#left the verse vague so it could go with any lol

[cryogenicmuses]

❝ hey fuckface, are you th'bloke i 'eard revvin' that bike's engine at five in the bloody mornin'? ❞ - from kano to snow cause i couldnt resist when i saw the 'fuckface' lmao

Unfriendly Icebreakers // @mencnfire (Kano)

"Nice to meet you too, fuckface!" Snow couldn't help but quip right back, giving the other man a stare. "So what if I am? Can't exactly go anywhere on my bike if I don't rev it up first, eh?"

[asukaskerian]

bleach daemon AU - outside POV on harribel

so a couple centuries (5 years) ago i asked for prompts for this (grimmichi) verse. most of them are still languishing in my file.

but then i was prodding at the fullbringers arc and i was like "lol i could add some yakuzas" because, lol, in the last fic of that series there's an outsider pov on a yakuza. (he thinks ichigo is an oyabun's young heir and grimmjow is his hitman bodyguard. it's hilarious.) and then this ficlet was like "i will be short to complete and then, having gotten back into the yakuza oc mindset, you can go back to the multipart!" (it was a lie) but anyway.

--

anonymous asked: In the Grimmichi Daemonverse, could you have Nel and/or Harribel come try out the daemon thing? Then Ichigo could be seen hanging out not only with his hot yakuza boyfriend but also with hot dangerous-looking women, like he's slowly growing his harem :)

it alas did not end up looking like a harem. but, lol anyway.

Jin's daemon Rin is a snake i forget which kind and Yamatora's daemon Queen is a little terrier dog. Grimmjow's panther is Leucanthe and Ichigo's lioness is Rikuto. Oh and some of Grimmjow's fraccion survived and are hanging around in gigai too.

--

Times were, Jin and Rin liked it when the big boss's eyes fell on them and he said things like, "ah, I can entrust you with that thing". Felt important, like understanding, like respect.

Now Rin coils tighter around his neck and resists the urge to sigh.

"Urahara-dono, sir?"

The boss nods slowly. "You're good with the weird," his daemon says.

Jin does not feel very complimented.

"Take your newbie with you. Urahara-dono's heir knows him, doesn't he?"

Urahara-dono's heir regards Jin's trainee the way one regards a dumb, hapless chicken in a field full of foxes and tiger pits -- with vague, despairing concern. It's, Jin supposes, not the worst thing. He could be regarding him like a newly powerful man regards the punk who used to try to beat him up behind the grocery store.

Jin supposes the operative word here is "try".

"Yes, sir," he replies, dutiful if not enthused.

"Oh, and I'm sending Matsuoka too. He's got to get used to dealing with Urahara-dono's cohort if he wants to get anywhere as an underboss," the big boss mutters, and Jin feels very briefly doomed.

--

Matsuoka-san is a very new underboss; a modern, ambitious type. His daemon is a falcon -- observant, wary, viciously fast to attack. He comes from a sister family to the Kishiume and he has a great many fresh ideas to revolutionize the criminal underworld.

He also has no fucking clue why the big boss went so far as to meet with some unkempt undercover-as-a-shopkeeper guy with no bonds of brotherhood to any other family when as far as anybody can tell he has twenty men tops and isn't trading out any weapons or sellable shit.

He'll learn, Jin knows.

"Or he'll get dead," Rin mutters. Jin doesn't even bother huffing his reaction.

"What'd you say, Rin-san?" Queen asks solicitously, craning her neck to catch a glimpse.

"Nothing of importance. Turn left at the next crossroads."

They turn left. Yamatora is humming nervously, fingers tapping the wheel, but he's a surprisingly good driver. He maintains his speed with machine-like precision and uses his turn signal religiously. They're not going to get pulled over today, no matter how completely suspicious the semi-trailer truck is, driving through narrow suburb streets as it is.

Inside there's a giant tub of water and a rigged-together bunch of sprinklers and some pulley system for a stretcher. Jin officially does not want to even wonder.

Matsuoka-san is following them in his sports car. If anybody gets them stopped today he will.

--

They get to the Urahara shop; park the truck on the stretch of beaten earth before its front door. Step out of the truck. The front steps are home to three men -- two of them massive and well-muscled, the last whipcord-thin and playing with something that shines in the sunlight. Jin does not want to take a single step closer to them. They bother him the same way Kurosaki-san's bodyguard bothers him -- something crazy in the gleam of their grinning teeth. He goes anyway.

He lets Matsuoka-san go first, though. It isn't his place to tell the underboss to be careful of bottom-rung flunkies.

"Tell your boss the Kishiume envoys are here," Matsuoka-san starts with, his falcon mantling her wings pointedly. Rin hisses quietly, winds herself tighter. Queen briefly cowers behind Tora's legs, and then wanders out to swagger awkwardly as they try to provide backup.

The three men stare back for a long couple of seconds, and then the scrawny one with the fat lizard laughs, like they have an inside joke and it's on Matsuoka-san.

"Be polite," the red-haired one chides mildly, his baboon smiling in a too-human way for fangs that size. "Go get him."

"Yeah, yeah," the scrawny guy goes, standing up, and disappears indoors, daemon wrapped around his shoulders like a yellow-and-black scarf. The sliding door snaps closed behind him as he stomps on wooden boards loud enough to be heard from outside.

The guy who emerges isn't Urahara-dono. It's the crazy panther guy.

The panther slinks out of the door first, casually brushing against the last guy's warthog, and on her heels comes the man, loose-limbed and his eyelids heavy, unimpressed. He scans their trio and says nothing to Matsuoka-san, visibly at the head of it, stares at Jin himself for a second longer. Nods, to him and not to the underboss.

"I remember you."

That is... not something Jin knows whether to appreciate or not, but he nods back, expressionless.

The panther sits, licks her paw with casual unconcern. "Thanks for last time. We had fun."

Yamatora blinks dumbly. "Oh, at the p--" Jin elbows him. The hitman smirks.

And they've officially reached the end of Matsuoka-san's patience. Daemon fluffing up her feathers in annoyance, he takes a step forward. "I asked to see your boss. Where is he."

An arctic-blue look spears him right back. "No, you asked for their boss. That's me."

... Oh, hell. This is now a pissing contest. Jin knew it. He doesn't even know who to bet on; Matsuoka-san has a gun and a lot of rage, but the hitman is... The vibes. No. His panther is just going to leap and pluck the falcon right out of the air before anyone can even throw a punch, how can Matsuoka-san not see that?

Also how the hell does it work? Kurosaki-san is training under Urahara-dono, so how--

"Grimmjow, what the hell -- oh, you guys are here! Awesome."

And Kurosaki-san's daemon is now peeking out of the door, sans her human, looking as innocently curious as a black lioness can possibly be. She doesn't pad out, likely not wanting to strain her bond; instead she just... stares at Queen, and blinks myopically, and goes "Oh, hey, I know you. I think? Hi."

"I'm Queen!" Queen yaps, bristled in offense. "Queen and Yamatora!"

"Oh right! Taroyama. Yeah. I remember. Anyway!"

Tora and his daemon are suffocating with spluttery offense. Rin and Jin would be offended too if they thought Kurosaki-san actively meant to be offensive, but the fact of the matter is that she just doesn't seem to care enough to be deliberate.

They're not sure if she meant to utterly ignore Matsuoka-san to start with, but when his daemon starts angling out her wings like she plans to dive and strike, they know it's not gonna matter in the long run.

Kurosaki-san turns her heavy head up to the falcon, nods, expression a little more reserved. "Kishiume-sama's representative, huh? I'm Kurosaki Rikuto. Thanks for coming, we appreciate it."

"Do you," Matsuoka-san says back, jaw clenched. "Greeting us with disrespectful little punks, and then with half of you--"

The way the black jaguar slowly moves to stand between him and the lioness says nothing good. "I'm sure he couldn't help it," Jin says before the hitman can open his mouth and shoot something really impolitic right back.

"Yeah, he's -- ow, fuck." The lioness shakes her head, as if hurt; from inside the shop comes a muffled, "Grimmjow! Can someone come help me hold her down?!"

"Leu?" the lioness asks, and the panther groans.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Kanchana, you and Edrad are in charge. You guys know what we need."

The hitman and his daemon amble back inside without another word. Fuming, Matsuoka-san hisses between his teeth, daemon with her feathers all puffed up.

The redhead with the baboon stands, a faint smirk on his face that could pass for apologetic in the right light. "Alright. Sorry for this. Things have been a bit chaotic this morning. It should go much smoother now that you and your men are here to assist. That the trailer? Can I check it out?"

--

At Edrad's instructions, they've turned the truck and the trailer around to back it against the front door. Matsuoka-san has been gritting his teeth over not being invited inside for the whole ten minutes it took, and Jin and Rin have been standing next to the big, silent one and his warthog in mutual, warily respectful quiet for just as long as the blond brat with the lizard pops in and out of a window to the side of the building to relay informations.

"Who do you think they were holding down?" Tora whispers in his other ear. "The journalist?"

"The journalist was months ago. It'd be over with by now."

Matsuoka-san narrows his eyes, as if he wants to ask for the story but knows better than to do it in a yard where everyone comes and goes. "Or they were giving us a half-assed excuse not to greet us properly. Who the fuck does that kind of business in the same rooms they receive people--"

From the shop comes a sudden, ragged scream; a woman's scream, raw and gut-deep. The three of them tense, Tora's eyes going wide. The big man beside them blinks down at them placidly.

"--Okay, who the fuck does that kind of business somewhere they can be heard from the street?"

Inside they can hear a mad scramble of feet approaching through the shop; the screams die down into gasps even as they get closer and -- bumps and thuds, feet, the trailer swaying under the growing weight of... they can see nothing, the trailer parked so damn close and the big man standing there blocking the hair-thin gap between it and the door. The paper squares of the screen are opaque and the light is stronger outside and Jin can see nothing but shadows.

Rin sees a lot of warm spots moving around, but that doesn't say much more.

"What... What do you think she did?" Queen whispers from Tora's arms, quaking just barely. Rin strikes at her nose, annoyed.

"How many times do I have to tell you, it doesn't matter what she did, or her lover did, it's not your business."

Their only job is to assist with transport. Transport of a screaming woman who needed to be held down, in a trailer with a tank of water more than big enough to submerge someone. Yeah, it's gonna be a right dirty job.

But Urahara-dono asked for that favor, to pay back some favor he did the boss a way back that's been hanging over his head for years. Here they are and that's it.

He hopes being asked to take the fall isn't going to be part of it. Surely the boss would have warned them. Or he would have given Jin and Rin someone else than Tora and Queen. Right now all they can do that isn't drive the truck and beat up people is provide a convenient corpse, and ... No, Jin didn't get that vibe. Which is good because he got kind of used to Tora's dependable stupidity.

--

They get asked to deliver the trailer to a secret address.

The address is a beach. A craggy little thing tucked between two cliffs, pebbles instead of sand with big splashing waves and a quick drop toward the depths. A great place to dump corpses.

Maneuvering the trailer down that beach is a six-person job; the two big henchmen, the blue-haired hitman, Kurosaki-san, and Jin and Tora themselves. It's heavy, and the slope is pronounced.

The water inside keeps splashing out, even though the thing inside seems to be doing its best not to move.

The waves lap at their legs, ankles first and then thighs. It's cold. Not a season for swimming. Kurosaki gets slapped in the face by a wave and huffs. "Ugh. Okay -- okay, a bit more. Harribel-san?"

Then the trailer shifts and bobs, half-carried by the waves, and unlocks from the inside.

The loading ramp flops down, slapping the water. A woman emerges to stand on the threshold.

Jin stops breathing.

He hopes he's being discreet. He hopes she doesn't notice he exists.

"Holy shiiit, babe alert," Tora whispers, and from her perch across his shoulder Queen perks up, scanning her shoulders and around her legs for the daemon. Rin strikes out without a thought, hitting Queen's flank with her snout and stopping herself from sinking in her fangs at the very last second. Does he want to get them all fucking killed?!

Queen yips in betrayed surprise. The woman's eyes glance over them. Jin stands very, very straight and mentally catalogs his weapons; he barely relaxes when she finally looks away.

"That is not someone's girlfriend," he hisses under his breath. Sure she's tanned and blonde like any gyaru from the clubs but if she's more than half Japanese he'll cut off his pinky on the spot. She's... something else.

Back on the shore Matsuoka-san and his daemon are bristled up like they're still working themselves up to snarling something. Time to take one for the team. The big boss had better be thankful.

"Your pardon, ma'am. Do you need any help to unload?"

Whatever it is inside there, that the men didn't let them see carry in. Whatever they're carrying in water (water daemon?) to a disposal area (screaming woman with cement shoes?) that they will no doubt see now unless they leave straight away, and Matsuoka-san won't. He feels too slighted to allow them the discretion.

She looks down at him from above and her eyes are depthless, suffocating.

"If she needs help it sure as fuck won't be yours," the hitman laughs. "Yo, Harribel, you vacationing up here?"

She doesn't answer the hitman's jeer; she looks at him for a second and then back at Jin, and her voice is low, husky. "I will manage. Step back onto the shore. Grimmjow, have Nakeem hold onto the hitch."

The hitman makes a permissive hand gesture and the man with the warthog obeys. Kurosaki-san herds everyone else out of the water in big splashing steps, and they're still ankle deep when the trailer rocks and something massive slips out.

Jin was keeping watch over his shoulder. He still barely has the time to see the long body slip down the ramp -- white belly, dark back, fins --

"Is that a shark?" Matsuoka-san chokes out.

"It's obviously a fucking tortoise," the hitman drawls back with unimpressed mockery. His panther is watching them and Jin doesn't like the cant of her ears one bit.

"He's a Great White, I'm pretty sure," Kurosaki interjects, and elbows the hitman in the ribs. At the other end of the trailer a splash resounds, the woman diving smoothly after her daemon.

They miraculously all shut up for a minute or two as they watch the dorsal fin cut through the waves. The woman doesn't resurface for -- pretty long.

"All good, Harribel-san?"

"Satisfactory," she replies, bobbing with the waves. The fin resurfaces, and a great deal of sleek shark back. "Wait a bit longer for the trailer."

It's bobbing on the waves, the henchman Nakeem still holding onto the chain to keep it from drifting away and sinking. Dragging it back upslope is going to be a chore and a half.

Getting the shark back into the rig--

How did they even get it inside the first time around? Does Urahara-dono have a seawater pool with a winch in the backroom of his shop? It's ridiculous. His shop looks so small. Even if there's a basement it would need a freight elevator--

Not his business, he reminds himself.

"Shouldn't we at least beach it, ma'am?"

The shark surfaces, much closer to the shore than he assumed it could get. The woman shakes her head, expressionless. "It's not safe yet."

--Ah?

Further away -- so far, how long is her tether, isn't that uncomfortable -- a fish jumps out of the waves. A dorsal fin follows. The shark was between her and the shore not a minute ago.

"Not... safe?"

The henchman with the baboon laughs in amused sympathy. "So he doesn't react badly if you scratch yourself on the frame and bleed. He might bite down before he's thought it through."

Queen whimpers. "Oh my god."

"He's been cooped up a while, is all! He'll be more sociable in a minute."

The panther grumbles, batting at the lapping waves. "Yeah well he'd better hurry up, cause I want to swim too."

"Seriously? It's cold as hell! You're a tropical cat!"

"You're a whiner."

"Oh, fuck off--"

"Shut the fuck up," Matsuoka-san snaps without warning. "The fuck kind of job is this? A vacation?"

