#although i have been messing around with the idea of them having a second child

[mixelation]

Is naruto convinced that deidara is his real brother?

nah. he's old enough to understand when his parents are simply playing THE BEST PRANK OF ALL TIME

[nicksolemnlyswears]

COMFORT ME, STAY WITH ME

pairing: aegon targaryen x targaryen!reader

word count: ~1.6k

warnings: spoilers for s2e2 of HoTD, mentions of murder and death of a child, surprisingly i thinks there isn't any cursing or smut, maybe next time ;) just good old sad aegon

a/n: this is my first time ever writing for HoTD or GoT for that matter. please be kind to me. i tried to use appropriate wording for the time period. i'm somewhat successful but i have work ahead of me to become a pro.

i felt so enraged when alicent walked out on her grieving son to go fuck around with cole. what the fuck is your problem? i always gave her the benefit of the doubt but this episode just proves what a terrible mother she is. i figured the only person fit to comfort my baby boy aegon is someone raised by rhaenyras gentle heart.

lowkey want to make a throuple out of reader, aegon, and helaena. readers gonna be a little psychologist lol. she'd hold their hands and force them to kumbaya haha but obviously they'd be like this cant work without you. maybe they'll follow aegon the conqueror and have her as a second wife but idk would anyone be interested in that? i'm rambling. enjoy!

Helaena’s Turn

STAY WITH US

The cold stone of the Red Keep kept you company as you strode through its halls. The breeze of the night offered you comfort and aided your mind to forget the terrible events that have plagued the Keep.

And yet, despite your energies being depleted, you can't seem to find rest. Loss weighs you down and spirals you into a depth of overbearing thoughts, making sleep a mere idea.

The Red Keep, the place you once called home, has become your prison. For weeks, you were not allowed out of your chambers, and for a short time afterward, a guard followed you wherever you went.

It has all changed, though. The death of the King's son has diverted all of the guard's forces to find the culprit. The priority is to search for the monster that gruesomely and cruelly decapitated a child while he slept rather than to watch over a harmless Princess who is simply not on their side.

As a result, you're now free to roam the castle, granted there are eyes all around. You wouldn't be able to step foot outside the castle if you tried, and any suspicious activity would immediately be reported to the Hand of the King.

For an unknown reason, your feet guide you to the King's chambers, where indiscernible, muffled sounds come from. You look around and find that the guard meant to protect the King is absent. It's worrisome. You stand in the middle of the stone hallway, your hands clasped, as you make a decision.

While your loyalty lies with the Blacks, you cannot stand and watch more of your family be killed, including the Usurper. Daemon has always been 'kind' in mentioning that your gentle heart will cause your death. You'd argue it's an honorable way to go.

You slip through the ajar door quietly, getting closer to the sound. There is destruction across the room. The Old Valyria model your grandfather worked on for most of his life is scattered on the floor, beyond salvation. Goblets and spilled wine, thrown in a fit of rage, decorate the walls.

It is only when a sharp gasp and a shuddering breath echo around the room that you recognize the sounds you heard outside. They are cries.

You release a breath of relief. No one is in danger, although it does not signify someone is not hurting. You peak further into the room and debate on your next course of action. If the mess inside the chambers and the lack of guards mean anything, it's that the King would like to be alone.

But you know Aegon. You grew up with him. He's not one to reach out for help until it's too late. You make a haste decision. Aegon will not grieve alone tonight.

You know what that's like. Your brother, Lucerys, was murdered not too long ago, and you had no choice but to mourn alone. The Hand of the King locked you in your chambers, afraid your temper would lead you to do something drastic. It's the most horrid thing you've ever endured.

How you wished for Rhaenyra, or anyone for that matter, to hold you while you cried. A maid would've sufficed, but no one was allowed entry into your chambers.

Aegon sits by the fireplace, his head hung low, as he cries for his dead son. It might not have looked like it, but Aegon deeply cared for the boy. He wished to be better than his father ever was, and he was succeeding.

Until two days ago.

You've witnessed firsthand the blanket of sorrow that has covered the Red Keep, spent many hours by Haelena's side, offering her your shoulder, and never realized the King would need the same.

Why is Aegon alone? He should not have to go through this by himself. You expected he would have surrounded himself with his men and countless bottles of wine or sought refuge in Helaena's arms since they shared the same grief.

A heartbreaking cry snaps you out of your thoughts—his whole body trembles from loss. Aegon gasps for air to aid his burning lungs, yet he can't control the tears that track down his cheeks and the raking breaths that course through his body and limit his breathing.

He does not know what to make of himself. His fingers shake as he fumbles with the ring on his finger—the one with the dragon crest. Aegon doesn't know what to make of himself. He's never endured this sort of loss.

His sobs are the ones of a man who lost a part of himself. Jaehaerys, his legacy, has gone too soon. Aegon spent time with the boy the morning before his death, doting on him like Viserys never did to him.

He's so lost in his grief that Aegon doesn't hear when you stumble upon a piece of cast from the model. Being careful with your steps, you reach Aegon's side and place a hand on his shoulder.

Alarmed, he turns to face the person who disturbs him, only to find you—you who have been keeping the Hightower siblings together despite belonging to the other side.

"Leave me be," he sniffs, staring back into the fire. He wonders if that's how his son's pyre looked earlier that day.

You kneel on the floor, settling between his legs to cup his cheeks in your palms. Wide, glossy lilac eyes stare back as they fill with more tears.

As his tears fall, you wipe them away. It's enough to make Aegon crumble in your arms, releasing louder cries and questions that will forever remain unanswered.

It's so easy to let go when you know someone is there to catch you.

Aegon fists your dress like a child would to its mother. You rub his back soothingly, holding him as tightly as you're able. You press a kiss to the side of his head, whispering calming words.

Aegon never wanted to be king, yet the moment he tries to fulfill his duty the moment he tries to be a proper king, he is rewarded by his son being brutally taken from him.

It's not a fair world. The Gods have never been kind to him, and he's afraid he'll only ever live a life of torment.

Now, more than ever, he doesn't want to be King. It is a mere reminder of how heavy the crown truly is. It's a shackle meant to keep him in place while others act upon his name while he pays for the consequences.

"Jaehaerys was a bright soul. I am sorry this has happened. You should've never had to experience this pain," you whisper in his ear. No parent should experience the death of their child. It is a sad reality the Targaryens have experienced all too well.

Aegon nods in agreement, and only when he's calm enough to speak does he tear himself away from your embrace. He instantly misses your warmth and the smell of roses in your hair.

"Why are you comforting me when you should be celebrating my demise?" His waterline is stained red, just like the tip of his nose, and he's never looked more innocent than in that moment.

You tilt your head sadly, that same emotion reflected in your eyes. "I do not celebrate the loss of innocents, especially one that has gone too soon. I also do not particularly like the notion of someone I hold dear grieving alone."

"You did," he sniffs. He remembers hearing your cries that night; the whole Red Keep could. You cried and screamed the entire night until you fell asleep from exhaustion and starvation.

Otto prohibited them from coming to you. Haelena tried, but he dismissed the idea with the false notion that you'd hurt her in your grief. Otto confuses you with your parentage. Unlike them, you're kind and gentle and wouldn't dare hurt anyone.

"Which is how I know I would never wish it upon my worst enemy." You brush your fingers through his blonde hair, tucking the messy strands behind his ears.

"Is that what I am to you? An enemy?" He asks, disgruntled.

"No," you answer immediately, your hands coming down to rest upon his chest. His breathing has calmed since you first saw him. "At least, not yet."

His lilac eyes bore into hers in search of the truth; shyly, you hold onto his gaze with nothing to hide except your intentions to help. Sighing, he closes his eyes and bumps his forehead against yours. Aegon will take what he can get. There's seemingly no one else to help him deal with his emotions.

"Stay," he pleads, holding onto the hand that's placed on his chest. This is the most at peace he's felt in a while. He wishes to savor it for a moment longer.

"For as long as you need, my King," you reply, closing your eyes.

"Aegon," he says. He refuses to be reminded of what lies outside his bed chambers. For just a moment, he wishes to simply be Aegon.

"Aegon," you respond, correcting yourself. He squeezes your hand appreciatively, tucking your head on his neck.

He keeps you in his arms until late hours in the night, recounting memories he shared with Jaehaerys. The pain is real and raw, and he won't be well for a long time, but for this night, Aegon will seek solace in your embrace, where he knows he won't be judged or be seen as a burden.

In your arms, he's not Aegon' the Magnanimous.' He's not seen as careless or reckless or the lesser child of Alicent Hightower.

He's Aegon.

helaena’s part has been posted! HELAENA’S TURN

Final part! STAY WITH US

that’s it! it’s sweet and short. i just wanted to have someone comfort aegon like he deserves. during that scene i wished i could jump into t he screen and hug him. it’s all so tragic.

i wish i could do the same with haelena. my girl needs to be coddled. fuck alicent. fuck otto. most importantly fuck criston cole.

if you enjoyed this one shot please don’t forget to like or comment and if you want more of it feel free to let me know! i don’t bite (unless you want me to)!

[starcurtain]

Hey! I apologize if this question has been asked before since it seems like a pretty obvious one, but where do you think the idea of Aventurine being a sex slave came from? Other than the obvious factor of it being something fun for the fandom to mess around with, I mean.

It's something I kind of took for granted as being true before playing his quest, but after finishing it I realized there wasn't really any indication. The only thing I can really think of is his master's comments about him having a good body. Is there anything in his behavior you can think of that would lead to this conclusion if it wasn't a popular fan interpretation already/kind of just an easy conclusion to reach with a slave character?

(also kind of related but what do you think of the idea that he sleeps around/with his clients to make deals? he's obviously willing to sexualize himself with the boob window, but that doesn't necessarily mean he goes further.)

As far as I can tell, the idea that Aventurine was involved in sexual slavery comes from three (maybe four) places:

First, the comment from the master about Aventurine's appearance. People were holding this comment up as refutable proof that Aventurine was used in sexual slavery on top of being tossed into the Hunger Games; however, the response from other players on this interpretation, especially the Chinese side of the fandom, was very mixed, with a lot of people pointing out that the context in the game probably meant the slave master was talking about Aventurine's ability to attract attention from fans watching the literal Sigonian Hunger Games, rather than having a direct sexual-slavery connotation.

Second, the comment from Sparkle about stripping naked and getting on his knees for Sunday. This one has way more implication in English than I think it might for an Eastern audience, actually. In English, this pretty much sounds like Sparkle saying Aventurine trades sexual favors for success in his gambles. However, I suspect the original intention in Chinese was more about humiliation. Western audiences don't have as much history with honor-based prostration, i.e. accepting corporal humiliation as a form of reconciliation that Eastern audiences might be more familiar with. And in any case, Sparkle is Sparkle. She probably just went for the lowest blow she could think of here.

Third, the general assumption that if Sigonian slaves were being chained, branded, beaten, sent to death matches, etc., it seems logical that they would also be taken advantage of in other ways. I honestly think this is probably the fairest take--many, many real slaves around the world faced (and still face!) sexual abuse, so if slaves from Sigonia were treated so poorly you could make them fight to the death for entertainment, it stands to reason they were probably also not safe from other forms of assault. We also have no idea what happened to Kakavasha in any of the years between his being a tiny child fleeing the massacre and then being purchased as a slave as a late-teens-early-twenties person. That's a very long time for a child to have to survive on their own on an extremely hostile planet and not face risks of all kinds or end up needing to do unspeakable things to survive. So I think this is at least not that far-fetched, although it's important to say there's nothing in the game that directly confirms this.

And fourth: I read a tweet semi-recently that stated that one of the Chinese (or maybe it was Japanese) names for a quest Aventurine was involved in was actually a reference to a book about a teenage sexual assault survivor. However, when I tried to verify this myself, I couldn't find any quest Aventurine was in that was based on a book about sexual assault in either English, Chinese, or Japanese. It's possible I just missed something, but I'm taking this one with a bit of a grain of salt currently, since I can't confirm it personally.

Regarding your other question, about whether I think Aventurine sleeps around to make deals...

I definitely think he does not, for one major reason.

First, I will admit that Aventurine is definitely willing to use his appearance to his advantage. This is pretty obvious. He wears incredibly flashy clothes, baths himself in cologne, overloads on glittering golden jewels, and absolutely calls attention to his appearance when working with clients.

We see him actively doing this in his Moment Among the Stars video, where he is clearly using his looks as an equal tool (to his wealth), to daze his target.

It's not an accident that he says things like "Use me as you wish," with all the explicit connotations preserved. The implication is there. However, unless he was absolutely backed into a corner, I think that implication is all it will ever be.

The reason I think this is that the devs go out of their way to give Aventurine three fairly noticeable physical behaviors in his in-game scenes:

For one, he has some of the most closed off body language of any character in the game.

Aventurine's default conversation pose is arms crossed directly and tightly in front of himself. This is like "Defensive Body Language 101." By crossing your arms, you put a symbolic barrier between yourself and the person you're speaking to, and also ensure that your hands are up and available in case you actually need to physically defend yourself.

Virtually all of Aventurine's conversations take place from this stance, no matter who he is speaking to (from the Trailblazer all the way to Topaz). He deliberately closes his pose off and tightens up his silhouette, which just sends a glaring "Don't touch me" message.

