#i don’t know if it should be on the same map since they’ve kind of exhausted the possibilities of that with the two games

[luminousstardust]

i am so serious when i say that we need a third breath of the wild / tears of the kingdom game to round out the trilogy with zelda as the protagonist. we’ve watched link, not just throughout those games but for DECADES fight for zelda and hyrule over and over again. and especially in these last two games, zelda has proven to sacrifice just as much, if not more than him for link and hyrule. she literally already comes with built in light and time powers, too. give her a chance to journey on her own, and save link without having to sacrifice herself in the process, because it’s infinitely more interesting to watch her fight for him in the same way he’s fought for her for so long. to finally return the favor.

[piratefalls]

i've been back on my leverage bullshit for a hot minute now. in my effort to put off watching the season 2 finale of redemption (because watching the finale means the wait for a season 3 announcement has finally arrived and i'm not emotionally prepared for that) i dove deep into ao3. 

parker/hardison/eliot

The Two Weddings Job by HugeAlienPie

A year later, Sophie and Nate finally remember to get married. Looks like Eliot beat them to the punch.

The De-Pantsing of Alec Hardison by lynne_monstr

Hardison was used to fielding constant demands on the job. Crack the code. Trace the cash. Do the impossible. It was what he did. Take your pants off, well, that one was a bit unexpected.

I hope you that catch me (cause I'm already falling) by pipistrelle

Hardison said, "I didn't want to leave you behind."

Post "The Rundown Job".

The Romcom Jobs by samyazaz

Five times Parker, Hardison, and Eliot lived out romcom tropes for a con, and one time they found themselves in one for real.

So I'll Go by zahnie

Eliot's nightmares and insomnia are worse than usual, and after a job goes poorly, he decides his boyfriend and girlfriend would be happier without him. They disagree.

My Original Establishment by phnelt

Eliot was looking at the door like it was on fire. Half like he should run towards it, and half a look of danger. Alec knew the door wasn’t on fire, so the looks must be directed at the unassuming elderly white gentleman standing on the other side. He could have been anyone in faded blue jeans, button-up stretched over his pot-belly, cap covering what was probably pretty wispy hair. Now, Alec had seen a lot in his life and so he did not trust appearances. If Eliot thought this guy was dangerous, then Alec expected to see a bazooka come out of that man’s head any second.

“What’s the play?” Alec whispered, not moving.

Eliot swallowed. “I’m going to open it,” he said, not sounding certain at all.

Parker asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s my dad.”

Right Round by letsgostealafandom

Or: The Lengths That I Will Go To A Love Story in 100 parts

It's the Thursday that never ends.

your body is a war zone but you are not a ruin by postcardmystery

“Make me a sandwich,” Parker says, so he does.

“Cut the damn wire,” says Hardison, so he does.

“Jump,” says Parker, says Hardison, and he never needs to ask, “How high?”

safe as houses by thecanaryfalls

Parker and Hardison comfort Eliot, in their weird multimillionare-convicted-felons-who-are-planning-a-life-with-him kind of way.

Set right around The Rundown Job.

like a map of a place you’ve never been by bydaybreak

He knows it’d be so fucking easy, if he’d let himself. Because he’s easy for them, has been since that first job, since the day he hauled Hardison’s ass out of a building about to explode. It’d be so easy.

So he won’t.

Sandbox by balloonstand

Five world-class archeologists meet on a dig.

I say goodbye but mean hello by lynne_monstr

The Brew Pub is drowning in Christmas and Eliot’s pretty sure Parker’s idea of appropriate tree ornaments is going to get them all arrested. If that’s not bad enough, he’s been sleeping with Parker and Hardison, and in all the time they’ve been together he hasn’t once stuck around till morning.

He’s never come out and asked if he could stay, but they’ve never tried to stop him from leaving, either.

you, you hold my heart by zahnie

After a job goes sideways, Parker is captured by Moreau and loses the last five years of memories.

Winter Song (To You) by letsgostealafandom

Eliot sat up straight when the lights went out throughout the apartment.

the warmth of your doorways by gyzym

Don't let me in with no intention to keep me.

Odd One Out by thingswithwings

"We should talk about Eliot," Alec says, at the same time Parker says, "We should have sex in a hammock."

something good can work (and it can work for you) by queenklu

“When you say ‘we’re making dinner,'” Eliot finally says, “do you really mean ‘Hey you should come over and cook dinner for us so we don’t burn down the apartment?’”

Five (almost) kisses for luck, or something like it by SquaresAreNotCircles

Parker turns to him and he’s about to give her a boost to the balcony one story up, when she grins at him, six inches from being nose to nose. “Kiss for luck?”

Or: Luck is a fragile thing. Eliot fumbles to catch when Parker and Hardison irrationally keep throwing it at him.

Leave You with an Empty Room by zahnie

Parker runs.

places to land by bydaybreak

She thinks she knows what Hardison means when he looks at her with his eyes all soft; thinks she knows what Eliot means when he bites out “dammit, Hardison”; thinks she knows what either of them means when, after a job, Hardison tells them that he’s ordered dinner, or Eliot comes back to the loft and starts chopping things in the kitchen.

Marriage Vows by waterbird13

How each member says their unconventional wedding vows, never quite at the same time.

Something Different by butterflybooks

Sophie says, “Something’s different.”

And Parker says, “It’s probably the sex.”

But actually, a lot of things are different.

(One of them is the sex.)

First on the List by thingswithwings

While he's waiting for the men with the guns to decide what to do with him, Alec thinks about what he'll do if he gets home.

The ASPCA Job by james

Parker has a new job for them. Alec isn't sure this is what he signed up for.

The One Where There's a Kid by boxoftheskyking

Oh shit Hardison has a kid.

Pure fluff.

Live Through This by zahnie

Parker, Hardison, and Eliot are running a job as a favour to Nate and Sophie when Parker starts experiencing a time loop: the day of the heist over and over, resetting every time she dies.

places to land by bydaybreak

She thinks she knows what Hardison means when he looks at her with his eyes all soft; thinks she knows what Eliot means when he bites out “dammit, Hardison”; thinks she knows what either of them means when, after a job, Hardison tells them that he’s ordered dinner, or Eliot comes back to the loft and starts chopping things in the kitchen.

In Front Of God And The Oklahoma State Flag by leiascully

Eliot gets a letter containing his father's obituary. Hardison goes with him back to Oklahoma while Parker's out of town.

The Thanksgiving Dinner Job by phnelt

“Oh no,” Hardison groaned dramatically, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m so sorry you guys.” They’re sitting on the couch, Eliot and Parker are cleaning their knives -- Parker uses hers to mostly cut rope, Eliot’s mostly uses them to cut people -- and Hardison is sitting next to them with his laptop. It had been a pretty pleasant evening so far. Nothing seems to be immediately bleeding, or on fire, so Eliot’s reaction is maybe a little more muted that it would be if Parker said the same words. Eliot thinks about switching to high alert, but Hardison, as a rule, has no sense of proportion. He gets about this dramatic when they run out of orange soda.

“I have to host Thanksgiving for the family this year -- and no I can’t get out of it, I already checked.”

Or: Eliot cooks a turkey

safe as houses by pipistrelle

After a rough job, Eliot takes his team to ground to make sure they're taken care of. (And of course they return the favor.)

you do not have to be good. by coffeesuperhero

Come hell or high water, Eliot is going to figure this out.

the punchline to this by bydaybreak

The woman laughs, her eyes crinkling behind her silver cat-eye glasses. "You must be Eliot,” she says, cheerfully. “He warned me you were charming. Where is he?”

Eliot’s stomach drops as he realizes that this is a terrible fucking mistake, because this ain’t a random elderly woman showing up to collect cans or take up donations or whatever it is that elderly woman in weird fucking places like Portland do. This is Hardison’s nana, and Eliot has just opened the door to the apartment—to Hardison and Parker’s apartment—like he lives there.

Wanting and Having by argyleam, phnelt

So yeah. That’s one of about a million reasons why it couldn’t be Hardison. Moreau at least was a stone-cold killer; it would be the death knell if he let the nerd in the van be the one to fuck him. And he is starting to lose the illusion that if they got their pants off he’d want Hardison to do anything but fuck him, pin him down under those gangly limbs and fucking give it to him. He’s been thinking about it in the shower lately more than he wants to. It makes it kind of hard to be around Hardison, and Hardison is not good at picking up on stay-out-of-my-airspace signals, Hardison gets right up close, Hardison talks and talks and talks while Eliot is trying to concentrate. Hardison hugs. It’s annoying. Eliot keeps having to specify that Hardison should keep his long legs and broad shoulders and eminently grabbable ass over there, on the other side of the van. The whole thing’s giving Eliot a goddamn headache.

Some part of Eliot really likes that about the guy, that Hardison’s so up in his own head that he doesn’t bother to notice that Eliot’s a terrifying person. The part of Eliot that’s into that should probably be taken out and shot for poor basic judgment.

Fair Share by shaenie

Parker doesn’t have manners; she has mannerisms, some of them disturbing, some of them endearing, most of them strange.

and we'll take it slow by lady_ragnell

“We can’t really get married,” Parker says one night, and is really sorry she can’t see Hardison’s face in the dark, because he definitely drops something.

The story of the necklaces.

Thieves In Love by superthousand

Eliot Spencer's stuff has been going missing lately, and he knows who has it. But he has no damn clue why.

Guard Your Eggshell Heart by letsgostealafandom

Parker had a theory, and her theory was this: it made Eliot really happy when they noticed the things he did for them. It made Eliot happy when they made sure he knew they noticed the things he did for them. And when Eliot thought they didn't notice, it made him- not unhappy, but something worse, something like he knew that was all he could expect from anyone and he'd resigned himself to it a while back. Once she'd noticed it, she couldn't stop, and the realization of how often they took Eliot for granted made her stomach twist uncomfortably.

The Slow Slip by waterbird13

Parker and Hardison notice that Eliot is becoming way more forgetful than he used to be, which leads to some hard truths and adjustments for their little family.

--

pre/ends in ot3

The Tender Things That We Were Working On by lady_ragnell

Maybe they're not the Breakfast Club, but there's something about Saturday detention that seems to bond people together.

Rings a Bell by venilia

Eliot wakes up in the hospital missing a lot of his memories. He's pleased to discover that apparently he has a husband, and a Parker.

Meanwhile, Parker has feelings, and knows she's weird, and Hardison might be a fish, a bird, or a turtle.

Quarantine and the Leverage 3 by Yuliares

Quarantine is declared—so of course Eliot shows up with a bag of groceries. As if they thought for a minute that Eliot would trust them to feed themselves.

The Waiting Job by sunspot

They're out of food, and someone's going to have to go out to get more before they die. They have no choice at this point. Hopefully the zombies will see it that way and not give them a hard time.

The Sex Pollen Job by dreamiflame

During a case, Eliot, Parker and Hardison get dosed with an aphrodisiac (Hardison and Parker insist it's 'sex pollen'). Can Eliot survive the fallout?

The DIY Family Job by copperbadge

Eliot technically stole a baby, which is actually the least of Leverage's problems.

This is the Place Where I Sit by lynne_monstr

Just because Eliot had pledged to always be there for him and Parker in a team-like, platonic way, didn’t mean he couldn’t go out and keep doing his thing with the ladies of Portland. Hardison could respect that, even if he wished the man would look a little closer to home. There were two people there waiting for him if he ever decided he wanted it.

Or, that time the Brew Pub gained a rival and Eliot finally figured out what he wants.

strange, how we are changed by thingswithwings

Eliot watches, fascinated, as Hardison brings the joint to his lips and inhales, making the lit end burn bright and cherry-red for several long seconds.

The Breakup Job by AppleJuiz

Parker hums thoughtfully. “How do we steal that?” she asks. “How do we steal a breakup for Eliot?” She frowns. “From Eliot?”

“I dunno, babe,” he says helplessly, tugging Parker in a little closer to fight off the strange shapeless fear of her slipping away too. “Just be here for him, I guess. Same as we always do.”

Parker makes a grumpy sound, but wraps her arms tightly around his waist.

“I don’t think that’s enough anymore.”

A Different Kind of Love by Telaryn

Eliot has been fighting his feelings for Parker and Hardison for a long time and he has a really good list of reasons why the relationship he wants can't work. When Hardison is kidnapped and Parker goes off the rails worrying about him, Eliot begins to suspect that in the end none of his reasons matter as much as his love for hacker and thief.

Some Place Better Than Where You've Been by lady_ragnell

Four conversations Alec has with his teammates while he's away, and one he has once he's back.

Or: the last four episodes of Redemption season 1 from Hardison's side of things.

Ain't No Fran Fine by letsgostealafandom

I’m ignoring the single parent part of this because I make great choices and also can you imagine Parker and Hardison with like an adopted kid and they’re still a hacker and a thief and then they need a babysitter and hire Eliot and-

Okay, to the half-assed story.

--

parker/eliot

Insomnia by entanglednow

"You can't just sneak into people's bedrooms in the middle of the night and demand that they have sex with you."

Fall factor by argyleam

Eliot knows that Parker could always get out of it. He also knows that she chooses not to.

heat wave by theredhoodie

Can it even get this hot in Oregon? Parker isn't enjoying this heat wave and pops into the restaurant to try to find something to both ease the temperature and her hunger. She only ends up with one of the two sated.

Change the Game by sunspot

The game is afoot, and then Parker goes and changes the damn rules.

Two Coins by Writewithpenandink

After the team splits up in LA, Eliot and Parker reconnect unexpectedly.

Takes place after the end of season one, and goes slightly AU from there.

Mine's Not a High Horse by hannasus

Five times Eliot and Parker don't kiss and one time they do.

What Did You Do? by Telaryn

In the aftermath of the San Lorenzo Job, Eliot realizes that he's been using Damien Moreau and the challenge of bringing him down to avoid his growing feelings for a crazy, blond-haired thief.

--

gen/non-ot3

The Job Interview Job by copperbadge

Unemployed librarian Bobby Dismas isn't sure how Leverage found him or what they want with him, but apparently it has something to do with his conspiracy theory website about Roy Chappel (and Kenneth Crane, and Jacques Labert).

Solicited Noods by lynne_monstr

Peggy invites Parker to attend a Fancy Food Festival, and it leads to conversations about cats, a weekend of food tastings, one (1) adorably annoying love interest, and a side of attempted murder.

(Or, What Parker knows about friendship is this. Friends don’t let friends fall into the clutches of international criminals. Unless they're good-guy criminals. Or a bad friend.)

--

crossovers + ot3

Don't Look Down by zahnie

Parker makes a demon deal to bring Eliot and Hardison back from the dead. As a direct result, she has to go on a heist with the Winchesters.

Can't Trust Myself Anymore by zahnie

Eliot is given the Mark of Cain against his will, with no idea what it is or what it will do to him.

Born to Strange Sights by zahnie

Parker, Hardison, and Eliot meet Sam and Dean because Sam saw Parker in a vision. Hardison is assumed to be Jake come back to life somehow, and the whole thing goes about as well as you'd expect.

The Second Labor Job by justanotherStonyfan

“I’m not a good person,” ‘Jack’ says. “And you prob’ly won’t wanna help.”

Eliot leans back a little. That implies a lot, and he feels like he’s digging them deeper with every word.

“Then why’d you come to us?” he says. “’Cause you’re good people,” the guy says. “And I need good people.”

Bucky Barnes needs help. He goes to see some people who might be able to give him some. (Leverage crossover AU)

Boeuf Mystère by galwednesday

“Quick question,” Bucky said.

Steve looked up, but didn’t stop moving passports and stacks of cash into a nondescript blue duffel, his mind busily ticking through logistics. He’d grab the glock taped behind the hidden drawer in the desk on their way out, and they could buy new clothes once they got across the border into neutral territory, so they didn’t need much else, apart from whatever Bucky wanted to bring. One duffle should be enough. “Yeah, honey?”

“What the fuck.”

[thisaintascenereviews]

Dan + Shay - Bigger Houses

Ever since the decline of bro-country in the late 2010s, something has needed to fill the void within country music, and really, a couple of things have come up, such as pop-country, which was happening a lot during the 2010s, but there is a bit more of a traditional twist on it now, and what a lot of people call “boyfriend country,” which is the opposite of bro-country. The style of boyfriend country is that it’s more pop-focused and the lyrics are sweeter and gentler than bro-country’s blatant misogyny. A lot of the boyfriend country tropes I’ve noticed are about how getting married, falling in love, and all of that stuff, but I suppose you could lump heartbreak songs into that, too.

When it comes to the big names that are apart of this style, there’s one name that comes to mind above the others — Dan + Shay. Members Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney have been around and kicking for the last decade, starting with their debut album in 2014, Where It All Began. I’ve only heard that, and their follow-up, 2016’s Obsessed, but they’re a good band. Their debut especially is very catchy pop-country with very sweet lyrics that bucked the trends at the time, and I had a soft spot for it. I haven’t listened to the album in years, but who knows, it might hold up.

All of these years later, they’re still going, and they just dropped their new album, Bigger Houses, their first in a couple of years. I thought I’d check it out just because I’ve been on a country kick, and I wondered how these guys sounded in the last seven years since I’ve lasted listened to them. I got some good and bad news after listening to this a few times — the good news is that, well, it’s pretty good, but the bad news is that, for the most part, it doesn’t do anything they haven’t done before, although it does sound updated to a degree and I have to respect that. The lyrics are more mature this time around, despite being about heartbreak, love, and marriage, but that’s the key — their early stuff wasn’t necessarily about marriage or being married, but now that they are older, they have that experience.

This album is kind of a mixed bag, but not because some of it is good and the rest is bad, it more so has its peaks and valleys. There are a handful of wonderful, albeit generic, songs, and there are some that don’t do anything for me. The ones that stick out are opener “Breakin’ Up With A Broken Heart,” “Heartbreak On The Map,” “Always Gonna Be,” “Let’s Get Married,” and the closing track which is also the title track. My favorite is “Let’s Get Married,” which is a ludicrous song about a guy randomly meeting someone and he immediately says they should get married on a drunken whim, so the hook jumps into a bluegrass hoedown with the cliches of a shotgun wedding in Las Vegas and it’s so much fun. The other songs that work here have a mixture of solid lyrics that are very heartfelt and sweet, as well as solid vocal and instrumental performances.

