#'how old are you? i gotta tally it all up'

[strangerqueerthings]

Billy never stays after sex. It's just sex, it's over, time to get his clothes on and go.

He normally says something like "You were great, babe, but I gotta jet," leaving his latest empty conquest with a cigarette burning between his lips, and a hollow ache burning in his ribs, like an itch he can't scratch that's in his very bones. Another notch on his belt that he didn't want to maintain an appearance demanded of his masculinity.

Yet the one time he's stoned, and his guard is down, he just happens to be with Eddie Munson. They're close- even if Eddie is a purist, a snob about metal, and teases him about his vanity and his hair. Eddie understands not feeling at home under the same roof as his old man, though Eddie was lucky enough to have someone like Wayne in his life.

He trusts Eddie, and he lets his guard down, and that itch comes crawling to the surface, all he can think about is how soft Eddie's lips look, how much he likes it when their fingers brush as they pass the joint back and forth, and how does he do that with his eyes, looking like a deer in the headlights while also being so tempting?

Billy has never wanted anything, anyone so badly in his life, and knows he shouldn't ever have, but their fingers touch one too many times, their eyes lock a little too long, and before either of them know what happened, they're a tangle of fingers in hair, locked lips and entwining legs as they tear at each other's clothes.

And here Billy is, sitting on the edge of Eddie's bed, shocked to his core, because the itch is gone. The burning ache in his ribs has been soothed, and for the first time, it doesn't feel like a hollow conquest, because this time, Eddie grabs his waist.

"Stay."

He never stays, never has reason to. It's another notch, another tally that adds up to nothing that matters. Staying invites familiarity with someone he has no real desire for. Staying opens up unattainable hopes for something that will never last past a few awkward dates.

"Stay," Eddie protests again, staring up at him from the bed with messy hair, heavy-lidded eyes, and kiss-swollen lips that are smiling with a drowsy contentment, and for the first time, Billy doesn't leave.

He stays.

[shepherds-of-haven]

Hiya! Sorry to bother, I really love SoH and I'm sure you hear this all the time but your writing is so amazing I can't help but come back and reread what's available just for fun! ♥

I have a small wonder, My main MC is going for exRed romance just full steam no eyes for anyone else and it's been a fun ride to watch them be so affectionate yet hesitant I gotta wonder though what the rest of the gang thinks having to watch their ridiculous dance? (I fully believe chase has a betting pool for when they get together.)

In Red's case, I think he's naturally affectionate/subtle/socially-mindful enough to not come off as stupidly over-the-top with his feelings in a really obvious or public way; because he's proceeding cautiously with an ex-MC and deliberately "feeling things out" without wanting to make them uncomfortable/make a fool out of himself, I don't think it'd be as obvious to others what's going on between him and MC unless they went to school with them both and witnessed the history there? (AKA Pan, Neon, etc.). For everyone else, it's:

Blade: literally doesn't think anything of it (unless he's also romantically interested in MC)--from his perspective, Red is equally friendly/comfortable/flirtatious with pretty much everyone, plus it would make sense that their being old friends/former lovers would come with certain closeness. In other words, he's not thinking about it

Trouble: took Red and MC at their word and just thinks they dated when they were teens, does not notice anything remarkable going on between them, but he can be naturally a bit dense in that area (though sometimes he isn't)

Tallys: oh my god just hook up already, the tension is starting to get under her skin lol she's of the camp that they should just jump each other and get it over with

Shery: she's 👀 and watching with bated breath, and subtly concocting excuses for them to be together, like "oh MC I needed to deliver a message to Red in his lab, but I'm "busy", could you please let him know so-and-so while I go do this other thing?"

Riel: he's actually broached the topic with Red before out of curiosity because the romantic tension was sooooo obvious to him: it was a really brief conversation because Red was caught so off-guard by Riel going "so are you going to tell MC you still have feelings for them/do you want to try things again?" that he just sort of looked at Riel blankly, but they sort of fumbled their way through a conversation where Red was sort of airing his thoughts/asking for advice and Riel was just like clinically listening?? and then they never talked about it again, lol. It's not like Riel ships them, he was just interested in what was going through Red's head at the time, and now he doesn't really care anymore, whatever happens is between them! but now and again Red will look up from subtle flirting with MC, catch Riel's eye, and Riel will have this unimpressed face like 🙄

Chase: gleefully has a (private) betting pool and trolls Red/the two of them as often as he possibly can without entering the zone of over-interference, much like an ecologist trying to observe a rare animal without over-affecting its natural behavior

Ayla: she notices if she's romantically interested in MC, but otherwise shelves their behavior as "things exes/old friends must do, which I wouldn't have any personal experience with, so I guess that makes sense to me" and doesn't give much romantic significance to the way they act around each other, that just must be how it is! 🤷🏻‍♀️ She'd be really surprised if someone like Lavinet was like, "Oh, darling, they are obviously still mad about each other..." Ayla: "oh, I just thought their whole thing was how all former lovers who stayed friends acted." Lavinet and Briony: noooooo

Briony: she is peak shipper for ex!Red and MC, she picks up on things right away and is watching both of them with her ponytail whipping back and forth like she's at a tennis match 👀, she's squealing and swooning internally every time they smile over a book together and is like barely keeping things together out of respect to them...

Lavinet: she's amused and intrigued by what's going on, ex-lovers who reunite years later is so inherently romantic, it's like something out of a drama!!! She's smirking and making sly comments here and there to sort of nudge things along now and then, but otherwise she subscribes to the "leave no trace" observing from a distance mentality rather than an active interference (unless her interference is specifically requested, in which case she's all hands on deck)!

Halek: didn't even realize they're exes, I think because no one told him or he wasn't paying attention, he just thinks they're Like That (as in, they want to bang each other, obviously, he just figures they're dragging their feet about it because they work together or something)

[morganbritton132]

Wait wait wait, in light of the recent update, I gotta ask - has Eddie ever passed out while getting one of his tattoos? I'm kinda obsessed with the idea that he's well known in a few of the local parlors, having new ink done every few months, and he's this badass middle-aged rockstar with jagged scars and covered in demonic imagery but all the artist just know him as Ed The Fainter and always have a cool wet towel and a bottle of water waiting for him. I also like to imagine that those times when Steve's there waiting for him, he and the receptionist or whichever artist is on break at the moment get a bet going about how long it'll take for Eddie to pass out / how long he'll stay out.

If this doesn't line up with what you imagine for the emtts feel free to say so and I'll just grab my headcanon and shove it into a different au, but I wanted to share in case you found it as endearing as I do :D

I love Eddie being Just Some Guy at his local tattoo parlor.

Like, the older guys that would’ve seen him in his heyday are just so used to this dork that it doesn’t even faze them when world famous guitarist Eddie Munson walks in for a tat. The younger ones don’t recognize him even if they do listen to his music.

It’s only after he gets popular on Tiktok that those guys are like ‘wait a minute is The Fainter with the pre-school teacher husband famous?’

Eddie doesn’t faint all the time.

There’s no rhyme or reason to when he does. He doesn’t have a problem with needles or with blood (at least in the quantity that you’d get with a tattoo), but sometimes he’ll just be chilling out getting a tattoo and the whole world will dip out from under him. He’ll wake up a bit later, soaked in sweat and confused.

He thinks it’s a bit embarrassing, but Eddie’s always been able to laugh at himself and make other people laugh too. It’s a bit of a routine for him when he goes. The whole shop makes a big show of getting him some water and something to eat, and they ask if he wants to take a break a lot no matter what tattoo he’s getting or where it’s placed.

The first time Steve goes with him to get a tattoo, it’s specifically to make sure he doesn’t get ‘Steve’ tattooed on his ass after Eddie lost a bet with Lucas. Eddie getting a touch up to an old tattoo and zonks out halfway through. Steve goes into full panic mode so now the shop has protocols for Eddie and Steve.

Once Steve learns that this is just something that happens (“Like at the blood drive, Eddie!” “Don’t remind me of the blood drive.”), him and Eddie’s main tattoo artist, Meg, always make a bet on if he’s going to pass out or not. Steve is scary accurate at this game which is good because Meg says she’s going to get him in her chair when he loses.

Also, Eddie has a series of tally marks tattooed along the top of his worst demo-bat scar. He adds to it every year and when Steve asks about it, Eddie just say, “That’s the number of years that I’ve been the luckiest man alive.”

There are thirty-five tally marks. If you were to calculate how many years that Steve and Eddie have been together, you’d get – “Thirty-six.”

“What?”

“We started dating summer of ’86,” Steve says, “That is thirty-six years ago. Summer of this year will be thirty-seven.”

“Well, ’86 had a lot of ups and down. Wasn’t really my year, was it, Steve?”

[bonefall]

post/734733274896809984/do-you-ever-worry-your-own-writing-might-come-off that makes sense. i was asking because i'm afraid of accidentally writing misogyny myself and i kind of admire what you do

Hmm... I wish I had better advice to give you on this front, but honestly, the only thing I can tell you is to consider the perspective of your female characters.

Women are people. They have thoughts and feelings of their own, so like... just let them have their own arcs. A lot of the worst misogyny in WC comes from the way that the writers just don't care about their girls (or, in the case of tall shadow, actually get undermined and forced to rewrite entire chapters), so they're not curious about their lives, or WHY they feel the way they do or what they want, or any direction for their character arcs.

Turtle Tail as an example. She'll often just end up feeling whatever Gray Wing's plot demands. She's gotta leave when Storm dumps him to make him feel lonely. She shows up again to love him in the next book. Lets her best friend Bumble get dragged back to Tom the Wifebeater, but is sad enough about her death to be "unreasonably angry" with Clear Sky, and then calms down and accept Gray Wing is right all along.

And then she dies, so he can have his very own fridge wife.

In this way, Turtle Tail's just being used to tell Gray Wing's story. They're not interested in why she would turn on Bumble, or god forbid any lingering negative feelings for how she didn't help her, or even resentment towards Clear Sky for killing her or Gray Wing for jumping to his defense. She isn't really going through her own character arc.

She does have personality traits of her own, don't misunderstand my criticism, but as a character she revolves around Gray Wing.

So, zoom out every now and then, and just ask yourself; "Whose story is being told by what I wrote? Do my female characters have goals, wants, and agency, or are they just supporting men? How do their choices impact the narrative?"

But that's already kinda assuming that you already have characters like Turtle Tail who DO have personalities and potential of their own. Here's some super simple and practical advice that helped me;

Tally the genders in your cast. How many are boys, how many are girls, how many are others?

And take stock of how many of those characters are just in the supporting cast, and compare that to the amount you have in the main cast.

If you have a significant imbalance, ESPECIALLY in the main cast, fire the Woman Beam.

It's a really simple trick to just write a male character, and then change its gender while keeping it the same. I promise women are really not fundamentally different from men lmao. You can consider how your in-universe gender roles affect them later, if you'd like, but when you're just starting to wean yourself off a "boy bias" this trick works like a charm.

Also you're not allowed to change the body type of any girl you Woman Beam because I said so. PLEASE allow your girls to have muscles, or be fat, or be old, or have lots of scars. Do NOT do what a cowardly Triple A studio does, where the women all have the same cute or sexy face and curvy body while they're standing next to dwarves, robots, and a gorilla.

Or this shit,

If you do this I will GET you. If you're ever possessed by the dark urge, you will see my face appear in the clouds like Mufasa himself to guide you away from the path of evil.

Anyway, you get better at just making characters girls to begin with as time goes on and you practice it. It's really not as big of a deal as your brain might think it is.

Take a legitimate interest in female characters and try not to disproportionately hit them with parental/romance plots as opposed to the male cast, and you'll be fine. Don't think of them as "SPECIAL WOMEN CHARACTERS" just make a character and then let her be a girl, occasionally checking your tally and doing some critical thinking about their use in the story.

(Also remember I'm not a professional or anything, I'm just trying to give advice)

[half-truths-and-hyperbole-louk]

Louk's Bad Batch rewatch no. 3 yalls !!