This closing off is also blatantly apparent when you compare it to the deliberately open poses he strikes while trying to make himself seem accessible to others (like tempting clients) or seem powerful (to intimidate):

Complementing this habit of closing himself off is a second noticeable aspect of his body language: He frequently avoids eye contact to the point that he even holds conversations while entirely facing away from the person he's speaking to.

I might be a bit lenient and say maybe he's doing this to on purpose to be mysterious, whoo~~ But... in all honestly, he just does this with everyone, even with Ratio while trying to talk about an actual important issue (wanting to look into Acheron's real identity). Hell, even the fake Aventurine does it to himself!

We can even say that wearing the rose-tinted glasses in the first place is another intentional barrier, one Aventurine deliberately removes in specific moments to give people the (false) impression that he's "letting them in" to his circle:

Now, this might be a bit more complicated in Aventurine's case, because eye contact has a whole extra meaning when eyes are the defining trait of your species and come with particularly challenging racial stereotypes. So it may be that Aventurine is simply used to conducting conversation while looking away to minimize racial prejudice against his eyes' unique appearance.

However, I'd also argue that the devs deliberately turned his entire model away in cutscene after cutscene to create a clear sense of being inaccessible, unapproachable, and unwilling to engage in the physical intimacy of standing closely, directly facing, and staring at his conversation partners.

While he faces away, he controls both the figurative and the literal direction of conversation, forcing people to keep their eyes on him while he is free to move as he pleases. Over and over again, it just says "I want to be the one in control. I'm not afraid to show my back to you, but you are not welcome to come near me."

And, in fact, that's a third aspect of his character's body language that I am sure the devs did not include accidentally: More so than other characters, many of Aventurine's conversations are conducted from weirdly far distances. Like, half the time he's talking, he's standing all the way on the opposite side of the room!

This habit of speaking from a-larger-than-normal distance is apparent in the first scene with Himeko...

And then in just about every other conversation too:

The bubble is twenty feet in every direction.

Like yes, he does approach and have conversations like a normal person... sometimes... But it is significantly more noticeable with Aventurine than with other characters that he often conducts whole conversations--even with his allies--from a distance. Just genuinely weirdly far apart.

Leaving space for Gaiathra, I guess.

And it's because these significant decisions were made with Aventurine's in-game body language that, when he deliberately alters his own behavior, it is instantaneously noticeable.

In 2.0, he closes the distance, the glasses come off, and he gets directly up in the Trailblazer's face.

It's uncomfortable not just because the player is suddenly being loomed over, but because this behavior has already been subconsciously established for the player as out of character for Aventurine.

The barriers the character himself was putting up are deliberately stripped away so that he can use physicality and demanding eye contact to intimidate his target. He has to reverse his own normal body language in order to come across as domineering (and, I guess if you're into that, appealing in a domineering manner).

And ummmm, just a tiny aside here because I can't resist:

This does mean that when the game goes out of its way to demonstrate Aventurine altering his own normal habit of distant and defensive body language, it is absolutely intentional.

Yes, this is a Ratiorine post in disguise. There literally isn't any other character in the game that Aventurine is shown being comfortable standing so close to and interacting with in this manner. This doesn't occur in every one of their scenes, but Ratio is the only character that this happens with repeatedly. It's not an accident that the devs literally added "They were walking side-by-side" as flavor text.

But look, I'll be fair: There's a great example of this in Aventurine's scene with Acheron too, where he closes the distance and attempts to make eye contact with her--seeking her guidance and closeness--and she is actually the one stepping away, speaking with her back turned, demonstrating her power and control (and issues with connection!) in that scene.

Anyway, this was a whole longggg tangent into analyzing Aventurine's body language, but my point is that, overall, the devs deliberately adjusted his model's actions in-game to give the impression of a person who clearly wants to be in control of every interaction he has with other people, who insists on distance over intimacy, and whose stances and habits suggest that he is significantly less accessible and open than his "Use me as you wish" motto might suggest.

Long story longer, I think that there is almost zero chance Aventurine is willingly ceding control over himself or the actions expected of him to anyone he isn't 100% comfortable with, and I think that using physical intimacy of any kind would be an absolute last resort for him. Frankly, he comes across as more likely to shoot himself in the foot than let someone he doesn't trust lay hands on him.

To me, he reads very much as "You may look, but you may not touch."

[lovemari]

IMPORTANT: Hello! My old account, Lovemari, got deleted. Therefore, I had to make a new one. I'm honestly pretty upset about this so I'll take some time to recover! Thankfully, all my posts are saved as I write them in google docs before posting. Please like and reblog so I can reach my old followers and potentially new ones!

Family - Scaramouche x Reader

Reminder: I'm not an experienced writer so construction criticism is always welcome! Also, I write for fun. I just wanted to share my work around the world!

Pairing: Scaramouche x Reader

Synopsis: Scaramouche realizes that you're not in the best life, so he makes it better.

Notes: I want to warn you that you have an abusive father in this relationship. words such as “slutty” are used. though, it does have a cute ending!! Also, this isn't stepcest!! I want to point that out. Ei doesn't adopt you! She just treats you like your own! Please don't take it the wrong way.

Scaramouche heard about you from his friends, though he never cared to listen. He didn't pay attention to those who never gained his interest.

That was until today. Scaramouche was your partner for the upcoming history project. He let out a quiet groan as he walked to your desk.

“Listen.” he ordered, “this is a huge part of our grade. Don't mess up.” You took a step back, intimidated by his demand. with a slow, uneasy nod, you sat back to your desk.

Scaramouche looked down with annoyance, “let's go to your house after school.” You looked at him, about to protest but scaramouche cut you off, “we're doing it, whether you like it or not. got it?”

You didn't say anything, though you wanted to. you slumped into your seat, your hands unable to stay still. You were nervous.

After school, you allowed scaramouche to follow you home. It was against your will but you knew Scaramouche's personality quite well.

You quietly opened the door, hoping not to disturb. Scaramouche snickered, “are you always like this?” he judged, clearly getting under your skin. His voice stopped when he looked up to see a tall man, “you slutty child.” He snapped, looking furious. Scaramouche realized that this man was talking about [name]. The man slapped them, “you thought you could be quiet, huh? thought you could sneak in a boy for god knows why?!” he assumed, clearly thinking of the worst.

Scaramouche decided to step in, “we're here for a project, sir.” he explained, trying to keep a modest attitude to the man. The man spit at [name] before walking away.

Scaramouche sighed in relief before helping you up, “is he your father?” he questioned, answered by a nod from you. Scaramouche felt disgusted but hid it, he didn't want to show any vulnerability.

Scaramouche went upstairs, with [name] slowly following behind. He went into your room and locked the door. [Name’s] room was quite babyish. He figured that you probably didn't receive a lot of things.

Scaramouche felt apologetic, “sorry.” he sympathized. It wasn't a lot but [name] already started crying. They hugged scaramouche.

“There, there.” Scaramouche comforted, patting your back. He gave you a light head pat, showing vulnerability and care. Even though he didn't want to, he felt like you needed it.

A few weeks passed by and scaramouche has been taking you to your house every single day. He explained that you should stay away from your father. Although it sounded wrong, it was clearly the right choice.

You and scaramouche didn't really do much. Scaramouche often gave you items to draw with. He thought of it as some sort of therapy for you. He often put some ideas on the table and encouraged you to recreate it.

You felt like this was your second home. Scaramouche's mother, Ei, was extremely sweet and caring, despite her fearful and intimidating figure and occupation.

Ei felt like you were another child, going as far as preparing a bedroom for you and smothering you with love.

As for your father, he didn't care. He told ei to “take the child.” and that “he didn't want it.” Ei did exactly that.

Even though you weren't exactly in the family, you felt loved by the family. You had some feelings for scaramouche, though you never admired them. not now, at least.

You knew scaramouche felt the same way. He often kissed your head, whenever you were drawing. You loved it.

You were basically living with your boyfriend's family. A family who took care of you and treated you as their own and most importantly, a boyfriend who loved you.

[eldritch-spouse]

Okay... I have an idea

Icons walking into their Queen in the Dungeon while she is crushing a prisoners head with her heels. When she notices them she just smiles with flowers and shit while a her clothes have minor (major in her heels case) blood stains.

Bonus if its because the Queen is short and someone teased her about it so she is releasing her rage by watching a prisoner die because they were under her.

TW: Gore.

Vesper asks what you're doing in the dungeons. It's hardly a pretty place for someone like you, you're above that. Although, seeing the pleasure written all over your features, if he's failed to bring enough violence into the bedroom, you simply only needed to tell Vesper. He'll make sure things are a lot more to your tastes next time! Now, can he have the absolute delight of licking you clean?

Rinx sighs in relief. He doesn't like his possession treasure out of sight. If you wanted to play around here, why not tell him? He flicks whatever bits of gore clings to your upper body away and shakes his great head. The prisoners have nothing you can take from them except their lives. If you wish to steal away their last moments alive, then do so by all means, just warn him of where you are next time.

Vorticia snickers. That's a waste of perfectly good slop for the pets, you know? In fact, some of the dungeon guards delight in feeding prisoners to each other as torture. So really, she's volunteering to help you find some other skulls to bash. But first, the Queen's grabbing that gory mess you made and sliding it down her gullet. Come on, you clearly need more stimulus, you remind her of her teenage kids.

Zizz wonders why you left the bed to do this. You must be really upset. A mind without proper rest is unstable, you wouldn't be playing in muck if you were well. Zizz is at least happy that you seem to know your way around the dungeons. He'll ask what has you so upset even as he starts readying a bath for you.

Cero groans. Really? He can't leave you alone for two seconds you're already getting grime all over your heels? Sincerely, you're like a child. He drags you away by the arm and has you change clothes, that set is being trashed immediately now that it's been dirtied with peasant gore. You can explain you were defending your pride, which will at least make the King understand your ire, but he's still mostly upset about the damage to your outfit.

Livius joins in. No questions no problems, just lands a hit to that prisoner with tenfold the force of yours, reducing them to a pulp. That was fun! You're so angry! What's happening! He's angry too, why not check the other cells?

Kalymir is thanking whatever cosmic power is out there to allow him this view. It's one he's currently burning into the forefront of his brain and furiously pumping his cock to. He doesn't even stop when you look at him, just motions to the prisoner with his free hand as if you aren't quite done yet. At some point, the King moves closer, panting against the top of your head, inhaling the gore, your fury- You're quickly dragged into the next cell.

[yanderecandystore]

Hi I'm brazilian, sorry if my english is wrong. But I can order a yan with a sweet wizard boy where he lives in a house made of candy and attracts people for him to devour, I don't know if you've read the story of the brother grimms, of Hansel and Gretel (or Br: João e Maria). How about this concept?

I'm so sorry but I struggled with this one so bad, I made so many versions of this but always fucked up at the candy house part 💀 (I couldn't imagine how to write the reader getting inside, or even finding it even though it was supposed to be the most obvious part lmao) It's very short 👉👈

Also lmao your English is great boo, welcome to the candy store, thank you for sharing with me this idea! It was actually pretty funny how challenging I thought it was X'D

TW/Tags: a little sadistic/more dehumanizing yandere // mentions of: weird/abusive family dynamics; cannibalism; drugging; kidnapping; gore; severed body parts; the usual yandereness although without the soft/lovey fluff I usually write // delusional (he is as sweet as someone who who eats humans could be- I want to write more but I kept messing up so much I died ⚰️)

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Pumpkin Pie [Yandere!M!Cannibal!Wizard/Witch x GN!Reader - Scenario (?)]:

You were having tea inside a colorful house, your vision was very blurry and your ears felt clogged, and to make things harder to understand there was a heavy and pretty mixed up smell of sweets and candies, overwhelming your nostrils… You don't remember when or how you got in, or why, but the tea was nice so you kept drinking.

You were having a nice time with a stranger who you don't really remember the name of… He wore a weird suit for your town's weather, actually it was just off in general… But you thought it looked nice…

He smiled at you blissfully, clearly having a good time… You felt like you were having a good time as well… You like to think so.

Okay, to be honest you couldn't feel a single thing, your legs were numb and you felt like your head was way too heavy to move it around. You barely felt awake at all. So you just assumed it was probably a strange dream, after all you didn't know this man, right?!

He was talking to you… You didn't understand what he was saying, the smell of something tasty was being baked… Pumpkin pie maybe…? How long have you gone without one of those? Your father didn't like how much sugar you ate, so you were restricted to only a few sweets… But he probably wouldn't be mad about one slice of pumpkin pie, right?

The man patted your head endearingly as he smiled at you, he seemed to not care much about how you weren't paying attention at all… You thought that was sweet of him considering you were always considered an airhead by your family.

… Speaking of them- Shouldn't you go home soon? I mean, this is very pleasant and all but you don't remember how long you've been here and the things that happened beforehand feel like a blur… Your family had a curfew and you didn't want to get in trouble again for breaking it.

Ah, but what could you do? You were just so curious about the forest beside the mansion. You secretly hoped to see fairies or anything magical whenever you went there, ah, how wonderful it was to escape your responsibilities as middle child for at least a few moments.

