#the scars are long healed tho

[saturnshari-art]

hc for vincent's surgery scars

cw: heavy scarring , post op scars

[miraclepoisons]

always-a-sith anakin au

first meeting with obiwan

[waywardsalt]

probably going to rework my human bellum design again

[sleepybirbies]

smouse

[sleep-nurse]

the fact that i still gotta put the fucking ear spray for 1 more week cus the ringing hasn't gotten away yet

[snarltoothed]

hhh had to switch to a different progestin and ofc a cystic zit appears. please let this be an adjustment thing and not a “levonogestrel specifically will not stop your acne” thing

[glamourscat]

Some general hcs about the blue lock guys? Maybe if they are a girl or boy dad? Idk, anything of the sort thx 🙏🏻

Girls dads vs boys dads BLLK BOYS EDITION

GIRL'S DAD

⁃ REO MF MIKAGE. He is the N1 girl’s dad. So much that he *will* accidentally spoil her to the moon and back (literally). And he will hit you with “but look at her and her puppy eyes? How can you resist her? Is not my fault if she asked to own a star in her name for her birthday. It’s the least I could do for my own little star “

⁃ ISAGI: I don’t think I need to elaborate on him. But I will, because i love to yap. It's canon (or i think? i am pretty sure i have read it in the egoist bible but i cannot find the link i had saved for the life of me) that he would have loved a younger sister growing up. So it just makes sense.

⁃ BAROU : he has two younger sisters to which it's canon he cares and loves them for his dear life. Barou pretty much is already wired in husband and father mode ⁃ YUKIMIYA: purely out of personal vibes.

HEAR ME OUT ON THIS ONE:

⁃ SHIDOU: In the eventual future where this little gremlin fixes whatever he has going on, he would make such a good girl dad. Why? vibes. He just fits the girl's dad vibes i can't explain to you why, you either see it or don't.

At the same time tho, I also see him as the unhinged, fun uncle who is everywhere at once. Living his life the most weirdly, yet oddly free, way.

BOY'S DAD (this is all about pure vibes honestly)

⁃ KUNIGAMI

⁃ CHIGIRI

⁃ GAGAMARU

BOTH

⁃ BACHIRA: My favourite Bee. He just wants a child honestly, in a very far future. He would be such a great dad. The fun, loving and just an absolute gem. He just want at least 2 kids, boy or girl doesn't matter as long as he can shower them with love.

⁃ NIKO

NONE

⁃ NAGI: I mean lmao.. self explanatory. He thinks everything is an hassle. Definitely doesn’t want kids

⁃ ARYU: I can’t personally see him having kids, he lives a stress free life and kids are definetly no stress free— he is the cool aunt that travels the world, has always some crazy stories up his sleeve and loves expensive wine and clothes.

⁃ KAISER: his childhood was everything but good. And the scars he suffered are a life time reminder of the neglect and abuse he faced. The amount of trauma cannot be healed over the course of a month nor a few years, it's a constant learning curve that will follow him until his last breath. Honestly speaking, just like Rin-- but in a more complicated way here, it would be extremely hard to get into a relationship with him alone. I cannot image how dating/ married and having a kid would work with his twisted way of seeing life and relationships.

⁃ SAE: emotional range of a tea spoon. I can’t see him settling down in a marriage, much less having a kid.

⁃ RIN: this is complicated, because I think he could settle in the “both” category and here. The thing is, objectively speaking, he is very selfish. His football career will come before anything, and like we see, he is not thinking twice before cutting people off if needed. Thus, if he doesn’t change his mindset/grow up.. if he wants a long, standing football career, I cannot see him settling any time soon. Not to mention his struggle to make friends, let alone being in a relationship. But, in the case he does change, I think he would like two kids for sure.

[brucewaynehater101]

I need you to stop me from making another Tim Drake centric fic

I got this random idea that won’t leave me alone

like what if the emotional scars and trauma people have show up physically too most commonly as little cracks on the skin and all of the bats have them

they hide them tho with make up and stuff so people don’t question it except Tim hides them from everyone maybe bc that’s what his parents taught him to do maybe bc he just doesn’t want to burden any of the bats

the bats think that Tim is fine so to them he’s invincible which leads them to treat him as such subconsciously or otherwise especially Bruce

it takes a lot for something to be bad enough that they physically manifest and Tim has A LOT bc everyone thinks he’s invincible

:) it won’t leave me alone help me I beg of you

Hmm.... Let's add on, shall we? This is a very rad idea. You should definitely write a fic about it, but no pressure.

Mind if I explore it? Also, feel free to disregard any part below you don't want/disagree with. This is just brainstorming ^^

Alright. Emotional scars are a physical mark on someone's skin.

Similar to regular scars, they can fade as a person heals.

Some may never disappear, and some only appear for a short time.

What would their color be?

Would they look like actual cracks in a person (so black-ish in color)? Would they be gold or multi-colored (different colors represent different kinds of emotional traumas)?

The level of hurt inflicted is directly proportional to the size (length and width) of the scar.

Perhaps more could be deduced from the general shape (is it jagged? A single line? Branching?)

Not all people have these marks

Most of the population manifests them. There's some prejudice against folk who don't [something something they are heartless, incapable of feelings, not able to be emotionally hurt, cold, detached, etc.], but hiding scars is also common. Therefore, it's harder to discern whether someone is hiding their marks or markless. It's a very fine line, so most people allow a smaller mark to show every once in a while. There's even a few trends to proudly display all marks.

Marks appear at the time of the emotional harm

It may not be apparent at the time due to the location, but the individual being hurt will manifest the mark at the very moment of emotional harm.

Anyways, that's the background stuff. Fun, but let's get into Tim specifically ^^

Tim's parents are part of the few who believe that showing off your scars to anyone, even your loved ones, is both a weakness and a way to guilt-trip people. Therefore, through their archeology studies, they managed to obtain magical objects to prevent the showing of emotional marks. It's similar to glamor.

Tim's object can change forms to suit his needs (so a ring at one moment and an earring the next). This ability prevents the Bats from discovering it.

Janet fakes a very small mark on her hand when she wants to discourage any rumors that's she's incapable of manifesting marks. For Tim, though, his parents wanted him to have rumors of being incapable of forming marks. It served their purpose better for him being the cunning Drake heir.

The deception started from birth, so no one but the Drakes know of Tim's ability to form marks [and the Drake parents never see the marks they leave behind on their child].

The Waynes, long before Tim entered their life, were aware of these rumors. Thus, when Tim demands to become Robin, he doesn't correct their assumptions.

Bruce is a callous fucker to Tim at the start. If Tim can't be hurt emotionally, then Bruce's ill-treatment of him is fine (which is flawed logic. The markless can be emotionally hurt, and they still deserve kindness, dignity, and respect even if they couldn't. Bruce was mentally fucked up, but it doesn't excuse his treatment).

Eventually, Bruce comes to the second realization that Tim should still be treated well even if it doesn't hurt him regardless. The man's behavior is better, but he still has the notion in mind that Tim can't be emotionally hurt. He uses this for missions and to downplay the way his other kids treat Tim (specifically Jason and Damian when they first meet Tim).

Tim gets used to a rotation of insult-names: Robot Robin, heartless, markless (said insultingly), cold-blooded, unfeeling bastard, etc.

He's also subject to a TON of misunderstandings. People are more reluctant to love him due to the belief that he can't love them back. He gets yelled at and told off for "masking/faking his emotions" when he's actually being genuine.

Which adds to his hurt :)

He also has to pretend not to grieve his parents when they die :(

Due to how rare markless are, the Bats don't meet "another" one until after the BruceQuest. When they chat with this person, they realize how many misconceptions they have about them (such as the markless being incapable of feelings. In fact, they accidentally offend that person when they tell the other they don't need to fake their emotions in front of the Bats. Safe to say, the markless individual becomes incensed when they realize how they've been treating their own markless family member).

This would be at least four (probably closer to five) years after Tim first became Robin. The entire family has a meltdown.

Tim, on the other hand, is used to the treatment the Bats have been giving him and becomes incredibly uncomfortable with them trying to care for his feelings and whatnot. It's rocky for a long while as everyone tries to seek forgiveness for something Tim bitterly doesn't hold against them (he is lying to them after all).

Tim rarely, if ever, views his own marks. The last time he checked was when he was having his identity crisis after Robin was taken from him. His entire body, from head to toe, had cracks in it. There was a giant, gaping crack on his back for the metaphorical stab in the back it was.

And we haven't even gotten to when the Bats figure out Tim was never markless :)

[miammey]

Everyone's just talking about how hot Lighter is, and yeah he's attractive, but he has such a painful story and barely anyone is mentioning it??? I haven't even finished all his hangout stuff yet, but already I can tell that he's still extremely troubled by what happened in his past.

