he wanted Dani to come back and stabilize her after he lost the Perfect Clone.

The other clones weren't perfect, which led to them being barely sentient. They were ghost alive. But... they were practically hive minded.

Anyways, Dani is just out in the world stabilized now. She came back and got Dani to use his cool King powers to fix her. She still met Valerie and D-Stabalized events kinda happened but not at that time and exact. So Valerie knows about Dani and likes her. Y'know? You do.

Valerie figures out Vlad isn't a great dude, but she's gonna use his resources and just go along with his shit and kinda comes to an agreement with Vlad. Vlad does slightly care about her through proxy because of Danny.

Vlad doesn't personally care about people in Danny's life, but goddamn is he gonna by proxy care because he wants Danny to be happy. Vlad also does care about Jazz. Just not as much sadly.

Jazz is liked by the popular kids by the way. She's a bit weird, she's a Fenton. But they think she's very pretty and Jazz helps them pass classes. So who cares if she's related to the loser kid? She's older and cool in their eyes.

Jazz knows this. She's very smart. But she takes any friendship she can get.

I think I genuinely need to talk about Jack and Maddie for a second. They're not bad parents... they're just... they're not good parents. They genuinely love their kids. Jazz and Danny are the highlights of their life and they'd do anything to protect them. They just get carried away and are just too focused on their work so they became very absent and just not good parents. They never meant to be like this and they just never realized how badly it has gone. They don't realize the implications of growing up around aggressive environments are. They're not aggressive to the children, but seeing parents be aggressive in that degree to the point of making weapons will do something to kids. Even if the kids are just annoyed at this point. Jazz recognizes this and that's why she spent so much time trying to support Danny in the way she never got.

Also, the world does view Amity Park as one of the most haunted places. But they think it's more gimmick like. And since they don't have any hotels or Airbnb, no one really visits. The town made sure to not let hotels build in their town for this reason. The only thing you'll get is an Inn fifteen miles outside town limits. People do visit for ghosts. But it's not like people do for Salem or Point Pleasant.

His class over time realizes Danny is actually important to the ghosts because of small occurrences. But they don't know who he is. Eventually, they will find out one by one and be relatively chill about it in front of Danny. Only in front of Danny. Behind his back they're like oh my god he's phantom, king of ghosts. Guys what the fuc-

Ghost Zone/Ghosts

To start it off, there are different levels of ghosts. There's a hierarchy based off of power and respect. The more powerful you are, the higher you are and respected. There can be higher ghosts who aren't powerful due to respect.

There's the regular ones that we see, the Ancient ones that are canon, then there's the ghoul looking ones that are just generic and their obsession/items are fairly simple so they aren't too out there and can be controlled by others, then blob ones that are barely sentient. The blobs are usually animal souls that don't end up like Wulf or the other animal ones we've had episodes around.

Ghosts are created by extreme emotion and are fueled by human emotion and ectoplasm. Either they died with a ton of emotion or someone had too much emotion surrounding their death (that's why blobs tend to be pets that died. Or ghoul like ones had enough people shocked and upset over their death).

Their bodies run off of ectoplasm and ecto energy, which holds them together and fuels them. It allows them to conjure themselves and exist because the Ghost Zone gives it to them.

They are drawn to people who have been exposed to major ecto energy (which would be why they're drawn to Amity Park. So much exposure everywhere. So much) or heavy emotions. Which is why a lot of them feed off of them too

Ghost Cores are the metaphorical hearts and souls of ghosts. It hold their emotion and energy together. It fuels them and keeps them pulled together. If you get rid of the core/destroy it, the Ghost is completely gone. It cannot move on. It cannot reform. It's deader than dead. If you harm the core simply, they can barely keep form. They kinda become goopy and become extremely tangible. It causes their being to not keep.

There are different types of cores, as such in canon. You can have mixed cores or normal cores. Depends on your powers and your color is based off of your alignment and core.

Ghostly obsessions is what raw emotion effected the ghost. They could have had this obsession all their life, like Box Ghost loving boxes, or having to surround their death, like Danny's being protection. They are compelled by their obsession. They must follow it and are obsessed. They can be normal sometimes, but it's only when their obsession is not being challenged. That is your very being because it fuels your core with that very emotion and can give you powers.

Your ghostly tied item/ghost item is what you are tied to in the real world and you are tethered to. If it is destroyed, you are forced to move on. It isn't like the core, as that is the heart/soul. This is more like a leash that allows them to be connected to the human world and not just the Ghost Zone. Some ghosts don't know what it is or where it is. But Johnny 13 has his bike, Pandora's is her box. Danny's is a rocket replica because his parents gave it to him and he protects it. But some of them simply don't know where it is and don't care. Some have things that were buried with them or clothing they loved. They're still around because someone just hasn't destroyed or found it yet.

A blob's ghost item could be a collar or favorite toy if it was a pet. Things that are kept as memories.

