#He's just out there adopting the Wasteland Orphans

[atombonniebaby]

War Never Changes. I'm a little late to @falloutober

"C'mon, lad. I canna lose another one..."

"Argh. Geroff! I'm fine, boss!🙄"

It made me sad, so I had to do a "he's okay!" drawing too 🥺 But they turned out so cute!

The idea was basically Nate has experienced a lot of young men losing their lives in the war and he's the type of guy who wouldn't let them die alone...So Mac getting hurt is a little too close to home.

Maybe I'll do another one when Mac gets an earful for recklessly running into firefight...

[virginiaoflykos]

What to read after Light Bringer? (Series similar to Red Rising)

August 2023 update!

Red Rising is my favorite series of all time, and since I first read it, I have sought series and books similar in both spirit and execution. Some of these recs are books I haven’t read personally, but have often come up in discussions with other users!

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

Status: ongoing, expected 10 books in total, 4/10 out at the moment

Book 1: The Way of Kings. The Way of Kings takes place on the world of Roshar, where war is constantly being waged on the Shattered Plains, and the Highprinces of Alethkar fight to avenge a king that died many moons ago.

2. The Craft Sequence by Max Gladstone

Status: finished, 6/6 books out.

Book 1 (in publication order): Three Parts Dead. Comprised of 6 standalone books set in the same universe, the Craft Sequence tells the tales of the city of Alt Coulumb. The city came out of the God Wars with one of its gods intact, Kos the Everburning. In return for the worship of his people, Kos provides heat and steam power to the citizens of Alt Coulumb; he is also the hub of a vast network of power relationships with other gods and god-like beings across the planet. Oh, and he has just died. If he isn’t revived in some form by the turn of the new moon, the city will descend into chaos and the finances of the globe will take a severe hit.

3. Hierarchy by James Islington

Status: ongoing, 1/3 planned books out

Book 1: The Will of the many. The Will of the Many tells the story of Vis, a young orphan who is adopted by one of the sociopolitical elites of the Hierarchy. Vis is tasked with entering a prestigious magical academy with one goal – ascend the ranks, figure out what the other major branches of the government are doing, and report back. However, that isn’t quite as easy as Vis or anyone else thought it was going to be…

4. Suneater by Christopher Ruocchio

Status: ongoing, 5/7 books out

Book 1: Empire of Silence. Hadrian is a man doomed to universal infamy after ordering the destruction of a sun to commit an unforgivable act of genocide. Told as a chronicle written by an older Hadrian, Empire of Silence details his earlier adventures and serves as an introduction to the characters and the setting.

5. Dune by Frank Herbert

Status: completed, 6/6 books out

Book 1: Dune. Set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "spice", a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities.

6. The Expanse by James S A Corey

Status: completed, 9/9 books out

Book 1: Leviathan wakes. Set hundreds of years in the future, after mankind has colonized the solar system. A hardened detective and a rogue ship's captain come together for what starts as a missing young woman and evolves into a race across the solar system to expose the greatest conspiracy in human history.

7. The First Law by Joe Abercrombie

Status: completed. 3 books in the original trilogy + 3 standalone books + 3 books in the newest trilogy

Book 1: The Blade Itself. The story follows the fortunes and misfortunes of bad people who do the right thing, good people who do the wrong thing, stupid people who do the stupid thing and, well, pretty much any combination of the above. Survival is no mean feat, and at the end of the day, dumb luck might be more of an asset than any amount of planning, skill, or noble intention.

8. Cradle by Will Wight

Status: completed, 12/12 books out

Book 1: Unsouled. Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan. When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must rise beyond anything he's ever known...and forge his own Path

9. Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons (one PB’s favorites)

Status: completed, 4/4 books out

Book 1: Hyperion. The story weaves the interlocking tales of a diverse group of travelers sent on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion. The travelers have been sent by the Church of the Final Atonement, alternately known as the Shrike Church, and the Hegemony (the government of the human star systems) to make a request of the Shrike. As they progress in their journey, each of the pilgrims tells their tale.

[hyrule-in-a-pokeball]

A BIG OL' GANONDORF THEORY (TOTK)

This gonna be a long one, kids

I've just got a bunch of thoughts on Ganondorf. I'll categorize them or something

GANONDORF CAUSED HYRULE'S UNIFICATION A great war of some kind has been mentioned a few times in Zelda canon. most notably in OoT. 9 years before the events of OoT kick off, a great war comes to an end, but not before orphaning a baby who gets adopted by a tree. 9 years after this war, the leaders of the Gorons and Zoras consider the King of Hyrule to be a close friend, with the leader of the Gorons even considering him an honorary brother. With OoT being erased, why is this important? Because the legend that is OoT is based on the historical fact shown in TotK. Real events that were embellished and re contextualized over time. Well, here's what the legend tells us about history... At one point in time, Hyrule was divided. Each race seemed to be a different kingdom, but there didn't seem to be any tension among them. But then something happened that forced them to unite. Or rather...

Someone Ganondorf has always been bent on ruling Hyrule, but I think his invasions weren't targeted solely on the land of the Zonai/Hylians, but also the lands of the Gorons, Zora, and Rito. Basically all the lands that aren't a barren wasteland. He probably planned to take over each region and unite it all under one glorious Gerudo banner. Alone, they may have all had trouble fending off the Gerudo army. I believe that with a common and very powerful enemy in the form of the Ganondorf-lead Gerudo, King Rauru was able to convince the Gorons, Rito, and Zora to unite with him under a single Hyrulean banner, thus creating the unified kingdom of Hyrule and forming a solid, united opposition to the Gerudo invasion.

GANONDORF'S STONE ENHANCED FORM

We skip forward in time a little. The war has ended and Ganondorf is swearing fealty to King Rauru, but thats just so he can get in and move about freely without suspicion even though he's the world's most suspicious looking man. It works though. He kills Queen Sonia and steals her sacred stone, the power awakened from which causes him to transform

The sacred stones, as explained, do not give powers to their holders, but instead greatly amplify powers that were already present. But what they ALSO don't do, is cause a physical transformation in their users. None of the other stone holders were shown to change form when using the power of their stones. And its not like his stone was extra special. It was literally the same stone Sonia was using. So why did Ganondorf change form when he came into possession of one?

Because his power is not his own.

While Zelda inherited her powers from her ancestors through blood, Ganondorf inherited his as a result of being the product of Demise's cheeky curse. While Demise is dead and gone, his power lives on in Ganondorf, and so it was Demise's demonic powers that were amplified by the stone. As a result, Ganondorf's form changed to reflect those demonic powers.

But that might not be all that changed. You see, after his demonic powers awakened, his goal changed a bit. While he was still hell bent on ruling Hyrule, he now also wanted to wipe out every living person within the kingdom, supposedly to replace them with the monsters he summoned, and "Cast the world into eternal night" He even turned on his own people, the Gerudo, as in the scene in which Rauru grants the soon-to-be-sages their sacred stones, Ruto states "We just received word that the last free village in the Gerudo desert has fallen..." So the demon king's armies were attacking everyone indiscriminately on his command. I think he truly became a demon, and possibly something in his psyche changed as a result.

THE 8TH SAGE

Those who hold Sacred stones were deemed sages. Zelda and Sonia were the sages of time. Rauru, reflecting his roll in OoT, was the sage of light. Nabooru was changed from the sage of spirit to the sage of lightning. Darunia was the sage of fire, Ruto; the sage of water, and Mineru was the sage of spirit. Saria and "forest" being completely replaced by a nameless Rito and the element of Wind. Sonia dies, so the sage count is 7.

When the stone bonded to its holder, stylized Japanese kanji would appear on it. This is most visible with Nabooru/Riju's stone

Its up-side down and partially wrapped around the stone itself, but that is the Kanji "Kaminari" meaning "Lightning"

When Ganondorf steals Sonia's stone, the kanji for time "Toki" disappears and is replaced with this

Its side ways and partially obstructed by his hand, but when he uses his power, we see the symbol flash in its proper orientation

Yami. Darkness. (funnily enough it also means "Gloom")

If holding a secret stone makes one a sage, then Ganondorf is the sage of Darkness, a being in direct opposition to Rauru; the sage of light

[cosmica-galaxy]

How would the Mimics (Buddy, Pal, and Fiend) react to finding a human baby/child? Would they try and adopt the tiny human to try and 'woo' the human like 'Hey look! Found a human pup/kit! Let's raise it!', between Buddy and Fiend at least?

Buddy would immediately take it back to the human to show them. He would be so proud once the human takes the infant into their arms--they just accepted a new pup! One that is just like you too! He'll volunteers to watch the child and help care for it. He also guards it aggressively. You know how dogs are protective of babies? That's what Buddy turns into as the human decides to raise the little one in the camera compound. He becomes pretty protective of the baby and already views it as the alphas illegitimate child. Pal is worried for the child as he brings it back clutched gently in his large hands. The moment the human sees him with the baby, they immediately run over and question where he found it. It was quite a shock, really. Finding such a rarity amongst the numerous buildings and wasteland out there beyond the base fence. Pal only found it because he could pick it up with his sensitive hearing...that and the crying. He vows to help care for the little one. Besides, he was a speaker mimic and speaker mimics share responsibilities. Even raising pack members young. It comes natural to him sometimes, as he even turns his body into a hammock that slowly rocks the child to sleep. He's a helpful individual and a blessing for the human, as they try their best to become a pseudo-parent to this orphan. Fiend is a little put off from the baby, but even he's not made of stone. He tries to keep a stiff front when dealing with the little infant, but the moment the human finds him with the baby--he starts to already get attached. Even when the human tries to take over their shift to try and care for the infant, Fiend becomes like a moody broody mother hen and resists. He doesn't know why he likes the infant, okay?! Maybe it's just...cute or something! Yes, he also likes the extra attention that the human gives him, but still! He honestly has wanted young for a while...so him and the human sharing this illegitimate young like they were the real parents just feels right in his mind. He will raise them to be big and strong...and maybe they'll be just as handsome as him too!

[starsnheroes]

clint's au verses + notes

as a general rule of thumb, @/thefleetfinest regardless of verse or ship, mel's leonard mccoy is clint's sober buddy/sponsor always. assume he is in all of these verses. Or if i have written him in / if he is referenced like an npc assume it's mel's leonard. // mass effect and dragon age may go single ship as well to be determined

star trek // to boldly go // single ship: @/crisispider

Set in the Kelvin timeline

One of five helmsman on the Enterprise, he is typically Sulu's alternate and typically takes the night shift

Post Beyond, he is contemplating a career change from pilot seat to being a security officer thinking his skillset may be better used not glued to monitoring flight controls (actually its the paranoia and trauma)

He doesn't join Starfleet Academy until he is 33, after being an entertainer from the age of 14 to 32 when he got a divorce

He's an odd one, not the most authority friendly

Manages sobriety alongside Leonard Mccoy after an incident with John Walker in the final year of academy before the Nero crisis

Divorced and sad except now he is a committed relationship with engineer Peter and he makes him happy

Friends: Leonard, Uhura, Carol, Peter and Linda. Iowan Alliance with Jim

wastelands // you can run on for a long time sooner or later god'll cut you down

Can follow either the comics or the podcast for plot and canon in terms of events

Drinking again

An absolute disaster and bastard of an old man

Blind from glaucoma

wastelands inspired au // something in the orange tells me we're not done (single ship w/ crisispider)

features my "oc" ashley parker barton, blood related to barney barton, adopted daughter clint barton and peter parker (he is married to peter) as well as peter and mj's daughter mayday

Sadly, he and Leonard are no longer sober

Currently on his revenge quest to kill the T-Bolts and everyone responsible for V-Day

Can be deterred from this suicide revenge quest because well his family is alive

the more fun version of wastelands and more flexible with plot

mass effect // a spectre. smoke and dust and shadow nothing substantial until i chose to be

Canon flexible/divergent setting of the main trilogy // time blind

One of the first few human spectres to come after Commander Shepard (this can happen in the two year gap when shepard is "dead" in me2 // happens post any ending of me3)

Barney and him got off planet of earth when he was only 12 years old, where they both ended up running with a bad crew

That causes a lot of trouble for Clint, but also makes him the best marksmen you could ever pay for

After Barney dies from injuries on a job gone wrong, Clint flips his tune and starts to go after gangs like the gang he ran with (turn vigilante)

There was one specific take down of a splinter pirate crew, that had lead to Clint meeting and working with high ranking Alliance officer Steve Rogers and engineer Tony Stark (not just a phony tony stark; but the Tony Stark of wealth and fame)

The meeting of these two, would later prove beneficial, when Clint would be set up by ex partners-in-crime and would lead up to arrested on the Citadel, awaiting Council judgement

Rogers and Stark had apparently been keeping an eye on Clint, and not only bailed him out with the Council but pitched and vouched; that the Citadel instead turn Clint into one of their operatives. he's got skills that are hard to teach, scary accuracy with any weapon in his hand.

That's how Clint went from orphan to criminal to vigilante to one of the Citadel's few human spectres

Clint has a small crewed ship named the BROKEN ARROW with a varying crew (some details will be static if verse goes singleship)

BROKEN ARROW has two doctors, leonard mccoy (@/thefleetsfinest) and (my) linda carter who specializes in medicinal care for biotics and xenology

Sobriety comes with being a spectre, wanting to be and do better; actually take this seriously as a way to do good in the universe

working an andromeda verse as well

the last of us // had to fight like hell until fight like hell made me one hell of a fighter

Clint's one of the original fireflies; when the group started to rise up in the world

He's always been a resistance guerilla fighter of a guy; doesn't approve of some of the ways that fedra control affected the world

Incredibly resourceful and an invaluable survivalist, almost exclusively uses a bow and arrow

As the fireflies start to lose sight, or as clint finds out about some of their not-so ideal ways of helping people (he is a huge help people guy) he starts to turn away from being a firefly or being the first guy to call them out

dragon age // i will wear the title oathbreaker with pride for no more false demons shall be slain

a born ferelden-er

Has a mabari named lucky

ex templar archer turned mage rights activist

orphaned at age seven with his older brother and became a templar alongside him as the chantry orphanage put pressure upon them that becoming a templar was the maker's intended path

was a mage hunter (and good at it)

quits the order as he finds himself ill with what circles have become, as the chantry does cuts him off from lyrium

turns to alcohol to cope with lyrium addiction and withdrawal

centered around the inquisition timeline, with clint joining up with the inquisition at haven ; favors mage-friendly inquisitors and anti-chantry followers most

can splinter off into two additional verses with one being clint becoming a warden in for da:o / da:a or be a companion for da2

616 // all he ever needed was to trust his own wings

Currently part of Mayor Cage's Thunderbolts

Working on amends with all the Avengers (and hopefully be an Avenger again)

Managing his sobriety well which came about after he was outed as Ronin and events of freefall

He and Kate have reconnected, and he'll usually turn a blind eye for her (sorry Luke and Helen; hawkeye fam always comes first)

[nostalgiaruinedme]

Hello!! Since you know a lot about tmnt lore I was wondering who your pick for the time traveller would have been? I only watched 2012 I remember the lady who Mikey was fond for and the rabbit usagi

Hi!!! Before I start I wanna thank u for this ask. It was so much fun to answer!

