#just in case anybody got to the end and was like... where's the rest of it

[briefalpacashark]

~A little brawl~

You decide to show case a bit of your skill to stamp out the ego of a new solider. And you get in trouble.

================================================

You and your team were posted to some random desert somewhere to complete a mission. Having already done so you were gifted with a few days of rest before your transport back home arrived. Price was loving the time off reclined in a dingy old fold out chair that looked on the verge of breaking. A cigar pinched between his teeth and a cold beer in the other hand. His hat sat over his face.

“Working hard or hardly working?” You asked with a grin walking up to him a pile of reports tucked under your arm. 

“Can't you tell?” he asked gesturing to himself. 

“Medical reports you were after,” with a grunt he sat up taking the reports from you.

“So how are the boys?” he asked.

“Honestly don't know how long you guys survived without a medic,” you shock your head in bewilderment. 

“Where are they anyway, haven't seen em all morning,” you said.

“Oh, the little shites are playing with their new friends,” he jabbed his chin across the ways where a small group of soldiers had formed. Once you had finished business with Price you walked over, interested in whatever was happening. Spotting Ghost a head taller than the rest you made your way to his side. The acknowledgment that you had arrived was simply a sideways glance.

“What's going on here?” You asked as your eyes settled on a makeshift ring, its outline defined by a stray circle of rope set on the ground. A ring where Gaz currently was getting his ass handed to him. Your grimaced as his opponent landed a powerful hit. On the other side of the ring stood the team you had been working alongside. A group of grad A assholes.  An American team.

“Wanna place a bet?” Soap asked taking a sip of his beer stepping up to your other side.

“I hate to be honest, but Gaz doesn't look like he'll win this fight,” You chuckled under your breath.

“Oh we khen that. We bettin on how long he’ll last,” Soap stated with a grin. All your attention was brought back to the ring when the fight ended with basically a knockout. Money was passed around as you and the boys slipped into the ring helping Gaz to his feet and gently hauling him out. Sitting him down you tried to hide your smirk as you woke him up with a few gentle slaps on the cheek.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You just got ya ass handed to ya by an American,” Soap was far to entertained by the fact. 

“Follow my finger,” You ordered Gaz checking for a concussion. 

"Alright aright come on my turn," a young cocky bloke from the other term stepped into the make shift ring. He had been a constant annoying fly that seemed to hand around you. You had politely declined his advances. More than once. You though he got the point, after all he had left you alone for a bit.

"Come on Jimmy!" his squad encouraged him. Jimmy was his name.

"Whos it gonna be?” the soldiers all asked. 

"How about the bitch of 141?" he asked nodding to you. Your teams smiling faces dropped as the atmosphere did a one sixty. You pressed your lips together. 

“I'm good thanks,” you waved dismissively. 

“Huh, that's fine. What can you expect from you lot anyway,” he chuckled. You lot? The insult was weak, but it was there.

"Watch your mouth private," Soap's tone showed how quickly his patience for the other squad was becoming.

“Fuck off Pom, or come settle it in the ring,” Jimmy was a cocky young bloke. And little was known about the 141. so, he didn't really understand what he was offering. Well, the severity of it.

“Pom!?” Soap exclaimed in shock. Calling a Scots man British was just about the worst thing you could do. At that very moment Soap looked like he was about to rip the head of the poor lad.

“You know what, why not?’ you asked cheerfully patting Soaps shoulder as you passed him, gently pushing his back to Ghost.

“Look out, her she comes. Anybody got a set of gloves on them. Wouldn't want to catch whatever she's spreading. After all her teammates seem very fond of her,” You wondered where he got to gal of it all. Possibly little dog syndrome.

“Hey man, for your own benefit I would shut the fuck up,” Gaz words of wisdom were swept to the side. Unacknowledged by the confident young solider.

"What you got what she got?" he smriked.

Soap took a step forward only to be stopped when you held out your arm to stop him.

“Come on Soap. Rember what Price said. We need to play nice with the little new soldiers,” the team was barely out of training. It was maybe there third real mission. And Price had told you all to behave.

“You sure you wanna do this?” Soap asked with a little hit of worry as he glared down Jimmy. 

"I can look after myself Jonny. Plus, someone's gotta curve this kids' ego," you joked unbuttoning your outer shirt.

"You have faith in me right Ghost?" you asked half jokingly.

"Haven't see it personally but I believe you could take me down. So this fucker aint got a chance," he shrugged simply his tone serious. You propped an eyebrow at him. You didn't know he felt that way. You were sort of chuffed. After all Ghost was good in a hand to hand combat situation.

"Wow Ghost, didn't know you felt that way about me," You joked with a wink. You didn't stay to see his reaction as you stepped into the ring those watching letting out cheers. 

"Looks like your used to that," Jimmy muttered as you undressed your outer layer, his eyes resting shamelessly on your chest.

"What are the rules?" you asked shaking your jacket off. Everyone was surprised at the amount of muscle you had. Your frame was small but toned. Plus your team had never really seen your body. Soap let out an impressed whistle at your bear arms.

"Everything goes. No one kills and you tap out when you're done," Jimmy said rising his fists as he smirked.

"What about breaking bones?" you asked throwing your jacket to the side and rolling your shoulders. Your opponent was slightly put off with how calm you were.

"I don't know about breaking, but I've sure got one bone for you,” he winked his statement earning chuckles from his team. You looked your opponent up and down, he was pretty, but not your type. 

“I'm flattered but I don't have my magnifying glass on me right now,” This time your own team chuckled. You smirked slightly reaching behind you to take your phone out of your pocket. You had looked down to find a place to throw it. An explosion of pain snapped to your right cheek sending you stumbling. 

“Slut,” You straightened up feeling the coppery taste fill your mouth. He had punched you; he hadn't waited till the little bell had rung. A deep chuckle left you lips as you gathered the blood in your mouth and spit it to the side. Slut, you hated that word.

“The fuck was that!” Soap yelled in anger only being held back by Ghost. Why, because he had full confidence in what you were about to do.

“We hadn't started yet,” you chuckled rage bubbling inside you.

“Everything goes,” he shugged.

“Yeah, everything goes,” you nodded. Now you were a calm person, you were reasonable and rational. But the guy in front of you was cocky. And you so wanted to repay his for every unwanted advance he put forth.

You stalked forward your eyes narrowing in at him, then as you stepped right up to him you let lose. It was so quick he was barely able to throw up a block. Your fist cracked into his nose with such precision and speed that he fell back onto his ass. In a daze he stumbled back to his feet as you shock out your hand. He had a hard head. 

“Get em Love!” Soap cheered for you.

He threw a wild hay maker to which you simply ducked under. Delivering another punch you aimed for his kidney. The hit crippled him, he fell to one knee. Taking his head in hand you brought it down onto your knee. You weren't a violent person, but you knew how to end a fight quickly. After all it was those skill that kept you alive. And while you never took any pleasure in it you felt a slight tingle of satisfaction.

Pushing him back you gave him a minute to breathe through the daze.

“Tapping out?” You asked. He looked like he wanted to. His anger flared at the sympathetic look you gave him. At how quickly you had managed to beat him. And how pathetic he looked because of it.

“To a slut like you?” he asked stabling to his feet. He was in no position to fight. You almost felt bad for what you had done.

“Come on mate, you can barely stand. Let's call it a day yeah?” you were happy to keep going, but you were actually worried for the boy now. 

“Fuck you,” he seethed. Your forced a smile.

“Well then I'm tapping out,” you said tapping your thigh. You didn't want to continue, and you thought that would be the end of it. So, you turned your back to them. So, you didn't see the coward punch Jimmy threw. You didn't see it heading for your head. What you did see was a mass of black crowd your vision. Ghost had appeared Infront of you. You frowned as his arm shoot past your head, seeming to catch something. At the quick movement you jerked around following his arm to see he had caught the punch inches from your head. In one swift movement Ghost had swept you behind him as he twisted the man hand in painful position.

“Now that was just plane stupid,” Ghost stated as Jimmy cried out dropping to his knees at the pressure. In an instant both squads were at each others throats, yelling and throwing insults.

“You alright love?” Ghost voice broke through the commotion as he back over his shoulder at you while he still held the man in the hand lock.

“Y-Yeah,” you nodded.

“Keep your bitch on a leash!” Someone from the other team yelled. 

“I'll put ye in a leash!” Soap snapped. Thats all that was needed. After that all hell broke loose.

So, there you sat. back in your own base tent that you shared with the boys. You were all lined up in a row. You and Soap sat in the middle the widest grins on your busted up faces. The insults throw quickly resulted in a brawl. One you had originally tried to break up before getting caught up in it. Ghost sat on the other side of you, his mask covering some of the hits he took. Gaz sat on the other side of Soap shaking his head at the two of you. 

Price stood in front of you all an angry expression on his face. 

Do you remember in school when you would look at your best friend and just randomly start laughing. Well, that's what happened to you when you peeked at Soap out the corner of your eye. You both broke out into laugher that sounded strangled as you tried to keep it in.

“I can't even leave you unsupervised for one fucking second,” Price pinched the bridge of his nose.

“They started it,” Soap interjected.

“Shut up,” Price snapped. Soap ducked his head his smirk widening.

“He tried to get her when her back was turned,” Ghost stated nodding down to you.

“Well, still did you have to beat the shit out of them?” Price words brought proud smirks to all your faces. Compared to the four of you the other team looked to be just out of commission. In the end you all delt worse than you were given.

“They were talking shit. Had to set them straight,” Gaz explained with a shrug.

“I understand that, but all I'm asking for is a little self-control. I mean who put that lads head through that brick wall?” Price put and emphasis on the word brick. You all turned to Ghost who had personally express delivered Jimmy's head to the other side of the wall. Under the attention Ghost simply shrugged and looked away. 

“You're all on tent arrest,” Price declared. You all groaned and began to protest slightly. 

“Enough!” he snapped.

“This is what happens. When you misbehave you get privileges taken away,” You and Soap once again tried to hold back your laughter. It was like he was scolding a group of toddlers.

“And your two smart asses are on clean up duty,” he declared pointing to the two of you.

“Ha,” Gaz chuckled.

“Fucking kids,” Price grumbled as he walked away. There were a few moments of silence as you all came to terms with the consequences you faced.

“That was defiantly worth it,” you stated.

"Defiantly," - Gaz

"Fuck yeah," - Soap

"Should have done worse," - Ghost.

Another moment of silence passed around you before you all chuckled softly. You could even see Ghost shoulder shake slightly. You looked up to him with a thankful smile.

"Thank you," you whispered. To your utter shock and bewilderment he glanced down at you.

AND WINKED!

"Anytime love," he stated before getting up and walking away. Leaving you to wonder if what you had seen was an illusion or not.

================================================

--COD Master List Here--

================================================

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY INTERVIEWED BY VANITY FAIR MAGAZINE.

KING AEGON COULD BE A VERY ONE-NOTE VILLAIN CHARACTER, BUT IN YOUR HANDS IS NOT. HOW DID YOU APPROACH CALIBRATING AEGON?

"I think anybody who has the darker side to them as the more prominent side — the side that people see first —there’s always a reason for that."

"I dug into that and found a lot of his boyish vulnerability, insecurities, and self-hatred — stuff that he’d been drip-fed his entire life."

"He wasn’t even a spare, you know? He was just completely ignored."

"He was invisible to most people, which is why he behaved in such a way — to numb himself."

But also to say: "Hey, I’m here as well."

"Any attention was good attention for Aegon."

"I find him less of a villain and more of a tragic case."

CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY AEGON DECIDED TO FLY TO ROOK'S REST AT ALL?

"It was that moment — well, it’s an accumulation of moments — but that one in particular where Alicent says, 'Do exactly what is required of you: nothing'."

"That was the final dagger in the heart."

"A real cold reminder that he really is seen as being useless."

"A pawn for Alicent and Otto [Rhys Ifans] to use as a puppet."

"But at the end of the day, the law of the land states that he’s the monarch."

"He’s the king."

"He’s the person to call the shots."

"And no one’s gonna fucking stop him from getting on that dragon if he wants to."

"So he got absolutely obliterated drunk and thought, I’m gonna show them."

WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIKE SHOOTING THE BIG DRAGON FIGHT SCENE?

"Cool, man."

"It’s kind of a little boy’s dream."

"It’s just something that you think of when you’re a child as being the coolest thing in the world."

"And it really was."

"They basically build a screen around you so you know where to look: what’s expected, what’s coming at you, what’s leaving you."

"Your entire perspective is quite clear."

"And then amongst that, you’re clad in all this armor that has been expertly crafted by some amazing workmanship."

"But then again, you’re crouched over this big saddle, strapped in, feeling like you can’t move."

"That crane has really got a lot of work to do to make it look like you’re moving."

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEASON, AEGON SAYS THAT AEMOND IS HIS CLOSEST CONFIDANT, AND BY EPISODE FOUR, AEMOND HAS BASICALLY TRIED TO KILL HIM. WHERE DO THEY STAND NOW? AND WHAT'S YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH EWAN MITCHELL, WHO PLAYS AEMOND?

"Oh, Aegon and Aemond’s relationship is very different to Tom and Ewan’s relationship."

"Let’s put that out there." [laughs]

"Look, that is sibling rivalry on a very intense scale, isn’t it? It’s the flip of the switch that can happen when somebody feels pushed out or somebody feels like there’s been injustice."

"I always felt like Aemond saw himself being in that position of power and dealing with it better than Aegon would deal with it."

"But then again, his birth certificate states otherwise."

"It was bound to happen at some point, wasn’t it?"

WAS THERE A PARTICULAR SCENE THAT YOU FELT EXTRA CHALLENGED BY OR INVIGORATED BY?

"He’s never in the same frame of mind twice in one day."

"He’s all over the place."

"Keeping up with his erratic mood swings was the hard part, and was this thing that I was having to stay really focused on."

"There wasn’t particularly one scene that I thought, Oh God, not this one, because all of them are challenging in different ways."

"Even the ones where he’s still and more focused are difficult, because you’ve got that sort of inner Aegon rhythm that is rapid."

"It’s very different to mine."

"It’s maintaining that, but still keeping the tension of the scene."

"I relished the opportunity to play someone with such range and creative potential from an acting point of view."

OLIVIA COOKE, WHO PLAYS ALICENT, HAS NOTED THAT YOU TWO ARE NOT VERY FAR APART IN AGE AT ALL, AND YET ARE PLAYING MOTHER AND SON. HOW DID YOU GUYS WORK TOGETHER TO CREATE THAT FILIAL DYNAMIC?

"Every scene that I’ve had with Olivia, there is never a moment that isn’t filled."

"Everything is just so complex and deeply entrenched in her."

"She means everything she says."

"It’s a rare skill to have."

"As an actor, she has that in truckloads."

"It’s a gift to be able to work with her, to play her son."

"Yeah, [it’s] hilarious."

"She’s only a year older than me."

"I think we manage it because we get on so well."

"We’re pals as well, you know."

"I love Olivia to bits."

"Trust her wholeheartedly."

"We have a laugh. We don’t take it too seriously."

"We have common ground on that."

"But then in the moments where the work is happening, it’s all we care about."

"We care immensely."

"It’s one of those things where in the downtime, after we wrap, we can go for a drink."

"We can have a laugh."

"We connect on a personal level as well as a professional level."

"I think that’s what sort of breeds a healthy and believable performance thing relationship-wise."

THERE'S AN AMUSING SCENE WHERE AEGON IS SITTING AROUND WITH THE LADS AND TALKING ABOUT WHAT HIS SOBRIQUET SHOULD BE. SHOULD HE BE 'AEGON THE BRAVE,' 'AEGON THE WHATEVER,' ETC. WHAT DO YOU THINK HE SHOULD BE CALLED?

"Aegon Toast, probably."

[snowwybear]

𝗣𝗢𝗩: 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 | 𝘃𝗼𝗹 𝗩𝗜

Warnings: fluff

𝟏.

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱?

Vinnie.