2am edition lets gooo

Clone Wars 7x03

Wrecker hurling droids at droids

Anakin's soft "how is he Rex" 😭😭

Ew help why does Wat Tambor walk with his hands like 🙏

Rex unplugging Echo with his lil hesitation hands

"old buddy" I'm gonna scream 😭

Wrecker casually tossing Hunter around like a ragdoll lmaoooo

Hunter like a starfish in the vent 💀 (anyone else ever climb walls in hallways as a kid hjskskfj)

Tech piggybacking Echo TECH PIGGYBACKING ECHO

Hold up did Wrecker throw them both up together oml

YES Wrecker blast that hellhole to SHREDS

I have a lot of problems with Wat Tambor I gotta go watch rots for a sec 👀

Rex helping Echo walk 🥲

Lolll insert that post where it says about how Echo wakes up from however long in the fridge and immediately comes up with the most batshit insane plan to escape with zero clue if it'll actually work and literally says "I *hope* there's a ship we can steal" 💀

And everyone always talks about how Fives is the unhinged one

"Just keep walking Tech" "that's fine but if you fall, don't take me with you" okay so I actually hate that now 👀

Dad Hunter againnnn

Wrecker being afraid of heights + literally jumping off to catch Crosshair with zero hesitation 😭💕

"I do have a brilliant idea" ~ Tech (plot twist the tally on the wall in their barracks is for how many times he says this on missions)

Everyone covering their ears while Tech is like 🙂

"We jump" Hunter Rex Echo Anakin: 😳😳😳😳

NO BECAUSE I HAD TO REWIND THIS LIKE 5 TIMES 😂😂😂 but right before Tech jumps on the keeradak reptile guy he shouts "seeya later" and salutes the droids with his blaster lmaoooo

tHeY fLy NoW

"Never better sir" ~ Echo my love you couldn't walk 5 mins ago 😂😂

Anakin 🤝 Obi-Wan saying "not good" when under attack

Forced teamwork makes the dreamwork

Anakin uses hand signals and Wrecker understands BRO YOU DID IT 🥳 (side note shoutout to @meridiansdominoes arc signals in Dominoes 💕 a must read for clone fans!!)

HUNTER WITH TWO KNIVES

Tech rolling droid poppers between Wreckers feet hehehe

Crosshair's salute omg

YEA GETTEM ECHO

Crosshair grabbing onto Echo 🥺🥺🥺

"Still showing off huh general" "you know me Echo" okay what if I cried

Rex's instant regret asking how to get on the walker lmaooo BONUS Wrecker grabbing him by his wrists 😂😂

oof Anakin's mid air force push 👌

"Just like old times" ~ no but this line haunted me bc I thought they were gonna make Echo a seppie spy fr 👀

It's nearly 3am now where I live lmao but star wars is more important than sleep

So if I wake up tomorrow and all of this is rubbish I'll know why hehe oops

[youngharleezy]

GQ Couples Quiz with Jack and Y/N (Part 1)

Repost from my old account 💖

This was probably my favorite of all my works if I absolutely had to pick. I just love imaging Jack with a girly who is just as much of a menace as him hehehe

Anyways, enjoy (again) 😁

“You better get all these right.” You tell Jack as you point at him.

The two of you were sitting across of each other, each of you in your own seat with a pile of cards in your hand. You were about to begin the GQ Couples Quiz which Neelam scheduled for the two of you to do a couple weeks ago.

Jack laughs at you from his seat, saying, “I know you better than you know yourself, babygirl. You’re the one who should be worried about losing.”

“Yeah? What if I lose, big guy?” You fight back, covering your mouth with your cards as you tried to hold back a laugh.

Jack glances at you with a growing smirk, his tongue pressing against the inside of his cheek. He turns to the cameraman, asking, “Is this shit already rolling?”

The camera man gives him a nod, focusing the camera on you and Jack’s interaction. Jack nods back, pulling your hand to bring your ear to his lips to which he whispered, “I’ll fuck the shit out of you.”

You let out a belly laugh as you straightened yourself back on your seat, looking at the camera and saying, “He’s so dirty.”

The producer laughs too before quickly signaling for you to begin the game.

“Hello everybody! I’m Jack Harlow,” you begin, before you catch yourself. “Wait, I’m not Jack Harlow. I’m Y/N Y/LN.” You say in between laughs.

Jack shakes his head at you, laughing at your nervousness. “Babe, we haven’t even started and you’re already losing.”

You turn to the producer before asking her, “Can we start again?” To which she gives you a nod, also laughing.

“Hello! I’m Y/N Y/LN,” you say too eagerly, turning to Jack trying your hardest to stifle a laugh.

“And I’m Jack Harlow.” He continues, turning to you.

You stare at him for a moment longer before you remembered that the next line was yours. “Oh! My turn.” Jack just laughs at you before you eagerly yell, “And today we are doing the GQ Couples Quiz!”

“How are you such an amazing actress but suck so bad at this?” Jack asks you.

“Because I’m fucking awesome, that’s why.” You reply quickly, looking at the producer and saying, “Give me one point for that question.” You see the tally under your name appear, turning to Jack who had his jaw dropped at you actually getting a point to a question that wasn’t on the card.

“You gotta keep up babe.”

He rolls his eyes at you with the smirk on his face before he says, “Ask me the real questions, Y/N.”

“Okay, okay. Hold your horses, cowboy.” You say as you straighten the pile of cards in your hand. Everyone in the studio was laughing, Jack turning to the camera and saying, “I should get a point for just dealing with her ass.”

At his words, a point appears under Jack’s name, causing you to drop your jaw in shock. “That wasn’t even a question!” You laughed to the producer. She urges you to continue, so you pull up the first card. You read it to yourself before you read it aloud, laughing to yourself. “Okay, here we go. First question. Who introduced you to me?”

“Easy. It was Urban. He was your photographer.” Jack replies quickly.

“Facts.” You say, throwing your card behind you, it knocking down a small plant that was sitting on the end table behind you. You dropped your jaw at what you did, not meaning to do what you did.

“Jesus, Y/N! You don’t have to knock shit down just because I got a point!” Jack yells at you in a laughing manner.

“I swear that was an accident! I’ll clean it before I go and get you guys a new one!” You plead to the producers. They continue laughing too, telling you that it was okay and urging you to continue. “Okay, next question.”

“Try to be a little less rough this time, alright?” Jack laughs to you, waiting for your reaction to which you just rolled your eyes too.

“Oh I like this one. How many tattoos do I have in a foreign language and what do they mean?” You say, reading off your card.

Jack contemplates for a minute, before saying, “You have that one in Arabic along your spine that says something about if it’s meant to be it’ll be.”

“Good job, keep going.” You tell him.

“I like to hear those words,” Jack says seductively, to which you smack your pile of cards on top of his head.

“Focus on the game you horny bastard.” You laugh at him.

He ruffles his hair, laughing at your outburst. “Damn, okay. You have that one in Chinese on your rib cage that says something about being open hearted, right?” You roll your hand in front of you, urging him to continue. “Oh and you have that other Chinese symbol that means setting sail to the wind!” He answers in confidence.

“Yes! Good job, babe!” You say proudly. You turn to the producers and say, “He can have half a point for that one because he was a jerk earlier.”

You watch as the screen gives him half a point, Jack throwing his arms up and saying, “Why are you guys letting her make the rules?”

“Because I’m fucking awesome, babe. You already know this about me.” You laugh to him.

He relaxes himself back down in his seat, turning to you and saying, “Yeah, you are pretty awesome.” blowing you a kiss.

“Okay you guys can give him another point because he’s cute as fuck.” You say to the producers but facing him, quickly placing a kiss on his lips.

The screen adds another point for Jack, causing you to lift your cards up again. “We really need to get this show on the road or else this video is going to be an hour long. Everyone will hate us.” You laugh to him.

“You’re the one distracting us all!” He says to you in a defensive tone.

“You better watch your words before you lose a point, Jackman.” You say, pointing at him. He throws his hands up in surrender, causing you to laugh. You read off the next card, asking Jack, “What was the last role I played, and what’s the next role I’ll be playing?”

Jack turns to the producer and says, “I thought these were supposed to be hard questions.” They urge him to answer, so he turns to you and says with confidence, “You just got done playing Fezco’s lil girlfriend on Euphoria and you’re going to star in a Walking Dead spin-off next probably as someone else’s lil girlfriend ”

You drop your jaw at how confidently he answered the question, thinking he didn’t know about your role in The Walking Dead. “I actually can’t believe you got that right!” You say in shock, telling the producers, “Give him 2 points for that one.”

He nods, pleased with himself as he rubs his hands together. “Next question, I’m ready.”

“Don’t get cocky.” You say to warn him.

“Oh I love you guys for this one!” You say to the producers as you read off the card. “Jack, what is my all time favorite song of yours?”

Jack contemplates the answer to this question, knowing that you were a big fan of his music. You listened to all his songs, so it was hard for him to decide which one was your favorite. “I feel like it changes.” He says in hesitation.

“My favorite song of yours has been my favorite for a while now.” You say, hoping that you didn’t just give him a clue.

He taps on his chin for a moment as he thinks, turning to you and asking, “Is it Warsaw?”

“WRONG! Take all his points away!” You scream, your excitement in him getting a question wrong beaming through you. “It’s Sunday Night! You know this!” You waited for the screen to take Jack’s points away, realizing that it wasn’t changing. “Why aren’t you guys taking his points away?”

The producer laughs before telling you from behind the camera that a person doesn’t lose points for wrong answers.

“Ugh, what a damn shame.” You mumble out, turning to Jack and telling him, “You’re lucky that rule exists.”

He laughs at you again and says, “You being competitive like this is turning me on, not going to lie.”

You laugh at his words, noticing him shifting in his seat, his pile of cards resting above his lap. “We can go the bathroom right now if you want.” You reply, Neelam yelling at the two of you to focus from behind the producer. “I was just kidding!” You say, mouthing ‘later’ to Jack before giving him a wink.

You pull up your card to read, asking Jack, “Okay, this is the last one, are you ready?”

“Hit me with it,” he replies, eyeing you as you read the card.

“If you get this wrong, we’re over.” You warn him.

“Don’t be a liar, Y/N. Read the card.” He says, giving you a smirk.

“Okay. What is my zodiac sign and are we compatible?” You ask, dropping your cards to the floor.

Jack laughs at the question, telling the camera, “She might actually kill me with her juju shit if I get this wrong.” He turns to you and says confidently, “You’re a Y/Z/S. Your moon sign is Y/M/S and your rising sign is Y/R/S. With me being a Pisces, we technically aren’t the most compatible, but I think we proved that zodiac shit wrong, don’t ya think?”

You stare at him with adoration, mumbling out, “Give him 3 points for that one.” keeping your eyes on him.

“Just 3?” He asks, also keeping his eyes on you which scan your lips.

“3 and a half. I can’t believe you got that right. You really DO listen to me.”

“I love you.” He mumbles, before you plant a quick kiss on his lips and straighten yourself in your seat.

You look into the camera and say, “Ladies, get you a man who tries to prove what the world has already decided wrong. It’s a lot more fun that way.”

Jack laughs at your statement, straightening himself in his seat before turning the producer and asking, “how many points did I get?”

“8 and a half for you and 1 point for Y/N.” The producer says, eyeing you for your reaction.

You turn to look at Jack, noticing him smirking at you.

“You aren’t going to be this cute and cocky when I wipe your shit out.”

“God, I’m so bricked up right now.”

“Stop threatening me with a good time.” You say, the producer now allowing the two of you a 10 minute break before Jack starts his questions.

[the-way-of-words]

A Friend In The Dark Part One

A Bad Omens horror AU Content warnings will be updated on a chapter by chapter basis, meaning one chapter might have different warnings than another, so please, read the warnings every time. Content Warnings: Possession, nightmares, slight gore This is a work of fiction involving a fictionalized version of a real person. This is rpf, this is not real. I know that, and you should too. But if rpf (or horror) ain't your jam, click the back button.

Summary: There's an old house in the middle of the woods...

There’s an old house out in the middle of the woods. Noah doesn’t know much about it, only that the Thing inside him keeps bringing him here. Just as It has since he was a boy. Even now that he’s moved on, formed a life far away from this place, whenever he’s back in the area; he ends up here. He’s not sure what it is about the place, he’s not sure It knows either. Because whenever he asks, he’s met with a resolute silence, one that he’s long since learned means to drop the subject. There’s nothing about it online either, he knows. He’s looked. Noah couldn’t even begin to tally up the hours he’s spent trying to gather information about the place that seems to hold him—them—so captive. 