My first pick would’ve definitely been Renet, since she’s already established as a time travelling character in multiple iterations of tmnt - it would’ve been a great call back to IDW, 2003, AND 2012!!! Plus, Rise needs more female characters! They have a lot of great minor female characters but they never developed them too much (probably due to being cut short :( ) Not to mention, Renet is just such a sweet character and I would’ve LOVED seeing her interactions with Rise Mikey!!! Rise Mikey needs some friends and they could’ve been besties. Hes never really had a friend his age who meets his energy and optimism in Rise.

Renet I think would’ve been the best choice. BUT I do think some other characters could’ve made for an interesting movie too~

1. Mira

2012 did their mutant apocalypse arc so dirty. I can’t even BEGIN to list the number of things they did wrong…. But Mira is one thing they did right. She was a new, original character who became pretty much the adopted child of a turtle (Raph) and lived as an orphan beforehand alone in a wasteland. SHE WOULD’VE MADE SUCH A GREAT MENTEE CHARACTER!!! The Rise movie is already showing to have a lot of call-backs to the 2012 Mutant Apocalypse arc by the looks of the trailer. Using Mira would’ve been a great addition.

2. Fugitoid

He’s time travelled before!!! Fugitoid is such a great character and he had the opportunity to give Donnie a mentor figure, which he never really had in Rise. Not to mention, Rise Donnie’s technology has never really been beat before? I think it’d be cool for him to meet a scientist from the future who is actually smarter/more advanced than him.

That’d have to be a very very minor thing or not mentioned at all tbh, since the movie already seems stuffed with plot... but I still think it’d be neat!

Aside from that, Fugitoid would’ve just been a great addition because he’s already been established before as a character fleeing the future to save the turtles from the end of Earth. They could give him a cool backstory with the Kraang as well, since the Kraang haven’t been fully established yet in Rise so there’s TONS of opportunities for worldbuilding. They couldve caused him to lose his physical body or mutated his home planet - he couldnt save his people, but he'd be damned if he'd see it happen again.

3. Bishop

Bishop has been both an antagonist and a friend of the turtles. There are so many possibilities to be done with him!!! He's someone who has reasons to hate the Kraang already and would've gladly gone back in time to stop them if needed. While Bishop isnt my favorite character and there are better choices out there, he'd definitely be an interesting one.

4. Mona Lisa

COME ON RISE HAS GOTTA BRING IN MONA SOMETIME

She couldve been a normal human in the future who got mutated in the apocalypse. We'd have to scratch the whole mentor arc thing since thatd be weird since shes kinda , historically, Raphs love interest... but it can be done without that.

Itd be interesting if she lost Raphael in the future and now she travels back to stop the Kraang from ever invading and sees he's still alive here.

Angst potential~

5. Danny Pennington

If Nick is desperate to bring in a cool new teenage guy character, bring in a NEW one at least! I honestly dont have any real profitable reason to argue that Nick shouldve used Danny because I think most forgot about his existence but. I liked his character. I vote we give him another shot.

Then we can give the fandom a scruffy, messy, teenage boy who wants to fight a lot without replacing another established character!! Come on guys Danny is RIGHT THERE he can be the scruffy wildly impulsive teen boy :(

[twistedlionstories-repost]

Love and Wasteland

Chapter 3: He is the topic

One week later...

Zira and Flower had come to agreement that they were to share the cave but the agreement turn into a bonding experience.

One would hunt and the other would look after the children vice versa. Nuka,Bethan,Lucy was getting on so tag and sleeping in a pile.

"Nuka you said something about a lion with werid accent"Bethan asked

"Yes it was like Scar english accent but different that, i can't explain you need to hear him to find out" Nuka said smiling.

"What did he look like?"asked Zira

"Red mane,Green eyes,Brown fur and had scar across his back left leg"Nuka explained

"Sounds dreamy"Zira said out of the blue.

"If your saying the lion your saying the lion that sounds dreamy... Ewww your like twice his age"Flower said "children go play outside"

Zira took no notice is what flower just said and was imaging the lion

Nuka,Bethan,Lucy went outside

Scar's cave

Scar was moaning as normal

All he did since he became king

hyeans say it because he sad about Mufusa and Simba's death.

Lioness say it's because he dosent really want to become King.A dark figure walk turn over to see who it was. It was Shenzi Scar's second in command. Scar grunted as he stood.

"Sir theres been sighting of a male lion in the pridelands"Shenzi said

"Description of this lion"Scar snapped.

"Red mane,green eyes,brown eyes and scar across back left leg with a weird accent"Shenzi explained

"Diiiiii...eee...go"Scar stuttered.

"Something wrong sir"Shenzi asked

Scar was lost in thought Diego that name had not be mention in a while. No it couldn't be the same Diego that play with Simba and Nala. the same orphan cub that he took in as cub which as that point everyone thought Scar was a sarcastic, lonely, un welcoming lion. he turned to Shenzi who he forgot was still there.

"Sir do you want me to get rid of him"Shenzi asked

"No,Just keep i eye on him"Scar answered.

Shenzi walked out of the cave.

One day later

Zira was hunting. in wasteland there was still food to be found just not as much as there used to be. Zira stopped to stalk Zebra it was quite old which made it a easy catch well it should of

Zira ran at the old Zebra with quick speed then pounced at the Zebra but it quickly ran from her then there was a sudden crunch .A sound was too close for comfort made Zira shiver.A dark figure stood over her with Zebra in its mouth.

"This must be yours"The lion said with accent that Zira only heard once before and this wasn't Scar

she stood up and took the Zebra

"Thank you"said Zira

"Mrs please let me walk you home,and help carry your Zebra"The lion said

Zira laughed at how he said Zebra and the fact that treat her like proper lioness not just a cub bearer.

"Whats so funny?"the lion asked

"You prounce Zebra like to has h in it,Zeh-bra"Zira laughed

"and you prounce it like Zee-bra" The lion responed.

The both kept laughing at each other until the went back to the cave where Flower was waiting for Zira to come back with walked in first followed by the mysterious lion that had Zebra in stared at the lion that walk in a red mane,green eyes,brown fur her jaw dropped she couldn't get to grips. This is the same cub that Scar adopted. Didn't he die from same stampede that killed Simba and Mufasa.

"Diego"Zira said"is it really you"

"Nice to see you Zira "Diego said

Part of Diego history will explained in the next chapter.

[afterhoursgame]

Welcome to...

Hello Friends! I'm D! I've decided I wanted to take that final jump into making my project real and made this Tumblr! I've never put out any of my writing, and I'm so nervous that it's going to suck but...

I want to preface this entire project and post by saying.. I'm not a pro! I am an ADHD-riddled disaster, and I've just picked up writing again. So, be gentle with me! I'm working my absolute hardest to make this story not read like the jumble that is my brain, and for it not completely suck. Again! Not a professional writer. Just a woman who wants to share stories I've had cooking in my head for years.

With that said, I want to introduce you all to my upcoming project:

You grew up the adoptive sibling to a fellow orphan in the wasteland of Umia-32s forgotten city, Aeon. A city inhabited by poor, unfortunate souls, and the machines that hunt them.

On the night you planned to make a change, they change everything for you. What will become of your life now? It's time to find out...

Not that they gave you much choice...

Features to expect(WIP):

-Supernatural Cyberpunk Uptopia!

-Tons of NEON!

-Customizable MC!

-Fun, soft, angsty romance! 6 planned RO's.

-Join a gang! Be sure to enjoy one of your 3 new "Official" job options!

-Found family!

-Disasterous GROUP EXERCISE!

-Decorate your first-ever bedroom, and go on a shopping trip!

-Beat some machines to bits!

-Find out the secrets behind the killings!

Basic Cast info!

-UNDINE(Cis F, She/Her)(RO for F/NB MC)

A blunt, no-nonsense, shark doctor.

-Bishop(Trans M, He/Him)(RO for all MCs)

Resident HIMBO cyborg, certified dumbass

-Knight(Cis M, He/Him)(RO for M/NB MC)

Giant Lizard with a gun and snacks.

-Saturn(Cis F, She/Her)(RO for all MCs)

Tiny bug who can't stop moving.

-Infinity(Agender, They/Them or It/It's)(RO for all MCs)

An angel who looks like a nightmare.

-Monsoon(Gender fluid, He/Him and They/Them)(RO for all MCs)

A frog demon who likes to cause chaos.

Plus!!

-Siren(Cis F, She/Her)

Your boss, and boss-wife of your other boss. The boss' boss.

-Rook(Cis M, He/Him)

Your other boss.

And MORE!

Feel free to send an ask!

DEMO POST HERE!!!

[son-of-mandalore]

Why Din Djarin is NOT in a cult:

So it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people don’t really know what a cult is or think that any restrictive culture is a cult, so I’m gonna break down some common questions:

*it’s also important to note that a cult usually refers to a religious group that worships a person or diety, so by a strict definition the covert is not a cult*

He has to cover his face, that means he’s in a Cult right?

So many cultures require some kind of head covering for all or some of their population. The most obvious example today would be Islam, but almost every religion has a similar equivalent. Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and many other cultures and religions have a head covering of some kind either now or historically. It is true that relatively few of them cover the entire face, but there are still several throughout history. Covering your face does not make your group a cult by any means.

But dosen’t wearing a helmet causes him distress?

Actually, no. Din shows no distress or discomfort from wearing his helmet. He removes it when he is alone, and is able to perform all the behaviors he needs to while wearing it in front of others. His distress only comes from being forced to not wear his helmet, which does cause him tremendous distress. But preventing someone from practicing their faith causing distress is not a sign of a cult.

The covert isolates themselves, that makes them a cult

Also false. While they are isolationist, this is because of their safety, not their culture or beliefs. They are still recovering from the effects of a genocide, and are still being hunted down and killed for their armor. Their isolationism is what is keeping them alive, and we see this first hand when Don’s covert is massacred by the empire after revealing themselves.

Din was indoctinirated by them! That makes them a cult?

This one is complex. He was adopted by the mandalorians after his parents were killed, and raised in mandalorian culture. All humans are indoctrinated into their culture through a process called ‘Socialization’, which teaches a person the behaviors they need to conform to the group they belong to. This itself is fairly normal, as no one is born with culture, it is given to them by those around them. Raising orphans in their culture dosent make them a cult.

The Children of the Watch came from DeathWatch, a cult!

Din Djarin was saved by members of Clan Viszla, who led the DeathWatch at that period of time. DeathWatch also wasn’t so much a cult as a Terrorist organization, which is worse but it’s also an important distinction. It’s also important to notice that Bo-Katan calls them the ‘Children of the Watch’, Din does not. The COTW clearly do not identify currently with DeathWatch, and also do not follow their customs. DeathWatch was led by a single warrior leader, while the COTW are softly led by a blacksmith spiritual guide, and is vastly more egalitarian. While the potential roots of the COTW are in a terrorist group, that dosent make them necessarilya cult, nor does it mean that it still is involved with said terrorist group.

Bo-Katan said he was in a cult!

For multiple reasons, Bo-Katan is not a reliable source of information. First off, she is not established to be trustworthy or a good person, as she is a former terrorist whose actions directly lead to the Great Purge. She is not a reliable source of what is right or wrong, or even what is good for mandalorians. Second off, she has a motive to covert the COTW to her cause, because they don’t want to take back mandalore, and she needs soldiers. Discrediting the faction is in her best interest. Third of all, her opinion on a faction does not make it true, what matters is the experience of those within the faction.

Din dosen’t know anything about history, that means he was brainwashed or sheltered!

It is true, Din does know little compared to what we know about mandalorian history. But it is important to recognize that we, as the viewer, know almost everything about mandalorian history, across decades. Din was only about 10 when Bo-Katan helped take back mandalore with the republic, but that quickly turned into an imperial occupation. Bo-Katan was never in control of mandalore for more than a few hours, why on earth would some random kid know about Bo-Katan? He also dosent know much about the Jedi, but he was 10 when the Jedi were wiped out, and almost no one in the outer rim believed in the Jedi even when they existed. His ignorance is understandable when looking at his experiences in life. It’s also important to remember that this happens in a galaxy of trillions upon trillions of people, it’s easy to not know about someone.

Din thinks Mandalore is cursed, therefor the COTW lied to him!

There is actually a good reason for this. We don’t know when the COTW left deathwatch or greater mandalorian society, but it’s important to know that even prior to the great purge, the surface mandalore was a desolate wasteland from decades of war. And then during the great purge, almost all of the mandalorians were murdered and the planet was glassed(which means that the entire surface of the planet was bombarded, so that the surface turned to glass). There is a good reason to think that the planet is cursed/inhospitable. At best it’s still a desert. At worst, it’s uninhabitable.

Long story short, not liking or agreeing with the cultural practices of mandalorians and especially the covert is OK. But just because it’s strange or you don’t agree with it, dosent make it a cult.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E4; Chapter Four, Will the Wise - [Pt. 4 - FINAL PART]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

An ailing Will opens up to Joyce --  with disturbing results. While Hopper digs for the truth, Eleven unearths a surprising discovery. A conflicted Y/n reconciles with Mike amidst the rising panic.

Warnings: Abusive behavior. Racism. Animal death

||3rd Person POV||

Will continued to draw, never faltering. And his movements never slowed.

Several sheets of paper, with similar purple and blue features.

The second he was done, he would swiftly swipe the drawing behind him and it would land on the floor like the others. Not unlike a printer would.

Joyce grabbed a handful and returned through to the living room, where Hop sat, looking at a handful of Will's drawings himself.

"This is more of the same," she said, joining him on the couch.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just scribbles."

The pages they held before them, as well as the ones still being made in Will's room usually featured a black page with some variant of purple-blue sections. Ranging from corner to corner, corner to side, bottom to side, top to corner and so forth. Some of them were just pure purple and blue.

"Wait," Joyce had caught sight of the drawing Hopper was currently looking at. "Wait."

"What? What?"

"Wait. These black lines, see?"

She held up one of the several drawings she possessed up to Hopper.

Hopper was still confused.

"What?"

The drawing she held matched perfectly with the one in his hands.

"They connect. They connect!"

×××

Hopper had now pushed aside all the furniture in the living room, opening up space for the drawings.

They grabbed more piles and scattered the drawing all over the floor, matching piece after piece.

Finally, the duo stood, marveling at the large intricate design the pictures had made. They were sprawled out all over the room, so much so in fact that they twisted and curled and began creeping up the walls.

"Does this mean anything to you?" Hopper asked.

Joyce scoffed, gesturing to the work before them. "No."

"I mean, is it some kind of maze or a road?" She wondered.

They began wandering around the room, careful as to not step on the drawings.

"I-I mean, it's sort of forking and branching like... like lightning." She gestured to the many twists and turns below her feet.

"You think it's that storm?" He asked, referring to the drawing.

"No, the storm he drew was completely different. He used red." She said, certain about her son's artistic patterns. "And this is all blue and it has some sort of weird dirt color. I mean, maybe it's roots."

"'Cause remember," she continued, lost in thought. "he was saying it was spreading and--"

"killing." He finished. "he said they were killing."

Hopper felt his chest sink at the words. Familiarity tugging at his mind. He hoped he was wrong. But he was almost certain he wasn't.

"Vines." Joyce looked to Hopper just as he retreated to the front door, gathering his things. "He's drawing vines."