Compared to you, Vinnie is a heavy sleepier. While it may take a while for him to settle down once he’s out, he’s out. Most of the time he doesn’t make noises in his sleep, however when he’s really tired he falls asleep on his back. And that’s when the noises start. It’s nothing too bad, he snores a little and mumbles in his sleep which can be a little distracting when you’re trying to fall asleep. As long as you’re by his side Vinnie can sleep without trouble. He is so used to your presence that when you’re not with him it makes it harder for him to fall asleep (especially for long periods of time). If you wake up in the middle of the night, a few minutes later Vinnie is bound to wake up and look for you.

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

𝟐.

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦?

It depends on the situation.

The two of you can be equally possessive and jealous over one another. At parties you tend to be more possessive, a lot of girls either don’t know or disregard the that fact Vinnie is in a relationship. You’re just scared that something might happen and you try to prevent that from happening. You’ll either walk up to Vinnie overly flirting, faulting yourself in front of whoever dares flirt with your boyfriend, or you walk away and avoid him for the rest of the night until he’s chasing after you. There have been times where you have just up and left the party because of how sick you are with people being all over your boyfriend. You always text him to let him know you’ve left, but by the time Vinnie reads it he’s already panicking looking everywhere for you.

Vinnie on the other hand is possessive and jealous on like a day to day situation. Some guy is making you laugh a little too much, possessive. Some guy has been leaving thirsty comments on your socials, possessive. Guys are ogling you for a bit too long, possessive. When he is possessive over you he has this tough guy persona (which you just laugh at). His arms a crossed, showing off his tattoos and he has this scowl on his face. He may say a few petty things to the other person, but never enough to start a fight. He doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable or want you to think he being controlling over you.

Both you never verbally express your possessiveness, you only show it through your body language. At the end of the day, if something goes too far you both are able to come together a talk things out, reassuring each other that you love each other and only want one another.

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

𝟑.

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳?

Vinnie, he literally doesn’t let you drive.

You are Vinnie’s passenger princess. Don’t have your drivers licence yet? Don’t worry babe Vinnie’s got you. This man literally doesn’t let you drive. You want to go somewhere, Vinnie will take you. You need to get picked up, Vinnie’s already on his way. You need to drive around in the middle of the night because you can’t sleep, Vinnie will gladly get in at the crack of dawn and help you. Vinnie does genuinely get quite upset and annoyed if you don’t ask him.

Vinnie loves having you in his car, he loves places his hand on your thigh with he driving, holding you hand on top of the gear shift, he just loves your presence in the car. Vinnie also has things all around his car just in case you need them. Little snacks, makeup wipes, extra tampons or pads, whatever you might need he has stashed in his car somewhere. If he’s driving with other people in the car, you’re only allowed in the front seat no one else. Vinnie loves his cars so having a hot ass car and having your fine ass sitting in said car is a win win for him.

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

I’m slowly running out of ideas, someone please help 😭

In case you made it this far, my requests are open if anybody has anything. ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

[pablitogavii]

Your jealous fic was so great !!! Can you please write another but with Gavi as the jealous one ?

You hated when you and Pablo fought. It always made the rest of your day shitty as hell!

This morning he was in a sour mood and you thought it was because his knee was hurting but it was about you going out with your girls last night.

"I waited for you...when did you come back?" he asked in the morning.

"I came before midnight, Pablo. Medications always make you sleepy before that" you tried to explain but he wasn't believing you acting like an annoying child.

"And it was just you girls huh?" he asked and you knew where this was going. Pablo was a jealous guy!

"Yes, Pablo. It surely wasn't strippers all around us, por favor!" you say but he really took that seriously getting even more agitated.

"Mi amor, it was a joke. It was just us a girls having dinner together, te lo juro" you say touching his face but he was in no mood for it pulling away and you sigh.

"How could you just leave me here alone!?" he said and you sighed. It was your best friend's birthday and Pablo is the one who pushed you to go only to make you guilty about it now.

"You said I should go because it's her birthday! What's the matter now!?" you said and he just rolled his eyes going back to sleep as you got ready for uni.

"Pablo's just frustrated with injury and not being able to walk without crutches yet ..." your friend told you as you talked about it on your way to class.

"I know and I try to help him every day with it, but sometimes I just want to strangle him!" you were frustrated as well choosing to take a break from him until you get home. Your phone was on in case of an emergency but you weren't answering his attempts to apologize by sweet talking you.

pablito: I hope my girl has the best school day 💗

pablito: have you eaten yet nena?

pablito: i know i made you mad, but i'm waiting for you at home to cuddle

You had to admit that by the end of the school day, you were no longer angry and blushed every time you read his messages.

"You two are living a crazy love story!" your friend told you as you departed when school ended.

You came home looking for Pablo only to find him in your shared bedroom on your side of the bed cuddling to your pillow. How can you be angry at someone so adorable!?

"Pablo..." you said and he jumped looking at you with a big smile. You took of our coat and sat besides him as he pulled you down to kiss him warm lips.

"Nena, you're so cold! Come here and cuddle me" he said and you blushed nodding your head and laying down and he laid on your chest kissing all over your neck.

"I missed you...a lot" he said and you sighed playing with his hair and nodding your head.

"Are we gonna talk about what happened last night Pablito?" you ask and he kept quiet. Always the same things, he hated being the one wrong.

"Were you un poco celoso my though footballer?" you tease knowing he will defiantly react.

"No celos! Just worried!" he said and you chuckled nodding your head knowing there is no way he admits it.

"Bueno, but in case you were I want you to know that I was showing our pictures together all night...and I don't want anybody else...because you my though footballer are driving me loca" you say and he blushed nodding his head already feeling a bit sleepy as he nuzzled his face into your warmed up neck.

"Say it again nena" he said and you raised your eyebrows

"Hm..call me your though footballer again and see what happens" he smirks and you slap his shoulder reminding him of his injury before you both laughed and continued to cuddle the rest of the night.

[naughtystiel]

It wasn’t raining.

For some reason whenever Dean thought of this day, he imagined the sky to be covered with heavy dark clouds. Clearly this wasn’t the case. Instead, everything seemed so lively. Spring brought chirping birds, vividly coloured flowers began to bloom and the sun shone brightly high in the sky. The few people gathered around wore light jackets so it really had to be a beautiful day. He wished he could feel the warmth on his skin too.

A priest stood on the opposite end of the deep hole and Dean grimaced. He had never been a religious man and he wasn’t going to listen to anything that was coming out of the priest’s mouth now either. Meandering between people, he walked further away. Yeah, Lord have mercy and rest in peace o’wayward son.

So, where did he go from here?

“Hello.” Somebody said next to him, but Dean didn’t even bother to look. They weren’t talking to him anyway. They couldn’t be. With arms loosely crossed over his chest, he looked skywards. It was a beautiful day.

“Dean?”

Dean looked to the side, an eyebrow raised. A man in his thirties observed him, hands tucked in his dress pants. “How do you know my name? Do I know you?”

The man nodded his chin towards the priest, “Heard him mention a Dean, so I’m guessing that must be you. Nice suit.” He smiled and Dean looked down at his outfit. Suits weren’t exactly his thing, but he didn’t really think to make a will and they shoved him in this. Did they even bury people in plaids? Probably.

“That would be me, indeed.” Dean tilted his head to the side and scanned the graveyard. Interesting. “Are you dead too? I guess you gotta be.”

The man hummed, “Mmm, you could say so.”

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. Was that a yes or a no? “So, is it just you and me or is anybody else here with us?”

“Nah, they moved on.”

“And you?"

“In the process.”

“I see.”

They both stood in silence, watching the ceremony. A few roses got dropped into the hole. A nice gesture, but it was a waste of money. They could at least put it on top once the casket was actually covered with dirt.

Low rumble disrupted the quiet. “How are you feeling?”

Dean splayed his arms and shrugged. “I mean, I’m dead. I don’t really know.”

The man turned his head towards Dean. “Okay, lemme ask you this - what’s on your mind? Anything particular?”

Now that was a good question. Nothing. A lot. First thing that came to mind was that he wouldn’t be able to see that new Indiana Jones movie he was so looking forward to. But that was just stupid, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t he be thinking of his regrets? Unfinished business? “I wish I could feel the sun on my cheeks.”

“Ah, that I can agree with. The sunset kind. Not too sharp, soft like a gentle veil that droops over your face.” The man gave him a small smile and Dean nodded.

“You see that tall guy there? The tallest of them all. My brother. Last time I saw him we argued.” Dean sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I guess it kinda bothers me that this is how he’s gonna remember me now.”

“Probably not. Usually when a person dies you remember the good things. Unless of course the bad outweighed the good which I don’t think is the case here.” The man scuffed the tip of his polished shoe in the dirt. “Grieving is complicated, it messes with your head. I bet you heard about how it usually progresses but personally I think it’s more like jumping back and forth between the steps. It does pass though.”

“That supposed to make me feel better?”

The man shrugged, his dark lock tousled by gentle breeze. He kept his gaze down, chewing on his bottom lip. “Only stating the facts. Anything else bothering you?”

just a snippet of "the art of moving on" which i might work on more in the future. and if i do, it wont be very long but i think itd be worth exploring :)

[marlynnofmany]

How I Became the Token Human

The sign said “Earthling Wanted” in large print, and I, a perfectly eligible Earthling, said “Heck yeah.” Busy space station life bustled around me as I stepped close to read the details on the holoboard. Other ads were for the usual range of odd jobs and social events, but this one was specific.

And it couldn’t have been more perfect for me. A courier ship was contracted to deliver someone’s pet cat to them in deep space (I guessed that a breakup had happened while the owner was away, or their temporary job had turned into a permanent one) and while the couriers were perfectly capable of getting the cat there, this was several days of travel, and they hadn’t the first idea of how to care for an Earth animal.

Well, I thought with no small amount of smugness, They just got themselves an expert. I copied the holo ad onto my phone, then found a vaguely-private corner of a public seating area and activated the call. I stood up straight and professional, as if I was meeting a wealthy new client with an ailing Samoyed. Would they want a detailed resume? A rundown of the places I’d worked and trained, my range of expertise on animals big and small? Or perhaps a description of what I would do in various unexpected scenarios?

Nope. The octopuslike alien who popped into view — deep green, harried, and female unless I missed my guess — only had two questions for me.

“Great, you look like an Earthling,” she said. “How experienced are you in caring for cats?”

“Very,” I said, ready to add more.

“Good. Can you leave immediately?”

“Yes,” I decided, thinking quickly. “I just have to grab my things. Where’s your ship?”

“Meet us at the semiaquatic spaceport before the shadow covers it.” She glanced at something offscreen. “We leave before the solar sails have to fold. Be quick.” With that, the call ended.

I blinked once, then shoved the phone into my pocket and sprinted down the corridor. Passersby stepped aside and gave me disapproving looks, especially the group of red-pink bugfolk who chattered after me in their own language, but I dodged through the loose crowd without hitting anyone. Nearly tripped over a smaller-than-average Waterwill, which could have been disastrous given their “column of jello” consistency, but I hopped on by with a quick apology.

Are Waterwills really that fragile? I wondered as I ran. My biological studies had all been Earth-based. I knew the best way to hold a chameleon, pet a cat, and catch a chicken, but I hadn’t the foggiest idea how the friendly blobmonsters worked.

Well, maybe I’d find out.

I skidded into my small room and threw things into the suitcase. There wasn’t much to pack, since this was a temporary stop. Five minutes ago I’d been planning to trudge back to Earth and look for a new job. My old workplace was under new management and doing a reshuffling that made for a perfect time to take a quick lap around the galaxy, something I’d always wanted to do. It had been a great vacation. But there wasn’t much call for a veterinarian in space. Or so I’d thought.

One more jaunt, I told myself. It pays well enough to be worth it. And they clearly need my help. With a look about the room for anything I’d missed, I zipped the suitcase and shouldered my backpack, then cancelled the rest of my reservation at the control panel by the door.

A few more button presses, and the door wooshed open to let me dash off through the residential area, towing my suitcase on its repulsor plate behind me. That bag was much better than my old wheelie-case, which was always tipping over when I turned quickly. This one did have a tendency to slide around like a toddler on ice, but I was an old hand now at pulling the strap just right to keep it from taking anybody out at the knees. And honestly, I usually walked at a more reasonable pace than this. But time was short.

I glanced at a multiclock as I passed an elevator hub; sunset was coming for this side of the station. I wondered who had decided to make the station rotate in orbit instead of keeping one side facing the sun, but that was beyond my pay grade. Maybe it got too hot otherwise.

Long lines at the food court made me slow down, edging past a variety of body types before I reached a clear area and picked up speed again.

Success, I thought. Didn’t even bump into a scaly tail. This door? That door!

I found the dry-air-breather’s access port and hurried into the airlocks where steeply angled sunlight was streaming in. I only stopped once, to swipe my ID in exchange for a cheapo force-field exo suit. Just in case the separation of dry air, wet air, and water left anything to be desired. I’d made that mistake once. One experience of scrambling for the emergency cutoff switch in an airlock rapidly filling with water was enough.

Those octopeople breathe dry air, right? I fretted while I retrieved the exo disk. I think so. They just like more baths and moisturizers than I do. I’ll be fine on a ship made for them. Assuming the one I talked to doesn’t live in a scuba suit while onboard. But surely they would have said. Probably.

With my ID back in my pocket and the control disk stuck to my chest (using technology that was basically the inverse of my suitcase), I shoved out into the spaceport in a cloud of my own air. I was greeted by more air, rows of parked ships under a glittering force field between us and the stars, and an impatient-looking green tentacle alien waiting in view of the airlocks. She waved me toward her ship as soon as she saw me.

Strongarms, that’s what they’re called, I remembered. I guess I’ll get a name for this one once we’re on the way. With golden solar sails spread wide, the little round ship looked like a cartoon bat, or maybe a lemon that wanted to be a pirate ship when it grew up. The epitome of dignity either way. I made a note to say nothing about that either.

“Right this way; stand back while the door shuts; the animal is in the cargo bay with more food and junk than any sane creature could eat in the time we’ve got; I’ll introduce you after takeoff.” The green Strongarm didn’t give me a chance to do more than nod as she spoke. “For now, come grab a crash seat in the cabin. I’ll introduce you to the crew after takeoff too.” She sped down the narrow corridor with a quiet slapping of tentacles on the shiny blue floor.

I did my best to keep up, despite having to bend over as I walked. This ship was not designed for a tall species. At least the walls and ceiling were a clean white, not one of those squishy organic ships that made my skin crawl.

“Got the human,” she announced as the door to the cabin spiraled open. She waved several tentacles back at me, one pointing at a chair near the wall that had a fighting chance of fitting me. “Quick-quick.”

I ducked through the sphincter-door (also gross, but less so), waved at the dozen or so random aliens, then shoved my suitcase behind the chair and sat. The chair was cup-shaped and way too small, but at least the back was flexible. I could feel a localized gravity field in place of a seat belt.

These folks have a lot of faith in their ship’s power source, I thought as I lifted my backpack to where it would give me neck support. Here’s hoping we don’t crash. For lots of reasons.

The crew were mostly ignoring me, though in a polite way. Strongarms, Frillians, and a few Heatseekers. Octopeople, colorful fin-covered bipeds who looked like tropical fish that had learned to walk, and little lizardy folks. All air breathers, though two out of three had aquatic origins. As the engine hummed to life, I shut off my exo field.

Damp air caressed my face like someone breathing on me from uncomfortably close. Great. But it was breathable and wouldn’t damage my stuff, and we were already in space, judging by the viewscreen that had just registered some very quick movement. Only stars and a few distant ships were in front of us now.

“All right, introductions!” announced the green Strongarm. “You can call me Kamm. What’s your name, human?”

“Robin Bennett,” I said, sitting up straight. “Earth animal expert at your service.”

Kamm accepted that and rattled off the names of everyone else in the room, then gave a quick rundown of the journey we could expect. Three standard days, no wormholes planned, no asteroid showers or other hoo-ha expected.

And now that we were clear of the space station’s shipping lanes, we could make good time and move about the ship.

Kamm hopped out of her seat and hit the floor with a wet smack. “This way, animal expert. Let’s show you to your charge and your room.”

I grabbed my suitcase and followed, trying to be graceful while simultaneously ducking and high-stepping through the door. It was like walking around in a kids’ playhouse.