A few tracks just don’t stick the landing, namely “For The Both Of Us,” and this doesn’t work for me in the same way that Ian Munsick’s “More Than Me.” That song is about how a man’s bride and her father remark that God loves her more than them and it just makes me cringe, because as someone that isn’t religious at all, I can’t imagine putting a deity over anyone else in your life. This song, however, is about how a man is asking his girlfriend’s father for his blessing to marry her (already kind of weird and outdated), but he’ll love her for the “both of us.” Does he mean love her enough for both her and his girlfriend, or does he mean he’ll love her enough for both him and her dad? That’s so weird, and while the hook is nice, the lyrics are so weirdly old-fashioned.

A few other tracks on the album just feel like lesser versions of ones they’ve done before, or that sound the same compared to other songs on the album, including “Then Again,” which is sort of interesting in terms of talking about the “what if’s” if he didn’t meet his wife, but it just amounts to “I’m lucky to have you,” which is exactly what the title track does at the end, as it talks about how “happiness doesn’t live in bigger houses.” That’s not a new sentiment, but it’s a good one.

This album’s biggest strength is being super slick and catchy, as these guys have always been solid songwriters, but there is some nice traditional instrumentation here, including fiddle, pedal steel, and banjo that pop up from time to time. Sure, Bigger Houses is nothing out of the ordinary, and it isn’t a unique album, but it’s a short and catchy one, so despite not having listened to these guys in years, it’s a nice surprise. Nothing that will make my yearend list, mind you, but this record is really pleasant and nice to listen to it, especially if you want some solid hooks with some sweet and heartfelt lyrics that you may have heard many times over already.

[bugfam]

week 1: diagnosis

(for @type1diabetesinfandom’s prompt fest!)

POSTING WITH A MINUTE TO SPARE! for my reach for the stars au. tak gets diagnosed with diabetes. i’ll post it on ao3 in a bit with proper description and tags!

this is part of a crossover au involving yagami takayuki, aka tak, who’s the diabetic one in this fic, and ex from puyo puyo! they’re both teens. it’s an au where tak joins ex’s crew on the ss tetra.

read under the cut! will be posted to ao3 soon :]

“So, where to next?” Ex asks, standing at the steering wheel of his Starship Tetra. “Anyplace look interesting to you right now?”

Tak stands at the navigator, looking at the nearby star systems on the map. “We’re close to the Libra system,” they say. “You know, there’s this thing people from Earth do where they… okay, so you know how these twelve constellations are closest to Earth?” They zoom out, allowing Ex to peek over at the ring of constellations on the map. “And how they’re kind of in a ring around it? As Earth orbits our star, we pass by each of those constellations, so theoretically, we can see them at different parts of the year from Earth. And at some point, Earthlings decided that whatever star system that was visible when they were born had some like, influence on who they are as a person. Like personality traits and stuff. And I, supposedly, was born during the period associated with Libra. So I wanna see if the personality traits thing tracks.”

Ex looks at them like they have two heads, which is fair. If someone told them that their personality was determined by being able to see Tokyo when they were born, they’d think it’s weird, too.

It’s been a year since Tak became Ex’s first (and so far, only) crewmate, leaving Earth behind to travel the stars alongside him. It’s incredibly rare for humans to leave Earth, considering how far away it is from all the other inhabited planets in the universe, but Tak is very lucky that Ex decided it would be fun to check the planet out. There’s still a lot they’re learning about each other’s homes and experiences, though. Some things that are still, decidedly, super weird.

Tak wouldn’t trade it for the world. They’re happy out here, seeing and exploring and experiencing things beyond their wildest dreams. Not only that, but they’re doing it alongside their favorite person in the entire universe.

Besides, the look on Ex’s face any time they describe stuff like that? Priceless.

“…Right,” Ex mumbles, obviously deciding that he doesn’t want to ask. “Well, we can definitely check it out! My mom’s from there, actually.”

“Cool,” they say, zooming back in to look at the planets inside the Libra System, checking the coordinates of the different planets. “Which planet should we check out?”

They’re still pretty young, exploring the stuff that seems cool. They do whatever they want. They don’t have any adults to tell them what to do; their lives are entirely in their own hands. A pretty awesome life, if you ask them.

Never any problems whatsoever, right?

—

Tak has never been this thirsty in their entire life. They wake up one morning feeling like any moisture in their body had been sucked out of them in their sleep, and every day after that is the same — if they’re not drinking water, they’re super damn thirsty.

“Geez, dude,” Ex says, brows tilted concernedly. “That’s, like, not normal, is it?“

Tak just shrugs. “I dunno what I’m supposed to do about it, though,” they say, pausing to chug the entire glass he just filled. “I don’t know what’s going on. It just started happening. Maybe it’ll stop happening, too.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Ex says. “I guess if you’re not worried about it that much, I’ll try not to worry about it, either. Should be fine, right?“

That’s what they thought, at least. They’d be getting a lot more than they bargained for.

—

A few days later, Tak finds it much too hard to get out of bed.

This, in and of itself, is not entirely unheard of for them. After all, when you’ve experienced the things they’ve experienced, there will be days where the grief will be too heavy to carry, regardless of how pleased you are with your current life. Sometimes, the guilt still gets to them. The horror. The loneliness. On days like those, all they can do is lay there and mourn, and wait for the grief to pass.

Today is not one of those days. It’s not grief that keeps them tethered to their mattress. It’s exhaustion. They simply feel too tired to get up.

Which is kind of stupid. They’ll give themself the depression days — who wouldn’t have days like that with what they’ve been through, you know? — but physical stuff has never been able to really keep them down. So despite it being several hours later than normal (and they’re a late-riser on normal days), as well as the fact that their whole body seems to hate them for it, they drag themself out of bed. They don’t intend to be forced down over something they don’t think is reasonable.

The first thing they do once they leave their quarters is head to the kitchen to down three glasses of water in quick succession. They’re winded just from the walk there, which is… weird. By the time they’ve drank all that water with barely any breath in between, they have to hold themself up on the counter until they can get their breath back.

Then they push themself up and leave the kitchen like nothing happened. They’re fine.

They end up meeting Ex in the hallway. “Oh, there you are,” he says. “I was looking for you! I thought you might have been… whoa. You okay?” He’s already got that look on this face. Geez.

“What do you mean? I just overslept. I’m okay.”

“I mean… you look really tired, man. Did you not sleep well or somethin’?”

“I think I slept fine,” they say, shrugging. “Maybe I slept too much? You know how sometimes when you oversleep you wake up kinda tired? It’s probably just that. Seriously, man, I’m fine.

Ex tilts his head a little. “You sure? ‘Cuz like, I was thinking we could land today. But I don’t want you to push yourself if you’re tired.”

“Dude, how many times do I have to say that I’m fine? I wanna land today. I’ve never been to a Libra planet, dude, I wanna see!”

“Okay, okay,” Ex says, laughing. “If you’re really sure. I’m still a little worried, though, so can we at least try ‘n keep an eye on it or something? It’s probably nothing, but I kinda have a bad feeling about it, so…”

Tak wrinkles their nose a little, incredulously. “You do? Why?”

“I dunno, just, with the weird dehydration thing you have going on even though all you’ve been doing is drinking water? I’m worried there might be somethin’ going on and we can’t recognize it or something.”

“You really think so? I dunno. Maybe. I’m still not all that worried about it, though. I guess I’ll tell you if it gets worse? But I think it’s probably gonna be fine.”

“Sounds good to me. If you’re all good, then, wanna help get ready for landing?”

—

It gets worse.

Not long after landing, Tak entirely loses his appetite. Usually when visiting new planets, they’re most excited about trying the food, but not this time. They don’t really question it, at first. They may like food a lot, but there are a lot of aspects surrounding it that can cause them to lose interest or otherwise not want to try something — texture, specific flavors, and the like. And it’s not the first time they just haven’t felt like trying something new. They may be a pretty adventurous person, but sometimes they’re just not up for adventurous eating. They expect they’ll get over it by the time it’s time to leave.

What’s weirder than that, though, is that they’re not really hungry enough for any of Ex’s cooking, either, even when Ex cooks them stuff they typically always like. That’s a bit more concerning, they think. They don’t even know why it’s happening. Nothing, not even their usual safe foods, seems appetizing. They just end up playing with their food by pushing it around on the plate instead of eating it. The most they can manage before feeling completely full is a couple of bites.

They’re still always thirsty, constantly drinking water as opposed to eating. And they’re tired, finding it harder and harder to wake up and get out of bed each day, and end up sleeping through several, only waking up long enough to drink water. And the days they do manage to get up, they still feel incredibly weak, finding that they run out of breath way faster than they usually do, and have to sit down more or else they feel like they might pass out.

It’s gotten to the point where they’ve hardly even left the ship, despite being landed, which sort of pisses them off. They’ve dealt with feeling a lot worse than this, that’s for sure. They don’t wanna be sitting or lying around when there’s exploring to do.

Ex is worried, though. Like, really worried. And Tak can’t even blame him, even if they still get annoyed by it, a little, sometimes. It’s been a whole year, after being alone for a significantly shorter period of time, but they’re still not entirely used to someone worrying about them like this again.

“Man… you do not look good,” Ex sighs. “I think we need to take you to a doctor or something. Seriously.”

They still can’t manage to resist the eye roll, even if they see where he’s coming from. “I don’t want to. I’m fine.”

“You’re… really not, though. I really don’t think you are.” Ex is frowning. “You can’t even eat, dude. You’ve lost a lot of weight, too.”

“You think so?”

“I mean, that’s typically what happens when you don’t eat. But like, yeah. Enough that I can tell with my eyes, man.”

They guess that’s fair.

Ex continues. “And the water thing never went away. And it’s not like you to be so tired you can’t get up. It’s freaking me out.”

Okay, yeah. They… do feel bad for worrying him that much. They’re still not convinced it’s that big of a deal, but they find themself relenting, anyway. “Okay, fine. I guess we can get it checked out. Won’t that cost money, though?”

“…No? Why would it?”

“What do you mean ‘why would it?’ All this stuff costs money on Earth.”

“Oh. Well, that’s stupid. Anyway, we’ll probably wanna go to a Virgo system planet for this. They’re the best with health stuff.”

Tak nods, standing to move to the Navigation controls, but is suddenly hit with a wave of intense lightheadedness. They stop, trying to keep their balance. “Whoa… what the hell…?”

Ex looks over again, concern painted on his face again. “What?“

“Nothing, it’s fine,” they lie, though they know it’s probably obvious that it’s not the truth. They just don’t want him freaking out even more. Their mouth is so dry, also, that it’s hard to speak — they decide to use that as an excuse to leave the cockpit. “I need more water, actually, so do you mind putting in the coordinates yourself? I’ll— I’ll be right back.”

“Okay…” Ex says. “Don’t push yourself, okay?”

They nod, and leave the cockpit as quickly as they can with everything swirling around them the way it is. They begin trying to walk towards the kitchen, but end up realizing halfway through that they’re probably not going to make it. They try to push themself just a little more, and then—

They wake up on the ground, Ex hovering over them, clearly panicked, holding a big glass of water. “Dude!” he exclaims. “What the fuck?!”

Tak’s really confused. “Um…” they mumble in response. “Maybe you’re right about the doctor thing.”

—

Turns out, Tak had been dying.

More specifically, their immune system has decided it hates them. Something about it deciding to attack their insulin cells or something. And apparently insulin’s the stuff you need in order to process food and stuff, otherwise the sugar in the food that’s supposed to be turned into energy and stuff builds up in their blood, causing… excessive thirst, fatigue and weakness, lack of appetite. Well, that makes sense.

They’ve got type one diabetes, they’re told.

Ex got them to a Virgo planet in record speed, and had them admitted in one of the planet’s hospitals. Currently, the doctors are explaining to them all the stuff that’s going to have to change now that they’ve got this diagnosis. Apparently they’ll have to have manufactured insulin put into their body to replace the insulin their body can’t make — but apparently there’s some Libra system tech that can do that for them. A bionic pancreas, it’s called. They’re taught how to use one as their body is being un-fucked.

There are a few things they’ll have to keep an eye out for, though. Severe low blood sugars are a possibility now, and they’re probably likely to get low blood sugars pretty often as their body gets used to the bionic pancreas. They’ll have to be careful about eating too many sweets or carbs at once. They’re advised not to drink anything with sugar in it unless they have a low blood sugar (“No juice,” they say to Ex, pouting, and he pats them on the shoulder.)

Other than that, though, their life should pretty much go back to normal once they get their insulin again. They’re relieved. And thank the stars for free space healthcare, too.

“I knew something was wrong,” Ex says. “Dude, you could have died. Maybe we should be more careful when we notice weird stuff happening.”

“Yeah,” Tak agrees, sighing as they lay back in their bed. “We’re a little dumb, aren’t we?”

“Well, maybe a little. We are just two kids alone in a starship, though, so like, you can’t expect much from us. We got you here in time, anyway, right?”

It’s not the last time something like this will happen — though it won’t be as much as a near-death experience in the future. Tak’s just glad they had someone to help them out.

They’re happy for the life they’ve got, and the friend they have. Seriously, where would they be without him?

[glacecakes]

Whumptober Day 4: Hiding Injuries

S3A Sasha and Grime have a talk about self preservation after a mission gone wrong.

Hello happy whumptober I'm just going to be smacking Sasha around for a few days don't mind me These are gonna be pretty short since I uh... procrastinated and literally just finished this with 50 minutes to spare on day 4. And they may be late. Rip. I tried. So uh fun fact this one is based on something that actually happened to me! I had this weird pain in my neck and then all of a sudden i couldn't move for like 4 hours. The human body is whack.

Canon typical violence ahoy, nothing too crazy! 

-

It should have been a simple mission. Get in, steal the supplies, get out. But it’s never that simple, because if there is a god out there, it hates Sasha with a passion.

How long has she been training these frogs into an elite fighting force? A month, two months? Maybe more… time has lost most meaning. Wake up, train, go on missions, plan, sleep. Her days were never the same but always the same sort of goals or challenges, more fires for her to put out, more recruits to train, more sleepless nights of stress.

Today is no exception. Even before amphibia, she was never one for coffee, but now that she’s been living in a warzone for a while, she can’t help but miss the stuff. How else is she supposed to constantly be on her a-game? Rest? Relaxation? Pffft, no one has time for that! Not when King Andrias is building a robot army to destroy her home that she misses so desperately and has hurt and maimed and used the girls she loves so much like her own it hurts-

Ahem. Anyway.

They’re still getting the hang of things, still learning the ins-and-outs of Andrias’ fortresses, so the ones that aren’t cookie-cutter repeats of previous maps always throw them for a loop. This one is a factory that has a few extra security measures… she doesn’t want to give her group the credit of being the reason for beefed up security, she’s not that egotistical. One of the frogs’ slippery legs slides across a laser beam, something they’d never seen before. It’s unsurprising how they jump (ha) at the alarms that blare, totally confused as to how they’ve been caught. But Sasha doesn’t wait, doesn’t hesitate, grabbing the one (Wally…? Waldo?) and ducking him under her arm as she dodges a hailfire of turrets. The red hot lazers sear at her back, the heat so intense she can feel it even as she dodges.

She sets Willy down. “Stay here.” she advises. “I’ll turn off the alarms.”

“Yes ma’am!” He salutes, dead eye snapping open just briefly before shutting. He should probably try and pin it open, having depth perception would really help in the fight.

With a grunt, she turns back to the robots that have flooded the room. This part comes naturally to her, the slicing and dicing of steel, the ache in her muscles a familiar companion. A robot flies down from the ceiling, its wings buzzing angrily as its eyes narrow in on her. She throws her sword perfectly, stabbing it right in the chest. It goes down in a blaze of glory and takes out a few more robots along the way. Her sword burns in her hand from sizzling wires, but she pulls it out with a flourish, slicing through robots that rain bullets faster than she can even blink. She’s never going back to cheerleading, she thinks bemusedly. This is way more satisfying.

Finally, blissfully, the last robot goes down. She steps back, satisfied. The frog gives her a thumbs up. She can’t help but return it with a faint smile. These folk, despite their kindness, have a powerful warrior spirit that she can’t help but admire. They’re a lot like Marcy, in a way.

“Quite a show, miss!” The frog (Dolly…?) hops over. “Now let’s get the grub and get outta here!”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” She agrees. These facilities are never fun, a stark contrast to the Amphibia she’s been used to. The frog turns around, and Sasha does as well, but her ears perk up at the faintest of hums. It’s a noise that they wouldn’t know; the sound of a fan whirring in a machine overheating.

She whips around to see the last robot, the one with a gaping hole in its chest, with eyes glowing and a final blast prepped in its arm cannon. “Get down!” She cries, running for her companion and tackling him to the ground. But not before a large blast of heat rockets through her shoulder, just grazing her neck and nearly hitting her ear. It cuts a clean line through her once pristine hair, now a ratted mess that lays dead on the floor.

Well. That’s one way to get a haircut.

The frog groans, before he comes to his senses and gasps. “Oh my gosh! Are you alright?” his hands hover, almost afraid to touch what he fears is a nasty burn.

Sasha blinks. Then she snaps her fingers. “Wally! That’s your name!”

-

The walk back to their snail is slow. Even by snail standards.

For some reason, her body just isn’t moving properly. It’s like everything is stuck in honey, her brain, her limbs, all of it. The world is slowing like a clock in desperate need of a wind up. But she chalks it up to adrenaline, and asks Wally to drive them back, which he does. She takes up residency on the back of the shell, half splayed out, with her front draped over the chair. Now that she’s not moving, now that she’s still, the slowness of the world begins to fade out, and something else takes its place: pain. A throbbing, searing pain that grows in intensity along her neck.

She remembers once, on what used to be the scariest day of her life, when she fell on her back at cheerleading. How she tried to get up, and a searing pain in her neck caused her strings to drop like a puppet. How all she could do was lie there and scream while the others got a teacher. She had to be carried to the nurse’s office, where she was diagnosed with a seized up muscle and given muscle relaxants. At the time, she’d been so scared she’d managed to paralyze herself, but now it seems almost silly.

Now it feels way more real.

Anytime the snail so much as runs over a pebble she can feel it. She can feel her spine literally burning from the inside out, there’s no other explanation. She managed to get stung by some bug and now there’s bug eggs eating her nerves or something. That sounds like an Amphibia thing, why not?  But when she asks this of Wally, he goes “Ew, that’s disgusting! No we don’t have that!” and grumbles about how barbaric Earth must be in comparison.

Well. That’s concerning.

Because if she wasn’t stung, what’s causing this pain?

