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whumptober · 2 years ago

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Whumptober 2023

Welcome to Whumptober 2023 — the sixth year running!

COMPLETIONISTS/PARTICIPANT BADGES CAN BE FOUND HERE

To those of you who participated last year, welcome back! To everyone joining this year, welcome!

Please make sure to read the Event Info carefully, as most of your questions will be answered there already. For everything else, you are welcome to come to our ask box or ask questions in our Discord server here.

This year’s AO3 Collection can be found here.

And this years playlist can be found here.

There are 139 prompt options in total this year - this is including the alternatives list! A special thanks goes out to those who took part in our trope vote back in July. From the 1526 responses to our list of 223 tropes, we looked through the popularity results, as well as your honourable mentions, and were able to produce this years prompts list. Stay tuned, as we will be posting some of the results at a later date!

We’re very excited to see the community come together once more and be a wild, chaotic bunch of creators and consumers of whump. Go wild with the prompts, and support your fellow creators - we wish you all the fun!

Best of luck and happy whumping,

Mods Vanne, Yenn, Kitty and Surro

(All 31 Themes + Prompts, Event Information and FAQs are posted below the cut!)

Whumptober 2023 Prompt List

No. 1: “But now this room is spinning while I’m trying just to fill in all the gaps.”

Safety Net | Swooning | “How many fingers am I holding up?”

No. 2: “I’ll call out your name, but you won’t call back.”

Thermometer | Delirium | “They don't care about you.”

No. 3: “Like crying out in empty rooms; with no-one there except the moon.”

Journal | Solitary Confinement | “Make it stop.”

No. 4: “I see the danger, It’s written there in your eyes.”

Cattle Prod | Shock | “You in there?”

No. 5: “You better pray I don't get up this time around.”

Debris | Pinned Down | “It's broken.”

No. 6: “Do or die, you’ll never make me; Because the world will never take my heart.”

Recording | Made to Watch | “It should have been me.”

No. 7: " “I paced around for hours on empty; I jumped at the slightest of sounds.”

Alleyway | Radio Silence | “Can you hear me?”

No. 8: “I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier.”

Overcrowded ER | Outnumbered | “It’s all for nothing.”

No. 9: “Learning everything ain't what it seems, that's the thing about these days.”

Polaroid | Mistaken Identity | “You're a liar.”

No. 10: “Can’t you see that you’re lost without me?”

Broken Phone | Stranded | “You said you'd never leave.”

No. 11: “All the lights going dark and my hope’s destroyed.”

Animal trap | Captivity | “No one will find you.”

No. 12: “I haven't slept in days but who's counting?”

Red | Insomnia | “I’m up, I’m up.”

No. 13: “It comes and goes like the strength in your bones.”

Cold Compress | Infection | “I don’t feel so good.”

No. 14: “Feed me poison, fill me ‘till I drown.”

Flare | Water Inhalation | “Just hold on.”

No. 15: “I don't need you to help me I can handle things myself.”

Makeshift Bandages | Suppressed Suffering | “I’m fine.”

No. 16: “Would you lie with me and just forget the world?”

Gurney | Flatline | “Don’t go where I can’t follow.”

No. 17: “You’re the lump in my throat and the knot in my chest.”

Collar | Touch Aversion | “Leave me alone.”

No. 18: “I tend to deflect when I’m feeling threatened.”

Blindfold | Tortured For Information | “Hit them harder.”

No. 19: “I’ll take one final step, all you have to do is make me.”

Floral Bouquet | Psychological | “I’m not as stupid as you think I am.”

No. 20: “People don’t change people, time does.”

Blanket | Found Family | “You will regret touching them.”

No. 21: “See the chains around my feet.”

Vows | Restraints | “Don't move.”

No. 22: “They never saw us coming, ‘til they hit the floor.”

Glass Shard | Vehicular Accident | “Watch out!”

No. 23: “It’s gonna get me by the end of the night.”

Shadows | Stalking | “Who’s there?”

No. 24: “I’ve got a head full of chemicals; mouth full of ridicule.”

Goodbye Note | Neglect | “I thought they were with you.”

No. 25: “You’re not delivering a perfect body to the grave.”

Storm | Buried Alive | “They’re not breathing!”

No. 26: “Sometimes I get so tired; I don’t even know myself.”

Seeing Double | Working To Exhaustion | “You look awful.”

No. 27: “You drew stars around my scars; But now I’m bleeding.”

Matches | Scars | “Let me see”

No. 28: “We might not make it to the morning; so go on and tell me now.”

Bloody Knife | Sacrifice | “You'll have to go through me.”

No. 29: “I only sink deeper the deeper I think.”

Scented Candle | Troubled Past Resurfacing | “What happened to me?”

No. 30: “It’s okay, just to say, ‘I’m not okay’.”

Borrowed Clothing | Bridal Carry | “Not much longer...”

No. 31: “I thought that I was getting better.”

Emptiness | Setbacks | “Take it easy.”

Alternatives List:

Betrayal

Aftermath of Failure

Brass Knuckles

Decoy

Body Modification

Playing Cards

Examination

Hunting

Drugging

Shaking

Panic

Broken

Miscommunication

Lab Rat

Reluctant Whumper

Event Info & Rules

~ Please read our extensive event info posts before sending us an ask ~

WHUMPTOBER is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. The 'theme' of each day is the line of lyrics.

The prompts are merely to serve as inspiration without being taken literally (e.g. you don’t have to include the exact wording of prompts into your work). Feel free to run rampant on interpretation. For example, if the prompt is "flame", you could create something with reference to a candle/campfire, your character could have suffered a burn, or the flame could be related to the 'spark' of a relationship. It's truly up to you!

In total, there are 4 prompts for each day: there's lyrics, an object, a trope and a line of dialogue to choose from. We want to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible, as well as increase event accessibility for folks with triggers and squicks.

Creators can PRODUCE work in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, visual artwork, photo/video/audio edits, paper crafts and elaborate recommendation lists (not just a list of links). Creators can PARTICIPATE as much or as little as they want (i.e. you don’t have to do ALL the prompts if you don’t want to) and prompts can be used in any order. They are also free to use even after the event ends.

When uploading Whumptober content to your blog, be sure to tag the with:

#whumptober2023 …..(the event tag)

#no.1, #no.2, #no.3, …..(day number)

#lyric, #bruises, #stabbing, …..(the theme or specific prompt you chose)

#fandom or #OC, … (ironman, originalcontent, oc …)

#medium …..(gifs, fic, podcast, art, etc.)

#teeth, #gore tw, #etc …..(trigger warnings & any additional tags. Add "tw" AFTER the trigger/content warning. )

#nsfwhump …..(only for nsfw content)

#your own tags go here

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING. Only properly tagged posts are considered for archiving on the official @whumptober-archive blog. They must be tagged in the order above. An elaborate post about our tagging system can be found [here]

Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of participants in recent years, we cannot guarantee your work will be archived. A random selection of properly tagged posts from all genres will be reblogged each day.

Whumpers who produce content for 31 total theme days are considered event completionists and will be tagged in a masterpost at the end of the month. A form will be published at the beginning of November asking you to tell us if you completed the event. You do not need to post anything you have created, we rely on trust and we will not check this.

Questions not addressed in one of our many event info posts can be directed to this blog. We will not answer any questions that have been answered in the FAQs or rules already.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How does this year’s prompt list work? What do I have to choose?

You can create something based on:

The overall theme/lyric of the day

Prompt 1, 2 or 3

One or several of the alternative prompts

A combination of the above

Q. Is [specific anything] allowed?

When in doubt: JUST DO IT!

Q. Do I have to do all 31 days?

Participate as much or little as you like! Just be sure to tag your posts properly (ex. #no.7, #radio silence). If you create works for 31 total theme days you will become a completionist. But apart from that, there are no repercussions if you don’t fill prompts for each day.

Q. Can I post early/late?

Yes, you can post whenever you want. We will only reblog posts during October, but you can use our prompts all year round. The day you post will only affect your probability of being reblogged.

Q. Will you reblog my post?

Due to the sheer number of content posted during Whumptober we can’t promise to reblog every single post. We will make a random selection trying to capture a wide variety of content. The following will increase your chances at being reblogged:

tag your post properly

post within 2-3 days of the theme you want to fill: if you fill the prompt for Day 1 your chances of being reblogged during October 1st to 3rd are highest and will go towards zero afterwards.

Q. What if I don’t understand a prompt/theme?

Send us an ask! We’re happy to help with wild, unhelpful clarifications or brainstorming. That being said, the themes are entirely up for interpretation. Don’t take them too literally. For example: You can be choking on a cherry, someone else can choke you or you could be choked up on emotions, etc.

Q. What kind of content can I make? Can it be NSFW?

This is a MIXED MEDIA event! You can write fic, post meta, doodle or paint, create a gifset or photo edit, link a song, or get crafty with video - anything goes. As for NSFW, make what you like, we just hope that you’ll tag your work accordingly so that others participating in the event can stay safe.

Q. Can I combine Whumptober with other creation challenges?

Absolutely, as long as the other challenges allow it too.

Q. Can I upload/repost my Whumptober content to other social media platforms?

Of course! You can post your own content wherever you like (or you can opt to not publish it at all). Additionally we’ve created an AO3 Collection to archive any fics posted there. It can be accessed here. The tumblr blog @whumptober-archive is the official archive, so please respect the boundaries of any closeted whumpers in your social circle.

Q. Can I use prompts to write a new chapter for an existing fic?

Yes.

Q. An existing fic I am currently writing contains many of the Whumptober prompts, can I use it?

If you are actively writing this fic at the moment with the Whumptober prompts in mind, yes. If you’ve previously posted something that checks the boxes, we ask that you not include it retroactively for this current year. You can, however, add new chapters relating to one or more of the prompts.

Q. What kind of characters can I write for?

Fandom characters, OC characters, human, furry, alien, cyborg, RPF, whoever you like. You can use the generic “whumpee” character or have specific ones.

Q. Does it have to take place in a specific fandom?

No, you can create works for your own worlds or for fandoms or for both. You can also create more generic or pan-fandom works. You can do cross-overs or use OCs, whatever you want.

Q. Can I use a prompt multiple times?

Yes, but it only counts once towards being a completionist.

Q. If I’m not comfortable with one day’s prompts can I use a prompt of a different day as a substitute and still be a completionist?

No, you can’t exchange prompts for different days. However, if all four prompts of a specific day make you uncomfortable, we have created an alternate prompts list that you can draw from. You can exchange any prompt with these, but please make sure not to use them twice.

Q. Where can I post my work?

Post where and how you want. You don’t have to (cross)post it to Tumblr or at all. Just keep in mind if it’s not on Tumblr we will not be able to add it to the blog archive.

Q. Can I start posting early?

You can, but this is an October event and wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone doing it at the same time? That being said, you can post early, but we won’t be reblogging any work predating October 1st.

Q. Do I have to finish a fic I started/can I post WIP’s?

Yes you can post WIPs. And you’re not obligated to finish it in October for it to count towards being a completionist.

Q. Is co-writing allowed?

Yes, absolutely, and it would count towards being a completionist for both/all of you.

Q. Do I have to create 31 standalone pieces to be considered a completionist or can I write one continuous story?

One continuous story is fine. The challenge is to write something for 31 prompts. If that’s spread over 31 fics or just one, you are still considered a completionist. (The same goes for every other media you choose.)

Q. Is there a min/max limit on word count?

There is no limit.

Q. Can I combine prompts? Is there a limit on how many?

No limit and combine as many as you’d like.

Q. Is a hc/angst/emotional whump focus ok?

Of course! We are not going to establish a threshold for whumpiness. If you think it’s whumpy enough, then it’s whumpy enough. It can be physical, psychological, emotional, or any combination of the three.

Q. What’s considered nsfw?

See this post

Q. What is whump?

Typically the genre includes situations where a fictional character is hurt, be it emotionally, psychologically, or physically. Fanlore provides information here.

Q. My interpretation of the prompt isn’t whumpy at all, does that count?

If you don’t think your interpretation is whumpy, then it doesn’t count for Whumptober. Remember that whump comes in many forms, though, and that we don’t have a whump-checker or a threshold for how much whump needs to be included. If you think your interpretation contains enough whump to count, then it does.

Q. Can I start working on the prompts before October?

Absolutely! That’s why we post the prompts a month in advance. We recognise how difficult it can be creating for 31 days in “real time” so feel free to start creating early!

Q. How do I tag triggers?

tw at the end of the word, ex. #gore tw

Q. Do I have to use your tags?

Yes, if you want your work archived on the blog. If not, feel free to use whatever tags you want.

Q. Does combining prompts count towards completion?

Yes

Q. Can we @ you?

Yes but we mostly rely on the #whumptober2023 tag.

Q. Is there anything we are absolutely not allowed to write?

There are no rules, but please make sure to properly tag your trigger warnings. And keep in mind Tumblr’s policies if you are posting it here (or the policies for whatever site you use).

Q. Where can I go for brainstorming help?

Here on Discord or come into our ask box.

Q. My characters are minors, is that ok?

Yes, but as with everything else, use clear and descriptive tags.

Q. Can I cross post on other blogs?

Yes, multiple platforms and blogs are perfectly acceptable. You can also post different works to different accounts under different names, without posting them everywhere at once.

Note: This is a creation challenge, please don’t repost your old work under our tags (unless it’s been changed or edited for the event).

Thanks for reading, and happy whumping!

#whumptober2023 #whumptober 2023 prompts list #whumptober #prompts list #long post

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frost-queen · 1 year ago

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Tempting fate // part 3 (Reader!Featherington x Colin Bridgerton)

Forever tag:@missmelodramatic, @merlin-dahlia, @alex--awesome--22, @elllie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve, @queen-of-books, @glimmering-darling-dolly @denkisclown, @wildieflower, @meyocoko, @bubblybrianna, @justanothercoco, @subjecta13-thefangirl, @m-rae23, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr, @swampthing07, @melsunshine, @panhoeofmanyfandoms, @venomsvl, @the-uncoordinated-house-cat, @rosecentury, @imagines-by-her, @evilcr0ne, @vviolynn, @iixchloee, @cherrysxuya, @dutifullyannoyingfox, @wolf-phoenix-lover, @mellowdreamlandpost-blog, @markive-m, @esposamultifandom, @mswwvaleska, @itsalyssadawnuniverse, @magical-spit, @winter-solstice24

Summary: Penelope tries her effort into turning Colin's eye to her. Realization hits you as you have a hunch of who the writer of Lady Whistledown is. Bad blood brewing between sisters. [ part 1 & part 2 & part 4 & part 5 & part 6 & part 7 & part 8 & part 9 & part 10]

You had excused yourself from Colin, heading back inside. Where the warmth wrapped around you like a blanket. The loud muttering deafening out your clear hearing. A pair of dancers almost knocked you over when you rushed by. Coming to the window, where you had spotted your sister, she was gone. The spot empty. Looking around suspiciously, you wanted to know where she had gone too. Some bystanders glanced your way, whispering as you ignored them.

You could care less about them. Getting on the tips of your toes, you tried to overlook a few high heads. With your sister’s new wardrobe it wasn’t easy to spot her. Her bright colours exchanged for more plain colours. Blending more easily with the others. Turning your head, your eyes widened brief seeing that Colin had returned inside.

Looking searchingly around as well. You dropped your feet flat on the ground, lowering in height. Ducking a bit, you didn’t want Colin to find you. Some lords pulled their noses up at your curious and suspicious behaviour. Finding your way to the crowd lowered as if you were looking for a lost earing.

Lifting your head a bit, you came in contact with Benedict Bridgerton. He sat down, mouth half stuffed with a sweet, the half bitten part in his hand. You smiled sheepishly at him. Benedict moved his free hand to the side, pointing. You followed his point seeing him point at your mama. You thanked him with a nervous smile.

Straightening your back a bit, you walked off casually. Benedict quirking his eyebrow up at your strange, but funny acting. You pretended to make your way over to mama, till you hopped aside, disappearing into the crowd. Where ever could she be? Looking left and right. Then your eyes locked. Pinpointing her.

She stood by the walls, her dance card dangling down her wrist. Her gaze was focused elsewhere. Not far from her stood a group of ladies. Chattering away. Your sister tilting her head a bit, as if being able to hear better. Her expression emotionless. Silently you made a big turn around to reach her out of surprise.

