#the ficlet at the end is hella long this time...

[elefishwrites]

poly twisted! angrybeauty (shrimpo x glisten) x reader :3

:0 this fish just got his first poly request!! let's go!

shrimpo's got a really great twisted design, glisten too! i just love the way twisted shrimpo moves it's really creepy

i enjoy running circles around glisten significantly more than that shrimp though... pebble things ☆

"despite everything..." ★ twisted angrybeauty x GN reader hcs

pairing ❥ twisted shrimpo x reader x twisted glisten

relationship ❥ romantic

reader's gender is not mentioned!

dividers made by @/saradika-graphics ⊹₊⟡⋆

♡ How did you- How did you manage this??

♡ Two of the most volatile twisteds, and you're all in a relationship with each other-?!!

♡ Well, either way, you're in it now! Have fun!

♡ Shrimpo's basically a guard dog. He's very protective and will literally growl at anything he percieves as a threat

♡ Which is... A lot of things. He's somehow gotten even more angry because of being turned, and it's resulted in a very thin line between friend and foe for him.

♡ He will and has attacked things that aren't even alive, purely because they looked threatening.

♡ You and Glisten end up having to calm him down a lot...

♡ Which is a feat all its own, because the poor shrimp is almost always enraged thanks to how the ichor's corrupted his mind

♡ Both of them are glued to your side pretty much constantly. In Shrimpo's case, it's because he wants to protect you, and in Glisten's case, he's afraid you won't come back if he lets you out of his sight.

♡ Speaking of, you have to reassure Glisten a lot. He's very insecure about his current state, and there's a constant fear in the back of his mind that you, or worse, both you and Shrimpo will get tired of him and try to leave.

♡ Shrimpo was cuddly before being turned, and even more so now. The ichor's made him a bit more prone towards his base instincts, so there's none of the embarassment that would've stopped him before. He's the same touch-starved shrimp he's always been, despite everything.

♡ Glisten's also physically affectionate, but in the sense of just wanting to be near you and hold hands as you walk together. Being able to touch you and know you're there with him is comforting.

♡ Which sometimes ends up in cuddle piles where you're all snuggled up together in some isolated corner away from everything, away from the machines, away from any other twisteds on the floor...

♡ Glisten loves it. It makes him feel secure, which is rare for him. It's also a chance to see Shrimpo completely pacified for once, which is rare as well.

♡ ...There's ichor all over you. It'd be easy to mistake you for a twisted if it weren't for your eyes still being normal. Both of them have large patches of ichor on them that leak everywhere and get on you whenever you're in close proximity to them.

♡ It doesn't help that both of their hands are constantly covered in the stuff...

♡ You need to get accustomed to the feeling of ichor on you very quickly if you want to be with these two!

♡ Despite their respective current situations, they care for you a lot. Just existing as a twisted can be incredibly painful physically and emotionally, but you help make it just that bit more bearable for them! They appreciate you in their own ways, and they're grateful to have you by their side.

Footsteps echoed off the empty walls of Gardenview, the sound loud in the overwhelming silence that usually filled its hallways.

The source, you and your boyfriend, searched the corridors carefully.

Once again, Shrimpo had gotten aggressive with one of the other twisteds roaming the floor you had been exploring, and ran off after them.

So, as his very caring partners, it was up to you to figure out where he had gone, which had led you deep into the winding passageways of the floor, much deeper than any of you had intended to go.

Glisten held your hand tight, the other hanging limply in front of what remained of his stomach.

His eyes darted around, keeping a careful watch on every little patch of shadow within his range.

You, on the other hand, were trained to look for any flash of that shrimp. It was literally impossible to miss him, considering he was still Shrimpo and essentially allergic to the concept of stealth.

"Oh, [Name]... I don't like this." Glisten spoke softly, worry seeping through his tone. "What if something happened to him? You know how Shrimpo is..."

You turned to look at him, uttering a gentle assurance that your beloved partner would be fine, just like he always was, and that you'd find him soon enough.

He met your eyes, and you two held each others gaze for a moment before he nodded. "Right, yes. He'll be alright. Thank you..."

You offered him a smile, and with that, you set off on your search once again.

You two looked up and down the halls, behind every piece of cover, and even returned to a couple of places you had checked beforehand in the hope he had wandered into them while you were away, yet no such luck.

It was beginning to worry both of you; this was the longest yet it had taken to find him, even on the roomier floors.

Until Glisten paused suddenly. You stopped as well, asking him why he had done so.

"Look," He said, raising his free hand shakily to point. "There's... A trail of ichor..."

You directed your gaze at where he was pointing, met with a long smear of ichor that began a few feet in front of you. It seemed somewhat recent, as you could still see the light shimmering off of its wet surface.

You pointed out that it could have been left by Finn, although you hadn't seen him on this floor up till now, but the mirror simply shook his head. "No, it's too wide to have been left by him... He doesn't seem to be on this floor, either. Which means..."

It may have been left by Shrimpo. You were both thinking it.

You nodded, taking a deep breath before beginning to cautiously follow along the path, lead by the remains of the dark liquid.

It wound through the halls, taking a few turns and seeming to have lightly pooled in some places. You even happened upon the unconscious body of the twisted he had gone after at the start of the floor at one point, the shrimp clearly having beat them until they passed out. Ouch...

The trail tapered out into small droplets left behind from the remnants of the beatdown as it continued, slowly growing less frequent, before finally drying up altogether near the broken elevator.

Letting out a sigh, your gaze fell upon the end of the track, and as you turned to face Glisten, you saw it.

A flash of an ichor-stained shrimp tail.

It was your turn to point now, quickly shouting that you saw Shrimpo before sprinting in the direction you'd caught sight of him, dragging Glisten with you.

There he was. It didn't take long for the shrimp to take notice of you two, your footsteps thudding loudly against the floor as you ran. He appeared mostly unharmed, the only evidence he had attacked someone at all being a few extra splashes of ichor on his shirt.

Glisten sped ahead of you, and it was your turn to be dragged along.

He called the other's name, letting go of your hand to meet him with a tight hug. You caught up soon after, being invited swiftly into both of their embrace.

Shrimpo warbled something you couldn't make out, but what remained of his voice was clearly filled with something like joy.

"Oh, Shrimpo, we were so worried for you..." Whined the mirror, to which you voiced agreement. "Please, stop running off like that!"

The shrimp in question simply let out a huff. Obviously, he thought he was in the right for going after that other twisted earlier... Of course he did. Classic Shrimpo.

He was a lot sometimes, but moments like these where you three were happy and content together made it all worth it.

You love each other, and that's all that matters.

[ink-and-dagger]

Was rereading DWM and I have to wonder. As well as things were going, how long would it have taken Silco and Astrid to get to where they are at the end of the series if Marcus had never stuck his stupid nose into things? It seemed like Sil was getting pretty damn close already and just set himself back.

ooooohohoho now that's a hella interesting question.

See the thing with these two is that their fear of intimacy is so deeply rooted [particularly in Silco] that I can't see them ever arriving at where they are today organically without a bit of angst to kick them up the ass first. Even if things were seemingly going well, they probably would have been skirting around the topic of feelings and commitment until something dramatic forced them to face the reality.

Marcus was just the first domino in a chain of angst. Remove him, and there'd be another domino waiting just behind.

However, I've had a good think about how I might have hurt you all had Marcus not been my pawn of choice. I hope you don't mind bullet points/script as opposed to a fully written piece.

[TBH I might start doing more of these for Astro because they're a lot more achievable, and there are a lot of requests I want to fulfil but don't have the time/focus/drive to transform them into full ficlets]

Warning: angst ahead

DRINK WITH ME: The 'If-Astrid-had-never-slept-with-Marcus' AU

Starting at Chapter 14. She would've taken up Silco and Marcus' drinks without issue. Probably would've thrown the kingpin a cheeky-sneaky wink as she was leaving.

Marcus might've still attempted to chat her up after his meeting. Depends how brave he was feeling that day. If he did try then Astrid would've been like 'lmfao get your nasty tash and your big man tiddies outta here'.

She would have gone back upstairs to Silco's office at the end of her shift, as per the original plan from their corridor make-out sesh.

Astrid: "I believe you wanted to see me, Sir?" Silco: "Indeed. It has come to my attention that you have engaged in sexual misconduct during work hours on no less than two separate occasions. Is this true? " Astrid: "If it were true... does this mean I'd be in trouble?" Silco: "Yes." Astrid: “And would I be punished?" Silco: "Thoroughly." Astrid: "In that case, Sir... It brings me no pleasure to admit that I have, indeed, been extremely badly behaved. " Silco: "Well then… as your employer I feel it necessary to teach you a stern lesson. Come here."

They begin to get hot and heavy in Silco's chair. Astrid actually manages to get his tie off and his shirt open this time [at least the buttons above his vest] before he snaps back to himself and distracts her by pushing her back onto the desk and pinning her wrists beside her head.

Things continue to heat, and Astrid believes that they might actually be about to sleep together face-to-face for the first time. Until Silco flips her over onto her front, and suddenly goes dead still.

Silco: "What..."

His fingers skim lightly over the new tattoo on Astrid's backside; two roses, to match the ones on his hips. She peers over her shoulder and grins.

Astrid: "Surprised? Figured it was gonna get annoying if you kept laughing at the pig—" Silco: "Why did you do this?" Astrid: [Laughs nervously. Confused] "I— Silco?" Silco: [harsh] "Why did you do this?" Astrid: [small] "...Because I thought you'd like it."

Silco simply stares. Astrid feels mortified.

Astrid: "I can see that I was wrong."

She slips off the desk and begins hurriedly redressing whilst Silco remains frozen. She attempts to leave with a tightly mumbled "My mistake", but he catches her at the door, spinning her around and pinning her against the wood, suddenly seething. He gets in her face and they begin an intense and passionate argument.

S: "Why did you do this?" A: "I told you why." S: "Don't lie to me—" A: "How dare you—" S: "Tell me the truth—" A: "I am telling the—" S: "Why did you do this?" A: "I don't know okay!? It was a stupid idea—" S: "Why did you do this?" A: "I don't know—" S: "Tell me why." A: [on the verge of tears] "Stop, Silco, please don't—" S: "Tell me why." A: "You know why—" S: "TELL ME—" A: "Because I'm in love with you!"

Silco looks as though he's been struck by a freight train. Eyes wide, mouth slack, gaze flashing rapidly with too many emotions to keep track of or even name.

The silence stretches agonisingly. Astrid finds herself unable to even breathe. She feels her world begin to crumble around her.

A tear finally rolls over her lashes and tracks down her cheek, and the sight of it ignites something in Silco.

He surges forward, crushing his lips to hers in hard kiss that's as messy as it is desperate.

And for a short slice of time, everything feels right. Locked in a passionate embrace, pressing so close it's as though they're trying to fuse themselves together.

Until Astrid whispers his name against his mouth in blissful devotion.

Silco breaks the kiss and turns his face away, but not before she sees how broken his expression is.

He bows his head low, and speaks tightly. Barely audible.

Silco: "I can't do this." Astrid: "...Can't do wh— Silco?" Silco: "Get out."

Astrid is struck speechless. Lungs little more than a vacuum. Silco raises his head slowly, and she's met with the coldest expression she has ever seen.

Silco: "Get. Out."

He pushes off the door and stalks back towards his desk. Leans his hands on the surface with his back towards Astrid.

Her vision tunnels. Legs locked in place and mind empty. She shakes her head in a daze.

Astrid: [breathless whisper] "I don't underst—" Silco: "You're fired."

Her heart breaks.

Astrid: "Silco—"

He spins, launching a crystal tumbler at the wall a few feet to the side of the door. It explodes in a rainfall of broken glass and breaks Astrid from her daze.

Silco: "GET OUT."

Astrid runs, terrified. And Silco trashes his office in a heartbroken rage.

[lululawrence]

lululawrence's June 2022 Fic List

Previous Fic Lists / Lulu’s List Podcast Masterpost

June was a rough month for me and because of that I apparently took to reading. A LOT. I was able to finish 19 fics/series this month, and there are some hella high word counts in here, but I hope that doesn't scare you off, because they're amazing as well. Always a fan of variety, there are also some really great ficlets in here too, so if you aren't someone who can read long fics, that's fine. I promise I've got some in here for you too! I'm afraid I used a lot of the same phrases to explain how very much I enjoyed all of these fics, but they truly were all such fantastic reads, so I hope you find some in here that you will also be able to read and enjoy!

My podcast for this month is now available!. I love getting to rave about these great fics to all of you, and I hope you enjoy listening as well.

As always, be sure to show your love and appreciation for all of the hard work our fandom authors have put into their fics with kudos, nice comments, and (when applicable) reblogging their fic posts!