During the film we watch with him he wasn't scared of the blood and gore, mainly since there wasn't as much as expected (and he wore his glasses so he wouldn't faint), but he was scared about what one of the characters did that caused a disaster, something he relates to in a sense, saying that even if he looked calm his hands were shaking. I wanted to tell him that he can stay and calm down all he wants, give him a more relaxing movie to watch free of charge, because to me he felt so uncomfortable after watching the movie because he didn't expect it to hit so close

And don't get me started on this man's physical injuries. He's covered in MASSIVE scars, realistically, if we were to map out how they got there, he would've nearly had his arm cut off or just be cut in half. He mentioned that another reason he wears sunglasses is because of an old injury, even tho it's basically already healed he just no longer feels comfortable going out without them. He mentioned his neck and legs weren't what they once were, and judging by his backstory that's mainly because he's always fighting. He's the type to strain himself to whatever extent necessary do get the task done

He also is just genuinely so attached to his gang and so scared of losing them, but even then he stays strong because others need him to. He also saw Caesar almost die, his leader and a good friend, and yet he stayed strong for Lucy. He goes off by himself to deal with things because he doesn't want to get others in the gang involved, and he's just so genuinely earnest. He's caring and awkward and bad at hiding it, but he's still that Champion, a position he takes pride in because it means he's succeeding at protecting his loved ones, something he failed to do in the past

Speaking of the past, back to him being self-sacrificing, he went into debt and basically signed his life away to pay it off after his group all died all to make sure their families were taken care of. He knew that businessmen were greedy and there's a good chance it would take decades for him to pay them off, if he ever would, but he still did it. He described himself as a zombie back then, and only until after he got comfortable with the gang did he break out of that state

I know people gawk over attractive characters, I can't say I don't as well at times, but every time he's on screen and anything even remotely seems to upset him I just wanna make him comfortable. He's relaxed, but not comfortable, and I don't think he's been comfortable for a very long time. He says everything's in the past, but I'm pretty sure he's still trying to convince himself of that, because what happened in his past had such a big impact on his future that it's still in the back of his mind day in and day out

[imjustdelusionalok]

yandere!dc: goddess! darling

ⁱⁿᶠᵒ ᵃᵇᵗ ᵗʰⁱˢ ᵈᵃʳˡⁱⁿᵍ۫ ꣑ৎ

darling is a god from another world who just so happens to immigrate into the dc universe after a very long time of probably embodying... well, everything.

firstly having to live for love as a human, and then ending it all to fight for the beauty of life as god.

she is the reason for existence, from the big to the miniscule.

(so basically op goddess reader who has wayyyy too much power in their hands-- ex: nothing can kill them, nothing can put an end to them, etc--)

the least you could do is seal away her powers, but even that would truly not be enough because your only sealing away 0.000000000000001%. (i mean that 💀)

*cough* anyway... aside from goddess reader backstory, lets go to the inspiration <33

she's a mix of Madokami from Puella Magi, HoF Kiana Kaslana from Honkai Impact, and mostly of Ishtar Ashtart/Space Ishtar from Fate Grand Order <3

originally kind and lighthearted after becoming 'God', but as time passes and stars dimmed, she has become... well... neutral. not good, but DEFINITELY not bad. like this!

"let me help you :)" to "...From the dawn of creation. Man has come from the ground not by his hand but mine. go back to the land and return to dust."

summary: lawful, void, alien... yet beautiful, destructive, human.

sooooo. yup.

:p

ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿˢ ᵗⁱᵐᵉ۫ ꣑ৎ

...she has met the justice league before. because, who in their right minds would ignore the giant falling 'star' that came out of a very visible tear in the sky caused by said celestial body???

dramatically crashing down the surface like a meteorite, you lowkey may have destroyed a 'few' buildings... whoopsies :p

they are surprised. this... girl, no- alien, exudes endless quantity of power, leaking from every blurred pore. it also seems like they might be power themselves...

batman goes bazingas at the amount of destruction caused by your fall leading to an airheaded you getting towed to the JL headquarters and any sort of refusal or fighting back is unallowed. (even tho your more than capable of destroying anything AND everything you still oblige)

though cool as ice, you are so confused deep down. head tilted, vacant expression, the usual from the emotionally detached goddess albeit with a little change. 'what are these humans talking about?' you think, 'what threat?' you think again, unaware that you are the threat being spoken of.

the white slits of the vigilante's mask narrows at your disposition. everything about you seems... off. from your oppressing aura, to the... heavenly allure your blankness brings.

"more alien than the actual alien," a familiar scarlet speedster jokes, in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood. (he failed horribly btw) said alien rolls their eyes and sighs. though he has to admit, you lowkey look kind of cute... but he stops, remembering lois.

once you say your side of the story, they go all shocked pikachu faces again. your a god from another seperate world??? i mean dont get them wrong though, they had their fair share of situations like these, as some dc villains and heroes they know arent even from here originally. but they cant help but feel a bit different about you, something about you makes their soul writhe... and its not in a bad way.

so once B confirms your not a threat despite your extreme potential to act like one, everybody is relieved. you just need a littleeeeeee supervision, thats all :3

and oh look at that, your actually not that bad. your cold demeanor fades once they got to know you, and that void in your eyes is filled with a light comparable to the twilight star's soothing glow— pure, tranquil, and ever so mystifying.

every step you take, life seems to exist and flourish all around you. life heals around you. not only that, but also... them. the dead part of them actually, that died from complications now too complicated to be retold and remembered.

you fill the void they never knew they had, and all their aching scars were no longer painful but tolerable. bearable even, and its all because of you.

at this point, everybody knows how this all plays out. this ordinary tune, twisted into a fanatic's song.

their once innocent admiration has now spoiled into something darker, the more you stay in this world. holy eyes peeked at it, not at them but at the abyss that is their 'love.'

...you were starting to get aware. and a rarity occurred, you were... 'saddened'. for eternities you lived alone, and in an attempt to reconnect with that sliver of humanity you hid and kept, you went here to feel something again. and you did, and you were so successful.

too successful, in fact.

they loved you; so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sooooo much. without you, they would die! :(

and that, in your eyes, is what makes you 'sad'. if your presence drives your beloved mortals to insanity's grip, then you must fly.

fly away from this despair, fly away from this madness.

your 'love' is your undoing, and ultimately also theirs.

their eyes widen as the sky is torn once again, and a familiar star flies back into it, meaning that you--- left. left? left. left? left... left.

something inside them breaks. both hearts any sense of rationality and morality left.

there is no reason to exist without you it seems, and they will do everything just to see you once more, even a second's glimpse.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

...you can't help but feel something you havent felt for a very long time. what was it again, sadness? anxiety? fear? you dont know. the endless rows of your ivory silks flutter even in the slightest movement. something tugs at you, your mind and heart. something tugs at you, telling... that it is far from over.

they call for you, their cries drowned in obsession masquerading as love.

you never answer, as your supposed concern and care for them lessens and your patience dwindles. reality is cruel, but never crueler than you. and that's when you realized it.

...they make your skin crawl. they make you want to vomit. they make you want to scream and cry. they make your ichor run cold. and if they touch you again, you'll--

...huh. who would have thought that was how you truly felt, goddess.

[smallpwbbles]

Deserts and delirium

Ay back at it again with another Biolizard Shadow au fic, this one’s a bit more fun (it’s not fun for anyone in the fic tho I’ll tell you that)

————————————————————————

The desert sun was absolutely blazing as Rouge sat on an aged and broken pillar. She rubbed at her face, not even trying to avoid smearing her make up as the sweat she was currently producing was doing a fine job of that already. Her mouth was absolutely parched, she was edging towards cursing out the burning sun as the rays of golden sunshine invited themselves to burn at her skin.

The sands underneath her were practically boiling with heat so she sat on the uncomfortable pillar while she restored enough energy to being flying once again, her wings ached as she turned to watch the source of her present misery. Her large lizard hedgehog companion was currently rolling around the sands, bumping into some pillars and structures as he did. He looked quite enthralled, no doubt enjoying the warmth due to his cold-blooded body. It was extremely out of character for Shadow to be looking and doing as he did but Rouge knew the reason for this.

It hadn’t been too long ago, after the unsuccessful completion of a mission where GUN sent Rouge and her team to check out an old base of Eggman’s in the abandoned metropolis city for possible intel on his current whereabouts. She was about to complain about the lack of anything with good Information when her giant companion suddenly fell to the ground with an earth shaking thud. Shadow had unfortunately fallen on Omega in the process, luckily he was unharmed, he was quite the durable robot.

Shadow however was quite flush, the monstrous hedgehog was usually warm with the chaos energy pulsing in his veins but the heat she felt on his forehead as he lay quivering on the ground put a spike of worry in her heart. Rouge could have reported this to GUN but their treatment of Shadow was questionable at best and downright unpleasant at worst. With that fact she made some calls to Sonic, it was the best way to get in contact with Tails as he was the only person she could think of to help at that moment.

It hadn’t taken long for Sonic to come with Tails in tow, in that time she had managed to pull Omega out from underneath Shadows back, she reconfirmed the Robot was undamaged except for some scratches caused by Shadows bristled quills. The robot didn’t seem bothered by it though and claimed he would “honour the battle scars” Shadow just gave him.

It took even less time for Tails to deduce it was just a fever, however that didn’t sit right with any of them there. Rouge knew for a fact Shadow possessed absurdly strong healing, it didn’t seem right for him to have a fever. She had wanted to ask the gigantic hedgehog about it but he was out of commission and couldn’t answer her back. The group brainstormed for what action they should take and Rouge concluded she would obtain some of Shadows files for Information, she knew they had been taken by GUN in their effort to control him.

There would be no problem to get the files, she knew every sector and section of GUN headquarters, sometimes she broke in there for the thrill of it. Rouge was just a bit worried as it meant leaving Shadow but Sonic and Tails had assured her they would keep watch of the sickly hedgehog, Omega announced he would stay in case Shadow got “difficult”, whatever that meant.

