#but yeah no seriously what links can y’all find here I can’t figure it out

[chaoticspacefam]

Tell us about You’re In My Veins !

[This one was from a “WIP Ask Game” a while back where I listed titles/placeholder names for my current WIPs and y’all got to ask me about any that interested you! I don’t have the link anymore but yeah, context sjkgjdg]

CW: there’s a snippet at the bottom of this ask which has some suggestive/raunchy connotations. No direct actual smut (that’s already happened prior to this bit at the end 😏) but this is very much an argument about their sex life

Hoooo boy where do I start with this one? It’s one of the ones that’s been stuck in WIP hell for the longest goddamn time. Not even because I don’t like it or anything. The bits I have written of this one are still pretty solid, if anything they need some minor polishing (I was awful at paragraphing when I started this and it shows lmao 90) and it’d prolly still be post-able. But at this stage I’m not 100% sure exactly where it’ll fit into the Creeping Shadows timeline. I know its somewhere mid-to-end of Balmorra, and definitely before Voss but you know...that’s an awful big gap rn :’) I’m sure I’ll figure out where it goes eventually, but till then its stuck in WIP hell 💀 hahaha Anyway the first draft of this was meant to be like make-up smut but in true Aria fashion, she had to ruin it by deciding “nope I’m not ready for feelings yet” and she turned it into a fight (but that said, it does end with Aria seriously reflecting on said feelings even if the overall “tone” of it is that she hates that she’s having them 🤣🤣) so it’s a milestone for their relationship which does, in the end, lead to them actually fixing it for real later on down the line. As a joke I like to call it “make up sex but backwards” bc that’s basically what ended up happening with this one I can’t remember if the rules of this ask game said to include a snippet but I kinda feel bad this one was sat in the askbox for so long so have a lil snippet as a treat 💖

>> SNIPPET STARTS HERE, last warning that it gets a lil suggestive from here on out! also quite a lot of swearing, this is very much a lovers’ spat and both of them went for the THROAT XD <<

Vano’s jaw tightened. “Nice to know you were so concerned with my safety. You know, just a simple ‘hey Va, I’m not dead but I can’t be with you right now’ would have sufficed!” The Mirialan growled, sitting up on her hands, her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare. “And just for the record, I'd GLADLY die for you, even though you don't fucking deserve it.” “I never asked you to!” Aria snapped back on impulse, not thinking of the effect the words would have on Vano. “I never asked for any of this. I never asked for you to pad after me like a helpless Kath pup!!” The Marauder drew back, and Aria felt the reaction to her words sting Vano like a slap to the face. “Well, I never asked to fall in love with a self-centered bitch either, but here we are!” she yanked her robes back on sharply and sat back on her haunches to glare at Aria. “The only thing I'm sorry for, is that I was stupid enough to think that if I gave you enough time, this would be more than just fucking to you!” “I never promised you flowers and poetry, I told you it was just sex and you kept crawling back anyway!” Aria shouted after her as the Sith stormed away, grabbing her discarded equipment as she passed it. “Fine, then you can find someone else to go to bed with, because I'm DONE with you!” “You always say that, and a week later your head's between my legs again!!” she retorted, knowing the Mirialan had left the ship when no further reply came. The Jedi sank down onto the pillows and choked on the involuntary sob that left her as Vano's last words spun in her head like a swarm of angry hornets.

There’s some more filler/exposition-y stuff between this snippet and the last line but it feels prudent to mention the last line is a bit of internal dialogue (I seem to do that on occasion, first this oneshot, then Strikhedonia...guess its a writing quirk now? /jk) from Aria and it’s just: I hate how much I need you!!

[samanthadalton]

Slowly falling (part 2)

part 2 is finally here!!! I hope y’all haven’t forgotten about this fic yet 😭

tw: there’s a bit of swearing

taglist: @cloud9in @alleycat97 @thedaft1 @mrs-avamontjoy @itszdavenport @iamsimpforpoppy @otakufangirl-12 @orisasay @justavampirefan @waterinathermostat @bloodkueen @sparklesoverlooked @alexlabhont @thepotatobleh added people who liked the post about me wanting to write this fic, if you wanna be added or taken off let me know 😊)

wordcount: 4.1k (i did not expect to write so much but i hope you guys enjoy) 

part 1 is available here if you want a recap 

“What the hell do you mean he dies?” Lily replies, dumbfounded. 

“They find him guilty and execute him, what’s difficult to understand about that?” Kamilah snaps, the small cuts in her hand slowly healing as she shakes off the remaining fragments of glass onto the floor. 

“But he’s innocent so he won’t die.”

“We can’t be too sure of that,” Kamilah mumbles. Her gaze flits over to Amy who has been silently absorbing all the information, a pensive look on her face. “It seems….” Kamilah sighs tiredly, “there may be some evidence against Adrian which affiliates him with tonight's events.”

“What evidence?” Amy counters, a hint of anger in her tone as she finally speaks out. 

“I’m not sure, but Vega was… adamant about Adrian being a guilty party. He said all would be revealed at the trial.” 

“Bullshit!” Amy cries out. “Kamilah you know Adrian, you know he would never do anything like this.��

“I agree, Adrian’s a stickler for the rules, there’s no way he orchestrated a massacre of vampires and humans,” Lily chimes in. 

“Kamilah,” Amy ambles forward until she’s standing directly in front of the older vampire, “I know it’s not Adrian,” she says, her tone subtly indirecting the words of Nicole. The two stare at each other with such intensity until Kamilah breaks the eye contact, awkwardly glancing away. 

“It doesn’t make sense to me either, it is rather peculiar as to how Vega already has evidence that incriminates Adrian.” Kamilah deliberates for a few moments, her brows slightly furrowed in thought until she nods with resolution, “I have a plan to extract the evidence Vega has in his possession but we only have one chance.” 

“Anything,” Amy says with determination. Kamilah apprehends the conviction in Amy’s tone, feeling a slight pang in her chest as she revives the memory of her and Amy just a couple of hours prior, reminiscing about the sheer intimacy of the moment. But as she looks over at Amy now, she sees a fire burning in her eyes, one that is for her beloved brother, Adrian and not her. Kamilah builds back her icy exterior, reprimanding herself for letting it melt for a moment, especially for a mortal. 

“Right. Well if Vega does have any incriminating evidence against Adrian our best bet is that he’s hiding it in his home office.” 

“So we just need to hack into his computer?” Lily says condescendingly. 

Kamilah raises an eyebrow at the young vampire, her expression impassive, “don’t be so presumptuous, it might cost us this plan,” she says reprimanding. Lily raises her hands up in a comical defenselessness manner, evoking a unimpressed look from the older vampire. “Right, let’s get down to business.” Kamilah takes a seat at her desk, and gestures towards the chairs in front of her, signalling for the two girls to sit. “Adam is holding a gala in three days which means that is our window of opportunity to extract the evidence he has against Adrian.” 

“Don’t you think it’s weird that Vega is tagretting Adrian to begin with?” Amy asks, her tone perplexed, Kamilah in retort dismissively waves her hand at the girl, brushing away her concerns. 

“Adam was always the more cautious one out of us all, I mean he’s a politician, it’s simply in his blood to want to clean up this mess as quickly and cleanly as possible.” 

“So you’re saying that he’s only blaming Adrian because he’s an easy target?” 

“Precisely, whatever evidence he claims to have we can easily challenge the allegations and prove Adrian is innocent.” 

“So what does this have to do with the gala?” Lily chimes in. 

“Adam is known to store his information in one place, which coincidentally is where the gala is being hosted.”

“His house,” Lily interrupts. Kamilah nods, her expression less irritated and more impressed. 

“So what do we have to do?” Amy inquires. 

“Lily, we will sneak into Adam’s office and use a hard drive to download the evidence. It will most likely be encrypted so you’ll have to use your,” Kamilah waves her hand, “technical skills to access whatever he has on it.” 

“What about me?” 

“Amy,” Kamilah gives the girl a long hard stare before speaking again, “you’ll be in the hall, our second eyes and ears on Vega, it’s imperative we act like everything is normal, we don’t want to raise any suspicion. Or give the council any reason to believe there’s foul play involved.” 

Amy dejectedly nods at the older vampire, dismayed that Kamilah has only offered her a trivial task, but she remains silent knowing that this is all for Adrian. 

……

The day of the gala arrives and Amy and Lily are in their apartment getting ready. When Amy enters the bathroom, she’s overwhelmed by the memory of Nicole and the recollection of the blood all over her hands and body. Amy begins trembling, her breaths becoming panicked and heavy as she clutches her hand over her chest, her body throbbing in torment. Within seconds, Lily speeds into the bathroom, her hands already on Amy’s waist steadying her, concern written all over her face. 

“Hey, it’s okay, just breathe,” Lily rubs comforting circles across Amy’s back, her own voice becoming shaky as she watches her best friend break down into tears. 

“Lily..I...can’t,” Amy says, her tone strangled as her breaths only quicken. Amy feels she’s about to pass out, until she’s thrown back into the memory of the night of the attack, her remembers the softness of Kamilah’s voice, the usual icy timbre of her voice completely gone as she gazes at the human, the soft tones calming her as she regains control. Amy recalls Kamilah’s breathing exercise, mimicking it many times until she’s able to string a sentence without palpitating. 

“You okay?” Lily asks as she leads Amy to the edge of the bathtub, guiding her down to sit. Amy nods, her lips still trembling slightly. “You wanna talk about it?” 

Amy shakes her head, “it’s just jitters I guess.” 

“Okay,” Lily says, unconvinced as her vampire hearing hears the blip in Amy’s heartbeat but she doesn’t press on the issue. “Are you sure you wanna go tonight? If you want we can stay home and play call of duty or something.” 

“No,” Amy sniffles, “we have to do this, for Adrian, Kamilah, they’re depending on us.” 

“In that case, you wanna see the dresses Kamilah sent us?” Amy chuckles and nods and takes Lily’s hand and the vampire guides her into the living room to show her the long evening gowns that are for them. 

“Wow,” Amy says entranced, her fingers graze the dress that is meant for her, the dress being the perfect mix of sophisticated but sexy. The elegant black with a plunging v-neckline, with a slit in the leg showing off the perfect amount of leg, “Kamilah did a good job.” 

“Well girl knows how to dress so I’m not surprised.” The girls spend the next couple of hours getting ready and when they leave their apartment they see a limo waiting for them. 

“Wow, remind me to thank Kamilah Ames,” Lily jumps in the backstreet and pops open a bottle of champagne that is sitting in the mini fridge and begins drinking from the bottle. “You want some?” Amy politely shakes her head declining. 

“Sadly my tolerance for alcohol isn’t as high as yours Lil.” 

“Perks of being a vampire I guess,” Lily takes another huge swig from the bottle. 

……

Once they arrive at Senator Vega’s mansion, the girls notice Kamilah waiting at the entrance, a restless expression on her face. The older vampire senses the girls’ arrival and turns her head around to see Amy and Lily leaving the limo, her gaze drifts down to the human’s figure, a faint smile on her lips. ‘The dress fits her perfectly’ Kamilah thinks as she assesses her curves, her legs, she hears the faint beating of Amy’s heart, how it’s beating faster than usual, most likely to do with nerves. 

As she steps out of the limo, Amy is in awe, she gawks at the front gates of Senator Vega’s home, dazzled by the mansion. Her eyes wander over to the front where she sees Kamilah wearing a very red and pretty revealing dress. Her eyes helplessly roams the vampire’s body, taken by how breathtakingly beautiful she is. 

“Ames I see Kamilah,” Lily gives her friend a slight nudge pushing her out of her daze. 

“Uh yeah,” Amy nods and links her arm with Lily’s and walks up the pathway towards the older vampire. Lily lets out a low whistle when she’s face to face with Kamilah. 

“Damn, you look hot Kamilah.” A faint smile tugs at the corner of Kamilah’s lips as her eyes meet Amy’s. 

“I see the dresses were in good taste,” her gaze deftly lowers to Amy’s chest before meeting her eyes again. 

“They’re beautiful Kamilah, thank you,” Amy responds, her hands ghosting to the front of her dress, soothing out the creases. A few other guests begin making their way into the house, and Kamilah’s expression sobers, seriousness washing all over her as she leans in to whisper to the girls. 

“It is imperative that we integrate ourselves into this party and draw no attention to ourselves,” her gaze flits to Lily, a stern look on her face. In retort, Lily gulps and gives Kamilah a nervous smile, “when it’s time I will signal to you and Lily and I will obtain the evidence. Now come on, it looks suspicious with us loitering in the front.” Kamilah begins walking into the house, leaving Amy and Lily to follow behind. 

“Game face girl,” Lily nods to Amy before walking through the front door. As they make their way in, the faint playing of a string quartet comes from the grand hall, as waiters greet the girls and lead them into the hall where it is filled with people dancing, laughing, eating. 

“Oooh there’s a bar, Ames do you want a drink?” 

Amy shakes her head, “I’m good Lil, I’ll grab us a table.” Amy takes her way through the hall, she recognises some of the faces, ‘there are a lot of vampires’ she thinks to herself. Her eyes roam the space, no sign of Vega yet. Just as she finds an empty table, a hand grips her shoulder tightly, forcing her to turn to face to figure. 

“Mmm, you look.. delicious,” Priya seductively licks her lips, a devilish glint in her eyes.

“Ow, you’re hurting me,” Amy grunts, which only spurs Priya to dig her fingers into Amy’s shoulder more. 

“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little pain darling,” she leans in close to Amy, her lips ghosting hers. Intimidated by the smell of blood that lingers from Priya, Amy takes a half step back. “You’re afraid,” Priya states with a hint of playfulness, in her voice, “now that Adrian is locked up, I guess you’re in need of a new boss.” She leans in again once more, “the ways I could just break you-” 

“That’s enough Priya.” The voice comes booming from behind the vampire, Amy’s gaze moves to see Kamilah frowning behind Priya. 

“Come on grandma, we’re just having some fun.” 

Kamilah hums in response, “so are you having fun?” 

“Huh?” Amy says, a hint of worriness in her tone. 

“Are you having fun?” Kamilah asks. Amy shakes her head no, “the girl gave you her answer, now let her go.” Priya sighs, retracting her hand from Amy’s shoulder, leaving a series of small bruises. 

“Always killing my vibe,” the vampire sighs as she stalks off to harass more patrons. 

“Are you okay?” Kamilah asks, her brow slightly furrowed as she looks at the state of Amy’s shoulder, Amy’s hand subconsciously moves to grasp her shoulder, rubbing at the wound. 

“I’m okay.” 

Kamilah nods hesitantly. “Lily told me about what happened in the bathroom,” for a second, Amy looks at the vampire quizzically until it hits her, when she realises she scrunches her face up in anger. 

“She had no right.” 

“She’s worried, she has no idea that you’re spiralling.” 

“I’m not spiralling!” Amy raises her voice causing a few guests around them to look over at the exchange. 

Kamilah on the other hand keeps a straight face, her tone ever wavering, “well I’m not going to force you to talk about anything but just keep in mind that it’s never easy dealing with it alone.” She turns to walk away but looks over her shoulder, “trust me I know.” She walks away leaving the human alone to let her words settle in. 

As the night goes on, Vega finally makes an appearance but Kamilah keeps the girls on standby, not being able to find her window of opportunity. Amy and Lily dance with each other for a while to let the time go by as Kamilah consorts with the other guests, not paying any attention to Amy or Lily other than the occasional glance at Amy to see her enjoying herself with Lily. The tapping of glass, silences the guests focusing their attention on Vega who stands at the front of the room with a wide grin on his face. 

“Esteemed guests, I thank you for being here tonight, to celebrate...well me.” The guests all share a small chuckle as Vega drones on with his speech. Kmailah shares a conspiratorial look with Lily and Amy and subtly nods her head towards the doors of the halls. The girls slip out with discretion and meet with Kamilah who’s glancing down impatiently at her watch. 

“Quickly we don’t have enough time, Amy remember you are our eyes and ears, Lily you are with me.” Lily gives the older vampire a nod in response. 

“About that, there’s a problem.” Lily raises a hand gingerly.

“And you’re telling me about this now?” Kamilah grits her teeth. 

Lily raises her hands defensively, “I didn’t raise any attention.” Kamilah raises an eyebrow at the girl, “it’s nothing major, it’s just Vega has this security protocol put into place near his office.” 

“What is it?” 

“Motion sensors.” 

Kamilah rubs her fingers on her temples, “so what do we do?” 

“I can probably disable them but i have to do it from outside the office, which means I can’t come with you.” 

“I can go,” Amy squeaks out. 

“No,” Kamilah bluntly responds. 

“Why not? 

“If I listed all the reasons, we would lose our window.” 

“Kamilah I’m going with you, I don’t care what you have to say about it. The more time you waste trying to pointlessly argue with me, the more time we waste trying to get the evidence,” Amy stubbornly begins walking down the hall and Kamilah sighs before following her. 

“I’ll be close by but here,” Lily hands Kamilah the hard drive before giving her a salute, “let’s go save our boy.” 

Once Kamilah and Amy get into the office, Kamilah stalks up to Vega’s computer, plugging in the hard drive, “crap, his files are encrypted.” 

“Didn’t we expect that?” 

Without looking up from the computer Kamilah replies, “yes but it’s more than I thought so Lily will have her work cut out for her. Now watch the door.” 

Amy obediently moves towards the door, keeping it slightly ajar to look through. “Kamilah?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Why didn’t you want me to come with you?” 

Kamilah doesn’t answer, keeping her focus on uploading the files, Amy frowns before asking more loudly, as if her volume was the issue, “why didn’t you want me here Kamilah?” 

Kamilah sighs, her eyes look up from the screen to look up at Amy, “because you’re a distraction.” 

“I’m a distraction?” 

“That is what I said isn’t it?” 

“Why?” 

Kamilah shrugs her shoulders, visibly getting more frustrated, “you’re not in your right mind Amy, with all this Nicole business, I can tell you’re distracted.” 

Amy balls up her fists before stalking up to the desk, “I’m sorry if ki-, if taking someone’s life is messing me up. But I keep reliving the moment over and over again, and I can’t seem to forget it. So fuck it, I’m not really sorry.” 

“Are you done?” Amy sighs heavily, nodding her head. “I get it Amy, I understand how hard it can be taking someone’s life.” 

“But you told me it gets easier.” 

“Yes, I’m also 2000 years old, of course it gets easier.” 

“Well I don’t have 2000 years, Kamilah. I’m having panic attacks almost every day, I can’t sleep, I can barely eat. Everytime I close my eyes I can just see her body.” 

Kamilah stands up from the chair and walks over to Amy, she looks down to see Amy’s balled up fist and contemplates taking it in her hands, but she pushes the thought of her mind and looks directly into the girl’s eyes, “I know it’s hard to believe, but you did a good thing. Nicole was a bad person. I mean I’ve personally always despised her. She was always too uptight for me.” Amy’s lips quirk up into a small smile, “what?” 

“You calling Nicole upright is just ironic.” 

“Oh hush.” The girls share a smile but the moment is quickly interrupted by the computer making a beeping sound and Kamilah twists her head to look down on the screen. “It’s almost finished downloading, Amy, watch the door.” 

“Oh right,” Amy moves back to the door, keeping an eye out. “Crap, Kamilah!” 

“What?” 

“Vega! He’s walking up.” 

“Damn, we still have a minute left until the files are downloaded.” 

Amy runs up to the desk next to Kamilah, “we have like 10 seconds.” Amy freezes for a second for throwing her arms around Kamilah, “please don’t kill me.” She presses her lips against the vampire, pulling her in for a kiss just as the door of the office swings open. Amy feels forlorn when Kamilah doesn’t reciprocate the kiss, but just as she’s about to pull away, Kamilah places her hands around Amy’s waist, eliminating the space between them. The kiss builds up very quickly as Kamilah takes the lead, slightly pushing Amy against the desk, as her tongue tangles up with the human’s but when Vega lets out a loud cough, the two girls quickly break apart. 

“Senator Vega!” 

“Adam.” Vega offers the two women a small smile, “I apologize for the intrusion in your office but Amy and I wanted a place where we could,” she awkwardly glances at the girl, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks, “fraternize together.” 

Amy stealthily glances at the screen and sees there’s still 30 seconds until the file is finished downloading so she swings her arms and ‘accidentally’ knocks over a few of the papers on Vega’s desk. “Senator Vega I’m so sorry, let me pick them up for you.” 

“That’s okay Miss Parker.” 

“No, no I insist.” Amy sits on the floor and begins to gather up the papers, she subtly nods her head to Kamilah, who begins moving towards Adam who stands near the door.” 

“Adam, I again apologise.” 

Vega raises his hand, “no, no I understand. Sometimes we all have...feelings we have to express. I just didn’t think you would go for Adrian’s girl so fast,” he speaks casually, his usual politician grin plastered on his face, but as his eyes bore into Kamilah, the older vampire can see the animosity inside of them. 

In response Kamilah keeps her poker face, and retorts, “hmm, well Amy is a grown woman, she can consort with whoever she pleases.” 

Adam places his hand over his heart, “ah of course, I meant no offence.” 

“Got it!” Amy stands giving the two vampires a wide smile, “I may have messed up the order of those papers, I hope they weren’t in chronological order Senator.” 

“No need to worry, I’m sure I can sort it out.” 

“Right well we should be getting back to the party, Amy?” Kamilah glances over her shoulder to the human, “shall we?” Amy nods and begins walking out of the door, just as Kamilah is about to follow, Vega lightly grabs her arm. 

“I’m glad to see you opening yourself up to someone, I feel like it’s been a long time.” Vega gives the older vampire a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes and Kamilah politely nods her head before leaving the office. 

Just as her and Amy turn the corner, in a flash, she pushes the human against the wall, her eyes red, “I said don’t kill me!” Amy cries out. 

“What the hell was that?” 

“I’m sorry! I panicked. Vega was so close and I didn’t want him to suspect us so I did the thing they do in movies.” Kamilah stares intensely into Amy’s eyes, her gaze setting Amy alight. After a few moments, she blinks and her eyes return back to its normal color and she removes her hand from Amy. 

“Right. Well did you get the hard drive?” 

Amy pulls it out of her bra, “yup.” 

“Good. Give that to Lily as soon as you can. We’ll need to stay at this party for a while to not raise any suspicion.” Kamilah stalks off and enters the hall without a second glance. Amy exhales heavily, her back still pressed up against the wall, she raises her fingers and begins tracing the outline of her lips, reminiscing about the kiss. 

When she enters the hall, she looks around and spots Lily near the buffet and sidles up to her, “hey girl, where were you?” 

“Just needed a moment to myself.” 

“So how did it go?” 

“Oh yeah,” Amy pulls out the hard drive, placing it in Lily’s hand, “this is for you.” 

“Oooh it’s warm.” Lily places it into her bag before turning her attention to the food. “You hungry?” 

“Very.” 

The girls scope out the buffer, collecting mountains of food before sitting down on a table. 

“Why is Kamilah staring at you like that?” 

“Huh?” Just as Amy turns her head to look at the vampire, Kamilah sneakily turns her head to focus on the people in front of her. “She’s not staring.” 

“Uhh yes she is or was. Did something happen?” 

Amy shifts in her seat until she’s facing Lily, “yes but don’t freak out. We kissed.” 

“WHAT!”

“Lily, I said don’t freak out!” 

“Sorry! Sorry!” Lily squeals louder. Lily leans in whispering, “so what happened?” Amy gives Lily the details of the kiss but then recollects the hostility Kamilah had in regards to the kiss. 

“So was it good?” 

Amy shrugs her shoulders, “it was different. I don’t know how to describe it but it felt good.” 

“Oh my god, you’re totally crushing on her.” 

“I’m not! And even if I was I doubt she feels the same.” 

“I doubt that.” 

Amy huffs, “Lil, she hasn’t been with anyone in a hundred years and she barely ever gets close to anyone to begin with. What makes you think she’s going to fall for a human?” 