The Risen series by @creamcoffeelou / creamcoffeelou (20k, E, Harry/Louis, A/B/O dynamics, alpha Louis, omega Harry, Cult AU, journalist Harry, cult leader Louis, dark fic, dark Louis, 1970s, a LOT of potentially triggering topics and content so please check the tags and keep yourself safe!, suuuuper dark and kinda creepy and just not okay shit happening here, but if exploring those kinds of things is of interest then defo check this series out, it's so fucking fascinating and yet shudder inducing at the same time hah)

Darling, so it goes by @disgruntledkittenface / disgruntledkittenface (195k, E, Harry/Louis, Big Bang fic, Grace Kelly AU, Harry is Grace Kelly hehe, Royalty, famous/famous, Prince Louis, actor Harry, this fic takes us from their first meeting all through their flirting and getting to know each other to dating, engagement, wedding, and even some of their marriage, and it is EPIC AND WONDERFUL, it isn't all sunshine and daisies, and the way the growth of their relationship and the way they handled everything thrown at them, it was just incredible, it was so good i cannot rave enough holy cow)

an honest mistake by @disgruntledkittenface / disgruntledkittenface (2k, NR, Harry/Louis, meet ugly, hahahaha, pining, i guess? lol, can it be pining in a ficlet like this?, it is though i think it fits as a descriptor, fluff, flirting, humor, banter, this fic is so funny and cute and it is just such a fun fic i love it, i actually listened to this as an episode of @fanficfanaticpodcast and it had me legit giggling as i listened, it was so much fun)

dark blue by @larrieblr / safetyfilm (6k, T, Gen - OT4 friendship, canon divergent, apocalyptic au, dystopian au, crack fic, this fic is so difficult to summarize lmao, based on What a Feeling, Song Fic, Dreams, like the world starts falling apart and it's all one direction's fault because of the song, it's so fucking hilarious and just so weird, i LOVE it lolllll)

Choo-Choose Me by @ladyaj-13 / LadyAJ_13 (4k, G, Liam/Louis, train conductor Louis, commuter Liam, meet cute, crushes, kissing, this fic is just so fluffy and cute omg i love it, and it almost entirely takes place on the train, hehehe i love the premise of it all and the way it ends so perfectly)

The Greatest Thing by @infinitelymint / infinitelymint (164k, E, Harry/Louis, canon divergent, accidental marriage, fake marriage, friends to enemies to husbands to friends to lovers, lmaoooo, for real though that is basically their journey?, angst, so much angst and pain, and then so much healing, it's so soft and gentle and self indulgent for like ALL of us i think, there's so much cuddling and love and growth and working through the hard stuff, it's so wonderful i adore this fic so very much)

The Grundy County Auction Incident by @haztobegood / haztobegood (4k, T, Nick/Harry/Louis, based on a tiktok, kinda lollll, country fic, polyamory, frame narrative, established relationship, retelling of how they got together essentially, this is such a cute fic, it's everything i could have dreamed of the prompt becoming with this pairing, i'm so so so happy Jinny took this where she did cause i just threw the video into the chat and screamed and then magic, so fucking good)

Remember Me Before You by @kingsofeverything / kingsofeverything (294k, E, Harry/Louis, there's a lot of Zayn/Niall in there too but they're just a very prominent side pairing lol, New Girl AU, Harry is Jess, Louis is Nick, Niall is Schmidt, Liam as Winston, Zayn as Cece, teacher Harry, bartender Louis, writer Louis, roommates, friends to lovers, slow burn, like something like 200k of SLOW burn lol, humor, omg the insane humor, this reads like a 300k crack fic with feelings, it's amazing i just, how do you summarize 300k?!?!?, anyway it's fucking fantastic so worth your time)

New York Kiss by @quelsentiment / wordsnnotes (47k, M, Zayn/Louis, famous/non famous, kinda haha it's complicated, actor Louis, writer Zayn, meet ugly, hurt/comfort, pining, COVID, quarantine, miscommunication, angst with a happy ending, fluff, also other potentially triggering topics so please read the tags, this fic is beautiful and deep and so completely filled with emotion, the way that music is so deeply a part of Zayn is so gorgeous, his friendship with Harry is so cool to see in their distanced way thanks to COVID, but the ziam friendship and ziall friendship is just beautifully done and so palpable, i love and adore it so very much)

now you're in my life (I can't get you off my mind) by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed / we_are_the_same (34k, M, Harry/Louis, A/B/O dynamics, omega Harry, alpha Louis, ace Harry, sex repulsed Harry, internalized acephobia, lirry friendship (and roommates), Uni AU, meet cute, pining, flirting, self acceptance, GAH you guys i pre-read this and for many reasons i'm probably biased, but this fic is just SO GOOD OKAY OMG, the ace rep is so good, and seeing it in this particular way in an a/b/o world is so cool)

We Might'a Took the Long Way by @evilovesyou / 4ureyesonly28 (8k, G, Harry/Louis, based on a tiktok, gallery owner Harry, artist Louis, art teacher Louis, artist Zayn, chef Niall, angst with a happy ending, no smut, this is just SUCH a great fic, it is the perfect length to give you some excitement, then the pain, and then the hard work the character has to put in in order to fix it, and i LOVE it)

Follow Your Arrow by @ladyaj-13 / LadyAJ_13 (36k, T, Harry/Louis, Big Bang fic, canon divergent, A/B/O dynamics, fake alpha Louis, secret omega Louis, leader of the pack Louis, the rest of the band knows he's omega, but no one else does, and OMG, Harry presenting throws everything off and it's SO FUCKING GOOD Y'ALL OMG, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort, touch deprivation, depri, dropping, nesting, self discovery, pining, gahhhhh listen, lady aj might say this fic was incredibly self indulgent, but it felt like it indulged every single thing i love about a/b/o possibilities and the secret omega trope, GAHHHHHH so fucking good i know i keep saying that this month but it was jam packed with fucking amazing reads)

let me show you by @larrieblr / safetyfilm (1.5k, T, Harry/Louis, questioning sexuality, never have i ever (the game, not the show lol), recreational alcohol/drug usage, a lot of internal monologue, this fic is so pure and sweet i just really loved it, it was part of the @podfic-pals pride episode too so you should defo listen)

Baby, Don’t Apologize by @neondiamond / Neondiamond (2k, T, Harry/Louis, A/B/O dynamics, alpha Louis, omega Harry, ace Harry, insecure Harry, established relationship, fluff, so much fluff and gentleness and love, it was so beautiful, but also it hit a little close to home in some ways so it was also hard to listen to at times for me personally, in other words it was really spot fucking on regarding the ace representation so SUPER pleased with that haha, it was just so so good and so filled with love, i adored it, it was also a part of the pride episode like the previous fic so yessss hehe)

Crawling on Your Shores by @juliusschmidt / juliusschmidt (67k, E, Liam/Harry, mechanic Liam, small town USA, OT4 friendship, Liam is a bit lost in a lot of ways, self discovery, extreme winter, that's a tag used by the author and it made me snort because yes this is very true lol, lots of discussion and thinking focused on mental illness and UFOs and suicide, lots of concern over death/disappearance of a loved one that happened prior to the fic starting, angst, pining, this fic is incredibly heavy tbh, but it is so beautiful as well, secret relationship, as Alex says "A Vast Universe of Uncertainty and Ambiguity" and that is a hell of a way to put it, very accurate hahaha, angst with a happy ending, there's just, this fic is a lot and so please be careful but it is STELLAR as well so just please consider reading it, it's incredible)

True as it Can Be by @beelou / cherrylarry (12k, G, Harry/Louis, Beauty and the Beast AU, girl direction, Harry is Belle, Louis is the Beast, they are both girls but the rest of one direction are boys, Liam is Lumiere, Niall is Cogsworth, and Zayn is the duster that Lumiere is into in the movie hahahaha, does she have a name?, anyway, so this is historical setting wise, and involves all the wonderful things that fairy tale does, it's a fun amalgamation of the animated and live action disney movies, and i just ADORED this fic)

Something About Liminal Spaces by @kingsofeverything / kingsofeverything (34k, E, Harry/Louis, Soulmates Abroad fic, set in New Zealand, writer Louis, older Louis, silver fox Louis, age difference, younger Harry, soulmates, soulmarks, slow burn, divorced Louis, hurt/comfort in a way for sure, this fic is so so beautiful and it's like, well i told lauren it was like she wrote it for me lmao, it has so many of my favorite things in it, and i devoured it in one night so it was clearly a fic i loved and needed right then, i just omg i really really love this fic so much)

Only by @allwaswell16 / allwaswell16 (34k, E, Harry/Louis, Soulmates Abroad fic, set in Tristan da Cunha, famous/non-famous, royalty au, soulmates, enemies to lovers is a bit extreme but maybe dislike to lovers lol, Prince Harry, post office/tourism worker Louis, musician Louis, falling in love, misunderstandings, friendship, first time, this fic is really really sweet and i loved the way everything was navigated considering how they were kind of unexpectedly thrown into the situation they were, on the most remote island in the world, lollll, it was so good, i was sad when it ended and accidentally yelled in my comment, sorry anitra i love you lol)

Like it was at the start by @quelsentiment / wordsnnotes (15k, T, Gen - Liam & Louis friendship, Soulmates Abroad, set at Lake Louise Canada, best friends Liam and Louis, soulmates Liam and Louis, platonic soulmates, aroace Liam, platonic love, first kiss, growing up together, coming out, this fic is such a cool exploration of a concept i hadn't really considered, which was aroace characters in soulmate pairings, and i just loved the way it was all handled and the complexity of the emotions involved, it was beautiful)

[ladymdc]

MC’s 2022 writer’s wrap

I’ve slowed down a lot last year writing wise. There was a lot working against me in ‘22, so that didn’t help, but this also might be the last time I can do one of these unless something awakens my muse/hella inspires me— so here we are ♥️

Words written: 45,980. This translates into 6 one shots/ficlets, a solitary Empire update, 3 small multi chapter fics finished, & a handful of drabbles— all Rhack lol. 

New things I tried: There were a few ideas outside my comfort zone, but collab’ing with friends is always welcome & gave me the inspiration & support to try. I also wrote a couple of works that deviated from my usual style preferences & they ended up being a series of vignettes to tell the story/more prose heavy (for me). 

Fic I spent the most time on: This would be the dark!Rhys, dubcon work I bet you didn’t know that I was dangerous. This was one of those outside of my comfort zone fics, & it took me as long as it did because I was horrendously blocked when I started it. That said, this work did help pull me out of it & I’m sure a lot can be contributed to my collab partner for that too ♥️

Fic I spent the least time on: Can I have a kiss? This was an OPT cold/flu prompt I picked up to shake the muse into action. Like I said, I slowed down a lot this year, & I just self indulgently cranked out this sick fic & liked it enough to share. 

Favorite thing I wrote: I’m pretty happy with most of what I’ve written this year. 80% of it was a collab or a gift & I love writing with/for people— & honestly that makes it difficult to narrow down because all of those works were a very bright spot in my dimming writing journey this year. But… if I’m picking a favorite it’s the collab with Ivan, a hurt/comfort, Rhys gets kidnapped & rescued by Jack fic: Please say you love me just the way I am. Runners up is mer!Jack & parent/teacher au ♥️

Favorite thing I read: I don’t usually beta unless I know the author just because anxiety is a bitch. But I agreed to help someone because I trust my friend’s judgment on people & I ended up binge reading their fic in a day. It’s been a hot minute since that’s happened, but it’s Vault of the Leviathan (a little mermaid inspired rhack AU). Much good, did enjoy— do recommend.

Writing goals for next year/new year’s resolution: Be kinder to myself. I’ve got a lot of works behind me, ones I really cherish & am proud of, & I should enjoy that & not self pressure/feel guilt for not writing more or faster. With that in mind, I want to finish 1 or 2 of my long fics (Rhack or past fandoms) & if my muse allows it, write a spiritual successor to one of my personal fav works for whumptober. 

[pikemoreno]

lucky

pairing: marcus moreno x gn!reader

request: from @chibi-liz05​ “Can I request a Marcus Moreno fic (or ficlet, or drabble) where either Marcus or reader gets hurt (not seriously hurt) and end up in a med bay, kinda woozy from pain meds and they have a funny and/or cute conversation when the other one goes to check on the one hurt? Please.”

warnings: mentions of blood, injuries, death. it starts out pretty darn angsty, but gets silly and fluffy i promise. these two are hella married.

word count: 2.7k

a/n: honestly this is nothing like you asked for until the end? but this lil drabble idea inspired this whole one shot so i hope you enjoy what you helped my brain create? i loved this, needless to say.

i love this himbo and i’m so happy to write for him.

And thank you for the medical advice to @disgruntledspacedad! Thanks for helping me choose the right drug! 😆

wanna join a taglist? | masterlist

This was Marcus’s least favorite part of his job. 

As the newly deemed Director of the Heroics, he was the one to decide who went out on what mission when and with who. Normally it wasn’t too tall of an order. After all, he was chosen as director for good reason. He was perfect for the job. He was smart, organized, resourceful, and tried in everything to understand people-- whether that be in their personal habits or in their superpowered strengths. He was often commended for his ability to form the perfect teams for whatever job arose; and it came pretty naturally, it really did. 

That is, until emotion got involved, until personal bias compromised his decision making.

He was determined to not let you go on the mission, absolutely not. The band of powered individuals the team was going after were incredibly dangerous and unpredictable.They’d been a problem for months and this mission was all or nothing. The high stakes and vulnerable position made him incredibly reluctant to make you a part of the team that was heading out under the cover of night to apprehend them. When he didn’t name you among them, he was immediately countered by the rest of the heroes in the room about the choice. 

By all the accounts they were right. Given the tactics of the mission at hand, your teleportation abilities were perfect for the job. And if he was being even a little more honest, he’d agree with Miracle Guy that not sending you with them was a “disservice to the team.” It was and he knew it. In a very un-Marcus Moreno move, he was making the completely wrong choice and he wasn’t going to let the sound judgement of anyone else change his mind.

“Psion is not going and that is final,” he boomed. The room became deathly silent. “Now, go get ready. You leave in 20.” But no one moved, no one could. They were glued to the floor, watching their unflappable leader become uncharacteristically flapped. 

Marcus was the one to stomp out of the room first and you followed him without hesitation.

“Marcus,” you called, nearly running to keep up with long strides. “Marcus!” 

He didn’t even deign to turn around.

In a blink you were now in front of Marcus, hands out to stop him from continuing on without talking to you.

“No teleporting outside of work, Psion” he snapped lowly, but he still obliged your silent request and remained in front of you. You blinked at the small outburst.

“Mind losing the ‘tude so we can talk like adults?” You countered. Marcus lowered his head and whispered an apology. At that you stepped closer to him, your hands coming to rest on his tense shoulders in a soothing manner. “What’s bothering you, love? You know you can talk to me. This isn’t like you at all.”

When his eyes met yours again they were pained.

“It’s too dangerous,” was all he could get out at the moment. His exhale was unsteady as he leaned in, his forehead meeting yours in a much more “Marcus” gesture that brought you both back down to earth.

You sighed, fingers carding through the short hairs at the nape of his neck. “Of course it is. It always is.”

“Not like this,” he countered, biting his lip. “These guys are no joke.”

“Neither am I,” you grinned, tapping his nose with your own before pulling back to look at his face in full. He laughed a little, but it wasn’t whole-hearted, you saw it in his eyes.

“And I trust you. I do. I know you’re capable. I just--”

“Worry?” 

“Yeah, that.” His eyebrows were furrowed. You softly ran a thumb across the harsh lines it made, smoothing them and making him smile.

“I’m not going to lie to you and say nothing is going to happen. Because it might.” He winced at the words, not wanting to think too hard on what “it” could be. “But I’m prepared and so is the rest of the team. We’re gonna watch each other’s backs like we always do and getting everyone out safely is going to be our priority over completing the mission. It’s going to be business as usual and it’s going to be OK. I’m going to be OK. You’ve gotta let me go. They need me out there tonight.”

“I know,” he sighed. “Just… Be careful. Be ready in 10.” You sighed in relief.

“Thank you, Marcus.” You kissed him. “It’s gonna be fine.” He kissed you. “We’ve got ‘em this time. I know it.” One last kiss, strong and lingering. You tilted your head, an invitation-- no, a plead-- for a deeper kiss, which he obliged before being the one to break it. 

“Go,” he murmured, “Or you won’t make it before they leave.” You nodded, taking a deep breath. “Be careful. I love you.”

“I love you too.” You smiled through the sudden onset of nerves before turning and walking down the hallway to join up with the rest of the team.

***

That had been hours ago. Now Marcus was in command with a skeleton crew, the late hours of the assignment sending most of the support and technical team home. He quickly decided that was probably for the best. The sweet little interns did not need to see their mentor so stressed and antsy. No, he had to be “on” for them, he had to be the Marcus Moreno. And he couldn’t be that right now. Right now he was an anxious husband and teammate. 

“Where are they now, Connie?” he asked the poor woman at the comms desk behind him for the upteenth time that hour.

