#again you obviously don’t have to use sources or whatever just an aside if it’s clear enough for me to find then it’s like you need a link

[bleue-flora]

I want to debate with you over dsmp lore but I'm terrified you'll hate me

Hate? I won’t hate you for having an opinion, everyone has a right to one and I’m happy you have one :D especially if it’s your opinion not purely someone else’s (not to say it can’t align with someone else but it’s yours as in your not just mindlessly repeating someone if that makes sense…). And typically there is a little truth in both sides. Even in the times I’ve disagreed with people it has made me question things. Like for example my conversation with elmhat about c!Quackity prompted me to ask the question: why do I see him as unempathic and find no sympathy for him? Was he not betrayed? Was he not hurt? Was he not discriminated against and overlooked? Why is it that I can be so against him when some of the same things I sympathize with Dream on happened with Quackity. Which then spurred my research into Antisocial Personality Disorder (disorder relating to psychopaths and sociopaths) and Audience Perception. So even if I disagree or dislike what you have to say, I’m not going to hate you for it, and it’ll likely make me question why I think differently, often spurring my dive into lore where I usually find other fun things.

Like this funny clip with c!Schlatt and c!Quackity I discovered last night where c!Schlatt says that Austin Show is dead with him, which almost implies he’s some secret additional mystery character drifting in limbo?…

unless of course we consider that c!Schlatt also talks about the picture on his wall as his Dad who runs the gym with him… man seems to be going insane to be honest and who can blame him, he’s spent how many decades in limbo?…

Anyways, having said that, while certainly optional, definitely not required or necessary or expected, I’ll just let you know as an autistic person I do appreciate sources because there are a lot of times I forget about something or didn’t know and I want to see for myself, not because I don’t personally trust you but because my general rule to the internet is to not pass something on as truth just because someone said that because even in the context outside of dsmp analysis that’s how misinformation spreads so fast.

[chibishortdeath]

So I was playing Simon’s Quest (again) earlier and you guys might know by now that I’m incredibly normal (extremely deranged) about that game, but it’s got me thinking about something: what exactly are the hearts and why are they the money in this game?

Hearts in the first game and almost every game after Simon’s Quest are the thing that you need to collect to be able to use subweapons and they primarily come from candles, but enemies can drop them too. But in Simon’s Quest, while they do still power a couple subweapons, it’s only the ones we’ve never seen before like the Sacred Flame and Golden Knife while not being used for the Holy Water, something that does in every other game. And they only come from enemies because there’s no candles. And there’s different sizes of them. And collecting enough of them levels Simon up. And their primary function is completely shifted to currency!!! Odd, isn’t it?

And the whole way that you buy anything in this game is really framed like some black market sketchy deal. These sellers (or crooked traders with bum deals lol) are primarily holed away in their houses under one or two layers of walls and floors only breakable by magical infinite Holy Water, something only the local badass vampire hunter guy would have after having bought some with said hearts in the first town, or they’re way tucked away in the thick of these Dracula’s army overtaken mansions, some of them even standing directly where skeletons walk past them or in between relatively large pits of spikes. Whatever the reason, these guys obviously want this fairly secret. (Aside from the first town white crystal guy, he’s fine being out in the open lol.)

So what gives??? What is Simon grinding monsters for and trading with the locals for weapons and herbs???

Now this is where things get really ✨speculative✨. I’m gonna put the cut here for suspense and intrigue I guess lol XD. This is gonna be a lot of me thinking out loud and throwing down ideas, not really like a confirmed answer to anything, just havin fun thinkin about a part of a game d(•w• )

I think there’s a few possibilities. They could be the same thing that they are other games or they could be something different just used similarly as a power source.

But first we gotta break down what hearts could be in Cv1. In a lot of the games they seem to be some kind of a general mana, a magic energy possibly not unlike how metaphysical/magical things are depicted in other media. Perhaps the subweapons themselves are magic objects and not really a physical thing that require “hearts” to be conjured. Maybe they could be physical objects that need to be enchanted with “hearts” to be anywhere comparable to Vampire Killer level usefulness. Just a few possibilities.

If the hearts in Simon’s Quest are the same thing, then this kinda makes some sense. Simon trading monster soul energy or whatever with presumably magic users for things he needs on his Quest, especially since things like Laurels (also can be called bay laurels or bay leaves) are commonly used in spells and who better to be selling a spell component than someone who does spells! Also, it makes sense that these people would be fairly out of sight as magic use was still a touchy subject at the time.

Now I don’t know how accurate this is, and if I do find a source somewhere in my way too many bookmarks I will reblog this and link it to it, but I remember reading somewhere in an interview about either SotN or one of the games made close before it that the candles are like the souls of Dracula and his army’s victims that you free when you hit them and they leave you a little parting gift for it. Yes, these games were made way after, so it’s not certain if that was the original intent of these, but I figured it adds something to this.

But what if the hearts in Simon’s Quest are not the same thing? After all, the Holy Water doesn’t use them and we can’t say if they would or not work for other subweapons that appear in CV1 since they aren’t in this one. Well there’s something else that could be dropping from killing monsters that could also fit into the above probability that these traders are magic users and it’s a little darker!

Hearts! Bones! General viscera! And this also kinda makes sense! I mean the whole plot of the game revolves around Simon already carrying pieces of Dracula’s corpse around to burn all together on an altar to cure his and the surrounding area’s curse, it’s not that far of a stretch to say that he’d be fine with carrying around pieces of other monsters and that magic users might be willing to trade things for them so they can use them in their own spells, potions, and so on. And that might also explain why Holy Water isn’t powered by hearts and is incredibly weak in comparison in this game. And why these weird, new subweapons seem to be Simon exclusive! They could be powered by things like monster blood instead of the usual magic energy-ish stuff we’re used to hearts symbolizing.

Regardless of if I’m right or not with either of these, Simon is probably taking advantage of some underground monster essence/organs trade the whole game and this is just such an interesting batshit detail for him as a character.

Anyway, I love this game so much, I’m gonna be spreading propaganda for it like this a lot hopefully lol. Okie that’s it hope that was fun, do with this information what you will :)

[greytabbydreams]

Vandermatthews One-Shot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Face The World Together

Word Count: 1794

Rating: General  Audience

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summary:

Just a cute fluffy fic about Hosea and Dutch robbing some rich folks on a train.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hosea pushed a trolly cart down the small, yet elegantly decorated train car. He smiled down at a couple that were relaxing in the dining car, finishing off their last few drops of wine. A larger old banker type man, and his much younger mistress who was fast asleep; likely from the wine.

“Would you like another glass sir?” Hosea asked in a slightly more friendly twangy accent than his usual tone of voice. Hosea enjoyed playing an act when pulling off his schemes to rob wealthy people who could afford to lose a couple coins.

Earlier, Dutch had received a tip from a brief acquaintance, but a solid source a few weeks ago. When Hosea and Dutch visited Strawberry for the night, so that they could freshen up at the Inn in Strawberry. Dutch got to talking with a well dressed British man. The man mentioned that a ton of wealthy ariscates apart of some mens club was on this train that was passing through near Strawberry. Hosea could practically see the dollar signs flash in his lover's eyes when he was telling him all about this new plan he was beginning to cook up.

When the time came, Dutch had the fabulous idea for the two men to dress as the wait staff. Dutch working the bar, and Hosea going table to table, playing the part of the trolley boy.

The older gentleman replied to Hosea’s offer,

“Why of course! Th-ankss you.” Slurring his words, obviously quite intoxicated from the previous refiles Hosea had given the man.

Hosea just smiled politely, filling the mans glass halfway to the top. However, as Hosea brought the bottle back he knocked the mans fork onto the floor of the car.

“Oh dear, my apologies sir.” Hosea said in facked sorrow, starting to lean down and grab the fallen utensil.

“Don’t worry, I-I gott it.” The man grunted rushing downward to grab the fork.

As the man was reaching for the fork Hosea slyly grabbed the mans wallet that just so happened to be laying open on the table.

“I’m quite sorry again sir, jus’ call for me if you need anythin’ else from me.” Hosea apologized again moving away from the table onto the next car. The man just gave Hosea a dismissive wave as he took a long sip from his newly filled glass.

Hosea stepped into the next car, it was the bar. The room was basically empty aside from Dutch who was using a cloth to wipe a whisky glass, and dressed in a matching black and white server outfit to Hosea’s.

“How much have you tucked away tonight sir?” Dutch said, his voice deep and crackling as he asked Hosea the question. Hosea could swear he saw the younger mans eyes twinkle in the dimily lit car.

“Oh, no need to worry darlin’,” Hosea continued to use his gentle southern twang he developed for the night.

“I’ve taken at least 20 of these idiots cash and valuables.” Hosea’s lips curved into a smirk, and cockily stared at his partner in crime. Hosea put his hand on his hip, and patted the side of his coat that was filled with different types of stolen goods. He had done well tonight, the two of them were sure to make a huge score. Hosea knew he had about 200 dollars worth of goods, plus whatever Dutch was able to put away. They would be living comfortably for the next few weeks.

Dutch’s face fixed into a devilish grin, and he eyed Hosea up and down. Hosea’s heart pounded; the rush of the heist and seeing Dutch with that stupid look on his face was almost too much for him. Dutch walked closer to Hosea, pinning him passionately into the car walls.

“You amaze me dear,” Dutch purred into the crook of Hosea neck, eliciting a small involuntary noise from Hosea’s throat. God Dutch could be practically intoxicating at times.

“Tell me, how did I ever manage to get by without you?” Dutch pushed his groin against Hosea's thigh. Hosea was starting to feel dizzy, wanting so desperately to give into Dutch. However, he was unable to reciprocate the movement. The last thing the two of them needed was to be found out for having sex on the floor of the damn bar car. Hosea pushed Dutch away gently.

“Come on, you can wait until we get off at the next stop.” Hosea said, practically breathless trying to regain his previous composure.

Dutch just shrugged, same twinkel in his eyes as he backed away from the pair's spot against the wall.

“Alright, have it your way, but you need to let me have you on at least one of our schemes.” Dutch said humorously, trying his best to hide his disappointment.

Hosea chuckled a, “sure,” in response and rolled his eyes.

Before the couple could plan their next move, a roar erupted from the car Hosea had just exited to enter the bar.

“That fucking trolley boy stole my wallet!”

“Shit, looks like it’s time to make our escape.” Dutch said gritting his jaw backing away to the exit in the opposite direction of the commotion. Hosea reached for his pistol handle, and Dutch did the same with his own gun.

The pair of outlaws ran through one car to the next, as angry footsteps of the train security followed them. The two men stood at the last car, looking out onto the open air. The dark moonlit forest sped past them.

“I guess we’re jumping; try not to hit a rock.” Hosea exclaimed loud enough so that Dutch could hear him.

“I guess so.” Dutch replied preparing to jump.

The two jumped from the train in the same direction, rolling down a grassy hill that slopped away from the train tracks.

Hosea rolled for what felt like only a moment until he found himself right on his back facing the starry night sky.

Although the fall was rough, Hosea felt okay. He would probably have a couple new bruises in the morning, but nothing too damaging. Hosea rolled over, pushing himself up off the ground.

“Dutch, where are you? Are you okay?” Hosea called out into the dark forest scenery.

A couple feet away Hosea could hear a soft grone that sounded a lot like Dutch. His heart sank, did Dutch get injured?

“I’m coming,” Hosea rushed to the position he heard Dutch’s grone.

“What’s the matter?” Hosea helped Dutch sit up from his spot on the grass.

“I landed on my foot, think it’s probably twisted.” Dutch grimaced in pain as he stretched out his legs.

“Shit.” Hosea whispered looking down at his lover tremble slightly from the pain.

“Here, let me help you up, I saw town lights not too far away.”

Hosea placed Dutches arm atop his shoulders and boosted the man to his one good foot.

“Jesus, you’re heavy.” Hosea scoffed light heartedly, which Dutch replied with a sharp elbow to Hosea’s ribs and quiet laughter.

The pair hobbled slowly towards the dimly lit town, until a kind stranger offered to take them to a local inn.

Dutch sat on a bench, drenched in sweat from the exertion it took to walk as far as they did.

Hosea approached the front desk of the inn,

“Any rooms available for the night?” Hosea questioned the lanky man that was leaning far back in his chair behind the desk.

“Sure, but it’s just got one bed if that’s alright with you?” He said, cocking his head to the side suspiciousily and eyeing Dutch who was still sat on the bench.

“Guess one of us will need to sleep on the floor then.” Hosea replied nonchalantly sliding a whole 7 dollars towards the man.

The man percked up a bit at the amount of money, and tossed a key twords Hosea.

“Room number 5 on the end, over there.” The man pointed to the right side of the building.

“Try not to make a mess.” He gave Hosea a creepy yellow smile where it was apparent a couple teeth were missing.

Hosea turned to help Dutch to the last room labled “5” attached to the building, and unlocked the door.

“Here, let me lay you down,” Hosea soothed, and he helped Dutch sit down on the mattress. Hosea bent down and gently pulled off Dutchs boots, before swinging his legs onto the bed.

Hosea tried to step away, so that he could lie on the other side of the bed, but before he could Dutch reached out for his lovers sleeve.

“Aren’t you gonna help me undress?” Dutch asked in a dangerously flirtatious crackle.

“You’re hurt.” Hosea couldn’t believe Dutch was still in this mood, not even a sprained ankle could stop the great Dutch Van Der Line’s vigor.

“Take pity on me Hosea.” Dutch pleaded staring hungerily at his partner.

“Alright, let’s see then.” Hosea replied, letting himself be coaxed by Dutch’s classic charm that never failed to sway his point of view.

Before Hosea began to remove his partner's clothes, he pressed his lips against Dutch's mouth.

Dutch reciprocated the kiss, deepening it into a passionate and feverish sensation. Hosea let his hand cup the back of Dutchs neck, and Dutch placed his hand on Hoseas cheek.

“I love you.” Dutch breathed, like letting out a heavy sigh inbetween kisses.

“I love you too.” Hosea replied climbing over to lay beside him.

Dutch pulled at Hosea’s server jacket and shirt, trying to wiggle his hand onto his chest and remove the stubborn fabric.

“Take this off for me dear.” Dutch grunted in defeat, unable to properly remove the garment.

“Wasn’t I supposed to do that for you darling?” Hosea laughed reaching to undo the buttons on Dutchs collared server outfit.

…

Soon the two of them were less clothed and tangled in eachothers arms as they held one another. Dutch brought his hand to Hosea's bare chest to feel the soft rise and fall of his breaths and heartbeat.

“Sometimes I can hardly believe you’re real.” Dutch said dreamily, lost in thought gazing at Hosea who was laying beside him.

“I’m real.” Hosea replied, bringing Dutch's hand to his lips, kissing it softly.

“Never leave me.” Dutch said softly, yet there was a sternness beneath his lips.

“I won’t.” Hosea replied, now facing to look directly at his partner.

“We’ll always face the world together, just like you said when we first met.” Hosea finished bringing Dutch into another kiss.

Dutch just hummed in contentment, letting himself sink into Hosea’s touch.

Realizing their exhaustion, from the day's scheme, the couple fell asleep in eachothers arms knowing they would always be together.

[cream-and-tea]

how do werewolves work in lmd (plus anything else like that)

OK SO.

(this got very very long)

(just as a warning)

(also i’m going to tag @transmasc-wizard bc i remember you asked about this a while ago and a lot of this response comes from what i had typed up to respond to YOU lol)

(okay here we go)

there are (putting it very very basically) two main kinds of magic in the Ghost Story Universe: mortem (Death Juice) and vita (Life Juice). they draw from the same source (God Juice) (which is also the source of the apocalypse but that’s another post entirely) and are kind of different aspects of one thing, but still act as opposing forces. equals and opposites, can’t have one without the other, etc etc. the point is that even though they’re two different types of magic they share the same set of rules and operate under the same basic facts. one of the most basic being that magic is physically taxing to use. no magic comes without a cost

so this is pretty straightforward. and generally it isn’t anything too debilitating, but the more powerful the magic and the more magic used, the more damaging the physical effects become (for example: early on agnes’s chitchats with the ghosts she sees don’t really wear on her because it’s a very passive form of her power, but as the plot progresses and she actively draws on it more and more she starts to develop chronic headaches). the more active magic bullshit you do in succession —> the worse you’ll be feeling the next morning. people would usually need to rest for upwards of a few days after performing a major act of magic and the reason The Library focuses so much on endurance and repetition is to prevent that from happening. it’s to the point that some majorly powerful stuff is possible but the benefit of it is almost completely outweighed by the potential damage it would cause.

rambly worbuilding aside, this is really just a preface so it makes sense when i say: vampires and werewolves are what happen when people push their magic to far.

they’re basically the most extreme end of the spectrum for either kind of magic. vamps are a result of overusing vita (blood life stuff), and wolfs are a result of overusing mortem (spooky death stuff). this happens to people when they’re drawing on so much magic that their body literally cannot support it anymore and starts canabilizing itself in order to support the magic and prevent the person from just. coming apart at the seams. a Regular Person body is just incapable of handling that amount of power, so in turn they have to draw their sustenance from a different non-human source. the comparatively small piece-of-magic-apocalypse-juice in them mutates and co-opts the functions of their body in order to save that body from collapse. both vamps and wolves have to feed CONSTANTLY or they risk their bodies giving in and all their organs straight-up failing. it’s a slow transformation process and sort of representative of how much Whatever Caused The Apocalypse has become so deeply ingrained in every part of the new world. again: it presents differently but it’s all the same stuff in the end.

the world is full of monsters and weirdness and general spooky bullshit but vampires and werewolves especially have an ENORMOUS amount of stigma surrounding them because of the fact that most people still see regular magic users as recognizably human, and view the transformation as a transition from Human Person With Emotions Who I Should View As Such Despite This One Weird Thing to Inhuman Monster. most magical creatures aren’t seen as sentient in nature and many of them are actively dangerous to humans, so if someone pushes their abilities to far and ends up undergoing the transformation then it’s seen as a shift from being one of Us (normal people just trying to survive this crazy broken down to world) to being one of Them (unnatural monsters that came about as a result of the evil forest and apocalypse and want to destroy humanity), except that obviously the people who are turned are the same people they were before, just with an extra set of challenges and probably more bloodlust (which i can see being a bit of concern but c’mon. are u really going to let a little killer instinct get in the way of a lasting and meaningful relationship. weak).

