#the tired and stern resolve that knows what is about to happen will be horrible and choose it anyway

[lebelinoria]

tags from @findingfeather

#for real tho: the steady look at his own corpse#“it's how I lived my life and yes I'm aware it got me killed and I'm not sorry”#“it was not a mistake and I'd do it again”#edwin died and suffered horribly because of the pack-instinct of teenage boys#to terrorize other teenage boys when they feel powerless#charles died refusing to be one of that kind of teenage boy#and saving the target of that kind of bullshit#and he's not sorry and he'd do it again#he doesn't regret it and it wasn't a mistake#and neither is this

every day i think about charles rowland and how he chooses to protect people and doesn't regret it even when it literally kills him. looking his dead body in the face and not regretting his actions that lead to it. looking at edwin and choosing to stay on earth with him instead of going to the afterlife and not regretting it. choosing to protect people and stay with people that are kind to him even if it hurts him. no regrets, not mistakes, he would do it again, he would do it every time.

i can see the kind of person who would go to hell to bring someone back in this exchange right here.

your wording and phrasing here is extremely powerful and charles rowland is an incredible person.

[satanwithboobs]

self-care | GN!MC x OM brothers

tw: mentions of reckless behavior, the brothers are demons so they essentially roofie MC but.. for their own good...? it’s not okay and I’m pretty sure Beel is the only one who feels like they did something wrong.

a/n: okay so this is really long (nearly 2,400 words), and it just sort of happened. mainly inspired by my history of reckless behavior when it comes to my health and my resolve not to let the stress of my upcoming week make me resort to bad habits. and before anyone wonders... the anecdote in the story? yeah that really happened. I gave myself stomach ulcers because I kept taking ibuprofen (it was for a horrible tooth ache) and I didn’t eat anything but saltines for days while I finished up a final project. word to the wise: don’t be like me. I’m dumb.

self care is important, everyone! I know a lot of people are starting school again, so please!!! take!! care!! of!!! yourselves!!

—

Lucifer was the first to notice something was up with MC, though initially he paid it no heed.

Naturally, he had always prided himself (of course) on his superior attention to detail, and

He had noticed them drinking cups of coffee and energy drinks a whole lot more often than usual, but given that finals were coming up, he figured they were simply trying to keep more awake for the sake of their studies.

None of this was healthy, of course, but he’d wait to scold them if it truly became worth his while to do so.

And so, he went on with his business, offering them advice as he had on many occasions before. He had even been kind enough to tutor them without the aid of his whip or his fire, something he would never do with any of his brothers. At one point he even let a snide comment under their breath go with just a stern warning.

He truly had gone soft, but he supposed it was best if he didn’t traumatize the human he and his brothers had formed such a strong bond with just for the sake of grades.

And while he had been the first to notice their new habits - all of his brothers had eventually caught on to what was going on.

It was the Saturday before finals that they all finally acknowledged that something needed to be done.

—

“They’re looking truly frightening!” Asmo exclaimed, and while typically his statements were brushed off by the rest as pure hyperbole, they all had to agree with this one. “They’ll get wrinkles in no time if they keep this up...”

“Yeah, somethin’ needs to be done,” Mammon commented, earning nods from his brothers — a truly rare occurrence in the House of Lamentation.

“Maybe I can plan a spa day!” Asmo interjected, an excited expression on his face.

“I don’t think havin’ ya feel ‘em up all day would help anythin,” Mammon grumbled, earning a scowl from the fifth-born in return.

“Perhaps...” Satan started.

“No,” Lucifer retorted, earning a look from the wrathful fourth-born.

He simply continued as if daggers weren’t being glared in his direction, “I don’t care how many times you try and paint it as a benefit for us all, you will not get a cat.”

Satan muttered something that sounded a lot like, “dammit,” under his breath, along with a couple of choice words that Lucifer ignored for the sake of pushing the conversation forward.

“I know! There’s this new TSL ultra-special extended-cut series box set that we can marathon! It has never-before-heard director commentary, along with a limited edition SIGNED replica of the—”

“That’s just gonna wind ‘em up even more!” The second-born responded, getting fed up with this already.

In truth, he was mainly irritated at himself for failing to notice that MC had gotten so bad. He was their first guy, he should’ve known!

“For once, I have to agree with Mammon,” the Avatar of Pride earned six dumbfounded looks with that, with Belphegor actually opening his eyes and Beelzebub nearly choking on the bite of food in his mouth.

“MC needs sleep, not distractions,” he went on without missing a beat, “I very much doubt they’ve had more than four hours of sleep in the last five days, so that must be our first priority.”

“How do you suggest we do that? It isn’t like MC will concede easy, we all know how stubborn they are,” Satan asked.

“Simple,” Lucifer proclaimed, as his gaze fell upon the youngest brother, who had already fallen into a deep slumber once again. “We use force.”

Upon feeling the eyes of all his brothers fall on him, Belphegor stirred, a single violet eye opening. He grumbled, not bothering to sit up properly as he regarded the eldest with a tired expression.

“What?”

—

Lucifer had explained the very simple two-step ‘plan’ to Belphegor (step no. 1, corner the human so they can’t slip away - step no. 2, Belphie makes them sleep), and they were about to begin discussing when to put their plan into motion when footsteps echoed outside the common room.

MC walked in, looking a bit more than a little worse for wear (while their clothes and hair looked fine given the circumstances, the bags under their eyes had become so prominent that they were basically their own entity at this point).

“Oh, that’s where you guys were. I was wondering why the place was so quiet,” they tried to joke, but it came out in such a monotone way that it just sounded more like a simple statement.

Their brow furrowed a bit when they got no response from the seven demons, but they shrugged it off and put their bag down on the table, beginning to take out the many books they were going to need. They’d been barricaded in their room for quite some time, but they had needed a change of scenery. Not to mention, their bed had been way too tempting...

The silence in the room was deafening - even in their bleary state they could tell something was off - so eventually they turned around to see six pairs of eyes scrutinizing their every move (Belphegor was asleep, which didn’t surprise them.

“You guys are starting to freak me out,” they stifled a yawn and moved to grab their coffee, in desperate need of another pick-me-up.

If they had any hope of grasping the concepts in Devildom Law, they’d need it—

They were confused when they didn’t find it where they had left it - on the table, two seconds earlier - but not so when they noticed that Lucifer had suddenly appeared right next to them, their coffee in hand.

“Uhh, Luci? Kinda need that,” they let out a laugh and outstretched their hand, silently asking for it back.

“No, you’re cut off,” he declared, earning a sigh from MC. It wasn’t like they had been caught dancing on the tables after a few too many shots of Demonus. It was just coffee.

“You guys are worried, aren’t you? Well, don’t be. It’s not like I haven’t done this sort of thing dozens of times before, I’ll be fine,” they tried to reassure, though in truth they had never been forced to study nearly as hard as they had for the classes at RAD.

“No, what yer gonna do is let us take care of ya’. Don’t ya trust us?” Mammon said gruffly, earning a look from the human.

“Yeah... you’re really fragile, being a human, and..” Beelzebub started, before trailing off with a frown, remembering they didn’t particularly like being told that. Even if it was objectively true.

“Seriously? I’m being lectured by a bunch of demons on healthy lifestyle choices?” They said, exasperated. “I already said, I’ve done so much worse before. Not sure if I ever mentioned it, but this one time I was up for three nights straight in college.. Gave myself stomach ulcers during finals week because all I had to eat was a sleeve of saltines and some ibuprofen—” they laughed a bit before realizing - upon seeing everyone’s concern only increase - maybe that particular story wasn’t the best one to tell right at that very moment.

MC turned back to Lucifer, shooting him a pleading look. “I need to do well on these finals, Lucifer. I’m not going to make you guys look bad by completely bombing them all.”

The look in his eyes softened for a moment, before he sent someone behind them a terse nod.

Of course, they figured out just a little too late that this was far more than simply a discussion about their unhealthy sleeping habits.

They didn’t even need to look behind them to feel the overwhelming presence of the youngest brother weighing down on them.

While Belphie had done this sort of thing to them once or twice on accident while taking a nap nearby, it had never felt this.. overpowering.

They shot Lucifer a look, and he responded with a somewhat sympathetic look of his own.

“You can’t be serious about...” they trailed off, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. “About.. this....”

MC soon fell into the waiting arms of the eldest, out like a light.

Lucifer let out a soft chuckle as he scooped them up bridal-style, giving a quick nod to Beelzebub who had picked up his twin the same way.

It was a side-effect of the youngest’s ability; he could make someone of his choosing fall into a deep sleep if he wanted, but he’d always do the same.

It was kind of annoying, but it wasn’t like he didn’t spend most of the time sleeping anyway. At least he had full control over how long the other person slept and would always wake at the same time they did.

Now that he thought about it, he’d have to find an excuse to do this again sometime. Naps were way less fun when the person you’re napping with insists on getting up before you wanted them to.

“Pretty sure that’s a record for Belphie,” Satan mused, “I’ve never seen someone pass out like that in less than 10 seconds.”

—

Beelzebub happily chomped down on the many food items he had been supplied with as he waited for his twin and MC to awaken.

The rest of his brothers would have hated having to wait so long, but as long as he had food and his two favorite people in front of him....

Beel looked up from his snack when he heard the pair stir.

An annoyed expression settled on MC’s face as they opened their eyes, completely erasing the peaceful look they held moments before.

Beel frowned, knowing they had a reason to be annoyed, but also knowing that this was all for their own good.

Their face softened ever-so-slightly when they noticed Beelzebub, the one brother they could never stay mad at.

They were about to sit up when they realized there was an arm loosely caged around their waist. Behind them, they could feel the soft and slow breathing of the youngest demon brother, as if he wasn’t already awake.

They attempted to move away, but the loose grip quickly tightened, pushing them flush against Belphegor’s chest.

A satisfied hum escaped their ‘captor’ when MC gave up and sighed.

“You’re welcome,” Belphegor said tiredly, nuzzling his face in their neck, much to their chagrin.

“I can’t believe you guys...” they finally said, their voice still rough from sleep. “How long?”

Beelzebub frowned again, knowing they wouldn’t like the answer. “18 hours,” he finally said, bracing for the response.

“Wait, 18 hours?!” MC rolled their eyes when the demon behind them groaned at the exclamation. “I’m going to miss—”

“I arranged for your deadlines to be extended, don’t worry,” MC stiffened when they heard the eldest’s voice, knowing their inevitable lecture was likely to come sooner rather than later.

They moved to sit up again, though this time their living restraint let it happen, turning over to hopefully get just 5 more minutes of sleep...

The human winced upon seeing the stern gaze Lucifer was giving them, though his eyes were notably softer than usual.

“While I appreciate the unwavering dedication to your studies,” he started, moving to sit on the edge of the bed near the two former sleeping beauties, “you do need to take care of yourself.”

“Achievement means nothing if you end up comatose before you reach the finish line.”

MC looked down, guilt settling on their face. Fair point from the Avatar of Pride.

“I—” they tried to start, but a gloved finger pressed against their lips before they could get anywhere.

“No arguments.”

MC sighed, tossing a defeated look to the eldest. All they got in response was a chuckle and his signature smug look.

Silence permeated the room for a moment before Lucifer spoke up again.

“You will report to my study promptly after dinner every night without exception until you are finished with everything,” he said, the edge in his voice coming back in full force. “Understand?”

MC nodded in response. Figures he’d implement something like this.

“Good. I will help you study a portion of the time, while Satan will help with the rest.”

The human resisted the urge to groan at this. Great, two drill sergeants for the price of one. Literally.

They felt their cheeks flare with heat when they felt Lucifer’s gloved hand cup their cheek as he leaned in to place a soft kiss on their forehead.

“Your well-being is important to all of us,” he said, pulling back. “Never forget that.”

“Lucifer is—” Beel interjected mid-bite before he quickly swallowed. “—right.”

“Won’t hear me arguin’ on that!” Mammon piped up as he filed into the room with the four brothers who weren’t already in there to begin with.

“Lucifer said I could plan a spa day when you finish up! Just you and me... sounds heavenly, doesn’t it?” Asmodeus announced, tossing a wink toward MC.

“Oi! If you think I’m gonna let that happen, you got another thing comin’, Asmo!” Mammon growled, earning an eye roll from the Avatar of Lust.

“You have nothing to worry about, as long as I’m your tutor,” Satan interjected before a true fight could break out.

“You better finish up quickly, because there’s this new game is coming out—!” Leviathan practically vibrated with excitement before letting out a terrified sound.

“Don’t put too much stress on them,” Lucifer’s aura flared.

“Oh, uh...” Levi corrected, looking a bit like a wounded puppy. “T-take all the time you n-need...”

MC couldn’t help but crack a smile at the brothers’ antics, their previous annoyance at the unexpected 18-hour nap all but gone (though they would have to speak to Lucifer about boundaries.. while they agreed that their health was important, essentially supernaturally drugging someone still wasn’t okay).

“You guys are too much,” they said, their cheeks flaring. “Just how did I end up stuck with all of you?”

Silence fell upon the room for a very brief moment at the question, before chaos (naturally) resumed its regularly scheduled programming.

[writingawaymylife]

Blue and Gold

Word Count: 1581

Category: Fluffy as a newborn bunny

Character(s): Thorin

Pairing(s): Thorin x reader

Warnings: Nothing. 

Overall Summary: You and Thorin get some ‘us’ time.

A/N: So I’ve been reposting all of my old stories - going through and editing them to match my skill and style a little better. I’m honestly surprised I still had this one in my docs still! But I have to admit, I’m very happy I kept it. This is from 2017, so it definitely had some inadequacies that I needed to correct, but it was still pretty well written - which surprised me to be honest. I always looked back and thought my stuff was just horrible but it’s... well not great, but it’s definitely not terrible! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! I really did like rereading and writing this again! 

“Please.” 

“No.”

“What if I took it off before your meeting tomorrow?”

“I said, no.”

The huff you made was exaggerated and long as you sat down, rather unceremoniously, onto his desk. Your arms were crossed, there was a little glare in your eyes, and your foot was gently thumping against the wooden desk. He might have been doing a good job of focusing, but there was no way he was going to be able to ignore you for long. If there was one person that could get his attention, even when he absolutely did not want to give it, it was you. You knew this. Thorin knew this. It only took patience - which it was easy to say you had far more of.

Thorin continued his work as if you weren't there for longer than you would have expected him to.  His light blue eyes pacing back and forth against the letters written onto the paper, his face staying completely stoic, except for the small furrow of his brow. A habit he had when he worked. But you could see through it, and the soft sigh that escaped his lips was more than enough to let you know his resolve was breaking. 

“I solemnly swear that I won’t be as lazy with yours as I was with mine. It will not look like a five-year-old did it, promise.” You leaned towards him and lightly nudged his shoulder with yours, a small, teasing grin on your face. 

You had gotten really excited when you realized that Erebor actually did have nail polish, and had basically raced to get some the moment you heard it existed. And along with the (F/C) nail polish you had gotten for yourself, you had also picked up some other colors that you thought Thorin might like. However, in your excitement and rusty abilities, you had gotten the nail polish on quite a bit of the skin around your nails as well. Even though you could get rid of the paint that was on your skin, you had gotten lazy with the realization that you didn’t have any outside responsibilities. To say it looked messy was… a bit of an understatement, but you didn’t really care. It would flake off in the next hour or so, or the bath tonight would get rid of it. 

To be honest, it wasn’t that you just wanted to paint his nails. What you really wanted was to spend time with him. With how busy he had been, it was hard to get any time outside of the bed, where he was often too tired to do anything but cuddle and sleep. Not that you were complaining, you understood how hard everything must have been, but that didn’t stop you from missing your long talks and quiet moments of peace. 

A few more seconds went before he let out another, more audible sigh that tapered into a light chuckle. His eyes side glanced to your fingers, which you quickly curled into fists in a futile attempt to hide the mess you had made of them.

Thorin set the quill down and sat up straighter as he looked up at you. He looked amused, an easy-going smile and a twinkle in his eyes. 

“Why are you so adamant about painting my nails, Amrâlimê?” He had leaned into his seat now, getting comfortable as one of his hands rested on one of your thighs, thumb rubbing back and forth like he usually did. 