The answer hits her as the snail crosses a bump, jostling her neck and pushing a specific spot that makes her see white briefly. As the spots dance in her eyes, she finally recognizes the pain not as a sprained muscle, but as a sharp, stabbing, even torn one.

The turret, duh. She must’ve been hit when it cut off her hair. Sure enough, when she places a trembling hand to the spot, and pulls back, her glove is now damper and redder than before. Grime was gonna lose it , he always did when she got hurt. Speak of the devil, the snail finally enters Wartwood, where she takes a deep breath and slowly slides herself off of the ride. As slow as she goes, it’s not enough to fight gravity, and she flops bonelessly onto the dirt.

“I’m good!” She calls.

She’s not good.

Wally is kind enough to help her up, but she brushes him off once her feet aren’t at risk of buckling like a newborn deer. She’s a hardened soldier, a mere scratch can’t keep her down! So what if it’s twinging on her nerves? She doesn’t stop, marching down into the reserves and into the catacombs without stopping. Because if she stops, she’ll fall all over again. She enters the planning room to see her toad friend staring at some maps.

“Captain,” she gives Grime a salute. “Mission success. We got the supplies.”

The toad runs a warty hand over his map. “Good. I expect a report on what went down in the morning.”

Silence. “Not now?” Sasha asks. “You don’t wanna hear about how I totally saved that frog’s little life?” She accentuates with a punch, flexing her muscles. No response, instead the other is too focused on his job. Ugh. Marcy and Anne would’ve laughed.

She turns around, short hair hissing in the wind. It swipes against the burn spot, and she can’t help but let out a tiny moan of pain. Her hand moves to clamp the wound, but stops last second.

Grime looks up. “Everything ok, lieutenant?”

“Peachy.” she grumbles. “I’m gonna go even out this hair cut.” and then maybe sleep for a century. That sounds nice. So nice, her body thinks, that it decides it can’t even wait for her to be in her room before giving out. There’s a pull on her neck muscle, and whoop, down she goes. And hey, she’s laying down, maybe she can take that nap now.

“Sasha!” Grime yells, quick to abandon his map and hover over the teen. “What on earth happened? Were you poisoned? Did little bugs crawl into your spine and eat you from the inside out?”

She can’t help but let out a ridiculous snort. “Knew those existed.” she mumbles. And the world turns black.

-

When Sasha finally comes to, she’s laying on her side. Which is weird for her, because normally she sleeps on her stomach. The only time she ever sleeps like this is when one of her girls is nearby, during their sleepovers… she reaches out instinctively for them.

She instead touches a wart.

Her eyes shoot open, and there’s Grime, looking both incredibly uncomfortable and like a disappointed parent. It’s a look she’s seen a few times, and it never fails to make her insides squirm. She’s seen it on her real parents way too often, and to see it on Grime just… reminds her too much of them sometimes. But like the good soldier she is, she swallows her nerves and stares at him head on.

“You didn’t tell me you got hurt.” He starts with, right out of the gate.

“To be fair, I didn’t know how bad it was.” She responds. With a grunt, she tries to sit up, but that same spasmy feeling returns and overrides her neck with pain, forcing her to fall back down. “God, human anatomy sucks. Do you guys have a weak spot like this?” Well, they are cold blooded, if that counts for a weakness. Nothing in biology class prepared her for the intimate knowledge of amphibian anatomy that is needed in a frog war. To think, the last day before leaving Earth was about frog dissection. If only they hadn’t ditched.

“Sasha.” Grime’s voice cuts through her brain’s rambling. “You’re deflecting.”

“Oh boy, pulling the first name,” she grins weakly. “I’m in trouble, huh?”

“Wally told me what happened. You threw yourself in harm's way!” He crosses his arms, nails clenching on his skin. “And then you just walked off as if you hadn’t been hit! You know better lieutenant!”

Sasha huffs. “Like I said, I didn’t actually feel it at first. It’s not that bad! I’m fine!”

Grime raises a brow. “How long have you been asleep, then?”

“Uh, half an hour?”

“12 hours.”

Oops.

Ok, so maybe she was a little more hurt than she realized. Head injuries do bleed a lot, and maybe she just needed to catch up on sleep! No biggie, she’s fine!

“Have you even noticed the other injuries?” he asks, and she starts.

“What?” Her eyes jump down, and sure enough, there’s gauze wrapped around her hand, and a few patches on her leg, who knows what her torso looks like. “When did that happen!?”

“Have you not been paying attention? You jumped into a pile of enemies for the little frog man! What if he hadn’t been there? What if you hadn’t made it back? What if-” He cuts himself off with an angry grunt. And… oh.

He’s crying.

“Grimes…” she breathes, struggling to sit up on one arm. “I’m sorry for scaring you, really. I swear, I just didn’t notice. Adrenaline and all that.”

He huffs. “You need to take better care of yourself if you want to be in one piece for your friends, lieutenant. I don’t want to have to tell them you threw yourself on a spear.”

Right… Anne and Marcy… friends. Is she still their friend? Do they still trust her? Can she still trust them? It must show on her face, because Grime gently pushes her back down onto the bed. It’s probably the gentlest he’s ever been in his entire life.

“Is this about proving yourself to them?” He asks, and she stiffens. “It is, isn’t it? Deep down.”

Damn, when did he become a therapist? “Maybe…” she admits. “I dunno, I feel like… I swore I’d protect Wartwood while Anne was gone, I want to prove to her that… that I’m worthy of being her friend. All I cared about was myself for so long, that I just… I needed to care for others the way she did, yknow?”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change, Sasha. But throwing yourself in harm’s way isn’t the way to go about it.”

“I know,” she sighs. “I know.”

He pats her fondly, the faintest of smiles on his face. “Atta soldier. We need you alive and sharp. You’re not disposable, lieutenant. The townspeople, for as… dense as they are,” she snickers at his reluctance. “Are smart enough to look up to you. And they need their leader.”

She can’t help but smirk. “Getting sappy, are we Grimesy?”

“Just this once.” His grin is all teeth. “And only because no one will ever believe you.”

“Wh-!” She gasps. “Betrayal!”

“Have a good night!” He laughs, standing up and leaving. His laughter carries out into the hall, and it’s infectious, even from her drooping eyes.

Yeah, ok. “Night, Grimes.” She mumbles, laying back down. “And… thanks.”

[psmd-lingering-shadows]

Part 1: Introspection

When I got home, I yelled out for Pops to let him know I was there. However, when I didn’t immediately hear a reply from him, a confused expression formed on my face. Wondering if he somehow didn’t hear me, I went into the kitchen to see if he might have been cooking anything.

Huh…he wasn’t there…

I left the kitchen to see if he was in my room. Whenever I’m not at home, he usually ends up cleaning it because he always complains that I never pick up after myself. Which, uh, isn’t necessarily wrong, but…that’s where I practice my map-making! That’s what I usually do when I’m not outside. And it’s just so inconvenient having to put it all back when I use those materials literally all the time!

…

Uh…Anyway…

I went and checked my room, only to see that it was empty, too. Did that mean he was gone…?

Upon realizing that I was the only one in the house, a small frown formed on my face. I came home early so I could eat together with him, and he wasn’t even here? Aw, what a bummer…

I shook my head and sighed. Well, it’s fine. I’ll just eat by myself, I guess…

I went back to the kitchen and opened the pantry. I saw the leftover food that Pops and I ate last night - half a loaf of Oran Bread. The entire loaf that Pops made was really big, so we couldn’t manage to finish it in one go. I grabbed the bread and set it on the table. Then I grabbed a butter knife from the top drawer and cut a relatively reasonable size off. Then I went back to the pantry and grabbed a few fruits to eat with along with the bread. Once everything was all set, I sat down and started to dig in.

…

…!

Oh my gosh!

A wave of euphoria spread across my entire body. This bread tastes absolutely delicious! They say that leftovers don’t taste as good compared to when they’ve just been made, but this somehow tastes just as good as it did yesterday! Well, I guess that’s Pops for you. Despite being a such a grouch, he’s one of the best cooks I know. I’m so lucky to be able to eat his amazing food every day.

Some time had passed, and before I knew it, my plate was empty. I had completely finished my meal. Geez, I could have sworn that I had some more bread left. Was I that hungry…? Slightly disappointed that I had eaten everything already, I grabbed my plate and put it on the kitchen counter for it to be washed later. Then I took the bread and walked towards the pantry, ready to put it away. That’s when I began eyeing it for a moment, wondering if I should help myself to some more. It wouldn’t be THAT much, just a small piece…

“…”

…N-no! What am I doing?!

For goodness sake, Nozomi…don’t be such a glutton! Save the rest of the bread for Pops! I’m sure he’d want some of it, too.

After briefly reprimanding myself for being so greedy, I put the Oran Bread back in the pantry. Then I headed into my room to work on my map-making skills. I retrieved my materials from my drawer, sat on my bed, and started practicing. I’ve been slowly improving, but I’m nowhere near as good as I wanna be. The geography lessons at school gave me a basic idea of how a map’s supposed to look, but I still need to sketch one on my own to get experience. If I wanna complete a map of the world someday, then I gotta keep practicing!

Yeah, that’s right. It’s been my dream to create a map of the whole world and travel since I was little. I’d go on all sorts of adventures, meet all kinds of Pokémon…it would be so much fun! I’ve been hoping to achieve that dream all this time, and right now, the best possibility of that happening is if I traveled to Lively Town and joined the Expedition Society! If I were to do that, I’d be one step closer to making it come true. But, whenever I mention the idea to my Pops or anyone in the village, they all tell me the same thing - I’m too young to join the Expedition Society or even leave the village. I’ve been discouraged from leaving the village more times than I can count. But you know what? It doesn’t matter! I’m never giving up on my dream, no matter what others tell me! I’ll keep working towards it until it finally comes true. Just watch me!

…Whoa, I kinda got riled up for a moment there, didn’t I? Hehe, I usually get like this whenever I start to think about that stuff. …Um, wait a second. What was I doing before…?

Oh yeah! Map-making!

I shook my head and took a deep breath to get myself to focus, then went back to practicing. From the moment I started to the moment I finished, I was completely into it. I was super-determined to get better at this. Once I was finished with the current map I was working on, I went and got the map that I had completed a few days ago. I looked between the map I had just finished and the previous one to see whether or not I had improved at all.

…

…

…

“…Mm-hmm!”

A satisfied expression formed on my face. Oh, yeah. This one was totally better - loads more detailed than the other one. This was definitely a step-up from before! Alright!

After happily doing a small celebratory dance to acknowledge the fact that I was improving, I went ahead and gathered up all of my materials and put them back in the drawer. Then I looked outside the window of my room and saw that the sun was beginning to set. That’s when I suddenly realized - Pops still wasn’t back yet. I was so wrapped up in my own stuff that I didn’t even notice before. I was starting to get a little concerned. He should have been back by now. Did something happen…?

Suddenly, as if on cue, I heard footsteps approaching the house. I immediately looked out the window again and saw Pops walking towards the front door. A sigh of relief escaped from my beak knowing that he was okay. I excitedly ran towards the entrance and opened the door for him before he got to it. He noticed the door opening and saw me standing at the entrance, causing him to stare at me curiously. When he got inside, I ran up to him and gave him a big hug, causing him to chuckle and pat my head in response.

“Well, now. You seem to be in high spirits this evening,” he jested.

I kept hugging him for a few more seconds until I eventually decided to let go of him. Then I asked him where he was this whole time.

“Hmm? Where was I? Mr. Hippopotas asked me to help with some chores at his home, and I agreed. It ended up taking a bit longer than I would have hoped for, though…”

Then he gave me a questioning look until he realized why I asked him that question. “Hold on…you haven’t been here this entire time, have you?” he asked.

I nodded at him and explained that I wanted to eat dinner with him as a way of making up for leaving so suddenly this morning. Once he heard that, he looked down with a slightly guilty expression.

“I see…I’m sorry for not being here, then. You’re usually off somewhere in the village after school ends, so the thought didn’t even cross my mind that you’d come home so early.”

Well, I guess he does have a point.

“Well, regardless, I do appreciate you wanting to do that. Don’t worry, though. I’ll be home tomorrow, so we can eat together then,” he said with a smile.

I returned the smile and eagerly nodded in response to what he said. That definitely sounded good to me!

When that was settled, Pops decided to switch the subject. “Ah, speaking of school, how did it go today? Did you manage to make it on time?” he asked.

…Oh, right. School.

Not really wanting to go into detail about the entire day, I simply told him that I managed to make it time and that the school day went on normally.

Once I finished speaking, Pops nodded his head. “I see. Well, it’s a relief to know that you didn’t get into trouble…this time,” he said, causing me to avert my eyes and awkwardly clear my throat. “But…this whole situation is still worrying.”

I stared at him with a confused expression. Worrying? What is?

“Well, for the past few weeks, you’ve started sleeping in more. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve had to wake you up from time to time so you could avoid being late for school…like today. Even then, you don’t always make it on time.”

…

“And when you do manage to wake up on your own, you always look so drained…like you didn’t get any rest at all. I usually have to give you a cup of Chesto Juice to rid your body of any lingering drowsiness. The way you look in the morning…it’s the complete opposite of the Nozomi I’ve grown to know in the last ten years.”

…

“When it first started happening, I thought that you might have been sick. But from what I’ve seen, you seem to feel better once you’ve gotten some energy in your system, so that doesn’t seem to be the case. And it looks like you’ve been carrying on this entire time as your usual self, but I just can’t quite shake the feeling that there’s just something…off about you.”

…

“I’ve kept quiet about it all this time because I assumed you would let me know if anything was bothering you. But it’s been three weeks since it started happening and you haven’t said a word. So, I’ll ask you what I should have asked you sooner - is everything alright?”

…

“Nozomi.”

I…

Pops was looking at me with a stern, yet concerned expression. It honestly caught me off guard. I didn’t really know how to answer him. It’s not like I wanted to lie to him. Everything was fine. At least, I thought it was. But, when he mentioned how something seemed off about me, I was overcome with a strange feeling…It was like a memory that I had forgotten was trying to come back to me. But no matter how hard I tried to get it to resurface, it would always be pushed back down into the depths of my mind. It was so darn frustrating…

I turned my attention back to Pops, who was still waiting for an answer. I honestly wanted to try and get to the bottom of the problem, but everything seemed fine at the moment. Or, if it wasn’t, I couldn’t figure out what it was yet. In the end, I simply nodded and told him everything was okay.

Pops kept staring at me, obviously skeptical of my answer. “Really? Nothing is going on? Are you absolutely sure?” he asked.

I gave him a reassuring smile and gave him the same answer: everything was totally fine. Then I promised him that if something was wrong, I’d be sure to tell him.

After a few more seconds of staring, Pops relented and gave me a sigh. “Very well. I’ll choose to believe your words for the time being. But…if you have any sort of problem, you had better talk to me about it like you promised you would, understood?” he asked with a hint of strictness in his voice.

I looked at him with a serious expression and gave him a single nod.

Yeah…I completely understand.

“…Alright, then. If you’re certain that everything’s fine, then I’ll leave it at that. Now then…” he said as he gestured towards his belly, “…I’m quite famished. You made sure to save some of the Oran Bread, right?” he asked. When I told him that I did, he smiled. “Ah, good. A part of me expected you to have eaten the rest of it all,” he said teasingly.

Wha-?! Hey!

I gave him an annoyed pout, causing him to chuckle and pat my head again.

“Alright, now. I’ll be eating in the kitchen. Give me a holler if you need anything.”

And with that, Pops walked past me and headed for the pantry to get the bread. I went back to my room and ended up spending the rest of the evening thinking about what Pops said. Eventually, nighttime came, and I was getting ready for bed. However, despite trying not let our conversation bother me, I just couldn’t help it, especially that one part of what he said. Something was off about me, huh…? I wonder what that could be. There was also that odd sensation I felt during our conversation, too. And on top of that, I keep oversleeping and waking up with no energy? This all just seemed to weird to me. Why was this all happening at once? Could they somehow be related…?

…

Nngh…

Ugh, thinking about this is making me tired.

I groaned in frustration as I plopped down on my bed. No, no more thinking about this. It’s all just in my head. I’m just freaking out over nothing! It’s gotta be a coincidence!

It’s gotta be…

…

Right…?

With those lingering concerns still floating around in my head, I somehow managed to fall into a deep, yet troubling slumber.

[jodilin65]

I was reading back in my journals from the summer of 2004 and it still amazes me how brave I was all alone in a flimsy old RV in the middle of the wilderness in the Pacific Northwest when Tom was looking for work without a care or a fear in the world other than the damn truck we had at the time breaking down. Well, I really should have been scared. Actually, I should have been utterly terrified. I had no phone or way of contacting anyone, not that they could have gotten to me in much under an hour. A wildfire could have erupted or a bear or big cat could have clawed its way into the RV and killed me if it hadn’t gotten a more convenient chance of catching me outside. I can’t believe I was once that brave to the point of utter stupidity! We were both adventurous, taking foolish chances and we would never in a million years repeat some of our ridiculous choices. Not even if I was suddenly young again and in perfect health.

I looked up Boar Lane on Google Maps to see if anything was up there on the mountain we were briefly on till money blew all our plans apart and it’s still mostly empty forest. Tom noticed the land looked kind of yucky and dried up. Maybe it was a drought or maybe a wildfire gutted some of the trees.

Didn’t see the RV we abandoned but someone has a real dump of a place near where we were. It might even be on the same parcel of land but a little further back. Looks like a real dump too. Can’t tell if it’s a large trailer or something built on-site due to trees surrounding it. They have a few scattered vehicles and all kinds of other junk cluttered all over the place. They strike me as seriously filthy and disorderly. It seems they’re the only ones around for miles and it makes you wonder, given the condition of the place from what I could see, if they might be some kind of mad serial killer living out there so they could get away with torturing their victims. I know you can’t always tell the type of people who live in a particular place but I got the distinct and immediate feeling it was either some kind of reclusive mental case or a very dangerous person. Let’s just say that if I was wandering around lost out there, I would be afraid to approach the place to ask for help and not just because of what loose dogs may come at me.

Since the mass-loaded vinyl is black and ugly, I’m going to eventually get the textured wallpaper tiles that are in the other bedroom on the back wall. I’ll probably get the same brick design. They’ve been holding up really well. I would like to get the same pale pink this too-thin wallpaper is but I don’t see the same shade of pink anywhere. I’ll probably just go with white and eventually do all four walls with it because this wallpaper is horribly thin that the seams in the wallboards show through. We’re not going to do it all at once, though. The master bedroom is a pretty good size and could get expensive.

