#damage soulmate

[cloudpalettes]

art conservator meets the hottie from the damaged painting 🎨

[dazachi]

Chuuya can understand Dazai so well because his mind is actually similar to Dazai's.

These two understand each other the most. They "hate" the other because they can see hints of themselves in each other. It is why they are convinced in the other's humanity when they question it on themselves. It's why they don't do much talking and yet arrive to the same conclusions. It's why they work so well. They're different in so many aspects on the surface, but deep inside, they know it's like looking in the mirror.

They don't have to agree, but they do understand the thought process BECAUSE they've thought of it before.

They probably rarely had to talk beyond short arguments because they don't need to talk to know what the other is thinking. They always agree at times when it mattered the most.

"Soulmates" is the only possible definition for these two because there's no better way to describe them.

[xxbottlecapx]

I liked your post about Steve having focal seizures and Eddie figured it out because he happened to be familiar with them because of past experiences, but tbh Robin seems like she could also be someone who could pin that down. We've seen her talk about medical stuff before, specifically with the rabies rant, but I'd like to think she often looks at conditions and she finds them morbidly interesting. Can I get a version where Robin is the first to notice? I'm thinking Billy caused them, but they happen seldom until the Russians make them worse, so she notices something but doesn't piece together that he's not just being stupid until after the Russians, but you can decide how you want to do it if you even decide to

You are absolutely right. I’m not entirely proud of how this came out but this is what I got, I hope it’s okay 💜💜

1985 scoops ahoy, before the fire. 

Robin didn’t know much about Steve Harrington. 

Well, that was a lie. She was a people watcher, after all. Robin knew a lot about Steve Harrington. She knew he had been the self proclaimed (Tommy-proclaimed) King of Hawkins High. That is, until Billy Hargrove smashed his face in and Steve started rolling around with a band of middle schoolers. His downward spiral had started with Nancy Wheeler and ended with Billy Hargrove (and Jonathan was, she had been told, somewhere in the mix.) 

Steve was bad at school but good with people, bad at reading but good at speaking, bad at instruments but good with sports. Good at making friends but bad at keeping them. 

He had graduated alone. No one was there with him when he left Hawkins high that final time. As far as Robin was aware, no one seemed to care when he left at all. Robin only noticed because she was a people watcher. She liked to know things. She liked to know things about people in any way she could. At first it had just been her wanting to mimic whatever it was that King Steve did that made Tammy Thompson like him, but it quickly became a fascination. She couldn’t even tell you why. But the longer she watched him, the more intrigued she got. Especially after Billy Hargrove. 

Either way, no matter what she did or did not know about Steve Harrington; The Steve Harrington she knew of from highschool was definitely not the Steve Harrington that applied to Scoops Ahoy. 

“Hi, uh, I’m- Steve,” The King Steve said. He was wearing the proper Scoops Ahoy Gear, but his hat was one backwards. 

Robin hadn't been told she was getting a new coworker. Yesterday, Daksha seemed absolutely fine. But today she was gone. And in her place was the former King Steve, in all his lack of glory. 

“What about Daksha?” Robin said instead of greeting him in kind. He hadn’t been a nice guy. Never picked on her specifically, but Tommy sure did. 

Steve doesn’t seem miffed by her deferral. 

“Who?” 

Robin rolls her eyes, grabs his hat to put it on him correctly, and hands him Daksha’s scooper. It was bright pink, bedazzled. She expected some sort of denial but Steve only holds the scooper so stiffly she thinks he might break the handle. 

“I’m Steve.” He blinked rapidly. 

Robin crossed her arms, leaning against one of the tubs of icecream that she liked to steal from when her manager, Kanan, wasn’t looking. She wondered if he would tell on her. 

“Yeah, I know” 

“Sorry, sorry, who-“ he squinted at her, then shook his head and pulled in his shorts. They were definitely too short for him. “Who are you?” 

Robin thinks about the name tag on her shirt in bright teal. “Moira.” 

“Nice. Uh. What do I do?” Steve takes it in stride, wandering around the room without any deemed purpose. He swallows hard once, twice, and follows Robin as she opens up shop. She makes him sweep the floor three times and he doesn’t complain once. 

Eventually, she has to turn the closed sign around. “Use that Harrington charm to get more tips.” She tells him when he just blinks at her some more. “I’ll handle scooping for now.” 