“Trackers say they’re still in the hanger, sir. Last update was that they had the grunts and were waiting for the ring leader to respond to their distress call.”

He wasn’t responding. It’d been two hours. And that was a major cause for concern.

“Tell them to just bring who they have back here and we’ll keep searching for him. This is still a win as far as I’m concerned.”

The man who was on comms moved to press the talk button to speak to the team, but the comm crackled to life before he had the opportunity. 

“It’s an ambush!” Miracle Guy yelled from the other side, “We’re sitting ducks out here!”

Marcus’ heart dropped into his stomach. 

“Go! Go! Get back to the-” He heard your panicked voice call out, the sentence interrupted by a cry of pain. 

The room spun. Marcus knew he was yelling but he couldn’t hear a word of what he said. It all just sounded like white noise now, mixing with the jumbled thoughts in his head and the ringing in his ears. He must’ve said something right though, because everyone was working. One was arranging a rescue, one was calling out the vitals of the team via the trackers on their wrists-- everything seemed fine by the tone of voice, but Marcus couldn’t be sure. He couldn’t grasp a word that was said to him. He was totally on autopilot, only able to respond in vague nods of yes or no. 

“Hey,” one voice next to him cut through the fog and he looked up to Lucas, the man who ran comms, “They’re going to be ok.”

Marcus’s response was non-committal, not wanting to pull the young man down to share his current state of mind, but not allowing himself to share in his confident optimism either.

The next hour went by in a whirlwind and the next thing he knew, Marcus was downstairs in the medical wing waiting on you and your team to arrive. He’d been in this position before and the thought of it made his throat close up. The images flashed through his mind of a gurney and too much blood and a confused little girl and black clothing on a rainy day in April. 

He closed his eyes harder as if to block it all out. 

No, it couldn’t be like last time.

It was then that he heard the distinct sound of the sliding doors opening and the murmur of a small group of people. His eyes shot open and, though he stood to his feet, he felt that he could collapse in relief. There was no gurney. Minimal blood-- just a couple of cuts on your face. You were hobbling in, arm around Miracle Guy as he helped you keep pressure off of your left leg. Your face was pained, which probably should have concerned him more, but he was just too happy to see you upright… Breathing. As long as he had that, you could get through anything else together. 

He watched as the medical team surrounded all of you, asking questions, prodding delicately at injuries. Marcus could vaguely hear your voice cutting in and out through it all. 

“Super strength… Kicked… Broken.” 

They had asked you a couple more unheard questions that you responded to in a simple yes or no and then they were leading you to sit on one of the beds. He watched as you went, noticing the way you were looking around for… Something.

Oh.

He smiled.

You were looking for him.

In all his panic and then relief, it hadn’t occurred to him that you would want to see him just as badly in your current state. His heart warmed at the way your tired eyes lit up when they met his. He all but ran to you. 

“Hey baby,” he cooed, leaning in to capture your lips in a deep kiss. He’d never been more in awe of you, that you were real, that way you were his, that he could kiss you freely. When he pulled away he observed your injuries closer. Head wounds were always scary amounts of bloody, but he could see that all of the cuts were minor. He brushed a strand of hair away from where sweat and blood had plastered it to your forehead. “What happened? How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” you hissed as a stab of pain surged through your leg. He looked down to observe it. His immediate diagnosis wasn’t a good one. It was terribly hard to break a femur, but he was certain this was exactly what it would look and feel like. “Some super-strength asshole kicked me in the thigh to knock me down and--” You winced again. “They think she broke my femur, and I would have to agree.”

“I have to say I’m thinking that too,” he sighed. “I’m so sorry.” He kissed your forehead in between the cuts.

“What are you sorry for? You’re the one that tried to keep me from going. I forced you to let me go.”

“I should’ve stood my ground and had you and the team be mad at me,” he said completely seriously. 

“You’re ridiculous.” You side-eyed him, but smiled through the words. One of the medical staff returned at that moment, bringing over supplies to clean your cuts and asking if you’d like something for the pain while they got prepped for surgery. You nodded eagerly. 

“I’ll take this over,” Marcus said, hands open to take the first aid kit, “If you want to go get that?”

“Oh, sir I couldn’t ask you to--” The young woman gawked, slightly unbelieving that her boss’s boss’s boss would volunteer to do her job.

“You’re not asking me, I’m asking you.”

“A-- Yes, right away.” She handed him the kit and seemed to flee his presence to get an IV ready. You sat in silence a few moments as he prepared everything. He seemed lost, even in this small task. It took him longer than it should’ve to get his ducks in a row.

“Someone’s a little edgy,” you prodded, watching as too-intense eyes focused on cleaning dried blood from your forehead. He shook his head, eyes softening, but maintaining their focus. The whole endeavor was very clearly an attempt at keeping his hands as busy as his mind was. 

“I’d thought I‘d lost you. I thought...” His jaw tightened-- and it wasn’t due to the effort of wiping up blood. You stopped his hand from continuing its ministrations, lacing your fingers together.

“That it was all happening again?” you whispered. 

“It was like deja vu, baby. Everything was just like before.” The last word almost came out like a whimper. 

“But it’s not. I’m right here. I’m ok.” You brought your forehead to meet his comfortingly. The cuts stung just a little at the touch, but you remained there with him, feeling a deep, grounding breath fan lightly across your face.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

You kissed his nose and pulled away as you heard the medic return with the Versed for the pain. Marcus stayed right by your side as you were put on the IV, a hand staying firmly on yours. Which more for him than for you if he was honest. It brought him back to reality and out of his head. He no longer had to imagine the worst, because the best had happened. You were really there. It wasn’t a repeat of the aching horror of seven years before, the day that still had you shaking him awake from unspoken nightmares. You’d made it home to him and Missy-- but he was going to be hard-pressed to go against his better judgment again, no matter how much the team needed you.

“Alright, you’ll start to feel it in just a few seconds. We’ll be back soon to take you into surgery, ok?” the medic explained to you as the IV was in place. You nodded. 

“In the meantime, let me keep working on this,” Marcus gestured to the bandages in the kit. As he got to work, he watched the look in your eyes totally change, the Versed taking effect. 

“Are you alright?” he asked, covering the cut that just barely grazed your right eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’m good,” you sighed dreamily in a total demeanor change. The whole room lit up in his eyes. Marcus grinned at the way your posture slumped just slightly in relaxation. “And how are you?” you winked. Oh, this was going to be fun. He really needed to keep you talking.

“I’m doing great. Happy to be here with you, sweetheart. Now, sit still while I take care of this last cut,” he cooed. 

“Ok,” you giggled. “What a charmer.” 

“I try my best, darling.” He played along, enjoying the way the Versed had turned you into a starstruck girl with a crush.

“Oh noooo,” you squeaked suddenly.Marcus panicked, checking you over quickly for further injury. 

“What is it? Are you ok?” 

But you only grabbed his left hand, holding it up.

“You’re married!” 

Marcus blinked. What was in that stuff they’d given you? You put your face in your hands and Marcus tried to contain his laughter at the way your voice was muffled by your fingers. “You’ve been so nice and caring! I wanted to ask you on a dateeee. I’m so sorry if I came on too strong.”

“Baby,” he called with a sweet lilt to his voice-- still trying to hold in a laugh. 

“You shouldn’t call me that,” you sighed sadly, pouting, “You’re married. We can’t be together.” 

“Of course I’m married,” he held your left hand up now, “I’m married to you, you goof.” You blinked at the silvery ring on your finger. 

“Oh!” you practically yelled, “That’s so cool!” Marcus’ heart warmed at the way your eyes lit up at the realization. Even drugged out of your mind you were excited to be with him. He couldn’t help but feel likewise.

“I agree,” he smiled, “It’s very cool.” He intertwined his fingers and yours. 

“I’m so lucky,” you grinned toothily in response. It was so unlike the smiles you usually gave him: too exaggerated and, in a word, dopey. But it held the same affection. 

“No, I’m definitely the lucky one,” he countered. Your grin faltered slightly as you grew sleepy-- another possible effect of the Versed, he guessed. “Now, go ahead and lay back for me ok? I’ll see you as soon as you’re out of surgery.” You nodded in agreement and then right off to sleep.

Oh, he could not wait for you to get out so he could tell you about just how “lucky” the two of you were.

[notepadsandtealeaves]

Jason Todd x GN!Reader in: ‘Martha Stewart’ Who?

12 Days of Batmas || Day 4—Wrapping Presents

MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT || 18+ ONLY ||

↞ previous: mall madness || getting lost at the mall

|| ao3 version | 12 days m.list | batboys tag | main blog ||

|| dames day 4 | dick day 4 | tim day 4 ||

You wait with bated breath as your man inspects the parcel before him.

With its sharp creases, smooth sides, and expertly tied bow your offering would be considered immaculate, flawless even, to anyone else—but Jason Peter Todd isn’t just ‘anyone’.

It’s on sight, Ms. Stewart.

↠ Requested By: Not a soul lol ↠ Reader Gender: Neutral ↠ Content Type: SFW fluff ((but my blog’s 18+ if minors want to consume my sfw stuff while still respecting my wishes of them staying out of this space, they can head over to my AO3)) ↠ CWs: There’s some v. briefly and vaguely described fade to black action at the very end of the ficlet. *cough*guess you must’ve wrapped the hell outta that gift lmao*cough* ↠ Betas? Nah, we don’t do that here. ↠ Total WC: ~1.5k

Headcanon || WC: ~900

🌟 Jay’s one of those people that’s weirdly good at wrapping things. It’s a natural talent that he didn’t even know he had until he moved in with Bruce.

I personally canon all the boys as being hella close with Alfred, but Jason was by far the one that spent the most time with him. There was just something about the older man that set him at ease.

Around Bruce he always felt like he had to be ‘on’. Part of this was due to the (one-sided) competition that he had going on with Dick. Grayson was—and still is, if we’re being completely honest—the golden child. He set the standard on what it meant to be Robin, and goddamn if that bar isn’t high as fuck to this very day.

Jay spent a long time trying to live up to what he felt was expected of him. Where Bruce saw drive, Alfred recognized the anxiety and longing to emerge from the long cast of the first son’s shadow.

Because of this he always made sure that Jay knew that such efforts weren’t needed with him, that he saw his value and worth not only as Robin, but as Jason Peter Todd-Wayne (which, ofc the others did too, but Jay didn’t always perceive it that way).

His touch was a light one, as anything more would have insulted the brash child; Jay’s never been one for being babied or pitied, after all.

🌟 But we’re getting off track here—suffice it to say, he felt a lot more at ease in the aging butler’s company than he did in most others for a very long time.

🌟 Anyways!

🌟 During one of their hangout sessions Alfie was wrapping gifts for one occasion or another and Jay offered to help out and what do you know—the kid turned out to be some sort of wrapping prodigy lol.

He finds the act of wrapping things to be rather relaxing. Given his natural affinity for it he barely has to concentrate on the task; even when he lets his hands run on autopilot the results never suffer for it. It’s honestly one of the few things that allows him a measure of true zen.

He also does origami for the same reason.

He hadn’t even considered it until Kori had gone on one of her fixation tangents. She ended up buying a bunch of supplies for all of them to practice with, all too sure that her boys would indulge her latest flight of fancy lol. Naturally Roy was all for it, Jay less so though once he got into it he found that he loved it.

At any given time your home has at least a half dozen little paper creations scattered about it. Like I said back in Day 2’s installment he’s not a big fan of clutter, so they get swapped out fairly regularly, with the old ones getting tossed unless you insist on keeping them (in which case you’re gonna have to squirrel them away in a box or something).

🌟 He can and will use his superior skills to flex on folk—you included lmao. Though if you ask nicely he’ll be happy to give you some pointers so that you can up your game.

He’s weirdly serious about the whole thing, tho. Like…

He sets up a legit wrapping station complete with different types of paper (ones of varying thickness, textures, etc. as he insists that these variances all require different wrapping techniques), a grip of tape, and some heavy ass scissors. Add to that your practice items (i.e. some boxes and objects of various sizes and shapes) and it’s just this whole ass thing.

On top of technique he also focuses on aesthetics, so you’re gonna get a bonus lesson in how to choose the right wrapping paper, when you should use streamers as opposed to bows, ribbons and how to tie them, etc.

He turns out to be a patient, but oddly strict teacher. When you ask him why he’s going in so hard he just kinda shrugs.

“Gotta do it right, doll, or there’s no point in doin’ it at all…”

((Tbh he’s not used to people looking to him for guidance in general, let alone in something non-combat related. He doesn’t want to disappoint either of you by doing a half-assed job so he makes sure to give it his all.))

🌟 It should also be said that he’s not above using gift boxes/bags, but he won’t like it lol.

The circumstances under which he does so are v. specific and has some rather weird conditions.

Like he has to know the person has a preference for the things over wrapping paper for some reason, or there’s no wrapping paper/fabric in a 100 mile radius, or his fingers are broke—you get the vibe…

🌟 In that same vein, he will more than likely never employ a professional’s help either as he feels like whatever they can do he can do better and for free so why waste the loot?

Yes, his opinion still stands even if it’s for some high class function. He’s just that good and you both know it, so what’s the point in pretending otherwise?

‘Martha Stewart’ Who? || WC: 600~

You wait with bated breath as your man inspects the parcel before him.

With its sharp creases, smooth sides, and expertly tied bow your offering would be considered immaculate, flawless even, to anyone else—but Jason Peter Todd isn’t just ‘anyone’.

To call him the Gordon Ramsay of gift wrapping would be both disingenuous and not. On the one hand his standards are just as unattainably high, but on the other he hasn’t hit you with any rudely creative insults which is good as you’re not entirely sure how you’d react if he told you your efforts were comparable to a drunk elf’s or the like.

For his part Jay runs an examining finger from one corner of the box to the other, following the line down and inwards along the perfectly pleated side tab. He gives the paper there a small flick, but the tape holds, much to your relief. The last time he’d done that the tab had popped and you got a several minute long lecture about the importance of securing your seams properly—“Good effort, doll, but all the pretty wrappin’ in the world don’t matter if that shit falls apart before you can get it out of the house.”

He conducts a few more test of integrity, giving you a nod of approval as your wrapping stands up to each one. Once he’s satisfied he moves on to scrutinizing your artistic vision, and in the end he deems this to be acceptable as well. Well, mostly, as he finds the glitter encrusted paper to be a bit much when paired with the equally blinged out ribbon, but Cass’s ongoing obsession with grainy textures makes the combination acceptable.

“–and with that in mind,” he continues on, “Imma give you a ten outta ten. Good work, baby.”

You may legitimately squeal over the praise, but who can really blame you? After spending the better part of the weekend having every little mistake picked apart—albeit in a loving way—you’ve finally got the approval you’ve been so desperately craving. Jay pulls you into a hug then, chuckling all the while as you let out a long sigh of relief, though your comment of “‘Martha Stewart’ who?” leaves him tutting.