They’re also used as an excuse when it comes to hatred of people born with magic at all. bc sure it SEEMS harmless when you kid is learning from their dead grandma or healing a little bit faster than normal, but with ONE WRONG MOVE they could become A VISCOUS BEAST or a BLOODSUCKING MONSTER and do you really want to take that risk?? wouldn’t it be better to stamp that out now before someone gets hurt??? even in places like The Library, which usually serves as a safe-haven for people born w magic, vamps and wolfs are seen as somehow Lesser. The Library toutes them as cautionary tales and failures of magic, basically a warning of what not to do to their students.

to get into the more specific abilities and effects and What Being A Vampire Or Werewolf Means i’ve made some handy little lists (ft. calliope and luca macnamara, a book 2-3 character that nobody knows about lol) (please click tumblr absolutely wrecked the quality):

so. yeah.

[alister312]

Yo, Tips for reach on A03?

Well, the thing about ao3 is that it doesn’t have an algorithm so there’s no such thing as “increasing reach” directly on there. However, here’s some things you can keep in mind to help draw more people into your fic!

ao3 automatically sorts fics by “most recently updated (/uploaded)” in whatever category a reader is browsing. This means, if you want people to see your fic, it’s a good idea to update often (to keep it at/near the top) and maybe try to upload during times when you think a lot of people might be opening ao3 to browse. Maybe this means on the weekends, when people have free time. Maybe it means at night, since lots of people like to read fics as bedtime stories. You can figure out what works best for you.

Here are the other things ao3 sorts by. I don’t have any data to back this up, but I feel safe in assuming that the main things people choose besides Date Updated are Hits, Kudos, and Comments. Maybe also Bookmarks. After all, those are all indicators that other people have read (and probably enjoyed) a fic, which means it’s worth checking out.

Hits are just how many people have clicked on and opened the fic. It doesn’t count how many people have actually read it, or how many times one person (or more accurately, one IP address) has read it. If you want to increase hits, plug your fic on outside sources often. Put the link out there as just fic advertisement, draw art or commission art for it and include the link with the post, share it around in discord servers— whatever level of shameless self promo you feel comfortable with. It’s wonderful if you have friends who believe in you and can also share and promote your fic, but you can always guarantee that YOU will be your own biggest advocate so use that to your advantage.

Kudos are similar to a Like button. IMO if you read a fic or a chapter of a fic and reach the end without clicking out, you should leave a kudos, but I also know people who are very selective about their kudos so to each their own. But basically, they are something a reader can leave once. They can click it a second time and it doesn’t unkudos but it doesn’t add another either. There’s not really a way to increase them aside from kudos-ing your own fic and/or asking people you know to please leave one. This one’s on the readers! The same basically goes for Bookmarks. There’s slightly more effort involved (instead of clicking one button, people have to click a whole TWO buttons) so it’ll probably happen less often than kudos.

Comments are, well, comments. Pretty self explanatory. Since people usually don’t leave comments unless they have something to say about the fic, you mostly just have to hope people have something to say! A “Comments are always appreciated :)” in your author’s notes never hurts too. You could also take the time to reply to every comment you get if you don’t feel overwhelmed about replying to all of them! This will increase comments obviously but more importantly, it lets the commenter know they were heard and appreciated. Everyone likes knowing that, and it’ll hopefully create a positive feedback loop where they will comment again so you can reply again and so on and so forth.

If you’re in it purely for the numbers game, you can also check out your statistics page often and play to those strengths. Putting that below the cut since this is already pretty long!

As you can see, the statistics tab lets you compare your fics in a bunch of different ways. That way, if you’re trying to get better at one specific thing, you can see what fics do better in that sense and figure out why they might’ve done better.

For example, my #1 in terms of Hits is Just Business, a multichap fic. This makes a lot of sense to me, since multiple chapters meant multiple updates, pushing it to the top of most recently updated more often where people could click it. I also advertised the fic on tumblr any time it updated, so that was even more opportunity for people to literally just click through. Plus, I published new chapters weekly, specifically on Wednesdays while a new season of the show was airing so I knew it was more likely that a lot of people would be browsing the South Park tag. However—

Just Business is nowhere near the top in terms of kudos. Even though a lot of people clicked on it, they didn’t leave a kudos. This is probably because the main pair featured in it, Gregstophe, is a rarepair. I make this assumption because my #1 fic for kudos is Sweet, Dude, which is a Style fic and Style is one of the most popular South Park ships.

Then for comments (or comment threads, which means it doesn’t count back and forth replies, just new comments), once again Just Business is at the top with my other multichap fic What Makes Cloves Grow right behind it. This is because returning readers will often leave a new comment every time you update. It’s also interesting to see that my two fics that feature Dip as a pairing are in the top 5, so that means Dip fans are probably more likely to leave a comment!

Now based off of all this, if I wanted to publish fic purely to get ahead, I know it would be smart to publish a multichap fic on a consistent schedule so I can advertise it often. Maybe it’d be good to publish alongside new episodes airing, or right around the time of a new special or game so hype is at the highest and the tag has the most eyes on it. The main pair should be Style, Cryle, Creek, and/or Dip, as those have all demonstrated the most engagement from readers. There’s other stuff to factor in too (such as the fact that many of my top fics have Fluff or Domestic themes so that means the fandom these days probably likes to read Fluff and Domestic stuff) but that’s the gist of it!

[lethalfragmentation]

FOAMING AT THE MOUTH. I DEMAND YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR HEADCANONS ON THE CHARACTERS FROM 斑紋胡蝶譚 (AND THE PREVIOUS 3 MUSIC VIDEOS) OR WHATEVER YOU WANNA SAY ABOUT THEM.

HI!!! I’m really glad to find someone who also appreciates this MV series, it definitely deserves more recognition!

Idk if I have too many specific thoughts on them but I’ll give it a shot!

Disclaimer: While the lyrics are very literal my understanding of Japanese is minimal, so for things that don’t have an EN translation I’ve been using Google Translate + going off things that JP fans on Twitter have mentioned about it (also using Google Translate…..OTL). If anything is inaccurate feel free to correct me!

I don’t think the characters formally have names (Bakui’s wavebox had multiple people asking but nothing was ever confirmed…?) so I’ll just refer to them by titles.

The Thief/Writer/Young Man: Headcanons… He gives me the impression of having a reserved and somewhat finicky personality even prior to his spiral into sin. For some reason he struck me as the kind of person to try to write a mystery novel, but since he ends up mired in the crime and underworld business that he once thought of for fiction, it eventually loses its charm and becomes the source of his writer’s block. Although the lyrics in 斑紋胡蝶譚 seem to indicate that he’s reached the end of the road, I like to think someone found some of his manuscripts once he fled and at least preserved them so they didn’t just end up in the trash… 

I’m also a little curious about the specifics regarding his family history since the songs drop hints here and there… In Romance in Full Bloom, he mentions that the heiress is out of his league and that he doesn’t know much about dancing and wine, and in Cheap Visionary, he’s obviously struggling financially, saying that the money that he took from his parents before leaving has dried up. But in 狂犬夜行譚 it looks like he was part of a wealthy family prior to his entanglement with his boss… maybe this is why he’s so good at keeping a mask and performing thievery? Also, it seems like his boss had a hold on those associated with the young man’s history, so I’m not sure if he’d been a target/accomplice the whole time or was just particularly unlucky.

^ I really like this shot for some reason... I think his forehead is a charm point lol

^ I also love this sequence in Cheap Visionary/狂犬夜行譚 a lot! The variations he rotates though are really fun and it's really effective at portraying his struggle with his sense of self

Unrelated but I think he and Narou (from For Dear Life) should meet since they both embody the struggling artist archetype haha

The Heiress/Young Woman: Despite growing up in such a stifled environment she gives me the impression of having an assertive and crafty personality when allowed to express it. Although it isn’t the first time someone has gotten close to her with the intention to steal her inheritance, it’s been a long while since she’s made the mistake of letting her guard down. The young man considers his soul stained from all the crimes he’s committed, but I feel like if they met again, she would be pretty understanding aside from forgiving him for stealing.

Also, it’s kind of subtle but she doesn’t seem at all surprised when she enters the dream in 斑紋胡蝶譚 unlike the young man, who seems a little disoriented to me (well, he did just kill a man). Maybe it’s because she’s used to dreaming and imagining scenarios to escape the current cage of her life...?

I'm glad she got a larger role in the series! Her design is really simple but cute... My post-MV cope is that the young man follows the railroad tracks to where the young woman's train is going, eventually meeting in real life and helping him change his identity/sponsoring his writing endeavors. He is similarly familiar with the workings of upper class dealings and how easily they can coexist with underworld business, so I think he could help her navigate affairs once she inherits the company from her family. At the very least, he would be able to alleviate the boredom by weaving the stories that were unable to escape his pen while he was selling his soul.

For some reason 御涙頂戴 by Miyuu/Teniwoha makes me think of them too… but it might be because they're close together on one of my playlists.

Random thoughts about the 斑紋胡蝶譚 MV:

Although it’s bittersweet, I think it’s a perfect place to end on. I’m not sure if Makabe-san has any more plans for this series, but I hope he and Bakui-san work together again in the future!

Nene’s vocals complement the dreamy mood and Makabe-san’s vocals so well! <3 I like the softer direction this song took compared to the previous three, which were high energy and chaotic.

The butterfly motif… people mentioned how butterflies are associated with the departed (especially given the lyrics), but I couldn’t help but think about how the use of dreams reminded of me Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream, esp in regards to the two characters’ regrets finally resolving despite not actually meeting in person 🥹

My favorite part is at 3:13 where the action has a rotoscoped feeling to it… it’s totally different from Bakui’s usual animation style which makes it more impactful to me! I love the color scheme as well, the limited color palette is reminiscent of the dream sequences in THINGS SO FAR and DIE IN THE SEA.

I was saying this earlier but this series is a really good showcase of Bakui-san’s growth as an animator/artist and I’m really glad Makabe-san lets them have a noticeable amount of freedom when handling the MVs…(me pointing at the first mural in 斑紋胡蝶譚: nunokami sighting ⁉️👆) 

Like... they’ve been trapped in the Nilfruits basement for part of this year (lol) and since he’s really popular there are probably stricter guidelines for the MVs and promo material? So it's nice they can exercise their own flair outside of their original works. I remember Bakui saying they like drawing characters’ angry faces the most, and it really looks like they had fun portraying the young man’s inner turmoil and the MVs in general for this series!

...I did not mean to write this much... But thanks for reading my disorganized thoughts, I hope they're to your liking :-]

If you have any headcanons/etc I'd love to hear them as well! Thank you for the ask! :'D

[backtothestart02]

We Met on a Train - 8/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: Updated! After ages! I hope you enjoy, but I encourage you to do a re-read if you haven't in a while. I def had to before updating. You can read starting from chapter 1 here. Enjoy!

...

Chapter 8 -

Barry volunteered him and Iris to go first, which made Iris a touch nervous until he assured her he would be the one acting out whatever was on the card, and she could guess.

“No worries,” he told her. “We got this.”

He winked just before looking at the card, and it sent delicious shivers down her spine. She wondered if she’d ever get used to the way he looked at her and suspected she wouldn’t, which was dangerous but also absolutely thrilling.

He cleared his throat and held up one finger.

“One word,” Iris determined and nodded for him to continue.

Next Barry craned his neck and moved slowly across the front of the room, pretending to eat something from an invisible food source in front of him.

Iris squinted, trying to think.

“Giraffe?”

Barry immediately stopped acting and grinned wildly.

“You got it! One point for us.”

He wrote a tally for them on the easel off to the side and pulled Iris up to her feet to give her a quick kiss, making her cheeks burn since they weren’t the only ones in the room. Henry and Nora shared a knowing look at the spectacle. Joe was still watching them curiously, and Wally rolled his eyes.

“All right, lovebirds, our turn next.”

And so the game continued for another half hour until Joe and Wally’s team and Barry and Iris’ team were neck and neck with 10 points each. Iris had chosen to be the final show of the evening and proved how in sync she and Barry were by getting him to guess in seconds.

“Ah! We win!”

“Aww, man!” Wally complained, but Barry and Iris were too enamored with each other – Barry having swept her up in his arms and spun her around twice – to notice anyone else’s reactions.

“Well, this has been fun,” Joe tried, but Barry was quick to cut in.

“Oh, the night’s not over yet.”

Joe frowned. “It’s not?”

“We have movie trivia next!”

“We do?” Wally frowned.

“Yep. And we have to watch a couple movies while we play, to get some free points in there, obviously.”

“I don’t think-” Joe tried again.

“Oh, Dad, come on, please?” Iris begged, pouting, but he didn’t appear to be swayed.

His face was hard, and Barry was making no effort to convince Iris to go home with her family, so Nora took the lead on this one.

“You know, we have a guest bedroom, Joe. I’d be happy to make it comfortable for Iris. Barry can always drive her home in the morning.” She turned to the hopeful couple. “After pancakes.”

Joe seemed hesitant, then finally,

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely!” Nora assured him. “Besides, Henry and I are getting a little tired already, and I’d hate to put poor Barry out and not play with him. Having Iris here will give him a playmate, of sorts.”

“Where is Barry sleeping?” he asked, his voice going deep.

“Dad,” Iris scolded, but Nora brushed that aside with a laugh.

“We haven’t changed his room since he went away to school years ago. I’m sure that room will suit him just fine.”

Joe heaved a heavy sigh but nodded, resigned to the inevitable.

“All right.”

Nora turned to Barry and Iris and shot them a wink, which made Iris look at Barry curiously. He only grinned and murmured something under his breath that she couldn’t catch.

“I’ll get your coats,” Henry offered, moving around the small crowd to get to the coat closet in the foyer.

“Thank you again so much for coming,” Nora said. “It really was past time we got together, and I think we should make it an annual thing.”

Joe eased up on his suspicions to turn on the niceties.

“We should.” He gave a polite smile. “Hopefully my whole family can come next year and not just the three of us.”

Wally winced, imagining his mom and Cecile in the same space for a whole evening.

“Maybe not the whole family,” he muttered.

Everyone else seemed to ignore that comment.

“Here are your coats.” Henry handed them over. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Thank you,” Joe said, then turned to look at Iris. “First thing in the morning, Iris.”

“After pancakes!” Barry blurted with a grin, and Iris sheepishly looked down before at both of the men in her vicinity.

“After pancakes, Dad.”

He nodded.

“All right.”

Iris called to her brother to say goodbye, but he just halfheartedly waved without turning around. A couple minutes later, Henry and Nora returned to say they’d be getting ready for bed and cleaning up a bit, but that the two were welcome to stay up as late as they liked before going to bed, and that it was their call which room they wanted to stay in together.

“I can help you clean up, Nora,” Iris offered when she saw her heading towards the kitchen.

“Nonsense.” She waved her off. “You’re a guest in our house tonight, not a maid. Have fun, you two, and we’ll see you in the morning.”

Iris pouted, but Barry was quick to reel her in and get her comfortable on one of the living room couches.

“So, what movie are we thinking?” He pulled out a few from under the TV area and tossed them to her. “Personally, I’m partial to It’s a Wonderful Life, but I’m open to the other two as well.”

“These are all Christmas movies,” she pointed out.

“You are correct.” He grinned, as he brought out the movie trivia game from the nearby closet.

“Well, is the game only for Christmas movies?” she asked, one eyebrow quirked.

He lifted the game up and pointed to the corner where it said Christmas Edition, which made her laugh.

“Oh, I see.”

She reigned in her continuing giggles.

“Well, by all means, pop in It’s a Wonderful Life. I haven’t seen that in ages.”

“Really?” Barry asked, surprised. “We watch it every year.”

Iris shook her head as she snuggled into the blanket he’d draped over her.

“We usually opt for something sillier and Santa related.”

“Well then, you’re long overdue.”

He took the movie from her and popped it into the DVD player, pressing play and turning back around.

“You want to just watch for a while and then play in the second half?”

“I’d love that,” she said and scooted up, so he could slide in behind her.

With his warmth on her back and the blanket over both of them, Iris felt cozy and at home, which was a feeling she hadn’t felt often in years, even in her own home.

“This is nice, Barry. Thank you for  keeping me all to yourself.”

He chuckled and inhaled the scent of her hair before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“It just wouldn’t be Christmas Eve Eve without you in my arms, Iris.”

She smiled and tried to focus on the movie, but some part of her nagged what next Christmas would look like if their families really did get together again like this, and the two of them were no longer ‘together’.

…

Halfway through the movie, Barry fell asleep.

Iris could tell it by the way his breathing evened out, not how he snored, which was not at all surprisingly. Henry and Nora had long ago gone to bed, and so Iris took it upon herself to turn off the TV and DVD player, as well as tuck the game back away where it had been. She was going to leave Barry tucked away on the couch while she went up to the guest bedroom, but he opened one eye just as she was draping the blanket over his feet, struggling to get it up to his shoulders too.

“It’s a struggle, isn’t it?” He smirked.

“You’re awake!”

“And long. So, so long.”

He grabbed her around the waist, making her squeal as he flipped her over and pinned her to the couch. She was about to protest when he kissed her long and deep, and she lost herself in that kiss. She was practically delirious when he finally gave her room to breathe.