He can't contain the sound of frustration that leaves his mouth when he comes to. Realizing that once again, he's standing in front of the wooden steps that lead to the door of the old house. Noah doesn't know what time it is, only that it's late and for a split second he panics, wondering how he got here this time. Did It walk them all the way out here? 

There's a tug in his body, guiding him to turn and take in the car parked at the edge of the clearing. The sight does little to quell his anxiety. If anything, it raises it, because that means, not only did he leave in the middle of the night, he took Nick's car as well. Anger grows in his chest as he speaks out loud, "Pretty sure we’ve had a conversation about taking things like this." 

A voice Noah knows as well as his own slithers through his mind. Would you have preferred we walked?

"I would have preferred we didn't come here at all." Noah replies through clenched teeth. "Are you ever going to tell me why we keep coming out here just to stare at this place?"

No.

He rolls his eyes, frustrated. "Do you even know why we keep coming here?"

What follows is more silence, but it's different this time. Loaded, like It doesn't want him to know the answer. And that throws Noah for a loop.

"You gotta be kidding me." Noah mutters, and the thin hold Noah has on his composure snaps. His voice slowly rises in volume with every word. "You know, don't you?? Have you known this whole fucking time?"

Not the whole time, no. 

"Yet, you're still not going to tell me…" he shakes his head derisively, "unbelievable." Running a hand through his hair, Noah sighs, "Honestly, I don't know why I'm so surprised anymore. I shouldn't expect a demon to be forthcoming."

He spits out the word, demon, using it as an insult. Because that's exactly what it is. He's never known exactly what this Thing that shares his body is, just knows that It's old, dark. But It always has some sort of adverse reaction when he utters the word. Whatever It is, It took a liking to him. Enough to let him stay in his own body after they became tethered. 

It doesn't say a word after that and offers no resistance as Noah gets in the car and heads back to town. He makes sure to stop at a gas station and top off the tank on the way back, because the last thing he needs right now is a curious Nick. Noah collapses onto the couch as soon as he enters his friend's house. Sinking into the blankets that serve as his makeshift bed, he allows sleep to pull him under without a fight. 

Noah dreams. It feels familiar; almost as if he's had it before, yet somehow he knows that’s not true.

He's walking through the forest, the undergrowth cool beneath his hooves. The sunlight is warm where it peeks through the leaves. He soaks it in, tipping his face to the sky. The bark of the trees is rough against his human hands when he touches them as he passes. The forest is alive and he can hear the whispers of the flora and fauna that reside here, under his care, under his protection. 

Abruptly, he's pulled to a stop, a ring of cold iron latching around one of his ankles. How curious, he thinks, staring at the metal encasing his leg. Shadows descend around him, pulling his attention away from the shackle. He tilts his head skyward, noticing that where there was once the warmth of the sunlight, there’s nothing but darkness. There is no quiet caress of the moon’s light, no stars to guide his way. Just the quiet dark. He does not feel fear as other things do, but a seed plants in his chest when he realizes he cannot hear the forest anymore. 

The iron around his ankle grows hot, turning an angry red as the heat pulls him to the ground. As he falls, it feels as if he is leaking. The old magic that weaves through his bones sinking into the earth below him. His fingers claw into the undergrowth, tearing into the red dirt beneath. Branches burst through his chest, taking root in the soil, tethering him to ground and he screams.

Noah wakes gasping for breath, trying to breathe through what feels like tattered lungs. He reaches for his chest, but his hand stays where it is and panic sets in when he realizes he can't move. 

It's just a dream, he tells himself, willing himself to believe the words even as the shadows begin to move around him. It's just a dream, he repeats, reciting the words over and over as a shape takes form. 

The first thing he notices are the antlers, the tips dripping with something dark, sticky. His eyes follow the shape of them down to Its face — or what should have been a face. In its place, however, is nothing but bone; a weathered skull to match the antlers. Deer, his mind supplies.

It has no eyes, yet It seems to be studying him just as much as he is It. The thing moves towards him, and once again he tries to move, only to go nowhere. He feels anchored, weighted down by some unseen force. A human hand reaches forward, its blackened fingertips splay across his chest--

His eyes pop open with a start as he pushes himself up to a sitting position, head swiveling in search of the figure he saw only moments ago. Finding nothing, Noah relaxes back into the couch, finally noticing the daylight streaming through the windows.

“You okay there, bud?” Even though it startles him, something settles in his chest at the sound of Nick's voice. 

Noah nods, pushing away the unease from what had to have been just one big nightmare. “Yeah… you make coffee yet?” Rolling his eyes, Nick turns, beckoning Noah to follow him to the kitchen and it makes Noah smile, the normalcy settling into his bones. It was just a dream. He tells himself with a sigh, but as he gets up to follow his friend he feels a sharp ache in his chest; and when he pulls up his shirt to look, he swears he can see dark smudges.. exactly where nightmare's fingers had settled.

[invisible-storyteller]

Come steady me

(Read it on AO3)

For @tw-anchor-down's Full Moon Round. Pairing: Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale Rating: Teen and Up Words: 5620 Summary:  Eli has trouble with his shift, which wouldn't be so embarassing if he wasn't the only one in the family who hasn't found his anchor yet. Then his father gets kidnapped. He's a Stilinski-Hale, though. Was he really expecting to have an easy life?

"I still think you should come with us."

His dad lingered in the doorway like a bad habit he couldn't shake. His eyes were achingly hopeful - something Eli considered one of his dad's greatest weaknesses: seeing more potential in someone than truly existed.

"I made my choice, Dad," Eli stated with perhaps more edge to his voice than intended. It wasn't the effect of the full moon, just the exasperation of this short exchange between them slowly developing into a monthly routine by now. "Just go, have fun. I'll be fine."

His dad nodded with that tight-lipped smile and head duck combo that let Eli know just how reluctant his father's compliance was. It didn't matter much in the end because he was soon disappearing into the woods with two of Eli's siblings on his literal tail and one riding atop his back, while Eli was left sighing wistfully after their retreating forms and enduring the mockery of his own human-looking fingers.

"All wards are up," His tata announced cheerily once the front door's lock slid into place, and he emerged from the kitchen with two highly mounted bowls of popcorn. "So. What are we watching?"

Eli shrugged dejectedly, grabbing one consolation bowl for himself. "What about that new superhero movie with the dude who can manipulate time?"

"Now you're talking my lingo," His tata finger-gunned him as they made their way towards the living room.

"Don't say 'lingo'," Eli grimaced, then pointed to the bowls, "Only two?"

"Your sister's already called dibs on the scoop."

Sure enough, Tally was sprawled out on the couch - looking like a Greek depiction of hedonism - with a tube of ice cream mixed in with jelly beans at the ready. Apparently, four years was enough time to get accustomed to a life with siblings.

"Hey, make space, peasant," Eli ordered as he grabbed hold of his sister's ankles and tossed them off the couch.

"Na-ah, dogs aren't allowed on the couch," Tally grinned, placing her feet back up.

"A dog joke? That's very original."

"You're not my boss," Tally smiled devilishly as she popped a gummy bear into her mouth, "And you never will be because you're not the next alpha in line. Deedee will inherit the power."

"Seriously?" Eli grunted (mostly to no one) and turned to his father with open arms and a face that screamed 'Do something!'.

"You gotta fight your own battles, kiddo," Was his tata's helpful reply from the comfort of his ensured seating. The family's armchair was always reserved for him and Dad, and courageous be the person who breaks that rule.

Eli huffed indignantly, standing directly in front of his sister and blocking her view. "I'll throw popcorn in your hair."

"I'll catch it in my mouth." Tally retaliated, trying to scoot lower to better see the TV.

It was basically a challenge at that point, so Eli couldn't be blamed for throwing a handful at her and then seizing the opportunity to settle onto the couch when she flailed to catch the popcorn bouncing off her face.

"That was cheating," Tally accused petulently, "Tata, Eli cheated!"

"Tallytab, just share the couch with your brother."

Tally glared at Eli with such ferocity even a werewolf would envy, and so Eli very maturely stuck his tongue out at her while their tata searched the new movie up on MetvX.

"You know," Their tata started in that fake-nonchalant tone that set alarms off in Eli's head, "It sure would be better to run in the wild than hang out with your old man and your little sister."

Eli didn't answer at first, partially because it was true, but mostly because they both knew the exact reason why Eli wasn't joining the others on their run. This was the same old topic, and he was getting kind of tired of all the pestering.

"I don't want to ruin their night."

"You wouldn't," His tata reassured, like always.

"But I did," Eli countered, stubbornly refusing to make eye contact with his father, "Twice. First, my powers didn't even manifest and they had to jog beside me and escort me the whole time so I wouldn't twist my ankle. The second time my powers did manifest, and what would you know? I lost control! And almost ate someone's cat. Raw."

"Yucky," Tally grimaced while the movie's intro began to play.

"I am better off here within the wards," Eli mumbled with finality, and thankfully, after a few seconds, his tata conceded and turned his gaze back to the TV.

And Eli definitely didn't spend the entire movie thinking about how cool it would be to run under the moonlight.

***

His parents always insisted that Eli was a late bloomer. In all honesty, Eli wasn't sure if he wanted to believe that because 1) if it turned out he wasn't actually a werewolf (with a spark for a father that was more than likely), it would be pointless to fool himself and 2) if he was indeed a werewolf but without an anchor to stabilize him, maybe it was better for his abilities not to manifest at all. It was embarrassing enough that his three younger, non-human siblings were already masters of their powers, while he - as the oldest child - was falling behind.

His "brooding" ("He inherited this from you, Der! It's your fault!") was interrupted by an all-too-familiar voice cutting through the general ruckus of a high school's lunch period.

"Oops, better watch out next time, guard dog."

Dominic's words were seeping with derision, drawing the entire student body's attention - and thus Eli's and Hikari's eyes, too - to the group of jocks parting the sea of teenagers as they made their way across the cafeteria. Although Eli was part of the same team, he was considered a "last resort" most of the time and so couldn't sit with the star players (they said so), not that he had any desire to abase himself like that. That clique was dedicated solely to competing with and bringing down anyone who posed a supposed threat to them, and that was why Dominic deliberately rammed into Mars's shoulder while passing him, almost sending the younger boy's tray clattering to the floor. It seemed that two months had brought no change on that front.

Eli and Hikari nodded to each other before quickly gathering their trays and joining Mars and his friend Rain on the other side of the room.

"Good reflexes," Hikari complimented as they settled opposite the two sophomores.

"Still not good enough to make team captain," Mars mumbled, his fingers absent-mindedly drumming atop the table.

"Don't worry, the others will eventually realize what a dick he is, and then they'll pick you as their new captain, for sure. You'll be unstoppable." Eli comforted with more hope than actual conviction.

"Not as long as he has his following," Mars shook his head, his nails turning pointy for a second before returning to their normal shape.

"How do you do it?" Hikari asked, eying the group of jocks with disdain, "I would have sliced him open with my katana by now. I might still do it. What's stopping me?"

"The law?" Eli asked, to which Hikari rolled her eyes like their statutory rules were a particular inconvenience of hers.

"I can't lose control," Mars answered the original question, "That would diminish any chance I have against that douchbag. And you know how much trouble I could get into."

Unfortunately, they all knew. Their school was extremely unsympathetic towards supernatural creatures - a result of humans trying to adapt to cohabitation with the supernatural in the past decade with more adverse success than not - meaning that the smallest slip-up could get you behind bars or sentenced to excessive community work, and that was the favourable scenario. A family of werewolves already had to leave town because of the backlash they faced from the community, and Mars clearly didn't want to bring their family to the same fate.

"But you've only been a werewolf for what? Four months?" Hikari continued, digging into her mashed potatoes with gusto, "Your control is impressive."

"He's just good at everything," Rain interjected in half-amusement half-irritation, "Lacrosse, self-control, maths. And here I am, still unable to figure out my powers."

"Yeah," Mars grinned back at his friend, "Otherwise you could tell me if I'mma ever win against that fuckin' scrub."

Rain looked ceiling-wards like this wasn't the first time this conversation happened, and Eli could seriously understand their struggle. Obviously, he didn't know the next thing about psychic powers, but he had first-hand experience with the frustration that came with not having a handle on your superhuman nature.

"How did Derek teach you control so quickly, anyway?" Hikari inquired, and Eli once again remembered why Mars refused to mingle with his friend group at school.