“To spend some time together?” His smile seemed to drop just a little as he nodded. You knew pretty well that it wasn’t just you who missed the alone time. You could tell with that look he would sometimes give you in the evenings, or the way he would hold you as you fell to sleep. He missed you too. “I know you’ve been busy, and I would never get annoyed at you for focusing on stuff that really, really needs you. But I do miss you.” You were always awkward with your emotions, but you could see he understood when his hand gave you a soft squeeze. “Painting your nails gives us some ‘us’ time, but also keeps you away from these god-damned papers for at least another fifteen minutes afterward. So… please? I do have some colors you would love?” 

He was silent for a minute longer, before he let out a mildly overexaggerated sigh. He liked playing the act, but you could see he was happy to have an excuse to get away from the letters, to get some time with you. 

“Very well. Go get them.” 

 ~

“So, how long will this take?” He asked, smiling down at you as you carefully painted one of his nails blue. You two were sitting amongst the hundreds of pillows on the bed, you hunched over in front of him, staring pointedly at his finger as you painted the color on as carefully and smoothly as possible. Your bottom lip was stuck between your teeth, gently chewing it as you finished and moved to the other nail. 

“Well, we’ll let this coat dry, and then I have to put on another coat. After that, I’m gonna take out the gold nail polish and I’ll paint your ring fingers!” Huffing, Thorin shifted in his seat, stopping instantly when you looked up at him with stern, (E/C) eyes. “Don’t move, Dear.” 

He gave a challenging glare, causing a light chuckle to bubble up from your lips as you glared back. Thorin knew that when you called anyone “dear,” it was usually a warning. And oftentimes in the past, when directed at him, it ended in a little “dominance” match between you two. You would never back down, and it often led to Balin and Dwalin having to intervene, usually rather quickly, to prevent you from saying something that would piss Thorin off even more. Especially after that time you had gotten annoyed with Thorin’s disrespect, and proceeded to “Okay, Boomer.” him the entire day, and then right in the middle of one of your matches. Thorin wasn’t one to hurt people who didn’t try to accost him first, but everyone could see he was nearly there that day. It had brought you great satisfaction. It still does. 

“You wanna go, buddy boy?” You tilted your head, a grin growing on your face as you sat up straight. “Cause I’m totally up for a tumble, and I’m not talking about the fun kind that often happens on beds.”

He let out a huff and rolled his eyes. You were not a very confrontational person, often preferring to use of words and eloquence to get the result you wanted, but that didn’t stop you from “squaring up”, as you would say, with any of the Company when you got a bit fired up. You weren’t one for talking shit, but with any of the “fam”? You wouldn’t even blink an eye. 

You were most definitely not the person who he imagined his One to be. But, as soon as he got to really know you, he realized he really wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“I want you to focus on what you’re doing.” He countered, smirking at the indignant huff and grumble you gave before you continued to paint his nails. 

You were so weird. Mildly over the top, and he knew for sure there might have been a few screws loose up there. You would say things that he absolutely didn’t understand (oftentimes on purpose), you would press his buttons just enough to get a rise - though you now did so with the intention to tease rather than push him to attempted murder. He couldn’t help but be drawn to you. Your laugh, your banter, how you wouldn’t even bat an eye as you looked someone dangerous in the eye and said something so stupid, though that did often stress him out. But you were also kind, courageous, passionate, loving. You were like a calm ocean and a wild hurricane, chaotic and uncontrollable, careful and generous in every way. 

“I love you.” He hummed, watching as you paused mid-stroke and glanced up at him. A small, soft smile gracing your features and a small blush across your cheeks. “More than I’ve loved anything really.”

It took a few seconds for a response, but a looked of adoration covered your features and your smile grew. Turning your attention back to his nails, you fought the grin from getting any bigger. Didn't matter how often he told you that, it still brought pride and happiness to your heart. 

Once you were done with that nail, you looked back up at him. “I love you,” You stated. “I love you more than anything and anyone I’ve ever loved. I love you to the moon and back.” Not once did you take your eyes away from his, and a few moments passed before the hand that was drying came up to cup your face, and he gave you the softest kiss he had given you in a long time. 

Thorin’s arm suddenly wrapped around your waist snuggly and he tugged you onto his lap. Pressing you tightly against him as he rested his forehead against yours and closed his eyes. You were still slightly astonished. It wasn’t that he wasn’t affectionate, just that he did it in a way that always left you short-circuited. Though it didn’t take long for in indignant squawk to leave you once your brain caught up with you. 

“Thorin!” You gasped, trying to pry his hands away from your body and scoot off of him.  “You’re going to smudge your nails!” 

His chest rumbled as he kept in a laugh and tightened his hold on you. He tucked his head into your neck, and a laugh spilled out as his beard brushed against you neck and caused you to let out a loud squeak. 

“Your nails are totally gonna be smudged now!” You playfully slapped his arms, squirming to get off of him in a desperate attempt to save his nails. “Let. Go! You fowl beast!” He grinned as he  lifted his head from your neck, and gave you a look of love and thinly veiled hunger before effectively shutting you up with a love-filled kiss.

“Never.”

[theazkapack]

Intruders

Part 1 | Part 2

After weeks of tension, the pack finally meets the responsables that have been hiding away in their territory, when Ashlen and Shivo decide to patrol the borders of their territory.

Glawn paces around the den, ignoring the pointed look that Lannel throws at her. 

She feels nervous, looking up almost every second in hopes that Ashlen and Shivo would appear in the path, the dark wolf throwing her a smile and telling her that nothing had been spotted today. Ashlen had been particularly stressed by the fact that some strangers were living in their territory, and while not as stressed, Glawn felt the same in some way, on edge all the time as she scouted or helped with the hunts.

It was difficult not to, the knowledge that there were strangers that believed themselves strong enough to simply waltz into their territory without a care, and could be anywhere, waiting for the perfect moment to ambush them? Yeah, absolutely not a good thing. Should they go find them? It was still day, but she knew that very quickly it could become night, the dusk barely a speck of time that always catches her off guard.

“Glawn, sit down, you’re gonna leave a trail in the dirt” Lannel complained, probably annoyed from watching her pace nervously. “They are gonna come back soon, don’t stress about it.”

“Oh, I know, but what if something happened?” Glawn said, her eyes fixed onto the trail where the others would come back, “What if they found the other wolves or, or some bear attacked them?”

“They will be fine, Glawn, Lead was capable of defending themself against a bear alone, they are more than capable of fencing off a bear with my brother.” 

“But it’s late, Lannel, and you know Ashlen doesn’t like staying outside when it is so close to night time,” Glawn whined, refusing to look elsewhere and missing the look Lannel threw at her.

They stayed in silence for a few more minutes, Lannel simply closing his eyes and enjoying the peace while Glawn looked and hoped for Ashlen and Shivo to come back. She sighed, and continued to wait, managing to stay down for a few minutes before getting up and continuing to pace around the den, feeling too anxious to stop moving. This continued on similarly for some time, ignoring the annoyed looks her packmate threw at her once again, when the other, finally annoyed, stood up and sighed.

“Alright, okay, let’s go find them,” Lannel said, annoyed, “I bet they just took some time looking at a river, or something.” 

Glawn nodded, and silently thanked the other for putting up with her, as she started to sniff around, following the old tracks the others had left behind. They walked in silence, following closely behind the tracks, trying to ignore the unease slowly filling them up. If asked, they wouldn’t be able to say exactly what caused it, simply on edge and uneasy as they progressed more and more into the deep of the territory, until they started to find more recent tracks.

Glawn paused, unsure, as she looked at the path. Something wasn’t right, but what? She looked around, trying to hear, but everything was silent. Silent.... Glawn looked up, perplexed, where were the birds? It was not normal for the animals to not be around the forest, normally singing up a racket everytime she or anyone of the pack passed by. Then, she heard it, in the distance, so low she could have missed it if she had not been paying attention. Barking was ahead, and she straightened up, fur instantly bristling, Lannel following suit once he also heard the noise.

They approached, making sure to not make any noise, until they could clearly hear Shivo’s voice, as he barked and growled at someone. Lannel tensed, and after sharing a brief look with her, they jumped forward, Glawn barely hiding her shock as she entered the clearing where the rest of her pack was. Shivo was injured, bleeding profusely from his face, standing close to Ashlen, who looked like a breath away from collapsing.

“Guys!” Shivo exclaimed, relieved at their arrival, “Oh, how glad I’m that you found us!”

Lannel nodded, briskly, and stood next to him, clearly shaken from how injured his brother seemed. Glawn took her time, checking Ashlen over, who scoffed and simply nudged her forward, hoping she could help them deal with the strangers. Shivo was.... Abrasive, to say the least, and not the best negotiator, so Glawn wasn’t that surprised that they had ended up fighting. And Ashlen didn’t know how to communicate with anyone, apparently, as she watched the other wolf look at her with hopes of resolving the problem. She straightened and stood up to the front.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, ignoring the shocked looks the wolves threw at her, “This is our territory, and we do not appreciate intruders here, specially, intruders who have been living here for weeks without showing any face.”

She took the time to examine the strangers, noting how similar to her own coloring they were, the three wolves in different hues of golden fur. They looked familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint the why.

“Glawn?!” The oldest exclaimed, stepping forward and easily ignoring the warning growls her pack gave her, “You’re alive!”

She paused, unsure on how to proceed, and looked confused back at Ashlen. She… Who were these wolves? Likely sensing her confusion the wolf called her over, ignoring the guarded looks Ashlen threw her.

“It’s me, Honsu!”

Honsu? But…

Oooh,she thought internally, That’s why they are familiar.

“We thought you died! You got separated from the group in that storm and no matter what, we couldn’t find you!” Honsu exclaimed, the she-wolf looking happy at her, “Is there anyone else with you? Any of our siblings?”

“Uh, no, sorry” Glawn said, awkwardly, “Only me.”

“Oh,” Honsu deflated, looking sad before shaking it off, “No matter, I’m so glad you are okay!”

“Glawn… Who are they?” Ashlen asked, looking confused at the exchange, voice rough and with a lisp as they tried to emulate as closely as possible the words to the local dialect, and failing horribly once again.

“Oh, um. These are my siblings” Glawn said, ignoring the shocked look both Lannel and Shivo threw her, “This is Honsu, and the other two behind are Clower and Aursa.”

Honsu scoffed at the looks they threw at her, and nudged Glawn, full out ignoring how tense her sister was.

“Well, let’s get going then. We have so much to tell you.”

“What?” Glawn asked, nervously.

“Well, these guys have a problem with us being here, so let’s go. You know this place, right? You must know very good places to stay!” Honsu exclaimed, throwing a despective look at her pack, “These mutts must be bad company, come on.”

“I—Honsu, I can’t leave!” Glawn said, almost horrified and irked at the way she had referred to the others, “You can’t just, just slide in and tell me what to do!”

“Why not? I’m the oldest” Honsu huffed, offended, “And they have a problem with us, so we have to leave.”

“I—” She hesitated, “It’s going to be winter soon, we could die out there without shelter!”

“We’ll make do,” Her sister said, “We surely will find something, me and Clower need to find a good place anyways.” 

Glawn blinked, and looked closely at her sister, noticing how more rounded she looked, despite the almost skeleton way her fur clung to her body, and how Clower looked to the side, embarrassed, looking the same way as her sister.

“You’re pregnant!” She exclaimed, surprised, “I—We—No! We have to stay!”

She turned around, ignoring the protest of her sister.

“Ashlen, surely they can stay, right? My siblings are pregnant, can they stay for the winter, please?” She almost begged, “Please?”

“...Sure?” Ashlen said, shrugging, “It’s your family, and I know how much you miss them, of course they can stay with us for a while.”

“Guys?” She turned to look at Lannel and Shivo, who both shrugged, clearly confused, and she took that as an agreement.

“Glawn we will not stay with them!” Her sister demanded, ignoring the wary looks the rest of her siblings threw at her.

“Oh, please? You’re pregnant, and so is Clower! You need to rest, to eat, you look exhausted!”

“Glawn, no!” Honsu said.

“Honsu, we’re exhausted. And you cannot afford to stay outside,” Clower muttered, their voice low yet stern, “We should accept their offer, we are barely surviving as it is.”

Honsu’s face softened, as she looked at her sibling, and nodded, suddenly looking more tired than before.

“Yeah, okay. We'll stay.” She accepted, “Only for winter, but we’ll stay.”

Glawn nodded, and slowly started to guide her siblings back to her home, Ashlen trailing faithfully behind her.

Meanwhile, the brothers looked at each other in confusion at the resolution of the events, both having been prepared to continue fighting or simply leaving but not to the strangers that had been living in their territory to simply be invited into their home, no questions asked.

“Did you know she had sisters?” Lannel whisper yelled at Shivo, who shrugged confused, “What in the name of the Moon is this?”

“Dunno, Lan, dunno” Shivo said, before nudging his brother, “Come on, let’s just get back home. My legs are killing me.”

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs “Dihydrogen Monoxide”

Hello, everyone, I hope you are having a good week, and I hope you enjoy reading. Please feel free to critique comment, ask a question, request an idea or a prompt :)

The humans stood aboard the spaceship in near darkness shuffling nervously as they waited. Captain Kelly stood next to one of the UN representatives: She was a stern woman with a stiff resolve, but she was clearly very uncomfortable aboard the alien spaceship. This would have been her first venture off world. She hadn’t even visited Mars yet

As of that current moment they had been waiting in the ship for almost two hours. They had been told that Lieutenant Vir was being shipped in, one his way from the medical facility, and would be there within the next few hours. The aliens had wanted to wait until all the humans were together before allowing them onto the central planet.

Turns out there was another important reason for Vir’s contribution to alien science. As expected, diseases could be carried over from planet to planet. To allow them onto the planet, the entire population would have to be inoculated against human disease, and in turn, they would have to be inoculated against alien diseases. Vir would have received his at the medical facility, they received theirs earlier in the day. It was a little disconcerting knowing that the vaccines had only been tested on one human, but members of the Galactic Assembly had assured them that, out of necessity, they had become very proficient at creating vaccines.

Either way, no one was experiencing any adverse effects, yet.

One of the soldiers slumped down in the darkness to rest his legs.

The tension remained for another thirty minutes before a door in the side of room hissed open and a human figure stepped into the room. A stream of decontamination fog spilling around him. The youthful face of lieutenant Vir peered at them through the gloom blinking, “Who turned the lights off.” He wondered.

Members of the crew got up to greet him breaking the tense silence with some friendly teasing.

“Look its alien boy, finally got to live your dreams getting probed by aliens.”

The lieutenant rolled his eyes brushing condensation form his skin, “I’ve had army physicals more invasive than getting probed by aliens.” He leaned against the wall as the rest of the soldiers crowded around him. The kid seemed rather excited to be getting all of the attention, and despite herself, Captain Kelly moved closer to listen as he talked animatedly about his lone experience with the aliens.

“What did they want?”

“Mostly like specimens and stuff, skin, hair, saliva. You should have seen them freaking out over stomach acid. Looking at me like they thought I was going to melt into a puddle on the floor. Oh also, they totally think we are nasty. Apparently the amount of bacteria and vaccines they had to synthesize was…. Uh…. What did they say…. Unprecedented. “

The UN official moved forward to listen in, “Really, I never assumed…”

Vir shrugged, “Well we always knew that there was more bacteria on the human body than there are cells of human in the human body.

The crew murmured in surprise, but just then, another decontamination door opened up and one of the aliens stepped in.

It was a Rundi; that much Kelly knew. She was only beginning to learn all the new species names, and was still slow on the uptake. She was sure that lieutenant Vir already had their names, genetic phylum and species memorized. He was like that, the kid was like a sports geek collecting baseball cards, accepted he collected aliens. She walked past his room once, and the entire place was plastered in sketches and drawings of the aliens that they had already cataloged.

The Rundi greeted them with a bow of its insectoid head, “The inoculation has been complete. The atmosphere should be compatible for you.”

The UN woman adjusted her suit, “We thank you.”

The creature bowed at them again, and then scuttled across the room stopping by the far wall before pressing a button. Vir had moved forward towards the front of the room eyes wide with curiosity.

A burst of sunlight flooded through the cargo bay, and the humans lifted their eyes against the light. The Alien seemed rather confused at their reaction. The blinding light took longer to wear off for her than anyone else, she heard the gasps of shock and wonder before finally blinking her eyes open exposing her face to a waft of hot air.

Her eyes widened in shock and surprise.

Exposed as they were to a glittering white city and hundreds of aliens staring at them from a ten meter radius.

***

The strange creatures stepped from the ship and into the light of their Starr, they were tall, and walked on ONLY TWO LEGS. The entire crowd shifted back in mild anxiety upon spotting their eyes. They were forward facing, and pared with two rows of sharp glittering teeth. The eyes rolled around in their head tracking up and down the crowd with those slimy white orbs. The small dots within widened and shrank as if their brains were targeting systems set ready to kill.