At least the cargo bay had a properly high ceiling. It also had many boxes of cargo, and one metal cage with a very distressed cat. The I-don’t-want-to-be-here yodel echoed off every wall.

“Well, there it is,” said Kamm with a wince. “It’s been this loud the whole time. I hope that’s not a cause for alarm?”

“Not the sound alone, no,” I said. “Let me take a quick look. Hey, kitty.” I approached with a gentle voice and quiet footsteps.

The tone of the cat’s yowling changed when it saw me, aiming for pity over volume. Poor little gray tabby sounded very lonely. A nameplate with paragraphs of contact information said “PICKLE” in all caps.

“Hello, Pickle. There there, kitty; it’s okay.” I greeted the cat with a soothing babble of syllables, letting it sniff my fingers through the bars, only noticing once it quieted that Kamm had stayed by the door.

“Oh good,” the alien said. “It likes you. Will you want the whole crate in your quarters, I hope? There’s enough room.”

“Yes, definitely,” I said, standing back up. The cat mewed in protest.

“Great. All the food and whatever should fit too. Grab a sled.”

At Kamm’s directions, I helped maneuver a hoversled under the cage, then down the hall. She led the way with a different sled full of airtight cases covered in labels. Her cart was the more rattletrap of the two, which I appreciated; the supplies wouldn’t be bothered by any jolts in height, but an anxious cat sure would.

Pickle yowled all the way to my quarters. Our quarters, rather. Kamm was eager to rush off once I said I had everything in hand, and I couldn’t blame her. But the noise stopped as soon as the door shut.

“Mew?”

“All right, kitty,” I said as I took off my backpack. “That door seems solid, so you probably won’t run off and get stuck under the brake pedal, or however they fly this ship. Do you want to come out?”

Pickle didn’t, when I opened the door, but I made myself comfortable on the floor by the cage and read through the info packet that had popped up on my phone. Pickle was a girl cat, five years old, spayed, fond of cheese and toys that crinkled.

Eventually she crept out to accept some gentle scritches and a warm lap. I was considering moving to the giant squishy cushion that passed for a bed when the door chimed.

“Ow!” Those claws were sharp when Pickle launched off me to hide in the carrier. I got to my feet painfully, shut the small door, then opened the big one. The ceiling was low in here too.

A maroon-and-teal Frillian stood there, just barely short enough to stand normally in the hallway. “Did you bring food, or would you like to join us for a meal?”

I looked back at the quiet cat. “I do have some ration bars, but I wouldn’t mind meeting everyone properly. Let me dig out some food for my charge here, then I’ll be there. Which way…?”

The Frillian gave me directions, then scooted off. I turned to the multiple boxes labeled “food,” and checked the info packet. Pickle had preferences.

But of course she was too scared to eat. I left the tray of high-quality wet food inside the cage alongside a dish of water and a well-chewed toy mouse that promised to have familiar smells. Then I gave her some quiet time.

And I got some fun time! The crew turned out to be outgoing and friendly, with many a joke ready about the types of food that my species was known to eat. They were mostly a carnivorous set, of one kind or another (fish, bugs, rodents; not a T-bone steak among the lot). They weren’t phased by any kind of plant food, but the existence of dairy products as a whole was soundly denounced as vile weirdness.

“Honestly, it makes sense,” I laughed. “Milk is the first food we eat when we’re born, then we found ways to make it into a bunch of other fancy things.”

“Yes, but why?” asked a bright red Heatseeker, his lizardy face intent. “Organic drippings sound like the absolute last choice of edible foods.”

“Spoken by someone who has never tasted ice cream,” I told him. “Or pizza! Those are some of the best foods out there.”

“I’ve heard humans mention pizza before,” said a large gray Strongarm. He gestured with something that looked like an uncut sushi roll. “What actually is it?”

I happily explained, then had to go on a tangent about bread, since that was apparently a weird human thing too.

“Really? None of you folks have food made of processed grains?” I asked, to a row of blank stares. “Guess not, but okay: it’s crushed grain and water with yeast — those are little microscopic creatures that help turn it into proper food — as I understand it, the air bubbles in the finished bread are their farts — I’m not doing a good job of selling this, am I? I swear it tastes good!”

The big Strongarm laughed loudest. “No, but keep going! You were going to circle back to ‘cheese’ and why it’s not rotten.”

I did my best, eventually giving up while insisting that they would probably like at least some of my species’ barbaric dishes if they ever got a chance to try them. It was a fun conversation. And the food was all right too. A bit fishy, but I’d had worse.

I was sad to see the meal end, with everyone scattering off to their various tasks, some of which might have been fun to help with: untangling cords or organizing cases or deciphering random space messages. But my duty was with the cat.

Pickle was caterwauling loud enough to be heard from the end of the hallway. I hurried in and comforted her again, opening the cage and settling in to rest on the cushion-bed with her snuggled next to me.

With nothing else to do, I drifted off into a nap that was more restful than expected, given the alien bed. I woke, braved the alien bathroom, then went back to sleep. Even after the vacation I’d been taking, it was a bizarre luxury to have no demands on my time. I didn’t even know what kind of day/night cycle this ship was on.

And it didn’t matter. I slept as much as I needed to, ate a couple ration bars, fed and played with Pickle, and I read a book I’d been meaning to get around to. It was nice.

Crew members showed up occasionally to invite me to meals, but otherwise I spent the whole trip in my quarters. And as much as I enjoyed the camaraderie of dinnertime, the guilt I felt every time I returned to piteous meows kept me from staying out longer.

I really would have liked to, though. They even had a music night with instruments I’d never heard of. There were spares that I was welcome to try.

But Pickle had been scratching at the cage the last time I returned, and if she tore a claw because I wanted to know what an alien trumpet sounded like, then I would have failed in my duty.

So I stayed with the cat who purred like an outboard motor, and I did some more reading. It was still nice. Peaceful. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to take a turn at the radio station, listening for gossip and distress calls and triple-encoded secret messages.

The end of the trip caught me off guard. Kamm showed up with a ten-minute warning before the time we needed to have the crate stowed in the cargo bay, and me seated in the cabin.

“Already?” I blurted. “Right, I’ll be packed up in a jiff. Got the sleds?”

In the rush of gathering things, ushering Pickle back into the carrier, and hurrying to the cargo bay, I didn’t really have time to Feel Things about the trip ending.

But I felt them anyway. I’d miss my little snuggle buddy. I hoped she had a good life ahead of her.

The man waiting at the spaceport a few minutes later, as close to the landing pad as he was allowed, was a grizzled old space marine type. Stereotypes said he would have been more at home with some vicious beast as a pet, but I’d seen enough mismatched owners in my time to just smile at how eagerly he waited. And the way his face lit up at the sight of his cat was heartwarming.

Pickle’s distressed meows turned to welcoming mews when her human scritched her through the bars. I didn’t have to remind him that he owed money before he could take her away; he was on top of that. Though I’m sure Kamm would have made sure if necessary. The two of them handled the transaction with speed. Then to my surprise, he opened the cage there on the landing pad.

Pickle clawed her way up his thick jacket to settle purring onto his shoulders, like this was where she was meant to be. Maybe it was.

“Thanks so much for bringing her to me,” the man said to Kamm, with a nod to me as well. “Gonna introduce her to the new family; now everyone I love is in one place.”

Kamm said a polite goodbye while I gave him a warm smile and wiggled my fingers at Pickle. The cat gave me a slow blink, purring hard and nuzzling his chin. Then the pair of them walked off to the rest of their lives.

“Come grab your stuff,” Kamm told me. “He left a big tip, which I’ll pass over to you. No way we could have done a thing to calm that creature ourselves.”

“Thank you,” I said. “It was my pleasure.” It really had been; going home seemed anticlimactic now. It was just a pity I hadn’t been able to socialize with the crew more. They were good people.

I followed Kamm back into the ship for the last time — or so I thought, until a pair of crew members called from the radio station about a message from their sister ship.

“They had a fuel leak, and only managed to coast into orbit of a moon four days out,” said the small Frillian. “They need fuel, repair supplies, and extra food for their cargo.” He looked from Kamm to me. “I don’t know what planet the cargo is from, but if you don’t have to be anywhere just yet…?”

I grinned. “I don’t, as a matter of fact. I’ll happily come along if you’ll have me.”

Kamm flipped a tentacle in what was probably a shrug. “Why not? It worked out well just now. And I want to see if you can play a flange horn.”

“Me too!” I said. “Let me just grab some provisions before we go. At least one of you folks has to try pizza.”

This was years ago now. I never did get a regular job back on Earth, and I don’t regret it one bit.