“Hol’ up, let’s not get crazy here, babe. Martha is a legend. Now don’t get me wrong, you’re a helluva lot better at wrapping shit than most people, but you’re nowhere near being at the level where you can besmirch the name of Queen Stewart.”

You snort at that. “Whatever. Chick better not blink because I’m coming for that crown.”

“Aw, word? Okay, I see you, I see you…”

As your shared laughter tapers off you can feel a shift in the atmosphere. Levity is traded in for hooded eyes and smirking lips as he regards you with an almost predatory glint. The quick switch up leaves you confused until he reminds you of the reason you’ve been working so hard. Upping your wrapping game had been the initial goal, yes, but the, ahem, incentive that awaited you should you perfect your methods saw your motivations skewing…

“Ready to claim your reward, doll? Because I’m certainly ready to give it to ya…”

The words are mumbled against lips that have just been released from a toe-curling kiss. You’ve barely managed to reply before strong arms are sweeping you off of your feet. Your peals of surprised laughter are swallowed by more hungry kisses as you leave behind the stack of perfectly wrapped gifts for soft sheets and warm bodies and shared breaths.

Up Next:

🌟 Day 5: Questionable Morals of the Cinematic Kind || Ugly Sweaters

“What is all of this anyway?” you ask as he shuffles past you.

Jay lets out a sound that’s part sigh, part amused snort. “So you know how it’s Dick’s turn to pick the theme for the Christmas Eve party? Well apparently it’s ‘ugly holiday sweaters’. …we gotta make some up for the contest, and they gotta be bomb because the winner gets to pick what we’ll be binging that night and I’ll be damned if I have to sit through all fifty thousand Die Hard movies again.”

The entertainment may make you go ‘hmm’, but at least the company’s nice.

© notepadsandtealeaves, 2020 || Please do not repost, translate, or otherwise alter or distribute my works without my express permission. And for the love of god keep it away from Youtube and TikTok lol…

[lilolilyr]

And ohhhh, anything you can tell us about any future projects? 👀

Sure! I'd love to :D

For TOG, I don't have many new WIPs, but I do have

- about 2 more chapters of the Andromaquynh University AU coming up soon(ish)... It's still a damn slow-burn, I swear if I end up only having the getting together in the last chapter, I'll write an epilogue for some established feels xD

- As far as I remember I ended up never posting the (smutty) Andronilynh fic with Quỳnh in lingerie? Was supposed to be a discord collab with a fanartist months ago, but I think by now I can assume they've abandoned the project xD (vague so I won't call them out lol), so... I'll just post the fic itself, I think it's finished already, just gotta dig out the draft

- Sth more for the Just You And Me series maybe? I do have a bunch of ideas but no concrete plans yet...

Then, I've got some Milippa fics coming up:

- a getting together ficlet (2k, T) I wrote in the middle of the night and after looking at it earlier today and then just closing the Word doc with a headache, I think I'll just post that without further edits lmao - edit- posted!

- I want to write a longer(ish, probably still just a ficlet of 1-2k) version of this photostory for ao3! I was thinking about whether to make it established or pre-relationship, then came up with an idea for a getting-together variant that I like, and now I've just seen @onaperduamedee's tags here, and I love that idea as well! But maybe as a separate ficlet some day (if you'd be okay with me writing that, Flo?), as I don't think it'd work out with the idea I already drafted now.

- The very very slowly growing fic (I have more or less abandoned the idea of turning it into a longfic, but maybe that means that I'll post it soon-ish now... Damn, I really love the idea but I just can't seem to bring myself to write much for it, why brain whyy) that's a follow-up to this post by @georgiov :)

- a mirror/mirror idea @forestcircle reminded me of earlier today :D

Thanks for the question! <3

Feel free to ask me more about these, or send me other asks/prompts for thirsty thursday!

I also have some vague ideas for projects in other fandoms (below the cut):

- Rly want to continue my 666words Good Omens series, but no actual wips started and they're all one-shots anyway

- a bering&wells artefact story that I thiink I posted the summary of on discord somewhere, but who knows whether I'll actually write it... guess it goes on the list of Might Write It If I Get A Reply to both remind me of the idea's existence and show that there's an interest for it

- Thinking about whether or not and if yes for which ship I should write the suburbs AU I posted about on my WIP blog @thelucyverse

- I'd love to finish my Heistwives Kinda Job series one day, but goddammit I know I probably won't anytime soon lol

- Thinking about whether or not and if yes when to start podficcing part 4 of Leo Inter Serpentes by @aeternumregina, a wonderful longfic series (and I've seen you've started posting the last part!!! Really need to catch up), problematics being a) time (podficcing is hella time extensive and I'm not sure I want to get tied down in weekly uploads again, but on the other hand a slower upload schedule would make it harder to remember the voices and all when reading), b) it's partly NSFW, which I'd censor for the audio, which again is Work, c) it's HP and... Well... I've been working on getting the overterf's name /out/ of my ao3 fandom top5 (the ones that are shown without clicking expand on the list) by getting my Star trek disco fic count to higher than HP, which it now nearly is, and I don't want to ruin that lmao, d) if I do start another long podfic, I'd actually love to podfic my own Andromaquynh fic In Your Stead? Because for once I have a story I wrote myself that I feel would be worth it... But like... I also really do want to continue Leo Inter Serpentes! But it's 7 monsterlong fics! And just...aaah! XD #strugglez

- Wanna write more lezbean smuttttt

[pokenimagines]

Leon with an obliviously strong s/o? Like maybe they rescue Pokémon and so the feats they do are just normal to them? Like they're cooing at a very angry Haxorus as they help them free from wherever they're stuck. Picking up a Kommo-o like it's nbd.

So uh, this gave me so many ideas, so I did both an imagine and, at the very end, is a small little ficlet of my initial thought. I hope you enjoy this as it was hella fun to write out!

Leon x Reader: Obliviously Strong

Leon always knew his partner was pretty strong; after all, it came with the job territory.

Not everyone can just casually go up and help pokemon and come out perfectly unscathed, but the trainer managed to do it on a daily basis.

It never really dawned on Leon just how strong they were until they had gone into the wilds together, and the trainer spotted a poor little munchlax on a cliff.

The trainer told Leon to wait for them and scaled the cliff and casually picked up the munchlax and came back down, putting the hungry little pokemon back on the ground.

It didn’t seem like a whole lot until you put into consideration that a normal munchlax weighed around 250 pounds, and this trainer just casually picked it up and scaled-down a cliff with it in one arm.

Leon was a bit starstruck after seeing the trainer in action and asked to be invited to one of their calls so he could watch.

Of course, the trainer was over the moon with this idea since they’d love for Leon to see what they did for a living, the thing that they were most passionate about.

So the next time call came in, the trainer sent Leon a message, and they wound up in the wild area together searching for the distressed pokemon.

It didn’t take them long to find a giant Pangoro throwing things and screaming as it seemed to be searching for something, causing any pokemon or trainer within the vicinity to flee at the sheer sight of it.

This didn’t seem to deter the trainer as they casually walked up as the Pangoro turned to them, and they put their hands up as a peace offering.

They began making small cooing noises as they tried to calm it down, dodging a few flying objects it threw at them.

Leon, of course, was freaking out, and his hand was hovering over Charizard’s Pokeball the entire time, but the trainer told him very specifically to not intervene no matter what.

It didn’t take long for the trainer to figure out what was wrong and managed to call out their Butterfree to put the Pangoro to sleep.

Once it was knocked out cold, the trainer went and managed to extract a poison needle that was embedded in its foot by some other pokémon.

Apparently, the pain of it had made the pokemon panic just a bit.

The trainer just applied an antidote and potion and got up and told Leon they needed to get going before it woke back up.

Leon was again, absolutely starstruck with how cool the trainer had been while dodging those attacks and trying to calm down this giant Pangoro.

Needless to say, he joined them a lot more on their adventures, especially once he was no longer champion and had more time for himself.

Side Story (aka I had to because the idea came to my head):

Leon had been sitting on the couch, flipping through some channels as he cooled off from the day out with the trainer. The trainer had managed to pick up a Kommo-o from some ditch and climbed back up, so they were taking a well-deserved shower. Soon the door to the bathroom was opened, and the trainer emerged with a towel around their neck while wearing some of Leon’s old clothes.

“Hey Lee, move over so I can sit down.” The trainer said with a yawn, still trying to get their hair dry. Leon looked at how his legs were covering the entire couch and couldn’t help but tease them a bit. Despite the troubles they had gone through, they still always loved to banter.

“Make me.” Leon challenges them, and the trainer looked over with a raised eyebrow, wondering if he really just said that. When they noticed the look on his face, they knew immediately he wasn’t going to move without them doing something about it. They swore he was spending too much time with Raihan and was picking up on all of his bad habits. Still, the trainer decided the only way to kick him off his high ponyta was to beat him at his own game.

The trainer casually walked over and stood right in front of him as Leon tried to figure out what they were doing. Without a second thought, the trainer managed to scoop Leon up bridal style and turned around to sit on the couch. Leon just sat there in their lap, still being held as he registered what was going on. He opened his mouth to say something, but the trainer cut him off.

“Next time, don’t challenge me after I picked up a Kommo-o and scaled a cliff.” Was all the trainer said as Leon got real quiet. He’d definitely have to get used to having a partner that as league above him when it came to strength.

[chocoholicannanymous]

...As Stupid Does (Teen Wolf) 19/19

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything – except for a red hoodie...

This is the final part of this story, and this ‘verse. A bit bittersweet, but honestly? So much relief too. Because as much as I never wanted to abandon this story I was worried that I’d never pull together the focus and energy to connect scattered paragraphs and thoughts into a complete ending.

Here it is though. I hope those of you reading this enjoy it.

Part 18, Part 17, Part 16, Part 15, Part 14, Part 13,  Part 12,  Part 11,  Part 10,  Interlude,  Part 9, Part 8d, Part 8c, Part 8b, Part 8a, Part 7, Part 6, Part 5,Part 4,Part 3, Part 2, Part 1,Not Stupid, Stupid Is… and pre-verse ficlet I’m Stupid (Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me)…

Epilogue

Here's the thing: Stiles is a lucky guy. He's smart enough to realize exactly how lucky.

He's three years through a four year college degree, with a job waiting for him after graduation. His relationship with his dad is stronger than ever. He's got a home also waiting for him, one that's surrounded by two packs full of 'wolves.

He's also got Derek.

And the thing is, he and Derek? They're good together. Like really, really, almost disgustingly good. They weren't back in Beacon Hills. They kind of weren't when they decided to try again, for real this time.

They had spent their first year together fucking up, and god, the amount of times Stiles had questioned not just his sanity in doing this but also his intelligence. But during that year they also started working together, begun healing old hurts and smoothing down their rough edges, and found a way to fit together.

Once that year was over they'd sat down and talked things through.

Okay, they'd screamed some too, and once Stiles had even walked out. But the important thing is that he'd done so in a mature way. He'd told Derek that he was walking out, why he was doing so and that he was coming back once he'd cooled off. And then he'd kept his word.

And they'd done it on their own. No prompting, no mediating, no one coming in to send them to separate corners or patch them up. Stiles is still hella proud of that.

It's been three years now, and as far as Stiles is concerned he's got an amazing boyfriend that he fully expects to spend the rest of his life with.

If anyone had told him this years ago, when Scott had just been bitten and they were scrambling to keep their heads above water – at one point literally – Stiles would not have believed it. At one point he'd have taken violently offense, even without being told said boyfriend would be Derek.

Things have changed. He has changed. Derek has changed. But most importantly? They've changed together.

These days Derek has enough of a handle on himself to not need magic or therapy to make it through a visit. He's still seeing Dr Bianchi occasionally, as is Stiles, but they're both down to a handful of times per year.

And it's not just when it comes to the two of them that Derek has improved. Stiles gets regular reports from Scott, and it's obvious that Derek's a good Alpha these days. Sure, he will only stay an Alpha for a little while longer before handing it over to Cora, but that doesn't diminish his accomplishment. Everyone in a pack benefits from a good, steady Alpha.

Just like Cora benefits from a brother who is all these things.

Yeah, life is good.

The only dark cloud on Stiles's horizon is that he's going to have to go back to Beacon Hills.

Returning to Beacon Hills is, yeah okay, it's not the last thing Stiles wants to do. Reliving the Alpha pack, the kanima, Kate, Allison, Gerard, Peter (though that one's a firm “against” on returning too), reliving his mother's death, living through his dad's death, killing someone, almost killing someone, losing his pack, losing Embry... There are a lot of thing that Stiles wants even less.

But returning to Beacon Hills, even for a weekend, does come very low on the list. Distance has not made Stiles' heart fonder. Returning sadly isn't exactly optional.

Sure, no one's forcing him, but that doesn't mean staying away is an alternative. Not this time. Because Scott is getting married. Scott, who's still only 21 for another couple of weeks, and who used to think that werewolves were the worst (or second worst depending on how angry he was with Derek that day), who believed that he didn't need an Alpha and that Allison had hung the moon, is getting married to a werewolf, one that's not only Derek's sister, but also his soon-to-be Alpha.

And of course said wedding has to take place in Beacon Hills.

Now, Stiles has done his best to talk Scott into eloping, has tried since Scott called him with the news that Cora had said yes, but. Apparently Scott can't see the brilliance in eloping, not even with Stiles's excellent arguments.

“You, me, your mom, abuela Delgado, Derek and Cora. Just the family. No douche pack.”

“What about Peter?”

Seriously? The last thing Stiles had expected to need to justify is why leaving Peter out of, well, everything is a good idea.

“No uncle psycho either. He doesn't qualify as family.”

There's a sound that Stiles knows from years of being Scott's friend means he's nodding in agreement.

“Okay, true. What about dad though?”

“Oh, you know, I figured he'd be my plus one.” That came out flippantly, because he knows there's no way Scott wouldn't invite his dad regardless.

“No, Stiles, what about my dad?”

“He doesn't qualify as family either.”

The words come out before Stiles can filter himself, and he kind of wishes he could take them back, except...

“Look, can I be brutal here? I mean, we both know I'm going to be honest so... When's the last time you saw agent McCall?”

“There was a thing junior year, he came here to investigate.”

Not what he was asking, but a very telling answer.

“Okay, and when's the last time you saw him in his capacity as your dad? Hell, when's the last time you spoke to him? Does he even know about Cora?”

Scott evades the questions, which again: telling.

“He's my dad though, doesn't that kind of mean I have to invite him?”

Stiles snorts. As if.

“I don't see why. Sure, he's 50 % of your genepool, but is he really your dad? I mean, I can't remember the last time he and you shared anything other than your last name, and we both know that's not going to be true for much longer.”

“Yeah, okay, you have a point. He's not getting an invite. That doesn't mean we're eloping though, Stiles. Cora deserves a proper wedding, and I'm going to give her that. Now, you convince her that eloping's a good idea and we can talk about it again, but I'm not risking making her mad at me just because you don't want to subject yourself to Isaac. At least Jackson won't be invited?”