Though they waked on two legs, their bodies moved with a fluid, and perfectly balanced grace. Whey they stopped, they still managed to balance even despite their completely unusual distribution of weight. The endo-skeleton allowed the crowd to watch as the muscles moved beneath their skin.

Hesitantly, one of the creatures approached the barricade. The crowd pulled back in worried tension. The creature stopped, “Uh…. I’m not going to hurt you.”

The other creatures jiggled their heads in an odd motion before agreeing with the first.

The crowd finally allowed the strange predators to approach, moving around them like they would ravenous desert lurkers.

***

The first problem they encountered when dealing with the humans happened a few hours into the day, it was hot and the humans were beginning to lag in their energy levels. They had been meeting many very important people throughout the day, and they were all hot and tired, this planet ranged about eighty to ninety degrees throughout the day. They had met up with another member of the council who had attempted to greet them in a human fashion, Moments after their hands made contact, the creature’s arm burst out into a horrible purple rash, apparently very painful.

The UN woman looked down at her hand as medical personnel pulled the representative away holding his arm out in front of him in horror. Humans and aliens staring alike, they all noted no such rash on the woman’s hands. They were quarantined for almost half the day after that incident while they attempted to identify the bacteria that had done the damage. Turns out they found some sort of chemical irritant.

By the tie they came into test, the humans had cooled off, and, once her hand’s had been swabbed, no chemical was found. It was a complete mystery, so the humans were finally let out into the sun, which had only grown more intense.

Soon the heat was growing oppressive as the humans desperately looked around for a water source.

Eventually they made it towards the Galactic assembly entrance, and one of the humans spotted something the assembly hoped they would overlook. It was a dihydrogen monoxide pit quarantined by a high wall and multiple caution lines.

By this time the humans were practically sagging under the sun. The aliens didn’t know what to do for them, they didn’t understand what they needed. Were they about to keel over and die, was there something in the atmosphere. What was happening?

And then the humans saw the pit, and the worst thing imaginable happened, one of them responded, “F*** it, I’m dying.” And broke into a run towards the pit. The aliens screamed confused by the translation.

The human had chosen to die!

They tried to stop him, but he leaped over the caution lines setting off alarms before pitching himself over the wall and into the burbling pit of poison. Screaming all around, security officers raced from the building running as close to the edge as they dared expecting to watch as the human shriveled up as it’s juices were sucked into the water.

But, instead, they found the human floating on his back in the substance ducking under before coming back up gasping a serene look on his face. A couple of the humans joined in unable to contain themselves.

The one named Captain Kelly and their leader stayed behind both looking oddly sick and envious as they watched the other humans frolicking in the deadly liquid.

“What is the meaning of this?!” One of the officers demanded

The UN woman raised her hand playacting, “It’s just water…. I don’t.”

The security officer jabbed an appendage at the water, “Dihydrogen monoxide is a deadly poison to some of the species on this world, you can’t just play in it.”

Knowledge was beginning to dawn on Captain Kelly, “I…. our world is covered 2/3s by water. We need it to survive. Our bodies are over 60% water, and the heat is dehydrating us. If we don’t get water soon we will get sick.”

The officer stared at her incredulous.

“You’re not serious.”

“Yes we are, please they’re just thirsty. It’s the one thing we need before everything else.” Captain Kelly was growing desperate now. She was so thirsty.

“You drink poison?” The guard asked again.

“Yes, yes we do…..” She paused, and then it dawned on her, “I, yes and it comes out of our skin to keep us cool in heat, that’s what happened earlier, the council woman’s hands were sweaty and that’s why the representative broke out.”

All around them the alien creatures paused in surprise and confusion. They hadn’t even considered that.

***

A couple minutes later, Captain Kelly had retrieved her unit from the poison pit, and made them to stand out to dry before bringing them inside. Once there, a hazmat team came bearing bowls of water. Members of the Assembly looked on in horror as the humans downed what must have been gallons of poison. Bowl after bowl was brought to them until they seemed satisfied.

There were going to have to be laws and precautions put in place for this. As it turned out water made up pretty much everything in the human body, making them toxic to a small minority of Gamma class species. The two would be able to interact on a small time basis assuming the human wasn’t sweating, but in a climate like this that was almost impossible to secure.

In short, humans drank poison and could be toxic.

[daylilysirius]

Arms Unfolding: Year Four

A/N: part four! sorry it took so long but hopefully the word count makes up for it lol. I don’t really have a schedule for this anymore, hopefully I can update it every two weeks at least but with my irl work being so hectic atm I can’t really make any promises :( but hey, we’re halfway through and you guys are still liking it and that’s all I could ask for really! enjoy <3

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Slytherin! Reader

Warnings: angst, swearing, Draco being Draco, fluff if you’re patient...

Word count: 2793

The summer had dragged on even longer than usual. Your bad mood probably made matters worse, but you were desperately trying to avoid even thinking about Draco so you busied yourself with studying and any other household tasks you could set your mind to. Your holiday with your parents was fun and you went to the Quidditch World Cup with your friends but yours and Draco’s argument seemed to slip itself to the forefront of your mind whenever you had a free moment, so more than anything you were just tired. Tired of overthinking, tired of Draco’s ignorance, tired of missing him.

Your heart had plummeted when you came home and your father informed you that you had all been invited to the Malfoy’s residence for dinner the following evening. You hadn’t told them about what had happened between you and Draco, you didn’t want them to pry, so you had no choice but to put on a brave face as you took your mothers hand and apparated to Malfoy Manor.

If anyone knew about the animosity between Draco and yourself they didn’t mention it. Nobody seemed to notice that neither of you were your usual chatty selves, or that you weren’t sharing silly looks or jokes across the table. Clearly, they thought that just this once you were both riveted by your fathers’ discussions about the goings on at the ministry. You both sat in silence, avoiding each other’s gaze like it was the plague and doing a good job of it too, that was until Lucius started discussing the upcoming school year.

“The Yule Ball is coming up, what with it being the year of the Triwizard Tournament and all… Draco and Y/N should go together, don’t you think?”

Your head shot up, finally facing Draco as your parents nodded and hummed in approval. He was peering at you cautiously, as if he was waiting for you to make a fuss but you stayed quiet. He wasn’t going to get a rise out of you, especially not now.

“You would like that, wouldn’t you Y/N?” Your father asked.

You plastered on the most convincing smile you could whilst still looking Draco dead in the eyes, “More than anything.”

He huffed a quiet, disbelieving laugh but everybody was already too engrossed in their own conversation to notice. Draco leant back in his chair, arms folded across his chest as he continued to stare at you. Your parents’ chatter about finding complimentary attire and which colours suited the pair of you was drowned out as you glared back at him. If the cruel smirk hadn’t spread across his face when he realized you were calling his bluff and not backing down you would’ve thought that his eyes almost looked apologetic.

The weeks leading up to the Yule Ball were dreadful. You and Draco were still barely speaking, the most interaction you had being exchanging letters from your parents so you both knew what arrangements were being made. To put it simply you were miserable. It was only made worse when Dean had asked you to the ball and your only response was to start uncontrollably sobbing. In the end Hermione had to come and take you somewhere quiet, and after she had reassured you several times that your little outburst wouldn’t scar poor Dean for life you were forced to tell her about your whole predicament.

“You don’t have to stay with him the whole night, just for a dance or two. I’m sure Victor won’t mind you dancing with us, and Ron and Harry will be there too!”

“That’s hardly the point though, is it?” You sniffed.

She gave you a sad smile, understanding completely. You always told her the things Draco would say as it didn’t seem right to keep it from her, and even though he was so horrible to her at times she would still let you drone on and on about how he isn’t really a terrible person. At least not in your eyes.

“Boys, eh?” Hermione joked.

You gave a short, breathy laugh in response, “who can live with them?”

“Are you going to sulk all night?” Draco murmured in your ear during the second dance of the evening. He sounded bored already.

You huffed and pulled back to scowl at him, “if you’re going to keep being a dick then yes.”

He snorted before twirling you round to the rhythm of the music.

“I don’t know why you’re making me out to be the bad guy, Y/N.”

“You know exactly why, Malfoy.”

He sighed back at you, accepting his defeat and staying quiet for the rest of the song. The music died down and you went to pull back from him but he dragged you back gently. You shot him a confused glare and he sighed again before muttering almost inaudibly, “You look really nice tonight by the way.”

A shy smile spread across his face at you being visibly taken aback.

“T-thanks?”

He shrugged as his cheeks turned rosy, “fancy a drink?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “let’s get a drink.”

You let him take your hand and lead you over to the buffet table and the hour and a half that followed almost made up for the frosty beginning. He definitely wasn’t forgiven but you figured if everyone else could have some carefree fun for a few hours then why couldn’t you? There was no point in you both being miserable when everybody else was having a good time, so you danced and laughed as if nothing had ever happened. He even sat and joked with Victor for a bit whilst you danced with Dean, who would hear nothing of the profuse apologies you kept trying to give him, and then Hermione in turn. It was nice. Fun, even. Much more fun than you had been anticipating. 

That was until Harry came over and asked you for a dance. You had been sitting next to Draco at the time, his arm slung lazily around your waist as he chatted with Blaise. His grip instantly tightened when Harry had come over but you thought nothing of it. You didn’t even notice the fiery look in his eyes as you took Harry’s hand so he could pull you over to the dance floor. Not until Draco stalked over barely halfway through the song and uttered a stern “Can I interrupt?”

Harry shot you a confused glance but didn’t protest as Draco began leading you away.

“What is your problem?” he hissed as you both swayed half-heartedly to the beat.

“What is my problem?” you replied, “You’re the one who just barged over, I wasn’t doing anything wrong!”

He scoffed and rolled his eyes as if that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

“You’re here with me, the least you could do is not drool all over Harry for the evening.”

“We were just dancing, Draco! He’s my friend, I’m allowed to spend time with him. I’m not your property!”

“Just your ‘friend’?” Draco mocked.

“Yes. Just my friend. Not that it’s your business either way.” You withdrew your hands from him and crossed them over your chest. You should’ve known that tonight was a mistake, Draco’s pride would always come before anything else, even you. You were foolish to have ever thought otherwise.

“You still haven’t learnt, have you? Your friend is a blood traitor, just like the rest of his little gang. I would say being around them is beneath you but I suppose you’re just like him now. You and your little mudblood best friend-”

Draco’s cruel speech was cut short by your hand colliding with his cheek. A few quiet gasps and giggles radiated from the small crowd that was drawn as a result. He looked back up at you blankly, his resolve was almost broken by the tears threatening to spill from your eyes, but then he remembered where he was. He couldn’t show any weakness here.

“Just like her.” He sneered, and with that you turned and began striding towards the door. You couldn’t be here anymore.

“Y/N!” Draco called out, following you out of the great hall, “don’t walk away from me!”

“Why not, Draco?! So you can taunt me and my friends some more? So you can project all your bullshit prejudices onto me?”

Hermione, Harry and Ron had followed you out and were watching on in silence as you and Draco stood a few stair widths apart, entirely unphased by any onlookers.

“I’m trying to help you!” he yelled back.

“No, no you’re not!” you laughed in disbelief, “you’re trying to shove your family’s insane beliefs down my throat! Just because somebody’s different to you it doesn’t make them any lesser, Draco!”

You could no longer hold back the tears and they flowed freely down your cheeks. Draco inched forward slightly but then froze, as if he was going to wipe them away but then thought better of it. Instead you both stood on the stairs, your eyes trained on his face whilst his were suddenly very interested in his shoes.

“You know… I loved you,” Your voice was barely above a whisper but Draco still sprung to life, wide eyed and mouth open in a silent gasp at your words.

“Loved? Past tense?” He all but choked out, his own eyes becoming glassy.

“Yeah. Past tense.” Your body stiffened, “I don’t know who you are anymore. Why don’t you go and dance with Pansy instead, I’m sure she isn’t as much of a disappointment to ‘your kind’ as I am.”

You turned and left him there. A rogue, unwelcomed tear falling down his own cheek.

Evidently, that year had started as it had meant to go on for you. You hadn’t known Cedric all that well, having only spoken to him at various quidditch events but he was always kind to you. His death had rocked the entire school. Your sadness was only made worse when the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons went home. You had spent the majority of time since the ball with your friends from the visiting schools. They didn’t care about Hogwarts gossip and whilst yours and Draco’s little fiasco was still a hot topic for many of your classmates you very much appreciated the fact that your visitors turned a blind eye to it all and cared for you despite the turbulent year you had all had.

You sat at the top of the astronomy tower looking out at the castle grounds. You liked it up here, it was peaceful despite all the whirling in your brain. One of the bigger turmoil’s being that you had actually told Draco you loved him. Christ. Why did you do that? It was bad enough that you had caused a scene in front of not only your entire school but two others as well, let alone the fact that you had actually admitted you loved the guy who you had been crushing on for four damn years.

You hung your head in embarrassment as you fiddled with the laces on your shoes. You still weren’t quite sure if you were more embarrassed about the fact that, yes, you were in love with Draco Malfoy in the first place or the fact that you had told him at the worst possible time. You knew that in a lot of ways you shouldn’t be in love with a guy like that. He was mean and bigoted and didn’t care about who he hurt. But you knew a side of Draco that nobody else saw. One that was humble and thoughtful and loving. But would he ever let go of his pride long enough to show the rest of the world that side?

A sharp cough startled you from your thoughts. Draco stood a few feet away, hands dug deep in his pockets and an almost guilty expression etched upon his face. It made him look almost identical to the 13-year-old who had tackled your books from you in second year just to get you to speak to him. It would have been sweet if it wasn’t another reminder of how he still couldn’t grow up.

“Can I sit here?” He nodded towards the space next to you. You shrugged but said nothing so cautiously, as if you might turn around and hex him at any minute, he came to sit cross-legged to your right. You sat like that for a few minutes. Neither of you daring to look at the other. The only sound being Draco’s occasional huffing, you guessed he was trying to think what to say but was not coming up with anything good enough.

“Why are you here, Draco?” You finally asked.

His head whipped round, like he couldn’t believe you had actually uttered words to him, “I… I uh… Blaise told me you were here.”

“That’s how you got here, not why.”

He sighed before heaving a large breath. If you couldn’t tell any better you would think that he was anxious.

“I wanted to apologise – and before you say anything!” You had laughed and opened your mouth to retort but he stopped you, “please, just let me say what I need to say.”

You looked at him curiously for a few moments before nodding your acceptance.

“Okay.” Draco took another big breath, “Here it goes. I know that you have shown me nothing but kindness since we met, even at times that I didn’t deserve it, and I appreciate that more than you know. More than I show you. You were right. You defended me against everything and everyone no matter what, and I… I took advantage of that.” He looked up like he was expecting you to interrupt but you just motioned for him to keep going.

“I expected you to see things from my perspective but never extended that courtesy to you. I should have tried harder to do that. I’ve never had a friend who actually cares for me the way you do, one that actually wants the best for me and I guess… I guess I just didn’t know how to deal with that. And the things I say about your friends, I’m sure they say similar things about me, not that that makes it okay but we’re just never going to get on. But I am sorry about the things I said and I promise that this time I really will try to do better.” He turned to you again with a hopeful look in his eye, you gave him a small smile which promoted him on even further.

“And with – with Harry. The things I said at the ball weren’t true and that’s not why I was upset. I was upset because he is the kind of person you deserve, you know? He doesn’t hurt you the way I do, and I know that, and it makes me jealous.”

You looked at him quizzically, “Jealous?”

Draco sighed, “Yeah. For a long time, I thought it was just because you were my friend but it’s not… like I said he is the kind of guy you deserve so when he danced with you at the ball, and you looked so happy, I just saw red. Because I… I want to be that guy.”

“What do you mean?” You murmured, wide eyes trained on Draco’s pale face. He looked very nervous and just a little… hopeful.

“I’m in love with you.” He whispered, “and when you said you loved me at the ball, past tense… it hurt so much I didn’t know what to do with myself. I love you Y/N, and I want to be a guy that is worthy of you to love, to love in the present, if you’ll let me?”

The hopeful glint in his eyes grew despite your bewildered expression. You had just gone through about twenty emotions in two minutes. Draco loved you. Your Draco. He actually loved you back.

“Of course, if you don’t want to I completely understand, I just –”

You cut him off by pulling him into a bone-crushing hug and he chuckled lightly as he cradled you head against his shoulder.