"He told me to find an anchor," Mars stated simply, then pointed to the wireless earbud in his right ear, "Back in my town, me and my friends would go to the basketball court after school hours. Some of them were art students from around the block so they would bring music and like, get buck wild with the moves, man. It was crazy! And the music reminds me of that time."

"Before the bite," Eli finished the other's thoughts.

"Yeah," Mars nodded dolefully, "Derek said that I could use music as my anchor. Ya know, to remind me that I'm still in control of my body and shit. Just like when I'm dancing."

"What are you listening to?" Eli asked, expecting some heavy metal to channel all that anger.

However, when Mars offered the unused earbud to him, Eli realised he shouldn't have been surprised to hear Dua Lipa's Levitating blasting at full volume from the device.

"These songs are so old school," Eli remarked as he gave the earbud back.

"Yeah, and they are still slammin'," Mars replied confidently before explaining: "Gets me into a good mood. Better than the techno shit that's so hyped right now."

"I guess," Eli shrugged.

"You'll get the hang of it," Mars said, voice much lighter, "Like Derek says: it takes persistence and belief."

"You mean stubbornness and spite," Eli corrected, prompting Mars to laugh and the conversation to drift to different topics.

In the following three days, Eli tried to rely on his own tunes to call his wolf forward without any noticeable progress. His powers seemed unwilling to show themselves after that one catastrophic full moon, and all he got from his music therapy was back pain (from trying to lift the family car) and a twisted ankle (from jumping out of his second-floor room). For a whole week, the only thing he could think about was how fast his siblings would heal from these injuries, although, finally having an excuse to warm the bench at lacrosse games was a welcomed repercussion.

***

"Bye, have fun!" Despite the cheery goodbye, his tata hadn't come back into the house yet, which could only mean one thing: Eli's parents were shamelessly making out on the front porch, which, first off, ew, and second, the movie now couldn't be started lest they risked getting grounded for a week.

This will take a while, Eli thought as he got comfortable on the couch.

"Why don't you go?" Tally asked nosily as she was prone to do when she was overcome by boredom.

"To be a burden? No thanks."

"But you have powers!"

"Do you see them anywhere? 'cause I don't."

"Three full moons ago you did that parkour from roof to roof, that was cool. And! And you slept in the lion's cage at the zoo."

"It's interesting how you remember all that but you couldn't recall this afternoon where my pop tarts disappeared to." Eli groused, hoping his parents weren't using tongue or this would be a long interrogation for Eli.

"Would it help if I punched you?" Tally suggested, making Eli wonder if his family was a bad influence on her, "Pain's s'possed to help."

"You punching me with your noodles arms? Yeah, totally gonna work."

It was Eli's fault, really, letting his guard down, because the next second, Tally reached over the couch and punched him square in the arm with all the force of a fierce primary schooler.

"Ow, what the-"

"I guess it doesn't," Tally pouted, before settling back into her corner, "Or you're just a loser."

"Thanks," Eli said while rubbing his arm, "But I'm not the adopted one."

"No, I am. Which means our parents at least wanted me."

Eli shot his sister a death glare, unsure how so much evil could fit into such a small body. "They wanted me too! I'm the oldest, which means they anticipated me the most."

"Weren't you a surprise?"

"Okay, let's just start the movie already," Eli grumbled, deciding that getting his ass whipped by his tata was still a better choice than his present torment.

"I just don't know why you're scared."

"I'm not," Eli denied rather weakly.

"You are. You're scared to go on runs."

"Finding an anchor is hard, alright?!"

"But it isn't," Tally argued, clutching her unicorn plushie tighter, "When I get mad, I just think of a nice place and the anger goes away."

"A nice place?"

"Like that," Tally pointed towards the kitchen, and Eli immediately knew she was talking about one of her drawings they had on the fridge. The one with the cove on it.

"That calms you down?"

"Yeah," Tally affirmed, "When Rony exploded my dinosaur plushie with that fireball, I was really angry at him. But then I remembered what the kid in that cartoon said about anger, and how it's normal, but sometimes you can't do anything to change what's happened so you have to focus on something else. So I did what he did and imagined a place where I was happy. Like that beach where my parents took me once. I liked it, we collected a bunch of seashells."

"The ones in your room?"

"Aham," Tally said, looking at her plushie instead, "Mom said that life is like the ocean, and we are just tiny seashells in it. And that waves come and go, like bad feelings. So when I feel something bad, I just remember the waves and I know if I don't fight it, it will pass. And I'll be happy again."

Eli didn't know what to say, he was mostly just stunned into silence. Thankfully, that was the moment their tata came back to the room, hair a tousled mess and lips slightly bloody, a pink flush colouring his cheeks that Eli wished was from embarrassment.

"I'll be, um... down... in a sec," Their tata excused himself as he ran upstairs, no doubt into the bathroom, and Eli made sure to put this memory later onto the list of 'Reasons why my future therapist will side-glance me'.

It was a small solace to know that Tally shared his misery.

***

The elevator jostled as it came to an abrupt stop, stuck between two levels, and soon descending into darkness before the backup lights flickered on.

"They shut down the power," Audie noted, pressing the emergency bell in vain.

"Really? I wouldn't have figured it out on my own," Eli sassed, carding through his hair in frustration, "Just so you know, I'm blaming you for this."

Audie glared him down in response, having already mastered her look of alpha reproval at the age of 16, and Eli was once again dreading the day she would take over the family territory. Eli was nevertheless right: his sister had been the one to insist he drove them to the hospital as soon as Melissa's call came in. Apparently, vampires had been secretly feeding on half-leg-in-the-grave patients until Melissa noticed the bite marks belonging to a person who had previously shown signs of improvement, and Eli's parents shortly arrived at the premises to confirm her theory. The vampires, for obvious reasons, weren't thrilled about the deputies now monitoring the halls, and long story short, the whole nest showed up, Eli's parents were kicking ass, but the bloodsuckers were hauling people out of the wards with inhuman speed and wiping the witnesses' memories, and so here Audie and Eli were. As reinforcement.

As if.

"Would you have let them fight alone?" Audie berated, her voice almost as threatening as the yellow glow of her eyes.

"Our parents can handle it, that's what they do."

"So you think this isn't your responsibility?"

"Since when is a vampire attack our responsibility?" Eli snarled, unable to unravel his sister's point, "The adults should handle it, with the cops! And they had it under control."

"Yeah, as much as a fucking wildfire," Audie hissed, her breaths coming quicker with every new scream her ears were able to pick up on, "Our parents are out there and who knows what is happening to them! Innocent people are getting used as some kind of all-you-can-eat buffet, we are stuck in this goddam elevator, and you say you don't care?!"

Audie's words came out as a near growl by the end, and Eli recognized the telltale indications of an impending panic attack. His sister's shift usually came along with the fear, and that was one of the reasons she had been home-schooled last year - more out of embarrassment than the possibility of hurting someone. Eli felt horrible, both because he had somewhat contributed to their messy situation and also because he was lost for what to do. Their parents knew how to deal with the panic attacks, but now Eli felt ashamed that as an older brother he never learnt how to help his sister. Audie might be the next alpha in line, but Eli was her big brother, and it was his job to look after her.

Audie growled again with fangs elongating and claws sinking into her palms painfully, and Eli contemplated getting closer to her before barely discernable words were audible around her heavy breathing.

"Alpha... beta... omega..."

It was like a chant she kept repeating despite the interruption of screams from outside. Audie clutched her triskele necklace - a smaller version of the family talisman - while attempting to regulate her breathing and not relenting until her face was devoid of wolfy features. Suddenly, all sounds ceased past the doors, and the normal lighting returned as the elevator jerked back into motion.

"We're moving."

Audie opened her eyes, tucked her necklace back into her shirt and steadied her stance against whatever was awaiting them downstairs.

"Get ready to fight," Audie commanded, her voice leaving no space for disobedience, "We are Hales. This is our legacy. We protect people."

The words appeared to calm her down, and Eli had no wish to fight her claims. He took a deep breath instead.

"I'll protect you," Audie promised out of nowhere, just as the doors opened to a crowd of disoriented and terrified people.

Alongside his sister, Eli felt unexpectedly secure.

***

"You can do this," Their father repeated but Eli wasn't even sure the message was getting across to his little brother. Rony had curled up on the floor a few minutes ago, face hidden behind his knees while he rocked rapidly back and forth, and didn't show any indication of abandoning his chosen corner in the family basement.

"Ican'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan'tIcan't..." Were the words on a loop that Rony whispered with his hands stubbornly covering his ears. Audie was kneeling in front of him, struggling not to touch Rony after that one time the boy screamed at the contact, but their sister was evidently getting more riled up by the minute.

"Yes, you can!" Audie pressed, despite the futile incentive, "Rony, you have to focus. You have to find Tata."

"You're the only one who can do this," Their dad affirmed in a softer tone, not that it mattered. He was just as, if not more, wrung out than the rest of their family, so his encouragement registered more as a desperate plea rather than a confident boost.

It all went to hell when their tata was running away from the nest of vampires. He had concealed his scent and heartbeat to hinder the nest's manhunt, but his plan had backfired when their dad failed to locate him as well. Now their tata was taken and their other father was clearly blaming himself for losing sight of his mate, and Eli's little brother who was only 13 and barely having started working on his magic was the only one with the means to salvage the situation. The problem was that location spells weren't an easy trick for beginners, especially those under immense stress of possibly losing a parent.

"I can't do this, he's gonna die," Rony muttered under his breath, further upsetting every else in the room.

Eli could feel the waves of worry wafting off Mars when he leaned closer.

"He has no confidence," Mars noted to Eli, "Like when he does math. He has to feel like he knows what he's doing to make it work."

Meanwhile, their dad was rumbling lightly and taking loud breaths in the hope that Rony would follow his example.

"You've done this once, Rony," Their dad said after a minute of useless attempts, "I saw it. You did it with Tata."

"But he was here then, and now he isn't..."

Eli felt so powerless - a state that was becoming aggravatingly regular. The only thing he could think about was the responsibility he had as the oldest sibling, how he had to do something. This was about their family, for crying out loud!

"Hey, Rony," Eli sank to the ground much to everyone's surprise, and truly, he shared the sentiment. He would have also liked to know what he was going to do next. "List me all the Star Wars movies in chronological order."

"What?" Audie whisper-shouted but Eli just pushed her face away.

“The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, The Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith, A Star Wars Story from 2018 and then the one from 2016, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker, and A New Order from 2026.”

“Awesome,” Eli said a bit stupefied, biting his lip as he racked his brain for another one of those rants Rony was prone to, “Oh! Who's the most commonly appearing character in the Marvel comics?”

“Wolverine.”

“What was the first PG-13 movie?”

“Red Dawn.”

“Where did they film the Lord of the Rings?”

“New Zealand.”

“How many movies are in the Fast and Furious series?”

“21.”

Throughout the impromptu quiz, Rony’s heart rate began to gradually settle, and Eli could see Audie's curious eyebrow raise from the side.

“What?” Eli cracked, turning to his sister with an irate look, “I pay attention.”

“Except in school,” Audie replied, but their bickering was short-lived when they noticed Rony's grateful eyes blinking up at them.

“How…?”

Their father was rubbing his thumb against the back of Rony's neck - a soothing gesture and subtle pain leech wrapped in one - and he gave Eli a silent nod as the ghost of a smile tentatively returned to his face.

“If you can remember all of these things,” Eli turned to Rony with a proud smile, “Then you can also remember a location spell.”

Rony stared ahead with unfocused eyes as if contemplating the truth of those words, before rising to shaky legs and addressing the room with a hesitant but determined gaze.

“We’ll need the keys from the jeep.”

***

"You know, for an ambush, it feels kinda like a trap."

"Duck!"

Eli dropped to his knees at Hikari's shrill warning, a dismembered hand quickly joining him on the ground as a vampire hissed above.

"My point still stands," Eli commented, taking a few seconds to assess his surroundings.

He saw Malia's water gun discarded on the side as she was reduced to fighting with her claws, and there was a blast of magic knocking his father somewhere into the far-end walls.

"We need a new plan," Eli grunted as he kicked a looming vampire in the groin and sprung to his feet.

"Do your thing. I'll cover you."