Kurosaki scowls back, but half-heartedly, more chiding than insulted. The hitman props an elbow on his shoulder and snorts, a derisive half-smile floating on his face. Both cats turn to stare, then the panther rolls her eyes and goes back to aimlessly slapping at the waves. The lioness starts scratching her ear with a back paw.

"We didn't have a trailer big enough," Kurosaki-san says, patient but tired. "And you guys did. Nobody said it was life or death, you don't need to be so tense."

Tora slips Jin a look like he's asking if they need to back him up. Jin shakes his head no. They have twice as many people if this goes bad and Kurosaki-san is still attempting to deescalate; if Matsuoka-san wants a pissing contest it's probably not going to go further than a beatdown, which at this point he is asking for.

"Tense? The fuck do you mean?"

-- Unless the hitman gets involved --

"I mean tense like tense," Kurosaki-san snaps back, finally getting annoyed, "but if you want to hear it like scared that's not my business," but the hitman has already let his elbow slide off his shoulder, is already taking a gliding step forward--

"Grimmjow."

He stops.

Thigh-deep in the waves, the woman is staring, still expressionless.

"What," he growls back, head inclined toward her but still facing Matsuoka-san.

"Don't cause Urahara Kisuke problems."

"You're telling me you think his boss didn't send him here so we fix his attitude problem for him?"

Jin winces inwardly. Matsuoka-san gets shocked stupid, bird rearing back. Apparently he didn't have the first clue that his attitude needed adjusting and the concept is stalling his brain -- or maybe it's the matter-of-fact way they speak that hammers it in, like of course that's true, but it's nothing to get excited over, because he's just that unimportant, just that harmless.

"That doesn't matter. He didn't ask out loud. Let Urahara make the call."

"... Boring." The hitman gives Matsuoka-san a dismissive look and turns away.

Yamatora and Queen are staring, mouths open. "W-wait -- ah, miss -- lady -- are... you his boss?"

She walks up onto the beach, hair dripping. Her wetsuit follows every curve of her body, and they all spell predator. Jin wishes he had muzzled his rookie.

"He's on loan to Kurosaki Ichigo."

... Jin reorganizes his understanding of Urahara-dono's outfit in his head.

Is Grimmjow-san an underboss? Loaned with his whole team? Are they all crazy hitmen like he is? The man with the pig daemon is expressionless like somebody dead and the one with the baboon normal, friendly, and standing between them and the car and Jin didn't notice.

"Thanks," Kurosaki-san says drolly. "How do I give him back?"

"You don't," the hitman leers back. "I gotta be wrapped all special in a... Edrad, what's the word?" he asks leadingly.

"Body bag?"

The man smirks wider, fangy, flicking his fingers at his man. "That's it."

"I can arrange that," Kurosaki-san grouches. "Harribel-san, can I drown him a little? Is it okay now? I don't want to give your daemon indigestion--"

"The fuck he could eat us!" the panther yowls, incensed. "Fucking goldfish--"

Sighing, the woman nods her agreement to the lioness, who sidesweeps her human's legs with her own flank, sending him careening into the hitman, who trips over his own daemon, and they all end up knee deep in the waves, spluttering and hollering insults. The henchman with the baboon laughs.

"Harribel-sama. Anything you need?"

"No. Don't get into the water yet, you'll seem more edible."

"Oh, I had no intention, ma'am."

She comes to a stop before Matsuoka. Her daemon is so far from her, swimming laps at the entry to the cove, barely visible; she stands alone and barely seems to notice.

If he treats her like somebody's woman he is going to die. It looks like he does have some good sense behind the bluster, though, because he grits his teeth and says nothing and nods back when she does.

"Thank you for the ride. I won't be needing your help on the trip back. Edrad and Nakeem will help you get the trailer back and after that you may go."

... What?

"Convey my thanks to your head," she adds with another nod to the three of them, and then she turns right back toward the sea.

"But... How is she going home?" Tora asks plaintively.

Jin can only shrug.

Maybe there's a boat waiting out there. Maybe there's an oxygen bottle and a mask hidden somewhere in the rocks, and they will go out at sea and disappear that way. Maybe that is how she gets around usually and the inland side-trip was unplanned, a trap even; and he doesn't know and will never know, and he sure as hell will not ask.

Unless they fit inside a carry-on aquatic daemons are a disability for everyday life. Where do you live with them as a human; a barge? A cruise ship? Venice?

Where do you live that still lets you become a boss?

And how have they never heard of her?

He is so, so glad it's a question for his oyabun and not for him. He feels like knowing would shorten his lifespan considerably.

[slexenskee]

hi! if you dont mind me asking, what was satoru's relationship with suguru? bcuz, any of the jjk characters are barely mentioned in the book, ive always wondered satoru's relationship with all of them, like is it more canon based or more fanon, like was sugusato ever a thing? or, is hawks the first real relationship gojo's ever had? were nanami and gojo closer? idk, i just have always wondered lol. sorry for any inconveniences.

So I'm going with canon for most relationships bc they're just too hard to guess. JJK spoilers below!

Suguru:

So I tried to stick with canon for Suguru although I do play up the ambiguity in their canon relationship. For example we have that scene in JJK0 where Satoru says something to Suguru but we don't know what it is, but fans sort of assume it's some kind of explicit acknowledgment of their feelings for each other. In my verse idk I imagine he says something like 'you were always the best part of me' or something that's still vague and hints at romantic feelings but could still be intimate and just platonic.

I characterize their relationship as deeply intimate but not ever explicitly romantic. They definitely had romantic tension but it remained unspoken between them as teenagers, and then after the SPV arc Suguru went off the rails and kinda pulled away from Satoru and ultimately they never had the chance to start any kind of romantic relationship.

So they were never in love but they absolutely could have been/should have been, fate just got in the way.

Nanami:

Were they close??? It really doesn't seem like it outside of the OP/ED credits of S2. And in the recent manga chapters I feel like Satoru didn't mourn him much at all (or he could just be so shocked by all the deaths he hasn't managed to acknowledge them) In fact I kind of assumed canon Nanami lowkey hated Satoru, and only begrudgingly considered him a sorcerer worthy of respect after many years of knowing him?

Shouko:

BOY do I have some thoughts on this. In canon they give off the 'old acquaintances that have grown close by virtue of the fact they're the only two left but still aren't actually that close'. Like they obviously have a rapport/history in S1, but we don't see Shouko being particularly friendly to him in canon. She's friendlier than Utahime and Mei Mei for sure, but she doesn't seem like a confidant or a close friend. We don't get much of her in the SPV arc - could go either way that she was closer to him as kids or they were just classmates who spent a lot of time together and became close because they just lived in each other's pockets but otherwise wouldn't have been friends. The OP/ED for S2 would imply they were all good friends, but I don't consider that canon. That's just Mappa twisting the knife 😭

Tbh I hope they were never really close, bc otherwise I'd really dislike her. Suguru just snapped and became a serial killer and turned traitor, and Satoru was sent to assassinate him, and you as someone who was close to both of them just what... roll with it? There's that scene in ch 78 where she sees Suguru in Shinjuku and she's just like "oh hey Suguru, bff I've spent the past 3 years of my life hanging out with, what's up? Yeah I'll have a light. Oh so you really did mass-murder that whole village AND murder your parents? Cool. Yeah I don't feel like dying today so I'm gonna call Gojo to deal with you, peace out" and she just doesn't seem to give much of a fuck about Suguru or Satoru. In a way I think would be impossible if she genuinely cared about them. Or idk, maybe everyone in JJK was fucked up.

Megumi:

This is another canon relationship that makes me go ??? It's not specified whether Gojo actually takes Megumi in or just has legal guardianship of him and leaves him to his own devices. It seems more the latter, bc in all the Tsumiki flashbacks, Gojo is never there or even ever really mentioned.

And as of current manga he doesn't seem particularly torn up about Megumi's situation, and seems (although he could be bluffing) totally accepting of the fact he might have to kill Megumi to stop Sukuna. If you raised a kid with love and care for years - the way I see him doing with Eri - I cannot fathom how you'd compartmentalize like that.

idk these are just my personal headcanons for this fic. I've seen fanon versions of all these relationships that are really fleshed out and impressive and go either way sooo 🤷‍♀️

[swifty-fox]

talk to you about the outlaw au, you say? alright! what's bucky's relationship with his siblings like? how often does he go home? does his mother know what he's up to? do you think bucky would ever want to find a forever home with buck somewhere? who initiated their physical relationship? what was their first kiss like? any plans for other works in the same verse?

KISSES U MWAH

what's bucky's relationship with his siblings like

Bucky is very close with his siblings! Or as close as he can be. He left home when he was about fifteen/sixteen (slightly retconning when his dad dies from like 10 to when he was 14) For a while he stuck around Manitowoc but eventually ended up on the road when things got a little too hot. I'm not sure of the ages or much about them (mostly cause Buck doesn't meet them so didn't think about it lol) but he talks to them on the phone and brings them presents when he can.

how often does he go home

It can vary. Sometimes it's a couple times a year sometimes it's once a year, sometimes its none. It depends where he's ended up (especially in the winter months) and what odd jobs he's working on top of his more illegal stuff. He really tries to get home for his Ma's birthday, he really, really tries to call on the anniversary of his dad's death.

does his mother know what he's up to

As he said, after his father passed his mom really struggled with supporting five children, especially one as a handful as John Egan dealing with the trauma and grief of finding his father dead. She tried her best and she never made him feel unwanted but he could see her struggle. He started out stealing for her and that escalated to things like armed robbery. Is she aware of what he's doing? In a vague sense. She knows he's not exactly coming by the money through honest means but she doesn't know that he's got a gun and is actively robbing people for it (even if he's doing with with his own questionable rules of morality) She knows the less she knows the better for all of them. If something (when) ever happens she can honestly testify that no, she has no idea where the money came from.

do you think bucky would ever want to find a forever home with buck somewhere

they often spend winters in one spot, working odd jobs and renting crappy apartments to get out of the cold. Even in places like New Mexico and Texas can get chilly in the winter at night! So they do put roots down for 4-6 months at a time out of the year. I think eventually they may set up a home base, someplace they return to year after year to spend winters. But they're always going to have the itch so I think they still will spend a lot of the summer months traveling the country. maybe with less illegal stuff happening though. Neither of them are interested in a life sentence

who initiated their physical relationship? what was their first kiss like

I think it was pretty mutual. They're attracted to each other off the bat, really and it doesn't take long for them to act on it. I think one night they're eating dinner posted up in the Corolla outside some diner. And John's got salt on his lips and chin from fries and Gale's looking at it and then Gale's looking at his lip and then John's looking at him looking at his lips.

He reaches brushes the crumbs off his pants, gives one ample thigh a little pat, "Come here."

And Gale slides over the center console and settles in his lap, brushes the salt off his bottom lip and John reaches up to slip Gale's braid through his hand. Has played with it and tugged on it playfully before but never just played with it like this. And then Gale bends down to kiss him soft and slow and sweet.

I don't think they have sex that first time, just make out until they get too tired to go on. And then Bucky gives Gale a handjob the next morning while driving

any plans for other works in the same verse?

Yes!!! I've got one more prompt oneshot to write which I will be posting all three as Interludes on ao3 and then I have plans to write the next two years of their life!

[wisemins]

hey miya! hope I'm not sending too many asks lol

I've been sitting with your ask about my spidersonas (cursed with too many thoughtsbut no words to write them😞) so I was wondering if you have a spidersona?

I think you mentioned f/oing hobie (if not then uh ignore this part lol🧍🏽) so you could also talk about their dynamic!

@i-put-the-s4p-in-s4pphic

TYSM FOR THE ASKK!! I love LOVE this question. I have yet to talk about my spidersona! Let's get into this because there is ANGST and LOVEEEE and all sorts of drama!! and yes i did mention f/oing hobie at some point...and i am very much teetering back and forth mostly bcus i swoon and i think he's so cool

ANYWAYYSSSOIJFSOIDFJ prepare for this to be very long-winded!!

So, when it comes to anything Marvel for me, there is one always true and positive thing ALWAYS in every canon of mine. I belong to the mystic arts, that is my gig forever and always. That is my home and my one true place in any Marvel universe ever! So no matter who I'm with or what the story is, I am always a mystic arts user!

So with that explained, here's some more background needed. I am in love with Doctor Strange, he's my everything and I love and adore him!! My first exposure to Marvel and why I'm so attached at the hip to the mystic arts. It is canonical to us that we have only one universe among the entire multiverse where we can be together. He is doomed to either lose me, perish, or for me to end up with someone else in every single other universe (staring at my other marvel f/os...). We both do love each other in every single universe, but it never ends up working due to his damnation in that regard.

So that's where my story begins in the spider-verse. It was a universe in which I ended up with Strange, married him, and then at some point got bit by some weird, radioactive spider. He's pretty genius, so he helped me in studies trying to figure out these new abilities. We're the sorcerer supreme(s) of this universe, so we have capabilities that are much stronger. We can see into other realities, and we discover that this is one true common occurrence among universes. But there was a sense of dread, it felt like some sort of dark premonition had been realized somehow. But we didn't understand it at the time. I'm not academically inclined or adept, so Strange did most of the intense scientific research. I began to master my new set of skills that paired very well with my magic use, and I became very adept at handling mystical threats with even more ease, and even began to take up more street level ones with this newfound responsibility. I got a new outfit to remain anonymous with the spider duties, and Strange even let me adorn his trademark cloak for those extra duties.

All the while, Strange discovered a horrible pattern among those who are apart of trend of being bit by these radioactive spiders. He searched every single possible outcome of this universe, and he found that in each and every one, it had a horrible end for him. He even tried to warn me without directly pertaining to the pattern, and simply tried to get me out of this universe and into another, but I wasn't understanding him. I didn't want to leave him alone, and he was being vague and ended up scaring me more than anything. But eventually he tried to find another way to disrupt the set outcomes, to try and find a new way to for us to go that wouldn't doom either one of us to be alone.

Needless to say, it didn't work. He dabbled in things he wasn't supposed to, added in factors that he shouldn't have. It spawned horrible things, horrible people, and he ended up dying trying to save me from a fate he couldn't escape from. And all I had left was his cloak, and the new knowledge that I was doomed from the moment I was bit by that spider. Although, at that time, I wasn't aware of Strange's "curse", so I was doomed either way. It was and forever would be a canon event.

This led me down a dark path, like most other spider-people. But with my magical capabilities, it lead me into delusion believing that I could somehow find a way to save him, to bring him back, turn back time, absolutely anything.

Not even the time stone could stop it, not even getting my hands on every single infinity stone could it have stopped it, and even still I tried that. I ended up tearing apart my universe in those attempts, and eventually I was plucked from my universe and into spider-society.

I had almost torn myself apart with that last attempt, and all of the stones were left in my shattered universe. I was confused and aggressive when I was first rescued, but eventually calmed down enough to take in my surroundings and actually see who these people were. It was Miguel, just him. And of course LYLA! I didn't know who he was at the time, but through peeking into so many possible outcomes and into other universes, I had at the very least seen him. So there I finally was, in Nueva York, within the Spider-HQ.

Miguel introduced himself, told me where I was, and asked me to explain what had happened. When I did, he shared a similar despairing look. As if he understood what I felt, which I had a feeling in the moment that he did. Although he explained that what I had done had been entirely detrimental to my universe, and it was now subject to an incursion, meaning the two universes I had attempted to merge and travel back and forth to in a feeble attempt had decimated both. I was devastated that I couldn't reverse my actions, but quickly accepted my own self defeat.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Miguel helped me implement myself into the society, to adapt to this new way of life and even had me go on my first mission as a displaced spider-person. My title as sorcerer supreme was definitely long gone, and the other spider-people at some point deemed me spider-strange, or the lesser said strange-spider, it was mostly up to whoever. They mostly saw the cloak of my late husband, and took my last name as an indicator that I was my universe's Doctor Strange, only...a feminine one. I never bothered to correct them, as it was too painful to get into all of what I had done. Very few people within the society actually know that I was his wife, and they respect me in not telling others.