As she had thought when she had retrieved the files with absolute ease, she was crawling through some dusty and slightly claustrophobic vents when her wrist watch began to ping, a handy device given to her by GUN for communication between them and her teammates, Omega was already installed with a device that allowed him to accept the call frequency however Shadow needed to be fitted with a tiny earpiece that allowed him to hear his teammates voices when they called.

“Rouge?, Rouge?!” Tails' voice cut through clearly using the frequency she recognised as Omegas. She didn’t like being called during her solo missions but the panic in Tails' voice had her immediate attention.

“Tails? I’ve got the file, why are you calling me?” she whispered harshly into the watch. There weren't any cameras in the current vent she was squeezing herself through, but you could never be too careful.

There was a roar that interrupted the response Tails was about to give, it sounded like Shadow and she could swear she could hear Sonic's nervous voice yelling something like “chillax Shads!”

“What’s going on?” Rouge questioned, she left them alone for an hour or two, were they seriously fighting or something?

Tails answered her thought “it’s Shadow! He woke up and I think he’s reached a worse state of delirium or something, he doesn’t recognise us at all and-“ he was cut off as it sounded like something huge slammed into the ground. She heard Sonic again but much clearer “woah you almost got squished there buddy! Rouge could you tell Shads to stop trying to kill us cuz he isn’t listening to Omega”.

She hated being leader sometimes, as much as she loved them, there was always something to deal with concerning her two teammates. “Can you survive for like 20 more minutes? I’ve got the files and I'm on my way hun” she assured.

She got there fast to the sight of Shadow confined in some rubble, he looked lethargic and the three who were left to deal with him didn’t look better. Omega proudly announced his victory in containing Shadow “non lethally” which Rouge had to be fair to him, the robot wasn’t known for being nice during battle.

Tails had studied the files and found exactly what they were looking for, it seemed what Shadow was suffering was in effect due to his rings readjusting to his chaos energy levels. The rings themselves were what put a stagnation to Shadows powers as the files revealed without them his chaos energy would overflow and destroy him and others. In addition they put a stop to his growth rate when he sporadically began enlarging during his time on the ARK. Rouge had no idea, she had assumed the monstrous hedgehog was made that size on purpose.

Similar to how the human body treats an illness as it invades the body, something similar was happening to Shadow, which caused his feverish state. The solution,Tails had found, was a suppressant of sorts. They had been administered to Shadow to keep him calm as his rings did their job. Tails stated recreating the suppressant wouldn’t take long. Rouge thanked the chaos gods in the sky for the young foxes' intelligent brain as she was in dire need of good news instead of any more that could add to the onslaught of problems that day had.

The problems struck right back however when right after Tails administered the syringe of suppressant to a vein in Shadows neck. Rouge assumed the intrusion may have spooked Shadow as he unexpectedly sat up from the rubble that held him. Tails was brought up with the motion but quickly booted himself and twirled his large twin tails to fly and move away from the feverish Shadow.

Shadow grabbed at his neck and began to look around panickedly. Before Rouge can say or do anything she watched him light up with a twist of uncontrolled chaos energy. Omega braced in front of her as the gigantic hedgehog disappeared with a crack of chaos control, the wind made by the teleportation jostled the robot but he stood his ground to protect the bat, Sonic and Tails were unlucky as the energy sent them flying a few feet away.

There was panic for the next hour as they had no idea where Shadow had ended up, in said panic Rouge had forgotten he was actually fitted with a tracker by GUN she had access to. Shadow didn’t actually know about it and she couldn’t deny how intrusive it was to the lizard hedgehog's privacy but it came in real handy when she finally remembered it was there.

Tails wasted no time applying Shadows coordinates to the miles electric, it had located the monstrous hedgehog in the Arid sands. It was a desert Rouge found Shadow in a lot, he’d sun bathe and soak up the sun, no doubt due to his lizard qualities. She’d hope he was there in that moment doing the same as he always did and not anything troubling.

That led to now, where she was currently watching the hedgehog, it seemed the suppressant was in full swing but had come with a side effect as the hedgehog was currently extremely loopy. Rouge kept her distance when she initially found him as she didn’t want to ignite a reaction like the one he had back at Metroplis. Rouge was also on her own as she tasked Omega with grabbing some water, she had no idea how long the large hedgehog would be loopy for but if she went a second longer without water she was gonna scream.

Honestly, as she watched Shadow roll around in the baking sand, she was bewildered by the genuine ease on his face. The hedgehog was clearly still sickly however his apparent joy betrayed any notion he was ill. It was also just weird to see Shadow with such a huge smile on his face, his fangs poking out his mouth as he continued his rolls into the sand.

Occasionally he turned over lazily to look at Rouge before returning to rolling in the sand. It unnerved rouge the first time he did so and she braced herself in case he went to attack like he had with Sonic, Tails and Omega. Instead he stared at Rouge for a moment, squinted his huge red eyes and returned back to his rolling.

Rouge was confused about it but she didn’t want to try and theorise what his loopy actions meant, she recalled dealing with a delirious Knuckles a couple weeks back when she picked him up from a dentist appointment, the incoherent red echidna was hilarious to watch as he’d forgotten who she was but told her “she was the prettiest angel he’d ever seen”. Rouge could have teased him about it for days on end but she held that one to herself.

This situation felt similar but she was much more wary as she didn’t want an incoherent Shadow to accidentally hurt her. The large hedgehog was usually very gentle but right now he paid no attention to his surroundings as he rolled onto some pillars. She had no idea how that wasn’t hurting his back but she didn’t want that to be her under there. Rouge had sent Sonic and Tails off as Shadow did quite a number on them earlier , she assured them she’d be fine but with Omega on his task she was on her own and needed to be careful.

Shadow rolled onto his front, he was practically caked in sand, she watched as he rose on all fours. He began to aggressively shake the sand out of his quills and scales akin to how a dog would shake off any uninvited messes on its body. Rouge had no way to escape the rain shower Shadow provided, she felt sand land on every strand of fur and skin. The bat took in deep breaths as the Hedgehog finished, she knew he wasn’t himself, it didn’t stop her from wanting to throttle him at that moment.

Suddenly Rouge heard the familiar sound of jet boosters, she held her hand over her eyes to block the sunlight as she turned up towards the sound praying for it to be who she thought it was. Omega dropped slowly into her vision, she spied a couple bottles of water in his mechanical claws and felt she could jump for joy.

He landed nonchalantly in front of the broken pillar she was sitting on, his beady red optics glazed her over “you are covered in sand” he distinguished. It made her eyes fall flat.

“Yeah the sand covered look is totally in season” the bat sarcastically teased “thanks for grabbing that water, I thought it was about to be cooked for a minute”.

“Being cooked in desert heat is a pathetic way to go out, I would not have allowed for such a pitiful death for you” Omega attested. The robot had a weird way of being thoughtful, or maybe Rouge was just getting used to how Omega presented his affection.

The water held in the robot's hand was looking more appealing by the second as Rouge jumped down to join Omega in the sands below, she was over the presence of the sand as it had made itself known to every part of her body, she even felt it in her body suit somehow. Hurriedly grabbing a bottle from the claw possessing them, Rouge rushed to open the plastic cap and brought the bottle to her dry lips. It was only after a few gulps she’d taken notice of Shadows snout directly behind Omega.

The bat had no idea how Shadow snuck up on them without making a sound, the guy was 35 feet tall and even when loopy he could somehow make himself as quiet as a mouse when he wanted, Rouge jumped back at the realisation of his scarily close presence, Omega however stood where he was, he mechanically rotated his head to face behind him without turning his actual body. Shadow eyes searched the robot about, Rouge was sure his incoherent mind couldn’t remember Omega either. She had no idea what could happen next as she began to sweat anew in anxiety. The humongous hog and the robot were at a stalemate

Shadow fixed that anxiety by roughly dropping himself back into the sand where Omega lay, Rouge was forced to endure another storm of sand that got kicked up right into her direction, when it was over and Rouge wiped the tricky sand from her vision she saw Shadow laying on his forearms. Between his arms and his head stood Omega, he was trapped in the Hedgehog's embrace as Shadow began laying his head on top of the robot.

Rouge was bemused by the sight, though she took a second to use whatever liquid was left in the bottle she held to wash out some sand that had gotten on her head, she began to grow irksome of the tiny beads being everywhere on her person. The other bottles Omega had previously lay flung around her so she wasn’t worried about keeping hydrated.

The click of her heels was muffled by the sand as she walked towards the giant black hedgehog with Omega trapped in his grasp, the robot didn’t look worried with the situation but quite a bit confused, he turned to Rouge who could only shrug at her companion, Shadow was currently nuzzling his muzzle all over Omega and she had no idea why.

“I hypothesise he is currently using me like one of your heat packs” Omega guessed. It was a good theory, the fact Shadow in all his delirium teleported to a hot place and had been soaking up all the heat the desert had to offer, and now he currently had Omega trapped between his claws like an action figure. The robot retained heat pretty well so Rouge agreed with his theory.

“Well I guess that’s your job now hun, that’s a shame, I was gonna have you fetch me some sunscreen” she joked. But honestly she was kicking herself for the sun burn she was definitely gonna have later.

“This is a fine task, my metallic body burns with heat and rage for the enemies I have not yet slayed, I am happy to lend some of this heat if it calms Shadow” Omega declared. Again, he was thoughtful, but Rouge really had to get him a hobby to curb his murderous tendencies.