“I love you, Y/N. And I’m sorry for everything.”

“I love you too, Draco.”

You felt him smile into your hair as he gently pulled you back to look at him. He caressed your cheek for a few moments before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on your lips.

You still had a lot to talk about, a lot to work through, but you were together. You could get through this together. He was yours and you were his, and as you sat cuddled up in the astronomy tower exchanging sweet nothings and tender kisses, that was all that mattered.

S E R I E S  T A G L I S T : @callie-bear15 @marvel-th @uirene @fandomscombine @songforhema @bi-mama @itsfeliciatime @deansperfectbody @21bruhs @thegreat-annamaria @bellaagates @mhftrs @missingthered0426 @fallsicarus @aanaxxo @bellagrayson-wayne @that-weird-kid-charlie @micheladakenzo @xalmostxtherex @xiuminsdyo @oliviaharddyy @cynthianokamaria @babylon-uncrowned @iridescent-daniel @feysand-trash @awkwardnesshabitat @itsp-erf @luracantspell

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 6

(Top 5 Dislikes)

Holy Hell, I actually made it. Twelve… err,  eleven posts in one week. I somehow did it! It’d been super fun to go back over Volume 1-6. Some of them I haven’t rewatched all the way through in years. It was a super fun ride, but it’s time to wrap things up. Volume 6 is my favorite volume, and now I get to talk about hey. So let’s conclude this series of Like/Dislikes posts with my Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 6!

#5. Maria Calavera

Back in V5, they had to cut out a plotline where, during his search for Huntsmen to recruit, Qrow met an elderly woman. This character, however, had to be cut out due to timing. But they didn’t throw her out. They just her back into this volume. That character was Maria Calavera, and she is awesome.

Maria brought so much levity into the volume honestly. She’s funny and really charming, but also sharp and intelligent. Her ass towards Yang and Qrow always got a giggle out of me. It also helped when the flashback ended, since she wasn’t feeling crushing hopelessness and was able to get everyone to at least start looking for shelter. We didn’t know anything about her, but with how she chose to stay on the train after it de-railed and her going through Barlaby’s journals, it speaks a lot to her mindset and definitely hint at her experience.

Most everyone figured this out by the time of the reveal, but Maria was a former Silver Eyed Warrior. Which while I wish that they did some more foreshadowing about her legacy before, the flashback with Maria was freakin’ awesome and showed how much of a badass that she was in her prime. She agrees to mentor Ruby, and honestly? Maria is exactly what Ruby needs. She’s experienced and an overall nice person who gan give Ruby proper guidance, but also stern enough to give her a good bonk on the head when necessary.  Which proved valuable for when we got to the end.

Maria came in at exactly the right time, and she was a big part of what made V6 so enjoyable. She was hilarious, like the “Maybe she’s dead!” line still cracks me up. SHe’s wise and can get everyone to focus on what matters. She’s been through the same hopelessness and sense of loss that they are… well okay not the exact same way, but she gets it. She wants to do something to make up for when she gave up and finds it in guiding Ruby. Someone who has the same gift and the same drive as she did in her youth. If Chapter 12 was any indication, Ruby may very well be on her way to being the next Grimm Reaper, and that’s all because of Maria. I love that old woman~

#4. Ozma and Salem Backstory

I have been watching RWBY since V1. I started just as the volume wrapped up, so I have more or less been around since the beginning. I have been following every plotline since 2013. I’ve had so many questions for so many years. One of the big ones was the connection between Oz and Salem, and why they have a conflict to begin with. I had waited since the end of V3 to get an answer. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when we finally got it, I’d say that it had been very well worth the wait.

The Lost Fable was everything that I had been hoping for. We found out about Salem. We found out about Ozma and why he keeps reincarnating the way that he doe. We found out about the Gods. We found out the history of Remnant and what exactly happened to cause the world to be what it is now. We finally found out about why the moon is broken! There were so many answers to so many questions and even stuff that I wasn’t expecting. I had guessed that Oz and Salem were former lovers, but them having actually formed a family? Making themselves God and that being the beginning of their downfall? Damn man…

The backstory was very well done. I feel so bad for these people. Al that Salme wanted was her lover back after he gave her the happiness and love that she never received before. But she was also selfish, trying to turn the Gods against each other and then driving the world to war But the GOds also made her immortal and wiped out humanity, treating them more like objects than anything else. But the biggest victim here is Ozma. He did nothing wrong except die of an illness. He accepted a deal to be with his wife again, but still had to do what was right for the world. He didn’t do that, and by the time that he realized how twisted Salem had become, it was too late. He lost his love. He lost his children. He lost his life and had to start all over again, doomed to never die until he’s united the world. Otherwise, when the Relics unite and the Gods return, everything and everyone will die.

It all makes sense. Why Ozpin acts like he does and why he keeps reincarnated. Why Salem is so Hellbent on destroying all of humanity and making Oz suffer. Sure there are some unanswered questions, like how humanity came back after their demise, but that’ not that big a deal. This was several years in the making, and I can still remember the utter shock that I felt after the first viewing. I was so happy to have this at last, and again, the wait was very much worth it.

#3. The Brunswick Arc

As much as I wished that we had more varied reactions to the Ozpin stuff, we did get a very good arc due to the hopelessness that everyone felt. These two episodes were really great. It had this horror tone, and the snow setting certianly gave it a cold feeling. There were some good bits. Yang’s PTSD still affecting her and Blake trying to comfort her but saying the wrong words. Weiss being afraid to go back to Atlas after just escaping and her terror after finding the corpses. We have RUby’s concern of Qrow drinking if he finds the storeroom of alcohol and her trying to get him to talk to her, but he’s just closed himself off completely. RUby’s trying to be optimistic, but you can just see how much everyone is weighed down.

Then we get to Chapter 6. Things aren’t going well and everyone’s on the verge of just giving up. Yang’s tired. Blake is tired. Weiss is tired. They’re all doubtful of why they’re doing any of this and why they’re going to Atlas. Ruby tries to remind them that they have to… and that’s when we get Yang asking why. We see her blank anime eyes, and we just know that something is very, very wrong. They all try to get Ruby to drop the lamp in the well, and even she begins to say how tired she is. She goes to the well, her hands trembling as she holds the lamp over the well. Her eyes are blank, but she sighs, pulls back… and a pair of red eyes make her drop ti. She refuses to leave without it, so RWBY all go down and while they find the lamp, they also find something much, much worse: The Apathy.

These embodiments of nightmare fuel are Miles’ favorite Grimm. They’re essentially zombies, using their power to weigh you down until all that you feel is apathy. You feel nothing. You don’t care about anything. You just lay there, and you either die from that or the Apathy get to you first. They are horrifying. You can’t just shoot them dead either. The girls barely get away, only being saved by Ruby’s Silver Eyes. It ends with Weiss burning everything tot he ground as they escape. We find out that Bartleby brought the Apathy tot he farm in hopes of using it to ward off enemies since they can’t keep affording a Huntsmen. Instead, the whole horde found their way there, and no one cared. They felt nothing, except for tired. 

This arc is short, but dark. There’s this bleakness all the way through. It feels like you’re the one standing out there in a blizzard with no warmth to push away the bitter cold. They did such a great job of nailing the tone. The Apathy are horrifying, but such a great concept and I can see why these are Miles’ favorite. You feel for all fo the characters and know that they are not acting right and there’s just so much relief when they snap out of it and drive away. On the upside, this gets them to apologize for their words and regain their resolve in getting the lamp to Atlas. It did a lot of good for Ruby, but we’ll get to that later. For now, this was a highlight of the volume, and I enjoyed it immensely.

#2. Bumblebee Storyline

Ho boy, this one has been controversial. And by controversial, I mean this has been hated on for stupid reasons. Like… really stupid. Bt I’m getting ahead of myself.

We all knew that when Blake came back, she and Yang would have things to work out. Which I think that they handled very well. Weiss’ talk with Yang helped her realize why Blake did what she did and let her back in. She still needed time, but she was just happy to have her back. Blake clearly still felt horrible for running away, trying to help Yang with her bag. I don’t think that Yang needed to be more angry towards Blake. Like I said, she had time to cool down and Weiss helped her with that. Blake was genuine in trying to make things right, especially when she saw that Yang was having a PTSD flashback. She talks about Adam’s tactics of making others feel powerless and tries to comfort Yang. But she ways the wrong words and Yang pushes the whole thing back as a result. Still, Yang pulled Blake out of the house after they got away from The Apathy after Blake, in particular, came close to death, so clearly Yang still cared.

But now, we get to the end of the volume, and as such the controversial bit. So int he final arc, Blake goes to take down the city’s radar, but as it turns out Adam stalked her. At this point, he’s lost everything. The White Fang. His power. His standing. At that point, all that mattered to him was making the one that he saw responsible suffer, and that was Blake. She fought back as Adam kept calling her a coward and a traitor. Unfortunately for him, Blake wasn’t alone. Yang entered the fray, and she held her own against him. Adam tried to intimidate her over what happened last time, and it’s enough to make Yang’s arm tremble. But Blake grabbed it, telling Adam that she isn’t protecting Yang. Nor is Yang protecting her. They’re protecting each other.

Adam was an abuser. While seeing his scar certainly leaves an impact, it doesn’t justify all that he had done. He only cared about control and power, and anyone who got in the way of that would earn his spite. He became a monster who emotionally abused Blake and frequently gaslighted her into making her stand at his side. That is until Blake decided that enough was enough, and she left him and the WF behind. Since then, he wanted her to suffer, as well as anyone else that she cared about. It’s why he dismembered Yang. Imo, Blake had no romantic feelings for Yang at that time, but she was still her partner. And because of it, Yang had to suffer at Adam’s hand. Which caused Blake to run, and for Yang to be traumatized and broken. In that moment, Adam made his choice, and there was no redeeming him nor did he want it.

Fortunately, the two girls recovered and got back together. But there was still one obstacle in their way before they could truly move forward, and it was Adam. They gave him the chance to eave. He refused. They fought him. It was either fight back or die. It ended with Yang managing to stop Adam’s Semblance by using her own, getting rid of his sword in the process. Adam lunged at Blake’s broken weapon ut as Blake did, and had he gotten it first then he’d keep trying to kill them. As such when Blake grabbed it and when Yang grabbed the other half, they did the only thing that they could to save themselves: shove the blades forward through Adam. It ended with him falling over the cliff, and to his watery grave.

Adam’s death caused a lot of controversies, but considering that this is a Likes post, you can probably guess where I stand. Adam wasn’t ruined by the CRWBY whatsoever and he led himself to his end and this was the right time to do it. But really? That’s not important. What’s important is what happens after, when Blake breaks down. Yang hugs her and Blake tearfully swears that she’s not going to run again. Yang answers that she knows. These two girls went through so much Hell, and it was together that they were able to set themselves free. This is what finally got me to subscribe to the bumblebee ship. Before. I was indifferent and at times angered by how many people used it to attack the writers. But this was when I saw the value of it. That sense of mutual support that they both needed. How they freed each other. How they can now move forward, and do so together as equals. This showed how great that bond is. How great that their characters are. How far that they have come, and how they can now move on. I loved this arc. It was well written, well-acted by Barbara and Arryn, and was just a super satisfying ride from beginning to end. I loved it.

But alas, there was one thing that I loved even more. Which is a big deal because this was the one thing that I was hoping for above else in this volume. What was that thing? Well...

#1. Ruby Character Arc

In my Volume 5 Dislikes post, I said that Ruby’s lack of development was the thing I hated most. It was the only real thing in the volume that I hated. When V6 was about to start, my one hope was that they would give RUby something. I didn’t care what, as long as it was something that would develop her character and have a payoff, I could live with it. And… well… they did it. They absolutely did it.

This was everything that I had been hoping for. In this volume, Ruby has to take the reigns of leadership. She’s the one who reminds them about the innocents on Argus when the truth about the Relic came out. When Oz tried to make her give the lamp back, she refused and questioned if he lied about protecting humanity. She made her own choices and was the only one aside form Maria to keep her sense and keep moving. At Brunswick, she had every reason to be frustrated and hopeless. But she kept it together and tried to do things like find food or get Qrow to talk to her. This girl was trying her best.

Then we get to Alone in the Woods. I went over this a bit int he Brunswick section, but Ruby here was fantastic. We do see that she can get frustrated and that she can’t always kepe up her optimistic facade. She almost gives in to being tired, but he fights it back, This was what she signed up for. She had a duty, and she was going to carry it out to protect everyone. She managed to fight back against the Apathy’s influence to save Blake, and then with Maria’s help was able to tap into the Silver Eyes enough to blast a huge number of them into dust. And because of it, we finally, finally have Ruby question about the Silver Eyes and ask Maria to teach her to use them.

So much good for Ruby was in here. She has to harden herself a little. It never gets to the point of brooding or angsting, but she and the others are left with no true guidance. The closest thing that she has is Maria, but she’s a new arrival in the conflict. Ruby’s used to Ozpin or Qrow having the answers, but they both have given up. But Ruby hasn’t. And when Qrow refuses ot hear Jaune’d plan out and tells everyone to just give up now, what does Ruby do? She turns to her uncle, her mentor, and tells him that she’s going to hear Jaune out. THat she doesn’t care what Qrow thinks. He may have given up, but it doesn’t mean that she has to. This was where she truly became the leader of not just her team, but the entire group. It took a second talk, but she restored Qrow’s hope. She refused to give up because they can’t. This was what she chose to do, and she was going to do it. With or without anyone to guide her.

It all ends when, after the plan went array, RUby faced Cordo. All that she has is her scythe, but this teenaged girl tells Cordo to either let them through or else. Cordo refuses, so Ruby carries out her threat by gumming up the canon arm to the point of disrepair. But that’s not the end. The Grimm attack, and they all decide to stay. RUby calls the Argus base, telling them that she is a Huntress. This isn’t the same wide-eyed girl who fangirled at Glynda and asked her for an autograph because she was a Huntress. No, this time Ruby is that Huntress. Her resolve is stronger than ever. She’s going to save Argus, and she has the one thing that can do the job: the Silver Eyes.

This was RUby’s trial by fire, and she passed it. It isn’t easy as her happy memories get tainted by the bad ones. But she’s able to use her wits and summon Jinn to buy herself time. Yes, she used the Relic despite not having a question, and she got away with it. It’s enough to let her recollect her happy memories, and ended with the first shot of her mother, Summer Rose. That image is the last thing that RUby needed to, for the first time by her own choice, use the Silver Eyes. while she’s only able to briefly freeze the Leviathan, it’s enough time to let Cordo recover and kill it for good. She lets them through due to this, and RUby not only guaranteed Argus’ safety, but them successfully making it to Atlas.

Ruby is often derided as a flat and under-developed character. I disagree. It’s not easy to move forward. It’s not easy to stay strong when so much is falling apart. Giving up is easy. Hating is easy. But RUby refused to take the easy way. She made a choice, and she has stood by that choice over and over again. She began as a naive girl with a childish dream and major anxiety. She surpassed it. She went from being afraid to make friends to befriending everyone that she meets. She went form charging at a Nevermore to prove herself, to channeling that recklessness into insane but brilliant plans. She went form questioning Oz if he was right to choose her to be leader, to effortlessly leading her team and encouraging others. Her dreams went from a childish fantasy to true dedication and understanding of what she’s fighting for. Bad things happen, and she wants to make people’s lives better as much as possible. She has a stronger understanding of the world and used it to better herself. Now here? She’s taking matters into her own hands and pushing everyone forward along with her. She’s holding on to her hope, and that is what makes her strong. 

Ruby is an amazing character. She is my favorite character. And this volume shows why that is. This corrected all of the mistakes that I felt that V5 made. She actively develops and it’s never dropped. She questions things and starts to learn from them. She learns to use her Silver Eyes. But most of all? All of this got a payoff wth her facing the Leviathan. Yes, she’s still suppressing so much and that’ll come back to haunt her. But for right now, this is what she needed. She needed to take this step, and they executed it wonderfully. As such, ti si is without a shadow of a doubt my favorite thing about RWBY Volume 6.

And with that, we are done! It’s been one Hell of a trip going back down memory lane, but I enjoyed it! Thank you, everyone, who read this as well as the previous posts. I’m not likely going to do any other LikesDislikes for RWBY until V8 starts. But I’m not done reviewing. V7 starts tomorrow, and I plan to do my episode reviews for it. I hope that you all will check those out. V7 is on the horizon my friends, and I am ready for it! I hope that you are to. But for now, thank you again, and I’ll catch you later~!