With Hikari's assurance, Eli tried to get a good look at the building's outlay past the nest of vampires swarming the place. There were around ten of them, but the biggest issue had to be his father's adamancy about not killing a single one, only scathing them with holy water and the first rays of sunlight. They timed their attack to the early morning for that exact purpose, not that any light could penetrate the old establishment. In its heyday, it must have been some mythical forest-themed dark ride, which was ironically on-point for their town, but half of it had collapsed into itself and now there was debris littering the base floor where Eli's pack was fending off bloodsuckers left and right. Since the supernatural became a daily addition to the local government's life, the town had to allocate large portions of its funds to defence and covering up tracks, so wastelands like these became the perfect hideouts. Eli now wished they had torn this place down decades ago.

"Let's go up!" Eli shouted, dodging to the side and aiming for a hill of rubble.

"Why did I agree to this?" Hikari muttered under her breath but kept cutting limbs off the occasional vampire as they both climbed their way up towards the roof. Eli even witnessed one grow a new arm out of the severed-off flesh and scrunched up his nose in distaste.

"I'm totally with you, Eli, but you do have a plan, right?" Hikari asked, right as they reached the building's wooden structure.

"Yeah, totally."

"Why did that sound like you don't know what you're doing?"

"Just keep them off!"

Eli continued his ascend until he was perched atop a narrow beam. He balanced against the nauseating prospect of seeing his pack fighting for their lives down below and accidentally caught sight of his father throwing fire blasts at his own family with burgundy hues colouring his eyes. His tata was still under the vampires' mind control, it seemed.

Thankfully, Eli secured his posture on the timber, the roof almost grazing his hair.

"Can you do it?" Eli wished for his friend's help, but Hikari was too busy deflecting vampires as they jumped up to the higher levels.

"You gotta do it, Eli!"

That was an absurd request, seeing how the world was spinning around Eli and he had a serious worry he might faint off the beam.

"Punch through the roof!" Hikari roused, having figured out the contingency plan Eli was going for.

"I can't! I don't know how to transform!"

His heartbeat was fast, too fast, his ears feeling like they were stuffed full of cotton. He felt useless, obsolete, like a deadweight next to Hikari's strenuous work to keep him safe. His family was counting on him, he had to bring the wolf forward, yet, he had no idea where to start.

This was Eli. This was all he ever was. A letdown.

"You did it once, Eli!" Hikari's voice broke through his self-deprecation before she kicked a vampire off the wooden frame.

"Yeah, and lost control."

"Not the full moon!" Hikari grumbled with a look over her shoulder as she reassumed a fighting stance. "It was in first grade! I got lost in the woods!"

"It's just a hunch but maybe this isn't the time to discuss your attempt to find the fairies' kingdom," Eli commented, squatting out of a vampire's swing and punching him a few feet downstairs.

"Yeah, I was dumb, not the point," Hikari hissed, hitting a vampire with the back of her katana and sending him tumbling into another beam. "You found me, Eli! You used your nose and found me! The only reason I got home was because you had your night vision!"

"I was a kid!" Eli argued, looking at his hands and remembering that one dreadful full moon. He hadn't just jumped around on houses and howled at the moon like Tally assumed, he pierced Audie with his claws. He tossed his own father into a tree. He was dangerous. "I couldn't hurt anyone!"

"Stop being afraid or we'll fuckin die!" Hikari shouted, eyes burning with the flames of irritation and fear, "Your family will die, Eli! Do you understand that?!"

Eli's gaze lowered to the ground floor where his siblings were fighting as best as they could, putting themselves in danger despite their father's order to stay behind. He noticed the sheriff shooting special bullets at the half-dead creatures, and Parrish drenching them with the last remains of his holy water beside Mason. Kira was keeping two vampires occupied, while his father was desperately working on getting through to their tata, getting tossed into a nearby wall for his efforts.

There was no telling when backup would arrive. His family could die by that point.

Eli felt a surge of something - a kind of power not unlike the pull of the Moon.

He clenched his hand into a fist and punched upwards, the roof giving way under his knuckles. It hurt, of course, but the strength cursing through his body nearly numbed out all pain and healed his bones before he could really complain about them. He repeated this action a few more times, hearing the wood crack under the pressure and then jumping from the height as the roof began to collapse. Parts of the building's structure shattered around him as he landed in the centre of a ring made by the light filtering through the hole.

Eli immediately sensed a vampire's faltering steps.

"A little light won't save you, boy," One of the vampires taunted, although he made no move to approach the cascade of sunlight.

Eli raised his head and locked eyes with his sister's shocked expression right in front of him. Then, she let her eyes flash back at him while their dad screamed at Eli to find cover.

"Just wait for it, Dad" Audie smirked, and as if on cue, Eli let out a piercing howl.

It was like a shockwave, with the others following him and making the building shake with the vibrations of their battlecry. The humans and the vampires covered their ears, except Eli's tata, who sagged back with the force of it and looked up at Eli with yet again amber eyes above slightly parted lips. He was back.

"Fuck yeah, kid! That's what I'm talking about!" His tata cheered, not wasting a second to gather their dad into the light circle just as the rest of the pack hurried under the protection of the Sun. His tata let the sunlight bounce off his skin and moved the rays around the room like bright, yellow strikes which the vampires fought to evade. It made the scene look like a cheap-quality disco club. "Let's rattle!"

Eli roared with unfamiliar confidence and with their tata on their side, the pack managed to prolong the battle at least long enough for Rain and Tally to finish the circle of mountain ash outside. Before closing the barrier, their tata formed a light shield around them so the supernatural members of their pack could escape while the vampires remained efficiently trapped inside.

As soon as they were outside the mountain ash circle, the local vampire leader appeared on the abandoned amusement park's site, quickly succeeded by Mars and the supernatural council's secretary pulling up in the jeep.

"Is my timing right?" Mars asked with an uncertain sweep of his eyes.

"Perfect, kiddo," Their tata said with a relieved sigh.

"Where are they?" The vampire leader asked, to which Eli's dad pointed to the half-collapsed building.

"They are all alive," He also emphasized which the vampire ruler acknowledged with a grateful nod.

As the leader and the mage secretary went to handle the ragtag nest, Eli pulled Hikari close to his chest and uttered litanies of gratitude to his best friend.

"You were awesome, too," She said in response, pulling away and ruffling Eli's hair in fondness.

"And now?" Eli asked, still breathless and elevated by victory, just as his dad stepped up to his side.

"Now?" His dad repeated, pulling Eli into a half-hug, "Now we go home."

***

His body cut through the current as rows of trees swam past him, leading to the denser part of the forest. The wind abated here, allowing him to hear the noises following his run and alerting him that he wasn’t alone on this special night. Between the branches, the Moon bathed the preserve in guiding light, and soon enough, he stumbled onto a wide cliffside overlooking the expanse of their dark-clad city. Above the clamour of the nightlife below, he heard six familiar heartbeats catch up to him.

Eli's eyes interlocked with his father’s red ones beside him, flashing back yellow in carefree joy. He felt his pack - his family - all around him, and like a thick blanket of fog on an autumn dawn, peace descended to surround him.

He let out an ecstatic howl, his father and siblings following suit, and even the human members' terrible imitations of a howl brought a smile to his face. His tata honked the car on top of that, and their synchronized song filled the alley before climbing high among the stars where his ancestors, undoubtedly, watched on.

The twinkling sky was disturbed by storm clouds gathering somewhere in the distance, but there was no fear in Eli's heart. As Tally had said, the waves would come and go. And Eli had his family to anchor him down.

[anindecisivespirit]

Baby Bat AU

Okay so like, I heard about the comic One Operation Joker, in which Batman is turned into a baby and Joker decides to raise him, and I just. My brain exploded with ideas. I haven’t read it and I’ve barely heard anything about it, but if I was writing a story with that premise it would probably go something like this (originally a thread of messages over discord):

Joker brings this newly turned baby batman to a meeting with all the other rogues And they’re like… why do you have a baby?? I don’t like the implications? And he explains that it’s batman, and some of them want to just kill him right now while he’s a baby, but he’s like “no no no, because then we’d have no proof that we killed Batman and you know it’s gotta be a spectacle. Mr Freeze, you try to find a cure, and the rest of you will help me take care of this baby.” And Riddler is trying so hard but babies are just so dumb. He’s trying to teach Bruce to solve puzzles and answer riddles. Ivy is telling him bedtime stories about how important the environment is and that the people who hurt it should die. Joker is the most irresponsible parent ever and Bruce almost dies three times a week. They were a little hesitant to let Zsasz near him but now Bruce is crawling all over him and hanging off his arms as Zsasz tells him about each and every one of his tally marks.

(Btw Zsasz can’t kill Bruce even if he wanted to, because he wants to kill Batman. He has a special place saved for Batman’s tally mark, but if he killed this baby… he wouldn’t be able to use it. He wouldn’t be able to bring himself to. This is not Batman.)

Clayface is shapeshifting into various animals to keep him entertained.

Bruce understands exactly 0-3% of what’s going on. They don’t know who he is so they all just keep calling him Batman/Bats/Batsy.

Bruce Wayne has gone missing.

Baby Bruce is terrified of Joker’s face for a good while, and keeps crying when he sees him. The first time he looks at him without getting upset Joker almost starts crying

Alfred is searching desperately for Bruce. Penguin is having mob meetings with a baby vest, and he’s put Bruce in a tiny suit Harley is trying to rollerblade around with him

None of them care that Bruce can’t understand anything that they’re talking about, they’re all trying to teach him to be Batman but also to be a tiny criminal at the same time

Joker gives him batarangs, which the others have to quickly take back before he hurts himself. They get him little foam batarangs instead

Riddler gets a little box that opens when you press a button, and he puts Bruce’s favorite treats in it to encourage him to figure out how to open it This results in the others giving Riddler one of those little puzzle boxes you give to cats and stuff as a joke, but Bruce seems to unironically love it

He plays with Catwoman’s whip and all of her cats love him. They curl up with him all the time.

Maybe Bruce is old enough to be saying words. He’s got mom and dad down, along with hungry and no and yes. So, all the rogues start trying to make absolutely sure that he says their name first. It’s a thing, now. They have to be first, they need to be the favorite. He gets ‘riddle’ if only because Riddler says it so often. He takes to saying ‘Za’ when he wants Zsasz. You can catch Joker crying in the shower because Bruce hasn’t said his name yet and he’s gotten most of the others down

None of them really pay any mind to the fact that Bruce Wayne has gone missing because they have more important things to do All except for the Riddler, who has known Batman’s identity for months and just never said anything. He debates whether or not he should tell anyone…

They knit him a little hat with bat ears on it, and it’s adorable

(Feel free to talk to me about this in tags and replies and asks!!!)

[ineffablystupid]

Okay everyone, we gotta talk about that scene where Crowley considers which star system to run off to.

When I decided to rewatch Good Omens, it was going to be casual–have a couple of laughs and memorize more bits of script–with not much planning or thought going into it.

However, me being me, decided in less than 30 minutes that was not what was to occur. I quickly rewound and started a tally of how many times Aziraphale decided to look Crowley up and down (Which that report is in progress. As of writing this, I’m to the end of episode 3, and there’s been a total of 42 instances. E1 has 13, E2 7, and E3 a grand total of 22), and then started dissecting the actions of characters as I always do. In episode 4, Crowley is seen in his house, trying to figure out where to run off to. In the beginning of the clip, we witness him walk up to his desk and spin the globe sitting on it. 

Crowley spins the globe, but he does so gently, and when he stops the sphere from moving his touch is even more delicate. When tipping it out of the stand into his cradled palm, there’s a sense of consideration and caution in the movement, before it gracefully floats in front of him. But then he takes out the book. The Extremely Big Book of Astronomy, to be exact, and pages come flying out to float. However, unlike the globe, these pages somewhat chaotically whirl around, and without a care he plucks them from the air to look at, before tossing them roughly. His grip is firm, grasp sudden, and he’s not nearly as careful with these pictures of star systems. Which seems rather odd. A solid, hefty sphere is being held as though it’s a pricey ceramic vase, only to be contrasted by pieces of paper–the far more sensitive material here–that are roughly manhandled and strewn about.