It was at some point when Shadow began nodding off that Rouge pulled out her phone to listen to a podcast she was putting off, while she was sure the hedgehog didn’t need supervision as he slept, the bat didn’t want to leave in case he awoke and was still out of it. She was legally responsible for the large hedgehog meaning if he were to cause any problems, GUN would absolutely have her head.

Omega surrendered to Shadows earth moving snores as he found Shadows grip on him was too tight to escape. He simply offlined himself as the prospect of not being able to do much for several hours didn’t make him too happy, but Rouge had promised to wake him the moment he could walk free.

————————————————————————

Shadow woke up groggily, he felt invisible weights on his head as he slowly lifted it, his arms felt quite the opposite as he moved them around with ease, they were swift to his command, except his left claw that had an offline Omega in it, how’d he get there? He gently placed the black and red robot onto the ground, however he had placed Omega upside down and didn’t know how to get him right side up.

His eyes blinked out of sync as he spied Rouge a couple feet, he wanted to call to get her attention but the words fumbled in his mouth when he tried. The bat hadn’t noticed the blundered attempt at her name as she was quite engrossed on her phone with earphones plugged in her large ears. He moved a claw over to gently prod her, except he misjudged how far she was and how fast he moved his hand as his forefinger practically bowled into her.

Rouge had thought her issues with sand would be over but hadn’t anticipated being sent crashing right back into the troublesome particles. Some even got in her mouth and she wanted to scream, she furiously whipped her head to the offender as Shadow looked like he hadn’t just hurled her into sand. He actually still looked out of it but she could tell a significant amount of the suppressant had worn off as he seemed to recognise her.

“Hi” Shadow slurred happily, it was kind of cute how happy he looked to see her but Rouge was a little too busy trying to get sand out of her eyes again to appreciate it. When she got the little troublesome beads out of her lashes she observed Omega placed on the ground, upside down.

“Hey hun, it’s good to see you doing a bit better but try to be careful would you, I’m a lot squisher than Omega over there” Rouge lightly scolded. She had no idea how much of that got through to the less loopy Shadow but then he looked over to the inactive Omega.

He then put an oversized thumb and finger to one of the robot's legs that stuck out and raised him up and out of the sand, Rouge watched as the claw with Omega was brought over to her and laid the robot down. He was on his back which was much better than his previous position, however Rouge cringed at the robot's leg that had been pinched by the Hedgehog, there was an obvious dent due to Shadow accidentally using more pressure than needed.

“Thanks Shadow” Rouge deadpanned, she was glad there was still a tiny sense in Shadow that knew in his current state Omega was safer by Rouges side than his. The titanic hedgehog only nodded in response, which Rouge could tell he regretted as the nod was more enthusiastic then he needed and he rubbed at this temple for a moment.

It was then Shadow attempted to stand, before Rouge could warn him to not do so the overgrown hedgehog got to a near standing position but as soon he did a wave of dizziness hit Shadow as the speed of which he got up did not agree with his already aching head. Rouge grabbed Omega's lifeless metallic body as Shadow fell ungracefully back into the sand, somehow the gods graced Rouge with not getting a wave of sand sent in her direction this time. When the earth stopped shaking she rose from Omega's chest and looked at Shadow who was in quite an unflattering position.

Usually such a stunt would have left Shadow quite embarrassed but the towering lizard hedgehog looked confused that he had even fallen in the first place, his eyes met with Rouge’s as a dopey look fell on his face. “That was dumb” he concluded

Rouge snickered at that, “extremely dumb, how bout you lay in the sand until you more like yourself hun?” The bat advised. Shadow untangled the mess his limbs were in as he got into a more comfortable position, his body felt like a loop of noodles and the bat’s idea didn’t seem like a bad one.

“That’s a good idea, you’ve got good ideas, you're a good idea Rouge” his voice rumbled, his delirium was beginning to get funny. She knew when he was coherent he’d probably not remember today's events so she’d keep it between Omega and her unless asked. Shadow got himself back into his front and turned to Omega “he’s a good idea too”.

She suddenly remembered the offline robot and struggled as she walked over to him with hot sand fighting her as she did, he’d be mad if the bat didn’t wake him back up, Shadow watched as Rouge fumbled to send a frequency through her watch that was equivalent to getting an alarm from a phone.

“Where’s Sonic?” Shadow questioned, that surprised Rouge, did he recall his encounter with the blue hedgehog?

“I’m sure he’s home with Tails right now hun” she assured, why was he even asking?

“Okay…I’m gonna tell Sonic what a good idea he is”

Rouge whipped her head at that, she heard Shadow teleporting before she saw him leaving the spot he was previously laying at. She grabbed at her massive ears in awe that he had teleported away.

Omega awoke smoothly, his optics brightened and his body began to mechanically rise. He was none the wiser to Rouges distress as he noticed Shadow was not where he was when the robot had offlined

“What did I miss?” The robot innocently asked. Rouge turned to him, mouth agape as the silence was the only thing returned to his question

[aerynwrites]

Scars

Halsin x afab!Reader

A/N: some friends and I were talking in discord and one of them gave me permission to use this wonderful idea! I hope y’all enjoy ❤️

Word count: 2.6k

Warnings: major insecurity in reader regarding scars, talks of self hatred, self depreciation, all is comforted tho, hurt/comfort, canon typical violence, partial nudity, fluff, kisses, love confessions.

The battles are done, the enemies defeated, and yet it feels like the work doesn’t quite end there.

This battle was harder than the rest, bending and breaking all of you more than expected. So much so that blood still oozes and bones still need mending despite the healing spells Shadowheart was able to bestow upon your group. Even her magic was depleted leaving her with the the rare wounds to show for it.

Return to camp has become a habitual affair, those that are able, help the companions wounded before everyone returns to their tents for the night.

You, however, slink off on your own from the get go, avoiding the healing hands in favor of your own mediocre care.

It’s better for you this way. Safer. At least mentally. The small river a short distance from camp has become your solace. Far enough away to seclude you but close enough that if danger were to arise, help would be close by.

You’ve come here after most battles, rinsing off in the clear water before tending to your own wounds as best you can, too ashamed to ask anyone for help - too scared to bare yourself before them.

Especially since a certain druid joined your team.

Before Halsin had come along you’d been able to slip away with no questions asked. Every now and then Shadowheart would tease you about how she could get the job done quicker but it would end there. Now…now it’s like you can feel Halsins stare each time you leave camp, his offers of help being brushed off with a flippant wave of your hand.

You enjoy his company. More than enjoy it really - so much so that a small crush has started to develop for the larger man. A part of you has longed to accept his offers of help, longed to open up to him in a way you have to no one else.

Yet, each time, the acceptance dies on your tongue and you tuck your tail and run. Just like you always have.

You sigh as you approach the waters edge, stripping down to nothing but your under things in order to sit on a rock submerged below the water enough that you can rinse away the muck of battle in order to assess the damage.

It’s the same process as always. Rinse off, tend to any wounds then dress and head back to camp. But tonight proves more difficult.

You have more injuries than normal, which means more stitching - a task proving difficult due to what you assume is a larger wound on your back. You’d taken a nasty blow to the shoulder towards the end of the skirmish and now it aches terribly and refuses to move the way you need in order to tend to yourself properly.

With a wince, you reach behind you with your good arm and try to feel for the wound, hissing and snatching your hand back when it brushes over the edge of what seems to be a nasty gash.

You’ll never be able to reach that on your own.

Muttered curses slip past your lips, as you turn to focus on the things you can fix instead. However, just as you move to tend to the shallow claw marks on your arm the all too close snap of a twig startles you.

Your head whirls to look behind you, and your eyes widen in mortification to see Halsin standing several yards away.

“Halsin! What are you doing-“ you cut yourself off as you reach for your shirt on the bank behind you, desperate to cover up before he can see anymore.

Before he can think you’re hideous.

The thought is fleeting, but drives your actions all the same.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you,” Halsin finally speaks, holding out placating hands, as if dealing with a scared animal.

His words stall your movement just long enough for you to notice that the large elf isn’t looking at you. Instead his head is turned off to the side as if he doesn’t want to intrude on your privacy if it’s not wanted.

Your shirt hangs limply in your hands before you gather it to your chest. “What are you doing here?”

With his head still turned away, Halsin clears his throat. “I know you prefer to tend to your injuries yourself, but I saw the wound on your back when you all returned from camp. I only came to offer my help - and if you refuse I will turn now and leave you in peace.”

The air is silent as his words settle between you, and you open your mouth to give your typical refusal before stopping short.

You do need help. There’s no way you’ll be able to take care of the injury on your own. Not properly anyways. And infection is dangerous - even with healers around to help.

You let out a soft sigh, turning back to face the water, your shirt still clutched tightly to your front like some sort of lifeline.

“That’s - yes. I can’t…I can’t reach it on my own,” you admit softly, trying not to quake in shame as you hear his soft footfalls approach.

The thud of his boots in the grass and quiet splash of water is the only thing that lets you know how close he is, your eyes still trained on the river in front of you.

Soon you feel a presence at your back, and Halsins voice meets your ears once more.

“May I touch you?”

The question is simple, yet it ignites a bitterness you hadn’t realized was there. “You have to in order to treat me, don’t you?”