A ghost haunt applies to a ghost that mainly resides in the human world, like Danny. They own that area and it is theirs. They usually do not have a lair in the Ghost Zone because they're the same thing, but on the human plane. But ghosts tend to get aggressive towards other ghosts who enter their haunt, so that's why Danny is a bit aggressive. Especially as he gets older and more in tune with being half ghost.

A ghost lair is simply just the ghost's claimed area in the Ghost Zone. Most have them and blobs and more ghoul looking ones will freely roam since they aren't powerful or "important"/high enough. They will tho, if they have a master to serve, stay with them. Laira are usually guarded and keep territorial ties to their owner, but not as strong as a haunt.

Ghosts with haunts will routinely go back into the Ghost Zone. This is for health, survival instincts, or for other reasons. Portals tend to appear more often in haunts because of this.

Ghosts need ectoplasm to survive. Simple. That's why they go in and out of the Ghost Zone a lot of they're in the human realm

The ecto weapons use ectoplasm and reverse engineers it to harm them. Reverse polarity and all. And the reason why salt/iron/holy water works on them is because it purifies and can control the energy. Plus, since they're based off of emotion, if enough people will it to work it will.

Blood blossoms effect them so well because of this. The salt and iron in the breeding mixed with the pure belief. And at some point someone started to soak the seeds in the reversed ectoplasm. But humans don't know that. They're just hardcore believers.

The Ghost zone is partially sentient. That's how it opens up portals and controls ectoplasmic levels. It is a realm made of ecto energy and ectoplasm in the end, so it makes sense. It was crated because human souls needed a limbo between reincarnation (hell/heaven doesn't actually exist in my version. Just a limbo and a few other realms that will be mentioned later). The Ghost Zone needs a core to keep it all together, and it tends to choose a ghost to be it's core. But it chooses very carefully and can move the core to a new ghost if it senses danger. Self preservation.

The Zone chose Danny because it knew it could trust Danny. Which is why Danny is destined to be inherently the most powerful. And the Ghost Zone can loosely be understood by the ancient ones, like Clockwork and Observers. And now Danny.

Every Ghost can speak Ghost Speak. It is an old language that Latin is based off of loosely. Humans cannot understand it. Some have loosely learned it and have trained to understand it. But it's very difficult since they don't have the right vocal chords. Or... have them. Ghosts don't actually have them.

Ghosts can switch freely between whatever human language they speak and then ghost. While speaking to other ghosts, especially in the Ghost zone, they speak in ghost speak. That's how they all understand each other and not have to learn a new human language. It's quite literally in their brain hardwired. It's the ectoplasm and ghost zone doing it. Plus the Ghost zone likes to slightly give mind them so it needs them to know it.

Death day is when they died. It's normally not that pleasant of a day because they can feel how they died throughout the day. Some relive it as a death echo if they're on the human plane, then some just have flashbacks. Some just relive the pain. Normally they like to be alone. But some will be with others. They are literally reliving their deaths because their energy is all jazzed and upset. It's a horrible reminder.

Death days are treated like sad birthdays. So it'll be a truce for that specific ghost and normally the others will give them things to make them feel better. Like... small gifts or words of encouragement. Or if they know their obsession, something to do with it.

Death echoes are not fun. There are a few ghosts who are always trapped in them and have to be released, those are normally weaker ghosts who don't have enough energy to move to the zone so they're trapped. But the stronger ones will leave an echo of energy at their death; which means that if they're on the human plane when death day comes they will reunite with the echo and be stuck in it until the time of death. They will not be themselves, but the fragment of the bit leading up to their death. A literal ghost of themselves being forced in a loop of their death. Think about yelling down a large tunnel and it echoes forever, except when you go back a year later you're forced to keep doing it until the original one is due at the same time.

The final echo will actually physically effect them as they're let go of the echo (for that year). The effects will disappear. (So for example, Danny for the whole day if he's in Amity Park will be stuck as a translucent almost non sentient, not knowing what's going on around him, replay of the Accident. Whoever is there will watch it happen again and again, but only him and not the others, until it comes time for his death and he comes out looking burn and electrocuted. Then it'll disappear and he'll be normal. No memory of the day besides the pain of the last one)

The Ghost zone can't really stop the echo unless they're inside the ghost zone. It contains them and protects them, so that's why they will leave their haunts or just go back for the day.

There is actual royalty, which is the Ghost King and and his court. The king can marry and have a queen. There can be ghost queen as rulers if a girl wings the crown. It just so happens the last two/three have been guys. Whoever rule's full title is king/queen ruler then their partner is king/queen consort. There can be two kings or two queens this way, and it's even gender wise. Yippee. Princes/princesses are children and do not actually hold any right to the thrown unless their ruler turns it over or they overthrow. It's a formality and political status out of respect. It barely happens.

The Ghost King is earned by right of conquest. So Danny challenging Pariah Dark and winning meant that he stripped Pariah of his crown and title. Everyone involved could lay claim if Danny does not take the crown and challenge Danny. And if someone does challenge Danny, then the ghosts will be able to access whether or not they actually do have the right or should be allowed.