Robin is a people watcher. She learns that a few things on her Steve Harrington list need an upgrade. 

The Steve Harrington from Scoops Ahoy was nothing like Steve Harrington from Hawkins High. For one thing, that Harrington charm? Didn’t exist anymore. 

This is how the You Rule, You Suck board is born. 

“Why’s there a scar in your head?” She asks him, about a month into working together. 

“Uh- got in a fight.” Is all she gets. She stares at his shaking hands, and doesn’t mention it again. 

She doesn’t have to, it seems, because the middle schoolers that follow Scoops Steve around like a flock of confused ducklings are very quick to sing his praises. 

“You know Billy Hargrove?” Dustin asks one day. He’s hiding in the break room with her. A dude had been hitting on her for weeks so whenever she sees him, Steve takes his order and Robin flees. She sits on the table and stares intensely on the bundle of bananas right next to her. They’ve become Steve’s favorite food. 

“Who doesn’t?” She says in answer. Robin was, after all, still in school. 

She hasn’t known Dustin long, and she doesn’t really understand how or why Steve likes him so much, but she does know that Dustin can talk for hours. 

“I heard you asking Steve about that scar on his head. Billy, he had a thing against Lucas dating his sister,” Dustin starts, and Robin sighs before hanging herself half off the table despite her clear interest. She couldn’t let Dustin find out he had gotten her attention. 

“Because Lucas is black, so Max and I and Lucas were hiding at his house- for unrelated reasons, and Steve had to fight Billy or Billy was gonna kill Lucas.” 

Robin sits up so quickly she almost throws up. 

“It wasn’t good. Billy slammed his head in the ground a lot and hit him with a plate. We thought Steve was dead but then Max drugged Billy so we got out all right.” Robin isn't even able to process that information before Dustin is walking out the backdoor that leads to the theater. “I don’t even think Steve went to the hospital after.” 

It’s that last line that makes Robin look just a little bit harder, later in that day, when Steve’s hand is trembling too much for him to write on the chalkboard. 

And that faint fascination that Robin had previously had on King Steve quickly hopped like a flea on to Scoops Steve. 

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

There are many things that Robin knew about Scoops Ahoy Steve. 

She knew he had a favorite scooper- one that was just a little larger than the rest, with a different type of handle. Easier to hold, he said. 

She knew he couldn’t read what was on the menu, and that when she made him write their Scoop Of The Day on the chalkboard, the words didn’t always make sense (sometimes there wouldn't even be letters, just scribbles). 

She knew he couldn’t charm a girl to save his life, and sometimes when he spoke, the words didn’t make sense. She knew that sometimes his hands couldn't grab things (usually only for a minute at a time) and he liked to stare into space until she had to wack him upside the head.  

She also knew that Scoops Steve was very likely her best friend. Robin of a few months ago would have rioted at the very thought. But he was funny, and really nice, if a little confusing sometimes. He loved his little gremlin children and let her talk about her favorite interests that no one else was interested in (like zoonotic diseases, the differences in grammar structures in certain languages, and the central nervous system) 

Like Dustin said; A little dumb, slow on the uptake, but kind. 

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

Robin knows a lot about Steve Harrington. Things that she knows no one else knows. 

She knows that he purposefully harassed the Russian guards so they would beat him instead of her. She knows he spent his senior year fighting monsters, probably also did it before that. She knows that for all that confidence Steve exudes, he is achingly lonely. She knows that despite Steve not knowing anything about the queer community, his first instinct isn’t to belittle her, but to crack jokes to make her laugh. Even high off his ass, his immediate response was to try and make her feel better. The popular, rich, straight white guy treated her better in that moment than anyone else she had ever met. 

Most of all, she knows what it feels like to lay bleeding in an underground Russian bunker and believe, if only for a second, that Steve is dead. 

1986, Family Video, before Vecna. 

Robin grabbed a Terry’s Bitz bar from the candy section up front and tore into it. She hadn’t been able to eat at school. Every once in a while she would somehow get reminded of the Russian elevators and all that untapped trauma would leak out of her. Steve was, at this point, her emotional support human, and she really wished he hadn’t graduated, just like that guy Eddie Munson in her band class. She doubted she would ever get to talk to that one, though. 

She could hear Steve mumbling where the fuck am I? At the register before turning around and ducking under the register to grab at a fallen tape. 