If Halsin reacts to your snappy reply, he doesn’t say anything, instead you feel him settle onto the rock behind you, water rippling between your bodies as a gentle hand rest on your shoulder

“It is ideal, yes, but I will not force my help upon you if you do not wish it.”

His breath is warm against your neck, and you can’t suppress the shudder that runs through you. Shame wells in you again, but this time at yourself. He’s just trying to help and you’re letting your own insecurities - your own self hatred spew at the wrong person.

“I’m sorry, yes - it’s fine. I’m not…used to this is all. I don’t like people seeing me like…like this,” your admission is a soft, broken thing, almost lost amongst the babbling water if it weren’t for Halsin’s close proximity.

He lets out a low hum just as you feel the unfamiliar warmth of healing magic along your back, seeing the golden glow from the corner of your eye.

“A good healer would never shame those needing his help,” he tells you, the hand on your shoulder giving you a reassuring squeeze. “My aid is available whenever you require.”

You shake your head, a scoff slipping past your lips. “That’s not…thank you.”

Your initial words die on your lips, the true reason for your hesitance unwilling to reveal itself so soon. And if Halsin notices your deflection he doesn’t say anything, instead he lets silence fill the air between you until finally that comforting warmth disappears from your skin, the glow dissipating.

“Is there anything else I can help with?”

The automatic refusal sits on your tounge once more but you stop yourself, instead moving to hold up your other arm, showing him the claw marks that have already started to scab.

“Of course,” he says and you can hear him shift behind you. “Would you be comfortable facing me?”

You nod, and for the first time you find yourself telling the truth. For the first time in as long as you can remember you feel some semblance of safety with someone seeing you like this.

Slowly you turn to face the druid, finally letting the shirt you were holding drop from your grip, tossing it back to shore. You still have your underwear on, and you’re sure the man before you had seen worse.

Once you’re settled, you find yourself fave to face with Halsin for the first time tonight, and the first thing you notice is his smile.

It’s a tiny thing, small and reassuring and kind. An emotion you’re not used to seeing in this state of undress.

He gently takes your arm in his hand and applies the same treatment as before. Magic emits from his palm, wrapping your arm in small tendrils of golden light as the healing warmth envelops you once more.

“Will there be scars?”

The question falls from your lips before you can stop it, and you watch as Halsin’s brow furrows.

“This one should leave minimal scarring, if any at all. The creatures claws did not dig deep. But the wound on your shoulder was…” he pauses. “Even magic cannot overpower nature at times. It will most likely leave a mark,” he smiles again, “but you do not seem a stranger to those.”

His words cut deep, hitting you where you know he doesn’t mean too. But your shame, your insecurity rears it’s ugly head again, and you yank your arm from his grip - the magic dispelling as his touch does.

“You don’t have to be an ass about it,” you hiss, moving to stand uncaring of your half healed wound, or the way you teeter on unsteady feet.

“Wait,” a strong hand reaches to capture your own before you can leave. “I meant no offense, truly.”

His words cause you to pause, and you reluctantly turn to look down at where he still sits in the water. His smile is gone, lips downturned and eyes pleading.

“Then what did you mean if not to make fun of my disfigurement - of the very things I hate most.”

Halsin stands to join you, eyes searching your own until he has his feet beneath him and then your hands clasped in his own.

“I did not think it was something you felt ashamed of or I would not have made the jest. I apologize for not treading more carefully but…” he pauses again, weighing his words. “Your scars…they are nothing to be ashamed of.”

You want to laugh, can feel it bubbling up in your chest. A bitter, nasty little sound that wants to make itself known. But you choke it down, the weight of his words helping you to do so.

“But they’re…ugly. Hideous. I’ve heard it enough throughout my life that…it must be true.” Your words are broken, reflecting exactly how you feel inside. How you’ve felt for so long.

Quickly a hand comes up to cradle your cheek, thumb wiping away tears you hadn’t even realized started to fall.

Halsins mouth is set in a thin line, eyes serious as he guides you to look at him.

“Whoever whispered those lies into your ears deserves a fate worse than the Oak Father can give,” he tells you, eyes falling down to take you in entirely. “Nature may be beautiful, but it is far from perfect - and sometimes it is far from merciful.”

Slowly, he takes drops his hand from your cheek, instead taking your hand in his and guiding your arm upwards. He uses his other hand to begin tracing the scars that cascade across your skin, some small and some large - all with different stories.

His fingers are gentle, barley a whisper on your skin as they travel upwards towards your shoulder and eventually he turns you to face away from him again, his fingers continuing their journey down your back.

“Scars are a part of one’s life, just as nature intended. They tell the story of where life has taken you, of where you’ve been.”

His breath ghosts against your shoulder and a shiver runs through you as his lips ghost over the scar of the wound he just healed.

“Some may have more than others, but that just means their stories are easier to read,” he comes around to your front again, looking down at you with a reverence you’ve never seen before.

“Would you look upon my face and call me hideous for the scars I bear?”

Your heart leaps into your throat, eyes widening. “No! Of course not, you’re…I think you’re…beautiful.”

Halsin smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Then why can you not show yourself the same kindness?”

“I-I don’t know. I’ve never…thought about it like that.” You say honestly, eyes casting downwards.

Halsin quickly redirects your attention, bringing up his arm and removing one of his bracers, showing yet another scar. It’s white and faded with time but you can tell it was from a terrible wound that was never treated properly.

“I received this one early in my youth. I thought myself a proper druid, ready to take on even the toughest foes. However, a displacer beast was quick to show me otherwise. I was left with a scar and a lesson learned, encouraging me to not only work hard to attune with nature and its magic but to step back and think before charging head first into a situation.”

His words are wise, and you find yourself studying the scar with curiosity rather than disgust as you have with your own.

The next while continues on like this, Halsin slowly showing you his scars and telling the stories behind them. Eventually you both end up sitting on the bank to dry as the stories continue. And eventually, he gets you to open up too - staring with small mundane scars and stories before eventually revealing the scars you hated most and what led to them. Except…as the night goes on, you find the hatred giving way to nostalgia. Some of them came from memories that make laughter bubble in your chest. Like the time an old childhood friend wanted to try to knock an apple from your head with an arrow but instead left you with a scar on your temple and a fear of inexperienced archers. Or the time you had slipped in the river trying to catch frogs with that same friend and gained a scar on your knee.

Another pleasant story had just finished and Halsin smiled at you, eyes crinkling at the corners in the way you’ve come to admire.

“See, your scars, no matter how much you may detest them, tell your story - each one a different page.” Slowly he takes your hand in his own, placing a gentle kiss to your knuckles. “And I would be happy to know each and every one if you’ll let me.”

His words make butterflies erupt in your stomach and heat rush to your cheeks as you nod.

“It might take a while,” you gesture to yourself, “there’s…lots of pages.”

If it’s even possible, his grin widens. “All the better - it just means more time spent with you.”

You move before you can think, acting on what little bit of courage has gathered in your chest as you lean towards him and press a quick kiss to his lips. You move to retreat, just in case you have read the signs wrong. But a warm hand comes up to rest at the back of your neck, keeping you in place as he kisses you back.

His lips are warm and gentle against yours and you feel like you might melt into a puddle right here. But your elation is cut just short as Halsin pulls away, gazing at you happily.

“You are beautiful,” he says softly, “enough to rival nature itself. Please come to me if you ever need to be reminded of that.”

Suddenly bashful, you give him a small nod before leaning into him again, but this time just to rest your head on his shoulder as your arms slip around his middle. Halsin returns the embrace, strong arms slipping around you and cocooning you in a comforting warmth.

You still have a long way to go, but with Halsin at your side…the journey might be a little more bearable.

[devourers-of-god]

Can you do what you hc their specific features to be like? I know we see their features but since it’s cartoonish I wanted to see if u have any hcs for how they look in detail

HI!! this is an amazing ask, ty anon :3

What I think the SF cast would look like irl!

I think this is going to be weirdly specific LOL

Sal

we all know half of sal's face is kinda missing.

idk if this is canon but I think sal would not have a nose, but it would've healed greatly.

I just need to repeat it but sal is not skinny. he is rather chubby and he has a little happy trail.

this man has braces!! his teeth must be a bit fucked.

his hair is fluffy but most of the time messy.

his skin is very hydrated.

i don't think he would have white teeth, and thats perfectly okay!

Larry

this man always has chapped lips, esp during winter.

yellow fingertips are starting, due of his smoking.

he has smooth hair tho, fluffy sometimes! nice to play with.

he has an eyebrow piercing. I just know, he told me ;p

he is tall but not taller than travis.

long fingers, smooth and gentle hands.

has the biggest dark circles you'll ever see.

tall and slim.

he has a very bad posture a feel like lolll

Ashley

long smooth hair. it always smells like its just been washed.

beautiful lips, she applies a tinted chapstick and it suits her lip colour.

pretty nails, most of the time painted.

cute button nose with clear skin.

long and healthy lashes.

her thin eyebrows are always in the perfect shape.

piercings on both ears.

cheeks are pink because of her blush.

her dark circles are always covered.

Travis (ahhhjfckadk...)

he bleaches his hair, we can see his dark brown roots starting.

crooked nose that sometimes bleed out of nowhere (happened to me ok)

he has heterochromia. also has a constant black eye.

long fingers and short nails.

scarred lip.

red eyes from crying a bunch.

beautiful skin.

very skinny and tall.

his lips are never chapped, he is extra careful with that.

smooth hair!! he uses gel I know it.