Then comes more and more work, meeting all these new spider-people, and eventually I run into Hobie and Gwen. I do a few missions with them, and they're very curious on my magic use and how it affects my being spider-strange. That's when I spend some more time with them, and open up a lot more. Miguel didn't like having me work with too many people on one mission due to my sheer power in comparison to the rest of the spider-society, but he saw that I really enjoyed the company of others and allowed it so long as I didn't go around causing anymore anomalies.

It was then that I started crushing on Hobie, we had a lot of common interests and beliefs, one thing being: we're both punks and artists! In my universe I had used my super-heroism for primarily activism when I wasn't out physically taking care of mystical threats or street-level ones. This is the case for any version of myself in marvel, upon being widely recognized among the public as a figure, it's all public activism alongside my work as sorcerer supreme.

Hobie was the first person I had met who I was able to finally unmask and let go around. It was the first time I had felt like myself ever since before Strange had died, even since before I got bit by that spider. I was laughing again, and I was starting to feel happy. And of course, getting to know him was a blast! Whenever he invited me over to his universe, I got to see him perform and just kind of let loose, really just learn how to exist again without dread.

Our dynamic usually consists a lot of humor, punk references, cop bashing, y'know the usual! We listen to music a lot together, teach each other things from our universes, he invites me in on his song-writing process and any ideas he's working on. We also like to visit different universes to go thrifting! DIY till we die!! Anyway- this is also when I open up a lot more, start talking about myself and my past. He always did wonder why I was close with Miguel and defended him vehemently, it wasn't in some authoritarian way, it was understanding. I had literal proof that avoiding canon events were fatal to people and universes, it wasn't just a pattern that could be broken, it was sealed fate. I had lost everything trying to break that pattern. But more importantly, I lost myself to that in seeing my husband die.

This offered Hobie a new perspective as well, but come way later during the whole Miles debacle? Well, it was hard to stick to my guns with Miguel. At that point, my feelings for Hobie were stronger than ever, but I understood both sides of the matter.

Miles was a kid who was scared of losing his dad, Miguel and I knew that he couldn't be saved no matter what. As much as I wanted to help Miles, I literally couldn't bear to witness another collapse of a universe at the hands of someone who had as much hope as I did. This was when I was also deemed "The Bad Guy" for being on Miguel's side, after everything. It broke my heart but, I couldn't stand to let a kid ruin his entire life and universe for something that couldn't be stopped.

So then the lore is at a stand-still for now! I definitely need to see where the story goes in canon, but right now as it stands my current spider-sona is just really upsetting overall! A sense of dread and doom, y'dig? I loved working on this lore though, I love me some tragedy! I do be crushin' on Hobie pretty hard though...so I suppose we'll see where that goes! I mostly think I need convincing that he'd actually still like me even though I'm Miguel Defense Squad™

TYSM FOR THE ASKK <33333 sorry this got SO long. I've been working on this for a little bit since you asked!!

[starcchild]

If Carter had Pietro's baby before CACW how would she feel about Tony? How would she hide the fact the baby is Pietro's from Ross?

@fasterthanmydemons

((okay, so because you bring up Tony I'm just gonna go on a tangent real quick about how she feels about her father during cacw in general, and then I'll get to your questions!

Carter is very adamantly against the Accords regardless of verse. She gets the concept but doesn't agree with it whatsoever because they're... a mess. Politics don't work like that - you don't get 100+ countries onboard of something like the Accords in a year or two window without something incredibly fishy going on. It doesn't matter what the issue is, politics are fucked in every country, and everyone is going to have their own agenda. To come to such an agreement with seemingly little issue, and without pride and egos getting in the way, is uh... yeah, that's not gonna happen. Not on that scale. Carter knows this, and political science is a subject she sucks with. She also knows the UN is fucked, so the whole thing screams of a massive trap. Plus, she despises Ross, trusts him about as far as she can throw him, and knows he hates enhanceds. In her mind, the Avengers are going to be used as a scapegoat for the UN's actions or inactions, and is terrified of what would happen to them if they step out of line, since the Accords are incredibly vague when it comes down to that.

now, with Tony, she understands why he's for them. She sees how much guilt he carries. She sees how much he's hurting from his own actions/inactions, and she hates it. She wants to help him, but you can't help someone who refuses to get help. So she can understand why he wants to sign the Accords, but... it also hurts her, because he should know what she knows. He's gotten his hands dirty with politics when they tried to take his suit from him. The nature of his job (and Rhodey's) would've made them aware of the UN's shit. So she understands the emotional reasoning for his backing, but not the logical reasoning, and it frustrates her to no end. Even ignoring her relationship with Pietro or any other Avenger for that matter - she does not understand why he would be willing to sign the Accords outside his own guilt. They're a disaster waiting to happen, and the fact that Ross had the Avengers sign them only to give them a changed version right after and then act on that when we don't even see those that signed sign the new ones, and the new Accords immediately acting as a contract they apparently all agreed with is fucked. Her father worked in an industry that was contract heavy. He would know you can't just go changing contracts left and right without expecting backlash or a window for the other party to go over it and sign. And, yeah, frankly she's gonna be pissed as well as frustrated with him, but... she still loves her father. She doesn't want to hurt him, but she's gonna call him out on it, but would try to do so privately to avoid embarrassing him or getting the other Avengers involved and making things worse. It's not something that's gonna make her leave and drop contact with him, and even if it was, I honestly don't think she could. She's got codependency issues, she's got abandonment issues, and she doesn't want to hurt her dad. She doesn't want to leave him too. So, it's gonna hurt, she's gonna be pissed, but she doesn't want to lose him either. Frankly, the whole thing sucks, everyone knows it does, and I can 100% see her digging up dirt on Ross and turning it to Jameson to rip him apart like she does in the ikau - just minus the blackmailing bit, because she doesn't want to get her father in trouble with her. But, that lil bit is gonna be an optional thing with the rewrite - I tend to ignore cacw anyway, so I'll just toss it in as an option because why not

with all that out of the way, how would she feel about her father if she now had her and Pietro's baby to worry about? Well... she's still gonna be pissed lol, but I think she'd also be scared. If Tony is still all for the Accords, she's gonna try to talk to him about what could affect her baby, his grandchild, but she is gonna be careful to not do it in a way that would seem like she's weaponizing her baby against him, if that makes sense. Like... hmm, she's not gonna be like "so if my baby develops powers and the UN does something to them it's going to be your fault", basically. She'd bring up the kid in hopes of getting her father to open his eyes, and she would do something similar with herself in the pyro au, since in that au, she would absolutely be affected by the Accords because of her powers, even despite hiding them/not being an Avenger. I digress, her father's behavior would scare her because she doesn't know how the Accords will affect her baby if they develop powers, but also she's scared because she's now terrified she may lose Pietro. So, now is she not only worried about how the Accords would come back and bite her father, but she's now also worried about how it'll affect the other Avengers, the man she loves unconditionally, and, very easily, her baby. It's incredibly stressful, and her feeling of losing control/everything crumbling is gonna be 10x worse. But, even still, she's not going to leave and drop contact with her father. She's also not going to refuse to let him see his grandchild, but... she would have to be careful with it. I... honestly don't know if she'd lose trust in her father during this time, so it wouldn't be her limiting him from seeing her baby because of a lack of trust, but because she doesn't trust Ross, and needs to be careful. The last thing she wants is for Ross to figure out Pietro is the father, because that would put her baby in the firing line, so to speak. And probably her, despite not having powers, just because of her involvement, but let's be honest, she's not gonna care a whole lot about that. I mean, Carter would probably feel hurt that Tony is gonna be for the accords, more so in this case, but again, she's not gonna drop contact.

onto Ross, it's gonna depend. If she and Pietro move out of the compound and live in their own place, her concern is going to be making sure Ross doesn't find out that Pietro no longer lives there and that they live together. Because if he finds out they live together, it's not hard for anyone to put two and two together, no matter what kind of story Carter comes up with (ex: the baby was the result of a previous relationship she had that ended, and she just started dating Pietro). But, if she and Pietro are still living at the compound, Carter's going to move out with their baby. She'd probably move in with one of her friends first until she can sign a lease for an apartment (since money won't be an issue - it'd just be her finding a place and getting approved), but she'd move out to put physical distance between her and Pietro to a) hide their relationship, and b) keep distance from Ross. If she and her baby are out of sight, Ross might not think twice about her because she's not involved with the Avengers. I mean, that is absolutely going to suck for her. She doesn't want to be separated from Pietro and doesn't want to keep him from their baby, but she needs to do what she can to protect their baby. And, yes, she 100% would talk to Pietro about it first - she would not move out without talking to him about it because she doesn't want to hurt him, and doesn't want to make the situation worse. Also, her moving out doesn't mean he won't be able to still see his child - she'd still go to the compound with their baby when Ross isn't visiting, and Pietro can go over whenever he wants as long as he can get away. Again, it's her trying to stay under the radar by being out of sight and out of mind, not her going no contact with everyone and dropping off the radar.

but, of course, even if she's successful in hiding that Pietro is the father, Carter's going to understand real quick that she's going to need to be incredibly careful from there on out to keep it a secret, and especially if the baby does develop powers. Which, if that happens, is going to make the situation even more complicated, but... that might be something she'd tackle if it comes to it - she'd probably do her best to figure out a plan (preferably with Pietro) before it comes down to it as a precaution, but I think she'd feel she would need to work out details if their baby does develop powers so she can get the specifics and understand how to go about it when she knows what she's dealing with specifically. Though... oof, while I did say I don't see her trust in Tony being shaken, I... don't think she would tell him if her baby did develop powers. Now, not because of her having trust issues after all, but more because... she doesn't want to get him involved if it all blows up in her face. She'd rather face the consequences of hiding it all from Ross herself than drag her father into her mess, especially when he's on Ross's side with very little respect from Ross to begin with, since it's quite obvious in the movie Tony has little to no respect for Ross to begin with.

at the end of the day, Carter's priority is going to be her child. She knows this. She loves her father and Pietro dearly, but her baby needs her. She needs to do whatever it takes to protect them, and she's going to put them first while doing whatever she can to stay out of trouble so she doesn't lose them.

[btsmosphere]

Crossing Paths - drabble from the Crossfire universe

request from @excusemyuwus -

I remember Tae said he had a crush on her while working on that project so now I kinda want to see his pov of that time and how he was holding being around his crush lol, not gonna lie gangster Tae all nervous bc he like someone is something want to see (also imagine how much the guys would tease him uwu)

tumblr ate your ask when I tried to answer it, sorry! this is the only part I had copied, but if it ever resurfaces, I shall answer there. for now it is still refusing to cooperate so I am posting like this! (update: the ask just returned, it is here)

~pairing: taehyung x reader ~word count: 1.4k ~pre-relationship, fluff, angst, slice of life, mafia au, college au ~rating: g ~warnings: vague mention of gang activity, this is a gang au after all, but it’s not particularly prominent

~a/n: thank you for your great request! this was so nice to come back to, I am so sentimental about this series as my first bts fic🥰takes me back to when I was just getting into bts… it felt hard to do it justice! because of this, sorry it took me a while to write, but I wanted to do it well, and again I kept the theme of making my ‘drabbles’ wayyy longer😅final big thanks to the site being frustrating and eating drafts and such🙃🙃but here it is, finally seeing the light of day! I hope you enjoy it x

“I can tell something’s on your mind, Tae.”

Jimin stared coolly at his friend. Looking over his shoulder guiltily as he unlocked the door, Tae found the other boy with his hands in his pockets, looking expectant.

All Tae could do was shrug as he elbowed the door open, heading to ditch his bag.

“Hey, Jimin’s right.”

A light flick on Tae’s forehead made him startle, looking up to find Hobi grinning, though his head was tilted to one side in question.

“What is it?”

Jimin’s shoulder nudged his own as they sunk into the sofa.

Tae checked his phone.

“It’s just a project for class, don’t worry about it,” he pocketed his phone, ignoring their gazes, “I gotta meet with my partner in an hour.”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t staying that long anyway,” Hobi slumped down too, having helped himself to a drink from the fridge, “I’m on watch with Yoongi across town.”

As the discussion turned to this week’s jobs and deals, Taehyung rested his head back against the sofa. The sounds of his friends’ conversation was like static. Instead, he was picturing the scene in class earlier, as the slideshow was flipped to show the project partners on the screen.

Tae hadn’t been too fussed, idly playing with his pen lid as he searched for his name. But when his eyes fell on it, he sat up straight.

Having only bumped into you a few times in class, he had never expected his heart to be hammering quite so hard as he quickly scanned the room for you. Sliding his things away, he had walked towards you as everyone began to file out, meeting you halfway as you did the same.

Leaning against a desk to keep his jittery hands occupied, he grinned at you.

Your returning smile, he noticed, was much more nervous, only flickering into existence for a wavering second. The two of you had only a brief conversation to sort out when you would meet, before you had practically scurried away.

His eyes had lingered on you as his smile slowly sank.

Unconsciously poking his tongue against his cheek, Tae wondered if you were afraid of him.

“Hey!”

A finger clicked sharply in front of his face. He blinked back at Hobi’s grin, Jimin bursting into laughter at his side.

“Just a project, my ass,” Hobi shook his head, dumping an empty bottle on the coffee table, “don’t wanna be late, do you?”

A radiant smile was tossed over his shoulder as Hobi left the room, front door clicking soon after.

Sending his best friend a knowing look, Jimin also gathered himself to stand.

“Have fun tonight, yeah?”

He winked. Tae protested, shooting up from the sofa with an affronted look.

“So it is a special someone?” Jimin giggled.

“You’re impossible,” Tae grumbled, trailing after him to the door, “it’s just a project, I told you.”

Jimin hummed in a way which made it very clear he didn’t believe him.

“Don’t scare them off, tiger,” he remarked, stepping outside.

Tae’s shoulders slumped. He was certain that was just what he had already done.

“I’m busy tonight. And my house isn’t free, so I can’t have anyone showing up here.”

Namjoon chuckled across the line.

“All this for a college project?” Clearly he had heard about this from the others. “If you could lend Kook some of your commitment to school, that would be great,” he teased.

Sighing, Tae spun around to survey the road outside his window, ruffling his own hair.

“You’re very funny, but I need to go. See you tomorrow.”

Tae was certain he would never hear the end of this from the others. It was true that he had firmly set aside time for your meeting today, even if it was only for a minor college presentation. But it was important to him.

He knew that this was the only time he would get together with you, and though it would end as soon as the presentation was given, he couldn’t help but want to make the most of it. At your last meeting, he had been largely distracted by the dizzying height of your apartment, leaving him shying back from any windows.

So this left you with his house today instead.

Arriving soon after Tae’s phone call, you were both soon seated on his floor. Though you mostly worked in quiet with occasional, quick conversation, it was not awkward. Your legs lay close together under the coffee table as you scribbled away diligently on its surface.

Glancing over the lid of his laptop as his fingers hung idly, Tae sighed. Watching as your pen swirled across your notebook, he let his eyes drift across your focussed features.

He swallowed as he did so, teeth tugging his lip. A light frown came over your features. He couldn’t take his eyes away from your lips as your pen lifted to your mouth, resting between your teeth as you mulled the work over, eyes flitting about the page.