“You are a good kisser,” she admitted, twirling her fingers in his hair before scraping her nails against his scalp.

Barry closed his eyes and hummed softly.

“Ohh, you like it when I do that, huh?” she teased.

He opened his eyes again and smiled.

“Oh, yeah. Feels nice.” He paused, before a devious look crossed his face. “Do you like when I do this?”

He started to lower his lips toward the crook of her neck, and Iris knew that way bode trouble. She braced her hands on his chest, making him frown but only for a heartbeat as he waited for her explanation.

“Not in your parents’ house. Not with them just upstairs.”

“I think you underestimate how hard my parents’ sleep.”

“Even so. My dad already has a tainted image of you from this afternoon. Let’s not taint your parents’ image of me too.”

“I’ll win him over.”

He swooped down and kissed her cheek.

“But your point is taken. Shall we go to bed?”

“Please.”

He stood up and pulled her to her feet.

“What am I going to wear though?”

“I was thinking…one of my old college t-shirts. Do you mind? I just have to grab it from my bedroom.” Iris opened her mouth to protest, so Barry continued. “And if you’re worried about warmth, don’t be. My mom keeps a comforter and two additional blankets in the guest room. Plus, you’ve got me. You’d be surprised how fast body heat can warm someone up.”

Her eyes twinkled.

“I’m sure you’ll remind me if I forget.”

He grinned again and took her hand.

“Come on, I’ll show you the way.”

As quietly as they could, they took the stairs, stopping in his old bedroom, which Iris cooed over, for a shirt for her and him. Then they made their way to the end of the hall on the left where the guest bedroom was located.

“This is nice,” Iris said, her eyes bulging a bit at how huge the bed was. “If it was just you and me in this house, I’d take advantage of how huge this bed is. Damn.”

He chuckled and tossed her the shirt he’d selected for her to wear.

“My parents should both be downstairs when we wake up tomorrow. Maybe we can get down to business…quietly.”

“Barry.”

He only smirked in response to her tone and started to change into his pajamas for the night. Iris turned away from him so as not to tempt him when she shed her sparkly shirt and bra beneath, but he was watching her the whole time and couldn’t help himself.

“I’ve seen it before, Iris. You don’t have to hide from me.”

Iris snickered and finished undressing, not looking at him until she had the t-shirt on and her holiday wear set on a little wicker table near the door.

“I’m not hiding. I’m preventing you from doing something you’ll regret.”

He came to her, then lifted her up onto the bed where she quickly scrambled to the pillows and got under the covers. He chuckled and went under them too.

“I don’t regret a single thing I’ve done with you, Iris.”

“Not even getting banned from your childhood skating rink?”

He sighed lightly.

“As you can tell, it’s not one of my favorite hobbies. I only regret that you’re banned from there too.”

“Oh, I’m not. My dad talked to the guy and apparently, I’m off the ban list.”

A smile that looked like heaven spread across Barry’s face.

“Well then, I stand by my word. I don’t regret a thing.”

He brushed the hair away from her face and leaned down to kiss her. Iris didn’t realize until it was too late that he had tangled their legs beneath the covers and was pressing her body against his growing erection.

She broke free, but her body didn’t move.

“Barry, what did I say?”

He shrugged innocently.

“Did you really expect me not to even make a try for it? I mean, look at you.”

She gave him a stern look.

“Save it for the morning, hornball.”

She patted his face and turned the other way.

“The morning? For sure?”

“No more questions or I’ll change my mind.”

He chuckled and reached for the lamp string, dousing the room in moonlight in an instant.

“Yes, ma’am.”

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS DARK FATE Vol.1 Chapter of the Eclipse [TRACK 3]

Original title: DIABOLIK LOVERS DARK FATE Vol.1 蝕の章

Source: Diabolik Lovers DARK FATE Vol. 1 Chapter of the Eclipse

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Morikawa Toshiyuki & Morikubo Shoutaro

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4

TRACK 3: SECRET PLAN

Shin: ( After carrying the woman out of my older brother’s room, I headed straight towards my own. Now I can suck her blood to my heart’s content. All my older brother told me to do was take her away. In other words, as long as I do that, whatever happens afterwards is free game. I have no doubt in my mind that my brother Carla is more than aware that I will continue her cleansing. In other words, I saw his actions as a way of sharing his prey with me. It’s not much different from how wolves will share leftovers with the other members of their pack. While I am sure that he decided to do this out of a slight sense of empathy, I doubt he is aware that this will become his own downfall. )

Shin enters his room. 

*Thud* 

He puts you down on the bed. 

*Rustle*

*Creaaak*

Shin: …There we go. Good grief…Nii-san really loves to work me to the bone. I understand that there’s things he can’t trust the Familiars with, but to think he’d turn his one and only younger brother into his personal errand boy. 

You wake up. 

*Creaaak*

Shin: …Huh? You’re awake? How do you feel? I mean, not good, I assume. You were tossed aside after getting your blood sucked left and right. Want some water? 

You nod.

Shin: I see. Go ahead and help yourself then. There’s a jug with water over there.

*Rustle*

Shin: Maybe you shouldn’t push yourself to get up? Looking at you, you don’t seem nearly as sturdy enough to have your blood sucked and still be fit as a fiddle afterwards. 

You attempt to get up anyway but collapse on the floor. 

*Thud*

*Rustle* 

Shin: And what do you know? Didn’t I tell you? You should really learn to take people’s warnings to heart. …See? 

*THUD*

Shin: …Oh, whoops~ I accidentally stepped on your hand. Oh well, what do you expect when you’re lying on the floor like that? Say…? Can you tell? I’m upset. 

He steps down on your hand.

Shin: I have to go through the trouble of trampling over you as a punishment, all because you refused to listen to my warning. ーー And I even have to pull you back onto the bed.

*Rustle rustle* 

*Creaaaaak*

Shin: …Don’t cause me so much trouble, okay? Come on. Can you properly sit up for me? …Or is there something specific you want to do? Take a shower, for example? I don’t mind, really. Do you want me to bathe you…just like I did the other day?

You frown.

Shin: Oh come on, no need to look so obviously displeased. That kinda hurts, you know? Besides, you enjoy yourself quite a bit if I recall correctly. It actually felt good, didn’t it? 

*Creaaaaak*

*Rustle* 

Shin: You’re playing it dirty by going quiet like that. Why not just honestly admit to it? At this point, neither of us still fall for the ‘pure maiden’ act, trust me. 

*Rustle* 

Shin: ーー Or rather, you’re too late to be able to pull that off. Those Vampires have had their merry way with you. 

He leans in close. 

Shin: You’re no pure maiden anymore…

Shin bites you. 

Shin: Hahn…

*Gulp gulp* 

Shin: Nnh…Hah…See? That’s the expression I was talking about. I guess you’re not aware of it unless I show you in the mirror? Hah! …Nnh…

*Sluuuuurp* 

*Gulp* 

Shin: Mm…

You nearly faint again.

*Rustle* 

Shin: Woah there…! …I guess I should hold back a little since Nii-san just got done with you. However, I’m not stopping.

*Rustle*

Shin: You really think I’d go easy on you? There’s just no way. Nnh…

*Gulp gulp* 

*Sluuuuurp*

Shin: I’m sure you’re long aware by this point…That I’m no Mr. Nice Guy, right? …Mmh…

*Sluuuuurp* 

*Gulp* 

Shin: Hah…Haah…Well, I guess you’re not expecting me to be either, are you? Nnh…

*Gulp gulp* 

Shin: Hah…! Look, there you go pulling that face again! You really make some nice expressions, don’t you? Show me more…Look this way!

*Rustle* 

Shin: Open your eyes. You can’t bring yourself to look at my face? Hehe…I’ll force them open then. 

You slowly open your eyes. 

Shin: Exactly, just like that. Get a good look at me. I’m the guy you’ve got to thank for cleansing your blood. Nnh…

*Sluuuuurp*

*Gulp* 

*Rustle rustle* 

Shin: Come on, didn’t I just tell you to keep your eyes open? …ーー Ugh!

*Rustle rustle* 

Shin: I don’t like having to repeat an order twice, you know? Or do you want me to hurt you even more? 

You shake your head. 

Shin: Then don’t oppose me. …Never. When somebody tries to defy me, these fists of mine, you see…They start to ache!

He threatens to hit you. 

Shin: If you believe that I won’t hit you because you’re a woman and because your blood is special, then you might want to think again. Iーー get a real kick out of violence, you see. 

*Rustle* 

*Thud* 

Shin: …Heh. Do you understand now? Then listen to what I say, okay? 

Shin bites you again. 

*Sluuuuurp*

*Gulp* 

Shin: Nn…Haah. …Haha. Did I scare you?

You nod. 

Shin: Makes sense. With someone who claims to love violence, you never know when they’ll decide to hit you, do you? 

*Rustle* 

Shin: However, I like all facets of violence, including that one. This way, there aren’t all that many people who dare defy me. …Well, it doesn’t work on Nii-san in the slightest though. …Hahn…

*Sluuuuurp*

Shin: Hah…

*Gulp gulp* 

Shin: Haahー... Ah, I guess you’re reaching your limit, huh? 

*Rustle* 

Shin: You’ll die if we attempt to cleanse you too much, won’t you? …But you shouldn’t be able to forget about me if I bite you enough, right? I plan on making you mine one day, you see. 

*Rustle* 

Shin: Until then, I better engrave myself into your memory whenever you’re given to me as Nii-san’s ‘leftovers.’ 

You ask him what he is planning.

Shin: Hm? My plan is none of your business. All you need to know is that as part of it, you will eventually be mine. You don’t even know anything about this eye of mine so…Heh, keep your mouth shut.

You tilt your head to the side.

Shin: There’s a lot of deep shit that has happened behind the scenes without you knowing, you see. ーー This scar remains as a result. So I will never forget about this grudge. 

You look at him with curious eyes.

Shin: Hm…?

You ask Shin to explain. 

Shin: You’re curious? Hmー Then let me teach you…

He leans in close.

Shin: That sometimes you’re better off not knowing about things which are none of your business. 

You flinch.

Shin: You don’t want to get caught up in someone else’s mess, do you? 

You get up from the bed. 

Shin: Oh? You’ve still got the energy left to get up? So, where are you going? You don’t want to be together with me?

You explain.

Shin: Ah, you want to take a shower, huh? I mean, I guess it makes sense when you’re covered in blood like that. However, I’ll repeat this as many times as needed, but you really shouldn’t push yourself like that. I promise that I won’t try anything funny if you just take it easy and rest up here. Heh…After sucking that much blood, even I…

Shin gets up. 

Shin: Haah…Feel completely stuffed. 

*Rustle*

Shin: …Oh. She’s not listening again? I guess she lost consciousness again. Good grief…Well, I guess I can’t blame her. We really went to town on her after all.

*Rustle* 

Shin: Her complexion looks very pale. Oh well, I doubt it’ll kill her. 

*Rustle*

Shin: If we keep this up, she should be fully cleansed in no time. Haahー 

*Rustle* 

Shin: But still…The taste of her blood…I feel as if it has not changed much compared to when she just came here. You would think that it’d have improved more after all those times we’ve fed off her. 

He looks over at you. 

Shin: Both of us Founders have been sucking her blood, yet it’s still like this…It strikes me as kinda odd. …I guess things just aren’t that easy? Hey…You, who has the DNA of Menae running through your veins… 

He leans close.

Shin: You better join our side soon, or else the future isn’t looking too bright for you, you see? I doubt you’re aware of that though…But I don’t want things to remain like this forever. Haahー...

Shin lies down on the bed as well. 

Shin: Haah…I’m kind of exhausted. 

( I silently scooted beside her and closed my eyes. Perhaps the process of cleansing had taken its toll on me, but in a matter of seconds, I had drifted off into a deep sleep. And thenーー )

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

[sepublic]

Belos’ Day of Unity

            This episode confirmed a HUGE detail for us, and it’s that the Day of Unity involves merging the human and Demon Realms together! This better explains why Belos wants the Portal… If he just wanted to access the human world, he could do that with regular Titan’s Blood alone, but he needs something on a level that can maintain a lasting, open connection between the two! Not only that…

         But as Boscha so ‘kindly’ reminds us later this episode, Luz’s glyphs don’t work in the human world! Magic is a gift from the isles… And with the association of wild magic as ‘elemental’, how Luz’s glyphs take an elemental form… How they were the first form of magic, learned from observing the isles themselves and whatnot-

         It seems wild magic, at least as how Belos defines and hates it, takes a lot of cues and even draws power from the Boiling Isles! From the Demon Realm itself… Which, is interesting because;

         Belos clearly wants to control magic. He sees it as something witches have to more or less earn back… But ideally, they have to earn it from him entirely! Bile magic is something Belos can control, it’s confined to people’s bodies and he has the coven bindings to do so- Belos can control bodies, he can override that autonomy, and it comes from a source he can regulate. You can even see it with staffs, especially the one that Hunter has!

         Staffs can be taken away, they can be broken and drained. They’re external, but in a way that Belos can easily separate a witch from… And with Hunter, this takes on a whole new twisted meaning, because Hunter’s staff is (or rather was) his ONLY source and means of magic… 

        And as someone who created that staff no doubt, Belos can easily tamper with and restrict the spells that Hunter can access with it, no doubt- I wouldn’t be surprised if Belos could turn off Hunter’s staff at will! It’s his to give and take as he pleases, and given Belos’ unwillingness to create more Palismen, we still see plenty of carefulness with staffs as an external source of magic as well. Belos might intend to replace magical staffs with his own version that he can control!

         But wild magic and glyphs? They come from the isles, they come from the very land itself… And Belos CAN’T restrict the very fabric of the reality he lives in. Glyphs are an outside-context problem, you don’t need a bile sac to wield them; And they completely bypass the issues of coven bindings. You can’t restrict glyphs, the way you can’t restrict knowledge- It’s always bound to slip through Belos’ grasp, no matter how hard he tries. And once a secret is out, it tends to spread like wildfire…

         Belos can’t just apply some massive coven binding to the Demon Realm entirely… Can he?

         That’s of course where the Day of Unity comes in. Where OUR world comes in… If magic, specifically the wild magic that fuels glyphs, is sourced directly from the Demon Realm itself… And our world has no magic, glyphs are useless there? 

        Belos might intend to neutralize the Demon Realm’s magic entirely, by fusing it with the human world! And/or, with how the human world seems more vast than the Demon Realm (the Boiling Isles is only the size of Vermont), the magic inherent to it will be spread so thin that it’ll be too weak to utilize.

         And that’s… As Luz might put it, fiendishly clever! Belos recognizes his limits. He knows he can’t control the knowledge of glyphs, the memory of them- And even if he could, people can still learn directly from the isles itself, from the Demon Realm itself- The Light Glyph can be found in the stars! So long as the original source exists to learn from, nothing is truly stopping someone from paying attention and finding it on their own, potentially by accident!

         If Belos can’t truly, physically control this magic and restrain it- Then it’s a liability, especially since it can grant coven-bound witches access to full magic again, and allow them to turn the tides. It makes Belos and his system redundant… So he has to remove the original source of wild magic, WITHOUT destroying his own world and of course himself in the process!

         In comes our world. With the Demon Realm’s magic neutralized and/or diffused, the only source will come from the bile in witch’s bodies, which Belos CAN restrict. Sure, some witches might escape here or there, slip through the cracks and have unbound children… But that’s nothing compared to the threat of glyphs, which anyone can learn at any time!

         And if Belos plans to somewhat conquer the human world, at least to defend and maintain his own utopia- It works out again! Because our technology is based on knowledge, nothing is stopping the witches of Belos’ society from learning and adapting to our own technology, repurposing it for themselves. We already see technology exist to some degree anyway, such as in the Abomitons, and Belos’ own creations! It’d be easy for witches to repurpose our own technology for themselves.

         But humans? We can’t cast magic. We have no bile sacs… And even glyphs, the one form of magic we COULD wield, would be rendered powerless by our own world! Sure, there might be a few witches here or there that would come to our side, that would oppose Belos’ conquest and imperialism… 

        But those select few wouldn’t make up for the vast differences in numbers, nor could they have kids who’d grow up at a fast enough rate. Magic can replicate technology’s uses in its own way –scrolls can access a magical version of the internet- and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Day of Unity will also empower Belos as some kind of all-powerful, magical god who could easily handle what us puny humans throw at him, anyway.

         Aside from a much smaller population… Again, it seems magic is a good way for Belos to ensure his own power and conquest over our world, too- Or at least to keep us out of his own borders. Perhaps Belos only intends to rule his select portion of the Demon Realm within Connecticut, and bar out everyone else to their own devices, occasionally checking in to make sure we don’t ‘invade’ his own bubble.

         Maybe Belos doesn’t even intend to transport the entire Demon Realm, just the Boiling Isles itself, to the human world… Which of course isolates witches from that source of wild magic even more.

         There is an issue of course- And that gets down to how witches create magical bile. With how magic is a gift from the isles, it’s possible witches are simply able to convert the innate magic of the atoms and molecules around them in their digestive system, and turn that into bile- Meaning without this ‘magical radiation’, eventually a witch will run out of magic bile and be depleted, should they stay in the human world without any access to the Demon Realm.

         Does Belos know, or even care? Maybe this is his way of also removing magic entirely… Or as I said, with how magic will be spread thin when our worlds fuse; Perhaps it will exist in enough of a capacity in this fused realm, that biological witches can still harvest this magical radiation and produce bile. 

        Or, based on how King described it in The Unauthorized History of the Boiling Isles, witches just naturally produce their own magical radiation in the form of bile- They don’t need to be connected to the Demon Realm to do, they are their own sustainable source!