[iwritekpopthings]

Howler

Characters: You, Choi Junhong Genre/ Warnings: Werewolf!AU, romance Word Count: 3814

A chill went through you as you walked home one night. The wind blew and fallen leaves scattered across the pavement in front of you. The full harvest moon was out in all its glory, shining with enough light to let you see the path beneath your feet. You had decided to take the shortcut through the forest home and now you were regretting that choice. It wasn’t even much of a forest, you could get through it in 5 minutes, 10 tops.

In the distance a wolf howled and you froze. Wolves had been getting more brave recently; they came out of the forest and all the way to some people’s backyards. You paused at the entrance to the forest. You could still go back. The moonlight didn’t reach through the canopy so well here.

You shook your head. No, you were a capable adult and it was only a short walk. The wolves were probably out in the larger part of the forest to the west; nothing to concern yourself about. With that helping your resolve, you took a deep breath and entered the grove of trees. The flashlight on your phone helped illuminate your path and you were able to see relatively well. The wind blew through the trees and you shivered, pulling your coat around you tighter.

Suddenly the air was still. The abrupt change in air pressure startled you and you tripped, dropping your phone in the process. You were able to recover without falling all the way to the ground, but the same could not be said for the phone. A crack ran across the screen as well as across the camera lens and flashlight. The light was now dimmed to an almost-pointless brightness. You knelt down to pick it up with a sigh and turned the phone through your hands.

Rustling came abruptly from your left and you froze, your eyes wide. A low growl was heard and you knew you were done for. You looked out of the corner of your eyes and could see a huge paw right next to you. You felt it’s breath on your back. It’s whole presence loomed over you.

“It’s late. You shouldn’t be out this late, human.” You could hear a gentle but stern voice in your head and you jumped, falling back onto your butt. You looked up and shook slightly as the massive wolf looked down at you with electric blue eyes. A small gold hoop adorned his nose and glimmered in the light. You couldn’t see much else, but it was enough. This was no ordinary wolf.

“Um, I’m sorry. I’ll leave right away..” You scooted backwards, away from the giant form.

He tilted his head to the side. “You don’t have to be that scared of me, come on. I’m not gonna eat your or something.” Was that an amused look in his eyes? You were too scared to tell. However, as if to prove his point, the werewolf lay down, settling on his stomach and watching you, his head at your level now.

You took a few breaths to calm yourself as you looked him over. “You’re.. A werewolf, right? Or am I imagining this?”

He let out a little sneeze/ snicker before looking at you with definite amusement. “No, I’m a vampire. Of course I’m a werewolf! What else would I be?”

“A regular wolf?”

“Nah, no fun.”

“Oh. Okay then.” You began to stand up and he stood with you. “I’m gonna go. Sorry for coming in here and I’ll never do it again.”

“Don’t do that. That’s no fun, either.” He frowned and pawed at the ground a bit. “I’m the guardian for this part of the forest. My brothers are looking after the other areas. I’m all alone, there’s no one to play with meeee.” He whined and gave you the saddest puppy dog eyes you had ever seen and you laughed.

“Oh no, that’s horrible! What are you going to do about it? Why not play with the other animals?” You grinned, already anticipating his answer.

He gave you a flat, deadpan look. “No fun.”

You nodded and laughed. “I’ll think about it, okay?” You picked up your phone, not believing that you were actually talking to a real werewolf right now.

He huffed, but gave you a nod. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the other side. Just to make sure you’re safe.” He began to lead the way before you even knew what was happening. “Human, come on! Slow poke!”

“I’m coming, sorry.” You jogged to catch up with him. He really was massive. His shoulder was a little higher than your head. His paws crunched lightly through the dirt and you could hear the occasional swish of his tail. “How long have you been out here?” You felt like some kind of conversation would be less awkward than the silence right now.

“Hmm.. maybe 2 weeks? It’s hard to keep track of the days when I’m in this form all the time.”

“Whoa.. So that’s why the howls have been increasing? I can hear wolves almost every night from my bedroom.”

“Yes, my presence unfortunately riles up the local wolves. Occasionally the howls are mine, though. Sending signals to my brothers and whatnot.” He paused as the two of you came to the exit of your path.

You turned to look at him and were stunned into silence. His eyes practically sparkled in the moonlight. His two-toned fur was illuminated to show a yellowish color on top and darker underlayers. It shone and was ruffled slightly as the wind came through again.

He tilted his head to the side. “You okay?”

“Huh? Um, yeah. I’m.. I’ll be fine.” You looked away and tried to collect yourself. “I’ve gotta go. Thank you for not eating me.” You grinned playfully at him.

“There’s always next time.” His words made you lose your smile real quick. Then he let out his light snort of a laugh. “I’m teasing. I don’t eat people. But there will be a next time, right?”

You bit your lip lightly, not sure if that was a good idea. “We’ll see, Mr..?”

“You can just call me Junhong.” He bowed his head slightly.

“Thank you, Junhong.” You smiled and gave him your name as well.

“I like that name, but calling you ‘human’ is so much more fun. So I might do both.” He laughed again while you rolled your eyes and smiled.

“Good night, Junhong.”

“Good night, __.”

***

The next time, you came prepared with a little flashlight in your bag. You entered the forest a little apprehensively, aware that there was still some dangerous animals in the forest. You took out your flashlight and went in anyway.

You had only been there for a minute when there was the feeling of a large presence behind you. You whirled around and looked back, only to find the path empty. You shivered and turned around and kept walking. The bushes moved on your left and you froze. When you looked, there was nothing there. You were starting to get a bit nervous. There was something out there.

When you turned your attention back to the path in front of you, you gave a small squeak of surprise. The large werewolf was back, blocking your path.

“Hey! I've been waiting for you!” He bowed down, his wagging tail in the air as his head lowered and he moved into a playful stance.

“Junhong, you startled me.” You couldn't help but smile a little at him when he tilted his head to the side a bit.

“Sorry. I was just having fun. You're here to play with me, right?” He seemed to smile, his bright blue eyes watching you.

“Maybe…” You picked up a large branch as an idea came to you. You showed him the stick before throwing it away into the brush. Junhong sprang into action, going to fetch the stick for you. He pranced back, his head high with the branch in his mouth.

“I don't usually fetch.” He dropped the stick at your feet and nudged your hand with his giant nose. “But I'll do it for you.”

You grinned and picked it up again. “Let's play then.” You threw the branch and he dashed off to go get it.

You threw it countless times until your arms were too tired to throw it anymore. You sat down on the path to rest and Junhong came to join you. He lay down next to you and a thought occurred to you. You looked over at him, admiring his fur. “Hey, can I.. pet you?”

The giant snickered a little. “Go for it. Sounds like fun.”

Tentatively, you reached out. His shoulder was closest and as your hand made contact with him you smiled. “You're so soft!” You pet down from his shoulder, to his back and then his front legs. The texture was like fluffy silk, smooth and soft. You reached up behind his ear and sighed. It was even softer there.

Junhong let you pet him for a while, amused by your fascination with his fur. This was the first time a human had touched him while he was in this form and it wasn't unpleasant. He leaned into your hand, trying to get you to scratch harder. “Oh, that's a good spot, i like that spot.”

You laughed but obliged him, scratching the area around his ears. The two of you began to talk about yourselves and you found it easy to confide in him. He had been a werewolf for a while, but his pack had only recently come here. He wanted to keep the forest safe, so he patrolled around at night.

“What do you do during the day?”

“Sleep, mostly.”

“As a werewolf?”

He rolled his eyes at you playfully. “Sometimes. Usually I change back and go home.”

“Can I see your human form?”

“Unfortunately no. My brothers don't want humans to know we even exist. If they knew we were friends-”

“We're friends?? Awww” You leaned in and hugged him by wrapping one arm around his shoulders and the other around his neck. You buried your face in his fur to hide that you were actually ecstatic to be considered a friend so quickly.

He wiggled a little, not used to so much human contact. “Of course. You played with me. That's all I need. I'm a simple werewolf.”

You laughed and pulled back. “I think we're going to be great friends.”

***

The next time you were a little tipsy. After a party at your friend's house, you left to go find Junhong.

As you came to the forest entrance you tried to sober up; which you did, a little bit. You walked in, no longer worried about the rustling brush around you.

“Whoa, why do you smell like that?”

“Junhonggie!” You turned around to find him standing next to you. Everything about his body language showed confusion. “I came from my friend's house. I came to tell you a thing.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Oh?”

“I came to tell you a secret.” You moved in and hugged him, trying to whisper in his ear.

“Maybe you should hold onto that secret until you're sober.” He advised. When you shook your head, he rolled his eyes and bent down a bit so you could talk to his ears.

“The secret is.. Are you ready? The secret is..” You smiled. “I like you. I like like you. Like, a lot.”

Junhong snickered a little. “You're just saying that because of the alcohol.”

You shook your head. “No, I love talking to you, I love being with you. You make me feel safe.” You curled your fingers into his fur, hugging him tighter. Then you leaned up even further and kissed his cheek, his whiskers tickling you slightly.

“Human.. I'm a werewolf. You're supposed to fear me, not love me.” He let out a low warning rumble from his chest and you pulled away.

You stepped back completely and folded your arms over your chest. “I think I know danger when I see it.” He rolled his eyes. “Besides, you're not scary and I love you, so I can't fear you.” You smiled at him whole he shook his head. You were sure that your logic was solid.

“__, you're making dangerous choices.”

“I live on the edge.”

At this he snickered, giving up on dissuading you. “I guess I should just give in, huh?” He bent down, pressing his forehead to yours.

You laughed and nodded, bringing your hands up to hold the sides of his face. “Yep.” You were sobered up by now and you were becoming fully aware of what was happening.

He booped your nose with his. “I like you, too.” You smiled, your face heating up. “I think we can talk about this when you're completely coherent next time.”

“No fun.” You pouted and he let out a barking laugh.

He nudged you. “Come on, human. Time for bed.” You sighed but followed along. You looked over at him and reached out, placing your hand on his shoulder as you walked. He glanced at you with a shyly amused look.

At the edge of the forest you let go of him and stood back. “Thanks for walking with me. I'll see you tomorrow.” You hugged him and this time he bent his head down onto your shoulder to hug you back. The two of you stayed like that for several moments before you pulled away.

“Sleep well, __.” He booped his nose on yours again and you smiled.

“You, too.”

***

For the rest of the week, you would spend your nights in the forest. Junhong was usually waiting for you, tail wagging upon sighting you. He loved playing and talking to you and you felt the same way. It was easy, effortless.

On the night of the new moon, you really had to use your flashlight. The stars were out and bright, but the moon was nowhere to be found. As you entered the forest, a chill went through you and you froze. Something was different.

“Junhong?” You called out tentatively as you continued down the path. Bushes rustled on your right and you raised your voice a bit more. “Junhong? This isn't funny…”

You aimed your flashlight at the bushes and nearly dropped it. Two real wolves were there. Their eyes flashed in your light, teeth gleaming. You backed up only to freeze again as you heard a growl behind you. It wasn't the growl you had come to know. You were surrounded.

You turned and walked backwards, deeper into the forest. The wolves followed, getting uncomfortably close. One lunged forward and grabbed your leg, it's powerful jaws coming together just enough to make you lose your balance. You let out a scream as you fell flat on your back. The wolves followed, one landing on top of you. You tried to push it away, but you were quickly overpowered.

Then the weight was gone as the wolf was knocked off of you by a massive force. You gasped for air.

“Are you hurt?” His tone was angry.

“I'm fine.” You looked around, only really able to see a minimal amount of activity since your flashlight had fallen to the side. The wolves were still there, watching the werewolf apprehensively.

“Stay here.” Junhong left your side, lunging at the wolves with his jaws wide and ready to attack. He knocked them all back and the group tumbled through the brush.

You scrambled to your flashlight, grabbing it up quickly. You stood up, aiming the beam in the direction of yelps and snapping jaws. They were too far away for you to see, but you knew better than to go after them right now. Instead, you waited until it was silent once again.

“Junhong..?” You took a few steps forward.

“I'm.. I'm here.” You saw him slowly emerge from the darkness and your eyes went wide. There was a giant gash on his shoulder. “During the new moon, my energy levels are low… I'm sorry I took so long. Are you sure you're okay?” He looked at you with worry and pain.

“Forget about me, Junhong, your shoulder!” You went to him, looking at the wound more closely. With a groan, the werewolf collapsed to the ground.

“You have to leave. I can't stay in this form much longer.”

You glared at him, holding eye contact fiercely. “Like hell I'll leave. I don't care, I'm staying with you.”

The weakness took over and his eyes fluttered closed, his head dropping to the ground as he lost consciousness. After a moment his body shuddered and began to shrink. Fur and muscle disappeared, leaving a tall bare man face down on the ground. He groaned but otherwise made no movement.

“Junhong, we have to get you help. I need you to stand up..” You touched his back, feeling his warm skin for the first time. His shoulder was bleeding still and his breathing was ragged.

,

“No hospitals…” You could barely hear him, but his voice resonated with you.

“Alright, we'll go to my house. Come on.” You lifted his good arm and put it around your shoulders. It was an arduous process, but you were somehow able to get him up. You set off toward the path with him barely conscious beside you.

***

Thankfully, your house wasn't too far away from the forest. You made it home and got Junhong to the couch just in time for your strength to give out. You sat there for a minute, looking at the face of the person you had come to love. It was strong, yet childish at the same time. His two toned hair was a little longer than you imagined it would be. You reached out and touched it, finding it just as soft as the werewolf's fur. His little nose ring caught your eye and you smiled.

Then you snapped back to the present, realizing there was a naked man on your couch. You quickly grabbed a blanket and threw it over him, careful not to touch his shoulder.

You left him there for a moment to go get your first aid kit, some towels, and clean water. You took off your jacket, unsurprised to find claw marks and rips in the material. When you returned, his eyes were still closed and you sighed. “I hope you don't wake up and attack me.” You mumbled as you got to work. You cleaned up the wound as best you could, applied a healing cream, and bandaged it up as neatly as possible.

You sat back on your heels and admired him again as you let your adrenaline leave your body. Dizziness and exhaustion hit like a ton of bricks and it was all you could do to wrap a blanket around yourself before you fell forward. You were passed out before your head even landed on the edge of the couch cushion.

***

Junhong slowly opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. He looked around, slowly becoming aware that someone was near him. He saw your hair and immediately felt safe. He remembered the events of last night and reached out with one hand to touch your head.

“Hey..” He called your name out softly, his voice thick with sleep.

You stirred and woke up rather quickly in your uncomfortable position. You looked up and into Junhong's eyes, getting lost in their depth. You reached out and touched his cheek, feeling the smooth skin beneath your fingertips. “You're awake.. Good morning.”

He grinned. “Good morning to you, too.” He reached up and grabbed your hand, holding it in his against his cheek. “Thank you for last night. You saved my butt.”

You could feel a blush heat up your face. “Of course, what else was I to do when you saved me so heroically? I can't just let the man I love die of blood loss.” You looked away, not intending to say such things out loud.

He smiled and leaned in. He closed his eyes and touched his nose to yours. “Still, thank you. I love you.” He closed the rest of the distance and pressed his lips to yours. You eyes fell closed as you kissed him back. His hand moved to your cheek, stroking it slowly. When he finally moved away, you felt rather breathless. You looked at him to see that he was still very close to your face. He nuzzled his nose against your cheek and you laughed. He was too cute.

“Do you want some food? Or clothes?” You asked, pulling back to look at him properly.

“I dunno, do you think I need clothes~?” He winked and you felt your face heat up again.

“You at least need some pants.” You mumbled, letting your gaze travel down is uncovered torso. He let out his little laugh and you pushed his chest lightly. “I'll be back. Stay.” You had to get up slowly since your body had been stuck in that position for so long. Your joints cracked and you sighed. You gave him a stern look before leaving to go find any bottoms that would fit him.

***

You came back with some basketball shorts and a couple cups of instant ramen. “I know you're probably hungrier, but at least start off with this.” You set the cups on the floor along with chopsticks before tossing him the shorts. “I'll let you get changed.” You left quickly before he could call you back.

“You can come back in.” Junhong called out a few minutes later. You walked in while eating your own ramen. He was standing up and the shorts fit well enough. He watched you approach with an odd look in his eyes. “I.. Can I hug you?” You blushed but nodded, walking into his open arms. His warm skin was soft and felt so real. His arms around you made you feel more safe than you had ever felt before. You trusted that he would save you from anything. It was the same for him; having someone hold him like this was a new experience, but now he didn't ever want it to end. “I've dreamt about this.” He said quietly in your ear.