(A couple crewmates did regret the pizza, but at least it was funny.)

~~~

This is official backstory connecting these comics with this novel. Robin has had a lot of adventures, and is about to have more!

[brucewaynehater101]

In my evil era. I've come to spread the misery

So I read a wingfic a while ago and I recall there being a titans tower scene where Tim tried to fly away but Jason grabbed him by the wing and his wing got fucked but don't quote me on that

So here's my idea

=======

Author decision on if anybody other than Tim has wings or other bird features and instincts, but Tim has bird traits like wings, talons, bird noises and maybe a tail if you pick

And for whatever reason, Tim hides his bird features

Who cares if binding his wings and other means of hiding it has proven time and time again to have horrific effects on one's health in studies older than him?

It's annoying how during the night—typically when he's Robin—he needs to take off the bindings and whatnot to keep himself from deteriorating too fast but it is what it is

Besides, his cape covers it up and he's trained in passing for human

It isn't until his wings are used against him in battle—like say a goon or a rogue (maybe even Jason at Titans Tower) being lucky enough to grab them and beat him black and blue due to it—does he reconsider how he views his wings

Tim Drake became Robin with a mission. A mission to restore Batman to the symbol of Justice he was withering from, one that expanded to putting everything into supporting all heroes

But more importantly his generation of Teen Titans and the Bats

His wings were just used against him, and in such a serious way that he's lucky he could nurse himself back to health

It was one time too many

He has a mission

The deadline is Death

=======

The next morning, Luthor Corp down hundreds of millions and they'll never notice until months later. Too late to recover the assets

=======

"Mind letting me in on what it is I'm guarding or even assisting you for?"

"We covered this in the contract Deathstroke; You guard this safehouse and in the future me while I take care of a very time-sensitive case. Benifits are just as negotiated.

"I will be locking myself in the room I will do my work. You are under no circumstances to enter unless told to. Rest assure, it can fufill my physical needs.

"If I open the door and I say 'Asylum,' it means I will be out of the safehouse for a time where you are to protect my room in addition to the rest of the safehouse until I return.

"If I open the door and say 'visitors' or shout it through the walls, it means we're being invaded through my room, and you have all the permission you need to kick down the door to come and assist me.

"If I open the door and say 'mission half-finished,' do so through the walls, or by passing a paper with that text, it means I've finished my mission with no loose ends, but am injured and require your assistance in my recovery.

"And if anybody ever asks; you had to take care of personal matters during your haitus, the Bats will never even come to mind when inquired on this period you're off the grid"

=======

Weeks or Months later (authors pick)

A paper slowly shifts under the door, he picks it up

Mission Half-Finished

he forced the door open to his client shivering on the floor

=======

the timeline is as goes;

Tim tells the bats he's going to be off the grid for a few months for a mission

Tim hacks LexCorp for Lex's future paychecks and assets to-be used for villanous plots

Tim contacts Deathstroke to be a glorified bodyguard + maybe physical therapist/doctor for an indefinite time

gg

25% upfront pay. Deathstroke will only recieve the remaining pay if he fufills his duties as followed and doesn't bail or rat Tim out

Half the reason Deathstroke is being paid six figures is to stay hush

Tim isolates himself in a room that can fufill his needs for a time

Tim isn't working on a case at all. He is preforming surgery on himself to get rid of his wings, tail, and maybe other bird traits, everything short of instincts (or not, your pick lol)

After Tim is finished, he does end up needing Deathstroke's help recovering from the aftermath, but he does everything to make the mercenery believe that it was a mission that fucked him up

Tim recovers and gives Deathstroke the rest of the 75% pay

Deathstroke leaves the safehouse while Tim stays a bit longer to tie up loose ends

Loose ends tied

LexCorp learns of the stolen money and assets, tries, and fails to find where they went

extra notes

That 'Asylum' code word was meant to throw Deathstroke a false trail to follow if he ever gets curious about what Tim was getting up to during their contract

The 'visitors' was in case the safehouse did get broken into, and 'Mission Half-Finished' in the likely case Tim legit needed treating the aftermath or physical therapy after what he did

SO yeah. This could go a lot of ways

(assume when I say wings, I use it as an umbella term for all his removed bird traits)

In Tim's ideal world, he's either bury his wings where they would rapidly rot into nothing, or keep them in his house or safest, secure, and isolated place where he preserves them and looks at them to remind himself to never let anything, anything bring him down again

But he doesn't live there

Maybe the Bats find out that Tim lost his wings, and later on, that Tim did it to himself, and are promptly horrified but Tim is all like "they were pulling me back, I had to for the mission!"

Cue more horror

Esp if Jason was the one to yank Tim by the wings

Maybe whoever yanked Tim by the wings assumes it's common knowledge that Tim is birdy^2 and is confused when everyone says the Robin is human or at least has no wings

Imagine if it's not even a rogue but a goon who even has photo evidence of the Robin's wings but recent photos, he doesn't have them at all?

And word spreads a Robin literally had his wings torn from him literally and it reaches rogues and even the Bats?

All hell breaks loose

Deathstroke thinks he's safe because he was 'busy with his personal life' until he realizes the Robin they're talking about is the one that hired him and needed his help recovering from something

He is screaming, he didn't wanna be caught up in this!

Or perhaps Deathstroke gets suspicious about the possibility he's been lied to on the contract despite how squeaky clean everything seems, and gives up that 75% to confront Tim

Only to find the kid just starting or in the middle of surgically removing his wings

Or maybe Deathstroke sniffs around after Tim needs his help recovering from his mission and find's the stash of wings he's planning to dispose of or preserve

either way he's going "What the Capital F Fuck is this?"

=======

I think any conversation between people and Tim could be dumbed down to this

"Why did you remove your'e wings??!"

"They were a burden, besides, it's not like I'm becoming disabled am I? I'm just becoming more passing for human then ever"

"That's not how it works!!"

Ooh. Okay. I think, in this AU, most of the Bats don't have wings. The exception would be Duke and Babs (Cass used to as well, but they were taken from her). For Barbara, the bullet that injured her spine also went through one of her wings.

I think Cass, who would bond with Tim using their bird instincts and who's wings were forcibly taken, would be especially devastated.

You're absolutely correct that Tim would do such a fucked up thing, but gods does it hurt.

[lol-jackles]

Walker series finale review

It’s only been a week since Cordell nearly died and Luna died in Cassie’s arms, so their people are hard at work being there for them.  Like the start of season 3, Cordell wants everything back to the way it was and overcompensates by being extra, but his family simply want him to be in the present with them, and then take one step at the time. 

Stella tells her dad that there is no version of life where he’s being gone is better, it will just be a different kind of pain.  She gives him the letters he wrote while he was undercover in case he doesn’t make it out alive.  She and August didn’t read the letters because it came from a different version of their father and they don’t need that now.  However, perhaps Cordell do, and figures it out from there.

Despite Cordell’s assurance to Geri that the Jackal case was an “exception of exceptions”, Geri wisely tells him that there’s always going to be “the next big case” and when it happens, she wants Cordell to go to her for support.  This makes me super happy that Geri doesn’t demand that he cuts back on his work or give up his job altogether but wants to be there for him when his job inevitably gets messy again.

Cassie has to reach back to the past to galvanize herself into thinking about a different future than the one she planned with Luna and goes to the lieutenant job interview.  Trey appears to give a stronger interview, but he’s only been a ranger a short time and the job goes to Cassie.  Of course it does because they changed Cassie’s personality from Cordell-lite in season 2&3 to James-lite in season 4, so she got the lieutenant job as the newly minted female version of Larry James, who was also Cordell’s previous partner.  Anybody remember when she and Cordell tamper with evidence just to satisfy their curiosity? (X) It was actually one of my favorite scenes.

The job promotion further propels Cassie to “leap forward” into a new future.  It also means Cassie will no longer be Cordell’s partner, which is for the best because emotionally she blames him for Luna’s death even when she's concerned about Cordell and asked Geri how he is doing. Two things can be true.  I predicted a while back (looking for the specific post) that Cordell and Trey would eventually become partners and now that it’s confirmed, we are robbed of that dynamic in season 5.

August graduation party is crowded and loud and its cathartic for the audience to see everybody happy and celebrating. We even see Cassie smiling at Cordell’s toast to his son, August Edward Walker, and the rest of the family.  Here I was expecting a Shakespearean middle name for August but it’s from Emily who was a Twilight fan.  Liam and Ben declared themselves team Jacob and just like that they’re moving in together.

The party grows raucous, and Bonham and Abilene hide out in their house.  Abilene apologizes to Bonham for abandoning him while she was launching her wedding venue business and assures him that she wants to oversee and “meddle”, not deal with the bride of the week.  Nope she’s leaving bride handling to the gay guy.  Bonham compromise by keeping the boat and uses it for her events as a tax write off.  Win win!

Cordell takes a leave of absence for the summer to take August, Stella, and Geri (and a secret ring box) on a much-needed vacation, which Cassie grants on the first day of the lieutenant job because “they both need this”. A time apart from each other and away from the daily reminders will do them both good.

While the finale is a 'happy ending', there are underlying sadness that's been there since the pilot episode, starting with Cordell, then Micki, and now Cassie. Each of them has lost romantic partners to death and Cordell said time doesn't heal everything. What is unspoken is work and more work will get them through the pain of grief.

As Bonham and Abeline enjoys a boat ride and Cordell and his children and Geri head out of town, an unexpected double cliffhanger happens: Liam gets recruited by the governor for a secret job and he’s whisked away by men in black in front of the impressed Ben; the Davidson lands is sub-leased by a hippie version of SPN Lucifer, due to his all-white outfit, who is none other than Dawson Leery, played of course by a grinning James Van Der Beek!

Final score: 9.7. Point 1 deduction for each arcs we won't see in season 5: Cordell and Trey's new partnership , Liam's new job from the governor, and new neighbor cult leader Dawson Leery

[suckerfordylansstuff]

New Journey (S.H.) Chapter 6 Season 4

Pairing: Steve Harrington x henderson!reader

Summary: Back to Hawkins for spring break. Y/n believed it would just be a quiet time to cherish with her loved ones, but one day in and another mess had already began.

Warnings: cursing, blood

Notes: A little late with the chapter today, sorry I was watching the Olympics 😅. The action has begun! Really liked writing this chapter and I also wanted to say a big thank you for the likes and reblogs I've been getting. Please enjoy the chapter and stay safe! 💕

Oh, P.S., this one is a biggie.

Chapter 5 << Masterlist >> Chapter 7

“Yeah, that’s not creepy.” Steve said as he looked up at the house before you.

After waking everyone up, you took Nancy’s car and headed over to the house you had seen in one of the many newspapers you had read when searching for information about Vecna.

“What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?” Steve asked you as the two of you made your way to the nailed-down front door.

“We’re not sure. We just know this house is important to Vecna.” you explained him, your palm settling over one of the wooden plates on the door.

“Because Max saw it in Vecna’s red soup mind world?”

“Basically.” you answered your boyfriends, who nodded his head.

“Great.”

“Maybe it holds a clue to where Vecna is. Why he’s back. Why he killed the Creels. And how to stop him before he comes back for Max.” Dustin tried to keep the mood positive.

“We don’t think he’s in here, do we?” Lucas’ voice sounded, his eyes searching for some confirmation from all of you that nothing bad would happen here.

“Guess we’ll find out.” Max simply said, making all of you turn back to the front door.

“Ready?” you nodded at Steve and started removing the nails from the wood with the hammers in your hand. After clearing the door from the plates, Steve’s hand falls to the doorknob. He tries his best to open it but to no avail.

“It’s locked. Should I knock, see if anybody’s home?” he makes a weak attempt at a joke, earning a slight chuckle only from you.

“No need. I found a key.” Robin said while holding a big brick in her hand. As your eyes shot open, you took Steve’s hand in yours and left the porch to give Robin the clear.

The brick easily broke the stained window giving Steve the chance to open the door from the inside. He was the first one to enter the house, you second and the rest following behind, each of your eyes roaming around the abandoned house.

“Looks like someone forgot to pay their electric bill.” Lucas joked after his failed attempt to open a lamp.

You felt Dustin stand next to you handing you one of the flashlights he had in his bag. You both light them up, Steve’s eyes landing on you two.

“Where’d everyone get those?” he questioned.

“Do you need to be told everything? You’re not a child.” Dustin’s tone got too rude for your liking.

“You both are. Here.” you searched Dustin’s backpack and handed Steve one of the remaining flashlights. You had no idea how he fit everything in there.

“Thank you.” he said to you with a smile, when Max called out for you.

“Hey guys? You all see that, right?” he flashlight was pointing at the old grandfather clock.

“Yeah.” you told her.

“Is this what you saw? In your visions?” Nancy asked.

“I mean, it’s just a clock, right?” Robin wipes some of the dust covering the glass of the clock “Like a normal old clock.”

“Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks? Maybe he’s, like, a clockmaker or something?” you bit your lip as you listened to Steve try and figure out what was happening. On the other hand, Dustin couldn’t help his sharp tongue.

“Think you cracked the case, Steve.”

“Can you dial down the sarcasm?” you asked your brother who took a defensive stance.

“He’s starting it.” he pointed at Steve, who looked offended.

“How?”

“All I know is…” Nancy spoke up, ending your conversation “The answers are here. Somewhere. Okay, everyone stay in groups. Robin, upstairs.” the two girls disappeared upstairs. Next, Max and Lucas left to explore the floor you were on, leaving you with your brother and boyfriend.

“Come on, boys. Together once again.” you motioned for them to follow you up the stairs.

Behind you, Dustin smiled up at Steve, making the taller boy sigh and go after you. The action left Dustin offended.

“Was that a sigh?”

“No, I did not sigh.” Steve defended himself, but Dustin wasn’t buying it.

“Why did you sigh?”

“I didn’t sigh. Just come on, dude.”

“I heard you.”

“W-we’re just always partners, okay?”

“You don’t like being in the same group?” you asked him, joining on their bickering.

“No, no, not with you. With him.”

“I heard that too.” Dustin whined.

“Good for you.”

“What? Am I boring you? Is that it?”

“Exactly- No, the opposite.”

“If you don’t shut up, I’m forming my own group.” you told them, finally getting them to stop and follow you.

You ended up in a big, dusty room, looking around for anything that could help you. The three of you remained silent until Steve’s voice echoed through the room.

“Hey, uh, Hendersons?”

“Yeah?” you and Dustin answered.

“Could you maybe, uh… clarify what sort of clues we’re supposed to be looking for here?”

“ ‘The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes’.” Dustin said in a British accent, not really helping Steve at all “Sherlock Holmes.” you just stood still, observing their interaction.

“That’s great. Thanks, that’s great, really helpful. Sherlock…” Steve scoffed and walked towards you “You were right. He is entering his teenage years. Strongly.” you made an ‘I told you’ face.

“Just look for anything that stands out. Anything that says Upside Downey.”

“Yeah, I- I can do that.” he nodded at your words, walking away to explore another part of the house.

After a few minutes, you realized that Steve was no longer in your eyesight, so you decided to go look for him. You were making your way down a hallway when a startled Steve appeared before you, quickly closing the door he had walked out from

“Don’t go in there. Spiders, too many, many spiders.” he pointed at the room, the scared expression on his face making you giggle.

“Steve, what happened?”

“Don’t laugh at me. Take it out. Take it out.” he lowered his head to you so you could remove the spiderwebs that were stuck in his hair.

“I’m not laughing at you. Come on, sit still so I can take it out.” you held his head and began taking out the webs carefully.

“If there’s a spider nesting in there, you’re never gonna find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out.” Robin joked, when she and Nancy walked next to you as they headed over the other side of the hallway.

“What’s wrong with you?” Steve told her, making Robin chuckle before walking away “Robin, seriously. She’s got problems.” he said to you under his breath.

“Yeah, but we love her.” you had a small smile on your face, for just a moment forgetting where you were as you picked out the remaining webs in hair.

“Strong words.” he waited a second before agreeing with you, acting reluctant “But you’re not wrong.”

“There, done.” you told him and wiped your hands, removing all the stickiness, not entirely sure if it was from the spiderwebs or his gel.

“Hey.” his voice was soft, almost a whisper, but it pulled you in easily. Your eyes stared into his “How you feeling?”

“I mean, this place gives me endless goosebumps, but I guess I’m alright-” you joked, wanting to add a little light to the situation.

“No, I mean… in general. Are you okay?” the look in his eyes told you this wasn’t just about the fact that you were breaking and entering a house, searching for clues that could lead you to an interdimensional demon, but about everything that could be burdening your heart.

“Are you?” you asked back, making Steve nod his head. You wanted so badly to sit down and understand what had led him to say no to your idea, but now wasn’t the time, which made it so much worse, because there were times when you weren’t sure if you could be as touchy as you usually are, feeling the small tension between you.

“Yeah, I get your point.” you felt his hand hold your own, his fingers caressing the back of your palm softly. He had lowered his head to look at your intertwined hands. When his eyes returned to look into yours, it felt intense. His gaze fell to your lips, your breath catching in your throat “Can I?”

You found it sweet that he was asking you for permission, even though you could never tell him no, no matter what had happened between the two of you. But just like you felt awkward at times, he did too. He didn’t want to step over the boundaries you have built for yourself, give you yet another reason to yell at him when this is all over and you can face reality. It was weird pausing the state of your relationship to figure out how to stop the Upside Down once again, but you had to if you actually wanted to have a relationship to turn to at the end of this, with both of you alive.

So, you softly nodded your head, closed your eyes, and leaned in, waiting for his lips to land on yours, but a loud voice interrupted you. It was Max.

Steve groaned just inches away from your face, and you giggled at his impatience.

“Come on, duty awaits us.” you boldly pecked his lips, tugged his hand, and headed to where Max was standing next to Lucas. After a couple of seconds, Nancy, Robin, and Dustin appeared as well. She pointed towards the chandelier before you, saying that she saw the lights flickering. You stood there, silent, waiting for it to happen.

“It’s like the Christmas lights.” Nancy said in thought when the chandelier flickered.