Todd

the healthiest curly hair you'll ever see.

he has droopy eyes with long lashes.

has acne and freckles all over face.

his checks always have a tinted pink on them.

he bites his nails so they are short and messy.

he's not very tall but has long arms.

smooth hands also, well taken care of.

the best nose type ever!! and its kind of a big nose.

hui I hope you guys liked it, I mostly studied what the all look like and make hcs from there.

my requests are always open! this was very fun to write!

[dat-town]

baby, you and me are a twisted fantasy

Characters: marine biologist intern!Leehan & siren!female reader

Setting & genre: dark urban fantasy au, angst

Summary: Donghyun finds a captured siren in the basement of the oceanology institute he works for and falls more in love with the sea while you learn that maybe not all humans are all bad.

Warnings: birth name used, blood, needles, cut wounds, captivity, unethical experiments, mentions of unorthodox surgical procedures, bodily alterations (MC’s scales are removed), starvation, drowning, crying, ideation about killing and dying, minor character deaths, lip-to-lip contact that’s not really a kiss? (this gets pretty dark ngl sorry)

Words: 4k

Author’s note: title from aespa - hold on tight. @restlessmaknae, you wanted angst, so i deliver… with love tho! see you in a few hours! <3

Donghyun was in love with the ocean before he was in love with you.

You hated him and everything he stood for before you even met him.

Physical pain was one thing. The way you could feel your lungs collapse, the thirst for just one drop of water before you suffocate, the blood dripping down when one by one your scales were torn out, the burn in your sea-soaked skin drying up…

Being a lab rat was another. It was white coats, needles and gloved fingers prodding into your slippery skin, touching places they shouldn’t with no questions asked. You wished you had enough power to fight back. To scratch, to bite, to kill.

But a bathtub worth of chlorine water was only enough to keep you alive, just barely. You knew they were doing it on purpose, they were smart enough to figure out that they couldn’t keep you locked down if you were stronger. They knew it when they fished you out of the ocean and let you starve, let your skin turn dry and warm. When the first fever hit and your scales started turning stone-like, they finally put you into water from your humid prison just so they could keep experimenting.

You had your eyes closed, too exhausted to move, to react, but you heard their whispers in the white of the room. Human language wasn’t that hard to understand, not with their greed and cruelty. You swore to yourself you would hurt as much as you could at the first chance. You would leave as much damage as you could before ending it all. You would rather have it your way then letting them cast you away like a used toy when they finished taking you apart.

The ocean didn’t forget after all.

Something cold touched your perched lips and your tired eyes fluttered open, waking from your dreamless sleep.

It was his eyes, the first thing you saw. They were the color of wet sand at sunset. They were gentle and kind with the warmth of the Sun. You flinched away nevertheless because you knew this dance, you knew this trick and you wouldn’t fall for it.

Even if every fiber in your body screamed for the water in the glass the boy brought, you turned your head away, letting your long, air-dried hair cover your face. Your cheek pressed against the cold tiles, a little comfort as you ignored the pain of moving with not enough water in your body. You breathed through your mouth harshly, something that didn’t come naturally but you had to learn to do anyway with the poisoned tap water barely reaching your waist in the small space you could call yours.

“You should drink.” Kind Eyes said and even his voice was gentle despite being deep like ocean waves. Humans were so two-faced. How could they lie with not only their words but with their voice too?

“I promise it’s just water,” he added cautiously and anger flared in you.

He knew then. Of course, he knew. That the water they brought you was not to help you but to make you less of a trouble when they unchained you. It made you drowsy, you couldn’t control your own body and dulled your senses. At least it paled the pain too, so when you were lying on their operation tables, you saw the wounds more than you felt them. You were full of zigzag white scars, healed only by water because you were the ocean’s daughter. Such a disappointing one, fallen into the trap of humans.

“Please,” the boy’s voice trembled and it was the last straw because he didn’t get to do that. He had no right to plead when he acted like he was doing you a favour and you were saying no.

You leaped towards him as fast and as hard as you could, your elbow knocking the glass out of his hand that went flying to the ground, leaving shreds of glass and water puddles all over. The metal dug into your wrists as the chains harshly kept you back, your face merely a few inches from the boy’s as you glared at him.

He didn’t even flinch nor did he pull away at the closeness. The other white collared men all looked at you with either disgust or with very human hunger in their eyes. But all of them were afraid of you. They all had their little needles prepared in case you attacked, in case you bared your canines like the predator you were.

This one, he seemed more fascinated than anything. He looked at you like you were a wonder and maybe that was the worst. You wished you could scare him. You wished you could taste his blood to have these humans taste their own medicine. You wished you could drown him in the chlorine of your poor excuse of a bathtub. You wished he stopped looking at you like that.

Because you didn’t know what to do with that.

Somewhere further down the hall of the basement a door opened and closed.

The boy with honey brown hair and doe eyes snapped out of his stupor and quickly stood up, looking around. He looked at the broken pieces of glass on the ground, quickly swept them under the sink with his shoes before looking down at you. His eyes were full of something you couldn’t name. You didn’t see this look on any human before him. It made you hate him even more.

The boy didn’t come back again after that. Not alone at least.

There were footsteps of four people. You could tell with your eyes closed. One of them was the bearded older man who ordered everybody around. He always talked about you like you were his trophy in a fatherly tone yet he treated you like a ragdoll. His voice alone made you want to tear his skin with your nails until he bled, preferably from his artery. 

“What you will see, Donghyun-ah, is strictly classified. You cannot tell anybody about this. It could be the discovery of the century. Our institute would be the first to…”

The man kept talking but you tuned out his voice. You became good at that: pretending not to feel, not to hurt. You kept your eyes strictly locked on at one point while the man whom the others referred to as senior doctor touched your turquoise scale-covered fin. You kept your mouth in a firm line when he pressed down hard enough to hurt. You clenched your teeth, breathing through your nose, willing yourself not to move while he grabbed your hair roughly to push it aside, revealing the gills at your neck. You stayed still like a statue, your eyes straight on the boy and his eyes full of horror. You could hear his heartbeat pick up like whispers of the ocean in a shell but you couldn’t tell whether it was from anger or dread, fear or something else. You kept eye contact nevertheless because you wanted him to see it: that you weren’t afraid, that you weren’t there to humor them. You were a survivor, a force of nature, you were the ocean itself and you would have your vengeance one day.

It hurt. Breathing.

The scales on your chest, just above your breasts were still healing from the metal digging into your skin where it was the softest. At weak moments like this, you just wanted to sleep, sleep forever. Become one with the water and the stars.

Sounds of approaching steps alerted you and you braced yourself for one more round of unwelcomed sterile touches and pain. You didn’t let your guards down even when it was the boy with the soft eyes. He might not have been the one cutting and pulling out scales from your skin one by one but he could as well have been. One day he would be.

He approached you slowly but not out of fear. He moved deliberately as if he didn’t want to scare you. He had a cloth in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. You eyed him warily as he sat down at the edge of the tub.

“I’m going to pour it on you. It might be cold,” he whispered and something deep inside you wanted to snort because this boy clearly had no idea how cold the deepest parts of the ocean were. But you kept silent, gritting your teeth, mentally preparing yourself for the burn, for a trick, for anything other than ease for the pain.

But then the water touched your skin, familiar and ocean-scented, dribbling down from your shoulders across the valley of your chest to your turquoise scaled tail and you felt a little bit more alive. You felt like you could finally breathe and your scales shone just a bit brighter and the angry red scars faded. You didn’t intend to let it show but your shoulders shrugged in relief. Maybe that gave the boy the courage or maybe he was reckless by nature but he moved closer.

“Your wrists,” he explained and before you could have protested, he lightly dabbed over the wet cloth along your metal-cut wrists tied to the not working tap, helping them heal too.

For the first time, it was you who studied him. The way he leaned over you to reach your arm. The concentration on his pretty face. The way his fringe fell over his honey eyes. He was beautiful in his fragile human way. Centuries ago he could have been a prince or a sailor you would have seduced into the waters.

He was so close you could hear his heartbeat clearly like the little chimes on fishing boats. Water was filling up your veins but you could still feel your hunger grow. It would have been so easy. He made himself an easy prey. It made you wonder whether it was just a ploy, whether they were testing you, whether he wanted something in exchange. He must have had some ulterior motives because humans were selfish creatures. Even if he wasn't, his death would have been a small price to pay for freedom.

You didn’t move even when the boy pulled slightly back to check on his work. Not when his gaze lowered to your face and your eyes met. He was so close you could feel his breath on your lips and you would have had to barely push yourself up to meet his. You imagined kissing him until all oxygen left his lungs, leaving his lips chapped and bloody.

You could have drowned him. Right there. In the water of his own body.

“Aren’t you afraid of me?”

You barely recognized your own voice. It had been so long since you had sung, even longer than you had spoken a human language. It surprised the boy too. His eyes widened and he blinked in confusion, but didn’t pull back.

“I could kill you now. I want to kill you,” you told him coldly because he was one of them and they deserved it.

The boy didn’t even flinch.

“Why aren’t you then?” He asked simply, so calm as if he knew no tidal wave came crashing.

“I don’t know,” you admitted because your only explanation was that he was an odd one. “Why are you helping me?”

You weren’t naive enough to expect the truth but you weren’t sure if a lie or pity was more humiliating.