“That one goes in the aisle with the pink stickers.” Robin reminds him. She had put small colorful stickers on each row of shelves because Steve had a hard time distinguishing what she wanted if she just said aisle three. 

Steve stared into space for a moment before nodding and walking that way with the tape, his left hand making a fist, relaxing, making a fist again. 

As always, Robin follows Steve around even when she isn't scheduled to work that day. It just means she gets to hang out with her best friend and laugh at him when he has to organize shelves by himself, taunting him about her Freedom. She does her biology homework behind the counter, staring at a map of the musculoskeletal system. 

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

There are a lot of differences between Scoops Ahoy Steve and Family Video Steve. 

Scoops Ahoy Steve couldn’t write legible sometimes, maybe 2 times a week. Family Video Steve couldn't write anything legible sometimes too, but five times a week instead of 2. Robin knows because she’s counted. 

Scoops Ahoy Steve didn’t get migraines (only headaches). Family Video Steve did. Scoops Ahoy Steve didn't throw up three times a week the way Family Video Steve did. Scoops Ahoy Steve didn't see the need to join Robin’s Yoga class offers the way Family Video Steve very easily caved into it. 

Don’t get her wrong- there are good differences, too. Family Video Steve will casually joke about her stealing his dates in a way Scoops Ahoy Steve didn't. Family Video Steve shared secrets with her, was more patient, acted less like a mom and more like an annoyed brother. Family Video Steve could admit he had a massive crush on the guy that ran the Hellfire club, who he's never talked to since he only sees him when he picks Dustin up (and of course, pretends to hate him). Family Video Steve, somehow, was even more of a best friend than Scoops Ahoy Steve. 

And Robin was a people watcher. That faint fascination she had taken to King Steve was now focused full-fledged on Family Video Steve. Her best friend. Her favorite person in the world, who sometimes forgot where he was, sometimes had bouts of confusing emotions he didn’t know how to deal with, moments where he struggled getting words past his lips, and trembling hands and legs that sometimes made him drop the tapes he organized at Family Video. 

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

I tried to get Steve to help me with my math homework, she had heard Dustin say. but I don’t know what this says.

You could have asked me, doofus. Steve can’t write for shit. Was Erica's reply. 

Robin knows that they don’t know that Steve heard them. This is also how she knows that it must be a bad day. Steve can write, she’s seen him do it, it’s just hard on other days. And his emotions can make things worse. She knows it’s going to be a bad day not because of Steve’s writing, but because she knows he heard Dustin and Erica say it. 

Robin was a people watcher. She knows that Steve’s picked up on whatever it is that changed him. Maybe he hadn’t, before the Russians, but she did. She knew him before the illegal drugs and head trauma that changed Scoops Steve to Family Video Steve. When she looked back, and remembered King Steve, even more differences were apparent. 

Despite the party’s claim that they were all baby geniuses, none of them have picked up on it. It didn’t make sense. But then Robin tried to think harder, use her deduction skills. 

Steve had protected these kids for years. They called him their mother. Children often can’t find fault with their parents. Sure, the party was old enough to start seeing it, but trauma can affect young minds in really confusing ways. It was very possible that the upside down had hurt their little group of freshmen (and Erica) in ways they couldn’t see. OCase in point- their protector, Steve, was different now. It’s possible they were, deep down, afraid of what it would mean if there was more change added to their traumatically changing lives. Steve was a pillar to them. More of a hero of stories than man.

So she tries to give them a pass. She really does. But she sees the look on Steve’s face when Dustin says it. Steve would never admit it, but Dustin and Erica were his favorites. Robin knew that what they thought mattered more than anything. Anyone else making jabs at Steve’s intelligence washed off him like he was covered in healthy duck feathers. And Steve wasn’t an idiot the way they thought he was. Your ability to hand-write or speak didnt dicacte your intelligence. They were just teenagers who hadn’t been taught that yet. 

Dustin and Erica weren’t inherently malicious. She knew they weren’t. She would just have to find a way to show the party that Steve wasn’t an idiot.

Of course, only three days later, a cheerleader dies in a drug dealer's basement, and her whole world is torn apart. 

1986, Borders Book Store, after Vecna. 

Robin couldn’t take it anymore. On her day off, she rushes to the library, which had very narrowly escaped the Vecna-induced earthquake. It had taken 2 weeks to kill him properly, but they had done it. That didn’t mean the town was allowed to quickly forget, though. 