         Either way, Belos’ plan makes a disturbing amount of sense… It’s the final nail in the coffin as a way for him to physically control magic, and it’s the outright death and eradication of wild magic as well! He has no interest in conquering our world, not necessarily- Just in bringing his over so he can kill off the final source of magic that manages to elude his control.

         Any imperialism may come as a natural byproduct of this type of crossover, but it’s not what Belos specifically intends from the fusion- So in a way, he wasn’t lying when he said that it wasn’t his plan to conquer the human world. 

        Belos didn’t say it’d NEVER be his plan… Just that this specific goal doesn’t involve that, not necessarily. Plus, he’d argue that any conquest would come fully as a means of self-defense, which… Would not be wrong either, because there’d definitely be humans who’d reject the society that Belos would bring in, and seek to eradicate and/or control it for themselves too!

         Once the Day of Unity’s crossover ensues, it seems the only magical liability that Belos would have to worry about is… Unbound biological witches, witches who DO have a bile sac, but aren’t under Belos’ control! Hence why he stresses to his coven heads;

         “The larger your covens grow, the more power we have to unite our realms, where the worthy shall inherit a utopia free of wild magic.”

         It’s possible Belos plans to use his coven bindings as a means of powering whatever magic he needs to pull this crossover off- I’ve speculated before on the demon realm’s solar system forming a glyph combo to do this, but it’s not out of the question that Belos would need a little extra power for such a massive event. 

        Perhaps Belos intends to drain the unused magic of every bound witch- After all, about 8/9ths of every bound witch’s magic is sealed away, presumably unused… So to Belos and his coven heads, they’re not really depriving anyone of anything by draining that unused magic?

         Especially if witches’ magic can still replenish over time anyway (unless you’re cursed), plus spreading the individual cost that each witch will have to fork over for the Day of Unity, across more witches, is arguably the moral thing to do anyway! 

        Hence why coven bindings are necessary, not just to fuel the Day of Unity, but to also remove the final liability that Belos would need to deal with. Ideally, Belos wants every witch bound before the Day of Unity, so he won’t have to worry about any biological witch when the crossover occurs…

         But at the same time, I doubt it’s strictly necessary- So even if it’s ideal, Belos is obviously going to go ahead with his crossover if there are still unbound witches. He can still deal with them later… They might have a bigger world to escape out into, which is why he stresses this be done sooner, rather than later, when witches are more confined to a smaller space and easier to find- But Belos still ultimately wins, one way or the other.

         Belos’ plan and Day of Unity is unimaginably grandiose, horrifying, and worst of all… Makes so much sense, it connects everything together in a reasonable way! Though it only makes sense from a viewer’s speculative perspective, and in-universe from the perspective of Belos, for the kinds of goals he’s looking for of course. 

        From a general and moral perspective this plan is completely nuts and terrible, but in terms of what Belos is actually trying to accomplish, a society where magical is truly bound… (Albeit not an actual ‘utopia’ like he claims), I hate to say it but this works perfectly, and that’s terrifying! Unfortunately, it seems this fucker does know EXACTLY what he’s doing, very much! And Belos is batshit nuts.

        And there’s a good chance that somebody in this meeting is very understandably not enthused with Belos’ plan, even outright intimidated, and determined to stop it as a result...

[onesunofagun]

I shall now yell about Ingo, please stand by:

Ingo’s transformation from the underappreciated backbone of the ranch to an absolute ruff-wearing cantaloupe of a man is also pretty interesting (if you’re the kind of person who absorbs the Zelda series through your skin like a frog to live).

I’ve bolded the key points for skimmers.

Granted, the manga has it that Ingo just gets brainwashed by Twinrova into being a staunch follower of Ganondorf. That’s not canon, but it’s not informing any of this thinking, either way. 

In the beginning of OoT we meet Talon by waking him up from a nap, and we learn pretty quickly that he’s lazy and often yelled at by his daughter for slacking off like this. Ingo at the ranch confirms again that Talon doesn’t pull his weight around there, and since Malon’s still a child, it’s pretty obvious that Ingo’s settled with the bulk of the work.

Ingo is grumpy, he’s resentful, and he complains a lot. But he does do the work, and you can find him (presumably) in the process of mucking out the stables. 

Let’s examine what he does at the ranch:

Epona really liked that song... Only I could tame that horse... Even Mr. Ingo had a hard time...

Now, Epona is established in game to be a real winner of a horse. She’s fast, she’s smart, she’s got a lovely sorrel coat and white mane that seems to be quite rare or highly prized coloring. The catch is, she is notoriously wild. The only people she tolerates are Malon and Link, due in large part to being soothed by the song Malon’s mother taught her.

Ingo had to really try to crack this horse, which Malon’s observation suggests is unusual. 

Epona is very young when we first see her, so it’s never really revealed if she was caught wild, or bred at the ranch with a very headstrong temperament.

Ingo’s clearly the guy that’s breaking them in, though. The most Talon is doing is... sleeping in with the cuccos. We never see any organisation of the cuccos, in terms of egg collection or poultry farming, but nevertheless, Talon has the much less physical jobs even if he was doing them. His focus seems to be cuccos, deliveries to the castle and book keeping between naps (and to be fair it’s probably a little depression related, given the dead wife).

Malon gives us a cow later on, and she’s got the egg for the crowing cucco that wakes up Talon, so I’d like to assume for simplicity’s sake that even as a kid, Malon was up at dawn most days helping Ingo with the cows and milking them. It’s never really implied that she has amazing skill in dealing with horses, just that Epona has a special connection with her specifically. Other than that, Malon is simply kind and respectful of her animals (though I’ve got no idea how she got that cow to Link’s treehouse and that’s worth investigating). 

Later on, Ingo is also shown to be a competent rider. Enough that he has absolutely no qualms in challenging Link to races for wagers, and was quite confident of his ability to win.

The takeaway is, Ingo is usually VERY GOOD with both caring for and training horses, if not breeding them for the ranch.

That kind of lends to his grumbling, when he is referring to himself as ‘the Great Ingo’ and comparing himself to Talon, who is a ‘bum’. His claim to greatness may not be undeserved, at least in horse circles, and especially if he’s not getting particular credit for it, his bitterness and frustration (alongside envy, exhaustion, and dreams of recognition) would be quite deeply run.

So it seems that his friend and employer is clearly taking some advantage of him, especially after the death of Malon’s mother.

So now, let’s examine his feelings, and how he changes.

The feelings Ingo has about that are pretty textbook for the sort of thing ‘evil takes hold of and twists’, in the Zeldaverse.

Focussing on the game itself, Malon says this as an adult:

Since Ganondorf came, people in the Castle Town have gone, places have been ruined, and monsters are wandering everywhere. Mr. Ingo is just using the ranch to gain Ganondorf's favor... Everyone seems to be turning evil...

We do see other characters in Hyrule become influenced by the ‘darkness in their hearts’ as byproduct of Ganondorf’s reign. 

A prominent example of a character who was visibly dissatisfied with their lot, and then notably changes (while praising Ganondorf for what he’d done), is the Castle Guard who is heavily implied to have become the Poe Dealer. Even if by some slim means it’s not the same person, the Poe Dealer does still express that they could not do the work they do without Ganon as King, and that they now benefit from him being in that position and are grateful to him.

The Kakariko Carpenters seem to have given into their fantasies about living among the Gerudo women, and gone out to the Valley and gotten themselves taken prisoner. Following work near the fortress, the team chooses to act on their selfish desires and go for broke, chasing their dreams. They weren’t previously prepared to act upon these fantasies when Link was young, admittedly much milder in their still very prominent obsession, but seven years later, they’re quite happy to risk it all and piss away the stability of their careers (and nearly their lives) at the first opportunity.

Anyway, the trend is, those across Hyrule who are unhappy with their lot before Ganondorf’s coup tend to be ‘corrupted’ by seven years later, and appear to have given in to a twisted version of whatever they most wanted. 

This is noteworthy especially because the language in the game revolves around the Sacred Realm being opened and corrupted, too, by Ganondorf’s unbalanced heart and selfish goals. It is unable to be ‘sealed’ again while Link has the Master Sword. In aLttP, we know there is a mirror like effect to do with the sacred turned dark realm, in which it reflects the hearts of men. 

So it is very reasonable to say, that for OoT in particular, much of this evil influence plaguing the land and preying on the darkness an people’s hearts is a result of the corruption of the Sacred Realm. It is an indirect byproduct of Ganondorf’s acquiring of the Triforce, but not necessarily something he himself does to people on purpose, unlike the brainwashing of Nabooru.

Mr. Ingo is just using the ranch to gain Ganondorf's favor... But Dad... He was kicked out of the ranch by Mr. Ingo... If I disobey Mr. Ingo, he will treat the horses so badly...

This explains a lot of the more callous and greedy behaviour that Ingo shows later on, and why it seems to disappear when he is truly humbled by Link. 

Link’s win serves as a reminder of Ingo’s stagnating skill with horses, the very thing that made him feel so deserving of praise and recognition in the first place, in that for everything he now has control of at the ranch, he still cannot control that horse. He has become as much of a bum as Talon ever was, relegating Malon to do all the hard work while Ingo struts around uselessly. He’s even lost his touch with the Horses so much, in his arrogance, that now he has taken up mistreating them and using harsh and abusive methods (according to Malon’s concerns).

The humiliation and shame takes hold, his pride shattering with the loss of Epona-- not only as a valuable asset, but also as the horse he could never truly tame.

The dark feelings he was holding onto are let go of, as he regains a sense of humility, and the corruptive influence upon him dissipates. He even seeks out Talon to bury the hatchet and invite him back to the ranch.

Oh, I have to tell you about Mr. Ingo... He was afraid that the Evil King might find out that Epona had been taken away... It really upset him! But one day, all of a sudden, he went back to being a normal, nice person! Now my dad is coming back...I can't believe it, but peace is returning to this ranch!

But what about his obsession with Ganondorf in particular?

When the coup happened, Ingo watched the King of the Gerudo unwittingly play out a sort of grand parallel to what Ingo felt should happen on the ranch. To Ingo’s perception, I think Ganondorf was representing an ideal version of Ingo himself. 

A man of the desert, where hard work and grit are as second nature to survive the harsh conditions. A man frustrated with the King of Hyrule’s shit, and forced to swear fealty to him despite being a King himself. A man resplendent with wealth, with fine and flashy clothes and plentiful jewelry.

And perhaps the most important note of all, the Gerudo in OoT? 

They’re horse people. 

They love horses. Ganondorf’s horse is reputed to be a purebred Black Gerudo Stallion, which is obviously a specialty breed, that is fully armoured and as flashy as he is. When the Gerudo cut the bridge leading to the valley, the only way in and out is to have a skilled horse jump the gap. 

They also have a huge horseback archery range, and prowess in the sport is an incredible source of respect amongst the Gerudo, and many of the guards possess bladed polearms suitable for mounted use. From this, it can be assumed that during the recent civil war, Gerudo weapons, war tack and military tactics were probably built around mounted cavalry archers foremost, with a lesser focus on light and heavy cavalry aside (iron knuckle armour springs to mind).

Anyway, Horses are very important to the Gerudo in the era of Ocarina of Time.

So Ganondorf is also unique in the sense that he is the King of a people who value what it is that Ingo does very highly. He, of all people, stands to immediately recognise the knowledge and skill that Ingo possesses in rearing horses.

So this is a man who successfully stages a coup of Hyrule, who clearly inspires Ingo to do much the same of the ranch, and who Ingo also feels is very likely to take his side should he appeal the matter.

And Ganondorf does.

And if that’s not a great compliment to Ingo’s actual skill, I don’t know what is, because Ganondorf is not a man that suffers fools. He’s got a limited patience when it comes to shit that is beneath his notice. Clearly, he recognises that Ingo is indeed the backbone of that ranch-- and the main reason for the quality of its Horses-- and rewards this accordingly.

And for Ingo, being on decent terms with the big scary goth King is a very, very good place to be. But it’s more than that!

What a guy! Not only did he deliver on Ingo’s long due validation, he gave Ingo everything he’d ever dreamed of having to his name, and the authority to kick Talon to the curb. He gets it! Ganondorf, this great eight foot beacon of freshly sought divine power and topaz-encrusted glory, this absolute unit of a man, this great underdog horse-lover after Ingo’s own heart; he really understands how great Ingo is. Ganondorf is paving the way for people like them! Oh, to rub shoulders wiht such greatness when the rest of Hyrule is scorned. 

Ingo feels seen. The Great Ganondorf made all that thankless time spent shovelling horse shit while Talon slept mean something. The Gerudo appreciate Ingo’s talents.

And all Ingo has to do is keep turning out really good horses, and promise to present the King with his finest.

So Ingo knows he’s in deep shit when he gets cocky and loses Epona to a wager, who at this point, he’s prepared pretty well and sunk a lot of money into on the idea that she’s going to Ganondorf. 

Who he’s probably bragged to about how fast she is.

He lost her to some jerk in tights who’d barely ridden before, too. And then when Ingo tried to cheat him out of the win, the kid jumped the damned fence an in ass-bustingly cool move that really just drove home how excellent and rare Epona was.

One does not promise the King of the Gerudo a fast horse and then fail to deliver, let alone for such a stupid reason.

Honestly, by the end, the man’s just happy to be alive.

Also I’d like to think he and Talon had a much fairer delegation of work and forgave each other, each really learning to appreciate what they have and what’s really important.

how the fuck did the Kokiri leave the forest for this scene anyway, they don’t even have their faries???

[jungshookz]

Imagine jimin dancing without shirt because it's to hot and the whole class sees him😳

no need to imagine baby i gotchu 

this was supposed to be super short but i said that to myself like two hours ago and it turned into,.,.., thIS..,,. so if balletteacher!jimin doesn’t win the poll at least the ballet!couple stans have,.,.,. WHATEVER THIS IS 

➺ pairing; balletteacher!jimin x ballerina!y/n

➺ genre; i literally cannot focus because i keep staring at this gif so just assume this drabble is as hot as jimin i,.,.,. i am about to go into my jimin phase again,.,. 

➺ wordcount; i don’t know i am so out of it right now (1.7k) 

(unfortunately i wasn’t able to track down the original maker of this gif but this is where i sourced it from! all credits go to the original creator of course :-))

                                       »»————-　🔥　————-««

“sorry i couldn’t make it to brunch last week and... the week before that… but i can definitely join you guys this week!” you chirp, pausing for a second so you can quickly pull your hair into a flimsy low bun, “there’s this place that has these massive waffles and you can pour as much syrup on it as you want on them-” you take your duffle bag out before slamming your locker shut and turning around, “plus-”

you immediately stop talking when you realize that you’re all alone in the changing room

you blink twice before reaching up to scratch your head

what the heck

…how long have you been talking to yourself for??

there are still bags and shoes and loose articles of clothing sitting on benches and hanging out of lockers but it’s just that their owners have completely disappeared

“guys?” you frown, zipping your hoodie up as you step over items littering the ground to make your way to the door, “i know i’ve been really flaky with our dates and stuff but you don’t have to abandon me mid-conversation to prove a point-” you poke your head out of the changing room, holding your breath for a second to see if you can hear anything

“-is someone filming this or what??”

“shh!!”

“move over, let me look too-”

that’s odd

“guys…?” you lower your voice as you approach the girls cautiously, raising a brow at the sight of them crowding around the door of the classroom, “is there, like- some kind of hip-hop class or something-”

you can practically feel the vibrations of the bass pumping through the floorboards as you get closer and closer, the sound of muffled thumping leaking out through the crack in the door

“y/n!” lisa turns her head when she hears you, slipping out of the group with a giggle and gesturing for you to hurry and come over, “there you are, silly- i thought you followed us-”

“follow- well, class is over and we’re all changing out of our unitards so i didn’t know i had to follow you guys anywhere-” you snort, leaning over a little to look at the group of giddy girls again, “let me guess - those boys from that other dance academy came to use our rooms again-”

“guys, move out of the way so y/n can take a look-” lisa swats at jisoo’s back gently, the girls whispering to each other excitedly as they step aside to let you through

“no way!” seulgi chirps, popping her head up at the front of the group, “you snooze, you lose, y/l/n-”

“c’mon, seulgi, don’t be like that-” lisa tuts, shoving at your back to force you through the tightly packed group, “everyone should get a chance to see this-”

“see what?! what is going on-”

“fine, but i’m only giving you one minute-” seulgi wags a finger at you before stepping down from the ledge, wrapping her hand around your elbow and yanking you up, “sixty seconds.”

“can i just say that you guys get so weird whenever those boys come to-” your mouth immediately goes dry the second you turn your head and peer through the crack, all the blood in your body rushing up to congregate in your face, “oh, dear god-”

you were certainly right about all this commotion being caused because of men

except, in this case, it’s just because of one man

you watch in shock as a very shirtless jimin slams his arms down mid-air against the beat, twirling around in the spot with his head tilted back

he slides a hand down his chest until he reaches the waistband of his sweatpants, lifting a leg and thrusting his hips forward with a grunt

his tongue pokes out in between his lips before it curls upwards and you swallow dryly when you feel your stomach flutter

out of all the things you were expecting to see when you looked into the classroom, it definitely wasn’t this

you’ve never seen jimin dance outside of a classical setting so this is very… very…

wow

this is very wow

“god, i wanna fuck him.” seulgi sighs dreamily, twirling a strand of hair around her finger, “i love men. don’t you love men?”  