Sure, your family was wealthy, a lot better than most people in town, but you wished you didn't have to stay inside all day… Your older siblings would get to work with the family mine business while your younger siblings got to play and study all day long, and you? You were sort of the second servant of the house, there were many expectations placed on you and not enough attention to your interests and dreams…

You already miss Ms. Bell, she is such a nice lady and sadly your only friend in a big almost always empty mansion. Actually, you're not even all that bothered about being a "second servant" because you actually like helping her out.

Ah, sweet Bell… She always told you to be careful out in the woods, people would often go missing, especially people who have zero expertise about finding their way in and out… Ms. Bell, always so caring and wise… If only your family listened to you more like she does…!

While you kept drifting into different topics inside your own head, your vision was starting to come back to you and your ears seemed to get better after a while… Your head was still very heavy and it aches as you look around and notice- This guy has a weird taste for decor! Seriously, there's candy everywhere!! Actually… Was everything MADE out of candy?! What the hell?

Wait, you can hear humming, you can hear him better now, he is singing a nice tune as he gets up and takes care of the pie in his oven.

"You're finally awake, or at least more awake now! I'm sorry for what happened before, the dose I gave you was probably too strong, I guess it is just a habit of mine. Please forgive me." The man said in a joyful way, smiling at you like he did before… His voice was familiar but nothing to really help you remember.

"I guess I haven't introduced myself properly, then again I didn't think you would make it this far- I don't know why but I couldn't bring myself to let you go to waste. You have a very sweet smell and I couldn't help but wonder what it would taste like." He acts as if what he said was a compliment, and you strangely enough nod your head, feeling a little dazed still.

Yeah… but, what was he talking about? This conversation was weird and it was starting to worry you a little bit.

He brought to the table you were sitting on his pie so it could cool down while you two chatted, and filled the table with a plate of muffins and another of small bread. They looked incredible!

"You can eat how many you like! Consider yourself my guest, it's actually very nice to have someone over after such a long time…" He sat down in front of you and started to pour you more tea.

"I think it's clear to see I don't really do this, well, my name is Zirick, and this is my house! Don't worry, I'm not mad about what you did earlier, it happens all the time! And of course, my house was pretty much made for it, ya know?"

You didn't understand what he meant, so you told him your name and apologized for not only not remembering what you did but also for doing something that would offend him.

"Oh Pumpkin, it's okay! It's my fault your head is as empty as my cup of tea- My spell was supposed to just knock you out but I guess it was a little too strong and in return made you lose a few memories! But don't worry it'll come back eventually…"

"What I'm talking about is that you stumbled around my land and… Well, after seeing my house you couldn't help but want to take a bite off my walls! But I fixed them already so that's fine."

What? He knocked you out with a spell?? For eating his walls?! That entire sentence didn't make sense to you, you would never randomly eat someone's walls!! Even if they were delicious and even if you… do remember snacking on them… a little bit…

Ugh your mind was a flurry of thoughts, it was like different ingredients being violently mixed together and not mixing well! (Heh, cake comparison! You sure he would have loved to hear that one).

Well, invading someone's property like that was not a good thing but you weren't sure if knocking them with a spell or two was a good way to deal with an intruder… Still, you apologized and said you were going to find a way to pay him for his sweet wall. He waved you off laughing to himself.

"Oh but human money is worthless to me, and besides you have already paid me- Oh! Speaking of which, I just have to make sure this pie tastes good- I would offer you but I don't think it would taste, little Pumpkin."

He started to cut himself a slice… It was very red and meaty for a "pumpkin" pie, yet it smelled like one to you… And to him too.

Your senses were starting to get to you, you started to feel worried as the man was staring at you expectantly, you looked around and saw a peppermint clock on the wall, it marked 10 and you were sure by the darkness outside the window it meant 10p.m. You tried to get up and excuse yourself, after all you needed to get home soon or your family would end up getting mad at you.

But before you could actually walk away, you fell hard into the ground. You noticed you weren't feeling your legs properly, that's because one of them was missing.

"Don't roll away now, you're my guest today, remember? And besides, how far can you go without help, silly?" Zirick came to your aid very quickly and helped you get back to the chair immediately.

You tried to push him away, you bit him, you slapped him and even tried to kick him with one leg- It didn't work, he still knew how to tranquilize you into going back to your dreamland…

"Shh… Ah, how sad. All my guests get like this… You're a little fiesty for such a sweet Pumpkin, but I somehow can't get enough of your company, perhaps when you wake we can start again…"

He licked his dirty, bloodied fork eagerly. Normally he would have turned you into a massive pie but he wasn't THAT hungry and surely just a leg would be enough, and you were adorable walking around in the woods like a little adventure! He couldn't help but trick you into coming closer and eating a piece of his house- He needed a reason to get you inside of course, an eye for an eye, as they would say.

He isn't sure how he'll go about this but he likes your company, especially when you're too dazed to have any inhibitions or sense of privacy when talking to him! He could hear you sleepily mumble for hours, you were just so sweet to talk to, and to taste!

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[xoxoavenger]

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

summary: Steve’s parents always put up a perfect tree with white lights and silver ornaments. When Y/N sees this, she figures out the perfect plan to make sure the tree transforms into Steve’s very own colorful, homemade mess of family. 

word count: 4249

warnings: mentions of child abuse (except technically assault bc steve is 20), steve harrington’s terrible parents, completely hating on white light trees im not sorry

12 Days of Christmas

main masterlist

"You put up a Christmas tree?" Y/N questioned when she came into Steve's house. There was a large, fluffy tree in the corner of the living room, all white lights and silver ornaments, a crystal tree topper bringing the whole theme together.

It was ugly.

"My parents put it up when they came home last week. They won't be back until a couple days before Christmas, so they put it up during Thanksgiving." Steve explained, not seeming too excited about the fact that his parents were leaving him alone for most of December.

Y/N remembered when Steve's parents would only leave on weekends. When he graduated, they stopped coming to even check in, only keeping up appearances every once in awhile. It infuriated Y/N, knowing his parents were probably living separately in another state, not caring about their son who had been to literal hell.

"Where are all your other ornaments?" Y/N tried to ask casually, not wanting to seem judgmental. She walked toward the tree to inspect it, finding that there was nothing more to the tree than the bland frosted tips and the white lights.

"What do you mean?" Steve seemed confused, and Y/N frowned slightly. In her house, her parents had put her homemade ornaments and fun souvenirs all over their tree, multi-colored lights and a festive tree skirt making it feel like home.

"Didn't you make ornaments in school?" She questioned, turning to see Steve frowning.

"Well, yeah," Steve licked his lips, staring at the tree. "I mean, I'm sure those are all in my attic?" It was a question, which was enough to tell Y/N that he had no idea where the ornaments were, only that his parents didn't care to put them on the tree.

"Steve," Y/N put a hand on his shoulder running it down his bicep and bringing him close to her. "I'd put them on my tree." She smiled up at him when he looked down at her, blushing slightly.

"This isn't really my tree anyway." Steve pulled his arm away from her grasp and put it around her, looking at the tree for a few more seconds before Steve turned them both around and began walking toward the kitchen.

"Did you make us hot chocolate?" She asked, eyes lighting up when he grabbed a mug off the counter and handed it to her with a smirk. He shrugged and took a sip, watching her bring it to her lips and take a sip. Her eyes widened when she realized what Steve had actually made. "You made us spiked hot chocolate?" She whispered, even though there was no one else in the house. With everything that had happened that year, it almost made her feel like a normal.

"Of course I did." Steve smirked at her, taking another sip. Y/N did too, and although she couldn't tell what he had spiked the hot chocolate with it tasted well.

"I guess I'm staying over then," She smiled, walking to the couch and flopping down without spilling her hot chocolate. She noticed the movies on the counter that Steve had more than likely stolen from the video store; the good kind too, the Christmas movies everyone wanted to check out. He must've pulled a bunch of strings to get these.

"Okay, let's just pretend you don't have your overnight bag in your car." Steve teased, grabbing her mug and putting it next to his on the coffee table before laying on her, kissing her neck and causing her to giggle and wrap her arms around him.

~

"What's wrong with Steve's tree?" Dustin asked when Y/N unlocked Steve's front door with her own key. All the rest of the kids were with Steve. He had picked them up but had called Y/N from Max's trailer, knowing he wouldn't have time to pick up Dustin and take them all back to Steve's for movie night. They were getting even closer to Christmas now, all the kids only having one week left before their break.

"Um," Y/N, started, licking her lips as she stared at the boring tree. "It's just, uh," She was trying to find a nice way to describe it, even if Steve wasn't there.

"It's boring. And ugly." Dustin blurted out, walking closer to inspect it.

"No, it's just organized." Y/N decided on, but she found that she wanted to grab one of the stupid silver balls and throw it against a wall just to watch it shatter.

"Where are all the other ones?" Dustin asked, grabbing an ornament and plucking it off the tree. "These ones are stupid." Could always count on Dustin to speak the truth that was on his mind.

"Dustin," Y/N scolded, grabbing the ornament and putting it back on the tree. "Steve's parents put this up. So we can't say anything about it's short-comings, alright?" Y/N crossed her arms.

"I'm going to make him a whole new tree." Dustin commented before moving to the kitchen, seemingly done with the whole idea. It gave Y/N a great one, however, and her mind lit up.

"That's a great idea!" She said, hoping the kids wouldn't think they were too old for what she was about to suggest.

"What is?" Dustin asked, head buddies inside a cabinet as he searched for snacks.

"Why don't you get everyone to make Steve a homemade ornament!" She was getting way too excited, she knew by the way Dustin slowly pulled his head away to look at her. "He would be so happy, oh my gosh." Y/N was thinking of the way Steve would react when he received hand made presents from his favorite people.

"Right," She could tell Dustin was trying to sound like a grown-up, but from the upturned corners of his eyes she could tell he knew it was a great idea.

"Steve can't know," Y/N reminded him, and she almost laughed at the look he gave her.

"What is this, amateur hour?"

~

"Why isn't your tree lit up?" Y/N asked, even though she knew exactly why his tree wasn't lit up with those stupid white lights.

"I don't know. I think a bulb is out." He said, glancing to the side before going back to the movie they were watching. Y/N had given herself fifteen minutes before she asked, and now she had to be chill. This needed to seem like a coincidence.

"Oh, gosh." She muttered, settling into his side and counting to thirty in her head. "Ya know, I think I have some lights in my car." She stared at the movie as she felt Steve move around to stare at her.

"Y/N," Steve started reaching forward and pausing the movie. "Why the hell do you have tree lights in your car?" Because I unscrewed the first couple bulbs in your lights to make sure none of them worked.

"I was going take them back for my parents." She lied. She had picked them up on the way over to Steve's house. "But I'm sure they won't mind if you use them. After all, a Christmas tree without lights is just a tree."

"Okay," Steve sounded skeptical, but he still followed Y/N out to her car and carried the box of lights in.

"Oh, shoot," She muttered as she took the lights out of the box. "I guess they left some ornaments in here." She held up the couple of ornaments she had also bought from the store. One was a basketball, and the other was two penguins with cute scarves leaning into each other.

"Did they?" Now Steve was definitely onto her, but she would never tell him the truth.

"Yeah." She sighed, then held them up to his tree. "They look better on your's anyway." She smiled at him, and he just shook his head and leaned down to unplug the old, white lights.

"They're colored." Steve said, looking at the bulbs.

"Believe it or not, tree lights can be other colors." She smirked. Steve grabbed the basketball ornament, holding it up.

"I guess ornaments can be too." He smirked, looking at her in a way that made her blush, because he had to of known she had brought the obvious ornaments for him.

"This'll be fun!" Y/N said, smiling ear to ear as she turned the radio in the kitchen to the Christmas station. Steve returned the smile, grabbing a chair to be able to reach the top of the large tree.

"Here, I'll hand you the ornaments and you can put them on the couch." Steve told her, taking off a couple of the boring white and silver ones. Y/N contemplated 'accidentally' dropping them on the ground, but decided against it, incase Steve would want to redecorate the tree before his parents got home.

Part of her hoped his parents came home to see the tree all decorated by his real family and have an aneurysm.

"Careful with this." He said, taking the crystal tree topper off, gently handing it to Y/N. Her heart swelled at her thought process. Maybe Steve did have something important on his tree.

"Is it a family heirloom?" She asked, secretly hoping that at least something on the tree had sentimental value.

"What? No," Steve chuckled, and Y/N tried not to deflate as she set the topper on the coffee table, just incase. "It's just expensive, probably. I'd imagine that's real crystal." He grabbed the colored lights and plugged them in, and Y/N tried to contain her glee as they lit up. When he was done putting them around the tree, it already looked so much different.

"Here." Y/N bypassed the topper and made Steve put the penguin ornament up first. He stared at the ornament for a moment, taking it in, and then put it front and center.

Where it should be.

By the time all the other ornaments were up, the tree still looked somewhat boring but at least it was a start. Y/N couldn't wait for the day when the branches would be weighed down the homemade ornaments. She squeezed Steve's hand at the thought, smiling up at him when he squeezed back.

She was going to make this their tree.