Luckily for Robin and Steve, so many people moved away that there were multiple job casings still open. This was good because Steve got fired 2 times and whenever Steve got fired, Robin left too. Despite his very clear pros (like being a chick magnet) other places of employment didn’t fit him. 

Anyways. Robin checks herself into the cramped biological sciences section. She takes out a list of symptoms written on ratted yellow lined paper from her back pocket, and she starts to read. 

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

“What?" Steve replies, later, when she comes to him with an improvised list and a stolen library textbook. 

“Please, just listen.” She begged. They were on the floor, behind the counter of their current workplace. Sometimes if the streetlights were flashing, they’d get too scared to go home and just spend the night here. “It explains everything.”

“I can't- no, Robin.” He crossed his arms, then held himself in a tiny ball. His shoulders hunched in on themselves. “I know what a seizure looks like.” He whispered. 

“You know what one type of seizure looks like.” Is Robin’s rebuttal. “There are so many different kinds.” 

Steve swallowed hard once, twice, his left hand clenched and unclenched a few times. He nods, and lets her open the book. 

And öh, but of course, Sources 

Steve’s favorite food being bananas comes from this site, sometimes bananas help with epileptic seizures https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5855373/

Some of Steve’s symptoms come from here https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seizure/symptoms-causes/syc-20365711

Some tips for what to do when someone has a seizure https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/conditions/seizure-care

One of Robin’s special interests is the central nervous system,  which houses the brain, which is typically where seizures come from/originate. https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/brain-nervous-system.html

80’s Candy references, I cant promise you these were available in Indiana so just ignore that if they weren’t https://www.eightieskids.com/greatest-chocolate-bars-1980s/5

Steve’s spasms in his hands during seizures are caused by the connection of the brain to the musculoskeletal system, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14526-musculoskeletal-pain 

Steve self-rehabilitates himself with Yoga, it's a recommended exercise use for seizure patients https://lonestarneurology.net/blog/physical-activity-in-epilepsy/

I don’t know how libraries work since I’ve never been to one so if there’s inaccuracies, ignore it 

And of course, If my interpretation of a focal seizure is inaccurate, I do apologize. this one was a bit more general in the 'brain damage' section, though.

[churchandstateofbeing]

sometimes love is watching someone lose all of the money your boss gave you for chefs tools at a casino and then immediately volunteering to lose a bunch of your own items in exactly the same way just because he’s convinced you that it’s a good idea

[bisexual-steveharrington]

listened to Damage Gets Done by Hozier with the Stobin platonic soulmates goggles on and now I'm crying

[a-rivederlestelle]

kinda feeling like i'll never be over all of the parallels in imogen and laudna relationship and in their arcs, all of the coincidences?? and episode 37 just brought so much of it together even more???

imogen and laudna, both farmgirls who grew up so lonely. ostracized for inherent powers they didn't understand and had no resources to learn about. both then haunted by external powers they don't understand, but cannot escape. (spoilers under the cut)

imogen, isolated because she hears everything from the people around her, knowing they're often not what they claim.

laudna, isolated because everyone is scared of her because she is undead, never caring to know who she really is.

but then, across decades and continents, they meet. imogen, who can hear laudna's kindness and believes in her heart. laudna, who had dealt with stranger, more malicious magics and knows what a voice in her head with ill-intent is actually like.

imogen's nightmares plague her openly, laudna buries hers deep inside.

laudna offers to enter imogen's nightmares, her trauma, with her. "no one should have to walk into the storm alone."

but then laudna dies. and imogen believes it is her fault. and she admits, of her own powers and marks, "as soon as i realized i could defend, like when i defended laudna when she came to town, it was proof that i was stronger than i thought i was. but now, it just feels like evidence."

laudna dies. and to save her, imogen travels with their friends across cities and continents and planes of existence to find her, to fight for her.

imogen walks through laudna's nightmares, her trauma, without her. calling to her, the only one able to hear these fragments of her. "we're gonna get you home, okay? we're here now. we'll help."

imogen asks if laudna can get free of the tree and laudna says, "i think that'll depend on you, darling."

imogen, narrowly being missed by what absolutely would have been the last hit against her, raises her hands and her eyes flash white and she uses this power that is both her strength and her burden, this power that put laudna in this danger in the first place, this power that she has time and time again used to defend laudna, to protect her, and she deals the final blow to the tree, to delilah, and frees laudna's soul.