Lily answers with a smile, internally knowing that Kamilah has been listening to the entire conversation from across the room as she feels the older vampire's gaze burning into them. 

After a few more songs by the quartet is played, the announce they’re about to play their one last song, Kamilah appears out of thin air and raises her hand towards Amy, “indulge me?” 

“I thought you don’t dance.” 

“Well Vega has been watching us like a hawk, if we are to sell the idea that we are….”

“I think the word you used was fraternizing.” 

“Yes, well we should at least have one dance.” Amy slides her hand into Kamilah’s and lets her guide her onto the dancefloor. Kamilah places one hand on Amy’s hip while her other interlocks with Amy’s and the girls glide smoothly on the floor. As they dance, Amy and Kamilah’s eyes bore into each other’s, the atmosphere almost becomes dense with anticipation as they find themselves moving closer to each other, as the seconds pass. Just as Kamilah’s lips are hovering over Amy's, the song finishes and the crowd begins applauding, the sudden sound jerking them apart. 

“Thank you for the dance Kamilah.’ 

“Of course,” Kamilah nods and Amy and steps back a little, putting a little distance between them.

Lily saunters to the two girls, “so can we go now?” 

“Yes, I believe the night is over.” Just as the women begin to exit, a vampire from Kamilah’s clan approaches her, whispering in her ear. “Excuse me, Adam requests an audience.” 

“Is everything okay?” Amy asks, her brows furrowed in confusion. 

“I hope so.” 

After a few moments, Kamilah returns, her face etched into a scowl. 

“So what happened?” Lily inquires. 

“It seems the rest of the council had a meeting without me and they’ve changed the date of Adrian’s trial.” 

“So when is it?” 

“Tomorrow.” 

[deancaskiss]

Chapter Sixteen (Tinsel and Tourists)

Word Count: 1,234 (light angst this chapter, sorry y’all)

Dean’s POV

Link to ao3 / Link to masterpost

Bonus: Destiel December Day 8 Blizzard ficlet (posted today for anyone interested in reading cuddles and first kisses)

By the time they’d made it back to the bench, Dean was exhausted. Who knew skating could be so tiring? When Cas handed him the warm thermos, Dean eagerly took a sip, letting the warm chocolate taste heat him from the inside out.

Cas settled down next to him on the bench, and Dean automatically found himself leaning into Cas’ space, as if he couldn’t stop himself from pressing their bodies together. “Thank you,” Dean said, nudging Cas with his shoulder.

“What for?” Cas asked as he slipped the thermos from Dean’s hand and took a sip of the drink before handing it back to Dean.

“For teaching me to skate. For the date. I uh-” Dean broke off, shaking his head. “I can’t even remember the last time I actually went on a date.”

“Why’s that?” Cas asked, pressing his leg against Dean’s.

And Dean wanted to say it was because they were always on the move. He wanted to say that he was just a casual hook-up kinda guy. He wanted to say that dates just weren’t his thing because he wasn’t looking for anything serious. But instead, he told Cas the truth. “Because I haven’t found anybody that I actually wanted to date. Not seriously, at least.”

The words hung in the air, the implication they held hovering between them.

This time was different. Cas was different. In all his years hunting, Dean had never let himself fall for anyone, especially when he knew he couldn’t stay. And yet, Cas had come crashing into his life- quite literally- and Dean had never wanted someone more in his life.

“Dean, there’s um- there’s something you should know. I mean, something about my past that I should tell you,” Cas said, breaking Dean from his thoughts.

“Should I be worried?” Dean asked, and even though his brain told him not to, he reached out to Cas, grabbing his hand and linking their fingers together.

“No. It’s uh- it’s not like that. It’s um-” Cas started to say.

And of course, as if fate didn’t hate Dean enough, his phone started to ring. Cursing every single entity that existed Dean pulled his hand away from Cas’ to see Sam’s name flashing across his screen. He quickly silenced the phone, moving to put it back into his pocket.

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Cas asked wearily.

Dean shook his head. “Nah, if it was important-” Dean started to say, and sure enough, Sam instantly called again. “Just like that. I’m sorry,” Dean said.

“It’s okay, go ahead,” Cas said, even though Dean caught the look in Cas’ eyes, and it made his stomach clench. God. Why did the job always have to get in the way?

“Hey, kinda busy here, Sam,” Dean said as he answered the call.

“It’s going to have to wait, Dean. Whatever this is, it just struck again. PD found Ollie’s body half a mile from where they found Callie’s. Same markings and also drained of blood. I think I’ve got a lead that Bobby just sent over,” Sam said through the phone.

Dean clenched his hand into a fist, sucking in a deep breath. Great. Just great. He was going to have to ditch Cas. Again. Seriously, whatever this creature was, Dean was going to rip its throat out. “Alright, yeah, I’ll meet you at the scene in five.”

Hanging up, Dean closed his eyes for a second, bracing himself before he finally looked over at Cas. But he couldn’t read Cas’ expression, as if Cas had put up a wall and hid behind it.

“Cas, I’m so sorry.”

“Ollie’s dead, isn’t he?” Cas asked instead.

Awesome. Just fantastic. Now he had to bail on Cas and tell him someone else was dead. Nodding slowly, Dean took another deep breath before answering. “Yes, he is. I’m sorry, Cas. We’re going to figure this out though. We’ll stop whatever’s happening. Just-” Dean broke himself off. Shit. How did he say this without exposing Cas to what he really did? “Can you just- please stay safe.”

Cas finally looked up at Dean, tilting his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that we don’t know enough about whatever is causing these killings. And there’s no solid MO linking the two victims except they’re around our age. And if I have to drag your lifeless corpse out of the woods, I’m going to absolutely lose it. So please, for the love of God, just watch yourself. Make sure Libby does the same,” Dean said.

Maybe he should just tell Cas now? Tell him the truth; that there was something not human out there sacrificially killing people.

No. He couldn’t. Maybe later, but not now. Not like this. Not on their first date.

Dean reached for Cas’ hand again, desperately needing the contact. Cas looked guarded for a second before letting Dean take his hand. “Hey. Can you please look at me?” Dean asked quietly.

Cas finally tilted his body back towards Dean, and Dean sagged in relief. Slowly, so he didn’t spook Cas, Dean shifted his free hand up to Cas’ jaw, tilting his head up as he swooped down and pressed a chaste kiss to Cas’ lips. Cas hesitated for half a second before he leaned into the kiss, his hand coming up to rest on Dean’s bicep.

“Trust me when I tell you the absolute last thing I want to do right now is bail on our date. God, Cas. I’d stay here all night with you if I could,” Dean murmured, pressing the words into Cas’ lips.

“Then stay,” Cas whispered.

Fuck. Dean felt his heart clench in his chest, and he moved forward to kiss Cas harder; catching Cas’ lip between his own. “I can’t, Cas. It’s- Sam and I are the only ones that can figure this out and stop it.”

“Then come find me later?” Cas asked, bumping his nose against Dean’s with a hint of hope in his voice.

God. Dean knew that wasn’t a promise he could keep. Hunting monsters was unpredictable; sometimes all night spent trying and failing to kill the damn thing. But Dean was absolutely gone for Cas, and how could he deny Cas such a simple request? Especially when he wanted it, too.

“Tell me where, and I’ll find you,” Dean said, pressing their foreheads together.

“The diner. We don’t close until midnight,” Cas said quietly.

“Will you make me more hot cocoa?” Dean asked, trying to lighten the moment again.

Cas smiled, and God, Dean didn’t even realize how much he’d missed Cas’ smile over the past few minutes. But it was beautiful- Cas was beautiful- and so he leaned forwards, pecking Cas’ mouth again, just to feel that smile pressed against his own lips.

Dean broke the kiss, nuzzling his nose against Cas’ before pulling away. “I’ll see you soon?” he asked as he stood up.

“You’d better,” Cas said, reaching out at the last possible second to snag Dean’s hand; squeezing tightly.

With a smile, Dean bent down to press a lingering kiss to the back of Cas’ fingers before he finally slipped away. Each step closer to the Impala made Dean’s heart ache, and he had to force himself to get behind the wheel and drive away; even as his heart screamed at him to turn back and chase after Cas instead of the case.

Tag List Part 1 Below- (please let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from the list!)

Tag List: @cas-deserved-so-much-more @hello-x-sunshine @bibelphegor @likepurplemuses @expectingtofly @neo-neo-neo @shadowywerewolfqueen @a-sweet-indisposition @feraladoration @xojo

@oganizediguana @paintdriesfaster @adsp-destielcockles @destielangst @im-your-huckle-berry @justa-crayon @dea-stiel @superduckbatrebel @destielfactory @miluiel-erynion

@y-yo-a-ti-cas67 @cockleslovesdestiel @toxic-nebula @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @enchantinghairdoherringwombat @proudace @galaxymysteryelephant @aelysianmuse @ramennoodles-dean-cas @you-changedmedean

@gmos-winter-wonderland @deansotherotherblog @trekkie24 @geo-val @dizzypinwheel @hermionevaldez9 @gimmeprozac @iamsherlockedondoctorwho @dickspeightjrs @imbiowaresbitch

@destielle @hopefuldreamers-world @organicpurplepants @dean-you-assbutt-cas-loves-you @shut-up-dean @sapphirecobalt-1 @eshaninjer @spnobsessed50 @mishka @holygoddessofvictory

@jayus-fandom-writer @2musiclover2 @rainbowscas @bennedict @cassiecasyl @jensenacklesruinedmylife @can-i-just-stay-in-the-corner @chaoticdean @destiel-trash-asf @tlakhtwritesdestiel

@bri-winchester @50shadesofcockles @trasherasswood @spittingpagan @castielstolemyheart @becky-srs @phoenix13 @jiminthestreets-bonesinthesheets @deancasology @top13zepptraxx

@love-neve-dies @good-things-do-happen-dean @tearsofgrace @thedirtytrenchcoat @a-porno-with-the-russian-mafia @on-a-bender @moi-the-bard @one-more-offbeat-anthem @naturallyathief @queen-rowenas

[purplesunrisefanfic]

A long-ass defence of the unsexy sex scene between Abby and Owen.

(No pictures of it are included here because gross)

So, at the risk of alienating pretty much everyone who follows me, I actually think **that** scene with Abby and O🤢🤢n is a worthwhile storytelling element, and I see why that scene was included but not a Dina/Ellie one. (Even though “I wish things were different.”)

With Dina/Ellie, they love each other, they have a fairly healthy relationship, they have chemistry. Everything that, story-wise, needs to be shown can be (and was) shown without needing a full sex scene. Yeah, I would really like to see a sex scene between them, for sure, but I can’t pretend that because I think there’s vital story elements hidden in there. Not at all because, let’s be honest, we KNOW they had great sex. No one who wants that scene wants it because they’re wondering if they had good sex or not, we want it because we wanna see some great sex.

You‘re not seriously doubting that I’m good in bed, are you?

I’m not dissing us for that, representation matters, and I think Neil made a HUGE error of judgement when he spoke about a sex scene in a context where we’d all assume it was Dina/Ellie. (And that was a moment of terrible judgment that I would be classing as queerbaiting has it not been for the SO FUCKING MUCH groundbreakingly excellent representation in Part 2. In this case, I think it was an example of how even when you work really hard at things you can still make mistakes, still be thoughtless to how much impact you can accidents have on a representation-starved group. And yeah, it’s not easy to let him off the hook for something that important to me, but I do think he’s done enough overall to earn an assumption of good faith here. Not least because I don’t really don’t think anyone’s purchase actually hinged on whether we saw a Dina/Ellie sex scene vs a make out scene and a well-developed queer relationship, and the whole point of queerbaiting is to manipulate us into buying or consuming things we otherwise wouldn’t.)

But to get back to the main point, I think it’s important to recognise that we don’t wish we’d had that scene because we feel like there’s something vital to the story that we don’t know for not seeing it. We have good reasons for wanting that scene, but thinking that we missed out on some vital characterisation, relationship or story elements isn’t one of them.

Now, the sex scene that we do see is very different. First thing I wanna say is that this isn’t a sex scene that only lesbians or people who dislike Owen find to be uncomfortable. I’ve seen some critiques where I feel like a gulf might have opened up with that. Where it’s maybe kinda of assumed that if you are into that type of sex and don’t hate Owen, then that’s an equivalent to the Dina/Ellie scene that we didn’t get, and it’s NOT. Dina and Ellie having sex for the first time is a situation that opens a door (a door which then walk through with them in other ways, such as the small moments of love and bonding that we see portrayed so beautifully) while Abby/Owen having sex for the last time is a scene about reaching a dead end. It’s about realising that the past is a dead end. It’s a scene that I’ve not seen anyone, even people who didn’t find it uncomfortable, describe as sexy.

Abby has dwelled on the past for four years. She trained herself up to kill Joel. She took no notice of what she was doing and who she was becoming in the present because all she thought about was the past. She ended up “top Scar killer” without really noticing (though that point is more my subjective opinion than the other points here, but I see no evidence she was proud or that or even really trying to achieve that). She killed kids and parents ruthlessly without paying any mind to her own morals or whether she even wanted to be a Wolf at all, because she was living in the past, getting whatever the job in the present was done without asking any questions because her head was never there. Everything she did as a Wolf was just a means to survive long to find Joel and be in a position to kill him when she did.

Eventually, as we know, she does find and kill Joel, and the experience doesn’t give her any of the closure she imagined. Her friendship groups fracture, her self-image is damaged, and she’s now both without closure and without purpose. But she still hasn’t quite figured out why. She hasn’t yet realised that dwelling on the past is the problem. Her ex is still in the picture, an ex that she lost “because of Joel” (in the sense that the main tensions we see in their relationship are linked to Abby’s dedication to revenge).

So caught up in revenge through 4 formative years of life, she’s not had the space to develop in ways she likely would have otherwise. She hasn’t moved past the idyllic childhood sweethearts idea, she’s not moved on to thinking about what she actually wants and needs in a partner. She’s not even noticed that her friends have moved on to more adult relationships, relationships where you might settle down with children, until she’s shocked into that realisation by the news that Mel is pregnant. (This is similar to a point Druckmann has made in an interview.)

Even then, the way she talks about suggests she’s still struggling with seeing the present clearly. She talks about it (especially to herself in Jackson) as if they are still teens, as they are 16ish and should have been more careful. There’s ample evidence, in my interpretation, that Abby’s ability to notice the present, to notice change, and to grow up herself has been near-stunted for the 4 years between Jerry’s death and Joel’s death.

So when she has sex with Owen, it’s another way of looking back. It’s another attempt to look for a future in her past, and I think that to really see and understand just how much she has tried to find a future in the past, and how much that has led her to betray her own values, betray her friends, and to be blinkered to the consequences of her own actions and how she finally realises all of this herself, we need to see the sex.

Because the sex is like the receipts. Like the death certificate for the long-overdue passing of her idea that her future can be made good by a fixation on the past.

Say they had had a shitty kiss instead. Well, that could be Owen holding back because he’s torn about Mel. They could be Abby holding back because she’s torn about Mel. If they do anything less than completely betray Mel, then there’s still room for Abby to believe that, if Mel were to suddenly never had existed or whatever, that her and Owen would be 16yo idyllic sweethearts forever.

So they have to totally betray Mel, they have to have clearly and totally disregarded her, for us (and for Abby) to see their relationship clearly. So it has to be sex. And for us to share in that process in Abby’s mind, the realisation that life has moved on, the realisation that her love for him is based on assuming nothing much has changed in 4 years when it has, the realisation that the past is dead end, we have to be with her for that.

Then we can see how she’s gotten to where she is and how she finally realises that there’s nothing that the past can give her. And then, she’s finally ready to see the present for what it is. She’s finally ready to see that what she does in the present matters, that she can chose whether or not two children live or die, and that she should focus on that. She’s ready to see that Owen was a guy she loved 4 years ago, not a guy she loves today. She’s ready to “Let It Go!(sorry, couldn’t resist!). She’s ready to question whether she’s actually this person who wants to be “top Scar killer.” We’re able to see just how much of herself has been lost on her revenge journey, how she can get on a better path, and why we think she’s worth having that chance. I don’t think that story could come together so richly without the visceral discomfort and the layered realisations that seeing her having (imo terrible, some folks have gone as far as “mediocre” and I’ve genuinely seen no-one rate it any higher) sex with Owen.

Abby: I’d rather watch 10 live amputations and have my own arm amputated than ever have sex with Owen again. In fact, I’d struggle to choose between sex with him and sex with the Rat King at this point.

Yara: I think you should try your luck with fucking the Rat King, can’t be any worse, can it?

Side point: This argument also touches on why I don’t believe that Abby is categorically canonically straight, because her whole arc relies on her being too stuck in the past to consider who she’s actually attracted to in the present. Normally, it’s kinda on the people making the media to show us queerness and not expect us to be satisfied that “well, they could be bisexual because we’ve never said they aren’t,” but I think TLOU does enough in terms of active representation to merit an exception, especially when there’s a strong storytelling reason why we never see anything of what she’s into beyond her childhood sweetheart. (I’m not saying she’s def bi, just that I think saying she’s canonically straight is dicey and that, unlike with almost any other form of media where I’m with y’all in the “straight until otherwise proven” approach, with Abby specifically I find it does give me some of the bi erasure feels that I get all the time irl when people describe her as canonically straight.)

I’m gonna pick Lev up from Scar Island, then find myself a hot woman who likes big arms, boats, and my precious adopted children.

[aspenflower17]

Finding You (Part Fourteen of ??)

Hey everyone! I hope you’re all having a good New Year so far! I have a bit of an update after the chapter for y’all.

Edit: Oop! I forgot the link to Part One for any new people! My bad!

Tags (ily all!):  @simpingforsatan @naimena @hachimochi @wrathandgreed @magi-minminxiii @rensphilia @a-dream-at-night @chloelikesobeyme @getbehindme-satan @theuglypugling @oofthelazyweeb @mammonismyfirstman (as always, if you’d like to be put on the tags list, juust let me know in a comment down below, or a DM)

Word Count: 1,961

TW: None? I’m pretty sure?

Mc didn’t know what she was expecting from the song Satan’s brothers pressured him to play, but a gorgeous melancholic love song was not it, though she should have guessed it was a love song from the title. She was entranced from the first couple notes, and the lyrics pulled her in further. They spoke of someone experiencing love for the first time, though they were afraid of their Love fading away and leaving them. She smiled at the cat lyrics, finding herself not surprised Satan would write about them. He seemed like a cat lover, though she had no real basis for the belief.

 Satan’s singing voice was just as nice as his speaking voice and she found herself impressed. It also held a lot of emotion, enough that she was surprised it didn’t affect his singing. Though she had never heard the song before, it seemed extremely familiar. Though, it was a fairly universal concept, so it probably just seemed she’d heard it before. She hadn’t realized she was crying until Mammon offered her a handkerchief. When he finished, everyone clapped, and he started on another song.

“I never thought I’d hear tha’ song again,” Mammon spoke to Mc in a low voice.

“Why?” she asked.

“Oh… Uhhh… Well, it’s about a lost love of his. Once she… disappeared… He played it one more time and then said he’d never play it again.” 

Mc felt her throat constrict a bit at the revelation, “He must be doing better then. When he got his next… lover, he probably started feeling better.”

“He… Uhhh... '' Mammon floundered for words, and Mc found herself eagerly awaiting his next words, “I don’ think he’s dated anyone before or since her. If nothin’ else, she is his firs’ and only love.”

“Did she hurt him?”

“Huh?”

“I just ask because I’ve seen a lot of people, well, humans, who had relationships go sour and closed themselves off emotionally. I was just wondering if that’s what happened to him.”

“Not… Not exactly… She was human and she… died…” Mammon seemed really anxious at this point, and Mc decided not to push the subject further.

A human? Really? Well, that adds another layer to the song. It’s the most permanent level of “leave” there is. He knew going into the relationship it would end. But… If she had been corrupted enough by him, wouldn’t she have gone to the Devildom? Then they could’ve been together… Does that mean she went to the Celestial Realm? Do I know her? Or… Did she get stuck as a wanderer? Either way, why would he play it now? Mammon said he’d sworn off playing it ever again… The questions swirled around in her head as she watched Satan play.

“Ooooo! Ooooo! My turn!”

“Asmo, you can’t play piano,” Satan sighed, already getting up.

“But I can play music off of my DDD now can’t I?” Asmodeus said, waltzing up to what had become a stage.

As Asmo scrolled through what Mc could only assume was his list of songs, Satan came and stood next to her. Mammon even moved over so he could. Mc gave him a small smile and then turned her attention back to Asmodeus, who was gushing about the song he’d found to sing. She was still thinking about all the unanswered questions she had when she felt a breath next to her ear “What did you think?”

Mc almost jumped, but instead found herself glued to her chair, “Of the song? Or your singing?”

“Hmmm… Both.”

“You play and sing wonderfully. The song was beautiful. I could really feel your emotions.”

“Thank you,” Mc felt Satan retreat back to a standing position, and she found she missed his presence.

A huff from the other side of the room caught her attention. Looking over, she caught the tailend of Michael watching Satan with narrowed eyes before turning back to Asmodeus. How strange.

When Asmodeus finished, Lucifer was both begged and forced to play by those in the room. While Mc had to admit he was definitely in a league all his own, she found herself preferring Satan’s playing to Lucifer’s. She cocked her head slightly at the realization.

“Excellent Lucifer! Just exquisite!” Diavolo boomed, giving the Avatar of Pride a standing ovation, “I can’t remember the last time I heard you play!”

“Well, it has been awhile,” Lucifer smiled. His pride seemed to have recovered enough he could properly interact with people again. Mc was happy she was able to avert a crisis, not interested in finding out how a brawl between Michael and Lucifer would go. Though… Would either of them actually get into a physical altercation?...

Mc was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t realize the brothers were leaving until they were all asking if she would come to the House of Lamentation at some point.

“... And I would love to paint your nails,” Asmo prattled on, grabbing her hands, “And I know the Devildom’s lack of light can make your skin lose some of its radiance, but I have a moisturizer that can help with that. Oh and-”

“Asmo, come on! Ya want Mc to come visit or not?” Mammon interrupted,

“Mammon, you don’t understand the nuances of keeping yourself looking perfect.”

“Uh, yes. I do. I’m a model. Ya been smellin’ too many of ya fancy products and it’s melted ya brain?”

“I think you’re thinking of yourself, though it was probably when you were trying to con those witches into buying acid, and you drank some.”

“Oi! How do ya know about that?”

“Ugh, there they go again,” a head rested itself on Mc’s shoulder, and she almost jumped until she saw who it was, “Seriously though Mc. You should come over.”

“Yeah. You’re even welcome to bring Luke,” the one brother who she hadn’t talked to added, “Barbatos told me he’s gotten even better at baking.”

“Of course I’ve gotten better at baking! I’m also very good at cooking too,” Luke said, having joined the conversation.

Mc watched at Beelzebub, which is who she figured he must be through the process of elimination, actually started drooling, “Does that mean you’re actually going to come over then?”

Luke smiled fondly, a look Mc wasn’t sure she’d have ever thought he could have for a demon, “If you’d like Beel, I could probably make that happen.”

Beel rushed over to Luke and pulled him into a huge hug. Belphegor removed himself from Mc, walking over to Beelzebub, “Beel, you need to let go of the chihuahua or he’s going to suffocate. Luke can’t make you food if he’s been squished.”

“I’m sorry. I hope these idiots haven’t been bothering you too much.”

“Not at all Lucifer. They were just inviting me over sometime.”

“Well, I suppose it’s time for us to head out,” Lucifer said, starting to gather his brothers.

“You are welcome anytime you want to come over,” Satan’s voice came from behind her.

“I… Thanks. I would really like that.”

“Satan! We’re leaving.”

“I’m coming Lucifer,” Satan called, rolling his eyes, then back to Mc with a smile, “Bye.”

“Bye,” Mc called after him.