Just started watching Fake Profile on Netflix. It’s good so far.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love to play around with human-like chat models, not so much for the chatter, but to design their appearance and dress them up and things like that. So for the appearance as opposed to companionship, because I just can’t get into the idea of a non-sentient companion.

Mate AI was suggested in my Facebook feed and wow! These models look way more realistic than Replika’s. One of the things I never liked about Replika was the lips. Their faces and bodies aren’t quite as realistic. Even Mate’s hands and hair are more realistic looking. You see faint hints of veins in the hands and there are separate hairs on their head, whereas with Replika they tend to be more like masses of hair.

It’s set up very similar to Replika where you get coins and gems as you progress through the levels. The difference is there’s a thing called Standby so you can do video chats for free, but with Replika you can’t do this without paying up although Mate does have free and premium versions.

You also get more free clothes and they have a lot of nice ones too. Just not as many as Replika and no jewelry, nail polish, or high heels from what I can see.

There are preset questions you can ask to get a conversation going if you can’t think of any topics of your own.

The animations are better and more realistic and I like the background better as well. When I first open the app, “Amanda” appears to be watering a plant, reading a book she plucks off of a shelf, or whatever while Mia just pops up standing there. I’m still getting to know the app, but it’s fun to play around with so far.

[ellowynthenotking]

Apr 15 

Dear Dad,

I can’t believe it, they found us again.

I mean, it’s been so long. How could they have found us? This place is enormous! Massive! They shouldn’t even know where to start looking! And yet they’re here. Stupid cultists. I don’t know how they did. I’m still pretty sure it’s some tracking spell or something. That’s the only thing that really makes sense. It’s a huge city, and yet Reese, Zunair, and I all saw them at the same time today. They must have some way of tracking us. This place is too big for them to have just stumbled upon us like that. 

We don’t even know where to go, where there is to go. We haven’t found anything that might actually lead us somewhere that could help us. There’s just noting. We have the maps, but there aren’t any nearby towns that might have something to help.

We haven’t heard any legends or rumors of anything that might help us. And we don’t know where to go. No matter what direction we go in, I bet they’ll be able to find us. It’s terrifying.

Where are we going to go? If we leave the kingdom, will they look for easier victims? Is that even an option? 

I don’t know how far it is from here to another kingdom, but that might be our best choice. 

All we’ve been doing is talking circles since we got back to the room. No one has a plan, no one knows where to go next, and no one knows how to shake the cultists. 

I’m sure that somewhere here is a key to getting home, but we haven’t found it and don’t even know where to start looking. 

It’s too dangerous to stay if they’ve already found us again. We didn’t get most of the things we wanted to before we left, but we got at least a couple. Reese and Willow have gone to get the weapons from the armory; they should be back soon. 

We’re going to leave later tonight. The city gates won’t open till dawn, but if we head to the other side of the city, we can leave through those gates. Give ourselves a little time to get ahead. 

Try to get and then keep the element of surprise. Not that it’ll be possible if they are tracking us, but maybe it’ll give us a little space to think. 

We’ll have whatever options we have on the other side of the city, too. Maybe we’ll even be able to get something that will actually help us get out of this mess. 

I don’t know what we’re going to do after that, though. If we leave the city, then what? Should we just pick a direction and go? 

They could be anywhere. What if we end up walking right into one of their traps? What if they keep following us till we drop? 

What if they keep following us forever? Even after we get home? What them?

I don’t know what we’ll do, but I would very much like to stop being hunted like an animal! 

The watched feeling is back, too, but only whenever I leave the temple. I wonder if they’ve got something up that’s making it harder for the cultists to hunt us when we’re in the temples. It would make sense why it took them so long to find us when we got here. Most of us were hidden away from the world most of the time. 

I’m waiting in the temple, but just in case. 

We loaded the cart with what little we had, and Riley’s getting the horses ready to go again. They’re not happy about it. At least, I don’t think they are. They’re making all kinds of unhappy noises, and their ears are all pinned back. 

Grace and Zunair went to the kitchens to see if we could plead with them for food for our journey. I doubt they’ll help us, but it’s at least something that might help if they’re successful. If they’re not, well, at least they’re trying to find something to do that could help. 

What am I doing? Am I just writing another letter that no one’s ever going to read? How am I helping anyone? 

I loaded the cart, and that was it. I should be using what little magic-y know-how I have to see if I can find out if they’re tracking us and, if so, how to stop it, turn it off, or figure out what we need to get rid of. 

All of this would be so much less stressful if we didn’t have to deal with these stupid donkey cultists. 

I’m going to find something to do. Even if I can’t find how they’re tracking us, maybe I can find some spell to ward us against them or to make it harder for them to track us. Something, anything more useful than just writing to you.

I’ll write to you when I can or when we’re settled somewhere safer.

Love, Jack

Read the rest of the series here: 

Or read more by this author here: 

[rafor]

Chapter 18 - Day 1 - The Glitch

The day was beautiful, and the house was very well located and in a well lit place. Not as bright as heaven, but not too far from it. The day before, I didn’t notice the gardens, flowers everywhere in the streets, and a very well-cared-for place. It wasn’t anything like the city I went through. Greener than ever.

Since nobody came to search for me in the morning, I decided to get outside to check the map of the city. It wasn’t far away. On my way, I saw no one. I was the only soul around. Only in the square were a couple of other dragons. They appeared really young. Maybe even younger than me. They were busy and just passing by, so they didn’t stop to talk to me. That was better for me. I could study the map better.

The city was several square kilometers in size. Yesterday, I got really lucky when I started walking around the walls randomly, since if I went in the wrong direction, I would hit a dead end at the temple location, where there was nothing but a giant crack. I’d have wasted hours for nothing.

The city was split into sections. The closer it was to the temple, the greener it looked and more suitable for royalty. There were multiple squares and a plethora of places that I could visit one day, maybe.

There was also, near my location, what was marked as the “Castle of the Ancestor”. I thought of being somewhat already in a castle, but instead there was indeed connected to the walls a second and smaller one. I could see it from a distance: several towers with banners with unknown symbols above them. I didn’t dare reach for it.

After more than an hour of still inspecting the map, which felt infinite for the amount of details, the same wyvern as before approached without me even noticing. Besides his size, it walked as if it weighted nothing with its single pair of arms that also acted as wings.

I was surprised when it greeted me politely from nowhere “Greetings, Raphael. I see you’re already exploring your surroundings. Do you need help with that?”

I replied, “I’m still learning from this map. I think that I may, thanks.”

He replied, “There’s a better one in the bookshop, if you want me to guide you to it. I���ll show you.”

I accepted, and so we went to the bookshop, another quite big building with several rooms inside. Being inside felt like a maze. Tall libraries. A ton of books of every kind and age.

The map he was talking about was well inside a hidden room. The torches turned on on their own.

I questioned him about them: “Am I wrong, or did the torches light up by themselves?”,

He replied. “They all turn on as soon as you approach them. They’ve been made by fire dragons that can make fire that summons itself as soon as someone gets closer. In the past, this ability was used to make traps or defenses to keep others away. Here they make our light.”

I was amazed by that. It worked just like magic.

We were about to start talking about this other map, but first I wished to know something: “Sorry, it’s already the second time we met, but still, I don’t even know your name. You already know mine. It feels awkward to ask, but what’s your name?”

He replied, “My apologies, I’m Leo. One of the few left after the exterminations of the Wyverns."

That was awful to hear: “I regret it. I was clueless. I didn’t aim to reveal such a heartbreaking truth.”

He replied without showing any sign of worrying “It’s okay. Don’t fret about it. I wrote a book on this topic, which you can find in the library. I can take you there if you’re interested. But I understand that you have more urgent things to learn about our world, especially if Akira was right.”

I questioned, “Wait, oh no, I forgot that Akira had to talk again with me. Maybe I should search for her.”

He stopped me and said, “Don’t worry, she talked with me, and she was unable today to reach for you. That’s why I searched for you, and now that we’re here, you’ve already moved on with something that you were supposed to get some help with.”

For a moment, I felt proud of my moves. I thanked him “Oh, well, thanks, I guess.”.

After that, we moved on to studying the map. First, he explained to me about the city, telling me where I should avoid going and where instead I could find some help from very kind acquaintances, as he defined them.

What I understood was right. The city was split into sectors, but I didn’t expect there to be so many. Also, there was an outside of the city. Not everyone lived within the walls, and there were some minor sister kingdoms not too far away.

He explained them better when I moved to another room with another map. The space felt infinite. We were just moving from one place to another. Each building was colossal. This one, especially from the outside, didn’t show much compared to the temple, but it had these underground rooms where I was that were bigger than those outside.

Anyway, the map showed a portion of the surroundings of this kingdom. It was not a planisphere, unfortunately. When I questioned him about that, he told me that one didn’t exist anymore. The only one that was left was destroyed in an accident some years ago.

Now the only way to reach very far places was to have an experienced guide, and even though he was one of them, he didn’t leave the walls to reach such far places anymore. He explained that it just wasn’t his job. The bookshop felt more like his home, and he was good with that.

Now I started questioning myself about his age, so when I got the opportunity while we were talking about ages, I asked him about it, and he replied, “I’m a Wyvern at about half of his average life, so about 80 years. Sadly for me, my life won’t last as long as other dragons.”

I replied, “Wait, if 80 years is about half of the average, that means that you usually live more than 150 years? That’s a lot. I could never reach such an age. You don’t look so old, though.”

He replied, “Compared to a dragon that can live on average for almost a thousand years, my life is really short.”

I replied to comfort him, “If it helps you to know, my kind must feel lucky if they reach your age, and rarely can they reach a century. Personally, I must thank whoever gave me a second chance to live. I reached maybe a fifth of that before, and what happened happened."

He became curious about it all of a sudden.

“What do you mean? Did you die or something?”

I replied, “I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure that I may have, but for some reasons, I got to live a new life here, in this world that isn’t mine. Hopefully, I won’t cause any harm. I shouldn’t exist.”,

His curiosity was more important than me starting to feel sick about the subject, so he asked,

“This means that you’ve died at one fifth of your average age, which is mine, so were you 16 years old?”

I didn’t specify clearly enough that I meant a fifth of a century.

“No, no, some time later, I don’t really remember exactly. During my years of service in the military, I lost track of my age. All I cared about was completing with success one mission after another, and nothing else.”

With a voice that sounded a bit sad, he replied, “Sounds awful. Well, I guess you’re lucky then to receive a second chance to right such an injustice.”

He sounded right to me, so I thanked him again and said, “I think I must be really lucky. Thanks.”

We didn’t keep talking about that subject. Instead, we moved on, spending essentially the whole day in the library talking about maps, kinds of dragons, elements, and some legends.

[forabeatofadrum]

Ljubim te (14/24)

Notes: Hello folks, it’s me again! I am almost done with my thesis, which gave me some time to write and boy am I glad I did. To celebrate, I have two chapters for you. I actually wrote the majority of chapter 15 over 6 months ago and I’ve been sitting on it ever since, so I am glad we reached this point.

After all, I also started on chapter 14 around the same time, but I only just wrapped it up. I got stuck on it a lot. My thesis took a lot of time, and when I was done writing each day, I didn’t feel like staring at another Word document. That, and the news that some people are feeding unfinished WIPs to bullshit like ChatGPT demotivated me to write. I am not aware of anyone using my fic for this, and if it happens, please don’t tell me because it would devastate me, but it should go without saying that people do not have permission to use my work for AI crap.

And lastly, Eurovision 2023 put Slovenia on the map and in Europeans’ minds, but look, Capre Diem slaps.

AO3 | S&C  

–  

DISPOSE

Kurt gives up after three days of phone calls and text messages. He’s even considered stopping by Blaine’s apartment or office, but that feels a bit too much. After five days, he’s certain that he’s not going to see Blaine anymore and he tries to accept that.

Although Kurt thinks he deserves answers, because what the fuck just happened? How could Blaine just dispose Kurt like that, like he’s trash?

Okay, okay, that is too harsh, Kurt thinks to himself, Blaine did not treat you like trash.

Still, that doesn’t make this current treatment less painful.

He does find comfort in the fact that Sunil cannot reach Blaine either, so it’s not just Kurt he’s ignoring. Kurt and Sunil miss their third Boni buddy. Now, they just need to get Boni with the two of them.

“What the hell happened between you two?” Sunil asks.

Kurt lets out a sigh.

“I’ll let you know once I figure it out myself,” he answers, “He’s been ghosting me as well.”

“Have you asked Tadeja?”

Kurt shakes his head.

“Not sure if I should. I don’t know her well enough and I also don’t know if Blaine knows her well enough.”

“They are friends, I think.”

“Are they?” Kurt asks. He doesn’t mean to sound rude. Tadeja is very kind and Kurt also likes hanging out with her. But from what Kurt’s gotten, Tadeja is a work friend and a mentor of sorts. He doesn’t know if she’s someone Blaine would confide in.

Kurt does not want to call Tadeja and raise questions. Kurt’s pretty sure that Blaine does not want people to know that they’ve kissed and yes, that stings, but the closet is the closet and Kurt would rather set himself on fire than potentially kicking someone out of it.

“I think Tadeja is cool,” Sunil says with a shrug, “Might even ask her out.”

“Really?” Kurt asks. He did not see that one coming.

“Yeah,” Sunil says and Kurt’s glad to have a subject they can talk about that doesn’t involve him or Blaine.

“Tell me everything!”

--

Kurt realises that he misses Blaine. It’s weird, because he didn’t see Blaine every day, since they’re both busy, but they would at least text occasionally. Kurt didn’t realise that Blaine had become such a big part of his life in Ljubljana until now.

Kurt isn’t angry. He was never angry. But he does want answers, because right now, Blaine is leaving him in the dark and Kurt doesn’t even know how he’s supposed to feel about it.

Is he supposed to be angry?

Is he supposed to be sad?

Or maybe, is he supposed to be sympathetic?

Kurt remembers the look on Blaine’s face when he realised what was happening and a part of him recognises the shock and despair. A part of Kurt remembers it.

--

The temperatures can rise a lot in Ljubljana, and it isn’t even summer yet.

After classes, Kurt crosses the Three Bridges to go to VIGÒ, an ice cream shop. He and Blaine passed another VIGÒ in Koper, but it was too cold back then.

Koper.

That feels like ages ago.

Honestly, the moment Blaine kissed him already feels like ages ago, although it’s only been a week. Kurt still doesn’t know how to feel.

He’s thought a lot about it in the past week. Kurt and Blaine became friends, but Kurt’s realised that he does not know Blaine. He thought he did, but he was wrong. He had no idea that Blaine was potentially struggling with something.

Of course, Kurt knows for sure, but he just remembers how upset Blaine looked when he ran off. Kurt remembers the first time he realised he liked a guy and it felt wrong. He now knows that it isn’t wrong, but back when he was a kid, it became clear that in order to be normal, he couldn’t be gay.

Kurt’s trying to accept that Blaine is dealing with something. He tries to tell himself that there is nothing he can do. Blaine’s made it very clear that he has no interest in talking to Kurt about what has happened in his room. But Kurt also wishes that Blaine would reach out, so that Kurt can help him.

And again, maybe this is all in Kurt’s head.

Maybe Blaine isn’t struggling at all. Maybe he doesn’t want to speak to Kurt for other reasons.

But Kurt doesn’t know.

Damn, maybe he shouldn’t go to VIGÒ. If the fact that he and Blaine walked past another store can trigger such a reaction, then maybe Kurt should just turn around and go to the Cacao. He turns around and he’s about to forget this whole VIGÒ thing when someone calls his name.

“Kurt?” he hears.

Kurt looks over his shoulder and he sees that Sunil and Tadeja have left VIGÒ.

Right, he knows that Sunil’s asked Tadeja out.

Kurt hadn’t really thought about Tadeja a lot. He’s certain that Tadeja cannot help him, although he does wonder if Sunil’s said anything to her.

“Hey guys,” Kurt says cheerfully.

“Are you also looking for a way to cool down?” Tadeja nods towards the entrance of VIGÒ.

“Yeah, I didn’t expect this hot weather, especially after a cold winter.”

“Eh, you got here in February. It was a lot colder in January,” Tadeja says with a shrug. Then she shoots a quick glance towards Sunil.

“Oh, am I interrupting your date…” Kurt trails off.

“We’re about to go to Tivoli Park, but we can chat for a moment,” Sunil says.

Tadeja nods.

“How’ve you been?” she asks.

Kurt searches Tadeja’s face for a hint of an ulterior motive. Is she asking this because she knows something has happened between him and Blaine, or is she asking this because she is a lovely person? Probably the second, because Tadeja is lovely, but she is also on friendly terms with Blaine.

Kurt decides to give some generic answers about classes and the weather. Tadeja asks how the preparation for the play is going and Kurt’s glad to tell her. Sunil also chips in every now and then, because he’s heard Kurt rehearse in his room, to Kurt’s embarrassment.

“No, no, man, you sound amazing. You can monologue like crazy,” Sunil says excitedly, “Take the compliment!”

“Ah, okay,” Kurt laughs. He doesn’t want to come off as vain, because that won’t help him in this industry, but Sunil is right and he should be able to celebrate small moments. He needs it, especially in this weird time.

“I was so happy when Blaine told me that you wanted me to see it,” Tadeja says, and Kurt tries to keep smiling.

Of course, they cannot ignore Blaine. Kurt once again tries to figure out if Tadeja has a particular reason for bringing him up.

“I’d love for you to be there,” Kurt says earnestly. After all, no one back home can see it, so he’s happy that he’s found some people here.

And then he thinks: fuck it. He’s dancing around the topic he wants to discuss, and Tadeja is right here. This is his moment.

“How is Blaine?” he asks innocently. Sunil gives him a knowing look over Tadeja’s shoulder.

“Good, good,” Tadeja answers, “Busy. We both are. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there was an issue with sexism on the work floor, but I am currently combatting it, and he has my back.”

Kurt does know of the issue. It’s why Blaine came to visit him.

“So we’re working on that, and of course, the workflow doesn’t end there. We’ve decided to not partner with those sexist pigs, which is a big change in our business plan and…”

Tadeja continues to talk about her work and Kurt nods attentively, although he doesn’t really follow. He never quite understood what Blaine’s company actually does and Blaine never felt the need to explain it.

“… so that is why we’re kind of stressed. It’s a good thing Blaine has a break coming up.”

“He does?”

Tadeja gives him a weird look.

“Yeah. Quinn’s coming, remember?”