“The Christmas lights?” Robin’s eyebrows scrunched.

“When Will was in the Upside Down, Joyce had put Christmas lights all over the house and… it was like they came to life whenever Will or the Demogorgon were near.” you explained, memories coming to you from three years ago.

“Vecna’s here. In this house. Just on the other side.” Lucas said just when the lights above them went out.

“I think he just left the room.” Robin said.

“Did he hear us?” Max asked something you couldn’t answer, but Steve decided to make it worse with another unexplainable question.

“Can he see us?”

“Headphones.” Lucas told Max, and she quickly obliged.

“Wait, wait. Everyone, turn off your flashlights and spread out.” Nancy told you and you turned off the flashlight in your hand without any questions, understanding what Nancy was hinting.

“But then we’re not gonna be able to see if we turned off our flash…” you heard Steve’s confused voice that stopped when he realized that everyone had already gone in different directions. He shook his head and went after you, scared to be left alone.

“I got him! Got him!” it wasn’t long before Robin was screaming for you to get here “I got him! I… I had him.” however it didn’t last long.

You continued holding up your flashlight, waiting for Vecna to appear, when Steve’s voice interrupted the silence from beside you.

“Oh whoa. Oh, I think he’s moving.” you watch his lit-up flashlight with determination, feeling as if you remove your gaze from it, the light will disappear “He’s moving. He’s moving.” you follow after him as he tries to guess Vecna’s next movement “Shit. I lost him.”

“No, you didn’t.” Max’s flashlight was the next one to light up, making you all follow her. She heads towards a small staircase. You were next to Max, so you were able to easily see where it was leading to and announce it to the rest.

“It’s an attic.”

“Of course, it’s an attic.” Robin said with her usual load of sarcasm.

“Hold up, guys. What if he’s leading us into a trap?” Dustin tried to voice his concerns but stopped when he realized that all of you ignored him and just headed up the stairs entering the attic.

You couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, just an empty, dusty attic filled with unused furniture. However, something odd did catch your eye. A single light bulb was in the center of the room, already flickering.

You circle around it, completely missing your own flashlights coming to life too, until Dustin points it out. You lifted them up, the light becoming brighter than ever.

“Okay, what’s happening?” Steve asked and you answered under your breath.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, as the lights got brighter and brighter, the glass from the torches started exploding one by one. You covered your heads to protect yourselves from the sharp glass shards. The last one to explode was the single lightbulb, darkness surrounding you. You lift your head back up, looking around the room, sharing the same thought.

You have found his hideout.

“Not to be a wimp, but can I maybe sit in the car for this visit? Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck.” Robin voiced her concern from the front of the car.

It was the next day and you were heading back to Eddie’s hiding spot, finally bringing him the food and beer he had requested. With the whole realization you had yesterday, you kind of forgot that you also had a fugitive to take care of.

“It won’t be that bad.” you said from the back of Nancy’s car, trying to believe it yourself. It wasn’t just his fury at you about being late that concerned you, it was also the fact that everything you suspected had happened, had actually happened.

“I just can’t stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie’s break again. I really, really can’t”

“At least he can drink himself into feeling better.” Steve consoled Robin, holding up the six-pack of beers.

“That’s what my mom does.” Max confessed like it was no big deal.

“Why don’t we just give it a trial run? ‘Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested. Oh yeah, and we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he’s in that other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about, and the gate’s closed, so we have no way of getting to him. He’s entirely shut off to us, so basically, you’re screwed. And, no, no, I know you were already screwed, but now you’re like doubly, triply screwed.” Robin’s words made you realize just how horrible this whole thing was going to be, so you let your head fall down on your hands.

“Okay, wait, wait. Maybe we don’t put it like that.” Lucas requested and Nancy stepped up.

“We’re one step closer to finding Vecna. That’s what we say. That’s what’s important.”

“See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference.” Robin hummed at your boyfriend’s words, muffled as he was chewing on some Pringles, but before you could continue, Nancy’s words interrupted your previous conversation.

“Oh, shit.” Nancy said and parked the car.

The whole town was at Eddie’s hideout, leaving you no choice but to think that you were too late and the police had caught an innocent man. You all got out of the car and made your way carefully behind a van close enough to the Chief of the police, Powell, so you could easily hear him talk about what had happened.

Another student had been killed, his name was Patrick McKinney and the main suspect for the murder was Eddie, who was now, also, a public suspect. The good thing was Eddie was not caught, but the bad things are piling up so much, you’re not sure when they’re gonna tumble.

“Oh, man. This is not good. This is really not good.” Steve said under his breath, after you gathered enough information to catch up.

“Where the heck is Eddie?” as if he could hear your question, Dustin’s radio came to life, Eddie’s voice calling out for you.

“Dustin, can you hear me? Y/n?”

“Eddie, holy shit. Are you okay?” Dustin quickly answered Eddie’s call of distress.

“Nah, man. Pretty- pretty goddamn far from okay.” you could hear the strain in his voice, clearly stress over what was happening.

“Where is he?” Robin asked and Dustin repeated the question to the fugitive.

“Skull Rock. Do you know it?” oh you were quite familiar with Skull Rock, your eyes landing on Steve out of pure instinct.

“Uh, yeah. That’s near Cornwallis and-” Dustin tried to recall the location, but Steve already knew exactly how to get there.

“Garret, yeah. I know- we know where that is.” he pointed to you and smirked when he saw the redness forming on your cheeks. However, his gaze then fell on Nancy, who was standing next to you, and let out a slight cough when he remembered he didn’t go there only with you.

He shook his head to forget the memories and jogged to the car, ready to drive you to where Skull Rock was.

“Hold tight. We’re coming. We’re coming.” Dustin tells Eddie, and he gets into the car after you.

Steve is at the front with Dustin, following him as they were trying to understand where they were supposed to be heading. Steve knew they were heading in the wrong direction, but Dustin was certain it was this way since his compass was saying so.

“Dude, I’m telling you, you’re taking us the wrong way.” Steve complained.

“It’s north. I’m positive. I checked the map.” he had the map in his left hand and the compass in his right, constantly checking the direction and huffing when he always saw it pointing at a different one.

“You do realize Skull Rock, it’s like a super popular make-out spot?” Steve told him, Dustin not getting where he was heading at.

“Yeah. So?”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t popular until I made it popular.” he pointed to himself “All right? I practically invented it. We’re heading in the wrong direction.” Steve did a sharp turn and went off the trail into the woods to get them to the spot he knew like the back of his hand.

“Steve. Where are you going? Steve!”

“Stop whining. Let’s go. Come on, trust me, man.” he waved his hand for him to follow, and after an exaggerated groan, Dustin did as he was told “Like I said, I’ve been there plenty of times. It was one of the things I was known for back in high school.”

“Wait.” Dustin paused for a moment in his spot, while in thought “Have you been with my sister here?”

“Worse.” Steve answered.

“Have you not been with my sister here?”

“How is that worse to you?”

“I want my sister to get the best treatment you could possibly offer her.” Steve shook his head at his words but cleared his throat to explain himself.

“Let’s just say that out of the 3 legal of age women in the group, I’ve come here with 2 of them.”

“Oh. Oh! Come on man!” Dustin finally understood what Steve was saying, but after thinking about it for a moment, he couldn’t help but chuckle “You’re even more screwed if my sister remembers that.”

A little further behind, you were walking beside Nancy, Robin just a little ahead of you, trying to hear what Max and Lucas were talking about.

You were quiet, enjoying the familiar walk to Skull Rock, when Nancy cleared her throat, bringing your attention to her.

“So, have you ever come to Skull Rock?”

“Oh, yeah, I have.” you nodded, memories of you and Steve coming into your mind “You?”

“Yeah.” her voice was a bit strained.

“Have we come here with the same guy?”

“I think so, yeah.” you stole a look at Nancy. Her face was full of concern, worried that you would think this is weird, you two talking about your present and past relationships, but you just let out a big chuckle. Your reaction made her feel more relaxed, seeing that it wasn’t as big of a deal as she was building it up in her head it would be.

“Why were you so nervous? It’s not like I wasn’t there when you dated him for a year. I encouraged you.”

“Well, encouragement isn’t the word I would use, but yeah I know.”

“Hey, can you blame me? He wasn’t the best back then.” thinking of King Steve and your Steve was like thinking of two completely different people.

“I know. You’ve made him better.” Nancy smiled at you, and you quickly returned the gesture.

“We both did.” you didn’t feel weird at all talking about Steve with each other. First and foremost, you were friends, and you did find this whole situation hilarious. Suddenly, Robin interrupted your small moment after getting back from ‘spying’ on the other troubled couple of the group.

“Oh my God, they’re so adorable. I just want to squeeze ‘em, you know?” she told you, making your gaze fall on Max and Lucas walking ahead of you. It was nice seeing them spend some time with each other, even under these circumstances “If I’m permitted to see a silver lining in this end-of-the-world doom and gloom, it would be two souls coming together and forgetting all their previous faults out of love. I didn’t mean that as a hint or anything.”

“Right.” you nodded your head, not believing her for a second.

“But if I did mean it as a hint, would that be so terrible? I mean, to wish happiness for all of my friends?” you scoffed at her words, Nancy deciding to get to the bottom of what was happening.

“What actually happened between you guys?”

“Robin is overexaggerating. We really are fine. Just a small fight, just like all other couples have.” you told her, but by the look on your friend’s face, she needed a better explanation than that, so you gave in “Basically, I asked him to move in with me and he ignored me.” Nancy’s eyebrows shot up while Robin defended both sides.

“He didn’t ignore you.”

“He did. He didn’t want to talk about it which to me says everything I need to know. He’s not ready and it’s fine. It just annoyed me how he handled it.” you confessed to your friends, your gaze staying on the ground.

“I didn’t know you guys were that serious, but I do believe you. I bet it’s nothing. Steve has always been too anxious for his own good. But with the way he looks at you, you have nothing to be worried about.”

“Thank you.” you looked at her, wanting to sent her another smile, but you stopped when you noticed she was the gloomy one right now. You turned to look at Robin, who had also noticed but just shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what to do. After a moment she cleared her throat and looked over at Nancy.

“Do you have something you wanna share to the group, Nancy?”

“I’m having a similar situation with Jonathan…” she confessed.

“Really?” you asked, letting her go on.

“It’s just… He was supposed to be here for the break, and then he backed out the last minute for some vague, mumbly Jonathan reason. And, to be honest, I’m not even that surprised, because I’ve been feeling him pulling away. A- and I don’t know if it’s because we’re 2,000 miles away or if he met someone new or what. And now I can’t find out why because apparently, he’s blown up his family’s house or something.”

“You’ve been holding that in for a while now, huh?”

“Yeah.” she nodded at her question, glad to have finally expressed her frustration.

“Nancy, I know how it can be but I can promise you, you don’t need to start creating all these crazy scenarios in your mind. Jonathan is scared, but he’s definitely not cheating on you.” you explained as you picked up the pace when you saw Steve enter a big bush, entering Skull Rock.

“Is scared? What do you mean ‘is scared’? Have you talked to him?” Nancy called out for you. You realized you had let out more information than Jonathan would have liked, so you just pushed past the bush in front of you to avoid the conversation.

“Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock. In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face.” he took a look at the scowl on your face, his hands going up defensively “He started it.”

“Doesn’t make sense.” Dustin looked down at his compass in confusion. You patted his shoulder as you passed by him, your eyes scanning the area for Eddie.

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you right in the face, you can’t admit it. Can’t admit that you’re wrong, you little butthead.” just when Steve ended his sentence a sudden thud made you turn around, scaring the shit out of you. However, relief replaced the feeling when you realized it was just Eddie making a theatrical entrance.

“I concur. You, Dustin Henderson, are a… total butthead.”

“Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” your brother let out a sigh and went to hug his friend.

“Yeah, me too, man. Me too.” his eyes settled on you and Steve as they hugged. You sent him a small smile, glad to see he was okay.

After the rest appeared out of the bush, Eddie began explaining what had happened while you were gone.

“When I got to the shore, I tried calling for you guys, but, uh…” he opened a flash, drinking what you guessed, no hoped, was water in there “My walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently. I ran.” he chuckled humorlessly.

He was squatting in front of Skull Rock, the rest of you standing before him, listening closely.

“Do you know what time this was? The attack?” Nancy asked him.

“Yeah, no, I… I know exactly what time it was. My walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked.” he took off his watch tossing it over to Nancy, who caught it and looked at it, to confirm her suspicions.

“9:27.”

“Same time our flashlights went kablooey.” Robin said.

“Which means what exactly?” Steve asked from beside you.

“It means that the surge of energy we experienced was Vecna attacking Patrick.” you explained.

“Well, we’re one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks.” Robin said and Lucas continued her train of thought.

“And where he attacks from.”

“So now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and Drive a stake through his heart.” you looked at Max. The rest went on with the conversation, but your attention was suddenly focused elsewhere. Your gaze was fixed on Dustin who was walking up and down staring at his compass.

You were only able to join the conversation again when Eddie addressed the question you also had in your mind.

“Hey, uh, Henderson’s not, uh, cursed, is he?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” you told him and moved towards your brother.

“Oh, come on, he’s fine. Cursed? No. Mental? Absolutely.” Steve answered for you, always ready to comment on Dustin’s antics.

You were just a couple meters away from your brother, when his loud exclamation stopped your movements.

“Boom!” all your eyes widen in shock, while Dustin turns around and points at Steve “Bada… Bada… Boom. I was right. Skull Rock was north.” Steve rolled his eyes at him

“Seriously? You’re serious?” Dustin nodded and hummed with a huge grin on his face “This is Skull Rock. Okay? You’re totally, absolutely, 100% wrong. Right now!”

“Yes. And no.”

“Oh my God…” Steve groaned. You moved forward landing on your brother’s side as he handed you the compass to check it out.

“This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’. It was correct when we got in the car on Kerley, but it started to slip the further east we went. Now, it’s way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong. The compass was.” you looked down at your hands to see the compass’s needle not pointing correctly, just like Dustin was saying.

“So, you’re using faulty equipment. You’re still wrong.” Steve tried to reason with Dustin, but your brother was still not giving in.

“Except it isn’t faulty.”

Suddenly, as if a lightbulb lit up in your mind, you finally understood what Dustin was talking about.

“Wait- Are you saying…”

“Yep.” your brother turned to look at you with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Is that even possible? How?” you questioned him, the rest looking at the two of you as if you had each grown two heads.

“I don’t know but it could explain a lot of blanks in our theory.”

“What is happening?” Eddie asked the group.

“Oh right, you’re new. This is a Henderson thing, you’ll get used to it.” Steve answered him.

“Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?” Dustin pointed to Lucas.

“An electromagnetic field.” the other kid answered, realization hitting him aswell.

“Yep.”

“I’m sorry. I must’ve skipped that class.” Robin looked very confused, not understanding what you were talking about.

“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power.” You pointed to the direction the needle was pointing at right now.

“So, either there’s some super big magnet around here, or…” Dustin stopped talking, wanting someone else to finish his thought.

“There’s a gate.” Lucas was the one to finish it.

“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” Nancy asked you.

“But what if, somehow, there’s another gate? A gate that we don’t know about. It’d have to be smaller. Way less powerful.” Dustin suggested.

“Snack-size gate.” Robin commented and you nodded.

“It is possible. Nancy, remember when you, me, and Jonathan were searching for Will? You went into the Upside Down through a small gate in the woods. It’s plausible Vecna’s doing the same.” you explained to her, and she nodded her head.

“How? Why?” Steve was the next one to question your crazy theory.

“No idea. All we know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is because then we’d have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing Max from this curse.” Dustin looked at Max, hope once again rising through all of you.

He turned to give you a look and without a word, you nodded, gave him the compass, and followed after him as he began walking towards the direction the needle was pointing to.

“Where are you going?” Steve called out for the two of you, his voice making you stop, and grab Dustin from his backpack when you realized he had no intentions of stopping and listening to him “Eddie’s still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.”

“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both Max and Eddie. What say you, Eddie the Banished?” Dustin turned to Eddie and you all turned to stare at him, waiting to see what he would say.

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor, which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, uh, the Shire… the Shire is burning.” you smiled after hearing his words and seeing your brother jump up and down when he realized Eddie was into this whole thing. They were a weird duo but they worked “So Mordor it is.” Eddie got up and followed Dustin, the rest quickly accepting the plan and going after them. You stood in your spot waiting for Steve, who still looked confused.

“What is Mordor?” he said under his breath making you chuckle.

“I’ve told you a hundred times to read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ but you never listen to me.” you grabbed his hand and tagged him along, when Eddie ran back towards you and went to Skull Rock, picking up some of the stuff he had left there.

“Get your stuff, dude. Let’s go.”

“ ’Let them a journey new begin.’ ” you reference the book with a smile, making Eddie stop in his tracks and look at you pleased.

“I’m liking you more and more, older Henderson.”

It honestly felt like you were walking forever. The sky was now dark blue, any sight of the sun gone. You were, as always, at the back of the group following Dustin. Suddenly you saw the rest pick up their paces, so with a quick look at Steve, you started chasing after them.

“I think we’re getting close.” Dustin announced, looking back to the rest of you, missing the fact that right in front of him was a lake. Luckily, Eddie was there to stop him before he fell in.

“Watch your step, big guy.”

You finally catch up to them, seeing the very familiar lake in front of you.