“men- i-” you force yourself to snap out of your daze, letting out a nervous chuckle as you turn to look at seulgi, “this- to be honest, this feels like a private moment, you know? i-i feel like we should probably leave now before he catches us-”

“oh my god, you always get so weird around mr. park!” seulgi scoffs, rolling her eyes before pursing her lips, “you can appreciate his beauty without feeling bad, y/n. relax a little!”

you press your lips together as you take a second to think through her response

…

what are you even thinking about?

of course you know you can appreciate his beauty!

you have personally appreciated his beauty in private many, many times but of course no one knows that

but maybe if you quit acting so weird and twitchy, seulgi will finally give you a break and will stop giving you crap about how nervous you get around mr. park

for the record, the only reason why you get so sweaty and weird whenever the conversation shifts to how attractive mr. park is is because you’re scared you’ll accidentally let something slip one day and screw everything up

the other day lisa was wondering out loud if mr. park had a six-pack or an eight-pack and you were about to respond with a ‘it’s a six-pack but he’s getting to an eight-pack if i’m being honest-‘ but LUCKILY you stopped yourself before all of that word vomit spewed out of your mouth

obviously she got her answer today after spying on him dancing half-naked

“in fact, i think it’d be good for you to appreciate his beauty up close so you can finally join in on our conversations…” seulgi clears her throat, pushing herself up from the wall as she zeroes in on you 

“yeah, well, i think my sixty seconds is up, so maybe- oh!” you gasp when you feel two hands shove at your back and you don’t get a chance to even process the fact that you’re being pushed before-

the door ricochets against the wall with a smack! after you get pushed into the room, your palms slapping against the wooden floor immediately to keep yourself from knocking a tooth out

“y/n!” jimin snaps out of his intense concentration when he sees you stumble into the room behind him in the mirror, turning to look at you with wide eyes before hurrying over to the stereo to turn the music off, “are you alright??”

“fine! i-i’m fine- i’m good-” you sneakers squeak against the ground as you scramble to your feet, glancing back to glare at a very smug-looking seulgi  

why is she always getting you into these situations?!

…how do you always let her get you into these situations?!

“i’m so sorry for… i… um…” 

you know this isn’t the first time you’ve seen his skin glisten with sweat but something about the way the light is hitting jimin is making you feel a little lightheaded

the corner of jimin’s mouth curls into a knowing smirk when he notices the way your eyes lower from his face to his body, “i was… you see, i-”

“you were…” he coos mockingly, tilting his head as he makes his way back over to you, “you were what, bab-”

“the girls!” you interrupt frantically, stepping aside to gesture towards the large group of girls still crowded by the door, “the- the girls wanted me to- uh, they wanted me to ask you a question so i- that’s why i’m in here.”

jimin’s face pales slightly when he notices the girls standing by the door

oh

whoops

“oh, of course!” he clears his throat loudly before taking a step back from you, the two of you exchanging panicked glances before he bends down to pick his shirt up, “what was the question?” he slides his shirt back on

“there’s no question, sir-” seulgi chimes in before pausing for a second, “however, as the obvious group leader here, i’d like to say on behalf of everyone that you are very welcome to demonstrate this dance in class if you’d like-”

the girls immediately burst into laughter and jimin snorts before reaching up to scratch the back of his neck bashfully

“very funny, ladies-” jimin shakes his head before gesturing for everyone to go, “go and get out of here! i’ll see all of you next week-”

“have a good weekend, mr. park!”

“goodbye, mr. park!”

“bye, mr. park!!”

you wait until you hear everyone’s voices drift further and further away before scurrying over to the door and peering around it to make sure no one’s around

“coast is clear.” you let out a breath of relief to see that the hallway is empty before turning around to- “oh!” you jump when you end up bumping right into jimin, stumbling back a little before reaching out to press your hand flat against his chest so you can shove him back into the room, “what is the matter with you?? you already know all the people here drool over you on a daily basis and you still go around half-naked and- and thrust your hips like that-”

“what, you didn’t like it?” jimin teases, wrapping his fingers around your wrist so he can pull your hand down and slide it underneath his shirt

“hey-” you feel your entire face flush the moment your hand comes into contact with the ridges of his firm abdomen and you slip your hand out quickly, jimin laughing at your reaction before reaching up to pinch your cheek

“all i’m saying is that you weren’t exactly against my thrusting last night, miss y/l/n-”

“jimin!”

🎙️help me help you make your wishes come true (send me a request!)

✨why don’t you explore the rest of the library while you’re here? (full fics!)

💫or perhaps you want something shorter to read? (drabbles!)

🌟or something even shorter? (teeny tidbits just like this one!)

[starglow-xx]

(About the brother!atsushi) aRE YOU READING MY MIND MISS?! Because that has been on my mind for MONTHS. TYSM For writing it was amazing!! If you don't mind, may I request (if requests are open) atsushi, still an older brother, but with a sister that's 10-13 yrs old? It's totally fine if you don't wanna do it. Keep up the good stories, ily mwuah!

*sobs* you’re so kind thank youu 🤧🤧

i wrote this a bit differently i hope that’s okay anon! at first i planned for this to be mainly abt atsushi and the reader, but i decided to add in relationship hcs with the agency bc i ran out of ideas

if you guys liked this don’t worry! im planning a special part two for this one so be the look out for it hehe

atsushi with a tween! sister

ft. the armed detective agency

like in my baby sister hcs, you’re still the most important thing to him period

the two of you got picked up by dazai and kunikida when he was 18 (obviously) and when you were 12

for a 12 year old, you were a bit small bc of malnourishment (which makes atsushi feel so bad) so both dazai and kunikida thought you were a bit younger than you actually were

they assumed you were about 9-10ish

you and atsushi both share a favorite food !! chazuke :)

so when kunikida treated the two of you, he made sure you got more bowls bc like i mentioned above, he feels really bad that you were malnourished and under weight

(don’t bring this up but kunikida felt bad too hehe)

when dazai went with your brother to the warehouse, you were with kunikida

imagine the surprise of the other ada members when kunikida came in with a little girl dressed in rags that popped out from behind him

kenji was the one who vocalized his thoughts 

“kunikida-san you have a daughter?! wow! i didn’t know that! :D”

when you found out your brother was a tiger, you were a bit concerned but you were actually kind of excited

you were even more excited when you found out the two of you were going to be taken in by the agency

anything was better than the stupid orphanage

and besides!

you got a tiger for an older brother and a bunch of other super powered agents to take care of you! who could want anything else?

at your age, you’re very impressionable and can be influenced easily so atsushi makes sure to teach you more in depth of good morals and the importance of kindness

his heart swells with pride and relief when he catches you being kind to others

pride bc he’s proud that even after all the two of you have gone through, you still ended up being a good kid and having a bright view of the world

and relief bc he hasn’t failed as a big brother

pfftt like he could ever fail

but please, from time to time reassure him that he’s perfect and the only big brother that you’d ever want bc he rlly needs that kind of validation

with his salary and savings, he tries to buy nice things for you

what a sweetheart 🥺

he saw you eyeing that one dress at a store window? fast forward abt a week and half and it’s inside a pretty gift bag for you

you wanted to try that dessert from the nice bakery? that’s dessert after dinner at one point

but other than buying you things, he sets money aside for you

like all the time

(y/n), here have this, you might need it”

“but nii-san you just gave me—”

“take it”

#1 spoiler

also your #1 confidant and source of physical affection

you tell him anything and everything (except crushies and those kinds of things)

atsushi loves it when you talk abt your day and he can see the big smile on your face and the sparkle in your eyes

it gives him the strength to keep going 😖😖

the two of you aren’t as touch starved as you’d probably think, but that’s only bc the two of you had each other

in your opinion, no one can match the hugs of your big brother

and it got even better bc YAYY he has tiger arms now ٩(◕‿◕)۶

if you ask, he’d carry you around too hehe

you also get nightmares quite often so he’ll always be there ready to calm you down, talk if you need to, and rock you back to sleep

god i love him 🤧🤧

atsushi will do everything in his power to protect you and make sure you get to grow up happy, supported, and loved

port mafia attack? oop he’s already taking you to the nearest escape route

someone is starting to harass you? they just got suckered punched into the next week

you want to go out to have some fun? he’ll go ask the president for a day off

you’re not feeling well? he’ll take another day off and take care of you

whatever you want to do, he’ll do it with you! (as long as it’s within reason)

will always be your #1 supporter! and he’s the president of your fan club hehe

he loves you so so much and will do anything for you; your life and happiness will always be more important to him

you are his reason to keep going

agency head canons !!

atsushi is your big brother, but kunikida is most definitely some sort of father figure

everyone can see it

except kunikida of course

kunikida scolds you lightly if he thinks your manners need work or if you make a mess in the agency

you listen to him of course and in turn as some sort of a reward, he’ll give you pieces of stationary

he always gives you the nice, good quality kind and you’re over the moon

atsushi adores it when you come running to him showing your new notebook or fountain pen and blabbering what you’re going to do with it

sometimes it isn’t even as a reward for being a good child; he’ll just give it to you and he’ll say smth like “i noticed you’ve used up your last notebook quite quickly, so here’s another one” or “did you run out of ink? here have this then”

he usually has a soft spot for children in general, but he most definitely has a soft spot (or a thousand) for you

yosano is kind of like a motherly figure to you

she gives you the guidance a mother should and goes on shopping trips with you!

atsushi always gets dragged along by you, but he thinks it’s worth it seeing you look so happy

yosano being a doctor also tries to teach the things you should know, or things that would be helpful to you

she’ll teach you the basics of cooking, sewing, how to treat a cold/fever, etc

also gives you excellent advice 1000% of the time

“remember (y/n)-chan if someone hurts you come tell me and then i’ll chop them into—”

“yOSANO-SENSEI DONT TELL HER THAT—”

fukuzawa is like a father to most in the agency but you see him more as a grandfather figure

bi weekly tea and gossip sessions hehe

along with cat talk!

most of the time though, it’s just you talking and him listening to you, but the two of you enjoy it nonetheless

“and then kunikida-san ended up crashing into a pole and dazai-san started to laugh at him and i did too because it was really funny but we ended up getting scolded—”

“hmm i see...”

he’ll let you stay in his office as he fills out paperwork; you’re usually doodling or drawing in your notebooks

sometimes he’ll meditate and you’ll join him, but 4/7 times you’d fall asleep

you always wake up with a blanket over you

dazai is like a cool but a highly concerning and kind of high maintenance uncle

frequently takes you out with him when he ditches work

walks in the park, eating at uzumaki so he has the excuse of treating you so he doesn’t have to pay his tab avoiding kunikida and sometimes chuuya and akutagawa, all that fun stuff

also tries to not talk abt suicide in front of you especially if it’s just the two of you alone

he knows that you mean the world to his pupil and that said pupil would probably hate him for putting suicide inside your brain

he teaches you random but useful things like how to pick a lock, how to steal kunikida’s notebook if you’re looking for some information, how to sweet talk your way out of things, etc.

is also the one to tell you that if you ever get a significant other to introduce them to the agency first

he always wants all of your gossip; some of them work pretty well for blackmail

“dazai-san! dazai-san! did you know that kunikida-san lost his glasses and he was looking for them for nearly an hour when he was just holding them the entire time??”

“woah really (y/n)-chan?! hey hey can you say it again into this recording device so kunikida-kun would believe me when i tell him—”

always ends up giving kunikida a heart attack when he says that you’ve been with him all day

ranpo is also like a cool but a highly concerning and kind of high maintenance uncle

will share some of his snacks, but don’t push it or you might not get anything at all

loves it when you compliment him

if you tagged along with him and your brother on a case, he will show off to impress you

“...and that’s how the crime happened”

“UWAHH RANPO-SAN YOU’RE SO COOL”

atsushi is lowkey and kunikida is highkey stressed that ranpo’s eating habits will rub off on you

“ne (y/n)-chan do you wanna try this highly caffeinated drink and this concerning amount of sugar filled snack?”

“can i really?!”

“rANPO-SAN NO—”

ranpo definitely does stuff like that on purpose 

the tanizakis are like siblings to you!

a weird set of siblings but siblings nonetheless

the two of them adore you and think you’re precious

atsushi definitely knows how to do your hair whether it’s long or short but he got even better at it when he asked the two

hehe braid trains are definitely a thing + kyouka and kenji (and maybe even dazai)

sometimes you have sibling swap days

you’re with junichiro for most of the day and atsushi is with naomi

strange i know

each of the tanizaki siblings try to make it fun bc they know that the two of you did not at all have a happy upbringing

junichiro likes spending time with you by taking you out to different places that naomi likes to frequent

like the mall, different stores and restaurants, the park, places like those

naomi does the same thing with atsushi so if you ever bump into them, you go out and eat together :)

besides atsushi, the next one in line who spoils you the most would be junichiro (and yosano & kunikida both coming in at a close third)

he honestly can’t help it; you remind him of how naomi was when she was younger

and besides

he’s always been a sucker when it came to the happiness of a little sister

“would you really buy this for me junichiro-san?!”

“of course! don’t worry about it” :)

wanna talk abt boys/girls/celebrity crushes things like that? naomi is your girl

you feel a bit embarrassed to go talking to yosano or your brother abt that and kyouka does not know a thing abt them either

“uwahh naomi-san look at all these people in this magazine! they look so good!”

“right?! but of course onii-sama is still the best—”

you get along with kenji and kyouka quite nicely being roughly the same age as them; they’re also like siblings!

just pure, wholesome vibes from the three of you

you’re over the moon when she finds out that kyouka is staying with you and your brother

atsushi is twice as happy seeing you talk your mouth off and finally having a girl around your age to talk to

“do you think demon snow can change how she looks?”

“hmm... im not sure...”

you and kenji talk abt anything and everything

he even teaches you how to take care of plants!

sometimes the two of you are kind of in the same boat bc you don’t know much abt yokohoma being stuck in the orphanage and kenji doesn’t know much abt cities in general

“wait where are we again kenji-san?”

“ah we’re close to the ports! but im not really sure how close because i don’t know what the symbols on this sign mean”

“don’t worry! neither do i!”

bonus things!

yosano was kind of too late teaching you abt you know what

“NII-SAN IM BLEEDING IN BETWEEN MY LEGS”

you’re sobbing in the agency’s bathroom and atsushi is panicking trying to get you to open the door

“Y/N?! H-HOLD ON LET ME GET YOSANO SENSEI”

ranpo overhears and cackles making everyone around him confused

suddenly atsushi bursts in the agency basically on the verge of tears rambling incoherent sentences abt the bathroom, you, and blood

it just clicked for everybody in the room

(im going to pretend that kenji has sisters back home so that atsushi is the only one who remain oblivious here hehe)

atsushi is genuinely confused and sort of concerned that no one is freaking out with him

yosano waves her hand saying smth like that she’d take care of it and junichiro pulls atsushi to the side to talk to him

fast forward like half and hour and dazai and ranpo are cackling on the looks of both of your faces

honestly not sure who’s more traumatized, you or your brother

“why does this have to happen” :(

“ne ne (y/n)-chan!~ you’re too young but at some point you’re not going to have it!”

“uwahh really dazai-san?” :D

“yeah! but first you have to have ANFK—”

next thing you know your ears are being covered by your brother and dazai is thrown across the room by kunikida

you know

the normal

you’re twelve and have never gone to school, but the agency takes care of that

it’s too dangerous to go to school so they teach you what’s necessary and whatever else they can

kunikida takes care of math (obviously)

yosano takes care of science/biology/anatomy/health (whatever you wanna call it)

ranpo even dragged poe to help you with english

atsushi even got lucy to help you out with english too!

as tanizaki and naomi used to be students, they give you their old work books and they try to teach you all the other subjects

sometimes kyouka and kenji are there learing with you too!

sorry if there’s some errors! i’ll read through it again later :)

and as always, reblogs and shares are appreciated! i hope you all stay safe! and just in case nobody told you they loved you today, i love you! you are enough! <3

writing belongs to me! please do not plagiarize! the reblog button is there for a reason

[whumpurr]

Adrien and Sawdust part 5

masterlist

cw: descriptions of an emaciated body, disordered eating, pet whump, it as a pronoun, dehumanization, conditioned whumpee

Adrien swore he’d never moved so fast in his life. The second he saw Sawdust’s bony body tip over, he was running up the stairs to meet him. The instant he got to the second floor, he was dropping to his knees with a heavy thud, and properly touching Sawdust for the first time. He carefully lifted his face, seeing Sawdust’s eyes still open- though hardly.

The pet looked to be in worse condition than he was when Adrien had first gotten him. His skin was even paler, stretched thinner across rigid bones, his face was more sunken, the only color on it being the thick scratched scar across his nose bridge, and the deep rings under his eyes. He felt chilled. Adrien maneuvered his body like it was nothing, putting Sawdust’s head and torso to rest elevated on top of his folded legs.

“What’s wrong, Sawdust?” Adrien muttered just loud enough for the pet to hear. He was at a loss, he thought that everything was okay.

“‘M sorry, Master,” Sawdust whimpered, turning his head so he could look away from Adrien. “Need food, please, I’m- I’m sorry.” His voice was hardly a wheeze, but at least he seemed strong enough to move, so Adrien wouldn’t need to rush him to the hospital right that second. Sawdust’s words only came out in rough little squeaks and hiccups, tears gathering in his eyes. He looked terrified. “Food for- for dogs, please. If- if Master w- uh- Master may do whatever he wants but- pet- but- need-”

“Shit, okay, will you be okay if I leave you here to go get it? It’s just in the kitchen, I’ll be right over there.” Adrien was horrified and disgusted with himself as he looked down at Sawdust’s hollow figure. The tattered, oversized t-shirt he had come with was draped across his body, and with his head in Adrien’s lap and chest upturned, Adrien could see the thin fabric catch on the ridges of Sawdust’s ribs, pooling in the dip of his stomach, raised up by the ranges of his hip bones. Adrien handled him like glass, moving him off of his lap before standing and running down to the kitchen, nearly slamming his foot into the corner of his counter with his speed and recklessness.