“Nobody would deserve this,” came the answer as if he wasn’t one of the white coated people, as if he didn’t see you as a mere test subject.

“Not even a monster?” You asked with a tilt of your head because you had heard what they said about you, about your kind. You knew the tales mothers used to tell their sons about the beautiful, dangerous beasts of the sea in order to keep them from wandering around. You weren’t more of a monster than those men though. Not even with sharpened teeth and claws.

“You’re the farthest thing from one.” Doe Eyes spoke in the softest tone like he really believed what he was saying. Like he didn’t see your anatomy on a blueprint in those white walled operating rooms. Like he didn’t hear the rumors about you spilling the blood of his peers on capture day. Like the only thing keeping you back from tearing him apart wasn’t hanging on a loose thread.

So this time, you did snort.

“You have no idea.”

They starved you for two whole weeks. You could only keep track of days due to the unexpected daily visits and yet, they would have never guessed that your condition wasn’t worsening rapidly thanks to one of their own.

“I’m sorry,” the boy apologized in his honey voice after the sea water he brought healed the newest puncture wounds on your bare shoulder and you looked up at him in question, confused. “That I can’t do more.”

You couldn’t say you understood him. He was on neither side. He wasn’t with those men who just took and took and took nor was he brave enough to go against them and let you go. He was neither good nor bad yet he was doing more for you than anybody had ever done. You weren’t used to kindness like this, neither from humans, nor from your own kind, so you were wary of him and his apologies. If you had been meaner though, you would have told him that it wasn’t that he couldn’t, it was that he didn’t want to. But you weren’t the type to bite the hand that fed you. And who were you to blame him for his selfishness when you were the same? You both just wanted to survive in a harsh world.

His name was Donghyun, you finally remembered. It burned into your brain cells as clear as the scalper’s cut was into your tender skin when they forced the surgical tool into his trembling hands.

You saw the tears pooling in his eyes and you really didn’t understand why he was crying. You were used to the pain. You were used to being hurt.

Maybe he wasn’t used to being the one to do the hurting but his hands were at least kinder than anybody else’s.

Donghyun sat on the edge of your bathtub when you awoke. The first thing you noticed was that his hands were still shaking. The second was that one of his cheeks reddened in the form of a palm and something heavy and angry pressed down on your chest seeing him hurt.

Comfort didn’t come naturally to you, it wasn’t in your nature yet looking at him then you wished it was. You wanted to reach out to touch, to hold, which was so unlike you catching yourself doing so hit you like a heavy wave. For once, you were relieved that the chains held you back and you couldn’t move. It would have been a mistake to start caring now.

Yet, you started humming an old sea melody, the rhythm of waves washing up the shore on beautiful, calm mornings to fill the silence. It wasn’t enchanted like your singing but this was the most you could do. It wasn’t comfort, it wasn’t care, just to fill the silence, you told yourself.

Still, Donghyun looked at you in awe, his gaze mellow like you were a miracle and not just something broken. It somehow made you feel worse. He wasn’t supposed to look at you like that. Not without glamour.

The next day you carved four lines like a sculptor into the doctor’s old face. His blood was still under your nails when they dumped you in the damp metal cage with no water at all as a punishment. Your tail laid uselessly on the ground and your scales felt heavy on your body. Like this you really felt like a fish out of the water.

Time went differently without having Donghyun around. You didn't even notice how much you got used to his presence until you started missing it. You replayed his voice, gentle and deep, imagined his eyes on you, kind and free of judgement, naive, over and over again.

“Do you miss it? The ocean?” Donghyun had once asked.

It had been a stupid question. It was like asking if you were missing the oxygen but you answered nevertheless. If he wanted to make small talk so bad, you might let it just to hear his voice.

“Every breath.”

“How is it? Tell me about it,” he had prompted softly and you soon learned that he was fascinated by everything you told him about your home, a safe haven and a doom all the same. You had thousands of stories about how vicious the sea could be, how cold and unforgiving, but just as much about its beauty and Donghyun drank them all in. When he told you about the time he learned to swim or when he saved a turtle, you realized: he was nothing like the other white coated men who just wanted to take and take from the waters until they could. Until they drained it from its wonders… and horrors, like you. Donghyun was different, he just wanted to observe and understand. Not that you needed or wanted his sympathy. Or so you told yourself.

When Donghyun held your hand for the first time, you thought you were dreaming. It didn’t seem real. His touch was feather-like, butterfly wing touches against your dry skin. He was so careful as if you could crumble just from his fingertips.

“Hey.”

When you heard his voice, you wondered whether your mind was playing games with you. Whether the lack of water was starting to drive you to insanity finally.

You opened your tired eyes slowly and in the dimly lit basement room, Donghyun’s elegant features came out a little hazy. Or were you dizzy just from the thirst?

“I’m getting you out,” the boy said so confidently as if it was the easiest thing to do. If it wasn’t too exhausting to move an inch of muscle you would have laughed at him. Without the sea, you were nothing. You were less than a pretty shell.

In that state of yours, barely conscious, you couldn’t tell how he managed it: how he got you into a wheelchair or where he got the key to your chains or the card that opened every door but the next thing you knew was rain and wind hitting you in the face, sand and sea on the horizon. The salty air made breathing easier.

It was a typhoon, you could tell. It was the sky’s wraith and oh there was a reason why storms were named after women.

You were halfway down the beach right next to the research institute when the white coated monsters noticed your absence amid the chaos the typhoon caused.

“Stop! Kim Donghyun, don’t you dare!” The doctor’s voice boomed like thunder then it was followed by bitter disappointment when Donghyun didn’t even falter. “I knew she put you under her spell, you stupid child.”

Two long sentences full of curses later the ocean welcomed you in her waves like a benevolent mother welcoming her ungrateful child back in her embrace.

It was like food for the starving, like a drug for an addict in rehab. Being back in the waters made you feel a heady kind of powerful, like you could do anything. You could feel the waves coming, you could taste the salt on your chapped lips, you could feel the hunger and anger come back in full force. You could have just left. Now being able to swim freely without chains, without anybody holding you back, you could have just headed towards the deepest part of the ocean and never look back but you didn’t even think about leaving like that. Not when you could finally sing.

You will drown them all, you thought, a little wicked, because wasn’t it cosmic justice? Letting the sea take them after they had taken you from your motherland?

You could feel the enchantment building up around you, its sound was carried through waves and thunder, the storm helping you make a symphony. Surrounded by the water and its fury you felt power surge through your veins and just like that your siren song filled the air. It really was a bit like a spell, just as much you were a sea witch.

You watched with a content smile as the old senior doctor and all his followers struggled to get to you in the water, getting deeper and deeper. You let them drown one by one as they couldn’t keep up with the storm brewing and the heavy waves took them under. You didn’t pay much attention to most of them, your focus was on your main torturer, the old man, the doctor. You swam up to him with a sweet smile watching his face morph into a blissful grin at your closeness, then you grabbed him by the collar and dragged him underwater. You pierced your sharpened teeth through his wrinkly skin and bled him out like it was poison. You wanted him to suffer like he had done to you. Like they deserved.

Vengeance never tasted so sweet.

It was like waking up from a long slumber when you came to consciousness. Rage and adrenaline had left your body by then, leaving you exhausted in the calm after the storm. The beach was left in ruins all around and that was when you realized that something was wrong. Something was missing. Or rather, somebody.

Donghyun.

In your haste and delirious state, you forgot that even though he helped you, he was human too. That if he stayed close, he was just as affected by your song as all those sailors over the years. Him of all people, the only one who thought you weren’t a monster.

“No,” you whimpered when the realization hit you. “No, please.”

Frantically you looked around, swimming towards the part of the beach where the wheelchair was left, broken. That’s where you found him, near the rocks, lying in the sand, unconscious. Even as you got closer, you couldn’t hear his heartbeat and it was your fault.

You crawled over the sand, right to his side. Even in this state, soaked and pale, sand sticking to his skin and hair, he looked like an angel. But he had water in his lungs and a barely beating heart.

You could have left him there and nobody would have batted an eye, nobody would have even known that you killed one more but the thing was: your kind might have been selfish but you were loyal too. He had saved your life, so now you owed him.

“Come back,” you whispered as you leaned over him, watching his pretty, calm features before pressing your lips to his, evaporating the water from his body just enough to let him breathe. When you pulled back, you could still feel the soft tingle of his lips on yours and you waited until a flutter of his eyelashes showed that he would awake. Then you slipped back into the sea, out of sight, as if you hadn’t even been there in the first place.

You watched from a distance as he was found by an elderly couple and he looked around confused. You watched as he was treated with the kind of care and kindness you could have never given him because you belonged to the cold deep ocean sea and he belonged to the warm soiled land. You had no future together, nothing but a fever dream fantasy.

And if he heard your humming at night when he walked on the beach, some would have called it haunting but some would have called it a confession.

Because you weren’t made for love but he was. He deserved it all and this was the most you could give him. The love of the ocean, untouchable but always present.

[katyawriteswhump]

Please (don't) stop—steddie holiday drabbles/whumpcember day 6

For @steddieholidaydrabbles day 6 prompt, ‘chill,’ and @whumpcember day 6 prompt, “Please stop.”

WC: 963. Rating: T CW: None. Tags: exes to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, post-Vecna/general canon injuries and healing, Eddie lives, happy ending. Summary: Steve and Eddie got together, post-Vecna, then promptly fell apart. Much like Eddie’s old van is falling apart, though at least Steve figures he can fix that…

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��Please stop!”