“She is?” Kurt is unable to hide his surprise. Quinn is still coming?

“Yeah?” Tadeja says as if it’s obvious, “They’ve been planning this visit ever since he left America. I can imagine he’s nervous. It’s finally happening! I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Of course.”

Kurt and Sunil look at each other and Sunil sees that as his cue to cut in. He tells Kurt that it was a lot of fun running into him, but that they have to go and continue their date. He makes it look like he’s the one who wants to get out of the conversation, not Kurt, and Kurt appreciates it.

They say their goodbyes. When they’re out of sight, Kurt looks at VIGÒ before sighing and walking away.

--

End notes: Damn, you know Kurt’s really going through it when he skips VIGÒ. VIGÒ is also my favourite ice cream shop in the city. There were other ice cream places, but VIGÒ had a lot of interesting flavours. I particulary liked the VIGÒ flavour and the lavender flavour. They also switch it up every now and then.

While sparsely researching for this chapter, I actually found out that VIGÒ opened a second store in Ljubljana. And guess where? Kongresni trg! The place to be!

[alycosworld]

Tainted

Scaramouche X Reader

WARNING: mentions of (nearly) sexual assault

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A/N: I seem to have more angst/comfort ideas for genshin but I'm not sure why...also, I'm on holiday in a foreign country! I have no work and I'll probably spend all my nights on Tumblr after exploring the city in the day, so please please please send in some requests! I'm bored and although they might take some time, they might help me get back into writing more regularly. I'm pretty sure this is gender neutral but if I made a mistake, feel free to tell me. This has NOT been checked for any errors (I'll get around to it at some point).

I'm not sure if Scaramouche is ooc, since he doesn't say anything that nice in the game or in any official works, but I definitely think he has the capacity for it. And I like soft Scar <3.

If at any point you feel uncomfortable, PLEASE DO NOT READ ON. I felt a little icky after writing the assault bit so do not force yourself to read any further or read at all. I do not want to make anyone reading this unhappy. Any victims of sexual assault or harassment, I hope you heal

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Keep walking. Just keep walking. Get home as fast as possible.

Avoid dark spots, avoid all people, avoid secluded areas. Just get home now.

That's what you told yourself after it happened. Archons, you didn't even know how you should feel. Ashamed? Angry? Disgusted? Upset? Confused? Afraid? The amalgamation of these emotions just made everything worse. You felt sick to your stomach. You wanted to cry and scream and vomit and disappear all at the same time.

You felt like you were covered in grime and you don't even know how you managed to get away. You should've done something, anything! But in the moment, you couldn't.

Your day had started normally. You went to the Adventurer's Guild in Inazuma, doing your commissions and taking up a few extra quests to help people out. Even though you were walking home later than normal, you didn't think much of it. Until somehow, you lost your way. In the dark, things became a little more vague and confusing, so you ended up taking a left and ending up in a dark alleyway between two dimly lit buildings.

You walked through, lost in your own thoughts, until you heard some chuckling and some incoherent remarks made by someone exiting one of the buildings out a back door and into the alleyway.

Glancing up, you saw that the person was a man - quite tall and well built with flushed cheeks: he was clearly not sober. You paid him no mind, staring at the ground as you continue to walk, determined to get home to see your boyfriend, Scaramouche. Though he wasn't one to worry, knowing that you could handle yourself, you did want to see him as soon as possible.

"Well, what do we have here?" The man asked, and you looked up at him again, tilting your head in confusion but staying silent.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing out here all alone?" He asked, a suspicious smirk on his face.

"I'm going home." You said firmly, not wanting to give him any ideas.

"Oh? A handsome young thing like you, going home all by themselves? Let me walk you, I promise I don't bite." He continued, clearly not getting the hint.

"I'm alright, but thank you for the off--"

"Stop being such a fucking tease! Wearing an outfit like that, you're begging for it." He pinned you against the wall despite your attempt to politely refuse any moves he tried to make. He caught your arms above your head and harshly shoved one of his legs between yours.

"Don't like to me, hon, you know you want this." He whispered huskily. You had fought countless hilichurls, abyss mages and monsters far more intimidating and dangerous than that man that day, but you couldn't seem to move. All you could manage was a fearful 'please, don't do this'. Struggling was futile, for some reason you couldn't escape his grasp. You had fought beasts ten times this man's size but violating you like this? It made you break.

He gripped you harshly and even managed to kiss your neck a couple times, making the tears stream down your face uncontrollably, until he heard some voices. You recognised them immediately: members of the Adventurer's Guild. He must be known it too because he stopped as soon as he heard, offering you a sickening grin and scuttling away before you could react.

"We'll finish this some other time, sweetheart. I promise."

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

You didn't get any help from the Adventurer's Guild members who you heard, instead opting to rush home as soon as possible, trying to figure out what to do next.

The only solution in your mind was to crawl into your lover's arms and tell him what had happened. You didn't want anyone else to know - you know you could trust Scaramouche and you knew he would help you.

But he didn't.

You got home and wiped your tears before entering the house, hoping to look somewhat presentable despite having experienced such an impactful event. You dropped your belongings carelessly, not flinging at the loud sound they made as they hit the floor. You immediately made your way to the guest room Scaramouche had turned into an office of sorts, for him to work on Fatui business. The bedroom door was open and empty and he was nowhere to be found on the first floor, so that was the only other place he could've been. You were relieved to see him sitting at the desk, deep in thought with some maps and other sheets of paper laid out in front of him.

"Scar, I--"

"Not now, (Y/N), I'm busy." He said hot even bothering to look up at your frazzled and shattered state.

"I know but, please, Scar. While I was--"

"If you know that I'm busy, why enter in the first place? I'm working. Leave me alone." He said harshly. You didn't say anything, instead opting to nod silently and close the door. Since this was the first time you had experienced this pain and discomfort from being touched and defiled in such a way, you decided that maybe you should put it aside. After all, maybe it was something so jarring. Maybe it didn't matter. Maybe Scaramouche's nonchalance was justified. In a twisted way, you blamed yourself for overreacting and decided to just forget about the incident. If it didn't mean enough for Scaramouche to even look at you, it clearly wasn't something worth fretting over. You were just exaggerating, right?

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You tried you absolute hardest not to let the incident bother you, but you unknowingly started changing your habits to prevent what had occurred from happening to you again.

"Wearing an outfit like that, you're begging for it..."

You started wearing less revealing clothing, going as far as wearing gloves at some point and covering your neck with collars and scarves through the hot weather.

"We'll finish this some other time, sweetheart. I promise."

Initially, you just avoided dark or secluded places, even when you were with other people, but eventually, you were too scared to leave home at all. You didn't leave the confines of your small garden and if someone passed by, you would quickly hide yourself away. When Scaramouche had unknown guests and colleagues over, you would hide in your bedroom and make him promise not to mention you or acknowledge your existence in the slightest.

You even started taking longer showers and refused to bathe with Scaramouche, confusing him since you used to enjoy it so much. But you wouldn't let him see you in such a vulnerable state now that you were contaminated. You didn't want him to know that you had been tarnished in such a vulgar way, and you spent long moments scrubbing at the parts the stranger had touched. You were worried that Scaramouche would blame you for being assaulted - because in a sick way you thought it was your fault, despite having been nothing wrong. You had twisted the story in your mind to make it seem like you were responsible for the crime committed against you.

Eventually, Childe had to visit for business purposes, but you had become good friends with the eleventh Fatui Harbinger since he was friends with-- well, he and Scaramouche had a relationship, to say the least.

"So where's (Y/N)? Normally they're all over you and making you as embarrassed at possible." Childs grinned, and Scaramouche just frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"They're in our room. They don't really want to see anyone right now." Scaramouche said. Even though you told him not to mention you anymore, since you were so hellbent on avoiding all human interaction, he thought it would be okay to tell Childe. He was your friend too, after all.

"Is something wrong? What happened?" Childe asked, concern in his eyes.

"I don't know. They've been avoiding everyone, including me. They barely talk to me and insist on sleeping downstairs." Scaramouche confessed.

"Let me talk to them."

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Childe exited your room after hearing what to had to say, and he was disturbed and sympathetic, at the very least. Scaramouche saw his wide-eyed, grim expression when he exited the room and immediately had questions.

"What?" Scaramouche asked.

"I'll come back tomorrow to continue our work." Childs said, referring to the business he originally came for.

"But we have to--"

"Scar?" Scaramouche stopped all his trains of thought and turned to the sound of your voice. It was hoarse but still as beautiful as ever. He knew you had been crying from your puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"I think you have other matters to take care of." Childe winked, before giving Scaramouche an informal two-fingered salute and showing himself out.

As soon as the door closed, Scaramouche turned his attention to you, not coming too close in case you didn't want to be near him.

"Yes, Love?" He asked, more concerned than you had ever seen him.

"Can I talk to you? If you're busy, that's okay, it's not that impor--"

"I'm not busy." He shook his head, and you offered him a sad and grateful smile before sitting on the edge of the bed while he took a seat on a nearby chair.

"So, uhm, a couple of days ago I was walking home and I kind of got lost...so I tried taking this alleyway and--" You stopped yourself, meeting Scaramouche's attentive gaze before continuing.

"There was a guy. And he-- he t-touched me. I-- I didn't know what to do. I could've easily fought back but I just got scared and froze up because that's never happened to me before and he kept saying that I wanted him-- but I didn't! I swear, I didn't. I know it sounds bad since I didn't stop him but I really tried, I just couldn't. And he started k-kissing me...here," You gestured to the spots on your neck that you could still feel being violated.

"And I felt so horrible and he didn't go any further because some people were coming, so I ran home. I-I...I didn't know what to do but I felt like I should tell you because I thought you would help me, but you said you were busy so I just-- It-tried to brush it off but I just couldn't get it out of my head! And before I got away, he told me that he'd come back and finish me off and so I didn't want to go outside anymore in case I ran into him. And I started to cover up since he said I was asking for it because of what I was wearing and then I just got scared and I felt dirty. I tried so hard to forget and clean myself but it kept coming back-- I can still feel him on me! I hated it, I still hated it! You have to believe me, I wasn't trying to get him to notice me, I just..." You broke down after finishing what you had to say. You had already been crying since you told Childe, but now you were choking out sobs and your face was drenched. Scaramouche stood up from his chair and sat next to you on the bed, a safe distance away just in case you still weren't comfortable with being touched.

"I believe you. I know you're not like that." Scarsmocuhe started calmly. In all honesty, he wanted to interrupt you as soon as you said that this man approached you. His blood was boiling and he was ready to murder this man for you but kept himself in check because you didn't need senseless violence or revenge right now, you needed comfort. What hurt him the most was that you were blaming yourself because he didn't bother listening to what you had to say on what was probably the worst day of your life.

"It's not your fault you were touched like that. You are not to blame, at all. I-- I should've listened to you when you came to me - as soon as I turned you say I thought something was wrong but I didn't bother asking about it. That's entirely my fault." He admitted, which surprised you. It took Scaramouche a lot to admit his mistakes, but for you? He didn't care. You constantly put up with his sour attitude, he can definitely listen to you and admit he was wrong.

"You sure? Because I still--"

"I'm sure." He said simply.

"But why did you start avoiding me?" He asked, wanting to understand the situation entirely.

"Well, because..." You started, unsure if he would get angry if you told him. While you were contemplating, he offered you an encouraging expression. It wasn't a smile, but it was more than enough to put you at ease.

"I didn't want you to think I was tainted. Of course, you wouldn't want to be near me after that had happened." You sighed, wiping up the last of your tears.

"You really are an idiot, you know?" He said, but after seeing the clueless and almost hurt look on your face, he immediately wanted to take it back. He didn't mean to be insensitive, he just...well, he often explained positive emotions with his very wide negative vocabulary.

"No, I didn't-- uhm..." He mentally cursed himself for not knowing what to say, but you didn't interrupt him and made a small gesture for him to keep going.

"What I mean to say was, I don't think that you're tainted or anything like that. And I still...want to be...near you-- eugh!" He pretended to be grossed out at his own words in true Scaramouche fashion, but he knew you knew he didn't really mean it and was beyond delighted when he saw you giggle at his facial expression.

He sighed and acted angry as he opened his arms ever so slightly. You noticed the movement and quirked an eyebrow when he hesitated.

"Is it okay if I come closer?" Scaramouche asked, unsure if you wanted to be touched after the incident.

Your heart swelled at his care and then you slowly watched as he stiffly wrapped his arms around you comfortingly. Although you had hugged and cuddled on countless occasions, he still wouldn't stop being so robotic unless you did something. It made you laugh and he pulled away slightly to glare at you, so you decided to just pull him back in and hug back.

And when you relished in the touch of another human being, the touch of the person you love, you began to cry. The last time anyone willingly touched you was in that alleyway, and so to have someone be so gentle with you and have no bad intentions, you were overwhelmed with emotion.

Scaramouche must've felt your tears staining his clothing and skin, and quickly pulled away with poorly hidden concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked, but you just continued to sob and nod.

"I love you!" You choked out. He sighed and gently patted your back.

"I...love you too." He said, before making another expression of mock disgust. He slowly moved to hold both your wrists in his hand and kiss down to your neck, pulling you into his lap with your legs straddling one of his.

You soon realised that he was covering up the placed the stranger had touched you with his own ministrations, effectively replacing the grime you felt you gained after the incident. After you came to that conclusion and Scaramouche was done, he didn't meet your eye, blushing profusely. It was justified since he didn't usually initiate any kind of affection acts, but you just cupped his jaw and kissed his cheek, smiiling at him with purity and a newfound confidence in the both of you.

"Thank you, Scar."

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Athena

So. I have to deal with the virgin goddesses… By mythos, there really shouldn't ever be children of Artemis, Hestia, or Athena (yes, Athena was a virgin goddess). PJ got past that by making it canon that Annabeth and her siblings were born from cracking open Athena's skull (yes, that's also more or less the canon explanation). They gloss over it real quick but I remember, Rick. I've always remembered and that mental image has haunted me for years...

I can't, in good conscience, ignore the history around Athena's worship (call it an academic restraint) but I REFUSE to do the skull thing. So, since I make the rules here, I'm going with magic adoption. They still get magic powers, they're just more human than demigod. Cool? Cool.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena

Lucifer

The human that popped out of the portal seemed to have enough sense not to attack everyone in the room for a change, but even Lucifer could tell that was more of a strategic choice than for lack of ability...

Their very existence was highly unusual… and quite worrisome. He wasn't even aware Athena could have "children" of her own, but apparently she had been taking in some particularly bright humans to raise and train like her own...

Unbeknownst to him, a surprising amount of human scholars, diplomats, and generals have her to thank for their trade… and that alone should speak to the level of intrigue at play here. 

Was this an accident or Athena's attempt to plant an Olympian spy in the Devildom too…? Either way, he didn't trust them from the get go…

Look, Lucifer isn’t stupid. Athena is a goddess of Wisdom and War and war happens on more than just the battlefield… 

Since they've shown up records have been going missing, official documents keep getting misplaced, and he swears that there's some kind of bug in the student council room...!

It's infuriating watching the MC suck up to Diavolo when he's almost certain that they're running their own agenda behind the scenes! And he can't prove any of it!! They cover their tracks too well!

Lucifer has one of those corkboards covered in newspapers and string in a secret wing of the Castle - 100% dedicated to just tracking the MC's activities…. The longer they're there, the more obsessed he becomes...

He swears between Simeon, Solomon, and MC he feels like a shepherd wondering why the sheep are growling… The Devildom has never been in more danger than it is right now... Send help.

Mammon

To be honest, he kind of thought that they were just going to be Satan 2.0 but that's not really true.

They're more than just a book sponge! Though they do read, like a lot. Let’s just say from one schemer to another… Game recognizes Game.

They come up with plans and ideas soooo fast, it’s insane! Honestly, there are times where he has a new money-making plot and he just brings it to the MC first to run it over. 

Nine times out of ten, not only do they sniff out any problems but they have a solution for him in a matter of minutes! His scheme game has been on point since they’ve shown up!!

They’re also even better tutoring than Satan is, so he’s even managed to get a couple A’s for the first time in his life! Lucifer actually told him he was proud (which he secretly recorded and now uses as a ringtone much to his brother’s regret...)

So yeah, he likes them... buuut that doesn’t keep him from thinking they act a little weird sometimes... 

Mammon: *points to a unused tower close to the RAD building* Over there is the Tower of Sorrow. We use it for storage.

MC: Ah. Interesting… *starts writing in a notebook, muttering* It may need a few minor tweaks but the location is defensible...

Mammon: *stops* Ya say somethin’?

MC: *looks back up* Nope! Say, you’ve been to the Castle a lot haven’t you? Do you know any good ways in?

Mammon: Uhm… Why do ya want to know that…? *starts looking around for Lucifer*

MC: In case of emergencies. I like being prepared. 🙂

Mammon: Look, I don’t know what Lucifer might’a told ya…

MC: I’ll pay you a thousand Grimm for it.

Mammon: Well shit, ya want those maps with or without color?

... Yeeeah, that’s pretty weird… But it’s probably fine. I mean, as long as they keep giving him money, who’s he to complain? 🤷‍♀️

Leviathan

Also thought that they’d be a lot more like Satan but was pleasantly surprised that they were into more than books.

What else did they like exactly? Military strategy!!

It’s been a looong time since he’s been able to talk to someone who’s actually interested in all the battles he’s fought, both in the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, and their curiosity is kind of flattering...! Not a lot of people take his strategic prowess all that seriously anymore...

Plus, they are the BEST partner to have any turn-based strategy game. Hands down. He once got stuck on a level of D-COM for weeks until the MC walked in and mopped the floor with the AI!! They have a serious head for probability and tactics.

The House once made the mistake of letting these two be on the same team during a Hell Game and they absolutely demolished the competition. Mammon didn’t even get a single shot off before half his team was lost to a rigged paint grenade… It took a whole day to clean up… 

However, Levi’s also noticed some odd things about the human… He likes that they’re interested in his past but maybe they’re a little… too interested?

Levi: -and that’s how we defeated the Four Horsemen before they escaped from Purgatory. 

MC: Wow, Levi that’s seriously impressive!! *furiously scribbling on a notebook*

Levi: Well t-thanks… 😅 But, uhm... are you writing that down…?

MC: Hm? Oh no, just doodling. *they lift up the notebook to show a bunch of cute little sketches on the page… and not the magic-based invisible ink all over them…*

Levi: Oh you draw too? Can you do fanart???