Eventually, the lack of tapping at his keyboard must have got through to you. You raised your head.

Too late to divert his gaze, Taehyung cleared his throat and muttered a proposal for a break. Eager as well to put your work aside, you clambered from the floor to join him at his offer of a drink.

Moving through to the kitchen, he made casual conversation, asking after your dad. Last time there had only been a brief meeting, as he met Tae at the door before you hurried him away.

Picking up on his offer to chat, you teased Tae for his fear of heights, giggling over how he had screwed his eyes shut whenever he had come within sight of the view from your windows.

Of course, Tae tried his best to roll his eyes at you, but the smile dragging the corners of his mouth refused to be suppressed.

He poured your drinks. When he turned away to put the cartons back in the fridge, he took a breath, trying to settle himself. Why did he feel so flustered?

Squaring his shoulders a little more, he turned back, only for his hand to catch one of the glasses. It clattered against the surface, barely leaving time for him to jump back and avoid being splattered with its contents.

You hopped from your seat, ready to help.

Swallowing down his shock, Tae scratched at the back of his neck to hide his slightly trembling hand.

“Don’t worry,” he quickly muttered, flashing a nervous smile as he gathered towels and set to cleaning up.

Soft laughter followed from you. Still, you reached across to help.

Righting the glass and taking one of the cloths to clear up, your hand came concerningly close to Tae’s own. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the countertop, his cheeks warm even as you finished and he was rooting in the fridge again for a refill.

You seemed miraculously unfazed by his flailing, though, he noticed as you finally settled beside each other sipping your drinks.

“So it went well?”

Jimin nudged a reluctant Tae, eyebrows wiggling all the time.

“Yes, fine,” Tae groaned, trying to shrug him off.

Jimin did stop, but only in favour of staring at his friend with doleful eyes.

“Don’t be like that. You’ll see her again. You literally share a class!”

“It’s nothing like that,” Tae refuted.

He even halfway believed it.

You had got on well together, but surely not more than could be expected of most classmates? He sighed a little as he thought of it. It had been fun, but there was no excuse to spend any more time with you.

Besides, sparing one night to work on a project was a little different to becoming friends, or even more…

There was a reason the bangtan boys stuck to themselves.

But as he reminisced, he knew he had a soft spot for you, even if it should come to nothing. The project was over, the presentation given, but he still remembered the way you bounced with excited relief after you had finished talking to the class. Your face was glowing as you high-fived him with a grin, the work having paid off.

There was still a hint of nervousness though, and you had only given a timid smile and a small ‘see you later’ before heading out of class.

And that was the end of it.

But Tae smiled to himself. It had been fun, and he knew he wouldn’t be sorry if you ever crossed paths again.

Thank you for reading! Reblogs and comments super appreciated always!!

Taglist: @aianloveseven​ @preciouschimine​ @un2-verse​ @ddaechwita​ @taegularities​ 

[senseandaccountability]

Hey, did you get a chance to watch season 6 of Lucifer? What did you think of the finale?

This is going to be salty (sorry) so I put it under a cut for people who prefer joyous things in the feed.

I didn’t like the final season.

To be brief: It felt like a story where the writers knew how they wanted it to end, and therefore the plot ruled over the characters. It wasn't a main plot I enjoyed at all, and it was told in a way that made it difficult for me to appreciate even the small bits I liked. (Ella reveal. Ghost Dan.) I thought it suffered from a jarring tonal shift and when it comes to several overarching themes, I felt it negated/trivialized previous seasons. In many ways it also managed to be both cheesy and cruel, often at the same time. I had the impression it was a compilation of (unfortunately rather boring) fandom wishes and tropes more than authentic storytelling.

To be anything but brief:

I dislike the season in part because it undid a lot of great things about Lucifer as a character.

By the end of 5B Lucifer had come full circle. I think that season finale is great. The Lucifer vs Michael fight was so well done thematically - he fought himself, and unlike the first fight in 5A when he wants to hurt his twin he had now reached a state of personal growth, of compassion. Not even when Michael kills Chloe does he deserve death because everyone deserves a second chance. And then the funny and pitch perfect “Oh, my me”. Ambiguous enough about the details to fuel the fandom, clear enough about the themes and the lore to offer closure. (No, Deckerstar didn’t have a date or much of a snog but I can fill in the blanks there though I am aware that many fans were disappointed by the lack of on-screen love.)

Excellent way to end the show.

Except they didn’t. S6, I feel, tried to tell the same story all over again, only not as well or even coherent.

Over the seasons it’s been pretty clear that while Lucifer can be caring, he mostly cares about the handful of people in his life. S6 even touches upon this, has him trying to care for random people in their hell loops. But S5 already did this, but better, with Michael. The family dinner with God was excellent, it showed broken people all around and had Lucifer, the self-centered drama queen of the family realizing that he’s not the only one that’s been hurt. It showed the best and worst of them all. Sparing Michael, considering Michael worthy of redemption, was peak growth for Lucifer as a character because in that moment he also considers himself worthy of the same thing. That’s when he truly forgives himself. I thought. And then season 6 shows Michael as a prisoner in Hell, just once, never to be mentioned again. Is that a second chance? Is that redemption? Is that really the symbolism they were going for or just a spiteful and stupid little addition because LOL SOME PEOPLE DESERVE HELL. (Do they? Says who? The show doesn’t answer that because the show that focuses on the neutral character the Devil and the totally untarnished place Hell doesn’t much care about such divisive matters, but more about that soon.) I dislike the season, in parts because I wasn't satisfied with the moral/quasi-theological backdrop. The system is wrong, Lucifer concluded by the end of 5B. Season 6 has him return to the system, as an Afterlife Coach of the Damned. Is that really the best they could do?

I mourn all the cool possibilities of what Lucifer, the advocate for free will and defender of desire, could have done with hell as a concept. Blown it apart, closed it, tossed the keys to someone else and rode off in the sunset. At the very least he could have altered it so that it’s no longer solitary confinement but a collective of doomed souls trying together to achieve redemption but hey, never mind me, I’m a bleeding-heart socialist and I don’t believe in revenge and I don’t believe in God but if I did, God would forgive. Otherwise, what the hell is the point?

I parsed through the season with my husband, a real-life minister who doesn't think anyone deserves hell and who gets to suffer my long-ass questions about the theological themes of popular culture a little bit too often. Because we both felt slightly insulted after watching. "Is this bullshit what they offer me?" my husband asked me as the timey wimey time travel plot unfolded. But timey wimey bullshit aside, we concluded that the real reason we were both so annoyed and frustrated with the season is because it highlighted how flat the background lore really is. I mean, I guess they wanted to be yay, neutral and non-divisive themes galore! It’s good to be good, folks! If you’re not, well, I guess you might have your spine broken by the Devil or sent to a never-ending hell loop but let’s not talk about religion! The main issue, for me, with the whole system of heaven and hell and earth on the show is that for every equation, there’s a part missing. The show has borrowed the character from the comics verse but left the entire lore and its internal logic behind. It borrows a bit of moral philosophy, but cuts away the troublesome bits otherwise Lucifer can’t both be on a redemptive path and happily slaughter people in fits of vengeance; it uses Heaven and Hell and vaguely also the concept of sin but never answers any questions about it, apart from the central message of course: it’s up to you. In fact, the show discourages questions about the lore because it has no answers. It doesn’t care. The ending of the show brushes off the much needed systematic changes of heaven and hell like it’s just another joke. (Want to know a show that has compassionate writing about morality while managing to be very funny? The Good Place. And you know what, morality should be serious. I’m a softie and again, a bleeding-heart, but it’s important to be a good person and it’s important to get a chance for redemption. It matters. It’s not just a minor detail.)

Which brings me to the damn therapy theme. I know a lot of people like it and I have also liked it a lot in previous seasons. I have. It’s been quirky. (Also highly unprofessional, but hey.) But as the key to your afterlife/redemption/second chance it’s just not good enough.

It is so very, very individualistic that it makes my skin crawl. It’s the ultimate American solution to systemic injustices and suffering - hey, it’s up to you, man. You decide if you deserve hell. You decide if you deserve Heaven. You make the difference! You can do it! Live the afterlife dream, achieve all your goals, get a hell loop that no longer loops but… stays in one static place where at least you’re moderately happy. Navel-gazing into your soul is certainly one way to get some insights into your mistakes. But it’s not redemption. Redemption is an active choice to be a better person. You don’t have to earn redemption or deserve it. And redemption isn’t the same as forgiveness either. Redemption is the opposite to pointless, everlasting punishment. It’s hopeful and it’s ugly and it’s full of purpose and the chance to be better and add something good to the world. Even Lucifer doesn’t get to do that on the show. He deals only with the already doomed. The here and now on Earth fades into the distance as Deckerstar, too, gets their happily ever after in Hell. You’ll get pie in the sky when you die. Or you get to shag on a throne in Hell. Either way, life on Earth doesn’t matter. (Here the show lean into some really dodgy Christian themes, I’d argue, but hey, it’s not about religion! It’s just a fun romp about a reformed bad boy!)

“Hell is just revenge porn for fundamentalists and other people who believe in eye for an eye. I just want there to be a level of collective forgiveness and hope, you know?” I told my husband whilst chugging down beer. As you do when you watch crap that makes no sense. “A level of hey, I’ve got this, I forgive you, you can do better. Go and do better. And then the actual opportunity to do so, even if it's just reliving your life as a ghost again and again until you figure out what went wrong.” “Honey,” my husband said. “I hate to tell you this since you’re an atheist but that level you’re talking about? That’s Jesus.” Well, screw that.

I really don’t want to need Jesus to make sense of a story. I just want decent bloody storytelling.

[samwontshare]

Okay so I rewatched parts of Endgame to write a Sambucky fic. I haven’t seen this movie since the theaters and then S8 ep 3 Game of Thrones destroyed my life.

-The fact that The Snap took Hawkeye’s entire family way outsides the odds proves how much the universe just hates Hawkeye.

-I forgot how much I fucking love Nebula. I want more Nebula and Rhodey. Bucky and Nebula would get on, too. Disabled superheroes club unite.

-I did like the beginning of Endgame. Everyone was just so wrecked and they played it so well. Thanos living his best life in his cottage. That was great.

-I still genuinely do not understand why Steve looks at Peggy’s picture when he’s talking about bringing everyone back from the Snap because he ‘doesn’t know what he’ll do otherwise.’ Like does she represent everyone he’s lost, like Sam and Bucky, his closest connections that are actually dead from the Snap? It doesn’t make sense.

-Is that Steve running a support group because he asked himself, “What would Sam do?”

-This was actually the best scene dealing w the fallout of the Snap. The MCU was definitely not ready to address the full scope of what The Blip means and you see that lack of follow through in every movie/series post Endgame.

-Steve Rogers: “You gotta move on.” UNLESS

-“...Thanos should’ve killed all of us.” I think this is the reason Steve goes back in time, honestly. The Snap just broke him. Without Sam and Bucky, with the enormity of this failure, Steve just lost his ability to cope. Steve has always needed someone to save him from himself but they’re gone. Even though they get most people back, they still lost Tony and Nat and 5 years. Steve can’t win. And Steve Rogers cannot cope with losing. So he rewrites a history where he wins. I don’t even think it’s about not being able to get over Peggy (though they did try to shoehorn that in hard), it was about Steve needing to be in control of his life again.

-It’s one of those situations where I can understand the character’s individual choice, but from a storytelling and narrative perspective, it doesn’t make sense with the story they were telling in the Captain America movies and it’s deeply unsatisfying and confusing. It leaves so many questions and potential consequences. I wasn’t even in this fandom at the time and had zero opinions on any ships, and I was like “this makes no sense.” It still doesn’t. But you know what good for Steggy shippers, ya’ll really won. Stucky fandom, as someone who had to watch Game of Thrones S8 wreck my fandom life, I feel you. My deepest sympathies.

Anyway I skipped to the end after the support group scene. Dammit here we go:

Had to watch the final battle. Cause I had to hear Sam say on your left.

I still lowkey ship Tony/Strange

What you don’t see in the finale battle is where Sam and Bucky keep saving each other. That happened.

The backflips they had to go through to explain why Carol Danvers doesn’t end this movie in 5 minutes. Lol

Tony Stark takes no prisoners. RIP coerced alien soldiers. I have a hard time believing they couldn’t have saved Tony between a portal to Wakanda and magic but fine heroic moving death it is.

Sam didn’t have to go that hard and put a hand on Bucky’s shoulder. But he did.

Okay the finale scene with Sam, Steve and Bucky. The whole reason I watched this lol. So it looks like they’re at the wreck of the Avengers compound. It’s unclear how much time passes between final battle, funeral, old man Steve and the stones. I still theorize Sam and Bucky get arrested after this because they’re fugitives and need to be pardoned.

It’s clear Steve told Bucky and fans were right about this for ages, but why not tell Sam??????? Like seriously wtf??? Couldn’t have said HEY Sam any interest in becoming the new Captain America??? 😂

That last look Steve shares with Bucky; right in my fucking heart.

So when Steve leaves he has no shield because it was destroyed by Thanos. When Steve comes back, he brings a shield to Sam. This seems to confirm the separate branch theory. The shield Sam has comes from a different timeline. Which means Steve came from a different timeline, maybe using the same tech. So it’s possible he rescued Bucky from HYDRA and he, Peggy and Bucky lived a great polyamorous life in that verse. Aw.

But that begs the question of how Steve got the shield in a different timeline. Like WHAT. Did he go find it in the Arctic? Did he convince Wakanda to make another one somehow? Like wtf? Again this ending makes no sense.

Poor Sam. He seriously has to deal with one last mindfuck, losing his best friend that he gave up everything for, and Sam being stalwart and true, just rolls with it. At least Bucky knew. Bucky had the chance to go back with Steve (but for a million reasons Bucky could never go back, that’s what this fic is going to be about lol). But Sam is just left to deal with one more loss.

Can we talk about how Bucky 100% supported Sam getting the shield from the start. Bucky was READY for Cap Sam Wilson. Bucky was like nope this shit is written.

You can see that imposter syndrome revving up to 1000% on Sam’s face. And he turns to Bucky for confirmation this is really happening.

I think this also explains why Bucky is so defensive about the shield. It really is the only thing left of his past. It’s his only tie to the Howling Commandos, to Steve, to the person he was before HYDRA took everything. And the only hope he has in staying behind is the certainty that Sam will be Cap, and that’s the hope that makes him stay. The thin vague tie to Sam and the possibility of their future. So for Sam to reject the shield, oof, I bet that felt like a rejection of Bucky himself. Because Bucky stays for Sam.

(None of this explains why Bucky then ghosts Sam. That is the biggest mystery but there are many delicious possibilities. It’s also possible that Bucky didn’t really ghost Sam - we know his flip phone is just something he has for show. He could be talking to Sam on his smart phone. And they had another falling out.)

Dear God the emotion in Sam’s face as he processes that he’s being given the shield. Cue existential crisis!!!!!

And on to TFATWS.

[haleigh-sloth]

I'm new to manga and while I'm proficient at analysing other forms of literature, I'm finding it difficult to analyse manga, probably because of the artistic component. Do you have any advice on what to focus on when reading manga in order to analyse it well? If this question is too vague, you can disregard it, I am only asking because I find your analyses to be excellent.

Omg 🥺 It’s not vague! It seems like we’re opposites. I’m not well versed in literature, or writing in general, but I am an artist--which is why I love manga. I’ve been reading manga since I was 11 and I’m 24 now (I’m a nerd), so I’ve gotten pretty decent at knowing which panels the mangaka wants us to pay attention to! I’ll give some of the best examples I can think of off the top of my head. 