You reached the walls, practically glueing yourself to it. Your reputation was already ruined by gossip, so you could care less for your mischievous acts. Quietly you approached her. Coming to stand beside till she noticed the company that had joined her. She glanced at you. – “Are you not dancing sister?” – you asked gesturing at the dancers. Penelope kept looking in front of her. – “I am trying not to draw any attention to myself.” – she replied. – “I saw you with Colin earlier.” – she added leaning a bit to you.

You clasped your hands together below, leaning a bit forwards. – “What a keen observation sister.” – you answered with a hint of sarcasm. You caught her looking, smiling intentionally at her. Penelope smiled back at you. In silence you both stood, looking away from each other. For the first time in forever it felt awkward standing with your sister. As if being near a stranger. You became aware of some curious eyes once more.

Seeing their heads come together to whisper and gossip. Ladies and lords probably discussing your purity. It hurt. Seeing the entire ton be against you, but perhaps you deserved it. After all you did kiss Colin. Not your intended, not your fiancé and certainly not your husband. Despite all the lies and the hurt, a part of you deserved it. Deserved to be judged like that.

“Best not to draw attention to yourself.” – Penelope spoke softly. It made you widen your eyes at her. Turning around, you left feeling already judged too much. You returned to mama, waiting there till the dreadful ball was over. The carriage ride back home was horrible. Your mother sighing loud as she undid one of her pins from her hair. – “This is a nightmare.” – she called out.

“I’ll have to marry my daughters off to farmers at the rate of this. Congratulations daughters, you better get used to the life of work.” – she said sarcastic. Phillipa busted out in tears, leaning her head against Prudence’s shoulder. She sighed again. – “I had such high hopes for you Y/n. Guess I overrated you.” – she turned to look outside.

Her comment made you lower your head, letting your hands slip in the folds of your skirt. The carriage hobbled on the cobble stone as it rode into your street. Mama got out first, your sisters following. You got out last, feeling miserable as hell. You immediately went to your room, crying on your bed.

Penelope lifted her head up as the door to the Parlor opened. Colin Bridgerton entering. – “Colin.” – Penelope spoke getting up. Colin bowed to her, before approaching him. – “To what do we owe the pleasure?” – she let out with curiosity. –“Are… are you here alone?” – he asked. Penelope let out a soft ‘yes’. – “Would you like some tea?” – she offered, gesturing at the small table. Colin nodded. Penelope poured him some tea, handing him the cup.

Colin took a sip as Penelope was staring at him. It made Colin furrow his brows. – “What is it Pen?” – he asked almost humorously. – “Nothing.” – she responded mesmerized back. It made Colin set the cup down with a sheepish chuckle. – “It is just…” – she started catching his attention. – “Your eyes…” – she began. – “A remarkable shade of blue.” – Gazing wondrously at him.

Colin stared back at her, caught up in her words. The front door opened as you entered alone. You walked past the Parlor, hearing your sister’s voice. – “and yet somehow they shine even brighter when you are kind.” – you heard her speak. Curious as to who your sister was speaking, you cautiously opened the door a smidge. Enough for you to look into the room, with one eye. Your eyes widening seeing her stand with Colin Bridgerton.

Colin cleared his throat, drinking his tea as if parched. You backed away from the door in stunned. Slowly figuring it out, you made your way over to the stairs. Stomping loudly as your presence was known now. Penelope turned around in shock. Colin with a quizzable brow. He moved forward, thinking perhaps an intruder had come to the house. Penelope’s eyes shifting thoughtfully, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Upstairs you rushed to your sister’s room. Swinging the door open as you didn’t bother to close it. Immediately you went towards her desk. Pulling the drawers open. Searching vigorously through the papers. Some flew out of the drawer from your force. On her desk stood a little box as you opened it, ruffling with your hand in it. Nothing. You went towards her dresser, searching through her clothing.

Nothing. The covers got pulled back from her bed. Nothing, not even under the bed. For a moment, you felt impatient. Biting your finger a bit. Till your eyes fell upon something else. You crossed the room, hearing a plank creek. It made you pause. Putting more pressure on it, to hear the difference. It creaked more.

Kneeling down you let your fingers brush over the wooden edges. Till you felt that you could lift the plank a bit up. Eyes widening, you pulled the plank up. Almost aggressively you forced your hands down to the wooden box and papers. Reading head line after head line. Dearest gentile reader. Dearest gentile reader. Dearest gentile reader. Throwing a few pages around you, you couldn’t stop reading them. All editions of Lady Whistledown you had read before.

The realization hitting you. The one who wrote such filth about you, was closer than you thought. Your own dearest sister. Quiet wallflower Penelope Featherington. Shy as a mouse, but loud with a mighty pen. In shock, you got up, holding numerous pages of filth. There were rushed footsteps on the stairs. Penelope barging into the room as she bumped against the doorframe, panting.

Her eyes widened at the sight of you with her papers. You slowly looked up to her, holding the numerous papers up. – “You… you did this…” – you said still trying to process your discovery. – “I can explain.” – she started coming closer. – “Filth after filth!” – You started throwing pages at her. Penelope got started as some pages flew against her.

“You wrote about me!” – you screamed out throwing the last of pages at her. Bending down, you picked up a few more. – “Does this satisfy you sister!” – waving the pages at her. – “I saw you with Colin!” – Penelope called out full of emotion. It made you throw the pages at her out of anger. – “So you decided to write lies about me!” – you yelled at her. – “You know I like Colin!” – Penelope answered justifying her acts. It made you scream in agony. – “If you just stayed away from him, I wouldn’t have to write about you!” – Penelope made clear.

Pacing around, you felt yourself get emotional. Lip trembling as you tried your best not to cry. – “You are the devil!” – you cried out with tears in your eyes. Penelope swallowed, finally cracking to her own emotions. – “It was only meant to teach you a lesson.” – she said. – “Is that what you were doing?!” – you shouted at her. – “By writing about me in your latest sheet! By telling the entire world about things I entrusted you with?” – you finished with anger.

“It was the only way I could convince you to leave Colin alone.” – she responded with emotion in her voice. You took a step forward to her, wiping your cheek clean. Your expression turning cold. – “The only person you were interested in glorifying was yourself!”

Penelope briefly looked away. – “I do not even know you.” – you said to her taking a step back from her. You turned away from her, wiping more tears away that kept coming. Penelope’s expression changed with anger. – “All you ever do is talk about your sisters!” – Penelope called out in frustration. – “You’ve all these dreams and ambitions, but I am the one who did something great, and you cannot stand it!” – She yelled out.

You returned to your sister, inhaling deep. – “I wish to never see or speak to you again.” – you told her coldly. You went towards the door till you stopped, finger thoughtfully against your lips. – “I wouldn’t put your hopes on Colin, Pen.” – you said to her. – “He’s not interested in you.” – you let her know, wanting to have the final blow.

Your words cut like a knife through her heart, making her gasp soft. You left her room, crying your eyes out. Penelope grabbed a pillow and threw it in agony at the wall. Rushing down the stairs, you didn’t expect Colin to still be here. – “Y/n?” – he said with concern at the foot of the stairs. With a trembling lip, you walked over to him, wrapping your arms around him.

Colin got startled for a second. – “What is wrong Y/n?” – he asked, moving his arms around you. You only wrapped your arms tighter around him, wanting him to comfort you. Colin hugged you better, stroking your back. Penelope had come into sight, standing at the railing of the stairway, looking down at Colin and you. You curled up a smile, knowing your sister was watching.

You moved a bit back in the hug as Colin saw the tears on your face. He touched your chin, concerned for you. – “What happened Y/n? Who hurt you?” – he wanted to know. You simply turned your head, looking at your sister up on the second floor. Colin looked past you to her as well. Penelope gripped onto the railing, staring bitter down. – “Pen?” – Colin asked you confused.

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Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!

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gloombat3 · 13 days ago

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My reasons/motivations to ☆ve <3

1. To wear anything I want and feel confident and pretty, not having to worry about how my outfits gonna look because sk1nny IS the outfit, even wearing the ugliest clothes.

2. To be able to tell I’m sk1nny even with baggy clothes.

3. To dress up for fun, to wear a cute outfit do my makeup and hair and everything for no reason, just because I know I look good and to feel genuinely confident. And take pictures!

4. This goes with the one above, taking pictures!! Taking pictures and actually liking them, feeling pretty in them, and to feel confident posting them since I look good.

5. To post myself and feel pretty in them and not delete it right after.

6. To go out wearing anything I want because I don’t want to hide my b0dy anymore I want to show it off! To want to show off how sk1nny I am.

7. To sit, stand, lay, or be in any position but not cover my tummy with my arms because in any angle I look sk1nny and pretty, to be confident in any way I move I still look th1n.

8. To not be afraid or embarrassed of myself, going out or hanging out with people. To not cancel on them because I don’t want anyone to perceive me, quite the opposite to WANT to go out because I WANT people to perceive me and how sk1nny I am.

9. For people to compliment me. For people to tell me how pretty I am and I know the reason why. For people to compliment my b0dy for example “your b0dy is tea!”

10. For people to ask if I’m okay, for them to worry. For people to ask me if I’ve e4t3n or to tell me I should e4t something.

11. For people to be jealous of how sk1nny and pretty I am.

12. To be the th1nn3st sk1nn13st person in the room or pictures. But VISIBLY. Not averagely th1n, to not be average or unnoticeable. To be NOTICEABLY sk1nny in any room that I’m the first person people look at.

13. Not only to be sk1nn13r than everyone else but to also have the most self control. In a setting where everyone’s e4t1ng, I’m the only one who isn’t or if anything I’ll only take a small bite because I have the discipline and control, and it makes me look delicate and petite.

14. The control, the discipline. To be able to resist and never regret.

15. If people insult how I look and they try to sk1nny shame me it’ll be a compliment, for example “you’re sk1n and b0n3s!” Is so validating and fueling.

16. People treating me nicer because I’m so delicate and fragile, doing things for me, pretty (in other words sk1nny privilege).

17. If I get rejected, I won’t be as hurt because I’ll be confident enough and know it’s not because of my looks because I’m sk1nny, I won’t worry about “they don’t like me because I’m f4t :(“ It’s their loss.

18. To feel cold all the time, it’s like feeling fragile, maybe even be offered a jacket. In a setting where everyone is hot and sweating but I’m shivering cold and they’ll be all confused and I’ll still look pretty from not sweating.

19. To want to look in the mirror and liking what I see. To not be afraid of showering or even changing clothes because I’m okay with myself being n4k3d, whether it be alone or with a partner, no shame or embarrassment. Instead, pride.

20. To regain my spark, being sk1nny makes me so happy and euphoric (especially while 🌟ving) I get more energized and have more personality since I’m not so depressed and h8 myself so much. Being sk1nny makes me less afraid to be myself because sk1nny people are always less judged.

21. To take a bite in front of other people and not feel gross and disgusting, big backed, because I’m still the sk1nn13st and it doesn’t make a difference, not feeling ashamed to e4t in front of people.

22. For people to question if I just have a really fast metabolism and maybe even ask, but it’s a secret 🤫

23. For people to question how I lost w8, or for them to simply comment “you look different.” Comments like “you look sl1mm3r.”

24. To be different than the rest since no one is as sk1nny as I am, and that gives me more attention, people are willing to listen more and to acknowledge you more.

25. For life to genuinely feel good. To feel good waking up knowing I have the b0dy I’ve yearned for and worked for. To have motivation to go through the day, not dreading the next.

26. To not only see myself look good in the mirror but from a first hand perspective, to look down and see my fl4t even c0nc4v3 tummy and overall th1n figure.

27. Having visible b0n3s. Even if I’m wearing a shirt or top, to have my r1bs still be visible.

28. To wear low waist pants or bottoms and look good and feel good, h1pb0n3s are the outfit. Even just by wearing fitting bottoms they’re still poking out.

29. To have visible ch3st b0n3s

30. To have visible shoulder b0n3s, this!!! It’s so pretty, wearing a tank top or any shoulder revealing top and they stick up.

31. To have protruding shoulder bl4d3s, any open back dress/top looks so good with them sticking out.

32. F4T FR33 T0RS0!!! Imagine!!! A fl4t tvmmy, c1nch3d w41st, no mvff1n t0p or anything, being confident wearing anything revealing/fitting, even crop tops or a bathing suit.

33. To go to the beach or pool! To be confident and sk1nny in a bathing suit and look so good, not being embarrassed and ashamed of my b0dy and comparing to other people.

34. IRL TH1NSP0!!! Anywhere you go being the sk1nn13st person is being irl th1nsp0, other people look and wish they looked like you.

35. Being my own th1nsp0!!

36. To not be scared of getting wayed at the doctors office/in general and feeling embarrassed.

37. Being the IT girl (or boy).

38. To have sl1m hands/fingers, any nail shape looks good even when it’s cut down to it’s shortest. Acrylics or fake nails look even better because having sk1nny hands only enhances it.

39. Th1gh g4p!!! To not have to stand a certain way so that it’ll be visible or show at all, at any angle it’s always seperated.

40. Th1n th1ghs, even sitting down they look sl3nd3r and not feeling self conscious about sitting and them getting huge.

41. Sl1m c4lv3s!!! At any angle they look th1n and not having bulky l3gs.

42. To not be bl04t3d.

43. To feel like I’m in an 4n4 film, pretending I’m the star who’s super sk1nny and it’s a doc about my life with it.

44. To be aesthetic no matter what.

45. Some people can be touchy, but not fearing they’ll be that way towards me, like a nudge or even accidentally touching my b3lly or w41st for example because if anything I’ll want them to feel my b0n3s and how sk1nny I am and hope that they even comment about it like “woah!”

46. To be picked up and not feel self conscious about what if they think I’m h34vy but instead be confident and enjoy it because I’ll know that they’ll feel how light I am, light as a feather.

47. Like above, but sitting in a crowded car/seat or a setting where everyone is shoulder to shoulder and not worrying they’ll feel my f4t, instead I can feel them bumping into my b0n3s and it feels validating.

48. To FEEL light, to walk with silent steps because my b0dy isn’t heavy enough for my feet to stomp loudly, to feel like I’m floating on a cloud all the time. Even while wearing heavy clothes or heavy shoes.

49. To feel my b0dy e4t1ng away at itself, to feel empty and petite, a growling b3lly is an applause rather than discomfort.

50. Simply to be sk1nny. Would solve 999 of my problems. To be happy. To be confident. To like myself. To like looking in the mirror. Not live in shame and guilt of over e4t1ng or b1ng1ng, to not repeat the cycle that leads me to the same dark place as always. To not feel pathetic and gross. To not h8 myself. To feel comfortable in my b0dy.

Don’t just imagine. Do it, live it.

“Nothing tastes as good as sk1nny feels” <3

117 notes · View notes

sinner-sunflower · 1 year ago

Text

A HH Lucifer-centric AU 1/22

PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12, PART 13, PART 14, PART 15, PART 16, PART 17, PART 18, PART 19, PART 20, PART 21, PART 22

STORY 2 - Sequel

HOOK: A LUCIFER CENTRIC AU - AO3

Some RadioApple undertones perhaps.

Another idea popped up but I still can't write fully alksjdakljl

I swear this has more plot to it. It will involve the Sins, Luci's siblings, and overlords.

Big idea. Little vocab.

Will link a part 2 when I post it!

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

The Hazbin Hotel residents stare in fear as the young Morningstar is having an ugly, one-sided, verbal match with her father.

It has been a stressful day and Charlie was on a short fuse. Vaggie tried to coax her girlfriend to relax but it didn't work. The other residents, minus Alastor, were too afraid to try because if Vaggie couldn't, how could they.

Lucifer was up on his tower when he was called downstairs to get his daughter to calm down but it just made him the primary target for her frustrations.

Charlie: Dad! Stop! I don't need this. I. Am. Fine.

Lucifer: Sweetie, you clearly aren't. Why don't you take a nap? I know that always helped you to calm down.

Charlie: Know?! Tell me, Dad. What exactly do you know about me after not being present in my life for decades??

Lucifer, stunned: Char-char-

Charlie: Don't call me that!

Vaggie: Charlie, I think-

Charlie: I wish it was you who had just got up and disappeared instead of Mom. At least she would've been there for me from the start!

There was a small gasp from Angel but no one dared to make a sound. What can they even say to that? All that can be heard is Charlie's labored breathing.

