#Oh! I went on a bit of a ramble down here. Ignore It I am still Emotional it seems.

[krysmcscience]

It’s finally done, guys – five whole pages of Narilamb AU comic AND MORE be upon you! (If you have trouble reading any of the text, view the full-size! These pages are huge!)

Yeesh, this took forever. <:)

There’s probably a ton of inconsistencies and anatomy/perspective wonkeries, but this was mostly just comic practice, so Oh Hekkin Well, Lol <:D

(Yes, I am aware the Gateway’s door isn’t present in the Afterlife, and the actual way in is just a pentagram portal. Yes, I put the door in there anyway because Artistic License, i.e. it felt more impactful for there to be a prison door of sorts to walk through to freedom, rather than just a bland boring portal on the ground. 😠)

anyway, i hate backgrounds so much lmao

Alternate ending and a buttload of bonus art under the cut, followed by goofy AU rambles and headcanon stuff:

I’m calling it the Revival AU. It’s not all that creative a title, and someone else has probably used it already, but I am too lazy to really care, LOL

Alternate ending page, which you will Definitely need to view the full-size for, Whoopsie Daisy:

The alternate ending was actually the first ending I finished things off with, because I had a brief badbrain moment where I forgot the emotional beat I initially wanted the comic to end on, and I tend to write comedy, anyway. I later remembered and drew out the proper ending, but I preserved and finished this one, too, because it still makes me giggle.

They had to go back for the followers off-screen in the AU’s real ending. And by ‘they’ I mean just the Lamb, because they weren’t about to ask three newly freed cats to go back into what used to be their prison. The Lamb DID spend some time watching Narinder and the bois enjoying the outdoors first, though:

In other news, here’s the Lamb and me making fun of my anatomy-drawing ‘skills’:

Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why the Lamb is just a-okay with how things went down vis a vis Their Murder, this bonus comic should answer at least some of your questions:

Ah, yes, also this is how they get engaged outside of the alternate ending. Forgot to mention that bit. XD (I already refuse to believe that Narinder is capable of flirting normally, so why would his initial marriage proposal be any better???)

Oh, and before any of them get a chance to actually head back to the cult grounds, there is one potential problem:

And by ‘problem’ I mean something Narinder intends to ignore for At Minimum a thousand years. Cuz he’s a petty bitch like that. :D

what do you mean i drew the lamb too tall compared to the background? clearly they’re standing on top of baal and aym lmao, why else would you think those two aren’t in this one??? (aym and baal got way too excited about finally being outside, you see, and their silly modes are nothing to sneeze at)

And, speaking of heading back to the cult grounds, I’m sure y’all would love to know how the Lamb’s followers felt about the brand new change in management:

It all went better than expected. <:D Tiny ramble now, feel free to skip down to the next comic.

Before you ask, no, the Lamb does not have any actual powers anymore, other than the immortality Narinder definitely grants them. The Red Crown just thinks it’s funny to suggest otherwise, and Narinder does nothing to discourage this. Also, the Lamb and Narinder aren’t actually married here yet, but, uh. Pretty safe to say that particular ritual directly follows the events of this comic. XD

Given how quickly he mellows out in canon, Narinder probably chills out a lot in this AU once he’s in charge of the cult, too, if only because 1.) He’s finally free, and 2.) He’s equally smitten with and distracted by the Lamb. He’s definitely in charge at least 95% of the time, though, because the Lamb never actually wanted to be a cult leader and, now that their time as a vessel is done, they just want to be a normal(ish) sheep who’s wholly devoted to their hot new divine husband.

Some followers do still have some valid concerns about these two being together, though, which I’m sure at least a few of you might share…

Unfortunately for any such concerns, the Lamb is a bonafide masochist in this AU. :D

They’re also 100% a sub, obviously

Anyone at all: Your relationship is problematic and potentially toxic

The Lamb: fuck yeah it is, it’s so hot~ OuO

Here’s just the last panel, made transparent for whatever nefarious purposes y’all might have for it:

Additional exchange Narinder and the Lamb have at some point, probably after the Lamb does a fatal whoopsie while out on a mission trip or in response to things getting a little too sadistic in the bedroom, ahaha:

Look, there is a very important distinction between life and death, and if you don’t understand that, then you’re probably not worthy of being the God of Death, anyway. (At least, according to Narinder, and ONLY Narinder.)

Last but not least, have these shittens:

~Such creative naming conventions I have utilized, lololol~ :D Anyway, there's a few deets on them in the rambles down below.

The rest is all ramble, so before I get to that, I’ll just say – likes and especially reblogs are very much appreciated!!! :D If you happen to really really REALLY like my stuff, meanwhile, I do have a link in my bio to my ko-fi page, where I’m accepting commissions and donations if you’re especially generous… ÓuÒ

Now, BE FREE IF YOU AIN’T DOWN FOR READING MY GOOFY RAMBLES

First ramble is re: Baal’s question of ‘Did it really work?’, since I didn’t feel like expanding on it in the comic proper, and it’s arguably pretty vague? He doesn’t ask because he doubts Narinder or his capabilities, exactly, but because neither Baal nor Aym have ever actually seen their god at full power before (he’s still technically not at full power here, either). It’s not expressly stated how soon the brothers were brought to Narinder after his imprisonment, but whether it was early on or after a length of time for Shamura to (somewhat) recover from his attack, he must have already been weakened, since I have no doubts that there was a huge battle that accompanied the Bishops working together to trap him. So, between that fight with all four of his siblings, sharing his power with a variety of vessels over time, and being chained immobile for a thousand years, he must have been severely weakened by the time he lent the Red Crown out to the Lamb, which would have only weakened him further.

I like to think this is how the Lamb is able to defeat him if they refuse to be sacrificed, despite how it took all four Bishops working together to subdue and chain Narinder in the first place.

All that aside, the three cats have been trapped in the Afterlife for so long that Baal also wanted verbal reassurance that they are all, indeed, actually able to leave it now – something that I headcanon isn’t possible without a significant amount of power (i.e. the Red Crown’s cooperation with its bearer/vessel).

(On a semi-related note, I don’t headcanon Aym and Baal as twins. I like sweetheart big bro Baal and snarky little goth bro Aym too much to have them be that close in age.)

Ah, teeny thing: If you noticed I switched up the art style for Narinder on the second page, that was intentional. It's sort of a visual indicator that there has been a Big Change for him - that being, how much power he has after sacrificing the Lamb. As for why I changed up his arms in the grass rollin' pic, I don't really subscribe to the notion that his arms are spooky bones because they're horrifically injured (beyond chain-chafing scars, that is), but rather just because he's the Bishop of Death, so he can change how normal-to-spooky they look at will. At some point I might doodle out how I imagine his appearance to range between least to most eldritch... 🤔

Next ramble, regarding Narinder’s feelings towards the Lamb...he was initially too focused on being freed from his imprisonment to form any real attachment to them. They were a tool for his use, first and foremost, but he did notice their intense devotion towards him. It was impossible not to notice, because the Lamb was always very happy to see him, even if it was because they died during a crusade (yet again). He wasn’t originally planning to revive them once he was freed, either, because he saw no real point to it – after all, they were already dead when they first met him, just as any other mortal would be when meeting him in the Afterlife, so death has very little real consequence in his eyes. But, once the chains were off, and it really sank in that he stood to lose the most devoted follower he’s ever had, he decided…why put their soul to rest for good or leave them stuck in the Afterlife when he could just as easily revive them again? And why not reward them for their hard work, anyway? Not only would it cost him nothing by comparison, but the future devotion that could come of it would surely make up for his (bare minimum) effort in reviving them.

He wasn’t expecting to get a full dose of that devotion and a smiling face so soon after killing them, though~ :3c (because the Lamb is a bonafide freak, and not-so-secretly into the fucked up power dynamics going on here, lol)

I should mention here that I am firmly of the belief that any non-god/vessel who crosses through the Gateway and into the Afterlife just straight up dies. So, Aym and Baal? Also straight up dead, from the second Shamura brought them through. Their souls were just never put to rest so that Narinder could have some company – if only according to Shamura. Narinder kept the two around mostly out of bewilderment, because honestly, who are these kittens, and what is Shamura’s game here, anyway??? They never even explained anything, they just tossed these kittens into the Afterlife and LEFT!!! At any rate, Aym and Baal being dead is how I explain why their souls apparently become lost in the void if they’re killed, along with the added complications required to revive the two because of it.

So, with those deets in mind, and given a bit of time, if Narinder hadn’t chosen to revive the Lamb, and also hadn’t chosen to put their soul to rest, they still would have woken up at some point, despite being as straight up dead as Aym and Baal. Who, don’t worry, were also properly revived while Narinder was waiting for the Lamb to wake up. Because I am also firmly of the belief that, first, the dead cannot leave the Afterlife without the use of a ritual/relic (and can't stay in the living world for long regardless), and second, dead followers’ devotion isn’t anywhere near as potent as that of the living, given how much more the living stand to lose.

Final ramble, regarding the Lamb’s feelings towards Narinder, and why they’re so devoted to him…

Well, you don’t spend most of your life on the run with your steadily-dwindling herd, trying to evade the ongoing genocide of your species, without becoming a little fucked up in the head. Maybe a lot fucked up in the head. Life is suffering, so might as well have fun with it, right? Maybe start finding death and pain to be kind of hilarious, even a little bit hot, once everyone you know and love is dead and gone, leaving you all alone? And maybe after that, there’s something comforting in how, despite the cold, cruel uncertainties of life, at least you can always count on the inevitability of death, patiently waiting for you until your very last breath? Who knows. Either way, as soon as the Lamb was killed, and they learned that the literal God of Death was offering them a second chance at life and vengeance via effective immortality, they were 100% ride-or-die-devoted all at once. Turns out death is kinder than life – go figure. (Of course, it helps that Narinder is 100% their type.)

They weren’t put off by Narinder’s thinly-veiled sadism or manipulations, either – they’re not too different in those regards, albeit opting for vastly different methods. It’s a very ‘two sides of the same coin’ sort of deal. In order to stay alive once they were made the last of their kind, the Lamb had no qualms with using others to their advantage, and that did not change once they were revived and expected to run a cult. They didn’t care for the position of authority, though – being a sheep and all, they’re much more of a follower than a leader, and thus greatly appreciated Narinder’s need for control. With how they had to keep on their toes for so long, the Lamb was also pretty good at reading people by the time they died, so they could recognize that a lot of Narinder’s posturing was just that – posturing. Dude’s 95% bluster and only 5% bite. He could obviously be vicious when he wanted or needed to (the Bishops' injuries were clear proof of that), but underneath his outer layer of cruelty was a generous layer of tsundere, and underneath all THAT was a soft squishy middle sibling velcro cat in desperate need of attention and affection.

(Which, for the record, he Did Not feel comfortable getting from Aym and Baal – Narinder still has no idea why the fuck Shamura sent them to him, beyond acting as keepers at best or trying to sabotage his attempts to escape at worst. Which, he thought HE sabotaged in turn, by guiding the kittens into being his devoted disciples instead. He thought he was very clever for it. ‘I outsmarted Shamura!’ he thought, despite that there was never anything there to outsmart. ‘What do you mean, Shamura sent your kittens to me for company?’ he demands of Forneus later. It may or may not lead him to pull Shamura out of Purgatory just so he can shake them and scream about how they should have Fucking Explained that!!!)

But, getting back on track as to why the Lamb was so willing to be sacrificed, I cannot stress this enough – if you pay even a minimal amount of attention to what he’s saying, Narinder is REALLY NOT SUBTLE about his intentions. ‘Death is of little consequence.’ ‘Followers are for you to use to your advantage.’ ‘Sacrifice a follower to absorb more power.’ So, yeah, the Lamb knew exactly what would be expected of them once the other Bishops were dead. They knew Narinder would expect them to die for him one last time. But, after all, death is of little consequence (not to mention hot), so when the time came, they wanted to see him freed, even if it meant oblivion for them in the end.

He’d given them a second life, and the ability to avenge their kin, and they felt indebted to him for that – so, while they were still pretty glum about the possibility that they might not get to see him free of his chains, nothing beyond their devotion and debt to him mattered. They never wanted all the drama and expectations that came with the Red Crown’s power, anyway, so, better for Narinder to have it back so that he could deal with it. What he did with the Lamb afterward would be up to him, and seeing as he was their god, they’d accept his decision gladly.

Were they in love with him by that point? Oh, obsessively so, but only in the devotional sense – romance was nowhere on their mind nor radar. That is, until he unexpectedly revived them again, told them he still needed them, and then offered down his hand to help them up.

The Lamb fell HARD for him in that moment. :3c

And now, a tiny shitten ramble. Lu and Li are twins, because sheep tend to have those a lot, and are conceived not long after the Lamb and Narinder’s marriage ceremony. Lu is the minutes older one, but Li is much more mature. I have put no further thought into these two, other than that they are utter menaces, birthed by the Lamb, cling hard to both their parents but especially Narinder (who spoils them rotten), and they are both genderfluid, using whichever pronouns/names they feel like at any given time. They are also both intersex, same as the Lamb, who was initially infertile up until Something Something Vague Magic, which I have also put no further thought into ¯\_(シ)_/¯

oh, and before anyone tries to suggest i headcanon this AU’s lamb as trending more female due to them giving birth or whatever, no, no, a thousand times no, they might have a vag, but they've also got a dick, and even if it's not as big as they'd like, they still know how to use it

Finally, the very tentative name for the Lamb in this AU is Yazdi, which is really just another name for the Baluchi breed of sheep XD (Not that the Lamb is this specific breed, I just didn’t like any of the other sheep-related names I found, ahaha...)

THAT’S ALL FOR NOW (collapses into an exhausted pile of goopy limbs)

[luvvyouforever]

show me what you got - logan howlett {wolverine} x reader

synopsis: logan and reader very clearly want each other, but neither will make a move. a certain plan sets that in action.

content: NSFW! minors dni. yearning. horny. rambling. logan being nervous. afab reader.

a/n: i don't really know where i was going with this. i was also kinda picturing cartoon x men living situation here! def not very canon compliant. but enjoy!

his breath is hot, ragged, and full of expletives slipping between his lips with every thrust. sweat beads around his hairline, drips down his temple, and leaves the prettiest shine on his tan skin. his hair is tousled, he's shirtless, and his muscles are tense beneath his skin.

"oh my god, lift up your jaw. i know he's hot but you're gonna swallow flies that way, hun."

rogue's voice enters your dazed reverie and brings you back into the reality: a sweaty gym in the x-men mansion. logan, only twenty feet in front of you, pulls on the handles of a machine set to the highest weight possible that pulls him forward and backward. it's supposed to work out his back, or maybe his chest, or maybe his arms. either way, it's sinful and becoming increasingly difficult to tear your eyes away.

he continues to grunt on the machine and you wonder if he's doing it on purpose when rogue speaks up again. "you need to do something about this."

you let out a laugh that's just a bit too loud and draws some of the eyes of the other x-men working out. red heat crawls up your neck and to your cheeks where it settles into a blush. turning around to face the other side of the gym, you whisper, "and what exactly am i supposed to do here?"

"i don't know. corner him, give him a big ol' smooch, and the rest will be history," rogue pauses. "i think. i'm not the best person to ask here," she says with a gesture to her gloved hands.

when you feel the heat leave your face, you turn back around to see that logan had moved from the original offending machine to an even more intolerable workout: bench presses. with urgent movements, you take rogue over to the yoga mats and begin your own personalized workout, all the while she laughs at your obvious and ever-growing frustration.

𝜗𝜚

logan wonders what it would be like to be standing behind you, pressed dangerously close to your backside as you bend over and place yourself into some yoga position he never bothered to learn the name of. the workout clothes you're wearing have always got under his skin and he knows this time is no different. he barely thinks about the weight of the bar he's lifting up and down as he watches your body flex into a position that places your body in such a divine arch he wishes he could be drawing out of you.

"not you too," gambit's voice comes from behind logan where he uselessly spots him. suddenly, logan falters with his grip on the bar and rather than let it fall on top of him, he sends it to the other side of the bench, just a few feet from where scott was doing squats with some fancy weights logan never bothered with.

"what do you mean 'not you too?'" logan questions.

gambit shakes his head and sits on the bench next to the one they were currently working out on. he fiddles with a card he seemed to pull out of nowhere, but logan ignored it. "gambit means that you two need to find a closet and get it over with."

logan huffs and shakes his head. "i dunno what you're talking about, cajun."

his eyes float back to your frame on the other side of the gym. much to his chagrin, you stopped your own workout and stretching in favor of assisting rogue into a complex position that was sure to send gambit to her side once the workout had come to a close. the words 'not you too' floated through his head once more and he turned to interrogate gambit once more only to find him moving on to another set in front of the mirror.

with a final glance back to you, he found you looking at him as well. briefly, your eyes met each other across the room then immediately went to the floor, pretending that the specks of dust were unbelievably interesting.

𝜗𝜚

charles believed that despite the mutations and responsibilities and missions, it was important for the x-men to have some kind of normalcy which led to frequent movie nights or parties or game nights. more often than not, logan spent those inside or sitting in a chair directly away from the other x-men. there was no particular reason, he was just always like that. solitary.

unfortunately, something seemed to be different for this particular movie night. when he arrived to the home theater in the basement of the mansion, every single seat was taken by one of the other x-men. the only other person who hadn't arrived was you.

his eyes fell to the loveseat that was empty toward the back of the room, where rarely any light except for the screen fell. he could hear an almost undetectable giggle come from rogue on the other side of the room and he knew something was up. had these not been unspokenly required, he would have turned around with the excuse of...something.

just as he climbed the few short steps to the loveseat and sat down, you walked in. his breath hitched in his throat at the sight of you. a thin and old pajama top which hung off your shoulders at an angle adorned your top half while the bottom half was covered in pants that fell at your hips and hugged your legs as they went down. somehow this was worse than tight workout clothes.

just as he did, your eyes scanned the room for a seat before finding that the only one available was the other half of the loveseat that logan's body was currently occupying. without much thinking, your eyes flew to rogue who shrugged her shoulders despite you feeling as though this was planned.

with every inch you grew closer to being so close to logan, your heart rate increased, as did your nervousness. awkwardly, you sat down by him and could instantly feel the similar pulling in your chest that you felt when standing too close to him. the way his t-shirt hugged his chest and contoured to the fine muscles made you blink too fast.

once everyone was fully settled, charles put a movie on, something you didn't really remember the plot of, and with maximum effort, you kept your eyes glued to the screen.

logan did not have as easy of a time as you did. perhaps it was the way his senses were so increased from yours that you could barely keep still. it was either your thigh touching his own or your sweet smell infiltrating his nose or the way you couldn't hold your laughter at certain jokes in the movie which echoed through his ears into his mind. it was unbearable.

suddenly feeling eyes on him, his head whipped to the other side where gambit's eyes would flit to him every so often. when they made eye contact, gambit's eyebrow raised, which suggested the question to logan, "so?"

he shook his head to which gambit smiled, tilted his head to signal to your body next to his, and made some obscene gesture that had rogue smacking his hands down to his lap. logan sighed, shook his head, and returned his gaze back to the movie. he couldn't ignore it this time.