[kelbzsstuff]

Anyone for an emotional edit

[teecupangel]

I’m desperately need your thoughts on a possible idea but I’m not sure if I wanna commit. Desmond somehow finds his way to Altairs time, specifically right before Abbas begins his takeover and Des manages to save Sef and Malik. Fast forward to everyone’s return, Maria and Darim are like oh my god you’re alive and Altair is like oh my god *blushing*

Obviously Maria is cool with a third (inspired by Maria/Giovanni/Des). Altair is still in love with her but a different love than what’s going on with Des, and Sef and Darim don’t know how to cope that their father is in love and actively having sex with a man significantly younger than they are.

Bonus idea* this is the same universe as your The Relentless Pleasurable Suffering of Desmond Miles on AO3 and Darim is just ranting about everything and Sef is just sweating in the background while Des stares at him from across the yard.

Let’s set up the AC setting first, since you wish to set this after Darim assassinated Genghis Khan, we’ll have to deal with the following:

Desmond’s place in Masyaf while Altaïr and the others are away

How Abbas’ coup affects the Levantine Brotherhood as a whole

Now, we can just chuck Desmond right as Abbas finalizes the details of his coup. However, in this scenario, Abbas’ influence had been festering for a very long time now.

For his coup to be successful, he must ensure that Altaïr and his allies would be discredited to some degree beforehand.

And he has a good idea on how to do it: Altaïr’s Apple and history.

The Apple is self-explanatory at this point and I do enjoy making use of it in some of my fics, like in The Second where Abbas pretty much outright states that Altaïr is hoarding the Apple’s secret for himself.

So let’s focus on how Abbas could push others to his side by using Altaïr’s history. His main points would be:

He went rogue before and assassinated people without the permission of a Rafiq or Al Mualim (an oversimplification of what happened in Altaïr’s Chronicles)

He had failed a very important mission that led to the death of a brother and it’s only by Al Mualim’s mercy that he wasn’t killed for his failure (AC1)

He killed Al Mualim without real proof of his treachery (AC1 - this would gain him the support of those who still believed Al Mualim did nothing wrong)

He spent years away from Masyaf when he should be there, being the mentor they needed during a time of change (End of Bloodlines when he joined Maria in her travels)

Abbas would also whisper poisoned words to the Assassins who feel that their work isn’t being valued enough as the Levantine Brotherhood is structured more on the side of meritocracy. Also, at this point, there are many Assassins who are too young to remember Malik as one of the more promising Assassins in the field before Jerusalem happened. These ones would be those weak in spirit that Abbas could whisper about how Malik became the acting mentor because of his close friendship with Altaïr. Why else would they choose such a man as Malik instead of other Assassins to act as the mentor, considering what he ‘lacks’? It doesn’t matter that Malik has done more for the Brotherhood than most of them. It doesn’t matter that he has lost so much for the Brotherhood.

What mattered was that Malik is stuck taking care of what should have been Altaïr’s job high up the office while Abbas was the one on the grounds, having enough time to observe which Assassin could be turned to his side.

What about Sef then? Sef has a very deliberating factor against him. He’s Altaïr’s son. Considering his age and his current position in the Brotherhood by the time his family left for Genghis Khan, we would be around 19~20 years old when he took the role of Malik’s second-in-command. Whether this is an official position or does not matter. Sef’s high standing in the Brotherhood could be taken as another evidence of why Altaïr doesn’t deserve to be the mentor: nepotism and favoritism. If we include the idea that Malik and Sef were having an affair like in The Relentless Pleasurable Suffering of Desmond Miles, you bet there are going to be rumors about their secret affair as well which will make some of the more conservative Assassins balk.

Abbas might even stoke the flames himself.

The main reason why I spent time dealing with all that setup is that I promise that Desmond managed to save Sef and Malik (and their allies including Rauf because it’s implied his ‘sickness’ had been orchestrated by Abbas) because he immediately went to Masyaf the moment he got kicked into this time period. Desmond easily got into Malik’s office thanks to the ‘borrowed’ Assassin robes he got from the nearest bureau he found before making the trip to Masyaf and he tries to play it off like he had been made aware of a coup.