Lucifer's eyes narrow and his heart breaks a little (liar, the whole just shattered) but he doesn’t say anything. His shoulders slump, eyes void as his gaze never leaves his daughter.

Charlie seems to realize what she had just said and opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out.

Lucifer: Of course

The King of Hell says it slowly, almost like he's drunk. (But he can't get drunk. Believe him, he tried. He tried multiple times to drink himself to-

Lucifer: But you're exhausted and I'm sure Alastor can pick up where you left off. Go sleep.

The King gives a strained smile to the group then promptly goes back upstairs.

Once he's gone. Charlie moves to follow but is stopped by Alastor blocking her way.

Alastor: I wouldn't try that, my dear. I suggest you listen to your father and rest. Separately.

Charlie: But-

Angel: Not a good time, toots. You fucked up.

And she did.

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

I love Charlie okay!!! I just like to think that the most cheerful ones always have the sharpest tongues when frustrated.

339 notes · View notes

wecantalktomorrow · 2 years ago

Text

Welcome to Kay's 25 Days of Smutmas!

Starting on December 1st, I will be posting a new smut fic everyday until Christmas! These are all one shots of varying lengths and content. As they are posted, I will add the links to this post, summaries and lengths will be included under the break!

All fics will be Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson.

You can subscribe on AO3 here!

NOW COMPLETE!

🎄 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 🎄 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 🎄 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 🎄 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 🎄 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 🎄

🎁 December 1: 2.2k

The actions had Harry’s back arching, a low moan resonating in his throat as his hands found Louis’s hair. “Wha?” Was his garbled response as he blinked into the darkness, trying to orient himself while simultaneously pushing his cock farther into Louis’s mouth. Lifting his head, he blinked down at the scene before him, his fingers knotting into his husband’s hair immediately. “Oh, fuck me,” he whimpered as his brain seemingly processed what was happening.

🎁 December 2: 1.9k

Louis smiled down at Harry in approval, bringing his hand up to knot it into his hair, stroking at his scalp affectionately. “There’s my good boy,” he murmured. His cock was standing at attention almost directly in front of Harry’s face and his boy managed to keep his gaze on Louis’s face. He was so proud of him. “Gonna use your mouth a little, baby."

🎁 December 3: 3.3k

Louis couldn’t help but grin, a small laugh escaping him, at the way Harry voiced his own previous thoughts. Nodding through a moan, he pulled at his husband’s left hand, bringing it to his lips so he could press a kiss to the band adorning his finger before peppering kisses to the rest of his knuckles, gaze never leaving Harry’s face. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, m’love,” he answered quietly, giving the hand he was holding an affectionate squeeze before moving his hands to the man’s hips.

🎁 December 4: 1.3k

He was going to die in their bed, on his back with the most beautiful man between his legs, licking him out like his life depended on it and teasing him until he felt as if he was on the verge of combustion.

🎁 December 5: 2.0k

“Was just thinking about that night, how you came onto me under the guise of your high,” Louis teased further, watching the way Harry sputtered through his exhale, an appalled look on his face. Louis started to laugh, body shaking with it as his grip tightened on Harry’s hips to keep him from getting up. “You had such a crush on me that you were willing to choke to death? That’s embarrassing.”

🎁 December 6: 1.9k

Louis hummed in response, opening her palm and pressing down on Harry’s pubic bone to still her hips once again. “I am touching you, but if you don’t keep still and be my good girl, I will not be touching you any further. Do not be greedy, Harry. You will get what I give you, understand?” Louis’s tone was gentle yet firm, turning her head only to raise an eyebrow at Harry.

🎁 December 7: 2.3k

“Fuck, baby,” Louis moaned, tugging at Harry’s curls. “Don’t think this kind of content is allowed in the documentary or on my Instagram, yeah?”

🎁 December 8: 3.3k

He turned around, grabbing at Harry's waist and pushing him up against the closed door. "M'sisters seem to think you want a baby," Louis whispered hotly, sucking at Harry's earlobe as his hands tightened their grip on his hips, bringing his own closer to pin his husband against the door. "Is that true? Do you want a baby?"

🎁 December 9: 2.5k

“Louis, I have an idea.”

And isn’t that how they usually ended up in these situations?

🎁 December 10: 2.3k

Harry closed in on Louis’s frame, mouth dry and brain still buffering. When she opened her mouth to answer, agree with the statement, do something other than stand there and stare at her girlfriend – all that came out of her was, “Does the skirt pass the head test?” And with that, she was stepping closer until her chest was pressed to Louis’s back, urging them both forward into the stall, allowing the door to close behind her before she was dropping to her knees.

🎁 December 11: 3.6k

Louis couldn’t help but smile proudly, holding an intense infatuation with the way Harry was always so eager to please; to be good for him. “That’s my girl,” he murmured, tucking one of her loose curls behind her ear before cupping her cheek in his palm, stroking at her jawline with his thumb. “How’s this? You get down on those pretty knees of yours, kneel for me for a while beneath this desk, maybe hold my cock in that beautiful mouth of yours and keep it warm for me? If you can be my good girl while I do this interview, I’ll put my mouth on you in return when it’s done, hm?”

🎁 December 12: 2.2k

Louis, seemingly snapping out of his possessive trance, lifted his gaze to Harry’s face and smiled, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “Yeah, well, you look fucking amazing. Knowing that’s our baby in there is just… It’s so…” He trailed off, looking at the Omega and offering up a helpless shrug, unable to word why exactly his response was the way it was.

🎁 December 13: 3.8k

Louis groaned at the applied friction to his cock, tugging sharply at Harry’s curls when his hips rolled forward. “Nice to meet you, Harry, ‘m Louis,” he answered, panting into the other man’s mouth. “Yeah? Do you have a thing for married men, then?” He smirked at the shuddery breath Harry released, slipping a hand under the front of the jumper he was wearing, teasing his fingertips over the abs there.

🎁 December 14: 4.0k

That was how, some hours later, Harry found herself face down and all but begging for mercy as she fisted the sheets. Her thighs were trembling, her breath leaving her in wet, labored pants as she pushed back into the sensation.

🎁 December 15: 2.6k

Glancing down, Harry keened at the liquid leaving his nipples. His cheeks flushed a brilliant crimson, gaze darting over the Alpha’s shoulder as he pulled his lower lip between his teeth. Despite the embarrassment flooding his being, he couldn’t help but arch into Louis’s persistent touch that was still working his nipples. “F-fuck,” he breathed, a shiver running through him, “I’m sorry.”

🎁 December 16: 2.3k

A shocked gasp left Harry’s lips when the hot wax came in contact with her skin, cunt clenching around Louis’s cock with a please moan. “Fuck, Louis,” she breathed after a moment, staring down at him with eyes blow wide with lust. The pain paired with the way Louis’s cock hit every space deep within her so perfectly had her lifting her hips slightly only to force them down again quickly. “So good,” she panted.

🎁 December 17: 2.1k

“Does my girl want me between her legs, hm?” Louis answered, lifting his gaze to watch the way Harry’s face changed under the endearment, looking to ensure that he read the situation correctly. “Looked so pretty tonight, did my girl need some attention?” His words were muffled into Harry’s skin as he moved to bite at her thigh once again, sucking at the skin as his hands continued to travel over whatever expanses he could reach.

🎁 December 18: 2.0k

It was a silly question. Louis recognized the sounds, the distinct tone in Harry’s voice, the vulnerable Omega tone that had slipped into his pleads. His mate’s heat was starting early and he was on the other side of the world. The reality of the situation settled in and had his Alpha clawing at his chest as he grew restless, pacing the floor with the phone still stuck to his ear.

🎁 December 19: 1.7k

The curly-haired man was sobbing into the sheets, hips fidgeting every time Louis’s fingers grew closer to that spot inside of him where he craved it the most – only to slip away, never providing him the satisfaction he needed. It was driving him insane, his knuckles aching with how tightly curled his fists were. The additional feel of Louis’s scruff scratching his skin did not help the situation. “Louis,” he choked out, shifting his face in an attempt to look back at the older man, “please.”

🎁 December 20: 2.1k

“Think you can hold it for me, H? Be a good girl?” Louis asked, quirking an eyebrow at Harry. He left the decision to her, stroking over her cheek with his thumb. His eyes stayed locked on her face, watching for any signs of apprehension to the prospect of playing today. “Up to you, princess,” he commented, scratching lightly at her scalp.

🎁 December 21: 2.0k

Louis blatantly sniffed the air, his grip tightening on Harry’s hips as he pulled him closer. “Omega,” he rasped, leaning in to get another whiff of the boy before he continued, “love, I think you’re going into heat.” The statement brought a moment of clarity upon the Alpha as he took a minute to think, holding the – now whining – Omega closer to him.

🎁 December 22: 2.0k

“Alright, then?” Harry asked gruffly, her lips brushing the shell of Louis’s ear as she pulled her closer to her own chest. She would like to say that she isn’t usually the jealous, possessive type, that it’s only because of the alcohol currently running through her system but, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. When your girlfriend looked like Louis, it was understandable for people to stare but never for them to touch.

🎁 December 23: 2.4k

Harry surprises Louis with a new piercing when he returns from tour.

🎁 December 24: 1.4k

It had started with Harry leaning in and lapping a drip of ice cream from the side of Louis’s mouth, kissing him deeply when their lips met. A whisper of happy birthday and I love you passed between them. The action had lit a fire in Louis’s eyes, a considering look on his face as he appraised Harry before he was sinking to his knees with the carton and spoon in his hand.

🎁 December 25: 5.3k

The reassurance from Louis had Harry grinning and running his hands down his husband’s sides. “I think you’re going to like it,” he murmured confidently, starting to play with the hem of his own jumper when he sat back against his husband’s bent knees. “Sorry you don’t get to unwrap it, though. Knew you’d be more reluctant to be tied up if you saw it first.”

276 notes · View notes

zosan-secondchances · 1 month ago

Text

The Pirate King of the North: Part 25

Warning: Long post ahead and some One Piece spoilers. Contains strong language and explicit content.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 (Special) | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29

Doflamingo

This is a fun little new trick, Fukaboshi. Did Daddy teach it to you? What say you show it off next time we have another dinner party, hmm?

Fukaboshi

Don't change the topic. And don't force my hand, brother. You wouldn't want to do this the hard way.

Doflamingo snarls at him angrily and lunges forwards but is only able to nudge his head and shoulders. Fukaboshi's water abilities remain strong. The ever swirling vortex that holds the Warlord constricts his body in place.

Doflamingo

Don't you dare call me that, fish scum. I never have thought of you as one.

Fukaboshi

You're right. I shouldn't. Especially after everything you've done.

It's a shame…. You had every potential to do good and look at you now.

Doflamingo

Tch. You don't know me at all.

Fukaboshi narrows his eyes and hovers himself away, pulling the trident from the Warlord's face to slam its base onto the sandy floor.

Fukaboshi

No…. Something's changed.

Doflamingo

Nothing has changed. I've always been like this.

The mermaid king hesitates and carefully observes the state of the man in front of him. Seeing that the Warlord is too maddened, he judges that he will have no chance to change his heart by appealing to him at this point. He presses on back to the original matter at hand.

Fukaboshi

Tell me where Sanji is, Doflamingo.

At that, the tall blonde remains quiet. Through the cracked lenses of his sunglasses, the mermaid king sees his eyes move ever so subtly to the side, towards the shore where he'd emerged from. When he follows his gaze, he sees a dark shape half buried in the sand. He approaches it.

Doflamingo

Don't!

Fukaboshi pauses on his tracks and glances at him with an intrigued brow. He continues his careful approach. As he gets closer, Doflamingo’s rage worsens.

Doflamingo

I SWEAR, IF AS MUCH AS LAY A SINGLE FINGER ON HIM–!!!

Fukaboshi

Sanji?

The mermaid king's eyes widen in surprise when he recognises the stranger's familiar blonde hair and curled brows. He doesn't question his new form but instead, he gently scoops him up and carries him in one of his large arms.

Doflamingo

WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY?! When I get out of here, I will gut you and the rest of your family!

Fukaboshi ignores him and quietly floats inland, never taking his concerned gaze off the unconscious young man.

Fukaboshi

Heart Pirates, I need your assistance.

From behind a large boulder near one of Jaya’s forests, Bepo, Penguin and Shachi come out of hiding and run towards him.

Bepo

Did you find them, King Fukaboshi?!

Fukaboshi

Keep Sanji safe. I think he was knocked out cold.

Bepo

Ahh!! Chore Boy! Give– uh…

As soon as the mermaid king passes the young man into the arms of the polar bear mink, the three Heart Pirates stare at the stranger in confusion. After a short moment, Penguin breaks the silence.

Penguin

We've been doing this for a very long time but not once have I seen this as a symptom for getting “knocked out cold”.

Shachi

Are you sure it's him, Mr. Fish King?

Fukaboshi

I am certain.

Bepo

He looks so…different. Younger! How can you be so sure?

Fukaboshi

Just a gut feeling.

And…Doffy there isn't too happy.

They all turn their attention to the still writhing and raging Warlord in Fukaboshi's water hold.

Bepo

You did it…. You really did it! You captured him! Captain will be so happy!

Shachi

I'll get a dry towel for Chore Boy.

Penguin

Right! Let's get to work!

Bepo

Right!

The Heart Pirates hurriedly make their way towards a nearby treeline and settle the younger Sanji on the soft grass to nurse him.

Doflamingo

I will kill. Every. Single. One of you.

DO YOU HEAR ME?!

Fukaboshi glares at the Warlord and returns to stand in front of him. He holds his trident aloft and slams the blunt end onto the ground. From the impact, a loud gong-like tune emanates from the weapon and reverberates through to its very tips. The sand shifts like a wave of water and the force travels out to the open sea. Doflamingo makes a growling sound at the back of his throat but stops struggling about.

Reiju

Fukaboshi!!

A familiar shape appears from above. With Law on her back, the pink commander descends and takes a run towards the mermaid king. When she gets closer, they notice her bulging heart-shaped eyes and legs spinning about, moving around left and right like a toy top.

Reiju

FUKABOSHI, MY BEAUTIFUL PRINCE!!! Your long wavy locks and bedazzling scales never fail to brighten my day!

Please, PLEASE ignore the ugly man hanging off me! My heart only belongs to you!

Law

QUIT IT!! You’re making me dizzy! Put me down!

Reiju

Psh.

When Reiju finally settles, Law spots the water-bound Warlord and gawks at him in bewilderment. He hops down from the commander's back and approaches Doflamingo cautiously.

Law

You…. How is this possible?

Fukaboshi

You must be Trafalgar Law. I heard so many good things about you.

Law

A pleasure, Your Highness. I assume this is your handiwork?

Fukaboshi

Please, just “Fukaboshi” will do. Any friend of the Pirate King is a friend to Fish-Man Island. And yes. A mutual friend of ours insisted I get more creative with my combative skills so… here we are.

Doflamingo

Well, well…what lovely new friends we’re all making today. Don't think this is all over, Law. You're the reason why this all started in the first place.

Reiju

I think it very much is the end for you, Doflamingo.

Great job, Fukaboshi! You really did it this time!

Fukaboshi half bows to her with an appreciative smile.

Reiju

Have you seen Sanji and Roronoa Zoro by any chance? He and this one had thrown themselves off Skypiea and fought midair. We couldn't catch up in time and lost sight of him.

Fukaboshi doesn’t look too impressed at the sound of the Demon Warlord’s name but as he’s in the audience of one of his favourite Vinsmokes, he keeps his composure.

Fukaboshi

I'm afraid I haven't seen Roronoa Zoro. I've just called for my forces to return. Hopefully they will have better news for you. As for Sanji–

The tide rapidly drops and all eyes turn towards the body of water. When it rises, a large form emerges from the depths, accompanied by two gigantic seakings tailing it closely. The creatures remain partly submerged and stop just before the shallower side. Shirahoshi floats with her own bubble over the land to join the crowd, looking tired and emotional.

Shirahoshi

Big sister Reiju! I'm so glad to see you safe! Did you find Sanji?!

Reiju

Erm…

Fukaboshi

The Heart Pirates are tending to the Pirate King as we speak.

Reiju

Oh, Fukaboshi, you're the best!!

Reiju jumps to kiss Fukaboshi on the cheek then immediately runs inland to join the Heart Pirates by the treeline.

Shirahoshi

This is great news about Sanji! But uhm…big brother, my seakings found a uh… sky seaking, I guess?