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

Mc sat in her room hours later, the events of the evening still running through her head. Though she knew Michael wouldn’t approve, she found herself much more at ease and even happier around them than she did around most angels. There was a non-judgmental kindness they all exuded (well, all except Lucifer) that made her feel like she belonged. She found herself excited about the prospect of spending more time with them at the House of Lamentation. She had to laugh a bit, the fact she didn’t fit in with the rest of the angels never more clear than it was now. 

Simeon had told her his time in the Devildom had been extremely enjoyable, the less structured lifestyles if the Devildom a welcome change from the Celestial Realm. She had read his work from that time and it was obvious he had felt a lot more creative in the Devildom, even though he had school responsibilities at the time. While she hadn’t doubted his words, she had always figured the change was mostly due to the fact he had been able to communicate with his lost brothers again. Now she understood what he had been talking about. 

Simeon generally gets along with the other angels too. What would they all say if they found out I prefer the company of the Fallen to them? Everything is just more natural with them. It’s almost like I already know who they are, as strange as that sounds. Especially Satan, though I’ve felt connected to him since I got his letter. Speaking of which, who was it that he mentioned? Lil… Lilly? Lillah? Lillian? Hmmm… I can’t remember. I do know I’ve never heard that name before. Whoever it was seemed to have a great impact on all of the brothers. It can’t be someone they Fell with. I’ve read all the literature about the Fall and I don’t recognize the name. Though there’s a lot about the Fall the Celestial Realm doesn’t talk about. But... Simeon’s also never mentioned anyone with that name before… Maybe it’s time for me to do some more research.

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

Mc stretched, and checked the time on her DDD. She had been in Diavolo’s personal library for over three hours, and she still hadn’t found any mention of the mysterious “L” person. She found plenty of references to Lucifer though. It seemed he and his brothers had been instrumental in helping Diavolo establish order when the old King had started his slumber. What caused this slumber, why it happened, or if it would end was not covered. Mc wanted to research the topic further, but she couldn’t get distracted until she had answered her initial question.

There was a knock at the door, and Barbatos came in carrying a teacup on a saucer, “I thought you might be in here.”

“Oh, hello Barbatos.”

The butler entered the room, and set the tea down on the table Mc was studying at, “I thought you might like some tea.”

“I would actually, thank you. If you would like to, you can take a seat.”

“I suppose that’d be alright,” Barbatos smiled, and sat down in a chair. His eyes glided across the books strewn around Mc, “You’ve got some heavy reading here.”

“Well, I’m trying to figure something out,” Mc sighed, sipping her tea.

“Perhaps I can be of assistance?”

“Maybe, though I don’t remember what it is I’m looking for exactly,” Barbatos simply cocked his head slightly until she continued, “Satan was telling about… Well, a personal experience, and he mentioned someone. I don’t remember their name, but it was someone very close to all the brothers and they had passed away. I was just trying to figure out who it was.”

“You seem very interested in this person,” Barbatos’ tone wasn’t accusatory, but he seemed to expect and answer.

“... I guess I’m just trying to understand them better. Him better,” The last part slipped from Mc’s mouth easily, surprising even her.

“I think I may know who you’re talking about. If I’m correct, you won’t find any references to her in these books. It’s not my place to explain the situation to you however. You should probably go speak with the brothers about her…” the butler paused for a second before continuing, “I believe Michael also knows a lot about the situation, though he doesn’t know the full story,” with that, he got up and pushed his chair in, “I must continue with my duties, but I appreciate the short reprieve. Good night.”

“Night,” Mc called after him. Huh. Michael knows?

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

Part Fifteen

 I wanted to let you all know that as it is January, ever since 2014 the first moth of the year has been terrible for me. So far, we are 3 days into 2021, and I have already gotten a near constant tooth ache meaning I’m going to have to go to the dentist, and have gotten sick. I don’t know what else this month has in store for me, but I just wanted to warn you all, if my updates get sporadic or short, that’s why 😬 

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 32 arrives! It’s, I gotta say, quite an improvement on what we’ve had lately. Quite an improvement. Even so, it’s nothing that’s gonna rock the world... but hey, I was so desperate for something different to happen that y’know what, I’ll take it.

Pic of the week:

A Digimon who just wants to roll around in the grass. Go’way, baddies.

More below!

So as you probably gather... we start with Takeru this week! Haha! Good riddance Taichi! I luv ya but I’ve had enough of ya! Take a break!

jk I totally missed him the whole thirty seconds he wasn’t on screen

Takeru and Patamon are running for their lives, of course! Patamon makes a valiant effort to evolve to protect Takeru but...

... Poor baby. He gave it the ol’ college try but he just ain’t as young as he used to be.

Things look grim until Komondomon shows up with a creepy disembodied hand sticking out of his fur!

Phew, it’s just Sora. Her brilliant plan to rescue Takeru is to grab his arm and drag him along with them... I mean... sure... Whiplash has been proven Not A Thing in this universe so...

After getting rid of their pursuer, the group checks in with the others. I’m reminded of how silly separations feel when you can just communicate with each other by walkie-talkie. Yamato’s been riding Garurumon for a long time now lol. At least we got to see him...

He sweetly encourages Takeru and tells him the best thing he can do to help Patamon with his evolution issues is be there to support him. Then he tells Taichi “I leave Takeru in your case.” Ok sure, like Sora’s not right there...

Taichi: In my care? Should I point out that I already lost one little sibling to the dark side? Nah...

Seriously, though... that’s the current situation. Taichi is actively going over SkullKnightmon to get Hikari back. If Takeru stays with him that just means Takeru gets to go into danger again too. Of course, it seems that the dark side is suddenly uninterested in Takeru and Patamon so... I guess it’s okay 9_9

We then check in with Mimi! Who is being her awesome Mimi-tastic self. Ugh I love her.

Wondered what happened to Golemon. Turns out there was nothing much to worry about because no one loves a macho boxing match like Tachikawa Mimi. If there’s ever a season where these kids grow up, I hope Mimi is like, a big fan of sumo or something.

Taichi: O... kay... well... Mimi sure is... an intersting person...

Agumon: Hey you should make her your girlfriend!

Taichi: what nOOO BAD IDEA ABORT ABORT

Meanwhile, the situation with Jou is, um, questionable to say the least...

(how is keeping that towel on)

Jou: HEEEEELP!!!

Taichi: ... you didn’t hear anything, did you? Me neither. *closes link*

Finally we check in with Koushirou. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what he says. -__-;

At least we see him get bombed a bit. He’s okay though.

Meanwhile unconscious Patamon gets a visitor from baby angel Lopmon, who tells him about hist lost memories.

He adds that the other legendary warriors have lost their power and it’s up to Patamon and his bond with Takeru to save the world more or less.

He encourages Patamon to find his hope.

Patamon: Who am I? What am I? All before me is dark. I know not what path to take.

The others, having nothing better to do, peep on Patamon’s crisis of faith.

Takeru relates a story about learning to swim and being scared of the water, but Yamato stayed with him so eventually he was able to learn to do it. Aww. Not quite comparable to Hikari’s “I wet the bed and Taichi changed the sheets and then told our parents that he was the one that did it” from the 99 series but still pretty good.

The sweet moment is interrupted by a flash of light! Then dark! Then light! Then dark!

It’s another scary Digimon! Oh dear. It’s Kerberomon. A three-headed Cerberus as I’m sure you figured out. Once again, this show does not how to convey what the stakes are. After everything we’ve been through, it’s hard to take random nobody Digimon as serious as each episode wants us to take them... but it’s obvious from the build up here that Kerberomon’s going to be tough to beat for Reasons.

Greymon gets hit and says, “I let down my guard!” MAYBE DON’T DO THAT THEN

Also it is very windy.

Le ouch. This is the Digimon from earlier whose name I forgot to take down. He’s come back with his friend...

... Scarier-in-the-dark-mon.

They’re surrounded~ Oh noes and whatnot.

Taichi is a bit cool here, clinging to Komondomon’s helmet and directing the battle like a war general. Mostly he’s telling them how to avoid getting hit by Kerberomon’s powerful attacks but I like that we get to see him using his head like this.

What I think is happening here is, Komondomon isn’t as fast as the kids could be if they were on their own, so their speed is hampered and that plus the number of assailants makes this battle tough. I am sure we’re supposed to assume that the reason WarGreymon doesn’t appear is because it takes a lot of energy to bring him out, even though last time he appeared twice in the same episode -.-;

Sora decides to be useful and goes to help Takeru get to safety.

... She is immediately struck by an attack and collapses, badly hurt somehow. This is so dumb. First of all, they don’t even animate her getting hit. There’s a flash and then she’s down. She should at least get to throw herself over Takeru protectively or something. Geez. 90s anime did it so much better. She’s just standing there and gets hit. What, did she forget there was a battle raging around her?

Second, WE ALREADY HAD DAMSEL IN DISTRESS SORA. It was Jou’s motivation to be cool way back when this show was rather more interesting than it has been of late. Why do the boys need Sora to get SERIOUSLY INJURED to be able to fight?? WHY?? Like, Taichi gets caught in the line of fire ALL THE TIME, but he never gets injured to the point where he can’t continue on. (Except for that one time with Devimon but those were exceptional circumstances!)

Like, why are we making Sora so weak?? This is so unnecessary.

I guess Yamato was right by entrusting Takeru to Taichi instead of Sora though...

... Uhhh.... never mind X’D

Taichi: Whew... m-maybe no one saw that...

Our be-bibbed god reappears to offer sage advice.

Patamon recalls his final moments as Seraphimon... being enveloped into darkness.

This is cool - we see his angelic wings turn to demon ones briefly before he slides back to lower levels. Not sure if it means anything but we have been theorizing that Patamon could still be infected by the evil that wounded him in the past.

Patamon then recalls things that happened after he was reborn and I’m reminded for the billionth time how much harder the emotions around Angemon’s death hit in the 99 show...

Suddenly Patamon realizes - his hope is Takeru, and he is Takeru’s hope.

The boys put on their game faces. This is what I mean by Sora really didn’t need to get hurt here. I get that it gives Takeru a reason to be protective, but the thing that evolves Patamon is Patamon’s feelings, the same way Agumon’s feelings were what rescued them from Devimon etc. That’s an interesting thing about this show - the Digimon’s feelings seem as important to evolution as, if not more than, the kids’.

Patamon evolves!! Very creepily! But... not to Angemon!

He becomes Pegasusmon! Who... looks a lot bigger than I remember, even considering Takeru is very small... xD

So this is pretty cool! I’ve been wondering how on earth the show was gonna keep introducing evolutions after already using up so many key players, especially for Taichi. But it looks like Armor Digimon can appear, and that makes me think that we could see all kinds of evolutions for the entire team that we’ve never seen before. I like that idea, but I don’t really know if this show has time for it. Maybe it will just be Pegasusmon and Nefertimon who are available to Takeru and Hikari so the writers can preserve the angels for the most epic moments only. That seems the most likely way things will go here, and the only qualm I have with it is, they’ve played all of Taichi’s cards already, and he’s the main character. He has to have something else in the future...

He attac!!!!

Kerberomon doesn’t last long, although why is wholly inexplicable. What about Pegasusmon gives him the edge when MetalGreymon and Garudamon couldn’t handle it? Is it because he’s an Armor Digimon? That may be it but the show doesn’t bother to explain.

Another thing I’d love to see, if there are gonna be more than just one evolutionary tree for the partners, is the kids actually strategizing when they decide which evolution to use. One of the cool parts of Tamers was the kids actively supporting their partner with skill as well as heart. I don’t think that’s gonna happen in this season, but you know, a girl can dream.

Takeru: Hurray for murder!

The three Digimon work together to put the lid on Kerberomon. Garudamon has the coolest moment. Squash.

Taichi checks on Sora who seems fine now. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Aw, but these two really are adorable.

What a sweet ending card T_T I want more of these.

Okay so yeah, this episode was a much needed upper after the stream of “watch Taichi fight random forgettable monsters” episodes we’ve had lately. I’m glad we got it. I still, just, like, why can’t they get the emotional build up right?? I wouldn’t say 99 Adventure did anything insanely unusual in how it treated the various crises the kids faced, but it def did a better job than this show. In 99, they understood the importance of moments of reflection, of talking about things, of showing expressions and how other characters react... And I still feel like this reboot DID do that, at least somewhat better, in the beginning. Like what went down between Yamato and Taichi after Ogremon was killed. That was pretty good.

They’ve totally lost what makes Digimon great. I hope this episode is a sign that they’re gonna take it back, but, my heart just hearts y’all.

Next episode... I’m rather surprised since we are REALLY overdue some face time with Yamato, not to mention Mimi and Jou, but apparently we’re sticking with Taichi. At least it looks lke we’ll get some new plot stuff related to Hikari.

If this all leads up to something that makes sense, I will retract all my complaints, I swear. Except about the gratuitous nonstop fighting. But the rest, I will take back.

Taichi’s determined!! This is Digimon Adventure! Let’s go on a freaking adventure!!

[canonicallysoulmates]

Last week Jensen was on Rosenbaum’s podcast, this week it’s Jared’s turn. Just like with Jensen’s I recommend checking Jared’s out it is for free on youtube, I will be linking to it at the end of this post, and I also recommend checking out his first appearance on Rosenbaum’s podcast. 

While Jensen’s appearance was recorded in the beginnings of the boys Vancouver quarantine, Jared’s was recorded a little more recently after the boys had resumed production and when they were starting on the final episode nonetheless if you are looking for information regarding Supernatural and/or the final epis you will not find them here, Jared actually didn’t talk much about the show. He did however open up about some topics including his arrest. 

Of course, they are two different people whose interviews were done at different moments in time and who got asked different questions but this had a very different feel from Jensen’s; while Jensen’s felt more interview like, this felt very much like a conversation between two friends who’ve known each other for years....the majority of the time. 

Here’s the thing, and some of y’all are not gonna like me for this....while the conversation had its deep moments and Jared opened up about some personal stuff it felt to me like a more open version of how he is in conventions. Which is not a bad thing! But it’s not like last time where he was, imo, a version of himself that only those in his circle might get to hear. There was some fuckery people, okay? There was some fuckery and we will be talking about it.

I am going to put a disclaimer here, just in case, that this post is not going to be G*nevieve friendly. Or friendly towards her and Jared’s “marriage”. 

Before we get into what Jared said and talked about, I do want to take a minute to acknowledge and say condolences to Rosenbaum and his family, one of his sisters recently passed away after being sick pretty much her whole life. 

I also wanna say real quickly that something that I really like, and I would say even respect, about Rosenbaum is how open he is about things and listening to the intro of this “episode” made me realize why it is that he gets his guests to open up so often; I think it’s because he himself is open about his struggles and his issues and he is free of judgement so if you confess to something stupid he’s not gonna judge you for it, he’s also willing to cut things out if his guests ask him too so his guests know they can talk to him and he will understand and not judge them and will respect their privacy and cut something out if they ask it of him so they can talk freely. 

Okay, after all that let’s get into what Jared said and talked about in the podcast. FYI, much like in the Jensen post, from here forth Rosenbaum will be referred to as MR for convenience. 

- The conversation starts on what I considered to be a funny note with Jared talking about his infrared sauna blanket which he travels with that is such a weird item to travel with I can’t with the white richness of it all but hey we all got our quirks 😂

- After that the conversation turns pretty serious and deep, he talked about Sadie and having to make the decision to put her to sleep. He was tearing up talking about it, and I’m not gonna lie I myself was crying - hell I’m tearing up as I’m writing this not just because I can’t handle seeing this man cry but because I know what he’s talking about, I know that pain, I know what he meant by Sadie looking at him like it was time for her to go, I know what it’s like to be in that room with a beloved pet as they’re taking their last breath...I have had to put two of my cats to sleep in the past and it’s the most difficult and heartbreaking decision one sometimes has to make as a pet owner. 😔

- Something I like about when MR and Jared talk to each other is that they have very similar personalities in some ways and they’re good friends so when they’re talking it very quickly turns into two friends talking to one another which means the conversation is all over the place. In a good way. They got into a conversation about living in the moment and how social media and cell phones can affect that; I, personally, found it fascinating. I love hearing them discuss their different POV’s about these types of topics. 

- And here’s where we get to the fake. I’m writing this post at an extremely late hour but I’m determined to get it up before I go to bed and I really wanna go to bed, so I’m gonna try to get through this as fast as possible so strap in cause there’s a lot of bullshit to quickly wade through in this section. 

Jared starts praising the fuck out of G like this man was going for it, he was really pilling it on nice and thick. So, there I am watching this with my eyes about to roll right out of my skull wondering what was up with all the fuckery cause there’s being civil and a gentleman and then there was this when a light bulb goes off above my head 💡: When this was filmed, he already knew she had been cast to play his wife on Walker, he probably figured out that by the time this aired either the news would have already been out or would be announced soon so he’s hyping her up in the only way he knows how which works anyways cause the character she’s playing is his wife and her likability is in part going to rely on people overlooking her bad acting and the nepotism to focus on her being married to Jared in real life cause people love when irl couples work together even more when they’re playing a couple. From what I’ve seen it makes people less likely to call out a lack of chemistry cause then they feel like they’re insulting the couple.

He hypes her up using the same script he and Jensen have used in the convention circuit for years when it comes to praising the wives complete with classics such as ‘i’m never home so i never knew she did so much’ and ‘i ask her what i can do and she tells me to take out the garbage’. Nothing new is added to the script, he doesn’t go into details about what makes her amazing or about “all she does” he just pretty much says over and over that she’s incredible and does so much, if he meant it and she really does “so much” why not go into detail? It’d be so easy of him to say something like ‘oh, she’s always making us healthy meals and trying out new recipes’ which can be backed up by her insta because during quarantine she did a bunch of insta stories about cooking and checking out recipe books like goddamn Jared if you’re gonna lay it thick at least put in the effort even I could hype her up better and I don’t even like her. 

It all comes off as very insincere, have y’all ever seen somebody talk about the person they love? You can tell in their voice, in their eyes, some even get a fond little smile. It’s actually quite cute to watch but there’s none of that here, even when he mentions G giving birth there’s no emotion there’s no sincerity, it’s like he’s saying all the right things but he doesn’t believe them. It reminds me off- have you ever had someone, maybe it’s a friend or a romantic partner or whatever just someone who you’re introducing to somebody else or a group of people and you really need them to like this person you’re introducing so you start to sell them meaning you just start singing their praises to an over the top extend as if you were a car dealer trying to boost up their merch? Yeah, it’s like that. 

I don’t believe for one second that she volunteered to go with him to Van so he wouldn’t be alone like Jared go to somebody else with that story 🙄

I did have to laugh at some parts cause he was laying it on thick as if I didn’t remember and know that he looked miserable in almost all the pics G posted of him from quarantine right from the beginning, and being all ‘she doesn’t have any time for herself’ well clearly she found some time cause she does her little yoga collabs, she’s had her little photo shoots, she’s done a bunch of sponsored ads, she did her clothing collab with Kohl’s, she started a book club clearly she has the fucking time to do things for herself and pursue hobbies. He also said with three kids he didn’t have time for himself which I found funny because I don’t know if y’all remember this but early on in the quarantine Jared and G did a livestream and in it he mentioned several times that he was using his time for phone calls and even way too seriously said he was handling cabin fever by hiding and letting G handle the kids so....

It’s also an interesting contrast between what Jensen said in his podcast appearance because while Jared tried to make it sound as if G had no time for herself and like that’d be impossible with three kids, Jensen pretty much said the opposite, he said that he and D would sometimes take the kids and entertain them so the other one could have some space to do their own thing, and even gave an example of settling the kids with a movie so the parents can have their own space at the same time. 

- Moving on from that fuckery, the rest of the conversation was very deep and interesting. He talked about going to therapy and once again mentions being afraid of fucking up his kids, but adds that he’s come to realize that no matter what he does he’s gonna fuck up his kids anyways cause that’s what every parent does even if they’re amazing. This is a statement that I very much agree with it doesn’t matter how amazing a parent is they’re gonna make mistakes and fuck you up.��

He talked about his anxiety and his depression and how he doesn’t like to say he suffers from it because it makes him sound like a victim he prefers to say he deals with anxiety. 

This is gonna sound so weird but I loved something Jared said about death, MR talked about his anxiety and he said that his psychologist told him anxiety is always in the backseat and a. that is so true I think pretty much anybody who suffers from anxiety can tell you that it’s always there but b. Jared mentioned that he head somebody talk about death the same way, that death is always in the passenger seat but they become a friend. I know for some this might sound concerning or macabre but personally I think this is the best way to think about death not as something to hate but as a friend who is always besides you and that doesn’t mean you’re in any rush to welcome its embrace but it does mean you don’t fear it. 

He said that now a days if he wakes up and doesn’t feel anxiety he’s like ‘what’s wrong?’ which honestly relatable af

And I am paraphrasing btw, this is the cliffnotes version of a very deep in-depth part of the conversation between him and MR starting when they’re talking about therapy the whole thing is very interesting I’m not doing it justice. 

- Towards the end of the podcast Jared opened up about his arrest. He said he has no real recollection of what happened, he doesn’t know if maybe he was drugged or just got black out drunk but he doesn’t remember the fight he just remembers up to the point of going to his friends bar. He has seen the security tapes of that night, saying he didn’t recognize himself due to the way he was acting. He thinks perhaps because he has been jumped before that maybe he acted on instinct to fight back. It is not something he is proud of and he doesn’t make excuses, he knows he fucked up. He also says he has not drank since then. 

I am very proud of him for opening up about this, and for either quitting or limiting his alcohol consumption - quite honestly I’m not sure if he has full on stopped drinking or if he is just limiting himself to only once in a blue moon cause I do know people, hell I am one of these people, I don’t drink 99% of the time but if it’s a special occasion or I’m just chilling with someone I know and they’re having a drink I might have one or a sip or two so technically I don’t drink so I don’t know if maybe that’s what he’s decided to do or if he’s quit alcohol forever, either way I’m very proud of him. I’m proud of him for opening up about this and for talking about his mental health and therapy.

With the exception of some fuckery he really did open up about some things and I highly recommend giving it a listen/watch because when it’s the real him talking it’s a very insightful conversation.

Inside of you | Jared Padalecki

[corancoranthemagicalman]

C’s (1/?) Destiel Rec List:

That gets less and less coherent as it goes.

So here is a rec list by order in which I read them and not by preference. They’re like, All Destiel, because that’s how Post-November C rolls:

First on the list is The Courtship of Combat by bendingsignpost 18k

I KNOW it’s not Thee fic by bendingsignpost that everyone is talking about. I know. BUT, I dearly enjoyed it. It’s the first in a series and it’s A/B/O. (I know. I know. Don’t @ me. Or do.) It’s pre-relationship and the characters are definitely themed toward early-Destiel if you catch my drift. Omega!Dean’s hand is being fought over. This wouldn’t matter to Castiel except he totally told Michael that the reason he wouldn’t marry anyone is because he’s head over heels for the Winchester Omega that he doesn’t even have a real recollection of ever meeting. It’s like the perfect balance of a meet-cute and meet-ugly. I just LOVE bendingsignpost’s Castiel voice. It’s such a great characterization.

I’M GONNA SCREAM THE SECOND ON THE LIST IS ANOTHER A/B/O?!? I swear I don’t read that much A/B/O, but this is another exception because it’s Biological Imperatives (Or Not) by tiamatv  29k

Tiamatv is one of my favorite writers. If you’re unfamiliar with their work, I’m gonna rec more of it to you. No worries. THIS lovely piece of work is a Beta/Beta narrative that focuses on how hilarious A/B/O tropes are from an outsider perspective, but doesn’t do it in a way that feels insulting to the classical tropes. It’s just people living their lives where these situations happen not often but enough that they know how to deal with it. Dean and Cas have several first dates trying to figure out what’s happening between the two of them. Castiel is thee love of my life in this piece. And Dean’s headspace makes for a witty narrative.