“Oh man. You gotta be shitting me.” Steve was breathless from all the running, glad to just stand still for a moment.

“Yeah. I thought these woods were familiar.” Eddie said, and you nodded.

“Lover’s Lake.” Robin pointed out.

“This is confounding.” Dustin was the only one who didn’t sound exhausted or confused, just entertained.

“There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asked.

“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening. Maybe Vecna’s the same way.” Nancy answered and you bit your lip.

“So, yesterday’s attack left an opening at Lover’s Lake. How convenient for us.”

“Yeah, only one way to find out.” Steve pointed at the covered little boat beside you. Eddie uncovered it and the two of them pushed it to the water.

The first one to get on was Robin, who completely ignored Steve’s offer to help her with his hand, and just balanced herself by grabbing their hands. You shook your head with a small smile and headed to them, waiting your turn.

Steve turned to see you next and you gladly accepted his help, your hand easily landing on his. You thanked him and sat down opposite Robin, who had made herself comfortable at the front of the boat. Next was Eddie, and then Nancy. The boat already felt too crowded, so when Dustin placed his bag in and tried to get on as well, Eddie smacked him in the head, sending his whole body back.

“Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?” Dustin looked confused, so you leaned forward to ease his wound.

“It can only hold four people okay, buddy? We’ll carry on the quest.” you told him and Nancy joined in.

“It’s better this way, okay? You guys stay here with Max. Keep an eye out for trouble.” she was right. You didn’t like leaving them here alone, but you also didn’t want them anywhere near the gate, so sacrifices must happen.

“You keep an eye out.” Dustin sassed, his tone shocking you “It’s my goddamn theory.” he complained and Robin rolled her eyes next to you.

“You heard Nance.”

“Who put her in charge?” Dustin asked pointing at Nancy in front of him.

“I did.” Robin replied with a proud smile on her face.

“Compass.” Nancy demanded, the palm of her hand in the air, right in front of Dustin, commanding the compass. After a frown, Dustin complied and handed it to her. You sent him a grateful smile, which made him mock you in return.

“Hey, there you go.” Steve said and threw Dustin his bag back right before pushing the boat to the water and quickly getting in as well.

“You said four!” Dustin yelled and Steve mumbled a not so heartfelt apology back.

“Stay safe!” you yelled at them and gave Steve your hand, helping him get situated inside the boat.

“Bedtime at nine, kiddos. Miss you already!” Robin joked, as she stood up and waved at the kids, making Dustin give her the middle finger.

You were kind of pushing it by having five people in the small boat, but you were determined to make it work. So here you were, squished between Steve and Nancy while Robin and Eddie paddled. Nancy had given you the compass when she sat down, so you were now guiding them to where the needle was pointing, while Nancy and Steve looked around for anything that could give away where the gate was located.

Suddenly the needle goes crazy and you tell them to stop moving the boat. They huddle close to you, staring at the compass.

“Guys, what’s going on?” your brother’s voice sounded from the radio “Come on, guys, talk to me, what’s going on?” he must have seen you stopped, eager to find out what caused it.

Robin picks it up and answers “Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘ahh’!”

Before you could give your brother an actual answer, the boat started swaying more and you realized, when you turned to your left, Steve’s movement was what made you all move. You looked at him confused as he took off his shoes and socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” you asked him.

“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this thing out. Unless one of you four can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then… it’s gotta be me.”

“What?” you asked shocked.

“No complaints, all right?”

“Hey, I’m not complaining. I do not wanna go down there.” Eddie said, but you paid no attention to him or the fact that he was throwing stuff all over the boat, too focused on your boyfriend who was now standing up, and taking off his sweater. You panicked and rose, holding his arms to stop him from jumping in.

“Steve, you can’t just-” he swiftly removed himself from your hand, letting his hands hold both sides of your face, looking deeply into your eyes.

“I’ll be fine, okay? It’s just a swim. I’ll be right back.” he pecked your lips and without another word guided you to sit back down. Everything happened so quickly that you didn’t know if you should allow your body to blush at his kiss or stand up again and tell him to stop being so reckless.

“Hey.” Eddie pulled you out of your trance, and you looked over to see he had created a good enough waterproof solution for the flashlight using a plastic bag he had in his pockets. Steve turns and takes it when Eddie hands it over “Good luck.” he wishes him and Steve in return thanks him and throws him his sweater.

You watch as Steve takes a deep breath, ready to dive, but you call out for him before he can disappear into the water. His head turns to look at you “Be careful.” he smiles and nods. Before you can blink, Steve throws his body into the water. You move yourself to the side of the boat, looking at the spot he had descended from.

You thought you were standing there for an hour, but according to the rest, Steve was closing in on just a minute under there. The silence was deafening, as you waited. You didn’t even realize you were holding your breath as well, until Steve appeared with a big splash, sending water inside the boat and scaring all of you at once.

“I found it.” he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath.

“You found it?” Nancy asked again shocked.

“I found it. Yeah. I found it.” he takes the hand you were offering him, helping him grab onto the boat. You smiled, happy to see he was okay.

“Dustin, you are a goddamn Einstein. Steve found the gate.” Robin spoke on the radio to inform the kids what was happening.

“It’s pretty wild. It’s more a snack-size gate than the mama gate, but still, it’s pretty damn big.” you didn’t have the time to chuckle at his comment, because for a moment his whole body went underwater again. Luckily his reflexes were quick, so he was able to hold himself upwards, never letting go of the boat.

He looked back up at you, confusion taking control of his face. Then he is gone.

You yell and call out for him, not understanding what had just happened. You’re once again standing still, frozen in your spot, not registering any of the words the rest are saying. Suddenly, your body decides your next move before your mind can.

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re not going in there, are you?” Eddie asks you when he sees you shrugging off the jacket you were wearing, leaving you with your top on.

“Don’t follow.”

It was the only thing you told them, before diving after Steve. A little voice inside of you was screaming at you, telling you what a terrible idea this was, but a bigger one was repeating only one word, Steve. And you could only listen to the latter.

You swam as fast as you could. You weren’t good at holding your breath but you were not gonna let anything stop you. Your eyes search the dark water for some sign of Steve or the gate, finally landing on something that irked your attention.

A soft red glow was calling for you at the bottom of the lake. As you got closer, the brighter it got and you quickly realized it was what you were looking for. All around the gate were veins, similar to the ones you had come across so many times when dealing with Upside Down. However, you had never seen a gate like that before. You let your hand touch the red wall separating you from the other dimension and it only took a small push for the gate to let you in.

The moment you landed on the other side, you were coughing up, gladly letting in air on your lungs, poisonous or not. With deep breaths, you looked up and saw you were still at the lake, but here there was no water. Everything looked frozen, a gray fog surrounding everything in the Upside Down making goosebumps cover your body as red thunder echoed around you.

Noises interrupted your thoughts, and you turned around to see Nancy, Robin, and Eddie appearing from the gate. You sighed and stood up, watching them as they caught their breath.

“What did I tell you?”

“Something stupid.” Robin answered you. You scoffed, but not without a smile creeping into your mouth as you helped them get back on their feet.

A scream sounding from your right. Your head whipped around, immediately recognizing Steve’s voice. Weird creatures were over him, holding him by his neck and bruising his sides with their teeth. They were small, smaller than the monsters you were used to from the Upside Down, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t do the same amount of damage. They looked like bats that had escaped from a radioactive lab. You wanted to tear them apart, but you knew that wouldn’t help your situation, so your eyes searched around for anything that could help you. Besides Steve, you saw a boat covered in veins, but the oar that was sticking out was what caught your eye. The second one was on the ground.

You signaled for the others to grab the one by the boat, while you hurried to hold the one nearest to Steve. The moment you had it, you swung it forward and hit one of the creatures, sending it away from Steve. You saw his eyes moving to watch you and a stern look on your face, almost being able to feel the adrenaline off you.

“Hey there.” you say and kick the other thing off his torso. You call out for Robin to step on the one choking Steve so you can easily hit it with the back of the oar. You can hear Eddie encourage you, before spotting another one of the creatures nearing you from the air. He calls out for Nancy who was holding the other oar, so she can have a heads up and prepare. She starts swinging at it and he looks around for a rock to grab and hit it with.

Meanwhile, you and Robin are still trying to remove the creature from Steve’s neck, but it is extremely stubborn. Robin is now also beating the hell out of it with one of the flashlights. Eddie and Nancy are still trying to sway off the creature and they succeed, only to realize it wasn’t actually leaving, just changing targets. Nancy calls out for you to look out as more come her way, but you weren’t able to hear her correctly, so in your moment of confusion over what was happening you completely miss the creature crashing into you from behind and sending you to the ground, the oar falling from your grasp.

You try to reach for it, but you’re unable to. Robin rushes to help you get it off. Just then Steve regains some of his strength and manages to yank the beast from his neck, taking it by its tail. You let out a scream, feeling the things nails scratching and making your back bleed. Finally, Robin succeeds, removing the creature from your back and yanking it to the ground. You stood back to your feet, a groan leaving your lips, but you swallowed the pain down, grabbing the oar once again and giving the creature one more big, final blow to its head.

You finally feel like you’re able to breath, turning around to see if anyone else needed help. You watched everyone staring at Steve who was still holding the monster by its tail, yanking it back and forth, letting it hit the ground with force each time. After he felt like it was enough, he stepped on it with one foot, giving him the support he needed to tear the thing in half. In the end, he’s breathing heavily, letting the half he was holding fall to the ground and spitting out blood that had collected in his mouth from the fight.

You let out a relieved sigh and immediately go up to him. You say his name softly and wrap your arms around him. His own settle at your waist, his face falling on your shoulder. After hugging him for a few moments, you pull back to take a good look at his face. He was covered in dirt and blood.

You brought your hand up to wipe some of it off, Steve leaning into your touch “Are you okay?”

“Well, they took about a pound of flesh. But other than that, yeah, never better.” his tone was sarcastic, trying to hide how much the bites and claw marks were hurting him. You looked down, your hands touching his wounds gently to inspect the damage, however, he wasn’t focused on any of that “You’re insane for following me down here.”

You couldn’t help but agree with him, but then again, you’ve always been insane “And let you have all the fun? I don’t think so.” he scoffed with an exhausted smile tugging at his lips. You leaned in when he rested his forehead against yours, breathing each other in, glad you were both okay.

“Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?”

“What?” Steve’s brows frowned, turning to stare at Robin, annoyed that your small moment was over.

“It’s just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor, like, really soon because once the symptoms set it, it’s too late. You’re already, like, dead.”

“Thanks for the pep talk, Robin.” you said when shrieking erupted around you. It startled you, making you all huddle together, you and Steve at the front.

You turn to look at the bats who were forming a guard around the gate, making it quite hard to get past and leave the Upside Down.

“All right. There’s not that many.” Steve says, his body guarding you. The bats shriek at you “We can take them. Right?” he sounded less sure at the end, making you concerned.

All your hopes disappeared when you saw more of them heading your way.

“You were saying?” Robin asked full of sarcasm.

“The woods. Come on.” Nancy said and you followed her, running for your life. You carefully avoided any veins, as you remembered what these veins meant here, and entered the woods.

You ended up hiding under Upside Down’s Skull Rock, waiting for the bats to lose your tracks. The moment the coast was clear, you all stood up, leaving your hiding spot.

“That was close.” Eddie agreed with Robin. You were looking upwards, watching the bats fly away when a noise from your left made you turn your head.

Your heart dropped in fear when you saw Steve gripping his wounds, his whole body leaning on the rock, dizziness taking over his senses.

“Steve?” he hated how scared you sounded.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” his sentence ended in a groan, his eyes squishing from the pain. You rushed forward to guide him to the ground carefully.

“You’re not fine, Steve. You’re losing a lot of blood. God…” you exclaimed when you saw his bloody hands. You placed yours on top of them, gently removing them from his torso, all of you gasping when you saw the amount of blood that had left his wounds.

“We need something to cover them…” you searched your body, feeling your clothes to find something that could help. The fabric was too thin and small for a job like this, and also incredibly torn in the back after all the scratching from the creatures. Luckily Nancy came to the rescue and started tearing a part of her blouse to give you.

“Okay. So, the good news here is I’m pretty sure wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies. But if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling really aggressive, like- like you wanna punch me or something, you should totally let me know.”

“Robin?” Steve said.

“Yeah?”

“I kinda wanna punch you.” his breathing was heavy, trying to not pass out from the dizziness.

“Sense of humor’s still intact. That’s a good sign.” she laughed. You thanked Nancy after she handed the fabric to you, and Robin took it as her sign to leave you alone following after Nancy, certain she could not bear to see that.

“Okay… It might hurt.” you eyed his face, your own full of worry.

Steve nodded “Do it.” he grunts and does his best to hold himself up to give you better access to the wound.

You start wrapping his waist with the fabric, gently but firmly so it can hold any more blood that would want to get out. You hear him groan in pain, his stomach flexing at the touch. You apologized but he just told you he was fine.

“Is it too tight?” you were almost done, just waiting for the clear to tie the knot and secure its place.

“No, it’s- it’s good.” you nodded at his words and finished the knot at the front. You hoped it would be enough.

You looked back at him, hating how in pain he looked. He leaned back against the stone, his eyes falling on you with a sigh.

“Thank you, baby.” you let a small smile out at the nickname and kissed his forehead.

“So, uh…” Eddie starts talking, bringing your focus on him “This place is like Hawkins but with monsters and nasty shit?” he was standing on top of a fallen tree.

“Pretty much.” Nancy answered.

You placed your arms around Steve’s waist, careful to not touch his wound, his arm around your shoulders, and helped him stand right back up. You looked back at Eddie, seeing him ready to jump off the trunk, back to the ground, but a warning from you made him stop.

“Wait, watch out for the vines. It’s all a hive mind.” you tried to explain, but from the look on Eddie’s face it obviously wasn’t enough.

“It’s all a what?”

“All the creepy crawlies around here, dude.” you helped Steve lean to the stone once again, never leaving his side to make sure you’d be there if he needed help “They’re, like, one or something. You step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.” you nodded at his words. Eddie looked spooked as he carefully let himself back into the ground slowly, his feet never touching the veins.

“But everything from our world is still here, right?” Robin questioned.

“As far as I understand it, yeah.” Nancy answered her.

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station, and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.” she suggested.

“I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But, uh, guns? Yeah, sure.” Steve said, his hand never leaving his bandaged wound.

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns in my bedroom.” Nancy told you.

“You.” Eddie had finally landed back on the ground “Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?”

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin said rhetorically, a smile on her face.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” the other girl explained, and Steve scoffed at the memory.

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.”

“It was in the heat of the moment.” you defended Nancy, also remembering your adventure at the Byer’s house. A glimpse of blue coming towards you caught your attention, realizing it was Eddie's sleeveless, jean jacket that he had taken off and thrown at Steve.

“For your modesty, dude.” he explained and your boyfriend nodded.

All of a sudden, the earth started shaking, surprising all of you and making you lose your balance. You hang onto Steve, who puts his arms around you without a second thought. You grabbed Nancy’s hand and pulled her under the rock with you, while Eddie held Robin on the ground. The earthquake wasn’t long, but its strength did scare you. When the shaking stopped, you heard a creature baying in the distance and echoing through the woods. It was one of the scariest sounds you had ever heard.

“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.”

“Yeah, me too.” Eddie and Robin said, still on the ground.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Steve said, swiftly putting on the jacket in his arms and getting the torch from his back pocket, turning it on and leading the way. You were the first one to follow after him, your eyes always scanning the ground for the veins.

If you want to be tagged just ask!

Taglist:   @bookscoffeandotherstuff @i-am-the-coffee-queen @bi-andready-tocry​ @enchantedcruelsummer​ @daddystevee​ @elite4cekalyma  @hayadora​ @hannarudick​ @thecaptainsgingersnap​ @lookalivesunshine-x​ @sarasmismyonlydefence​ @astream-ofconsciousness​ @the-haikyuu-hoe ​​ @mileven-reddie @mochminnie​​ @synonymforlame @teamkiall ​​ @samanthadegaro​​ @the-passionate-freak​​ @thesailbells​​ @i-mmunity​​ @marvelouspottering @mrs-diggory @mydarlingharry @beepbeephargrove @mikariell95 @sweetdreamsshifter @paninipress @anolddayslover @10minutesofscreentime @bookfrog242 @onecrazydirectioner @harrycanyonmoonn @grippleback-galaxy @doctorsgirl262 @mayonesavegana @inkpot-winters @le-who-zer-her  @mysticgardenpolice @untitledarea

[gatorbites-imagines]

hello! i wonder, could you maybe do the cod tf 141 boys with a new guy in the team who turns out has a lot of dog tags?

Cod 141

Headcanons

I couldnt find a gif with dog tags, so heres some other military stuff.

I had to google what dog tags meant in the military so if I got the meaning wrong, blame google. Google said wearing a lot of dog tags could mean you had lost a lot of allies, so that’s what I’m going with.

John Price

-          Price would know about you losing a lot of people since he’s the one who wanted you on his team, which also means he knows about your past. So, he’s not surprised by the large amount of dog tags, he wouldn’t even really comment about it except tell you to make it obvious which one is yours just in case.

-          He’s likely to pat you on the back and ask if you’re alright if he catches you clutching your dog tags, Price also lets you know he’s always there to listen if you need to talk as he knows what its like to lose good people.