Fukaboshi

A…what?

They look towards the seakings in the water. When Shirahoshi waves at them, they shift their long tails apart to reveal a giant snake partly wrapped over their long bodies for support.

Law

NOLA?!?

The two giant creatures assist Nola towards the shore, curling and stretching their long tails to carefully carry her through. Thanks to them, her head stays above the surface but the rest of her body falls limp in the waters. They can tell that she's in no shape to move. Her body is riddled with scorch marks and cuts which Law deduces were from the fires and the raiders’ attacks. He quickly trudges through the shallow end and places a gentle affectionate hand on her massive nose.

Law

What are you doing all the way down here? How did you even get here? Is Skypiea gone for good?

The creature coos softly at recognising his voice. She weakly opens her eyes and looks straight at him. To Law’s surprise, she winks. With a groan, she slowly opens her mouth widely and everyone on the island gasps in shock.

Inside her gaping maw, the entire population of Skypiea stood. They cover and squint their eyes until they adjust to the light. At which point, Wyper, Gan Fall and Conis carefully make their way down from Nola's tongue then through between her fangs.

Wyper

So this is the blue sea…. The air is… different–ah.

As soon as the three Skypieans jump onto the shallow waters, their legs quiver at the odd sensation.

Conis

Why are the clouds like this? So weird…. It's all water.

When they walk further and onto the sandy ground, they are met by the mermaid king and his sister. They stare at each other curiously, eyeing the different features on their bodies in amazement having never seen species of their kinds before.

Conis

You… you have a tail! And gills! And you can fly? So cool!!

Shirahoshi

And you have wings and…those pointy things on your head! That’s so fascinating! Oh…this is just a coral bubble. We need it to float around on land.

Fukaboshi smiles warmly at them.

Fukaboshi

You must be the sky people. I welcome you. I wish your arrival was in better circumstances. It’s not normally this…

He glances behind him towards Doflamingo.

Fukaboshi

…unpleasant.

Wyper

You don’t say…

Wyper marches angrily at the bound Warlord.

Wyper

This must be the Doflamingo we've heard so much about. I should kill you right here, right now for burning down our home.

Voice

Wait!

Red and green blazing auras descend from the sky. When they land, Yonji approaches Fukaboshi and the crowd surrounding him while Ichiji hurriedly makes his way towards the Heart Pirates with the unconscious Niji in his arms.

Reiju

Oh, Niji…. Lay him here, brother. Gently now.

Ichiji

You got Sanji, then? Wait…

Reiju

It’s a long story….

Gan Fall

It’s you! Wyper, Conis–look! It's the green Northy!

Yonji

God and Skypieans… I… I took part in the destruction of your home and I will take full responsibility for my actions.

Wyper’s face turns red from fury.

Wyper

You… WHAT?!

Reiju

Hold on!

Before Wyper could lunge at Yonji, Reiju runs and puts herself between them. She holds her brother's hand behind her protectively.

Reiju

Doflamingo controlled him against his will. He couldn't fight it!

Wyper

I don't care about your excuses! He deserves to be punished!

Reiju

I agree. But not here. Not like this.

Gan Fall steps forward from behind and lays a gentle hand on Wyper’s shoulder.

Gan Fall

The girl is right, Wyper. We can’t rush into these things. Just remember, this young man rescued us from those pirates and somehow helped us find our way down here.

Having left Niji in the Heart Pirate’s care, Ichiji joins them to chime in.

Ichiji

Yonji did well, sister. He did exactly what God said and single handedly flew the snake down with his winches to save everyone from the fires. It wasn't easy. We’re lucky we ran into Shirahoshi.

Gan Fall

See, Wyper? Level your head. He deserves a fair trial. You’re not going to run away, are you, young man?

Yonji

No, sir. I meant what I said. I will accept the consequences of my actions.

Gan Fall

A brave and honourable decision. We will certainly attend your hearing and we will take that into account. I suppose we’ll just have to trust you to come along.

Reiju

And what of Doflamingo’s crew?

Yonji hesitates to speak. He shifts his legs and rubs the back of his arm uncomfortably. When Reiju sees them, she notices that his sleeves are covered in dried blood.

Yonji

They’re taken care of.

Ichiji

Under my direct order, Reiju. They didn’t give us much of a choice. They were relentless.

Reiju

Oh…

Wyper

Tch.

Wyper crosses his arms and averts his gaze, unsatisfied with the whole situation and Gan Fall’s decision to not take immediate action.

Yonji

I’m sorry. I know my apology isn’t enough and it will never be. I don’t expect you to forgive me at all.

Wyper

You bet we wo–!

When the warrior glares at the commander, he freezes. He sees a mirage of Zoro and Sanji’s faces circle around his green-haired head. When they merge into one, the illusion pops, revealing Yonji's face behind it. Blood suddenly bursts out of Wyper’s nose. His eyes roll to the back of his skull as he faints but Yonji catches him by an arm and around his waist in time before he hits the ground.

Yonji

Woah, woah! Are you okay? What happened? I swear, I didn’t do anything.

Wyper groans, his eyes spinning in circles.

Conis

OH! It’s because you look like… erm… I’ll explain later. Come on, Wyper. Sit down and have a second.

Conis leads them under the treeline with the rest of the injured. Yonji sets down the dizzy warrior to recover in the shade. Back on the shore, Law rolls his eyes after realising exactly what the Skypiean was talking about.

Law

Now then…

The doctor approaches Doflamingo until he's just outside the vortex of water that binds him. He taps his own shoulder a couple of times with his sheathed sword, glaring at the man. Doflamingo simply returns his gaze with a menacing smile.

Doflamingo

I hope you’re happy, Trafalgar. This is a very heartwarming reunion…seeing old friends and making new ones. Quite touching.

Law

You have something that belongs to me.

Doflamingo

You would think so.

Law

Fukaboshi, I need to search him.

Fukaboshi

You’re welcome to. He’s too weak in the water to resist. Though I must recommend a non-Devil Fruit user to assist you. If you so much as touch those waters, you’ll find that your energy will drain in an instant.

Law

I see. In that case–

Doflamingo

You can search me all you want, Law. But you’ll find that I have nothing in my possession that’s of interest to you.

Rosinante is lost. Again. Thanks to you.

Law narrows his eyes at him and grits his teeth angrily, resisting every urge to beat the living shit out of him.

Voice

Big bro! We found the swordsman!

All eyes turn back to the sea and watch Fukaboshi’s brothers emerge from the blue waters. With their own bubbles, they float their way up to the island. In front, Ryuboshi leads the way with a weakened and bloodied Zoro on his back. Manboshi follows closely behind them, carrying all three of his swords in his arms.

Law

Zoro-ya!

Zoro struggles to lift his head over the mermaid prince's shoulder. As soon as he sees Law, he raises his arm, showing off the Heart of Skypiea in his hand. The doctor feels a great amount of relief wash over him.

Doflamingo

Tch.

Reiju

MY PRINCES!!!

Shirahoshi

Wait, big sister! Close your eyes!!!

Clasping her hands under her chin, Reiju spins and circles around all three mermaid brothers. Lecherous hearts pop out of her eyes.

Reiju

My three favourite royal mermen…all in one place?! I have…to resist…. BUT I COULDN'T BE ANY HAPPIER! MY GORGEOUS HANDSOME BEAUTIES! PLEASE ALLOW ME TO EXPRESS MY UNDYING LOVE!!

Before she can, Reiju suddenly turns into stone. Her stunned body falls onto the sand with a heavy thump and they all stare at her awkwardly.

Shirahoshi

I’m so, so, sorry Reiju!

Big brothers! I told you to wear shirts!

Manboshi

Oh no… not again.

Ichiji sighs in exasperation and drags Reiju’s petrified body by her foot though the sand and up on the grassy terrain where the Heart Pirates are currently tending to the injured–some more than others.

Ichiji

Here. Another one.

Heart Pirates

WHAT?!

Bepo

What's with everyone just suddenly fainting?! We’re not even under attack!

Penguin

Captain!! We are severely understaffed right now.

Shachi

I don’t even know how to help this one!

Ichiji

Trust me, she's pretty helpless. Just give her time and make sure nothing breaks off.

Bepo

…Oops…

Ichiji

…Like that. Yeah…. It’s probably best that you don't tell her that you snapped some of her hair.

Back on the sandy shores where the friends gathered, Ryuboshi approaches the mermaid king.

Ryuboshi

Big brother, what do we do with the Demon Warlord, do-re-mi-fa~?

Zoro attempts to push himself to look up but his head flumps back onto the mermaid prince’s shoulder. When the crystal heart slips from his grasp, Law catches it on time.

Fukaboshi snarls at the sight of the swordsman and crosses his arms.

Fukaboshi

This one you can throw back into the sea.

Neptune Siblings

WHAT?!

Doflamingo laughs out loud.

Doflamingo

For once, we are in agreement, King Fukaboshi.

Fukaboshi

Hmph.

Shirahoshi

That’s so cruel, big brother! No! I must insist that we help him!

Fukaboshi

Do what you want. He can drown or bleed to death for all I care. Both, if we're lucky.

Shirahoshi

Stop talking like that!

Zoro

Let…let me down.

Ryuboshi

A–are you sure, swordsman? You look badly hurt, re-mi-so~

Law approaches and assists Zoro off the mermaid prince. He hooks his arm around his shoulder to keep him up.

Zoro

Traffy… I failed him. I couldn't…

Law

He's here. Come on. I’ll take you to him.

Relieved to hear the news, Zoro lets the doctor drag his feet. Fukaboshi’s unhappy eyes follow them as they make their way inland. The rest of the crowd tails them, eager to hear the exact events that unfolded in Skypiea, and to check on Sanji and the rest of the injured. Now alone with the mermaid king, Doflamingo speaks.

Doflamingo

I can die happy if you promise to kill him.

They watch quietly as Law sets the swordsman down onto the grass where young Sanji lay. Weakly, Zoro crawls towards him and sits next to his body while Law and the Heart Pirates start their preparations to attend to his injuries. With a hushed low voice, Fukaboshi responds to the Warlord.

Fukaboshi

I’m not making such promises.

Doffy…

Doflamingo’s eyes drop down to the ground and expression on his face turns sour, fully expecting the lecture that comes next. Fukaboshi finally turns to look at him directly.

Fukaboshi

Can’t you talk to me? I thought we used to be friends… good friends. I trusted you with my life. If it’s about the Demon Warlord, I don’t like him either. Sanji was insistent that he fight him head on but from what I was told, that was back then. How could you do this to him?

The Warlord’s head droops lower.

Fukaboshi

Is there… something else? What changed, Doffy? The three of us made a pact for life. I find it hard to believe that–

Doflamingo

Fukaboshi…

Doflamingo raises his head slightly, watching the group fuss over the injured ones. The remaining Skypieans finally build up the courage to set foot onto the island to allow Nola to rest her jaws. They flood inland to explore.

Doflamingo

Have you ever had something in your life that you’d do anything for? Something you’d give up everything for.

Fukaboshi takes a moment to process his words. He watches his own siblings reunite with their extended Vinsmoke family, shaking hands, lightly wrestling with each other and assisting the Heart Pirates in caring for Sanji, Reiju and Niji. He wonders what could possibly have occurred to Doflamingo to have him change so unexpectedly and so drastically. Afraid that the Warlord would clam up if questioned too quickly, Fukaboshi resists the urge to bombard him with questions and instead chooses to answer him directly.

Fukaboshi

Yes.

Doflamingo

I used to think everyone and everything was disposable. Replaceable.

Doflamingo bears his gaze at the unconscious blonde in the distance.

Doflamingo

This is all new to me. It disgusts me. I find myself vile and weak.

Fukaboshi

It’s not a weakness, Doffy. What you’re feeling is–

Doflamingo

Fukaboshi, I’m cashing in.

Fukaboshi

Wh–what?

Doflamingo tilts his head and locks eyes with the horrified mermaid king.

Doflamingo

To make it easier for you, I will leave. You won't have to see me again. But I can't get stuck here or anywhere.

You’ve always said that you owe me for taking part in giving your people a place in the Levely. Here's your chance to free yourself of that debt.

Fukaboshi

You’re mad. You can't be serious! You're asking for too much, Doffy! People want to see you face justice. And so do I. Especially for what you did to Sanji and his brothers. However, the reason why I’m going to insist on taking you into our custody is so you don’t get killed or worse–locked up to be mistreated by the Marines. Understand that I'm already doing this for you.

Doflamingo

Come now, viejo amigo. I know you’re a man of your word.

…What do you think Sanji would do in your place?

Fukaboshi’s eyes widen at the question. His hand grips the trident tighter, suddenly so unsure about the situation at hand.

Fukaboshi

…He would honour the deal.

----------

Bonus: Combined Portraits

(Really, I just wanted to upload them here so I can embed it in AO3. Don't mind me)

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gunsandspaceships · 10 months ago

Text

MCU Timeline: Iron Man. Part 3 (The Cave)

Part 1, Part 2

We know Tony spent 3 months in captivity:

He was in Afghanistan from late January/early February 2008 until May 2. Since we don't have exact dates for February-April, for convenience I will take approximate ones and write down the periods of time that might be needed.

Day 1 (~Feb 5):

~3:30 pm - the attack. Tony is mortally wounded and captured by the Ten Rings. They give him emergency medical care to keep him from bleeding out and, while he is unconscious, transport to their base in the mountains. They are not very gentle and add abrasions to his head.

Evening - Raza records a video for Stane.

Same night - Yinsen performs surgery to remove shrapnel and bolts an electromagnet into Tony's sternum.

In 2 weeks (~Feb 20):

Tony finally wakes up (he partially woke up earlier - there is blood on his right hand and on the bandages, which means he was messing with his wounds not long ago).

He meets the Ten Rings and refuses to work for them.

The Ten Rings torture Tony by dunking him in a barrel of water. Due to this (electromagnet in chest+water are not good for one's heart) or to shrapnel-inflicted damage to his heart, Tony develops arrhythmia.

During the torture, Tony's brain comes up with the idea of a miniaturized arc reactor.

Why so long? 1) Facial hair on his cheeks and neck has already grown. It is about two weeks long; 2) His wounds needed time to heal; 3) Some of the wounds on the torso have already developed scars; 4) He had a nasogastric tube inserted, which means enough time had passed for him to need it; 5) His lips are very dry and chapped.

Next few days (~Feb 21-22) - torture continues, this time they beat him on the head.

~Feb 22:

The Ten Rings take Tony outside to show him the SI weapons they have, and offer "to free" Tony if he builds them the Jericho. Tony "agrees". He sees that they have missiles with palladium, which he needs to build the reactor.

Later that day, Tony comes up with an idea for how they can escape: the armor.

~Feb 23-29 - "one week before death". Tony and Yinsen work on the reactor and pacemaker. Tony makes a drawing of Mark 1.

~March 1 - Yinsen performs the second surgery to implant the pacemaker, the housing for arc reactor and the reactor.

~March 1-April 12 (about 6 weeks) - post-op recovery:

First 4 days (~March 1-5) - Tony is unconscious and on a ventilator to help him breath.

~March 5 - Tony wakes up.

~March 15 - Yinsen starts physiotherapy to restore Tony's movement.

~April 6 - Yinsen removes bandages (scene on the surveillance camera).

~April 6-12 - Tony is almost recovered, but not yet strong enough to work. So he and Yinsen play backgammon, drink tea and talk.

How can we tell that a lot of time has passed between these two scenes (Tony showing Mark 1 drawing and the backgammon scene)? In the backgammon scene, Tony is shaved and his skin is clear - there are no traces of small wounds on his face and neck, as well as the long cut on his collarbone that was visible earlier.

~April 12-29 - work on "the Jericho" - Mark 1.

End of April - Rhodey goes back to Afghanistan with pararescue to search for Tony.

April 29 - Raza threatens Tony and Yinsen, demanding that they build him the Jericho by tomorrow. Tony and Yinsen work intensively all day, night and the next morning.

April 30 - Escape day:

Morning - Tony and Yinsen assemble Mark 1. They attack the Ten Rings. Yinsen dies. Tony destroys the base and escapes.

Evening - wounded Tony wanders through the desert. Hypovolemic shock kicks in. Rhodey finds him.