×××

The bell rang harshly, signaling the end of the school day. Just as he had hoped, Lucas found Max at her locker.

"Hey, Max. Have you seen Dustin? We're supposed to meet after class."

Max slammed her locker door and stomped away.

Lucas frowned and called after her. He chased her trailed after her, and it wasn't until they reached the steps outside the school that she answered.

"Hey, Max! Hey, where are you going? Come on! We've gotta go look for Dart."

"Yeah, good luck with that." She spits, not looking back.

Max made it to the parking lot when Lucas finally caught back up to her.

"What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" She scoffed. "What's wrong with you?"

She brushed a stray piece of hair from her eyes angrily as she walked.

"I don't understand!"

Max whirled around on her heels, looking at Lucas for the first time in the conversation.

"No! I don't understand!" She shouted, and Lucas jumped back slightly. "You guys act like you want me to be your friend but then you just treat me like garbage!"

"That's not true!" He said defensively.

She scoffed and nodded.

"Actually, you're right," she smiled, and Lucas briefly relaxed.

Her face quickly hardened once more.

"Y/n hasn't. She's the only one of you jerks that have actually been nice to me. The only one who's making an effort to get me in the party. But, ya know what? Tell her I said thanks but she doesn't have to try anymore. I don't want to be in your stupid party anyway."

Lucas tried to find words but Max stopped him before he cod say anything.

"All you guys do is lock yourselves in the AV room keeping secrets like we're in second grade or something. You know, I thought you actually wanted me in your party."

"I do. But it's..."

"But what?"

He sighed, at a loss for words.

"There... there are just things. Things we can't tell you, all right? For your own safety."

"My own safety?" She repeated, fuming.

"Yes!"

"Because I'm a girl?"

"What? No! Why would you think that? Y/n's in the party."

"Yeah, do you keep secrets from her too? Or El?" She asked, her voice lowered but was still hostile.

Lucas stiffened.

"How do you know about El?"

"Did you?" She pressed.

"That was different. Trust me. Okay? That was just... different."

"Okay. You know what? Forget it. Have a nice life."

Max spun around and stomped away, ignoring his cries if protest.

"You still stink by the way!"

Lucas's heart sank as he watched Max walk away. He frowned and hesitantly brought his sleeve to his nose.

He recoiled at the stench.

"Oh, shit!"

Max set down her skateboard and stepped on. Besides one little push, she let gravity do its work and she steadily rolled down across the parking lot towards her stepbrothers car.

Unbeknownst to her, he had watched the whole exchange.

When she approached the car she hopped off her skateboard and tucked it back under her arm. Billy pushed off from where he was leaning against the hood and he stormed around to the driver's side door.

"That kid you were talking to, who is he?"

"He's no one."

"No one?"

"This kid from class." She replied impatiently.

She got in the passenger side but Billy lingered, glaring at Lucas as he looked in their direction in curiosity.

Billy narrowed his eyes and got in the front seat, slamming the door behind him.

He placed a cigarette between his lips and he lit it. Staring ahead, he took a puff and held it out the window as he rested his arm.

"Why was he talking to you?" He asked lowly.

"It was just about a stupid class assignment." She muttered.

His jaw clenched and he fidgeted with the cigarette at the end of his fingertips.

"Then why are you so upset?"

"I'm not!"

"He causing you trouble?"

"Why do you care?" She snapped, looking at him.

"Because, Max, you're a piece of shit, but we're family now whether we like it or not meaning I'm stuck looking after you."

She rolled her eyes and threw her arms up in a shrug.

"What would I ever do without- Hey!"

Billy grabbed her wrist tightly in his hand, his knuckles turning white. She froze in fear and he leaned in, teeth gritted.

"This is serious shit, okay? I'm older than you. And something you learn, is that there are a certain type of people in this world that you stay away from, and that kid, Max..." he tightened his grip on her wrist and tugged on it. "That kid is one of them."

Max tried to pull her arm back but he gave it a shake, his eyes burning holes in hers.

"You stay away from him, you hear me?" He growled. "Stay. Away."

He roughly shoved her arm away and returned to his cigarette, and started the engine.

Max turned to the window in an attempt to hide her tears and quivering lip.

×××

The tires of the chief's car blew sent dirt and dust flying in his tracks. The car bounced as he crossed the end of the dirt road and onto the bumpy field on the pumpkin patch.

He drove to the center of the pumpkin patch wasteland and the car swerved to an urgent stop. Hopper got out of the car and grabbed the shovel he kept in the truck bed and closed the trunk.

He walked through the fields, shovel over his shoulder to the very center of the field. He stopped when he reached the strongest patch of rot and decay, the patch where the most flies occupied.

Where everything had been killed.

Shovel in hand, he threw it into the ground and began his excavation.

×××

El started at the files before her. Familiarity tugged at the back of her mind at the words 'missing experiment'

Curious she opened it.

El frowned as she read, understanding only bits and pieces.

Before her was a collection of papers stapled together that were typed, like it belonged in the folder. On top of that were scraps of paper, one of them was a photocopy of an old news article, a small section of it highlighted, and then several handwritten notes in red ink. It looked like Hopper's handwriting, El thought. There were scribbles of red ink on several pieces of paper, off to the side with several footnotes in different articles

The first thing she examined was a piece of paper from Hopper's notepad, the one, she recognized from the Don't Be Stupid Rules. It was a messy jumble of words like he was trying to get them down on paper before he forgot. They were scribbled quickly and were barely legible.

"Another volunteer pregnant. Either escaped with kid, or escaped and gave birth?? Woman killed, daughter lived (presumably) Somewhere in Hawkins???"

El frowned, reading further, intrigued.

"Hiding?" The word was scratched out with a single line, next to the words, "she wouldn't remember."

Below that was a small bullet point list of the kid's possible traits.

"13/14 y/o female

Orphan?

Adopted?

Living on the streets?"

El's mind snagged on the familiar word, 'adopted'. She remembered when she first heard it, Mike's voice echoed in her mind.

《●●●》

"...It's funny actually, [Y/N] is from Hawkins. Or at least that's where they found her."

"...Dustin was so young he doesn't remember any of it, but I think him and his mom were visiting family here and they just... found her, I think?"

《●●●》

El's' first initial reaction was to dismiss the thought, it couldn't be Y/n. But the doubt vanished almost as soon as it came. Memories of her week with Y/n came flooding back to her mind. Granted, she often dwelled on this week, but this time was different. She looked at moments in a whole new light, and it only made sense that it could be Y/n.

《●●●》

"Oh, he was such a great student. Oh, he's going to leave a hole in the community." A boy farther down the bleachers mocked, beginning to fake sob.

Y/n began shaking, El noticed, facing the boy who spoke, visibly furious. El's eyes fell to Y/n's hands. They were gripping the bench she sat on and El noticed the hot shade of pink her friend's hands were turning.

"[Y/N]!" She heard Lucas whisper, making Y/n look at him.

"What?!" She asked.

El watched curiously as Y/n's eyes fell to her own hands and seemed shocked at their hue. Y/n's mood seemed to change drastically El noted, and then she realized Y/n was looking back at her, slightly panicked and confused. El's eyes fell to Y/n's hands one last time, knowing something peculiar happened that couldn't be easily explained.

It almost reminded her of when she used her powers for the first time...

No. It couldn't be.

She shook her head ever so slightly and remembered the word Y/n had taught her. Looking at the boy that upset Y/n, she repeated it back to her.

"Mouth breather."

Much to El's excitement, Y/n chuckled slightly and smiled at El, seeming to feel slightly better.

"Yeah." Y/n nodded. "Yeah, mouth breather."

《●●●》

El thought about that moment a lot. Y/n had always shown that she cared about her, and was truly the first real friend she ever had, besides Mike of course. But she always felt close to Y/n in a different way. A way she couldn't really explain. And she felt truly happy and proud to be the one to make her friend feel better in that moment.

It was no big feat, but to El, it meant a lot.

The only thing that came to mind to explain how she saw Y/n, was another word she had learned from Mike.

Sister.

But she supposed that's why she often overlooked the odd moment with the bench and her red hands.

Then, of course, there was that moment at the school, minutes before she said her goodbye.

It was very hazy though, and she could only remember bits and pieces. After all, she was fighting consciousness when it happened.

El never really understood how she was rescued from Papa that night.

But she did remember being knocked back slightly. And how all the bad men had been standing around her, holding her friends hostage, and then the next thing she knew everyone was on the ground. And a sense of warmth in between. She had still been awfully cold from the bath, her clothes were still slightly damp, but in between consciousness she felt a small and brief burst of warmth. She remembered thinking it felt nice on the still damp and cold dress she wore.

El realized she never really stopped to think about how they escaped. Especially when she hadn't done anything, that she could recall of course, besides getting rid of the woman that killed the nice man who fed her. And the guards with her.

Then Papa showed up. And she called out to Mike. And then the warmth.

As El dwelled on the memory more, she remembered something she didn't before. Something that was said after the warmth.

"'Surprise'"  El repeated her voice barely above a whisper.

Y/n. It must have been. Y/n must be the missing experiment, she realized.

It only made sense.

She remembered how tired Y/n had been after they escaped Papa. She must drain easily like she does.

And she must have done something when they got briefly separated when they were all fleeing from the vans. That would explain why Y/n passed out.

But had known? She must not have, El thought, because she was almost certain that Y/n would have told her.

El realized she had been rereading the same sentence over and over again this whole time, as she considered these things.

Shaking her head slightly, she focused all her attention on the words once more, trying to make sense of what they meant.

It was a single sentence at the bottom of the same notepaper, in quotation marks. It was a quote.

"This baby was supposed to have some sorta,"

The words she read next, made her shiver. She couldn't quite say why, but she knew it was important.

Familiar.

"untapped potential for the greater good"

Maybe it had been one of the many things Papa and said to her to get her to work harder.

How she could be just what he was missing.

No, no that wasn't it. How she was what he had to work with.

'She would be enough.'

'They didn't need the other one.'

'Eleven had her potential.'

El hadn't realized her eyes were watering until she noticed she could barely make out the words anymore. Her vision was blurring.

Was Y/n the one Papa had been whispering about all this time when he thought she couldn't hear?

She sighed heavily, setting down the file folder down in her lap.

El looked around the room, steadying her breathing. Her eyes fell on a pinkish-red folder than sat in the box.

She set the missing experiment files down next to her, and picked up the new folder.

El realized her knees were aching so she rose to her feet, taking a seat on the couch.

"Ives. Terry." She read aloud.

She recognized the name from the small mention in the other folder. Curious, she opened it.

Not unlike the other folder, it was an organized mess of articles and files. The first one she read was in big letters and it caught her eye first.

"INDIANA WOMAN  SUES D.O.A. CLAIMS CHILD WAS STOLEN"

She looked to the picture below it, and her heart ached thumped. She had no memory of ever seeing this woman but for some reason she felt like she knew her.

She turned the pages over, and found another article.

"DAUGHTER JANE TAKEN WHEN SHE WAS A BABY, IVES CLAIMS."

"Jane," she whispered.

El noticed a small handful of things, too short to be pinned in like the others, and was paper clipped to the side.

"CHILD ABDUCTIONS AGAINST HAWKINS LAB THROWN OUT."

and

"TERRY IVES SUING - 'They Took My Daughter' By Benjamin Buck"

A specific passage from this article had been highlighted and underlined more than once, like Hopper had looked over it several times.

"Ms. Ives suit seeks unspecified damages against Dr. Brenner and his facility, alleging physical abuse, sleep deprivation, malnourishment, and multiple allegations of kidnapping both attempted and successful..."

Next to it was another note from Hopper.

A question of his had been crossed out, and statement was written beside it, as if he answered it.

"Attempted and successful? 'Attempted' must be missing experiment."

El was about to flip the page when she noticed a small corner peeking out from under those two articles. Placing one hand on the files, she grabbed the corner with the other to find a photo.

It was a photo outside Hawkins Lab, of Terry and next to her was,

"Papa," she whispered in slight fear.

Eli suspected who the woman was, but something in her needed to know for sure.

She could contact her.

No, the TV was still broken. But the radio wasn't, El realized.

With picture still firmly in her hand, El grabbed the radio from the bookshelf  and her blindfold before returning to her spot near the files.

She knelt down on the floor where she left the missing experiment folder and turned on the radio, switching through all the channels until she finally heard the static she was hoping to find. El placed the radio on the floor next to her and secured the blindfold over her eyes. Holding the photo tight in her hands and bringing it up to her heart she searched.

She was back in the familiar void. She saw a woman in a rocking chair, facing away from her. El couldn't see her face but it looked like the woman from the photo.

She was muttering something El couldn't quite decipher until she walked closer.

"Three to the right. Four to the left."

El had reached the woman she believed to be her mother, her heart pounding. She walked around the chair to see the same woman, but older, aged by time and trauma.

Her eyes were closed, but she was still mumbling passionately as she rocked slightly back and forth in the chair.

"Rainbow. Three to the right. Four to the left."

El was standing in front of her now, watching her with worry and confusion.

"Rainbow. Three to the right. Four to the left. Four-fifty..."

Her eyes ripped open and she looked at El lovingly.

"Jane,"

It was her. All the doubts she bad washed away and she looked at her mother.

"Mama?"

She stepped forward, leaning down ever so slightly. She extended her hand out to her mother, her mother's finger twitching slightly as if she were trying to reach out to her daughter.

El placed her palm on her mother's hand, having given her nothing more than a loving squeeze when suddenly her mother disappeared under her very fingertips.

El breathing picked up and she looked around frantically, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Mama!"

She grasped feverishly thought the air, where her mother once was, watching the dying smoke of her image escape from her grasp.

"Mama?" She wailed.

She dropped to her knees in defeat, sobs wracking her body. Back in the living room of the cabin, El cried out still clutching the photograph.

"Mama! Mama!" El shrieked, pain enveloping her heart.

She ripped the blindfold off her eyes and she felt her upper lip grow wet from the blood mixing in with her snot, tears staining her cheeks.

"Mama..." she sobbed as if by some miracle her mother would hear her cries and come for her, comfort her.

She was told her mother was gone. Hopper had told her that. And there her mother was, alive, somewhere out there.

And just like that, she was gone again.

El collapsed in on herself, holding her own head in her hands as she wept.

||Reader's POV||

The trip to Will's felt like hours, but eventually, we rounded the corner and found ourselves on Will's lawn. Mike and I ditched out bikes and ran up the porch steps. Both of us were still panting from our ride over here, we went as fast as we could.

I knocked on the door quietly but urgently, and waited. That was until, Mike sighed growing impatient and pounded on the door a little harder.

"Hello?" He called.

"Will? Mrs. Byers?" I added.

I heard muffled footsteps and then the deadbolt unlocking.

Mrs. Byers peeked her head out, reluctant to show any more than her own frame.

"Hey,"

"Hey, Y/n, hi Mike" She eased.

"Mrs. Byers, we don't mean to intrude but is Will here? We were hoping to ask to him, see if he's okay."

She looked over her shoulder, growing antsy.

"You know what? Now is not really a good time,"

Mike beat me to it.

"Is he okay?"

She sighed, looking over her shoulder briefly once more, and stepped out onto the porch with us. She closed the door behind her.

"Yeah. You know, he's... he's just not feeling real well."