If you know me at all, you know this next one HAD to be a regency and it’s Of Lords and Letters by MalMuses 14k

Dean is the master of the Winchester estate after his father passes. Unfortunately for the estate (but much to Dean’s pleasure), he can’t run it personally because he’s at war. Not that he likes war all that much, but it’s what he knows. War he knows. Sam is a conniving but well-meaning little brother and puts him in contact with Mister Castiel Shurley. (I KNOW. I KNOW. I allow Castiel Shurley in recent fics only if Chuck is cast as an asshole, and he is :)) But seriously, it’s SO Regency. There’s letters, pining, propriety, and men in period suits. What more could you ask for?

Y’all probably gonna immediately peg who I am as a person when I say Always Together, Eternally Apart by EmiliaOagi 27k is probably one of my top ten Destiel fics.

Here’s the thing—Ladyhawke is probably my second favorite movie in the entire world beat only by The Princess Bride. (Seriously, if y’all wanna bribe me with anything, it will always be that.) NOT ONLY does EmiliaOagi beautifully incorporate the source material, but once more Dean Winchester is SO Dean Winchester it hurts. This piece is from Sam’s perspective, and his running inner monologue is both insightful and entertaining. If you’re unfamiliar with the plot of Ladyhawke, I refuse to spoil it for you. Some things must be experienced, and this is one of them. Either by reading this lovely work or by viewing the original film, you’ll understand the legend that so captivates me.

OH ANOTHER DELICIOUS ONE and it’s like in that vein of Retired Hunters But Not Yet Together Destiel is Welcome to Pine Shores! by andimeantittosting (Saylee) 20k

It’s always fun reading Dean character studies, and this is definitely one of them. So the long and short of it is PINING FOR DAYS (this was written for Pinefest) and Dean trying to set up Cas with other people because he thinks Cas might want more. Oh, and did I mention they’ve been running this motel for like thirteen years? And they share a bed? *Tropes Intensify*

There is also Dean Winchester and the Patron Saint of Blind Dates by goldenraeofsun 18k which I think some of y’all are familiar with.

Sort of what it says on the tin, to be honest, folks. Dean’s friends set him up with some blind dates and the bartender—Castiel—grips his Purple Nurple tight and raises him from perdition. (And no, it’s not a euphemism.) The dates are sort of outrageously in character and interestingly enough this is a Sam/Ruby fic too! I sort of liked how it played out in this piece. If you’re worried about the Sam/Ruby dynamic, fear not! They were both former addicts and have since been clean for (a year or two? I don’t recall the time frame.) Dean has a love/hate sort of relationship with an emphasis on hate with Ruby since she’s the one who got Sam into drugs (allegory for the demon blood) but she’s also the one to try to go clean first. I just thought that was an interesting take, and one I would’ve linked to have seen the show pursue to be honest, but Supernatural has to keep the hot ladies dead or villains or both haha ;)) I digress. It’s a smaller read but the subject matter is pretty heavy. From former religious cults to the former addicts, please keep in mind if mentions of these things make you uncomfortable. It’s definitely the one whose subject matter stuck out the most to me. So apologize if I’ve missed mentioning anything specific for y’all in the previous recs or this one.

WAIT THIS NAME LOOKS FAMILIAR!??! IT’S andimeantittosting (Saylee) BACK AT IT AGAIN BUT THIS TIME WITH The Winchester Affair 34k !!

SAYLEE YOU HAD TO MAKE IT ONTO THIS LIST TWICE. Another Regency, except this time Castiel is long time friends (with benefits *eyebrow wiggles*) with Dean. He’s in love with him, obviously, so this means that an asshole named Zachariah that we all know and loathe comes around planning to frame his poor sister (Hael) with stealing Mary Winchester’s brooch if Castiel doesn’t find some damning evidence on the Winchesters for him. DRAMA AHOY!!! This is a very harlequin/regency novel. It’s actually based off of a novel called Ware the Marquess as is the wont of the Destiel Harlequin Challenge. Very good challenge to check out; very excellent fic to read. And the author so nice we listed them twice. ;) SIDE NOTE: This is totally one of those Regency ones where It Simply Isn’t Done, if you know what I mean. Like, no one is outright slurring or something that I can recall (and it isn’t tagged so I doubt there is), but it Isn’t Done, But They Love Each Other Very Much.

So you guys know Scoobynatural is my comfort episode, right? Well, one of my favorite things that I’ve delightfully discovered is the trope of building off of Cas’ one-liner about being effin’ married, so have The Nikkah by Maxine (WinchesterPooja) 28k!

Reads like a Case-fic as there’s an entire sub-plot happening with Sam. So this story happens well within the canon despite being canon-divergent. This one does end happy!! There’s a view episode like fics I might rec that end in canon-fashion with Dean repression and I love the pining and all but sometimes I need sweet fandom closure. Long and short of it: Djinn culture? Djinn queen? Fake-relationships? Sam dealing with nightmares? This baby can fit SO MUCH ACTION into a fic.

Okay, so you know the fic with the Bee Movie allegory? (It’ll come up on this reclist.) This has the same vibe, except for the relationship is out of order and Dean is Diagnosed with If I Do It This Way It’s Okay. Yeah, it’s Command Me to Be Well by prosopopeya 28k

Human Cas, back from the dead, post-finale, and Dean is trying to figure out how to get his happy ending. I’ve seen this one make the rounds on fic rec’ing so I think it’s a bit familiar, but I enjoyed it. Even though—as my bookmark says—I usually don’t go in for hurt/comforts with heavy on the hurt because my poor heart can’t take it. This is one of my few exceptions. This one has a healthy dose of Castiel standing up for himself with the bittersweet tang of him literally willing to do so much for Dean. But it’s a Dean perspective, so it really deals with a lot of his inner thoughts.

This one is,,,, in a similar vein as Command Me to Be Well. I guess I was in a mood. Baby, Come On Home by woodenducks 9k.

IT’S SEASON NINE WITH A SIDE OF PINE. What more could you ask for angst? Human Cas in Rexford trying to make a life for himself when all he wants is to go home. But he’s also trying to figure out what home even is for him. There’s a lot of drama between Dean and Cas, because of course Dean wants him there. But blah blah angels and blah blah whatever excuse the writers wanted so we couldn’t have human Cas and Dean in the bunker. We KNOW obviously the only thing keeping canon Dean from snapping was the fact that Cas was not human around him. *heavy eyeroll*. Anyways, this is a heartbreaking read from Castiel’s perspective.

One of my favorite Rescue Cas from the Empty fics is (they'll never break) the shape we take by auroralynches (teresavampa) 9k.

There’s this super cool concept of how Castiel experiences his regrets within the Empty and how Dean navigates through them to get to Castiel. I really enjoyed it, and of course the greatest love story ever told has got to have SOME theatrics and sentiments that are definitely reflected in this fic. My point is, I really love when Empty Rescue fics include analyzing Castiel’s regrets, and this one does so but from Dean’s perspective. As in Dean is viewing Castiel’s memories and trying to perceive his regrets.

Sooooo Epistolary by tiamatv 9k eh?

I love love LOVEEEEEE epistolary fics. I love them. I’ll always read them. And I totally told you I loved tiamatv. This is probably another one for the top ten fics just because it plays into my things. Love letters, music, and misunderstandings, oh my!!

HERE’S A VERY SEXY TERRIBLE LIFE ----> Ties that Bind Us by TheTwistedWillow 13k

Okay, so BASICALLY what if It’s A Terrible Life happened in like, circa-season 13 and Castiel was thrown in with Dean Smith and Sam Wesson. Literally all that I wanted in this fic. I do mean it’s sexy, by the way. I can’t even begin to explain this fic beyond it’s Castiel’s perspective, and he has some awareness that something is off. And being inside Castiel’s head when he’s not Castiel gets me every time.

OKAY I KNOW THIS IS THE THIRD A/B/O FIC ON THIS LIST I KNOW I KNOW The Mills School for Distinguished Girls by SillyBlue 13k IS WORTH IT THOUGH?!?!

Alpha Dean Winchester is going off to war. In the meantime, his family still doesn’t know about his marriage to Omega Castiel (in fact, they still think Castiel is a Beta.) Male Omegas are very rare in this universe, and it is addressed along with the fact that just because Castiel might look different on the outside doesn’t make him any different than the girls. Which I thought was a thought-provoking interpretation. There’s prejudices here—a lot of them against women and omegas—and a temporary character death which actually moved me to tears. I bookmarked this saying bring the tissues; bring the tissues.

THE BEE MOVIE FIC THE BEE MOVIE FIC THE BEE MOVI— according to all known laws of life by sobsicles 29k sobsicles I owe you a great slice of pie.

Sobsicles, my beloved, my bestie <3 (am I allowed to say that? I mean it affectionately. Well and truly.) You REALLY got in my head with this one. This is literally such an insane read that I read it twice in a row. Yeah, whoops. Cas is back from the empty and Dean is an asshole about it because feelings are hard. Here is what I bookmarked this fic with: “Dean Winchester has issues. He gets through them. Like a Bull in a China Shop, but he gets through them. The metaphor works.” And that is EXACTLY what happens. Dean is such an asshole and I LOVE IT. 14yr me would cry at the concept of reading this but 14yr me is a tasteless bitch. This is where it’s at. Dean has so much he’s mentally working through and Cas won’t take no shit and Sam is tired. It’s great. I love it. I know we rec sobsicles left and right over here (and I know there’s a new one I haven’t read yet) but this one is really my favorite. And I know some people feel uncertain when fics/authors get popular in a fandom, so if this isn’t for you that’s okay!! But well and truly this is just one of those in the top ten Destiel fics of my heart.

Baby Jack during the Widower Arc truther here like Trial and Tribulations of Raising a Nephilim by Sickandtiredofyou 14k

I’ve seen this one rec’d before but not enough. Like this one SHOULD be talked about. Because I am a Baby Jack Truther, and putting a baby in the widower arc is my literal weakness. Dean goes crib shopping. He paints the nursery. He does that season 2&3 thing he does where he wrecks something so that he has to rebuild it. He’s mourning. He’s crying. Sam is afraid to hold a baby. There’s a lot of emotions and they’re raw. Promise there’s a happy ending, but be ready to cry first.

Another sam pov because i love my little brother Letters to Nowhere by Goodluckdetective (scorpiontales) 28k

AWWW YES. So this is another Empty Rescue fic. This one plays up the Orpheus and Eurydice lore, but in a surprising twist this is Sam’s POV!! Sam doesn’t know the full story, and we as the audience aren’t granted omnipresence for this fic either. It’s just point blank is his emotions. Him worrying for Dean, missing Cas, and wanting a happy ending for all of them. It’s sort of epistolary with how Sam is texting Castiel’s phone, but in general it is Sam Winchester wanting to save both of his brothers. So despite it being Destiel, the Destiel is almost the background ship since this story is Sam’s story and how Sam witnesses their story. It’s pretty meta in that sense, in that he’s aware there’s this grand story going on and we as an audience know there’s this grand love story happening, but we’re reading Sam’s story.

One of those i mentioned where its like an episode and they just end with tension between them >:((( but SO enjoyable and very much like an actual MotW Soul Searching by Lottiethroughthelookingglass 13k

It is in a screenplay format, but I didn’t mind that. It’s definitely a fun read! I thought the characterizations were pretty grand all-in-all. No get together though in this one if you’re looking for Destiel. Sorry. But it does make its way on to the list because we deserved a body swap episode and never got it.

This is like the third fic by tia and im not sorry and it’s Filoplume by tiamatv 8k !!!!

Its SOULMATES BAYBEEEE!!! But it’s not destined Soulmates. It’s like… soul compatibility, but only AFTER you’ve forged the bond. Self-Made Soulmates as it were. Very achingly and lovingly sentimental. Like, I think I’ve read this one four times in one week? It’s the shortest rec on this list (and while I definitely have shorter works bookmarked, I wanted this rec list to be longer ones for some reason I guess) but it feels longer. Maybe because every paragraph is like a gut punch. egGH. It’s another Empty Rescue by-the-by and Dean’s soulmark (given to him by Cas after Castiel’s Despair Confession) helps get him into the Empty.

OHOHOH LEVERAGE AU!!?! The Jericho Job by giantteenwolforgy 20k

The first in a series and I am SO EXCITED FOR MORE. I absolutely adore Leverage, so seeing this was like clearing my skin with care products I’ve never used. The characterizations are amazingly well done and vivid. They feel so unbelievably real and it makes me an eager beaver to get to the meat of them connecting as a team and family, but the slow burn is well worth it.

Yes, yes, Dean needs him, and need = love for Dean’s vocab but what does dEAN WANT and what does want mean to Dean? Find out in if you try sometimes, well you just might find by JenTheSweetie 9k

I’ve always been a huge fan of metas that dissect Dean’s differeniation of need vs want, and this whole work was like one of those metas. It’s a Cas POV of him trying to figure out how to read this man that he knows so well. It pulls out the angst and it makes me ache, but promises there IS a happy ending and Dean WANTS it.

Shush you know you want Goodbye Stranger meets Detroit: Become Human you knOW YOU WANT IT Digital Heartbeat by Chancy_Lurking 14k

MHM IT’S SO GOOD. Talk about good characterization. This work is almost a time piece? There’s a few skips in the timeline but you get the good parts and what’s needed for a full narrative. Castiel is an android sent by Cyberlife to the Men of Letters for aiding in hunting. He’s—of course—assigned to the brothers Winchester.

Shush delicious content right here mwah Heartstring Promenade by SaltyWords (agent4hire22) 17k

Another Empty Rescue?!? Yeah, yeah it is. Dean is sort of reckless. And by that, I mean a lot. But it’s fine. All happy endings, and smutty endings too. ;))

This is one of two 36-questions inspired fics I’ve got bookmarked, but the sex in this one hits my preferences too perfectly so it gets the spot and this list is getting too long to include all of my bookmarks to include both of them anyways but Seek to Know You Better by ahurston 32k mhmmmmmm

This fic is very personal to me. I couldn’t explain even if you asked me to. It might be the Florida Citrus Tree expressionism in Cas’ thoughts, but idk it's such a mystery (the way you know me) by fleeceframe 20k has got it on the list.

Cas loses his memories for a short period of time. Dean and Sam introduce Castiel to Cas, and Dean and Cas have a heart to heart. <3

A vERY interesting premise in a fool's kind of careless by Paclipas 9k

Dean is SUPER off his game when he can’t tell the difference between Cas and Not-Cas over the summer. Canon-fic.

A FIC FROM 2018?!?! WITH TIME TRAVEL??!? Ye ye it is Crazy Diamonds by pantheon_of_discord 24k

Dean of 2018, married to Castiel, swaps places with his newly dragged from Hell 2008 self. Time shenanigans and Bobby Frickin’ Singer ensue.

This one is ONE I AM OBSESSED WITH ACTUALLY And Neither Do You by callsigntango 45k like if it's not the one everyone starts talking about :((( is SO GROSS how callsigntango describes the empty and i lOOOVEEEE ITTTTT. Also plays into a Florida myth I totally forgot about so high-key freaked me out. Hahah.

[strawberriestyles]

Chapter 10

(Banner made by sweet sunshine @harry-nofookingway-styles​)

Harry X OFC (AU)

Sequel to Brutality: In which Melody and Harry must relearn how to navigate one another among a flurry of changes.

Read previous parts here.

Author’s note: Hope y’all are doing well, taking care of yourselves, and continuing to fight the good fight. Here is a post containing links to petitions and donations regarding Yemen. Help out where you can. I love y’all so much. Xx

Harry made sure that Melody slept soundly the next few nights, but she moved as though she were still tired, haunted. He wondered if this was how she’d passed the months without him.

The bruise on her jaw yellowed quickly, but the split in her cheek took longer to begin knitting itself back together. She cleaned it twice a day and Harry dabbed ointment on it before bed. She no longer winced when he came into contact with the swollen skin at its edges.

Melody was staring out her bedroom window on Wednesday morning as she chewed toast, sitting wrapped back up in the sheets. Harry watched her eyes unfocus while he picked at one of Bea’s raspberry muffins—they weren’t half bad.

“Mel, yeh sure yeh’re all right?”

She glanced at him and took another bite of her food before she nodded.

“Yeah, I’m just trying to figure out if Vanessa has the morning shift today.”

“Why don’ yeh just ask her?”

“Right.” She reached for her phone and nearly flipped the plate holding the rest of her toast. Harry shook his head.

“Are yeh tired? Did yeh get enough sleep?”

“I slept fine.”

“Then wha’s wrong?”

Melody’s thumbs danced across her phone screen and she threw the device across the bed before shrugging. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Mel.” Harry placed the last few bites of his muffin on her plate and ran a hand down her spine. “C’mon now.” He watched as she began peeling apart the wedges of an orange and saw her fingers shake.

“I—” Melody cut herself off and bit into a piece of fruit, biding her time. She tugged restlessly at the edges of orange peel when she’d finished chewing. “I keep having these nightmares. And Colton’s in them.”

“I know, love.” Harry leaned in and pressed a kiss to her clothed shoulder. “What happened would give anyone nightmares. We’re okay, though. And—”

“No, it’s not just memories it’s—“ She drew in a long breath to prepare herself. She never talked about her nightmares. Not even with Bea, who had been the one to comfort her when Harry wasn’t here. But if anyone deserved an explanation, it was Harry. “There are two different dreams. The one I’ve been having ever since— Um, for months. It’s partly a memory. I’ve got your head in my lap and you’re bleeding, but I can’t move my hands, and I can’t scream, and the blood just keeps coming—“

“Melody,” Harry interrupted. Her voice was growing thicker, her words slurring together. He felt like there were pieces of him splintering in his chest the longer he listened, the more hysterical she became. “Stop it. Yeh’re freakin’ yourself out.”

She’d never talked to him about the day he was shot. He hadn’t known she’d been so close, had held him, thinking that he was dead or dying. His entire body ached when he thought about holding her like that, feeling helpless, void of hope. His eyes stung, and he hadn’t cried in years. He forced himself to blink away the pain.

“No, I need to tell you,” Melody insisted, choking on a sob. She didn’t pause before trundling on, afraid that she’d begin crying too hard to speak. "You keep bleeding and there’s so much that it starts to flood the room. I feel like I’m going to drown in it. And I still can’t move my hands, and I can’t get up, but somehow I can turn my head and the closet door is cracked open and Colton’s just standing there. Just watching.”

“He was still there?”

“No, not really. Just in the dream. He was gone by the time I found you.”

The space between them grew quiet. Melody’s lips were trembling, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

“The other one just started. In that dream, I wake up in the middle of the night and you’re fine. You’re right here and you’re sleeping, but I look up and he’s just standing there again. He’s here. And then I can’t move again. I’m stuck. I just have to lay there until I wake up."

Melody sounded winded, but relieved to have spilled her nightmares. Harry watched her gasp in a steadying breath, swiping the back of her hand over her wet cheeks, and then lift another orange slice to her mouth. He could feel the muscles in her lower back twitching, as if she were winding up for a fight, or remembering the adrenaline that accompanied a good hit.

“He wouldn’ come here, love.”

“How do you know that?” 

“Doubt he’s been within a hundred miles of us since April,” Harry assured her, “and he wouldn’ come back here just to find me. Or to find you. He doesn’ wanna go to prison, Mel, no matter how fucked up he is, and the cops have been looking for him for months. Yeh’re safe, okay? We’re both safe.”

Melody swallowed down her orange and the lump that had risen in her throat. She turned her head away from Harry so that he wouldn’t see the tears continuing to fill her eyes. She’d had enough vulnerability to last a lifetime just within the past few weeks.

“Nothin’s gonna happen to either of us,” Harry whispered, feathering kisses over the bared skin of her neck while he waited for her to respond. When she didn’t, he sighed against her hair. “Yeh haven’ been sleepin’? I didn’ think yeh were wakin’ up.”

“I have been sleeping,” Melody assured him, swiping viciously at a fallen tear before she turned to look out the window and let Harry see her face again. “I just feel like my sleep is more exhausting than actually being awake.”

“Maybe we should start druggin’ yeh.”

“Ha ha.”

Harry shifted until he had a clear view of her face, of her puffy eyes and gnawed lip. He tilted his head until he could touch his cheek to his shoulder. “‘M serious. Helped me sleep when I was younger. Could get rid o’ your dreams completely.”

Melody’s frown deepened. She shook her head and scooped up her plate, crawling over Harry’s outstretched legs. “No, I’m fine.”

“Mel, yeh’re tired.”

“I’m fine.”

He watched her shuffle out of the room and scratched at the prickly scruff that was beginning to shadow his jaw. He heard dishes clinking in the kitchen and cupboards being rifled through. Then there was a considerable silence before Melody reentered the room. She avoided his eyes as she chose clothes for the day.

“Hey.”

Melody paused and picked at her lower lip.

“Please, come here,” Harry murmured.

She stepped gingerly across the room until she stood beside the bed, and she looked reminiscent of a child about to be scolded. Harry’s fingers drew her closer by her thighs.

“Love, ‘s ridiculous for yeh to be embarrassed by somethin’ like a nightmare. Yeh think I’ve never had a fuckin’ nightmare?”

“I’m not embarrassed, Harry.”

“Then yeh would’ve told me already.”

She held her breath, formulating words that she didn’t make coherent enough to speak. Harry tugged her down to sit on the edge of the mattress. He thumbed the teeth marks in the corner of her lip and watched her eyes flutter closed.

“When,” he whispered, “did yeh start thinkin’ yeh couldn’ talk to me? Love it when yeh talk to me.” He felt Melody’s shaking fingertips graze his wrist as he kissed her. She drew in a staggered breath when he gave her another quick peck.

“Sorry.”

“Wish yeh were meaner.”

Melody laughed as she opened her eyes. Harry tugged on a lock of her hair and ran his tongue across his lips.

“All right, get dressed. ‘M not waitin’ around all day. Wheel myself all the way to the hospital if I have to.”

Melody sank her thumb into the space Harry’s dimple usually occupied. She leaned forward once more to plant a kiss of her own on his lips, to sigh against his chin.

“I love you,” she whispered. Then she set her feet back on the floor and went to get dressed.

***

“Is this a joke?” Aiden’s brow was furrowed, his hands frozen, outstretched. He was silent for a moment and then he let his arms fall back to his sides. “It’s gotta be a joke.”

“What?” Melody asked.

“What do you mean, what?” Aiden motioned incredulously toward Harry and then crossed his arms. “That.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Melody,” Aiden began, “I have never seen someone improve at this rate. This is how they make it look in movies. It’s not how it actually happens. Not in real life. Coma patients don’t just wake up after months and start walking this fast.”

“Yeah, well, he is an athlete.”

“And hard-headed.”

“Rock hard head, yes.”

Harry shuffled the last couple of steps to the end of the short track and then leaned his bodyweight into one of the sidebars. His nostrils flared with every breath, but his skin seemed to glow, sing. He was proud and Melody could tell. It radiated off of him like steam off of asphalt.

Aiden stepped forward to help Harry sit, but all he did was spin around and start walking back the way he had come. Melody watched his steps, so much more natural than they had been even a month ago. His toes no longer dragged across the floor, his knees bent at more extreme angles, his ankles rarely ever twisted. When he reached the beginning of the walkway, he paused for breath.

“Think you’re about ready for a cane, my man,” Aiden rewarded, stepping in front of him in case he was ready for a break.

“‘M not your man,” Harry corrected, “and yeh can keep your canes far away from me, yeh freak.”

Aiden snorted. Melody had never heard him make that noise before.

“Seriously, Aiden,” Harry continued. “‘M not walkin’ around with a cane. Who am I, Lucius Malfoy?”

Melody’s lips parted at his reference. “Harry Potter?”

“Yeah, yeh made me watch a few of ‘em.” Harry glanced at Melody and then looked quickly away. She seemed stunned. “Tha’s the one, right? Asshole with the elf?”

“Yeah.” Melody’s astonishment was cut short when she felt a sharp poke to her side. “Ow!”

“Oh, don’t be such a wimp. I thought you had to be tough for boxing.”

“Yeah, for boxing,” Melody snapped back, spinning on her heel to face Vanessa. “Not for nurses who can’t keep their hands to themselves.”

“Boohoo.”