~

"Are you sure you can't make it to Will's?" Dustin begged. Everyone was at Steve's to give them their presents two days before Christmas, since he wouldn't be able to go to the Byers for Christmas. They had been going back and forth between Steve opening someone's gift and then him giving them a gift. So far Steve had got Lucas a Pacers jersey, and Lucas got Steve an ornament made out of a Hawkins High jersey that Lucas definitely didn't 'lose' last year. Erica had made Steve an ornament with yarn using his favorite colors and popsicle sticks, while she had received a First Edition American Girl Doll. She couldn't even act like it was childish because she was so excited. El made Steve an ornament out of clay that had so much glitter it got everywhere when Steve picked it up, but he still smiled and thanked her as he handed her a box containing a cute beanie in her favorite color. Mike had given Steve an ornament of a ceramic radio, and he tried to act nonchalant when Steve gifted him a signed copy of his favorite book.

"If my parents don't show up, I promise I'll be there." Steve said it lightly, but Y/N heard the sadness in his voice. She hoped his parents showed up, but she also knew the bad place Steve's head would be in after his parents' visit.

"Is it bad to hope your parents don't show up?" Max asked, handing Steve her present. Steve was starting to see the pattern with all the kids' gifts, but he enjoyed all of them.

"Just a little bit." Nancy said with a small smile. Since the younger kids couldn't stay as long, the older ones were going to do a small gift exchange afterward and indulge in some alcoholic beverages and spend the night, leaving early in the morning.

"I still hope they don't show up." Max confessed as Steve took the tissue paper out of the bag and smiled at yet another ornament. This one was a cute little car that somewhat looked like Steve's, which made him laugh softly as he thought of how Max had drove his car when he had been knocked out by her brother.

"Thank you," Steve smiled, handing the ornament to Y/N, who was carefully putting them in a box for later as he handed Max her present from him.

"No," Max said as she looked at the box, already knowing what it was. "Steve," She whispered, ripping the wrapping paper and opening the box to reveal the skateboard she knew was in there. She looked up at the ceiling, trying not to cry as she caught a glimpse of the back of it, which was decorated with a bunch of arcade game characters.

"Do you like it?" Steve asked, eyes wide with hope.

"Yes, you idiot." Max said, sniffling and blinking before moving back in the group.

"Alright, last ones, come on," Y/N said, looking out the window to see Karen waiting to pick up the kids. Will smiled as he moved forward, handing Steve a small box. He opened it to see a homemade clay ornament of his bat, complete with the nails. He chuckled as he held it up, and everyone laughed with him.

"This is amazing." Steve said with a huge smile. "Thank you, Will." Y/N watched all the kids look annoyed that Will had made the best ornament, and she smiled as she leaned down to hand Steve the gift from Will.

Everyone watched as Will unwrapped his gift, which Y/N had actually found and agreed to let Steve give to Will. It was a couple of limited edition Star Wars drinking glasses, and Will smiled and thanked Steve after getting a good look.

"Alright, dumbass," Steve said, smiling down at Dustin, who was smiling.

"Let me open mine first." The younger boy said, grabbing putting his poorly wrapped box behind his back. Steve rolled his eyes and leaned down to grab Dustin's gift.

Steve had freaked out about Dustin's gift. He hadn't known what to get the boy who he saw as a brother. Y/N had to help him pick between numerous gifts, trying not to laugh as he put way too much thought into it.

Dustin ripped into his gift, a Super Mario Bros Nintendo Game & Watch. Dustin was silent as he stared at the game. Steve stared as he waited for Dustin to say something. His head was down, so they couldn't see his reaction.

"Dustin?" Y/N asked softly, leaning forward. Before she could figure out what Dustin was feeling, the boy launched himself at Steve, who let out a grunt as he was knocked back.

"Thank you," Dustin cried, and Y/N watched as Steve let out a breath of relief and wrapped his arms around him.

"Of course," Steve responded, eyes closing as he enjoyed the hug. Y/N looked at Nancy, the two almost crying at the interaction. After everyone had composed themselves, Dustin handed a small box to Steve.

"I wonder what it is?" Steve joked, smirking as he opened up an object wrapped in tissue paper. He smirked as he opened it, but the smirk was instantly dropped when he saw what the ornament was.

This one was one of the homemade dough ones in the shape of a circle, Dustin's handwriting in the middle reading 'Best Brother Ever.'

Steve looked over at Dustin and immediately was crying.

After that everyone erupted in chaos, all the kids wanting to put their ornaments on the tree as Karen honked the horn outside.

"Mine needs to be at the top!" Max yelled, pushing Dustin away.

"I'm sorry, did your's make him cry?" Dustin screamed back, pushing.

"How about neither of your's get to be at the top?" Mike said, and the other two both rolled their eyes.

"You didn't even make a homemade one!" El said, helping Will and Erica take off the boring ornaments.

"Let's all just calm down." Nancy said, watching the tree shake.

"I'm gonna go get a bag for all the paper." Steve said, kissing Y/N's temple and walking out of the room.

"Smart man." Jonathan said, rolling his eyes as he watched the kids continue fighting. Y/N shook her head as she scoffed.

"Should we do something? That tree looks a little too close to falling." Robin interjected. Y/N nodded, but just as she went to stop the kids the star on top of the tree came tumbling down. Everyone was silent as it shattered, the sound ringing out.

"Everyone stay still!" Steve ordered, however it wasn't in a harsh voice; it was the voice he used when the Upside Down monsters were getting too close. All the kids looked over to him with wide eyes, but he was just staring at the ground.

"Steve," Y/N whispered, not sure how he would react to this. The topper didn't have an emotional value, but Y/N knew that Steve's parents wouldn't be too thrilled about it.

"El, Will, Lucas, Erica, you all walk that way." Steve pointed away from the shattered remains, and the kids silently obeyed, leaving Max, Dustin, and Mike standing in the mess.

"I'm so sorry." Max whispered, and Y/N could tell her eyes were wet with tears.

"We can fix it, look, it's not even that-"

"Dustin stop!" Steve cut off the younger boy, who was now crouched as he tried to put the bigger pieces together in the silver frame. Dustin looked over, and Y/N could tell he was about to freak out. She knew Steve was trying to make sure none of the kids would get hurt. That was his number one priority.

"I didn't mean to, I promise, I just," Dustin drifted off, voice high and tight as he tried not to cry.

"Are you guys okay?" Steve asked, walking over and grabbing the large pieces and putting them in the bag he had grabbed. "You weren't cut, were you?" His words shocked the kids, who were just staring at him, petrified.

"You aren't mad?" Mike asked, breaking the ice. "You aren't gonna yell at us?"

"Are you hurt?" Steve repeated, completely ignoring Mike's questions.

"No," Max shook her head, bringing her hands up to wipe her tears.

"Okay," Steve held up the silver frame that the crystal used to be in, and as he stared at it Y/N heard the thoughts in his head.

His parents were going to kill him.

"Put your ornaments on the tree and let's grab your stuff." Y/N said to the kids, who finished their original task and grabbed their jackets, all watching Steve, who was now sitting on the floor with the remains in his hand.

"We can replace it!" Dustin said, and Y/N just gave him a tight lipped smile.

"Let's talk about this later." She told him, herding the rest of the kids out of the house and promising to update them and apologize to Steve for them.

"Are you alright?" Robin was at Steve's side, who was still blank faced.

"My parents are actually gonna kill me." Steve muttered, looking up to Y/N with wide eyes. She was with him in no time, wiping away the remaining pieces of crystal to sit with him. She wrapped her arms around him, trying to calm him somehow.

"It'll be alright." She told him, kissing his shoulder. Steve just shook his head, shrugging Y/N and Robin off as he stood, throwing the silver frame in the bag.

"Oh God," Steve said, staring at the tree, which was fully decorated in the kid's ornaments and the multicolored lights and a couple of the branches were bent, but the tree finally looked like his, not his mom's or his dad's.

Oh yeah, they were gonna kill him.

~

"You're sure his parents came?" Max asked, clearly feeling guilty about breaking the tree topper the day prior. Everyone was at the Byers on Christmas Eve night, the kids having a plan to stay awake until Christmas.

"He got a call from them this morning." Y/N confirmed with a sad smile. She took a bite of one of the Christmas cookies she had helped Joyce with that afternoon, after she left Steve's house. She wasn't sure what he was going to do about the tree topper, but she knew he was going out to get white lights for the tree, which made her sad.

"Have you heard from him since?" Lucas asked, and by now all the kids were listening intently.

"No." She shook her head with a frown. She hadn't tried calling him, because she didn't want his parents to pick up. They knew that her and Steve was dating her, but like most things with their son, they chose to ignore it.

"Is he okay?" Dustin asked, catching the attention of Hopper, who was very well versed in the rumors about the Harrington family.

"Yes," Y/N said with an awkward chuckle. Hopper caught her eye, and she pulled her lips in.

"Have you talked to him?" Hop asked, sitting forward in his chair.

"No, but I'm sure he's fine." Y/N lied.

"Maybe I should go check." Hopper said, standing.

"Can I come?" Y/N stood, heart racing as she realized her and Hopper were on the same page.

"What's going on?" Joyce asked, looking at Nancy for clarification, but it seemed everyone else was just as confused.

"I'm going to pick Steve up." Hopper announced, no room for arguing.

"But his parents," Robin started, and Y/N just gave her look with her eyebrows raised, because there was no need to freak the kids out.

"What's going on?" Erica asked, eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"It's fine, we're just gonna go get Steve so he can be with us." Y/N smiled. Before anyone could say anything, there was a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting anyone else?" Hopper asked Joyce, who was rushing to the door.

"No," She stepped back to let Hopper open the door, covering the opening with his body. He was silent, and Joyce and Y/N tried to look around his body.

"Who is it?" Joyce asked, finally making the cop move out of the way.

"Steve?" Y/N asked, seeing the boy standing with a large box. He had a bright red mark across his cheekbone, one that was swelling and slowly turning less bright and more purple.

"Come in, honey." Joyce put a hand on his back and pulled him inside.

"What happened?" Y/N whispered when Steve was inside, tracing a light thumb over it. He just shook his head as he moved to kiss her hand.

"Just say the word, kid." Hopper said, clapping his shoulder as a silent understanding passed between them.

"I couldn't bring anything for dinner, but I brought some stuff for the tree." Steve said as he walked into the living room with the kids. They all gathered around as he opened the box to reveal all the ornaments they had given him. "My dad tried to break them." He said quietly, and Y/N caught Hopper's eye as they realized how Steve had gotten the mark.

Steve took a beating to keep the ornaments the kids gave him.

"Well," Steve smiled at all the kids, who looked like a mix between sad and confused. "What're you doing just standing here? Put them on the tree." He nodded at the Byers' tree, and the kids all reached in to grab their ornaments, much more calm about putting them up this time.

"You brought the penguins." Y/N said, looking in the box and seeing the ornaments she had gotten him. She went to grab them when she realized that there was an extra one in there, face down. She grabbed it and flipped it around, seeing a picture of them on the ceramic circle. She felt the tears well as she stared at it, looking up at him.

"I actually had Jonathan do it before I knew what you set the kids up to." He told her, and she just smirked.

"I have no idea what you mean." But they both knew she was lying. They shared a smile and grabbed the remaining ornaments, putting them on the crowded tree. When it was done, everyone stood back to take it in. Steve put his arm around Y/N and decided this was the tree he wanted from now on - no more plain trees.

"We made you something." Dustin said, and Steve turned to see the kids all crowded around, Dustin with his arms around his back.

"It's not crystal," Max said as an apology. Steve's eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

"You guys," He started, but then Dustin was thrusting his arms out and Steve was met with a star made from cardboard. It looked pretty decent, and Steve felt his eyes water as he turned it to see the back, which all the kids had signed for him.

"You did this for me?" Steve asked softly, letting a couple tears fall.

"Will made the cardboard, but we decorated." El explained, and Steve smiled as he realized why there was glitter on one corner.

"Thank you," He whispered, letting them all crowd him and hug him.

"Put it on the tree," Joyce nodded to the tree, which didn't have a topper yet. Steve looked surprised, but still stood on the side of the couch and reached over, putting the star at the top where it belonged. He jumped down and grabbed Y/N close, and she wrapped her arms around him. She blushed as he kissed her forehead.

"Merry Christmas, Steve." She whispered as the kids began singing Deck the Halls around them.

"Merry Christmas, Y/N."

//

tags: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @roxaya @sadbitchfangirl @gloryekaterina @lostcause1 @oblivion-void @alexshaff2002 @m-rae23 @icequeen1371 @freezaz123 @mads-weasley 

(if your name is crossed out it means that for some reason I could not tag you)

[genshin-impact-writings]

Hi! May I request a drabble for Childe/reader where reader has to/wants to get up but he doesn't want to let them go? Fluffy pls. ❤️

Hey there! First of all, I'm so sorry that it took me so incredibly long to get to your request. Also, I apologize if this is all over the place but I honestly didn't have the motivation to re-write it a third time. In any case, I really hope you're still interested in this and like what I came up with. Have a great day/night and stay safe! <3

Don’t go yet – Childe/Tartaglia x gn!reader (fluff) 

You woke with a start when a loud beeping noise pierced through the peaceful bubble of your dreams. A bit disoriented and only half awake yet, you reached over to your bedside table, feeling around for the source of the infernal noise – that you soon identified as your alarm clock. With a groan, you turned it off and rubbed your face as you tried coming to your senses. Whoever had deemed it a good idea to start work so early that you had to leave your warm, comfortable bed while it was still dark outside had undoubtedly been the biggest idiot on this planet. 