She kept walking, putting a gentle hand on either one of us, politely ushering us away.

"He's lying down, so I'll tell him you two stopped by, okay?"

She gave us a polite smile and retreated to the door.

I didn't bother to stop myself from what I said next.

"We know about the shadow monster."

She turned to look at me, worry and recognition flashed across her face.

"Will saw him, didn't he?"

||3rd Person POV||

"Mew-Mew! Where are you? Mew-Mew!"

Mrs. Henderson poured out her cat's dinner in the usual bowl, just as her son walked in the front door.

"Hey, Dusty!

"Hi, hey. Hey, mom." Dustin spoke quickly, his movements just as quick.

He was anxious to get to his room and check on Dart.

Mrs. Henderson frowned and straightened up.

"Everything okay, Dusty? Where's your sister?"

"Oh, uh, yeah she's hanging out with Mike and Will. Everything's fine" He said quickly.

He slipped past his mother and into his room. He closed the door and locked it behind him, making his way to the terrarium and shedding his hat and backpack on the bed.

"Dart, I've gotta talk to you, buddy. It's about my friend, Will. I think-"

He ripped off the pink sheet and his stomach dropped.

The glass was broken and slime was everywhere. It was a pale olive green and it dripped from the remaining shards of glass and all over the sand.

And exactly where Dustin had left him, was what looked like a thick, slimy sheen of green film.

Hesitantly, Dustin picked it up to examine it, and he cringed in disgust.

"What the hell?" He whispered, horrified.

Dart had shed his skin.

Dustin jumped in fright and whipped around when he heard a deeper but familiar screech come from the opposite end of his room. Behind his chair.

"Dart?" He said.

Dustin heard a horrible squelching noise, followed by grunting.

His heart pounded loudly in his chest and slowly he crept forward slowly.

His eyes fell to his rug and he noticed a trail of shredded pieces of skin. These pieces were much darker, almost black, and they looked less smooth.

Dustin still heard grunting and growling from behind his chair and he gulped as the trail of skin turned into streaks of blood. It was stained into his carpet and up his chair.

He heard a sickening crunch as he approached the corner, what he found behind the bloodied chair made him gasp in horror.

A dark green slimy creature on four legs hungrily and viciously attacking the lifeless and bloodied body of Mews.

Dart looked up from his meal and faced a horrified Dustin, his long slimy tail flicking back and forth. He roared, causing his head to open up, hundreds of bloodied teeth showing as any other Demogorgon would.

×××

Dusk had fallen over Hawkins, and Hopper panted heavily as he dug. He had been digging all day and it was growing harder to see. The horizon was now a soft lilac bleeding into a darker shade of blue.

His limbs ached but he never yielded, striking the shovel in the dirt for the thousandth time. He had dug a miniature crater that he now stood in, the dirt and untouched ground around him reaching the top of his hat.

Dirt flew over his shoulder and landed in the many mini hills of dirt that had formed around the edge of the crater.

Panting, he threw his shovel into the first once more, and just as he was about to give in to the doubt that he dug in the wrong place, he felt the shovel slow and heard an odd squelch.

His hopes rising, he swallowed his exhaustion as best as he could and dug faster. He held the shovel in the air, before heaving it into the ground with a forceful grunt.

He felt the shovel break the oddly thick wall and pulled the shovel back up with all his strength. He heard the substance rip and tear as it broke and it was soon followed by a sharp hiss as air escaped from the opening. A hiss reminding him of a hiss of compressed air leaving a can of beer.

A small hole formed as dirt filtered through the hole he had created.

He brought the shovel up once more and slammed into the ground. He heard it bubble as he prodded the ground. He cringed at the smell that wafted into his face and chunks of the ground came up with the shovel.

Hopper paused and looked on, mystified and concerned.

He didn't know what he would find below his feet and the thought scared him now. Nevertheless, he dug a hole big enough to fit through and he lowered himself into the ground.

He planted his feet on the ground and caught his breath. Flashlight in hand he looked at his surroundings. He was in a dark tunnel and familiar flakes of dead earth floating in the air.

"Oh, Jesus,"

It was the same purple-blue tunnels from Will's drawings.

Tunnels from the Upside Down.

+++

Tag List: @dickkwad @aimee-lucass @iblesstherainsdown-in-africa @miscellaneoustoasts @happyandlonely @missmulti @youpi-chan @peeperparkour @ba-responds @bibliophilesquared

DM me if you want to be added!

[tempportal]

Five isn’t usually the sort of man to ask his family for favors--he’s lived his entire life in an apocalyptic wasteland, for Christ’s sake, what kind of “help” could his brain-dead siblings ever offer him, the most independent and intelligent and self-sufficient one to come out of the Umbrella Academy?--but he really does not want to deal with that nosy lady at the pet shop again. 

And Klaus is usually just happy to be involved. 

So.

“You have to come with me,” Five says, entirely without preamble, as he pushes open Klaus’ door and strides straight in, with Mr. Pennycrumb at his heels. “And do the dad thing again. I have to get this dumbass a collar before he wanders off on his own the way he did last week, and unfortunately, you have to tag along because the woman who works behind the counter is convinced I’m a little orphan Annie. Your mission is to prove her wrong before she attempts to adopt me herself. Just don’t break any snow globes this time. Or punch me.”

@conjuredead​ ; liked

[shortnotsweet]

Hello, your fiveya pride and prejuice had me on my knees. Everything you have writing for the umbrella academy is so nice, this fandom should be thankfull you are here making gold content. I'm not very creative and I still dont know which kind of prompts you would like, but the last au gave me some Elizabeth Swan vibes, so maybe you could do a Fiveya Pirates of the Caribbean Au? Whatever you make I'm sure will be wonderfull :)

It’s 1732, and Governor Reginald Hargreeves and his two adopted daughters, accompanied by the family butler, Pogo, are sailing to Port Royal aboard HMS Crown when they come across a shipwreck. The lone survivor of the tragedy is a young boy, shaking and shell-shocked. A sympathetic Pogo begs Reginald to allow him to take him in - Pogo himself will rear and provide for the child out of his own wages.

Vanya clutches the railing and looks out into the wreckage, into jagged mountains of burning wood obscured by ink black plumes of smoke that cast a ghostly silhouette against the dreary sky and the great gray sea, and can’t take her eyes off of it. It’s a tragedy, with glowing embers peeking through the remains of the ship, keeping it alive and drowning in the water, and Vanya is fascinated.

I do not want to know what transpired here, she thinks. She doesn’t need to know, anyway - it looks like a wasteland, like something writhing and nearly dead, and then her father takes her by the shoulders and pulls her away.

The boy is raised in a fine household, alongside Reginald’s two young daughters, both of whom are handsome, intelligent, and composed. His truest and most constant friend, though, is Vanya.

The Boy starts out as a Will Turner of sorts, only more confident and living in relative comfort, except with the knowledge that he is an outsider even among orphans, and a survivor of something terrible. He longs to go back.

By 1742, the boy is merely fifteen and already deemed an academic prodigy in a vast array of scientific, mathematical, mechanical and historical studies.

By the end of 1742, he’s gone, vanished into the night and headed for the sea. Vanya, not for the first time in her life, is alone.

Years later, she’s grown into a beautiful yet confined woman. During a botched proposal, Vanya faints, due to a combination of heat, anxiety, and a too-tight corset, plummeting into the harbor below, only to be rescued by a mysterious man

Surprise y’all guess who it is

Five and his crew are under a curse that renders them undead corpses under the moonlight, burdened with immortality. Idk why he’s cursed, ig he just got up to a lot of pirate shit lmao. The gold of his father’s pocket watch is key to breaking this curse, and he’s returned to Port Royal after all these years to retrieve it, after he gave it to Vanya for safekeeping the day before he abandoned the Hargreeves household to rejoin the life of piracy

She agrees, of course, but he is soon confronted by both Reginald and Leonard, backed by the Navy, on account of 1) being a pirate and 2) trespassing and in order to safely escape he takes Vanya hostage

In his time away, Five has become captain of the dreaded Academy, the ship that his own father used to command before the wreck. Vanya initially disapproves of his life choices because he may be older now and like damn ok, but 1) hygiene 2) the ethical ambiguity of piracy and 3) you left me dude without warning ,, tf is up with that?

Cue childhood friends reconnecting in really awkward circumstances + maybe Stockholm syndrome

Luther, Ben, Klaus, and Diego are members of his crew. While Diego is a fantastic swordsman, Ben has a connection with sea monsters that allows him to dissuade nearby creatures from bothering their ship. Klaus is a mystic they picked up along the coast who can communicate with the dead - it’s through him that they learn the specifics of the curse.

Five glances down at her, sleeves rolled above his forearms, his hair dripping saltwater over his brow. “The Romans did it, didn’t they?” Honor among thieves is how the saying goes. “They encouraged it, actually, especially in children. Stealing. Steal from your enemies, steal from your neighbors, steal from your friends.”

At this, Vanya’s eyes narrow. “I wouldn’t steal from my friends.”

Five shrugs.

“It builds character,” he says, “and it builds world skills. If you’re a thief, then you’re fast, resourceful, and, most importantly, you’re still alive. That’s helpful. It can be a good thing, to be a thief.”

“The greatest empire of all time, after Britain, just a whole lot of thieves?”

“That’s Rome, then, a bunch of thieves. The empire essentially stole its own foundation from other civilizations, you know? Arches and aqueducts and art - even the Republic was based on direct democracy.” He leans back and looks at her from under his lids. The floor below them shifts and sways along with the rhythm of the sea, and Vanya leans against the mast to keep her horizon line steady.

“So you’re a history buff now?”

“I always have been,” Five says defensively. “Math is just more exciting. You don’t need to get caught up with the Romans anyway,” Five laughs. “We’re pirates.”

“I suppose I need to find a way to make myself useful, then?” Vanya crosses her arms, squinting under the white hot sun. “Be helpful.” Do as the Romans do.

“No, of course not,” Five says quickly, uneasy, bitter. “You didn’t join the crew, remember? You were kidnapped.”

Days into her kidnapping on the high seas, Vanya ditched her heavy ass dress for a practical pair of trousers and tied her hair up. The sun smiles down on them in a thousand yard stare, reflecting white off the crests of the waves that jostle the ship further away from land, and her white skin has already shown signs of browning. She can breathe, though, better and easier than she’s ever breathed in her entire life

The ocean never ends, but Vanya can see something flickering on the horizon, something that looms across the skyline and drags the sky down to meet it. It feels like hope, like dreams once dashed in her girlhood, and now that it has come out of hiding, unclothed and unabashed under an impossible white sun, Vanya can’t stop looking.

The Academy is still being pursued by the Royal Navy, and Five can’t just return Vanya bc they're not only on the run but they’ve got shit to do, aka curse-breaking shit. Plus, he really, really doesn’t want to

And deep down he can tell that she doesn’t want to either

“But you like it here, don’t you,” he accuses her, hard and fast because he knows she’ll be honest, and the strategist in him wants to size the queen, wants to take her home. “You were miserable back there,” Five reminds her, his own eagerness a tangible thing to his ears. “Reginald made you miserable. Jenkins made you miserable, hell, even Allison made you miserable.” Vanya’s gaze remains unblinking, but the corner of her mouth twitches ever so slightly, her lower lip dragging it down. The sight of it gives him pause, and he wants to stop for a moment, wants to apologize for it, but the conqueror in him leers in approval and he’s plowed too forward, too far already. “You wanted to leave, every second of every day. That’s what you told me,” Five reaches forward to take her by the shoulders, gently crowding her against the railing, and she looks up and into his face, dwarfed by his height. “You’re free now, you’re here. Reginald can’t get to you. Why would you want to go back?”

You’re free now. There’s nothing for you there, he tries to say, and she must get this, because her eyes go alight, just for a second, and her lip curls into a snarl.

The thing is, she’s much happier here, with Five and his crew and a great, endless sea, but she remembers Allison all too vividly, remembers that she left her alone without warning. Vanya knows that it’s like to be left behind, and the thought of Allison alone with only their father for company strikes something hollow and sinking into her chest, something like dread

“I don’t want to go back,” she snaps, harsher than he expected, and he lets go of her. “Of course I don’t.”

You think I want to go back to corsets and Reginald’s voice in every hallway of that old, evil house, and Leonard crowding me everywhere, acting like I’ve already said yes, and this stench of absence that follows me wherever I go.

Oh, she realizes, of course he doesn’t.

“Then don’t.”

Vanya glares at him, hard and herself, and he can see the betrayal sink into her face and settle like silt at the bottom of a glass.

“It’s because we’re family,” she says, and the fifteen-year-old in Five finds himself enraged because Vanya’s family is supposed to be here, with him.

“I need to see her again,” Vanya enunciates carefully, forming every word with a nervous kind of fear, like she thinks he won’t understand, and Five’s anger dissipates almost as quickly as it had risen.

They’re going to break that curse, and Five will be a real boy (man) again. Allison won’t be alone, because her sister will come back for her (just as Five came back for Vanya). They’ll all have real, red, beating hearts, and Five will have Vanya for himself and Vanya will have one thing all her own - she has an entire ocean to conquer and no regrets

For once, Vanya has a choice, and it’s a pirate's life for her

[sol-korolevas]

[be still, foolish heart];

pairing: leon kennedy x reader; chris redfield x reader

warnings: minor violence, some cheesy and cliched stuff but idc bc i love these idiots

words: 9k+ 

a/n: i’ve always wanted to write for chris since watching all of the videos with him. so here’s a story with both him and leon. enjoy and please leave any feedback if you want <3

you’ve known leon for a while. that sense of knowing was what made you feel connected to him. as a child, you were seldom seen alone and he was rarely not trying to tease you about being his shadow. it has come to a point that you believe you can read into his mind, that maybe there’s something deeply wonderful about him and you, together.

most mornings saw the both of you shooting at empty glass cans with rubber bands and small rocks, pretending you were cops. your mothers both watched on the kennedy’s wrap-around porch, with knowing smiles on their face.

now you wonder, what were your mothers thinking?

and most of all, what were you thinking when you accepted the job as a police officer alongside leon. what were you thinking when that childhood friend, the kind and brave boy, became the boy that you love.

eventually however, the boy you love was just that, a boy you love. but then you notice the startling emotions you have for him. you think it’s not just love anymore but some ingrained connection that transcends love.

yet still, you call it love.

claire redfield is never written into your fate, but she is written into his. you watch from afar as they hold hands with sherry, that orphaned girl from raccoon city.

you see a picturesque representation of a family. that burdening thought only intensifies when sherry asks if leon and claire are boyfriend and girlfriend. you almost flinch, trying to make sense of the how and the why.

(the truth is that you want to be in claire’s place. you don’t need to hold hands with sherry but you do want to be seen as leon’s girlfriend.)

no, you don’t hate claire and you’re not bothered by sherry’s presence.

“can we adopt a puppy?” sherry asks excitedly as she looks to both claire and leon.

“maybe later,” leon responds with a crooked smile. you’re suddenly aware that his gaze traveled to claire as he said it. so you decided to tear your eyes away to the side, hoping it can relieve the weight clinging to your heart.

you suddenly feel lost and awkward, until you see a truck heading your way.