“Small favors, man. Small favors.”

There's another one of Scott's agreement noises before the conversation had moved on.

Of course, Cora had been an even tougher nut to crack than Scott, and Stiles had retreated ungracefully once she'd started threatening his balls.

Really, there was no need to go there. If for no other reason, well, shouldn't she leave the goods intact for Derek's sake?

Of course, Stiles can understand why she's unwilling to let go of the only Hale tradition she still can have, namely getting married in the preserve and in the presence of pack. Every Hale has done so for over 200 years, before they were even called Hale.

(Stiles listens to Derek explain, haltingly, and decides to admit defeat. At least Derek's willing to bypass that tradition, should they one day decide to marry. He'll take that win and stop pestering Cora.)

So, anyway. There's no talking the lovely couple into eloping. Which means like it or not – and trust him, it's not – Stiles is going back. Because it's Scott.

There's also the fact that in a strange way Stiles has waited for this wedding as long as Scott has. When he and Derek had gotten back together the plan had been for Cora to graduate, then take over the Alpha spark and the pack. Two years had felt long, but doable.

And then Cora had asked for more time.

She'd gone straight from school to working at the Beacon Hills sheriff's department and had felt she needed to adjust a little better to that before taking on something new. It'd been reasonable, and more importantly: Derek had been almost unable to deny his sister anything after getting her back from the dead (except you know, figuratively speaking, unlike a certain other family member).

So they'd talked it over and agreed to give Cora another year, moving the transfer to after the wedding. It makes, Stiles thinks, for one hell of a wedding present. If that's good or bad, eh. Who knows.

He'd taken on more classes in order to have a distraction, had worked himself to the point of exhaustion more than once, and nearly driven the people around him crazy. It'd been more than a little overkill, he admits now, but it had kept him from missing Derek too much. It also means he'll be able to slow down a little his final year.

Or take on whatever shiny but totally unnecessary new class catches his eye, probably, but. He pretends he'll take it easy. Derek pretends to believe him. Derek's also made it clear he's going to move to Seattle once he can leave Beacon Hills, and stay there as long as Stiles does. They both pretend it's not partially to keep Stiles from studying himself into the hospital.

Anyway. He's just, you know, going to have to count small favors. The first one being that Jackson really isn't invited. The second is that Lydia, who was, isn't coming either. Once Stiles had gotten over his crush on her he'd kept a measure of fond respect for the person he'd learned existed behind Lydia's facades, even though they'd never really become friends. That didn't change the fact that her not coming was a relief – she's too smart, sees too much, and he would hate for her to figure things out.

Another person not coming is Danny who's transferred his allegiance to the pack near his college where he's, completely coincidentally Stiles is sure, dating the Alpha's grandson. He'd been invited as a courtesy, but told he couldn't bring his boyfriend, and had wisely chosen not to accept. Cora hates him, and he apparently knows it, and Scott isn't to fond of him either.

Those really are small favors though.

A slightly bigger one is the fact that Deaton isn't coming. Not only does he no longer live in Beacon Hills, but he hasn't been invited. While no one had been able to prove that there had been magic on Scott, his opinions on both Derek and Deaton had changed a little too much for comfort after first moving away and then beginning to meditate. Even Scott had noticed, and gotten suspicious.

In the end there had been no protests from Scott as Derek and Cora had ended Deaton's lease of the land for his practice – land he had been granted use of as the Hale pack's emissary and then had kept using free of charge since the fire, knowing he wasn't keeping to the agreement. Once he'd been called on it, Deaton had packed up, sold his home, and moved away.

No one misses him – not even Scott.

However none of that changes the fact that Beacon Hills still has Peter Hale, who is most certainly both invited to the wedding and attending, and who Stiles still sees as a threat. Because, well, he's not stupid.

Peter Hale will stop being a threat the day he dies, and maybe not even then. (Next time, Stiles has promised himself, he's going to make sure Peter gets the Aiden treatment.)

And Stiles is going to willingly place himself within striking distance from said threat, without a protector on hand.

He hadn't even thought about it at first, just assuming he'd have Embry to keep him safe, but it hadn't taken long to realize that bringing Embry to Scott's wedding wasn't an option.

First of all there's the fact that while neither Derek or Cora can feel the supernatural in the LaPush 'wolves unless they're shifting Peter might. Peter, who's not only older and has had the kind of training Derek never got but who also has access to a lot of the Hale pack's lore which Derek had thought lost in the fire. Stiles isn't willing to take a chance on that knowledge not containing something to help Peter identify the LaPush shifters. (This is, incidentally, one of the reasons Stiles is happy Deaton is gone. He too knows too much for Stiles to trust he wouldn't be able identify another kind of shifter.)

Second there's the fact that every single pack member is visibly Native American, and there are only so many tribes. Peter – or Danny for that matter, even though he's not going to be present, but he's more of an annoyance – could locate Stiles far too easily easily with that kind of information.

There's also the fact that Embry would be on a hair trigger simply because Stiles will be, and might shift and expose them.

Most importantly though is that bringing what would look like a plus one to Cora's wedding would be an insult. Not just to her, who's only just gotten to the point where she accepts that Stiles is in her brother's life for good, but also to Derek. Yes, everyone who matters knows that Embry's relationship with Stiles is as platonic as can be, but that doesn't change anything. They smell enough like each other for wolfy noses to know they're not casual acquaintances, and chances are there would be quite a bit of ribbing and speculation. Derek shouldn't have to listen to that, or for that matter look at Stiles walking around with another man when he himself has to hide what they are to each other. Desire for protection or not, Stiles just isn't willing to do that to Derek.

It's possible that Embry could have skated by as the son of John Stilinski's fiancée – and wow, Stiles still hasn't gotten used to referring to Tiffany Call that way (and damn, does that make him glad that he and Embry are platonic, because that's a little to incestuous even as is). Scott would have been okay with both of them coming, had even brought it up, but everyone involved is aware that it'd make Melissa feel uncomfortable. Regardless, Tiffany's not coming either. Like with Embry there's no way of hiding that she's native, making her too easily identifiable. There's also the fact that it just isn't safe.

Tiffany is many things, and a stronger woman than most, but she's not a fighter. If things go wrong she would be vulnerable, and a liability.

Bringing someone other than Embry means the same risk of discovery.

So instead of a werewolf bodyguard or ten Stiles has his dad.

Yeah.

There's also the fact that in the interest of keeping secrets Stiles can't even use the silver lining of more time with Derek. Letting anyone from that pack know of their connection is bad, but the thought of letting Peter know makes Stiles's blood run cold. That means he's going to be within minutes of his boyfriend for days, and yet he's not going to get hugs, or kisses, or a bedpartner. He's going to be at a wedding along with his romantic partner, while pretending he's single.

Yeah.

It's going to suck.

O--o---o--O

The wedding is missing a lot of traditional parts. It's understandable, really, and not just because both bride and groom along with several guests are werewolves. It's just... Cora doesn't have a father to give her away, or dance with her. She doesn't have a mother to support her, an inherited dress or heirloom jewelry. She doesn't have a best friend to be her maid of honor. What she's got is a brother whose Alpha she'll be within days and an uncle that she doesn't trust as far as she can throw him. Or well, as far as Stiles could throw him.

So they adjust.

No one gives Cora away. Instead she and Scott walk up the isle – isle, forest path, same thing – together. Neither of them have attendants, and Melissa McCall's wedding dress stays in its garment bag.

The wedding is small and intimate, with only a handful of guests outside of the pack – Stiles, John, Melissa, abuela Delgado and two 'wolves from Cora's South American pack. It takes place in a glade just on the edge of the preserve and the only decorations are wild flowers and boughs of leaves.

It's scaled-down, but also beautiful in its simplicity, because no one can doubt that these are two people who love each other deeply.

Stiles has to blink away tears at more than one time. His friend, his brother, is promising to love, cherish and honor his girl, and is being promised the same in return. There's not a doubt in Stiles's mind that when they swear to do so until death do them part they mean it. This, he knows, is Scott's life now. It's the life and future he deserves. It's enough to make Stiles's heart swell with love.

And then it hits him. With a little luck that'll be him in a not too distant future. He has to look away not to betray himself by staring lovingly at Derek.

Stiles walks through the door to the cabin he's sharing with his dad. He's tired, both because of emotion and vigilance. His dad's still back at the wedding, catching up with Melissa, but Stiles doesn't have the energy. He's spent the day keeping one eye on the pack, and Peter in particular, and generally hating that he's back in Beacon Hills while loving that he's able to be here for Scott.

It's been exhausting.

Just about everyone else is still celebrating, but once Scott and Cora had left to change clothes and go on their honeymoon Stiles had left too. Pretending that he doesn't want to kill Peter, or kiss Derek, has taken it out of him and he can't do it any longer. He's going back home tomorrow and he can't spend another minute being that close to Derek without being able to be with him. That it'll be at least a month, probably two or more, before he can see Derek again is making it even harder.

As far as everyone but him and Derek knows Scott and Cora are going on an actual honeymoon, for a whole month. The truth is that they'll be gone for a week before sneaking back. The rest of the time will be spent in recovery and training after Derek transfers the Alpha spark. Cora will come back as the new Hale Alpha, but that doesn't mean Derek will be free to leave.

There will be unrest in a pack with a new Alpha, even under the best of circumstances, and these – as so often for them – are not. Cora will need Derek by her side, to support her and calm the pack. Maybe she'll also need him to help take down threats thinking to take advantage of a novice Alpha. Maybe they'll have to deal with Peter...

It'll be a little while yet before Derek will be free of Beacon Hills.

So Stiles is sad, and he's got a headache and he just wants to take some pills, text Embry some and then sleep.

After he's re-ringed the cabin with mountain ash of course.

Stiles pulls his phone out of its pocket, takes off his jacket and goes to throw it at the chair before thinking twice. It's a decent suit jacket and if he treats it right he won't need to go suit shopping again in years. Coat hanger it is.

He turn towards the clothes rack, his brain three steps ahead, and hits a wall, his phone clattering to the floor.

Only there's no wall there.

He scrambles backwards, trying to put as much space as he can between himself and the threat and swears. The door is out of reach and he's trapped.

“Hello Stiles.”

Fuck.

“Peter.”

He flicks through scenarios in his head, trying to figure out how to get out of this, but he keeps running into mental walls.

Stiles is a lot better trained than when he left Beacon Hills, in ways Peter knows nothing about. Under the right circumstances he might have a chance.

These are not.

He's in close quarters with Peter, unable to reach the door before the 'wolf can get to him. He's mostly unarmed due to being dressed for a wedding, and what he does have isn't as easily accessible as he'd like.

Plus it's Peter.

Stiles is going to assume that everything he thinks he knows about Peter's skills and strength is wrong. To do anything else would be to sign his own death warrant. Derek might be clouded by memories of “uncle Peter”, but Stiles has never forgotten the psychopathic killer he'd first encountered.

No, training or no training, Stiles's one real advantage is having a pack, and what being part of it means. Unfortunately he has no idea if it'll be enough.

“Shouldn't you be with the pack, or, I don't know, in your own home? Not breaking and entering somewhere you're definitely not welcome.”

“Oh, but it's not breaking and entering if you have a key.” Which, fuck, did Peter kill someone to get his hands on a backup key? “Besides, I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier. It's been so long, Stiles, won't you humor me? We're practically old friends, are we not? It'll be like old times.”

“You're crazy.”

“Now now Stiles. That's not very nice of you.”

Stiles snorts, because nice? Not really in his wheelhouse.

“You think I care? When it comes to you? Come now, I said crazy, not stupid.”

Because unfortunately Peter is anything but, making him even more dangerous. Still, the wolf just smirks a little at Stiles's defiance.

“I'm afraid that answer just isn't acceptable. See, I really do need to talk to you. Or well, I need you. I'd like it if you talked to me, but I'll manage either way. You however... You really would do well to humor me.”

Then Peter looks at him, and oh shit. His eyes are flashing back and forth between the electric blue that had looked so good on Derek and a sickly red.

It takes nothing to figure it out.

Peter had called him the clever one, and meant it in a mocking way. But the reality is that Stiles is clever, and knows how to put puzzle pieces together.

And these particular puzzle pieces... Peter came back to life using not only Lydia but also Derek – had drained Derek of life and strength and power, and had tried to steal the Alpha power too.

And afterwards Derek had changed. Had grown more volatile, more likely to hurt someone – more unstable.

Stiles is willing to bet Peter had had a bit more success than they'd realized, that he'd managed to siphon off some of the Alpha power and keep it.

That would explain why Derek had acted the way he had. Why he'd been so easily influenced by the pack's negativity. Why Derek had sometimes acted more like Peter than like himself.

It would definitely explain how the Alpha power had become this unstable, negative force in Derek that he felt was fighting him. He is sharing it with Peter. And apparently Peter is done sharing. Stiles is uncomfortably aware of exactly how little defense he has to put up in regards to a Peter who is no longer hiding his power, who is no longer playing weak and damaged.

The only reason he's still alive is so Peter can use him against Derek.

Because even holding a part of the Hale Alpha spark Peter isn't going to just challenge Derek for the rest of it, or meet him in a fair fight. It's not how he works. Peter doesn't believe in fair, and wants the odds as weighted in his favor as possible. Using Stiles as bait, or whatever, is a way of doing that. There's also the fact that Derek has been getting stronger and better as an Alpha, leaving Peter needing every advantage he could. Even an ambush might not give him the upper hand.

Well, Stiles is going to do what he can to even out the odds a bit.

It helps that he has no reason to believe Peter will let him go after killing Derek. He'll either be dead too, or bitten without concern for his wishes, and forced to obey Peter. His dad will probably be used against him – or, again, killed outright.

Not fighting won't save him – it'll only make it easier for Peter.

“You kept some of the Alpha spark after using Derek to come back to life.”

“Ah. You really are clever. Too bad you've always wasted that cleverness on my failure of a beta and my useless nephew. Yes, I kept some. It should have been mine altogether, but something went wrong.

“Doesn't matter though, because I'm getting it back. I'm getting it all back tonight.”

Stiles stiffens. That sounds really not good.

“I was willing to be patient. To wait for it. Derek isn't made to be Alpha, and I've always known that sooner or later he'd get himself killed, especially the way kept attracting hunters. I could wait. After all, I had enough power to get through most. Especially after getting a little boost.”

That's what happened to miss Blake, Stiles thinks. He doesn't say anything though. It's not time to upset the balance. Not yet.

“It was possible one of the others would have had enough and killed him, but chances were the Alpha spark would have gone to me either way. If not,” Peter shrugs, “a new Alpha, who doesn't know how to deal with the change in their senses? Easy to kill.”

Stiles can see it happen just like that too, unfortunately.