Vlad actually challenged the right, but most of the ghosts knew Vlad was a bad option and vetoed him before Danny even knew what was going on. Vlad knew exactly what was happening and that's why he wanted to awaken him. He just... didn't plan out the events that unfolded.

But how normally the crowning works is that the crown would return to the Ghost Zone, and the Zone would present it to one of the Ancients. Whoever defeated the previous king will automatically receive title of Prince (which Danny didn't know but the others knew). The Ancient will then send out lesser ghosts or allies of the newly titled Prince to announce their new right. They will be brought to a coronation ceremony where they will accept or decline.

If they accept, they will be bound to the title and they will gain new powers literally and metaphorically. They will gain the King's Keep as a new lair. And they will be diplomatically/politically responsible for the new era

The King's court is mostly appointed with the exception of the higher ranking ghosts. They have a right to be on there.

The Ghost King is what people precieve as Satan/Lucifer/the Devil actually. But in the sake of continuity, they're just summoning the Ghost King by that name. Y'know. Only the religious folk call him by religious titles. Same dude.

This ties into the fact that the Ghost King and other ghosts can be summoned. Anything having to do with king/Satan/devil summonings the Ghost Zone will literally route to the Ghost King. Most "powerful ghost/demon" ones will more than likely be a powerful ghost, but the ghost zone will put the king in there also. If someone isn't specific in the summoning, they'll get someone with a related obsession to their goal or just a lower level generic ghost (probably a ghoul like one).

Which means Danny will be summoned from time to time. He can easily get back since it's a portal that can't be seen besides the summoned. Silly stuff tbh. People don't do it too much, but it's often enough to make him have a system for it.

Half Ghosts only have two natural cases and one unnatural. Dani isn't considered a true half ghost by the ghosts since she is a clone. They don't see her as anything other than a clone of Danny who is now her own person. They treat Danny and Vlad the same.

The term Halfa is the term for being half ghost, and most ghosts don't necessarily mean it in a mean way since it's just their slang term for half ghost. But some do use it in a mean way (the ones who don't like humans and hate the idea that two powerful ghosts are half human. Some ghosts are just dicks and use the term blob in the same way)

Since Danny doesn't talk about half ghosts to other ghosts a lot, he doesn't use the term. Sam and Tucker were confused when he first said it and looked a bit concerned. He explained what it means and they just nodded slowly. His friends personally don't like it, but just don't use it unless talking to ghosts.

A lot of the more powerful ghosts don't like it when the humans call them anything besides ghost or ectos, especially when they're called ghoulies. When they're called ghoulies they see it as being deemed the same as lower powered and they get offended.

Don't ask a ghost how they died. You don't need to ask exactly what their obsession is; if you can figure it out you can be like "oh this is it." But asking directly is a bit weird and rude. And don't ask them directly what their ghostly tied item is. Usually it's personal. C'mon guys. You wouldn't ask someone their deepest personal trauma. Why would you do that to them??

Also, it should be obvious that not all ghosts are evil. But a lot of them are just mean spirited or the emotions that made them aren't nice so they just... yeah. They can be good and nice people obviously. They just don't tend to be all the time

Also, Christmas truce came from three kings ago. Pariah Dark's full reign when he wasn't locked up caused a pause, but when he was locked up it continued.

Other

There's other realms, like the dream realm and the area outside of time that Clockwork lives in.

The Observers also live in the area outside of time, but do follow the main continuity of time. They do not care about the other continuities or timelines. The timelines exist but aren't the main one, so they don't really matter. Just branches that fizzle out after a bit. The Observers' job, along with Clockwork, is to protect the main one. Think kinda like TVA except like... you obey a realm and not some man playing god. And they don't just cut off the timelines. They just redirect the main one and let the others naturally fizzle out

There are Ghosts of __, like how we have the ghost of time and dreams. They're powerful and are important for the Infinite Realms to exist. Clockwork knows where to find them if needed, as he is one. Nocturn is kinda just an asshole and Clockwork keeps him in check. He knew Nocturn wouldn't win so he let the guy have his fun and then kinda reprimanded him on the side

Dan also exists outside of time now. Clockwork lets him outside the thermos sometimes and has put a blocker on his powers so he can't use them. Dan says it's inhumane and Clockwork hits him with a "maybe don't kill a ton of people and ruin the timeline. Ever thought of that?" (Obviously not exact words). It works. Dan is just glad to be out of that thermos.

Dan also really wants to meet Dani. Clockwork shows her story to him, and even though Dan doesn't have his human side he is interested in her and want to know more.

I just really want Dan to eventually get some humanity back and Clockwork is a manipulative ass, so he would use Dani as a tactic.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Hi Cal!

I'm super stoked for your BTHB! I'm also titillated about what Athena noticed in your last snippet for the whodunnit...

As if that weren't enough, I'm doing the pre-season rewatch and just saw the episode with the baby box this evening, so I'm also looking forward to seeing how the boys handle it together in the switcheroo.