The pair grinned peevishly at one another and then Vanessa lifted a finger to examine Melody’s cheek and her smile melted away. “Ouch,” she hissed. “I’d be surprised if that didn’t scar.”

“Don’t tell me that,” Melody bit back. “Tell me I’m pretty.”

“You are pretty. Especially with those designer bags under your eyes. What is going on?”

Melody glanced behind her to be sure Harry wasn’t eavesdropping. He was struggling to hold himself upright while Aiden stretched and rolled his ankles one at a time, and he didn’t seem aware that Vanessa was even in the room. Melody took a deep breath.

“It’s nightmares,” she blurted, spinning back around. “Horrible nightmares. And I wake up and it’s like I’m more tired than when I fell asleep. I’m an absolute mess.”

Vanessa’s lips screwed up into a grimace of pity. Her eyes softened. She glanced over Melody’s shoulder. “He doesn’t know?”

“No, he does. It’s just—he doesn’t know how bad. It’s almost every single time I close my eyes.”

“What brought these on?”

Melody had been trying to discern the answer to that question herself. And she still didn’t know. It wasn’t Harry—she’d slept like a rock for weeks after he’d left the hospital. And she couldn’t remember anything that might have triggered this. But she wanted it to stop.

“I don’t know.”

“Have you tried melatonin?”

Melody let out a quick lungful of air. Vanessa sounded just like Harry.

“No, and I’m not going to.”

“Okay, fair enough.”

Behind her, Melody could hear Harry’s weight settling into his wheelchair, could hear him rolling across the room to work on different exercises. She rubbed at the puffy, raw skin around her eyes.

“What about your art?” Vanessa asked after a brief lull. “Or writing?”

“What about it?”

“Well, do you think getting your nightmares out on paper would help?”

It was a good thought. But Melody hadn’t picked up a paintbrush or a pen in months. She’d barely even cracked open a book outside of the hospital. But if it might help her sleep, she would spill over a thousand pages, a thousand canvases. She would drown her darkest thoughts with ink.

“Maybe,” she said with a confident nod.

***

Melody scratched out an entire line and then clicked the end of her pen. The words felt scrambled in her head. Whether it was because she was tired, or because she hadn’t written in so long, or because she just couldn’t phrase her fears, she was unsure. Two abandoned canvases lay flat on the floor beside her. One was merely a shapeless, flesh-colored blob, the other was indiscernible beneath a splatter if frustrated black paint.

Harry appeared in the doorway, wobbling, trying to support his weight with the new cane he’d been gifted. He clung to the doorframe with his free hand as he examined the room. There seemed to be only one or two paintings that he didn’t recognize displayed on the walls, landscapes and empty rooms in muted blues and grays. The mysterious green eye that he’d seen when he first stepped foot in this apartment still hadn’t been hung up. It was leaned against the far wall where it had been on Melody’s birthday. A thin layer of dust coated her desk now, dulling the wood. The plant which sat on the desk’s shelf looked parched and withered. And Melody’s fingers twitched around her pen, her hair spilled into her face from the loose knot she’d tied it in, and her eyes blinked too slowly, as though each time she closed them they resisted opening.

“Mel,” Harry muttered. He could tell she heard him, but she didn’t turn her head. “Lay down an’ try to sleep.”

“It’s the middle of the day,” she protested.

“All the more reason. Maybe yeh’ll sleep better when ‘s light out.”

Melody was silent for a minute. Then she began to click her pen. “It’s too quiet.”

“I’ll turn a movie on. Yeh can sleep on the couch.” Her pen clicked twice more. “C’mon, love. My legs are gettin’ tired.”

Melody slid her things to the back of her desk and climbed out of her chair. Harry began the short trip to the couch, knuckles growing white around his cane. Melody was there to catch him when he stumbled over the edge of the rug.

“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered beneath his breath.

“It’s fine.” She lowered him onto one of the cushions and sat down beside him as he dropped his cane. “It’s a process, Harry, you can’t be perfect.”

He grunted and she settled her cheek on his shoulder. Harry pressed a gentle kiss to her scalp. “Why don’t yeh lay down, love?” he suggested, plucking the remote from the arm of the sofa and turning on the TV.

Melody slid across the cushions until her head rested in Harry’s lap. She watched the screen change as he flipped through channels until he found a movie that he didn’t recognize. And then she felt his fingertips in her hair, brushing her ear, sliding along her neck. Of all the times Harry had touched her, so gently, so forcefully, so methodically, she had never felt him like this. This touch was thoughtless and casual, almost subconscious, and it made her very skin ache because it felt like an unexplored side of him. He was always so in his own head, sort of confused by the way he wanted to act around her and the way he felt like he should be acting. She could usually see the wheels working in his mind, but he didn’t seem confused now.

“Christ, I can feel your pulse,” he muttered, his fingertips stilling at the side of her throat. “Wha’s wrong?”

Queenie hopped out of thin air, a flurry of snow that sent newfound adrenaline pumping through Harry and Melody. The cat settled into the space between Melody’s knees and the back of the couch. Harry gave her a withering look.

“Nothing,” Melody eventually said, pressing her cheek more firmly into Harry's thigh. Already, she could feel her eyelids growing heavy, curtains prepared to fall. But she didn’t want to miss this moment, this unguarded glimpse of Harry.

“Then go to sleep, love. I’ll stay with yeh.”

Harry watched the movie that was on, though Melody wasn’t sure if he was absorbing any of it. As it was, she couldn’t keep track of the plot or the characters, but she felt Harry’s eyes fall to her every other minute. His hands continued to slip through her hair and tickle at her shoulders. And she didn’t feel herself slipping out of consciousness, she just fell without warning.

Chapter 11

[dreamsafterhours]

college boyfriend!markhyuk au series: III (donghyuk's pathway)

a universe in which roommates!markhyuk meet each other's s/o in class

markhyuk are roommates, my/n and dy/n are roommates, mark and dy/n take classes together and so do donghyuk and my/n — how will their fates intertwine?

genre: fluff pairings: mark+my/n (fem), donghyuk+dy/n (fem), platonic!mark+dy/n, platonic!donghyuk+my/n format: dotpoint AU universe: non idol, college bf warning: some swearing

masterlist

or click here to meet your soulmate, eng lit!mark!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

III: 별빛이 내린다 샤라랄라랄라라 (2+2=4)

the meeting of two souls: donghyuk & dy/n

welcome! back and to the next part

in which things actually happen! yay

so. up until this point

it’s been quite obvious i hope

that this is the one where The Soulmates Meet™

and this one right here is the one where donghyuk meets his future wifenew best (not) friend

dammit this is a set plot with SET relationships

yeah

major spoilers for future parts but hey :) y’all know it i know it let’s just.

let’s get to it!!

that day you accidentally sleep in after a late night and walk into your lecture looking pretty trashier than you would normally a few weeks into the first sem and you’re already tired it’s okay bby aww

and mark suggests skipping the next lecture and going for coffee instead

you’re like ok lmfao free coffee for me yay thanks marcus i owe you one

and to make up for the lecture he suggests he join you and your roommate with his own roommate in the library later that day to study the material you’d missed out on

so you’re like sweet study group hell yeah and apparently his roommate is also in biomed like your roommate? hey they might get along pretty well it’d be nice to have roommates in the same faculty hey

little do you know you little cutie you uwu

mark takes you to a cafe to buy you your favourite drink and a croissant bc you skipped breakfast again and he cares about his friends ok plus he was eyeing that donut next to the savoury menu in the glass cabinet and he would have felt bad if he got something to eat and you didn’t

you sit down, sipping your drink at the window seats and wishing your fatigue away

laughing with mark about what you slept so late for

my/n had been ranting about her love life again or perhaps lack thereof,,

don’t worry tho

after you’d gotten her to sleep, you’d gotten major feels for an essay question that you’d been tasked with due in a week but you hadn’t touched it until last night

staring at the prompt for at least half an hour trying to get your head around it and wondering what the hell you’d write about

but like they say

starting is half of it

so when you start spinning your words and getting into the writing mood

you accidentally wrote an entire draft without realising

albeit being full of loose ends and points you need to refine, etc., it was a decent body of work that you’d tackle for a few more nights before turning in

a skeleton, you’d called it

“a skeleton?”

“yeah. next thing i need to do is.. flesh it out”

“.. literally”

cue mark’s small pause

/inhale/

/MANIACAL LAUGHTER/

you know how mark’s laugh is very how do i put this into words hm dictated

you can HEAR each HA and they’re separate syllables yet sometimes they can vary in tone and length right it’s usually the more consistent HAs before he kinda loses it and starts throwing himself around

it was that laugh

honestly man finds everything funny his laughing threshold seems so low

and no matter how unfunny you are he WILL laugh at anything you say

and you’ve been doing it a lot lately

you could say literally any random thing and he’d already be ready to laugh (see Figure 1.1)

Figure 1.1

you: /snort/

mark, already giggling: “what”

you, still sniggering: /touches his elbow/ “arm knee”

mark: /inhale/ gotta live and breathe that oxygen

mark: HAHAHAHAhahAhaHAHAhahAhHa (decrescendo.. cRESCENDO)

^ that but looped, with intermittent slaps to your arm

anyways you never fail to make him fall out of his chair in laughter

but enough of that. dy/n is donghyuk’s y/n for a REASON ahEM

so after you finish up your breakfast at the cafe you go back to your dorm to take a power nap and recharge before your library session you were going to stay awake but mark forces you to take a nap and you’re like bro you just fed me caffeine now you want me to sleep??

then he tells you he ordered your drink decaf

you turn to him real slow

“.. you sick traitor. how dare you besmirch my name so. you scorn my forefathers and our dependence on the holy bean’s juices. betrayal runs rampant in your soul and mine stands at the mercy of your choices, them informed by the devil himself”

mark: /shrug/ “placebo effect yeet. hey, it worked for a bit. now you should really go home and get your sleep”

and he drags you back to your dorm and waves you off before going to his next class

you’re lowkey grateful for it tho when you take a shower and collapse onto your bed, falling asleep in what you think could be half the time you usually take

dreaming about losing your airpods and mark yelling at you to be more careful and then you two fighting bc you’d just lost your $300 bean sprouts but you could have sworn he took them

then police sirens went off out of nowhere and both of you were being arrested for assault and thievery

why you were the one being arrested, you had no idea but it’s a dream nothing follows the guidelines of hard reality anyway

just as you’re about to be handcuffed, you think to yourself, nope. i have a library session to attend. ain’t nobody got time for this shit

and you just

wake up

but the sirens are still continuing?? so you’re like ? is my building surrounded

they’ve come for me

even though you haven’t exactly broken any laws or have you

and you realise it was the alarm you’d set in time to get ready for your library session

so you grab your stuff and leave for the library, double checking with your roommate over text to make sure she was on her way

her lab class was taking longer than usual so she tells you she’ll be 10 or so minutes late

so you tell her you’ll be saving a seat for her and call mark to let him know you’re on your way to the library

“oh i’m already here lol. alright, i’m waiting for you outside”

and sure enough, you see him leaning on the wall of the entrance, eyes on his phone

you consider calling out to him but before you actually do, he glances up and spots you walking over tf do you have psychic spatial awareness mark

smiles and takes his corded earphones out

“you seriously need to upgrade those”

“they work fine”

“nop i’m getting you airpods for your birthday”

“dUdE thEy’RE tOo ExPEnSiVe. nO dUDE NoO”

“nOP. i’m GOING to buy you EXPENSIVE BEAN SPROUTS for your LIFE DEBUT ANNIVERSARY and you CAN’T STOP ME”

at this point i should just put /MANIACAL LAUGHTER/ and you should know what laugh i’m referring to

/MARK LEE’S MANIACAL LAUGHTER/

/MLML/ for short

nvm it’s fine it’s kinda fun to type /MANIACAL LAUGHTER/

literally mark laughs in bolded italics i’m just sad i can’t underline it on tumblr unless it’s a link lmfao

n e ways

i digress

you shush him because you’re about to walk into the library

“qUIET DOWN marcus” turn that sh down for quiet new dawn

the library is almost full for the day but after a minute or two scouring the building you find an empty four seater in the middle of nowhere it’s CRAZY you can NEVER find a MIRACLE like this life couldn’t get better

i’m sorry

you speed walk to claim it even though there was no one else in your vicinity to threaten your territory

mark laughs at you trying to get to the table as fast as you could without all out running

getting out your things, you send a photo of your seat to your roommate and tell mark to send it to his roommate as well so they know where to find you

you start watching the lecture online while taking notes and since you’re not in the lecture theatre you can talk more audibly with mark not that you don’t talk in the actual lecture too,,

maybe you do text a lot,,, during class

mark usually says things like “.. implications of what now?? interpretation of huh?” to which you reply “i want cheese when i get home”

and he has to stifle his laughter while you keep your straight face and continue writing your notes he admires this ability ngl

and so while you’re watching it on your computer

you can say things like “fuck. i want pickles”

and mark will /throw himself back/ and cackle and probably say some shit like “DIDN’T YOU HATE PICKLES??” between his giggles

and you’re like “yeah. fuck pickles but like. fuck. pickles”

he almost falls off his chair at this point

but when he balances himself again he spots someone down the corridor and wave them over

“oii! over here dude”

you turn to glance at them to expect his roommate, but you see your own roommate talking to someone and wave her over as well

“heYY my/n”

you see the other person turn to your roommate and tell her something, , then she says something back

which is apparently shocking to them, because he glances over at mark and then at you

and then he looks again when your roommate points straight at you

to which you’re like ?? hi? y u look me

and then they both start laughing

you wonder if they were laughing at you or smth until mark’s like “tf is that idiot doing”

and u look at him like ? what idiot

“that idiot. the idiot roommate i told u about. the one who called u a homewrecker”

and you’re like

wait

[info clog]

wait

[error]

“wait”

“what”

“that’s your roommate?” u point at the boy next to my/n, who r both still laughing at something going all “wOW r u KIDDING” he has a loud voice

and mark’s like “? yeah”

and you go

“.. the girl next to him is my roommate”

mark: “wait what”

that’s what she said

at that point they’ve made their way over to the table, still trying to hold in their laughter

you start to introduce your roommate to mark, who’s still confused by the situation

you: “mark, this is my/n, my/n this is mark”

my/n: “nice to see you again mark”

you: “wait. again?”

mark: “yeah we’ve met. hi my/n”

you: “what”

mark: “yeah”

my/n: “yeah”

his roommate: “yeah”

you:

you: “i feeling like i’m missing something here”

turns out

surprise surprise

that one friend that my/n had made in her biology class was mark’s roommate oh my god they were roommates

whose name, you are told, is lee donghyuk

magical moment

us watching: heh 🤤

u can’t help but do a lil body scan from head to toe bc he a fine piece of cake we all know that

honey skin, oversized white t shirt, black pants, sneakers and lighter brown hair that looks fluffy the type of fluffy that makes u wanna touch it

yes he’s good looking. yes

yaaaaas

then mark tells him your name

“she’s the one i said reminded me of you”

“r u talking abt me behind my back marcus??”

donghyuk laughs and holds out a hand for you to shake

“what kinda coincidence is this?? i adopt your roommate, you’re dealing with mine”

“oh you’re gonna have to get in line to adopt her, i’m her legal guardian, sorry donghyuk”

to which he goes

“lmfao then we’ll both be her parents”

“k but i’ll keep her on the weekends. you see her on the weekdays”

then he wipes his smile off his face and he’s like “who said we’re split”

mark and my/n are doing the /MANIACAL LAUGHTER/ at this point

mark: “so ,, seriously what are the chances”

you: “this quartet,, it’s fate guys it’s fate there’s no way about it”

yes it is. yes. it is

even that four seater table was free because of fate

donghyuk: “this calls for drinks later. we all free? no 9am classes tmr?”

my/n: “we have a physics prac at 8:30 dingus”

donghyuk: “ah shit”

you barely got any notes for that lecture for at least an hour because you end up talking altogether throughout the session but once you remember you’re in a library to study you request a ceasefire and agree to study for a bit which,, you gotta admit ,, isn’t really productive because you’re so excited to meet someone new

but the best part about the day was when you notice how many times mark is glancing at your roommate while she’s reviewing her notes, completely oblivious

donghyuk complains that he’s hungry after another hour or two and you suggest you all have dinner together

donghyuk leans back in his chair in a stretch, his jumper lifting up a little over his jeans and showing a bit of his belly “ah i’m craving chinese”

you perk up, “mE TOO”

so you all go to your favourite chinese place just outside campus where you find out that mark and my/n have the same taste and so do you and donghyuk

he points and u and goes “oH?”

“jjAMPPONG? U TOO?”

“the ONLY DISH EVER”

mark and my/n: jjajang is fine : )

you and donghyuk: “JJAMPPONG IS SUPERIOR”

give him a bro five with the shoulder bump and everything

the boys walk you and my/n back to your dorm afterwards

donghyuk and my/n end up walking in a pair and mark walks alongside you

mark mentions how it’d be fun if you made a group chat together

you: “do it”

“i don’t have your roommate’s number tho”

you’re smiling wickedly at his reaction “?? ASK HER FOR IT”

“dude what?? no u make one and i’ll add donghyuk to it”

“bRO JUST ASK”

“wHAT NO U DO IT THEN”

so u go

bet

and you call out the two biomed kids walking in front of you

“hey donghyuk! give me your number i’ll make a group chat”

“sure lol” and you open up a new contact to let him type his number into your phone

he saves his name as hot boi hyuk ✌🏻

which you just leave bc you’re busy making the group chat

mark is still astounded that you asked donghyuk for his number so easily

you: hi hello good day

my/n 🌸: yeetus meetus

hot boi hyuk ✌🏻: bow before me

you: here before me lie the beginnings of a new era

you: one born from blood and stone

my/n 🌸: tf is she saying

hot boi hyuk ✌🏻: idk but lets go with it

you: together we rise from the rubble and sort through the debris

hot boi hyuk ✌🏻: yas queen

my/n 🌸: i hate this gc already

you: and we WILL REBUILD THIS EMPIRE

read by marcus the fool 🤡 at 8:21 pm

safe to say you stay up for a good while talking on that group chat while mark just sits idle,,

you honestly don’t know if he’s consciously reading or not maybe he just left his phone on the chat

and thus our quartet is complete,,

and they all lived

happily ever after

but this isn’t the ending tho is it

wink wonk /waggles eyebrows/

this is but the epilogue to the prologue

that doesn’t make sense but n e ways

our quartet has not yet become two pairings

y’all just don’t know what the future has in store for you :)

click here to meet your soulmate, eng lit!mark!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

taglist: @lavellanfriendliness​ 

shoot me an ask if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hey Steph, I saw that you’re thinking about starting up the watchalongs again, and I’m SO EXCITED about that. It doesn’t seem fair for us to all take advantage of your hard work to make online movie nights happen when you’re already doing so much for this fandom, so. If it feels like a lot of work to get it started, maybe some of us who are excited about it would be willing to help? My computer can’t handle two windows at once, but I assume that the actual streaming isn’t the only work you do?

(referencing this post)

Hi Lovely!

Ahhh, naw, the hardest part of it was actually the finding of stable streams, and then running them for hours and hours. There was also the months-ahead planning, and the creation of the posts the night before. I think it was just BURNOUT more than anything, because I did, like I said, 8 to 12 hours at the end of the run, and often I’d have no one show up for a few Saturdays at all, so it felt like another full time job, on top of my full-time job AND running my blog at a full-time pace, in turn leaving me with only Sunday to myself, and even then I spent Sundays working on my blog. All because I wanted to make sure I covered all the timezones I could and make people happy.

While I still run my blog at a high-capacity, I’m still trying – for my own mental health – to step away from my computer for a few hours a day, and work on posts ahead of time when I feel like it. I don’t let myself get stressed by the 5+ asks a day I get and answer them at my own pace (I do still get really stressed about it on bad days, but I turn away in that case). The fic recs are a bit easier to do now than a year ago because I now have a rhythm AND most of all my bookmarks already backlogged, so I don’t have to spend forever organizing anymore. But I think I’m at a comfortable place now where I think I can do a SHORTER watchalong once a week, just so we can all catch up, along with my three regular days of Fic Rec postings.

So yeah, seems like the interest is there, I just need to figure out what time is the best for everyone. The middle movie always seemed to do better (between 5 and 7 PM EST) than the others, so that may be it. I’ll see.

Anyway, TL;DR, the truth is that I was burnt out when I finally put the watchalong on hiatus. I was working EVERY day, missed out on my summers because I still ran my blog like a full-time blog on evenings and weekends, went from 2 hour shows to 10 hours... it was too much. And I will admit here now... You guys, I almost genuinely did leave Tumblr because I was so stressed and anxious and depressed. But you guys are why I stayed, because y’all understood I needed time, and it’s a lot better now. I’m not the blog I once was, but I try my best to be the blog y’all need me to be, because making people happy genuinely makes me happy.

If the watchalongs are what people need at this time, then I’ll consider looking into doing them again, find a streaming service that offers chat capabilities AND security, and go from there. It will probably be Kast, but I’m going to look into the other suggestions people have made first.

At least until Quarantine is done. I might do some test runs on random weeknights, but I’ll let you guys know ahead of time for that.

Thank you for your offers of help Cadence, seriously, and I will keep you in mind. Because I think that’s what I need are “movie wranglers” and chat moderators, people who can, if they can’t at least find a stream, upload a movie somewhere temporarily to watch and provide me with the drive link to watch it, AND people who can watch the chat room for me, just to make sure people are behaving. We rarely had any problems, just the one or two times I accidentally made the movies public instead of private.

I’ll see <3 Thank you <3

[huttons]

Never Really Was Enough, Pt II

word count: 3.9k

warnings: talk of homophobia, off-screen character death

summary:  When Eva moves to Raleigh, it wasn’t a happy occasion. She needed to get away from her family and moving across the country was the quickest way for her to accomplish that. As she finds her place in Raleigh, she finds a new family with people she never expected to (especially with a certain red-headed hockey player).

authors note: written as part of FandomTrumpsHate for @antoineroussel​ <3

pt. one | ao3 link

~ ~ ~

“You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days, someone is going to find you.”

By the time November rolls around, Eva feels like she’s finally settled into Raleigh and can finally think of it as home. It’s a good feeling, one that she wasn’t expecting at first. But work has been going extremely well and she’s got a few friends now.

There still hasn’t been any word from her family, and while it isn’t surprising, it still hurts that they don’t care enough to reach out to her, especially with the holidays coming up. Eva is complaining about this when Sammy brings up the fact that the Canes are doing a Thanksgiving get-together in a couple of weeks.

“I just know that you won’t be going home, and Patrick and I can’t afford to go visit either of our families right now,” Sammy explains. “And don’t offer to pay for anything again. Just because you have the money for it doesn’t mean you need to spend it on us like that.”

“I know, I just want you guys to be happy,” Eva says. “But…if you really think that they would be okay with me coming, then yeah, I’d love to come.”

“Seriously, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a ragtag group of people who don’t have anyone else, so you won’t be out of place.”

“In that case, count me in. I was honestly expecting to spend Thanksgiving by myself, so I think I can handle hanging out with y’all.”

“Eva, did you really think that we would have you spend the holidays by yourself?”

Eva shrugs. “I mean, you guys have family, so it’s not like I was expecting for you to hang around here. And it would have sucked, but I wouldn’t have minded too much. I didn’t celebrate with my family too much anyways once I left for university.”

“That’s shitty,” Sammy says, bringing Eva in for a short hug.

“Yeah, but I got used to it, with it just being my brother and I for a while.”

“Well, consider us your new family. You’re going to be stuck with us forever.”

“I guess there’s worse things out there.”

~ ~ ~

Once the holiday party rolls around, Eva has baked what feels like a million different desserts. Sammy had been insistent that she didn’t need to bring anything, but it’s been a long time since Eva has been able to bake for a large group of people. Besides, it helps get her mind off of her nervousness of seeing Dougie again.