“Everything was going according to plan too, with Derek growing more and more unstable. Given a little more time I might even have been able to talk him into giving up the spark voluntarily.” Like hell he would have. “And then my dear, dear niece came back to life.”

There's something in Peter's voice with couple with the moue he makes that gives Stiles another flash of insight.

“You resent Cora for being alive. You resent her for surviving the fire.”

Peter almost slips into a roar.

“She abandoned me!”

“She was a child! I know you were trained to hide from hunters, to go to ground and stay there until the threat was over. Are you blaming her for doing what she's been told?”

“You go to ground, yes. And then you come back. You don't abandon your pack.”

And wow, hearing that shit from the wolf who killed one niece, tried to kill a nephew, and had just explained how he had been waiting to try again... Yeah, Peter Hale is a hypocrite on top of being fucking insane.

“She abandoned us, and then when she comes crawling back,” which, totally not how it had actually happened, “that useless weakling wants to reward her for it by passing the Alpha spark to her. And they expect me to just take it?”

Fuck. The biggest flaw in the plan had always been the risk of Peter finding out and getting mad. There are contingency plans, sure, but none of them counted for quite this.

“I should have been Alpha after Talia. Laura was just as weak, just as unsuitable, as Derek. She didn't have it in her to take vengeance for our family – she just ran. It should have been me. It would have been me, had I not been burnt so badly.”

Peter's eyes are flickering between red and blue again, but the light in them has nothing to do with the 'wolf. It's insanity, and Stiles makes a quick judgment call.

He's never going to be able to outfight Peter. What he needs is to keep him of guard, while hoping for help to reach him. And as dangerous as it might be, the best way is to go after Peter's ego.

He's calm and collected in a way he rarely is as his brain starts listing sore points to hit.

He starts off by laughing, startling Peter out of his self-righteous rant.

“I might have to take back what I said about you not being stupid. You really think you should have been Alpha over Laura? Dude, you are delusional. You not becoming Alpha after the fire had nothing to do with you burning, and everything to do with the fact that you're a monster. Hell, the only way you had a shot at Alpha-hood was to steal it.

“Derek's fucked up plenty, yes, but even on his worst days he's better than you. He at least is sane.”

His words are working, Stiles can see it, and he continues to taunt the 'wolf.

“In fact, should Derek die today? You're not even in the running to become the next Alpha. It'll be Cora, or Scott if she's not an option either. Hell, even Isaac is a better candidate for Alpha than you and I really don't like that guy. No, you're going to have to kill the rest of your family and the new Hale pack along with them to even have a shot.

“Fuck, if I was that Alpha spark? I'd leave the Hale line – hell, existence even – completely over settling in you. You're simply too corrupt.

“You speak of Derek and Laura not being worthy of the Alpha spark. The truth is that you're the one that's unworthy. The world truly will be a better place once you're dead.”

Peter's eyes flicker back and forth and Stiles is actually kind of surprised he's not already dead. Maybe Peter still thinks he can get something out of keeping him alive.

“Brave words, Stiles, but that's all they are. Words. You don't understand what it's like to be a werewolf, what it means to be in a pack. But I'll make sure you do. Before the sun rises I'll be the Alpha, and like it or not you're going to help me. And as a reward I'll give you what you wanted but were afraid to say yes to all those years ago.

“Once my useless nephew is out of the picture you'll be my beta. Part of my pack. And you'll be good to me, won't you Stiles? After all, you have...experience in being good to your Alpha, don't you?” Peter's voice is silky-sweet around the words, and Stiles shudders with disgust.

What Peter is hinting at is never going to happen, not even if Stiles has to kill himself to make sure it doesn't. Yes, he's made some pretty harsh statements about what was between him and Derek, but not even at the lowest point did that make him feel as dirty as Peter's mere words are doing now.

At the same time Stiles is willing to put money on the fact that Peter doesn't really mean what he's saying. Oh, he might follow through, especially if he leaves Derek alive, but this isn't about any kind of want or desire. This is about scaring Stiles, about rattling him, about making him beg.

He's not going to do that.

“Fuck no.”

“Tsk, tsk. You'll sing a different tune once you're in my pack.”

Stiles laughs again, short and sharp, putting as much mockery as he can muster in it.

“Your pack? You don't have a pack. You'll never have a pack. All you've got, Peter, is two people who shares blood with you and who pity you too much to put you down like the animal you are.

“Really, where's an Argent when you need them?”

That does it. Peter's claws pop, his teeth lengthen and his eyes shine like lasers. Only one of them will walk away from this, and Stiles has finally managed to tip the scales enough that it just might be him. Of course, even almost out of his mind with rage Peter does have some control – he hasn't howled, for instance, keeping it in as to not warn anyone. Stiles's chance is tiny, and it mostly depends on outside factors, but unlike five minutes ago it exists.

Now he just has to be right about a number of factors.

Luckily he is.

The window breaks, glass splintering and flying across the cabin. Peter jerks back as a big furry shape follows and Stiles hurries to to put his back against a corner. Chances are that Peter will win this fight so he's not safe yet, but he's certainly safer than he was a minute ago.

No one had been happy with Stiles going back without Embry. Hell, Stiles hadn't been happy about it. Had it been an option he would have brought the entire pack with him – preferably both even. Jake'd been on the verge of laying down an Alpha order about Stiles and John not going on their own for weeks, the only thing stopping him being the safety of LaPush. Instead he had had to stop basically the entire pack from sneaking off to follow them, same for Sam.

The compromise had been one 'wolf. There had been a fight over who got to go, and even Leah – who still think Stiles is being an idiot – had wanted to go. Of course, Leah is also finally pregnant and no one wants to put her and the baby at risk. (Plus, she's not feeling that great. The phrase “sick as a dog” takes on a new light when you've seen a horse sized shape shifter with violent morning sickness, Stiles decided after seeing Leah sick up to the point where she phased out of her wolf form and fainted. Yuck.)

Embry still hadn't been allowed to go, and Stiles knows why, knows that Jake has a point in claiming Embry's bond to Stiles would cause him to be on edge and risk exposing them in more ways than one. That doesn't make it easier to deal with though.

Stiles wishes with all his being that it could have been Embry.

Instead it had been decided that Collin, as the most harmless looking one, should go and play hapless tourist. He had arrived in Beacon Hills a couple of days ago, and as far as Stiles knows no one's picked up on anything strange about him or his story.

Of course, with Collin being one of the youngest and least experienced 'wolves he's not the one Stiles would have wanted in a fight against Peter Hale.

All he really is is a distraction, but it does gives Stiles a chance. While Peter's attention is on the giant 'wolf Stiles slowly eases the hidden blade from his sleeve and then carefully rips open his cuff.

The mountain ash concealed in the cuff does as it's meant to and falls into his hand. Now he's got a chance.

Provided nothing has gone to hell in the last couple of hours there is at least one other 'wolf near, able to warn others. If it has and they're on their own, then there's always howling.

All Stiles needs to do is get up a barrier and they'll have some breathing room. He just needs some distance between Collin and Peter.

At first the giant 'wolf is causing Peter to be cautious, but it doesn't take long for the man to realize he's the strongest of them. The wolf shape is excellent for fighting and killing vampires, but less so when it comes to another type of werewolf.

Collin yips in pain and Peter strikes again. This time he lands a powerful blow that throws Collin across the cabin. He lands heavily, with a whine, and doesn't get up. Stiles swallows as he sees blood pooling out from the still body.

A 'wolf can heal just about anything, given time. Peter won't give them that though. He's already stalking across the floor with blood dripping from his claws and a sadistic smile on his face. He's fast enough that he could have crossed before Stiles knew what was happening. This slow walk is just a show, meant to intimidate Stiles.

Too bad it just gives him the time he needs.

“You've been keeping secrets. I'll enjoy dragging them out of you.”

It's a promise, meant to invoke, and it works. But Stiles has gotten used to pushing down his fear and working through it, and so he looks Peter straight in the eyes and quips.

“Didn't your Alpha teach you not to play with your prey?”

And then he throws the mountain ash.

He's practiced this very moment over and over until he doesn't need to walk the perimeter, or to have “enough” ash. All he needs is a little bit and his belief.

He's never believed anything this hard before.

“Mountain ash? Always the clever one, aren't you? But your little trick won't save you, or your friend there. You can only hold the barrier for so long, and I can be a very patient man.

“It would be wise of you not to test that patience though. Sooner or later your father will walk through that door, and I would hate to kill him just to prove a point.”

Like he'd let any of them live either way.

“Here's the thing, Peter. You would be wise to leave now. Who knows, run fast enough, far enough, and you might even live to regret your actions here tonight. Because Game of Thrones might be shit about a lot of things, but they're dead right about: 'the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives'. And you, Peter. You're all alone.”

“You think you're pack? You, my useless nephew's even more useless fucktoy? Don't make me laugh.

“Since you're apparently too stupid to realize, I've got you trapped in here. You've got no way to call for help,” and he steps on Stiles's phone, grinding it to components to make a point, “your supposed savior is out like a light, dying as we speak, and your mountain ash barrier is weakening by the minute.”

It's not. Stiles can feel that it's still just as strong, but it's a good tactic, trying to shake the belief holding it together.

“That poor fool is even more of an idiot than that useless beta of mine. He didn't even howl for help. Not that he would have gotten any, but he didn't even try. Pathetic.”

Stiles smirks. No, Collin hadn't howled. But with the LaPush pack mind he didn't need to, not being shifted.

“Peter? This is the 21st century. Proper 'wolves use cellphones just like the rest of us.

And then in a show of timing almost too good to be true Seth and Brady jumps through the broken window as Derek – followed by Cora – break through the door.

Stiles almost sobs with relief. Having Collin arrive had been such a help, but it hadn't really made him feel safe. Not when up against Peter Hale. The same goes for Brady. They're his friends, yes, but they're the most inexperienced of the 'wolves and they're Sam's. Seth is, well, he's not that much more experienced but he's pack. That matters.

It's not the fact that they're four against one that calms Stiles, or even that Derek is there – it's the presence of pack.

He still wishes Embry was with him, but now he dares to believe he'll see his 'wolf again.

Peter is actually looking stunned, faced with another two giant wolves. And is that a hint of fear Stiles sees? It could be. After all Peter has to realize that while Derek and Cora might be swayed to spare him out of sentimentality, these new and unknown wolves have no such compunctions. Stiles wonders if the crazed 'wolf sees his death in their arrival.

He hopes so.

The four circle Peter, cutting of all routes of escape. If he wants to leave he'll have to go through them, and that's not as easy as fighting Collin might lead Peter to believe. They don't attack though and Stiles can't help but think his 'wolves are holding back out of consideration for Derek, and to a lesser degree Cora.

Seth and Brady both know that Peter needs to die, but Derek has had a hard time reconciling with the fact that killing Peter had been necessary the first time. He hasn't even wanted to entertain the idea that it might be needed a second time, and might want to give Peter a chance to surrender.

Or it's just about waiting for the right moment. Regardless Stiles finds himself unable to watch what is about to come. Strange. He'd had no problem watching Peter die the first time, had thrown Molotov cocktails at him and watched Derek rip his throat out without regret. He has been certain Peter needs to die again since about 5 seconds after finding out he was back.

And yet he finds he can't watch.

As Peter lounges, desperately, towards Brady – either having identified him as the easiest target or unwilling to attack his remaining blood family – Stiles burrows his face into Collins fur and tries to shut it all out. They're safe behind the mountain ash barrier, and their friends will take care of Peter without them. They're safe, the barrier will hold, their friends will live, and Peter will die.

Stiles's world shrinks down to those four things, trying to will it into existence.

They're safe. The sound of a large body hitting the wall.

The barrier will hold. A grunt as claws strike flesh.

Their friends will survive. A high-pitched whine and the smell of blood.

Peter will die. A howl rises, then cuts out and is replaced by silence.

Derek and Cora are curled up together, shaking and crying and laughing all at once, both their eyes flashing between red and beta blue or gold. Stiles looks at them and feels a sting. Not jealousy, precisely, because he's got Seth, and Brady, and he's pretty sure Embry is a lot closer to Beacon Hills than Jake really likes, just...

Derek won't be coming back with him.

Stiles knew that already, knew that Cora would be vulnerable after the transfer of power, and that having Derek essentially break away straight after wasn't going to happen. They'd talked about it repeatedly and made their plans accordingly.

It's even more true now, with the added trauma of Peter's betrayal and death, causing her to lose a pack member already that day along with half of her remaining blood family.

For her to lose Derek on top of that... No. Stiles doesn't wish that on anyone. Cora needs to stabilize herself, find her balance again, and both siblings need to be allowed to grieve.

Again, it's no surprise that Derek will be staying in Beacon Hills for a while. It's just... It was abstract before. Now it's right there in his face, and Stiles realizes he wasn't prepared.

Looking at Derek and Cora he also realizes that regardless of what they've said, what they've promised, there's a possibility that Derek will change his mind now that the moment is here. It's possible that Beacon Hills without Peter will be tempting enough that Derek will start seeing it as  his home again. It's possible that he will decide that staying with Cora, and the pack he started, is more important than being with Stiles.

If he does... It'll hurt. It'll even hurt like hell. But if it's one thing Stiles has learned it's this: he can live through that, can heal from it, because he won't be alone. Even if he doesn't have Derek he'll have Embry, and his pack.

But that's not how Stiles sees it happening. Not after everything they've been through to get to where they are.

Derek is going to grieve with his sister, and help her settle, and when he's ready he'll leave Beacon Hills, leave their own personal Hellmouth, and come back to Stiles.

Because that's where they're headed, full circle. When they're both ready things will be different. This time around it'll be Derek joining Stiles's pack. There will be no begging, no miscommunication, no posturing, no self-hatred and no Alpha crap. It'll just be Stiles and Derek, healed and happy and together, trying their very best to love each other and not do anything stupid.

It'll be great.

Stiles believes it with all that he has and is. And his belief? Is magic.

~ The End ~

[purplesunrisefanfic]

Masterlist, Info & Recommendations

Talk to me here & Find me on AO3 here.

About

I’m Persephone. I’m 29, bi, and British.

I write The Last of Us fanfics, including a lot of BDSM and kink orientated fics.

I am autistic, have ADHD and am a bit of a genderfuck (they/them/theirs).

I often use the term AutDHD (and variations thereof). I made this up on a whim one day to refer to having both ADHD and autism.

Use #about to find out more about me.

I take limited requests, please read the the rules below before requesting. (Clarifying questions welcome!)

This blog contains explicit and sexually explicit (written) content throughout and contains kinks that may be triggering or offensive. Proceed with caution.

I will warn for literally any trigger if requested - no questions asked. Anon is on so please do reach out if it might help you 💛

My Fics

All my fics (except HCs et cetera) are posted on AO3 under my handle PurpleSunrise.

Note that the AO3 versions tend to be better quality as I redraft/correct my Tumblr requests before uploading. This means there may be a delay in crossposting from Tumblr.