So obviously you know by now that manga is all black and white. We do get some colored sheets every now and then that also have meaning (I’ll link to that post later), and I love when the authors give us those, but for the most part it’s all black and white. If you’re going to try to grasp the tones and meanings behind certain scenes in manga, the BEST advice I can give you is to pay extra attention to the shading more than anything else. Let me use the best examples I can think of when it comes to shading.

So look at Hawks here. Hawks is a hero, yes? A good guy, right? 

Well...does he look like a good guy here? I’d say no. This use of shading was absolutely deliberate on Horikoshi’s part. I think we can all agree this was a really dark moment for Hawks (no pun intended). He stooped to a level nobody ever wanted him to, a level Hawks himself never wanted to. This scene being drawn this way tells us that we as readers are NOT supposed to approve of Hawks’s actions here. And NOW, because of the way this scene was drawn for us, all we are left to assume is that something bad is coming for Hawks. Basically, the consequences of his actions have not hit him yet. So even though we haven’t seen those consequences yet (it’s really frustrating waiting ngl), we know that we can expect there to be something dark in Hawks’s future. Many other meta bloggers predict his death, him dying heroically in order to make up for killing Twice. And man, that is very much possible, however I’m still waiting to see what more develops in Hawks’s arc before I make that prediction. Hori hasn’t given me any reason to believe that he’d actually kill off an important hero for the sake of the writing...yet. 

Another example, and probably my favorite panel of Shigaraki so far because it’s gorgeously drawn (and sad as hell):

This panel is supposed to make you feel his despair. He’s surrounded by a black, static background, his figure is drawn with an insane amount of detail. You can tell just by looking at it that Horikoshi put a significant amount of effort into this one panel compared the ones that came right before it:

This is same scene, same chapter as the panel above, but the background and shading is totally different. I’m only showing this panel here to point out how important the panel above it is in comparison. One is a panel that is simply moving the chapter forward, the other is meant to stop you for a moment and make you react to it. Horikoshi made sympathetic villains, and that panel of Shigaraki practically begging people to understand was meant to evoke that sympathy from the readers to prepare them for his redemption. 

There are probably a million examples from BNHA I could use to show you the importance of shading but I’m going to move over to one of my all time favorites: FMA

So this lovely fellow below, Roy Mustang, is a protagonist in Fullmetal Alchemist. Fullmetal Alchemist is a series with similar values to BNHA. It acknowledges the value of the human life. It acknowledges that once someone is dead, you can’t bring them back. It acknowledges that murder is wrong, no matter the reason.

Also, similar to how BNHA punishes the villains for their quest for revenge over and over again, FMA also portrays to readers the dangers of following the paths of revenge. There are two characters in FMA that show us that danger, one of which is Roy.

 This is a big moment for Roy because he just discovered the person responsible for his best friend’s death. And now he’s out for blood. But this panel above tells you that this is a BAD IDEA. Shrouding him in darkness, not showing his entire face, hiding him in the shadows--it tells you that he’s on a dark path now. 

Look here, this is kind of similar to how Hawks was portrayed above. Roy is standing over someone who he clearly has power over, someone he is about to kill out of revenge. Envy is a major antagonist in FMA right until his death, but simply because of the way Roy is drawn here, devoid of human emotion because again, you can’t see his face, Envy is almost sympathetic when he finally does die. (BTW, he does not die at Roy’s hand). Roy is a protagonist in this series, but here he’s drawn looking incredibly evil and scary--for a reason. You’re not supposed to approve of his actions. Roy set out for revenge and his narrative consequences came not too long after this chapter. So basically, just like with any other story: 

character does something we know is supposed to be bad-----> something bad happens to character as a result

I’ll give one more example from a story that is not similar to BNHA or FMA in the slightest, but still uses that dark shroud in the same manner.

Say hi to Shigure from Fruits Basket. Shigure is kind of...an anti hero? He’s a real asshole. Now Fruits Basket is shojo and the stakes aren’t near as high or dramatic as BNHA so the tone is a bit different. But even with one panel here of this guy’s face, you get that dark, cynical vibe from him. And well, he is dark and cynical. If you read the story from the beginning up until here you can tell that he’s a shady dude (no pun intended again I’m so sorry), and low and behold he is one of the more questionable characters in this series. But this one darkly shaded panel is the introduction to that dark side of him as a character.

Basically in manga shading is tell all for how you’re supposed to interpret a situation. But aside from shading, the SIZE of the panels are also important. Those Hawks panels above took up entire pages. That Shigaraki panel took up an entire page. Those panels of Roy took up an entire page. Obviously the author wants you to pay attention to the story those panels are trying to tell. The words of the characters matter too, but sometimes you have characters whose words you can’t take at face value (*cough cough* Dabi *cough*) so you sometimes have to go off of the artwork alone. 

Aside from the manga itself, mangakas also release colored prints along with their series. A lot of times these prints don’t have much to do with the events within the story, but sometimes they do. And I talked here about how Horikoshi really correlated all of his art of Shigaraki with the current place in his arc, and about how now that Shigaraki’s redemption is underway, he’s drawing Shigaraki in such a way that shows him growing closer to his hero counterpart who is currently on his way to save him, and also just portraying him in a less villainous manner than before. This isn’t always the case though. But Horikoshi did it and when that last color spread came out I got so excited I kind of just rambled with excitement lol. 

SO I know it wasn’t much to go on but I really hope this helps you a bit more and what you were looking for! Shading is the most important since it’s all black and white, and then panel size is important too. 

I hope you read more manga and join us in this hell! Lol 

[coollyinterferes]

Character Interview || Repost, don't Reblog

NAME  :   Robert Edward Orville Speedwagon

NICKNAME  :  Boss, aniki, “bastard!”/"that son of a bitch!” (usually from rival gang members, so the insult varies sometimes lol), Rob (used by a few friends), derivatives of his last name −Speebs, Speeds, Speeb, Speedy, etc− but these he will only accept them from certain people, otherwise he will do his best not to cringe on the spot or will do it inwardly. Uncle Speedy and etc later on (as in once George and the rest of the children come into his life, more specifically~).

AGE  :   25 in the main verse (may vary depending on the verse)

SPECIES  :  Human/Stand user in the main/time-travel verse | Vampire in the vamp!verse | Werefox in the monster!verse

—— Personal! ♡

MORALITY  :      lawful   /   chaotic /   good   /   neutral   /   evil  /   true .

RELIGION  :   Non-practising catholic (was raised as Catholic, like most other Victorians, believes in God, but that’s pretty much about it)

SINS   :     greed   /   gluttony   /   sloth   /   lust   /   pride  /   envy   /   wrath  .

VIRTUES :     chastity   /   charity   /   diligence   /   humility   /   kindness   /  patience  / justice.

KNOWN LANGUAGES :   English is his first language. Conversational Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, German and some more. Some conversational Mandarin Chinese as well (this one thanks to Li −canonly known as Kenpo, his Ogre Street friend−) and bits of Irish (this one thanks to Tattoo, his other Ogre Street friend). He can read and understand some Japanese (kana and some okurigana/kanji) but can’t really speak or write it. Same case for some other languages that he can also recognize and more or less understand bits of them but can’t really speak them. As you probably guessed, he’s learned most of these through his many journeys around the world.

SECRETS  :  All of the stuff in regards to the stone mask and all the events and incidents that came out from that (it was stated that the only ones who know everything about it from start to end are Jonathan and Speedwagon, the others who might know a great deal of it would be Straizo and Master Tonpety). He also tries to keep a low profile in regards to his homosexuality whenever he’s out of the slums to save himself some trouble due to the stigma at the time and the potential legal consequences, going only for the gay codes of the time (long hair, cleanly shaven face, colorful accessories, etc) so I guess that could count? Other than that, and in the verses that it applies, his stand mayhaps?? That’s what allows him to leap through timelines in the time travel verses (it possesses other abilities and skills but, since Robert doesn’t even know about his stand’s existence yet, he hasn’t trained with it and thus he doesn’t know about any of it’s abilities, not even about the time travel oof).

—— Physical! ♡

BUILD :     scrawny   /   bony   /   slender   /   fit   /   athletic   /   curvy   /   herculean   /  pudgy  /   average   .

HEIGHT  :   5’11”, close to the 6’ mark (181 cms)

SCARS   /   BIRTHMARKS  :    The most recognizable one is the scar marring the left side of his face (going from the top of his nose to his jaw), but he has plenty more scattered all over his body, some more visible than others, some larger than others. Most of them come from fights and his general criminal lifestyle, some of them even come from some of the torture sessions he’s endured as part of that (so it isn’t surprising that they were either caused by knives, gunshots, burns, shards of glass and etc). Most of his scars are located on his chest and arms, some more on his hands/wrists and fingers (hands/wrists and fingers mainly from when he was learning to use his buzzsaw hat), though he has a few more on his legs/thighs, lower abdomen, and a couple more on his back. In the main verse (usually set in the late stages of PB), he will have a few more from the events in PB −burn scars on his hands from the fire at the Joestar mansion, one on his shoulder from the attack he received from Jack the Ripper, an ice burn across his abdomen from thawing Zeppeli’s arm, and a couple more and not so visible ones on his arms from minor injuries (cuts) he got while fighting and fending off zombies−. Most of the “PB scars” aren’t too visible thanks to Jonathan (he used his hamon to heal Speedwagon’s injuries shortly after).

ABILITIES   /   POWERS  :  He’s able to tell an evil person from a good one by their smell alone. He’s a resilient man and quite a strong one, too (stronger than the average guy, as he was shown killing zombies using his brute force only and a sledgehammer). He's good at hand to hand combat, he’s also good at using knives and guns, and at wrecking shit with a sledgehammer. I also hc that he's capable of creating veeeeeery small amounts of hamon (this as a result of Zepp's "accidental" slip) if he really puts his mind into it. Due to his current limitations with it, his hamon can’t be used for fighting, but it does enhance his healing process, making it slightly faster than that of an average human (with some proper training, chances are he might be able to do more with it, tho). His stand, in the verses where he has it, can perform time travel, which happens at random at first (he gradually gains control on his stand once he learns about it and starts training with it). Due to stands being a reflection of sorts of their user and their fighting spirit, and as an extension of Robert’s own hamon healing abilities, his stand also possesses healing abilities that can be used both on himself and on others, though this requires some training prior, as the healing relies entirely on Speedwagon’s own life force and can be fatal for him if used carelessly at first (once properly trained, it won’t represent a real danger for him to use). Much like Robert himself, his stand is also capable of packing some punches and causing serious damage on it’s opponent despite his stand being more of a “support” stand rather than a fully combat based one.

RESTRICTIONS  :  He's mostly a regular human in the main verse, so he’s at a great disadvantage against stronger supernatural beings such as vampires and pillarmen, for example. As stated above, the amounts of hamon he can currently create are small and, thus are difficult −almost impossible− to use for combat (again, this can change if he gets some proper training). His lack of knowledge on his stand’s existence can also count as a restriction for the time being, as he doesn’t know about it or it’s abilities and, thus, can’t use it at his will for now (it operates mostly in an “unconscious” level at first, usually after getting triggered). He also tends to wear his heart in his sleeve when it comes to the few people he truly holds dear and considers special to him, so that can be used against him if he’s not careful enough.

—— Likes / Scents! ♡

FOOD  :    He isn’t really picky with food since he grew up in absolute poverty and sometimes went for days without a single bite of food or eating stale (sometimes even moldy) food so like… he’s cool with pretty much anything nowadays. He’s also an adventurous man, so he’s always open to trying new and even “exotic” stuff. Other than that, pastries are one of his top fave things ever (creamy ones mainly but not exclusively).

DRINK  :   Tea −citrusy/fresh types mainly like lemongrass, same with berry teas−. He doesn’t mind sweeter teas but, since he usually has them with the pastries, he prefers something more “sour” to balance things out. He also likes coffee, liking it strong, kind of sweet, and hot (just how he likes his men lol). As for alcoholic drinks, he’s all for beer and gin. He also enjoys some of the sweeter ‘posh’ wines Jonathan normally has at his home.

PIZZA TOPPING  :  As far as I know, pizza toppings weren’t as creative and “crazy” in the 19th century as they have been over the last few decades, so he’s only used to more ‘traditional’ stuff like variants of Pizza Margherita, for example. However, in the time travel verses/modern!AUs he will definitely try all kinds of pizza toppings (yes, this includes pineapple pizza as well as entirely sweet pizza toppings and so on) and actually likes some of them.

COLOUR  :    Purple (shades like those of his waistcoats i.e.), pink, greeeeeeenvert, black.

MUSIC GENRE  :    More than a genre itself, he enjoys and appreciates music that can make him feel something. Toss some pub songs there for obvious reasons lol.

BOOK GENRE  :     General fiction mostly. He also enjoys reading some romance novels every now and then whenever he gets the chance to get his hands on a gay romance one, either featuring two males or two females (he doesn’t find the appeal in “traditional” ones for a variety of reasons).

MOVIE GENRE  :    Non-applicable in the main verse. Time travel verses −if he even gets the chance to watch a movie− and even in a modern!AU, his go to genres would probs be similar to his book genres, lol, just add some comedy there but like, not the ‘cheapest’ and cringey kind of comedy.

SEASON  :     Autumn and Winter (harsh winters are a pain in the ass in Ogre Street, but he can handle them fairly well overall)

CURSE WORD :   Fuck / Shit / Bloody and variants of it (like Bloody Hell) / Arsehole / Wanker / Damnit / Bollocks, Ballocks and all of it’s variants / Bastard / Motherfucker / Zounderkite (victorian for “idiot” but with even harsher and ruder connotations than just using “idiot” lol) / Beardsplitter (one of the victorian words for “penis” xd). There are plenty, plenty, more but those are the ones I can think of rn. He comes from the darkest pits of the slums after all, so yeah... Lots of cussing can be expected.

SCENT ( S )  :    Sweet and masculine musky scent, mainly, with an occasional subtle note of gunpowder and/or tobacco depending on whatever tf he’s been doing. Maybe a vague note of blood if he just got out of a fight. Some vague vanilla too but that one only around the time when he lands a temporary job in a bakery in London.

—— Fun Facts! ♡

BOTTOM OR TOP  :   Top leaning verse. He only bottoms occasionally for serious/long term boyfriends that he genuinely trusts, partly due to how being a bottom was (wrongly) perceived as being submissive by most people, and how dangerous being seen as such can be in a place like Ogre Street if the word gets out (not to mention that there’s been people there who have given him shit just for being gay), and partly because he also prefers to top and likes it better, lol.

SINGS IN THE SHOWER  :   Yeah. He started doing it as a child as a way to keep his mind distracted from how cold as fuck the water he’d wash himself with was (he usually bathed in rivers or washed himself with buckets of water some maid forgot outside of a household and that he managed to steal). He’s become a lot more used to cold baths over the years so a distraction is not necessary anymore, however, he still sings or hums sometimes whenever he has a song stuck in his head or if he’s particularly happy about something (this continues later on in life as well,even after cold baths are no longer part of his life, so it’s a habit that he never actually leaves).

LIKES PUNS  :    He loves them! Lame ones, good ones, cheesy ones, silly ones, witty ones, dirty/vulgar ones, etc. Heck, even dad jokes can be found in his repertoire! Chances are that, if you come to him with a pun or joke, he will give you one or two (maybe even more) in return.