But it couldn’t be helped, you needed to get up if you wanted to be on time for work. 

The rustling of bedsheets next to you, followed by a quiet “(Y/N)?” snapped you out of your thoughts. You rolled over, your eyes meeting the bleary gaze of the sleepy Harbinger right next to you.  

“Go back to sleep,” you whispered and reached out to brush a strand of hair from his forehead. His hair was always a mess in the morning, sticking out in all directions, but somehow, it just made him look even more adorable. You smiled at him, although you were pretty sure he couldn’t see it properly in the darkness of your bedroom. Still, he managed to catch your hand, bringing it to his lips to press a kiss to your knuckles.

“It’s too early,” he then said with a yawn. “Why are you awake?”

“Because there are some people in this world who need to get up early for work.”

You were convinced he was pouting right now. At least, his voice sounded like he was when he replied, “Since when do you have to get up before the sun actually rises?”

“Trust me, if it were up to me, I’d still be sound asleep right now.”

For a few moments, Childe didn’t reply. A part of you hoped that he had actually fallen asleep again because you knew him well enough to realize that he surely would try to keep you from getting up – he always did that when you had to leave the house before him, so you were always careful not to wake him up on these days. With that thought in mind, you remained perfectly still for a while, listening to his quiet breathing before you slowly moved to the edge of the bed. The next second, Childe had already wrapped his arms around you, caging you in a tight hug to stop you from leaving his side anytime soon. 

“Don’t go just yet,” he mumbled. “It’s still dark outside.”

“I know.”

He buried his face in the crook of your neck. “And it’s raining.”

“I know.”

“And you really want to go out there?” he asked. And while you usually took pride in the fact that you weren’t easily persuaded, you could already feel your determination to get up melt away as Childe snuggled up to you, his lips brushing against your neck, right above your carotid.

You sighed, defeated. “… no.” 

And you really didn’t want to leave. Lazy mornings like this were your favorites, especially when the world outside your window looked as uninviting as it did today. The rain kept pouring down, and from afar, you could hear the faint sound of thunder. Just the thought of going out there was enough to make you shudder.  

For a couple of moments, neither of you spoke a word as you indulged in the warmth of Childe’s embrace. He was always so warm… and on mornings like this, it was particularly hard to leave your bed. 

“You’ll be late for work,” he mumbled against your neck, his breath tickling your skin. You let out a deep sigh. “Yeah. You’re right. But…,” you hesitated, wondering if you could really skip work today without feeling like your bad conscious was going to eat you up for the rest of the day, “I don’t want to go. Maybe I should call in sick, or something.”

Childe chuckled. “Catching a cold really isn’t unusual this time of the year.”

You hummed in response. The thought of staying here for a couple more hours really was quite tempting right now. But at the same time, you knew that you would probably feel incredibly guilty if you skipped work without actually being sick. Then again, why would they know? Besides, it wasn’t like the world was going to end if you didn’t show up for one day… 

With a quiet sigh, you closed your eyes and wrapped your arms around Childe, knowing very well that your sense of responsibility had lost the battle for good this time. “Fine. I’ll stay,” you agreed. “But if I get into trouble with my boss, it’s entirely your fault.”

“Hmm… I think I can live with that, buttercup.”

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed it, please consider liking, reblogging and/or leaving feedback. I'd really appreciate the support! <3

Taglist: @genshinparty @kaeyas-beloved @the-gayest-sky-kid @ajaxstar @nakurak

[not-wholly-unheroic]

🤔 and/or 🍰 for the ask! :D

Sorry for taking so long to answer this! This past month my schedule has been crazy and it just wasn’t at the forefront of my mind.

🤔 What are some of their quirks/mannerisms?

He twirls his mustache when he’s scheming/planning/deep in thought or when he’s feeling especially proud of himself. He rolls his “r’s” when he wants to sound particularly posh and important. He likes to talk with his hands (well…hand) when he’s excited. He paces a lot when he’s anxious or in deep thought. He acts super suave and debonair but when he is genuinely trying to impress someone he loves, he’s easily flustered and becomes a bit clumsy. He doesn’t like people touching his hair. He almost always cries after an encounter with the crocodile or similar scare…not necessarily in public, but the second he gets alone in his cabin, he will breakdown and have a serious panic attack/meltdown. He needs glasses but only wears them when he absolutely has to because he hates how old they make him look. He has awful nightmares almost every night, but when he does sleep, he doesn’t like doing so in total darkness… The darkness is smothering and reminds him too much of being inside the crocodile…and he was afraid of the dark as a child. He doesn’t like to vary his outfit much from day to day because he risks any particular favorite item of clothing being ruined in a crocodile attack, so it’s easier to just…have a lot of the same thing in his closet. He’s been doing that for so long at this point that the idea of changing things up almost makes him anxious. When he smiles (which happens more often these days post-redemption arc)—when he REALLY smiles and means it, he has crow’s feet that crinkle at the corner of his eyes.

🍰 What are their favorite sweets/desserts?

In his Hook at Eton speech (which I don’t consider canon but which can be fun to draw inspiration from at times), Barrie says that as a boy at the school, he liked “strawberry mess”…which is honestly more or less just whipped cream and strawberries. So I like to play around with the idea that he likes strawberry-flavored desserts in particular. (And although he wouldn’t be caught dead admitting to liking such a modern, sad excuse for a pastry, he actually likes strawberry poptarts, too…)

Because my version of Hook grew up during a time period when sugar was a very precious commodity that wasn’t widely available all the time, he isn’t actually used to much sugar in things and frequently finds more decadent desserts too rich for his liking. He even usually takes his tea with minimal sugar or with honey as a sweetener instead.

[rowritesstuff]

okay! i have a request! dad!kaz x mom!reader where maybe their kid gets kidnapped and the reader is distressed and kaz is just beyond angry and rips the whole city apart, in search for their kid. and when they find them its just teary family comfort??

if you dont feel it, dont worry about it!<3

Blood Be Damned (Kaz Brekker x Female Reader)

A/N: The quality of this just kinda goes 📈📉📈📉📈📉 I hope you don't mind that I kinda messed with the dad!Kaz idea (nothing bad, I promise!). If you don't like it, I swear I will write a new version of this. 😂 Also, in my head this takes place post-CK, so Kaz and the reader are probably roughly 18. I also hope y'all like the name I picked for the kid. Also, I need to go to bed, so I didn't do a final proof read. Deal with it. 😘

Ro's Masterpost

WORD COUNT: 2k

WARNINGS: Teen parenting, possibly OOC Kaz (but it's fucking adorable), missing child and kidnapping, mentions of torture, blood, mentions of death, mild violence, slitting the throats of stuffed animals?

GIF found on @naslostcontrol

Kaz had been busy lately, so he was behind on his work. Very behind on his work. Because you were nice (and because you would do practically anything for the man), you decided to help him get it done, meaning it would be a late night.

It was currently just about nine bells in the evening. You were sitting on the bed you and Kaz shared most nights while Kaz was putting Alyx, your daughter, to bed.

Or, at least he was supposed to be.

You were interrupted by the door opening and giggles disrupting the silence. The source of the laughing was Kaz and Alyx, who was receiving a piggyback ride from Kaz.

"She's supposed to be in bed!" Although you were slightly mad; Alyx should have been in bed by now, you couldn't help the loving smile that took over your face.

You never expected Kaz to get along with your daughter so well. Even before you and Kaz were together, he gave Alyx nothing but kindness and care. Alyx had adored Kaz since they met when she was just a few months old. When your relationship with Kaz grew, he swiftly stepped into the role of Alyx's father figure.

Kaz turned his back to face you and let Alyx fall onto the bed in front of you. The small girl erupted into more giggles. "Someone wanted to say good night to the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Hey!" Alyx exclaimed.

Kaz kissed Alyx's forehead. "Sorry. The second most beautiful girl in the world. Right after Alyx."

You pulled Alyx into your arms, cradling her. "Although I am very happy that you wanted to say good night, you need to be asleep." Your gaze went back to Kaz. "I swear to the Saints, if she's grumpy tomorrow, you'll be taking care of her."

Kaz rolled his eyes; he would gladly take care of your daughter any day, no matter what mood she was in. He scooped Alyx back up and placed a kiss on the top of your head. "I'll put her to bed now."

"Thank you."

As Kaz moved to leave the room, Alyx shouted out "good night!" to you.

"Good night, darling!" The door closed behind the two people you loved most in the world.

Shortly after they left and you continued working, Kaz came back and settled down at his desk. He removed his leather gloves, which despite making huge progress on overcoming his touch aversion, he still often wore around Alyx. Alyx was a very touchy, somewhat clingy child. Sometimes overwhelmingly so. Kaz refused to ask her to be more careful with him, or even let you ask her, so he wore the gloves.

The two of you worked in comfortable silence, occasionally asking for the other's help every once in a while until the early morning hours. As more and more time passed, you felt the exhaustion hit you harder each hour. The words on the page blended together, though you could barely focus on understanding the combinations of letters. Your eyes grew heavy as you tried to work through the tiredness.

You must have fallen asleep at some point because you woke up to Kaz shaking you and frantically saying something about Alyx. You couldn't comprehend the words coming out of his mouth.

"Slow down," you said once you were mostly lucid. "What's going on?"

"Alyx is missing."

You sighed. "She's probably just wandering around in the kitchen or something."

Kaz put a stuffed lion toy in your lap. "This was in her bed."

You picked the toy up and inspected it. As your fingers ran around the plush fabric, your breathing shook. Alyx had a stuffed crow, which she loved to death, but she never had a stuffed lion.

You started to take some deeper inhales, attempting to get into a mindspace to think rationally.

Alyx wasn't in her bed.

There was a stuffed lion toy in her place.

You had no idea where she was or when she was taken.

That's all you knew.

Kaz took the toy from your hands and tossed it on the floor to deal with later. He took your hands in his gloved ones, running his thumbs over your knuckles. You knew he was trying to calm you or ease your mind with gentleness, but it wasn't working.

He pulled you into him, resting your head on his chest. He lowered his mouth to your ear and whispered, "I will find whoever did this, and I will make them regret it."

Kaz limped into the bedroom late the next day. After carefully leaning his cane against the wall, he took his coat off and hung it up. His gaze navigated to the bed, where, thankfully, you were sleeping.

You hadn't slept the night before; you were worrying and trying to find Alyx. Before he had left earlier, he asked you to get some sleep, though at the time, you didn't seem happy at the request.

Kaz made his way to the bathroom, quickly finding the washbasin. He removed his gloves, as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Spots of dried blood decorated his right cheek. He set his gloves aside on the counter, more blood from the gloves smearing on the surface.

Hours and hours of interrogating Dime Lions and torturing Dime Lions and none of them gave any information. They all claimed ignorance. He'd sent Inej on multiple sweeps of Dime Lion territory and nothing.

Alyx was nowhere.

Kaz gripped the edge of the counter, his hands wet from washing the blood from his face. He stared into the water in the washbasin.

She had to be somewhere. Someone had to know something. He didn't care how many people got hurt in the process, he would find Alyx for you. For him.

He knew that Alyx saw him as a father figure and he knew that he cared for the girl, but her being gone made him realize the true paternal love he felt for her. Alyx had a presence that brightened up every room she stumbled into. Kaz missed her smile, her hugs, her laughter, her tears, her curiosity, her light that hadn't been killed by Ketterdam yet.

She was his daughter, blood be damned.

And he was going to find her and bring her home.

He wiped the tears from his cheeks before he went back into the bedroom and changed into clean clothes. From behind him, he heard blankets shifting around. He turned, and there you were. Eyes open, hair tangled; you still looked half asleep. You looked up at him.

He shook his head. Your eyes closed as your hand rubbed your face. "I've sent Inej on another sweep, this time of all of Ketterdam." He sat on the bed as he buttoned up his white shirt. You moved closer to him. "Knowing her, she'll find or intercept something and we'll find Alyx and bring her home to you-"

"Kaz, stop."

He turned his upper body to face you, confusion etched on his features. He removed his hands from the undone top button of his shirt and he placed one on your blanket-covered side. He silently waited for you to continue.

"Please stop sugar-coating this and giving me false hope."

"It's not false hope. Inej may actually find something."

"Kaz, it's been well over a day-"

"Don't you dare tell me what I think you're about to."

You sat up and took his face in your hands, eyes flooding with tears. His hand stayed on your side. "It kills me to even think about it, but we need to be realistic. We're in Ketterdam, for Saints sake. This place isn't known for rainbows and sunshine." Your voice cracked and wavered as you spoke.

Kaz remained silent as tears trickled down both your cheeks and his cheeks.

"Y/N, I have no idea where she is." His other hand went to her other side. "We don't deserve this. Alyx doesn't deserve this."