He’d never been more grateful that he bought the dog food. He grabbed it out of the plastic grocery bag it still sat in on the counter and sliced the top of the bag with a knife, filling a bowl with it and- resigned to the situation- he poured some water into a bowl to go with it. He carried the two bowls up to Sawdust, putting them on the floor and pushing them towards the skeletal figure of his pet.

It looked like it took Sawdust considerable effort to roll himself from his back onto his elbows and knees, but he managed it and immediately dove into eating the chow out of the bowl without so much as a second thought. Adrien couldn’t help but feel like he shouldn’t be watching this. Like it was some sort of invasion to see Sawdust wolfing down his food in such a manner, but Adrien felt like if he took his eyes off him for a second, something terrible would happen.

--

Sawdust had never been more scared than when he saw Master racing up the stairs. He continued to break records of fear when he confessed, begging Master to give him something he could eat. He knew that if Master wanted to, he could deny him that, too. Sawdust was never more aware of that fact than when he asked for something to eat, but Master was merciful today. He brought him some chow.

Sawdust didn’t pause to think about whether or not the food could be poisoned, or if it would make him sick or kill him. Going that way, or not eating, it would have been death either way. Regardless of that, if Master saw fit for such things, as much as it made Sawdust want to cry, he would simply have to accept it. So he ate. He ate until the bowl was empty and he felt nearly sick, and he even drank after that.

Master would make him pay for this at some point, he was sure, but for now he could focus on his full stomach. He pulled back from the water bowl gasping, liquid dripping from his lips and chin. With his hunger sated, all he could think about was how tired he was. He didn’t care that Master was right there, and that he’d certainly hurt Sawdust soon. The dumb mutt couldn’t find the energy in him to do much about it as he laid down on the floor, curling up to sleep.

“S-Sorry, Master, pet is- is tired. Sleepy.” Sawdust murmured. “Please forgive it.”

“That’s okay, that’s okay baby.” Master was quiet. It made Sawdust confused, the way Master’s voice broke with his words. But the pet didn’t have the energy to think on it for very long, just nodding against the floor and letting his eyes shut.

--

Adrien was not going to let Sawdust sleep on the floor of the corridor. The second Sawdust was asleep, he took the pet’s dog ears off and undid the tail, setting those aside before he scooped him up in his arms and pushed Sawdust’s bedroom door open with his back, stepping in.

The room smelled of rot and spoil. Adrien muttered an expletive under his breath as looked around. Everything was as undisturbed as it had been when he first gave Sawdust the room, save for one corner that had some puddles of water sitting on the floor. He sat Sawdust down on the bed, pinching his nose. There was no way the pet smelled this bad when he got him.

He got to work looking for the source of the scent, thinking that an animal had found its way into the room or ceiling and died, but that was far from what he found. It took a few minutes of checking behind the wardrobes and dressers before looking under the bed, lifting the bedskirt only to be buffeted by the foul odour. Hidden underneath the bed was a pile of food scraps, composed of everything he’d been feeding Sawdust. Every piece of food that was missing from Sawdust’s plates was underneath his bed.

Adrien was never someone who was grossed out by things easily, but the sheer smell of the food was nothing short of disgusting. Regardless, he still had to get the room to a condition where Sawdust would actually be able to sleep in it, so with the help of a dust pan to use like a shovel, he dumped the remnants of the food into a garbage bag and tied it shut. He was at a loss for how the pet could have been tolerating this the whole time. He went through the room with a bit of air freshener, trying to solve the problem before he pushed a mop around under the bed.

With the room in a far better condition, he glanced over to Sawdust. The pet was still sleeping soundly, in near the exact same position that Adrien had left him in. Adrien took the edge of the blanket, folding one side over Sawdust’s frail body in hopes that it’d keep him warmer. Sawdust wasn’t disturbed at all when Adrien put the blanket over him, and he continued to sleep as Adrien started working to make the room more comfortable for the pet.

Once he got to see the room, it didn’t take him long at all to put together that Sawdust hadn’t been sleeping on the bed, and that he was sleeping in the corner that all the water was splashed around. Adrien mopped that up and swung by his linen closet, bringing every extra blanket and pillow he had and tossing them into the corner before arranging them in the most nest-like formation he could.

He wasn’t about to leave the pet unattended, not after an occurrence like that. Adrien grabbed his laptop and sat down in the seat in the other corner of the room, remembering just how uncomfortable the guest room’s furniture was, and why it was in this room and not being used in the living room. Disregarding that, he opened his laptop and kept himself busy.

--

When Sawdust opened his eyes the room was dim and he immediately froze up. The only source of light was warm and coming from one of the corners. Reluctantly, Sawdust sat up, body stiff. Master was sitting in the chair at the corner with a tall lamp on next to him. He looked like he was asleep, but the second Sawdust sat up, Master was awake again.

The very next thing Sawdust realized- not that he had the capacity to care much about it considering he was surely about to be punished within an inch of his life- was the new smell in the room. The old smell wasn’t good, but this new one was giving him a pounding headache. It was far too strong, but that was the least of his worries as he found himself a deer in headlights under his Master’s stare.

“Hey, Sawdust,” Master shifted a little. His voice was low and rough. “Damn, what time’s it?” He squinted at his phone in the dim light. Sawdust clenched his jaw shut, trying to stop any fear from showing on his face, but from Master’s wide eyes, he obviously wasn’t doing that good a job.

“Sorry, Master,” Sawdust whimpered, trembling under the covers. “I- didn’t- it- it-” His eyes darted all over the room and Master got up, walking over to him and sitting at the bottom of the bed.

“You weren’t eating the food?” Master asked, tilting his head. His long hair fell over his shoulder. Sawdust wasn’t ever good at figuring out what somebody really meant with their words, but Master’s tone was steady. He didn’t sound angry, and that made it worse. The punishment would be worse. Sawdust waited for the screaming to start, but all that stretching out through the room was a deafening silence.

“I just want to know why, Sawdust. I didn’t know you weren’t eating.” Master asked. Sawdust reached up to fiddle with his hair, only to realize another thing that was amiss. His ears were gone. His whole body stung with that realization, and he glanced around the room, not seeing them. His tail was also missing and he couldn’t spot them anywhere. Still, Master asked a question and he had to answer.

“Can only eat dog- dog food. Dogs eat dog food.” Sawdust said, flinching and getting ready for when the blows would come.

“Dog-” Master started before sighing. “Okay.” He dragged his hands down his face. “I found that paper with the rules on it. I don’t want to do this and I didn’t think I’d have to, but I have some rules for you, too.”

--

Adrien didn’t miss the way Sawdust perked up at the mention of rules. It made him sick, but he had to press on now that he said it.

“Three meals a day, with me, downstairs.” Adrien tried his best to sound firm in what he was saying, attempting to walk the line between stern and intimidating. “I’ll come get you when it’s time to eat.”

“Is that all, Master?” Sawdust responded. That sounded rehearsed to hell and back, but more confident and solid than anything else Adrien had heard him say before.

“This room’s yours, treat it as such.” Adrien gestured with an outstretched arm, “The bed’s yours, I put some stuff in the corner if you’d rather stay there.”

“Is that all, Master?” Again. Adrien knew there was probably more he should tell Sawdust, but he was blanking.

“For now, yes. If I think of more things I’ll tell you.” The bed shifted with the movement of Adrien standing up. “Try to get some sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned off the lamp, gathered his laptop, and left, shutting the door behind him as softly as he could.

The second he stepped into his bedroom, he sat down on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair, that familiar, heated upset rising through his body. Sawdust was someone he took into his care and he let him get to such a state. Adrien was disgusted, and thoroughly disappointed with himself. He was in over his head, and he didn’t know what to do.

Night passed slowly for the both of them.

taglist: @starnight-whump @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi@neuro-whump @whump-me-all-night-long @cupcakes-and-pain @whumpzone @whumpcreations @dancinglifeboat @pinkraindropsfell @looptheloup @cowboy-anon @meetmeinhellcroutons @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @firewheeesky

[homerforsure]

Whumptober No. 6 Bruises / Touch Starved / Hunger Whumptober No. 30 major character death / left for dead / ghosts

Me: I can’t believe I have to post this absolutely incomprehensible piece of writing. 

Me: You don’t... have to?

Me: No, I’m gonna. 

Buck has an exceptional number of pillows on his bed. There are six, before he knocks a few to the floor every night, and he burrows into them like a nest, curling up with one against his chest, two pressed against his back, one between his legs. His sheets are a ridiculously priced, cool, crisp cotton that welcomes him in, surrounding him. The blankets he uses aren’t weighted, but they’re heavy and thick and he keeps his air conditioning turned up so he doesn’t have to give up the feeling of nestling into them in the heat of summer. Along with the white noise machine on his night stand, all of it is chosen to trick him into sleep. To keep back the feeling that night time in his own apartment is the loneliest part of Buck’s day. 

It wasn’t perfect, pre-covid. It’s been a long time since Buck had someone share his space, share his bed, someone he could reach out and touch whenever he wanted. But his life outside of home was full. He didn’t lack for closeness; in some ways he had more than he’d ever dreamed. So while he had lonely moments, they weren’t a constant ache in his chest. 

These months though. These months hurt. Facetime isn’t a substitute for curling up on Maddie’s couch with whatever silly-labeled wine she’d liked best that week. It’s definitely not a substitute for Eddie’s couch and losing to Christopher over and over again at Mario Kart. The last time they talked, Eddie had reached over and ruffled Christopher’s hair and Buck felt it. First as a tingle up the back of his scalp and then as a bruise to his heart. Eddie’s touches, so constant and so casual, became essential somewhere along the way and Buck feels himself reaching out for them even when he knows it’s not allowed.

“Six feet, gentlemen,” Bobby says gently when their orbits swing toward each other and Eddie makes a dramatic show of raising his hands and taking a giant step backward. Bobby just shakes his head and reminds them it’s the price they all agreed to pay for not wearing masks in the firehouse. 

Buck starts dreading the end of a call when taking off his heavy turnout coat leaves him feeling cold and exposed. He folds into himself, claiming a chair, putting in earbuds and crossing his arms tight over his chest, pulling his knees up even though he knows better than to put his shoes on the furniture.

It’s a similar position to the one he lies in at night, clinging to the pillows, trying to draw comfort out of the smooth fabric. In those moments, his loneliness is so loud it might as well be a beacon sent out into the universe, a burning shout of need. 

And that shout is heard. 

***

“Have you guys heard of exploding head syndrome?” Buck asks one morning when the calls are slow and the crew is all lingering in a lazy way rather than rushing off to take care of their other duties. 

“What, the band?” Chimney asks.

“I think it was an album,” Bobby says.

“No,” Buck sighs. “It’s a sleep thing. It’s this loud noise that you hear when you’re falling asleep like a massively loud explosion. Only it’s just happening in your head.”

“Is your brain actually exploding? Like an aneurism?”

“No. It’s just the noise.” 

Just the loudest noise Buck had ever heard. It woke him up with a feeling of abject terror. It was an explosion that didn’t echo. It just rang, clear and true through his eardrums like the end of the world. Even as he struggled out of his sheets, searching for the source so he could run from it, part of him knew it wasn’t a sound that left any physical evidence. What could it even be? A sound like that? An old fashioned safe dropping from two stories up? A car crash without the crunch? Just a high speed collision of two immovable objects, all of the equal and opposite reaction of their momentum forced to escape as sound. 

Once his heart rate had slowed, he googled. He wasn’t initially sure what to google. “Ridiculously loud noise woke me up” seemed at once too vague and too specific but sure enough. Exploding Head Syndrome. It was what happened. Obviously. But Buck remained too full of adrenaline to sleep. As he sat up in bed, he couldn’t shake the urge to look around. Under the bed, in the closet, behind the shower curtain. He didn’t feel alone. 

“I’m just glad it’s happening in your head instead of mine,” Chim laughs. “Maybe try putting some earmuffs on before you go to sleep tonight.” ***

The sound doesn’t reappear. Buck is relieved, but sleeping doesn’t get any easier. He tries to soothe himself with obscenely long hot baths, by ordering a hoodie that’s more fluff than fabric, by running a foam roller across his muscles, trying to pry them into relaxation. It’s so much work and it does so little. Buck’s entire body is screaming out at all times for a hug or a massage or even just a really fucking good haircut. It takes longer and longer to fall asleep and the little sleep he does get isn’t restful. It’s like whatever meager comfort he manages to give himself during the day is leached away in the night. 

He doesn’t even notice the bruises at first. It’s an easy enough thing to miss. Their job is heavy physical labor and Buck barrels through a scene like a one man stampede. Bruises are as common as the smell of smoke in his hair. The ones Eddie points out on his arm though are different. 

Buck’s carrying a kitten at the time. The fire they’ve been fighting is beaten back to smolders. Buck shucked off his coat, wet and dripping from the hose and too cold for the shaking animal, and grabbed a blanket from the ambulance to wrap her up and cradle her against his chest. He’s rubbing his face against her damp fur, feeling the softness like a concentrated shot of endorphins when Eddie asks, “What the hell happened to you?”

“What are you talking about?” Buck asks and Eddie’s hands are pushing up the sleeves of his shirt, rolling them up to his shoulders while Buck’s trying to hold onto the cat.

“You don’t feel that?”

“Feel what?” He’s maybe a little ruder than he means to be but the sleep deprivation makes him cranky and the touch deprivation means that Eddie’s gently probing fingers feel like a dream on his skin. The care in the brush of his hands makes Buck’s knees weak. 

“Your arms are bruised to hell,” Eddie says. “Are you- Did someone grab you or something?”

“I swear to god, Eddie. I don’t feel anything.” Except grumpy and exhausted and longing. 

“Jesus, it goes all the way up your shoulders. It looks like-” He stops, pulling Buck’s collar aside and tracing a small spot that Buck can’t see even if he turns his head. “They look like fingerprints, Buck. Are you seeing someone?” 

“What!”

“These are handprints. And they’re dark. Do you really not-”

Buck wrenches himself from Eddie’s grasp so he can turn around and look at him because if Eddie’s really accusing him of putting everyone at risk by trying to date someone right now… But Eddie’s face is nothing but concerned. Which makes Buck scared. 

“Is it really that bad?” he asks, clutching the cat to his chest. 

Eddie rubs a hand up Buck’s back (it feels so good, hot like Buck’s t-shirt isn’t even between them and is it just because it’s been so long or just because it’s Eddie?) without looking around to see if Bobby’s watching and that’s really all the confirmation Buck needs. It’s bad. 

***

After that, Buck starts to feel them. He wakes up and he can’t breathe. He wakes up and he can’t move. He wakes up on the floor. He spends every moment that he’s asleep fighting to wake up. Buck can only remember fragments and pieces of the torment but he knows that it feels like drowning. Like being held down. Like being grabbed and pulled and smothered. He thinks he remembers long dark hair. 

Google is useless. Sleep apnea. Sleep paralysis. Sleep terrors. Even sleepwalking. None of them can account for the worst of it. For the physical signs of whatever is happening to him while he sleeps.

Bruises bloom blue on the pale skin of his hips. Purple on his ribs. Green on the back of his neck. The ones that Eddie saw first on his arm fade to yellow.  A long scratch runs down the side of his face. Dark circles under his eyes grow darker every day. 

“What’s happening to me?” he asks his reflection.

All he wants is to be able to ask that question with someone’s arms around him. He wants anyone to hold him tight and shush his fears and tell him that it’ll be okay. 

It’s easier than he thought to hide it. Buck just chooses his shower times strategically and opts for a long sleeve uniform, complaining that he ruined his short sleeves ones by grabbing bleach instead of detergent while he was half asleep. 

He’s always half asleep these days.

At least in the bunk rooms, he gets some semblance of rest. Whatever presence he feels in his own bedroom doesn’t cross this threshold and Buck sleeps deeply, almost missing the scream of the alarm. 

“It’s getting worse isn’t it?” Eddie asks, cornering Buck in the locker room. Buck can’t help but nod and Eddie steps closer as if to touch him. 

Buck flinches away and Eddie pulls up short as though hitting an invisible wall. 

He breathes Buck’s name on a pained exhale and says, “You have to get some help. Whatever it is…”

“I don’t know what it is!’ Buck answers. “It’s living in my house and it- it- God. Maybe I need an exorcism.”

“Maybe you should come home with me,” Eddie suggests and Buck recoils again. 

The firehouse seems safe but there’s no guarantee that Buck won’t be followed anywhere else. He’s desperate to be safe--desperate for Eddie to make him safe--but not at the expense of anyone else. Not when he doesn’t know what he’s facing. 

“Okay,” Eddie says. “But call me in the morning.” 

***

The burned girl screams louder when she sees Buck than she did while they were putting out the inferno of her car. 

“Stay away from me!” She shrieks. “Stay awaystayawaystayaway.”

“Miss, we’re going to need you to calm down,” Hen says to her. “Buck, you wanna move aside? Like preferably somewhere she can’t see you?”

Buck does because the patient’s well-being is more important than anything, but his skin feels like ice. He wants to demand to know what else she sees when she looks at him. Wants to know how she knows. For half a second, he imagines following her to the hospital and waiting for her outside the glass doors.  

They aren’t far from her house (52% of accidents happen within five miles of home) and the girl’s father arrives on the scene before they finish prepping her to be transported. And he sees Buck. 

He freezes when he does, but at least he doesn’t scream. He ignores Buck completely, instead going to the ambulance where his daughter is still crying and trying to soothe her. Hen offers to let him ride in the ambulance, but he says that he’ll take his car. 

“You’re in a lot of trouble,” he says, returning to Buck as the ambulance pulls away. “What you summoned… That’s not a normal ghost.”

“I didn’t summon anything! It just happened.” Buck’s voice is high-pitched and he just barely stops himself from grabbing onto the man’s arm, but the man doesn’t seem afraid of Buck the way his daughter was. “What is it? How do I make it go away?”