------------------------------

Tagged by: @le-princesse-chevalier​​ (( thank you so much for the tag!!! ♡♡ ))

Tagging: @historias-multorum @jojoingjoseph @gazelessmenagerie @usfv @featherchan @kindersturm @iiguess @storiedocs @quirofiliac @rotrioted @breatheflcra @emcraldsxchcrrics @arrhythmiiia @mechahero @voltagecrow @promiseled @joesrparchive (tagged your main but the tag applies to any and all of your muses that you might want to fill this for >:D) @rzrbite​ @mistymiddiana (if you’re up for it) & also tagging anyone and everyone who wants to give this a shot! Just take it and say i tagged you~ Multis and peeps with 2+ muses, feel free to do this for as many of your muses as you wish!

[givemeonebreath]

A big, messy Linked Universe playlist

Link for Links

Heavy on the angst, because of who I am as a person. (At the same time, don’t take it too seriously, man.)

Influenced by canon, manga (TP Link is really Going Through It™ ), my personal perceptions, and popular fandom canon.

A pretty wide variety of genres, with a bias towards metal and prog rock.

I kept snippets of lyrics for most songs, also because of who I am as a person. (Some were particularly hard to narrow down to just one verse or chorus.) Those - and a little more rambling - are under the cut if you really want, in the order of the playlist. But. It’s long.

I didn’t initially make this with the intent to share, but hey. Throughout my past year+ of listening, I’ve been haphazardly adding songs to a playlist I very creatively named Links. If something reminded me of them, whether through the music or lyrics or both, I threw it on the playlist, so some songs might seem odd or vague. Some are really on the nose, as subtle as a sledgehammer. (Sky for Sky? Dude. Sorry.) Some are there because of a fitting line or two that stuck in my head. Ultimately, music - like any form of creative expression - can be interpreted in a multitude of ways. 

My listening habits and tastes are erratic, which is why this is one big, jumbled playlist and not separated for different Links. Not to mention if I did that, some (Wild, Legend) would have a lot and some (Wind, Four) would have none, both because of my own familiarity with them, and because of the general themes of the music I tend to listen to. Most songs are a general ‘hero’s spirit reborn’ mood, anyway - those are the first part of the playlist. The second half is more nuanced to specific Links, plus a few Ganon vibes.

1. Deep Purple - April (Koji Kondo, composer of the original Legend of Zelda theme, was into Deep Purple as a kid, and it shows.)

2. Kamelot - Regalis Apertura

3. Au4 - So Just Hang On, Beautiful One (I’ve posted this here before. I can’t hear it without thinking of LU now.) So I slipped in through the gate almost unknown. All my border stamps were late. Seven days old. Cold hand griped my shoulder blade, broke the bone. Bloody nose and turned away, all the way home.

4. FC Kahuna - Hayling Don’t think about all those things you fear, just be glad to be here

5. Glass Animals - Youth Boy, when I left you you were young I was gone, but not my love You were clearly meant for more Than a life lost in the war

6. Pain of Salvation - Restless Boy A restless boy in a world too slow A flame born into cinder, ash, and glow I've given everything I gave it all Yet find myself alone

7. Haken - The Endless Knot Our design shifted frame by frame! Across the line our cycle starts to fail. Our design shifted frame by frame! Across the line we die to live again.   We need a story to believe in. We need a hero to prevail. We need a challenge we can overcome, it takes a tragedy to make us one 

8. Kamelot - Memento Mori (I particularly associate this with Time and Twilight) I am the god in my own history The master of the game I may believe if she would come to me And whisper out my name Sometimes I wonder where the wind has gone If life has ever been Sometimes I wonder how belief alone Can cut me free from sin

9. Katatonia - Fighters Look I told you so We never stop If we said that We'll back it up For sure You know We're fighters

10. Megadeth - This Day We Fight! (I mean, all Links, but particularly Warriors) For this I was chosen, because I fear nothing With confidence I tread through the dead of the night Off to another war-torn, faraway battlefield Wherein lies a demonic enemy horde

11. Moon Tooth - Igneous Well, the spirit took me And this old broken body leapt up and danced Settin’ out Settin' out with all my heroes in a bundle at my back Hawk am I More wings span in my shadow than overcast Yeah, you know what they say Always need something to look up to, ha

12. Samael - Moongate Destiny, tomorrow is today Destiny, without boundaries How many nights will we spend together traveling infinity back and forth and again How many times will we go together questioning eternity about us about our wonders...

13. TOOL- Parabola This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion

14. Lunatic Soul - Blood on the Tightrope No matter how hard you try To shut down your feverish thoughts They hunt you down with no regret Cause you have to fix it all

15. Hybrid - Keep It In The Family

16. Soul Savers - Unbalanced Pieces Gone, now carry on Through violent seasons I call you mother, mother, mother In vain, absent chain The twilight's bleeding And the playing board has two unbalanced pieces

17. Steve Von Till - Valley of the Moon All she gives is a stone facade Like ill-given flowers at a dead man's wake Here we slave for the dreams of another And fight over scraps like wayward dogs

18. Ludovico Einaudi - Experience

19. Lunatic Soul - Summoning Dance Three stones on the right side Three stones on the left My vicious circle of life and death   “Oh you want it” I hear it again “Oh you want it” My burden Curse to break

20. Lunatic Soul - Through Shaded Woods Run through your shaded woods Run through your shaded mind Run through the night Run away Run through the darkness Run

21. Lunatic Soul - Naavie

22. David Bowie - Nature Boy There was a boy A very strange, enchanted boy They say he wandered very far Very far, over land and sea A little shy and sad of eye But very wise was he

23. The Dandy Warhols - Sleep Well, I could sleep forever But it's of her I dream If I could sleep forever I could forget about everything 

24. Au4 - Everyone is Everyone (and Everything is Everything) Tripping and tumbling, Flipping and fumbling. Flowing on the rivers of sadness That have been forever rumbling.   But from dawn until now Of all the paths that I could have gone down Of all the valleys That I could have been flowing through.   In spite of all the chaos And all that has come between us, How is it I still find myself Here with you. 

25. Kingcrow - Everything Goes Your hands again upon the ground Falling rain for hours and hours As you learn the game Time dispels the fog ... Ever been there? Ever felt like prey? Ever thought your mind was feeble? Lot of things that don’t make sense

26. Pain of Salvation - Icon As a child I felt too old And now when I'm grown-up I feel too young A different kind so I've been told Just slightly out of reach and out of time

27. Sophia Loizou - Divine Interference (I got spooky dungeon vibes. Also, the title.)

28. Carpenter Brut - Fab Tool Runnin Gunnin Forward in the phantom shatter so grand Splatter grand, arcanum fuel Wrought iron out of the sky Over me, tells no lie

29. Blue Stahli - Death Will Have to Run All on the open road Where none will ever grow A journey toward the known With countless miles to go

30. Gyroscope - Mistakes & Ladders I am the first? No I can't be the first A continuous nothing, destined for something Tell me who you are and why you trapped me here

31. Queens of the Stone Age - Run, Pig, Run Run, pig, run Here I come

32. Chali 2na & Krafty Kuts - Guard The Fort The swords are drawn and odds are stacked And we clash the impact's a thunderous clap Calm demeanor Even though we are under attack [...my turn to guard the fort ready for combat]

33. The Great Discord - Army of Me (lol)

34. Kongos - Terrified I think I'll start again and change my name You only live once or twice, what a shame Somebody fucked up when designing this game

35. Woodkid - Run Boy Run Run, boy, run! This ride is a journey to Run, boy, run! The secret inside of you Run, boy, run! This race is a prophecy Run, boy, run! And disappear in the trees

36. The Beta Machine - The End A million miles away from you this time I'll do what it takes I'm on my way If lines are in the sand I'll go under If I can make it in time I will bring you back with me

37. Devin Townsend Project - Gump When we last met who was I? I'm sorry we no longer see eye to eye The energy to keep you in while keeping myself out I'm sorry how you'll take this  But I just don't have the patience anymore 

38. Arrested Youth - Riot! I can't get much satisfaction living in this cave It's tough to breathe, I'm in the belly of the beast Can't sleep with all my rage With me and all my generations living in this cage Pick up your guns and tell your sons, tonight we break the cage

39. Led Zeppelin - Friends So anytime somebody needs you Don't let them down, although it grieves you Some day you'll need someone like they do Looking for what you knew

40. Faunts - M4, pt 2 (Wild) Fight your foes you're not alone Holy war is on the phone Asking to please stay on hold Bleeding loss of blood runs cold And I need you to recover   Because I can't make it on my own

41. Faith No More - Ashes to Ashes (Wild) I want them to know it's me, it's on my head I'll point the finger at me, it's on my head Smiling with the mouth of the ocean And I'll wave to you with the arms of the mountain

42. Devin Townsend - Jupiter (Wild) I know you At least I think I do Everything's changed But in the days that are so dark It's wonderful

43. Katatonia - Neon Epitaph (Wild) Shadow of my shadow Cling not to my grief I am long left behind now You are free

44. The Smashing Pumpkins - The Beginning is the End is the Beginning (Wild) Time has stopped before us The sky cannot ignore us No one can separate us For we are all that is left The echo bounces off me The shadow lost beside me There's no more need to pretend Cause now I can begin again 

45. Katatonia - Lacquer (Wild) My voice travelling Soaring bird above your head The house we lived in Ridden with disease ... The levee breaking I can't live to fight once more The road to the grave is straight as an arrow I'm just staying around to sing your song, baby

46. Eskimo Joe - This is Pressure (Wild) There is no romance in suffocation  The walls fall down like your expectations You want to scream  And you want to shout But you've built up steam  And you can't let it out This is pressure 

47. Portugal. The Man - 1000 Years (Wild) We'll wait 1000 years  Until the end of time We'll wait 1000 more Dressed up in gold and white We'll climb the mountain sides  To find what's in the sky We'll dig through mountain sides  To find what's deep inside

48. Au4 - An Ocean’s Measure of Sorrow (Wild) Forgot my name and who I was. Memories of nothing floating up. All of the sorrow we once knew, Colours the ocean's water blue.

49. Band of Skulls - Carnivorous (Twilight) I am corrosive and cohesive Like a chemical bond I'm all together undone I am the broken kingdom I'm just so, so, so  So carnivorous

50. Glass Animals - Flip (Twilight) I wanna go back with a club and attack I wanna take to my guns and break you I gotta make my little foe take his own

51. TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me (Twilight) My mind has changed my body's frame, but, God, I like it My heart's aflame, my body's strained, but, God, I like it

52. Kamelot - The Spell (Twilight) All my demons cast a spell The souls of dusk rising from the ashes So the book of shadows tell The weak will always obey the master

53. OSI - Radiologue (Legend) I was dreaming I was heading west thirty days faster Had a fever woke up in a sweat bailing out the water  Can't go on Can't go back   Heard your voice coming through the noise wrote it in the radio log Hurt my head, wondering what you said so I threw it overboard  

54. Katatonia - Don’t Tell A Soul (Legend) I have been destroyed by the perfection that is a lie see I'm moving soon see my feet are already on the road and if you know where I’m going don’t tell a soul

55. Haken - The Mind’s Eye (Legend) The shape of things to come are closer than they seem Changing your design every time you disappear I'm planning my escape through portals of your mind Where people seem to drop like flies

56. Pain of Salvation - Species (Legend) Sometimes I hate my fucking species Yet most days I'll do anything to please it  My generation was fooled to pursue our dreams But it is not what it seems You never need what you want And you rarely want what you need

57. Euringer - Do You Kiss Your Mama with That Mouth? (Legend) All my life, misunderstood I'm fuckin' too smart, too smart for my own good The last question, before I go is "Hey motherfucka, do you kiss your mama with that mouth?"  Yes! I kiss your mama with this mouth

58. !!! - Pardon My Freedom (Legend) Like I give a fuck, like I give a shit Like I give a fuck about that shit Like I give a fuck about that motherfucking shit

59. Team Sleep - Ataraxia (Legend) Froze asleep Coma deep I dream I'm out with you Alone at sea

60. Oliver Tank - Embrace (Legend) You're in my dreams The world is torn apart at the seams And I don't wanna leave Wearing my heart on it's sleeve

61. Machine Gun Fellatio - The Girl of My Dreams (Is Giving Me Nightmares) (Legend) The girl of my dreams is giving me nightmares I don't know what it means but she's got multi-coloured hair When she stands in the sand I dream of peaches And I'm not sure what that means either

62. Earl Greyhound - Shotgun (Legend & Hyrule) I am nobody, nobody is who I am I am a traveler on this land And nothing, nothing, nothing in my hands

63. TV on the Radio - Staring at the Sun (Hyrule) You're staring at the sun You're standing in the sea Your mouth is open wide You're trying hard to breathe The water's at your neck There's lightning in your teeth Your body's over me

64. Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon (Time) Fate Up against your will Through the thick and thin He will wait until You give yourself to him

65. Sufjan Stevens - Sugar (Sky) Don’t break my heart, don’t break my flow now And all this rage has got to go now Let’s take up this lifeline Come on, baby, gimme some sugar Don’t make me wait Don’t make me wait too long Don’t make me sing the sad song Come on, baby, gimme some sugar

66. Obsydians - Ascension (Sky) Rise above the hardships you’ll face I will sign and keep on rising As long as you are giving me your soul and keep me awake Feel like home and spread your light around I will listen and just be there As long as you are giving me your love I’ll give you my soul

67. Sonique - Sky -_-

68. Enter Shikari - The King (Ganon) Watch your back, my friend I'm about to kickstart a cycle Of never ending revenge And this time it's primal, it's tribal

69. Saul Williams - WTF! (Ganon, Hylia) "You've been polluted, uprooted by time You have been muted, computed but I'm A living vessel of the one, of the moon, of the sun" Hey! You ain't as dead as you seem, what the fuck? Hey! But you keep living your lies

70. These New Puritans - We Want War (Ganon/ Dark Link/ any nemesis I guess) Shadows dance back up, it's happening again If you listen carefully you might hear them whisper: "We hold all the secrets, we hold all the words; But they're scrambled and broken so you'll never know" Can't you see them Floating like black ash? Can't you feel them Crawling down your back?

[bigmeatymudcrabchitins]

A not-so-brief overview of my Skyrim Dova OCs bc i need to scream to the digital void about my ideas

Freyora Lind, more commonly known by her strange alias “Bjorne Icepick”

A Nord-eventually-turned-werewolf who orphaned during the Great War and taken in by a Dunmeri mercenary whose residence was in Windhelm’s Gray Quarter. Grew up in a cramped boarding house setting among desperate mercenaries of varying backgrounds. Many of them would all come and go, but there was always some sort of a familial bond between them all.

From a young age she got in a lot of fights against people who insulted her for living in the Gray Quarter among the dark elves. Eventually she took a fight too far and was jailed for murder around 14, but was broken out shortly after by a band of masked vampires. Turns out some of her mercenary comrades unwittingly caught vampirism during a contract to clear out a vampire den and had to skip town, but not before ensuring one of their own wasn’t left to rot.

Lived in Cyrodil for about 15 years, but returned to Skyrim pursuing rumors surrounding a cure to vampirism, as her adoptive father would be nearing the end of his elven lifespan and had wished to die a normal death.

Seeing as she was literally a fugitive, and her long-belated parents were somewhat renowned for their battlefield prowess, she took on a false identity. AND an act to match it.

She’ll eat raw meat, chase prey with swords instead of using a bow like a normal person, harp about irrational conspiracy theories, and more. Everyone’s foul reactions to her outlandish act are plainly hilarious to her and only encourage her to act even stranger.

The alias “Bjorne Icepick” was simply the most ridiculous name she could think of.