-          Price will always giving you a willing ear to hear about your past or your struggles, and he would share some of his own as well which helps you two bond.

 Kyle “Gaz” Garrick

-          I don’t think Gaz would give much of a reaction to seeing you with a lot of dog tags as its not really his place to pry, and people in your line of work all have different stories and have all experienced loss in some way.

-          He’s respectful about it and doesn’t bring it up, but if you’re willing to talk about them then he’s happy to listen as it makes Gaz happy to know that you trust him with such an important part of yourself.

-          Gaz doesn’t want all your memories of the military to be bad and of loss, so he would try to help you make some better ones, be it just you and the team goofing off or hanging out between missions, as he knows that things like grief can break even the strongest person.

 Simon “Ghost” Riley

-          Ghost knows more than anybody what its like to lose people, be is close friends or allies, so when you join the team and show up wearing enough dog tags to fit out an entire team, he doesn’t question it.

-          It’s not his place to dig in your past or demand to know who you’ve lost, who you cared enough about to carry their dog tag with you after their death. He respects you and the fact that you honor those you’ve lost.

-          You two would most likely end up sitting together and talking about the people you’ve both lose and how its affected you both when you become closer friends, since if anybody would know what it’s like its Ghost, which means you two get a better understanding of each other.

 John “Soap” MacTavish

-          Soap like the others don’t ask about the dog tags since it’s a personal thing, but it makes him very conscious about his own dog tags, and when you grow closer, he might lay awake at night when he’s scared of his future, wondering if his dog tags will join the many around your neck.

-          He hasn’t lost as many people as the rest of the team but he knows what its like, so he always tries to keep a lighter attitude to keep the team and you in higher spirits, but there are times where even Soap needs someone else to lift him up.

-          You two would most likely grow close and Soap starts wearing his dog tag more than before as it brings him some type of comfort now, seeing as its something you find so important.

[bigtittiecomitte]

What are your thoughts on this video?? This was recommend to me and I watched it and I didn't really care for it..maybe it's just me but it feels like this person seems more salty about V not getting together with N instead of giving actually criticisms of why he didn't like the finale, in fact I've seen most people act act this way when it comes to the finale..it's been mixed since it released and more people have lately been finding reasons to find Nuzi *Problematic* and a bad ship with saying the whole N is dating is "sister" (Cyn) because of Uzi and the solver being in one together in the same body even though that's NOT the case!! Idk, part of the reasons I was never able to fully ship Envy was because of some of the toxic fans and V fans and how they treated Uzi as a character..even after the finale Uzi is still getting undeserved mistreatment and hate and it's truly unfortunate. People need to see and realize that although Nuzi is canon people are still allowed to ship whatever they want canon or not, and just because Nuzi is canon doesn't mean anybody can be a dick and jackass. People also shouldn't be sending threats to Liam and Glitch because of the finale, yes the finale was flawed but that doesn't make it okay to to doxx or hass the studio or creator, MD is Liam's show and he should allowed to do whatever he wants with this show, I've said this in my own post but I think many in this fandom truly took this show for granted and didn't really deserve it..although I'm grateful for Murder Drones and will forever cherish it as it's my comfort show, this fandom is truly a mess and I know that's all fandoms..but the MD community is just so toxic and I wished it was a much better and healthier fanbase. :(

https://youtu.be/mQ5xnKYHGoc?si=6bSwQpiPV10beX-b

I saw the video and holy fuck Media Literacy is DEAD

I’m all for hearing people’s opinions but it really does piss me off when people just start saying crap without properly understanding the characters they’re talking about

For anybody not wanting to check out the video, basically the guy is saying that N and V should’ve gotten together and N and Uzi should’ve just stayed friends or even have a “sibling dynamic” (pretty much stuff we’ve already heard before lol). The issue is that if you have been watching the show with your two eyes you would know that N and V getting together in the end would actually be WORSE for N and V

N and V’s relationship is very catered to the past, present and future. In the past, N and V had a thing for each other in the manor (maybe even dated) then we have the present where N and V are now genocidal robots with the intent of killing worker drones for oil. N still has a crush on V prior to meeting Uzi while V tries to protect her and N by continuing on their path of death due to her trauma of Cyn and everything that happened in the manor, she tries pretending to forget his name and hides secrets from him, which makes him upset and lash out on her. Then we cut to the future, N and V are now friends and living in the bunker with the rest of the worker drones, they’re healing but they’re doing alright now that there’s finally no hiding secrets from one another

The problem with a lot of people complaining that Envy should have been canon instead is the fact that their entire relationship throughout Murder Drones is all about moving on and the fact that not all romantic relationships end with them being happy together. N and V could never have what they had in the manor again because not only have they moved on from each other but they’re also building up their platonic relationship brick by brick. N and V were never proper friends and never got the chance to rekindle until Uzi came along, which another thing I want to talk about

I see so many people hating on Uzi for being the reason as to why N and V didn’t become endgame but if it wasn’t for Uzi. N and V would’ve never ended up where they are today like if they never met Uzi then they would just end up killing all the worker drones and dying after all the oil is gone, N and V wouldn’t even get to rekindle their relationship because it would be stuck to how it was before Uzi came along. The reason as to why Nuzi became endgame and not Envy wasn’t because Liam favoured one ship than the other but because N and Uzi were actually communicating. They were friends and understood each other’s trauma and feelings, which is what made them work. N and V didn’t have that until N lashed out on her and she got her character growth

The only part I can somewhat agree with is that we should have seen V apologise to the real N (she did apologise but it was to a fake N instead) but I’m at least happy that real N was there to know that she was being sincere with her words. They’re all traumatised characters, none of them deserved what they went through

He says that Uzi should’ve stopped having a crush on N which leads to N and V getting together and I just full on stopped the video because how are you seeing the interactions between N and Uzi and thinking that Uzi should have just stopped having a crush on him when N’s feelings for her were also the same, them not being canon would have actually made no sense because of all the moments we had got of them, hell even them implied to be dating in Episode 7 lol. N and V getting together in the end would have been way more rushed than the ship of what some envy shippers actually claim to be rushed

Not only that but him calling V “jealous” of N and Uzi being in love because apparently that’s what she wanted with N, like hell did V tell you that? She’s happy for them even if she doesn’t look like it (I mean I don’t like seeing couples in public either lol)

Nuzi being canon doesn’t mean you have to stop shipping other ships that you find better and it’s totally ok to be disappointed that Envy wasn’t the main ship. But it doesn’t give people the right to just make fake screenshots of Liam’s twitter and blaming Nuzi shippers for the reason as to why Nuzi became canon (apparently we all did a meeting and pay for Nuzi to be canon lmao). Remember that fanfiction and fanart exist my dudes, support your local AU’s too

Basically Envy is a very tragic ship and it was always written that way and guys please stop mischaracterising V it hurts

[yaniiiiism]

but no one can stop the time, i know -h.js 🍢

❀┆pairing : han jisung x fem!reader ͏ ❀┆ info : oneshot , a lot of fluff , cutesy , highschool love (cough cough) , short ! ❀┆ personas + bg : highschoolers ; classmates ; nerdy , funny , flirty, loverboy , head-over-heels jisung, reader matches his energy <3 ❀┆ word count : 3.1k ❀┆warnings : cute af i wanna squish him :< notes at the end !!

˖ㅤㅤ۫ㅤㅤ ♡ ㅤ۫ㅤ ೀ ˖ㅤㅤ۫ㅤㅤㅤ✧

happy hannie day ᡣ𐭩

✦ ! i fell in love with you unexpectedly, i think it's so sweet, my baby.

──

It was a weekday like any other, the kind that slipped through the cracks of senior year, unnoticed in the blur of exams and deadlines.

The late afternoon sun filtered through the classroom windows, casting golden beams across the desks. The faint murmur of students packing up and chattering about weekend plans filled the room, but a certain fluffy-haired guy's focus was elsewhere.

He sat at his desk, fingers lightly drumming on the surface, his guitar case leaning beside him. Across the room, she sat with her head bent low over her notebook, the tip of her pen moving in quick, precise strokes.

Her brow furrowed slightly, lips parted as she was focused. The golden light hit her hair just right, creating a soft halo around her, the strands cascading down her back in waves of deep black.

The loverboy had always admired how she seemed to glow when she was lost in thought.

He swallowed hard, his eyes tracing the delicate curve of her face, the way her lashes cast faint shadows on her cheeks, the tiny mole just beneath her left eye that he’d noticed a thousand times before but never tired of admiring. His heart did a small, familiar somersault—something it had become accustomed to doing whenever he looked at her for too long.

Ask her, idiot, he urged himself, his pulse quickening. It was just a study session—completely innocent. Yet somehow, the idea of spending that extra time with her made his stomach churn with nerves, excitement mixing with anxiety in a way that left him breathless.

"And then Lino hyung almost choked me with tis..- ..ssues."

What?

Jisung barely blinked, still half-lost in his thoughts about something, or rather someone.

"Interesting," he mumbled, eyes fixed on the way the sunlight caught the edge of her notebook.

The guy next to him narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Dude, are you even listening?"

Jisung jolted, pushing up his glasses awkwardly. “Uh, yeah..! Minho hyung, tissues. Totally with you.”

The blonde groaned, running a hand through his hair. “You’re hopeless, man. Just ask her out already.”

Jisung’s face turned red as he shot Hyunjin a panicked glance. "What? What are you talking about?"

“You’ve been all heart eyes for her for the last fifteen minutes. Ugh, young love,” His best friend normally let out a dramatic sigh.

"You're only a year older..!" Jisung grumbled under his breath, trying to focus back on his notes. "I wasn’t staring at anybody,"

Taking a deep breath, the guy pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and finally got up from his desk, raising a question out of his friend's mouth.

"Hey- where are you-" he frowned, shaking his head at his best friend's usual lover-self. "Typical Jisung.." He mumbled.

Meanwhile, Jisung was quietly walking up to the desk, only a few steps ahead from his, each step making his heart thud a beat quicker.

And then, he was right in front of her desk. Her hands, firmly holding onto the black ink pen, black streaks of hair framing her face like the icing of a cake.

"Hey," The guy formed the first word, much to his surprise.

He saw her lifting her head, doe-like eyes meeting his. For a moment, the rest of the classroom blurred, and it was just the two of them for him. "Oh, hey, Jisung."

He could swear he almost fainted right there and then, at her gaze. It was as if time had stopped — her eyes seem to hold certain depth which nobody could identify.

"What are you noting?" He replied, an awkward smile etching his lips as he leaned onto the desk, ever too lightly.

"Oh, nothing, just some calculus.. it's been irritating me for 2 days now," She chuckled slightly.

"Ah, I see," He tried for casual, but there was an edge of nervous energy in his voice. "If you want, I can try helping you, you know since the test is near as well,"

Her eyes softened, "I'd appreciate that, but I think the free period's ending in five minutes..?"

"Oh."

"Well, I-I uh, didn't realise that," He chuckled nervously, glancing to his own desk, and earning a fake cough from the same, where his wingman was tiredly spectating the scene unfold, ever so slowly, probably motioning, god get it together, do something!

"Actually! My uh, dorm’s empty tonight. It’d be quieter there than the library."

Han, are you crazy?

He was already sensing his dorm-mate shooting him sharp daggers from his desk, clearly disturbed by his stupid move. Guess Hyunjin'll have to spend another evening at the crowded dance studio.

Anyway, the girl's eyes softened, and a small smile curled on her lips, the kind that made his chest tighten. "You’re inviting me to your dorm?" she teased, her voice lilting with amusement.

He chuckled, trying to mask his rising heartbeat. "Uh, yeah, for math, obviously. I’m not secretly planning to serenade you with guitar solos or anything."

"Shame," she grinned, closing her notebook. "But yeah, I’d love to. I could use some extra help with derivatives."

"Cool, yeah. Same here, d-derivatives, right." he replied, trying to sound nonchalant. But inside, his nerves buzzed, and he could already hear Hyunjin's teasing in his head.

~

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow, eyes rolling. “Derivatives, huh?”

Jisung groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Shut up.”

“No, no, that was smooth,” Hyunjin continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “My dorm’s empty tonight. Real subtle, loverboy. You really think she’s buying the whole study excuse?”

~

The dorm was quiet by the time she arrived, too quiet, almost like the room had been waiting for this moment. The guy had spent the past half-hour tidying things up—scattering textbooks and notebooks across the floor to make it look like they’d been studying all day.

His guitar, ever-present, leaned in the corner of the room, a few half-finished music sheets peeking out from beneath his laptop. He had left the window slightly open, letting the cool evening breeze flow in, carrying with it the distant sounds of the campus winding down.

When the doorbell rang, his heart jumped. He crossed the room quickly and opened the door. There she was, standing in the warm glow of the hallway light, her eyes bright and curious.

"Hey," he said, smiling that wide, gummy smile that never failed to make him feel a little self-conscious.

"Hey," she replied, stepping inside. Her gaze wandered around the room, taking in the slight mess of papers, the cozy clutter of his space. "Seems cozy," She chuckled.

The room was modest, with a bed pushed against one wall and a desk cluttered with papers and notebooks. His guitar leaned against the corner, its polished wood catching the last rays of sunlight. The space felt inviting, a reflection of Jisung’s quiet, creative world.

Jisung shut the door behind her, trying to steady his nerves. “I hope it’s not too messy. I wasn’t sure if I should clean up or leave it as it is.”

“It’s fine,” she said, her gaze returning to him. There was a soft smile on her lips, and Jisung’s heart skipped a beat. “I like it. Feels warm.”

They settled down on the floor, their backs resting against the bed. Jisung gestured to the array of textbooks and notes spread out in front of them. “So, um, let’s get started?”

She nodded, her smile widening. She sat cross-legged on the floor, her book open in front of her. The guy couldn’t help but notice how her eyes sparkled with a mixture of curiosity and amusement as she flipped through the pages. He found himself studying her, taking in every detail—the way the corner of her mouth turned up slightly when she was concentrating, the way her fingers moved gracefully over the pages.

As they worked through the problems, there were moments when their hands brushed against each other, each touch sending a jolt of electricity up Jisung’s arm.

He tried to focus on the calculus problems in front of him, but his mind kept drifting back to her, to the way she looked under the dim light of the room.

Her hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves, framing her face like a dark, silken curtain. The light from the lamp cast a gentle glow on her features, highlighting the delicate curve of her cheek and the soft, pink hue of her lips. There was a tiny mole just beneath her left eye that Jisung found himself staring at, mesmerized by its subtle perfection.

Every now and then, the girl too, would glance up at him, her gaze catching his. When their eyes met, there was a moment of shared understanding, a silent conversation that seemed to speak louder than words. The room seemed to pulse with the unspoken connection between them, a tension that was both exciting and comforting.

At one point, her gaze lingered on Jisung’s face, her eyes tracing the lines of his features with a look of soft contemplation. She noticed the way his bangs fell over his eyes, the dark strands brushing against his glasses. There was something so endearing about his shy, boyish demeanour, and she found herself captivated by the way he looked in the dim light.

Jisung caught her looking and felt a flush of warmth spread across his cheeks. He tried to look away, but found himself drawn back to her. The soft, steady rhythm of her breathing, the way her eyes shone with an almost ethereal light—it was all too mesmerizing.

Without realizing it, she found herself reaching out, her fingers brushing gently against his temple. The touch was light, almost tentative, as she tucked his bangs behind his ear. Jisung’s breath hitched, his heart pounding as he felt the delicate warmth of her hand against his skin.

Her eyes were locked on his, their closeness making the rest of the world seem to fade away. There was a tender smile on her lips, and her gaze was filled with something he couldn’t quite define—perhaps a mixture of affection and something deeper.

“Sorry.. t-they were getting in the way,” she murmured softly, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Jisung’s heart felt like it had stopped for a moment. Her touch, her words—they all seemed to meld into a single, perfect moment. He looked into her eyes, seeing a depth there that made him feel as if he were falling into an endless, beautiful abyss.

Before he could fully process what was happening, she had leaned in. Her lips brushed against his with a softness that sent shivers down his spine. The kiss was gentle, almost hesitant, but it carried with it a depth of emotion that spoke louder than any words could.

Jisung responded instinctively, his hand finding its way to her cheek, his thumb gently caressing her skin. The kiss deepened, their lips moving together in a slow, tender rhythm. It was as if time itself had stopped, leaving only the two of them in a cocoon of warmth and intimacy.

When they finally pulled away, their foreheads rested together, and the room seemed to exhale, the tension melting away into something soft and comforting.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that to happen."

 ೀ⠀. . . ﹙love = u + i﹚.

a/n ♡︎

HAPPY JISUNG DAY YALL <3 wrote this quick for the loml ♡︎ i love this man sm its crazY also chp2 for stars and raindrops comes tmr !! plz reblog/comment/like if u like my fics <33 made another spam acc for skz @loveforseung ALSO I HAVE AO3 NOW !! user's same as @loveforseung go follow !! also making a masterlist for all of my posts, plz lmk if u wanna be a part of it ! <3 have a good day ~ – love, yani ♥︎

✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿ ✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿⠀✿

[hrodvitnon]

SIGNALIS Big Teef Fic Preview!

Did anybody want a fic with the Big Teef? No? Well, too bad, you're getting one anyway. Have a taste!

---

"Hey, when were you going to tell me you have fangs?"

Elster pauses, having just gotten engrossed in a scene of tense questioning.  "Excuse me?"

Ariane sits beside her at the table, lays down the Replika overview, leans her elbows on it and rests her chin on folded hands, giving the Replika a look that to any Gestalt would be similar to a parent wanting to know why their kids didn't do what was asked of them – or rather, like she's taken on the role of detective in the midst of questioning.  Elster lifts her eyebrows, waiting for an explanation.