TLOU Femslash Week 2020

Read all 7 fics on AO3 here.

🌊 Day 1 “Making Amends”: Abby/Ellie post-cannon enemies->lovers (Cali Soul Part 1, AO3)

🧿 Day 2 “Scars”: Forbidden love Scar/WLF poem with a reference to Dina/Ellie (Tumblr)

🌊 👩‍👩‍👦 Day 3 “Good Son Fluff”: Abby/Ellie try to figure out post-apocalyptic transistion options as they co-parent Lev. (Cali Soul Part 4, AO3)

💖♾🔫 Day 4 “Modern AU”: Everyone lives AU. Poly!Ellie Dina/Ellie and Ellie/Riley, focused on Ellie/Riley. Very meta with something for everyone. (AO3)

🧿 Day 5 “Apocalypse Wedding”: Dina/Ellie angst with a happy ending. (AO3)

🔫 Day 6 “Hunting Together” Ellie/Riley fluff (Tumblr)

🌊 Day 7 “Rest”: Abby/Ellie kinky date fluff (Tumblr)

My fics on Tumblr:

🌊 Abby/Ellie (alternate ending)

🌊 Abby/Ellie (angst to smut)

💪 Daddy! Abby/GN! reader (smut)

💪 Abby/GN! reader (fluff)

🤜🏻🤛🏼 Ellie & Jesse (banter)

🧿 Dina/Ellie drabble

🌊 Abby/Ellie HCs Part 1

🌊 Abby/Ellie HCs Part 2

🩺 sub!Abby/Dom!Nora HCs

💪 Abby Sexual Fantasies (Part 1?)

⚔️ Assassin’s Creed: “Stay” F!Evior/GN!reader (romance)

⚔️ Assassin’s Creed: “Just Relax” F!Eivor/GN!reader (hurt/comfort, sequel of “Stay”)

My Fics on AO3:

🎆🌅 My AO3 handle is PurpleSunrise.

🧿 Dear: I’m currently writing a multi-chapter letter/note based epilogue for Part 2 called “Dear.” It’s a long-game Dina/Ellie reconciliation fic focused on recovery and earning forgiveness.

🌊 👩‍👩‍👦 California Soul: A post cannon Abby/Ellie enemies->lovers series. Mixture of angst, hurt/comfort, fluff and smut. Direct link to Part 1 here.

🧿 Strength: My first fic was some Dina/Ellie BDSM times.

🎸 Aftermath: A part 1 Ellie & Joel hurt/comfort ficlet.

Requests:

I take requests for:

Kinky smut or angsty kinky smut: 🧿 Dina/Ellie, 🌊 Abby/Ellie, or 💪 Abby/reader.

Fluff: 🔫 Riley/Ellie, 🦈 Abby & Lev, 🏹 Ellie & Lev, 👩‍👩‍👦 Abby/Ellie & Lev, or 🎸 Ellie & Joel.

Headcannons/similar: AMA about 🌊 Abby/Ellie or 🩺 Abby/Nora or Abby, Ellie, Dina or Nora individually bc I love thinking about them!

Abby/reader requests are limited: I basically started to take them on as a ⛓ kinky referral service 😅 sometimes when @kittycat-beans gets requests outside of what she’ll write. Please request Abby/reader elsewhere first (see recommendations below) unless either:

You are sure what you want is gonna be too obscurely kinky for other writers or

You’re wanting a Gender Neutral (GN) reader fic and/or are trans/enby/intersex/et cetera and are more comfortable requesting from me for that reason.

Things I don’t do:

Choking (overly normalised in so many fics when it’s actually hella dangerous irl, and I’m just bored of it)

Vanilla sex (I just don’t find it interesting to wanna write about)

Threesomes or group sex (Too many limbs and other body parts to keep track of)

Assume people are cis, assume people have particular body parts or combos thereof, assume people are not intersex or assume people are a given gender. If you want Abby/reader smut that explicitly refers to the body parts or genitals you have, you gotta tell me what those are. Ditto with gendered language or other language you don’t like. I can keep request details private if you let me know in your ask you don’t want it to be published. You can DM me requests to avoid the ask box limits if you’re comfortable doing so or dw about sending me a ton of asks to stay anon. I’ll write whatever body/gender/lack of gender you want, regardless of whether it’s common or not.

Ship hate (And I’m sick to death of people equating fiction about fiction with actual crimes against actual humans. Just DLDR (Don’t Like, Don’t Read), it’s not that fuckin’ hard.

Kink shame. (Fuck people who do this, but in the pejorative sense, not the sexual sense. I don’t know how well I’ll do at something until I try, but I’m open to having a go with basically any kink, even the ones most writers don’t take requests for, so go for it!)

Make fun of anyone (even actual dickheads) for how they write or speak ever. Please feel absolutely free and welcome to talk to me regardless of your level of English.

Mock any honest question whatsoever. Not sure what I mean? Perplexed by my weird British slang? Abbreviation got you like “wtf”? You can always ask. Please do.

Other things I can do:

I am open to beta reading TLOU fics: DM or send an ask and we can discuss this

Answer questions, give advice or offer feedback about writing autistic characters with sex lives, writing AutDHD characters, and/or other atypicalities that I have, DM or send an ask.

My Requests:

Requests I’ve made that were written by other wonderful writers:

Nora’s Office: Abby/Nora smut 🩺

Green-eyed: Ellie/reader smut 💚

You Can’t Keep An Eye On Me 24/7: Abby/reader bondage smut 🔐

Sweet Girl: Abby/reader hair braiding fluff 💆🏼‍♀️

Please Don’t Go: Abby, Ellie & Lev alt ending 💜

Love on the Brain: Abby/Ellie modern AU. 🧠This one wasn’t actually a request but a surprise gift 😍 that awww just all the good feels on many levels.

Other TLOU authors who I love and recommend:

Most of these writers also take requests! Make sure you check them all out and if you like them (spoiler: if you like my fics, you probably will) then please give them some love!

🐈 @kittycat-beans aka Queen Machine of Abby/reader. She has heaps of talent and heaps of fics to read. 🐈

🐇 @pinkchubbiebunnie Excellent Abby/reader author with some glorious longer reads. Writes disabled, autistic & chronically ill characters beautifully and accessibly to all. 🐇

🦸🏼‍♀️ @aka-patsywalker who is writing a unique and gripping post-cannon Dina/Ellie fic that I am loving. 🦸🏼‍♀️

👻 @hopelesslonelyghost Hot, hot, hot Ellie/reader, Dina/reader & Abby/reader stuff! 👻

📖 @f-society-arcade of Abby/librarian reader fame and excellence.📖

🧷 @punkrockmads Rightly famed for writing excellent Abby/reader modern AUs 🧷

😈 @lifeisfullofdirtysins Fellow Jesse fan who writes a huge range of glorious fluff, angst and smut for all our TLOU faves. 😈

👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 @swatlesbian is currently working on some very exciting Abby/Ellie stuff, so watch this space! 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

There are probably more to add

My Tags

I journal/ramble about writing sometimes, check #journalling

You can learn more about me from random asks and other things, check #about

I use the tag #help for helpful things

I RB a lot prompts, check #writing prompts

I also RB many ask games, check #ask games

I use the tag #writing for RBs of useful stuff for writers

Main tags I use for relevant original and RBed content: #Abby Anderson #Dina #Ellie Williams #Nora Harris #Joel Miller #Riley Abel #tlou Jesse #Abby/Ellie #Dina x Ellie #Ellie x Riley #Abby x Nora

(I know there is a lack of system or logic to these tags but I’m not changing them all now)

[clarionglass]

tagged by @dheiress to post the first line of my last 20 fics (thank you! <3)

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 other authors!

aight my lads here we go, there’s going to be a few unpublished wips and other piece of dubious writing in here bc i doubt i have 20 stories but anyway, here we go (this is very long! press j to skip or just get that dash scrollin bc this might take a while :// ) in very rough chronological order going backwards, starting with the published work:

1. so i ran to the river (tma grifters au, unpublished yet but will be soon!): The sunlight feels different on a face fresh out of prison, and it feels even better to Jonathan Sims now that he’s truly home.

2. crowned by an overture bold and beyond (tma pretentious college au, based loosely on the secret history):  It was a cool, rainy day in late March when I first approached the Magnus Institute--one of those days that served as a reminder that the London spring, that fragile creature, was still all too vulnerable to the occasional strike from the claws of winter.

3. we should ride this wave to shore (tma chatfic where everything is beautiful and nothing hurts): Friday, 3:14 P.M. “archives research & statement envestigation” Timothy Stoker renamed the group “drinks drinks drinks” Timothy Stoker changed Sasha James’s nickname to saucy sash Timothy Stoker changed Martin Blackwood’s nickname to martini kart Timothy Stoker changed his nickname to stonked stonked: so how bout it lads saucy sash: oh god.

4. i am the maker of rules (dealing with fools) (tma chatfic, an elias-and-peter-focused accompaniment to wsrtwts): Monday, 7:39 P.M. Elias Bouchard to Peter Lukas Elias Bouchard: Peter, I need to talk to you. Elias Bouchard: I’ve had the most infuriating day at work.

5. An Optimistic Tragedy (good omens orchestra au that i swear to god i’ll finish one day): Three years ago Eve shifted in her chair, her mind clearly on things other than Milhaud and the music in front of her.

6. The Spaces Between the Stars (the Beast of a dw fic that i can’t even begin to describe; a mate and i have been working on this since 2015 and it’s a sprawling mass of writing that encompasses Many google docs--what’s on ao3 atm is a very small percentage of it,,,,): The Doctor clutched the TARDIS railing as if somehow, it could take the pain away.

7. Carol of the Bells (a chrismas chatfic companion to aot! i’ve always been a sucker for a chatfic but oof looking back on this one my formatting style sure has changed): [Friday December 13, 1:31am] Anthony Crowley to Angelface: u up? ;)

8. An Exploration into The Nature of Human Beings, sub. Homo Sapiens: A Research Paper by Milton Jones (british comedy rpf. this is my oldest piece on ao3 and it shows, but there’s a special place in my heart for this dorky lil fic about an alien researcher making a place for himself in british comedy. fun fact! i actually added the final three sentences to this a couple of days ago, and will post it when i do my next fic update): <<I knew you’d be down here, as per usual. Do you never stop working?>>

and now for the stuff that i like but hasn’t yet/will never/one day, if i get my act together, might be posted to ao3... please ask me about these bc i love them, even though i’ll probably never post them :)

9. untitled mitchell spy comedy (a show that @monimolimnion​ and i want to pitch to the bbc in which david mitchell and victoria coren mitchell are married spies who work for MI5 and MI6 respectively, and most of britcom pops up in one place or another. it’s nothing more than a Lot of planning and a few snippets, but i love returning to this doc): [David is sitting at his desk, shaking his head at an open file.] David: They’re taking the piss. That’s what they’re doing, they’re taking the piss.

10. In the Demonic Style (a good omens au of @teashoesandhair’s glorious smooching contest piece, which is the first piece of fiction writing in the reblog chain. i’ve promised a chapter 2 to this, which i’m halfway through, and feel incredibly guilty for not finishing. still, my quarter-year’s resolution is to finish something old whenever i post something new, so maybe it’ll get done soon!): “It’s the end of the world” was not a good statement with which to start one’s morning in any circumstances, but the angel Bryndael was in the middle of cataloguing his newest shipment of tea samples when said statement reached his ears, and he didn’t much appreciate being disturbed.

11. magpie (good omens canon-mostly-compliant fic based around the song magpie by the unthanks/the magpie folk song/nursery rhyme): Wednesday (approximately 11 years before the end of the world) From a bird’s-eye view, St James’s Park was beautiful at this time of year.

12. untitled ficlet for tales of dwrwedd (a present for my writing buddy! the link is to her fic, i just wrote a bit of her two witcherverse ocs being soft as hell): The two women seated by the hearth didn't look old, either of them. But there was something about the pair--in their movements, or their mannerisms--that suggested an age far beyond what their unlined faces would suggest.

13: Tempo d’Attacco (an original bit of Light Crime a la midsomer murders, set in a university music department that is naturally a thinly-veiled copy of my own, hence why it will never ever be posted anywhere. i wrote this for my supervisor at the end of honours (her character is the sleuth) :P ) Dr Marisa Tan didn’t exactly start her morning well, on the day that everything seemed to upend itself.

patterns...... i’m not seeing that many, tbh? idk if i could call this in media res, but there’s certainly a good bit of plot starting without heaps of setup. 

my favourite? hmmmmmm i’d say my favourites would be crowned by an overture bold and beyond, and in the demonic style. i gotta say, going back to revisit a lot of my older writing has been nice! time and distance have been v kind :)

i’m hella bad at tagging things so if you see this and want to share your own writing please go ahead! i’m very shy when it comes to Fandom Interaction (tm) so i don’t feel comfortable launching myself into people’s notes (i loved this tho! i just need other people to make the first move lol), however i will give a specific shoutout to @monimolimnion whose writing i adore and who needs to do this!

[elitespacefreak]

listen okay im a huge simp for the tallests, esp red, so when i saw that day 4 ficlet i about screamed 😳 i understand if other prompts are spoken for, but i CERTAINLY wouldn't object to more 👉👈 maybe for the prompts on day 13? 😳😳😳😳 also, ive seen the concept of mating scars before and am hella interested. can you elaborate more on it?

Hello~!! I’m so glad you liked it I was really sorta proud of that one~ Unfortunately I’m keeping the prompts on day 13 for myself since those are two of my absolute biggest kinks, but when I get home I’ll make a pinned post that’ll show what prompts I’m willing to open for other pairings. Of course once kinktober is over I’ll be back to taking my regular asks and you’re more than welcome to send something in~

ALSO I WOULD LOVE TO ELABORATE. I’ve actually had this headcanon for myself since I was in high school, so like 7-10 years ago, and I’ve seen it around so I know I’m not the first one or the only one to use it. But so far I think I’m the only one to pair it with knotting~ Essentially, for my headcanon at least, it serves a practical purpose first. Irkens live a long time, they need something to show for their bonds to each other that will last their lifetime without needing upkeep — scars work great for that. But they also need to be visible to others so they can also serve their purpose as a warning sign, i.e. ‘don’t fuck with this person or you’re going to end up on the business end of Irk’s finest weaponry.’ It’s also sentimental, for obvious reasons, and can be conforting when two people are apart.

I dunno it’s always been paramount in my soulmate aus, which are like the only things I write because I have abandonment issues but I’ve always been into that primal sense of claiming someone else as your own and biting is just so hot~

[science-lings]

Ficlet idea: Tony lives au, things have calmed down a little, then Peter finds that letter that Tony wrote him (idk if you've seen it yet but it's in the discord under marvel-angst)

okay, I made a post about writing something for this, I was planning on going canon-compliant and making it hella sad so thank goodness you’re here to make me do something else. 