Not the most morally outstanding. Besides drunken brawling, she’ll steal from anyone who angers her, even if it’s things she literally won’t ever need such as all the goblets in a household. It’s the pettiness that counts. “Try drinking your damn high-end wine now, jackass.”

Calls Dwarven Automatons “Gundams.” Including she herself, no one knows what that means.

Joins the Companions out of homesickness and a desire to fill in a gap that leaving home left.

Hasn’t bothered curing herself of lycanthropy because her whole schtick is being incredibly resourceful, and that includes using any means of power necessary. Still doesn’t fancy Hircine’s Hunting Grounds as her desired afterlife, though.

As her journey goes on, however, her lightheartedly eccentric face starts to fall off as a number of events push her to begin to question the legitimacy of her actions up until that point.

Some of which include the eventual death of her adoptive father (and how she was indirectly responsible for it even if it was what he wanted), Delphine’s ultimatum, the civil war as a collective, learning the tragic history behind the Falmer and the original Companions’ role in it, and killing of Vyrthur (no matter how much he genuinely deserved it).

She grows disgusted by herself down to the core. She takes to skooma to cope, and starts to be plagued by serious skooma-induced side effects. She ends up shutting herself away from all her responsibilities and distancing herself from her friends.

Does she get better? Maybe. I haven’t thought up anything past this point lol

Moureneris Alta

A very, VERY ancient vampiric snow elf, (though it’s notable she was born a considerable amount of time after the razing of Sarthaal)

Survived many atrocities. Stayed in isolation with a band of vampires for countless years out of sheer disgust for the nature of the sapient races. (I’ll explain her full story some other time. It’s pretty complicated)

She was abducted from her isolated lifestyle by a certain person i’ll talk about later. She managed to free herself south of Skyrim, and uh, walks right into that Imperial ambush. The rest is history.

Super ignorant to modern society as a result of centuries of isolation. Exploited for comedic relief. (“What in the name of Oblivion is a Cyrodilic Empire? Are you messing with me? And please, how does levitation magic simply get outlawed by this hypothetical Empire? What are you to do when you fall down a crevice? Just... let yourself perish? How degrading.)

She reintegrated herself into society with vengeance in mind under the belief that all humans are savage bloodlusting murderers who had to answer for their treachery. (And she was royally angry there was no Dwemer left to spite, but partially satisfied at the same time). But she grows conflicted after being shown genuine kindness, even as early as being freed from her binds in Helgen.

Subsequently has a very muddled redemption arc. Queue Dragonborn hero stuff

She has impaired vision, but she cultivated detect life magic to aid her in daily life and combat (think Hyakkimaru from Dororo ‘19 and his soul detection or Toph Beifong from ATLA and her seismic sense). At her peak, she can detect life from about a kilometer away.

She can just barely read, but only if she holds the text incredibly close to her face, not to mention her Cyrodilic lessons were left unfinished after her abduction, making reading a very taxing process. Weary travelers are often spooked at the sight of a floating, ghastly looking elven woman with her nose pressed up against crossroad signs, and it has become somewhat of an urban legend.

Isn’t as nearly as skilled with detecting the dead and tenses up in burial crypts or around other vampires for that reason. Unfortunately, being the Dragonborn and all, she finds herself in a lot of crypts...

When questioned about her background due to her unique appearance: “Oh, yeah. My mother was one of those mer from the east. You know the ones. Dark elves, I think? And my father was one of those er, tall elv- no, sorry, HIGH elves. Yeah. They both died in a big fire or something though. It was horrible. I can’t get the noxious smell or the deafening screams out of my head. Good talk, but never ask me about that again.”

Queue sheltered old immortal antics: “Wow, you’re THAT old? Enlighten me on how it felt witnessing the fall of the Dwemer. Or perhaps the rise of Tiber Septim’s Empire. The Gates of Ob-“ “Oblivion if I know. I lived in someone’s basement for thousands of years. And I still don’t know what everyone means by Empire. You all are messing with me, aren’t you? That really annoys me.”

She ultimately returns to faith in Auri-El and makes it her life’s purpose to help the Betrayed find peace, as well as to seek out any remaining snow elf groups. Probably good friends with Gelebor or something.

Had a crush on Serana. We all know how THAT went. Damned temples.

Was originally gonna spiral into a much darker corruption arc (another ATLA comparison being Jet or Hama) but I just felt bad for her. Moureneris can have a little found peace. As a treat.

That’s her preliminary design made. I’ll need a mod to properly play her, because that right there was made by choosing Dunmer as her race. But I can’t do that. I’m on console, and while I got the Steam port a month ago, my PC’s stone age specs can’t handle Skyrim yet and I’ll need to wait until I can afford a better graphics card (thanks economic inflation)

Alexandre Armasi, jokingly nicknamed Alexandre the Curious

A complete and unapologetic export of my character from a dead and unfinished DND campaign. Except there are no Aasimar in Skyrim, so he’s half Altmer half Bosmer. And his initial last name was Armas but I thought Armasi suited his Skyrim counterpart more, as subtle a change it is.

He’s mainly Bosmer in appearance and constitution, save for his hair and eyes, which are more similar to that of his Altmeri father’s.

I can’t really export his original backstory though because the campaign wouldn’t translate well into TES lore at all.

He’s a writer who came wandering into Skyrim in search of inspiration. While he mainly writes dramatic fables, he wanted to divert his focus to crafting his own bestiary and herbal compendium surrounding Skyrim’s fauna and flora. The ones at home are simply too vague to him!

He’s very altruistic, wishing to spread cheer wherever he goes, through the art of song (even though he was a cleric in DND and not a bard. My bad.) However, many of his verses are just blatant self promotions of his published fables.

But he’s too naive for his own good. Dangerously so. In fact, he says what’s on his mind with little forethought, with little grasp on the consequences of his actions, which lands him in lots of trouble. “I don’t favor him myself, but you guys kill people over Talos worship? That’s not very cool. A bit scary, if you ask me.” or “A Stormcloak rebel? Didn’t your leader kill a bunch of Reachmen rebels years back, or so I’ve heard. By the divines that’s not a man I’d make a symbol of nonconformity.”

He’s also insatiably curious. The type to ACTUALLY shove alchemic ingredients in his mouth with no knowledge of their properties, experiment with dangerous rune spells, throw rocks at pressure plates, and more. Needless to say he’s very accident prone.

Doesn’t know common curse words. People exploit this for laughs. Think that episode of Spongebob.

Everyone is a little baffled that HE of all people is the prophesied Dragonborn of legend. This agonizingly imbecilic writer who has absentmindedly wandered into burial crypts, troll dens, bandit forts, and more, too busy juggling his manuscripts to pay attention to his surroundings.

His past doesn’t exactly reflect his outlook on life. His mother and father fought in the Great War aligned with the Imperials despite their elven background. Both managed to live to see the war’s conclusion, but his father vanished without a trace shortly after, and it seems his mother knows something she won’t tell him.

With plenty of exposure to bad influences, his innocence is slowly lost throughout the course of his journey, and his altruism begins to grow twisted. But nevertheless, he maintains his jovial, social persona, except this time with much darker undertones. Kinda like a creepy dentist or something.

Whoops. He winds up becoming a feared Dark Brotherhood assassin. (Haha get it “Innocence Lost”???) He somehow deluded himself into thinking that the life of an assassin was the right thing to do. But he’s a funky little guy so he gets a pass for his heinous crimes against society

[imagine-loki]

Green

TITLE: Green CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: One-shot AUTHOR: fanfictrashdump ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki getting offended because he has been forced to share a loved one’s attention with… Baby Groot.

RATING: T NOTES/WARNINGS: Honestly, this is such a stupid concept, but it flashed into my mind and made me laugh so damn hard that I had to write it. Language! Yelling and subsequently apologizing to a child. Punching. Severe timeline issues (who gives a crap that this doesn’t make sense? I did it for the lol’s). 

SUMMARY: Loki is not used to having friends. Loki is not used to sharing friends. Loki is just a soft boi. That’s it. That’s the fic. 

But, seriously, apologize to kids when you do something wrong. 

=

Loki deepened the lines of his frown into a more intimidating scowl. The expression seemed to do little to sway the enthusiasm of the little twig, barely out of his flowering pot, as he clambered on the couch and gurgled his words.

“I am Groot,” said the little one, scaling up Loki’s trousers to tug at the casual green tunic, hoping to get the demigod’s attention. “Groooooot. I am Groot.”

“No,” Loki snapped, making the tree cower back just the slightest. “I am not in the mood to play. Now, get lost.”

“Groot?”

“If I fetch you your glass of water will you leave me alone?”

The tree nodded, eyes wide and bright as he stared at Loki with rapt fascination while he conjured a cup of water. The enthusiastic, wooden applause he received for such a feat was even more endearing, but Loki would not allow himself to dwell on the cuteness of this… this manipulating thief.

Loki had began his week much like everyone else at the Tower had.

The team piled into one of the conference rooms where they were met with a talking raccoon and a green-tinged woman who hastily left the seedling in their care, claiming they were off to a battle they couldn’t take him along for. Everyone had cooed and aww'ed at the little ceiba tree who waved enthusiastically and giggled his one phrase at the attention. Loki thought the little one was rather cute, and being versed in All-Speak meant that he could easily understand what the child was saying, and he didn’t seem particularly irritating. He would even admit that he sort of looked forward to spending time with someone who did not stare at him as though he were a plague.

It wasn’t until his carers had left that problems truly began.

Lily had skidded into the conference room fifteen minutes later in her familiar fashion of being tragically late to everything. Her cheeks rosy from having jogged five floors up to get to them, but her blue doe eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. Stark had likely sent her a text to inform her of their new, temporary ward, and Lily being Lily… well, the woman seldom let an opportunity to interact with plants pass her by. Her face split into a brilliant smile as she bent over just enough to be eye-level with the little tree on the table.

“Hi, sweetheart,” she cooed, offering her hand to him.

Groot had gripped her index finger with his fist and her veins sparked green at the contact. He gasped excitedly at the change. “I am Groot!”

“Aw, you’re so sweet. I’m happy you’re here, too. Do you want to go play upstairs?” The tree nodded effusively and jumped straight into her waiting arms. Lily had barely glanced in Loki’s direction as she left.

Now, Loki was a creature of habit. It wasn’t that he was irritated that Lily was spending every waking moment with the creature or that she used such a soft and soothing voice to talk to him. It wasn’t even that she so easily gave the seedling little nuggets of affection that were just a little sweeter than what she afforded anyone else… No, it was that his perfectly crafted routine was thrown for a loop. That was all.

A gasp broke Loki from his reverie.

“Groot!”

Loki growled as more than half of the contents of the cup he had just given the child flooded his lap. Groot looked more than apologetic, that childlike worry flooding his features before quietly apologizing again. That didn’t deter the annoyance from the past few days from bubbling over inside of Loki. His rage worked to disguise whatever other emotion he was trying to suppress.

“All you had to do was sit still. How bloody hard is that to do!?”

The child’s lower lip trembled. “I-I am Groot–”

“Loki!” Cold fear doused the god of mischief’s spine at the voice. “I was barely gone for three minutes. What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. He spilled water on me–”

Lily’s attention was already diverted away from him as she kneeled in front of the tree and tried to pacify him. “Oh, sweetheart. Don’t cry!” Groot managed to fit a few words between little hiccupping sobs. “No, Loki doesn’t hate you. Why would Loki hate a tiny little sapling?” The last of the question was hissed with a dark scowl thrown over her shoulder in Loki’s direction. “No. He just has a tummy ache and it’s making him a little testy. In fact, he and I are going to go to the hallway so I can give him his medicine. OK?”

Groot nodded reluctantly, wiping at his eyes with still-green fingers.

Lily beamed at the tree and stroked away the tear tracks on his cheeks before rising to her full height. Without even looking back, she grabbed Loki by the scruff of his jumper all but dragged him behind her to the empty hall.

“Now, before you start yelling at–oof”

Loki doubled over as he hugged his stomach. For such a small, slight creature, Lily could definitely pack one hell of a punch. When he managed to wrench his eyes open, there was green fading from her veins and she was shaking out her left fist which looked suspiciously like a tree stump for a moment.

“What the hell is wrong with you!?”

“He was being a bother and a brat–”

“He’s a sapling, Loki. A baby. Babies drop things. His hands are the size of an acorn, what the fuck do you expect?” Loki had enough sense not to reply, instead choosing to take great interest in his shoes in a sheepish manner. “Why the hell do you hate him? Did trees do you some great harm? Is keeping you alive by giving you oxygen such a great fucking burden on you?”

Loki scoffed. “Yes, yes. It’s always me. I’m always wrong. I’ll go up to my rooms and you don’t have to hear from me again, if it’s such a bother! I’m sure you’ll have much more fun with–” He snapped his jaw shut at once, his mouth having run just a little further than he would have liked.

“Are you jealous? Is all of this just because your stupid ass is jealous?”

“Well, you certainly like him more than me–”

“He’s a talking tree, Loki. I am a plant mutant. Of course I was curious how our connection would work. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, he’s a baby who needs to be watched and we’re the only ones who speak his language!”

Lily swallowed the remainder of her rant at the sight of Loki blinking rapidly to keep his green eyes from overflowing with tears. She sighed, releasing whatever tension she had locked in her shoulders with an exhale. This was about so much more than just Groot tagging along for the week, she knew. Her hands reached for and gripped at his charcoal jumper, her touch more gentler than a second before. With a light tug, she brought him close and wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his chest. It took a moment for Loki to realize he was safe and return the hug.

“You’re still my favorite person, Loki,” she admitted, vaguely feeling him nod and rest his cheek on her crown. “I am capable of taking care of Groot and still have you be my best friend. I’m complex that way,” she joked.

“I was being stupid, I know,” he whispered. “I yelled at him. He’s only a child.”

“Yeah, but you can go apologize and mean it.” Loki nodded once more and Lily released him. She gestured back the direction they came from and silently ordered him to go apologize.

Loki swallowed whatever pride he had left rattling inside his chest and marched back into the lounge. With a sigh, Loki kneeled in front of the sofa, his frame relaxed and every trace of ever being cross forgotten from his features. Groot glanced up wearily at the Prince, fidgeting slightly in his seat.

“I’m sorry I lost my temper, little one. I wasn’t feeling well–not that that gives me any excuse. I should not have done it and I hope you can forgive me.”

“I am Groot?” The sapling’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Something hurt inside Loki’s chest and he knew he would be feeling the brunt of guilt for a long time to come. “No, Groot. You did not do anything wrong. It was all my fault. I apologize.”

Groot nodded, but still looked uncomfortable.

Loki worked his hands in a circular motion until there was a clear orb suspended between them. The orb undulated and splashed in place–water kept in place by magic. Gripping it lightly between his thumb and index, his held it out to the tree.

“Here. This way, if you drop your water, it won’t spill and you can carry it a little easier.”

“Groot!” Flexible little branches closed around the orb and brought it up to wooden lips for a sip. After a moment the sapling laughed and chattered away about the wonder of the orb and Loki found himself unexpectedly puffing up with pride.

From the doorway, Lily knocked lightly on the frame, prompting them both to turn their attentions toward her. A small, knowing smile barely pulled at the corners of her mouth as she watched Groot clamber over onto Loki and hold onto his neck.

“Do you want to show Loki the flowers you grew?”

“I am Groot! I am Groot!”

“OK. Let’s go then,” she settled, waiting for Loki to join her at the doorway.

As they walked together towards the garden, Lily searched for Loki’s hand and gave it a warm squeeze. His half-startled, half-hopeful gaze lingered on her until she reluctantly let him go to open the double doors to the indoor garden and his senses flooded with fresh, vibrant rainbow hues, instead. Perhaps there were better colors than envy green.