MC: Eh, sometimes. But say Levi, can you tell me about your naval ranks again? I’m still really curious… *gets the pen ready again with a smile*

Satan

Oh, it's been a long game of cat-and-mouse between these two… and unfortunately, it’s been pretty addicting too.

He honestly had every intention of tricking the human into making a huge mess do he could bother Lucifer, but at every turn they proved just a hair too clever for him...

He once gave them a cursed book to “lend” to Lucifer, but they saw through it the moment they touched it and lifted the spell before handing it over.

He rigged a podium to spray glitter during one of Lucifer's speeches but the MC disconnected the trigger mic before he even got on stage. It was pretty dang frustrating...

At one point he got so desperate that, just as a test, he tried to trap them in the House's Music Room. Fortunately for them, it only took a few minutes to work out an escape. They even passed by him in the hallway with a wink!

It's confounding! It's infuriating!! 

...and it's so damn sexy... He should be furious but he’s just in awe!!

Add on that they know their art, literature, and multiple different crafts thanks to the tutelage of their adopted mother and that’s it. He’s finished. This boy is in love.

Truthfully though, a part of him is 90% sure that they’re also gathering state secrets… Like, they’re watching Barbs and Diavolo far too close for comfort - but he just can't bring himself to care. 🤷‍♀️

The MC could walk into his room one day and say, "Hey, do you want to help overthrow the monarchy with me?" and he dreads it because deep down he knows that he wouldn’t say no…

Take some notes, kids. Some bad influences get you to drink or do drugs. Others pull you into a centuries long conspiracy to destabilize and topple rival realms from within… But he has fallen for their brain hard. Devil help them all…

Asmodeus 

They’re pretty clever, he’ll give them that, but uh… Are they a little off to anybody else?

Asmo is a charmer by birthright so he has a bit of nose for when someone’s just a liiittttle too nice… Not much of a nose mind you, because he can be thrown off by compliments himself, but enough to think that the MC might be a little too… “kind” for their own good...

First off, who wants to spend that much time with Levi?? They don’t even seem that interested in anime! They just keeping asking him for old war stories…

Then all the sucking up they do to Diavolo and Barbatos? Look, he gets it. Diavolo is a delicious piece of man-hunk and his butler could give him a lesson or two in sweet-talk (and he has), but they seem to be just a little too… nosy.

Of course, Asmo’s suspicions disappear pretty quickly after they start to spoil him with spa nights and beauty secrets they picked up from “casual research” into the subject.

And you know, get a little Demonus in Asmo and start massaging his back? Oh, sweetie he’ll sing like a bird!! … with gossip. Singing with gossip.

Asmo: So I’ve heard that Lucifer has been spending more time at RAD than usual… His whole club is talking about it, they think he’s meeting with some witch!

MC: Hm, is that so? *works on a knot near his shoulder blades* What do you think?

Asmo: Ooh~! Right there, MC! *purrs and lays his head on his arms* Well come on, this is Lucifer we’re talking about! I’m sure he’s just working.

Asmo: Hmm... though come to think of it, I think I heard him asking Barbatos for the spare keys to the Tower of Sorrow…

MC: Oh really? Huh. *works out the knot and gets up* I just remembered that I left some papers with Satan... I’ll be right back.

Asmo: You’re going already??

MC: *waves him off quickly* I’ll be right back, Asmo. *hurries out the door to do totally on-the-up-and-up things… surely*

Beelzebub 

Honestly he doesn't like this one… But not for the reasons you'd expect.

He agrees with everyone else that they seem a little shady, but Solomon and Simeon are too so it's not like that's anything new... 🤷‍♀️

No, no. He dislikes them because they're the person who FINALLY figured out how to keep him from eating all the food in the kitchen!!

Turns out that the trick was to put a teleportation charm on the fridge door that would send all the food away if it’s opened after a certain time of night… 

And where does it go? The Purgatory Hall fridge. And where does the Purgatory Hall food go…? The HoL fridge…

It doesn’t sound so bad until you remember that it means half of their fridge is now Solomon’s leftovers…. 🤢

After they put the same kind of spell on the pantry, it was all over… He couldn't get midnight snacks from the House anymore… Everything was contaminated by Solomon…

The MC is a nice enough person, he doesn’t have a lot of complaints about them, but he wants them to leave. Now. This is inexcusable… He’s so hungry… and he doesn’t want to die by “goulash” or whatever Solomon calls his latest culinary catastrophe… He’s still too young for death… 😓

Belphegor 

In a way, he absolutely could not have asked for a better person to help him get out of that attic.

… In another way, he got one of the worst possible people to try and kill... Like. They saw through his scheme sooo fast…

How was he supposed to know that the human had training in body language and sniffing out lies???

Getting the door open was a piece of cake for them. They knew enough magic to undo the seals and just rummaged around Lucifer's stuff long enough to find the key to the door. He could not have found a more competent individual for a break out, really.

It’s just… well he didn’t expect to go from locked in a room like a prisoner to tied up in enchanted rope, still like a prisoner but now mobile. 😑 

They even used his own hug ruse against him! They caught his wrists when they got close and tied him up before he could shake them off...

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the best look for them either - what with walking Belphegor downstairs to the others like a one-man-prison-caravan but they're as silver-tongued as they are sly so they talked their way out of it beautifully… 

And like hell was he going to trust them after that!! And not even Beel liked them so something had to be up...

Well, you want a detective? Look no farther than Belphie (no seriously, it’s in the canon). He can put things together pretty fast when he puts his mind to it and watching the MC for a while gave him enough proof to work off of...

He always knew that, humans were bad news and the MC just proved it to him all over again. They are bad news, bad bad news and they’re going to-!

Overthrow… Diavolo…? Is that what he is getting from them…? Huh…

Wait a second, MC. You might just have him interested… 😏

[weasleylangs]

opposites attract - f.w.

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Hufflepuff Fem!Reader Summary: The quiet, Hufflepuff bookworm has captured the heart of the mischievous Gryffindor.  Warnings: none! Word Count: 2k

A/N: For the anon that asked for Fred with a Hufflepuff reader who he’s uncharacteristically sweet for! I’m sorry it took so long, I hope you (and everyone else who reads it) enjoys it!! 

P.S let me know if you’d like to be added to a tag list!

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Y/N sits in charms, completely zoned out. Charms was always her best subject and she was luckily one of those ‘never study, always pass’ students. The same could not be said about her boyfriend, however, who was sitting across the room trying to tickle his best friend with his quill and distract him.

Y/N and Fred were an unusual couple, and no one understood how the shy Hufflepuff girl managed to catch the mischievous Gryffindor’s attention. Fred’s idea of a good time was turning the corridor into a swamp or roughhousing during quidditch practise whilst Y/N’s was curled up in front of a fire, a nice book in her hand. But no one questioned it, because somehow they made it work.

Fred caught her eye and winked. They’ve been dating for six months now and he never gets tired from the shy look on her face when he looks at her. She shakes her head, hiding behind her hair and turning her attention back to Flitwick as he drones on about their assignment. 

When the bell rings, signalling next period, Fred’s across the room in no time. Y/N has her head down, grabbing her notebook and quill when Fred snatched them out of her hand whilst simultaneously grabbing her bag from the floor. “I’ll carry them for you, love,” he said, smiling.

This wasn’t unusual behaviour. Before the couple got together, everyone always thought Fred was a flirt and was hooking up with different people every weekend, and whilst they were right at the time, Fred is absolutely whipped for his badger girlfriend and hasn’t even looked at another girl since their first date. He’s always wanting to carry her books or he’s slinging an arm around her shoulder.

She has him wrapped around her finger and he couldn’t care less.

“You don’t have to do that, Freddie. You know my bag is heavy,” she says trying to grab the bag from him. Fred only takes three classes, considering the three O.W.L’s he received in their fifth year, meaning sometimes he only has one class a day. However, Y/N managed to receive ten, only failing History of Magic (‘Who fucking cares?’ was everyone’s response), resulting in her having multiple classes a day and therefore a very heavy bag. 

Fred, of course, shrugs it off, “I’m a beater, darling. Nice and strong. I can barely tell that you have five textbooks in here,” he says as he winks and causes Y/N’s face to heat up as she swats him on the chest. “I’m just saying you don’t have too, I can carry my own bag,” she pouts. While she knows Fred is more than happy to lug her bag around, she hates the idea that he’s only doing it out of obligation to be a ‘good boyfriend’. 

These insecurities aren’t new. She hears what people say about them and it doesn’t bother her for the most part. Just there’s only so many times she can handle people she’s not even friends with talking about how ‘Y/N isn’t right for Fred’. 

“You have potions now, yes?” Fred asks, pulling Y/N out of her worries as she follows Fred through the corridors. That’s another thing she never expected, Fred learnt her timetable when they started dating so he could always walk her to class. “I do, Freddie. You have a free right, are you spending it with George and Lee?” 

Fred nods, “I sure am, we’re meeting in the One-Eyed Witch passage to pop down to Honeydukes too, you need anything?” Y/N frowns at this. “Freddie, that passage is on the third floor on the other side of the school. You don’t have to walk me to potions,” she tries to grab her bag from him again and he shakes his head.

“Darling, what part of ‘I want to do this’ do you not understand?” While his tone is sharp, he’s not angry. Y/N doesn’t think she’s ever seen Fred this serious, a glint of cheekiness is always present in his eyes but right now, he looks about as serious as Snape when talking about proper cauldron care. 

“I just don’t want to keep you from the boys,” she whispers, tugging at the sleeves of her robes. They stop walking, and Fred drags her body into a hug. “The boys are fine waiting, now do you want anything from Honeydukes.” 

She falters for a second, just enjoying being in his presence. Despite the short amount of time they’ve been dating, Y/N knows what she feels for him is love and she can only hope the tall ginger boy feels the same way in return. His embrace can only be described as comfort, all Y/N’s worries rushing away as his familiar scent of firewood and cinnamon fills her senses.

“Some sugar quills, please,” she mumbles into his robes. “Anything for you,” he replies, pulling away and grabbing her hand. “C’mon, you’re going to be late for potions.” 

-

It’s after dinner by the time Y/N catches Fred again. She’s walking out of the Great Hall when she feels her robes get tugged on and she almost falls over. 

“Hi,” Fred says, “some sugar quills for my sugar quill.” 

Y/N cringes at the cheesy nickname as she thanks him, popping the sweets into her robe pockets, “What are your plans for tonight?” Fred shrugs, more quiet than usual as he plays with Y/N’s fingers. “Nothing, I was… I was wondering if I can come and hang in the Hufflepuff common room with you?” 

He’s shy and Y/N almost coos at it. Fred ‘no filter when he speaks’ Weasley is blushing as he asks his girlfriend to spend some time with her in her house common room, this is a once in a lifetime happening. 

“Of course, Freddie. Any reason why?” It’s not that she doesn’t want him spending time with her. But Fred’s never expressed an interest in spending the night in, rather opting to terrorise Filch or another teacher after dinner.

“You like spending your evenings reading in front of the fire. I feel like I’ve barely seen you today,” he whispers. At this, she decides not to torture the poor boy any further and grabs his hand. “C’mon,” 

They arrive at the common room in no time, no one batting an eye at the Gryffindor waltzing into the common room where he doesn’t belong. In fact, he gets quite a few “Hi Fred’s!” from people in their year. He’s always been popular and well known, so of course, the house of kindness is happy to have him.

“I’m going to run up to my dorm and change, are you sure you’re okay?” Fred nods, sitting himself down on the soft yellow chair in front of the fire. It’s Y/N’s favourite chair to read in and Fred knows it. “Sure am, hurry back before I freeze to death.”

Y/N speed changes, switching out her uniform for some sweatpants, one of Fred’s old jumpers and her favourite fuzzy sock. While she’s up there, she grabs a spare sweater she’s stolen from Fred for him to change into and her copy of ‘Frankenstein’ from her nightstand and rushes back downstairs and straight into Fred’s lap. “Hi,” she whispers, kissing him on the cheek. 

Fred hums a hello as he settles into the soft pillows of the couch. Y/N perches herself next to him, slinging her legs across his lap with her back against the arm rest. “What’s it about?” Fred asks, gesturing to the book she’s just opened. He knows Y/N’s love for muggle books and he loves hearing her talk about them, even though he never understands. “A scientist who creates a ‘monster’ through experiments… It’s one of my favourites.” 

She waves the book in Fred’s face and sure enough, the sticky notes and the plastic tabs are sticking out, referencing all her favourite parts. “It sounds cool, can I read it after you?” 

Y/N is shy about this. Books are very important to her and she feels her sticky notes and writing in the margins are her deepest thoughts, a peep into her soul. But the boy in front of her owns her heart, every single part of it, and she decided then and there, she wants to share every part of herself with him. “Sure, but you have to promise to not judge my notes.” 

He could never, the Hufflepuff girl in his lap turns his heart to mush no matter how much he tries to hide it and he can’t even imagine hurting her. He holds his pinky out, “I promise,” he says as she hooks her own with his and he presses a kiss to her forehead. 

They sit in silence for a while. Fred starts conversing with members of the Hufflepuff quidditch team (“We’re going to crush you next week, Kirke” she hears Fred say at one point and she has to nudge him with her knee to not start a brawl in the common room) while Y/N reads. At one point, her hand ends up in Fred’s hair, playing with the short strands at the nape of his neck. 

When she does this, Fred leans into her touch and his eyes flicker shut for only a second. She thinks she’s finally found a way to quiet him down and she makes a mental note to play with his hair next time she wants to get some reading done. 

The time starts to near 10pm as Y/N starts yawning, and as much as Fred would love to stay, he knows he’ll have enough trouble getting back to Gryffindor tower without George, Lee and their trusty Mauraders Map. “I should probably get going, darling,” Fred mutters after a while and when he looks at his girlfriend, she’s pouting.

“I wish you could stay,” she says and when Fred cocks his eyebrow she laughs, “not like that, you git!” 

She quickly stands, pulling Fred’s gangly body up from the couch and into her arms. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, we have double Defence,” Fred says laughing and she feels his chest rumble with laughter. “Too long,” she mumbles in reply. When Y/N gets tired, she gets clingy which was one of the earliest things Fred ever learnt about her. It’s always one of the cutest things about her.

He walks to the portrait hole, his small girlfriend clinging to his body and he presses a soft kiss to her hairline before detaching her. “Darling, I have to go.”

He feels terrible. He knows she isn’t being clingy to make him feel bad, she genuinely just wants to spend time with him. She yawns again, eyes scrunched closed as she stretches her arms that somehow end up wrapped back around his waist. 

“Okay, you can go,” she gives him one final squeeze before letting him go and looking up at him and before Fred can stop himself the words are slipping out.

“I love you.” 

This wakes her up immediately and her eyes are wide as she looks at him, “R-really?” 

Fred was going to pretend he never said it, worried it was both too early and that she didn’t feel the same way. But the way she’s looking at him, glints of happiness in her eyes and the biggest smile he’s ever seen on her face he knows now is the right time.

“I do, I love you.” 

She jumps on him again, pressing her lips to his. Her lips are soft against his, they always are and the kiss is filled with love and adoration. Neither of them is aware of how long they stand there, embraced in each other’s arms until they’re barely kissing anymore, their smiles too wide. 

“I love you too, Freddie. I love you more,” she says, full seriousness in her face. “Oh love, you won’t win this argument.” He presses a kiss to her lips again before slinking out of the portrait hole, leaving Y/N standing with her fingers pressed to her lips smiling. 

[luimagines]

He Accidentally Hurt You Pt. 1

Masterlist

Takes place while in the group, written as a platonic relationship.

this one got away from me entirely, so I had to split it up

Warrior

“I’m telling you, we need to head west!”

“And head straight into enemy territory? I don’t think so!”

“Wild’s right, Warrior. We can’t just sit around here and wait for them to come to us or the people of the town. We’re the only ones who can do something about it.” 

“Need I remind the both of you that we’re all tired as hell as well? We have no potions or healing items, our weapons haven’t been tended to in over a week because of the constant fighting and everyone has an injury in one way or another. We can’t afford to keep going at this rate. We’re lucky enough to have enough food as it is.”

You glanced at the W Trio. Wild, Wind and Warrior.

They’ve been going over the map and strategies for the past hour and it’s getting tiring. That normally would have fallen to Time and Twilight to talk to Warrior about it but they went ahead as the currently strongest of all to secure the perimeter.

It hasn’t been going great.

You sighed and stood up, making your way over to where they were.

Warrior was getting worked up and his gestures became more agitated and pronounced.

They needed to stop.

“Ok, guys, take five and a breather.” You started before your head snapped backwards.

The arguing stopped instantly.

“Oh for Din’s sake! Are you ok?.” Hands covered your own as you felt your face trying to pry them off to get a read on the damage done. “Oh course this has to happen.”

You took a step back and plugged your nose for good measure.

Wild and Wind both look tense and looked between the two of you, expecting something to blow up in their faces.

“Well that was unnecessary.” You spoke after a tense beat.

Warrior bit his lip, warring within himself to both step forward to comfort you and too afraid of pushing your boundaries more than he already has. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Does it hurt?”

“I’ll live if that’s what you’re asking me.” You raised an eyebrow. “I was going to say that you should all take a break and leave it for a while. Maybe take a nap and come back to it once Twilight and the Old Man can have a say. Because yeah, we’re all tired as hell. I don’t think you liked the idea though.”

Warrior had the decency to look ashamed. “That was unintentional.”

“Regardless, I think I’m bleeding.” You smirk. “You’ve got quite the arm Captain. Last time I checked, a backhanded slap was usually reserved for-”

“Please don’t make this any worse.”

You laughed.

Wind

“Wind! Get down from there!” You called up the tree.

Mr. Sticky Fingers had taken something important from you, not that he knew what it was and you didn’t plan on telling him it’s importance since it was mostly sentimental value but the kid turned it into a game instead.

“I’m not going to climb after you Pirate!”

“I guess it’s mine then!” He taunted back.

You glared at his smirking face and snapped your head to the group. “Excuse me Wild Child, care to lend a hand? You’re the best tree climber among us and I’d really like to get my item back.”

Wild looked up and spotted Wind in the tree. He shrugged and stood up, making his way over. “I can make that climb. Sure.”

“Uh oh.” Wind huddled into himself on the nearest branch before making a mad dash through the tree.

Wild followed closely and you stepped under the tree to get a better view of the chase. The multitude of branches and leave and twigs made it hard to see through and you didn’t see make the executive decision to jump down.

And it seemed as if he didn’t see you either. 