“hey! over here!” you yell, waving at it, only to watch it drive past you with the driver holding out his middle finger. a tight frown settles on your face before you hear leon laugh.

“well, guess we’ll be walking for a little more,” he says. he winks at you and you feel your face flush before you look away and walk just a little faster.

——————-

time passes and the world shifts.

it’s on every mission with leon and claire that they work so well together, like two puzzle pieces–like a couple. though in retrospect, you should be prepared to accept the fact that your childhood friend is just a friend now.

and yet, where did you slip up? which opportunity did you accidentally let go?

you’re just a third-wheel–claire’s friend and leon’s childhood friend. you’re no longer in the equation that is their relationship.

it’s a sad reality and you don’t think you’re ready to accept and move on.

as you watch leon support a tired claire back to the medical tent, you stand to the side watching them. the gun in your hand feels heavy and cold despite its warm grip. leaning against a tree, you feel your brows furrowing as the injuries on your knuckles flare. the urge to go into an undead wasteland and fight cries within you. the relentless desire to tear and rip apart something, anything, just to relieve all the frustration, the anger, and the jealousy.

it’s not until chris redfield clears his throat that you look up. a bit on edge, you jump back and your finger skim against the trigger. at best, you are mildly surprised, but chris is a man who read microexpressions well.

“did i scare you?” he asks kindly, head dipping to the side. there’s concern etched onto his face and you almost feel bad.

“uh no, just thinking really hard…sir,” you force your voice to sound light. even though he’s claire’s brother you couldn’t skip the formalities. he’s not like his sister and certainly not like leon; there’s something heavy and firm about him, something that makes you half-nervous and half-shy.

not that you think he’s intimidating but–

“you’ve been awfully quiet these days. claire’s worried the missions are taking a toll on you. do you want to take a leave?”

chris’s sudden words set you on alert as you lock eyes. you are at a position where you need comfort from another. at the same time, you also want to be left alone. chris is caring a little too much and that makes you anxious, mind now heavily saturated in a desire to change subjects. most of all, you want to lay down and sleep.

as if he notices, chris’s face softens as he adds, “i can escort you back, (name).” however, you acknowledge that chris isn’t a bad person. claire’s always quick to remind everyone who would listen that her brother is a soft man inside the soldier persona.

in the past, you used to associate chris as nothing but a soldier. looking at him now, you are starting to wonder whether if he has a life outside of wars and battles.

that same curiosity keeps you rooted to your spot.

sensing the quiet, chris extends out his hand, silently encouraging you to take it. slack-jawed, you warily look at it before drifting your gaze back to his face.

chris’s lips curl into a smile, a gentle one, and slowly it dawns on you that he has a natural pull to him. you’re drawn to him like everyone else who has met him. easily you relinquish all preconceived caution about him as you slip your gun in its holster and take his hand.

there’s an awkward pause right when your fingers make contact with his, before he places his thumb against your knuckle and gently pulls you out from the shadow of the tree above.

his eyes never leave your face. the blue of his gaze is filled with warm intent. truly chris is a good soldier, not just with his combat skills but his attentive personality. for the first time, you feel yourself relax a little as he walks you down the path.

and quite suddenly you realize that chris is holding your hand. despite his presence right beside you, you couldn’t help but see a little of leon in him—or at least, the leon from your childhood.

quickly you turn your gaze to the ground, teeth worrying your lips as you attempt to calm your mind.

taking in a deep breath, you tell him, “thank you.”

————-

you’re looking again, thinking of the things that should happen but will never happen. through the twist of fate, once again leon and claire wedged their life into yours.

it all started with claire asking you to move into her family’s house.

“oh and, both leon and chris will be visiting when they’re off their missions,” she said airily. you don’t know how to handle your facial expressions anymore and claire noticed, smiling as she pats your shoulder.

when the boys do visit, you walk out to the veranda, hoping you may find some comfort among natural light and fresh air.

in front of you are countless trees and a private orchard behind them, belonging to a wealthy family. when the wind passes by you can smell the sweet fragrance intermingled with the scent of pine and wood.

the door opens and you turn to see leon coming outside. you are quick to notice the dark bags underneath his eyes. while it bothers you to see him like this, you also know that it’s common. even you had your fair share of insomnia and nightmares that prevented you from sleeping well.

“hey (name),” he says, offering you his boyish smile that you like. “it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“oh yeah, definitely a while,” you respond casually, face still tethered to the front. you think you see his smile pull back into a frown for a moment from the corner of your eyes. try as you might, you couldn’t help but feel bad all of a sudden. this could be your chance to remedy your difficult relationship with him, however one-sided and silly it may actually be.

“so next mission…it’s just me and claire.” he says it slowly as if trying not to set off some kind of fuse. that’s when you notice just how red his cheeks are. though you’re hurt to hear this, you still find yourself leaning against his shoulder.

just like old times, you think.

you close your eyes for a bit as the gradual and familiar feeling of peace overcomes you. “oh, i’ll root for the both of you–stay safe.” your voice sounds too casual and you just notices. leon inhales sharply but he doesn’t say anything; instead, he presses himself against your shoulder. his weight against you calms you, but it also reminds you of your attachment to him.

you wonder if, and when, you will ever learn to move on.

let go (name), let him go.

still, your mind dwells on the terrible things. in the past leon never worked with others, he was a lone wolf. but then things changed and he’s now working with claire and sometimes you and claire.

as always, claire is the abrupt twist in your fates. it’s not her fault, of course not—

“(name)?” leon’s voice echoes inside the back of your mind.

you open your eyes and let out a hum as a response.

“when this is over, not just the mission we’re going out on i mean, but when all of it is over, do you think you’ll stay with as an agent? you’re really something on the battlefield and i heard chris wants you to go on more assignments with him.” he’s scratching the back of his neck as he says this and you hear the uncertainty between each syllable. but you also notice the way he picks his words. the way he says us.

that’s okay, you think.

that’s okay.

you think you feel your heart dropping into a pit of disappointment right then.

it has been leon and claire, then you.

you shouldn’t think about this.

really, you shouldn’t for your own good.

pulling yourself up, you manage to detach yourself from the railing as you steady yourself. “maybe, though i-i do want to try being just an ordinary civilian first.”

you’re preparing to turn when leon catches your wrist in his hand. his lips are parted as if he wants to say something. then it begins to dawn on you.

“(name)...” he utters your name, soft on his lips. “i don’t think that’s possible anymore.” his pale eyes glint with sympathy as your face falls.

“i hate this life leon, i hate how it changed us—how it changed me.” your voice is brittle and shaky as you look at him. his gaze ceases to move from the right side of your arm, the scar from your first encounter with the undead still deep and ugly. but what he doesn’t know is the hidden meaning in your last words.

there’s something unreadable on leon’s face but just as you want to look up he has his hand placed on top of your head. his thumb is rubbing gently against the skin of your forehead.

“not your fault (name), and it’s okay to be angry, it’s okay,” he says quietly. his voice is so soothing that you feel lulled to comfort. that’s when you remember that a piece of him, the leon you knew as a child and the leon you love, is still with him. that is the intricate part of him, both unsettling and nostalgic.

your hands closed into fists as you fight the urge to cry.

after a moment’s silence, you decide to step away from him. he drops his hand to his side but his worried gaze is still trained on you. though you wish you can stay with him a little longer, the need to hide within the comfort of your room is greater.

a little time to yourself may pacify the turmoils ebbing within you.

“thank you, leon,” you say,” and please, come back alive, both of you.”

—————–

claire and leon depart the following morning. you wake to claire telling you goodbye before you hear her going down the stairs. still groggy in your sleep, you swear you hear leon’s voice by your room, talking about something before he too leaves. after their departure, the house becomes quiet and you feel your heart beating within its ribcage. they’ll be gone for a month into yet another battle and during those months–

no, you don’t want to think about it.

so you don’t and you get dressed and head out to the living room. there’s not much to do here besides watch television, hoping in some way you can flush out the worry and unrest with something else.

then you hear someone shuffling around in the kitchen and you remember chris is here too.

you suddenly remember that day he took you back to base. chris even extended his offer to send you home before realizing you didn’t have one anymore. dimly, you also remember that it was him who told claire about your situation.

even outside of missions he looked out for you.

you fold your hands on your lap as you linger upon the array of moving images on the television screen. chris is…chris is doing something; you don’t want to bother him.

“did you have breakfast? claire left some out, but i can definitely make you some good ones,” chris says from the kitchen, “my food is tastier.” you lean forward and see him appear in the doorway dressed in a sweater and jeans with a steaming mug in his hand.

“you sure she’s okay with you talking down on her cooking?” you couldn’t help but give him a teasing smile.

he feigns hurt before setting his mug down on the counter. “oh, claire knows i’m a far better gun handler and cook than her.”

you shake your head and lean back against the couch. “thank you, but maybe another time chris,” you say.

“very well, call me if you need something though.” he moves away and you turn your gaze forward.

the television is now playing advertisements and soon your eyes start drifting to the photographs standing on the table. you hear chris moving around the kitchen area, before you hear his heavy footfalls on the carpeted living room floor.

your hands tighten against one another, subtly praying for something to happen.

a small part of you want to go back to your room, but chris is already here.

“they’ll be back, don’t worry.” chris’s assertive voice pulls you out of your silence. he’s sitting beside you with a good distance put in-between. even out of armory he’s still bigger and taller than any men and women you’ve met. you remember keenly the first time you met him on an assignment. he wielded his fists like a club, smashing through mutated heads.

that’s when you decided that you’re safe as long as he’s here.

later, you asked him to train you in hand-to-hand combat, hoping that it can aid you along the way, should you only have yourself to depend on.

“how’s claire’s house? good?” he inquires, brushing his hand along his jaw. he’s turned to you, with one leg on the couch and the other on the ground. there’s not much room in-between now, to the point where you can smell his natural scent. it’s rather funny, but you notice that the difference between leon and chris is a shower.

today, you feel a different air about him. perhaps this is because he has no reason to be a soldier right now.

“yes! i like how nice it is...being an agent for the government has a lot of perks, i assume,” you say, rubbing your thumbs together as you look at chris. a slight smile crosses your face and you hope chris doesn’t mind your awkwardness. then, you remember that claire is out on another mission and your face falls. “she’ll be okay, leon’s with her too. and i can vouch for claire’s ability to survive” you didn’t mean to add the comment, besides trying to calm yourself down. you suddenly feel empty inside, useless even. if you aren’t useless, then you would’ve been picked to go too.

“both of them are good people, they will be fine. if not, i’ll find a way to get them out, bring them out of their graves if necessary.” chris’s gruff voice pulls you back into reality. you think you see half a smirk playing on his face, but there’s also a tightness to it.

“i don’t want to ever see my friends become an undead, if that’s what you’re trying to do,” you tell him. though you said it in jest, you realize the extent of such an ordeal if it will occur. too many times you had to put down people both familiar and precious to you. you’re not ready to put down a few more, but you know it’ll happen again.

hearing no response from chris, you place the back of your head on the couch headrest, letting out a small sigh. a strange silence befalls and it reminds you of the silence that came between you and chris after your last mission together. idly, you slide your fingers across your knuckles, feeling the scars there.

“thank you for everything chris,” you then tell him, “without you, i suppose i’m...dead.” you think back to the first missions you had together with him, and all of those times chris came to save you and everyone else. if anyone ever truly deserves a break, it would be him. “also i’m sorry for piers.” your voice drifts off, realizing that you shouldn’t have mentioned him.

you turn to look at chris, fully aware that he’s listening and you see a thoughtful expression, though grim and serious, on his face.

a tense silence supersedes the first. you aren’t privy to chris’s stiffness and how his face becomes thoughtful.

“what do you think of my leadership, (name)? all those men, piers, and the civilians. they died because i wasn’t enough–i should be and want to be but i’m not.”

his regular stoic face showing shards of betraying emotions–for the first time, you see him crestfallen, what you see is a man carrying broken pieces and a man filled with grief and lost hope.

you don’t know chris as well as you know leon and claire as a person. at the same time, you’re not born to mend doubts and sow wisdom. but he’s still someone you trust and respect enough that his sadness lingers within you like a bullet.

sitting up straight, you turn your body towards him, pressing a hand gently on his. “i think you’re phenomenal, as a soldier and an individual.” you pause, now at a loss for words. “and i know this may be a bit uncouth of me to say but deaths happen, even to good people. the best we can do is to live on and do what we always do: fight.”

you’re aware that you’re holding the hand of someone who has wielded it as a weapon. you’re aware that this same hand eviscerated countless enemies. but right now, you feel it tremble within your grip. countless scars and calluses etched upon his flesh—all symbols of chris’s sacrifice and of which marks him as a soldier. he’s always a hero to you, a superhuman even, a man larger than life with a god-like aura about him. yet in this moment he feels different—

“don’t doubt yourself anymore chris,” you finally add, eyes drifting to his face. it’s the same unreadable expression he usually wears, but his gaze is penetrative and intense. there is a hurricane of emotions in there that leaves you both breathless and mystified.

the difference between you and him is that of a rivulet and an ocean. maybe your words are not enough to console him, so you express your desire to comfort by squeezing his hand.

his response is simple, just a nod.

you let go of a breath you forgot to exhale.

though you fight like a wolf you are still meek when it comes to social interactions. so you suppose now is the best to distance yourself and leave chris to himself. “i’ll be in my room if you need me chris.”

except chris catches your hand in his grip and you suck in a breath, cheeks flushing at the abrupt contact. his hand swallows yours as he holds it like a lifeline. a thought occurs in you that he could possibly have held the hands of dying soldiers like this, firm and steady.

without thinking, you wrap your other hand around his, hoping it can alleviate more of his doubt and stress and whatever emotions that are plaguing him. but you know that’s not enough. in the end, it will take years and years of rehabilitation to steer chris and everyone involved away from the darkness clawing in their heart and mind.

you slowly exhale before letting it out, saying, “i’m here chris and i promise you that i will be here, with you and everyone else until i die. i won’t give up on you, leon, claire, or anyone else–we’ll win, we’ll win.”

chris is leaning towards you as he places your hands on your lap. his jaws clench, shoulders tensing in a way that makes you suspect that he’s not entirely pacified by your words.

“don’t say leave (name), i—“ he stops and he’s holding your hand so tightly again that you wince. “-don’t want you to leave, not like how piers and the others did.”

memories of soldiers turning into monstrous beasts and soldiers killed in gruesome manners still haunt your mind. there is little doubt in you that chris is burdened with the same imageries, except his comes with the feeling of failure to these individuals.

you remember watching him on several occasions gunning down soldiers under his command. those were all once people who were like him. some of them even knew you and had spoken to you.

and it’s sad to realize you only know of chris’s hurt and torment right now, when he’s baring his all. you also wondered why he chose you of all people to talk to, when he could go to claire or even leon later on.

he’s looking down at his own lap so you say his name. rather than attempt to speak more, you instead smile softly at him, hoping this simple gesture can translate into something hopeful for him.

“i won’t chris, i promise.”

he closes his eyes and sighs.

————–

almost a month later, claire and leon come back. you see claire dragging leon by his hand and you notice how red leon is. claire is smiling and leon looks embarrassed. you try not to think to that image, but to the thought that two of your best friends are home.

chris is not too far behind you, his arms resting against his chest as he welcomes them back.