𝜗𝜚

once the movie ended, everyone retreated back to their respective spaces, except logan who lingered around the mansion. going back to his bedroom didn't feel favorable. after spending so long alive, chasing after what he wanted, he felt stupid letting you continue to walk past him, in the clothes that made him frustrated with a personality that melted his heart. he didn't want to go back into his bedroom where he would more than likely jerk off to thoughts of you so perfect they could become painful. he would have a dream about you, wake up wondering if today is the day he kisses you finally, then look at you at the breakfast table and know that this wasn't the day.

before he could stop his own body, his legs took him up the stairs toward your bedroom at the end of the hallway.

you hadn't been doing anything after the movie except for thinking of the way your thigh was touching logan's and his breath was deep and he was warm and a strong presence next to your frame. with nothing on but a yellow lamp, you reached over to your bedside drawer before a knock echoed through the room.

with a huff, you rose up and went over to the door. when you opened up, you could've jumped back in surprise at the figure on the other side of the door. logan was standing in the same t-shirt and sweatpants as earlier, but this time he looked slightly disheveled, like he had been running his hands through his hair.

"hey, logan," you said hesitantly.

suddenly, he regretted coming to your door. it wasn't that he didn't want you, but having you in front of him with your smell invading his nose and your cheeks flushed and your hair messy from laying down was intoxicating.

"hey," was all he said.

the air was awkward and tense. logan's chest heaved up and down from his attempts to steady his breathing. absentmindedly, you played with a thread at the hem of your top.

"did you...need something?" you asked.

"can i come in?" he blurted out.

you nodded, held the door wide open, and scooted to the side of it. he stepped over the threshold, carefully avoiding anything he might knock over or ruin. for him, it seemed, one wrong step could lead to your entire room coming down in one fell swoop.

as if being in your presence was not difficult enough, being in your room was a trial. everything was so you. your clothes to the left of him, your posters to the right. your perfume and body wash lingering in the air. his eyes didn't know where to go so they landed on you in front of him.

"so, uh...did you like the movie tonight?" you asked in an attempt to make conversation. he shifted on his feet. "oh, come here. you can sit down if you wanna." your hand gestured for him to follow you to your bed. despite his brain telling him not to go, his legs moved and then he found himself sitting on your bed, looking down at you.

he blinked, suddenly forgetting your question. what was he going to do here? he came with no purpose, no plan, no intention. obviously he couldn't kiss you right there. he couldn't push you down and run his hands along the sides of your body like he dreamed about for so long. no matter how bad he wanted to be between your legs, using his mouth to draw pretty moans out of you and bring your back up from the bed, and hear his name tumble out of your mouth like a prayer-

"logan?" his head snapped to you. the corners of your lips were upturned into a half smile. "did you hear me?"

"no, sorry. what'd you say?" he asked.

with an almost imperceptible scoot closer to him, you looked up into his brown eyes. there was something in yours that he felt resembled desire, but it couldn't be. there was no way you were having those similar dirty thoughts to him.

"i asked if you came here to kiss me."

his heart could've slipped out from its cavity, down through his stomach, and out through his ass.

"because if so, then you might want to go ahead and do it because it's almost time for me to go to bed."

logan didn't have to hear many more words over that. his hands flew to your sides like he had wanted them to for months. with uncharacteristic gentless, he guided you to lay down on the bed. a smile grew on your lips at his closeness and his touch. yes, this was much better than your original plans for the night.

"so, you've been thinking about me too?" logan asked, just a few inches from your lips.

the blush that he so often thought about in his dreams crept back to your cheeks. "of course i have. i was just waiting on you to take charge," you teased. your hand made its way to his chest where it rubbed along the skin, then up to his neck where it rested carefully, right over his pulse point. you could feel it pick up when your other hand made contact with his waist.

logan chuckled at that. "and to think i was gonna go spend the rest of the night in my bedroom after being so unbearably close to you all night."

"i'm glad you came over finally," you said. after a pause, "i think rogue and gambit might've been getting tired of this too."

"they're about to get a lot more tired of us when i'm done with you tonight." with that, logan's lips came down to yours where they met in a crushing kiss. it was messy, but conveyed the months of ache and yearning for each other. teeth clashed at moments, and only when the annoying need to breathe came forward did you pull apart.

"show me what you got, howlett," you said in response to his earlier comment after taking a breath.

in seconds, logan had his tight t-shirt off, along with his sweatpants. everything that had once been scandalous to watch from a distance was now in your hand. perhaps the whole loveseat plan, no matter the annoyance it brought on originally, was an ingenious idea.

𝜗𝜚

[dc-marvel-life]

Slipped My Mind

Pairing: Bruce Wayne x reader 

Summary: Bruce forgot a very important day and the whole family is making sure he knows it. He tries to fix the mistake before you get home

Word Count: 917

---

Bruce was sitting in the Batcave on the bat computer going over some files after a night of patrol. It has been a strange day for Bruce because no one is giving him the time of day today. It all started this morning when he woke up to an empty, cold bed without you. He didn’t think too much about it because you both are busy people with jobs. You own a very popular restaurant downtown. 

Alfred comes down to the Batcave to give Bruce his nightly coffee. Once Alfred is next to Bruce he just throws down the tray in front of Bruce. Bruce looks at Alfred wondering why he just did that, but Alfred just has a straight face. Bruce lets out a sigh and nods his head. He picks up the coffee and spits it out.

“Alfred why is the coffee cold and bitter” Bruce grabs the napkin on the tray and cleans his mouth. 

“I bet that is how Mistress Y/N feels about you today,” Alfred says under his breath then walks away. Bruce looks at him wide eye not understanding where that just came from. He ignores it now and will talk about it later with him. Right now Bruce is tired and just wants to see and cuddle his wife. 

After a bit, the boys come back from patrol. They didn’t want to work with Bruce tonight. They didn’t give a good reason. They just mumbled under their breath and left. 

“How was patrol tonight boys?” Bruce asked trying to make conversation since he was being ignored all day.

“Why do you care about how patrol is when there are more important things to be worried about right now,” Jason says taking off his helmet. Bruce looks at Jason with narrowed eyes trying to understand what he means by that. 

“Jason is right and you need to do better or you are going to lose her,” Dick says with anger behind his tone. 

“Lose her..” Bruce says to himself.

“Have you not noticed that she hasn’t been here all day because I have and miss her!” Damian yells. Bruce starts to think; are they talking about you not being here?

“Y/N isn’t here because you have forgotten your 10-year anniversary,” Tim says out loud. Bruce's heart stops for a second and he looks at the date. They were right, it was you and Bruce’s 10-year wedding anniversary and it has slipped his mind.

He stops everything that he is doing and runs out of the Batcave. He takes off the suit, gets into one of his many cars, and drives to the nearest store at this hour. He goes in and buys everything that you like and rushes back home to get everything set up for you. 

After about an hour you arrive home after a very long day. You go up to your shared room with Bruce and open the door in awe. There are rose petals everywhere with lit candles and all your favorite snacks, candies, and drinks. You look at Bruce with a serious face.

“Are you cheating on me?!” you say angrily. 

“Why would you think that?” Bruce says confused.

“Baby, I love you and everything but you aren’t the most romantic person in the world sometimes. You know how to treat a woman very well but you don’t really show it too much. Now I come home on a random day and this is all done. I have to think that you are cheating on me and got caught” you explain and Bruce starts to laugh.

“Oh, this is great. You also forgot” Bruce smiles and walks over to you.

“What did I forget?” you start to think about what was so important about today, and then you remember. Today is your anniversary. 

“Bruce I am so sorry that I forgot. I was so busy this morning getting stuff for the kids. Dick was wearing too small of clothes, so I went shopping for him. Jason needed new guns because somehow he lost them. Tim needed new computer parts. Damian has a field trip so I had to drive to the school and drop it off. Barbara needed help getting somewhere today. Then the restaurant was understaffed tonight so I had to jump in” You ramble on but stop one Bruce pulls you into a hug and leans in to give you a deep, passionate kiss that takes your breath away. 

“Happy anniversary dear. We both forgot and that’s okay” Bruce says and you both laugh at it.

“Wow we really did forget, but it has been the best 10 years of my life” You give Bruce a chaste kiss. 

“Now I haven’t been able to see my wife all tonight and the boys have been giving me the cold shoulder because they think you are mad at me for not remembering,” Bruce says.

“Let me go talk to the boys and explain what really happened,” you say and try to leave Bruce’s hold but can’t get out of his strong grip on your waist.

“Now we still have a few hours left in our anniversary and I want to spend it taking care of my hard-working wife who has been on her feet all day,” Bruce says and picks you up with ease.

“I like the sound of that” You wrap your arms around Bruce’s neck and kiss him. You both spend the night remembering why you got married in the first place. 

Masterlist

Request are open

[lesbianoms]

Hihi love your writing and was wondering (if you took prompts) to do more werewolf endo stuff?

Anon I am SO SORRY this took 80 YEARS TO WRITE 😭

It Started with a Sandwich

(Includes soft vore, f/f vore, kink, safe vore/endosoma, gentle/caring pred, werewolf pred, same-size) minors dni!!!

I didn’t know her that well, but she knew me. At least, knew of me.

My college had recently implemented a new kind of "supernatural studies abroad" program; currently, they only offered it as a J-term with limited spots. It served to both teach us about the history of other countries, and to satisfy anyone who was super into fantasy and folklore.

On the night of the deadline, just 5 minutes before midnight, I typed up a rushed essay on a whim... now, here I was, studying old European legends in Romania. It couldn't be helped. I'd always loved the strange.

The woman I watched from across the cobblestone street was our guide. She was not a professor at my school, or a fellow student, or anything like that. Born and raised in Romania, she had shown our small group around, pointing out the tall churches and the intricate, weaving designs of stone atop old castles. Crumbling structure. Old structure. Yet the way she spoke of the past somehow endeared me to it.

I won't deny it. As I looked at her— sitting in the empty outdoor seating of a deli, eating her sandwich— I felt really attracted to her. She was older than me, much older, I'd say about 35 or something like that. Early 40s maybe. Just from her deposition she seemed the type to have kids. A husband, a family.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, because my heart was all too familiar with the stupid, stupid tugging pulse of heartache. It came with the territory of being in love with women who were an entire lifetime away from me. But still, I wondered... would she see me?

My thoughts drifted to the sandwich in her hands. Another perk of being a college student is forgetting that you need to eat to keep your energy up. I thought about the places I’d seen along the route to the hotel: there was a ramen place, a burger joint… hm, “Romanian Ramen” had a nice ring to it. Maybe-

I froze as she looked up at me, and with an embarrassed turn of my head I realized that I’d been spacing out and staring at her the entire time. Ugh, I’m such a dork.

But when I glanced in her direction again, I was confused (and admittedly, a bit intimidated) when I saw her waving me over with a smile. I slowly slid off of the wall I was sitting on and walked over, compulsively brushing at my hair with my fingers.

I hope I looked good.

“Hello!” she said. Her voice was sing-songy, with a soft yet prominent Romanian accent. It radiated warmth. “Would you like to have lunch with me?”

~~~

I don’t remember how long we both sat there in that Deli, talking and laughing. As the time went by and the world around us changed from bright to dark, we seemed to be lost in ourselves.

She was easy to talk to. At first I’d felt like a bit of a geek sitting down and rambling on about whatever was currently on my mind, but she just sat still and listened. She would nod and look at me with interest, as she continued to devour her sandwich. I’ve never been the best at making eye contact with people, so while I talked, I found my eyes wandering down to her mouth as she chewed…

watching her throat bob as she swallowed…

It’s at this point in the story I need to confess something. I have a bit of a… strange “interest.” This is kind of embarrassing, but a necessary detail to the story-

-Oh who the hell am I kidding? Vore. It’s vore. I’m into vore.

So now, as you can imagine, watching her eat made me feel a bit flustered. I was ready to just ignore the feeling and continue on, but ohhh boy… I had no idea what was coming next.

Somehow, we got back on the topic of the program.

“So? Are you enjoying your stay in Romania?” she asked, licking her fingers. The sandwich was completely gone.

“Yeah! It’s a really cool place, with a lot of history. I thought the stuff you were talking about yesterday was really interesting.”

She giggled. “Real spooky, hm?”

“Oh, definitely.”

“The legends, they are my favorite part of living here. I’ve had an interest in the supernatural ever since I was young. When I was 18, my mother took me to Transylvania— it was a difficult trip to make, but I begged her to go— and, ultimately, I’m glad I did. Some of my best and worst memories come from that trip.”

I leaned back in my chair, a slight chuckle in my voice. “Did you want to go to Transylvania because of the vampires?”

There was a sudden shift in her demeanor after I said that. Her eyes looked sad as she smiled and continued her story.

“Well, yes and no. There was something needing to be done there. I had studied vampires before, and…”

She looked left and right, as if making sure nobody was listening to us from the shadows. I blinked in confusion, then watched her lean in and heard her voice drop to a silky whisper.

“Do you know why Transylvania is the vampire country?”

I shook my head. She licked her lips and continued.

“It is because they need a place to roost. They like old things. Old castles. They need a place to hide, yes. But they can't have Romania, because someone is already here.”

“Who?” I asked, my brow furrowed in confusion.

She grinned, and in the rising moonlight, her teeth shimmered like fangs. “The werewolves.”

~~~

It had been hours since I’d let her give me a ride back to her place; the full moon, in that time, had been tucked away behind the clouds. Still. She kept all the curtains closed.

She could tell I was nervous. Even though we’d both been very clear about boundaries and terms, my anxieties were not quite put to rest. I felt stupid for asking, but I also felt like I had to.

"So you're not going to kill me?"

She gave me a warm smile as she stood across from me. "I understand your concern. But I can safely say that no, I'm not in the business of taking any lives. I'm no loup-garou, darling."

“…But you are a werewolf.”

Something dimmed in her eyes, and I felt a little bad for being so pressing with all my questions. But if this was true, and it was all real… I needed to be sure that I wasn’t in any danger.

“In Romania, werewolves are protectors,” she said putting a hand to her chest, “I swear on my life that I will not harm you.”

My fingers drummed along the bed that I sat on, and I took a deep breath before responding with, “Okay. I trust you.”

An excited look lit up her face, as she began to take off her clothes.

I watched, enchanted. Enthralled, by the swiftness of her movements as she pulled her shirt off, revealing her bare belly to me. Even mostly empty, it still sported a bit of a round shape. She had a little paunch that just hung over the waistband of her underwear, straining against the elastic. I stared.

When I heard her giggle, I hurriedly averted my gaze from her stomach and tried, unsuccessfully, to make eye contact with her.

"You like what you see?" she teased.

I stuttered, "Wow... um, I dunno if this is a weird thing to say but your belly looks so... soft..."

"Years of good hunting will do that to you, love."

I didn't really want to think about what she meant, so I slowly shifted my position on the bed, fiddling with the trim of my shirt. Quietly, I asked, "Have you ever done this before?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, never. But you're so small, I should be able to get you down easily. You're like a baby deer."

A hot flush spread across my cheeks as I hummed in satisfactory embarrassment.

"Do you look for baby deer when you go out hunting?"

"No, no! Of course not. That is... not for me. I prefer not to go after fawns. They are in the prime of their life, no? And it feels, for me at least, that it would be cruel to snuff them out at such a tender age."

“So, I guess I'm your first, then..." I chuckled.

A wide, warm grin spread across her face as she approached and sat by me. I felt her strong hands on my thighs. Her voice was sweet, and I shuddered at her hot breath on the side of my face as she leaned in to whisper her melody to me.

"My sweet, sweet fawn," she purred, "these lips and jaws will be so honored to have your small form pass between them, squeezed so snugly into my depths…”

She sniffed at me, licking her lips.

“You smell delectable. Oh, dear, if you could only know how hungry my belly is for you… mmm, yes~ I am quite looking forward to wolfing you down, and keeping you warm during this cold, blustering night.”

"Oh god," I squeaked. I was smitten.

The heat of her round stomach touched my skin like the sun. Tentatively, I reached up a hand. My fingers curled into hers as she took it, grasping it gently. She led my hand over to the soft swell of her belly and I felt goosebumps break through on my skin as I made first contact.

Much like her, the resonance of her stomach made me feel safe. It talked to me with a low and constant grumbling, the groan of a hunger aching to be satisfied. I felt her belly growl against my hand. Oh god, I could only imagine how it must feel to be in there. It actually made me lightheaded.

"Wow…” I whispered, pressing the palm of my hand into her skin. "Your body sounds beautiful."