Ariane elaborates as if telling an anecdote from her Rotfront years.  "I looked through the Replika overview again to see if there was anything I could pick up to help you out, or do something for you, when... in the corner of my little eye, I spy... a schematic.  A schematic, El Bell.  Of retractable canine teeth.  Which you are in possession of, and neglected to inform me."

Elster closes her eyes, knowing where this is going.

"Ariane."

"Now, I don't ask the time of day from a clock..."

"Liebchen."

"But I'm not shy about how hot I am for nibbles and love bites..."

"Light of my life."

"And you didn't think to tell me?  When were you going to tell me?"

"Settle down, dramatic.  They're for self-defense, not for sexy time.  Besides, it's not even unique to LSTRs – all Replikas have them."

Ariane blinks in surprise.  "Wait, seriously?  Even Eules?"  Having such teeth makes sense for a Storch or Star, but an Eule?

"Absolutely.  I once heard that a secretary unit back at headquarters almost bit the fingers off an untrained Storch who got too ugly with her.  Not sure how it ended, but I like to think Frau Beißer got off with a warning and the Storch never lived it down.  Self-defense, like I said.  With combat units it's a last resort in case one runs out of ammunition or doesn't have a melee weapon ready."

Ariane's eyes widen.  Eules always looked so delicate to her with how lightly they carried themselves, but it seems even those domestic units are made of sterner stuff than expected.  Her eyes lower to Elster's mouth.  Elster gives her a knowing look.

"No."

"I didn't say anything!"

"You have that 'in the interest of science' look on your face."

"I just want to see them for myself!  There's nothing wrong with that!  Show me, please?  It's not like I'll ever see them in a combat situation, unless we get picked up by aliens or something."

Elster stares.  Ariane stares back, pleading and doe-eyed, just seconds away from deploying the dreaded pouty bottom lip.  Elster gives in, of course.  She can never really refuse humoring her love, so she teasingly grouses like it's such a chore.

"Ach, fine."

Ariane tries not to drum her fingers happily while Elster pops the mandibles in her jaw, mouth opening.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just 28 white teeth – go figure Replikas aren't manufactured with wisdom teeth – and then Elster curls her lips back wolfishly, her canines extending with an audible click.

There is, of course, the knee-jerk flicker of saucy fascination since Ariane does so love when Elster bites her, but in the moment it's also tempered by actual scientific curiosity.  Elster's lengthened teeth are only sharp at the very tips, as Ariane knows from experience, so while they probably can pierce through flesh or biomechanical components they must be intended for crushing and tearing, clamping down and keeping a steady grip thanks to powerful jaws.

A rather specific detail from the Replika overview comes to mind: the LSTR unit has a bite force of 1250 PSI at minimum.  Ariane's heard of certain Vinetan animals having a comparable bite, capable of piercing through the skulls of their prey.  The knowledge of this results in a revelatory daydream of hostile alien forces intercepting their little ship and abducting Ariane, causing Elster to crush an extraterrestrial skull or spine between her teeth as she goes in a rampaging rescue...

"Ari," Elster drawls.  The extended fangs seem to mess with her speech, an added lisp causing her accent to border on nonsensical.  "Ye hab dat look."

Ariane shakes her head.  "I wasn't thinking of anything sexy this time, honest!"

"Uh-huh.  Cad I pud dese away now?  Iz hahd to talk."

[specialagentlokitty]

Present mic x reader - happy surprises

Heyy, a cool idea would be Present Mic x reader where he’s on the radio taking calls and fan reader gets to call him. Add whatever you like of course just an idea lol, I’d love to see what else you come up with - Anon💜

Sitting on the stool, you were reading through the list of ingredients in front of you, listening to the soothing voice of your favourite radio talk show host.

You weren’t paying all too much attention to him, you were focused on getting everything ready for opening the bakery the next day, so when your phone began to ring you didn’t think twice about it.

Picking it up you stuck it on speaker, setting it back down on the counter.

“Hello, Blueberry Bakery, (Y/N) speaking, are you placing an order or picking up one?” You asked.

“Well what a formal greeting!”

“Mr Present Mic?!”

There was a loud laughter on the other end, you had to get up and mute your radio so you were able to hear him better.

“That’s right! You’re our lucky caller! So why don’t you tell us about yourself yo!”

You laughed a little awkwardly.

“Well, I uh, I work nights, I’m actually at work right now.”

“You mentioned a bakery, you got any recommendations!?”

You hummed a little, resting your chin on your hand as you looked at your phone.

“Depends on what you like, my specialty is cakes. I make them for all sorts of occasions, birthdays, weddings, that sort of stuff.”

“Amazing! Tell me more!”

You grinned even more as you excitedly began to tell him about some of the cakes you had managed to bake before.

After five minutes he announced it was time for the next caller after a few songs and you ended the call, gushing about how you were just on the phone with your all time favourite hero.

You grabbed your phone to excitedly text your friend when you noticed that the number in your recent call logs wasn’t blocked, it was an actual mobile number.

You decided to message the number, worrying it wasn’t safe for him to give out his number to random people like this.

You: hi, I was just on your radio show, I just wanted to let you know you haven’t restricted you phone number so anybody you call can see it and save it. Just in case you didn’t know how here’s how you find it!

With that, you sent the message with a photo on which part of his phones settings he needed to be on.

Setting your phone back down, you went back to your work, sleeves rolled up as you carried on with the various projects you were working on.

You worked through until early morning when you let the day shift in, and you grabbed your things, giving them all a wave as you went home to sleep.

Again, you were back the next night doing the same thing, looking through the orders that a few people were collecting after hours.

Setting them aside in time order, you put your apron on and got to work on the final touches for them, and one by one people came to collect them.

You usually had the same routine, so even after a few weeks you were doing the same thing, listening to the radio while working, though it wasn’t Present Mic on, since his show didn’t run every night of the week, it was still nice.

Hearing the buzzer go, you walked over and pressed it, letting the person in.

“On moment!” You called.

Setting the cake back into the chiller, you brushed your hands on your apron as you looked down at your list.

“Do you have the receipt you were given for your order?”

“Oh yeah! Here!”

Your head shot up at the voice, and you grinned from ear to ear.

“Mr Present Mic!”

He laughed loudly, slamming his receipt down in the counter.

“Yo! The caller from the other week!” He beamed.

You grinned sheepishly, running a hand up and down your arm as you took his receipt.

“It’s a real honour to meet you, you’re my favourite hero!”

“What?! No way?! Me?!”

You laughed, nodding your head as you lifted up the counter, letting him come through and you handed him an apron.

“I actually had a message saying they needed to confirm some final details when you arrived.”

Setting his receipt down you looked for the matching one and looked over it, grabbing the cake he had ordered and brought it out.

“They wanted you to pick some final colours and such, so if you let me know I can get it done right away.”

“Oh so many to choose from! Can I decorate it?!” He gushed.

You laughed a little, nodding as you took the cake to the work station.

“Go right ahead, we do need to remind you that if you decorate it yourself you can’t ask for a refund.”

“Not to worry!”

He happily began to work while you set a cake down next to him, getting to work on this one as well.

You looked at present mac as he decorated his own cake with a bright grin on his face, then went back to your work.

You finished the first part and left it there as you walked to the front, cleaning out the cases.

“Yo! This is so good! It didn’t even take you that long!” He gushed.

You laughed a little nervously.

“Thanks, I’ve been working here for years, my parents were bakers as well.”

“Amazing! Can you help me!?”

“Of course!”

Walking over, you washed your hands and stood next to him, listening to him as he excitedly explained what he wanted done with his cake.

You happily showed him what to do, and the whole time you were fully aware of his focused on his gaze on you.

Once you were done, you went back to your own work, and he watched your carefully, and you took the cake back, doing a quick tidy up which he helped with.

When you were done, you turned around to look at him, giving him a smile and he grinned brightly.

“Oh! I didn’t know if you got my message about thanking you!”

You furrowed your brows a little, pulling out your phone, and you looked through your messages, shaking your head.

“No, hold on let me check something.”

Present mic stood over your shoulder while you went through your phone.

“Oh yeah, never mind you went through to my unknown messages.” You laughed.

“Ouch! Didn’t even save my number!” He pouted.

He placed a hand over his heart pretending to be hurt about it and you laughed a little bit.

“It wasn’t my place to save, I just wanted to make sure you knew you were giving it out.”

“Much appreciated yo!”

He stuffed his hands into his pocket, leaning down a little with a grin on his face.

“Can I decorate another cake?!”

“Yeah, I was actually making one for myself for my birthday, go right ahead!”

You grabbed another cake and handed it over for him so he could decorate.

You were still in slight shock of him in your work, and as the night drew on to an end, he got ready to leave with his cake.

“Oh! Can I see ya phone?”

You nodded your head, handing it over to him, and he took it for a few seconds before handing it back to you, picking up his cake.

You walked him out, and he looked at you, giving you a grin.

“Let’s do this again sometimes (Y/N)!”

With that he walked away.

You locked up again.

When you got home you decided to see what he had done, and you noticed a new contact in your messages along with a missed message from it.

Hizashi: thanks for the cake!

He’d sent you a photo of him grinning with the grin with the cake in the background and you laughed loudly at how goofy he looked

[napakmahal]

A very random sad blurb. Hiro x reader. It’s sad but I’m actually kinda happy with how it turned out. Like I’m very okay with how I wrote this. Enjoy (please) pookies.

Every brochure and website you read about dealing with grieve says that it comes in waves or episodes. That it will wax and wane. In good there is bad and in bad there is good, there is no in between. There is no normal.

Grief is also really weird. You could be having a relatively normal day and see one thing that reminds you of what you’ve grieved and all of a sudden you feel like shit for the rest of the day.

In Hiro’s case, that was seeing the San Fransokyo ninjas poster as they were playing in their home stadium for the first time that season. Tadashi’s loved baseball and that was his team.

Up until that point Hiro had been having a semi-normal month. As normal as you can get being a teen superhero. But that stupid fucking poster came into his life like a truck and ruined it.

When you walked upstairs to visit him he was laying in the opposite direction on his bed. With his head on the foot of the bed and his legs smushing into his pillow. He was staring at the room divider that had been closed for the past few months that he didn’t dare open and was very defensive over people touching. Even his aunt.

“Hey,” your voice was soft and borderline coddle-ish. “Are you okay? You haven’t been answering my calls.”

Hiro’s a very good texter when he wants to be and he was always a good texter with you. Something was wrong.

Obviously lying and not bothering to convince you otherwise he just said, “I’m fine. Thanks though.”

You weren’t sure what you hated more. When he got angry about his grief or depressed. For the longest time if he’d go through one of those waves of missing his brother he’d be unnecessarily angry. Everyone was wrong and everything anybody did pissed him off. A grenade ready to blow at any moment. Your relationship really struggled during those times and he really was hard to deal with. But there were times like this. Where he could lay in the same position for days on end paralyzed by grief.

“Hiro.” You said in a warning tone. If he wasn’t fine why couldn’t he just say that? If he just wanted to be left alone he could say that instead. “You’re lying to me.”

He sighed, “I’m not lying.”

“Yes you are!” Your voice was raising. “We’ve talked about this like—a million times. You have to tell me what you’re feeling. This isn’t healthy.”

“As you constantly remind me.” His voice was dripping with attitude and tipping on anger.

You scoffed not exactly enjoying his tone. “Well maybe I wouldn’t have to remind you if you would just do it!”

“Oh my fucking god, y/n! I don’t need parenting, leave me alone!” He was shouting know, no longer depressed but angry.

You remember what your relationship with Hiro was like before Tadashi died. Still a little rocky because of his horrible and illegal not fighting habit but a million times better.

You raised your voice without really shouting. “Is that what you want? To be left alone?”

“Yes! I was want you out!”

You raised your arms and let them make a slap sound against your thighs. “Why couldn’t you just say that?”

“Because you make it hard.” He wasn’t yelling anymore but said it more with a whine and he dug his face into his hands.

You responded. “Hiro I really don’t think I do. I just want you to tell me what you want. ‘I’m fine’ is such a lazy fucking lie and I really wish you’d stop saying it.”

Hiro took a deep breath with his head in his hands before looking back up at you. He was crying of either sadness or frustration and anger. Maybe it was all of them. “You know what I want? I want my brother back, that’s what. I don’t want to feel this way and I want my life back. And I know I shouldn’t but sometimes I wish I’d just killed Callaghan when I had the chance. I want my aunt and my friends to stop pretending Tadashi never existed and I want you to stop acting like my therapist and just be there like a normal person. That’s what I want.”

You were speechless for a bit. What he said was revealing, raw, and a little hurtful. But it was real. It was the truth. How could you be upset? You begged him to tell you the truth, he did.

You paused for a bit but asked, “Do normal people give hugs?”

He stopped and sat up properly before gently nodding his head. You rushed over to him and practically tackled him in your arms and you felt him hug you back equally as hard.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered so quietly on he could hear it. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

He said nothing and just embraced you, tears falling freely now. Very rarely did Hiro just cry about how he was feeling but when it rained it poured. This was no exception.

When he did speak he just said, “I need you. Not the therapist you that uses words like trauma-response. I need you. I want you here with me.”

You rapidly nodded still hugging him so tight as if you let him go he’d vanish into thin air. He needed you. He wanted you. So you promised him with total sincerity, “I’m here, I’ll always be here.”

Tadashi’s gone. No science or technology could do anything about that. If it could Hiro would have tried it already. You couldn’t do anything about that. But what you can do if just be there when he inevitably falls and succumbs to the grief of the tragic and untimely death of the person who practically raised him. All Hiro can ask you to do is be there, and although the can’t fully comprehend the afterlife he knows that’s all Tadashi wants too.

[wyn-n-tonic]

That's A Real Fucking Legacy: All of You, All of Me

Word Count: 968 Warnings: Uh.... death talk? Author's Note: SHE'S BACK ON HER BULLSHIT, BESTIES.

TARFL Masterlist | Author Blog

It’s been years in the making at this point.

You, Joel. Baby. Except her name isn’t Baby anymore and it’s not Thomasin either.

There was a lot of discussion, a lot of broken hearts and tears from all parties involved. Tommy was touched but he ached. Even when he got over it, found somebody else, he ached so deep in his being that there were nights he thought he’d split himself in two.

Because at the end of the day, he still believes—with all his heart—that your little girl should be his, too. He believes that when you took the last name Miller, it should’ve been gifted over from him.

“I’ll hold onto this hurt for the rest of my life, sweetheart,” he’d said.

Said he’d accepted that he’d caused it but that didn’t make the pain go away. Didn’t soothe that raw, bruised part of his heart—his soul.

There was no begging, Joel was on board from the beginning. Joel was on board before anybody else. Change her name, something more appropriate for who she is to you and Joel and this world. A gift.

A second chance.

Or third. Fourth. Fifth.

One hundredth and many more than you deserve after years and year over this life; this way of living. 

Especially for Joel, your strong, broad mountain of a man who believed himself irredeemable in the eyes of everybody but especially yours. He cradled her with such gentleness, even as she grew, that it was hard to believe he was capable of any kind of violence.

So, after a year of late night and early morning talks whispered across the pillows, decisions had been made. A lot of them, actually.

Joel admitted that he felt his humanity pouring back into him with every breath he took beside you; every moment he held your daughter in his arms. He bloomed as father, color darkening his cheeks with emotion every time he looked at her. He felt like before in some sense of the word, like he was being given the gift of fulfilling the only thing he ever felt he was good at. 

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, you know where that thought would often go. Silent promises to himself that he wouldn’t fail this time. Or, God help him, he hoped his failure was no longer being in this world to protect her when it came down to it.

In the registry office of town, where all the records of who was who and where they were were kept, you both signed as a new birth certificate was made. 

Clara Miriam Miller. No Thomasin, no Baby. No placeholder for who she was or name to carry as if she were some memorial, just Clara. 

It means bright. Clear. Joel joked that she was the only light in the darkness he’d ever seen or needed.

It was good, beautiful even. As you finished your signature on the page detailing everything you could remember about her birth—bloody, loud, an early morning surprise that still exhausted you to this day—Joel cleared his throat.

Trying his best to tuck an unruly piece of hair behind your ear and failing, he took a deep breath and finally said, “will you marry me while we’re here?”

That’s the last piece to his puzzle, always has been. The thing he always wanted before—-companionship. Love in such an intimate way. Not that your relationship lacks that as it is but there’s something about being official.

There’s possession to it and there’s this bit of submission as you vow to give all your life and love and hurt and pain and, even, your death to one person. 

No. No doubts in your minds about this one either. He loved so fiercely, so deeply, and he’d whispered all his insecurities and broken parts in all the nights you’ve lived together. He didn’t have it before, not when it happened. Selfishly, you’re glad that he didn’t, that his wife had walked away from him years and years before that. If he’d lost her the way he’d lost the others, the way he fears losing you or losing Clara…

But if that had been the case, there would be no you. Not for him. There wouldn’t even be a Clara, there would be somebody else with somebody else.

Or maybe nobody at all. 

Your vows are even more selfish as you tell him how grateful you are that you found one another through all this and the more that life tried to throw at you; that you went to him the way Tommy had said to when there was trouble even though it scared you so much to knock on his door.

It scared you to tell him the things you told him, to make the decisions for yourself and decide you were tired of pretending it wasn’t love that you felt for him. 

In the end, with Clara’s small face tucked neatly into the crook of his neck, he took your hand, looked at his brother and apologized with gratitude tacked onto the end. 

Looking back at you, he smiles and you reach out to touch your thumb into the hidden dimple as it wells deep into his cheek.

“When I go, I hope it’s peaceful,” he says. “I hope it’s beside you, Mrs. Miller, and I hope it’s only after years. And, selfishly, I hope it’s not a pain or absence you have to feel for long because I am going to be mighty pissed off if you make me wait for as long as I did to have you in my bed in the first place.” 

Going back to your signature on Clara’s paperwork, you pick up the pen and add -Miller to the end of your name.