🚨🚨🚨🚨

🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷🦷

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

🫶🏼, ~Maxi

HI MAXI!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

12 for 🚨:

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“I’m sorry you didn’t save those other people,” Chris whispers. “But you saved me.”

Buck takes a deep breath. His eyes are glued to Christopher. 

“And I get to be alive,” Chris says. “And live here, with you. And you get to be my second dad. So that’s good, right?”

He asks the last part in the tiniest, most hopeful voice Eddie has ever heard. Like he’s terrified to hear, no, sorry, it’s not enough. Eddie looks at Buck with pleading eyes. Don’t turn him away right now. 

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27 for 🦷:

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Eddie drops his hand to his side stiffly, embarrassed. 

“Sorry,” he mumbles. 

Christopher’s mouth shifts to the side strangely; an expression Eddie doesn’t think he’s ever seen him make before. Like he’s holding his jaw at a very uncomfortable angle, teeth all out of alignment. 

“You have a mustache,” Christopher says. 

“Yeah,” Eddie replies, raising his hand to touch it a little self-consciously.

“Why do you have a mustache?” He asks.

Question of the damn month.

“Uh, I don’t know.” A lie. Great start, Eddie. “I needed a change, I guess.”

“It looks sort of weird,” Chris says.

Eddie tries not to sigh. “That’s what Chimney says, too.”

“What does Buck say?” Chris asks. 

A tiny smile finds its way to Eddie’s mouth. 

“He likes it,” Eddie replies. 

“Okay, well don’t do that stupid thing where you twirl the endings,” Chris warns. 

“I won’t,” Eddie promises. Not even a thought in his mind, truly. “Uh, you ready to go home?”

It’s a loaded question, Eddie knows. But he doesn’t mean it more generally. He just means, is Chris ready to get out of this damn airport.

---

27 for ☠️:

---

“I’m just hoping Maddie and Chimney are having a good time on their vacation,” Athena says. “They really deserve it, don’t you think?”

Bobby smiles. “Yeah. They really do.”

vi.

The next day, Athena does the only thing she can think to do. The only thing that feels right. 

She gives Hen a chance. 

Of all the members of the 118 implicated in Gerrard’s death - as far as Athena and only Athena knows - Hen is the one she feels she owes the most benefit of the doubt. They’ve been close friends for over a decade. They know each other very well. They trust each other. So she has to give Hen a chance to dispel Athena’s doubts. 

Then she will decide how to move forward. 

She arrives at Hen and Karen’s without warning. She doesn’t want to give them a chance to prepare. Consult with Buck and Eddie. Though maybe they already have, given the grocery store run-in. Regardless, Athena wants their most spontaneous reaction possible. 

“Athena?” Karen asks, eyes wide, when she opens the door. “Did you and Hen have plans?”

“No,” Athena replies. Karen’s hesitation at seeing her is answer enough. “I was hoping to talk to her though. Is she home?”

Karen nods quickly. “Yeah, she is.”

---

15 for 🚨:

---

“I’m sorry,” he says to Christopher. “I know. You’re right, buddy. That’s so… That’s so good.” 

Eddie exhales, relieved.

“Do you remember what you said?” Chris asks him.

Buck pulls out of the hug a little to look at him.

“When?” He asks shakily.

“During the tsunami,” Chris clarifies.

“What did I say?” Buck asks. He looks like he really isn’t sure what Christopher remembers. 

[scoopertrouper]

Was thinking about Barb’s funeral, the Hollands greeting Nancy and assuming she’s still with Steve + her surprise when Steve shows up.

no idea what it is about your prompts (if that was, indeed, what this even was lol), but damn.

every time i think - that's it! i'm going to write Steve and Nancy together now - i get a query like this, that digs deep inside my brain and won't let go until it's out. and then i saw this screenshot (because truthfully i had to do some googling to refresh my memory, it's been a minute since i did a full s2 rewatch) and it was game over.

this is maybe a little messy and not EXACTLY what you asked for, but I do hope, even so, that it seems true - true to the characters, and true to who they are at this particular moment in time (which, yes, is a warning for some fairly mild J&N content, if you can't hang with that at all).

it's all about the liminal spaces, man.

*~*~*

Nancy’s coat is too warm.

That’s the first thought that comes to her, staring at a coffin that will, within the hour, sit buried beneath the ground. 

Barb’s face smiles distantly at her through an altogether too-cheerful wreath of roses, next to the empty coffin as hollow as the hole it’s soon to be lowered into, and all Nancy thinks is – “I should’ve worn a different coat.” 

It’s true that it’s unseasonably warm for an early December day. But even so, the smart black blazer she’s chosen should, in theory, be perfectly appropriate for the weather. 

And yet Nancy is stifling – barricaded in by a gravesite to her front, and Jonathan to her left, and Barb’s perpetually smiling, two-dimensional face to her right. Warmth is creeping up her neck, and under her armpits, and between the shallow valley of her breasts, and she longs to rip off all her layers, to take off running until the breeze cools the sweat she can’t stop from trickling down her back.