Why the same day? In the "Iron Man novelization" (not canon, based on an original script, unreliable source) and "I Am Iron Man" comics (many scenes are also different and cannot be seriously considered canon), Tony spent the night in the desert. The scenes in the book and the movie are very different. In the book, Tony was unconscious and unable to move when Rhodey found him. In the movie, Tony is not that exhausted. He couldn't walk all day and night in the desert and be so active. Also, it gets very cold there at night, and Tony used the jacket to cover his head from the sand, not to keep himself warm, which would have been more important. Still he's cold, but it's daytime (it is hot in the desert in April). Therefore, it must be from hypovolemic shock and not from the actual ambient temperature.

May 1 - Before returning home, Tony had to spend some time in a hospital at a military base in Afghanistan. During this time, he and Pepper were contacted by the Department of Defense, the FBI, and the CIA.

May 2 - Tony comes back to US.

Part 4

MCU Timeline: The Infinity Saga

#marvel #mcu #tony stark #iron man #mcu timeline

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expresso-bean · 5 months ago

Text

The Man Out of Time [A ShadAmy and Silver Story]: Chapter 24

Pairing: Shadow the Hedgehog x Amy Rose

Description: It has been seven years of peace following the grueling war with Eggman and his army. Though it took time to rebuild what they have lost, life for the Freedom Fighters could not be better. Whether it's finding love or trying to run from their past, celebrating post-war times has been different for each of them.

All is well until a silver hedgehog comes knocking on Amy Rose's door to deliver the tragic news about an incredible force that seems to be the cause of the future's destruction.

Will anyone believe the mysterious hedgehog's cry for help? Or will he be left to fight for his future alone? Read to find out!

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3k

POV: Amy Rose

!! I do not own any of the art/gifs/borders used in my chapters. All credits to the rightful owners !!

Masterlist ❀ Ch.1 ❀ Ch.2 ❀ Ch.3 ❀ Ch.4 ❀ Ch.5 ❀ Ch.6 ❀ Ch.7 ❀ Ch.8 ❀ Ch.9 ❀ Ch.10 ❀ Ch.11 ❀ Ch.12 ❀ Ch.13 ❀ Ch.14 ❀ Ch.15 ❀ Ch.16 ❀ Ch.17 ❀ Ch.18 ❀ Ch.19 ❀ Ch.20 ❀ Ch.21 ❀ Ch.22 ❀ Ch.23

'He's acting strange.'

I couldn't bear to take another step away from my home. I huffed as I sat down on the doorstep. The noise of the chaos happening around me made my eyes want to swell up with tears.

'What's the point in crying now? Training hasn't even begun yet!' I wanted to look up. But I knew what I would see would only break me apart tenfold. 'I just hope I'm not too rusty after all these years. Doing odd jobs and keeping up with a physical training regime have kept me battle ready for the most part. Although, I have been neglecting it since S came around.'

The sounds of cars racing off and Tails' muffled voice forced my eyes to pry themselves forward. As I thought, what was before me was nothing short of a disaster.

Crying children holding their mothers hands. Said mothers looking on in distraught as they tried to quickly move around for more things to gather into boxes and cars.

Others were on the phones looking stressed.

Elderly folks were sitting on chairs in front of the houses that would soon be destroyed. I could see people like Knuckles, Rouge, and Shadow going in and out of house or running about in the streets checking for items.

All of it will be destroyed. Or so does the future determine.

"Don't worry. Rebuilding will commence as soon as everything is back to normal!" Tails voiced boomed through the streets as little floating devices scanned each individual home from different angles several times over. "Everything is okay! Panic will only prolong the process!"

'If only it was that simple. I couldn't imagine myself in their situation.' I shook my head as I looked on at the array of people. The more I stared. The more I understood that I am like them. Bound to this future. Desperate and dependent to change in the best way possible. Although it feels impossible, there comes the slow realization that there is no other choice but to follow those orders. If they say 'pack it up', you pack. They yell 'run', you run. But none of us can tell them to fight. We can't. We exist to ensure they never have to worry about having to fight a force that is beyond what they can handle. 'That feeling. It must be...'

"Awful," I kept my voice to a whisper. "It's awful. This is all awful..."

I stared down at the gray pavement ahead of me. I could do nothing but clenched my fists from the frustration building up inside. After all, it wasn't at all fair. To anyone. That's why we fought so far the first time around. Nothing like this was ever supposed to happen again.

Yet. Here everyone is. Preparing for it to happen again.

'That was the fate of this timeline. My neighborhood destroyed. My friends, gone. Me.' I looked down at my hands. 'Dead.'

I made a promise to not let that happen. Therefore, it won't.

'Well, I can't make good on any of my promises by just sitting here! I hope no one noticed I was gone for too long.'

As I got up, I stretched my arms upwards toward the sky. Instant relief spread through my muscles when I exhaled.

'I can do this! I've done worst missions before.' I took off a rubber elastic tie off my wrist and gathered my quills into a pony tail. 'I should trim this. If the elastic breaks in the middle of a battle it'll be impossible to fight.'

I looked back at my front door. There was nothing by silence.

'He'll... be right outside, right?' I lingered by the door for a second before stepped down from the doorstep. 'Not that it wasn't unusual that he would just come into my home to talk to me, but this time felt... different.'

I was surprised that no one paid any mind to me walking about. They all looked to be in their owns heads or trying to gather items to stuff them in their vehicles as best they can. My beautiful neighborhood seemed to be reduced to shambles. The once happy, friendly faces I would see in the mornings looked scared. I nearly wanted to cry and the thought of the cherry trees being burnt to crisps.

'It'll take years to get them to look this beautiful again!'

"Amy?" Cream came rushing toward me. She grabbed me by the arms and shook me a bit. "You're here! Tails said S was looking for you, is everything okay?"

I was a bit taken aback by her concerned reaction. Cream has always been one to overly worry about me, to which the feeling was mutual.

"S is looking for me? I haven't seen him," I looked around me again. S was nowhere to be seen. "In fact, I was talking to Sonic. he just stopped by to talk to me."

"Where is he?"

We both snapped our heads towards Sally, who looked like she was going to burst into tears. I hadn't realized she was standing near us loading things into a white truck as my neighbor Mr. Song, an elderly fox gentleman, watched from the front seat.

'He's leaving...?'

Mr. Song moved to the neighborhood after the war. This place was the part of the city that got hit the hardest and one of the first neighborhoods that were completely rebuilt. It was Mr. Song's idea to plant an abundance of fruit trees around for the residents to enjoy while rations were low.

Seeing them loaded up in the truck shocked me. Yet, I couldn't blame them. No one thought another war would ever come. Cowering in a bunker was not for everyone, especially a young child and an elderly man.

'I wonder where they will go? Maybe to Carter's father's house? But that's so far. He lives on the other side of the state!'

"Amy?"

"Huh? I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to zone out like that! What did you say?"

Sally looked distressed by shook off my comment. I smiled at her nervously as she loaded up two other boxes into the truck.

"What happened to Sonic? He just up at left two days ago and know I find out he came to see you! What's going on with him?"

'Two days? How come I didn't notice?'

"Y-yeah, I-I couldn't tell you, he-he just worried about me and this WHOLE situation we are in."

Sally sighed as she loaded the last few boxes into the moving vehicle. She jumped up and grabbed a hold of a white rope before pulling down on it. I flinched at how loud the door slammed down.

'I can't tell if she's angry or not,' I watched as she secured the latch and dusted off her hands. Cream looked up at me, shrugging. 'Neither can she.'

"Hey kid, do you have the lock?"

"Yeah!" The passenger door opened, revealing Mr. Song's young grandson, Carter. "Here it is! Don't worry, my granddad has the key!"

She nodded and put the lock on the door. She tugged on it before tapping on the metal door. Carter looked towards Mr. Song and nodded.

"Thank you, Miss!" As he was leaving toward the truck, he turned his head and locked eyes on me. "AMY!" Carter rushed toward me and Cream, making her move out of the way as the boy stood in front of us. "I was hoping you would show! I'm gonna miss you and the cookies you make!"

"Oh," I looked down at him. I tried to match his bright smile, but I'd be lying to myself if seeing him leave made me upset. "So I was right. You and your grandfather really are moving."

"My dad wants us to go live with him. He says it's too dangerous to stay," Carter crossed his arms dramatically and pouted. "I told him I don't want to leave. Being neighbors with a Freedom Fighter is so cool!"

"I'm sorry you have to go, But hey, my door is always open. I'll make you whatever you'd like if you ever come by to see me."

Carter's arms came undone and his mouth immediately curled back up into a smile.

"You mean it?"

"Of course! How can I turn down my number one fan?"

"Aw! Cool!"

I could hear Mr. Song knocking on the door of the truck. Carter looked back and jolted up a bit.

"Coming!" He turned and yelled. He turned back around and looked at me again. Although he was smiling, his eyes looked as pouty as ever. "I'm gonna miss you, Amy! I'll try and visit!"

"I'll miss you both too."

Carter turned and ran back to the truck and crawled into the passenger seat from the open window. I held back a laugh as he jumped back into the car from the open window on the passenger side.

I caught a glimpse of Mr. Song as he backed out of the driveway. They stopped in the middle of the street to let some of the other residents cross.

"Bye Carter, bye Mr. Song!"

I saw him nod from the visor window and waved at him, hoping he'd at least see that last gesture.

'I hope things go well for them.' I could only watch as they drove off. 'I think it's for the best they get out of a place like this.'

"Are you okay, Amy?"

"I'm fine, just a bit sad, I guess."

"He was the man who helped plant those trees, right? For the children during ration time?"

I nodded at Cream's comment. Sonic, Tails, and Cream were the only ones that stuck with me while we went around rebuilding the neighborhoods. Others like Shadow, Sally, Knuckles, and Rouge went their own separate ways. It wasn't until four years ago that we all came back together and decided that it would be a good idea to live near each other in case of an emergency.

'I never thought it would amount to anything like this.'

"I had no idea. I forgot you all helped rebuild most of Mobius," Sally shook her head as she hugged herself slightly. That three-year period we were all separated was hard on everyone. "At least, most of you did."

"Well, it isn't like you had a choice. You had to go back to the Acorn Kingdom."

"Yeah!" Cream interjected. "If you hadn't gone back, half of Mobius would still be in ruin!"

"I suppose you're right," Sally tried to laugh off. Her smile was a bit to wide, like she was forcing her mouth ajar to appear happy. But she couldn't fool me. I've been trying just as hard to appear as happy as she is right now for months. "I'm just beating myself up for not being here with you all."

"It's best to not be so hard on yourself like that. None of us could have guessed what we had in store for us after the war."

Sally didn't say anything while she stood there, hands wrapped around ther forearms rubbing them up and down slowly. It was almost as if she was trying to console herself.

'Is she okay? Why is she only bringing this kind of stuff up now?'

"Amy?"

"Hm?"

"About what we were talking about?"

"W-what was it again?" I scratched my head and sighed. "Was it about Sonic?"

"Is he okay?"

Her tone was dead serious. Her hands were no longer trying to self-sooth, but her fists were balled and nearly pinned to her side.

'What do I even say? I can't confess this to them! What if he hears? What if someone else hears and they tell him! It will ruin EVERYTHING!'

"I-I, I don't know," I managed to whimper out without stuttering too badly. "H-he looked tired. But I had no idea was gone for so long."

"Oh," She looked down again. I could see from the corner of my eyes that Cream looked mildly uncomfortable about discussing Sonic. "It's alright. I thought if he would have told anyone he would have mentioned something to you."

"Why to me?"

At looked at Sally. She opted to avert her gaze as she rubbed up her arms again.

'What is up with her? She seems scared. Or maybe, nervous?'

I would have liked to have thought that Sally and I mended our relationship after my whole obsession. When it was time to go visit her for the first time at Acorn Palace, all I could do was apologize to her. It took a year for her to sit me down and sincerely tell me that she accepted my apology. Sometimes, I still feel there is a veil of awkwardness and resentment whenever we discuss Sonic. I can't help but feel she still holds some anger toward me.

Not that it would be entirely undeserved. I know how mean I have been in my past.

"Well, Sonic, he, um, he trusts you more than himself at times."

'He does?'

"Um..." Cream waved her hand between us. I looked down at her, confused. Sally didn't avert her eyes away from the ground, not even to look at Cream. "I-I'm going to keep helping Tails, I-I-I'll see you both later!"

"Bye...?"

I watched her walk up to where Tails was scanning over some documents. She whispered something to him, to which he nodded and looked back at us.

'I wonder what she's telling him...'

"So, you thought about the same thing, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I can't blame anyone for feeling off. This whole thing. I never thought I would ever have to fight again."

"Can't disagree with you there."

"Amy!"

"S?" As he jogged over to me, I noticed Sonic trailing behind him. "Oh, Sonic-"

"Sonic!" Sally ran toward him, practically tackling him to the ground. "You're okay! What happened?"

He smiled at her as she held her face and littered her face with kisses. S tried his best to look away without seeming rude.

'Ha, I forgot that he is still a teenage boy in spite of all of this going on.'

"I'm sorry I had to leave, I'll explain it to you later, I promise," Sally could only nod. I noticed that the moment Sonic took her hands off her, she gave him that same blank expression she gave me not too long ago. Whatever was bothering her undoubtedly had to do with him. "Let's get all these people situated in their homes."

"Its about time you all show up," Knuckles walked toward us, pointing at me with his fist. "What took you guys so long?"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to show up late!"

"So what if we're late? This isn't her or anyone else fault." Sonic put his hand on my shoulder and lightly pushed me behind him. I nearly would have bumped into S if it weren't for him lightly directing me next to him. "What matters is that we're here now. The only way we can get this done is if we work together."

"Right."

Sonic nodded at everyone's almost, unanimous response. I could see from behind him Shadow crossing his arms.

Say what you will about him, Sonic knows how to inspire people. He speaks with a voice so powerful that you can't help but listen.

'I am lucky to have him in my life.'

Sometimes, I want to laugh at myself for how I used to chase after Sonic.

So many hopeless nights, I would stay up and wait for him to swoop me up from my bed and take me to a place only he could show me.

'Oh, and the diary! I'm glad I tossed it out when I did! I wish I could go back and burn it.'

Those are the kind of childish romances I hold close to my heart. The kind that hurts in the moment but can look back on and smile as your mind cringes at the outlandish antics you've committed to get that one person to notice you.

It wasn't all for nothing.

Chasing him made me faster.

Fighting others to prove myself to him made me stronger.

Winning that war ensured peace for my friends.

I gained more than I ever lost. I could not be more grateful for that.

'I know I sacrificed my entire life to get Sonic to notice me,' I shook my head, looking down towards the ground. 'Got beat up a bunch. I fought in a war. I embarrassed myself in front of everyone that I knew,' I couldn't help but close my eyes and cringe once again. My body warmed itself with the awful secondhand embarrassment I caused for myself. 'I'm just glad that whole era is over! If not,' I couldn't help but smile. It was the only way to prevent the blush I knew that would eventually appear on my face. 'Someone I know I can give my everything too,' As soon as I turned to look his way, I was only able to catch a glimpse of his back turned toward me. 'If he can bother to look my way, that is.'

"Amy, catch!" I didn't even look toward Tails as I instinctively reached out my arms to grab the four or so stacked boxes. My knees buckled slightly at the new weight I suddenly had in my hands. "Get this to house '12' please! Then, I need you to help clear out those blue and yellow houses!"

I sighed, and smiled at Tails nervous as I whispered, "right away."

'I need to get out of my own head for a bit.'

The sky was getting dark with there barely being enough light to walk home without the street lights on. We dragged our feet beneath us in silence as we reached my home.

Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge, and Cream were lying next to each other, almost in a pile.

I was holding Sally by the arm as we joined them. Sally laid her head on Sonic's leg as I sat down next to Cream.

'It feels like we've done this a thousand times over...' I lay down next to her; my eyes stared up at the sky. I watched as the barely visible clouds graze across the dark blue background. I heard Cream whisper my name, I couldn't muster a response to her. Only a single thought danced in my head: 'I would sacrifice anything for this war to end like this.'

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waihtie · 4 months ago

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Supernatural Season 2

Of my first/re watch. I don't remember things easily, so here's a reference for future me (and just some fun notes)

Sam Deaths: 1 (Stabbed. Dean's deal brought him back)

Dean Deaths: 1 (Car accident, was resuscitated like a normal person would be (but stayed in a coma, John's deal saved him))

Important Character Deaths: John W, Yellow-eyes, all the psychic kids we met, Ash

Total deaths: 61

*This includes all people and supernatural creatures who died during an episode, even if they come back to life.