Malik isn’t stupid. He knows Desmond is not saying everything he knows but he cannot dismiss his claims as well. But, if what Desmond is saying is true, then he needs to see what can be done first.

In this case, nothing could be done.

Abbas’ claws had dug too deep into the very foundation of Masyaf itself at this point. Desmond was simply too late and the tides of change are already on their way.

What they are left with is to either hold their ground or go with the tides.

Malik chooses the later. Because he believed that Altaïr will be able to turn the tides once he returned.

Also, he cannot… he will not risk the lives of their remaining allies and their families just on the chance that they can survive the tides.

Especially his new born son and…

Sef…

(Sidenote: in this scenario, let’s make Malik’s wife his beard who knows about the affair. Hell, let’s make them each other’s beard. Malik and Sef are having an affair and they married two women who loved one another. They planned for their children to all grow up as siblings.)

So Malik gets their allies out of Masyaf. Send some of them faraway missions. Get their families to leave Masyaf to ‘visit’ relatives. Rauf’s declining health got him to send him and his family somewhere else with an explanation of ‘there’s a doctor there who might be able to help’.

Of course, Abbas isn’t stupid. He sees this happening and knows something’s up. He’s not sure just how much Malik knows but he is sure Malik knows something.

So he accelerates the timetable.

This makes it easier for Malik to see his moves though. It comes to a head where both of them tipped their hands: Abbas arranged a late meeting at night. The following dawn, Malik and Sef’s family leaves Masyaf (together with Sef).

So Abbas makes his move. No fancy false charges. No assassination attempts.

He and his coconspirators take Masyaf.

Of course, with such a blatant takeover, there are more Assassins who would not like this. Not enough to push them back as Malik had made sure the ones they are sure are allied with them were far away in Masyaf already.

(It would be later on that Altaïr would ask him why he did not simply do the opposite. Why not have Abbas’ allies be the ones sent away from Masyaf. To that, Malik would answer, “To contain a festering wound, you cut off the limb before it infests the rest of the body. Masyaf’s wound has festered far too long to be saved. Not by me.”)

And Malik was the only person truly loyal to Altaïr left in Masyaf. Everybody else was either on Abbas’ side or those who didn’t care either way.

Just as Malik planned.

Because this way, Abbas would have a prize. Abbas’ anger and thirst for vengeance would be quenched even for just a bit.

And…

Malik was betting that his death would be enough for Altaïr’s eyes to finally be opened. For Altaïr to finally do what he should have done all those years ago when Abbas used the Apple during the burning of Al Mualim’s body.

For Altaïr to finally let go of his childhood hope that Abbas would finally see the truth and they could reconcile their shattered friendship.

Even if it wasn’t…

Malik was betting that Sef would avenge his death.

And that’s when Desmond comes in and saves him. Malik is unsure how Desmond was there when he specifically ordered Desmond to ride to Alamut to tell the Assassins there about Abbas’ plans and to ask for sanctuary for their allies.

Desmond did that… by sending a pigeon then keeping an eye on things in Masyaf all in an effort to find a good time to assassinate Abbas (didn’t work. Abbas had become too paranoid because of all the moves Malik had made).

Malik is the one who stops Desmond from killing anyone, tells him that doing so would further fracture the Brotherhood.

So they run.

They meet up with their allies in Alamut and that’s where they stay, sending pigeons to all the bureaus and other Brotherhoods about what has happened in Masyaf.

(And on this part a scene between Malik and Sef concerning Malik’s plan and Sef chewing him out for it)

And it’s in Alamut that Altaïr and the others go to after their mission was done.

Just enough time has passed that Desmond was able to store the important memories in the memory seals in Alamut for Altaïr to watch.

No matter what questions they ask Desmond, he refuses to answer any of their questions.

Because he wants to tell Altaïr first.

He wants Altaïr to be the one to know who he truly is.

More than anything, he wants Altaïr to be the one to decide his fate in this world he finds himself in.

Unorganized Notes:

We can go either way with how this pairing would work. Either we make this full on Altaïr/Desmond/Maria where Desmond becomes both of their lovers or this is more of a case of Desmond being Altaïr’s lover and having a close friendship with Maria.

If you prefer for Desmond to be Altaïr’s lover alone, it could be that Altaïr and Maria’s relationship had changed. They still love one another but they feel no urge for anything physical anymore. But Altaïr felt it once more for Desmond.