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

Peter wasn’t looking for anything, he just came across something he didn’t think he was supposed to. 

He was in the Starks house, kinda in hiding after being blamed for killing Mysterio. That was a whole other can of worms that he did not need to pick through, it was easier just to pretend he was just living with the Starks just because they like him. 

Morgan was at school, Pepper was at work, Tony was working on adjusting the current version of his metal arm and seemed to be in the mood to be alone. That happened every once in a while after the final snap so Peter didn’t think he wanted to be bothered because the teenager hiding in his home was bored. 

Peter found himself wandering. The house still felt foreign and he still didn’t feel comfortable sneaking around. But there wasn’t much else to do, he was restricted to have little to no digital presence. He could only text his friends through a heavily guarded phone line and even then he wasn’t allowed to call. 

He didn’t have any ideas to flesh out in the garage turned workshop, he couldn’t go anywhere, he couldn’t even chill out with Tony’s llama for too long just in case someone stopped by. 

Eventually, he wandered into Tony and Peppers room. He looked at pictures of their little family, even some including pictures of May and for some reason a couple baby pictures of Peter himself. Even one with a young Peter in an Iron Man t-shirt. he rolled his eyes when he saw it next to a framed picture of Pepper looking exhausted by a newborn Morgan. 

Under a bunch of unframed pictures and random drawings by Morgan, there was an envelope with shaky handwriting spelling out his name. ‘Mr. Parker’ 

Peter didn’t know whether it was invading Mr. Starks privacy to open the letter but it was addressed to him... his curiosity was too strong and he opened the unsealed letter. 

Peter felt tears in his eyes after a single line. The letter started out with one of the many nicknames Tony used to refer to Peter. ‘Kid,’ and went on to describe how Peter’s last moments haunted him and how he admitted to wishing he had been a better mentor. How he saw that Peter was meant to be an Avenger and how Tony had failed them. All of them. It conveyed how Peter was the defining factor that made Tony decide to help the avengers go back in time even though he had the most to lose. It was a last message from him before he left, if something were to go wrong. 

If Tony didn’t make it, he didn’t want Peter to blame himself, he knew that Peter would but he didn’t want him to. He wanted Peter to meet Morgan and wanted him to be a part of their little family that he had built. Finally, he wanted Peter to not be alone, as he himself learned too late. 

The letter ended with a, ‘So don’t be like me. Be better.’ like one of their first conversations. It was cheekily signed off as ‘Mr. Stark’ and Peter wasn’t sure what to think. In another world, this might’ve been his last gift from his mentor. This might be the last piece of his hero. 

“A little bird told me you’ve been snooping around...” Tony said from behind him. Peter jumped a little.

“oh, uh, I’m sorry-” Peter sighed, a little afraid that the letter was something Tony didn’t want him to see. 

“Someday I’m going to get you to stop apologizing for everything. I can’t exactly expect you to not be curious about a thing with your damn name on it.” 

“I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to traumatize you...” Peter wiped a tear with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. 

“Kid, look at me.” Tony gently lifted Peters chin so that Peter couldn’t hide. “You didn’t traumatize me. You motivated me. Without you, none of this would’ve happened. You’re the reason I risked everything. You saved the world bud.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want to give you nightmares...” Tony chuckled a little as he brought Peter into a hug. 

“No shit. I’m fully aware that you aren’t responsible for that but it happened and it’s over now. I never needed to have Pepper give you that letter and we can both be alive at the same time.” 

“Thank god for that... I don’t know what I’d do without you...” Peter muttered in Tony's shoulder. 

“Hopefully neither of us have to find out for a while.” Tony joked. “At least we’re both retired from superheroing for a while...” Tony partly pulled away from the hug, keeping his arm around Peter’s shoulder. 

“I miss it... but I don’t miss almost being shot.” 

“What do you mean almost, you have been shot. Like several times.” 

“Not recently...” 

“You got hit by a train a week ago.” 

“Okay, can we not-” Tony laughed as he led them out of the room. He had never needed to write the letter, he never needed Pepper to give it to him at his funeral and he never needed to think of his kid's life without him. And he was more than thankful for it. 

[darlingpetao3]

Almost Like a Fairy Tale (Sherloque Wells x Reader)

Rating: G

Summary: Following a seemingly normal shift at your second job, you leave for home only to be pursued by a fearsome woman and her daggers. Not to mention meeting your handsome French prince after the whole ordeal...

A/N: Flash Drabble (Ficlet?) S05E21. Apologies if this doesn’t make sense or is just terrible, but seeing as my tired brain didn’t give me any ideas last night, I ended up waking up in the middle of the night to write the bones of this one so... I hope you like it 😆

The clock in the hallway chimes midnight, and while you would expect your night to end with remembering a plethora of romantic dancing, spinning in a dress, or losing a glass slipper, that is far, far from reality.

By 12:07 am, you have shut your locker in the custodial room of Central City University, leaving in your athleisure wear and hair in a messy bun. That’s right. You work as a custodian for the university - a way to scrounge up extra money in this hella expensive city. It is by no means glamorous. No job mopping floors and scrubbing public toilets ever are, but you pull through to stay afloat. At least you get to listen to some bangin’ tunes and audiobooks while you work.

It’s 12:14 when you finally make your way down the school’s steps. There had been light rain earlier, it would seem, because the pavement glistens under the yellow lamp posts in the courtyard. You hear a sort of rustling from behind, finding that when you turn, it’s the most frightening looking woman with glowing daggers.

“You’re one of them,” she growls. You can’t find your breath - you’re running full speed and you don’t know why. All you know is you don’t want this crazy chick laying a hand on you. Reaching another set of concrete steps, you realize this is going to slow you down.

But when your pursuer catches up with you halfway down, she clutches your neck from behind as you hear a, “No!” from somewhere ahead. But you barely register the voice because you let out one of your screams - your metahuman ability - which results in the attacker vanishing from thin air in the vibrational intensity of your screech. You still haven’t learned where things (or people) go when this happens.

She’s going to be back. She’ll be back, I know it, I have to-

The sheer power your ability took from you causes you to stumble. You know you’re about to crash to the pavement but are surprised when the moment never arrives. Instead, there’s a pair of arms bracing you, and you feel a chest in front of you with your hands. Sturdy.

At 12:18, you look into the crystal blue eyes of a hat-wearing prince with long hair and light stubble. Not your typical prince, but a handsome one, for sure.

“Allô, are you alright, mademoiselle?”

Charming, too.

“Yes. Yes, I think so,” you reply, doing a self-check to make certain. “I need to leave. I don’t want to be here if she comes back. But thank you for catching me. I’m sure my dentist, my bank account and I would thank you equally. Have a good night.”

You’re in such a flurry of fright, surprise, and adrenaline that you never even notice…

“Excusez-moi,” the French-accented man says, “but err, I believe you forgot something?”

You turn back, to find him holding a shoe. Your tennis shoe. Your scuffed up, dirty, and potentially odorous tennis shoe.

“Oh,” is all you can say. The man kneels to present it to you, then looks up expectantly. You place your foot into the shoe, half expecting it not to fit this time for some reason, but of course it does.

“Ah, it fits,” he remarks happily.

“Thank you,” you reply lamely.

“May I walk you home? It would not seem right to have you do so alone after what has just occurred? Not that you cannot defend yourself! I mean, mon Dieu, that was extraordinaire. But s'il vous plaît, please, allow me this courtesy.”

He rambles. That’s cute.

“Yes, okay. I will allow you to walk me home.”

“Magnifique! Let’s go.” Your mystery man lends his arm to you, to which you take.

It’s precisely 12:35 when you reach the door to your apartment building and kiss the man’s cheek in thanks. Immediately after, you try to read his expression, and it’s still 12:35 when you kiss his lips and again when he kisses you back. When the two of you part, he raises his eyebrow in a way that seems to read, well damn. Only, perhaps the French equivalent. The man, whose name you have still yet to learn, leans down to press his lips to the back of your hand.

“I don’t even know your name,” you say, along with your own name as an introduction with the last bit of breath in your lungs.

“Sherloque,” he replies with a dreamy smile.

“Will I ever see you again?”

He winks.

“À bientôt, ma princesse.”

This Sherloque fellow tips his hat to you and carries on down the block and into the night by 12:41.

Cinderella wished she had a night like yours.

[dyketectivecomics]

Just to really emphasize the stress I’ve been under tho: I’ve deadass forgot that i ordered Daughter of Darkness from the comics shop & haven’t heard ANYTHING from them abt it (they were supposed to email me when it came in) and like........ now that my anxiety for Real Important Stuff is SPENT it’s flaring up again abt this MINOR thing and I hate it so damn much I hate that I’m like this

Actually just to tack onto this, here’s what I’ve been Dealing with right?

-trying to make all the planets align to sign up for this ONE (1) advanced stats class that I need in order to complete my degree (that’s actually going to be a Masters level course instead of an undergrad bc the undergrad I WANTED to take is actually only offered every other fall. And it’s been a nightmare trying to jump thru all the right hoops to get this thing going)

-writing out the script for a wedding ceremony I’m going to be officiating in October! (Which is a WILD sentence to say. Can You Believe? I still can’t believe actually)

-trying to cover more shifts at work when I can since no one wanted to hire me this summer to help supplement my downtime aksjak and to coincide with that, trying to plan my day to day around avoiding my mother when I can bc our relationship is causing me extra stress abt the upcoming semester

-ALSO trying to not isolate myself and hang out more with friends bc it’s def Bad For Mental Health to stay online for Too Long but sometimes even that’s triggering my anxiety so it’s been a WILD fucking balancing act lemme tell u

-sleep. I know I need more of it. I’m definitely not getting it. Every night I’m writing fic both feels Great and makes me Guilty as Hell bc I want to be Productive & continue to do things I enjoy but I’m definitely not doing it healthily when I stay up into the wee hours of the night.

All this to say, I know I said I’d update one of my fics by the end of August. But that’s almost upon us and it’s definitely not happening. I’m gonna pour back all of my remaining free time into Arkham Exoricism, however, in preparation for October. But just know that with this semester coming up. I’m probably only going to hit ficlet requests sparingly and I’ll likely to a lot of oneshots that are HELLA self indulgent. Just like I’ve been doing these past two weeks.

Which isn’t a bad thing. But if y’all want More of something in particular, don’t be afraid to ask me Qs ABOUT it. Just don’t be a dick and ask why I’m not working on it Right This Second lmao

[likeshipsonthesea]

Fic asks: F, M, K (I was just going to do those first two, but then the pattern amused me, so I had to throw K in after all.)

From this Fanfic Ask Game list!

F - Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Ah, okay, so my current favorite bit of dialogue I’ve written is from an as-of-yet unposted fic, so I’m going to put that under the cut for anyone who wants to read it.

As far as finished fic goes, I can’t really think of any off the top of my head other than any interaction I wrote between Dex and Whiskey in The Arrangement, but after some sifting I was pleasantly delighted to reread this ficlet I wrote about Dex and Nursey after 4.08 where my shipper heart tried to fix what Ngozi so lovingly shattered. Cutting out the narrative, the dialogue reads like this:

“The washer’s free.” - Dex

“Thanks.” - Nursey

“Need help?” - Nursey

“You can do the socks” … “If you want.” - Dex

“I used to do that.” … “For my mom,” … “when she did laundry.” - Dex

What I like so much about this ficlet, and the dialogue in it, is something I’m big on in my writing, which is that the words people say almost never really get across what they mean/feel, and so with Nursey and Dex specifically I really like when I can give them a good, loaded, important interaction with very little actual dialogue, and I think with this fic in particular I did that pretty well.

M -  Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share?

Does it count as the back burner if it’s technically been brewing for upwards of a year?

I have so many WIPs and AU ideas that have been somewhat written but never finished, including but not limited to a Nurseydex stripper!AU which I’ve talked about before, a Dex/OC LAX bro story that I LOVE, how the Haus dryer got Nursey and Dex together, a fic about Dex’s experienced as a First-Gen Low-Income student at Samwell, and a very long fic from Nursey’s frog year to beyond Samwell about his slow and inevitable descent into love with Dex.

…I need to get writing.

K - What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

As you and everyone who’s ever read my stuff know, I am– as I’ve been called before– an angst monster. I live for the angst, I eat sleep and breathe angst. I have never met an angsty idea I haven’t liked.

As far as story ideas, I think the angstiest thing I’ve ever come up with is an AU with Dex’s parents dying and him quitting college and moving back to Maine to take care of his siblings. It never really got legs, but I thought about it before falling asleep for a while and currently have a short, poorly written WIP in my Abandoned Fics folder.

As far as HCs and such, my backstories for Dex and Nursey are plenty angsty– Dex’s being that he was outed to his town at ten years old, bullied for most of his life, and was somewhat taken advantage of by his hockey captain (who was four years older than him) from the time he was 14 until his freshman year at Samwell. Nursey’s super sad backstory revolves around him developing an anxiety disorder from a young age and– though his parents are loving and try their best– he learns to be “chill” and “fine” because he knows it upsets them when he isn’t, and basically becomes hella repressed, which Andover Does Not Help.

.. I swear I like these characters, I promise.

*

Under the cut is a snippet of dialogue from an as-yet unfinished and unposted piece about Dex’s relationship with my OC, Sean the LAX bro. Enjoy! :)

(a little context: Sean is trying to convince Dex that they can make a relationship work, after kind of breaking into his building to talk to him. It’s chill, I promise. I cut off before the dialogue is tagged, so just know the first line is Sean’s.)

        “Okay, this is going to sound really creepy, but remember I’m cute, okay?”

         “What?”

         “Okay, so, uh. I saw you leaving the hockey frat with your laundry and I sort of, followed you and, fuck. I can’t stop thinking about you?” He winces at himself. “This is sounding so much creepier than it’s meant to. I just, I really like you, okay? I think we can get past the team thing. It’ll be kind of like Romeo and Juliet, right?”

         “They killed themselves at the end,” Dex points out.

         “Well, as long as you don’t take drugs from any priests and I don’t kill your cousin, I think we’ll be pretty okay.”

         “Sean,” Dex tries to say firmly, but he’s smiling.

         Sean half-smiles back. “I think we can do it. I really do.”

         “Sean…”

         “And remember how cute I am,” Sean adds quickly. “Also remember that I just ran up three flights of stairs because the elevator was full just for you.”

         “How did you even get in the building?”

         Sean grins. “I am very cute.” Dex gives him a flat look. Sean relents. “Okay, I pretended like I lived here and went in behind someone who opened the door.” He points at Dex. “But I am cute.”

         “I feel like you’re searching for validation here.”

         “And the polite thing to do would be to give it to me, wouldn’t it?”

I just really love this interaction? Sean is a really fun character for me to write and I love his lines in what I’ve written so far, and every time I go back to read this WIP, whenever I get to this part I want to finish it just so I can post this bit.

.. I guess this means I don’t have to finish it now? Ah, I’ll do it anyway.