Times Sam was tied up or handcuffed: 3

Times Dean was tied up or handcuffed: 4

Times Sam punched Dean: 0

Times Dean punched Sam: 2

*This is out of bursts of anger and doesn't include fake fights or where there was a legit supernatural excuse

Episodes to skip or watch in a rewatch:

Skip: 3, 4, 18

If I feel like it: 7, 12, 13, 16

Like, but aren't plot related: 2, 6, 11, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20

Plot: 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 21, 22

Characters that are or might be important:

Victor Henriksen - FBI guy who is obsessed with arresting Sam and Dean

Gordon Walker - Hunter with a morality issue. Wants to kill Sam bc he's 'supernatural'

Trickster - ik who he his, I probably won't forget. He's in this list so I can point out that at this point viewers know he's not dead, but Sam and Dean don't.

Important information: Sam was killed, Dean made a deal to save him. Dean has 1 year before the hellhounds come to collect his soul.

Meg was exorcised to hell. Again.

Main Plot: Sam and Dean's quest for Yellow-eyes, Yellow-eyes' plan for the psychic kids.

On my Season 1 post, I talked about my issues with it. Here's why I like season 2 better:

1. The main plotline moves quicker. I don't have enough of an attention span to sit through episodes that don't relate to each other. I like how there's more plot episodes.

2. The main plotline is more developed and more interesting. I care a little more about it than season one's (it's not the best one, but just in comparison to season 1).

3. The filler episodes are more interesting that last season's

4. Even though there's only 2 reoccurring characters (which is still a big problem for me), they are more developed. We know more about them. Who they are. Why they are the way they are. They have a familiar backstory. Attachments are starting to form.

Dean is a lot more likeable this season. Gives off less fuckboy vibes and less perfect soldier vibes. He's slowly coming into himself, becoming less of what he thinks John wants him to be, and more to just who he is. I love it. I love his character growth over the seasons. Even from season 1 to 2 is making a difference. I can't wait until the seasons where I became super attached to who he is.

Sam is whatever to me where I am at in the show now, so I was shocked when I got back to season 1 and loved him. Then I thought it would be over. But season 2 Sam is great, too. He's sarcastic, funny, cute, and has nice hair. I thought it was only gonna be season 1, but I was wrong, so we'll see if it continues to season 3. (I did not see this new Sam appreciation coming for myself, but I am HERE for it)

The issues I had with this season was that I had nothing to latch on to. When I watched it for the first time a few months ago, I knew absolutely nothing about the show. I almost quit bc I just couldn't get into seasons 1-3. I still didn't care about the plot, and I had absolutely no attachment to either Sam or Dean, even in this season. I was very tempted to start my rewatch at season 4, but I'm glad I didn't.

Even though there's more plot than season 1, it wouldn't have been enough for me last time. There's too much time between any mentions of plot.

I definitely like this season more now that I know more about who they become and what the show becomes. I have a whole new perspective.

#supernatural #dean winchester #sam winchester #spn #spn first watch #spn rewatch #Supernatural Season 2 #spn season 2 recap

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snowdice · 8 months ago

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Big Bang Editing Story [Day 125]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55 Part 56 Part 57

I have been sick and I'm very tired, but I will work on the epilogue today for a bit at least!

Chapter 58 (Patton)

If Patton hadn’t already been looking, he probably wouldn’t have had any idea what happened.

Everything had been fine. Virgil had been sitting cross legged, idly watching the conclusion of the game they’d been playing when his posture had suddenly changed. Patton had looked over at him only to see an expression on his face he didn’t recognize, but it didn’t seem good.

“What?” Patton had asked, but the question didn’t seem to register to Virgil.

Logan had glanced up confused and also noticed Virgil’s face. He’d just opened his mouth to also ask what was going on when chaos descended.

Virgil was suddenly moving, crashing into King Thomas who hadn’t even looked up to see something was wrong at that point. Patton realized after the fact that Virgil had swiped up the board of the game they’d been playing as he jumped over it, the pieces previously stacked on it scattering all over the blanket. There were three thumps as some things hit the thick board, imbedding themselves into the surface.

When Virgil discarded the board in favor of the picnic basket, Patton saw there were small darts in it oozing a dark black liquid. The parts of the board they touched were dissolving, the grass under the new holes beginning to wilt rapidly.

Logan seemed to notice the oozing liquid the same moment Patton did and was quicker to realize what it was. He grabbed Patton’s arm and yanked him away from the board so hard he almost dislocated Patton’s shoulder, not that Patton was too worried about that. He scrambled away from it when he realized what it must be himself.

He could hear the sound of glassware smashing above them. Logan and Patton had rolled off the blanket in their quest to get away from the smoldering, melting board and apparently Virgil had pulled the picnic blanket fully over the king at some point.

Virgil himself was now gone from where he’d been the last time Patton had looked and it took him a moment to figure out where the boy had gone. The person who had been shooting poisoned darts at them had been drawn out of the wooded area they’d been hiding in by Virgil’s attacks.

They were cloaked in dark green from head to toe, explaining why they’d been difficult to spot when they were in the woods. Whoever they were, they were significantly larger than Virgil, possibly an actual adult or almost adult assassin, but they were also clearly a long distant fighter. They had not been expecting resistance let alone resistance in the form of a so quick he was almost a blur fellow assassin.

They had a bow strapped to their back, but they hadn’t had a chance to get it. Instead, they were trying to fight Virgil off with an arrow they’d managed to draw from their quiver. Virgil, meanwhile was lunging at them with a broken piece of plate in one hand and the picnic basket in the other.

Virgil dodged out of the way of the arrow striking towards his arm, though Patton didn’t think it was because he was afraid of getting scratched by an arrow, but because it may also be poisoned tipped.

Virgil was distracted by dodging for long enough that the older assassin managed to hit him in the face with the arm not holding the arrow.

He went down, but he took the older assassin with him, sweeping their legs out from under them. Patton hadn’t noticed (his mind working too slow for how fast they were moving) but they were on a slight incline. They went rolling in a tangle of arms and legs towards the edge of the cliff and skidded to a stop only a few feet away.

Virgil ended up on top, his piece of broken plate in his hands. He moved to slash it across the other assassin’s throat and managed to draw blood, but the assassin’s fist came out to shove at Virgil’s chest at just the right moment, causing the strike to veer off course and slice across the assassin’s cheek instead.

Virgil jerked to the side to avoid a second strike to the chest and went back for another slash. The other assassin rolled to the side as he did and the plate only managed to nick their ear. The point of the motion hadn’t been to dodge, however. They were lunging for the arrow they’d dropped a few feet away while they’d rolled. They grabbed it with their right hand and in the same motion stabbed back behind them towards Virgil.

Virgil rolled to avoid the hit, already slashing up with his plate as the assassin turned back towards him.

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He didn’t hit them this time but his swipe managed to stop them from stabbing him when they tried again. They shoved themselves back to avoid Virgil’s swing, putting a bit of distance between them. Both of them managed to make it to their feet during the momentary reprieve, but both also stayed crouched, eyeing each other.

They both lunged towards each other at the same time. The assassin went for a stab to Virgil’s neck with the arrow, but Virgil was already ducking down. This time, he wasn’t going for a kill shot. He grabbed the assassin’s wrist and at the same time drove his piece of plate into the assassin’s arm, slicing down from the elbow to wrist. The assassin spoke for the first time, cursing in a language Patton didn’t recognize as they were forced to drop their arrow.

Virgil took a moment to kick the arrow away from the assassin and it ended up falling off the cliff.

However, this pause gave the assassin enough time to regroup. Despite their arm bleeding profusely, they still decided to use it to backhand Virgil across the face viciously, leaving a long line of their own blood across his face.

Virgil lunged back forward, but the assassin was able to get a leg between them, kicking Virgil squarely in the chest and sending him flying back a few feet parallel to the cliff’s edge.

The assassin went to grab their bow and another arrow from the quiver still strapped to their shoulder.

Virgil, however, apparently went for another weapon too and he was much faster with a knife than any archer. A knife appeared in his hand, having been strapped to his ankle and was embedded into the assassin’s chest before they could even full remove an arrow from their quiver.

The assassin promptly burst into flames, fire catching their clothes (and from the smell of it their skin) ablaze. Panicked and dying, they stumbled two steps to the side. They stepped directly off the cliff.

There was a second of silence. They heard the sound of the body hitting the ground far below and then the flap of wings and screeching as birds below fled from the startling sound (and possible soon to be forest fire).

…

“Uh, Virgil?” King Thomas said. He had managed to get the blanket off his head at some point. When, Patton didn’t know, but seeing any of it was probably enough.

Oopsie.

Chapter 59 (Logan)

Logan and Patton had been useless during the fight, but that may have been for the best. Considering the skill differential when it came to fighting (and that differential had never been as clear as it was in this moment), that was probably for the best. They likely would have just gotten in the way.

The moment Logan’s father spoke, however, they both jumped into action.

They both knew their jobs in a situation like this. Patton pushed himself up to his feet ungracefully and all but sprinted over towards Virgil. Logan, on the other hand stood to face his father, putting himself very purposefully between the man who had no idea what was going on yet and the boy who was two seconds away from remembering what was going on.

“I can explain,” Logan said.

His father was still sitting on the ground. “You can explain,” he said slowly, “how Virgil just threw an assassin off a cliff.”

Logan thought pointing out that Virgil hadn’t thrown anyone off a cliff and instead had set them on fire with a magical knife causing them to walk off a cliff, would not be useful in this moment. He glanced back briefly towards where Virgil and Patton were standing and then turned back to his father. “Yes.”

“And what would that explanation be?”

Before even starting to speak, Logan found himself making large dramatic ‘explaining hand gestures’ that he’d thought he’d long since trained himself out of. When he was younger and in trouble, he always used to give himself away as guilty by being overly expressive with his hands (and arms).

“So,” Logan said. He was still not able to stop the hand motions. “Virgil was an assassin. He came here to kill you last fall, but he accidently went to the wrong room in the royal wing. Patton and I were having a slumber party and caught him in the act. Then we reformed him and now he doesn’t kill people anymore.” He paused and glanced back, remembering the body that had just toppled off the cliff. “Er, uh, he doesn’t kill people who haven’t shot poisoned darts at people recently anymore?”

“What?”

“Look,” Logan said. “You’re going to have to tell him you’re not going to execute him soon. Patton can only keep him from bolting for so long.”

“Execute him?” his father asked.

“Well, he was a Mocnejsi assassin sent to kill you,” Logan said.

“Virgil is a Mocnejsi assassin,” his father repeated as though to confirm he’d heard him right.

Logan had thought the Mocnejsi was implied. “He was,” Logan confirmed.

“Why does that make more sense than any other explanation I’ve come up with for him?” his father asked while pinching his brow. Logan took that as rhetorical. Then, his father looked at him again. “He’s 14.”

“Yes,” Logan said, “I’m also pretty sure this is the first person he’s actually killed while not under a blood compulsion, so you really need to tell him he’s not going to be executed.”

His father seemed to actually absorb Logan’s request this time. He finally looked over Logan’s shoulder at Virgil, concern crossing his face at what he saw. “Right.”

He moved to step around Logan then, and Logan let him. Logan turned to watch him slowly approach Patton and Virgil, his hands out in a placating manner. He stopped a few feet away.

“Hey,” his father said. “That was a bit scary, huh?” Virgil looked at him, eyes wide and darting around like they did when he was looking for an escape. There wasn’t much of one being so close to the edge of the cliff.

Logan would worry he’d contemplate throwing himself off of it in a bid to escape if Patton wasn’t clutching him to prevent that. “You did a good job.”

That seemed to give Virgil pause, his eyes focusing on father. “Good job?” he asked.

“Yes, well,” father said with a small smile, “judging by what those darts are doing to the grass and how far we are from any supplies for counter potions, I think you blocking them probably saved my life. So, I think a good job is in order.”

Virgil did not respond verbally, though he tilted his head like he did when he was thinking through the steps of a potion.

His posture changed enough that Patton released him cautiously, taking a step away.

“But,” Virgil said. “I’m an assassin.”

“Yes,” Father said. “I could tell by how that fight just went.”

Virgil shifted his weight. “I came here to kill you.”

His father spread his arms wide. “Yet, here I am,” he pointed out. “You’ve had me alone multiple times including once in a secret room possibly no one would have ever found. Plus, you saved me today. I think that more than makes up for the intentions you had months ago.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to send me to prison?” Virgil asked. “Or execute me?”

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“No, of course not,” his father said.

Virgil eyed him, still slightly warry.

“I promise, Virgil, you’re fine.”

“Dad wouldn’t lie,” Logan interjected. Virgil looked over at him and then back at Father. He nodded slowly.

“Good,” Father said. “Now can we get a bit further back from the edge?” He glanced at Patton. “You too, Patton.”

Virgil and Patton both stepped towards him, and he herded them far away from the edge until they were at the edge of the surrounding forest. Logan followed as well.

“Can I touch your face?” Father asked once they were sufficiently away from the cliffs.

Virgil nodded and father pulled out a handkerchief. He carefully wiped the blood off Virgil’s face the best he could (most of it was not Virgil’s) and inspected the boy’s split lip and already bruising eye.

“Is your chest alright?” Father asked.

Virgil nodded. “Yeah.”

Father considered him. “Enough to ride back to the castle.”

“It wasn’t that bad of a hit,” Virgil insisted.

Father studied him for a moment longer. “I’ll choose to believe you for now,” he said. “We should get back to the castle as soon as possible just in case this is not an isolated attack.”

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“We don’t work in teams,” Virgil informed them. “They worry we’d get emotionally attached and not complete our missions.”

“I can understand why they would say something like that,” Father said, letting just a bit of his scorn come through, “but still, we should be on our way.”

With that, he put an arm on Virgil’s back to guide him back towards where they’d left the horses.

“Huh,” Logan said to Patton as they began to walk behind them. “I thought we’d be in more trouble for all of this.”

His father paused at overhearing that, turning to look at them over his shoulder briefly.

“Ah,” said Logan with a grimace. “I see.”

“It’s been nice being your friend all these years Logan,” Patton said solemnly. “Too bad we’re both going to be locked in our rooms for the rest of our lives.”

“Until your 50s with good behavior,” Father informed them blandly.

That was… probably fair. They did allow an assassin to freely roam the castle for months without telling anyone. The fact that his father was now watching that assassin like a hawk to make sure he wasn’t more injured than he was saying, did not change that fact.

Logan couldn’t find it in himself to regret it.

Epilogue

“Do you think they’ll light your trees on fire this year?” an amused (but slightly concerned) voice asked from behind Jeffers. Jeffers ran a finger over the empty thumb of his slightly dirty gardening gloves while watching the two boys. They were currently leaning over an unlit lantern and various “supplies.” In truth, he’d stopped his own work to watch the two boys out of that very concern.

“Virgil helped me fertilize that tree a week ago,” Jeffers replied. “So, I’d hope he has some caution.”

“Virgil likes fire though,” Thomas pointed out.

Jeffers sighed. “That he does.” He tilted his head towards Thomas. “You did confiscate the fire knife again after last week, yes?”

“I did,” Thomas confirmed, “but that means very little. Even burying that thing with a corpse did not dissuade him.”

As he spoke, a sudden spark of light flew from where the boys were working. A whining sound and then pop sounded as the spark exploded into 10 pieces, raining down colorful light. Luckily, they burned up before hitting the ground (or the tree).

“Boys, if you set anything on fire, you will be grounded from the festival,” Thomas called in a booming voice. Both boys jumped. Jeffers imagined Logan hadn’t even known he was there. (Virgil certainly did, but he still jumped. “For the second year in a row in Logan’s case.”

“They’re not flammable!” was the claim from Logan.

“I don’t believe you,” Thomas called back.

The boys ignored this, turning back to their experiment.

“We should have kept them grounded,” Thomas muttered. Despite Thomas’s original decision to ground Patton and Logan until their 50s (and Helen’s push to keep them grounded until Thomas, Helen, and Jeffers himself were all dead and couldn’t enforce it anymore), the boys had only been grounded for two months after Thomas had found out the truth of Virgil’s origins. That did, however, mean that Patton and Logan had been grounded from most of the lantern festival the year before.