In this scenario, Altaïr and Desmond would start their relationship only when Maria gives her blessing. Before that, there’s gonna be pining on both sides that everyone could see.

Once they start their relationship, it’s gonna be tricky because Altaïr wouldn’t want to hide Desmond at all while Desmond would want to hide their relationship because he knows Abbas could use their relationship to further smear Altaïr’s reputation.

And that is when Altaïr decides to do what he had always been planning to do: retire.

There will be the 12th-century version of “Oh god, he’s finally having his midlife crisis” outrage, and the fact that Altaïr is doing this AFTER Abbas’ coup will be fanning the flames even more.

So they make a compromise that Altaïr will retire once they get Masyaf back but he also makes preparations for his final contribution: to push the Brotherhood back to the shadows.

At that point, the plot can either: focus on the plans to get Masyaf back or on Altaïr and Desmond’s developing relationship. (Pick one and the other one will become the background setup, kinda like plot B)

Darim and Sef would have an awkward relationship with Desmond. Darim more awkward than Sef as Sef would play off the awkwardness by joking “should we call you ‘father’ as well?”

Sef is honestly ‘oh okay’ son in this scenario because he is in a similar situation with Malik.

Oh yeah, Altaïr and Maria knew about their relationship BEFORE they went to assassinate Genghis Khan. They were just waiting for Sef and Malik to fess up.

They still gave them hell and Altaïr enjoyed giving the shovel talk to Malik just for the hell of it.

Malik turned the table on him later on by saying that, since Desmond is technically an orphan (“He’s an adult, Malik.” “Who needs someone to keep an eye on him and it’s certainly not going to be you. How much have you spent on the gifts you’ve given him this past month, hm?”), he gave Altaïr the shovel talk as well since he is the ‘adult’ (“Again, he’s an adult as well”) who had worked closely with Desmond the most.

I do have the habit of making Darim have a crush on Desmond so if you want Darim to be super awkward, make him have a crush on his father’s lover. XD

Darim ranting about Altaïr and Desmond’s relationship to Sef is funnier when you remember Darim knows Sef and Malik are secretly lovers. Darim had assisted Sef more than once in making sure Altaïr didn’t know about it so he’s ranting to Sef knowing Sef can relate to Desmond more than anyone in Alamut. He’s doing it on purpose to make his little brother squirm.

Maria would definitely have tea parties with Malik and Desmond. Desmond dubbed it the “Altaïr Support Club” and the name stuck.

If Maria is part of the pairings, pegging will be involved. Desmond would definitely be the most bottom of the three of them and there will definitely be scenes where Maria or Altaïr watches Desmond getting the life fucked out of him.

Also…………… kinky sex making use of the Apple’s hallucinations and mind control capabilities.

[smilysstuff]

Smily, pleasepleasepleeeeease can we have some more of the superpowers au?

It's only one post old and I'm already invested XD

Honestly the Superpowers AU is still in progress with a solid storyline, but I'd love to share small tidbits of the AU when I drew some more of it! Funfact : The Superpowers AU is actually a Soulmate timer au w/ powers 💀 I never really got to mention that because it'll sound weird without context.

The au is just one giant Tuckington fanfiction in disguise I'll tell you that. It originally started with "imagine, enemies to lovers Tuckington Soulmate au. BUT WITH SUPERPOWERS AND THEY ARE IN OPPOSING SIDES" I just went wild with this idea with a friend. But then I also went to have fun with the other characters in this AU too. I should definitely draw The Criminal!Reds and Blues with a pleased smile while in the background there's a burning Baskin Robbins. When I have the chance I'll share some more info bout this!

[lunod]

It's interesting how my platonic relationships tend to mean way more to me than any other kind of relationship. I have such a deep love for some people that I am not remotely romantically interested in and that love runs way deeper than much of my romantic relationships. Reverse aromantic. Divorcee mindset. Etc.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s5e16 dark side of the moon (w. andrew dabb, daniel loflin)

not knockin' on heaven's door 😥 this song breaks my heart already from how they used it in this scene:

s2e13 houses of the holy

SAM I don't know, Dean, I just, uh ... I wanted to believe ... so badly, ah ... It's so damn hard to do this, what we do. You're all alone, you know? And ... there's so much evil out there in the world, Dean, I feel like I could drown in it. And when I think about my destiny, when I think about how I could end up ... DEAN Yeah, well, don't worry about that. All right? I'm watching out for you. SAM Yeah, I know you are. But you're just one person, Dean. And I needed to think that there was something else, watching too, you know? Some higher power. Some greater good. And that maybe ... DEAN Maybe what? SAM Maybe I could be saved.

there's a reason i've only read a couple post-series set in heaven fics. emotional damage.

like jabbing every emotional soft spot i have with a stick

DEAN It’s okay, Mom. Dad still loves you. I love you, too. I’ll never leave you.