You shivered slightly and pulled back to kiss his cheek. “Really?” He nodded, kissing your cheek in return.

“Since we met, it's been all I wanted. But I thought it would never happen; we're from two very different worlds.” He pulled back to look in your eyes.

You pecked him on the lips. “What you are is not that important to me. You could turn into a capybara and I wouldn't care. I love who you are.”

Your reassurance was all he needed.

★☆★☆★☆

[xxgothickxx]

Sneak Peak

Genre : Smut

Characters: Taehyung!Fuckboy x Reader

Word Count: 3 111

Warnings : Taehyung being an ass, Barging into dressing room, Swearing, Oral (female receiving), Slight Choking if you squint?, Not really name calling(he calls you bitch once), Unprotected Sex (Stay Safe!!!), Cum consumption.. That's about what I can remember🤷‍♀️

A/N: So this was really just a 20 minute quick write, when I started writing it I had no idea where it was going to go. It's a bit bland to my taste, but at least it's something. End of the day, this is just an accomplishment for me that I'm at least posting! If you see any mistakes please feel free to point them out, my eyes are so tired I wouldn't be surprised if I missed anything. Enjoy!! 💜✌️

______________________________________________

"Come on! Just a sneak peak!" Taehyung tried again to throw his gaze over the curtained railing of your changing room.

His bouncy and wavy silver haired head was met with the loud thump of the end of a coat hanger. And this was firmly clutched in your hand, a scowl painted as clear as daylight on your face.

"For the finally time, I said NO! Go be a perverted ass somewhere else! Leave me alone!" You were breathing heavily, hand still clutching onto the coat hanger and your other hand holding your t-shirt to your heart. Failing miserably at trying to cover your exposed bra and chest.

"OW! That was unnecessary!" You could hear Taehyung mumbling to himself, probably running his fingers through his preciously styled locks and rubbing at, a hopefully, forming bump from your attack.

"Go bother someone else! I don't even know why you are here, like, what gives?"

After making sure that the curtains are securely closed, once more at that, you turn back to the full length mirror in the corner. A dress you were planning on buying placed delicately over the gold frame. You've been saving for months now to get this item, and you'll be damned if Kim Tae-fucking-hyung, is going to distract you from your end goal.

You grab the lacy summer dress and hold it against your body. Admiring the delicate beads stitched into the front. Softly giggling at how the ribbons that tie up the back tickle your naked front.

All to distracted by admiring the piece of fabric, you didn't even notice Taehyung busy checking you out between the many pleats and folds of the deep crimson red curtains. Until you spot his silvery dyed hair, which was in stark contrast with the fabric. Basically sticking out like a sore thumb.

Gasping out loud, clutching the dress to your chest even more, you spin around ready to slap his stare away.

"TAEHYU-" Your sentence was cut short by a large warm hand covering your lips. Eyes wide with shock, you come to realise Taehyung stepped inside of your dressing room. He's currently in this small space. With you.. Alone. Practically feeling a heart attack making its way, Taehyung's deep and slightly breathless voice washes over you.

"Shhhh.. Stay quiet! We wouldn't want to be kicked out, now would we?" He was talking in whispers, his head bent down towards you, but his frame still towering over you. You heard the faint sound of footsteps walking past your changing room. Someone muttering to themselves while looking for Taehyung.

And this is how you ended up with Taehyung in the changing room. Half naked. And with his hand covering your mouth and his eyes pleadingly staring into yours.

Meet Kim Taehyung, the local campus fuckboy. Thee Fuckboy. With his flawless skin, dark chocolate eyes (even though he prefers wearing coloured contacts, "It's for the foreign exchange students! I look more exotic to them then!") and completely fuckable attire, Taehyung could have any girl a withering mess in his bed.

But of course with his looks he has the sexual hunger of an animal. Everyday on the lookout for a new piece of meat he could devour, and then drop as soon as he's had his fun. And today was no different. Were you next on his list of conquests? Definitely not. You just so happened to be at the wrong time and the wrong place. Well.. In Taehyung's favour, you were at the right time and the right place.

Taehyung was out at the mall with his latest side piece when something must have gone wrong. He's tried to duck and dive from her since leaving the food court. And this is how he came to a stumbling stop at your curtain. You share at least 3 classes and he could recognise you easily from your voice. You never shut up in class when it comes to giving answers.

He begged you, if he could hide in the changing room with you, and you were having none of it. Until he actually realised where he was. And that you, in his mind, were naked. And his whole game plan swerved from getting away from a needy pussy, to wanting to get into an other pussy. Yours that is.

Listening intently at the fading footsteps, you breathing becomes more laboured. His eyes become more hooded, seeing your flushed skin and blown out eyes. The doe eyed look turning him on immensely. His tongue darted out between his lips, true fuckboy style, running over his bottom lip before bitting into the same flesh. His eyes traveled to your strained throat, exposed collarbones, the lace fabric clutched over your chest and finally down your naked legs.

His gaze slowly ran back up to settle on your face, heat growing everywhere. You could swear it felt like molten lava running through your veins. Even the slight throb between your legs were distracting you from calming your racing heart.

Why aren't you pushing him away? Why aren't you screaming? Why are you just standing there letting his gaze eat you up in all your glory? Well because it was Kim Tae-fucking-hyung, that's why. One can not simply push him away and call it a day. What the fuckboy wants, the fuckboy gets. And in some completely fucked up reality and/or situation, he had his eyes on you.

"You know.. I've always dreamt of making you shut up. But it never ended up like this." His heated gaze fell on your eyes. "Now, I'm going to remove my hand. And you're not going to make a sound. Got it?" His words were stern, making you fight back a moan. Nodding your head, you felt the pressure and warmth slowly disappear from the lower half of your face.

Sucking in a deep breath, you try and steady your heart again. Clutching at the dress even tighter. But as promised, no sound escaped your lips. Instinctively though, you pressed your thighs together and tried to make yourself seem as small as possible. His body heat radiating off of him and onto you. You could taste the dirty thoughts zooming in the air around him.

"We're going stay in here awhile, or well, till Soonmin outside fucks off and gets the picture. She's been a hassle since we got here. But enough about her, let's talk about you.." He dipped his head down suddenly, resting his lips at the shell of your ear. Your mouth opened with a silent yelp. Fists holding your dress closer to your body. He easily slipped his right knee between yours, sliding his thigh up until your core was resting comfortably on him. His left hand slid up your arm, holding down your shoulder and his right hand gently tugged the dress from your hands. "You'll find that you won't be needing this sweetheart.." His voice sent a cold shiver down your spine. Your fingers letting go of your precious item and there you are. Exposed in your mismatching underwear, cornered by the legendary fuckboy himself.

His right hand carelessly tossed the dress to the ground before his hand bypassed holding your waist and went straight for cupping your still covered breast. You back arched slightly, against your will and you sucked in a breath. A rumbling chuckle bursts through his chest, and he presses into you even more. His thigh now lazily rubbing against your soaked core. You tilt your hips with his motions, seeking friction to its best. He laughs again.

"Needy little thing aren't you? Look at you. Practically riding my thigh, half naked and in a dressing room. You filthy girl. I bet you're soaked as well.. Should I check?" He pulled his head back so he could watch you. Waved hair was in his eyesight but the dark look in his eyes made you grow even wetter. Sliding his left hand from your shoulder, he rests it on your throat. His long fingers applying enough pressure on your main artiraries, making your throughts hazy. His right hand leaves your chest and skillfully slips pass the waistband of your underwear and he strokes one finger over your bundle of nerves. The lewd sound of your wet core makes itself known. He bites his lips again and moans.

"You're absolutely soaked right through. I bet there's even a stain on my jeans from you.. You dirty dirty girl.. Are you just as hungry as I am, hmm? Because sweetheart, I'm famished. And you sound delicious, I can only dream of what you taste like"

With that he drops to his knees in front of you, pushing your legs apart and pulling your ruined panty's down your legs. He quickly tucked the damp fabric into his back pocket. A horrible habit he has for marking his conquests, stealing their ruined underwear.

"Now Baby Girl, before I do anything.. I need to hear that you want this as well.."  His eyes looked up to you and your words got caught in your throat. You finally understood why no girl could turn him down. Not only is he drop dead gorgeous, has the sex-appeal of a Greek God but he still had the nerve to ask for permission. Something almost all guys lacked in today's age.

He quirked an eyebrow at you, still waiting for your approval. Your dripping cunt in front of him slowly making him lose his resolve, and your aroused scent made the bulge in his jeans grow more uncomfortable.

"Y-yes.. Y-you.. I.." You stumbled over your words, your mouth suddenly dry and you looked panicked. Has your brain finally turned into mush?!

"Say it, tell me you want me as much as I want you.." His words were more firm, his fingers digging into your calves. Growling, he pulled your left leg over his shoulder, his breath now tickling your aching core.

"Please! Please eat me out Tae! Please!" You finally found your voice with the jerky movement he pulled you with. Your hands instantly flying down to his hair, sinking into the locks. Tugging, you tilt your hips into his direction, coaxing him into putting his mouth and tongue on you.

Without resistance, he dipped his head between your wet folds. His tongue darting out and taking a flat tongued swipe from your entrance all the way to your clit and back again. Reveling in your addictive taste, he nibbles on your bud of nerves. Slightly tugging and then rolling his tongue over it with slow circular motions. Your eyes closed and you tilted your head back against the mirror behind you. More shivers broke out on your skin. Your mind lost in the heavenly clouds of lush that Taehyung's skillful tongue put you in.

The coil under your stomach slowly started twisting tighter and heating up. At the same moment Tae decided not to just plunge one finger or even two fingers into your clenching entrance.. He pushed three fingers into you, your wetness making it extremely easy for him. The stretch was so sudden you let out a strangled cry of arousal. Your right knee shook and you were holding onto dear life on Tae's hair. You felt your end closing in on you.

"God look at you.. Your hungry cunt is just swallowing my fingers. You feel so good Baby Girl.. You make the perfect little plaything, just for me baby.." Taehyung's eyes were fascinated by how well you were taking his fingers, even by how wet and tight you felt around him. Without thinking he leaned in on you, just off center of your pelvic. He began sucking hickies into your soft, unmarked skin. Marking you as his for the time being.

"Tae.. Tae please.. I need more, fuck me.. F-fuck me.." Your words were breathy and you were stuck on your edge of bliss. His fingers purposefully avoiding your g-spot. He wanted you to suffer just a little longer. But hearing you pleading for him to screw you, he couldn't hold back. With a growl he pulled his fingers from you, and ripped your leg from his shoulder. The feeling of emptiness nearly making you sob.

He rushed up to his feet, tugging at the button and zip of his jeans. Quickly pulling the bothersome pants from his middle, it falls to a pool around his ankles. Two strong hands grabs hold of your ass and hauls you up, making you wrap your legs around his waist and your right hand slips from his hair to cling onto his neck.

That's when you felt Taehyung's throbing cock press against your slit. You nearly came on the spot. Desperately looking for friction again, you don't even hesitate to start rubbing your core up and down the underside of his shaft.

"Fuck sweetheart.. You really are needy"

He growls the words into your collarbone before biting down on the soft flesh. Pulling a delighted moan from your chest. Tilting his hips back, he easily lines up his cock to your core and with a finally growl into the crook of your neck,  he plunges forward. With one thrust, he gets enveloped by your warm walls.

Both of you sighing outloud at the exotic sounds of wet heat and the feeling of pressure. He stretches you just beyond your limit, the burning sensation quickly evaporating to pleasure.

"Tae move! I can't take it!" You all but squeak into his chest, arms and legs both shaking from the overwhelming sensations.

With a grunt, he moves his hips back and then back into you just before he slips out. Slamming his hips against yours fills the quiet space with skin meeting skin. With every thrust he pushes deeper into you, until he's buried to the base inside you. Your contracting wet walls around him makes it difficult to stand. His legs wanting to give out underneath himself, but he determinedly pushes through and continues to plough into you over and over again.

"Fuck.. You're so tight baby.. Fuck fuck fuck.. I want to fill you up so well.. I can feel myself stretching you.. Jesus.." Taehyung's got his forehead resting against your shoulder now, concentrating on chasing both your highs. The soft mewls of pleasure you whisper out into the shell of his ear makes him grunt in return. The coil inside you uncomfortably tight and wanting to let go. With another tilt of his hips he enters you at a different angle, the head of his cock now hitting your g-spot over and over again.

"Fuck! Right there Tae!" You yell, tightening your legs around him. With another grunt he complies, if anymore possible, moving faster and harder.

"Cum for me baby.. Cum around my cock like the dirtyittle bitch that you are!" His teeth bites at your throat and you release another string of pleasurable moans. You finally give in to your bliss and cry out in ecstasy. Tae shoves his shoulder into your mouth and you bite down hard, trying to muffle the sound. Your walls quiver and clutch around his cock, milking him of everything he's worth. Your hips not being able to hold still as you try and ride out your high with Taehyung. Taehyung pumps into you a few more shallow times, his end also approaching fast.

"Fuck Baby Girl.. I'm going to cum.. Shit!"

Suddenly his hands lower you to the ground, effectively and unwillingly sliding out of your still trembling core. Still blissed out of your mind, with heavy eyelids you look up from resting against the mirror, and up at him. There he stood with his eyes watching you, eyes darting to take in every little detail of your face while his hand fisted around his meat. Your wetness making it easy for his cock to slide over his palm. The lewd sound of him beating his meat in front of you, makes another heat spasm run through you.

"Open wide for me sweetheart.. You look a bit hungry.."

His brows furrow and he tilts his head back. You could see his cock starting to twitch and quickly opened your mouth. Tongue hanging out, ready to catch his seed.

Just in time four large strings of white milky cum erupted from his cock head, nearly painting your tongue, mouth, cheek and chin. Now completely spent from having the daylights fucked out of you, you simply stare up at Taehyung with a sleepy expression. You watch as he tucks himself back into his jeans and buttons and zips himself up. Pulling at his supreme t-shirt and running his clean hand through his hair, he makes himself publicly presentable.

His eyes, full of mischief, looks down at you and admires the work he's made of you. Bending down on to his haunches, he runs a hand down the side of your head, flattening the mangled mess of hair.

"Thanks Baby Girl, that's just what I needed. I owe you a solid for helping me"

With a wink, and one final lip bite he gets up and turns to the curtain. There you could still see your purple panty hanging from his back pocket. Poking his head out, checking to see if the coast is clear, he turns back to you over his shoulder. Placing two fingers in a salute to his forehead, a cocky grin over his lips, he leaves you as is in the dressing room. You could faintly make out the casual whistle he makes as he strolls away.

It's the next day at campus, your photography class soon to start. Students were sheepishly making their way to their assigned seats while waiting for the professor.

The day before still plays out in your mind, how you had to clean yourself with your t-shirt and ended up wearing your new dress. Having to explain that you had a wardrobe malfunction and that's why you had to wear the dress out the store. After paying and having to scurry away from the judging eyes of the cashier, you vowed never to cross paths with Taehyung again.

"Ahem~.. Hey.. Psst" Irritable and still lost in thought you turn around with a rude "What do you want?!" just to be shocked into silence. There sat Kim Tae-fucking-hyung, smug and proud.

The good-for-nothing sod left you just like that! How in God's names does he still pull girls when he treats them like that?!

"Hey, did you do the homework for today's class? Do you mind if I can just catch a sneak peak?" His bright smile almost blinds you and his wink nearly has you falling to your knees for him again. Goddammit.

[vladxmaddie]

Takes place before Phantom Planet ///Jack Fenton comes up dead. Maddie and Danny Fenton zero in on a suspect and plan on the confrontation of a lifetime! However Maddie finds herself confronting more than just Vlad... She’ll have to confront her past... and fate. There had been a lot of unresolved feelings between Maddie and Vlad leading up to this. \\\ Romance/Suspense (VladxMaddie pairing) My husband wrote this and it is sooooo good!! If you are a shipper you’ll love it. It is very deep and intelligent and the characters are well written.  -------------------------------------- Wars have been started over lesser heroines. Helen of Troy was a mere fairy tale by long dead warriors. Juliet was a mere silhouette in romance poetry when compared to the light of my long lost Lenore.  Joan of Arc became a Pop Tart for a shred of my conviction. For me, there is only one name on the Marque -- Maddie.