She flashed a coy grin at me. “The moon is up now.”

~~~

I watched in a mix of fear and admiration as she transformed. Bones shifting and cracking into place, ears and jaw muscles elongating… despite the awful noises, it didn’t look painful. I’m sure she was used to this.

The top of her wolf head and the tips of her ears just barely scraped the ceiling, and she stared down at me with a lustful glow in her eyes. A sharp-toothed smile curled across her muzzle, but instead of being scary, the expression actually made me feel kind of warm inside.

She licked her chops and beckoned me over with a clawed finger. My eyes widened as I watched this movement; her beastly demeanor, infused with all the graceful nuances of a human woman. Even now, it makes for a pretty picture in my mind.

Looking into her eyes, I knew that I was safe with her. I stared up, now pressed against her furry, somewhat swollen belly. The noises coming from inside were downright monstrous. I felt my core heat up, the sensation delving lower all throughout my body, as I slowly began rubbing my legs together. In sure she must have seen how excited I was, because at that moment, she opened her jaws wide and lowered them down onto my head.

Her tongue curled against my face as I entered the slimy cave, whimpering at the feel of so much warm and gooey saliva assaulting my senses. It seemed that first taste was all she needed for instinct to take over.

The gulps were loud and thick, occurring in rapid succession, and I didn’t have any time to think as I was swallowed up by the undulating movements of her gullet and sent down into her powerful stomach. She slurped on my body and growled as the last of me disappeared into her. I’m sure that, despite my size, I made a prominent bulge in her throat…

I could hear only my own breathing for a few seconds as I curled up in the fetal position— welcomed into my new snug home for the night— and then a meaty squelching from underneath me caught my attention, bubbling up into a series of digestive groans. I felt them echo all around my body, and I moaned, all inhibition drowned in that pool of warm acids.

I felt my sleeping bag shift, heard a big slosh of fluids as she flopped over on her side. She was panting and whimpering… I assumed with pleasure. A shrill bark left her jaws and she rubbed at me, pushing against my form, being sure not to hurt me even as she kneaded her prized catch. Me… a prize… I’d never felt so honored to be won as the shifting walls of her belly began to claim me. And as her stomach squeezed me, I came.

I have no idea how long we stayed like that, me and her. Her wolf gut made for a comfy pillow as I yawned and drifted off to the sounds of indigestion I was giving her. She moved towards her bed and tenderly squished me against the mattress, which made me wriggle and squirm. No harm came to either of us as we snuggled together in the most intimate way I know.

I think that overnight, my clothes melted. Or at least, most of them. I remember receiving a text from her days later that my panties were stuck in her intestines. I still don’t know how that happened, but admittedly, it was kind of hot. I got a little wet while I was responding to her.

I’ll never forget my trip to Romania, for several reasons… though if I had to pick one, I’d say that it was because of that stunning tour guide, and her beastly appetite that I had the honor of sating. And to think, that it all started with me watching her eat a sandwich… 💖

[bloodyymaryyy]

The replacement :

Wilhelm x reader

Young royals

Warnings : I don't think there is if do then let me know

[he is so pretty]

Today the prince of Sweden is coming to the school at the almost half of the year but anyway the headmaster warn us about our behaviour, our looks and in general how we were going to act and everything. I didn't know what he looked like because I didn't really care so I am clueless about the whole royal family and stuff but I do know that August is a relative I thing a second cousin of the crown prince and the prince because he is bragging about it and it is so annoying.

We are getting ready for the prince to come because the headmaster made us to sing and stuff for the prince arrival and finally the royal family got though the door and sat in the front rows with me directly behind him with Vincent in my right side and Nils to the other .

He was beautiful with his golden locks falling in each side of his face, with that beautiful eyes that everyone would fall in love with, his tall but not giant frame his perfect jawline and the mole / birth mark in his check not very far from his jawline and I came back to reality by my friends and the orchestra starting singing the song.I couldn't be more proud of my friends, Felice and Simon they have so good voices I am almost jealous of it when the song came to an end the Prince walked where the orchestra was a few moments ago and started his speech and we all left after a while.

I went up to Simon and Felice and I congratulated them and said that they had amazing voices and we talked while walking outside, sadly we had to part ways so me and Felice were walking to our rooms to get ready for me to go to rowing practice and Felice for riding. Meeting with the team so we could start our work out /warm up in the gym and August the only thing he was saying the entire time was that he was <<happy >> the prince which I learned he's name was Wilhelm to be in the same school and stuff like that and he came up to me. "Hey, what's up? "he said taking a sit to the machine that was empty beside me

" Hey, I am good, are you? "I said finally looking at him

" I am very good, thank you very much " he said

" why the very good bro what happened? "I said, I called him *bro*because we sometimes are hagging out after practice but I wouldn't say we are very close so yeah it's a nickname

" well if you haven't noticed my cousin, Wilhelm is finally at this school and I am excited to have him here and stuff" he said for the first part I could notice the sarcasm and I chose to ignore it

"Oh yeah I haven't noticed thanks for letting me know now I know!"i said with the sarcasm very visible

" Okay jizz relax I was just saying "he said and got his hand up in the air in surrender and I rolled my eyes and looked ahead of me and continue with what I was doing hearing him ramble on about Wilhelm.

Now it is time to leave and I went to my dorm and took a shower and changed my clothes to my uniform because I have to wear it for the prince but not tomorrow tho and I went for the diner because I was starving. I went to sit with Felice and the others, we ate and went back to our dorms to get ready for sleep and I looked around a bit before going to my dorm and I saw the prince Wilhelm go to his dorm too and I waved with a smile and he did too and went inside to sleep

/~Time skip ~/(to the morning in class)

I was sitting not far from the back but not in the front of the class but in somewhat in the middle and I was waiting for the professor with my other classmates, I was glad nobody sat with me but it didn't last long that feeling because someone sat in the empty sit beside. It was the Prince He was wearing the red coat and the glasses looking expensive with probably his expensive collogue looking good and while he was lowering himself to take a sit he smiled down

"Hey!"

Sorry for the cliffhanger but I won't let me have the entire thing that I wrote In one go so suffer with me

Today the prince of Sweden is coming to the school at the almost half of the year but anyway the headmaster warn us about our behaviour, our looks and in general how we were going to act and everything. I didn't know what he looked like because I didn't really care so I am clueless about the whole royal family and stuff but I do know that August is a relative I thing a second cousin of the crown prince and the prince because he is bragging about it and it is so annoying.

We are getting ready for the prince to come because the headmaster made us to sing and stuff for the prince arrival and finally the royal family got though the door and sat in the front rows with me directly behind him with Vincent in my right side and Nils to the other . He was beautiful with his golden locks falling in each side of his face, with that beautiful eyes that everyone would fall in love with, his tall but not giant frame his perfect jawline and the mole / birth mark in his check not very far from his jawline and I came back to reality by my friends and the orchestra starting singing the song.

I couldn't be more proud of my friends, Felice and Simon they have so good voices I am almost jealous of it when the song came to an end the Prince walked where the orchestra was a few moments ago and started his speech and we all left after a while.

I went up to Simon and Felice and I congratulated them and said that they had amazing voices and we talked while walking outside, sadly we had to part ways so me and Felice were walking to our rooms to get ready for me to go to rowing practice and Felice for riding.

Meeting with the team so we could start our work out /warm up in the gym and August the only thing he was saying the entire time was that he was <<happy >> the prince which I learned he's name was Wilhelm to be in the same school and stuff like that and he came up to me.

"Hey, what's up? "he said taking a sit to the machine that was empty beside me

" Hey, I am good, are you? "I said finally looking at him

" I am very good, thank you very much " he said

" why the very good bro what happened? "I said, I called him *bro*because we sometimes are hagging out after practice but I wouldn't say we are very close so yeah it's a nickname

" well if you haven't noticed my cousin, Wilhelm is finally at this school and I am excited to have him here and stuff" he said for the first part I could notice the sarcasm and I chose to ignore it

"Oh yeah I haven't noticed thanks for letting me know now I know!"i said with the sarcasm very visible

" Okay jizz relax I was just saying "he said and got his hand up in the air in surrender and I rolled my eyes and looked ahead of me and continue with what I was doing hearing him ramble on about Wilhelm. Now it is time to leave and I went to my dorm and took a shower and changed my clothes to my uniform because I have to wear it for the prince but not tomorrow tho and I went for the diner because I was starving.

I went to sit with Felice and the others, we ate and went back to our dorms to get ready for sleep and I looked around a bit before going to my dorm and I saw the prince Wilhelm go to his dorm too and I waved with a smile and he did too and went inside to sleep

/~Time skip ~/(to the morning in class)

I was sitting not far from the back but not in the front of the class but in somewhat in the middle and I was waiting for the professor with my other classmates, I was glad nobody sat with me but it didn't last long that feeling because someone sat in the empty sit beside. It was the Prince

He was wearing the red coat and the glasses looking expensive with probably his expensive collogue looking good and while he was lowering himself to take a sit he smiled douw to me

"hey!" he said still smiling

I was looking at him with confusion and looked around and it had some seats free so why did he sat with me it is strange

"Hey?" I said with confusion visible in my tone and locked eyes with him

"how are you today?" he said and the smile fall to a small one but still there

"I am good, how are you? " I said back to him

"I am good and oh by the way my name is Wilhelm" he said and put his hand up to shake mine

"I am Y/n" and I shook his hand smiling and the professor come in and started the lesson and I spoke up again

"don't you have like a welcoming party or something prince?" I said very close to him so the professor won't hear us and he turned to me

"oh yeah August wants to have it for so" "are you coming?" he yet again said looking a bit flushed

"yes of course I am why would I? August annoyed me enough to make me go" I said and he looked surprised

"you are friends with August?"

"Yeah I am sadly"

"oh"

That was the last time you taked and it was silent after that well aside from the teacher's talking

/~time skip ~/[to the end of all the classes and we go to the part that the society did what it did to Wille because I can and I don't remember how the events happened so it is going to be a little messed up, forgive me]

August was knocking at my window to get out for the test that we do for the new members but yet I don't know who was going to be the new member so I got dressed and with the mask and everything and got out. We partly kidnapped the Prince Holly shit we were doing all of the things that we do normally but I didn't knew we were going to walk him like a dog and spit into a red solo cup and give it to him to drink, I am sympathetic towards him but it is what it is and after he puked by our spits we took him to the hide out and we all took of the masked, he looked kind of shocked to see me, probably didn't expect a girl to be in something like that but anyway.

"Wellcome Prince Wilhelm "I started the conversation and looked around the hide out and he nodded towards me and hummed

[incert here the speech that August made wilhelm say after him because I don't remember]

We gave him his uniform and after that I didn't really talked to him but I caught him staring at me at several occasions but I choose to ignore it and got back to the conversation that I had with my boy Vincent (I really like Vincent with his personality and attitude mostly but his looks too) after I little while the party started and we were drinking booze that I later found out Simon gave so he must be here with his sister which I never liked by the way (I didn't liked Sara and I was right to not like her) so I went to find him but I didn't found him I did found Sara and my favourite Felice leaving and I too got out and smoked for a bit and I heard August yelling my name so I went to find him and I did it was difficult, with August were classic Vincent and Nils and they wanted to find wilhelm too and we end up searching for him after some time we gave up tho because we figured maybe he was with a girl having fun and oh we were wrong.

[lovecanbesostrange]

X-Men '97 keeps being amazing. Now one more episode to nail it all. Not gonna put everything in tags, so let me ramble on about Tolerance is Extinction Part 2:

What I love most already is that every decision makes absolute sense from a character's pov. Which kinda is the most important thing. Tensions are running high, emotions are cranked up to 11 and some words hit like very painful slaps. But everything makes sense. And this isn't about one character being totally right and the other being totally wrong (except Bastion of course, the ultimate villain and all).

Oh yeah, starting with him. When he cries in the opening you want to spit on him. He is responsible for all the suffering the Prime Sentinels - including his mother - are going through. But wow, when he says that everything is silent, because the blackout has killed all electricity and in that moment Bastion knows a new kind of peace? Great. Jumping ahead here, gonna be honest. If my great plan to save the world would hinge on putting some tech on my very powerful oponent, I would put the teleporter on that team. I'm not saying this lightly. I love Second Coming very much and the panels of Nightcrawler's death in X-Force #26 still haunt me. So I don't want my precious Elf anywhere near Bastion, but... I mean... he has the best chance to use the element of surprise, while Jean would deal with a powerful distraction. Which didn't happen because of Sinister, but from a planning stage Kurt was more needed there. He didn't even go up against Rogue in space to hammer on the connection there.

Now, I'm glad to see that Magneto's worldwide EMP does have consequences. This is however the second thing I'm a tiny bit miffed about. Thousands upon thousands people are probably dead because of this total blackout. Just think about every ICU in any hospital anywhere just for starters. And the truth is, Magneto did kill mutants with that move as well. He sure saved some by shutting down the Sentinels, yes, but also mutants are definitely among the... collateral damage. And this is where "Magneto is right" is very important to me. I think a lot of people like to run with that slogan, but don't see that what Magneto is right about is his fear. Not his methods. Charles is too idealistic, believing in the very best of humankind to win. He is too naive. Magneto is proven right over and over. And that is a sad thing, nothing empowering about it.

What I like is how Erik describes his feelings, how he focuses on Leech. That little mutant boy clinging to him in his final moments. Who believed that Erik could save him... Magneto's anger makes sense. Ultimately his actions fall under cool-motif-still-murder, but oh the motif is heartbreaking (I will not steer into real world territory and the topic of radicalization).

So Rogue is my fav. She is my absolute favorite character in any superhero comic I have ever read. She is one of my top tier alltime favorite characters in anything ever. I have been with her through a lot with so many writers and so much bs... AND I ENJOYED EVERY SECOND OF HER THIS EPISODE!!! Starting with the costume, which is just asdksdnfälsdmrfäüwe4foip34jtfpowmf I LIVE for her green hoodie outfits, from her villain era to later variations. To step away from THE 90s costume (which was put back in the comics, because it is her most iconic look), uhuhuhuhuhuhuhu I knew something was up. Again I do believe that ultimately Magneto is doing far more harm than good, but I understand why Rogue went with him. The one unfair thing was that Kurt was actually there with her on Genosha. He even saved Magneto and Rogue from a blast. But she kinda ignored him and adressed everybody else. But the one thing she's been living with is that yes, she chose Magneto when offered to be with him on Genosha as his chosen Queen. BUT romantically after that dance and kiss, her heart chose Remy. And poor Gambit died without even knowing. I am very happy with how they retconned the whole prior Rogue and Magneto encounter into it all. His dreams of a mutant island nation and Rogue wanting to see such a place. For a few minutes they had all of that on Genosha. It would have meant to leave the X-Men. Which would have been interesting. To leave behind her spot on the superhero team, but Kurt was part of Genosha, also Madelyne. I like the way they greeted each other in Ep 5. Rogue was ready to change the whole direction of her life once again -- even though her heart definitely belonged to Gambit. And then there was death everywhere.

I like that Rogue and Cyclops both question the Professor, but come to different conclusions on how to deal with it. I have to say it, while it was fun when the whole stick of Professor Xavier training a few mutant teens was examined more and the dark underbelly of what he was doing was revealed, it was refreshing. But a part of me is soooooooooo over all the shady-Charles-stuff over the years (ugh, Krakoa... DUDE). The character was crushed under the weight of his pursuit of peace. I like when there is some nuance and a spotlight on how he is the embodiment of "meaning well". One person alone can't fix everything. Humans (mutants) make mistakes. All this to say I liked the talk Charles and Scott had. That Charles believed so much that his old friend Erik could be persuaded to try (he was right, it did take a whole genocide to push him over the edge, that's something) and that this sorta betrayal would push a door open for Scott and Jean to walk away. To have a life. He acknowledges that he put so much burden on them... but he miscalculated. Scott can't walk away from responsibilities. He couldn't sit back and raise a son when the world was still on fire (even if nothing bad had happened with Nathan). It's too late. Charles already raised him to care.

When Roberto stepped forward to go with Magneto I wasn't surprised. He hid his powers for so long, always in fear of what his parents might say - and they fucking let the Sentinels take him. Wow. Of course he feels betrayed and this peaceful talk from the X-Men... it's hard to not choose violence. But it was even better that when the time to fight came, it was clear he never wanted to hurt Jubilee. Or really any of the others. Not when he knows people. And oh, poor Jubilee, burned up his card (Claremont Avenue, I saw that XD ), because of course from her perspictive he's just being dumb.

I have a question about that Muir Island base - do the mannequins for Cyclops and Wolverine have wigs under those masks? Who sat down and made those for Storm, Jean and Rogue?? Also kinda funny to see those costumes, when... well Rogue was already wearing a version of that. (AND SHE WORE GAMBIT'S COAT THAT SHE LEFT BEHIND OMG THE FEELINGS I HAVE...)

Anyway, Storm and Jean - the mutant wives!!!!! Aaaaahhhh, even more feels. Storm was... not treated well this season. I mean the depowering story is great, but she was missing from so much stuff, that was terrible. But when she is on screen, she is her best version, love it. And I also loved how angry she was when the tech to take away a mutant's power was mentioned. So personal. This is the true meaning of "wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy". A Goddess! With this Storm it's even possible to portray someone who is Lawful Good to a fault.