You both landed on the ground, a sickening crack following shortly. Your cry of surprise quickly turning into one of pain.

Wind jumped off of you as if you burned him but stayed close, handing your item back as if that would fix the problem.

The boys crowded you instantly. Hyrule led the charged followed by Twilight and Time. Warrior pulled Wind aside to give them room, Wild jumped down from the tree and Legend chose to stand closer to Hyrule to get a look over his shoulder. Four and Sky held back, concerned faces mirroring each other.

“I think you broke my arm.” You gritted through your teeth.

“I didn’t.... I didn’t mean-” Wind spoke up but bit his lip, cutting himself off. He knew there was no saving him.

“What on earth was so important that it had to come to this?” Time glared at the both of you. You would have felt a little more embarrassed because it was easily avoidable but at the same time, it was your dominant arm and now you struggled to sit up.

“Wind took an item of mine and refused to give it back. To keep me from getting it back, he climbed up a tree and I asked wild to help me out. The kid jumped on me and this happened. End of story.” Hyrule looked up at you questionably before snapping the bones back into place. A scream tore through your throat before you could stop it. “‘RULE! A little warning next time?!”

He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s better if you aren’t expecting it.”

“What’s so special about that item anyway, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sky came a little closer to rub comforting circles on your back. Hyrule took that as his cue to begin healing the injury properly. “Is it magic?”

Pain clouded your judgment slightly. “No, not exactly.”

“What is it then? It doesn’t look like anything special.” Legend gripped the tip of it and you pulled it closer to your chest, away from the others. “It’s defiantly not magic.”

“Not in the traditional sense.” You agreed. The pain was slowly fading away now, but with the quickening of the healing process, it looked worse than it did before. You turned your eyes away from the black and blue mess.

“It’s... the last gift my mother ever gave to me.” You admitted. “It’s a special kind of magic that only means something to me.”

“The sentimental kind.” Four smiled sadly.

You nodded in agreement. “But it’s not like it does anything. It’s only a token really. However... I’d rather die then let anything happen to it.”

The group stood around you silently, taking in the information.

“I’m sorry.” Wind stood before you. “I didn’t-”

You held your good hand up. “It’s not broken, I knew you would never try that and I got it back. I’m not even mad, just don’t do it again.”

He looked worse after your words, as if it was the worse news you could have told him. You knew the feeling. You felt like maybe it would help him feel better to get yelled at or something equivalent of a punishment but it wasn’t in your nature.

Once that mess was cleared up, he stayed to close to you but was unusually quiet.

You made it a point to make sure that he knew you were still on good terms by the end of the day.

Wild

“I wonder if theses are ok to eat.” You mutter to yourself. Poking at a berry bush that was near your camp, you heard (and felt) your stomach rumble. “Wild would probably know. Hyrule might know as well but....”

THWIP

Something was imbedded in your leg.

“OH MERCY ME!” You fell over, narrowly avoiding the berry thorn bush and looked down. “FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY-  WHAT IN THE WORLD-!”

An arrow.

An arrow was just... sticking out of your leg.

Rustling came from the bushes beyond and out popped a twig and leaf covered head of hair. A scarred face came next that expressed confusion to immediate concern and shock. Wild jumped over the bush and made a mad dash to your side.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, I thought you were an animal.” He crouched down by your side and hovered his hands around the offending object.

“Why on earth did you think I was an animal?” You nearly cursed him then and there. 

It hurt. It hurt and hurt and he wasn’t doing anything!

“I heard a growl.” He admitted, a bright blush on his face.

“No, that was me and my stomach. I’m hungry man! I was just checking if those berries were edible.” You growled and tried to move over but your leg wouldn’t cooperate without sending bouts of burning static up to your hip.

“That was a crap shot anyway. It wouldn’t have taken the animal down regardless.” Wild muttered to himself.

“Excuse you but I’m the one who was shot. Take it out!”

“Ok, ok, ok, hold on.” He placed a bracing hand on your leg and grip the arrow in the other. “Deep breath. Ready? One. Two.”

“OUCH! YOU SICK, TWISTED, SON OF A-”

“Here.” Wild handed you a potion. You recognized it as a healing item of his, even if the bottle was wrong and uncorked it, gulping it down with vigor.

“You owe me Champion.” You crossed your arms when you finished, handing the bottle back to him. 

“I’ll cook you something. Anything you want.” He nervously scratched the back of his head. “Those berries aren’t edible anyway.”

You blinked at him and the berries, not pouting at all. Your glare hardened at the plant. “I blame you.”

“The plant?”

“I just wanted to eat something!”

Legend

You couldn’t believe it.

There he was, sleeping in your bedroll.

You were tired as it was and didn’t have the energy to put up with it. Instead of anger though...It was mostly confusion.

Why was Legend asleep in your bed roll?

Was he really that tired that he just didn’t care? Probably. The nightmares were bad the night before and he was working nonstop the whole day.

You couldn’t fully blame him. He probably didn’t even notice.

Still.

You were exhausted as well and you refused to take his spot.

You walked over and shook his shoulder.

BAM

You stumbled backwards and eventually fell over, your hands covering your face. 

Legend sat up blearily and blinked for a solid minute before realizing his fist was still raised. 

“Legend!” You yelled at him. “What the heck man? You can’t punch to save your life!”

“What?”

“That’s my bedroll, dumb bell. I would like to sleep please.” You crossed your arms and stared him down. “Also, I’m telling Twilight you can’t punch for crap.”

Legend pushed himself up and looked beneath him. “Oh. Sorry. Wait. What about my punching?”

”You suck at it.”

He glared at you for a moment before taking a swing in your direction.

You dodged it easily and grinned. “Your form definitely needs work.”

“Shut up!”

Part 2

[five-rivers]

Gravity Games

Oof, just sneaking this in before midnight.

.

“We already know you can walk on walls, Danny,” said Sam. “It’s cool and all, but why bring us all the way out here?”

“No, no,” said Danny. He gestured to the red bricks by his feet. “I’m not doing this.”

“Yes, you are,” said Tucker. “We can both see you.”

“No, I mean, I’m not using ghost powers to do this.”

Sam and Tucker frowned and examined the wall of the park more closely. It was an out of the way corner, the sight of it blocked off from the rest of the park by the restrooms and a large tree, otherwise Danny wouldn’t have even tried this, no matter what he saw that squirrel do.

“Are you sure?” asked Sam, after a minute.

“Positive. Like, you have to touch the right bricks, otherwise it doesn’t work, and being near the edge—” he pointed to the top of the wall “—is weird, but it’s definitely not my ghost powers. It’s that gravity is weird here.”

“Don’t a lot of ghost fights wind up going through here?” asked Tucker. “Do you think it might, I don’t know, stick, somehow?”

“If it was like that,” said Danny, “my whole house would be that way.”

“Have you ever tried walking on the walls not as a ghost?” asked Sam. She grimaced and muttered something under her breath about grammar.

“Believe it or not, yes,” said Danny. “It’d be way easier to vacuum the walls if it worked like that. I wouldn’t even have to hide it from Mom and Dad. Anyway, I think there are a few other places around that are kind of like this, though. Where physics are kind of… broken, I guess.” He frowned. “Like that road that’s shorter than it should be one way, and longer the other, even though it’s the same length…” He trailed off.

“Okay, before we start in on that, let’s make sure this is an actual thing, and not your ghost powers,” said Sam. “Where do I need to step to make this work?”

Danny showed her.

It really wasn’t just his ghost powers.

“And I can just… walk around?”

“Yeah, as far as I can tell, it acts just like normal gravity except for the direction. I was able to hang off the top of the wall, even. I wouldn’t recommend it for you, though.”

“Why not?”

“I can fly. You’d just drop.”

“Ah. Yeah. That would be… yeah,” said Sam. “But you said it got weird?”

“That isn’t weird enough?”

“Fair. What about the other walls?” she pointed.

Danny shrugged. “Act as walls. You can lean on them. It’s weird.”

“You can lean on them anyway,” said Tucker, as Sam did a few experimental hops. “They’re walls.”

“Yeah, but not from this direction,” said Danny. “Trust me, it’s weird.”

“You don’t have to trust him,” said Sam. “Come on and try it, coward.”

Tucker, having proven on multiple occasions that he was the exact opposite of a coward, rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine. Holy ghosts, you’re right, this is weird.”

“See? I told you.”

“Cool, cool,” said Tucker. “But, uh, hate to be the one who asks this, but how do we get off?”

“Oh, easy, you just touch the ground.”

“What, like thi—” Tucker failed to catch himself as gravity reasserted itself in the proper direction. “Ow.”

“You okay?”

“My pride isn’t.”

“Fair,” said Danny, taking advantage of his ability to fly and his nonstandard sense of balance to just walk off the wall. “Want a hand?” he asked Sam.

“No, I’ve got it,” said Sam, carefully extending her hands.

“I hate both of you,” said Tucker, still face-down in the grass.

“Aw, we love you, too,” said Danny, making a kissy face.

“I can’t see you, but I can hear you, and it’s my turn with the thermos tonight. I can make things very inconvenient for you.”

“But you won’t.”

“But I won’t,” agreed Tucker, finally moving. He pushed his glasses back up his nose. “You said there were other spots that were like this?”

“Oh, yeah. Loads.”

“Can you show us?”

.

No one really went under the underpass, not even homeless people, which was really a pity because this was wild.

Although, come to think of it, that might be why no one went under the underpass.

Danny put another stone in the air.

“They just stay there?” asked Sam.

“As long as you put them on this level, yeah,” said Danny. “But if you give them any momentum, it stays and they move out and then fall, so you have to be careful about how you let them go.”

“Even if you push them up?”

“Yeah. It looks really weird, though, watch.” He nudged the pebble up, and it continued in that direction for a moment before turning and falling.

“It looked normal to me,” said Tucker.

“It doesn’t follow proper ballistic motion,” said Danny. “It doesn’t accelerate when it’s in that stripe. Watch again, okay?” He did it with another rock.

“I’m still not seeing it.”

Sam patted Danny’s back. “I think you just have a better eye for physic-related things than we do.”

Danny sighed.

“Alright, what else do you have?” asked Tucker, making some kind of note on his PDA.

.

“Oh, jeez, oh, heck, oh, jeez,” said Tucker. “Why am I friends with you? Literally, this sucks, this sucks so much. Get me down, get me down, get me down.”

“You are down,” said Danny.

“I am not down, I am a hundred feet up and upside down, I swear, Danny, if you don’t—”

Danny sighed and pulled him off the manhole cover.

“Oh,” said Tucker.

“It’s just an illusion,” said Danny.

“You could have warned me.”

“You didn’t wait,” said Danny, frowning.

“Sorry, that’s my fault,” said Sam, raising her hand. “I dared him to.”

“Even if it’s an illusion,” said Tucker, pausing to catch his breath. “That’s kind of dangerous. It’s a good thing no one really walks by here…”

“Yeah,” agreed Danny. “It’s a good thing all of this is out of the way. So far, anyway…”

“What’s up?” asked Sam.

Danny made a face. “Just… thinking about how it would be good if we could, I don’t know, make a map and tell people about this kind of stuff. So they wouldn’t accidentally get trapped or hurt or something. Maybe we could make flyers, or something.”

“Yeah, who’d believe us, though?” asked Sam, shrugging.

“We could try and get your parents involved?” suggested Tucker.

“Let’s… let’s leave that for a last resort,” said Danny. “Right now… Just something to keep in mind, I guess? Especially if we really do find something dangerous, or one of those, what did they call them… a natural ghost portal. I mean,” he continued, frowning, “there have to be some of those around. Not all the ghosts come through our portal.”

“Your Dad’s security is kind of rubbish,” said Tucker.

“Not that rubbish,” said Danny, “and they’ve upgraded it a bunch since the whole Johnny thing.” He glared at the memory.

Tucker’s PDA beeped. “Oh, I’ve got to get home,” he said. “Can you fly me home?”

“You’re still using your PDA to schedule things?”

“It worked, didn’t it? Besides, I’ve got all the places coded, so if Skulker steals her again, she’ll send him to Timbuktu.”

“I’d feel bad for Timbuktu,” said Danny, “but, yeah, I’ll fly you home. Sam?”

“I actually want to stop by the book store,” she said. “See you tomorrow?”

“Okay,” said Danny.

“You’d better have some even weirder stuff for us to see,” she said, not quite walking backwards.

“Will do!” said Danny. He turned to Tucker. “So, do you want to do this under the arms, piggyback, or bridal?”

[foilfreak]

4 Lords Raise Rose AU Ideas

Not a single person asked for this, but that other post where I talk about the 4 lords adopting Rose but still technically being terrible people got way more popular than I expected it to, so, with about 6 shots of tequila in my system and a terrible urge to spit my thoughts out for all the internet to see and judge, I’ve decided to make a follow up post. Here’s how I think the 4 lords would take care of Rose in the event they rebelled against Mother Miranda and decided to raise Rose as their own instead, but like under the cut after a little bit cuz i accidentally went way too fucking hard with this and I don’t want ppl to get mad at me for making them scroll for an hour to get past this post:

First and foremost, I think they’d do it in stages, and what I mean by this is that Rose would essentially be given to a specific Lord for some period of her life, like a couple years, and then when she was deemed old or strong or annoying enough, she’d be moved to a different lord for some period of time and so on and so forth. They would do this because a) they all live in different areas and have shit to do so it’s easier to have Rose live with one lord at a time and then the other lords can just go visit her there from time to time, rather than try to work out a weekly custody schedule which we all know Alcina and Karl would NEVER be able to agree on so let’s not even bother, and b) because each lord would have either some skill or set of knowledge that would make them the best for caring for Rose at that specific point in her life. This way, all the lords have a (somewhat) equal chance to be a part of Rose’s life and teach her something while she’s with them. So with all that in mind now, let’s get down to who would have Rose and at what point in her life.

1. Starting off with infant Rose, I think she’d end up with the Dimitrescu’s for the first few years of her life, and the reason why I think this is because... well, Alcina IS already a mother to 3 girls, and while we don’t know a terrible amount about Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela’s “upbringing” under Alcina, we can gleam and theorize from her notes that, despite their fully grown bodies, the girls could very well have started out with the mental and physical capabilities of infants, and thus needed to be cared for and brought up in a similar manner as infants or children until they reached a certain point where they could officially be considered adults in mentality and ability, not just in physical appearance. So with this in mind, it’s entirely possible that Alcina could have at least some vague idea of how to care for an infant child through her experiences with the bug sisters; perhaps there’s some gaps in her knowledge, but if nothing else I imagine Alcina would be an infant Rose’s best shot at surviving infancy if only because the other 3 are so incompetent on how to care for a baby that Alcina looks like an expert in comparison. Not to mention that, of the possible locations for an infant to be raised, I do genuinely think that castle Dimitrescu would be the safest place for Rose to be kept during this vulnerable part of her life. Not only that but if Alcina has actually come to care for Rose as though she were one of her own daughters, then she would absolutely spoil Rose rotten with all the nicest clothes and fanciest toys, things that a small infant wouldnt be able to appreciate but would show that she’s loved and cared for nonetheless, and don’t even get me started on the bug sisters, I could see them fawning over Rose for hours on end, playing with her, singing to her, telling her stories of all the man-things they’ve gotten to play with today, and so much more. Overall, Rose would just be the most spoiled and pampered little baby with the Dimitrescus and there’s no changing my mind about this. The only thing I’m struggling to wrap my head around is how they’d feed her, since I doubt a small infant would take very well to blood wine and human flesh. I suppose it wouldn’t be terribly outrageous for them to hire a wet nurse/nanny to care for Rose during the day while the other Dimitrescus go about their daily duties, and when Rose is finally old enough to be introduced to solid food (I.e. fried human flesh cubes) they could do what they always do and turn the nurse into wine too, I guess. It’s not a solid idea but it’s more plausible than anything else I thought of so it’ll work!

2. After spending about 3 years with the Dimitrescus, Rose would then be moved to the Beneviento house. Now, If u don’t know anything about 3 year olds, then you’re probably ignorant to the fact that they are some of the craftiest, sneakiest, and most coniving groups of people to exist on this planet. 3 year olds are masters at getting into and touching just about anything and everything u don’t want them to touch, and worst of all, u won’t realize what they’re doing until they’ve already done it and left a huge mess behind, so while the Dimitrescus love and adore Rose dearly, they know it’s sadly time to hand her over when they find her sitting on top of a pile of dead bodies playing with a metal scythe in the dungeons. Once Rose is dropped off at the Beneviento house, I imagine Donna is her usual stoic self the first few weeks Rose is with her. She’s not cold or distant necessarily, in fact she’s quite happy that it’s finally her turn with precious baby Rose, but Donna isn’t exactly known for being outwardly expressive herself (and even Angie isn’t being quite as forward as she normally is), so things are quiet and peaceful for the first little while that Rose is under her care. It’s not until Rose takes an interest in her doll Angie, and more importantly the things that Donna can do with Angie, that things really start getting fun. By the end of Rose’s first month in the Beneviento house she and Donna are the best of friends and often spend their days either playing dress up and make pretend with Donna’s extensive doll collection, or playing elaborate games of cat and mouse, where Donna will set up lots of puzzles throughout the house for Rose to find and solve (I.e. rose has to match her dress to the doll with the same one as her to find a map telling her which kitchen cabinet Donna hid the chocolate in, or something like that), but be careful little Rose, Angie has been trying to get her hands on that chocolate all day, and if u take too long, she’ll find the map first and eat all the chocolate without saving you a single piece. Just silly little puzzles with enough at stake to engage the mind of a curious 3 year old, but never enough to put rose in any actual danger. Donna is nothing if not a watchful caretaker, so she makes sure she has sight of Rose at all times, occasionally giving her a hint if she’s struggling, and perhaps occasionally making things harder if that day’s puzzle is proving too easy for her. Overall, Rose’s time with Donna, while not as grand and luxurious as the Dimitrescus, was still a fun and enriching experience for the young girl, and there’s nobody in this world who thinks that Donna’s scar is cool more than Rose.