The man shrugs, “She came in through an open door. Which door depends on the person. But she’ll do everything in her power to keep it pried open. All you can do is try to close it again.”

It is… the least helpful advice Buck’s ever been given in his entire life. But the man’s daughter is on her way to the hospital and he needs to follow her. He vanishes. 

***

They’re about to have four days off. Buck’s bracing himself to meet the woman in his dreams. To look around in that dreamspace for open doors and slam them shut again. He can do it. He has to. 

***

The next night Buck wakes up and he can’t move. He’s paralyzed on the bed. He’s paralyzed on the bed and someone’s standing at the top of his stairs. 

She’s not… right. Buck can’t quite see in the dark and he can’t lift his head but the woman on his stairs isn’t solid in the way a human should be. The outline of her is strong, but it’s like she’s a shell wrapped around a cavernous emptiness. She’s across the room but she’s already pulling at him. 

Buck tries to thrash but his arms are pinned as if her hands are already on his wrists. He needs to reach the lamp. If he can just turn on the light.

“Get away from me,” he pleads and the part of her face where lips should be turns up, revealing pointed teeth that stand in front of a void.

“You called me,” she says. The words don’t come from her mouth and Buck doesn’t hear them with his ears. It’s wrong wrong wrong. He throws himself hard to the left and he rolls, flying further than he expected to, suddenly free, and crashes hard into the table, knocking the lamp to the floor. It shatters, bulb and all and pain scrapes across Buck’s shoulders.

“Poor boy,” the ghost mocks. “Poor lonely boy. Just wants someone to touch him. Just wants someone to stay with him. I heard you.”

“No,” Buck says and he tries to scramble, but his feet can’t find purchase on the floor. “I didn’t want you.”

He doesn’t deny the call. Can’t deny it when his heart is reaching out in the same pleading, desperate way now. Please. Anyone.

In the time it takes to blink she’s in front of him. She’s so close. She shouldn’t be able to get that close without standing on him but she’s there. Her voice whispers in his mind, “You should choose your words more carefully.”

And then her hands are around his throat.

The pressure is insistent and her motive is unmistakable. She’s going to kill him. She’s going to squeeze the life out of him. He’s going to die here and Eddie’s going to find his body because Eddie’s going to come rushing over as soon as Buck doesn’t call him in the morning and what if this thing is still here waiting for him. 

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.

Buck’s mind yells for him like his lungs did when Eddie was buried except now it’s Buck who’s too far away, who’s trapped somewhere deep and dark with no hope of escape. 

He tries to breathe and his breath whistles. It’s like the first time someone handed him a styrofoam cup of coffee and he tried to drink through the plastic stir stick. Black stars twinkle in the room and tears build in his eyes. 

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. 

There’s a shift as she adjusts her grip and it’s enough for the stars to clear. Buck throws himself forward, shaking his head like he isn’t a ragdoll trapped in the jaws of a rottweiler, like he has a hope of breaking free and then he does. The ghost is thrown off balance and Buck jumps, scrambling back over his bed for the stairs. He can’t even think about defeating her, finding out the secrets of where she came from, closing whatever fucking door he left open. All Buck wants to do is live. 

A force behind him swells like a wave to lift Buck off his feet and slams him into the bathroom door. He expects to slide off of it and onto the floor, but he’s held in place hard, his head turned and his cheek pressed to the wood, toes just brushing the ground. 

“You begged me to come,” the ghost hisses. “I’m here for you, lonely boy. Don’t fight so hard.”

A hand skims up his back, nearly gentle, but leaving a numbness in its path and Buck shudders in disgust. He jerks against the door, but his arms are wrenched behind him and he screams. He realizes it’s the first time he has.

“I didn’t call you! I don’t want you here! Get out.”

“I came because you needed me.” A long finger trails down his cheek and Buck whimpers. She’s taller than him now. Was she always? “I could feel you from so far away. An aching ball of need. I’m here for you now.” 

“I don’t need you,” Buck growls and the room flashes like lightning. He hopes to fall, almost expects to fall, where he can scramble again but instead, Buck is hurled away from the door completely. He has time to see that he’s above the stairs, throw his hands out uselessly and then he’s frozen. 

Buck hovers there in the air above the stairs, dangling in the grip of the ghost, like a cat grabbed by his scruff. Kicking wildly, he grabs for the invisible hand that’s holding him, yelling “No, no, no, no.”

“Need me now?” the ghost asks. 

Smothering the terrified part of him that nearly answers yes, Buck forces himself to stop twisting and just hang there. He doesn’t want to fall. He doesn’t want to die. But what he needs isn’t going to come from the ghost. 

“No,” he answers. 

And he can’t explain how he knows what her face looks like when it’s screwed up in fury, but he does. It’s vicious and vindictive and Buck’s not surprised at all when he’s flicked away from her and down the flight of stairs. 

He seems to hit each one as he falls, something that should be impossible with the speed that he’s traveling and the force with which he bounces off of them, but the ghost is obviously responsible. Air leaves his lungs as his ribs crack against the stairs. His elbows and knees scrape. His head bangs the rail. Buck’s long, long legs seem to tangle as he falls, cartwheeling him down and he lands in a heap at the bottom. 

As he tries to figure out if he can still move, the door flies open. 

Warmth rushes in. Buck hadn’t even realized how cold it had gotten since he first woke up, but the room seems to thaw around him. It’s like sunlight. 

It’s Eddie. 

“Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Evan. Buck. I’ve got you, Buck. I’ve got you.” 

Tenderly, he scoops Buck off the floor, unsnarling the mess of his limbs and feeling all over for the damage he can’t see. “I’ve got you. Open your eyes. Come on.” 

The ghost stands at the top of the stairs and then she’s at the bottom. Buck clambers backward again, digging his heels into the floor to push himself upright in front of Eddie, to try and hide him from view. Eddie doesn’t seem to see the ghost. All of his attention is still on Buck, stroking his hair, promising over and over that he’s there, that he has Buck. 

All of the ghost’s attention is on Buck too. “You need me,” she says. “You called for me.” She sounds different now. Bitter. Like Buck wasted her precious time. 

“I don’t need you,” he says and he reaches behind him to grab Eddie’s hand. “I already have everything I need.” 

Lights flicker and that impossibly loud sound bangs in Buck’s ears again. He gets one last look at the ghost’s vicious, violent visage and then she’s gone. 

And then Buck wakes up.

[polaroid15]

Parker Luck

Summary: Two weeks after the Vulture-incident, Tony buys a parenting book. Too bad there isn't a chapter on Parker luck.

Read on Ao3 HERE :)

------

Two weeks after the Vulture fiasco, Tony buys a book called ‘Parenting for Dummies’.

He almost immediately regrets the purchase and hides it in a drawer in the lab, not yet brave enough to face it. Then one day he spends three hours squished against Peter’s side, listening to the boy ramble about everything under the sun while they adjust his web shooters. It hits Tony like a brick wall, and when Peter bounces out of the lab after teaching Tony a complicated handshake he knows he’ll never remember, he swears under his breath.

He shouldn’t be surprised, really. He had known it from that very first moment in the kid’s bedroom in Queens.

For once, denial has gotten him nowhere.

After his eyes ache from staring at the door Peter had disappeared from, Tony stands, stretches out a kink in his lower back, and grabs the book from the drawer before he can lose his nerve. Still standing, he traces his thumb over the word Parenting on the cover.

Retreat, his mind begs. Stop. Before it’s too late.

But deep down, he knows he’s already in too deep.

With a heavy sigh and a pressing warmth in his chest, Tony flips the pages to chapter one.

--------

Peter calls it ‘Parker luck’.

Tony calls it the source of his ever-increasing gray hair.

When Peter stumbles into the Tower covered in blood and delirious from a nasty hit to the head, Tony thinks he’ll pass out from the sudden weight of his worry. It only takes some gentle coaxing and seven stitches to make it better, but the unease sits in Tony’s gut long after Peter falls asleep. When the boy wakes up, he apologizes until Tony snaps at him not too.

“It’s the Parker luck, Mr. Stark,” Peter tells him, his head wrapped like a mummy on halloween. “It gets me everytime.”

Parenting for Dummies Chapter Three: Listen. “A nasty concussion doesn’t exactly sound like luck to me, kid.”

“Oh, well it’s not good luck,” Peter clarifies with a weak smile. “In fact it’s really bad luck. Exceptionally bad.”

“You’re killing me here.”

“Did you know that I slipped on a banana peel once? A banana peel. I was on crutches for three weeks in middle school.”

Tony’s worry melts into a hesitant amusement. He sits back on his stiff medbay chair and makes a distant note to invest in a better one. “That is pretty lousy luck, kiddo.”

“And it just keeps getting worse,” Peter says. “Getting bitten by a radioactive spider, crashing Flash’s car, or the fact that I spent homecoming destroying a plane while fighting my date’s dad.”

“I hope this Parker luck of yours isn’t contagious,” Tony jokes, but something in Peter’s eyes darkens. He leans back against the white sheets, chewing on his bottom lip. Tony thinks again of chapter three, of the subtitle that prompts to push at the right times, and takes the liberty. “What is it, kid?”

Peter closes his eyes and gives a watery smile. “Nothing, Mr. Stark. Sorry.”

And because he’s an idiot, Tony believes him. Something tells him he needs to buy Parenting for Dummies 2.

--------

When Peter saves a school bus full of third graders from a thirteen car pileup at the expense of his collar bone, Tony rereads his book, this time with a highlighter in hand.

He wishes there was a section on Parker luck.

This time, he’s less careful about where he reads. Pepper catches him one night, her eyebrows disappearing behind her bangs in her surprise. Her smile is genuine. “Is that what I think it is?” she asks.

“Maybe.”

“Oh God, please don’t tell me you’re pregnant.”

Tony rolls his eyes and dog ears his page before setting it aside. “I am, actually. And sorry to break it to you, but you’re not the father.”

Pepper laughs and sits on the arm of the couch. She runs her hand through his hair and he can’t help but lean into her touch. “This is about Peter,” she says.

His first instinct is to deny it. He feels vulnerable in a way he isn’t used to. “So what if it is?”

“He’s a good kid.”

“I know.”

“He’s making you soft.”

Tony scoffs, but doesn’t deny it. Not with Parenting for Dummies on his lap. “He’s stressing me out, is what he’s doing.”

“He really cares about you, Tony. I see it every time he’s over here.”

His body betrays him by the gentle swoop in his stomach. His mouth twitches in a smile. “I care about him too.”

“You’re a good example to him. He needs someone like you in his life. Especially after what happened to his parents. And his Uncle.”

And then it clicks. Parker luck. Tony’s mouth goes dry.

“I’m trying,” is all he manages to whisper. The book in his lap seems to increase by ten.

Pepper leans over him, pressing her lips into his hair. “I know.”

---------

It’s his and Peter’s fifth mission together.

Today, they’re going up against “the Detonator”, a crazed woman with an affinity for making bombs and setting them off in busy neighbourhoods. She’s armed with a team of rocket-launcher-wielding henchmen, and it’s taking every effort to keep the city in one piece.

Most of the block has been evacuated, thanks to Peter. Tony remembers chapter seven and shoots the boy some praise over their coms. Steve, who’s joined them for the day’s fight, agrees with clipped enthusiasm.

“Thanks guys!” Peter says in his usual animation. “These rocket launchers are no joke. Have you ever seen the movie-”

But whatever it is, it’s lost in the deafening sound of an explosion. He hears Peter swear over the com and Tony’s blood runs cold. Three blocks down, an orange fireball balloons into the air. Steve is already running, his shield tucked into his chest.

Tony shoots off into the sky.

---------

Peter thought they had everything under control.

Until rocket launcher man number 3 decided to explode the bank off 47th street, that is.

He feels the heat from the explosion before he can process what happened. It rips across his back and throws him off his feet into a hot dog cart across the street. Rubble and ash rain down on parked cars and their alarms begin to sound.

“Crap,” Peter groans, shoving away the dented cart and stumbling to his feet. His ears are ringing.

“Pete?” Tony’s voice cuts through the haze. “We’re on our way. You alright?”

“Yeah,” he responds, breathless. His shoulder aches. “These guys are not in a good mood.”

“You can say that again.”

The man who had fired the shot runs up the steps of the bank, bypassing chunks of concrete. Peter limps after him.

“Sorry man,” Peter says when his opponent’s back is still turned. “It’s after hours.”

Startled, the man spins. Peter fires a web to disarm him and it only takes one swift punch to finish the job. He webs him to the floor and kicks the rocket launcher into the corner.

“Kid?” Tony lands beside him, faceplate lifting and his hands reaching to grab onto him. His grip is tight on Peter’s arms, and Peter is unsure which one of them Tony is trying to comfort. “You still in one piece?”

Peter’s ears are still ringing, a high pitched whine that makes his eye twitch. His ankle throbs and he can feel warmth spreading down his back from a cut on his shoulder. He nods anyway. “Are you?”

“Better now that I see you haven’t been barbecued.”

Steve joins them as Peter laughs off Tony’s worry. He’s breathing heavy, his forehead streaked with ash. “Someone sighted the Detonator. She’s heading east towards the Empire State Building.”

“Of course she is,” Tony sighs. Finally, he lets Peter go. “Ready for a field trip?”

But just as he says it, another violent explosion lights up the street across from them. Peter stumbles against the force. Tony grabs his arm, and Steve his shoulder, and he steadies. Through the black smoke, a child cries.

Chest tight, Peter takes a step forward before he’s yanked back. It’s Tony. His helmet hides his expression, but Peter can tell from his stiff posture that he’s worried. That he doesn’t want to separate.

As if sensing it too, Steve places a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Peter and I will clear the rocket launchers. You go take care of the Detonator.”

“But-”

“She can’t get to it first, Tony. You’ll be the fastest.”

The crying continues, and Peter takes another step. This time, the metal fingers wrapped around his elbow loosen, letting him go. “You better watch him, Rogers.”

“Mr. Stark-”

“Don’t do anything stupid, kid.”

And then Tony is off, blasting off into the sky. Peter shivers against the hot air his exit leaves before turning to run towards the smoke and debris, Steve hot on his heels. Without hesitation, he jumps over the small flames and emerges on the other side, his throat closing up against the smoke.

The first thing Peter sees is the child, snot-nosed and hidden underneath the bed of a truck. His eyes widen when he sees them, a cry stopped short. “Spider-Man!” he yells.

“Get the kid,” Steve says. “I think I see our guy.”

And then he’s gone.

Peter doesn’t dwell on it, vaulting over a smashed mailbox and a stretch of broken glass to reach the kid’s side. He’s trembling, but his hands reach out. Trusting him.

“It’s alright,” Peter says, accepting the kid’s outstretched hands. “We’re okay. Do you know where your family is?”

The boy shakes his head, lip wobbling but obviously trying to be brave. “N-no. I lost them over there,” he says pointing down the street.

“Okay. No problem. Let’s go find them.”

He doesn’t give the boy an option to walk, but instead guides him to rest against his back. Small fingers lock together at the base of Peter’s throat, holding tight.

“What’s your name?” Peter asks as he heads in the direction the boy had pointed. Keep him distracted.

“Benny.”

Peter’s breath catches. “Nice to meet you, Benny. I’m Spider-Man.”

“I- I know.”

“Oh yeah?”

The boy’s head bobs against his back. “I see you on TV. And on the newspapers on the street. You fight bad guys.”

“I try too.”

“You’re awesome,” Benny says, and the shaking quality to his voice recedes.

“I think you’re the awesome one. You’re being so brave.”

“Brave?”

“Yeah, Benny. Even though it’s scary right now you’re still going.”

Benny sniffles. “Are you scared?”

“Nah,” Peter says. “I’ve got you to protect me.”

Against his back, Benny’s chest swells with a breath of a response, but before he can let the words lose a relieved cry erupts from their left. A woman in a pastel headscarf runs towards them, her arms outstretched. “Benny! My little Ben-”

“Mom!”

Peter maneuvers him to the ground and as soon as his small feet hit the ground he’s running. The pair meet in the middle of the street, their arms wrapping tight and their tears mixing. The mother’s eyes meet him from over Benny’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she says, every ounce of her emotion leaking into her words.

“Of course,” is all he can manage.

Once he’s sure they're safe and off the street, he deviates his attention to his coms. “Steve?” he asks over a private channel. “Where are you?”

For a long time, Steve doesn’t respond. Then just as Peter’s worry spikes the man’s voice fills his ears, pinched and strained. “By the river. I’m cornered.”

“Karen-” Peter starts, but Steve’s location pops up on his screen before he can ask further. He changes the trajectory of his swing and just barely avoids clipping his hip on the corner of a building. Then, to Steve, “I’m on my way!”

He finds the Captain in worse shape than he had expected. He’s hunched against an upturned car, it’s tires melted from the sheer heat of the destruction on the street. His shield is raised over his head to protect him from debris raining from the crumbling buildings.

Across the road, three of Detonator's accomplices are shooting the buildings around him, shrieking with glee whenever new glass shatters. Peter glides between the chaos before landing beside Steve. He scrapes his hands on the landing.

“Oh my god,” Peter says, flinching from another loud explosion. “What do we do?”

Steve grimaces, and it’s only now that Peter sees how messed up his leg is. It’s twisted at an unnatural angle, the material of his suit singed and still smoking around it.

“What the hell happened?” Peter gasps, feeling sick.

“It doesn’t matter. We need to get out of here.”

“Not with those crazy rocket guys standing guard. You can’t walk!”

“I can try.”

Adrenaline courses hot through Peter’s bloodstream. He peaks over the car and reassesses their opponents. “I can take them.”

“No. Tony said-”

“Tony isn’t here,” Peter argues. “Besides, I have my Peter tingle. I’ll be fine.”