He talks a bit to himself as he does all this, stating, “Beautiful Nebula, look at that. I helped build that one…” in a wistful–though seemingly mourning or even regretful way–and not even 30 seconds later he tosses the sheet into the air, whirls around, and sags against the side of his ornate chair that may as well be called a throne. He looks up quickly, as though on instinct, and words that can only be described as pained leave his mouth. 

It’s abrupt, odd for a demon, but Crowley is trying to send his words to The Almighty. He still has faith, it seems, a rarity amongst the fallen. He even brings that up, stating how he only ever questions: “That's all it took to be a demon in the old days”. This seems important in the sense that he acknowledges that today being a demon entails more; spite, menace, vices, and Armageddon’s beginning. He doesn’t want everything to end, and Crowley throughout everything we’ve seen is a harbinger of nothing more than menacing inconvenience and migraines, despite what he says. Crowley isn’t your typical demon, and he unabashedly says aloud to himself something that boils down to I don’t belong down there, but I don’t belong upstairs either, so where do I fit? He’s not even sure God is listening at that point, but keeps his gaze upwards anyway, continuing to beg.

He nearly begins to ask more questions, even, before stopping himself. Suddenly all his attention is on the humans, and he shoves his own well-being aside, ignoring the questions surely ratting in his brain just as they did before he fell all those millennia ago. His tactic changes, and if he wasn’t begging before he surely is now, reasoning with air. The compassion in which he speaks of humanity brings things into perspective, if you simply remember the globe and the off-handed remark involving that nebula.

He helped sculpt the stars, with gentle hands and loving thoughts before he fell. Crowley doesn’t hold as much passion for them as he once did, it seems, and there’s a sense of self-isolation he instills when he mentions that past. A memory treated akin to an ancient box on the top closet shelf; looked at, but untouched and left alone. It reeks of self-loathing and the thoughts I deserve this, a common theme Crowley shows. He doesn’t deserve to be recognized for his niceties–though is unable to give an explanation as to why–and he no longer cares for his own creations and collaborations now that he’s a being of the occult. 

But humans, now that’s where he fits in. He loves the society of Earth, the antics of man and the shifting environment. Earth is what he knows, he's been there since the start, and whether intentional or not, he's likely shaped how humanity is, just a tad. He still has compassion, which is still odd for a demon, and for the most part it's directed at the mortals who are unaware they're on the clock.

That's why he acts the way he does when he first appears in the scene. Perhaps subconsciously, he handles the globe almost reverently because of all the worries he has for the planet, for humanity. He's taken that care once held for creations as an angel and transferred it to something new; unfond of his past. That's likely why he handles the pages so roughly, his aggression and frustration channeled into something he lost and can't quite harm anymore.

Crowley is hurting quite a bit; Aziraphale, the one person he can trust, shoved away his offer of escape, and that only compounds the mess set in front of the viewer. Crowley feels powerless, and we see a vulnerability when he states his thoughts, praying to the only person he feels has power. That desperate draw in the words "Okay, I know you're testing them, you said you were going to be testing them," before his gaze moves away from the ceiling and the heavens above it. "You shouldn't test them to destruction…" he continues, and we see a rare moment of extra vulnerability, his prayer sounding akin to a child begging their parent to do something.

Which, in reality, is all this scenario is. Despite having fallen, despite the supposed "unforgivable" quality of being a demon, he still cries out with what little faith he has left, uncaring of how he's fallen. He doesn't want to lose a place that feels like home, his angel, everything that he cares about. He doesn't want Armageddon, unlike all the other demons. But then, he pauses. He spits the words, "Not to the end of the world," and bats the globe harshly away, the thing flying through the air before hovering right on back to where it was. His face morphs into something of dread, and the scene cuts.

This final bit here is interesting; he lets a bout of anger get the best of him, he attempts to remove his attachment from society it seems, but mere seconds later, he finds himself unable to let go. The globe is the perfect symbol for this, and it helps us visualize that, even if it's only a few seconds of action.

Struggling with his past, his fall, and his assistance in the stars, it's not shocking to see him crumble in such a sudden, rocky way. His friend (cough cough lover cough) left him, so he turns to the only place he can think of. The supposedly all-seeing, loving, forgiving Almighty. But his esteem struggles, and he tosses it all away for society's continuation. He adores Earth, even if he won't admit it, and Crowley finds it impossible to let go. Who can blame him? It’s his home, with his music, and Bentley, the flat, Aziraphale, and so, so many memories. It’s very… special, compared to a job he had before he was tossed from the skies, and even if it’s just a stupid little thing, the globe represents his entire world. Literally. And who would willingly let that slip away? Not Crowley, obviously.

[museumgiftshoperaser]

Nancy and Eddie and the girls who haunt them

Nancy/Eddie | Rated E | AO3 Link

Nancy swallows her pride and returns to Hawkins when her carefully crafted life in Boston falls apart. In the five years since she abruptly cut everyone off and skipped town, all the people she once knew have left for bigger, brighter futures. Everyone except for Eddie Munson, local drug dealer turned reluctant mechanic who is willing to help Nancy out after her car breaks down. They build a careful friendship over shared trauma and a mutual refusal to talk about their reasons for ending up in the same town that nearly killed them. Feelings grow, cars get fixed and Boston looms on the horizon.

This is a rarepair, mixed with my most depressing headcanons, two characters on the aromantic spectrum and an ending that could maybe pass for bittersweet if you squint. It’s really just for me, but you guys can read it if you want I guess <33 Got a little snippet for you under the cut or you can go read the whole thing on AO3 (just mind the tags if you do!!)

“Hello?” Her voice gets lost in the big empty space. “Anyone still in here?” “Do my eyes deceive me?” Nancy whips her head toward the sound. A familiar drawl and a deep voice. “Or is that miss Nancy Wheeler?” The man approaches from an obscured door in the back of the shop. It’s been years but she can tell it’s him right away. Eddie Munson, in the flesh. It’s the eyes. Warm brown and wider than they should be. It’s gotta be the eyes she recognizes because everything else about him is different. His hair is cut right above his shoulders with most of the layers tied back in a careless bun. No chains, no ripped jeans. Just navy blue coveralls with the company logo zipped all the way up. He’s traded in his white sneakers for steel toed boots and his wild smile for a deep set exhaustion that glistens on his face. He looks older than he should, but then again, so does Nancy. Last she saw him, he was still dealing weed out of his uncle’s trailer with big talk about Indianapolis. Chicago. New York. That was five years ago. “What are you doing here?” she asks. He grins and grabs a bandanna from his back pocket to wipe the sweat off his forehead. His face is slimmer, the last of his baby cheeks well and truly gone. A small tattoo peaks out over his collar and thick black lines disappear into his his curls. A tiny part of her, the eighteen year old that’s burrowed in the back of her brain, refusing to grow up, wants to close the gap and hug him. Her body remembers Eddie. His comforting grin and the tight fit under the curve of his shoulder. But the guy in front of her might as well be a stranger. “You know, most people would just say hi.” Nancy rolls her eyes. They should be past small talk, right? Doesn’t a joined trip to hell earn you that comfort? Or does the privilege dwindle with every year away? “Hi, Eddie. How have you been?” She scrunches her nose in a sticky sweet smile. “Lovely weather we’ve been having. You defeat any monsters lately?” Eddie doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t look away either. The tip of his tongue traces the back of his teeth, just shy of amused. “Now what are you doing here?” she repeats. Still. That’s the unspoken part. What are you still doing here? You were supposed to get out of here. “I could ask you the same thing.” He folds his arms.“We all gave up on you ever coming back, Wheeler.” There’s just the slightest hint of bitterness in his voice. Nancy clutches the strap of her handbag and purses her lips together. Yeah. So did she. They didn’t exactly leave on good terms, her and Eddie. There’s barely anyone in Hawkins who she didn’t burn her bridges with. Not on purpose, but not not on purpose either. Somewhere after the third missed Christmas, the silence becomes intentional. Every missed phone call adds up on the other end of the line, until the invisible tally reaches a tipping point and people stop reaching out. Or until she changed her phone number. “I work here,” Eddie adds when the silence stretches. He points at the logo on his coveralls. “Past four years.” That’s a long time. Almost the entire time Nancy was away. It almost certainly means he never got out. “Well my car is broken.” Eddie’s mouth drops slightly before he cackles out a laugh. Loud and booming in the big empty space and theatrical as ever. He makes a show of it, hands on his knees and everything. “Are you… Are you laughing?” “Come on, Wheeler…” He wipes at an imaginary tear in the corner of his eye. “You gotta admit this whole thing is a little funny.” Read the whole thing on AO3 (again, please mind the tags if you do!)

[nowen422]

November talking bou...💀💀💀

BLEACH TYBW ep 25: Well, it was nice while it lasted

What an episode. We're riding high and feeling alive; then, next thing we know, we're watching as our childhood stuffed animal is set on fire right before us. This is all hyperbole, of course, but I still feel it's a very accurate metaphor. This episode is a good episode, but it comes at a point in the story where we have to set up the insurmountable odds our true protagonist has to face in order to save the day. The downside is is that while we get to enjoy the thrills and highs of a brand new fight that seeks to make amends for a fight that was originally quite lackluster, we also have to now deal with the true ending of that fight which unfortunately cannot change and only now serves as a punch to the gut after seeing something that I feel appeased nearly all of us. So, as the title says, it was nice while it lasted. Still, great moments for the characters and an especially vicious and somewhat haunting usage of a technique that we've heard about but never gotten to see. Plus, we all now know why you don't mess with the eyeball monk.

So now to do a death tally and wait for next we-...what do you mean the next episode is out already? Wait, WHAT HAPPENS?! Soul king I need to pay attention more!

Shinigami deaths: 16

Quincy deaths: I can't count that high (20 named going by death portraits)

Spoilers below

Real fast

Things I liked:

We get to see the remaining visored again as well as Yoruichi's brother! But we also get to be reminded of Kisuke's habit of sending sacrificial pawns to buy time for him to figure out solutions. What can I say, even after a hundred years, old habits die hard.

Whenever Ichibe draws anything with his brush I always like the effect of following the brush stroke. It makes it feel more supernatural

Ywach is such a hardcore fighter, it really is a perfect matchup between him and Ichibe. One is willing to humiliate the enemy by any means while still beating them down, the other will risk deadly injury just to negate the humiliation. Absolute refusal to give an edge to both sides.

A return of sanct bogen! Although this one doesn't serve as a sword delivery device

Ichibe's eyeless moment is straight from the Manga. It is perfect and really fits the name thing he has been doing this episode (this is why I've been bolding his name btw, gotta show respect)

It's very subtle but I love Haschwalths ability just ruining everything for everyone else. It will really be great to have it explained eventually.

I think this is a great episode for Uryu because we get to see Chad, Orihime and Ichigo's power ups, but with this we see Uryu hasn't been slacking either. Also I want to thank @takibikaen for the comment on how Ywach got out of the cage. Uryu's antithesis just straight up teleports now and him dodging Tenjiro's water ball kinda proves it.

If I could have a wacky spin-off show with just Nimaya and Askin, I would be the happiest man alive. They're roommates in San Francisco and they hate each other. Boom, instant hit. But seriously, with a ton of comedic moments cut, these two provide a great amount of levity to the situation.

Aizen did the slut strand look first, but I'm willing to bet that Askin stole it and made it his. Man earned it this episode

Senjumaru is the QUEEN this episode. Has been clowning on everyone for two episodes now, if she does it in the next one, she's my new favorite (edit here: she did and she is now)

This whole fight really is a battle of overpowered ability versus overpowered ability.

Askin and Nimaya are the kids who would role-playing sword fights on the playground to try and compete on looking cooler and you cannot change my mind.

Aushwhalen is way more brutal than I thought it would be. Also it shows that Ywach never explained what it was to his army, just waving it off as just a purging of unworthy Quincy. But then when the unworthy are gone, who is picked to full their spots?

Giselle is creepy as hell in this episode. I hope her fans are enjoying themselves. I mean that legitimately

It was nice to see Bazz B and Liltotto reacting the same to the betrayl. It's a nice setup to their switching sides

PERNIDA'S LITTLE HAND WINGS!