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Logan, at least, seemed to be trying to make up for lost time this year (explosively). Jeffers did worry about where Patton was slightly, but honestly Patton without Logan or Virgil tended to be much less destructive in his hijinx. The worst he was probably doing was stealing sweets out from under Helen’s nose. Which was why both Jeffers and Thomas were currently here watching these two.

There were more sparks from the boy’s experiment. The grass caught fire at their feet. Virgil hastily stomped it out.

“I’ll watch them if you want to get food to bribe Virgil away,” Jeffers offered.

#proofreading stories

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gorgeousundertow · 11 months ago

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@riddlersboyfriend Hi Luke, it's your summer exchange fic!! xoxoxoxo

Don't give it a hand, offer it a soul

Cross-posting on A03 since it's, ya know, long.

First Battalion

CO: Lt Col. Billy Turner. West Point. Demands fawning attention. Shouts. 3/10.

Charlie Company

Capt. Albert Hassenzahl.

From Cincinnati, Ohio. Worked in steel mill.

27 years old

Sometimes brash or impetuous, leading to friction within the unit.

Sufficient. 6/10

Sgt. Roy Speake Jr.

From Birmingham, Alabama. Foreman in cotton mill.

30 years old, yet willing to take orders from younger men.

7/10

Sgt. Mariano Sanchez.

From El Paso, Texas. Family owned a small grocery.

28 years old, difficulty conforming to protocol. Falls behind on runs.

5/10

T/5 John Davis.

From Detroit, Michigan. Janitor.

20 years old, works hard but talks too much.

6/10

Cpl. Harvey White.

From a small town in rural Kansas, farmer.

Age: 19. Inept and unreliable. Poor aim, shirks duties. But could improve if properly motivated.

4/10

Pfc. Paul Devoe.

From New Orleans, Louisiana. Line cook.

Age: 24. Charismatic and optimistic. Keeps spirits up, though impulsivity is an issue.

7/10

Schedule

0600 Reveille

0610 Formation

0630 Tidy barracks

0700 Calisthenics

0800 Wash up

0900 Barracks Inspection

0930 Currahee or obstacle course

1045 PT drills

1115 Outside lecture

1200 Lunch

1330 Mail Call

1345 Lecture/Classroom

1500 Parachute training

1700 Drill

1800 Supper

1900 Lecture/Classroom

2100 Return to barracks

2300 TAPS

Notes September 1942

Dislike Lt. Col. Turner intensely.

Training is more difficult than anticipated.

Seems that what was true in Boston remains true here. Cannot seem to join conversations with the other men, continue to make them uncomfortable. Thought it would be different here than it was back home.

Notes October 1942

Lt. Col Turner is incompetent, stupid, and worthless.

Perhaps other companies have it better; consider orchestrating a change? Investigate.

Notes November 1942

Chose E Company, 2nd Platoon at random, for observation.

Capt. Herbert Sobel

From Chicago, Illinois. Attending University of Illinois.

30 years old

Would be a close friend of Lt. Col. Turner.

2/10

1/Lt. Richard Winters

From Lancaster, Pennsylvania

26 years old, effective. Has the respect of his men. Commands from the front.

8/10

Sgt. Carwood Lipton

From Huntington, West Virginia. Worked in mother’s boarding house.

22 years old, quiet. And yet the men listen.

8/10

Cpl. Donald Hoobler

From Manchester, Ohio, three siblings, joined National Guard.

Age: 20. Young, but works hard.

6/10

Pfc. Joseph Liebgott

Born in Michigan, moved to San Francisco

Age: 27. Cab driver. Speaks German. Easily angered, needs focus.

7/10

Pvt. David Webster

From New York City. Harvard grad. Writer

Age: 20. Lazy, whiny, as bad at talking to others as I am, in a different way.

5/10

Will continue to observe

Notes December 1942

Col. Sink insisted we march 118 miles, from Toccoa to Atlanta. It snowed. It served no function but to boost the egos of men who did not march alongside us.

Companies became disorderly, and by the end we were not marching in our own battalions. As such, I was marching mostly with E Company.

I spoke with Winters, as he was willing to speak with me. For some reason, he does not seem put off by me as others are–perhaps that is because, apart from Lt. Lewis Nixon III of Nixon, NJ, of HQ Company, no one wants to talk to him, either. Nixon certainly does; he made his way all the way over to E Company from the very beginning of the march, and stayed there, right at Winters’ side. By that token, I spoke with Nixon, as well. The march was miserable, but I believe I enjoyed it more than I have enjoyed any other time here.

We did not talk about much of anything of consequence–Nixon ensured that. I think the man is incapable of serious conversation. You would think someone as thoughtful as Winters would dislike him for that, but clearly he does not. It is odd. They are odd.

I observed the other members of E Company as we marched. They are a tight-knit group, more so than C Company by far. It is not because of their CO, that’s certain; he does everything he can to drive them apart, and clearly loathes Winters.

Winters does what he can, but his resources are limited serving under a tyrant, an experience I can sympathize with. In truth, it is the NCOs that hold the Company together. To a man, they work tirelessly to keep spirits up, assisting those who are exhausted, making sure they eat and drink and sleep when they can.

Sgt. Lipton in particular has an interesting way about him. He doesn’t lead like the others, shouting at them to haul ass like Sgts. Guarnere and Martin do, in the time-honored tradition of NCOs. He gives orders, but he does so in a way that is almost friendly. I can’t wrap my head around it.

Notes January 1943

Continuing to observe Sgt. Lipton.

Pvt. Webster is improving, partly because of Sgt. Lipton. (It seems that Pfc. Liebgott has an influence as well, though I can’t fully understand it. To a casual observer–which I do not believe I am–Liebgott bullies him, but in such a way that it almost seems affectionate. It is puzzling). Sgt. Lipton’s approach is different. He encourages Webster (and others, I do not mean to suggest that his efforts are limited to one man–he supports the entire Platoon. Hell, the entire Company) in subtle ways, walking with him to help him keep the pace up, but letting Webster think it’s because he really wants to hear him talk about Impressionist painters or Romantic poets. Perhaps he does. It is difficult to tell; he seems so genuinely engaged.

Capt. Sobel chewed him out for an imaginary offense (a not unusual occurrence in Easy Company) and Sgt. Lipton accepted it with stoicism. But when Sobel turned his back, Sgt. Lipton smirked. He rolled his eyes. There is steel in him.

Notes February 1943

Went for a run with Winters this morning, came across Sgt. Lipton. Winters invited him to join us. Winters runs like a maniac; running with him allows me to push myself, now that we are now longer running Currahee. I expected Sgt. Lipton to decline, particularly given my presence–no NCO has ever wanted to socialize with me–but he did not. He kept pace with Winters easily. He runs very well.

When we finished, we headed for the showers before Reveille, and Sgt. Lipton grabbed towels for each of us, even though it was unnecessary.

Notes March 1943

Have continued to run with Winters every morning. We have not encountered Sgt. Lipton again.

Notes June 1943

Have ceased running with Winters, as it’s too hot and I have concluded that Winters is a lunatic. We have plenty of PT; there’s no need to add on more. I don’t know why I bothered.

Notes August 1943

Couldn’t sleep, as usual. Went out walking through Fort Benning, found myself by the NCO barracks. Stood and smoked for a while. Went back to bed.

Notes September 1943

The S.S. Samaria is miserable. Am crammed into a cabin with Winters, Nixon, Lt. Harry Welsh, Lt. Heyliger, Lt. Roush, and Lt. Meehan from Baker Company. We have to wear life jackets at all times, and Nixon won’t stop talking about how the Titanic didn’t have enough lifeboats, and the Samaria definitely doesn’t.

Sleep is impossible, so have taken to walking the deck at night. Came across Sgt. Lipton, offered him a cigarette even though I know he doesn’t smoke. He described the racks the enlisted men have, and I decided to shut up about my sleeping situation.

He was there the next night, and the next. He didn’t seem to mind my smoking. If he wasn’t on deck in the same place, I would have left him alone–I wouldn’t have gone looking for him. But he was always there, as if he was waiting for me. He didn’t say much, though neither did I, I suppose. We just looked out at the black sea.

Notes November 1943

Sgt. Lipton–and the other Sgts from Easy Company, I suppose–have mutinied on Winters’ behalf. It was brave. It was the right thing to do. It could force Sink’s hand, push him to realize how incompetent Sobel is. (We should try it in First Battalion).

But I don’t know what’s going to happen to them. To him.

Notes December 1943

It’s all right. Two Sgts. were punished, neither of them were him.

It is clear that my interest in Easy Company is not beneficial, and no longer necessary. I am not gaining anything. I should not be more informed on the goings on in a Company that isn’t my own–that isn’t even in my Battalion. I’m going to stop taking notes altogether, anyway–loose lips and all.

Notes May 1944

Have been transferred to Dog Company. If I see Lt. Col. Turner in combat, I’ll kill him.

This is all pointless, anyway. In all likelihood, I am going to die. We are all going to die. Even…even he is going to die.

Notes June 1944

Sgt. Lipton was injured at Carentan, I do not know how badly.

I was also injured. I will recover.

There were some incidents at Normandy. I shot an NCO; he was drunk and endangering the men. I shot six POWs. They were my first kills. I have killed more, since.

The looks men gave me, before we came, as if they weren’t sure what I was capable of.

They know, now. I know, too.

Notes July 1944

Sgt. Lipton was wounded in the groin and on the face. He is in the hospital here in Aldbourne, recovering. He is several beds down from me. He receives visitors throughout the day.

Now that he is up and about, he comes to say hello sometimes, as I am not yet able to walk. He does not avoid me, as the other men do.

He ought to; it would be better if he did. It’s useful that they fear me. It will make me a better leader.

Notes August 1944

Have been transferred to HQ Company, working alongside Nixon. It’s for the best.

Notes December 1944

Have been transferred back to Dog Company, as they are short on officers. We will be needed, I am told, for what’s coming in Belgium.

Notes January 1945

I couldn’t stop watching 1st Sgt. Lipton. With Winters leading the battalion and Lt. Dike as the empty shirt they’ve put in his place, Lipton has been the Company together. He is exhausted–we all are, of course, but it hurts somehow to see it on him. His eyes are shadowed, I could see it even from a distance. I patrolled the lines of Dog Company often, to catch a glimpse of him. I insisted that our medics share supplies, food. I wanted him to eat. To be safe. I was at the edge of the line when German artillery rained down, and I swear I heard him laughing. It was beautiful.

I would have gone across that field at Foy even if Winters hadn’t sent me. Someone had to go, and I was glad it was me. It was the easiest decision I ever made–it wasn’t even a decision, my feet were going before I even had the thought, as soon as they had Winters’ permission to do so.

And now, I’m in command of Easy Company. It feels…right. Like I should have been with them all along. I know these men. I know what they need.

I knew what 1st Sgt. Lipton needed–he needed to know that someone had watched him, had seen what he had done. Had seen the man he is. And so I told him, in a church, while a choir of girls sang in golden light. It was…a risk, because letting him know that allowed him to see me, as well. To an extent.

He still does not seem frightened of me. If anything, he seems a little amused. I don’t know what to make of it, exactly. But I don’t dislike it.

Notes February 1945

I’ve been promoted to Captain. One would think this would be welcome, but it is not. I couldn’t stop thinking of the men who have died, while I’m still here. I tried getting drunk–it’s what everyone else does, Nixon, Welsh, all of them. I’ve never really seen the point, but last night I thought, what the hell, it’s worth a shot.

I’m sharing quarters with 1st. Sgt. Lipton (he should be Lt. Lipton, but it hasn’t come through yet. Promotion won’t ruin him as it has me). I stumbled there, and I was…I couldn’t…I wasn’t as in control of myself as I would have liked to be.

In truth, I wasn’t anything close to control. I came into the tent so drunk I couldn’t see straight, and I was crying. I hadn’t cried before, not once in the entire war. Not with all the deaths. Not for the men who died or the men I killed. But I cried when I got my fucking captaincy.

Lipton was in bed, and I sat down on his cot. Aren’t you supposed to forget things that happen when you’re drunk? Why do I remember all of this?

I remember I tried to kiss him. At least, I think that’s what happened. It is a little fuzzy. All I know is that I was sitting there on his cot and he was in bed, lying down and listening to me, and then I was half on top of him. I think I remember my mouth on his…fuck, you’d think if I’d gone and done something so colossally stupid I would have the decency to be sure about it. You’d think it would be seared into my brain, something I could go back to sometimes, in the privacy of my own thoughts. But there’s nothing, really. Just a vague sense of closeness, of Lipton, right there.

I got to my own bed, somehow. He must have put me there–by that point, I was too drunk to know my own name. And in the morning he greeted me with his usual smile and a cup of extra strong coffee. As though nothing at all had happened. So I guess nothing did.

Notes February 1945

Lipton is sick. He’s been sick for a week or so, but he’s getting worse. It won’t stop. He won’t stop–just keeps acting like he’s fine, even though his fever is running so hot Doc Roe keeps trying to get him off the line. It’s pneumonia, and we’re out here in the cold, and he still won’t go. I’m so furious with him I don’t know what to do.

I can’t watch over him every minute, so I’ve put Luz on him. Luz has the right approach–firm, but with a smile. Lipton doesn’t respond to direct orders; I’ve tried that.

He remains infuriatingly competent, even when he coughs so hard I worry he’s going to drop a lung on my jump boots. Easy is running on fumes, and yet Lipton has it as organized as can be. And I can’t help coming to him for advice, to discuss options, even when he should be resting–because his advice is invaluable to me.

This town, Hagenau, has been blown to pieces. Is still being blown to pieces. We barely have roofs over our heads, though of course that’s practically a luxury, considering some of the places we’ve been. Easy CP is in a building with only one bed, and I’ve put Lipton there. It took some doing–I thought I was going to have to carry him there, and frankly he’s bigger and stronger than I am. Well, maybe not stronger, with pneumonia.

I could sleep in another room, of course, but I’ll be sleeping on the floor, in the same room. I want to be able to hear him if he needs anything, if he takes a turn for the worse.

Notes February 1945

Something happened last night. I don’t…I’m going to write it down, to see if that way I’ll understand it.

At 0230 I went to bed. The patrol did not go well. Two prisoners is not a fair exchange for Jackson. I was…upset. But I still moved quietly, so as not to disturb Lipton–only he was awake. He called me over, asked how the patrol went. I told him.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“It should never have happened,” I said.

He shrugged, his muscled shoulders moving in the low light from the fire I’d had Luz light in the hearth, and the cooler light from the moon.The room was warm, and he wore only his undershirt. “Lots of things have happened in this war that shouldn’t have, sir.”

I couldn’t argue with that. He slid to the side, gesturing for me to sit down on his bed, as I’d sat a couple of weeks ago, drunk off my head. I obeyed, but I frowned at him, unsure. “What are you doing awake? Can’t sleep? Should I get Roe?”

Lipton shook his head, a little smile on his face. “No. I’m feeling much better, sir. I wanted to see how you are.”

I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “I…I’m fine?” It sounded like I was asking him for the right answer, but how I was wasn’t something I’d considered in…well, in years, I suppose. Since well before Normandy.

“Good,” Lipton said, taking me at my word. “Would you like some of this?” He held up a bottle and I blinked at it. It was schnapps–I’d taken it from a German couple next door, along with some kind of pastry. Apfelstrudel, they’d called it.

“I don’t really drink,” I said warily, thinking of that other night.

Lipton grinned. “Neither do I, but I figure you got this for me for a reason, right, sir?”

“The woman said it would cure you.”

Lipton held out the bottle to me expectantly, so I took a small sip. It burned going down, too sweet. I handed it back to him, and he took a sip himself, placing his mouth where mine had been. I watched his throat as he swallowed. I was so close to him, I could hear the sound his lips made as they left the bottle. “Another?” he asked.

I shook my head. I didn’t understand what was happening–maybe nothing was happening, maybe this was all perfectly ordinary–but I sure as hell wanted to remember it clearly tomorrow. Lipton took another sip, made a face, and closed the bottle, setting it down on the floor. “Have you had a lot of that?” I asked.

Lipton shrugged, loose. “Some.”

“Enough to cure you then,” I said, and he laughed.

“I guess so.”

I could feel his hip against my leg, and the room got a little brighter with the light of an explosion from a couple of blocks away, and I could only hope it hadn’t done any more damage than we’d already sustained tonight. His eyes are so soft. “I should let you sleep.”