Please allow me to introduce myself; I am Vlad Masters, also known as an ectoplasmic superhuman, the Plasmius. With an army of both wealth and manifested supernatural underlings, I command an empire... but such a lonely kingdom it is without her. An accident has forever bound the fate of Maddie, and I -- and ... him, and made me what I am today. He is the one I have loathed for longer than a human mind can conceive of time; he is the sole reason why I command a legion of lowly ghosts, hopelessly scrambling to win back Maddie's affections. Jack... Our lives our forever linked by tragedy.

We knew only one of us would come out truly alive... and truly loved. Jack Fenton is dead. You must understand that this is a day I never really imagined would happen.

You must understand what this means... Maddie...

Though you may think of me as the villain of our previous affairs, know that I have my reasons for my crimes. Oh, sure, I've had my fair share of dasdardly doings, malicious schemes, and underhanded dealings towards Jack and his family, but what I've dealt and done, I did for love. Even my minions know this. They often times tire of every tear that shrivels up in my ecto-eyes whenever a cheesy 80's love song blares throughout the castle walls. They tell me that I call her name out in my sleep... and that my snoring sounds like buzz saws cutting through jagged metal. They call it, "Maddie's Song" or, "The Cheese King's Lament" (-- I prefer the former).

They say I also say, "Kill Jack" at least three times a night (four on weekends).

Life has not been easy for this half-ghost super-villain, let me tell you. I have years of occult training under my belt, and a skillset to match that belt with shiny sequins... but nothing can shine like the glow of Maddie's eyes... though often times my glances at her were while she glanzed, doe-eyed and stupidly at Jack.  However... in my newfound understanding, I almost sympathize with my rival, and know that our intentions were more similar in heart than in their eventual actions. We were  two primal beasts beating our chests for the affections of a girl.... but not just any girl. Maddie... the girl he stole from me!

Forgive me, however -- I am getting far ahead of myself; she will be at this castle again in one hour.

My eyes dance in otherworldly flames that twist around the hands of the clock. My devious smirk twists from space and time in the mirror's reflection. Tonight, all the doors are open for my love and I. Tonight, a brave new world has opened itself up to us with loving arms.

Tonight there is a song playing on the radio so oddly reminicent of our plight...

"Take these broken wings and learn to fly again."

Maddie... let me teach you to fly. Let me show you a better world -- a world without Jack Fenton -- a world without Ecno-acne or the obnoxious fundraisers on the TV to cure it (we only raised $200 -- mainly because no one knew what the hell we were talking about--) a world where you and I are finally King and Queen...

Tonight, my minions are restless... Maddie's Song is going viral. Fifty-eight minutes, now... and I'm getting nervous. Tick tock, Maddie...

Words cannot describe the oceans of time that crash from our last true moment together as rightful heirs to this ghost kingdom. The blast of blinding light that overtook my vision as I thought I was surely dead -- the screaming crash that resolved the brooding tension of hearts -- it feels like forever ago, and yet every heart beat now. Jack Fenton had robbed me of my humanity on this day -- an infamous day -- but what no one really understands is that it was one of many days -- lonely days... without Maddie. Had I died that day at the lab, Maddie would have been the last thought on my mind, as she has often been the first, since then. Every wretched morning, I awake in a grave of a bed, and see my ghosts, bedside by her altar. Her face haunts me worse than they ever could.

So many pictures...

You could call me a collector.

For so long, for so many fights, in so many blasts of ectoplasmic energy, and for so many of those lonely nights and mornings, there has been only one thing standing in our way: Jack Fenton. Could a world without such a man even exist?

Well, it does... tonight.

Thirty minutes, Maddie...

With the aforementioned skillset I've boasted, these minutes are able to whip up quite the hardy dinner date, complete with everything from the freshest steaks from the almost freshest cows, their freshest milk and cheese, and the most aged and locked away wine, festering in at least three of my dungeons for at least two decades. The table is set, the finest (and freshest) silverware is laid out. The mirrors are all slightly tilted, so as not to distract my love with too many a horrible scene of my minions ready to kill her son if need be, in case of a backup plan.

The doorbell rings... "Maddie!" my voice confidently addresses, forgetting social cues. "You look so lovely... given such terrible circumstances."

Her eyes tear through me like ghost-obliterating lasers, and her face is pale and puzzled.

"Vlad..."

The moment is stolen by a snot-nosed little shit named Danny. His stare instantly becomes a threat of violence alone. There is a tension between us all that festers like an ever-expanding elephant in the rooms of my castle. I have to tell the truth, instantly.

"I didn't kill your father, Daniel. But please, come in! -- And Maddie, I will have your coat lined up on the finest of coathangers, and--"

"Vlad--" she intercepts like Brett Farve to score a touchdown in my heart. "I--"

"You must be so tired!" I desperately try to persuade her into security of my smile. "Have you ever felt the material of a six hundred thousand dollar expandable bed on your legs before? It's... really quite divine."

"It sounds lovely, Vlad," Maddie admits, delighting me, but likewise she toys with my heart with her every word. "But I really don't know if it's appropriate to be meeting like this so soon.."

"Oh, Maddie," I say, my voice cracking in genuine concern, "Even as a grieving widow, your eyes are still no more nor less haunting than before."

"Cut the shit, Vlad!" her misfit child barks at me. "I know you had something to do with this!"

"Oh, hush, boy," I say, undettered. "As I've been telling your mother for... exactly three hours and twenty eight minutes straight of text messages and Skype calls -- I'm here to help."

"I... want to believe that, Vlad" Maddie whimpers. Such delicate pain -- pain I know all too well, somehow, in longing for her. I have something for her tonight that will change everything we have ever known... my last chance at winning her heart.

"Please come in."

Touchdown, Packers.

The evening dinner goes smoothly enough, with the obvious passive aggression between me and the boy. Maddie even eats like an angel. I hope she doesn't mind me staring, in between the usual condolences and small talk about our favorite wines and cheeses. It's a touchy subject -- the Jack thing, as you can imagine, and she is in a state of grief. I am doing my best to prepare her for this truth that Jack never saw coming.

(Frankly, neither did I!)

What I had not ever truly known in all these years was there was a ghost among the presence of my castle that was not only strong enough to merely kill Jack or Danny -- but one that might resolve the pieces of my heart to repair -- repair in Maddie's arms at last! It was a freak accident that changed my life, but as such, I was not Jack's only mistake in the world of ghostly mischief. Allow me to ellaborate. A chance encounter with another immortal  showed me what I really became on the day that ripped me away from her, and drove her into Fenton's arms. A keeper of time and potential fate, Clockwork, had mumbled to me about ghosts not always being what we think of them to be. Sometimes feelings can be ghosts, too.

(Then he tried to kill me; go figure.)

"Daniel, could you excuse me and your mother for a moment?"

"No way, dude. I am NOT leaving you alone with my mom after what you--"

"Danny, please!" Maddie's voice interrupts us, heavenly and reserved as she is stern, and so the true conversation can begin. Danny slips out of the room, watching me in his every step as he goes to what I hope is the last possible bathroom on the furthest end of the castle.

Minutes tick by, and the conversations do rightfully shift to talk of Jack and Danny, and the wheels of fate that turn for us all now.

"I know your secret, Vlad," Maddie declares. "I know about your life as Plasmius, your countless attempts on Jack's life -- what you've done on your expensive beds -- everything!"

I gasp. "Maddie!  How could you accuse me of such awful and atrocious things? Surely you would not have come all the way out here just to toss around such hurtful accusations!"

"Danny always told me I shouldn't trust you, Vlad..."

"Danny is a fool, Maddie. He has grown up being overshadowed by that big, lumbering wall of a husband of yours. Both of you have been restraining your true potential -- potential that I can--"

"Enough!" she interrupts, glaring at me with hellish eyes that I know are serious... but something behind the fire beckons me still.

"How did you find out?" I prod.

She looks into my eyes and begins our psychological game of musical chairs. Both of us are refusing to stand, now, deadlocked into cemented stance, waiting for each other's move.

"I have my ways, Vlad. I have been onto your true motives for quite some time." "My 'true motives?'" I question. "Why did you come out here if you think I killed him?" Maddie says nothing, her lips devoid of a twitch, and her eyes too vigilant to fall off of me with more than a blink.

"Do you also know about Danny's powers?"

She nods.

This is all going so much better than I had anticipated...

The music has long since died. "Are you and Danny going to try to kill me?" I ask, smirking. "If you're going to take advice from him, you should ask him how many times I've died. It's honestly not many, Maddie... and never for as long as Jack."

Maddie hesitates for a moment, a bit of blood rushing to her head as she lets the wine settle in her stomach.

"I need to know what happened to him. I know that you know... Vlad Plasmius."

Hearing her call me by that name sends a quiver down my spine with the force of ten thousand Fenton-patented spiritual spine beams. I try to maintain my composure, and disicpline.

"If you knew what I knew," I respond, "you'd know I didn't kill him. Jack killed himself... in a way."

"How dare you!" she screeches. "Are you saying that--"

"Maddie -- what I'm saying is, we are on the cusp of something that no one could have truly understood before."

"What are you talking about?" Maddie demands.

"-- What killed Jack -- what gave me and Danny our powers -- what compelled you here, if not to avenge him -- it's all part of the same thing, Maddie. We are all summoning a great supernatural energy -- here, and now. You and I are the rightful owners of this energy -- not you and Jack!"

A part of the truth leaks from my lips like cosmic sludge. I wipe my mouth and wait for her to catch an interest in my information. It's a very curious game.

"You're... not making any sense... " she mumbles. "At least... not much sense. A little, I think."

"Yes," I confirm. "You know it in your heart, don't you? -- On the day of the accident, a terrible crime was committed against fate... a crime that robbed me of my humanity -- and of you! Yet, one was many in a list of crimes that begin and end with the Fenton name! I should be the one taking care of you -- the one honing your crafts with my own. Jack ensured that all I would ever have was a bucket full of extra crispy for a head!"

"And there you go on again," she shoots down, "always the same stories, always the same people to blame. Have you ever EVEN ONCE considered that I chose Jack over you because I genuinely loved him, and NOT because your face was fried chicken?"

"Yes, Maddie," I concede. "I have considered all possible fates since that day, and all foods in which to compare my face to -- hopelessly wandering through space and time to reconcile this matter -- why I feel so alone without you. Why the ghosts around us all are conspiring in such anger; why you ended up with such a ... a bafoon! They say opposites attract, but my--"

"Stop talking about him like that!" she warns. "How can you say such things about my husband -- your former friend -- if you were not the one who killed him! He loved me -- and he loved you! You were like a brother to him!"

"HA!" I deflect. "That oafish fence post couldn't calibrate a calculator! He never truly cared about my talents -- or yours! It was always US, Maddie -- the brains of the team -- the true Masters of the unseen! Jacky-boy was just along for the ride!"

"You're insane," Maddie spits.

"I know," I acknowledge, sipping the wine and building a rather impressive statue to myself out of toothpicks on my dinner plate as we talk (one of my many hidden talents). "You always said that the 'mad scientist' thing was a turn on, didn't you?" I smile.

"Vlad..." Maddie blushes, "That ... was years ago."

"Eternities," I correct. "Each of them spent in my own personal hell without you."

"Me...?"

"You, Maddie..." I call out, declaring my undying devotion. "For all of these days and nights and years and crimes -- it has always been the pain of really losing you that has driven me to these low frequences..."

Maddie looks to the ground, for a second, slightly lost and assessing her thoughts.

"We did have some good times together, didn't we...?"

An unexpected wall has come down in her temperment. I catch her lost in reflections of a life that should have continued on with us together -- days and nights of lab partners and friends and potentially so much more -- Vlad... and Maddie. Unfortunately, connecting the dots reveals that our love story has always been, indeed, a tragedy.

... Until tonight? "Remember  when I won those tickets for that Packers game, for the stadium near our old lab?"

Finally -- a smile comes to the sweet widow's lips and she almost trips into a slight chuckle.

"Of course!" she beams.  "That was crazy!"

"Yes," I agree -- "more than you know, for more reasons than you understand."

Maddie shakes her head.

"'You're looking sharp!'" she quotes herself from the day in question, giggling in slight self-deprecation. "I was such a dork back then!"

"No... you weren't," I reassure her. "You were beautiful then, and you're beautiful now.

"Vlad..." Maddie blushes. She tries to steer my mind towards the events of that fateful day. "You were so excited! You ran to tell me, as I was--"

"You were wearing your labcoat," I begin to effortlessly recall, finishing her thought, "hiding a blue halter top, a studded belt, and a purple skirt with flowing fabric, like ribbons. You were working on an experiment..."

"The Spectral Emotional Ecto Sludge," she correctly remembers. "I forgot all about that nasty, brown goop. It was so ugly... so sticky and slimy, so--"

"So like HIM!" I shout at her, startling even myself, a bit.  Maddie is taken off her guard by my conviction, but that is okay. I have my reasons for making an enemy of the Sludge I met on that day, and they are the same as my vendetta against her late, great Jack: it cost me yet another chance with her!"

-- "Hey Vlad! You're looking sharp!" Maddie called from afar, deep within a memory forcing its way through my powerful brain. "Whatcha' so excited for?"

My eyes soon caught the aforementioned ribbon-like fabric of her unforgettable purple skirt. It flew through the air like angel wings. Those eyes very quickly went to hers, though, as I tried not to stare.

(I may be a villain, but I'm not a creeper.)

Mainly I remember this occurance because it felt like a gust of wind had taken up toward me as I entered the lab through the creaky door, tickets outstretched in excitement with my flailing hands trying to reach for Maddie. It was as if I was having a premonition before I actually had the ability to have them (a prepremonition).

I was so happy. This was finally my chance to win her over -- to ask her out on a date to one of the biggest games in history!

(Okay, it actually wasn't an important game, but free tickets are free tickets, and boy, did I need an excuse to work up the nerve.) "Maddie!" I gleefully called out as a mere mortal man. Up until a certain point, I'd consider these the simpler days. "I have some amazing news!"

"I can tell!" she boasted with a surprised smile. "Your emotions are radiating throughout the Sludge -- which, of course, means the experiment was a resounding success!"

Delighted with her own information first, she beamed.

"What is that?" I asked, puzzled and broken away, too, from my own cause of success. Like a supermodel posing with a product, her hand held a meager tupperware container among the land of test tubes. In it was a sight that scars my eyes to this day.

"Well!" Maddie grinned, seemingly waiting for hours just to be asked -- "This little baby is the magical -- the fantasical -- the -- Spectral Emotional Ecto Sludge!"

I tilted my head slightly to the left, thinking to myself how deeply I was falling in love with her every graceful gesture. I had to keep these feelings to myself, so I resigned to looking rightfully puzzled by her experiment. "Spectral... Emotional ... Sludge?"

"Sort of!" she laughed, and true to its name, there was an emotional reaction to match her own within the brown, toxic slime. It danced to the sound of her voice, highly reactive.

"What does it do?" I pondered to her, intrigued. "Well," -- and Maddie hesitated with a flush upon her face that made my heart skip, here -- "I'm not exactly sure?"

Both Maddie and the slime coyly shrugged.

"It's supposed to read the emotions of the people it comes into contact with," she continued, "and what I was hoping for was that it could help communicate emotional resonance in the supernatiral realms, too... but..."

"But it's dancing." I smiled. "Maddie, you're a genius!"

She took a quick bow, drinking in my admiration, before finally acknowledging what I was holding.

"What are those?" she asked, the slime still hypnotically clinging to her voice in a dance.

"Well!" -- and I tried to use the same inflection as her, to make her laugh (and it worked; yes!). "Do you remember the call-in show from a week ago?"

"Yeah--?"

-- "MADDIE!" -- -- Just then, a second gust of wind generated -- a huge one --  the wind generated by a man wearing tights one-fourths his size, and incredible amount of hot air coming from his own bullshit. Imagine as gorrilla had mated with an ostrich at a superhero convention, and that would only cover his mother's genes -- but I digress. The oafish, walking fencepost returned.

"Jack!"

And as if compelled by the hands of fate, as Maddie's voice rang out in confusion of the three of us all in a state of excitement at once, the slime hopped up from its container, hurling itself in the air like a sentient pile of flying vomit.

(About that premonition...)

"OH NO!" screamed Maddie.

"NO!" Jack screamed like a mentally stunted chimpanzee. "Maddie! Vlad is projectile vomiting  --  QUICK! -- FIND SOMETHING ABSORBANT BEFORE IT STAINS THE LAB!"