It’s not like she has a crush on him, but he’s exactly her type and if they continue to run into each other, then it’s something she has to get figured out. So, she bakes until she’s unsure of how she’s going to be able to transport it all. Surely there’ll be at least a couple of people who’ll be bribed into helping in exchange for extra dessert.

Once Eva arrives at the house that’s hosting the event, she texts Sammy to bring a couple of people to help her. As she looks at the cakes, cookies, and pies she made, Eva is starting to think she’s made it painfully obvious that she’s been stress baking. But she shrugs it off, knowing that they’ll all probably disappear by the end of the night.

“Jesus, how much did you end up baking?” Sammy asks, a bit of shock in her voice.

She looks over to see that Sammy has enlisted Dougie for help, and Eva is really wondering why this has to be the first time she’s seeing him today.

Eva shrugs. “You said there were going to be players here, I figured they could finish it all.”

“You’re not wrong there,” Dougie replies. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to eat everything, even if we shouldn’t.”

“Well, that’s good,” Eva says. “Let’s get going because this might take a couple of trips.”

When the three of them walk into the house, they’re greeted by a small group that’s hanging out in the living room. Within seconds, they’re there to grab the desserts from their hands, taking them to the designated table.

“Wow, where was the offer for help earlier?” Sammy snorts.

“You didn’t tell us what it was for,” one of the guys replies.

Sammy just rolls her eyes, before heading back out to Eva’s car to get the rest of the desserts. Dougie and Eva trail behind her, laughing as they head out.

“So, couldn’t fly back home?” he asks Eva.

“Oh, she could afford it, but she decided she would rather be stuck with us instead,” Sammy interjects, giving Eva an out from having to explain.

“It’s a decision I’m starting to regret greatly,” Eva says flatly.

Dougie lets out one of his infectious laughs as they get to her car. The walk back is quiet and once they’re all back, Eva gets swept up into conversations with some of the office staff that recognize her from the last two events. She’s a little sad she doesn’t get to see much of Dougie, but it’s probably the best if she doesn’t want to fall halfway in love with him.

Before she knows it, Eva is feeling full and tired. The day passes in a blur, but she feels more content than she has in a while. In a way, it almost felt like the holidays with her family, before everything turned out for the worse. As she gets ready to head out, Dougie comes over to say goodbye.

“Sorry we didn’t get to talk much today,” he says apologetically.

“It’s not a big deal, I get that you’re popular around here,” Eva replies jokingly.

“Still, I’d been hoping to talk to you a bit more. I was wondering if you’d feel comfortable exchanging numbers?”

And, well, Eva can’t say no to that. So, she ends up leaving with leftovers that will last for days and a new number in her phone. She isn’t really sure if anything is even going to come of it, but she can’t help but to hope that they’ll at least become friends. When Eva gets home, she flops on her bed and opens up a new message with Dougie.

Debating what to say, she simply texts, I hope you got a chance to try something I made today, I wasn’t expecting people to like them so much lol

Once she sends it, she just whispers, “Why the fuck did I send that ? It sounds like I’m fishing for compliments now.”

Only a few minutes later, he texts back, I think you definitely made enough for me to grab something in time 😉 you did good tho, def worth breaking my meal plan for

Oh that’s good then

Dougie doesn’t reply, and Eva decides she doesn’t want to come off as desperate for attention, so she doesn’t send anything back. Feeling a bit weird about the whole thing, Eva tosses her phone on her nightstand, then pulls up Netflix and falls asleep binge watching tv.

The next week passes by in the same routine that Eva has grown used to. She doesn’t hear much from Dougie, most of their conversations are just her congratulating him on playing well. As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, Eva is a little disappointed. When they exchanged numbers, while she wasn’t expecting them to become close, it would have been nice for there to be at least a little substance to their conversations.

“Look, he’s just someone who appreciates talking in person more,” Sammy says when Eva complains about it.

“Is that you hinting that I need to invite him to hang out in person?” Eva asks, scrunching her nose in disdain.

“Hanging out with Dougie isn’t a bad thing. He’s a pretty chill guy and doesn’t expect you to talk all the time. The dude is huge into museums and shit. I know Raleigh isn’t known for having those, but it’s worth going to.”

“Wouldn’t he have already gone to them if he likes them so much?”

“Yeah, but I doubt he’s gone with anyone. Hockey players aren’t much on casually going to museums with their bros.”

“I guess you’re right. And he won’t think this is like…a date or anything, right?”

“No, he’ll just take it as the two of you going to a museum, nothing more. He’ll probably appreciate the company.”

“Fine,” Eva groans.

“Again, if anything happens, I’m taking all of the credit.”

“I really hate you right now.”

“Love you too, Eva.”

~ ~ ~

Dougie seemed ecstatic going to the museum with Eva. He basically confirmed what Sammy has said, that nobody was keen on going to any of the museums with him. So, on a rare Saturday that he has off, Dougie is dragging Eva to the Natural History Museum. He’s excited about the exhibit that they have on display right now, which is something about puzzles.

“So…is it like a history of puzzles?” Eva inquires, as they walk up to the museum.

“No, it’s all about brain games and engaging with the exhibit,” Dougie explains. “It’s all about being hands on.”

“Oh, that should be fun then. No wonder you seem so excited about it,” Eva replies.

“You should be good at them too, since you’re an engineer.”

“Just because I’m an engineer doesn’t make me smarter than anyone else. It’s not my fault society acts like I know more.”

Dougie just laughs. When they get to the ticket office, Dougie buys Eva’s ticket before she can do anything. She just rolls her eyes, and doesn’t say anything until they’re off to the puzzles exhibit.

“I can afford to buy my own ticket, you know. Engineering is lucrative enough for me to be able to buy my own ticket,” Eva says.

“Yeah, but I’m a hockey player, which is even more lucrative.”

“But have you considered that being a hockey player isn’t forever?”

“I’m one right now though, and that’s what matters.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I wanted to hang out with you willingly today,” Eva groans.

Dougie laughs loudly. When they walk into the special exhibit area, they both freeze as they take it in. He was right about it being an interactive puzzle exhibit, but apparently failed to notice that it seemed to be for young kids. Parents were standing around, watching their kids run through the mazes.

“Well, at least you’ll be able to solve them now,” Eva jokes.

“Is that a dig at my intelligence?” Dougie replies, faking offense.

“Maybe,” Eva says, a lip tugging at her lips.

“I’m sorry this was a bust, but do you want to take a look around at the other exhibits?” he asks.

“Sure, sounds good to me.”

And that’s how the two of them spend the rest of the morning looking around. As interesting as it is, Eva is more excited about being able to spend time with Dougie. He’s so much more down-to-earth than she was expecting and Eva feels her crush on him growing larger. While that isn’t what she was hoping for, she supposes there are worse people to have a crush on.

“Are you up for getting lunch together?” Dougie asks as they leave the museum.

“Yeah, if you let me pay for it,” Eva retorts. “Let me spend some of my money.”

“That’s supposed to be my line,” Dougie protests.

“Well, too bad,” she says, smiling widely.

“Fine,” he groans. “I guess I can let you get away with it this time.”

They end up going to a small café only a few blocks away and grab a small table in the corner. Conversation flows easily as they eat their lunch, and Eva finds herself enjoying herself a little too much. Besides Sammy and Patrick, it’s been a long time since she’s found someone she genuinely likes hanging out with. Sure, she hangs out with James and other coworkers on those late nights in the office (or diner), but it’s not the same thing.

“I had a good time,” Dougie says, as he walks Eva back to her car.

“Yeah, me too,” Eva replies. “We should do this again. I’m sure I can hang out during the week, as long as I make it up during the weekend.”

“You don’t have to do that for me,” he says, frowning. “I’m sure I can find some more weekends at some point.”

“It’s really not that big of a deal. I’ve had to come in during weekends before, it’s not an unusual experience.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Dougie, I wouldn’t be offering if I wasn’t sure.”

“Okay then,” he says, smiling softly.

On Eva’s drive back to her apartment, she feels herself smiling stupidly. She really enjoyed being around Dougie and the thought of them hanging out again warms her heart. When she gets back to her apartment, Eva notices that Dougie has already text his schedule for the next couple of weeks. They manage to find a time for them to get dinner the following Wednesday. No matter what Eva thinks, she keeps saying that it’s not a date.

~ ~ ~

By the time Wednesday rolls around, Eva is freaking out. While she knows that it’s not a date, she still wants to make a good impression. Sammy is teasing her about it, but helps calm her down.

“Look, you said that it’s not a date, so just wear what you would wear if we were getting dinner,” Sammy says.

“Right, of course,” Eva whispers.

This helps her settle on a casual outfit, and Sammy soothes her a little more before heading out. Dougie sends her a text not too much later telling Eva that he’s waiting outside her apartment. When she heads down to the curbside, she looks around, trying to find him. She hears a honk from a car nearby, and sees Dougie waiting inside.

“You know, I didn’t picture you driving a Yaris ,” Eva teases. “It’s smaller than I was expecting.”

Dougie snorts. “You’re not the first person to say that. But it was the only rental they had when I first came here and I got attached to it.”

“Only you would get attached to a car,” Eva jokes.

“Why is it that you always find something to tease me about?”

“Well, it’s not like you make it that hard.”

“I feel like I should be more offended than I am.”

Conversation continues to flow in an easy banter as they head to the restaurant that Dougie had picked out. It’s a small family owned Hawaiian place that has been around for a while, with great recommendations. By the time that they get there, Eva is feeling much more at ease than she had earlier in the evening. Dinner continues in a similar fashion, with small jokes and talking about what Eva does.

“So, I can come to you with computer issues?” Dougie asks.

“I guess I could try,” Eva replies. “But that’s more IT than engineering.”

“Thought I would ask anyways,” he says. “So, uh, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Uh, yeah?” Eva replies, a bit confused.

“So, um, I know that this might seem sudden, but I was wondering if you might want to go on a date sometime?” Dougie asks hopefully.

“Oh, Dougie, I…” Eva starts to say.

“Was I reading this wrong?” he replies, face falling.

“No, no, it’s just…let me explain,” Eva says, sighing. “I’m openly bisexual and while I figure that you probably have no problem with it, because you seem like a great person, but…I know how bad the sports community is about this kind of thing. And while I’m sure things might be fine; I also know that people go digging for things.

“I had a girlfriend back in university and I still have pictures of us on my Instagram together. We’re still good friends and those are still happy memories for me. I don’t want to have to hide that part of me and while I might be overreacting…I need to look out for myself, Dougie,” Eva explains. “So, while this isn’t a no, I do need to think about it. And I need you to think about it too, because if people end up talking about it…”

She feels like she laid herself completely bare, letting Dougie see more than she was planning on. But…Eva thought about this over the last few days, and wants to let her concerns be known. Dougie seems to still be processing the news, taking time to consider everything. She appreciates that he isn’t rushing to an answer.

“While I can’t say that I really get it, because I don’t, I understand why you would be nervous,” Dougie says, measuring his words carefully. “I’ll wait for you, though. I know that we honestly don’t know each other all that well, but I know that you’re worth waiting for.”

“Thank you,” Eva whispers. “It’s a lot to take in, I’m fully aware of that, but it’s something that I’ve been thinking about.”

“Oh, so you’ve been thinking about going on a date with me?” Dougie jokes.

Eva blushes. “Was that not obvious?”

“It’s just nice to get a little bit of validation.”

Eva just rolls her eyes. The rest of dinner continues in a comfortable silence, Dougie obviously processing everything that he was told. It was obviously a lot for Eva to trust him with everything she told him, so he decides to let her set the pace of what happens next. He doesn’t want to push her too much.

“We can still hang out if you want to,” Eva says softly, as they walk back to Dougie’s car.

“Yeah, I would like that, if you don’t mind,” he replies. “Even if we decide dating is off the table, I still want to be your friend.”

Eva smiles at this, and it helps ease her a little bit. Things are comfortable on the drive back to her apartment, and before she heads out, she gives him a tight hug. Once she gets up to the apartment, it feels like it’s only a few minutes later than Sammy is knocking on her door to get all the details.

“He asked me on a date,” Eva says.

“And?” Sammy asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I told him I would think about it. I just…I don’t want to have to hide my sexuality again, that’s why I moved down here to Raleigh. No matter how much I like him, if he can’t handle me not hiding it…I don’t want to date him,” Eva explains. “And I’m honestly not sure if I could handle shitty comments either. Like…I know it’s not all that likely, but there has to be a few people that’ll say something .”

“That’s shitty that you even have to think about that,” Sammy replies, hugging Eva briefly.

Eva shrugs. “It is, but it’s the reality of the situation.”

“Do you want to date him though?”

“Yeah, he seems like a great guy. If we didn’t have to think about all of this, I would have said yes in a heartbeat.”

“Then I think that’s something to remember,” Sammy says. “Well, I’ll get out of your hair, I just wanted all the deets right away.”

Eva snorts. “Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.”

“You always have me and Patrick, no matter what.”

Eva gives Sammy another hug before she leaves. Sighing, Eva gets ready for bed and mulls over everything that happened. She wants to say yes, wants to text Dougie about it, but she knows that she has to think about it more seriously now. And so does he, and Eva prepares for the minor heartbreak if he decides that she’s just not worth the trouble. But whatever happens, the end result will be worth it.

The more she thinks about it, she feels like she could handle whatever happens as long as Dougie is okay with it. Having his support would mean a lot to Eva, and as long as things don’t get too bad, she feels like she can handle whatever happens. Besides, it’s not like she’s a player that’s coming out, so things shouldn’t be nearly as bad.

A couple of days pass before Eva gets a text from Dougie that just says, I was wondering if we could meet up to talk about what’s going on?

Yeah, but could we do it at one of our places?

I could come to your apartment. I feel like you’d feel more comfortable there

Oh, yeah, that would actually be nice. Are you free any time tomorrow?

I can come over in the evening, once you get off work? I can bring dinner.

See you then 😊

Time seems to either go too fast or two slow. Eva barely remembers anything that happens at work the next day, and James doesn’t ask if she wants to work late, seeing that she’s a little bit out of it. Once she gets home, Eva paces aimlessly around her apartment, unsure of what to do. When she hears a knock on her door, she practically runs over to open it.

Dougie is standing there, with a bag of takeout. Whatever it is, Eva guesses that it isn’t meal plan approved. But she considers that with the conversation they’re having tonight, a bit of junk food won’t be too bad.

“Uh, come on it,” Eva says, stepping to the side to let him in. “You can set this down in the kitchen.”

Once he’s set down the food, Eva leads him to her living room, and they both take a seat down on the couch. It’s quiet for a moment, neither really knowing what to say. She’s unsure if she wants to go first, since her answer depends on what he’s thinking.

“So, I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” Dougie says. “And I can only imagine how hard it was for you to tell me what you did. You being bi, it’s a big part of who you are, but it’s not going to impact how much I want to date you. I want to date you because you’re an amazing person and that hasn’t changed. I know that it could turn out badly because people are shitty, but…we can figure that all out together. Admittedly, I don’t know what I can do to support you, but whatever that looks like, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you,” Eva whispers. “I’m still a bit scared, it’s hard not to be, but I want to date you. You’re a good person and I feel like things could be good between us.”

“So, you want to date me?”

Eva snorts. “Yeah, I think I could do that.”

Dougie smiles brightly, then it dims a little. “Does this count as our first date?”

“I don’t see why not,” Eva says, shrugging.

“This isn’t how I imagined it going,” Dougie replies, scrunching his nose. “But I guess there’s no time like the present.”

“I admire your positivity.”

Dougie laughs, and Eva smiles brightly. It’s good to hear his laugh again, and Eva gets excited thinking about how she can hear it even more now.

“You know, I think your laugh is my favorite part of you,” Eva says.

“You’re really picking my laugh over my dashing good looks?” Dougie asks, feigning offense.

“Unfortunately,” Eva sighs.

There’s still so much that Eva has yet to tell Dougie, about why she left home and why she’s scared for people to find out about them. But there’ll be time for that in the future, and she doesn’t want to ruin the moment.

[cutie1365]

A Kid from Queens Part 12

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Info: CA: Civil War Era. Tony Stark enlists his daughter to find the web slinging spider in Queens.

Word count: 3k

Warnings: language, some serious pent up sexual tension, definitely PG13

(no Far From Home spoilers)

A/N: I mapped out this chapter and as I started writing, I realized I would have about 6,000 words so I just split it into two. Enjoy ;)

Masterlist linked in my bio. Taglist in the reblog.

                                 - - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

“F.R.I, activate Nightcap Protocol.” You instructed the AI with your arms crossed as you made your way to the couch.

Your windows glazed over, so no one could see in. Some privacy and security shields, if you will, to prevent the past from repeating itself. Like your true self, you were invisible to the outside world. Inside you didn’t have to hide or pretend; you were safe.

“You need to ice those...” Peter spoke, breaking the silence.

“What?” You asked gently, scrunching your brows together.

“Your knuckles, you need to ice them. They’re bleeding and they’re going to swell if you don’t ice them...“ Peter navigates through the new kitchen, wrapping some ice in a cloth before approaching you. He gently lays the makeshift ice pack onto them.

You look up to him with guilty eyes when you realize he’s still holding onto your hands.

“I don’t know what to say Peter, I thought I’d figure it out on the walk from the balcony to here, but I still don’t know what to say.” You hung your head again, your voice faltering.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Peter reassured you, taking a seat next to you.

You didn’t understand why he was being so kind to you, especially considering your last conversation with him. Your head had pushed him away, but your heart was grasping for anything left to hold onto.

“You deserve an explanation.” You admitted.

“I know why you did it, all of it. You don’t have to put yourself through this for me.” Peter tried to convince you, but you shook your head.

How could he be so understanding? How could you hurt him, and he still looks for a reason to redeem you? To excuse your actions? To find some greater meaning to all of it... the only conclusion you could think of was that he really didn’t want to let you go.

“I do Peter! Because if you get hurt or your identity is compromised, that’s on me!” You yelled, pushing the ice off your hands as you motioned between the two of you.

“Can’t you see? I never had a normal childhood and I can’t change that. But you still have that luxury. When you’re not swinging around Queens in a multi-million dollar suit, you can be normal. You can go out with friends, you can see a movie. Whatever normal people do; you can do that. Just because I’ll never get that chance doesn’t mean I’m gonna sit by and watch while it’s stolen from you.” You tried to explain.

“What if I don’t want to be normal?” Peter asked, but that wasn’t exactly what he meant.

What he wanted to say was how he would never truly be normal again after you. You had accepted him into your crazy life, and ruined him for the ‘normal world’. It was as if he’d experienced a touch of the heavens when he was with you, and he knew if he went back nothing could ever compare to the way you had made him feel.

“Trust me, you don’t want this.” You scoffed, motioning around you, implying the shit storm that has now become your life.

You were like a bad omen. Chaos followed behind you everywhere you went, and you were worried that you were going to be the reason someone got hurt. Seriously hurt. And you were not going to let that person be Peter Benjamin Parker.

“Keep that ice on, Y/N.” Peter said calmly.

“Fuck my knuckles, Peter!” You shouted, standing up off the couch.

“No! Alright because you are so worried about everyone around you that you won’t even take care of yourself!” Peter yelled back, standing to match you. His words shocked you, because deep down you knew he was right.

“This is bigger than me, Peter! This is bigger than both of us!” You raised your voice again.

“What are you talking about?” Peter shook his head in confusion, his tone was still argumentative. You realized you had dug yourself into a hole, and he wouldn’t rest, understandably, until he had answers.

You took a deep breath and a pause, sitting back down onto the arm of your couch.

“I was warned before the gala.” You confessed.

“What? Why didn’t you say anything?” Peter asked worriedly, moving to stand in front of you.

“I was still trying to figure it out. The mayor, he’s in deep. Some sort of illegal weapons dealings. I don’t know. But I know that the people he’s tangled up with aren’t afraid of collateral damage. What if they come for you, because of me? More people are going to get hurt if I don’t get to the bottom of this.” You tried to make him understand.

“What if it’s not your job to stop them?”

“What if I’m the only one who can? I can figure out what they’re doing from the inside.” You spoke, though you weren’t sure how convincing you sounded.

“From the inside? Oh, Thomas.” Peter took a step back and looked away from you.

“Yeah, Thomas.”

“So y’all are...?” Peter began to ask, but couldn’t bring himself to put it into words.

“No, no. It’s just- we have this agreement. Some outings for publicity, that kinda stuff. He gets to impress his dad and boost his poll numbers, and we move the public attention away from you... well that was my intention at least.” You explained, shaking your head at how tonight had gone.

“Yeah I saw the interview, it was-” Peter stopped, not knowing what word to best describe what he had witnessed.

“Brutal?” You offered.

“Yeah, something like that.” Peter gave you a sad smile, something to show you that he was sorry for the way it turned out. To a blind viewer, it really wasn’t that bad. Sure the questions were grilling, but you didn’t throw yourself under the bus or anything. You behaved and answered just as you were supposed to.

“I don’t know what was worse, the questions about you or the questions from Twitter.” You sighed, sliding off the edge of the couch into the plush cushions below.

“I liked the question about Thor, did he really say that?” Peter laughed, moving next to you once more. He was trying to get your mind off of what had happened.

“Clint convinced him that once a girl turns 15, and when they address you, it’s polite to reply with ‘Yas Queen’.” You laughed, a genuine laugh. It had been a while since you’d done that.

“So on my birthday, we had this huge party upstate. It was before Sokovia and everyone was still living in the compound. I came downstairs and Thor was the first one I ran into. I asked him if my dress looked okay, and you can imagine my shock when he replied. Everyone burst out laughing, Clint was in tears. I didn’t have the heart to tell him, he looked so pleased with himself.”

You smiled as you told Peter the story, lost in the memory. It was a simpler time, a more peaceful time. There was no fighting, no government intervention. What you would give to go back to those days.

“I still can’t believe you’re friends with all the Avengers.” Peter shook his head with a smile.

“Is that why you came here tonight, to talk to me about Thor?” You teased him with a raised brow, but you really were curious.

“Well no, I just... I saw you and you looked- wow I mean, wow. Then the questions and the, I mean you answered them perfectly but I could tell you were... I mean-” Peter began to shift around nervously in his seat. It was like when you two first met, he was shy and nervous. Not the Peter you’d grown to know- you knew that meant something was up.

“Spit it out bug boy.” You furrowed your brow, unsure of where he was going with this.

“Fuck, Y/N I missed you. Ok. You’re not making it easy for me to move on when you’re on my TV looking like that. I had to see you. I knew those questions affected you so I wanted to see if you were okay.” He confessed. You hoped your cheeks weren’t bright red right now. You didn’t think you’ve ever heard Peter curse, and he’d never talked about you in that way before.

“Alright, you’ve seen me. What was the next step in your plan tonight?” You inches closer to him, your heartbeat growing faster and faster. Hopefully he couldn’t hear it with his super senses.

“Hope you’d let me in.” He said slowly. His eyes were scanning over your face, like he was making a mental image to never forget this.

“Well I seem to have already done that, and next?” You spoke just as slowly, trying to calm your breathing... Were you nervous? You’ve certainly done this before, but why did this time feel different?

“This.” Peter spoke with some newfound confidence before his lips collided with yours.

You snaked your hand around the back of his neck, wanting to eliminate any distance between the two of you.

You knew why it was different this time- it was Peter. Things would always be different because of Peter. It was as if you had lived your whole life colorblind, and then you met him. He was the color, he was the life you were missing. You didn’t know much about destiny and fate and all that, but when you kissed Peter and he kissed you back, you saw it.

You saw the two of you together, growing old together, white picket fence and all. You saw a glimpse of a normal life, a happy life. He was your balance, the missing puzzle piece.

But deep down you knew, it could never be this easy, you couldn’t get to that point without struggles and heartbreak. But you also knew Peter was worth it, and whatever hardships you would have to overcome, you would do it.

You came from two different worlds, and the two wouldn’t meld together easily or quickly. It would take time for people to come around to the idea of it, but time was something you had plenty of.