You pulled him into you as sobs racked the both of you.

You watched Kaz as he slept next to you. You were sitting up in your bed as Kaz's head lay on the pillow next to your lap. Despite his roughed up hair and messy appearance, you admired his peaceful beauty. Your fingers ran through his dark hair, calming you.

He had fallen asleep in your arms, which had only proved to you how deprived he was of sleep. You had to briefly wake him to move into this position, which was much more comfortable for the both of you.

Five quick taps at your window made you zone back into the world outside of Kaz. You removed your hands from his hair and you quickly got out of bed, finding Inej crouching outside the bedroom window. You opened it, letting her in.

Inej held out an opened letter to you. "What is it?" you asked as you took the letter out of the envelope.

"I intercepted it before it got to the recipient. It's a communication from within the Razorgulls."

You skimmed the letter, finding mentions of a toddler girl and Kaz, though he was addressed as "Dirtyhands". The toddler girl must be Alyx, who the letter said was "Dirtyhands' daughter". Whoever sent the letter had Alyx.

"The Razorgulls took her. But they left a stuffed lion."

"Most likely to throw us off their trail and onto the Dime Lions'. And it worked."

"Do you know where this came from?"

Inej nodded. "I wrote the address." She handed you a slip of paper.

"Thank you so much," you whispered before kissing her cheek and pulling her into a hug. "I owe you everything."

"Just focus on getting your daughter back." Eventually, Inej broke the hug and left the room through the window. You ran to the bed and woke Kaz.

He woke up, slightly delirious, but once you told him that you knew Alyx's location, he snapped into full attention.

It was a simple two-person job, with you and Kaz being the two people. When Inej scoped out Alyx's location, she found there was only ever two people guarding the building, which you could very easily take out. The Razorgulls were careless.

You and Kaz studied the building from behind the side of a wall. In front, you saw the two guards Inej had told you about. They would be very easy to take care of. The guards paced around the front of the building, chatting with each other.

Kaz turned to you. "You take the right guard, I'll take the left. Once we get in, I'll focus on finding Alyx while you deliver our message. I'll find you once I have her." He took your hand in his gloved one.

Your other hand played with the strap of the satchel that crossed your body as you nodded. "Let's go."

You and Kaz snuck around in opposite directions, making your way for a sneak attack on the guards. On the way, you picked up a decent-sized rock. You hid behind the wall of the building, watching Kaz on the other side. At his nod, you ran toward the guard on the right.

You brought the rock down on the guard's head, knocking him out fairly quickly. When you looked back up, Kaz had knocked out his guard. The both of you bolted to the front door, swiftly opening it and running inside. You ran up the staircase as Kaz searched the first floor for Alyx.

You eventually found what appeared to be the office room in the building. You stopped at the wooden desk and opened your satchel. You lined up the five stuffed gull toys on the desk. After taking your knife out of your pocket, you carefully made a slice on the throats of each toy bird. Satisfied with your work, you placed the knife back in your pocket.

Not long after you finished, you heard quick footsteps behind you. You turned, and there she was. Alyx ran to you and you scooped her up in your arms, holding her tight as your eyes slipped close.

The tears falling down your face didn't matter. The world didn't matter. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

The sound of a cane clicking against the wooden floor made your eyes open again. Kaz stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching you hold Alyx. After making your way to him, you kissed his cheek.

"I love you," you whispered. "I love you both so much."

[match-your-steps]

I fully understand that Marnac is probably supposed to be viewed as hetero, ok? like. if nothing else, the fact that every female character he meets becomes attracted to him is telling.

I definition think popular opinion is probably that the reason he doesn't actually have a harem (just a bunch of willing candidates) is because he's so devoted to the Goddess of Decay. Like, romantically. I mean, we can't really understand most of what she says, since it's just "murder," but her displays of jealousy indicate that she at least likely feels this way about Marnac.

Personally, I think differently. Although I agree he is very devoted to the Goddess of Decay and this plays a role in his disinterest in a relationship with another woman, I don't think Marnac is romantically interested in the Goddess of Decay.

First of all. Gotta get this out in the open- he calls her "mother" and is officially (as her disciple) her "son." Obviously she's not actually his literal mother and they don't actually have a parent-child relationship; it's a religious language thing, but it's still kind of weird. Also, I haven't caught up yet and I'm sure this will eventually change, but the whole child-looking body thing is honestly weirder than if he just got into a relationship with her disembodied sentient hand.

My second thing is really just that I don't view Marnac as feeling romantically attracted to the Goddess of Decay. Yes, he views her as important. The most important, even. But that's all. The way I see it, she is 'the most important' to him in the same way as anything or anyone else could be. The way he treats her is the same as he could treat a sibling or even an object. There is nothing in particular about it that is 'romantic.' Perhaps he stays out of romantic relationships with others because he is devoted to her, but more in a "this is the most important thing to me right now" way, like he doesn't have time or brain space for it.

Part of me thinks he may have been in love- or maybe even in a relationship- with Sanctus. After all, he clearly still places a lot of importance on his memory. While a relationship between them would have a pretty big age gap (at least to my knowledge; I'm actually not sure if there's any place to reliably be sure how old Marnac is, but it does seem like he's around mid-20s to mid-30s), that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened, and it certainly doesn't mean Marnac couldn't've had a crush. It's not crazy to harbor romantic feelings for someone who saved you during your time of need. In fact, it's a trope.

(You could also apply this logic to the Goddess of Decay, but I would argue that since she came to give him destructive power, she doesn't fit the firefighter-carrying-me-out-of-a-burning-building collapsing-and-being-fed-soup vibe very well.)

By the point where the story begins, however, I believe Marnac is on the aro spectrum. It could be due to trauma (caedromantic), and not just the hypothetical crush on Sanctum. Goodness knows he's got plenty of trauma to go around and mess with all sorts of emotional responses. It could be that he was always on the aro spectrum- maybe full vanilla aro, but I'm drawn to the idea that he might be demi.

It could be that he is making the choice to not act on any romantic tinglings he has, which I probably wouldn't call aromanticism, but still may manifest as looking like he's aro.

Any way I decide to look at it, though, heck, even if I decide to headcanon that he's fully allo and straight, I hope he doesn't get in any romantic relationships because it honestly makes more sense that he wouldn't. Even if he's gotten used to this world, he's still under a lot of pretty constant stress. He hasn't got any room for dating.

[silverwhittlingknife]

Ohhh, what's "the Damian one with amnesia?"

Oh, this one is close to my heart but also kind of a mess and I'm not sure I'll ever actually write it; it's pretty much all "story idea" sdfsfsd It's a Damian + Tim bonding story with a bit of a Damian + Heretic subplot. I guess if I had to compare it to something I'd say it's got some loose similarities to "Tim bonds with Pit-mad!Jason" fanfic, except with Damian and crazy!Tim instead?

I've been sort of stalled on this one because ... I mean various reasons but in terms of "personal writing motivation" I think it's mostly a combination of 1) overly complicated plot, and 2) Dick's only a minor character sfdsfds I find Dick's POV fun to write and Tim and Damian's POVs a bit more difficult, and the story is basically all Tim and Damian, so it's kind of a story that I want to read more than I want to write, you know?

But I am nevertheless attached to it, ridiculous monstrosity that it is. There's amnesia!Tim and BAMF!Damian and curses and reluctant bonding and secret friendship and disguises and misunderstandings and temptation and lots and lots and lots of snowballing lies!

If I ever actually write it the rambling summary below the cut will be completely spoilery; you've been warned sfdsfdsf

OKAY SO there's a convoluted backstory of evil villain plots BUT basically there are TWO PARTS.

Here they are:

Part One: Damian + Amnesia!Tim

Due to [complicated backstory], Tim is basically under a curse where he's alternating between having amnesia and forgetting the past few years, and sometimes being triggered into becoming Evil!Tim who's trying to kill Robin

Damian is under strict orders to go nowhere near him while the Bats scramble to try to fix the Evil!Tim problem

... Damian naturally does not listen to these orders!! He is NOT A CHILD!!!! He is NOT AFRAID!!! He decides to go surveil Drake and then confront him because he's not going to cower in fear!!! He will fight and win!!!

Amnesia!Tim has agreed to be confined to his apartment although he doesn't consistently remember why (it's because nobody has figured out what triggers the appearance of Evil!Tim) and Tim is SO BORED

Tim catches an apparent civilian kid spying on him with binoculars and is immediately charmed

This child is Damian

After whacky shenanigans they bond

Damian makes up an impulsive lie about how he's Definitely Not A Superhero Yet and he's just a Very Innocent Naïve Child who aspires to be a superhero and uhhh that's why he was climbing around with binoculars, definitely

Tim likes him and is also so so bored and offers to train him

Damian does not actually need training bc he is actually already a superhero? BUT this would be a great surveillance opportunity because amnesia!Tim will just tell Damian his weaknesses instead of Damian having to deduce them

so he agrees to "be trained"

It ends up being a lot of fun because first of all Tim is super-impressed with how talented he is and thinks maybe Damian could join Young Justice and Tim could vouch for him, especially since in Tim's opinion Damian's already way more responsible than Superboy *eye roll* (Tim has been dialed back to an earlier age when his relationship with Conner is I Guess We're Friends But Also We Sure Do Annoy Each Other), and it's kinda fun and satisfying for Damian to hear all this praise

And second of all Tim's always been super-tight-lipped around Damian, not that Damian CARES, so THERE, and in order to learn anything about him Damian has had to do things like spend hours hacking into Tim's computer files (out of IDLE CURIOSITY and NOT because he cared) or learning to imitate his voice or spying on him, but now suddenly instead of being tight-lipped Tim is basically an open book? And so now Damian can hear all kinds of thinly-veiled stories that are clearly about Father and Grayson and Todd and Cain and Brown and the Teen Titans, and Tim doesn't realize that Damian actually knows all of these people and can decipher whatever nicknames Tim is giving them, so now suddenly Damian's getting to hear all kinds of relatively-uncensored gossip

And third of all, it turns out to be surprisingly fun playacting at being some nobody who isn't The Son Of Batman and doesn't have to live up to that legacy

And fourth and MOST IMPORTANTLY Damian learns partway through from Grayson that once they've fixed the curse Tim will FORGET EVERYTHING that happened while he was cursed

So this means that Damian is TOTALLY SAFE. He can confess vulnerabilities or be bad at things or admit to confusion and it won't matter because it doesn't count because amnesia!Tim won't remember when he goes back to normal and starts being Damian's insufferable nemesis again!!

And also no one else will ever know because amnesia!Tim has promised to keep their training secret!! And Damian has ofc told no one that he's sneaking into the apartment he's not supposed to be in!!

This is kind of intoxicating and great because normally Damian is being Watched All The Time and very very aware that whatever he does other people will remember and suddenly he is FREE because this particular secret little friendship will stay secret FOREVER and only Damian will ever know about it

By this time he's gotten totally distracted from his "surveil evil!Tim" plan and actually he's over at Tim's place often enough that he's figured out how not to trigger the appearance of evil!Tim

(because Damian started out way less emotionally-invested than the rest of the Bats he's been a much more impartial observer of what's going on PLUS Tim thinks he's just a random kid and hasn't been trying to put up much of an I'm Fine front for him)

Meanwhile the Bats are all super-distracted from Damian by their worries about cursed!Tim so Damian is also kinda lonely which is leading to him getting more and more invested in this secret friendship

AND THEN at some point he finds about Heretic and in this AU Damian is the ONLY ONE who knows about Heretic and he's terrified that he's going to have to fight and maybe kill him and then what will the Bats think??? they will hate him!!! They Can Never Know

... but he HAS to do something because right now Heretic has only been aged up somewhat and he's still younger than Damian, so Damian might if he's very lucky be able to beat him and survive, but the League is planning to magically age Heretic up more and if Damian doesn't do something soon Heretic will be aged into an adult and Damian will have no chance at defeating him, so he has to do something soon...

... maybe amnesia!Tim can help?

Plot ensues; Damian takes amnesia!Tim along on a secret quest to kill Heretic; Damian almost kills Heretic and at first amnesia!Tim is difficult and he's gonna intervene but then he BACKS OFF and then Damian can't bring himself to actually go through with his plan and he saves Heretic's life at the last minute; Tim now tells Damian he let him make the choice because he KNEW HE'D MAKE THE RIGHT ONE; this moment actually fixes Tim's curse because uhhhh gobbledegook having to do with the curse and it's connected back with that old emotional memory that Tim had forgotten with Dick and the Lazarus Pits, so no sooner has Tim said this and started comforting Damian then he gets dizzy and passes out.

So then Damian has to rescue both amnesia!Tim and Heretic which of course he does, with the timely help of a certain Batdragon...

... and even though it scares him, Damian's planning on coming clean and confessing everything, and he knows that amnesia!Tim will back him up....

... and then Tim wakes up. And the curse is fixed. And he's back to "normal." And he doesn't remember anything.

... and he hates Damian again.