And then they casually pull Fatal Attractions out of the hat. Well, parallels work before that. Gambit's death compared to Illyana's in the comics, so Rogue takes Colossus' place. And now Wolverine had the displeasure of the adamantium being ripped from his skeleton. Fuck. They used so many storylines this season (for the record, I am waiting for Apocalypse and am also in the camp of people who believe he might bring Gambit back as Death).

So many things happened. Morph as Hulk was a treat. That they are able to copy physical traits, thus powers, makes them S-tier. And yet, I would have put Kurt in that spot. That Morph thought disguising themself as Sinister would get them close was sorta funny. "that cowardly weasel would never"

Then there was Jean vs Sinister and Cable. AND HOW SHE TALKED TO CYCLOPS. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The emotional pummeling left and right...

But really it's great that everybody has a reason for what they are saying and doing. Including Wolverine, being the best at what he does - a SNIKT in the back when the fight is too dire. Although killing Magneto is a problem if you want to save earth (yes, hallo, Polaris, we could need your help).

[alpaca-clouds]

Paganism in medieval Europe

Okay, you know what? Fuck it. I am going to continue rambling about medieval Europe for a while. It is kinda fitting for the season anyways given that I associate winter and the holiday season with Lord of the Rings first and foremost.

So, let me talk about this one myth about the middle ages that exists in two opposite versions... and both are wrong! Paganism in medieval Europe is one of those things that people really love to get wrong and depict in whatever way suits them.

On one hand we have the conservative Christians who will basically ignore how paganism was for a while in the very early medieval period at times suppressed with violence and just go: "Europe is Christian and basically was always Christian, because that is just how it is."

While on the other hand you have the Neo Pagans (especially white women) who will tell you: "Oh, yeah, paganism was so suppressed, but some very curagous women still kept it alive and they were also burned during those medieval witch hunts!!!" (If you want to know why the witch hunts were not medieval, look right over here.)

Both are not right. Because the truth is a lot more complicated. Some of you might have even heard about this one part of it - Christmas.

See, here is the thing: Yes, during the pagan hunts (which mostly happened between the late 4th and the 8th century) paganism was very, very much suppressed within Europe. Again, temples and holy sites were burned down, idols were defaced and so on and so forth. And yes, people were killed during those times for their beliefs. How many died during this time? Frankly, we do not know. There have been some mass graves found in Eastern Europe that we assume are connected to this - but we frankly do not know how many died or were displaced due to this.

But... And you know there is always a "but". Christians realized after a while - just like the Romans did when it came to suppressing Christians - that suppression actually does not work very well in terms of converting people to your religion. So, they tried a different approach: Incorporation.

And this is where the Christmas story comes in. I do not need to tell you that even if Jesus really existed, the entire "travelling so so long for the citizen count" and basically all about the birth story is made up. This is something we can proof. And even if it happened, it would not have happened at midwinter. So, no, December 24th or 25th is not the birthday of Jesus.

No, the reason that midwinter became Christmas is, that basically all of the indigenous European religions celebrated midwinter. So, to convert thema after a while the Christians went: "Oh, we also have this super rad midwinter celebration, because it turns out that our Jesus was tots born on midwinter, you know?" This story is fairly well known. What people do realize less is that it was not just midwinter.

Over the time a lot of indigenous religious festivities were incorporated into the just Christianity. Old gods now became saints, with angels and saints absorbing old pantheons. That way Christians could remain with the "only one God" argument, but also be like: "Oh, yeah, you can totally keep worshipping your gods, because see, they were actually angels!"

Which is also why Christian tradition does differ always a bit between the different countries throughout Europe. Like which of the Christian holidays are celebrated and in what way is not the same. Because they often were mixed up with whatever indigenous holiday happened around the same time.

So, yes. A part of European paganism survived even until the modern day. But not through rebellious women or anything like that, but thanks to Christians just incorporating those holidays into their own religion.

... And also that is why we have an Easter Bunny.

[sugarlywhispers]

this is me, rambling about the dream i had with TODOROKI MOTHERFUCKING SHOUTO 🫶 you're welcome to join me 😊

omg, okey, so i have to talk about this because if i don't i'm gonna go crazy i am crazy, but that's another story. Last friday night, i had dream with SHOUTO -MF- TODOROKI. 🙈🙈🙈

i'm not a high believer in Shifting, but it had happened to me a couple of times before, where i dream very lucidly, to the point in which i even feel the dream so real i always wake up strartled. And this time, it happened with Shouto.

i was in the UA Sports Festival compiting (why, idk, because I EVEN DIDN'T HAVE A QUIRK, AND EVERYBODY KNEW IT🙈 yep, i'm stubborn like that LOL). What i don't remember is if i was younger or older than Todoroki, but by the way he was sooooo freaking overprotective of me, i guess i was younger. However, he was sooooo shy towards me, that i found myself thinking "wow, he really is that cold in personality".

wherever i went, he was right beside me, taking care that nothing happened to me, and the funny thing was that i told him "dude, i know how to take care of myself," not me always acting like a smart-ass even in my dreams lol AND HE HAS THE AUDACITY TO TURN AROUND, LOOK ME RIGHT IN THE EYES, AND WITH THOSE DUO-COLORED EYES SAY:

"I do it so much better."

Like, AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

How dare you, Todoroki Shouto, to be so fucking HOT!!!!!!!!!!

Also, Bakugou Katsuki was a fucking asshole. He punched me twice. No remorse at all. So i kicked him in the balls, and that was it, i won. LMFAO. You bitch, i love you "Great Explosion Murder God: Dynamight", but i'm not letting you step over me. Lol i know, with this attitude of mine you can see why i identify a lot with Katsuki 🤭

After that, Bakugou actually searched for me everywhere to get revenge, cuz he definitely can hold a grudge. And this time, Shouto and i knew Katsuki was not hesitant at all to use his flames, so Mr. Shouto "I'm going to protect you from anyone" Todoroki stuck himself at my back, especially because now the activity was in groups of two. Of course he picked me, and i didn't have a choice but to stay with him and honestly enough, i didn't oppose to it loool😉.

Now, here comes what completely took me by surprise:

DEKU AND BAKUGOU WERE A TEAM yep, for the bakudeku shippers out there, including me, this made me smiiiile lol. And let me tell you something, MIDORIYA FUCKING IZUKU IS TERRIFYING WHEN HE WANTS TO BE. But we all knew that, right? It's probably what all of us love about him. 🥰

So, they both were behind Shouto and mine's ass. LOL. i don't know how, but Todoroki and i were winning this shit. And that's when i started to feel weird, cuz suddenly i realized that i did have a quirk. But i was so opposed to use it, like i couldn't control it well, so i completely made myself believe i did not have one. It was so weird, having that knowledge that you have it but if you use it you could kill everyone around. It's even really sad. 😢

Moving a bit forward, BAKUGOU IS SEARCHING FOR MY ASS. Literally. I'm running and he's behind me throwing his mf explosions at me with no fucking care or remorse at all, and i'm dodging them like a champion if i can brag of myself a lil bit, thank you very much. Shouto is been held back by Deku, like, they are continuosly and strongly fighting, Shouto trying to get closer to me as i ran but Izuku grabs him, pulls him back and fights him with all his might (get the reference? 😉 sorry, ignore my idiocy lol). There is even a moment while running where Shouto and i meet eyes and he looks so fucking desperate to get to me that it made me feel all tingly and realize, "oh... he likes me, likes me." 😳

I don't know why, but that's when i remembered when Shouto wouldn't use his flames, and while his story was different than mine, it made me think that if he could control his, i could mine.

YES, I HAD SOME KIND OF FIRE QUIRK. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I knew if i took Bakugou down, Shouto and i would win, so i had to use it.

I was ready, so ready that i even stopped running and turned to that massive man that looked like a monster, a.k.a. Bakugou Katsuki, a.k.a. Great Explosion Murder God, Dynamight, AND I FREAKING LET MY FLAMES OUT.

And then i woke up. 😑

I KNOOOOOOWWWW, IT WAS EVEN EXASPERATING FOR MEEE 🙈🙈😩😩

But i do remember something...

Todoroki Shouto's big fucking smile when he saw my flames. And he looked so fucking beautiful and proud 🥲. It's not fair to look like that right at the enddddd 🙈🙈

* exhales long and deep *

So, that was it. That was the dream lol I feel better now that i took it out of chest and head looool ✌️😊✌️

[birgittesilverbae]

ok so. i know we're mostly just. glossing over why bea and lilith got divorced in the first place but. may i perhaps toss my hat into the ring as it were? perhaps it was a bit of a marriage of convenience? like they'd been friends forever and thought each other were hot and all, so why not date and then that went well and suddenly they were married and had a kid. and like. it was fine. but perhaps it wasn't really love anymore? like. they were still friends but there wasn't any desire to stay married, and (i believe the reason bea has primary custody hasn't been stated, but i've guessed that lilith travels for work based on literally nothing) so they just. got divorced. and now with ava in the equation being all very much in love with both of them they're seeing each other in a bit of a different light? and oh. Oh fuck why am i having feelings for my ex wife (sorry about this absolutely ridiculous ramble, it very much got away from me. feel free to ignore it lmao)

@random-french-girl and I went back and forth and ended up here:

tfw they're much better divorcees than they ever were wives, when they can be Extremely Capable under different roofs instead of under the same one

when Lilith isn't letting Bea down by putting work first and Bea isn't at Lilith's throat over the pettiest shit that has built itself up because she hasn't confronted it head on.

the two of them bringing the absolute WORST in each other. beatrice with all her Mentoring Instinct trying to tell lilith what to do and teach her how to do things and that always ends in the WORST fights... especially when it comes to Libby, "she's my daughter too, Bea, I know how to take care of her". lilith with her cutthroat ambition and need to prove herself The Best Most Valuable

but throw Ava in the mix and suddenly: Lilith has someone who literally could not give a shit about being the Best because Ava's self esteem has never been dependent on what other people think of her

and they're so careful to keep it out of their interactions with Libby directly but they can feel it starting to bleed through and they know they need to pull the ripcord before they damage Libby the way they're trying to hurt each other

this is when they decide to get a divorce - and why its amicable: when they both realise the situation is hurting their daughter, and they won't ever allow that

and it would be SO hard to be separate at first, because they have been in each other's lives/ each other's ONLY confidant for so long BUT. they're also soooo much... happier? freer? lighter? that they know it's the right thing to do, but it still continues to feel a bit out of balance until ava silva enters the ring

and then the casual touches with ava become casual touches with each other again and there are heated late night convos because whatever they do it has to last, they can't keep switching on and off when Libby's gonna be affected by whatever happens.

like it's all fun and games when it just involves the two of them trying to out-top ava (neither of them wins, btw. i guess ava is the winner in this scenario) but when it slowly sinks in that this affects their relationship and their child and they need to figure it out??

[yuumaofc]

//EP. 5; Did I do something wrong..?

Damn it’s been a whole ass month since I last updated this series🧍🏻 IM BEING FR RN GUYS I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES😭😭 I low key be forgetting that I’m a writer on here💀

UM SO ANYWAYS HAVE THIS UPDATE AS AN APOLOGY FOR MY MONTH LONG DISAPPEARANCE🤡

TW//

MC’s POV

It’s strange.. I don’t know how I should be feeling as of right now. The brothers have been avoiding me for at least a week now. Have I done something offensive to them? I don’t recall a moment where I could have possibly done so.. And if that were to be the case, they would speak to me face to face about it. I know them, I’ve lived with them for 2 years now!.. Maybe I just don’t know them well enough as they’re probably older than Saturns rings.

Have I wronged them? Why are they avoiding me? Why won’t they talk to me? I want to speak to hear mammon talk about ways to scam other demons, as bad as it may be. I want to hear Asmo tell me about how his photo shoot and after school spa day went. I want to listen to Levi rant about how invested he is in a new anime he’s discovered. I want to be able to have small talk with Lucifer over tea after working all day. I want to have passive aggressive banter with Satan. I want to listen to Beel give me his newest addition to his workout routine. I want to stay by Belphie’s side while he sleeps and comfort him when he has nightmares.

I want to listen to them. I want to hear them. I NEED to be with them!

I don’t think I’ll be able to live without them. I’ve become so attached to them that they’re the first thing I think of when I wake up in the mornings.

I bit my fingers and peeled tiny bits of the skin around my fingernail off. A very bad habit of mine that I thought I got rid of back in junior high school. I guess I was wrong.

My breathing became uneven as the self deprecating thoughts flooded my head and forced my composure to come loose.

MC- ‘Maybe I’m just overreacting.. Maybe they’ve just been having a bad day! Yeah that could be it. No no no you’re wrong, it’s been a whole week and they still aren’t talking to you! Something’s wrong. You’ve done something wrong. I did a bad thing!-‘

Felix- “MC? A-are you okay? I was just passing by your room and heard muttering.. I thought it was nothing till I noticed the sound of fast paced footsteps in here so I thought that I’d check up on you. I guess that was a good decision? I-I mean it- It’s not really my place to invade your privacy a-AND in no way is invading your privacy a good thing to do! I- um I was just checking up on you because.. y-your footsteps made you sound.. distressed??? I-IM SORRY FOR BARGING IN HERE AND THEN JUST RANTING NVM I-I’LL GO!-“

MC- “No!”

I lunged out at him and grabbed his wrist before he could rush out of my room. He jolted and yelped at the sudden feeling of being pulled back into my chest. I never really noticed how small he was compared to me but I don’t noticed a lot of things till I deem it whatever.

MC- “No.. Don’t go. It’s fine that you came in here.. Do you mind staying with me for a bit? I need someone to confide my feelings in and with the brothers ignoring me, I don’t think I’ll be able to confide in any of them any time soon.”

Felix- “O-oh! Okay”

As soon as he agreed to listen to me, I pulled him over to my bed and sat him down with me so that I can speak with him comfortably. It wouldn’t be very comfortable to have more than an hour long conversation with someone while standing if you have somewhere to sit.

As I rambled on and on, Felix sat across from me. Listening attentively and making small but meaningful comments every now and then. I know I shouldn’t have opened up to him so easily but I needed someone to confide in and the brothers were avoiding me so I couldn’t help it. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Felix’s POV

MC fell asleep not too long ago, having cried themself to sleep after contemplating if the brothers wanted to keep them around anymore. They’re not be aware of it but it pains me to see MC so hurt. But to see MC so vulnerable but relaxed and snoring softly puts me at ease. It keeps the raging concern and worries to calm down.

“My my!~ I didn’t know you were one for watching the people you like sleep! How perverted of you, Felix~”

I flinched and looked over my shoulder to see Kain standing there with a smug yet teasing smirk displayed across his handsome face. Kain was an incubi but his drive was much more mellow than other incubi and succubi. More for seeking out the flustered faces and fluttering butterflies in your stomach.

Felix- “Kain.. Are you the reason why the brothers are avoiding MC..?”

Kain- “HmHm! You could say that~”

I hardened my stare towards him.

Felix- “How could you do such a thing?! They mean so much to MC! I may have feelings for them but that doesn’t mean you can just go and ruin their life!”

Kain- “Oh but it was that very reason that your beloved confided in you isn’t it?~”

I stiffened at his comment. He wasn’t wrong at the very least. Whatever Kain did truly did lead to MC confiding in me, causing us to grow a little closer than before. But it was cruel!

Kain- “Oh? Cat got your tongue? Hmhmhm! Silly little human boy, it seems as even though you’ve forgotten about our little deal we had!”

I gulped. Of course I remember the deal. We made it when I awoke in the nurses office two weeks ago. We made a deal to share my body whenever he pleases, just as long as he doesn’t do anything to cause MC to dislike me in anyway. When he takes control, I’m not aware of what he’s doing. It’s like I fall unconscious until he gets bored of me or something..

Felix- “N-no, I remember.. wh-what did you do..?!”

Kain smiled menacingly and covered mouth with his hand before laughing at my pitiful expression.

Kain- “Let’s just say that its for me to know, and you to find out!~”

I widened my eyes at his comment, he did something bad. Something horrible and now MC has to pay the price.

MC, my one and only, did I do something wrong..?

—

HEEYYYYY AND WE’RE DONE WITH THE FIFTH CHAPTERRRRR YAAYYY FINALLY SOMETHING AFTER A MONTH AND A HALF OF STRESSING OVER THIS CHAPTER AND SCHOOL IVE FINALLY GOT SOMETHING OUT ARE YOU PROUD OF ME I KNOW ITS SHORT BUT ITS THE BEST IVE GOT FOR NOW *sob*

Anyways, Happy thanksgivings giving to those who live in the US! Be grateful for this chapter👹

/j you dont have to be since I think it’s a little underwhelming AND I BET YOU DIDNT SEE THE TITLE BEING IN FELIXS WORDS DIDJA >:D

TAGLIST:

@aki-maki-aki @books-and-catears @justrika @gallantys @time-shardz @m1ss-c4mrader1e @0-candlecove-0(I can’t tag you??? I could last time so idk what’s goin on unless you changed something) @avanae @slugbugg @tsunotaro-san @pichulakkjkk @bonezzzzzz @sumiiichan @valeriele3

[mybrainismelted]

Office AU part 5! previous parts can be found here (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) or read it all on AO3

Mickey went about his morning routine, showering, shaving, breakfast... all the while thinking of all the ways he was gonna get Gallagher back for last night.  He wasn't actually upset about it, but what would be the fun in admitting that?  Deciding that he needed to make sure he got to the office first, he left a bit early, taking an extra bag with him that he had thrown together with some things he might need for his little act.

He managed to get to the office first, and unpacked a few things into his drawers, leaving others in the bag for later.  He was actually managing to get some work done, and almost forgot his plan when a certain tall redhead came quietly through the door and sat down across from him.  Remembering at the last second, Mickey kept his eyes straight ahead, not acknowledging Ian at all.

"Mick?" Ian said quietly.  "Can we please talk? I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am about last night." Mickey continued to ignore him, typing away at what was actually complete gibberish that he wasn't paying one bit of attention to.  "Come on Mickey... you can't just ignore me.  Tell me you hate me, tell me I suck, just say something."