“congratulations on not dying; also congratulations on a mission well done. i got the reports by the way, you both did great.” he winks at claire and then offers to assist leon with his injuries on his arm. “now if you turn…” he unwraps the bandages around his arm and assesses the damage. “i’m afraid (name) and i will have to put you down with our fists.” chris turns to look at you, briefly smiling a little.

“not gonna turn, i promise,” leon replies with a slight chuckle. you’re aware that his eyes have drifted onto you before he turns his gaze down to chris.

you find yourself feeling strangely calm and happy this time.

these days alongside chris has been your happiest. he gave you peace and you gave him reassurance. if you had met him years earlier then maybe–

“oh (name), can i talk to you after we’re done?” leon’s bright voice brings you out of your thoughts. there’s something hopeful dancing in the light of his blue eyes. of course you couldn’t turn that down, not when he’s the one asking.

“sure, come to my room later,” you say, voice softening a little as you remember chris is here too.

you see chris’s body tensing before he turns his face around. “i think i’m done here.”

for a little while you feel your face fall a little, initially hoping that chris would stay for a bit, even just to talk to you and leon. “claire and i will be fixing something for everyone, call me if you need anything okay?” when he walks by you his arm brushes against yours, causing you to stiffen this time.

gathering yourself, you then turn your attention back to leon. he has a blank expression on his face; either he’s hiding something or he’s oblivious to what occurred. and to be honest, you have no idea what happened either. chris has always been odd sometimes and you attribute it to his lifestyle.

but these days he has been close to you in physical ways. you are fairly confident to think that something is happening between you and chris, something that’s slowly bringing you out from your carapace of sadness from watching leon and claire.

“so i think we’re not needed in their sibling bonding,” you say slowly. you can already hear claire teasing chris in the kitchen. to your embarrassment, she’s asking chris if he found someone yet. awkwardly, you give leon a toothy grin before adding,”i’ll be in my room, come in when you’re ready.”

you turn and quickly walk your way up the stairs.

not long afterward, you hear leon knock on your door. you turn to see him standing against it, coolly looking at you.“you can come in leon, no need to knock.”

it’s then you notice that his hair is longer and stubble has formed on his chin.

leon finds his way next to you, seating himself on the floor beside your legs. he leans back and you have to remember that he still needs a shower. dark stains, blood you believe, clings to his shirt and you can smell something coppery sweet.

unlike a majority of people out there, you are used to it. even as children, both you and leon would climb on your bed soaked in mud-water and grime. now, the only difference is the absence of a mother or two yelling for a change of bedsheets and a bath.

“you probably don’t know this, but the mission was in your hometown.” leon’s voice is quiet as he looks up at you. there’s that same hopefulness in his eyes as if he wants to see you react. you do, of course, because the implication is there.

“the undead are gone?” you say, almost shyly. you can still remember the first night you went back, only to be met with the grotesque images of your friends and, most terrifying of all, your mother. “all gone? the town’s now safe?”

safe isn’t a correct word to say, but you grew up there. to you, that town holds a cherished aspect of your past in you. that town was where you were born, where you grew up, and where you found your first love–

“all clear, we just need to make sure the virus is gone from the water supplies and sewer systems. then, we get to cleaning it all up, but that’s for another crew.” leon smiles and you suddenly want to hug him.

and you do, because you’re both happy and still in shock over the news. you drop to the ground and crawl around to his front, before wrapping your arms around his shoulder. leon doesn’t tense and he returns your embrace with his own. in his arms you feel again the steady wing beats of a bird, caged within your ribs. warmth and affection seep into the cracks of your heart, sinking deep into the marrow of your bones.

in the end, it’s your childhood friend who gave you the greatest gift of all. still, you allow yourself to kindle your love for him in another direction.

it’s time to let go.

you lean your head against the side of his, briefly relishing in the closeness, and selfishly wanting it all for yourself.

“later i want to go back there. come with me?” you ask, voice small.

he’s rubbing soothing circled on your back. briefly, leon’s grip tightens as you let out a contented sigh. “yes, of course (name).”

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

the day comes quick but steady. though the town is free of the undead, leon and claire both warn ahead of stragglers that might have laid hidden within the buildings. of course, such a trip lures chris out too, insisting that he wants to come.

because of the nature of this trip, only you and leon has a gun by your side.

“honestly, (name) can destroy anything with just fists, give me the gun instead,” claire says, begging chris as she steps out of the car.

“and (name)’s also good with guns,” chris is quick to respond, but there is a warm smile on his face. you laugh at the exchange and then at claire’s pout, relishing in the sibling bond between them.

leon’s laughing too, quietly as he stands off to the side. you look at him and he notices, blue eyes settling on your face as he tosses you his crooked grin. not long afterward, he walks up to you and places his hand on your shoulder, saying, “take the lead (name), and prepare for anything inside.”

you nod and you walk first, leading your small group towards the path that connects to your town.

the few soldiers that are still stationed here gives a brief salute before returning to their stations.

claire walks up beside you, whispering, “chris isn’t talking to them, i think he wants to see this town bad.” she then looks over her shoulder at him. “oh and, i think a certain someone’s presence is making him more vigilant.” she gently prods you with her elbow and gives you a wink.

you know of the implications of her words and you frown a little. “don’t say that, chris is my superior and friend. besides i–” you stop, realizing that you shouldn’t say anything. your hands trail the gun holder, before finding its way skimming across your bandaged knuckles.

“heh, you’re popular (name),” are claire’s words as she grins, a bit too wide for you to be content with it. she pats your head and your mind lingers to leon, who’s talking to chris. you look back and see them talking between each other, sharing some kind of secret conversation. when they see you looking, both of them pause and look away.

noticing them as well, claire adds, “oh i’m just kidding! unless you didn’t hear anything then it’s a secret between me and (name).” she giggles and then steps back to give you space.

you are about to say something when you notice the view in front of you. the past minute has been a picture of a deserted town, with broken glasses and missing shop signs. now, you can see the destruction; the fire, the upturned cars, the dried blood staining the streets and buildings. worst of all is your memory of this place; you still remember what it was like before the outbreak happened.

closing your eyes you let out a shaky breath. you hear claire calling your name, but her voice sounds distant. everything feels far away, but you continue walking. it pains you to see this but you still want to walk ahead.

soon, you stop, muscle memory bringing you in front of the building that was your apartment. you just realize that you and your group have walked a fair way into the town. and save for the conversations at the beginning, no one has spoken. a part of you want to enter the building alone, but you know better than to do that.

“take your time, (name).” it’s chris’s voice keeps you rooted to reality. all of a sudden, the air feels suffocatingly warm. a budding silence ensues, filled with the same silence that almost makes you nostalgic in a deeply disconcerting way.

“i will, but it’s been such a long time. i grew up here, and last time i–” you stop yourself just as you hear a banshee-like shriek coming from the apartment complex. you feel something fall within you, dropping into the abyss of darkness as you sprint into the building.

something roars in your ears as you take the stairs two at a time. the heavy footfalls of your comrades follow behind you, but you’re not listening to anything but the scream. you don’t even have the time to draw a gun before you see something ambling towards you.

“mom?” your voice is small and hesitant as you shine a flashlight at the undead. she is dressed in the floral red dress you bought her, with several deep garish wounds littering her body. you think you make out bullet wounds too, but you can’t find the opportunity to see properly before you’re taking a step back. there’s something behind her, wriggling and squirming as they move. “mom, what’s happening?” you yell, voice high and scared as she continues walking forward.

someone yells behind you and you hear leon calling for you to shoot. then you realize that the tentacles behind your mother are connected to her back. before long, they are whipping across, seemingly trying to get to you and the rest.

a long groan rattles the hallway, crushing your heart even more as you finally take out a gun.

“shoot her (name), do it!” claire says. she’s right beside you, planting half of her body in front of you, jaws clenched and hands shaking. as your mother moves closer, you feel time suddenly stopping.

you’ve shot countless undead and mutated undead before. but this is different because this one is your own mother.

and despite the monstrosity that’s her appearance, you still see a normal woman.

in the flash of a second, one of the tentacles extends towards you. you see red, but it’s not blood. claire has blocked it with her own body, the tentacle penetrating her upper left thigh. you hear the sickening sound of bone and the way its wriggling through her, attempting to slide more in.

a series of gunshots ring out and you hear the awful monstrous screech. weak-willed and delirious, you sink to your knees just as claire drops down, moaning in pain. despite everything, your tears come down as you watch your mother’s body collapse to the ground.

“this isn’t right, this isn’t right…” you mutter, turning your hands palm up as you look at them, sweaty and shaky.

“claire!” leon’s voice resonates inside your head, loud and clear. you watch with lips parted as he pushes past chris towards the fallen woman. he quickly takes her into his arm, gaze lingering on her as he prepares to leave.

an emptiness plunges itself inside your heart as you feel yourself hoarsely whispering leon’s name. a chilling coldness runs down your neck, forcing you to scramble up, only to pitch forth before chris catches you in his arms.

for the first time, there’s something hateful in leon’s face as he catches your gaze. he says nothing and you think it’s for the best. you’re too weak to properly stand but you still turn your attention to chris. “y-you should go with him, i’ll catch up. your sister...she–” you feel yourself retching, the anxiety and horror crawling back up your throat.

he’s suddenly holding the back of your head and you don’t know what to do. shouldn’t chris be with claire? shouldn’t he be mad at you?

instead, chris is pressing you close to him, close enough that you can inhale his scent and feel the entirety of him surrounding you. you tremble as tears roll down your cheeks. many words catch in your throat, words of apologies, words of regrets–just words that you hope that will mend this in some way.

“come on (name), we need to leave,” comes chris’s steady words, as if nothing at all has affected him. he moves, bringing you with him. but it’s slow and you know that he’s doing it for you.

and you cling to him, thinking about what happened and how you fucked up.

this is all your fault, you and your foolish, foolish heart.

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

“claire’s getting treatment in a government facility,” is leon’s words, sharp and rushed as he comes into the house. he looks to chris first, as if hoping to hear something out of him. then he looks at you causing you to freeze while gripping your kneecaps tightly. “(name), why didn’t you shoot?” his voice is almost a whisper, but it sounds loud and clear in your head.

“i-i couldn’t, i see it and i see my mother, i’m so sorry,” you say, voice a blubbering mess. you stop talking then just as you feel nausea all over again. you couldn’t find the strength to look at leon anymore, neither could you stare at chris.

“is claire doing well?” chris finally says, his voice a refreshing addition to the tenseness of the situation. you look up to see him standing between you and leon. for the first time, you are glad chris has shielded you from him.

“why aren’t you worried for your own sister, redfield? why are you here?” leon’s unprompted question pulls your attention, forcing you to sit up from the couch as you make your way forward. unsure of why you are drawn to this, you silently watch as chris’s jaw twitches, as if he wants to say something.

his fists clench and you almost flinch, thinking he’s going to attack. every muscle upon him looks stiff, his figure poised to attack. there’s a sudden animosity on his face, and you suspect claire’s condition is only partially to do with it.

“i am, but i’m sure claire will be fine. we already secured the necessary vaccines to stop her from turning, the rest is up to the doctors,” comes his answer, calm and firm as always. he then turns and gives you a brief stare, his gaze softening a little. his fingers suddenly brush against your knuckle and you feel your breath catching in your throat.

instead of responding to chris, leon takes one step forward, body angling towards you. “(name), we need to talk.” his voice is terse and low, but you feel as if he wants chris to hear it too.

without thinking, you trail after him, shooting chris a look of apology over your shoulder as you went. you hope chris doesn’t follow, thinking there’s something wrong. you trust leon enough not to be hurt physically but you’re not sure about anything else.

leon’s hatred can run deep, and if this is what it comes to then–

no, this won’t happen. even if you realize it’s happening, you refuse to accept it.

he leads you to the veranda, the only place that you enjoy to be in beside your room. he has his arm hanging over the banister, eyes staring at the green pine trees. there’s a peacefulness in his face, only to be disrupted by the stiffness of his squared shoulders. you slowly walk up, placing yourself right beside him.

your fingers thrum against the wooden railing, mind unable to process coherent sentences. every time you try, you think back to claire lying on the ground, in pain with a hole on her leg.

this is all your fault

the voice inside your head isn’t yours anymore; you think you’re losing it because it sounds like both leon and claire.

“i never wanted this to happen.” strangely, you do find your voice. and it comes out quicker than you would like to. blinking, you start to realize how close you are to wanting to cry again. normally you wouldn’t be affected so easily but this involves leon and claire and it’s too much.

“oh, i know,” is leon’s clipped response. “but you should’ve handled yourself better. that thing could’ve killed claire and you, and chris and i might even die right there.” the last of his words come out shaky and quiet. he’s not focusing on anything, but he’s also not looking at you.

sensing you wouldn’t speak again, he continues, “the first time i was in raccoon city, a man told me to shoot anyone who’ve turned, uniform or not. that same man turned a few hours later and i had to dispatch him.” suddenly, leon’s face breaks into grief. you stop feeling the apprehension from before as you watch his shoulders sag.

“leon…”

he’s baring his teeth and you know that’s how he keeps himself from fully losing his emotions to sadness. “sometimes you have to do things you don’t ever want to do, for the sake of the many. that’s sacrifice (name), and i need you to understand that. but i promised everyone that i will protect them until i couldn’t, that i won’t let their bodies become hosts to another’s evil.” he’s gripping the railing so hard that you hear the wood creak underneath.

not knowing what else to do or say, you inch your hand toward his. slowly, you slide your fingers under his hand, quietly coaxing him to let go.

taking in a deep breath, leon relents as his hand goes limp in yours. you hold it for a while, before retracting yours to your side. “everything will be alright leon, i p-promise.”

you then look down until you see the white of the floor before preparing yourself to leave. instead, you feel a hand catching your wrist. for a second, you are reminded of chris and then it dawns on you that the man has never left your mind since that day.

before you can ruminate on why chris is so clearly ingrained in your mind, leon’s bringing you towards him.

your eyes widen as he leans close, until his lips are close enough to touch the shell of your ear.

“you and chris share something special, i noticed that,” his voice is low and husky, making your heart churn with something devastatingly warm. “do you like him, (name)?” his added comment makes your breath hitch. right after he says that his grip tightens. the lingering feeling of it reminds you once again of chris’s touch.

this turn from one topic to another, and to the one you least expect, causes you to take a step back. leon follows, his pale eyes never leaving yours. there’s no teasing on his face, but something much worrying, something that makes your heart soar but drops at the same time.

“no,” you croak out, head dipping down again as embarrassment reddens your face.

“no? it’s okay if you like him, (name). i won’t stop you from liking someone; chris is reliable and safe.” his voice is soft all of a sudden, bringing you to the times he and you would share stories together as young teens. but you detect disappointment too, of which makes you think about other possibilities, that perhaps–

“i had a crush on you!” you suddenly blurt out, head raising so you can properly look at him. for the first time today he looks taken aback, shocked even. his grip on your wrist relents a little before he’s holding it hard again.