“Peter tingle?”

“Be right back.”

“Wait!”

But Peter ducks out of cover, knowing that Steve won’t be able to stop him. He runs towards the one closest to him and hopes the element of surprise will be enough to take them down. It is, but barely, and now his cover is blown. The other two turn their weapons towards him and before he can suck in a breath, fire.

Peter swears and jumps high, the rockets whistling as they pass under his feet. They hit the edge of the sidewalk by the river, blowing it open and skipping chunks of debris into the water. Not wanting to wait for them to reload, Peter swings and takes them both out with a single kick. He lands in a messy roll, disoriented by the quickness of the fight.

“We’re clear!” he yells over to Steve, but even as he says it dread sits heavy in his gut. He takes one step towards the car before he hears it- a sharp release of air.

Fire blooms up at the base of the building closest to Steve, the crack of the impact enough to rattle Peter’s teeth and throw him to his knees. It’s the last straw. The building makes a horrible noise of grinding cement, like a scream, and Peter knows enough from experience that it’s close to collapse.

“Steve!”

He sprints to where the man is trying to limp away. His eyes find him, their blue shocking through the dust and smoke. “Peter. You have to get out of here-”

“Not without you.”

Before the man can object, Peter pulls his weight over his shoulder and makes it his burden. He wonders distantly where the fourth rocket launcher is and why they haven’t been blown sky high yet.

But then glass and cement falls down around them like rain, and Peter realizes. Because the building will finish the job for them.

“We’re not going to make it,” Steve says through ground teeth. His hold on Peter’s shoulder is bruising. “Peter, please.”

The building sways again. They have a couple seconds. Nothing more.

Then Peter sees it. A manhole.

“Here,” he gasps, dropping to his knees and tearing off the cover. Every alarm bell in his head is screaming, but it’s the only option. The only way they’ll both have a chance. “Go.”

Steve drops in, disappearing into darkness and landing below with an aborted shout. Peter kicks his legs in just as the building crumbles. Fear stops the breath in his chest and he slides the rest of the way in. He falls and lands hard, head spinning, before finding Steve’s arm in the darkness and pulling him deeper into the sewer.

There’s a couple moments of silence.

And then the world erupts.

Peter will remember later how the force of the impact threw both of them off their feet and how it was impossible to keep his grip on Steve’s arm. He’ll remember the deafening noise of the building smashing onto the street above them, of the great plume of dust that filled the tunnel and blinded him.

He’ll remember falling, his legs jelly, and struggling to his knees.

He’ll remember wishing he had called Tony.

But none of it registers in the moment. There’s only terror.

And then there’s nothing.

----------

“Peter. Come on. Work with me here.”

Awareness brings pain. He strays.

“Nope. No. Peter. Open your eyes.”

The voice belongs to Steve, Peter realizes in a stilted disorientation. Steve, who had been hurt. Steve, who sounds very much alive.

It’s enough for Peter to lift his heavy eyelids. His surroundings are dark, but he can see the Captain’s worried face swimming in front of him, warping in and out of focus as both of them release a breath of relief.

“Thank God,” Steve says.

“Are you okay?” Peter murmurs, surprised for a moment by how unwilling his vocal cords are to cooperate. There’s new blood on Steve’s face and the torso on his suit is torn.

“It’s you I’m more worried about.”

“Mm. Why?”

Steve might respond, but Peter doesn’t hear it, his awareness slipping like the close of a stage curtain. Strong hands shake him and the sting of his injuries are enough for him to struggle back into wakefulness.

“Stay awake, kid. Alright? Tony is on his way. Keep your eyes open.”

Peter didn’t remember closing his eyes, but sure enough, when he tries they open. “Tony?”

“He’ll be here soon.”

There’s a tightness in his chest, and Peter coughs against it. It sparks a sharp pain behind his ribs and he curls his fingers into the ground as Steve braces him by his shoulder. His ribs are definitely broken. His leg throbs and the skin on the right side of his face itches terribly with drying blood. He blinks a couple times to try and alleviate his double vision, but it does nothing.

“What happened?” Peter asks.

“You don’t remember?”

“Not really.”

Steve’s expression pinches like he’s just eaten something sour. “The building above us collapsed, but don’t worry about it too much. Tony will be here in a flash.”

Collapse. Peter sucks in a panicked breath and it makes him cough again. It hurts worse this time, and his vision goes gray. He comes back to himself in Steve’s lap, his whole body shuddering and then man’s hand clamped protectively against his back.

The new perspective shows Peter a growing red stain on the Captain’s side.

“Steve,” he gasps, uncoordinated fingers reaching out to press against the wound.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not- it’s not nothing-”

Before Steve can retaliate further, their coms crack back to life. Peter winces against it, his fingers reaching up to struggle with the edges of his mask. Steve pushes his hand away. “Leave it. It’s helping filter your air.”

“Peter? Rogers?” Tony’s voice comes through in a mess of static. It reminds Peter of Ben’s favorite radio station that had been broadcasted too far to have a good connection. “I’m here. Oh Christ, I’m here. Are you okay?”

“Steve’s hurt,” Peter mumbles. It’s important Tony knows.

“Rogers?”

“Just hurry, Tony,” Steve says. There’s a pressure in his voice that Peter’s too tired to translate.

“The explosion caused the river to flood. You’re under about three feet of water right now.”

“We’re airtight.”

“For now.”

Peter feels himself dip further into Steve’s lap and the man’s steadying hand is delayed. Weaker. “Peter? What did I tell you about staying awake.”

“What’s wrong with Peter?”

“Queens. I need you to put pressure on this for me. Don’t give up on me now.”

Peter groans. For once, he doesn’t care how young it makes him sound. He struggles up anyways and replaces his hand obediently over Steve’s side. It paints his hands red and he tries desperately not to think of Ben.

“Rogers-”

“I got it, Tony.”

There’s a weighted silence. Peter bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself lucid. The static in his brain reminds him of the time he had gotten stabbed, and wonders if he’s bleeding somewhere too.

“Okay. I found a weak spot. It shouldn’t cause too much damage. Are you ready?”

“Go for it.”

There’s another lurch of shifting rock. Peter can’t help but cry out, his muddled brain struggling to comprehend that this time, it’s to help. Then there’s a loud crash, a weak beam of sunlight, and the rush of water.

Within seconds, the cold spray is up to their waists. Peter grinds his teeth and squeezes his eyes shut against reflexive tears the biting temperature brings. It gives him a boost of adrenaline, and when he opens his eyes again, his vision is more clear.

Tony is with them moments later, hovering above the water. His hands reach for Peter, but Peter shys away. “Steve first,” he pleads. “He’s bleeding-”

“You’re bleeding too-” Tony starts, but even as he says it, Steve lists dangerously to the side. His face is pale, his breathing shallow. Tony catches him by the shoulder. “Don’t move,” he tells Peter, and works to lift Steve up towards the hole.

The water is up to Peter's chest now. It steals the breath from his lungs and he scrambles to stand. Somewhere in the journey the ground above him groans and he loses his footing. He hears Tony yell out for him, feels metal hands push him hard, and then he’s completely underwater. There’s more noise. More pain.

He breaks the surface, stuttering on his breath and his teeth clattering. More sunlight has entered the tunnel, and it’s easy to piece together what had happened.

“Tony!”

Peter fights against the current to reach his mentor’s side. His suit is pinned under a large slab of concrete by his left leg, the water already sloshing up to his neck. Peter practically collapses beside him and digs his fingers under the weight, but his ribs scream in protest so violently that his vision goes white.

“Easy!” Tony yells, catching him by his arms when he falters. “Kiddo, listen to me. The suit will let me breathe for a while. You need to get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to. FRIDAY took some damage, but she’s recalibrating my boosters. I’ll be able to get out.”

“No,” Peter chokes, trying again to lift the concrete keeping Tony pinned. “I won’t leave without you.”

“Peter-”

“I’m not losing you too. I can’t- I can’t-”

Tony’s voice is more gentle, his hand reaching to cradle the side of Peter’s face. “Listen to me, bud. I know this is scary. But you have to trust me. You have to go. For me.”

Peter shudders. Feels hot tears pool under the tight confines of his mask. “Told you I have Parker luck,” he says.

Tony finds it within himself to laugh. The water is at their chins. “I know, kiddo. But you don’t have to be afraid anymore. We’ve got each other now.”

“Tony-”

“Go.”

The water rises over his mouth. He wouldn’t be able to answer even if he wanted to. Then Tony’s head is submerged, and icy terror closes around Peter’s heart.

He dives under and reaches once more for the weight on Tony’s leg. He pulls and struggles and feels Tony’s hands on his arms, trying to pry him off and pull him away. The light is gone in the murky water.

Please. Please.

The concrete shifts. It takes everything in Peter not to gasp out at the pain it causes, to waste the precious air he has left.

Please.

It shifts again. Tony has given up on trying to push him off and is instead helping to lift the weight. Just a little bit more.

Peter screams, tiny bubbles escaping and carrying whatever he had left away. His body loses strength just as the concrete is alleviated. He thinks he feels Tony’s hands close around his numb body. But really he can’t be sure.

Tony is safe.

And it’s all that matters.

-------

“Peter. Don’t do this.”

“Breathe, Queens. Oh God-”

“Steve. What do I- I can’t- I can’t-”

“Keep the compressions going, Tony. Keep going okay? Don’t stop.”

“I can’t do it without him. I need him, Steve. I need-”

“Keep it together. He’s going to be fine. Right, Peter? You’re going to be fine. You just have to breathe for us.”

“Kiddo. Baby. Please.”

It’s all water down a drain.

A swirling, murky mess.

And it takes Peter with it.

-------

Parenting for Dummies: Chapter 12.

Love them unconditionally.

Tony hasn’t left his kid’s side for hours. He’s been glued to him, the boy’s limp hand pressed between his own like a lifeline even when the doctor’s had worked to splint his leg. Every breath, every rise and fall of Peter’s chest is a miracle, and Tony stares at the heart monitor until his eyes burn.

May is dozing in a recliner in the corner, her glasses crooked on her face. It’s just nearing three in the morning.

There’s movement behind him, and Tony turns to find Steve. He’s traded his hospital gown for a pair of loose sweats and a white shirt, the skin on his arms wrapped with thick bandages. The Captain turns and sees May. When he speaks, his words are almost a whisper. “How is he?”

Tony shrugs, a sudden lump monopolizing in his throat. “He’ll be okay.”

“Has he woken up yet?”

“No.”

Steve sighs. He limps to Tony’s side, but still manages to keep some distance. “He was brave today.”

“If by brave you mean dumb, then yes.”

“He saved our lives. We both know that you wouldn’t have been able to blast out of there by yourself.”

Dread sits heavy in Tony’s gut, because it’s true. He would’ve said anything to get Peter to safety. His blasters weren’t recharging. Weren’t even close to functioning.

But the kid had been too selfless for his lie. Really, Tony shouldn’t be surprised.

And now every time he closes his eyes he sees Peter. Hurt, small, Peter. Jerking with the last of his energy to free Tony. Of going limp in the water, no more air leaving his lips and remaining totally unresponsive as Tony fought to return the life to him.

“I wish it didn’t have to be him,” Tony says.

“But it is. It was.”

“I know.”

Steve lays a hand on Tony’s shoulder. He’s too tired to flinch away from it. “Let me know when he wakes up.”

And then he leaves.

Tony runs his thumb over Peter’s knuckles. “Wake up,” he says. Pleads.

But with his usual stubbornness, Peter doesn’t show signs of waking for another hour. First his fingers twitch. Then he groans. His eyelids flutter and Tony nearly collapses in his relief. Soft and weary eyes turn to find him, and Peter’s lips turn into a smile.

“You’re okay,” he murmurs.

“You have no idea how angry I am with you right now,” Tony says, but any heat behind his words is lost behind his relief. Peter must see it because his smile only widens.

“You don’ look angry.”

“Furious?”

“Nope.”

“Enraged?”

Peter laughs, then winces. He looks down and notices Tony’s hand clamped on his own. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”

“Well, the feeling’s mutual.”

Peter looks up. Tony tightens his hold.

“Maybe I don’t have Parker luck after all.”

“We’re breaking the cycle,” Tony agrees. He lifts Peter’s hand and presses a firm kiss to the back of his hand. Peter smiles again.

“Pepper told me you bought a parenting book,” he says, eyes drooping.

“That woman is nothing but a liar.”

“Mm. I believe her.”

“Sorry to break it to you kid, but whoever would want to willingly parent a danger seeking, heart attack inducing kid like you would have to be crazy.”

Peter squeezes Tony’s hand. “Sorry to break it to you, but I guess that means you're crazy.”

Tony’s heart compresses with warmth. “Yeah kid,” he says, “I guess I am.”

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

[stillness-in-green]

I think it was a mistake to write overhaul still wanting to use eri when he’s remorseful for his boss

Eh, I don’t really agree, anon. Like, nothing about Overhaul’s post-Tartarus state of tunnel-visioned, paralytic, horror-struck guilt suggested that he felt bad about why he did what he did, or for using the methods he used. He was just stuck because he’d always expected to be able to wake Pops up eventually, when he could hand the man a world the yakuza could rule from the shadows again, and now he had no way of doing that because his planned method of doing so was no unavailable to him. He very possibly doomed the only person he really cared about to an irreversible coma, so of course he was devastated, but nothing we saw suggested that he was really doing any deep moral reevaluation of his actions.

Indeed, for all that he was so frantic to get to Pops, we don’t really know what he was planning on doing once he did. Weep at the man’s bedside, presumably, but that raw desperation does make me wonder if he had some other ideas. He couldn’t fix Pops himself, but I’ve long figured that whatever he did to the man was probably neurological in nature, meaning it might be reversible by a skilled enough neurosurgeon(1). He just had to, you know, secure one of those. Which wasn’t happening in Tartarus, obviously.

Also not happening in Tartarus: Overhaul getting any good faith psychiatric aid, which I would expect to be the bare minimum of, “Things that need to happen before I start looking for Overhaul to show any signs of regret for the pain he caused Eri.”

But that aside, I don’t actually think Overhaul was written as wanting to use Eri, not really. His reaction when Deku brought her up was first confusion, then realization—it seemed obvious to me that the thought of using Eri hadn’t once crossed his mind, at least not in such a way that it endured through his frequent fugues.

Eri seems like the obvious solution to us readers, but remember that as far as Overhaul was aware, Eri was completely incapable of using her power in a controlled way. Trying to get her to fix Pops would be fraught with risk, and would involve tracking her down when he would already have to track down Pops, both of those as a fugitive with no access to official documentation. That’s not even getting into the fact that he would have had no way to threaten Eri himself; everything Overhaul was doing relied on Lady Nagant’s help, and he had no guarantee that her help would continue past their initial bargain once his usefulness to her had run out.

Oh, if he was back in the position he’d been in previously, doubtless he could retool the entire line of his experiments with Rewind in search of ways to revert a body to an earlier state—given that he’d figured out how to unwind a single aspect of genetic code without turning subjects into a writhing flesh monstrosity out of Akira, I assume he could figure out a way to do the same with Pops’ brain. But getting back to his old position was obviously off the table, and would have been even before the PLF brought about a complete breakdown in the normal functioning of the country. Just imagine trying to source all the medical supplies he’d need now, and that’s on top of getting people to act as his hands and/or learning to function with prosthetics he would also have to source.

Given Overhaul’s general state of total meltdown, I can imagine he’d been over these things before and then lost his grip on them, then done so again later, lost track of his thoughts again, and so on and so forth. Getting Nagant to threaten a neurosurgeon is much more straightforward!

All that is assuming, of course, that he was even thinking about solutions at all, and not just having his brain play, “Pops, Pops, I’m sorry, Pops, aurgh, I’ve gOT tO GeT tO POPS!!” during every waking moment, which is honestly probably more in-line with the canon.

Anyway, I don’t think he had much room in his head for serious contemplations of wrongdoing, especially since those would involve a serious reevaluation of his entire moral and psychological foundation—see again, all the psychiatric help he wasn’t getting in Tartarus.

As the League of Villains makes so plain, why would we expect humane behavior from someone society is so bent on being deeply inhumane to? And sure, Overhaul’s got less cop to that than people like e.g. Toga or Shigaraki—he at least had a father figure that legitimately cared about him and the proper development of his ethical code,(2) as well as at least one confidante, neither of which either Shigaraki and Toga could claim. But the same principle applies: if Overhaul is so desperate to fix this most awful of outcomes, but has no reason to believe that society will ever help him do so—because Hero Society has written him off as a dangerous idealogue, and Hero Society doesn’t offer help to dangerous idealogues; it throws them away to die in Tartarus—what exactly is his motivation for trying to be less of a dangerous idealogue?

Deku, of course, tries to give him such a motivation, and maybe that’s the series making a genuine attempt to model the whole “Being the first one to reach out” thing that Nedzu tells us is going to be critical to overcoming the divisions in Hero Society. I have some not-indifferent opinions about how that attempt was handled, but even if you’re more generously inclined to it than I, the fact remains that this motivation for change wasn’t offered until after Eri was brought up, so I wouldn’t expect to see any attempts from Overhaul to reconfigure his busted moral compass until after, either.

People say things like, “He’s not sorry he did it; he’s sorry he got caught”? I feel like it’s a similar thing with Overhaul. He’s not sorry for what he did; he’s sorry it didn’t work. That’s not to say he couldn’t ever come around to being sorry for what he did, but it is going to take a lot of soul-searching, and frankly more outside effort than the establishment has been shown as willing to make for him. But I hope we get some sign that that will change! (Because it desperately, desperately needs to.)

Thanks for the ask, anon!

-------

1: Paging Dr. Tenma.

2: Relative to said father figure’s honorable yakuza norms, anyway.