This should be comforting, right? This is what she’s longed for – a resolution for Barb, for her parents. Acknowledgment that she’s not just missing, with all the implications that can come with that. She’s dead, and someone (something) has been held responsible for it, and now they finally get to say their last goodbyes. 

But what has this whole year been for Nancy, if not one long, drawn-out goodbye? A goodbye to Barb, to her innocence, to the ability to even walk down the driveway at night without jumping at the smallest sounds. 

A goodbye to…no. Nancy shakes herself. She’s not going there. Not today, at least.

“Nancy?” Jonathan nudges her, concern plain on his face (plain to her, anyway, and she’s grateful she’s gotten to know him well enough to read that). “I know the Rotary Club’s wreath is pretty ugly, but setting it on fire with your eyes isn’t gonna make it better.” 

It’s exactly the kind of dumb-serious joke she needs to jolt her from the death stare she’s been leveling at the casket for the past five minutes, and it’s doubly effective because it’s Jonathan, whose quips usually masquerade as wry commentary on the disarray of his life. (Nancy’s new place in it notwithstanding, of course. She thinks.)

But it’s also jarring, knocking her even more off-axis because, well, telling stupid jokes to snap Nancy out of it when she’d get too far inside her own head was usually how – 

No. 

Not. Thinking. About. It.

Because Nancy’s not thinking about…it, she slips her hand into his. It’s chapped, but warm, and it fits better against hers with every passing day. Even if sometimes she’s startled to find the fingers are too long and the palm too narrow. 

She gives him her best attempt at a smile.

“Sorry. This is…a lot harder than I thought it would be,” she admits. Then, because it feels right, she squeezes his hand. “Thanks for coming with me today.”

Jonathan opens his mouth to speak, but before she can find out what he plans to say, a familiar voice cuts in.

“Nancy?” It’s Barb’s mom. “Oh, honey, I’m so glad you made it.”

Just the sight of her – red-rimmed eyes, clearly in between bouts of crying – makes Nancy’s throat ache.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” she replies, returning the surprisingly fierce hug Mrs. Holland offers. She resists the overwhelming impulse to squeeze her own eyes shut. 

Nancy had been prepared to give up far more than she’d ultimately had to to ensure this day would come – but everything she’d been ready to sacrifice would still have paled in comparison to the totality of this woman’s loss.

“It’s not the way I’d hoped our search would end,” Mrs. Holland sniffs, dabbing at her eye with a well-used tissue, “but at least this way, we get to say goodbye.”

She doesn’t look particularly grateful – in fact, she looks gutted, like she’s been turned inside out and scraped down to the last ragged, exposed nerve. 

For one wild moment, Nancy wonders if it would have been better for them to spend the rest of their lives wondering. Living with the hope that Barb was still out there somewhere, and might find her way home to them. 

Wonders if the closure she’d been trying to secure for them had actually been a selfish disservice. Not everyone, after all, is as desperate for the truth – as willing to compromise everything to get it – as Nancy. She’s realizing that, now.

But it’s too late to wonder. What’s done is done, and at least now they have something to visit when they miss her.

Mrs. Holland seems to have drawn herself back together, and Nancy’s prepared for her to move on, to steel her spine and greet the next group of sympathizers, but instead she’s casting her eyes around.

“Where’s Steve, honey? I’d love to say hi to him before the ceremony starts, he was always so sweet to come with you to see us.”

Jonathan stiffens beside her, and for a full five seconds Nancy freezes – no thoughts, no breathing, heart displaced into her throat. 

Even through the haze of her own grief, it doesn’t take Mrs. Holland long to clock Jonathan, standing closer to Nancy than most good friends would, or to recognize the tension apparent in both their postures. Nancy doesn’t let go of his hand, but it’s a very near thing.

She doesn’t know what excuse she’s going to stammer out to break the stilted silence – doesn’t even know what, exactly, she’s trying to excuse – when she’s saved by the best, worst interruption.

“Hey, Mrs. Holland. Sorry I’m a little late, I got held up at the doctor’s office.”

He appears over Mrs. Holland’s shoulder like a shadow – a shadow with at least half-a-head’s height on her. He cuts a darker figure than Nancy is used to, dressed for the occasion as he is in somber charcoals and blacks. 

(With an uncomfortable start, she realizes she recognizes the sweater he’s wearing. She’s the one who’d picked it for him, an impulse buy on a lazy Saturday afternoon at the Bloomington Gap. It looks as good on him in person now as she’d imagined it would then.)

The plain delight on Mrs. Holland’s face goes a long way toward easing the worst of the awkwardness. Steve accepts her hug and congenial pat on the cheek with a surprised smile, and it’s clear that he’s touched by how touched Barb’s mom is.

“Thank you for coming, Steve. It means the world to see people showing up for our Barb.”

“Wouldn’t miss it, Mrs. Holland,” he says, echoing Nancy’s sentiments with full sincerity. 

Nancy is overwhelmed by a shame that rakes claw marks up the inside of her throat, because hadn’t she just been prepared to explain away his absence based on the assumption that he would?