"WHAT?!" I tried to scream out in confusion, but it was too late. Like an obliviously charging rhino, Jack began hurling towards me. "JACK, NO!"

"Jack!" Maddie cried out in sincere panic -- "It's -- NO! -- IT'S -- "

The tickets were ripped from my hand before I could say anything else, and I went hurling in the other direction of Jack, and the "puke" for about five feet, before landing on the ground, horrified.

"PAPER SHOULD DO THE JOB! WAY TO ALWAYS BE RESOURSEFUL, VLADDIE! -- EVEN WHEN YOU'RE SICK!"

The sentient Ecto Sludge ate the tickets in the air in an instant, controlled by the will of its stupid and unrightful wielder. It then grew exponentially in size until it covered the walls of the lab... but in an instant, it was gone. In one twist of fate to add to the list of all the ways Jack had robbed me of Maddie -- even in freak accidents no one could have forseen -- another notch was added in the belt. As I told you before, I have begun to better understand Jack in wake of his passing. This day, though I had no true way of knowing, up until tonight, sealed his fate. But I'm getting ahead of myself again. The food is eaten. The drinks are drank. -- "You didn't tell us that those were tickets for weeks!" Maddie recalls, laughing with a snort and reflecting back much differently than me on the memory.  " -- Even up until the day of the game, you just kept sulking and sulking! You didn't even show up for the next couple--"

"-- It's his fault!" I scream, rageful. "It's always been! That should have been OUR game!" "Vlad..." "Maddie -- you don't understand," I plead. "Can you not see that I've waited lifetimes just for a moment like this alone with you again?

"Alone... with me?"

"You're laughing again, Maddie," I remark. "Do you know how long I've waited to hear you laugh or smile and think of me?"

"You..."

Finally, I begin to read a shred sympathy in the voice of my beloved -- one that she has denied for so long, just like Jack has. She has such an innocent coyness to her... behind the makeup, behind the tears. She has spent all of this time untamed. Her powers could have even rivaled mine, in terms of sheer intellect. But like the dulling of a blade, her thoughts and memories and dreams fade away into memories of Jack. "You talk about him like he was just something in your way," she moans, saddened.

I want to blurt out, "he was" -- to sink back into sheer hatred and revenge -- but the game has changed, and I want to return her lowered guard with genuine affection. Both of us are grieving in very different ways. "Maddie," I concede, "Perhaps I was misguided in seeking revenge in the ways I have before. Perhaps, if you were happy with him, I can be happy for you. The main thing that I wanted you to see tonight is that you would have been -- and could still be -- much happier with me." "Vlad..." she sinks, almost recoiling into her seat. "Why have you always been so... interested in me? With all your power and money, you could have anyone in the world -- or ANY world. Why ME?"

"You..." and my voice and heart both skip in tune.

"Think about it," she suggests, like the hushing of the words that I cannot yet follow with. "Get back to me... after you tell me how you killed my husband."

"I -- I ... didn't kill him," I assure her -- and to me, this is still the truth.

"Can you prove that to me tonight?" she sternly asks in the tone of an almost threat or warning.

"If I can..." I begin to bargain " ... will you stay with me tonight?"

"Vlad... I... " -- she turns her head and fades in and out of racing thoughts and priorities, confused about her true feelings. I anticipated this moment. I have been waiting restless eternities -- as I've rambled on about. "Think about it," I smirk.

Maddie is not impressed... just still very lost.

My hands wish to touch her cheek.

My long, expensive overcoats long to keep her body warm.

"I love him, Vlad, living or dead, killed by you or ten thousand grisly ghosts -- I love Jack."

"But you love me, too... don't you, Maddie?"

"I..."

"Isn't that why you came here, Maddie...? Do you not remember the good times with me -- times where Jack would never cease to screw up, and yet you never stopped forgiving him? Why? Why, Maddie?"

She cannot reply, her breath and eyes stolen by an oncoming emotion. Her breath smells of Merlot, and her words are from the heart.

"It wasn't ... exactly a grisly," I begin, drawing her to stay on her guard. She takes the bait, and gives me an angered look. "What was it, Vlad? What happened? What do you know?"

"Maddie," I begin to unravel a bit, again, with the truth. "All I have ever wanted to know in life was your love... not a world of grisly ghosts."

" What kind of ghost have you been hiding from me, Vlad?"

My brow lowers. My body stiffens. One more drink of wine... is drank.

"I know of a ghost more powerful and brutal than those you and your family have struggled to understand," I begin, -- "one that feeds on anger, hate, and pain...  and of that pain, I know a pit so deep and eternal that it could never contain said ghost. It longs forever, wishing to belong to something -- to attach to someone -- and it waits, and festers and and goes insane... like me. With that pain and insanity, festering under the surface of my power and your marriage, we have likewise birthed a rival to Jack much like me, as well."

"This is pointless." Maddie retorts, catching me off my guard. "You're still just rattling off nonsense. Do you still think you are the only one who is in pain, Vlad? Do you have any idea how you and your powers have hurt other people? If there is such a ghost -- such a creature -- such a MONSTER -- how is it not you, yourself -- your ego, your plans -- YOUR cause?"

Now it is my turn to hesitate.

"There are far worse monsters than simply me, Maddie," I begin to my love, still overtaken with the weight of all my devious decisions visa vis her attempted guilt trip.  "Likewise, there are many causes to fight for -- 'the Ecno Acne Supercure Fundraising Agogo-plex,' for one -- but I digress. With absolute power, corruption is absolutely essential, is it not? With all of this power, the temptation to rule the galaxy would be strong for anyone -- even your son -- and even you, Maddie."

"I'm not like you, Vlad," she dismisses. "I don't desire power. I want to make the world a better place -- for me -- for Danny, for everyone--"

"Young Danny has yet to fully grow into his powers," I remind her " -- to realize the potential laid out before us, as demigods. I only wish now to guide him to understand the worlds beyond our own, and yet still -- you -- and he deny me -- empowering a father that has no clue how to handle him, this power, or ... you."

"Yeah?" Maddie shrugs, seeming to tire of the conversation reaching a vague stalemate. "Well, it's too late for that, now," she laments. "Jack's dead... and you're going to tell me what happened to him, and... where's Danny?!"

Oh, great. Now even Jack Fenton's sperm has to interfere with my life in his absence.

"I'm sure he's fine -- probably 'going ghost' or something uninteresting such as --" A large amount of thudding and banging interrupts me -- followed by a voice I wish would dissipate into the brick walls.

"MOM! GET OUT! GET OUT OF HERE! IT'S A--"

"DANNY!"

Maddie topples the wine glass off of the table, and begins to take out of the castle room before I can even stand up. More loud noises echo out of our reach. Something is causing a great havoc all of a sudden... and I know exactly what it is. Damn it. I was expecting showtime to not be so early...

The thudding and banging continue as I chase after her, calling her name in genuine concern, because I know what she is racing towards. She, of course, ignores my pleas, as any mother would, and tries to find her son (whom I assume is righteously getting his ass kicked, as he so often tends to do in my castle).

I knew it was only a matter of time before the boy discovered what truly killed his father. I figured I'd see if I could get a two-for-one kind of deal before I moved in for Maddie. I suppose it's too late now... but no matter.

Let the show begin.

As I chase after her, I remember how long I've been chasing... how long I've been longing. More flashbacks ceaslessly pound against my mind like ping pong, remembering the older days between Maddie and I. I wonder as I follow her racing footsteps if my own seemingly endless corridor is a metaphor of some kind. I've been chasing her for so long, always being pulled away, always being hurled up into the big, stupid arms of the hero. Tonight, she will know her hero isn't dead.

He's me. I feel like my mind is a straight, thin line, like every hallway... an arrow to Maddie's heart.

As she finally opens the door, she gasps loudly enough to count as an explosion. She sees her boy knocked unconscious on the floor, bruised and beaten, as I had anticipated. He is buried underneath dust and rubble, but so far, there is no sign of his attacker. She rushes to his side, and from her position to check his status, she gives me a scowl.

"You!" she screams. "I knew I couldn't trust you! What have you done?!"

"Maddie--" I plead, now realizing that our former game of musical chairs has ended, and both of us are scrambling to find a proper seat in the room, before we get taken out. "This is actually the one time when you NEED to trust me -- or your son, and you, and I -- will --"

Just then, a terribly familiar brown, sluggish goop begins to form all over the walls...

Maddie's expression has turned to shock and panic to horror, and something familiar. It's almost as if the memory has summoned an old foe to the scene, and it reacts with matched hysterics. The walls begin to crumble and tear apart, sinking into the readings of everyone's panic. It's a vicious cycle, as the more Maddie and I become unhinged, so too, does the world around us... literally. The Sludge is rageful... wrathful. It will not stop until the paradox of our emotions is resolved. What Clockwork had revealed to me, after I bested him in battle, was that the Spectral Emotional Ecto Sludge, was in itself, now like a ghost. It had been feeding on all of our collective misery since that day... at least, mine. The tickets were not made of a very absorbant material, to say the least... but when I held them with the intention of winning Maddie over, that intention resonated. Eating the tickets fed the Sludge knowledge of our curious triangle. It had been festering for far too long.

It wanted Fenton.

Perhaps the whole time, fate was trying to rectify what I never could.

Needless to say, I had been attempting to track it down for quite some time since learning of its intention... but it had always eluded me... just like Maddie... until tonight -- also just like Maddie -- it showed up at my door... exactly one hour before she did.

But now, Maddie has finally returned to see the weight of her own grief and mine combined and threatening to kill us both. Now, she is in danger.

I have to show my true form; no need to hide it from her anymore.

("Going Ghost!" is still such a stupid catch phrase, by the way.)

Once transformed again into my Plasmius ways, I try my best to shield her from the oncoming debris, generated by the Sludge. My powers shine in kinetic lightning, phasering rocks and expensive items from other rooms that the monster is summoning with its rampage to fly at us. I shoot many a blast at every slimy, oozing piece of matter I see... but it seems completely unaffected.

"VLAD!" she screams, "GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"I can't!" I shout back, trying to talk over the rumbling bricks and pillars.

"What the hell do you mean you CAN'T?!"

A few more useless blasts at the Sludge dishearten me. I have to admit something to Maddie that normally a man of my status would not let his pride allow... but again, it is the truth.

"Even with all my power," I concede, "I know of no way to stop this thing!"

Maddie is cradling Danny, holed up in storage of the room's corner now that seems shadowed away from the Sludge. I can see in her eyes that even admist the panic, her mind is racing to assess new information. The look she gives me almost continues our conversation in the other room without us having to.

"The... Sludge...!" Maddie calls. "The Sludge killed Jack?!"

The room stabilizes now slightly as if our  goopy enemy wants to answer. My hands tire from wielding my powers.

"Do you remember?" I ask her in the becoming calm of the Sludge's storm. "Do you remember how you felt on that day you say me, before the accident -- before the madness?"

"What?" -- Again, Maddie is confused.

"I was 'looking sharp' -- remember?"

"Vlad -- what --"

"Maddie! You -- me, Jack -- we've all been feeding this thing for years. All of the battles -- all of the madness -- all of the scorn and jealousy and all of your research -- it can wield it all against us! This is more powerful than all of us combined... and we can't all combine anymore!"

"It's..."

-- "It's just you and me now, Maddie..." I finish for her.

"Vlad... what have we done...?"

Maddie's resignation to her fear, like the starting of an engine, roars again the Sludge to rear its ugly head, in its true form, this time, as well. A goop that pours from the walls piles into the corner adjacent to Maddie and Danny.  It begins to grow bigger, and bigger. Ominously, it assembles itself like a creature looking far too big for a human, and far too... solid, for a ghost or goop. It's changing its properties fast, drinking in Maddie's fear and my yearning. The Sludge has grown up into a villainous, vile dasdardly, worthy of my army...

But I would never command anything to hurt Maddie! --  (the boy -- sure -- and often -- but --)

"VLAD!" Remembering that day I first encountered the sludge, I reach into my pocket for my only real idea as to how to combat this perdicament. In my suit pocket, now slightly stained with wine, is a long, yellow envelope.

"What... what is that?" Maddie trembles as the monster moves towards her.

"Well!" I gleefully say, recalling our old life,  "it's an 'ace in the hole' -- a secret weapon I've been saving to wield for a few days, wrestling with this decision. Every tragic love story needs a sacrifice -- right, Maddie?"

"What are you TALKING about?!" she screeches. "Are you going to... mail a letter while this thing kills me?!"

I grimmace. Carefully, my powerful hand opens the envelope, and pulls out an obnoxiously long piece of paper.

"Maddie," I decree, while savoring the mere seconds before the monster finds her. "They finally sold me the team."

"... What?!"

"-- The Packers, Maddie -- they made me an offer. All I have to do is sign it and--"

"VLAD!" Maddie screams, now visibly in tears, "HOW CAN YOU BE SO SELFISH RIGHT NOW?! DO YOU WANT ME TO--" "I WANT YOU TO SEE THIS!" I scream.

"See WHAT!?"

With time running out, I make my move.

"None of this, Maddie --  NONE OF THIS means anything to me anymore -- not the Packers, not this world or the world unseen -- absolutely NOTHING -- if I do not have you. Why you? -- Why YOU? -- I'll tell you why -- because you make me want to be GOOD, Maddie. These ghosts have been restless for so long -- all because of our tragic romance. You know in your heart that I could have given you more than he ever could, and YOU KNOW IT, TOO -- YOU UGLY, BIG PILE OF SHIT!"

Without a single flinch of hesitation, I fling the unsigned contract into the monster.

It sinks like a fish into Jello into its back. The sacrifice has been made.

Maddie screams.

Silence holds for a few seconds now in her echo. The monster stands still.

The monster roars.

"SHIT!"

My mind is racing for a way to kill this thing. If none of the Fentons could do it, it's up to me.

Wait...

None of the Fentons...

"Maddie!"

As the room is engulfed in an ominous gold glow, and the Sludge creature inches towards Maddie, who is too tired to try and fight, time almost stops as it did in all of my terrible encounters with Jack that changed my life. Now it all is starting to make sense.

Maddie hangs her head down, accepting her fate, and Danny's.

"Goodbye, Vlad... I..."

"You..."

The final puzzle piece of the Sludge mystery fits, and as it raises a hand that has hardened from goo to solid stone to crush the love of my life, I cry out to her.

"SAY YOU LOVE ME, MADDIE!"

"What--?"

"SAY YOU LOVE ME!"

"But I --"

"Jack always knew it, Maddie -- he knew that we had something that he could never have with you -- never did. He was his own worst enemy. It was only a matter of time before his own mistakes caught up with him... but you... you're so brilliant, Maddie -- so wonderful and truly good! You don't deserve this! He wouldn't have wanted things to end this way! And it can only end this way if you refuse to see what you and I have been running from for YEARS--"

-- "VLAD! I LOVE YOU!" --

What...?

Hell freezes over.

The monster crumbles into dust.

As the castle starts to further rip itself apart in resolution of the monster's feelings (and ours) I use all of my strength to create a shield around me and Maddie (and begrudgingly, the boy as well). In flashes of light so bright that death itself would lose focus, I nearly pass out from the toll of the ecto-shield.

(Thanks for helping, Danny. Little shit.)

I swear I must be dead. I swear I must be.

Is this Heaven?

Maddie is resting in my arms now as her son had been resting in hers. The castle walls around us have crumbled... and she loves me. "The... experiment..." Maddie groans, groggily struggling to stay awake. "It... was... my fault."

"There is no such thing as fault, my love," I whisper in her ear as I dry her cheeks, "only fate, now."

"... Fate..." Maddie whispers. "Could you... really have been mine... all along?"

Exhausted, she fades away into a sleep that weighs lovingly on me. I am overjoyed.

Wars have been started over lessser heroines. Helen of Troy was a mere fairytale by long dead warriors. Juliet was a mere sillouette in romance poetry when compared to the light of my long lost Lenore.  Joan of Arc became a Pop Tart for a shred of my conviction. For me, there is only one name on the Marque -- Maddie.

I had known for far too long that we had a fire of chemestry. It ignited a passion that Jack wouldn't stand for. Like beasts, we both beat our chests, performing for Maddie's approval. Jack's least impressive stunt, it seems, had finally cost him his life... But I think MY life is finally starting to turn around.

Jack Fenton is dead.

Maddie Fenton is safe, where she belongs... Sometimes, emotions can be ghosts, too -- unresolved feelings so powerful that they may just resolve themselves.

"Take these broken wings and learn to fly again."

Let's fly, Maddie.