MARY You are my little angel. How 'bout some pie? Okay.

DEAN What?

SAM I just never realized how long you’ve been cleaning up Dad’s messes.

jfc dude. so sam's first memory is thanksgiving with some random girl's family, then his second is running away? guess we're poking dean's soft spots with a pointy stick too

DEAN Is this Flagstaff?

SAM Yeah. (He pets Bones.) Hey, boy.

DEAN This is a good memory for you?

SAM Yeah. I mean, I was on my own for two weeks. I lived on Funyuns and Mr. Pibb.

DEAN Wow.

SAM What?

DEAN Well, you don’t remember, do you? You ran away on my watch. I looked everywhere for you. I thought you were dead. And when Dad came home…

SAM Dean, look, I’m sorry. I never thought about it like that.

i didn't think it was possible for an episode to make me cry as much as that djinn episode but hey they did it. good job. what the fuck

DEAN Wait a minute. Wait a minute. This? This is the night you ditched us for Stanford, isn’t it? This is your idea of heaven? Wow. This was one of the worst nights of my life.

okay so. is this a plot point, someone trying to drive a wedge between them or something. because this is fucking awful.

DEAN C’mon! Your heaven is somebody else’s Thanksgiving. Okay. It’s bailing on your family. What do you want me to say?

fucking AWFUL.

latest thing i read in fic first and thought there was no way it was canon. soulmates.

ASH Mm-hmm. Yeah. See you got Winchesterland. Ashland. A whole mess of everybody-else-lands. Put them all together: heaven. Right? At the center of it all? Is the Magic Kingdom. The Garden.

DEAN So everybody gets a little slice of paradise.

ASH Pretty much. A few people share—special cases. What not.

DEAN What do you mean ‘special’?

ASH Aw, you know. Like, uh, soulmates. Anyway. Most people can’t leave their own private Idaho’s.

i missed ash. he was a fun character and his actor did a great job bringing him to life

ASH This ain’t the first time here. I mean, you boys die more than anyone I’ve ever met.

DEAN Really.

ASH Ah, yeah… you don’t remember. God! Angels. Must’ve Windexed your brain.

i'd always wondered about that, all those times they died before, what happened before they were revived.

my pamela. glad to see her too. little wary of the soft sell on saying yes to michael though

DEAN So he’s just going to sit back and watch the world burn?

JOSHUA I know how important this was to you, Dean. I’m sorry.

DEAN Forget it. Just another dead-beat dad with a bunch of excuses, right. I’m used to that. I’ll muddle through.

JOSHUA Except… you don’t know if you can, this time. You can’t kill the Devil, and you’re losing faith, in yourself, your brother, and now this?

a) whenever dean talks shit about dad i'm like DAMN STRAIGHT b) hopeless dean makes a self destructive dean, can we not again, please

great. cas is a hopeless mess too.

SAM We’ll find another way. We can still stop all this, Dean.

DEAN How?

SAM I don’t know, but we’ll find it. You and me, we’ll find it.

that was one thing i did look up in future seasons because i'd seen so much samulet fix-it fic. i always thought he tossed it in some random public trash, but this makes it even easier for sam to just pocket it.

Mama take this badge off of me I can't use it anymore It's getting dark, too dark to see I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door

Mama put my guns in the ground I can't shoot them anymore That long black cloud is comin' down I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door

[pencilandinks]

Ashley Rose

[seokmatthewz]

jakkkungz......

[shivasdarknight]

well this is gonna make me bawl like a little bitch

[catoscloves]

why is JP always forcing characters like klaus and caroline to be like 'stelena is love stelena is soulmates' like pls no

[theinactivefaniguess]

I'm finally getting to Impulse's episode, and. uh. The CCs really saw the lovey-dovey potential that Soulbound/Soulmate concept had and ran with it, huh. ... Is that a green light for us to run with it as well? Because if so... >:)