This, for whatever reason, wasn’t an eventuality she’d prepared herself for, even considering he’d diligently showed up to every dinner with (somewhat) minimal complaint, had made polite conversation through the most painful pauses, and had somehow managed to win over Barb’s parents to the extent that her mother was asking after him at their daughter’s funeral.

(If Barb could only see them now.)

Through all of this, he doesn’t look at Nancy once, and that absence lands about as gently as a haymaker to her solar plexus. 

“Well.” Mrs. Holland clears her throat, appearing seconds away from dissolving again. “Don’t be strangers. We’d love to have you both –” she catches herself, eyes darting between them, and then Jonathan, and then back, “– we’d love to have you over sometime for dinner again soon.”

With a brief parting squeeze of Nancy’s shoulder, she moves on to Karen and Ted, and Nancy lets out a tight breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. 

Finally, with no other distractions at hand, Steve acknowledges them, proffering a brief nod he doesn’t wait to see returned before he’s crossing to Jonathan’s left, settling a careful handful of paces away from them. 

It stings, and Nancy considers saying something – what does she have a right to say, really? – but there’s no time, because the service is already starting.

It’s excruciating.

It’s barely 30 minutes long, and Nancy feels every single second of them. Almost immediately, Mrs. Holland loses the composure she’d managed to cling to through talking to Nancy, Steve, and Nancy’s parents, and now she’s sobbing into her husband’s shoulder, heaving sounds that echo painfully across the cemetery.

Steve is standing several feet away, still as a stone, but she feels his presence so acutely that he might as well be as close to her as Jonathan currently is. 

She wishes he hadn’t come at all. Wishes he could make it easy for her to turn the page away from the Steve-and-Nancy chapter of her life – wishes she could write him off as an obvious mistake that dragged on way too long before crashing to its inevitable conclusion.

Instead, he keeps stubbornly defying her expectations. Letting her go with Jonathan with unbearable grace. Keeping her brother and his friends safe (even after he’d already been beaten to shit). Showing up for Barb’s funeral when he’d known she’d be here and had every reason not to come.

It’s maddening, because – look, she doesn’t regret her choice, okay? Jonathan is just – he’s a better fit. He’s been there for her, been with her, and he gets her. He gets that sometimes you can’t create understanding by explaining.

Gets that – that anger entwined with despair that she can’t control, this huge, black feeling inside that festers and grows until it demands an outlet, requires a purpose or a target so that it doesn’t turn inward and hit self-destruct. 

She doesn’t have to describe that to Jonathan – not in words – and it’s a relief, because she wouldn’t even know where to begin. 

So no, what she’s experiencing isn’t regret – at least, it doesn’t usually feel like it. But sometimes it might get close, on the odd occasion she sees him around school, tossing his perfect hair and flashing his surprisingly kind smile. All good looks and casual charm, with that little bit of Steve Harrington je ne sais quoi that Nancy has always admired and resented in equal measure (especially when it has girls twirling their hair at him in study hall, from the seat that used to be Nancy’s).

Or on the evenings when she can see his Beemer through the living room picture window, passenger side doors flinging open so that Dustin – usually only Dustin, but sometimes Dustin plus Lucas, or Max, or even Mike – can spill out into the street, chattering a mile a minute, shouting back at the driver’s side even as they make their way to the front door.

Especially during times like those, she can’t help but wonder – if he’d been like this while they were still dating, would that have changed things? Or was he always like this, and she was too wrapped up in herself and her guilt to notice?

She doesn’t like the way it makes her feel, to think about that, so she usually pushes it out of her mind. 

Nancy has spent far too long feeling far too terrible about things that are far outside of her control, and she’s just – she’s tired. Exhausted. Because she did what she set out to do: she got Barb’s parents the answers they needed to move on. 

Even if it doesn’t feel as good, as victorious, as final as she thought it would – it’s done. And now, it’s time for her to move on. From everything. Including Steve Harrington.

(Hopefully.)

She spends much of the remainder of the service in a fuzzy, numb fugue, barely aware of more than the anchor of Jonathan’s hand and the sound of Mrs. Holland crying, which has quieted to small snuffles that are somehow worse than the sobbing. 

It’s terrible – she’s been waiting for this moment, this closure, for more than a year – but now, she can’t wait for it to end. Needs it to end so that she can shove the dull hurt into the overstuffed closet in her mind, right next to her anger and whatever it is she still feels when she looks at Steve. So that she can lock it up and walk away from it for good.

She’s been waiting for this for more than a year, but the next ten minutes feel even harder to get through than that. 

But finally, the end comes. The reverend says a final prayer, the casket is lowered into the open grave, and Barb Holland is put to rest, in spirit if not in body. 

Nancy doesn’t think she’s been crying, but when she lifts her face and feels the breeze against the damp-tight skin of her cheeks, she realizes she must’ve been. She was warm before, but now she’s cold, and she wipes the tear tracks from her face with her sleeve. 

The Hollands are still standing in a tight clutch over the gravesite, showing no signs of moving anytime soon, but Nancy doesn’t know if she can stay another minute. 