UKITAKE IS BACK!! And oh no he brought a friends with him ✋️

Things I didn't like:

I feel like if they were going to introduce Yuishiro so soon, we should have gotten to see him sooner, especially since we've got one episode left of the season. It's a bit abrupt but it's nice to see him at least, let's hope he gets some love later on

I thought it was Weird how Ichibe was bleeding from his coat when he dredge Ywach's arrow. The first thing I thought was that maybe he's so ancient that his body doesn't function the same way that a more modern Souls body would. I'm probably overthinking it, but it does make me wonder

I still think we don't get to see what Kinpika really does beyond glow. Granted if I had to fight someone with a sword and someone was on the side shining a flashlight in my eyes the whole time, I would find that pretty distracting too. Not every sword gets to be super powerful

I did not expect to see Giselle like that today. Not a bad thing, but dang I was expecting her to just eat the blood from her guts, not-im gonna stop there. Also there were claims of her possibly being romantically and or amorously entangled with the otherwise alive, I don't think that it's a possibly anymore, I think it's an actually. Glad Liltotto is my favorite especially since they're the only two left. Cannibal or Zombie lover, starting to remember why I didn't like the Bambi's so much.

They cut the scene of Robert having his meltdown and trying to kill Liltotto. Real shame. Plus we get confirmed that Giselle and Liltotto are the only female sternritter left.

Last thing and this is a silly thing, but with the amount of blood that Giselle was consuming and or covered in, how does she keep the all-white outfit clean? Do Quincy uniforms repel moisture? Or do they just have an unlimited supply of stain remover everywhere?

Needless to say great episode, and now that I know that there is a second episode I have to watch that. So I guess we're getting two this week. Still, seems like it should be a fun one regardless. ( hi Nowen from the future here, just wanted to say I watched the episode and holy s***.)

[seriesxwriting]

Reunited

W Rafe Cameron 💗

Series- outer banks

Summary- you’re back in the outer banks. And soon your crush on Rafe Cameron comes back too. After you see how well that boy glowed up, how he treats you like a princess, how much of a gentleman he is. Only for you.

Warnings- kissing, gotta be swearing in there too somewhere

————————————————————————

Here I stood. Outside the airport, waiting for my car to come. The warm breeze blew my long hair around my shoulders and I shut my eyes sinking in the sun. “Holidaying?” A voice came from no where. My eyes snapped open to see who was talking to me.

“Sort of- we’re visiting people” I shrugged to the boy. He stood tally in front of me with his brown hair swept just over his eyes and tight t-shirt showing off his muscular body. He was hot, outer bank boys were something else. “Tourons” the boy giggled while shaking his head “I’ll be happy to be a guid”. His brown floppy hair shined reflecting in the sun. Because I’d lived in the outer banks a while ago I knew all the terminology they used.

“Actually I used to live here, so not a touron” my eye brow lifted while my arms folded half pissed off with the boy. “Did you now and why’d you leave” “my mother needed to move to England for her business- not that it’s any of yours” I fake smiled towards him. His dark blue eyes opened wide at my sarcasm but his lips smirked dangerously. “woah feisty, you remind me of someone”

“You have no idea- are all boys in the outer banks this arrogant still?”. His eyes trailed down me as I popped my hip scowling at him. I had a short tight purple skirt and a matching set crop top. The cut wasn’t exactly high. I was a small girl even with my sparkling white heels on the boy towered over me. “Mmm I’m not arrogant but, no one here is like me” he winked finally looked up at my eyes again.

I saw out the corner of my eye that my mother was now returning after having gone to the bathroom. “Nelly over here” Rafe shouted walking over to her a step or two. “Oh y/n! You’ve found rafe” she exclaimed. Me and- well Rafe looked at each other with confusion and a frown on our faces. “Y/n?” Rafe looked me up and down again “no way… I’m not- that’s Rafe? Like little Rafe I was friends with when I was 11?” I turned whispering to my mother.

“Yes” she laughed going in to hug the boy. He seemed to remember my mother “nice to see you again nelly” he only looked at her for a second before latching his eyes back on me. “And what do you mean little rafe?” His arms folded. “Are you serious- you were tiny” I giggled putting my hand over my mouth. Rafe was pissed but he was trying to hide it. “I’m not tiny anymore babe” “I’ll be in the car” my mothers hands flew up and she dragged her suitcase towards his jeep.

“No- I’m coming too!” I tried picking up my bag but Rafe replace my hands on the handle with his. “I’ve got it” he told me staring into my eyes. We had both bent down for the bag and were not that far away from each others faces. His blue eyes were beautiful I was stunned in thought. I can’t believe Rafe is the family we were visiting and I can’t believe how well he glowed up.

He took it to the car and put my bag in the boot. My mother had gotten in the back so the front seat next to rafe was free for me to sit in. “So how long are you guys down for again?” Rafe looked at my mother in the mirror making conversation. “Five days, we leave Friday night” “great, y/n will be around for the beach party’s there’s one tonight too, interested?” He asked raising an eyebrow taking his eyes off the road for a second.

“Um- Uh Im quite jet lagged actually I mean…” “yes of course y/n wants to go she wants to see her old friends huh” my mother wiggled her face at me. “Mum rafe was my only friend- I didn’t get on with the others” “yeah I don’t think you will have a problem with that anymore hun” rafe stated just as he pulled into the drive. I remembered the house well. I’d go here every day after school.

Rafe took our bags out the boot wheeling and carrying to the door. He turned to me “you coming” the boy grinned a shiny white smile. All i could do was nod. I hardly knew what to even think about all this. I followed Rafe into the hall way where my mother and rose where mid hug. “It’s so so lovely to see you! It’s been years” rose chuckled rubbing her back. “Is that- y/n oh how grown up you are and gorgeous!” She waddled over to hug me too. Rose was a enthusiastic woman.

Full of energy. Rafe giggled silently watching me be smothered by his mother in law. “Y/n let me show you to your room” he finally said as she started to puff out my hair. “Oh yes- I’d love to um- see where I’m staying- I’ll see you later rose” I hurried away climbing the stairs behind rafe. “I can remember where your room is” I told him smiling “prove it” Rafe nodded calmly. Automatically I walked through the halls upstairs weaving in and out until I came to rafes room at the end.

I pushed it open to see how it had changed. I walked in not waiting for his invite. None of our drawing where on the wall anymore. His baby bule walls where now all grey and grown up. His little white bed we had so many sleep overs in was gone. “It has- been eight years y/n” Rafe told me to get me responsive. “Yeah I know I just it’s a lot and-…” I stopped what I was saying when I turned. I saw on a side table behind the door Rafe had a photo of a drawing of us framed.

“There’s no way you kept that for eight years” “of course I did you were my best friend- the rest are in the attic” the boy told me watching me pick it up clutching it close with my delicate hands. “I always hoped we’d see each other again- though I can’t believe you didn’t recognise me” he shook his head jokingly “you didn’t remember me either” I widened my eyes laughing. “That’s because you got- ridiculously hot over these eight years” Rafe answered confidently. “One might say you had a glow up too Cameron” “everyone would say” he corrected me.

“Anyway- this isn’t the room your staying in but if you really want to, it can be arraigned” Rafe winked at me coming closer. “Just like old times huh” I flirted back and rafes eyes went wide. He didn’t see it coming I watched his pink cheeks turn red. I stepped forward and pushed him on the bed roughy, laughing. I ran away continuously giggling, I heard rafe laugh too and then his foot steps follow me. We thundered through the hall way until he caught me picking me up. “Rafe put me down” I hysterically laughed between his arms.

He turned us around and Sarah stood there “nice to see you again y/n- and to see you guys still acting like children when your nineteen years old” the girl chuckled under her breath. Rafe put me down staring at his sister with evil eyes, I pushed his face laughing at him “stop it rafe- it’s nice to see you too Sarah” I smiled back. “See you at dinner” she saluted us and skipped off down the stairs. “So uh- your room I guess” Rafe pointed to the one next to his.

“For easy access” the boy whispered nodding. I wondered into the room and a few seconds later rafe brought in my bag laying it on the floor. “Thanks” I nodded simply “dinner will probably be ready soon um- I don’t know if you wanna go down now or… unpack” “well- what are you doing?” I asked him confidently “probably going to head down” Rafes lips formed a smile at my question. “Alright then” I agreed walking over to the boy. “What’s for dinner?”. Now my heels were off he was even taller than me.

Rafe threw an arm over my shoulders leading me to the stairs. It was nice, comfortable with his large body size compared to me. “Hmm pork chops I think” he told me “what was the meal we would ask to have like every night as kids?” I turned to him my mouth open wide in deep thought. “Tacos” we both said at the same time. Me and rafe laughed to each other “those were the days” he told me just as we entered the dining room.

“Y/n, nice to see you” ward eyed the hand round my shoulders and his eyes slightly lit up. Rafe noticed and removed himself. “Nice to see you too, you haven’t aged a bit ward” he chuckled “always a pleasure- and I suppose you haven’t seen Wheezie since she was three” he nodded down to his brunette daughter sitting in the chair in front of him. She pushed her glasses onto her face and waved awkwardly. “No I guess I haven’t, I can’t believe it- your almost getting old wheez” I smirked at her.

“Humm is that a grey hair I see?” She pointed at me. Rafe sniggered taking out a chair. “I see where you get your humour from- or should I say who” I looked at rafe and he nodded to the chair. Had he just pulled a chair out for me? Since when was he a gentleman too? I took a seat and he took one next to me. After about ten minutes of talk and catching up Rafe started playing footsie with me under the table. He was such a child but it matched my personality so well. “So y/n what are you doing now school has just finished?” “I’m still deciding what university to go to”

Ward nodded while stuffing his face with pork. “Staying in education, good” he told me “Rafe is doing business in the uni here, have you looked here?” “I uh- I never thought about going to uni abroad” I admitted shrugging almost. “Well if you like the one here your welcome to stay with us” rose offered up before ward could. Rafe chocked on what ever he was eating. He looked at me looking at him “well we should really be getting to that party- it started five minutes ago” he glanced at his watch while announcing.

“Mmh of course” ward nodded for us to go “you will take care of her wont you rafe- you know she’s had a hard time with some of the people there” my mum raised her eyebrows “mum! I’ll be fine” I shook my head almost embarrassed. “I’ll be with her the whole night” Rafe admitted getting up first. My mother nodded at him. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t” Wheezie shouted as walked down the hall. But Rafe just winked at me. “Are we going like this?” “What’s wrong with what you have on”

“Is It- beach party’s style?” I looked at myself in the mirror. Rafe joined me. I stared at us both in the mirror, we looked like a hot couple right now. “Don’t over think it, you look gorgeous another reason why I’ll have to stay with you every second” Rafe held the door open for me. I had to hide the smile he gave me as I walked outside. Rafe soon followed passing me a helmet hesitating. “Is that- okay?” Rafe asked checking first. “All of the boys in England have bikes rafe I’ll be fine”

“The boys in England don’t drive like me babe” he walked off inhaling sharply. I squeezed one eye at him confused about the change in attitude. I held onto rafes waist as he sped off towards the beach. I already felt nervous but when I heard the music my stomach became a washing machine. Round and round and round. Rafe stopped the bike and I really didn’t want him to. “Rafe I- Im not sure actually” “are you still worried you won’t get on with any of them?” He turned to me softly.

“Yes- no… I just have bad memories from them all they made my life hell they all did… apart from you” “y/n if anyone says anything I swear I won’t be able to walk away… if you know what I mean” Rafe shook his gorgeous head sternly. “Don’t mean it won’t hurt the same” he opened his mouth to say something but some people started spotting us. “Rafe is that you?” I looked round at who was coming up the stone steps. “Is that topper Thornton” I whispered to rafe.

“It is you? Who’s this a touron” he widened his eyes looking at me. A few people came running after topper with drinks in there hands. I remembered each one of them and how they spoke to me, treated me. kelce smith. Aaron Rowe. Layton slater. David white. “Um no, remember I said a family was coming to stay with me” Rafe got up to put our helmets away. “You remember y/n” Rafe nodded to me. “Fuck off” topper raised his eyebrow laughing.

I stood there awkwardly wanting to leave so desperately. “Y/n y/l/n? From middle school” David pointed out frowning “yea” i nodded really not thinking I’d overly changed that much. “Shit y/n- I said some things back then that were out of line I guess I didn’t think I’d ever see you again” kelce told me straight. “I didn’t ever think I’d be back in the outer banks” “best place to be” topper shouted out. “You got fucking hot” Layton blurted. “You have no game” topped slapped his face.