I didn’t stand up, though. I meant to, I meant to get up and go sleep on the floor like I’d insisted I would. I was going to, any second, but I hadn’t yet when Lipton said, “You could sleep here with me.”

I try not to let my emotions show on my face, but I must have looked surprised (I was more than surprised), because Lipton added, “We’ve all slept in tighter quarters than this, in Bastogne. There’s no need for you to sleep on the floor, sir.”

And it’s true. I slept as close as I could to other men in foxholes, because otherwise we would have frozen to death. But this room had a warm fire. There was no reason to. And yet, Lipton slid to the side, making a little more room for me–there wasn’t a lot, it was a small bed–and so I…lay down.

I didn’t take off my boots, or my jacket or anything. I didn’t want to risk taking the time, in case he changed his mind. I lay on my back, but that didn’t quite work, it was too close, so I turned onto my side. I should probably have faced away from him. I didn’t.

His face was right there. I could have kissed him again (did I even kiss him, before? I’ve never been certain). He blinked at me in the darkness, but I didn’t move. Eventually, his eyes closed, but I lay there for a long time, long enough to feel him relax and curl into me. I pressed my lips to his shoulder, and I thought I felt his breath against my hair, but I couldn’t be sure.

When I woke up in the morning, he was gone.

Notes February 1945

I haven’t known what to do with myself all day. Lipton has been hard to pin down–now that he is feeling better, he is working harder than ever. Winters canceled the second patrol, but we still need to act as though it is going forward, which means the same amount of work, plus I needed to make sure Lt. Jones is squared away.

I had Liebgott and the others firing across the river, while Webster and Sgt. Martin hid in the house. By the time I got back to the CP, it was 0300.

Lipton wasn’t in the bedroom waiting for me. He was awake and working with Luz, sorting through the supply delivery. I stopped in to say goodnight and when he said goodnight back, he…well, he smiled at me. But Lipton smiles at everyone.

I don’t like this. I don’t like being uncertain.

Notes February 1945

It’s Lieutenant Lipton now, at long last. Welsh caught up with us, and he had Lipton’s bars with him. I was there when Winters pinned them on, when Lipton shook his hand. There were so many of us there–Nixon, along with Luz and Webster in the other room. Hell, even Lt. Jones was standing there. What felt like it ought to have been a close moment, something for just me and him, wasn’t, couldn’t have been, with so many men around. But of course it wasn’t just for him and me–why would it have been? I’ve only been his CO for a month. Of course he would want to share this with men he’s known for years. He’s earned that and more.

But I was impatient. I couldn’t…after spending yesterday so uncertain, I didn’t want to spend another moment that way. And we were equals now, or almost. We were both officers, at least.

So I took him by the arm and brought him into the other room. It wasn’t private, by any means–they were all still right there, Harry and Nixon drinking from Nixon’s flask, Winters watching them in that amused way he has. And we were going to be heading out soon–I’m writing this in the back of a jeep as Winters drives, in fact. But I couldn’t wait.

“Yes, sir?” he said, expectantly.

I had absolutely no idea what to say. “Um. Yes. Congratulations, Lieutenant.”

He smiled, wide and sincere, that smile that spreads so far across his face that it lifts the downturned corners of his eyes. “Thank you, sir.”

I had to think of something else, some reason to keep him here away from everyone else while I thought of a way to ask what I needed to ask him. “And you’re sure you’re feeling better? Because we could go to an aid station.”

He reached out and squeezed my arm, just below the elbow. It was a little thing, something I’d seen the men do all the time. Hell, Winters and Nixon were never not touching, it seemed. “I promise, I’m fine, sir.”

Just a little thing, but it seemed like I could feel his hand on my skin, even through my coat. No one ever really touches me. “I…” I cleared my throat. “I’m glad to hear that.” His hand slid down, so that his fingers touched the bare skin of my wrist, just resting there. From the other room, it wouldn’t have looked like anything, but it felt like everything. “Lieutenant Lipton…”

“You can call me Lip, you know, sir,” he said. “Everyone else does.”

“Lip,” I repeated, quietly. It probably came out as a whisper. I don’t think I will call him Lip, in front of other people. I think I’ll keep that close.

“Sparky!” Nixon called from the other room. “We’re moving out in an hour, think you can manage that?”

Lipton’s fingers tightened on my wrist before letting go. “Yes,” I said, without looking away from him. I heard the sounds of the other men leaving, of Winters talking to Jones, of Luz giving Webster a hard time, of Welsh and Nixon bantering back and forth. Lipton stepped back, and I felt the moment slipping away, as if this was my only chance, and if I didn’t say something right then–though I still didn’t know what I should say–I would never get another try.

So I reached out and grabbed the back of his neck. His mouth was warm and soft, tasting of coffee and stale bread. He kissed me back, and the relief in that was enough to make me dizzy.

We broke away to catch our breath, and he smiled against my mouth. “Ron,” he whispered.

We had to leave that room, then, and that house full of broken walls and rubble, to gather the men and move on to another house in another town. But he’ll call me Ron again, I believe, when we’re alone. And I’ll call him Lip. And maybe there isn’t anything else that needs to be said, for now.

#band of brothers #fanfic #hbowarsummer24 #speirton #ronald speirs #carwood lipton

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frost-queen · 1 year ago

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The moment I knew // part 10 (Reader!Bridgerton x Tewkesbury)

@panhoeofmanyfandoms , @venomsvl , @the-uncoordinated-house-cat , @rosecentury , @imagines-by-her , @evilcr0ne , @vviolynn , @cayt0123 ,

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Summary: A confession has been made. Will you take the offer and finally live your happily ever after? | final chapter [ part 1 & part 2 & part 3& part 4 & part 5 & part 6 & part 7 & part 8 & part 9]

It means I love you.

Your heart was pounding loudly in your chest. Overpowering your thoughts as you couldn’t think anymore. You weren’t sure how you were looking at him. In shock? Panicking? Glowing? Flustered? Gawking? Seemingly frozen in time as you couldn’t move. – “Miss Y/n.” – Tewkesbury said taking your hand as it startled you awake. – “I cannot bear it any longer.” – he started joining his other hand on yours.

“Every moment apart from you, is excruciating. A pain I no longer wish to bear. I have been a fool, toying around but I am done playing. I am done with my boy-ish attitude.” – he confessed as you curled up a flustered smile. Feeling a bit sheepishly, looking around if anyone was taking noticed of it as well. His hands on yours. A scandalous act in public. Behind him you saw the dancers performing graceful sequences. A dance of tug and war. Pulling and pushing. Nearing and distancing the attraction.

Tewkesbury cleared his throat, bouncing on his feet nervously. – “Miss Y/n… I have a question I have been meaning to ask ever since I became serious about you.” – he started pouring his heart out. You chuckled softly. – “As long as it isn’t a proposal.” – you teased jokingly. You kept chuckling till you noticed Tewkesbury looking saddened back at you. Making it clear in his eyes, it was in fact like that.

You stopped chuckling becoming aware of it. – “Dear lord is it?” – you let out with wide eyes. Tewkesbury looked away with a shy smile. – “Well I am not going to say it now.” – he answered. – “The moment’s ruined miss Y/n.” – he scratched his hair looking nervously away. You pulled your hands back, up to your mouth as you gasped loud. – “Is it a proposal?” – you asked lowering your hands.

“It is isn’t it?” – you called out making Tewkesbury chuckle a bit at your innocence. – “The moment’s gone miss Y/n.” – Tewkesbury said taking a small step back, looking at the ground. – “No!” – you blurted out, startling Tewkesbury. – “No, no, no, no wait!” – you shouted desperately with your hands. – “Wait.” – you spoke making Tewkesbury supress a laugh at how hard you were trying to fix this.

You turned around, taking a few paces away from him. – “Begin once more.” – you called out. – “Miss Y/n I am not…” – he began as you cut him off. – “Begin once more!” – shouting at him as you turned back to him. – “Miss Y/n I’m not just going to begin again.” – he answered feeling a bit foolish. – “You simply take my hands again, you say that you have a question to ask me and I keep my foolish mouth shut!” – you let out making Tewkesbury laugh. – “Please..” – you begged.

“Miss Y/n I…” – Tewkesbury started to laugh again, knowing how silly this was. Too played out and orchestrated. – “Fine!” – you said loudly with determination. – “Then I shall ask you a question.” - you continued approaching him. – “My lord…” – you said looking down at his hands. Reaching for it, you took it. – “I’ve been a girl with her heads in the clouds, but you kept me grounded. My heart only yearns for you. It is yours to have and hold. I love you Tewkesbury. Will you make me your wife?” – you asked with a sweet smile.

Tewkesbury’s eyes widened. – “You love me too?” – he replied needing to be sure his hearing wasn’t deceiving him. You shyly nodded, twirling your hips a bit around. Tewkesbury’s eyes lit up, smiling purely out of excitement at you. He threw his arms around you, hugging you tight. – “You’ll marry me.” – he told you, squeezing you tighter in his embrace. He then pulled away, taking your hands, to leave a kiss on your knuckles.

Flustered you waved yourself some cool. Suddenly it felt so real till your eyes widened. – “Dear lord my brothers.” – you gasped out. Tewkesbury laughing at that. – “You fear they might skin me alive for proposing?” – he joked out. Seeing the nervous chuckle from you made him gulp. – “I’m sure it will be alright.” – you patted him on the hand, hoping you were right.

“That didn’t sound reassuring.” – Tewkesbury yelped out, breaking out a sweat. He could already imagine your brothers or the Duke stabbing him for proposing to their beloved sister or in law. Tewkesbury felt a fantom stab in this stomach making him winch. – “They aren’t that bad. It should be I who needs to be terrified of your grandmama. Her look alone will turn me to stone.” – you said with a shiver.

Tewkesbury and you shared a look before bursting out in laughter. Tewkesbury offered you his arm. – “Shall we?” – he asked as you accepted his arm. – “We shall, soon to be husband.” – you teased him. Tewkesbury placed his hand against his chest, gasping dramatically at how adorable he found that.

Tewkesbury removed your hand from his arm, holding it in his hand instead as you had found your way back inside. It wasn’t that hard to spot your siblings. He tugged gently on you, pulling you along with him towards them. Anthony and Benedict were in a deep conversation. Francesca beside them with a drink in her hand. She was the first one to notice you. – “I think we’ve found our lost sheep.” – she said with a smile. It made your brothers turn their heads at you. Benedict’s gaze went down, seeing your hand in Tewkesbury’s.

“He’s holding her hand.” – he said sweaty. – “What?” – Anthony replied looking as well. – “They are holding hands.” – Benedict blurted out stunned. Francesca clapped proudly as you neared. – “Sister!” – Anthony hissed out grabbing you by the shoulder. Benedict grabbed Francesca’s drink needing to cool himself. – “I warned you from the beginning it would be my soul purpose to marry him.” – you told your brother.

“What are you talking about?” – Anthony blinked overwhelmed with many emotions. You smiled, patting your brother against his cheek. – “You…” – Anthony said baffled, then looking at Tewkesbury with a point. – “You.” – he repeated as Tewkesbury nodded his head just a tat too amusingly. Benedict nearly fainted as Francesca had to grab him.

Anthony shoved you a bit aside to get to Tewkesbury. – “You asked my sister to marry her without consulting us first!” – Antony called out trying to keep his temper down. – “Actually my lord, she asked me.” – Tewkesbury answered giving Benedict another heart attack. He had just recovered as his knees became weak again. Francesca tried to hold him up right, fanning him. Anthony turned to you as you gave him one of your innocently sweet smiles.

He pointed fiercely at you, trying so hard to be angry at you, but that smile you flashed at him was doing it’s work. – “I’m proud of you sister.” – Francesca said. You curtsied to her. – “Don’t encourage this.” – Anthony said rubbing his forehead feeling it had become sweaty. Mama and Colin returned. – “What happened to him?” – Colin asked gesturing at Benedict. – “My little sister…” – Benedict sobbed out. It made Anthony roll his eyes dramatically at him. – “Oh please, pull yourself together.” – he said between a clenched jaw, pulling him up straight. Dusting his vest a bit off.

“Y/n and Tewkesbury are engaged.” – Francesca informed Colin and mama. – “What?” – Colin shouted a tat too loud, drawing the attention of almost the entire ton. Seeing everyone was focused on him, he cleared his throat. – “Carry on.” – he said waving them away.

The ton proceeded to do what they had been doing before, paying no attention anymore to them. – “What?” – Colin repeated in a lower tone, closer to you. – “Well this is a surprise.” – mama said touching her stomach nervously. – “Do not worry mama, I’ll have him ask me again properly.” – you assured her with a wink. – “Well he better.” – mama answered waving her handkerchief playfully at him. Tewkesbury excused himself with you from your family.

“Where are we going?” – you asked curious. Tewkesbury chuckled nervously as your eyes fell upon his grandmother sitting at a table. – “Dear lord no!” – you blurted out, pulling hard at his arm, coming to a stop. – “It will be alright.” – Tewkesbury reassure you. – “She’ll eat me alive.” – you told him, not wanting to be introduced as his soon to be wife now. – “She already ate diner Y/n.” – he joked. – “This isn’t funny.” – you gave him a slap against his shoulder.

“You want to throw a scandal at the ton?” – you whispered to him anxiously. He placed his hands on your shoulder. – “It will be alright, she won’t cause a scene in public. It is bad for her reputation.” – he responded with a warm smile. Taking a deep breath, you weren’t sure about this, but you couldn’t avoid her forever.

Tewkesbury took your hand, placing it on his arm as he guided you towards her. He cleared his throat near her. – “Tewkesbury?” – his grandmother said looking questionable at him. She then gave you a glare as it made you gulp soft. – “Grandmother.” – he started placing his hand on yours on his arm. – “You’ve met miss Y/n Bridgerton before.” – he went on with shaking legs. – “Yes, the girl you’ve stolen her dance card.” – she recalled making Tewkesbury chuckle nervously.

You gave Tewkesbury a little nudge for encouragement. – “Yes, well.” – he began trying to find a way out of his words. – “Well out with it boy!” – she called out impatient at the lack of information he was giving her. – “I am to marry her.” – he popped out. – “What?” – his grandmother spoke setting her hands on the table as she was about to rise from her seat. Tewkesbury took a save step back, not sure what she would to next.

His grandmother than laughed loud. – “I am to marry her!” – Tewkesbury repeated more confident now. – “Laugh all you want, there is nothing you can do about it. I will marry her. The estate will be mine, so be mindful I don’t see you out grandmama.” – Tewkesbury spoke with seriousness. His grandmother stopped laughing. – “You wouldn’t…” – she replied.

“Watch me.” – he answered as you took a hold of his upper arm. A calm gesture to him to not loose himself in emotions. His grandmother stood up straight. – “How dare you threaten me like that. If it wasn’t for me you’d be a waste. Was it not I who had picked you up after the death of your parents!” – she called out. You could tell Tewkesbury was getting emotional. – “That is enough!” – you made clear silencing her.

“You will always have a home with us if you wish, but you do not disrespect the Viscount!” – your words made her swallow loud. You curtsied at her, not wanting to lose any more words to her. You pulled Tewkesbury with you away from his grandmother. You brought him to a secluded area rubbing your hand up his arm. – “Are you alright?” – you asked. – “I am now.” – he responded leaving a kiss against your cheek.

His touch flustered you, sweeping you up in the moment. You jumped at him, throwing your arms around him as you pressed your lips against his. Your feet found ground again as your lips retracted from his. – “Miss Y/n what a scandal.” – Tewkesbury teased goofily with a blush on his cheeks. – “Good thing I already am to marry you.” – you responded. Tewkesbury grabbed you to kiss you again.

Tewkesbury had proposed properly at your house. Sending a wave of emotions over your family once again. Benedict crying for he didn’t want to loose his younger sister yet. You reassured him you would always be close, visiting the house every day. Tewkesbury and you married by the end of the season. You moved into the estate with him.

His grandmother having settled in the manor up on the country side. It seemed your little counter response tasted bitter in her mouth. She didn’t like getting stepped on her toes. You send word to the girls you knew from your year away. Enlisting them as you had promised. Giving them a good house and a good household to work for. Your siblings would visit almost every day with the smallest thing wanting to share or just spend time with you for they couldn’t stay away. The dream of becoming a princess died out. For what is a princess, when one has a Viscount as Tewkesbury.

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