Part 2: Damian + Normal!Tim (+ Heretic)

So then the second half of the story was going to be joint Damian and Tim POVs. So on Damian's side he's absolutely determined to conceal his deep dark secret of *checks notes* having befriended amnesia!Tim and then overcome temptation and saved Heretic's life and also saved Tim's life and accidentally broken Tim's curse in the process. And he's made up a complicated fake story about being kidnapped by evil!Tim so that No One Will Know. And also secretly he's kind of miserable about having lost his friend, amnesia!Tim, who's now been replaced by the much more familiar normal!Tim who hates Damian and who Damian hates in return.

And meanwhile! Normal!Tim is certain that Damian's lying because he has very blurry memories that do not match up with the story that Damian is now telling plus his instincts are (correctly!) telling him that it's false, because for mysterious reasons he's finding Damian much easier to read than he used to, and he's intensely suspicious of Damian and certain that he must be concealing something Sinister, and he's trying to figure out what.

And meanwhile Heretic is in a coma and the Bats are trying to heal him and Damian is committed to doing the right thing and not sorry about saving him but also really worried because what if Heretic wakes up and says that Damian tried to kill him, or what if Normal!Tim figures it out, and what if then the Bats hate him forever

(which like. they would not. because this is actually a story about Damian being a hero! but Damian feels guilty about having even considered the initial plan and is mayyyybe not thinking things through very rationally here)

(and also the various things he's been lying about are kinda snowballing at this point)

Anyway meanwhile Tim is conducting extremely intrusive and potentially threatening investigations which might uncover all the lies and then he FINDS SECRET EVIDENCE in the form of Damian's camera with photos and videos plus a sketchbook and Damian is HORRIFIED and tries to FIGHT HIM TO STOP HIM FROM TAKING THESE THINGS and Tim doesn't know what's on the camera but he's so sure it's PROOF of whatever sinister things Damian has been gaslighting him about and whatever sinister things Damian was up to when Tim had amnesia --

-- and then Tim is victorious and gets hold of the camera and takes off with it and gets back to his apartment where he sits down and discovers the DAMNING EVIDENCE of uhhhh. selfies and things where amnesia!Tim and Damian were hanging out.

So Tim is now very very confused and although he still doesn't really understand what's going on it's sinking in that maybe Damian isn't up to anything sinister, just something that Tim... doesn't understand at all, and also now Tim has successfully seized this collection of stuff that turns out to be fairly personal and thus kind of a privacy violation, although also not a privacy violation because it involves Tim damn it, so Tim is very determinedly NOT feeling guilty about this because he has EVERY RIGHT to know what HE HIMSELF was doing that Damian has been lying about, but also it turns out that mostly what Damian's been lying about has been a lot of very wholesome bonding and also some fairly personal confessions that it's obvious he would not want actual!Tim to know, so Tim is NOT feeling guilty but also, okay, fine, he is feeling a little guilty despite himself, and also it is quickly becoming apparent from the little collection of stuff that Damian is... maybe okay? maybe secretly kind of a sweet vulnerable kid? actually? as opposed to Tim's Personal Infuriating Nemesis Child Sent To Torment Him? which is so weird given Tim's entire remembered experience of Damian up until now, and yet the evidence does seem pretty conclusive because he can't figure out what Damian's endgame could possibly be if it was a trick, which means it's not a trick, which means...

And meanwhile Damian is horrified and very upset because he has been FOUND OUT by normal!Tim who hates him, and who will figure out ALL the lies and figure out that Damian was planning to kill Heretic and then he'll tell it all to Father and frame it all in the worst possible light, so to get out in front of it Damian injures himself and goes to Father and tells him that Evil!Tim came back and attacked him and that Tim's very unstable --

And then Damian's BRACED when normal!Tim shows up and Father confronts him with the accusation of having snapped and attacked Damian, and Damian is DETERMINED to stick to his lie and he's not gonna confess NO MATTER WHAT and he's going to say that clearly Tim's memory is wrong again, and then... normal!Tim doesn't deny it. He admits to attacking Damian. Kinda brusquely, but he does. He says he's sorry.

... Tim admits to the thing that he didn't do?

And Tim kinda nods at Damian - now we're even.

Because on Tim's side... he's still not understanding a lot. But he's got the basic idea now. He's gotten that Damian's scared, and he gets that he went too far trying to get hold of the weird evidence. And so he gets that this lie is Damian's retaliation for the privacy violation, and you know what? Fair enough. Tim can lie to Batman too. And besides, this is very clearly something between Tim and Damian, and Tim doesn't really want Bruce involved either.

Now he wants to get Damian alone and find out... well, basically the same thing he's wanted since the beginning, he wants to know what the hell has been going on with him during the huge blank spot in his memory, and he still has the (correct!) instinct that Damian knows all kinds of things he's not telling...

... But now it's slowly dawning on him that Damian might be, like, a Person with Emotions and Vulnerabilities (still such a strange thought!!). Which is also what Damian's afraid of, because when your enemies realize you have emotions and vulnerabilities that's very bad!!! And ever since they met and became Nemeses, Damian has done his best to convince Tim that he has NO VULNERABILITIES WHATSOEVER!!! And now because of his weakness and carelessness with amnesia!Tim he's ruined it all!!! This is disastrous!!!

So when Tim confronts him, he does his level best to convince Tim that he has NO feelings and they were NOT friendly and the bonding was all Damian's convoluted Machiavellian plan, which is actually what Tim believed until he found the evidence, but now Tim has Seen Too Much and doesn't believe that it was just a scheme after all because instead it kinda looks like Damian was... lonely? Because he is a kid? Who was lonely? Kind of like Tim was lonely back in the day? And it's really frustrating to realize this because people (Dick and Bruce) have actually been insisting on Damian's various sympathetic qualities to Tim for ages but it never really felt real before because Tim never managed to see past Damian's façade before and now it just feels very thuddingly obvious?

Anyway the rest is mostly vibes but basically even though Tim still has kinda mixed feelings because he has all his more negative memories of Damian back, he's also had this glimpse at the possibility of a more positive relationship, which he's maybe realizing he might like to have? And maybe he could have it, because he apparently managed it somehow even when his memory was Swiss cheese and also he was sometimes randomly going evil? And also he's feeling super-lonely right now because he has a huge memory gap but he knows Evil!Tim did all kinds of awful things which he feels really guilty about so he's avoiding all his actual friends?

So now Tim tentatively proposes to Damian that maybe they could spend some time together again, and Damian's a little wary because it could be a trap - because this is nemesis!Tim not friend!Tim!!! - but he misses amnesia!Tim so he agrees. So now they're hanging out in secret again, except for real this time and now as themselves instead of amnesia!Tim and disguised!Damian, and they're jointly lying to Bruce about it because thanks to that impulsive lie Bruce is worried that Evil!Tim might come back and has Absolutely Banned Damian from spending any time with him again.

And so then they're Bonding and Tim takes Damian to Blüdhaven to train-surf because Tim has exactly (1) model of how older brothers interact with younger brothers, so that's what he's imitating - and it will probably not surprise you that this is the part I'm most personally attached to and the only part I actually managed to write a bit for sdfsdfds. And Damian has never actually done this weird activity before because Dick didn't do it with him because actually Damian has already trained in pitch darkness, so the whole concept of the blindfolds is pointless for him because the purpose was to get Tim to stop relying on his vision so much, and Damian doesn't rely too much on his vision. So this isn't actually a training exercise that makes much sense for Damian. But Tim is trying and Damian is also trying so they try it together and they end up bonding anyway, because you can't really screw up risking your lives on a train together.

Then we move into the part of the fic that is fuzziest but also full of my favorite ~Vibes~ where Tim and Damian are bonding and lying to Bruce but also they have to lie to Dick too, because Dick believes everything that Bruce believes, and so Tim is having various complicated feelings about lying to Dick and also not getting along super-well with Dick because of all the, you know, lying, plus Dick was one of the people who had to fight evil!Tim so Dick's kinda instinctively wary now because having Tim back feels too good to be true, plus Dick feels guilty for the various things he had to do to subdue evil!Tim, and Tim feels guilty for whatever awful things he did when he was evil!Tim, plus even though he knows it's irrational Tim is secretly kinda mad at Dick and Bruce for believing the lie about the attack, even though it is a lie he is participating in, but look, emotions are complicated. So things between Dick and Tim in the present-day are pretty strained, but simultaneously Tim is revisiting all his best memories with Dick when he was younger because he's trying to figure out ways to bond with Damian.

So Tim is kinda low-key grappling with the problem of I Guess I'm An Older Brother Now, I Don't Feel Old Enough Or Qualified For This And It Alarms Me, much like Dick had to grapple with it back in the day, and simultaneously Damian is also trying to figure out how Older Brother-ing works because Heretic is? maybe? kind of like Damian's younger brother? So Tim is low-key ending up in Dick's position of the Dick-and-Tim relationship, where you're at an exceptional personal low point and estranged from everyone you care about and this very irritating thirteen-year-old keeps hanging around being all up in your business and then somehow you end up hanging out with him and sorta kinda mentoring him a little even though the prospect of being any kind of mentor is deeply alarming because obviously you can't be a mentor, you are not a mentor, you're not even a real adult and your own personal life is a total mess and nobody should listen to you ever, and meanwhile Damian is low-key ending up in Tim's position of the Tim-and-Damian relationship, or rather he's worried he will, because he's got this horrifying younger brother Heretic who will surely try to kill or undermine him as soon as he gets out of the coma, because that's what he's been trained to do, and what if the Bats like Heretic better??? Or what if they decide that Heretic needs Robin more and they won't let Damian be Robin anymore??? And what will happen to Damian then??? And Dick and Bruce are both very worried about Heretic, who's apparently Bruce's second biological son and even younger than Damian and in a coma (and as far as Damian's concerned that's all they know because he hasn't told them anything else, although Dick and Bruce have actually guessed a bit more than Damian realizes), and Damian knows he shouldn't be jealous or paranoid or threatened but actually he is feeling all of those emotions and dreading what might happen when Heretic wakes up and he doesn't want to share his family with Heretic and he doesn't actually want Heretic to be here at all.

BUT ANYWAY it all works out and they gradually all figure out each other's various secrets and Various Emotional Confessions ensue and ultimately Tim and Damian bond, and Dick and Tim get past the strains and get close again, and Tim is able to listen to Damian's anxieties about Heretic and offer some hard-won insights from the older-and-wiser position of Younger Brothers Who Were Trained To Kill You: Admittedly It's Unpleasant At First But At Least One Of Them Is Really Worth It Actually, and then eventually the HAPPY ENDING was going to be Heretic waking up from the coma braced for battle and Damian offering him the Robin costume.

Anyway. I think that's how it would go if I ever actually wrote it. Any and all of the plot ideas are free to a good home if anyone else wants them sdfsfdsfds

[thekhoei]

i love to joke "john beet wif" yes but have we ever tried to understand his violent behaviors? probably also yes. i have been rambling about this man so much to the point my brain goes nut, but will i ever stop? no

i'd air my views based on James Fallon's The Psychopath Inside, although i can't be sure if John has any "distinct neurological pattern" in his brain that leads to "cold and violent behavior", or if it was purely just lsd and heroin. i haven't finished the book yet to give a full analysis on this issue i brought, so i'd discuss only the surface of the iceberg.

we always hurt our love one, intended or not. we can all agree a toxic environment builds a toxic child. John didnt have that fortune to get a healthy childhood. emotional abuse and neglect from the adults, he grew up to be a rebel against the world. i have been wondering, has this man ever felt like a lone man that is distant from the human world for so long (like The Little Prince). and the answer i give to myself is a yes, and a no.

"He told me later, he didn’t tell me then, he said he’d written it about himself, feeling like he wasn’t going anywhere."

“I thought of myself sitting there, doing nothing and getting nowhere,”

now i'm not sure if anyone has thought this way before, but i love the way Tom Taylor (i came across his article while finding John's (or other Beatles' quote about Nowhere Man)) said that the protagonist was far from alone. change my point of view from here ngl. does the Nowhere Man isolates himself from other people, or the other way around. does John isolates himself, or the other way around. definitely not the second clause. we can't deny that this man has some serious mental illnesses. i know he got some treatment back then, but did it help him get anywhere better? i have no idea. i'd say barely. Nowhere Man to me is about a depressed man who sits alone on a hill, in a room, in nowhere, in a void, in a vast space that surrounded by so many people yet he still can't feel any lighter, although he had planned so many plans, but all of it goes to nowhere. "Isn't he a bit like you and me?" a reflection to himself, and the listeners, us. Nowhere Man is alone, yet "he" is also far from alone. there are so many lone men like "him" in the world, but could "he" know they exist? his break up with the band, his early days with Cyn, Julian (how come i just realize this is literally his mom's name), even during the marriage with Yoko, his friendship with Paul, George, Stuart, and his every other relationships already show the world enough. so much love that he isnt able to respond, that he slowly destroys everything from the inside like a time bomb.