[eidetictelekinetic]

Fic Interview Meme

Thanks for the tag, @rubickk7 !

How many works do you have on AO3? 

I have 115 fics.

What’s your total AO3 wordcount?

1,553,954

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

On AO3:

The Magicians (TV) (28)

A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin (21)

Inception (2010) (20)

Suits (US TV) (17)

Game of Thrones (TV) (12)

Black Sails (7)

Supernatural (6)

The Avengers (Marvel Movies) (5)

A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms (5)

The Tudors (TV) (3)

The Hobbit - All Media Types (2)

X-Men (Movieverse) (2)

Marvel Cinematic Universe (2)

The Hobbit (Jackson Movies) (2)

Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies) (2)

X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies) (2)

American Gods - Neil Gaiman (1)

Conviction (TV 2006) (1)

16th Century CE RPF (1)

Star Wars Legends - All Media Types (1)

Star Wars - All Media Types (1)

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy (1)

Whitechapel (TV) (1)

Chronicles of Narnia (Movies) (1)

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (1)

Here’s the list from my fanfiction.net days (some overlap here):

Song of the Lioness

Star Wars

Stargate: SG-1

Harry Potter

In The Forests of the Night

X-Men: The Movie

Circle of Magic

Doctor Who

House, M.D.

Wicked

Law and Order: SVU

Torchwood

Charmed

Primeval

NCIS

Tudors

Inception

Supernatural

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Lady of Rivers and Storms [ASOIAF]: When Lysa miscarries Petyr's child before anyone learns of her pregnancy, her father negotiates a different marriage for her instead. Married to the second Baratheon son, will the future be any easier for either of them?

In the Middle (Before I Knew I Had Begun) [Suits]: It's an accident, when Mike touches Lyla. But everything follows from there. (Or maybe everything follows from the moment Rhi saw the golden tiger and all she could think was how beautiful she was.)

Skyfall Is Where We Start [ASOIAF]: 'At least Stannis won't laugh at Renly if the boy tries to follow him around when he's a bit older and takes a tumble on the flagstones. It's not much, not much at all, but perhaps it's enough to be going on with.'

Robert never loved his brothers, but this is not a story about Robert. This is about Stannis, and Renly, and glimpses of how they might have been different, had they let themselves love each other as brothers usually do.

Breakin’ Out the Institution [Suits]: “OK, so, before we start, a few things you should know about me. My name’s Mike Ross, not Rick Sorkin. I am a lawyer, I just didn’t go to Harvard. But you should hear me out anyway.”

Where Mike is actually a lawyer, a Brooklyn ADA looking for a change of pace, and gatecrashes Harvey's interviews entirely on purpose.

Lay Me Down (Pockets Full of Stones) [The Magicians]: The world spins, and Quentin doesn’t even feel his knees buckle, or how his head hits the wall on the way down. All he knows is the fall into the quiet dark.

In which Quentin survives the events of 4.13 by taking such bad care of himself he never actually makes it to the Mirror Realm. Also in which everyone loses him for a day, and Eliot is Not Happy about this.

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Yeah; I like getting responses to my comments so I do my best to reply to comments I get.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I had to go back to fanfiction.net for this because I never crossposted these to AO3, but Kiss My Eyes for The Tudors. It was Anne of Cleves/Cromwell, which was tragic mostly because it was historically compliant so a deathfic. Honorable mention, same fandom, was And In That Hour, Charles Brandon/Margaret Tudor and Charles Brandon/Henry VIII, unrequited love for the latter. 

Fun fact about the latter, it was the first m/m fic I ever wrote; the deal was I’d write a slash fic if one of my forum friends did a femslash one.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve ever written?

Ha. Hahahahahaha. So, back when I was 17-18 I was working on a verse titled A Moment To Be Real, and it was a crossover verse that, taking all the relevant fics into account, included Charmed, Primeval, the Whoniverse, and NCIS in major capacities. In more minor capacities, the plans for the verse also included Fringe, Supernatural, Stargate SG1/Atlantis, and Warehouse 13. Oh, and there were two main timelines and two minor ones the stories spent time in. Heh. Yeah, that was a thing, yes it was way too big a project and I didn’t finish it, but I truly think that working to juggle all that was very helpful to my later work. 

I don’t write a lot of major crossovers anymore, but I tend to just... live in the idea that certain canons can feasibly coexist so when I can do little crossover cameos I like to do them. One recent exception is return to the sunlit lands, which is a Magicians/Narnia crossover.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not recently; a long time ago back on ff.net, I left a comment that was misunderstood as hate (I said something was bad, meaning the characters’ situation, but the author thought I meant her writing) and the author of that fic responded in kind. Once I clarified, they were nicer in a subsequent review. I’ve been very lucky in that regard; I’ve had friends who have had to deal with a lot of drama in that sense.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I didn’t for a long time, but recently I’ve begun to! So far, it’s been m/m and f/f, though there was an intentionally-vague m/m/f scene and I’m... currently avoiding writing a more detailed one because I’m nervous as hell about it, lol.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. 

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, actually! Two of my older ASOIAF fics, All the Traveled Roads and I Will Not Fall, I Will Not Break have translations, which is just really neat to me.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

About ten years ago I was working on a joint project about modern day Tudors; never did get posted, alas. I’m not sure I’d be very well suited to co-writing a single story; co-writing a verse where different authors do different stories might work, though.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

God, I have no idea, but I still and always have strong feelings about Sam/Jack from Stargate SG1, so let’s go with that for longevity?

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

A Moment To Be Real, actually; it’s not so much that I want to finish it as that I know I won’t and I regret it. I have another verse that I probably won’t finish but one of these days I’ll at least post an outline of where I saw it going so that there will be some degree of closure. Pretty much every other fic has at least a faint chance I might go back to it, or I genuinely don’t want to.

What are your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding and handling the moving pieces of a canon divergent AU. I’ve also been told I’m pretty good with ensembles.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes, which is unfortunate when I find myself definitely needing to write a battle, and I suspect is part of my smut hang-ups too.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I have done it occasionally, but honestly I feel it’s usually easier to italicize English dialogue and put the other language in the narration - I think it’s probably easier to read, too.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Stargate SG1

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I couldn’t possibly pick one, really.

Tagging @theemightypen @cosmonauthill @jayneladybright @ofthedirewolves @portraitofemmy @nellie-elizabeth @mihrsuri

[tirednotflirting]

but it’s clear when it hits me

vaguely inspired by the story of the pretty venom writing as told by alex on the genius page for the song lol

you can read on ao3 here

It’s close to 3 AM when the four of them spill out of an Uber. Alex has somehow ended up the most sober of the group for the night and therefore has the keys to the house tucked into the pocket of his jeans. He shouts a thank you to their driver while chasing after the other three who have somehow made it to the front door already.

“Alex, I will throw up in this plant pot if you don’t open this door in the next six seconds,” Rian threatens as he teeters back and forth on his heels. 

“We are renting this place,” Alex says while fishing the keychain from his pocket. “Don’t kill their plants with your low tolerance.” He shoves the key into the lock and swings the door open. Rian runs in the direction of the stairs toward the bedrooms while Zack slowly meanders across the room in the same direction. 

He watches Zack make it to the top of the staircase before realizing he’s missing one of his boys. He’s thinking maybe Jack went in search of snacks and is about to cross into the kitchen when he hears Rian calling for him up the stairs and jogs back in his direction. He’s sure Jack can make do finding the Pizza Rolls in the freezer on his own. 

(Though for a moment he does worry about him using the oven in his drunken state but he waves it away when he realizes there’s no way Jack doesn’t opt for the microwave directions.)

Soon enough, Rian is cleaned up and asleep in bed, a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin waiting on the bedside table for him for the morning. As he shuts the door gently behind him, Alex starts in the direction of his own room when he hears a quiet melody being plucked out somewhere down on the first floor. And despite his exhaustion and the swimming of his thoughts around his mind from the alcohol, Alex finds himself heading in the direction of the stairs.

Jack is on the couch facing away from him when Alex wanders back into the living room. The lights are dimmed to a dull yellow, something Alex remembers setting before they left so they could find their way around after getting back from the night out. Jack is playing through the melody Alex had heard from upstairs another time as he makes his way around the couch to take a seat beside him.

“What’s that?” Alex asks in a whisper as he turns to face Jack, his hand resting on the back of the couch reaching to tuck the tag from Jack’s sweater back before moving absent-midedly to play with his hair. 

“Kinda heard a bit of it in my head on the drive back,” Jack mumbles as he focuses on playing through the pattern again. “Wanted to try to play it out before I go to sleep otherwise I’ll lose it. And this one feels like one I shouldn’t lose maybe.”

Alex smiles fondly while reaching into his pocket with his free hand, his thumb swiping to find his voice note app. He hits the record button and leans forward to let the phone sit on the coffee table. Jack looks up from the strings at the action and then turns to Alex, a light blush on his cheeks just barely visible in the dim lights. 

He shakes his head then and drops his hand from the neck of the guitar to fall into Alex’s lap. “It’s probably nothing. I haven’t been able to come up with anything for days, I’m sure it’s not anything any good.”

“No, come on,” Alex frowns. He lets his hand fall to rest over Jack’s to get his attention. His eyes turn up to meet Alex’s, obvious hesitation mixed into the dark brown. “Play it again. I think it might fit alright with something I was thinking about tonight too.”

Jack makes a face like he’s trying to decide if he should go along with the plan but then he shifts their hands so he can squeeze their palms together before lifting his hand back up to the instrument. Alex lets a small smile pull at his lips while he reaches into his pocket for the receipt he scribbled out some passing thoughts on earlier in the night.

And Alex knows he shouldn’t be surprised, that he should be used to the way their minds work so in sync like this, but he can’t help the joy that spreads further across his face when the words he thought up a couple hours earlier after a few vodka sodas fits so perfectly against the melody Jack plucks out another time. He mumbles through the half finished thoughts he reads off of the receipt paper while his eyes strain against the low light to decipher his messy words. It’s an action Alex is used to at this point since it had become a habit over the years to pull his passing thoughts onto any scrap of paper he could find when the right words struck. He’s learned the hard way that they don’t always stick when he catches them in an inebriated state.

He stops his quiet singing when he reaches the end of what feels like it could be a verse, and he’s waiting for Jack to loop around to the beginning of the pattern again when Alex watches his hand pull away from the strings. He’s ready to question why Jack’s stopped playing but the words get stuck in his throat when he feels a gentle hand cup his cheek. He looks up, the confusion on his face likely obvious but Jack speaks before he gets the chance. “How do you do that?”

Alex feels himself lean into Jack’s touch as he raises his brows. “What do you mean?”

“You always have the words for what I can only say with this,” he says while lifting the guitar slightly from the neck to gesture to what he means. “Like sometimes I wanna say something but I can’t figure out the words and you always have something that says it so perfectly.”

Alex sighs and lifts a hand to rest over Jack’s on his cheek. “We make a pretty good team, huh?”

Jack’s eyes soften as a small smile pulls at his lips. “It’s crazy, yeah. We should make a band or something.”

“Now there’s an idea.”

Jack laughs and shakes his head at Alex a little before his hand reaches around to the back of his neck and he pulls him closer to brush their lips together. There’s words in the action that neither of them really know how to say out loud yet. Like the ones that pass through Alex’s mind while he stands at the bar waiting for his receipt, when he sees Jack laughing and dancing and glowing like a sun across the crowded room. Words he’ll probably never know exactly how to capture in a song but he knows he never wants to stop trying. 

Alex pulls back, his forehead resting against Jack’s and his eyes closed while he focuses on the gentle dancing of fingertips drawing patterns against the back of his neck. He knows they need to find the words for it, to talk about it, whatever it may be. But for now, they have a song to finish.

He pulls back with a deep breath and leans forward to pick up one of the journals on the table and finds an empty page. Alex clicks a pen he finds on the floor beside his foot and looks up to Jack’s eyes, ignoring the way they glitter a little bit under the light. That’s a song for another day.

“Okay, play that again.”

*

“Ready to call it a night?” Alex asks through a yawn as he lets his head fall to rest against Jack’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Jack agrees while gently setting the guitar back on the coffee table, careful not to move too much and let Alex’s sleepy head fall from it’s resting place. “We can play around with it again in the morning. See if there’s anything there.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Alex moves to stand but Jack drops a hand to his knee and their eyes meet, Alex’s holding a question. He parts his lips to ask it but Jack beats him to it again. “Can I stay with you tonight? This tune’s kinda put me in a weird mood now and I just,” he pauses and his eyes drift from Alex’s. “Just want to stay with you.”

He picks up Jack’s hand and lets their fingers tangle together before lifting them up to press his lips to Jack’s knuckles. “Always.”

They head in the direction of the stairs, leaving the guitar and journal resting out since the living room was already in a state of musical chaos. Jack’s exhaustion is obvious from his shuffled motions as they move up the steps and Alex laughs softly, these hours not unfamiliar to his racing thoughts, though he knows that obviously can’t be the norm for everyone. He lets a hand move to press against the bottom of Jack’s back and guides them in the direction of his room once they hit the top step.

They part ways once inside the bedroom, Jack toward the bed and Alex heads to the bathroom to dig around in his suitcase for a couple of pairs of sweats. He changes out of his jeans before heading back to the bedroom and tossing the extra pair at Jack. He thanks him and mumbles something that sounds like toothbrush before sliding off the bed and heading into the bathroom himself.

Alex slides under the sheets before reaching for his phone on the bedside table and sends a quick text with one of the voice notes with the most complete version of what they worked on attached to the group message. He has a good feeling about this one, he tells them with a few emojis trailing the end of his words.

He’s leaning back over to plug his phone in when a pair of arms wrap around his waist and Jack drops his head into Alex’s lap. He can’t help but giggle at the action as his hand moves to card through Jack’s mussed up hair. Jack’s face shifts then and it’s obvious he’s started thinking about something. It’s the face he pulls when he wants to say something but is worried about what the response will end up being. It’s a face he doesn’t make all that often around Alex. 

Alex uses his free hand to find one of Jack’s and he adjusts so his fingers rest in the spaces between his. “Hey, what’s with the face?”

“We won’t be able to use that song on the album, will we?”

Jack’s expression looks defeated, and it pulls at Alex’s heart a bit. “Why do you say that? I think it’s gonna be a good song. Just sent it to the guys and everything. I’m sure we can work on it some more again tomorrow, fine-tune and stuff.”

“No like,” Jack pauses and his eyes drift around, like he’s looking around for the right words to say. “Don’t you think it’s the wrong vibe?”

“No, I think it’s just a different kind of feeling maybe. Like a piece of the puzzle we were missing or something.”

“You think so?” Jack asks hesitantly. His eyes look up to meet Alex’s as he gnaws at his bottom lip. 

“I do, yes,” Alex says with a sigh before winking down at him. “And I’ll prove it to you tomorrow when everyone else loves it just as much as I do. Now, come on, it’s time to rest, sleepy boy.”

Jack seems satisfied with that answer as he only thinks on it for a second before nodding and sitting up to allow Alex to get more comfortable. He waits a moment before resting his head against Alex’s chest, Jack’s face pressing just above his heart in a practiced manner. It’s then that Alex feels the lateness of the hour and the remnants of the drinks from their night out settle over him as he fights his eyes to stay open. He moves to trace his finger across Jack’s back, his boy cuddling impossibly closer to his chest as he writes out the words to a song he has yet to get the guts to say out loud across his skin.