3. After another 3 years with Donna, Rose is now 6 years old and officially far too good at puzzle solving for Donna to keep up with. No matter what she tries or how hard she makes it, Rose just keeps blazing through the puzzles at an almost alarming rate, making it clear that Rose is desperately in need of not only a change in scenery, but also a change in education, and this is where Salvatore finally comes in. After leaving the Beneviento house, I think the next logical place for Rose to stay would be with Salvatore, who, with lore hinting at him perhaps being a scholarly man of some kind, would basically act as her elementary school teacher throughout the duration of her stay. Now, to be fair, Rose could have gone to Heisenburg’s factory, but Heisenberg outright refused to take her and the other 3 lords decide that the factory is simply too dangerous for Rose rn, who thus far hasn’t shown any signs of being anything other than a normal human girl with no noticeable abilities (save for a smart mouth and a terrifying habit of popping up when least expected, a habit she mostly uses to mess with Heisenberg, much to his disdain and Lady Dimitrescu’s delight), so it is to the mutant fish man’s unimaginable delight that he is unanimously voted Roses next caretaker, and the one responsible for her basic education. Despite his initial excitement however, when Rose is finally dropped off at the windmills by Donna, Salvatore realizes that he’s not 100% sure what to do with Rose now that he has her. He’d like to get started on her education right away but at the same time he’s so fearful of Rose hating him because of his disgusting appearance that he kind of just... avoids her entirely at first. He’s never far away from the little girl and is always ready to jump to her rescue should she need it, but other than that Salvatore seldom allows himself to be seen for the first month that Rose is with him, the only sign of him still being around being the platefuls of food that mysteriously appear in Rose’s room 3 times a day, as well as the occasional shiny trinket Salvatore found and thought Rose would like. At first, rose doesn’t seem to mind being left entirely to her own devices, but after every stone, log, and rotting fish corpse within 5 miles of the lake has been turned over and thoroughly examined, Rose decides she’s had quite enough of her Uncle Sal ignoring her, prompting the headstrong little girl to go looking for him herself. She finds Salvatore hiding underneath a patch of floating algae not far away from where she was playing and all but demands that the mutant man come out of the water and give her something to do or she’d tell Mother on him. Salvatore, shocked by the small child’s fearlessly blunt request, hesitates, not wanting to frighten Rose, but ultimately relents, crawling out of the water and timidly suggesting that he teach her how to read and write. Rose quickly agrees, seeming totally unbothered by Salvatore’s grotesque appearance, and the two quickly move to the schoolroom that had been set up specifically for Rose, where Salvatore spends hours upon hours a day teaching Rose everything he knows, filling the little girl’s head up first with the basics, letters and words, then numbers and simple equations, followed later by historical dates and time periods, algebraic formulas, and classic literature analysis, then biology, chemistry, physics, astrology, calculus, ecology, and so much more. Basically, anything there is to know, Salvatore knows at least something about it and he’ll make sure that Rose knows about it too. In the 3 years Rose spends with Salvatore she goes from already sharp as a whip, to being smarter than most adults even, and Salvatore takes immense pride in how intelligent and knowledgable Rose becomes thanks to his surprisingly effective teaching style. Overall, as a caretaker, Salvatore is pretty weird and doubts himself a lot, but Rose thinks he’s funny and loves learning from him so they get along very well and she loves him very dearly! He probs teaches her to swim and fish too.

4. So another 3 years come and go with incredible speed, and its with great sadness on Salvatore’s part that Heisenberg finally comes banging on the fish man’s door, all but demanding that he now be given his turn with Rose. Now, personally, I can see several different arguments being raised by the other 3 lords over why its a terrible idea to let a 9 year old anywhere near Heisenberg, much less be given into his care fully. After about 9 years of seeing his siblings paling around with the constantly growing child, and looking like theyre having the time of their lives all the while, however, Karl decides that perhaps there’s more to this little girl than he originally thought, and, with his interest now piqued (or at the very least looking forward to pissing the other 3 off for entertainment purposes), that its only fair that he be given a turn with her now too, seeing as how he’s the only one who hasn’t been given the chance to be her caretaker yet. This naturally does NOT go over well with the other 3 lords. Alcina all but threatens to kill Karl should he step so much as within 10 ft of Rose, while Donna pipes up and demands to know what his sudden interest in Rose is. Even Salvatore, who is quick to flinch away from direct conflict, goes as far as to harshly point out the plethora of times Karl had outright denied their previous attempts to get him to engage with Rose, so why on earth would they hand her over to him now when he’s previously shown to have absolutely no interest in her? After a long spout of yelling between the 4 siblings, an agreement is reached, wherein Rose herself will be given the chance to decide whether she wants to go with Heisenberg, or whether she’ll return to one of the other 3 lords for the time being. It is to Alcina, Donna, and Salvatore’s absolute horror however, that Rose enthusiastically agrees to go with her Uncle Karl to live in his factory, and with the deal already set, the other lords can do nothing to stop her from going. The trip to drop off Rose at heisenberg’s factory is a long and arduous one, especially for Salvatore, who sobs the whole way there about Rose forgetting about him despite the young girl’s insistence that she’d visit. The first thing Karl does after officially having Rose handed over to him, is give her an extensive list of all the places in the factory in which she is under no circumstances permitted to enter without his permission (which basically only leaves the control room and the old storage closet that acts as her bedroom as viable places for Rose to go and explore). The second thing Karl does is dump her in her new storage closet bedroom and then hightail it for his workshop to work on whatever sick and twisted amalgamation he’s got cooked up this time around. At first, Rose isn’t terribly bothered by this, since she’s used to having something of an “adjustment period” when she’s with a new caretaker, but unfortunately for her, this adjustment period lasts a hell of a lot longer than the others did, and by the time 3 months of almost no meaningful contact with Karl, Rose decides to take matters into her own hands and ascends into the depths of the factory despite the express orders not to do so. Now, going back to the idea that the 4 lords are still pretty terrible people, I doubt Rose has been kept ignorant to the less savory aspects of her caretaker’s lives, and tbh she probably doesn’t think anything of the fact that the Dimitrescus makes wine out of the blood of virgin women or that Salvatore still does cadou experiments (and had her help on occasion), but I imagine even Rose would find the projects Karl works on to be at least a little

4, cont. gruesome and horrifying in nature, especially since Heisenberg is the one she knows the least about. However, instead of turning Rose away from Heisenberg, these terrifying metal creatures she sees locked up only spark her already insatiable curiosity, and by the time she finally tracks Karl down, Rose is all but trembling to learn more about this horrifyingly fascinating metal world. Unfortunately, Karl is not nearly as happy to see Rose as Rose is to see him, and the engineer all but grabs Rose by the scruff of her neck and drags her back up to the control room, yelling and screaming at her all the while about how she was explicitly instructed not to enter these parts of the factory without his permission. Needless to say that Rose does not enjoy this treatment and immediately lashes out, half out of anger and half out of confusion as to why Karl was treating her like this. He was the one who wanted her here in the first place, so why the hell was he just ignoring her now? It didn’t make any sense and it was starting to piss Rose off, so naturally the only thing left for her to do in order to solve this complicated situation would be to continue to disobey Karl until he either gave up and sent her back to one of the other lords, or finally payed some damn attention to her for once. So that’s exactly what she did. Every single day Rose left her room (which Karl kept telling himself he needed to put a lock on, but never did cuz he’s an idiot) and descended down into the depths of the factory looking for something ogle at or tinker with, and every single day Karl would track her down wherever she’d managed to get to and throw her back upstairs threatening to feed her to the lycans if she did it again. This incredibly frustrating cycle continued on for the better part of the next month or so, finally coming to a head when Rose managed to wander into the part of the factory where the... less than successful experiments got put whenever Karl doesn’t have any further use for them but is feeling too lazy to kill them off himself. Long story short, Rose runs into a Sturm that chases her around the factory, causing all manner of mayhem and destruction, and would have torn her to ribbons had it not been for Karl, who jumped in at the last second and was able to fend the damn thing off long enough for Rose to get the ever living fuck out and back up to the control room where it’s safe. There’s a lot of loud noises and explosions coming from deep within the factory that last for what feels like an eternity, but Rose doesn’t dare venture out again until everything has gone eerily quiet and a deep sense of worry has settled in the pit of her stomach over what had become of her latest caretaker. Turns out the Sturm had recognized its creator and, after watching its initial prey escape because of said creator, quickly decided that it fucking hated Karl with every fiber of its being and wanted him dead if it was the last thing it’s propellers did. Now, we all know that Karl is a big strong boy who’s more than capable of handling his own creations and taking down strong enemies, but the Sturm is a creation that even he struggles to control on good days and today is decidedly not a good day so not only does Karl not have the slightest bit of control over the death machine trying to kill him, but its also a lot stronger than Karl initially thought and apparently not picky about the method which causes Karl’s death, which is evidenced by the nearly dead Sturm ramming itself into a power generator as a final act of defiance and nearly blowing up the whole factory and everybody inside. Heisenberg is able to contain the explosion somehow but not without considerable damage to himself first. Rose is, naturally, quite horrified to find Karl passed out in the elevator that had taken him up from the lower levels of the factory where the explosion was, skin burnt nearly to a crisp in certain areas and blood pooling from just about every part of him, and immediately heads over to try and help her injured caretaker.

4, cont. again cuz I physically can’t stop myself. Now, I imagine that any normal 9 year old probably wouldnt be able to handle this sort of situation in any meaningful way, but i think we can all agree that Rose is the furthest thing from normal (especially considering who raised her) and has probably seen enough blood and gore to not be terribly freaked out by it, but this is where things get a little speculative because we don’t know what Rose’s powers are exactly but we do know from the final cutscene that she does have them, perhaps even a plethora of abilities, and I like to think that some of those powers are related to Ethan’s superhuman healing capabilities, but unlike Ethan however, who from what we’ve seen could only heal himself, Rose can actually heal other people (tho this isn’t something she’s aware of at this point in time). The second the elevator door opens to reveal, what looks to be, a half-dead Karl slumped over in the corner, Rose panics and runs to him, doing everything she can think of save for maybe grabbing him by the collar or slapping him across the face, to try and get Karl to wake up, except nothing works, he wont wake up no matter how hard Rose tries and i imagine this must be incredibly distressing for Rose who never intended for something like this to happen or for her caretaker to die because he had to protect her even tho he told her not to go down there because its dangerous and anything down there WOULD kill her if given the opportunity. Anyways Rose is now full on sobbing on top of Karl like only a 9 year old who just discovered that her actions have consequences can, but unbeknownst to her (and technically Karl cuz he’s a little busy bleeding out all over the floor) Karl’s wounds are slowly beginning to close, the burns on his face and hands shift from a bright red to a dark brown before crusting over and flaking off, and even his breathing, which had been labored and inconsistent at first, began to level out slightly. Karl woke up not long after that and was surprised to find that a) he was still alive, which was cool, b) he was injured but not in indescribable pain, also cool, and c) there was a literal sobbing child all but sitting on top of him, which is definitely not something Karl was expecting but he supposed he’s been met with worse things upon waking up after almost dying so why question it. After taking a moment to gather their bearings, the two return to the safer parts of the factory to rest and recover and for the most part this little incident of their’s goes largely unspoken, with Rose not exactly in the mood to talk about how her disobedience nearly got herself and Karl killed, and Karl being too fucking tired to go after her about it, especially since she seems to have learned her lesson. The only downside to this whole thing is that now Karl has a busted up fuckin leg thats gonna take an eternity to heal even for him, and with so much work to still do he’s more or less forced to drag Rose around the factory and use her like the annoying assistant he never wanted (except he did want her, thats how this whole fucking mess started, you lug), except that Rose, who is more than used to playing lab assistant from her time with Salvatore, quickly proves to be a rather capable and handy person to have around, if only because she knows the difference between a philips and a flathead screwdriver even better than he does. An amicable, if still slightly awkward peace settles over Heisenberg’s factory once Karl starts actively engaging with Rose and giving her something to do on a daily basis, even if its just standing around watching him work and occasionally having her questions about what he’s doing answered. It doesn’t take very long after that for Karl to begin realizing that perhaps throwing a huge tantrum to get Rose to come here only to ditch her upstairs by herself for 3 months might not have been the smartest (or most considerate) thing he’s ever done, and even goes as far as to (kinda) apologize to Rose for being such a dick to her since she arrived.

4, last one i swear. Rose forgives him, though not before adding that she already knew he was an asshole from Alcina, which earns her a halfhearted swipe from Karl that Rose easily dodges with a childish giggle. From that point on their relationship improves astronomically as Karl finally gives in and teaches Rose about about engineering and everything else that goes into making the metal horrors that he’s known for. Karl is shocked at how quickly Rose picks up on the trade, getting to the point where Karl wonders if he should start giving Rose her own projects to work on, but quickly rolls his eyes and groans when he remember that Salvatore was the one responsible for her education up until this point, the mere thought of having to give compliments to that “moronic freak” for giving Rose such a good educational foundation makes him want to vomit despite how secretly impressed he is. Overall, Rose’s time with Heisenberg starts out shaky, very shaky even, but after a bit of disaster and some swallowing of the pride on Karl’s part, they end up growing quite close and have a nice fun Uncle and martass Neice dynamic. They make a good team and Karl does genuinely enjoy having a little assistant around to help him with his projects, even if Rose can sound a bit too much like Alcina on some days for his liking.

5. 3 more years come and go and now Rose is a strong and healthy 12 years old, perhaps riddled with a few more scars and smearings of ash and motor oil across her skin than when she first arrived but still strong and capable nonetheless. Going back to that first statement however, this of course means that it’s time for the other 3 lords to come banging on Karl’s door for a change, all but demanding that Rose be handed back over to them. Karl of course refuses, telling them all to fuck off and that Rose didn’t want a leave the factory, so upon realization that all 4 lords were gathered here with the intention of taking Rose back to live with them indefinitely, a fight immediately breaks out between the 4 siblings, as each one makes their case as to why Rose should be returned to them and not the other 3, which of course none of the 4 lords can come to an agreement about because they ALL want Rose to stay with them. So after another long and pointlessly arduous argument, Alcina finally breaks, proclaiming that they’d be here for all eternity of they didn’t make a decision now, and that, like the first time the 4 siblings argued over whether Rose should go with Heisenberg or return to one of the previous lords, Rose would be the one to decide which of her four caretakers she would return to. The agreement is made reluctantly, mostly on the part of Salvatore, Donna, and Heisenberg, but there was seemingly no other way for them to come to a decision, so it would unfortunately have to be up to Rose to decide which of her 4 caretakers she wants to stay with permanently. Rose is quickly brought before the 4 lords and explained the situation, before being given some time to herself to think and make her final decision. A tense and uneasy silence falls over the 4 lords as they wait for the little girl, who they had shown an uncharacteristic amount of mercy and time and devotion and love in the 12 years since Mother Miranda had brought her to the village with the intention of using her to revive an already lost and long-gone baby that she never would have gotten back no matter how hard she tried. Although they refused to admit it to one another, the lords all secretly knew that Rose had wormed her way into each of their cold, dead hearts, reviving an aspect of their humanity that they’d all thought had been lost ages ago. Rose came to the village bringing with her a wave of death and destruction, and yet throughout her childhood she has brought them nothing but light and life, illuminating their previously dark and desolate existences. The 4 lords loved their Rose very dearly and desperately wanted her to be happy, yet each of them possesses a dark and selfish desire to have Rose pick them over the other 3, to come and live with them forever and fill the hole deep inside them that they never knew needed filling. After a short while, Rose comes back out and stands before her 4 beloved caretakers, looking around nervously as she picks at her fingernails. The silence is thick and heavy as the 4 lords stare at the young girl, waiting with bated breaths for her to give her final verdict. Rose continues to say nothing as tears begin to flow from her eyes, sliding down her cheeks in thick streams as the girl begins to sob, dropping her head and clenching her dress. The 4 lords look between one another in confusion, unsure of what to do with this sudden burst of tears. Rose tearfully admits that she can’t and doesn’t want to choose which of the 4 lords she wants to live with permanently because she loves them all very much and wants to be able to see and live with all of them, like they’ve done thus far. Although the lords detest the idea of having to share Rose with anyone, they reluctantly come to an agreement for the girl’s sake, deciding that they would continue with the arrangement they’ve had thus far, only that Rose would switch between caretakers every 3 months instead of every 3 years, giving rose plenty of opportunities to see each of her caretakers just like she wanted. From then on, Rose continues to live her life

5, cont. growing up and learning more and more from each of her beloved caretakers. Although Rose would likely never know what a normal life looks like, living with 4 criminally insane monsters in the remote mountain village in Romania, it would be impossible to say that she wouldn’t have a happy life despite that. Perhaps its because the girl simply doesn’t know any better, so she doesn’t have the ability to see just how messed up her life and her 4 caretakers really are, but i imagine that Rose probably wouldn’t care very much to learn even if she had the opportunity. She’s a happy little girl living a strange but enjoyable life with the only family she’ll ever need. What more could she possibly ask for?

6. As for how Mother Miranda would play into this whole scenario I’ve just drunkenly spat out, im honestly not 100% sure. Ive seen some people suggesting that MM just kinda chills and lets the lords do what they want with Rose, but tbh I honestly don’t see that happening in this universe. MM would still have been just as crazy and driven to get Eva back as she was in canon, so i doubt she’d willingly standby and let her “false children” take away her one shot of getting her real child back simply because they didn’t want to hurt her, i just don’t personally see that happening. The two most likely scenarios i can come up with is that the Lords either banded together and look Miranda on together, their combined forces being enough to take her down and kill her, OR, Ethan is the one to take down MM like he did in canon but he passes out before he can get to rose, giving the lords (who he hadn’t ended up killing but just escaping from i guess) the opportunity to slide in, grab rose, and hightail it out of there, leaving Ethan’s body to be retrieved by Chris, who, due to not seeing or hearing Rose anywhere, believes that Rose must have been accidentally killed along with MM, which he later tells to Ethan and Mia. Regardless of how MM gets taken out of the picture (or if she’s given room to potentially come back later), the 4 lords retreat with Rose and begin the whole cycle I explained up above, but i did want to briefly address how I saw MM fitting into all of this since she is a vital part of the original story and the biggest obstacle to the lords having anything to do with Rose.

Anyways, that was so much longer than I intended it to be but I had so much fun with it just because it gave me the opportunity to spit some fun ideas and potential plot points out about this cool AU that I like and hope someone does SOMETHING with, please god someone do it, I’d do it myself but i have enough projects at the moment unfortunately. If you managed to make it all the way to the bottom, thank you for reading all of that, I appreciate it, and I hope you enjoyed at least some parts of this, and maybe even agree with some of the things I said. Feel free to leave your own ideas in the comments, I’d love to read them and hopefully if enough people like this maybe i will actually do something with it. Who knows? I certainly dont. Anyways thank you for reading all this, i hope you have a great day, and maybe ill see you around in another post. Bye!!! <3