At that, Mickey reached into his drawer and pulled out an obnoxiously large set of headphones, placing them over his ears and clicking around on the computer like he was starting up something to listen to.  Ian looked completely crestfallen where he could see him out of the corner of his eye, sagged forward with his head in his hands.  He shook his head a couple of times and then got up and moved to his own desk.  Mickey had to fight to keep a smirk off his face, pretending with everything he had that he was paying absolutely no attention to the sulking ginger on the other side of the room.

About an hour later, Mickey decided that it was time for phase 2.  So he pulled out his phone and sent off a text to Jess.

Mickey:  Hey, don't ask me why, and PLEASE try to act normal, but I need you to come in here and ask me how my evening was.

Jess: Ok... why are you being weird?

Mickey: Promise I'll explain at lunch.  I just need you to do this for me.

Jess:  Fine, on my way

A minute later, she came strolling into the office, flopped down in his extra chair, and gestured for him to remove the headphones.  When he had taken them off and put them aside on his desk, she started rambling about being bored, nothing to do, and everyone else in the office being booooring.  "Enough about me, though.  How was your evening?  Do anything exciting? Or did you spend the whole night at home with that damn cat like usual?"

Mickey rolled his eyes dramatically, and said "Nothing much happened.  Had dinner, went home, watched a movie, and went to sleep.  Sorry to bore you."  He gestured with his eyes towards Ian, hoping she would take the hint, which she eventually did.  "Ugh, you are a terrible story teller.  Don't know why I put up with your ass.  What about you, Ian?  Do anything interesting last night?"  she smiled, turning to face him.

"Uh.... no, I mean, I guess not.  Kinda had a thing, but it got weird, and I dunno what's going to happen now."  He muttered, not meeting her eyes.

"Ok... well that wasn't ambiguous or anything.  Thanks for the chat."  she huffed, getting up and leaving their office.

Mickey:  That was perfect.  I seriously owe you.  Pizza for lunch?

Jess:  Hell yes, and you are paying because that was hella awkward.

Jess:  And I want an explanation!

Mickey sent her back a thumbs-up, put his headphones back on, and went back to work.

At lunch, he did tell Jess the whole story.  Dramatically, of course. By the end of the story they were both holding their stomachs from laughing, tears rolling down their faces.  "Oh shit Mickey... that poor guy is convinced that you hate him.  How long are you going to let him suffer?" Jess managed to gasp out.

"Not too long, but you know... gonna let him sweat it out for a bit.  Fucker stole my cat AND fell asleep.  Left me with blue balls in my own fucking apartment!"

They managed to calm down on the walk back to the office, as Mickey contemplated which part of his plan he wanted to use next.  When he walked into their shared office, though... his plans went out the window at the sight of Ian, sitting at his desk, eyes forward, but red-rimmed and bloodshot, his nose red, and face blotchy.  Shit.  He was just trying to have some fun with the guy.  Didn't mean to make him cry or whatever.

Ok, plan B.  Move the plans for the day waaay forward.  He quickly walked behind his desk, and pulled a small pillow out of his bag.  Walking towards Ian, who was clearly now trying to ignore HIM.... he whacked him on the head with the pillow, and then dropped it on his lap.  "That's for just in case you feel the need for another little nap.  Get your rest before you come over tonight."  He said with a wink.

Ian looked at the pillow on his lap, looked up at Mickey, and a hesitant smile crossed his face. "Yeah?  Shit Mickey... I thought you were never going to speak to me again.  I was going to get them to move me to a different office.  You aren't mad?  You still wanna do this?"

"'Course I do man.  You're hot as hell, and I kinda like your dorky ass.  You going to get up here and kiss me, or what?" 

Ian practially leaped out of his chair, and tackled Mickey against his desk.  "Fuck yeah" he muttered, before attaching himself to Mickey's lips, sliding his hands under Mickey's thighs and lifting him to sit on the desk.  Mickey couldn't help the moan that escaped him, as he pulled Ian closer, hands roaming over each others bodies as their tongues slid together.  Eventually their panting and soft moans started getting louder, and Ian pulled back.  "Be right back"  he whispered.  "Gonna close the door real quick"

Mickey huffed a laugh and scrubbed a hand over his face in an effort to calm down.  Before he knew it though, Ian was back, pulling him forward some on the desk, and attacking his mouth again.  He wrapped his arms around Ian, deepening the kiss, one hand ending up on the side of his neck, the other coming back around to the front to feel the hard planes of his chest.  Ian's hands were squeezing at his ass, wandering down his thighs, and back up.  After another minute of that, suddenly one of Ian's hands was on his belt, quickly flipping it open, then popping open the button, and sliding his zipper partway down.  Mickey's breath hitched, and he pulled away from the kiss just slightly to watch as Ian's giant hand slid inside his pants, under the band of his underwear, and slowly stroked his already hard and leaking cock.

"Fuck, oh fuck yeah" was all he could manage to get out as Ian's hand moved more firmly, slowly increasing the pace, before capturing Mickey's lips again, muffling his gasps and moans as he slowly but thoroughly jerked him to completion.  "Ian, fuck, I'm gonna...." he gasped out, just before he came, all over Ian's hand, and the inside of his boxers.  "Shit."  he panted once the aftershocks had worn off.  Ian passed him a couple of tissues that he used to clean himself as much as he could in his current position, before looking up and reaching for Ian's belt to return the favour. 

Ian stepped back, shaking his head and said "Nah, I'm good.  You can get me back tonight." With a wink, he stepped forward again, kissed Mickey softly one more time, running his fingers through his hair, and then pulled away, saying "duty calls.... back to work Milkovich"

Mickey was still slightly in a daze, but managed to slide off the desk, doing his pants back up, and opened the office door.  Shaking his head, he wandered off towards the bathroom, the only thought in his mind "holy shit I can't wait for tonight."

[yourbestpalpercy]

(Thank you to NoirDenwa for giving me permission to give one of their ToonTown Ocs a cameo in my AU. I will not be saying who, just read and find out because boy am I proud of this story!)

What did Leaf do to deserve this?

How much of The Chairman’s rambles did Leaf have to sit through before he let Leaf just choose a damn department!?

“Y’know kid, I think you’d fit into the Lawbots the best. You’re pretty moody, you’d like Virgil I think. Then again, his suit name is Witchhunter for a reason, he’d…probably dislike you. Are you good at math by any chance?” At this point, it felt like Leaf’s brain was melting out her ear from the utter boredom.

…hm?

Leaf glanced at the nearby window. ‘That seems like a quick exit…plus I get to see the new world I’ve found myself in…’ Leaf now began to inch over to the window, mostly toning out The Chairman’s rambling.

“Then again, you don’t seem like the kind to work hard here so maybe not. Law is a pretty hard job, especially with how confusing it can often be. Maybe I should get you a job here with the Boardbots where I can keep an eye-,” The Chairman looked up, seeing Leaf near the window, “Uh…are you even listening?”

“Oh-?” Leaf looked back at The Chairman, “Yeah, uh, totally…just want to see this whole new world I’ve found myself in…” Leaf stared at the window, seeing all the strange colors of this world.

“There’s not much to see out there,” The Chairman rolled his eyes, “We’re currently in Drowsy Dreamland, this is probably the quietest place here so you minus well accept working here if you want any form of normalcy…” Leaf rolled her eyes before she opened the window as wide as it would go.

“What are you planning to do…?” The Chairman narrowed his eyes.

“It’s stuffy in here! Calm down!” Leaf hissed suddenly.

The world outside was painted in deep, grayish purples. There were a few, strange lamp posts decorated around the streets, not like it mattered much though, the lights barely lit up the dark streets. The night air was chilly enough for Leaf to see her own breath and it was…strangely refreshing.

“...I’ll just keep talking, don’t move another inch. Prethinker told me humans are easily killable so I doubt you’ll be able to survive such a fall,” The Chairman went back to listing the various jobs and the responsibilities of being a Boardbot.

Leaf leaned out the window suddenly and counted under her breath a few times, ready for what she was about to do. “1…2…3…1…2…3…1…2…3!!”

“What are you counting for?” The Chairman glared at her, growing noticeably tense.

Leaf leapt out of the window suddenly.

Leaf felt the wind whirling around her and- somehow, it felt so freeing. There was a sharp sinking and rising feeling in Leaf’s gut as she fell.

‘Aim your feet at the ground– this is going to hurt–!’ Leaf’s mind raced as she fell closer and closer to the ground. Could she even survive this?? Maybe she should’ve thought this through even slightly more!?

At a certain point, Leaf couldn’t stop a scream from escaping her. Leaf covered her eyes as tightly as she could.

The sickening *SNAP!* that came from her body as her feet hit the ground. Pain shot up into her leg which only caused her to flop over, clutching her leg.

“YOU’RE STILL ALIVE!?” The Chairman’s voice shouted and glancing up slightly revealed him looking out the window completely wide eyed.

Leaf didn’t respond, only taking her hoodie off and biting into its sleeve as she slowly got up and started to limp away. Leaf didn’t dare look at the injury and decided to try her best to ignore it. …It was really hard to do so though.

Every step hurt like hell but hey, The Chairman hadn’t gone after her yet…

Took forever but finally, Leaf found a good, dark alleyway to sit down and die for a little bit in. Bruises had already started to form on her ankle and it looked grizzly already. Leaf spat out her hoodie finally and instead wrapped it around her ankle.

‘...So I’m in a new world, having just now jumped out a window on like-...the 5th story…just to avoid death by boredom and a job being forced upon me. I don’t know what a Toon is but I should try to-!’

Leaf shouted, a figure having seemingly appeared before her magically as if summoned by Leaf merely thinking about them.

Leaf watched them jump out of a black hole in the ground before peeling the tarp up off the ground and folding it neatly before placing it in a pocket. At the moment, they were turned away from Leaf, just humming to themselves as they tapped their chin. “Where…?” They mumbled softly and reached down to pick up an object.

They looked like what Leaf would think a Toon looked like. Small for one. At least shorter than Leaf by a few inches. The Toon was a light gray cat minus his limbs and tail which were mint green. If Leaf wasn’t scared, she probably, admittedly, would’ve pet the Toon. Then again, it also would’ve, probably, been considered extremely rude.

The Toon picked up another object and only huffed to himself. “Usually I’m pretty accurate with these dumb holes,” The Toon took the hole out again to glare at it, Leaf assumed before putting it away again, “Besides…he said this ‘Leaf’ person couldn’t’ve gotten far…”

They wore black shorts and what looked like a bellhop’s outfit. He had white gloves on (‘Expected, that’s kind of a staple of cartoon characters…’). They had a short black hat lined with golden thread and a blue visor. Their socks were striped and they wore large black shoes.

Leaf sighed slightly, still unsure if she should even speak up. Something just…felt off about this particular Toon. She had never seen a Toon before but something still felt off. Uncanny even.

Wait.

Leaf squinted. Something definitely was wrong.

It could barely be seen in the dark light of Drowsy Dreamland but the Toon’s shadow…didn’t quite match the Toon’s form. It was much larger than the toon for one and had mismatched eyes for two. Leaf couldn’t even make out what the shadow was supposed to be! It had a cable connected to something on the side of its head but that was all Leaf could make out. Just looked…scary.

Her nervous breathing was apparently loud enough to catch the Toon’s attention though. His ears pricked up and he turned around to face Leaf. Leaf grew tense and drew back slightly. The Toon’s eyes were a strangely piercing yellow (though that could’ve just been thanks to the lighting on this dark place).

“Oh! There you are! …I think. He didn’t give much of a description of you. Are you Leaf? Well- you probably are, you’re a human! Totes cool, y’know! I haven’t seen a human in uhh…actually never mind the years! You’re Leaf, I’m Noir, no need for introductions,” The Toon seemed way too excited to see Leaf, clasping his hands together. Noir was also extremely rambly, almost making it hard to keep up with what he was saying.

“‘He’? And please slow down, I can’t-” Noir was quick to interrupt Leaf.

“The Chairman! Who else?”

Leaf’s mind was already racing, telling her to run as fast as she could, but with her ankle being fractured or broken in some way, she probably wouldn’t get too far. Something told her though that even if she wasn’t hurt, she still wouldn’t get too far, I mean, she watched this Toon teleport in front of her using some kind of circular black tarp…!

“...I thought he hated Toons. Everyone in that building suggested that Toons were terrible! Why does he have a Toon working for him?” Leaf didn’t look at Noir as she said this. Something was just off about him and staring at Noir only creeped Leaf out more.

The look in Noir’s eyes changed for a moment. He seemed annoyed with Leaf calling him a Toon. “There are…some exceptions,” Noir said with a kind smile on his face, “It’s true that The Chairman dislikes and even hates Toons at times, but he doesn’t hate aaaall Toons~!” Noir sounded excited again and folded his hands, “Especially if they can be useful to him! Which I’ve long proven myself to be!” Noir sounded fairly proud of himself, a smirk creeping on his face as he did.

Leaf squinted, “You sound like you’re lying,” Leaf made sure she was loud enough to be heard and this certainly seemed to throw Noir off a little as his eyes shot back open, gaining teal irises for just a moment before he looked back at Leaf.

“Well…- I’m not. Believe me when I say, Leaf, I don’t lie! I ain’t the lying type!” Noir leaned over and brought a finger up near Leaf’s face as if trying to hammer home the point that he wasn’t a liar.

“I bet you’re not even a Toon. The Chairman kept talking about ToonCogs whatever those are. You certainly look like a toon but your shadow tells a different story!” Leaf pointed at the shadow which was still obscuring her own self slightly. Noir leaned away from Leaf, looking more annoyed with her.

“Robert mentioned you would be annoying but certainly not this annoying…” A scowl came to Noir’s face as if disgusted with Leaf, “I expected a little better from a human, y’know. Maybe some flare, some spirit?? At least a little more energy? You’re in a whole new world!” Noir balanced on one foot and spread out his arms, “You should at least be scared or excited- showing some kind of emotion besides deadpan!!”

Leaf rolled her eyes as dramatically as she could, “If you’re about to go on a speel about what a disappointment I am, save it. I know I’m disappointing, The Chairman kept highlighting my disappointing qualities all through rambling to himself about what department I should be in so he can ‘keep me safe in this dangerous world’,” Leaf mocked The Chairman’s voice as best as she could, even mocking some of his mannerisms like shuffling and messing with an imaginary tie.

“As if I can’t keep myself safe!” Leaf crossed her arms.

“...” Noir was completely deadpan. He then looked down at Leaf’s broken ankle, “‘As if I can’t keep myself safe!’” He mocked with a dumb smile on his face, putting his hands on his hips, “Yeah right, says the kid who literally jumped out the window to avoid a damn- darn- you know what, I don’t care about censoring myself right now, DAMN conversation and is currently sitting in front of me with a broken ankle!”

Leaf couldn’t exactly argue there. Jumping out the window was pretty stupid but she did try to tell the Chairman she didn’t want a job only for her concerns to get brushed off, so. “...okay fine, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do-”

“No shit, Sherlock! Who knew jumping out the window of a 5 story building was a bad idea!” Noir feigned shock. He suddenly paused, getting a troubled look on his face, “We’re…getting seriously off topic…”

“Off topic of what-?”

“Pick your poison kid!” Noir spread his arms again, “Either you come with me peacefully back to the building,” He pointed his thumb out of the alleyway, “Or,” Noir pressed his fingertips together with a mischievous grin on his face, “We go with the funner option! Well, fun for me, not for you I’d assume.”

“My ankle is broken! How do you expect me to walk back into that stupid building!?”

As Leaf looked up from her bruised ankle, Noir's strange, teal irises had returned and he held a large, cartoonish mallet over his head, “Exactly.” Noir brought the hammer down onto Leaf’s head. The last thing Leaf heard was Noir giggling excitedly, “Oh I hope The Chairman lets me run at least 1 test on you! Oh- I probably shouldn’t say that outloud…”

“Fine, just don’t bother me about it…” The Chairman sounded annoyed when Leaf started to stir awake, “You’re dismissed, Noirtoon- oh and please avoid dripping on the carpet this time. You know that your strange, limb, ink stuff is hard to clean out,” This was followed by a mischievous giggle from…Noir? Leaf had assumed that ‘Noirtoon’ was just a way to insult the fact that Noir was a toon. “No promises…~” Leaf heard the door close soon after.

Leaf sat up as carefully as she could to avoid hurting her ankle. She was certainly annoyed now about having been knocked out for no apparent reason other than ‘for fun’. Leaf looked up at The Chairman who also looked annoyed with her. So hey, feelings are mutual!

“Well there goes that attempt at seeing this world without some dumb, couch man watching over me…”

The Chairman’s glare worsened.

“What??? I made it clear I didn’t want a job here and that I just wanted to get home and you brushed off all of my concerns! I doubt any of my family is going to take me disappearing randomly into a random remake of an old game in a good way!” Leaf stood as best as she could, keeping weight off of her broken anklet, “...fuck, I forgot what else I wanted to say…”

The Chairman picked up papers, “Let’s try this again, if you throw yourself out the window again, well, I guess Noirtoon’s dream of wanting a human to experiment with is going to come to him earlier than he expected,” The Chairman glared past the papers at Leaf.

“What’s with him anyways?? He’s…really unsettling. I feel like I just bought a ticket straight to the bottom of Uncanny Valley when I see him…” Leaf glared back at the doors, shivering a little.

“If you think I’ll be able to tell you anything, you’d be mistaken. Noirtoon hasn’t told me anything either. All I know is that he appeared in this world randomly and refuses to tell me where he came from. I don’t pry because it’s very rude and I’d prefer to not get on his bad side…”

“Great, well, where can I go that’s the furthest away from him and you that I can possibly go?” Leaf sat back down, “And also where I can go to get my ankle fixed?”

“You’d want the Lawbots for both of those but you’re 15 as you’ve repeated to pretty much everyone,” The Chairman rolled his eyes, “I might be forcing you to get a job and I’m not making you get a law degree to even slightly understand them,” The Chairman paused as if to think, “Unless I make you an apprentice maybe? Hm, what experience do you have?”

“Uhhh…” ‘Holy shit. He’s giving me a chance! What have I done relating to law…law, that’s like- rules and stuff, ain’t it?’ Leaf tapped her chin before answering, “I’m great at reenforcing rules in video games when playing with my siblings, no one wants to hear me rant about cheaters so they normally listen. This applies in real life too, I’ve been a referee for games between my friends and stuff!”

The Chairman stared at Leaf for a long while before sighing, “Eh, alright. That should work. I think Adjudicator should work as a suit name for you…Full name for reference?”

‘It worked! This guy must have low standards!’ Leaf stood proud as she said, “Leaf Aqueto, spelt A-Q-U-I-T-O,” Leaf folded her hands with a polite expression on.

“...So you remember your last name but not your first name???”

Leaf could only shrug, “Uhm, guess so. It just sort of came out…”

“Okay, sure,” The Chairman started to sign some papers on his desk.

“Now then, all that’s left is getting you someone who can help you with your apprenticeship so let’s see…Misty can barely defend herself against Toons, I doubt she’d even slightly be a good teacher for someone with as much attitude as you…” The Chairman shot Leaf a much lighter glare from behind the papers in front of him.

“Oh- I do not have that much attitude!” Leaf crossed her arms again, “I’m a little moody at times but that’s usually because I have a reason.”

“Yeah, sure…” The Chairman went on to talk about the other managers.