Tonight would give you a chance, a chance at a proper goodbye. Not a real goodbye, but a goodbye for now. A goodbye to figure out all the crazy twists and turns that was your life. You both knew the timing just wasn’t right, but one day down the road everything may fall into place.

“Is this a good idea?” Peter pulls away hesitantly and asked.

“No.” You smiled and shook your head.

This time it was you that erased the empty space between your lips. You lifted your leg over Peter so that you were now straddling him. His hands found their way to your hips as yours trailed over his chest.

Time didn’t exist when your lips were intertwined. An hour could have passed, or a year. It was like you were stuck in an interdimensional time loop, and neither of you wanted it to stop.

When you finally came up for air, you froze for a second. You looked into Peter’s eyes, you memorised every detail of his face. Knowing it might be a while before the two of you can be together again like this, you didn’t want to take a second for granted.

Peter smiled up at you, and for the first time in forever, you felt seen. Truly seen. Not the tabloid version of you, not the majority shareholder business version of you, but the real you. Peter saw it, all of your flaws, and they didn’t matter. It was just the two of you, together in the eye of the storm.

“I have to be up in 5 hours, can Queens spare you for a night?” You raised your brow and smirked.

“They’ll just have to manage” Peter smirked as he lifted you from the couch and headed towards your bedroom. You were both laughing and utterly giddy. Two fools in love.

He gently threw you onto the bed before crawling over to you. You were smiling as his lips connected with his once more. In an attempt to draw him closer to you, your hand brushed over the spider on the front of his suit- releasing it.

You froze and muttered an apology, growing more and more distracted by the bare skin that was now exposed.

“Cat got your tongue?” Peter asked with a smirk, you must have been staring for a while.

“Hmm? No, uh, shit.” You muttered.

Peter Parker was like a drug, and oh boy were you an addict. You’d been doing well, 10 days sober. But you broke. Cracked at the first opportunity and let him back into your heart, and your apartment for that matter. But it was just one little cheat, right? That’s all. No one even had to know.

“Um, I’d offer you a change of clothes but I don’t have any of Steve’s laying around.” You tried to recover from your daze.

“We’ll have to figure something else out then, won’t we.” Peter spoke, connecting your lips again, and pulling the suit further down his chest.

“I suppose we will...” Your hand found some pooling fabric and aided in it’s removal, he was now just in his boxers.

“And if we’re playing fair.” You breathed heavily, trying to catch your breath after the lack of oxygen.

You untied that robe that you had wrapped around you, and threw the material onto the floor. You were on the edge of the bed, and quickly took the opportunity to stand back on the floor, pulling the tight fabric of your leggings from your body and sliding it down your thighs. As you stepped out of them, and stood tall with your shoulders back, your eyes connected with Peter’s. His grew wide, not with surprise, but desire. Standing before him in only a sports bra and your underwear, you didn’t feel exposed. You felt safe.

Peter now sat at the edge of the bed with his feet hanging off, hitting the floor. You moved to that you were standing between his legs. Your hand came to rest on the side of his face, wrapping around to the back of his neck. You placed a delicate kiss onto his lips, and it grew, blossomed into a passionate kind of kiss that you think only happens in the movies.

As Peter wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you back onto the bed, lips never separating, he let out a noise between a growl and a moan.

You were seeing a side of Peter you never thought you would get to see, or never thought existed for that matter.

You two were inseparable. Even once the kiss was broken, you still couldn’t keep your hands off of eachother.

You now were snuggled into his side, silently tracing shapes over his chest, dragging your fingers over his muscles. He had his arms protectively wrapped around you, listening to the steady beat of your heart.

You were the first one to break the silence with something that had been weighing heavily on your mind for the last week.

“I'm sorry for how I acted at the party. I shouldn’t have drank that much, I hope I didn’t do anything to embarrass you.” You apologized.

“Embarrass me?” Peter pulled away slightly so that he could see your face. ”No, no Y/N I was the talk of the town all week. Flash hasn’t stopped talking about you. By the way, you’re a really cute drunk.”

“Oh, well I don’t know about that.” You smiled up at him.

“You shot finger guns at Ned.” He informed you and your eyes grew wide.

“No I didn’t oh my god.” You buried your head into his chest in embarrassment.

“Yes you did.” Peter laughed and you groaned.

When you unburied your head from his chest, and laid down onto his arm he asked you another question.

“Why do you have to be up so early tomorrow.” He asked, and if he hadn’t, you almost would have forgotten. Peter had a way of distracting you, and tonight surely more than ever.

“I have an interview with Vogue in the morning, well more of a meeting really, then an Elle video.” You informed him.

“What for?” He asked again.

“They want me on the cover of Vogue, lord knows why. And Elle is doing a closet and apartment tour for YouTube.” You rolled your eyes. You might not have known why Vogue would want you for their cover, but he sure did. You were gorgeous and brilliant, and he wished you could see what he saw.

“A closet tour, really? People care about that kind of thing?” He replied instead, noticing your eyeroll and general disapproval of the whole thing.

“So I’m told. I do have a vast shoe collection though.” You answered, looking towards your closet, that really could be classified as another whole room.

“I’m sure you do,” Peter laughed, “Aunt May said your shoes tonight were to die for.”

“Did she now? What size is she?” You asked.

“Um, I think an eight.” You made a mental note of that.

“Mh,” you groaned and burrowed back into Peter’s open arms, “I don’t want to wake up in 4 hours.”

“Then don’t.” Then don’t Peter chucked at your previous actions.

“I have to.” You groaned, your voice muffled due to your face being pressed against his body.

“Then sleep.” Peter suggested, teasing you.

“I don’t want to.” You whined.

“Well what else are you going to do for the next 4 hours then?” Peter retorted with a smile. You raised your head up again, resting it on his chest so your faces were mere inches apart. You looked up at him through your lashes before your lips curved into a smirk.

“I’m sure I can think of something.” You smiled, your lips finding their home, once more, attached to his.

                                - - - - - 🕷 - - - - -

Feedback is soooooo important, just a simple comment about what you liked, what you want to see more of, or what you have questions about it so helpful.

Remember to stay on my taglist or qualify for it you must like, AND comment or reblog.

Taglist in the reblog.

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ upd8 2020-01-17

Alright, morningblogging yesterday’s 2020-01-17 upd8 to Homestuck^2 let’s go!  Spoiler-free again.  I kinda don’t want even the next chapter names image-spoiled above the cut anymore so I’m going to have to figure out WHAT to put above the cut in these liveblog posts for visual reinforcement... a unique silly icon?  Going back once I’m done with the upd8 and posting something non-spoilery but weird-looking out of context?

Eh, can’t be assed.  Just know that after this I’m going to pony up for the Patreon commentary and skim it for anything plot-useful to y’all (in a separate post).  Let’s get started.

Okay, what’s next:  Any bonuses?  Oh, none!  Phew.  Unless those are coming faster too and just staggered differently, which would mean I gotta overcome my irrational pre-Homestuck-reading anxiety even MORE often.  :T

No Homestuck you don’t GET to ask how my-- ah, right.  :P

(FYI, HS^2 has been good to my emotions so far, quite a balm for the epilogues, so once I START reading I’m usually fine; but after being hurt so badly how could I possibly convince my lizard brain to trust it until it’s right in front of me?  Seriously, just hearing that the upd8 has landed messes me up a bit until I come fix it by reading w/ y’all here.)

Okay, so whose feelings?  As much as I’ve been waiting for Jade, I hope this isn’t about Jade.

> ==>

Ah fuck, we’re finally with the Pursuit Crew.  Bracing myself.  That means we get to see probably sleeping Jade ( :C ), full-swing DaveKat (approving nod), the first canon onscreen look at masculine-mode Roxy (<3), a probably pretty pissed off Kanaya (possibly either the feelings target, the one Saying How Are Your Feelings, or both), and uh... did they drag Callie along?  Or leave her back there with her meta freakout?  Probably left her back there, but... hm.

Let me turn up the brightness on this screen to sear these next pages into my retinas.  (Also, it feels odd to still be using a four-person “==>” for these, although if Jade is still asleep the numbers might fit on both ends... :c )

> ==>

I don’t think Dad is in the spacefaring business, so this is probably one of Jake’s shittier spaceship designs.

> ==>

...well that’s a touch disturbing.  Is that a Jade-occupied bed or are those just pillows?

Oh what the fresh fanfic’y heck is this command.

> i enter.

Okay that’s great.  I got a kick out of that.

JADE [in calliope red]: the prince’s power grows.

--but that’s not.  That explains the narrative command text, it’s alt!callie talking through a still conked-out Jade.  Please let her wake up between speak-throughs, please tell me you’ve learned that trick??  I already know you’re gonna pull an “oh she was asleep pretty much all of those THREE YEARS OF TRAVEL” thing on me and that’s hard fucking enough to deal with.

KARKAT: JESUS CHRIST!

He’s actually using the full curse correctly, huh?

...These commands.  Guess part of the puzzle is how much alt!Callie is being typically morbid and how much she might actually be wising up enough to get a kick out of this.

> the knight of blood falls.

DAVE: dude can you chill for like even a single fucking second DAVE: also are you ok

Has CallieJade chilled for even a single second this entire trip??  Is he asking just if Karkat’s okay or Jade too???

--yeah I’m overblowing things out of nervousness.  Just wait and see a bit, boots.

Alt!Callie has at least learned to be more of a smartass:

> karkat is characteristically appreciative of the alarm call.

Shirt trade Karkat, nice.  And uh, Jade’s dress sure is a... dress.  Hm.

(Did alt!Callie alchemize adjustments to did she just luck out to have a red-symbol’d Bec belt and accent leggings?  I’d prefer the former, because as much as it would be acceptable within Homestuck proper, using the transition between the epilogues and this new-author’d work to just HAPPEN to give her a fitting outfit without an excuse via providence is kind of lazy.)

KARKAT: OH, PARDON THE FUCK OUT OF ME FOR OVERREACTING A LITTLE WHEN MY GOOD FRIEND "POSSESSED JADE" BUSTS INTO MY RESPITEBLOCK AT 5 AM! KARKAT: NEXT TIME I’LL JUST PULL THE COVERS BACK AND LET HER CLIMB IN! JADE: i am uninterested in that scenario. KARKAT: GREAT! POSSESSED JADE ISN’T EVEN HORNY! HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?

...please let that mean he’s not used to her being possessed all the time and she wakes up sometimes.  PLEASE.

DAVE: but im pretty sure i locked that door JADE: i unlocked it with my mind. DAVE: fuck KARKAT: FANTASTIC. JADE: the prince’s powers are growing, but so are mine.

Dave, I’m pretty sure regular-ass no-Green-Sun Space powers can flip a few lock tumblers too.  (--though, I guess from context this was a Jakeship technolock.  Confirmation on the ship’s bad taste in design.  --I think I’m foggily remembering it said in the Epilogues that they took one of Jake’s ships just like Dirk did, too... man, being depressed so much by the Epilogues sure took a lot out of my ability to recall them decently.)

KARKAT: LIKE YOU DON’T FLOAT AROUND LIKE A CREEPY PIECE OF SHIT ALL DAY AS IT IS?

God DAMN IT she’s been asleep and possessed the whole fucking time.

> sleep is abandoned, coffee sought.

More obligatory DaveKat being cute, somehow only emphasized by the embarrassing glowing-with-power observer who doesn’t really get any of it.

Ah, here we go:

> the rogue is also awake.

Oh huh.  Cool!

Hero outfit, understated...  her his choice of heart-shades color-coded to stand out from Dave more to avoid further mistaken identity cases.  Works well!  (Holy shit I only JUST remembered at the end to go back and correctly gender Roxy as him, that was close. I blame the epilogues for a lack of visual reinforcement; I shouldn’t have as much trouble soon enough.  Seriously, I don’t remember ANYTHING without visual reinforcement, I think that’s why I remember so much of Homestuck proper so clearly.)

KARKAT: OH SHIT, THERE SHE IS! I DIDN’T EVEN HEAR HER FOLLOW US! ROXY: sometimes a girls just got to get her drift on i guess ROXY: it be like that

ilu roxy.

I missed Roxy so much, you guys.  I need more of him remarking on all this crazy shit if I’m gonna stay sane though all this.  (And I need more of him and AWAKE JADE kicking ass independently or together if I’m going to continue to believe there’s justice in the world.)

> ==>

We rarely saw Rose drinking anything but the rare coffee in canon, but I think Kanaya would have gotten her plenty into tea, yes.  Or at the very least, wanting the aesthetic of drinking tea with Kanaya would have gotten Rose into tea even if it never crossed Kanaya’s mind to try the stuff.

ROXY: well i mean who knows what she drinks now ROXY: dirk probs tossed the coffee machine out the space window right away ROXY: dude doesnt "believe" in "substances" > the prince is contemplated for a moment in silence.

FUCK, Dirk can see the narrative all the way out here???  No wonder alt!Callie’s forced to have possession turned on 24/7.  That’s fucking disappointing.  How the hell are we going to get any proper Jade time with THAT hanging over our heads?  She’d only be able to do anything when Dirk’s knocked out, and maybe not even THEN!

I was virtually promised more of actual non-asleep Jade getting shit done in HS^2.  Now there’s an even longer wait on it than I expected.  This sucks.

(EDIT: BOY did I misread that link line. Thinking “is contemplated” meant is sitting contemplating, when it meant "is being contemplated by everyone here". That was dumb of me.)

*clicks that next link*

Oh my goodness, Roxy joined the Bird Hair Crew.  It makes him look like a fucking asshole but I kind of love it.

KARKAT: IS THERE MILK?

I can’t believe Karkat is okay with drinking milk.  --yes, culturally Trolls are more comfortable with animal excretions than we are, but you would’ve thought years of railing against Equius would have purged any tolerance the idea of milk from his psyche.

I guess Dave introduced him to cereal, and it was all over from there.

DAVE: this is more like a castle DAVE: a castle of idk DAVE: twenty something ennui

Sounds like a relatable mood.  Especially considering Dirk probably decided to conquer reality out of almost nothing but twenty-something ennui.

Alright.  You aren’t going to turn Kanaya into an alcoholic or anything on us are you?

> the knight of time seeks a sylph...

--this is the shittiest shipboard starship aesthetic.

> ...and finds her, momentarily.

WOW that looks fucking depressed.  :(

> ==>

...okay you know what?  Never mind.  That outfit has wrapped straight back around into Trying Too Hard and is now hilarious.

DAVE: you ever feel like our whole lives are eventually gonna end up like this DAVE: just blasting through space on a sweeps long journey to ""somewhere"" chasing after or running from some vague enemy thats sometimes a god modded pet dog and sometimes your dad DAVE: without the faintest fucking idea of whats going to happen when we get there DAVE: thats a little specific but you know what i mean

Why do you think the epilogues upset us so much?  We thought we’d won free of that bullshit.

> ==>

Oh jesus christ that’s the most depressingly sad I’ve ever seen Kanaya drawn.  :C

--Karkat got you to watch Serendipity?  That’s amazing, Dave.

KANAYA: You Arent Reminding Me Of Her As I Rarely Think Of Anything Else KANAYA: I Close My Eyes And I See Her KANAYA: I Keep Them Open And I See Her

Fuck.

Y’know how little showing these two in love and actually HAPPY together we’ve seen in this entire comic and its subworks?  Despite them having spent at least a few happy years together we only saw in tiny screenclips?  And how Candy alluded super hard that they most likely couldn’t get that in this real timeline where shit’s going down?

Seriously, FUCK.  You could at least pretend to give us some hope, here.

Oh no, don’t ask for the nursery story, Dave.  Unless it turns out to be a funny one or a Rose twist on an old story or something.  Which it probably is, I should stop worrying.

> ==>

KANAYA: Oh Its A Wriggler Story About A Young Prince And The Beloved Flower He Loved And Lost DAVE: flower DAVE: like a plant KANAYA: Its A Fairytale Dave DAVE: right KANAYA: A Singular Wild Rose He Failed To Cherish When He Had Her KANAYA: And His Journey Of Discovering What She Meant To Him All Along KANAYA: Culminating In A New Quest To Find Her And Win Her Back

Dirk you PIECE OF SHIT did you rewrite the narrative of the fucking STORIES SHE TOLD CHILDREN?!??  Does the fact that alt!Callie is only in the present mean he can rewrite ANY past event we didn’t literally SEE???  FUCK you.  Seriously fuck all of this.

Please tell me she was kidding just then, or realizes there’s fucking something wrong with what she’s saying and getting angry or.

(EDIT: shoutyourporpoise replied: "Hey, idk If you picked up on this, but the 'nursery story' Rose told to the wigglers is just The Little Prince, which is maybe a BIT early for them to read, but I don't think that's a case of Dirk changing the narrative; its just Rose being Too Adult as usual." Oh, damn, I didn't even CATCH that it was that story. That makes all of this a lot more forgivable, even if pretty unforgivably leaning into the fiction that Dirk used to brainwash and kidnap her. Maybe that's exactly why it worked -- fiction, a story so blazed into the public consciousness? Hm. Thanks, shoutyourporpoise.)

KANAYA: But In A Way I Feel As If It Is the Greater Universe Trying To Tell Me Something

Mother fuck I’m even going to have to see our protagonists warped by Dirk when they’re ostensibly FULLY SHIELDED aren’t I.  There’s only so much of that I would be able to take, you know.

KANAYA: It May Simply Stem From My Longing To See Her Again And How Much Is Indicative Of Something More Sinister KANAYA: She Is A Goddess Of Light And The Only Of Her Kind We Know Is Alive After All KANAYA: Maybe Shes Wrested Dominion Of The Entire Concept In All Its Appearances Within This Frame Of Reference

Hm.  Well, it being a product of Rose’s ascension instead of Dirk’s is possibly a more charitable take, with Ultimate Rose projecting the delusion enforced on her backward, visible to past Rose’s Sight when she isn’t paying attention and thus paving the way for Dirk to paradoxically exploit that “ideal” as something Lighty and Important and “Perfect”.  I still don’t fucking like it though.

> ==>

DAVE: sorry i know you say you got your badass monster powers but kanaya you look tired as hell DAVE: not that im tryna psyche you or whatever but youre waxing poetic in the dark which i guess is maybe on brand but still

Yyyep.

DAVE: unless terezi is lurking in the vents somewhere and now that i bring that up its actually not out of the question so im kind of gonna be thinking about that one for a while

Pffff.

DAVE: youre the only person i know whos still basically the same as when i met you

--Which is kind of going to have to change, right?  She’s got some other cosmic purpose ready to change her a little more than she changed pre-human-troll-meetup, you’d think.

> ==>

Cute as hell.

> ==>

KANAYA: How Are Your Feelings

There’s the title drop.  I’d think Dave’s doing pretty well, considering?  Still fucked over by Dirk betraying and tricking Rose away who he’s been close with all his life, but.

> ==>

DAVE: except sometimes your best friend disappears and your other best friend goes into a ghost coma and your third best friend fucks off to space with your dad DAVE: the dude youve spent the last 7 years convincing yourself isnt an egomaniacal anime villain DAVE: and who isnt actually lying in wait to completely decimate your life and your emotions and shit

Ah... yeah.  A little worse than my casual list, huh?  Forgot that Jade vanishing into a possession-coma for THREE FUCKING YEARS is going to be hard on people inside the comic too, fuck.

DAVE: maybe it was naive to think that a bunch of twenty something trauma victims could run a society

I was honestly surprised they TRIED to run society at all.  Jasp even just highlighted a big reason why not in the bonuses.

DAVE: cool how earth c existed for centuries then we show up and manage to ruin society in seven fucking years

:(

Well, the trolls got THEIR lesson on why they didn’t deserve to rule over their new universe like gods; I guess some of y’all needed that lesson too?

DAVE: every serious conversation i have inevitably falls apart into riffing on a casual acquaintances ass

True.

Dammit, Dave didn’t feel like he could just be Some Guy even on Earth C.  :(

> ==>

...don’t think I’ve forgotten that nursery story, though.  I don’t want to think that it was something that ACTUALLY past happened, especially not without manipulation.  Like maybe past Rose was foreseeing the false purpose that Dirk wrote for her or the like, a cooperative misunderstanding between the two instead of Dirk or Rose literally reaching back in time.

> meanwhile...

KARKAT: WAIT, WHY THE FUCK AM I EVEN ASKING? HE’S OBVIOUSLY NOT FINE. KARKAT: ARE ANY OF US? ARE YOU? ROXY: not rly KARKAT: EXACTLY.

:(

--Oh right.  I remember that Callie and Roxy were going reasonably steady in Meat even though it was only alluded to, she didn’t freak out and stay awol or what have you.  That’s good to remember.  But it means Roxy deliberately left her behind to go on this dangerous quest, for years.  :C

KARKAT: KANAYA BARELY EVEN TALKS, CALLIOPE WON’T LEAVE THEIR CABIN, JADE JUST FLOATS AROUND LIKE A CREEPY BALLOON THAT’S MOSTLY MADE OF HAIR.

Oh, SHIT.  I should have read one line further.  They DID bring her.  Alt!Callie being here too must really FUCK with her.  ...maybe she can actually learn to accept that alternate way her life might’ve played out, though?

KARKAT: THE REALLY FUCKED UP THING IS I MIGHT BE THE MOST OKAY OUT OF ALL OF US, WHICH IS HOW YOU KNOW SHIT HAS REALLY GONE GLOBES UP.

Quite true.

ROXY: ur kinda an intense dude anybody ever tell u that KARKAT: NO.

Pff.

> ==>

KARKAT: AGAINST PRETTY MUCH ALL ODDS, AND DESPITE ME NOT DESERVING ANY OF IT, I ENDED UP GETTING PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING I WANTED. KARKAT: OVER AND OVER AGAIN. KARKAT: SOMETIMES IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE WHATEVER SLATHERING MONSTROSITY OF A COSMIC HELLBEAST THAT PUT ALL THIS SHIT INTO MOTION...ACTUALLY LIKES ME?

Well, if you want to blame Lord English for instance... we never saw Caliborn and Karkat interact much, but the parallels between the two were drawn so severely that Caliborn was basically the idealized, multiverse-threatening Ultimate Kismesis that he’d always dreamed of.  And operated against him without him even ever quite realizing it.

If a level of “respect” went from Caliborn to Karkat, too, from his Lord-Englishy vision nigh-omnipresent, then this outcome isn’t very surprising at all.

> ==>

(I don’t quite feel I get why Roxy shifted to this exasperated-Dave expression, but I get logically that he’d been waiting for Karkat to make a breakfast choice... Homestuck proper rarely pulled a “last line said corresponds to next-panel’s expression” without either leaving the conversation blank or having the NEXT lines of the conversation reinforce it, to prevent this inelegant misunderstanding.  Andrew was really damned talented in getting his point across visually, in that regard.  Just like, that careful visual intent delivery.)

Alright, I guess that’s it for this short upd8!  Meeting the pursuit crew was both more and less difficult than I expected.  Hopefully I get desensitized a bit as the characters continue to feel semi-almost-sorta-fine.

I have NO idea how this group is gonna work as a proper crew when we get to whatever weird other-players’ session this shit is going down in, though.

[general-mahamatra]

Oops

So I am the DM of what was initially a joke and is now a seriously fun AU that is

Newsies in an Infinite IKEA.

I felt like sharing them with y’all, but I’ll go ahead and toss everything under the line to keep this from being much clutter. But first, here are the characters (and their play-by!)

<Characters>

Davey: Cleric -- @musicals-and-zazz​ Race: Thief (Rogue) -- @alltherays​ Smalls: Bard -- @albert-eats-cookie-cake​ Specs: Cleric -- @snakeyboimusical​ Spot: Barbarian -- @sweeps-of-london​

<NPCS>

Jed: Guard ?????: ?? ???????: ??