“you had?” he murmurs. strands of blond hair cover his face, but you notice the change on his expression. a first it’s surprise, but then it morphs into sadness, stark and obvious. there’s a tense silence and you reason that leon’s processing all of this. then, he seems to chuckle to himself, before gripping both of your wrists and lifting them to his chest. “what went wrong, (name), what happened? how did chris come into your life and settle himself in there? how did we become just you and him?”

his words tear at you. those were the same thoughts that occurred in you when you looked at him and claire. but now, it all seems so trivial when leon’s the one saying it out loud. for a second, you couldn’t speak as you try to find the right words.

“you...you love me, leon?”

“yes, even though i shouldn’t. the only thing that kept me back was my own doubts and emotions. but (name), please tell me why you are different now, tell me what changed.” he’s pleading from his voice to the way his pale eyes gaze at you. leon looks so much more vulnerable here that you pause.

you think back to chris, all the times he casually brushes himself next to you when leon’s present. you think back to how tense chris gets when leon talks to you in that friendly manner. then, you think to leon, seemingly oblivious to the times chris is close to you.

of course, leon notices, how can’t he be? he just never mentions it, just like how you never mentioned claire to him. 

then you wonder when did you let leon go. chris’s presence must have aided you in the relent of your feelings, even if a portion of it is still here, covered inside your ruined heart.

then, like heavy rain, your words tumble out.

“leon i–i never stopped loving you back then, i’m sorry-oh god i never thought it would end like this–i thought–i thought you like claire! i see you and her being so close and perfect together i grew envious and sad! but i never wanted to stop loving you leon. but, but then i–i don’t know, i’m not sure if i love you now, or if that love is still as much as my love for you before. i’m not sure, i’m sorry.” your hands drop to your side as leon lets you go. you then bring them up again to hold your head, suddenly feeling confused and dazed as your heart pounded wildly.

you didn’t want to say those things, you just want to tell him that you still like him. now, it feels like you finally severed a loose string that connects you to him.

and leon, being the one who’s always bad with relationships, with his suffering and his inability to find the connection he wants, continues staring at you. you wonder why you know him so well that you can analyze things he told you. all those broken relationships with those women he mentioned, and how he still loves you and only you.

only for you to completely turn it around, thinking that he never once loved you.

that should be something, that he and you are meant to be together. this should be all a trial for you to overcome together. instead, however, you see an ocean of uncertainties. the intensity and passion you feel for him is no longer as strong as before. to you, it would be unfair to tell leon ‘i love you’ when the fire is partially smothered.

“i stand on what i said, leon kennedy. i loved you but i don’t, so you should–you should find happiness elsewhere.” your words come out cruel, causing you to flinch as you step back. he reaches out a hand to you before deciding not to.

your ear is pounding as you head back inside; leon’s gaze is heavy upon your back.

while it pains you, you feel it reasonable to do so. sometimes, letting go is better than holding on. 

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

claire returns weeks later, to a house partially divided. she only hears what chris told her, but she says nothing when you and leon are in her presence. for the past days, leon is trying to go on as many assignments as possible, all so that he can detach himself from you.

you grimly accept that fact, but you also don’t want to be in the house, especially when chris is always trying to meddle in. you don’t hate chris, you never did, you only wish that he never came into your life like this.

the night time beckons you to go out, towards a nearby land that’s just a rolling green filled with nothing but a single tree. you sit down and lean back, breathing slowly as you look up at the stars. in a few weeks leon will be back, but then you will be on your next mission.

and you don’t know whether if you ought to think of chris as more than a friend. romance and desire have nothing to do with being on the battlefield. it’s even highly recommended not to fall in love with a fellow agent or soldier.

but no one can stop the matters of the heart. you’ve lived through that, but you don’t want to live through another one.

the momentary peace you sought breaks as you see chris walking towards you. you almost forgot that he used to come here too and it was he who showed you this place. lazily you wave at him and watch him wave back at you.

he stops and slides down on the other side of the tree. for a bit, you think he’s just giving you space, or maybe you think he somehow knows that deep down you want to be alone.

“am i an open book sometimes?” you ask casually. you place an arm on your bent leg, watching a moth flutter around your fingertips.

“sometimes, yes. but i’m good at reading people,” comes chris’s answer.

“so you should be a psychologist then.” you laugh at your own words, but really you’re trying to find a reason to be happy now.

to your surprise, chris laughs as well, though it’s short and almost dry. “then i reckon my patients will all be soldiers; you would be my favorite one.”

“psychologists are not allowed to have favorites, chris. oh and i think the proper term is a therapist actually…” your words drift off, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. you suck in a breath, body sagging down as you continue watching the moth, now having flown into your open palm. you turn your hand just as the mother walks around it, now making a path across your knuckles.

silence comes between you again, reminding you that you are not a person to hold conversations with. chris isn’t either, you decide, but he at least has his stories.

“may i ask you something personal, (name)?” chris’s voice cuts across the silence, each syllable hesitant but clear. you could guess what he wants to ask, so you drop your hand to the side as the moth flutters away.

“go ahead.”

“do you still love him?”

though you are expecting a similar inquiry, you still feel yourself dry-mouthed. there’s nothing to suggest what chris is currently going through but you can also take a guess at that. it’s now so apparent that chris must have liked you–he probably still does. if you are a better person, you would have made it clear the second you found out that you cannot be with him. but after letting leon go, you are thinking otherwise.

that perhaps, chris can fill that hole in your heart.

and yet, despite that feeling of wanting him, you also realize that he still cannot replace anything.

the hole in your heart has always been open, too deeply wounded for chris to completely fill it.

“yes, i do. but at the same time, i’m not sure,” you admit, looking down to your lap. “and i’m aware that you are fond of me, but i never wanted to tell you this.” you could have left out the last part, but you want chris to know because he deserves to learn what happened that day. perhaps that can change his opinion about you, perhaps, in some silly way, he will let you go.

both of you sought affection, you know that, but it’s not the right time, and certainly not with the right person.

before you allow him to speak, you then say, “will you let me go chris? i never wanted this to happen but i don’t blame you. i just want to be at peace, for once i don’t want my heart to be burdened with these feelings.”

for a moment, you thought you hear chris sigh. slowly you look around, only to see a small part of his body peaking out from the front of the trunk. so you stand up and walk around, deciding that it will be easier to talk to him here.

you squat down in front of him, placing both of your hands on your knees as you study his face. he isn’t looking, but he’s deep in thought. you wonder what he’s thinking; you couldn’t figure it out without overthinking impossible things, but you’re curious.

“leon still holds a place in your heart, even if you don’t love him,” he says it as a fact. chris opens his mouth before curling his lips into a tight smile. that’s the smile you know to be hiding burdens. finally, he leans forward and curls his hand behind the base of your neck. “and you’re alright to let him go? to let me go as well? (name), you know you deserve love, you deserve everything that’s good for all the mess this world made”

almost bitterly you laugh, hand reaching up to wave away whatever words he spoke. “no chris, i think it’s enough for me. love is something i shouldn’t try to find right now. i need space and only that.”

you think he’s going to pull you into him, but instead, he lets you stay here. you recall the times he would do the same thing to other soldiers, except he was lecturing them on morality and discipline.

if you and he had met much earlier, if he had been your childhood friend instead of leon, then tonight might have been different. you could have found love and be in love, but that’s another story.

“i heard your confession that day (name), you’re not exactly quiet about it.”

you raise your eyes up to chris. he has a frown on his face but quickly it turns into a half-hearted smirk. you’re suddenly aware of his thumb rubbing circles on the flesh of your neck, reminding you of the time leon did the same thing to your forehead.

with a heavy heart, you lower yourself. chris doesn’t leave his hand on you for long, choosing then to drop it onto his lap.

“leon and i still share a deep connection,” you say, ascertaining your words. “but, i also moved on from him.” your hands push into the soft ground, fingers digging through dirt just as you close your eyes.

“so he holds a special place in your heart even though you moved on? that’s...that’s a soulmate (name),” chris pauses, eyebrows furrowing as if it pains him to continue. “i was hopeful that you would move on to me. but when i saw you and leon together i realized that you and leon will never separate even if you don’t love him. and then i acknowledged how awful it was for me to think of you in such a way, so i want to let go as well.”

his words shock you, only because he’s now telling you this. you stare at him with a slackened jaw. “thank you chris,” you then reply, offering him a slight smile, before shaking your head. “this could have turned out simpler if we just communicated better, all three of us i suppose.”

this time, chris’s laugh is lighter as he adjusts his position against the tree. “well, we’re soldiers (name), we’re only good at fighting and talking about combat strategies.”

as you both watch the stars and bask in the summer wind, you think you hear a distant voice urging you.

go to him, he waits.

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

leon calls the next week, saying that he will be back around the early morning. though initially excited, your mood drastically changes when you remember the words you want to share with him. nervousness buds in your heart that you couldn’t sleep. like most nights before, you pace around your room, only stopping when you want to stare at the moon.

hours later, claire comes into your room and tells you that leon’s back.

as always, his appearance could be for the better. dirt and blood and other matters cling onto him as he walks in. somewhere in the middle, his hair was cut, its edges uneven. at the very least, you see that he has shaven.

for the first time since coming out of your desecrated hometown, leon’s smiling.

you think back to chris’s words, that leon’s your soulmate. perhaps that’s why his mood is different; perhaps he feels it too.

a crooked grin spreads across his face as claire fist bumps him, congratulating him on retrieving the necessary information. he then turns toward you, seemingly expecting something from you.

you’re tired but your heart is soaring once more. silently, you cross the meager distance and put your arms around him.

“welcome home leon,” you tell him. you then pause, eyes lingering on claire and then to chris, who has made his way here. “we missed you.”

his smile is all teeth, bright and boyish and reminding you of everything you love about him.

“i missed you too, all of you,” is his soft response.

when your bodies connect, you feel the excitement of being so close to him. this time, however, you don’t doubt yourself or him it’s just this strange, oddly supernatural relationship between you and leon. 

“and leon?” you say, face still hovering close to his. “can we start over? empty slate this time?” 

for a moment, leon looks taken aback. but whatever feeling that’s going through him must be generous, for he says, “okay, let’s start from the beginning, (name).” 

you smile, touching foreheads with him, fondly remembering those days of your youths. 

[sas-afras]

OC interview meme - penn

(under the readmore because it’s long as fuuuuck)

1. What is your name? 

Spencer Troy Pendleton, but I prefer Penn. Or General.

2. Do you know why you’re named that? 

Nope.

3. Single or Taken? 

Uh, single.

4. Have any powers or abilities? 

I want to say super-genius but truthfully I’m barely above average.

5. Stop being a Mary Sue. 

What the fuck is a Mary-Sue??

6. What’s your eye color?

Wait, you didn’t answer my- they’re blue. You’re looking right at me. 

7. How about hair color?

Okay, this is fucking absurd, you’re literally right there. Looking at me. Use your eyes.

8. Have any family members?

That’s a sore subject.

9. How about pets?

Dogmeat’s only partially my pet, he’s pretty much his own man. Or.... dog. Stray dogs sometimes like me.

10. That’s cool I guess. Now tell me something you don’t like. 

Stupid questions... And bugs. Why the fuck did bugs have to mutate into being huge? Why not cats? Or giant puppies?

11. Any hobbies or activities you like to do?

Robotics, mostly. Mechanical things in general. I’m learning how to build things like houses and water purifiers and things of that nature, but it’s more of a chore than anything.  Reading is nice as well, but there aren’t many intact books left nowadays.

12. Ever hurt anyone in any way before?

Is that a legitimate question? I live in the wasteland. If I didn’t I’d be dead. Emotionally is a different story, however the answer is still yes. Everyone has.

13. Ever killed anyone?

Are you deaf? Yes. I. Have. I have to.

14. What kind of animal are you?

In a literal sense or a metaphorical one? I’m going to assume metaphorical. A bird, most likely. Like one of those crows that fly everywhere.

15. What are your worst habits?

Smoking, drinking, doing drugs, stealing, being manipulative, killing people... If I go on we’ll be here all day. 

16.  Do you look up to anyone at all?

Nick and Preston are both genuinely good people. I definitely admire them. Danse is... flawed, but he means well-ish. I suppose you could count Piper if you wanted to really stretch the idea, but I do admire how well she’s taken care of Nat.

17. Gay, straight, or bisexual?

Tough question, considering my lack-of-a-gender, but I say gay for simplicity’s sake. I like men.

18. Do you go to school?

Not anymore. Even before the bombs I had to drop out of high school to help my dad with Shaun. 

19. Ever want to get married and have kids?

Sure, I love kids. There’s definitely plenty of orphans around the commonwealth for me to be able to adopt, but I do have other obligations right now.

20. Have any fangirls/boys?

Uh, no, not as far as I know?

21. What are you most afraid of?

The cold.

22. What do you usually wear?

My jacket and vault suit. Sometimes I get wild and wear some goggles.

23. What’s one food that tempts you?

Cram… God, you think it’s going to taste so good and then it’s just mushy cardboard flavor. The texture is nice.

24. Am I annoying to you?

Slightly.

25. Well it’s still not over.

Oh boy.

26. What class are you?

Class like social status? That doesn’t really… exist much, anymore. Middle, I suppose? I get by. Nothing too glamorous, but I have to work hard.

27. How many friends do you have?

Oh, jeez. Like three or four? I have quite a few acquaintances.

28. What are your thoughts on pie?

Oh boy, what flavor? Pff, sorry, pre-war joke. Pie is fine.

29. Favorite drink?

Nuka-Cola Quantum. It’s radioactive as all hell, but by god if it doesn’t taste amazing. I’ve been trying to make a recipe for homemade Quantum for a year now.

30. Favorite place?

There’s this lighthouse up on the coast- Kingsport, I think it’s called. It’s peaceful there.

31. Are you interested in anyone?

That’s a personal question.

32. Would you rather swim in the lake or the ocean?

Both are irradiated, both have mirelurks, both are cold as hell… What’s not to love? If i had to pick, it would be a lake. I heard a rumor about a ghoulified whale once, I’m definitely not interested in meeting that.

34. What’s your type?

Uh. Nice… people? I suppose? Again, personal question.

35. Any fetishes?

Excuse me?

36. Camping or outdoors?

Is this the last question, or are you going to ask more asinine bullshit? Outdoors. Are we done here?

[that-guy-writes]

Current Fic Masterlist

MULTI-CHAPTER

Necrodeviant (Complete - 34k words) Fandom: The Locked Tomb Type: AU (conspiracy/thriller) Rating: Mature (violence, mild language) Summary: Gideon Nav is just an ordinary person, living an ordinary life, in an ordinary town.  What *isn't* ordinary is the night that she discovers a mysterious young woman digging through her garbage.  What *really* isn't ordinary is that young woman having the power to reanimate dead bone.  And the web of conspiracy and danger that the young woman draws her into?  Well, that's just *hella* not ordinary.

Anne with a Shard (Complete - 67k words) Fandom: Anne with an E Type: AU (Superheroes [Parahumans]) Rating: Teen (mild violence) Summary: When Anne's taken in by the Cuthbert siblings after years bouncing around the foster care system, she's got a lot to deal with: a new living situation, a new town, new friends, a new school...  Having to hide the superpowers she got from her trigger event a year ago doesn't help matters one bit.