“I doubt Prester would like giving a ‘potential witch’ an apprenticeship. Also, he’s paranoid about witches and anyone that might look even slightly suspicious. I’m not going to stick you with him, he might try to set you on fire on Day 1!”

“Head Attorney is a possible choice but he practices the more complicated stuff you look like you can barely put the circle piece in the right hole.”

“Oh kindly fuck off, ya chair headed bastard! Now you’re just being mean,” Leaf flipped The Chairman the bird who gave Leaf a disgusted glare in return, “I’m smarter than I look, Roger or whatever your stupid name is!”

“It’s Robert. And it’s not as stupid as having Leaf be your name,” Before Leaf could shoot anything back, Robert continued on, putting the papers back together, “Count Erclaim! He’s barely around and can barely keep his job. I’m not placing you with him. No way. Too much opportunity for defiance and trouble from you.”

“The Litigation Team does not need a 5th member. They’re perfectly fine without one. In fact, making you an apprentice for them would just be punishment for all 4 of them that none of them have done anything to deserve.”

Leaf couldn’t stop the scowl on her face from worsening. She was not a damn punishment for being a little rowdy, Jesus Christ! Leaf understood Robert disliking her for throwing herself out the window and being a little bit of a handful so far but he was just being a jerk to Leaf and had been ever since she woke up here!

“That leaves only Mouthpiece left over…” Robert put the papers down and folded his hands as he stared down at Leaf.

“She’d do nicely actually…now that I think about it,” Robert said after a long pause, “I think she’d be able to wrangle and tame that attitude of yours into something manageable and I believe you’d like her too. Belle is a pretty nice Cog when you don’t annoy her past her limit. I’ll call her up, explain the situation and have you taken to Mezzo Melodyland tomorrow morning, got it? I’ll even have her sew you your own outfit. Finally, before you ask, the Employee Resting Quarters is on the 3rd floor. The security goon outside of this room will escort you there.”

“Uhm, are we just going to forget my ankle still hurts like a damn bastard?” Leaf hissed, slightly rubbing the bruise from her broken ankle.

“Shouldn’t’ve jumped out the window to try avoiding conversation. Regardless, try to sleep well, Adjudicator.” Hearing Robert call her Adjudicator sent a chill down Leaf’s spine as she wondered, ‘Is that what everyone in this new world is going to call me? Is it wrong of me to think it’s weird and want other people to just call me by my actual name? Will I be given up for experiments or something if I start introducing myself to others besides Cogs by my real name instead of Adjudicator?’

“You are dismissed, Adjudicator,” As Robert said this, a small, two legged robot entered the room. They reminded Leaf of those derpy, robot, dog things she’d sometimes see online in her world.

“Come along, kid,” The goon said.

Leaf struggled to stand up and not cause herself more pain as she followed the goon out of the room.

(Thanks again to @noirdenwa for giving me permission to give Noirtoon a cameo in my story. He was a blast to write scenes for! Go follow them! They’re a super cool person and they make super great art!)

[walks-the-ages]

You said that legends Luke Skywalker is canonically a-spec, so I'd like to see the excerpts. Not in a confrontational "prove it to me" sorta way but a "I'm curious" sorta way.

I don't have the books or ebooks on hand, but it's Barbara Hambly's duology Children of The Jedi / The Planet of Twilight books with Callista.

Yes, I say Duology, not Trilogy, because the piece of shit who wrote the book in the middle of these two is a piece of crap misogynyst dudebro who wrote an entire trilogy about Luke running away from his responsibilites because Leia nagged him too much about babysitting so he went and did a little Overpowered Gary Stu thing of raising an obsidian castle up off the shores of a corscaunt beach and spent weeks just wandering around Vader's old Castle, sitting on the ceiling and Brooding(tm) about how he's so overpowered and meant for more and he's so angsty because he has a greater destiny and he can't connect to normal people and .. yeah. Anyways. Guy who wrote the shitty middle book is also unfortunately very "popular" star wars book author so he has written a lot of the other Legends book and .... It's always very refreshing to see other people rereading then and being horrified at what they thought was amazing writing when they were kids lol.

So yeah, ignore the shitty book in the middle by what might be Kevin J Anderson? My internet isn't cooperating at the moment so that either the authors name or the name of a random unrelated actor but it's something something Anderson. Ignore his book because he tries to retcon everything to make Callista a wilting wallflower who oh so scared of Luke's power and she feels so inadequate next to him and she left out of shame and Luke spends the whole book brooding about "oh I'm so scary and strong in the force I scared poor wittle Callista away boo hoo I am so sad and angsty because I'm so scary and overpowered" and then shitty author man tries to kill Callista off along with his sexist stereotype walking female imperial admiral lady character

and Barbara Hambly took one look at his shitty "sequel" to her book and said "Nope! We are fixing literally all of that and more, what the fuck is wrong with you dude, why the fuck are you treating all of the women this way"

Woops. Rambled a bit. Kevin J Anderson or whatever his name is pisses me off to the extreme, especially because he was allowed to write so many books that butchers the original trilogy characters even more than the "sequel" trilogy did.

anyways , long story short if you want to see Aspec Luke Skywalker, you can read Barbara Hambly's Children of the Jedi and Planet of Twilight, and also whichever book Luke proposes to Mara Jade in.

Because even as a kid I read that book and was absolutely fucking delighted at the hilariously out of left field it was and how platonic it was.

It pretty much boils down to:

Luke and Mara Jade are stuck in a flooding cave or something where they might die.

The conversation pretty much follows as such, from what I can remember reading over 10 years ago so obviously don't quote me:

Luke: "Hey Mara. We're friends, right? "

Mara: " Hmm, I mean, yeah I guess. We interact sometimes, sure. So we're acquaintances. And I'm not trying to kill you anymore so we're not enemies. And I've saved your life a few times so... Yeah. I think we're friends."

Luke, possibly after almost drowning: "Cool, cool, cool. So. Hey....... Do you want to marry me?"

Mara thought about it for a moment. "do you mean you want to get married now as the last thing we do before we die or...?"

Luke: "no, I mean even if we survive this. Do you want to marry me, even if we get out of here alive?"

Mara pondered the question, looking down at Luke where he looked like a pathetic drowned rat. "Sure." She shrugged. "I'll marry you."

Luke: "Awesome! I wasn't sure if you would say 'yes' seeing as we've never ever even in our most private thoughts considered each other as romantic or sexual prospects and we've never dated or expressed interest in each other for the years and years that we've known each other but I just feel like it's meant to be, y'know? And--"

Mara rolled her eyes. "Luke, I already agreed to marry you despite our nonexistent romantic or sexual history together, so just chill. Or don't, I don't need you freezing to death; now that we're engaged you're not allowed to die on me, I'd look awesome in a wedding dress."

And then they survived and announced their engagement to Han and Leia who came to rescue them and were met with confusion ("wait, Leia, did they even ever date!? How did I miss that!?"" / "No, shhh han, just be happy for them.") But they did go on to get married (I think they showed the wedding in one of the comics).

[kiaxet]

I didn't bother with word counts lol but for the DVD commentary

this bit from Lethal Measures:

"The slab flops over backwards, April releasing it as gravity takes hold, and underneath it is a Krang-

there are tentacles in his arms in his legs under his skin under his shell there is power in the ship there is knowledge in the database and there is the understanding that he is not himself and if he cannot keep himself together in the mind of this ship then he will be lost gone subsumed but he is torn away from the knowledge the power the ship but the tentacles are still in his body in his mind in his memories they never left he never left they are STILL THERE-

His mind snaps back to reality to find his body has acted in his absence: put itself protectively between April and the Krang, activated his tech-bo and his ninpo ( he’d never devised a weapon that could hurt the Krang but that had not stopped him from trying, long overnight hours in medbay keeping vigil over Leo’s injured form trying to think of a way to handle them if they ever came back ) in the form of an oversized and jagged-edged glaive, and locked down defensively, awaiting motion from the invader intruder murderer Krang. April’s hands are clamped on his shoulders, and she’s nearly yelling, trying to get through- “I told you, I checked it, it’s DEAD -”

Which is when Donnie’s brain finally processes the data his eyes are providing beyond the initial panic instinct, and he realizes what he’s looking at is half a Krang. The left half, to be precise.

Oh .

He sags as adrenaline loosens its hold on his system, and April lets go. “You with me, Mister Cold-Blooded?”"

And this bit from Site 39:

"Evidently Siobhan has the same idea, as she hasn’t taken her seat again. “How was Tahiti?”

“It’s a magical place. Amazing mai tais. A little rocky at the end, when my flight got rerouted to Vermont and I had to rent a car and drive five hours in traffic to get here, but that’s not Tahiti’s fault.” Or Vermont’s, but given that both of New York’s major airports were currently closed, the airlines were doing their best, and at least she’d had the foresight to not fly Southwest. She rolls her shoulders, sharply cracks her neck, ignores the wince from Fadi at the sound, and taps the edge of one of Siobhan’s monitors. “What are we looking at here? I saw the public reactions, but what do we actually have? Catch me up.”

So they do.

And Margo stares . Squeezes her eyes shut. Rubs her temples. Opens her eyes again and stares some more. She’d thought seeing public accounts would prepare her for the full explanation. She had been wrong. Holy shit .

She sighs, still trying to wrap her head around everything. “So we had an alien invasion.”

“Yep.”

“That came and went in a single day.”

“Yep.”

“And now we have an alien in the basement.”"

AIGHT LET'S GO

I wrote the first chapter or so of Lethal Measures in a Brand New Hyperfixation Fugue State, so a good amount of the writing process for this can be described as Brain Go Brrr. That said:

The slab flops over backwards, April releasing it as gravity takes hold, and underneath it is a Krang-

there are tentacles in his arms in his legs under his skin under his shell there is power in the ship there is knowledge in the database and there is the understanding that he is not himself and if he cannot keep himself together in the mind of this ship then he will be lost gone subsumed but he is torn away from the knowledge the power the ship but the tentacles are still in his body in his mind in his memories they never left he never left they are STILL THERE-

I am inordinately fond of using run-on sentences and fragments to signify racing thoughts or a breakdown, because the lack of punctuation rolls everything together into a rambling mess, which is absolutely the point. Donnie is just a touch traumatized by the invasion, but don't worry, He's Fine.

His mind snaps back to reality to find his body has acted in his absence: put itself protectively between April and the Krang, activated his tech-bo and his ninpo ( he’d never devised a weapon that could hurt the Krang but that had not stopped him from trying, long overnight hours in medbay keeping vigil over Leo’s injured form trying to think of a way to handle them if they ever came back ) in the form of an oversized and jagged-edged glaive, and locked down defensively, awaiting motion from the invader intruder murderer Krang. April’s hands are clamped on his shoulders, and she’s nearly yelling, trying to get through- “I told you, I checked it, it’s DEAD -”

Bodies, especially well-trained ones, do some wild shit while on autopilot, and I enjoy playing with that, especially in prose. The one-two punch of the brain spinning in a breakdown while the body goes DAMMIT BRAIN I GUESS I'LL KEEP US ALIVE TODAY, followed by the brain picking the reins back up and only then taking stock of what the fuck happened when it stepped out back to have a brief scream into the void, is great to write. The reader gets to be just as surprised as the returning brain is!

I do tend to overuse parentheticals, but that's very much a style thing for me. I was taught that anything in parentheses could be removed without upsetting the coherence and the structure of the paragraph that contained them, and that is how I use them. It's fun flavor text and occasionally extremely rude on my end, just the way I like it. :D

(Also, had I been thinking, I would've specifically given Donnie a naginata, but fugue state meant I defaulted to glaive. Bitches love glaives. It's me; I'm bitches.)

Which is when Donnie’s brain finally processes the data his eyes are providing beyond the initial panic instinct, and he realizes what he’s looking at is half a Krang. The left half, to be precise.

Oh .

He sags as adrenaline loosens its hold on his system, and April lets go. “You with me, Mister Cold-Blooded?”

This is all just setup. Part of the payoff is a few paragraphs later, making a crack about the other half of the Krang; the rest is the upcoming repetition of Cold-Blooded as a descriptor. I intend to make it painful in chapter 3, whenever that rolls around.

Site 39 is my excuse to dabble in worldbuilding - enough to make the entire Turtle Torchwood series an AU in its own right - because part of my engagement with a canon is to poke at the holes, ask how things work, and make up my own answers that fit within existing parameters. I knew next to nothing about Bishop or the EPF when I started this, and now that I know more, I'm still planning on doing my own thing. I'm having way more fun with my little crew than I think I would with Bishop.

Evidently Siobhan has the same idea, as she hasn’t taken her seat again. “How was Tahiti?”

“It’s a magical place. Amazing mai tais. A little rocky at the end, when my flight got rerouted to Vermont and I had to rent a car and drive five hours in traffic to get here, but that’s not Tahiti’s fault.” Or Vermont’s, but given that both of New York’s major airports were currently closed, the airlines were doing their best, and at least she’d had the foresight to not fly Southwest. She rolls her shoulders, sharply cracks her neck, ignores the wince from Fadi at the sound, and taps the edge of one of Siobhan’s monitors. “What are we looking at here? I saw the public reactions, but what do we actually have? Catch me up.”

So they do.

Site 39 is also my excuse to shamelessly make references and inflict psychic damage on my audience, because I find it funny and also I can. To note for these, I watched a whole lot of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I was one of the poor bastards caught in last December's Southwestpocalypse.

Also, there's always someone in a group that gets super unnerved when anyone else cracks their joints. Poor Fadi.

And Margo stares . Squeezes her eyes shut. Rubs her temples. Opens her eyes again and stares some more. She’d thought seeing public accounts would prepare her for the full explanation. She had been wrong. Holy shit .

She sighs, still trying to wrap her head around everything. “So we had an alien invasion.”

“Yep.”

“That came and went in a single day.”

“Yep.”

“And now we have an alien in the basement.”

You ever come back from vacation and find that everything has gone straight to hell in your absence? Margo is having that kind of day. For most people, that means paperwork; for Margo, that means dealing with the fact that her day job now has a dangerous predator under glass in the basement.

Also, there's a big difference between getting your information from a reliable source and getting it from Twitter scuttlebutt. Margo at least knows better than to trust everything the Twitter randos are saying.

The meme is here; ask me things!

[iamfruitie]

In Too Deep Chapter 39

Confession

Mad followed Mare out of the room, a million questions buzzing around in his head. Where exactly was he? He knew who lived and owned the house, but where was it located? Who’s clothing was he wearing? How many lived here? He’s heard multiple names, but how many stayed here? 

“Is everything alright?” Mad watched as three men came into the home, entering the large living room area and heading over to a different man with a distinct scar on his neck. The one who had spoken stood in front of the other two, and those two were holding hands. Mad assumed either they were a couple or just very comfortable with each other. 

“We tried to get back as soon as we could.” One of the three, who was wearing a hat, said.

“We could only kill so fast.” The one who was holding the hat-wearer’s hand said with a giggle.

“It’s long and complicated. We can-” The one with the scar stopped when he glanced over and saw Mad and Mare. “Speaking of what’s caused the chaos. There’s Mare’s boyfriend.” 

“Wait. Boyfriend?” The hat-wearer asked, sounding like he was in shock. 

“Not now.” Mare took Mad’s hand and started walking off with Mad, ignoring the teases that followed them.  

“Were those more vampires?” Mad asked, having to pick up the pace a little to keep up with Mare and not be dragged. 

“Yes.” Mare’s answer was flat. 

“Am I going to meet them?” Mad didn’t like how Mare wasn’t even looking back at him. 

“Later.” Still flat. 

“Are you upset with me?” Mad had a good feeling that he knew the answer but needed to hear it himself. He hated assuming things. 

“Yes.” Mare eventually reached a room, opened the door, and walked Mad into it, finally letting him go to close the door. Mad did a quick look around, seeing that they were in a bedroom. He looked back at Mare and saw him still facing the door, having not looked at him since they had left the infirmary. 

“Mare?” Mad hugged his own arm.

“Why did you keep digging when I told you not to?” Mare asked, voice straining as he tried to keep it calm and even. He was angry, no, he was pissed, but he didn’t want to yell at Mad, knowing that would just hurt him and not help anything. 

“I didn’t think it’d turn up like this,” Mad spoke honestly. 

“I told you it was dangerous.” 

“I…I thought it’d be okay since I research things that are considered dangerous all the time. Like…Like the acid and my weapons and…” Mad’s voice trailed off, and he sniffed. “I couldn’t-I couldn’t stop. Even after you said to not go deeper than where I was, even after Phantom warned me-”

“Phantom warned you?” Mare finally turned to Mad.

“I…I was…I was studying him too.” Mad hugged himself tighter. “I knew…I knew I should have stopped, to have moved on, to find something else to focus on, but I couldn’t.” He was staring at the floor as he rambled, eyes starting to go red as tears formed. “Any time you weren’t around that’s what my brain focused on, it wouldn’t let me think of something else, nothing else worked in my thoughts except for that. I couldn’t stop, I couldn’t function any other way, and I just kept going and going, deeper and deeper, and I went too deep. I’m sorry, Mare. I’m so sorry.” Mad sniffed again as a tear broke free and rolled down his cheek, and seeing that also broke any ounce of anger inside of Mare. “I didn’t mean for it to end up like this, I promise. I promise that I thought it was like the rest of my work, that-that I-that…” Mad looked up at Mare and whispered. “I’m sorry.” 

And that broke one more thing.

Mare’s heart.

“Oh, starlight.” Mare went over to Mad and pulled him into a tight embrace, feeling Mad continue to cry against his chest. 

“I-I understand if you’re-if you’re angry with me. You can-You can yell at me and-and say what you need to.” Mad stammered, voice a bit muffled but clear enough for Mare to hear everything. 

“I’m not going to yell at you. That’s not going to help anything.” Mare leaned back a little, running a hand through Mad’s hair and looking down at him. 

“But-But you have every right to be-to be angry at me.” Mad’s eyes were now confused behind the tears, words still stammering as he spoke. “And when-when you’re angry at someone for being wrong, you yell and scream and curse and insult. I did this. I caused everything to go wrong. Yell at me.”  