“You had a serious glow up gorgeous” Aaron raised his eye brows. I saw Rafe roll his eyes after I laughed feeling a bit more comfortable. “So when did you guys become friends with Rafe?” I asked smiling. “Wanna come get a drink with me?” Kelce asked me putting his head to the side. “I’ll catch you up on the last few years” “I’ve got your next drink” topper winked at me. “Sure y…” “we will be over in a second” Rafe cut in signalling for them to leave.

I felt a lot calmer and more welcome than I had five minutes ago. The boys all stumbled away whispering while rafe scowled. “Look If you want me to take you home I will- maybe this wasn’t a good idea” Rafe admitted coming close to me. “Eh we’re here now might as well see how it goes, plus I did just promise kelce I’d get a drink with him” “fuck kelce” Rafe shrugged putting his hands on my waist. “What’s that supposed to mean” “what there doing now is worse there looking at you like your meat y/n”

“Well…” I started “I shouldn’t have braught you” Rafe cut in waffling while staring into my eyes. “Will you let me talk? What’s gotten into you where’s cocky rafe gone?” I questioned with half a smile. “Look I just don’t like how they were looking at you and talking to you- you can do so much better like- because- it’s just…. If you have your eye on one of the boys over there can yo…” And with that I lifted my head towards rafes lips and pressed them together. Holding his head my way. He didn’t pull away he pulled me closer.

I don’t think even I realised what I’d done before we were both at it for a few seconds. It was just like I’d imagined it to be. The boy had been my whole life and I don’t care… it was fate we met again. “I do have my eye on one of the boys rafe, but he’s not standing over there” I whispered still holding his face close. He looked at me In utter shock before smiling and kissing me quickly.

“Just- promise me you won’t leave me tonight” I looked up sceptically at the boy. “I don’t want us apart ever again y/n trust me I’m not leaving your side”. I smiled warmly and hugged him tight. “Let’s go then”. He took my hand tightly, gently. “Just to be clear..” Rafe stopped us a second “yes! it’s you rafe” his face relaxed when he heard me say that. I knew him too well.

“I guess we better have a conversation about where this leaves us huh?” “We will do it in our room, when we get back” I looked up winking at rafe. We were reunited by fate and we wouldn’t be separated that’s for sure. Not again.

————————————————————————

Mastlist❤️ for more like this❤️

[drkineildwicks]

BH6 Snippets--2/15/2024

More work on the sequel to (Not So) Hated by Life Itself today (really got to figure out the sequel's name)

So in the fic, during the bit in "Something Fluffy" when Hiro tries quizzing Dr. Amara, Obake does instead. Shenanigans ensue and Karmi disapproves.

“Hang up on her,” Obake advised. “Hiro don’t be rude like Obake,” Tadashi said, heading over. “Okay ‘scuse me gotta get the buns out,” Cass said, breezing by—stopped at the sight of the phone.  “What happened why is it unplugged?” “I’m avoiding a call,” he told her. “Yeah but I have people calling for orders and stuff,” she said, plugging it back in.  “Oh wait buns—” Deep sigh, sagging further when the phone rang—answered it.  “Hello this is the Lucky Cat Café, how may I direct your call?” “Listen you creepy jerk—” Karmi started. “I’m sorry, you have reached our answering service, please wait for the click before filing your complaint.”  Hung up. “I saw that,” Cass said, walking by with the buns.  “Who was that?” “One of the reasons you regularly have chicken pâté.” “Ah.”  Look at the phone when it rang again.  “Want me to get that?” “If you must.” She picked up the receiver.  “Hi, this is the Lucky Cat Café.”  Look at Obake questioningly; he shook his head.  “He’s not in right now, may I take a message?  Yeah he just stepped out.  Hold on let me get a pen.”  Put the phone to her chest, scanning the ceiling like she was mentally tallying how long would be too long.  “Okay I’m back.  Uh-huh.  Uh-huh.  Maybe I don’t use that wording.  Sure, I’ll tell him as soon as he gets back.  Do you want to order something while you’re on the line?  Okay, maybe next time.  Bye now.”  Hung up the phone, looked at Obake.  “So I have questions on how you spent your afternoon.” “Meantime I’ve just realized why you’re a cat person.”

The last exchange references an old Pickles Sunday strip, where the husband feigns getting a pen and notepad and taking down a message for his wife, all without ever getting up. The strip ends with the cat looking at him and going so maybe you ARE a cat person after all.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s11e1 out of the darkness, into the fire (w. jeremy carver)

i'm feeling very dispirited about my ability to watch the entire series, gotta say. i'd been kind of looking forward to s11 because i have some vague notions of a few of the episodes. ah well. tally-ho

dean sucked up by the darkness straight away, great (scrolling through my internal rolodex of ladies i very vaguely know of from fic. amara??). turns out our nice boy is just taking a nap with the flowers

sam's hair situation looks improved, looks like they let it grow out so it's uneven in the back and flipping up in parts again instead of a shaped smooth bob situation

they're getting a little more creative with the effects with rolling in the flashbacks, which is neat. though using the same effect (differently but similar enough) for dean and sam's recollection, less neat

cas has progressed to rabid wet kitten i see

JENNA Rebar. I sought cover. I fell.

😬

all right so. just the moral calculation of culpability in all the rando human deaths at scale due to ye olde brothers. letting lucifer out i think is zero sum, they were pushed by heaven and hell to make it happen. sam saved a lot of people by jumping into the cage to lock lucifer (and michael and poor adam) back up, that's gotta add a good number in the black. (cas has got some big negatives with the whole god-stint and releasing the leviathans i wager. oh and the whole angels falling business). choosing for sam to live instead of closing the gates of hell forever, well that is less definable but seems like a big fat red number on dean's tally, but probably less than would have died with lucifer and michael duking it out? so if we consider them one (ofc) they're still in the black. this business with the darkness though, is a lot more definable and in your face if we're seeing this hospital full of dead people on their first jaunt out post evil!twister. curious what kind of guilt they're gonna lay at sam's feet. he gets squirrely when it's people in the way of having dean. anyway. i think y'all might be the bad guys 😔

moving on, finally.

oh funny, the deputy was the original fen in the magicians which i've definitely mentioned before while watching this. aha, she was in 7x22 with rick worthy (dean fogg on the magicians, spn alpha vampire). those light eyes and dark hair are very striking and memorable

did they scrimp on the makeup budget or something?? looks like he's sewing up a vulva and not even bothering to lift her shirt. UNSANITARY, BRO. hope she's up to date on her tetanus too. and gets some antibiotics to boot

that's some weirdly lit cleavage. also, dean already lied to sam about what went down with her? SIGH. so. tired.

this lighting got him extra haggard looking. why didn't he just kill the zombie whatever, especially after hearing the baby crying? wtf is going on.

the little yawn 🥺

MARN’S HUSBAND You just sit your tush down, okay? Just let me get this out. I've been thinking a lot about what you said -- and -- and I know, I lost my chickens when you put it out there. But it's not every day that your wife tells you that she wants to watch you get a party started with your best friends. I mean, am I right?

this whole interlude is... something. aaand straight to maternal death. sigh. and dad's gonna die too. great

giving 2x9 croatoan slash 2004 dawn of the dead vibes

DEAN And how long is that? And when they infect others, how long is that? No, we stay here, that baby dies. We did this, Sam. Okay? We broke it, we bought it.

indeed. why don't you tell sam about the dark cleavage lady then

CASTIEL Sam, Dean... goodbye. It may be some time before we see one another again. DEAN Wait, Cas. Cas!

LOL okay. couldn't squeeze in any details i guess

MINION 1 It's just, you barely escaped assassination. You're arguably on the run from the most powerful witch on earth -- not to mention an angel of heaven and uh... CROWLEY And? MINION 1 You didn't call for help until after the orgy?

come now, minion 1, do you truly expect otherwise

sam's talking big picture logistics and dean's just like wtf is the other option right at this moment

DEAN We have a plan, okay? It's the same plan as it's always been. In order to get out, we go through. SAM And? How's that been working for us? DEAN We can't save Cas if we're stuck in some hospital, okay? Just like I can't strap on a time machine, go back, and tell Cain to shove that Mark up his ass or stop you from releasing the darkness. Now, have we made mistakes? Yes. Hell, yes. And we can analyze each and every one of them over a couple of frosties when we're old and farting sawdust and out of this room! Right now, all I can do is I can gear up, I can head out, and I can save that freaking baby, which is exactly what I'm gonna do.

when they get old. together. right.

SAM Dean, if we don't change -- right now -- all of our crap is just gonna keep repeating itself. DEAN Okay, I-I don't even -- what?

i'm with you on this one, dean. what

SAM There is always a cure. You just have to want to find it. DEAN Yeah, how are you gonna find it if you're dead? And around and around we go. SAM Saving people means all of the people, Dean. Not just that baby. Not just each other. I unleashed a force on this world that could destroy it... to save you. DEAN And I told you not to. SAM And I'd do it again. In a second, I would do it again. And that is what I'm talking about. This isn't on you. It is on us. We have to change.

(i hate that my thought process legit is, take yourselves off the board, go to heaven, do not pass go)

so i guess sam's guilt caused a come to jesus moment about killing the people (rabids??? zombies) who we've seen already have an inherently short shelf life even without intervention. guess that's why he refused to shoot one despite the crying baby. this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. i can see sam having this thinking, but not in this situation and moment.

poor woman stuck watching their messy drama play out. i hope they're packing her a big ass duffel of formula and diapers. did you know when you give birth in a hospital, you can take all that stuff you don't use in your room with you? stock up, folks

SAM Get Jenna to the car. Get her and the baby somewhere safe. DEAN Without a shot. And what are we gonna do about those things on our tail? SAM They won't be on your tail. DEAN No way. SAM You said it, Dean. We broke this. DEAN Yeah, we broke this, okay? We did. SAM I heard it in your voice when you agreed to take that child. I get it. You do what you do. But you've got to let me do what I do, too.

be bait?

quelle surprise sam locked himself in with a zombie. oh and got zombie juice in his mouth. STELLAR PLAN, SAM

MIKE Her name.. is Amara.

okily dokily. so we think the baby's named amara but it's actually dark cleavage lady? do i get a gold star?

and lucifer slash michael is all riled up in the cage, even greater

DARKNESS For the same reason that you'll never hurt me. (She pulls aside her dress to show the Mark of Cain on her collarbone) We're bound, Dean. We'll always be bound. You helped me. I helped you. No matter where I am, who I am... we will always help each other.

great great. it's like a neverending fucking romcom where an ever growing percentage of sam and dean's problems are caused by lack of communication. but we don't even get the catharsis of a good kiss at the end. i am so tired of it

i need to lower my expectations again so i can stop being so disappointed

[in-class-daydreams]

No Regrets: Chapter 2 - Sneak Peek! [OC Version]

“You’re coming right after me, right? Gonna be my wingman in a few years?” he asked to break the silence.

Elly paused before rolling her eyes. “I’ve been your wingman since I was brought into this household, big guy, don’t get it twisted.”

“But you know, we could fly in the same aircraft if you were my WSO. We’d be closer than ever before,” he said while looking at the old child-sized pilot seats riveted into the floor of the treehouse.

“How come I gotta be your WSO?” Elly puffed her cheeks out. “Wouldn’t it make sense for it to be the other way around? You know, for lineage reasons?”

Bradley shrugged. “See, the thing is…” He paused for effect. “I’m faster than you,” He jumped up and flung himself into the ‘pilot’ seat and grabbed the wooden joystick, laughing at Elly’s shout of protest. It took some maneuvering to get his large frame into the small seat.

In light of her defeat, she hopped into the seat right behind him.

“Talk to me, Elly!” Bradley said with mock urgency. In turn, his companion pretended to frantically flip switches and monitor readings in the back of their makeshift aircraft.

“Tally two, nine o’clock! We’ve got– Oh shit, smoke in the air! Smoke in the air!” she cried.

“Banking right!” In perfect sync, they leaned to the left, simulating the pull of G-force. “Elly, flares!”

“On it!” She slapped a red button that most definitely wasn’t accurate to real life. “Negative contact!”

“Outstanding! We need altitude! Hang on. This is gonna be rough!”

“Don’t worry! I’m with you. All the way.”

“To the end of the line,” Bradley said.

“Or the end of the world,” Elly finished.