Eddie waved madly at the approaching vehicle, holding little hope of rescue. Who’d stop for a dude with a banged-up old van, shivering his long-haired-freak head off? The blinding headlights dipped, and… Christ-on-a-bike, they were stopping? Maybe charity wasn’t totally extinct in post-Vecna earthquake-stricken Hawkins.

Then he recognised the BMW. And the guy climbing out.

“Steve?”

“Hey, Munson.” Not ‘Eddie,’ then. Not anymore. “You okay?”

“Peachy. Van’s a bust, tho’.”

The casual switch of Steve’s attention—from Eddie to the van—felt chill as the son-of-a-bitch wind. Both sliced through Eddie’s bandages to his still-healing scars and heart.

Jesus, he should get over Harrington. Like, yesterday.

When Eddie was in hospital, he and Steve had shared ‘moments’—heck, Steve had been admitted too, his bat-bites also taking ages to heal. They’d talked for hours, laughed themselves stupid, gotten so fucking close. They’d made out as recklessly as if they’d never saved Hawkins, and it was still apocalypse-o’clock.

Didn’t change the facts. Steve loved Nancy Wheeler. Eddie’s memories of his heart-on-sleeve yearnings for her—before they’d embarked on their do-or-die showdown—proved indelible. Steve wanted her back, and after she and Jonathan split recently…

…Eddie couldn’t think about that now. Couldn’t have gone fucking worse, really.

Steve frowned at the van, doubtless regretting stopping. “What’s the problem?”

“Uuuuh, the exhaust dropped off?”

“Okay. Easy fix. Got tools in the car.”

“Woah, really?”

Steve’s attention reverted to Eddie in a death-glare. “When our town tumbles down around our ears, even a fuckwit like me can learn crap.”

“Dude, not what I meant! Only surprised you carried the kit. Anyone as metal as you with a Molotov cocktail is a guru of practicality in my book.”

Steve shrugged. And surely Eddie imagined that familiar tinge of yearning in Steve’s faint smile, directed not at Nancy, but at him.

“Shouldn’t take long,” said Steve. “Get in my car before you freeze your balls off.”

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Working by torchlight beneath the van, Steve tightened bolts and temporarily re-attached the exhaust with steel cable-ties.

Eddie’s van was fixed. Steve was… unexpectedly pissed about it.

If he’d had to drive Eddie home, they might’ve had to talk about stuff.  Like, why—after they’d kissed and everything—did Eddie start cheerleading Nance again as Steve’s one-true-love? Then throw himself at Argyll, who’d been confused-as-fuck. His annoyance pitched Steve’s near-constant post-concussion-headache from niggling to stabbing. Lying on icy asphalt, inhaling fumes, didn’t help. Dammit, he was getting lightheaded… heavy-headed? Whatever.

“Steve? Okay down there?”

“Jesus!” A familiar worry seized Steve. “You’re barely out of the hospital! What didn’t you grasp about staying warm in my car?”

Steve slid out and rose slowly, one hand on the van. The dizziness hit like a commuter train. He dropped the spanner and crumpled.

“Shit!” Eddie yelped, catching him.

Steve clutched Eddie’s jacket, his chin jamming Eddie’s shoulder. As the blobs cleared from his vision, he found his footing, and worry slammed anew. Eddie was still healing. Yet here he was supporting Steve, reassuringly solid. Steve suddenly recalled the last time he was held like this. Robin hugged him, of course… but held like this?

It’d been Eddie—in the hospital, when they’d cried for Chrissy, clung to hope for Max. Eddie’s hugs had been necessarily gentle. Somehow powerful, too.

Now Eddie rubbed his back, pressed his cheek to Steve’s hair, whispering, “I gotcha, Stevie.” Steve’s heart began throbbing against his ribs, much like his brain pounded against his skull.

Eddie helped him into the van’s passenger seat. Steve kinda cringed, like always when people looked after him. Especially Eddie, who’d been through way worse. That said, only Robin knew more than Eddie about Steve’s constant pain and… Fuck it. Settling into the seat, his tears pressed hotly. He turned to dry-choke down some pain meds—like they ever fucking worked!—before Eddie climbed in behind the wheel.

“Okay, Harrington. I’m gonna drive you home, providing this pile-o’-shit starts. Wouldn’t dream of driving your BMW.”

“Wouldn’t care.” Eddie reached for the ignition. Steve reached out too, stopping him: “I’m sorry.”

He’d not seen Eddie’s eyes this wide and scared since before they’d faced down Vecna. “What for?”

“I suck at finding the right words, but… I’m over Nance. Was never gonna work. What the heck was going on between you and Argyll?”

“A big fat nothing.” Eddie’s shoulders slumped wearily, doe-eyes literally impaling Steve’s soul. “I guess I wanted you to… ‘follow your heart,’ that poppy kinda crap, after everything.”

Steve squeezed Eddie’s fingers, clutching his lifeline. “Eddie, that’s exactly what I was trying to do.”

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Follow your heart? You mean… to me?

Eddie couldn’t immediately process Steve’s words.

He focussed on Steve’s face—slightly pinched, gray, somehow still so earnest—found himself squeezing Steve’s fingers back, wishing he could ease his pain. They’d shared so much, while healing together. Too much, maybe? As they bordered on crushing each other’s fingers, Eddie’s dumb heart finally ripped open:

“I’m sorry too. I missed you too fucking much, these past weeks. But look, you’re goddamn frozen, we better—”

“You’re colder, moron.”

In a flash, they held each other tight. Steve buried his face in Eddie’s less-injured shoulder, his breath warming Eddie’s scarred neck. Heat that seemed to yell, “Spin on it!” to the whole bullshit world suddenly blossomed between them. Eddie was so stupidly grateful.

When Steve lifted his head, he looked as hilariously hopeful as Eddie felt. His gaze flitted to Eddie’s mouth, and Eddie leaned in for the kiss. Steve inhaled sharply… forbiddingly? Eddie jerked back, super-quick.

“Please stop?” Eddie articulated the question he feared the most.

“Don’t you dare.” Steve’s smile was like summer sunshine. “I just… can’t believe, after everything, this is real.”

They gently enfolded each other—the gearshift jammed between them—and spent the rest of the night kissing all their chills away.

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tags: @wheneverfeasible 💚 My stranger things fic on AO3

[jakesangel]

jake and reader who sh ꣑୧ - requested

tw//mention of sh, jake is healing n comforting reader

it doesn't go unnoticed how you always hide yourself under your clothes to jake, wearing long sleeves, no short even inside the house. he never asked you why nor why you didn't want to take showers w him or going to the beach, tho he wishes you trust him n tell him why. he understood when, one day, he saw your scars as your sleeve ride up a bit as you pass him the tv remote, but even then he didn't say anything. in fact he even forgot why he wanted the remote, only thinking about you n your problems. for the next few days, he wouldn't stop thinking about it, on why you aren't trusting him or what is going on that he doesn't know off.

few days later, he would come over unnoticed wanting to surprise you, and keeping an eye on you, but to his surprise your place was dark n silent. he wouldnt call you, thinking your asleep. so after he removes his outside clothes n his shoes, he'd go straight to your room, without making any noises, wanting to cuddle you n protecing you in your sleep. as jake opens the door, he almost burst out a yell, panick filling his body, seeing you unfazed state on your bed. tho he doesn't know what to do, he'd quickly compose himself to not make it harder to you. he would let shaky breath as he walk towards you, his eyes set on your frame whereas your eyes,full of tears stays on the ceiling avoiding his reaction. you've tried very hard to protect jake from all your problem, yet he is here n you can't bring yourself to move. y/n ? he called suprinsingly softly, i'm gonna take this away okay ?, taking the vile object off of your bed. he would then kneel next to your bed, please look at me, love, n give you a pained smile, tears building, as you turn your head to his side. come on let's get you cleaned up, as he puts his hands behind your shoulder, helping you to get up.

he would help you, water running where it is red, flinching along side w you when it hurts to munch. he will be the one drying you n disinfect everything. n it's only then he would break the tense silence, does it hurt ?, he'd softly ask as he puts some bandage on your arm. he'd nod at your answer, still not knowing how to handle this very serious situation but he would do what he knows the best : to hug you, to engulf you n protect you as if you were the most fragile thing in the world which you are to him. if you stay silent, he will pull you in a hug, keeping you close, wanting nothinf else to hurt you. but if you thank him he would also comfort you w words my angel, i hope you know how munch i love you n how much i wishes you know you can trust me. i know when things gets hard we can't help but go back to what's the easiest way to cope, even if it's bad for us and even if we promised to not do it again. that's just how we are. and i will not force you to stop nor talk about it but please, baby, can you promise me to fight the urges ? you dont have to tell me when you want to do it but can you come to me first ? im sorry if i made you feel like i wont always be there for you but i am. is it alright for me to ask you that ? can you promise ? please ?

notes : hai anon here is ur request ᵎ i hope i wrote it well tho i'm not close to such topic. i hope you are alright n please come to me if needed <3

@imaluckygirl @luvj4key @stwrjvke @amouriu @neos127 @goldenretrieverjakezgirlbaby @jaeyunpinkyring @pockettwinzz @jwsdoll @heeheeswifey @sjylouvre @txnwvc @oopshee