“Yelling at you or cursing or insulting you is only going to hurt you, and I’m not going to do that.” Mare felt a pain in his chest. “I was ready to fight the man who turned me into who I am for you. I was ready to be cast aside by my family to keep you safe.” That pain in his chest grew at remembering seeing Mad injured not that long ago, how he felt so helpless and was willing to do anything to make Mad better, how he felt like a failure for allowing Mad to get hurt like that. “I can’t even bare the thought of you getting hurt, and after seeing you like that, I…I felt like I had died again.” Mare’s hand slid from Mad’s hair to hold his cheek instead. “I care for you so much, Madrick, everything about you makes me happy. Your smile, your laugh, your brain and creativity, how cute you are, and how stubborn you can be. Even that little coffee addiction of yours brings light to my life. I never want to hurt you, I never want to see you hurt. I want you by my side and be who you are because I love you.” Mad’s eyes went wide, and the flush from crying became a deeper shade. Mare’s own eyes went wide as well, but his grew in size out of shock. 

He did not just say that. 

Oh shit. 

Holy shit. 

It was time to panic. 

And when Mare panicked, his brain went in only one direction.

“You-” Mad was cut off by Mare holding the back of his head and pulling him into a kiss. 

-----------

Tag List: (Feel free to ask to be added!)

@dungeon-dragons-dragons @justyoursicanon @angst-anonn @damnthedead

[florestmoon]

It’s impossible to ignore you. (Eddie Munson x Reader)

Next.

Summary: Chrissy and Eddie seem to become close after a drug deal. The feelings you kept locked up suddenly start overflowing and you become afraid of losing your best friend. You fail to realize Chrissy was helping him gain the courage to admit his feelings to you.

Warnings: Slow burn friends to lovers. Angst. Unrequited feelings (but not really). So much miscommunication/misunderstanding. Reader being an anxious mess and an over thinker. Both Eddie and reader being oblivious dumbasses.

A/N: I said I was bringing angst to the Eddie fandom and here I am. Im deciding to make this 3 parts instead of two because I wrote so much already. And I love dragging the way they are idiots. Comments and messages are so welcomed! Yell at me! Thank you for all the support (:

Word count: 7k or something

You were confident in your friendship with Eddie. The friendship was build on so much trust and years of learning each other’s quirks and habits. Confiding in each other with secrets that you wouldn’t tell another soul and insecurities that ate away at your thoughts during the night.

You both were practically each other halves. Yin and Yang. Others may have found it kinda annoying, the way you both were practically attached at hip. But no one could deny how much you complimented each other.

Many would go as far to say you were platonic soulmates, which you happily accepted at first. Until the platonic aspect begin to leave a bitter taste in your mouth. A taste you desperately ignored and whatever thoughts followed was pushed to the back of your mind because you were not going down that worm hole.

Because you were his best friend. You were the first one to force him into a friendship when he first moved to Hawkin’s, running away from his parent’s home to his uncle’s, with a toothy smile on your baby face.

You were the one to compliment his drawings he hid at first of his dnd characters and learned the game to hear him excitedly talk about it at any chance. The one to force him to tell you who had formed the bruise on his eye. The one who then proceeded to hold their packaged popsicle against it until it melted.

And he was yours. He was the one to tell you that it was okay to be sensitive despite your parents harsh words. Eddie was the one to hold you after scary nightmares when he had convinced you to watch a scary movie you definitely had no reason to watch, only to tease you once there was no more fear in your system.

He was the one that held your textbooks even if he complained the whole time between classes. Eddie was the one to make a whole show of embarrassing himself in order to make you feel comfortable. He was the only one who understood your anxious rambling at random subjects that were in your mind on that particular day.

So yeah. You were content and happy with your place in Eddie’s life as best friends. Even if your developed crush was always something you beat down every day. Because as long he was in your life, you didn’t care if platonic was forever stamped on your relationship.

You were each other’s first choices. Always. So when he had mentioned one lunch period that Chrissy was meeting up with him for a deal, you only felt surprised that the school’s cheerleading Queen was going to buy drugs. A bit amused that she was meeting with her boyfriend’s worst enemy, the “Freak” of Hawkins.

You didn’t put much thought into it until you watched him and Chrissy seem to have a prolonged eye contact moment after said deal, in your last class together that same day. The blush in his cheeks when he looked away being the final realization that oh, maybe you really weren’t okay with it at all.

“How did the deal go?” You asked a little later, over the milkshake that was being shared at the small diner that was both your favorites. With the campaign Eddie had planned for that night, it was decided to hang around town before heading back to school.

“It went fine.” He answers after taking a long sip of the strawberry shake, emptying the glass.

You groaned, “Eddie, you hog!”

He smiles innocently as you tilt the glass to stare at the loss. “Oops.”

The pout on your face was immediately knocked down when he grabs the cherry he saved for himself and places it on your napkin. You accept the trade off as he continues. “She didn’t buy anything anyway. At least not for now.”

You hum as you grab the cherry he gave you, popping it in your mouth. “How come? It took a while so figured she did buy something in the end.”

He seems to fiddle with one of his rings anxiously. “We talked a bit,” that blush was back on cheeks, “Guess it took longer than expected. But I didn’t have what she needed, so she’s coming back to my trailer after hellfire tonight.”

“Talk about what?” You ask a bit too quickly, wiping your fingers on your napkin.

“Just..stuff.” He shrugs and pushes the empty glass to the end of the table. Eddie grabs the forgotten menu, even though you both know it by heart. “Hey, you want another milkshake? Or should we ask for a cheesecake?”

Oh. The cherry tasted dull in your mouth but you chewed it regardless, ignoring the small tug on your chest at the change of demeanor. It was so small yet you noticed it. He seemed uncomfortable at the topic, as though he didn’t want to breach it.

You were quiet for a moment before realizing he was looking at you questionably, so you smiled. “Trying to get me sick so I’ll miss hellfire, and not embarrass you huh?”

“Ohhh, those are fighting words sweetheart,” he narrows his eyes and his tone darkens. “I’m not one to back down. You’ll going to wish I wasn’t dungeon master.”

The implication on his “small talk” had you reeling as he drove you both back to the highschool. What exactly did they talk about then? And why did Eddie seem embarrass? As though whatever was shared between them in the woods wasn’t something he wanted to share with you.

Eddie didn’t have to share everything with you. But he always did. So seeing him dismiss the topic so quickly, it was different.

He always would tell you about the potheads that would regard him like some god, or the way the preppy kids acted like he would curse them if they were in his space for too long.

It wasn’t a big deal. Really. But Chrissy knocking on the door to the room Hellfire had taken place in that night, calling Eddie’s name had you feeling small suddenly. You, Gareth, and Eddie had been putting all the chairs back after the exciting game Erica had concluded with her lucky roll, when she walked in hesitantly.

Eddie jumped up from jamming his stuff in his backpack to greet her.

“Sorry, it ran a little longer than usual.” He states. “But we could head out now. You got your stuff, bug ?” Eddie looks towards you where you were zipping up your backpack. The idea of being in the same van as them together had you feeling uneasy suddenly.

You weren’t sure if you wanted to see any interaction that would make your anxious thoughts worse. Your eyes shift towards Gareth and your mouth spoke before you could think, “oh I can’t. Gareth had invited me for pizza tonight.”

“I did?” Gareth head jerks up from where he was, hand on the door knob ready to leave the room.

“He did?” Eddie sharply accuses at the same time, turning towards Garth who was staring between you both with wide eyes. His mouth hanging open, looking at you confused. You stared wide eyed back at him and nod quickly, pushing yourself towards the brunette.

“Ha! yeah he did, I totally forgot to tell you Eddie!” You shove Gareth a little too hard out into the hallway, out of sight before he could protest and expose your lie. Pretending like you didn’t hear the sound of him slamming against a locker.

“He only invited you?” Eddie voice was a bit tight, he pauses and coughs, “I mean, why not invite the rest of us?”

You felt bad realizing that your get away was going to make Eddie excluded. “Well, I mean, you have to take Chrissy right?”

Eddie blinks like he forgot she was there. “Well yeah but-“

“So it’s fine! He’ll take me home, don’t worry Eddie.”

“Right..” he mumbles, noticing Chrissy smiling at him before perking up, “You better bring me a slice yeah? Or else you’ll walking to school in the morning.”

You roll your eyes, nodding before he could try to mess with your hair and push yourself to leave them alone in the room.

You tried not to watch them leave the school together as you sat in Gareth’s car, recognizing the ugly emotion that washed over you in waves.

—

A part of you secretly hoped that would be the end of it. That Chrissy would buy whatever drug she needed, realize it isn’t her thing and they didn’t need to interact anymore. It wasn’t because you were jealous, something you repeated in the mirror a hundred times the night before, but for a normal reason.

Chrissy had a boyfriend. Jason who despised your best friend, so it wouldn’t be good for Eddie too continue to deal with her. She was just acting out, and that would be it. That’s all, right? No more ugly emotions.

“—and then he got mad because someone mentioned Chrissy.” Lucas explains during lunch as you kept glancing towards the double doors for Eddie’s late presence. “He cancelled practice for this week. It was stupid.”

“Didn’t you hear? .” Dustin chimes in with a mouth full of pudding. You would have scolded him for it if it weren’t for his next words, “He got dumped.”

“What?” You tore your gaze away from the doors, “Chrissy and Jason broke up?”

“Yeah. Apparently she asked for a break.”

“And how do you know this Dustin?” Luke leans forward from the end of the table to stare at his best friend.

“I know everything.” He smiles sweetly raising his eyebrows which forces Mike to snort with a small yeah sure which he takes offense to. “At least it was face to face, unlike El’s break up letter.”

“Why would mention that dude ?” Mike hurt voice drowns out while you stare at Eddie’s empty seat.

That sinking feeling in your stomach was back.

Eddie had arrived eventually, a hand grasped onto Gareth’s shoulder who seemed a bit tense to whatever Eddie was chatting away about. He looked really happy , a bump on his step as he made way towards the table and plopped down on his seat next to you. His smile so big that deep down you had a feeling that Chrissy had to do with it.

Of course. Who are you to completely stop that? She was single and just a few minutes during a deal had made Eddie head over heels for her.

One of your mozzarella sticks disappeared off your tray before he places his elbows on the table and tears it in half. “Hey, do you think Steve is working today ?”

You pushed away your thoughts once more. Eying the cheesy string between the two pieces before shrugging. “Uh no? I think Robin mentioned closing alone tonight. Something about Steve calling out for a date.”

“Ah, King Steve in action once again,” he rolls his eyes before popping one piece in his mouth, “Still good for me, I was going to stop by and didn’t want him to be on my ass for late fees.”

“Eddie you really need to stop losing the dvds,” you scold, grabbing your juice and handing it to him once you notice him eying it. “At this point we’ll be banned.”

“Hey, we both can’t get banned-“

“I also have late fees because of you begging Robin to use it under my name the last time.”

“It’s not my fault she’s so easy to convince ” He grins, “anyway, that’s good to hear, I was hoping to see her to rent a couple movies after school.”

“For what?” You ask, looking down at your tray. “Planning for a movie night?”

“Mhmm,” he hums happily, looking at you expectedly. “For a special girl.”

God, you felt pathetic for the way your smile was wiped off your lips. Your eyes stayed glued to your tray, your right hand coming up to scratch your neck in an attempt to hide your expression. “Oh cool…”

He was planning a movie date. Was it for Chrissy? It had to be, why else would he say it like that. The lunch food was beginning to disagree with your stomach. You pushed the tray away softly before looking up at him once you fought off a frown.

There was a frown tugging on his lips though, watching you carefully. He seemed, hesitant to say anything at first which made you feel worse. Is it really noticeable how uncomfortable you were ? You were ruining the good mood he was in.

“You okay?” He finally asks softly. One of hands reaching out under to table and brushing against yours. You force a smile once more, nodding before making show of holding your stomach.

“Sorry, I have a really bad stomach ache.” you laugh pathetically, “I think I need to go straight home after school” Instead of accompanying you to picking out whatever movie you have planned for Chrissy.

Eddie seems dejected but he nods. “Do you want me to take you to the nurse? I can carry you bridal style.” He attempts to joke but you only shake your head.

“No it’s fine.” The bell rings and you stand up a bit too fast for someone who was complaining about a stomach ache, “I’ll just get though it.”

You barely give him time to respond as you grab your tray ,”I’ll see you after class.”

—

He drove you straight home after school, the van mostly quiet for most of the ride as you allow yourself to go over your thoughts once again. Eddie tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, glancing over you every so often before finally deciding to reach into his compartment and take out a cassette tape.

A few seconds later, your favorite band was playing through his speakers and you smiled. Eddie’s singing voice bringing you out of your funk for a few minutes as he sung along to the chorus, head banging despite it not matching the beat. Your laugh filling the van along with the music when he accidentally swerves the van after he looked away a little too long to sing to you.

For now, you’ll let yourself forget about whatever Eddie and Chrissy had going on.

-

It didn’t last long. Because as a week went by and Eddie began missing some lunches, and even a class period, you find out through Dustin that he caught Eddie meeting up with Chrissy.

Now it was clear they at least had a friendship going on. It really wasn’t your place to say anything.

Special girl. It rang in your head when you noticed Eddie keep glancing towards where she sat across the cafeteria. At first you ignored it, convincing yourself for a short time it was okay. But Eddie began to act different. Whenever you both would talk and joke, you would catch him glancing towards Chrissy. It hurt to see him so distracted while even with you, so you began to speak less and less.

Chrissy was special. Chrissy, the girl who everyone loved at Hawkins for her looks and skills in cheerleading. The blonde not only was really pretty and was the ideal image of what a perfect girl is, she also was really sweet. So you couldn’t even be mad at Eddie for his choice.

Anyone would want to date her and they would be considered lucky. So really, you should be happy for your best friend. Even if you felt annoyed from waiting after school, 20 minutes and most of the parking lot empty save the kids attending detention, and you see them both exit the building together.

They seem to be in deep discussion about something, before Chrissy placed her hand on his shoulder, saying something that had Eddie attention completely on her. You looked away from the sight, gripping onto your textbook on your lap.

A minute later he was standing next to you with an apologetic expression. “Shit, I’m really sorry bug. Ms. O’Donnell had me staying after to make up for being late to class.”

You smile tightly, because that’s all you been doing since this started, faking your smiles. “Right.” You get up from your seat on the bench and brush past him towards his van. He follows close behind, tugging on your backpack to signal to let him carry it but you ignore him, brushing his hand off and pulling it against your shoulder.

Eddie frowns at that and doesn’t unlock the door when you pull on the handle. “I said I was sorry y/n.” He whines, pouting and trying to wrap his arms around you but you pull away once again.

“Yeah I heard Eddie,” you sigh as you look at him, your annoyance growing at the confused look in his face. It pushed you to speak again before thinking clearly.

Word vomit. You had learned that phrase from Robin. “I guess you and Chrissy were both late huh?”

Eddie blinks taken back, looking towards where Chrissy had walked off to meet up with other cheerleaders. “Oh- that.” He clears his throat and rubs at his neck. “No, I bumped into her right after O’Donnell let me off.”

“Talked for a bit too?” Shut up. Why do you keep talking?! You screamed in your head.

“I just had something quick to ask her.” You looked at him raising an eyebrow, waiting and hoping that he would finally tell you what they had going on. But again, Eddie blushes, not looking at you and you realized he rather keep it from you then tell you. “It was stupid, like uh, about homework. ”

You felt done with the conversation, nodding and pulled on the handle again. “Cool, can you open the door now?”

“Come onnn y/n, don’t be like that-“

“Eddie you had me waiting in this heat“ you huff, crossing your arms and glaring at him. “I just want to go home and take off these sweaty clothes. Please.”

Eddie pauses and seems to think before suddenly dropping on his knees. You gasp and step back as he puts his hands together and shakes his head.

“I’m ashamed of myself. I am y/n. I failed you, something I can never forgive myself for.” He begins, shaking his head dramatically. You drop your bag and pull on his arm trying to make him stop.

“Eddie seriously!”

A few lingering students were staring. “Please. I’ll do anything for your forgiveness your highness. I’ll buy you some donuts, or even that horrible Tears for Fears album you dare call music.”

“You ass-“

“I’ll shave my head!” He whines dramatically, “just for you to look at me again.”

“Oh god” you laugh, unable to stop a real smile to appear and succeed in pulling him to his feet again. “Please don’t. I don’t think I’ll survive another buzz cut.”

Eddie smiles dusting off his knees and bending down to grab your bag, throwing over his shoulder. “So?”

“I forgive you,” you roll your eyes, watching him sigh relieved and hold his chest. He unlocks the door this time and lets you climb in.

“Cant even let me be mad for more than 5 minutes.” you mumbled when he throws both your belongings to the back and gets in. He starts the car, pointing at your seatbelt in warning, waiting to hear it click in place before driving out of the school’s parking lot. “Maybe I wanted to ignore you the whole car ride”

“I don’t think I could survive that” he teases, but there was truth in it. He looks towards you, his gaze softening. “You sure you’re not mad anymore?”

“Yeah, it’s fine Eddie.” Your smile was small as you look out the window. You really weren’t mad. His antics was enough for you to brush off your jealousy. Eddie was your best friend. You shouldn’t be acting this way anyway. You just needed time to get your feelings in check.

It doesn’t seem like Eddie is convinced because he sighs. You turn to look at him.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“That” He waves his hand over you before looking at the road. “I don’t know. Off. You smile but it doesn’t even seem..” he struggles before snapping his fingers. “It’s not you.”

Shit. He’s noticing. You rub the side of your face and shake your head. “Really Eddie, it’s nothing.”

“Is it? You seemed off all week.” You flinch at that, wanting to sink into the seat. He really was noticing, will he eventually connect two and two together? What if he figures out your feelings that you hid for so long.

No you couldn’t let that happen.

“I haven’t been feeling my best Eds” You make sure to keep your voice steady, trying to be believable. “I guess, I just been stressed. With the way things are changing..”

That part was true.

“What do you mean?”

“With finals coming up, and graduation just two months away.” You play with the end of your hair ignoring his gaze. “I guess it finally just got to me. You know me and my anxiety.”

You smile pathetically and Eddie slumps back in his seat. “Why didn’t you talk to me about it before ?”

“You seemed..distracted..” That also was true. Really you were giving half truths so you didn’t feel too horrible for lying to him. “But really, I’ll get over it.”