<Trust Levels>

?????: 65% (Medium) ???????: 32% (Low)

<Session One>

Welcome to the Infinite Ikea. As everyone knows, Ikea is massive and full of insane furniture and items with such weird names that if you tried to pronounce them, you’d summon a demon. But sometimes… sometimes it’s a bit too big. On the outside, it’s not that bad. It’s the size of a normal Ikea but with some exceptions. It is surrounded by a massive chain link fence and there is only one entrance: the main entrance. There are no garages for deliveries or side entrances for emergencies. There is only the massive door in the front of the building. Two men clad in black and holding guns stand on either side of the doors. You are huddled in the bushes outside of the fence. What will you do?

Spot, Smalls, and Specs try to enter IKEA through the front gate.

Spot and Specs insist upon needing to use the bathroom

Race is hella annoyed

Spot gets shot and killed by a guard

Return to the Beginning

Spot, Smalls, and Specs try to enter IKEA through the front gate

Smalls is on Spot’s shoulders it’s kinda cute

Spot asks if IKEA is open

Jed says “No”

They keep pressing that it’s open and Jed keeps saying no

With Jed distracted, Race climbs the fence and manages to sneak around behind the guards

Of course, Race was extra when he climbed the fence and flipped off of it. Style points.

Spot puts down Smalls and tries to go pee in a bush but he just kinda... he doesn’t pee

Race sneaks up behind Guard 2 and elbows him in the back of the head

Guard 2 falls pretty hard and hits his head on the cement, knocking him out

Race tries to do it again to Jed but just ends up tapping him on the back

Jed turns around and stares at Race, asking "How the fuck did you get in here?", trailing off when he sees his unconscious buddy. When he notices, he takes the defensive and swings his gun, hitting Race in the head. 

Race took 5 damage

Race tries to lie and say he works at the IKEA

Smalls tries to play their kazoo to distract Jed

The kazoo distracts Jed and he doesn’t notice Spot climbing over the fence

Specs tries to climb the fence as well but gets caught on the chain link. His shirt starts to rip but he pulls himself free and gets over

Spot tries to go after Jed and take him out

Spot barely missed Jed, his attack just swiping by the guard

Smalls keeps trying to distract the guard

Jed is still pretty distracted but is just aware enough to swing at Spot. Only Jed fails miserably and ends up shooting himself in the leg

Race gets back to his feet but is whining like a little bitch in pain. He swings for Jed, as does Spot

Neither land hits and Jed swings for Spot again but his attempt was feeble and he missed by at least two feet

Smalls pulls out their Otamatone to distract Jed even more

It works and Jed gains disadvantage

Specs swings for Jed and lands a hit

Jed took 2 damage

Spot tries to disarm Jed and take his gun

Jed, some how holy mother of God, dodges out of the was of Spot and keeps his gun

it’s really important to me that i just share this with you guys. these were the two rolls for jed with disadvantage in order to keep his gun. (spot rolled an 18)

okay let’s continue

Race tries to swing at Jed with a knife

Race fuckin’ missed like RIP dude

Specs tries to disarm Jed since Spot failed

Specs is successful and the gun goes flying

Race tries to punch Jed in the head but misses like the little bitch he is

Specs also tries to punch Jed in the head but his punch misses so badly and it had so much force behind it that it sent Specs flying with his own momentum

Smalls tries to politely ask to get through to avoid the violence: "can i please go through pretty please with a cherry on top of a banana sundae" 

Jed says “No, you cannot”

Spot tries to put Jed in a chokehold and it works

Specs tries to kick Jed in the gut and the hit lands

Jed took 3 damage

Smalls politely asks to get through again: "if you let me through you will be the literal best-"

It works perfectly. "I mean, sure, why not. It's not going to be my fault when you guys die."

The group questions why they would die, Jed simply says "No one comes back out. Go before I change my mind."

Spot grabs the discarded gun (AK - 103) and somehow puts it in his backpack. Magic backpack

The group enters the IKEA

When the group goes inside, they are greeted by a pitch black IKEA. The only light source they have is the doors behind them casting the bright LED light onto the cash registers before them. Everything was completely empty and eerie.

The group tries to find a light switch but do not find one

Smalls lights a piece of paper on fire and they are able to see a little bit more

Specs does a cartwheel for no reason and falls halfway through, hitting his head on the floor

Specs took 2 damage

The group bickers while Spot tries to search for useful stuff

Spot finds half a roll of one-ply toilet paper and an IKEA hat

Specs follows suit and does the same

Specs finds half a roll of one-ply toilet paper and a little party hat

Race is a bit more suspicious but explores as well

Race finds a children's book titled ‘Good Night Moon’ and a pile of small bones

Race questions the group on who they are, they start to bicker some more

Race is recognized as a popular TikTok creator by Specs and Smalls. Davey and Spot have no idea who he is

They all introduce themselves

Davey takes the lead so the group can explore

When the group begins to wander away from the front door, the IKEA seems to grow darker. Soon enough the light source fades away and all they have is the quickly dwindling flame from Smalls. Spot gets the urge to try and go back.

Spot tries to go back and find an exit despite the protests of the group (Smalls is back on Spot’s shoulders by this time)

When Spot rounds the corner they just came from, instead of finding the front doors he comes face to face with more pitch black. But, because he had Smalls with him, he could see it was just isles of pots and pans. The front doors were gone.

Davey joins the two

Spot panics because the front entrance is now gone

Specs tries to stay behind but gets yelled at by Race and joins them

The group bickers about where the exit is supposed to be and how Spot must’ve taken a wrong turn

Everyone hears the faint voice of someone though they can't understand what they're saying. Davey, though, hears something along the lines of "The store -- exit  -- building"

Everyone stops to listen to the faint voices 

Race asks what it said and Davey repeats the chopped up dialogue

Spot shouts at the voice for it to speak up

"The store -- exit  -- building" It was a bit louder this time.

The group starts to be iffy, commenting about how they’re being stalked

"The store -- closed, please exit  -- building"

Race gets angry and shouts back at the voice

"The store -- closed, please exit  -- building"

Specs comments about it possibly being a labyrinth

Checkpoint 1

The group agrees to try and find and exit

Spot thinks the voice is friendly

Race hears a voice that tells him to “Run” and he grows anxious, insisting that the group needs to run

The voice keeps repeating itself over and over, growing louder as the group stands around and argues about what to do. Some want to run while others want to stay.

Race’s panic and insistence on running starts to freak out the other group members

"The store is currently closed, please exit the building"

Davey yells at it to shut up

Davey hears the voice that Race did telling him to “Shut up, it hears you”

Davey is now freaked out and tries to silence the other group members

Race keeps trying to convince the rest of the group to run because he’s a scared little bitch

"The store is currently closed, please exit the building" The voice is much closer now, almost as if it's around the corner.

Davey keeps telling people to shut up because goddamn, Spot doesn’t know how to be quiet

Race hears the voice telling him to run again he screams and books it into the darkness

Davey and Spot chase after Race (after Spot set Smalls down)

Spot tells Davey to stay with Smalls

Davey goes back

Race is terrified and insists that they need to leave and Spot just kinda picks him up

Oh yeah they basically switched heights in this lol

"The store is currently closed, please exit the building"

The rest of the group joins Spot and Race

"The store is currently closed, please exit the building"  "Please exit the building, we are now closed." There's two voices now.

Spot sets Race down but Race panics more and grabs Spot

"The store is currently closed, please exit the building" "Please exit the building, we are now closed."

Everyone books it

When the group takes off, two figures round the corner, the voices coming directly from them. One was tall...at least, its torso was. It had to be seven feet tall, its hands stretching all the way down to its knees. Of all of its height, his legs were only two feet. Its hands were the size of melons and its skin was white. And its face? There was nothing. It was flat and voice of all features. The other one was just as tall but more legs than torso. It looked vaguely more human than the other but with hands just as big and a bit wider. Both of them were dressed like IKEA workers. "The store is currently closed, please exit the building" "Please exit the building, we are now closed."

The group stops running and Race continues to panic like wtf he’s such scaredy cat. Smalls is literally just playing on Spot’s switch right now in Specs’ arms while everything is happening.

The voice Davey and Race could hear is loud enough for everyone to hear now. It whisper-yells, "RUN!"

The group listens and runs again

The humanoid figures faded behind the corner but one of them snapped their head in the direction of the group. "The store is currently closed, please exit the building" "Please exit the building, we are now closed."

Davey tells everyone to shut up again as if that’s gonna be any help

Race runs into a shelf

Specs makes fun of him

Davey forces Race to keep moving

The sounds of pounding footsteps came up behind them: the humanoids were running.

Spot stops running and instead charges at the humanoid workers, screaming at the top of his lungs with a frying pan. Who knows where he got it cause I don’t 

Race screams so much he's literally like a little girl but he manages to muffle it and grabs onto Davey for dear life

Specs grabs a castiron skillet

Another large figure jumped down from one of the shelves, landing squarely on the mostly torso humanoid on all fours. No one could make out what creature it was, but one of the humanoids were down. The other kept charging the group. "Please exit the building, we are now closed."

Spot and Davey each try to attack the IKEAN but miss

The IKEAN misses its attack on Spot as well

Specs and Race both try to attack as well, both of them missing

Spot was close with his next attack but the IKEAN dodged out of the way just in time

Davey misses

The IKEAN misses Spot again

Specs aims for the IKEAN’s head with his skillet

Specs hits

IKEAN took 1 damage

Race misses

Spot misses

Davey finds a pan lying around and tries to hit the IKEAN with the pan

Davey hits

IKEAN took 3 damage

The IKEAN turns on Davey and swings at him

It hits

Davey took 4 damage

Specs lands another hit with a different pan

IKEAN took 3 damage

Race tries to swipe at the humanoid’s throat with his knife

Race completely misses and the humanoid actually swats him away, sending him sailing back towards where the creature is tearing into the other humanoid

Spot attacks the IKEAN again

Spot hits

IKEAN took 5 damage

Davey lands another hit

IKEAN took 6 damage

Specs successfully hits the IKEAN again

IKEAN took 3 damage

Spot missed again, just barely missing the humanoid

Davey missed again

The IKEAN misses Spot again

Whatever was mauling the other humanoid seemed to be barely paying attention. In fact, it barely registered that one of the humanoids arms got flung at Race who was now only a couple feet away.

Race is SHOOK TM and stares at the creature

The creature looked up, green, cat-like eyes somehow barely reflecting the light from Smalls' fire. When it made eye contact with Race, it darted away, disappearing in the dark and leaving the dead humanoid.

Race tries to communicate with the creature but it’s gone by the time he talks

Spot is running around the IKEAN making it dizzy and look stupid

The voice comes back to Race. It says: “Run. Run while you can.”

The voice is then with Spot. “Aim for the neck.”

Spot gains advantage for the rest of the battle

Spot honestly just sucks and still can’t hit the IKEAN

Race is about to run

A pair of hands press against Race’s back and whispers to him, “Not yet.”

Spot jumps on the IKEAN’s back

Spot grabs it by the collar of it's shirt, riding it like a beautiful fucking horse, and hitting it with reckless abandon

Spot is basically just playing the drums though and the IKEAN throws him off

Davey throws another pan and it hits

IKEAN took 1 damage

From somewhere in the shelves, an arrow comes flying and lodges itself directly in the skull of the humanoid. It stops flailing around and stops talking in that kind voice before falling to the ground with a thud.

Checkpoint 2

Spot is on the ground just dying like damn son

Davey is running around asking if anyone needs healing

No, there is no Genji

Spot makes some clever comments and breaks the fourth wall

Race is all “What the fuck is that thing?” About the dead IKEAN

The arrow appears to be made out of some sort of stainless steel attached to some sort of wooden dowel. The feathers on the end weren't even feathers, instead crude pieces of paper somehow attached to the wood. It was clear through the thing's head.

Davey take the arrow

A weird goopy residue covers the entire arrow. It's also sticky and white have fun.

Spot kicks the IKEAN’s body

Race begins to wonder if it means someone is on their side. “But this means someone else is on our side, right?”

Davey questions who else could possibly be there. "Who would come in this hellhole? Other than us, because you're all idiots."

An arrow thunked into a box on a shelf right next to Smalls who probably didn't react.

Spot immediately grabs Smalls and protects them

Davey and Race are really suspicious about the arrows

As Race glanced towards the arrow, the same set of green cat eyes appears behind Smalls.

Spot pulls Smalls away and stares at the eyes

The eyes turn towards Spot, staring for a few seconds before closing and disappearing.

Davey and Race try to figure out what to do when the voice returns and says “Hide.”

Davey suggests they climb and they do

First, Spot tries to grab the arrow and follow the eyes but the arrow is gone and the eyes too

The group brushes it off and climbs higher into the shelves

Race is short and gets a boost from Davey and Spot pulls him up

Another arrow lands near them, this time nearly hitting Spot and jamming into another box.

Davey grabs the arrow and examines it

In the metal arrow tip, there was an engraving: J.K.

They make it to the top and sit around using the small flame for a light as well as Spot’s switch

Davey brings this to the attention of the group

Spot thinks it’s J.K. Rowling

It’s not

Davey hands Race the arrow

The eyes appear behind Race, almost as if looking at the arrow.

The group reacts quickly, Spot grabbing Race, Race squeaking and panicking, and Davey being confused because he’s blind or something

They talk to the eyes, learning that the voice belongs to them

The group learns that whoever the eyes belong to knows one of the members 

Davey tries to ask for its name but gets no straight answer

“You don’t know me.” It was a statement of fact, not a question. “You never did.”

Davey asks if it knows who J.K. is

“A friend.”

Davey questions if the eyes want the arrow. It does.

Davey: "I don't mean to be rude, but why are you talking to us? We're not exactly useful."

The eyes narrowed but no more questions came. A hand reached out from behind Race to grab the arrow but they missed because Race happened to move it. It didn't answer Davey.

The group notices and Race squeaks like a little mouse again

The very human-like hand quickly pulled back, retreating into the darkness.

Spot is weirdly entranced in the cat eyes it’s pretty funny

Race asks what the eyes want and they reply with “Nothing.”

Davey figures out it’s lying

The eyes don’t tell the truth

Race: “We were being shot at ten seconds ago! I think we deserve some answers!” 

Another arrow landed in the box next to Race, all while the eyes stared at him. It had the same carving as the arrow Davey had.

Davey tries to make a deal with the eyes where they keep one arrow and give the other to the eyes

It fails

The eyes need them both

They come up with another deal

The two arrows for help and trust

The eyes ask how old everyone is and quickly starts to grow confused

Davey is 19

Race is 16 (Lied about being 18 but the eyes knew it was a lie)

Specs is 19

Smalls and Spot don’t answer

The eyes glanced around at the group, narrowing slightly. The voice seemed to have soften, a more human voice with confusion poking through. “That can’t be right.”

The group was confused

“You should be younger...” The hand took the arrow from Race without any hesitation and then the arrow from Davey.

Davey asks for the voice’s pronouns. They eyes don’t care.

The eyes disappeared

The group bickers some more

Spot tries to climb back down into the store

A hand grabs spot by the back of the shirt, reaching out from the darkness. “Don’t go down.”

Spot complains and asks why

“Be quiet and listen.” If they're quiet, the members can hear another faint voice of a worker.

The group goes quiet and listens and Race is a whiny little child and wants to go home

The slow thud of heavy footsteps passed below them. If they looked, they would see another white humanoid in an IKEA uniform.

The group is :o

The hand let go of Spot once the humanoid was gone. “Never go down in the dark.”

The group learns about the day and night cycle

"You stop telling time when you've been here this long."

Specs: "Is there anything we can use to tell how much time has passed, like if those things walk by on an hourly basis?"

"There is no rhyme or reason."

A small cat darts into the light illuminating the group. Green eyes gaze up at Davey. “You.” Yes, its mouth moved.

Davey: "Me?"

"What is your name."

Davey tells the cat his name.

The cat turned towards Race, its tail flicking. Its ginger fur seemed to stand out in the light of the flickering flame; an orange tabby. “And you?”

The cat makes its way around the group, its large green eyes illuminated by the light, just as piercing as the ones that followed the group around.

When the cat gets to Spot, Spot has a counter

Spot refuses to tell the cat his name unless he gets a name from the cat

The cat slithered back into the darkness, returning to a pair of eyes that were definitely far to high up to be right. “Why should I tell you?”

Spot: "Well, if you want my name so bad, I'd only be fair if I knew yours."  

The voice went silent for a bit before finally saying, “Talon.”

<End of Session One>

[bloodfcst-a]

Hey, y’all. Tumblr’s been setting off my anxiety in the last few days, thus the reason I’ve been away. I’ll give you a full explanation under the cut for those who are interested (though I’d really appreciate it if you all read it anyway), and provide some contact information for places you can find me.

Discord: conjure. ☆#6443 Twitch: ninabeanxo Twitter: mishtadelet

I’ve been kind of quiet on Discord lately & I’m the most active on Twitter. I also announce when I’m streaming on Twitter, so... yeah. Sorry about this.

I want to be here. I really do. But there’s something about the summers on Tumblr that are really hard on me. I also think people’s attitudes change & idk why, but people seem to treat me pretty rudely? I try so hard to be approachable, to be kind and positive and supportive, but the amount that people try to take advantage of me or are just plain rude to me is?? So wild. So for those reasons, I’ve just kind of been isolating myself lately, and I may seem a little distant/less approachable/not talking much about myself because tbh... some of y’all are just haphazardly setting off my anxiety / panic attacks and I seriously can’t do it. I already have PTSD, so it’s a fucking nightmare lmao.

There is no gentle way of saying this, but it really needs to be stated. Please respect my triggers, or I will not talk to you. Please respect if I ask you not to mention something or someone to me.

and this is a really big one....

Please respect my boundaries.

If I have mentioned to you that I am not vibing with someone, do not send me media of them / that includes them, do not ask me about ships with them, do not tag me in posts of / with them, and please stop asking me about group verses / affiliated servers. In my time on tumblr, I’ve dealt with theft, bullying, emotional abuse, sexual harassment & solicitation. I’m constantly asking myself ‘ Why me? ’ but more than that, I’m really trying to avoid further situations from happening. I haven’t found an answer. I’m guessing it’s ‘cause I’m soft / nice? idk. Stop ruining a good thing. Y’all are gonna make me bitter, dang. 

When I made this blog, I was explicit that I do not want to be in mainstream FF fandom. When I promo this blog, I even say primarily fandomless & canon-divergent. There is way too much messiness in the fandom, extremely toxic people & tendencies there, and I just don’t like fandom discussion. Regardless of my reasons, the point is that I’m not interested, so please stop trying to entice me to go back. It’s so blatantly rude & shows you think your interests & wishes are more important than my comfort level, and I don’t appreciate that sentiment in the slightest.

That being said, I know Yufi reads differently. That’s why I put so much work into her metas. I even have two tags for all the content. At some point I’ll even have a less minimalistic blog & with more links so it’s super accessible ( in the off chances searching for the ‘  meta ’ and ‘ kisaragi ‘ tags don’t work ). But in the meantime... ask questions. Read. Join a stream. I’ve literally streamed games & movies for folks privately & occasionally stream now. I actually started a new file of VII not too long ago and just got Yuffie, so I could literally have a gameplay stream where we go through canon together. I’m like... nearly begging. Don’t make assumptions.

Again, there are so many resources. There’s wikis, there’s the tags, there’s the inbox ( just ask! ), there’s streams, there’s gameplay & commentary videos, there’s stuff. If you are confused or unsure, I would much rather you reach out. This is regardless of how long I’ve known you, ‘cause some of us have known me for a while and still don’t know anything about me or my portrayal or how to interact, in- or out-of-character.

On the topic of assumptions (because it really is that important, so many issues stem from assumptions & you continuously making the wrong assumptions will leave me less inclined to speak with you, nevermind interact), let’s address some.

I do not write a hyper-sexualized muse. I know this is fanon because of her choice in clothes... however, clothes are a fashion choice, and do not reflect a person’s... existence? I don’t know if it’s the masculinity or the rape culture or what but... what she’s wearing does not mean she deserves any hypersexual treatment... and also as an extension, myself ( bc this happens way too frequently-- please stop seeing my muse and then approaching me about your personal sexual fantasies. It is extremely uncomfortable, as someone who is sex-neutral & demiromantic, to be randomly selected to talk about sex? with me personally? via my muse? Or about my muse when we have zero chemistry? Why do y’all think this is okay??). When I do choose to write sexual / nsfw content, it’s always after conversations ( plural!! ) with my writing partner & after I feel comfortable with the topic and with them. But even if I had her hoein’ it up on the dash, that doesn’t mean to make assumptions about her character (bc maybe there’s character motivations I need to write a meta for & it’s part of her background) or me (the mun is not the muse!! say it with me!!).

I do not write a kleptomanic. Again, this is entirely fanon, because Yuffie says in literally everything she’s mentioned in that she does not steal without a purpose-- and the highest purpose is that she’s stealing items that would restore the power and glory of Wutai or for her personal safety. However, I very rarely write theft... I try really hard to steer clear of the topic because I’m aware that it’s like the #1 thing she’s reduced to. She’s a thief class, yes, but that is not the only dimension to her. I could go on, but I think that’s enough.

Just because our characters share canon does not mean they’re going to have chemistry. I am canon-divergent. But not only that... Yuffie just doesn’t vibe with most people as a canon fact. She is an outsider to like... 99% of people, exclusion being Godo ( Wutai ) & the Turks & the WRO. She doesn’t even claim herself as a member of AVALANCHE. Not only this, but the dynamic she has with one Reeve or Cloud does not represent every duplicate-- that comes with plotting and with chemistry. We will have to plot & work together to figure out exactly how our versions of characters mesh. This is a collaborative hobby.... so the collaborating shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. 

If you come guns-a-blazin’ without clearly having read anything about my portrayal, with completely inaccurate characterizations & just assume because we’re friendly out-of-character I’m gonna be pleased with it.... you’re dead wrong. I’m actually just... a very kind and nice person. I may just gently offer you some suggestions or corrections. But if you repeatedly come with your assumptions &  pre-conceived notions and it’s clear you’re not paying literally any attention to me or my ideas about my portrayal...  I’ll probably just recommend you to another duplicate. I know one who stole a ton of my content & former friends, so you’ll be in good hands. 

If you’re here, I assume that you want to write with me, not the idea of me. I’m a person with feelings & interests too, y’know ?? I feel like somehow that’s easy to forget with me for some reason, given how often people feel inclined to overstep my boundaries & act so disrespectful to me. Which is... fucking wild, honestly !! I’ve even had a person deadass say to my face “ I didn’t think/know you’d want to be treated with appreciation and respect. ” What the actual fuck does that mean? What kind of dominant abuser mentality ??????? Y’all on this site stress me out!!

The last two weeks have been legit stupid stressful on me, and I’ve had some interpersonal changes with folks in the last month (mainly in private) all regarding these subjects. About people here feeling entitled to be rude to me & finding all sorts of justifications for it (I’ve heard everything from “my grandma was sick” to “work’s hard”-- what’s that gotta do with you curb stomping me & my ideas/feelings, and telling me my emotions aren’t relevant in comparison to yours? It doesn’t). And it’s just been weighing down on me a lot. I don’t usually go on main here to discuss issues like this, but because it’s been OVERWHELMING in the last few weeks (and also, bc being nice to everyone is kinda common sense ? and idk why folks here seem to think I’m excluded from the ‘everyone’???), it just seemed like now, while I’m isolating a bit in an attempt to focus on some self-healing, would be a great time to discuss things.

I know this was a long post... but there’s been a lot of injustices done to me on here & in life, so....... if it burdens you to read all this, imagine how shitty it feels to have to experience it. Yeah. It’s rough, pals.

I don’t know how to really end this post godhsaohof. I’m hoping this will kind of open someone’s eyes & like... maybe things will change. I’ve stated before, but I have chronic illness so I really can’t handle stress or, for lack of a better term, a lot of bullshit tbh. If you wouldn’t say it to someone with a dying illness or cancer or a soft sweet grandma, don’t say it to me. Because that’s literally me! I’ve got an illness I’m dying from & I’ve had cancer & I’m soft and sweet! tl;dr, stop being so mean to me dang. I didn’t do anything to deserve this.