Stranger Trek (Complete - 129k words) Fandom: Stranger Things Type: AU (Star Trek) Rating: Teen (mild violence, mild language, sexual references) Summary: Space... the final frontier.  Newly in command of the USS Hawkins, Captain Michael "Mike" Wheeler is eager to get out there and live every Starfleet cadet's dream.  Backing him up is a crack senior staff of old Academy friends... as well as one mysterious young woman with a handful of secrets up her sleeve.  Together, they seek out adventure and discovery--boldly going where no one has gone before!

The Other Thing (Complete - 67k words) Fandom: Stranger Things Type: AU (high school, alternate powers) Rating: Teen (violence, body horror, mild language) Summary: El escaped from the lab, but not before they put the other thing inside her.  For four years, it and her rescuer-turned-adoptive-father Hopper have been her only company as she hid away in a remote cabin outside of Hawkins.  Now, at last, she's taking her first steps into the world, attending Hawkins High in the guise of an ordinary student.  New friends and new experiences await her... but that doesn't mean that the shadows of her past, human or otherwise, are done with her just yet.

ONE-SHOT

Why Me? (998 words) Fandom: Orphan Black, Doctor Who Type: Crossover, Post-Canon (OB), Who Knows (DW) Rating: Everyone Summary: Rachel Duncan asks a question.  Her traveling companion in time and space answers.  A short but heartfelt conversation ensues.

Triptych: Life, Death, Rebirth (1.7k words) Fandom: The Locked Tomb Type: Pre-Canon Rating: Mature (violence) Summary: I was nineteen the year that the empire of death came for my planet.

Out Of The Ashes (3.4k words) Fandom: Stranger Things Type: AU (post-apocalyptic) Rating: Teen (implied violence, dead bodies, mild language) Summary: A battered car pulls up to a ruined building for the night.  An old lab hides secrets from years ago.  And in the middle of the blasted wasteland that is the world, two people meet for the first time.

Cultural Exchange (one-shot extra for Stranger Trek - 1.6k words) Fandom: Stranger Things Type: AU (Star Trek) Rating: General (parent fic is rated Teen - see above) Summary: It's an ordinary day on the USS Hawkins, and Mike is walking down the hallway when he hears a sound coming from El's quarters...

[robobrainmurdermysterytheatre]

Fallout OC Interview!

I already tagged people, so I’m not tagging anyone in this. I took FOREVER because I thought every question needed an essay-length answer. Also because I went “Oh, I have SCREENSHOTS that would fit well with these questions 😏” then had to sift through the 9gb of screenshots I have to find them. Enjoy!

Rules:

1. Choose an OC.

2. Answer them as that OC.

3. Tag 5 people to do the same.

What is your name? Jack Daniel O’Kelley

How old are you? 24... no, 25 now. Actually, technically, 235.

What do you look like? I’m white, almost 6ft tall, blonde hair, freckles, blue eyes... well, they used to be blue, now they’re... weird... one robot arm, lots of scars, lots of tattoos... you’ll know me when you see me, believe me.

[Read the rest under the cut 👇 It’s long! I threw in a bunch of pictures for lookin’ at! Also, the story of how Jack lost his arm!]

Where are you from? Where do you live now? Boston, born and raised. Except, before the war. Now I live in Sanctuary. I pack up and winter out in the southwest, though! Hate the cold. 

What was your childhood like? Before the age of 10? Not great. I was an orphan, grew up in an orphanage. I can’t complain, compared to what orphans in this time have to go through? Still... it was... not something I even want to talk about. But once my parents adopted me? It was nice, it was normal, mostly. They were good people. I didn’t want for anything. They made up for everything else I’d been through. 

What groups are you friendly with? Are you allied with any factions? I’m General of The Minutemen, so I’d say we’re pretty friendly. The Minutemen have a good, solid relationship with The Railroad, and I personally do as well. We also have a good relationship with Goodneighbor, we always get supplies from there rather than Diamond City, if we can. And again, in a personal sense, I’m a big fan of the Mayor over there. Close personal friend! There are also some groups up north, in Far Harbor I’m on pretty good terms with: the harbormen, the synth refuge. Being popular with the Children of Atom from up there has perks that carry over into dealing with them in the Commonwealth as well. Oh! And the Atom Cats are definitely friends, they gave me a neat jacket and everything. They’re not really a militant faction or anything, they’re great to just hang out with and build cool power armor. They have a poetry night, too!

Tell me about your best friend. That’s just a friend? His name is Deacon. I’m pretty sure I’m not at liberty to tell you anything else about him, though. My other best friend is Piper, number one reporter in the wasteland. Very fun, very funny, very kind. We get drunk and sing showtunes together sometimes. She’s surprisingly good at fighting, more than once now I’ve seen her wreck with a minigun she just picked up from whatever enemy we just downed, but she’s still really good with that 10mm. She reminds me a lot of my late wife in a lot of ways. She’s doing amazing things, bringing truth to the people. 

Do you have a family? Tell me about them! I had my family before the war... my parents and then my wife, Ray, and son, Shaun, later. They’re all gone now. I have my son... he’s a synth replica of my human son that he made of himself... it’s complicated... but it’s not. I love him. He’s more my real son than the old man I met nearly a year ago who was the person my human son became. And my husband, Danse. And everyone around us in Sanctuary, really, is family. We all love and support each other, that’s what matters, you know? Even some people outside of Sanctuary - Nicky in Diamond City is like a father to me, Longfellow up north on the island too... The Abernathy’s treated me kindly and helped me supply up when I first came out of the vault and I had no idea what was going on, they were the first people I saw, so they feel a lot like family, too... and the Railroad, like Deacon puts it, are just “one big dysfunctional family, with guns” and, well, working with them like I do, we’re family. I also have a cousin on my dad’s side that survived the war, Celeste! She has the best weed and is a big *ahem* fan of Mayor Hancock. I love her dearly.

What about a partner or partners? I’m married to Danse, he’s an amazing man. Besides being tall, dark and handsome, he’s dedicated, strong, loyal, smart, principled... he’s also the biggest softie I know, he’s compassionate and loving and oh, god, his sense of humor is blink-and-you’ll-miss-it dry but if you catch it, it’s amazing. I have no idea what he’s doing with a guy like me. We balance each other out really well, he helps me keep my shit together, and I help him cut loose. Our marriage is sort of open, we both have people from before we got together that are really important to us, so I have a boyfriend, too. He lives out in Vegas now, where he’s from, but I met him up here during a really dark time when I thought I didn't have anything left in me and had run away from everything. He gave me back the will to keep trying. Haley’s really special - smart as a whip, loyal to a fault, goodhearted, charming, one hell of a shot... Oh, and gorgeous. We’ve had a lot of fun together, just wish I could see him more often. And then there’s Preston. He’s just... everything that’s good and right about humanity. How could I not fall in love with him? He’s beautiful inside and out, he has a heart of pure gold, he’s fought so hard for everything he believes in. I didn’t even realize he had any kind of feelings for me until after I had already gotten together with Danse, but, after we worked out the whole open relationship thing, we got together and that was that. 

Who are your enemies, and why? Number one on my shitlist are The Gunners. We’ve been whittling away their numbers, so they’re less of a threat than when I first encountered them. They’re still a legitimate enough with the firepower, organization and numbers they still do have. Anyone or anything that threatens the settlers or the Minutemen are enemies in my book. Things are pretty tense with the Brotherhood of Steel, as well. There’s no... official conflict with them at the moment, but they’re on thin ice.

But seriously, fuck The Gunners.

Have you ever heard of The Brotherhood of Steel? What do you think about them? Ah, yes. I think if they weren’t trying to spearhead a synth genocide on my turf, we would be able to coexist just fine. I actually used to be in the Brotherhood, though it was mostly me being opportunistic, hoping they could help me find my son and getting to play with power armor and big guns and giant robots. My husband was, too. We were Paladins! Well... I kind of took his position after they kicked him out... he recruited me, he was my commanding officer - one hell of an officer, too, that’s why I field promoted him to Captain of the Minutemen. But I’m getting off topic - The Brotherhood, thankfully seems to have at least slowed down on the synth genocide bullshit after The Minutemen and our allies blew up The Institute. I gently reminded Elder Maxson that’s what happens when people fuck with my family. I haven’t had too many issues with them since. 

[Knight O’Kelley 😏]

What about The Enclave? I’ve heard about them from multiple sources, I’m not sure how much of that information is good information, but from my understanding, they sound like assholes. Dangerous assholes. 

How do you feel about Super Mutants? I feel bad for them. The ones out here in the Commonwealth were made against their will by The Institute. That’s bullshit. I’ll still kill them when they’re shooting at me, though. I’ve ran into a few friendly ones, there’s Strong and Erickson, and Virgil used to be a Super Mutant but now he’s a human again. I know there’s friendly, smarter Super Mutants in other areas. They’re people too, just like ghouls, just like synths, just like humans. If they’re friendly, I’m friendly, if they’re hostile, I’m hostile. Just wish there were more around here that weren’t hostile. They’re also excellent fighters, I definitely admire the no-bullshit approach they take to fighting. 

What’s the craziest fight you’ve ever been in? Oh, boy, this one’s hard, I’ve been in some crazy fights. Probably The Battle for Bunker Hill, where everyone showed up to the party and I almost died. I was still working undercover at The Institute on the Railroad’s behalf, and so Me, Danse, Deacon, Preston, Hancock, and Mac all go out to meet this Courser. We had Danse in full power armor because we were worried about the Courser recognizing him, but he refused to stay behind because he was worried about me but I’m really glad he didn’t. So we meet this guy, the idea was that we were going to go with him to reclaim these four synths hiding out at Bunker Hill, but when we had a chance, instead we’d take him out and relocate the synths. Well, somehow The god damn Brotherhood of Steel got word of the synths hiding out there as well, so we go in and it’s just a clusterfuck, The Railroad agents, gen 1s, Brotherhood, Caravan guards, everyone’s firing at everyone everywhere. That made getting in easy, we just waded through the fire. We got down there, jumped this Courser and secured the synths. Then we had to fight our way out and in the process Danse’s armors broken, so he has to hop out, but we have everything pretty well handled. Then a second wave of Vertibirds roll in, they’re dropping guys, they’re firing on us from the air, everything is chaos again. They recognized Danse and they were out for blood, they start coming for him instead of the synths we’re protecting, which at least gave Preston, Deacon and Mac a chance to take the four kids to relative safety. So Danse and I are distracting them, trying to slowly retreat, but keep their attention on us enough the rest of our folks can get away. I’m on one side of the street and he’s on the other, just ripping into them. Then this grenade sails over my cover and lands right next to me. I’m pissed, I’m exhausted, I’m thinking, I’m going to throw this motherfucker back at them, there’s nowhere to run, we’re pinned down, fuck it. That was... the wrong call. Or I don’t know, I’m still here, so maybe it wasn’t. I reached down and next thing I know my ears are ringing and I’m flat on my back in the middle of the street in the most excruciating pain I have ever been in. Last thing I see before I black out is my gorgeous, heroic husband standing over me, absolutely fucking furious, unleashing complete and utter hell with that gatling laser on what’s left of the Brotherhood troops. And that’s how I lost my arm! 

Have you ever fought a Deathclaw? Many. I hate fighting them, honestly. They’re beautiful creatures. Terrifying, but beautiful. 

Do you like fighting? I’m so tired of fighting. 

What’s your weapon of choice? In a perfect world, where I won’t accidentally blow up my friends? Mayhem, my quad-barrel missile launcher with a built in targeting computer painted Atom Cats colors. Generally, though, I go with my sniper rifle, Liberator, or the laser rifle Danse gave me, Righteous Authority.

How do you survive? Your wits, your charm, your skills, brute force, some combination? (a.k.a. what’s your S.P.E.C.I.A.L?) As much as I’d like to think it’s my excellent combat prowess, mostly some combination of my skills and my charm have helped me stay alive.

Have you ever been in a vault? What do you think about them? Fuck Vault-Tec, fuck their mothers, fuck all their friends and fuck the vaults. Except Clarence, the salesman who sold me my family’s place in Vault 111. They fucked him over, too. He didn’t know. I can’t be mad. We’re friends. And Curie, technically, was Vault-Tec, when she was a robot, but that’s different. Oh, and the vault I kind of... own... now is OK, the original Overseer left when I did her freaky experiments wrong. It’s known as the Party Vault, now! But listen, I was frozen for 210 years in Vault 111, and as fucked up as that is, that’s probably one of the most benign things Vault-Tec ever did to anyone. They carried out some of the most horrific things I have ever heard of, they’re awful.

[Vault 88, the Party Vault!]

How do you beat all the radiation around here? Has it affected you? I don’t have to work too hard to deal with the radiation after the... “religious experience” I had when I “infiltrated” the Children of Atom for Acadia. I still don’t have an explanation for what happened, but, the radiation heals me and eventually dissipates itself after a while, when it even does effect me. Every so often during a bad radstorm I still have to pop some Rad-X. Before that, though, lots of Rad-X and Radaway and cowering in corners of buildings when radstorms blew through. Radstorms used to do a number on me, they’d give me panic attacks, hallucinations - and not the fun kind - make me sick. Not so much anymore, so that’s good.

What’s your favorite wasteland critter? Deathclaws. They’re majestic, they’re fierce and huge. They have interesting mutations that turn them neat colors. I think they’re a lot more intelligent than the average wasteland critter.

What’s your least favorite wasteland critter? Radroaches. Everyone said roaches would survive the apocalypse and not only did they survive, they got more disgusting. Yuck.

How do you feel about robots? Pretty fucking good! I’ve been fascinated with them since before the war. I was going to go into a career in robotics. I guess I kind of ended up doing that, since I build so many now. And Codsworth, who’s a robot, is one of my favorite people. So, yeah, pretty fucking good. 

[These are babeys]

How many caps do you have on you right now? Twenty four thousand give or take. Don’t even think about robbing me of them.

Nuka Cola or Sunset Sarsaparilla? Listen, Haley sent me a crate of Sunset Sarsaparilla once and that shit is way better than any flavor of Nuka Cola I’ve ever had. 

Do you do chems? Yes. But strictly for business, not pleasure anymore. Before the war, I was addicted to Psycho and Med-X, and probably Mentats, back from when I was in Anchorage. Hell, even as a kid I would get high here and there. I would really do whatever I could get my hands on. But I cleaned up when Ray was pregnant. Once I lost her and Shaun, it was open season again, especially since chems seem to flow pretty freely in some places around here. I had it bad, my friends had to drag me more than half dead to a wasteland doctor more than once. But once I got Shaun back... I couldn’t do that to him, I couldn’t do it anymore. Sometimes the occasion calls for it, though, there are a lot of fights I wouldn’t have walked away from without the extra edge. I just have to watch it.

Do you ever think about the Pre-War world? A lot. I think about the life I had before, the people I cared about. I also think about the mistakes were made that got us to the place we are now, if anything to try to avoid making them again. If they’re even avoidable... 

What’s your deepest regret? What would you do differently? Not being able to protect my family in the vault. I don’t know what I could have done differently, I was trapped in there, what could I do? I think about it every day like maybe I’ll have an answer to that question, but I never find one.

What’s your biggest achievement? Or what do you hope to achieve? Destroying the Institute, hands down, biggest achievement. They were the biggest roadblock to a functioning Commonwealth, and now they’re gone we can actually build something. 

What do you want for the future? For yourself? Your friends? The world? 

Peace, for all three.