Eddie reaches out and grabs your hand, shaking his head. “Distracted? What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing.” Eddie sighs but lets it pass.

“Don’t be hiding that shit from me anymore. Alright? You know I hate when you get into your head. Talk to me, okay?”

You nod, squeezing his hand back and play with his rings, pushing back your feelings. “Okay. Promise.”

—

The next few days were better. Sure, you saw him talking to Chrissy once between classes. But after Eddie had forced you to sleepover his trailer that day you half confessed in his van, and watched movies with you all night and made you hot chocolate, you felt safe to say it didn’t hurt that much.

You can accept it. You were still an important part in his life and he in yours. You shouldn’t be so selfish to wish for more. It was okay.

You were studying for your math quiz when your bedroom phone rang. You quickly scribbled down an answer before you forgot it, and reached over to the nightstand next to your bed.

“Hello?”

“Hey bug.”

You smile and lay back on your pillow, grabbing the base of the phone to place on the bed while you twirled the cord between your finger. “Don’t tell me you want me to give you the answers? Did you even try to solve one of the problems.”

“No I just..” he pauses. You mirror that by freezing with the cord around your finger. “Wanted to talk. Wanted to talk to you, you know?”

There wasn’t a blush on your cheeks at the gentleness in the way he said you. You change your position the bed to lay on your stomach, frowning. “Eddie? Is something wrong?”

He stays quiet. You can hear one of the records you gave him softly playing in the background.

“You know you can talk to me.” Please talk to me. Don’t push me aside. “Remember what you told me, last week, that we don’t hide anything.”

“Yeah, yeah you’re right.” He sighs and there’s some shuffling on his side. “This is just..really hard to say. It’s..different than what we usually talk about.”

Uneasiness swirls in your stomach. “What do you mean?” He doesn’t reply right away so you backtrack. “I mean that shouldn’t matter. We told each other so much already, I’m sure this isn’t much different Eds.”

“You won’t..freak, right? No matter what.”

Your throat tightens. That tightening feeling appears in your chest. You clear your throat in fear that your voice will break. “Y-yeah, I won’t. Try me.”

“Okay..” He coughs then sighs. “Okay. Okay, so..” he struggles before finally speaking. “There’s someone that I really like.”

You thought you were prepared. Part of you was relieved that after keeping it from you for so long, he finally confided in you. That should be good, right? Your worries that he didn’t have that trust in you evaporated, all that anxiety was proven wrong. Yet, the other part of you that you thought was going to fine and under control, broke.

“Oh wow,” you let out breathlessly, “You were scared to tell me that?” You push the back of your hand against one of your eyes once you feel the tears building. “Why are you worried about that.”

“Y/N- it’s, it’s just...” He whispers, “I been too stupid to realize my feelings and I’ve been wanting to ask her out for a few weeks now. But I can never figure out how she feels about me..”

His voice was shaky. “I’m terrified she won’t feel the same way if I tell her. Because y-“ he coughs, “she’s so amazing and perfect, and I guess I’m really scared you know? What if I’m not enough? I wouldn’t blame her for thinking so.”

Your heart hurts not only knowing he’s referencing to Chrissy but knowing that he didn’t feel good enough. How could he even think like that? Eddie was someone you looked up too. His ways of drawing attention towards him with his dramatic speeches and overall personality was admirable. So hearing him sound so small, dejected at the idea had you pushing your own hurt aside.

“Eddie. Anyone would be lucky to have you. This girl, god she would be so fucking lucky to have you as her boyfriend.” You stare at your ceiling, hand gripping the phone tightly. “You’re so much more than good enough. You’re sweet and funny, and, and I know she will be the happiest girl with you. Anyone would.”

I would. The voice whispers in the back of your head.

“You really think that?” Eddie asks, in awe. You nod forgetting he couldn’t see you. “Do you really believe that?”

“Of course, Eddie. You’re the most amazing person I know.” Eddie stays silent. You notice how fast your heart was beating.

“Thank you bug,” you swore you thought you heard a sniffle. “I..that made me feel better. You don’t understand how much.”

You both stay silent. You were waiting for him to drop that it was Chrissy. Go into more details about her but he continues to not talk. So you decide to rip the bandaid yourself.

“So, when are you asking the special girl?” You force your voice to sound excited, shutting your eyes tight. “I better not have gave that speech for nothing.”

“Actually, I was thinking about doing it tonight.” he trails off. You felt like you were going to vomit.

“Good! I-I hope it goes great, Ed. I’m rooting for you, and..I know she’ll say yes.” Your hands began to shake. It felt harder to breath. You thought you were able to handle it but no, you feel yourself falling apart.

You needed to end the call before he hears you break down.

“Y/N..I wanted- I was going to ask you-“ You cut him off once you feel a single tear slip down the corner of your face. A few more tears follow as you shake your head.

“Eddie I-I’m sorry I need to go.” You slam the phone shut and pull your pillow over your face. Hoping it’s enough to pause your tears but it didn’t. A sob is muffled by it instead.

You weren’t going to be okay after all.

—

You spend the rest of the night staring blankly at your homework before deciding you were not accomplishing anything but staining the sheet with a few escaped tears. You turned off all the lights and tried to sleep, trying to come up with an excuse as to why you hung up. You didn’t think clearly.

You could say you felt sick again and had to throw up, or that your heart was ripped out of your chest and you felt like you were dying.

The former was better. At least it was believable and didn’t need anymore questions.

You left the following morning earlier than usual. Deciding to take the bus that you seen Max always hop on. Eddie had tried giving her a ride before but she only quietly rejected it and often left earlier than you both did.

You sat next to her on the bus, headphones blaring Kate Bush voice. She glanced at you, raising an eyebrow.

“You look like shit.” Her headphones were pushed down to wrap around her neck.

“Thanks.” You reply, crossing your arms over your stomach and turning your head towards her smiling softly. “And you look amazing like always Max.”

She shrugs, turning her nose away as she glanced out the window towards the trailer park that was disappearing from sight. “Did you and Eddie fight?”

“No.” You feel sick again at the mention of his name. “I wanted to go early and didn’t want to wake him up. He’s grumpy when I do.”

“Righht..” she turns towards you again. “Eddie definitely is anything but grumpy with you.” She makes a disgusted expression before pulling her headphones back on top of her head. The volume increasing this time.

Well damn. You were hoping the younger girl would make more of a conversations with you. Maybe you should try a little harder with her the way you had with the other freshman, but push that for another day. You allow to swallow in self pity the rest of the bus ride.

The rest of the morning was a blur. Eddie had looked for you when he arrived a few minutes before school started, nearly disrupting your first class when he pushed the door open a second before the bell rung. Eyes set on where you sat in the back but was quickly yelled at by your math teacher.

“Eddie Munson! This is not where you’re suppose to be-“

“I need to see y/n,-“

“You can see her later. Out! Now!”

You hid your face behind your notebook, guilt eating at you as you could feel him staring at you before he was escorted out.

Your plan was to avoid him that morning, needing just a little bit more time. Then prepare to see him at lunch and hear all about what occurred with his confession the night before. You were going to sit there, at the lunch table, apologize for hanging up and ditching that morning, then make it up by listening to him talk about how Chrissy accepted his confession. And you will smile through it all, and support him.

You could do that.

But when you walked out your history class for lunch, and Eddie was waiting right across the hallway, your mind blanked.

“Seriously. What the fuck y/n.” He began, pushing himself away from where he was leaning against the locker. You began to walk down the hallway. “Jesus Christ! Really? Where are you going?”

“Eddie I have to meet up..” you think quickly, “with Nancy! Yeah, Nancy wants my opinion on some shots she took of the basketball game.”

“Nancy Wheeler? Mikes sister?” He questions, walking beside you and matching your fast pace. “Since when were you two friends?”

“She’s friends with Robin. So that makes us acquaintances” you reply, staring ahead.

He throws his hands up in the air and scoffs. “Okay. Okay fine. Are you just not going to tell me why you hung up on me yesterday? And ignored my calls after?” He grabs your arm and stops your walking. “Or even why I went to your trailer for your mom to tell me you had left early to school? What’s up with that?”

“Had to talk to my teacher about my final grades, and I knew coming early was the best option.” It was such a shitty and not well thought out lie. “Didn’t want to wake you up, especially after last night.”

Eddie’s grip loosens and his expression falters. The anger flowing into something you couldn’t recognize. He pulls away and stuffs his hands into his leather jacket. “Last night..” he sounds sad, “are..are you even going to ask about that?”

“About what?” You don’t look at him. You weren’t ready yet.

“About what we talked about.” Eddie says desperately. “Come on y/n. I told you it was something I was afraid to talk about, and you go hang up on before I could even..” he stops and rubs his face.

“I wasn’t feeling well. Ha , it’s weird. It just hit me, I thought I was going to throw up-“

“Bullshit.” He hisses, pointing his finger at you. “That’s such bullshit.” You step back surprised by his outburst. He looked outright angry.

“Eddie-“

“You keep saying all these lies. I’m not an idiot. And then you go and ignore me all morning. What the fuck did I do? Did I..did I do something?” He asks.

“No Eddie, you didn’t.”

“Then why are you acting like this right now? Christ, I don’t understand !” He yells, throwing his hand out.

“Let’s talk about it later, yeah?” You stammer, feeling overwhelmed.It wasn’t suppose to go this way. You had it all planned out and now it’s getting out of control.

“Why later? Why not now?”

“I just don’t want to right now, okay?” You pull away, seeing your escape and make way to the bathroom. Eddie following close behind. “I’m still not feeling well. So, just..we can talk about it after school.”

“I don’t fucking get this. Why are you acting like this.?”

You push yourself into the bathroom. Slamming the door shut before he could even think to follow you in. “Eddie please ! I’ll meet you in the cafeteria, okay?”

“I thought you were meeting with Nancy.” He states from the other side of the door. “See I knew you were fucking lying.”

You don’t say anything else. Back pressed against the door as you wait.

“Y/N please..” you hear him beg quietly, “I really can’t handle this from you. Not right now. Especially after last night..”

You frown at this. What does he mean by that?

“I need you.” His voice was small. You wanted to open the door and slam against his chest, hugging him the way you always do when you both were suffering from bad thoughts.

But this was so much different. All your ugly insecurities and jealousy powers through any rationality right now.

So you say nothing. Despite the confusion at his statement. You hear Eddie sharp intake of a breathe once he realizes this before you hear his knuckles tap on the wall, a quiet “fuck this”, then his footsteps receding.

—

You stayed in the bathroom all lunch. Pathetically allowing your thoughts to overflow and beating yourself up for not being able to act normal. Your mind was reeling, not allowing you to focus on your other classes.

School ended and you walked out to see that Eddie’s van was gone. You didn’t even know if he had stayed in school after he walked away from the bathroom.

You sat next to Max again. She didn’t say anything at first, until the bus was halfway to your destination. It seemed like your own silent treatment had annoyed her enough to rip the headphones from her ears.

“I can literally feel your sadness rub off on me and it’s annoying.” She narrows her eyes at you. You sigh and tilt your head at her.

“That’s not even possible.” You mumble, not hiding the sadness in your voice. She takes note of this and finally resigns.

“Okay. Just tell me what’s going on with you and Eddie.”

“Nothings going on.”

“Dustin was complaining to me about how he hadn’t made it to lunch despite needing to go over the last campaign. And you’re here, unfortunately . So..” she shakes her head, “it’s pretty clear.”

You groan and slam your head back onto the bus seat. “Okay fine. I’ve just..” you pause and play with your fingers. “He and Chrissy has a thing..”

“Chrissy Cunningham??”

“Yeah I know.” You laugh, “these past few weeks, they been hanging and he has been acting weird. And..I guess he likes her.”

“Oh okay. This makes so much more sense.” She states, sitting up. “You’re jealous.”

“Yeah.” You finally admit. “Really jealous. But I can’t do anything. Because who am I to do so? We’re best friends and I’m acting like a fucking jerk.”

“He asked Chrissy out yesterday,” you continue, “he called me before hand and was telling me about his feelings for her and how he planned to tell her. And I..freaked out and hung up. Then avoided him today. And I know he’s mad but I just can’t face it Max. I don’t want to hear about their relationship because it hurts. So much.”

Max usual nonchalant front faded into a concerned expression. She listened to you.

“He said he needed me and god, he wouldn’t do this to me if I were crushing on some other person. He would be happy and would be excited to hear me talk about it because he doesn’t like me the way I like him..I really am a horrible friend. Aren’t I?”

You felt pathetically for ranting to a 15 year old but when Max simply shook her head and said, “No. it’s okay to feel hurt by this.” You felt a bit relieved before she continued. “But maybe you should talk to him about it. I don’t know, you’ll get used to it. Don’t break a friendship over it, he’ll understand.”

“I don’t think I can tell him though..”

“Then don’t, idiot. But you can’t ignore him forever. I’m sure he’s really confused by all of it and doesn’t know what to do. He’s stupid that way.”

You snort.

“And it probably is hurting him. I can see the way he cares about you.” She says honestly, furrowing her eyebrows like a thought crossed her mind but she doesn’t mention it.

You nod, feeling a bit embarrassed but better. She was right. It’ll take time to get over this hurt but you can’t allow for it to ruin what you and Eddie had. Eddie’s reaction was clear enough for you to see you were being selfish.

It didn’t matter if it hurt. You couldn’t allow it to overshadow what you and Eddie already build.

“Thanks Max.”

“Whatever.”

You walked her to her trailer once the bus driver drops you both off, hugging her and enjoying the way she smiled shyly before she pushed you away and ran in her trailer.

Eddie’s van was parked in front of his trailer. So you had no other option but to take your time walking across the dirt trail and step up to the door.

I need you.

You knock on the door, the small pattern that only you and Eddie knew coming as second nature, and waited.

The door opened and Wayne appeared.

“Oh hey kid.” He says, glancing inside the trailer for a moment before looking back at you. “I’m guessing you and Eddie fought?”

“Was it that obvious?” You grimace, tugging on the sleeve of your sweater.

“Just a little. No other person can get Eddie to be slamming that door shut and blasting his music like you.” He says with humor, stepping back and opening the door wider for you to enter. You ignore the small comment and follow him inside. “But I’m glad you’re here. I really need to get some sleep so if you could..”

You nod quickly, giving a small apology before walking towards his room. The vibration of the heavy guitar solo could be felt in the hallway. The beat thrashing against your eardrums when you push the door open.

Eddie was sitting up with his back pressed against the metal bars that made up the headboard of his bed. Guitar in hand as his fingers moved effortlessly against the strings. Eyes shut as he had his head tilted towards the ceiling. You wait to see if he’ll notice that the door opened but he continued playing.

You build up the courage to speak. “Eddie.”

You didn’t think he would be able to hear you but the song came to a stop, eyes snapping open as he turns his head over to you.

“Y/N?” He puts the guitar down. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you. And your uncle let me in.” You explain, moving towards his bed and sitting on the edge. “He probably would have left me out there if it wasn’t for him wanting to get some sleep.”

“You know he would let you in no matter what.”

“I know.”

He watches you, fingers twirling one of the rings in circles in his other hand. Sadness evident in his eyes, uncertainty mixed with it as he switched his gaze from between your eyes. Waiting.

“Look Eddie, I’m really sorry”

“You been saying that.” He replies.

“No but..” you stand up and rub your hands against your thighs. “I’ve been such an ass.” You hold your finger up before he could say anything, “and I’ve been acting like a shitty friend. And I know you’re confused and have asked me to be honest, but..”

You look at some of his posters. “I am honest about my anxiety being part of the problem. I’ve been struggling right now, dealing with feelings I don’t want to.” You swallow, pushing on. “And I guess I’m just afraid. Of stupid stuff that doesn’t matter and shouldn’t have. And I took it out on you and that’s not right.”

“So, it wasn’t because of me? I thought I was doing something wrong this whole time.” Eddie watches you pace back and forth.

Yes.

“No.” You bite your lip and hug yourself.

“Then what was it?” He frowns, “I mean. Why didn’t you just come to me? You promised. I told you to talk to me about it all.”

“I know Eddie. I know. Really. It was just all me and my overthinking. And I’m really really sorry and-“

“Bug, I understand.”

“No , I’ve been horrible!” You frown and plop down on the bed beside him, covering your face. “I’m really truly sorry. I promise you I’ll stop being ..how I am.”

“I like the way you are. Christ y/n.” He pushes your hands away from your face and forces you to sit up, grabbing your shoulders. “I wasn’t mad at you because of that, I was just mad that you been pushing me away. I was mad not knowing whether I..I was the reason.”

“It wasn’t you Eddie. I promise.”

He nods, shoulder sagging from relief before he grins. “You know, it’s weird not having you ranting into my ear 24/7 about what’s bothering you. I hate when you get all quiet.”

You watch him, pouting and he pushes at your cheek. His hand cupping your cheek and you ignore the warmth is spreads across your chest. “I’m sorry for screaming at you earlier and not being there after school. That was not cool.”

“No, I deserved it.” You glance down and play with the chain attached to his pants. “I wasn’t listening to you about last night.”

Eddie tenses. “We don’t have to talk about that.”

“No we can!” You’re able to ignore the heavy feeling in your chest. The pit in your stomach wasn’t that big either. It felt somewhat okay. “What else were you going tell me? How did it go?”

“Nothing happened. I never got to ask.” He wasn’t looking at you.

You falter, confused. “What? I thought..”

Eddie clears his throat and stands up, grabbing his guitar and hanging it up in its place in front of his mirror. “Yeah, I totally chickened out. It doesn’t matter now.”

“It..it doesn’t?” You asked, feeling even more stupid now. No wonder he was so angry at you for ignoring him. He needed more support, encouragement and you weren’t there to give it. “Shit, Eddie. I really am sorry for hanging up.”

“It’s fine, really.“ He taps his fingers on his chin, still not looking at you. “Besides..I have a better idea.”

“Uh..” you begs to ask before Eddie suddenly bends down and grabs your waist and throws you over your shoulder as you scream in surprise. “-the fuck!”

“We are going to celebrate us surviving our first real fight!” He grins, conversation forgotten as he attempts to grab his denim vest and wallet with out dropping you. Your wiggling makes it hard but he manages to do it.

“And how are we going to that?” You giggle, relieved at the familiarly of your dynamic with Eddie. It was feeling okay again.

“We are going to get a milkshake.” He smiles and proceeds to carry you out of his room on his shoulder. A small bang echoing from your head hitting the door frame and your groan following it. “..And painkillers.”