(She doesn’t think she’s needed for this part, anyway.)

“Nancy?” Jonathan murmurs at her, asking without asking if she’s ready to leave, taking her small nod as tacit assent. 

As they’re turning to go, she accidentally locks eyes with Steve, who’s turning in the same direction, and she barely stops herself from flinching back.

There’s a barely-there line of bruising still visible on the right side of his forehead, and all at once, she remembers that he’d said he was late because he’d been held up at the doctor’s. 

Her first impulse is to ask – are you okay? Nothing about the way Billy Hargrove had brutalized his face was within the bounds of a normal high school fight, and it makes her sick that that shithead is still swaggering around school like he owns it, hitting up parties and leaving a trail of swooning rejects in his wake.

But are you okay? is the kind of privileged information she doesn’t have a right to anymore – and the question is too broad for her to be brave enough to want to know how he’d answer. So she bites her tongue against asking, swallows it down and instead says – 

“Thanks for coming today.” It’s barely a whisper, and he and Jonathan are both visibly surprised. “You didn’t have to.”

Steve’s mouth flattens.

“Of course I did,” he responds immediately. “Jesus, Nancy, I’m not that big of a –” He fumbles his words and looks covertly around, clearly rethinking whatever he was about to say based on the surroundings and circumstances. “I was just – I was never not gonna come, okay?”

He mumbles it, staring at the ground with his hands stuffed in his pockets, and Nancy feels that sense of shame clawing up her throat again. Sometimes, she forgets. Sometimes, she gets so caught up in the fact that Barb died because Nancy left her that she forgets – it was his pool.

She doesn’t know what to say; somehow, she doesn’t think I’m sorry is gonna cut it for this or anything else that’s happened over the last couple of months, and she’s not even completely sure what she’d be apologizing for in the first place. But she tries. 

“No, Steve, I didn’t mean it like –” He cuts in before she can even form half of a coherent sentence, rocking back on his feet.

“It’s fine, no big,” he exhales in a rush. “Anyway, I gotta go get Dustin before he blows, like, a year’s allowance trying to beat Max’s Centipede score. So. Uh, see you both around school, I guess.”

She thinks both she and Jonathan make some vague noises of agreement, but he’s already escaping down the hill to his car in fast, long steps. 

Out of the blue, she realizes that he must’ve shortened his stride for her when they were together. There’s no way she’d have been able to keep up, otherwise. 

(Funny, considering it always felt like he was the one who needed to catch up to her.)

If this had happened just two months ago, Nancy thinks, she would’ve been standing next to him during the service. Holding on to him, and matching (trying to match) his steps. Sliding into the front passenger seat of his car like she belonged there. Maybe he would’ve driven away with just one hand, keeping hers in the other – or maybe he would’ve given her a soft, lingering kiss to try to chase the day’s troubles away. 

It wouldn’t have worked, but she would’ve liked the feeling anyway. 

That was then, though. Now, she’s following Jonathan to his little clunker that starts as often as it doesn’t. And he can’t hold her hand, because he needs both to manage the wonky steering. 

But he’ll distract her by asking which tape she wants to listen to on the way back to his place, and when they get there he’ll hold her in silence until she feels like talking. And that – that works, too.

It’s not perfect. It won’t make the itching under her skin go away, and it won’t quell the constant urge she has to do and solve and act. But in its own way, it’ll feel as nice as soft kisses over the dashboard, and isn’t that enough? 

Nothing is perfect, which is a truth that sometimes it feels like Nancy is taking the most painful path possible toward learning. Life is, as it turns out, a series of compromises. Maybe the Hollands won’t ever learn how their daughter truly died, but then again, maybe the almost-truth is good enough. It serves the same purpose, regardless.

Nancy has made her choices. They’re not perfect, not even close, but they’re her own, and she’s happy with them. 

Happy enough.

[plainxte]

Rules: answer the questions below and then tag 9 people you want to get to know better/catch up with to do the same.

I was tagged by @guiltypleasurefandomface 😘 thank you so much! 💓

Last song: I think I was listening to Tori Amos's 'The Edge of the Moon' a few moments ago 🤔

Currently watching: hmm, I'm still unfortunately deep into thinking about IWTV so that, I suppose

Favourite colour: just one? Impossible! 😁 I'm in love with all the blues, the greens, and the yellows

Last movie: a re-rewatch of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (I should reread some of the books too, I know)

Currently reading: Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree. I've been a third of the way through Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders for a while...

Sweet, spicy or savoury: mmm, I'm mostly keen on salty things, so savoury it is

Relationship status: tired (sorry)

Current obsession: Queen, always, and unfortunately, my ancient fixation on the vampire Armand has got its fangs claws in me again at the moment

Last googled: (last DuckDuckGo-ed) online anagram solvers and checking the year that Another World was re-released - yes, it's only been two years but my mind's like a sieve

Currently working on: too many fic wips, and at least as many knitting wips 🫣 (maybe I can actually get some writing done this week? I'd love that)

I'm tagging @freddie-mercury-rising @idontknowhowthisworked @carrrothead-vol2 @i-am-just-a-skeleton @eileen-crys and @pumpkinlilyao3 (only if you want to, of course) and anyone who feels like it 😘

[bloodgulchblog]

Have you seen that YouTube video where some guy reads every Halo novel back to back and then reviews them? If so what did you think

The Brian David Gilbert one? Oh yeah, all my friends showed me it when it came out. (It was honestly kind of cute seeing how many people thought of me immediately.)