"In the place, where I was born

No-one cared, no-one cared"

there is this quote from one of the greatest writers in my country "Một người đau chân có lúc nào quên được cái chân đau của mình để nghĩ đến một cái gì khác đâu? Khi người ta khổ quá thì người ta chẳng còn nghĩ gì đến ai được nữa. Cái bản tính tốt của người ta bị những nỗi lo lắng, buồn đau ích kỷ che lấp mất..." which means "One with a sore leg can not think for anybody when he is in so much pain. Too many sorrows cover one's eyes from the others' misery. All the kindness are buried within all the grief". not all of us can realize or be aware of our mistreatment towards our love one when we are also in so much despair. one can blindly become a monster to their dearest without acknowledging the uncontrollable and unreasonably strange behaviors. John is no exception in this case. he is enmeshed in a mess he created. he is loved by so many people, so many people are willing to sacrifice themselves just for him, but John still cant love them fairly.

that man is insecure, he admitted so many time. he even wrote a song to ask for help, even though he can directly communicate to someone. communication is a key to a balanced relationship. yet in a society that man is fucking weakling if he talks about his feels and emotions, how could he show his true color. we would have "good night" sang by him if he did. instead that man sabotages himself. John has never been on his right mind.

there was one time where i dreamt of being in the world where The Beatles didnt exist (i love this concept so much, Yesterday's scene where the protagonist meets old John has been haunting me to the point i became him in that dream). its just so wild to ever think if one day The Beatles doesnt exist. so many chances and so many results that are so fascinating even only just a glimpse of those. back to the dream (i go a bit personal here) i was a neighbour kid lives nearby John's house. i would come and play with him and Yoko and little Sean everyday, until one day i didnt see him anymore. days by days i tried to find him with hopes slowly fading. he came back on the day when i thought he had gone forever. i ran towards John and hugged him tightly, to wake up with tears in my eyes. that day i realize i just love John so dearly.

okay this is the point where i goes nut so id stop trying to sound like im a egghead here. i never want to defend John or even want to be his apologist, i used to hate him with all my heart, but choose sympathy to understand this man is to forgive my own self and the others from my own mistakes, and their mistreatment. for i love and im loved, but love is painful. i mean we can all see ourself throughout John's mirror. im so tired of hatred towards Lennon without trying to know him for a bit. to me he is still a beautiful humans. even with so many flaws. i love John the way Paul loves John. i love John the way George loves John. i love John the way Ringo loves John. the way Cynthia loves John, the way Julian forgives John, the way Yoko spends her life with this man, the way May Pang adores him. i love John the way half of the world loves John. i hope that lone astronaut is still having fun across the universe rn.

"John Lennon is a saint and he's heavy-duty, and he's great and I love him. But at the same time, he's such a bastard – but that's the great thing about him, you see?"

[seirclys]

HIIII HELLOOOO IT'S BEEN AWHILE

I have so many questions but never got to ask you cuz guess what i am gonna go to collage soon

But that aside, here are the questions, now updated after your 4 part posts about OG!Penny and Shrike!Penny

The revived butterfly in the fic, it was presumed dead by Penelope, but after she removed the webs and turned around and walked back, it twitched meaning that it's still alive.

We know that butterflies symbolize life, death, and metamorphosis. But what of a "revived" butterfly?

Well not like revived, more like presumed dead but is actually still alive.

I've dug a little deeper (not that deep) about a butterfly's symbolism, it can also represent hope and faith.

Soooo, assuming you go with that too, does a still living butterfly that was thought to be dead meant there's still some—albeit very very slim chance to me—hope left for her even though it didn't seem like it?

As for the faith part, I really don't see that fit anywhere. She lost all faith in gods, the Eckharts and the MLs so, yeah.

And, and, Cassian,

I went thru the comments and you said he is gay and a sad boy.

Does he ever have romantic feelings for one of Penny's brothers?? Or is he sad about Penelope just pushing and burning herself out again that her health is just- shit. Like when she was still small and within her Empire?

One more question, I remember that Penelope said(?) that the Second Prince faction would pay for siding with Leila (memory fuzzy here but i remember it mostly)

Will she do it in the Eternal Ataraxia? Along with the Eckharts? :Eyes:

Probably not but, just curious.

ahh welcome back!

unfortunately, I've hit a bit of a roadblock with Shrike. It's the sad reality of having grand plans for a fic and then life chucking a brick at your window with you right next to it. It'll become a backburner fic, probably, but I really, really hope that it doesn't die off in my mind, even with the lack of interest it generally has. I'm glad you still love it enough to reread <3

I'm also going to college soon, so you aren't alone in the hectic mess.

I'm still churning out some of the OG! Penelope headcanon posts! a bit stuck on part 5, and the series might get added onto later if I ever get new ideas.

(I'm actually churning these out for a self-indulgent crossover I've been chatting about on Discord but shhhh)

Ooh, the butterfly was a while ago. I honestly forgot about it, but yes, it was meant to be a sort of rekindled hope, but also to symbolize someone. I had the idea for Rheiana to have butterfly powers similar to Roxana, but more like a butterfly-human hybrid but scrapped the butterfly part.

And... RIGHT ON THE MONEY! Cassian had feelings for one of Penelope's brothers. It won't be a big plot point in the story, so I'll just tell you now. He was in a semi-secret romantic relationship with Adrastus, Penelope's second brother. If you remember, Adrastus was also the brother that died in Penelope's arms, just like her mother.

hnnh bodyguard-prince relationship trope

In addition, he is pretty sad about how self-destructive Penelope is, especially since he feels like he has an obligation to take care of her in Adrastus's absence(the two of them were really in love with each other, and although there were talks of Adrastus marrying out for political ties, they were devoted to each other). He believes that it's his fault that Penelope was lost in the first place, that she became so reckless even as a child.

As for the Second Prince's faction, since they aren't as traumatically significant to Penelope as the Eckharts are, I was thinking of an end that was less horrific, but more public.

And for the "sheer clothing" in my OG!Penelope hcs series, it's actually not referring to Hanfu! Shrike!Penelope's culture/the Ancient Wizards were influenced by different IRL cultures(with how I mentioned that dimension travel is a THING that they used to do), which is why I mentioned Hanfu since China was one of the big ancient empires.

I'm thinking more manhwa-sheer, as in, like. Roxana(yep, here we go again), her sheer overskirts and sleeves. Maybe some more modern dress styles. Think haute couture. Sheer cutouts, satins, etc. Lots and lots of lace and netting.

Glad to see you in my notifications and my inbox again <3 keep yourself safe and healthy(super ironic since this dumbass just recovered from her 1st Covid... as in Sunday. I only tested negative SUNDAY.) edit: i forgot i queued this but dw kids I've been covid free for two days

[soft-lead]

ReWriting Royal Ranger

This idea has been rolling around in my head the last few weeks. It is no secret that The Royal Ranger is the most hated book in the RA fanbase. Over the past few months I have been making a list of The Royal Ranger biggest issues, and possible solutions to them. Although this started out as a thought experiment, I began messing around with the concept more seriously in the last few weeks.

My goal is to create an ReWritten AU that fixes as many of RR's issues as I can. Then rewrite the first 4 chapters using it. If the project is positively received, then I might keep rewriting through Maddie's entire apprenticeship.

[WIP] ReWriten AU

--Rules--

No changing major story beats. All of the major scenes will be there, if rearranged. That includes Alyss's death, Will's personality change, and Maddie being the daughter of Horace and Cassandra.

Characters can be added in, however any characters added cannot play an active role in the story.

These rules can change if needed. If you would like to add to the rules, or want me to change more things, comment below or here is a google form you can write in: https://forms.gle/hsZUQ9hxctWFUUzs5

--Major Changes--

Maddie is now a second child. Why: I Horace and Cassandra's decision to send their only heir off to one of the most unpopular and dangerous positions in all of Aurulen appalling. It is incredibly irresponsible to their kingdom, and almost useless to Maddie as a ruler. In my mind, Maddie being sent off to be a ranger is incredibly contrived and makes little sense. --The sister will be mentioned but not shown. Probably out of the country, she will never be active in the story. She is the first born, popular in the bureaucracy, and content in her position. She, as of now, has no name or personality; she is a tool to be used to justify Horace and Cass's decision. Significance: This change gives Maddie a better reason to be a brat, she is a spare without a clear future or purpose. Adrift. Furthermore, it validates why Horace and Cass send her: now Maddie is not the only heir the kingdom's future relies on so the choice is more reasonable, and with ranger skills she would be able to act as an advisor and 2nd to her sister. It makes sense and has purpose.

Will's depression will continue after Maddie becomes his apprentice Why: I found it disappointing how Will's 18 month long depression instantly vanished the moment Maddie became his apprentice (other than 1 short mention). It made his struggles and change in character feel less real and generally took away from the story. -- I likely wont be showing off his depression explicitly. However it will still be clearly present. Significance: At least at first, Will will be a worse mentor than Halt was: Less dedicated and more distant. He might treat Maddie more like a roommate than a apprentice. Allows for actual character growth and more dynamic interactions. Also to drift from RR Will = RA Halt.

Maddie will face more direct challenges as an apprentice Why: I felt cheated with how much characters *talk* about how hard the apprenticeship will be for Maddie... But it isn't really. This problem is the biggest reason why so much of the fanbase thinks she is a Mary Sue. I think this is caused by the fact that we never actually see Maddie train or see bias at all. She doesn't have any explicit weaknesses. It was really skipped over even though it was desperately needed. -- Maybe interacts with Wills depression. Maddie doesn't know most of the things that you need your mentor to explicitly teach you since Will is too overwhelmed to teach her. Like saxe/hand fighting, protocol, complex stealth, etc.. She tries HARD to teach herself but it doesn't quite work without strong mentorship. Significance: Because of Will's depression, Maddie doesn't know most of the things that you need your mentor to explicitly teach you. Will is too overwhelmed to effectively be her mentor. Skills like saxe/hand fighting, protocol, complex stealth, etc.. She tries HARD to teach herself but it doesn't quite work without strong mentorship.

--Minor Changes--

Halt's character has been reversed --His character change was stupid, whyyyyy did they do that

Will's beard still exists but will disappear --character growth baby

Will hates any and all addictive substances (including alcohol, besides coffee)

More interaction between Will and Maddie--This is a massive issue in RR, it greatly stunted the potential of RR. The greatest strength of Flannigan has always been how he writes interaction and the sheer lack of it in RR is what stunted it the most.

Halt, Pauline, Horace, and Gil have a more active role in supporting Will prior to Maddie's apprenticeship-- Honestly this really annoyed me. The whole groups were AWFUL friends though the start of RR. They are better friends in this one.

f you want to see anything added to this AU, or any changes/rules you'd like to suggest. Please comment or fill out this form (it is anonymous)

https://forms.gle/hsZUQ9hxctWFUUzs5

[duckthewarshippable]

Baby Blues

Part 1

Keith and Lance have gotten the sudden news of a baby available for their adoption. All the excitement of starting a new family has began to turn into an anxiety for Keith.

A/N: I really like writing soft, cute family stuff like this, it just brings my heart so much joy. This is entirely a fluff fic written for funsies please don’t be gross. Enjoy!!

Keith’s heart was hammering, He couldn’t calm down. The stress and anxiety he felt couldn’t be calmed. He bit down on his hand, nearly chipping his teeth on the blue wedding band that sat there. The events of the last night were swimming in his head.

They had been sitting at the kitchen table when the phone rang, a baby was available for adoption. The news had made Lance drop the mug he was holding out of excitement. Keith had all but jumped into his arms as they spun around, carefully avoiding the broken mug on the floor, full of joy at the knowledge that they would soon be a family. Just as soon as they had the mug shards cleaned and were in their good clothes the two of them hopped in the car and began to drive three states over. All the joy had began to swirl into pure dread.

His husband reached out a hand to his. Turning to look at him with those calm blue eyes he knew so well. “It’s okay to be nervous.” Lance whispered. Keith looked down. “I know- I just” He stopped himself for a second out of fear of crying “I just don’t want to mess it all up”

He felt Lance’s hand caress his face “We’re not going to, You’re not going to”

Keith did all he could to hold back tears, “What if I’m just like my mom—”

“Badass and hot? You already got that down pat.”

“No- what. Lance gross. I mean jumping ship when things get tough and leaving you and the child alone.”

“Babe, these feelings are valid. But may I remind you, your mom didn’t leave you because things got though or stressful. She left to protect you. She did the hardest thing imaginable out of love. She was able to come back into your life wasn’t she? Give Kerolia a little credit” Lance started

Keith ducked down further “I know but- what if that urge strikes me?”

Lance leaned into kiss Keith gently, “Well, you are not your mother. You’re Keith Kogane, a man who saved the universe. You can handle being a father. I believe in you. You’re one of the most competent men I know.”

Keith blushed, the flattery was nice. Although he still was super skeptical.

Lance continued “Plus you’re literally amazing with my sister’s kids. Like c’mon Silvio basically warships you and you didn’t even have to TRY. So please give yourself a little credit and believe that you might be good at this. For me?”

Keith nestled his neck into Lance’s shoulder. “How are you so calm about this.” He asked “This is probably one of the biggest things that can ever happen to us.”

Lance sighed and smoothed over Keith’s hair.

“I’m not. I’m terrified to tell you the truth. But there’s two of us and we’ll try our very best.” He smiled “Do you think we’re going to be any good at this?”

Keith leaned in closer. “I have no idea” he sighed “but we’ll figure it out.”

“That’s the man I married” Lance said with a contented smile, he gave Keith a kiss on the forehead “Now let’s go, we’re already late.”