Rewatching it to refresh myself because it's been a couple years and a full-novel reread for me since the last time...

High fiving BDG because the Master Chief parts of The Flood were definitely the most boring parts.

He didn't have anything to say about First Strike which I think is a shame because I think it's better than The Fall of Reach and actually has A Theme I Find Interesting.

Rightful recognition of Contact Harvest as pretty damn good.

Rightful recognition of the Forerunner Trilogy as dense oldschool-style SF with deep worldbuilding. (Also the San'Shyuum thing.)

I disagree with him about, and have significant problems with, Kilo Five. He is correct that Kilo Five actually delves into some of the dark places in Halo in a way it really needed, and I would even say that its writing is extremely engaging by Halo novel standards. However, while he does notice the obvious parallels between what ONI is doing post-war and the kind of shit the CIA has pulled again and again irl, I think he misses some of the subtext I see where it feels like it justifies some shit a liiiiittle too much if you know the author's irl politics re: the military. He also doesn't seem to notice the character assassinations (particularly of Catherine Halsey) that I and a lot of other fans see/object to in those books. I kind of gaze into the middle distance with a haunted expression at the suggestion that these are the ones to read if you don't touch any of the others just because they are, ironically, so heavy-handed and feel like they treat certain kinds of evil as inevitable in a way that actually feels way worse to me than the excuse plot offered by the earlier/lighter Halo novels. (But idk, that's me? Nobody is committing a crime if they disagree with my frenzied insane person red string diagrams about Kilo Five.)

I'd swap Pariah for Dirt in the Evolutions anthology if it were me, but I think these are solid standouts.

Broken Circle is neat but really nonessential he's not wrong.

A one-sentence review of New Blood is probably not enough space to get into how fucked up the Spartan-IV program is, but yeah. New Blood is fun if you don't find Buck's first person narration annoying. (It comes and goes for me in that one.)

BDG you're an absolute sweetheart, I think Hunters in the Dark is kind of goofy in a way I cannot in good conscience ignore if I'm gonna review it. But it really really is so much fun and I love that one a lot anyway. The "it's like Halo 3... 2" observation is solid.

High fiving him again because I also found Last Light disappointing. And it is also a me problem.

Fractures!

Hell yeah these are all good pulls from Fractures, I would say Shadow of Intent is the pick of the litter in that anthology for me. Interesting that as a Kilo Five enjoyer he didn't single out Rossbach's World, which is the last we've heard about Osman and Black Box. (Also, that one is good.) I think Oasis is worth an honorable mention because I'm an Envoy stan, and the Forerunner stories are interesting but I wouldn't go for them if you don't already have a healthy interest in the trilogy.

This tangent is so fucking funny now that we know more things:

Oh BDG, oh buddy, it's really not for the people like you and me huh. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if BDG likes the Halo tv show or not and I have no desire to dig up evidence about it.)

Also, while you're here, this is the bloodgulchblog origin story:

Smoke and Shadow is fun so it's a little sad that when he ends that sentence with "whatever," I can't actually say he's wrong to. (Sorry Rion your part of the lore just.... hasn't... touched anything that touches anything else anymore.)

ENVOY IS GOOD AND EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT IT okay okay I'm cool I'm normal, anyway. Envoy is the Halo novel that restored my faith in reading Halo novels and reminded me that authors can care and know how to do nuanced, interesting themes in this space. It's great. Everyone in this book has war refugee trauma (except the Spartans which have Spartan trauma) and that's incredible to me. Please care about Envoy if you have spare room in your heart for Halo side characters.

I am cheered to see someone indifferent to the Veta Lopis stories, but I still feel petty for feeling it.

I don't have a lot to say about Legacy of Onyx here but it's always so fun seeing someone else suffer and care.

Bad Blood, the Blood is Bad now is a fun joke but lol yeah. It does have this very vital moment where Chief and Arbiter talk, though. For the first and only time in years.

PROPS FOR NOTICING THE YA NOVELS they're actually pretty nice.

"The Master Chief is the protagonist and boy does he shoot some people" is most of how I feel about Silent Storm and Oblivion too, I know they have their fans but Troy Denning's Chief books don't do much for me personally.

Renegades hadn't had its followup Point of Light yet but yeah, Spark stuff is interesting.

I had to remember that oh yeah, there are multiple books now that didn't exist when this was made. I wonder if he read them?

OKAY I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAD TO SAY as always if y'all want specific book opinions, I might have a tag for them. Or just yell in my ask box, I'm sure I can scrounge up some thoughts.